My mind is entertaining the possibility that everything around Ethan Page recently is a work, and he's (re)debuting this week to add to The New Elite.
Probably not true, though.
Probably not true, though.
Ospreay and Scorp would be 3.5 stars as a baseline. Worth it?
If they had anything close to that level of value placed in him they wouldn't have used him so infrequently over the last two to three years.
I think Ethan has all the talent in the world but I've never seen much indication they know what to do with him.
Sounds good enough for a three hour block of wrestling on a Saturday night.
Tangent: Ricky Starks is Absolutely Elite and the Bucks gift him Punk's real world championship since he did beat him.
Ode to Rampage (May 11th, 2024)
After a quick follow-up with Kyle and Cope
We head to the back where Claudio mopes
"I love ya, Bry-D, but you just came back.
You needed more time to sell Ospreay's attack."
The first match of the night is with Dalton and Trent
The ROH peacock and the former Best Friend
It's a decent few minutes, and it does the job
Of reminding the crowd that Baretta's a knob
Let's head to the back for a word with Deonna
"Keep your eyes on your enemy, so you'll remember who blinds ya."
A RUSH singles push leaves me feeling torn
Another start-stop, or will we get the horns?
Then Keith and JD hit the ring for a spell
Made the most of their time between the two bells
I wanna see more of this bowling lifer
And defo want more of the Bounty Hunter
Now grit your teeth, folks, we got Cope in a rage!
They picked the wrong guy! This ain't Cage in a cage!
But all things considered, this match should be fire
With black mist and blood smeared on the barbed wire
Then Deonna and Frost in a bout of tactics
Of submission limb work and murder gymnastics
It's a good one that ends the way you'd expect
But we see a new finisher that leaves Lady wrecked
But that's not all, folks! We got a hateful pair!
Thunder Rosa runs down and clears the ring with a chair!
The Acclaimed then rap in a video package
Okay, I guess. But of heat there is lackage
Speaking of cold acts that are getting reheated
Scorpio's back…his last chance to feel needed?
To finish things off, we get Johnny and PAC
A way to get some of the Bastard's wins back
Taya gets involved, Johnny should've been wiser
Might have not gotten caught in the Brutalizerrrr
Oh wait! It's not over, it's the bang bang gang
A chance for Jay White to show off his fangs
He sounds and looks cool, and the Gunns make me laugh
That was Rampage, baby, maybe three stars and a half
Grade: For Sickos Only
After a quick follow-up with Kyle and Cope
We head to the back where Claudio mopes
"I love ya, Bry-D, but you just came back.
You needed more time to sell Ospreay's attack."
The first match of the night is with Dalton and Trent
The ROH peacock and the former Best Friend
It's a decent few minutes, and it does the job
Of reminding the crowd that Baretta's a knob
Let's head to the back for a word with Deonna
"Keep your eyes on your enemy, so you'll remember who blinds ya."
A RUSH singles push leaves me feeling torn
Another start-stop, or will we get the horns?
Then Keith and JD hit the ring for a spell
Made the most of their time between the two bells
I wanna see more of this bowling lifer
And defo want more of the Bounty Hunter
Now grit your teeth, folks, we got Cope in a rage!
They picked the wrong guy! This ain't Cage in a cage!
But all things considered, this match should be fire
With black mist and blood smeared on the barbed wire
Then Deonna and Frost in a bout of tactics
Of submission limb work and murder gymnastics
It's a good one that ends the way you'd expect
But we see a new finisher that leaves Lady wrecked
But that's not all, folks! We got a hateful pair!
Thunder Rosa runs down and clears the ring with a chair!
The Acclaimed then rap in a video package
Okay, I guess. But of heat there is lackage
Speaking of cold acts that are getting reheated
Scorpio's back…his last chance to feel needed?
To finish things off, we get Johnny and PAC
A way to get some of the Bastard's wins back
Taya gets involved, Johnny should've been wiser
Might have not gotten caught in the Brutalizerrrr
Oh wait! It's not over, it's the bang bang gang
A chance for Jay White to show off his fangs
He sounds and looks cool, and the Gunns make me laugh
That was Rampage, baby, maybe three stars and a half
Grade: For Sickos Only
Tony definitely put himself in an impossible position with Mercedes and Willow. Mercedes' first match back should not have been a title shot with two months of completely non-physical build. There's some options better than others but none I really like.
- Mercedes wins clean, skips the line straight to the TBS title over the women's division's biggest babyface, it's going to feel worse than Punk for the a lot of the audience.
- Mercedes wins dirty, goes full heel. I'm not against this one. But it depends on them doing it well and nothing Mercedes has done on the mic in her AEW tenure has convinced me of that.
- Willow wins clean, Mercedes looks weak in her debut match. I like this because it's bold as hell but it really fucks Mone over. The Copeland/Cage thing where he worked his way back up worked because they had a long and intimate history and people wanted to see Cage get comeuppance by the end. People don't want to see Willow get comeuppance.
- Willow wins dirty, possibly from (intended or otherwise) help from Stokely and Stat. I don't really like any bit of this. Still makes Mone look weak because this is her debut match that she shouldn't have gotten in the first place. They've been teasing heel turns for Stat for a while now and taking Willow with her makes most notable wrestlers in the division heels. Breaking them up does neither Willow or Stat any favors.
I guess we'll see what they have planned but they have been walking toward this trap for months now acting like it's no big deal. So either they have a plan or TK knew from the beginning he was going to put the belt on Mone immediately, damn the consequences.
- Mercedes wins clean, skips the line straight to the TBS title over the women's division's biggest babyface, it's going to feel worse than Punk for the a lot of the audience.
- Mercedes wins dirty, goes full heel. I'm not against this one. But it depends on them doing it well and nothing Mercedes has done on the mic in her AEW tenure has convinced me of that.
- Willow wins clean, Mercedes looks weak in her debut match. I like this because it's bold as hell but it really fucks Mone over. The Copeland/Cage thing where he worked his way back up worked because they had a long and intimate history and people wanted to see Cage get comeuppance by the end. People don't want to see Willow get comeuppance.
- Willow wins dirty, possibly from (intended or otherwise) help from Stokely and Stat. I don't really like any bit of this. Still makes Mone look weak because this is her debut match that she shouldn't have gotten in the first place. They've been teasing heel turns for Stat for a while now and taking Willow with her makes most notable wrestlers in the division heels. Breaking them up does neither Willow or Stat any favors.
I guess we'll see what they have planned but they have been walking toward this trap for months now acting like it's no big deal. So either they have a plan or TK knew from the beginning he was going to put the belt on Mone immediately, damn the consequences.
I had started Collission and kept coming in and out of focus. Ospreay vs Moriarty oddly seemed underwhelming only because what I've seen of Ospreay's matches so far have seemed so over the top and big. The story stuff after that match felt so heavy handed and over the top which made it seem just so obvious Ospreay will be taking that belt.
What is the end result or outcome of the Anarchy match? Omega being "Head EVP"? That he wins from these guys fighting in his name?
The Copeland match, while not being my usual thing made up for an underwhelming show. They had such a brutality and realness to the hits. Where the hits really felt like hits and misses truly felt like misses. It added such a weight and realness to it which helped it work in a match style that usually isn't my speed. Copeland continues to be a favorite. It also had great story telling. Copelands big moves constantly being caught in to a submission hold and him hammering on the spine. Was all around great.
What is the end result or outcome of the Anarchy match? Omega being "Head EVP"? That he wins from these guys fighting in his name?
The Copeland match, while not being my usual thing made up for an underwhelming show. They had such a brutality and realness to the hits. Where the hits really felt like hits and misses truly felt like misses. It added such a weight and realness to it which helped it work in a match style that usually isn't my speed. Copeland continues to be a favorite. It also had great story telling. Copelands big moves constantly being caught in to a submission hold and him hammering on the spine. Was all around great.
Agree with this, actually, but still struggles with CEO is just a dumb gimmick. Yeah, it's a different word for Boss, sure, but ....
Ugh, it's a shame. We'll see if she turns it around once her match happens.
Oh shit, I checked out Rampage after, and I had literally remarked how Danielson's teammate dipped as soon as he started talking about the young bucks and it was cool to see them actually pick this bit back up with the interview later. That's actually awesome and small storytelling, didn't even think it was intentional but just thinking the whole match was just pretense for Bryan to cut a promo and he was getting out of the way for it.
Wonder if that's how The Elite win Anarchy in the Arena. It's too early for them to lose, but I don't see them winning the match at even-strength.
I think the most natural outcome would be Stokely and Stat helping Mercedes win the title. She's much more natural as a heel than a face I'd say. She needs to really bury a babyface in order to solidify that as the new hot attraction. Everything seems to tie into that - the entitlement of her getting the match, not having to wrestle, paying off (?) Stat and Stokely to join her side. Stat also runs out for every Orange/Trent interaction which feels like I'm just waiting for her to kick Orange square in the junk. Trent has whispered something to her multiple times in those scenes. It seems like her heel turn is inevitable either way.
Willow loses the stable but they haven't really felt like a hugely cohesive unit for a bit now as everyone waits for the shoe to fall. Always have to watch out for those shoes after all.
My first thought was Hangman returns and helps the Elite win.
Sounds like NBC are getting the NBA over TNT.
Which I guess sounds like a good thing for AEW.
Which I guess sounds like a good thing for AEW.
Tony: Now that you have all this money to spend, let's talk about Ring of Honor. Yes, the wrestling company. Yes, the one you passed on already.
View: https://x.com/AEW/status/1790042727645597997
I'd watch the match. Why did Ogogo even join STP? He doesn't wrestle and they lose their way across every feud.
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OP
OP
There are still a lot of factors in play.
Namely, if anyone else is interested other than WBD they might get a bidding war going.
I hear Fox used to show wrestling.
Willow surprised The Wrestling Club while they watched her match with Athena. So awesome.
View: https://twitter.com/wallflowerperry/status/1790069065425342601?t=wpzkKGYzuKHwaqc7cXKFEA&s=19
View: https://twitter.com/wallflowerperry/status/1790069065425342601?t=wpzkKGYzuKHwaqc7cXKFEA&s=19
Once it's got to the stage AEW can negotiate with other companies I don't see an imminent WB deal happening. They'll let AEW go to market and then decide what they'll offer and if it's more than what they did during the exclusivity period.
To the surprise of no one.
WBD losing the NBA has got to be one of the best things that could happen for AEW. I have no idea what's going to happen but I'm excited to see where it goes.
I mean unless something bizarre happens the PPVs being included on an existing streaming service's sub seems like a given. It's the biggest silver bullet AEW have to seal a solid streaming deal because they've demonstrated 100-200k a PPV are willing to pay much more than a streaming service monthly fee for those shows. The weirdness around how late they announced All In's PPV details make me think there was a deal on the table that they thought they might have got over the line for just that last summer.
Dynamite was good and Collision even better. Copeland matches were my favorites. Rampage was better than expected. Impressive debut for Billington.
Feels like Mox will have to play peacemaker between Danielson & Claudio soon. Triple threat at Wembley or Danielson & Mox vs Claudio & Nigel would be cool.
Feels like Mox will have to play peacemaker between Danielson & Claudio soon. Triple threat at Wembley or Danielson & Mox vs Claudio & Nigel would be cool.
If we don't get that coward versus Nigel in Wembley one on one we're being fleeced by Big Fulham
Not sure Nigel can go well enough to do a singles but who knows. Even having him get up from commentary to screw over the clam digger would be fun.
Best video I've seen in ages.
Willow is the moment.
[whispers] She should go after the World belt next
Dynamite Hype very low. Some interest in The Bucks vs Sydal Daniels for mild fun AEW Lore reasons. I don't buy BCC as a tag team competitor and it's continually a way to get them on tv while getting wins. That tag tournament did nothing for the division and it's as uncompetitive as the trios. In other words, it's in shambles.
If Mercedes doesn't win at DoN, then it's really going to take a while to recover from. Ruby Soho lost in her first main feud for the title, and never really recovered. But, I hate that it's Willow that's going to lose, because that means Willow was a transitional champion, which really sucks. Willow is a star in the making.
NGL, I think if Mercedes loses, it has to be interference from someone big like Britt launching into a huge program between the two. I don't see Willow winning unless she's just that over, but she should.
I'm jealous of the kiddos. Wrestlers just showing up in the middle of school.
The problem there, is, whomever interferes has to lose (one would think) to Mercedes at the conclusion of their program. Would you want Brit to lose coming back? Or Hayter?
I'd be fine with Britt losing the program overall and winning the first match if she's going to be the heel and Mone is going to be the face. "You were so thirsty to take the spot of people here that you came back way too early from your injury. You aren't ready to carry this company on your back, your poor leg will snap trying to."
It's in essence the story they tried to do with Punk/Mox where Punk came back to early except there's a built in, long term injury and there can be some time given between Mone losing that first match and working hard to get back to where she was and winning the second (and maybe third) match.
But face Mone is not the wave so it'd be better to have Stat turn, cost Willow, and Mone join Stat/Stoke setting up a non-title feud of Stat/Willow and Mone can face a returning Britt or someone like Thunder Rosa or Saraya while we wait for Britts return or an eventual Willow rubber match later this year.
Yeah, this is why it's probably not happening. The big name interference makes the loss go down better but sours the rest. NGL, I dont think I envy the person booking for everyone coming back.
Actually, given Brit's earlier statements / comments about not really wanting to be champion, she'd probably be ideal for it. It would be interesting to see them justify her interference and as you all have said, face Mone hasn't proven it works / is viable.
But, I suppose she'd be the main big name who you could use....but what's the hook? You could use AEW original versus invading outsider, again, but this hasn't seemed to work great.
But, I suppose she'd be the main big name who you could use....but what's the hook? You could use AEW original versus invading outsider, again, but this hasn't seemed to work great.
That hasn't worked great due to the stop and go nature of it, injuries, and lack of cohesion. The Outcasts were HOT for a good 6 weeks or so but eventually fell apart as they'd face the same people over and over and do the same antics over and over. A recruitment arc of Britt leading the originals and finding people to team with for Blood and Guts could've been months of programming, especially if someone like Jade or Stat turned on the originals and joined the Outcasts in the middle of it. Britt, Jaime, Willow, Stat, and Shida vs. Saraya, Toni, Rubi, Jade, and Athena would've slapped hard AF.
I've been on the Women's B&G bandwagon for a long time. The talent is there and the roster size is big enough once Britt and Hayter are back. There's a lot more individual feuds going on now that they could easily dovetail into a division-spanning storyline ala Elite EVPs. The Outcasts experiment had the general premise down but poor timing, injuries and inconsistent booking killed it quick.
About time wrestling journalism asks the real questions.
View: https://twitter.com/danidontmiss/status/1790179916019060741
And the women's version
View: https://twitter.com/danidontmiss/status/1790368098274435400
Some I disagree with (any member of the Infantry is definitely going to bring their own gel and a toothbrush). But still, 10/10.
View: https://twitter.com/danidontmiss/status/1790179916019060741
And the women's version
View: https://twitter.com/danidontmiss/status/1790368098274435400
Some I disagree with (any member of the Infantry is definitely going to bring their own gel and a toothbrush). But still, 10/10.
It's when you see that really straight hair on the edge of a woman's hairline, typically at the top/forehead or near the sideburns.
I thought edge was the word for what is actually called baseboards, except that didn't make much sense with some of the tier choices (Danielson looks like he's handy around the house, but Isiah?), so I looked up the actual meaning.
I learned two new english expressions today!
I learned two new english expressions today!