The biggest take-away from Hangman/Omega is that Kenny really went over and beyond to put Hangman over. Hangman won virtually every exchange in the match and was rarely in any danger through out. That top rope sunset flip spot was merely a breather spot for Kenny who had been on the end of a huge surge of offence from Page. Outside of that, the only time he looked in trouble was when Kenny caught Page coming in for the Buckshot with a V-Trigger and quickly went for the OWA. Even then, they didn't really tease it that long before Page turned it into his own before the big finish.

I really wanted to understand why this match didn't 'wow' me when I watched it beyond having just watched 3 1/2 hours of wrestling beforehand. I think off the bat, it felt like both guys were just going through the motions and there were a few aspects that didn't reflect well on Page. Page falling for every Don Callis trick felt like dumb Pro Wrestling shtick and there were a couple of moments where Page turned his back on Omega for no good reason. It's not something I keep a mental note of but I could see myself subconsciously switching off because it's just bad Pro Wrestling shtick.

For me the match picked up after Kenny teased the Buckshot. They went up another gear around that time and it started to resemble what you'd expect the match to look like. Faster pace, good athleticism etc. I just think it took awhile to get going and since they bust it out so often it's easy to take for granted how impressive Kenny's suicide dive is or Hangman's top rope moonsault to the floor.

Otherwise I just think it comes down to taste and I wish Omega was a little bit more dominant here just to add some more suspense to the match.

Seen everything but the main event.

Allin vs MJF was an amazing opener. Brilliant psychology and compelling action. The only thing I didn't like was the finish. I get it, MJF is an old school heel, and heels have to cheat to win. But I felt that such a big match deserved more than the generic MJF Diamond Ring punch cheap win. Apart from that, perfect match.

Punk vs Kingston was a great wild brawl that didn't take up any more time than it needed to.

Baker vs Conti was easily Baker's most exciting title defense. Both women went to levels they hadn't reached before, and a wonderful finish.

A lot of people were shitting on that Baker vs Conti match, but I thought it was good. Conti looked great and it did feel like she could have won, and Baker looked like she had to really struggle to get that win.

Kingston's opening backfist on Punk was his absolute best visual of that move. The camera caught it perfectly and Kingston landed it perfectly. I assume Punk told him just to lay it in, as should be nothing to him with the MMA training and Kingston not actually throwing it out full force like MMA guys do.

Just watched Punk/Kingston and it was near-perfect for what it was and the length it was. White hot crowd helped it massively too, testament to the tremendous promo exchange that built the anticipation for it. I don’t think anyone in the business touches Punk for storytelling and in-ring psychology. Some of the visuals of him were great, the blood added to it. The look he gave to the crowd while they booed him when he was raining down on elbows to Eddie’s head before the final GTS was masterful. Eddie’s selling was A+ too, so good.

I’d like to see heel Punk dethrone Hangman before finally dropping the belt to Eddie who gets his redemption and that big win he’s lacked to this point. Long term storytelling!

Punk yelling at the crowd shows he is ready to go heel too. Think he has a lot more fun working heel too. And frankly, if Omega is really hurt and looking at time off, they may need a hell Punk. With Kenny on top for so long feels like most of the fed is faces these days. Have MJF and Cole as top heels but not too many others.  Miro can be moved up as can Hardy.  But still way more faces than heels in AEW.

“Now we go to school, motherfuckers.”

Nov 15, 2021 11:06:03 GMT c said:

A lot of people were shitting on that Baker vs Conti match, but I thought it was good. Conti looked great and it did feel like she could have won, and Baker looked like she had to really struggle to get that win.

Kingston's opening backfist on Punk was his absolute best visual of that move. The camera caught it perfectly and Kingston landed it perfectly. I assume Punk told him just to lay it in, as should be nothing to him with the MMA training and Kingston not actually throwing it out full force like MMA guys do.

I think Conti/Baker got shit on because by that point in the night there had been so many good matches it was a little slower. Also the crowd wasn’t into it much. It was a good match.

And yeah, the opening backfist popped me. The crowd went nuts and Eddie just turning to the camera with that grin on his face was so cool. One of the biggest “fuck yous” I’ve ever seen.

Finally got round to watching Omega vs Hangman.

The best part of the match was Hangman's entrance. The whole match was very meh. Started off with generic manager shtick from Don Callis, which would have been fine if they had a payoff spot with him being sent to the back to a huge ovation. Sure, that's generic too, but it works perfectly in this context. Instead they go with more schmoz and Callis selling for 20 minutes on the apron after taking a single punch.

The rest of the match was just fine. It never felt special though. Even when both guys did dives to the floor, it still reeked of going through the motions. That's where modern wrestling is, folks. No real drama at the end. No idea what the point of The Young Bucks was. Seemed to me the point was that they were not going to interfere, but you could just as easily achieve that by having them not coming out at all. Matt Jackson's cute little nod could have been done as a backstage segment or even them showing up after the match.

At least Hangman won in a dominant fashion, a manner that left no doubt. But it did leave a bit of a sour taste that one of AEW's biggest moments came after such a mediocre match.

Rest well Kenny, and may you be better than ever when you're healed up.

Congratulations, Hangman. Not the greatest start to your reign but I'm still all in on Cowboy Shit.

The Streetfight was tons of fun. The only match I was underwhelmed by just a tad was Cody & Pac vs Andrade & Black. The action was good. The match just felt slightly disjointed to me.

Christ has anyone seen Meltzer’s ratings 😂

For those who missed it.

Full Gear Pre-Show
Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa vs. Jamie Hayter & Nyla Rose - ** 1/2

Full Gear
MJF vs. Darby Allin - **** 1/2
Penta El Ciera Miedo & Rey Fenix vs. FTR - **** 1/4
Bryan Danielson vs. Miro - **** 1/2
Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus & Christian Cage vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks - *****
Cody Rhodes & PAC vs. Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo - **** 1/4
Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti - *** 1/2
CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston - **** 1/2
Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara & Jake Hager & Santana & Ortiz vs. Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky & Andrei Alovski & Junior Dos Santos & Dan Lambert - ****
Adam Page vs. Kenny Omega - ***** 1/2

Meltzer predictably loved every EVP match.

I generally avoid star ratings, but if I was to rate Page-Omega and factoring in that this was a significant moment in AEW I really couldn't go above ****. Which is a great rating, but ***** 1/2? It wouldn't bother me if the star ratings didn't become a part of the narrative. But now it's there and this stuff gets picked up by the Chris Van Vleit and Mother's Basement's of the world.

Nov 20, 2021 0:57:23 GMT Emperor said:

Finally got round to watching Omega vs Hangman.

The best part of the match was Hangman's entrance. The whole match was very meh. Started off with generic manager shtick from Don Callis, which would have been fine if they had a payoff spot with him being sent to the back to a huge ovation. Sure, that's generic too, but it works perfectly in this context. Instead they go with more schmoz and Callis selling for 20 minutes on the apron after taking a single punch.

The rest of the match was just fine. It never felt special though. Even when both guys did dives to the floor, it still reeked of going through the motions. That's where modern wrestling is, folks. No real drama at the end. No idea what the point of The Young Bucks was. Seemed to me the point was that they were not going to interfere, but you could just as easily achieve that by having them not coming out at all. Matt Jackson's cute little nod could have been done as a backstage segment or even them showing up after the match.

At least Hangman won in a dominant fashion, a manner that left no doubt. But it did leave a bit of a sour taste that one of AEW's biggest moments came after such a mediocre match.

Rest well Kenny, and may you be better than ever when you're healed up.

Congratulations, Hangman. Not the greatest start to your reign but I'm still all in on Cowboy Shot.

Page apologized to them at the Rampage before for having been a terrible friend and screwing them out of a tag team title shot, acknowledging he had done them harm. (But the Bucks had in turn cost him a World title match, so they'd gotten their payback.) This was a will-they-or-won't-they bit, with Matt accepting the apology.

And it also will likely set up a Elite split once Omega realizes what happened, with Cole/Bucks on one side and Omega/Anderson/Gallows on the other (I'm assuming the Good Brothers are coming back)

For me MJF vs Darby is ****3/4, would have been the full five with a better finish. Nothing else above four stars except maybe Kingston vs Punk.

I think it’s gone beyond ‘one man’s opinion’ into an agenda and that’s sad for professional wrestling. Otherwise I would turn a blind eye to it. But he knows what he’s doing, he’s a scumbag.

Nov 20, 2021 22:26:02 GMT Emperor said:

For me MJF vs Darby is ****3/4, would have been the full five with a better finish. Nothing else above four stars except maybe Kingston vs Punk.

Bang on the money, as always. This isn’t a taste thing, it’s common sense.

Personal taste has to go into it to some extent.

I'd never rate a match like Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus & Christian Cage vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks above ***, because I do not enjoy that heavily choreographed hardcore spotfest type of match. Might as well go to the circus. But I'm sure a lot of people loved that match, and if someone thinks that it's one of the best heavily choreographed hardcore spotfests ever, then perhaps ***** is a fair rating for them.

But yeah I see your point, Meltzer is clearly rating "his boys" higher than everyone else.

I view Meltzer as a great historian. However has taste seems very limited. His star ratings are fit a certain criteria. Which is fine but to me, most of the time, he comes unintelligent when it comes to anything beyond the Meltzer idea of work rate.

Just saw the first two matches. The first match 4 out 5 probably would have been fine. Even not mad at the 4 1/2. Second match could have been a 4 if they cut out the last 5 -7 minutes. It had some great stuff early then suffered from too many false finishes. Then the actually ended just happened. The Lucha Bros special entrance was pretty nice. Will probably stop for now and watch more later.

For a smart guy, Jim Cornette loves to play dumb. Comparing Adam Page celebrating with Dark Order to DX celebrating with Kai En Tai. Not a huge deal of course but, that statement is such a troll job that can be seen from a mile away.

I don't think it's a troll, he just views the Dark Order as a pack of losers and thinks Hangman would be better off not associating with them.

I understand it, but the big babyface star associating with geeks hasn't really been done before so there's a novelty to it. Plus it appeals to their target demo for obvious reasons.

Speaking of, is the female demo still way down?

If that was his logic, fair enough. However, Adam Page has been linked to The Dark Order for a long time. Kai En Tai & DX just appeared with DX a few times. Those are 2 different situations. Corny knows that. He may not like it & if the fans rejected the idea, that would be 1 thing but, they embraced it.