Go2Sleep

As someone who watched the commercial free version, it didn't affect the match quality. I think the only good thing that happened during a break was the barbed wire for Cash's blade spot. The other two were Wardlow wasting most of his 2-minute advantage standing alone when everyone else was in the other ring and Jericho very slowly climbing the truss.

Most of the B&G match was really good and captured the feel of the 87-92 WG matches. I think they tried too hard at the end, though. The rooftop segment wasn't that great, and the rest of the match ceased to exist at that point. There were probably better ways to end the match in the cage that could still write Jericho off, while still featuring the other participants. MJF could've smashed Jericho's leg with the bat, then used that to get him to surrender as they threatened to do something especially heinous to Sammy. The #1 contender announcement was strange. I know AEW is lacking fo

I know WWE will never go this deep, but the Grimes/Dibiase story should totally be a message about the inability of millennials to truly grab the levers of power from long-overstaying institutional boomers. Swerve/Ruff was pretty good. Swerve dominated enough of the match that he wasn't too hurt by the finish, and Ruff had to land some big moves to stay in it. Women's tag was fun. That Alabama slam on the table was nasty. Candace/Indi winning the belts is good because the matriarch of the Gargano Family should have some gold and it highlights Austin Theory's excellent performance as

This is like saying The Simpsons would be great show if it was only Marge and Lisa.

The Elite angle has really gone off the rails and appears to be bad for everyone, except for maybe the Bucks who get cover for a lot of their weaknesses. As bad as the "emotionally conflicted" Bucks were, there was a lot of utility for them in a tweener role. It hit me this week that their full turn completely ruined what Omega and Callis had going. Kenny as the paranoid kingpin with an ever-shrinking inner circle (for lack of a better term) who was prone to lashing out violently with Don pulling some strings and Gallows/Anderson as the hitmen was a great dynamic that didn't seem redundant ami

I know everyone has been traumatized by TNA being WWE's only "competition" since 2001, but I think AEW has more self-awareness than this.

I think it was primarily for a photo op or video package material. It did seem off as a "next generation" type of thing, since the 4HW are all still in their primes and figure to have many more title runs before their careers are over.

Wesley Blake is like the most generic wrestler ever, but seems like a guy that could mop up on the indies and find his way back to the big time in a few years. Joe could be washed, or he could be like Kobashi and compensate what he's lost in mobility with charisma and stiffness. Definitely worth a shot for AEW if he's interested. Had no idea Bo Dallas was still on the roster. Not JTG-level, but an impressive overstay nonetheless.

Eh, Priest is more of a goth partier than a dark arts guy. The comparison to Black in NXT is good though. Much Like Black, Kross' entrance starts to come across as corny because he has no character reason for it, so we're just left to assume he's doing it because he thinks it looks cool, which of course makes it a lot less cool. If Scarlett was still doing her psychic puppetmaster thing, then an entrance that highlights her god complex backed up by a big scary guy who does her dirty work would make perfect sense (in pro wrestling terms).

Kushida beating Escobar in an impromptu match is perfect booking. Escobar is ready to move up, Kushida badly needs something positive after months of losses, the CW belt doesn't lose any momentum because despite the aforementioned losses, everyone knows Kushida can go and is a very credible champ relative to that division. I have to say I love a good jackknife pin too. Anyone who has ever play-wrestled as a kid knows how little pressure it takes to keep someone down when they're folded up like that. So much more believable as a flash win move than a school boy. The main event was super fu

Surprised to see a consensus of night 1 being significantly better than 2. I thought the good stuff was pretty evenly spread out, and night 2 was probably a better overall show on its own. Lashley/Drew was the opener, but it should not have been worked like an opener. Fine match, but pretty forgettable in the grand scheme of things, which isn't something you want for one of your main titles. The tag turmoil was nothing but botchamaina material and if they were just gonna do one-off challenger, the Riott Squad would've been way better to give that rub to. Cesaro/Rollins was solid

I'm scared to ask, but what is a Nigerian Drum Fight?

So Matt Jackson's "acting" was terrible and that main event angle was cringey af, but it is a necessary step to Mox/Kingston as tag champs, so silver lining there. I enjoyed how much like MJF had a hard time finding something good to say about Spears, Jericho had a hard time finding something bad to say about FTR. Hopefully they get a "Can't tell us apart? One of us has hair, dipshit" jab back at him at some point.

Show pretty much played out like I expected with the first half being excellent and the second being mediocre. Kushida/Dunne was a nice match that would've looked a lot better on Night 2. Great pace, full of smooth transitions and hurty looking moves, and a great finishing sequence. Their biggest problem was that Walter went out and put on a master-class of selling that made their lack of long-term selling look amateurish in retrospect. The gauntlet thing was a pretty good showcase for everyone involved. Tough to balance a match like that when you need 5 of the 6 to look strong, but

Night 1 sounds great. Dunne/Kushida, Walter/Ciampa, Gauntlet thing, men's tag titles, and Io/Raquel all within the strict confines of a 2-hour show. Night 2 doesn't have nearly as good a match listing, and will have license to overkill as the first big Peacock only show.