The All Elite Wrestling Discussion Thread

[BHK1978]

Has any promotion at any point in history had a tag division as good as AEW's?

 

Not even trying to be an AEW fanboy, but holy moly, their tag ranks are friggin stacked!

 

Hopefully the promo Santana and Ortiz cut on Elevation is an indicator that they're on their way to the top finally. In my opinion they are the best team in the world bar none and have been for a few years. Even though I adore the Inner Circle, it's kind of put Santana and Ortiz on the backburner in the tag division.

 

Just look at any year the NWA ran the Crockett Cup in the 80's and I think you would get your answer. Or look at the WWF tag teams in the 80's. Heck I would even say 1990's WCW with Doom, The Steiners, Road Warriors, Midnight Express, SST could compete with any tag division. Obviously it is all subjective but I do think you are looking through your fan boy glasses if you think that AEW's tag team roster could compete with any of the above mentioned tag divisions.

[Rampaaage]

I think AEW just did a great job of signing actual tag team wrestlers with an appreciation for the style rather than opting for grouping together a bunch of singles wrestlers who they had nothing for in creative as we tend to see more and more.

 

As much as I like Mox and Eddie, I'm glad they didn't win the belts because having a mismatched team of two singles stars (regardless of how well they built up their relationship) take the belts of your current champs just kind of takes a dump on the whole division imo.

[ironfist]

Just look at any year the NWA ran the Crockett Cup in the 80's and I think you would get your answer. Or look at the WWF tag teams in the 80's. Heck I would even say 1990's WCW with Doom, The Steiners, Road Warriors, Midnight Express, SST could compete with any tag division. Obviously it is all subjective but I do think you are looking through your fan boy glasses if you think that AEW's tag team roster could compete with any of the above mentioned tag divisions.

 

The 80s are probably the peak of Tag Team wrestling in the United States period but there hasn't been a tag division with the depth of AEW's in a couple of decades. Which when you're that far removed, I can kind of see the rose colored glasses outlook.

 

Their tag division is pretty damn good though when at the top you have The Bucks, FTR, Santana and Ortiz, The Lucha Brothers/Death Triangle, and The Best Friends.

 

Then below that you have a number of veteran teams like Uno and Grayson, The Hybrid 2, Silver and Reynolds, plus the Butcher and the Blade

 

However, the most important thing is the number of young teams they've signed and are developing. The Acclaimed, Private Party, Top Flight, Bear Country, and The Varsity Blondes.

 

Then you have makeshift teams like Scorpio and Page, any combination of a stable like Team Taz, etc.

 

This is all after they broke up SCU mind you and I didn't include Jurassic Express because I don't believe they're long for this world. At the end of the day that's a pretty stacked division.

[Captain Kayfabe]

Has any promotion at any point in history had a tag division as good as AEW's?

 

Not even trying to be an AEW fanboy, but holy moly, their tag ranks are friggin stacked!

 

Hopefully the promo Santana and Ortiz cut on Elevation is an indicator that they're on their way to the top finally. In my opinion they are the best team in the world bar none and have been for a few years. Even though I adore the Inner Circle, it's kind of put Santana and Ortiz on the backburner in the tag division.

 

The tag division is their biggest strength, by far. I would say that the late 1980's WWE tag division was the strongest ever though.

[Self]

They have a lot of teams, but I'm not sold on how they use them. I'm not excited by their tag division on it's own. They frequently feature makeshift teams (Jericho/Sammy, Moxley/Kingston, PAC/A Lucha Brother, Sting/Darby) in top spots, and the most pushed guys are more involved in multi-man stable feuds (FTR, Santana & Ortiz, Bucks) than the division they're in.

 

It's great they have a lot of teams, who identify as such, and that's a wonderful step in the right direction. Way better than WWE. But I'm not sucked in.

[Mootinie]

The tag division would be a lot better if not for having one team that has beaten every other team, including the ones they had lost to previously.

[Derek B]

The tag division would be a lot better if not for having one team that has beaten every other team, including the ones they had lost to previously.

 

Whatever team that is sounds like champion material

[crownsy]

The tag division would be a lot better if not for having one team that has beaten every other team, including the ones they had lost to previously.

 

I mean i feel like this is a tired take. Anytime any of the Elite or Jericho sniffs the main event title scene it's "of course, they have a stake in the company so they book themselves to bury everyone"

 

Omega, Cody, and the Bucks spent the entire first year an a half putting everyone on the roster over. Half the reason a ton of these guys who were seen as Indy only guys or WWE failures are way over and in the UMC/ME of Dynamite now is that they did so. What, were they supposed to just be Midcard jobbers for the life of the promotion? They literally put this company together with there star power from NJPW and connections on the indies.

 

 

So what, now they can just never be champions or people will complain?

 

Also, it's pretty obvious that Omega is going to lose to Hangman in front of live crowds, they've been setting that angle to pay off since the split. I suppose if you don't feel Hangman is "worthy" of his spot either that's more nepotism but to me he's a star in the making, and then you can have him go against other fresh matchups and young stars like himself. If he beats Kenny in an epic match in front of a hot crowd, he's a made man.

 

I expect the Bucks will drop the titles to the Lucha Bros once Rey is healthy (they just set this up too on BTE) in front of crowds, as basically all of them are on record as saying they are just holding off on the Lucha Bros mega push for crowds, which are coming back now. Live crowds are going to be super hot for them and by then will be super hot for the bucks to lose.

 

Cody is out here literally tanking his career in ways to try to get QT marshall of all people over, but he gets the same crap.

[Peppermint Rage]

Has any promotion at any point in history had a tag division as good as AEW's?

 

Not even trying to be an AEW fanboy, but holy moly, their tag ranks are friggin stacked!

 

Hopefully the promo Santana and Ortiz cut on Elevation is an indicator that they're on their way to the top finally. In my opinion they are the best team in the world bar none and have been for a few years. Even though I adore the Inner Circle, it's kind of put Santana and Ortiz on the backburner in the tag division.

 

we seem to have almost opposite opinions on pretty much everything AEW (including Inner Circle), so it's nice to see we agree on something, Santana and Ortiz belong in the spotlight and have belonged there since AEW started.

[Jaysin]

Just look at any year the NWA ran the Crockett Cup in the 80's and I think you would get your answer. Or look at the WWF tag teams in the 80's. Heck I would even say 1990's WCW with Doom, The Steiners, Road Warriors, Midnight Express, SST could compete with any tag division. Obviously it is all subjective but I do think you are looking through your fan boy glasses if you think that AEW's tag team roster could compete with any of the above mentioned tag divisions.

 

Or maybe you're looking through your nostalgia glasses

[Mootinie]

I mean i feel like this is a tired take. Anytime any of the Elite or Jericho sniffs the main event title scene it's "of course, they have a stake in the company so they book themselves to bury everyone"

 

Omega, Cody, and the Bucks spent the entire first year an a half putting everyone on the roster over. Half the reason a ton of these guys who were seen as Indy only guys or WWE failures are way over and in the UMC/ME of Dynamite now is that they did so. What, were they supposed to just be Midcard jobbers for the life of the promotion? They literally put this company together with there star power from NJPW and connections on the indies.

 

 

So what, now they can just never be champions or people will complain?

 

Also, it's pretty obvious that Omega is going to lose to Hangman in front of live crowds, they've been setting that angle to pay off since the split. I suppose if you don't feel Hangman is "worthy" of his spot either that's more nepotism but to me he's a star in the making, and then you can have him go against other fresh matchups and young stars like himself. If he beats Kenny in an epic match in front of a hot crowd, he's a made man.

 

I expect the Bucks will drop the titles to the Lucha Bros once Rey is healthy (they just set this up too on BTE) in front of crowds, as basically all of them are on record as saying they are just holding off on the Lucha Bros mega push for crowds, which are coming back now. Live crowds are going to be super hot for them and by then will be super hot for the bucks to lose.

 

Cody is out here literally tanking his career in ways to try to get QT marshall of all people over, but he gets the same crap.

That's not fully my point, I just think the division would be better served if The Bucks had some opponents lined up that they hadn't already beaten. They did the Private Party return match before they won the belts with no build and then did the Santana & Ortiz return match after they won the belts with no build. They're wrestling a lot of matches against two singles guys put together instead of doing programs with well established fixtures of the tag team division. How this company have FTR under contract and haven't put them on Dynamite in a tag team match since mid-February is baffling to me but I think there's a lot of talent on this roster not being used whilst The Young Bucks are always on and are always winning. They could put others on the show more often and give them more air time for sure.

[Jaysin]

<p>Man, Angelico vs Christian was so damn fun. What a hot start to Dynamite.</p><p> </p><p>

Did not see Brock Anderson debuting! He certainly looks to be in the "Anderson mold" and Cody and QT have been training him. Hopefully he turns out to be a good talent. From what I read online him and Hook have tried to get as much ring time as humanly possible and that's a good sign. </p><p> </p><p>

The trios match was the most I've enjoyed a Bucks match in awhile. They seem to be embracing their dorkness and it's working for me. Still not a fan of them at the moment, but the match was super fun. Pac as a bastard face could be a lot of fun. Kazarian helping Pac, Kingston, and Penta could be fun too</p><p> </p><p>

What a fun show all around. Little nervous that Leyla might be legit hurt, pun not intended. She looked a little off after that top rope power bomb. </p><p> </p><p>

Main Event was real fun. Hobbs and Vance looked like they belonged with the proven talents of Brian Cage and Hangman.</p><p> </p><p>

Finally some direction in the Team Taz implosion. I feel like it's been start and stop for a couple months.</p>

[Matt_Black]

I think the most baffling thing to me is the women's title. AEW has a ridiculous number of talented female babyfaces who could credibly challenge Britt Baker- even if you take out Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida, you still have Riho, Statlander, Hirsch, Swole, Velvet, King, Deeb, and that's just the people who can show up on a regular basis. If we count the talent that lives in Japen, we can throw in Yuka Sakazaki. So, who does it look like will be Baker's first challenger?

 

... Nyla Rose, arguably the other biggest heel on the roster. That's... huh.

[Jaysin]

Yeah I have the same concerns in regards to that and I thought Nyla was starting a face turn when she caused a ruckus at Britt's celebration, but she was in total heel monster mode against Leyla.

 

Baker is still being a total heel too. Very strange dynamic.

 

I do hope that Nyla has taken the opportunity to do some training somewhere while not being featured as much the last few months. She was way too green to be champion when she was. I think she could be a credible monster champ in the future, but it's odd timing to have her go after a cocky heel.

[hailthebulldog]

Yeah I have the same concerns in regards to that and I thought Nyla was starting a face turn when she caused a ruckus at Britt's celebration, but she was in total heel monster mode against Leyla.

 

Baker is still being a total heel too. Very strange dynamic.

 

I do hope that Nyla has taken the opportunity to do some training somewhere while not being featured as much the last few months. She was way too green to be champion when she was. I think she could he a credible monster champ in the future, but it's odd timing to have her go after a cocky heel.

 

Honestly it's probably just to get Baker her win back over Nyla. They were putting her over for being the only one to have a recognized win over Baker.

[Jaysin]

Honestly it's probably just to get Baker her win back over Nyla. They were putting her over for being the only one to have a recognized win over Baker.

 

That's certainly possible and I typically don't have issues with heel vs heel or face vs face match ups if there's a good story or good workers involved, but unless Nyla has vastly improved in her time away, I don't see her being able to overcome the heel/heel dynamic. Britt is already getting a huge face reaction despite being a mega conceited bitch. Putting her against someone like Nyla is just going to get her more cheers I'd imagine. Which I guess could work out if they want to flip Britt back to being a face, but that seems premature.

[hailthebulldog]

That's certainly possible and I typically don't have issues with heel vs heel or face vs face match ups if there's a good story or good workers involved, but unless Nyla has vastly improved in her time away, I don't see her being able to overcome the heel/heel dynamic. Britt is already getting a huge face reaction despite being a mega conceited bitch. Putting her against someone like Nyla is just going to get her more cheers I'd imagine. Which I guess could work out if they want to flip Britt back to being a face, but that seems premature.

 

Holding on to her being a heel is a weird choice. I've been watching Dynamite from the beginning again and it honestly is starting to remind me of when they refused to turn her heel, even when she was obviously not getting the reactions they were looking for. She has the potential to be one of their biggest faces if they pull the trigger before it gets too late.

[Mootinie]

Britt is pretty much already a face, she got a much bigger pop at Double or Nothing than Hikaru Shida. It's one of those situations where New Japan put Naito against somebody like Jay White and then you just choose which horse you decide to back. Britt is Britt, Nyla is Nyla, I don't think it's so black and white that both are viewed as heel.

[milamber]

Big improvement after a couple of average shows. The crowd was hot. Uno vs Miro © was my MOTN. Happy to see Uno, Vance, Hobbs, Angelico and Hirsch get the rub.

[milamber]

I think the most baffling thing to me is the women's title. AEW has a ridiculous number of talented female babyfaces who could credibly challenge Britt Baker- even if you take out Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida, you still have Riho, Statlander, Hirsch, Swole, Velvet, King, Deeb, and that's just the people who can show up on a regular basis. If we count the talent that lives in Japen, we can throw in Yuka Sakazaki. So, who does it look like will be Baker's first challenger?

 

... Nyla Rose, arguably the other biggest heel on the roster. That's... huh.

 

I think it's just an easy match to book for Fyter Fest between 2 of the top women who have history. Britt's basically a tweener now but they could easily get more heat on later if they need to.

[Peppermint Rage]

That's certainly possible and I typically don't have issues with heel vs heel or face vs face match ups if there's a good story or good workers involved, but unless Nyla has vastly improved in her time away, I don't see her being able to overcome the heel/heel dynamic. Britt is already getting a huge face reaction despite being a mega conceited bitch. Putting her against someone like Nyla is just going to get her more cheers I'd imagine. Which I guess could work out if they want to flip Britt back to being a face, but that seems premature.

 

She made a few botches early and people like to say she's green, and not very good, but she already had experience and was already good before joining AEW, does noone remember the banger that was the second RIHO match that was considered AEW'S best womens match at the time by many, her title reign could've been great, but she was gone from the pandemic, and then instead of actually giving her the badass reign she deserved AEW just pretended she had a dominant reign and took the belt off her in defense #2. Once she came back

[Rampaaage]

Not going to lie they really worked me with the Uno/Miro match. The entire time I was convincing myself there's no world where Uno wins, but still jumped out of my seat on a few moments where it looked possible.

 

For the first time ever I can say I actually didn't mind QT Marshall's screen time. Decent promo, hopefully he can develop some personality and go somewhere with it, although I'm still pretty doubtful.

[Jaysin]

She made a few botches early and people like to say she's green, and not very good, but she already had experience and was already good before joining AEW, does noone remember the banger that was the second RIHO match that was considered AEW'S best womens match at the time by many, her title reign could've been great, but she was gone from the pandemic, and then instead of actually giving her the badass reign she deserved AEW just pretended she had a dominant reign and took the belt off her in defense #2. Once she came back

 

She botched throughout her entire title run and having one good match does not make you a good worker. Goldberg had a handful and he's still trash.

[Mootinie]

I'm curious whether AEW do the brave thing and have Jungle Boy win the title. I know it's too early for him to be top dog but it's also not beyond me that wrestling is often about moments and it would be fitting to cap off the tenure at Daily's Place with something. A bit like how WCW marked a special anniversary edition of Nitro with Luger dethroning Hogan.

[Jaysin]

I'm curious whether AEW do the brave thing and have Jungle Boy win the title. I know it's too early for him to be top dog but it's also not beyond me that wrestling is often about moments and it would be fitting to cap off the tenure at Daily's Place with something. A bit like how WCW marked a special anniversary edition of Nitro with Luger dethroning Hogan.

 

I know it's super unlikely, but I would flip the hell out