Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 I watched this! Well, most of it. My one AEW event for the year because I'm off work and thought I might as well. Ricky Starks vs Chris Jericho - about as close to reasonable as I'd expect from a Chris Jericho match these days. He just needs to retire, he looks like absolute shit and I thought he was going to blow every spot. Good to see Starks doing well, I liked him for the month I was watching NWA. Decent match. Jungle Boy vs Christian Cage - well this was pretty great. Christian coming out in his sleeveless turtleneck like a proper arsehole heel but then regretting it after 5 minutes because he was obviously boiling. Enjoyed this a lot, didn't overdo anything. Jungle Boy just has no charisma or personality at all though, I can't see him going far, but he did a great job here. Trios match - to my huge surprise I.... didn't hate this. It's the only tolerable match I've ever seen with the Young Bucks in it and I wonder if it's because they mostly took a backseat to Kenny Omega. I've never formulated an opinion on Omega because I really haven't seen a huge amount of him and, to be honest, I didn't see here what causes him to get so much hatred from certain circles. His stuff looked good and he actually sold. I don't know why he's arseing around in a trios division, especially as he was world champion for so long. I don't know, I only read the results. I still didn't enjoy the complete overdose of kicks and knee strikes but the House of Black looked great and worked well together and their entrance is excellent and Julia Hart looks the business. I can see the fuss with this one but that's because everyone else loves the Young Bucks (even though one of them is doing the 'wear a bandana because I'm bald' thing) and I wish them nothing but harm. But it was much better than I expected! Jamie Hayter vs Ruby Soho vs Saraya - really good match, this. This was the best I've ever seen Ruby Soho look in a match. I know she's been getting bad reviews since going to AEW but she was excellent here and she has a great look. I can take or leave Saraya and always have done and Hayter was pretty good as well. Good pace to this one, the stuff after the match was reasonably well played, too. Hangman Adam Page vs Jon Moxley - your standard stupid ECW gore-fest. Fine if you like that sort of thing but I don't and never really have. Contrast this to the Jungle Boy vs Christian match, which was violent without concocting utterly idiotic spots and being purposely disgusting and there's no comparison, really. I quite like Page but he looked a fucking berk trying to wrap barbed wire round his boot and round his body for that moonsault. And I hate Moxley more every time I see him. Nobody will ever convince me, ever, that he's not absolutely fucking shit. Complete bollocks. Wardlow vs Samoa Joe - this was a disappointment but it's obvious that Samoa Joe doesn't have it anymore. It's all caught up with him and he was done about 3 minutes into this match. Wardlow looked ok but I'd have to see him again against someone who hasn't got one foot in retirement. Normally the sort of match I love but it didn't get going. Tag team four way - an absolute blast. I always love tag team clusterfucks like this and everything worked well and I enjoyed everyone in it. It was daft without overdoing anything and everyone looked good. Including Jeff Jarrett, who still looks amazing and still absolutely has it. Shame he's working with a sex pest but it's not the first time he has. The Gunns couldn't look more like their dad if they tried. Superb finish, cracking match, although I was disappointed to see FTR come out as I was hoping they'd go back to WWE. Ahh well. MJF vs Brian Danielson - I watched about 20 minutes of this and turned it off because no wrestling match, ever, has needed to be an hour long. Aside from Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle on Smackdown, I've never liked them and there was nothing wrong with this match but I just couldn't take any more of it. I might go back and rewatch the rest later because I really like Danielson and MJF when he's not doing his awful mic shit and tryhard heel bollocks. Dumping a drink on a kid, having a fucking word you twat. Fine from what I saw but my ADHD was having no more of it. Probably about the best AEW event I've watched out of the admittedly few I've gone with. You can go back to arguing about women now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 As obvious as it sounds @Devon Malcolmi’d say the first 25 minutes or so of the main event we’re the dullest, in my opinion, it kicked up a gear then, but it’s still an Ironman match with 40 minutes left to go and don’t begrudge someone not sitting through it, even though it’s probably my favourite one of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 35 minutes ago, Supremo said: Jim Ross on this show cut a tragic figure. They didn’t even let him call any of the main events. He was brought out and then sent packing as quickly as possible, like when your Nan is wheeled out of a family party early before everyone properly gets on it. It can’t be long until Jim’s (rightly) phased out for good. It was halfway through a match when I said, "oh, JR's not there any more". He'd probably been gone for one or two matches already at that point. Just quietly shuffled off. There's a point where he just started shouting "THE TORQUE!" after Excalibur and Taz had been discussing the finer technical points of a move and used that word a couple of times, and I realised that I've heard him do that a few times, when he clearly gets annoyed at what the announcers are talking about and just shouts the word over them. When he's not actively undermining a match, he's undermining or being petulant about his colleagues, he's just actively detrimental to the show at this point - whether it's shouting "PRONOUN BOY" in the middle of a heated brawl, or openly making fun of Excalibur and Taz for having the audacity to try and actually explain the finer points of why a move works. The sooner he's out of the booth permanently the better - there's still a role for him as an occasional guest commentator or doing sit-down interviews and pieces to camera, but it's clear that even AEW have started to see him as a liability now. He'll have been in wrestling fifty years next year, and I think his contract runs out in late 2024, so I imagine we're stuck with him in some capacity until then, but I don't see any benefit to renewing his deal after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Don't forget: jezebel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 58 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: You can go back to arguing about women now. Happy International Women's Day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 8, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 27 minutes ago, Infinity Land said: Don't forget: jezebel Not gonna lie, I always love when he calls someone a jezebel. 1 hour ago, Devon Malcolm said: but it's obvious that Samoa Joe doesn't have it anymore. It's all caught up with him Not true at all. He's had a lot of really bloody good matches over the past few months where he's been incredibly impressive, including in the past few weeks. Think he just had a slightly off night here (or he's injured again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: The sooner he's out of the booth permanently the better - there's still a role for him as an occasional guest commentator or doing sit-down interviews and pieces to camera, but it's clear that even AEW have started to see him as a liability now. I’m not even sure he’s needed for that, given that they have Renee Paquette. For me, she does the sit-down interview much better; and lacks the air of bitterness and resentment that JR appears to hold. 31 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: Not true at all. He's had a lot of really bloody good matches over the past few months where he's been incredibly impressive, including in the past few weeks. His matches with Darby were sensational. I definitely think that he still has a lot to contribute. Edited March 8, 2023 by RedRooster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 40 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: Not gonna lie, I always love when he calls someone a jezebel. Not true at all. He's had a lot of really bloody good matches over the past few months where he's been incredibly impressive, including in the past few weeks. Think he just had a slightly off night here (or he's injured again). Fair enough, I only have this one match sample size to go on. When JR said that I assumed it was a deliberate throwback on his part, or at least I hope it was. I thought he was good during the Christian match but clearly hated every moment of the trios match. You can't have someone out there who clearly isn't going to put over your product, he needs to be fucked off. Schiavone was far better. Taz was really good too, he's been good on commentary for ages and Excalibur was good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 Book a Dynamite in Oklahoma, call it Night of Appreciation for Jim Ross, book some matches he might not despise, get Bob Stoops or Brian Bosworth or someone else Sooner related to come out and present him a plaque/belt, insert some talking heads about how great he was, don't make him kiss anybody's arse, then buh-bye JR. Soon, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JLM Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) I had a bit of a visceral negative reaction to the Bucks at first when I started following AEW, but the Elite’s trios matches are so beautifully put together. They absolutely do tell a story and they are not mindless spotfests. A high spot filled sprint with twists and turns can still have a compelling narrative to it and they always construct them with so much creativity. They capture the spirit of what I loved about Dragon Gate when I was watching them full time. The match elevated Brodie massively and was captivating throughout. It’s a shame some people can’t see past the Indy spot monkey stigma, they’ve definitely made a fan out of me. Edited March 8, 2023 by JLM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chris B Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 At the end of whichever his last match was (the Trios match, I think?), JR said 'well, thanks for having me for this part of the event' or something as a goodbye. I honestly think he's trying to be more loose and join in the banter a bit more, rather than trying to shit over the product. If you look at how easily Excalibur and Taz interact, and how easily Schiavone joins in (being gently bullied by Taz), I think he's trying to do the same. When it sounds like he's mocking Excalibur for his encylopedic knowledge, or like he's making a big deal of being corrected over something, I think he's genuinely doing it in good faith and trying to be a bit self-deprecating - he's just shit at it. Overall, I really enjoyed that show. Totally get the point around things in death matches like 'well, I hit him with the brick and that worked well... I'll now not bother trying that again', but i still found it enjoyable. I'm not sold on MJF, but he put in a shift and worked well with Danielson. I did find the Iron Man match dragged though. The best thing about the show was the feeling of a changing of the guard, though. It reminded me of Fully Loaded 2000, but going the opposite way - all the newer/home-grown talent went over, and it felt exciting as a result. Particularly, for me, I liked the Jericho/Starks ending more than I expected - Starks blocks the finisher, then hits his own MDK move rather than his fast finisher - felt like a proper putting-over, and I just wish the feud had started a few weeks later than it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 Got round to watching the Iron Man match last night and while I’m still not sold on 60 minute matches, the bit where MJF took a DQ to get two falls off the same move was brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted March 8, 2023 Share Posted March 8, 2023 Taz, Excalibur and Tony are brilliant together, especially when they just decide to piss about during breaks on Dynamite like it's an episode of pandemic era Dark. To be honest I was dreading the iron man match but once it finally got going I was completely engrossed in the drama. If Danielson is going to lose then those are the kind of matches he should be losing. Wardlow is done as a future top prospect imo but I'm not sure if I would pull the trigger on Hobbs just yet, feels like TS has booked himself into a bit of a corner with this one. Can respect that the Texas Death Match wasn't everyone's cup of tea but I love a bit of indie violence. The brick stuff was shit though. Give Jeff Jarrett the All Atlantic Championship ASAP (and sack off Jay Lethal) and give him the Honky Tonk Man reign that I desperately crave. Toni Storm gets a lot of shit but I would have much preferred her to be in the Woman's title match over Saraya. Personally I think she's been one of the divisions more dependable performers in recent months and I say that as someone who at one point couldn't even sit through a Storm match without skipping to the finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 8, 2023 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, The King Of Swing said: Wardlow is done as a future top prospect imo but I'm not sure if I would pull the trigger on Hobbs just yet, feels like TS has booked himself into a bit of a corner with this one. Turn Wardlow heel, put him and Hobbs together as WAR POWER - unstoppable badasses and you're next tag champs. Should freshen them both up. That's what I'd do anyway. Edited March 8, 2023 by LaGoosh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ReturnOfTheMack Posted March 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted March 8, 2023 10 minutes ago, LaGoosh said: Turn Wardlow heel, put him and Hobbs together as WAR POWER - unstoppable badasses and you're next tag champs. Should freshen them both up. That's what I'd do anyway. Better than PoWar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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