Stiva Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Only started Dynamite now but Lethal, Jarrett and Singh doing stereo struts is awesome. They’re slowly winning me over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 This Saraya-Storm shit is absolutely putrid, one of the worst things AEW has done. Can't believe I was happy about Saraya coming to AEW. Also really shitty use of Toni Storm, whose world title reign was so important in rehabbing the women's division after the disaster that was Thunder Rosa's run. Not to mention not utilising the current world champ, the most popular woman in division history. I also personally want Dragon to beat MJF for the world title, even though there is not a prayer of that happening. He is a better promo than MJF is, and obviously the far far better wrestler. He has had at least two MOTY contenders in the last month alone. If only he took himself as seriously as CM Punk does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I'm glad Saraya was able to resume her career and I hope she's having fun, but she seems to be like 25% the wrestler she was before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Dollar store sub-TNA level NWO ripoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I am not a fan of MJF and his weekly shooty, shooty, heel, heel promo's but the audible spit take from Taz when he mentioned "Five Star Bangers" was probably the highlight of the show this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 4 hours ago, sek69 said: I'm glad Saraya was able to resume her career and I hope she's having fun, but she seems to be like 25% the wrestler she was before. Even in her prime, she was only good by Diva standards. She got over initially because she seemed more attainable to the college-age guys who went to the Full Sail tapings than the bikini models WWE was so fond of at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Yeah, I never thought Saraya was particularly good as a wrestler, ever. Her main assets were her charisma, which she has a lot of, and when she came up in WWE a very distinctive look that was perfect as an opposition to the Divas. Not sure what anyone was expecting from her in AEW as an in ring performer, that was never her strong suit. 5 hours ago, MoS said: I also personally want Dragon to beat MJF for the world title, even though there is not a prayer of that happening. He is a better promo than MJF is, and obviously the far far better wrestler. He has had at least two MOTY contenders in the last month alone. If only he took himself as seriously as CM Punk does. Tony wont do it because he really wants to make MJF happen, and that's commendable considering he is a fresh main eventer in wrestling. But I can't help but wonder if he missed on making him a tweener late last year and just ride that wave. So far his "reign of terror" (awful fucking name by the way, terrible for promoting/marketing) has sparked zero interest so to get some proof that he can work as THE guy he's gonna have to sink or swing for a long time with that belt and I'm not sure that's the right call right now. You give the belt to Dragon and you get the nuisance of fans complaining about his booking out of the way. Sure, business will probably stay exactly the same as if MJF had the belt but you'll probably gain more in the short term from Danielson having big title defenses that elevate the belt -plus you have a couple of big PPV title matches in a rematch vs Omega and even Punk- and he'll probably do an incredible job putting over whoever beats him for the belt (as he has done in the past in different promotions) to set up a new main eventer (hell, it might still be MJF by that point). I guess the question is: is it worth sticking with MJF right now and let him prove his worth in the long run or do you punt and let Danielson be a stop gap? Maybe I'm too much of a stan but I prefer the latter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav'oh Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Isn’t taking the belt off Max so soon just “start-stop” booking? He hasn’t bombed or nuffink. Give him a “proper, old-school NWA” reign. Stability at the top. Appeasement never goes well, so a DB reign to placate the internet doesn’t work for me, brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Saraya makes me want to see the goddamn dentist Britt Baker get a push. That's how bad things are. She was *never* better than either Bella twin. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we will come to terms that she is just being paid some big bucks to stink it up. She's on that Ben Simmons-type contract. It's even weirder because we got rightfully mad at the Fed for inserting Toni into some stupid pie angles involving Charlotte. Now AEW is having her spraying her butt? She was just champion why is she doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I personally felt that this week’s episode of Dynamite was a pile of flaming garbage. I don’t get it. The last 4-6 weeks have been consistently good to great but last night was just total crap. I legitimately feel bad that Jeff Jarrett lost his Dad, but no matter what the circumstances, is there any excuse for a TV match featuring Jeff Jarrett vs. Billy Gunn in the year 2023? 8 Man tags generally suck as a rule and this was certainly no exception. Sonjay Dutt is a comedy worker at this point and as impressive as Singh’s size is, I don’t want to see him wrestle. This whole match was a pointless waste of time. I don’t watch Rampage so maybe I missed something, but what was the point of the Texas Tornado match? Are we just doing gimmick matches for no reason now? And does Moxley have it written into his contract that he must bleed every time he appears on TV? This has gotten to the point where it’s farcical. Getting busted open is pointless and serves no dramatic purpose whatsoever if you do it every single week. The Wardlow sit down was okay I guess. He certainly provided some good backstory for the hair cutting, but his delivery is forced and unnatural and sounds like something you’d see on NXT. Nice to see Mark Briscoe on TV, and I am glad he is officially signed to AEW. That’s kind of bittersweet, to say the least. The interview with Adam Cole was alright but since they didn’t cover any new ground I really don’t get what the point of it was. Didn’t he basically say all the exact same things in his return promo a couple of weeks ago? I like MJF a lot, but he’s basically doing the same shtick every week and it’s starting to get really old, really fast. This went on way too long and you could tell because they lost the crowd by the end. Why the hell is Brian Cage making it onto TV every goddamn week? Seriously. Tony Khan has hundreds of guys under contract, he can’t do any better than Brian Fucking Cage, week in and week out? I guess Christian is back and they’re finally going to blow off that angle with Jungle Boy but at this point who honestly cares? I guess if you have to have Kip Sabian on TV you should use him as the scrub that he clearly is. I have been enjoying the Page/Moxley rivalry but we all know where this is going. Just another garbage match with no rules which gives Moxley an excuse to do a bunch of stupid death match crap and bleed all over the damn place. And why the hell are the Dark Order still a thing? They were terrible 3 years ago…why insert them into this angle? Oh good they’re dragging out the JAS/Starks angle which means we get to see more Daniel Garcia on TV. That’s not getting at all old. I finally tapped out during the “Main Event.” This whole deal with Saraya has been grim death ever since it started. All she has done is manage to cool off Toni Storm. There is no way Tony Khan can be happy with how signing Saraya has turned out. She’s fucking dreadful and she pulls everybody around her into her massive vortex of suck. Now I get why WWE didn’t try harder to hang onto her. They sent her to AEW as a secret agent to kill AEW’s women’s division, and it’s working. This whole episode was one giant misfire with practically nothing redeemable on it. I legitimately find it hard to believe that the same company that produced the last month of TV turned around and produced this. WTF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Saraya had great charisma and as mentioned, a different look. She was also presented in NXT as a confident top star, someone who wouldn't cry or get emotional, with a lot of...gothic touches, I guess. That went out of the window literally her first night on Raw, when she immediately become just another woman on the roster, stammering "I am not ready" when AJ Lee offered her a title shot - if you were not ready then why tf did you interrupt the champ - and then immediately winning and shedding buckets of tears and turning into generic diva no. 16 on the WWE roster. The booking let her down. I would say she always did have a connection with the fans, who would always welcome her back with loud cheers no matter what shit she had been doing out of the ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Saraya is a great goth heel but you need to work to her limitations and book big gimmicky brawls for her, but she's a good catch if you can work to her strengths. Was great in nxt & uk before that but no vulnerability please Jarrett & Lethal are great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I'd argue that her winning the belt on her main roster debut was a nice moment with genuine emotion, and honestly her biggest moment. It's just that she got injured for a long time, and more than once. By age 23 she was already taking months off, so it's not like she was even able to develop into a more complete wrestler. On the other hand, I disagree with @The Thread Killerwhen he says WWE didn't try hard to hang on to her. They gave her every possible role - from GM to managing the Kabuki Warriors, they did right by her. They even made a decent movie about her story! They were clearly appreciative of what she had done. So, with that, having her, of all people, come out and cut a promo about how good it was to finally have a boss who listened to her was already a major fumble. It was such an easy story to get over and they tripped all over themselves to the point where she was cooked as a face two months into her run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 There honestly has not been a good AEW champ run since Omega. Page was a flop, Punk had bad luck, Moxley is over with the crowd but didn’t do anything especially different from what he was doing without the belt, and now MJF is…. fine, but wearing his schtick a little thin, not to mention doing the same “run the gauntlet” story he’s done multiple times. Giving Dragon an excuse to have good matches every week is commendable, but there’s really no sense that there’s anything especially personal between these two guys. Tony was nice to let Regal go, but he really should have pressed him to stay and add some emotional heft and pathos to this feud, get MJF off on the right footing. I really think it’s more attributable to the booking than anything at this point, Khan just doesn’t have the juice when it comes to making a guy act and feel like a big deal. I’m not an Omega guy at all, but he was the last guy that *felt* like he was the champ. His relentless theatre kid energy wouldn’t allow him anything less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I am an MJF hater and he is giving me much joy with this fart of a title reign, but I truly feel like TK has been the biggest culprit here. Squandered WARDLOW's momentum, gave MJF a worked shoot segment which could have led to something good despite the weeks of silence, just for him to return the same - if not a lamer version of his old self. All this feels like a waste of time from a storytelling perspective, really. Punk had awful luck with his title reigns but there was a sense of progression, and not just in title feuds. Shit, the MJF feud is still the best thing they have done and considering where we are now I am inclined to believe Punk was performing for two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 1 hour ago, KawadaSmile said: I am an MJF hater and he is giving me much joy with this fart of a title reign, but I truly feel like TK has been the biggest culprit here. Squandered WARDLOW's momentum, gave MJF a worked shoot segment which could have led to something good despite the weeks of silence, just for him to return the same - if not a lamer version of his old self. All this feels like a waste of time from a storytelling perspective, really. Punk had awful luck with his title reigns but there was a sense of progression, and not just in title feuds. Shit, the MJF feud is still the best thing they have done and considering where we are now I am inclined to believe Punk was performing for two. MJF is 26, I think it’s as simple as him just not having enough experience to know when he can pull it back and still get heat. I’ve been fine with what he’s doing, I think people here are way overstating the deficits and ignoring just how much empty space he’s being asked to fill with personality alone in the context of the middling booking, but he is definitely lacking in the variety department. I don’t think he needed a babyface or tweener run, he just needs a little more variety to his persona and better stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 I completely agree on Tony's lack of ability to book feuds and give them a compelling story to follow. Once Max beats Dragon he's gonna have a whole arsenal to gloat and be an obnoxious heel, but there's absolutely nothing set up for him to do next after Revolution. To the point I'm not sure TK wont go back once again to the "you have to beat 5 people before facing me for this belt" trope against whoever comes out as n°1 contender after the PPV, which I guess it could be Hangman? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 MJF had good interactions with Starks, so of course they gave that interesting program between two promising names two entire weeks. They could give him Eddie Kingston, I guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Also, Dynamite ratings are out and looking pretty bad. I really want to just call MJF's reign a huge fucking flop but I am a fair person. There was nothing to sink our teeth into last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 7 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Also, Dynamite ratings are out and looking pretty bad. I really want to just call MJF's reign a huge fucking flop but I am a fair person. There was nothing to sink our teeth into last night. Browsing around the so-called “IWC” today, the response to Dynamite last night has been universally negative, as it should be. Small wonder if the ratings went into the toilet. I honestly don’t know what Tony Khan was thinking booking that show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 16, 2023 Report Share Posted February 16, 2023 Is anyone really surprised? I mean, look at the advertised lineup. The biggest thing announced was MJF cutting an "[insert town] sucks" promo. Credit where credit is due, though, this is some quality cheap heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted February 17, 2023 Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 I mean, I saw that card and said no way to watching the show, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 17, 2023 Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 What do we think is getting added to Revolution's card? Are they going to do Saraya vs Hayter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 17, 2023 Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 5 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Is anyone really surprised? No. It was totally obvious by the announced card that this was gonna tank in the ratings, it was a C-level Dynamite with zero great match announced, and whether people like it or not, AEW is all about delivering great pro-wrestling matches, above anything else. Then again, I just went through probably the greatest back to back to back (and again and again) episodes of weekly US pro-wrestling TV ever, so really, so what ? Yeah, this was a miss. It happened before and will happen again. 9 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Credit where credit is due, though, this is some quality cheap heat. Yep. MJF is awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted February 17, 2023 Report Share Posted February 17, 2023 42 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: What do we think is getting added to Revolution's card? Are they going to do Saraya vs Toni? I assume you mean Saraya vs Hayter which sounds completely compelling in terms of a match where Saraya is skill, cardio and physically wise is unable for. And a women's Face of the Revolution Ladder Match featuring the debut of the ex-Sasha Banks. Lets shoot for the stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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