LaGoosh

7 minutes ago, The Gaffer said:

Hate to say it because he's such a talented performer but I associate MJF strongly with it too. Whilst his return will eventually probably do some great angles, his character felt completely overcooked by the end and I have to say, I don't miss him one bit so far this year. 

Likewise. I don't really have a huge amount of interest in him returning as it feels like he's done basically everything as both a heel and babyface. And at this point the interest in the Cole/MJF stuff feels pretty much zero.

Just now, Daaaaaad! said:

I assume a 31 year old shouldn’t be of the mentality that the biggest match they’ll ever have has already passed them by.

What match is Darby Allin going to have that will be bigger than Sting's retirement match? 

Looks like they're going back to the original multi-coloured design for Dynamite which is fantastic news. The blue/red look is insanely boring. And in even better news apparently they are bringing the tunnels back! Basically if tonight's new entrance set is an updated and modernised version of the original tacky Dynamite set I'll be happy with that.

Everyone else has already covered the show but here's some random thoughts from me if anyone cares:

- A great show but definitely far too long. The All Star match should have never happened and Strong vs OC should have been a Dynamite main event. 

- Before the show they put out some great Sting related videos, I would have liked them to have peppered these throughout the PPV in between matches to build up to the main event. Unfortunately due to time they had to just rattle very quickly from match to match with no time wasted. It's important to have little breathers in between matches and using those videos to both do that and build anticipation for the main event would have been perfect.

- Garcia's ten punch in the corner with added dance move to humiliate his opponent at the 9 count is a great new addition to his babyface act.

- I, like everyone, want to see a meat division but if it's just a excuse for the fans to chant "meat" ironically then I'm not hugely interested. The All-Star was the shits and everyone came out looking pretty bad. Dante Martin especially. Mate, if you fluff your highspots what else have you got going for you? The cruiserweights doing the "meat" spots was exactly the type of nudge nudge wink wink bullshit I hate. Go home Chris Jericho.

- Orange Cassidy painfully removing his t-shirt to reveal his ribs/back being covered in loads of tape was a brilliant moment and exactly why he's one of the best wrestlers in the world.

- Every time Roderick Strong chopped OC (which was a lot of times) it pissed me off. Hit him in the ribs and back Roddy! However the match worked for me when Strong actually properly targeted the back.

- I'm not really a fan of OC's giving up his title to Strong, I think it would have been better to give it to someone with more upside - Powerhouse Hobbs, RUSH, Takeshita, the list goes on.

- FTR/BCC took awhile to get going but was very good by the end. BCC winning felt like a bit of a shock in the best way and FTR lost nothing from it. This match seemed to exist to set up Claudio/Mox as major players in the upcoming tag tournament. Job definitely done.

- Ospreay/Takeshita was a brilliant spectacle. Not something you want to see regularly but luckily Ospreay, Omega and Takeshita are the only guys who can wrestle these types of matches so that will make them special when they do happen. The difference between Ospreay and all the other highflyers out there is he knows how to properly lay all his moves in, so he's not just doing the flippy shit but the contact actually looks like it hurts. Takeshita is a beast and one of my boys , this was a great showcase for him and I really hope (I'm always hoping for this) that they give him more singles matches. 

- I love that Callis has essentially created a faction filled with Kenny Omega replacements. Also glad they aren't rushing the inevitable Ospreay/Callis split. Spread this out for a little bit then build up to a Callis Family vs Will Ospreay & Co. Blood & Guts or something.

- I liked the in ring camera crossing between the participants during the ring announcements for the World title match. Looked very unique and cool.

- The first 5 minutes of Samoa Joe wrecking fools was just a joy. Is there anyone more fun to watch on offence than Samoa Joe? The answer is no.

- Beautiful video package for Sting. Definitely made me tear up.

- The usual bad faith hand wringing for Darby's insane bump across the internet I see. Despite the fact that it's Darby Allin and he's always doing mad shit and somehow seems to walk away. He's a genuine stuntman. He also basically took the exact same bump in his match with Jeff Hardy a while back (minus the glass) so obviously felt he could do it without ending his career or dying. From a match perspective as well, he sold it for 15 minutes afterwards and only got back in the match for the very end. It added to the drama and spectacle and if you're a daredevil risk taker stunt man  - why the fuck wouldn't you take the biggest risk/bump of your career in what will no doubt be the biggest match of your career? It was brilliant, I loved it.

- I'm going to miss Sting. A perfect ending. 

7 hours ago, JLM said:

Cash Wheeler in particular was on fire for this one

Cash has recently been wrestling every match like it's his last (maybe it will be?). He's been a constant wrecking ball and maniac, love to see it.

The first Dune movie I think I respected it more than I liked it. I absolutely loved Part 2 though. An absolutely incredible film. Some of the shots and sequences were breathtaking. Timothee Chamalet was superb.

Promo of the year.

Judas is definitely over. Jericho definitely isn't. The only reactions he gets at the moment are apathy or hatred.

I might post more thoughts later but my favourite non-Sting moment of the night was during Ospreay/Takeshita when Ospreay was in the middle of setting up a big move and as he turned his back Takeshita effortlessly shot his arm band off and then clotheslined the shite out of him. Epic.

WWE's approach to legends has always been either that they are just as good as they've always been (which the audience can see right through), they are bigger than all the current stars or they are basically simplified down to one single character trait. AEW has now shown a different way, where old vets and legends can have one last run, be taken care of and go out on their own terms while still helping the business. It's a wonderful thing and I hope we see more of it in the future.

Kurt Angle did the job in a nothing match to BARON CORBIN. How AEW have treated Sting is night and day compared to that.

Damn shame. I love Santana but I love Santana & Ortiz together even more. I think he's over-valued himself and should have stuck as a tag team, together they are worth more. I think he had a pretty low ceiling as a singles guy. Sucks for Ortiz though, he's massively underrated but now basically pointless. Maybe he can try and reinvent himself in ROH or something.

Desperado is fucking great for about 15 minutes then boring as sin for the rest of it.

Likewise. At least 3 matches on the card have potential to be absolute greats and in very different ways. Not a bad looking match on the show and lots of variety. And for the first time in ages the matches have all been built up to in exciting, logical ways. Could be an all timer of a show.

Completely pointless nothing show this week, but this bit is a ton of fun and worth a watch. Mark Briscoe is the best.

14 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

If a big lanky bastard's going to get a singles push, Big Bill's right there twiddling his thumbs

Push them both! More big lanky bastards!

14 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Why was Dutch never part of Meat Madness?

Because Jericho needed a match so they cancelled the Meat. Sad times.

I love Lance and wish he was featured regularly. I rewatched his match with Hangman recently and it was fucking tremendous. I'd rather he was a singles guy but if a Trios gets him on TV each week I'm happy with that. Dutch's wonderful Bossman Slam also needs to be on TV each week.

35 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Selective quoting to dismiss legitimate criticism is one of the most frustrating things in the AEW threads.

It was a tongue in cheek response about the quality of WWE. Yes, they may be doing great business but I hate their terrible, terrible product (just my opinion of course before anyone jumps in - I really don't like discussing WWE in AEW threads). My quoting wasn't dismissing your criticisms but a light hearted comment from me alone that long term booking based around Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre and Judgement Day bores me.

There's lots of legitimate criticism of AEW in these threads, I regularly do it myself and have never felt that other posters have been dismissive. It's a wonderful and incredibly frustrating promotion. The only selective quoting I've seen is when one poster misquoted about 12 people in a single post to prove his own point about Kenny Omega.

30 minutes ago, Chris B said:

 

If Joe isn't hanging around

Wait, is that something going around? I haven't heard anything. 

9 hours ago, RedRooster said:

In WWE, Raw has Cody. Smackdown has Roman as the long-reigning Champion. You have Drew McIntyre - it's obvious where he's going, and the various people in Judgement Day doing what they do. There's an obvious direction. 

That sounds pretty boring. I'll stick with AEW.

Another solid show this week with plenty to enjoy.

Opening segment was 95% great but the 5% bad kind of overshadowed in. I'm sure it all made sense when they wrote it down but in practice Hangman saying he wasn't competing then turning out to be lying about it made no goddamn sense whatsoever. I like this story overall though. Joe is under threat, Swerve wants to fulfill his destiny and Hangman wants to win the title just to stop Swerve from winning it.

FTR/Kingston vs BCC was bloody fantastic. Just nasty, scrappy fighting with fantastic in-match storytelling feeding into the wider stories going on. You could feel the hate in this one and that is so important sometimes. Perfect ending: Danielson brutalising and humiliating Eddie just because he can, Claudio looking down at the defeated Dax with a shit eating grin on his face and a "See you on Sunday". Brilliant stuff.

Ospreay came across as a massive bellend but maybe the Yanks find his cheeky Essex boy thing charming? I thought Don Callis was really good in this segment, smug about his brilliant idea to showcase his Family while trying to hide that in his hubris he's accidentally created a situation pretty much guaranteed to blow up. Takeshita looking boss as usual. He's a physical specimen for sure.

OC vs Nick Wayne was perfectly fine. Not the best use of Cage, Garcia, Best Friends and Undisputed Kingdom though. Was hoping for something a bit more chaotic to help build up both title matches. They missed an easy win here.

Video packages and a promo explaining the Jericho match perfectly and succinctly for the " BuuuTTT WhErEs tHe StOrY?" people. The match was pretty shite but I'll allow it as I thought the whole thing was a fun novelty.

Ending angle gave me goosebumps. Even Flair being an old piece of shit couldn't ruin it. Sting coming down from the rafters as Schiavone screams is pro wrestling at it's best. Loved the commentary line "they looked everywhere but they didn't check the rafters!". One of those perfect twists because I didn’t see it coming but ofcourse, it made perfect sense. Sunday will be a sad moment. Regardless of whatever criticisms can be thrown at AEW there's no denying the brilliant booking of Sting over the past 3-4 years. Legendary stuff.

48 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

the story leaned so heavily into Triple H being the better "technical wrestler

Still think it's weird they ran with the Triple H=great technician narrative for so long. He's a pretty brilliant brawler but a fairly lousy technician. 95% of his offence is based around irish whips! 

23 hours ago, Loki said:

Steiner's definitely lacking ring fitness and starts sucking oxygen in so hard the front row begin to pass out.

I'm pretty sure one of Steiner's feet was absolutely fucked as well during this period to the point it basically barely worked. But yeah, diabolic that Steiner was completely blamed for their bad matches considering how generally shit Triple H was during this time.

Card looks pretty spectacular with numerous potential classics. The only negative is MEAT MADNESS not being remotely mad enough. A triple threat with Lance Archer 100% guaranteed to take the pin does not scream madness to me. They should add as many guys as possible to this and make it no dq - Brody King, Kill Switch, Jake Hager, JD Drake, Killswitch, Brian Cage, Toa Liona, Shane Taylor, even throw in Johnny Hungee for a laugh. Just go absolutely fucking bananas with it.

When I joined Paid the first thing I did was do a search to see if anyone had slagged me off previously. There was only one post that did and it was from a few years previous, it was a pretty brutal drumming but the reasoning was solid so I couldn't really get upset about it. I actually found it pretty helpful, I think.

Overall though Paid is a nice little perk but not really the hive of activity some people probably assume it is.

8 hours ago, waters44 said:

This then sent a shiver down my spine because my Grandma, who’s name was Victoria Mary had died a year earlier, which was maybe five years after her daughter, my Auntie Cath died. 

My nan was also called Mary and I also have an Aunt called Kathleen. Everyone from that fucking generation was called Mary and Cath.

Thing is this woman may genuinely believe that she can talk to the dead. She can't though.

If someone from beyond the grave ever passes a message to me I hope it's not as boring as the "so and so wants to let you know they are ok!" message it always seems to be. I want them to tell me something that's either completely mental or something incredibly useful - like where I can find some buried money or something.

First show back with a full crowd. Just pure energy, Mox is pumped up beyond belief, Eddie's having a blast. Badass.

Another good show, loving AEW at the moment.

- Sammy/Hobbs was a fun plunder match. I'm not a Sammy fan at all, he's been far overpushed past his talent level but the ONE thing he is good at is these mid-card hardcore matches. He's rubbish at everything else. Hobbs looked great here. Some people are no doubt complaining that AEW is doing too many no dq matches at the moment which is the most boring complaint I can imagine anyone making when the matches are as fun as this.

- Mox and Claudio cut probably the worst promos of their careers. Fucking thing went on forever.

- Speaking of promos, Dax talks 90% bollocks in every promo he does but he delivers with enough conviction and passion that I always enjoy them. Good job hyping the BCC/FTR rematch.

- Shane Taylor is fat and throws a great punch which makes him a top level guy in my book. I like STP - they should add a third guy and be a trios act I reckon. Add a highflyer then STP can stand for Speed, Technical, Power covering all three guys (you can have that one for free, TK).

- Bang Bang Scissor Gang needs to get where it's going quickly as it's a waste of Bullet Club Gold and painful to watch. BCG unite the trios titles and having a run as champs would be the ideal ending. The Acclaimed probably need to split up and move on to something else - no idea what that could be. I can't stand the Iron Savages either.

- Malakai Black has tremendous presence, look and offence. This makes him perfect for the leader role of a trios. But he's never been up to much as a singles wrestler and his uniqueness and positives have always covered for the fact that he's never had a memorably good singles match ever. Him slogging his way through a flat, dull singles match with the worlds smallest wrestler Bryan Keith was not enjoyable to watch at all. I liked Mark Briscoe's attack at the end but it felt like it ended quite awkwardly and abruptly - the House of Black needed to escalate the violence if anything.

- Cracking main event with top level Bryan Danielson shithousery at the end. What's left to say about this story? It's been an absolutely beautiful piece of work spread out naturally over 3 months. 

- Opening the show on a nutty hardcore match and finishing on a traditional old school pro wrasslin' bout with two legends is exactly why AEW is the best thing to happen to wrestling.