Naito said in a recent interview with Tokyo Sports he wanted to go to the U.S. but he wasn't able to get a visa. I figured he could easily sign with NOAH but apparently Japan is "not an option."
I was shocked for like a few seconds, then I remembered Paul said everyone should just move on from the Vince allegations, which was a sign as clear as any all bets were off.
The main event was good if a bit long in the tooth. Karrion Kross is aggressively mediocre at best and actively bad at worst. I really don't get the surge of support and popularity this guy has with fans. Apart from a decent look, he's got nothing.
Dustin-Kyle basically clinched a spot for Dustin on my GWE ballot.
I agree Mark should go over MJF. Page-MJF seems more like an All Out match. There's no reason they can't do Mark-Page at Forbidden Door and MJF either gets a few more wins under his belt or announces he's using his contract at All Out. And not only that, but when you call the face a joke and mascot during a feud, the face pretty much has to go over or else they lose credibility.
There were some folks who were taking Tony Khan and AEW to task for not saying anything about Hogan, which isn't entirely surprising given TK has been adamant AEW would have nothing to do with him. And while it is strange they gave a platform to Sabu who also said racist things, I appreciate the fact he stuck to his guns and didn't feel the need to say anything about Hogan.
As good as a lot of the field seems, the loss of Okada, Kenny, Ospreay, prime Ishii, prime Naito, and prime Ibushi makes it feel much less "must-watch."
If this were top 150-200 I'd consider him. The Shield tags and basically 2019-2023 or so gives him a pretty good resume. But his singles work in WWE is largely pretty flat outside of a few A.J. and Cena matches. And the Death Rider stuff has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth, though his performance at All In was terrific.
Not sure where I stand on Sami but Claudio is flirting with top 50 status for me. His WWE run really stood out to me due to being such a versatile tag worker, but I think in AEW he's had far more opportunities where he's delivered as a singles and multi-man wrestler. And he's just as good as he was 10 years ago.
Really good show. Bucks-Swerve/Ospreay was the best kind of melodramatic kickout fest, Okada-Omega had probably their "worst" match but it was still pretty damn great, and the main event gets a bajillion stars.