JLM

8 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Chris Jericho since 2023, absolutely. I do think it was a savvy pick up at the time. Remember this was pre Mox, pre Danielson, pre Punk, Pre Cole. He was a WWE guy, at the top for many years, it was a great statement of intent.

But yes, he needs to go and while he’s continually featured, it makes Tony’s booking stupid.

Oh yeah definitely recent Jericho, not his whole run. I don’t think anyone would argue he wasn’t beneficial to AEW initially. 

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

For someone who likes my posts, that’s a weird thing to ask, because he’s a flawed guy. I think he is unfairly treated overall (especially compared to how the other place has been run), but he’s not faultless.

- Women’s division. Yes it’s getting better now but for ages it was the 21:20 - 21:40 segment. A match, maybe a promo, that’s your lot. 
 

- Talent Relations. we’ve seen wrestlers released who have found out from dirt sheets because no one could be bothered to call them. That’s not how you treat people.

- Freedom. What does an EVP do? What do you mean you’re not happy with that angle, call you with new ideas next month? Backstage can be chaotic (ignoring the punch ups), it does seem to be they need more structure. Tony Khan wants to be hands on with everything, stretching himself to thin. Though I think Punk has turned out to be a bit of a prick, I can imagine that a lot of his comments made in that interview about the backstage of AEW were accurate. It definitely needs to have a better 

- Chris Jericho. 

I’m sure animal welfare is considered woke by some people, but I suspect this post was intended for the Work thread. 

I thought Cody was going to say something along the lines of “Oh you want to hold this one? Oh sure you just need to win the Royal Rumble two years in a row and defeat the four year reigning tribal chief in the main event of Wrestlemania.” Was disappointed when he handed it over. 

I liked the video package and Cody’s promo though. The video package was incredibly schmaltzy and earnest to the point where I could see it making some people cringe, but that’s Cody isn’t it? I thought it was a perfect fit. I generally enjoyed the face off with The Rock too, awkward belt swap aside. I loved that after the initial pop for The Rock’s theme there was very little crowd split here. The people were 100% behind Cody for his acceptance speech and Rock felt like the spoiler, which was perfect. 

Raw was OK. I appreciated the victory lap moments for Truth, Sami and Cody. Truth popping up with his belt to join the pose made me laugh. Tonnes of positivity about the product and results coming out of Wrestlemania and they were wise to capitalise on it and keep the good vibes rolling. 

Dragunov is best showcased in a wild and violent slobberknocker where his fire and ability to both withstand and dish out punishment are emphasised. Hard to do it in a very short TV match but was still good to see him. 
 

I didn’t think Perez got a chance to show off her best either, though I did enjoy her shutting down Natalya backstage. Natalya looks a little bit frightening in talking segments. 

Sami/Gable vs Imperium was a fun match and the Gable/Sami build has been good stuff. 

Jade with the old school TBS title defense match. I love Chelsea Green and I continue to love the presentation of Jade. 
 

Liv’s attack on Rhea was great. Looked very violent. It does already feel like another filler title defense against a non-credible opponent, but the segment was a good start. 
 

Main event was fine. Easy first defense set up for Priest there, but more importantly another chapter in the excellent Punk/Drew feud. Punk was hilarious here.

I saw some people suggesting that a screen flicker during Bronson Reed’s promo was an Uncle Howdy teaser. I can’t even say I noticed it the first time. Is that people on the internet reaching or did I just miss something fairly blatant because it was the early hours of the morning? 

Yep I’m team Samantha Irvin on this one. Same with some of the swearing and outbursts from Mcafee and Cole, they all felt like people getting carried away and excited with the emotion of it all, which is what we all want to do when wrestling it at its best. I just can’t see that as a bad thing. 

Wrestlemania Night 2

Cool that they got Shane Taylor of Shane Taylor Promotions to sing at the start of the show. Hope to see more AEW/WWE cross-promotion going forward. 

Seth vs Drew was brilliant! It is rare for me to enjoy Seth Rollins, but having Drew hit the Claymore 1 second into the match was an inspired move and it made for fantastic heat for the rest of it. The whole thing felt like a Brock Lesnar match in the best possible way, straight to business with both guys throwing haymakers for the duration. I wanted Drew to win so I was happy with that, but I was not expecting to enjoy the match this much. Punk being largely responsible for Priest's cash in on Drew was tremendous as well. Punk vs Drew is just pure gold. 

Red hot opening to the show, loved all of that. 

I wonder if The final Testament and Timeless Toni Storm exist in a shared cinematic universe. The mind wanders when Kross is on screen. Snoop Dogg having the loveliest time on commentary made this much more fun for me. Fair play to them, they knew how cold this feud is and threw in all possible bells and whistles to make it more entertaining. City-appropriate Dudleys nostalgia, the very unexpected B-Fab/Scarlet Russian leg sweep, Montez's crazy tope with some stellar camera work to catch it. I found this more entertaining than the night one ladder match. Bobby and The Profits need something better than this to do though, Montez Ford is nowhere near where he should be.

Effortlessly brilliant Heyman promo. 

"This is the biggest match of LA Knight's career". He wrestled Roman for the title lads. This is not that. He had a pro wrestling match with AJ Styles here. Just buy some fucking Slim Jims, will you. 

The Bray tribute was lovely, would have liked them not to cut to the plug for the Weeknd so abruptly though. 

Logan Paul's entrance was one of the best worst things I've ever seen. Like I knew it would be something extremely obnoxious but I could never have fully prepared for it. Amazing. This match was good silly fun. Outstanding performance from Logan Paul. KO and Orton also have great chemistry both as a slightly awkward double act and as opponents. Better than I thought it would be. 

Bayley/Sky was a belter. The crowd was already behind Bayley of course, but she was so sympathetic here hobbling on one leg for most of the match that they were at fever pitch by the end of it. We didn't get the inflatable tube guys, but this was definitely original babyface run Bayley in spirit. Phenomenal closing stretch and this was easily one of Iyo's best WWE matches as well. Great action but more importantly a satisfying feel good ending to this story. 

To echo many others, the main event was pure magic. Roman and Cody were both amazing, then in the second half it became the most Wrestlemania event that ever Wrestlemania'd. The callbacks, the revenge of the ghosts of bloodline past, the surprises. Felt like a celebration of Roman's momentous reign as well as, of course, a fist pumping and triumphant ending to The Story. Sensational. 

Aside from AJ vs La Knight I thought everything on night 2 delivered. What a great show. Even the bloody Final Testament match was a fun time, and that main event was exactly what Wrestlemania should be delivering. Wonderful. 

Wrestlemania Night 1

Motionless in White are rubbish a but I still thought Rhea's entrance entrance was incredible. She looked like a mega star. 
Very good match to start the show. Some great little counters and sequences, they got the crowd on board as it went on and Rhea is just so over. Heroic performance from Becky if she was ill going into this. Only thing really hurting this for me is that there was zero doubt in my mind about the result, so it took away a lot of potential drama. 

Ladder match had some nutty high spots as you'd expect. It was OK. For all the table and ladder smashing, the Kofi Trust Fall to take out the field and let Woods take a run at the belts was my favourite high spot. Truth has more than earned his Wrestlemania win, so was sincerely chuffed for him at the end. The tag titles feel utterly worthless.

Rey/Dom etc. was a standard TV tag match. It was fine. The crossbody on the shoulders spot was the best bit. 

Jey vs Jimmy is just too far past the point of being interesting at all to me. The crowd was still hot for it but I had no investment and the match didn't do anything to bring me in. 

Bianca, Jade and Naomi on the giant podium was glorious. Absolutely glorious. Pure Wrestlemania razzmatazz, they looked like gods. Bianca's hot tag was spectacular but this was the Jade Cargill show. Boy does she look right at home on this stage, I loved every second of it, as did the live crowd. Everything WWE has done with Jade so far has been note perfect. 

Sami and Gunther was brilliant. These two are the ideal opponents for each other, both in-ring and as characters, and I knew before the show this would be one of the best matches of the weekend. Sami's entrance was perfect. Gunther's character work has improved so much since his main roster call up, particularly in the most recent feuds with Miz and Sami. He was already one of my favourite wrestlers but he's only getting better. Definitely time to move him up to the world title picture after this excellent reign. 

The main event was largely tonnes of fun. Toy Belt and Big Pants be damned, The Rock's entrance was still fucking magnificent. I actually laughed out loud when I realised it was a giant flaming Bull. Wonderful. As much as I enjoy Seth Rollins getting beaten down, the extended bit with the heat on him was a bit of a drag. However, the initial buzz of them all facing off was great, and the final third was classic WWE Main event excess at its finest. The melodrama, the big moments, the twists and turns. The reaction to Cody springing up during The People's elbow, Cody rock bottoming The Rock through a table, Reigns spearing The Rock. Lots of great holy shit moments and they had the crowd red hot by the end. Really enjoyed it. 

Decent night one. The Wrestlemania production is always a joy to behold. Ladder match/Rey and Dom/Usos matches were all entirely forgettable, but the stuff I was looking forward to delivered. Sami/Gunther, Becky/Rhea, Jade Cargill looking like a million bucks, the main event and some tremendous entrances. 

Dynamite 03/04/24. 

I genuinely wasn't sure what Copeland was on about at the start. I have since read up on it and I still don't care. Didn't like this to open the show. Always feels petty and small time to do a segment like this. I think he's sincere about this stuff, and he tweeted a lot of similar sentiments after signing for AEW. I also agree with him that AEW existing is a good thing for pro wrestling whether you enjoy the product or not. But yeah, regardless, I could do without this sort of shit on the show. Also it is absurd that he doesn't know how to pronounce Osprey. Not that everyone should know who he is because he was Good in Japan or any of that nonsense, he's a heavily promoted new star for the promotion you're hyping up with your promo and you know your segment ends with you introducing him. It's wild to get it wrong in that context.

Fantastic match between Osprey and Hobbs. Loved it. Smaller speedy babyface vs Monster Heel works for me every time, and these are two of the finest in those roles. Hobbs always has complete disdain for his opponents but I loved how much he ramped it up here; being even more reckless than usual because he's clearly pissed that Osprey is Callis' golden goose. Osprey's style lends itself so well to doing little flurries of hope spots against a bigger opponent, I like Osprey matches where his opponent can dictate the pace and rein him in a bit, then let him shine at the right moments with all of the spectacular shit he can do. 

Danielson and Archer was the same thing again but not as good. Still enjoyed it though. Glad Danielson is carrying on with his early entrance gimmick he was going against Kingston, always makes me smile. 

Weekly Fuck Off Jericho comment. Hook's dad is literally in the same building. Hook's dad who is a professional wrestler who tours with the same promotion as Hook. Hook uses his dad's finishing move, carries his dad's belt and does Judo throws and suplexes just like him. I think he might already have a pro wrestling mentor guys. Making it clear that Hook KNOWS Jericho is up to no good certainly doesn't make him look any less stupid for going along with it. Hook is getting colder and colder by the week with this nonsense. I hate it.

Jay White and Billy Gunn was awful and far too long. It was set out like it was Stone Cold getting his hands on Vince or something. This whole Bang Bang Scissor Gang mess has been so detrimental to Bullet Club Gold. Unify the six man titles and then please never speak of this again. 

Willow promo was the highlight of the show. What an amazing feel good segment, only amplified by Renee and Statlander looking sincerely thrilled for her as she knocked it out of the park. This was also my favourite Mercedes segment so far. The most perfect foil for Willow's heartfelt promo about her insecurities and not having the conventional look. Mercedes comes out looking like a movie star, and after Willow explained at length why she loves the town and namedrops the local venues, Mercedes just shouts the name of the town and waits for the applause. I know Mone still got a babyface reaction but she could not have been more the heel in this segment. Fantastic stuff. Can't believe we've waited this long to see Willow do this. 

OK I haven't been entirely sold on this Bucks gimmicks at times (though I love them with Okada), but their delayed and thoroughly excessive pyro for their entrance was one of my favourite EVP bits they've done so far. What a couple of pricks. 

Trent heel turn was brilliant and devastating. The crowd made an awesome sound of collective surprise and horror when it happened, I rewound and listened to that one a few times. The last shot was tremendous, looking over Sue's shoulder with the back of her jacket reading "Trent and Orange w/Chuck win the big one". Sheer tragedy. 

Thunder Rosa/Mariah May was a pretty average match in front of a very flat crowd. Toni Storm was brilliant on commentary though. 

Penta vs Copeland sounds delightful. Penta vs Komander on Collision will be a good'un too. I welcome more Penta appearances on the main shows. 

The contract signing was outstanding.  Swerve finding cracks in Joe's usually unflappable aura, first by goading him into the fight and landing that tremendous looking sucker punch, then getting Joe to show real fear by showing him what kind of lunatic he's up against. This felt massive for Swerve. Even if Hangman screws him over and he doesn't win at Dynasty, he  has never looked more like The Guy. All of this done without diminishing Joe at all. He sounded great, he beat the piss out of Swerve twice and ended it standing tall. Loved everything about this. 

Definitely some skippable/rubbish bits on this show, but the opener, Trent's turn, Willow's promo and the closing segment were all excellent. 

4 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Her name is Giulia. She wrestles in Japan. I've not seen her work but by all accounts she is highly regarded.
Let's hope she's not another Sarray.

She’s a lot more charismatic and is a bigger personality than Sarray. Carries herself like a star and can be a good cocky/arrogant heel as well. I think she’ll do well in WWE. 

People do struggle with the distinction (or pretend to struggle with it to barely mask their transphobia). People will think (or dishonestly claim) that saying  gender is a social construct means you’re denying biology. However, most of them know if they’re honest with themselves that one can ask the question “what is a woman” and not purely be talking about biology.
 

They also know full well that they will see how a person presents and make the call on whether they think they’re a man or woman without asking to see their genitals or carrying out any tests, so there is clearly more to it than chromosomes.
 

Same with race, where nobody is denying the physical and genetic differences between people, but the categories and where we draw the lines are obviously things we’ve made up. Like how someone with a white parent and a black parent will be referred to as black or mixed, but not as white. 
 

I can’t remember if it was Contrapoints or another trans video essayist on YouTube who also used the analogy of biological vs adopted parents. Where if you were speaking to a child you knew was adopted and they introduced their adoptive father as “this is my dad” you wouldn’t go “errrm ACTUALLY he’s not, stop denying biology!” Unless you were a real arsehole. You would understand that this person has taken on the social role of being that child’s parent and you would accept that. Almost as if there’s more to the concept of being a father than providing sperm. 
 

It’s a big societal change, a lot of people still don’t encounter many trans people day to day, or haven’t given much thought to their existence and its implications before, there are many many legal and practical implications surrounding transitioning to tackle going forward. Discourse around this is entirely valid, but yeah, trying to say that trans people are lying about/denying biology is nonsense. 

Yeah when I was watching NXT black and gold regularly I got very invested in the performers. Felt weirdly proud of them when they went to the main roster and succeeded because I’d followed their whole story. Rhea Ripley in particular finding her persona and morphing into a bad ass after starting as a fresh faced happy to be here generic smiley person was a joy to watch. 

9 hours ago, I Bent My Wookie said:

 

I watch NXT on the weekly but don't thknk show reviews from me would add any viewers from the forum to the show the way other much more articulate posters could. 

I’d love to see you post about it. Could do a facesitter-style thumbs up thumbs down if you don’t want to do the big wall-o-text review. Doesn’t even need to be a show review, just  a short post with anything that stood out or that you’d recommend for people who don’t follow NXT full time would be great. 
 

I do (mistakenly it seems!) assume that if nobody posts anything at all about a product or show it’s because no one here is following it. I’d be happy to hear from anyone watching any wrestling from anywhere, even more so if it’s stuff I don’t get a chance to watch regularly. 

After watching Stardom High Speed title matches that does feel very slow for a gimmick built purely around speed. Some of the sequences and acrobatic moves were quick obviously, but as @Jesse said I didn’t felt the urgency from them. In some of those Stardom high speed matches it feels like the whole thing is wrestled as if it’s the last thirty  seconds of a match and anyone could win at any time, to the point that having a signature “inescapable” flash pinning combination becomes part of the arms race between rivals. I didn’t get that from these two at all. 
 

On 4/2/2024 at 6:40 PM, HarmonicGenerator said:

Is that Dasha as in the ring announcer? I hadn’t realised that was her surname if so!

My FASCINATING findings from Wikipedia. I looked it up so now I will bore you with it.

She was born Dasha Gonzales.  In 2014 she gained two new surnames: Fuentes from WWE and Kuret from her husband. In 2019 she lost the Fuentes, kept the Kuret and brought back the Gonzales for AEW. 

I can see why she didn't go with Kuret. 

@Lion_of_the_Midlands Not only was that a flub from Dasha, it was also presumably her last televised announcement for AEW. 

It's a real shame they let her go, I thought she did a very good job. Justin Roberts can be a bit much too, so having an announcer without all the schtick to balance it out was a good thing. 

Collision 30/03/24

Very hot start to the show with Copeland and Cardona. The crowd was on top form throughout, and Cardona did a great job of turning them completely against him by the end. Really enjoyed this. Love that Mark Briscoe is so determined not to let the House of Black have any fun. 

This crowd was hotter for The Acclaimed than others recently and I thought Daddy Ass did fine, but sort-of-serious Max Caster is horrible. "Twinkblade" was a shocking effort. "That's a mic drop" is also terrible, especially when Uncle Tony still held onto the mic because Bowens still had to speak.. You can't say something terrible and then just say "that's a mic drop". You say something cool and then you drop the mic. Come on Max.

Bowens' shouting hype man thing worked at the end of their entrance when the crowds used to be at fever pitch, but when he's also trying to get a bit serious it sounds silly for him to shout the whole time., then at the end when he and Bowens have successfully cooled off the crowd, it sounds like he's pleading with them to make noise again at the end. It's a shame but I have to agree the act feels like it's circling the drain. 

On the plus side, I'm hoping the Acclaimed/Gunns staying backstage thing is because Juice is coming back to interfere. 

I'm thinking that one decent Infantry promo segment in Atlanta was a blip because I have gone back to finding them a thoroughly bland tag team since. It ended up being a good match because FTR can do a  base level of good tag team match with anyone, but I didn't think the Infantry brought anything of note to the proceedings and looked a little bit lost at times. The finishing sequence would have been cool if the Infantry guy (not a good sign that I can't remember which guy) hadn't taken an age to get up and turn around into the Shatter Machine, making Dax flipping Cash over his head to get them in the right position a bit redundant. 

Copeland/Briscoe/Kingston super team up promo was great. What an eclectic gang. Briscoe stole the show but I loved Eddie's spitting mist/spitting up blood and teeth closer. That's how you do it Max. 

Was not interested in the Kyle O'Reilly match they'd been threatening with graphics throughout the show. Did perk up a bit when I saw it was JD Drake as the jobber, but it was pretty much a squash. Will one of the coldest acts on the roster join one of the other coldest acts, or will he FIGHT THEM? On the Rated R Superstar Adam Copeland of my seat here lads. 

A battle of Wills. Ha. Hobbs vs Osprey sounds delightful and is presumably the next step towards the Callis Family turning on Osprey. 

I was very distracted during the Bill/Starkz vs Top Flight match by Riccaboni's mention of Tony losing his dog and saying that he was there in case Tony couldn't do the show, and Tony's very sincere response. I love both of these guys and I bloody love dogs. RIP. 

The match itself was obviously overshadowed by the Ricky Starkz injury. He looked completely out of it at the end and it was very very uncomfortable watching him continue. Should obviously have been stopped. 

Thought Thunder Rosa and Lady Frost worked well together. Did some good lucha things here.. The crowd didn't care but they roped them in a bit by the end and we got the rarely heard Lady Frost chant. Nigel McGuinness also correctly called the Chiller Driller for Frost's big near fall! He was taking notes from Kevin Kelly this whole time. I find Lady Frost to be consistently good fun to watch, it's just a shame she is apparently a mute. 

Another excellent Toni Storm segment. Mariah was great again too. Teasing the turn harder than ever now. 

Osprey video package was very good. 

I was 100% sold on the main event before it started. What a set of guys for a six man; Dutch vs anyone on the other team works for me, same goes for Archer. Delightful main event. Claudio from the hot tag onwards was in full on superhero mode, it was a joy to watch. Shibata was also fantastic here in the exchanges with Archer and the closing stretch. Would have liked a Shibata/Dutch showdown as well but I can't have everything. Archer and Dutch slamming each other onto Danielson was brilliant, as was the glorious Bossman slam. Come on Lance, you already have white gear, make it official. Vincent beating down Danielson might have gone on for a tiny bit too long, but it did allow Nigel to let rip on Danielson on commentary so it was worth it. 

Nothing Earth-shattering on the show but I was thoroughly entertained, with a main even that is exactly what I'm looking for on Collision. 

Could switch to darts in the summer to try and get on the All In card too. 

Curious to see what becomes of JD Drake as a singles guy. Such a reliable in-ring performer but doesn’t have any sort of character going. 

I wouldn't boil it down to either of those as the determining factor on who to sign or push.

It depends what else they have to offer as well, there are plenty of other qualities a wrestler can have that can make them good at pro wrestling outside of the ability to cut a ten minute promo or wrestle like Bryan Danielson. Then of course how they're presented and whether or not they're given compelling things to do, how you emphasise their strengths and cover their weaknesses etc. can be as important as how talented they are at any particular aspect of performing. 

Julia Hart is only OK on the mic, has improved a ton in-ring but is still young and inexperienced, but her presentation and booking has been spot on and she's got more out of the House of Black gimmick than the three guys in the group. She also has a great look and has massively grown into the role over time. There are wrestlers who are better promos than her AND better in-ring, but I wouldn't necessarily push them over her. 

Willow is very strong in-ring and a decent promo,  but more important than both is that  her whole personality is just magic. Infectiously joyful and likeable and has a ton of presence and charisma. It's not like when Raquel Rodriquez was told to smile a lot because that makes you a babyface. With Willow she comes across as genuinely thrilled to be out there every time.  She also has a very organic on-screen friendship with Statlander that only amplifies how likeable she is. and is a powerhouse wrestler in a division that doesn't have many of those, so has that going as well. She also has a unique look and is naturally beautiful. 

It's a bit of this and a bit of that. My hot take is that wrestling promoters should strive to sign and promote the good ones but, CRUCIALLY, give less time and money to the rubbish ones. It's really quite easy I don't know why they don't do it. 

I also watched Rampage: 

Rampage 29/03/24

Butcher and Dustin was textbook pro wrasslin. Butcher methodically picking the babyface apart and getting the crowd riled up, Dustin drawing sympathy then firing up to make his comeback. It was fine. 

Bullet CLub skit was fun nonsense. A different spin on the home invasion angle. Get those trios titles off The Acclaimed lads. 

Purazzo vs jobber was also fine. Deonna notably wrestled this one with a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Would like to see her be more ruthless with the jobbers. Doesn't need to go full Athena, but make her exhibitions more like Serena Deeb's where she totally dismantles them. 

[quote= Me after watching Dynamite] Hope they also play up the fact that Osprey beat Shibata more convincingly than Danielson, knocking him out with his finish instead of a quick roll up. [/quote]

Didn't have to wait long for that eh. Again, enjoying the increased use of video packages and vignettes lately. 

Mariah vs jobber was also fine. She's really throwing herself into the adoring Toni Storm tribute act, I think it's good fun. Toni acknowledging her and slowly letting her get more involved feels like they're getting closer to the turn. 

Best bit of Zak Knight's promo was Lexy's discomfort at Harley Cameron playing with her hair. Cool Hand's initial smack to the face of Zak Knight as he ran in was immensely satisfying. Looked and sounded great. This ongoing C-story remains one of the best reasons to watch Rampage.

The content of The Righteous promos remains a bunch of profound-sounding but ultimately vacuous nonsense, but for this act that's pretty on brand. I continue to enjoy these vignettes. 

Ah Daddy Magic in local Quebecois hero mode. Papa Magie! Comedic heel, father figure to Danny Garcia, fiery underdog babyface, hilarious colour commentator, the man is such a consumate entertainer and he deserves better than what has to be the worst theme song in AEW. Regardless, this was loads of fun. Crowd sounded better than they did on Dynamite thanks to Daddy Magic and it made for a great little TV main event. I love Daddy Magic. 

Fairly skippable Rampage but I did enjoy the main event. 
 

Dynamite 27/03/24

Loved the opener, obviously. Belting match. Osprey busting out Shibata's signature moves was a nice touch, as was them playing up the previous match between the two and showing the footage. Hope they also play up the fact that Osprey beat Shibata more convincingly than Danielson, knocking him out with his finish instead of a quick roll up. Osprey has been near flawless since arriving but man I love Shibata so much. I feel positively spoilt getting the Danielson and Osprey matches with him back to back. Hope we get more of him. 

Danielson video package was excellent. I feel like I'm seeing more and more of this stuff from AEW lately and it is a huge positive. The little Copeland one later was good too. As much as anything it's a wise move to show off your roster, and make sure people are reminded of your bigger names and what they're up to even when they don't appear. 

Bucks/Private Party was a fun match but I am so cold on Private Party right now. 

Tony Hawk saying "I'm Tony Hawk, Pro Skater" made me smile. I would do that 100% of the time if I were him. 

Hook/Jericho stuff makes me sad. Hook was on such a good trajectory. 

Mercedes was abysmal on commentary. Incredible outfit but Christ I was getting second hand embarrassment for the other announcers trying to squeeze something ot of her. 

Women's match was a thoroughly entertaining sprint with the right winner. The visual of Julia Hart holding the title up and staring down Mercedes was great, so I guess that was the small benefit of having her there. Maybe make her guest timekeeper next time eh. 

Dustin vs Butcher was unexpected. 

Best Friends vs Kingdom was a good match but The Kingdomn are so dreadfully dull. 

Quality main event and a big statement win for Swerve, all capped off by another red hot promo from Joe.

Good show. As others have pointed out though, the crowd sounded terrible. 
 

I've booked Monday off work. 

Excited for:

Cody beating Roman

The big tag match. The heat alone for this one should make it spectacular. Have The Bloodline get in Mrs. Rhodes' face so it'll be all the sweeter when she holds up the belt on night 2. 

Jade Cargill's Mania entrance.

Bayley beating Iyo.

Drew beating Seth. 

Sami vs Gunther. Build has been strong, it's an absolutely perfect match up in terms of characters/story and the match will be stellar. 

Becky vs Rhea. 

Logan Paul doing something mad. 

I am very very sad that I don't care about Jey vs Jimmy. There was a time when this would have been second on my list behind Cody/Roman. 

ROH 21/03/24

Skipped: Lee Johnson vs jobber, Matt Sydal vs jobber,

Women's TV Title Tournament semi final: Billie Starkz vs Mercedes Martinez

Enjoyed this one. Mercedes the more experienced veteran wrestling the whole match at her pace. Billie managing quick flurries of offense using a bit of high flying and striking, but mostly just staying alive in the match whilst being methodically broken down. Diamante also getting involved occasionally to stack the deck against Billie further. Starkz impresses me every time but Martinez was the star of this one. Dictated the whole thing, made you root for Starkz and gradually got more frustrated and less composed as it went on, ultimately leading up to the finish where she makes a crucial mistake out of frustration and loses. 

Just pure and simple good pro wrestling,

Women's TV Title Tournament semi final: Queen Aminata vs Red Velvet. 

This was a belter! Velvet vs Hirsch the other week was the best Red Velvet performance I could remember seeing, but she easily topped it here. Incredible chemistry between these two, Velvet a smaller opponent for Aminata to throw about the place in spectacular fashion, Aminata a perfect base for Velvet to show off her high flying skills. The quesadora into 180 spin round the back into a roll up was ridiculous. Classic big woman/little woman match up which ramped up the intensity as it went, Red Velvet taking more risks and busting out more violent and desperate offense as it went on, Aminata dominating for spells with high impact power moves and nasty strikes. 

Red Velvet has made a fan out of me during this tournament and Aminata is such an exciting prospect, who as @Lorne Malvo says, genuinely looks more and more impressive with each appearance. 

Kiera Hogan promo! Salty about losing to Diamante in the tournament, wants a rematch. Thought the line about seeing Diamante at home was fun. I don't think "if you don't give me a rematch you'll be getting the silent treatment when we get home" has been invoked in a promo before. Diamante promo in response too! As @Lorne Malvo says, the women's division in ROH is in a great place right now with a diverse and interesting roster, but my main criticism has been the limited promo and character work opportunities. So happy to see this improving. If Lady Frost gets a promo I'll have no criticisms left. The TV title tournament has also added the focus and stakes the division has been missing, it's improved the shows a lot for me. 

Bears EAT Boys.

Lexy was excellent in this one too. 

Hikaru Shida vs Rachel Ellering

This started off a bit flat but picked up some steam towards the end. Ellering is not over but they are working on it with her and Leyla Hirsch. I want Ellering to turn on Hirsch because I cannot get behind her as a babyface. 

This was more about Athena at ringside than the match. Athena is a bit rattled by Shida. I love that the commentators bring up the one time they faced before in 2014, and it's handy for this story that Shida won it. Athena also mentioned it in her backstage promo later. Similar to Nyla, she is going into a title defense not her usual ultra-confident self. 

Turns out their previous match is on Youtube by the way, was pretty good: 

Brilliant promo from Kingston:

Makes a lot of sense for him to need a re-think after Okada. Perfect opponent for it too. That's gonna be a good'un. 

Mina Shirakawa vs Anna Jay

Fantastic debut from Shirakawa. Brimming with charisma, got the crowd on board immediately. Anna Jay could do worse than getting matches in against whoever else from Stardom comes over, thought this was one of her better performances too. But yeah, Shirakawa an immediate hit, absolutely delightful pinning combination too. 

Thought this was sweet too. What a huge win for Mariah May that some of her best pals she's just had to leave when moving from Japan will now be popping over to her new job: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4eY39yJYSp/

Very good episode this week. Only two skips, plenty of promos, Dalton vs The TVs update, two quality TV title tourney matches and a great fun debut for Shirakawa. All wrapped up in a nice digestible 70 minute run time. 

Rampage 20/03/24

Bullet Club vignette was great. Jay White had no business even pretending to be a babyface for a few weeks there. He is such a natural dickhead

Acclaimed promo was rough. They spent a lot of it talking about more over people who weren't there (Daddy Ass, Bullet Club Gold, MJF) to a very half hearted crowd response. They also couldn't seem to decide if they were doing funny zinger promo or serious pissed off promo and sort of did a bit of both. 

Best Friends/Callis family was very good, definitely a few notches above your typical Rampage undercard fare. Hobbs looked great, I don't get to see him wrestle enough. They didn't play up Grumpy Trent here, which surprised me a bit as they've been doing it for quite a while now. The fact they seem to be back on the same page only makes me think the Trent turn is coming sooner rather than later. 

Shibata straight up whupping someone's ass in 2 minutes was fun. Also the jobber's big clothesline got a "Take a look!" out of Daddy Magic. If I was jobbing on Rampage I think that'd be my main goal. 

Rocky Romero vs Takeshita was a belter. Takeshita's offense is consistently some of the best I've ever seen, but against smaller opponents it is breath taking. He makes it look so effortless that you don't even need to suspend disbelief, like if the opponent didn't co-operate he'd still throw them about just as easily. Rocky was fantastic here too, got the crowd behind him doing the classic stick and move little guy vs giant stuff, a really good underdog. 

Main event was bloody brilliant. Another slobberknocker of a Willow and Stat streetfight. I still don't ever want either of these two to turn heel or against each other. Statlander has lost a lot by her standards since Stokeley has come on baord, so I guess the idea of them dumping Stokeley and him bringing in Megan Bane or another newcomer in response is still possible. Or just put him with Mercedes. 

Julia and Skye Blue both excellent as well, with Skye standing out in particular for me. Was gutted when the announce table didn't break for the Code Blue, as it was possibly the cleanest Code Blue she has ever hit. It looked perfect. Still looked devastating and quite likely more painful onto the unbroken table though. Everything else they nailed. Skye and Julia don't feel like they're just rushing between their spots any more; they both take their time and are confident in their personas enough to let things breathe a bit. Even in this match which was wrestled at a fast pace with lots of big spots, I noticed Skye at one point stopped to revel in the "you sick fuck" chants after the tacks spot with a great devilish look on her face. Definitely wouldn't have done that six months ago. 

Best Rampage in recent memory. 

Dynamite 20/03/24

Mercedes Mone promo was not good. Got a pass on the debut but should have had something to say here. The delivery was not great but, more importantly, she did not come across as likeable at all. I suppose the Boss (sorry, CEO) character is braggadocious as hell by design, but yeah, I'd turn her heel pretty soon after the debut buzz has died down. 

Loving the presentation of Okada so far. The suit, the cold open getting out of a supercar and of course the excellent entrance he's been perfecting for years. His facial expressions are great too, looking like he loves the smell of his own farts, carrying himself like a superstar. 

The match with Eddie was good but not great. I wasn't as down on it as some, but much like the Danielson matches you know this combination can produce something much better. For Eddie's story I thought it was appropriate that Okada essentially beat him at a canter. That's a perfect Eddie Kingston setback to overcome. He's been playing at being a legendary Japanese heavyweight champion, then got his ass handed to him by a real one. Okada wasn't spectacular but, again, I think he has a great presence and feels like a star regardless. 

I thought the backstage Mone stuff was a bit better. Similar to WWE's presentation teasing Jade Cargill, I think it's always effective just to have your new superstar interact with the key players in the division. She has no problem with Statlander but she doesn't like Willow. That's fine. If she's going to be this ropey doing a ten minute promo on her own then it's fine to create directions and stories for her this way too.

Jericho going to suplex city was fun for a bit, but then he had to have the second half of the match fighting back and teasing the Walls of Jericho, escaping the Redrum and losing to a fluke roll up. The only thing I would have taken to save this stupid direction for Hook would be for him to completely squash Jericho here. Instead he just narrowly beat him, less convincingly than Action Andretti, and less memorably than Takeshita just did using his own finisher. Is narrowly beating Jericho with a flash roll up really of any value to Hook? Jericho will claim it is next time he gets on a podcast I suppose. JERICHO'S PROPOSITION FOR HOOK NEXT WEEK!?!? Yeah that's way better than Hook fighting meatheads every week for the FTW belt. Can't wait. 

If Wardlow doesn't lay out the entire Undisputed Kingdom and powerbomb Cole a dozen times next week he is such a chump. Why the fuck would he let a one legged little skinny man speak to him like that?

Osprey knocked it out of the park once again. Who knew "put Will Osprey on the mic for ten minutes" would be such a reliable segment? Wonderful stuff. Affable, confident, the people love his cheeky Essex boy quippage, hits all the key story points, rebuttals Bryan's last promo, ends on a very serious and impactful note. Killing it. Osprey vs Shibata on Dynamite, yes please. 

Women's tag was fine. Nice to see Thunder Rosa will have a direction coming out of it, she's been treading water for a bit since the return. 

All the Swerve stuff was just holding him over and reminding everyone he's here in the wake of new arrivals and returns. Swerve vs Takeshita sounds wonderful but I don't want either of them to lose it! Joe sounded phenomenal as he always does. 

Adored the main event as I knew I would. I've loved everything they've done in this trilogy of matches. Edge vs Christian being one of my favourite feuds in 2023/24 is quite astonishing. This was so much fun. Some mad spots of course, but everything was milked for all it was worth, and the ending was a testament to just how good Christian Cage is. His comeuppance was prolonged, brutal and perhaps excessive, but by god if any heel has ever done enough to deserve it, it's him. Thought he was hysterical in the closing stretch here. 

Fun episode. The main event was always goiung to be right up my street and it was almost half the show. Okada and Kingston can have a better match but I still enjoyed it and I am a fan of everything they're doing with Okada. Osprey smashed it again, everything else was fine except Mercedes' poor promo. 

1 hour ago, SuperBacon said:

*my old man yelling at clouds moment*

I fucking hate this "cook" bollocks. Yes language evolves and that's fine of course, but I can't stand all this "Nah let him cook" palaver. 

What if the wrestler is a chef and/or a cake? Can we let them cook in that scenario?