Casey Posted October 31 Posted October 31 2 minutes ago, Just Adam Bay Bay said: Kenny’s supposed to be back for the January 5th Tokyo Dome show. So I think it’s a safe bet what Grand Slam in Australia will get for a main event (Kenny vs Mox). The road to Omega/Tanahashi versus the Bucks starts on Monday at Power Struggle, I bet. He’ll probably return to AEW before the year is over, but I don’t think he wrestles in a (strictly) AEW ring until 2025, like you said. 1
JLowe Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Adam Cole match was just bad on all levels. Slow, plodding, no psychology, poor selling (Cole couldn’t even decide at times which ankle couldn’t hold weight when he was actuallly arsed to sell the ankle in one of his moves), shitty melodramatic story. The one thing it did seem effective at was turning the crowd on Cole. And whoever did his spray tan must normally work for Trump, he was totally unnatural colored and stood out even more against a pale Buddy Matthews. I was convinced Private Party was going to lose, at one point I even said to myself “man, Quen is finally getting it together and they’re getting the timing and moves down just in time to split up”. This match had lots of moves, good storytelling if heavily into tropes, and the end did feel like a genuine surprise. Obviously, TK or someone else realized we needed so feel-good moments with all the heel victories. We also got the AEW side finally getting one back on BCCWO, and the excellent OC promo. Lots of missed camera stuff but a lot going on. Kamille-Stat was a little short and got the usual “go to actual commercial during women’s match” momentum killer. But them doing those huge moves to each other was impressive AF from both, especially Kamille’s jumping guillotine leg drop on a standing Stat. Kamille has some hops! End felt a little abrupt, maybe because I forgot what Stat’s actual finisher as, and because I’m used to false finishes. Main was also impressive watching Shelton toss Swerve around, and seeing Swerve get a beat down before a huge comeback. Wasn’t expecting a clean finish, was expecting Lashley. Again, running an invasion angle and the internal BCCNWO “saving the company” angle concurrently is bad. 2
tbarrie Posted October 31 Posted October 31 16 minutes ago, JLowe said: And yeah, that’s the huge flaw with the BCCWO angle. And now, it looks like it’s going to be an Elite redemption angle instead which…no. Unless they run with the idea that somebody else is pulling Mox's strings, and that somebody turns out to be the Bucks. 1
KriskitaKoloff Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Or it's Kenny Omega pulling the strings? Returns, teams with YB to take back control and swerves everyone as revenge for them taking him out and trying to get rid of his spot in the company. 2
SirFozzie Posted October 31 Posted October 31 (edited) Here's the thing. One of the things they always tell you with these kinds of things is "Heels have a reason to believe they're the heroes and thus act the way they do". All they're doing is taking out people with violence. Just another group of thugs with an empty manifesto If Moxley was more like "People here have forgotten what it was like, earning $20 and a hotdog from some sleazy guy who you wouldn't trust around your daughter to fight in front of 50 people. They have their money. They have no reason to excel. Their paychecks continue to come in, win, lose, or do NOTHING. So, Nothing is a lot of what they do. They forget that pro wrestling, just like any other sport, any other business, is supposed to be very simple. You move up, or you move out." Then set up a variety of "Move up or move out" matches. Winners get to move up (for example, a title shot at a BCCWO champion). Losers? They get moved out, meaning they "Get released from AEW with a ninety-day no comeback clause" (or 30, or 60). This gives them a chance to recover from injuries, or to work New Japan or Mexico, or get work on the indies to get reps in the ring (of course, that's storyline, they'd still get baseline pay from AEW). All of a sudden, you have bite to matches. You have something that mid-carders and folks who need a gimmick refresh to fight over with MEANING. Set them to rules like the continental classic (20 minutes, no interference), but make them no DQ, no countout. You fight to survive. And in the case of a time-limit draw? Both move out. Edited October 31 by SirFozzie 5 1
Casey Posted October 31 Posted October 31 The problem with that in the context of how they’ve done it so far is that nobody is believing that Alex Reynolds or Action Andretti is beating PAC. or Claudio. Or even Yuta. Besides that, what gives Mox and his thugs the power to make these matches essentially Win or Be Suspended for X amount of days? 3
The Natural Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Really glad the AEW World Tag Team Championship are off the Young Bucks and now on Private Party. The reign sucked. Hopefully the tag team division can be brought back to what it once was. 3
SirFozzie Posted October 31 Posted October 31 4 minutes ago, Casey said: The problem with that in the context of how they’ve done it so far is that nobody is believing that Alex Reynolds or Action Andretti is beating PAC. or Claudio. Or even Yuta. Besides that, what gives Mox and his thugs the power to make these matches essentially Win or Be Suspended for X amount of days? It gives them a reason to attack the ones who DON'T take up the challenge. "We gave you a chance to move up and go for what every person in that locker room should be fighting for.. the world title, but you decided it was easier to sit backstage and eat donuts. If you're not going to reach for the brass ring, why are you here? We can't make you move up, we can however.. (holds up hammer) make you move OUT."
Curt McGirt Posted October 31 Posted October 31 (edited) 46 minutes ago, SirFozzie said: Here's the thing. One of the things they always tell you with these kinds of things is "Heels have a reason to believe they're the heroes and thus act the way they do". All they're doing is taking out people with violence. Just another group of thugs with an empty manifesto If Moxley was more like "People here have forgotten what it was like, earning $20 and a hotdog from some sleazy guy who you wouldn't trust around your daughter to fight in front of 50 people. They have their money. They have no reason to excel. Their paychecks continue to come in, win, lose, or do NOTHING. So, Nothing is a lot of what they do. They forget that pro wrestling, just like any other sport, any other business, is supposed to be very simple. You move up, or you move out." Casey's right about your other concept but man, YES, tighten up the explanation. It's just too fucking vague. Mox is saying basically nothing with his promos, and if he's being "mysterious" about it, just get the fuck on with it. The problem is, TK might be booking this on the fly, or with no middle part, and that isn't gonna work. Edited October 31 by Curt McGirt 2
The Natural Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Still don't care about the BCC we're taking over angle. Only time I ever cared for that was WCW vs. nWo but look how it damaged the former with the master constantly coming out on top.
Curt McGirt Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Okay how about this. The "move out" is "we cripple your ass". Eventually Mox becomes so unhinged he attacks the BCC and then we got... Stop the Moxunaga. 3
Curt McGirt Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Let's go back to Romper Stomper here. The story of that movie is there is the Mox character played by Crowe who is the leader of a neo-Nazi bonehead* group in Australia who are pissed off with Vietnamese moving into their neighborhoods. They're basically unemployed squatters and usually anti-racists were unemployed squatters back then, funny enough, part of the deep irony and black humor of the film. A Vietnamese family purchases the local bar, so they go in and kick the shit out of the kids that are gonna work there. One who escapes goes and informs a group of his friends, and they go get THEIR friends, and it's basically an army of literally armed Vietnamese teenagers coming after these fucks in their squat. There is an enormous chase, some of them get away, some of them don't. They go into hiding in one spot, then invade a house after running from the cops, and then the finish where Spoiler the leader is stabbed by his best friend. You can probably come up with a full angle for BCC from that. But Moxley probably just saw Hando and said "man he dresses cool and is really mean, and he's got a gang". * In the vernacular of anti-fascists, as opposed to skinheads, who are originally mixed race and anti-racist 1
DreamBroken Posted October 31 Posted October 31 I thought it was a mostly great show with a nice feeling of excitement through a lot of the segments. Only 4 matches but everything was spaced out pretty nicely. Orange opening promo was great and the later BCC brawl chaos with Darby coming down from the rafters ruled. Cole/Buddy got a lot of time and had lots of amusing stuff like Cole hulking up after the 2nd Stomp, the fans counting out Cole while the doctor was checking him and Bryce waving them off to stop, Buddy then giving up his chance to win by doctor stoppage. Cole/Malakai next week should be interesting. Did like Cole's post-match promo in the back and still prefer the babyface version of Cole being back. welcome back Mark Davis. one of the tombstones on the cemetery set was for "Hook's Chips" thought Bucks/Private Party was excellent, really awesome match and could've seen it go either way as I went in thinking the Bucks would retain. Similar to the PPV match, lots of great near falls. Some hilarious commentary lines, like Excalibur saying the Gin and Juice would have to be the "Milk and Cookies" when the Bucks did it. "Ascending to the top floor and kicking in the EVP doors" Fantastic feel good moment for PP to get the win. The Bucks leaving after definitely felt like they'd be back in a couple months to try to save their company from the BCC. Only part of the show I didn't care for was Kamille getting beat already in just her 2nd match against an actual roster member and that quickly at that. But I hate everything about the abrupt Statlander turn. Great main event from Shelton and Swerve. Was surprised the Swerve Stomp actually got the win. Nice to see Lashley officially become All Elite. Looks like next week is stacked pretty good for the show going up against ECWnxt, with the Fight Without Honor trios match, Darby/Orange vs Claudio/Yuta, Cole/Malakai and the nicely built to Hayter/Penelope match. 4
caley Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Man Adam Cole's tan... He looked like he was sick. My niece had jaundice at birth, he looked like she did (She's fine btw). It was weeeeeeeeird. It didn't look like he had overtanned (Like Triple H a few years back!) and it wasn't like a Trump tan. It was a weird off-yellow color. It was genuinely distracting from what was, in fact, a very poor match. I got distracted after that, should I watch anymore? 3 1
southofheavy Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Watchin' the highlights on Youtube right now. That's the hottest AEW crowd I've seen in a minute. Looks like this is workin'. 4
just drew Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Adam Cole just isn't good at this. Which would be okay, if there wasn't a vocal group of folks on the interwebs who keep insisting that not only is he good at this, but that a tv show should revolve around him. It's also galling that Cole was in the ring tonight with a guy who outshines him at every single aspect of the business, and who dragged Cole to a great match, yet we're constantly told that Cole is someone we should give a shit about. I'm happy he isn't permanently injured, but I also resent having to pretend that Adam Cole is a huge star because HBK had a hard-on for him 6 years ago. Ok, now that that's over; I actually really enjoyed every other part of that show. AEW has a lot of good things going. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But I was absolutely gobsmacked that the Young Bucks allowed themselves to look mortal. The crowd was great. Kamille and Stat are both big time stars, and the BCC stuff still entertains me. I sawe there's even a few upcoming shows where AEW has sold more tickets to an upcoming show in some arenas than they did last time they were there. That's a good sign. IT feels like TK has found his groove a bit. I hope it stays that way. 3
The Natural Posted October 31 Posted October 31 (edited) Man, Adam Cole Bay Bay looked physically rough. Hope he's ok. Edited October 31 by The Natural 2
Technico Support Posted October 31 Posted October 31 12 hours ago, tbarrie said: Also guys who don't like seeing goobers with no personality pushed like stars. Also guys who dislike egregious spray tans. Holy fuck how does anyone think that shit looks good? 1 1
HumanChessgame Posted October 31 Posted October 31 It was a foregone conclusion that Cole was winning, but I hoped there would at least be something of a decent match in there. Playing up re-injuring his ankle was one thing, but Cole almost being taken out by ref stoppage only to come back in and completely disregard selling the leg by hitting a flurry of kicks and offense that utilized his lower body was just egregious. Bucks/PP was a lot better than I was expecting. Both teams are capable when not doing a bunch of schtick, but things really started clicking here. I was worried the Bucks were actually going to go over towards the end, but the finish was the right thing. A bit too early for Kamille to be losing, but it was a nice showcase for Stat. The main event was fine and basically just a setup for Lashley to come out. While I thought Lashley's WWE run was great, I'm not sure if he's needed in AEW long-term. If this is just a short term thing to get Swerve over until he gets in the next program, then that's all well and good. For a minute I thought they were going to do a super speed run of Yuta turning face after being the BCC's whipping boy, but I guess they just want to show how loyal he is to the Moxley cult. 1
Matt D Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Bucks vs Private Party was good for what it was. It took the foundational parts and reconstructed them. The shine ended with the bell shot. They did a sort of double heat with Kassidy recovering only for them to take Quen out. Heat and hope spots even without conventional “tags”. Never took the eye off the ball. All the cool stuff served the overall purpose. Means to an end. If anything it needed a slightly more complex finishing stretch given all that Kassidy survived. Overall good though. Wouldn’t want it every week and they should have just billed it as a tornado tag but it worked here. 4
Steventon Posted October 31 Posted October 31 Yeah PP winning the belts was a cool moment and felt like an actual worthy payoff considering the relentless heal beatdowns which have consumed AEW over the last few weeks. Even this weeks show finished with ANOTHER heel stable arriving and beating people down. Hopefully the Hurt Business is here for a short stint to put Swerve over and then cycle down the roster. OC promo was OK but it's clearly Darby who everyone wants to see dethrone Mox. They really need more credible babyfaces above the geek quad in this though, and for me Hangman wouldn't feel right after his character arc, and an Elite redemption story would literally be the worst angle this company has ever ran at this point. They really need some guys like Kingston or Hobbs to come back from injury or turn Brody King to add some (literal) heavy hitters to the mix. 1
Technico Support Posted October 31 Posted October 31 (edited) 33 minutes ago, Matt D said: Bucks vs Private Party was good for what it was. It took the foundational parts and reconstructed them. The shine ended with the bell shot. They did a sort of double heat with Kassidy recovering only for them to take Quen out. Heat and hope spots even without conventional “tags”. Never took the eye off the ball. All the cool stuff served the overall purpose. Means to an end. If anything it needed a slightly more complex finishing stretch given all that Kassidy survived. Overall good though. Wouldn’t want it every week and they should have just billed it as a tornado tag but it worked here. Serious question for you…at what point do the historians and traditionalist types give the Bucks their due? Aside from Meltzer, who has always been in the “wrestling changes” camp, I hear more stubborn dislike of the Bucks than I do credit for what they do. Is it just a case where a certain crowd likes what they like — a more slowed down, traditional style — and thinks things outside that style are not as valid, and the Bucks have become the poster boys and favorite targets for that? Asking you because I know you’re more a fan of that older style but, uniquely, still appreciate modern stuff without being a dick . Edited October 31 by Technico Support 3
Matt D Posted October 31 Posted October 31 1 minute ago, Technico Support said: Serious question for you…at what point do the historians and traditionalist types give the Bucks their due? Aside from Meltzer, who has always been in the “wrestling changes” camp, I hear more stubborn dislike of the Bucks than I do credit for what they do. Is it just a case where a certain crowd likes what they like — a more slowed down, traditional style — and thinks things outside that style are not as valid, and the Bucks have become the poster boys and favorite targets for that? Beats me. I liked this. I liked Revolution. I haven’t liked much else they did this year that I saw. I think they have plenty of negative influence over the years. I’m happy to give them credit when they really make it work but by the very nature of how they’re making it work, I don’t actually feel like it can work as a weekly act. Good on them for nailing this. It took great skill and understanding. That’s as far as I’m personally going. 1 1
Technico Support Posted October 31 Posted October 31 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Matt D said: Beats me. I liked this. I liked Revolution. I haven’t liked much else they did this year that I saw. I think they have plenty of negative influence over the years. I’m happy to give them credit when they really make it work but by the very nature of how they’re making it work, I don’t actually feel like it can work as a weekly act. Good on them for nailing this. It took great skill and understanding. That’s as far as I’m personally going. Thanks! I was amused at the “they should have announced this as a tornado match, though” comment. That’s like watching ECW and lamenting that none of the matches are announced as no dq. This is AEW and the house style is “every tag match is tornado.” We’re lucky they stayed in the ring for most of it instead of brawling outside with the ref pleading for them to get back in instead of counting. Speaking of…fans counting Cole out while Remsburg waved them off was hilarious. Edited October 31 by Technico Support
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