When 2.0 go from jobbing on 205 to working Sting in under 2 months, I can't complain about that.

Enjoyed the opener. Sting looks great, best he's looked in years. This gave a nice feel good moment against a team who didn't have anything to lose by taking this finish, but could work and built to the crescendo of the double scorpion deathlock well. I don't think it made Kingston and Moxley look great being taken out by these job guys, but I suppose they have to build heat for Chicago somehow.

I couldn't get on with Guevara/Spears. It was a lot of choreography, setting the rail up outside and then the double jump to the top. Huge cutter off the top and Shawn Spears kicks out and now it's just another forced classic. C4 off the top and another kickout. C4 on the fail followed by the 630 finish and Spears kicks out? Why? This was just big move, kick out, big move, kick out. No reason to give a shit about any of it. And I really like Sami Guevara.

Callis to Christian: 'You'll get the 5 star match you've been wanting to have'. Lame. Lame. Lame. So far I'm enjoying this show a lot less than last week.

This Cornette wannabe thing... it's weird. He's good, but it feels weird. Seems like the fans don't know what to do with it. He also needs to control his nervous energy and let his words breathe. He isn't getting heat because he's screaming over it, so it can't get started.

Good Jericho promo sets the table. This reminds me of the video I saw yesterday of Jericho tying the strings on his gear last week when he was supposed to be selling. Quite funny, and indicative of Jericho's mindset right now.

The Young Bucks was a Young Bucks match. Lots of standing around waiting for people to hit spots, 100 miles an hour from the bell. In some ways they are better as heels because they emit such arrogance, but the problem is they can't work as heels and do more complicated gymnastic stuff than the babyfaces. So they don't get any heat until the inevitable fuck finish, just oohs and aahs. Here comes Omega and Cage. Cage as a main eventer feels very TNA to me. That combined with the fact that he will never win in a million years, and the lukewarm first match, and I'm pretty disinterested.

The Good Brothers have achieved quite an astonishing feat here, they've managed to not get over on a show where everyone is over. They must be on a lot of money, because there's some real sunken cost fallacy going on here. The crowd was absolutely dead for the end of this, and this Elite thing is nowhere near finished. Sigh.

I'm surprised Giant is working. I like Giant, but isn't he the antithesis of what AEW fans are after? Isn't Big Show's everlasting presence in the WWE main event scene part of what CM Punk was talking about ten years ago? Anyway here comes QT Marshall and he's droning on and on and on. Giant is good on the mic and kind of saves it. I'll be interested to see how it goes down.

Ricky Starks is great but this was a weird segment and the fans were dead for it again.

Andrade vs. PAC could be phenomenal. Hopefully they build the story a little more in the coming weeks. Two incredible workers. PAC is the best worker in the company.

Penelope Ford needs work but they tried to have a proper match and Rosa is very solid. It ended up being an ok match.

I really enjoyed the Arn/Brock promo. Arn has always been a great talker, and in a very small sample size here, Brock had a bit of it. He delivered it well with that Southern drawl. Black will kill him obviously.

They've really done a masterful job with the Punk signing. Everyone knows, but nobody's talking about it. It's the perfect scenario. People will watch in anticipation but still it feels like something of a surprise. Allin says 'best in the world' at the end of the promo. Great production job.

Great promo by Moxley. Absolutely brilliant. Talks about how he carried the company in the dark times, and he can still wipe the floor with the pretenders that want a piece now. Links it to Garcia brilliantly, just a top promo. Should be a good match.

Here comes Jericho for the finale. The fans did a great job with this. That isn't easy to coordinate, especially with a wordy song like Judas. This may be the highest my opinion has ever stood of the average AEW fan. I kid (not really). I also liked that MJF didn't ham it up ala QT when Giant told him the news. He needs to stop the panto stuff and just standing there looking pissed worked 100x better.

I really get a kick out of Schiavone scalding MJF. As limited as Schiavone is now, it really adds a layer to MJF's character. The match is very basic. Jericho is what he is now, but MJF is so ridiculously over that it gets by. Big lionsault hit perfectly gets a big pop, I don't know whether it was shock more than anything else. :lol: Two count, and the match is getting going. Jericho is hitting his spots and the fans appreciate it. Great selling in the Walls by Jericho gets the fans back after they'd lost them for a bit. I enjoyed the finishing sequence quite a bit and it put MJF over and he deserves it. As panto as he is, to be so over with such a self-aware audience at that age is ridiculous.

Another show with gripes, but plenty of good and AEW is a wild ride.

Aug 19, 2021 2:01:27 GMT Michinokudriver said:

Aug 19, 2021 1:59:50 GMT @admin said:

The IRONY

oh how the turn tables

also really, jericho, you just hit the dude with a baseball bat. now you're gonna say an elbow to the face while the ref is distracted is A BRIDGE TOO FAR

Yeah, that did look pretty silly. My guess is Aubrey was supposed to turn around sooner than she did, which would make sense as to why Chris Jericho stopped midway through the Judas Effect. Or maybe Jericho went for it on instinct alone, before deciding he wanted to beat MJF within the rules set in place, who knows.

Also, not sure how I feel about Jericho tapping out. If he's taking time off, I would have had MJF keep the move locked in until he "broke" Jericho's arm or something. Have the match end via referee stoppage.

Watching the show, not read the thread so I might be repeating what people have said.

- Let me get this straight. Fresh new tag team 2.0 dominate Darby Allin and Sting, but they lose because Sting literally no sells a powerbomb through a table and immediately does both his finishers on both guys at same time. If Goldberg did that in WWE, everyone would be complaining. What was the point of that?

- Sammy Guevara noticing Mr. Chair Dude running to attack him during his entrance. That's...different. I like it.
- Mr. Chair Dude staring menacingly at Sammy's fiancee. Sammy's fiancee can't hide her smirk, clearly having the time of her life :lol:
- I liked that match, marking the first time I've enjoyed a singles match involving Mr. Chair Dude. Did Sammy bust him open with those knee strikes at the end?

- Young Bucks vs Jungle Express was everything I expected it to be, which is your typical Young Bucks spotfest, rife with interference and all the bells and whistles. I feel like we've seen The Elite beating down the #1 Contender in the exact same fashion a million times now.

- Rosa vs Ford was sloppy in places but a decent match. Although Rosa made Ford's new submission finisher look a bit rubbish. She countered it twice, very easily, and the second time transitioned into a hold that made Ford tap out. Well, I suppose it makes sense. Rosa is a technician after all, and Ford is not.

- Moxley's backstage promos are great, one of the consistently great things that AEW does.

- MJF's AEW record is 14-2. That's not his 2021 record, that's his entire AEW record. Dude barely wrestles. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. He's certainly presented like a special attraction/final boss, and maybe that's good. He can keep himself relevant by talking and hiding behind goons, in a way that's more entertaining/original than Kenny Omega.

- Jericho goes to hit MJF with the ultra-expensive video camera, then when MJF runs away, he gently hands it back to the cameraman :lol:

- Jericho vs MJF was mostly a bore but the finish was unexpected and interesting. Was not expecting Jericho to lose, especially not in that manner. Bold decision by AEW, but of course MJF is the future and Jericho is the past so it makes sense.

Aug 19, 2021 1:15:49 GMT Michinokudriver said:

Wight: I've got a match at the next PPV, can you guess who it's against, you absolute knob?

QT: *smirks*

Wight: That match is against YOU, QT MARSHALL

QT: suprisepikachu.jpg

like, who did you think he was going to say? griff garrison? AEW as a whole is genre savvy enough that I thought they'd moved past that

And you've got stuff like Tully Blanchard blatantly interfering in front of Aubrey, and he acts outraged when she throws him out. Give me a break.