AEW TV - 3/18 - 3/24/2026 - Don't Give A Damn About Her Bad Reputation

[DreamBroken]

14 hours ago, tbarrie said:

I'm not sure why Jake Hager is on that list. He had a good run in AEW.

I agree and always enjoyed his work, but figured he might be on the bad track record list because he came out of it absolutely hating Tony in the end, feeling lowballed in contract negotiations and like Tony didn't want to keep him around.

[AxB]

Opening the episode with a Robbie Eagles ring entrance, that's an interesting choice. Fletcher vs Easgles is one of those matches where you might expect it might be a squash, but between Eagles being a TMDK guy on loan from NJPW, and him being Fletcher's original wrestling trainer, it was far more 50/50. Eagles spent a lot of time working the leg, at one point Fletcher kicks him off into the corner and goes to charge in after, but staggers and stumbles with his hurt leg and gets his charge countered. That was nice. The fact that later on in the match, after his leg had been worked on more, he then didn't sell the leg while running and just flew across the ring at full speed, that was less nice.

Lucas Riley gets to be a part of an LFI vs jobbers trios match, and turns out to be the only guy legally tagged into the match for its entire length. Rough break for him.

The Birds vs Sisters match looks miscommunicative early on, Julia Hart seems to be not on the same page as Jamie Hayter for the first two spots, and then Jamie and Alex Windsor decide to say fuck it and just beat them up. I'm not sure what's going on with Julia, she looked to be improving a couple of years ago, but seems to be regressing if anything now. Perhaps being outside of Malakai Black's orbit has shaken her confidence or something. As is, Skye Blue is very clearly carrying the team. She should be called Julia Jannetty.

I wonder if these matches were taped before Dynamite rather than after, because the crowd seemed more alive here than they did on Wednesday. Perhaps they were using sound sweetening from Can of Crowd. Perhaps the audio mix was improved in post-production, and the crowd were louder live than they seemed on Wednesday. But Daniel Garcia (surprisingly) seemed to be the best guy able to capitalise on a quiet crowd, by doing a lot of in-ring shit talking. Perhaps more wrestlers should pick up on that... if the fans aren't making noise, you as a performer might as well make noise. The people watching at home will be able to hear it for once.

[Curt McGirt]

Did I mention that the Sisters have a move called the "Sisterectomy"? Because they do. 

...

[HarryArchieGus]

On 3/22/2026 at 12:22 PM, AxB said:

Opening the episode with a Robbie Eagles ring entrance, that's an interesting choice. Fletcher vs Easgles is one of those matches where you might expect it might be a squash, but between Eagles being a TMDK guy on loan from NJPW, and him being Fletcher's original wrestling trainer, it was far more 50/50. Eagles spent a lot of time working the leg, at one point Fletcher kicks him off into the corner and goes to charge in after, but staggers and stumbles with his hurt leg and gets his charge countered. That was nice. The fact that later on in the match, after his leg had been worked on more, he then didn't sell the leg while running and just flew across the ring at full speed, that was less nice.

Lucas Riley gets to be a part of an LFI vs jobbers trios match, and turns out to be the only guy legally tagged into the match for its entire length. Rough break for him.

The Birds vs Sisters match looks miscommunicative early on, Julia Hart seems to be not on the same page as Jamie Hayter for the first two spots, and then Jamie and Alex Windsor decide to say fuck it and just beat them up. I'm not sure what's going on with Julia, she looked to be improving a couple of years ago, but seems to be regressing if anything now. Perhaps being outside of Malakai Black's orbit has shaken her confidence or something. As is, Skye Blue is very clearly carrying the team. She should be called Julia Jannetty.

I wonder if these matches were taped before Dynamite rather than after, because the crowd seemed more alive here than they did on Wednesday. Perhaps they were using sound sweetening from Can of Crowd. Perhaps the audio mix was improved in post-production, and the crowd were louder live than they seemed on Wednesday. But Daniel Garcia (surprisingly) seemed to be the best guy able to capitalise on a quiet crowd, by doing a lot of in-ring shit talking. Perhaps more wrestlers should pick up on that... if the fans aren't making noise, you as a performer might as well make noise. The people watching at home will be able to hear it for once.

Yeah, the crowd mix was far better for this show, and they did seem livelier. Yeah, what an odd thing to put a Robbie Eagles entrance, a guy who has rarely been seen on AEWTV and won't likely be on again for the forseeable future, at the point of your largest audience. It would've benefitted everybody to run a worthwhile video package of all the biggest things happening. 

Julia's having a rough go, and I kinda wondered too about Malakai's seemingly positive influence on her. Really tho, inside the ring, she has always been this inconsistent. She had what I assume is historically the worst AEW PPV match opposite Abadon during her early TBS Title run. She had her character better down at that time, which gave her a lot of goodwill with her inconsistent performances. She was also pushed pretty strongly during that time. Now she rightfully loses most of her matches, so she appears less impressive. She's also the third wheel in a group with very little chemistry. I've been skimming passed most her bouts lately, I kinda feel for her. She badly needs reps. It's gotta be so difficult to improve working the amount she does. 

Edited March 24 by HarryArchieGus

[The Green Meanie]

6 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

Did I mention that the Sisters have a move called the "Sisterectomy"? Because they do. 

...

[mystman]

6 hours ago, AxB said:

She should be called Julia Jannetty.

 

Julia Neidhart was right there, man.

[AxB]

She's the less impressive member of her tag team, but I wouldn't want to associate her with Natalya Neidhart. That would be unduly harsh.

[username]

9 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Julia's having a rough go, and I kinda wondered too about Malakai's seemingly positive influence on her. Really tho, inside the ring, she has always been this inconsistent.

There is a long tradition among wrestling fans of seeing a cute female (usually blonde) wrestler show some small signs of progress and declaring them great, Julia is merely one of the more recent examples (my favorite example was when Tay Conti put together back to back competent performances and a whole swath of people declared the performance center to be fraudulent, I think she then looked sloppy or blew spots in most of her matches for the following several months and people got quiet about that). The good news for Julia is that some of them do eventually get past that stage to actually good, maybe she can end up in the Liv Morgan camp some day.

[Cobra Commander]

5 minutes ago, username said:

There is a long tradition among wrestling fans of seeing a cute female (usually blonde) wrestler show some small signs of progress and declaring them great

does Harley Cameron count in this too?

[HarryArchieGus]

10 hours ago, username said:

There is a long tradition among wrestling fans of seeing a cute female (usually blonde) wrestler show some small signs of progress and declaring them great, Julia is merely one of the more recent examples (my favorite example was when Tay Conti put together back to back competent performances and a whole swath of people declared the performance center to be fraudulent, I think she then looked sloppy or blew spots in most of her matches for the following several months and people got quiet about that). The good news for Julia is that some of them do eventually get past that stage to actually good, maybe she can end up in the Liv Morgan camp some day.

I think you're probably right for some. There are others who just have a lot optimisim and goodwill for any ladies showing improvements. Especially true of the time when Tay entered the picture. Tay's not a natural pro wrestler, and she's definitely had her struggles, but she has a unique charisma and a bit upside. Her return from motherhood, before disappearing again, had been particularly challenging. I sometimes wonder what some of even the best wrestlers would look like if they were quickly on TV and getting so few reps. I wish it were possible to get more of these ladies over to Japan for some tours. I remember Anna Jay returning from a short stint with clear improvements. Whatever the case, they need to do something to help the Julias, Harleys and Annas etc.

Edited March 23 by HarryArchieGus

[SovietShooter]

2 hours ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Whatever the case, they need to do something to help the Julias, Harleys and Annas etc.

I think that this is an overall problem in the business for the national promotions (WWE, TNA, and AEW). With house shows mostly a thing of the past, there is nowhere for them to hone their craft at the highest level. Yet, we are in an arms race of sorts, where these companies are still signing people left and right.  We are either going to see more not-ready-for-primetime talent on tv, or these promotions or going to have to stop putting these folks on tv, because clearly they aren't going to stop signing them.  

[JLowe]

Funny, after not being on here since last week (let me wife have the iPad) my plan on returning was to post about how badly Julia has regressed and how much she’s holding Skye Blue back at this point. She wasn’t even this bad when she was fresh on her injury return. I see people mention reps, but Sisters of Sin work pretty regularly, even got sent to a CMLL show or two.

I’m not giving up on her, but she needs to spend some time in Japan or Mexico (wouldn’t necessarily hurt her hubby Big Shotty to do a little excursion either) being pushed.

[username]

On 3/22/2026 at 10:57 PM, Cobra Commander said:

does Harley Cameron count in this too?

I think the better question is if Hook counts for this as well >_>

[SovietShooter]

I don't think Harley counts, because she was building her momentum thru character work, not a few flashes in the ring. And I think in general she has risen to the occasion with her in ring output. 

On the other hand, people were throwing a fit when she didn't beat Mercedes for the TBS title in Brisbane last year, so maybe there is some undeserved hype. 

[porksweats]

11 minutes ago, SovietShooter said:

I don't think Harley counts, because she was building her momentum thru character work, not a few flashes in the ring. And I think in general she has risen to the occasion with her in ring output. 

On the other hand, people were throwing a fit when she didn't beat Mercedes for the TBS title in Brisbane last year, so maybe there is some undeserved hype. 

I think Harley doesn't fall into the Anna Jay/Julia Hart camp at all. She really has developed and has kept building on it, and like you mentioned for the momentum; that was through character work.

It might be hyperbole but she's had the greatest seeing it all click in front of us this side of Kurt Angle. I can't say the same for Anna Jay or Julia Hart where there they just simply weren't green?

[tbarrie]

On 3/22/2026 at 1:18 PM, HarryArchieGus said:

[Julia Hart] was also pushed pretty strongly during that time. Now she rightfully loses most of her matches, so she appears less impressive. 

Why "rightfully"? Is the idea that the fake fights should generally be won by the character who's portrayed by the more skilled performer? That seems to be a common assumption in online wrestling discussion - and I'll admit I've thought that way myself any number of times. But when I think about it, I can't see any logic behind it.

[mystman]

33 minutes ago, tbarrie said:

Why "rightfully"? Is the idea that the fake fights should generally be won by the character who's portrayed by the more skilled performer? That seems to be a common assumption in online wrestling discussion - and I'll admit I've thought that way myself any number of times. But when I think about it, I can't see any logic behind it.

I think it makes sense in AEW where "the best wrestle". It's the league's entire gimmick. 

I like Julia, I have for a while. When she was strictly a singles wrestler, I thought her whole presentation was fantastic, the theme song, her aura, everything about it.

While I won't say "but then the bell rang", her technique has always been questionable. And now that she's mostly in tags her presentation has been downplayed and her ring work has become more of a focus. Unfortunately.

[tbarrie]

58 minutes ago, mystman said:

I think it makes sense in AEW where "the best wrestle". It's the league's entire gimmick. 

Yeah, but the phrase "where the best wrestle" can mean (at least) two different things. It could be "our performers are the best at putting on exciting matches" or "our characters are the best at winning matches". There's no reason to conflate the two.

And now I'm tempted to revisit my bitching about the stupid build to Danielson vs Ospreay a couple of years back. But I'll try not to.

[HarryArchieGus]

6 hours ago, porksweats said:

I think Harley doesn't fall into the Anna Jay/Julia Hart camp at all. She really has developed and has kept building on it, and like you mentioned for the momentum; that was through character work.

It might be hyperbole but she's had the greatest seeing it all click in front of us this side of Kurt Angle. I can't say the same for Anna Jay or Julia Hart where there they just simply weren't green?

She fits firmly in the green wrestlers badly in need of reps. I love Harley. I was singing her praises from qtv forward, and never missing a rampage to see all her (mostly unseen) best work (at least at that time). That said, I don’t think I can get with that Angle comparison. I hold out hope for her in every match, and she’s doing admirably well for her experience level, but her in ring work is well below average. Angle had everything and more. Harley does not, but who knows where she could get to. And I like your enthusiasm for her undeniable talents.

3 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Why "rightfully"? Is the idea that the fake fights should generally be won by the character who's portrayed by the more skilled performer? That seems to be a common assumption in online wrestling discussion - and I'll admit I've thought that way myself any number of times. But when I think about it, I can't see any logic behind it.

Yeah, I’d say a well below average worker with arguably even less to offer on the microphone would be somebody you’d want to keep very low on the pecking order. There would be a fair argument against that if she were gaining momentum and getting over with her mic/character work, but that’s clearly not the case.

Edited March 24 by HarryArchieGus

[NoFistsJustFlips]

I think Julia lost something when House of Black ended. Had they kept her with Buddy & Brody and added Skye Blue & Thekla and had a new House of Black adjacent group I think she'd be better off.

I know Buddy's been out for over a year now, but shit man. This is wrestling. Write a story to keep it all glued together. Darby joins the group out of mutual respect for Brody. Buddy comes back. Dissention between Buddy & Darby leads to them working together. The group then backs Buddy and kicks Darby out with a violent beat down. Light off. Lights on. Sting is on the stage. He points his bat up. Sting's son in a new darker crow Sting like character repels from the ceiling for the save.

While none of that story is about Julia, her being part of that story and sharing screen time with everyone keeps her aura strong and raises her stock. And maybe even keeps her motivated to improve instead of getting down and complacent.

[tbarrie]

1 hour ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Yeah, I’d say a well below average worker with arguably even less to offer on the microphone would be somebody you’d want to keep very low on the pecking order.

Why, though? I can see the argument why you'd want to devote less TV time to a less skilled performer, but there's no particular reason why "Wins most of their matches" and "Gets a lot of TV time" need to correlate at all. Not that I can see, anyway. It's just one of those wrestling traditions rooted in the kay fabe era that has no real relevance today.

1 hour ago, HarryArchieGus said:

There would be a fair argument against that if she were gaining momentum and getting over with her mic/character work, but that’s clearly not the case.

She kind of was pre-Triangle of Madness, though. As Mystman said, she had a fantastic presentation as a singles act and was pretty over as a result. She's not now.

55 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

I think Julia lost something when House of Black ended. Had they kept her with Buddy & Brody and added Skye Blue & Thekla and had a new House of Black adjacent group I think she'd be better off.

I'm inclined to agree with this as well.

55 minutes ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

Dissention between Buddy & Darby leads to them working together.

Random aside: I was confused by this sentence until I realized you were using wrestlespeak and by "working together" you meant their characters would be fighting each other.:)

[JLowe]

5 hours ago, tbarrie said:

Yeah, but the phrase "where the best wrestle" can mean (at least) two different things. It could be "our performers are the best at putting on exciting matches" or "our characters are the best at winning matches". There's no reason to conflate the two.

And now I'm tempted to revisit my bitching about the stupid build to Danielson vs Ospreay a couple of years back. But I'll try not to.

Another thing I was thinking of for a navel-gazing thread is how “Where the Best Wrestle” can be interpreted in many different ways and how there are good and bad points to the various interpretations.

[JLowe]

Also, Julia seems to have gotten the yips after the first time she really blew the moonsault (was way too close to the corner and hit that ropes IIRC) and almost hurt herself badly. I don’t think she’s hit one cleanly since, and also think she’s broken someone’s nose (and maybe also her own) doing it.

[SovietShooter]

I may be mis-remembering, but I believe that while Sky Blue was out injured, they pitched the idea to tag up, because they were besties in real life. And, since the booking was ramping up for B&G and the tag title tournament, it made sense, made them happy, and kept them on tv. Hart and Blue have both regressed (although Blue not as much), but as other have pointed out, there are some shiny new toys as well as just better workers in the ladies division now.  If they don't step up, they'll lose their spot. 

[HarryArchieGus]

Speaking on collapse of the House, the Brody King/Bandido pivot was easily one of the sharper booking moves in the passed year or so. Brody pretty well surpassed anything he did within the House group. Buddy's HOB run was largely (nicely fought) losses. I'm looking forward to seeing what he's able to do upon returning. I sense he'll too find a way to eclipse his modest successes with the HOB. Yeah, it's pretty clear Julia benefitted greatly from her association with HOB on screen, but I sense even moreso behind the scenes. There's no doubt she was a lot more comfortable on the mic during that run. @mystman is right, her entrances were also a big part of her presentation, and that's been lost a little in tags. She still has it when she wrestles singles, but it almost feels too extravagant for her current level. She's gone from that aura as a singles 'star' to being a third wheel lackey to Thekla, whom she has very little chemistry with. My dream for Julia is a 6 months to a year excursion (as @JLowe mentioned - take Shotty Lee too) - hopefully to Japan. I sense even a few months or tours could really help her to just tighten things up. Follow that up with some additional time working indies. Have a production crew member/camera operator follow her run - post segments/matches to build a bit of a following/interest around her. Bring her back when she's good and ready to reach her potential as a top player. Or a good hand in the mid-card. That's an admirable position too.

Edited March 25 by HarryArchieGus