Matt D

Having fun wrestling 23 year olds to feel young again. His last mid-life crisis had him get beat up in MMA. This is healthier.

This is presumably what AAA wanted? But I mean AAA does weird stuff like this that won't move the needle for their core crowd all the time, right?

At least crowd's up for it? Granted, the match got to have actual heat, so it makes sense they're up for the comeback.

I like Fun Punk. I just want to see someone bloody him up a bit. If you really look in your heart, you’ll realize you do too.

Posted in the wrong thread but.. By the way, I'm ultimately in agreement that the Danielson match worked because it was Suzuki and because it was character driven. If he came out and had a match just like this with another opponent tomorrow (even a similar one), I'd be nonplussed, but within the confines of the States at least, Suzuki is singular and unique and exceptional, and this is exactly the match he'd have with him. Thankfully, in this case it was about the wrestler driving the style and not the style driving the wrestler. As something singular and unique, it WAS exceptional. But now I'm ready for him to have a completely different match with Fish.

Wrong thread. But i will say it's been interesting to see Garcia on the indies vs AEW in what part of his main eventer act he keeps and what part he tampers down to stooge and play the hierarchy up more.

Van Zandt vs Soho (or Baker or.. Jade?) is going to be the biggest thing coming out of all of this, right?

I liked the bit where Jericho got his feet up out of the corner and surprised him with a PRO WRESTLING THING, but those dos Santos worked punches maybe need some more work?

Well, I thought the Soho vs Bunny match was pretty good?

Ok, I'm enjoying Punk a lot, but there's a bit of a fat elvis lounge act vibe with how much he's enjoying himself and playing off the crowd. But mostly I'm hoping someone makes him really pay for it eventually in the bloodiest way possible.

Most interesting thing of that match was what happened when Danielson wasn't phasing someone by his skill and presence. Suzuki just grinning it off took Danielson to a place he basically hasn't been in 2021. And while the strike exchanges were not for me either, it primarily informed me how interested I'll be when he has Orange Cassidy taking him back there sometime in the next year.

I love the heart punch in the Stasisk vs Rose Portland matches because of how terrified Buddy is of it. But it’s admittedly a lot harder to protect a move in a world when very little about wrestling is protected.

Dark 10/12/21 Dean vs Lockhart: Well, this was a thing I guess. I don't know what to make out of Lockhart. He really went over for Dean's armdrags and ate the dropkick big. The cutoff to stop the tope was well timed and his corner Russian Leg Sweep looked good. Then it got a little weird with the marching elbow drop and the nothing chop and Dean doing some stuff that probably needs to be workshopped more. Let's move on. King vs D'Amboise: I think King is new to me. Basically everything looked good here. King's delayed vertical suplex is a nice, impressive spot. They both showed good instincts in crowd interaction. I liked D'amboise's selling of exertion at times. Just hard shots all around by King. That finisher is incredibly contrived. She'd be better off with just that running kick to the skull. Wardlow vs Bengston: Mr. Mayhem? Really? I feel like Wardlow should never come out alone. He always needs someone with him. Bengston has a unique look at least. And he got to make Wardlow work for it. I like how this was laid out. All the skill and desperation in the world wasn't going to save Bengston. It wasn't a matter of if but when. I sort of wonder what the spot was supposed to be before Bengston goofed it, but it really doesn't matter, because the recovery was Wardlow getting his powerbomb. F10 work better as a finish than his knee to the face (though now I kind of want to see him do it and somehow drop the guy on his knee). This had a good balance for a two minute squash; shame on the botch. Uno vs Greene: Unfortunately, Excalibur used the "Team Taz is over in..." joke for Lockhart and Wisconsin in the first match so he couldn't use it for Dangertown USA. This was good. The best part of it was Taz marking out for Greene going for a bunch of cross-bodies, but it was still good. (Second best part was the chops). I just don't think this was the right match up. Greene is a guy who is going to surprise people and get a crowd behind him but the crowd wanted to be behind Uno. Greene's goofy overhook/underhook crucifix bomb ended up looking better than Uno's finish, but I can't really suggest either as things anyone should do. Uno did a good job basing for him anyway. This being quasi-face vs quasi-face sort of cut off the narrative possibilities mainly.

Dark Elevation 10/11/21: Ford vs Mimi: I was wondering when Mimi reversed that whip on the outside if Ford was really going to take a bump into the stairs for her. She didn't! But she did kick out the youtube special moonsault press off the stairs. Mimi's high cross wasn't great but I did like her little scoot up roll up out of the corner and she threw a couple of good forearms. Not enough to really tell you much more about her. Ford's Mutalock looked great and the overhead camera shot was cool. It was fun to hear Wight and Kingston without adult supervision. Santana/Ortiz vs Omen/Soriono: Why do these guys have a manager? Especially one who just looks like another guy. Endless tandem offense with no rhyme or reason or sense of actually being in a tag team match. The first time you see the little double pumphandle flip thing is cool, but to see it again and again in this same exact situation with no rules or creativity in how they get to that point is just noise. You see one Satana/Ortiz squash, you've seen 'em all. And I've seen like... three. FTR vs Moriarty/LSG: Wardlow needs a jacket of his own. "Dragon twist?" I didn't know we were going to see FTR vs Moriarty so that's exciting. Kingston shooting down Tony mentioning the other sports Lee did was great. Totally speaking my language. Dax figuring quick that he might not be able to outwrestle Moriarty and switching gears successfully only to get stooged anyway was some classic stuff. They get stooged just enough while still controlling when they should. The whole deal with FTR is that they use the classic tricks and structure and formula but give it a modern twist. Wheeler leaping up and getting both legs in there instead of just a knee to the back for the transition is that sort of thing. The hopespot and cut off coming from the ref not buying the trick switch was interesting. It's nice to see it fail once in a while. Whatever else you might say about LSG, that was a good hot tag. Then Moriarty got to really shine with some long-limbed kicks, a nice bevy of "vs the world" spots, and then a good exchange with Dax. Fun stuff. Conti vs Mo: Exactly what it should have been. Mo looked good taking most of Tay's stuff, especially the flowing arm manipulation early, and she had a couple of nice shots thereafter. She was definitely kayfabe hesitant with the corner rana attempt and boy did it cost her; after that she got absolutely crushed. I'm glad she didn't get a last comeback after the German. Exactly right. Janela vs Crowbar: Janela sold Crowbar coming down with about a 4 on the "Not Ricky Steamboat?!" scale, which was still appreciated. Good opening exchange. Janela leaned into Crowbar's stuff. Crowbar leaned Janela's stuff. It had to be believable when Janela walked out to set up the big Meanie spot. I love that the Vader Bomb off the guardrail isn't really any more dangerous or effective than one in the ring, but just because of the nature of it, it seemed nastier. Janela momentarily forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be hardcore anymore because he got lost in the Philly moment really worked for me. The faked knee to set up the Franken-Screamer tribute to Daffney from the person who initially took it from her was extremely appreciated. Maybe this went on just a little too long after that. And then they got deep into no man's land when the Northern Lights onto the Chair should have ended it and instead ... well, who knows. That felt like a Janela idea where he just took it one move too far. If they were going for a botchy chaotic ECW feel, I guess they got it at the end there. Sakura vs Soho: I like to think that the fans popped both for Ruby coming out and because they weren't expecting to get Ruby vs Emi. I popped when I saw it on twitter earlier. Unfortunately, this was one where neither should lose. Both of them got to hit a lot of their big offense though and it all looked really good. Lulu was amazing here with the ineffectual hammers (and Ruby's reaction) and the great facial expression after the corner body press. I don't know about the thing where Ruby does crazy hand motions before starting an offensive flurry. It'd be better if there was something the fans knew they were supposed to do there and she was conducting them? They definitely want to chant for her. Tony miscalled the Casita this time. Finish was sort of okay since you need finishes out of nowhere sometimes between stars in order to get over that a match can end at any point. I think this would have been better if Emi got out there and refused to take the match and threw Lulu to the wolves, but at least Ruby looked like a star and Emi will still be dangerous tomorrow. Hardy Family vs Johnson/Anderson/Best Friends: Statlander not booping Johnson and Anderson was disappointing. Half of the appeal of this one is watching these guys interact. Private Party hyping up Blade, for instance, is what you want out of this. Anderson getting his reps in front of a crowd against a guy like Butcher is always a good thing. That's what I'll say about that match-up. Yuta looked pretty good surviving against everyone. He feels a little like the babyface counterpart to a Garcia, but that might be because I have a vague sense of what he does on weekends, but only a vague one. He's a little big for it maybe, but if Danielson isn't going to do it, he'd be a good guy to steal the Mantopolous bit where he offers someone his hand behind his back and schools him. I feel like he could modernize it like when Private Party was trying to get him and he kept countering. Just do it quickly. Anyway, I wish this had another minute or two of heat on Yuta. You want an 8 man to be sort of crazy, and maybe it went on a little too long, but that played into the finish as Johnson couldn't put them away in time.

Punk vs Garcia: I'd liken this a bit to Bret vs Savage from 87, with the heavy limb control but don't take that too seriously, as I haven't seen it for a while. Very full match that never wore out its welcome. Both guys looked great. The early grappling maybe needed 10% more tricked out stuff but it was gritty and close and compelling without being cooperative. Transition worked really well as you bought Punk was closing in on the GTS at that point and then they went another ten minutes around the leg. I love watching a wrestler try to work with a major limitation and have it shape everything he can and can't do and Punk really leaned hard into it. It changed his game completely and some of it, like the staggered duck into a neckbreaker reversal looked great. That timing isn't just savvy; it's athleticism too and Punk deserves credit for it. The pepsi twist also looked great. Sharpshooter was protected because Garcia was so worried about positioning that he couldn't lean back. I bought Punk being so full of adrenaline that he could hit the springboard clothesline after the dive. I don't always buy that but I bought it here in this situation. Piledriver felt like a big moment. I like how he didn't even try to go for the GTS after that. Really liked this one. Acclaimed vs Lucha Bros: theoretically I was going to like this more when it settled down to heat but it stayed a sprint after that. Acclaimed looked lost moving Penta around and there was basically no heat even after the boom box spot before Fenix came in. All of Fenix' stuff looks great as always (well, not the double cutter) but if they didn't have time for this, they should have kept it off the show and done another Danielson interview or something. Or a feature on the MMA guys so that people know them more if they're not fans. It's ok to have an empty spotfest but don't waste the Acclaimed on it. This match helped no one. I've got no use for this noise and I can't imagine watching another Lucha Bros match anytime soon unless they're up against FTR or Bear Country or Comoroto or someone who can really base for them and slow down the match. Jade vs Skye: This is what it should have been. Skye got an A for effort as almost everything Jade ended up doing was a counter to something Skye tried, so she drove the action. But of course it made Jade look like a worldbeater. Cage vs Starks: I liked the pool shot to the head and how hard Starks had to work for a lot of his offense. It's nice to have an annoying heel that you kind of have to begrudgingly give it to. I haven't seen Cage since Lucha Underground and he does know how to work big against a smaller, weaker opponent. I really don't know about that fall away slam onto the trash can lid as a hope spot though. It looked brutal because it was a little sloppy. I do like Starks playing to the crowd's clapping for the babyface. It's good to acknowledge what they're doing. I didn't realize that they actually DID Send Hook. Jericho being into that and trying to strategize with Taz was really enjoyable. Taz was channeling Rumble 92 Heenan on commentary. "There's your gamangiri (or however you spell that) right to the nuts" was such a good line. Past that fall away slam hope spot, this basically worked for me.

The most important thing is that it's just one segment on a show full of segments. It's not dominating the show. If you aren't into it, wait ten minutes. I'd worry a little if they had them come in and crush everyone because MMA is obviously superior than pro wrestling since it's real and pro wrestling is not, or some such. I'd almost rather they face guys like the Bucks and their impossible physics to counteract that sort of idea, but old man Jericho wrestling them even works too.

It doesn't need the belt but it probably should be an Ironman match or some such at that point. Traditionally, Ironman matches on PPV are a little frowned on since they take up a lot of time but with AEW a big draw match that takes up a lot of time means that other matches can be saved for TV.

I've really enjoyed reading you going through this stuff and can't wait until you get to rudo Atlantis in the Mistico era and the Bucanero turn and all of those trios or Hector Garza being amazing in 2010 or Old Man Casas and the Ingobernables feud sometime ten years from now.

What I watched: Darby vs Comoroto: Two losses in two days for Comoroto, even against well-pushed guys like Cassidy and Darby is a bit of a shame. He feels like the sort of wrestler that Hogan would beat on a SNME. They should protect him a little more maybe? Match itself was fine, though it's rough to lose the heat of so many of these matches in the PIP. Best part of this whole thing was probably JR explaining Sting's no-sell of the Diamond Cutter by saying QT had terrible technique. Deeb vs Shida: Liked this a lot. I thought Deeb's control segment (really a heat, I'd say, even though she didn't go full heel until the end) was very good. She kept things moving, kept them focused, kept them interesting, interacted with the crowd, felt very organic in what she was doing. The opening exchanges were good but had a little weird feel to them chemistry-wise. I'm not sure if that has something to do with Shida's almost lackadaisical way of moving at times or just the way the camera was catching things. It made the counters feel less smooth but also somehow less than spots. I'm not sure it fully made it over the line of being more effective for it though. The big moment at the end where Deeb started targeting the leg while Shida was stuck in the ropes on the apron was interesting because it was very novel and I'm not sure Shida exactly knew how to sell her leg until she made it back into the ring. After that, the finishing stretch was good, especially so because the match had stakes. Shida was protected well enough and there was a sense that Deeb had to go to some dark places to defeat her. I'm curious where they go with this. Shida almost has to get her 50th over Deeb now so they're going to be married for a bit.

If you came on with Punk and Danielson, he’s a brand new debut.

Keep watching Fuerza. You're doing important work there. I'm not sure of the necessary variation inherent in Tully matches. It's worth seeing oddities certainly.

Does anyone else? No. Do you? Yes. You know the drill: timing, selling, hope spots and cut offs, strikes and other offense, build to payoff in comedy spots, use of repetition. Start with the Rougeaus and Beverly Brothers matches.

When’s the last time you’ve really given the Bushwhackers a serious look?

Dark 10/5/21 Pinnacle 8 man: This was very much by the books. Spears, again, maybe looked a bit like a goof letting himself get clowned as he was giving the finger to the other side and losing the offense for his team, but since he took the pin, I guess it's ok. They did that multiple tag that 2.0/Garcia do at the end, which I appreciated. The Wardlow bit was good as he teased going up and giving up maybe too much but then floated out of it and hit the slam. That was well done. Abadon vs Rossi: Abadon currently feels like a foil for whoever her opponent is, which isn't so great in enhancement matches. The best part of this was when she adjusted her own head, but she still comes off as far more "Bizarre" than scary. Acclaimed vs Martinez/Morales: I liked the pacing of this more than the Cheech/Delaney match. The rap was better too. I'm working off of just a few data points still but Bowens seems more confident and reactive with more genuine reactions in there, his selling, his forearm and superkick, his taunt, etc. Sonny Kiss vs Kal Herro: Best I've seen Kiss look, though it was by toning down parts of the act. Just came out there like a killer though which fits the current storyline. All of the kicks looked good and the presence was pretty badass actually. Just demolished Herro after the first minute. Good squash. Statlander vs Zhang: Statlander knows what she is and she leans hard into it, and it's maybe not multifaceted but has a couple of facets at least (alien + strength + best friend) so it gives her a lot to work with in a match. Here, the boop was early, and she got to show off some of the strength stuff as well. Zhang followed up the idea she'd be putting Stalander to sleep with two snap suplexes, which was a choice. Comeback transition was timed perfectly as it was right when the fans were coming up with their clapping. The finish felt sufficiently nasty. Blue vs Wrenkowski: My first look at Wrenkowski I think and I liked her. I liked the whacks during the dragon sleeper. I loved the little stutter step change of pace when she started jaw jacking with a fan which gave Blue a hope spot. It was probably planned but she made it seem completely organic and like a deviation. I'm not sure about her staggered selling but it's probably better than just waiting around for a flying body press? Blue had a little repositioning snafu to sent up the axe kick, which is the stuff you notice. I'm not sure how I feel about the way she works in her little snaps. I think when she was firing back from underneath she could have let that sit in a bit more and milked it instead of rushing through it. If she's going to use the fisherman's suplex as a finish (which I don't love as I feel like a lot of people on the roster use it just as a middle move) she definitely needs to lock the arms together. Kingston vs Henry: Think this is my first look at Henry/Hale. Obviously this was really good. The spots where Henry took over (with the figure four dragon screw in the corner and then that huge spin kick on the outside) were really good and then it became an Eddie selling seminar. I liked Eddie pushing away the camera on the floor and the ref in the ring. That's just a presence thing that a lot of other people might not do. Henry's leg-related cutoffs worked for me. I liked how he'd switch gears, starting with one sort of move and then realizing and dropping back down to the leg. Henry had to deal with the fact that he could only keep Eddie down if he stayed with the leg but he's not the guy to get him to quit so he had to switch to other things. That meant he made one major mistake (after almost making a couple) and it was all over. Full worldwide point. Gunn Club vs Knott/Grillo/Stewart: Austin is still full on Brian Christopher. It generally works. I'm glad he got some comeuppance after mocking the tag. Billy's great as guy whose fist people run into. That punch after the fakeout on the crotch cross was great. All I remember from Colton is the manic stomps in the corner and I wonder if he should be more of a contrast of Austin, since he can't outdo him. I liked the blocked finish into a roll up ending by Austin and had to watch it back a few times. Diamante vs Garrett: Yeah, I kind of like all of the little flourishes Diamante do, like the gun shots during the entrance or leaning on the ref at the end. Shame Santana didn't get an entrance and Taz's Wonder Woman singing was pretty silly. It would have been a good moment to go into her background/story instead. Everything looked pretty good here. I liked Diamante's shift when she had the nerve hold, though the crowd wanted to clap Garrett up (and needed some instruction with leg stomping or something as half were clapping and half were chanting). I liked how the handspring didn't work and loved that a dropdown trip DID work. Seeing that stuff now and again makes normal occurrences mean more. The finish did not feel cooperative and that made it look especially painful. Blonds vs Wingmen: As we learned from the last match, the crowd needed some leading in their cheers. Thankfully, they got it. Liked the transition to heat because it had an extra wrinkle where Griff survived Drake's distraction but then got tripped a moment later. Nemeth chaining three amateur moves together and then taunting was solid stuff but then what the heck was Pillman doing using that moment to come in the ring as if he was going to break it a pin? Don't have faith that griff can survive a fireman's carry and a go behind take down and the flossing, Brian? I did really like the discus twist on the corner clothesline. No way that should have looked good given the sheer physics involved, but it did. Taz and Excalibur making fun of him for not getting out of the ring well to set up the finish (which was otherwise very good) wasn't nice though. Garcia vs Lockhart: Yeah, Garcia is a lot of fun to watch in this setting. He's just right in your face all the time and everything snaps. He reminds me of 1980 Dynamite Kid. Yeah, I said it. Not Benoit because the intensity was different and Benoit never quite had that same chip on the shoulder; he was always just glad to be there deep down. But watch some Dynamite in 1980 New Japan when he was heeling it up there. I want to see Garcia against almost everyone on the roster. Serpentico vs Marko: Yeesh, this wasn't great. What Worked: The stage dive spot by Serpentico. Missing the Flying Snake. Serpentico losing the offense due to his own (or Luther's) mistakes. The fact that whenever Serpentico did catch Marko, it had real impact. The celebratory feel of Serpentico winning. What Didn't Work: Flyweight Bully Marko Stunt taking so much of the first part of this. Quick shots are good. Tossing his own body at Serpentico is good. Tossing Serpentico into the guardrail far less so. My guess is that Marko took so much of this since he was losing. I would have been ok with Marko getting 1/3rd of the offense and having a big comeback after one of the missed moves before getting cut off. Blech. OC vs Comoroto: I was entertained by this one. Comoroto cracked the Cassidy code just by being so big and so strong. He powered his way through it literally, and then he got to do the poses back. That put him over as much as any power move he managed in the match. Again, OC can show that largess since he was winning. I wish they had played up Statlander's knee brace in her match if it was going to come into play here but that's probably asking too much for the YouTube show.

Will get to rec's at some point (Monday morning is a good time for me on some of these since I usually have the Catch watched over the weekend, NFF isn't worked out for another day or two, and I don't have Elevation/Dark yet). Thanks. Elevation 10/4/21 Emi vs Skye: Tony immediately regretting asking Eddie to talk is great. Eddie was great as within ten seconds he declares that he only likes Lulu, who is dope, and that Skye has to get over in another territory. Then Tony got the great line that no matter who wins or loses, he gets paid. Again, these aren't what you want for your A show but it's like Dusty being hilarious on WCW Prime. Match itself worked. It wasn't pretty but it worked. There's a line on smoothnness where if you straddle it right, the lack of such can feel like competitiveness. What helped was that the match played into it. Skye took Emi down and started wailing on her and she paid for it in a big way. I loved Lulu's stomps on the floor because they were so overwrought 80s pro wrestling. Big and ridiculous. If she was punching, she'd be doing the big Bret Hart stomping as she did. Emi going twice for the body press in the corner was a nice arrogant bit of transition. Skye's high cross body was as high as you get and worked as a near-fall even though it shouldn't have. The tilt-a-whirl was a perfect cut off moment and the Queen's Gambit looked great (that has to be a tough move to take and make look good). I'm not entirely sure what to think of this one. Skye looked good in the loss from a kayfabe level but I think, as a wrestler, she'd maybe get more out of doing a house show loop with Emi, than she did from this one match alone? 2.0 + Garcia vs Corino, Stetson, Thrillride: I love that we're in a world where Daniel Garcia gets an enhancement match. The intensity he showed at the start rushing Stetson probably wouldn't get to happen against most other opponents and it's a great looking at him. The triple tag thing they do where they make sure to tag both guys each time so they can triple team is really novel (to me at least). Corino had a nice idea of rolling out of the ring to eat the Matt Lee clothesline on the floor, but he was moving in slow motion getting down to do it. Garcia is quite good at milking the moment on his lean back on the Sharpshooter. Onemanthrillride really wasted his moment in the sun here. You have people's attention with the name and the look. Do something! Spears/Wardlow vs Stunt/Fuego: Hey, Fuego went for the French Catch up and over. He did it as part of an exchange instead of a counter to a top wristlock and because the motion of it was different and the basing of it was different, he didn't quite get it. Good thought though. Spears coming out with the Brodie shirt was his right and if he's going to do it, Elevation's a great place for it, but I think it disrupted his heel reaction a bit. When he did his "10!" thing it wasn't heelish enough and that hurt Fuego doing it in response. He's basically Borne Again but as a bunch of WWE lower-card acts instead. It works but boy does it have a ceiling. People really complain about Marko Stunt? He was used perfectly here, as a foil for guys like Wardlow to have bounce off them. Even when Marko started to get some momentum on him, it was only enough to get a quick hot tag and then work with Fuego. His big offensive move on Spears was just rolling away from him repeatedly. Maybe it was worse a year ago, but everyone in that ring understood who he was and what he was and how he should fit into the match. I was especially impressed with Wardlow's reactions to him. The double death valley driver was set up well (as in it didn't feel contrived) and Wardlow's finish looked a million times better than when he does it out of the corner. Archer vs Bruno: Glad to see Jake up and about but he has the presence of my 70 year old uncle out there. Archer definitely wasn't running (or power-walking) to the ring for this one. It's ok because Bruno was so big they could play it differently. Archer's a big guy who can do a lot of stuff and that, from what I've seen, generally holds it back to instead do a bunch of things he should be doing but at very high intensity. Here, he got to do some of the stuff because of Bruno's size and it worked and it didn't wear out its welcome. I think the value in Jake would be in taped package promos getting Archer or one of this feuds over more so than being at ringside. Abaddon vs Davienne: First look at Abaddon. Davienne sold the intimidation/fear at the start, but the scariest part of the match was Eddie almost dropping the F word. She comes off as more alien/outlandish than terrifying in the ring. A bunch of weird offense (that looks pretty good) and expressions. She definitely needs a handler of some sort. I'm not sure I loved Davienne taking so much of the start of this without more blatant no-selling? I don't know what to make of it with one data point, I guess. Santana/Ortiz vs Two Guys in Facepaint: I don't know about Santana and Ortiz. I think they're just not for me. Look at how creative and interesting the use of tags was in the 2.0 trios and then look at the four minutes of dull noise of doubleteams this was. They were fine, creative even, but I just wasn't feeling it. Henry was fine on commentary though. Good for him to get his laps in. Statlander vs Becca: Completely a Statlander match, with Becca's main contribution actively avoiding the boop, up until she didn't. I'd be curious to see what more of a Becca match looks like since she's obviously put a lot of care into her gear/personality. Lots of strength spots out of Statlander. I'm a sucker for interesting entry points into a goardbuster so long as they're not overly contrived and hers was good. I like how the boop's inevitability led to the inevitability of the finish. Statlander is someone who, moving forward, you can put against almost anyone on the roster and it'll be interesting, because she's so committed to her act and very consistent in what she does. Acclaimed vs Delaney/Cheech: I'd say more a case of missed opportunities than anything else. You want to see Delaney up against a guy like Archer right? that would have been true ten years ago at least. He had a good flurry but a guy on his level shouldn't be doing jumping springboard cutters. Cheech is another guy you'd probably like to see get mauled (I mean 15 years ago, right?). Caster could have done more with the rap considering who was in there. Kingston had some matches with Cheech in 05-06 and you kind of wish he'd been on commentary for this. It was obvious Tony had no idea who they were but that's ok. I like the Acclaimed in theory but you still get the sense they're putting it together. Both of them have around 200 matches on Cagematch despite being wrestling since 2015-6 and they'd just really benefit from House Shows. FTR vs Nystrom/Dean: First time hearing the new theme and it's pretty perfect. I kind of wish someone could convince Dax Harwood to watch some Blousons Noirs match because he reminds me so much of Marcel Manneveau in all the best ways. I get the sense that Wheeler might be more of the footage guy/historian. Wheeler's tackle off the apron was really good. If you're only going to get to do a few things, making them all like that really helps. Kiss vs KM: Fans were definitely behind Kiss. KM looked good out there for the most part. The immediate face drop out of the lock up and then later out of the wheelbarrow, the back targeting. Why the heck was he going up top so much though? Kiss' strikes looked good, including the handspring into a kick where I didn't think the distance would work out. The fans really wanted the fireman's carry to work out so I'm glad they got what they wanted. I'd see more KM. Gunn Club promo: This worked. They were frustrated about inconsequential stuff and Billy was patient until he wasn't. Gunn's head in the opening always freaks me out with the texturing. Scarier than Abadon.