Jmare007 Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 I'm a complete outsider when it comes to AEW. Saw the clip making the rounds and laughed my ass off at some of the memes. BUT, couldn't they "save" it by having Moxley come out to cut a promo on Dynamite making fun of Kenny not being able to "finish him" with explosion, only for then to have a legit big FMW-like ring explosion with the ring collapsing? Then Kenny comes out all cocky like "you were saying "?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 This is the best idea to salvage the whole angle. Surely beats having Omega as a kayfabe moron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingoPlaysDrums Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 I'd say the street fight overdelivered and the ladder match underdelivered. Why were Cody, Arn and co. loitering around the tunnel for ages before finally disappearing (and then coming back soon after)? That was so distracting. There were some awkward spots as well. Compared to what we're used to in WWE, AEW's multi man ladder matches have all felt a bit off imo. Perhaps the production is the main reason for that? Archer was easily the best part of the match for me with Penta and Cody being more memorable than the rest. And since it seemed like this match was going to be all about giving Sky, Caster (and Page) the chance to shine I can't say that it really worked in that regard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Hats 4.0 Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 At the risk of continuing the negativity and being nitpicky (as always, much easier to note what I didn't like than what I did), why was Cody even in the ladder match? He has been kept pretty special for the last year and a half, but he came across as just another guy last night. Genuine questions about deathmatches: do they all have a time limit after which the ring is set to explode? Have any, before last night, ever finished before the time limit? If so, does the ring still explode even after a decisive result? Even before the dud, I was not clear on why the countdown was continuing. Omega's finisher on the chair was sick, but the finish was off to me because I figured the match was going through the thirty minute mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Just now, Cowboy Hats 4.0 said: Genuine questions about deathmatches: do they all have a time limit after which the ring is set to explode? Have any, before last night, ever finished before the time limit? If so, does the ring still explode even after a decisive result? Even before the dud, I was not clear on why the countdown was continuing. Omega's finisher on the chair was sick, but the finish was off to me because I figured the match was going through the thirty minute mark. Technically speaking, Onita vs Sasuke ended before the time limit ran out, but the ring still exploded. It's the best ending a deathmatch ever saw, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 I can’t believe they had the greatest idea for Kingston’s babyface turn and they fucked up the execution so badly. Like it or not, that’s straight from WCWs worst. I actually thought the show delivered for the most part but man, what a damp ending. Omega vs Christian should be a good DON main though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: Technically speaking, Onita vs Sasuke ended before the time limit ran out, but the ring still exploded. It's the best ending a deathmatch ever saw, IMO. That's funny because someone asked me a few days ago what would be the deathmatch to recommend for a new viewer who was apprehensive about the Revolution main event and my answer straight away was the Onita/Sasuke one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Faulconer Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Just now, SirEdger said: That's funny because someone asked me a few days ago what would be the deathmatch to recommend for a new viewer who was apprehensive about the Revolution main event and my answer straight away was the Onita/Sasuke one. They had a second one in 2003 as well.  I have seen the first one on tape in robably 2000...maybe 2001.  I am an MPro completist until mid2004ish in their history.  The second one Is a match I have never read or heard a single word about one way or another.  I have no good reason to explain away keeping it unwatched and on the shelf.  I am going to guess that it wasn’t as good as the first one. If excited fans can be disappointed in a surprise  then I think I can make an educated gamble and downplay the expectations for the second (maybe the last...maybe) Sasuke/Onita singles death match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 4 hours ago, Loss said: I think that's uniquely important to AEW. Their greatest strength, more than their talent roster or booking or match quality, is that they are seen as the more fan-friendly and honest alternative to WWE. They have rejected the carny spin attempts that have been common in wrestling in the past, and I think they have to commit to that. Now's not the time to embrace it. The lesson of last night is that expectation is the creator of disappointment. I think they need to get back to their bread and butter of cultivating their own homegrown stars and delivering exciting television shows instead of looking for easy solutions in the forms of WWE signings and gimmick matches that can't deliver based on the hype. It's going to take them a long time to grow and I think they have to just accept that this is a long road and buckle in. Figure out where they want to be in 1-2 years and just stick to it instead of the desperation approach we've seen lately. Basically agree wholesale with this. NXT is off Wednesdays in the near future, their TV ratings are going to be rock solid no matter what so I really hope they get back to having strong weekly TV that builds to the big shows. There’s so many potential matches they could build to that don’t need grand stips or gimmickry. Just give me 6 months of simple, effective wrestling TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 I thought the Bucks tag, the tag team battle royale, and the Women's Title match were all very good. After that, the show definitely took a downhill slide.  When it comes to the ending of the main event.... They obviously can't ignore this, but they also shouldn't dwell on it. Kingston can simply say that the adrenaline of the situation and the fear for his friends well being caused him to pass out. Eddie is good enough to sell that shit. As for the announcers reaction, I think they just have to ignore it, and go tongue in cheek acknowledging the screw up. If they are going with Omega/Callis purposefully making the explosion suck as the story.... maybe they could play off another famous wrestling fuck up.....  How about, this week on Dynamite, we get a video of Don Callis and Omega paying off the "explosives expert." Have the whole video shot from the expert's point of view as Callis and Omega are talking to him. Then at the end have the guy take the money and be like "No problem gentleman. Now let me get back to work." Pivot the camera around to show Fred Ottman grinning, have him slip on a stormtrooper helmet instead of a welding mask, and then he goes back to work on the barbed wire as the video ends.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 By the way, remember the contretemps a few months ago over JR being publicly critical of certain aspects of AEW when a few of you were insisting that the announcers always have to put the product over no matter what? Well, last night the announcers tried their best to put the explosions over only for Tony to hang them out to dry. That's the problem with automatically putting everything over. It eventually kills your credibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Well at this point it is what it is, shit happened and everyone got their lols. Best thing to do now is to move on and focus on everything that was set up by the show:  Maki Itoh is going to get over like mad with her antics, and her teaming with Britt will be a sight for sure. Jericho is seemingly about to get punked out of the Inner Circle with MJF pulling a coup. Silver vs PAC in a LITTLE MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT match seems sure to happen soon. Bucks vs PAC/Fenix will surely be amazing just because everything Fenix does is amazing. Scorpio Sky will have his TNT title match and they seemed to be planting the seeds for a heel turn.  Also they need to come up with some kind of alliance to fight Team Callis. My biggest issue with the main event was how the Kenny and the Good Brothers beat up Mox forever and no one came out to help. I know Mox's gimmick is that he's a lone wolf, but it came off as very "nWo beats up a WCW guy and no one comes out" to me.   .  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Tony apologising for it and Kingston cutting a promo where he makes a kayfabe explanation is the best way to move forward I would think. I mentioned in the beginning of this thread that I have thought that AEW's booking has been inconsistent for a while now. Hopefully this means they never hotshot a gimmick match to heat up a cold PPV and instead allow booking and stories to sell the PPV. Doing the former instead of the latter means that you always rely on the gimmickry failing and you having nothing to back it up. Good booking, on the other hand, always allows you to have a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 I agree with you there, but I think they always wanted to go big for the feud ender between Moxley and Omega. Plus, most people I'm seeing weren't disappointed by the match itself, but the post-match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 7 hours ago, Jmare007 said: I'm a complete outsider when it comes to AEW. Saw the clip making the rounds and laughed my ass off at some of the memes. BUT, couldn't they "save" it by having Moxley come out to cut a promo on Dynamite making fun of Kenny not being able to "finish him" with explosion, only for then to have a legit big FMW-like ring explosion with the ring collapsing? Then Kenny comes out all cocky like "you were saying "?. The problem with that is that you make Kingston look like a total idiot for passing out and the commentators for acting as if Daily's Place had gotten nuked. Also, they shouldn't be taking anymore risks with explosions. They can't risk it being a total flop again and being ridiculed for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwin Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 7 hours ago, urbanecowboy said: Honestly, if the cameras had’ve shot it better, I don’t think the conversation would be exactly the same. No, even in the live phone recordings it looked hilarious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 Yeah, I'm not buying the "it could've been shot better/it looked better live" arguments. I don't think you could turn the lame pyro and puff of smoke into anything satisfying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 The only retcon even slightly conceivable is them saying Mox realised Kenny fucked up and whispered to Eddie to play dead so Kenny and the Dork Brothers didn't return to finish them off. Of course that wouldn't explain why the announcers treated this like they just saw Misawa die in the ring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 12 minutes ago, MoS said: The only retcon even slightly conceivable is them saying Mox realised Kenny fucked up and whispered to Eddie to play dead so Kenny and the Dork Brothers didn't return to finish them off. Cowards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 8, 2021 Report Share Posted March 8, 2021 5 minutes ago, Matt D said: Cowards. Hey man, one's man's cowardice is another man's smartness #IntelligentBabyfacesFTWÂ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 Everything about the main event came off half-assed, like they didn't want to go full-force into what a match of that style truly requires. They had some neat moments throughout, but the drama that usually builds up in a match like that seemed like it just wasn't there, and when that becomes the basis for the big kaboom, well, you better do a big fucking kaboom. The problem is that because it's half-assed, they can't full-ass their way out of it either way. It's gonna come off as half-assed. For a company built upon the premise of taking a big risk, they seem to be awfully fine with not taking as many risks in recent months given their standing during the pandemic. From both a presentation and a booking standpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 Was the explosion a botch? Was it supposed to look better, or did they actually think it was going to get over looking like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 It came off looking like a botch either way, and I think my point is that, for something of that magnitude to work the way it needs to, there needed to a be lot more work put in to make sure it came off well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenese Sarwieh Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 If AEW can bring in Maki Itoh at least they could've had Onita come in and manage the aesthetics of the match. Don't even address it just move on, just even mentioning it will bring criticism especially from the AEW haters. On a lighter note Shida/Mizunami the street fight and Omega/Moxley delivered easy notebook material.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss Rock Posted March 9, 2021 Report Share Posted March 9, 2021 I think Onita had a schedule conflict. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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