zendragon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, Kev said: Oh I get it all, it’s just incredibly hacky. I think I’ve mentioned here before that part of my issue is that, as a Brit, I’m overly conscious of other Brits doing such overtly Americanised schtick as it feels hugely forced and inauthentic. And I’d stand by the point that heel commentators are generally an outdated concept. Heenan is usually held up as the standard, but that made a lot more sense as it was an extension of his heel manager character. Nigel doesn’t have that wider role to play up to so what purpose is the heeling serving? I think the ideal modern variation is the heel sympathising commentator, like Taz. He can add heel psychology, explain motivations, etc. while still sounding like a real human and not putting too much attention on himself over the actual wrestlers. Was Heenan the 1st? Jesse was a fairly well known heel wrestler when he switched to commentary. I wonder when two man booths became common, 50's wrestling ect seems to have a single commentator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I thought last night's show was all right. It was on the weaker end of PPV's that they've done, but there were some good matches mixed in with the terrible booking. I'm so glad that Eddie won. I wish it was Swerve vs. Eddie, but then Eddie would have come up short in that one and that would just be a sad story seeing him fall short of his dream of a Triple Crown. The match with Christian and Adam Copeland was really good. But I hated. HATED the Dusty finish with the TNT Title contract. I know they telegraphed it on the pre show. But I thought it was some bullshit with how it went down. My only thought it is it must be setting up for them to have that last ladder match and Copeland can go out on top. I mean Christian will be even more insufferable which will be awesome. But I still wish they didn't do the double switch like that. Joe vs. MJF was all right considering how banged up MJF was. That muscle buster on the apron must have hurt like hell. I didn't mind the ending. Bryce the referee being all "oh shit his arm fell" worked out good for the end to the match. The Devil stuff was meh. I mean on the scale of good to bad it was somewhere in the middle with the safe choice of Cole as the devil. Only thing is MJF is out for a while so there's gonna be a wait for there to be a payoff to this feud now. Overall as I said I thought it was an all right show. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 5 minutes ago, TheVileOne said: I will continue to comment on things where I see fit when I dislike them. FTFY. 1 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 12 minutes ago, AxB said: FTFY. You know what I didn’t dislike? Godzilla Minus One. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 5 minutes ago, TheVileOne said: You know what I didn’t dislike? Godzilla Minus One. And yet you didn’t like the one dinosaur part of the PPV? Something here doesn’t add up… 1 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Nigel not just apologizing to Copeland but putting himself in time out in the corner was amazing though. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zendragon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 7 hours ago, Cobra Commander said: 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 honestly that's more interesting. A guy who's spent 99% of his career in WWE mixing it up out side is at least interesting 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, Eivion said: Curious, why does everyone keep assuming Andrade is going back to WWE when he has been very vocal about wanting to wrestle in NJPW again? I’ve seen lucha folks saying he is going back, so I’d give them the benefit of the doubt for now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 7 minutes ago, zendragon said: honestly that's more interesting. A guy who's spent 99% of his career in WWE mixing it up out side is at least interesting also a guy whose WWE career included a long absence when a bunch of the ex-WWE AEW guys were working there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Tony should rebook the Romain/Edge/Bryan feud but now with Samoa Joe being the one draping a battered Copeland with Danielson’s broken body. All hail Samoa Joe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) Man, I feel like Antoine owes me about $45 of the $50 I spent on this show. Fuck. I really wanted to enjoy it last night. Mox vs Eddie ruled at least. Hope everyone's doing well btw. Uuugghhh I just realized my profile pic is me and Terry It's staying. Edited January 1 by Tromatagon 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I don't like Nigel's PBP as it's the majority of his entire contribution and it's just putting himself over for something that is unlikely to happen, and if it did, I doubt it would particularly resonate with the majority of the audience. The rest is just generic talking points that seem to be inserted in every match. It'd be like if Heenan doing commentary in the late 80s would talk about Hogan the entire show (and he did in later WCW which was awful). We sort of touched on the Abadon/Julia match in the chat and how it completely whiffed on the story, on the relevant character motivations etc. It's arguably the best use of the open stipulation gimmick that biting is legal. And then the biting is barely referred to in the match. (with three subsequent matches that have it instead). Surely you build a match around that stipulation and Abadon's limitations in ring, that Julia is able to avoid getting bit by any means necessary, and that if she does get bit, it's over. That maybe even the title isn't even that important here, the undead zombie just wants to bite her. Instead you get Abadon arguing with the referee on two counts, trying to hit flash pins and out wrestle Julia. The sort of things that would ruin the suspension of disbelief when it's Undertaker, George Steele, Kamala, etc. Julia Hart needs a new finish, not just because the moonsault looks awful, but again, is it consistent with the character and her motivations. The submission also probably needs some work around how it is applied and why. It could work if it's the sort of thing that's applied not necessarily to win a wrestling match, so much as it's seen as a brutal method of suffering being inflicted, or that she's been able to outsmart an opponent into falling prey to it. In most cases it feels a bit too Bret Hart setting an opponent up for the winning move. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 On a positive note - I think Dustin and Swerve did an amazing job of making the crowd care about a last minute put together consolation prize. Did Dustin's comeback last too long, and the cinder block feel out of place rather than as the finish? A little. Nonetheless the audience has such goodwill towards Swerve at the moment that it doesn't matter. There's no one I can stand less on the current roster than Edge, but that was match of the night by a fair way. A credit to them that they were able to move out of their wheelhouse and give not only something different but something that fit the storyline. I was really worried we were going to get The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever mk II and was pleasantly surprised. Now put over Nick Wayne.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 6 hours ago, Cobra Commander said: I had a different more graphic version of "guy running a self-help service to find" ready.. which upon thinking about it, would make it sound more like Christian was doing a Tucker Max gimmick as opposed to the almost Keith Raniere gimmick he's doing. It's been long enough but I still don't think you could do a Tucker Max ripoff gimmick without accidentally causing your dumbest male fans to get behind the guy. Please don't speak that into existence. I just found myself in a situation where I had nothing to read but his books. I don't want to go to that place again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 My notes: -Tazz is all about that PMA. Hell yeah, got a Gorilla Biscuits fan in the house (maybe... probably not) -Daddy Magic on commentary is awesome. Nigel is not. He only works if they pull the trigger on him and Dragon, which I would LOVE to see on some levels and feel sick for wanting on others. - Heel team treats DG like trash while he's FIP. They're so good at it. -I could go on about the opener forever. I love multi man matches like this. Great opener. -"Is this what you wanted? My infected finger?!" I skipped this match after that. I just have no interest in this storyline. -Two favorite things about Storm/Rhio (that won't elicit a "Settle down, Hollywood Razornetico"): "She's toast now!" Before the Cloverleaf and Luther's little rat face after getting ejected. Otherwise, it was there. Not interested in Toni's Timeless character, to be honest. -This was a multi man tag I didn't love. Brutal response to Jericho. I thought Sting got hurt by the end the way he dragged himself across the ring using the ropes. Moving along! -Oh, forgot Swerve. Strap a rocket to him already. Dude's a psycho and I love him for it. I feel like he has at least one Brotha Lynch Hung CD in his collection. - Julia vs. Abadon was fun. One match with three of my favorites from the women's division is a plus, even if the finish was not great. I'd still say I liked it better than Storm/Rhio. Hopefully this is not the last we see of Abadon for a while. Would like to see her transition to a mini-story with Skye. -Copeland/Cage was an overbooked Vince special but few people can do that type of thing better. I had a good time watching it and thought Wayne was hurt after that overshoot on the table. Fun! The aftermath, not so fun. I'm just wondering how the hell you end this feud. It feels like it just peaked. - Wow. Legit goosebumps at the end of Mox/Kingston. Eddie is like those NYC rappers who just keep cranking out solid boombap without bending to the trends in rap. I love them. I love him. He's a wrestler who wears Timbs to the ring sometimes. How could I not want only the best for him. I want a World Title run for him. Will it happen? I don't know. I wouldn't be shocked if this is as far as TK pushes him. Dragon on commentary was great. Would love to see him doing that more. I'm going to watch the ending tomorrow. Running on 2 hours of sleep over three days thanks to night terrors. Feels good to be back at the board talking wrestling though. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoFistsJustFlips Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 4 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said: I didn't mind it in theory, the only thing I didn't like is they really didn't make it clear that Killswitch could give it away to anyone he wanted to. On one hand, if they mentioned that it would have tipped us off as to what would happen, but on the other hand it just felt like something they made up at the moment to fit into the storyline. I liked the match a lot, and the end result of Christian keeping the belt I have no problem with, the execution on how we got there just felt a little made-up on the spot. See this is a fair and constructive criticism. Internally I just chalk it up to wrestling logic. No different than when Shawn Michaels superkicked Benoit & Triple H then signed Benoit's Wrestmania Rumble win contract making it a 3 Way. It's just how wrestling works. You have a signed and sealed contract by one party. If that contract isn't signed by you ti can be signed by anyone. So don't be a dummy, get a rubber stamp of your signature and stamp that bitch asap lol. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra Commander Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, RazorbladeKiss87 said: Please don't speak that into existence. I just found myself in a situation where I had nothing to read but his books. I don't want to go to that place again. were you trapped in a college dorm room circa 2007? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I'm fine with Joe getting a gold watch title reign, but I hope it is a shorter transitional reign as '24 Samoa Joe is not who I'd put in this slot at all. Promos should be good at least. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RazorbladeKiss87 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, Cobra Commander said: were you trapped in a college dorm room circa 2007? Institutional rehab so damn close. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleavy Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 6 hours ago, Sublime said: This is the best way to bring Jack Perry back and then eventually he and Killswitch can turn on Christian at the same time and you have a Boy and his Dinosaur vs Christian and Nick Wayne feud right there only if the Christian Cage version is actually Griff Garrison 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 This felt like the most WWE show AEW has ever done. The E/C title swap thing, main title change as an afterthought to a sports entertainment angle, hometown guy treated like shit. Not my cup of tea, but AEW has been dealt a shit hand with injuries this year. Since Joe is likely a short-term champ anyway, they should definitely have the goons rough him up and Wardlow takes the belt on a Dynamite. Make the point that you never get the better end of a deal with the devil. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Agreed. For all the talk about Adam Cole getting very little out of this exchange, Wardlow gets even less. Hates MJF that much he's willing to join a faction with three goofs and a guy on one leg, while helping another guy he has history with win the title Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octopus Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 3 hours ago, GuerrillaMonsoon said: Agreed. For all the talk about Adam Cole getting very little out of this exchange, Wardlow gets even less. Hates MJF that much he's willing to join a faction with three goofs and a guy on one leg, while helping another guy he has history with win the title Poor guy sold his soul to the Devil for revenge 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 12 hours ago, zendragon said: Was Heenan the 1st? Jesse was a fairly well known heel wrestler when he switched to commentary. I wonder when two man booths became common, 50's wrestling ect seems to have a single commentator No idea who came first. Ventura is the other standard though. I think an updated Heenan/Ventura is pretty much what every heel commentator since is aiming for, but they usually miss the key ingredient of already being a well-established character. It’s like the commentator equivalent of dudes doing 90s puro head drop, fighting spirit stuff without the context that really made that meaningful. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 I did appreciate MJF having to use the ropes instead of a kickout after the three suplexes by Joe. Most other guys in the company would kick out. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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