The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[djskeemask]

It was a tad unbelievable that the Bucks were surprised by the announcement. I was, "How do you not know?!? You're Executive Vice Presidents!"

 

LOL! I never thought of that, but you definitely bring up a good point.

[Matt_Black]

LOL! I never thought of that, but you definitely bring up a good point.

 

Reminded me of the first year, when Brandi was starting up the (ugh) Nightmare Collective, and she was "Where's Riho? Where's our Women's Champion been?", and I'm, "You're the Chief Brand Officer; isn't it your job to know something like this?!?"

[Matt_Black]

Since we're about a month away from this year's All Out, did anyone expect that when Ruby Soho came out to a thunderous ovation as the Joker for the Women's Casino Battle Royal just how badly AEW would drop the ball with her? She's been used to put over Jade, Britt (TWICE), and now Tay & Jay. I don't think she's come out on the winning end of a single storyline since she's been in the company.

[milamber]

I don't mind what they're doing with Ruby. She's not circling a title shot right now (Statlander and Athena are) and her storyline is that all her female friends have turned on her. There's a chance she beats Conti soon. Anna just turned heel so she needs to be established as a threat otherwise what was the point.

[Mootinie]

Since we're about a month away from this year's All Out, did anyone expect that when Ruby Soho came out to a thunderous ovation as the Joker for the Women's Casino Battle Royal just how badly AEW would drop the ball with her? She's been used to put over Jade, Britt (TWICE), and now Tay & Jay. I don't think she's come out on the winning end of a single storyline since she's been in the company.

She did reach the final of the TBS Championship tournament and the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. I don't know if they've dropped the ball on her, she seemed rusty when she came into AEW and I don't think she was wrestling particularly good matches at first. I think the combination of injuries and being one of those shelved talents in WWE meant it was always going to take a while for her to get back in ring shape and find her game. I have been a bit more impressed with her recently though and I think she should be back in the hunt when the title next changes hands.

[Matt_Black]

Anna just turned heel so she needs to be established as a threat

 

The fact that someone who choked out the Bunny while her arm was covered in barb wire still needs to be "established as a threat" is another indictment of the slipshod booking of the women's division.

[milamber]

Unfortunately there's only so much that can be done with only 2 women's matches on TV each week. Hard to build up 2 Champions, 2 challengers and a couple of non-title feuds each month. Add to that the disparity in promo quality compared to the men which can be blamed on women not getting the same opportunities in the US until recent years. It means TK uses simple tropes to quickly progress the storylines, while the men's division regularly gets storylines with depth and long term character arcs.

[Makhai]

Unfortunately there's only so much that can be done with only 2 women's matches on TV each week. Hard to build up 2 Champions, 2 challengers and a couple of non-title feuds each month. Add to that the disparity in promo quality compared to the men which can be blamed on women not getting the same opportunities in the US until recent years. It means TK uses simple tropes to quickly progress the storylines, while the men's division regularly gets storylines with depth and long term character arcs.

 

It's almost impossible to book a tag division, a trios division, 2 women's divisions, 3 singles divisions. In 3hrs of TV a week. Somethings gotta give eventually.

[aXminster]

AEW was at its peak when they were trying to do their own thing. Nowadays TK is trying to book his own version of NXT.

[Jaysin]

It's almost impossible to book a tag division, a trios division, 2 women's divisions, 3 singles divisions. In 3hrs of TV a week. Somethings gotta give eventually.

 

As much as we seem to disagree on most things, this we are in complete agreement on. They either need to cut the fat or get more tv time. I do watch Dark and Elevation most weeks so I do see quite a lot of the roster, but I know I'm in the minority on watching all the content.

[BrokenCycle]

I don't get the "cut the fat" arguments. Are there a lot of wrestlers I think should be on Dynamite? Of course. Do I sometimes get frustrated that people are out of the shuffle? Yes. But what does AEW restricting their roster actually look like? A bunch of incredibly talented workers that deserve to be on TV being on the indies, or, worse, Impact (/s)? That sucks more than people being on Dynamite once every 3 months. I think it's a very difficult thing to handle, but I like the current mainstay roster on Dynamite right now, and I appreciate the variety. The critique also comes from a place of using the TEW mechanic IRL, thinking Ethan Page is very angry that he hasn't been on Dynamite in x number of shows. Maybe they like the situation they're in?

[milamber]

- Playas From the Himalayas vs Best Friends was solid. Sonjay lol. A wild Wardlow appears!

- They should run Ego vs Wardlow for the TNT title in Canada.

- Moriarty vs Sydal was good.

- DMD stirring the pot.

- The silver belts look good on Claudio & Yuta. The Jericho stuff was fun but went a bit long.

- Acclaimed music video was funny. Takeshita vs Claudio OMG!

- Jay vs Ruby was my MOTN. Enjoyed the promos. One of Jay's best performances.

[milamber]

It's almost impossible to book a tag division, a trios division, 2 women's divisions, 3 singles divisions. In 3hrs of TV a week. Somethings gotta give eventually.

 

Ideally a 2nd hour of Rampage and shift some fringe talent to ROH when they get a TV deal.

[Mootinie]

Ideally a 2nd hour of Rampage and shift some fringe talent to ROH when they get a TV deal.

 

Last week's Rampage did 375k live viewers and a demo of 0.11. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder if that show is going to be outright cancelled, let alone be given a second hour.

[hailthebulldog]

Last week's Rampage did 375k live viewers and a demo of 0.11. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder if that show is going to be outright cancelled, let alone be given a second hour.

 

Rampage is in a death slot and taped which hurts the viewers. However, they also are still pulling better ratings then the shows that it replaced. I would be surprised if people at Discovery/Time Warner are upset by the ratings.

[milamber]

Last week's Rampage did 375k live viewers and a demo of 0.11. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to wonder if that show is going to be outright cancelled, let alone be given a second hour.

 

Move it to TBS in a decent slot and put ROH in the TNT slot. It has the potential to do so much better with good cards.

[milamber]

- Cassidy vs Lethal was good. Vincent Adultman is 1 in a trillion!

- Young Bucks face turn. Big pop for Hangman with a pipe!

- Hart Dungeon diss from Mox. Jungle Boy trying to run over Christian.

- DMD & Hayter vs ThunderStorm was my MOTN. Hayter push! Women on earlier than usual.

- Eddie reacting to the Sammy/Tay video was funny. Team Taz is done Ricky running like the Flash!

- Christian vs Hardy was solid. Christian has been underused Matt overused in the ring.

- Ego with a killer promo but he should be a babyface. Stoke making moves. Anna choking backstage randoms lol.

- Gunn Club vs Acclaimed Dumpster match was fun. Caster nailed the rap.

- Mance Warner! Takeshita english promo!

- YUTA vs Jericho was good. Liontamer!

[Jaysin]

That was a heck of a main event on Rampage tonight.

 

I'm really happy Madison is having an onscreen persona as well as her coaching job. She's much better as a heel, but she's still likable I think.

[Matt_Black]

That was a heck of a main event on Rampage tonight.

 

I'm really happy Madison is having an onscreen persona as well as her coaching job. She's much better as a heel, but she's still likable I think.

 

I just wish there was more for her first storyline. She'll get beat by Jade, post match beatdown by the Baddies, Athena and Statlander run in to make the save, yadda yadda.

[milamber]

Rampage:

 

- Mox vs Mancer was good. Obligatory blood.

- They finally acknowledged Ricky & Solow tag teaming on the indies.

- Takeshita vs Nemeth was a solid squash.

- Best Friends might have trouble refocusing with Dr Danhausen around.

- Rayne vs Leila was solid.

- Nese & Woods vs Swerve In Their Glory street fight was my MOTN. Overrun!

 

BOTB:

 

- Lethal vs Wardlow © was solid. Satnam making Wardlow look short lol.

- Hayter vs Rosa © was great. Hayter's a badass. Her intensity went up after breaking her nose.

- Takeshita vs Claudio © was my Match of the Week. El Generico shout-out. Time for Takeshita to negotiate duel AEW/DDT contracts.

[Matt_Black]

I think the post-match shenanigans for the Wardlow match went on a little too long.

 

Hayter vs Rosa was great, but I always listen with incredulity as the announcers go on about how powerful she is. I'm sure she's quite strong, but visually it doesn't come across.

 

Claudo vs. Takeshita was a straight banger. There were a few times where I thought Takeshita was going to win it.

[Mootinie]

Long ass post but here's my thoughts on what I thought was a good 4 hours of AEW TV last week.

 

Dynamite

-----------

 

Cassidy vs. Lethal: I much prefer Jay Lethal as a heel in this group. OC is just bulletproof over and a perfect curtain jerker babyface. **1/4

 

HayterBaker vs. ThunderStorm: This was good during the Hayter and Storm bits, and not so good during Baker and Rosa bits. I loved Jamie getting the win and hope it's the start of a prolonged push. **1/2

 

Christian vs. Hardy: I don't need to see Matt wrestling and they should have him doing character work to lift up talents who need the help. Bring back the Hardy Family Office! *

 

Promos: Shouting doesn't automatically make it good, Ethan Page. Can he get a character beyond angry perennial loser? Total goober this guy.

 

That Team Everybody Loves vs. Trash Boys: It was fine for what it was. Quite a bit of walking and brawling but it picked up at the end. The dumpster spot looked bad and they could have gotten seriously hurt there. if you slow it down, you can see it nearly land on Colten's ankle. Yikes. Like a lot of spots, I questioned whether this was rehearsed. **

 

Whatever Nickname Jericho Is This Week vs. Wheeler Yoots: I'm still not sure what the internet sees in Yuta, he doesn't do anything special and personifies average to me. I don't know what to say about this match. It happened and it was perfectly acceptable. **1/4

 

This company has a main event problem. Recycling back to Mox vs. Jericho after a signing spree. Why haven't they put Darby, Jungle Boy, Miro, Malakai, Andrade in the title scene? What's going on with Hangman? Maybe they weren't booked right to make it credible but these guys should always be there or thereabouts. This was the time to inject new life into the World title and this company has been reasonably good when their backs have been against the wall. They did great during the pandemic, I considered the TNT title tournament a resounding success and they had some awesome matches. But I think they have failed here. Punk's injury was a problem but Jericho should be nowhere near the title and this whole programme feels like a step backwards.

 

Rampage

----------

 

Mox vs. Mancer: This was my first time seeing Mance and I don't think he exactly showed out. Not that Moxley was much better. He just does really weak looking strikes, hits the guardrail, blades, and does his finish to win. This whole Interim title run has been poor to me. *3/4

 

Takeshita vs. Nemeth: Konosuke just has star written all over him in a way that none of the younger guns in this company do. **

 

Rayne vs. Leila: I know that Grey lacks experience but she didn't really show anything here and the only good part of this match was Madison's finisher. I don't think Leila is ready for this level but it's odd, she gets a match like this but they have given nothing to Madi Wrenkowski, Kilynn King or Ashley D'Amboise even though all three seem much further along than Leila. DUD

 

Lee/Swerve vs. Woods/Nese: This was really great. I loved Smart Mark going through the table. Josh Woods looked awesome here, talk about maximising your minutes. That German through the table was brutal. Swerve and Nese have amazing chemistry but they're also both so giving to their opponents. Strickland taking a goddamn rotating brainbuster into the steps looked nasty but it put over Woods so much as a killer. Big fan of the protein powder spot too haha, that got a laugh out of me. I never do that stuff dry but I am obviously not a Premier Athlete. Yeah, this was awesome, it was loads of fun. ***3/4

 

BOTB III

----------

 

Lethal vs. Wardlow: A bit shorter than I expected with a slightly too long post-match as Matt just said. But I get the impression they did this to run it back at All Out. **1/4

 

Rosa vs. Hayter: It was fun to see Jamie getting an opponent she could proper slug it out with but, even so, it felt like Thunder had a hard time keeping up. I don't know if Thunder Rosa "sandbags" or just isn't prepared for the pace the other ladies want to move at when they're wrestling. Jamie had to power her up for the backbreaker on the knee because I don't think Rosa was ready for it, that seems to happen with her quite a bit. I still think Thunder Rosa's title reign was about the journey and the destination hasn't been that exciting. ***

 

Castagnoli vs. Takeshita: Basically two great athletes doing a prolonged showcase of how fast, strong and impressive they are. This reminded me of Cesaro's awesome matches with Zayn and it still didn't look like he had even broke a sweat out there. Some good near falls but they never quite got me believing Takeshita would win and I almost would have preferred this if it wasn't a title match to help suspend my belief further. ***1/2

[milamber]

- Brody vs Darby Coffin match was good. Brody was already bleeding when the FITE feed started so that killed my hype a bit. They still haven't fixed it hours later. How hard can it be to get the full feed from AEW, watermark it and upload it?

- I was distracted during all the backstage promos by the audio and video being out of sync. Was that on FITE only or an AEW production botch? Trios tournament looks fun.

- Andrade & Rush vs Lucha Bros tornado tag was great.

- I'm very interested in this Young Bucks/Hangman/Dark Order storyline, especially with Kenny's inevitable return.

- Will Jungle Boy be able to control Luchasaurus' aggression? Miro/Julia segment was cool.

- FTR backing up Wardlow was nice continuity from the Pinnacle era. Anna choking out backstage personnel is funny.

- Solow vs Starks was solid. QT falling over the barricade lol. Hobbs smash! Stokely lol.

- Rayne vs Jade © was solid. Athena!

- HOOK, Kiss & KiLynn booked for TV... TK been reading the forums.

- Lionheart Jericho vs Mox © was my MOTN. Jericho mat wrestling helped keep it interesting. Brawl! Random ring bell! CM Punk!

[djskeemask]

- Brody vs Darby Coffin match was good. Brody was already bleeding when the FITE feed started so that killed my hype a bit. They still haven't fixed it hours later. How hard can it be to get the full feed from AEW, watermark it and upload it?

- I was distracted during all the backstage promos by the audio and video being out of sync. Was that on FITE only or an AEW production botch? Trios tournament looks fun.

- Andrade & Rush vs Lucha Bros tornado tag was great.

- I'm very interested in this Young Bucks/Hangman/Dark Order storyline, especially with Kenny's inevitable return.

- Will Jungle Boy be able to control Luchasaurus' aggression? Miro/Julia segment was cool.

- FTR backing up Wardlow was nice continuity from the Pinnacle era. Anna choking out backstage personnel is funny.

- Solow vs Starks was solid. QT falling over the barricade lol. Hobbs smash! Stokely lol.

- Rayne vs Jade © was solid. Athena!

- HOOK, Kiss & KiLynn booked for TV... TK been reading the forums.

- Lionheart Jericho vs Mox © was my MOTN. Jericho mat wrestling helped keep it interesting. Brawl! Random ring bell! CM Punk!

 

Audio/Video sync was fine on TBS

[D-Lyrium]

So, I'm just getting back into wrestling, and have noticed AEW is on ITV4 in the UK (not the PPVs, just Dynamite and Rampage).

 

What would you suggest would be a good jumping-in point? I want to go far enough back that I know what's going on with all the current storylines and have seen all the recent can't-miss TV matches, but not so far back that it takes forever to watch it all.

 

Seems like 13th May is the furthest back I can possibly go, and I'm sure I'll go that far back eventually, but where's the best place to start?

 

Also, is Rampage worth watching weekly, or is it more of a "watch it if a cool thing happens but otherwise meh" show?