If you did not catch it Emp, check out Claudio vs Barnett from Zero Hour. Very good catch match.

Emperor

No Christian Cage/Darby Allin?

All in good time. It's a long show and I'm watching it piece by piece. Then there's Dynamite too...

Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Chris Jericho vs Will Ospreay, Sammy Guevara and Konosuke Takeshita

Entertaining tag match that showcased everyone, had great flow and never stopped being exciting. No complaints about anything between the ropes.

However, I am skeptical about how Will Ospreay is being presented in AEW. Over in Japan he formed the United Empire, one of the best factions in all of wrestling, yet here he is in AEW basically being Don Callis' lackey. It made sense for Ospreay vs Omega II. It did not make sense for Ospreay to come out to Callis' music, be announced as being part of the Don Callis family, and do all this screwy heel cheating stuff that he never does normally. Ospreay was amazing in the ring as he always is, but I don't like the disconnect between AEW Ospreay and NJPW Ospreay.


FTR vs Aussie Open

Awesome tag team match, exactly what you'd expect from these two teams. They didn't overstay their welcome which is so easy to do in such a situation, it finished exactly when it should have.


Christian Cage vs Darby Allin

I know nothing about this feud going in. Over the course of the match I learnt that a dude called Nick Wayne is involved and randomly best friends with Darby. I've never seen this guy before. His mother is also involved and at ringside. OK...

I loved this match it had a great story. Darby outwrestling Christian and scoring a quick fall, then Christian gradually escalating the brutality. So many times wrestlers say shit like "I'm not just going to beat you, I'm going to end your career" before wrestling a normal match. I don't know if Christian cut that type of promo, but this is a rare example where I believe that one wrestler is trying to really hurt their opponent. The spots on the steps were nasty and a great way to get Christian a fall by countout. I felt the stretcher was a bit much, until it was justified by the Frog Splash.

Christian exposing the hard wooden boards beneath the ring created for an amazing visual and I was cringing at every single bump. Never seen anything like it. The finish came when Nick Wayne shockingly turned on Darby Allin!!

I patiently waited for Nick Wayne to peel off his face mask to reveal Hedge. It didn't happen. The heels beat on Darby Allin. Out comes Sting. Ah, that's a much better disguise for Hedge. Sting strolls into the ring and does his lame act. Out comes Luchasaurus. Long-haired guy in a mask! Ally of Christian! You can't fool me, Hedge. The heels beat up Sting and set him up for a Conchairto. The lights go out. A video plays. Metalingus. Hedge finally arrives, and makes a long elaborate entrance in completely the wrong circumstances. Save that shit for Dynamite.

Well everyone knows what happened next, it wasn't exactly unpredictable. It's interesting that Edge is trademarked but Rated R Superstar is not.


Brilliant show, I only skipped one match on the main card which is rare, and everything else either delivered or over-delivered.


By the way c I do intend to watch Claudio vs Barnett at some point.

Claudio vs Barnett was really good. They basically did a short catch match then transitioned into pro-wrestling finish. Got a bunch of attention on reddit as a lot of people never seen catch before.

I must have missed a memo but what's the connection to Wrestledream and Inoki? The endless references to Inoki were not lost on me...

Claudio vs Barnett was a fun match with some nice grappling, but in comparison to Danielson vs Zack it wasn't that special. Woe is me for watching them in the wrong order.

Oct 5, 2023 21:38:14 GMT c said:

Assume WK is the rematch with the stip of DB needing to beat him in less than 15 minutes for the belt.

Wrestle Kingdom surely has to be Brian Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada.

Oct 5, 2023 22:14:57 GMT Emperor said:

I must have missed a memo but what's the connection to Wrestledream and Inoki? The endless references to Inoki were not lost on me...

Claudio vs Barnett was a fun match with some nice grappling, but in comparison to Danielson vs Zack it wasn't that special. Woe is me for watching them in the wrong order.

Oct 5, 2023 21:38:14 GMT c said:

Assume WK is the rematch with the stip of DB needing to beat him in less than 15 minutes for the belt.

Wrestle Kingdom surely has to be Brian Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada.

One year anniversary of Inoki's death - just an excuse to run a AEW-NJPW show.

Oct 5, 2023 22:14:57 GMT Emperor said:

I must have missed a memo but what's the connection to Wrestledream and Inoki? The endless references to Inoki were not lost on me...

Claudio vs Barnett was a fun match with some nice grappling, but in comparison to Danielson vs Zack it wasn't that special. Woe is me for watching them in the wrong order.

Oct 5, 2023 21:38:14 GMT c said:

Assume WK is the rematch with the stip of DB needing to beat him in less than 15 minutes for the belt.

Wrestle Kingdom surely has to be Brian Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada.

God I hope not.  I did not like the chemistry between DB and Okada at all.


For WD it was a tribute to Inoki and his influence basically.  

Oct 6, 2023 19:01:25 GMT c said:

God I hope not.  I did not like the chemistry between DB and Okada at all

I didn't feel it either, but I'm willing to give them a second chance. They're more than capable of making it work on a second try.