All Elite Wrestling

[VHS]

You should follow your own advice.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUaPBvb7ozs

[Matthew]

You should follow your own advice.
got me there, kid gloves.

curious.... you have almost 100 posts in this thread.... what aew shows have you watched?

[Donald]

Only the chair shot to Cody's head from Shawn Spears. I will be recording the first AEW show on TNT to see how it is, however.

[Matthew]

2nd most posts in this thread for a product they haven't even watched.... interesting.

[Donald]

I'm sure most of my posts were bashing AEW, and for that I apologize. I was angry that Jericho, Ambrose, and Neville did not return to WWE.

I'm hoping they succeed and we get great programming from WWE and AEW as a result.

[Morrison]

I'm sure most of my posts were bashing AEW, and for that I apologize. I was angry that Jericho, Ambrose, and Neville did not return to WWE.

I'm hoping they succeed and we get great programming from WWE and AEW as a result.

lol at being angry about that. ffs.

[Donald]

I'm a WWE fan boy, it's expected. Doing my best to not get upset about it.

[Nash Diesel]

lol at being angry about that. ffs.

It's called passion. Like when you look in the mirror and there's matthew staring back at you. The passion you have to maintain you're 2 different people, it should be applauded.

[Peter Griffin]

2nd most posts in this thread for a product they haven't even watched.... interesting.

:chin:

[Nash Diesel]

I'm curious as to who is #1

And why someone took the time to count

And why it matters if you've watched the product or not....I've never watched donkey porn but I can tell you right now if there was a thread I'd be commenting.

[Donald]

I'm curious as to who is #1

And why someone took the time to count

And why it matters if you've watched the product or not....I've never watched donkey porn but I can tell you right now if there was a thread I'd be commenting.

You can click on the total number of posts next to each thread and it shows you how many posts by each poster in that Thread. You're number one my dear.

[Morrison]

I'm a WWE fan boy, it's expected. Doing my best to not get upset about it.

i dont expect any grown person to get angry about that silly shit.

[Nash Diesel]

i dont expect any grown person to get angry about that silly shit.

The majority don't expect grown people to still be die hard fans of pro wrasslin'

Yet here we are.

[Donald]

I mean we live in a world were people argue over whether a dress is blue or gold. A world were people get angry about a black Ariel. A world were grown people attack each other for having different beliefs.

So I get upset when some of my favorite wrestlers leave my favorite wrestling brand, and I'm silly.

[Morrison]

I mean we live in a world were people argue over whether a dress is blue or gold. A world were people get angry about a black Ariel. A world were grown people attack each other for having different beliefs.

So I get upset when some of my favorite wrestlers leave my favorite wrestling brand, and I'm silly.
lol what is this.

other people are ridiculous so it justifies you being ridiculous? okay there.

being bummed wrestlers you like left the company you watch is fine(we'll just ignore the fact you could like more than one wrestling company). doing these weird, spiteful jabs like you've been doing is ehat is silly. you dont get a paycheck from those people. you're part of the wwe universe, youre a marketing buzzword to them. stop taking the shit personally.

[Donald]

You hit the nail on the head, I am a completely ridiculous person and I take a lot of things personally. Which I understand completely, and also the reason I'm going to be checking out AEW on TNT. Then I can still watch Jericho, Ambrose, Neville, and Goldust, just on a different platform.

[Donald]

Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh
Rumor has it, ooh

Rumour has it that Vince McMahon is going to run NXT TakeOver events against AEW PPVs. Smart move in my opinion, because people are more likely going to watch a "free" NXT event over spending $50 on a PPV. But really it all boils down to who is going to have the better TV product. NXT could have Vanessa Borne vs. Dana Brooke as a main event, but if AEW has Cody vs. Dustin II more people are definitely going to spend that $50.

[VHS]

Let's be real here. They're going to watch both.

[Peter Griffin]

Yeah if you follow both products then you will buy AE and watch NXT later on the network, All this will do is down the NXT live numbers.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah bcuz in this day and age fans are all about financially supporting wrestling lol

Ninjas will illegally stream AEW. Their ppv buys suck bcuz ppv is a dead medium to sell your product. Especially when the WWE Network rolled out. People were already bitching about having to pay more than $30 for AEW ppvs.

[VHS]

Yeah if you follow both products then you will buy AE and watch NXT later on the network, All this will do is down the NXT live numbers.

Do live numbers really matter though, if you still subscribe to the Network?

[BGMaverick]

Do live numbers really matter though, if you still subscribe to the Network?

Considering this is a deal that I believe is for 2-3 years, if the numbers are good over the course of that period, WWE is lined up to make more money. Much faster, based on past history, then making more money with Network subscribers.

[lotjx]

Smackdown will be hot for a bit then fade out. Thursday night football is still a thing and most shows will be back or premiering at this time. AEW has a shot of doing just ok due to no one paying a billion dollars for it.

[Morrison]

Smackdown will be hot for a bit then fade out. Thursday night football is still a thing and most shows will be back or premiering at this time. AEW has a shot of doing just ok due to no one paying a billion dollars for it.

what does thursday night football have to do with friday night smackdown?

[lotjx]

Wait...they moved Smackdown to Friday?!

[Morrison]

smackdown has been on tuesdays since 2016 and has always been moving to friday once they go to fox.

[G-Fresh]

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday...whatever...fuck you.

[VHS]

Day not important. Only wrestling important.

[G-Fresh]

Oog mad.

[Rancid_Planet]

Oog mad.

Rip oog head off.

https://media.giphy.com/media/h8Gsox4uL0pAQ/giphy.gif

[Peter Griffin]

Kylie Rae returned to wrestling at the weekend, The whole thing is very odd but I hope some of the rumour and innuendo is not true.

[Nash Diesel]

Kylie Rae returned to wrestling at the weekend, The whole thing is very odd but I hope some of the rumour and innuendo is not true.

So the story is that she "retired" due to a possible medical issue, removed herself from social media (which apparently is a big deal these days), and is now back to wrestling a month after supposedly retiring against some dude named Isaias.......What are some of the rumors and innuendo going around?

[ckauffman28]

Couple of things I noticed with AEW:

They have commercials for AEW before movies begin in theaters now.. kinda unheard of to me
Groupon has coupons for a few of the tv shows for as low as 8 bucks going in as well...

[Matthew]

So the story is that she "retired" due to a possible medical issue, removed herself from social media (which apparently is a big deal these days), and is now back to wrestling a month after supposedly retiring against some dude named Isaias.......What are some of the rumors and innuendo going around?
i thought it was some sort of mental issue but i really don't know.

david benoit wants to join AEW and i am all for it

[Nash Diesel]

i thought it was some sort of mental issue but i really don't know.

david benoit wants to join AEW and i am all for it

She's SAWFT

David Benoit wants to join AEW, why? If he's all about wanting to be a wrestler and not "Hey I'm Chris Benoit's son, not THAT son, the one who lived!" then hell yeah. But if it's for the latter, no thanks...Which sadly in this day and age, you want to give people the benefit of the doubt but man I just wouldn't want it to be a situation where people pretend Chris Benoit didn't do what he did. And you read it all the time "Let's remember the character not the man" Impossible when pro wrestling 101 is "blur the lines of reality"

Plus he hasn't even been training. Took a couple seminars with Lance Storm and that was it. He was so bad apparently Chris Jericho stepped in and somehow had him pull out of a booking for a small promotion because of how bad he is, like David Flair bad.

Imagine being the son of Charles Manson and you decide one day you too want to start a cult but can't figure out why people are against it lol.

[Matthew]

he has been training with aew guys, according to him

[Nash Diesel]

he has been training with aew guys, according to him

Ah yeah I did read that he had been messing around with some dudes but who is the real question. Nyla Rose? MJF? Cody? Awesome Kong? Who has been suplexing the son of the Crippler?

[Matthew]

nyla rose got into some weird twitter shit

[Nash Diesel]

nyla rose got into some weird twitter shit

I assume she probably has. Fuck, anytime the AEW social media pages post anything about her, more than half the comments are "That's a dude!" Like yeah guy we fuckin know.

[Matthew]

yea, that's what started it. she has since deleted it.

https://prowrestlingnewshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rose.jpg

[Nash Diesel]

yea, that's what started it. she has since deleted it.

https://prowrestlingnewshub.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Rose.jpg

Shit I don't know what's more disturbing, the "She's a guy" meme or joking about being molested by your father.....

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Nyla Rose needs to get her rosebuds cut.

[Rancid_Planet]

Imagine being the son of Charles Manson and you decide one day you too want to start a cult but can't figure out why people are against it lol.

To be faaaiiirrrrrr

It's more like Charles Manson's son wanting to become a musician and songwriter.

...and also they have the exact same face. So much so that it's fucking creepy.

I mean not that creepy. He is his son...just...idk.



https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jIoMIZqbyQ0/sddefault.jpg#404_is_fine

[BGMaverick]

Kenny's bit on BTE this week was pretty good. It was the only thing of interest to me.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Am I the only one who didn't realize Chris Benoit had a grown son?

I thought Daniel was his only kid.

Has David actually done any interviews about his father or what happened? I've literally never heard of him until right now.

[Murphy]

Still no UK TV deal. Seeing as the PPVs have been on ITV, it is slightly concerning that the TV deal hasn't been announced yet.

I don't think there's a deal in place for Canada yet, either.

[Nash Diesel]

Am I the only one who didn't realize Chris Benoit had a grown son?

I thought Daniel was his only kid.

Has David actually done any interviews about his father or what happened? I've literally never heard of him until right now.

Yeah he kind of stayed out of the spotlight and then I think what really sparked people's interest was that he showed up backstage to a WWE event and took some pictures with other wrestlers. Then people were all "I didn't know he had another son!"

[Tainted Eclipse]

really think cody/sammy guevara is a dumb idea for first TV match

[Nash Diesel]

really think cody/sammy guevara is a dumb idea for first TV match

I'm not negative to it. Why is it dumb? IMO, AEW needs to showcase more than just the guys who were made in other promotions like WWE and New Japan.

[greebull]

Now we have the full card for Episode 1 of "AEW Wednesday Nite Dynamite!"
(I got my tickets and will be in in attendance in DC!)

-Chris Jericho & ??? vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (6-MAN TAG, MAIN EVENT)
-'Hangman' Adam Page vs. PAC
-Nyla Rose vs. Riho (WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP)
-Brandon Cutler vs. MJF
-Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara (OPENER)

[Nash Diesel]

Now we have the full card for Episode 1 of "AEW Wednesday Nite Dynamite!"
(I got my tickets and will be in in attendance in DC!)

-Chris Jericho & ??? vs. Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks (6-MAN TAG, MAIN EVENT)
-'Hangman' Adam Page vs. PAC
-Nyla Rose vs. Riho (WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP)
-Brandon Cutler vs. MJF
-Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara (OPENER)

Awesome! That main event is going to be nuts. I'm going to throw out my guess and say Jericho's partners are going to be Daniels and Kazarian.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I'm not negative to it. Why is it dumb? IMO, AEW needs to showcase more than just the guys who were made in other promotions like WWE and New Japan.

Sammy was only on one of AEW’s big shows, so there’s not a lot of equity built up with him, yet.

They should run Cody vs. Shawn Spears - No DQ, as their first match on TV. Maybe have one guy get color to show they’re not TV-PG pussy WWE.

[Peter Griffin]

Sunday mornings in the UK #PrimeTime #NoSpoilers

[Peter Griffin]

Khan Working on 'live solution' This will mean paying through fite or something I guess, Fuck that.

[Nash Diesel]

#STAYTHEFUCKOUTOFTHISTHREADLIKEYOUDOFORRAWSINCEYOU CANTSEEITLIVE

[Peter Griffin]

Yeah sure dickbreath, In this day and age this is a great tv deal in a great timeslot also we do get Raw live you tit.

[Nash Diesel]

Yeah sure dickbreath, In this day and age this is a great tv deal in a great timeslot also we do get Raw live you tit.

You only wish you were close enough to these lips to smell my breath.

Point being, if you can't see something live, everyone else that can doesn't need to cater to you. For example, I don't have cable, so I have to wait until Tuesday to watch Raw on Hulu. You don't see me going "Hey guys, um, can we not talk about Raw until I've watched it? Thanks!"

[Nash Diesel]

Sammy was only on one of AEW’s big shows, so there’s not a lot of equity built up with him, yet.

They should run Cody vs. Shawn Spears - No DQ, as their first match on TV. Maybe have one guy get color to show they’re not TV-PG pussy WWE.

But this is a brand new company with what, 4 shows total? And we're in a wrestling bubble. The average fan, more than likely a WWE-only fan, that comes across this new promotion isn't going to know 90% of the people on this show. They're obviously high on this Sammy kid and what better to go "We're not just about dudes from other organizations" than having one of your top tier guys wrestling him in the opener? And this kid is GOOD. I like his work, should be awesome.

I liken it to the first match on Nitro, Pillman v. Liger. YES, Liger had a handful of matches in WCW in 1991-1992, but 3 years later I doubt most first time fans of WCW tuning in to this new show had a clue who Liger was, maybe they didn't even know Pillman.

[Badger]

It's definitely not ideal but can work around it for now til they find a live solution. Watch enough WWE during the week anyway so I think I can avoid spoilers for a few days.

[Murphy]

Problem will be when there's a live PPV on the Saturday.

I won't be paying for it on Fite.

Hope they can resolve this.

Also, didn't Cody confirm that the show is TV-14? Sunday morning is just shit then, really.

[Peter Griffin]

Cody said the other week WWEs UK tv deal sucked and AEW would blow it out the water (paraphrasing, can;t remember the exact quote) Cody I think has been lied to by someone as this deal fucking sucks.

Who these days waits 3 and a half days not going on twitter/fb generally avoiding someone spoiling it add to that the time itself, 0830 on a sunday morning ffs.

They know what they are doing 'oh but hey you can watch live for a price' :lol:

And they the cost of ppvs

Get fucked.

[Murphy]

Yup. Unless things change, I won't be bothering at all with this. That's how bad this deal is.

I saw that quote from Cody. Looks a bit silly now.

[Matthew]

there will be streams

[Nash Diesel]

Hero! used to give me shit when I'd talk about how I couldn't watch Impact because I didn't have the channel. I'm pretty sure if my boy Hero! could find a way then these whiners can as well.

[Rancid_Planet]

Cody said the other week WWEs UK tv deal sucked and AEW would blow it out the water (paraphrasing, can;t remember the exact quote) Cody I think has been lied to by someone as this deal fucking sucks.

Who these days waits 3 and a half days not going on twitter/fb generally avoiding someone spoiling it add to that the time itself, 0830 on a sunday morning ffs.

They know what they are doing 'oh but hey you can watch live for a price' :lol:

And they the cost of ppvs

Get fucked.

The price on those ppvs really does need to come down.

Ppvs are currently 9.99 for WWE. Plus you get a vault of streaming content and endless replays.

[Murphy]

That's one thing the UK does have the better deal on. Unless things change, PPVs are £14.95. Wouldn't mind paying that quarterly if the product is good.

[chatty]

Its probably down to ITV being useless. They got a load of boxing coverage and somehow completely messed it up so I wouldnt be surprised if they made promises to AEW that they couldnt keep.

[Badger]

Its probably down to ITV being useless. They got a load of boxing coverage and somehow completely messed it up so I wouldnt be surprised if they made promises to AEW that they couldnt keep.

Our channels are useless when it comes to these kind of negotiations.

Case in point Channel 4/Royal Rumble.

[lotjx]

The price on those ppvs really does need to come down.

Ppvs are currently 9.99 for WWE. Plus you get a vault of streaming content and endless replays.

Plus the PPV have been trash outside of the Rumble and Mania. I get the $10 for the content, but the PPV happen to be on there..

[Atty]

Let's pretend that I haven't followed wrestling in years and saw an ad for AEW and was intrigued. Would anyone be able to give the cliff notes on it?

[Rancid_Planet]

Let's pretend that I haven't followed wrestling in years and saw an ad for AEW and was intrigued. Would anyone be able to give the cliff notes on it?

Cody has the best matches. All the time. Then Shawn Spears (Tye Dillenger) bashed him over the head good and plenty and they had a match so Cody could give him what for. Which angered Darby Allen because he had just gone to the bell with Cody. He got so mad in fact he took it out on a perfectly good cracker barrel.

Jericho is the first ever AEW champ after he beat a dude nobody ever heard of. But to make it better he legit lost the belt in what I remember to be a Waffle House bathroom which made more news than the match he won to get it in the first place.

Kenny Omega has been having amazing matches with guys I've heard of, guys I've never heard of, broomsticks, coat racks, blow up dolls, potted plants and a stack of old vinyl bee gee albums. But he keeps losing.

Dean Ambrose got so mad at WWE he turned into a G.I. Joe action figure come to life and promptly got a staph infection. But he'll be paired up with Omega soon.

The Young Bucks are not so young but still buck everything in sight. And the Lucha Bros have zero fear but the real tag team to watch is Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. They're so dumb and silly and awesome and amazing even Jim Cornette loves them.

And the women appear to be mostly Japanese barbie dolls so far.

Oh and Cody loves Star Trek as much as his dog hates pyro.

[Nash Diesel]

Joey Janella did a cameo with Super Humman over the weekend where they did a double elbow drop through legos, toy cars, and VCRs on plywood. FUCK. THIS. SHIT

[ckauffman28]

Santana and Ortiz are officially Jerichos mystery partners. It was revealed on they're Pre show tonight

[Morrison]

Santana and Ortiz are officially Jerichos mystery partners. It was revealed on they're Pre show tonight
i love how they 'explain' it. LAX are being smart and going to congratulate the new don, and they make a point to say 'thank you' to
him, very clearly knowing what those words mean to jericho. they've made getting thanks such a big part of his character for months now, and it's great to see that being taken advantage of in a fun way. it plays right into jericho's ego, and perfectly explains why he picks these two guys as his teammates.

[lotjx]

Excited about tonight.

[Murphy]

Improved UK deal on ITV. Available on ITV Hub from 7pm on Thursdays and airing at 11.20pm on ITV4 on Friday nights. Much better.

[Peter Griffin]

I will take that. :)

[Rip]

The Mrs is away at a conference this weekend and the loudest child is staying at his mates, I’m very much looking forward to watching this on Friday night in peace with a schnapps or two.

[Murphy]

I can live with watching it on an 18 hour delay, for sure. Happy days.

[Rip]

And considering WWE is off to BTSport with it’s huge coverage of 2% Cody’s statement isn’t looking quite as daft right now.

[Peter Griffin]

And considering WWE is off to BTSport with it’s huge coverage of 2% Cody’s statement isn’t looking quite as daft right now.

NOW being the operative word, How ITV thought the original was good enough is beyond me :lol:

[Hero!]

happy aew day my guys

[Rancid_Planet]

Just checked the program guide and saw that TNT is replaying the show right after the debut.

That's very good.

[VHS]

Tony Khan: "The AEW roster has much bigger stars and better wrestlers frankly than the NXT roster. The AEW shows are going to be in major arenas instead of a smaller building in front of a few hundred people. But I think it’s a good competition for us. It attracts more fans to the idea of the Wednesday night wars. I think the most compelling story in wrestling these days in many ways is AEW vs. WWE. Fans see the competition between wrestling companies, which is the one thing traditionally everyone has known is real."

This approach doesn't look good. WWE's been saying this is a good time to be a wrestling fan... AEW's approach is now perceived as we're better than WWE. :no:

[Matthew]

yea they should say they are equals

[Tainted Eclipse]

I think it's worth having a separate thread dedicated to the weekly TV show.

First show tonight. I still think Cody/Samy as first TV match is suspect, but the hype show on TNT last night actually got me excited for it. Hope there's a big moment somewhere tonight.

[Tainted Eclipse]

obviously AEW should be talking trash to WWE. the little guy has to actively fight the big guy. but, no, right now AEW does not have the better wrestlers up and down the roster, not by a long shot. they do have probably the top two wrestlers in kenny omega and dustin rhodes, though who knows how often they'll use dustin. if they were smart, they'd use him as much as he can handle physically.

[Tainted Eclipse]

NXT has the much better woman's roster, thats for sure.

[Ringo]

Here we go.

[Tainted Eclipse]

aew would be VERY smart to strongly encourage fans to bring signs. seeing a crowd full of signs like the attitude era would make an impression for any casual or lapsed fans tuning in.

[Ringo]

Oh look, fat Ellsworth got his usual front row center seat for AEW too.

[Tainted Eclipse]

fun match so far, super hot crowd.

[Tainted Eclipse]

i hate spanish flys in general but that was one of the better spanish fly spots.

[Tainted Eclipse]

ended up being a very good match. good commentary, awesome crowd, cody feels like a major star. great start to the show.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I know it’s not “cool” in modern wrestling to like old, white guys anymore- but right now, Tony “Biggest Night In The History Of Our Sport” Schiavone, Jim Ross, and Excalibur might be the best announce team on TV right now.

[Tainted Eclipse]

when MJF turns on cody it's gonna be a heck of a program.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Brandon Cutler is either legit hurt or that finish just sucked.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

when MJF turns on cody it's gonna be a heck of a program.

That or they bring in the rest of MJF’s crew from MLW and make them and Cody into a badass little stable.

[VHS]

PAC/Page, the pacing has been weird.

[Tainted Eclipse]

PAC/Page, the pacing has been weird.
yeah, really. there was a lot of down time. definitely went too long.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

PAC/Page, the pacing has been weird.

PAC jacked himself up on that springboard 450 splash. I think he was calling the match and had to really slow it down.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I’ve taken dumps bigger than Riho.

Trans or not, Nyla Rose should eat the kindergarten kid alive.

[VHS]

Riho sucks, her offense is like throwing a candy rapper at a brick wall.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Is Nyla a heel?

Riho dropping on you with a double stomp is like a kitten dropping on your belly from the back of the couch.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

That was either a great sell or Riho botched a backdrop.

[VHS]

End this.

[Matthew]

women's title match got really hot towards the end. way better than expectations (garbage)

[VHS]

Ridiculous :lol:

[Spudz Mackenzie]

End this.

That really picked up at the end.

Nyla needs to protect herself more and not give people so much, but on the same token, it’s nice to see a big monster heel willing to bump and feed. She just needs to bump and feed for someone bigger than my dog.

[Tainted Eclipse]

that match had its moments but still didn't inspire confidence in this division

[VHS]

That was pretty cringe, that post match shenanigan. Glad she regripped, but damn... way to botch that whole thing up.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

that match had its moments but still didn't inspire confidence in this division

Ring Of Honor made their inaugural Women’s Champion a tiny Japanese woman, too. Must be the thing to do. Meh?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

So... Kenny Omega vs. Nyla Rose?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Cool idea, but Mox put himself through more of that glass table than Omega.

[Tainted Eclipse]

DUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spudz Mackenzie]

SWAGGER!!!! ... err... HAGER!!!!

[Tainted Eclipse]

i like swagger and think he can be a very good addition to the roster, but it's underwhelming as the big surprise to end the first show.

[Sasori]

PAC/Page, the pacing has been weird.

Felt like they had very little chemistry.


SWAGGER!!!! ... err... HAGER!!!!
Donald is going to be a happy man.

[Matthew]

decent start

[Morrison]

i like swagger and think he can be a very good addition to the roster, but it's underwhelming as the big surprise to end the first show.

i thought the same thing when i heard the rumor, but i liked how they executed it. the table spot with dustin was great.

[Tainted Eclipse]

it was a good show. the beginning was great. cody/jericho is over as a big program, cody feels like a big star, moxley/omega angle was good.

but they could have done better. swagger should have been a mid-show surprise and they should have thought of something more impressive for the end of the show. and they should have announced more stuff to hook you for next week.

[Tainted Eclipse]

they need to go hard after lance archer. would be a big asset.

[Defrost]

Jack Swagger is their Lex Luger. Yeah...

[Spudz Mackenzie]

they need to go hard after lance archer. would be a big asset.

Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr would really shore up their tag-team division.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I've thought about this and Hot Take time:

For a company that constantly and incessantly and annoyingly brands itself as being "inclusive", by booking trans folks and gay folks and giving fans with mental issues a place to have a super toxic freak out at their shows and all that happy horseshit, not making Nyla Rose their first Women's Champion is a terrible decision. Absolutely God awful. And making Nyla a fucking heel makes me wonder how many monkeys on typewriters it took to come up with that awful decision.

Because look; Giving Nyla a platform to ply her trade on, on a national level is fantastic. There's never been a trans athlete in wrestling given that level of opportunity. But making her a heel is going to absolutely sink her and its going to create a PR nightmare for AEW.

You're going to have one of two things happen with heel Nyla Rose. Or, if they're really unlucky, two of two shitty things.

AEW is going to give a platform, not purposefully mind you, to all the transphobes and pricks that want to make fun of Nyla already. And by making her a heel, they're going to encourage that sort of behavior. Heels work to get booed. They work to get heat. Heat leads to insults and jeers and social media sniping and all manner of bullshit. Don't think for one hot second that Nyla isn't going to get "tranny bitch" and shit like that shouted at her, under the auspices of heel heat. Because her being a heel makes it "okay" to be an asshole toward her. We all know Kenny Olivier and The Young Fucks don't mind breaking kayfabe, but I doubt they'd be so blatant as to ask AEW's fans to boo Nyla "the right way".

The other thing that's going to kill AEW purely from a PR standpoint is if Nyla decides to play the "angry trans person" character. There's nothing new under the sun, and the "angry black person" gimmick has been done to death. But take that idea, replace being black with being trans, and then replace being angry at white people with being angry at cisgender people, and AEW has a recipe to piss off all the wrestling Twitter SJW's, all the trans-advocacy groups, and every other Goddamn person who might even be a little insulted. If AEW's only trans woman becomes an angry stereotype, AEW look like a bunch of miserable assholes. They look like they're marginalizing their one trans person for the sake of cheap heat. They're not the "forward thinking, "inclusive" company. They're just carny bullshit.

Nyla Rose, despite what you think of her bell-to-bell, should've won tonight. They should've made her winning a feel good story and trumpeted it as a win for all trans folks and marginalized people. (And yes, I know a tiny, Japanese woman won it. But that's besides the point.) They should have built Nyla up as a fighting champion, made her first long-term feud with Dr. Britt Baker, D.D.S. and after a few months, turned her heel.

I'm not saying that Nyla Rose can't be a heel, but they need to be very, very careful with the way they let her play her character. Because things could blow up in their faces if they don't.

[Tainted Eclipse]

i dont think there are too many people out there who really want to see them overpush a sub par wrestler just so they can pat themselves on the back for PR.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

i dont think there are too many people out there who really want to see them overpush a sub par wrestler just so they can pat themselves on the back for PR.

Probably not, but if they really want to seem like a legit alternative to the WWE, they need to make the wrestling SJW's happy.

[Morrison]

I've thought about this and Hot Take time:

For a company that constantly and incessantly and annoyingly brands itself as being "inclusive", by booking trans folks and gay folks and giving fans with mental issues a place to have a super toxic freak out at their shows and all that happy horseshit, not making Nyla Rose their first Women's Champion is a terrible decision. Absolutely God awful. And making Nyla a fucking heel makes me wonder how many monkeys on typewriters it took to come up with that awful decision.

Because look; Giving Nyla a platform to ply her trade on, on a national level is fantastic. There's never been a trans athlete in wrestling given that level of opportunity. But making her a heel is going to absolutely sink her and its going to create a PR nightmare for AEW.

You're going to have one of two things happen with heel Nyla Rose. Or, if they're really unlucky, two of two shitty things.

AEW is going to give a platform, not purposefully mind you, to all the transphobes and pricks that want to make fun of Nyla already. And by making her a heel, they're going to encourage that sort of behavior. Heels work to get booed. They work to get heat. Heat leads to insults and jeers and social media sniping and all manner of bullshit. Don't think for one hot second that Nyla isn't going to get "tranny bitch" and shit like that shouted at her, under the auspices of heel heat. Because her being a heel makes it "okay" to be an asshole toward her. We all know Kenny Olivier and The Young Fucks don't mind breaking kayfabe, but I doubt they'd be so blatant as to ask AEW's fans to boo Nyla "the right way".

The other thing that's going to kill AEW purely from a PR standpoint is if Nyla decides to play the "angry trans person" character. There's nothing new under the sun, and the "angry black person" gimmick has been done to death. But take that idea, replace being black with being trans, and then replace being angry at white people with being angry at cisgender people, and AEW has a recipe to piss off all the wrestling Twitter SJW's, all the trans-advocacy groups, and every other Goddamn person who might even be a little insulted. If AEW's only trans woman becomes an angry stereotype, AEW look like a bunch of miserable assholes. They look like they're marginalizing their one trans person for the sake of cheap heat. They're not the "forward thinking, "inclusive" company. They're just carny bullshit.

Nyla Rose, despite what you think of her bell-to-bell, should've won tonight. They should've made her winning a feel good story and trumpeted it as a win for all trans folks and marginalized people. (And yes, I know a tiny, Japanese woman won it. But that's besides the point.) They should have built Nyla up as a fighting champion, made her first long-term feud with Dr. Britt Baker, D.D.S. and after a few months, turned her heel.

I'm not saying that Nyla Rose can't be a heel, but they need to be very, very careful with the way they let her play her character. Because things could blow up in their faces if they don't.

last week you said she needed to have her rosebuds cut off. i don't wanna hear a fucking thing outta you about any of this shit, you heedless goon.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

last week you said she needed to have her rosebuds cut off. i don't wanna hear a fucking thing outta you about any of this shit, you heedless goon.

I can tell a bad joke and still have a strong opinion.

I'm allowed.

[VHS]

This was the first time I actually got to see Nyla do her thing and what I saw tonight was not good at all. As big as she is and as menacing as she's been hyped up to be... her offense looked weak against Riho. She did hit a sick DVD, but that was it. That was all. She's ploddingly slow and telegraphed everything 2 seconds before she did it. She could barely lift Riho and it resulted in a botch. She nearly dropped what's his face on his head and she was barely able to land a power bomb on him.

And Riho... lord almighty. I know she's been doing this since she was a kid, but she flat out stinks. Everything she does in unconvincing from her strikes to her knees. Her doing a superplex against Nyla was retarded.

And Britt Baker sounded bored at the booth. Sound like you're a part of something special, you generic mannequin.

Everybody came out of that looking like shit.

[Jordo]

I've thought about this and Hot Take time:

For a company that constantly and incessantly and annoyingly brands itself as being "inclusive", by booking trans folks and gay folks and giving fans with mental issues a place to have a super toxic freak out at their shows and all that happy horseshit, not making Nyla Rose their first Women's Champion is a terrible decision. Absolutely God awful. And making Nyla a fucking heel makes me wonder how many monkeys on typewriters it took to come up with that awful decision.

Because look; Giving Nyla a platform to ply her trade on, on a national level is fantastic. There's never been a trans athlete in wrestling given that level of opportunity. But making her a heel is going to absolutely sink her and its going to create a PR nightmare for AEW.

You're going to have one of two things happen with heel Nyla Rose. Or, if they're really unlucky, two of two shitty things.

AEW is going to give a platform, not purposefully mind you, to all the transphobes and pricks that want to make fun of Nyla already. And by making her a heel, they're going to encourage that sort of behavior. Heels work to get booed. They work to get heat. Heat leads to insults and jeers and social media sniping and all manner of bullshit. Don't think for one hot second that Nyla isn't going to get "tranny bitch" and shit like that shouted at her, under the auspices of heel heat. Because her being a heel makes it "okay" to be an asshole toward her. We all know Kenny Olivier and The Young Fucks don't mind breaking kayfabe, but I doubt they'd be so blatant as to ask AEW's fans to boo Nyla "the right way".

The other thing that's going to kill AEW purely from a PR standpoint is if Nyla decides to play the "angry trans person" character. There's nothing new under the sun, and the "angry black person" gimmick has been done to death. But take that idea, replace being black with being trans, and then replace being angry at white people with being angry at cisgender people, and AEW has a recipe to piss off all the wrestling Twitter SJW's, all the trans-advocacy groups, and every other Goddamn person who might even be a little insulted. If AEW's only trans woman becomes an angry stereotype, AEW look like a bunch of miserable assholes. They look like they're marginalizing their one trans person for the sake of cheap heat. They're not the "forward thinking, "inclusive" company. They're just carny bullshit.

Nyla Rose, despite what you think of her bell-to-bell, should've won tonight. They should've made her winning a feel good story and trumpeted it as a win for all trans folks and marginalized people. (And yes, I know a tiny, Japanese woman won it. But that's besides the point.) They should have built Nyla up as a fighting champion, made her first long-term feud with Dr. Britt Baker, D.D.S. and after a few months, turned her heel.

I'm not saying that Nyla Rose can't be a heel, but they need to be very, very careful with the way they let her play her character. Because things could blow up in their faces if they don't.

Bit of an odd take but I see your point.

I will say if she had won the backlash would be just as bad and you'd get the same transphobes doing transphobe stuff.

I think the biggest thing AEW has done in regards to helping the LGBT community here is that they haven't booked Nyla as a transwoman. I'm not entirely sure because I still haven't seen all out but I don't even think they've ever mentioned on a live show she's trans. It's not a part of her character, she's just Nyla, a monster heel. I also think that kind of saves AEW when a segment of their fans do say and do hateful shit. Also... Those fans were always going to do that regardless of Nyla's heel/face alignment. AEW has treated Nyla as nothing but a woman and I don't see them changing that at all.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Probably not, but if they really want to seem like a legit alternative to the WWE, they need to make the wrestling SJW's happy.

no they don't. they can be a legit alternative to WWE while entirely ignoring this small constituency.

[Supernovametalstar]

This is my first time seeing AEW outside of a match here and there. Right out of the gate, AEW looks legit. They have a great production look, their intro has POWER and is fun, the set looks good and the dark features really add to the feel of being a darker show and not colorful and bright like Raw. Cody feels like a big deal and that opening match was good. Only problem I have is one too many big moves only getting two counts, but that's the way it is nowadays.

Commentary was GOLDEN. I've always loved JR and I've always been a big fan of Tony Schiovane. His voice was greatly missed on my television. And I must say, I like that both of them are genre savvy enough to scold the wrestlers about posing for the crowd or taking too much time after a big move.

Women's championship match was better than I thought it would be. I agree, Riho looks like a kitten and shouldn't be able to beat most competitors, let alone someone as big and strong as Nyla Rose. But I think that the commentary sold how she has the experience edge was a plus. I think the crowd will get behind her because she's plucky. For some reason, I'm thinking that false three was actually a mistake and they rolled with it. If it was by design, it was a great idea because that is what got the crowd really into the match. I'm glad Nakazowa didn't get his neck broken in that powerbomb spot. Now that made me cringe.

Moxley and Omega and the fighting in the crowd was great. That table spot was a great throwback to the more "dangerous" era. And if they limit those spots to a few, then they will still feel special and dangerous.

That ending with Jack "not" Swagger was good also. I always thought he got kind of a bad shake in WWE, and I liked his stuff in Lucha Underground, so I'm glad he's working with AEW now. Also, seems the "we the people" chant is something that is going to follow him from now on. I wonder how the WWE will feel about that. Not that they can control what a crowd chants.


Speaking of Lucha Underground, I guess they're done now since I've seen a good amount of their stars on not only here, but Impact the other night.


I had more, but lost it. All in all, this show needs to be on Monday. They have the energy, momentum, and production to give Raw a run for its money on a head to head. I understand why they didn't, but damn, if you were to compare this show to what I saw outside of the first hour of Raw, it is like night and day in terms of entertainment to me.

[Morrison]

I can tell a bad joke and still have a strong opinion.

I'm allowed.

yeah, of course you can say some intolerant bullshit you thought was clever and still have a strongly unaware and oblivious opinion on a matter. live the fucking dream and all that.


Fucking trannies these days have to make the world so fucking complicated.

Here, let's break it down for you, so you fuckers get it:

If you're born with a penis, you're a man. Go piss in the fucking men's room. Change in the men's locker room. If you want to sit down to pee? Fine. Nobody's going to care. They'll think your're taking a dump. And you'll make a lot less women scared than you would if you "identified as a woman" and whipped out your Johnson (not your "Jenny") to get changed in a gym or at the pool.

If you're born with a vagina, you're a woman. Get this through your head. You can be as masculine as you want, but you shouldn't want to spend time in the men's room. I'm a guy. Trust me; the average men's room is fucking terrifying. You'll smell things you'll wish you'd never smelled. I don't even want to go in there. Also, change with the women at the gym or the pool or whatever. If you go and change in the men's lockers you're just going to have a bunch of half-naked gym rats hitting on your or trying to check you out. Unless that's what you want? I don't know.

Guys; if you can't hack it in men's sports, don't become a woman to try it in theirs. Women already have a hard enough time getting their sports to be taken seriously. You have a biological advantage being an ex-man (not an X-Man, but that would be pretty cool, too) and its basically cheating.

Ladies; Stick with your own sports. Becoming a man, injecting yourself with testosterone is basically like taking steroids. And that's basically cheating. So, yeah, stick with your own shit.

Everybody: When you're not in the crapper, the locker room, or playing professional sports, be the best damn you you want to be. I don't fucking care if you've got a dick, a vag, or sixteen cans of Pringles up there. I don't care if you're a man who wants to be a woman, a woman who wants to be a man, or a man and a woman combined in some terrible industrial solvent accident who wants to be a samurai Abraham Lincoln.

Just stop making fucking bathrooms, sports, and locker rooms so fucking complicated, you big bunch of weirdos. Be trannies in your personal time, but when you're out in front of normal people, just be whatever's in your damn pants.

you made that post within this calendar year, and made a point to tell everyone you weren't trying to be funny with it. so fucking excuse me for not just accepting your shitty attempt at humor or your insane rant about what it means to be inclusive at face value. cause, like, i fucking know better.

[Nero]

Just got back from watching both. It's my 2nd time watching AEW's product and i'm just blown away and super excited to what the future holds. As much as I enjoyed both shows, AEW's was the victor of the two in my opinon. I'm not familiar with a lot of the wrestlers but they all impressed me. There was not a match where I wasn't interested from start to finish. Just hope they can start to build some solid storylines instead of just doing the cliche interrupt debut like theyve been doing (Moxley, LAX, now Swagger) and build some solid debuts and teasers through-out the weeks.

It feels strangely good to be a wrestling fan again, my week seems to be packed with shows to watch.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

yeah, of course you can say some intolerant bullshit you thought was clever and still have a strongly unaware and oblivious opinion on a matter. live the fucking dream and all that.



you made that post within this calendar year, and made a point to tell everyone you weren't trying to be funny with it. so fucking excuse me for not just accepting your shitty attempt at humor or your insane rant about what it means to be inclusive at face value. cause, like, i fucking know better.

In that same thread I also apologized for making that post and admitted that, upon thinking about it, I approached the issue from a place of negativity and was arguing in bad faith. I admitted I was wrong. But you don't bother with that. I didn't delete or edit that post, not because I'm proud of it or I still think I'm right, but because I want it to stand as an example of a terrible argument against trans people.

[Morrison]

In that same thread I also apologized for making that post and admitted that, upon thinking about it, I approached the issue from a place of negativity and was arguing in bad faith. I admitted I was wrong. But you don't bother with that. I didn't delete or edit that post, not because I'm proud of it or I still think I'm right, but because I want it to stand as an example of a terrible argument against trans people.

you apologized after going nuts and posting a bunch of transphobic memes and getting banned. you apologized four days after that post i just quoted. i didn't bother including that, cause it was a soulless, canned apology. in the apology itself you said you were trying to express your personal beliefs on the issue, so if you remove the shit attempt at humor(seems all you ever can make are shit attempts), you're still left with intolerant bullshit opinions. and then you wanna try and talk about what AEW should be doing to be inclusive. miss me with that horseshit. just cause you are allowed to have a strong opinion doesn't mean you ever should.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

you apologized after going nuts and posting a bunch of transphobic memes and getting banned. you apologized four days after that post i just quoted. i didn't bother including that, cause it was a soulless, canned apology. in the apology itself you said you were trying to express your personal beliefs on the issue, so if you remove the shit attempt at humor(seems all you ever can make are shit attempts), you're still left with intolerant bullshit opinions. and then you wanna try and talk about what AEW should be doing to be inclusive. miss me with that horseshit. just cause you are allowed to have a strong opinion doesn't mean you ever should.

Nah bro, it was a true apology. I was just working through some anti-trans biases.

If you don't like my attempts at being funny, that's fine. But don't try to paint me as some kind of transphobe monster when I just tried to make a bad dick joke/word pun about Nyla and her "buds". Its harmless stuff.

[Morrison]

Nah bro, it was a true apology. I was just working through some anti-trans biases.

If you don't like my attempts at being funny, that's fine. But don't try to paint me as some kind of transphobe monster when I just tried to make a bad dick joke/word pun about Nyla and her "buds". Its harmless stuff.

fuck off with what you think is harmless.

in your apology you say you were just trying to be funny and express your personal beliefs, yet when JP shits on you for what he assumed was you trying to be funny directly after your original rant, you got offended, told him to fuck off and said you werent trying to be funny, you were trying to prove a point. fuck outta here.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

fuck off with what you think is harmless.

in your apology you say you were just trying to be funny and express your personal beliefs, yet when JP shits on you for what he assumed was you trying to be funny directly after your original rant, you got offended, told him to fuck off and said you werent trying to be funny, you were trying to prove a point. fuck outta here.

I re-read my own apology post and I meant every bit of it. Hell, I'd even been back in that thread to discuss more on the issue and I've had nothing but civilized conversations with folks there since that point.

You're the only one who's calling me out, and its for no good reason. Lay off.

[Morrison]

and what im trying to paint you as is someone who didn't know what the fuck they were talking about nine months ago, and doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about right now. I'm saying that a dude who had those thoughts about the bathroom debate nine months ago, and who is making dick jokes about a trans person within the last week, still ain't got the deftness of perception and understanding to be weighing in on AEW's approach to inclusivity. go ahead and form your strong opinions, but it's already been shown that you probably shouldn't be so fucking gung ho about these opinions when you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

- - - Updated - - -


I re-read my own apology post and I meant every bit of it. Hell, I'd even been back in that thread to discuss more on the issue and I've had nothing but civilized conversations with folks there since that point.

You're the only one who's calling me out, and its for no good reason. Lay off.
hahaha, no good reason my ass.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

and what im trying to paint you as is someone who didn't know what the fuck they were talking about nine months ago, and doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about right now. I'm saying that a dude who had those thoughts about the bathroom debate nine months ago, and who is making dick jokes about a trans person within the last week, still ain't got the deftness of perception and understanding to be weighing in on AEW's approach to inclusivity. go ahead and form your strong opinions, but it's already been shown that you probably shouldn't be so fucking gung ho about these opinions when you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

I know exactly what I'm talking about. I might not be an expert on trans issues or whatever, but I know my shit when it comes to pro-wrestling. And this isn't a trans issue. Its a pro-wrestling issue. I don't trust any wrestling company to get a heel trans woman right without pissing off a legion of trans fans, SJW's, their sponsors, or management. I don't trust a wrestling company to book a trans heel and not still protect their own image by stopping transphobes from doing transphobic shit.

Its not about toilets. Its booking. We're in a wrestling thread discussing a wrestling show.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Bit of an odd take but I see your point.

I will say if she had won the backlash would be just as bad and you'd get the same transphobes doing transphobe stuff.

I think the biggest thing AEW has done in regards to helping the LGBT community here is that they haven't booked Nyla as a transwoman. I'm not entirely sure because I still haven't seen all out but I don't even think they've ever mentioned on a live show she's trans. It's not a part of her character, she's just Nyla, a monster heel. I also think that kind of saves AEW when a segment of their fans do say and do hateful shit. Also... Those fans were always going to do that regardless of Nyla's heel/face alignment. AEW has treated Nyla as nothing but a woman and I don't see them changing that at all.

AEW never mentioned it on TV, but its all over their social media. Its not a secret. I'm not saying it should be, either.

AEW is the wrestling company created because a bunch of hipster twats wanted to have a Superkick Party and create an alternative to the WWE. And they found a sucker with a bunch of money and a TV station with a spot for them.

They might put on a good show, but that's what got them there.

[VHS]

Spudz, I totally understand what you're saying bro. Although I wouldn't really call it an issue... but I know where you're heading. The bottom line is: the fans aren't going to take any mind to Nyla being a heel because we're all smartened up here. No wrestling fan in their right and logical mind is going to see AEW booking a big tough trans woman and get pissed off. They're just not. Because they're already proud that she's there. If you're trans and you're watching tonight's AEW, then you're already a pretty devoted wrestling fan and you know what's up.

AEW has done a pretty good job of establishing open arms to all orientations. In today's landscape where everybody is super humble and double handshaking the opportunities they have... nobody cares if so and so is booked as a heel or face. They see Nyla powerbomb a puppy in the ring, they'll still cry happy tears that she's in that ring as a trans person representing trans people.

Second bottom line... nobody is going to be upset.

[Sinner]

AEW is treating Nyla AS a WOMAN

Not a TRANS WOMAN

So she should, and is, able to be a Heel

[Spudz Mackenzie]

I'll give things the benefit of the doubt, I guess.

I just foresee some ways it could all go sideways. Hopefully it doesn't.

That’s why it’s a “hot take”. Hot takes aren’t always the best thought out opinions.

[Ringo]

Good start. The show had good energy with good action throughout and felt like a more traditional pro-wrestling show which I love. Reminded me of WCW TV from the good old days. "With TV time remaining", Omega coming out to help Riho because he was probably hanging around near the curtain getting ready for his match and he's a babyface so why wouldn't he come to her aid?, Sammy Guevara coming back at the end rather than just being forgotten. It's little touches like that which give me confidence in this show moving forward. Announce team were solid and felt a lot more legit than what we've had on Raw and Smackdown for years. I like Hager as part of Team Jericho and I was thrilled to see Dustin getting involved. Decent group of talent that look like stars now. Unfortunately there's still a handful that look quite bush league.

World: Jericho/Cody
Moxley/Omega
Bucks/LAX
Dustin/Hager
Hangman/PAC
Tag: SCU/Lucha Bros
Womens: Riho/Rose/Baker
PP/Angelico & Evans

Seems a pretty strong card for the next PPV. Maybe something like MJF, Guevara and Spears vs. the three deathmatch guys too.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Apparently, Kenny Omega is the shoot agent for all the women's stuff on the show.

I wonder if they'll bring that up on the air at some point?

[StevieV]

Didn’t know Nyla was trans until I read this thread.

[Honey_Badger]

Didn’t know Nyla was trans until I read this thread.

You and me both.

And now that I know, I feel the exact same. She is awesome!

[Nash Diesel]

I caught the first 2 matches. I liked the way the show looked. First 2 matches were good. My best friend is DVRing it since I don't have cable but for some reason it recorded the replay instead so we caught the tail end with Swagger, which to be honest without seeing the rest of the show was probably the cringe moment that soured me on the show. I think the guy is extremely monotone both in entertainment and wrestling value. To me that was just like, come on AEW you can do better than be TNA 2.0 picking up the scraps of WWE.

With all of that said, I can't wait to watch everything else and continue watching. Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone working together was very solid and Excalibur always done a pretty decent job. I like that it wasn't so much "this guy is color, this is play by play, this guy is for laughs" It felt like 3 people calling a match without needing to be defined the way Vince does it.

[Morrison]

I'll give things the benefit of the doubt, I guess.

I just foresee some ways it could all go sideways. Hopefully it doesn't.

That’s why it’s a “hot take”. Hot takes aren’t always the best thought out opinions.

almost every single thing you post isnt well thought out

[BGMaverick]

As a whole, I thought the show was very entertaining. The production was pretty good, with some minor weird stuff along the way, but I thought they transitioned to things fairly well. This was, by far, the best outing for JR for AEW. He wasn't doing his grumpy man yelling at a cloud bit that he's done over the course of the PPVs so this was refreshing. Schiavone was REALLY good for his role. I thought he was great so the MLW stuff he's been doing had him ready to go for this.

The women's division still feels generally flat. I thought they did a nice job putting over the match itself but I'm not sure the match itself was that good.

I didn't get why the finish of the six-man went on after Moxley came out. The ref clearly was in the line of sight of the attack and commentary really did question why the match was still going on. That kind of lost me for the remainder of that match. That had to be the biggest screw-up of the entire evening. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

From an overall optics standpoint, especially compared to the reveal NXT had at the start, I don't know if Hager is really that big of a meter mover. The crowd definitely ate it up but I'm not sure if I'm that motivated to see what he specifically has to offer.

They didn't do a good job at all at promoting what is coming up for next week.

All in all, there were some flat or confusing moments but it was a pretty entertaining show. Have to see how long they can keep things going.

[Nash Diesel]

almost every single thing you post isnt well thought out

Here we go......

[Ringo]

Oh yeah, Moxley not causing a DQ right in front of the ref was dumb. Jericho and co stood tall at the end of the show so I don't think he needed the win. Should've just done a DQ or called it a no contest.

Also not sure about Schiavone bringing up wrestling being back on TNT after 18 years a couple of times and then referring to Nitro as "our old show". I mean, we know what he meant, but it did make it sound a bit like AEW is the continuation of WCW or something.

[Morrison]

As a whole, I thought the show was very entertaining. The production was pretty good, with some minor weird stuff along the way, but I thought they transitioned to things fairly well. This was, by far, the best outing for JR for AEW. He wasn't doing his grumpy man yelling at a cloud bit that he's done over the course of the PPVs so this was refreshing. Schiavone was REALLY good for his role. I thought he was great so the MLW stuff he's been doing had him ready to go for this.

The women's division still feels generally flat. I thought they did a nice job putting over the match itself but I'm not sure the match itself was that good.

I didn't get why the finish of the six-man went on after Moxley came out. The ref clearly was in the line of sight of the attack and commentary really did question why the match was still going on. That kind of lost me for the remainder of that match. That had to be the biggest screw-up of the entire evening. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

From an overall optics standpoint, especially compared to the reveal NXT had at the start, I don't know if Hager is really that big of a meter mover. The crowd definitely ate it up but I'm not sure if I'm that motivated to see what he specifically has to offer.

They didn't do a good job at all at promoting what is coming up for next week.

All in all, there were some flat or confusing moments but it was a pretty entertaining show. Have to see how long they can keep things going.

ref's discretion. doesn't want to end the main event of their first show on a DQ less than five minutes into the match. commentary brought up referees discretion as a thing during the woman's title match when nyla started messing around with chairs, so they established it, but they probably should've addressed it again after moxley interfered.

[Matthew]

giving fans with mental issues a place to have a super toxic freak out at their shows
such a nice way to talk about autistic kids

what a scumbag

[Matthew]

show looked good, aesthetically. pyro was a bit shit here and there, but it was a nice change of pace.

camera work/production was way better than at their PPVs. not really many missed spots or hiccups.

show flowed fairly well. matches were good and not a lot of filler.

Hager appearing wasn't huge to me either, but i do like the inclusion. a lot of players that can be going for the gold. he already looks like more of a formidable foe than say... Adam Page

lack of jimmy havoc was a plus as well

7.2

[BGMaverick]

ref's discretion. doesn't want to end the main event of their first show on a DQ less than five minutes into the match. commentary brought up referees discretion as a thing during the woman's title match when nyla started messing around with chairs, so they established it, but they probably should've addressed it again after moxley interfered.

That's fine but to me, I think that gives NJPW vibes and not the good kind. The refs are easily one of the most annoying things with lack of consistency with NJPW so I don't want that to trickle to AEW. It feels like they dropped the ball to that extent for that specific instance. Prior to last night's show, JR seemed to be a stickler for the referees and things of that nature so it created a disconnect for me when they really didn't bring it up for your main event.

Another thing that was weird but minor: Cody was awfully quick to shake Sammy's hand after he tried to use and ultimately hurt Cody's wife to win a match. I understood it built for the finish of the night but that was a little silly.

[PurePlayer]

Oh yeah, Moxley not causing a DQ right in front of the ref was dumb. Jericho and co stood tall at the end of the show so I don't think he needed the win. Should've just done a DQ or called it a no contest.

Also not sure about Schiavone bringing up wrestling being back on TNT after 18 years a couple of times and then referring to Nitro as "our old show". I mean, we know what he meant, but it did make it sound a bit like AEW is the continuation of WCW or something.

I don't think anyone thinks it's a continuation of WCW. None of the wrestlers are the same and it's a different name and Jim Ross is there. If you are watching AEW for the first time, I'd imagine even the casual fans know WWE bought WCW.

[McBain]

Awesome show. We can nitpick but that was great.

[JP]

I haven't been that taken by any of the AEW shows up until this point, so I wasn't really expecting that much.

One of the main problems for me on previous shows has been the commentary, especially JR, who I felt was going through the motions. Well not anymore, the commentary last night was the best in any major wrestling show I've seen in years. JR was JR again, Schiavone played his role to perfection and it was by far and away the best I've ever heard from Excalibur.

The look, the feel, the structure, it just connected in a way I wasn't expecting.

It helped that the first match was out of this world and featured my new favourtie wrestler in Sammy Guevara (I swear down, if any of you even look at him I WILL CUT YOU!).

Everything on the show had a purpose, nothing felt boring or not given the correct attention.

Some people will gripe about the logic failings, and I can understand why. But when something is so entertaining, it becomes easier to forgive those failings.

The main event and fallout were magnificent. That DDT through the table was ridiculous. The pops for Dustin and Hager were deafening.

It felt right. It's obviously what they were aiming for, and constantly alluding to, but it felt like when Nitro was great.

[JP]

But don't try to paint me as some kind of transphobe monster when I just tried to make a bad dick joke/word pun about Nyla and her "buds". Its harmless stuff.

It's not harmless, at all.

[Murphy]

Typically, this doesn’t appear to be on ITV Hub yet...

‘Technical issues’. Oh dear.

[Tainted Eclipse]

Full viewership figures not available yet but percentage shares enough to say AEW won in the ratings bigly

[Nash Diesel]

It's fair game on Nyla Rose. Her response to someone saying something stupid like Spudz said was insinuating the person was possibly molested by their father.

Neither one is something to joke about. It's 2019.

Fact is, Nyla Rose fucking sucks anyway but so does Jack Swagger, regardless if they both have their "buds" or not.

[Nash Diesel]

Full viewership figures not available yet but percentage shares enough to say AEW won in the ratings bigly

I think it says a lot when we're jacked up about a war between, not AEW and WWE, but AEW and the 3rd brand which serves mainly as developmental.

I promise you, now that we've seen what the WWE are willing to do for NXT per last night's 2 big returns, get ready motherfuckers.

But we also have to understand the reality. Just like back in the day, people thought it was like 10 million wrestling fans every Monday. No, it was mostly people bouncing back and forth. I would imagine due to the way we watch t.v. now, especially with NXT being available the very next day in it's entirety on the Network, that a lot of people wanted to watch AEW's debut firsthand and then will go back and watch NXT later.

[Gampo]

Nyla Rose is just not that good in the ring or on the mic imo..

Solid start for AEW! let's hope this AEW vs. NXT thing continues to build bigger and we get the best out of both brands! I'm curious to see where they go with this Jericho angle.. if it's an actual stable or just the heels coming together on the first show to draw a line in the sand between faces and heels of the company moving forward.

[BGMaverick]

I would honestly be incredibly surprised if AEW didn't outdraw NXT in the ratings. It should. It was the first week and it was advertised like crazy. Not Fox/Smackdown crazy but strong for them. That said, it's probably going to be around half (I'm guessing) what a typical Raw and/or Smackdown gets. NXT is serving its purpose right now by presenting a good alternative for WWE-proper programming AND running something that undercuts the max number AEW could get. It's probably a general win for everyone involved.

[Nash Diesel]

I would honestly be incredibly surprised if AEW didn't outdraw NXT in the ratings. It should. It was the first week and it was advertised like crazy. Not Fox/Smackdown crazy but strong for them. That said, it's probably going to be around half (I'm guessing) what a typical Raw and/or Smackdown gets. NXT is serving its purpose right now by presenting a good alternative for WWE-proper programming AND running something that undercuts the max number AEW could get. It's probably a general win for everyone involved.

I agree with all of this.

And I'm not even trying to be negative, we're 1 tv show in with AEW. A year from now who knows where they will be. For a first show, very impressive.

I'll be honest, it look very similar to how the WWE shoots their live shows especially the angles for in-ring action. Tony Schivaone as the new Mean Gene is cool and I hope he sticks around.

But Jack Swagger..........I just can't get over that as I feel it really took away from a promising star only for me to think great, another promotion dumpster diving for former WWE talent. And I get it, the WWE is the Galactus of pro wrestling, eating up everything and most known talent, in and out of the wrestling bubble, over the last 20 years have worked for the WWE in some capacity. I just wish it wasn't so desperate on AEW's part.

Who's next? Eugene?

[BGMaverick]

I agree with all of this.

And I'm not even trying to be negative, we're 1 tv show in with AEW. A year from now who knows where they will be. For a first show, very impressive.

I'll be honest, it look very similar to how the WWE shoots their live shows especially the angles for in-ring action. Tony Schivaone as the new Mean Gene is cool and I hope he sticks around.

But Jack Swagger..........I just can't get over that as I feel it really took away from a promising star only for me to think great, another promotion dumpster diving for former WWE talent. And I get it, the WWE is the Galactus of pro wrestling, eating up everything and most known talent, in and out of the wrestling bubble, over the last 20 years have worked for the WWE in some capacity. I just wish it wasn't so desperate on AEW's part.

Who's next? Eugene?

There's a framework there within their show that suggests it can be viable or sustainable. They've got talent and even didn't really delve into their presumed strength or calling card for the company: tag team wrestling. They had a six-man tag, but it really wasn't the general framework because they're focused on their tournament after this week.

They'll need to figure out the right balance of wrestling and talking. Nobody has figured that out yet so I'm not expecting them to but maybe the better calibration is humor versus aggressive promos.

The Hager stuff just didn't do anything for me. Like I said, optics wise, Hager versus the two separate reveals NXT had and you can't say with a straight face that Hager's appearance was as strong.

[Peter Griffin]

Off to a good start ITV :lol:

https://media0.giphy.com/media/JzOyy8vKMCwvK/giphy.gif

[VHS]

Nyla Rose is just not that good in the ring or on the mic imo..


Twitter folks were saying it's like Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim... and it was more like a poor woman's version of a poor woman's version of that.

[chatty]

Well I thought it was a decent enough start but nothing amazing. Its early doors, theyve got a lot of building to do and a few things to iron out but it was good enough.

Cody v Sammy was fine though thr Brandy thing in the middle didnt make a lot of sense to me. Cody watching his wife get pushed into danger and then laughing about it was weird then you had Brandy attack sammy for a false finish which made that whole segment of the match pointless. Then afterwards Codys happy enough to shake Sammys hand. Made no sense but othet than that the match was decent enough.

MJF v Cutler was basically a way to give some shine to MJF. Finish was weird, dunno if it was a botch or a legit injury. Wasnt much of a match but wasnt meant to be, Im fine with them giving MJF some time to shine.

Page v Neville was enjoyable, the pacing was off but I think they could have a good match once theyve been in together a few times. Think thats been a problem for AEW so far, wrestlers arent used to each other and nonhouse shows so you get botches, pacing being out etc, that shouod improve over time though. Neville is a great edition to the roster and hopefully gets pushed as a main eventer, hes been booked great so far. Page not so much, hes new to a lot of people, he needs a few wins over jobber to rebuild already.

Nyka v Rio had a good end but Im not really rating either off them as yet and dont think they got the right women for the first title match. Crowd got into it though so thats a plus. Cant see Riho getting much traction as champ.

Six Man Tag was a cluster fuck. Was this no DQ? or did the ref not care that Moxley came in and attacked Omega in front of him? Good way to build their feud but that just seemed off. Having Santana and Ortiz show up on the PPV ruined the surprise in this one. Swagger isnt really gonna bring you a lot of buzz but Im happy tonsee him back and if he can do any better with a fresh build.

Was that meant to be some sort of stable forming or just random heels?

Anyway Id give it a 7/10, was enjoyable but lots to improve on.

[BGMaverick]

The show debuted with 1,409,000 viewers.
Week one on NXT debuted with 1,179,000 viewers.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm reading a lot of people talking about the end with Moxley showing up attacking Omega.

Can we maybe assume that the rules might be a little more relaxed in this promotion? ECW had DQ's and countouts, but they were very and far between.

[BGMaverick]

I'm reading a lot of people talking about the end with Moxley showing up attacking Omega.

Can we maybe assume that the rules might be a little more relaxed in this promotion? ECW had DQ's and countouts, but they were very and far between.

Relaxed doesn't jive if the mantra is that wins and losses matter. The rules have to be the rules if they're going to matter. It feels like a dissonance that cheapens something you had as a major selling point.

[VHS]

1.4 MILL, right on! :yes:

[PurePlayer]

The show debuted with 1,409,000 viewers.
Week one on NXT debuted with 1,179,000 viewers.

Good numbers for the premier. It will be interesting if and how much it drops by in the next month. Once everything levels out and the hype wears out for both AEW and NXT, I wonder what the magic number is.

[Nash Diesel]

Relaxed doesn't jive if the mantra is that wins and losses matter. The rules have to be the rules if they're going to matter. It feels like a dissonance that cheapens something you had as a major selling point.

Well, what are AEW's rules? Wins and losses can still matter. I mean shit, I'm only saying they're relaxed because everyone seems to be basing their "rules" on the WWE. Which even they have matches where they'll allow certain things to happen like fighting out in the crowd and the count magically stops lol.

The rules to my knowledge have not been established in great detail and really when you think about it, what promotion in wrestling history has ever truly 100% followed their own rules in graphic detail? I'd say none lol. And again, some promotions have different rules. TNA had a rule where you could win the World title on a DQ or countout.

[BGMaverick]

Well, what are AEW's rules? Wins and losses can still matter. I mean shit, I'm only saying they're relaxed because everyone seems to be basing their "rules" on the WWE. Which even they have matches where they'll allow certain things to happen like fighting out in the crowd and the count magically stops lol.

The rules to my knowledge have not been established in great detail and really when you think about it, what promotion in wrestling history has ever truly 100% followed their own rules in graphic detail? I'd say none lol. And again, some promotions have different rules. TNA had a rule where you could win the World title on a DQ or countout.

It seems like they're very insistent on trying to book to avoid DQs because they want definitive finishes. The only real instances I can remember on previous AEW events involve Brandi (either in a match herself or she's ringside) where she was involved in acts that should have been DQs but the ref didn't see it. While I get what you're saying, I think it's general common sense that the people running this company work under the presumption that a 3-on-3 match is compromised and a DQ is worth calling when a 7th person comes in, in sight of the referee, and attacks one of the six performers...eventually doing a brainbuster on a glass table lol.

You're providing an alternative perspective which is fine and has some merit but based on reviews I've listened to and read, your stance is in the minority of questioning why this wasn't a blatant DQ.

[Nash Diesel]

It seems like they're very insistent on trying to book to avoid DQs because they want definitive finishes. The only real instances I can remember on previous AEW events involve Brandi (either in a match herself or she's ringside) where she was involved in acts that should have been DQs but the ref didn't see it. While I get what you're saying, I think it's general common sense that the people running this company work under the presumption that a 3-on-3 match is compromised and a DQ is worth calling when a 7th person comes in, in sight of the referee, and attacks one of the six performers...eventually doing a brainbuster on a glass table lol.

You're providing an alternative perspective which is fine and has some merit but based on reviews I've listened to and read, your stance is in the minority of questioning why this wasn't a blatant DQ.

This is exactly why I said at the start of this particular topic that I'm seeing a lot of people saying this but they're basing it on what?

Imagine you're watching the WWF in 1993-1994 and you're like, "WCW is better because they're more strict with the DQ's, you can't even go off the top or throw a dude over the top rope to the outside!" So again, who's to say what constitutes a DQ in AEW?

Yep, I'm in the minority because people are literally comparing every fucking thing AEW does to the WWE. Including how/why they should DQ people.

[BGMaverick]

This is exactly why I said at the start of this particular topic that I'm seeing a lot of people saying this but they're basing it on what?

Imagine you're watching the WWF in 1993-1994 and you're like, "WCW is better because they're more strict with the DQ's, you can't even go off the top or throw a dude over the top rope to the outside!" So again, who's to say what constitutes a DQ in AEW?

Yep, I'm in the minority because people are literally comparing every fucking thing AEW does to the WWE. Including how/why they should DQ people.

Wrestling?

If that's the case and I shouldn't have a baseline, then that simply boils down to suggest they've done an absolutely terrible job of outlying what people are watching and what to watch for. For example, how am I supposed to know the match isn't over when the ref gets a one count? I think it's one or the other at that point. I tend to think it's not that egregious and they just missed a key detail in a match.

[Nash Diesel]

Wrestling?

If that's the case and I shouldn't have a baseline, then that simply boils down to suggest they've done an absolutely terrible job of outlying what people are watching and what to watch for. For example, how am I supposed to know the match isn't over when the ref gets a one count? I think it's one or the other at that point. I tend to think it's not that egregious and they just missed a key detail in a match.

ECW wasn't wrestling?

WWE was not as strict as TNA when it comes to World title changes as they would allow it if the champion was DQ'd or counted out.

So again, there is no real bible of rules everyone has to follow. You trying to say wins and losses matter more if they adhere to a particular company's set of rules makes no sense. If you're DQ'd in the UFC for throwing knees to a grounded opponent's head but Pride allows it, does that automatically mean the UFC is better than Pride?

It's something that again, fans are just comparing it to what they might see in the WWE. And even then, we could probably go back over the last 4-5 Raw's and find examples where the ref didn't automatically DQ someone where they might have in another match.

So basically for me it's hard to say that wins and losses don't matter as much as AEW say they do based solely on the ref not DQing Jericho's team for the Moxley interference because for example, in ECW, that wouldn't matter. And no company has ever really taken wins and losses as serious as AEW claims to be so what are we basing the merit of that mantra?

[BGMaverick]

ECW wasn't wrestling?

WWE was not as strict as TNA when it comes to World title changes as they would allow it if the champion was DQ'd or counted out.

So again, there is no real bible of rules everyone has to follow. You trying to say wins and losses matter more if they adhere to a particular company's set of rules makes no sense. If you're DQ'd in the UFC for throwing knees to a grounded opponent's head but Pride allows it, does that automatically mean the UFC is better than Pride?

It's something that again, fans are just comparing it to what they might see in the WWE. And even then, we could probably go back over the last 4-5 Raw's and find examples where the ref didn't automatically DQ someone where they might have in another match.

So basically for me it's hard to say that wins and losses don't matter as much as AEW say they do based solely on the ref not DQing Jericho's team for the Moxley interference because for example, in ECW, that wouldn't matter. And no company has ever really taken wins and losses as serious as AEW claims to be so what are we basing the merit of that mantra?

If that's all the case, then then a general presumption should be they're bad at this because it should have been outlined right at the beginning. I mean, people should know what they're watching and people should present it in a way that takes away ambiguity. I don't think the question I have based on your example of whether one MMA organization is better than the other based on that. The point I would take is that both have made it perfectly clear that one views that act as illegal and the other doesn't view it as illegal. It's clearly outlined.

I would probably disagree on principle to the WWE example because they are more than okay booking a DQ to prolong a story or avoid booking someone to lose. They probably go overboard in that regard or they do a better job of protecting the ref's "integrity" by having a distraction or bump of some kind.

We're basing the merit of the mantra on the fact that they've communicated it multiple times over multiple months. They didn't do it last night but they have had events where the records are in the chiron with the performer's name. So they've communicated that explicitly but I guess based on the main point again, we can make a case it doesn't matter at all because the rules haven't been expressed. So if that's the case, again...they either dropped the ball entirely with the rules or they booked a wonky finish. One feels more likely than the other.

[Nash Diesel]

If that's all the case, then then a general presumption should be they're bad at this because it should have been outlined right at the beginning. I mean, people should know what they're watching and people should present it in a way that takes away ambiguity. I don't think the question I have based on your example of whether one MMA organization is better than the other based on that. The point I would take is that both have made it perfectly clear that one views that act as illegal and the other doesn't view it as illegal. It's clearly outlined.

I would probably disagree on principle to the WWE example because they are more than okay booking a DQ to prolong a story or avoid booking someone to lose. They probably go overboard in that regard or they do a better job of protecting the ref's "integrity" by having a distraction or bump of some kind.

We're basing the merit of the mantra on the fact that they've communicated it multiple times over multiple months. They didn't do it last night but they have had events where the records are in the chiron with the performer's name. So they've communicated that explicitly but I guess based on the main point again, we can make a case it doesn't matter at all because the rules haven't been expressed. So if that's the case, again...they either dropped the ball entirely with the rules or they booked a wonky finish. One feels more likely than the other.

They've communicated explicitly that wins and losses matter. That part is correct. You're whole argument is that by them not DQing Jericho's team for Moxley attacking Omega that somehow puts the integrity of that mantra in question. Based on what? Again, you said "Wrestling" but what about ECW? And what promotion has ever really came out and said they're going to treat wins and losses like professional sports where they matter?

Sure, maybe AEW needs to come out and say "Ok, here are our rules and here are the circumstances in which we'll automatically DQ someone for no matter what!" Maybe they eventually will. Does the WWE come out every show, every match, and give you the explicit rules for that match? Because yes, they do tend to be relaxed with what a ref sees that should be a DQ or should be a countout.

You keep talking about rules, that you're basing on another promotion and how they would have reacted. New Japan is another great example of a promotion that doesn't have an explicit rule book. We've seen DQ's in that company, and in the same night, we'll see a motherfucker get hit with a baby chair and get put through a baby table. These rules you speak of are not gospel for every promotion nor does it take away a win or loss just because during 1 match we didn't see an automatic DQ like we might have in the WWE for the same thing.

[BGMaverick]

They've communicated explicitly that wins and losses matter. That part is correct. You're whole argument is that by them not DQing Jericho's team for Moxley attacking Omega that somehow puts the integrity of that mantra in question. Based on what? Again, you said "Wrestling" but what about ECW? And what promotion has ever really came out and said they're going to treat wins and losses like professional sports where they matter?

Sure, maybe AEW needs to come out and say "Ok, here are our rules and here are the circumstances in which we'll automatically DQ someone for no matter what!" Maybe they eventually will. Does the WWE come out every show, every match, and give you the explicit rules for that match? Because yes, they do tend to be relaxed with what a ref sees that should be a DQ or should be a countout.

You keep talking about rules, that you're basing on another promotion and how they would have reacted. New Japan is another great example of a promotion that doesn't have an explicit rule book. We've seen DQ's in that company, and in the same night, we'll see a motherfucker get hit with a baby chair and get put through a baby table. These rules you speak of are not gospel for every promotion nor does it take away a win or loss just because during 1 match we didn't see an automatic DQ like we might have in the WWE for the same thing.

Because if wins and losses matter, there needs to be a uniformed set of rules - without any deviation - that clearly work for any and all circumstances unless otherwise agreed upon (No DQ match, etc. etc.). If that's not established, you can't use that as a foundation because the rules aren't worth much because they can change based on a referee's discretion, which was noted by commentary earlier (which Morrison used as an example). That's a slippery slope that you probably don't want to go down if the mantra is part of your mission statement. In regards to what promotion has done that? This one has lol. So if that's the case, everything has to be crystal clear. The rules of sports are clear. Refs blow calls in real sports but they're generally addressed via commentary or a commissioner after the fact. As of now, the actions of the main event haven't been addressed.

WWE isn't very consistent with expressing the rules but in new situations, they are pretty good at outlining the rules even if they are convoluted to hell. Commentary will usually chime in with random rules in situational moments (champion's advantage on count outs, no DQs in a triple threat, etc.). AEW has done that with the battle royals (which are silly), so they are capable of expressing rules if they're out of the norm.

You bring up NJPW and that's an example that I agree with in terms of the ambiguity and that inefficiency is annoying to me, which would support the point of view I have with this. It would be heightened to a degree because AEW, unlike NJPW, has gone out of their way to express that the records mean more. If it really is a big deal, there needs to be uniformity and order or it's just lip service.

[Rancid_Planet]

So AEW did beat the pants off of NXT. That's good and all but hopefully they keep shooting for more.

I feel like if they can keep viewership above 1 mil for the year end average that's a victory.

[3puppies]

I generally enjoyed what I saw of AEW last night. Which wasn't the whole thing.

Jericho looks like he's drunk it in, man, an awful lot. Starting to look like Tommy Dreamer around the gut.

Cody looks really sharp, and helped make Guevara look like he has a bright future.

PAC did his job - he managed to make me interested in seeing more of Adam Page.

The problem I have with the main event was that even though it was executed well enough, it was just so overbooked it just doesn't make sense. Longtime fans understand the concept of a heel run-in to make a heelish point, and a face run-in to even the sides. But Moxley, Cody, Guevera, Dustin, and Hager all running in was a bit too much. I understand why they did it this way - they want to do everything they can to attract fans who don't know much outside the WWE, so they have to show off their talent.

I admit I will be watching more.

[chatty]

The problem with AEW having different rules is that wrestling fans have been conditioned to accept a certain set of rules for the last fifty years. For sure they gonof course time to time and its fine if AEW want to have their own set but at least tell us.

You have a commentary team so at that point in the natch when Moxley attacks Omega your commentators say, you might expect that to be a DQ but in AEW if there is an interferance rule where if theres more than four people in the ring and someone is attacked and taken out, the match must continue.

Easy as that.

Oh I forgot earlier that Jay and Silent Bob segment was awful, I cringed through the lot of it.

[mth]

WWE on AEW's premiere...


“Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint.”

[Peter Griffin]

booking trans folks and gay folks and giving fans with mental issues a place to have a super toxic freak out at their shows and all that happy horseshit

What the fuck is this?

Anyway really enjoyed this first show surprised how much I enjoyed the opener, Pac/Hangman was good if a little off pace wise at times. Womens match was ok, The main was fun enough and all the 'bells and whistles' worked for me. Happy days for wrestling fans.

[Murphy]

I enjoyed that. Main thing I enjoyed was that they didn’t try and do too much. I fully expected that they would.

Surprised they went that way with the women’s match, but all good.

I’m very much watching next week.

[Murphy]

MJF and Cutler was cut from the UK version for some reason.

Along with video packages and the intro. It's not like they're trying to introduce new characters or anything. :rolleyes:

ITV is a fucking shambles, really. And they had JR dubbed over the original commentary to say 'welcome back to AEW on ITV' after adverts. Is that really necessary? No, it isn't.

[Peter Griffin]

And video packages and the open appaz, Pathetic.

[Murphy]

Aye, just edited my post, Pete. It's just bizarre.

[Peter Griffin]

I might grass them up to cody on twitter for butchering it :lol:

[Murphy]

Again, it's just so bizarre. I mean, it takes effort to actually do that to the show. And was probably the reason the show dropped over an hour late.

Hopefully these issues will be sorted out.

Thinking about it further, is it a copyright thing, perhaps? Music? :chin:

[BGMaverick]

Meltzer's ratings from the first episode:

Cody versus Guevara - 3.75
MFJ versus Cutler - NR
Pac versus Page - 3.5
Riho versus Rose - 3.25
Jericho, Ortiz, Santana versus The Elite - NR

[Nash Diesel]

I just wanted to point out that during the tag-team title match on NXT, Bobby Fish was in the ring longer than a 5 count, it was like a 27 count choking out dude, and the ref didn't DQ him. MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

[BGMaverick]

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/FlusteredShallowAmericancurl-small.gif

[Peter Griffin]

I just wanted to point out that during the tag-team title match on NXT, Bobby Fish was in the ring longer than a 5 count, it was like a 27 count choking out dude, and the ref didn't DQ him. MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

https://i.imgur.com/HDFgLjj.gif

[Nash Diesel]

Tony Khan: "The AEW roster has much bigger stars and better wrestlers frankly than the NXT roster. The AEW shows are going to be in major arenas instead of a smaller building in front of a few hundred people. But I think it’s a good competition for us. It attracts more fans to the idea of the Wednesday night wars. I think the most compelling story in wrestling these days in many ways is AEW vs. WWE. Fans see the competition between wrestling companies, which is the one thing traditionally everyone has known is real."

This approach doesn't look good. WWE's been saying this is a good time to be a wrestling fan... AEW's approach is now perceived as we're better than WWE. :no:

He's not wrong. Chris Jericho alone is bigger than the entire NXT roster. But that's the thing....This isn't Raw v. Dynamite.

[Tainted Eclipse]

they need to go hard after lance archer. would be a big asset.

holy fuck could you imagine lance archer vs. dustin rhodes

[Psycho666Soldier]

holy fuck could you imagine lance archer vs. dustin rhodes

:yesyes:

[Morrison]

hangman and dustin vs jericho and sammy guevara on episode 2. i think dustin is gonna get the world title shot in philly.

[Ringo]

God yes please.

Was just thinking about how much I wanted to see a Dustin/Sammy Guevara feud too.

[Ringo]

..

[JP]

hangman and dustin vs jericho and sammy guevara on episode 2. i think dustin is gonna get the world title shot in philly.

If I see Dustin Rhodes win a world title I may actually explode with joy.

[Morrison]

If I see Dustin Rhodes win a world title I may actually explode with joy.

getting to be there for that live would be awesome, but no way jericho loses his first defense, especially with the comic con angle they filmed and released today. there's too much stock in jericho vs cody, and dustin is just a cog in the machine for that. though i hope it doesn't somehow turn out to be hangman. i hardly enjoyed it the first time sitting at home, i have no desire to see it in person.

[Murphy]

Did Dynamite even air on ITV4 last night? Or did my Sky box just fuck up?

[Murphy]

Turns out you can’t record it in the UK. It’s unedited on a Friday night, but you have to watch it then. ITV Hub version is cut.

Fucking beyond laughable.

[Peter Griffin]

Turns out you can’t record it in the UK. It’s unedited on a Friday night, but you have to watch it then. ITV Hub version is cut.

Fucking beyond laughable.

Seriously. Fuck sake. Any reason given for the cuts?

[Murphy]

No, saw folk were on twitter complaining that the show hadn’t recorded from last night and asking Sky why. Sky respond asking for a DM and they explain. Couldn’t be arsed with it myself.

[Peter Griffin]

Complete failure.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

This UK TV deal mess is why PW Torrents exists.

Just saying.

[Badger]

Virgin’s not affected as mine recorder just fine.

Good show. Moxley did more damage to himself with that glass table bump. Also JR is much better here than he was in his latter WWE appearances.

[Tainted Eclipse]

If I see Dustin Rhodes win a world title I may actually explode with joy.

not yet, but it's something they really need to do eventually. the big emotional veteran title win.

[Morrison]

so darby vs havoc announced for this week with the winner getting the philly title shot. that's... something. makes sense to go with a lower card guy for the first, especially for a weekly tv shot. and with both of those guys being known for hardcore stuff, i imagine that's why they're being lined up as the opponent in philadelphia. I'd be super down for allin/jericho, almost zero interest in havoc. darby also ties into the cody feud, cause jericho definitively beating darby allows them to tie in the fact that cody couldnt defeat him, which will be great.

[Ringo]

I don't think Darby will be lower card for very long to be fair. He's going places. Has that automatic connection with the crowd that so very few have.

[Tainted Eclipse]

got my hopes up for dustin but darby/jericho could be an interesting match. jericho can beat him decisively to look strong and darby can get over with some hope spots, and there's an interesting styles clash.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Jimmy Havoc looks like a plague victim who got his haircut on a dare.

Darby Allin has some talent, even though his gimmick doesn't do much for me. The "skateboard punk" thing isn't for me.

But yeah, putting Darby over Havoc and then having Jericho turn Darby away in short order on TV would be a great way of illustrating that Jericho is better than Cody.

Jericho has his crew with LAX, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager. Maybe Cody could put together some guys to counter them? Darby Allin would be a solid choice.

Is AEW allowed to use War Games as a gimmick match? Because we could eventually have Jericho, LAX, Sammy G, and Jake Hager vs. Cody, Dustin, Darby Allin, and whoever else in a War Games-style match. That could be a great pay-per-view main event.

[Nash Diesel]

AEW getting them scraps.

What the hell happened to LAX? Where's Hernandez and Homicide? What about Konnan???? Then you get Jack Swagger lol. Fuck man I'm telling you, that show was pretty dope until Swagger showed up. His one good move, that sick Rick Steiner powerslam he does, he pulled that off but man....How anyone can get pumped up for Swagger is beyond me.

I'm sure they'll obviously get everything smoothed out as time goes by. But damn, who's next? Bull Dempsey? Can't wait to hear about Swagger being held down by the WWE or some weird shit.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

AEW getting them scraps.

What the hell happened to LAX? Where's Hernandez and Homicide? What about Konnan???? Then you get Jack Swagger lol. Fuck man I'm telling you, that show was pretty dope until Swagger showed up. His one good move, that sick Rick Steiner powerslam he does, he pulled that off but man....How anyone can get pumped up for Swagger is beyond me.

I'm sure they'll obviously get everything smoothed out as time goes by. But damn, who's next? Bull Dempsey? Can't wait to hear about Swagger being held down by the WWE or some weird shit.

I'm excited for Swagger/Hager because, with the exception of some Lucha Underground and MLW stuff, Swags hasn't been on major wrestling TV since WWE. He's a young guy who was like a puppy with bag paws in WWE. I think he's grown into the performer a lot of people thought they saw him as back then.

He's going to surprise a lot of people in AEW. Just watch.

[Nash Diesel]

I'm excited for Swagger/Hager because, with the exception of some Lucha Underground and MLW stuff, Swags hasn't been on major wrestling TV since WWE. He's a young guy who was like a puppy with bag paws in WWE. I think he's grown into the performer a lot of people thought they saw him as back then.

He's going to surprise a lot of people in AEW. Just watch.

I hope he does. He's worked with a variety of wrestlers with multiple styles both in terms of in-ring work and/or character work and he's just never stood out. Which is a fucking shock. Swagger was always the guy who just couldn't get to that next level, he couldn't evolve beyond a certain point.

[BGMaverick]

got my hopes up for dustin but darby/jericho could be an interesting match. jericho can beat him decisively to look strong and darby can get over with some hope spots, and there's an interesting styles clash.

There's no way it would've worked timing wise, I presume, but I think it could have been a better story to get to the eventual Cody/Jericho match if Jericho was the one who actually faced Allin earlier in this process and got the draw. Still puts over Allin, Jericho still ultimately gets his title shot and win, Cody then faces Allin leading up to Jericho and beats Allin. That creates more intrigue. Jericho didn't lose but couldn't beat Allin and Cody did.

[Donald]

I hope he does. He's worked with a variety of wrestlers with multiple styles both in terms of in-ring work and/or character work and he's just never stood out. Which is a fucking shock. Swagger was always the guy who just couldn't get to that next level, he couldn't evolve beyond a certain point.

His mic work was terrible. He had everything in the ring, but mic work and charisma eluded him. It didn't help that other guys made fun of his speech impediment. I'm looking at you, Christian.

[mth]

I loved Swagger's promos when he was champ and was talking about all his accomplishments and that all those trophies in the ring and shit. "Pound it!" *fistbumps picture of himself as a kid* Great segment. That one where his "dad" came out was also pretty good.

[Nash Diesel]

I loved Swagger's promos when he was champ and was talking about all his accomplishments and that all those trophies in the ring and shit. "Pound it!" *fistbumps picture of himself as a kid* Great segment. That one where his "dad" came out was also pretty good.

I don't know how many segments there were of him doing that stuff but I remember when he was in the ring with all the trophies and everything, it was pretty funny. He always reminded me of Chris Nowinski for some reason. The gimmick didn't scream main event World champion but they probably figured hey we'll have him win MITB out of nowhere, he'll beat Jericho, the title will make him a bigger act.

I mean shit, he was penned to win the belt from ADR at Mania supposedly, before he got busted for weed.

[mth]

I don't know how many segments there were of him doing that stuff but I remember when he was in the ring with all the trophies and everything, it was pretty funny. He always reminded me of Chris Nowinski for some reason. The gimmick didn't scream main event World champion but they probably figured hey we'll have him win MITB out of nowhere, he'll beat Jericho, the title will make him a bigger act.

I mean shit, he was penned to win the belt from ADR at Mania supposedly, before he got busted for weed.
I think I really liked those promos because he was finally showing some personality/character outside of just being a big athletic patriotic dude who was fairly generic. I'm not sure if the mic work was really that good (I just punched it up on youtube and his delivery was a little flat) but the content was good and added more layers to his character and it was so over the top (Scrabble champion, sandwich named after him) that it was entertaining even if he wasn't on fire on the stick. I dunno, felt like they were going somewhere good with his character at that time but then he ended up going to back to being fairly one dimensional and serious after that.

Anyway, what the hell's my point now? :dunno: Not sure if he'll be doing stuff like that in AEW, I guess...

[Donald]

I can't help but feel like some of AEW's mission is to prove Vince McMahon wrong and show that Cody and Hager are capable of being mega stars and running a company. Cody maybe, but Hager I'm weary on.

[BGMaverick]

To be honest, the last segment/match of the night didn't really make me even more intrigued to watch going forward. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep watching for now, but the ending felt flat to me. I'm curious to see how the finish resonated for casual people.

[Nash Diesel]

I can't help but feel like some of AEW's mission is to prove Vince McMahon wrong and show that Cody and Hager are capable of being mega stars and running a company. Cody maybe, but Hager I'm weary on.

Cody in promotions where he's a big fish in a small pond works well for him as a top guy. But the problem is that in the WWE, he'd been there on t.v. for so long that it felt like they were never going to elevate him beyond the IC title picture. But I feel like given the time, he would have found his way into a World title program.

It's funny....When his dad died he wanted to stick with doing Stardust as he felt it would have been lame simply to ditch that persona cold turkey and go back to being Cody Rhodes. Then a couple years later he talks about how apparently he did want to ditch Stardust and go do something praising his father. Wrestlers are weird.


To be honest, the last segment/match of the night didn't really make me even more intrigued to watch going forward. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to keep watching for now, but the ending felt flat to me. I'm curious to see how the finish resonated for casual people.


I liked Moxley attacking Omega but that was really it. I wasn't high on the weird Jericho group beating the fuck out of everyone.

[BGMaverick]

I liked Moxley attacking Omega but that was really it. I wasn't high on the weird Jericho group beating the fuck out of everyone.

Agreed. I went into last Wednesday thinking I'd watch NXT first and then go to AEW after. That remained the same after the fact.

It's all not to say Dynamite was a bust. There were interesting things and I think they had some important characters not involved in the first show but NXT knows what they're doing. It feels like AEW could capture the ratings wins for the short term but NXT is going to be the actual better show.

[Nash Diesel]

Agreed. I went into last Wednesday thinking I'd watch NXT first and then go to AEW after. That remained the same after the fact.

It's all not to say Dynamite was a bust. There were interesting things and I think they had some important characters not involved in the first show but NXT knows what they're doing. It feels like AEW could capture the ratings wins for the short term but NXT is going to be the actual better show.

I agree with all of this.

And AEW has plenty of time to flesh things out. They don't really have much to go off of in terms of AEW history. They did a handful of shows and now the first tv show.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Quick update.

If the baseball ball game goes long tonight, AEW is going to air Dynamite on Tru TV - assuming you’ve got that on your cable package.

[Tainted Eclipse]

im actually looking forward to a weekly wrestling show. how nice.

[Tainted Eclipse]

super hot crowd

[Tainted Eclipse]

the bucks are so much better when they're working a traditionally structured tag match

[Tainted Eclipse]

i don't know about them continuing to book their biggest stars losing, but that was an awesome match.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Damn good match.

Private Party are what WWE wants The Street Profits to be, but done right.

[Tainted Eclipse]

i love that tony schiavone is the best commentator in american wrestling

[Donald]

I wasn't aware that Tony schiavone and Nigel mcguinness were the same person

[Tainted Eclipse]

jericho just did what it seems like no one in wrestling history has ever been able to do: shut down an annoying, outdated chant that people wish would go away but just doesnt.

[Beer-Belly]

Excellent start.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

No matter how often it happens, I’m always surprised when wrestlers say “shit” on TV.

Even on a TV-14 program, I didn’t think they used to be able to do that.

[Tainted Eclipse]

No matter how often it happens, I’m always surprised when wrestlers say “shit” on TV.

Even on a TV-14 program, I didn’t think they used to be able to do that.

i love how much he obviously loved saying.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Jimmy Havoc is what a Hot Topic would look like if it exploded and then the remnants gained sentience.

And some one of those debris made Darby Allin, too.

- - - Updated - - -

The only pain I experience from Jimmy Havoc is watching him wrestle.

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Is Darby Allin’s music supposed to be a “Sweet Dreams” soundalike?

[Spudz Mackenzie]

Britt Baker, the best dentist in wrestling since Dr. Issac Yankem.