chuckjaywalk

Osaka Pro and ZIPANG definitely had their cartoonish moments.

I'm starting to think that the biggest issue with the Death Riders storyline is that there's not really a World Champion right now. That's a void that is felt.

I'm starting to think that Jon Moxley's whole storyline is him preparing the roster for a world without him. He's giving tough love to the soft and the young so they are prepared for a post-Moxley world or, even less specifically, a world without the current main eventers. Jon Moxley's trying to harden their hearts for the inevitable march of time.

The unconventional opening segment, Private Party winning the big one, the main event, and the way Lashley was presented were big positives. The Adam Cole match was pretty bad, but I've never gotten the Adam Cole thing, so I'm a poor judge of that.

At least I know I can get rid of Sling in a few months.

Yeah, that's a cue to stop watching type of angle.

I mean this in the best way possible: Mox's segments last night reminded me more of prime Chikara than anything else AEW has ever done. Big 'Prelude to an Invasion' vibes.

Also, Dean Malenko doing the intro for Blood and Guts was great.

Last night was a good one for the old guys. Jeff Jarrett giving Danielson a Gipper speech and helping free Swerve sets him up as a Team AEW veteran. I could watch Suzuki torture Jericho every week for the rest of the year. The show as a whole didn't click for me, but I'll live.

I commented to my partner that if this was 10 years ago, Taz bringing in a trio of ECW guys to attack the Learning Tree would have been fun, but I don't think there are three left with name value that can physically go enough for that angle.If Cage wasn't busy and Hobbs injured, reuniting Team Taz for one night only would have been fun.

As much as I dislike the Elite Bucks angle and loathe the Learning Tree, between TNA going back to the Broken well and WWE going all in on the Wyatt Sicks stuff, I am thrilled to have AEW to give me wrestling matches and not... that.

The Bucks doing a Christian Day Camp version of a post-modern authority angle while Jericho is doing toothless Sports Entertainment is a perfect storm for me to slip into a coma on the couch.

The Swerve title reign feels a lot like the Hangman title reign. Face champs in AEW are like a fish with a bicycle.

I have to accept that the less I enjoy a show, the more Reddit will rave about it. Last night was a difficult show to make it through for me but people seem to be really high on it. I don't get Christian making Swerve look like a geek. It was just about the opposite of what I look to AEW for.

They are about to make Kenny Omega the on-screen commissioner, aren't they?

Tony going on sports channels in the neckbrace and talking about the attack is my favorite wrestling-related thing in years.

I love this place because the Young Bucks/FTR match doesn't even get a passing reference. I legit forgot about the Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa match until I watched the press conference during breakfast this morning.

Looks like AEW is working with artist Rob Schamberger. I love this because wrestling companies having a staff artist reminds me of the 60s New York Jets. He's a really cool guy and I'm sure he and his wife will be active with AEW's philanthropic efforts. I was only an acquaintance of theirs but ended up a huge fan.

Whole show felt off. Mone cut the exact same promo 2 weeks in a row to open the show and was interrupted far to late. Eddie vs Okada makes sense but the outcome was visible from miles away. Jericho vs Hook felt like they were telling the story that Jericho is over the hill but the execution was such that he just looks over the hill. Thunder's gear is a big problem. Her pre-injury gear was flattering, this atrocity managers to be dowdy and over-exposing at the same time. Whole show lacked rhythm.