RedRooster Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 22 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said: I don't even agree with Codys 'people don't rate me bell-to-bell' stuff anyway. He had the best match of 2019 for fucks sake. My problem with him is how he can go from super likeable, full of heart babyface one week to smug heelish prick the next week. That’s true, but he’s also had very underwhelming matches (with tremendous build-up) against Spears, MJF and Lance Archer. His feuds are consistently good, but the end matches are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted June 13, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 I really liked the Spears match! The MJF match was a letdown though, they never seemed to click. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted June 13, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 13, 2020 7 minutes ago, RedRooster said: That’s true, but he’s also had very underwhelming matches (with tremendous build-up) against Spears, MJF and Lance Archer. His feuds are consistently good, but the end matches are not. MJF match was the big disappointment. They had no chemistry. The Spears match was as good as it could be. Archer wasn't far off. It's not a surprise and if anyone had bigger expectations of the latter two matches, they've never seen him before. Cody has always been decent but he's nowhere near a Cena. That's not a disgrace, not many are. But it's true. His MOTY last year was with Dustin and he's proper mint. I don't think Cosy is going to prove anything with this open challenge stuff but it might improve him. Outside the ring, he carries himself great. Inside, he's always been missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Nobody has come out of his big PPV matches stronger than they went in, really. Spears, Archer, Dustin, they just sink back beneath Cody in the pecking order when they’re done. Even MJF, who “won” the feud, has dropped down the card since. And that’s somewhat inevitable, after a feud with the top babyface you can’t go up, so you have to go down. It’s just a bit awkward. It’s still early on, so they still need to establish what their top level is, especially after the first few months of 50/50 booking. So Ambrose, Jericho, and the Elite have to be featured prominently and cement themselves as the top before they can bring anyone up. But it creates a glass ceiling where nobody can beat them, or even if they do beat them, it doesn’t change anyone’s standing. All this to say that creatively, there’s not much upward mobility for the rest of the roster. Midcard guy comes up against Cody and then bounces back down. So the feuds, stripped of meaningful outcomes, are dependent on having better PPV matches than Cody has been having. Which may happen, but if it doesn’t, letting the lower card guys look competitive on TV is the closest he’s getting to elevating anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, tiger_rick said: MJF match was the big disappointment. They had no chemistry. The Spears match was as good as it could be. Archer wasn't far off. It's not a surprise and if anyone had bigger expectations of the latter two matches, they've never seen him before. Cody has always been decent but he's nowhere near a Cena. That's not a disgrace, not many are. But it's true. His MOTY last year was with Dustin and he's proper mint. I don't think Cosy is going to prove anything with this open challenge stuff but it might improve him. Outside the ring, he carries himself great. Inside, he's always been missing something. The build up to his big matches is so good that it means you (or I, at least) generally end up anticipating his PPV match more than any other on the card which probably makes average matches feel worse than they actually are. Edited June 13, 2020 by RedRooster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 One thing I have noticed is that AEW has not been good at capitalising on peoples momentum. MJF, for instance, beat Cody and has done virtually nothing since. Cody didnt want revenge. MJF didnt want to challenge the champion etc. I know the pandemic hasnt helped but it seems like once a story has finished they kind of go 'Oh shit - what now'? Brodie Lee - title match to... trying to recruit Colt Cabana... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I think the MJF talk is a bit unfair - they clearly had designs on him and Moxley before the pandemic hit that forced him off TV for several weeks. They've not done anything big with him since either, but he definitely came out of the Cody match better than he went in, and the second they work him in he'll be golden. Spears and Archer weren't designed to come out better because, frankly, neither of them brings to the table what Cody does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 54 minutes ago, Liam O'Rourke said: I think the MJF talk is a bit unfair - they clearly had designs on him and Moxley before the pandemic hit that forced him off TV for several weeks. They've not done anything big with him since either, but he definitely came out of the Cody match better than he went in, and the second they work him in he'll be golden. Spears and Archer weren't designed to come out better because, frankly, neither of them brings to the table what Cody does. I agree with everything you say here apart from your comments about Archer. I think he has a tremendous upside, and his partnership with Roberts is just fantastic. Jake feels genuinely menacing and Archer himself feels unpredictable and dangerous. I think I’d have preferred to see him win the TNT title and smash through opponents for a while. Perhaps I’m overestimating his in ring ability, but from what I’ve seen he looks really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlewis Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Archer is good. He’s had a really good year and a bit, but he’s also old (44?) and has had severe back injuries. He’s fun but he’s only going to go so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) I like Archer and Jake a great deal, don't get me wrong. But that act is designed to be a strong heel to feed a top guy as things stand. Cody is far more valuable to the promotion than Archer, so simply put, he shouldn't lose to him right now. Cody in front of fans was a genuinely over babyface in the year 2020, and those guys shouldn't lose often. Its miles harder to recoup momentum as a failing babyface than it is as a rising heel, and if WWE booking has taught us anything in the last ten years - if you don't book your stars as stars, then they aren't stars, and people stop seeing them like one. Archer could have won, that's how well they booked it, you couldn't fail either way. But now isn't the time for Cody to be putting over everybody, and you can rebuild Archer. Cody lost the one that mattered to MJF, because they were moving MJF to the main event. They still are. They are placeholder booking with Moxley until they get the fans back, and that's when MJF moves back in the mix. Edited June 13, 2020 by Liam O'Rourke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted June 14, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2020 There are parts of AEW I don't enjoy and some of Cody's matches have been meh but they have booked him perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Really weak show this week, for me. After initially adapting well to the circumstances, they've edged towards angles and promos that really would play better in front of a larger crowd. The tag title match was basically a showcase of everything I hate about QT Marshall. He always gets his shit in at the expense of everyone else, yet has no obvious upside. Winds me up to no end that they thought this tag team was a better option than the Sonny Kiss/Dustin combo (Sonny being someone who really could benefit from working with Rhodes in the long term) I really enjoyed seeing Ricky Starks, and I thought he looked great against Cody. It was also the first time I actually thought Cody had a chance of losing the belt. Ricky still gained a lot from this, and I hope they sign him. I like the look of Abadon, and I really hope she didn't win purely to further Anna Jay's storyline. I'd like to see her again. Who'd have thought that the most entertaining storyline in AEW at any given point would be The Dark Order? It's not a huge compliment given the state of this week's show, but I'm genuinely interested in where the Colt Cabana thing is going. I suspect it'll end in a match between Brodie and Cabana, and I'm completely on board with that. Colt has been great in AEW so far, he talks and acts like a real human being rather than a wrestling character, and he's fun to watch. The Britt Baker/Swole stuff was, appropriately, a load of garbage. Both characters are great - particularly Britt - but this was a terrible angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted June 18, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 18, 2020 I've been behind on AEW having given up on the empty arena shows and then gone back to catch up after DoN was good. Finally caught up to last week. Overall, I think they've been good, easy shows to watch. I still enjoy watching "their" guys progress the most. MJF just being an obnoxious twat around ringside, Darby Allin's promo vids, Sammy G being king of the 51/49 club but generally just being awesome every time he's on camera, loads and loads of focus on Orange Cassidy, Britt is great even while hurt and Jungle Boy following up his match against MJF by shining in that cracking match with Cody. On Cody, the comparison of his title defences with Cena's open challenge run is nonsense. Cody's doing the TV Title gimmick that's been around forever. The opponents aren't a surprise, which makes sense with no crowd to pop. I've really been enjoying Hager. He's a big dumb fucker who Jericho enhances everytime he talks about him. I do enjoy how the Inner Circle seem to pretty much feud with everyone. The stuff with OC is great though. Imagine comparing them leaving him a bloody mess last week to that shit dog food angle WWE did? It's not about the props, bro, it's that a) Baron Corbin is no Chris Jericho and b) the blood and c) OC being a sympathetic character make for a much better outcome. FTR have been alright so far. I'm not the biggest fan. Did enjoy the promo where they said they're not in it to have great matches, they'd rather win in three seconds. Hopefully that dynamic comes through in matches and they don't get sucked into some of the Bucks shit traits. Bucks need to be heels, they're so unlikable. It's a pity that whole deal with Omega and Page got curtailed. I quite like the Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana thing too. I like Colt in AEW, he has matches that are different to what everyone else is doing and makes guys look good. Moxley and Cage has been good and Tazz is a decent manager. Setting up these guys who Moxley can beat is a good idea. He and whoever is beating him eventually (MJF?) need to be strong. Cage is good but he's not a guy you protect for the long term. He can eat the loss. It's not all great, nothing is. Matt Hardy is still shite. When he was just 90s Matt with Private Party the other week, he was fine. When he was doing his three barely distinguishable characters last week, it was garbage. Get rid. QT Marshall is a massive jabroni. Seems to be in there as a favour for helping them out. He brings Dustin down, there's no way Allie would be into him and the Natural Nightmares is an awful name. JR isn't working week on week for me. He's too dour. Ex and Tony always sound excited about everything. Ross brings it down. Just wheel him out for some big matches. The ring announcer said that battle royal the other week was for a TNT "title opportunity". Fucking Vinceisms are catching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 13 minutes ago, tiger_rick said: It's not all great, nothing is. Matt Hardy is still shite. When he was just 90s Matt with Private Party the other week, he was fine. When he was doing his three barely distinguishable characters last week, it was garbage. Get rid. Yeah, he's been a near continual low point on each Dynamite since joining AEW. I must admit, I do quite like the prospect of The Hardys reuniting in AEW. Hardys/Bucks and Hardys/Lucha Bros are two matches I'd love to see in AEW. Then again, I quite liked the prospect of Broken Matt in AEW, and then it actually happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted June 18, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted June 18, 2020 13 minutes ago, RedRooster said: Yeah, he's been a near continual low point on each Dynamite since joining AEW. I must admit, I do quite like the prospect of The Hardys reuniting in AEW. Hardys/Bucks and Hardys/Lucha Bros are two matches I'd love to see in AEW. Sounds good on paper but the reality is, outside the WWE environment, the Hardy's will want free reign to fuck about with nonsense like Willow and Broken Matt, and that's just their on-screen nonsense. They should be a great addition to AEW because of their name and Jeff being as good as anyone on his day. But they need to be strictly on a leash otherwise they'll just drag it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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