Forbidden Door 2025

[Hannibal Scorch]

7 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

People are allowed to find things annoying about AEW.

If someone didn't enjoy the crowd then just let them. It's okay. The world won't end 

The exact same thing happens at WWE shows over here. Which is why I mentioned wrestling and not 3 letters.

1 minute ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

Are those the only crowds?

Pretty much

[Snitsky's back acne]

44 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Where does one see a regular wrestling crowd? Most UK indies have the same vibe. Remember most of the crowd culture in the UK stems from football and rugby, especially football. Which is why the Americans love when wrestling comes to Europe because their crowds for everything are lame.

Nowadays that kind of crowd (the type I am referencing) is essentially relegated to holiday park shows in the UK, sadly.

[The Dart]

1 hour ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Nowadays that kind of crowd (the type I am referencing) is essentially relegated to holiday park shows in the UK, sadly.

I don't think that's true.   There's loads of shows around the country that aren't holiday camp shows and also aren't what Hannibal Scorch calls "most UK indies".

[Snitsky's back acne]

1 minute ago, The Dart said:

I don't think that's true.   There's loads of shows around the country that aren't holiday camp shows and also aren't what Hannibal Scorch calls "most UK indies".

Yes, that's a fair point. 

[Hannibal Scorch]

17 hours ago, The Dart said:

I don't think that's true.   There's loads of shows around the country that aren't holiday camp shows and also aren't what Hannibal Scorch calls "most UK indies".

 

17 hours ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Yes, that's a fair point. 

Are these the shows where you can scream cunt into a wrestlers face?

[Snitsky's back acne]

3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

 

Are these the shows where you can scream cunt into a wrestlers face?

Nah, that's more RISE Underground territory.

[Lorne Malvo]

Just rewatching this show on Triller and I've noticed that while most wrestlers have their Twitter handle in their nameplate entrance graphic thingy, Hangman Page has his Bluesky account. Just another reason to love the Champion of the Fucking World.

[Lorne Malvo]

Rewatched this last night and I feel I was overly harsh on the show before, after having to endure the wankers I was sat beside - it was a much better show on TV than it was in the arena.. A lot of the stuff that was confusing or overbooked live made much more sense with the benefit of commentary - MJF/Hangman in particular.

The Ricochet/Hurt Syndicate stuff was still horribly rushed and badly timed and the botched finish was a massive shame.

Athena/Storm was better than I remembered although Billie was really bad at ringside - she's regressed a lot as an overall performer since she turned heel a while back. She's still very young obviously though, so she'll get it back on track I'm sure.

Okada/Swerve was letdown of the night for me. Okada's 'I'm only getting out of second gear if I need to' style works great in an epic main-event style match, but in a 15-minute middle of the show match like this it didn't work.

I think the dodgy finishes hampered the momentum of the show. The TBS and IWGP title matches both ending out of nowhere with flash pins back to back seemed like a booking/agenting issue that could've been easily avoided.

Oh, and Danielson was excellent on commentary. The perfect combination of knowledge, legitimacy and infectious enthusiasm. His cheerleading of Hangman got me well on board for a match I already knew the finish of. 

Still not a patch on their recent efforts by any means, but overall a strong show that was much more enjoyable watching on the sofa rather than covered in beer listening to some wanker explain the Chris Charlton situation for 45 minutes. 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

One little thing my wife noticed (ooooer) was that she commented 'has Claudio ever bled in one of these matches? I've never seen him bleed in a match'.

 

I racked my brains and couldn't think of one where he's ended up looking like he's wearing face paint! 

[LaGoosh]

I definitely remember him bleeding in a ROH match years and years ago (he had hair) but never in recent years.

[Ulf ist Gut]

Not sure if it counts as it wasn't intentional but there was that tag match in WWE where he overshot the turnbuckle on a slingshot and mashed his two front teeth up into his gum. I still cringe thinking about that.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

To be fair the wife has only been watching AEW for about 3yrs and me since shortly after it started and certainly in all the big usual 'Blood and Guts' and Cage matches, I've no recollection of him bleeding. Even more surprising when you see all the others gushing like mad and he just looks pristine all the time 

[BomberPat]

if anything, I would say that not bleeding adds to his current vibe as an Ivan Drago-like killing machine. To come out of a big bloodbath of a match still looking flawless is terrifying.

[LaGoosh]

The only problem is with Claudio is that if he could cut a good promo or step his game up another level I would definitely be ok with him getting a main event push out of this Deathriders story but unfortunately as ever with him he has a ceiling. But as far as ceilings go "upper midcarder aligned with the top heel" is a pretty good one.

[BomberPat]

I think this is the best spot Claudio has ever found himself in; you could maybe get a challenger of the month story out of him, but it would be a TV main event, not a PPV, and that's fine. He's a utility player, in a role that's credible enough that a win over him can mean something, so he can be a short-term threat to someone higher up the pecking order, but also able to elevate someone beneath him, and that's pretty much always been the best spot for him.

My worry is what you do with him post-Death Riders; I can envision the break-up of that group for Moxley, with the others ultimately seeing through him and either explicitly turning on him or just walking out on him after the loss to Darby Allin, and then Eddie Kingston returning to either feud with him or talk some sense into him, ideally both, to get Mox eventually back babyface and teaming with Eddie. I don't really know what you do with the others - Yuta has gone too far from whipping boy who could channel it into a sympathetic babyface turn into a fully committed little shithouse that I think he's basically stuck in this role forever, so maybe the end-game is just keeping him and Claudio together. Though if I'm going full fantasy booking, make Yuta the Kylo Ren to Moxley's Darth Vader; a little creep who hero worships this monster, and thinks he's being really cool in emulating him, but is actually just an unpleasant little worm.