The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[milamber]

Last Week: #2 / 1.22 million / 0.44 demo

This Week: #2 / 1.104 million / 0.37 demo

 

 

Q1 - 1,192,000 viewers and 485,000 demo - Adam Page vs. Ricky Starks and the post-match

Q2 - 1,124,000 viewers and 476,000 demo - Penta vs. Trent

Q3 - 1,099,000 viewers and 476,000 demo - Pinnacle interview, the Tay Conti-Hikaru Shida video package

Q4 - 1,174,000 viewers and 512,000 demo - Shida vs. Conti

Q5 - 1,094,000 viewers and 493,000 demo - Inner Circle promo and Billy Gunn vs. QT Marshall

Q6 - 1,063,000 viewers and 494,000 demo - Elite in the trailer and Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston

Q7 - 1,038,000 viewers and 473,000 demo - Christian Cage vs. Hobbs

Q8 - 1,050,000 viewers and 470,000 demo - Darby Allin vs. Jungle Boy

 

[Jaded]

My thought was that the Elite were setting up Mox and Eddie and that's why they repeatedly said they were live. That's the only logical conclusion that I can think of.

 

I assumed that, but it would have made significantly more sense if they'd jumped them. And also, they'd had to have known exactly when to honk the horn...

 

On the plus side, thought that was generally a really good show and the Tay/Shida stuff - not just the match, but the promos leading up to it and the recent storyline with them tagging together - has been absolutely fantastic. Women's division, with Britt about to challenge, Jade looking phenomenal, and some fun stuff on Dark (Ryo/Leyla teaming!) is superb atm.

[Jaysin]

It's insane how far the women's division has come in a relatively short time.

 

On Dark/Elevation I love that they're letting the women have good outings and show personality. Kilynn King has a terrific look and is getting better and better while teaming with Red Velvet and Big Swole. Even Swole had won me over.

[Jaded]

It's insane how far the women's division has come in a relatively short time.

 

On Dark/Elevation I love that they're letting the women have good outings and show personality. Kilynn King has a terrific look and is getting better and better while teaming with Red Velvet and Big Swole. Even Swole had won me over.

 

Yeah, I'm really liking Kilynn too! Red Velvet's great and Swole isn't as good, but she's not as bad as some people seem to think.

[Jaysin]

Yeah, I'm really liking Kilynn too! Red Velvet's great and Swole isn't as good, but she's not as bad as some people seem to think.

 

My biggest issue with Swole was she seemed really phony and it felt like she was faking her confidence. Then she cut that promo about her Crohn's and she really just clicked for me there and I've enjoyed her since. I don't have Crohn's but I do have a major digestive issue myself, so I kinda related to her over that.

 

Not saying she's anywhere near the top of the food chain in the women's division, but I do enjoy her a fair bit now.

 

Neveah has left Impact and I'm kinda hoping AEW picks her and Jake Crist up. I wish Dave wasn't a creep because Irish Airborne/OVE were a real good team. Jake is super talented though and a very good guy, so I'd love for him and his wife Neveah to go #allelite.

 

Also hoping AEW and Impact start working together with the Knockouts and Women's rosters. I would LOVE to see Jordynne Grace vs Shida or Deonna vs Shida. Also, Rachael Ellering just debuted for Impact and that's a good pick up there too.

 

Speaking of Ellering, I'd love if Paul reunited with the Authors of Pain somewhere. I thouht they could have gotten a lot of mileage out of the trio. I'm guessing Paul didn't want to be on the road again and that's why the main roster had him get turned on, but man, he's one of the best managers ever.

[Eisen-verse]

Darby Allin continues to be the best thing in wrestling right now.

He and Jungle Boy put together one of the better main event matches I've seen in recent months. It was innovative, yet was rooted in realism. Daryb's ability to sell adds a true entertainment value to each match; this one was no different.

 

They gave us everything; technical wrestling, submissions, high impact/high flying, and hard-hitting brawling.

 

Such a great match.

[Kijar]

I love me some Jungle Boy, really wanted him to pull it off.

 

I find something great in pretty much anybody, honestly. I usually prefer undercarders, more than main eventers and the like.. depending on the situation.

 

Darby just doesn't click for me in any way shape or form, I know I'm one of a rare minority.

[Jaysin]

The only part of Darby I don't like is his stupid ring gear. Booty shorts and leggings is such a terrible look.

 

He also scares me with some of his stunts. Reminds me of Jeff Hardy where sometimes he takes bumps that are just unneeded.

[hailthebulldog]

The only part of Darby I don't like is his stupid ring gear. Booty shorts and leggings is such a terrible look.

 

He also scares me with some of his stunts. Reminds me of Jeff Hardy where sometimes he takes bumps that are just unneeded.

 

I remember a while back hearing Darby say that he doesn't expect a long career, and he'd be surprised if he was doing this past 30. I also really enjoyed his gear during his match with Hardy, but I don't totally mind his gear.

[Jaysin]

I remember a while back hearing Darby say that he doesn't expect a long career, and he'd be surprised if he was doing this past 30. I also really enjoyed his gear during his match with Hardy, but I don't totally mind his gear.

 

I was hoping the gear he wore against Hardy would be his new regular gear as it was a visual improvement.

 

That said, I do love Darby so his attire being dumb isn't really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

 

Kenny beat Rich Swann to win the Impact World title tonight.

 

As much as I like Kenny, he might be the most overrated worker in modern wrestling. He hasn't had any performances since leaving New Japan that have been great. Sure, the match with Hangman against the Bucks was fun, but not on the level of his matches with Okada.

 

I think it's time to admit that Okada made Omega look better than he really is. I've been saying that for ages and Omega's AEW run has done nothing to change my mind on that. I still like Omega, but just sick of this "best wrestler in the world" crap that everyone likes to tout. Omega vs Swann wasn't even the best match of the show, that was Deonna and Tenille.

[misterioso]

I was hoping the gear he wore against Hardy would be his new regular gear as it was a visual improvement.

 

That said, I do love Darby so his attire being dumb isn't really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

 

I kind of love Darby's gear because it is so different from typical wrestling gear, that it sticks out in a weird way. And Darby is a weird dude, so it just fits.

[Jaded]

Last night's Elevation was really to my tastes - great profile on Leyla, tag match for her and Ryo, matches for 3/4 of Best Friends, and a fun backstage segment for JD Drake and the rest of his crew. Definitely feels like they're moving away from being quite so heavily-focused and letting people show their character outside of the ring more (there were also Reynolds/Five and Scorpio/Ethan Page promos as well.)

[milamber]

The Leyla Hirsch promo was great. She's getting her reps in so hopefully they have a program for her soon.

 

Awesome to see Marty Casaus on Dark. His character on LU is one of my all-time favorites. 2 years out with a career threatening injury and returns to take big bumps for Brian Cage.

[crownsy]

So....

 

The Elite are in their trailer and they keep on reminding us that this moment is "live." Then, after the 'live sequence' follows of Moxley/Kingston driving a truck into the side of their trailer, The Elite isn't IN that trailer?

 

Unless something happens to explain that before the end of the show (as I'm still watching), that feels like a really weird misstep.

 

on BTE they basically implied they ran out right before the Truck hit and just kept booking it for their cars, so by the time Eddie and Mox got out of the truck after it hit the trailer they were already long gone.

 

Which I guess? I mean technically it could have happened in that amount of time but considering how much they were screaming and yelling it's basically still magic that they didn't hear/ see them running off.

 

I think they just didn't want to give away a brawl between the groups, but agree it all happened to fast for it to be believable all of them ran out and Mox and Eddie just didn't see/ hear them.

[aXminster]

I hate when they try to complement storylines into BTE. Maybe they just assume everyone watches it?

 

That one gig with the Dark Order and lawn mowers is a prime example. They just showed up on Dynamite with like 5 lawn mowers after Brodie won the TNT belt and I was like ???

 

Then I saw on reddit that it's a running gag on BTE.

[Jaysin]

<p>Dynamite was fun this week. A bit of a mixed bag.</p><p> </p><p>

Unless it happened when I took a bathroom break, there wasn't any explanation as to how the Elite got out of the trailer last week. They need to remember that not everyone watches BTE. I barely keep up with Dark and Elevation as it is. I love this company, but they are getting really uneven in their story telling as time goes on.</p><p> </p><p>

Darby vs 10 was fun, but Darby kept fighting dirty and then 10 gives him a show of respect and comes to his aid after? Didn't quite make sense to me, but whatever I guess.</p><p> </p><p>

The big news coming out of this show for me is Yuji Nagata wrestling on Dynamite in two weeks. He was one of my introductions to Japanese wrestling in the mid 90s behind Muta and Ultimo Dragon and last time I saw him work, he was still good.</p>

[Jaded]

<p>Really enjoyed that - I don't think Hangman was really hurt by the loss, given he was jumped pre-match, and hopefully that means they're holding off him vs Omega for a little longer. Miro looked awesome destroying Kip, main event was great, Orange/Penta ruled, and that Pinnacle/Inner Circle parley was fantastic. (Well, except for Shawn Spears, but you can't have EVERYTHING, I guess.) And Mox/Kingston threatening to destroy Kenny's ankle was superb, even if it does lead to a match involving Nakazawa.</p><p> </p><p>

10 giving the show of respect to Darby after him trying to claw his mask off was a little weird, but I think it's partly recognition that the title is something people really want. Darby will do whatever it takes to keep it - he's been wrestling fairly heelishly recently - while Preston looked confused about what happened when Page attacked Darby, but seemed to find out from the Dark Order and then try to take advantage of that. I guess they're both willing to push for any advantage, but then show respect post-match.</p>

[milamber]

<p>- Hangman vs Cage was great. Massive win for Cage to put the #1 Contendership into question. Nice to see Team Taz on the offensive instead of running away like they used to.</p><p>

- Sydal Bros vs Young Bucks was good. The Bucks' new heel entrance theme and ring gear is perfect.</p><p>

- OC vs Penta was my MOTN. Penta's mask game is on point.</p><p>

- Those promos finally got me hyped for Blood & Guts. Kingston is irate.</p><p>

- Ford vs Statlander was good. Disappointed they didn't play Stat's entrance theme.</p><p>

- Nightmare Factory vs Nightmare Family was solid. Bus fight!</p><p>

- Nagata on Dynamite! Miro didn't even bother looking for Kip lol.</p><p>

- 10 vs Darby © was good. Innovative finish. Ego & Sky trying to steal the spotlight. Sting/Archer tag team incoming.</p>

[milamber]

Andrade has joined AAA with a new faction of former CMLL wrestlers. He challenged Omega to a title match at Triplemania later this year.

[Matt_Black]

Good lord, this match is wild.

[Jaysin]

<p>Blood & Guts was really fun until the ending. Such a horrible ending to another wise fun and bloody brawl. </p><p> </p><p>

Sammy and Wardlow had a couple botches, but still, good outing for all ten men.</p>

[Matt_Black]

I'm trying to rationalize the finish as this match being the Empire Strikes Back of the Inner Circle/ Pinnacle feud.

[Jaysin]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Matt_Black" data-cite="Matt_Black" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46243" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm trying to rationalize the finish as this match being the Empire Strikes Back of the Inner Circle/ Pinnacle feud.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> That's a good way to spin it in a positive light, but man, Santana and Ortiz were starting to climb the cage and in kayfabe could have easily got MJF from behind. It was dumb that they just stopped climbing and then ran over to where Sammy was. </p><p> </p><p> Very disappointing ending for me. Not sure how they could have ended it better, but still, didn't like it.</p>

[Matt_Black]

<p>As far as the rest of the show-</p><p> </p><p>

The opening match was okay. Predictable, but did what it needed to do.</p><p> </p><p>

QT vs Cody was surprisingly good, considering that QT isn't all that interesting a character.</p><p> </p><p>

The Darby bit was great, but more on that later.</p><p> </p><p>

The low point of the show was Britt Baker's match. Glorified Dark match. I shouldn't be surprised, but this has becoming a pattern with AEW. The women's division goes on a hot streak, and then they pull the champ off TV for a few weeks and they start spinning their wheels. Tonight didn't do anything to make me excited for Baker vs. Shida.</p><p> </p><p>

The 4 way tag match was... serviceable. Of course, they've booked themselves into a corner. If SCU breaks up, it should be because of a PPV match, BUT I can't see the Young Bucks losing right now, either.</p><p> </p><p>

They telegraphed who's going to fight for the AEW Championship so hard that the segment should have been sponsored by Western Union.</p><p> </p><p>

The Miro announcement is great, but now I wonder where they're going with the TNT title. Darby should face some combination of Page and/ or Sky, but he can do that without the title, probably with Lance Archer. Though after all this, it would feel like a let down if the TNT title isn't in play. On the other hand, Miro failing to get the title would run into AEW's other pattern of building up a monster only for the monster to get felled quickly in a anticlimactic fashion (see also Hager, Archer, Cage, etc.).</p>

[BHK1978]

<p>I caught the last half hour of the show, because there was nothing else on. I noticed something interesting in the Miro interview. Either Tony Schiavone was feeding Miro lines or Miro's promo was scripted and Tony was reading an off-camera version of it in order to get his cue on what to do. </p><p> </p><p>

If you watch Tony during that interview he is mouthing everything Miro is saying in the promo. It was so odd.</p>