RedTwoster

I originally joined (as @RedRooster, before I changed - and forgot - my password) in January 2019, and I genuinely can't remember how or why I came across the forum, which is slightly alarming as it wasn't that long ago. None of my 'real life' friends watched wrestling, so I was probably looking for a place to talk about it. It might have been tied into the formal announcement of AEW actually, because I know for sure I wasn't really watching WWE at that point. The prospect of something new and non-McMahon was exciting. My main memories of the forum are the people - I remember, when I was having a tough time with my mental health, @Frankie Crisp reaching out and sending a lovely DM which was incredibly helpful and meaningful - again, none of my 'real life' friends knew I was feeling low, I kept it bottled up (never a good idea, and I wouldn't do that now) yet people on here took the time to reach out privately. Part of the reason I was feeling low - which I don't know if I said at the time - was that my wife and I were told we were unlikely ever to have kids. Honestly, there was nothing more I wanted than to be a dad and that knocked the wind out of me. Fast forward to 2026 and as some of you will be aware, 'unlikely' did not mean 'impossible' as I'm a father to an amazing little girl, who turned 3 this year. As with a lot of you, my life has changed significantly since I joined, even though I've been here for less than ten years - I've become a homeowner, and I've moved twice since my early days here. I have a child. I've gone from owning a dog to having two cats (not as insignificant a change as it probably sounds!!) My grandfather, who I was very close to, sadly passed away. I've switched jobs three times, working my way up the ladder. My gaming backlog has grown, rather than shrunk... But the forum, and the wonderful people on it, have remained constant - as has, thankfully, my love of pro-wrestling.

Sometimes Collision knocks it out of the park, other times you forget almost everything you’ve just watched immediately after the show finishes. Doesn’t always mean it was a bad show, it’s more that it wasn’t a show that mattered much in the grand scheme of things. My main thoughts heading out of this one are that Paul Wight might be the best colour commentator they have, and that I don’t really like that Akira guy. So far he just feels like an inferior version of the character John Silver plays.

It’s really interesting to read this - my answers would have changed a fair bit since I filled it in - I’ve moved to the Highlands, All In 2026 happened (my new favourite wrestling event ever) and I have two new pets, who are both awesome (I’ve joined the forum’s cat owning contingency after firmly being on Team Dog for the bulk of my life…couldn’t bring myself to get another after our last one though) Thanks for all the hard work on this @Frankie Crisp, it was a brilliant read.

I’m not sure if it’s a PayPal issue or because the link is a little older, but just a heads up - it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. If it’s the former, I’ll try again later.

Likewise - I've said it before, but it's a really nice community on here, and I would be really gutted if all of the wonderful people on here were to suddenly disappear from my day-to-day. There are loads of places in which you can talk about wrestling - but very few in which you can talk about it with such knowledgeable, funny and just generally lovely people. It's wild to think that not only was I a non-fan when this place started, I was in my very early days of high school. Heck, come to think of it, I lived very rurally and I'm not entirely certain I even had internet access back then - if I did, it would have been the shittiest of shitty dial-up.

Plus, the account given there is a second hand story that may have additional context...but even if it doesn't, people change and I'm not sure it's ever sensible to judge someone based on an incident of selfishness that they may look back at very differently. Who knows. I like the idea of - essentially - a ned/chav gimmick where they think they're hard and perhaps do have it in them to launch into violence for no reason, but for that to work, the characters around this person need to react accordingly. With Gabe Kidd, it's like they know he's talking guff but don't know how to respond. It means he doesn't seem like a gobby idiot or a dangerous psychopath, he just comes across as a bit ridiculous. I actually do think he's a good wrestler though from an in-ring perspective. But I also think Roderick Strong is excellent in ring, so keep that in mind.

I really enjoyed Date Everything, but was locked out of the main ending due to a bug. Hopefully they've sorted it by now though, as it's activated if you finish one character's storyline before another - it essentially means you can't finish that other character's story because of something that happens. It's hugely annoying. As for me, I've been playing Digimon: Time Stranger on Switch 2. It's a bit darker than I expected featuring murder, alcoholism and suicide among other things - but it's a really good game, probably the best monster catching game I've played that isn't in the Pokemon series. I've also been playing The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth again on my Switch 2, and this is a game I'd tried countless times before but it just didn't click with me. The problem is, I think, I was viewing it like a Zelda game rather than a run-based game, and this is the first time I've played it post-Vampire Survivors and I fucking love it. It's super addictive, although I've died in some frustratingly random ways - I was very, very close to completing a run for the first time and died randomly when my character farted and exploded when I stood still for too long. I've no idea what caused it, but I'd picked up and decided to hold on to a mystery item which I suspect was the cause. Great game, though.

Hmm, maybe you’re right. Sunday is going to be extremely interesting.

I've thought this countless times before, but I feel like Ospreay/Moxley might lead to the Death Riders finally turning on Mox, with a new incarnation of the group being led by Gabe Kidd. I wish they wouldn't do Blood and Guts annually (largely because I hate Wargames-style matches, to be fair) but if they do, I could see it being Team Mox vs. whoever would make up Kidd's version of the Death Riders.

Perhaps it's just me, but I think they've made an enormous mistake by holding off on Roman/Oba - it feels so predictable now; they meet at Wrestlemania, Oba wins, we move on. And predictable isn't necessarily bad, it's just that Oba feels like he's cooled off a bit. And they're going to struggle to keep him feeling as hot as he has between now and 'Mania. Having Penta win the belt would have freshened things up somewhat and removed the feeling of inevitability as to what direction they are taking. I'm still struggling to believe that they won't do something with Monroe. They've absolutely arsed up her main roster run so far, but her potential seems so obvious. I didn't want her to leave AEW though, so I'd be perfectly fine with her doing an Andrade and moving back. The prospect of her returning to attack Toni Storm or feuds with Mercedes, Willow or Thekla is far more interesting to me than anything she could do in WWE, even if they do eventually get it right with her.

Probably a blessing in disguise then, it felt a bit too soon to go back to Mercedes/Willow. Maybe they'll do that anyway come Wrestledream, but there's a realistic chance that they could close the show with that bout, which would justify running it back so quickly. Plus, if Willow was to lose, I don't see any reason why they couldn't revisit it much later after she claws her way back up the card.

A bit of a nothing Dynamite, that one. Perfectly fine, but perfectly skippable as it didn't do much to progress anything. I've said it before, but I find it hard to take Nick Wayne seriously at the best of times, never mind when he's feuding over whether or not his necklace is in style. People on here called Adam Cole 'noodle arms' and I never felt that way about him. I do about Wayne. Adding to that, he has the face of a stoner character from a mid-2000s teen movie. That kind of worked when he was Christian Cage's 'son', but as a solo act he comes across as enhancement talent. His mic work has improved though, I'll give him that. I'm a little bit surprised that Thekla/Mercedes/Willow has turned into a one-on-one number one contenders' match, but I'm glad they're not wasting Willow's next World title shot. I hope whoever wins this match ends up main eventing Wrestledream. If it's a Mercedes/Willow rematch, that's blockbuster. Either way though, I don't think Mone should be dropping the belt. I'm really enjoying Andrade at the moment and he doesn't feel out of place in the main event at all. His first run in AEW was what it was, but he's returned with a real fire underneath him and it shows in everything he does. I'd be perfectly fine with him winning the World Title at some point, although I don't think he should be taking it from Ospreay any time soon. Good news for @LaGoosh, I'm souring on Gabe Kidd. Threatening to cut Will Ospreay up into bloody pieces so he's red 'like Santa' was one of the worst lines I've heard on Dynamite since Kidd said he didn't want to take Ospreay's career, he wanted to take 'his life'. I used to quite enjoy him being a pathetic wannabe hardman, but he just sounds like a moron these days. I think it's the way people don't react to him one way or the other. Moxley looks bemused, but he's not rolling his eyes or anything like that, and Ospreay isn't taking the piss out of these empty threats, he's just ignoring them. They clearly know it's stupid, but don't know how to treat them on screen. Ciampa/Okada is an unexpectedly fun combination. Okada is in the running for being the most entertaining character in wrestling, and Ciampa has been a revelation since jumping ship. Their interactions here were fun, even if the eventual outcome seems clear. As far as the trios division goes - goodness me, just get to Swerve and Hangman facing off mics in hand, please! All Out is shaping up to be a fun show, so although this was an uneventful Dynamite, it served its purpose.

Personally, I miss his 'Wild Thing' entrance - especially when he was tagging with Eddie Kingston, although it was just generally brilliant. The Death Riders theme feels a bit too generic for my tastes, although I do agree that they come across as menacing as they do make their way to the ring, especially PAC and Shafir.

I also think he's been a great addition to the announce desk. He showed a lot of promise on Elevation, and he's only upped his game since then. I don't have any major complaints about any of the announce team rotation though, they pretty much all add to the show in their own different ways.

What do you reckon the best ‘regular’ entrance is in wrestling? When I say regular, I mean week-to-week. Not your Ospreay All In or Hangman Dark Order entrances. Not the best entrance music - although that’ll no doubt play a part in your selection. And the reason I’ve asked this question is because of these guys… Honestly, for me it doesn’t get any better than that, they just piss coolness every time they make their way to the ring. So who is has the best regular/standard ring entrance for you?

I know that @HarmonicGenerator and I have had frequent problems with the new MyAEW service (specifically with it freezing very, very frequently when watching on an Apple device - what should be the most convenient way of watching shows for me), but I wanted to get a general take on how the service has been for you. Do you like it? Have you had issues? Of the new shows/companies being added, are there any hidden gems/recommendations you have? I’m starting this in part because I legitimately do think there’s a decent chance people from AEW lurk on this forum, and I’m hoping that by drawing their attention to the issues, they’ll be fixed more quickly. But y’know, share whatever recommendations etc that you like. I’d be interested in checking them out, if I ever get the damn service working properly.

I originally posted this in the AEW TV 2025 Discussion thread, completely forgetting that this was the past, and we’ve all now moved on. So here’s a 2026 thread, which I’ll open by sharing a mildly edited version of my pre-existing post about a very mediocre episode of Collision. Here’s hoping this isn’t AEW starting as they mean to go on: That episode of Collision…oh boy. Nothing mattered, literally nothing. The giant C on El Clon as he heads to the ring is probably the most notable part on the show, in that it approaches Giant Gonzales levels of bad ring gear. I hope he’s unmasked sooner rather than later - he’s clearly a very talented guy saddled with one of the worst gimmicks AEW has ever offered up. Poor Eddie Kingston. First of all, he’s paired with Hook, now Ortiz. He goes from feuding with the World Champion to feuding with a tag team whose names I suspect fans don’t even know. Heck, all I can say myself is ‘one of them is Zach Gibson’. More Darby vs Death Riders. Fuck me, what’s the point? As soon as he beats Pac and you think this neverending nonsense is over, I’ve no doubt he’ll go after Moxley again with the title on the line and the whole thing will continue. Dante Martin has improved a lot on the mic, and I think he’s being wasted as part of Sky Flight. All in all, a very, very, very, very skippable show.

Today is reveal day for the Nintendo switch 2, with an hour long presentation revealing more about the console and games line-up taking place at 2pm UK time. Here’s the direct link if you want to watch it. With that in mind, I thought I’d create a thread so we can all talk about the new console - clearly there will be more to say after the presentation, but what are you hoping to see? Will you be buying one? Some of the rumours so far… * The c-button turns it into a dual-screen device like the Wii U (link to screen rant) * There may be confirmation of the Final Fantasy IX remake (Metro) * The joycon can be used as a mouse (Eurogamer) Nouse functionality seems all but confirmed, although I don’t quite understand the point myself. But we’ll see what they have to showcase it. Either way, 2pm can’t come quickly enough!