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Grand Slam - 9/22/2021


The Natural

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This was my third Omega match ever and boy do I have thoughts about him, but you wouldn't like them, so I'll let that rest and inform you that I am excited to see Danielson against the rest of the roster, like QT Marshall and Avalon and Serpentico/Luther. Imagine what sort of creative things he'll do in those matches?

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I echo all the things folks said they liked about this show. My only two complaints are:

Sting needs to stop going over active competitors. I get that it’s a nostalgia thing, and ftr were probably overjoyed to do it, but there’s just no reason for it. 2.0 I get, because they’re mid card dweebs, but ftr is supposed to be a top act.

I feel like Ruby/Britt suffered from a lack of doubt as to the winner. That’s the reason I hate these long for lengths sake title reigns. Not every reign has to be epic. Sometimes you win a title and then lose it. Have Britt win it back at Full Gear. It felt like there needed to be a title change there.

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2 minutes ago, The Natural said:

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Sting/Darby Allin vs. FTR is my favourite AEW Sting match so far. That's how to use a legend. Sting's 62 but looks and moves younger. Great seeing Sting treat right.

What do you mean? Lose his first and only Wrestlemania match via sledgehammer shot and then shaking HHH's hand wasn't a WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT? 

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4 minutes ago, MoeCristyV.1.6 said:

Best Dynamite ever. 

 

The opener was all action and Cody Rhodes was booed! Awesome! 

Malakai is the truth! 

Danielson can put on epics in his sleep! 

And barely a Buck in sight. @just drew will approve!

Dream MOTYC -> Punk on the mic -> Pilman's kid against the hottest young heel -> Sting turning back the clock -> Malakai Black bringing the hurt to Cody and family -> Ruby going from underused to main-eventing their biggest show ever against arguably the most over homegrown talent (and, oh yeah, happens to be a woman). What a sequence of awesome in a 2-hour show. Those acoustics were unreal too.

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Something that I just thought of.

 

When we heard the Young Bucks were one of the forces behind AEW,  I don't think anyone doubted we were going to see some amazing matches. But after they "blew their wad" in "indy dream matches", what would sustain AEW? Once you've seen every dream match, where do you go?

And they have had some indy dream matches. But the storytelling has been great as well. Not just "Who's the better man" matches, like Danielson-Omega, but results in matches that build MORE dream matches, new dreams. They're not sacrificing long-term booking in the name of short-term pops.

Honestly, when the Bucks and Cole superkicked Danielson after the match, I was thinking "This would be the spot to bring Hangman back".. but they can hold that off for a while longer, since you have the Jurassic Express and Christian Cage available. I think we're all worried that Hangman's storyline is getting forgotten, but I don't think it is. One of these times when Omega is in those "Deep, deep waters", and calls in his cronies, Page is going to stop them, and the place is going to become unglued.

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Sting is Sting. Likely one of the top 10 most iconic characters in the entire history of US wrestling .. he's for the most part going over a bunch of relative scrubs who no casual viewer will likely be able to recall the names of in a trivia game a few years down the line. Totally the right decision.

 

Cody + Brandi trashy vibes were on max. Looked like they'd stumbled out of Myrtle Beach. Not sure what that Arn spot was all about .. either way, good they put Black over. Now move him on and away from Cody pronto before they get itchy fingers and some how turn it into an MJF/Jericho style program where Cody gets the last laugh (as a heel or otherwise).

Edited by A_K
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That atmosphere Omega vs Danielson had was unreal. Could have been the one and only Rampage match. Give me that Iron Man match now! 

Oh, and thanks New York. We hate Cody! What was that sequence with Brandy? That's an ejection! Not a spot for the supposed face. 

Edited by MoeCristyV.1.6
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I'm not sure about having Danielson/Omega open the show. Was it like with Punk's debut where they figured the crowd would be restless until they saw it, or didn't want to risk them being burnt out? Either way I liked the match but it felt like they didn't really kick into high gear until the end. I don't care much for Omega but it was good to see Danielson is still at the top of his game.

Punk's delivery was fine but he didn't really say anything he hasn't already.

MJF/Pillman was there. Not a bad match but it didn't have that much oomph to it.

I liked Evel Codevl/Tomuta End well enough but it seems like Arn legit slipped at the end and made the finishing sequence a bit awkward.

While I'm sure FTR were overjoyed to get to work with Sting, he's in the same boat as Goldberg and The Undertaker in that he's so slow and decrepit that he needs to not be working competitive matches. FTR doing the job here was a bad call.

The main event was great, though I think it was too early to put Ruby in a title match.

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I know I'm gushing about this card, but also, I have nothing but good things to say about the announcing. They added to the match, didn't distract from the stories being told while pumping everyone up. I love that even the face announcers appreciate good wrestling from heels (you can almost hear the fact that praising MJF causes Tony S physical pain).. They pointed out useful things (like Rebel and Hayter willing to sacrifice themselves if Soho wanted to suplex Baker to the outside)

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Also good work by Cleveland weather to get a baseball game banged due to rain so that I could watch the entire show entire of maybe the last hour or half hour after the baseball game ended or became uncompetitive.

I also thought of the Toronto/Tampa Bay "scouting note card" beef when Arn showed Cody a 'scouting report' (that looked a lot like a Waffle House menu). Sometimes real life books better absurd angles than pro wrestling.

Make sure to tune into the Cornette podcast to hear once again about how he has always hated that kind of elevated ramp. It was a very early 90s WCW sort of ramp and I don't wanna speculate about the realities of bumping on that thing tonight.

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2 minutes ago, A_K said:

Cody + Brandi trashy vibes were on max. Looked like they'd stumbled out of Myrtle Beach. Not sure what that Arn spot was all about .. either way, good they put Black over. Now move him on and away from Cody pronto before they get itchy fingers and some how turn it into an MJF/Jericho style program where Cody gets the last laugh (as a heel or otherwise).

 

I actually think that Cody's "I'm never going to turn heel" and what happened here is actually working  towards Cody eventually snapping. He's doing all the good guy stuff, checking on his mentor when he gets knocked down, doing all the fiery babyface spots, and getting booed for it. "You don't want me to be the good guy? You don't want me to be Cody RHODES? Fine. You're going to get what you want. At about 900 miles per hour". THe facial expressions were the key. It was like he couldn't believe that the fans didn't believe in him. Arn pushing him away after that spot and then getting corruption-misted and his reaction after being pinned is another point in a small build. Black isn't here to destroy cody, to make him retire. No, he's here to corrupt Cody. A real American NIGHTMARE.

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1 minute ago, SirFozzie said:

 

I actually think that Cody's "I'm never going to turn heel" and what happened here is actually working  towards Cody eventually snapping. He's doing all the good guy stuff, checking on his mentor when he gets knocked down, doing all the fiery babyface spots, and getting booed for it. "You don't want me to be the good guy? You don't want me to be Cody RHODES? Fine. You're going to get what you want. At about 900 miles per hour". THe facial expressions were the key. It was like he couldn't believe that the fans didn't believe in him. Arn pushing him away after that spot and then getting corruption-misted and his reaction after being pinned is another point in a small build. Black isn't here to destroy cody, to make him retire. No, he's here to corrupt Cody. A real American NIGHTMARE.

Yeah Cody heel-turn should have been made 12-18 months ago .. but please don't sweep Black up in whatever self-aggrandizing presentation they eventually create for it now. He'll just become a subservient part of the story, and he's better than that. Move him onto some quick, sharp mid-card squashes before eventually readying him for a TV Title program against Miro ..

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