The Wrestling Thread

[Raging Justice]

I'm not feeling Double or Nothing, but I'll tell you what could save it for me:

Mercedes and Willow having a banger of a match, and then AEW IMMEDIATELY setting something up for Mercedes after she wins the belt. Hell, I wish Kamille or Britt Baker would show up and attack her or something.

Hangman showing up during Anarchy in the Arena, then showing up AGAIN during Swerve/Christian

Christian wins the title with help from Hangman, but there's controversy...like the ref didn't see Swerve's foot on the rope or something, the referees are arguing and Hangman and Christian both look like they are about to lose their goddamn minds. The result of the match is left in question as the show goes off the air

Funnily enough, I was thinking the same two things would save it for me. I was watching the hype package for Mercedes vs Willow that AEW put out, as well as a few podcasts/youtube shows talking about the match, and it made me look forward to it more than the actual build did. They have a real opportunity here to prove their detractors wrong and put on a an absolute banger as you say. And then do something shocking to set up her next angle.

I would love to see Hangman show up in either or both matches. I like what you have there with Swerve and Christian. Fans will chant "bullshit", but the story will be great and it does exactly what we were discussing the other day - it ends on a cliffhanger and makes the next Dynamite must-see television.

I would reveal on the following Dynamite that the title is staying on Christian per executive decision of the EVPs Matt and Nick Jackson. You could even do a story where the Bucks use this to try and smooth things over with Hangman. Swerve is no longer champ, but everyone knows he got screwed and now his baby face journey to become champion begins again. Christian becomes the corporate champion, with Nick, Kill Switch, and Mother Wayne all helping him win his title matches, IN ADDITION to him having The Bucks in his pocket. I think this would be awesome. I also would leave it undetermined whether or not Hangman will rejoin the Elite since they helped him screw Swerve.

Christian deserves a world title run and Swerve would be protected and can become champion again one day in the future. Realistically, the Bucks should be trying to get heels to hold ALL of the titles. Maybe you could even start a program between Perry and Jericho, where The Elite essentially screw Jericho out of the FTW title. This could either A) Make people like Jericho again or B)solve the problem of people hating him as champ and getting the belt off of him onto someone more interesting. I think there could be money in a Perry/Hook feud over the FTW title, especially if you have Samoa Joe become the Sting to Hook's Darby Allin

Is Jack going to get set on fire?

https://imgur.com/a/qH9EnGj

Could be cool if done right, would certainly top Darby falling on real glass

[Raging Justice]

Oh shit, here we go

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/ ... iple_h_in/

[Raging Justice]

Just read the King of the Ring results. Boring and predictable, except for maybe one match. Though the result of that one match would have made me angry if I actually still gave a shit about anything WWE does. I'm not even gonna say what it was. I'll say one positive thing about the show though:

[Reprise]

You have to love Gunther. Predictable, but the right man. Although I see they seem to be doing some kind of angle with the weird finish. Orton's shoulder's weren't on the mat for the 3 count. Seems to be an angle rather than a botch, but I guess we won't know either way, because WWE will make it an angle, even if it was a botch.

[Raging Justice]

I have to admit, this looks amazing. It's like a video game

https://x.com/LoganPaul/status/1794467920665354705

[Raging Justice]

Holy Shit! It's the New Japan president

and he's kicking ass!

[Raging Justice]

Edge's promo tonight...



That was a goddamn masterclass in how to sell your upcoming pay per view match. THAT was goddamn cinema. The film grain effect on him as he was talking, and the shot of Brodie and Buddy Murphy watching when he started talking about them was perfect. It feels like we are definitely getting Brood Edge, but I honestly don't know. I very much like how there is a line connecting Edge to both Judgement Day and House of Black. If you follow what he said tonight and think back to what he was doing in WWE, Edge is the guy who gives birth to these dark factions...and it always comes back to bite him in the ass.

Ospreay and Willow had good promos too, but Edge just killed it

The video package for Serve/Christian was excellent

It feels bittersweet that Willow is going to lose her title. She's been the best woman to hold that belt in its history thus far and it's not even debatable. I think the crowd is going to be behind her tomorrow night just like they were tonight.

I feel bad for Sereena Deeb. She's a great wrestler and her speaking ability has improved, but people just aren't into her. They much prefer the stupid, idiotic antics of Toni Storm.

Some of the stuff Max Castor is getting away with in his raps lately...goddamn

I kind of wish AEW could find something interesting for Jeff Jarret to do. He's an AMAZING heel. Jay Lethal is probably one of the most wasted guys on AEW's roster. People bitch about Jay White, poor Lethal has been given NOTHING good to do in AEW.

To have that amazing Edge promo, and then to follow it up after commercials with Toni Storm bullshit



The Young Bucks/Reebok thing is cool I guess. This is the kind of stuff AEW needs in order for them to bring in more revenue and to further establish the brand. The commercial is surreal to me, seeing Okada on an American TV commercial. Wow. And he is so FUCKING GOOD in it



I'm still not totally excited about Double or Nothing, but this was a decent Collision I think, the Tanahashi appearance was a cool surprise. We are definitely on the road to Forbidden Door. I think Edge's match is probably the one I have the most hype for at Double or Nothing, though I hope Mercedes and Willow can really deliver something special. I'm sure all of the other matches will be good from an in ring standpoint. It's an AEW pay per view after all. You always have to keep an eye on a Will Ospreay match to potentially blow you away and I think Swerve/Christian can certainly be great too. Anarchy in the Arena will either be really awesome or really stupid. We'll see.

I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I enjoy Collisions more than Dynamites lately

Oh, another thing before I end this post. It's weird how some of the wrestling websites seem to be keen on Learning Tree Jericho while the reactions from live crowds seem to be, "Please go the fuck away Jericho"

EDIT: Okada has been one of the best examples I've seen of how to properly transition a Japanese wrestler to an American wrestling promotion. He has just been utterly fucking fantastic and I honestly don't know if WWE would have handled him as well. I guess we'll never know

EDIT2: Here's that awesome Edge promo:

https://x.com/aew/status/1794539568638697677

The awesome Swerve/Christian video package:

https://x.com/AEW/status/1794544227700900211

And the Reebok commercial with Okada being awesome:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7Am1Wuubvt/

[Reprise]

Tony's definitely bringing in Gangrel again tonight to one-up WWE, isn't he? (Gangrel was rumoured to be a part of Edge's entrance at last year's Wrestlemania for HIAC match. It was recently revealed that Edge did pitch the idea and requested it, but Vince shot it down, saying "no one remembers Gangrel")

I think either way, we are getting Brood Edge.

It did look like a great Collision. Tanahashi, holy shit!

I saw some people actually suggesting the Copeland and Malakai match should be the main event. Not sure I agree, but it does have the potential to be a phenomenal match. I am a sucker for cage matches, hell in a cell matches and anything like that. Add barbed wire into the mix and it just gets better.

Double or Nothing still looks like a very 'mid' PPV coming off of Dynasty and Revolution. We'll see. I am undecided if I will watch it or not. There's going to be great wrestling either way,

I am not so sure Mercedes will win, I mean it's a 99% cert she will, but you never know. I just hope it's a great match and they have something great lined up for the aftermath.

I really hope Hangman shows up! I have no idea about the match order, but imagine if he shows up at the Anarchy in the Arena match, nails someone from the Elite with a steel chair and helps team AEW pick up the win. Big pop from the crowd and assumption is he a face. Then he shows up later in the Swerve match and costs (or almost costs) Swerve the title to massive boos. He then proceeds to flip off the crowd

If I had him show up in the Anarchy in the Arena match, I'd have him help team AEW, he takes out whoever is left in the ring from the Elite, the crowd pops, but then "what's this!? Hangman just took out Darby/Bryan/whoever too! What is he doing?" Massive boos. Hangman then proceeds to flip off the crowd, goes over to whoever it is in the Elite he took out, flips them off as they lie on the mat, then drags them over to a Team AEW person and places them on top for the pin. Team Elite wins.

[Reprise]

WWE fans like Nia Jax now? Weird, they love everyone they hated 5 minutes ago.

[Raging Justice]

WWE fans like Nia Jax now? Weird, they love everyone they hated 5 minutes ago.

Weird. I mean, she hasn't been terrible since her return to be honest, but it's still weird. I have honestly never felt more out of touch with wrestling fans than I do now. The last few years have been weird. I have no idea why people like:

Liv Morgan
Cody Rhodes
Timeless Toni Storm
Eddie Kingston

I also miss the "attitude" from wrestling fans. Recent AEW shows have had some hecklers in the crowd, like the guy who yelled out "Who wrote this shit" during Jay White's promo about Pac. I've seen salty AEW fans saying the company should never go back to that city again. While I don't really enjoy seeing people shit on AEW, I do think it's good to have fans who are willing to express themselves and willing to criticize whatever they don't like. Otherwise, you end up with the kind of sheep we currently have in WWE. Bryan Danielson would not have become the star he is today were it now for rebellious WWE fans. ECW shows were awesome because of wild, brutal, and hard to please crowds. They used to say if you could get over with ECW fans you could get over anywhere.

You need that. With docile wrestling fans you end up with soft, snowflake pro wrestlers who go on Twitter and cry because somebody in the crowd was mean to them (looking at you Rhea Ripley and Skye Blue) or selfishly refuse to turn heel for the good of the company (looking at you Cody Rhodes). One of the best things about pro wrestling is the crowds and sometimes it's fun when they go into business for themselves. Chicago used to be notorious for this and while it was damn annoying at times, it sometimes elevated a bad show into something enjoyable to watch.

EDIT:I love these! If you want to make it rain...PUMP IT UP

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7SrYGsPSDl/