Wrestling The Wrasslin' Thread of LetsGoKings
- Thread starter Dexter
- Start date
ucsdguy1
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Had some time to collect thoughts on the ppv
Ospreay/Takeshita - god I really do want them to wrestle forever. This was probably my favorite match of this and last year. So many insane spots, so much nonstop action. Both guys are ridiculous in what they can do with their bodies and the energy they bring. My dad who doesn't watch wrestling at all even gave a standing ovation in our den
Sting/Darby/Bucks - so I was mixed on this match. The glass, and tables, and ladders - what did any of that really have to do with Sting or his last match? Darby is obviously insane and even though I'm sure was sugar glass that spot was crazy. Felt like it could've been more Sting-centric with his moves. But dude wanted to go out with a bang and he did with a table spot, glass spot, and of course the patented jump back up and get psyched spot. I thought the Darby stuff and the all the furniture took a bit away from teh focus on him. But damn Sting, you are a legend. Stupid wcw-esque cut off of his speaking at the end of the ppv, but it's available online. I give the Bucks a lot of credit too, they took it and didn't everything they could to make Sting look insane.
Joe/Swerve/Hangman - so I think they went overboard on Hangman and Swerve hating each other so much they'd do anything to make sure the other didn't win. They alluded to Hangman possibly tapping out to ensure it ended before Swerve could make a save. That seems kind of weak. So hangman went heel and heels beat up refs. While Joe retaining this early in his reign makes sense, Swerve needs to be a champion soon. He's too good and crowds are going bananas for him. His choice not to use nana's crown hurt him, but probably furthered his face run. This match was super fun overall. I'm still amazed what Joe can do with his size.
Danielson/Kingston - solid, tough, tough match. Both guys gave it all, and Kingston gave a heartful performance. Liked the Bryan tease but then shaking hands after the match. Kingston did amazing selling the right hand and not using it until necessary. Also great storytelling in Kingston's resiliency frustrating Danielson.
FTR/Moxley & Claudio - another chaotic but really fun match. Tons of near falls that had the crowd eating it up. You'd think FTR would get the win in their home state but they still put on a triumphant performance. Moxley and Claudio coming out with the legion of doom spikes was awesome.
8 man scramble - I mean I think everyone saw Wardlow winning. This was just to get some big guys some big spots. It was fun, but nothing earth shattering.
Cassidy/Strong - as soon as Cassidy told the best friends to stay in the back I figured he'd lose. But losing clean? That was surprising. More good storytelling with Strong continually focusing on Cassidy's back. Really good match. Strong and Wardlow probably had to win to give any sort of momentum to the Undisputed Kingdom. O'Reilly with long hair was a surprise. But hey I like the look. At least I guess that gives something for them to base a story on with Strong/O'Reilly, and then whether Wardlow will actually give his title shot to Cole. (Cole missing from the ppv by the way, he couldn't celebrate with them?)
Cage/Garcia - didn't pay much attention as it was pretty obvious how this one would go. Cage is such a great heel.
Storm/Purazzo - also seemed pretty obvious how this one would go. Mariah May coming out as old Toni Storm was funny. I think the crowd was out of breath and needed a break at this point as they were pretty quiet during this match. Not amazing, but not bad. Storm goes on. Will Mone be the one to dethrone her?
Miss the pre-show so can't comment but sucks that Jay White is relegated there. And no Okada debut but still feel it may be coming.
Very solid ppv, but perhaps a match or two could've been shaved.
Ospreay/Takeshita - god I really do want them to wrestle forever. This was probably my favorite match of this and last year. So many insane spots, so much nonstop action. Both guys are ridiculous in what they can do with their bodies and the energy they bring. My dad who doesn't watch wrestling at all even gave a standing ovation in our den
Sting/Darby/Bucks - so I was mixed on this match. The glass, and tables, and ladders - what did any of that really have to do with Sting or his last match? Darby is obviously insane and even though I'm sure was sugar glass that spot was crazy. Felt like it could've been more Sting-centric with his moves. But dude wanted to go out with a bang and he did with a table spot, glass spot, and of course the patented jump back up and get psyched spot. I thought the Darby stuff and the all the furniture took a bit away from teh focus on him. But damn Sting, you are a legend. Stupid wcw-esque cut off of his speaking at the end of the ppv, but it's available online. I give the Bucks a lot of credit too, they took it and didn't everything they could to make Sting look insane.
Joe/Swerve/Hangman - so I think they went overboard on Hangman and Swerve hating each other so much they'd do anything to make sure the other didn't win. They alluded to Hangman possibly tapping out to ensure it ended before Swerve could make a save. That seems kind of weak. So hangman went heel and heels beat up refs. While Joe retaining this early in his reign makes sense, Swerve needs to be a champion soon. He's too good and crowds are going bananas for him. His choice not to use nana's crown hurt him, but probably furthered his face run. This match was super fun overall. I'm still amazed what Joe can do with his size.
Danielson/Kingston - solid, tough, tough match. Both guys gave it all, and Kingston gave a heartful performance. Liked the Bryan tease but then shaking hands after the match. Kingston did amazing selling the right hand and not using it until necessary. Also great storytelling in Kingston's resiliency frustrating Danielson.
FTR/Moxley & Claudio - another chaotic but really fun match. Tons of near falls that had the crowd eating it up. You'd think FTR would get the win in their home state but they still put on a triumphant performance. Moxley and Claudio coming out with the legion of doom spikes was awesome.
8 man scramble - I mean I think everyone saw Wardlow winning. This was just to get some big guys some big spots. It was fun, but nothing earth shattering.
Cassidy/Strong - as soon as Cassidy told the best friends to stay in the back I figured he'd lose. But losing clean? That was surprising. More good storytelling with Strong continually focusing on Cassidy's back. Really good match. Strong and Wardlow probably had to win to give any sort of momentum to the Undisputed Kingdom. O'Reilly with long hair was a surprise. But hey I like the look. At least I guess that gives something for them to base a story on with Strong/O'Reilly, and then whether Wardlow will actually give his title shot to Cole. (Cole missing from the ppv by the way, he couldn't celebrate with them?)
Cage/Garcia - didn't pay much attention as it was pretty obvious how this one would go. Cage is such a great heel.
Storm/Purazzo - also seemed pretty obvious how this one would go. Mariah May coming out as old Toni Storm was funny. I think the crowd was out of breath and needed a break at this point as they were pretty quiet during this match. Not amazing, but not bad. Storm goes on. Will Mone be the one to dethrone her?
Miss the pre-show so can't comment but sucks that Jay White is relegated there. And no Okada debut but still feel it may be coming.
Very solid ppv, but perhaps a match or two could've been shaved.
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I really enjoyed the PPV. I ordered it at... 4:45 PM on Sunday. I saw my order history on Bleacher Report and it looks like I ordered Revolution basically every year.
The Ospreay/Takeshita match was outstanding. I really liked the crowd chanting "Ospreay! Ospreay!" during the entrance. The story telling and back and forth with these dudes were nuts. I swear it feels like they worked a stiff match as well.
I think the weakest match of the night unfortunately was Timeless Toni Storm vs Deonna Purazzo. They started slow and something about the finish with Mariah May interfering felt very similar to they way Christian beat Daniel Garcia when Nick Wayne helped. If Excalibur didn't say that old school Toni Storm was Mariah May during the entrance, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. The way Mariah walked out with the swagger was perfect.
Samoa Joe vs Hangman Page vs Swerve Strickland was great. I liked the story told where Hangman hated Swerve so much he'll do ANYTHING to stop him from winning the title. It was funny how he didn't just break up the pinfall attempts like a normal person, he straight up assaulted the refs as well. Kind of like a "**** you for almost giving Swerve the win!" And I think he tapped out on purpose too, just so Swerve couldn't break up the submission hold.
Lastly, the Sting/Darby vs Young Bucks match was fun. They had that whole bit early on where Sting's sons got to get in some shots. Funny though, because that's technically cheating with it being 4 vs 2. The huge Darby glass spot was nuts. That guy is nuts. My only complaint about that spot was that Nicholas was nowhere near in danger of going through the glass. He just pretended he was wobbly until Matthew pulled him out of the way. But even then, Darby made sure to overshoot his jump a bit for as "safe" a landing as you could get.
Either way though, huge props. I disagree a little about it taking away the spotlight from Sting. There's no way I'd want Sting to do that. And like you mentioned, he had some spots of his own so that was fine for what it was. Overall, great show. A shame they fumbled the speech part by having the PPV cut off at Midnight Eastern. That's so WCW like.
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As for Dynamite last night. Okada!!!!!
The EVP Young Bucks were copying Tony Khan's announcement thing which was funny. And when they were about to make their 2nd announcement, Eddie Kingston interrupted. I didn't even put two and two together. Eddie threw money at the Young Bucks which was a hint for the Rainmaker. I'm glad to see heel Okada. I'm going to assume he doesn't speak English very well either right? So having the Young Bucks speak for him will work out perfectly. Plus they called out Kenny Omega... =o I wonder what his health status is.
The Ospreay/Fletcher match was insane as well. Really well done. Then that tease with Danielson vs Ospreay. Yes please!
And also, love the new set again. Back to the tunnels and back to the colorful version of Dynamite.
The Ospreay/Takeshita match was outstanding. I really liked the crowd chanting "Ospreay! Ospreay!" during the entrance. The story telling and back and forth with these dudes were nuts. I swear it feels like they worked a stiff match as well.
I think the weakest match of the night unfortunately was Timeless Toni Storm vs Deonna Purazzo. They started slow and something about the finish with Mariah May interfering felt very similar to they way Christian beat Daniel Garcia when Nick Wayne helped. If Excalibur didn't say that old school Toni Storm was Mariah May during the entrance, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. The way Mariah walked out with the swagger was perfect.
Samoa Joe vs Hangman Page vs Swerve Strickland was great. I liked the story told where Hangman hated Swerve so much he'll do ANYTHING to stop him from winning the title. It was funny how he didn't just break up the pinfall attempts like a normal person, he straight up assaulted the refs as well. Kind of like a "**** you for almost giving Swerve the win!" And I think he tapped out on purpose too, just so Swerve couldn't break up the submission hold.
Lastly, the Sting/Darby vs Young Bucks match was fun. They had that whole bit early on where Sting's sons got to get in some shots. Funny though, because that's technically cheating with it being 4 vs 2. The huge Darby glass spot was nuts. That guy is nuts. My only complaint about that spot was that Nicholas was nowhere near in danger of going through the glass. He just pretended he was wobbly until Matthew pulled him out of the way. But even then, Darby made sure to overshoot his jump a bit for as "safe" a landing as you could get.
Either way though, huge props. I disagree a little about it taking away the spotlight from Sting. There's no way I'd want Sting to do that. And like you mentioned, he had some spots of his own so that was fine for what it was. Overall, great show. A shame they fumbled the speech part by having the PPV cut off at Midnight Eastern. That's so WCW like.
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As for Dynamite last night. Okada!!!!!
The EVP Young Bucks were copying Tony Khan's announcement thing which was funny. And when they were about to make their 2nd announcement, Eddie Kingston interrupted. I didn't even put two and two together. Eddie threw money at the Young Bucks which was a hint for the Rainmaker. I'm glad to see heel Okada. I'm going to assume he doesn't speak English very well either right? So having the Young Bucks speak for him will work out perfectly. Plus they called out Kenny Omega... =o I wonder what his health status is.
The Ospreay/Fletcher match was insane as well. Really well done. Then that tease with Danielson vs Ospreay. Yes please!
And also, love the new set again. Back to the tunnels and back to the colorful version of Dynamite.
Watched some of Wrestlemania 40 over the weekend. There were good and bad parts about it. So read my thoughts and complaints if you're so inclined! I would like to hear what you guys have to say also.
I wanted to say overall real quick that most of the entrances the wrestlers got were great, outside of some wrestlers with really bad entrance music. Anyone can spot the difference in "big time feel" when it's WWE vs AEW in terms of entrances, presentation, and video packages overall. But what I *really* dislike about WWE is all the god damn commercials on the PPV. There's a 5-10 minute commercial break between every match now. It just absolutely kills the flow of the show for me. And while the entrances are great, they all last as long as The Undertaker now too.. which adds another 10 minutes before the match even starts.
Then now with the digital ads, the forced advertisements suck. From Wingstop to Snickers to Dude Wipes.. holy moly. The Prime logo didn't bother me too much (because AEW has the dumb Draft Kings ads on the corners) but is nothing sacred anymore??
Saturday
Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch - I want to start off by saying I am not a fan of all that eye shadow makeup thingy they keep using, especially for PPVs. I don't get it, it looks terrible on them. The match itself was pretty darn good. Props to both women since Becky had Strep Throat and Rhea apparently had a panic attack right before the match and still performed. Becky didn't need the title so the win by Rhea is fine.
Tag Team Ladder Match - I thought this was the best match of the night. I had no idea what the rules were and they didn't really explain it?? Unless they did, but I was stuck with the stupid commercials on Peacock. Either way, I'm glad they finally split the titles again. What in the bloody hell happened to DIY and their music? It's SO bad. And they're suppose to be DX now? I don't care about Theory/Waller winning but they won't be Tag Champs for long anyway on Smackdown. For the RAW side, it's nice for R-Truth to win the tag title again and hell, The Miz got another title to add to his accolade.
Rey/Andrade vs Santos/Dominik - Didn't watch this match. Had it on mute, had no interest in it period.
Jey vs Jimmy - Oof. This match sucked. Lots of super kicks, which is also what the Young Bucks get a lot of **** for from WWE fans. I think ultimately.. the nicest way to put this is that neither of these guys are singles wrestlers and it shows. Jey is the more popular brother because of his "Yeet" nonsense. But I feel that's just what the WWE audience likes to do these days. They're there for the Yeet, Cody's "Whoa"
Jade/Bianca/Naomi vs Damage Control - Great entrance for everyone involved. The match itself.. I didn't care for it but the result was expected. Good to see Jade get the winning pinfall. It'll be interesting to see how they book her from here on out without making her look weak. There's only so many times she can squash the other talent on the roster though.
Sami Zayn vs Gunther - Good match. Story telling was confusing to me. Why the hell did Gunther care so much about Sami's wife at ringside? He should know better than that. Felt like he was distracted for most of his match while looking like a dominant heel. Sami's win was good but I still feel that he should have beaten Roman last year. This felt more like a "2nd best option" for him that he deserved nonetheless. Gunther's reign ending at 666 days is perfect for him too lol.
Rock/Reigns vs Rollins/Rhodes - I think each person had a 5-7 minute entrance.. this was absolute overkill. I already said it but I'll say it again, this is part of why I feel like WWE is unwatchable. Too much "pageantry" and not enough action. The match itself started slow but it picked up pretty nicely. Rollins sacrificed a lot just to help Cody here. The result was predictable since the babyface needs to go up against all odds anyway. That and The Rock was not going to lose in his 1st match back anyway. Cody really needs to stop running towards the ropes when going for the 3rd Cross Rhodes.
Sunday
Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins - You know how I was complaining about the long entrances and all that nonsense? The match started after 4:23 PM PST if I recall correctly. The PPV started at 4 PM man. The match itself was pretty good. I liked the pacing of it. I don't think Rollins sold his knee as much as he was suppose to from the night before. Lots and lots of kickouts and false finishes, just like AEW lol. Good on Drew to finally win one in front of fans.
Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest - You know it's a bad sign for the champ when they don't leave the ring after they win. He was so obsessed with taunting Punk. Ultimately, this works out for the best. While I don't think Priest will be a long time champ, at least he finally cashed in his contract. (Someone also pointed out that "Bisexual Undertaker" was trending when Priest won the title. I never saw Priest as that and now I can't unsee it. LOL) Also, Drew's contract is coming up soon so it should be interesting. He's advertised for Clash at the Castle though but he should also be "free" by the time All In happens at Wembley.
Lashley/Street Profits vs Karrion Kross/AOP - I had no idea AOP was back.. but why are they booked like jobbers? Nothing about them reminded me of their NXT days. The match itself was fine. It was a silly hardcore match to pop the fans. The table botch made me laugh but at least they grabbed another table.
LA Knight vs AJ Styles - What happened to AJ's music? x_x The match itself I didn't care for and don't know why they're even feuding. Cole kept mentioning it's the biggest win of LA Knight's career so that's good I guess.
Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton - Unfortunately I didn't care about this match either. Don't know why Logan Paul is still the US Champ. He's not even full time right? One thing I will say is that Logan has the look of a great heel though. He's nailed the mannerisms perfectly.
Bayley vs Iyo Sky - Man, Iyo's entrance was so damn cool. I think Damage Control dancing along with it at the entrance worked nicely. I liked the match. Good counters and overall good showing. Bayley hasn't held a title in what seems like forever so this is good for her.
Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns - There's not much to say about this match. It was a repeat of last year and last night so in a way, you're just waiting for all the interference to happen. This match was overbooked in the most ridiculously way, and oddly enough, it's fitting. Jimmy interferes, Jey attacks him. Solo interferes, Cena attacked him. (From a storyline standpoint, it worked since Solo beat Cena.) The Rock then comes out to attack Cena (THRICE IN A LIFETIME!), and Rollins came out as a member of the Shield but Roman went after Rollins, which also is a great storyline continuation. I almost half expected Moxley to make a surprise appearance for some reason.. lol
Then the Undertaker of all people showed up to chokeslam The Rock. I guess Austin didn't wanna show up?? So yeah, stupid fun and a great way to bring in the old gen with the new gen. WM is for everyone after all right? I rolled my eyes though when Cole said that professional wrestling is back. Um.. you guys were the ones that took it away, what do you mean it's back???
So yeah, in summary. It was a good way to spend the weekend. I also watched Collision after Mania so it was too much wrasslin!!!
Dynamite should be really interesting if they're airing the CM Punk stuff. Perhaps we will see how much of a liar Punk is or whatever. And this only happened because WWE spent the whole week attacking AEW because they knew all eyes were on them.
I wanted to say overall real quick that most of the entrances the wrestlers got were great, outside of some wrestlers with really bad entrance music. Anyone can spot the difference in "big time feel" when it's WWE vs AEW in terms of entrances, presentation, and video packages overall. But what I *really* dislike about WWE is all the god damn commercials on the PPV. There's a 5-10 minute commercial break between every match now. It just absolutely kills the flow of the show for me. And while the entrances are great, they all last as long as The Undertaker now too.. which adds another 10 minutes before the match even starts.
Then now with the digital ads, the forced advertisements suck. From Wingstop to Snickers to Dude Wipes.. holy moly. The Prime logo didn't bother me too much (because AEW has the dumb Draft Kings ads on the corners) but is nothing sacred anymore??
Saturday
Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch - I want to start off by saying I am not a fan of all that eye shadow makeup thingy they keep using, especially for PPVs. I don't get it, it looks terrible on them. The match itself was pretty darn good. Props to both women since Becky had Strep Throat and Rhea apparently had a panic attack right before the match and still performed. Becky didn't need the title so the win by Rhea is fine.
Tag Team Ladder Match - I thought this was the best match of the night. I had no idea what the rules were and they didn't really explain it?? Unless they did, but I was stuck with the stupid commercials on Peacock. Either way, I'm glad they finally split the titles again. What in the bloody hell happened to DIY and their music? It's SO bad. And they're suppose to be DX now? I don't care about Theory/Waller winning but they won't be Tag Champs for long anyway on Smackdown. For the RAW side, it's nice for R-Truth to win the tag title again and hell, The Miz got another title to add to his accolade.
Rey/Andrade vs Santos/Dominik - Didn't watch this match. Had it on mute, had no interest in it period.
Jey vs Jimmy - Oof. This match sucked. Lots of super kicks, which is also what the Young Bucks get a lot of **** for from WWE fans. I think ultimately.. the nicest way to put this is that neither of these guys are singles wrestlers and it shows. Jey is the more popular brother because of his "Yeet" nonsense. But I feel that's just what the WWE audience likes to do these days. They're there for the Yeet, Cody's "Whoa"
Jade/Bianca/Naomi vs Damage Control - Great entrance for everyone involved. The match itself.. I didn't care for it but the result was expected. Good to see Jade get the winning pinfall. It'll be interesting to see how they book her from here on out without making her look weak. There's only so many times she can squash the other talent on the roster though.
Sami Zayn vs Gunther - Good match. Story telling was confusing to me. Why the hell did Gunther care so much about Sami's wife at ringside? He should know better than that. Felt like he was distracted for most of his match while looking like a dominant heel. Sami's win was good but I still feel that he should have beaten Roman last year. This felt more like a "2nd best option" for him that he deserved nonetheless. Gunther's reign ending at 666 days is perfect for him too lol.
Rock/Reigns vs Rollins/Rhodes - I think each person had a 5-7 minute entrance.. this was absolute overkill. I already said it but I'll say it again, this is part of why I feel like WWE is unwatchable. Too much "pageantry" and not enough action. The match itself started slow but it picked up pretty nicely. Rollins sacrificed a lot just to help Cody here. The result was predictable since the babyface needs to go up against all odds anyway. That and The Rock was not going to lose in his 1st match back anyway. Cody really needs to stop running towards the ropes when going for the 3rd Cross Rhodes.
Sunday
Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins - You know how I was complaining about the long entrances and all that nonsense? The match started after 4:23 PM PST if I recall correctly. The PPV started at 4 PM man. The match itself was pretty good. I liked the pacing of it. I don't think Rollins sold his knee as much as he was suppose to from the night before. Lots and lots of kickouts and false finishes, just like AEW lol. Good on Drew to finally win one in front of fans.
Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest - You know it's a bad sign for the champ when they don't leave the ring after they win. He was so obsessed with taunting Punk. Ultimately, this works out for the best. While I don't think Priest will be a long time champ, at least he finally cashed in his contract. (Someone also pointed out that "Bisexual Undertaker" was trending when Priest won the title. I never saw Priest as that and now I can't unsee it. LOL) Also, Drew's contract is coming up soon so it should be interesting. He's advertised for Clash at the Castle though but he should also be "free" by the time All In happens at Wembley.
Lashley/Street Profits vs Karrion Kross/AOP - I had no idea AOP was back.. but why are they booked like jobbers? Nothing about them reminded me of their NXT days. The match itself was fine. It was a silly hardcore match to pop the fans. The table botch made me laugh but at least they grabbed another table.
LA Knight vs AJ Styles - What happened to AJ's music? x_x The match itself I didn't care for and don't know why they're even feuding. Cole kept mentioning it's the biggest win of LA Knight's career so that's good I guess.
Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton - Unfortunately I didn't care about this match either. Don't know why Logan Paul is still the US Champ. He's not even full time right? One thing I will say is that Logan has the look of a great heel though. He's nailed the mannerisms perfectly.
Bayley vs Iyo Sky - Man, Iyo's entrance was so damn cool. I think Damage Control dancing along with it at the entrance worked nicely. I liked the match. Good counters and overall good showing. Bayley hasn't held a title in what seems like forever so this is good for her.
Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns - There's not much to say about this match. It was a repeat of last year and last night so in a way, you're just waiting for all the interference to happen. This match was overbooked in the most ridiculously way, and oddly enough, it's fitting. Jimmy interferes, Jey attacks him. Solo interferes, Cena attacked him. (From a storyline standpoint, it worked since Solo beat Cena.) The Rock then comes out to attack Cena (THRICE IN A LIFETIME!), and Rollins came out as a member of the Shield but Roman went after Rollins, which also is a great storyline continuation. I almost half expected Moxley to make a surprise appearance for some reason.. lol
Then the Undertaker of all people showed up to chokeslam The Rock. I guess Austin didn't wanna show up?? So yeah, stupid fun and a great way to bring in the old gen with the new gen. WM is for everyone after all right? I rolled my eyes though when Cole said that professional wrestling is back. Um.. you guys were the ones that took it away, what do you mean it's back???
So yeah, in summary. It was a good way to spend the weekend. I also watched Collision after Mania so it was too much wrasslin!!!
Dynamite should be really interesting if they're airing the CM Punk stuff. Perhaps we will see how much of a liar Punk is or whatever. And this only happened because WWE spent the whole week attacking AEW because they knew all eyes were on them.
ucsdguy1
Top Forward
I only saw the ladder match on night 1, but loved it. R Truth is just amazing. Gargano/Ciampa put on a good old-nxt style performance. They probably should go back to NXT as they are lost on the main level.
Anytime I get to see a Dudley boy I am happy.
I actually was surprised Priest cashed in, but they played it perfectly. Now you have Punk and McYntire set for major feud, and Priest can take on whoever they want.
Why is Logan Paul still champ? Because he brings in **** tons of sponsorship dollars I'm sure. The freaking center of the ring was a Prime bottle. I could care less about that youtube star (although I've heard he promotes not the best of philosophies online). Backstage when Zayn appeared with his belt and told Owens "it's your turn", I really hoped that was a precursor to Owens winning.
Cody/Reigns was what I expected, but I enjoyed it. My kids and I popped hard when the Undertaker's bells rang. Cena waving his hand through his hair 56 times was funny. Aside from Austin, my only thought was it would've been amazing if Mick Foley came out with socko and stopped the rock that way. Loved all the guys in the ring with Cody at the end. And Seth Rollins - dude just put on a weekend show.
I love Sammy and I'm happy he won. But man it just seemed like this should've happened earlier when he was super hot with the bloodline. I still would've loved to see Gable in that position.
Happy Bayley won, but wanted hug time to come back! Match was good but I felt a bit short and/or disjointed. Happy she won though.
Do we even dare mention the crap that was AEW releasing the punk footage last night??
Anytime I get to see a Dudley boy I am happy.
I actually was surprised Priest cashed in, but they played it perfectly. Now you have Punk and McYntire set for major feud, and Priest can take on whoever they want.
Why is Logan Paul still champ? Because he brings in **** tons of sponsorship dollars I'm sure. The freaking center of the ring was a Prime bottle. I could care less about that youtube star (although I've heard he promotes not the best of philosophies online). Backstage when Zayn appeared with his belt and told Owens "it's your turn", I really hoped that was a precursor to Owens winning.
Cody/Reigns was what I expected, but I enjoyed it. My kids and I popped hard when the Undertaker's bells rang. Cena waving his hand through his hair 56 times was funny. Aside from Austin, my only thought was it would've been amazing if Mick Foley came out with socko and stopped the rock that way. Loved all the guys in the ring with Cody at the end. And Seth Rollins - dude just put on a weekend show.
I love Sammy and I'm happy he won. But man it just seemed like this should've happened earlier when he was super hot with the bloodline. I still would've loved to see Gable in that position.
Happy Bayley won, but wanted hug time to come back! Match was good but I felt a bit short and/or disjointed. Happy she won though.
Do we even dare mention the crap that was AEW releasing the punk footage last night??
Man.. I don't know why Tony Khan insisted on airing it. It just gave fuel to all the AEW haters and that is not what they need at all.
The video did show and prove that Punk really wanted to get fired and that it justified firing the dude. You can't just walk up to Jack Perry and sucker punch him and then choke him like that in the work place. The only person who came out looking really good was Samoa Joe (which is mostly why he's the AEW Champ now). I think it did prove that Punk lied because he did initially say that Perry got up in his face backstage when it's the other way around. But people don't really care at this point if he's a compulsive liar or not... lol
What the EVP's said was funny though.. that the drama at All In made it so that they couldn't "pray" before their match against FTR.
But yeah, that video overall did AEW no favors. It would have been great if they aired it WHEN Punk was fired. But not freaking 8 months later or however long it's been. Punk fans are going to be Punk fans no matter what. WWE only fans that hate on AEW will always hate on AEW. It's just how it's going to be really.
Didn't order Dynasty last night... had a family birthday dinner to attend to, but came home in time to find a stream to catch the end of the Danielson/Ospreay match, AEW Tag Team Title Ladder Match, and AEW World Title Match.
Heard the Danielson/Ospreay match was *the* best match ever. I'll need to watch it sometime this week. Danielson overselling at the end to make it seem like he had to die to lose is something he's been doing a lot lately it seems. Obviously it's a work since if it was real they'd take the camera off of it. But it's important for the fans to treat it as real.
Ladder Match was fun. I felt like it was a mixture of it being kind of slow but also had so many insane bumps. All 4 of those men put it on the line out there. The finish with Jack Perry interfering was expected. Glad to see him get a hero's welcome basically. It should be interesting to see him join The Elite. Strap the rocket to him quickly and give him the TNT or International Title.
World Title match was great. Joe has that swagger with the way he walks, talks, and how he executes certain moves. Well deserved win for Swerve. You need to give it to the hot hand. I think if Swerve lost yet again, it would really hurt his credibility and part of that made me worry about Hangman interfering, but he didn't. Hard to believe Joe's title reign was 4+ months, felt shorter to be honest. But Joe is someone that can easily win it back in the future so it's nice of him to drop the title here.
Heard the Danielson/Ospreay match was *the* best match ever. I'll need to watch it sometime this week. Danielson overselling at the end to make it seem like he had to die to lose is something he's been doing a lot lately it seems. Obviously it's a work since if it was real they'd take the camera off of it. But it's important for the fans to treat it as real.
Ladder Match was fun. I felt like it was a mixture of it being kind of slow but also had so many insane bumps. All 4 of those men put it on the line out there. The finish with Jack Perry interfering was expected. Glad to see him get a hero's welcome basically. It should be interesting to see him join The Elite. Strap the rocket to him quickly and give him the TNT or International Title.
World Title match was great. Joe has that swagger with the way he walks, talks, and how he executes certain moves. Well deserved win for Swerve. You need to give it to the hot hand. I think if Swerve lost yet again, it would really hurt his credibility and part of that made me worry about Hangman interfering, but he didn't. Hard to believe Joe's title reign was 4+ months, felt shorter to be honest. But Joe is someone that can easily win it back in the future so it's nice of him to drop the title here.
I really hope this was just a one time thing to get the ball rolling on The Elite taking over and that he won't appear regularly on TV like Vince and his whole family did.
On Collision, they said he wasn't cleared for travel and will be working "remotely". I can see The Elite calling the shots on Wednesday. Plus Kenny Omega will be there too... so he's going to get jumped lol.
ucsdguy1
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I ordered double or nothing.
Well Copeland has a broken leg so apparently that spot off the cage wasn't worth it. It looked really weird. A standing up elbow drop? Yeesh.
Ospreay once again is incredible, but Strong really performed well. Takeshita has so so much potential but needs to start winning matches.
Anarchy in the Arena - um, okay let's set jack perry on fire? I think Okada made the match for me with his facial expressions and the "here try these on" to the bucks with the thumbtack shoes. Also the crowd chanting "please help darby" after about 10 minutes of hanging upside down.
The world needs more death triangle.
Well Copeland has a broken leg so apparently that spot off the cage wasn't worth it. It looked really weird. A standing up elbow drop? Yeesh.
Ospreay once again is incredible, but Strong really performed well. Takeshita has so so much potential but needs to start winning matches.
Anarchy in the Arena - um, okay let's set jack perry on fire? I think Okada made the match for me with his facial expressions and the "here try these on" to the bucks with the thumbtack shoes. Also the crowd chanting "please help darby" after about 10 minutes of hanging upside down.
The world needs more death triangle.
ucsdguy1
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That gauntlet match last night despite my not really getting the "gauntlet" part other than lets have a battle royal but you win by pin or submission, was so much fun! I didn't know the CMLL or New Japan guys that well but they showed up!
Ospreay/Swerve is going to be ridiculous!
Ospreay/Swerve is going to be ridiculous!
Didn't have time to post my thoughts about the PPV.
I didn't order the PPV because I wasn't available for the start of the PPV. I just used a stream about half way in maybe?
Adam Copeland vs Malakai Black in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match - Match was fun. I don't know what Adam was thinking landing on his feet like that with the standing elbow drop like you said. I assumed he was going to hit him with a splash at least. I'm assuming since he tied Malaki in barbed wire to the table he didn't want to actually splash onto the barbed wire? I can't think of any other reasoning for the standing elbow drop...
Anarchy in the Arena - That match was so fun. From the beginning when the Young Bucks told production to turn off Darby's music and play theirs. Then Bryan Danielson got them to play The Final Countdown. Even during the song, Darby timed his jump off the balcony area perfectly with the music. Matthew joking about how it cost them 200k was hilarious. After the music stopped and the crowd chanted "We want music"... they missed a golden opportunity for the new "oblivious" Chris Jericho to come out and start up Judas.
The match overall was just wild as expected. Darby hanging upside down like that for a long time was discomforting to see. Jack Perry handled the flamethrower thing perfectly (and it looks like he's done it before so he knows what he's doing).
Mercedes Mone vs Willow Nightingale - This was a really good match too. I just wanted to say that Mercedes delivers when she wrestles. Willow has also improved drastically since her debut so it goes to show how well she has developed in ring. The crowd was really into it too which was a positive.
Swerve Strickland vs Christian Cage - Swerve is so damn good. That spear from Christian that was counted with a House Call was perfection. I really dig that as his finishing move. I'm not that big on the Swerve stomp because it looks dumb when the wrestler is sitting there and waiting for it to be hit.
Now for Forbidden Door we're seriously going to get Ospreay vs Swerve?? Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
ucsdguy1
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I don't see how Swerve or Ospreay should lose, so I imagine we may get a hanky panky finish. But it should be utterly awesome.
The music in anarchy in the arena was funny. And speaking of Jericho, I am laughing at this new gimmick. I mean his just inadvertently saying "hi guys!" to everyone is hilarious to me.
Who the heck has the cache to beat Mone? She can hold for awhile and then dare I say....D-M-D
And Toni Storm just gets more and more out there with every promo. I am here for it.
The music in anarchy in the arena was funny. And speaking of Jericho, I am laughing at this new gimmick. I mean his just inadvertently saying "hi guys!" to everyone is hilarious to me.
Who the heck has the cache to beat Mone? She can hold for awhile and then dare I say....D-M-D
And Toni Storm just gets more and more out there with every promo. I am here for it.
Ordered Forbidden Door at roughly 4 PM yesterday. It was my first time through the Triller TV App that I was able to watch on my new "Smart TV" that I purchased 6 months ago. Way better than Bleacher Report thankfully. The card was too good for me not to. Overall, I think I'd give the PPV a solid 8/10 but only because all the matches were just insanely predictable as far
MJF vs Hechicero - The match was alright. Surprisingly short, I think the finish felt abrupt and finished in under 11 minutes. Home town crowd loved MJF which was great. I love Hechicero's entrance so much and it's great that Tony Khan finally brought back pyro (at least for the PPV). I'm still annoyed that pyro has been gone from TV since Double or Nothing. With Adam Cole still apparently no where near ready to return, I can see the next feud for MJF againt Will Ospreay or Daniel Garcia.
The Elite vs Acclaimed & Tanahashi - Match was fun, or at least I liked it. Young Bucks doing that kiss on the cheek thing... felt like an Adam Cole tease unless I'm overthinking it. Heel Okada is great. I like Tanahashi but I feel like he's really lost a step overall. The Elite winning was no surprise.
Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi (Owen Hart Cup Match) - I don't know much about Takagi but that dude can go. Hard hitting and I'm sure Bryan was stoked to face him. Did the match need to go like 20+ minutes? No. Definitely not. Especially when no one expected Takagi to win and advance at all. It even sounded stupid when Excalibur said Takagi was basically "3 wins away from a World Title match at All In". I'm excited for Bryan Danielson vs PAC in the next round though. That should be freaking good.
AEW Women's Championship Match - Timeless Toni Storm vs Mina Shirakawa - Great match, perhaps a few minutes shorter than I expected. Mina got in a lot of offense and Toni sold it well. The biggest problem with matches like this is that you know the title won't change hands anyway. Also the story with Mariah May having to choose between Toni and Mina didn't really come into play when all 3 just kiss and made up. Nigel giving a standing ovation to the 3 way kiss was freaking hilarious though.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Orange Cassidy - Great technical matchup. ZSJ knew OC was great and I think we all know how good they both are. OC tapping out seems like a really rare thing but Zack Sabre Jr definitely needed the win, even if he's not an AEW dude.
Samoa Joe, Hook, Shibata vs Jericho, Big Bill, Jeff Cobb - As many people will call it, a p*ss break match and that's fine. Every PPV is bound to have one or two of these. I personally love Jericho and the Learning Tree stuff. "HI GUYS!" Hook winning with the Judas Effect was awesome. I think Taz wasn't expecting it because he marked out. It was hilarious when Nigel called out Taz for not being impartial and then Taz shot right back at Nigel for any match regarding Bryan Danielson.
Ladder Match for the TNT Title - Jack Perry vs Konosuke Takeshita vs Mark Briscoe vs Lio Rush vs Dante Martin vs El Phantasmo - This was a FUN match and it woke up the crowd. Mark Briscoe did a ladder spot off the apron that was almost similar to how Adam Copeland injured himself so that wasn't smart... Some people on Reddit was calling El Phantasmo a dollar store version of Logan Paul. I mean I could see that but El Phantasmo looked like that many years before Logan Paul even became a wrestler lol.
Dante kept selling the idea that he was injured when he took big bumps but I'm glad he wasn't seriously hurt. The crowd was 100% on Takeshita's side. The reaction he got every time he was close to winning.. man Tony Khan, put the belt on him already! Instead, we got the obvious result of Jack Perry winning which is fine too.
Title vs Title - TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs NJPW Strong Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer - Okay, I didn't know anything about Stephanie Vaquer but damn she can go! She was fantastic against Mercedes. Again, the result was obvious which kinda took the steam out of it. Even the crowd started chanting "**** the Celtics" for no reason because they were just kinda waiting for a finish instead of focusing more on the match.
Dr. Britt Baker made her return with an entrance interruption. So Mercedes Mone vs Britt Baker at All In? o_o That could be very fun.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship match - Jon Moxley vs Tetsuya Naito - Unfortunately this match really disappointed. Something about the match felt off. I thought Mox and Naito wrestled before, probably a good handful of times... but something about this match, there was just no chemistry. There's not much more to say really. Naito recaptured the title which is fine. Mox should focus more on AEW anyway (even if he likes going to Japan).
AEW World Championship Match - Swerve Strickland vs Will Ospreay - BEST match of the night. These two were countering each other left and right and the story telling was absolutely beautiful. If there's one match you want to catch on the card, this was it. Swerve winning is fine by me. It was way too soon for him to lose it anyway. I see Hangman vs Swerve as being the bigger match moving forward.
So yeah, overall.. the PPV was great for the actual wrestling. It was not good if you wanted any surprise results. lol
MJF vs Hechicero - The match was alright. Surprisingly short, I think the finish felt abrupt and finished in under 11 minutes. Home town crowd loved MJF which was great. I love Hechicero's entrance so much and it's great that Tony Khan finally brought back pyro (at least for the PPV). I'm still annoyed that pyro has been gone from TV since Double or Nothing. With Adam Cole still apparently no where near ready to return, I can see the next feud for MJF againt Will Ospreay or Daniel Garcia.
The Elite vs Acclaimed & Tanahashi - Match was fun, or at least I liked it. Young Bucks doing that kiss on the cheek thing... felt like an Adam Cole tease unless I'm overthinking it. Heel Okada is great. I like Tanahashi but I feel like he's really lost a step overall. The Elite winning was no surprise.
Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi (Owen Hart Cup Match) - I don't know much about Takagi but that dude can go. Hard hitting and I'm sure Bryan was stoked to face him. Did the match need to go like 20+ minutes? No. Definitely not. Especially when no one expected Takagi to win and advance at all. It even sounded stupid when Excalibur said Takagi was basically "3 wins away from a World Title match at All In". I'm excited for Bryan Danielson vs PAC in the next round though. That should be freaking good.
AEW Women's Championship Match - Timeless Toni Storm vs Mina Shirakawa - Great match, perhaps a few minutes shorter than I expected. Mina got in a lot of offense and Toni sold it well. The biggest problem with matches like this is that you know the title won't change hands anyway. Also the story with Mariah May having to choose between Toni and Mina didn't really come into play when all 3 just kiss and made up. Nigel giving a standing ovation to the 3 way kiss was freaking hilarious though.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Orange Cassidy - Great technical matchup. ZSJ knew OC was great and I think we all know how good they both are. OC tapping out seems like a really rare thing but Zack Sabre Jr definitely needed the win, even if he's not an AEW dude.
Samoa Joe, Hook, Shibata vs Jericho, Big Bill, Jeff Cobb - As many people will call it, a p*ss break match and that's fine. Every PPV is bound to have one or two of these. I personally love Jericho and the Learning Tree stuff. "HI GUYS!" Hook winning with the Judas Effect was awesome. I think Taz wasn't expecting it because he marked out. It was hilarious when Nigel called out Taz for not being impartial and then Taz shot right back at Nigel for any match regarding Bryan Danielson.
Ladder Match for the TNT Title - Jack Perry vs Konosuke Takeshita vs Mark Briscoe vs Lio Rush vs Dante Martin vs El Phantasmo - This was a FUN match and it woke up the crowd. Mark Briscoe did a ladder spot off the apron that was almost similar to how Adam Copeland injured himself so that wasn't smart... Some people on Reddit was calling El Phantasmo a dollar store version of Logan Paul. I mean I could see that but El Phantasmo looked like that many years before Logan Paul even became a wrestler lol.
Dante kept selling the idea that he was injured when he took big bumps but I'm glad he wasn't seriously hurt. The crowd was 100% on Takeshita's side. The reaction he got every time he was close to winning.. man Tony Khan, put the belt on him already! Instead, we got the obvious result of Jack Perry winning which is fine too.
Title vs Title - TBS Champion Mercedes Mone vs NJPW Strong Women's Champion Stephanie Vaquer - Okay, I didn't know anything about Stephanie Vaquer but damn she can go! She was fantastic against Mercedes. Again, the result was obvious which kinda took the steam out of it. Even the crowd started chanting "**** the Celtics" for no reason because they were just kinda waiting for a finish instead of focusing more on the match.
Dr. Britt Baker made her return with an entrance interruption. So Mercedes Mone vs Britt Baker at All In? o_o That could be very fun.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship match - Jon Moxley vs Tetsuya Naito - Unfortunately this match really disappointed. Something about the match felt off. I thought Mox and Naito wrestled before, probably a good handful of times... but something about this match, there was just no chemistry. There's not much more to say really. Naito recaptured the title which is fine. Mox should focus more on AEW anyway (even if he likes going to Japan).
AEW World Championship Match - Swerve Strickland vs Will Ospreay - BEST match of the night. These two were countering each other left and right and the story telling was absolutely beautiful. If there's one match you want to catch on the card, this was it. Swerve winning is fine by me. It was way too soon for him to lose it anyway. I see Hangman vs Swerve as being the bigger match moving forward.
So yeah, overall.. the PPV was great for the actual wrestling. It was not good if you wanted any surprise results. lol
ucsdguy1
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I ordered Forbidden Door too, mostly because I really wanted to see Ospreay/Swerve.
I agree the results were fairy predictable. And I think one of my main problems was not knowing some of the New Japan guys/gals well. I am familiar with Naito and Tanahashi, but not as much with Takagi, Shirakawa, and to an extend Zack Sabre Jr. although I know his name well.
I’ll go right to Ospreay/Swerve. So awesome. I knew Swerve had to win but it probably would be due to something. But damn man like you said the storytelling was awesome, and the kick outs were one after the next. Both guys play off each other really well. Ospreay kicked out a couple times at the end where I was like, wait are they going to actually let him win? But once Callis came out it was a done deal. I am not a huge fan of Ospreay having anything to do with Callis at the moment, just let him be him. I was a little leary of them setting up Ospreay/MJF already, mostly because neither should lose a match at this point. But if Ospreay loses again because of Callis, I suppose that works. Imagine Ospreay vs. MJF at Wembley??!
Speaking of MJF – dude is playing up the “I’m bad but am eating up the crowd” so well. I love his little dances right before he pokes a guy in the eye or flicks him off. Crowd chanting MJF, Maxwell just going “who me?”.
It is so funny my boys and I were discussing who would be the one that could dethrone Mone. I immediately said DMD if she ever comes back. And a few minutes later she comes out. Would’ve liked if she actually said something upon her return. Her coming out and leaving was kind of weird. Also I thought it might be a bit longer for Mone to rack up wins before getting her come uppance. But it was great to have Britt back.
Speaking of Money/Vaguer, is it just me or did Vaguer make that match? She was very impressive.
Moxley/Naito – I don’t know why, but I thought Naito looked really slow. The moves and reactions didn’t seem to come off seamlessly and it made the match choppy.
Ladder match – yes it was blatantly obvious that Perry was going to win. So don’t put Takeshita in the match then! Once again he puts on a show and is amazing, the crowd loves him, and he loses a match. FFS. Briscoe is insane and I like it.
Heel Okada is still amazing. My 11 year old walking up to me and going “I’m so sorrrryyyyy…….b****” is something I couldn’t stop laughing at.
Other matches were suitable for technical and hard hitting wrestling and I couldn’t complain. I did notice signs of respect from the Japanese and AEW wrestlers both male and female, which was very nice to see.
I agree the results were fairy predictable. And I think one of my main problems was not knowing some of the New Japan guys/gals well. I am familiar with Naito and Tanahashi, but not as much with Takagi, Shirakawa, and to an extend Zack Sabre Jr. although I know his name well.
I’ll go right to Ospreay/Swerve. So awesome. I knew Swerve had to win but it probably would be due to something. But damn man like you said the storytelling was awesome, and the kick outs were one after the next. Both guys play off each other really well. Ospreay kicked out a couple times at the end where I was like, wait are they going to actually let him win? But once Callis came out it was a done deal. I am not a huge fan of Ospreay having anything to do with Callis at the moment, just let him be him. I was a little leary of them setting up Ospreay/MJF already, mostly because neither should lose a match at this point. But if Ospreay loses again because of Callis, I suppose that works. Imagine Ospreay vs. MJF at Wembley??!
Speaking of MJF – dude is playing up the “I’m bad but am eating up the crowd” so well. I love his little dances right before he pokes a guy in the eye or flicks him off. Crowd chanting MJF, Maxwell just going “who me?”.
It is so funny my boys and I were discussing who would be the one that could dethrone Mone. I immediately said DMD if she ever comes back. And a few minutes later she comes out. Would’ve liked if she actually said something upon her return. Her coming out and leaving was kind of weird. Also I thought it might be a bit longer for Mone to rack up wins before getting her come uppance. But it was great to have Britt back.
Speaking of Money/Vaguer, is it just me or did Vaguer make that match? She was very impressive.
Moxley/Naito – I don’t know why, but I thought Naito looked really slow. The moves and reactions didn’t seem to come off seamlessly and it made the match choppy.
Ladder match – yes it was blatantly obvious that Perry was going to win. So don’t put Takeshita in the match then! Once again he puts on a show and is amazing, the crowd loves him, and he loses a match. FFS. Briscoe is insane and I like it.
Heel Okada is still amazing. My 11 year old walking up to me and going “I’m so sorrrryyyyy…….b****” is something I couldn’t stop laughing at.
Other matches were suitable for technical and hard hitting wrestling and I couldn’t complain. I did notice signs of respect from the Japanese and AEW wrestlers both male and female, which was very nice to see.
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