The Wrestling Thread

[RCBH928]

I never saw anything by this CM Punk guy and I have no idea why he was a big sign up for AEW but glad they got rid of him. I do not respect people that view themselves larger than life. I don't know why this guy feels like he is some how superior or special over the others. Life will go on.

[Reprise]

Miro's hot wife is All Elite.

Moxley is your new AEW International champion.

OC got a standing ovation after his match.

Apparently Miro and Powerhouse Hobbs proved two big guys can put on a decent match

The crowd sang "ooooOoOh cry me a riveeeer" haha.

Danielson and Starks had a great match from what I hear.

I haven't watched All Out or Payback, but I will probably watch them some time. Sounds like a typical AEW "the build to this PPV is shit, this card is weird" PPV that at least delivers with some of the matches. I heard the Trish and Becky cage match at Payback was really good. Cena returned too, which gets a meh from me, but people still seem to love the guy.

AEW are now building to another PPV on 1st October.

I am getting bored of current wrestling to be honest. I ended up watching old Ring of Honor DVDs the other day.

[Raging Justice]

Miro's hot wife is All Elite.

Moxley is your new AEW International champion.

OC got a standing ovation after his match.

Apparently Miro and Powerhouse Hobbs proved two big guys can put on a decent match

The crowd sang "ooooOoOh cry me a riveeeer" haha.

Danielson and Starks had a great match from what I hear.

I haven't watched All Out or Payback, but I will probably watch them some time. Sounds like a typical AEW "the build to this PPV is shit, this card is weird" PPV that at least delivers with some of the matches. I heard the Trish and Becky cage match at Payback was really good. Cena returned too, which gets a meh from me, but people still seem to love the guy.

AEW are now building to another PPV on 1st October.

I am getting bored of current wrestling to be honest. I ended up watching old Ring of Honor DVDs the other day.

From what I'm hearing you could say the same about Payback as you said about All Out. Boring build up, good PPV. I've also heard Trish vs Becky was great, as well as Sami/KO vs Judgement Day. Someone called Becky/Trish a Match of the Year Candidate. I'll have to watch that match. It's so rare to get great women's matches in AEW/WWE that it makes me happy when it happens. It's not like the NXT Black and Gold era where great women's matches were common. You watch Bailey wrestle nowadays and she's like a shadow of the awesome wrestler she was back then. I can't help but think that Becky and Trish took not being on Summerslam personally and had something to prove on Payback.

Oddly enough both Payback and All out also featured a title change. Sami and KO losing their belts maybe means we'll see them back in singles programs. They are both too talented to stay in the tag division forever. Though I have mixed feelings about Priest and Balor having the tag titles when they've been showing dissension between them for months. What's the point of that?

I'm not excited about Moxley with the International title to be honest, I think he should have put Cassidy over. Moxley needs some kind of change, but I'm not really sure what it is. He's kind of boring these days, despite the occasionally awesome promo. Jericho is known for re-inventing himself throughout the years. I feel like Moxley needs something along those lines. Cassidy himself has kind of re-invented himself through his title run. He's moved past the comedy character he was, even though he still incorporates a lot of that into his matches and presentation. He's shown everyone that he can be fun AND serious. I love it because the Best Friends always used to tease the idea that if Cassidy ever actually tried in his matches or actually gave a shit that he'd be fucking dangerous...and now we know they were right. The Orange Cassidy that finally decided to start trying has had one of the most impressive win streaks and title runs in the company's history. When Cassidy shifts away from his, "I don't really care about anything" attitude he's a threat to anybody on the roster. Cassidy has been all along like a Dragonball Z character, hiding his real strength the way everybody in that anime does.

Oh I've seen great matches involving two big guys. It can happen sometimes. I expected Miro and Hobbs to be decent as I know they both are pretty good.

I agree with you somewhat on being bored with current wrestling. A lot of the excitement surrounding Triple H taking over WWE has died down a bit, especially with some people thinking Vince is running things again. As for AEW, the honeymoon period for them has been over for quite some time now. There's a lot I don't like in current day WWE/AEW, yet both companies always find something to keep my interest even if everything else sucks. Like I hate anything involving Cena and Cody Rhodes, but then WWE puts a smile on my face with the Gunther/Chad Gable stuff, or surprises me with Becky getting some decent matches out of Trish and Starks even though that feud has been mostly crap. There's always a little bit of good to be found somewhere. For all my issues with AEW, the Orange Cassidy stuff has been great and finding out that Punk got fired was enough to make me watch an entire episode of Collision for the first time.

Modern day wrestling has its ups and downs. You don't get consistently awesome stuff all the time like in the 80s or the Attitude/WCW/ECW Era of the 90s or the early years of Impact or Ring of Honor, and even those companies occasionally had garbage. You never know when something ridiculously awesome will happen in wrestling though, like the Daniel Bryan Yes Movement in 2014, The Shield and the Wyatt family coming to WWE and the amazing future talents they brought, Mark Henry's amazing heel run he had back in 2011 I believe it was, AEW coming into existence and having two years of awesomeness, the crazy cool stuff the pandemic era gave us like a Boneyard match between AJ Styles and the Undertaker and the first Stadium Stampede, or the goddamn miracle that was the existence of Lucha Underground. Wrestling is full of surprises and I've found that it is usually just when you get sick and goddamn tired of it, that something freaking awesome happens. Like I had given up on watching WWE for a few years, and then Lucha Underground came into existence and blew my mind, and then when that went away I almost lost interest in wrestling again...until AEW showed up in 2019.

That being said, I've recently started jumping back into gaming again (having a blast with Sea of Stars), and I've been watching tons of movies for the past few weeks. So I have alternative forms of entertainment should I ever need a break from wrestling. And yeah, at some point I would like to watch some retro wrestling stuff as another alternative to modern day wrestling. I don't want to talk too much about it because it's "piracy" talk, but someone a few years ago took all of the ECW stuff that is on the WWE Network and re-edited it to include all of the music WWE removed and added back in all of the things they censored and took out. If you find his stuff online you can pretty much watch all of ECW's prime years EXACTLY as they were presented back then. That's something WWE can't give you. It's stuff like this that make me appreciate "pirates". They give you what the corporations don't. If you watch ECW on WWE Network, it's this sanitized, limp dick version of the company. Hell, even if you watch the One Night Stand PPVs from WWE, things are different (like Sandman's music)

[Reprise]

Someone called Becky/Trish a Match of the Year Candidate. I'll have to watch that match. It's so rare to get great women's matches in AEW/WWE that it makes me happy when it happens. It's not like the NXT Black and Gold era where great women's matches were common. You watch Bailey wrestle nowadays and she's like a shadow of the awesome wrestler she was back then.

I read that too. I will definitely check it out some time.

I was a huge NXT fan back then, it feels so long ago now though. I remember being blown away by some of the women's matches. Like many I will always remember those two Takeover matches between Sasha and Bailey. Bailey has been disappointing ever since she joined the main roster (at least from what I have seen. I haven't consistently watched WWE in over two decades) and it really is like NXT Bailey and Main Roster Bailey are two entirely different wrestlers.

But yeah, moving on, it does sound like both All Out and Payback delivered.

I agree with you somewhat on being bored with current wrestling. A lot of the excitement surrounding Triple H taking over WWE has died down a bit, especially with some people thinking Vince is running things again. As for AEW, the honeymoon period for them has been over for quite some time now. There's a lot I don't like in current day WWE/AEW, yet both companies always find something to keep my interest even if everything else sucks.

Definitely. I completely agree with this. I do it all the time anyways, so I know I am only ever half serious, as I always end up getting back into both companies at some point. I am still going to watch AEW, even if I miss Dynamite and Collision sometimes and skip a PPV. And I am sure I will watch WWE again at some point. It's not usually long before I see a cool match/segment on social media or read about a hot feud and interest is piqued.

I don't want to talk too much about it because it's "piracy" talk, but someone a few years ago took all of the ECW stuff that is on the WWE Network and re-edited it to include all of the music WWE removed and added back in all of the things they censored and took out.

Thanks for this, as I wasn't aware. I had been buying some of the old ECW dvds, as the original UK line that were produced were unedited and had the original music as far as I know.

[Raging Justice]

I missed the beginning of Raw, but still got to see some good stuff

Wow, Gunther made Chad Gable's kid cry

She might be famous now, like how they constantly show that clip of the little girl making the angry face after seeing The Miz win one of his big matches. We know have the longest reigning intercontinental champion in history. Respect this man:



Him and Chad Gable had a really good match

I like the Shayna Bazler vs Zoey Starks match, basically a match to determine who is the baddest bitch. Now the two ladies seem to have some respect for each other.



WWE made it pretty clear tonight who the new Bloodline is:



They're even trying to recruit Jey Uso

It's more likely we'll see this guy join:

[Raging Justice]

I think Swerve may be the best heel in AEW. HIs promos are good. Plus, there is a genuinely menacing quality to the guy that I like. When Swerve makes a threat, it feels like you genuinely should be scared. Swerve feels like a guy who has seen and done some real shit in his life, a dude who was a gangster, so don't fuck with him. His promo on Hangman was great, and hopefully does lead to Hangman doing more "Cowboy Shit"

He's got the rich rap mogul thing too, which makes him easy to hate. It's that douchebag rich celebrity vibe.

When WWE under Triple H brought back Hit Row, they went nowhere. When I realized that Swerve used to be in the group, before ending up in AEW, it became obvious to me why Hit Row has been a failure. They were missing their best member.

I tip my hat to Christian too. With MJF in babyface mode, Christian is now the biggest scumbag in AEW and my second favorite heel in that company.

If they are doing a Swerve/Hangman feud, I hope it elevates BOTH of them. Swerve doesn't feel quite main event level yet, and Hangman is a guy who WAS main event level but hasn't felt like that lately.

[Reprise]

Swerve vs Hangman will be a great feud. I have no doubt they will put on some amazing matches and both will be elevated.

I haven't watched Dynamite yet. The MJF and Joe feud sounds cool though. I rewatched ECW Heat Wave 98 last night. The UK released Delta DVDs are indeed uncut and has all the original music, which is awesome. I forgot how good the show is.

Justin Incredible and Jerry Lynn open with an absolute banger. I can't believe within a couple of years these guys are in WWF jobbing and being put in crap matches, considering how talented they are. Chris Candido and Lance Storm then follow with another great match and then Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka have the best match of the night. Obviously it's a feud a lot of people talk about when they talk about ECW. The tag match between RVD and Sabu and Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki is another good match too.

I think those first four matches represent the strongest start to any ECW PPV ever. ECW PPVs are usually a mixed bag. This event is really solid and doesn't really have any bad matches. Outside of the first four matches Taz had a great match against Bam Bam Bigelow too.

[Reprise]

*Turns on Collision*
*Sees Jon Moxley in the first match*
*Turns off Collision"

Well, it was good while it lasted. Wonder why a show that showcases different talent, since they have a bloated roster, needs a man who already hogs the limelight on Dynamite and Rampage. Guessing they are just turning Collision into Dynamite 2.0, since last week's episode was also weak.

I wonder if I missed anything good, other than AEW's classic "dream match" booking technique of just having a wrestler call someone out and then immediately announcing the match, instead of building it properly and organically.

I'll probably watch later and skip the Moxley match.

[Raging Justice]

*Turns on Collision*
*Sees Jon Moxley in the first match*
*Turns off Collision"

Well, it was good while it lasted. Wonder why a show that showcases different talent, since they have a bloated roster, needs a man who already hogs the limelight on Dynamite and Rampage. Guessing they are just turning Collision into Dynamite 2.0, since last week's episode was also weak.

I wonder if I missed anything good, other than AEW's classic "dream match" booking technique of just having a wrestler call someone out and then immediately announcing the match, instead of building it properly and organically.

I'll probably watch later and skip the Moxley match.

You know one of the great things about Lucha Underground's TV show approach to things was that it kept you from getting sick of people. Like any good scripted TV series, it tried to spread the love to many different characters so nobody got focused on too much. Plus, the fact that it had seasons meant that it would be off TV for a few months making you actually missing seeing people. Lucha Underground had REAL seasons not the bullshit seasons that WWE talks about when WWE doesn't even have any real TV shows. When you are putting on what is the equivalent of sporting events and doing it 365 days a year you don't have "seasons" assholes. I hate whenever they say, "It's the Smackdown season premiere!" or when they brag about being on TV longer than any other TV show as if professional wrestling can be compared to traditional TV. The only time in history that pro wrestling actually could get away with that was with Lucha Underground.

The reason AEW is treating Moxley so well is his company loyalty and the fact that he stepped up during difficult times, like after Punk's press show meltdown and the ensuing fight that happened last year. The reality though, is that Mox is boring. I realize now, that the best Mox we ever had was the one we got when he was in The Shield, back before WWE turned him into a goofball comedy character. He had that menacing quality to him and the good promos that we would see more of when he went to AEW. Plus, he had to actually WRESTLE in WWE. AEW has given life to Moxley's worst habits, which is turning every match into some kind of barbaric fight involving biting, blood, etc, etc. The Shield was awesome, and initially he was presented as the leader of the group before Roman and Seth became Vince and Triple H's pet projects.

For all my complaints about WWE these days, they are pretty good at "building it properly and organically" as you put it with their feuds and stories. I think part of that is the limited roster. Tony Kahn has access to so many wrestlers between AEW/ROH, local talent, and wrestlers he borrows from other companies that he frequently just throws out random matches with random people. Speaking of WWE

LA Knight is getting the rocket ship strapped to his back, I hope he makes the best of it. F4wonline reports that his ratings and merch sales have convinced WWE to go all the way with him. He even had an interaction with Paul Heyman on Smackdown, which of course could tie him into something involving Roman Reigns. If anybody has a chance of surpassing Cody as the mega babyface of WWE right now, it's him. Unlike Cody, Knight is on The Tribal Chief's brand (Smackdown) and whoever the top guy ends up being in WWE, he's gonna have to take down Roman to get that spot. I like LA Knight because he reminds me of Attitude Era baby faces, while Cody is the kind of shit baby face that represents the modern era of wrestling. I'm very partial to the 80s and the Attitude Era, two of the most successful periods in WWE history where the product was super mainstream and very profitable. The "Boom Periods" as people like to say.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/la-k ... h-from-wwe

Also, while I think they took the belt off Asuka too soon, I am finally getting my personal dream match of her versus Iyo. So those are two things going on in WWE that I'm pretty happy about. Honestly, I still find WWE to be the better of the two companies right now between them and AEW. AEW has a lot of potential though and I think I have mentioned that before. It's just that Tony Kahn needs to get his shit together.

[Reprise]

The reason AEW is treating Moxley so well is his company loyalty and the fact that he stepped up during difficult times, like after Punk's press show meltdown and the ensuing fight that happened last year. The reality though, is that Mox is boring. I realize now, that the best Mox we ever had was the one we got when he was in The Shield, back before WWE turned him into a goofball comedy character. He had that menacing quality to him and the good promos that we would see more of when he went to AEW. Plus, he had to actually WRESTLE in WWE. AEW has given life to Moxley's worst habits, which is turning every match into some kind of barbaric fight involving biting, blood, etc, etc. The Shield was awesome, and initially he was presented as the leader of the group before Roman and Seth became Vince and Triple H's pet projects.

Yeah, 100% agreed. Jon Moxley used to he one of my favourite wrestlers. It's weird how quickly opinions can change. I thought Dean Ambrose was great back in the shield and great for a while after that before they turned him into a goofball as you mentioned. I also thought he was great in AEW for a while. The hardcore stuff excited me at first, because WWE had been so tame with that stuff for so long (and I remember *that* particular match Dean had against Brock at Mania) . Then it slowly started to dawn on me, that as you perfectly put it, he wasn't wrestling anymore. Every match has become exactly the same, with biting and blood and silly weapons.

I get why AEW does these dream matches with little build. Their audience is smart and tends to be tuned into wrestling. They are the kind of guys who think "holy shit" when these announcements happen. And since Tony has access to guys in NJPW, they usually come in for one match and maybe one or two short appearances on AEW TV. They aren't available to be on AEW TV for weeks to build a feud or whatever.

But still...

Anyways, I probably should start watching WWE again. I am sure it is better at the moment and I would enjoy it more. I did catch Summerslam at least, but wasn't that impressed.