Supremo

Probably easier to appreciate the grind when you’re divorced and have no-one to go home to.

I saw Hunter was back talking bollocks about Chapters and The Story Continuing on Raw. Hilarious.

If Cody doesn’t win that belt I won’t even be mad this time. I’ll just marvel at the sheer ineptitude. Surely they wouldn’t do it again? Just edge people until the end of time?

Oh well. Could be worse.

 

Hunter didn’t even want Will Ospreay or Okada anyway, so joke’s on them. He’s not mad. Please don’t put in the paper that he’s mad.

 

Renaissance Era would’ve came twenty years earlier if they’d pushed those damn cruiserweights.

The beauty of DM Hunk is in how crap it is, combined with how proud he is every time he says it.

It’s a great character for 2024. There’s something really entertaining about a rubbish troll, coming up with the lamest bait, desperate for a reaction. Pure screaming into the void energy.

Best news coming out of that Helwani interview was him mentioning that the injury isn’t as bad as last time and shouldn’t keep him out as long. Best for business, the product and Punk’s mental health if he’s not forced to sit at and stew on stuff. Hopefully he’s back soon. If I wasn’t so desperate to see DM Hunk raise gold on Sunday, I reckon there’d be a huge pop if Punk took off that arm brace and walloped Drew with it, costing him the match.

But yeah. Lord, giving me the confidence of CM Punk in 2024, using his most recent injury to explain how WWE’s medical care is so fantastic, and vastly superior to AEW’s. Both he and Helwani nearly suffocating for the size of the elephant in the room, where -you know - Punk spent millions of dollars and lost his best friend in order to go to court and prove WWE’s medical care nearly killed him. So spectacularly full of shit. The worker’s worker.

Copeland listing all the guys he wants to wrestle just made me sad. Does anyone truly believe he’ll get around to wrestling even half of them? The history of AEW doesn’t fill me with optimism. Never has a company left so many dream matches on the table. Still waiting for Kenny Omega vs. Darby Allin.

Supposedly Dax Harwood also did a #StandUpForAEW, just-enjoy-wrestling speech after the TV taping ended.

I would LOVE IT (Kevin Keegan-style) if Punk ends up falling out with Dax over this. The true Punker experience. I’ll only speak about CMFTR merchandise if a lawyer is present.

I wish they hadn’t sent Copeland out there to do the Paul Heyman motivational rah rah speech. Felt really desperate and tragic to react to Punk’s criticisms like that. Honestly, I didn’t even understand what Copeland was going on about at first. Thought he was talking about stuff that I missed on Collision, only for the penny to drop that he was referring to Punk ripping into them on Helwani’s show. Urgh. Why bother addressing it at all.

You’re on a great run since the start of the year. Just ignore it and keep doing what you’re doing. It also didn’t help that it was Copeland doing it, who’s only been there for a few months! Remember when Stone Cold walked out on WWE and they got The Rock to do the big speech slagging him off? The equivalent would have been sending Booker T out there to do that speech instead.

If they had to do it, Eddie Kingston should’ve gone out there and said, “who gives a fuck what a hypocritical nutcase thinks,” before he ran down the card and told us everything he was excited about.

Ultimately, the whole thing set them up massively for a fall. If you’re going to try and babyface yourself and put the company over like that, don’t do it on the same show that Chris Jericho is getting some of the worst, “oh, fuck off,” heat of all time, whilst Billy Gunn and Jay White are having a Worst Match of the Year contender. What on Earth went on in that Billy Gunn match? Who agented that? Did they think the whole thing was happening in picture-in-picture, during an ad break? Weirdest psychology imaginable. “Billy will smash Jay to fuck for about six months, then we’ll rush to a DQ finish.” It was like the last four to six months of re-building goodwill hadn’t happened! Rubbish!

However, those two glaring negatives aside, it was a mostly good show.

Fun matches with Ospreay and Danielson. Still seems crazy to have the type of talent to just chuck those two lads out as a one-two punch combo to start your free TV. Danielson bringing back the Yes chant is interesting. You wonder if even he is aware how much bigger of a star he could be. It’s always been admirable that he didn’t rest on his laurels and wanted to try new things, but fucking hell mate. You have the ability to be one of the best top babyfaces of all time. Maybe give it a go for six months and see if it improves attendances even a little bit. I love Danielson, he’s the best ever, but it’s crazy frustrating the way he constantly campaigns to not be as big a star as he has the potential to be, happy to do constant jobs and never win Titles. They should stage an intervention with that kid from Summerslam 92.

“Bryan, you’re going to start beating everyone clean and winning belts, whether you want to or not!”

Trent turning heel was brilliant. Felt truly momentous after five years together. Bonus points for having Sue out there to sell her disappointment. I’m delighted Orange Cassidy has something big to sink his teeth into again. Ideally, this somehow brings back Danhausen too. Gone but not forgotten. Very nice, very evil, very missed.

I love The Young Bucks. This new act is brilliant. Fuck all the way off with the Jack Perry references though. Matt shouting, “yo Scapegoat, love your work,” during the entrance and then telling Sue, “cry me a river.” Everyone. I’m begging you. Please move on from this. I fear it’ll be the year 2045 and everyone will still be referencing Brawl Out and Brawl In. Get over it!

Toni Storm was a hoot at commentary. She’s at her best just trying to pop Taz. Loved her reaction to Thunder Rosa winning. Freezing in disbelief. They should completely change the NXT Shocked Face Curriculum based on that. That’s how you do it!

Phenomenal closing segment. Any doubts I had about Swerve’s moment passing were quickly dismissed by his fantastic work here. Great brawl, with an amazing visual of him signing the contract in his own blood. Has anyone ever done that before? I know we’ve had loads of guys signing with their opponent’s blood, but I can’t remember anyone ever being such a nutcase as to use their own. Clearly, Swerve is at his best when he’s a fucking psychopath. Hopefully they make the PPV match some type of No DQ.

However, for as good as Swerve and Joe were here, they were still overshadowed because the true highlight of the whole show was Willow Nightingale! Finally giving her some proper promo time? Everyone instantly falling in love with her? Over like a motherfucker? About fucking time. Love her so much. Build your entire company around this woman! The definition of a babyface.

I’ll always adore the way they took the piss on BTE, explaining why Hangman didn’t go out when Punk started slagging him off. I swear this was Punk’s real problem with AEW. He met people who could be even bigger sarcastic pricks. Lads who live for this nonsense.

 

Another really good episode.

Great opening promo. Rock is still leagues ahead of everyone in terms of aura and presentation, but to their credit they’ve done a great job trying to get Seth and Roman as close to that level as possible. Seth in particular. Now that we can view this build up as a whole, it’s probably the best thing he’s done in years. Seeing him confidently challenge The Rock from the crowd, this is the coolest and most over he’s felt in this awful, messy character.

Rock showing clips of the kids crying on social media. What a prick. I love it.

These sell out crowds, with the wide shots showing people practically hanging from the roof. Man, I wish I knew how to give AEW some of this good fortune. It adds so much to the product. Feels, looks and sounds so big time. Still makes me smile the way Rock keeps taking credit, too. Proper shithouse behaviour.

Loved the vignettes on this show. Sami and Chad doing Rocky was cheesy fun and Drew’s eulogy was spectacular. I’m almost rooting as much for DM Hunk this weekend as I am Cody Rhodes.

I think Chad is turning on Sami. I’ll never forgive him.

Worst part of the show was that Becky/Rhea footage from the MMA Hour. Was rubbish in real time, was equally as rubbish in highlight form. I wouldn’t have bothered putting it on the show. Crap work all round.

Roman missing his time cue in that opening segment and interrupting his own promo about a second or two before Seth’s music actually hit should have been awkward and embarrassing. Pat McAfee saved it though. The silliness of him claiming that Roman was interrupted by the, “gust of wind” that always occurs just before Seth’s music hits. You have to admire the balls to say something so stupid. Genuinely made me laugh.

It speaks to how lost this company was for so long that it still feels so novel for them to just send Ricochet out there to have a daft, fun match every week. I’m still not convinced he can ever become something great, but these wild exhibitions are a highlight each week.

Another brilliant, basic, meat and potatoes heat angle to close the show. I don’t know if it’s Cody, The Rock or both of them, but whoever has determined the direction of this feud the last two weeks has absolutely nailed it. Proper pro-wrestling. I can’t remember the last time I felt anything for the Seth Rollins character, but when he gave The Rock that shit-eating grin, before the Cody reveal? That was ace. Real punch-the-air stuff.

Fair play to Roman too. He put a shift in all night. You could sense he knew how overshadowed he was, so he was out there putting in more effort than he has in months. Going so fast that he tripped over the desk that was lying on the floor! I can’t remember the last time he moved so quickly out there! That horrible, guttural Mob boss screaming he does whilst murdering people is stellar work as well. Just top drawer stuff across the board. The audible gasps from the white hot crowd when Cody tried to do a Rock Bottom through the table. The brilliant cinematography when Jey Uso went brawling in the back, only to fly back out like he’d been shot out of a cannon, with The Rock revealing himself. The Rock showing some arse, selling his bollocks off when Cody mounted some offence. He even took a bump and didn’t burst into dust! Felt like a kid watching this whole thing unfold. When it’s good it’s great.

Also, Michael Cole’s call at the end was amazing, asking how the fuck you stop these two bohemoths. Raising their belts to close the show. Top, top baddies. A seemingly impossible mountain for our heroes to climb on the biggest show of all time. Fucking yes. Home run. It’s nothing short of bonkers how they turned this whole thing around from the disaster we got in January. It’s still a mess, but what a hot, wild mess. I’m absolutely buzzing for Mania. Best time of year even during those dark days when they couldn’t do anything right. When they’re on fire though? Promised land stuff.

Almost funny that the day after CM Punk describes him as being too nice to be a proper boss, Tony goes against everything the company has stood for in terms of seeing contracts through in their entirety, suddenly sacking people out of nowhere.

No more Mr. Nice Guy! He’ll stop hugging people, next! The only plus side is that this might mean he tells Matt Hardy to fuck off.

But yeah. Now Dalton Castle no longer has The Boys and yet again this is ultimately Jack Perry’s fault. Crazy how one dumb remark to camera in a throwaway Pre-Show match has became the ultimate Nexus Event in the Pro-wrestling Cinematic Universe.

The most fascinating part was listening to the mental gymnastics he used to explain why his shoot comments and insider references are so much more sophisticated, and therefore justified. Saying with a straight face that “the magic of CM Punk,” was in how he always kept it within the fiction of the storyline, created a level of ambiguity, and he knew where to draw the line.

”Bucks,” can also be in reference to currency, you see. So the, “counterfeit bucks,” line was actually really clever and not a childish, petty dig. Not sure I caught the clever sophistication or ambiguity of when he was shouting about Hangman Adam Page being unable to sell action figures or pop ratings. Must have been above me.

Also, in regards to knowing where to draw the line, I reckon mumbling something obscure about worker’s rights pales in comparison to challenging your promo partner to say the name of the former owner of the company, currently under investigation for sex trafficking.

Would've been interesting if he was challenged in any way whatsoever, but true to form I think Ariel’s entire response to all this was to describe Punk’s comments on Monday as, “killer line, bro.” The real journalist there, whose entire approach to this interview was, “why are you so brilliant?”

“Stop using insider references, going off script and allowing the audience glimpses behind the curtain!” shouts man who made a career out of using insider references, going off script and allowing the audience glimpses behind the curtain.

He’s a fascinating, hypocritical head case. I could listen to him talk for hours. Pro-wrestling is infinitely better for having him in it.

If Tony Khan has to respond, he should just release the security footage from Wembley. Call me a cynic, but I don’t believe that footage will back up Punk’s claims here, acting as if he calmly strolled up to Jack Perry and politely asked, “excuse me young Jack, may I please enquire as to why you’re doing this silly internet stuff on TV.”

But yeah. I wonder how my HR department would react if I explained giving someone a bit of a choke was me being professional.

Gutted it’s at the Hydro. Only 14,000 odd tickets means they’ll be priced crazy high. Does Glasgow not have a stadium they could have used?

Bodes well for Drew winning at Mania though. Get this man the run he deserved before Covid ruined everything! Justice for DM Hunk!

Punk vs. Drew in fucking Glasgow though? Punk going full heel? Nuclear heat.

It’s a good watch. Confirms a lot of what I suspected about Tony Khan being too nice to be a pro-wrestling promoter. The bits where Punk’s obviously talking shit are equally as brilliant. Calmly asking Jack Perry to behave? Chinny reckon. Also, how many times does he do that same line, “you better fix this, or else I’ll fix it and you aren’t going to like what I do.” Gave the exact same energy as this.

I hope Tony does the mature, sensible thing. Don’t get a bag in. Don’t start tweeting bollocks. Don’t attract the usual suspects to this topic. You’re on a great run of TV, building momentum and good will. Just keep your head down, focussing on what matters. Binning off Chris Jericho.

Clips I’ve seen so far are very entertaining. Looking forward to listening to the whole show. I’d like it if Ariel asked him what the difference is between Hangman improvising against the script on live TV and Punk daring Drew to say Vince McMahon’s name, but I haven’t expected anything clever or interesting from Ariel in forever. Absolute bum licker these days.

The Final Boss has got kids thinking he’s ended Cody’s life. The business is alive and well. Only thing that can make this even better is when Cody inevitably flies this kid to Mania.

 

Always a big fan of these graphics that pop up. Makes the cards look stacked. A lot I’m excited about. Frankly furious the kids are off for the Easter Holidays and I can’t watch it live.

Other than the main events, have they announced what matches are on each night yet? I don’t recall hearing it. Do they usually leave it this late? God knows how many fans are only going to one show, but you have to assume some are. Would be mad still not knowing what matches you’re going to see.

Anyway, I clocked this online and was filled with joy. That smug, “what do you guys wanna talk about?” when he’s wearing the belt is going to hit like crack.

Real, “actually, Triple H told Rikishi to run Stone Cold over,” vibes.

You hope Roman has a really strong week starting on Raw, putting himself on the same level as The Rock, but does he even have it in him? What can he even do?

Is it too late to replace Roman with Jade Cargill in the Night One tag match? Absolute megastar.

Good show, with great action, let down massively by the crap crowd. First time in a while you could really notice how few people were in that massive, dark, empty space. All tight camera angles and forced perspectives again. Like going from playing N64 in glorious 3D for weeks, only to have it snatched away by your big brother, having to go back to playing in 2D on the crap, original NES. Rubbish.

Good opener. Will Ospreay continues to impress. I think this lad’s gonna be a good wrestler, you know! However, this was the first time since he joined AEW that I noticed his stupid tattoo with the All In attendance! What a whopper. Get it covered up, Will. You’re making top dollar now. Book in for a sleeve.

Further evidence that Will Ospreay might be the best wrestler in the World right now; hitting Katsuyori Shibata with stiff-looking soccer kicks, elbows, flying forearms, Tiger Drivers and Hidden Blades. All connecting snug, like there’s nothing to worry about. Must be a truly great worker to make all that look so good without the seam on Shibata’s skull opening up and his brain flopping back out.

Great vignette on Danielson being the absolute best. Not that it’s hard to convey. He is the absolute best. Literally impossible for him to ever receive enough flowers. The best ever. They should have played, “Monster,” over this.

Fun match between the Bucks and Private Party, but this tournament has been extremely disappointing thus far. Even worse is that the Finals of Bucks vs. FTR is so obvious. Continental Classic, this is not. Hopefully Mathew and Nicholas can spice it up with their new characters because I’ve otherwise got no interest in seeing them rematch against FTR again. Shame about them screwing up the finish here. They should have hit something else before getting the pin. Snoop Dogg needs to teach these amateurs how to improvise.

Disappointing they don’t do BTE anymore. They could have done a fun skit where they buy Nicholas some Addidas Predator boots to stop him slipping on the finish next time. Didn’t they shoot a daft BTE skit to explain Matt Sydal slipping on the turnbuckle that time he debuted in the Battle Royale? Classic! Hopefully next week we see Nicholas firing some ring crew for not wiping down the cavas properly. Okada can throw them out the arena or run them over with his Ferrari.

It took less than three weeks for us to get the true Mercedes Mone experience. Looked a million dollars. Everything else was worth about 20p. Spent the entire time at the desk sleep talking. Lifeless mumbling. Has she ever watched AEW before? Was she actually in her seat for much of the show at Wembley? You wouldn’t know it. Seemed as bored as she was clueless as to what to say. Didn’t she supposedly bring in a WWE writer, specifically for her? That writer better worry if she’s still on probation. Job Centre tomorrow morning. Sacked.

Good action in the Women’s four way, though. Willow and Skye are great together. Happy to see Willow win. Strap her up at the pay per view. Love her.

As much as Butcher vs. Dustin sounds like a fine Rampage scrap, I don’t want to see Dustin in AEW right now. I want to see him at Wrestlemania, for the Bloodline Endgame portal scene. He and Cody can blade together. Leave rivers of blood before overcoming the odds. Do it Tony, or else you don’t deserve pro-wrestling!

The balls on Mike Bennet to wear a, “NOBODY CARES,” T-shirt, when he’s in such a Dead-on-arrival act. Nobody cares, indeed. The Bang Bang Scissor Gang literally joined forces for the sole purpose of taking on The Undisputed Kingdom and even they forgot they existed a few weeks later. Poor MJF. Not only has this company instantly moved on and improved in his absence, but the blood feud for when he comes back is against the bWo. Chump central. Santana had a bigger comeback feuding against Ortiz exclusively on Rampage.

Good main event. Exactly what Swerve needed. The World Title dilemma remains though. Every week you think Swerve is the man and it’s time to switch the belt, but then Joe inevitably cuts a brilliant, impassioned promo straight afterwards and you’re left thinking, “actually, maybe not.”

Worst part of the show is the same as it always is. 

Jericho continues to Jericho. Urgh. How long has he been wearing that leather jacket, with badges on it? Like he stole it directly off Rick from the Young Ones. Bare chested under the jacket, too! Strong look, Chris. HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW COOL, RELEVANT WRESTLERS. Whole thing just stinks. It’s not even like Jericho can go any lower. It’s HOOK who I’m starting to resent. Why is this cool, hip, aloof youngster agreeing to hang out with this creepy, fifty something weirdo? Bin this nonce! He should have hit Jericho’s advances with a, “no,” quicker then Punk hit Seth with a, “no,” on Monday. “Maybe we should…”NO.”  *Walks off eating some Flame Grilled Real McCoy’s*

I’ve seen people suggest it’s all becoming a meta heel run for Jericho, like that makes any difference at all. It doesn’t. Being self aware that you’re way past your sell by date and in dire need of six months off TV doesn’t make it any better. It’s not something you can play into. Just fuck off. I will not feel sympathy for HOOK if Jericho turns on him. Got everything he deserved.

This made me laugh though.

Shout out to my boy Daniel Garcia. His heart was in the right place, before he decided better of it and deleted the Tweet. You have to let these young lads lose six months of their career to this prick, Danny. They all must experience him sucking the life out of their young souls, like Vigo in Ghostbusters 2. It’s a canon event.

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.

A man setting himself on fire for a random Dynamite match with Andrade.

I’ve watched ten thousand seats sell out for an NWA Title match against Nick Aldis.

All those moments…will be lost in time…like a blade job in the rain.

Art.

I’m fascinated by what this build would have looked like if they didn’t pivot, and stuck with Rock vs. Roman as the Mania match.

No heel turn. No FINAL BOSS. No Thanos entrance, walking through the lightning. No heavy heat angle, with the Blade Runner aesthetic in the rain. No blade job. No LOOK AT YOU NOW, BOY.

The idea of Roman in his current form, the overshadowed little brother, building towards a Wrestlemania main event with the goofy, babyface Rock we had before the pivot? What on Earth would that have looked like? Just weeks of the Family Tree PowerPoint? Rock and Roman doing a tug-of-war with the belt, like Brock and Roman? Has anyone reported on the original plans?

Definitely wanking.

Couldn’t find that thread about bad takes, so I’ll put this here. Turns out wobbling your head back and forth can give CTE.

Is it too much of a stretch to think the reason Chris Jericho won’t take the hint and fuck off is because he’s trying to work through his AEW contract as soon as possible, in order to make the jump back to WWE? It’s the only thing that makes sense at this point.