JimmyAnderson

Tony gave his all into the handshake as well. Thumbs up followed by a few more looks to the crowd, smiling like a Cheshire cat, elbow up above the ear and finally bringing his hand into Perry's with all his might.

Was a bit underwhelming this show. From the start, Perry looked completely out of place in the opening segment where he, Bucks and Okada were walking into the arena. The rest of the Elite carrying gold, wearing suits, looking the business and Jack Perry looking like a tramp who'd just nicked a leather jacket. He didn't arrive with them, he was in a car on his todd. Give Perry a suit, a seat in the first car and the FTW Title back if need be, have it as a way for them to write Jericho off telly in the process Really liked Trent's shirt, blacking out the Orange Cassidy name. Simple but effective. This little segment was typical of something I mentioned the other week where AEW don't capatilise on momentum of big angles, they wait too long. Trent turned on Orange a fortnight ago, the week after there's nothing not really a mention of it, then Dynasty happens and Trent's in a pointless singles match while Cassidy is in a pointless tag match and then this happens, which leads to a Chuck Taylor/Trent Beretta Parking Lot Brawl on Rampage of all shows. What should have been a huge moment became this. Also is "prick" really offensive in the states or is it as offensive as they're allowed to be? Mox cuts a promo about his match with Hobbs. Surely we're getting a Don Callis Family v BCC match somewhere down the line. Then Swerve was made to go far too long with Kyle Fletcher. It's great for Fletcher, makes him look good but for Swerve's first appearance since winning the World Title it makes him look piss-poor. If it'd been a two minute squash followed by a promo then it'd have worked wonders. This, as somebody said above, just made Swerve look like any other bloke on the show. And it seems the whole purpose of it was to set up some animosity between Callis and Fletcher. Maybe another option for the Don Callis Family is a trios match of a reformed United Empire against Hobbs, Takashita and a returning Kenny Omega. Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo get into a war of words backstage. I suppose it's at least another storyline for the women's division and one that isn't just for a championship - though it could easily be made into a number one contenders match. Mina Shirakawa versus Anna Jay was again another branch of the women's division, which is promising that they are putting a bit more focus on the girls. Any match involving Anna Jay is something I'm gonna enjoy. Couple that with Mariah May looking pretty in pink and it's a winner. It did seem like the roles were a bit up in the air though with Anna Jay, the face, doing the post-match attack and then running off when the heel, Toni Storm, came to the aid of the other heels. I'm guessing the end game is Mariah May having to choose between Shirakawa and Storm at some point. Sereena Deeb arriving on the scene to challenge for the title furthered the focus on the women. Then a third segment in a row with Willow's celebration. This wasn't quite as good as her promo a couple of weeks back but it still worked. Mercedes still needs fucking off though, there's just nothing there from what I can see. A Statlander heel turn costing Willow the TBS Title is what I see coming leaving them to feud for a while and makes sure Mercedes wins her debut match at Double or Nothing. Ideally I'd rather have Willow squash Mone in a similar fashion to the Lesnar/Cena match. Gaunlet match was fun, surprised to see Ospreay involved in it though. Seems a bit of step down following the match with Danielson. Can almost guarantee a great match between him and Strong though. Is Adam Cole gonna become the new Jericho - leeching onto anybody with a bit of momentum? Jericho cut a promo, Big Bill got involved somewhere. Didn't bother with it so I don't know exactly what was said. Mox and Hobbs was a good match but it was just another case of Hobbs being used incorrectly in my eyes. He breaks Jericho's back then gets very little in terms of rewards. Yeah he's been sharing a ring with Ospreay and Moxley in recent weeks but if he's never gonna win then what's the point. Shibata and Google Translate remains one of the best parts of any show for me. Daft shit that makes you laugh. Then we get to the closing bit. And this is something that's been built to throughout the show, which is something AEW is often criticised for not doing. Khan getting involved has been becoming more regular year on year, so to see him involved in an actual in-ring moment shouldn't surprise anybody. He may become more of an on-screen character and so what - it's his toy so he can play with it. Think the roster looked like shitbags as well coming to the aid of Khan once the refs had kicked the Elite out. Surely other wrestlers should be the ones chasing them off. Even the refs, they left it to Aubrey Edwards to actually get rid of the Elite while they knelt in the ring over their fallen leader. Overall, a really poor show to capatilise on what was a great Dynasty.

Was a great show, providing you didn't watch Zero Hour which was a waste of time other than unifying the AEW & ROH Trios Titles. Hopefully a few more unifications to come moving forward. Trent Beretta beat Matt Sydal, then after the match was stood in the middle of the aisle and had a stare down with Chuck Taylor in the ring and Orange Cassidy at the top of the entrance. Not sure why he wasn't fighting Cassidy. He escaped when Shibata came out for the tag match with Cassidy against Shane Taylor Promotions. The victory STP got the other week obviously wasn't the start of things to come because here they were losing a pretty pointless match. The unification match should have felt bigger than it did. Unfortunately we've seen the Gunns and Acclaimed fight so many times down the years that this felt like a chore. Bullet Club winning is the right call in my eyes and now the Acclaimed can either disband or go back after the tag titles, leaving Billy to go back to just being used as an on-screen personality and the odd battle royal entrant. Plenty of options for Bullet Club moving forward in either AEW or ROH. The proper stuff got going with a great opener. Okada has been such a joy since his arrival in AEW and PAC will always deliver great matches. Not convinved the Continental Classic should be a title that's defended though, it should be like the King of the Ring. Once a year tournament to make it special rather than just another title to clog up the screens with. This match would be have been just as good whether the title was on the line or not. Wasn't entirely sure what the backstory was for Briscoe/Kingston/Copeland teaming up against House of Black was but it resulted in a fun match, which showcased how much fun Copeland is having in AEW. A feud with any of the other men involved in that match for the TNT could be great. He's showing the good side of getting some ex-WWE wrestlers on the roster and the benefit they can give AEW if used correctly. The following match, Julia Hart v Willow Nightingale was followed by an angle tht showed the bad side of getting some ex-WWE wrestlers on the roster. Mercedes can fuck off already, she's providing nothing. And it's a shame that Willow is being lumbered with her because Willow has become one of the best, genuine, feel good stories in AEW and instead of her having the division built around her, she's probably on her way to losing to the dross that is Mercedes Mone. Julia will probably become like most former champions in AEW history and struggle to recapture the momentum she had going into this match. Strong and O'Reilly was a really good wrestling match but the whole Undisputed Kingdom mob are dull as dishwater so there was no excitement from me for the match or for the reveal of Adam Cole being able to walk again. It is a shame that people so talented between the ropes can't get you interested in what they're doing. Understandably the Jericho/Hook match is getting pelted more because of Jericho's involvement rather than the match itself. And the fact that they've now tied the series one all means there's probably a third match between the two to come yet. The third match might be the one where Taz finally gets involved and hopefully the result is the FTW title is retired again. I don't think Jericho is fucking off anytime soon but what he does next is up in the air. Watch out Will Ospreay, Jericho is coming for you. Toni Storm as the Women's champ continues to be a hoot. History would suggest that she's gonna lose it at Double or Nothing though, with three of the four events boasting a new womens champ by the end of it. It just doesn't feel like right now they have anybody worthy of dethroning her. And let's give Chris Jericho some credit, Luther only has a job in AEW because of his friendship with "The Learning Tree." Ospreay and Danielson was better than you can imagine it to be. And words won't do it justice so just go and watch it. Enjoyed the the tag title match. Was a ladder match in name but more of a TLC in reality. Not too many jaw dropping moments but enough to make it entertaining. The 450 through the table was perfect though. Bucks winning is the right choice and hopefully the tag titles can become important again with some real attention given to them. Wondering if FTR recruit Kenny and Hangman, both suspended by EVP Bucks, to even the odds against Bucks, Okada and Perry. Maybe somehow tie in Swerve, Joe and the World title as well. Swerve and Hangman on the same team, Swerve stealing the win after a Hangman hits the Buckshot may just send Page over the edge. Speaking of the World title, the main event was all it needed to be. Swerve became a real star and Joe lost, still looking like a star. A nice lengthy reign is deserved for Swerve now. I know people are expecting him to lost the title to Ospreay as early as August but I think he should be holding onto the championship for some time yet. And hopefully for a change, AEW know how to book the man as well as a champion as they did when he was chasing the gold. Overall a belting wrestling show.

Seen snippets of this from an insta account.

I don't watch WWE anyore, as I seem to say a lot here, so I don't know what will or won't work in today's WWE Universe. But my picks for people who seem to have hit the wall at AEW and would benefit from leaving are; Powerhouse Hobbs - huge fan of the lad but he isn't going anywhere in AEW. Give him a fresh start somewhere else. He has bags of potential to be a main eventer but like most of the AEW midcard he has a big moment that doesn't lead to much more - his example being the man who basically broke Jericho's back to just then be fodder for Ospreay. And then isn't seen again. Wheeler Yuta - made a decent job of being a nasty little shithouse in the BCC but beyond that isn't much more for him that I can see in AEW. Dunno if WWE still have a cruiserweight division but if they do, Yuta could do well there. A more techincal cruiserweight than a high flier as well to give a bit of variation. Adam Cole - I've only really seen him in AEW and not sure I want to see any more of him or his gang of mates. Other than his catchphrases, he doesn't seem to offer anything to the company so let him go to WWE and see if they can find something worthwhile for him. MJF - his heel schtick had become tiresome and the moment has gone for me to care about the fued with Cole when they both return so let him go to WWE where he can rehash his AEW career only this time to keep telling those in attendances that he's going back to AEW when his contract is. It's Bidding Time in 2029. Don Callis - I'm sure there's a role for him somewhere in any company but he doesn't seem to be helping in anyway right now AEW. Give him some new clients, some new people to go up against on the mic and hopefully something other than "I knew Kenny Omega before he was famous" for his promos. The Butcher and The Blade - they've never really amounted to much in AEW, which is a shame in my opinion because I think they've got something about them. The Butcher gets some light shone on him during battle royals from time to time but beyond that very little. They're not even a team that presents others with a credible victory such is their lack of success in AEW. Maybe a stint in NXT could benefit them. FTR - the only storyline they seem to have is with the Young Bucks, beyond that there's nothing that AEW really give them to get their teeth into. The BCC storyline looked as if was going somewhere but got pushed back for reasons they couldn't control. Being two time (possible three) tag champs means they're a big scalp in AEW but because the only interest from the company seems to be them v Bucks then even beating them isn't rewarded with any sort of gloss. If you don't watch Collision would you even know Starks and Bill beat them for the tag titles? Let them go back to WWE where they can be grumpy with Punk. Abadon - doesn't seem to ever be prominently featured on Dynamite even though her record is one of the best in the division. She could thrive with that kind of gimmick with the right backing. She's something different to most women wrestlers as well. Nyla Rose - another who is no longer featured that prominently by AEW. Her size and being a former women's champion means that she still has some clout when it comes to defeating her but that star is dimming by the day as they focus on others. Move her to WWE and give them another big, monster woman. Mercedes Mone - I know she's only just turned up and may well turn out to be a fantastic signing but the early signs are that she's taking time that should be given to others. I'm sure she sees herself as too big for the second promotion anyway, so let her go back to WWE and do the same things she's doing now anyway.

There’s no guarantee that both Osprey and Danielson are gonna be fit come Wembley so I can see why they’re going with the match early.

I wasn't disagreeing with you mate, I feel the size of the roster is at the heart of what is wrong with AEW right now. It causes creativity to be spread a lot thinner to include as many people as possible rather than focusing on a select few, it causes momentum to be lost because instead of capitalising on something there's somebody else who needs to be showcased (example Trent's heel turn two Dynamites ago but nothing this week unless it's on one of the other shows), attendances suffering because fans can't guarantee getting a glimpse of their favourites and instead it's more pot luck so people don't take the risk and, as you mention, the murkiness of the ROH since it's rebirth under Tony Khan. It obviously has it's good points as well, given the injuries they've got at the minute but still allowing them to put out some top name wrestlers. It is given a lot of people to earn a few quid. And it does allow a lot more rotation to keep people feeling fresh (or at least it used to, I think that's becoming less noticable now).

The bloated roster comes from one of the things that Khan has been praised for - he's given so many wrestlers a place to earn a few quid.

That may be true but as I haven't watched WWE since pre-covid, I wouldn't know if they're as bad at it. If they are though, AEW should be flattered that WWE sees them important enough to be mentioned.

The Ospreay comment was just your typical AEW popshot at WWE. It's just one of those things they can't seem to stop themselves doing but on the other hand their fans lap it up so they're not gonna stop. Even Will's line got the "ooh" reaction from the crowd.

You can imagine the uproar if the footage shown has fuck all to do with Punk or Perry after people getting their knickers in a twist because they believe that's what they've been promised to be shown. From "there's no positive in showing Punk/Perry" to "what was the point in showing FTR and the Bucks arguing over who foots the bill at Maccies when they could have shown us the Punk/Perry fight."

This may be common knowledge to everyone else on here but it was a surprise to me; as I was watching RAW Homecoming from 2005 the other day on the network and there's a lad front and centre with a hatful of signs that he shows throughout the night and during the main event (John Cena v Eric Bischoff for the WWE Title) one of his many was CM Punk is the future. During the Michaels/Angle Iron Man match there was "my myspace name is Nature Brad". That hit home how old the episode was because he was advertising myspace. Ian Rotter = king of hardcore. Matt Sydal of all fucking things. He had plenty of others as well.

Wouldn't that Moxley v "old Japaese wrestler of the week" appeal to a specific (and probably relatively small) tranche of wrestling fans regardless of the amount of build it got? With people that more of their fanbase know, there does seem to be a bit more build to things - even if they're not dream matches. There was a couple of weeks of them building to RVD/Jack Perry for example. Admittedly they could do a lot more. But while the depth of the roster gives them ample opportunity to make dream matches, it also hinders how much time they can committ to building to the match - especially if they want their selling point, as a company, to be where you'll see great wrestling matches as well as trying to make everyone on their roster look like a credible threat. We all think they can cut Danielson v Archer (for example) in half and allow that time to be put into a promo/graphic/angle/skit whatever but AEW/Tony Khan doesn't want that.