KawadaSmile Posted June 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2022 Thunder Rosa didn't appear last night because she wasn't feeling well. Maybe commentary should have cleared that up. Folks at What Culture are reporting things that she's unhappy with her TV time and all sorts of stuff (which mind you, I would blame on them pushing Britt Baker because I'm a hater, but I gotta stick to the truth - or to what's been confirmed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Matt Hardy on his podcast said Jeff got KO'd early in the match with the Bucks and doesn't remember any of it, so that explains why he was so slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Removing MJF from AEW's website is showing they are going all in on this, pun intended. This is also a smart play on the Sasha & Naomi situation. Very Pillmanesque indeed. Now, people predicting automatic gloom & doom for this angle only think in a "What would WWE do ?". I'm totally willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, because they usually don't make the stupid mistakes other have done in the past. In the meantime, this is still pretty fascinating to me because it's yet another occurence demonstrating how pro-wrestling still keeps that ambivalent relationship to reality, always, because it's inherent to what it is. Rosa is frustrated, Shida is frustrated. Some people on PWO are frustrated with Baker being pushed as the ace of the promotion. I dunno how we went from Britt being the favorite part of everyone when she hugged Tony last year, to the out-of-nowhere (and for no noticeable reason) backlash. I thought the end of the title run was getting stale, but she is the most over female in the company (although Jade might have something to say soon). Her title reign wasn't so memorable ? Well guess what, you remember any other female title reign being memorable ? The most memorable was probably Shida, only because she had the title the longest, during the pandemic. Anyone remembers Nyla Rose as champion ? I sure don't. Fact is, this is not a Britt Baker issue, the issue is that they never were able to have many memorable angles and title reigns for the women division, for a bunch of different reasons, some perfectly logical (you gonna give so much time to green performers, and the reality is that, especially at the beginning, lot of women they had were very, very green, and that is still the case to a degree honestly), other going down to just not having interesting booking for them (the running gag of someone getting attacked during an interview segment backstage). One issue is that AEW remains a hardcore promotion at heart built on great matches. Some people are able to get over without this, and actually both Baker & Jade are testament to this (which also could be talked about in ways some people would not like, but whatever), but if you don't deliver in the ring in one way or another at a certain expected level, you're not gonna get the precious TV or PPV time. From that perspective, Thunder Rosa & Serena Deeb have proven that they deserved the time and spot they were given on the PPV, having one of the best match of the show. Toni Storm and Jaimie Hayter getting more time is good too, these two beating the shit out of each other is what AEW need in term of establishing a certain level of work in the women division. Athena should be a nice addition. Why is Riho not on TV way more regularly, she always gets over and works circles around pretty much the entire division. Give Alliiiiiiiie something ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Hats 4.0 Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 I mean, none of this is objective. It's a legitimate opinion to think that Baker hasn't been that entertaining since the early stages of her 'cool heel' run. I'd put that nearly entirely on the booking, sure, as she has plenty of charisma. But without any real stories, it's mostly in the service of putting her fingers in the air to say DMD. Even after having watched it over three days, the PPV's biggest sin was its length. 4 hours 40 minutes! It really should be two hours fewer, but even 3.5 hours would be a lot better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 One could argue that if she kept on doing fun segment alongside Schiavone, she wouldn't get the PWO backlash. One thing WCW had, is Ric Flair & Okerlund, and even when the booking was shit, Flair doing an interview segment with Okerlund always had a different, well, flair to it because of the chemistry between the two. I noticed Jade has been making "Tony cut the shit !" part of her usual mic routine now (and it always crack me up). Is Tony Schiavone getting abused by top heel female stars the way to help them get over ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Plus she's been looking shoddy in the ring since the title change. Thunder Rosa's title win felt really weird due to time constraints and Britt looking lost. Then she beats Tony in the semifinals while looking like she's underwater. To me it ends up looking like she is over because she wins because she is over because she wins. And like I get that not everything is her fault. She ain't the big bad wolf. Shida not even being in the tournament or Thunder Rosa barely being mentioned in the Dynamite episode after DoN is not Baker politicking (well I hope so). Tay Conti going from ultra sweetheart babyface to just not entertaining as a heel due to her real life relationship with Sammy, also putting her actually nice partnership with Anna Jay on ice so they could have shitty crass storylines is not her fault. Ruby Soho apparently being better off in WWE and having her skills and confidence hijacked by wrestling's version of the Monstars, while also being put over by someone who is having a tear (Statlander) is on the booking. The issue is that they only know or care how to book Jade and Britt in any meaningful way - which often translates to THEY MUST POSE. Let's see how Athena fares - her promo looked pretty bad, but that was always the case even when she was the ace in NXT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 1 minute ago, El-P said: Is Tony Schiavone getting abused by top heel female stars the way to help them get over ? ONE OF US! ONE OF US! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 I'm gonna play Devil's advocate, because I have nothing against Baker, I like Baker. She's not a great worker, but she's good enough in the ring and she's over. But I see zero reason why Toni Storm did not win the Owen. Zero. Or Statlander. And then the only reason Soho gets in the final is to put Baker over again. So now she has beaten her too in a tag match (after the fact, which is a bit too 50/50 to me) but I for one don't look forward more of Soho vs Baker taking up the TV time allotted to the women. The Owen final turned into a good match, but it wasn't as good as the two previous Soho matches (because of her opponents, really, although Soho looked the best she has since her debut). Like I said, give me more of Storm vs Hayter and I'm gonna be happy because I really enjoy their game together. But there's a point when Toni Storm has to be built to the level of being the N°1 babyface star. And that's TV time and meaningful angles and wins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 The issue with Soho and Storm winning is that you just know it was a token win to say "see? Britt lost to them, it's okay!" She IMMEDIATLY laid them out and stood tall. Felt like the laziest Fed booking possible - not giving your babyfaces SHIT, because it's just that heat bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 You're projecting your Baker haterz fantasy on Baker here. No one is accusing Britt Baker of being too dominant. This narrative doesn't exist. That may be your opinion, but you're pretty isolated thinking that way (I mean, PWO be like, as usual in term of odd takes at times, so I know you're not alone on the board), she's clearly still the biggest star of the women division and beloved by the audience (as a heel, mind you). They don't book to do pretend "See, Britt lost so it's ok" because no one is attacking them on that front. You've been watching way too much WWE for far too long to picture this as some sort of "defensive booking". There's no actual issue with Baker winning a lot. She is not Charlotte Flair and there's actually no "Britt must pose" (BTW, using a tired Brucie gimmick ? Come on, you can do better bubba !!). Could that happen eventually ? Sure. But as of now? Nah. What irked me (well not really, but) was that Soho of all people got the win. I'm not sure where they go with Baker, although at one point the direction seemed to be her vs Hayter, which could be quite cool because Baker is not afraid to get beat up and retaliate. Honestly, the only one who's been overpushed lately is Soho. Either Riho, Statlander or Storm would have been better choice in term of in-ring quality and/or overness to get to the final. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 People being fed up with Baker due to her being overexposed is not just a PWO take, nor it is odd. She beat Soho multiple times, beat Storm in the tournament, the tag match did absolutely nothing to advance a single storyline and not even heated up Soho or Storm because both were laid out right after the pin. What purpose did the tag match serve, then, if not for a token win? It's literally what that whole segment was! It not even had seeds of dissension between Hayter and Baker, which I think will eventually be the program. And like, I see the value in Britt. She has charisma, she can talk, she will be perpetually over, and was for a long part a very good champ who had maybe one or two months more than necessary in her reign. She didn't (nor Cole, for that matter) need a tournament victory. Use her already established popularity to propel other acts up, not the other way around! She can afford to lose to Tony Storm or Kris Statlander, much like Cole can afford to lose to Samoa Joe (who I don't even think should have been in the finals either - it was a perfect opportunity to give Allin something). Nothing I am saying here is a wild take, really. I don't even dislike her like I do BPJ or MJF. Or Danhausen (who is fucking crazy over but won't see that translated into championship success). Or Luchasaurus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 ...the locker room vs MJF? On the other hand they DO have my curiosity. Check mate, worked me like a MARRRRRRRRRRRRK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 1 minute ago, KawadaSmile said: People being fed up with Baker due to her being overexposed is not just a PWO take, nor it is odd. But who is fed up with her ? The audience ? Apparently not. As far as being overexposed, I agree, I was the first in line to beg for her to lose the title, as her reign was getting stale. And I just said that Toni Storm should have won the Owen. But there's no actual movement in the audience indicating people are fed up with her being pushed. I think they'll end up having a big feud against Toni Storm which Toni will win. I mean, that is what should happen to properly build Storm. 3 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Yeah, they are going full bore with it. Gotta give credit where it's due, whether it'll pay off or not. Gotta love the sports-entertainment company line. 100% work, obviously. Well, 99% . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Britt Baker, to me, along with the entire women's division, isn't even worth writing about because it's an afterthought in AEW. I don't care what they do because it's all white noise. Maybe they can get A.J. Mendez to make an appearance and we'll get a Punk/A.J. Vs. Cole/Baker mixed tag or some shit down the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Sammy and Tay got engaged Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 Just imagine the promos we'll get from Dan Lambert if it doesn't last. Not that I want that to happen, mind you. OK, I kind of do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Strummer said: Sammy and Tay got engaged That guy gets engaged every 6 months.... "At the Eiffel Tower", as they say. But no you fucking tourists ! They were not AT the Eiffel Tower, they were at the Trocadero ! I lived in Paris for 15 years and I never ever bothered to stop nearby that old pile of steel. At night from afar it's kinda beautiful though, I gotta give you that. Still, fucking tourist cliché . Well, at least it wasn't in Montmartre... 48 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: OK, I kind of do. I laughed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 3, 2022 Report Share Posted June 3, 2022 My favorite bit of trivia is that Eiffel built the framework for the Statue of Liberty, so one of the greatest symbols of MURICA is basically another Eiffel Tower holding a torch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Chicago Made Punk may have hurt his foot on Wednesday. Let's see how this one turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Lol if Punk has to drop the title, Hangman gonna be pissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Unsuprisingly, Bucks vs Lucha Bros has been balls out crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Young Bucks fit check: actually decent! The match has been taylor made to the AEW crowd, but at this point they can sleepwalk through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 I wonder Excalibur mentioning a mask pull would be a DQ in Mexico is a backdoor tease for a Triplemania match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Same match the Bucks and Lucha Brothers always have. Not super impressed by the gymnastics and extreme choreography like I was when I was younger, but it’s still pleasing to watch in its own way. Good heel heat right at the end there. Nick is so much better than Matt, it’s kinda ridiculous. My boys Starks and Hobbs next! Wish they’d get rid of the stupid FTW title, though, this company does not need any more titles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted June 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 Maybe a bit too overboard for a throwaway match on a random Rampage, but as close as you can get for a perfect crowd pleaser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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