Paid Members Carbomb Posted April 1, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 1, 2021 The fuck?! Anthony Ogogo is a professional wrestler now?! When did this happen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Just now, Carbomb said: The fuck?! Anthony Ogogo is a professional wrestler now?! When did this happen? Not a clue, but he's been training with Cody's school and popping up on AEW Dark being a really funny straight man to Taz and Excalibur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Showtime Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Awesome show from top to bottom. Haven't smiled so much in ages at the ending and like most of you, I wasn't that interested in many of the acts involved. I also think it helps that these streetfight-type matches feel a little more "real" sometimes compared to the over-produced and safe WWE style - as in, the props being used on Dynamite look a bit dodgy with sharp edges etc., and folk getting thrown into them could get more than a splinter or two. And then I thought Statlander looked like a maniac and could easily have believed that she re-injured herself within seconds of her return! This stuff keeps you on the edge of your seat. Well me, anyway. Same with the Pinnacle beatdown - it felt like one of the FTR lads was in a real accident to me, and they just went with it. It being off-camera (unless I missed something) made it feel more genuine, even though at the same time the whole segment had clearly been edited in advance. Every segment had something going on, right down to Red Velvet getting a beating. Even the match I cared least about (the women's tag) was fun and Tay Conti is just getting better and better. It feels far too obvious, but I'm gonna go with Moxley getting written off next week thanks to the Bucks. It'll be about time they made up their bloody minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyGraham Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 9 minutes ago, Carbomb said: The fuck?! Anthony Ogogo is a professional wrestler now?! When did this happen? They made a moderate fuss of his signing in the early/pre Dynamite days, but haven't done a whole heap since. There's been footage flying round of him doing angles at UK shows for what feels like years and Jericho has said on more than one occasion that he was the initial option presented to him for Hager's role in Inner Circle. I'm actually quite excited for Nightmare Family Hollywood, if only because I've always rated Aaron Solow as a decent dickhead since his cameo run with Starks in Progress. Don't get me wrong, he's eating all the pins but I'm happy to see him there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted April 1, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 1, 2021 In all the best possible ways this show reminded me of the best Attitude Era Raws where it's non-stop start to finish and it felt like everyone got a chance to shine. There's loose factions left and right all interacting with each other and while there is heel and face dynamics there's also the likes of Inner Circle who sit firmly in the middle. Big returns, big matches, all the right people went over. Just the best sort of must-see wrestling. There have been Dynamites with hotter angles and higher quality matches for sure, but this was a constant start to finish of people all going forward and not trading wins or stagnating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted April 1, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Carbomb said: The fuck?! Anthony Ogogo is a professional wrestler now?! When did this happen? He had been training with London School of Lucha Libre for a year or two before signing with AEW, and had done some angles on their shows, and a match with WAW. He had been built up for a big debut match for London Lucha, but had to be pulled for reasons I can't remember - quite possibly related to his AEW deal. By all accounts he's an absolute natural, and super committed to training, so I'm keen to see what he's capable of now that he's had even more training under his belt and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Chili said: I love you views on a lot of the topics in AEW but the QT is proper 'when will they get to the fireworks factory'. Thanks, man. I enjoy reading your views too - I just strongly disagree with them in this case 😉 (...not sure this needed clarifying) 1 hour ago, Chili said: QT turning heel elevates Lee Johnson, Aaron Solow, Nick Comorato, Anthony Ogogo (who they can really do something with given him), it gives Cody lighter work because he has a kid and his shoulder needs a rest. It gives Dustin Rhodes another shot at some good matches given his Dark Order 7 seven side story got shitcanned. Dustin and Nick Comorato smashing into each other should be great. Also Marshall Law is a nifty little name too. If he's player/manager and the other three get the spotlight, I'm cool with that. It puts them in a more prominent position, but I'm not sure it elevates them given that the focal point is QT Marshall. They could have turned on Cody with no QT involvement whatsoever, in an almost Nexus style way, immediately making new talent relevant. The other problem is, it's hard to have any emotional involvement in this whatsoever. QT is QT, and who even knew that the other wrestlers were part of The Nightmare Family? And if this builds up to a PPV match between Cody and QT? That's a shameful waste of time and resources. 1 hour ago, Chili said: It also finally fucking explains the Nighmare Family (which we were all like 'what are you?') a bit more. Not a trio, stable or gang, it's a training dojo. I really don't think it's nepotism or some form as the angle to me looks like it's going to elevate nearly half a dozen new acts that can go off in various matches. Hating QT isn't contrarian, I think your opinion of him is, but it's a disagreement on a wrestling forum. Have they actually said that on air, or firmly established it? They may have, but I personally missed it. Oh it absolutely is nepotism. Like Shawn Spears and Brandi Rhodes before him, there's no way in hell QT Marshall, at his level of talent, would be getting this opportunity without an in-built relationship with Cody. The "best friend turns on Cody" has been done twice before - Shawn Spears and MJF - and those feuds were far better than this has any hope of being. 1 hour ago, Chili said: Women's division is grand at the moment for AEW and what they have too. Britt Baker in a gang. Nope, always want her as the solo act with the flunky. I also think the character of Britt Baker is incapable of a stable due to being in the show, a really toxic personality. Love that she's gone, Yeah you won, didn't count though. That'll piss off Thunder Rosa, and good, shes the biz. The women's division is in a good place - so they should be making more time for it, and for Baker in particular. Although stables are being done to death in AEW, I'd be completely in favour of their top female heel being part of a strong group. I'm not even sure WWE has had a strong stable of women before - obviously we've had women wrestler stables, but as far as I can think they've always been treated as lower level. Britt, Jade Cargill, Reba and someone else (Penelope Ford, maybe?) could work quite well I reckon, and put her in an advantageous position while wrestling someone more physically dominant, like Nyla (who would make a tremendous face) when she's champion. 1 hour ago, Chili said: Hangman ranked No#1 by the way. That wasn't addressed was it? I certainly didn't know that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 (edited) @RedRooster I think the women's division rightly and no so rightly took a lot of flack last year. Good to see it's getting more, well a division isn't it. Still think Shida is fine as the ace, unfortunately when they were early in setting that up all her challenges either got stuffed by the pando or got injured or took time off for stuff (Nyla). Now though, phew, Statlander, Riho, Serena Deeb (proper Bret Hart vibes off her) and the third tier Dark/Elevation female crew have helped it all prop back up. Which is good, because around the end of the year it got to the point of internet weirdo's timing how long the the women got, Women's wrestling stanning can get proper off-piste. Jade Cargill is a top promo for her level set I'd say. Full of her own shit and with a shit eating grin, pre-tapes for now boys till she's ready. They've also really sold me on Red Velvet, she's basically the little train that could. She won't against Cargill, but done right Jade Cargill could eventually be Velvet's white whale if they wanted to invest in her finally overcoming the giant. Tay Conti though. Brilliant look and style. The nicest eyes in the world, looks like a model, but can judo throw Nyla Rose like a piece of piss. She's like something from Tekken or whatevs. If we're going for a women's stable too, I'd probably have what we have now with Vickie and Nyla, but adding Jade and the La Sicaria (sic) team (think this all got held off as Big Swole got pretty sick for a bit). Britt and Jade is an off mix as they are two lead 'head girl' attitude types. They're a feud eventually, like Jade can sly Britt and then you can have the two heels but 'Britt is OUR bastard' semi face feud with her. I see more in that as eventual crossing than anything established. More Abadon wrestling like a zombie too, I love that. Wrestling as your character I love. Edited April 1, 2021 by Chili Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 During the QT Marshal faction angle, did Excalibur try to claim that that the steel steps weigh 500lbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chili Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 1 minute ago, WyattSheepMask said: During the QT Marshal faction angle, did Excalibur try to claim that that the steel steps weigh 500lbs? He was multi-tasking reading Hogan's twitter timeline I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 Upwards of 500lbs. Or something like that. Paying for The Pixies is easily one of AEW's greatest moves imo. Made the closing moments feel so much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I spent the first half of that Christian match thinking it was a bit slow and dull, and the second half enthralled as I was convinced he was going to lose. He might be boring now for no real reason, but he can fucking work. The story of that match was flawless, the feeling out process, the build, the ‘maybe he hasn’t got it anymore’ section where he’s taking Kazaraian’s best stuff and the finale where he pulls it out. That’s one of the most technically brilliant and logically sound TV matches I’ve seen this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 The next big return I'm looking forward to is JR's barely hidden disgust over Statlander's gimmick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted April 2, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted April 2, 2021 Man, that main event. About halfway through, I had a massive grin on my face that just didn't let up. WWE didn't often go with outright feel-good moments like that, so this kind of thing feels really fresh. The returns were great, the payoff was lovely, and who doesn't love Sue? And, on top of that, Miro looks like an absolute monster - standing toe-to-toe with three guys, and it feels like they're the ones that got lucky. I don't entirely get the criticisms for AEW's storytelling. I get that they may not always land stuff effectively, but it feels like they tend to right themselves if they stumble along the way - since the wedding, it's been pretty strong. Miro's feeling far hotter than he did when he started off, and week-to-week, the feud has continued to build. Same with the Thunder Rosa/Britt Baker stuff, which has been logical most of the way through. It might partly be that WWE tend (or certainly tended) to really heat stuff up before a blow-off in a feud, whereas AEW will tend not to - they'll dot angles in leading up to it, but this wasn't going in mega-hot. Orange/Chuck challenged in a promo one week, Miro/Kip accepted the following week, then they had the match. WWE probably would have done some big angle in those two weeks. Mind you, on the other hand, I hate to think what WWE would do with a Sue. Chuck or Miro definitely would have slept with her by now, or it'd be hinted that Trent did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted April 2, 2021 Share Posted April 2, 2021 Just came across this on reddit. Ivsliesse might be on thin ice. I vaguely remember some mention problems with Ivelisse before but no idea what they were. Could be bollocks of course. https://amp.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/mik3ak/won_the_ivelisse_situation/ Ivelisse hasn’t been used of late. A fan asked her about it and she said that if only she could speak. She was on a per event deal and not a full-time contract. She had been teaming with Diamante but Diamante has been working as a single of late. The story was there was an issue with her and “a few” coaches and she’s not being booked right now, but it’s not like she’s been let go either at this point. I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts