Big Z

I've almost always been of the belief that skill matters most (with personal exceptions of Luger and to a lesser extent Sting). From Bret and Shawn in my early WWF watching days, to Benoit and Eddie and the cruiserweights in WCW (and Flair both then and now), to Punk and Bryan, to now guys like Omega and the Bucks. My love of wrestling was re-born from the great skill in New Japan and NXT during their strongest runs, and now AEW (which really has been the best of all worlds for me).

I have no issue with the Bucks being on equal or even slightly superior footing to Mox/Eddie in a tag team match (and difference between Eddie/Mox and say Hangman/Kenny for kayfabe purposes is that Hangman and Kenny knew the Bucks inside and out from being part of The Elite/Bullet Club together). Eddie and Mox should win convincingly in singles matches against them, but it's excellent old school booking for a true team to be a step ahead of two great individuals forming a new-ish team. Also, from both a storyline and arguably real-life perspective, the Bucks are wrestling much smarter since going under the wing of Don Callis, while still maintaining their tremendous ability to quickly put moves together. Addressing the size/look point, size should not matter as wrestlers look convincing executing moves in the ring (and I'm someone that puts the Bucks on the Midnight Express level in that respect, just updated for 21st century). Also, the size difference between say the Bucks and Mox/Kingston and say Arn/Tully against the Road Warriors is negligible. Now, we are admittedly on different ends on the fan spectrum with The Elite (at least Kenny and The Bucks), but The Bucks have been long-term AEW MVP's in the ring, and their character work in now almost at as high of a level as their in-ring work.

Besides having plenty of over face challengers in all divisions to make for good chases, I would barely call Britt and Miro heels at this point (at least judging by crown reaction). Both of them should be able to go against heels and faces for the title and the crowd will be good with it. Also, Britt having to win straight up after having her heelish plans foiled tells a great story about how she does not have to rely on cheating to win big matches.

Also, love that the crowd last night was strongly pulling for an AEW original over a Hall of Fame level wrestler that is just about universally liked.

I did not notice that, and that is fair complaint (though I'd still qualify that as a small, addressable issue that did not take much away from the match).

I would probably put the three way match in there also, and kind of want to find a spot for Hangman-Cage also just cause I really liked the match and finish. I've re-watched the first Pac-Omega match from All Out 2019, and it's good, but personally do not see it as quite top 20 list worthy. Now, I personally am also very fond of the Shida-Britt Baker match and rank it among my top 20 favorite matches, but objectively may not quite deserve that standing (but again is proof of how much a good finish can add to a match, taking it from solid to very memorable).

That type of thing does not bother me. As long as you are getting the big things right (match endings, quality work in the ring, fans excited about the action), I am not going to worry about the refs being airtight about enforcing the rules to the absolute letter of the law (and thankfully, AEW basically does not do DQ endings).

Still think that Revolution 2020 is AEW's best ever show, and I'd have last night's Double or Nothing in the the discussion with the previous two Double or Nothings and Full Gear 2020 for number two overall show (and in the heat of the moment, would rate last night's as second best). Having a full, hot crowd adds the extra element to make events truly memorable. Also, last night cemented that Cody needs to turn ASAP. I think there's a bit of a difference between the live crowd and the online fanbase, but Cody's match stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the night for the lack of heat (and while Cody got a nice reaction on Friday Dynamite, it was crickets last night). I am still of fan of his on the whole, but a heel turn is overdue at this point.

What an amazing show, with every match save Cody-Ogogo being very good or better, and a few that likely crack AEW's best matches (tag title match, women's title match, world title match, Stadium Stampede 2, and quite possibly Hangman-Cage). Everything clicked tonight, with the full crowd back, the finishes (even the tag match, where it took basically death to beat Moxley), and a bunch of amazing, emotional moments. Whatever momentum AEW may have lost with goofy endings of Revolution and Blood and Guts is back going the right way, and I really hope to be at All Out in Chicago.

I'd predict that if Bryan Danielson is at Double or Nothing (which I'd give like a 20-25 percent chance), he will not be part of the battle royal but appear elsewhere (maybe after the title match). Also, while I'm one of the biggest Hangman cheerleaders on this board and he can do little wrong in my eyes, I think that you have to scrap the title plan for him and put the title on Danielson if he signs at All Out (maybe have beat Miro for the TNT title in the interim, then have win the World Title in a year or so from say MJF). I think Andrade would be a great call for the mystery guy in the battle royal, and hope for him to rotate between AEW and New Japan (joining up with his old mate Naito in LIJ there).

I can take your word and AxB's word if his work fell off in his last year there cause I stopped watching (AEW's start gave me the reason I needed to stop following any of Vince's product, especially when NXT was pitted as its main rival). I could also see how some may think Mauro is over the top, but the enthusiasm for the product definitely felt real to me, and I always though that he tried to advance the story and never actively buried guys.

Yes, quite sure. Form when he become the NXT play by play guy to when I stopped watching NXT in Summer 2019, I thought that his work greatly aided the product and helped make NXT a cool brand. Now, maybe his work fell off after that, but I Mauro is a much better fit for the AEW brand than JR in 2021. Edit: If this was JR of 1989 that was in his prime and worked quite hard to sell NWA as the best wrestling in the world (which it was), then no, Mauro's best does not meet that best (though it's very good). 2021 JR, who has seen wrestling basically pass him by, cannot touch the Mauro from the NXT that I watched.

If and when they swap out JR for Mauro Ranallo in the AEW booth, the product will get that much better. JR was a great announcer in his day, but does not fit well with the AEW product. Mauro, if he's anything like his NXT style, would be amazing as the play by play guy for the company.

Shame about Ospreay getting injured, as United Empire are fairly fresh in a company that feels very stale right now, and I loved the idea of him embracing his dickishness while winning all of his matches clean (and not even cheating all that much during his matches). On first viewing, actually preferred the Jay-Tana main event the night slightly to that match, but Ospreay-Shingto was still dang good (and good to see new faces in the main event).

I'd list the favorites of the Battle Royal as Jungle Boy (first AEW title match, continues ascent up the card), Christian (who likely will have a title match sometime this year), and the mystery guy (due to the lack of top of the card guys in this match).

While I'd normally agree that nine matches is too many for AEW, I'd guess that Cody-Ogogo and Darby/Sting vs. Page/Scorpio will be pretty short, and nothing will be super long outside of maybe the World Title match and Stadium Stampede (even Bucks vs. Mox/Kingston should not be the usual 25-30 Bucks epic). Think that Hangman/Cage will be one of the top couple matches on the show as both guys have a lot of prove (Hangman continuing to prove that he's a main level performer, Cage in a big singles match on PPV). Looking forward to the show, and glad that there's two-three gimmick matches on the card (depending on if you want to call a three way match a gimmick match).

I thought this was the best Jericho promo since the Inner Circle turned, as it had the right tone and seriousness behind it. A fun show to help set up the PPV, and some very good TV matches (the opener, main event, and especially the women's match). This was easily the best I've seen Pillman look, and I could see them being serious challengers in a year (may have to turn before then with power on the face side of the tag team division with Mox/Kington, Best Friends, Santana and Ortiz).

In non-pandemic NCAA Tournaments, the First Four games air on TruTV.

Final Countdown all the way from me (and rooting for hard for it to happen, as I google Daniel Bryan AEW basically every day).

Given that AEW is spending good money to bring people like Christian Cage and Paul Wight, along with licensing deals for the real music for Jungle Boy, Orange Cassisy, and now Moxley, I somehow don't think that Peter Avalaon's contract (likely among the smallest of the regular roster) or place on the roster is stopping AEW from signing Andrade.

It may be a hair premature, but almost half of the U.S has received at least one vaccine shot, 36% are fully vaccinated (a list I'll be glad to join a week from today), and the Pfizer vaccine was just approved for kids 12 and over. Those numbers should be greatly improved by the time they are back on the road, and I think of people are like myself in being ready to return to living normally (planning on going to a bar to watch Champions League final and hopefully another City treble, got tickets to Genesis in November, and hope that All Out returns to Chicago and maybe even not at damn Sears Center in the boondocks so I could get tickets to it).

I'd love for AEW to have the second show on Saturday night, but guessing that it will be a weeknight. I am hoping it's a one hour/90 minute show though, as that is enough television weekly without getting burned out.

Enjoyed all of the main matches, especially the three title matches. Pac-Orange was okay before the legit Orange injury, and agree that this is a rare case where a triple threat title match helps all parties. It still feels like the #3/#4 match on the card behind the women's and tag title matches and possibly Stadium Stampede 2, but it's fine for this part of the Omega reign/championship arc (in a perfect world, this would have been a great time for New Japan crossover match, but unfortunately that will have to be at least a few months down the road). Bucks are awesome as heels, and while they can work any style during the matches themselves, they definitely work better as heel characters. I love Moxley using Wild Thing as his new entrance theme (always have a soft spot for that song from Major League/Rick Vaughn). And the main even was definitely one of those cliched both guys coming out better matches (Miro cemented a top of the card, title winning badass, and Darby as a top flight face and future AEW World Champion). I will side with HarryArchieGus in kind of enjoying Cody's promo, while fully admitting it was hokey and over the top (and definitely better for say an opening match on the PPV, and not one of the main attractions). I'll agree that Cody has lost a step or two from his awesome first year-plus in AEW, and some time off when his baby is born will help, but still think it would be foolhardy to wish to jettison him from AEW. Also, while I'm with a lot of you guys politically, I think a lot of people need to chill a bit (especially with a wrestling show). I like how AEW has a lot of disparate parts of the show, and while it could be more challenging to get everything to mesh together in an A+ show (like say Revlution 2020), it also keeps me extremely interested in every show knowing that at one or two things will pop.

He wasn't quite ready for primetime (at least on the mic) in his early Dynamite appearances, though you could see some potential (and just hoped that it wasn't a bad John Cena tribute act). However, he's really sharpened that part of his game up, and I'd guess that it will not be real long before the Acclaimed are swapping entrance tunnels.

I think the last few minutes of the match hurt its quality, though it advanced the storyline (and that was the one issue having this match at early point of this feud, and also why heels winning Blood and Guts is rarely the optimal outcome). It did not detract from the match quite to the level of the Exploding Barbed Wire match (where my big issue was the Good Brothers interference, less so the failed stunt after that), but would say that it knocked the match from the five-plus stars that is was tracking towards to what I'd argue is Meltzer's accurate star rating. I will say that AEW has been a touch off in booking finishes this year after basically a spot on 2020 in that regard (not necessarily the wrong guys winning, but struggling with smart, heel winning finishes after faces won most every big match last year save Brodie's TNT title win and FTR's tag title win).