Jmare007

That's the answer to your question. We are at the "at first" stage of this whole thing.

Regardless of the details, it was Punk making a (former?) top babyface of the company look like a fool without building to anything that was planned beforehand. It's the kind of shit that if HHH did it 10-15 years ago people would be losing their minds.

From Fightful LMAO at 2 months of rest making Punk go back to his usual self. That man can't stay happy no matter what

I also think it's on Tony to put Page in a better position after losing the belt. The dude had legit momentum after winning the Danielson feud and then it fizzled out FAST. And now he's in booking limbo.

I don't think that's a match you only give 1 week of TV to hype up (only 2 Dynamite's left before All Out). It's also hard picturing Punk not fighting for the belt in Chicago. And you also have to find an opponent for Mox because there's no way your biggest PPV doesn't have your main title on the line, and that would mean two top of the card matches with little to no build (Punk/MJF has history sure, but you know what I mean). I guess booking a three way for the belt could be in play but that still sounds like last minute booking when you can just use next week's title match as set up for the real unification at the PPV.

BTW, the formula of using Punk and Danielson for the first hour/45 minutes of Dynamite continues to be flawless. Every time TK uses it, it's a very good episode of TV.

So what are we thinking they do with Punk vs Mox next week? A DQ? A no contest (maybe even a non-start)? a draw or double pin? I don't buy this being a one and done, even if Punk teased the rematch with Hangman, that's just not as big of a match for just 1 week of TV building for the PPV. So they gotta run Punk/Mox II ASAP and use their first match as a set up for All Out, probably gonna justify a big bloody gimmick match too.

Bah gawd the fuckery we gonna get from Mox vs Punk next week.

I mean, he was the one that cost Danielson the previous match and "tainted" García's win. To be fair, it seems only Danielson (and Nigel back in the day) are the only ones willing to really lay out those elbows. Tonight García did everything great but those elbows and stomps looked soft as shit.

Jericho/Hager vs Dragon/García at All Out?

I'ma need @Matt D to provide the FITE feed without commercials to rewatch this match. García was about to work his control section and show he can get the crowd riled the fuck up and we can't even see it in picture-in-picture.

That Dragon sleeper was perfect.

Oh shit, so they ARE finishing with Omega, great call TK! Now this match can go long as fuck

The pull apart made that segment worth it but the promo exchange felt weird as shit.

That was a very weird call out for Page. Am I missing something?

The Bucks match is the opener so Kenny's return will be the big thing to start the show. I thought it was better to let Dragon and García open so they could wrestle without any time constraint and then finish the show with a bang w/ Omega coming back and getting the W for his team (and maybe even a staredown with Cole). I guess Tony wants the most amount of eyes for Kenny's return live, but I kinda see more value in finishing with Kenny to get bigger momentum for next week. If García wins again or Dragon gets his revenge, it wont really end the show with a "tune in next week for more" vibe, imo. I have similar take. I think García is good and will most likely develop to a complete, awesome performer. But so far his AEW push far surpasses what I've seen from him (in this company and some indys) and most importantly, what the AEW core fanbase thinks of him. Even if someone loves what García does in the ring (and I know a good number of people do, specially on this board) it's undeniable he doesn't really get the reaction his push warrants. And certainly he doesn't have the connection, after a year of being heavily featured, other people his age range have with the fans, with less exposure and opportunities. He kinda reminds me of pre-IWGP champ Jay White. In the sense that he's clearly a good wrestler that has a ton of potential but he got overpushed, the crowd didn't really take to him at that level and he had to get "pushed down" eventually. Now, White bounced back basically as soon as he dropped the belt and took a huge leap as a performer and never looked back. Hopefully García can have that kind of jump too.

Are they still working Budokan with a limited capacity? 3,2k for Night 1 and 3,1k for Night 2 sounds bad enough with attendance going down for the more important show. But it they had a 10k set up and only got that? Yikes.

It's AAA vs CMLL so they haven't. I think it's a match that could headline an Aniversario or TripleMania as a huge deal though I'm no lucha expert.

I think I'll be watching Libertadores quarterfinals. Is Danielson even booked this week?

Sig worthy

I wonder what HHH's idea of a big angle with this current roster might be. It feels they are primed to shoot one soon so they can keep this momentum going.

Paul should book Logan vs Bad Bunny for Mania. It would get huge publicity and nuclear heat. That match would probably be a dope 7 minute sprint as you know both would praxtice every spot in avance and do their best to execute them properly

Second best Roman/Brock match. It took like 7 years but they finally were able to bring some of the WM 31 magic back. Are Last Man Standing matches the most reliable WWE gimmick matches ever? I feel they always deliver and they specially give us matches that are better/way better than expected initially.

Danielson losing to García and Jericho beating Yuta would also create good heat as there's no question some AEW fans will resent Jericho for not putting the young guy over after we had a show were Starks, Hobbs, Jungle Boy and García were heavily featured. I'm sure Yuta will get a couple of nearfalls and false finished that will have the crowd going wild, and that's all he needs at this point.

Finally they are doing something with other Japanese promotions. And Stardom gotta be the only wrestling company in Japan that has any sort of positive momentum right now.