AEW TV - 10/25 - 10/28 - Rudderless Pumpkins

[strobogo]

Nigel was right all along about Brittle Bryan :shambles

[Mr Wrestling 2000]

Nigel is gonna be ring ready just as Bryan falls apart Its really unlucky it was Okada both times, i dont think hes really hurt anyone before. That main was pretty bonkers and MJF took some gnarly bumps. Hes starting to become a good champion again in my mind.

[Jmare007]

If the injury is real, letting Dragon go to WK to fight Okada, were the story is Danielson being pissed off about getting shit broken every time they face each other, seems like another injury waiting to happen. Don't picture Dragon working a safe match when the story calls for him to be unhinged.

 

Edit:specially when both injuries happened with things he's done his entire career and not because of working hard or reckless/risky 

[The Thread Killer]

11 hours ago, Migs said:

No one talking about how great that main event was? And that they went with a clean finish after all the talk of run ins?

I would have a lot to say, if not for the fact that in typical fashion TSN+ crapped out and lost the signal about five minutes in…and was out for a good portion of the match. I got to see most of the finish.

I still can’t believe they gave away that match with three days notice on free TV. It makes no sense to me. You literally could’ve had that exact match as the main event at Wembley not two months ago, and it would not have seemed out of place. If you are hell-bent on giving away a match like that for free, why not hype it up for a month or so at the very least?

[Jmare007]

I agree, just out of nowhere remembering you had an easy angle and big match at your disposal (Kenny wanting to keep his record) feels like really bad planning on TK's part.

[Dav'oh]

I thought it was to make Collision seem important. 

[NintendoLogic]

TV deals are the lifeblood of modern wrestling, which means ratings are as important to the company's bottom line as PPV revenue if not more so. And they did plant the seed for the match on BTE a few weeks ago. They absolutely could have done a better job of promoting it, but it didn't come completely out of nowhere.

[strobogo]

As a fan I don't really care if stuff is "given away" on TV. I never did as a kid, still don't know. On a logical smart point of view, yes, a match like MJF vs Kenny should probably have been a PPV match with a month or two of build up. However, I don't give a shit if it was on TV or PPV, how much or how little build it had. I think more than anything it was cementing that MJF can hang at the top level with that style, and does more for MJF vs White-O as a result.

One of the best things about AEW is they actually treat a huge tv match like it was a PPV match and work accordingly instead of how WWE always does it with going 3/4 speed and doing nothing for breaks. Yes, AEW sometimes does slow down a bit during commercials, but since they keep the feed going for FITE and international (and man the commentary bits during those are almost always hilarious), there's rarely a "as Raw rolls on" spot perfectly timed 10 times a show. And having been to WWE shows in the modern era (although it has been a decade), they don't do a damn thing during a TV break, and sometimes they'd actually dim the lights to play in arena ads during commercial breaks DURING AN ON GOING MATCH). 

 

[Embrodak]

I appreciate that AEW puts actual wrestling and not “TV wrestling” on their TV shows, but there is something to be said for a “big fight feel” for a first encounter between major stars. It not only makes the match more impactful, it makes subsequent matches more impactful by seeming a part of something larger. That one Punk/Cena match on Raw before WM29 felt bigger following in the wake of the marquee Punk/Cena matches that had happened in the past, for example.

It doesn’t have to be on a PPV, though. Dragon/Page I felt suitably big by following in the wake of Danielson kicking the shit out of Dark Order geeks for weeks on end.

Given we don’t know how long MJF is going to remain in AEW, however, this may have been a “now or never” type of thing, it’s hard to say.

It’s kinda clear that TK is either burnt out or panicking, I’d say. Wembley maybe being a glorious peak instead of a coming-out party has to be weighing on a lot of the upper brass.

[Matt D]

I'm really looking forward to them getting the new TV deal because that should give them more money to operate with and a little more freedom in how they structure things.

[strobogo]

26 minutes ago, Embrodak said:

I appreciate that AEW puts actual wrestling and not “TV wrestling” on their TV shows, but there is something to be said for a “big fight feel” for a first encounter between major stars. It not only makes the match more impactful, it makes subsequent matches more impactful by seeming a part of something larger. That one Punk/Cena match on Raw before WM29 felt bigger following in the wake of the marquee Punk/Cena matches that had happened in the past, for example.

It doesn’t have to be on a PPV, though. Dragon/Page I felt suitably big by following in the wake of Danielson kicking the shit out of Dark Order geeks for weeks on end.

Given we don’t know how long MJF is going to remain in AEW, however, this may have been a “now or never” type of thing, it’s hard to say.

It’s kinda clear that TK is either burnt out or panicking, I’d say. Wembley maybe being a glorious peak instead of a coming-out party has to be weighing on a lot of the upper brass.

I think the TV has been better post All-In than it was in the run up to it.

[El-P]

MJF vs Kenny Omega is exactly why AEW needed to be. Omega has had a ridiculous year. So did MJF in term of stepping up as an in-ring worker. Awesome match. As expected because Omega, but still.

Danielson also had a ridiculous year, but sadly he's breaking down. Apparently the injury happened during the Andrade match, he just worked the Okada tag (which was awesome) already injured.

Also,I realize this was Halloween and all, but poor, poor Hikaru Shida. After the really shitty Ruby Soho match, she's given a really shitty gimmick match (seriously, there was no effort put into this setup) with another nothing worker (Abadon never showed anything apart from cool makeup during the Jacksonville era, and hasn't improved a bit apparently). Plus, although I really enjoy batshit Toni Storm, her whole presentation after that particular match kinda made the title look like a complete joke. And you know Shida is gonna do the job *again*, after a nothing reign (yes the Sakura match was terrific, but it was just a token defense, there's no angle going on). The cosplay was quite cool though, but man, this is rough (oh, and Robyn Renegade getting beat by Racheal Ellering on ROH ? Racheal Ellering ? Fucking really ?)

'member Adam Copeland ? I won't complain a bit he's not all over the show anymore, but it does seem like there's exactly zero buzz about him already. 

I do enjoy the psycho-sexual undertones of the Miro/CJ angle. She basically gets off on watching Miro beat the fuck out of the guys she picks do be her "clients". Kind an "inverted cuck" angle. Well, that's absolutely how they should play it, at least. 

[sek69]

So the word is the Danielson injury happened in the match with Andrade the week before on Collision and the Okada stuff was just an angle. 

[El-P]

Gotta say this also, as everybody is seemingly in love with Ricky Starks, at this point I'm on the fence. The first time I saw him on NWA Powerr years ago, I was struck by how charismatic he was and how good of a promo he was, although he did had that Rocky Maivia vibe to him. Fast forward back to 2023. He's having that match with Dax Harwood, who's one of the best worker in the world, really, and the match is good. But nothing special at all. Likewise, the tag -team match the previous sunday against Wheeler & Claudio, who are terrific workers, felt overlong and a bit on the dull side for me, especially during never-ending heat segments which had no heat nor very compelling work (here goes whatever I said about Big Bill the other day ). I thought the CM Punk matches he had this Summer were exactly the same : kinda on the dull side.

So sure, the guy had two awesome matches with Danielson. But guess what, if you really think about it, they were against Danielson, and they were both gimmick matches. That's two cheat codes for you. At this point, Ricky Starks to me has not stepped up as an in-ring worker to the point I'm actually interested about most his matches. Unless he's in with an exceptional worker (Danielson), I can't think of one memorable Starks match, in a company that produces great matches galore. So yeah, he's got charisma and can talk, but there's still something missing from his game compared to most of his peers, in a company where the average level of in-ring work is just so damn high.

[Jmare007]

4 hours ago, sek69 said:

So the word is the Danielson injury happened in the match with Andrade the week before on Collision and the Okada stuff was just an angle. 

That makes more sense, it was just too coincidental to have happened in the tag match. Him being back "later this year" seems like a lucky break -no pun intended- then.

[NintendoLogic]

I've always thought Starks was pretty mid, much like LA Knight. But as with Knight, whatever works works. Having charisma and talking ability while being good enough in the ring to hang with elite workers with some smoke and mirrors is actually a pretty great starting point for a main event guy. Good technicians are a dime a dozen these days. Guys who connect with the audience on a star level are much rarer, which is why they need to be protected. Even if Danielson's body wasn't breaking down, the best use of him would be to have him make the Starks of the world look better than they really are while letting him cook in occasional dream matches.

[El-P]

In term of strictly business, sure (although in AEW smokes and mirrors will carry you so far, there's a super high level of work that's expected for a main event guy). In term of what I actually want to watch, not as much. And the later is the only thing that really matters to me. Honestly I have much more fun watching Tony Neese be the best Barry Horowitz ever on ROH than whatever Starks has been doing for the last year apart from when he's getting the fuck beat out of him by Danielson. 

Hey. Coach TK has a big announcement on Nitro Dynamite. Yeah, I'm at the point I wish Schiavone would drop the "greatest night in our sport" line from time to time while we're at it. That being said, Wembley was a damn big announcement last time around, and it more than paid off. Still. Come on TK, you better not carny this one up. The last "dream match" announcement was kinda bullshit (although excellent and super enjoyable (well, injury apart)).