WingedEagle

Don't encourage me. I'm juggling enough viewing projects as it is and don't need reminders to put myself through this in addition to all of those.

You'll be fine, I'll buy you a salad and we'll keep the ticker in check. On the other hand, you gave me a few things I want to go back and watch again on the show, and I definitely don't need that kind of trouble every month. You even made a couple of the matches more fun to read about than watch! Job well done.

This needs to happen for every PPV. I really liked the show, thought Charlotte/Becky was terrific, Toni/Io a ton of fun if way too short and was blown away by how great and how much I loved the 6 woman tag. But this post may have topped it all.

This. It wasn't that long ago PPVs were 3 hours, yet even now nearly 3.5 feels like a breeze. No match outside of Charlotte/Becky went very long, and that one worked precisely because it was unique both for how long it went and for the style being so different from every other match.

That was a pretty flat main event. Even the opener seemed hotter and more interesting. Just a lot of smoke & mirrors but none very interesting.

I stand corrected. It may have quickly resembled your prototypical garbage match, but they kept a great pace while putting over every gimmick along the way and actually selling the hell out of the carnage they put each other through. Finish was also absolutely tremendous and really felt like the biggest spot of the match. Pretty rare when that actually leads to a finish, much less in this kind of match.

Unfortunately Becky/Charlotte looks to be carrying the Raw/Smackdown torch tonight, from the ridiculously set up spots to the TV-PG extreme gimmick match. Some decent spots and arguably stupid bumps, but thus far its the weakest match on the show (obviously not counting the battle royal).

Shayna vs. Kairi was solid and Duke/Shafir involvement was a fun and unexpected angle, but this wasn't as strong as Toni/Io or the 6 woman tag. I'd probably go as far as to call it the weakest match these two have had, but still good. About ***1/4.

I absolutely loved every minute of that. Storm/Shirai may have been better and more focused, but this was everything you want out of a multi-person tag.

This tag is blowing away what I expected. Everyone looks good and the timing/flow have been terrific. Really well laid out with great pacing. Absolutely digging it.

So that was very good while it lasted, with some neat wrinkles and big time spots, but it felt too quick given the stakes and setting. Happy with what we got but it could've used another 4-6 minutes.

May be early to make this call, but it looks like we're getting Stardom's Io Shirai rather than the version that couldn't stop playing to the hard cam during the MYC.

Battle Royal wasn't any good. The Carmella bit and brief Ember/Asuka segment were fun, but nearly every elimination was poor and identical, as most of the women can't truly bump over the top, and the finish was flat as hell.

Don't forget the guy in a Syndergaard jersey.

So that tag was a lot better than I expected. Well laid out and while hardly flawless execution, between the pace and energy it was pretty fun.

I actually think the build for this has been pretty solid, especially when you consider that they were building the Australia and Saudi shows at the same time. The big matches here got ample time and promos across four TV shows -- four! -- as you had Ronda/Nikki and the Trish/Lita tag on Raw, Charlotte/Becky on Smackdown, Shirai/Toni on MYC and Kairi/Shayna on NXT. The rest of it was arguably thrown together without a ton of focus, but how is that really all that different from most PPVs? I was stoked when they originally announced the show and thought it was a lock I'd go, and yes, the lineup and build end up such that I didn't feel compelled to risk getting home close to perhaps 1AM on a Sunday night, but the big 4 matches all *could* be legitimately great. Unlikely that each of them will, but those are strong odds that we get a strong show. Combine that with at least a couple moments when its likely to get a bit dusty in here for those of us who are softies that tap easiily and it should be a pretty fun night on the couch.

Fuck. Just incredibly awful news. My jaw was on the floor like many others watching this. I'm not about religion, but thoughts and prayers to Roman, his family and friends. Hopefully he pulls through this.

What were the circumstances behind him making the finals of the 1980 Champion Carnival? Was it simply not as big a deal as it would become in later years?

Wow. Legitimately shocked by the top of the list for this period. I knew you gave high marks to the Sting/Vader feud, but ahead of both Wargames! Keep it up, I can never get enough of these.

And then played singalong with Taker's catchphrase.

So Crown Jewel has been heavily promoted tonight, but they've gone out of their way to avoid explicitly referencing S***i A****a, correct?

It seems as though a common theme throughout Austin Aries's career is Austin Aries performing unprofessionally.

That's just not an interesting take these days.

No one will mistake this for an all time classic, but I thought this was a terrific match that stood out for its pacing and simplicity. The early minutes are worked around a Dusty headlock and Race's efforts to avoid it. Race uses simple, credible cutoffs like short headbutts and kicks while Dusty brings the fire and charisma to a receptive Japanese crowd. Both do a terrific job of working what's essentially a simple, basic match but doing so in big fashion for the live and TV audience. Race's bumps and selling are big and expressive without veering into anything ridiculous. I mentioned the pacing, but it can't be commended enough for never feeling slow, but at the same time every action was given time to breathe for a long enough pause that it mattered to the match and the audience. Really strong stuff here. ***1/2

Nothing wrong with hoping people face appropriate consequences that may arise from their actions. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be a refreshing change.