Supremo

The Savio Vega cameo spot has been given to Bone Saw McGraw. Double duty. He’s fighting Cody at Backlash, but first he’s got to fight Spider-Man in the cage. The size of him! Looks even more ridiculous in a more normal setting. Probably couldn’t find a shirt to fit him, so had to go topless. Walking Hasbro action figure. His piss must glow in the dark.

The French crowd going absolutely apeshit for everything, so loud you could barely hear people do promos on the mic, but then giving Karrion Kross and The Final Testament the silent crickets? That’s the most I’ve ever been proud to be European. This has to be it for Kross, surely? What is this? His fourth or fifth attempt at getting over? It’s game over. You walked into a molten hot arena and managed to turn them ice cold with your presence alone. In the bin.

Probably was me. It’s not even as if things have improved, either! He came back looking like a scruffy student on wash day. I’m convinced after the first few weeks someone took him to one side and said, “look mate, this is international TV, put some effort in and get a wash.” But even then, he turned up the following week looking like his mum cut his hair! The state of him! A man seemingly allergic to looking like a star.

Jey Uso entrance for his dark match. My God. All-timer crowd. Damien Priest must be shitting himself. I’d call an audible.

Unbelievable crowd. Made me a thousand times more excited for tomorrow's show. North American pro-wrestling fans should be fucking ashamed of themselves.

As much as I think AJ vs. Cody is going to surprisingly bang, it’s an otherwise shockingly bad card. France and Australia definitely trading DMs, slagging off WWE for how much they’ve both been ripped off. Considering the recent lineups for their International shows, my heart goes out to anyone who’s paid three million quid for a Clash in the Castle ticket. Hopes aren’t high. Not even sure Hunter has Grado’s number.

I’m not clever enough to have noticed it myself, but someone on Twitter pointed out the cute foreshadowing in The Elite’s recent escapades. Re-naming it, “The Tony Khan Driver,” only to hit it on Tony Khan himself. Re-naming it, “The EVP Trigger,” only to hit it on their fellow EVP, Kenny. Love little Easter Eggs like that. Finger crossed they re-name the Superkick, “Sack Chris Jericho.”

Ah, the Matt Riddle approach. Nothing says, “definitely innocent,” like chopping and changing your story in a panic. Lying, sex pest scumbag.

Chris Jericho doing his annual fun plunder match, to convince you he’s relevant and deserving of a spot on the show.

Braun peaked when he turned into a cartoon character during the Summer of, “I’M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!” Constantly killing Roman in sillier and funnier stunts. If they can tap into that again then he’s definitely got potential beyond the meta punchline of him abandoning Austin Aries and EC3 to control their own narrative. Worst case scenario, just bring back the CHOO CHOO sound effects. Anyway, best thing on this whole show was the ghost of Paul London.

Feels like this graphic is supposed to bait and switch you into thinking there’s a chance he’ll fight Malakai, but surely everyone is hoping it’s Brodie. Cope and Brodie have amazing chemistry. They’d have a great hoss singles match. Fun to hear Copeland is trying to hit one new move he’s never done before in every one of his AEW matches. Nice little Easter Egg to look out for each week. Maybe the final crescendo can be him doing the ultimate rarity and pinning Malakai clean.

Yeah, I almost never see valid criticism for Dave online. It’s never about his massive blind spot for all the Speaking Out stuff, how you can sometimes clock where he’s taken things too literally or misunderstood what was likely a wind up, or how for a man making his living doing podcasts he can sometimes be the most difficult human being alive to listen to. It’s alway the same old shite from people who listen to grifting melts like Cornette, Bubba Ray and Bischoff. He’s never taken a bump! Kurt Angle’s never had a five star match! He said Mabel was the third man! Bret rates Dave. Bret’s never wrong. Six and a half for Ospreay vs. Danielson sits fine with me. Because it doesn’t matter at all.

Absolutely pointless draft, but at least it wasn’t used to humiliate and wind up their own talent. Progress is progress. Never forget. Horrible bastards. Stephanie McMahon on TV again though. Certainly a choice.

Yeah. It’s very Hangman and The Elite for Nicholas and Mathew to manipulate Page for a bit, using him to their advantage. Encourage him to go even crazier. Grow an even bigger moustache. He can eventually see through them later in the year and eventually turn babyface with Kenny. Better to get most out of it first. Plus, it’s not as if your competition isn’t experiencing the biggest boom in decades and selling out every single venue thanks to a similar storyline with Sami Zayn being used and gaslit by The Bloodline. Copy that home work! Six months of edging us, only for Hangman to eventually take a Gillette Fusion 5 to the ‘tash, revealing himself as the healed, clear-headed, clean-shaven Hero Cowboy? Inject it straight into my veins. The best a man can get.

I thought the Grizzled Young Veterans were an absolute revelation. They’d spent so long acting out HBK’s weird goth fetish on NXT that I’d genuinely forgotten how good they were! If this was an audition then they passed with flying colours. James Drake’s running Dropkick that he does to the opponent on the outside waiting for the tag is incredible! They should incorporate that into their finish. Hit a big move on the legal man, Running Nutcase Dropkick to the guy on the outside, 1, 2, 3. GYV and Motor City Machine Guns, with The Young Bucks as champions? Tag division is cooking again. They’re three for three with Daily’s Place Parking Lot Brawls. Delivered once again. Always a brilliant, violent scrap. Frankly, the best thing about these three-hour Saturday Night blocks is that it means another hour of Nigel McGuinness’ banter. He’s quickly became my favourite commentator in the business. Always funny. Always hates Bryan Danielson. Brings a brilliant energy to the show. It was a real blink-and-you’ll-miss-it thing in the main event, but the camera cut to the commentary desk just as Nigel had made a silly joke about wanking and it was a genuine joy to see him and Schiavone giggling like school kids. A small glimpse of what makes them such a great team, Tony trying to play it straight and Nigel spending all night long trying to pop him. ”He could have broken his hand!” ”Oh well, Daniel Garcia’s gonna have to use the other hand tonight!” Look at these scamps tittering away. How do you not immediately book Ospreay vs. Fenix, now Fenix is back. Would take all the will-power in the world. Swerve vs. Claudio was exactly what Swerve needed. A big, meaty Title defence that makes him look amazing. Nice to see the prophecy come true, too; he looks the business with the belt. Real cool motherfucker. Most exciting thing on the show was Swerve calling out The Elite for attacking Tony. Although the story beats suggested Hangman will eventually come back as a babyface to topple The Elite, I wonder if AEW will do one of those clever swerves and actually bring him back as a heel still. Like a rabid dog let loose. He doesn’t have to rejoin The Elite, he can still be a loner on Lost-The-Plot Island, but I love the idea of Nicholas and Mathew responding to Swerve’s insults by just bringing Hangman back to kill him. “Slag us off, will you? Fine. You’re facing Hangman at Double or Nothing, Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch.”