Laz

RIGHT?! Ol' Mancer is impossible to not love at this point, even if his ringwork is meh, because his promos are a thing of simplistic beauty. Def need to get one of his mugshot eyes at some point. I'm worried about what happens when the Mance/Dynasty program ends, though. What else do they have? Hart Foundation/Injustice won't be able to carry the shows and, as outlined earlier, the open contracts don't allow them to invest much in the way of recurring talent really worth checking out. I'm glad LowKi keeps stopping in but he's always one tantrum away disappearing for a few months/years, no matter the promoter.

The first AAA crossover show was pretty damn good. The Mance/Savio vs. Pagano/Mortiz went too long and was plenty ugly at times, but it delivered a memorable finish and Ol' Mancer is always fun. Hammerstone vs. Laredo Kid was legitimately good, too, in the 2.5-3* range for me. The booking and segments, though, are its strengths. No matter how hard they keep trying to make Davey Boy Jr. into a big deal (he doesn't have the presence to be one), at least they're trying to push somebody other than Lawlor.

Johnny Ace pretty much ran the show in the dying days of WCW and showed a surprisingly great booking prowess. It all dissipated once he was under Vince's thumb, of course, but I'll never forget that he gave us the Cruiserweight Tag tournament and the better-than-expected "Magnificent Seven runs over the competition" stuff.

The AEW logo is pretty sharp looking, can't lie. It reminds me a lot of the Weyland Yutani logo from the Alien series.

I clearly do, but there's a distinctly "pro wrestling" approach to t-shirts and overall merch design, and it's usually pretty lame, if we're being honest. The best stuff, like I said, look like concert tees, or at least like something genuinely eye-catching. There's a few rad Darby Allin pieces, one of which is a shirt that looks like it could be an album cover. That's a lot different than, say, the Inner Circle's sidewalk chalk logo.

Finally got around to watching my DVR. PRO: -Decent opener, but it's getting to the point where I can just say "SPOILER LOL CODY WINS" to start each show. Not that he shouldn't be beating Janela, he absolutely should, but variety is a thing. Even Nitro didn't start the same each week. -MJF is the best promo in the entire business today and I can't wait for his in-ring return next week. He's such an alarmingly underrated talent between the ropes, too, because he's a rare talent who actually "gets" ring psychology. -Shawn Spears needs to get away from Cody, but damn if he wasn't right. -MJF AND Spears?! There's your tag partner, Shawn. There he is. Be the workhorse for MJF and Wardlow. Do it. -Solid match between Mox and Kazarian, but it took a bit to get going. Kazarian looks more impressive when he does less spotty shit and has never looked better than he has in AEW. It was great to see the PIP not only return but highlight actual action. -Darby Allin accomplishes more by not talking than Lance Archer can with a GOAT promo guy as his mouthpiece. -ME was surprisingly decent, I guess. Better than the overwhelming majority of Omega matches in AEW, at least. The scissor lift moonsault was sweet, but the MVP was Sammy. As it usually is when he's involved. Thank fuck the right team went over. CON: -Nyla Rose is garbage and highlighting the other title contenders just exposes it even more. -Most AEW merch is lame and screams "I watch pro wrestling." The coolest shirts look like they'd be concert tees. Mox's Paradigm Shift shirt is a bit of an exception, but it looks more like something you'd find at Walmart than at a punk show. Cody's Affliction knockoff should be bleached, burned, and buried. -Mox isn't a great submission wrestler, as good as that match was overall. It also didn't need to go as long as it did. -NO. FUCK THE DARK ORDER. KEEP THE DUNGEON OF DOOM GARBAGE AWAY FROM THE MAIN EVENT. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU. -Brandi is dry as fuck and gets outdone by Britt Baker on the mic because at least Britt has a personality. "I'm not Bill's Monica." Ughhhhhh... -In a just world, Butterfinger Fruit Punch would be stuck working spot shows in West Virginia. It makes me laugh when people defend him. He's Kane without the actual success. Or menace. Or memorable matches. Or decent gimmick. But he has an alright moonsault, right? Stupid match, stupid post-match that makes Cody look like a cuck bastard for not rushing out to his wife's aid, and a stupid waste of time. -Matt Hardy can barely walk, jesus... Overall, much better than the last few weeks, but there's still a big problem that the show has with the second hour. The same talents keep appearing in the same time slots, most of the matches being set up for Double or Nothing are bland and uninteresting, and talent that should be featured on the main program seems to either be MIA entirely (Hangman Page, Lucha Bros) or relegated to Dark (Statlander especially).

While she's not going to watch it or seek it out on her own, I got my girlfriend into it by just watching it with a friend and her. She initially laughed at how we were so into guys pretending to fight while wearing spandex, but when we explained kayfabe and blading and how to take a bump? She was more intrigued. If I were to take a friend and get them interested, that's probably what I'd do, similar to Ricky's method of explaining it as theater. The key then would be to find other theatrical presentations they enjoy (TV, stage, film) and finding acts/products that are similar. My girlfriend loves grimy horror flicks (one reason we started hitting it off) and "edgier" superhero fare, and she gets into guys like Moxley and Darby Allin. Friends I used to go to punk/metal gigs with? They can watch hardcore/deathmatch stuff but think WWE is lame.

Count me in with fans of Hammerstone and Cooking With LA Park.

I am very, very interested in seeing how this plays out. Are they doing previously taped matches and trying to pass them off as new? Nothing but promos?

One I've seen elsewhere for a good S3 episode? XPW and Rob Black, in general. Not many active American promotions in the last 25 years can say they were formed by a scumbag pornographer that served jail time and also "allegedly" hired some goons to castrate a former talent.

I think it was Jericho's first book where he talked about knowing it wasn't 100% legitimate as a kid, but he didn't know just how much of a work it was until he broke in. IIRC, he was under the impression that the top guys were there because they were the legitimate best and could draw money, but a lot of the undercard talents were actually competing. I remember thinking similarly when I was a kid, too. It didn't help that there was a TV special on ultimate fighting (I specifically remember that being the term used) where some of the fighters admitted to working until cops left before they fought for real.

Some really great suggestions here (even the Omega ones), but one I think should be added to the list is LowKi vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Bryan Danielson. It mained the first ever ROH card, was probably the best Triple Threat match to date, and solidified independent wrestling in the States as something to really watch and follow on its own.

So...she should start wearing a Hillary button?

He absolutely has. Outside of a couple flippy spots and his finish, everything Archer does is what we rag on Kane for, right down to the "brisk walk" tempo. Wardlow at least moves his weight and body around so his stuff looks believable. He just needs new gear and to ditch the manbun.

Like I said, no problem being the minority opinion, because I saw it and wasn't impressed. I'm also not a fan of NJPW at large, though.

I've no problem being the minority opinion, but Lance Archer is garbage and that main was bad. Good finish wasted on a bad talent. Best episode of Dynamite in a while, but it was all about that first hour. Again.

Daaaaaaaaamn

Colt's career highlight, outside of being pivotal to the success of ProWrestlingTees and wrestling podcasts in general, was definitely the feud with Homicide. It was also one of the weaker programs Homicide was involved in during the era, IMO.

At least we agree on Impact, @El-P. Madison, Swinger, Kiera...all good stuff.

...this is what I get for trying to argue against somebody that not only doesn't know what a strawman argument is but also doesn't understand what a critique means.

I'm very interested in the factual inaccuracies I've posted, and the alleged strawman, for that matter. As for your implication that Mox/Hager didn't get bad reviews? Check out my pro/con list from that week's show. I said something to the effect of "the first 10 minutes are great and the next 20 are bad." In fact, I haven't seen any praise for it, really. Maybe somebody has, but not anybody I've paid attention to. But false statements and strawmen, right?

Did you have the internet in 2002ish? The gruff Omega gets is nothing compared to every Raw, SmackDown, weekly TNA PPV, ROH show, etc. Analyzing wrestling is kinda what we do as wrestling fans on the internet. You're just annoyed because the critique has turned toward an act you enjoy.

Chastises use of "ok boomer," pulls the "sTrAwMaN" defense over the omission of clarifying details, still ignores the majority of IWC criticism. Whatever.

That bolded part coming after the praise for match that can best be described as "divisive" is pretty funny to me. FWIW, I thought that match was the drizzling shits and one of the worst on the entire card, went way too long, and its highlights involved every other guy but Omega. It's almost like there's an entire contingent of the fanbase that, vocally, dislike his schtick. Keep stanning for him, to each their own, but don't try to use your own opinions as facts and then deride others for it. As for Omega being a draw? Well, not really. Nobody is. There isn't exactly a pattern in place for who does and does not move the needle, especially given the downward trend in ratings since the start of the year. The anecdotal evidence of his stardom works both ways, too, as my girlfriend (who only briefly watched during the peak Attitude years) watched 10 minutes of him and has hated him ever since. A good friend that I've been to indie shows with, loves anime, big gamer...he never saw an Omega match before AEW, and he, too, cannot stand him. It's cool that you guys love his work. Good for you. A lot of us don't, though, and chastising people for dissecting a talent when there is a board literally called "The Microscope" is as futile an effort as any.

Yeah. They sure are the only company to receive a ton of criticism, both micro and macro. Only one. Ever. Especially with this crowd.