|
titties posted:Unfortunately good ol jim ross is bad now but schiavone is still ok. Jim is fine. Most of the time.
|
#
?
May 21, 2021 22:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
Eclipse12 posted:I don't really watch AEW. Maybe I should? But I need a reference point. I had to think real hard on which part of this scale was good and which was bad.
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2021 22:20
|
|
|
titties posted:Unfortunately good ol jim ross is bad now but schiavone is still ok. jim ross is mostly fine, schiavone is mostly fine except that he doesn't know 69% of the moves that he's supposed to call excaliber is the all-star at the announce desk and even when he's not there he's in
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2021 22:23
|
|
|
The most wholesome thing about AEW is that it really redeemed Tony Schiavone. When he was in WCW, he was pretty much just dead inside and put on a fake smile to hype up years of crap. He ended up becoming a face of WCW's failure for decades and it made him bitter while killing his interest in wrestling. Then AEW put him on commentary and he's not only great, but he's genuinely optimistic about it. He's having a total blast on the show. One time someone did a splash off the second rope in the corner and Excalibur mentioned that the wrestler had "hit the Vader Bomb." Schiavone was suddenly all, "Wait, that's what they call that move now? The Vader Bomb? Oh man. That's awesome!" 
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2021 22:34
|
|
|
Oh man, that reminds me that AEW has the much more friendly successor to Vader in the form of JD Drake that's part of the hunk squad, which also has Dolph Ziggler's brother Ryan Nemeth. They have incredible 'Boys Rock' energy
|
|
#
?
May 21, 2021 22:36
|
|
|
Ryan Nemeth is the best wrestler in the company. You can tell cause he wins almost half his matches.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 00:02
|
|
|
Aw man I just saw that Mean Gene Okerlund died a couple of years ago. 
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 00:08
|
|
|
A Pack of Kobolds posted:Aw man I just saw that Mean Gene Okerlund died a couple of years ago. Yeah, losing mean gene and Howard finkel was sad for me as they were both such iconic representations of the time that i really loved wrestling
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 00:16
|
|
|
Gavok posted:The most wholesome thing about AEW is that it really redeemed Tony Schiavone. When he was in WCW, he was pretty much just dead inside and put on a fake smile to hype up years of crap. He ended up becoming a face of WCW's failure for decades and it made him bitter while killing his interest in wrestling. He also gave us the immortal deadpan line, "Yeah, I was on Impact once. Then I quit the business for eighteen years." Most people can't say that they worked in a Starbucks for a decade in order to be able to throw shade on TNA. Tony Schiavone can, and he says it every day.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
Eclipse12 posted:Please do I'll do the PPV preview write-up tomorrow. Before I get started, AEW is filled with a lot of factions, so here’s a who’s who of the various groups that will be involved in the show. The Elite: Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Brandon Cutler, Michael Nakazawa, Don Callis (manager) What All Elite Wrestling is named after, the Elite is an offshoot of the infamous NJPW stable the Bullet Club. Kenny Omega is the leader and also AEW Champion, having turned heel while partnering up with longtime friend Don Callis, who also runs the promotion IMPACT (formerly TNA). He’s joined by loudmouth IMPACT tag team the Good Brothers (Gallows and Anderson) and they gradually convinced flippy tag team brothers the Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) to go back to being assholes. Now the reunited group is living it up, joined by their nigh-worthless flunkies Cutler and Nakazawa. Cody Rhodes and Hangman Adam Page are former members of the Elite. Cody quietly left to do his own thing while Hangman had a messy and depressing split from the team that caused him to spiral deeper into alcoholism. The Inner Circle: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz, Jake Hager When AEW Dynamite started up, then-champion Jericho surrounded himself with allies he knew he could trust. The well-rounded team includes the hoodlum tag team Ortiz and Santa, the resident muscle and MMA giant Jake Hager and Jericho’s handpicked protégé “The Spanish God” Sammy Guevara. The group has acted like a family through their various feuds – many of which they’ve ultimately lost – but after clashing with the Pinnacle, they became a group of faces. The Pinnacle: MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, Dax Hardwood, Cash Wheeler, Tully Blanchard (manager) MJF is a young upstart with limitless potential and a gigantic jerk. He was Cody Rhodes’ protégé and best friend before predictably stabbing him in the back. After failing to win the AEW Championship from Jon Moxley, MJF decided that he needed a crew to watch his back. Well, other than his dreamy bodyguard Wardlow. MJF finagled his way into the Inner Circle, but Guevara didn’t trust him. MJF’s plan wasn’t to take over the team, but to ambush them with his own version of the Inner Circle. The team includes FTR (Hardwood and Wheeler), a pair of guys who take tag team wrestling especially seriously and left WWE because WWE simply does not take tag team wrestling seriously. Joining them is “The Chairman” Shawn Spears, another WWE outcast (buried by the company because people liked chanting for him), who has a chip on his shoulder due to his inability to carve out a niche in AEW. Spears and FTR already had former Four Horseman Tully Blanchard as their manager, so he’s become the mind behind MJF and Wardlow as well. The Dark Order: Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Colt Cabana, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Preston Vance, Alan Angels, Anna Jay, Brodie Lee Jr. (manager/mascot), Hangman Adam Page (unofficial member) The Dark Order was once a feared cult led by the vicious and abusive Brodie Lee. Due to their comedic buffoonery on YouTube’s Being the Elite series and the untimely death of Brodie in real life, the Dark Order became a group of loveable losers. Adam Page hangs out with them regularly and although both sides have agreed that he’s not an actual member of the team, he is sort of their de facto leader and the one they all look up to. Their true leader is Negative One/Brodie Lee Jr., who is only ten years old. When they tape episodes for AEW Dark, they have to do the Dark Order matches earlier so the group’s leader isn’t all tuckered out. Best Friends: Chuck Taylor, Trent?, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander The best description I’ve heard for Chuck and Trent is that they’re weird dudes when compared to normal people, but normal dudes when compared to wrestlers. They’re a wholesome team to the point that sometimes Trent’s mother Sue will drive them to the ring in her minivan. Orange Cassidy is a quiet, sloth-like wrestler who seems to take things in stride, which pisses off his enemies and certain wrestling fans. When given enough reason, especially if angered, Orange will kick into gear and reveal he’s actually exceptional in the ring. He’s like that yakuza guy from that one Simpsons episode. “But, Marge, that little guy hasn't done anything yet. Look at him. He's gonna do something, and you know it's gonna be good.” Kris Statlander is a recent addition to the team. She insists that she is an alien. She and Orange have a bizarre romantic chemistry together. Death Triangle: Pac, Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix, Alex Abrahantes (translator) Penta and Fenix are the Lucha Brothers. Penta is a sassy and vicious skeleton ninja while Fenix is a physics-defying high-flyer. Penta also has Abrahantes around to smugly translate all of his smack talk to his opponents. Pac, the Man Gravity Forgot, is their leader. The jacked English goblin of a man unfortunately had to sit out AEW for a long time due to COVID. Now the three flippy badasses are back together, having some of the best matches in the company. The Nightmare Family: Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, Lee Johnson, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Billy Gunn, Arn Anderson (manager) Cody Rhodes worked together with QT Marshall to train the next generation in wrestlers. Eventually, a rift grew between Cody and QT and now things are split between the good trainers/students and the bad trainers/students. Cody is backed by his brother Dustin and Billy Gunn, along with Billy’s sons and blue chipper Lee Johnson. The Factory: QT Marshall, Anthony Ogogo, Nick Comorotto, Aaron Solow QT Marshall is a dumpy shlub of a man who is crazy good in the ring despite looking like a grown-up Charlie Brown. Feeling overshadowed by Cody, he betrayed his former friend and is now followed by his three prize students. Anthony Ogogo is an English boxer who is able to quickly annihilate his enemies with devastating punches to the torso. Nick Comorotto is a hairy, meaty wildman who kind of looks like Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds. Then there’s Aaron Solow, who is...um...Aaron Solow. Team Taz: Taz (manager), Brian Cage, Ricky Starks, Will Hobbs, Hook (trainee) Taz wasn’t happy when he offered Darby Allin some advice and was rejected. He took it too hard and reacted by starting up his own stable of angry meat men and siccing them on Darby. He even handed his old FTW title belt from his ECW days to muscle golem Brian Cage. The team has had some friction due to Cage once showing respect to Sting, but they’re currently getting along. The team also includes Taz’s son Hook, who has yet to wrestle but joins in on ambush beatdowns. Hardy Party: Matt Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, the Butcher, the Blade, the Bunny, Jack Evans, Angelico Matt Hardy has the Mick Foley problem where he randomly changes personalities and gimmicks with little reason. Sometimes he’s an extreme daredevil. Sometimes he’s a wild-haired whacko speaking broken gibberish about the multiverse. These days, he’s about being a greedy, slimy, carnie rear end in a top hat. Hardy ruined his close friendship with Private Party (Kassidy and Quen) by making them sign contracts that allows him to 30% of their earnings. While they have shown some new success, he takes credit for their upturn. He also represents the Butcher, the Blade and the Bunny. While not under contract with him, he does regularly hire the Hybrid 2 (Evans and Angelico) to do his dirty work. Jurassic Express: Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy, Marko Stunt It’s a large dinosaur man, Luke Perry’s son dressed as Tarzan and a tiny pothead who looks like he’s a tween boy. They are the go-to midcard face trio of AEW. Jungle Boy is constantly on the cusp of being a big deal, but otherwise the team is just there. But hey! Jungle Boy has "Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora as his theme song! That rules!
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:22
|
|
|
So given that I live in a country where none of it is available, what AEW series should I be looking to acquire via the entirely legal means that are at my disposal? It would appear that Dynamite is the main weekly show, so that...?
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:28
|
|
|
The Rabbi T. White posted:So given that I live in a country where none of it is available, what AEW series should I be looking to acquire via the entirely legal means that are at my disposal? It would appear that Dynamite is the main weekly show, so that...? Yeah, you only really need Dynamite. Dark and Dark Elevation are just YouTube shows that are rarely important outside of building up win-loss records. They're mostly squash matches, especially Dark. Both shows can be especially long. They kind of exist because Tony Khan wants to give wrestlers stuff to do, even if they aren't under contract. Being the Elite and Sammy's Vlog are two YouTube series that are mostly either comedy sketches or footage of wrestlers traveling. Neither is really important, but sometimes BTE adds to whatever is going on storywise with Hangman, Dark Order, the Young Bucks or whoever. Even this week's episode features a brilliant promo by Christopher Daniels discussing the acknowledgment that his career is just about over due to being 50. So right now it's just Dynamite and PPVs. In August AEW Rampage starts up as the second weekly TV show.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:37
|
|
|
Gavok posted:
Awesome writeup, although I take exception to thinking this is a problem!
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:39
|
|
|
The Breakfast Sampler posted:Awesome writeup, although I take exception to thinking this is a problem! Okay, pretend I said "situation." Fittingly, the Three Faces of Foley video from back in the day was framed with Foley talking to the Hardy Boyz.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:42
|
|
|
A Pack of Kobolds posted:Aw man I just saw that Mean Gene Okerlund died a couple of years ago. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3eile
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 04:49
|
|
|
Gavok posted:Yeah, you only really need Dynamite. Fantastic, thanks. 
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 05:09
|
|
|
Oh my God this has been fantastic. A++
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 08:30
|
|
|
The Rabbi T. White posted:Oh my God this has been fantastic. A++ What are ya watchin, specifically?
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 08:49
|
|
|
One small nitpick (although admittedly one that they're not addressing on-screen), Don Callis doesn't work for Impact anymore. According to Meltzer, he's purely on the AEW payroll now.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 08:59
|
|
|
Vince MechMahon posted:What are ya watchin, specifically? Watched this week’s Dynamite. It is the first wrestling I’ve watched in like 3 years after giving up on Vince’s shitbucket. I am 5 beers in and am absolutely loving it. Everyone is enjoying themselves and having fun and obviously cutting their own promos exactly as they should be.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 09:08
|
|
|
Dynamite and Dark and Elevation comes down to six hours of wrestling a week, which, I don't have that kinda time, but I do like to pick out Dark and Elevation matches featuring the folks I like from Dynamite. And there are some wrestlers who never feature on Dynamite but regularly have entertaining matches on the youtube shows. I especially want to point out Abadon, who's kinda like the 2020s version of the Undertaker, and Chaos Project, who are nominally a tag team but really more like a singles competitor that wields a luchador as a foreign object.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 09:12
|
|
|
The Rabbi T. White posted:Watched this week’s Dynamite. It is the first wrestling I’ve watched in like 3 years after giving up on Vince’s shitbucket. I am 5 beers in and am absolutely loving it. Everyone is enjoying themselves and having fun and obviously cutting their own promos exactly as they should be. If you want to check out a bit more before next week's show, here's some Dynamite highlights from the year so far Kenny Omega vs. Fenix - Kenny defends the title against the human pinball machine that is Rey Fenix. Rey's the best high flyer in the world and he comes up with new tricks every single time he's in the ring Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker - Thunder Rosa is a proud Latina badass, Britt Baker is a conceited obnoxious jerk and also a dentist, this match is the culmination of a months long feud which sees them settle their differences in a bloody and violent unsanctioned match that's also the first time women main evented Dynamite The Young Bucks vs. PAC and Fenix - The Bucks are the best in the world at multiman clusterfuck spotfests and here they defend the tag belts against Fenix and his mate PAC (fka WWE's Neville) who spent 9 months stuck in the UK cause of COVID and is now pissed off about everything Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy vs. Miro and Kip Sabien - Chuck and Orange are part of the Best Friends, who are basically what would happen if you or me ended up in a wrestling company. Miro (fka. WWE's Rusev) is an Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti - Shida has held the Women's title for almost the whole pandemic, she's a fighting joshi champion who'll take on all comers. Tay Conti is a judo black belt who was in the WWE PC system for years and never looked that great then she got released and came to AEW where she watched a bunch of Japanese strongstyle and now she rules. This is a really stiff match with hard strikes and lots of grappling. Miro vs. Darby Allin - Darby is an emo skater boy who weighs 150 lbs soaking wet. He's been defending the TNT title week after week for months in a series of gruelling matches and he just got thrown down a bunch of stairs so it's definitely the right time to fight literal gorilla man Miro, right? Right? These matches are all guaranteed good times imo
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 09:39
|
|
|
Rarity posted:If you want to check out a bit more before next week's show, here's some Dynamite highlights from the year so far Appreciate this heaps. I’ve just worked out that I can subscribe via fite or whatever it is and this will surely give some background prior to the upcoming PPV, of which I am now seriously considering blowing the trumpet to get the old wrassel watching crew together (which is what made me start watching wrestling again in the first place because it consists of a few stand up comedians who are kind of a thing in our country and having people that funny in a room makes everything good) E: also please excuse the rambling half-cut posting. The Rabbi T. White fucked around with this message at 11:07 on May 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 11:03
|
|
|
Yes, thank you for the information. It's getting me excited to watch AEW this weekend and enjoy modern wrestling for the first time! Much appreciated!
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 12:56
|
|
|
Jordan7hm posted:It also has lots of the old guys doing managers roles, above and beyond just Sting (who will be wrestling at the next ppv AEW has been very shrewd about what old folks they bring in and why, as they mainly want them as trainers/agents (backstage officials who go over the particulars of matches with wrestlers), as well as onscreen talent. Tony Schiavone was a real standout when you stop and look at the full arc of his career. He was involved in wrestling from a fairly young age for an announcer/interviewer, and eventually rose to become one of the main voices of WCW. As the company became gradually shittier and shittier, the locker room got more and more toxic, Tony became deeply depressed (which came through in his work). Eventually the ship sank and Tony bailed, thinking he hated the business and wanting little to nothing to do with it. Overall he wouldn't be seen in wrestling for nearly 20 years. He carved out a small but comfortable niche for himself calling minor league baseball games, high school football matches, etc, but times were tough and in order to provide healthcare coverage for his family he ended up working as a drive through guy at Starbucks (at the time it was the quickest way to get his kids coverage). Time passes, his kids start graduating college, and he eventually starts phasing into a more podcast focused track (again focusing on regional sports). He tried to get work as a television producer, and even contacts WWE (who, apparently, ghosted him after saying they would bring him in), but nothing come through. The team that would found AEW slowly started coalescing, and Tony was contacted by Cody Rhodes to come see what was going on at their first few branded performances. Being old friends with the late Dusty Rhodes, and having both Rhodes brothers on board got him to hang out at a few early shows, and eventually he signed full time when owner Tony Khan basically begged him to commentate (and no doubt backed a dumptruck of money to his front door). Early AEW matches he called were literally just watching Tony fall back in love with wrestling, and 90% of it was just him yelling "WOW!!" "HOLY COW!!" "OH MY GOD!!" over and over again. He's since found his footing and is as good as he ever was, working primarily alongside JR and teaching TV newcomer Excalibur the commentary ropes. He also started hosting AEW Unrestricted, a podcast/YouTube interview show that has in depth interviews with talent and staff (alongside cohost/referee/game designer Aubrey Edwards). He jokes; "I go on TV every week to say 'That's right JR!' and 'You're right Excalibur!' and they pay me for it. It's the greatest job in the world, they'll never get rid of me!" He's just so clearly having the time of his life every week, and it's amazing to see the overall journey of a guy go from huge fan, to one of the biggest voices in the industry, to prodigal son, and eventually redemption and happiness. WCW was a big part of my childhood, and it warms the corners of my cold black heart to see him doing so well and having so much fun. And now as is wrassle postin tradition, gifs:    
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 13:17
|
|
). Jake the Snake, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Vickie Guerrero are all regulars, and folks like Jerry Lynn, Dean Malenko and Brett Hart have all appeared.
|
Kenny Omega looks weird and doofy. Is that on purpose? Definitely seeing the appeal of this company, though. AEW seems like a good middle ground between old WWF and modern WWE. I like the little stuff, like telling their win/loss records. Such a cool touch that seems so obvious yet I've never seen before. It's probably even better with full size crowds. The little audience just can't replace a full screaming building of fans, but I guess they can't really help it during Covid.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:30
|
|
|
Eclipse12 posted:Kenny Omega looks weird and doofy. Is that on purpose? Absolutely. He's a giant nerds idea of what a cool, bad rear end is. It's why he's "the cleaner" like Leon the professional (although Leon never beat people with a barbed wire broom), and his moves are named things like the one Winged Angel and rise of the Terminator. When he was a good guy for a bit he had hair that was less ridiculous, and didn't wear the aviators. Him, the bucks, and the good brothers all used to be in bullet Club which was a half joke NJPW stable of gaijin who yelled "suck it" and "too sweet" and other 90s poo poo constantly, while cheating to win all their matches. The thing they're doing with that whole group currently is an evolution of that stuff. However, Kenny is also the greatest currently living wrestler and has been for over five years.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:35
|
|
|
Kenny Omega is a giant loving weeb and gamer nerd who just so happens to be one of the best wrestlers in the world. He's definitely playing the weirdness up a bit to fit his heel role but yeah, that's pretty much him. Here's a clip of him being Sans from Undertale for a Halloween show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcOl6nonjFU
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:39
|
|
|
Everything you need to know about Kenny: https://youtu.be/IEi6rG0TjEw
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:43
|
|
|
There was a video package before the barb wire deathmatch where Kenny Omega had a "Videogame Music is Music" shirt on. I already liked Omega but that helped seal it. I need that shirt.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:59
|
|
|
Gavok posted:his career is just about over due to being 50. 
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 18:59
|
|
|
I feel like the best story telling AEW has done can be seen by watching Cody win the TNT Championship, watch his title defenses, see Brody Lee's introduction, then watch Cody vs Brody Lee. gently caress I miss Brody Lee.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:04
|
|
|
Rarity posted:Kenny Omega vs. Fenix - Kenny defends the title against the human pinball machine that is Rey Fenix. Rey's the best high flyer in the world and he comes up with new tricks every single time he's in the ring quote:"kenny may be out, here"  oh, right, these guys know more about wrestling than I do should be obvious, it's their job, and yet
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:15
|
|
|
Eclipse12 posted:Kenny Omega looks weird and doofy. Is that on purpose? it's impossible to take him seriously but there's a decent audience that loves that poo poo, hence goons thinking he is the best wrestler. once it's revealed he's actually a serial killer things will change
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:39
|
|
|
Mulaney Power Move posted:it's impossible to take him seriously but there's a decent audience that loves that poo poo, hence goons thinking he is the best wrestler. Depends on who the victims are, IMHO. Even then I might still give him a pass cause of that hour long banger with Okada at the dome.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:41
|
|
|
mark my words, one day footage will emerge of kenny omega hazing underage japanese schoolgirl wrestlers by putting them in bob roop sugar holds while the ghost of eddie graham looks on. the more wholesome the wrestler the more terrible they actually are! youll see.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:51
|
|
|
Here is the guide to AEW’s Double or Nothing. The show airs on Sunday May 30 at 8pm ET. There will almost definitely be a pre-show at 7 on YouTube and stuff. Double or Nothing 2019 was the first official AEW show, so this is the third installment. PAC VS. KENNY OMEGA (C) VS. ORANGE CASSIDY AEW World Championship Best Friends and Death Triangle started up a feud a long time ago, but had to table it due to the pandemic keeping Pac out of the country for many months. Eventually, the two sides went back to warring. Since Pac and Orange Cassidy each ranked high with their win-loss records, it was decided that the two would face off and the winner would become #1 contender at Double or Nothing. These days, Kenny Omega is busy ducking Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston, while trying to collect as many belts as he can from other wrestling promotions. When he heard about the Pac vs. Orange match, he accepted that his old rival Pac was going to win and be a worthy challenge. Kenny feels that Orange is a total joke and even made fun of him to his face about it. Orange shrugged it off, making Kenny get louder about it. Pac vs. Orange was supposed to hit the time limit, but Orange got legit hurt in the match, so they covered for it by having Kenny sneak into the ring and lay out Pac. Kenny hoped that this meant that he had the PPV off, but it was instead announced that it would be a triple threat. Kenny and Don Callis offered Orange a contract to face Kenny for the title at a later date due to his injury, therefore helping Kenny’s odds at the PPV. Orange responded by very, very slowly tearing the contract in half.  HIKARU SHIDA (C) VS. DR. BRITT BAKER DMD AEW Women’s World Championship AEW’s women’s division has been, at best, a work in progress for about two years by now. To be fair, there were some legit factors working against it. They wanted to focus on Japanese women and COVID made that a challenge. The more talented women out there on the indie scene were getting scooped up by WWE, even if they weren’t using them. Injuries took big names off the board. They also hired Ivelisse for a bit when she’s a known locker room cancer and, surprise, history repeated itself. Recently, the talent has been building up, but they haven’t been getting the proper exposure compared to the male roster. Luckily, what we do get is pretty drat good. Shida won the title at last year’s Double or Nothing. Since then, she’s been a fighting champion, going through practically every woman on the roster and even a few guest challengers. While not the champion, Britt Baker is at least considered the face of the women’s division. When she started, she was a generic face with the quirk of being a real life dentist on the side. The fans didn’t care and they pivoted by making her turn heel and using her dentist career as part of her persona. Like, say, knocking teeth out of her opponent's mouth. Baker spent the last year losing a couple major feuds against the likes of Big Swole and Thunder Rosa (looking like a badass in the latter’s blow-off match), but has since decided to start earning her way into a title shot. She racked up enough wins to get the #1 contender spot and is likely about to dethrone the champ.  THE YOUNG BUCKS (C) VS. JON MOXLEY AND EDDIE KINGSTON AEW World Tag Team Championship Long ago, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston were close friends. They drifted apart and years later, Eddie came to AEW while Moxley was champion. The two had a few violent matches and Mox came out the victor. Eddie moved on, but at least showed once or twice that he still respected him. After Moxley lost the title to Kenny Omega, a rematch was held via an Electrified Barbed Wire Exploding Death Match. Thanks to a lot of outside help, Kenny won, but he cuffed Mox and left him lying in the ring with the charges set to explode in a moment. Eddie, still more emotionally attached to Mox than he realized, ran to the ring and covered Mox’s body. The explosion turned out to be an embarrassing dud, but they later spun it so that Kenny did that on purpose to humiliate Mox. Their friendship rekindled, Mox and Eddie wanted nothing more than to beat the gently caress out of Kenny and the Good Brothers. As for the Young Bucks, they were unhappy with Kenny’s scummy behavior at first. Don Callis got in their head about how even if they’re the tag champs, they’re nothing compared to the in-your-face assholes with a killer instinct from the old days. In a six-man tag of Mox/Bucks vs. Kenny/Good Brothers, the duo realized that they wanted to side with Kenny, turning it into a five-on-one beatdown. The Young Bucks soon after fully accepted their inner douche bros. Notably in the aftermath, they took on longtime friends SCU (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian), who had announced that they would split up the next time they lost. The Bucks cut corners and cheated to beat SCU and end their union. This further pissed off Mox and Eddie, who went backstage and trashed the Bucks’ locker room. Mox and Eddie have decided to get their hands on the Bucks the legal way. They entered the tag team division and took out every team to get in their way. After defeating the Acclaimed, they rose to the top of the ranks. They ambushed the Bucks after a match and Eddie took delight in stealing their excessively expensive Nikes.  MIRO (C) VS. LANCE ARCHER TNT Championship Miro wrestled in WWE as Rusev and is considered to be one of the biggest potential stars that they simply slept on. Despite his popularity, the company tried its hardest to snuff out his momentum at seemingly every opportunity. He left, joined AEW and was introduced as Kip Sabien’s best man (or “The Best Man”). They teamed up based on their love of video games and streaming. Over time, it became apparent that not only was Miro a wrecking ball in the ring, but he was also an intense ticking time bomb, who would violently abuse Sabien if the right button was pushed. Sabien himself was last seen when Miro angrily beat the hell out of him backstage and then told him, “I forgive you.” Miro set his sights on AEW gold and decided to go after TNT Champion Darby Allin. Allin was a fighting champion who would take plenty of damage, but pull out a win in the end. Considering the many matches he endured, the fact that he was thrown down some stairs the week earlier, and the fact that he was up against this total psychopath in Miro, Darby had only a small shot at victory and it wasn’t enough. Miro became the new champion. Meanwhile, a regular segment on AEW is Tony Schiavone trying to interview Sting, only to be interrupted. It happens nearly every week. For a couple weeks, Sting was interrupted by Lance Archer, another giant, violent psycho (catchphrase “Everybody dies!”), though Archer has Jake “The Snake” Roberts as his mentor. Archer was annoyed that he wasn’t standing out while they gave TV time to the likes of Sting and Sting actually agreed with him. Sting told him that Archer really should be in the main event and needs to do something about it. Surprised, Archer took that to heart. In the weeks that followed, whenever Darby and Sting were outnumbered during one of Darby’s title defenses, Archer would show up to even the odds. It seemed he was possibly planning to eventually go after Darby and the TNT title, but that never really happened. Now he actually is trying for the TNT title, but he’s going after Miro. It’s a real irresistible force/immovable object kind of showdown.  CASINO BATTLE ROYALE Winner gets a shot at the AEW World Championship AEW has their own version of the Royal Rumble called the Casino Battle Royale. Other than the number of entrants, this 21-man Rumble has another gimmick differentiating it. Instead of drawing a number, everyone involved picks from a deck of 21 cards. You end up with five wrestlers per suit and one joker. The entrances are clustered together based on the suits, meaning five wrestlers enter every five minutes. Whoever gets the joker gets the final and lone entrance. As of now, we know 20 of the 21 competitors: Christian Cage, Matt Sydal, Powerhouse Hobbs, Penta El Zero Miedo, Jungle Boy, Matt Hardy, Marq Quen, Isiah Kassidy, The Blade, Evil Uno, Colt Cabana, Preston Vance, Griff Garrison, Brian Pillman Jr., Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, Dustin Rhodes and Lee Johnson. The favorite to win is Christian Cage. Christian was forced into retirement by WWE back in 2014 outside of one recent Royal Rumble appearance. He was a hyped acquisition in AEW (arguably too hyped) and made a big deal about being the best worker in the business. While he’s yet to lose any of his matches, he is struggling and is maybe realizing that he isn’t physically the competitor he used to be. He also made a big enemy out of Team Taz for refusing the offer to join the team. Battle royal veteran Paul Wight (Big Show) will be doing commentary for this match.  THE INNER CIRCLE VS. THE PINNACLE Stadium Stampede Match, if Inner Circle loses, they must disband At last year’s event, the big blow-off to the Elite/Inner Circle feud was the first ever Stadium Stampede. It was a cinematic match (pre-taped and heavily edited) that took place throughout the Jacksonville Jaguars’ football arena. It was a bonkers brawl that included a bar fight, Sammy Guevara being chased by a horse, Jericho beating up a football mascot, and so on. One of the best things to happen in wrestling in 2020. I talked up the Inner Circle and the Pinnacle in the previous post. MJF earned his way into the Inner Circle and tried to win everyone’s trust. Sammy figured he was trying to take over the group and when MJF was confronted with evidence of this, he revealed the Pinnacle and they thrashed the Inner Circle members. Weeks later, the Inner Circle returned and viciously got their revenge. The two sides met in Blood and Guts (AEW’s version of War Games), which could only end in submission or surrender. In the end, MJF threatened to throw Jericho off the roof of the cage. Sammy surrendered in hopes to prevent it. MJF threw Jericho anyway. Jericho returned with his arm in a brace and hosed down the Pinnacle with a truck full of champagne. MJF challenged them to a Stadium Stampede, but if the Inner Circle loses, they have to disband so the Pinnacle can move on and start trying to win championships without being distracted with this rivalry.  HANGMAN ADAM PAGE VS. BRIAN CAGE Adam Page’s attempts to become AEW Champion have always ended in heartbreak. He lost to Chris Jericho in the match to crown the first ever champion and it ruined his self-worth. Over time, it ruined his relationships with the rest of the Elite and turned him into a raging alcoholic. He had a long run as tag champ with Kenny Omega, but the moment they lost the belts, Kenny immediately severed their relationship. They faced off in a match to crown the #1 contender and Kenny won. Hangman blamed himself for both of those losses and beat himself up over it. While still a heavy drinker, Hangman found some positivity by befriending his former enemies in the Dark Order. He rebounded from despair, won a feud against Matt Hardy, bought a kickass riding lawn mower, and started racking up wins in the singles division. He was the #1 ranked wrestler in AEW, but he was reluctant to do anything about it because Kenny is champion and he’s not ready to face that path. Even when an interviewer asked about the reunion between Kenny and the Young Bucks, Hangman would change the conversation before disappearing for hours, presumably getting hammered alone. Hangman had a match against Brian Cage, but Cage and the rest of Team Taz jumped Hangman before things could begin. The Dark Order chased off Team Taz, but the damage was done and Brian Cage manhandled Hangman in what ended up being an easy victory. This dropped Hangman several spots in the rankings, so now he doesn’t have to worry about Kenny any time soon. Hangman challenged Cage to a rematch, this time without any of Team Taz there to screw him over.  ANTHONY OGOGO VS. CODY RHODES QT Marshall felt he wasn’t getting his due respect as head trainer of the Nightmare Factory. Cody tried to reason with him and even challenged him to a friendly exhibition, but all it led to was QT and his heel students stomping down on Cody and putting him on the shelf. Over time, Cody returned and got his revenge in a match against QT. That takes care of QT, but there’s one member of the Factory that Cody’s taken issue with. Anthony Ogogo is an English boxer who is very vocal about his distaste with America. Cody decided to turn this into a classic American face vs. foreigner heel dynamic, complete with a laughably bad promo that nobody liked. It was utter dogshit and as ill-conceived as the tattoo on Cody’s neck. Considering Ogogo’s on Twitter talking up how much the pledge of allegiance sucks, kids in cages is a travesty and he was the minister in his sister’s gay wedding, people are scratching their head at the idea that he’s supposed to be the heel. Anyway, we haven’t seen Ogogo wrestle a real match as of yet. He has a few wins, but that’s because he’s quick to deliver punches to the midsection that result in match stoppage due to internal injuries.  STING AND DARBY ALLIN VS. SCORPIO SKY AND ETHAN PAGE When Sting showed up in AEW, he singled out Darby Allin as the one who reminded him of himself. Darby is a face-painted loner goth skater guy who will put his body through Hell in order to get a win. Darby accepted Sting as his mentor and bat-wielding backup. Darby won the TNT Championship soon after and the two defeated Team Taz in a cinematic match in a dirty warehouse. “All Ego” Ethan Page is a newcomer to AEW who quickly started to team up with Scorpio Sky. Sky was growing restless as he was part of the company’s first tag team champions and he’s become increasingly ignored and thrown into the background. During many of the Sting interviews, Page and Sky would be shown watching with interest. Due to some history between Page and Darby from outside of AEW, the duo would target him during his matches, usually chased away by Sting or sometimes Lance Archer. The one week Sting wasn’t there, Page attacked Darby during an interview segment and shoved him down a flight of stairs. That definitely played a big role in Darby losing the TNT Championship to Miro a week later. So now the two sides are about to collide in a tag match. This will be the first non-cinematic match for Sting since 2015.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 19:59
|
|
|
unlike kenny i really like daniel bryan, but his time will come too. he'll end wrestling one of his kids to death or something.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 20:00
|
|
|
That Double or Nothing fact ignores the very key fact that Ogogo called Cody a pissboy. Please correct this oversight
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 20:16
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
Miro is basically the guy from Key & Peele's UFC sketch and it's completely amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z-oJTZ1b5Q e: also for anyone as out of touch with sports as I am, Ogogo's boxer thing isn't just a gimmick, he was a legit boxer and won a bronze medal at the Olympic games. although I don't know exactly what level of sports feat this really is, for all I know bronze is the Olympic equivalent of a participation trophy, but still, he got there in the first place. My Lovely Horse fucked around with this message at 20:22 on May 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
May 22, 2021 20:19
|
|