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AEW - DEC 2021


The Natural

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Absolutely loved seeing Jessica James pop up on Dark Elevation, even if it was for a 3 minute trios squash. One of my all time favorites and she hadn't done anything in a few years now so that was a cool surprise to see. I'd almost forgotten about her 2013/2014 Japan runs. Would love to see her more regularly again. Her two partners are both pretty new but had worked Thunder Rosa's Mission Pro recently, thought they looked good here too.  Kaun's had a pretty good year popping up in almost every TX indy randomly. 

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  • Tony Khan on Twitter regarding the Owen Hart Cup Tournament: “Tomorrow night on #AEWDynamite #HolidayBash LIVE on TNT @ 8ET/7CT/6MT/5PT we have a special video on the Owen Hart Cup Tournament including stars of multiple generations speaking about his legacy + footage of Owen wrestling in @njpw1972 & private home movies from Dr. Martha Hart!”
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AEW Dark 12/21/21

Gunn Club vs Anderson/Johnson: There were some structural bits early on here that I didn't love like Colton taking out both guys so cleanly during the shine, but overall, this was good reps for everyone. I like how Brock picks up a little more each match. Here it was the arm Garvin stomps and also how he's making the corner shoulders more of a thing (full credit to Excalibur). Johnson works well with these guys.

Abadon vs Renegade: Renegade took it to her, which is good as people really need to either fight or flight with Abadon. No middle ground. Sort of a duel edged sword with her though. Abadon should have really short matches but she needs enough time to keep improving. So this was probably the right match for her but maybe not a match she needed.

Eddie Kingston vs Colin Delaney: You got the sense Kingston respected what Delaney could do. That bled through. I could have used a few more minutes on this but again, hierarchy says probably not and Kingston understands hierarchy. There are too many cutters in AEW but there's probably room for Delaney's springboard stunner. It's always fun when Kingston just starts to unload with the suplexes and I liked the little wrinkle on the finish.

Ford vs Nightingale: I keep wanting to see Willow in a position where she can do just a little more. This wasn't it, but Ford's stuff looked good, and people are going to remember that pounce. Ford just churning the Muta Lock looked absolutely agonizing.

Brandi vs (other) Renegade: Three nice things I will say about this match and one not so nice:
1. Brandi is not afraid to take offense. She almost is too exuberant and willing, going over really big on suplexes. You have to give her a ton of credit for that. I think she works well from underneath in general.
2. The Renegade sisters jawing with kids at ringside is really really good stuff and Arn was unnecessary but also kind of funny.
3. The stretch mark is a very fearless name for a finisher for someone coming off a pregnancy and it shows a great sense of humor.
- That said, Brandi's the only one in the company who can make the heavens part and summon the dreaded Dunn cuts to such degree.

Jora Johl vs Coleman: Johl hit his stuff clean. You get the sense he's very eager to be there. That's all I got.

Kassidy vs Bravo: I think Kassidy keeps getting better. He's well served not being in spotfest tag matches with guys like the Lucha Bros or Top Flight or whoever every week. He shows a ton of character in everything he does. He really gets it. Johl eating both dives was funny. He took that first one right on his head. The tornillo was nuts. Kassidy can do the flying stuff but he's most interesting when he's able to let it breathe and do the imaginary phone call afterwards. Bravo based well. A babyface base. I guess that's a thing?

Hogan vs Royal: Not much to say here but I love the opera gimmick. Can't get enough of it. Royal should be on one of the webvlog things just hanging out around corners and doing the opera gimmick. Hogan giving it back to her at one point was a hoot (a pun!). They need to keep giving Royal things to do. Add her to Chaos Project. Just imagine the act that would be.

Bear Country vs Clayton/Orlando: This was fun as Taz was in full scouting mode. Bronson's endless clotheslines in the ropes worked for me. Someone should ask Tony Khan about Bear Country and his five year plan for them in an interview. They need to be used like the Faces of Fear. I liked that Boulder didn't do the Samoan Drop/Catch-A-Cross-Body move here but a variation instead. Big guys aren't always going to try to cross body you after all. Keep switching it up when you need the other team to do something specific in cooperation. Send Hook.

They sent the Acclaimed instead. Nice to see Bowens get a shot on the mic.

Vance vs Patterson: No idea what the Go Big Show is but I'd watch Paul Wight vs Patterson. 10 trying to hit stuff on him, like the clothesline over the top, which then became the middle, which then became just shoving him out of the ring, was a little surreal. Vance stayed focused here and gets credit for that. I'm glad they booked this. My favorite bit was -1 bumping on the floor over Vance's gear falling off.

Red Velvet vs Negra: Scrappy stuff. Nice, hard hitting, sprint where Negra went until she couldn't go anymore and it was all over after that. Negra should keep yelling at refs. I like Velvet. The Avalanche Cazadora Bomb was kind of nuts. Final Slice looked better than the last one.

Dean vs Chase: Has anyone really used Rock's floatover DDT in the last 20 years? It's good Dean's doing that. Chase has the best promo picture for an enhancement guy in AEW. It really stands out.  I'm not sure that carries over to his ringwork where he looked solid but didn't have any of that flair.

Sydal vs Serpentico: This was probably too much a Sydal match and not enough of a Serpentico one, at least for the first half. They hit stuff well and Sydal's got a lot of smiling charisma in there as he does his thing, but it didn't make full use of the sheer, strange power of Serpentico doing goofy things. Sydal hit the Miz corner clothesline one match after Dean did, which bothers me and no one else in the world. I liked Luther eating the Serpentico tope since he should be hurt by Serpentico sometimes too. Moment of the night was them referencing Royal in regards to Luther's noises since I feel like I somehow brought that connection into reality when I wrote up the Royal match before seeing this one. Sydal hit a bunch of spots instead of doing hilarious things with Serpentico but that was his life choice.

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Thoughts on Dark.

Anderson/Johnson vs. The Gunn Club is kind of exactly what I want from Dark.  Two teams who are young but have potential out here just working on putting together a match.  This was nothing spectacular, but both teams looked good and seem like they'll be players in the future.

I like Abadon, but I don't know how she fits in this division.  She's much more of a character than everyone else, which sets her apart, but also makes it hard to put her in a program with any of the other women.  

Penelope Ford is better every time I see her.  She is refining her look, getting better in the ring, and developing her character in a way that makes me excited to see her.  That is all I can really ask for.  When I first started watching AEW regularly, I thought she was just a generic blonde filling out their roster.  Over the last few weeks, she's started to really impress me and I think she can be a future champion.  

I've seen Bear Country a few times and I have to say, I'm not into their act at all.  You know how I'm always talking about how The Bunny needs to wear her mask, Bear Country is the exact opposite.  Those masks they wear to the ring add nothing.

10 vs. Patterson was a big nothing for me.  I honestly don't understand the point of the match.  Patterson being a big fat guy falling out of his clothes isn't funny to anyone over the age of five, and if making preschoolers laugh is the point of your segment, you've probably failed.

Matt Sydal is a good professional wrestler, but that's pretty much all I can say about him.  He doesn't give you anything other than good ring work, and in 2021 I don't think that is nearly enough.  With that said, he can be a valuable part of a roster, he just needs to be making guys like Serpentico look like legitimate threats.  He can win these matches on Dark, but if he's not giving Serpentico a chance to shine, it's a waste of an opportunity. 

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I believe Sydal is just being kept strong.  He can be summoned to JTTS duty on Dynamite or Rampage. He is still excellent in the ring as almost the best of the JTTS and can be good with his brother if they are teamed up.  Mike must be injured. He hasn’t been around for months.  He could have been quietly released…or just on a night to night basis.

I have had problems with Bear Country’s presentation since the start.  There is a fine line between scary and goofy.  Those helmets seem goofy to me.  Luckily, they are great mauling jobbers and Chaos Project on shows called Dark.  

Hook’s next match is against Bear Bronson. He could be a real problem for Hook to throw around.  Then again it could also look AWESOME for Hook to throw Bronson around.  

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22 hours ago, The Natural said:
  • Tony Khan on Twitter regarding the Owen Hart Cup Tournament: “Tomorrow night on #AEWDynamite #HolidayBash LIVE on TNT @ 8ET/7CT/6MT/5PT we have a special video on the Owen Hart Cup Tournament including stars of multiple generations speaking about his legacy + footage of Owen wrestling in @njpw1972 & private home movies from Dr. Martha Hart!”

 

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So who's the Terry Funk in the Page/Danielson/Judges situation?  Do we have any Funk-y like semi-retired but can still go performers out there?  They could do a full on piledriver on the ringside table remake and I would be very pleased.  I assume they won't tho. 

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Just now, HarryArchieGus said:

So who's the Terry Funk in the Page/Danielson/Judges situation?  Do we have any Funk-y like semi-retired but can still go performers out there?  They could do a full on piledriver on the ringside table remake and I would be very pleased.  I assume they won't tho. 

Depending on his health, the most logical person is Jon Moxley.  If he returns to AEW by putting Hangman Page's head in a plastic bag, I'm pretty sure I'll be as happy as I've been as a wrestling fan since I was a very small child. 

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18 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

So who's the Terry Funk in the Page/Danielson/Judges situation?  Do we have any Funk-y like semi-retired but can still go performers out there?  They could do a full on piledriver on the ringside table remake and I would be very pleased.  I assume they won't tho.

Sabu or Mick Foley would be ideal, but it's probably a year it two too late. Yuji Nagata? Dave Bautista? Ken Shamrock?

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For guys on the roster, the options are pretty much Mark Henry, Paul Wight, Dustin Rhodes, or Christian Cage. I don't think Tony would do something the crowd expected so thoroughly though. Like how MJF didn't interrupt Punk on his debut.

Edited by Matt D
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