The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[Matt_Black]

It makes absolutely no sense for Red Velvet to be aligned with Jade Cargill.

[Jaysin]

It makes absolutely no sense for Red Velvet to be aligned with Jade Cargill.

 

You are absolutely correct, but Velvet had gotten so boring and she was spinning wheels for so long. Her being in a tag team with Kiera could hide both their flaws though.

 

Still think we need women's tag belts.

[Croquemitaine]

You are absolutely correct, but Velvet had gotten so boring and she was spinning wheels for so long. Her being in a tag team with Kiera could hide both their flaws though.

 

Still think we need women's tag belts.

Women's tag belts would have been a much better addition than the TBS belt. Tag matches would get a lot more women on TV and also help cover the flaws in some of their less-experienced workers.

 

At the very least I would have liked to see their tag tournament become an annual thing. It would have been great for generating storylines or at least some character moments.

[Jaysin]

Women's tag belts would have been a much better addition than the TBS belt. Tag matches would get a lot more women on TV and also help cover the flaws in some of their less-experienced workers.

 

At the very least I would have liked to see their tag tournament become an annual thing. It would have been great for generating storylines or at least some character moments.

 

I completely agree on all of that. In a TEW save when I introduced the TBS title, it's a women's tag title instead of a mid card belt.

[Captain Kayfabe]

Women's tag belts would have been a much better addition than the TBS belt.

 

Agree 100%. I'm still shocked they decided to add another women's singles title instead of a tag title.

[aXminster]

In my opinion there's no depth in AEW to have a women's tag belt. The division is still pretty lackluster as they're nowhere near the level of the male talent.

 

Toni Storm has had one match since her debut like three weeks ago. There's only two women's matches on TV every week, one on Dynamite and the other one on Rampage. There's still A LOT of work to do and to be honest I don't see that happening anywhere soon.

 

Hell, Thunder Rosa is pretty over and she has done absolutely nothing since winning the World title.

[Matt_Black]

Hell, Thunder Rosa is pretty over and she has done absolutely nothing since winning the World title.

 

Aside from beating Nyla Rose in the main event, you mean?

[Matt_Black]

Speaking of main events, tonight's Rampage main event was... okay. But absolutely not worth the weeks and weeks of build-up they devoted TV time to.

[aXminster]

Aside from beating Nyla Rose in the main event, you mean?

 

Maybe it's just me because I was expecting more of Thunder Rosa since winning the title, but this mini-feud was pretty bad.

[milamber]

- Cole vs Ishii was good. Switchblade! I expect him to doublecross the Super Elite at Forbidden Door.

- Not the chips! Hook spoke

- Archer vs Snakeman was an OK squash.

- Garcia vs Kingston was my MOTN. Eddie with the Sara Del Rey shirt.

- Calvin & Hobbes lol. I hope Team Taz turn babyface one day. Some of these 1st round matches are crazy... I want Jamie and Toni to both win. Good FTR promo.

- Marina vs Jade © was solid. Way better than the early reviews suggested.

[Mootinie]

I'm sensitive that is might actually be some kind of disorder or whatever... but has anybody else noticed that Adam Cole always makes an ennunciation, a random noise, at the start of most sentences when he's cutting a promo?

 

Like, in this video here...

 

The way he stutters at 1:10, the way he falls over the word On at 1:20, the way he goes a-a-two of... at 1:29. Again at 1:37, the uhh before the next bit at 1:42.

 

He's always such a smooth and clear talker once he gets rolling but that vocal inflection is something I've noticed recently and, just like Lex Luger's noises during a match, I'll probably never not notice it now haha.

[Jaysin]

In my opinion there's no depth in AEW to have a women's tag belt. The division is still pretty lackluster as they're nowhere near the level of the male talent.

 

Toni Storm has had one match since her debut like three weeks ago. There's only two women's matches on TV every week, one on Dynamite and the other one on Rampage. There's still A LOT of work to do and to be honest I don't see that happening anywhere soon.

 

Hell, Thunder Rosa is pretty over and she has done absolutely nothing since winning the World title.

 

Roster depth isn't the issue. As far as talented women they have under contract:

 

Anna Jay

Britt Baker

Emi Sakura

Hikaru Shida

Jamie Hayter

Kiera Hogan

Kris Statlander

Leyla Hirsch

Mercedes Martinez

Red Velvet(Not the best, but her and Kiera could be a really solid combo)

Riho

Ruby Soho

Serena Deeb

Tay Conti(even though her current character is cringey and she needs to officially turn heel)

Thunder Rosa

Toni Storm

 

Plenty of talent for tag belts IMO and there's already

 

Aside from beating Nyla Rose in the main event, you mean?

 

Beating Nyla means zero. She's one of the first challengers of every women's champ and she's Botchzilla. Not as bad as Nia Jax, but she's injured Britt Baker how many times now?

 

Speaking of main events, tonight's Rampage main event was... okay. But absolutely not worth the weeks and weeks of build-up they devoted TV time to.

 

Definitely not worth the amount of time they gave it on television and what not, but considering how green Jade and Marina are, it was pretty good honestly. Whatever road agent that helped them produce it should probably help both in their matches going forward.

 

They both have tremendous upside and the match exceeded my admittedly low expectations. It really shouldn't have been the main event though. I'd like to see this match up revisited down the line when both are more experienced.

 

Adam Cole vs Ishii was fun and Garcia vs Kingston was dope.

 

The Hook/Danhausen story is amazing and I'm having such a great time. Their characters are obviously different, but it reminds me of RKBRo in a good way. If they don't end up as an oddball tag team I will be very sad

[Matt_Black]

Beating Nyla means zero. She's one of the first challengers of every women's champ and she's Botchzilla. Not as bad as Nia Jax, but she's injured Britt Baker how many times now?

 

Come now! Britt Baker was getting repeatedly injured before she even stepped foot in the ring with Nyla Rose. Britt is second to only Rey Fenix for the number of times a wrestler has gotten hurt in a televised match in AEW, I think.

[Jaysin]

Come now! Britt Baker was getting repeatedly injured before she even stepped foot in the ring with Nyla Rose. Britt is second to only Rey Fenix for the number of times a wrestler has gotten hurt in a televised match in AEW, I think.

 

The only injury I remember that wasn't caused directly by Nyla was when Statlander and Shida did that weird double DVD to Nyla onto Baker in the corner and even then Nyla was involved.

 

She's incredibly mediocre and can be carried to solid matches.

 

Unrelated, but Tony Nese might be the most forgettable male wrestler in AEW and his pairing with Sterling isn't doing much to change that. He's very much the definition of vanilla midget. He has an incredible physique and is fairly good, but has negative charisma. I forget he exists and then he shows up on TV again.

 

The whole "hottest free agent" gimmick would have worked much better for someone that was actually a hot free agent, like Swerve, Buddy Matthews, Keith Lee, or almost anyone else released by WWE since the pandemic started.

[BrokenCycle]

She's incredibly mediocre and can be carried to solid matches.

 

I'm all for LGBTQ+ representation and everything, but I honestly feel like she's there to check a box instead of her ability. Despite how it sounds, I WANT to like Nyla. He real life personality is very magnetic and likable, but outside of a small handful of matches, she rarely has good matches.

 

But saying she was hired because she's a trans POC is antithetical to being all for representation. You already explained that she's mediocre in the ring (it's fine-- not every wrestler should be amazing in the ring) and that she has a great personality. She is also a pretty good promo when given any chance, and she has a unique look in women's wrestling. Isn't that enough to be hired and be a prominent aspect to the women's division?

 

I would encourage you to change your mindset on thinking that anyone anywhere was hired because of performative progressivism. It's kinda not cool.

[Jaysin]

But saying she was hired because she's a trans POC is antithetical to being all for representation. You already explained that she's mediocre in the ring (it's fine-- not every wrestler should be amazing in the ring) and that she has a great personality. She is also a pretty good promo when given any chance, and she has a unique look in women's wrestling. Isn't that enough to be hired and be a prominent aspect to the women's division?

 

I would encourage you to change your mindset on thinking that anyone anywhere was hired because of performative progressivism. It's kinda not cool.

 

I want more LGBTQ+ and POC on mainstream television. I do not think negatively of her as a person in the slightest. I feel if her and I met, we'd get along great. I just don't think she deserves to be main eventing shows when there's a roster full of better in ring workers. One thing I thought of after thinking about Nyla and her situation is that her hiring could open the door for others and honestly, that's incredibly special. There always has to be a first of something.

 

If she was taken off TV and sent to Dustin or QT's school for a few months and refined her in ring abilities she would be far better off. I want her to be good, but I just don't think she has tools to do so right now. Dustin would probably do wonders for her in ring ability in particular.

 

My comment about ticking a box was in poor taste and I will be editing it out of my previous post.

 

TL;DR- I like Nyla as a person and would like her to improve.

[BrokenCycle]

Yeah that's totally fair. It's all good, man.

[Matt_Black]

The only injury I remember that wasn't caused directly by Nyla was when Statlander and Shida did that weird double DVD to Nyla onto Baker in the corner and even then Nyla was involved..

 

Concussion in a match with Bea Priestley, broken nose with Shida.

 

A lot of the criticisms you've leveled at Nyla Rose can be said of many of the other women on the roster, including Britt Baker and Jade Cargill, and Rose gets far less TV consistently than either of them. Heck, they keep putting Jade in the main event, and she's had problems with the very complicated spot of *checks notes* kicking out at two.

[Jaysin]

Britt is far more talented than Nyla.

 

Jade is far too green to be main eventing or to even be champion. I never denied that. I have complained about her position on the roster

[Mootinie]

Nyla Rose has wrestled numerous good to great matches in AEW against a variety of opponents. Versus Riho when she won the belt, versus Shida when she dropped the belt, both the semi-final and final in the Eliminator Tournament, another great match beating Shida in the TBS tournament and I thought her match against Thunder Rosa was okay too. I think she's good. And in her role as the resident monster heel, she's great.

 

As far as criticisms about AEW women's division go, the one about Nyla is low on the totem pole for me. I'm far more critical of the episodes that feature only 2 to 3 minutes of women's wrestling, like the other week's overrun where the only women's match was a squash match with a talent making their TV debut against a talent that never wins. Marina Shafir and Skye Blue, bless them, they were hung out to dry. Or the weeks where we only got Serena Deeb winning squash matches against rookies, a whole deal they just unceremoniously dropped with no explanation or pay-off. You can't tell me the conclusion to the Rookie Challenge was just Shida beating seven bells out of her with a kendo stick? They couldn't have Willow Nightingale last the five minutes and get put over by virtue of not losing? They just had Deeb get belted with a stick and that's... it?

 

On a different topic, AEW had Malakai Black beat Cody twice just to wrestle on the PPV pre-show and do pretaped vignettes targeting Fuego del Sol. Amazing how fast he and his silly little dark boi stable have fallen down the pecking order. They really should have elevated Malakai into a title match, if for no other reason than to ensure his two victories over Cody counted for something.

[Jaysin]

Different strokes for different folks.

 

I do agree their women need more time on television. Especially now that they have a good group of ladies with varying styles and characters.

 

I enjoy the House of Black vignettes, but hate how they're so low on the totem pole now.

[Matt_Black]

I think the vignettes are a misdirect. You THINK they're talking about Fuego, but what if they're not saying "sun", they're saying "son"...?

[djskeemask]

I'm sensitive that is might actually be some kind of disorder or whatever... but has anybody else noticed that Adam Cole always makes an ennunciation, a random noise, at the start of most sentences when he's cutting a promo?

 

Like, in this video here...

 

The way he stutters at 1:10, the way he falls over the word On at 1:20, the way he goes a-a-two of... at 1:29. Again at 1:37, the uhh before the next bit at 1:42.

 

He's always such a smooth and clear talker once he gets rolling but that vocal inflection is something I've noticed recently and, just like Lex Luger's noises during a match, I'll probably never not notice it now haha.

 

I used to have a problem with painkillers. If I took a lot, it would cause me to stutter just like that, messing with my motor skills. Also causing me to slur my words. I don't hear him slurring anything, so I don't think it is that. Could just be adrenaline pumping because it was an important segment and also because it had a surprise with Jay White. Cole could have been struggling to remember the whole script. I feel like my mind works faster than I can get the words out sometimes. That could be what was going on there. I will probably notice it every time Cole speaks now!

[crownsy]

But saying she was hired because she's a trans POC is antithetical to being all for representation. You already explained that she's mediocre in the ring (it's fine-- not every wrestler should be amazing in the ring) and that she has a great personality. She is also a pretty good promo when given any chance, and she has a unique look in women's wrestling. Isn't that enough to be hired and be a prominent aspect to the women's division?

 

I would encourage you to change your mindset on thinking that anyone anywhere was hired because of performative progressivism. It's kinda not cool.

 

Isn't part of equality being able to call it like we see it?

 

She isn't very good, sorry. It's not anti representation to point out she isn't very good at her Job.

[milamber]

For anyone who normally skips Elevation go and watch Takeshita vs Cutler. Takeshita is a star.

 

I hope what Meltzer says is true:

 

Takeshita has moved to the U.S. and will be working for AEW. AEW hasn't promoted it at all on television and Takeshita will either have to be built up by AEW or he'll just be a guy. The idea is for him to get more experience with foreign styles and return to DDT full-time down the line. For now, he's going to fly back to Japan now that travel is easier and work the major DDT shows, similar to the deal Kenny Omega was going to do until COVID and his injuries derailed it.