Nineteen Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 Was really rooting for Hangman there. Hoping this loss is part of a bigger story they've been teasing with him recently. I get why Mox is the franchise but he's really booked a little OP sometimes. Visual pin on Jade was interesting choice, maybe foreshadowing the end is nigh? Allie sighting! Vs. Jamie next week! Hyped! "Mi espanol es, como si dice... mid," I howled at the line. I work in a community with a large spanish speaking population and I totally have my new go to when I get stuck linguistically. Don't really get putting it on Darby if the plan was to get it back on Joe if Wardlow was coming that quickly unless they didn't know he was gonna be back that quickly and..... well match was fire at least. Darby is totally here for a good time, not for a long time. That blind tope into the table was really scary for a minute. Guessing Joe got hardway'd there. Weird Max got a little homophobic there and Acclaimed ducked the challenge. Feels unusual since AEW has been really good about booking their face champs as okay with taking on all comers. I get the Gunns don't really have any notable wins (I don't watch the youtube shows) but there's definitely the long standing drama between the two teams that justifies the match. 3
The Natural Posted February 2, 2023 Author Posted February 2, 2023 Nobody does this better than Darby Allin.
John from Cincinnati Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 1 minute ago, Nineteen said: Don't really get putting it on Darby if the plan was to get it back on Joe if Wardlow was coming that quickly Pop and moment for the northwest shows. Tony counteracting decades of hometown humiliation with the hometown hotshot! 4
Hector Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 That might be some of the best TV wrestling ever seen. Really good back and forth strong style match with Mox and Page. Thatcher channeled his inner Fuchi against Danielson. An insane MOTYC with Darby and Joe shaving years off their lives. Great shit all around. 6
For Great Justice Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 (edited) I personally like how much of a wild card the TNT title is, given how most reigns are on the long-ish side these days. Wow, that sounds like I’m harkening back to the Russo days and I’m definitely not, but knowing the champ can drop it in any given defense is exciting Edited February 2, 2023 by For Great Justice 7 1
The Natural Posted February 2, 2023 Author Posted February 2, 2023 King of TV. TNT Champion and ROH World Television Champion, Samoa Joe. 4 1
Nineteen Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 6 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said: Pop and moment for the northwest shows. Tony counteracting decades of hometown humiliation with the hometown hotshot! Fair
John E. Dynamite Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 This was a tale of two hours for me, but some of that was pacing/layout. Moxley/Page back-to-back with Takeshita/Cage was waaay too many overlapping bad habits - if you are no-selling brainbusters you better get a pop for it. The main had a lot of... "good" botches? Like Darby taking too long w/ the hoodie and the canvas was reacted to properly by Joe and caused big momentum shifts against him. I liked this episode and I bet most fans loved it.
Andrew POE! Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 I haven't seen the match yet, but oof at giving the TNT title back to Samoa Joe. Why would TK go through the trouble of having Darby Allin beat challengers (like Mike Bennett, Juice Robinson, Kushida, and Buddy Matthews) that were increasingly harder but then have a wrestler on his decline and injury prone (if we're being honest) like Samoa Joe beat him? Allin could have still won the match and they could have had the post-match for Joe & Wardlow and Joe wouldn't have lost his heat. Tony Khan, booking genius everyone. 1
JLowe Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 Opener was just another brutal all-out brawl where I wasn’t sure who was going to win. Very enjoyable. Makes sense to have Bunny be paid to distract Hayter while Saraya and Toni jump Britt, since BB&B are total mercenaries. Hayter is going to beat the crap out of her now. Outrunners, yes!! Fun little squash! Good luck trying to turn The Acclaimed heel, don’t see anyway that happens against the Ass Boys. I guess I can handle Cage as “huge guy who makes strong face look very impressive”, Takeshita looked great in this. Danielson-Thatcher was excellent but I would actually possibly prefer a match where there isn’t already the “damaged body part target” storyline just to see some more fun catch stuff. And then Lard Lad brawls with MJF and gets a match next week! And we get Danielson-Rush! The Jade-Velvet match kinda sucked, she’s plateaued right now match and story wise. The visual pin wasn’t earned, at not point was there any real sense that Velvet was a threat, nor did Velvet come off particularly good or strong. And then they need to decide if Jade is face or heel. Is she getting her comeuppance? Then she can’t keep having her kid with her. Is she the next Hulk Hogan, wrestling like a heel but acting like she’s a face? Darby is a masochist. Joe is a sadist. This wasn’t their most violent match but it was still a lot of crazy shit. Joe got busted open hardway when Darby dove into the table he was holding up, the leg caught him right above the eye. And that was a fun 5 weeks, but now it’s back to the hoss fights. 4
Cobra Commander Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 to be fair to the AEW booking, the Danielson gauntlet and Starks gauntlet aren't gonna overlap for long but yeah.. they're doing two different 'heel makes the face run a gauntlet' angles on the same shows 2 1
Cobra Commander Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 1 minute ago, Octopus said: Samoa Joe vs Necro Herbivore was nuts! Necro Gother 1
Dog Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 5 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said: I haven't seen the match yet, but oof at giving the TNT title back to Samoa Joe. Why would TK go through the trouble of having Darby Allin beat challengers (like Mike Bennett, Juice Robinson, Kushida, and Buddy Matthews) that were increasingly harder but then have a wrestler on his decline and injury prone (if we're being honest) like Samoa Joe beat him? Allin could have still won the match and they could have had the post-match for Joe & Wardlow and Joe wouldn't have lost his heat. Tony Khan, booking genius everyone. Bring back the confused react. 8 2 3
John from Cincinnati Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 2 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said: I haven't seen the match yet, but oof at giving the TNT title back to Samoa Joe. Why would TK go through the trouble of having Darby Allin beat challengers (like Mike Bennett, Juice Robinson, Kushida, and Buddy Matthews) that were increasingly harder but then have a wrestler on his decline and injury prone (if we're being honest) like Samoa Joe beat him? The "wrestler in decline" is a legend that's clearly still capable of producing high-end stuff, is VERY over, has historically been presented as difficult-to-overcome badass, and has been protected in AEW to the tune of now having only lost two matches. Everything's fine, sorry if his winning the TV belt somehow diminishes Juice and Buddy's sacrifices in your eyes. Why go to "the trouble?" A fighting babyface champion going down as a result of attrition from several great title defenses isn't that confusing, and pretty much reinforces Darby's whole thing. 13 2
Death From Above Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 Hook Darby vs Joe straight into my veins 4
Andrew POE! Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 1 minute ago, John from Cincinnati said: The "wrestler in decline" is a legend that's clearly still capable of producing high-end stuff, is VERY over, has historically been presented as difficult-to-overcome badass, and has been protected in AEW to the tune of now having only lost two matches. Everything's fine, sorry if his winning the TV belt somehow diminishes Juice and Buddy's sacrifices in your eyes. Why go to "the trouble?" A fighting babyface champion going down as a result of attrition from several great title defenses isn't that confusing, and pretty much reinforces Darby's whole thing. You say that now but when Samoa Joe gets injured again and is out for most of the year, then don't say I wasn't wrong. I don't have a problem with Darby Allin losing the TNT title over attrition but he should have beaten Samoa Joe tonight. I would have at least stretched it out to the AEW Revolution PPV for Allin to lose the title but that's just me.
John from Cincinnati Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 3 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said: You say that now but when Samoa Joe gets injured again and is out for most of the year, then don't say I wasn't wrong. I wouldn't say that. I'd say you were wrong. Joe going over for a TV belt that can flip at any time is fine, regardless of any future injuries.
porksweats Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 23 minutes ago, Andrew POE! said: I haven't seen the match yet, but oof at giving the TNT title back to Samoa Joe. Why would TK go through the trouble of having Darby Allin beat challengers (like Mike Bennett, Juice Robinson, Kushida, and Buddy Matthews) that were increasingly harder but then have a wrestler on his decline and injury prone (if we're being honest) like Samoa Joe beat him? Allin could have still won the match and they could have had the post-match for Joe & Wardlow and Joe wouldn't have lost his heat. Tony Khan, booking genius everyone. It's so Wardlow could've healed up for a month, come back strong and resume his feud Joe being fully rested and hair cut. Tony Khan, booking genius everyone. That being said, my thought of how the feud would've gone was Darby wins, keeps the TNT title and Wardlow goes for the ROH TV but either way, happy with how it turned out. 1
Cobra Commander Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 I guess ROH having a TV title when their main show airs on Honor Club isn't much more contradictory than the promotions that have had TV titles and no TV at all The Ring Of Honor Streaming Champion doesn't sound as prestigious
porksweats Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 3 minutes ago, Dog said: Do we know for sure that Wardlow was hurt? Even if he wasn't hurt (I don't know if he was), I imagine a month of rest would do wonders.
Cobra Commander Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 3 minutes ago, Dog said: Do we know for sure that Wardlow was hurt? It would be mean of Dave's AEW source(s) to lie to him about a Wardlow injury which Dave mentioned 5 days before Wardlow returned.
HumanChessgame Posted February 2, 2023 Posted February 2, 2023 1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said: The Acclaimed will face the Gunns as a heel turn is suspected 35 minutes ago, JLowe said: Outrunners, yes!! Fun little squash! Good luck trying to turn The Acclaimed heel, don’t see anyway that happens against the Ass Boys. I think if anyone turns it's going to be Billy, doing some kind of "I let my boys down when they were kids by being on the road all the time and need to make it up to them now" story. 2
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