The Thread Killer Posted April 12, 2023 Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 Tonight’s lineup so far… AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Buddy Matthews * AEW TNT Championship: Powerhouse Hobbs (c) vs. Silas Young * Keith Lee vs. Chris Jericho * Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin * Riho & Skye Blue vs. Ruby Soho & Toni Storm * Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brandon Cutler & Michael Nakazawa * MJF’s presence is mandatory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 Tonight’s show could be alright. Cassidy vs. Buddy should be pretty good. Apparently TK has figured out from looking at the ratings that Orange Cassidy is guaranteed to bring in good numbers and he is featured now pretty much every week. I think they could be doing a lot more with Buddy, but you could say that about half the roster. i’m not crazy about Swerve fighting Darby. It could be and should be a great match, but Darby is being pushed towards the World Title so I can’t see him losing and I would hate to see Swerve lose this one. I am very curious to see how Keith Lee looks against Jericho. Based on those guys, that could be a very slow, lumbering match. Anything that gets Silas Young on TV is also good with me, but truth be told, he is basically nothing more than an enhancement talent at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 Time for my weekly rant about ROH. Here is the lineup for Thursday’s show: * ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Metalik * Mike Bennett vs. Darius Martin * Skye Blue vs. Kelly Madan * Wheeler Yuta vs. Tracy Williams * Willow Nightingale vs. Little Mean Kathleen * Mark Briscoe vs. Ari Daivari * ROH Women’s World Championship Proving Ground Match: Athena (c) vs. Ashley D’Amboise * Katsuyori Shibata & Alex Coughlin vs. The WorkHorsemen (Anthony Henry & JD Drake) * Tony Nese vs. Stu Grayson Okay seriously…what the actual fuck is this garbage? Did a drunk monkey book this show? There is not one match on this card that isn’t either totally uninteresting, or the result is a foregone conclusion. Like I said in last weeks thread, the first month of the ROH TV show was outstanding in my opinion. As soon as they moved away from the matches they taped at Universal Studios, the quality has gone right down the crapper. They taped these matches before the Rampage/Battle of the Belts show last week. Apparently they are trying to continue the Kingdom/Top Flight feud which has been building since the show started. The only problem is that Dante Martin is going to be out for ages with a broken foot. So either Darius gets a new partner, or this whole thing seems kind of pointless. They are basically using Tracy Williams as an enhancement talent at this point, or in a Tag Team with Rhett Titus. There isn’t much doubt that Wheeler Yuta is going to beat him. Tony Khan seems determined to make Yuta a big deal, but I just can’t take that guy seriously. He is technically skilled I guess, but his promos make me laugh. He sounds like an angry kid who is upset that he got ripped off on his paper route. If you have seen the ROH show since the relaunch then you know that Ari Davari is ALL over these damn shows. Between him and Mark Sterling, they are on every episode, sometimes more than once. Obviously, Mark Briscoe is going to beat him but this ridiculous feud between Mark Briscoe and the so-called “Trustbusters” needs to end…now. I am definitely down for Shibata and Coughlin as a team but The WorkHorsemen? Come on. There are three women’s division matches on this show, and I have no interest in any of them. They have been pushing the hell out of Athena and she has been great in the role, but they seem to be picking some very strange opponents for her who are either totally obscure or people we are supposed to know, but I don’t. I have no interest in any of those three matches. Which brings us to one of the most egregious matches on this card. I pay $10 a month for Honor Club. So that basically means I am actually paying money to watch Tony Fucking Nese fight Stu Fucking Grayson. I can hear @C.S. laughing at me from here. The Main Event is probably going to be awesome, but as much as I love Metalik, does anybody think he has a hope in hell of beating Claudio Castagnoli? I will watch it because I’m sure it will be a great match, but come on. Call me old fashioned but if you are asking people to pay $10 a month to watch your damn show, shouldn’t you be putting something out there that is worth watching? I don’t know what the hell is going on, if Tony Khan deliberately booked an excellent first month of shows, and then made the decision to stop trying or stop putting as much effort into the matchmaking, but if he does not pull his head out of his ass, and start putting on better shows, I am definitely cancelling my subscription at the end of the month. It’s only been one month and look at that lineup. ROH has already become a version of Dark or Elevation except you’re expected to pay for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted April 12, 2023 Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 I totally understand your rant, and that card absolutely looks terrible, and I too would be pissed if I were paying to watch it. But I just wanted to say that while the "Work Horseman" name is the shits, and I don't think much of Henry... JD Drake is actually a pretty damn good worker and I feel like he is someone they could be doing a hell of a lot more with. If you can find it, his match with Black Taurus at the 2022 Battle of Los Angeles was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 1 minute ago, Blehschmidt said: I totally understand your rant, and that card absolutely looks terrible, and I too would be pissed if I were paying to watch it. But I just wanted to say that while the "Work Horseman" name is the shits, and I don't think much of Henry... JD Drake is actually a pretty damn good worker and I feel like he is someone they could be doing a hell of a lot more with. If you can find it, his match with Black Taurus at the 2022 Battle of Los Angeles was fantastic. I guess my problem is that, let's look at this week's episode of Dynamite. I can guess who is going to win most of those matches, but I'm not 100% sure. I don't know that Buddy won't beat Cassidy for the title (especially since I saw a rumor that they want to get the International Title off Cassidy and move him into a feud with MJF after this whole "Pillars" angle is done with Perry/Allin/Guevara.) I have no idea who is going to win between Jericho and Lee. It's even possible (although unlikely) that something interesting could happen with Swerve and Allin. And that's on free TV. Meanwhile I'm paying to watch ROH, and I can already tell (without checking the spoilers) who is going to win every match...or it's a match I don't care about enough to even want to find out. It wouldn't piss me off as much if the first month of the show hadn't been so much fun. As soon as they left Universal Studios half the talent disappeared and we got left with more Tony Nese. Yippie. I don't disagree with you about The WorkHorsemen. They teamed up with Shane Taylor last week against Mark Briscoe and The Lucha Brothers and I was actually pretty impressed. And I don't hate the fact that TK is basically using ROH as a chance to feature AEW guys that he likes to get more exposure and ring time. But give me more than one or two decent matches in a two hour show, FFS. I am worried he is turning ROH into his own version of ECW on SyFy...except that show was actually decent a lot of the time and you could watch it for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmare007 Posted April 12, 2023 Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 How long is the ROH show? 9 matches seems like waaaaaay too much for a random "TV" episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 2 minutes ago, Jmare007 said: How long is the ROH show? 9 matches seems like waaaaaay too much for a random "TV" episode. Usually between 90 minutes to 2 hours. Because it is streaming and they are not having to fit within a network TV format, that time seems to fluctuate, depending on the matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 12, 2023 Report Share Posted April 12, 2023 So if Punk and the Elite have squashed the beef, when do you bring back Punk? If I'm TK I'm at least having someone like FTR drop hints about it just to start up the whole "we're not going to TELL you something is happening, but we're totally telling you something is happening" thing they like to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 Darby/Swerve was as good as expected, and I'm sure everyone is happy to hear Brian Cage signed a new deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 I'm usually lower on Darby than most but the Swerve match was awesome and the promo afterwards was one of his best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 Christian and Luchasaurus giving Father Jim Michell and Abyss vibes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 The crowd is aggressively not giving a shit about any of this Firm vs Matt Hardy business until HOOK gets involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 I sincerely hope Jeff (finally) has his shit together, but there's zero historical reason to believe anything has changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 LOL at Kenny still having the muscle pic of him and Don hanging on his wall in the background Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 8 hours ago, The Thread Killer said: I am actually paying money to watch Tony Fucking Nese fight Stu Fucking Grayson. I can hear @C.S. laughing at me from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 The grey hair makes Keith Lee look like Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 That’s an awesome cape and a good look for Keith on entrance. However, this match ain’t it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 Keith Lee has been one of my favorite guys to watch for the last 5 or 6 years, and I am all for people doing whatever makes them happy. But man, this new look is not doing him any favors. Maybe if he shaved his head and was just rocking the beard it'd be okay, but as it stands he has gone from looking like a big, handsome, intimidating son of a bitch to looking like a heavy set old man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 Good to see Adam Cole forgave Keith for launching him into orbit in NXT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 I'm actually a big fan of partially immobile Keith Lee, much more so than mobile super indy Keith Lee, especially in the center of AEW. Jericho was treating him like 89 Andre who could actually do the strength spots and Lee was working the match pretty much like that. You wouldn't want every match on every show to be worked like that but one match every few weeks really stands out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 13, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 I don’t know how everyone else felt, but I thought last night’s episode of Dynamite started out really strong but then kinda fell apart as the show progressed. Oh yeah…and a hearty FUCK YOU TONY KHAN for using Silas Young as a guy to be squashed in under a minute, when you have about 50 other guys who could have done that job that are nowhere near as good as Silas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pete Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 Cassidy/Matthews stole the show. OC continues to be an MVP for AEW and his sell job really elevated the match. He really meshed well with Matthews and these past couple of weeks have been the best Buddy has looked in AEW. I'd be down for a rematch between the two, but OC has only gone from strength to strength this past year or so. I thought Darby/Swerve had it's moments as well. It was a nice mirror match with both guys going high risk until Swerve tweaked his ankle on the double stomp to the outside. I enjoyed the shift of gears and basing Darby's comeback by having him target the injury. My only gripe is that it seemed like after the chair spot, Swerve abandoned all hope and just ate Darby's signature moves to finish the match. Also I largely like Darby, but at a certain point, those no-look dives just make him look silly. That spot where he went for a springboard and Swerve countered with a German is something I hope he doesn't make a habit of. Otherwise I enjoyed the jump-start, nobody hits a tope as well as Darby and of MJF's challengers he's far and away the best all-round pick. Another great promo afterwards and while they're clearly going for a 4-way of sorts, Darby/MJF is clearly the best pairing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Pete Posted April 13, 2023 Report Share Posted April 13, 2023 4 minutes ago, The Thread Killer said: I don’t know how everyone else felt, but I thought last night’s episode of Dynamite started out really strong but then kinda fell apart as the show progressed. Oh yeah…and a hearty FUCK YOU TONY KHAN for using Silas Young as a guy to be squashed in under a minute, when you have about 50 other guys who could have done that job that are nowhere near as good as Silas. I was just about to say, what an awful week to be an ROH fan. But yeah after OC/Matthews I could really give or take the rest of the show. It wasn't terrible by any means and the Jeff Hardy return got a good reaction but none of it left me as excited moving forward. If the Jeff return was a one time thing, I'd be fine but I know they're going to drag this on and we're going to get FTR-Hardys while the rest of the tag division twiddles their thumbs. The rest of the show could be nit-picked, but you could say the same for most shows really. OC/Matthews and Darby/Swerve delivered so that's what I'll take out of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted April 14, 2023 Report Share Posted April 14, 2023 I really dug the whole of Dynamite this week, even if the first hour was a definite high point of 2023 AEW. OC/Matthews was really great and I’m glad Matthews has got to have a big showcase singles match like that. Jericho leeching onto Adam Cole is absolutely ridiculous. I wonder if Jericho will have another fantastically creative idea like asking Adam Cole/Ricky Starks/The Acclaimed/Moxley (delete as appropriate) to join his stable and get angry when they don’t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted April 14, 2023 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2023 So I guess one of the reasons we were robbed of the “feel good” moment at the last ROH PPV is because Eddie is injured. This is yet another reminder of why he is probably the best and “realest” promo guy in all of Pro Wrestling right now. This is from last night’s ROH TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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