Matt D

Lots of big definitive statements. Here's mine. I think Punk, in ring, as a face, is the most outstanding and most important wrestler of the year. I think he's done more to try to retake moves and reestablish the meaning of every action than anyone in wrestling in years. I hope that what he's doing has influence for years to come. I think if he turned heel, the matches wouldn't be as good because a lot of what he's doing involves the pace and tenor of the selling and even though he'd control the match more, he'd be in there with some unreliable opponents. But then I think Adam Page is one of the worst wrestlers on the roster and I have a hard time getting through Omega matches. I do think that Mox has had a great year, but more with implicit storytelling than explicit, so there's a different sort of benefit to it and one that tends to appeal to me less. I think Kingston's had more misses where he gives into his excess and fandom and I think that Danielson's had a good year but in interfacing more with his opponents, he's had less of an overall vision other than "Wrestle as hard as possible." I've written up every match his year if you want to see me show my work: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/search/label/CM Punk So I hope he wins. I hope he stays a babyface. I hope he has a long run. I get that people, especially people who were drawn in by early AEW have good reason to feel otherwise.

Also, Page is one of the worst guys in the company when it comes to match layout and he's been nothing but rewarded it for it throughout his career by fans and companies, but that's a totally different issue I guess. The comment still didn't help anything.

I will admit glancing at Rampage spoilers but I only opened it up and then did a CTRL+F on "Claudio" so I didn't see actual results, but I did see who came out to challenge our Swiss pal and I am very excited for the match that will result from it. That is all.

More cross-posting with quick DVDVR thoughts.

Only matches I've liked so far are Drake and Mox. He had the worst Kingston match I've seen all year, though that was definitely Eddie's fault. Here's my write up of that from SC:

Crossposting from DVDVR: I don't have a ton of thoughts about Mance vs Mox. It feels like a good entry into Mox's 2022, just another match on the list. Mance kind of comes off as the Rock'n'Roll RPMs of tough guys, the sort that could have a great run in Puerto Rico or be the center of a tag team division in Central States, good hand, nice variety to see once or twice, but.. What stood out the most was how Mox chained together offense and violence in the last couple of minutes. That was just nuts and really defines who and what he is, right down to having to switch the arm. I do wonder if this match was about protecting him going into a loss on Weds? I pretty low on Takeshita but I appreciate how genuine he comes off as and how he appreciated the fans here. And it's not like his stuff doesn't look good and impactful. It's just the pacing. I'm glad he got to have a moment like that even if he's not my guy. Grey vs Rayne was tough. Let's talk about the chinlock. That's what drew the first puppies chant I've heard in years. The problem was threefold. First, the fans haven't built up emotional attachment to Grey or Rayne yet. If it was Athena or Ruby working from underneath and even Hogan or Velvet on top, it would have been fine. Grey did a good job working the crowd throughout it and it didn't matter. Second, she came into it too soon. They had to wait until the commercial break was over to come out of it and if they had gone into it even a few seconds later, it would have helped. Third, people suck, right? I did love Stoke grooving to Grey's entrance music. The main definitely overdelivered. 2022 Tony Nese is the world's best possible Seth Rollins. He understands where he belongs on a card, how his athletic ability an execution best helps the company, and does what he's supposed to do in order to get things over and be entertaining instead of just trying to spam great workrate matches or whatever. If I'm going to watch guy with abs do an overwrought laugh, I definitely want it to be Nese. The story was smart as it was all about keeping Lee out of the match, right until they weren't able to anymore. Sterling goes through all the motions and does it correctly but doesn't have the spark of brilliance. I bet if Stoke was in there, after the wrench shot (which came right after the "Whose House?" bit, he would have done a "Whose Wrench?" thing and it would have been awesome. Basically, he shows up and does his job and is effective, but isn't transcendent. Woods looked like a beast at the end with that German, and Keith looked like a beast in blocking it for so long. Win win (unless you're the table). This is the best environment for Swerve where all of his goofy stuff can just fit into the chaos. AEW is smart in not doing street fights more than every few months because they don't feel overdone and almost always deliver.

Again, a Regal podcast thing. He said he never went out trying to be one of the "Best bouts" guys but wanted to be the best wrestler when it came to detail work and everything making sense and nothing having any holes in it. It means he'd score rather poorly in a GME poll but under certain criteria might score extremely highly on a GWE one.

They’ve already advertised the show based on a Jericho vs Moxley main event. I don’t think they’d risk pissing off people who bought tickets with the bait and switch even if some people would be more excited for it.

Isn't she the person in all the world least likely to think there are any structural problems in the first place?

Interesting Cena bit from the Regal podcast. He noted that Cena was one of the guys who watched every match. Even if he was signing things, he had a monitor nearby so he could watch while he was doing it and Regal said a lot of that was to know what everyone on the roster was doing so he could work his stuff into their stuff and vice versa.

I hated the Kingston match and loved the Cassidy one. Best way to watch it is the int’l feed on Saturday morning like it’s WCW Power Hour or something.

AEW is best watched the next morning on the international feed (and parts at 1.5 speed).

They just released a new combo Uno/10 shirt. They’ll probably get a win tonight in Rochester even if only on Elevation.

If the AEW crowd feels like they're experiencing something rare and special (and something that other people are not), like they're part of a moment or a movement, then that works in and of itself, regardless of whether he's putting on 4 or 5 star matches or whatever. It's just a matter of protecting him and keeping that special. We're in agreement that "Wardlow's World" is not the way to do it. Licensing War Pigs would have helped too.

I really thought the Jake vs Bart Sawyer match from the Hidden Gems footage was the Jake match we were always promised and never got.

I thought the 20-on-one match was visually great. They can cut it up into a 30 second video package and use it for years. He should definitely go over tonight though. I get why they kept the belt on Sky during the West Coast loop and it was easy to get lost in the shuffle during the NJPW stuff and Blood & Guts, but if he goes over definitively tonight, it'll all be fine. Knowing the way Khan books, it's not impossible they try to hold things off for August 3 in Columbus though. Wardlow's an Ohio guy. It'd be much better to have him win tonight and then set up a big defense against a hoss then though.

It's too early to establish a credible challenger. They need the ratings help right now. They went with an interim champ instead of not having one. Isn't it better to have Mox mowing through midcarders than having talking bits or tag matches or contract signings or whatever setting up a match a month from now? If you're going to have an interim champion, have him be a fighting champ. The drama here isn't whether or not Mox is going to win but HOW he's going to win considering the size differential and the potential outside interference. The journey can be interesting too. We can have a credible challenger who might actually win in a show they build to over the next month. This match can be part of that in one way or another but you don't need to be there already.

It's the first defense of the interim belt coming off Blood & Guts and the PPV. It's on a show where more focus will probably be on Wardlow vs Sky. It's Mox vs a Monster. House of Black might get involved. We're in a period where some stories just ended and we're waiting for the new ones to begin. Ideally, King will get some rub for being in there with the top guy and dominating for a good chunk of the match, Mox will look good in overcoming the threat, and maybe they set something up for the weeks to come out of this. It's fine. It's ok episodic weekly pro wrestling. Mox vs a big guy in a trios stable is way better than giving a way a match that means more int his slot in the TV rotation. Just like doing Page/Dante had a ton of upside when they ran it.

Kind of negative vibes over here lately but I wrote up the two big matches of the last week over at SC: http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2022/07/aew-five-fingers-of-death-week-of-627-73.html

Edge coming back with the Fiend gimmick is the future we all deserve.

Crossposting: The kids are all about the polished video breakdowns of things now, right? We need someone to go over Eddie's five stages of grief during the finish of the match. Denial: What do you mean you got the submission on Parker? I had Jericho. I had him right here? Why did the bell ring? On top of a cage, in Kawada's move. Jericho. He's a coward! I had him. Anger: You screwed me again Claudio! Just like before! You stole my moment! You knew how much this meant to me! You Swiss asshole! Bargaining: I mean, we both did it at the same time, right? I had Jericho. I beat him this way already. Maybe this is just our win together. Maybe I can accept that. We all knew he was going to quit. Depression: Oh no, no, it's not. Who am I kidding? You did it. You came up here. You saved me from the Walls. You did it. You swung him around. My back hurts. Just, no, I don't want to get up. My back hurts and you did it and this was my moment, my chance, and now it's gone forever. Acceptance: Fine. Fine. I'll fistbump you. Fine. I hate you. You did it. I'll fistbump you. But I'm Eddie Kingston so I'm still in depression and I'm never going to really accept this bullshit.

I'm pretty certain there's always going to be some version of the Dark Order for -1's sake, even just at the studio Dark tapings, and that Vance probably has a safe job for a good long while even if he might never get a huge push.

More chinlocks.

The Joe match.

I'm not going to lie. Tonight's match may have a better build than Blood & Guts: