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AEW TV - 5/1 - 5/7/2024 - Little Ditty 'Bout Jack & Tony Khan


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Between Ishii busting Jericho's chest open with chops when he was ROH Champ and what Shibata did to him last night....overexposed or not, I can't be upset Jericho is on TV when you'll get stuff like that.  I loved the match last night.

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13 minutes ago, Log said:

These trunks seem to fit him better than his long ones did, so hoping he won't have to keep hiking his pants up during matches now.

 

I thought they looked better on him too

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There are upsides and downsides to the idea of mimicking the promo stylings of 1980s World Championship Wrestling episodes where there’s 20 promos in 2 hours and everybody comments on the main angle even if they’re not involved in it

Just came to mind with the talk about lack of babyface outrage over the Elite

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1 hour ago, For Great Justice said:

I am and have been vehemently opposed to breaking up Best Friends. No one wants to see these guys fight.

Now, that said, if you want to salvage this, then AEW’s version of Endgame to rescue the promotion from Elite tyranny later this year should have a reunited Best Friends - as the true heart and soul of the company from day one - neutralizing the Bucks while Omega deals with Okada. 

That's awesome.  Add a reunited Sanatana and Ortiz to that mix somehow and you're cookin'.

18 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

Between Ishii busting Jericho's chest open with chops when he was ROH Champ and what Shibata did to him last night....overexposed or not, I can't be upset Jericho is on TV when you'll get stuff like that.  I loved the match last night.

Ibushi vs Jericho was so much better than that absolutely ponderous Copeland/Murphy match it wasn't even funny.

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Well, Rampage cut off my fucking barbed wire entanglement. Not only that but everything I was writing in "real" time/fast-forward got erased by the board when I clicked on a new post. Grrrrr...

Anyway, good Buddy Matthews/Edge match, he shows a lot of personality when he gets to step out of the group, and spits up blood for my sick pleasure. They finished with like four different WWE finishers which was amusing. The Jericho match was also very amusing; very much NOT to my sick pleasure was seeing his knee smack right into poor Shibata's pong. Jericho deserved a whole commercial break's worth of chopping after that. The garbage can intimidation was hilarious. Joe's Mr. Magoo walkaway was too.

Man there was a lot of wrestling on this show... I skipped right over not only the talk (lot of that too) but also Claudio/Cage, KOR/Rocky (duh), something else... the Serena/Mariah match was good. What's tough about Serena is that her tech has terrible torque (HA!). Christian vs. Swerve should be good, but the kid needs to wear more than just a Polo, get some expensive chinos so you look super preppy. Your mom is dressing up now so do it proper. Could care less about the ELITE DRAMA~~~. DAMMIT, I wanted my barbed wire!

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I wasn’t entirely sure until it happened if Rampage would have an overrun but I should have figured that they weren’t gonna do a 45 minute Rampage. Modern Family reruns were not safe last night.

New AEW “show” idea: AEW Uncut. With the content that aired in the overrun after everybody’s recordings went off.

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5 hours ago, hammerva said:

i hope I am just being paranoid but I have a bad feeling that Kris Statlander is turning heel on Willow .  I did pop for "if Mick Foley was a Teletubby"   😂

I'm actually hoping she does turn heel if it gets her out of her current role. I like Statlander a lot and her being the cheerleader/lackey to someone else isn't (my) ideal. I don't have an overall issue with it as not everyone can go for the title at once, wrestlers have to find other things to do, but eventually I'd like her to break away from this group and turn into an ass kicker again.

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For some reason, the Shibata covered in a garbage can, slowly backing Jericho into a corner while no-selling kendo stick shots to the can, felt like something out of a Survival Tobita match and I loved it.

Also, for the love of all the is holy, don’t have Shibata take a fucking table bump, especially on the neck area!

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So last night was our only AEW TV of the week, yeah? We had Rampage already, and Collision is pre-empted. That's a shame.

Opening the show by having the Bucks tease that Kenny is going to be the title challenger, only to have it be Christian instead, that was a good bit of heeling. And no doubt the next month of TV angles of having Christian mess with Swerve is going to be lots of fun too. I'm assuming that they mostly pre-cut the dreadlock they ripped off, because hair usually doesn't tear that easily (or painlessly). Are they going to make it a hair vs hair match for the title? Be a real treat, having a hair vs hair match when neither guy is actually balding.

And the keep the Canadian-ness flowing by having home country babyface Adam Copeland come out next. I thought there was a fan in the front row dressed as Suicide from TNA, but he was just pairing a Danhausen mask with a red hoodie. And then the match went over 20 minutes, and was surprisingly based around Buddy being hurt, rather than Adam. I would expect that since the angle here is that Copeland is running the HoB gauntlet, it would be the other two breaking him down for Malakai to pick his bones, but they went another way. The angle with Malakai telling Adam to hit the Concerto (because Con-chair-to is the WWE spelling, innit?), that implies thay we're more doing psychological fuckery, rather than simply physical damage. But no doubt Brody will knock seven bells out of him next week anyway. Considering they did the disappearing act, they were very kind to not steal the TNT title belt while he was still unsighted.

Using a bag of Hockey Pucks as a weapon is a low-key genius play. Both because it's a troll move to tease that it's a bag of thumbtacks or glass, and because to the fans in the building, it's the national sport, they know exactly what a hockey puck feels like. They probably know how much it hurts to be hit by one. So it's an ideal pro-wrestling weapon to those fans in the building. Not to me though, I've never touched a Hockey Puck in my life. For all I know, they're soft and rubbery. Halfway through Jericho vs Shibata, and both men have acquired winestain birthmarks across their whole entire chests. If chops causing muscle atrophication are the reason for Jericho's gappy pecs, then this match alone will have exposed a couple more inches of ribcage down the middle there.

The trashcan spot, it reminded me of something. Arn Anderson. Arn presented himself as a "Wrestling is a Serious Business" wrestler. A no nonsense, serious, straight ahead asskicking Wrestler. He would sometimes get booked against comedy wrestlers, and he would just act so outraged and offended at being put in these humourous situations. "All of these shenanigans are making a mockery of the business" was his demeanor. And some fans got sucked into that, and started thinking he was the embodiment of that philosophy. He wasn't. It was a work. He actually loved the comedy, he just realised that his best role within the comedy was as the outraged straight man, so that's what he did. And I think there's a possibility that Shibata might be a man after his whole heart. The fact that, on his big comeback, the one person he wanted to work with was Orange Cassidy, that implies that his ambitions for his wrestling went beyond his Straight Shooter Inokiism routine. And ultimately, if you're going to have your no DQ match be a WWE comedy hardcore style match (and considering what was planned for later in the night, this really should have been that style), breaking out some new funny spots, instead of the hackneyed old used-to-be-funny spots, that's a good thing.

Mariah May is underrated as a technical wrestler, she had no problem keeping up with Serena Deeb here. Considering she's a wrestler who absolutely could just be coasting on her looks and natural charisma, but she doesn't half bust a gut to have a good match.

Speaking of busting a gut, here's Kenny Omega...

Kenny is an underrated promo. Perhaps because he's not very WWE-ish in his delivery, he feels like a more natural talker. Like he's a guy who's good at talking from the heart, rather than being a guy who is good at delivering a scripted promo. Although arguably he's one of the best talkers in the business, because he can cut a good promo in English or in Japanese. Hardly anyone is a good promo in more than one language.

(Are they doing Omega vs Okada IV at Wembley? He said Give me a couple of months, and then got storyline re-injured... so that could extend his injury to August)

The Hammerlock into a Clothesline is now known as "The Hammerlock into a Clothesline" in AEW, rather than the Pepsi Twist. Even though AEW is the Pepsi of wrestling.

We're spoiled with Dante Martin. Dante Martin having a generic Dante Martin match, it's mindblowing to fresh eyes, because his off the chart athleticism allows him to hit moves and do feats of movement that are unbelievable. But because he's on TV a lot, and does a lot of his spots in every match, they become less spectacular and more routine. It was a good match, between himself and Jay White. Not sure why the Bang Bang Gang have kept the Pink scissor Acclaimed belts for the AEW Six-man titles, instead of the old trios belts that The Elite and House of Black used. But keeping both sets of straps as two different sets of straps, that's a better look than unifying the titles to have them be represented by a single set.

Speaking of being a good promo in multiple languages, RUSH does a good promo in English and Spanish. Did RUSH vs Kenny ever happen? They should do that, as and when they can. It would probably be really good.

Rocky Romero made a tactical miscalculation, he targetted Kylo's healthy left arm, and not his withered right one. He is unfortunately Orndorff'ed out there now. Perhaps it will grow back in time.

And then Skye Blue and Willow Nightingale had a banger of a match to send us home happy (and revive a crowd that had to have been pretty burned out). Skye's bladejobs continue to be more crimson trickle than crimson mask, but better to bleed too little than too much. If she keeps wrestling in this style from time to time, she'll get the hang of it. If this was her last time going to this extreme, at least she's going out on a high note (other than losing, obviously. The tacks bump looked gnarlier on Willow than it did on Skye. And Fite cut the ending off because the overruns confused them. Skye put the Barbed Wire Board on the table, and the show ended. Thank fuck AEW put the finish on YouTube.

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2 minutes ago, AxB said:

I'm assuming that they mostly pre-cut the dreadlock they ripped off, because hair usually doesn't tear that easily (or painlessly).

See: the recent Dark Side episode for Chris Adams. I wonder if that's where they got the idea, actually. 

3 minutes ago, AxB said:

I thought there was a fan in the front row dressed as Suicide from TNA, but he was just pairing a Danhausen mask with a red hoodie.

The Fan Dress Award that night definitely went do the dude in the Bam Bam Bigelow shirt. That was the shit. 

Jay vs. Dante, that was the other one I FF'd over. Sorry boys. That would be your Rampage main event some other week. As far as KOR's Orndorff arm, remember that Foley said Paul worked on it so much that it became the stronger of the two. But it never did look any better.

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That spot was NASTY. Skye had to shred not only her back but the back of her head and neck from the slide of the impact. If you have any complaints about her blade job then you just need to watch that again. 

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Really, they should have filmed her getting cut free for socials. Get her to cut a promo in the medical room or something... although that only really works if she's swearing vengeance, and I think this match is supposed where the feud ends. Julia Hart being off injured for the forseeable, if they aren't going to have Skye take her spot in the House of Black, there's not really much to do with her right now. Perhaps the angle is that with Julia not around, her evil side starts to recede and she returns to her natural babyface act. And then when Julia is ready to come back, she can start haunting Skye's nightmares and tempting her back to the darkness once again.

More wrestlers should do deathmatches, lose, and then do post-match promos where they go "What was I thinking? I am an idiot! None of this was worth it, I'm never going to this extreme again!"

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I was more worried about Willow's derrière. She landed right on it delivering the Dr Bomb. Do we have a Willow booty update? Where's Brandon Cutler when you need him?

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14 minutes ago, Leonidas said:

I was more worried about Willow's derrière. She landed right on it delivering the Dr Bomb. Do we have a Willow booty update? Where's Brandon Cutler when you need him?

In all honesty, Willow took the worst of two weapon bumps with the barbed wire to the rear (not that Skye's bump was pleasant but Willow sat right on it) and the brain buster to the tacks where she seemed to land right in them. I love these matches but if they keep them to one a month or two, that'll be okay. 

I hope Skye doesn't get lost in the shuffle with Willow moving on to Mercedes. She's been working very hard lately and really becoming a good worker. 

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Adam Copeland: so let me get this straight, Tony. After spending 25 years in WWE, I come to AEW and after six months you want me to work an angle where some evil black mist from a satanic cult leader makes me almost turn evil?

Tony: You said you wanted to work House of Black, it’s the only way Malakai will put you over...

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Regarding @AxB comment about hockey pucks, they are not soft. It’s galvanized rubber. They’re hard as fuck. Like, slightly harder and more dense than an LJN wrestling figure. I thought the most painful thing on the show was Jericho winging one right at Shibata’s face. They’re the type of hard, like a baseball or softball, where even if it’s lightly thrown at you, it’s going to fucking sting, in the face anyway. So that had to suck.

But all in all this was a really fun episode. I like that they’re just staying consistent and not hot shotting anything because of some weak ratings. Just stay the course and keep adding more and more storyline stuff each week.

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49 minutes ago, JLowe said:

Adam Copeland: so let me get this straight, Tony. After spending 25 years in WWE, I come to AEW and after six months you want me to work an angle where some evil black mist from a satanic cult leader makes me almost turn evil?

Tony: You said you wanted to work House of Black, it’s the only way Malakai will put you over...

Looool didn’t he quit the Judgment Day gimmick because it was going to be all spooky shenanigans?  
 

@AxB I swore that was a Suicide mask, too!

 

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Some other things about this show…

I was wrong to criticize Jericho so quickly. I think the Hook match still stunk, but this is maybe the best trolling heel shtick he’s done since he returned to WWE with the LED jacket and was in that multi man tag match where he got tagged in danced around, pumped up the crowd, immediately tagged out, and then left. Plus, I think pairing him with Big Bill will only help Bill even more. This is a really good reinvention for Jericho.

How in the fuck did this company get me to give a shit about non-Jungle Boy Jack Perry? That CM Punk thing was maybe the best thing to happen to him. In fact, I think this version of the Elite is maybe its best iteration. Jack Perry in this role reminds me a lot of Brian Pillman before he left WCW.

The whole angle is humming along too. I got a good laugh out of the opening of the show, thought teasing Omega as Swerve’s opponent only for it to be Christian was brilliant.

That’s also another great example of everything mattering. I think it sometimes takes too long for it to matter, but Christian looping around to the attack on Nick and losing that tag match was excellent. 

There’s also a ton of really interesting wrinkles with other storylines, like what Callis is doing with Trent and OC, the slow build to Stat turning on Willow, and if May will see that Toni is afraid of her.

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3 hours ago, Craig H said:

Like, slightly harder and more dense than an LJN wrestling figure.

If someone hit their opponent with an LJN King Kong Bundy, I’d buy that as a death finisher. 

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Posted (edited)
56 minutes ago, Log said:

If someone hit their opponent with an LJN King Kong Bundy, I’d buy that as a death finisher. 

Hitting someone with a LJN Bundy is illegal in 12 states and might also be against the Geneva Convention.

Edited by Technico Support
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