Migs

I think the first round might be a bit of a chore, but after that it looks pretty intriguing, and two matches a day isn't a terrible amount to keep up on. The good first round matches are pretty easy to circle.

Quite a bit! Castle-Ospreay was really good (and the tag match on night two was fun as well). The Young Lion matches with Sabre and Scurll on Night One were good. Both Gresham tag matches had lots of fun mat wrestling.

With the switch to Fox, do we think Vince increases his focus on Smackdown? My initial thought on the Roman to Smackdown idea was that it would be interesting to see him in the slightly different environment over there, but there's a chance it wouldn't be so different in the fall.

It's more notable that they finally got him to sign on the line. He was always one holding out for a bigger payday from it. (Unless they eased up the restrictions on those with a Legends contract, which was his other gripe.)

This sounds Team Challenge Series level in terms of comedy. Hope it makes it out there someday.

It's totally unique, because they added the Cena-Punk "heroic champ demands the beloved challenger gets the match" wrinkle.

Yeah, I was instantly struck with Mance, and am very intrigued to see him wrestle LA Park.

The size of the tournament definitely explains why they're going live with every show.

The switch to Saturday apparently doubled viewership for a pretty ho hum episode of the show, so it seems like that was a good call.

I actually thought this was pretty good. I liked that they kept with the 2-on-1 dynamic for a while, when a lot of times it would be dropped pretty quickly. They made an agreement and they stuck to it, until Roode took a chance to get Aries out quickly. That nicely set up a segment with Aries and Roode while Hardy rested - again, a logical way to get to that, instead of the usual lazy three way structure. Liked the length, liked the pacing. Good have gone for a bit longer run at the end, but Hardy and Aries had wrestled enough that it wasn't really necessary. Nice match, worth seeing (at least in the context of watching some 2012-13 TNA).

The Vader comparison is a good one for Kong, and this had a bit of a Sting-Vader vibe for sure. Kim is really great at selling the desperation and finding ways to get offense that don't break the sense that she's in desperation mode all the time. Great escalation in a match that starts so hot, too. Clever finish. Recommended for sure.

I'm assuming that's probably what derailed it.

I'd be into a proper Owens-Bryan match, although that seems unlikely.

I liked this, although not as much as some (Meltzer had it at ****1/2). Roode had been effectively built as a champion, and Aries being put in the bind of giving up the X title for the shot really worked for his character - the talented smaller guy with a bit of Napoleon complex. Aries is very good here. Roode is solid, but he sort of lacks another gear as a worker to put this over the top. He's a guy who needs a gimmick to help push things (his street fight with Storm at Bound For Glory escalates with thumb tacks, not the ring work). Worthy climax to Roode's reign, though.

I also just don't get why people want to talk about the New Day turning. Them running to Kofi to support him after the match is exactly the sort of thing WWE lacks. It's a really positive, non-contrived moment. I wouldn't consider a turn until one of them wins the title. Then you can tell a natural story about one of the other guys wanting the title, and that getting in the way of their friendship. You can main event multiple shows with that turn.

Terrific finishing stretch to the Chamber match, has to be high on the list of the best Chamber endings (and I think the whole match is probably towards the top too).

That would actually be a reasonable mid-card Mania match.

I always presumed he got a better off from beIN than expected and decided to push forward. It never made a lot of sense to me otherwise. The switch to Saturday was apparently to avoid Smackdown, and to facilitate the live shows, since they usually run on Saturdays. I don't think it's particularly concerning. The inability to book long term because they keep losing guys is what's concerning.

This one felt very standard TNA cage match for the first stretch, but in the back half, they really upped the bump level (although the moonsault from the cage is sort of expected from Angle by that point) as well as the intensity level. Liked both guys deciding to come back for more, and the way the match turned on those moments. The choke out at the end seemed like it may have been a bit of excess (the announcers didn't really tell a story that led me to think the feud was at that level), but it was certainly a good pay off to the escalation of the violence and one-upsmanship of the match.

Aldis was killer doing commentary on Bound by Honor with Caprice. He basically did play by play and was really good (especially in the Cabana-ZSJ match, which I really liked). Would listen to him call a weekly show.

Best guess - with the indication that White is in Omega's slot for this year, it was building to Okada getting the belt back at Dominion from Omega to set up Okada-Naito at the Dome. White goes into that slot, with Okada getting the belt from him (I'd guess that might be on MSG instead of Dominion to have a big moment there). As someone going to the MSG show, I sure fucking hope the path is Okada getting the belt back there.

Has anyone read Jeff Bowdren's book? Sounds potentially interested, but the reviews are mixed. https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Kayfabe-Dinner-Legends-Wrestling-ebook/dp/B072KFVMQX?pd_rd_wg=IbBw9&pd_rd_r=b4086380-17f2-4241-b900-83e2e091dca8&pd_rd_w=PusgZ&ref_=pd_gw_wsim&pf_rd_r=VVGK5VGBK8Y90TJ9585X&pf_rd_p=0fdcf133-a533-5c71-bb41-98370f5ed912

On the other hand, my LGBTQ wrestling fan friends were pretty pumped to see AEW not just signing a gay man and trans woman, but putting them front and center.

Basically, yes. That seems to be the whole Aldis shtick - what if we had a touring champ with a web series? It's actually a really interesting meld of old and new, although I have no idea how Corgan makes money on it (although I assume his production company is getting paid to do those ROH Pinnacle videos). Maybe there was a vision at one point of AEW being essentially an NWA TV show, although if there was, that's obviously out the window. It's also possible Corgan is just doing this for fun, and while it doesn't make him much money, it's also not costing him much, and he's fine with that.

How is he only 33 years old? Was he really 16 when he started with Jersey All Pro? I liked his match with Jay Briscoe, the one with Castle from the Anniversary show last year, the stuff with Gresham. But agreed that he's clearly a guy who's very solid but it's insane that he's been champion this long.