ALL IN III - 8/25/2024

[Hail Sabin]

5 hours ago, ExcellenceofAirPollution said:

3 things that nobody mentioned

- Taz buried Ricochet on commentary when he didn't nail his flip dive perfectly, "looks like Ricochet will fit right in" *stunned silence from X for a moment like, "dude, we're not on a commercial break" .  Pissed me off.  It's bad enough out there, don't add fuel to the fire.  Is there some past indy beef I don't know about?

- BUN MF'N B

- Where the fuck exactly did Bryan blade?  Because he got dropped back of the head to a ringbell....

I think I need to do a longer post about the show at some point

I think Bryan Bladed His Ear. 

[Zakk_Sabbath]

8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

How about we just have a whole episode of four of the champs playing poker.

Kevin Pollack on commentary or we riot

[just drew]

Finally got to watch the whole show. Lots of good. It did make me laugh that a certain poster here said that Mercedes "wouldn't let" her match with Britt be bad... and it was awful. By far the worst match on the show, and not exactly a glowing payoff to what's been a decent build. I will concede that the general dogshit quality of the match was in no way her fault, she's just met her limit as to how bad a worker someone has to be in order to not hold up their end with Mercedes. At this point there's no upside to having Britt Baker where she is. You have better options. I hope this is her last high-profile angle for a good while. Give me more Hayter, Harley Cameron, Shida, Willow, Stat, Rosa, et al. There's no reason for Baker to be featured over these women.

[The Natural]

I will say as a Sasha Banks fan, her Mercedes Mone run has done little for me in AEW. The Mone Maker sucks as a finisher.

[just drew]

I think we all know my feelings on Mone's reality as opposed to her perception. Having said that, as much as I would love to blame her for the beshittedness of her match with Baker, that wasn't on her. If Baker wasn't sandbagging her, she was out of shape to the point where she shouldn't have been allowed to come back.

[HarryArchieGus]

On 8/28/2024 at 7:52 AM, Evil Otto said:

Out To Lunch, perhaps?

Big fan of 'Out To Lunch', but no. 'Out There' from 1960. A far less immediate listen. 

On 8/28/2024 at 7:29 AM, Matt D said:

Very good layout, totally fine execution (not always smooth but everything hit and it made it seem more competitive), dead crowd.   

I'm with Matt D.

[ka-to]

Did Sting ever use that music before? I was thinking wtf is Ci-ber-ne-ti-co doing here.

[The Natural]

44 minutes ago, ka-to said:

Did Sting ever use that music before?

Yeah, Sting's used Seek and Destroy in AEW a few times. AEW All In 2023, AEW Revolution 2024 and AEW All In 2024. WCW also.

[ka-to]

15 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Yeah, Sting's used Seek and Destroy in AEW a few times. AEW All In 2023, AEW Revolution 2024 and AEW All In 2024. WCW also.

I guess that Man Called Sting is just stuck in my head. I loved that song and still sing it for no reason in the high voice.

I certainly like Sting more than Cibernetico, but totally forgot that he used that music. 

Sting is one of the few wrestlers with a long career that never did anything that I didn't like and if he did something stupid it was the right amount of stupid that I liked it.

Edited August 30 by ka-to

[The Natural]

57 minutes ago, ka-to said:

I guess that Man Called Sting is just stuck in my head. I loved that song and still sing it for no reason in the high voice.

I certainly like Sting more than Cibernetico, but totally forgot that he used that music. 

Sting is one of the few wrestlers with a long career that never did anything that I didn't like and if he did something stupid it was the right amount of stupid that I liked it.

Hope you enjoy this:

https://deathvalleydriver.com/forum/index.php?/topic/10844-thank-you-sting/#comment-1359226

[Shartnado]

Man, lot to unpack here.

The opener had a LOT of talent in there, and by talent I mean PAC, Claudio and Buddy Matthews. I would have been fine with any other winner aside from the Bang Bang Gang, so this was good. Nice to see PAC having his moment. Great, great action.

Women's World title match wasn't a classic, but really good stuff, told a dramatic story and crowned a new queen. An epic conclusion to a long storyline, or was this just the second act, after all? We'll see.

Hook vs Jericho was what it was, reactions to Big Bill were something else! That's worthy of WTF?-Title right there! Ok, so Jericho's theme is a Fozzy song, as I suspected, but it's called "Spotlight", not "The Learning Tree"! Shit, that may actually qualify for being literally ironic, but I guess nothing really does? Taz choking out a motherfucker was nice to see.

The 3-way tag title match was definitely good action, especially mixed partners doing each others finishers. I suspected this would end in a bummer and was right, but GYV coming in was still a wonderful surprise. The legitimate tag team scene being reduced to 3 teams at the moment, this was definitely needed. Now throw some money at MCMG's even for a 6 month deal, or something!

Casino Gauntlet was amazing with all the shockers! Good to put Okada in there from the start, just to show people, yes, you're getting him for the price of your ticket as well! Then the surprises started coming. Nice for Roddy to actually get into the match here. He was among the people hoping that Danielson would be the champ at the end of the night, as was Nigel (who must have been making plans for himself here, ironically). ZSJ, Jarrett and Ricochet were wonderful additions. Hangman was among the ones hoping for Swerve to win, but ONLY if he was successful here, so he went the other way later on. Was this Christian Cage's masterplan OR Killswitch's way of securing his father's love and approval? Either way, the swerve here took a lot of the wind off the sails of the eventual turn, if there is to be one. I was fearing we'd end up with that giant dick, Christian Cage as the World Champion at the end of the night, but I guess he will pick the shittiest possible moment to do it, just to twist the knife in the wound of the audience.

CEO vs DMD did definitely pick up by the end, biting the fingers before the lock jaw is applied was actually shrewd strategy and I'm all for Kamille, but the absolute silence to CEO's (yet another) victory told a story here. If you thought the buyer's remorse on Saraya was bad... holy shit! CEO's theme is sampling WALTER's classical theme, right? The only good part in either of those themes.

Will Ospreay vs MJF was magnificent, but probably not on the level of the first match. When they said the diamond ring was stolen, I was first like Adam Cole? But then it dawned on me that it had to be Garcia. Yeah. The finish was catarthic and the most beautiful Tiger Driver'91 so far, by Ospreay.

Darby vs Jungle Jesus was a brutal affair. Gluing thumbtacks on your face to use it as a battering ram sure is a life choice that Darby made. I wonder if that "Cry me a River real Glass" was the previous year's windshield all ground up? Nice touch, if it was! Not for Perry's back, however, but the overall sentiment was appreciated. I was actually a bit shocked how emphatically Jungle Jesus won here. Things were looking really grim after the match, but paraphrasing Dirty DanSTING here, "Nobody sets Darby on Fire", and The Young Bucks get their asses handed to them by Sting once more! Good. Was looking quite bad there for a moment.

The crowd sure got to sing a whole bunch tonight (although I doubt anyone knew the lyrics to the Fozzy song) with Seek and Destroy followed directly by The Final Countdown. There was no way the match was going to surpass that entrance, but the drama was still off the charts. Lots of really nifty stuff throughout. Swerve brushing off the first (or second?) flying knee was a "oh, fuck"-moment. The ending was great and all things considered, a surprise. The crowd was sent home really happy and fortunately, no Christian Cage shitting into the collective punch bowl, here! Thank goodness. Buddy Danielson seemed more interested in confetti than congratulating his dad, but that's kids for ya! Just ask Christian, he'll tell you!

 

 

 

[The Natural]

My updated top 30 Bryan Danielson matches:

30. Bryan Danielson vs. Low-Ki vs. Christopher Daniels. ROH The Era of Honour Begins  2002.

29. Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles. WWE Smackdown Live, 6th June 2020. My 2020 WWE MOTY.

28. Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk. WWE Over The Limit 2012.

27. Daniel Bryan vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Kane vs. Sheamus vs. Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Sin Cara. WWE Money in the Bank 2011.

26. Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley. AEW Revolution 2022.

25. Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023.

24. Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong. ROH Vendetta 2005.

23. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns. WWE Smackdown Live, 30th April 2021.

22. Daniel Bryan/Kane/Ryback vs. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns. WWE TLC 2012.

21. The New Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jeff Hardy. WWE Elimination Chamber 2019.

20. Bryan Danielson/Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley/Santana/Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho/Daniel Garcia/Jake Hager/Angelo Parker/Matt Menard. AEW Double or Nothing 2022. *****.

19. Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki. AEW The Buy In: Rampage, 15th October 2021. *****.

18. Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Adam Page. AEW Dynamite, 6th January 2022. *****.

17. Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay. AEW Dynasty 2024. *****.

16. Daniel Bryan vs. Antonio Cesaro. WWE RAW, 22nd July 2013. *****.

15. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus. WWE Extreme Rules 2012. *****.

14. Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. *****.

13. Bryan Danielson vs. MJF. AEW Revolution 2023. *****.

12. Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks. AEW All Out 2023. *****.

11. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton vs. Batista. WWE WrestleMania XXX. *****.

10. Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA. ROH Glory by Honor V 2006. *****.

9. Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima. ROH Manhattan Mayhem II 2007. *****. My 2007 MOTY.

8. Bryan Danielson/Samoa Joe/Adam Peace/BJ Whitmer/Homicide vs. Chris Hero/Claudio Castagnoli/Necro Butcher/Eddie Kingston/Nate Webb. ROH Death Before Dishonor IV. *****. My MOTY for 2006.

7. Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Adam Page. AEW Winter is Coming Dynamite, 15th December 2021. *****.

6. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka 2024. *****.

5. The New Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles. WWE TLC 2018. *****.

4. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega. AEW Dynamite, 22nd September 2021. *****. My 2021 MOTY.

3. Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. AEW WrestleDream 2023. *****. My 2023 MOTY.

2. Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland. AEW All In 2024. *****. My 2024 MOTY.

1. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena. WWE SummerSlam 2013. *****. My 2013 MOTY.

Edited August 31 by The Natural

[AxB]

3 hours ago, Shartnado said:

Buddy Danielson seemed more interested in confetti than congratulating his dad, but that's kids for ya!

I kept some Danielson confetti. Nice red, white and yellow bits of tissue paper. Then again, I've also still got my MJF confetti from last year.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

12 hours ago, The Natural said:

Yeah, Sting's used Seek and Destroy in AEW a few times. AEW All In 2023, AEW Revolution 2024 and AEW All In 2024. WCW also.

 

12 hours ago, ka-to said:

I guess that Man Called Sting is just stuck in my head. I loved that song and still sing it for no reason in the high voice.

I certainly like Sting more than Cibernetico, but totally forgot that he used that music. 

Sting is one of the few wrestlers with a long career that never did anything that I didn't like and if he did something stupid it was the right amount of stupid that I liked it.

To be the MOST pedantic, shitty little nerd ever: though AEW licensed the far superior original studio version (as God intended), WCW used a live version from Woodstock '99 which starts with a little bit of feedback from the ending of the "Nothing Else Matters" solo. I've never confirmed this, but I always was of the belief that it may have had something to do with the WCW Mayhem album coming out on Tommy Boy records while Metallica was still locked up in their Elektra deal (They've got their own vanity imprint now, but I believe WB Music still distributes, so maybe a little corporate synergy there w the more recent usage?) Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

3 hours ago, The Natural said:

Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena. WWE SummerSlam 2013. *****. My 2013 MOTY.

Apologies for the back to back posts, but I was going over this list (no notes!) and had a thought:

What do you think the reaction would be if Jungle Jack/Danielson followed basically this exact formula, but with Danielson in the Cena role?

There's the obvious risk that it could lean lean so far into the "subverting expectations" column that it would piss off the audience in that WWE-at-its-nadir, more-than-just-heat way - but man, as far as the opportunity to create something legitimately shocking, I'd at least be tempted to give it some thought.

[Log]

Please no.

[Shartnado]

On 8/26/2024 at 7:28 AM, Octopus said:

I feel that as the stars of yesterday get older and work their way towards retirement and/or back to WWE, we’ll see Swerve and MJF and Hangman potentially getting another run. I think all three resigned recently but I could be wrong and I don’t know contract lengths. 
For fun, let’s look at the current ages of the champions:

Jericho - 53

Mox - 38

Omega - 40

Hangman - 33

Punk - 45 (no longer with AEW)

MJF - 28

Samoa Joe - 45

Swerve - 33

Danielson - 43

Company is roughly 5 years old depending on if we’re starting with the first event or the first Dynamite, I don’t have the dates. 9 champions so far. Let’s assume we’ll get another 9 , or even less with having someone already listed winning again or a weird interim reign attempt. For fun, let’s guess the next 9 or less champions. I don’t see Jericho, Danielson, or Joe getting it again. I’m gonna guess not Omega but maybe he gets another run. I’ll guess no. Punk 98% isn’t coming back. You never know with people leaving for other companies, but I could see maaaaybe another title reign for any of the people under 40. 
Anyone of the WWE Universe fame or ROH/NJPW/[insert company here] that could win it? I think Orton signed another contract and likely won’t leave WWE, but I could have seen TK giving him a belt with his much the Elite guys were hyping him up during his last contract negotiations. McIntyre? ZSJ?

They have Okada now. I’m strongly guessing him in the next year or two. Ospreay is likely the flagship wrestler for the company when they crown him. There is talk of Darby and I could see that as a fun win but that is a big maybe. I thought Kingston, but I convinced myself he won’t get the Foley win and TK looks at the Continental run as just as good, pal. Maybe Malaki or Brodie? They could get hit with the right booking, but it hasn’t shown that yet. 

Mox will get a run if there is another calamity and he needs to be Mr AEW again.

It’s tough to see MJF, Swerve, and Hangman not getting another run with the belt within 5 years. Outside of new hires really becoming big, even then I feel the rise to the top is slow and AEW fumbles the consistency to keep a Starks or White hot. It all depends on booking and talent of the future. 

There is a non-zero chance that BOTH Christian Cage and Adam Copeland will get a run yet, but that must happen way sooner than later.

[The Natural]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GN1lWuIzQjA

Bryan Danielson, the new AEW World Champion celebrates with his family in the ring and backstage. Just added an hour ago.