d-d-d-dAz Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Sort of somewhere between the people on here, I reckon. I enjoyed Blood and Guts, but there was some glaring issues. 1 is that Ibushi did look rubbish. Rolling through a pile driver on thumbtacks just to wobble about and fall over blowing a spot his biggest crime. The gimmick shoe was rubbish. The thumbtacks on the top of the cage dropped down was very contrived and doesn’t make any sense when you think about for a second. Plus, if you’re going up to the top you can’t both climb down. Forks and Glass not making anyone bleed was weird. Besides those big glaring red lights, I thought it was a pretty good scrap. The stomp through the table being the highlight. When they kept things simple it was great, which is often the flaw with these things - trying to do too much. I thought Takeshita looked great. Would be up for seeing more of him. Adam Cole/MJF is daft as a brush, but they still have me by the end of their matches. Enjoyed the opener, Perry is a better heel when he’s not cutting a promo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) 20 minutes ago, Infinity Land said: Why he's the 5th man. Post-match antics.  Reveal hidden contents   This I hate.  It's not quite Teddy Hart doing solo moonsaults off the cage, but it's close in terms of shitty, kayfabe breaking self-aggrandisement.  We know it's scripted, but bumping yourself into tacks after the match is dumb. But then again, after such a disappointing debut I can understand he was desperate.  THIS is the Golden Star, the sexy Japanese embodiment of pro wrestling, the most hyped wrestling debut in the history of this forum?  He was a bit rubbish wasn't he.  Blowing spots, looking a bit lost generally. To be fair I assume this isn't his sort of match, and it's not my sort of match either, not being a hardcore fan.  That said, if there's a good story being told dramatically then I can enjoy them.  But for all but the last couple of minutes there was no story besides "we're all mad, us".  Everyone was as fresh 45 minutes in as when they entered, there was almost no progression.  It was, dare I say it, quite boring in places.  "Fight forever" chanted the crowd, and it felt like it.  The direction didn't help - they'd do all the set up for a big spot during an ad break, so you'd come back from ads and two guys would be on the top of the case 30s before a big spot, spoiling any sense of setup or anticipation. So yeah... not my type of wrestling, but also not a great example of it, and a disappointing debut.  Takeshita > Ibushi.  Edited July 20, 2023 by Loki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted July 20, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 20, 2023 This was the best way to ease him back in too. A sloppy brawl where he never had to do any flippy floppy moves or go too fast, and he still couldn’t hack it. People on Reddit said he should have came back for a straight tag with Kenny but that would have been way worse for him with the high expectations of an AEW tag match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 It’s @Supremo I feel sorry for.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 This was the first time I saw Ibushi, and clearly this match wasn't the best showcase for what he can do. I don't particularly like Blood and Guts or Wargames-type matches in general, though - so I was already heading into the bout feeling a little sour on it. The format kills the drama somewhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Ibushi was all over the place. Sorry but when you are that level you get treated to a high standard and his missing strikes by feet than  inches makes his opponent look bad when they have to sell them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted July 20, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 20, 2023 He didn't even fire any fireworks at anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Ibushi hasn’t wrestled in like 2 years and when I saw him do an interview in Japan a few weeks back he looked in the worst shape I’ve ever seen him in so I wasn’t expecting him to look good here at all, wasn’t a fan of this match either, felt like it was booked by someone who runs a backyard fed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 (edited) He's still far from 100%, from the moment he came out he looked off physically and like he wasn't really that interested in being there, the "Murder Ibushi" stuff at the start looked half hearted. I don't like contemplating on people's mental health but it's known that he's had trouble in the past couple of years, I just wish for the best for the lad, he comes across as the nicest guy in wrestling during the interviews I've read. Edited July 20, 2023 by Merzbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted July 20, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 20, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gmoney Posted July 20, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 20, 2023  I knew he would be a bit rusty, but I was hoping for a bit of this sort of stupidity/creativity from him (and fireworks). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 To be fair he looked pretty solid at Bloodsport during Mania weekend, a short shoot style match with Mike Bailey but it was almost a different person here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said: Enjoyed the opener, Perry is a better heel when he’s not cutting a promo. He could do with a manager - I actually think Don Callis would be a perfect fit, although I'm not sure they'll take that approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted July 20, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 20, 2023 I think sometimes AEW gets it a bit too harsh because when it's good it's so good, but when it misses the mark it feels like a huge let down. This was by far the worst Blood and Guts match they've done, but you look back at War Games and you can count the good ones on one hand. This wasn't offensively crap, but you look at the hype and the talent in the ring(s) and what we got was overbooked, sloppy and mismanaged. The bed of nails was the worst offender for me, it should have been the very last spot if you do something so grotesque but we saw it before we saw tables and thumbtacks, and it was used multiple times. Using it more than once really hammers home the fact it's fake too. You can suspend your disbelief once but when you're seeing multiple bumps onto it you're like oh yeah it's fake nails or they wouldn't be doing it so much. It's like they all wanted to get their shit in and nobody stopped to think if it made sense, or was too much, or even good to begin with. That being said, Takeshita looked the dog's bollocks, as did Hangman. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 I'm really split over the main event. I have no issue with death match wrestling. I enjoy it and have been to several death match shows. It just felt.... excessive and unnecessary. I suppose it's an unfair comparison but I think back to War Games 92 and how intense it was and just feel like this was 'shock for the sake of shock'. It felt cheap and made me think 'where can they possibly go from here?'. I dunno. I struggle to put thing into words sometimes but I really hated this and felt embarrassed for everyone involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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