EnviousStupid Posted January 18 Report Share Posted January 18 How many times do we need to watch MJF have another overly-long dud of a promo battle? I like Jarrett but he's not making it any better the way a Samoa Joe or Adam Cole did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Meanwhile, this is two straight weeks that Jarret has cut a terrible promo. Almost as if he is an overrated micarder who invariably fails when pushed prominently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Omega/Osprey vs Takeshita/Fletcher is gonna be out of this world, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 The fact that Private Party is getting booed, and Hurt Syndicate is getting massively cheered is exactly the problem with Hurt Syndicate in AEW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Popped big for Toni and Harley completely Straya'ing out in that segment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 59 minutes ago, Blehschmidt said: The fact that Private Party is getting booed, and Hurt Syndicate is getting massively cheered is exactly the problem with Hurt Syndicate in AEW Private Party was basically gift wrapped the titles and got to come back from an attack from the champion. They aren’t as over as folks want them to be. The act just doesn’t have legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Hangman is such a fascinating character. He should be the one to take down the Deathriders. AEW should be built around him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBoggs33 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 I’m very glad that I didn’t attend that show. I was going to go with my wife but we decided to pass due to the weather. I’m very glad that I did pass on going. Very rough episode tonight. Nothing got my attention. Everything was meh. Blame it on travel or whatever but it was just bad to average episode. I didn’t care for the big brawl to start the show. It went way too long. I’m sure it did due to travel messing up the show but it just dragged. Hurt Syndicate winning the belts already is certainly a choice. Private Party just isn’t over they need a new gimmick or something cause it just isn’t working and I’m sure Matt Hardy will be upset about them losing already. The hurt syndicate is just meh. 🫤 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 And your tag champs are now two 50 years old ex-WWE guy, one of which being a JTTS 4 Life. Wonderful. It was obvious it was happening but still. Private Party have been done dirty. Never pushed forever, they got the title without any build, Young Bucks working their magic made it seems they actually got over in two great matches, then squashed by the Hurt AEW Syndicate essentially. How low has this sunk since the days of Young Bucks / FTR / Lucha Brothers... 6 hours ago, MoS said: Hangman is such a fascinating character. He should be the one to take down the Deathriders. AEW should be built around him This. His entire arc in AEW is some of the most compelling pro-wrestling character work ever in pro-wrestling. 8 hours ago, sek69 said: Omega/Osprey vs Takeshita/Fletcher is gonna be out of this world, Oh yes. And I'm glad I still get this kinda shit in AEW, because right now, that's the only kinda thing that keeps me watching, as I'm totally disinvested from the promotion as a whole. At a point where TNA is becoming yet another WWE-adjacent product, it would be nice if AEW would pick up their game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 I don't want to get back into the same debate every week, but some of the Private Party talk reminds me of that joke about the bad soup. I'm going to butcher it but it goes something like this: A husband and wife go out to dinner. The husband orders a soup. After the meal, the wife asks him, "How was your soup?" and he says, "It tasted lousy and the portion was too small." It's like, people recognize that Private Party aren't remotely over, are nothing special in the ring, have a lame gimmick (wearing a mesh tanktop in 2025 is...yikes) but then still complain that they should've beat the Hurt Syndicate. They need a full repackage before they should even be on TV again. I know Hurt Syndicate aren't popular around these parts and I'm certainly not advocating for them to hold the titles forever...but given the options, the AEW tag team division is in total disarray and at least the Syndicate are "names" with a solid manager and, IMO, the ability to be good, strong heels that give the titles some stability while TK finds a suitable babyface team to beat them (its going to the Bucks, isn't it? Ugggh...). Again, personally, I'd have put the titles on "Claudio & Anybody" but I don't make the calls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 1 hour ago, DMJ said: It's like, people recognize that Private Party aren't remotely over, are nothing special in the ring, have a lame gimmick (wearing a mesh tanktop in 2025 is...yikes) but then still complain that they should've beat the Hurt Syndicate No one here is arguing that they should have beat Hurt Syndicate in the current context. The Private Party AEW tag champs stint was doomed from the start and they have done jackshit with them after then won the titles. It is not about Private Party. It's about the Hurt Syndicate being a symptom of a lot that is wrong about AEW right now. Hopefully their run ends up being about *making* younger and better tag team important. I have no faith this will happen. Honestly, I would just have them lose to Buddy & Brody really soon, then have Swerve beat Lashley to a pulp. And then move Shelton to ROH or something and do whatever with Lashley. Also, speaking about too many 50 years old ex-WWE guys getting pushed, Cope looked *old* and out of breath for the first time since he's been in AEW. Having a boring match with *PAC* is not a good look. Overall, this episode was mostly enjoyable, really, glaring issues aside Chris Daniels retiring without much flair at all but in a last great match is the definition of his career. Underrated and understated how great and influential he has been for 30 years. Respect to the Fallen Angel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 26 minutes ago, El-P said: Having a boring match with *PAC* is not a good look. Not exactly a shocker, to be honest. Should AEW pivot from the Death Riders angle? It reminds me so much of that time in WWE where IIRC Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman were standing tall at the end of every single fucking episode of RAW around 2016 to 2017. It was the worst. They could just have Hobbs steamroll the shit outta Mox, but I fear they are going to drag out this feud with Cope a bit longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 5 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Not exactly a shocker, to be honest. PAC is awesome and has nothing but bangers. He could have a great match with a corpse. I could watch PAC have a match on every show for the next 10 years. This was the worst PAC match I can even remember. So no, not a good look at all. 5 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: They could just have Hobbs steamroll the shit outta Mox, but I fear they are going to drag out this feud with Cope a bit longer. Hangman, Omega and Ospreay are the only guys who should beat Mox right now. AEW wants to restore the feeling ? FOCUS ON WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDuke Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 2 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said: Not exactly a shocker, to be honest. Should AEW pivot from the Death Riders angle? It reminds me so much of that time in WWE where IIRC Drew McIntyre, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman were standing tall at the end of every single fucking episode of RAW around 2016 to 2017. It was the worst. Remember the League of Nations heel faction from around that era? That was awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 23 Author Report Share Posted January 23 The Deathriders stuff is not *bad* per say. It's just not clicking because it has started as super compelling and petered out as generic heel faction doing generic heel things. I really like all of them too, PAC as the killer, Claudio as the gatekeeper, Marina as the silent bodyguard and Wheeler as a despicable little shit (he's been awesome, really). But the compelling part has vanished after the Orange Cassidy match, and it just isn't getting over. Copeland being next in line (and already way too much time, and hopefully it is the Australia match and not the next PPV) has made it worse, really, because it was about Mox and the original spirit of AEW (which is why Orange & Darby were perfect). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Hurt Syndicate being champs is going to work since they’re on a course towards Brody/Buddy and I’m all in for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 When you have a good heel stable? You’re only as good as the folks you put across from them to be compelling. OC had cache, but he kinda got stomped out a bit. They’re saving Darby to be the guy at All In more than likely, but in the meantime, the folks thrown at Mox aren’t gonna make you think they have a shot. They put BRYAN DANIELSON out to pasture with a bad neck in a truly sick fashion, and with him being younger than Copeland, too. You’re running a poor facsimile of that now. Building up old fools who are desperate to not retire yet. JJ being in the shadows, too And while there’s a clamoring for Kenny/Will/Hangman to have the belt, there’s diminishing returns there across the board. Hangman at least is fleshing out, but Kenny probably can’t run a champions schedule and while I know Will is loved around here, he has one style and one style only and that can get old quick. MJF fell into his old traps and didn’t evolve when he needed to, and now he’s middling at best and no longer compelling. Will’s work is one thing, but the house style has led to this downturn where you can’t just keep running that out forever. Then nothing has a chance to stand out. There’s a middle ground but I’m not sure where that is given there’s such a stratification of talent now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 7 hours ago, Timbo Slice said: I know Will is loved around here, he has one style and one style only and that can get old quick. His one style is really, really fucking good though. He has that ability to get the crowd invested in everything he does which is practically a lost art. Also Private Party getting the tag titles in the first place is a testament to how good the Bucks are at getting people over. They gave Private Party by far the best matches of their careers (and probably ever), and got people convinced they were something special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 Will Ospreay can do any style, and any style better than most everybody ever. He can still do flippy junior stuff better than Ricochet. As demonstrated by the brutal garbage and bloody brawl with Omega, he can do that also. Put him with ZSJ, he can do european submission matwork up his ass. His match with Micheal Oku at Rev Pro last year was a masterpiece of heeling up like a bastard and building an underground babyface sensation like nobody's business. Put him in Arena Mexico and you'll see the result. Not to mention he adapted to US TV wrestling format ridiculously quick, including in term of promo work (he was great in Japan in his own way, but that was very different). And also : 4 hours ago, sek69 said: He has that ability to get the crowd invested in everything he does which is practically a lost art. Also Private Party getting the tag titles in the first place is a testament to how good the Bucks are at getting people over. They gave Private Party by far the best matches of their careers (and probably ever), and got people convinced they were something special. Young Bucks are the greatest ever. There is not even a discussion about it. Remember when they had this match with Griff Garrisson and Pillman Jr. and then people were clamoring that these two needed to be pushed as tag champs because they were so good already ? Same thing happened with Private Party. They got them handed out super cold, from being beat down by the Deathriders. They had not been pushed nor featured forever. Matches started cold because of it. And twice, by the end, the crowd was going crazy for Private Party, were invested in them winning. That is called great work. There's a reason why AEW was at his hottest *it itself* (and by that I mean, before the disastrous CM Punk signing) when Omega & the Bucks were finally pushed at the top acts in 2021. AEW was born out of a particular context, at a time when a certain audience at a certain desire. You can't just declare that you will "restore the feeling" magically by pushing this or that guy. Context has changed. The audience has changed. But still, there is an underlying sense of what AEW was build upon. That is what needs to be found again and adapted to what the context is today, if that is even possible. This is why I have lamented that AEW, after a while, became "just another pro-wrestling company". Then again, the great and important things only come in bursts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 If people have the time, they should go back and watch the early Dynamite shows. They got away with a LOT due to goodwill and the positive vibes around the promotion. Week to week, I’m not sure the vast majority of acts or the booking was any hotter than it is now. They just had such a wellspring of support due to WWE being so atrociously bad. I watched this weeks Dynamite not long after watching the 2019 Dynamites and both are a far cry away from 21/22 Dynamite. Only difference is that the crowds had remained bigger and hotter for the earlier shows so it all feels more vital. Whatever spark it had, it’s lost but you can get that back again if you strike with the hot hand and the right hand. Unfortunately, rather than having a World Title scene built around the workers people want to see, they’re building it around the coldest acts in the company which is just bizarre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 The lead story in the current Observer is about AEW inconsistency issues. When I saw the header image was a photo of the Hurt Syndicate celebrating in the ring, I immediately thought of @El-P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 Not that I have investment in Shelton or Lashley or Hurt things in 2025, but I don't think it is fair to call Shelton a career JTTS. Almost all of his WWE run was IC/US guy, he was a very featured guy for almost all of his first run with WWE. Second run, sure you might be able to make that argument but even then he was just mostly kind of not used at all, but when he was, I believe there were a couple tag title runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 Yeah, JTTS is too harsh but whatever. It doesn't change a thing to my point about either of them, really (although when he was at IC/US level, these titles did not mean much anymore). I just hope they actually work a good meaty match against the Hounds of Hell and drop the belts. 1 hour ago, NintendoLogic said: The lead story in the current Observer is about AEW inconsistency issues. When I saw the header image was a photo of the Hurt Syndicate celebrating in the ring, I immediately thought of @El-P. I mean, that's an upgrade over being thought of at mention of Jinder Mahal or something... The age thing is... last week on Collision there was a Dustin Rhodes "competitive" squash. No promo. No angle. Not leading to anything. Dustin is not even a singles wrestler at this point, he's ROH tag champs with Sammy. So, WHY ? There's no way you're giving 6 minutes of your TV time to 55 years old Dustin Rhodes winning a squash. In 2025. (I won't even get to the fact he's still ROH six-men tag champ alongside the Von Erich dudes despite the fact they haven't been around in like 6 months, whereas the Gunn Club had to vacate trios titles as soon as one guy was injured. It's not like the ROH titles mean anything) What about Christian Cage *still* holding that ridiculous briefcase. It dates from Wembley. I hope they get rid of this WWE-lite angle at the time Mox vs Cope happens. They did not do the whole "can cash in at anytime" before, and it was a whole lot better. One *big* flaw of AEW's booking is that they drag stuff for way too fucking long without any good episodic development. And then they either forget about stuff (remember the awesome Takeshita & Okada tease ?) or do it way too late, without a proper build, because "well we have to do it now" (the bad and heatless Hook vs Cage match last week). There's a clear total escalation of commitment bias/issue going on with Coach TK's booking. It has happened before (lately with MJF vs Adam Cole), it is happening now with the Deathriders, and it hurts the weekly shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 On the positive side, I've been enjoying the Toni Storm angle a whole lot. I expect the revelation at the end to be that it was a master acting job by Timeless Toni Storm and that she really never had amnesia at all, and she returns as herself at the Australia show and get the title back. Also, giving Harley Cameron a match with Moné at Grand Prix is the best decision. She needs to break through, and Moné working her magic with her can only help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted January 26 Report Share Posted January 26 On 1/24/2025 at 1:26 PM, El-P said: On the positive side, I've been enjoying the Toni Storm angle a whole lot. I expect the revelation at the end to be that it was a master acting job by Timeless Toni Storm and that she really never had amnesia at all, and she returns as herself at the Australia show and get the title back. Oh shit, sup TK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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