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AEW - DEC 2021


The Natural

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Do,  I've been catching up on AEW, and the biggest observation I've made is how much Adam Cole outclasses the Young Bucks every time they're on screen together. Cole has the ability to play the cowardly hell,  except unlike the Bucks,  there is a level of seriousness that adds legitimate menace to his character. He is the guy you could probably beat up in a fair fight, but he knows that as well as you do, so all his cheap shots feel like he's going for a kill shot. The Bucks never really turn off the silliness and it undermines them in my eyes. Cole is a douchebag who acts like an ass with his douchebag buddies,  but once is time to go serious he is deadly serious. He's a fantastic pro wrestler. He needs to get away from The Elite ASAP, he doesn't fit the group and makes them look inferior with his very presence. 

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22 minutes ago, supremebve said:

Do,  I've been catching up on AEW, and the biggest observation I've made is how much Adam Cole outclasses the Young Bucks every time they're on screen together. Cole has the ability to play the cowardly hell,  except unlike the Bucks,  there is a level of seriousness that adds legitimate menace to his character. He is the guy you could probably beat up in a fair fight, but he knows that as well as you do, so all his cheap shots feel like he's going for a kill shot. The Bucks never really turn off the silliness and it undermines them in my eyes. Cole is a douchebag who acts like an ass with his douchebag buddies,  but once is time to go serious he is deadly serious. He's a fantastic pro wrestler. He needs to get away from The Elite ASAP, he doesn't fit the group and makes them look inferior with his very presence. 

I've been trying to put my finger on why I haven't enjoyed Cole with the Young Bucks(I enjoy both seperately), but loved Cole with Undisputed Era and i think you nailed it.

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7 minutes ago, StuntmanCrowley said:

I've been trying to put my finger on why I haven't enjoyed Cole with the Young Bucks(I enjoy both seperately), but loved Cole with Undisputed Era and i think you nailed it.

Yeah,  they had their shtick already and joined them and started doing something else. The Bucks do their thing and they're good at it,  but Cole makes them look like clowns. He's the kind of villain who will throw you down a flight of stairs and stare down at you menacingly. They are the type of villains who will kick you in the nuts and laugh. I can see them being friends,  but not partners.

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I feel like Gargano and ReDragon would have the same tone problem that The Elite have.  Gargano is someone who has to be driven to violence. His heel character is not an abusive husband, but his justifications for his actions are the same as an abusive husband.  His heels behavior is never his choice. It's always his opponents fault in his mind.  ReDragon are ass kickers who inflict pain because that is what they do.  They don't even try to justify their brutality. Brutality is their standard operating procedure. 

I see Gargano as the natural upper midcard act that can come right in and be a babyface to go up against Miro, MJF, Malakai Black,  or Andrade...or a heel to go against Darby, Guevara, Jungle Boy, or Orange Cassidy. I don't see him in any of the established stables. They need someone who can come in and carry his half of feuds outside of the main event. 

I have to believe that if they bring in O'Reilly so soon after Fish and Cole that they're going to put them together. UE vs. The Elite is a main event feud. It all depends on how long Omega is taking off. They have until March before their next PPV, so they can slow burn Cole's double cross, but it almost has to happen.

If and when Steen comes in, he should be the next challenge for Page's title. Danielson and Punk needs to happen at some point. I'm not sure what to do with the clusterfuck that is Black, Pac, Andrade, Cody, etc. That feud has already gone on too long and nobody seems to be winning.  If the Briscoes come in,  they need to go ahead and let the Lucha Bros. drop the belts to FTR and let those two teams wrestle every week until next Christmas.

I also believe they need to start programming the TNT title better. The open challenge makes for fun matches here and there,  but nothing will get a worker over like a hot feud. Since I've started watching regularly,  the belt has basically been something the challenge wants for one match and never thinks about again after he loses. Even Miro, who thought that he was chosen to hold that belt by God,  just moved on with his life after losing it. Sadly can be a great TNT Champion,  but it won't happen unless they give him a program that pushes him and the belt to the next level. 

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I'd like to imagine the story would go with Cole bringing in his "buddies" to the Elite (O'Reilly and Fish) and leading the Elite for a little time before Kenny comes back and asks what the hell is going on. Omega has a lot of built in stories ready for him on the return. You're going to have the Elite strife + a dragon in the waiting. I've been trying to think of what the main event for All Out next year would be, and Omega vs. Cole would be a great one, but you also have so many other possibilities waiting in the wings. Omega vs. Punk, Omega vs. Danielson, and dare I say it... Omega vs. Hook?

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3 hours ago, supremebve said:

I see Gargano as the natural upper midcard act that can come right in and be a babyface to go up against Miro, MJF, Malakai Black,  or Andrade...or a heel to go against Darby, Guevara, Jungle Boy, or Orange Cassidy. I don't see him in any of the established stables. They need someone who can come in and carry his half of feuds outside of the main event. 

Or he needs to steal the HFO from Matt over the span of six months and dozens of skits.

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6 hours ago, DEAN said:

Ryo Mizunami and Thunder Rosa eating tacos together is total MAGIC,

 

Chi-poo-soo!

Yes. Chips.

Oh... Chi poo soo.

This video pretty much sums up my free time during normal daily life, pre-Corona, except in my case it's usually nice Japanese people (sometime even pretty joshi wrestlers like Apple Miyuki -speaking of Apples, as it were) (or handsome male wrestlers like Kotoge) teaching me about local cuisine, and I speak a little more Japanese than Mei-chan speaks English. 

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No photo description available.

No photo description available.

This was legitimately eating Mexican-style tacos in Osaka with a bunch of wrestling fans from all over the world (Japan, Canada, France, and Mexico). Jorge, the Mexican guy, spent a lot of our time there explaining one thing or another about the food as Chizuki (who speaks much better English than I do Japanese) and I tried to translate it for the other Japanese people at the table. Really very very similar to that video.

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Edited by Gordlow
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Suruga looked amazing on Dark, great to see her finally in the ring again and already can't wait until she comes back, she was on fire all throughout. Always love when Riho & Emi mix it up, great stuff. Super fun match. 

Also glad to see Marina Shafir do well, happy for her to find success after just reading the interview where she was saying nobody wanted her on shows because she comes straight from nxt training and not the indys. 

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Marina Shafir was very impressive, good look too with her piercing blue eyes, and a memorable nickname, the Supernova from Moldova. It's the small things but having a memorable name is half the battle on Dark etc.

Also, does anyone have a gif of the Alabama Slamma Comoroto gave to that now deceased jobber? Dear lord...

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Hey, Marina Shafir and her Championship Wrestling from Atlanta dangerous suplexes are on normal television!  Wasn't it awesome how Marina flustered Kris so much that Statlander decided to torture her with the Spider Crab just to make a point?  Yes it was!  That heel hook reversal of the Big Bang Theory was totally great.

Joshi tag was also super fun!  I need a .gif of Mei dying in the ring and dropping into the hurdler splits after taking a knee to the face from Riho.  Ryo needs to break out that Gator Roll Triangle Choke spot more often, but I am not sure if it should be a finish.  Poor Emi.  No one responds to her We Will Rock You spots. 

Hey!  Heather Monroe is back in an AEW ring!  Too bad that Tay Conti beat the living shit out of her.  I guess it's back to Mempho after concussion protocol to defend her title against Rebel Kel or somebody.  UWN is your carny launching pad to superstardom.

The 804's own Zeda Zhang got beat down by Nyla Rose.  I was sad, but I expected it.

Thank God that Angelico is back.

There is not enough love for Brock Anderson killing that guy with the GOURDBUSTER~!

Edited by J.T.
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AEW Dark 12/15/21

Stalander vs Shafir: Really good showing by Shafir. This was the sort of match that you give to someone you're seriously looking at signing. She'd have to replicate this a couple of times against a couple of opponents before she got a nod, but she did a lot right here. I read an interview where she basically said she had an NXT stink on her and other companies didn't want to work with her, but they moved in and out of things well; she had a lot of little flourishes without seeming contrived, and she went out of her way to take Statlander's offense, including being modest enough to take the boop (even if she came back strong after) and to tap. The pumphandle driver was pretty nuts. Just a legitimately good enhanced studio match. Give her an Elevation match against Rosa or Deeb.

Comoroto vs Fleming: Satisfying Comoroto squash with the best stuff being the tie goofing at the end. I still think he should be billed at just over 300 pounds. His finish looked bone crushing here.

Riho/Ryo vs Emi/Mei: When Mei really got going in the back half, it was very fun and very character driven and stylized. She got to do some really unique stuff that felt personalized in the way TJPW signature spots are. This maybe, maybe got too chaotic towards the end and Ryo didn't get too much time to shine, and maybe Mei looked too strong against Riho since she's challenging for the belt soon, but those are all nitpicks for something that really was exceptionally fun. Let's see more.

Cargill vs Rossi: I think it would be best for Cargill to lose the pump kick and just hit a big boot or running atomic elbow smash accentuating her height by crushing down with it. The Canadian backbreaker is a good pick up though. I get why they make these so one-sided but it'd be good for her to absorb a few more hits on these just to get more rounded experience.

Angelico vs Khash: Where has Angelico even been? I worry after watching Danielson over the last month or two that he'd actually squander the possibilities a match with Angelico, even though we all want to see it.  This Khash match was a pretty enjoyable TV consolation prize though, as they both had Khash hang in there and also contrived (or lived through) a leg injury for Angelico. Both of them did an admirable job making the chain wrestling and matwork competitive and intricate. The finish was sudden but in a good way as it really got over Negro Navarro's reverse figure four.

Tay vs Monroe: I almost felt bad for this one to have to follow the other two competitive women's matches (and Angelico vs Khash too, sure). I liked Monroe's trash talking but there's not too much else to say here. I really don't think that so many wrestlers should be doing the double run into the corner (Statlander did earlier in the show and 10 does, among others), but you've heard that from me before.

Johnson/Anderson vs Faboo Andre/Donati: Dontai didn't look so hot in there. I think Anderson is definitely advancing. He seems much more confident than a month or two ago. The finish with Johnson breaking up a double suplex to set up the goardbuster was fun and Tony loved mentioning it in the post match interview. That interview was a miss for me. I don't think either side came off well. Got to get the reps in though.

Taylor vs Nemeth: Kind of weird match, probably just to set up something else with the post-match. Nemeth controlled almost all of it and it was fine. He did a good job grinding down on the arm but then it sort of went nowhere until Taylor's one comeback move and the shenanigans for the finish. If they're going to run these little Dark angles, they should probably be a little more overt with them. At the end of last week's show, they should have promoted the Mei/Emi tag, for instance, like they're doing with the Janela/Kiss match in two weeks.

Spears vs Woods: This was my first look at Woods. Some very creative things here, including the switching off "Yay/boo" armbars to start, but also Spears' suplex into a tree of woe on the apron and the way he held the arm in the ropes to get the knees in. Woods looked good and confident in there. I liked the persistence with the ankle lock and Spears' selling post match. Fun if sort of slight compared to the Shafir/Mei/Khash showcases.

Rose vs Zhang: Not a Zhang showcase. A little dodging, until she got caught. I liked the short whip into the corner into the German. Pretty straightforward squash here.

Singh vs Vincita: Vincita was emotive at least? I don't know. This was fine. Singh hit some stuff cleanly. Vincita could be an entertaining enhancement guy if he keeps leaning into it.

2.0/Garcia vs Reynolds/Uno/Colt: Maybe my favorite Reynolds performance on the webshows so far. I loved his Reinera Facebuster and he played FIP well, always driving and trying to get back to the corner, and then he had the superplex while standing on an opponents' back spot in the finishing stretch. 2.0 cuts off the ring as well as anyone in the company (even FTR) and Garcia mixes this unique explosiveness with a willingness to stooge like an exposed middle school bully. The Dark Order shtick worked well here and in the end, 2.0 got heated up a bit so they can face Kingston or Jericho or Santana/Ortiz or whatever.

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22 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I really don't think that so many wrestlers should be doing the double run into the corner (Statlander did earlier in the show and 10 does, among others), but you've heard that from me before.

 

I can't help but wonder if possibly this and other kinds of "they've got too many people doing a fairly specific xyz type of sequence" observations might be linked to AEW developing a video game. Having heard about the hellacious amount of money they are sinking into their games development division, it wouldn't shock me to learn that there was a bit of "tail wagging the dog" going on where, you know, if they are sinking a lot of development time into making - for example - a good Oklahoma Stampede type of animation they might want to get as much value and use as possible out of that, and could conceivably be encouraging some members of the roster to add some kind of Oklahoma Stampede variation into their actual move set...

Could also be a (not the, but a) motivating factor behind them signing so many interesting names... 

As I've said before, my personal dream for an AEW video game is for the basic A-button moves to be a punch, an Irish whip, a collar-and-elbow tie-up, and a Canadian Destroyer. 

 

Edited by Gordlow
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10 minutes ago, Gordlow said:

I can't help but wonder if possibly this and other kinds of "they've got too many people doing a fairly specific xyz type of sequence" observations might be linked to AEW developing a video game.

I've had a similar thought as it pertains not to signing people necessarily, but not letting them go. Is it worth keeping a Joey Janela or Angelico at a relatively low cost even if you're not using them much if it means you don't have to mess up your video games?

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20 minutes ago, Zakk_Sabbath said:

@Gordlowlol I just noticed the name change, that's fantastic.

I'm beyond excited for the AEW game. I absolutely cannot take another year of 2K19.

The amount of shit we've had to put up with because there hasn't been a viable second promotion for 20 years is kind of unbelievable. There is no reason to try to be better if you're the only product in the market. I stopped paying WWE 2K like I stopped paying Madden,  it's the same game every single year, except the games get worse with time instead of better. Except there hasn't been a viable competitor since WCW went out of business in 2001.

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45 minutes ago, supremebve said:

The amount of shit we've had to put up with because there hasn't been a viable second promotion for 20 years is kind of unbelievable. There is no reason to try to be better if you're the only product in the market. I stopped paying WWE 2K like I stopped paying Madden,  it's the same game every single year, except the games get worse with time instead of better. Except there hasn't been a viable competitor since WCW went out of business in 2001.

Agreed entirely. They put out 20 which was broken, skipped a year, and now '22 will likely be gutted due to releases. Of course GM mode is back for the year that half the rosters cut. And the funny thing is, WCW hadn't put out a good game for 2-3 years by the time they closed! (Yes, I was one of the idiots who tried playing Backstage Assault).

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