Stiva

Thought for sure we were getting the Jericho and Inner Circle face turn but ending it with the credits and the heels celebrating was hilarious. I’m not sure about building a Jericho tribute and ending it with a tease is the way to go to sustain the angle but whatever. If you watch back, Wardlow and Hager refuse to break eye contact with each other as the ring fills up in a great touch. Dug the show well enough but they need the extra hour show right now; the roster is real deep and the women definitely need more of a focus and more time to get things over

My friend has just bought a Wrexham home shirt and we’re from Newcastle so already the money is flowing into the club

Great return to form. That main event was wild in a way that I was never expecting Best Friends to get; Trent took some absolutely nasty bumps, my god. You can tell there's something in the water when both Hager and Chuck Taylor put in top-drawer performances. I've said it before and I'll say it again; Moxley and Darby's weird little friendship might be my favourite long-running story in AEW. Two loners that always help each other out because they're both headcases is great and Moxley picking Hobbs is exactly something he'd do. Though I am surprised they haven't booked a stronger card for LND since I'm not sure Jericho being on commentary is enough. I'd have maybe had a Young Bucks match in there too.

They've earned some goodwill but these past couple of weeks have been total stinkers. I made the comment in jest but Tony Khan having to concentrate on getting Fulham ready for the Premier League has coincided with it, not to mention Cody being missing. In it's place we've had a ton of gimmicks and way too much shitty comedy that thinks it's funny. I'm hoping that they dial it back a bit when Archer/Moxley and Omega/Page get going. Giving Kingston something to sink his teeth into would help too since Fenix/Pentagon could be a good feud with him in the middle, playing them off each other to get what he wants. And yeah, Miro with Kip Sabian of all people feels like a rib on me. Unless this ends with him stealing Penelope Ford and throwing Sabian into the sea. As mentioned, Jericho/Hager should be Jericho/Sammy since it's the far more entertaining pair. It says a lot when Joey Janela's heat segments are becoming the best parts of the show.

I’d bet they run Cassidy/Brodie for the TNT Title.

Shida/Rosa was great. Rosa doesn’t need to stick around because any time she comes back, she’s an instant threat. i really like AEWs big tag matches; everyone gets some good shine, they always make sure to further a couple of angles and some of the worst tendencies tend to be pushed to one side. Dustin/Brodie has potential to be TV MOTY

Now that Hardy is sticking around, they should use the massive concussion to explain why he’s suddenly another personality on Wednesday

Jesus Christ, if I was wrestling on this card, I wouldn’t leave my feet

Kingston leading his guys after Moxley is far more interesting than Archer but Archer has done nothing since the Cody match so why not give Moxley another monster to slay

I feel terrible laughing because I love Sydal but holy shit, that was hilarious

Hearing an actual crowd pop huge for Darby shows just how well they’ve done with him

As the real opener, that worked. Turning The Bucks and Omega heel after they’ve spent a year building people below them up works but not sure how it leads to the Bucks/FTR match

That was not very good. They were right to have it on the pre-show initially

Opening with the cinematic match is a bold move

Brandi cutting promos with the exact same cadence as rhythm as Cody is pretty wholesome.

I think most of these matches should be good, even if the booking has definitely stuttered in the last couple of weeks. I’m going to blame Fulham’s transfer window

I’m glad they got some seriousness back into MJF but that almost feels like the angle they should have run last week with a recap this. I also agree that the Bucks/Page/Omega stuff is far too cute but the Bucks trying to be too clever by half isn’t anything new. Serena as the women’s midcard veteran feels like a good role for her, especially considering how green a lot of their women are. But we can call this show a success because it had a Luchasaurus hot tag that contained no contrived strike exchanges with guys who never usually do them.

I thought JR did a decent job with the Kingston/Cody match because he could get into the story behind it with Eddie’s sacrificing and his one big shot. That’s the stuff he can still nail.

Reigns is definitely a heel because he made us wait through another full Wyatt/Strowman match before coming in to win. Of course, everyone that doesn’t do that in a triple threat match from here until eternity is an idiot but that’s WWE booking for you

I may have an unpopular opinion but MJF in the ring and duelling with Moxley made him look a lot worse than you’d expect. Mox still came off as the undisputed ace of the promotion while MJF still felt a couple of steps behind, even with his good, rehearsed promo. I have a feeling they’re going with Moxley retaining and then running Moxley/Archer for the title until someone comes along who feels as transcendent as Moxley. Agree that the Page stuff felt needlessly convoluted and it felt like a cheap way to protect the Bucks who have pretty much proven to be bulletproof. I know FTR are winning the belts and they’re going to the Bucks feud but still, the Bucks have enough cache where they can get their momentum back instantly. Thank god we now have Thunder Rosa, Diamanté and Ivelisse because that women’s match was something straight out of 2003 Smackdown. Sabian as Ford’s Marc Mero is perfect booking though. Britt, Nyla and the three previously mentioned feels like a division you can do something interesting with post All Out. Not to be ultra critical, I dug the 8–man and the gauntlet (Page finish aside) and liked Cardona and Sky coming to the valiant rescue a week after they should have. Cassidy just fucking sprinting at Jericho was fantastic but Sammy/Matt was AWESOME. No messing around with a slow start, just straight into violence and in that sense, maybe a TV main event was a better choice than a PPV match, just to keep it tight. Between Matt/Sammy and Best Friends/Santana and Ortiz being on TV, I have a feeling that a lot of All Out matches are going long.

McAfee was and has been great. Give Big E a title run and let’s have Big E vs McAfee promo battles

I just don't see it in-ring. She carries herself well and is a solid babyface but I can't remember a singles match that she's had that has been any good. It's a lot of her opponent waiting around as she lines up moves and she doesn't seem to have chemistry with anyone else on the roster.

Glad they gave Cassidy the win but I still feel like they're going to do the third match at All Out with Tyson around. Dug the show but yeah, Jericho looked awful in the main and he needs a super-reduced schedule from now on. Let him talk and work a few PPV matches a year. I loved the FTR/RnR angle and I still think Cody goes with them, FTR and Spears with Cardona being the babyface that gets killed to establish them. I also popped for Ricky's York Foundation shirt and need one immediately. Other than that, I really hope this women's tag tournament gives the division a renewed focus because Shida isn't doing it for me as champ and Diamante and Ivelisse being the top heels sounds so much better as far as I'm concerned. I'm assuming one of those challenges Shida at All Out, unless they go with Brandi but Jesus, that's not a match I want to see. MJF and Moxley was a good segment but MJFs promo is leaning into worked-shoot shit too heavily at times; AEW have ridden that line of acknowledging reality around their wrestlers but cracks about "looking up at the lights" is still bullshit about guys having to put Moxley over, no matter how you dress it up.

I was excited for Lee Johnson/Fenix but Johnson is definitely better at being a bump freak right now since he seemed a step or two behind Fenix at all times. Dark is a good spot for him while he improves some more. Griff Garrison and Pillman Jr teaming together as the curly haired, pretty boy baby face jobbers gives me a warm 80s vibe though.

Dave losing his mind over the Dominik/Seth angle was great. He's just about at breaking point these days.