Fighting a man with a perm

Jonathan Ross, is that you?? (This may not make sense to Americans)

Looking at the lineup, Lethal really sticks out to me especiallu as they've said that everyone banned from ringside - lethal without Jarret and crew bringing the nonsense just does not excite. Interesting that we have 3 from BCC and zero from the Elite. Would love to see Garcia get some big wins here, likewise Big Bad Brody KingSize!

Thoughts I scribbled down while watching, apologies if I duplicate anyone else's thoughts - let's put it down to "great minds think alike" and ignore the "fools seldom differ" of it. I groaned when Ric flair started punching Christian but cheered massively when Christian smashed that old sex offender in the nuts! Love some Chekhov's ring buckle action! Massive victory for OC! He's my Ace! Yuta is such a great prick after the match. Big bad Brody Fucking Kingsize! Roooooosh knows how to own a crowd, doesn't he? Cash man, the turnbuckles are not your friend, learn to accept it. Big Bill has shown incredible improvement, it's heartening to see knowing the struggles with mental health he's had. Both women's title switches earned big reactions and that's due to the focus on character in the division of late. There's talent there if they're given time and space for creativity. Credit to both Stat and Shida for holding the division on their backs the last few months. Absolutely fuck that guy with the Fire Tony Schiavone sign!! YMMV but Ospreay has massive aura and is a brilliant signing in my book. Prince Nana getting his own "I didn't do it dancers". Hanger bringing the hate early here! Rare American sports reference from this Mick - hangman seeing all the Lakers colours and thinking he's in the Staples Centre! (Does that work?!). Incredible blood here tonight! Incredible, hate-filled, visceral match! Why then add Brian Cage and Nana nonsense?? Both men deserved better than that level of distraction. Oof, the crowd was not into the Elite plus Jericho match at all! On the other hand, they (along with I!) Loved all the MJF melodrama. It's all so over the top but he makes it work.

That man had no clue where he was for most of that match! On the Cross Slash he wanted around for ages kinda looking to Kenny for what to do, and then completely mistiming it. There was a sequence before the piledriver through the chairs where people kept running in and hitting a move before being hit by the next guy - I could hear both Kenny and Aubrey screaming for Ibushi to come in, but that handsome idiot just stayed in his own world. And then of course there's the ending where he comes running in weapon in hand with no clue that the match was over. I'm not super familiar with Kota - is this normal for him, to be so completely oblivious to what's going on around him??

I'll do you both one better - it's Tony Khan! And he's gonna use his reveal as the devil to tell us he will be making a huge announcement next week on Dynamite!

I'm really digging the absolute maelstrom of "stuff" around MJF. There's a really good kind of interconnected, logical chaos there that's exciting. That's the stuff that got me into AEW in the first place, the lack of silos and the strings between stories. There was some of that in the main event too. Eeeeuuuugggghhhhh - I could do without Ric Flair appearing. I'm not gonna cheer a sex offender. Does Luther appearing as the Butler mean the end of SAP?? Maybe now we can get that Angelico singles run?? A boy can dream, right? Nice that there were some Chikara mainstays running the main event in Philly. OC Claudio should be a banger.

The one note I took watching tonight that I wanted to post here, copied directly below: Juice Robinson with a masterclass in ranting and raving tonight: "I've got a rock hard taint!", "We mean it, we hate you!", miming a dog pissing on MJF. Great minds eh?

So I like both guys (particularly Yuta) but I groaned a bit at this match being announced because it's such a foregone conclusion and I don't think it does either guy any favours - a win over Yuta doesnt mean anything to Starks after 2 straight losses to Dragon and Yuta losing to Starks just cements Yuta as BCC young boy there to take falls. Jay White is a good talker but he needs to lose at least 7 of his catchphrases. He's like the waiters in Chotchkies in Office Space, he's got too many pieces of flair!

Roderick Strong is killing it in his current role! Cole's, "open your eyes, Roddy" when Roddy was saying he couldn't see him was brilliant! As someone who has ankles made of glass (on 3 seperate occasions I've rolled/sprained an ankle just walking along the footpath!) I winced when I saw Cole go over on his ankle. I have to believe RJ City has played a big hand in Toni Storm's new presentation - wasn't he trying a similar character himself pre-AEW? Either way, kudos to Toni for totally committing to the character. The women's roster (mostly due to lack of screen/promo time) is lacking in big characters I find, so it's good to see someone taking a big swing and connecting. More please! Matches were all good to great, I need mega-face Daniel Garcia mowing through the Callis family yesterday if not sooner! Oh yeah, loved Taz popping for his t-shirt in the crowd!

That child continuously screaming through the Starks match was almost the worst noise on Collision this week, but then we had a KK/JR combo in the main event. Gotta agree with @Curt McGirt on Liam Mór (Big Bill in Irish), that chap has come on leaps and bounds and works big man incredibly well. The "Urban Playboy" Pretty Boy Smooth who got smoked by Aussie Open was sporting the greatest fivehead since Arsenal legend Gervinho. You really have to just admire the confidence to name yourself "pretty" with a hairline like that!

Oh, I caught that Neneh Cherry reference... For vegan buffalo sauce delivery I recommend a mushroom "wing" over a cauliflower "wing" every time. This push of cauliflower as the one true king of substantial veg must be stopped.

Brilliant promo work by both Mox and OC selling their match - that should be the main event tonight. Why can't we have nice things like Ian Riccaboni and why must we suffer through Kevin Kelly? He even threw in a Jezebel tonight. Eeuugghh. Positive commentary notes - Nigel's pronunciation of Komander as a French word and his use of "arse boys"; JR making good points re: Jay White's lack of recent singles action (I'm no modern JR fan but I'm not blind to what he once was and snippets like this remind me of) I don't get Ricky Starks current persona at all. His promos are all over the place in tone and content. I am looking forward to seeing what he and AmDrag have in store tonight though.

In no particular order, my personal highlights were: Juice Robinson, down on all fours like a dog in front of Jay White in the tunnel before they made their entrance. Juicy boy has so quickly gone from boring to "can't take my eyes off him" MJF landing the Kangaroo Kick. So stupid, but he continues to make stupid work. My boy OC getting the big win and a hell of a visual with the gusher he tapped. As others have said, Best Friends are the heart and soul of AEW, love seeing them win! Mox with a head full of skewers like a low budget pinhead. Cash Wheeler channeling his inner Darby with an out of control dive through the ropes - such velocity! Darby continuing to be one of the most compelling wrestlers in the world - he makes everything look like it matters. Couple of lowlights: Not making the trip across from Dublin myself. JR - his every utterance detracts from what I'm watching. Billy Gunn Julia Hart interaction - didn't love that for a face team.

I read Ospreay's promo as a hint at an MJF feud in the future bruv: his use of "better than...."; Referencing his contract in 2024; not directly calling out the champ amongst those he did call out. On the Swerve/Darby stuff I liked where we got to (Christian is a far better storyteller than AR Fox) without liking the route we took. Love that Swerve and Darby are so prominent right now, they're both guys to build around!

Why settle for heel? I genuinely think Brody has mega face potential! That bark is all the way over and a few weeks back, that young kid in face paint barking with him was the most heart warming stuff.