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AEW TV - 3/20 - 3/26/2024 - Do You Wanna Ride In My Mercedes Boy?


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This Mercedes booking is really starting to remind me of when Saraya came in. Massive initial pop. Sustained follow-up reaction.  But Mone single=handedly fighting off the TBS champ and Skye Blue, hinting at Willow (who should pretty much only be face...and get some better theme music while I'm at it!) turning on her, then getting in Willows face reminds me of the crowd completely turning on Saraya. Also, it's really funny to have Mone and the announcers having to talk about Willow injuring her when it was my understanding she slipped off the turnbuckle, right?!

I would be down for a heel Mone with Stokely Hathaway doing her promos for her though.

Also if you don't know hockey, that spot in the penalty box probably didn't make a ton of sense to you but there's a fair amount of backstory to the Toronto-Boston feud that explains why the crowd went nuclear when the the good guy not only put on his hometeam jersey but put the Bruins jersey on the bad guy. It was like 15 years of hockey disappointment being let out at once!

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For some former WWE talent it takes a bit to get acclimated to AEW’s way of doing promos and stories. Mercedes, Saraya, Cope, Christian, Miro, and I’m imagining hundreds more that makes my point not stupid. 

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1 hour ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

@Octopuswell said, and if I had the wherewithal yesterday I'd have said similar.

I think BFs are like a natural evolution of the same kind of 'wish fulfillment' character that made like Steve Austin super easy to identify with in the '90s (who doesn't wanna kick their boss' ass?) or for a more contemporary example, Hangman during his initial journey to the title (an anxious millennial is typing this!) but just less... Antisocial? If that's the correct word.

Fulfilling the impossible wish of being in your 30s and still having four friends that can get together regularly.

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18 minutes ago, caley said:

Also if you don't know hockey, that spot in the penalty box probably didn't make a ton of sense to you but there's a fair amount of backstory to the Toronto-Boston feud that explains why the crowd went nuclear when the the good guy not only put on his hometeam jersey but put the Bruins jersey on the bad guy. It was like 15 years of hockey disappointment being let out at once!

I thought it was a bit too convenient that somebody had a Bruins jersey right near somebody with a Leafs jersey (well, the Leafs one is completely logical but I digress)  But whether they were plants or not I laughed at that and enjoyed the hockey elements.

But aside from that I was oddly bored by the I Quit match and I'm not sure if it isn't just a "me" problem.  Did I expect lots of blood?  Did I expect Christian to make Adam's situation much more dire?  Or maybe I was just looking for more overall hatred in the match and things felt a bit too scripted for my liking.  Maybe all of the above (though the first possible reason might have depended on WBD's stance on blood nowadays)  But something just felt off since the build was pretty damn solid.

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1 hour ago, The Natural said:

I still want Eddie Kingston to win the AEW World Championship at some point. Figure Swerve Strickland beats Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at AEW Dynasty but loses it to Will Ospreay at AEW All In London. Who beats Ospreay?

Okada

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2 hours ago, MKERyan said:

I realize this is your schtick when it comes to Cole, the Bucks, etc. but it’s just such a weird fucking take.

As a 42 year old relatively beefy guy, there’s plenty of dudes I don’t find “imposing” or “intimidating”. Top Flight, Kommander, Fenix, Swerve, to name a few. I sure do like watching them wrestle though. Not being a fan is fine, whatever, different strokes, but having that reason being because you wouldn’t be scared to fight them is really bizarre. It’s fake dude.

That's fair. It kills my suspension of disbelief, I guess. And it's not about size, per se. Bryan Danielson is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and he's small. I love watching Komander and Swerve and a lot of those guys you mentioned. Maybe I don't do a good job of explaining it. It has much more to do with how they wrestle relative to their style. That's my issue with Cole, in particular. If he worked as a chickenshit heel who connived his way to victory and hid behind his friends until the right moment, I'd get it. I still wouldn't enjoy him, but I'd get it. It's these guys who are small and work big. Cole is the worst culprit. With Best Friends, I just don't understand the appeal. I like Orange Cassidy. Trent and Chuck are just the definition of "there." Maybe it's just Chuck, because I don't mind Rappongi Vice at all. 

Listen, I'll be the first one to tell you I've got hang-ups about shit. I think it's garbage when a guy like Adam Cole gets to stare down Karrion Kross without consequence, because it's not based in reality at all. I don't like when the Jacksons get to saunter away from a match against Mox and Kingston, because it's not based in reality at all. "Worked" doesn't mean "free of the laws of physics." If that doesn't bother y'all, more power to you. It bugs the shit out of me.

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4 hours ago, Infinit said:

Last night was so much fun!

Got some pretty good comped seats thanks to my bro and board alum Rob Viper

There isn't a bad seat in the entire Coca-Cola Coliseum. Nice view over there. 

4 hours ago, The Natural said:

Thank for these. Glad you had a great time. Hope HarryArchieGus did as well.

Natch, you're a kind gentleman. Yes, I absolutely did have a great time. Here's what I saw and felt...

Caps lock TK promo prior to the countdown. Mercedes promo to kick off the show. No, I won't chant 'CEO'. The crowd reaction was good, but a bit milder than you want after a week. Throwing to a video of herself? Ugh, please turn her heel - I promise I'll like her in that role. I'm not at all into putting weird heat on Willow, but I am patient enough to see how this plays out. I was not at all a fan of this lame opening segment, but I suppose it served its purpose. Bucks/Okada promo was tremendous fun. Alex Marvez has found his best role. We noticed that Ferrari on the way into the building. Everybody riding in on the 511 saw it too. Eddie v Okada was spectacular. Our section was dealing with some kind of offshoot of the Cult of Cornette determined to get himself over at the expense of Okada. It was kind of amusing to imagine how this obnoxious malcontent makes his way thru a day. It was easy to imagine some beatings he's received. Adjustments were made, and I loved this match as much as the arena. Great heat! Eddie Kingston is a total pro, and made Okada here. And heel Okada is one of the best things in pro wrestling right now. Bucks on production were tremendous. Okada v Pac! Swerve promo was good. I really dug Jericho v Hook. Truly selfless performance from Lionheart. I also like the prospects of a heel turn - I suspect that's where that promo was leading? Great showcase for Hook. Adam Cole promo was fine, if a bit corny in it's telegraphing of the future. Does Wardy and MJF reunite out of this nonsense? Will Ospreay promo was how ya do it. Maybe Mercedes was paying attention? Toni/Mariah v Thunder/Deonna was a slight affair, and a bit disappointing for that reason. I need to rewatch this. Did Rosa no sell the best move in wrestling? I'd love for Mariah to find a way out of the cosplay. It's been fun and all, but I much prefer her own presentation. Swerve v Butcher was a nice surprise. Very pleased to see Butch, and he gave Swerve a nice showcase. Slight points taken for his bad moving into position (hopefully not caught on TV) for the stomp, but let's forget about that. Excellent promo segment with Joe and especially the always top notch Don (NUCLEAR HEAT for that treat). Christian v Adam Copeland was so fun to be in that arena for. Great, great heat! A lot of the actual match was out of my view (I don't like looking at the screen), so I wanna take a look at the televised version before offering too much opinion. I wasn't crazy about the overbooked finish, which I did see, but it was too fun to complain. I also wanna see the Jay White/Asses promo which I mostly missed. It sounded fun. The Acclaimed promo on the otherhand. Ugh. It felt like a long lecture from a pair of blowhard goofs. I really want these guys to get on track, but that was awful to have to sit thru. OC/Trent v Fletcher/Hobbs was a total darkhorse for match of the night. All 4 pros. Fletcher and OC had some beautiful looking exchanges. Hobbs continuously powerslaming Orange on the lip of the ring was amongst my favorite spots all night. Loved this match! Shibata squash was an absolute treat. Very much looking forward to Ospreay v Shibata! Missed the Copeland celebration. Takeshita v Rocky was really good until the Blue Thunder Bomb nonfinish. Such a bummer, but not enough for me to forget my enjoyment prior. Rocky's a great hand, but whomever made that call failed as a producer. The hot crowd was ice cold for the beginning of Stat/Willow v Julia/Skye. Only caught the beginning. Exhaustion was setting in, so my lady friend and I hit the bricks to beat the rush out. I've heard good things tho. I'm gonna play it back today hopefully, but I got a matinee date to get to with Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his 'About Dry Grasses'. Anyway, yeah, I loved the live experience of this show. Definitely worth @DEAN's patented 'AEWrulesthemotherfuckingworld'. What a card shaping up for Quebec City! 

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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3 hours ago, Octopus said:

For some former WWE talent it takes a bit to get acclimated to AEW’s way of doing promos and stories. Mercedes, Saraya, Cope, Christian, Miro, and I’m imagining hundreds more that makes my point not stupid. 

She pitched to a video package in a show-opening promo. I might as well be watching pandemic-era Raw. What a strange choice. 

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1 minute ago, John from Cincinnati said:

She pitched to a video package in a show-opening promo. I might as well be watching pandemic-era Raw. What a strange choice. 

In 3-4 months she’ll be in a barbed wire death match. Give it time.

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Aside from that, I really enjoyed Dynamite. I was a moronic doubter about Okada clicking on weekly American TV. But he’s smart and the audience is bought in. Happy to be wrong. I think Ibou of WP said he heard from someone in WWE creative (if I’m recalling this incorrectly, I apologize) that the pitch for him there was Gunther with subtitles, which sounded better than anything I could imagine AEW doing with him given the pace of these shows and how quickly things get moved on from segment by segment.  My mistake, this rules so far. 
 

Some awkward moments in the Hook-Jericho match, but the right result and I’m glad they’ve followed up on Hook vs Joe. Hope this doesn’t go sideways like so much Jericho stuff. 
 

Bring on the E&C tag run in the near future.

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Dynamite has been on a hot streak.  Everything feels important now.  There was very little in the way of throwaway matches or segments.  You could argue Jericho/Hook but there was a story there and Hook suplexed him about 47 times so fuck yeah sign me up. 

Mercedes with another superstar entrance and another CM Punk "happy to be here promo" which is fine for now.  I liked her short little promo in the back better putting Willow on notice.  

Ospreay cut another great promo, I'd like to see him and Danielson in the ring at the same time soon...   have a little back and forth before Dynasty.  

Copeland and Christian was a solid "I Quit" Match.  Not my favorite but the crowd was pretty hot for it.  

All of the women on the Rampage street fight worked their asses off.  That was way better than expected. 

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I'm LOVING dickhead Okada but at the same time Eddie didn't look like he belonged in the ring with him.  AEW has to do better with some of these people's attire... Eddie looked like he was an indy wrestler working for $5 and a hot dog.  I like him and he's a great promo but fucksake, invest a tiny little bit into your wardrobe please. 

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It's got to be REALLY depressing to be Jericho, be playing a face (Not sure why he thinks going back to the terrible Lionheart moniker and old music will help...might as well go back to "Christian" Chris Jericho...), wrestling in Canada, and getting booed and having them cheer Hook over you (Not that Hook is bad or anyone uncheerable, but this is Jericho in Canada!).

I think he's turned heel on so many people recently that no one is buying this face run as anything but building up some goodwill before another turn, as well as the allegations against him creating a tidal wave of aminosity/indifference. I think the best thing for him would be to form another faction with under-appreciated guys/gals or maybe a reunion with Callis and go after the tag titles. Or maybe have his new faction invade and take over ROH and move him into a special attraction/manager role. 

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6 hours ago, caley said:

This Mercedes booking is really starting to remind me of when Saraya came in.

Speaking of which, they definitely have to do Mercedes/Saraya eventually since Mercedes did actually end her career lol 

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1 hour ago, elizium said:

He got new pants for the match!

Yeah those new flared bottom pants weren’t doing the Mad King any favors. Should go back to the old tucked into the boots look ASAP.

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1 hour ago, caley said:

It's got to be REALLY depressing to be Jericho, be playing a face (Not sure why he thinks going back to the terrible Lionheart moniker and old music will help...might as well go back to "Christian" Chris Jericho...), wrestling in Canada, and getting booed and having them cheer Hook over you (Not that Hook is bad or anyone uncheerable, but this is Jericho in Canada!).

I think he's turned heel on so many people recently that no one is buying this face run as anything but building up some goodwill before another turn, as well as the allegations against him creating a tidal wave of aminosity/indifference. I think the best thing for him would be to form another faction with under-appreciated guys/gals or maybe a reunion with Callis and go after the tag titles. Or maybe have his new faction invade and take over ROH and move him into a special attraction/manager role. 

Others have certainly mentioned it before, but he’s very very very overdue for a break from TV. A long one. His character is beyond stale and every turn and character tweak only makes things more muddled. Even him putting over young guys now is largely met with shrugs and never really serves to elevate anyone. Keep him around backstage, even on commentary if they must, but the audience definitely needs time to (hopefully?) start missing him again. 

Edited by MKERyan
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4 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Natch, you're a kind gentleman. Yes, I absolutely did have a great time. Here's what I saw and felt...


Caps lock TK promo prior to the countdown. Mercedes promo to kick off the show. No, I won't chant 'CEO'. The crowd reaction was good, but a bit milder than you want after a week. Throwing to a video of herself? Ugh, please turn her heel - I promise I'll like her in that role. I'm not at all into putting weird heat on Willow, but I am patient enough to see how this plays out. I was not at all a fan of this lame opening segment, but I suppose it served its purpose. Bucks/Okada promo was tremendous fun. Alex Marvez has found his best role. We noticed that Ferrari on the way into the building. Everybody riding in on the 511 saw it too. Eddie v Okada was spectacular. Our section was dealing with some kind of offshoot of the Cult of Cornette determined to get himself over at the expense of Okada. It was kind of amusing to imagine how this obnoxious malcontent makes his way thru a day. It was easy to imagine some beatings he's received. Adjustments were made, and I loved this match as much as the arena. Great heat! Eddie Kingston is a total pro, and made Okada here. And heel Okada is one of the best things in pro wrestling right now. Bucks on production were tremendous. Okada v Pac! Swerve promo was good. I really dug Jericho v Hook. Truly selfless performance from Lionheart. I also like the prospects of a heel turn - I suspect that's where that promo was leading? Great showcase for Hook. Adam Cole promo was fine, if a bit corny in it's telegraphing of the future. Does Wardy and MJF reunite out of this nonsense? Will Ospreay promo was how ya do it. Maybe Mercedes was paying attention? Toni/Mariah v Thunder/Deonna was a slight affair, and a bit disappointing for that reason. I need to rewatch this. Did Rosa no sell the best move in wrestling? I'd love for Mariah to find a way out of the cosplay. It's been fun and all, but I much prefer her own presentation. Swerve v Butcher was a nice surprise. Very pleased to see Butch, and he gave Swerve a nice showcase. Slight points taken for his bad moving into position (hopefully not caught on TV) for the stomp, but let's forget about that. Excellent promo segment with Joe and especially the always top notch Don (NUCLEAR HEAT for that treat). Christian v Adam Copeland was so fun to be in that arena for. Great, great heat! A lot of the actual match was out of my view (I don't like looking at the screen), so I wanna take a look at the televised version before offering too much opinion. I wasn't crazy about the overbooked finish, which I did see, but it was too fun to complain. I also wanna see the Jay White/Asses promo which I mostly missed. It sounded fun. The Acclaimed promo on the otherhand. Ugh. It felt like a long lecture from a pair of blowhard goofs. I really want these guys to get on track, but that was awful to have to sit thru. OC/Trent v Fletcher/Hobbs was a total darkhorse for match of the night. All 4 pros. Fletcher and OC had some beautiful looking exchanges. Hobbs continuously powerslaming Orange on the lip of the ring was amongst my favorite spots all night. Loved this match! Shibata squash was an absolute treat. Very much looking forward to Ospreay v Shibata! Missed the Copeland celebration. Takeshita v Rocky was really good until the Blue Thunder Bomb nonfinish. Such a bummer, but not enough for me to forget my enjoyment prior. Rocky's a great hand, but whomever made that call failed as a producer. The hot crowd was ice cold for the beginning of Stat/Willow v Julia/Skye. Only caught the beginning. Exhaustion was setting in, so my lady friend and I hit the bricks to beat the rush out. I've heard good things tho. I'm gonna play it back today hopefully, but I got a matinee date to get to with Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan and his 'About Dry Grasses'. Anyway, yeah, I loved the live experience of this show. Definitely worth @DEAN's patented 'AEWrulesthemotherfuckingworld'. What a card shaping up for Quebec City! 

Thank you. Glad you had a great time.

Edited by The Natural
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2 hours ago, caley said:

It's got to be REALLY depressing to be Jericho, be playing a face (Not sure why he thinks going back to the terrible Lionheart moniker and old music will help...might as well go back to "Christian" Chris Jericho...), wrestling in Canada, and getting booed and having them cheer Hook over you (Not that Hook is bad or anyone uncheerable, but this is Jericho in Canada!).

I thought similarily, but I think they actually tailored a few things here to make certain Hook was the babyface. The entrance music being first and foremost. 

3 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I'm LOVING dickhead Okada but at the same time Eddie didn't look like he belonged in the ring with him.  AEW has to do better with some of these people's attire... Eddie looked like he was an indy wrestler working for $5 and a hot dog.  I like him and he's a great promo but fucksake, invest a tiny little bit into your wardrobe please. 

Flares and an even more pronounced overhang, but Eddie's in ring acumen and all around genius easily rises above these poor presentation choices. I may be alone, but I find the yellow kickpads shabby as well. I know, I know Kawada. Other than Mariah May, whom I'd really like to see revert back to her own (far better) look sooner than later, I find the cosplay in AEW consistently awful. Remember that Ninja Turtle backpack looking thing Adam Cole wore for his big PPV title match? There are so many great examples of awful cosplay gear. And regular gear.

Also, my gawd, the music last night was just awful. Fucking Alter Bridge sing-a-long. That Will Ospreay theme is unbelievably shitty. As is the somehow-worse-than-the-original new Dynamite theme. Buttrock galore! I was so thankful for Action Bronson last night. And Jane!

Edited by HarryArchieGus
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Judas vibes from the crowd singing Metalingus!  Meltzer mentioned awhile back how the plans to move Jericho in to a tag team role kept getting derailed, first with the Golden Jets going for the titles but Kenny got hurt, then Jericho & Sammy were going to be in the tournament but Sammy got suspended and so Jericho got moved on to Hook. 

11 hours ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

I don't know why I had this thought, because I have literally zero evidence or indication to support it, but as I was watching I kinda wondered to myself if this was a "backdoor pilot" for a three-hour Wednesday just to see how it does

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics also mentioned this,
"Rampage following Dynamite tonight can be seen as a test of whether Dynamite could be a 3-hour program. If a scheduler coldly had to choose between Rampage, Fri at 10p or a 3rd hour of Dynamite, Wed at 10p, the answer seems obvious. Tonight's rating will quantify it."
 

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8 hours ago, Octopus said:

Cope

That dude's barely figured out he needed to stop talking for a half hour at a pop

Eddie could probably wear anything and the answer to it would still be "Don't you get it? It's not the clothes. It's ME." The dude just looks like a schlub. Tommy Dreamer pants, Kawada kickpads, straps up or down, he's not ever gonna look good. If he's comfortable with it, you should be able to get over it too. 

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2 minutes ago, DreamBroken said:

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics also mentioned this,
"Rampage following Dynamite tonight can be seen as a test of whether Dynamite could be a 3-hour program. If a scheduler coldly had to choose between Rampage, Fri at 10p or a 3rd hour of Dynamite, Wed at 10p, the answer seems obvious. Tonight's rating will quantify it."
 

I'm praying NO to 3 hour Dynamites, but excess is kind of the name of the Khan game. Seems obvious the Rampage rating goes up from usual, but the potentially negative effect on Dynamite going to 3 is something I hope they seriously weigh. Tho, UGH, suddenly feels ineviable.

I'm partially against this because I watch Dynamite before work on Thursday mornings, and 3 hours will throw a wrench into the works. It's also kinda passed my single sitting threshold.

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