General

I don’t need to see Flair on TV, but nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

That Bianca and Kairi match felt pretty sloppy, and hate to say it, it looked to be mostly on Kairi's end. They've had good matches in NXT together, must've just been having an off night. It sucks because NYC crowd is always hot, in the Attitude Era this would be one of those crowds you don't want to have a bad match in front of.

Went to GCW for my bachelor party last night. Card didn’t look incredible but holy crap was that fun.

I'm a little bummed I didn't get to see GCW at the WrestleCade thing last week. It just was too expensive, would've had to buy a WrestleCade ticket, then a separate ticket for GCW, then upwards of $50 for each autograph and/or pic with any of the wrestlers. I wish I had known about it over the summer so I would've had more time to save up.

Got a photo with Effy, so that was a win. Dude just hangs out in the crowd after his match lol

Any one watch Wrestlers documentary on Netflix about ohio valley wrestling? What are your thoughts on it?

I thought it was really good. I hope it leads to an increase in OVW business.

Looks like Kenny Omega is out of action indefinitely due to diverticulitis. Brock had that when he had to step away from UFC a while back. My brother-in-law also dealt with that for the past couple of years before finally getting surgery for it (twice) this year. It ain't no joke.

Yah that fudging sucks, but explains why he’s taken a bit of a backseat for a while. Glad they caught it. Positive vibes to Kenny.

Also, ROH Final Battle has been fudging awesome so far.

I hope Kenny can get better and fully recover. All the positive vibes.

Sitting at Dynamite now. ROH will have matches first. People still filtering in it looks. Building isn’t as full as it was for Raw, but OKC rarely sells anything out.

BucketofJustice wrote:

Crowd has sounded great on TV all night. Yall brought it. Been a fun show so far.

I hope it came off better on TV than it did from my seats. AEW won’t get any more of my money based on tonight.

Lol alright

looool hell yah. "I hate you... ahhhyuck gwarssh"

Also Punk is proving a hypocrite more and more every day. Unfortunately. Hope his matches are at least still good so I have a reason to remain a fan.

If I could plus you Mr. TheHutt, I would.

Man, I'm gonna miss the Continental Classic when it wraps up. Sad we're already in the last batch of matches. Easily my favorite US tournament in years (if not ever). There have been no bad matches throughout the entire thing, and now after White beat Mox last night, we get a triple threat between Mox, Swerve and White on the next Dynamite. Plus Danielson/Claudio, Garcia/King and Kingston/Andrade on Collision.

Gonna be nothing but bangers this point forward.

After sleeping off last nights experience, I should probably think on it more than my immediate reaction of ‘they won’t get my money again’. I definitely did not have the good time last night that I did at Raw. There were definitely some good things that I saw live, but I’ll be honest in that floor seats at the Paycom center aren’t the best decision. I couldn’t see as much as I’d have liked, and I severely underestimated the amount of hardcore wrestling fans that were there. The ones that I was near, were annoying as crap. Next time, I’ll be a level up. The wrestling in the matches was consistently really good, as far as I could see anyway. The in-ring has never been the issue. Seeing Tony Khan in person makes me dislike him even more, and I didn’t need to see him 4 times. I’m probably too out of touch on the AEW storylines, which as best I can tell was a whodunit with a disguise MJF used last year, this tournament for a bogus Triple Crown and Roderick Strong doing whatever he was doing. I thought the way he yelled people’s names and put the neck brace on after the match was hilarious. I haven’t watched it on TV yet, but I plan to do that today. I don’t know if I’ll watch Rampage because of time, but I look forward to seeing if OKC comes off better on TV than it did live.

I don’t understand how the triple crown title is “bogus,” personally. Especially being decided in such a consistently great tournament. And yah, I’ll just never understand the hate people have for Khan but we don’t need to dredge that back up.

To be honest, the in-ring never being the issue is the exact thing AEW is focusing on, and has always focused on. There are some great stories throughout AEW’s short history but for the most part they’re catalysts for the great in-ring work. That’s just what AEW is. WWE focuses more on story (similarly of varying quality) and usually save the top tier in-ring stuff for PPVs and/or the guys on their roster who can actually deliver that sort of thing. Just two different styles of pro wrestling show, which is better than just one.

As for the stories themselves, I alluded to this a while back, but it makes sense that you’re not enthralled by the stories going on considering you don’t follow the show. That would be the case for any TV show with ongoing stories — it’s hard to appreciate any story if you only see small portions of it. The MJF devil story has been ongoing for quite a while and has been super intriguing with the various clues and different guys who could credibly be revealed as the culprit. It’s fun and engaging - again, if you watch it consistently.

But yah, Roddy Strong is doing some great work right now. Finally finding his footing as a character and not just a great wrestler. BUCKETTTTT!!

So a new title, a belt that doesn’t have a brand since the last show was in January and a title that hasn’t meant anything in years isn’t bogus? I don’t understand how it’s a good thing they just arbitrarily made a triple crown out of thin air for no good reason. All Japan had a triple crown and it meant something, and this just feels like Tony wanted an American G1, and wants to have an ever-growing collection of belts for… reasons. We have differing opinions of Tony, but 10000000000% agreed that more wrestling products is better than less. I want everyone to have national TV and sell out arenas and make all the money, even if I dislike elements of their products.

I don’t see their storylines as particularly good right now. It feels like they’re going through the motions and propping everything up with a bogus tournament. The MJF/Devil thing gives me 2010 TNA vibes with ‘They’ are coming and then a few months later ‘They’ are coming but the first people doesn’t know who ‘They’ are. No intrigue for me, though you’re probably right about part of why I’m not enthralled.

I’m also sad to say, but Timeless Toni Storm doesn’t translate to a live environment very well. At least not for me. Totally becoming a Rush fan though. I saw Jay White in a different light last night, and he comes off better live than he ever has on TV for me. The Kingdom are stars waiting to happen, and I hope it happens soon. Saraya’s brother Zach (sp?) wrestled Pretty Peter Avalon in the second match. I liked Peter, but not so much Zach. Looks like a million bucks though. The presentation of Saraya is also way better live than it is on TV. Swerve was a little hit and miss. He was on for the match, which was good, but the promo with MJF was kind of eh, for me. I do like where it could be headed, though. I hope they don’t just go from MJF and Joe to that, though. I think it’s time for Joe to become AEW champion, or it’s never going to happen.

I do think like I said, I’d want not-floor seats for my next arena wrestling show. That probably impacted my overall enjoyment a lot. I did like seeing Lethal and Briscoe tearing it up, as much as I could see. The TV presentation was better than my live experience, but again that’s probably because of the view I had and the annoying people around me.

The lack of concessions, and merch stands, and the lack of traffic in and out, was weird to me. WWE had way more stuff open for food and drinks, and 3 or 4 merch stands with lines at all of them. AEW had 1 merch stand, and no line, and most of the concessions were closed. Also, there were police and crossing guards and stuff at Raw where there was not any of that last night. It seemed like a glorified Indy show in some ways, which doesn’t lend itself well to a national product in a big arena.

Oh well. That’s my review. For better or worse.

Just gonna touch on a few of your criticisms here. I know no minds are changing -- just giving my two cents on some of your criticisms because I don't feel they're entirely fair. Sorry for typing far too much, as always.

BucketofJustice wrote:

To be fair, All Japan's Triple Crown title was created because, if it hadn't been, the titles were likely just going to be retired sooner than later anyhow. None of them were treated with any priority by that point -- especially the United National title which had been vacated a bunch of times in the few years before the unification. The NJPW Strong title and ROH titles are still defended on both of those brands. You may not care about them anymore, which is fine, but that doesn't mean they're meaningless. Those who actually follow those shows still care about them -- but even if they didn't, again, all the more reason to unite them into something more relevant.

And tbh, who cares why Khan wanted to do the Continental Classic? Pro wrestling is a make-believe sport where EVERYthing has arbitrary reasoning behind it. The Royal Rumble exists because McMahon wanted a WWF Bunkhouse Stampede. Maybe Khan did just want a US G1... that isn't a bad thing. Round robins rule. Regardless, I think I remember reading that Danielson is the person who wanted the tournament more than anyone else anyhow. That dude should get what he wants out of wrestling IMO.


Well, you do openly admit to not following their programming, so -- to sound like a broken record -- you're bound to not get the full reach of the stories. The Devil storyline is nothing like that TNA angle -- I watched both as they were happening. That one was all smoke and mirrors, whereas the Devil angle has blatant beats that allow for the reveal to be several potential people while still making perfect sense to the story that came prior. The Continental Classic is so far from a bogus tournament too. You may not care about the titles up for grabs and may hate the ground Khan steps on, but the tournament has consistently been one of the best bits of wrestling TV from any national brand in years. Far more engaging than what WWE did with the King of the Ring last time they held it, and with wrestling that WWE hasn't even come close to touching outside of Gunther matches.


WWE treats their events like a Disney On Ice level experience -- with overpriced nick snacks at every corner of the building -- and their audience as folks who will gobble up anything they sell regardless of quality. Which works for them, but that's not what a wrestling company needs to be. AEW is admittedly not at that level but to be honest, it doesn't seem like that's the experience they're going for either way. They ARE trying to emulate the indy style of a wrestling show to some extent, just on a larger stage. Also, I feel like the crossing guard situation is on the building itself, not AEW. I know when I worked for the Garden for a short time, all that detail was organized by the venue and the crossing guards were paid staff. Heck, even when I went to Lowell for ROH Death Before Dishonor 2022, there were crossing guards and ample security. Not sure that's an AEW issue.

It's neither here nor there and none of this affects our real lives but I do need to say some of these criticisms feel designed solely BECAUSE it's AEW and not necessarily because of the actual content. Like... WWE has had terrible stories over the years -- far worse than anything on AEW TV right now -- and an objectively craptier person than Khan in charge for years... so I just can't grasp the need to be so overly critical of AEW for these reasons without taking that same hard stance toward WWE. There are DEFINITELY things AEW needs to do better, but nowhere near the degree that I feel it's an overall bad show. But alas, it is what it is.

When I went to AEW Collision in August I also was surprised at the lack of merch available. The merch booth was on the small side and there were only between 10-12 different t-shirts to choose from (zero representation for the ROH side), some autographed action figures that were $100 each and some replica championship belts. I got a Bullet Club Gold t-shirt and that was it, and now that I think about it I'm not sure if I've even worn it yet. Not even sure why I bought it all these years later. Buying a Bullet Club t-shirt in 2023 is like buying a nWo t-shirt when the only ones left in the group were Horace, Crush, Virgil and Stevie Ray. Alright, maybe not that bad, but the point is the group has run its course and everyone knows it but them.


As for CM Punk being a hypocrite, I absolutely agree. But the entire industry is full of hypocrites. Right off the top of my head I can think of probably a dozen instances of wrestlers crapping on a company after leaving it or a specific person from another company, but they're only human after all, so if enough money is shoved in their face suddenly their minds have changed and they're now happy to be part of said company again.

Yah, BC still has a much larger presence in NJPW but even there, under Finlay, it’s definitely lost a bit of its prominence. (A bit = a bunch.)

I still think BCG in AEW is a great stable though, though I’d like to see White go off on his own a bit more. Which has been the case in the Continental Classic because everyone’s banned from ringside as a surface rule for the tournament. I’ve been enjoying him a lot more lately.

And Punk hasn’t really even crap talked AEW or anything much so far (probably the NDA tbh) - it’s just the way he acts outside of the ring seems antithetical to the crap he claimed to believe in for his entire life. But whatev.

Watching Smackdown the past several weeks, it really feels like WWE has cooled the jets on LA Knight....very little TV time, not on the SS card, and has barely had a mic in his hand since Crown Jewel. Damage CTRL still feels like Jobber CTRL. Overall, Smackdown feels like it has slid behind Raw, despite adding Orton, Aldis, Kairi, etc. At least their belt holders are all part timers. Does anyone realistically expect either Owens or Escobar to go over Logan?

I gotta hand it to AEW for their tournament. Pretty much every match has been great and the guys who appeared wouldn't be winning are doing some great character development...looking at Garcia and Jay Lethal especially. I love the round robin plan so it doesn't feel so pre-determined. Definitely looking forward to the triple threat next week with White, Strickland, and Gimpy Ambrose.

Raw's been some fun the past little while. It feels more like something is building compared to Smackdown that feels more like spinning wheels waiting for the Rumble. Hoping Punk can bring it in the ring again without a mic. His matches in AEW were a mixed bag but he was looking slow and disinterested in most of the actual matches, other than the ones with MJF.

AJPW announced some kind of partnership with NXT a few hours ago. Pretty cool.

As for WWE kinda cooling down on LA Knight, I think so too, and I'm fine with that as my overall opinion of the guy has kinda cooled down as well. First off, they took a little too long to finally pull the trigger and get behind the guy (not unlike the situation with Zack Ryder). And now that they did, I feel like he's just cutting the same promo every week. I give him credit though, like The Miz and MJF, all he needs is a microphone in his hand and he will present himself as a big star, and the people will eat it up.

I said it when it was happening — to put him in a big time title match vs Reigns without having him win it would destroy his momentum. That’s exactly what happened. It’s like they heard the crowd actually enjoying a wrestler organically and gave him a title shot to satiate his fans. Now they can’t claim he’s being fumbled because all the weirdo WWE diehards will just say “UH HE GOT A TITLE SHOT HOW IS THAT A FUMBLE!?”

They fumbled him. And if Cody isn’t the dude to take the title from Reigns at Mania, they fumbled him too. His last year has not been all that engaging at all. The Brock feud was the best bit.

PizzaTheHutt wrote:


Looks like they're sending Charlie Dempsey (Regal's kid) over to AJPW for an event on January 3. Hopefully something else comes out of this, I like that dude. He hasn't had a chance to show any of the charisma his old man has, but I'm a fan of his in-ring work so far even though you could certainly argue he hasn't been in any real meaningful feuds to show what he's really capable of yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HeJ2A93Doc

That’d be cool if it worked out. I think there’s something more there, but time will tell. I hope Charlie will get time to develop since his dad is in the office, but they’ve made weirder and dumber decisions, so who’s to know?

Charlie Dempsey is almost as bad a name as Lexis King.

Names like Lexis King or Dolph Ziggler I think are in totally different categories. They just sound stupid. It's completely up to the talent to make you remember them for something other than a name like that (which Dolph did, but jury is still out on Lexis). Charlie Dempsey as a name reminds me of Daniel Bryan, like it's a name you'd first hear and the words "wrestling superstar" is the last thing you'd think of his profession being because it just sounds so...normal.

Of course it could always be worse, like the infamously bad Ken Raper, who I don't think accomplished anything noteworthy in his career other than his name reaching meme status 20-30 years later.

It’s not a bad name per se, and it’s not so bad it’s good, but it’s just a normal sounding name that won’t headline Wrestlemania or be picked very much in WWE 2K. They’ve done worse names, and they’ll do worse names later, but his name is the least of his worries. It’s not like WWE is opposed to changing anyone’s name mid-run.

BucketofJustice wrote:


I know there are plenty of other examples, but the first one that comes to mind is Hennig's boy going from Michael McGillicutty to Curtis Axel, and you'd think with a name like Michael McGillicutty you can't really get worse than that, but they found a way.

Ric Flair has crypto now. Did he launch a fake currency because he’s so bad at real currency?

https://www.officialwooooocoin.com/

It's getting to the point that I feel like the folks he partners with on these endeavors are taking advantage of a clearly out-of-touch old man to sell their crap. First an energy drink, now crypto. You know Flair isn't coming up with these ideas on his own haha

Kevin Dunn is leaving WWE. Can’t say I’m surprised as he didn’t want to work for anyone but Vince.

I guess if anything changes over the next few weeks we'll see if he really contributed anything other than constant camera cuts. It doesn't seem like anyone credits him with anything good about the company's production, it's always the bad.

He's been there for like three decades if not more, it's safe to say he is set for life and can just retire right now and not have to worry about anything.

Yeah he’s set for life, and his kids lives and so on and so forth. I’m sure he’s got generational wealth now. I doubt he does anything in wrestling again.

Fudge Kevin Dunn.

World’s End was a mixed bag. Some not very good stuff (Julia/Abadon, the Callis Family 8-man tag match), some decent stuff (Andrade/Miro, BCC/Briscoe/Garcia vs the other CC losers), and some fudging great stuff (Copeland/Christian, Kingston/Mox, MJF/Joe). Everything else was just fine.

The Devil was paid off in the most sensible way - it was Adam Cole. Duh. But the reveal was very cool with the whole chair shtick.

The show will be a divisive one, but I thought it was overall real good. Not great, not bad. It was good. AEW has so many banger PPVs, a “good” one will be treated like the end of the world. Fitting name tbh.

I watched aew and the devil angle a bit. I figured it might be someone to stab mjf in the back. Which ironic when mjf and Jericho were in a storyline and it was mjf who turned on Jericho

Not comparing the two storylines by no means though

I sort of figured Adam Cole faking an injury to bide his time. Unless it was a real injury. An injury storyline would present a storyline opportunity for Adam Cole to dress up as someone else.