Double or Nothing 2022 - Post Show Thread

[DEAN]

Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb was good.  Great finisher by Thunder Rosa.  She should use that more often. Wasn't as good as Baker/Soho, but it was good.

[kafkonia]

Took me two days to watch. Jeepers.

Thoughts from yesterday:

-Jade vs. Anna had its moments. Jade is not as good as she thinks she is. Anna is not the person to cover for her flaws. Stat should take the belt off of her stat.

-Multiple shitty sharpshooters/scorpion deathlocks. Multiple scary-looking dive botches.

-I felt bad that they'd turned Tay heel. Then I saw how great she is at it. I just wish they'd gone all-in on Page and Scorpio being faces, Kaz's Youtube-only winning record was not enough to carry a heel/heel match-up.

-PVZ definitely has the "I know how to hit you for real so my worked strikes look like shit" thing most MMA guys do when they get into wrestling. And I feel like the bookers were expecting the crowd to be more into her.

-My roommate, who is outside the IWC, remarked on his spaghetti arms. At first she thought he was an announcer.

-Rosa and Deeb had the best women's match of the night, but Ruby stepped her game up vs. Britt.

Thoughts from today:

-Triple threat tag match had great spots, some clunkiness near the beginning. Anyone who thinks have JE wear the titles is a mistake needs to listen to the crowd when they come in, then listen to the much quieter one for Swerve and somewhat quieter one for Lee.

-I'm glad they didn't pull the trigger on a heel turn for either guy in the main event. Heel Punk would be cheap and lazy booking, and Hangman's character wouldn't be well-served by a heel run yet. It was a little too melodramatic, but dammit this is wrestling that's what it's supposed to be.

[TheVileOne]

Also the Hardys looked terrible last night, Jeff especially. The Bucks did their best to carry the match, but Jeff especially does not look good. How slow and gassed he looked is really concerning. It also concerns me the type of bumps he's taking at his age after all the wear and tear he's put on his body, and that's on top of his drug and substance issues. 

I'm really not sure that needed to be a PPV match either. 

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

If "Bret was always right" is the correct rule of thumb, surely that extends to Martha Hart.

Gave a ridiculously drawn out speech that made it clear she had no interest in any of the tournament, thanked a bunch of her family, put her stupid hat over, made it about herself. If it was Dana Warrior, or the widow of a less beloved figure than Owen, people would rightfully be shitting on this. Even the cut-aways to her watching on and looking bored and disinterested during the Dax/Cole match actively took away from it. Not sure why they didn't call an audible after that and got Oje to present at the PPV, given how well he spoke on the Dark Side of the Ring episode.

 

 

[DEAN]

OH MAN! Anarchy in the Arena was a 1996 FMW main event.  The superstar was Daddy Magic Menard who hits a fucking Jericho in the Thrillseekers level plasma spew.  Oh man, that was fun.  Garcia was fucking great beating the hell out of Kingston.  Moxley and Jericho carried the body of the match and I was amazed that Jericho didn't bleed.  Jake Hagar was your secret great wrestler in the match.  I was pissed when Jericho pulled the plug on X.  Billy Zoom rules.

[Hector]

2 hours ago, DEAN said:

Darby Allin's make-up makes me think he is joining the House of Black!  JESUS CHRIST!  Darby Allin is FUCKING INSANE. I don;t think he can ever do that again.  Great HAjitajimay by KOR on the normalish tope.  So Kyle O'Riley is the best wrestler in AEW.  He can have a good match with any wrestler on the roster and can work any style.  That match was fucking great.  This is a great PPV if you make a day of it.

Kind of wild how this match got completely slept on considering how good it was.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

At some point you need to put the tag belts on P&P.

Jericho's called them out as losers who rode his coattails and would be nothing without him. That needs to be proven wrong, otherwise it sticks. Maybe have them drop it to 2.0 in some wacky stipulation match similar to the Quebecers/Steiners switch, who then hold them till the inevitable Acclaimed face turn.....defended in a rap battle. 

[DreamBroken]

Looks like Jeff's been pulled from the announced 10 man tag, now an 8 man tag, for Dynamite (and Cole on the other side)

is now

 

[porksweats]

1 hour ago, DreamBroken said:

Looks like Jeff's been pulled from the announced 10 man tag, now an 8 man tag, for Dynamite (and Cole on the other side)

is now

 

That's a much better match.

[Matt D]

20 minutes ago, porksweats said:

That's a much better match.

It could be an even better trios match.

[(BP)]

1 minute ago, Matt D said:

It could be an even better trios match.

Who’s your most disposable Undisputed Elite member? 

[Matt D]

1 minute ago, (BP) said:

Who’s your most disposable Undisputed Elite member? 

Can Cutler be in the match?

[(BP)]

11 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Can Cutler be in the match?

Sure, he should be. 

[Dog]

I don't think it's been mentioned here, and maybe no one cares anymore, but Meltzer and Alvarez are convinced there was never any threatening plane ticket bought for or by MJF.

[TheVileOne]

3 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said:

If "Bret was always right" is the correct rule of thumb, surely that extends to Martha Hart.

Gave a ridiculously drawn out speech that made it clear she had no interest in any of the tournament, thanked a bunch of her family, put her stupid hat over, made it about herself. If it was Dana Warrior, or the widow of a less beloved figure than Owen, people would rightfully be shitting on this. Even the cut-aways to her watching on and looking bored and disinterested during the Dax/Cole match actively took away from it. Not sure why they didn't call an audible after that and got Oje to present at the PPV, given how well he spoke on the Dark Side of the Ring episode.

I didn't really take issue with anything Martha Hart said at all. 

Also, Bret Hart isn't always right. Hart trashed Arn Anderson as being mediocre.

Edited May 31, 2022 by TheVileOne

[TheVileOne]

32 minutes ago, Dog said:

I don't think it's been mentioned here, and maybe no one cares anymore, but Meltzer and Alvarez are convinced there was never any threatening plane ticket bought for or by MJF.

Show me the airplane ticket and itinerary. Otherwise, I think it's all BS.

[The Natural]

 

[The Natural]

[DEAN]

The Three Way Tag title match was a hoot!  Your superstars were Shane Strickland and Keith Lee and Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs.  Both teams would be great tag team champions.  BUT it's good that Jurassic Express won this match, because nothing makes your title look shittier than losing it in a three way match.  Ricky Starks is definitely Lord Regal level in terms of carrying a match with facial expressions.   Swerve and Keith Lee are having too much fun not to eventually be champions.  That was good.

[The Natural]

[The Natural]

[Just Dave]

1 hour ago, (BP) said:

Who’s your most disposable Undisputed Elite member? 

It's a six way tie....

 

...oh, you weren't asking me?

[Just Dave]

1 hour ago, Dog said:

I don't think it's been mentioned here, and maybe no one cares anymore, but Meltzer and Alvarez are convinced there was never any threatening plane ticket bought for or by MJF.

SRS insists he's seen it. 

[Just Dave]

Anyway, thoughts on the show;

MJF did the right thing for his friend. Whether or not this was his last AEW appearance, he went out like a pro. Made Wardlow look a star.

Anna Jay has gotten so much better, but I'm still not sure she and Jade can be counted on to have matches without someone leading them through it. I think they have something like four years experience between them. You're in a tough spot now, because if Athena comes in and takes the TBS Title from Jade after all your homegrown talents have failed, you're sending a shitty message to your locker room. But sooner or later you need to get the world title on Jade. Stokely seemed excited to be there.

Poor, poor Ruby Soho. She's still in a better spot than she was in WWE, and her work has really tightened up. She needed that win. Maybe this leads to some thing where she turns heel and becomes vicious. Just can't let her wallow on youtube for four months after this. Also, AEW has a Britt Baker issue. She's regressed badly in-ring but is the best booked character in the division by a country mile. They've gotta get some other women over.

Adam Cole is a skinny midcarder who led his old company straight into a reformat. The continued insistence that he's a big star baffles me. Happy for the Hart Family, though.

The Hardys are washed washed. I don't see how you can risk sending Jeff out there anymore. He looks bad. If you're gonna have the Jacksons do their overindulgent bullshit, I'm glad they did it far away from the tag titles.

HOB/Triangle fucking ruled. I think @DEANsaid there was like 5 matches worth of wrestling in this one match. Let's move everyone on to other things. Glad they finally paid off the Julia Hart thing. She projects well and has probably earned more to do than stand around like a goof with the Varsity Blondes.

The mixed tag was what it needed to be. Again, let's get these folks to some fresh matchups. Paige Van Zant is nowhere near ready in-ring, but she has a star quality you can't teach. At this point she'd probably benefit from being on the road full time and working with Regal and Danielson every week. Ethan Page should be doing more. He rules.

Darby/KOR was fine. I don't find either guy to be my cup of tea, but they worked hard and made the most of their death slot.

Arena Anarchy. Good God. We were promised glorious wrestling violence, and we were given glorious wrestling violence. I thought maybe Eddie was a bit too generous to Daniel Garcia, but everyone played their roles well and I thought Jake Hager in particular overdelivered. He doesn't wrestle much, but he tends to be invaluable during things like Stadium Stampede and the street fight with ATT. Santana and Ortiz should win the titles soon, either from JE or FTR. I have a feeling the announced Mox/Punk match this Wednesday is gonna set a lot of shit up with Kingston, Punk, Danielson and Mox. Also, Eddie Kingston is the most relatable character on wrestling television, and his eventual world title win is going to RULE.

Women's title match was really good, but was hurt by the weird build. Right person went over. Let's get a properly built challenger for the next show. 

Tag Title match also ruled, but they've gotta do something about these titles soon. It's time for JE to drop them, have the Christian/Jungle Boy angle, and keep the line moving. Ricky Starks is a STAR. If they're looking at a future without MJF, AEW has their replacement already on payroll. Swerve and Lee look like they're having a ball. Let's get more for them to do.

I don't have much to say about the main. I thought Page deserved a longer reign after the excellent story they told to get him to the title, but iiwii. Punk doesn't need the title at this point, but there are several interesting options for him in terms of feuds.

 

Good show. Too long. Adam Cole is criminally overrated. Mox is the new New Jack. AEW still tends to deliver like no other wrestling company on earth...

[DEAN]

Just watched the main event and it was awesome.  I even liked the cornball Will He Cheat Or Willnt He Cheat? finish.  Hangman Adam Page is fucking awesome.  CM Punk is prolly the best wrestler in AEW.  Maybe.  He puts together good matches.  Maybe Danielson is better.  It's a fun conundrum.  I NOW HAVE MY LIFE BACK!