Jmare007

That was the thing though, Hunter mended fences with the very few people Vince still had in his no-no list. Punk and him never liked each other and had an awful falling out. To bring him back in a time the company doesn't really need him shows a side of HHH I wasn't sure he had. Good for him (and WWE) really.

Also, this is HHH's biggest W as "guy in charge" since he's held this kind of position. I was with the group that wasn't sure he'd ever be like Vince and put business first over very personal (and valid) issues and he did it with the guy he probably had the biggest personal beef with.

Saw the last 20 minutes of the PLE. Punk's return was masterfully done. I hope they squeeze every penny and program out of him while they can before he either gets injured or gets grumpy and starts deluding himself about what his role in the company "should" be. Holy fuck was Orton over, that was dope to see and listen.

Well, they corrected him today so it's a moot point. He's basically putting the belts up for grabs to whoever wins the tourney so they can create this Triple Crown (and there will be three belts). With Eddie's PPV promo I though he was saying that whoever had the ROH & Strong belts had to keep defending them until the finals, which had me believing Eddie was a lock for the finals. But again, it's a moot point. We still don't know if whoever wins the C2 and those belts will be a champion that actually defends it and then puts it on the line during the tourney (like Eddie just did) every year, or if it's gonna be something symbolic like those trophies and belts Tony created for the Owen Hart Cup.

TK booked a CC that will lead to a Triple Crown winner. I guess he's trying to compensate to Baba after all the Inoki love he's done in the past few months? Any way, the tourney matches for this week: Tonight on Dynamite: Jay White vs. Rush Jay Lethal vs. Swerve Strickland Jon Moxley vs. Mark Briscoe On Collision: Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli Eddie Kingston vs. Brody King Danielson gets the week off to keep healing as much as possible I guess (he still gotta work twice in a week eventually and risk it all though ) White vs Rush and Eddie vs Brody look like potentially great fucking matches.

Blue League : Bryan Danielson Andrade El Idolo Brody King Claudio Castagnoli Daniel Garcia Eddie Kingston Gold League : Jon Moxley Swerve Strickland Rush Mark Briscoe Jay Lethal Jay White 20 minute time limit. Eddie vs Dragon II, let's fucking GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

What Eddie said at the PPV was that he putting his belts on the line on every match he's wrestling in the CC, that's why whoever wins it will have both those belts plus being the "Continental Classic Champion" (lol).

They are announcing the participants (and I'd hope the blocks and weekly matchups) at 1PM ET in a youtube stream. It's gonna be TK, Schiavone and Eddie and I hope Kingston cuts a promo on every single entrant

The main event was fine but I hated the angle they ran for it. The angle in itself was so stupid the only way it would've been worth it would've been White winning and setting up MJF getting the strap back in his hometown -have Joe force White to accept a rematch so he can get his shot or something-, but was way too over the top for Max to actually win it. It's one thing if he got hit with a chair once in the pre show and had to sell damage, but the Gunns pillmanize his leg, dude goes to the hospital and has to wrestle for 30 fucking minutes while having to sell such a devastating injury. Him and White-O did their best under for such an unnecessary handicap, I also question them having to go sooo damn long. If they do 7-12 minutes, the leg stuff feels more meaningful and the crowd probably gets even more invested. I agree that MJF had a dope babyface performance though, there's that I guess. It was fucking hilarious to see 10 people trying to stop Max from getting to the ring and wrestle when 5 minutes before that, a guy with an even worse injury made his entrance to take his place in the match and no one from AEW management gave a single fuck (shit, they made the match official for fuck sakes :lol:).

Only seen Swerve vs Hangmayne and that shit was incredible. Most of the time I feel those type of matches in AEW (which normally involve Mox) end up doing too much cartoony/goofy stuff and/or peak too early and limp they way to end. This time around felt like all the excess was well placed and worked every single time. Swerve winning after that dumb ass 450 over the glass would've been the ideal ending but I 100% understand protecting Page more by having Nana and Cage be the reason he finally lost a Texas Deathmatch. First time I felt AEW was able to pull of a "spectacle" kind of match (though I watched like two matches from the company before All Out 2021) and I have a hard time picturing the roster being able to top what Page and Strickland just did. The balance of blood feud, gimmicks and spectacle they pulled off is hard as fuck to replicate in this day and age. So glad Swerve won.

Could it be Chris Hero? He announced he was going back to the ring some days ago. It's the kind of announcement I can see TK hyping up on Twitter and people trolling him after it's not a superstar.

Yeah, as much history as SANADA and Naito might have, I have a hard time believing the Dome gonna be fired up for that match. They gotta be expecting a title change so that might play in their favor but it's gotta be the least interesting IWGP title match on January 4th since WK when Tana vs Kea couldn't even main event, lol.

This tourney seems like TK giving Dragon the G1 he's never gonna have so I'm kinda hopeful it will be booked with more care and thoughtfulness than Tony gives any other tournament he has booked.

I've been asking for a round robin, G1 style tournament from AEW almost since their inception so I'm glad TK finally pulled the trigger on it. Yes, Tony has basically killed any appeal a tournament can have in his promotion, specially after all the tourneys he's booked this year. But hey, I'ma be back to watching so he's got my attention at least. Also, I'm sure the Continental Classic ain't gonna sell a single ticket by itself (as a concept) but if the blocks are announced next week and TK finally books his top talent in it, then I'm sure some of the matchups will be able to boost some towns up if they have enough time and some good promotion behind it. PS: New Japan is gonna be scared shitless for like 6 straight weeks. Everything points to Danielson's body not being able to take the 1 big match a week schedule anymore and that's exactly what's gonna be booked for, and juuust before WK. Also, no one should be surprised if Dragon does some dumb shit like taking off his protective mask or some other unnecessary risky spot just for his own amusement, lol.

Sign him up!

As long as they can be creative enough to make the show look cool and top tier, I don't see the harm in booking smaller places for a while. There's got to be places that can hold 2,000 to 4,000 seats that can be made to look special/cool on TV, you add a hot crowd to that setting and it will give a better impression than a half empty NBA/NHL arena. Now, I don't know if there's enough creativity to make those venues look that way, but I'm sure that can be done if enough effort is put on it. The problem would be downsizing and immediately looking like a 2nd tier promotion.

According to Wrestle Tix (which has become the source for attendance numbers) the had 4.7k last night and were running a Buy 1 got 2 Free promotion in the last couple of days. The number is slightly below what they did last time in the same building for a live Rampage in January (5k). I've seen Collision shows that had 2-3k in attendance that sounded like really hot crowds, I think AEW just got better at miccing up the crowds.

If they can't have a dope match with a more established story and more defined roles (Danielson in control trying to "break" Okada, who has to work from underneath before doing what he does best: a great finishing sequence and a W), then this pairing was meant to never meet in the ring. I'm actually not excited about the match at all, which is fucking crazy. But having low expectations is probably for the best.

The MJF/Cole pairing is massively over to this day, imo. But they stopped being an act you HAD to watch live after All In. It went from a hot angle with potential to turn things around for the company to a popular act with no real direction in a matter of 1 show. Then Cole got injured and they pretty much had no other choice but to keep the comedy sketch route that can't really go anywhere until he can come back. It reminds me a little of Danielson ROH title reign when he was feuding with Strong, Joe, Nigel, with KENTA looming in the horizon, while at the same time having mini feuds with midcard talent like Delirious and Cabana and the end goal being Homicide getting the title at some point (though Danielson being the champ to get dethroned by him wasn't required). White winning would be a nice twist and would require an interesting reshuffling but at this point I have no faith TK can pull that off. Besides, with Worlds End being in Long Island, it kinds of hard picturing MJF defending or winning the strap back at the PPV.

I feel like Tony/AEW really had something with Cole and MJF. The All In happened and that angle stopped in it's tracks and transitioned to "they are BFFs, tune in what funny fuckery they'll be involved in every week with Roderick Strong and The Kingdom" and after that PPV everything has been dragging. Cole getting injured was the nail in the coffin but even by Grand Slam, that angle was no longer compelling or can't miss. I actually like the idea of giving MJF a bunch of people gunning for the belt at the same time but it doesn't really feel like he's in any real danger. And the "Devil" mystery has been 4 weeks of literally nothing. It sounds like something that should work, but it really isn't clicking right now. Callis and his family has also moved at a snail's pace and a guy like Takeshita was never really able to follow through his momentum from 3 months ago. Everything else in AEW relies 90% on match making and match quality. And stuff like Miro and his wife, Skye Blue going to the ¿blue side? and Santana/Ortiz are not angles that can carry a TV show. I'm ok with watching fun matches but considering Danielson is not gonna be on TV long -dude is made of crystal at this point, sadly- I don't foresee TK being able to keep me as a watcher and sometimes PPV buyer once Dragon finishes his contract in 2024. I'd love to be proven wrong.

That makes more sense, it was just too coincidental to have happened in the tag match. Him being back "later this year" seems like a lucky break -no pun intended- then.

Is OC the most successful gimmick of the 2020s in the U.S and Japan? I don't want to include México as I don't follow lucha but man, the way Cassidy has been able to integrate his very unique style and character and become one of the most reliable workers in a national promotion is the sort of thing that should count on his favor I think. Dude got better each year and did it in "hard mode", so to speak. Seems to me he'll end up a very viable candidate to enter a top 100 by 2026.

I agree, just out of nowhere remembering you had an easy angle and big match at your disposal (Kenny wanting to keep his record) feels like really bad planning on TK's part.

If the injury is real, letting Dragon go to WK to fight Okada, were the story is Danielson being pissed off about getting shit broken every time they face each other, seems like another injury waiting to happen. Don't picture Dragon working a safe match when the story calls for him to be unhinged. Edit:specially when both injuries happened with things he's done his entire career and not because of working hard or reckless/risky