WingedEagle

What do people think about these kinds of conclusions? This isn't at all a knock at Jimmy -- in fact, its completely logical and the type of attention to detail that adds a lot to a match for me. But if the commentary doesn't point it out and the wrestlers don't do anything in particular to highlight such a point, how much credit do we give for it? What if someone's watching on mute, or watching a match in Japan without English commentary? How far are people willing to arrive at these conclusions without any big or small pushes in such a direction?

Dream's tights. Amazing.

Cut a day at the beach a bit short to watch this and not at all disappointed. The opening tag took its time building but featured some terrific spots, both new and ones that played off of their previous encounters. as well as a hot finish and post-match angle to boot. Really strong opener that I had at ****1/4. Apparently I'm in in the minority here, but have no problem with Ciampa/Gargano as a singles main event. Would prefer it without the LMS stip, but it never felt like Black fit into this feud and I think they could very well benefit from a singles match again.

Would love to hear him compare booking for week to week houses/TV versus for big shows.

If it were still Raw Is War, 2018 Raw would absolutely be Vietnam. incredible resources and an utter disaster.

The Usos & Cesaro/Sheamus just had quite the little tag team match. Really fun TV outing.

This was a really fun match that I thought was building towards one of the better G1 outings thus far before ending rather suddenly. It seemed like it could've used more limb work from Sabre and another fired up or two from Ishii, but they may very well have been saving that for the Ibushi match. ***3/4

This is basically my approach to ratings as well. Off the top of my head I've got around 6-8 5 star matches this decade. Some may think that's too picky, but are all-time great matches actually happening on a monthly or better basis?

Thanks, will keep that in mind and look into options.

Has anyone been to the spot they tape at in NY? Is it easy to park there? I'd like to go in October depending on what match they announce for LA Park, but would be coming from work and thus the need for parking. Quite the busy stretch locally between that show, Bound For Glory and Evolution.

If I rated four matches on this show at 3 stars or better, including the main event, it'd have been a thumbs up in my book as well (perhaps in the middle, depending upon the booking?). But I certainly didn't see it that way and had only 2 matches at that level. Perhaps I'm too demanding, or perhaps Dave is more generous in certain regards. It seems as though ratings in the Observer in recent years have become more tied to pace and frequency of highspots. For up/down purposes, my sense is fans still give more credence to booking at PPVs than TV or individual matches, even in the Network era.

This was a solid match that unfortunately didn't approach the standard they set in the 2016 G1 Finals. I thought Omega as champion controlled way too much of a match that called for Goto to dominate in an attempt to establish himself as a viable threat. Brawling in the bleachers was solid but not quite credible enough to raise this above fun. Credit to them for getting Korakeun to buy into a near fall or 2 for Goto down the stretch. As much as I enjoyed this, their history left me thinking more about what was left on the table than what was delivered. ***1/2

Sounds like a win.

All of this looks great and I'm pretty pumped to dive in and look at things more in depth. One thought that's probably already crossed your mind -- with all of these additional sub folders and threads that people will be going back & forth between, it'd be great to get page loads closer to prior speeds to allow for easier navigation.

I like the idea of showing multiple new (or do you mean recently updated threads) on the right hand side of the page.

That Roman/Balor/McIntyre triple threat may have been better than anything at Extreme Rules. Not exactly a high bar to clear, but I liked Roman/Lashley and AJ/Rusev, so no complaints about topping that on TV.

I'm not buying Rollins/Dolph as the main until it happens. Whether its a Hogan angle, Ambrose return or something else, I'm skeptical the show is actually ending well before 11.

Very much a tale of two matches. Everything for the first half or so was slow and plodding, then they went all out with the power game and put together one hell of a match. This should've been a 10 minute match though. Still, the strengths more than overcame the weaknesses. That booking on the other hand? Not sure about that. ***1/2

That was a big bump.

Maybe, although if they keep things brisk until then (iron man match aside) the crowd may in fact not be burnt out or unusually frustrated.

I appreciate that they've gotten most of the BS matches out of the way right out of the gate. On the other hand, I was somehow unrealistically hoping this would end so I could catch Sacha Baron Cohen's new show at the 11PM replay, but that's as likely as us receiving an explanation for why Asuka should've lost at Mania. This is oddly a show where I'm either really excited for a match (Roman/Lashley, AJ/Rusev, Hell No/Bludgeons) or hoping my power goes out during it (most of hour one). Update: Nakamura/Hardy was FANTASTIC. That is how you make a show fit into a four hour window!

Still crazy to think one of the 10 best wrestlers in the world is now signed and involved with this.

Any word on pricing for this event yet? Already locking in the NJPW crew has my attention. I was planning on going to Takeover rather than Mania for various reasons -- primarily not wanting to make a 13 hour day of it on Sunday -- but will have to at least consider this show.

I love that they so strongly incorporated the story from January's match here and did so in such a compact fashion. No issues at all with the selling or comeback, particularly given the length of the match, although I can see why this would be an issue for some. Big fan of such a decisive finish, particularly one that's sold so well as that dragon screw looked like hell and Suzuki put it over as incredibly devastating. Hoping that the work here carries forward to both of their matches throughout the tourney. This was my favorite match of the night. ****