Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 A mixed bag of an episode with a strong opening and ending but somewhat rough middle, I'd say. - opening segment was great. Felt very refreshing and exciting. Obviously not all these guys are natural promos but there was a real energy to this which has been missing for awhile. MJF is often bad on his own but when he has people out there with him to feed off he's much better and was tremendous here. He has a knack for making other people look like legitimate title contenders. Darby telling MJF he looked like shit was hilarious. - 6 man wasn't bad but felt very long. Would have really welcomed it being cut in half. Set up the story for later very well. The indies mustn't have gone too well for Stu Grayson if he's re-signed. - production of the shows the past few weeks has felt off the past few weeks. Random moments of dead air and minor mistakes all over the place. - I haven't seen Taya since Lucha Underground days. She was really good back then so hopefully she still is! Though looks like she's had about 5 facejobs since then. She looked almost as hench as Jade which adds a fun dynamic. Although she committed the cardinal sin of singing along to her own entrance music, everyone looks like a fucking berk when they do that. - The Acclaimed's rap was weak. Don't think the fans really want to see them rapping about how much they love their fans. - OC/Jarrett sadly felt like it never really hit it's stride. Slightly disappointing. - QTV is a pretty decent gimmick sadly wasted on QT Marshall. Feel like Ethan Page and Private Party would absolutely smash something like this. - While Athena and Willow are doing God's work on ROH that no one's watching (and having one of the best matches of the year so far) the main shows are lumbered with The Outcasts. Just absolutely terrible shite. Saraya in particular is getting worse by the week. - pretty cracking main event. Felt like they all got a bit lost in the final 5 minutes but with 9 guys out there it's forgivable. Loved the Omega and Jericho moments threaded throughout. And again, it was very refreshing to just have top stars out there interacting in a main event slot which AEW often doesn't do for some reason. A perfect chaotic closing angle with overlapping stories (the best thing in wrestling) and a goose bump inducing ending that finished far too quickly. Lovely stuff. With a rebooked stronger middle this would have been an all timer episode. Luckily the beginning and end was perfect.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted March 17, 2023 Awards Moderator Share Posted March 17, 2023 9 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said: I’ve never seen Nicole Matthews before. I know Pat mentioned her a few posts ago and apparently she’s just returned or something, but according to some people “she deserves better”. Does she? Or is this just another case of “my favourites arn’t being used right” I’ve never seen her before either, but I thought she did a fantastic job of making Jade Cargill look like a superhuman. Which is what she was there to do, and she did it better than a lot of Jade’s previous opponents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 AEW's first proper house show tomorrow. The funny corners of the internet have decided to flip the narrative. After years of all that talent on their fat guaranteed contracts either sat at home or on youtube. It is now a case of poor them because they aren't getting paid for house shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TobyK Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Echoing most people here; that opening segment actually got me off my seat excited! Even if Sammy, Derby and Jungle ain’t the strongest on the mic, it was a feel good moment to see them up there..not trying too hard, but getting some basics across well! They pulled it off, which is a step forward. Get this going and once MJF has finished with them he can go on to destroying Adam Cole on the mic & in the ring.  As much as I’ve disliked the womens stuff recently, I’m going to admit that the outcasts storyline could actually have feet and I’m interested now. The “let me tell you a story” line was a massive eyeroll moment and I’m not a fan of any of the outcasts, but to see some renewed interaction between Britt and Riho/originals was fun! Let’s see how this develops. Jade is looking spectacular, just keep going. Is she ready for a big match with Hayter yet? I’d hope so at some point this year. Main event was just what we want and need..the right guys there. We’re getting on track and I hope we stick with the concept of having the elite in & around the main storylines, along with MJF.  The rest of the show was fairly forgettable, but the standout moments made it worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 Look at these lads. Bloody tremendous. Proper silly but also great gimmick, love it. Please no more spooky videos, just look cool as fuck and smash fools. Two specific things I love about them. 1) it feels like a big moment every time Malakai tags in and faces off one on one with another top star. 2) Brody being booked like an absolute monster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 Thought the MJF Re-Bar Mitzvah was a great refresh for all four of them. MJF is finally in a feud where he doesn't need to be an edgelord (though he probably will be at some point) and it gives the other pillars a chance to step up. So far only Darby has shown he can hang in that main event level so it'll be good to see Sammy and Jack in the mix too. I thought OC vs Jarrett was brilliant and don't agree it never got going. I'm so glad Orange Cassidy has stayed over and seems to have found that sweet spot of comedy and wrestling. His selling is brilliant and you can always rely on a good match with him. Glad to see Stu is back. Hopefully it gives the Dark Order more focus because the fact they were never tag champs is a crime. Probably the least consistently booked act in the company as the period between Brodie dying and Hangman finally joining them was as good as this company has ever done but then Stu and Preston leave, -1 just stops showing up, Anna Jay leaves and you're left with scraps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 10 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said: I’ve never seen Nicole Matthews before. I know Pat mentioned her a few posts ago and apparently she’s just returned or something, but according to some people “she deserves better”. Does she? Or is this just another case of “my favourites arn’t being used right” Her indie career speaks for itself. Mainstream wise, she was part of the 2nd Mae Young Classic. So was getting looks at a bigger stage. Unfortunately not long after she was caught working on the wrong visa. Which led to her being banned from entering the US back in 2018. That derailed any chance of being picked up in the NXT/AEW hiring spree. Or even Impact's rebuild under Anthem. Chances are she would have found a spot somewhere. That's not to say she would have become a singles superstar, but certainly better off than an indie darling. The "what could have been" perhaps colours people's opinions. Certainly isn't surprising when you see someone working a match in under a minute that they can do more than that.     Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 Forgot to mention Wheeler Yuta being an absolutely wonderful little dickhead throughout the six man. I think he's going to turn into a really fun to watch annoying nasty little shit. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Sammy using shoot terms in his promo really annoyed me. He could have easily have said "lackey" or "sidekick" instead of "job guy". And also Sammy is actually best utilised as a lackey to a bigger star - he's really good at that! Being a singles star in his own right...he's not so good at that. Rey Fenix being booked against Hobbs for Rampage made me realise that I would actually really like a Rey Fenix TNT title run. He's a big star waiting to happen and needs a singles run. On the subject of masked guys with tons of potential...where's Bandido? Also FTR making their big return and then not even being mentioned this week was really weird, but also sadly typical of AEW's booking style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Nick James Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 1 hour ago, LaGoosh said: Look at these lads. Bloody tremendous. Proper silly but also great gimmick, love it. Please no more spooky videos, just look cool as fuck and smash fools. Two specific things I love about them. 1) it feels like a big moment every time Malakai tags in and faces off one on one with another top star. 2) Brody being booked like an absolute monster. As much as I love Buddy Matthews, he really does stand out as the odd one out in that group, especially in that picture. He looks like the cool kid whos decided to hang around with the spooky crew and borrowed his sisters eye makeup. I was never a huge fan of Brody, but he's really turned me around, I mean, just look at him in that picture. Imagine running into him in the street at night, you'd shit your kecks and leg it in the other direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 The very least he could do would be to change his name from BUDDY to something that sounds tough and spooky. He definitely feels like he's been shoehorned in but it somehow just about works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 7 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: Forgot to mention Wheeler Yuta being an absolutely wonderful little dickhead throughout the six man. I think he's going to turn into a really fun to watch annoying nasty little shit. I mentioned this in the ROH thread last week. Yuta is going to develop into a tremendous nasty bastard annoying heel. He's almost as punchable as Sammy too. I thought this was a mostly great episode that improved upon alot of the shit on last week's show. The QTV segment was something different and gave me TNA 2010 vibes which isn't a bad thing. The Fatal Four-Pillars Way is going to be incredible. Although the fact Orange Cassidy isn't considered a pillar is a crime, regardless of how old he is compared to the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 14 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: Also FTR making their big return and then not even being mentioned this week was really weird, but also sadly typical of AEW's booking style. They were mentioned in Darby's promo about wrestlers crying about leaving all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 11 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said: I’ve never seen Nicole Matthews before. I know Pat mentioned her a few posts ago and apparently she’s just returned or something, but according to some people “she deserves better”. Does she? Or is this just another case of “my favourites arn’t being used right” Nicole's always been at her best as a mouthy shithouse heel in over her head, so getting trounced in short order isn't exactly out of character for her. If it's her only appearance in AEW, then it's disappointing that's all it was, but if she's going to be a regular, that's something to build from. She's a good wrestler, but a better character/performer, so she's not somebody that needs a ten minute TV showcase to do all her moves, and it's not what that segment was about. 14 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: The very least he could do would be to change his name from BUDDY to something that sounds tough and spooky. He definitely feels like he's been shoehorned in but it somehow just about works. It's something pretty egregious about AEW since the beginning - Buddy is in that group because there was an assumption of knowledge that him and Malakai Black are friends in real life, but only the hardest of the hardcore know that. It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things why he's there, if he were to fit the bill, and stylistically he just doesn't really. I know AEW are generally reluctant to change wrestlers' names without good reason, because allowing them to use the same name that they used on the indies, and keep their IP and whatnot, is part of AEW's selling points over WWE, but when one of the spooky goth club is called BUDDY, you'd think that's where someone should step in and ask him to consider changing it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 17, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 17, 2023 I remember listening to Brody King on a podcast and he was talking about how when they all go together to discuss look/presentation ideas for the House of Black that he and Malakai were on the exact same wavelength but Buddy kept coming up with wacky and terrible ideas that they had to keep shooting down because he just didn't get what they were going for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 According to her Twitter, Saraya has been legitimately fined for saying “twats”, using the middle finger without informing the segment agent, and body shaming members of the audience. According to those in the know, it’s a legit fine too. How is that any different to what MJF for example has done in the past? Can’t see much consistency here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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