The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[milamber]

- Mox squashing Kenny's friend Nakazawa (who dropped the comedy stuff) was smart booking. Good promo.

- Dark Order vs Jurassic Express was solid. Trying to recruit Marko was a good bit of character development for Dark Order. Can't blame him for considering it either with their poor W/L record. Nice pop for Luchasaurus.

- Spears vs Avalon vs Darby was OK. Gave Darby a win and Janela some revenge against Spears. Darby vs Mox!!!

- Nyla being built back up. Didn't expect Kong on Dynamite yet. Not Allie's hair extensions! The Joshi crew should be back from Japan next week so hopefully we get 2 proper women's matches.

- I love it when heels come out to their babyface rival's music. LOL Jericho and MJF. They really are a lot alike. Thought they might make Wardlow MJF's bodyguard.

- PAC vs Page was great.

- Fun brawl with funny OC cameo.

- SCU © vs Sammy & Jericho was good. Scorpio pinning Jericho was pretty cool.

 

Not the strongest show as it felt like a Full Gear epilogue but I appreciate that they took more time for promos and angles.

[milamber]

WRESTLERS ON THE ROAD ORDERING ROOM SERVICE W/ JURASSIC EXPRESS -

 

SAMMY, FENIX & KNOX TRY THE DEADLY ONE CHIP CHALLENGE -

[milamber]

Next week on AEW:

 

Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley

Private Party vs. PnP

Nick Jackson vs. Rey Fenix

12 Man Battle Royal

(Hopefully a good women's match)

 

[Mootinie]

Dynamite last week was a very good show. A home run in several regards.

 

Great segment with Mox to start the show and I loved the video beforehand with Kenny.

 

Hangman Page and PAC had a much improved match compared to Full Gear, lots more energy and a noticeably quicker pace. Good call backs to previous matches too. They touted it as the "rubber match" at Full Gear but I'm hoping they renege on that as they both seem to be coming into their own as opponents and now appear to have a very sound chemistry in the ring together.

 

The MJF promo was money. Very fiery and passionate, good comedic timing with Jericho even if it did feel a bit forced and too rehearsed, but I can let that slide. He needs to lower his voice a bit though, speak clearly, not loudly.

 

The short Allie promo was nice and probably the first time I haven't disliked Brandi Rhodes being on my screen so... yeah, nothing wrong with that!

 

The idea of the Dark Order recruiting more members is a really good move. I wish The Wyatt Family had kept this story going for longer, so hopefully AEW give it the legs that it deserves.

 

The finish to the main event was great. I love that they're making an effort with talents like Private Party, Darby Allin and now Scorpio Sky. I imagine this leads to Jericho vs. Sky for the AEW title on Dynamite before year's end, with PnP emerging as the next significant challengers for SCU's tag team titles.

 

Early days, but they seem to run a better TV show than PPV, which is something I never expected to be saying.

[milamber]

<p>New Being the Elite:

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/pAaEeRpmxUM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="“This Is Supposed To Be Fun” - Being The Elite Ep. 180"></iframe></div></div><p> </p><p>

Dark looks good this week:</p><p> </p><p>

<strong>Big Swole & Kris Statlander vs Baker & Riho</strong></p><p><strong>

Stronghearts (CIMA & T-Hawk) vs The Young Bucks</strong></p><p><strong>

</strong></p><p>

For anyone who doesn't know Kris, she's arguably the fastest rising female wrestler on the US indys this year. Similar to Kylie Rae and Deonna Purazzo in 2017-2018.</p>

[Greylocke]

<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Full Gear Thoughts:</span></p><p> </p><p>

First half of the card was average, but nothing terrible, second half was good.</p><p> </p><p>

For some reason they find it mandatory to give Adam Page 20-minute matches on PPV when most of the time he only has material for like 10, and the match really felt like it dragged on forever. It's almost like the booker played TEW and wanted to protect Page from some arbitrary 80% match rating ceiling.The shorter rematch on last week's Dynamite was so much better than the PPV match when it was compressed to a more appropriate length. Could also be that they were holding back because of the rematch, but I don't think that's what they should do for a PPV match.</p><p> </p><p>

The next match was actually a fitting contrast. Shawn Spears' offense isn't very interesting most of the time, but they booked the match well enough to make sure that there was enough variety to keep things interesting, and the match ended at the appropriate time before it gets boring. Actually surprisingly enjoyable for a match which I missed most of the build-up on Dark.</p><p> </p><p>

I'm glad there was <em>finally</em> a hype promo package for the women's title match at the Buy-in introducing some of the background. Would have been better if they actually aired on their TV show <em>before</em> the PPV, but it's better than nothing. I recall there was much talk on how the women's division would be treated with the same importance as the men, but so far the time devoted to hype the women's title match isn't even half of what has been devoted to the men's title match. Something I hope would improve after this.</p><p> </p><p>

World Title match was very entertaining, but Cody seems to be relying on the overbooked mayhem structure for all his big singles matches so far - audience interference, blood, referee ejection, screwjob finish....just about all the classic tropes are employed here. I think Cody is capable of pulling off memorable matches without using all these, and I hope I get to see it on the next PPV. The result was the right one, although I think they could have gotten a bit more mileage out of the story by having MJF continue to convince Cody that he was acting in Cody's interest and save the big turn for a later date.</p><p> </p><p>

About the "unsanctioned" match.....I appreciated that they went out of the way to do different things in the match, especially after seeing how much alike all of WWE's plunder matches have been last year. I just don't think there story behind the feud really warranted the amount of effort the guys were going through to torture and kill each other. I recall Moxley vs Jonela being criticized as being violent for the sake of violent. I didn't feel that way....or rather, I though the story made sense for them to simply try to out-violent each other because of their personal career background/history. That match served the purpose of establishing Moxley's personality as a new character in AEW. <em>This</em> match, though, I feel, really feels like they were being violent for the sake of it. I still think something like this should have been saved for a legit personal bloodfeud, which I think Omega/Moxley never reached that level.</p><p> </p><p>

<span style="text-decoration:underline;">Dynamite thoughts:</span></p><p> </p><p>

First hour was pretty much the momentum building show for a bunch of people they're probably going to feature heavily in the upcoming month getting easy wins. Nothing wrong with that, but it also means nothing too exciting. Luchasaurus return was the major highlight of the hour.</p><p> </p><p>

I expected Darby to accept Moxley's challenge at some point the moment Moxley cut his promo, but I was expecting (and hoping) they'd feed a few lower card guys to Moxley first before that happens, and that Darby would get a major feud. Still think they could have waited a bit on that match-up.</p><p> </p><p>

Page vs PAC is, as mentioned, much better than the PPV match. This is the match I wished had been on the PPV. Match of the night.</p><p> </p><p>

As I mentioned above, I think they could have gotten some more mileage out of MJF pretending to be Cody's friend. Cody looked ready to forgive him before was low-blowed. MJF could have then tried to manipulate himself into a title feud by pretending that he wants to "carry on the fight for Cody" and convince Cody to give him a title match....and then fail and only THEN turn on Cody.</p><p> </p><p>

They're deliberately keeping things vague on whether MJF will join Inner Circle, which I do think is the right move. Personally, I don't think he should join. Someone who calims to be the "new face of AEW" shouldn't be joining anything where he isn't the undisputed leader, and joining the champion's faction automatically makes you second fiddle at best.</p><p> </p><p>

Main event was very enjoyable ovarall, but I'm not a fan of Jericho being the one getting pinned unless they're actually going to build Scorpio Sky as a World Title contender in the near future. The champion should have been protected better, especially when you already have Sammy Guevara in the match to play the role of the fall guy.</p>

[milamber]

- Private Party vs Best Friends was great. I didn't expect Best Friends to win.

- Big Swole & Kris Statlander vs Riho & Baker was great. Kris looked impressive and commentary really put her over.

- Stronghearts vs Young Bucks was the most fun match because of the fast pace.

 

Best Dark yet. Dustin was entertaining on commentary.

[Mootinie]

Dark was very good, yeah. Kris needs signing right now.

[milamber]

- Nick Jackson vs Fenix was great. Big fan of the Fenix's Kinniku Buster Driver (aka Black Fire Driver). Rick Knox's reactions to all the kicks was priceless.

- Dr. Britt vs Shida was a good match with the right result. I wonder if Britt's frustration is planting seeds for a heel turn or Brandi trying to recruit her.

- Finally some Dark Order gimmick development.

- Battle Royale was fun.

- LOL Jericho. Melody! Baby Yoda! Reverse psychology! I liked Jurassic Express sticking up for SCU.

- PnP vs Private Party was good but I think they could have told the same story without slowing down the pace so much. Private Party with another upset win.

- Darby vs Mox was my MOTN. Hell of an entrance from Darby and very on-brand for him. Even better that they incorporated the body bag into the match. Paradigm Shift from the turnbuckle was sick.

 

[Derek B]

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="color:#FF0000;">WARNING: SPOILERS</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p>

Just want to pop in to basically agree with everything from the last few posts. Kris Statlander has a lot of athletic ability and could do some great things given more experience, so I hope she is signed. Big Swole is also someone I've liked every time I've seen her too, including in the Mae Young Classics so I'm happy to see her around even if she is enhancement just now.</p><p> </p><p>

Dynamite was another very good show this week with a couple of unpredictable results that very much surprised me. Hikaru Shida seems to be far better than Britt Baker, who I've been unimpressed with so far, so it was good to see her pick up the win here.</p><p> </p><p>

Nick Jackson vs Fenix was great for people I've grown so accustomed to seeing in tag team action. I legit don't think I've ever seen Nick in singles but he more than held up his own side of this match, proving he's more than just a tag team guy. The right guy won though, Fenix looked good in singles and I want to see more of both him and his brother Pentagon in singles in future as that is where I think they both shine the most.</p><p> </p><p>

And man... Darby Allin feels like something special in the making, got actual goosebumps during his entrance and he once again looked great in defeat with Mox, including the incredible looking finish.</p><p> </p><p>

Some big matches confirmed for next week too, very excited to see them but I won't spoilt them here. I'm very impressed with AEW's ability to deliver on their word so far, they've earned a lot of goodwill from me for that so far and I hope they continue to deliver in this manner for a long time to come. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[Greylocke]

<p>You know a roster is way undersized overall when Billy Gunn of all people is playing the immovable giant role in the battle royal. I hope they let Wardlow and/or Hager wrestle soon because they really need to add some hoss action for variety. Right now all they have is Luchasaurus, who is awesome but not quite doing enough. If WWE really wants to take the war seriously they should feature good hosses like Keith Lee and Killian Dain more on their shows to capitalize on what the rival is currently still lacking.</p><p> </p><p>

It'd be interesting to see if AEW can somehow disprove the "overness cap" theory by turning Billy Gunn into a mega-star, though. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

The diamond ring reward, if it really is just an ultra-valuable collectible item without any booking prop attached to it (like a title shot) sounds like the perfect reward for someone like MJF. Can't wait to see him parading around with it after he hopefully wins next week.</p><p> </p><p>

The Dark Order recruit video is a promising start to what may potentially be really good. The undercard really needs something more than just plain workrate matches.</p><p> </p><p>

And I know the Inner Circle and the Elite are the biggest stars, but they're really all over the show this week. Inner Circle seems to be feuding with almost everyone: Bucks, SCU, Jurassic Express, Private Party, Dustin. I'm still getting this weird vibe that despite having heel personalities they seem like stout underdog babyfaces who are bravely taking on the rest of the world despite not having the numbers to match up to the number of enemies they're facing.</p><p> </p><p>

Main event feels disappointingly one-sided. Darby's character is really the perfect one to have a long feud with Moxley, so I hope this isn't a one-off, and they continue this with Darby progressively coming closer to beating Moxley until he succeeds.</p>

[milamber]

<p>New BTE -

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-kuxSnuupZI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="“We Lied” - Being The Elite Ep. 181"></iframe></div></div><p>

Road to Cody's return -

</p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/fElljNwrNYo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="AEW - The Road To Sears Centre"></iframe></div></div><p> </p><p>

This week on Dark:</p><p> </p><p>

Trent vs Penta</p><p>

Shanna vs Big Swole</p><p>

Evans vs Omega © for the AAA Mega Championship</p>

[Self]

<p>Finally have television again, and the first thing the missus found to watch was AEW. So we caught up on the last three episodes. The first time I've watched a full episode of wrestling television since... maybe when Impact stopped being an hour? Possibly Dragon Gate. </p><p> </p><p>

It's mostly the ex-WWE guys who stick out to me. Great looks. Carry themselves like men. Everything's paced well and looks good. Moxley looks like a real bad ass. PAC is exceptional. Trent's good. Shawn Spears is probably the only guy with that background looking 'meh' to me. I can see why other wrestlers would rate him, but he's very bland. After that promo Cody did on the go-home show, I might finally get why people got behind him. Passion. Believability. Only slightly harmed by his wife playing such an obviously make-believe character. </p><p> </p><p>

I didn't think I would like Darby Allen, but dang it I do. He moves so well and the match with Moxley went exactly how it should have. One sided but the kid kept fighting. I'm also fully prepared to get on board with Adam Page.</p><p> </p><p>

SCU just seems sad to me. Daniels & Kaz mainly. 40 years olds dressed like they're 20 year olds, being goofy. </p><p> </p><p>

Jericho is a treasure, but I didn't need to see him wrestle two weeks in a row.</p><p> </p><p>

The wife loved Fenix/Jackson and Moxley/Allen, and Wednesday's card looks great, so I might just be watching wrestling again.</p>

[Astyn]

Finally have television again, and the first thing the missus found to watch was AEW. So we caught up on the last three episodes. The first time I've watched a full episode of wrestling television since... maybe when Impact stopped being an hour? Possibly Dragon Gate.

 

How do you find such a women!!

[milamber]

- Pentagon vs Trent was good once it got going. Big win for Trent.

- Shanna interview almost brought tears to my eyes. Also nice to see Big Swole cut a counter promo. I hope they integrate some of the footage from these interviews into future hype packages on Dynamite and PPV.

- Big Swoll vs Shanna was good but the final pin was sloppy. Between a single match and 2 promos they established their personalities and primary motivations. Now if only they could replicate this simple but effective character development for the women on Dynamite.

- Finally got a Kong squash match.

- Evans vs Omega © was great. Jack countering the Kitaro Crusher into a breakdance was insane.

 

My favorite Dark show so far. Spears was entertaining on commentary. Lots of heelish digs and putting himself and Tully over but without detracting from the in-ring action too much. I wouldn't mind seeing him face Omega.

[milamber]

<p>- Is Virgil the worst ring announcer of all time? The correct answer is yes. Jericho could troll any crowd in his sleep. JeriGoat! Festivals of Friendship never end well.</p><p>

- Best Friends vs Lucha Bros was solid. Trent is on a roll. I wouldn't mind if Penta turned on Fenix and they shifted to singles for a while. The tag division is stacked enough anyway.</p><p>

- Bea & Emi vs Statlander & Shida was good. Happy to hear Shida get chants. Emi finally got more heel heat. Good to see Kris on TV. I want to see Shida vs Bea 1-on-1. Looks like we might get a Shida vs Emi #1 contenders match soon.</p><p>

- It's so nice to hear Mox deliver promos that suit him.</p><p>

- Cody's entrance makes him look like the biggest star in the industry. Interesting way to debut Butcher and The Blade... managed by Dark Bunny Allie. They have a good reputation on the Indys. One of them is Allie's husband Braxton Sutter from Impact.</p><p>

- PAC vs Omega was great. That's 2 wins in a row for Kenny.</p><p>

- MJF vs Page was solid. MJF cheating to win was the right call. Go DDP! It wouldn't be Dynamite without a brawl LOL.</p><p>

- JoinTheDarkOrder</p><p>

- Scorpio vs Jericho © was good. Moxley and Omega both have a strong claim to be the next contender.</p><p> </p><p>

One of the weaker shows for in-ring quality but still enjoyable.</p>

[Jaysin]

<p>The Butcher and The Blade look like 80s action movie henchmen. They’re both majorly balding. It’s hard to take them seriously. They botched their double team move on Cody as well. </p><p> </p><p>

I like their names and idea behind them, but just can’t get past their badly balding heads. Just shave your head guys.</p>

[MightyDavidson]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46243" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The Butcher and The Blade look like 80s action movie henchmen. They’re both majorly balding. It’s hard to take them seriously. They botched their double team move on Cody as well. <p> </p><p> I like their names and idea behind them, but just can’t get past their badly balding heads. Just shave your head guys.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> How did they botch it? One guy suplexed Cody across the other guy's knees.</p>

[Jaysin]

He barely connected with the knees if he connected at all.

[MightyDavidson]

The only actual botch was MJF's attempt at Cody's finisher.

[Jaysin]

Yeah, that was brutally ugly.

[milamber]

<p>I hope they stick Allie, Butcher and Blade into a stable with Marty.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="MightyDavidson" data-cite="MightyDavidson" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46243" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The only actual botch was MJF's attempt at Cody's finisher.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I think that was on purpose... or maybe I'm giving him too much credit.</p>

[MightyDavidson]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="milamber" data-cite="milamber" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="46243" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I hope they stick Allie, Butcher and Blade into a stable with Marty.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I think that was on purpose... or maybe I'm giving him too much credit.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I can believe he was meant to do the move poorly, I can't believe he was meant to do the move quite THAT poorly. Page damn near landed on top of him after all.</p>

[TheGhost]

So T-Minues 1 hour until tickets go onsale for Dynamite in Cleveland. I know we have some people from Ohio here, anyone else going?

[Greylocke]

Dynamite's opening segment stole the show. Jericho and Guevara do the hug way better than the Best Friends ever did. Even Jericho's Dad was on point. And that was the most entertaining thing Jake Hager ever did in his entire pro-wrestling career.

 

Side note: Jericho and Dad are splitting image of each other, unlike the Rhodes.

 

Did they ever explain the criteria behind the rankings? Is win/loss ratio more or less important than mere quantity? And do tag wins and losses have any bearings on singles ranking? It's still hard to justify Brandi Rhodes with her 100% unblemished record not being in the top 5 but Allie and Nyla Rose made it with their negative ratios.

 

The booking of the women's division feel particularly messy compared to the rest of the roster. The men's undercard may not get that much TV time but most of the time there's still continuity in feuds. When one guy/team attack another there usually resolution in the upcoming weeks. The women's segments has had too many things that seem to go nowhere: Riho shoving Yuka away at Fyter Fest, Kong vs Kong confrontation at Fight for the Fallen, Brandi attacking Hayter backstage, Bea getting attacked by Kong last week....none of that were followed up on. Obviously part of the reason is they involve workers who are not signed full-time to AEW so they're probably not available, but in that case why tease/start feuds with those people? Why not just have the guests show up and wrestle, and start stories with the workers that are actually on the full-time roster? Maybe some of those feuds will be brought up again later, but there's been absolutely zero reference to them in the meantime so how many viewers will even remember those by then? The one story that was actually followed up on and resolved was one that was started by a legit accidental botch and concussion, which really shows a lack in any real planning they made for this division.

 

First time I heard JR bring something positive from the commentary table in AEW: if MJF intends to keep using the Cross-Rhodes (and not botch it), he absolutely should name it the Double-Cross, or Double Cross-Rhodes. A most fitting name considering the backstory. And happy that the right guy won the diamond ring.