DMJ

I wrote what I think is the explanation when the story first break: Tony Khan, Moxley, and CM Punk viewed the "match" differently. I'm guessing that Moxley believed CM Punk getting squashed in under 2 minutes was more "angle" than match and not a huge risk to his rehab. Maybe one or two bumps total. I could see Moxley getting in a cheap shot to Punk's foot within the a minute and then hitting the Death Rider. Moxley might've also believed he could execute everything very safely and that Punk should trust him as an experienced colleague/peer. To CM Punk, the guy who is rehabbing a totally destroyed foot who also was clearly not 100% convinced that this first match/angle even needed to happen, the risk was much greater. Moxley believed that Punk was healthy enough to shoot what he saw as more an angle than a match and, maybe Punk was thinking, "I have to look like I'm in fighting shape and about to wrestle a title match (which means training, which might have not been appropriate yet), the bell is going to ring, even if we're going to do just 60 seconds of "work," this is going to be a match and I'm not physicall ready for that." Then you add in the people who have TK's ear. Mox might deny that he was pushing for this, but it seems like he was according to Punk's post. Maybe TK even checked in with the EVPs, specifically legendary tough guy Chris Jericho. TK might've heard - or may have just personally believed because, at the end of the day, he's not an athlete himself and has no idea what a real athlete goes through to get on the field/in the ring - that Punk wasn't being asked to do anything he couldn't do. This certainly wouldn't be the first time that a wrestling promoter asked one of their wrestlers to put their health at risk to do "what's best for business." Where TK's naivete comes in, though, is that of all guys to ask do that, CM Punk has been 1000% clear that he is not that guy anymore and will never be that guy again. But there's plenty of guys that would've done it. Hell, isn't Paige even being on the roster at all based on her outright denial of the WWE's medical team's expert opinions?

I'd never seen this before and enjoyed it. As I wrote in my (not yet published) blog review, I wondered, as others seemed to do above, why this match would go on last when you had two viable main events - Sabu vs. RVD and Dreamer & Raven vs. The Impact Players - right before. I mean, its not like the ECW World Championship always closed the show. But watching it, I think I get it. This match is a sugar-filled, too sweet dessert. It has little to no nutritional value. (Though, there's actually some surprisingly smart choices made - from Spike basically setting up an obstacle course right from the start ala Schwarzeneggar at the end of Predator to the fact that, as repetitive as it is, Spike recognizing that the only two things he can really do to Awesome are hit him with chairs and the move that put down other giants in the past, the Acid Drop). And like a decadent dessert, there's really no way to top it when you're planning out a meal. Its the last bite and it leaves you with a smile on your face - or at least it did for me. What can I say? There's still some visceral enjoyment that I get watching one big monster guy toss a 150-pound cruiserweight through countless tables. And when you think they've gone through all the tables, well, here's another one. The gratuitousness becomes part of why it works (like the Mr. Show sketch "The Story of Everest"). The first couple times we got Suplex City out of Brock, I had a similar feeling. At first, I wondered, "So, is this all there is?," but then, by the end, I was almost giddy watching Spike Dudley get put through yet another table. "Giddy" is not an emotion that one often gets watching a wrestling match, but this hit that same button as watching one of those YouTube compilations of guys getting thrown through windows from the original Walker Texas Ranger series. Its an undeniably one-note match - to the point of absurdity even - but it was just so fun...aside from, y'know, seeing Mike Awesome take some stiff chair shots to the head and recognizing that the CTE he probably suffered from may have played a role in his death. But aside from that, I enjoyed this match like chocolate lava cake a la mode.

The way I read it was that Mox wanted to get the first win several weeks before the PPV (likely on an episode of Dynamite) - which would legitimize his title reign and also falls in line with the Rocky III storyline where Clubber Lang gets the first victory and then Rocky trains and gets the big comeback win. This would also put them 1-1 against each other so you could ostensibly do a 3rd match down the line. Plus, if you're Mox, and you've put the company on your back multiple times, there might also be a feeling of, like, "Why again is Punk being pushed as a step higher when I'm just as important to the week-to-week TV?" I don't know the timeline, but I'm guessing this would've been a big summer angle, maybe 4-5 weeks before the PPV. As Punk wasn't cleared yet, he felt pressured to come in and do the squash. Mox and TK were wrong to put that pressure on him, especially Tony Khan, but let's not pretend that wrestlers who had no business in the ring haven't done similar angles in the past (whether its Shawn Michaels gutting his way through WrestleMania XIV or Bret Hart putting on the charade of being able to do anything but stomp and punch in 2010 or, if I'm not mistaken, Steve Austin showing up to drop Stunners just a few months after SummerSlam 97' but still well before he could actually wrestle a match and I'm sure you long-time fans can rattle off all sorts of other examples of very-injured guys coming in to "do business"). CM Punk was absolutely justified in putting his own health first, but there's been times when wrestlers have made the other choice and I'm not necessarily surprised that Moxley may have felt like Punk was capable of doing this sort of angle, trusting him not to hurt him, and wanting to do what was "best for business." So, when Punk was finally cleared, he came in and they did the angle...and it went over like a fart in church because it felt really, really rushed. It deflated the hype of their PPV match and felt, even at the time, like Mox was getting the victory just to make things 1-1 at the PPV. What maybe disappoints me most about this is that, based on his appearance on Renee's podcast, I was under the impression that Mox and Punk were friends. This may have been why Mox felt comfortable asking him to come in, when he was still not cleared, to shoot an angle. Punk, meanwhile, might be thinking, "This fucking guy is supposed to be my friend, but now he's pressuring me into putting my recovery at risk and he's got the boss pressuring me too. Some friend." I dunno. Just kinda sucks to hear about another friendship-gone-bad when, at one point, there seemed to be mutual respect and good will. As for his comments about Jericho, thanks for reminding us water is wet. Remember 25 years ago when people thought Kevin Nash was a cancer in the industry and that guys like Jericho who were being held down would, given the power, not play politics or be a stooge and then pro-wrestling would be this perfect meritocracy based on Bret Hart-level integrity? We were so, so wrong.

Yeah, this isn't a great match or anything, but its probably better than people remember it being. Jericho was clearly motivated to carry Chyna to a "real" match and, on this card, the match going 10+ minutes makes it feel like a war compared to the multiple sub-5 minute matches on the card (kinda reminiscent of how certain matches seem/feel like a bigger deal on a show like WrestleMania IV just because they make it past the 6 minute mark). Jericho does a bunch of little things to try to draw heat and put sympathy on Chyna and, in front of this crowd, that was no small task...but, as a viewer watching 20+ years later, I appreciated the effort and did find Chyna to be sympathetic. Speaking of Chyna, I don't think I'm being too tough on her to say that she wasn't a great worker. At this point, her mystique had evaporated too. In a way, she'd become a victim of her own success. When she first debuted and for the first couple years in WWE, she had undeniable presence and did get huge responses - especially when it came to almost coming to blows with the big stars of the day (Foley and Austin, specifically). She was a tremendous asset to Triple H in his rise to the main event. But then, when she went off on her own, two things became clear - first, her promo skills did not match her physical charisma. Second, she wasn't a good bell-to-bell wrestler. That made her babyface run one that could only have worked (and only did work) as a short-term as, after the usual Chyna vs. Misogynist Heel storylines, I don't think the male audience (which was even more of the audience then than now) was going to cheer her. Things got better for her when she was paired with Eddie Guerrero, but I'm not sure both of them really invested all they could into that partnership (or that the WWE really pushed it to the level it could've gone to either). ANYWAY...this is a more physical match than one might expect, Jericho's heel work is terrific, and I felt like the finish was earned via the low blow and then the pedigree from the top (which didn't look perfect, but I kinda like when a move doesn't look perfect because its the first time anyone's delivered it and the person receiving the move is getting struck with a maneuver that they're not expecting). I'd give it a solid 3-out-of-5 on my scale.

I'm really hoping this is true and that, maybe, hopefully, TK will think about having it be more like a "classic" 80s/90s B-level wrestling show. Granted, I have no clue how that would work out for the company ratings-wise, but I have some thoughts. While WWE being the big fish has given it what I'd guess is near-total market share of younger viewers, its remarkable that the WWE looks at their toy sales, video games, etc. and says, "No reason to make more, we're good." I've never understood how the cost of producing content for WWE is more than the potential of syndicating a show (or making another deal with USA) with the intention of airing it on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Look at a show like the 2009-2011-era Superstars: there was no reason that show needed to exist except to recap feuds and have wrestlers appear on TV in meaningless matches. It was never going to be a ratings hit during primetime. But on a Saturday/Sunday morning? WWE programming wouldn't sell toys and breakfast cereals? Just confusing to me why the WWE hasn't really tried to produce some cheap throwaway show designed for kids when they seemingly have no problem producing cheap throwaway shows for no one. Now, AEW would have to really, really produce a different, much cleaner product to try to get younger viewers. Also, 6:05 is not 10:00 AM/11:00 AM, so we're not talking apples-to-apples, but 6:05 PM is still early enough that a show like this shouldn't be as graphic/bloody/violent. I get that AEW wants to offer an alternative to the WWE's PG/PG-13 content, but y'know what would be even better? Differentiating your own company's content so that Dynamite is the more adult-focused show and your potential Saturday Night show is tamer, more "classic." (And that doesn't necessarily mean less "indie," it just means, this could be the show where you feature folks like Danhausen, Dark Order, Top Flight, Bear Country, etc. rather than Mox cutting his forehead to shreds and MJF cutting promos that involve him getting road head while drunk driving). Plus, you can fill the rest of the hour with edited, cleaned-up recaps of your big feuds. I have no idea if this could work in 2023, but I'd only add that children's programming hasn't really changed all that much - to my eyes - since I was a kid. Its colorful animals singing and dancing. Its toys and breakfast cereals. Its winking nods to pop culture for the parents watching along. There was a time when pro-wrestling shows were right there next to your Saturday morning cartoons and WMAC Masters. I'm genuinely curious and a little dumbfounded that WWE has seemingly never really tried to position some of their content back in that space.

For some reason, my Hulu Live only taped the second half. I'm not too sour on it as I was mostly tuning in for Hobbs/Wardlow. - HOB/Elite/JAS is enticing to me. As tired as I am of the JAS, I'm willing to accept that Jericho is not going to be taking time off - which is what I'd really want for him - and so therefore he is going to be on the show and involved in a storyline that gets considerable TV time. So, of all the potential feud partners, House of Black is the best I can come up with. We don't need the Starks/Jericho story to continue in any way. We definitely don't need more JAS/BCC stuff. Plus, aside from Jericho (who does, respectfully, often "bring it" when needed), there is some potential in Guevara, Buddy, Brody King, Garcia, etc. mixing it up. Similarly, House of Black had an endless feud with Death Triangle and then...that was kinda it, right? Cuz Black took time off? Regardless, House of Black should be a big deal and get good responses and I'd much rather than feud with credible opponents than just do "great match-for-great match's sake" stuff against random teams. - As for the Elite...maybe them not regaining the titles (I don't expect they will) is how we get to Omega back in the singles scene and the Bucks back doing tags. I wrote it weeks (months?) ago, figuring that Kenny was still not completely 100%, but if you've got those separate entities on your roster and your card's sometimes lack star power, I'm not sure why you're packaging them together long-term. - Something I didn't like: Hangman and Moxley still tussling. Just a total head-scratcher to me. Dark Order are goofs. Page and Mox just had a whole series of matches and did everything they could possibly do to eachother (the fact that Mox even wrestled on this show seemed like underselling the Death Match to me). I just don't get it. I know Claudio is ROH Champion and ROH has its own shows and all, but, to me, you can still have him on AEW as a tag specialist...only, to do so successfully, you have to give him a consistent partner. BCC tag in so many various amalgamations that it never feels like any particular duo is really in the title hunt, which is a shame because Claudio is a fucking fantastic tag wrestler and Yuta especially seems directionless (at least on AEW TV, I can't speak for Honor Club stuff). Also, again, why the fuck isn't Moxley taking time off? He's still arguably the biggest star on the roster, but wasn't this dude supposed to take a few months off after the last last PPV? I get having Mox on your upcoming house shows for the drawing power, but its time for this guy to come off TV for awhile. And, once again, there was the perfect opportunity to do it after the Deathmatch, but Tony bungled it by having him wrestle on Dynamite. - Loved Danielson's little taped promo. That's how you explain a guy's absence for 3-4 weeks. He just gave it his all, came up short, and is now forced to reflect on his future. Some might say having Mox or Jericho do the same thing would've been repetitive on a show like this, but there are multiple ways to skin this cat. For example, how about if the rest of JAS showed up on the show, but Jericho himself was nowhere to be found? Now you've got a power vacuum at the top for maybe a couple of weeks as Jericho, frustrated that he couldn't beat Starks, is now questioning his own greatness. With Mox, the dude just lost like 4 pints of blood this weekend. A simple throwaway line from Excalibur about him needing to recuperate would've sufficed. - I liked everything about the Hobbs/Wardlow match except the finish. Another example of 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. Hobbs/Wardlow in the main event seemed like a big deal. Hobbs becoming the new champion in front of an approving crowd was the right call. Why the hell do you need QT involved? If you're going to have Wardlow get screwed, have it be by a name wrestler. It doesn't even need to make logical sense. Have it be a returning Miro. Have it be PAC. Have it be Christian. I think it'd be a mistake, but have it be Eddie Kingston as a heel turn. It could've been Andrade maybe. But QT fucking Marshall is a jobber. Just a totally fucking stupid booking move and I don't care what "longterm booking" bullshit explains it. There are STARS in your company. QT Marshall isn't one of them and will never be one of them. Let a star be the guy that screwed that Wardlow. Then you can have Wardlow, a guy you're trying to build, feud with an actual star while Hobbs, your new champion, can go on to feud with another star on the rise (Starks? Jungle Boy?). But now you're stuck with a Wardlow vs. QT Marshall story that absolutely nobody could ever give a single shit about and makes Wardlow look like an Elevation/Dark-level talent. Just an absolutely terrible finish to a match that had the crowd going crazy and really felt like another star-making performance out of both guys to me.

Not that I was the first to raise the idea here, but just for the sake of debate, I think the idea here is that Danielson being the fighting champion at the top would offer more stability and not potentially burn MJF (the way Hangman's reign seemed to do for him) while giving MJF some further character progression. Yes, Danielson being the fighting champion in and of itself doesn't sound like a super hot storyline, but it is very easy to book, very easy to deliver big matches with, and, in my opinion, there would be more suspense in individual title defenses because we know Danielson is not going be "The Guy" forever. As for there not being potential challengers...that's malarkey to me. Takeshita would be a great opponent on Dynamite. There's Malakai Black. There's Miro somewhere, right? Samoa Joe would be a badass challenger. I could see a match with Swerve down the line - maybe even on a PPV if they let Swerve cook for awhile and score consistent big wins. Run back Eddie Kingston vs. Danielson on Dynamite. Danielson vs. Omega is still a PPV-caliber match. Seems like TK has no problem getting Ospreay on TV, how about Danielson vs. Ospreay? We may be bored to tears with his shtick, but Moxley is still mega over with most AEW crowds and is right there as a challenger. Wouldn't HOOK be a fun TV match? Wouldn't Jungle Boy be an interesting TV challenger? If Christian can still go, I'd love to see Danielson/Christian. Even Wardlow could be an interesting dynamic. The common denominator is Danielson, the GOAT who is going to deliver a potential MOTY almost any time he gets in the ring and it never feels forced. And the current model means you only read need 1-2 "big" matches on PPV out of him and the rest can just be fucking killer TV matches. And because of this, it would buy TK a bit of time because you could do Omega/Bryan at the next PPV and design adequate builds for Starks, Adam Cole, Swerve or even a re-emerging MJF as the guy to dethrone Danielson in 6-7 months. You know the top of the card is in good hands till then. That being said, I still see ways to turn MJF's title reign around...but it involves recalibrating and, in a sense, giving him the same kinda run that I just laid out for Danielson. Stop relying on this "MJF only works the big shows for big money" part of his gimmick or that MJF only faces people that have been through a gauntlet. Let someone like Kingston come out, shoot his mouth off on TV about MJF, and MJF says, "Fuck it, you think I'm soft? You got your title shot in 2 weeks time on ___(insert big Dynamite special)___." Give me a HOOK/MJF confrontation building to a TV match a month later. Give me MJF vs. Omega on a PPV. There's Miro somewhere, right? Fans love Darby Allin and would get behind him huge as a TV challenger. There's Keith Lee as a TV challenger. Give me Dustin Rhodes getting one last shot on TV. There's still Starks and Adam Cole as challengers and maybe even as the next champion with the right build.

^ Danielson getting the title in the ways outlined above sounds so good. I doubt TK has even considered it, though, which is a shame. Also, Flyin' Brian mentioned Kingston's misuse and I must say, watching the ladder match, one thought I immediately had was that while Hobbs is awesome and deserved the W, a feud between Kingston and Joe seems like a no brainer and maybe should've been what we got here (as Kingston getting a win would be a much-needed bump for his credibility too). Kingston and Joe are two guys that are great on the mic, physical as all hell, undeniable ability to connect with audiences. Its can't miss. I get that they have longterm plans for Wardlow and Hobbs and all...but, right now, in March 2023, AEW needs some guaranteed hits on their shows. Let your All Stars be All Stars.

I'm hoping Roman is off TV for a little bit after Mania, but him vs. Jey Uso is a big time match waiting to happen. There is also a non-zero chance of Roman vs. Rock sometime in the next few years and I could see a situation where Vince/Triple H/Nick Khan/whoever realizes that while that match screams "WrestleMania main event," if the schedules only allow it to happen at a B-show, its probably still worth running for the Peacock viewership and the TV ratings (if Rock were to show up for the build) and the massive gate. I'm not saying its eventually going to be happen...but its within the realm of possibility the same way Sting/Undertaker was one of those matches that could've happened for like a decade. And it certainly doesn't need a title. Obviously, they could do another Sami/Roman match. It might take some re-heating, but is anyone going to doubt Sami's ability to heat that feud up again at this point? Also doesn't really need a title because their issue is so personal. They could always run another Roman/Brock match. There's also Seth Rollins, another guy that feels like a "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass" feud for Roman anytime they need it. My biggest question is actually what happens with the rest of the Bloodline. Roman will be fine, but if they split the Usos, I can see them both fledgling a bit. Solo is cool, but he's going to find himself in the midcard, having to carve out his own space, and could end up the straight man in a comedy tag team. With the Usos, whoever turns face is going to have a built-in feud with Roman and then with their brother...but after that? Is it back to being happy-go-lucky babyface with the big smile and "This is all so fun!" attitude? I hope not.

I had a lengthy post that I was writing when the page crashed so here it is, rewritten much faster: The MJF/Danielson match needed some suspense and question as to the outcome. I don't think it has any. Its really hard to sell any match when the only real questions are will it be good/bad and how it is going to be worked. Those questions are enough when Bryan is wrestling on TV, in the midcard, against a guy like Big Bill (Cass in WWE) or Bandido. As a genuine PPV main event (not a PLE), I want a big fight feel. MJF is the new World Champion that they have hitched the AEW wagon to. Daniel Bryan is the veteran who has made it clear, through actions and in some interviews IIRC, that he's in AEW to put over young guys and just wrestle, anywhere on the card, stakes or not, art for art's sake. I don't think the outcome of their match is in question. If I were TK, and I know that many here hate the idea of "working the sheets" to get a match over (a discussion that might be worth its own thread), but I would've maybe done a few things: 1) Had Danielson do a few interviews where he states that its a misconception that he's just in AEW to "put over" younger guys. Have him say something like, "When I signed, I couldn't be away from my kids to devote my time to AEW, but the plan was always to be that guy once the kids are older. The kids are now at an age where I can be used more for the brand and Tony knows that now." 2) Leak a fake story about TBS/TNT being upset that the guy who main evented WrestleMania two years ago hasn't been prominently featured and that CM Punk is likely not coming back. Mox is due for a vacation and Kenny Omega's deal is unclear so TBS/TNT has now put pressure on TK to utilize Danielson more. Basically, Danielson is who TBS/TNT want in the "CM Punk role." 3) Leak a fake story about TBS/TNT not being happy with how MJF has essentially put over the WWE with all his free agent talk. I don't think this would've necessarily saved the program and I typically think this sort of "working the sheets" stuff is not a great idea compared to actually building a story on-screen, but with the hand they were dealt, I wish they would've tried something.

On the topic of Trish Stratus not appearing... Why does this woman even bother with the WWE? Why does Lita? I know the answer is $$$, but, man, I wish some of these Hall of Famers would use their star power and name to make some sort of statement about not only Vince's improprieties, but also stick up a bit for folks like Lillian Garcia, who "the new boss" once mocked, on-screen, as a "horse face." (Also, just a note, Lillian isn't in the WWE Hall of Fame, which is ridiculous considering her tenure is as close as anybody will likely ever get to The Fink's.) It'd be great to see them all show up, even for a one-off and a big pop, in AEW. I get that Becky Lynch and Charlotte and Bayley still have many years ahead of them in the business and don't want to publicly diss Vince or call out Triple H, who probably has changed a bit over the past 10 years since having daughters and no longer being "one of the boys" (and this Triple H is the one these women met and work for, not the misogynist prick of 10+ years ago), but what do Trish and Lita owe this company? Its why I'm kinda loving Nikki Bella's recent shots at the WWE too.

^ Absolutely. It helps when you've got a catalog of 9-10 signature moves compared to 3-4. Even Taker, by that point in his career, had an arsenal of stuff that included "high flying" (The Old School and the dive), submissions (the Triangle Choke), two signature strikes (the Big Boot, the legrop on the apron, and the uppercuts), and then, like, 3 power move finishers (Tombstone, Last Ride, Chokeslam). Meanwhile, Michaels had a couple of "classic" bumps, the Superkick, the elbow from the top, the flying forearm, and also was doing the Sharpshooter/Figure Four at times IIRC. Basically, they had a bunch of things they could do inside and outside of the ring to stretch 20+ minutes. Again, I'm not saying Roman needs more moves just for the sake of having moves, but, y'know, whatever happened to the Drive-By? Didn't he used to do a flying clothesline from the top rope? Didn't he used to do a powerbomb or was that just a Shield thing? It would've been a great visual to see him apply a nasty abdominal stretch once Sami had that huge cut down his chest. It wouldn't hurt for Roman to add a few more signature moves to his arsenal.

I'd disagree here a little, though it may be seen as splitting hairs. I'm not a "movez" guy, but I did find last night's main event to be lacking a little bit. I mean, it felt like every single Roman cut-off was an uppercut and the rest of the offense was spears. Sami spent most of the match selling, but his offense also seemed to comprise of mostly Exploders and Helluva Kicks. We did see a Blue Thunder Bomb and a sunset flip powerbomb at one point, but I dunno, I think that's where the CM Punk/Cena match at Money in the Bank 2011 or the Cena/Bryan match at SummerSlam 2013 (?) had this one beat in terms of actual in-ring action. I'd add the Kofi/Bryan match from WrestleMania a few years back to that list too. Fuck, I haven't seen it in ages, but Rob Van Dam/Cena at ONS II hit the mark in ways this didn't. I know that, character-wise and storyline-wise, this match was worked correctly and I was definitely engaged in it from beginning to end (as were the live audience), but I don't think this was a Match of the Year Candidate match as much as this was a "must see" match because of the storyline and the crowd. Playing armchair producer/agent, I might've asked "What is Sami's strategy? What is Sami going to do that Roman doesn't expect?" I go back to that Finn Balor/Brock Lesnar match from a few years ago. There was a great moment there where Lesnar nearly seppeku'd himself on the corner of a table (IIRC) and Balor instantly knew his killshot Coup De Gras could actually slay the Beast. It didn't end up working out that way, but I would've loved to see something similar here where Roman, despite dominating the match and having the power advantage, now finds himself extra vulnerable to a Helluva Kick or unable to hit the Spear because Sami figured out a way to bust his ankle or something. It was a very good match because of the intangibles that are rare in WWE, but it wasn't a match that I think will be talked about 5-10 years from now. That may be the biggest knock against what has undoubtedly been a stupendous run for Roman. He's had some great matches over the past 3 years, but true masterpieces? I dunno if he has more than 2 or 3 as the company ace, while Cena has anywhere from 8 to 12.* * And, yeah, I know we're comparing apples to oranges a bit here, but if comparing WWE aces over the past 20 years isn't a valid PWO discussion, nothing is.

I wasn't expecting Sami to win, so I wasn't disappointed at all with the finish. However...I do think the fans (myself included) wanted to see that KO/Zayn hug, especially with Zayn nearly crying in the ring to end the show. It would've been a cool moment to see KO slide in the ring and give him that literal shoulder to cry on and then raise his hand, in front of their hometown crowd, as if to say, "You may not have won, but fuck that, you won!" I dunno. If you're going to go with schmaltz in wrestling, its okay to lay it on think when the moment comes for it. Other missteps on the show... - Terrible mistiming during the Judgment Day match as Beth Phoenix was a full second late during a late-in-the-match nearfall save. Fortunately, the crowd was so damn hot for the babyfaces and were so damn hateful towards Dominik and Rhea that they didn't shit on the rest of the match. In front of a more hostile crowd, that would've deservedly been met with "bullshit" chants. - Where was GUNTHER? Where was Bianca Belair? Where was Charlotte Flair? Becky? Let's start with GUNTHER. He just had a huge showing at the Royal Rumble. To me, you gotta give that man a backstage segment (maybe a face-to-face with Brock? Or Lashley?). He went 70 minutes at the Rumble, give the dude 70 seconds on your most anticipated B-level PPV in years. Similarly, no Belair and no Charlotte felt like another missed opportunity to give some screen time to your champions (I would've had Belair and Charlotte also do a backstage bump-into-eachother segment, with each claiming their title is the most important). Really, this show was built around the main event so you didn't necessarily need all the star power on your roster to show up...but, yeah, with the Chamber matches being kinda thin, I would've liked to see more capital-S Superstars featured in cameos. - Weird booking for Montez Ford/Austin Theory/Rollins, though I do think I "got it." Rollins hits the Curb Stomp to incapacitate Ford and reinforce that the Curb Stomp is an instant match-ender (remember when the F-5 was that?). Theory makes the pin. Ford sells it like a legit injury and does such a good job that the audience clearly thought it was a legit injury. Rollins and Theory don't interact while they take him out of the ring - opening the door for Logan Paul to come in. But when the match "restarts," I thought it was noticeable that there was a little bit of heat on Rollins as he was the guy who put Ford out. I know that Rollins is a "tweener," but still, kinda deflated what should've been a moment where the babyface is about to capture the title. Logan Paul comes in, hits the Buckshot, and then a Curb Stomp of his own - further cementing the move as lethal. I thought they kinda sacrificed Ford to re-establish a move that didn't need re-establishing, killed the flow of the match and made Rollins unsympathetic, and didn't put any heat at all onto Austin Theory. Just seems like nobody in this match came out of it stronger at all. Not Theory. Not Priest. Not really Gargano. And, with Ford, unless this is leading to some long-term story, we've now got him having to sell a kayfabe concussion/neck injury caused by the most over babyface on RAW. They should've had Theory be the one to do something horrendous to Ford because, honestly, a Ford/Theory rivalry would probably serve both guys really well this spring/summer.

Dang. They just had Bray and Uncle Howdy take out Hit Row and then Bray challenged the winner to Lesnar/Lashley. Talk about living in the worst possible timeline. Lesnar/GUNTHER or Lashley/GUNTHER or Lashley/Lesnar/GUNTHER, there's really no misstep possible. Fuck. Let Sheamus come out and say he wants the winner and we're still in A+ possible match-ups. I'm not even the biggest hater of Bray. I just feel like he's a guy you give a 15-minute segment to against someone that makes sense in his universe and that will allow him to sell merch and that's all you need. Book him like Taker in 93'-95' in his own little box for the fans who love the gimmick, but keep him separate from everyone else. Like, here's a pitch, have Bray destroy Karrion Kross. Kross is going nowhere anyway. Or have him destroy Corbin, who is also directionless. Let them be the piss break match on Mania.

- Even on paper this show looked like it was go to be abysmal. I'm not surprised to read the bad reviews and see the bad rating. I'm guessing TK isn't either. This felt like a "heat check" show designed to see what the basement would be for a completely phoned-in show. The fact that it only sunk 150k viewers is actually not that bad when this show was basically a 2-hour long Rampage with special guest appearances from Jon Moxley and MJF. - The Saraya/Toni stuff absolutely sucks, but I'm not going to heap all the blame on Saraya. Even in the WWE, Saraya had charisma and a natural ability to connect with the audience, but she was never a ring general and her run as a manager/SD GM showed she wasn't really a fit in those roles either. The AEW Women's Division - hell, the entire AEW - needs writers (not 30 writers, but maybe a smaller brain trust like Vince used in the 90s). This idea that the wrestlers and TK can brainstorm great storylines and angles and write and deliver their own promos only works when the talent involved are able to do that well. Not every wrestler has Mick Foley's cinematic vision. Not every wrestler has Pat Patterson's mental catalog of finishes and swerves. Not every wrestler knows how to get emotion out of the audience like Bret Hart. TK needs to put someone in charge of this division who has a great wrestling mind. I'm not sure who that is, but I'm also not super knowledgeable about backstage producers and writers. Hell, aren't they paying CM Punk to nurse an injury right now? Its out-of-the-box thinking, but maybe he'd be interested in taking on some sort of role for the next few months? What's the worst that could happen? A Serena push? - When The Acclaimed won the titles, I criticized the decision as being unnecessary. I then flip-flopped on that after reading others' counterpoints here about how you have to strike when the iron is hot. I'm back to thinking it wasn't the right idea. The Acclaimed are a good team who get great responses because of their interactive presentation. They are an act that is going to pop the crowd and entertain viewers and while those two things are obviously the two most important things for pro-wrestlers to do on TV, there's also that tricky thing about pro-wrestling being presented as a sport and wrestlers needing a certain level of credibility. And so here we are now with an Acclaimed/Gunn Club feud that doesn't need the titles, while the actual best tag teams on the roster aren't doing all that much. There was a time when the AEW Tag Team Championships were arguably *the* top Tag Team Titles in all of pro-wrestling and that whoever held those titles had a valid claim of being the best tag team on the planet. But that hasn't been the case for awhile now. - I know I'm not using the phrase right, but TK should consider "quiet quitting" the 6-man titles. Kenny Omega should be a singles star engaged in singles matches as part of singles feuds. The Young Bucks should be tag team stars engaged in tag team matches as part of tag team feuds. Tying these guys together on occasion is great and makes for great TV matches...but them being a combo deal seems like a waste of star power that is sorely lacking in other areas of the card. Omega should see MJF as easy pickings to get the title off of. I mean, he's KENNY friggin' OMEGA and the champion is MJF. The Young Bucks should view The Acclaimed/Gunn Club the same way, as greenhorns that can be easily defeated for the titles. When the 6-man titles were announced, everyone said they'd be vanity titles for the Elite. Then, on TV, it became clear that was exactly what they were. Omega should be in the mix with any number of other number one contender types (an Omega/Mox/Page triple threat to declare the next number one contender seems like a no-brainer). The Young Bucks should be doing something similar against other teams in the company who are trying to get tag title shots (Top Flight, Yuta/Cesaro, Garcia/Guevara, etc.). Right now, the Elite are irrelevant when they could be anchoring storylines.

I didn't hear or see anything on RAW this week or last week that makes me think we're not getting Sami & KO beating the Usos on Night 1 (probably main event) and Cody beating Roman on Night 2. Yes, Sami is over. But so is Cody. They're not running Montreal every night between Saturday and April 1st. The WWE audience is behind Cody and will only be more behind him as we build to Mania if Roman continues to be regarded as "unbeatable." Based on the card now, they're also (wisely) keeping Cody off of the Elimination Chamber. They're not even going to give the audience the chance to boo him. Its a wise move and maybe shows they learned something from having Batista appear so frequently in the build to WrestleMania XXX (when the audience saw him as a usurper to Danielson) and, the next year, when they brought out The Rock to endorse Roman (who was also seen by a vocal portion of the audience as undeserving and "forced"). The comparisons of Sami with Mick Foley are apt. But let's remember that Foley was never booked as a world beater either. His first title win came from interference by Austin as a wa to build to Austin/The Rock for WrestleMania. And because Foley was so good on the mic and so beloved by the audience, he remained popular and could be inserted into main events for years despite not really ever being seen as the true top babyface. Sami will be fine. So much of this talk seems like its based on the idea that the WWE audience will turn on Cody even faster than the AEW audience did and, I dunno, I just don't see it happening between now and April. It will take awhile. It would also take at least a few more gaffes on Cody's part and, so far, he's been really, really good. He's not "one bad promo" away from losing steam. He's built up some goodwill over the past year that won't just evaporate overnight. And even if a sizable portion of audience does turn on Cody, that doesn't necessarily mean the WWE will change direction anyways. The WWE did perfectly fine with John Cena at the top even as he wrestled countless televised shows where he was getting mixed reactions or outright booed. In the end, he sold merch, he delivered in the main event, and he kept the company's house show business afloat. If Cody can do those three things for the next 2 months, he's getting the strap. I'm thinking that Triple H is seeing that he has two guaranteed home run moments at Mania and there's simply no reason to do anything shocking or to try to "swerve" the fans. The audience is clamoring for Sami and KO to reunite and they're clamoring for the Usos to get their comeuppance (and maybe even tease a real split?) and they're also clamoring for Cody Rhodes to get his emotional victory and for Roman Reigns to be defeated. When you can do all four of those things, why fuck around just to appease the keyboard bookers who are going to criticize things no matter what they do? I know nobody here is coming outright and saying it, but this idea that they're missing out on making a star out of Sami Zayn unless he's the one to beat Roman are really underselling how fucking good Sami Zayn is. This dude is already a star now. If they don't capitalize on him after WrestleMania, then that's stupid. And if you allow me to put my own keyboard booker hat on, I see Zayn as maybe the next Eddie Guerrero post-Mania. The Master Strategist who might just have come so close to the title that he now believe he deserves it more than anyone else. A guy that learned its a dog-eat-dog world in the WWE and is now willing to lie, cheat, and steal his way to being a World Champion. A guy that once tied his fortunes to the Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns of the world, but is now going to be the puppet master and not the doll on the string. Sami has that kind of range and could very well go from being a pseudo-ally to Cody Rhodes to someone who will burst Cody's wholesome and naive bubble.

Yes, but its not a Peacock original/exclusive. Paramount+ somehow botched having the rights to the previous seasons, but it airs on the Paramount Network (and, based on one article I read, new episodes also get played on a number of other channels) and then Peacock gets the latest season some time soon after. So, for true Yellowstone fans, your best bet is still regular ol' cable or Hulu+ (which gives you the Paramount Network). I could be wrong, but there is also the option to buy it episode-by-episode via Amazon and Roku and while that may seem ridiculous to you or I, I know that some of the (awful) people in my extended family who watch Yellowstone are exactly the type who reason that $2 for a single episode of a show they watch is better than paying $5/month for a whole bunch of "liberal shit" they don't watch (by "liberal shit" they somehow mean any show based in a major metropolitan area and featuring POC in starring roles*). * Which is why they also like Blue Bloods. Its based in NYC (boo), but most everyone on the show is white and straight (yay!).

At $4.99/month, I'm thinking the WWE fans will most likely stick with it and that number will be more than what the WWE Network had at its own peak...but I'm not sure Peacock's originals or Peacock-only content is strong enough to keep everyone else.

Thanks for the clarification, I wasn't sure and just kinda based it on whatever came up on Google. And, just to make clear too, I'm a fan of Alexa as well. I think her last stint with Bray was an example of how she is able to elevate pretty bad writing into something fun and different and the right level of B-movie cheese. As far as in-ring skills go, I also think she's a bit underrated. She's not a ring technician or the smoothest worker ever, but when she's "on" and involved in a meaningful storyline, she's engaging and gets reactions and the audience usually cares. Maybe the best comparison is The Miz? My issue - and maybe hers? who knows? - is that what should've been a 4-week angle building to the return of Evil Alexa and Lilly the Doll on RAW as Bray's surrogate has instead been a repetitive, aimless ever-lasting eye-roll. Its not "Will she/won't she?" anymore, its "Who the fuck cares?" If she's not frustrated, that's great. But as a fan, I'm frustrated for her. I love a good slow burn storyline, but this is like watching someone fumbling to even get the matchbook out of their pocket.

Not sure if its the tweet in question, but it might be: "Good she's boring anyway" "Hopefully she's gone for good" "She doesn't care anymore" Y'all don't know what you're even talking about. #StayToxicMyFriends I can totally see her wanting to delete that because it does come across as "anti-fan" rather than the positive, pro-WWE Universe, "our fans are the best fans in the world" message that the company wants to project (especially from its women's roster). As much as I'm not a Wyatt fan or necessarily a fan of Wyatt and Alexa's work together, it doesn't take a Lanny Poffo to see that the current storyline leading to their reunion has been woefully mishandled and unnecessarily drawn out to the point of parody. It would be comparable to the Hogan/Warrior "Man in the Mirror" segments from WCW if this were building to a main event angle like that was. But this is arguably more pathetic because all the segments and teases they've done don't seem to be in the service of any purpose beyond just filling time. Alexa probably recognizes this most of all as she gets yet another week's script with yet another segment that is exactly the same segment they did 10 weeks ago. I can totally see how that might be frustrating to her and how moronic fans would somehow blame her for it too.

Yikes. On paper, that's not even a SmackDown main event. I'm sure Ronda doesn't care since that just means she's the highest paid midcarder on the roster, but ultimately, its a bit damning that going into WrestleMania, you couldn't find a way to make a Becky/Ronda match happen even under the guise of a RAW vs. SmackDown brand representative match.

A few thoughts I'm not sure I saw yet... - One of the best Rumbles in forever. This felt very much like a "Triple H" Rumble in the sense that it didn't feel particularly overbooked, maybe a bit "hands off" even compared to some of the Rumbles in recent memory that relied so much on comedy spots, nostalgia surprises, and stunts. It felt like a "let the wrestlers wrestle" approach. And, hey, when you let two absolute beasts like Sheamus and Gunther serve as your bedrock, that approach can absolutely work. Extra points for treating Karrion Kross like the jobber he is. - I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see Santos Escobar around much longer. He looked completely lost and awkward and I think he botched every spot/sequence he was involved in. Just an awful showing for the guy. - How long has this "Is she possessed/is she not possessed?" storyline with Alexa Bliss been going on now. Good god. I don't watch the TV shows regularly, but I watch the PLEs and I could've sworn that they did some this same nonsense at Survivor Series (?). That was 2 months ago. Just fucking reunite her with Bray or don't. Whatever intrigue this story was supposed to add to this feud was clearly non-existent because this match was completely cold and even the announcers seemed uninterested. - The Mountain Dew Black Light match was awful. The best thing about it was its brevity. People seem to like LA Knight but I didn't see anything in this match that leads me to believe he's anything special (and the few clips I've seen of the build to this match didn't blow me away either). - The Rhea Ripley face turn that I ranted about earlier this week has begun. The Alamadome seemed to be cheering to my ears, even if it was only a vocal minority. Right now, she's the villain we love to hate...but the audience cheers ass-kickers who say they're going to do something and then do it. Ripley outlasted 29 other women, has been the MVP of Judgment Day for months now, devirginized Dom Mysterio, and legitimately climbed the ranks over the years. Nobody's going to boo that, especially with Belair coming off some pretty lackluster, hamster wheel-ish feuds with Alexa Bliss and Bayley lately. Plus, as the Women's Battle Royal showed us, there really is no one else to get behind. The crowd might've rallied behind Raquel if she'd been in the final 2-3, but Liv's moment has passed and Asuka, while always awesome, didn't come into the match with nearly enough momentum to be a viable winner. - Speaking of Rhea, I watched some of the post-show conference. It is weird. The wrestlers answer questions in semi-kayfabe, but don't necessarily stay in character. Bray Wyatt, for example, wasn't in-character at all. Rhea was kinda half-and-half as she spoke about partying with the Judgment Day boys and how rowdy they can get (if you believe the stories about Damian Priest, I'm just hoping they use protection), but was also complimentary to Liv Morgan in a way that you wouldn't think a heel would be. Then there was Cody Rhodes who was super duper charming. Listening to Cody control the media room makes it 100% clear why the WWE would want him to be their top brand ambassador as he came across as both incredibly polished and confident, but also affable and upbeat and, well, natural in that role. There weren't any bombshells dropped or anything, but it was mildly interesting to see.

I forgot if I posted it here or at DVDVR - and I hate to repeat myself in either/both forums - but as lame as it sounds, Rhea is almost too good right now to give the Rumble win to. My fear is that Rhea has been killing it as a heel, but winning the Rumble is almost a de facto babyface thing. I can see Rhea getting cheered by a large portion of the fans who would view her as representing (a) someone new after relatively 2 years of Bianca Belair at the top of the RAW brand and (b) because her actual story of putting in hard work for years and years and climbing the roster and getting herself over is organic and undeniable. And, again, she's been the MVP of Judgment Day by a country mile. Put her in the Rumble, she's arguably the most over character in the thing with the most recognition from the audience as "deserving." I don't see how her winning would result in anything but cheers. In this scenario too, Belair, who has also done nothing but good work, is kinda forced to play the role that Chris Benoit played in the build-up to SummerSlam 04' (or, and I know its more of a stretch, Bret Hart in the build to WrestleMania XII). Belair has done nothing wrong, she's been a fighting champion, she's 100% the babyface, but in the world of fickle fanbases, she's also headlined the last two Manias and could now be seen as the "establishment" choice (as ridiculous as it sounds). Meanwhile, Rhea Ripley winning the Rumble gives her the momentum, gives her the status of being the "newer" star, and also cements her as a bad-ass who outlasted 29 other women and is now gunning for the top spot. To me, it'd be short-sighted to sacrifice one of the best heels on your roster - male or female - when there is still money on the table for her to have a huge tag match at Mania involving Edge & Beth Phoenix or Rey Mysterio & (insert female babyface) or even just as Dom's 2nd in a Mysterio vs. Mysterio match. Ripley is good enough that her eventual climb to the top of the division can happen any time they want it to.

Definitely a 50/50 comment from the WBD COO. On one hand, it seems like they're happy with AEW's ratings on both networks (which surprises me because Rampage is far from the hit that Dynamite is). On the other hand, it shows that the people at the top don't really know a single thing about wrestling and its fandom, how broad the fanbase is and how many fans there are across the socio-economic spectrum, race and ethnicity, and age. Hell, I'll readily admit myself that I still largely ignore the number of women who watch wrestling and have always assumed that the audience is 90% men and 10% their wives/girlfriends/mothers. As was summarized in the Nitro book, they did studies at one point and found that so many of the preconceived notions of what a wrestling fan is were incorrect. This genius didn't even realize that families watch wrestling, I'd hate to know what he thought the average median income level was when, if you look at the prices of tickets (and even to watch AEW via cable), being a pro-wrestling fan has never been more expensive.