Mr Butternut Squash

So .. Mercedes Mone as the devil? Let's make it as ridiculous as possible 

AEW at its best is a promo promotion. Eddie and Moxley was a reminder of that as was the MJF and Hangman interaction a few weeks ago. This 'pro rasslin vs entertainment' bollocks is just noise.

The Moxley/Kingston promo was lightning. Can't wait for the match and Eddie getting his win in New York.

The devil ninja stuff is very funny. I can't say I understand why people are so caught up in this angle considering it's been dead ever since Bullet Club Gold completely no sold the attack and well... AEWs storytelling is clearly rubbish and not worth your trust. The more it goes into silly wrestlecrap the better for me. How does Joe always find himself in these daft angles?

The Jericho and Callis stuff is far more annoying. I'd forgotten Hobbs and Takeshita were employed. Acknowledging bad booking on screen and still doing nothing about it is one of the most infuriating things AEW does. Worst of all is the return of shitty Sammy Guavarra, with his 75th turn and doomed to fail babyface push. 

It's probably Jack Perry but the angle was dead in week two when the Bullet Club showed back up like nothing happened.

Blue block 4 life! Garcia vs Kignston was match of the week. Superb. 

Danielson is a true sicko. Absolute stunned silence when his eye started bleeding out. 

Malaki Black SUCKS.

He meandered a bit but I thought it was a great promo that got me pumped for mania season.

Got stars out of their arse at the moment. Refreshing to see. We eating good as the kids say.

Gunther was superb on this show and put to bed the idea that he doesn't have a character or the ability to cut money promos. Admittedly, I haven't seen much, but between him and Santos Escobar on Smackdown I just watched the most exciting heel work I've seen all year. None of the *wink wink* dashes of irony or low-rent execution that ruins all of AEW's heat. Just proper irredeemable nasty bastards that are convincing as top heels and give life beyond Roman.

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I don’t mean to be all Cornette about it, but they lost me from the main event when Omega got the table out. 
 

Yeah, felt exactly the same watching it. Just made no sense to me, both as part of the match and as something Kenny would do. Just felt like them jamming in their weekly table spot. MJF is amazing though. Really showing his in-ring versatility this year.

RUSH looked the bees knees. Legit looks like someone not to fuck with. Shame there's no consistency with him.

Enjoyed the opener although that might be down to the Gunn Clubs shenanigans more than anything. The 180 turn around of Juice Robinson is incredible. Can't keep my eyes off him. 

The Toni Storm stuff was fun when it was her and Renee and it was grounded in some kind of wrestling reality. It's just silly now though. 

Rest felt like an episode of Rampage and wasn't for me unfortunately.

Well that sucks. 

He deserved it and he's an idiot. But still. One of the two genuinely good and consistently well presented acts in AEW and I don't know how much longer MJF can carry it on his back.

Roddy Strong is fucking brilliant. Who gives a shit if he doesn't have a personality. They don't pretend otherwise. He's not QT Marshall, constantly pushed beyond his level.

Harley put Max to shame!

Claudio was great in that beatdown segment. Loved his smug prick grin at the end too. Wild Thing is really jarring as a theme for them now though. They looked the business at FD coming out to Moxley's awesome New Japan theme. Disappointed it didn't stick.

Wonkiest Dynamite in a while. The backstage bits between Mox, Eddie, Renee and Cole and MJF were the best parts of the show. I don't think I've ever seen a Elite match as flat and boring as that and Sammy and Jungle Boy continue to shit it up.

Heel BCC and Takeshita have been a superb injection for Dynamite. They always felt a bit fragmented before but they've turned into a great bunch of bastards. Callis is such a brilliant carny piece of slimy shit too. 

Also quite enjoying MJF and Cole together. They have the sort of chemistry MJF has been missing since the Punk feud. I know WWE have kinda ruined the "can they co-exist?!" thing, but it's Battlebowl baby and these two have been fun.

Punk was great as expected. Just on a completely different level as a promo and a presence that will hook you in. However he looks like shit with the shaven look, a shame because he was as handsome as he'd ever been during his previous run.

Show overall had a different feel to Dynamite which is good. Slower paced and less exhausting. Kelly and Nigel (holy shit, a TWO man booth!!) are clearly finding their feet but I prefer anything over rubbish Excalibur hyper screeching over everything. 

OC vs Swerve is the first AEW thing I've been excited for in ages. And as a match it delivered. I was biting on them nearfalls towards the end. A refreshingly good and simple story, with OC the valiant fighting champion finally biting off more than he can chew. The logical end point of his fabulous reign was right there, with the red hot heel Swerve's momentum finally being realised.

Cue the usual TK bollocks of a cowardly, non-committal finish, post match beatdown and LigHTs oUt!! as another feud gets dragged beyond all meaning. Shite.

Unless Zack Gibson turns up, you can keep the Britwres out.

F8cking fone

What happened with the Swerve Keith Lee feud? Did they blow it off on Rampage? 

Certainly will be interesting to see what Lee and Jericho can get from each other.

Wasn't there a big outrage recently about her because she was working snug? I swear, people were calling for her to lose her job and TK pays a lot of attention to twitter.

I've become the type of loser that finds the house show environment far more enjoyable than modern wrestling TV. Fair to say I'm more excited about scouring twitter/youtube for phone clips of Jarrett vs Pillman Jr than I am to watch Wrestlemania or any actual AEW show. Real wrestling. 

3 hours ago, Nick James said:

As much as it could be said in AEW's earlier days that they just expected you to know who a lot of people are, I genuinely think they have built up enough good will through the multiple one offs that people should just wait and see. I only know of Vikingo from GIFs on Twitter and nothing else, but the guy looks a huge spectacle and why not chuck him in with Kenny while Kenny is fit. If he was chucked in with Kip Sabian the opposite would be said that why is he being wasted? 

The Vikingo thing is a different case but I disagree with this generally. It might be a different experience for people that watch Rampage, but I feel like someone I've never heard of shows up every week on Dynamite with the presumption you know them. This week it was the girl in the QTV skit. It's an annoying trait for me, just like TKs obsession with attaching hot, up and coming acts like Hobbs with heatless scrubs like QT Marshall. 

Punk and Danielson not interacting or sharing the screen even once is madness.

Didn't they already add the Battle of The Belt specials to fill that role? And yet TK punts on them like he does Rampage.

Woof at that Dynamite line up. Doesn't even match Tony's "I book for Cagematch.net ratings" booking  philosophy. Saraya vs Sky Blue on live national television? Madman.

Dunno what happened but I haven't made it through the last few shows and had to cancel the fite app. It seemed like following the PPV they were finding their groove again and tightening up the show, with guys like The Acclaimed, Starks and Swerve looking to be on a good trajectory. Not anymore. Now I'm getting that alarmingly small time, TNA feeling again that was creeping in pre-Full Gear. (And its not Jeff. He's one of the few highlights of the show). 

People are rightly picking on the storytelling. It's not that there isn't any. It's that its so disjointed and badly paced that it's impossible to keep up with. They don't show you the ongoing issues from the B shows and the in-out cycling of talent constantly kills momentum. It's always been an issue, but before you had Punk and the overarching Hangman/Elite saga to paper the cracks. Now they're relying on a regressed MJF character to carry the show while Danielson does his wrestles. It's tough.

Thats what's so disappointing about The Elites wanking off in their corner. Those videos building up to their return seemed to hint at a big angle for their comeback. A shot in the arm after the Punk debacle. But nothing. No growth or progression. No hook.

(Hey, wtf happened to Jungle Hook anyway?!)

WWEs not doing it for me, but you can't deny the success of the Bloodline angle. I don't know how you look at that and not take anything away from it.

Instead, like clockwork, TK has another MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. As is typical after a badly received show.

I know its blasphemy, but I'm not sure I feel Rumble matches anymore. It just feels kinda formulaic. One rushed hollow sequence after another and let's get the fuck outta here. Everyone has a minute getting their shit in - or a 'hot tag', before being dumped out. It's probably been like this for ages, but this one particularly felt like it lacked any sense of struggle.

Gunther/Brock staredown and Dom Mysterio being a glorious shithead were the highlights of a fairly boring Rumble until the final two.

I'm happy for Cody. He was an annoying mess in AEW but he's found the perfect landing spot in WWE. He just fits. Hopefully his worst instincts are reined in and he doesn't put everyone off him again so soon. It's great to see them get a babyface star again.

Gunther is awesome.

Got to give it to Bray Wyatt. His promos are a load of cryptic bollocks that goes nowhere, but his matches have become truly must see. Honestly, I find it to be the most hilarious wrestlecrap since Dungeon of Doom. All this deep, moody, spooky bollocks for months and the payoff is a neon, corporate synergy comedy match? Gold! Im not invested in any of the male wrestlers enough to care about how they look coming out of a Bray feud, so its a dumb old laugh for me. Old Greg whiffing the dive was the cherry on top. 

On the other hand, I didn't have the heart to watch Bianca Belair get wrapped up in the spooky bollocks, and the freezing cold women's Rumble is a waste of time. So I went to bed. Rhea is awesome and I'm glad they pulled the trigger. But she's only hot at the moment because she's involved in the men's storylines.

Skipped to the Main event post-match angle this morning. (Loved Roman as a babyface worker, but let's be honest. His heel matches are piss boring). Incredible. When people talk wank about how cool it would be if wrestling could tell more sophisticated and complex stories, THIS is it. Like some HBO shit. Its almost to good to be true. The acting, the writing, the positioning . . . Everyone is delivering fucking gold. It's so good they could convince me to buy into Jey vs Roman as much as Sami vs Roman. (Jey's "I don't give a damm about the Tribal Chief!", still hangs in the air).

I'm presuming Heyman is behind a lot of it. Not only has the angle had ECW vibes, but boring, dull, dry Triple Paul doesn't seem to have a creative bone in his body. If only the rest of the show was a fraction as good as this I'd be hooked.