The Wrestling Thread

[Reprise]

Well I thought it was a great show. It did have a bit of a rocky start. The opening trios match was fine, but is something that could have just been on television. Then they did the men's gauntlet match, which was enjoyable, but had a very predictable outcome (side note: I love how thet interweaved more feuds and stories into both this and the women's gauntlet matches this year though). Then there was Adam Cole's incredibly emotional goodbye that sucked a lot of the energy out of the crowd. I don't know what his serious health issues are (I really hope it isn't cancer), but I hope he gets well soon. It sounds like he could be retiring.

Anyways, the show really picked up after that and was all killer and no filler. I absolutely loved every single one of the matches that followed the TNT match. The women's gauntlet was fantastic and it was great to see Athena win. Mercedes and Toni put on an incredible match. The tag titles match was entertaining as hell - I wonder if the late inclusion of the Patriarchy was a pivot to speed up the reunion of Edge and Christian, because recent reports suggested that although the seeds were planted, they held off as Christian wanted to continue his story with Nick Wayne. Okada and Omega proved why they are two of the best in the world. And Hangman triumphed and finally reclaimed the world title in an incredible end to the show.

Nobody else does PPVs like AEW.

[Raging Justice]

Why was Kota Ibushi at ringside when he did literally nothing to stop Don Callis?

Why is Copeland helping Christian?

Does Athena really need another women's title to keep a stranglehold on for fifty years?

The Casino match winners were kind of boring. It feels like Tony Kahn always pushes the same people. Also, there were really no interesting or surprising entrants. The two Casino matches were kind of boring.

So are Swerve and Ospreay EVPs now? Weird

Whatever happened to Hook?

How long before Thekla becomes a nobody in the women's division, like Mina Shirakawa has become? Or pretty much any woman not named Mercedes, Toni, or Athena.

Other than Hangman and Dusty winning, this show was kind of meh.

[Reprise]

Why is Copeland helping Christian?

I mean, he kinda didn't. He returned and got his revenge on FTR and the rest of the Patriarchy. Hence he refused to help up, embrace or acknowledge Christian. He then told Christian to 'go f... find himself' after hesitating about telling him to go fuck himself.

Does Athena really need another women's title to keep a stranglehold on for fifty years?

Why are long title reigns now "strangleholds"? People have been begging for Athena to move over to the AEW full roster for ages and now she does with a ton of momentum behind her.

Also, there were really no interesting or surprising entrants.

Agreed. Unfortunately, I guess there was no one they could find. It's a shame. Last year's was way better, thanks to surprises like Nigel McGuiness and Ricochet. I was surprised they didn't pick up any of the current free agents, even if it was just for a one off appearance.

Whatever happened to Hook?

Injured... Been known for ages. No idea why he came back at Double or Nothing though, when it was reported straight after that he was still injured.

How long before Thekla becomes a nobody in the women's division, like Mina Shirakawa has become? Or pretty much any woman not named Mercedes, Toni, or Athena.

Eh, you're so cynical Lots of great women now, like Thekla, Megan Bayne, Harley Cameron, Hayter whenever she returns from her injury, Alex Windsor etc. The women's division in AEW right now is way stronger than it was at any other point (not that says a lot actually. The first few years were very rough).

[Reprise]

Finished NXT, which was also a very good show. The Page and Starks match was excellent. Starks was a great signing for WWE. I also skimmed through Saturday Night's Main Event which was fucking wank. It sucks Seth got injured.

I might watch Evolution, but probably not. Too much wrestling for one weekend... I reckon Paige will return.

[Raging Justice]

Cynical? Are any of those women doing anything worth a damn? When is the last time anyone not named Mercedes or Toni has held a title? I'll wait. I can give you a long list of women in WWE who are actually doing shit that matters. AEW just has a bunch of women being wasted and the proof of that, again, is them losing Mariah May and Stephanie Vaquer turning down their offer. Two very smart women who chose to go somewhere where they would actually have real opportunities. AEW has a nasty habit of over pushing certain women (Jade Cargill, Toni Storm, Mercedes Mone, arguably Britt Baker) and letting everyone else on the roster suffer. Athena will simply be the next example.

How is Hangman not dead after taking a curbstomp on spikes and then a FREAKING DEATH RIDER on spikes? Jesus, does everything have to be so over the top? How is he not blind? None of those spikes pierced his eyeballs?

I'm not cynical, it's just that AEW fans love to live in denial of all of the issues in the company. Every time a PPV happens they all go back to "AEW is the greatest!", "We're so back baby!", "Yeah, take that WWE!"

Like seriously, they need to settle the fuck down and be realistic about a lot of the stupid bullshit in the company.

WWE has issues too, but my God the denial is STRONG in the AEW fanbase.

But on a positive note, the Hangman win was nice to see despite whatever issues I might have with that overbooked mess. Hangman is the single greatest thing in pro wrestling today. There is no other character that even comes close.

[Raging Justice]

Naomi's an inspiration. Walking out on a company in the middle of a live show while holding a title, and getting rewarded for it at a later date with a world title win on a women's only pay per view over two way more talented women. WWE always teaches good morals and ethics

Oh and another walk out was approached by the company for this show too (Gail Kim)

[Raging Justice]

Well Dynamite was shit, and WWE continues to show their hate for LA Knight. And does anyone really care about mid carder Naomi having a title match with Stephanie Vaquer instead of Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky?

Sigh

Well Evolution was fun at least, the IC title and main event matches were good, but it's always back to business as usual with weekly TV in AEW and WWE. They just don't care.

[Raging Justice]

R.I.P. Terry Gene Bollea, one of the biggest names (maybe THE biggest) in the history of pro wrestling. I've been talking to people who, to my knowledge, don't even watch or follow pro wrestling and they know who he was. They know what a big deal his passing is. He transcended pro wrestling.

[ElkinFencer10]

R.I.P. Terry Gene Bollea, one of the biggest names (maybe THE biggest) in the history of pro wrestling. I've been talking to people who, to my knowledge, don't even watch or follow pro wrestling and they know who he was. They know what a big deal his passing is. He transcended pro wrestling.

Transcended wrestling straight into disgusting and explicit racism. No loss to humanity here. Rest in piss, Hulk Hogan.

[Reprise]

Transcended wrestling straight into disgusting and explicit racism. No loss to humanity here. Rest in piss, Hulk Hogan.

My reaction to the news was pretty much: