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I do wish they kept Taz/Excalibur on the more important show, but sadly nothing in life is perfect. I kinda wish Elevation had a different PBP person, though. Tony's enthusiasm is nice but I would prefer someone who's either more authoritative or more energetic to strike a good balance with Tall Paul's laid-back analysis
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Mar 16, 2021 04:06
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They could really use a third person in that booth - Veda would be really good to fill in some of the gaps Tony is missing.
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Mar 16, 2021 04:10
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I like that Elevation seems to have more promos and things to make it feel like a cohesive show. Dark is just an avalanche of wrestling matches. My main criticism is that it's just way too much if Elevation and Dark are both going to be 2 hours or even 1 and a half hours. An hour each would be perfect
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Mar 16, 2021 04:52
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I felt like headset/khakis Nakazawa was going to try to sell me some infomercial junk. Maybe a knife that can cut through copper but also thinly slice tomatoes. Or a rotisserie that gives you all the flavor with half the fat. And Itoh breaking out the old school Lion Tamer was pretty sweet. Riho must be pretty damned flexible because she was practically folded in half. I actually said "holy poo poo" out loud. That looked brutal.
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Mar 16, 2021 05:54
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I really don't like TK being on screen.
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Mar 16, 2021 07:04
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I didn't mind TK on at all. I started laughing my rear end off as soon as I heard his voice and didn't stop until Sydal's music hit. Seems I am in the minority in not enjoying Paul/tony's commentary much, probably the weakest of the pairings for me... I guess today I learned I'm an Excalibur man. E: this probably has a lot to do with how much history/info he brings up, I'm a nerd for that poo poo The Taxman fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Mar 16, 2021 |
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Mar 16, 2021 08:15
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I didn't mind this particular segment, but it did make me go "uh-oh"... I hope TK isn't becoming an on-screen character, at least in AEW. I'm fine with him doing goofy ads on Impact. The Tony/Wight booth has a very sports-like feel. There's nobody cracking jokes or making nerdy references, Paul is talking a lot of kayfabe strategy stuff. I like it for this show, since it's basically just matches, but I wouldn't like it as much on Dynamite.
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Mar 16, 2021 08:20
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i liked the maki itoh match 
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Mar 16, 2021 08:24
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El Generico posted:The Tony/Wight booth has a very sports-like feel. There's nobody cracking jokes or making nerdy references, Paul is talking a lot of kayfabe strategy stuff. I like it for this show, since it's basically just matches, but I wouldn't like it as much on Dynamite. Yeah, the commentary booth on Elevation feels like with time it will become a very solid sports feel commentary. Dynamite is mainstream wrestling hype commentary done Excalibur style. Dark is a podcast.
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Mar 16, 2021 08:31
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Elevated Darkthoughts 1) Danny Limelight vs Jungle Boy. Crowds love Jungle Boy. Tall Paul pretty good on commentary so far. And this is a hot match. Limelight is presented as strong, and has a very different type of cruiserweight build and style to Jungle Boy. There's always been something very Territories Babyface about Jungle Boy in a good way. Love the ring apron duel. Limelight is looking either a bit tired or a bit nervous in the later stages of the match. Bit of a botch with the snare trap at the end, but overall this was very good, and Limelight would both give a lot and get a lot from being part of AEW. 2) Miro and Kip Sabian vs Baron Black and Vary Morales. Looking forward to Morales being lawn darted. Baron Black has something, and is better than he was, but his ring gear always strikes me as doofy. I enjoy the changing dynamic of Miro and Kip. Very crisp missile dropkick from Morales. And now it's the Miro Murdershow. The anger at Morales "wasting his time" is great. Kip gets the pin but the story was how aggressive Miro is becoming even towards his own team. Penelope's little look to camera was great. QT Marshall interviewed, getting more heelish. I enjoy it. 3) Big Swole vs Skyler Moore. Swole. Swole. Green gear matches green hair. Her ring presentation is so amazing. Skyler is pretty good, and great as an enhancement test for people, but she'll have to be more than "pretty good" to be more than enhancement talent. Swole is getting stuff together and I really enjoy it. Paul selling Vickie's presence as scouting is a good touch too. Helps create a broader AEW world. The kick/dodge stuff between Swole and Skyler was good too. The match overall was perfectly fine, but there were a couple of points where I could see a more aggressive Swole start to come through and I'm here for it. AEW casino game commercial. 4) Marko Stunt vs QT Marshall. Marshall is a pretty good bully, it matches his style much better than enthusiastic babyface. He's built like a bully and it fits with his background as a trainer. I feel like they're building to a Marshall / Johnson match and I'm very here for it. Marko is just so very good at the lionheart tiny babyface stuff. Presuming the "first victory" line was first singles (but even there inaccurate, Stunt has beaten Nakazawa amongst others). Marshall wins in a good match. And post match, Avalon and stooges jump Stunt and Marshall just leaves him to die. Nicely done. Lee Johnson package. As an interviewer he is a very nice guy, but not really a good talker. He urgently needs to work with some good promo guys and find a way to get the passion he clearly has into his words. He'll get there. 5) Tay Conti vs Ashley Vox. Loved Vox on the indies, looking forward to this. Wow, Conti has some serious business strikes tonight, she's so joyful to be out here. Wish Paul wasn't leaving as much dead air here. Match has a couple of awkward spots near the start but then it warms up a lot. Negative 1 in the background is just hilarious. Vox is a superb seller and has some very decent attack in her. I really want her and Delmi Exo to come in as the Sea Stars. Wow, Conti just losing her poo poo during this match, I LOVE it. I know I say it a lot, but WWE saw nothing in this woman. They had no idea what to do with the gift the universe gave them with her. 6) The Sydals vs West Coast Wrecking Crew. I like the Crew's matching gear. Isaacs in the one without the beard. Oof, clumsy start. Nice Dragon Gate ref from Schiavone. I like the Sydals. Perfect as a talented lower card team. I don't see gold in their future, but I see a lot of good matches. Royce Isaacs has some very decent power in him, and he and Nelson have some good double teams. I'd have to see them against some other people, but they've got some nice resonance as a tag team. Hahaha, loved the Matt Sydal corner run and knee strike. Clumsy double team counter, but I liked the double lightning spiral at the end. Hobbs and Hook. Hobbs is a drat good interview actually, and Hook scows in the background. Great. 7) Dani Jordyn vs Red Velvet. This could be fun. I'd love to see Jordyn as part of Baker's group, she's got similar energy. As a side note, they are focusing a LOT of women's talent on this episode so far. I really appreciate that. Jordyn is pretty solid, but still needs to sharpen some stuff. She's technically sound but needs to finesse things like looking dangerous when she rushes someone, laying in strikes, getting snap on her moves. She could be really great through, without too much more work. Solid win from Red Velvet. Oh hey, Kenny, interrupting a Sydal Bros interview. Oh, fun, if Matt Sydal beats Michael Nakazawa he gets to face Kenny? 8) Max Caster vs Dante Martin. The rap was fun, and the "your mom told me that, Dante" was a nice ribbon to it, Nice athletic dodgy start. I kind of wanted Dante to be angrier with Dante at the start. Couple of rough edges to the spots, but overall these two are very smooth. Loved the dodge sequence where Dante kept looking for the way to hit Max. I liked Caster trying to put a pin together and just not getting it. Dante is so good at the stuff he's good at that I'm really eager to see him get the smoothness and flow that his matches will need for him to be a legit force. That tope over the top was glorious. Caster's elbow drop is really pretty good, but it could be great with just a bit more practice. Platinum Max wins, but both guys looked great here. Really good match. 9) Abadon vs Abadon's Latest Victim (Ray Lynn?). This is a fun Abadon horror match. Ray is doing a good job of being the screaming victim. Not much of a match but a lot of a character piece. Nice. 10) Will Hobbs vs Brandon Cutler. I think Cutler rolled a natural 1 to get this match. At some point Cutler, who is athletic and hits hard and is an excellent wrestler, will find a way of not looking like a goof. Love the Cutler flurry at the start, lots of fast strikes, lots of momentum, firmly establishing a story where Hobbs grounds him and he only wins if he gets away. A quick match, but a very solid dominant win for Hobbs. I love the tiny touch of Hobbs not wanting some scrub ref to raise his hand. oh good, a commercial for Scorpio Sky's podcast. It would take more production, but I'd be more sold on this by 30 seconds from the latest episode. 11) Diamante vs Lela Grey. Grey has a great look. Diamante is an absolute murderer. A short aggressive match, where Grey got some okay offense in. I want to see what Diamante can do on singles as she's really talented. 12) Butcher, Blade and Private Party vs Party Of Scrubs plus Carlie Bravo. I like that the camera headed to the face tunnel for Private Party but then they came out of the heel one. David Ali has something, technically sound, but needs to develop. Dean Alexander is currently a glass of room temperature nothing, but he could improve. I like Brick. Brig big lad. But then he runs into Butch, the biggest lad. JD Drake in the crowd, wearing a steakhouse jacket. The point of this match was to show B&B working with Private Party, and mission accomplished. Promo for Lexy Nair interview show. OK, cool. 13) M T Nakazawa vs Matt Sydal. From the desk of Kenny Omega. Comes out with the headset and the apple and it's all a very nice shot at QT. Fun. Nak heeling it up in what's basically a DDT match. Nak gets pantsed and loses. OK, perfectly enjoyable comedy match, and Matt gets a shot at Kenny Omega to earn a shot for the world title. Cool beans. And then Kenny murders him. 14) Kenny Omega vs Matt Sydal. Sydal died. He went away. He's gone. ON SCREEN TONY! Authority figure sets a match! Sydal gets a match next week on Dynamite. Tony Khan should stick to pretapes but this is fun. 15 Riho vs Maki Itoh. Two very different types of joshi energy here. The kokeshi is the best move. Dodge and kokeshi is awesome. Itoh shines a lot in the start of this, which is appropriate as she's the new hotness. I like a dominant Itoh here. And I will always love the pure babyface energy of Riho on the attack. Riho looks... mildly inconvenienced by that Boston Crab. Loved the chase to the ropes to a running knee. Itoh mocks Fuego with a tornado DDT. Riho's strikes look GREAT now, by the way. Some great submissions from Itoh, and overall a very very back and forth match. Riho wins, but wow was that hard fought. Great match, so much fun. This was a good first show, there were a couple of slightly rough bits and they need a title sequence, but as a proof of concept this was a hell of a show.
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Mar 16, 2021 08:35
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Show was good but wish I could have seen it live  Really happy that Maki Itoh is in AEW now but this was a fresh reminder that goddamn Riho is just a loving great wrestler.
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Mar 16, 2021 08:39
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The Omega / Sydal angle was the most overtly "sports entertainment" booking I remember seeing from AEW. a champ books a match for later in the show, they do the "you have to book my lackey to get to me" angle, there's a post match switcheroo, and then a GM overturns it. I could imagine this happening on a RAW from ten years ago, except that here it was done well.
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Mar 16, 2021 09:14
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1) If there is a problem with the Tony/Paul team it's that it doesn't involve Excalibur. 2) We talk about '8 hours of AEW programming a week'. I've given it some thought and realize that really Dark and Elevation might be more for the wrestlers than the fans. Wrestlers wanna wrestle. But there's only 5 matches a week on Dynamite. And no house shows. Need to do something. Enter 16 match Darks and 10 match Elevations.
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Mar 16, 2021 11:13
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ChrisBTY posted:1) If there is a problem with the Tony/Paul team it's that it doesn't involve Excalibur. i mean, that's always been part of it? people need to practice running matches for 'real' and if you've got people performing for the camera and recording it for later analysis anyway why not put the video up somewhere
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Mar 16, 2021 11:31
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Vince MechMahon posted:I don't mind Tony as long as he's never a heel and he only shows up in situations like this where there is justification. I don't hate authority figures though, just those in WWE. Tony is a billionaire, he should absolutely be a heel (A better idea for an on-screen authority figure is just your head referee imo)
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Mar 16, 2021 11:35
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My biggest problem with the authority figure role is how much time and importance it ends up taking up. Even in the current day WWE umbrella, William Regal is an example of a good one, though. If the role becomes useful, let it be a boring executive in a suit that rarely and quickly and blandly makes decisions so the spotlight stays on the wrestlers.
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Mar 16, 2021 13:18
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thankfully we know he has no intention of taking up time on dynamite so there's no need to worry about it
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Mar 16, 2021 13:25
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Early in the AEW run I *think* it was Dustin doing commentary one night and it was really, really funny. Pull Tony and put him in next to Paul to get our chill Youtube vibes back up.
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Mar 16, 2021 13:54
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magiccarpet posted:Early in the AEW run I *think* it was Dustin doing commentary one night and it was really, really funny. Pull Tony and put him in next to Paul to get our chill Youtube vibes back up. Yeah, it was the best. He was just amazed at everything. Lots of "Oh, WWWOOOWWWW I've never seen that!" and "Oh, wow - that's what that's called?" and just generally being amazed at all the stuff Excalibur knew. It was adorable.
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Mar 16, 2021 14:08
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That would leave us with two guys who don't really know what to call things.
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Mar 16, 2021 14:11
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flatluigi posted:thankfully we know he has no intention of taking up time on dynamite so there's no need to worry about it Narrator: "They'd worry about it for several more pages."
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Mar 16, 2021 17:49
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forkboy84 posted:Tony is a billionaire, he should absolutely be a heel Referees dont make matches. Also, fans of an organization want to cheer that organization, so making the head of that organization a heel is kind of counter intuitive to me. It worked in the attitude era, but thats about it. If khan presents himself like how wwe used jack tunney as the authority figure back in the day, that would be just fine
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Mar 16, 2021 18:27
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sticklefifer posted:Narrator: "They'd worry about it for several more pages." Honestly, it's one of those things you just throw in a box labeled "Things PSP is determined to be stupid about" and not worry about. It can hang out with Shawn Spears, FTR, Cody Rhodes, Darby, etc.
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Mar 16, 2021 18:32
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Once the Bucks retire SCU, Christopher Daniels can be the on-screen authority figure
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Mar 16, 2021 18:41
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Jonny Nox posted:Honestly, it's one of those things you just throw in a box labeled "Things PSP is determined to be stupid about" and not worry about. The sub has a lot of anxiety.
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Mar 16, 2021 18:46
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Dario Cueto is still the best on-screen authority figure.  Dude just loves violence and loves seeing people beat the poo poo out of each other!
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Mar 16, 2021 18:48
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forkboy84 posted:(A better idea for an on-screen authority figure is just your head referee imo) Ball Berner is the senior ref and I cannot imagine anyone with less authority than his narc rear end.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:02
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I honestly loved how it didn't matter if you were a face or a heel, if you could convince Dario your idea would result in bloodshed he'd agree with you
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Mar 16, 2021 19:04
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i don't want refs to have authority on screen other than what they already have as refs
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Mar 16, 2021 19:27
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xbilkis posted:Once the Bucks retire SCU, Christopher Daniels can be the on-screen authority figure I'd actually be super into this.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:27
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i'd be down for Commissioner Chris Daniels, because he already seems to have a lot of hard earned authority in the backroom as far as BTE goes
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Mar 16, 2021 19:49
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smarxist posted:i'd be down for Commissioner Chris Daniels, because he already seems to have a lot of hard earned authority in the backroom as far as BTE goes well he is the head of talent relations in the actual company
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Mar 16, 2021 19:52
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Big Bicep Tony walking out was good because it establishes that Kenny is such a goddamn prick of hitherto unseen proportions that the guy who otherwise never comes on screen had to take action.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:54
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Vince MechMahon posted:I'd actually be super into this. Cerebral Bore posted:Big Bicep Tony walking out was good because it establishes that Kenny is such a goddamn prick of hitherto unseen proportions that the guy who otherwise never comes on screen had to take action.
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Mar 16, 2021 19:56
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smarxist posted:i'd be down for Commissioner Chris Daniels, because he already seems to have a lot of hard earned authority in the backroom as far as BTE goes yeah, i'd be fine with that, but that's still something you'd do in the future after he retires from wrestling + set him up in that role
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Mar 16, 2021 19:57
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I like everyone deluding themselves that it's not going to be Cody in that spot, to cement him turning into Triple H.
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Mar 16, 2021 20:28
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Gaz-L posted:I like everyone deluding themselves that it's not going to be Cody in that spot, to cement him turning into Triple H. people keep saying cody is basically triple h but seriously the only time i can think of that he's gone over anyone is the tnt belt for the inaugural 'show off a bunch of indie people before dropping it' run and every other feud he's been in he's come out on bottom even stuff he really should've gone over in like with MJF
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Mar 16, 2021 20:43
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flatluigi posted:people keep saying cody is basically triple h but seriously the only time i can think of that he's gone over anyone is the tnt belt for the inaugural 'show off a bunch of indie people before dropping it' run and every other feud he's been in he's come out on bottom yeah, aside from his big pyro entrance, it's like a last year reddit take that I find hard to take very seriously considering that all Cody seems to want to do is lose feuds and bleed all over the place
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Mar 16, 2021 20:48
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Cody is going to go over big at SOME point, but for now he seems content to build everyone else up first. Can't wait for Penta to beat the poo poo out of him tomorrow.
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Mar 16, 2021 20:54
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The other execs are the main champs right now but Cody gets the most guff because, I think, he's most like a WWE wrestler than the Bucks and Omega so he might still have that stink on him to a lot of people? He's basically done everything he can to remove himself from the main event scene and tell everyone he's not going to be the big deal in AEW, but people still gravitate to the "Cody is Triple H" thing a lot. I think it's just a style thing more than anything – he wrestles that slower style and has the same influences as Triple H, he can sometimes lean toward longer Triple H-esque promos, he loves to bleed, etc. There's a lot of surface level things that connect the two together, but I think he's a bit more self-aware than Triple H.
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Mar 16, 2021 20:58
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