The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[milamber]

- 4v4 Mixed Tag - ***

- Barnett vs Claudio - Nice to see Mox is OK. I want to see Barnett vs Shibata Pure Rules. - *** 3/4

- Luchasaurus vs Wayne - Nice to see Luchasaurus win on his own. *** 1/4

- TMDK vs AssClaimed (c) - *** 1/4

 

- Righteous vs MJF (c) - Should have been used as a cool down match later. *** 1/4

- Shibata vs Eddie (c) - ****

- Julia vs Statlander (c) - Shame there was no title change. - ****

- 4-Way # Contender Tag Match - Should have been moved to TV to trim the bloated card. - *** 1/2

- Hangman vs Swerve - Right result. **** 1/2

- Yuta vs Ricky - Mox's commentary helped sell this match. - *** 3/4

- ZSJ vs Danielson - Technical masterpiece that lived up to the hype. *****

- Jericho & Golden Lovers vs Ospreay, Takeshita & Sammy - Another classic painting from Mel Coleman. - **** 1/4

- Aussie Open vs FTR (c) - Should have been the opening match. End stretch was sloppy with the injury. - ****

- Christian (c) vs Darby (2 out of 3 Falls) - Lots of crazy bumps. Wayne turning was fun. I hope Perry joins Christian's Crew next. Sting! YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME! **** 1/2

 

Zero Hour was like an average Rampage. The main show delivered but it was way too long. ZSJ vs Danielson was a MOTY Contender.

Edited October 4, 2023 by milamber

[Jaysin]

ZSJ vs Bryan at WrestleKingdom is all but confirmed at this point. 

[aXminster]

Christian vs Darby and Swerve vs Hangman were my favorite matches of the night.

Darby is absolutely insane, Christian is awesome and it's great to see Edge debuting. Haven't seen anything from him since 09/10, he was an incredible heel but I don't remember ever seeing him as a face.

I love Swerve. It was great seeing him winning and let's hope he enters the title picture right now. If he doesn't have a match for the world title until Full Gear/Winter is Coming (whichever comes later), I'm gonna be pissed.

Righteous should have won. I have never heard of them and they won me over in two weeks. Really cool look and presentation. It would be even better if they had a woman in the group. Penelope Ford would be awesome with the white outfit and the cult-like vibe. Also I feel like there's no point in keeping the belt on MJF right now specially because Adam Cole is injured. It's time to move on and a handicap match was the perfect timing.

Some matches could have been on TV like the multi-man tag (no point in having a #1 contender match when the champs are having open challenges every week), Starks vs Yuta is a Collision match and Kingston vs the ROH guy was pretty meh.

Maybe I'll try watching Danielson vs Sabre Jr again. I did not pay much attention because technical wrestling is not really my thing. But everybody is saying incredible things. Maybe I missed something.

[The Swanton825]

13 hours ago, aXminster said:

Darby is absolutely insane, Christian is awesome and it's great to see Edge debuting. Haven't seen anything from him since 09/10, he was an incredible heel but I don't remember ever seeing him as a face.

Edge as a face is like Christian as a face, temporary. It's just a matter of time before the Ultimate Opportunist comes back out.

[Jaysin]

58 minutes ago, The Swanton825 said:

Edge as a face is like Christian as a face, temporary. It's just a matter of time before the Ultimate Opportunist comes back out.

Man that original Ultimate Opportunist run was so delightfully evil. 

[Eternal Phoenix]

Edge (or Adam Copeland, now) can be a good face. He did some pretty good work in the upper midcard on Smackdown prior to the heel turn and Matt Hardy feud, including an incredible latter match with Eddie Guerrero and his tag title run with Rey Mysterio. You know, back when he has the Marilyn Manson song for his entrances. But him being a magnificent heel is the reason he's a first ballot Hall of Famer. Ultimate Opportunist, Rated R Superstar, and the patriarch of La Familia are just epic runs. A manipulative, cheating, cowardly heel who not only will fight like a cornered animal if he has to but also actually does have the skill to beat many opponents almost clean. Edge redefined what it meant to be a cool heel.

[Jaysin]

I typically find RJ City insufferable, but his segments with Toni Storm are so cringey that they're entertaining as hell. Toni is really leaning into the whacked out star character and it's really growing into a great character for her. I'm glad there is some sort of direction for one of the more talented women on the roster. 

[Jaysin]

Also, I love that since Rick Knox's botch, he hasn't been used on camera. I know he'll be back at some point, but I'll enjoy the decent-to-good refs being used while I can. 

I wish Chioda would get signed somewhere. 

[Jaysin]

Did Christian's F bomb make it to the TNT version of the show? It was such a great moment that I feel like censorship would really detract from it.

[milamber]

- Canadian invasion backstage.
- Nick vs Fenix (c) was great.
- The toy giraffe made the Cole/Roddy/Kingdom segment funnier.
- Griff vs Wardlow was an OK squash.
- AssClaimed (c) vs Kip, Butcher & Blade was solid.
- Timeless Toni!
- Fun segment but where was Cardblade? Looking forward to MJF vs Switchblade.
- Jericho & Kenny vs Takeshita & Fletcher was good. Don blaming poor Kyle. Hobbs smash!
- MJF & Caster's one-sided twitter relationship made it to TV lol. Joe looking like a boss.
- Skye vs Toni was good. Toni's character work is fantastic. She should take on Mariah May as her protege.
- Copeland & Christian segment was good until the FITE replay cut out before the hug.

Edited October 6, 2023 by milamber

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

Skye Blue looked great here, really wish Tony would push her instead of using her as a jobber.

Her in-ring works looks and feels different from the rest of the division.

Perhaps a heel turn would give Skye momentum? She's be a great killer heel.

I think a "no gimmick needed" martial arts/MMA gimmick with a Sub-Zero influenced gear would really get her over.

Toni Storm's new outfit is great, but her gimmick feels too cartoonish for me.

There were times Toni came off like a new gen WWE star.

Overall, I do like her gimmick, and hope she gets a push -- she does stand out right now and has heat with the champion.

[Jaysin]

Fallen star Toni is too cartoony, but let's saddle plucky underdog Skye with a heel Glacier gimmick. 

[The Swanton825]

TBH I'd love a heel Glacier gimmick (really wanted to do one of my own when I was wrestling, but I was too fat and uncoordinated to be a believable martial artist), but I also like Toni's gimmick.

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

16 hours ago, Jaysin said:

Fallen star Toni is too cartoony, but let's saddle plucky underdog Skye with a heel Glacier gimmick. 

Glacier gear, not a Glacier gimmick. There's a big difference. 

That'd be like saying Vader was cartoony when he wore the Mastadon mask or Liger was cartoony because he came out in a superhero outfit. As wrestlers, they were serious as it gets, but the outfits they wore were elaborate.

She would do well booked like a female Samoa Joe or Ken Shamrock. I would have Skye Blue come in and beat the breaks off opponents with kicks. Have her say very little. 

(To be fair, I should've said she shouldn't attempt to wrestle in the outfit in the ring. We aren't going WCW Mortis here)

Skye's been beaten in just about every match, she needs a character change for the fans to take her seriously again. I agree she's a natural babyface. So was Bayley. 

Toni Storm can really overperform that gimmick sometimes. Really took me out of the match around 2:14 with the way she yelled "how dare you" at the referee. I really like the gimmick overall but sometimes Toni really does get on my nerves.

[Big Roguey]

It'd be a tough sell to have Skye Blue booked as a dominant Shamrock/Joe type figure in that division given she's like 5'2" and a buck ten in weight. 

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

9 hours ago, Big Roguey said:

It'd be a tough sell to have Skye Blue booked as a dominant Shamrock/Joe type figure in that division given she's like 5'2" and a buck ten in weight. 

(I really like to provide booking examples with my analysis so it doesn't feel like I'm nitpicking. I can leave it out in the future if people feel it's too off topic). 

I definitely think Skye Blue needs to change something to get the fans to take her seriously again. She doesn't have to stay a heel. That's the main point.

Bayley had a similar gimmick in NXT. She turned heel and flourished in that role -- though she had a much better push as a babyface than Skye Blue. 

I agree it's a bit of a tightrope. Smaller wrestlers have done really well in that role before.

Hook is relatively small for the men's division, but AEW has pushed Hook like a monster from the beginning with a similar gimmick and he's often taken on much larger wrestlers. Hook probably has become their second biggest home-grown star.

(Low-Ki might be a better point of comparison than Shamrock or Joe. I'm not super familiar with Low-Ki's early TNA booking). 

Edited October 7, 2023 by ColdBloodedSausageMaker

[The Swanton825]

Skye's biggest hurdle with a gimmick like that isn't her height, it's her cute cherub face. She could take my head off with a kick and I'd still be thinking "d'aww!" the whole time. In comparison, Low Ki looks like the kind of person who is always plotting how to murder everyone in the room.

[Matt_Black]

3 hours ago, The Swanton825 said:

Skye's biggest hurdle with a gimmick like that isn't her height, it's her cute cherub face. She could take my head off with a kick and I'd still be thinking "d'aww!" the whole time. In comparison, Low Ki looks like the kind of person who is always plotting how to murder everyone in the room.

Yeah, it's the same reason I never bought Zelina Vega as a heel in WWE. She's just so tiny and adorable.

Besides, AEW has enough heels in the women's division who get screen time. They need more credible babyfaces. Well, credible faces who aren't hurt. Right now, they've got Stat and Shida and that's basically it. Britt shouldn't be a face, and who knows how long before she gets hurt again, they're content to have Willow job out to everybody, and they don't seem to know if Toni is a face or not.

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

Thought this title change was booked perfectly. Great match too.

Big Bill and Ricky Starks could be a force in AEW -- they could be great heels and headline a couple PPVs. The spot with Bill slamming Dax Harwood in the ring got some immediate heat.

Would highly recommend the table spot as well. Really well done.

Bill & Starks remind me a lot of 90s Shawn and Diesel here. Both are great fits for their role.

I wish they showed this on next week's Dynamite. I get that Tony wanted to protect FTR a bit though -- they are definitely "top guys" in the company.

(I still think Big Bill needs a new name).

[The Swanton825]

6 hours ago, Matt_Black said:

Yeah, it's the same reason I never bought Zelina Vega as a heel in WWE. She's just so tiny and adorable.

Besides, AEW has enough heels in the women's division who get screen time. They need more credible babyfaces. Well, credible faces who aren't hurt. Right now, they've got Stat and Shida and that's basically it. Britt shouldn't be a face, and who knows how long before she gets hurt again, they're content to have Willow job out to everybody, and they don't seem to know if Toni is a face or not.

I could totally see Skye better as a babyface working like a female Spike Dudley. Where she's got all this inner fire that keeps her in the fight no matter how outmatched or outnumbered she is.

[milamber]

- Ricky & Big Bill vs FTR (c) was a straight up mugging 😮 New Faces of Collision.

- Danielson vs Fletcher was my MOTN.  

- BBG vs Angelico, Gravity & Metalik was solid. Jay is the true Champion.

- Wayne is a made man getting a huge storyline at such a young age.

- Iron Savages vs AssClaimed (c) was solid.

- Toni vs Hogan was good. Amazing titantron. The scripts lol.

- Komander vs Kingston (c) was great.

- Copeland segment was fun.

[milamber]

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by milamber

[milamber]

Big show tomorrow thanks to TK getting annoyed at NXT lol. 10 minute overrun and a bonus pre-show banger.

 

[aXminster]

They really had Swerve lose in the #1 Contender match for the freakin TNT championship. I'm actually mad right now.

[ColdBloodedSausageMaker]

13 hours ago, milamber said:

Big show tomorrow thanks to TK getting annoyed at NXT lol. 10 minute overrun and a bonus pre-show banger.

 

Tony going this far to compete with NXT on a night when viewership will probably already be down seems like a poor decision. 

Booking a TV supercard on a night where many fans aren't used to watching Dynamite to compete with NXT is an understandable mistake. 

Tony scheduling a 10-minute overrun to inflate viewership, making the first thirty minutes commercial-free and then scheduling a buy-in for a Dynamite wasn't a good decision given the circumstances. 

Tony made AEW look desperate with these decisions and I'm not sold AEW will even justify this in the ratings. 

I have to think WWE wanted Tony to react that way. AEW probably isn't going to beat the entire RAW Main Event in the ratings. Asuka, Becky Lynch, Cody, Cena, Dominik Mysterio, Heyman, LA Knight, Rhea Ripley and (literally) The Undertaker were all on the show.

I don't think Tony trying to go head-to-head with what essentially was a RAW after Wrestlemania will work. Maybe I'm wrong though.