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AEW
May 28, 2023 21:41:34 GMT -5
Post by elliott on May 28, 2023 21:41:34 GMT -5
Leave cheese out of this
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AEW
May 28, 2023 22:29:21 GMT -5
Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on May 28, 2023 22:29:21 GMT -5
I'm predicting Darby Allin wins the world title tonight (at Double Or Nothing 2023).
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AEW
May 28, 2023 22:37:52 GMT -5
Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on May 28, 2023 22:37:52 GMT -5
oh.......the match already happened
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AEW
May 28, 2023 22:38:17 GMT -5
Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on May 28, 2023 22:38:17 GMT -5
.....and I was wrong
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AEW
May 29, 2023 11:00:02 GMT -5
Post by Cap on May 29, 2023 11:00:02 GMT -5
What a weird show. I suspect there are a lot of mixed feelings and harsher criticisms of the show than the ones I have.
Pre-show
Hardys and Hook vs Page and Gunns: I had no interest in this and it was about what I expected. The Hardys are still crazy over in the building, but I just couldn't be more out on what they are doing. This got off the rails and lasted too long. Glad some folks like it.
Main Show
Black Jack Battle Royal: Great stuff. This was laid out well built some feuds within the body of the match, probably started some new ones, and had an awesome homestretch/finish. Orange is still one of the best champions in wrestling right now. I also REALLY want to see Swerve get a title run. He is big time.
Jericho v Cole: This was a bit of a let down. It feels like a great chance for both men's biggest detractors to take a bit of a victory lap. It wasn't awful. I thought it was fine, but it fell flat for the crowd and didn't quite meet my expectations. I thought the finish was kinda dope, but the folks in the arena hated it.
FTR vs Lethal and Jarrett: Loved this. It was all the banter that I wanted and then some. FTR did the nuts and bolts stuff and let Planet Jarrett and Mark Briscoe just be entertaining. I loved Jarrett thinking he had it won and celebrating before the pin only to fail. Jarrett doing that is one of my favorite tropes in AEW right now. Mark Briscoe is a treasure. Dutt is a tresure. Jarrett is a tresure in AEW. Karen was a wonderful addition to this group. Had a blast with this.
Wardlow v Christian: This was a hit at my house. My wife and the friends I had over were loving it. I enjoyed it a lot, but not in the way I thought. It was gimmick and spot heavy, where I thought they would trim the fat and go simple with this to accent Wardlow's strengths. Nope... lets have Wardlow do crazy person stuff and let's have Arn bite luchasaurus' thumb off. I wound up really enjoying it. Wardlow hasn't felt like a bigger deal since beating MJF
Hayter v Storm: This is exactly what I feared, but it was the best version of a not great situation. Hayter drops the belt (presumably because of Hayter's injury) in a short, but energetic match. Hayter remains one of my favorites. They both made the most of the minutes.
House of Black vs The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn: Again, kinda fun, but nothing to write home about. I hit a bit of a wall watching at this point and was working to bounce back for the home stretch, so I didn't pay as much attention as I'd like. I dig the House of Black. It feels like they are finally hitting their stride with their presentation and consistency. Even if it is just defending the belt, they really need that. I prefer them being the ominous final bosses in the trios division to them trying to "corrupt" people.
Jade v Taya: This was a good selling performance from Jade. I really liked how she sold everything down the stretch and then exploded for the finish. Felt like she was trying to get out of her comfort zone a bit and I appreciated that. I also think Jade looks like she is having a blast when she wrestles. She is such a star and she deserves more than the booking she has gotten for the most part.
Jade v Statlander: This was fun and exciting. Statlander rules and should be the person to take the belt of Jade. This also helps protect the Jade aura a bit while getting the first L out of the way. I actually think this was done really well. Mind you, this isn't ideal. It would be better to build someone to beat Jade clean and ideally have both spin off stronger, but 1) that is far easier said than done especially given how far this streak has gone and 2) I don't trust AEW to put that kind of thought and energy into this title at this point and that is an indictment of them, not Jade or the other women in the division.
MJF v Jungle Boy v Darby v Sammy: I suspect there are going to be people who are really into this match. I suspect most people on this board and in my corners of the internet will loath it. It was very much not my thing, too clever by half. It was a really good version of an overly choreographed... overthought... doing too much match. I applaud the execution and ultimately had fun watching it with a group over some beers, but I'll never go back to this.
Anarchy in the Arena II: Darren said it best on twitter, this was a sequel. They tried to capture the magic of the first one and just wasn't going to happen. I think having that weird ass band play the song was a mistake. I've seen some folks on line who loved it, but it was a miss for me. I saw someone describe it as a brawl at a local band's show and I think if that is what they were going for it was an admirable miss. I think it might have worked with a different band or set-up. The rest of the match was quite good. It was violent and chaotic and mean and menacing. I liked the end as a mover of the story. It left me with more questions than answers. I ultimately came away happy with the match, but I also think its reasonable for me to expect a touch more without it reaching my wildest expectations. I'm guessing we get Blood and Guts: Omega, Bucks, Page, Ibushi v Dragon, Mox, Claudio, Yuta, Takashita and I'm on board with that.
Overall, I'm not as low on the card as some, but that isn't surprising. I think this entire ppv and build was about taking some chances. Some of them hit and some of them didn't. I said this on twitter, but this PPV could have really used someone like Eddie Kingston. I'd add Joe and Punk to that as well. It needed one or two people who just - for better or worse - always carry authenticity with them. This needed to be grounded in that just a bit more throughout.
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AEW
May 29, 2023 12:54:49 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by [Darren] on May 29, 2023 12:54:49 GMT -5
I couldn’t tell if this was the best version of a bad show or the worst version of a good show. The show was not a chore to get through but the highest highs barely scratch the surface and it feels like a lot of nothing. This is was Battle of the Belts should be.
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AEW
May 29, 2023 16:06:25 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by tetsujin on May 29, 2023 16:06:25 GMT -5
Anarchy in the Arena was kinda bad. Too focused on being the sequel of the first one , while at the same time being much less chaos and overall violence. Add some Elite goofiness here and there and... Yeah I don't think it worked as an "Anarchy in the Arena" should work (but also, that shouldn't be a traditional, annual gimmick. They should had just left the first one as a special, unique piece of their history). Also please, PLEASE, do not have Don Callis join the BCC.
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AEW
Jun 24, 2023 16:49:47 GMT -5
Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on Jun 24, 2023 16:49:47 GMT -5
I'm glad that Chris Jericho accused Sting of being a mercenary ("highest bidder" promo) on Dynamite this week. He deserved it. I wonder if Sting has been a good signing for AEW (i.e. has he made more money for AEW than he's taken out). Also, I wonder if we get sting/taker at wm40.
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AEW
Jun 25, 2023 16:44:13 GMT -5
Post by TheDutifulWebmaster on Jun 25, 2023 16:44:13 GMT -5
I'm not going to watch Forbidden Door tonight, but I will be following a live play-by-play, and wow, this must be the most stacked one-night PPV ever. I really want to see how good Okada/Danielson is, and I'm going to be BiliBili-ing it when it's over.
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AEW
Jun 25, 2023 18:40:35 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by tetsujin on Jun 25, 2023 18:40:35 GMT -5
Folks ready for Okada/Bryan being so good that people will vote for it a lot in these next four days before the deadline and end up at the top 100?
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AEW
Jun 25, 2023 23:26:54 GMT -5
Post by Cap on Jun 25, 2023 23:26:54 GMT -5
Well... Everything today is ineligible because the nomination period has passed, but as much as I enjoyed Dragon v Okada, it wasn't the match from this show that I think this board will ultimately discuss.
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AEW
Jun 25, 2023 23:51:13 GMT -5
Post by makaiclub on Jun 25, 2023 23:51:13 GMT -5
Okada vs Danielson being a 3* main event was not what I expected. Ospreay vs Omega is the big match to talk about. Although it had such a drag finishing stretch that it dulled any real GME contention for me.
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AEW
Jun 26, 2023 7:17:17 GMT -5
Post by nintendologic on Jun 26, 2023 7:17:17 GMT -5
I had been thinking about asking if it would be possible to fast-track any of the matches at Forbidden Door to nomination status if they were so blowaway great that it would be unthinkable for them to be ineligible. Looks like that won't be an issue, though.
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AEW
Jun 26, 2023 8:07:32 GMT -5
Post by Cap on Jun 26, 2023 8:07:32 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't think any of the matches really hit that mark, but I do think the 10 man and Omega/Osprey were awesome and I think I'm higher on the main than most folks.
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AEW
Jun 26, 2023 8:18:13 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by [Darren] on Jun 26, 2023 8:18:13 GMT -5
I have nothing bad to say about the main event. It was as good overall all things bring equal to Ospreay/Omega.
Ospreay/Omega was the best they could possibly do together. Such an insane performance by Omega.
Double juice is a wonderful touch, insanely hot crowd and not just In the “fight forever” way. There was actual sustained noise.
Omega’s kick out at one was one of my favorite moments of the year & then they tacked on 10 minutes to make sure ok didn’t have too match fun.
They should’ve put the main event directly after because the crowd was spent.
4 way match was a hoot but the 5v5 was far and away my MOTN.
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