15 minutes ago, Dog said:

So ... I think all those callbacks in the FTR match are neat, but does anyone else find it weird that the "serious wrestlers" are so blatantly telling the world "this is all fake"? I wonder what the guys they revere think of the choreographed homages as opposed to them just having their own match.

In kayfabe, couldn't the story be that they idolize the Harts so much that they wanted to use the same offense?  Like a modern offensive coordinator who really loved the 49ers in the Montana days deciding to try some of the same plays.  Is that a thing?

I think sports teams are more concerned with winning than being cute. ?‍♂️ And the defense doesn't play along. ?

Plus, wrestling is supposed to be catch-as-catch-can. You take what you can in the moment. Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth, etc.

To clarify, *I'm* personally fine with it. Just a weird disconnect.

 

39 minutes ago, Dog said:

I think sports teams are more concerned with winning than being cute. ?‍♂️ And the defense doesn't play along. ?

Plus, wrestling is supposed to be catch-as-catch-can. You take what you can in the moment. Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the mouth, etc.

To clarify, *I'm* personally fine with it. Just a weird disconnect.

 

I'm not a particularly "smart" fan in the sense that I recognize callbacks, so to me it was just great mat wrestling. The only thing I recognized as a Hart signature was the sternum to the turnbuckle corner bump. The inside cradle reversal has been used in other AEW matches recently also and is a timeless classic.

In music terms, it's obvious who their influences are and they will occasionally borrow some riffs. In this case, it's like a band doing a live set and throwing in a verse of a cover song in the middle of their song that is similar in style.

3 minutes ago, JLowe said:

In music terms, it's obvious who their influences are and they will occasionally borrow some riffs. In this case, it's like a band doing a live set and throwing in a verse of a cover song in the middle of their song that is similar in style.

Well that's just it, right? A song is a predetermined arrangement of notes. Pointing all this out is highlighting that wrestling is a predetermined arrangement of moves and countermoves, with the wrestlers (or instruments, if you will) working together and not against each other.

And it wasn't just a few spots here and there. Dean's post shows that pretty much the whole match was cut-and-pasted. Again, I personally loved it! Like a cover song medley that flows together without you even realizing it. But that's the exact opposite of trying to make it seem like a legit competition.

 

2 hours ago, Dog said:

So ... I think all those callbacks in the FTR match are neat, but does anyone else find it weird that the "serious wrestlers" are so blatantly telling the world "this is all fake"? I wonder what the guys they revere think of the choreographed homages as opposed to them just having their own match.

The callbacks are just a bonus for people like us who recognise them. But the match still works as a good match on his own for the hundred of thousands of people who watched and had no idea it was a Hart family homage.

 

Also:

If the FTR doing homages in their match really gets to be a thing, I 100% support them coming out and saying "we choreographed it ahead of time. We're the most decorated tag team on the planet and not about to risk injury any more than we have to. We flipped a coin to decide who won ahead of time." Kayfabe within kayfabe. 

The thing about Dax vs. Cash (which was still good TV wrestling) is the dissonance between the match and the gimmick, and it isn't the first time they've had the issue. Are they old-school workhorses, or guys pretending to be old-school workhorses? Bret Hart had Bret Hart matches, he didn't recreate Mongolian Stomper matches move-for-move because it would pop the smarts. And I don't mind that kind of referential post-kayfabe stuff because if I did I wouldn't be hanging out in an AEW thread. But FTR are the last guys on the roster who should be inhabiting that realm, it just feels off.  It also felt like they were going from spot-to-spot, when I'd rather watch them just go at each other and call it on the fly.

Edited April 29, 20224 yr by John E. Dynamite

I'm sure guys in the 90's cribbed spots from the 70's we just didn't know it cause everything wasn't on the internet. And Remember if you havn't seen it its new to you. So all these Brett spots and finishes are new to the kids who have never seen them before 

10 hours ago, zendragon said:

I'm sure guys in the 90's cribbed spots from the 70's we just didn't know it cause everything wasn't on the internet. And Remember if you havn't seen it its new to you. So all these Brett spots and finishes are new to the kids who have never seen them before 

Yeah, even JR sometimes points out that a certain spot or move reminds him of whatever 60s guy that I have no idea of and would have never known otherwise.

Edited April 30, 20224 yr by eikerir

No shit, Sherlock!

I thought Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky should have been stopped like Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy when Matt knocked himself out at All Out 2020 but the match continued. That's the only time I was really mad at AEW, I nearly turned off the show because of that. Aubrey Edwards was the only one who came out of that with any credit.

7 hours ago, The Natural said:

No shit, Sherlock!

His neck?  His back?

Edited May 1, 20224 yr by Technico Support

3 hours ago, Technico Support said:

His neck?  His back?

Probably hurt his crack too.

Lowest quarter rating belonged to the UE guys & the Jacksons. Hmmmm…

So, let's see? The guy I actually voted for won, even though I thought I was voting for the other one! Very good wrestling match.

Punk v Page official. I know I'll probably get the PPV anyway, but this is a decent start to make sure of it.

Swerve vs Allin seems like a pretty huge qualifying match, no?

Death Triangle back in full force! I wonder if the match makes it to the actual PPV this time?

Big victory for The Professor! During the match I was like, "why haven't I noticed how freakily far out Deeb's cheekbones protrude from her face before?" Then after the match I was like "Oh. Yeah, nevermind." That was explained pretty fast. I hope she didn't fracture anything, since she is now very solidly the number one contender.

Wardlow busting out some Brian Cage moves against Archer was very warmly welcomed by me. So it's Big Ass Morrisey up next?

Team Taz going for the tag titles? Christian Cage slowburn turn inching forward?

Haven't seen the 10 man or the Ladder Match yet, but so far this was once again really, really good stuff, even without those.

...

...

10 man was an ok warm-up, but the damn ladder match was simply nuts. What the fuck, Sammy?!? Hey, your life, pal! You do you. What's with all these quick TNT title changes?

Throwing fireballs is Sports Entertainment now, Chris? There go Kingston's eyebrows!

Edited May 2, 20224 yr by Shartnado
Saw the rest of it.

13 hours ago, just drew said:

Lowest quarter rating belonged to the UE guys & the Jacksons. Hmmmm…

I know you are working your gimmick, and I appreciate the commitment to kayfabe, but they were wrestling the wrestling equivalent to Blue Notes after Teddy Pendergrass went solo.

Catching up on everything... Dax/Cash was about as perfect as expected, love the immediate post-match respect with no dissension needed.

Archer/Wardlow was a great 5 mins, glad to see Archer getting his praise.  And you can't teach that! Coming off Morrissey's recent Impact work, I'm excited to see him get a shot here. He's developed somewhat of an aura there and his face turn was pretty organic, I hope he does well. Continuing the Impact Invasion, equally excited to see the amazing Deonna Purrazzo coming over for her unofficial AEW Debut. Deonna/Mercedes was good stuff in Impact a few months ago, hope they steal the show here. Pretty good blowoff for Serena/Shida and victory for Serena. She wants Thunder in an iron woman, which would be excellent if it happens. Really dug the intensity at the end of the Kingston/Jericho promo and the fireball afterwards was some old school greatness. 

The TNT title back and forth booking has been odd and this match was a bit of a cluster but had it's moments. I haven't cared about Scorpio Sky at all and thought his previous reign was entirely pointless, but I'm intrigued here with the Kazarian involvement, Ethan/Lambert reactions, potential turns, etc. The most I enjoyed Sky was in the early AEW / SCU days so I'm looking forward to how it plays out at least. 

Edited May 2, 20224 yr by DreamBroken

It is no secret that I absolutely hated the booking of Scorpio Sky worming his way past Kaz to get another crack at Sammy Guevara.  Little did I realize that the bookers of AEW are super awesome and were secretly putting together one of the most logical and well executed double turns in all of pro wrestling.  As good as the conclusion of that match felt, we're now at the weird point where not only is Sky instantly one of the babiest of babyfaces and complete Karma Houdini, but he has also dragged heat magnets Dan Lambert and Ethan Page along with him for the ride.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  Scorpio had better give Kaz at least fifteen minutes in the title defense before he kills him.

I am really looking forward to Tay Conti and Paige VanZant kicking each other's spleens into paste in a singles match.

Edited May 2, 20224 yr by J.T.