Stiva

PPV as a whole felt like the flattest AEW show since that one where they almost killed Matt Hardy and that one had the excuse of being a COVID lockdown show. The whole booking direction feels like Khan is completely burned out and if his response to that is to lay on the work/shoot bullshit thicker than ever, then no thanks. I’m good, especially with MJF coming back who literally cannot cut a promo without slipping in “shoot” comments. If these are a potential work, Punk is a good enough worker to get himself over as a heel without this shit and if it’s all shoot, this company is a total shitshow behind the scenes and that’s not something I’m interested in because the shows are beginning to suffer in a big way. To have a Chicago AEW crowd be so quiet for vast portions of the show is maybe a sign that something isn’t working. I’m not big on the Bucks, Page and Omega but at least they’re all on the same page and their shit is coherent. Everything else in this company is making me hugely frustrated and confused. Says something when WWE can lose VINCE MCMAHON and all the craziness that entails and CATC was way more logical and coherent than All Out. If you’d said that 6 months ago, you’d be laughed out the room

It’s been a pretty underwhelming and confusing build but I have a good feeling about this show. I think there’s going to be a ton of good moments for a lot of the roster with a hot crowd. Even the Zero Hour looks like the worlds best episode of Rampage

Fury sang American Pie after his last fight at Wembley and it was a bit of a thing for a week or so. This does feel like a post-show promo that is being aired wrongly though

Damn good show to jump back in with. It was great to watch a WWE show where it felt there was a genuine plan and direction for people that weren’t called Roman Reigns. I’m still not watching 3 hours of Raw though

The fakeout Theory cash-in spot with Tyson Fury was fucking fantastic.

There was a real lull in the middle but this started well and is now starting to pick up a bit. Gunther and Sheamus did the heavyweight slugfest better earlier in the night though, just with less finisher kick outs

I can see the thought process but then you’re going with the story that Tony Khan brings him back to the company after his unprofessional rant and puts him straight in a number one contender match. It’d blow the roof off the place, I know that for sure.

Yeah, man. This feels like a huge deal with it playing

Kross at ringside has to be a red herring, right? Everyone thinks he’s going to fuck it up for Drew but Drew sees him off and beats Roman? They heavily featured the Bulldog win at SS 92 earlier on the show, wouldn’t surprise me if they wanted that for a new era

Must say, pretty much everyone on this show feels like a big deal with these crowd reactions. It’s light years away from a couple of years ago, everything feels really hot

Oh good, we’re still doing shitty mid-match dialogue

Yeah, straight faced Seth just straight up telling Riddle that his entire family life collapsed was a great heel bit and then he comes out in a Masked Singer outfit laughing at fuck all. Kind of ruins things a bit

This entire Rollins act seems very forced and unauthentic.

Man, that’s getting some HEAT! That saved a middling match. I want to hear heel Dominick Mysterio promos, I’m totally intrigued by that kid

Did Rey’s kid take his shoes off to kick Edge in the dick?

Rhea Ripley IS Quan-Chi!

No idea how Rey’s son is in-ring but he doesn’t seem to know where to put himself in terms of his body language and general demeanour, bless him

That was fucking great. Is there anyone else in WWE that they can throw in front of Gunther to have stiff bomb throwing epics? If not, just run that back in a few months

Big heavyweights sucking wind as they beat the piss out of each other in front of a rabid crowd. There’s not a lot better, boys

Ha, that stare down as the other guys brawl was a clever way to get some spotlight on the tag teams for a bit

Wait, they actually called the German guy LUDWIG KAISER?! That’s an incredible bit of 1970s regional wrestling heeldom brought into 2022

Nah, I’m here, my brother. No way I’m missing Sheamus/WALTER.

As someone who hasn’t watched WWE in a long while, the difference in commentary is night and day. They’re still shoehorning clumsy nicknames in but all three feel far more relaxed. It’s night and day if you haven’t been watching for a bit

Man, that crowd looks fantastic.

If Clash at the Castle didn’t….clash with the Newcastle game, I’d be watching my first live WWE PPV for who knows who long? The rumble where Edge returned maybe? Either way, the buzz coming back to WWE is good stuff and I’m intrigued to see them put on a strong stadium show with a really hot crowd.