#bryan vs jay white

[danwhobrowses]

TK decided since NXT were throwing everyone and their uncle into tonight that he'll just throw in a murder grandpa for a buy in, shades of when he did Bryan vs Suzuki when Rampage was on at the same time as Smackdown. Plus he also announced 30 minutes ad free.

For all that's said and done, fans are winning for this, but imo even if NXT beat Dynamite in the ratings if it's a small margin then AEW still win; because if you need John Cena, Asuka, Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Paul Heyman, the Judgement Day (since Dom is NA champ again) and rumors of the Undertaker to buff up NXT against a Dynamite card TK has at his disposal on the regular (maybe minus a title match) then it's still pretty embarrassing.

[colossal-niamh]

A long vent on MJF's world title run shaped like an essay

There's been a consistent debate about the quality of MJF's title run post mortem and I think I fully stand on the side that it was terrible. Possibly even the worst world title run AEW's had yet (aside from CM Punk's nonexistent 2nd run). Overly lengthy, rarely defended the belt on tv (a total of 5 times in 406 days), diminishing returns on title matches (the Double or Nothing and Full Gear matches are especially bad) and I grew more cold on him as he turned more and more face.

In retrospect I fully believe he should have dropped the belt at All In. obviously creative didn't have the booking foresight to plan around Adam Cole's ankle exploding, but I don't think we needed another 4 months of MJF title run. They should have started the big betrayal and new heel faction at the biggest show the company's ever run and not when both sides of the big feud are too bruised and beaten to work an angle. but that's more fantasy booking than proper analysis.

The Length of MJF's run felt excessive and unnecessary considering the lack of anything substantial for several stretches on TV. A lot of the builds for his title defenses were him being challenged by someone and then MJF sets up a bunch of stipulations to get that match like a gauntlet his opponent would run through. This led to some solid TV matches like Bryan vs Rush, but left the show devoid of MJF himself outside of being essentially a talking head. AEW prior had made sure the world champ was on the card and the belt was a hotly contested prize. Without those regular matches on TV it felt the world champion was distant from the product and was what the world title scene had avoided up to that point, avoidable.

The actual matches MJF did have were inconsistent in quality and in particular his pay per view matches steadily got worse as his run went on. I will say up front I like the ironman match with Bryan and the match with Tanahashi is the only title defense I haven't seen, so maybe that one might be some hidden gem I missed. As for the others, they either range from alright like the Mox and Samoa Joe matches where he won and lost the titles respectively, to legitimately the worst PPV world title match AEW's had in the 4 pillars 4-way. A match where 4 guys nowhere near skilled or experienced enough to put on a quality world title match, which also floundered due to the build up being MJF failing to bounce off of 3 guys with sub par promo skills (side note, Sammy Guevara is the worst promo in the company, bar none). I think the main factor for this is a borrowed observation from Joseph Montecillo's review* of the Jay White match from Full Gear

"This match with Jay White is a strange mix of good and interesting ideas shaped into the entirely wrong fashion. It’s an unwieldy uncanny valley kind of creation–all the elements of “good” wrestling are there but in the wrong order, mutated and warped into an ugly whole. Everything about it feels discordant, unpleasant to behold.

MJF knows all the words, but not the music."

MJF knows what a good match looks like, but doesn't know how to pace or structure one. he's like a artist with some cool OCs and a story in his head, but he doesn't get the mechanics of panel flow and puts too many speech bubbles in the panels.

I found his heel work as champion standard practice for him but good, however as he pivoted to being a face I was fond at first but progressively soured on him. He's an excellent chicken shit heel and capable of some absolute bastard behavior, in fact he's too good. Face MJF comes off as disingenuous mainly for two reason. Number one his entire AEW run was defined by how heinous and untrustworthy he was, literally in the same run he turned face he hospitalized William Regal and shoot threw a drink at a kid on live PPV. Number two is that once he was portrayed as a face, he kept doing shit the exact same as when he was a heel, but now with a cheep city pop and a "I'm your sucmbag!" Once he had a friend AEW portrayed him as a loveable scamp for stuff commentary would curse him out for over half a year ago. He kept the sleezy prick routine and the body shaming and the only real noticeable change is his name calling somehow got worse. The big example of how face MJF doesn't work is the Jay White feud. Lizzy Flanagan at The Sportster* makes the point I'd like to make exactly.

"MJF’s go-to tactic to being a babyface has been garnering sympathy, but his sob story about being bullied as a well-off middle-class child in Long Island has been repeated three or four times now. He then resorts to humor, but the best he can come up with is calling Jay White tofu. Then, he tries some crowd work. This usually works fairly well, as the AEW crowd wants to see MJF succeed, but the promos can’t help but come across as cheesy and cliché. You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. You can put a t-shirt and a smile on MJF. MJF is still a heel."

His face work feels fake and undercooked, so when put in a program with a fully realized and, frankly, better character like Jay White, Face MJF falls flat. The guy who's supposed to be the man of the people who recently turned over a new leaf is the same guy that flipped of a child at a public autograph event and mocked Darby Allen's dead uncle. The only thing that's changed as a character is now he has crocodile tears.

MJF's run as world champion was an abject failure. A spotlight that exposed the weakest parts of one of AEW's most popular performers during a creatively frustrating time in the company's short history. An example of many flaws in the modern wrestling landscape and the creative short comings of the man himself. As I write this I assume once Max recovers he'll take up the vengeful babyface role, chasing Cole and his faction. Do I hope it works? sure, but to I expect it to work? No, the experiment failed and it's inevitable that MJF will turn heel again. He has nothing without the bitter chicken shit heel persona, as a face he's a dog with no teeth. All bark, no bite.

*(Links to articles referenced in the replies below)

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Most Beloved AEW Wrestler Tournament Round 2 Statistics Dump

Followers: 168

Total Votes: 13,148 + 11,439 = 24,587 (Considering round 2 only lasted half the time as round 1, nearly matching the vote count is impressive)

Times I accidentally included a wrestler twice without noticing: 1 (fuck you Matt Sydal for being so generic and sorry to the 74 people who have voted for him at some point, he's now my personification of every failure I've ever had)

Beloved By Gender

So before starting, we had a ratio of 23.9% women, 0.7% nonbinary and 75.4% men

After round 1, that shifted to 24.8% women, 1.5% nonbinary and 73.7% men

After round 2, the numbers have shifted even more in favor of not-men

Which means women and nonbinary wrestlers are kicking the men's asses in terms of overall belovedness

Voting Trends

We're still on an upwards trend for votes, still featuring the epic highs and crushing lows of popularity days, but had the first day to break 2000 votes!

Day 16: also known as the day everyone decided that if Punk wasn't going to move on, he may as well lose to Willow. Also the day of everyone deciding that if someone from the BCC had to be eliminated, it was Chuckie T who had to do it to em

The Great Ties

In round 1, as we all know, Darby and Jack tied exactly at 85 votes apiece. It was decided they would both move on to round 2 in order to duke it out once more. Then they both lost. Darby lost to The Butcher by 20 votes and Jack lost to Trish Adora by 35 votes. This marks the end of both of their journeys with Darby getting a total of 193 votes and Jack finishing one slot above him at 216 total votes.

No one brought it up, but there was a tie in round 2 as well. Both Kota Ibushi and Mr. Brodie Lee earned a total of 79 votes. Working from the great tradition of precedent, they'll both be moving on to round 3.

And the near-tie that broke everyone's heart, Anthony Bowens VS Hangman Adam Page. The closest contest thus far that was separated by a single vote in Bowens' favor. Our cowboy will ride into the sunset and Anthony will live to scissor another day

Teams and How They Fared

Any team member not listed in the group lost in round 1

BCC: Bryan Danielson (122), Jon Moxley (147) and Wheeler Yuta (152) have passed the second round but Claudio Castagnoli (106) was taken out by Chuck Taylor.

Best Friends: Kris Statlander (147), Orange Cassidy (177), Danhausen (217) and Chuck Taylor (224) all continue to round 3

The Elite: Kota Ibushi (79), Nick Jackson (126) and Matt Jackson (130) continue to round 3. Adam Page (168) lost to Anthony Bowens.

BCG: Juice Robinson (87) and Jay White (124) move on to round 3. Colten Gunn (38) lost to Abadon.

The Acclaimed: Billy Gunn (101), Anthony Bowens (169) and Max Caster (174) all move on to round 3.

House of Black: Malakai Black (98), Brody King (110), Buddy Matthews (117) make it to round 3, but Julia Hart (95) lost to Athena

Dark Order: Mr Brodie Lee (79), Alex Reynolds (112), Evil Uno (124) move on to round 3. John Silver (35) lost to Kris Statlander and Stu Grayson (38) lost to Isiah Kassidy.

The Outcasts (I know they kinda broke up, but it's an easy grouping to make): Ruby Soho (110) and Toni Storm (120) both make it to round 3

Jurassic Express: Luchasaurus (142) moves on but Jack Perry (131) lost to Trish Adora (and a moment of silence for Marko, who is dead)

Jericho Appreciation Society: Anna Jay (140) moves on. Jake Hager (3) lost to Maki Itoh, Angelo Parker (32) lost to Toni Storm, Matt Menard (53) lost to Brody King and Tay Melo (61) lost to Buddy Matthews.

Death Triangle: Penta (104) moves on, but Rey Fenix (72) lost to Malakai Black

Teams Who Are Still Fully Intact

(Forgive me if I miss some)

Aussie Open: 374 between 2 members

Better Than You Baybay: 431 between 2 members

Butcher, Blade & Bunny: 637 between 3 members

The Acclaimed: 724 between 3 members

Hookhausen: 732 between 2 members

Lowest Votes

The top 6 lowest votes after 2 rounds (they're the 6 under 30 collective votes)

Aaron Solo (29)

Tully Blanchard (28)

Carlie Bravo (23)

Mance Warner (21)

Eli Isom (18)

Madi Wrenkowski (17)

Highest Votes over Round 2

Just the votes earned during round 2 (not collectively)

Willow Nightingale (343)

Chuck Taylor (224)

Danhausen (217)

Orange Cassidy (177)

Nyla Rose (175)

Top 10 Highest Collective Votes

Willow Nightingale (651)

Danhausen (418)

Chuck Taylor (400)

Riho (379)

Orange Cassidy (363)

Eddie Kingston (343)

Wheeler Yuta (338)

Hook (314)

Athena (291)

Hikaru Shida (288)

Thanks everyone who's voted so far and keep an eye out for round 3 tomorrow (reminder that I will be lowering the daily polls from 10 to 5)

[galaxy-brain-rasslin]

Thoughts on AEW: Revolution (2024)

There will be spoilers. There will also be a cut, as a courtesy.

Zero Hour:

The Bang Bang Scissor Gang (Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Jay White) vs Jeff Jarrett, Stanam Singh, Jay Lethal, Willie Mack, and Private Part

This consistent thing of Max flubbing on the rap is interesting. My current assumption is that they're potentially having Max break away from the group. Which is an interesting choice, because Bowens is significantly more popular.

The match itself was totally fine. It was a Jarrett match. I didn't go into it expecting it to be some sort of masterpiece of technical wrestling. I expected a fun, goofy little thing with a bunch of silly shit happening that also happened to have some decent-to-good wrestling. And that's exactly what this was. No complaints.

I have no idea if White's post-match promo was intended to be interpreted as a smarmy, insincere thing filled with deliberately cheap pops for the audience, but that's how I heard it. It somehow made it so much better.

Willow Nightingale & Kris Statlander vs Julia Hart & Skye Blue

Julia Hart's character going from a cheerleader to "What if The Undertaker was a spooky girl instead?" is such an amazing transformation. I can't get over how well she's committed to the presentation of the gimmick, and how good this is. Skye going from blue-themed girl from Chicago to a Dark Kingdom cosplayer has also been an interesting development. I like how these two also seem to be enjoying the changeup.

Stokely Hathaway is hilarious. I love him on commentary. His inclusion of the dynamic with Willow and Kris is just fantastic.

If I've said it once, I've said it 100 times-- I love Willow. She's one of my favorite women on the roster. The combination of the happy/bubbly personality that also contains someone who, if pressed, will rip you in half? Wonderful stuff. And Statlander is also consistently great. Watching these two throw Skye around was fantastic.

I was a little surprised to see Willow and Kris win without any major fuckery. Julia's moonsault looked significantly better compared the one with her match against Abadon.

It was a fun little match.

Revolution

Christian Cage vs Daniel Garcia, AEW TNT Championship

Christian Cage continues to be one of the best heels in professional wrestling today. A gimmick composed entirely of "lmao L + Ratio + Dead Dad" and "I will be your father"-- all while he wrestles in a goddamn sleeveless turtleneck? Everything about that is just somebody whose face you want to see punched.

Really happy to see Garcia get the match. I mentioned before that I had wanted DG to win. That didn't happen, but I thought everything about the match was great. Menard combing out there to beat the hell out of Luchasaurus/Killswitch in defense of Danny was great.

I thought Garcia looked good in this, and I don't think him losing to Christian (especially with all the interference) will cause any significant issues.

Ultimately, I enjoyed the match. I thought it was a good opener and kept me pretty invested the whole time. Although I'm wondering who is going to be the one to actually take the title off Christian.

Eddie Kingston vs Bryan Danielson, Continental Crown Championship (AEW Continental, ROH World, NJPW Strong Openweight Championships)

Bryan Danielson is without question one of the greatest technical pro wrestlers of all time. Also, he and Eddie both are fantastic in-ring storytellers.

Bryan Danielson, in his current iteration, is also a condescending piece of shit, and he's great at doing that, too.

Like Willow, I love Eddie. Eddie is up there with Hiroshi Tanahashi in that I will literally always cheer for him. I don't care who he's up against, I'm cheering for Eddie the whole time.

This match was amazing. Eddie and Bryan are so great at getting you emotionally invested in their matches. They both know what things they need to do for the audience to get hooked in, and they play those perfectly. The narrative of this match was perfect.

I went into this genuinely uncertain just who would win. The majority of the match didn't help matters. Eddie hitting the ring post with a chop, instead of Danielson, was a nice piece of drama to incorporate into things. I also liked how Danielson really made it a point to emphasize just how strong Eddie's chops are-- with commentary even pointing out Bryan things Eddie is better with chopping/upper body attacks.

A big narrative line through these Eddie Kingston Addresses the Blackpool Combat Club matches has been that BCC generally seems to think Eddie has the potential to be a lot better than he is, and they're trying to get that out of him. Except for Mox, they don't respect Eddie until he shows up and chops the fuck out of them. Eddie has always been on their level, but he doesn't believe in himself enough to really get there.

Great match. Just a great fucking match.

I know Eddie eventually is going to have to lose the belts. It's an inevitability unless just retire all of them simultaneously, but that seems unlikely. That said, I don't have to like it.

Wardlow vs Chris Jericho vs Powerhouse Hobbs vs Lance Archer vs Hook vs Brian Cage vs Magnus vs Dante Martin

Originally the Meat match, got changed up due to Reasons. I'll be honest, I didn't really care much about this match. I assumed Wardlow was going to win, because it didn't really make sense to do this repackaged presentation of him with Undisputed Kingdom, set up a match essentially to be like "Look at Wardlow slap all this meat" and then have him lose. The inclusion of the smaller guys was, like, fine. Dante Martin is great. Hook is fun. Magnus was also great. Chris Jericho was there.

I thought it was contrived and silly, but I also enjoyed when the smaller dudes all got knocked out of the ring so the bigger dudes could do a little pose off and have slap meat. But that's because the "MEAT" chants are hilarious to me.

My preferred ending to this match would have been if Wardlow had powerbombed Jericho for the win. But you can't get everything you want. Also, Wardlow using the Last Ride as his finisher is great. I wasn't the biggest fan of Bikertaker (and I believe he had only recently transitioned into Bikertaker whenever I fell off of watching WWF/E the first time) but Last Ride is such a great powerbomb.

A silly and fun match. It was a nice cooldown from Eddie/Bryan.

Roderick Strong vs Orange Cassidy, AEW International Championship

AEW's doctor said that OC wouldn't be cleared to wrestle unless they taped up his ribs and back. So the match starts with OC wearing a comical amount of kinesio tape. In a match against a man who is literally called "The Messiah of the Backbreaker".

Strong came to the ring wearing a white hooded cape and a skull-themed, like, paintball mask. I didn't recognize it at first, but I think it was intended to be something like Taskmaster from Marvel Comics. Which is kinda cool. I'm not as familiar with Taskmaster as much as other villains-- mostly because I just haven't read a lot of Marvel stuff.

Anyway, this was a good match. Roddy, as one would expect, beat the hell out of OC's back. I think OC did great at showing that he's just a beat down dude who has barely let himself take time to recover from any injuries. And having him go up against someone who basically specializes in hurting the area that OC was already injured was just perfect.

Roddy is great. The number of ways that man can spin something into a backbreaker is always impressive. I'm glad he won. I maintain that getting this win will absolutely help the legitimacy of Undisputed Kingdom.

Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli) vs FTR

I think that FTR is one of the greatest tag teams around today. I've said this before. I was a fan of theirs when they were in NXT as The Revival, and I loved their little Belt Collector run with AEW. In terms of non-WWE tag teams, they're usually right up there with The Young Bucks, and whether you're a fan of the Bucks or FTR really seems to boil down to the style you like to watch. The no-flips-just-fists of FTR is a great callback to the older era of wrestling, and the two of them do it well.

Mox and Claudio also do that very well.

This was a great match. These four dudes beat the shit out of each other, and I genuinely wasn't sure how the match would go.

BCC doing a Doomsday Device with a goddamn European uppercut was wild.

I think having Mox and Jon win was perfectly fine. FTR isn't going to be hurt by losing to these two dudes. They're fucking FTR. I could easily watch these four have several more matches together. There's a kind of respectful brutality with them.

That all being said, I do wish the meme of Mox bleeding every match-- or people being surprised when he isn't bleeding-- would finally die. He hasn't done it in a while.

Of course, half of Mox's character is basically some sort of blood freak with a violence fetish, so I still expect blood somewhere in his bigger matches.

"Timeless" Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo, AEW Women's Championship

Mariah May coming out to Toni's old theme, with her old gear was a great touch.

Deonna is great. I'm happy to see her here. I'm glad that there's solid technical wrestling the women's division with her and Deeb being there. This was a solid match. I didn't really have a lot in terms of expectations-- I haven't seen a lot of Deonna's other stuff, but I knew she was good.

While I think it would have been fine if Deonna had one, I also think it may have been a bit too soon for that. Also, if Mercedes is debuting soon, that sets up a bit of a lose/lose if Deonna is the champion and they try to hook those two into a feud.

I definitely want to see more from Deonna. I think she would be a good person to take the TBS belt from Julia. I don't want her down in ROH-- but that's because ROH is a subscription service, and I don't currently have it (although I do want it, because Athena is one of my favorites).

I thought this was a solid match for both of them. Toni is always fun to watch in the ring. I'm curious to see where things go with both of them after this.

Will Ospreay vs Konosuke Takeshita

1 Like = 1 Bruv.

My expectation for this match was, quite literally, just that it was going to be a fucking fantastic match. Ospreay is one of the greats. Takeshita is steadily (and rapidly) approaching into the ranks of the greats.

I fucking loved this match. The crowd at the arena fucking loved this match. Every time Ospreay and Takeshita started in on each other, you could eat the people just get so into it.

Was this a dirty spotfest? Yeah. Of course. It's a Will Ospreay match. That's what he does. But you know what? I don't fucking care. I can enjoy watching ZSJ and Bryan Danielson spend an hour in the middle of the ring, trying to break each other's fingers and I can enjoy watching Ospreay and Takeshita jump around and flip and smash each other with elbows before jumping and flipping some more.

Spanish Fly is also one of my favorite moves to watch.

The match fucked. It humped. It was great. I loved it. It was A Spectacle if there ever was one. The kind of match you can eat popcorn to, although you're going to throw it everywhere because you jerking the bag around out of excitement. So much fun.

Samoa Joe vs Swerve Strickland vs HangMAD Hangman Adam Page

Did I want Swerve to win? Yes.

Did I want Hangman to win? Yes.

Did I want Samoa Joe to win? Yes.

Did I want Hangman to completely lose his mind and deliberately fuck over Swerve? Oh god, yes.

Swerve Strickland the most over wrestler who is not named "Sting" in AEW. There is nobody who comes close to this man. He literally broke into Hangman's home, and threated Hangman's infant child, and the crowd still loves him, because he's that fucking cool. And he's that good. Swerve's popularity is so strong that anyone who goes against him is going to be booed on some level.

Hangman has, as the upper-third of his name plate said, completely lost it. Wide-eyed, driven, and completely unhinged. Does he want the championship? Or does he just want Swerve to not have it?

Samoa Joe is Samoa Joe. We all love him. He's great on the mic. He's great in the ring. He feels credible and legitimate as a champion and a challenger. Having him be the champion for this feud is great.

A fantastic match. A ton of fun to watch. There was a perfect amount of drama for this thing. I loved it.

This match also cemented the double-turn for Swerve and Hangman.

Hangman, in an attempt to prevent Swerve from winning, beat up two different referees. The only way that's a babyface move is if your name is Bobby Heenan. Hangman's obsession with screwing over Swerve has caused him to start doing this stuff. I can't wait to see where they go with him now. Are they gonna change the music? Will they keep the goofy comments in the nameplate?

Swerve, by extension, refused to use Prince Nana's crown when it was offered, saying that he didn't need it. A thing that had been used before in matches against Hangman. There is an attempt here to have Swerve redeem himself for the deplorable things he's done.

In the end, Hangman tapped to Samoa Joe. Excalibur, help to sow the seeds that many people were wondering, posed the question if Hangman was tapping because he actually gave up, or if he was tapping to spite Swerve. I think it was the latter, because he's that much of a (justified) hater.

I am still 100% in favor of Hangman and Swerve fighting forever.

Sting and Darby Allin vs The Young Bucks, AEW Tag Team Championship

Sting's last match. Going out on his terms. This was a big deal for a lot of people. Even people who weren't in AEW. I knew this was going to be special.

Before the match starts, Ric Flair made his way down to the ring to take up space. Then, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat came down as the guest timekeeper. They also showed various other wrestlers in the audience.

The Young Bucks come out in robes and have cannons shoot out business cards. It felt like a corporate Okada entrance. I liked it.

Darby came out as he does.

Then we got a little video package of Sting in an empty theater as they show various career highlights. In the end, he says, "It's showtime. It's showtime for the last time. Let's do this."

Sting's entrance starts with one of his sons dressed as a red, white, and blue-themed Surfer Sting, complete with the blonde hair. Another son is dressed as Wolfpac Sting. Then we have Sting show up.

While Tony Schiavone's voice isn't as strong as it was in WCW, you can tell during his initial commentary during the match that's definitely trying not to get emotional.

Watching Sting, and his two sons, do Stinger Splashes to the Bucks was great.

Tables, chairs, a ladder, and panes of glass were brought out. Panes. Multiple. A series of chairs were set up, and one or two sheets of the glass were placed on top, like a table.

Sting and Darby went through tables.

Darby jumped from the ladder (which was quite tall) and landed back first into Chekov's Glass-and-Chair Table. He laid on the ground for quite some time, his back just absolutely shredded.

Sting, also, went through glass. However, he had clothes on, and looked unscathed.

The match was chaos in the best way. I had no idea who would win-- I expected The Bucks to do something fucky to screw over Sting. They threw everything at him. He withstood multiple superkicks and BTE/EVP Triggers.

Eventually, Darby came back to life, and managed to keep Nicholas Jackson at bay long enough for Sting to throw on the Scorpion Deathlock. Matthew taps. Sting and Darby retain.

Sting's last wrestling match, and he goes out on top. I didn't expect that. I don't know why I didn't expect that. Tony Khan is a billionaire wrestling nerd, and Sting was/is probably a favorite of his. If there was ever a wrestler who deserved to go out as the winner, it's Sting.

If AEW is around long enough to have a "Hall of Fame", Sting needs to be one of the first people inducted (the first person has to be Brodie Lee, or I will personally fight Tony Khan). I hope they are around long enough for that.

Miscellaneous non-match things

PAC IS COMING BACK. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I've missed that bastard.

KOR IS BACK. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. I missed that goofy son of a bitch. I was so worried he wouldn't be coming back. I can't watch to see how he's going to be interacting with Undisputed Kingdom, since he seemingly rejected Roddy's offer to join.

Apparently Toni Storm called out Wendy Richter again in the post-show media scrum. Which I just find consistently hilarious.

In Summary

This shit was fucking fun as hell, dude. AEW is very consistent in having good quality PPVs. World's End was probably the weakest one I've seen, and even then, it wasn't bad. I can't wait to see the fallout of things on Wednesday.

[sydsaint]

My review of Double or Nothing 2024

Overall PPV Rating- 8.5/10 stars

In-Depth look under the cut.

I'll start with the pre-show matches.

Deonna vs Rosa- 8/10 stars. Really solid match for a pre-show bout. Both Deonna and Rosa got some good spots in. I was sure that Rosa was going to win, but Deonna pulled one out from under her. I'm expecting the fued to continue until maybe a street fight of some sort between them. It was a good opener to a night of action.

The Acclaimed vs Cage of Agony- 7/10 stars. Max Caster my beloved. Loved the rap and the shenanigans as always. Action was chaotic in a good way. Brian Cage never fails to amaze me with his insane build. Dude is a monster. Very entertaining match to watch.

Now onto the Main Card

Roddy vs Will- 9/10 stars. Almost a perfect match! William Ospreay you are allergic to having a bad match. The actions was entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I got to see Matt Taven be sexy which is always a bonus. (Mr. Taven please call me) I can't wait to see what kind bangers Will is going to put on now that he's champion.

Post-Roddy/Will shenanigans- ADAM COLE BAY BAY. So happy to see my sinster short king back and ready to cause problems. also. MJF YOU SEXY BITCH. Love the new tattoo pookie!! I can't wait to see the post breakup between these two get MESSY.

Bang Bang Gang vs Death Triangle- 8/10 stars. Jay and Pac aka my two fav greasy little bastard men going at it! Great to see Penta and Fenix back in action again! Death Triangle is so cool. The Gunn bros were chaotic lil weasels as well. They are learning from mother Jay White. and JUICE ROBINSON MY GREMLIN MAN!!! WELCOME BACK POOKIE!!

Orange Cassidy v Trent Baretta- 8/10 stars. Emo Orange you are so special to me. My heart hurts seeing them be mean to one another and I might have cried a little bit. Great match between two men that used to be so close! Emotional for everyone.

Toni Storm vs Serena Deeb- 6/10 stars. I didn't pay that much attention to this match tbh. Serena Deeb is boring to watch if you ask me. Girl had no chemistry with Toni. I did enjoy Nigel being a simp on comms though. And seeing Mariah and Toni be gay is always a plus! Most boring match of the night but still a solid one.

Jericho vs HOOK vs Shibata- 5/10 stars. The action in the ring was good. However, TONY KHAN YOU WILL PAY FOR NOT ONLY LETTING CHRIS FUCKING JERICHO KEEP THAT BELT. BUT ALSO MAKING FUCKING SHIBATA TAKE THE PIN AND RUINING BRYAN KEITH FOR ME.

Adam Copeland vs Malakai Black- 9/10 stars. It would have been a perfect match but Malakai lost so. This was a match for the sickos and i ATE IT UP. Blood! Violence! Religious Symbolism!! It had IT ALL. RIP to Adam's knees after jumping off the cage. Also welcome back Grangrel you funky vampire man! The fake-out apot with Brody and Buddy was dope. I got swerved hard with that one. Second best match of the night if you ask me.

Willow vs Mercedes- 7/10 stars. I'm pressed as fuck that Willow lost. The action was solid. You know these girls dont play in the ring. I get that Mercedes is supposed to be a huge star. But my girl Willow got ROBBED. And you take away Kris and Stoke from her??? We can't have nice things in this house.

Swerve vs Christian- 7/10 stars. This was also a solid match. Swerve ddin't get to be nearly as unhinged as i'd of liked. But thats fine. It was fun seeing the shenanigans with Mama Wayne, Nick, and Luchasaurus! Match had me second guessing Swerve winning a couple of times I'll admit.

Anarchy in the Arena- 10/10 stars. BEST MATCH OF THE NIGHT. Oh my god this whole match was INSANE. It baffles me that Darby Allin is even walking after everything that he's gone through then he comes out and does insane shit like this?? Getting hit by a bus? Hanged??? Sir, please seek help. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!! I'm looking forward to seeing this Bucks gimmick end. I hate it. Cringe. All the spots were great! Had me engaged the whole time.

[heartsoulrocknroll]

Revolution rocked so hard. My first live wrestling show in seven years, and I couldn't have picked a better one.

I cannot believe I got to see one of my all-time favorites Roddy Strong win a championship with my own two eyes!!!! I yelled like a crazy person when the ref counted three. No one deserves it more!!!!!! I loved his match with Orange here. That top turnbuckle backbreaker sent me over the edge. Also cannot believe that after over a year and a half, I happened to be there on the night that the great Kyle O'Reilly made his return!!!!! I have waited so long. What a moment that whole sequence of Roddy winning the International title and Kyle showing up was for me.

Ospreay vs. Takeshita was truly incredible. I was freaking out the whole time, but I absolutely lost it when Ospreay took that disgusting brainbuster on the top turnbuckle, and then Takeshita got dropped on his head with Ospreay's nasty Tiger Driver '91 toward the end. Easy match of the year contender and possible five star match. I have to watch it back.

This was my second time seeing FTR live. They are still the best tag team in the world and wrestled a fantastic match against Claudio and Moxley. Claudio looked great here as well. I was so excited to get to see him work. But seeing FTR not only lose, but lose in our great state of North Carolina by being choked out??? Revolting. I could have thrown up. What kind of booking is this???

This was my first time ever seeing Bryan Danielson kick heads in live, and I was just thrilled. He is incredible, nothing short of a legend, and his match against Eddie was great.

Also my first time seeing Samoa Joe live, and it was so awesome getting to see him walk in and out as world champion and getting to hear him light people up with chops. So glad he retained. Swerve and Hangman were very good in the match as well. Swerve deserves a run with the title soon, but it wasn't time yet, and it doesn't need to happen in anything other than a one-on-one match anyway.

Finally, I feel so beyond lucky and privileged to have witnessed Sting and Darby going absolutely off-the-rails insane in Sting's last match ever. This match was filled with awesome spots -- Sting going through two tables (and no-selling the second table bump beautifully) and being thrown into glass in the corner of the ring, then Darby literally trying to kill himself by Swanton bombing himself off a 20 foot ladder inside the ring and through two panes of glass set up on chairs outside. I mean truly, wtf is wrong with him?? It's one of those spots that no one will ever forget. The Young Bucks played their antagonistic role phenomenally, getting heat from the audience like no other team could. Having Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat at ringside was awesome as well. I couldn't be happier that Sting got the end to his career that he deserved. Loved seeing him make his entrance with his sons dressed as different versions of Sting and hearing him give his retirement speech after the match. It was all so special, and I'm so glad I got to be there for it.

Also shout-outs to Jay White, Daniel Garcia (the rightful TNT champion), Christian Cage, Jay Lethal, and Kris Statlander, who were all fantastic. What a show!!!!!!

[blueonwrestling]

decided to say fuck it and just rate the matches as they happen

AEW Collision 02/12/23

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King - 4.25 stars Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia - 4 stars Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston - 4.75 stars AEW Dynamite 06/12/23

Jon Moxley vs. Rush - 4.5 stars Mark Briscoe vs. Swerve Strickland - 4.25 stars Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) (c) vs. Skye Blue - 4 stars Jay Lethal vs. Jay White - 4 stars Christian Cage (c) vs. Adam Copeland - 4.25 stars

I think this might be the first time i've ever seen a dynamite have all 5 matches be 4 stars and or above, an absolute belter of a night in terms of in ring work and promos and fucking everything, and last weeks collision blue league matches were TIGHT AS FUCK.

THATS THE BEST OF BLUE FOR YOU.

[badbanaynas]

SINCE IM HERE i wann agive my raw quick match ratings/thoughts!!!

willow / ishii vs kris / stoke: so fun!! i wish we had more intergender fighting , but tony is coward so... 💫💫.5

latter match: LOVE.. i love the wackiness of latter matches, i loveed loved loved lucha in it i love how much they're dragging out the eventual moment lucha eats christiAN. i also liked that pac, yuta, and claudio won, very different and fun! 💫💫💫💫

gauntlet match: this was pretty fun too! was hoping jay white would show up but ALAS... i was really into christian running in for another chance at a belt because he CANNOT be beltless. it was awesome.. i love him.. AND LUCHA....AUGH...i kno there was some disappointment that hangman didn't win but i also think there's this shared idea that hangman is the main character of the show and deserves everything.. like no he dont! he's MEAN! and there's a story being told with him obviously, it wasnt this one. 💫💫

tony vs mariah: this shit was SO GOOD, i dont know why it was SO early in the show tho? they def should have switched slots with the tbs match...anyways it was pretty emotional , the way it PAINED toni to fight mariah.. she still loves her despite it all, and mariah feels nothing.. YES! 💫💫💫💫

jericho vs hook: why do we keep letting jericho have matches in the main show? why don't we zero hour this bitch and eliminate him once and for ALL...? dont get me started on hook.. he's just not good, he has NO juice. there's no reason to want him to win his belt besides the fact that his dad created it. and if its so important to uphold the family legacy then why not.. like make it important? why not have taz be like ' im gonna disown you if you lose this belt again' or something? there's NO stakes and hook suplexes like he's gonna leap out of the ring bc he has NO CONTROL CAUSE HE'S FUCKING 2 PPOUNDS BUT FIGHTS LIKE HE's JUICED. i DID like him throwing the cricket balls tho, that was really funNY. 💫.5

bucks vs ftw vs acclaimed: daddy ass looked SO CUUUTEE ^_^! (NO STARS)

mjf vs ospreay: 90% of this match felt like we were in the middle of a commercial break... why were they on the ground so much. why where they SO WINDED.. very boring, ospreay's ADVERTISEMENT entrance STUNK as well. this whole feud just could have not happened and i think things would have been fine....see in the jericho and hook match i can at least name a moment i thought was fun .. not so much this match, just a whole DUD..glad we got to see danny again tho, i know he WILL SLAY. 💫

britt vs mercedes: i anticipated this one the most cause i wanted to see if mercedes could carry britt to a decent match.. but it seems when you're working with someone as limp as THE DENTIST , it's just impossible. i feel bad for mercedes because she deserves better than to have the DMD thrown onto her lap like that. im glad she retained but i dont think these two will have another feud for a while...TO THE PERFORMANCE CENTER BRITTANY!! 💫 ( all stars are for merecedes)

jack vs darby: UGHH i wanted to love this one but it was just too short! this felt like being edged and then just getting over with the rest.. everything that happened was fun and good but it all just hAPPENED AND THEN ENDED. i dont like darby at all, but it didnt make darby look too good. he wasnt the challenge that he made himself out to be.. i dont blame either men because i truly think they were just rushed for time , because that's what it felt like. i am glad jack retained tho, he deserves it! i rthink the moment where the crowd starts doing his lil emote with him over the pile of glass was beautiful. a nice contrast to where he was last year at this time! im looking forward to who challenges him next, and i hope we see him more on tv now. >_> 💫💫

swerve vs brian: AUGH......SO GOOOD... swerve looked very pretty tonight, i loved his hair cuffs! bryan as always, just knows how to play a crowd he's a sicko that lives off upsetting people and i think thts really great :-)!! im glad bryan won, but i cant help but feel so sad when seeing swerve on the ground like that.. i wish swerve could have retained but i think thats what makes the match really good. you pick someone to root for and you can root for either of them honestly, both are great.. im glad it was bryan he lost the belt to than hangman honestLY...deducting points for no shaka khan tho... 💫💫💫💫

[starrycourtss]

💥AEW ALL IN PREDICTIONS💥 (as someone who has only been watching the product for a few months and doesn't know what the hell to predict for half the matches 🗣)

◇ ⁉️ (don't know who to predict)

Private Party, Dark Order, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, Ariya Daivari & Anthony Ogogo vs. Top Flight, Lio Rush, Action Andretti, Rocky Romero, Tommy Billington, Kip Sabian & Kyle Fletcher

Dustin Rhodes, The Von Erichs, Sammy Guevara and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Cage of Agony and Undisputed Kingdom

Willow Nightingale & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Kris Statlander & Stokely Hathaway

Casino Gauntlet Match Winner: "Hangman" Adam Page (🕯JAY WHITE, PLEASE RETURN 🕯)

FTW Championship Match: "The Learning Tree" Chris Jericho vs. Hook (Samoa Joe return?)

London Ladder Match for the AEW World Trios Championships: Christian Cage and the Patriarchy vs. Bang Bang Gang vs. House of Black vs. Pac and the BCC (this could've easily have been a triple threat match, so why add a fourth team and not do anything with them??) ⁉️

Coffin Match for the TNT Championship: Jack Perry vs. Darby Allin (since Darby has a championship opportunity at Grand Slam, could he have a possible rematch?) ⁉️

TBS Championship Match: Mercedes Moné vs. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D ⁉️

AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: FTR vs. Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed ���️

AEW Women's World Championship Match: "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Mariah May ⁉️

AEW 'American' Championship Match: MJF vs. Will Ospreay (HIT THE TIGER DRIVER ON THIS PRICK, WILL)

The Final Countdown: Title vs. Career for the AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson (Adam Page causes a distraction?)

[melissahausen]

Aew double or nothing predictions

As always this is who I think will win not necessarily who I want to win

Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo: Singles match

Deonna cause they're pushing her

The Acclaimed (Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn) vs. Cage of Agony (Brian Cage and Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun)) Trios match

Everyone loves the Acclaimed but I wouldn't be surprised if GOA win cause they're being mega pushed.

Adam Copeland (c) vs. Malakai Black Barbed Wire Steel Cage match for the AEW TNT Championship

If Copeland loses, he must bend the knee and join The House of Black

I would have said Malakai before Wednesday but after dynamite I think they're definitely giving it to Adam.

Roderick Strong (c) (with Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) vs. Will Ospreay: Singles match for the AEW International Championship

Do I want Will to win? Of course but I don't know If they're gonna give him a title this soon. Imma say Will but I think they're gonna keep it on Roddy I really do.

Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy Singles match

I love them both and I don't like them fighting but imma say Trent because I've a feeling OC gonna do something with Don callis family 🤢

Bang Bang Gang (Jay White and The Gunns (Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn)) (c) vs. Death Triangle (Pac, Rey Fénix and Penta El Zero Miedo) (with Alex Abrahantes) Trios match for the Unified World Trios Championship.

Unfortunately I think the bang bang gang are gonna retain when I really want it to be death triangle

Chris Jericho (c) (with Big Bill) vs. Hook vs. Katsuyori Shibata Three-way FTW Rules match for the FTW Championship

I want shibata to win so bad cause he's brilliant but I think Chris gonna retain

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita (with Don Callis) IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator match

If Takeshita wins, he will receive a future IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match

Give it to my man Take

But will never count mox out I think he's gonna do it.

Timeless Toni Storm (c) (with Luther and Mariah May) vs. Serena Deeb Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship

Toni!

Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Moné Singles match for the AEW TBS Championship

I'm gonna be so mad when they give it to this bitch willow deserve to retain so bad! But unfortunately I think they're gonna give it to her 🤢

The Elite (Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry, and The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson)) vs. Team AEW (Bryan Danielson, Darby Allin, and FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood)) Anarchy in the Arena match

I'm so torn on this one , if Tony has control I'd say team elite if not then EVPs gonna do it

Imma say EVPs but I'm honestly not sure lol

Swerve Strickland (c) (with Prince Nana) vs. Christian Cage (with Killswitch, Nick Wayne, and Mother Wayne) Singles match for the AEW World Championship

Bro catch a vibe

Swerves gonna come out alive!

[omegawhiskers]

Collision 29/10/23

A Classic Main Event

A lot of people thought MJF vs. Kenny Omega for the main event of Collision should of been kept for a PPV, but MJF was going to surpass Omega as the longest-reigning World Champion, so you have to do this match or it makes Kenny seem like a chump who doesn't value his title reign. I was reserved because I thought the The Man in the Devil Mask, Samoa Joe or Bullet Club Gold would get involved, leading to a DQ. This didn't happen. Instead, we got a match that will go down as a classic. Before I jump into the main event, let me share my thoughts on the rest of the show.

We got decent contest between AR Fox and Jay White, despite how I feel about both wrestlers. Fox has had many stop/starts and I feel they dropped the ball when they turned him heel and then back to face. This is meant to be his redemption arc, but it doesn't feel like a redemption story to me.

I feel White has been overshadowed by Juice Robinson. Also, with all the targets on MJF's back, Jay feels a bit lost in the shuffle.

Fox showed off some great aerial offense in this match, but it was not enough as Jay won with the switchblade. MJF tried to steal his belt back but failed.

The Bullet Club Gold stuck around as The Gunns squashed Brandon and Brent (The Boy's). I guess this is to give them more momentum when they wrestle for the ROH Tag Team Titles. There were quite a number of squash matches tonight.

The ROH World Television Title was on the line as Joe finished Rhett Titus off with the Coquina Clutch, in a short and dominant bout.

It turns out that Bryan Danielson has a shoot broken orbital bone and will be out for the rest of the year. Claudio Castagnoli is not happy about this and vows to avenge his BCC teammate by beating the shit of out Orange Cassidy and Kazuchika Okada.

Claudio comes to the ring fired up and easily defeats Tracy Williams. I like this side of Claudio, and now he has a mission over the next few weeks.

Ryan Nemeth knocked on CJ Perry's door. I really like Ryan and I do hope Dolph signs and tags with his brother. Unfortunately, Ryan doesn't get to speak with Perry as Miro answers the door and beats him down behind closed doors. Did Miro stick her name on the door just so he could beat up whoever knocks?

The AEW Women's World Title was on the line in a Fright Night Fight as Hikaru Shida defended her title against Abadon. This may have been one of the worst matches I've seen in a while, and that's disappointing to write. Shida is great (I loved her Ada Wong costume), but this week just hasn't been good for her. This match was slow, long and just unimaginative. Toni Storm came out post-match to flaunt. I think it's clear that Shida is keeping the belt warm for Storm.

Ricky Starks and Dax Harwood had a great match. During their bout the lights went out, and The House of Black appeared in the crowd. Dax gave Starks a sickening piledriver. Ricky returned the favour with his own piledriver to pick up the victory. This was a bizarre ending because Ricky just kicked out of the same move moments earlier. There was a post-match brawl as The House of Black came to the ring, but La Faccion Ingobernable came to save the day. I didn't think expect them to be faces, but I'm glad they are.

The story also progresses with Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale, and Skye Blue. Kris and Willow try to get answers from Blue, but she blows them off.

At this point, Collision as whole was mediocre, thanks to the main event, this was about to become a top tier episode.

Omega hit the ring with Bret Hart inspired gear. Excellent choice by The Cleaner.

MJF would start with his strut, ‘’sportsmanship’’ chant, followed by a poke to the eye and a loud cheer from the crowd. Omega got the upper hand when he tossed MJF out of the ring followed with a dive over the top rope. Max would deliver with his own drive over the top rope striking Omega on the outside. A fantastic set of moves were traded back and forth. If things weren’t crazy enough, MJF received and snapdragon suplex on the side of the ring, followed by Omega sending MJF threw a table.

Both men traded insane move, after insane move, after insane move, and I was starting to think this was going to end in a time limit draw or a TKO.

At one point Don Callis came out with a screw driver in hand but that didn’t slow Omega down as I really thought he was going to win title, but MJF would end up getting the clean victory with the heat seeker. Callis coming out was the only criticism I had of this match; he just didn't add anything.

This may have been one of MJF's best match to date. I think these two worked on another level here. Next year I would love to see another Max/Omega match.

[danwhobrowses]

I'm sorry if you think All In Wembley's card is not 'Good Enough'

I honestly am, because you must really be finding ways to make sure you're disappointed in the event.

Let me remind you that the original All In had MJF vs Matt Cross (fka Son of Havoc in Lucha Underground), Flip Gordon vs Lethal, Okada (and not Rainmaker Okada, red dye and party balloons Okada) vs Marty Scurll, Hangman vs Janela (followed by grown men in dick outfits coming out so Joey Ryan could show up), Omega vs Penta, and CD vs Stephen Amell. All this on the main card while SCU vs the Briscoes were on the pre-show. If AEW did something like that today for a PPV it'd be ripped to shreds on paper, especially since some matches were announced with little to no build, but it was the best wrestling show of that year and is still a pivotal and momentous event in wrestling history.

So I'm sorry that you didn't get Omega/Ospreay III because New Japan likely want it for Wrestle Kingdom, I'm sorry early reports of Omega being in a trios match (against two men he brought into the limelight, including a faction he once led, and teaming with his closest friend/lover and his former tag partner who he was champion with) and Ospreay/Jericho turned out to be true, I'm sorry you're getting Punk, Joe, Adam Cole, the Elite, FTR, Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Eddie Kingston, the BCC, Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm, Sting, Chris Jericho, Will Ospreay and more on a single show - which has already had to deal with injuries to Bryan Danielson, PAC and Jamie Hayter - and you still think it's not enough, but that's a you problem.

Also stop with this 'no build' nonsense; multiple storylines have been built from segments over the past few months, Eddie vs Claudio started in March for christ's sake.

[westofessos]

Now watching Collision! Here we go (under the cut cause it got really long):

Tony’s on commentary for Collision? Okay, I’m cool with that

Metalingus is a fantastic fucking song

Oh wow does Christian look good in that shirt. Goddamn.

The ‘Christian will you be my father?’ sign 😂

“Hit the bricks” “get to steppin” loving these coming from Christian

If not Luchasaurus or Jack Perry or whatever, I’m gonna need Adam to be the one to take that TNT belt off of Christian

Bryan!!

Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne banned from ringside. Fantastic

Ricky and Bill?? What the fuck do you two have to do with any of this

Oh right his whole thing with Bryan

“It’s your stupid silk slacks dumbass” “and you took it from the Rock” oh shit Adam

“That really sent me over the edge” I will never get tired of the dumb Edge jokes

I would absolutely love a Bryan/Adam team up. LOVE.

FTR? Really?

Oh cry me a fucking river you idiots

Oooh it’s brawl time

Well this inevitable eight man tag match is gonna be interesting

Oh I love that they played MJF’s Stand Up to Jewish Hate video package

CJ Perry is so gorgeous, my god

I do not like the ROH ring announcer at all

DANHAUSEN!!!!

Oh my god he said it’s almost time, I’m so excited

Juice!!

That son of a bitch needs to give Max his belt back

Wow, all of the tape on Cardblade. Poor Cock Strong

Oh my god the ring

Down on one knee and everything

“Nigel you don’t think-” 😂

The MJF chant 🥹

I swear to god if he takes the ring from Max I will lose my shit

And if Jay fucking White takes the belt from him I might actually have a breakdown

That motherfucker saying he has no friends, I swear to god I hope Max kicks his ass so hard

Dustin’s back!! It would be so fucking fantastic if he (or honestly anybody else) beat Juice in the battle royale

Don’t really like adding him to the long list of people trying to kill Max though

The “we’ve been trios champions for ___ days” thing is so good

“If it’s a thing to you, it’s a thing for all of us” awww

BILLY AND ANTHONY TRYING TO HELP CASTER 🥹 “just be a gentleman” I’m dying this is so sweet

Renee losing her shit was so funny

I adore Daddy Magic and Cool Hand Ang but Daniel Garcia can fuck off

. . . I do not care about Skye Blue at all

But never mind about that because IT’S STAT TIME!!!!

I’m pretty sure she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen

“What’re you doing? This isn’t you” oh Stat 😢

I love that Stat is out here just giving literally everyone she wrestles the best matches of their careers

Okay they can turn Skye Blue heel all they want but they cannot turn Willow heel, that’s ridiculous. Her joy is stronger than that black shit

And you’ll have to pry Staturday Nightingale out of my cold dead hands

OUT OF MY COLD DEAD HANDS TONY

Oh Kenny vs Kyle is gonna be good

Yeah I’m really not in any hurry for Rush and his buddies to come back

Turbo Floyd is definitely on the list of worst wrestling names of all time

I really like that they have storylines from ROH progress (or even just reference them) on AEW TV

Sting on Wednesday?? Fuck yeah

Oh my god the render for Nick Wayne’s mom

Ooh that Mistico video package was fantastic

Time for Bryan vs Christian, this is going to be awesome

‘Christian did nothing wrong’ 😂

Oh shit, no time limit? Is that the first time they’ve ever actually said that? I feel like it might be. Like sure, they always ‘go as long as it takes’ but I don’t remember ever hearing them say that

“Necks by Christian Cage” “Who’s gonna sun this match, and why is it Christian Cage?” “Doesn’t need to mat wrestle a clam digger” Nigel is the best

I really need Excalibur on this show because I have no idea what so much of the stuff Bryan is doing is called and I would really like to

Love seeing Nigel on his feet in the background just losing his shit

That was a great match

Oh brawl #2

That was a really great show! Can’t wait for Wednesday

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Most Beloved AEW Tournament Round 1 Statistics Dump

Thank you all for participating in the wonderful first two weeks of my silly lil poll

Followers: 130

Total Votes: 13,148

Times I accidentally forgot to include a wrestler: 1 (sorry ZSJ)

Beloved By Gender

So the original count of men, women and nonbinary wrestlers was 205/64/2, demonstrated in a pie chart as:

(The fact that this is the chart is a separate problem that won't be addressed here)

But after voting, the ratio looks like this:

Which means, from an overall standpoint, women and nonbinary wrestlers are more beloved than men

Voting trends

As the tournament got more popular, more votes started coming in, which is how some winners got so few votes. Over the last two weeks, the vote counts look like:

(Day 6 was the Great Riho VS Kip Sabian Battle of 2023 and also featured Ricky Starks and Nick Jackson in the voting with just shy of 600 votes just between the four of them. Day 11 was the Roderick Strong VS Trent Beretta debate and also Danhausen, garnering well over 600 votes between the three of them)

Teams and How They Fared

BCC: Bryan Danielson (31), Claudio Castagnoli (70), Jon Moxley (133) & Wheeler Yuta (186) all passed first round

Best Friends: Kris Statlander (51), Chuck Taylor (176), Orange Cassidy (186) & Danhausen (201) all made it to round two. Trent Beretta (207) lost to Roderick Strong.

The Elite: Matt Jackson (25), Adam Page (51), Kota Ibushi (58) & Nick Jackson (119) made it to round 2. Kenny Omega (160) lost to Willow Nightingale.

BCG: Jay White (76), Colten Gunn (97) &Juice Robinson (105) made it to round two. Austin Gunn (42) lost to Stokely Hathaway.

The Acclaimed: Max Caster (59), Billy Gunn (104) & Anthony Bowens (117) all passed first round.

House Of Black: Buddy Matthews (68), Brody King (102), Julia Hart (128) & Malakai Black (136) all passed first round.

Dark Order: Stu Grayson (25), Alex Reynolds (31), Evil Uno (36), John Silver (74) & Mr Brodie Lee (101) all made it to round two. Alan Angels (18) lost to Anna Jay.

The Outcasts: Ruby Soho (107) & Toni Storm (149) made it to round two. Saraya (55) lost to Brent Tate.

FTR: Dax Harwood (28) lost to Dalton Castle and Cash Wheeler (12) lost to Samoa Joe.

Jurassic Express: Luchasaurus (33) & Jack Perry (85) made it to round two (thanks to the voters deciding Jack should move on). Marko Stunt (52) lost to Komander.

Jericho Appreciation Society: Angelo Parker (33), Tay Melo (44), Jake Hager (50), Matt Menard (84) & Anna Jay (111) all made it to round two. Chris Jericho (23) lost to Rocky Romero and Sammy Guevara (10) lost to Tay Melo.

Death Triangle: Penta (41) & Rey Fenix (119) made it to round two. Pac (56) lost to Jay White.

The 100%ers

Out of the whole tournament, only 3 wrestlers got a perfect score with not a single vote against them

Powerhouse Hobbs (35)

Sting (50)

Rey Fenix (119)

Thank you to all who participated thus far and watch out for the round 2 voting starting tomorrow!

[gutwrenchflowerbomb]

Here are my Double or Nothing predictions and/or fantasy bookings that no one asked for! These things will absolutely not happen but in my mind, this is what should happen.

Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Rosa. I like them both but like Rosa a little more than Deonna.

The Acclaimed & Daddy Ass vs. Brian Cage & Gates of Agony

Daddy Ass and the Acclaimed

The Bang Bang Gang (Jay White, Austin & Colten Gunn) (c) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero M) for the Unified Trios titles

This is a tough one because I low key love the train wreck - one brain cell ass combo of the Bang Bang Gang BUT I’m a Lucha Bros Babe from before AEW so I’m giving the edge to Death Triangle

Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta

Listen. Here’s all I’m gonna say. I’m Team Chuck Taylor above all others. And Chuck chose Orange. So if that’s what Chuck thought, that’s what I think

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita in an IWGP World Heavyweight championship Eliminator

That arm in the chair spot handicaps Mox a bit which I think leaves this open for Takeshita to take this win (only to lose when the actual title is on the line)

Chris Jericho (c) vs. HOOK vs. Katsuyori Shibata for the FTW title

Anyone but Jericho. Fuck outta here.

(low key rooting for Shibata tho)

Adam Copeland (c) vs. Malakai Black in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match for the TNT championship

If I had my way, Adam is gonna come out to the whole old school Brood entrance, I’m talking with the original music, the ring of fire and Gangrel carrying the blood filled chalice.

Anyway I’m thinking Adam has the edge (get it lol) and this is clearly leading, as I said when Adam first got inked by Malakai, to Adam turning evil and taking over HOB (so that Malakai and maybe Buddy can fuck off back to WWE to be with their SOs, which I don’t fault them for wanting)

Roderick Strong (c) vs. Will Ospreay for the International championship

I want Ospreay to come out and immediately decapitate Matt Taven with a round house kick and for Matt Taven’s head to fly into Mike Bennett’s gut and go clean through it leaving a comical hole like in the movie Death Becomes Her.

And then he beats Roderick.

Timeless Toni Storm (c) vs. Serena Deeb for the AEW Women World title

Toni Storm cross body blocks Serena and then just starts mocking a seizure and her acting is so good that Serena immediately submits.

Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Moné for the TBS title

Willow picks up Mercedes and tosses her into the rafters like she was a paper plane. When Mercedes floats back down to the ring after 15 mins of gliding, Willow powerbombs her so hard that Earth’s magnetic poles shift

Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Christian Cage for the AEW World championship

Swerve should roll Nick Wayne up in one of Mother Wayne’s dusters and use him like a lance to take out Luchasaurus/Killswitch, since he has a masters degree in Medieval history, I believe Luchaswitch would appreciate it.

Then Swerve would have to defeat Mother Wayne as Christian would be hanging on to her leg like a scared kitten.

Once Mother Wayne was disposed of, Swerve will have Nana dance so hard that Christian will pass out resulting in a win via TKO

The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kazuchika Okada & Jack Perry) vs. Team AEW (FTR, Bryan Danielson & Darby Allin) in Anarchy in the Arena

This is too ripe for wild shit. Nothing I could imagine would come close to whatever inevitable insane shit Darby does.

I’ll just say I’m Team Elite. Because I can’t stand FTR.

[basil-the-scorned]

ALL OUT PREDICTIONS

(doing this in advance because I will be distracted the rest of the day. Highlighted is who I want to win, bold is who probably would win)

ZERO HOUR

Athena, Mercedes Martinez, and Diamante vs. Hikaru Shida, Willow Nightingale, and Skye Blue

Over the Budget Battle Royale- I'm gonna be real, I don't know who's gonna be on this, but if the best friends is on there, my flag's on them!

AEW World Trios Championship: The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) and Billy Gunn (c) (with Dennis Rodman) vs. Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, and Jay Lethal (with Sonjay Dutt and Karen Jarrett)

NOW TO ALL OUT

Bullet Club Gold (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Jay White, and Juice Robinson) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)- i'm sorry Bucks and FTR but I want the BangBangGang to win (I also wanna see some heel bucks)

Eddie Kingston and Katsuyori Shibata vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta)- All I ask is for Yuta to NOT take the pin PLEASE.

Miro vs. Powerhouse Hobbs- Huh. I'm actually stuck on this one. I don't really know...

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Ricky Starks vs Bryan Danielson Strap Match- Changed my mind last minute, Ricky needs an upset win. He's been cucked long enough. (almost forgot this one there's so many, thanks @sheinthatfandom)

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shane Taylor for the ROH World TV Title

Adam Cole and MJF (c) vs. John Silver and Alex Reynolds (the dark order) for the ROH World Tag Team Titles- AHHH, DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE. I want both to happen.

Kris Statlander (c) vs. Ruby Soho for the AEW TBS Title

Luchasaurus (c) (with Christian Cage) vs. Darby Allin for the AEW TNT Title

Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley for the AEW International Title-THE ONE MATCH I'M OVER THE MOON FOR AND AGAIN, DON'T WANNA CHOOSE. But If I really think about it, and they're building Orange the way I'm thinking...he might win.

And that's all my thoughts for the matches!