WORLDS END - 12/30/2023

[hammerva]

6 hours ago, sabremike said:

People ranting about the Dusty Finish are really annoying me. The reason it was so disastrous for JCP is that it was done on every singleshow, if it's done sparingly it works (which IMO it did here, although technically this wasn't actually a Dusty Finish as that's the referee reversing the decision).

Is that really a Dusty finish?   Copeland legit won the match and then Killswitch/Luchasarus/whatever he is called now cashed in an earlier win and immediately won the match.  If that is a Dusty finish then basically 90% of Money in the Bank cash in were Dusty finishes.  

Edited December 31, 2023 by hammerva

[zendragon]

I do find it Ironic that the guy who started the trend of cashing in after a match got hoisted by his own petard here

[Octopus]

4 hours ago, Craig H said:

You know what? Having gone through the reveal that it was Cole, it’s not so bad. I actually don’t think it’s bad at all and I thought it would come off very bad. 

I loved it and I’m not a Cole guy. Lights go out, he’s sitting. I love to sit! Relatable content.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Octopus

[Matt D]

I’m through the Swerve vs Dustin match and I’m with @Octopus. I’ve enjoyed things so far.

[Just Dave]

2 hours ago, Matt D said:

I just figured Cole shouldn't be traveling so they had to pivot.  I have some pretty strong thoughts about what Cole has to do in order to make this work (No storytime, no boom, no baby, no cool heel trappings that he hides behind. The fans love those things; take them away from them. Oh, and no Panama Sunrise, what being the worst, most contrived move in the company, especially if he wants to walk in twenty years given what just happened to his ankle).

As for how we should feel about Max, I tried to tackle that in my write up of the Jay White match:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2023/11/aew-five-fingers-of-death-and-friends.html?m=1

Without those things there's nothing Adam Cole can do that warrants him being on tv. He hides behind those things because he isn't good at anything else. 

[Dolfan in NYC]

47 minutes ago, zendragon said:

I do find it Ironic that the guy who started the trend of cashing in after a match got hoisted by his own petard here

Think of it as Tony paying tribute to his favorite wrestler:

 

[colonial]

Watched the PPV last night ... overall, it was fine.

PRESHOW:

-- Felt bad for Willow and Kris for their struggles trying to get the finisher done right. Mistakes happen and you learn from them. But once it was clear Willow was struggling with the finisher, someone in the back should have called an audible and have Willow use a secondary finisher, or even a roll-up, to end the match.

-- Battle royal was OK. I got a laugh out of the other wrestlers buying Archer and Killswitch with tables and chairs before the match to try and win. At least it's original.

-- Hook/Yuta was fine. Loved the German suplex war, didn't like the occasional unprotected weapons headshot.

 

MAIN SHOW:

-- First eight-man I'll treat as an exhibition -- simply a showcase for the remaining CC wrestlers to do their things and entertain the crowd. Garcia attempting the backdrop suplex on King again was a delight, and there's the potential of doing something with Garcia/2.0 vs. HOB down the line.

-- Miro vs. Andrade was a bit of a drag given that the word was already out there that Andrade was returning to Connecticut. You knew going in how the match was going to end. Would have cut five minutes from the match.

-- Storm/Riho didn't really seem to gel. I don't know how much Toni Storm weighs (and frankly don't care), but having Riho play Spike Dudley to Toni's Big John Studd seemed ludicrous to me. The bit with Luther catching Riho, then tossing her to Toni was funny, as well as Mariah May discovering her inner Rip Taylor.

-- Swerve/Dustin should have ended with the concrete block spot. 

-- Somewhat surprised that AEW failed to read the room ahead of the second eight-man when the allegations/rumors first came out online. If this match happened in WWE, I doubt the fans would care much. But it's AEW, where the core fans gobble up the news and newz sites, social media, etc. Felt bad for Sting, who looked slow and disinterested as the match wore on, though I did like the interaction with Vladimir at the end -- that was a pleasant surprise.

    It also appeared a seed or two was planted regarding Starks and Hobbs, but was quickly forgotten given the issues with another wrestler. At this point, I'd rather see Hobbs/Takeshita challenge Starks/Bill for the tag belts.

-- Hart/Abadon tried, and I thought it was Abby's best performance against a U.S. wrestler in a regular match (their work on Dark against Mizunami and Sakura are probably their best "regular" singles matches since their debut). But fans wanted the bells and whistles you usually find in TV matches featuring Abadon and Hart. No mist, no weapons, etc. And Hart's moonsault finish was a groaner. Not sure what you do with Abby moving forward -- the program with Hart was likely a thank you for their patience and hard work -- perhaps they finally get that Japan tour?

-- Loved Copeland/Cage -- hard to believe two guys who are both 50 are still delivering the goods. Didn't mind the surprise at the end, but the whole storyline with Cage and Killswitch has been moving at a snail's pace. Now is the time to move forward on it.

-- What a 2023 for Eddie Kingston. Probably the MVP for the promotion this year along with Cage and Danielson. 

-- Curious to see where Samoa Joe goes next with the belt. The Devil reveal was probably the lesser of 20 evils to end the storyline -- rather it be Cole than, say, Ziggler.

[Coletti]

Didn't get this show for several reasons and overall it doesn't sound like I missed much - but I'm so happy that Mox didn't beat Eddie in the CC finals. Eddie's always worked best as an underdog on the chase but with decisive wins over Claudio, Danielson, and now Moxley, I think Kingston can work just perfectly as a decorated champion who won't back down from a fight and still has to scrap to hold onto success. 

Over/under for when Andrade starts vague-tweeting about how unhappy he is at WWE again?

[StuntmanCrowley]

This definitely was one of the weaker AEW PPVs, but considering the high bar that has been set, that's not necessarily an insult.

I had an absolute blast during this and I'll echo the sentiment of almost everyone else, Mox/Kingston was MOTN with Cope/Christian sitting in the 2nd spot.  

 

I'm really happy to see the title on Joe and can't wait to see who steps up to challenge him next.  I want to say Swerve, but i dont think he should lose the belt that quickly and i dont think Swerve should lose right now.

 

My only letdown with the Devil reveal is that I really wanted KOR/Bobby Fish back

[Andrew POE!]

10 hours ago, Octopus said:

Adam Cole is going to be a great limpy evil manager while Roderick Strong breaks backs. He’ll be so good at he he won’t need to wrestle even. 

Roderick Strong's gimmick should be he wears a neck brace and glasses everywhere. Even though his neck is fine. Since he was The Devil's Goon, have him wear a black neck brace. He can repeat Randy Orton's early gimmick where he talks about how his neck is 99.9999% healed and he'll be ready to be back in the ring any time now.

[Matt D]

That second 8-man was a disaster. Wrong everything. Not even much good Hobbs/Starks interaction. They should have went home after the first hot tag to Sting. The absolute worst part was when Jericho was trying to get Sting’s attention to tell him to do Sting things for a pop.

[w. josh]

Jericho trying to do mirror spots with Sting so that people would stop booing him was painful on at least 4 levels.

[Steventon]

I somehow caught some of the pre-show and have to say - even though there were much bigger things on this show - Stat vs Willow was legit the sloppiest match I've seen between two properly trained workers in ages. That whole finishing sequence was a fucking shambles.

Cole/Kingdom/Wardlow was the most predictable route, it just isn't very interesting. I became tired of Adam Cole, main event heel leading faction, like over a decade ago, and seeing him be paired with the same guys (and Wardlow) he's been associated too for large parts of his career already - I'll pass. That, and what was even the point? I am sure we'll get a typically long boring promo explaining it on Dynamite, but Cole hasn't got the world title and has lost the belt he did have. The explanation has to be really good for him not to be dumbest mastermind ever. 

Joe as champ is cool considering his career looked like it was done at one point.

Kingston vs Mox was easy MOTN and a great moment. Considering they will almost certainly never treat Eddie like a real main event guy, he's been given as good of a consolation prize as you could ask for.

I enjoyed Coleland vs Christian even though it was a pretty typical no DQ match and the fire spot was both forced and pointless. I've been a low voter on Edge for basically his whole career as a main event guy but I am low key enjoying this run just because of the effort he's bringing.

Andrade vs Miro was aggressively mediocre. Andrade is going back to the WWE I assume, but all this to lead to Perry siding with Miro anyway - who could possibly give a shit about any of this.

CC 8-man was a fun showcase and cool they gave Garcia the win.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Steventon

[Octopus]

14 minutes ago, Matt D said:

That second 8-man was a disaster. Wrong everything. Not even much good Hobbs/Starks interaction. They should have went home after the first hot tag to Sting. The absolute worst part was when Jericho was trying to get Sting’s attention to tell him to do Sting things for a pop.

I was cracking up so hard at that. At least two back to back moments like that. “He bud, let’s do the splash. We’re friends” and “he bud, beat your chest. We’re friends” only kinda saved by Hobbs and I think Bill beating them up. Very funny and awkward.

[Craig H]

Part of why that match and finish to Joe vs MJF was so freaking good was they set it up in the match prior. In Mox vs Eddie, Mox has Eddie in the bulldog choke and Eddie keeps his arm up on the third try. So you think the same will happen with MJF and instead Joe put him out. 

Overall I liked the show. Moxley vs Eddie was amazing and the best match on the show. If MJF is as messed up as he says he is then he did a great job in the main event. Though the All Star CC 8 Man Tag was a lot of fun. I’ll be honest, I FFd through the other 8 man tag because I didn’t start watching the majority of the show until 2 am. 

Eddie, King of the Bums, first of his name, has had some of the best long term storytelling with finally beating Mox and holding a major title in AEW. 

[Octopus]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

I’m through the Swerve vs Dustin match and I’m with @Octopus. I’ve enjoyed things so far.

Matt and I: two peas in a pod

[odessasteps]

If I was Andrade, I’d probably be content to stay in CMLL a little while longer, given the success he’s been at least at the box office so far. Maybe they’d even complete the circle and let him take Atlantis’ mask. 
 

might depend on where Charlotte is doing her rehab. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by odessasteps

[For Great Justice]

Now that it’s mercifully over, my goodness the Andrade/Miro feud was some of the dirt worst creative you’ll ever see, right? Like, what the hell was that?

Andrade is definitely better suited going back to the WWE and being packaged back with Vega. Those two have the same vibe that Nana and Swerve have where it just clicks and comes across big time.

[Cobra Commander]

One Edge/Copeland thing. I wonder how things will go once he leaves the sandbox of feuding with Christian and works with the rest of the roster

[Craig H]

I don’t think Andrade is going to work out anywhere TBH. I think his height may have been his run as NXT champion. If he’s not injured then he’s complaining and if he’s not complaining he’s phoning it in. I would say that maybe there’s a chance he drops all the drama if he’s closer to Charlotte in WWE, but that doesn’t stop him from getting hurt again. Being as big as he is for his frame he’s begging for a muscle tear.

[JLowe]

2 hours ago, w. josh said:

Jericho trying to do mirror spots with Sting so that people would stop booing him was painful on at least 4 levels.

Ah, that explains it, I was wondering WTF was going on because Sting definitely looked like this wasn’t part of the script.

[Andrew POE!]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

I don’t think Andrade is going to work out anywhere TBH. I think his height may have been his run as NXT champion. If he’s not injured then he’s complaining and if he’s not complaining he’s phoning it in. I would say that maybe there’s a chance he drops all the drama if he’s closer to Charlotte in WWE, but that doesn’t stop him from getting hurt again. Being as big as he is for his frame he’s begging for a muscle tear.

Sadly, this. I'm surprised that WWE is even entertaining the idea of taking him back, especially considering the fight he had with Sammy Guevara. Of course, they took CM Punk back, but all those aspects - the complaining, lack of draw, injury prone, dude sounds like he ate a bag of marbles when he's on the mic - are against him.

[odessasteps]

The contract extension to his wife, their centerpiece of the women’s division, is probably a contributing factor.

[Greggulator]

Andrade rules and is one of the best wrestlers in the world. He’s damn good looking. And he’s Mexican and Latino audiences are really coveted. He and Zelina were an absolute main event act when they were together. I don’t know if they will pair them up again since she’s become a decent enough fiery babyface to put over a heel they are building or to do scene work with her stable. But, either way, Andrade is awesome and I think a really good fit for the WWE.

[TheVileOne]

It was an ultra-exaggerated, even more contrived version of the Dusty finish. It teases a babyface beating the heel champion and winning the title but ultimately ends with the title back on the heel champion. Made even dumber and worse by the fact they set up a title shot battle royal on the same night to have Killswitch win only to promptly hand over the shot back to Christian after he lost. Dumb garbage.

The Dusty finish is a finish reversal. They basically did a reversal last night. 

Edited December 31, 2023 by TheVileOne