The AEW Thread

[forameus]

Brand splits themselves aren't great, but AEW is really crying out for one.  So much talent in there that could really put on a show, but most of the TV time (at least the bits that matter*) is taken up by a small number of people.  If you're in the JAS, good for you.  If you're in the BCC, then bully.  The Elite, Hangman, Starks, the Outcasts/Britt and Hayter, whoever is in the main event scene...outside of that you're scrambling for time.  

Bit of a meh episode I thought, at least by their own high standards.  They have a real habit of painting each week like it's going to be this momentous show that will change everything, but I'm not really sure what that achieved other than being a pretty solid lead-in to the go-home show.  Matches made for the PPV, feuds advanced, all seemed pretty standard.  Sure you had Tony Khan actually managing to blink during a promo, but it was just covering something that had already been released, and then announcing they'd be going to Canada a few times.  Didn't really strike me as being that huge at this stage.  And then hyping up this big reveal as to why Callis did what he did, and all you get is a pretty generic heel performance, followed by the same type of brawl we've seen for what feels like years now.  

Still, Double or Nothing shaping up to be another really good show, even if it will be about 8 hours.

 _{* I don't count Rampage, as it clearly doesn't matter.  There's very rarely anything that happens there that makes me think that I need to carve out time to actually watch}

[forameus]

To the surprise of absolutely no-one, the return of CM Punk continues to be an absolute minefield by the sounds of it.  All set up for him to be the face of the new Collision Show, then at the 11th hour, they completely scrub him from all the promotional materials because (allegedly, it's the dirtsheets) he demanded that Ace Steel return.  The guy that bit someone and threw a chair.  He then threw a strop when they countered by suggesting he could come back, but he'd have to work from home and not attend any tapings.  What a fucking mess.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he comes back and is gone again within months when someone says something completely innocuous and he goes off again.  Probably scanting Tony Khan on the way out literally as well as metaphorically just like last time.

They're managing a near sell-out of Wembley Fucking Stadium, yet this stuff makes Khan look like a complete and utter dildo, and risks alienating some pretty important people to their overall product, all to please someone at the end of his career who a lot of people seem to actively dislike.

[GNU_Linux]

Fight Forever out June 29th

Also based off NJPW Strong Resurgence

Wheeler Yuta to BCC looks likely

[FairWeatherFan]

3 hours ago, GNU_Linux said:

Fight Forever out June 29th

Also based off NJPW Strong Resurgence
 

  Hide contents

Wheeler Yuta to BCC looks likely

 

Might want to rethink the spoiler since that was so last year

[8MileBU]

How long do we think we’ll have AEW on ITV for?

[FairWeatherFan]

1 hour ago, 8MileBU said:

How long do we think we’ll have AEW on ITV for?

Rest of the year at least. 

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

Chicago is finally confirmed for the first episode of Collision. I'm sure there will be no mental social media drama involving a wrestler from Chicago before then.

[TheGoon]

What a cameo Sabu is  

[forameus]

It'd be absolutely fucking hilarious if in the 3 or so weeks they've got until this first collision show, Punk makes such a c**t of it (again) that they roll back and he never appears.  Although given how much they seem to be bending over for him, I doubt that'd happen.  I for one am very interested to see the absolute car crash this could be.

[TheGoon]

Enjoyed that. Not at the level of previous DONs, but good stuff throughout. Normally not a Battle Royal man but I thought that opener ended up really good. 

Anarchy in the Arena wasn’t as good as the last one, but that’s a pretty high bar to clear. Still absolutely nuts. 

4 Pillars match was excellent. Wasn’t a fan of the build at all, but the match absolutely delivered - and made me even more certain Darby’s eventually beating him for the belt.

Hopefully Hayter’s injury isn’t too bad - she needs to win the belt back at Wembley if she’s cleared in time. 

[FifeArab]

Just watched MJF’s press conference, what an excellent troller he is. 
 

ear muffs, Tony.

[forameus]

Admittedly it's largely down to AEW's very strong track record, but I thought that was a largely average show.  Nothing really jumped out as particularly memorable, and it felt more like one of their special Dynamite events, rather than something you're spending a whack of money on.  Don't get me wrong, there was nothing really bad on it, but just nothing truly great either.  I still think they need to slow things down particularly between matches, as they still have that tendency to let the camera settle for a few seconds post-match before charging on to the next segment.  and that's compounded by them not focusing on the sort of big pre-match promos WWE does.  Matches just sort of run into each other when they're all just good.

At the risk of sounding like I'm yelling at a cloud, I don't think the anarchy in the arena matches really work either.  Again, not at all bad, but it feels like 8+ guys killing themselves to do something that they simply cannot present properly.  So often they're cutting to the middle of a spot, or missing things entirely.  Omega dropping Moxley into a barbed wire covered poker chip would usually be the sort of spot you'd build a match up to, yet they cut to him already lying on it and have to catch up on a replay.  I know it's kind of the point of the "anarchy" bit, but it all just seemed like a bit of a mess.  Particularly if they're going to insist on running a shite cover of Wild Thing over the top of it every time.

[Lyle Lanley]

Punk returns at AEW Collision confirmed. 

[Sherrif John Bunnell]

A ludicrous line-up for Rampage this week

[forameus]

10 hours ago, Lyle Lanley said:

Punk returns at AEW Collision confirmed. 

Everyone's favourite miserable c**t back to lead his very own show with zero real punishment for his transgressions.  Top work.

Very interesting reaction too.  Big pop and a lot of people clearly happy, but brief shots of people very much the opposite that were quickly cut away from.  Guy needs to come back as a proper heel, otherwise I can see it all going sour very, very quickly.

[cb_diamond]

4 hours ago, forameus said:

Everyone's favourite miserable c**t back to lead his very own show with zero real punishment for his transgressions.  Top work.

Very interesting reaction too.  Big pop and a lot of people clearly happy, but brief shots of people very much the opposite that were quickly cut away from.  Guy needs to come back as a proper heel, otherwise I can see it all going sour very, very quickly.

100% need heel punk back blasting the crowd and being an absolute shit to everyone backstage. Get FTR and a big bear like Powerhouse Hobbs for the full four horseman experience.

[8MileBU]

On 01/06/2023 at 12:18, forameus said:

Everyone's favourite miserable c**t back to lead his very own show with zero real punishment for his transgressions.  Top work.

Very interesting reaction too.  Big pop and a lot of people clearly happy, but brief shots of people very much the opposite that were quickly cut away from.  Guy needs to come back as a proper heel, otherwise I can see it all going sour very, very quickly.

Plenty videos of the true crowd reactions on Twitter. Perfect 50/50 of boos and cheers. 

Punk is dogshit and boring to watch. They don’t need him in the grand scheme of things and TK is more than rich enough to have paid him off. However, still a fair amount of Wembley tickets needing shifted so that’ll certainly help.

[Bert Raccoon]

I can't agree Punk is boring to watch, an arsehole? Definitely bit he's still great in ring 

[forameus]

I think he's definitely not what he once was in the ring, but of course he isn't, he's been away for a very long time. It's noticeable that he isn't quite at the level of a lot of others in an industry that now values work rate so highly.

But the charisma he holds is always going to push him higher than his pure inring ability can. Even when he was (at the time seemingly) torching his own career in the scrum, he was putting out perfect promo soundbites. I'd still be very interested in watching his feuds because I value actually having a story amongst matches rather than just "these two guys are good, let's wrestle"

I think the decision to have him come back is a face is fucking moronic though. He should come out in Chicago to an ovation and then spend 30 minutes being a complete c**t. Having him come back as a face now will be at complete odds with...well, absolutely everything we know about the guy.

[Derek Patterson]