After walking away last week as still Le Champion, Chris Jericho will be here tonight to address any possible challengers for his AEW Title.

And while he does that, the other members of Inner Circle, Sammy Guevara and Santana & Ortiz take on the trio of Dustin Rhodes and The Young Bucks, in six-man action.

Also, in a rematch of an intense, but non-sanctioned affair at Fyter Fest, Jon Moxley and Joey Janela go one-on-one.  However this time, it will be within the rules of the ring.

Plus Trent squares off with Rey Fenix.

And one of our own will be at the show!  If you see SM, let us know, and point him out.

Aewsome six-man to start the show. Loved the finisher.

Is Cody taking a page out of Ric Flair's playbook from the Nitro after Starrcade '98?

Minus the stripping down to the boxers.

Has everyone given up on Wednesday nights already? I watched the Leafs/Avs game but still managed to keep up with both shows.

My thoughts:

-Opening match was cool but once again didn’t beat NXT. There’s a reason why AEW’s ratings have slid so far so quickly. But I still liked it.

-Trent vs Fenix was forgettable and I’m already sick of the AEW tag division.

-I didn’t watch Rose squash Bates.

-Moxley vs Janela didn’t live up to the hype. It was fun but meh.

Jericho’s promo was good. Cody’s promo was good. I’m sexually attracted to The Bunny and love that new faction, but why are there 3 dark factions in AEW now? Pick one and run with it you goofs.

Also MJF is a god and is like if The Miz was better. There I said it.

I like this new Kris gal. She and Shida make the women's division so much better.

Dec 5, 2019 3:19:41 GMT RT said:

Has everyone given up on Wednesday nights already? I watched the Leafs/Avs game but still managed to keep up with both shows.

My thoughts:

-Opening match was cool but once again didn’t beat NXT. There’s a reason why AEW’s ratings have slid so far so quickly. But I still liked it.

-Trent vs Fenix was forgettable and I’m already sick of the AEW tag division.

-I didn’t watch Rose squash Bates.

-Moxley vs Janela didn’t live up to the hype. It was fun but meh.

Jericho’s promo was good. Cody’s promo was good. I’m sexually attracted to The Bunny and love that new faction, but why are there 3 dark factions in AEW now? Pick one and run with it you goofs.

Also MJF is a god and is like if The Miz was better. There I said it.

Only see nXt so far so can't really judge.

Most of the matches are blending together and not a Best Friends fan.

I finally realize I got to watch some BTE to full enjoy something in AEW. The librarian gimmick isn't that bad there but doesn't translate well into an inring gimmick.

There was hype around that? Why?

The Dark Order, The Butcher and Blade, and who else? You don't mean Kong and Brandi since it only two of them right. And I believe most would want to hop on the bunny's bandwagon.

He is definitely the future and should be the one to take it off the face that beats Jericho. If not that atleast in the first 5 AEW champions.

What has soured you on the tag team division RT,?

Dec 5, 2019 18:52:08 GMT Ed said:

What has soured you on the tag team division RT,?

I’m not totally sure why I feel this way but it feels stale already. There aren’t really any strong feuds, no good stories to pull you in, and all the tag teams seem to randomly fight one another or break off into random singles matches. Like why are Kenny Omega and Trent fighting? What’s the point? The match wasn’t even good from what I saw and Omega shouldn’t be fighting random dudes from the tag division.

Having singles matches is fine but give me a reason to care. That’s all I really want.

Dec 5, 2019 21:41:52 GMT RT said:

Dec 5, 2019 18:52:08 GMT Ed said:

What has soured you on the tag team division RT ,?

I’m not sure why I feel this way but it feels stale already. There aren’t any strong feuds, no good stories to pull you in, and all the tag teams seem to randomly fight one another or break off into random singles matches. Like why are Kenny Omega and Trent fighting? What’s the point? The match wasn’t even good from what I saw and Omega shouldn’t be fighting random dudes from the tag division.

Having singles matches is fine but give me a reason to care. That’s all I want.

While the division is stacked, yeah, the feuds seem random. I wouldn't mind the opposite being true. Random singles match with storylines developing in said match. Als Chikara.

Dec 5, 2019 23:19:32 GMT Ed said:

Dec 5, 2019 21:41:52 GMT RT said:

I’m not sure why I feel this way but it feels stale already. There aren’t any strong feuds, no good stories to pull you in, and all the tag teams seem to randomly fight one another or break off into random singles matches. Like why are Kenny Omega and Trent fighting? What’s the point? The match wasn’t even good from what I saw and Omega shouldn’t be fighting random dudes from the tag division.

Having singles matches is fine but give me a reason to care. That’s all I want.

While the division is stacked, yeah, the feuds seem random. I wouldn't mind the opposite being true. Random singles match with storylines developing in said match. Like Chikara.

Kris is now an alien. Cody talked about how he disliked Stardust toward the end. How is that not a worse version of it. And I see the third darkness faction is the Nightmare Collective. Brandi is definitely coming off like a DC villainess now which with advertisement for a Harley Quinn show seems to line up.

Dec 6, 2019 0:11:07 GMT X-zero said:

Kris is now an alien. Cody talked about how he disliked Stardust toward the end. How is that not a worse version of it? And I see the third darkness faction is the Nightmare Collective. Brandi is coming off like a DC villainess now which with an advertisement for a Harley Quinn show seems to line up.

I like Kris Statlander I think she can be a fun babyface.

The wrestler, the gimmick, or both?

Meltzer brought up a good point about AEW’s biggest problem, which I agree with entirely.

He said they assume everyone that watches the show also follows social media, BTE, AEW Dark, etc etc. And that’s hurting them on television already.

If you only watch Dynamite you don’t know about MJF’s very good promo where he admits to being behind The Butcher & The Blade arriving. You don’t know anything in regards to Adam Page or The Young Bucks. You don’t know about Omega’s struggles.

I’m particularly annoyed about Adam Page. His Cowboy Shit/match with PAC was supposed to be his big moment that showed the world that he’s a legit contender and future superstar, but he’s been a ghost since then. Instead they’re pushing Jungle Boy and keeping the spotlight on Cody. Stupid.

Dec 6, 2019 21:04:10 GMT RT said:

Meltzer brought up a good point about AEW’s biggest problem, which I agree with entirely.

He said they assume everyone that watches the show also follows social media, BTE, AEW Dark, etc etc. And that’s hurting them on television already.

If you only watch Dynamite you don’t know about MJF’s very good promo where he admits to being behind The Butcher & The Blade arriving. You don’t know anything in regards to Adam Page or The Young Bucks. You don’t know about Omega’s struggles.

I’m particularly annoyed about Adam Page. His Cowboy Shit/match with PAC was supposed to be his big moment that showed the world that he’s a legit contender and future superstar, but he’s been a ghost since then. Instead they’re pushing Jungle Boy and keeping the spotlight on Cody. Stupid.

Yeah I finally gave in a few weeks ago realzing my enjoyment of the show would increase if I watched Dark and BTE. And really you only need to pull a few things from BTE.

The first two matches were really dumb. Nobody sells anything, and it's pot luck which move will win the match.

In the opening minutes, Young Bucks spam a million superkicks and do a bunch of dives to the outside. 30 seconds later, Guevara and co. are on top showing no ill effects whatsoever. So what was the point of all the superkicks at the start? That's just one example of many in the first two matches alone.

Dec 6, 2019 23:26:22 GMT Emperor said:

The first two matches were really dumb. Nobody sells anything, and it's pot luck which move will win the match.

In the opening minutes, Young Bucks spam a million superkicks and do a bunch of dives to the outside. 30 seconds later, Guevara and co. are on top showing no ill effects whatsoever. So what was the point of all the superkicks at the start? That's just one example of many in the first two matches alone.

The Young Bucks are so weird to watch when they’re not in a big match with good opponents. They do the same match no matter who they’re facing and the quality of the match completely rides on who they’re facing.

SHO & YOH got some good matches out of them in Japan but they eventually suffered the same thing that The Inner Circle suffered on Wednesday, which is that if you only have so much time and have to hit all your spots, and you’re facing YB, you’re gonna have a stupid match.

Whether they’re in a Ladder Death Match with Lucha Bros or feuding with the Hardys or fighting a nothing six man tag on Dynamite, it doesn’t matter. You get the same match every time.

Dec 6, 2019 22:10:31 GMT X-zero said:

Dec 6, 2019 21:04:10 GMT RT said:

Meltzer brought up a good point about AEW’s biggest problem, which I agree with entirely.

He said they assume everyone that watches the show also follows social media, BTE, AEW Dark, etc, etc. And that’s hurting them on television already.

If you only watch Dynamite you don’t know about MJF’s very good promo where he admits to being behind The Butcher & The Blade arriving. You don’t know anything in regards to Adam Page or The Young Bucks. You don’t know about Omega’s struggles.

I’m particularly annoyed about Adam Page. His Cowboy Shit/match with PAC was supposed to be his big moment that showed the world that he’s a legit contender and future superstar, but he’s been a ghost since then. Instead, they’re pushing Jungle Boy and keeping the spotlight on Cody. Stupid.

Yeah I finally gave in a few weeks ago realizing my enjoyment of the show would increase if I watched Dark and BTE. And you only need to pull a few things from BTE.

Yeah, I wish they would take a few minutes to fill in the gaps for people who don't watch BTE regularly. This doesn't have to every week but you can give fans pertinent info that connects with a perticur storyline.

Dec 6, 2019 23:37:38 GMT RT said:

Dec 6, 2019 23:26:22 GMT Emperor said:

The first two matches were really dumb. Nobody sells anything, and it's pot luck which move will win the match.

In the opening minutes, Young Bucks spam a million superkicks and do a bunch of dives to the outside. 30 seconds later, Guevara and co. are on top showing no ill effects whatsoever. So what was the point of all the superkicks at the start? That's just one example of many in the first two matches alone.

The Young Bucks are so weird to watch when they’re not in a big match with good opponents. They do the same match no matter who they’re facing and the quality of the match completely rides on who they’re facing.

SHO & YOH got some good matches out of them in Japan but they eventually suffered the same thing that The Inner Circle suffered on Wednesday, which is that if you only have so much time and have to hit all your spots, and you’re facing YB, you’re gonna have a stupid match.

Whether they’re in a Ladder Death Match with Lucha Bros or feuding with the Hardys or fighting a nothing six man tag on Dynamite, it doesn’t matter. You get the same match every time.

This is why The Young Bucks vs. The Revival is such a dream match. The Bucks can do lots of great stuff, and The Revival can structure a perfect tag team match. So together it should be awesome.

Dec 7, 2019 21:51:50 GMT PB said:

Dec 6, 2019 23:37:38 GMT RT said:

The Young Bucks are so weird to watch when they’re not in a big match with good opponents. They do the same match no matter who they’re facing and the quality of the match completely rides on who they’re facing.

SHO & YOH got some good matches out of them in Japan but they eventually suffered the same thing that The Inner Circle suffered on Wednesday, which is that if you only have so much time and have to hit all your spots, and you’re facing YB, you’re gonna have a stupid match.

Whether they’re in a Ladder Death Match with Lucha Bros or feuding with the Hardys or fighting a nothing six man tag on Dynamite, it doesn’t matter. You get the same match every time.

This is why The Young Bucks vs. The Revival is such a dream match. The Bucks can do lots of great stuff, and The Revival can structure a perfect tag team match. So together it should be awesome.

And sadly it’s never gonna happen.

AEW def needs to recap stuff from BTE and Dark. They do not have to go all WWE and basically spell out everything but just reminding fans what is going on would help immensely.

Someone mentioned CHIKARA, and now they are not new a fed, AEW is really struggling with a central direction. There is no big story to get people to tune into the shows. CHIKARA when they are on, is so good with this. Some threat is coming and CHIKARA must stand their ground and take them out. Each storyline adds to the central story, creating a metaplot that goes back a decade now, with the latest twist being the Crucible and Ophidan going too far in trying to protect CHIKARA from the next big threat. WWE does this to some extent too with the main event matches and selling the PPVs. Without some major storylines and big picture stuff, the shows are just matches for the sake of matches and then there is the question of why watch these matches when youtube is full of matches? If these matches have no story progression, why watch them live when you can watch NXT?

This show has really been struggling for a few weeks now.

Their central direction should be a sports-based presentation. That has always been the way to go when presenting an alternative to WWE. A modern NWA-style promotion with focus on prestige and in-ring storytelling. Cut the goofy WWE stuff. And for fucks sake, have different matches. The matches are so homogenized that it becomes a chore to sit through.

Dec 8, 2019 11:57:03 GMT Todd said:

Their central direction should be a sports-based presentation. That has always been the way to go when presenting an alternative to WWE. A modern NWA-style promotion with focus on prestige and in-ring storytelling. Cut the goofy WWE stuff. And for fucks sake, have different matches. The matches are so homogenized that it becomes a chore to sit through.

Is this really true? If it were true, I expect NWA Power would be a lot more popular than it is. AEW appears to be catering mostly to fans of modern wrestling, in all its excess and goofiness, with a sprinkling of more old school wrestling with the likes of Jericho, PAC and Page.

Apples and oranges. Power is a studio show with no television promotion and a small budget. It can't be expected to compete.

I don't know what fans want nowadays but that's my 2 cents on what I would personally do with it. I found Cody Rhodes comment the other week that they aren't interested in casual fans to be pretty remarkable.

IMO there is no appetite long-term for this. I wish them luck but for me they are making more and more mistakes as the weeks pass.

Sports focused wrestling is not a sell. Vince was dead right when he went all in on sports entertainment. That is what sells. Look at the high points in wrestling, the classic era and attitude era. Neither of them were presented wrestling as a sport. It was always entertainment focused. Sports based wrestling fails as while some matchups are epic and people want to see them, they come at the expense of most of the roster. You lose keyfabe as well, which is what really holds wrestling together. The basic wrestling match works and when you try to deviate from it, fans usually do not enjoy it. They want a face and a heel, they want shine and heat, they expect a certain tempo. Present wrestling as a sport, and you tend to lose all of that.

Cody comment on casual fans, is he does not want to try appeal to people who do not really like wrestling. Vince always aims for these people, the channel surfers who will watch wrestling sometimes but do not really like it. Vince thinks the future is bringing them into the product and making them fans. Cody does not.

My take is AEW is stalling until the New Year to debut Marty and start something hot. But it does the raise the question with months between PPVs, does AEW really have the storylines to fill TV? If not, how should they fill that time? Because right now, it is dead air basically.