Big Pete

I thought Hangman-Moxley was plodding and sloppy. It was like they were trying to re-create Suzuki-Tanahashi from 2012 instead of having their own match. Moxley hits not one but two devastating Gotch Style Piledrivers and instead of the babyface being in peril and really selling the urgency it's just a transition spot - a simple effect DDT would have achieved the exact same thing. I thought the best thing either guy did was Hangman's lariat on Moxley. It popped the crowd and looked great - otherwise it was just a modern 'let's get our stuff in' match. The actual highlight was the balcony dive from Darby onto the Death Riders and that was the biggest take-away since that will be the Death Riders feud moving forward. Otherwise I think Forbidden Door is building nicely. MJF/Hangman, Swerve/Okada, Storm/Athena, Death Riders/Darby + Pals, Tag Action etc. I just hope they can find something for Mark Briscoe to do. They've invested two main event slots into him now, it'd be a shame if he was just a lamb to the slaughter.

I enjoyed Hangman's presentation this week. I was worried that they were going to have him go 50/50 with Yuta, but it was a glorified squash where the emphasis was placed on the post-match. I'm not sure how Yuta will go post-Death Riders but it's a story beat they have to pull the trigger on at some point. Still, it's good to see Hangman booked strong and featured through out the show - if they're determined to make him 'the guy' double down on it. JetSpeed vs. FTR had it's moments. Speedball's big flurry of offence leading into the finish was the highlight and he's got that extra gear that's so necessary in modern wrestling. Still, thought the match was sloppy in places and they made some weird choices. I don't think you can accuse anyone on the AEW roster of being lazy when it comes to their in-ring (maybe in other aspects) but it seemed like Dax was having a hard time keeping up which was problematic because he seemed determined to be the ring general so certain spots looked out of step. The flat finish and the post-match overkill didn't help matters either.

Tend to agree and a lot of the talent that's been released have received multiple chances to get themselves over and just couldn't deliver. It's just the nature of the beast. As TTK alluded to, I think these recent releases show they're keen to bring in new talent and give them the space to shine.

That thought crossed my mind as well after the Mark Briscoe/Bobby Lashley discussion. Every key segment revolved around an older talent, including the return of Samoa Joe who isn't a spring chicken at 45 (going on 46). Even the opener was between two 40-year olds so the demographic definitely skews older and the roster doesn't feel as fresh as it did in 2019.

I like Mark, but he's been wrestling for 25 years now, 5 years longer than Lashley and he's always been that Jim Duggan type of gate-keeper. I think he's fine in that role and while he could wave the AEW flag similar to how Hacksaw waved the WCW flag against the nWo that's really the extent of it. As far as the Hurt Syndicate, I've always liked that pairing dating back to TNA but I'm not really enjoying their direction right now. The influence they had over Ricochet was a net negative and this 'he's totally a heel now bro, you're not sposed to like him' is such a monumental waste. Maybe they can revive the tag team division and they can book actual stars in the division. Private Party just feels like one of those 2010s esque Slater-Gator WWE tag teams and the whole division needs re-tooling. It's bizarre because AEW have shown on numerous occassions that tag team wrestling can be the highlight of the show but they've never run with it. Hell, I think that match you just posted sek could be the best tag match of the year. However they just never commit to it as strongly as they should.

I was surprised that the Penta/Gable match was as competitive as it was. I was expecting it to be a pure Penta showcase where he hits the Tope Con Hilo and and finishes Gable off with a Canadian Destroyer but Gable controlled a lot of the action. It would have made for a better match if Gable had have been booked like a star prior to ala Kurt Angle but maybe that's forthcoming. After all they did have him go out and promise he'll win a singles title in 2025. With Fenix still awhile away, I'd be looking to capitilise on the Penta run and give him a singles push. I'd like to see him mixing it up with the Judgment Day and in the thick of that IC division.

If they had have made one small tweak, I think that main event could have been better. Instead of having Cody enter a blind rage and bail on the match you could have had Owens physically interfere and taken it from there. Unless they plan on using this to justify Jimmy Uso turning on Cody, the route they went down made Cody look like an idiot. The only reason they seemingly did it was to have both Cody and Owens go through the table at the end. Stratton is a quality prospect but I don't think she was ready for the championship and it made for an awkward promo where she was trying to get her character over, while putting over her victory while also trying to get heat. That's my main issue with the Money in the Bank cash-in, it's a short-cut that gets a pop but then you have to build the champion up mid-reign and the table is rarely set for them. I hope they build on LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu. It seems like without Roman Reigns, Randy Orton & AJ Styles the show is really low on star power and LA really ought to be mixing it up with main eventers and they clearly have big plans for Fatu. I'd like to see Nakamura mixing it up with Jimmy Uso and Carmelo Hayes in the interim. I thought both Los Garza and the Motor City Machine Guns had good outings. The only knock on MCMG is that it seemed like they had to rush into the finish so you had this awkward spot where Waller takes Sabin out with a side-kick only for Sabin to virtually no-sell it. I'd like to see these two teams put on a quality match next week and to see a bigger emphasis on the tag division. That's always the one match you can get away with having a ton of action but it seems like even under Hunter the division gets lost in the shuffle. Bizarre considering it was one of the strengths of his NXT run. I do think it's time for Austin Theory and Grayson Waller to do something different. I think they're weasel gimmick can be easily filled by Pretty Deadly and they ought to be doing something more pivotal on the show. I think they have a higher ceiling than being a mid-card generic heel act. I'd use them to help hype up the return to John Cena and you could easily do something there that benefits both parties. Theory is still a prospect and somebody I'd try to feature in the ring against the likes of Andrade, Santos Escobar and the like. It just seems between Vince and Hunter they can never get it just right - it's either too much or not enough. I'd keep Michin and Chelsea Green against one another, especially since the women's title is up in the air. I think building that rivalry is important and both women are familiar enough with one another they can fill that time. I do think they need to add another person into the equation and I just wonder if Wendy Choo would be a good fit? She's been on NXT forever and I think the dynamic is there as well. Either that or Jordynne Grace would be my pick to help take the rivalry to the next level.

And Darby is great and all but a big part of his appeal is being an underdog babyface. That's a lot of build for a reign that should only last a few months at most. To me the most logical move would have been to use this as a vehicle to push Hangman. You could easily tie it into the Swerve rivalry and you could have gone in multiple directions with the Death Riders attempting to recruit Hangman only for Hangman to realise he needs some balance in his life and is ready to be THE guy for AEW. Instead it seemed like they got caught up in another side-quest and all that momentum was completely squandered. With these type of angles you really need a strong foundation. When you look at the AEW angles that have been successful they've been built around rivalries - think Swerve/Hangman & May/Storm. I couldn't say the same for this angle where Mox/OC and Mox/Cope are obvious stepping stones to a bigger rivalry.

Not only did they have JR announce it on the show, but they had him claim it was the biggest story of his 20 year career and for all the details they needed to call his hotline. In fairness, the 'casuals' would have known ahead of time they weren't going to see the return of Nash and Hall because Monsoon revealed as much beforehand and called JR's credibility into question. Somehow JR accepted all of the blame for what was a lameduck idea. Between that, LiveWire, Pillman's gun and the (original) Sunny tape, the proto-Attitude stuff was incredibly lame and desperate. Thank god for Bret and Austin.

The other issue is that when the scale is 7 stars, a 5 star match only takes you so far. You can't say you're the best wrestling show when we saw the best wrestling several years ago and you're asking inexperienced talent to live up to that standard. When you have five to eight hours of television you're either setting up talent to fail or you're letting talent hog up far too much of the limelight. The television could certainly be more compelling. You can only sign so many free agents, introduce so many titles, beat so many luchadores before fans get bored. They're trying to push this brand new direction but they haven't set the table. They're trying to use Mercedes to feature the women more, but they've essentially put her with a bunch of B-show talent with questionable creative. The story with Ospreay is that they couldn't find opponents for him so he's fighting guys in his own stable in these glorified exhibition matches. This is all leading to a match against Danielson who has been in pin me pay me mode basically since he arrived. Ospreay-Danielson who wins? Who cares it'll be a five star match! That right there is the conflict in a nut-shell. There's fans who don't care about the result, just as long as it's a good match. Then there's fans who want to engage but can't because the presentation hasn't connected with them. I'd say the vast majority on here fit into the former and as long as you're getting the chance to see what these men and women do everything else is just a bonus. That's fine but it's difficult to sustain so being able to build that emotional connection provides more bang for your buck. Speaking of to give some credit, pairing Okada up with the EVPs was a smart move. It's a very similar presentation to NJPW where he's the chosen one and there's some momentum there with the EVPs main eventing Revolution. Putting a mid-card strap on Okada with barely any history was a curious decision but at least you have something there with future Omega and Page matches to look forward to. When AEW was at it's best it was when they had Hangman as the struggling millennial who couldn't handle pressure. You can't force it but AEW needs to find that emotional core and promote that. I'd argue they were on track with the MJF/Cole storyline before it became too goofy and convoluted.

Can you give me a refresher? My only recollection is that they had Vince screw Cena out of the belt at Elimination Chamber and shoe horn Batista as champion. I just happened to catch a clip of Bret talking about this match after I posted. I guess I blocked this match out of my mind and like the Floyd/Show match, it seemed like they called a last minute audible by making it a lumberjack match with all of Bret's family around the ring. I'll pay it and I'm sure even the most cynical fan would have been curious to see the match. I thought this match was an indictment on Dibiase and his inability to connect with the crowd. The natural conclusion would have seen him defy his master and beat him. However the fans were so lukewarm, they had to throw the beta into the mix and had to salvage the feud the best they could. They'd follow it up with the Morrison-McIntyre feud that was so rotten it torpedoed both men's career. My only recollection of MITB was seething over Christian losing. The guy was one of the most consistent in-ring guys they had who could work with anybody and you had a ready made feud there with Edge and instead they decided to parachute Swagger into the role. My blood is boiling just thinking about it, how did you ever deal with it @C.S.?

I'm curious, what angles stood out to you in particular? Obviously Michaels/Taker was well done, the Punk/Rey stuff was really good as well but otherwise it's a Wrestlemania that doesn't get brought up all that often.

Thank you Cody! Dave is a better Brandon Cutler than Brandon Cutler. While I take the point that referencing the rival's promotions biggest star is frowned upon, the purpose was to point out that their bad blood goes back years and point out the influence the Bucks have. If the Bucks didn't want this Russo type angle, then they wouldn't have adopted a Russo type gimmick where they lean into their backstage reputation. Maybe if the beat-down had have been more impactful I'd agree but outside of Kingston and Copeland putting the Bucks on notice, the whole thing came off as hokey. Felt like I was watching a PG-13 Clockwork Orange.

AFAIK they reported an increase in revenue, but I didn't see anything about profitability. Not that it matters because as long as Tony continues to pour money and WB is happy to have it on their network, it'll stick around as the #2.

"As long as I'm here this is still the Professional Wrestling BUSINESS". Not word for word, but you can make the connection. And yeah kind of a blasse episode of RAW. Weaker than the go home edition and I couldn't help but be reminded of Daniel Bryan's return back in 2018. The WWE could have used that moment to book a really strong show and try to hook some on the fence viewers, instead it was a paint by numbers show. My take on seven minutes is that they're really leaning into just how impromptu the signing was. Even if they had this in the pipeline for months, if you're going to play it off as a surprise he's not going to have a whole routine down pat and instead they'll let things play out organically.

It's moreso in recent weeks where the show has been built around guys like Adam Copeland, Christian, Ric Flair, Paul White, The Hardy Boyz, Rob Van Dam, Saraya etc. Now you could argue that they don't fall under the umbrella of a 'WWE-lifer' and I'd take your point but a lot of these talents were major players in that company and I'd argue that's where most fans would have seen them. There should be a balance, especially when they're the alternative brand. When you're constantly featuring these acts, it doesn't create a positive perception, especially from lapsed WWE fans.

I'd rather watch just about any other Danielson match than Okada just quietly - even Tony Nese. Hopefully Dav'oh doesn't see this post! I'd argue it's not so much the bar they set, but just the downward trend the show has been on for well over a year at this point. There's a real apathy with AEW and it seems like they're really struggling to position their roster. It doesn't help that they're consistently pushing WWE-lifers.

Somebody has to stage an intervention for Tony when it comes to promoting big announcements and dream matches. The key is to under-sell and over-deliver, otherwise you're just trolling your audience. This show is the by-product of rushing Omega/MJF. Which isn't to say it was horrible or an insult, but because they didn't have time to set up plot beats or pace things out naturally you end up with lame duck shows like this that feel half-baked. I'm sure Full Gear will be fine and when you have 52 shows a year, not all of them are going to be winners. However they just need to think carefully about playing to their strengths and generating interest around those personalities, while letting the next batch of contenders simmer underneath. I certainly don't think it's just a lack of effort, they just need to step back and consider what are the biggest matches they can put together in the next couple of years and work towards them.

I wouldn't read too much into the article - the meat of it was Meltzer's review of the promo. Clickbait at it's worse.

He was like a Tyson Kidd, Drew McIntyre, Chris Masters etc. where you'd tune into watch his C-show matches because he was having quality TV matches. You could understand why they kept him around even after the Sin Cara angle and even gave him a spot on one of the video games. Wasn't Averno constantly being discussed as a potential WWE signee around that time? I swear they were going to bring somebody else into face Sin Cara only to get cold feet. In the end it just seemed like one of those half-baked ideas they didn't fully commit to for one reason or another. That whole 2010-12 era is so wild looking back on. Not just in WWE, but even in TNA, ROH, NJPW etc. Of all promotions Chikara was fast becoming the internet darling around this time, until Quack shut it down and NJPW had the crazy idea of putting the IWGP Championship on that Green Lantern wannabe from Xplosion.

I don't think that's entirely accurate. The WWE treated the Sin Cara signing as a huge deal and even staged a press conference for it. If anything they just couldn't leave well enough alone and instead of letting Sin Cara's work do the talking, they gave him the big elaborate entrance, mood lighting and a weird storyline with Sin Cara Negro. It wasn't until injuries, wellness failures and other backstage incidents took place that they lost interest and realised they could get as much value as putting Hunico under the mask. Ultimately I think both parties were to blame. WWE for over-producing and Sin Cara for being unprofessional.

When did TK start doing the post-PPV press conferences regularly? All Out 2021? There had already been rumblings with Cody disappearing off of BTE but that was when the perception of the company changed. Instead of it being about supporting these starving artist who had begun this underground movement and were breaking into the mainstream, it became about Tony Khan living out his childhood fantasies of Dynamite and Rampage. Maybe you DVD-R posters have some solidarity towards Coach_TK, but it just doesn't have the same appeal. Maybe it always was inevitable, but I seriously think Tony should make like his televised announcements and let the professionals handle it. Let Adam Cole, MJF, Bryan Danielson, Britt Baker, Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy etc. be the face of the company and you can be the silent partner.

The more Tony pushes himself at the forefront of the company, the less popular it seems to become. He has to understand it would be in the promotion's best interest if he took a step back, found other channels to promote the company and invested his money wisely. The product was far more appealing when it was positioned as for the boys by the boys instead of Tony Khan's playthings aka Toy Story 5.

It's not so much FOMO, but the strains of five hours of television on the bookers/writers. That's now one quality Dynamite match that has to be pulled because Rampage needs a main event. Or now we have to dedicate four segments on Dynamite to build up matches for Rampage or Collision. A lot of the time they're not even good segments, it's usually somebody having their TV time interrupted by some no-name we haven't seen in months and the whole thing ends with the interviewer awkwardly cutting back to Excalibur. It's not to say Dynamite is a god-awful show or even as mailed in as Thunder was. However I don't think it's been able to top those earlier pre-pandemic shows and I think having Rampage and Collision eats into that Dynamite number because now fans have a choice. Maybe they don't want to watch Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Orange Cassidy and would rather see Bryan Danielson, FTR, The House of Black etc.

Wasn't the only advertised match Nick Jackson vs. Rey Fenix, with Copeland vs. Luchasaurus being announced for next week's show? I could see that Copeland/Luchasaurus match sending mixed messages and since the show wasn't heavily promoted and they were all coming off a five hour bonanza, I could see most fans having their fill for the week. That's one of the big issues with adding all these supplemental shows. It was easy to give Dynamite two hours of your time each week, when they started adding two additional nights and three hours (sometimes four) it diluted the show and fragmented their core audience. It's the WCW problem of 1998, when you add an additional three hours it takes it's toll on quality and engagement.