Just Dave

I can tell you what it wasn't; Wrestlemania 27. The first AEW Dynamite in Atlanta was pretty dope. The energy felt more like a rock concert than a wrestling show. AEW was new enough that everything they did still had that counter culture energy. I am, at heart ,a contrarian, so I loved being amongst my people. The fact that it was an absolute banger of a card also helped. Tag Team battle royal (even though it was won by the Jacksons), Omega/Hangman vs. the Lucha Bros, Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Cobb, and Cody moonsaulting Wardlow off of the steel cage... all dope. Mox came right by our section on his entrance. Everything about that show ruled. The return trip to Atlanta (Gwinnett, but close enough) sucked ass. I shouldn't say that. I got a Punk match and a Danielson match. But Cody was fully on his bullshit by that point and he insisted upon going over Andrade in a street fight. Just nowhere near as fun. I did get to boo Adam Cole, which was great. There was a handful of guys in the next section over who looked like they were gonna post very angrily online when they got home because some guy called Adam Cole "black and gold bitch" in front of them. I won't venture an actual guess as to who on this board I think that was, but we all know I'm thinking it. I'm looking forward to AEW's next trip through here. Honorable mention; Indy Megashow "Come Hell or High Water" here in Atlanta. First time I saw "Stroke Daddy" Starks. I got to see Mil Muertes live, who is a favorite. Met Tony Schiavone. Saw Matt Cross. Thunder Rosa. Hangman Page. Was a good time.

Really dug the part of the show I saw. Will finish tonight. I also really like the “MJF reaping what he’s sown” thing going on. I always hate when a heel turns babyface and all the other baby faces magically forget what a piece of shit the turned heel used to be. MJF still doesn’t have any friends except adam Cole, who may or may not be plotting against him. Nick Wayne looks like the dude who sang that “Rise up Ting Ting” song that was in every movie trailer for like 4 months. Or Matt Rife’s equally mundane brother.

I do wonder why Matt Cross didn’t get picked up for the roster. That dude was on the run of a lifetime when AEW started…

I was really looking forward to seeing FTR beat up two of the guys from the Key & Peele “football player names” sketch, but HOB coming back was good, too.

Nick Wayne’s mom, has got it going on…

I am enviousHausen.

Will be ordering. So, since my search function is being a shitheel, and since this is about more than just a merch item, I'll post it here; TK has figured out what to do with the surplus Nyla Rose and Hangman figures warming the shelves across the country. His "1 million dollar toy giveaway" is cool, because needy kids getting stuff is never bad, but it's also a way for him to write off an additional million dollars in donation rather than just liquidating them. Just made me chuckle. Also, be on the lookout for fresh AEW toy product on the shelves. I've scored several new ones in the last few weeks. The top of my want list is; Adam Cole (need someone to job to my other figs) Samoa Joe Danhausen Hook Shawn Spears Brody King The Bunny Kip Sabian Butcher Blade They should all be hitting shelves soon. Good hunting.

I guess I just differ in my fundamental desire for what a midcard title is and should be, because my first thought when I read this was; "so?" Like, is that what the IC Title is supposed to be? I've always thought that if every title were equally as prestigious as every other, there's no point in challenging for one over the other. Gunther is awesome because he's awesome. He didn't need a midcard title to legitimize him. Idk, maybe I just don't have the sentimental attachment to that title that some others do. Like, not every title needs to be prestigious.

Is there a separate AEW merch thread?

I dig the squashes, fwiw. We’ve been conditioned as an audience for so long to think every match has to be between two stars, yet at the same time get upset when there isn’t a clean winner and loser.

That’s what we were saying this time a year ago. This shit is beyond stale. Thank god hhh couldn’t bring back ALL his toys from “ring of hunter” or it would be even more boring and repetitive…

I know this will come as a huge shock, given my previously stated preferences for what I think best suits a wrestler in terms of appearance, but I was into Crush as a kid. Demolition Crush. Kona Crush. NOD Crush never made much sense to me, because even as a twelve year old I was vaguely aware of prison politics and didn't think there was any way Faarooq and Crush were actual friends. DOA Crush was dope. Then Brian Adams went to WCW and sucked 50 gallon trash bags of ass. THEN some genius had the idea to team him with fellow stringy haired stiff Bryan Clarke. I was SOLD. I think I was 16-17. For real, I think the only way I could've been more excited about that team is if they'd gotten to be in gimmick as Adam Bomb and Crush. I'd caught a brief glimpse of Clarke in Smoky Mountain on cable access in South Atlanta and I thought from day one he was a STAR. I still think it's stupid that they got in trouble for workrate related issues in WWE. When you look like those guys and have the aura those guys had, if you can physically walk to the ring, that's enough. They should've spent months obliterating low level WWE guys before getting thrown into a big program. But no one in WWE was willing to do anything to make WCW/ECW guys look good, especially physically limited veterans, so I kinda get it.

I’ve been trying to tell y’all this…

I just wanted to state again how happy I am for Big Bill. Dude is just crushing life right now. Makes me happy…

That TCM thing is a hell of an idea..

That TCM thing is a hell of an idea…

I really liked this show, for the most part. Christian starting the show in the production truck was very many dollar signs. That guy is on another level right now. Whenever I see folks talk about AEW not needing to sign too many wwe vets, I look at Cage nd think "man, i dunno. Christian is one of the best things on wrestling television right now." I thought leading with your strongest matchup was the right call. Swerve is on another planet character wise right now. Very few people, particularly without an imposing physical presence (and don't kid yourselves, it usually matters), can pull off such a simmering malevolence. There's acts of violence just under the surface with that dude. Moving forward, he'd be on my "motherfuckers we're building around" list, with Starks/Big Bill, Hangman and Yuta. IF you're not gonna have Swerve go over, that finish was the right call. Those two costing each other matches is a little "sports entertainy" for my taste, but it at least makes sense to me. Jericho/Hobbs was a choice. In certain corners online I saw the theory that AEW wasn't gonna go to break until after nXt did. Idk if I think that's true, but wouldn't it be some funny shit if HHH and HBK knew that, so they held off as long as possible just so Jericho had to take more bumps? If they wanted to make Hobbs look dominant, mission accomplished. Also dug the postmatch backstage thing where Daddy Magic was dressed like the shift manager at a suburban Hibachi restaurant. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of stuff. I dug BCG. Juice Robinson has become such an asset through his over the top buffoonery. I liked the big wheels, and there is not a more punch-able face on earth than Ass Boy Loud. I can't imagine any scenario in which MJF didn't approve the use/reference to quarters, so I guess it's fine. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it, but thankfully I don't have to make those calls. Thank God they had the good sense to (mostly) get MJF away from this Adam Cole stuff. I understand what they're trying to do, but no one in these vignettes is entertaining enough to pull off this stuff without MJF there. I think it's pretty clear now who was doing God's work in those Cole/MJF segments. Ironically, it was the devil. I'm not gonna talk about Cole's appearance in terms of his physique. It's clear where I stand there and at this point saying too many bad things about Adam Cole is like setting off a Bat Signal, only instead of Gotham's watchful protector you get a double helping of "gotten to." All I'll say is that Cole and the others in this vignette look like the worship team for a megachurch satellite campus. Like, not Daddy's House Main Campus, but Daddy's House Weaverville. Where the band is live but they watch the message on a big screen because no self respecting celebrity pastor would be caught dead speaking to less than a thousand people at a time. Come to think of it, "The Kingdom" sounds like one of those pithy, "vaguely spiritual but not overtly evangelical so as to not turn away first time guests and potential tithers" names for a megachurch. Sorry. My mind wanders sometimes. Yes, The Righteous Gemstones is my favorite tv show. Why do you ask? I'm not as enamored with Shida as some here, but clearly the point of putting the title on Saraya was that it was happening in London. I also dug the Toni Storm short film but I like weird shit. To me it wasn't as funny as Storm handing Kiera Hogan a script, but she's found this unhinged starlet thing and by god does it work. She very much has old timey Hollywood looks, and so this is a great way to capitalize on that while still allowing her character room to grow. The main was fine. It probably went too long but given the overrun I understand. This would've probably been the time for one of those old school schmozzy ten man tags with like, Luchasaurus, Nick Wayne, Starks, Big Bill, and Christian vs. Edge and four comparable babyfaces. That way you can build up to Cope finally getting his hands on Christian only for the dq to happen seconds later. Delay the gratification. That way you can still have your brawl at the end of it. Maybe not those exact guys but you get the point. Their ending was fine, though, and say what you will about AEW's sometimes over-emphasis of veterans who made their names elsewhere, but at least none of their top heels got ktfo by a guy who's been retired for years. The person who finally takes Christian down is going to be elevated by it, and that's how it should be. Pretty good show overall. Not my favorite but lots of things happened yet it didn't feel chaotic.

Pretty stoked for my guy Stroke Daddy Starks to win an AEW title. Gonna be much less stoked to watch the EVP’s no sell Big Bill’s offense so they can get their flippy bullshit in. But again, what’s the point of being an EVP if you can’t book yourselves to be the Road Warriors, right?

I'm not sure I can refer to any crowd that takes a wet shit on either Young Buck as "bad." More like "discerning." Juice Robinson is the second best I've ever seen at yelling into a camera and having NAT sound pick him up. He carries on the tradition proudly started by Stevie Ray. Also, I'd pay fives of dollars to see him yell "it's on like neckbone, sucka" like Stevie Ray used to. Fun story; I popped my 8th grade basketball coach by yelling that at a rival team when we got in a dust up after a hard foul. I was awesome.

Other than there being just WAYYYYYY too much Adam Cole, I really dug this show. Hobbs makes too much sense as a member of the Callis family. Factions like a motherfucker. This might be more of a stable, though.

Really?

@technico support I thought that about JR too. Was waiting for the "quick twitch" euphemism...

Well, I know if it were the PG 13 era you'd be limited to one (1) "f-bomb..."

Also, TIL that if someone tags you in a post and you have them on ignore, you don’t get a notification. I’m not sure why anyone would need to know that, but if you didn’t know, now you do. Also, if Andrade’s one of those people who hates working for AEW, you wouldn’t know it from what he gave Saturday. I’d love for him to be the next TNT champion…

I’m really hoping Rated FTR is a thing sooner rather than later…