AEW TV - November 27 - 30, 2024

[MoS]

This Dynamite episode is indistinguishable from a Raw episode 

[MoS]

Jesus this episode is chock-full of bad WWE tropes 

[MoS]

I was about to say Hangman has saved the show but then Jay White comes out and cuts a shit promo

[MoS]

THANK YOU DEATHRIDERS YOU ARE THE BABYFACES 

[sek69]

Holy shit Brody vs Claudio is gonna bang so hard

[MoS]

Darby v. Brody ruled hard. Face Brody v. Mox actually intrigues me a lot

[Stiva]

Yeah, I’m all in on the Brody singles push. Him as the dude who can team with Darby out of mutual respect to help turn the tide against the Death Riders is good shit.

The interminable promo segments less so 

[El-P]

16 hours ago, MoS said:

Jesus this episode is chock-full of bad WWE tropes 

Not only that, but despite winning the TV deal lottery, AEW has never felt so cold. It's a cold promotion with shitty crowds. Despite some stuff that I really enjoy still. As far as being like a RAW episode, well, maybe there's causality here. As years went by, AEW became more and more and more and more like WWE, and not the best version of WWE either.

Or TNA. So there, first match of the CC2, fucking Shelton Benjamin beats Mark Briscoe. Ok. I eagerly await Eric Bischoff (oh wait, he'll actually be on NXT next week, that good ole carny leech). Seriously, this is *everything* AEW should not do. Mark was one of the most over guy in the company this year, and not pushed as such. He wins the ROH title and then loses it to Chris Jericho for, uh, reason ? And now he puts over this generation's Brad Armstrong (JTTS 4 Life, declared underrated to the point he's actually grossly overrated, could not figure how to showcase the slightest bit of charisma even after 25 years in the business). Good job. 

Speaking of Jericho, this Ishii match was absolutely fascinating. It should be showed in every wrestling school. This is how you lose a crowd. Not only they are two years older and it shows (although Ishii is still excellent, he had some great matches this year), not only it's a rehash at a time when the company is now very cold and it shows, but there is this point where they chose to slap the shit out of each other to the point Ishii's cheek gets red. And the crowd doesn't like this. I did not either. It's striking how at this point, they decide this is kinda bullshit and turn against the match. So they kinda try something else, but don't quite manage and when they go back to some slaps, the crowd turns against them AGAIN. Then Ishii tries to be Ishii but Jericho's timing is off, which is very reminiscent of the debacle against Mistico at Arena Mexico.

Oh yeah, it was for the ROH title and no one gives a fuck. Apparently Jericho getting it back was in the hopes of getting a TV deal. The idea of Jericho in 2024 being useful to get a TV deal for ROH aside, let's put it like this. Either ROH gets a TV deal, in which case tape it at some smaller venue with a totally separated roster and try make it a cool and different product. Either ROH doesn't get a TV and it has to be done with immediately. Get over it. The ROH "show" is a complete waste of time. It's only good to give workers some reps. There's *zero* effort put into it as a show. Final Battle at Hammerstein will probably be really good because you can thrown enough talent together at the last minute, that doesn't justify this ROH nonsense. Have AEW Ring of Honor at Hammerstein every year and make it a ROH "nostalgia" show if you want. Jeez. But GET OVER IT.

Nothing screams "cold promotion" more than Claudio and Ricochet busting their ass only for the crowd to entertain themselves with "bald" chants. As much as I was with them on the slap stuff, this was just sad.

Hangman is great, Jay White is great, Deathriders are great, Marina Sharif is OMG Marina Shafir.

That Cole vs MJF story is a clear case of escalation of commitment. I really just want them to bring Bobby Fish back so he can ask where the lie is. And don't get me wrong, I like all the people involved here. But this is wretched.

Don't tell me they're gonna run Mercedes vs Kamille after that awesome match against Statlander. Mercedes has got her groove back, but she ain't a miracle worker either, and Kamille... Kamille is cool in the heater role. In-ring, sorry to say, she never was that good. Don't try to Jade Cargill her, because she ain't Jade Cargill. She absolutely can contribute positively, and aside from that awful match against Aminata, she's been pretty good, but please, Mercedes deserves opponents against whom she can have bangers, because that's what she does.

Mina vs Mariah is great.

Brody vs Darby is great. I dunno what is going on with the House of Black, apparently Buddy has signed an extension or something, but it's obvious they are every much contributing big time. Gimme that Brody King single push yesterday.

[sek69]

TK  must have bought the old WAR random 6 man generator, Private Party and Mistico vs MxM and Johnny TV was pretty fun.

[El-P]

6 hours ago, sek69 said:

TK  must have bought the old WAR random 6 man generator, Private Party and Mistico vs MxM and Johnny TV was pretty fun.

I mean, you fly in Mistico and you put him with MxM Collection. Coach TK needs some fucking rest and delegate a bit. MxM Collection reeks of the shittiest WWE stuff, which it is actually. Mansour is actually good, but Mace is awful. And the gimmick has no place in AEW. I mean, even WWE thought it was too shitty for NXT, ponder that for a minute. And people wonder why AEW has lost a good chunk of its appeal ?

Then on the same show you have the Outrunners vs Iron Savages. Jeeez. What the fuck happened to AEW, really. The Outrunners cult thing was cute for 5 minutes, but they are not nearly as over as people think they are. Cosplaying Hulk Hogan in 2024 is certainly a choice too. The fact is, apart from the gimmicky stuff, they're just not very good. The "shake hand" thingy is also a shameless redux of "scissor me Daddy", and I really hoped we could have moved away from this gimmicky stuff in 2020's wrestling. Obviously not, as demonstrated by LA Knight becoming a star in WWE because he says "YEAH" a lot and Joe Hendry getting over in TNA being the gimmickiest gimmick ever. I guess you can't escape the vortex of suck that is pro-wrestling mentality of old/WWE tropes.

AEW needs to fix the lighting/cam issue they have, because some people look disgustingly yellowish/greenish, and apparently it doesn't appear that way live, so it's not just a matter of poorly applied fake tan.

CC2 delivered some excellent matches (Kyle vs Mortos, holy shit), and the good stuff is good (Hangman, Mina), you know, but the overall feel is so down, with lots of aimless aspect to it. Hopefully they make changes when they go on MAX, including booking smaller buildings with a better production (and by better I don't like "more like WWE") and atmosphere. It's all a matter of perception, and as long as WWE is hot, they will struggle.