Childs

I have no thought that this is a work, but they have to do their best to capitalize on it as if it is. Yes, it's messy as hell, but they will have a huge amount of attention on them over the next few weeks, and there is opportunity in that. People in this industry have moved past far worse to make money together. Maybe you don't have faith in these particular parties to pull it off, but that -- not doom and gloom -- should be the mindset.

Even your Darby/Sting match was kind of boring.

That was about as unsatisfying as a Bryan Danielson match can be.

I get the premise of the question, but Okada is only 34; he's not my favorite but we don't have to consign him to the slag heap.

Thought blood and guts was just okay - unnecessarily flabby and it slowed to a crawl once Jericho went to the top, without the requisite drama to justify that pace. The Claudio/Kingston ending was clever enough but not really what I'm looking for as the culmination of a gang fight. The whole thing paled in comparison to the arena brawl.

This Christian heel run could not be off to a better start.

Another banger.

Yep. Fair is fair. That was a banger.

I'm not sure how well it will hold up to your careful analysis, but they are vibing big time with this action-hungry crowd.

Crap build or no, this has been a hot, hot show.

I enjoy watching the other guys murder him like an '80s jobber.

I mean, that pretty much had to be the finish. Heels always have the man up in War Games, and Umino got a big run before eating the fall.

Christian's outfit on the other hand? A+++

I'm not bothered by Cassidy generally, but I don't want him anywhere near a singles match on a "dream" card.

And once again, Forbidden Door is defined by what can't be delivered.

The booking for this PPV is fucking awful.

And another belt with another shitty tourney attached? Could the first 30 minutes of this show have gone much worse?

Bleh

I don't think negativity toward the MJF promo is going to be the common reaction in AEW fan world. I've already seen a bunch of people on Twitter talk about it as an all-time great segment.

Really? He was an integral part of the best match of the night and one of the best of the year, and it left him with multiple possibilities going forward.

Meanwhile, we're headed for a 1 a.m. finish.

Oh, I agree. But he said it was a factor in planning out the card, per WON.

TK wants to start the main event after the NBA game, so I'm sure he's fine with some filler. But yeah, nothing about that was ppv-worthy.

You're correct of course that the worker has every right to try to exercise leverage if he thinks he has it. And I understand the lens through which you're looking at it, but you can't expect the average consumer to view it in than context, especially in the absence of any explanation from MJF. Shit, it's hard enough to garner sympathy for labor when you have union leaders laying out clear reasons for their actions. It's fine to say "if the consumer suffers, so be it," but there is risk in that viewpoint because consumer sympathy is part of the worker's leverage. It's muddled all the more by wrestling's strange relationship to reality.

Sure, but do we have any indication this speaks to a broader labor vs. management issue? I would love to see wrestlers establish some collective bargaining power, but there are still going to be individual situations in which the worker behaves like an asshole.