Infinity Land Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 For me this has been leading to Punk winning, then returning to the US with a Hart Foundation tribute act with FTR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Infinity Land said: For me this has been leading to Punk winning, then returning to the US with a Hart Foundation tribute act with FTR. Considering tonight’s venue and Punk’s ongoing love letter to Bret, I’m honestly surprised that they haven’t convoluted their way to a 10 Man Tag main event Edited July 15, 2023 by WyattSheepMask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetofthedeed Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Ricky's getting color and passing out in the anaconda vice isn't he.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 1 hour ago, David said: I think Starks has to win it, right? Surely? It is all confusing at the moment though, you're right. If Punk continues as this actual babyface that's going against much of the crowd reaction then I have no idea where they go next with him. The idea of him being a bullshitter and saying all the fan favourite stuff but being a sneaky prick would work. If anyone turns heel, I think it might be Starks. The interference in the match with Hobbs clearly benefited him, in a way that seemed so blatant I’m wondering if it was by design rather than it being poor booking. I don’t particularly want to see this, but I’m starting to wonder if we’re going to see Starks become part of the QTV stable, replacing Hobbs. They could just play it as money having exchanged hands or something. While Punk as a heel would be more exciting, Starks probably would benefit from a heel turn at this stage, being pushed as a top heel on Collision. Keep him the hell away from QTV and all that, but having him turn could work out well for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Collision has been quite deliberate in its booking approach so far. I can't see Punk losing because of that. The belt in the bag and basically being the real world champion until someone beats him. Playing up the importance of finally beating Samoa Joe. He then loses 6 weeks before the biggest show in AEW history with another PPV the following week. Doesn't match up with what's gone before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 I'm just going on the fact that he seems like he isn't really interacting with anyone who isn't in the small group of wrestlers who are on Collision. How would they build a feud with him and Max? Eventually? Move Max to Collision? This whole brand split is starting to annoy me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinity Land Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Just now, David said: I'm just going on the fact that he seems like he isn't really interacting with anyone who isn't in the small group of wrestlers who are on Collision. How would they build a feud with him and Max? Eventually? Move Max to Collision? This whole brand split is starting to annoy me. There is no brand split. There's just some people that don't want to work both shows for different reasons. MJF has already wrestled and appeared on Collision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Just now, Infinity Land said: There is no brand split. There's just some people that don't want to work both shows for different reasons. MJF has already wrestled and appeared on Collision. Yeah, but that was a one-off, wasn't it? Is he going to appear on Dynamite during a feud with CM Punk when the guy he's feuding with isn't allowed to compete on that show? This situation with CM Punk being almost exclusively on Collision is eventually going to run out of road I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of Swing Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 2 hours ago, WyattSheepMask said: Considering tonight’s venue and Punk’s ongoing love letter to Bret, I’m honestly surprised that they haven’t convoluted their way to a 10 Man Tag main event Lets be thankful the show isn't in Montreal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted July 16, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2023 (edited) This was the Ian Riccaboni show. Fantastic performance all night long. Kevin Kelly should do the decent thing and never come back. Tremendous opener. Exactly what FTR and this show needed. A proper banger to remind people they and Collision are actually worth watching. Finish was a bit weird, I’ve no idea why they didn’t just have both guys tap when they were in the Double Sharpshooter, but whatever. A minor gripe with what was a masterpiece. Juice fucking Ronbison, man. Turnaround of the century! More convinced than ever that the list of banned moves that did the rounds this week was a Dax Harwood meta work to further sell Collision as being the Naughty Kids Show. The very first show after that leaks and lads are taking hats from the crowd, bumping on the apron, bumping on the concrete, brawling in the crowd, taking blind bumps backwards into the corner, shots to the back of the head, even spitting made a return! Either the whole thing is bullshit or some poor agents had a shocker getting all this approved tonight! The heat wasn’t there because nothing was going to be able to follow the opener, but Willow Nightingale winning is always the right call. Love her so much. One of the best babyfaces in the business today. There's something special there if they figure out how to truly tap into it. Riccaboni rapping over her entrance needs to become a regular thing. Watching CM Punk just felt sad. Clunky, awkward match, where he didn’t look like he could keep up and they seemed to lose their flow at least once or twice, and then a finish that reeked of trying to give him something to do with the limited talent willing to work with him. Turning Starks heel isn’t the worst idea in the world, he’s been treading water ever since he fell down the Jericho Vortex, but this didn’t feel like it was done for narrative reasons at all. Empty calorie storytelling, where you can see the wires and figure out the politics behind it, rather than being swept up in it. The whole thing felt extra silly later in the night when Martha was describing the winners as valiant warriors too, seemingly oblivious to the heel tactics Ricky employed. Did she even watch the match? Or is she as bored of 2023 CM Punk as the rest of us? Edited July 16, 2023 by Supremo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d-d-d-dAz Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 You know, based on the silly logic of CM Punk’s title in a bag, Ricky Starks is now the lineal AEW Heavyweight Champion of the World. Good for him. I agree the match was a little clunky, but I’ll withhold judgment on who’s to blame as last week CM Punk had a an absolute billy banger of a match, and Starks/Hobbs had an absolute clunk fest. I would say, however, that I think Punk was never the most athletic, and is now older and has had a lot of time off over the years. I think he’s better sticking to the attritional scraps (last week was great, the dog collar match was an all timer) than trying to hang with the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 No one needs 40 mins plus of FTR bald trying to be the star of a match. Collision continues to be a really hard watch for me, there is just a lack of likeable characters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Xtreme_lives Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 I really enjoyed tonight's show, kinda feel a bit sorry for Liger though, being flown over for 20 seconds. I wonder if Tony's working with him on something else   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted July 16, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted July 16, 2023 Turns out Nigel McGuinness is a perfectly fine commentator, you just have to get him the fuck away from the Kevin Kelly Bot. Ian Ricabonni is fantastic and a perfect fit. He just feels right. Kelly is awful and has old WWF stink all over him. Obviously incredible tag match, Jay White and Cash Wheeler both shining particularly bright. Over the moon for Willow and pleased she got the win here. Shame it was against Ruby Soho, who is awful. She wrestles the generic WWE style to a tee - empty, time wasting until the finish, no subtlety, over the top emoting. Bin her off, Tony! Andrade bringing in Rush and another tough nut to fight House of Black intrigues me but I hope they hurry up and get to it already. Found the main event pretty boring. 2023 Punk is not really interesting to me at all. He will inevitably turn heel and it'll be exactly the same as his other heel runs. I can predict all the promos already. I like Starks but I'm not convinced he's got what it takes to be a top guy. There's nothing wrong with someone's ceiling being a good midcarder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 Reaching out to those he's had beef with, willing to work the other shows, now doing the job on free TV. What a great guy Phillip is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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