May 14, 2024 2:53:07 GMT RT said:

AEW Continental Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Dax Harwood

AEW World Championship - Eliminator Match
Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Brian Cage

AEW Tag Team Championship - Eliminator Match
Matthew & Nicholas Jackson (c) vs. Matt Sydal & Christopher Daniels

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson)
vs.
United Empire (Kyle Fletcher & Jeff Cobb)

“Timeless” Toni Storm vs. Harley Cameron

PLUS!

Willow Nightingale & Mercedes Mone TBS title contract signing!

TNT Champ Adam Copeland calls out Malakai Black!

HOOK returns!

Holy crap! That's a card! We got robbed! 

I'll have to check this episode out after my homework is done. 

I love the Elite angle. It's great.

To be honest Darby was a letdown. I was amped up for the return of Tony Khan in Hulk mode. Picture this: hit Kenny's music, the crowd goes wild, The Elite stop what they're doing to stare at the entrance ramp. Out comes Tony Khan, neckbrace on. He calmly stares at the Elite. Suddenly his neck brace bursts and he grows twice the size he normally is. Hits the ring, kicks ass, hits both the Bucks at the same time with a TK Driver.

The point is, Darby was a great surprise.

I was fully expecting Hangman. I did not expect to see Darby at all. Dude is held together with duct tape right now and doing an Anarcy in the Arena match is crazy.

I suspect they originally wanted Hangman, but they were not able to hide the evil mustache.

Where did Hangman go anyway? He's even more of a part-timer than Roman Reigns.

May 16, 2024 21:46:18 GMT Emperor said:

Where did Hangman go anyway? He's even more of a part-timer than Roman Reigns.

For every time he comes to work you get two weeks of PTO. He comes to work 8 weeks then takes 4 months off. Generating pto at that rate would be amazing.

On the whole, I don't mind the EVP gimmick. The Bucks clearly needed a fresh coat of paint, it's in their wheelhouse and they've made steps to make it their own. It would have been easy to make a Vince parody which would have been counter-intuitive and only made fans think of the competition which would have been silly for a major angle.

I like the association with Okada. My fear with Okada is that he'd come in like Shibata and would just be another guy on the roster popping up and having the odd 'dream' match when deemed fit. At least this gives him some personality and gives the fans a reason to care.

I just hope they can build on it and they're not simply going to tread water until Kenny gets himself right. Right now they have the elements but it's only in second gear and I hope they understand how they can elevate it on a PPV by PPV basis. I don't like everything they've done so far - some of beatdowns have been lousy and putting a ceiling on Okada and giving him the Continental Championship seemed short sighted, but it's too soon to be overly critical.

Hangman was suspended when the EVPs took control.  I assume they him the mustache goes or you go and he walked.  

Before all this went down said he had a personal issue that he was dealing with.  Given how private he is could be anything.

May 19, 2024 1:24:05 GMT Big Pete said:

On the whole, I don't mind the EVP gimmick. The Bucks clearly needed a fresh coat of paint, it's in their wheelhouse and they've made steps to make it their own. It would have been easy to make a Vince parody which would have been counter-intuitive and only made fans think of the competition which would have been silly for a major angle.

I like the association with Okada. My fear with Okada is that he'd come in like Shibata and would just be another guy on the roster popping up and having the odd 'dream' match when deemed fit. At least this gives him some personality and gives the fans a reason to care.

I just hope they can build on it and they're not simply going to tread water until Kenny gets himself right. Right now they have the elements but it's only in second gear and I hope they understand how they can elevate it on a PPV by PPV basis. I don't like everything they've done so far - some of beatdowns have been lousy and putting a ceiling on Okada and giving him the Continental Championship seemed short sighted, but it's too soon to be overly critical.

I've said it a few times - I really like the EVP gimmick. It's the kind of shake-up AEW desperately needs, a big overarching angle that ties multiple storylines and championships together. As you say it isn't full steam ahead yet, they need to keep adding coal. Hangman as a surprise new member would be a great idea.

May 19, 2024 10:44:05 GMT Emperor said:

May 19, 2024 1:24:05 GMT Big Pete said:

On the whole, I don't mind the EVP gimmick. The Bucks clearly needed a fresh coat of paint, it's in their wheelhouse and they've made steps to make it their own. It would have been easy to make a Vince parody which would have been counter-intuitive and only made fans think of the competition which would have been silly for a major angle.

I like the association with Okada. My fear with Okada is that he'd come in like Shibata and would just be another guy on the roster popping up and having the odd 'dream' match when deemed fit. At least this gives him some personality and gives the fans a reason to care.

I just hope they can build on it and they're not simply going to tread water until Kenny gets himself right. Right now they have the elements but it's only in second gear and I hope they understand how they can elevate it on a PPV by PPV basis. I don't like everything they've done so far - some of beatdowns have been lousy and putting a ceiling on Okada and giving him the Continental Championship seemed short sighted, but it's too soon to be overly critical.

I've said it a few times - I really like the EVP gimmick. It's the kind of shake-up AEW desperately needs, a big overarching angle that ties multiple storylines and championships together. As you say it isn't full steam ahead yet, they need to keep adding coal. Hangman as a surprise new member would be a great idea.

Yeah I think Hangman can be a great source of tension, especially if Swerve is involved. You could set up a scenario where Hangman is caught in the crossfire of doing what's right and protecting AEW or getting one over Swerve and reconnecting with the Elite. Maybe he's petty at first and can't help but lay out Swerve, but he isn't necessarily all buddy buddy with the Elite despite their advances and it eventually boils over?

There's a few angles AEW needs to let play out before they can really turn heads. Another is Swerve who for the most part was one of the most deplorable people in the company and yet became a beloved babyface by the fans because of reasons. That's actually factored into the angle last week and Nick Wayne gave Swerve a well earned comuppance after last year's horrifying home invasion. I think Swerve needs to explain himself better because right now he has the Randy Orton '04 thing happening where we're all just expected to accept him as a babyface despite all the evidence to the contrary.

The thing is Swerve can't just go out there, and deliver a heart-felt monologue that puts everything into perspective, it just needs to happen over time and the booking needs to help him out. That's why I think placing him with Christian was a smart choice because it instantly casts Swerve as a babyface and Christian understands the nuances better than most.

May 19, 2024 23:32:37 GMT Big Pete said:

May 19, 2024 10:44:05 GMT Emperor said:

I've said it a few times - I really like the EVP gimmick. It's the kind of shake-up AEW desperately needs, a big overarching angle that ties multiple storylines and championships together. As you say it isn't full steam ahead yet, they need to keep adding coal. Hangman as a surprise new member would be a great idea.

Yeah I think Hangman can be a great source of tension, especially if Swerve is involved. You could set up a scenario where Hangman is caught in the crossfire of doing what's right and protecting AEW or getting one over Swerve and reconnecting with the Elite. Maybe he's petty at first and can't help but lay out Swerve, but he isn't necessarily all buddy buddy with the Elite despite their advances and it eventually boils over?

There's a few angles AEW needs to let play out before they can really turn heads. Another is Swerve who for the most part was one of the most deplorable people in the company and yet became a beloved babyface by the fans because of reasons. That's actually factored into the angle last week and Nick Wayne gave Swerve a well earned comuppance after last year's horrifying home invasion. I think Swerve needs to explain himself better because right now he has the Randy Orton '04 thing happening where we're all just expected to accept him as a babyface despite all the evidence to the contrary.

The thing is Swerve can't just go out there, and deliver a heart-felt monologue that puts everything into perspective, it just needs to happen over time and the booking needs to help him out. That's why I think placing him with Christian was a smart choice because it instantly casts Swerve as a babyface and Christian understands the nuances better than most.

All great points.

I think Hangman getting involved is a foregone conclusion at this point. They have a serious chance to do something amazing here with the AEW World title picture. You could have Hangman help the EVPs win their match in exchange for a title shot, then when everyone is booing Hangman he can remind everyone what Swerve did to him just a few months ago to get his hands on the world title.

You have two men willing to do anything to be champion and have already had some absolute bangers. You could ride that for the rest of the year if you wanted to.