Timbo Slice

I hate Indy standoffs but Moriarty and Dante just killed it.

Ishii is working some US dates so yeah, he’ll be showing up at some point. Okada coming in should be a huge deal.

I think it’s just the start between the two of them. It’s too hot to burn off so quick. But when Tony straps up Eddie for the big one, I think it will be bigger even than Hangman. At this point, he has to win it.

I’ve been going through a lot of personal shit along the lines of what Eddie has been experiencing and I have tears as I’m typing this. I never got into as dark a spot as he did, but I coped with food and alcohol a bit too much lately and the anxiety and panic I’ve been experiencing has really affected me severely. But that article made me feel hopeful by the end. I’ve never had more respect for a wrestler in my life.

AEW’s house style is entirely predicated on the idea that folks are tape hounds and will go back to look for Easter Eggs while peppering high spots in to wow the live audience.

Yeah, that’s hiding behind your gimmick. No need to even have your gimmick go that far.

Don’t think you want to use the term “groom” with Ol’ Party Marty.

Cary, more than likely.

Naw, they should absolutely Brock Lesnar SummerSlam 2002 him.

Danielson vs. Solow is not what I would have guessed for Bryan’s Dark appearance.

AEW seems a lot more harmonious, so even with Andy there, I don’t get why AEW would take a chance on someone who would cause such strife from the start.

Because there’s more to a match than the moves and the action. That’s what I meant by the base assumptions holding too much water. Dragon has had matches that are very much catnip to these fans. He’s played up the striking and showing a diverse move set because that’s the expectation of him at this point. The idea of him being unleashed from the shackles of WWE. It does him a disservice for what he DID do in the company even with both the implied and actual limitations placed on him. To lean on that as the main reason his work in AEW has been so well-received is flimsy at best, and confirmation bias at worst. Meanwhile, Punk has undoubtedly worked a smarter style than Dragon has, and what everyone has perceived as issues with him have actually been strengths and a model for match efficiency. In all four matches, he knew as soon as he had his best shot to end it, he ended it. Darby or Sydal trying to speed him up later in the match? Better figure out a way to hit the GTS. Hobbs’ strength making things worse the closer they got to that 15 minute mark with Hook looming? Have to swing for the fences at the best opening he could get. Knee taken apart by Garcia because he’s at the absolute top of his game? Pull out the piledriver and the Vice and don’t look back. Dragon has been more performative and has had points in his matches that really scream fan service (especially in the Suzuki match), whereas Punk has really leaned into coming across as a guy who is probably way over his head and is getting by on guile alone, even if he has a rep for being a GOAT candidate. I know that fans have been more conditioned to a wrestling style much more like Bryan’s than Punk’s since Punk left, but historically, the way Punk is working is in some ways a better brand of pro wrestling than just being able to do what you want when you want, even if the guy being unleashed is the best wrestler ever. It’s just incredibly fascinating to me and is why I brought it up in the first place, because I’m hearing more about the settings being more influential than the work itself, and that’s not nearly as compelling to me.

Furthermore, both guys are two of the outright smartest wrestlers ever and can play into those perceptions. Which they absolutely have done here.

I think there a ton of assumptions being made about both guys and how well they’ve performed relative to what most folks see them as in their idealized brain. That’s what I’m getting at essentially. The idea of WWE having such a “controlled” working environment as opposed to the “freedom” of AEW is carrying a ton of water here. New Japan has a lot of freedom, yes, but they also have 25-minute EVIL and Chase Owens matches. I’m trying to look at this objectively because I feel Punk has been under-appreciated while Dragon has been lauded to a degree few wrestlers ever get. Yet both guys have worked the same amount of singles matches, have had variety, and somewhat predictably, the action-focused Bryan work has been held in higher regard while Punk has been seen as “getting his legs under him.” My point is that these are pretty base-level assumptions that carry more weight than they should.

The striking thing about the initial responses is how much WWE vitriol fuels them. If you think Bryan was tampered down tremendously, then you have a baked-in sense of improvement in AEW. Meanwhile Punk has gone Back To Basics, incorporated a few of his old spots, but has wrestled in a style much like his WWE peak. I’m not trying to play “gotcha” here but the “WWE stench” card can only go so far when evaluating folks.

I think it’s interesting to reflect on what each guy’s run so far has looked like after their first four singles matches, which have varied greatly and shown a lot more I think than even most were expecting, even with high expectations. Who have you enjoyed more so far in his singles run? Punk or Danielson?

That was the “Yes, I know.” part, I believe. I guess I’m just trying to figure out how he fits in on the main roster, if at all.

So is WALTER hurt? Him being off TV for this long has been interesting to say the least. He’s in an interesting spot given how he was presented and has a ton of leverage if his contract were to run out. I’d laugh if he went to AEW though, considering how he did his home brand dirty.

The Punk discourse is also a product of fandom becoming so myopic. Not everyone can be a top guy, but everyone can be relevant and useful. AEW’s biggest issue from the start was fans desires for everyone on top, but that’s literally not possible. Punk deciding to go after the belt should be a BIG deal, and it will be when it does eventually happen. But I find it funny that folks are harping on this when they yadda yadda Bryan just checking off his much better Cody dream match list instead of going after the belt. Even after Bryan himself said it in a promo.

I’ll need to give this another watch because live, this felt contrived. I understand Bryan putting his own twist on things but I thought they could have done a lot more than they did. That being said, when they did get away from the strike exchange stuff, it was really fun. I think seeing that just made me want to see more, and then they just went back to it. The stiffness and toughness is one thing, but the output here seemed like folks wanted to give it credit for being a dream match and forget things a bit. The finish also was a bit too cute by half. Hopefully a second watch betters things.

Of all the matches Bryan and Suzuki could have had, that was certainly one of them. Strike exchanges really don’t mean much in pro wrestling anymore; become as overwrought as anything going in the last decade, and yes, there were some wrinkles thrown in, but it really feels they left a lot on the table. It was a bit of a letdown.

Do we know if the YouTube show will be live at 6 PM PST or still be run at 9 PM? My guess is 6 PM?

Tony Khan just booked Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki on a YouTube stream. In the year 2021. My word.

Punk better be careful with Bryan Danielson’s son.

Biggest upset of the night: Punk getting to face Bryan Danielson’s son before Bryan does.