The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[The Blonde Bomber]

10 minutes ago, Jaysin said:

AEW doesn't need Mercedes. They may not have any names as big as Mercedes, but they have women that are far more talented, consistent, and safer workers. Mercedes is hella passionate about pro wrestling and I love that about her, but she botches so much that Sabu probably goes "slow down"

Seems like they’re doing an originals vs newbies feud with Saraya and Toni on one side I think turning heel while Britt and company are AEW defenders.

[StartChoppin]

33 minutes ago, Jaysin said:

AEW doesn't need Mercedes. They may not have any names as big as Mercedes, but they have women that are far more talented, consistent, and safer workers. Mercedes is hella passionate about pro wrestling and I love that about her, but she botches so much that Sabu probably goes "slow down"

Whether they need her or not is debatable. But she's brings her fanbase with her. NJPW World got a nice bump in subscribers just because she cut a promo and the Battle in the Valley sold its remaining (very expensive) tickets with her announced. These companies are very keen to do business with her.

Tony Khan signs big name free agents even when you could argue he doesn't need them. Even if she only has a contract with NJPW/Stardom TK will be trying to get her loaned to him as much as possible.

[Dalton]

4 hours ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

Seems like they’re doing an originals vs newbies feud with Saraya and Toni on one side I think turning heel while Britt and company are AEW defenders.

Definitely. The Road To Dynamite this week all but confirmed it. Britt straight up said that's the feud, and Saraya said that she chose Toni partially because of where they came from. 

[Matt_Black]

That women's match was a mess, story wise. A very well wrestled mess, but still a mess. Storm & Saraya were getting booed, and at times, they seemed to lean into that. But then Britt and Hayter were still doing the same heel shtick they always do.

I see a lot of people online blaming the fans for the poor reception to Toni, but it's really not their fault. If Toni was the plan all along they should have announced that at the get-go instead of teasing "Who's the partner" for several weeks. It's lousy booking, plain and simple.

[The Blonde Bomber]

17 minutes ago, Matt_Black said:

That women's match was a mess, story wise. A very well wrestled mess, but still a mess. Storm & Saraya were getting booed, and at times, they seemed to lean into that. But then Britt and Hayter were still doing the same heel shtick they always do.

I see a lot of people online blaming the fans for the poor reception to Toni, but it's really not their fault. If Toni was the plan all along they should have announced that at the get-go instead of teasing "Who's the partner" for several weeks. It's lousy booking, plain and simple.

If people blame fans for something 9 times out of 10 it tells me they don’t wanna admit something about the booking has just sucked.

[Matt_Black]

Well, it's not just the booking. Toni Storm just isn't terribly interesting. She's been with AEW since May, and she's little more than "babyface" character wise. Say what you will about Britt Baker, but she has worked very hard at developing her character, and Jamie Hayter has worked very hard at stalling the inevitable face turn and feud with Britt so she doesn't have to come up with a character.

[The Blonde Bomber]

37 minutes ago, Matt_Black said:

Well, it's not just the booking. Toni Storm just isn't terribly interesting. She's been with AEW since May, and she's little more than "babyface" character wise. Say what you will about Britt Baker, but she has worked very hard at developing her character, and Jamie Hayter has worked very hard at stalling the inevitable face turn and feud with Britt so she doesn't have to come up with a character.

That’s the booking though. Tony Khan does not know how to book an interesting women’s storyline. There’s rarely ever real cutting personal issues between the women. He doesn’t know how to portray them in a way to get over. 

[milamber]

- Mox vs Hangman was great. Clean win and no crimson mask.
- Adam Cole Baybay!
- Moriarty & Big Bill vs JungleHook was good. The suplex was perfect.
- Stingray!
- MJF doing the Disco Inferno bit about Takeshita speaking english and roasting celebrities lol.
- Takeshita vs Danielson was my MOTN. Take's new theme needs a better opening sting.
- Jay White joining Juice soon?
- Storm & Saraya vs DMD & Hayter was good. Shida with the suspect assist. No Moné... yet.
- Kingston & Ortiz trust issues.
- PWG shoutout. Not Ricky's best material. Strange doing a setup segment for a match that was already announced and it went too long.
- Elite vs Death Triangle (c) VII was great even though it was rushed.

3 PPV-quality matches and 2 good matches. The arena was a bit under-lit.

[Matt_Black]

10 hours ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

That’s the booking though. Tony Khan does not know how to book an interesting women’s storyline. There’s rarely ever real cutting personal issues between the women. He doesn’t know how to portray them in a way to get over. 

Not entirely the booking. Abadon is never on TV, let alone booked consistently, and they're very over with the audience when they do show up, and the character is something someone can see and say "Oh, I know exactly what this person is all about." Same thing with Orange Cassidy. I had never seen him before Double Or Nothing 2019, but once he hit the ring, I instantly got it.

Meanwhile, Adam Cole refuses to fully commit to the pirate gimmick!

[The Blonde Bomber]

2 hours ago, Matt_Black said:

Not entirely the booking. Abadon is never on TV, let alone booked consistently, and they're very over with the audience when they do show up, and the character is something someone can see and say "Oh, I know exactly what this person is all about." Same thing with Orange Cassidy. I had never seen him before Double Or Nothing 2019, but once he hit the ring, I instantly got it.

Meanwhile, Adam Cole refuses to fully commit to the pirate gimmick!

But the fact they are never on tv is the booking. These people are never booked and those people who are booked don’t end up getting over cause of what occurs on the show

[Jaysin]

[Dalton]

Three awesome matches from Dynamite yet again. Crazy that a company can still continue to put on such a good television show week after week. Even the down weeks are better than any other wrestling on TV in 20+ years.

[Hollywood]

19 minutes ago, Dalton said:

Three awesome matches from Dynamite yet again. Crazy that a company can still continue to put on such a good television show week after week. Even the down weeks are better than any other wrestling on TV in 20+ years.

Very true Dalton. I haven't been this excited to watch a weekly wrestling show since Mid-South.

[CGN91]

I second that in terms of the match quality. Three tremendously good matches is just insane people.

 

[The Swanton825]

1 hour ago, Dalton said:

Three awesome matches from Dynamite yet again. Crazy that a company can still continue to put on such a good television show week after week. Even the down weeks are better than any other wrestling on TV in 20+ years.

I guess I should've kept watching after Hangman vs Mox. Maybe I'm becoming an embittered old man, but Hangman taking the exact same bump that could've killed him last year followed by running a concussion storyline with Mox just felt tasteless.

[milamber]

- Juice vs Darby (c) was good
- That'll put butts in cement.
- Black Throne vs Eddie & Ortiz was good.
- Hauser/Danhausen/Jarrett segment was entertaining.
- TayJayAS vs Soho & Willow was my MOTN. Rare women's main event! More violent than the last women's street fight. Big win for Ruby.

[StartChoppin]

PPV quality matches on TV again for AEW. I love that they seemed to have put on a show of this quality specifically because they were in LA and felt they needed to impress the crowd. I always think wrestling is better when the booker is focussed on selling tickets and sending people home happy. Complacency is a killer in this business.

[CactusHack]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:50 AM, Matt_Black said:

Not entirely the booking. Abadon is never on TV, let alone booked consistently, and they're very over with the audience when they do show up, and the character is something someone can see and say "Oh, I know exactly what this person is all about." Same thing with Orange Cassidy. I had never seen him before Double Or Nothing 2019, but once he hit the ring, I instantly got it.

Meanwhile, Adam Cole refuses to fully commit to the pirate gimmick!

I'd argue that Abadon is held back by the gimmick. It's a spooky/dominant gimmick and only works if Abadon is winning the majority of their matches, but they aren't at an in-ring level yet to be a weekly focus point on TV. The hardcore showcase match last year against BBDMD was fun, but a good indication of where Abadon was at from a developing standpoint. They can't appear frequently like Skye Blue or Leila Grey in losing efforts without diluting and diminishing the character they've created.

[Matt_Black]

12 hours ago, CactusHack said:

I'd argue that Abadon is held back by the gimmick. It's a spooky/dominant gimmick and only works if Abadon is winning the majority of their matches, but they aren't at an in-ring level yet to be a weekly focus point on TV. The hardcore showcase match last year against BBDMD was fun, but a good indication of where Abadon was at from a developing standpoint. They can't appear frequently like Skye Blue or Leila Grey in losing efforts without diluting and diminishing the character they've created.

A character that needs to win but the wrestler isn't where they need to be at an in-ring level yet? So, Jade Cargill?

[milamber]

 

 

 

[BrokenCycle]

On 1/15/2023 at 9:41 PM, Matt_Black said:

A character that needs to win but the wrestler isn't where they need to be at an in-ring level yet? So, Jade Cargill?

You did not just compare Abadon to Jade Cargill. Come on, man, be better.

[Jaysin]

AEW embracing the sillier sides of pro wrestling is super hit and miss, but I love everything to do with the Double J group and Best Friends. Danhausen in particular stole the show during Orange vs Lethal. When he strummed the guitar I laughed harder than I should have.

Also, I want someone to make a supercut of Taz just chuckling and giggling at random nonsense in AEW

[The Blonde Bomber]

5 minutes ago, Jaysin said:

 

Also, I want someone to make a supercut of Taz just chuckling and giggling at random nonsense in AEW

There's at least a minute of that on each botchamania.

[Jaysin]

10 minutes ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

There's at least a minute of that on each botchamania.

I honestly forgot Botchamania was a thing. I'll have to start checking it out again. 

[Matt_Black]

17 hours ago, BrokenCycle said:

You did not just compare Abadon to Jade Cargill. Come on, man, be better.

Yeah, I'm sorry. Abadon is actually interesting.

 

13 hours ago, Jaysin said:

AEW embracing the sillier sides of pro wrestling is super hit and miss, but I love everything to do with the Double J group and Best Friends. Danhausen in particular stole the show during Orange vs Lethal. When he strummed the guitar I laughed harder than I should have.

Also, I want someone to make a supercut of Taz just chuckling and giggling at random nonsense in AEW

"Wait, I thought Danhausen was an usher?!?"
"He contains multitudes, Taz."