Stiva

Jericho doesn’t seem demonstrably older than he did last year. Putting him in matches with the likes of Top Flight exposes him somewhat but that’s on the Booker. The main matches for him going forward seem to be MJF and Wardlow which are probably in his wheelhouse

This was a better show than previous weeks, partly because we got the likes of MJF, Dustin, Evil Uno and Pac working in-ring. I get that the Bucks want to work with the younger teams and put them over in defeat but Bucks/Natural Nightmares feels like it would be a far stronger TV main event than the Bucks working another green team. Bowens and Castor have a great look but yeah, the rap gimmick is death and the video/song they showed early on was terrible. Kind of amazed that the Good Brothers didn’t show but I’m assuming that’s being kept for a live show. I loved MJF using Santana’s grief to win them over to his side, what a fantastic heel move to advance that program. I assume that Shida slaying Abbadon will invalidate her looking weak with her every week but I’d heat up the Thunder Rosa/Britt Baker program fairly quickly and shift the belt into that feud in the new year. Still, a really easy watch, even if they are beginning to lose me with the direction they're going with certain programs and acts but that’s really just my own personal preferences, rather than any errors on their part

I had a feeling that Tony Khan wouldn't be able to resist the allure of TV but playing out a McMemphis act on Impact is probably the best way to ease yourself into doing it.

New Donk City is one of the top 5 video game levels of all time. Exploring that will be a much better use of your time than watching Raw.

Bret repeatedly asking people if they “had the jam” to step against the Hart Foundation is one of my favourite wrestling related phrases. I’ve never heard it from anyone else.

Tonight’s Dynamite is a live one, right? Would be a good time to get The Good Brothers to show up on that show as a surprise, especially once Moxley gets involved in the Omega/Janela match

I saw that Charlotte's return is "planned" and if it isn't just "Charlotte is number 30 in the Royal Rumble" I'll be amazed.

That's exactly what I thought of when I saw Khan's promo. It feels like a trial run and he really isn't a bad promo, all things considered. Omega's title collector gimmick is a great idea but trying to book when and how he loses/wins the titles seems like a headache I could never want,.

Seems like he's had a nightmare year from a personal POV (on top of everything else). Right before Christmas as well, awful. I'm glad they've done another great rating but it feels like a lot of this show was built on promos that would deliver clarifications or further directions on storylines and not a single one did that.

Thanks, I hadn’t seen any news on it. I was worried that he had quietly left for a second which would break up my favourite AEW team

That’ll be why he hasn’t wrestled since then and Silver got a mini singles push, obviously. I thought this show started well enough with that ridiculous opener and then got steadily worse. The Shaq/Brandi stuff was muddled, as was the Cody/Sting angle. Sting can’t possibly be a heel, I can see Shaq being the babyface but Cargill definitely isn’t but Brandi is acting heelish despite having a broken arm. Let’s streamline this thing a bit. At least it’s giving a lot of the women something to do. What’s the deal with Santana? Is he carrying an injury? Or something more personal since he’s been in the pre-tapes (I believe) but hasn’t actually appeared in-ring since the Best Friends match, I believe. There’s only so much goodwill they get from delaying the Omega announcement across two separate shows. Moxley coming back next week, driving through that gap in the stadium, of course, seems like an obvious angle. For some reason, the live Dynamite shows always feel better paced than their taped shows.

Glad Marko is adding something to the mix where he can be smashed in the head by a guitar to set up a feud somewhere down the line. Dustin dropped a good promo and Rebel’s fake laugh is fantastic. Solid segment. Apparently Nyla and Vickie are going to be aligned with Shaq and Jade Cargill for the feud so I’m assuming Cargill is too green to carry too much of the in-ring portion of it?

This is my thinking tbh. I have mixed feelings about Impact vs AEW but I’m not sure anyone saw it coming and it’s a hell of a hook for next week. I’m guessing Sting is number 4 for War Games with Team Taz and I’m looking forward to Moxley living out his Stone Cold dreams by smashing into Impact in his muscle car. As mentioned, the women’s division will improve immensely and we may also get The North working in the tag ranks. I dig the general chaos and excitement of it all so mission accomplished.

Oh well. That’s what I get for not watching these marathon Dark shows every week

The real joy of Dark this week was me discovering Peter Avalon’s new music. Fantastic. The gimmick probably needs a bit more money pumper into it; I want to see Pretty Peter vignettes, a string of beauty queen valets, t-shirts with his face on, Pretty Peter masks on the AEW merch store. Book it, TK

I don’t want Mox to lose just yet but suit-wearing, dickhead Omega has won me over these last few weeks. I’d be reluctant to switch the belt since I don’t think Omega has any face challengers lined up off the top of my head but it’s the first title match in a long time that I genuinely have no idea which way it’ll turn so I’m pumped.

I dig the idea of Sliver being the one who breaks the Dark Order’s chains since he’s already getting over and he’s great fun in-ring. Rather him than bloody Colt Cabana

God, what terrible news. I loved Rave; his dedication to being a fantastic, slimy heel on those workrate heavy ROH shows was always fantastic and he was so young there too. Could have and should have been a top heel for the rest of his time. One of the best Southern territory heels who was sadly born too late

Nothing wrong with a non-finish if the feud is heated up more coming out of it. A decade of WWE doing it wrong doesn’t invalidate 30 years of evidence it can be done right. Providing you’re not doing them all the time, you don’t lose any of your fans trust, especially if you give them the match with a definitive finish down the line which I’m sure they will.

I know they hate doing DQs and schmozz finishes but this could really do with one and then building again for the PPV.

Just want to say that I’m English and Peter Shilton is a boring old, lead-legged, racist, wife-cheating dickhead and I’m glad Maradona punched one past him. I didn’t watch NXT.

I really hope Miro manages to rediscover what he had since sheesh... I’m into baby face Archer though since he’s already been the monster challenger for both titles and I assume he’s going to settle into a gatekeeper role now. I dig how simple they’ve kept the Moxley/Omega build; some good shit talking and Omega cementing his heel turn and that’s all you need. I assume Cody is finally going to get his War Games against Team Taz?

Sydal is good but I wish they’d go out and sign guys who don’t flip and fly. Top Flight are now in the tag ranks and they were gutted about losing Ben Carter who fit that mould too. Go out and get more guys like Butcher and Blade to have some variation in the shows.

Really dug that show; angles kept trucking nicely, the Hobbs turn was a nice impactful one and the Rosa/Baker pull apart was a genuinely hot angle in a division that has been desperately needing one. The Inner Circle and Jericho coming immediately after the Moxley mystery attacker angle makes me think it was them who laid him out and hatred of Moxley is what’s uniting MJF and Jericho. Omega looked great in that suit though, great heel look. Top Flight looked very accomplished for their age, even if that opener was hilariously choreographed from start to finish but if it means more Jack Evans on TV, I’m all for it

I actually thought they struck a good balance this week in the sense that it felt more like 1995 Saturday Night in that it ended up featuring people in ways that felt useful instead of just a parade of squashes. The Waiting Room has definite potential but I’d say it needs something in there for someone to be hit with/put through. I really do hope we actually get an extended Jack Evans run on Dynamite as a result of it. Im also getting a kick out of old and slowed down Frankie Kazarian building matches around strikes. I think it’s the most I’ve ever enjoyed him.