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AEW - OCT 2021


The Natural

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22 hours ago, Goodear said:

If I were Spears, I'd have a super hot wife but that's besides the point. ANYWAY, if I were Spears I'd maybe lean into some Larry Zbyszko for my influence as a lower level heel in a faction with bigger stars. Larry could do all the things Spears needs to do in draw heat as an illegitimate threat to the top stars while being cruel to the Marcus Alexander Bagwells of the world. He needs to walk a tightrope of not being a killer while not being a complete joke and the way Shawn does that is too inconsistent. 

This is so true.  I don't think he'll ever be anything more than a lower heel. With that said,  he has it in him to be a really good lower heel. He got that 10 thing over in NXT, because he's at his best when he's a low level heel who thinks he's better than who he is. He needs to be the guy threatening guys like Darby Allen, and then getting his ass kicked to give higher card guys good TV wins. The issue he's having is that they're pushing him like he's actually a threat,  when nobody watching believes he's a threat. His character would work much better if he, and maybe Tully, were the only ones who thought he was a threat. Let him carry himself like hot shit,  while everyone else sees him as a dope. Let him smash lower card guys,  get a big head,  bite off more than he can chew,  and get crushed... rinse, repeat. It's the best use of him and it's a character that can end up being a fan favorite.  

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2 hours ago, Craig H said:

Osprey doesn't bother me as much as the rest of you, but it wouldn't make sense to bring in Osprey and I don't know if he'd want to come in and do so reckless match like this.

Why would anyone be bothered by Osprey? I don’t watch a lot of New Japan but every match I’ve seen of his has been pretty spectacular. 

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Just quoting Wikipedia:

New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Will Ospreay was accused by a former female wrestler, Pollyanna, of having her blacklisted after she made allegations towards another wrestler, Scott Wainwright, who is a friend of Ospreay's.[27] While Ospreay denied the accusation, International Wrestling League would release a statement that contradicted his denial.[28] However, in October 2020, IWL retracted their statement.[29]

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Dark 10/5/21

Pinnacle 8 man: This was very much by the books. Spears, again, maybe looked a bit like a goof letting himself get clowned as he was giving the finger to the other side and losing the offense for his team, but since he took the pin, I guess it's ok. They did that multiple tag that 2.0/Garcia do at the end, which I appreciated. The Wardlow bit was good as he teased going up and giving up maybe too much but then floated out of it and hit the slam. That was well done.

Abadon vs Rossi: Abadon currently feels like a foil for whoever her opponent is, which isn't so great in enhancement matches. The best part of this was when she adjusted her own head, but she still comes off as far more "Bizarre" than scary.

Acclaimed vs Martinez/Morales: I liked the pacing of this more than the Cheech/Delaney match. The rap was better too. I'm working off of just a few data points still but Bowens seems more confident and reactive with more genuine reactions in there, his selling, his forearm and superkick, his taunt, etc.

Sonny Kiss vs Kal Herro: Best I've seen Kiss look, though it was by toning down parts of the act. Just came out there like a killer though which fits the current storyline. All of the kicks looked good and the presence was pretty badass actually. Just demolished Herro after the first minute. Good squash.

Statlander vs Zhang: Statlander knows what she is and she leans hard into it, and it's maybe not multifaceted but has a couple of facets at least (alien + strength + best friend) so it gives her a lot to work with in a match. Here, the boop was early, and she got to show off some of the strength stuff as well. Zhang followed up the idea she'd be putting Stalander to sleep with two snap suplexes, which was a choice. Comeback transition was timed perfectly as it was right when the fans were coming up with their clapping. The finish felt sufficiently nasty.

Blue vs Wrenkowski: My first look at Wrenkowski I think and I liked her. I liked the whacks during the dragon sleeper. I loved the little stutter step change of pace when she started jaw jacking with a fan which gave Blue a hope spot. It was probably planned but she made it seem completely organic and like a deviation. I'm not sure about her staggered selling but it's probably better than just waiting around for a flying body press? Blue had a little repositioning snafu to sent up the axe kick, which is the stuff you notice. I'm not sure how I feel about the way she works in her little snaps. I think when she was firing back from underneath she could have let that sit in a bit more and milked it instead of rushing through it. If she's going to use the fisherman's suplex as a finish (which I don't love as I feel like a lot of people on the roster use it just as a middle move) she definitely needs to lock the arms together.

Kingston vs Henry: Think this is my first look at Henry/Hale. Obviously this was really good. The spots where Henry took over (with the figure four dragon screw in the corner and then that huge spin kick on the outside) were really good and then it became an Eddie selling seminar. I liked Eddie pushing away the camera on the floor and the ref in the ring. That's just a presence thing that a lot of other people might not do. Henry's leg-related cutoffs worked for me. I liked how he'd switch gears, starting with one sort of move and then realizing and dropping back down to the leg. Henry had to deal with the fact that he could only keep Eddie down if he stayed with the leg but he's not the guy to get him to quit so he had to switch to other things. That meant he made one major mistake (after almost making a couple) and it was all over. Full worldwide point.

Gunn Club vs Knott/Grillo/Stewart: Austin is still full on Brian Christopher. It generally works. I'm glad he got some comeuppance after mocking the tag. Billy's great as guy whose fist people run into. That punch after the fakeout on the crotch cross was great. All I remember from Colton is the manic stomps in the corner and I wonder if he should be more of a contrast of Austin, since he can't outdo him. I liked the blocked finish into a roll up ending by Austin and had to watch it back a few times.

Diamante vs Garrett: Yeah, I kind of like all of the little flourishes Diamante do, like the gun shots during the entrance or leaning on the ref at the end. Shame Santana didn't get an entrance and Taz's Wonder Woman singing was pretty silly. It would have been a good moment to go into her background/story instead. Everything looked pretty good here. I liked Diamante's shift when she had the nerve hold, though the crowd wanted to clap Garrett up (and needed some instruction with leg stomping or something as half were clapping and half were chanting). I liked how the handspring didn't work and loved that a dropdown trip DID work. Seeing that stuff now and again makes normal occurrences mean more. The finish did not feel cooperative and that made it look especially painful.

Blonds vs Wingmen: As we learned from the last match, the crowd needed some leading in their cheers. Thankfully, they got it. Liked the transition to heat because it had an extra wrinkle where Griff survived Drake's distraction but then got tripped a moment later. Nemeth chaining three amateur moves together and then taunting was solid stuff but then what the heck was Pillman doing using that moment to come in the ring as if he was going to break it a pin? Don't have faith that griff can survive a fireman's carry and a go behind take down and the flossing, Brian? I did really like the discus twist on the corner clothesline. No way that should have looked good given the sheer physics involved, but it did. Taz and Excalibur making fun of him for not getting out of the ring well to set up the finish (which was otherwise very good) wasn't nice though.

Garcia vs Lockhart: Yeah, Garcia is a lot of fun to watch in this setting. He's just right in your face all the time and everything snaps. He reminds me of 1980 Dynamite Kid. Yeah, I said it. Not Benoit because the intensity was different and Benoit never quite had that same chip on the shoulder; he was always just glad to be there deep down. But watch some Dynamite in 1980 New Japan when he was heeling it up there. I want to see Garcia against almost everyone on the roster.

Serpentico vs Marko: Yeesh, this wasn't great.
What Worked: The stage dive spot by Serpentico. Missing the Flying Snake. Serpentico losing the offense due to his own (or Luther's) mistakes. The fact that whenever Serpentico did catch Marko, it had real impact. The celebratory feel of Serpentico winning.
What Didn't Work: Flyweight Bully Marko Stunt taking so much of the first part of this. Quick shots are good. Tossing his own body at Serpentico is good. Tossing Serpentico into the guardrail far less so. My guess is that Marko took so much of this since he was losing. I would have been ok with Marko getting 1/3rd of the offense and having a big comeback after one of the missed moves before getting cut off. Blech.

OC vs Comoroto: I was entertained by this one. Comoroto cracked the Cassidy code just by being so big and so strong. He powered his way through it literally, and then he got to do the poses back. That put him over as much as any power move he managed in the match. Again, OC can show that largess since he was winning. I wish they had played up Statlander's knee brace in her match if it was going to come into play here but that's probably asking too much for the YouTube show.

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2 hours ago, Lawful Metal said:

Wait, what did Ospreay do again?

He was a dick to Pollyanna because the abuser she called out years ago was a friend of his. Many suspected Ospreay had her blackballed back then, including Pollyanna herself. Last year Ospreay apologized, but it was shitty one. The blackball accusations did turn out to be false, but many are annoyed by Ospreay being moronic dick anyways and are just at a one point where they would whether not watch watch him. 

And that isn't even getting into him being one of those who people are stylistically torn on like Omega.

Edited by Eivion
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16 minutes ago, Eivion said:

He was a dick to Pollyanna because the abuser she called out years ago was a friend of hers. Many suspected Ospreay had her blackballed back then, including Pollyanna herself. Last year Ospreay apologized, but it was shitty one. The blackball accusations did turn out to be false, but many are annoyed by Ospreay being moronic dick anyways and are just at a one point where they would whether not watch watch him. 

And that isn't even getting into him being one of those who people are stylistically torn on like Omega.

So, really just bullshit. 

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3 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said:

So, really just bullshit. 

Possibly.  According to Meltzer and a few other people, there was already bad blood between Ospreay and Pollyanna because Ospreay and Bea Priestly believe that Pollyanna bullied Priestly when she broke into the business,  If that's true, and if Will believes the other accusation is false, I don't blame him for being a "dick" to her.

The blackball allegation is iffy.  Supposedly, Ospreay went to a number of promoters and asked them not to book Pollyanna.  Everyone denied it except IWL who later recanted and told a different story.  

Ospreay did say some dumb stuff on social media.  He also deleted said dumb stuff and apologized.  No idea whether he meant it or not just like l have no idea whether he tried to blackball Pollyanna or not.  I tend to think it's a case of someone making an accusation, there being a rush to judgment, and said accusation sticking like glue.  I could be wrong.  No way to know for certain.  In any case, it doesn't detract from me watching Ospreay occasionally.

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Just caught up with this week's Elevation and I love The Acclaimed more and more every week. They're still green but pretty fun to watch in the ring. My favorite is their post-match shenanigans though, with this week making me laugh more than anything else. I wish I could find a gif of it but Bowens playing piano on Max Caster's keyboard tights was something to behold.

 

I'm generally not big on squash matches but Elevation has a great pace to it and it's fun watching everyone develop. Dark doesn't have the same energy for me for some reason but I love Taz and Excalibur on commentary. Both shows are great for someone like me who doesn't have a consistent way to watch Dynamite/Rampage but still wants an AEW fix.

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47 minutes ago, Jiji said:

On top of him being a dickhead, he's also a bruv idiot that is very cringe.

I’m not sure what you mean by bruv. I looked it up on urban dictionary and it said it was southern London slang for brother, so I don’t know if you mean he’s a bro/meat head but I think I might be missing some connotations to the British slang since there are probably lots of meat heads still in the wrestling business.

But there is no possible way he can be dumber or more cringe than Joey Janela.

And unlike Janela (who I am amazed still has a job after the debacle with Hangman), he could actually have amazing matches with numerous people in AEW.

The rest of the stuff sounds like he was probably being a bit of a dick to someone who was mean to his gf, so not the best co-worker but a good boyfriend. But I don’t think the backstage politics of Independent wrestling promotions should have any bearing on him being anywhere in the future.

Especially, since I just want to see more awesome matches.

 

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1 hour ago, Eoae said:

Possibly.  According to Meltzer and a few other people, there was already bad blood between Ospreay and Pollyanna because Ospreay and Bea Priestly believe that Pollyanna bullied Priestly when she broke into the business,  If that's true, and if Will believes the other accusation is false, I don't blame him for being a "dick" to her.

The blackball allegation is iffy.  Supposedly, Ospreay went to a number of promoters and asked them not to book Pollyanna.  Everyone denied it except IWL who later recanted and told a different story.  

Ospreay did say some dumb stuff on social media.  He also deleted said dumb stuff and apologized.  No idea whether he meant it or not just like l have no idea whether he tried to blackball Pollyanna or not.  I tend to think it's a case of someone making an accusation, there being a rush to judgment, and said accusation sticking like glue.  I could be wrong.  No way to know for certain.  In any case, it doesn't detract from me watching Ospreay occasionally.

If he didn't want Pollyanna booked because she bullied Bea, I Have no problem with that. 

Edited by Infinit
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36 minutes ago, Bryan said:

’m not sure what you mean by bruv. I looked it up on urban dictionary and it said it was southern London slang for brother, so I don’t know if you mean he’s a bro/meat head but I think I might be missing some connotations to the British slang since there are probably lots of meat heads still in the wrestling business.

Bruv/chav is a Londoner (generally, though I suppose applies to Southern English) who is braindead and generally unkind. 

Edit: Ospreay peaked doing the splits and shitting himself or whatever that clip was from early last year or 2019.

Edited by Jiji
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1 hour ago, StevieNippz said:

Just caught up with this week's Elevation and I love The Acclaimed more and more every week. They're still green but pretty fun to watch in the ring. My favorite is their post-match shenanigans though, with this week making me laugh more than anything else. I wish I could find a gif of it but Bowens playing piano on Max Caster's keyboard tights was something to behold.

 

I'm generally not big on squash matches but Elevation has a great pace to it and it's fun watching everyone develop. Dark doesn't have the same energy for me for some reason but I love Taz and Excalibur on commentary. Both shows are great for someone like me who doesn't have a consistent way to watch Dynamite/Rampage but still wants an AEW fix.

 

I genuinely have a soft spot for the Acclaimed, even with the hokey rap.  I get a NAO vibe out of them, but better.

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56 minutes ago, Freudian_Slap said:

Weird that you can tell the people who are gonna give someone like Ospreay an easy time

As opposed to....?   If you know more about his story than I do, don't keep it to yourself.

I don't think I'm giving him an easy time so much as not rushing to judgment. 

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This will disappoint so many and maybe it won't, maybe this will excite, but two things I can guarantee you. And I'm not saying this to wave one hand while you're not looking at the other. I'm telling this from the most honest standpoint, I am not going to turn heel on this company. And I would retire before I did that. Now I'm the head of the community outreach group. I have a little girl now. I'm not going to be doing heel stuff on TV.

I am not turning heel and I'm not going back on my word to challenge for the title. That stuff was real. It hurts. It is a large regret that that ever happened, but it did happen and I can live with it. And I got to do that dance with Chris Jericho, and I will not go back on that stipulation, me personally. If Tony wanted to change things he could. And again, you can never say never in wrestling, but I do think there's this idea that evil corporate need would turn the stipulation around and challenge for the world title, that I can say never will happen.

Cody Rhodes is already a heel to the AEW audience ?.

Edited by The Natural
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