Matt_Black

I personally like Mutants & Masterminds 3e (and I've made a crap ton of characters the past few months). Certainly, I'd argue that it has the most support, both official, 3rd party, and fan material.

Yeah, AEW in general has gotten predictable with their booking, and it's become very apparent in the tournament. One of the things that really distinguished AEW from WWE in that first year is that there would be legitimate surprises. Like, when they announced Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin for their second show. "Let's see- the executive Vice President, or the indy guy I've never heard of? I wonder who's going to win that...?" And then, Darby wound up taking Cody to a draw, and fans were all "Whaaaaa...?" They still pull out some shocking upsets from time to time, like when FTR lost the tag team championships, but those moments are few and far between now.

Oh, for the love of Pete....! Heaven forbid we have a clean finish during a main event in Montreal!

I'm not as enamored of the "Timeless" gimmick as others, but that TCM intro for Toni Storm was brilliant.

I'd say they should just have Danhausen randomly show up thinking he's a part of the group, but they're already doing something like that in WWE with R-Truth and Judgment Day. They really should have someone turn the mind games around on them, in the way that Bugs Bunny will say, "Of course you know, this means war..." Like, the House Of Black is making their entrance, with the spooky music... Cue record scratch, and suddenly their regular entrance theme is replaced by the Benny Hill Theme.

Eh, I hope not. A) AEW has a horrendous track record with women's teams and stables, even by the low standards of how they've booked the division, and B) the House Of Black just isn't terribly interesting. They want to be heels and do all the cool heel stuff but without suffering any sort of meaningful comeuppance. It's like if the Blackpool Combat Club shopped at Hot Topic.

I noticed that for all of the talk about "standby matches" we STILL only got one women's match. On the other hand, we got Abadon! On TV! And it's not October! Even if the end does mean they plan to feed them to Julia Hart.

And they already have Juice Robinson!

Jay White is good at promos... for a guy who's primarily wrestled in a promotion not generally known for promos. MJF was much better, in my opinion.

Jack Perry as the Devil would be a mistake. He's just not interesting enough right now as a heel or a face. Jay White is pretty good on the mic, and he was regularly getting smoked by MJF. Having Jack Perry trying to exchange promos with MJF would be like putting the Carolina Panthers against the Philadelphia Eagles (GO EAGLES!).

Taker's best match as the American Badass, in my opinion, was the ladder match with Jeff Hardy, though that was more for the story, character work, and announcing than the actual match quality. "C'mon kid! Make yourself famous! Climb, you crazy bastard! CLIMB!!!"

Too be fair, that was during a year when AEW was constantly teasing face turns and then failing to deliver. See also- Scorpio Sky, Jamie Hayter, MJF...

Let's be honest- Will Ospreay is not as big a name as some fans like to think he is. He might be known to AEW fans, but a lot of the casual fans who watch WWE probably have less an idea of who he is.

It's really like something Vince would do. Like, when they announce a mystery partner, and then it turns out it's someone we see on the show every week, and they're not big enough a star to really justify the suspense. "Who will Becky Lynch tag with against Damage CTRL? Could it be- oh. It's Natalya. That's fine, I guess."

Remember, these are the same people who were all set to make Marty Scurll the face of the company, so there was vileness all over.

Dalton Castle also has a great physique. He looks like a big, strong dude, but in a rugged sort of way, as opposed to the sculpted, possibly on the juice, way. And we have an announcement for a major signing showing up at the PPV (these NEVER backfire). Let the speculation commence. The only really big name that who's available that would be worth the hype is Mone/ Banks. I did read somewhere last night that Ospreay was a possibility, which I think would be a let down. "Surprise! All that hype was for a guy you've already seen on AEW TV multiple times already!" Ospreay is also not nearly as big a star as some smart marks would have you believe.

Willow Nightingale won 2 tournaments in 2023, one of which had her going over arguably the most popular woman wrestler in the world. A SMART booker would capitalize on that. AEW has instead decided to feed her to CVS Brand Alexa Bliss. TWICE.

... Wasn't Danhausen supposed to come back?

Wasn't involved in the pinfall.

Worth watching? I thought Sami Zayn was taking on the Cousin Oliver of the Judgment Day?

Earlier in the year, Sami Zayn main evented Elimination Chamber (not coincidentally, the highest viewed Elimination Chamber event ever) and Wrestlemania. Now, Sami Zayn is doing the pre-show for Crown Jewel.

Someone suggested that if you look at the first appearance of "The Devil" when this angle started, the build is rather small and slender, perhaps a woman. And Britt Baker has a vested interest in the MJF/ Cole bromance succeeding or failing, and we haven't seen her in some time...

So was Adam Cole!

Book that squirrel in a match against the platypus!

The women's title match last night was a mess. Ruby pulls off the turnbuckle to distract the referee so she can grab the spray paint can to distract the referee while she grabs the title belt, which is a distraction for a rake of the eyes?!? Dick Dastardly didn't cheat as much in an episode of Wacky Races!