Steventon

Has Jade Cargill dropped off the face of the Earth?

I am not a Nick Gage guy at all, but I still popped big time for that. Nick Gage vs Jericho on TV is the sort of madness I appreciate AEW bringing to the table. Jericho doing his clown make up and weeb top hat was super lame though. Sting and OC killed me A lot of the actual wrestling on this show was pretty bleh, with the womens match being particularly mediocre, but I had fun thanks to the angles and hot crowd. Andrade bringing in Chavo was a good move and I think Death Triangle is an interesting first major program for him FTR vs Santana and Ortiz is a real step up or shut up match for me. Both teams have been hyped and praised for years with very few actual memorable matches to show for it. If that isn't a barnburner, I think those trains need to go away Main event was a fun garbage match. Didn't think Archer was particularly impressive in his big win, but it was better than their first match and I appreciate how they laid this out with Archer working from beneath in front of his home crowd leading to his victory

Has anyone in the history of wrestling (or atleast WWE) had more forced title wins/runs than Charlotte? I mean hell I think she is a solid-to-good worker but she has to be the most over-pushed worker of the last 20 years. The idea that she is an all-time great, let alone in the same league as Ric, is mind-boggling. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it almost feels like they want her to go down as the greatest member of the Flair family because she's their creation.

I'm surprised they haven't ran Omega vs Christian before going to the Page feud. Even if the outcome wouldn't be in doubt, Christian would be the biggest name (well, maybe not bigger than Mox) for Omega to face and it would probably draw way more eyes on it than any of the other AEW title defences. They seemed to be setting it up a few times with interactions between them but it's been dropped.

Oh, I'm not dissing nerds. I'm 100% one. And I'm not saying this wasn't the planned story-line all along, I think it is clear it is. I'm not a big Page fan, but Cowboy Shit Page I can get behind. A top babyface who's afraid of stepping up and cries when his friends issue the challenge he should be making does not vibe with me personally, though. I get it, it's just not for me.

Solid show this week. I may be alone in this, but they are presenting Page as too beta. In an attempt to make him 'relatable' to their core fanbase (nerds) they've made him look like a massive wet fuck. They need to attach some balls to him for me to be remotely interested in the idea of him beating Omega. They really need to give Jungle Boy some promo time, even if it's on Dark or BTE if not TV. He is improving as a wrestler and they clearly see something in him, but him being a mute feels like it's going to put a ceiling on him. I am digging Christian working with him as a veteran, but I thought the logical next step was Omega vs Christian. Sammy vs MJF was a good TV Main event without ever becoming anything great. 2 guys with great physical skillsets but not the experience or ring-smarts to put together a coherent, long match. Crazy dive by Sammy. Wardlow was obviously meant to throw Jericho through the table and they didn't get the positioning right, but not a big deal. Was perfectly happy with the finish, hopefully we get Sammy vs Spears in some sort of gimmick match where Sammy gets his revenge.

Hager vs Wardlow was fun, probably the best use of Hager in the ring in a while. Liked that Wardlow was still about to show respect after the match until Spears did the sneak attack. Not sure what the point of having Sky/Page beat Darby in a handicap is, unless they are lining them up for something. But we have heel tag champs so thats not happening. Darby is so good, there aren't many guys out there who can make this gimmick match exciting but he is one of them. Just a strange booking move as it doesn't benefit him and I don't see them having any big plans for the heels. Brock Anderson both looks just like his dad and has a lot of his mannerisms in the ring too. Solid debut for him. Andrade switching between English and Spanish caught me a little off guard at first, but only because we're so not used to seeing guys do promos like that. Subtitles was a good move. Him promising a surprise makes me wonder what the status is with Rush and Dragon Lee with ROH? Anyone know whats going on there? Great video package for the FTR vs Santana & Ortiz match. Both teams carry a lot of hype and potential but haven't really lived up to it in AEW, this is a big match and I hope they deliver.

Cool to see Andrade turning up. Hate the Vickie pairing though. She was screaming his name in such a way no one actually understood it until he came out. Not a great start. In terms of characters, they don't fit at all, they have literally only been paired because they're hispanic. If Penta has had his 100th flip-flop back to babyface with PAC, they should have gone with Abrahantes.

For some reason I thought it was just a catchphrase, never clocked it as the name of the move. Facepalm

Watching a PPV with a live crowd is so nice after the last year and half. Same thing with Wrestlemania. I enjoyed everything, even though I didn't think any single match stood out as being especially great, but the crowd gave everything a boost. If I had one major criticism it would be that EVERY match was evenly worked and had a bunch of kick-outs. By the time I got to the world title match, I was tempted to skip ahead because I was so exhausted and had spent so long watching the show already. They really could have done with one or two of these matches going shorter or being more one-sided just to break things up. Page vs Cage was a fine opening spotfest, probably as good as this match could have been. Total GMSI match, but the spots were cool at least. Tag title match had some fun moments and sections, but was another long Bucks 'epic' which wore out its welcome by the end. I have no time for the DX cosplay meta jokes heel schtick, but Moxley was a great bloody fired up babyface and him and Kingston made this enjoyable. Battle Royale was fun. Glad they swerved expectations and had JB win, it feels like he's due his first title shot and dip in the main event waters. Cage will likely still get his shot before Omega is dethroned. Rush made me a fan in his WWE run so cool to see him signed rather than wasting away in the indys, though AEW is already bloated with guys like him. His few minutes in the match being a super choreographed sequence and low-key blowing his signature spot did not enthuse me though. Cody vs Ogogo was fine but very average. Cody coming out in full Homelander outfit really should have made him the heel here. This was only Ogogo's third match but he clearly has potential. He has the personality, the athleticism and the stuff he hits he executes very well. He needs some direction and got lost at one or two points, but it wasn't super noticeable. Cody is the veteran and guy leading a match like this, so no surprise it was nothing special. Weird to go with that finish. Miro vs Archer was kind of whatever. I howled at the animal cruelty heel spot. Archer once again is the guy who promises a hoss fight and spends most of his side of the match doing highspots. He's AEW's Dijak. Miro is a hot act right now and should probably get turned face. Dug the finish with the knees to the back to set up the Accolade (have they even given it a new name in AEW?) Womens title match was as good as they could have done as a straight-up workrate match. I wasn't particularly wow'd by it, but it was a good effort. Definitely veered too much into nearfall exhaustion but we got the right outcome with Britt winning clean and Shida going down strong. The Darby/Sting match was a blast. Sting taking the hard bump on the ramp, no-selling it, taking the shirt off, then hitting the big dive was a GREAT sequence. I popped hard for it. Compare how AEW uses Sting to how WWE uses legends like Goldberg, such night and day. Perfect use of Sting and he hit everything he did nicely. I will say I thought Page stepped up and gave a good effort and that Bam Bam Bigelow throw into the crowd was pretty nuts. Mark Henry being signed is awesome. Again, AEW is making better use of WWE legends than WWE does. They are too busy signing hacks when they have a pool of guys still with plenty to give right there. Their loss. 3-way was OK but maybe the weakest match of the night for me. Way too long, way too much bloat, infinity nearfalls and no real structure to anything. I like OC a lot but if he is going to use the Orange Punch as a big signature move he really needs to throw a better looking punch or bulk up more. Can anyone really buy HIM knocking guys out? Omega did a good job holding things together but this seemed to go on forever for a match with 2 guys who don't really need protecting. Stadium Stampede was decent, but I think I enjoyed last year's more. This kind of match works better when the tone is light and there's more comedy. The gags were still the highlight of this match, and were much needed to break up a half hour long quasi-cinematic match played serious. Dug the Konnan cameo. I had a feeling the IC were winning after this week's Dynamite, and I feel like they still have legs in this for another month or so. We still get any of these 5 guys in singles or tag matches and it'll feel major. Really glad Sammy got the win and big moment.

Mens triple threat was a good fun big man spotfest with the Godzilla vs King Kong vs Mothra carnage. Thought Braun in particular was awesome in it. As good as that possibly could have been. Cesaro isn't a guy who's at his best when working from beneath selling a bodypart, but still that main event was really great. Just like the 2 Roman vs Bryan matches, if there had been a live crowd going mad for it, it would be a slam dunk MOTY. Excellent performance from both guys, really awesome 'journeyman has the match of his career' story. Even though you know Cesaro wasn't winning, they went as far as they could to make him look legit. His arm looked nasty with all the welts and cuts on it too. Seth Rollins is such a wet blanket, coming out in literally the worst suit I've seen in 30 years on this planet to set up next month's HIAC match. That couldn't have waited?

Moxley vs Nagata was paint by numbers. Some stiff kicks at the end, but otherwise they could have had this match in their sleep. Haven't seen a Nagata match for a couple years and he looked old. What in the good fuck was that Cody promo? Anyone? No idea I already said before that running the Careers vs Titles match on TV rather than PPV was kinda dumb and I stick by it. It was OK match, they did as much as they could. Heel Troll Bucks are terrible, and Daniels is at retirement stage, but in fairness Kaz has actually become one of the most solid veterans they have and helped keep this from being a total shitshow. Michaels vs Flair was 13 years ago, doing that spot just felt so dated and lame. I did bite on some of the nearfalls at the end I will admit. Bucks then doing a trash heel promo where they lay out the challenge for TWO matches is dumb. I don't think these guys 'get' how to be heels. The pivot to Moxley/Kingston vs Bucks rather than vs Omega is disappointing. Can anyone honestly say they'd rather see that tag title match and the threeway with PAC and OC than a threeway with Moxley and Kingston? Speaking of, PAC vs OC was fine, clearly not as good as their first match but it's a different situation entirely. Still, neither feels like they should be getting a PPV title shot and this threeway reeks of filler. Page avenging his loss to Cage at the PPV and probably an angle with Cage leaving Team Taz is fine. Longs out the Page title shot for a little longer. As a match them doing 20 minutes of even-stevens probably won't be as fun as the squash a couple weeks ago, but it's fine. I enjoyed Tully handing out the watches and the Pinnacle segment. Jericho coming back this week is questionable - they couldn't have had Sammy or Hager do the talking for once to sell the injury? Shit like that just makes it clear everyone else is supporting cast rather than main players. I am fine with them running it back with Stadium Stampede and AEW cementing that as a signature match. Having the WarGames be the lead-in for the Stadium Stampede match feels the wrong way round, but let's see how it plays out. Stipulation of IC having to break up definitely adds more juice and intrigue to it so I'm down. Jade Cargill's 'I'm that bitch' catchphrase is going to catch on very quickly. Main event was awesome. Everything it needed to be. Miro looked dominant, and Darby showed tonnes of heart and fight and still was protected by the injury. Very, very good stuff. Loved Darby getting fired up from the FIST BUMP with Stinger. I'm still expecting Sting/Darby vs Page/Sky in a cinematic match at the PPV, and it looks like Miro vs Archer too, though that could be for TV. I enjoyed this week though there is a lot of very questionable booking in the big picture here

Would Cesaro really have been a worse pick for a champion than Rollins, Wyatt, Strowman, Goldberg, Lashley, Miz, 2020 Orton, or Jinder friggin' Mahal? Because all of them have been a world/universal champ over the last 5 years and I'm not convinced Cesaro would be worse than any of them.

Thinking about the possibility of them running another Stadium Stampede match with DoN with Pinnacle vs Jericho-less Inner Circle - what's Mike Tyson got in his schedule for the next month?

I get the feeling there's going to be another Pinnacle vs IC match at DoN with Jericho-less IC trying to get revenge for him. Not enough time to build towards another major match for MJF and the other big players all seem to have something going on right now. I'd be down for something like FTR/MJF vs Santana/Ortiz/Sammy would be sweet. I didn't have issue with them leaving the cage, but that and the weapons did make this feel more like the TNA Lethal Lockdowns than an NWA-era WarGames (not that I have any beef with that). And the guy moans about how he never gets pushed too far in any company he's worked. What a turd.

- I assume we are getting Bucks vs Mox/King at the PPV, otherwise literally no reason why you run SCU career vs title next week or have that #1 contenders match. I get they are pivoting Mox and King away from Omega, but so far there isn't much reason to want to see that over them in a singles title match - As much as we all love to rag on Cody, I think the blood was obviously unintentional. I have no problem with him beating QT, he is much higher in the pecking order than him and this is obviously a stepping stone to the real end goal - Cody vs Ogogo. - Fully expect Miro to beat an injured Darby next week, which is A-OK with me. Darby's run has served it's purpose and it's time for Miro to get elevated. Looking forward to the match. I predict Darby/Sting vs Page/Sky in another cinematic match for the PPV, which I am not overboard about. Darby needs to beat these geeks and move up the rankings. - PAC vs OC as a #1 contenders match is just mind-boggling and so out of left field. I know the rankings are not meant to be taken as gospel and are a story-telling device, but Page was #1 and has moved out of the Top 3 due to one loss? Come on. When was the last time PAC even had a singles match on Dynamite? 3 months ago against Ryan Nemeth. OC has won a lot but the only guy of any value he's beaten is Penta. This is why when AEW fans talk about how their booking is planned out months in advance I call bullshit. PAC vs Omega has been done 3 times in AEW already, zero interest in it again. Omega's promo on OC did an alright job of getting me into that as a match, but it's definitely not a PPV title match level bout. I get that this is a filler match while they continue Omega's belt collector gimmick, but it's a PPV title match. Real wet fart booking. - I am going to mull on the main event a bit. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. In truth I didn't think it was significantly better than the NXT versions, which I am over. I caught a version without ad breaks and I'm not sure it was any better, if anything the ad breaks and TV format really hurt this. They had to deliberately pad out segments during the breaks, repeat a couple moments, and there was a moment where Jericho stopped climbing up the cage halfway so they could get the shot of him getting to the top during TV time. It was exposing. I enjoyed Jacksonville's greatest Arn & Tully tribute band bleeding gushers, Santana & Ortiz using the fork and Sammy's effort, but I don't think the others brought much to the table here. Match went on forever and the finish was a bit of a cop-out. Just have Jericho tap if that's what you're doing. I didn't have a huge issue with the angle at the end, it really made MJF a top level heel again, but the crash pad was way too obvious. Visually, it looked like a giant beanbag covered in cardboard, they needed to do a better job making it less obvious for me. Despite my moaning I did enjoy the show and look forward to next week.

Reigns vs Bryan was a great match. Easily the best match on free TV this year, these two just match up so well together. Probably as good as the PPV match, the ad breaks were a bit awkward and broke up the flow a bit, but it had a much better more satisfying conclusion. I am cautious they could still add Rollins to Roman vs Cesaro, but if they don't then I am PUMPED for that match. Crew and Big E had yet another fun if unspectacular match with a guff finish. Looks like they are setting up for a fourway with Owens and Zayn for Backlash. Personally I am so over both of those 2 pairings, but it could be a fun match.

Conti still has more to do, but she is getting there and cool to see her development. Between her, Cargill, Velvet and Britt, they have a few solid female workers who are all improving and should be the focal point of the division once they get past the joshi era. Darby vs Jungle Boy was a really good match, juxtaposed with a god awful Luchasaurus-Sting exchange. Would happily see them match up again in future but I guess we have to see Darby/Archer vs Page/Sky next. I am sure someone out there wants to see that match but it's not me. They have been pushing Page as #1 contender for weeks now with zero indication of a title match. Are they going to run that at the PPV? Or hold off on it? Seems like a strange move to have Page so strong if they aren't going to do anything with it. The match with Starks was pretty flat to me. Out all the promos this week I thought Santana's was clearly the best. I am with those low-key enjoying the Nightmare Family vs Factory feud. In a promotion full of factions, the Elite are the biggest group of geeks going.

Nah, that would all make sense if it happens that way, it's just not how I've read it coming. Britt should definitely win the belt soon but I get the feeling there are still blockers to do anything title-related with Rosa due to the NWA situation. I could see them going Shida > Britt > Cargill or maybe Statlander with the womens belt.

I thought the point of the Lights Out match was that it was the end of the Britt-Rosa rivalry? Britt's promo seemed to suggest her vs Shida is next on the agenda

Only took them 3 weeks, but fair enough I must have missed that.

This opening Bucks heel promo - didn't they already do all this shit last year and then just retcon it out because it went nowhere? Tony needs to get a grip on whoever is booking this shit because its dreadful. For all this talk of how AEW are booking long-term, this feels like they are making it up as they go along. There will be some who cream over that opening tag, but honestly it was the sort of match that made me think I'll stop watching this promotion. Maybe I'll just skip all the Elite stuff. It's not for me. 4th Britt Baker promo in a row despite losing the Lights Out. No sign of Rosa still. On the upside: Jade vs Velvet was a pretty hot match that helped cleanse the pallet. Short, heated, and had a clear hierarchy between them. More of that. Wheeler sold that Tyson punch like a motherfucker. Yeesh. I am down for Christian vs Hobbs and Darby vs Miro on the docket Darby vs Hardy was a total blast. Darby kicking out of the chair Twist of Fate and the table legdrop were both a bridge too far, but otherwise a great match. Felt like a war and that finish was awesome. Had no idea Whitmer was a producer in AEW either.

I, too, would rather have leprosy than ebola

Why did Dunne go over at the TakeOver if Kushida was winning the belt here? Because he's a HHH pet project or because they booked this show on the day? Both?

Will happily be proven wrong, but I think its a fair guess based on track record