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AEW Double or Nothing 2022 |OT| The Best Wrestling in the World by a Large Margin
- Thread starter Empyrean Cocytus
- Start date
Hmmm that fresh smell of irony in the morning, oh right a returning old act went over the homegrown top star, that must be! Yeah I'm still pissed Punk won lol Checking social media comments on their posts in Facebook and Instagram has been pretty interesting. People are as 50/50 on his win as they were during the night. A lot happy, a lot uncomfortable that he went over Hangman of all people. He went over every single major young AEW own stars, and then winning clean over the 3-year built Hero champion, and arguably the best babyface top star champion we've had since the original Cena run in 2005. Hangman's feuds were good, but I think his feud with Cole was too boring and dragged it down. However he only had good title defenses. Good to great, even. Better than most of them deserved to be. Punk now has the biggest responsability of his whole career: provide proof that he going over everyone is worth it, and different than when he complained about it in the other place.
My MOTN was absolutely Deeb vs Rosa. That feud had a very akward build, but did they overdeliver a great wrestling match. They absolutely did. You can tell crowd was tired and ready to not care, but they didn't let them not care.
My MOTN was absolutely Deeb vs Rosa. That feud had a very akward build, but did they overdeliver a great wrestling match. They absolutely did. You can tell crowd was tired and ready to not care, but they didn't let them not care.
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I was absolutely not expecting Rosa/Deeb to slap like that, especially as one of the last times I caught AEW on the tele it was Deeb's somewhat meandering and awkward promo which you know, didn't really give me a hype entry point to go off of
Women at work indeed
Not gonna deep dive into anything as a fairweather wrestling viewer, while nothing has me like "yes, I need to catch this every week" I do ultimately think the main event title change is the right call for the time being, I was also totally right to grimace in preparation for Punk's buckshots, hoo boy, felt really bad on the second one lol.
I will say that while I can look past my Cole fatigue/indifference/growing dislike and Joey Samoey adoration to begrudgingly consider Cole the better choice for the men's cup of the two (I wouldn't have booked that final in the first place mind you, in any case Joe old, so Cole makes more sense....I guess), Baker seemed like a waste for the women's tournament? this take is probably ice cold, actually I just turbo'd back through the thread to see the reaction, yeah, chilly mcfreeze with my take over here.
Like, to make Charlotte comparisons would be a bit much, yet I can't shake the similar feelings of over pushing at the expense of the other competitors
Side note that doesn't really fit anywhere else, Swerve and Lee's signature combo move is so perfect with how the stomp and powerbomb compliment each other, I wasn't really sold on the idea of them as a team initially, but I kinda want to see more of it now
Women at work indeed
Not gonna deep dive into anything as a fairweather wrestling viewer, while nothing has me like "yes, I need to catch this every week" I do ultimately think the main event title change is the right call for the time being, I was also totally right to grimace in preparation for Punk's buckshots, hoo boy, felt really bad on the second one lol.
I will say that while I can look past my Cole fatigue/indifference/growing dislike and Joey Samoey adoration to begrudgingly consider Cole the better choice for the men's cup of the two (I wouldn't have booked that final in the first place mind you, in any case Joe old, so Cole makes more sense....I guess), Baker seemed like a waste for the women's tournament? this take is probably ice cold, actually I just turbo'd back through the thread to see the reaction, yeah, chilly mcfreeze with my take over here.
Like, to make Charlotte comparisons would be a bit much, yet I can't shake the similar feelings of over pushing at the expense of the other competitors
Side note that doesn't really fit anywhere else, Swerve and Lee's signature combo move is so perfect with how the stomp and powerbomb compliment each other, I wasn't really sold on the idea of them as a team initially, but I kinda want to see more of it now
This was a great show.
Hangman is, imho, the best wrestler in the world and I want to see him claw his way back to the top.
Hangman is, imho, the best wrestler in the world and I want to see him claw his way back to the top.
The most disappointing video game hot take in AEW so far.
Thunder Rosa vs Deeb was definitely the best match last night. The cards need to be shorter. I was so tired by the end. Shit. I'm actually kinda bummed that Hangman lost. I've followed his AEW journey since day one so it kinda feels like he's family in some aspects, lol
After sleeping on it, I woke up pretty satisfied with that PPV. It definitely wasn't AEWs best showing but that's also a testament to how high the bar is for their big shows. Out of 13 matches, I thoroughly enjoyed 9 of them. The Wardlow squash was great, Hardys/Bucks had some big spots, the trios match was incredible, Athena's debut was awesome along with Stat stepping into the TBS title scene, Deeb and Rosa put on a clinic. Darby/KoR was a surprise banger, the tag match ruled (even though I wanted new champs), Anarchy in the arena was fucking ridiculous in all the right ways, and the right guy won a solid Punk/Hangman match. Every PPV can't be the next greatest PPV ever put on, that's an impossible standard to uphold. But for $50 I feel like I got 5+ hours of some fun wrestling. Now let's get this Forbidden Door build going!
Totally missed this. Who said that?
They are right tho. It is and always will be a kids party game.
No lies detected though. It's a kids game.
Fight of Gods is where the real adults go.
- Nese & Sterling vs HOOKhausen - Short but fun. ***
- MJF vs Wardlow - Cathartic end to one of the longest storylines. Would have been career suicide for MJF to no-show but he put over Wardlow strong. *** 1/2
- Young Bucks vs Hardys - Elvis entrance, mutton chops, Caprice Coleman! Cleverly laid out match to hide the Hardys' physical weaknesses except when Jeff sat in the corner. *** 3/4
- Anna vs Cargill (c) - A bit clunky but more competitive than expected. Sterling, Silver, Statlander! Jade upgrading to Stokely! ATHENA! - *** 1/4
- HOB vs Death Triangle - Fenix Jr cosplaying Penta! Lots of cool face-offs and spots. Julia Blackhart! - **** 1/2
- Cole vs Joe - Right winner for the men's side but both are capable of better. - *** 1/2
- DMD vs Ruby - Good selling from Ruby. She needed the win more. Martha's presentation was heartwarming. Nice looking belts. - *** 3/4
- ATT vs Sammy, Tay & Kaz - Entertaining blow-off. PVZ looked fine. *** 3/4
- Kyle vs Darby - Great chemistry. **** 1/4
- Deeb vs Rosa (c) - **** 1/2
- Anarchy in the Arena - MOTN. Boy band outfits lol. The music playing in the background twice! Crimson masks! They should have used PIP to catch more angles. - **** 3/4
- AFO was past it's used-by-date. Rush! Los Ingobernables USA. Dante vs Sky should be fun.
- Team Taz vs Lee/Swerve vs Jurassic Express (c) - Great despite the stupid 2 in the ring rule. Surprising result. **** 1/2
- Punk vs Hangman (c) - Hard match to predict but I was super invested either way. I liked that Hangman lost because he wasn't willing to tarnish the title. I think Punk will slowly turn heel and Kingston will be next Champion. MJF after that if he plays nice with TK. - **** 1/2
Great PPV but it was way too long. Had to pace myself more than usual. Could have saved the TBS match, Darby vs Kyle and ATT vs Sammy/Tay/Kaz for TV.
- MJF vs Wardlow - Cathartic end to one of the longest storylines. Would have been career suicide for MJF to no-show but he put over Wardlow strong. *** 1/2
- Young Bucks vs Hardys - Elvis entrance, mutton chops, Caprice Coleman! Cleverly laid out match to hide the Hardys' physical weaknesses except when Jeff sat in the corner. *** 3/4
- Anna vs Cargill (c) - A bit clunky but more competitive than expected. Sterling, Silver, Statlander! Jade upgrading to Stokely! ATHENA! - *** 1/4
- HOB vs Death Triangle - Fenix Jr cosplaying Penta! Lots of cool face-offs and spots. Julia Blackhart! - **** 1/2
- Cole vs Joe - Right winner for the men's side but both are capable of better. - *** 1/2
- DMD vs Ruby - Good selling from Ruby. She needed the win more. Martha's presentation was heartwarming. Nice looking belts. - *** 3/4
- ATT vs Sammy, Tay & Kaz - Entertaining blow-off. PVZ looked fine. *** 3/4
- Kyle vs Darby - Great chemistry. **** 1/4
- Deeb vs Rosa (c) - **** 1/2
- Anarchy in the Arena - MOTN. Boy band outfits lol. The music playing in the background twice! Crimson masks! They should have used PIP to catch more angles. - **** 3/4
- AFO was past it's used-by-date. Rush! Los Ingobernables USA. Dante vs Sky should be fun.
- Team Taz vs Lee/Swerve vs Jurassic Express (c) - Great despite the stupid 2 in the ring rule. Surprising result. **** 1/2
- Punk vs Hangman (c) - Hard match to predict but I was super invested either way. I liked that Hangman lost because he wasn't willing to tarnish the title. I think Punk will slowly turn heel and Kingston will be next Champion. MJF after that if he plays nice with TK. - **** 1/2
Great PPV but it was way too long. Had to pace myself more than usual. Could have saved the TBS match, Darby vs Kyle and ATT vs Sammy/Tay/Kaz for TV.
Nyla was on a roll on Twitter throughout the PPV.
I realized I fell asleep during Deeb/Rosa, woke up for Anarchy in the Arena's beginning, fell asleep again, and woke up for the triple threat tag match. Please TK. Can't take another four and a half hour PPV. I'm too old for this.
I realized I fell asleep during Deeb/Rosa, woke up for Anarchy in the Arena's beginning, fell asleep again, and woke up for the triple threat tag match. Please TK. Can't take another four and a half hour PPV. I'm too old for this.
Kingston taking the title off Punk would be great
The story is just too good with Punk being a hypocritical "superstar". Its also a good way to hammer in AEW originals as the backbone of the company
I love the criticism of punk beating aew young stars
The story is just too good with Punk being a hypocritical "superstar". Its also a good way to hammer in AEW originals as the backbone of the company
I love the criticism of punk beating aew young stars
I'm not sure how I feel about CM Punk winning the AEW World title. Save for his matches with MJF and Eddie Kingston, his match quality just hasn't been at that level to deserve that. I think it would have solidify Page as finally truly a main eventer if he beat Punk then went on to defend against Samoa Joe or Keith Lee or possibly Adam Cole again or a rematch with CM Punk or even given Wardlow a title shot.
It's also interesting that FTR were standing at the end with Punk - maybe the Pinnacle is seeing the end since MJF pulled his stunt and we won't see him on AEW for quite awhile.
It's also interesting that FTR were standing at the end with Punk - maybe the Pinnacle is seeing the end since MJF pulled his stunt and we won't see him on AEW for quite awhile.
It's all subjective, but I feel Punk's list of great matches is pretty impressive at this point: Sydal, Dax, MJF, Eddie, Dustin, Lee Moriarty, Darby, and the match against Page last night. Punk is not my favourite guy, but I respect his work and how he does connect with a large segment of the AEW audience.
Thanks for reminding me about the bona-fide classics vs. Dax Harwood and vs. Dustin Rhodes. I mean I get that he connects with the audience - but I'm not really sure he needs the AEW World title. I do want to see how he does as the World champion and what he does first.
i legit thought he blew out a knee on one of those, the landing was so hard and straight down, no forward momentum left
Yeah I don't think he much NEEDS anything at this point, but him having it will instantly make things interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next than pretty much at any stage of AEW thus far.
Yeah I fell asleep during the title match and woke up right as Punk won, definitely need to cut down a bit.
I think it's a business decision as much as anything else. The discourse around "Can Punk move the needle?" will be interesting (and maybe insufferable) over the next few months. I also don't think he needs the title, but if he was going to win it, this was the time to do it: Just rip the Bandaid off and get what you can out of this run from a business perspective. It's probably silly, but I'm more interested in seeing what Punk's run does from a business perspective than a story perspective, though I am also expecting some cool promos and stories coming out of it.
OP
OP
A couple of posts ago, I mentioned how I thought a face should have won the Owen Hart final. I wasn't the only one thinking that
The first one played into the match because Hangman tried to take advantage of Punk's botch. Trying it a second time was just stupid to the point where I'm still annoyed he thought he could do it.
Other than Punk being AEW's most over guy? I take it you didn't see Tony explain how much money Punk is making him.
Yeah but there's more than just money. I mean, WWE has their biggest financial success right now, that doesn't mean the product is good.
Punk has to show that the brand will improve with him at the top, that the stars will grow with him as the flagship, that more people will become fans with him at the top, etc. These are things you can't take for granted, no matter who you are.
It's weird that Tony is giving all the credit to Punk while Punk is like hey its a team effort, Danielson, Malakai, Cole etc came in around the same time as Punk and Tony is like IT'S ALL THANKS TO PUNK HE SINGLEHANDEDLY IS MAKING US RICH
Right. Well I did say "most over" guy. That's the best reason to put the belt on him.
Personally I have been waiting for Punk and Danielson to get a run. And now that Punk has it, BD title run when?
Honestly, I had high hopes for Hangman as champ but it always felt like it was missing something. His stuff with Bryan was great but it always sort of felt like the world title was not the biggest draw on the show. I get the concerns with Punk but he's white hot and I think the time is right to put the title on him and see if you can elevate both it and some other talent through Punk.
I don't think BD will get one, he just doesn't care. If he gets one, it'll be short (PPV to PPV, at best)
Hangman's problem was feuding him with Adam Cole. You just couldn't believe Cole taking the belt from him, and it dragged on for too long. Banger matches, I absolutely loved the Deathmatch one on Good Friday. But as a feud it was lame.
Double or Nothing 2022 Review:
*General Thoughts: Great PPV!! It was very lopsided in terms of quality as the first half was weaker, but the ending stretch was fantastic. I never felt tired during this PPV. While there were matches I would've taken off the PPV, I enjoyed most of them*
Buy In: HOOKhausen vs Smart Mark Sterling & Tony Nese - **
- Average comedy match. Perfect spot for one on the card
MJF vs Wardlow - SQUASH
- Starting off with this match was the right call as it eliminates the question of MJF appearing right away. The match was a squash and I truly believe it was always meant to be one. Very happy for Wardlow here. He looked generally emotional after the match. I hope whatever is causing MJF some distress is fixed soon. Dude looked horrible
Hardy Boys vs Young Bucks - ***1/2
- This match started rough and eventually got pretty good. I'm a Hardy Boys mark, so I'm probably a bit biased. Also just glancing at the live thread during this match made me leave. Truly disgusting behavior from some assuming Jeff was on drugs.
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill © vs Anna Jay - **
- The weakest match on the card sadly. Their first match was much better, but that could've been from editing as it was on Rampage. Jade's slowly improving though and I'm already a fan of hers. Really cool aftermath though...
- Stokley Hathaway is someone I'm not too familiar with, but hear great things. Him being Jade's mouthpiece could be really good
- Athena debuting was great. Loved her on NXT and never watched her main roster run (Because I don't watch WWE anymore). A cool little confrontation between Jade & The Baddies & Athena, Kris Statlander & Anna Jay
House of Black vs Death Triangle - ****
- Loved this match so much. Great trios action with everyone getting a time to shine. Loved the face paint of The House of Black. Really glad this feud is now over and both teams can move on. Great match
- Julia Hart finally turning was a cool moment. The turned dragged on, but that was 100% because of Fenix's injury. Let's hope she gets some screen time.
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Men's Final: Adam Cole vs Samoa Joe - ***
- This was a slower match then I thought it would, but I liked it. I know everyone complains about Cole now and it's exhausting to deal with, but I thought he looked great here. Cole worked on Joe's arm the whole match (Which was injured by Lethal, Dutt & Singh). That was pretty good storytelling too
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Women's Final:
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs Ruby Soho - ***1/2
- Really cool entrances from both, However Ruby's was leagues better. The match itself was good. I think this might be Britt's best match in AEW. Lots of good little callbacks to their match at Arthur Ashe. Again with Cole, Britt's discourse on here is exhausting. I know wrestling fans just want to complain all the time, but if something happens you don't like, it isn't bad booking. Well enough of that nonsense now.
- I though Martha Hart's ceremony was beautiful. She seems like a sweet person and screw WWE for giving her a hard time. I know Owen's up there smiling, knowing his wife and kids are finally getting treated right by a wrestling company. Long live Owen Hart. May we never forget the true King of Harts
American Top Team vs Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti - **1/2
- This whole feud can now finally end (hallelujah!!). The match itself was fine. Nothing too bad or good, just average. PVZ looked decent for her first match and can see the building blocks for the future. I may be in the minority, but I didn't hate the Sammy & Tay stuff in the match. It really sold me that their heels and not some weird twener thing
*From this point on, the PPV gets great*
Darby Allin vs Kyle O'Reilly - ****
- This match ruled!! I love high flyer vs submission based wrestling matches. They usually offer the coolest move transitions in all of wrestling. Darby really ate shit on that dive, glad he seems fine. This feels like the beginning of a nice KOR push and I love it. As for the match itself, lots of great reversals and ground moves from KOR, while Darby tried his daredevil dives. Great contrast of styles and I liked this match
AEW Women's World Championship: Thunder Rosa © vs Serena Deeb - ****1/2
- Excellent match. Probably the best wrestling match of the night. Both women have excellent chemistry together and I wouldn't object to a rematch. Rosa had a wonderful tribute to Uvalde on her gear and I suspect it hit her hard, not only being a mother herself, but she was a social worker for children before stepping in the ring. Excellent match
Anarchy in the Arena: Jericho Appreciation Society vs Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston & PnP - *****
- The name of this match was very accurate. Good lord this match ruled. Way too many spots to name in this one, but I loved everything in this match. There is definitely a Blood & Guts match happening soon. Eddie Kingston coming to the ring with gasoline was a image I will never forget. Dude looked like a serial killer. I can't wait to see this Kingston vs Jericho feud continue. I'll be thinking of this match for months to come
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus © vs Swerve In Our Glory vs Team Taz - ****
- This match was almost non stop. Loved every team in this match and was surprised Jurassic Express retained. Too many great moments to say, but all teams looked and worked great together. AEW's tag division is the best, even "makeshift" teams like Swerve & Lee work so well. Great match to follow the chaos of the previous match
AEW World Championship: "Hangman" Adam Page © vs CM Punk - ****
- This match was a lot slower than expected, but a welcome one. The crowd was great here. There wasn't a definite "bad guy" in the match and the crowd was split 50/50. That's something I've never seen before. Really great storytelling from Hangman here. This match will be looked back on whenever Punk turns heel. Trust me, Hangman will regret not using the belt to get a cheating victory. He tried to warn us and he too failed to stop what's coming
Rating - A-
- Great show!! The beginning was rough in places, but the back part of the show made up for it. Thank you for reading this If you did. Peace
*General Thoughts: Great PPV!! It was very lopsided in terms of quality as the first half was weaker, but the ending stretch was fantastic. I never felt tired during this PPV. While there were matches I would've taken off the PPV, I enjoyed most of them*
Buy In: HOOKhausen vs Smart Mark Sterling & Tony Nese - **
- Average comedy match. Perfect spot for one on the card
MJF vs Wardlow - SQUASH
- Starting off with this match was the right call as it eliminates the question of MJF appearing right away. The match was a squash and I truly believe it was always meant to be one. Very happy for Wardlow here. He looked generally emotional after the match. I hope whatever is causing MJF some distress is fixed soon. Dude looked horrible
Hardy Boys vs Young Bucks - ***1/2
- This match started rough and eventually got pretty good. I'm a Hardy Boys mark, so I'm probably a bit biased. Also just glancing at the live thread during this match made me leave. Truly disgusting behavior from some assuming Jeff was on drugs.
TBS Championship: Jade Cargill © vs Anna Jay - **
- The weakest match on the card sadly. Their first match was much better, but that could've been from editing as it was on Rampage. Jade's slowly improving though and I'm already a fan of hers. Really cool aftermath though...
- Stokley Hathaway is someone I'm not too familiar with, but hear great things. Him being Jade's mouthpiece could be really good
- Athena debuting was great. Loved her on NXT and never watched her main roster run (Because I don't watch WWE anymore). A cool little confrontation between Jade & The Baddies & Athena, Kris Statlander & Anna Jay
House of Black vs Death Triangle - ****
- Loved this match so much. Great trios action with everyone getting a time to shine. Loved the face paint of The House of Black. Really glad this feud is now over and both teams can move on. Great match
- Julia Hart finally turning was a cool moment. The turned dragged on, but that was 100% because of Fenix's injury. Let's hope she gets some screen time.
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Men's Final: Adam Cole vs Samoa Joe - ***
- This was a slower match then I thought it would, but I liked it. I know everyone complains about Cole now and it's exhausting to deal with, but I thought he looked great here. Cole worked on Joe's arm the whole match (Which was injured by Lethal, Dutt & Singh). That was pretty good storytelling too
Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Women's Final:
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. vs Ruby Soho - ***1/2
- Really cool entrances from both, However Ruby's was leagues better. The match itself was good. I think this might be Britt's best match in AEW. Lots of good little callbacks to their match at Arthur Ashe. Again with Cole, Britt's discourse on here is exhausting. I know wrestling fans just want to complain all the time, but if something happens you don't like, it isn't bad booking. Well enough of that nonsense now.
- I though Martha Hart's ceremony was beautiful. She seems like a sweet person and screw WWE for giving her a hard time. I know Owen's up there smiling, knowing his wife and kids are finally getting treated right by a wrestling company. Long live Owen Hart. May we never forget the true King of Harts
American Top Team vs Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti - **1/2
- This whole feud can now finally end (hallelujah!!). The match itself was fine. Nothing too bad or good, just average. PVZ looked decent for her first match and can see the building blocks for the future. I may be in the minority, but I didn't hate the Sammy & Tay stuff in the match. It really sold me that their heels and not some weird twener thing
*From this point on, the PPV gets great*
Darby Allin vs Kyle O'Reilly - ****
- This match ruled!! I love high flyer vs submission based wrestling matches. They usually offer the coolest move transitions in all of wrestling. Darby really ate shit on that dive, glad he seems fine. This feels like the beginning of a nice KOR push and I love it. As for the match itself, lots of great reversals and ground moves from KOR, while Darby tried his daredevil dives. Great contrast of styles and I liked this match
AEW Women's World Championship: Thunder Rosa © vs Serena Deeb - ****1/2
- Excellent match. Probably the best wrestling match of the night. Both women have excellent chemistry together and I wouldn't object to a rematch. Rosa had a wonderful tribute to Uvalde on her gear and I suspect it hit her hard, not only being a mother herself, but she was a social worker for children before stepping in the ring. Excellent match
Anarchy in the Arena: Jericho Appreciation Society vs Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston & PnP - *****
- The name of this match was very accurate. Good lord this match ruled. Way too many spots to name in this one, but I loved everything in this match. There is definitely a Blood & Guts match happening soon. Eddie Kingston coming to the ring with gasoline was a image I will never forget. Dude looked like a serial killer. I can't wait to see this Kingston vs Jericho feud continue. I'll be thinking of this match for months to come
AEW World Tag Team Championship: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus © vs Swerve In Our Glory vs Team Taz - ****
- This match was almost non stop. Loved every team in this match and was surprised Jurassic Express retained. Too many great moments to say, but all teams looked and worked great together. AEW's tag division is the best, even "makeshift" teams like Swerve & Lee work so well. Great match to follow the chaos of the previous match
AEW World Championship: "Hangman" Adam Page © vs CM Punk - ****
- This match was a lot slower than expected, but a welcome one. The crowd was great here. There wasn't a definite "bad guy" in the match and the crowd was split 50/50. That's something I've never seen before. Really great storytelling from Hangman here. This match will be looked back on whenever Punk turns heel. Trust me, Hangman will regret not using the belt to get a cheating victory. He tried to warn us and he too failed to stop what's coming
Rating - A-
- Great show!! The beginning was rough in places, but the back part of the show made up for it. Thank you for reading this If you did. Peace
Pretty much how I felt. It was a great PPV to watch in a group setting.
I didn't like most of the outcomes but it is what it is. The matches themselves were either good or very good with some true spectacle mixed in.
MOTY for me is probably a tie between Deeb/Rosa and Anarchy in the Arena. I absolutely loved the finish of Deeb/Rosa with the superplex into her finisher (forgetting the name). I don't normally like the Anarchy-type matches but the production was MUCH better than usual. They made the right camera cuts and filled in the blanks with replays. I don't feel like I missed much and it just felt like the Arena was getting torn to shreds.
The Eddie image was instantly iconic.
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Real fun PPV to watch with friends, but we're all old and it's a Sunday night we had work in the morning for the most part lol...
I got up at 5, staying up to 12:30 to see the end of Punk v Hangman...
I got up at 5, staying up to 12:30 to see the end of Punk v Hangman...
I read it and I agree with the majority of your opinions here. I wasn't as high on Darby and KOR as most, as I guess I didn't see the need for it. That's maybe a silly reason not to really like a match, but I think emotional investment is important in pro wrestling. It's also why I wasn't as high on Death Triangle vs. House of Black as most here were. It was a cool car crash of a match, but I found myself feeling cold toward it. The Julia reveal was my favourite part of the whole thing. A+ look, and I hope they do something cool with her.
All that said, there was a ton of great stuff on this show, and a lot of moments and images that will stick with me: Wardlow's facial reaction after giving MJF the first powerbomb; Wardlow's All Elite graphic popping up on the screen; Eddie with the gas tank; Stokely and Athena showing up; Ricky walking the top rope before getting his comeuppance; and on and on. :) It was a good night of pro wrestling.
I hope they put more care into almost all of the titles moving forward, though. I'm sure Punk will be treated with care, but I want Rosa to feel on that level as well, and I hope we get to see her wrestle on TV a lot more over the next few months.
Oh I agree on KOR vs Darby not belonging on the PPV. I would've shaved off some matches myself (including the KOR vs Darby match), but it's being reported that TK bought an extra hour of time for Martha Hart to have plenty of time for her speech. He just had to add extra matches because of it, so I can't get too mad about it lol
I also agree on Rosa's presence since winning the title. She needs to have way more screen time. Jurassic Express too.
A really solid show overall with my favorite matches of the night being Death Triangle vs House of Black, Anarchy in the Arena, and Deeb vs Rosa. Interested in seeing how Punk's reign will turn out. Going to Dynamite this week at the Forum and taking my oldest son to his first show for an early 10th birthday celebration and he's beyond estatic. I wonder what kind of buildup we'll get for Forbidden Door.
It's weird because I thought the first 3-4 weeks of JE's reign were great. They had them up against the Gunn Club, Private Party, and others. They were being booked in the way a babyface team should be booked: as fighting champions. But that slowed down and their presence suddenly felt diminished on TV. I feel Rosa is a similar story in terms of just feeling like another person on the roster who gets their 5 minutes and then we move on to the next thing. I hope it's something that Tony is able to address, but I don't think he even sees it as a problem, as he's called Hangman's title reign his favourite reign in the company's history so far. I can buy that from a match quality perspective, but it's concerning to me if Tony doesn't see how...unspecial? Pedestrian?...his champions feel at times. Jade felt like the biggest deal in the company for a while there, too. It's just frustratingly inconsistent. :)
I enjoyed the show. I have no real complaints, but AEW has had much better shows. It was pretty average, aside from the brawl and Rosa/Deebs, but also solid. No regrets on spending $20, though, it about met my expectations, I wasn't too high on the card lineup to begin with.
Hangman not using the belt on Punk will have repercussions down the road, one of them is going to end up hitting the other with that belt next time they're holding it and thinking about using it
Hangman not using the belt on Punk will have repercussions down the road, one of them is going to end up hitting the other with that belt next time they're holding it and thinking about using it
If MJF is out of the picture, then Punk -> Eddie -> BD -> Homegrown talent of choice is a possibility.
There's a lot of stuff here that can eventually be explained in storyline as Christian's influence kind of starting to ruin JE as he takes more and more credit for their successes. We kind of saw a bit of that last night with Christian hoisting Jungle Boy onto his shoulders post-match just as Luchasaurus used to do ... and Luchasaurus looking a little perplexed at to what was going on and what he should be doing. And perhaps, looking a little frustrated at Christian.
If MJF isn't out of the picture, then Punk --> Eddie --> MJF would work for me. I'd loooove to see Danielson get a run, but he seems content to just help out everybody and put on bangers whenever he gets a chance. Still, I could see him getting a run in late 2023 or at some point in 2024 before his 3-year contract is up probably around September 2024.