AEW TV - 7/19 - 7/24/2023

[tbarrie]

1 hour ago, Brandon Bones said:

I’m squeezing Swerve into this conversation about which young guys to push.  The group he is with overall isn’t that impressive especially in contrast to the other more prominent groups.  However my dude is performing flawlessly these day. Meanwhile, he is thickened up enough to have opponents sell heavyweight for his offense.  He is making guys right now.  So perhaps that gear will finally shift up in the inevitable Keith Lee match.  

Like Hobo Joe, I think they may have just let the Swerve/Lee feud sort of fizzle out. We'll see.

And on the subject of young guys to push - Powerhouse Hobbs springs immediately to mind for me. He's awesome.

Shit, AEW still has a ton of young guys with potential, don't they?

[Jamal]

I liked the Taya/Skye Blue match. Taya played evil veteran pretty well. Now, the random Britt squash makes sense. 

[Technico Support]

Late to the party but running not one but two in-match multi-angle replays, then cutting right to the finish, says that the Stat/Shafir match was just egregiously fucked.

Dax’s promo style irritates me.  

Edited July 23, 2023 by Technico Support

[Matt D]

14 hours ago, Fighting a man with a perm said:

House of Black rule! Buddy set the pace absolutely sprinting to smash Max. Wonder what he was gonna rhyme with, "hey Buddy, you're looking kind of nauseous" - answers on a postcard please!

(It was “goth chicks”)

I miss the whole “House Rules” thing. It seems to be gone, no?

The trios match was just mayhem without any form. Gunn didn’t get the normal finishing stretch you’d get in any other match, which led to the boots.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Matt D

[zendragon]

On 7/22/2023 at 7:52 PM, Curt McGirt said:

Still haven't watched all of it but I gotta point out Punk's Tribute to Bam Bam somersault/jump-clap with salute.

Shame we never got a BAmmer/ Hack Cartwheel team

 

On 7/22/2023 at 9:52 PM, The Green Meanie said:

Guys, y'all are forgetting the most important thing: NICKY BOY IS OKAY. *Phew!*

HOSS FIGHT!!!

Cash continues to outshine Dax

lot of solid wrestling, two really fun tags, women’s match got some time is Daddy Ass his name now?

[Matt D]

Finally made it through the Royal Rampage.

• Darby took a hell of a beating. Hard for Wayne to stand out as much when B&B were just demolishing Darby outside the ring. He got his time at the end where for Darby it was the whole match.
• We got a little bit of the Big Bill/Brian Cage pairing again but just a little. The camera missed their "coming to terms" moment.
• Suzuki was fun while he was in there just fighting with everyone.
• You have to love the stuff with Gates of Agony and Butcher/Blade. I hope they run it back on Rampage. Or even do Kip/B&B vs Embassy?
• Daddy Magic coming in vs the Gates and getting a huge ovation before going right for Darby was a hell of a thing. Khan pays attention to this stuff. Can you imagine a John Silver/Matt Menard team 6 months down the line when Silver rolls back around to a face and Menard goes face? But then Parker came in and actually fought them and got no reaction. Then the bit towards the end with them losing their focus with the Gates against Darby didn't quite work.
• Matt Hardy always gets a crazy pop. They structured the Lethal vs Page and Matt vs Jeff stuff but Kassidy was left to die out there. He had the initial shine (and his horny shtick just isn't getting over relative to the cost of it I'm afraid).
• Fans might have been exhausted by they didn't go up at all for the Bill/Cage vs Hager bit. I am looking forward to Jake vs Komander if they do that. Likewise Swerve vs Bill? (We'll see where that's headed).
• It's a shame that Swerve vs Darby isn't a Coffin match.

These are always as good as you, the viewer make them.

[Brandon Bones]

2 hours ago, zendragon said:

Shit.  I fucked up the post already and deleted the whole quote. I’ll try to be better in the future but Bones gonna Bones.

Anyway, the Daddy Ass thing stuck out to me as well.  Like they were trying to not say Billy Gunn.  
 

That’s some ugly Vince shit right there.
 

And man that name game bullshit has always been such a distracting turn off watching wrestling this long.  I mean an act bounces from Fed to Fed and creates a positive buzz for whatever reason.  But YOU got to own the name even while you strip the value of what you’re investing in.  
 

And dopes like Vince would give away the ghost because Ric Flair was totally RIC FUCKING FLAIR in 92 while saying the phrase “Nature Boy” out the side of their mouth.  So you KNOW they know there is value out there that they didn’t create. But “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson MUST be Daniel Bryan.  Fuck you, dude.

Kamala was another good example of why you don’t have to be so married to the idea. He was created outside Vince’s orbit, sure.  But Vince didn’t change anything about that act.  YMMV on the quality of the gimmick and its overall narrative.  But Kamala drew houses (I’ve heard) everywhere he went up to and including with Hogan.  That makes sense.  Why not more.

I get the IP and copyright stuff.  You rarely get that kind of crossover fun in other media.  So I always felt there was unmined gold to be found there.  
 

Indy feds and smaller rivals *TNA* never had any problem embracing an act from somewhere else.  Nor did they feel like having outsiders brought in was some threat to its identity.

Daddy Ass as a part of AEWs contribution to the Billy Gunn persona is uniquely theirs.  But it really rubbed me the wrong way how that was handled.

Obviously.

 

[AxB]

Billy Gunn's real legacy: First, in the 90s, he inspired a generation of children to point to their crotches and yell "Suck It". And then, 25 years later, he inspired their children to shout "Scissor Me Daddy".

[Greggulator]

Some random Collision thoughts:

1) I thought Rocky Starks was by far the star of the show. Heel fashion plate Ricky Starks is the best Ricky Starks. That is exactly what you want in a heel that gets a lot of screen time. When you want him face, he just has to do like he did against MJF — let the heel know he is the coolest mofo in the room. 

2) CM Punk is such a lazy mic worker. It’s so filled with cheap heat and local digs and stuff I am sure I can find him renting against at some point in the past. Or edgy shoot-y stuff that is so lame so quickly (that he can’t handle when tossed back at him out-of-character.)  I don’t remember the last promo I saw him do that I actually liked. It was not the Eddie promo — Eddie destroyed him in that promo. Like, dude, get some real earned heat on an opponent. Christian is so much better and it is not even close. 

3) FTR was weak sauce on the mic, too. I love love love FTR so much but they should just do really tight backstage promos that are in and out. That match is going to absolutely rule, tho.

4) The wrestling itself for the most part was predictably good to great. The main event was so solid and did exactly what it intended to do with Pretty Ricky getting another bs win. I loved Luchsaurus essentially having a forcefield to negate Darby’s dive. 

5) The Bang Bang Gang rules. Not sure what Gunn is who but the one Gunn who kept yelling “bang bang bang bang” felt like he had some of that cocaine in him. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

On the chance that TK or anyone from the office sees this post: please know that two tickets for Hartford next weekend were sold strictly based on the presence of Miro/Nicky Boy on this past week's show. Match of the week, not taking questions at this time.

[Technico Support]

3 hours ago, Greggulator said:

 

3) FTR was weak sauce on the mic, too. I love love love FTR so much but they should just do really tight backstage promos that are in and out. That match is going to absolutely rule, tho.

Cash is serviceable but Dax, with his “hold your hand to your forehead and stammer every line while spewing aw shucks I’m so happy to be here glurge” makes me want to Elvis my tv.

Edited July 24, 2023 by Technico Support

[Leonidas]

16 hours ago, Matt D said:

(It was “goth chicks”)

Cause your girl is Dominick's? He ran out of that ring pretty fast, it's a shoot brother.

[Go2Sleep]

Underrated storyline from the battle royal was Cage and Bill working well together and Swerve getting jealous. Since Stoke isn't doing anything, maybe he could take those two as his hoss team.

Collision has managed to be a fun show with its roster of like 12 people. Long term, though, I think they need to mix angles between the shows. It would be good for everyone to work under the slightly different production styles of each show. Looking forward to Cole and MJF on Collision next week. I think the Buddy/Andrade ladder match would benefit from the Dynamite commentary team, but it will be great either way.

[Matt D]

Wrote up the Collision tag and what I think they're going for:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/07/aew-five-fingers-of-death-717-723.html

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

Wrote up the Collision tag and what I think they're going for:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/07/aew-five-fingers-of-death-717-723.html

Agree with your whole entry, but want to especially single out your mention of the Darby hot tag right into getting the heat back on Luchasaurus, I felt the same and it was a real highlight in a match full of 'em. Darby's human pinball routine adds a weird sense of legit danger sometimes that kind of goes missing I think once you've reached X age, or X hours watched maybe

[HarryArchieGus]

Nearly 5 hours of fun wrestling this week. Plus 4 hours of a fucking awesome ROH PPV. And the 2 hour Honor Club show. 11 hours of Wrestling is way passed my threshold, but I liked to loved on a sliding scale all of it.

Re: Dynamite
Hook v Hollywood Jack Perry was terrific. Very much dug the Tarzan Boy fakeout, ‘Bad Dale’ Perry short, and especially Beethoven’s Fifth! Excellent chicanery here. Also, the all black presentation is excellent! Jack-o starts strong with the fresh new heel persona. I used to despise Alex Marvez, but then I met him and he seemed like such a nice dude. Nice investigative journalism here finding Callis and Jericho eating dinner. Near scoop! Not a fan of the Teen comedy skits of Adam Cole and MJF, but I can’t look away, and I trust it’s working with the audience at large. Baker v Kayla Sparks was fine. Am I crazy or is Britt looking a lot smaller recently? She really needed a win, but not a fan of the 1 minute nothing happening squash. I know it’s only a minute and it’s against a nobody, but surely there’s something more fun that can be done here than a bunch of taunts and signature moves. Oh man, I may find the MJF-Cole skits a bit ‘cringey’, but I love perplexed Roddy Strong in a neckbrace. MJF/Cole v Sammy/Garcia was a shit tonne of fun! It really takes a special performer to get over this kinda bush league indy show bullshit. This kinda nonsense bores crowds in every region across North America on a weekly to monthly basis. Somehow here on international television it's fun and entertaining. Haters you were and are wrong - MJF is a very special performer.  And everybody else was pretty great here too. I’m also finding myself strangely compelled by all this Callis-Jericho-JAS cuh-rap. I love the Collision recap videos they’ve been doing, but they need to slow it down a touch. Breakneck speed highlights are so forgettable. Also forgotten, the Battle of the Belts – nothing repped in this. Awkward Darby-Besties-Nick Wayne promo, but fine nonetheless. And I'm game for OC V AR! BCC+ v Golden Elite was a fun watch. Ibushi’s ring rust and injuries served his debut poorly and the finish was absolutely rotten. Tho, it seemed like a production mistake more than bad execution. How was there not a plan to get the fucking camera on Mox? To be honest, I'm not really with the Wargames are awesome thinking. Two rings is generally speaking too busy for my tastes. For those reasons I never expect much more than a bunch of fun spots and violence. This delivered all that, and I was entertained. I also really liked the order of entrants. Having Kenny out there from the beginning felt like a gift. Mox's entrance was particularly great. Tho, when you fork the fuck out of your opponents - yeah, I'm with the criticism of lack of blood on that portion. I also loved the Matt Jackson suplex spot on the top, and that they just found a way to come back down rather than killing themselves with some crazy stunt. So much fun stuff. The Boston crowd was excellent tho I do dream of a time when the masses stop giving a shit about tables.  

Re: Rampage
I’ll take Rumble rules over full ring battle royals on any Wednesday thru Sunday of any given week. Two rings is too much, but this was a pretty fun Royal Rampage. Nice to see Darby get the big win. How bout that pop for Daddy Magic!?! QTV v Assclaimed was a fun little TV match. Kinda wish Caster would stop with the slutshaming/fatshaming bullshit. It’s not controversial, it’s lame. He sounded like a complete moron in his weak attempt to tear down beautiful Ms. Cameron. Oh man, loved Harley spraying Solow with Binaca while he was choking out a sucka in the corner. That was my first look at the Intestinizer, and I loved it. I love a good mid to lower card heel act that can make their opponents look like hot shit while being hilarious ala QTV. Long live this awesome faction! Statlander v Shafir was a total skimmer. Not for me. Good show.

Re: Collision
I feel so grateful for the SNME opening, but they need to bring the 'intense music' volume up a notch. I’m also terribly grateful for the 'John opening theme video! Sunday afternoon is a great time for a fight too. God bless tape delay! The Ricky Starks-Punk-Christian-Darby opening was terrific. SO happy they realize how much better Starks is as a heel. He absolutely needs to be a conceded yuppie asshole who loves Louis Vitton bags etc. He was really good here. The WOR review of this perplexed Dave and Bryan, and for dumb reasons like Punk not being John Cena enough about the jeers. I love that Punk goes with the flow and heels where necessary. I absolutely love the choice not to be fucking John Cena. How is it that our passe experts so easily forget the Nightmare that was Cody Rhodes in AEW? Yeah, Punk’s doing as he should. That said, I’d love it if he just turned heel. WOR’s gruesome twosome also seemed to be completely deaf to Christian’s comedy gold (they're a bit humourless in general) and Darby’s solid mic work. Darb’s gotten some confidence with that stick! I thought this was one of the better AEW talk segments. Jay/Juice v Martin/Andretti was a nice little TV match. I’m under the impression that when the time is right, both Action and Darius will be huge stars. Action, clearly, as a heel. More bad production this week with the missed Blade Runner. Jay White is a fucking star. Willow video was nice to see. As I said before, they should really slow it down a notch. It’s nice that they’re finally doing video packages like this, but they’re a bit hollow. Let the action breath a little dear AEW production truck. I love the sneak attack to begin Comoroto v Miro. I’m fine with Miro fucking up Nick, but couldn’t he have wore the big man down before his finish? Miro’s a star, but I’m afraid he’s gonna wither away ‘in action’ for months. I hope I’m wrong. House of Black v Assclaimed was excellent. I like the House being so dominant. I really liked the angle at the end. Loved the House giving Billy some props. I also loved Buddy kicking Caster in the face to begin. ‘Oh, he said cuck!’ I like Max Caster a lot, but his raps have been pretty fuckin shitty lately. FTR interview was fine, but why not just go heel for this mini-feud? I mean Dax sounds like an asshole anyway. Taya v Skye was a total skimmer. With Skye on the rise and Taya moving into ‘hand’ role - I’m not sure the right lady won. I hope somebody is excited about a Taya v Baker match!? I think Taya would be good in a QT lower card manager/wrestler role. Cage/Starks v Punk/Allin was terrific. I sense from some of the reactions that this match was a lot less satisfying with commercial breaks. I dug what they did here, and loved the finish. Certainly a case could be made for shaving some minutes, but might be worth recommending to those who would argue that to just take a look at the uncut version. Starks feels back on track. Christian is a joy to watch. Darby’s incredible. And Punk has been solid, but can we WILL him into a heel role for greater viewing pleasure?

[tbarrie]

15 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

I feel so grateful for the SNME opening, but they need to bring the 'intense music' volume up a notch.

Agreed. They also need to film those bits against a green screen and broadcast them against a black background showing the wrestler's logo.

Corollary: they need to design a unique logo for each wrestler in AEW.

[COLETTI]

HoB whooping the shit out of The Acclaimed was the kind of "run your mouth and get punched in your teeth" shit that Malaki and co should be known for. 

[Gordi the recovering AEW f]

(Insert graphic here)

I'm excited as can be for Pac vs Gravity. It seems to be based on a Gordlow-type joke, in that Pac is the man that Gravity forgot.

Plus Gravity is (actually, as far as I know) Bandido's brother, so in my opinion this is likely to be a fast paced athletically exciting bout possibly with a crazy strength spot or two.

Orange vs Fox is also a natural match-up, and I love the nonchalant way it was set up. Swerve vs Darby has some build to it and should be great. Taya vs Britt is not for me. They are both pretty far on the "polished and professional" side of the continuum. I'd prefer the TV time be given to ladies on the weird and indy side. If this were, say, Abadon vs Nicole Matthews, I'd be SO MUCH more stoked. Nice to see Best Friends in a big tag match, although they will definitely eat the pin. Better than Bay Bay hasn't started to wear thin. Yet. How long can they keep it going? How long will they be allowed to keep it going?

Also Ishii vs Kingston and Zack vs Cobb in the G1 tonight (J-time). Oh how I wish Osaka had been given those matches!  It's been a lot of fun this year, so far, what with the 20-minute time limits and Kingston and Kiyomiya being involved and so on.

Also, I have finally gotten AEW Fight Forever for my Switch! Holy guacamole do I ever LOVE that game! I have only had it for a few days but I have been playing it obsessively, and just loving every moment of it. I have already unlocked Big Paul! Accidentally stumbled into it while running through the storyline mode to build up my Naito CAW. It took several tries, but I was finally able to beat him by count out. One of many huge mark-out moments the game has given me so far.

For all the justifiable complaining I have read about the CAW creation suite, it's still plenty fun and useful. The game overall just absolutely murders my commute time. I was in danger of missing my station yesterday afternoon. 

(insert pics of CAWS here)

Guerrero

 

Gordlow

Naito

Edited July 26, 2023 by Gordlow

[J.T.]

Yeah, that FTW promo reminded me of the really bad Road Warriors promos where Hawk would lead off with badassery, pass the mic to Animal, and then all you'd get was blarg garg garg.  Cash laid down the fucking law and then Dax told a story that had absolutely nothing to do about nothing.

Edited July 26, 2023 by J.T.

[The Natural]

14 hours ago, Gordlow said:

Also, I have finally gotten AEW Fight Forever for my Switch! Holy guacamole do I ever LOVE that game! I have only had it for a few days but I have been playing it obsessively, and just loving every moment of it. I have already unlocked Big Paul! Accidentally stumbled into it while running through the storyline mode to build up my Naito CAW. It took several tries, but I was finally able to beat him by count out. One of many huge mark-out moments the game has given me so far.

For all the justifiable complaining I have read about the CAW creation suite, it's still plenty fun and useful. The game overall just absolutely murders my commute time. I was in danger of missing my station yesterday afternoon. 

(insert pics of CAWS here)

Gordlow

Kind of you to notice. I do my best.

Also stupid sexy Gordlow.

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Natural

[The Natural]

Kota Ibushi's tweet translated:

I'm home It's my fault that I didn't know thumbtacks and glass after all this time. I have thin wrestling shoes, so it penetrated and it was just painful from the middle, and I ended up moving like an old man. I'm sorry! Far from being unable to kick, both ankles were stiff

Life with a cane for the first time in my life No, I'll be cured tomorrow! That is Kota Ibushi!

 

[Curt McGirt]

So he inadvertently had a Barefoot death match?

[The Natural]

5 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

So he inadvertently had a Barefoot death match?

I can't tag you so quoting you to say check out my new post in the NJPW G1 Climax 2023 thread. It's one for you.

Edited July 26, 2023 by The Natural