Jrag

Matches have been great this month, but the overall build up and excitement isn’t there. Not saying they need a Bloodline level story or anything, but Tony has lost some of the magic these last few months. They are trying to differentiate themselves from WWE, which is a good thing, but maybe they are doing so in the wrong way? The shows are missing something imo. They are definitely missing SOMEONE.

Good show overall, great main event. Obviously I wanted Joe to have a long run, but I’d rather put the belt on Darby than give it back to Wardlow. Darby needs more singles matches so can’t complain too much. Great moment. Hope this means Joe is moving up the card because they really need to capitalize on this run. Put him in the ring with Omega or Hangman or some shit. Swerve continues to be awesome. Can’t believe there are people here being so loud wrong about MJF the wrestler. Did he start his career off being shaky in the ring or something before I started watching? Everything I have seen would suggest he is one of the best in-ring guys in the company. Very much appreciate the change of pace he provides and the focus on storytelling. Like Punk a bit in that way, but athletic enough that it’s more of a choice for him than a necessity which I can appreciate. Loved those Punk matches and count me in the group that really loved that Darby match as well. Can’t wait for the iron man. That Dragon/MJF back and forth sucked though…

Loved the main event so much so happy to see Joe getting this run. Count me in the group that expects them to circle back to Wardlow here in a month or 2 and give him his win back in a blowoff match, BUT I would prefer they just keep the belt on Joe and let him build it up. If Punk does come back Tony better give me Punk/Joe 4 before one of them flames out again. Don’t wait Tony tomorrow ain’t promised!

Mavs just pulled the TMAC comeback and then won it in OT. Luka with 60 21 and 10! They were down 9 with 33 seconds left. Please tell me one of you Knicks fans watched that live and it wasn’t just me!

Also Jamie Hayter vs Mercedes Varnado is gonna be so fucking great. Have the women ever main evented an AEW PPV before? If not this seems like the obvious time to do it.

Just stopping in to say Rick Ross is an awesome promo and Swerve is my favorite heel in the company right now. Fuck the haters! The backstage promo was MUCH better than the live one, but how can anyone shit on Ross calling Keith Lee a big motherfucker on live tv!? That was great. Who cares how much they paid him Tony Khan could set a billion dollars on fire and I wouldn’t lose a bit of sleep! Seriously though Swerve has been extremely important to AEW programming over this last 6 months and I hope he gets rewarded with a big singles push at some point. He is unique in the ring and has great heel instincts. He is more responsible for the Acclaimed being where they are now than just about anyone. Love him. Overall the show was another very fun episode. Hayter is so good and I have enjoyed this best of 7 way more than I thought I would.

Thought that as well. Regardless of the intent, not picking the brain of WILLIAM REGAL is a major red flag.

I want a 3 month Dragon/MJF feud for the title. MJF has broken free of the 4 pillars stuff and is clearly in that top tier of the card now. We talk about how young Garcia is, but it’s also wild how MJF has complete control of the crowd by age 26. He’s money and Tony knows it. One of the best things going in wrestling and absolutely going to speak that bidding war into existence.

Put the belt on dragon.

Awesome show all the way through. Dragon/Hangman 3 was just as great as the other two. Both promos were great. Love both of those guys. This show needs MJF. Some guy was yelling at Rick Knox to get control for like 5 straight minutes and I couldn’t love that any more. Danielson putting the belt on Garcia was a nice touch. Danny a made guy now.

MJF’s “I am not expected to hit home runs, I’m expected to hit grand slams” line has never felt more accurate. The only way the crowd goes along with anything they try tonight is if Max steps up to the plate and swings.

Tony needs to start telling all these wrestlers different stories and see what news breaks to find the rats! Seriously though these wrestling insider dudes act like everyone is talking. I’m sure we would all laugh if we knew the real sources for some of this shit. Like, what if these goofs are all talking to The Wingmen?

He shook it out a million times between moves. At first I thought it was a legit injury, but I’m pretty sure he grabbed the wrong elbow at some point, quickly realized it, and went back to the other elbow so? ?

Funniest thing to me is this board has a bunch of weird “that guy deserves a receipt backstage! I love the tough guys!” posts and then there appears to be a legit altercation and it’s between Punk and the Bucks which is about as far away from tough guy as you can get. What a twist.

Again, no idea how much of this was legit or not and I don’t want to speculate. Overall it was an extremely uncomfortable experience watching the scrum all the way through, but then there was this 30 seconds of gold:

Caught parts of the show in between fantasy football drafts. Still have to go back and watch the tag titles and Danielson/Jericho among other things, but really dug Eddie/Ishii, the goofy ladder match angle and the trios title match. Good to have Kenny back. Main event was solid, but they have a better match in them. Punk selling the elbow for 20 minutes after his own dive was an interesting choice. I was hooked the whole way and really had no idea who was going to win which is a rarity for this company. Have seen bits and pieces but I guess I have to go back and watch the scrum in full huh

No idea on the work or shoot part of this because Punk seems genuinely pissed, but I would like to point out that Wardlow’s push went sideways partially because of the timing of the MJF “fire me” story. Not the first time they have set someone up to fail to get a worked shoot thing over

Mox promo was good, Punk promo was good and the Ace promo was great! That being said this has been an extremely strange build to the PPV match. Punk loses, has self-doubt and finally overcomes is a 2 month idea not a 2 week idea. The promo worked because Punk is great on the mic, but the idea of swinging from “maybe i should quit again” to fired up babyface in 5 minutes shouldn’t work. Neither outcome seems like a good idea somehow? Punk winning does Mox no favors and Mox winning and Punk just moving on to something else is a dead end idea. The only way either outcome halfway works is if Mox wins and Punk actually does take some more time off to recover. The only way it REALLY works is if Punk is able to pull off the heel turn in Chicago. If that happens I will take it all back AND I will demand an apology from The Natural for liking all these anti-Punk posts!

That is the most likely answer. And if so it’s very dumb. Punk came back two weeks ago. This wasn’t a months of build and damn he just couldn’t get the wheel working situation. If he wasn’t ready to go, whats the downside to Mox remaining interim champ for another few months? They could have built a legit PPV main event around the twelve top tier wrestlers they are underutilizing and ran with Punk/Mox when the time was right

I’m in this shit for the matches and the long-term booking. One of those things is still happening I suppose. Hope to be eating my words soon, but Tony seems like he has lost the plot. Some legit bad injury luck leading to forbidden door I get it, but erratic booking is a nice way of putting it.

From a story perspective I truly don’t understand what they are doing. We are getting both Punk and Omega doing back to soon gimmicks at the same time? If Punk isn’t actually ready to be back why bring him back at all? Save that title unification match in the back pocket for when it counts. What sense does it make to have a big question mark for the main event of your PPV 2 weeks out?

That 1st hour was the best hour of wrestling I’ve seen all year. Garcia is made. Love that fucking guy. Maybe my MOTY. The end of “im just happy to be here” Punk was great. Hangman shot came out of nowhere. Mox took some hits, but I think Punk’s shot at Eddie was even better. No fucking idea what they are doing with the booking. If they give Punk/Mox away next week it’s a mistake. Realllly no reason to rush this. They should be running a Punk/Mox feud for as long as they can. Especially if the full Punk heel turn is coming. Insane if they do not run that at All Out. Lots of MJF talk on Twitter when that title match was announced since it seems so strange to run it next week. Have this weird feeling we are going to get a Punk/MJF heel partnership at some point.

Saddest episode of the entire BB universe. She better get that damn Emmy this year. Some great conversation here about Kim’s mindset. Totally agree that her realizing she was no longer in danger led to the confession and return to ABQ. I was coming here to note that she actually didn’t tell the whole truth, but that was pointed out in the post above. Kim’s character arc is basically Walt in reverse in a way. Walt started off as an under-appreciated meek shell of his true self. In the end, with the cancer diagnosis as the turning point, he got what he wanted which was to be recognized as a Great man. Kim was recognized for her brilliance early in her career, in command of her destiny etc etc. To go from that to the shell we see in Florida is such a heartbreaking turn. She was in control of the Howard scheme and you can tell that eats at her more than anything. Florida Kim doesn’t want any control. She can’t even bring herself to chose between two flavors of ice cream. I think she also blames herself for where Jimmy ended up. We the audience know that’s not on her, but you can see it in her face during the phone conversation. It’s why she told that one lie during her confession. She still feels the need to protect him even though she recognized years ago, in the rain, that the Jimmy she knew was gone.

Welp. I picked a hell of a time to go to my first AEW show. Most fun I've ever had in a wrestling crowd. The crowd was so rabid, man. I think even the 2nd multiple german suplex spot got a standing ovation lol. Entire show really delivered, but I can not express how perfect Ospreay/OC felt in the arena. Crowd bit on everything they were doing. Some GREAT near falls. Both these guys rule so much. Particularly loved the playing possum sequence that didn't really work. OC baits him into a high risk moonsault, but it doesn't really matter because Ospreay is such an athletic freak. In the end of that sequence OC gets the knees up anyways, but he has to fight to get there. It's that last bit that makes the character work.

Kyrie feeding off the crowd yesterday was a Reggie in NY type of moment. Say what you will about how we got here, but the dude has FRESH legs and looks unstoppable despite the fasting. What a great game that was. Boston has been amazing this year, but I'm not sure they can beat the Nets 4 times without Robert Williams. KD started the game like 1-9 and we all know that's not happening again this series. Bulls fought hard and will most likely get swept, but it was nice to see the fight. Caruso defending every Buck including Giannis in the 2nd half was an incredible stretch. I will never understand what these coaches are saving their challenges for. Billy almost gave me a heart attack when he refused to challenge that clear over the back call they got wrong late. That would have been Giannis 6th in a better timeline. Great start to the playoffs and some really fun series ahead. Predicting them one game in: Suns in 4 Bucks in 4 Heat in 5 Griz in 7 Nets in 7 Sixers in 6 Warriors in 6 Jazz in 5 if Luka doesn't play