WingedEagle

On the other hand, they brought him in in the first place and booked him in matches one could reasonably expect to wreck his body and perhaps spur him toward certain voices. They really had no other options at this point.

Meltzer needs to roll over there with Wrestling with Shadows.

Assuming this didn't compound Cody's injury or put him on the shelf for longer, kudos to all for putting this match together and sticking to Cody going over clean as can be at the end of the day. Now strap him up at Mania when Rock doesn't show.

Somehow this match is pretty damn good. Whether its selling or Cody simply working through unreal pain, the work has been great and they've stuck to a pace that fits the injury. Really impressive.

It seems to have killed the live crowd as well. They understandably don't know how to react to something like this.

Good Lord. Look at Cody.

I'll call it a win if credits roll and we fade to black by 10:50.

WWE triple threats usually overdeliver but the Raw women's title match was legitimately great.

Cole certainly works, though they might want to save a Moxley/Cole match for when they can promote it. I'm more interested in when Punk is coming back. Definitely gone for Forbidden Door. What about All Out? The PPV beyond that? If he's not missing All Out they could even go the route of Tanahashi winning which lets them run Punk vs. Tana sooner rather than later. If he's out for a while you probably need to go Mox and let him steer the ship until Punk is ready to come back.

I thought Eagles/ElP and Hiromu/Despy were the two best matches in the tourney. Almost everything else was good and not a whole lot else was great. Basically little below 3 stars and nothing else touching 4. I say almost everything else because I skipped everything involving Taguchi, SHO or Wato. I've got no use for gimmicks or comedy and that was a quick way to filter things down quite a bit. If you want to go further, cut YOH from the mix as well. Definitely catch Lindaman and Eagles unless paired with any of the aforementioned names.

What's the logic to having this match on this PPV? I'd imagine the company would be better served by not extending the live or television audience's night and burning them out. Legit puzzled.

Generally agree with this, work or shoot. The only upside is a macro one if it encourages/spurs more roster movement and perhaps thereby generates more interest in the overall product for both companies. But its a massive win in this little corner.

This story is phenomenal. Straight out of the Monday night wars with rumors of the other side interfering with talent and all kinds of open ended possibilities. I'm intrigued enough that if it weren't for game 7 I'd actually consider going all in on soda tonight and buying the PPV. I have no idea how it shakes out, what is/was/becomes a work or shoot, but love the open questions. How does TK handle it from an employer/employee perspective? How does he handle the PPV and any fallout to the lineup? How do the rosters of both companies view things based on where this goes? There is good and bad that can come from this, but its fascinating regardless and that's been sorely missing from the business.

How many matches and hours is this PPV set for now? We can debate and pick apart the build for various matches but the show feels so bloated I'd hesitate watching live on that basis alone.

One could argue that Page has been in AEW's best matches this year. The Danielson, Archer, Cole and Takeshita run makes for a pretty great year. Throw in the Omega title change and Danielson draw and you have a tremendous title reign. In the ring. Outside of those matches I'm not sure the TV has made elevating him any kind of a priority. Punk, MJF, BCC, FTR, Cole, the Guevara/Sky TNT Title mess, even Joe have all seemed more focused on as acts at times. I don't know where the blame lies for that. Maybe Khan can't or doesn't want to come up with more for Page. Maybe he's had more ideas and spent more time focusing on other characters. Maybe Page hasn't pushed to be featured more. Or perhaps they think his matches stand out enough on their own. I don't have the answer but can't complain too much if we keep getting title matches like we've seen so far.

It doesn't seem all that controversial to say that wrestlers from and since that era have had more big matches than Hogan. Perhaps there's an argument for the last few years where the company became the top pushed headliner and house shows disappeared due to COVID. Hogan's likely had more weight and importance due to their scarcity, but based on pure count there are many with more than him.

Who's this Kikuchi he's been talking about/to?

This felt like an average TV main event until Orton's hot tag but has been aces since then.

Thank you!

If they didn't splice up the entire 60 minute preshow and insert it through the PLE we could all get out of here at a decent hour.

Damn, blocked in the US.

I may regret this in a month or even tomorrow, but I absolutely loved that outside of the (somehow, again) botched figure eight spot. Tremendously stiff plunder brawl that smoked the Mania match.

Hey if Dax and Cash can call back to a match from almost 30 years ago, why can't Charlotte go back 6?

Maybe? I was just thinking how much I'm enjoying watching these two stiff each other and even thought the kendo stick shots were well done. But that might just be me. Maybe I'm being overly generous but between the pace and stiffness this has made me forget their Mania match. They excel at mauling each other.

Only a few minutes in but this already resembles their Survivor Series match more than the Mania match. Hopefully that continues.