Dolphman 3000 Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Suburban white kids from 100 miles outside Los Angeles putting themselves over the Lucha Bros. in front of a predominantly hispanic crowd was certainly a choice Other than the crowd apathy to the finish, it was a great match 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 39 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said: So we all agree the funniest thing on this show was Takeshita actually leaving the ring and letting MJF talk that shit for another five minutes, right? 37 minutes ago, DEAN said: He is very polite and listened to the ref. While Bryan Danielson was twiddling his thumbs backstage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 FUCKING AWESOME! 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) 9 minutes ago, mystman said: In hindsight, I think it's weird that any of us actually believed Mercedes would be there. Why on Earth would Bushiroad let her make he post-WWE in ring debut on an AEW show, when they have a sold out show in San Jose in a couple of weeks featuring her vs. KAIRI? Because what do they care, the show's already sold out? Because if the San Jose show is still her first match outside of WWE, her being on AEW programming s going to draw more eyes to the show? Invite more potential subscriptions who want to watch Mercedes Mone Match #1 live? Edited January 12, 2023 by John E. Dynamite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 I think I preferred Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita to Bryan Danielson vs. Konosuke Takeshita. Two great matches. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 This made me LOL. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystman Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 2 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said: Because what do they care, the show's already sold out? Because if the San Jose show is still her first match outside of WWE, her being on AEW programming s going to draw more eyes to the show? Invite more potential subscriptions who want to watch Mercedes Mone Match #1 live? What if she gets hurt during the match? I can't imagine them risking it so AEW can get a ratings boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 25 minutes ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: Mox and a concussion angle? One step closer to the Hobo Army. John Moxley Lost in Cleveland vignettes? That would be unusual. Pretty WCW. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 54 minutes ago, just drew said: Also, I still need someone to explain Adam Cole’s appeal to me. I still believe 90% of his popularity can be attributed to being HBK’s “guy” when nXt was at its hottest. Just watch him and his buddies play Uno and you’ll like him so much that when the bell rings you literally blissfully blackout temporarily and wake up doing the boom thumb as he’s victorious. 4 *s. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 20 minutes ago, mystman said: In hindsight, I think it's weird that any of us actually believed Mercedes would be there. Why on Earth would Bushiroad let her make he post-WWE in ring debut on an AEW show, when they have a sold out show in San Jose in a couple of weeks featuring her vs. KAIRI? It’s weird that in December Tony Khan would unnecessarily book a mystery tag partner—as challenged by the heels for a match in January (when Mercedes was a free agent) only for it to be a girl on the roster that had been previously involved in confrontations with her. And to then let Britt make the boss references in her promo. They not only didn’t dissuade fans from thinking that, they leaned into teasing it. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 If Mercedes Moné just made her NJPW debut in Japan, and they announced her first actual match coming up next month (in America) and sold out the building because of it... why would she then have her first post-WWE match as an unannounced mystery partner in AEW? Wouldn't that retcon her NJPW match as false advertising? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.K.o.S. Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 It almost works! 5 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 STIFF! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 1 hour ago, just drew said: Also, I still need someone to explain Adam Cole’s appeal to me. I still believe 90% of his popularity can be attributed to being HBK’s “guy” when nXt was at its hottest. Adam Cole is a piece of shit, but he's the piece of shit you can appreciate, as Kevin Steen says. I can't really pin down in a simple sentence what Adam Cole's character or gimmick is, other than he's cocky and arrogant cool guy wrestler, but he does it well. He made the whole bay-bay and boom thing work, and that's all he really needed. He's not Adam Cole, he's Adam Cole BAY BAY. He made that his gimmick, and he didn't really need anything else. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 6 minutes ago, DEAN said: STIFF! Mitsuharu Misawa watches in approval. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 1 hour ago, mystman said: In hindsight, I think it's weird that any of us actually believed Mercedes would be there. Why on Earth would Bushiroad let her make he post-WWE in ring debut on an AEW show, when they have a sold out show in San Jose in a couple of weeks featuring her vs. KAIRI? There were still ways for her to appear tonight that wouldn't have been her post-WWE in ring debut. Although by AEW standards, debuting someone and not having them work a match there for at least 5 weeks (the San Jose show is on February 18th) might be more glacial than some of their more glacial storylines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 BRAINBUSTER! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamBroken Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Great show. Hangman/Moxley was epic and lived up to the hype as did Bryan/Takeshita, that was absolutely killer. Thought MJF was actually entertaining despite going a little long but not quite as long as last week's. Hook got to suplex Big Bill! Women's tag was super solid and the main event was a fun car crash and a fitting finale to the long series, I loved the whole best of 7 all the way through. Dug the Adam Cole return as a true unexpected surprise, hadn't even thought of that happening. Nice welcome back/return promo. 26 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said: There were still ways for her to appear tonight that wouldn't have been her post-WWE in ring debut. Although by AEW standards, debuting someone and not having them work a match there for at least 5 weeks (the San Jose show is on February 18th) might be more glacial than some of their more glacial storylines. I thought they would've done it the same way as Saraya herself debuted with a post-match save for the big pop. (Debuted Sept. 21 but didn't actually wrestle until November 19th) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Mox's PILEDRIVER! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teflon Turtle Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 I am mildly disappointed that the Takeshita/MJF portion of that segment did not end with Don Callis appearing onstage with an offer to foot the bill for the fine MJF mentioned...and then with Takeshita knocking MJF flat. I understand why it didn't happen that way, but it would've been a fun way to advance the scouting storyline they're doing. I say this as someone who felt relatively early that Ricky Starks was primed to be a top guy in AEW, but I think his stuff has been uneven since the face turn. Some of that is down to what he's being booked in. But, one show has some great mic work from him against MJF, then another show later...lukewarm. He's not the sole reason his segment on this episode wasn't great, but the hot/cold aspect of what's he's been up to is of some concern. He seemed more comfortable when he was on the heel side of things. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEAN Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 How about a Toni Storm vs Jamie Hayter rematch already? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt925 Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 2 hours ago, Bryan said: It’s weird that in December Tony Khan would unnecessarily book a mystery tag partner—as challenged by the heels for a match in January (when Mercedes was a free agent) only for it to be a girl on the roster that had been previously involved in confrontations with her. And to then let Britt make the boss references in her promo. They not only didn’t dissuade fans from thinking that, they leaned into teasing it. Yeah the lesson here is that you never promote a mystery partner or opponent in a wrestling war unless it’s going to be a big debut. It can be a decent plot device in a monopoly. Man, Bryan vs Takeshita and Bryan vs bandido, we are going to get a string of five super awesome matchups here. Maybe like the John cena us open challenge in a way? This match is in Fresno too, bandido will be super over and the tickets have actually moved pretty well recently. Should be over 5k which I’d say is really good for a Fresno show. When they announced the show and the momentum was down I thought it would do like 3500. The momentum is coming back a bit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 This was a really great show last night. Every match delivered. Great to see Adam Cole back. It was just all awesome. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Even if they couldn't deliver Mercedes, I thought they were gonna properly read the room and have Britt do some FIP with Jamie getting a hot tag, but "grassroots" popularity aside, they still can't bring themselves to do the right match structure with Jamie Hayter. They also badly need to re-think this Shida thing, because absolutely nobody wants to see this angle play out straight. Britt and Jamie are natural faces, Toni and Saraya are natural heels. The sooner that is figured out, the better off everyone will be. Mox/Hangman was a fun lariat fest. Don't know if the concussion angle is necessary, but I'll take more from these two. JungleHook vs. The Firm was the kind of tv match AEW could use a lot more of. I'm glad Adam Cole is looking like he's ready for a babyface run. I know he has the sleazebag look, but his in-ring strengths and his mega-over catchphrases always screamed face to me and it's too bad it's taken so long. Both advertised promo segments really sucked, and after the conversation last week, AEW could really use a proof-reader to cut out sexist and otherwise derogatory promo material. Everything else about the company is so modern, but we're still getting early 2000s WWE babyface insults. "Can't control your wife" and "you have a lisp," god damn. Good thing Starks and Andretti don't have a third partner, or else they'd have been making gay jokes about Menard and Parker. Ladder match had some killer spots, not much in the way of selling. The Elite were a million times better as heels, hopefully HOB will kill them soon. I actually think Omega should be MJF's next major program after Danielson. Let him bag a couple top names that can easily afford the L before you get to him feuding with his contemporaries (one of whom should be the one to beat him). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 I can't say I'm sad that Mercedes didn't show up, but I'm just baffled by this entire angle and how bad they seemingly dropped the bag. Hindsight being what it is, they probably thought they had her, teased it, then realized they didn't and had to correct course pretty late and they're doing that with the Shida "heel turn" - even if it won't be a heel turn, because it's pretty clear they're framing this as a Originals vs Outsiders type thing, and nobody wants to boo Shida ever. It's still kind of weird they let Britt Baker slide in the "I'm the Boss" line last week, but alright, whatever. I'm down for heel Toni Storm and Saraya if it goes that way, though. I hope Britt & Jamie don't break up ever, because the supportive best friend Britt Baker to AEW Women's World Champion Jamie Hayter is some good shit, you love to see it. I'll be shocked if Mercedes never makes an appearance in AEW, even just a match (Forbidden Door?) but, again, not really sad if it doesn't happen. This women's division is doing just fine, now if we could just get TK's head out of his ass when it comes to the booking of the women. Rampage is going to have another women's tag team war, but if it goes the same way the Bunny/Penelope vs TayJay match went, it won't really matter because they'll be shuffled into the background. Rampage spoilers: Spoiler Ruby Soho bleeds. A LOT. I guess there was other stuff on this show, too. Was that Gina Darling with Freddie Prinze Jr? That's weird. Danielson/Takeshita was great. Some of those chops were real nasty. I looked at my phone during The Firm vs JungleHOOK, because I don't care. Moxley/Hangman was... alright, I guess. Feels like they have a better match in them, probably saving it for a PPV. For some reason, I get huuuuge Mitsuhiro Matsunaga vibes off Jon Moxley these days when he's in-ring. And it feels really weird seeing him do Danielson style kicks to the chest. Being real honest here... I didn't pay attention to the six man ladder match. It had like 15 minutes, the result was predictable... and after seeing Omega back in form at WrestleKingdom, this just feels like such a waste. The only spots I remember are PAC's Falcon Arrow on the floor, and Omega giving Fenix the One Winged Angel off the ladder. That's it. The sooner we get to CMFTR vs The Elite, the better. Shut your mouth, you can't convince me it's not happening until it's official Punk is gone. SHUT UP! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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