Matt D

There are still relatively few historical title reigns in general for AEW. I think it helps a guy like Hobbs more than hurts him in the medium term to say he was tag champ at one point even if it's a short reign.

I have a vague memory of early days ROH where the excitement would be in the card that they put together. That was especially true if the show was coming to your neck of the woods if you didn't get them all the tie (I was in MA at the time so I wasn't exactly getting the Philly nexus shows). The excitement for AEW in 2022 feels a lot like that: matches for Rampage being announced on Dynamite, that last Dynamite match that gets announced on Wednesday, etc. Three weeks ago, I didn't know I wanted Danielson vs Sydal with Regal on commentary and Danielson testing his leg out and Sydal fighting for the notions of Peace, Love, and Pro Wrestling, but I absolutely do. I probably wasn't super interested in them running back Soho vs Statlander but Soho really needs to make her mark and Statlander has to get over the new character tweak and has been leaning even harder into her strength and it should be interesting. I didn't know I wanted to see a more aggressive Lee Moriarty against Alex Reynolds and Alan Angels, but hey, apparently I did, and they were good matches. Yeah, there's booking, and there are stories, but it's a promotion with a huge roster that doesn't often run rematches, so almost all the matches end up feeling fresh. I'm probably as excited for that moment of them announcing the next card or of getting a glimpse at the Dark tapings as I am for actually watching any of the actual matches in-ring. But ask me again if I feel that way in six months and we'll see.

I basically do the exact opposite of you. I watch Rampage Saturday mornings without being spoiled usually. I watch Dark/Elevation over the span of a day or two after they air. I catch the parts of Dynamite I want to see on Thursday or Monday if I am writing something up for SC but it’s easily the part of AEW I catch the least of. But I’ve been overall enjoying the promotion since Punk showed up. I definitely have the most fun with Dark/Elevation but seeing Rampage over breakfast on Saturday scratches a WCW Power Hour nostalgia itch.

Is Miro big enough?

Part of being a good wrestler is being able to effectively work to your physical limitations and being cognizant of your opponent’s. Eyes should not be bigger than your stomach.

I’d assume they hurt one of Wardlow’s limbs after the cage match.

Reading back through the thread, I’m baffled he made it to 130. We’ve gotten a couple of Georgia matches since which really do help his case though. The Bart Sawyer match feels like the promise of Jake fulfilled.

Page is terrible and they can't get the title off of him quickly enough. His ring style is absolutely detrimental and is actively counterbalancing all of the good Punk's doing in trying to make things matter again.

Sure but there are still differences. If I had to insure one opposed to the other based on what they're going to do in the ring, I'd pick Lawler. I wouldn't insure either of them out of the ring.

Ancient Lawler matches have him sell in the corner and throw punches and pull on heartstrings but not actually bump. Flair will insist on getting tossed off the top.

I feel completely the opposite and don’t really ever want to watch another Adam Page match (though I don’t fault people who do) but love all of Punk’s comeback run so far. Also, I assume Lethal and co. screw over Joe in the tournament.

The WWE camera changes/presentation really doesn’t do Cody any favors. I saw way more strings/little positioning flubs than I remember from his last six months in AEW.

Theoretically they only have to be over with one person, right?

I finally updated the last year and a half of the New Footage Friday/Found Footage Friday Master List so now all 200+ entries are there. This isn't a comprehensive list of all new potential footage for non-active GWE candidates since the last poll but it does give you a pretty good sense of what's shown up, a SC review, and quite often a youtube link if it's still up. It doesn't have the French reviews which is a different list I'd have to update. http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2019/09/new-footage-friday-master-list.html

Let me put it this way. I'd almost certainly rather watch a complete 2022 CM Punk match, even though I'd almost certainly rather watch an isolated 2022 Bryan Danielson sequence.

~350 words. I assume Phil will have more on the Ringer.

I liked the Punk vs Dustin match more than the Danielson vs Dustin match. Way more emotionally resonant. Less about Dustin trying to prove he could keep up with Danielson and more about the two of them milking and maximizing every moment.

I wonder if he felt burned by Windham and then Zenk too, warranted or not.

I’d say Conrad should just hire Kris Zellner but really what he should do is make it a big contest for his subscribers to see who will become a host. You have to be a certain level to apply and a lesser level to vote on it, etc. He’d make a mint from people who want to be part of it all.

This is exactly why Malcolm Bivens was placed on Earth, no?

Given how WWE operates, last night was the start of a 2-3 month program between Cody and Rollins, right?

Oh I feel bad for New Day to get bumped, especially after the Big E injury. I'm sure they had some special sort of into planned.

I'm glad you guys survived the night and that things over-delivered. In glancing I caught the Cody entrance (but not the match) and the Austin match, though without sound. I'm not sure if anything drastic had changed, but he could have done that once a year for the last fifteen years and we would have been better off for it. Pretty amazing Owens performance as he made Austin look incredibly strong without it seeming absurd or unbelievable. With all the Bret vs Shawn talk, it makes me wonder what wrestling would look like now if we had five more years of Austin in the early 00s. At 40 now, it's a little crazy to think his big run was when he was 33-38 or so and he was done when he was younger than I am.

I value my time with you guys and most especially during the mutual Mania coping session, but I just can't this year. I might pop in based on something I see online or what not, but I just can't take the production values and hearing the word stupendous every other minute and the weird, weird corporate speak, and a card full of matches no one cares about and with stakes that should matter but absolutely don't. I wish you guys all the best of luck in surviving what you inflict upon yourselves over the next two nights and do apologize for not helping you through it as per usual. Maybe next year.