Stiva

FWIW, I can't remember seeing much resentment toward Charlotte until she got wedged into the Becky/Ronda program. That was a HHH-esque move if there ever was one.

Fenix is out of the PPV, replaced by...Joey Janela. What an incredible downgrade.

I thought this was a pretty solid go-home show. Ten showed some good stuff, MJF worked a perfect competitive squash and Rey/Fenix was pretty fantastic. The two have great chemistry even though those dives after the match were terrifying. Did nobody want to even try and catch them?

The final entrant in the ladder match is a “mystery entrant”. Let the speculation begin

The problem with Otis is that nobody on top is a good enough foil with him. He probably needs someone like Planet’s Champion Daniel Bryan to heel up and cut promos on him rather than Strowman/Wyatt but that can’t happen now, obviously.

Not a lot of tonight worked for me, sadly. In-ring anyway. 2020 looks like it needs to be Chris Daniels’ retirement year and the women’s 4 way was a shambles. Did Santana and Ortiz ever get their title shot? I honestly can’t remember. I imagine Page is handing off the title to Matt Hardy so they have to go over but still, I love me Santana and Ortiz. Vanguard getting destroyed was hilarious. Everyone on the roster taking Matt Hardy completely serious is making it so much better.

I really have had my fill of this production style now. The women having to do their entrance poses while standing in the lobby was preposterous; are we even supposed to pretend these are real people now? Bryan rounding the corner shouting "Is everybody ready for a fight?!" was funny though; that dude knows he's bulletproof.

“Scarlett” seems a fine name to me. Shortening that one is way less stupid than taking guys first names from them. Lest we forget MURPHY

The main event was so ridiculous once it got backstage that I loved it. Matt Hardy's demented face while driving the cart with Omega hanging out the window was an amazing visual. The balls on Sammy to just jump into it too; it was like a Jackass stunt.

Wasn’t the MITB match filmed a couple of weeks ago? So, how does that line-up with AJ coming back? Was that the plan all along? Or was the MITB filming story incorrect?

I think he booked that hot Smackdown run right after the 2016 draft where he made do with a pretty ragtag bunch. I have no idea where he went after that but I presume he's working under Heyman?

My dream future of NXT is Keith Lee as the unconquerable babyface with Stokely Hathaway bringing in guy after guy to go after him. In a world without COVID-19, Keith Lee, WALTER, Riddle, Dunne and Fantasma would be an awesome main event crop on the men's side while they can finally send The Undisputed ERA to bore me on Smackdown instead.

Cody/Darby was good but I wasn't feeling the finish. It felt like overly cute when I was hoping the leg work would play into things a bit more. The idea of tweaking the knee on a bridge is a very neat idea and a natural way to begin limbwork. MJF having a string of minor, career-threatening injuries is fantastic; I was hoping we'd get weekly dispatches from him and Britt Baker and they haven't disappointed. Having Havoc, Sabian and Chuck Taylor all in one match seems like some kind of cosmic punishment, especially considering the stand-out stars in both groups are the seconds. Still, if you have to use Havoc and Sabian, getting a month-long feud designed to put the Best Friends over seems like the best case scenario. And that was a great TV main event. I really wish Dustin Rhodes could wrestle forever but if he can coach the young guys to be half as good as him, AEW will be fine. Seriously. That was an incredible segment; I cracked up huge at the reveal of Raven having her name on her tights and Britt still getting it wrong. It's a shame that her character work is miles ahead of her in-ring work at this point.

I'm not even sure you believe that. Go look back at the threads during Bryan's run to Mania and tell me that AEW has half of the laser focus WWE had then. People were dissecting entire Stephanie promos.

Solid show but it definitely peaked with the opener. I don't see a lot in Wardlow other than MJFs muscle, especially when Brodie Lee is also squashing dudes, looking better doing it. The less said about Kenny Omega letting job guys get sustained runs of offense on him when he's supposed to be a main eventer, the better. They're doing the best with what they have but man, it has to suck featuring Jimmy Havoc every week because he lives in the area. Does Jimmy Rave still live in Georgia? They should have brought him in for these tapings.

Some worrying news from MJF, fingers crossed whatever the surgery is heals him.

Not sure if anyone is still watching this week-by-week but I can fully recommend seeking out the Mike Jackson vs. Johnny Swinger match for a 70-year-old guy who is in better shape than most of us, I'm sure.

It genuinely wouldn't surprise me if they had completely forgot Lars Sullivan is on the books. They have such a bloated roster that someone will slip through the cracks, WCW style.

This show remains an incredibly easy show to watch and get into. The opener was fine and achieved what it needed to but I hope they got plenty of these Jake interviews in the can. Hearing him monologue to a backdrop of his client kicking the shit out of people is great. Britt Baker's promo was fantastic and I also hope that they continue to encourage the wrestlers to send in their own videos during lockdown. Things like that and The Bubbly Bunch, even the Techniques with Taz are, if done with good production values and the right performance, are still engaging ways to fill out the shows and aid in character and story development. Sammy Guevara remains my favourite guy in the promotion, I think. He's pretty much knitting everything together really well and Jericho's psychosexual fixation with him only adds to his whole gimmick. Also, Jericho and Tony are a brilliant pairing. Like said, they're clearly having a blast together and the way they naturally gel has made them AEWs best commentary team so far. "The Sex God always ends up on top!" popped me big. I didn't really need to see Chuck Taylor in a long singles match but the ending bullshit was entertaining enough and I suppose it makes sense to put Havoc and Sabian together to fill the quarantine tag ranks out a bit. The main was a bit of a disappointment considering it's hype; the in-ring segments were good but I thought the actual empty arena brawling was a let-down and plodding. I appreciated them laying it in, though and the finish was a nice, uncomplicated killshot. Still, I wonder where Moxley goes for Double or Nothing. It seems too early for Brodie Lee so maybe they do Hager/Moxley II?

Not the Fink The best to ever do it

Yeah, I'm very cognisant of the times we're in and just how much everything is going to be shaken up and how many lives will be affected but it's also quite therapeutic to do a bit of fantasy booking in my head. It helps distract from the more depressing reality that's outside the window.

I can't remember the last time I watched All Japan. What recent stuff should I dig out during this lockdown?

I'm all for Rusev showing up in New Japan.

If they furlough the NXT UK workers then, yeah, they'll get 80% of their wages from the government and WWE should kick in the remaining 20% Though, if they fire them outright, I'm fairly sure they won't be entitled any other government assistance than the welfare system so I really hope someone in WWE explains to Vince the furlough system before he just cuts the entire roster adrift.

I assume 205 Live is now just going to be rolled into NXT proper? I imagine Maverick is the first of many cruisers cut, not to mention NXT UK.