HarryArchieGus

The concerning vitriol seems like partially a result of making themselves 'reality' 'stars' on youtube. I rarely watched BTE, and wonder if avoiding it assisted my interest in them. Mostly I just love their character and ring work. I've yet to read good criticism (and I'm interested) that doesn't play on something they did prior to AEW. That said, I certainly do get preferences in only liking certain wrestling styles. BTE and Meltzer-praise aside, ppl also think they actually know the Jacksons from watching them on television in a way that is distorted. Like how my Mom couldn't stand Jason Alexander from his heel role in Pretty Woman. Or how others hate him by assuming he's George Costanza. As people, since that's part of the argument against them, I'll take the opinion of the Bucks' peers which seems pretty unanimously positive outside the senior circuit with their WO conspiracies. Also, when you look around at the idiocy (of some wrestling fans) that comes out over actual serious matters it kinda makes sense that ppl would hate the Bucks for frivlous reasons rather than their abilities. Ppl hate TK in a way that feels concerning too. Oh, the joys of celebrity!

I wish I could watch all wrestling with Japanese commentary. The seriousness, and emotion where needed, allows my focus to flourish. Especially away from the generally distracting talk I hear on US TV. Fuck yeah, Danielson v Sabre! The future of pro wrestling on display (I hope).

Small edit for better accuracy. I think you'll find more than a little shade on 'Dave's sons' on a weekly basis. I sometimes wonder if Dave's praise of his 'sons' is enough reason for most to hate on Nicholas and Matthew.

Sammy v Jeff was fun. Accidents will happen. If the botch grounds Sammy's game that might be good for him. I remember Dean, on the money as he always was, praising Sammy's mat work from a TV match he was reviewing. I'm more annoyed at the insistence of him being pushed as a babyface. I wonder if Hobbs will be cheered in their eventual match. Brian Cage promo was solid. Very much looking forward to that 6 man. Private Party promo was okay. Not great, but they may figure it out with some reps. How about a few more in ROH too? Mox/Claudio promo was fun. Did Claudio suggest Mox was thinking about Renee's glutes? Slight misfire, but we're all the better for it. FTR v BCC is a goddamn dream come true. Ruby/Angelo/Saraya promos should have been handled all in one segment. Harley rules. She and Saraya need a worker protege. I skimmed the Dustin/Von Erichs squash. Von Erichs need proper reps. Toni/Mariah promo was their usual awesome. They brighten up any show they're on at this point. Amanita v Jay was good solid action. Anna's really tightened up her game in the last year. Huge win and great post match - AEW style! Willow/Kris/Stoke promo was fine. I'm hoping Stat goes heel, but I'm also cool with the two of them dumping Stoke on the way to an AEW tag title win (as posted earlier). I skimmed the 12 man. That's too many ppl. The Acclaimed are bringing Jay and the Asses into their shitty vortex. Still, fun show. I like the commitment to promos on Friday nights. It's a great way to get the 'big stars' in. I wonder if the show might benefit from the vibe Renee being the host, or Master of Ceremonies, might bring? I don't mean a commentator. BTW great to hear Daddy Magic on the call! Rampage baby!

I'm glad this got brought up. First, they completely under sold the best part of the segment - the Schiavone confrontation. Which deserved praise far more than anything deserved to be panned/whined about. First, Darby represented the position of Buck-haters which are not specifically Cornette, so I have no problem with that. Even if it was a slight misfire. Yeah, I could've done without the Cody reference, but it wasn't anything to get code red angry about. AEW doesn't pretend their alone in the wrestling 'universe', and I like this. Seems like more than a stretch to suggest he's promoting 'their' match and not his own. Third, Darby has been nearly indestructible throughout his AEW career. He has come back from far worse than the beating received in that angle last week. I don't see it as any stretch that he would return a week later. Besides, 62 year old Sting was clearly still selling the attack, and that's far more important. Further, Dave was mostly bemoaning that Darby didn't address last week's beating. I don't disagree that it would've made sense to make mention, but I didn't walk away from this forgetting it because he didn't. That's what Video packages are for. Darby's strong suit isn't his promo, but he's more than passable, and his passion/anger was enough for me. I liked this segment and it was far from 'pitiful'.

As stale as Wardy is, I still suspect he'd be a big draw as a challenger to Joe's title. Not sure we can say the same about Rrrrrockabilly!?!

Not my first choice, but I’ll take Dreamer. A creative change is long overdue and very much welcomed. That said, not sure Dreamer’s input wasn’t already a big part of the stale product they’ve been carrying on with for however long now. D’amore’s creative ranged from rotten to passable. The shows have never been watchable, to me, without fast forward options and an ability to over look soooo much stupidity. It’s hard to imagine anybody who’s actually watched the product not being accepting of a booking change. Seems like a lot of the sullen feelings are coming from ppl who couldn’t be bothered to watch this easily forgettable promotion. Bring on the change. Tho, again, not banking on Tom Dreamer to hide the weaknesses and accentuate the positives. We’ll see. I’m more interested now than I was a few weeks ago.

Clearly AEW struggles with Booking the Hoss. ‘In action’ squashes might work for a time, but Wardy oughtta be the example/mistake of the diminishing effects of going too long with this play. Every time there’s another one it reminds how they aren’t learning from their mistakes in this matter. Maybe If Wardlow played into the heelish nature of padding the win record and being a bully by not facing suitable competition they might have a small something to play upon. As is, how in the fuck is anybody to care about him facing Joe Schmo-hawk again. And again. This isn’t 1987. We expect the best to fight the best. They’ve done the same with Hobbs. It truly feels like the booking protection does more to hurt them than help. It means so rarely facing anybody of competitive value. Brodie Lee and the TNT title era Miro are the best examples of where they’ve succeeded with the Big man. Miro in particular was booked so well and had the charisma and mic work to complement the push. Wardy, in contrast, is all tongue-fury and intense cliche posing. His promo never ranges away from ‘I’m angry’. He’s never shown an ability to speak like a human being and it’s hurt monumentally. I sense he’s being prepared to lose to MJF and then sent to the back of the line. I wouldn’t mind seeing Bill get his loss back as well. Too bad, in ring Wardy seems to have the goods. I sense having a script writer would help. Wwe may be the better fit. Aew requires ppl to truly stand on their own two feet without a safety net and bring the best they have to offer. Evidentially, not the best plan for Wardy. edit: how to change this enormous text size? (Jae Edit: Fixed it for you. If the text is all messed up, just highlight it and look for Tx symbol in the toolbar. That resets any test formatting.)

Dax v Mox was fanfuckingtastic! Loved the finish, loved the post match! Claudio with a real nice looking neutralizer. FTR v BCC, truly fight forever! A Don Callis promo is always a gift. Loved the Drunk Dad/Fighting in the Yard line. Takeshita v Ospreay! This Revolution ppv has the makings of being their best yet. It feels like every time Wardlow is ‘in action’ it makes him that much colder. Awful. But merely a momentary misfire on a great, great show. Garcia v Adam was excellent. Copeland's brief heeling at ringside got me excited for the future. I actually find myself excited by a DQ finish in a promotion that rarely serves them. We've gone far too long without a Christy-ian Cage promo. Much love to Mother Wayne! Joe/Swerve/Hanger promo was pretty on point. Especially Joe’s line about a ‘three way’ being ‘dumber’. I've needed a heel Hanger for too long now. Swerve and Joe are both really cooking in 2024. Finally,thankfully, a fun Toni short film. Deonna’s follow up made for a terrific segment. Seems fair to say best build to a Women's title match in a long time. Bang Bang Scissor Gang promo was all about silky stylish Renee. 12 man tag, huh. This creative leaves a lot to be desired. Bucks v Flights was solid. The Bucks are glorious heels, and I sense even the haters are all slowly being reminded. Post match Bucks/Schiavone segment was so good. The Darby promo and save was good. Sure, could’ve done without the Cody reference, but it was fine. Willow v Skye was pretty solid. I'm a bit unsure about that finish, but I'll give them a week to follow up on it. Skye Blue is looking so confident as a heel. Big improvement. Orange v Taven was so fun. Nice to see some praise for (sure, he still looks irritating) Matt Taven. His modern run with Bennett has been good to great throughout. I'm curious to see what becomes of the Joe/Swerve/Cage v Hanger/RVD/Hook 6 man! And I can't think of a match I'd rather see than FTR v BCC! Batten down the hatches, AEW24 is on a run!

I’ll take a tournament every week over another battle royal. A round robin tag tournament the way of the continental breakfast classic with the winning team claiming the belts would be truly wonderful.

I think Dax was having some maturity issues. I suspect they continue, but I also suspect he’s doing his best with what he has. His show was the tale of two different podcasts. One, featuring an overly sensitive man running his mouth where he should have known not to. The second featuring some of the most insightful commentary/Analysis of pro wrestling I’ve so far heard. Dax has more to offer pro wrestling than just his on screen work. I totally agree on the Regal pod and the annoyances of host Matt Koon.

Would’ve been even better if they’d made some sort of notice of injury on the way out. Can we all band together to WILL TKAEW to start giving a clear reason why the injured, or absent for whatever reason, characters were meant to engage with and care about, are suddenly not on television for weeks and months.

Dax v Mox is a fine, fine addition. As opposed to the rotten previous engagements, here's hoping they put a modicum of effort into the Toni Storm short. There's so many possibilities and not a single one of them has yet to be applied. Very into Adam v Garcia and Flights v Bucks. Here's hoping Willow gets a strong, decisive win and the lights stay on. I'm not sure Matt Taven v Orange really needed a TEXAS DEATH stip, but there's no reason to doubt Orange. This will surely mobilize every Taven hating poster to make their feelings known. Joe, Swerve, Hanger, gimme some words to remember please!

Let's get this strraight - Daniel Garcia, in-ring technician, strong promo, rising star, full of potential, but let's make him a loveable jobber? Akin to the Dark Order? I think I'd prefer charismatic Menard slowly morphing into Heenan, and Garcia as his championship caliber Bockwinkel.

Great comparison, but there is a significant difference between early aughts ‘land of the giants’ and the average size of aew’s roster. I’d like to add that I fucking hated the little I saw of late career unbeatable Shawn Michaels. Adam Cole’s undeniable connection to the audience makes even the fair criticism a pretty moot point. The Panama Playboy is gonna be working the upper card for the rest of his Elite career. Dax has had some follies. From following his short lived podcast, I don’t doubt him being genuine. He’s a passionate and ultra sensitive guy who works himself into certain beliefs. I agree he goes for the heart strings a bit too often, but maybe there’s another word than the trendy and overused ‘cringeworthy’. Sometimes ‘corny’? He may be inconsistent but he’s far from shitty.

Sure, but we were also seeing his first tries on national television. He was essentially a green rookie. All things considered, I think he did admirably well. But that depends on how much you enjoyed his anti-millennial comedy.

Lambert had so much heel potential. He’s also an example of a character who could have benefited from a costume design. The college football coach, similar to JR’s classic look minus (or not) the hat, would’ve sufficed. Without that he was more like modern JR sloppily untucked shirt etc. Yeah, Lambert on commentary would’ve been worth a Rampage try. It’s clearly not an easy job tho. Arn Anderson is one of the greatest mic workers of all time and he was completely out of his Element on commentary. I do think he wouldve eventually gotten great tho. Lambert doing a weekly promo segment where he shit on babyfaces could’ve been or could be a lot of fun too.

Matt Menard is alongside Nigel two of the best they have on the headsets. The Nigel, Caprice, Ricaboni team were indeed great. Nigel also helped keep both on track and away from their bad habits/annoyances. I don’t think Nigel’s doing any less of a job on Collision. But certainly Kelly and Schoavone are arguably a lesser duo to work alongside. For me, Nigel’s love of Christy-an Cage is worth the price of his heel commentary alone.

A forced sounding commentator in WWE!?!

I like Nigel hating Bryan. His seemingly unreasonable hate comes off as jealousy, and I think that's enough logic for the uninitiated. I also like not knowing if there may actually be a blow off. Intrigue! Another great example of the Brain falling on his face. A more subtle era compared to the standard Prime TIme adventures highlight reel. There's still heels and babyfaces, why would heel commentary need to be left in the past? Also, we live in a time full of heel 'hot takes'. A heel commentary is part of the fabric of the times. I'd be curious of any line that Nigel has delivered that sounded forced. His delivery is clearly smooth, and feels like his honest opinion. Obviously to each their own, but hard to argue passed personal prefernces that this guy doesn't have the broadcasting skillset needed and then some.

I don't know Nigel so well, but I believe him thoroughly. I totally cosign the bolded text. As the sparkles read Bobby 'Number 1' Heenan.

Bobby Heenan's Royal Rumble commentary for Ric Flair's 1992 win is spectacular.

I see Nigel hate, and often coupled with Graves (whom I also like), and I wonder if there’s an aversion to heel commentary? To my ears, Nigel McGuiness is spot on with flourishes of hilarity. I also like how he keeps the over-reaching kayfabe fantasy calls of Riccaboni, Schivone, and especially Kevin Kelly in check. Nigel also worked exceptionally well with Caprice Coleman. I guess to each their own, but I’m on Team Nigel. Concerning commentary, did I hear Kevin Kelly respond to Tony’s comment that Lois hasn’t made lunch since the 80s with a chauvinistic remark? I may not have heard that right. Nonetheless, Kelly was particularly annoying during this episode.

Piling on the Love for the remarkable 'First Reformed'. I recently revisited the excellent 'Affliction'. Fucking Nick Nolte! But also Coburn and the always great Sissy Spacek. Very curious of 'Oh Canada'. I'm a high voter on the more recent and underrated (if flawed; that's Schrader's MO) 'Master Gardener'. I need to see Mishima yesterday. Right on, an Octopus joint!

Mox/Claudio v Esfinge/Junior was a nice opener. The CMLL relationship is providing nothing but fun. The FTR-BCC angle was well done. This to me signals a bright AEW future. Garcia v Taylor was good. Sting/Darby video package was fine. The 'Wrestling' highlights were rushed over a bit too quick. Eddie Kingston promo perhaps suggested some smoke was at play. Brian Cage v Outrunners was more bullshit. NO more handicap matches. Please! Truth and Floyd don't need a lot of credibility, but I still loathe seeing them being beaten like this. I did like Cage's clover leaf. Ishii/Roddy promo was good. Good use of the name gimmick. I really want to see Ishii v Roddy. Adam Copeland/Daniel Garcia promo was good. I like that match. I like Adam v Kingston too. Stat/Willow/Stoke promo was okay if a bit clumsy. King v Briscoe was fucking excellent. These guy's are both getting hot. I loved how they worked this story. The table spot felt like one of the better ones in a long, long time. The post match felt like a high end territory angle. What a fucking gusher! Loved this. Could've used some ppl running out to save Mark. Julia In-ring has been trying at times, but her character work is connecting with the audience. No better than in this post match. I would've liked an update after this brutal attack. The Bryan Keith promo was on point. Really happy for this guy. Purrazzo v Kiera was okay. This could've used a promo off the top leading in. Can we ge the SNME Collision opening going again? The Danielson/Kingston entrance interruption gimmick reappears. I wanted a little more of an interaction between Mariah and Deonna. Queen v Toni was good. Both Toni and Deonna are captivating in-ring performers. A new Toni short scares me. Let's hope they've improved on the concept from their previous excruciating misfires. The praise around Ishii v Orange in the thread convinced me to give my initially low voter opinion an encore viewing. On second view I loved this match! Completely worked. Glad I considered my initial lack of focus. Fun show. Stoked for FTR v BCC. I need to take another look at BCC v FTR/Mark Briscoe from the ROHPPV. AEDub buzzing along! Fun show.