The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[John Lions]

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?

 

First point - July 27th Dynamite would be the best spot. There's still some stories that started before that point, but it definitely felt like AEW got out of a funk with Forbidden Door + ROH builds. This is where the build up to All Out starts to kick in.

 

Second point - I am an AEW nut and I watch everything they put out. Rampage has definitely not been "must watch" tv lately - the most recent live one even felt like a bit of a let-down, considering the last one I remember an absolutely insane Cole/Page match for the title. If there's matches or segments you're interested in, it's worth a watch, but definitely skippable at the moment.

 

AEW's also been trying to work more stories into the lower card so Dark/Elevation aren't only squash matches, and it's been enjoyable. Plus, Dark is usually where the bulk of the better women's matches are, if you are a fan of women's wrestling.

[D-Lyrium]

Cheers, will start there!

[djskeemask]

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?

 

Rampage is usually worth watching. I will admit, I don't always enjoy the entire show but a vast majority I like. There is also Dark and Dark: Elevated for free on youtube. Those are good shows to catch new signings or your favorite underrated wrestlers.

I started following AEW on a weekly basis when CM Punk came out of retirement and returned to the biggest pop I've ever heard by a hometown crowd. I had pretty much given up on any American products as I was a ROH fan before they went nearly bankrupt after Vince cherry-picked all of their top talent. Most of the storylines are now shown in video recaps prior to matches now. I would suggest picking up before MJF was pretty much shunned from AEW. His feuds with CM Punk and Wardlow were pretty entertaining. You can find a good recap on youtube that a fan made about the Punk/MJF better than you feud.

I would also suggest checking out NJPW and a little bit of NJoA (New Japan's American Company). NJPW has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. Nearly their entire roster is stacked with so much talent. It's not really storyline based too, so you can kinda just figure who you like and only watch their matches if you like. Also, Kevin Kelly does an English commentary for nearly every show of theirs now, so it is much easier to follow. Also, it seems that Tony Khan (AEW) has struck up a deal with NJPW to feature each other's talent. Will Ospreay and the tag team of Aussie Open from NJPW's United Empire faction will be in the tournament for the new AEW Trios Tag Team Titles. If you wanna chat about NJPW, head over to their own forum post and I'd be glad to talk shop over there. PS...It's G1 season in NJPW. It's 4 blocks of 7 wrestlers each (28 total) round robin tournament where the winners of each block will face off in the finals. I haven't caught up yet, so no spoilers.

[aXminster]

Last night's Rampage had the worst card ever. I was actually baffled how bad it was. Sometimes I usually let it play on the background but I refuse to do it just because of how bad this card was.

[Jaysin]

Last night's Rampage had the worst card ever. I was actually baffled how bad it was. Sometimes I usually let it play on the background but I refuse to do it just because of how bad this card was.

 

Worst card ever is a huge over exaggeration, but it wasn't as good as usual.

 

Erick Redbeard looked good and Cassidy vs Ari was solid.

 

The Gunns also looked good and I'm intrigued by Stokely trying to sign them.

 

Has Prince Nana or any of the Embassy been mentioned or seen since DBD?

[milamber]

- Garcia held his own on the mic but Danielson's got him rattled.

- Skye & Dante vs Tay & Sammy © was my MOTN. Champions out first annoys me. They probably did it on purpose lol.

- Parker vs Kiss was an OK squash.

- Gunn Club vs Beardhausen was solid.

- HOOK speaks. Random Zack Clayton. Decent promo from him.

- Daivari vs Cassidy was good. Kiss with the nut shot lol.

[aXminster]

Worst card ever is a huge over exaggeration, but it wasn't as good as usual.

 

Erick Redbeard looked good and Cassidy vs Ari was solid.

 

The Gunns also looked good and I'm intrigued by Stokely trying to sign them.

 

Has Prince Nana or any of the Embassy been mentioned or seen since DBD?

 

Well, it is the worst rated AEW show that's not a Dark or Elevation on Cagematch, so I'm not the only one thinking that.

 

From my point of view:

Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo © vs. Dante Martin & Skye Blue

- Weak build, 0 to no hype even though Sammy and Dante are great.

Sonny Kiss vs. Parker Boudreaux (w/Slim J)

- Dark jobber vs newcomer I don't care about.

The Gunn Club (Austin Gunn & Colten Gunn) (w/Billy Gunn) vs. Beardhausen (Danhausen & Erick Redbeard)

- Not a fan of Gunn Club and don't really get Danhausen (never got exposed to him before) and I really don't want to watch Rowan wrestling in 2022.

Orange Cassidy (w/Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) vs. Ari Daivari (w/Parker Boudreaux & Slim J)

- Not a fan of the direction of OC and don't even know who Daivari is.

[The Blonde Bomber]

Rampage has been a clear B show for awhile and the ratings show that.

[Matt_Black]

Rampage has been a clear B show for awhile and the ratings show that.

 

Yeah, but it still gets good ratings for a show on at 10pm on a Friday night. It's certainly getting better ratings than the previous TNT strategy of "And now, stay tuned for an encore presentation of the movie that we just finished showing."

 

But yeah, I am also of the opinion that Rampage was very weak this week.

[Makhai]

Yeah, but it still gets good ratings for a show on at 10pm on a Friday night. It's certainly getting better ratings than the previous TNT strategy of "And now, stay tuned for an encore presentation of the movie that we just finished showing."

 

But yeah, I am also of the opinion that Rampage was very weak this week.

 

The question is though, is it worth keeping them there at 300k viewers for the cost when they could just sell that timeslot to an infomercial company? It's getting to the point where that might be break even.

[The Blonde Bomber]

Yeah, but it still gets good ratings for a show on at 10pm on a Friday night. It's certainly getting better ratings than the previous TNT strategy of "And now, stay tuned for an encore presentation of the movie that we just finished showing."

 

But yeah, I am also of the opinion that Rampage was very weak this week.

 

I hear that, but like anything if you’re giving people something they wanna watch they’ll come watch. At the start the ratings were comparable to dynamite and now…

[Mootinie]

I don't think AEW have the roster for 3 hours of A-show tier television every single week.

[aXminster]

Four months ago: TONY KHAN PROMISES TO GO BACK TO HIS "RUTHLESS ROOTS" FOR AEW RAMPAGE

 

TK acts like it's not a C-Show. That just pisses me off even more.

[djskeemask]

Four months ago: TONY KHAN PROMISES TO GO BACK TO HIS "RUTHLESS ROOTS" FOR AEW RAMPAGE

 

TK acts like it's not a C-Show. That just pisses me off even more.

 

To be fair, if you read that article closely, it does say for that specific episode that week, not in general.

[D-Lyrium]

When did Sonjay Dutt go from painfully bland cruiserweight to one of the most entertaining promo guys in wrestling?

[The Swanton825]

When did Sonjay Dutt go from painfully bland cruiserweight to one of the most entertaining promo guys in wrestling?

 

Around the time he did his pacifist gimmick back in TNA. As goofy as it was, him and Jay Lethal in his Black Machismo gimmick feuding over SoCal Val was genuinely entertaining. At least until the obligatory Russo swerve heel turn by Val that killed the momentum.

[Jaysin]

Four months ago: TONY KHAN PROMISES TO GO BACK TO HIS "RUTHLESS ROOTS" FOR AEW RAMPAGE

 

TK acts like it's not a C-Show. That just pisses me off even more.

 

What do you think a promoter is going to do, go "yeah, this show isn't important!"

 

Stop taking wrestling so seriously man. It's supposed to be fun.

[Derek B]

Around the time he did his pacifist gimmick back in TNA. As goofy as it was, him and Jay Lethal in his Black Machismo gimmick feuding over SoCal Val was genuinely entertaining. At least until the obligatory Russo swerve heel turn by Val that killed the momentum.

 

That was such a fun story, I loved it but I seemed to be in the minority among internet fans at the time XD I was 100% in the minority in my opinion of the AJ Style / Claire Lynch stuff.... ont because I thought it was a good story, but because it was the first story where AJ was looking comfortable in angles and talking, which was something that was always his major weakness. And ever since then he's been much better at the non-wrestling side of wrestling, I credit that storyline for that.

[milamber]

Been enjoying the Hey! (EW) videos with RJ City. A few of my favorites:

 

Taz -

Regal -

Statlander -

[milamber]

Julia's new song is a banger and her new ring gear is unique.

 

[The Swanton825]

Julia's new song is a banger and her new ring gear is unique.

 

 

The metal snob in me is disappointed that her theme doesn't keep with the black metal style of the rest of the House of Black but it's still a solid song. The guitar solo part reminds me of Entombed's To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth for some reason.

[djskeemask]

test, one...two.....please take Matt Menard off TV...the dude is a creep, has no charisma, and obnoxious, not even in a good heel type of way...just grating like when you catch your knuckles on the cheese grater....

[Jaysin]

3 hours ago, djskeemask said:

test, one...two.....please take Matt Menard off TV...the dude is a creep, has no charisma, and obnoxious, not even in a good heel type of way...just grating like when you catch your knuckles on the cheese grater....

You're insane. Both members of 2.0 have loads of charisma and good mic skills. 

[milamber]

Dynamite:

- Wasn't expecting Punk to open the show. Cowardly Cowboy. Going in hard on Mox & Eddie! Brawl! My hype level for the match has gone up a few notches.
- Good promo from Hobbs.
- Danielson vs Garcia 2 out of 3 Falls was my MOTN. Steamboat! Garcia conflicted.
- Mox/Punk still going! Steamboat ain't messing around.
- Blondes are stale. They need to break up or move to ROH next year. Billy & The Acclaimed are babyfaces now.
- Sonjay promos are great. Interested to see how Singh does against Wardlow.
- PAC referencing Kip. Idiots trying to "what" chant Jungle Boy :( I'm glad he didn't fall for Christian's spiel.
- King vs Storm was good. King made the most of her opportunity.
- La Facción Ingobernable vs Young Bucks & KENNETH was great. Andrade turned on Lee :O

House of the Dragon graphics were a good fit for Dynamite.

Rampage:

- Claudio/Dustin and Ruby/Ortiz mixed tag should be fun.
- Private Party vs Swerve in Their Glory (c) was good. Private Party made Lee look like a beast with their selling.
- Charlie hanging with the Factory. I want Hobbs beat them up like Wardlow does security lol.
- Hook squash was a waste after hyping up Clayton. Should have lasted at least a couple of minutes. Daddy Magic wants a taste.
- Buddy vs Serpentico was the better squash. Miro smash!
- Hayter should at least be booked on the All Out Buy-In.
- Ford vs Athena was solid but too short. The O-Face sell was great. Jade with a sledgehammer!
- Trustbusters vs Best Friends was my MOTN. Chuck got censored lol. Danhausen!

[Matt_Black]

You know, I've often thought that Jade Cargill was styling herself as a female Triple H, what with doing all the cool heel stuff without any of the comeuppance that every heel needs to get, & the bit with the sledgehammer cinched it.

Loved the bit with Sonny and Danhausen.