Matt D

Tony Nese is probably the guy who surprised me the absolute most in AEW from what I thought he was when he came in to how good he actually is. He's really good at doing exactly what the moment demands as opposed to trying to just have a five star match or whatever.

One other personal thing. I almost never get to catch the shows live. I usually watch them on my own terms, picking and choosing a little (and there are some matches with wrestlers I don't like as much or on Dark/Elevation, I might watch on 1.25x speed if it's something I still want to catch, I'll admit that; I still get a lot of enjoyment out of those, again on my own terms). But I am watching mostly everything now, one way or another, save for the stuff I really don't want to see. And while I look forward to matches, I look forward to seeing the taping spoiler lineups for Dark/Elevation/ROH and the end-of-the-show announcement of next week's matches on Dynamite/Rampage almost as much as watching the matches themselves. The giant roster means that there are so many possibilities and I love hearing we're going to get something as out there as Jay White vs Kommander or Taya vs Emi or whatever, or that we'll get Hijo de Vikingo vs Gringo Loco (not even a match that's targeted to me but I still think it'll be great for what it is) or even Colt vs Samoa Joe (just to see what that'd look like) this week on ROH. It's just fun to anticipate what might get booked given all the talent. So I'm happy about another show just for the possibilities. That's what I personally enjoy the most out of AEW, those match up graphics and taping results. It's like opening a deck of trading cards as a kid.

I’m pretty excited for a soft brand split personally. The main benefit is that the only guy in the Elite I ever want to watch is Cutler and I only have so much time, but I think there could be spillover benefits when it comes to being forced to focus on wrestlers and not having so much start/stop stuff. I also think it’s a terrible idea relative to having people go through mediation and counseling and whatever else. It’s just one that will benefit me personally.

Embry was great. I agree.

Jerome is correct.

I'm actually a big fan of partially immobile Keith Lee, much more so than mobile super indy Keith Lee, especially in the center of AEW. Jericho was treating him like 89 Andre who could actually do the strength spots and Lee was working the match pretty much like that. You wouldn't want every match on every show to be worked like that but one match every few weeks really stands out.

Until he does it again…

Despite my misgivings with modern WWE tropes and trappings, I’m probably going to watch all the matches with Sheamus/Drew/Gunther comp style in the next year or so.

Do I want to understand what these words mean?

It's a whole promotion based around people who can do the Malenko/Guerrero stuff. It's nice to see MJF as something else and annoying when he does it as well to prove to the fans that he can wrestle, or whatever.

I wasn’t a fan of those matches. Anyone can do that stuff in 2023. He’s much more interesting when he’s doing an abdominal stretch and holding onto the ropes.

Here's where I am on the PPV. I'm generally pretty positive about this stuff, but not this time. Ultimately, there are a few things I'm looking forward to seeing on the card, like more Jarrett/OC interaction, but no actual matches. That said, I'm very positive on both the ROH taping and the upcoming ROH PPV. Like I said before, given the talent and Tony's penchant to book good matches, if you don't like AEW, just wait a few weeks. But I'm not liking this PPV at all on paper.

Maybe our cruel trip through purgatory ends this week?

Only reason I’m upset about the tag result is that I wanted Orange Cassidy vs Jeff Jarrett at the PPV more than almost any other match they’ve been building.

If Vince is back, I really don't see it unless AEW lowballs them.

Booking a territory in 1983 is different than booking a national promotion in 2023. You can send a crowd home upset if you're going to make them happy a month or two down the line. Heat's on the promotion, not the heel. There were ways to give the crowd something more even if Sami was losing. But again, I think a lot of it is that they even booked themselves into the corner in the first place.

I was on the fence but I'll check it out this week. Thanks.

Blame the company for booking themselves into this situation.

The AEW ref corps >>>> HBK’s dramatic acting. George Steele, Baron Von Rashcke, Missing Link >>>> HBK’s dramatic acting. This is not a high bar!

@elliott You should check out the Austin Idol episode. They spend five minutes talking about the plane crash, five talking about the new NWA/his school, and maybe five (if that) talking about being Austin Idol and Lawler, but the rest of it is entirely about his Mike McCord days.

Mauro is far better than McAfee. And I thought Mauro was the worst.

Agree that it was a pretty good Rumble. Banger Bros controlling the middle worked well.

I'm pretty desensitized to corporate stuff, but the article with the exec talking about how they were trying to please the same sort of people who like pro wrestling with the slapfight show and just really, you know, give them what they want deep down, happening at the same time as this, is pretty annoying.

I tapped midway through the first match. I like the idea of Jarrett’s goofs interacting with Cassidy’s goofs but not tonight maybe. Will try again tomorrow.

We should invite him for GWE2026