The AEW Thread

[Ludo*1]

54 minutes ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Guess it depends where you look. Punk & his thoughts on Meltzer are the only things I've seen. 

This is the first I've seen of him cos of Cornette. 

Well, it was trending at the time I posted.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

I'm not as down on Jericho as some folk on here, but it would be nice if he could put someone over without immediately having to get his heat back afterwards.

[TheGoon]

The production changes have been quite good (dodgy mic aside) 

Definitely doing a lot better at actually shooting the crowd.  

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

That Dusty finish had me fooled.

[TheGoon]

That was a brilliant episode. Honestly might be one of my favourites. Really strong start to the year.

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

That was an awesome ending. Vince would be spinning in his grave at the thought of two home town wrestlers going over on the same show.

[DA Baracus]

That was a cracking Dynamite. As always it helps when the crowd is hot and this crowd were hot all night.

Starks is becoming a big star. I suppose they need some way of progressing his feud with Jericho so lobbing him through a table is what they came up with. If he just celebrated after the win then what would he do next? We know he isn't challenging for the world title any time soon, so they need to keep him hot.

The MJF and Danielson back and forth was amusing. One hour Iron Match though...think that's too long.

The Acclaimed are still one of the most over acts. Caster's rap was, as always, tremendous. The match was a lot of fun and for a second I really bought they'd lost the titles!

Swerve's new stable is shit. He's so much better than that.

Hangman and Mox's segment was brilliant. They're both such good talkers and they made it seem real, with their small physical actions making them look like they were absolutely desperate to kick f**k out of each other but were only just able to hold back. Their match is surely going to be immense!

Darby vs Joe was great. The crowd were so in to it and so was I! 

 

Only slight grumble I have is that they still cut between sections too quickly. For example, after The Acclaimed won the cameras should have stayed with them to celebrate for longer rather than cutting away so fast to backstage.

Edited January 6, 2023 by DA Baracus

[forameus]

The Iron Man match stip is an interesting one.  Obviously Danielson could go two hours if they really wanted, but interesting to see how they book it.  Does MJF have it in him for them to put out a classic?  Hopefully he wins it relatively clean and the story isn't just him cheating to win.  I expect that's something Danielson will be happy to do for him.  I do fear for the whole show though - are they really going to massively drop the number of matches to accomodate, or are we going to be reaching WM35 proportions for the show?

37 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Only slight grumble I have is that they still cut between sections too quickly. For example, after The Acclaimed won the cameras should have stayed with them to celebrate for longer rather than cutting away so fast to backstage.

I think they've got better with it, but it's something that's bothered me since I started watching.  I wonder if it's a deliberate thing to try and make it seem like a fast-paced show, rather than just a necessity to get through it all.  No matter if it's intentional or not though, it's jarring.  The best wrestlers know when to stop and just let the moment ripple across the crowd and let it build, and I'm not sure anyone is getting that opportunity when 5 seconds after something happens, they're already queueing up the next segment.  

[TheGoon]

So, so glad AC’s back and healthy 

[Jeff Venom]

10 hours ago, TheGoon said:

So, so glad AC’s back and healthy 

What a reception he got! Terrific to see him back and sounds like he's raring to go. 

[forameus]

In an era where a lot of entrance themes are just a bit bland, it's nice to see one that just fits so well with getting that pop. I'm sure Jim Johnston always talked about makings songs that had that first couple of seconds that really grab you.  Stone Cold's obviously, the Rock.   Cole's has exactly that.  Great pop, and great to see him back.  Still think it's going to be difficult for him to really find a place at the top of the card with how stacked the roster is, but hopefully he does.

Weird one with Mox after the match, was there something genuine there?  Commentary team seemed to have no idea, and not in a way they'd rehearsed.  Particularly with those shoot headbutts, which will never not look awful.

Great main event as expected, and you have to hand it to AEW.  After All Out, a lot of people would've probably expected them to hit a bit of a tailspin.  They've now basically gotten back to where they wanted to be with putting the belts back on the Elite, and aside from what's going to happen to Punk, they've tied everything up nicely with little drama.  Quite frankly, it's too good, so bring back Punk next week please and give him a live mic.

[rowsdower]

I think with moxley they set up the angle so that he can disappear for a while, as he was planning a break before the cm punk thing. 

The AEW themes are a bit bland, but I like Starks', felt his segment fell flat last night though.

It's nice have a fully firing Kenny Omega and Adam Cole back. 

[TheGoon]

Really emjoyable show again, though quite surprised at the lack of Mercedes. I can understand why her weird fans have ended up annoyed at it.

[forameus]

1 hour ago, rowsdower said:

I think with moxley they set up the angle so that he can disappear for a while, as he was planning a break before the cm punk thing. 

That's true actually.  It would make sense for him to be able to get that break now, not much left for him to do and he deserves it.  If it is though, seems a bit of a weird way to do it.  I'd have expected them to either properly write him off, or just let him drift off of TV for a little while.  Maybe they were trying to go for the "real" angle, but I'm not sure they sold it quite as well.  Of course, could come out next week and they do a proper send-off after this, who knows.

1 hour ago, rowsdower said:

The AEW themes are a bit bland, but I like Starks', felt his segment fell flat last night though.

I'm seeing this a bit more in recent times.  AEW can put out some incredible promos, but the odd time they throw out the sort of shite that Vince would find hilarious, but would get roundly panned by most.  Not really the Starks one, but the MJF "take-a-shit" one is really poor stuff, "Britt Rhymes with Shit".  I assume AEW is a lot more free with letting wrestlers go out and say what they want to say, so I guess it's the difference between Vince having a terrible sense of humour and telling everyone to say what he wants, and some people sometimes not hitting the mark.

[FairWeatherFan]

1 hour ago, forameus said:

That's true actually.  It would make sense for him to be able to get that break now, not much left for him to do and he deserves it.  If it is though, seems a bit of a weird way to do it.  I'd have expected them to either properly write him off, or just let him drift off of TV for a little while.  Maybe they were trying to go for the "real" angle, but I'm not sure they sold it quite as well.  Of course, could come out next week and they do a proper send-off after this, who knows.

I don't think this will be the end of Mox v. Hangman. To me it feels like it'll extend to another match. I'm not a fan of faking the concussion concerns (see Danielson especially in his first match back). Didn't help that Cole returned to remind everyone how serious this can be.

As for time off. Maybe it's coming. Certainly deserved. Of course he's already down for DEFY in February and just announced for OTT in March. Won't be shocked to see him back in Japan this year. He won't be stopped.

[forameus]

CM Punk ramping up his jealous ex behaviour to AEW, including a recent photo with Brodie King.  Reddit sleuths (aye, the same ones who "got" the Boston Bomber, so massive truck of salt) seem to believe the photo was taken while they were in town for Dynamite,  so could well be he was there too.  At this stage, with them saying absolutely nothing, I'd say it's more likely than not that he ends up back in the company.  Because it'd be a shame if it was just WWE going all car crash.

[Lukovic]

Another great Dynamite, they're on some run just now. Highlights for me being Hook suplexing Big Bill and Takeshita still looking like a star (he's got to get a big win soon especially with all this stuff going on with Callis). Also saw that FTR have been given a few months off by the looks of it.

[cb_diamond]

That was a horrendous bump Anna Jay took off the stage.

[TheGoon]

Fair play to the women after that match. Sore yin.

[8MileBU]

Now that he’s back hopefully the push Adam Cole will likely receive dwindles fairly quickly. Credit where it’s due, he’s alright on the mic and plays the heel fairly; however inside the ropes I think he’s incredibly beige and “Panama sunrise” is one of those moves that shouldn’t be a move. 

It’ll be interesting to see where they go with him initially though as I don’t see him being stabled with the Bucks again now that Kenny Omega is back. Some shite about feeling neglected by the Bucks for their pal Kenny while out injured leading to a Cole-Omega could be a decent feud especially now the best-of-seven has concluded.