Other AEW shows discussion (Dark, Elevation, BTE, whatever else)

[Hannibal Scorch]

31 minutes ago, Chili said:

I think I said it in another thread but Cody from the start of AEW up until the pandemic began was just phenomenal. He was absolutely brilliant and I loved everything he did from Dustin to Jericho to MJF (except the smashing throne silliness but nevermind). I think @RedRooster saw it before we all did but he was alright after that and through most of 2020, but that QT Marshall feud was where things started to feel off in retrospect even if I didn't see that at the time. All his feuds suddenly started skipping chapters.

It was the Ogogo bit that really did it for me. That and the more Brandi got involved the less I cared. Both of them seem lovely in real life, but she was prototype Jericho.

[JLM]

Odd criticism to say that his WWE promos have all been the same since he won. There was, quite justifiably, a massive amount of good will towards WWE, Cody and his title win after Wrestlemania. After the two year long chase and finally finishing The Story, I don't know what anyone expects him to do in the first few appearances after that, other than proudly proclaim that he is the champion and bask in the crowd's adoration. 

We'll see how he does in promos trying to heat up feuds against filler challengers etc. going forward as that will be a bigger test, but surely he deserves a bit of a grace period after Mania before people start turning on him. Everyone loves the underdog until they make it eh. 

[Chili]

@JLMof course he does, but it's some wanker on Twitter so it's expected that he's already boring or something nonsense, I'm not a viewer but I know that's obviously poppycock.

[Hannibal Scorch]

48 minutes ago, JLM said:

We'll see how he does in promos trying to heat up feuds against filler challengers etc. going forward as that will be a bigger test, but surely he deserves a bit of a grace period after Mania before people start turning on him. Everyone loves the underdog until they make it eh. 

As I said in another thread, same thing happened with Hangman, the thrill was in the chase. I agree it’s too soon to write him off though, it’s only been a week and change since he won

[RedRooster]

6 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

As I said in another thread, same thing happened with Hangman, the thrill was in the chase. I agree it’s too soon to write him off though, it’s only been a week and change since he won

I don't know if I agree with that - I mean, obviously there's something to be said for the thrill of the chase, and a babyface champion isn't going to get the same reaction for retaining the title as they would for winning it. But I think Hangman's title reign came at a challenging time - it wasn't bad as such, when you look back at it. But he had to compete with CM Punk's return to wrestling; and the signings of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole. He felt secondary, because he kind of was - the focus of the audience and even Tony Khan was elsewhere, because it kind of had to be. 

For me though, it's hard to argue the fact that Hangman is the most consistent storyteller in AEW - he always has a strong, long-term story arc going on. While I don't think, on hindsight, his title reign was as much of a flop as was though at the time; he didn't really have a long enough title run to build up to the arc that he is so masterful at creating. I genuinely think he needed a longer reign. I understand the logic in putting the title on Punk; but really, has anyone - outside of Joe - had a better run with the AEW title than Hangman since he dropped the belt?

As for Cody, he's been...well...Cody since winning the belt. Exactly as you'd expect, which isn't a bad thing. But I think babyface champions need a bit of time to settle in, and for the threat of them losing the belt to actually feel real, creating that sense of consequence in their matches; making their reign more of an emotional journey. 

[air_raid]

4 hours ago, RedRooster said:

As for Cody, he's been...well...Cody since winning the belt. Exactly as you'd expect, which isn't a bad thing. But I think babyface champions need a bit of time to settle in, and for the threat of them losing the belt to actually feel real, creating that sense of consequence in their matches; making their reign more of an emotional journey. 

This is a tricky one to get right. There's no coincidence that "seemingly unbeatable odds" was the recurring theme of the two most successful WWF Champions in history - Hulk Hogan faced seemingly unbeatable odds because he was usually up against HUGE MASSIVE SCARY MONSTERS and while we all know now there was usually no chance of him losing, as kids it was what we were constantly in fear of. And Steve Austin faced seemingly unbeatable odds because the boss was constantly moving the goalposts and changing the rules to try and fuck him over, and even managed to short term, but Austin always got back up and carried on swinging.

Where you go with Cody to create insurmountable odds now he's already outfoxed The Bloodline (or got lucky, depending on your perspective) - that's the question.

Edited April 17, 2024 by air_raid
Waiting for me to start the show

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Where you go with Cody to create insurmountable odds now he's already outfoxed The Bloodline (or got lucky, depending on your perspective) - that's the question.

It'll be tricky for them. They don't have any monster heels on the roster for him to stand up to and he can't really do the every man under dog thing because he's kissed managements arses and he's very publicly the company favourite to lead the shows going forwards. I'm not really sure where there is to go with him that can maintain his current popularity. 

[Infinity Land]

It was from last year after the interactions in the Rumble, but isn't this where some people saw Gunther and the Imperium for a spell?

[gmoney]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

It'll be tricky for them. They don't have any monster heels on the roster for him to stand up to and he can't really do the every man under dog thing because he's kissed managements arses and he's very publicly the company favourite to lead the shows going forwards. I'm not really sure where there is to go with him that can maintain his current popularity. 

I'd be utterly aghast if they tried to do another authority storyline anyway, it has to be the most played out scenario in wrestling. All that matters is compelling stories really, i don't think it matters too much if you know he's keeping the title, deep down. Since this title reign has been pencilled in for a long time apparently, I'm hoping they've got some good stuff planned. 

EDIT: Why is this discussion in this thread of all places?

Edited April 17, 2024 by gmoney

[Lorne Malvo]

I might be the thickest man alive but it's only just clicked that Hey! (EW) is a play on the letters AEW. I thought it meant Hey Each Way or something, or that the EW was some in-joke I didn't understand. Absolute div.

[organizedkaos]

Oh I thought it was a play on "Hey You" and the 90s teen expression of distaste for something.

But you're absolutely right, brackets confirm it really..

[Lorne Malvo]

AEW's Timeline Youtube series has compiled the entire Ruby Soho/Cool Hand storyline (aka the most feel-good storyline of the year). That's the afternoon sorted.

 

[Chili]

1 hour ago, Lorne Malvo said:

AEW's Timeline Youtube series has compiled the entire Ruby Soho/Cool Hand storyline (aka the most feel-good storyline of the year). That's the afternoon sorted.

 

HERE WE FUCKING GO!!!!

[JLM]

 

The Queen on Hey EW. What a treat. 

Also the rather painful looking spot RJ brings up: 

Great bit of trivia that she won her first title in 1997 from Luna Vachon. Some dude on Reddit wrote up a quick history of that title: 

Emi Sakura, Luna Vachon, and a very obscure title

 

 

Long long ago in a galaxy far far way, there was a syndicated professional wrestling company called “American Wrestling Federation.” It was made up of old legends that were free agents in the mid 1990’s. For some reason, they used a rounds system as well. I don’t know why. See an episode here.

The AWF went out of business at the end of 1996. At some point they had plans to introduce a women’s title. The belt was produced. Luna Vachon was picked as the first champion. I have no idea if she was able to appear on TV as Women’s champion before the syndicated shows ran out. The AWF Women’s title isn’t listed on the AWF’s wiki or Cagematch or most other results pages. Wrestling-Titles.com does have a title history.

In 1997, Luna took the AWF Women’s title to Japan and dropped it to then IWA-Japan wrestler Emi Motokawa(aka Emi Sakura). IWA-Japan also kind of-sort of died in 1997. Technically kept going all the way up to 2014, even crossing over with Gatoh Move but really the full time promotion stopped being a thing in 1997 when all their full timers became freelancers.

Emi kept the AWF title until eventually dropping the title to Yuko Kosugi in 1999. For the next 5 years the title would be used by the Jd’ promotion. That’s the period where this set of matches comes in. In 2004, then champion Jaguar Yokota vacated the title, and it was put on ice for a few years.

In 2010, freelance wrestler and former FMW wrestler Miss Mongol won a ladder match for the AWF title. At some point she vacated the title as well. Then Emi Sakura brought it back in 2013 in Gatoh Move for the final stage of the title history. The IWA World Heavyweight Title, the AWF Women’s title, and the IWA Junior title were combined into the IWA Triple Crown. From 2013-2017, Gatoh Move used the triple crown as it’s main titles. Eventually it was deactivated in favor of Gatoh Move’s originally created Super Asia title. And with that the AWF Women’s Title ended.

[air_raid]

Bless her. Emi Sakura was indirectly responsible for me getting back into BritWres for a prolonged period in 2013-18. I was living in the Midlands in early 2013 and booked a train ticket to Preston specifically because Eve were doing an afternoon show mid-way through a PCW weekender, and Emi was defending Eve's belt against Nikki Storm, and I thought it was a good (potentially my only) chance to see Emi live. To make a weekend of it, I also bought a ticket for an AWW show at the Wulfrun Hall at the Wolverhampton Civic for the Sunday night because the ticket was only £8 and I could literally get the bus home - it had Mark Andrews (who I'd heard was decent) vs Brian Kendrick, and Kay Lee Ray vs Shanna among other matches. Emi as expected lost the belt to Storm in Preston, but what was unexpected was that KLR got injured so wasn't able to make it to AWW. Thankfully Emi stepped in, and her and Shanna had one of the most unexpectedly-superb matches I'd ever seen live. It was a big factor in me deciding there were decent shows to be seen in these parts without breaking the bank or going to WWE which at the time I thought was pretty crap, or waiting until January for another Maximum Impact tour.

Edited May 7, 2024 by air_raid
Blunt, to the point of rudeness