Lets Discuss All Things Wrestling - Even The T-Shirt Company AEW!

[TOUCAN]

When did William Morrisey become Big Bill? Because I saw him listed as Big Bill for Rampage tonight and I spit out my Gatorade.

[Jeezla]

Was HHH a Big Cass kind of guy? Would love to see him in NXT in a program with Bron or form a tag team with Drew on the main roster. Can't be calling himself Big Bill though.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Jeezla

[StLunatic88]

51 minutes ago, JoshstraDaymus said:

When did William Morrisey become Big Bill? Because I saw him listed as Big Bill for Rampage tonight and I spit out my Gatorade.

I think it just happened, Dynamite was the first time Ive ever heard him called anything other than W. Morrissey

53 minutes ago, JoshstraDaymus said:

I loved Jade for awhile. I'm now just kind of over it.

Dont blame you there, likely another case of TK playing out the string WAY too long

[StLunatic88]

So despite TK beeing too online and listening too much to people complaining about ROH being on AEW TV, and halting the build to Final Battle almost in its tracks, they still some how put together a card that Im really excited to see. I was going to expound on that, but I think we all know how TK is at this point, and while yes it needed to be separated, this was not the time to do it.

It does sound like were getting a big announcement on Saturday about whatever Show ROH is getting, which is great, but I also think this will impact the results of the show.

Final Battle Preview

Pre-Show: I actually like the idea of nothing announced for a Buy-In, we could get some ROH history told there, possibly even a surprise or two (maybe this is where the announcement is made?)

Swerve in Our Glory vs Shane Taylor Promotions

• A nice grudge match, that if you know the history, its even more intriguing. Some will complain that not more was explained on AEW TV, but I think this is a better way to fo it, it get you pulled in with a current story with an old one. Regardless of the small build, I think this has to be STP taking a win, my only question comes with the how? Does Swerve just return the favor to Keith? And he walks off leaving Lee to basically compete in a Handicap match? Or does STP actually join forces with Swerve, and maybe thats a Faction on ROH going forward? Swerve would be one of the immediate Top Heels in ROH, and could take the World Title off of the first Babyface Champ they crown.

6-Man Tag Championsip: Dalton Castle & The Boys (C) vs The Embassy

• Ive been calling for this for a while now, its what makes the most sense. While they never really gave Nana's biys a big win, they were constantly showcased. While JAS is probably a cameo for ROH, The Embassy is likely one of the best Stables they can have on ROH right now. Give these three monsters belts, and they can be a staple of their shows. I really like Dalton, and I hope he is signed for ROH (never confirmed I dont think?) But him & The Boys just arent good enough to carry those titles. 

TV Championship: Samoa Joe (C) vs Juice Robinson

• People's excitement for Juice varies, I actually like it. Hes a guy who is a good get for ROH. I do not expect him to take the belt off of Joe, especially after he just manhandled Darby on Dynamite. But I could see this being where Wardlow just shows up to interrupt and cost him the title? I wouldnt like that, I wouldnt do that, so hopefully they dont. Juice can get alot of rub if he just shows alittle better than Darby did, even if that has to do with some type of distraction.

Women's Championship: Mercedes Martinez (C) vs Athena 

• I dont have a whole lot to say about this match, but they have Athena making waves right now, while Martinez hasnt even shown her face on AEW, even though they say shes healthy? This could be an absolute squash, especially if Martinez isnt 100%. And honestly thats what I would do here, make Athena into basically a Monster Heel for the Women's division, you could get a whole lot of run out of that. Then if you want Martinez can make her journey back eventually.

PURE Championship: Daniel Garcia (C) vs Wheeler Yuta

• Ok, so this is me calling a bit of a shot here. I feel like this is earlier on the Card, and a Yuta win could really make it feel like anything can happen in the Jericho/Claudio Championship match. They have not really done a whole lot with Garcia and this belt lately, so maybe even him losing it via a Pure DQ could be the way to go. It lets him claim that he's still better than Yuta or whatever, but gets a babyface title change on the card, while you already have a few Heel title wins, so this way you dont telegraph the ending to your show.

Tag Team Championship: FTR (C) vs The Briscoes (Double Dog Collar)

• Still kind of surprised TK pull the trigger here, but he did find a way to do it without ever having The Briscoes on AEW TV. I also worry about where this match goes on the card, it could really suck all the energy out of the Championship match if it goes on right before it. Being a Dog Collar match, it does lean toward favoring The Briscoes, and if they already have the TV deal in place, seems like they have already vetted them with whatever station is putting it on, so they could give them the Belts, but Im not sure they are ready to let FTR take the AEW belts yet, so I think they hold onto them one more time.

World Championship: Chris Jericho (C) vs Claudio Castognoli

• I think Ring of Jericho goes just a bit longer, into whatever TV show they now have. And as Ive said before, Ive actually warmed up to the idea of Claudio reluctantly in the JAS. Its a time honored story in wrestling where he is reluctantly put into service, and then one by one tears the JAS apart from the inside. Especially the idea of him and Hager being a Tag Team again, with Claudio still giving it his all in the ring, but hates it durring the "sports entertainer" moments. I would also love to have them be the ones to pull the Tag Titles off of FTR in like a month. And while Claudio winning would feel like a triumphent moment, I dont think it carries that well into the future if they just completely drop the ROJ stuff before the company even gets back off the ground.

[StLunatic88]

20 hours ago, Jeezla said:

Was HHH a Big Cass kind of guy? Would love to see him in NXT in a program with Bron or form a tag team with Drew on the main roster. Can't be calling himself Big Bill though.

Not sure if Cass was in that group for Trips.

But I just actually watched Rampage, and hearing him actually introduced as “Big Bill” was even worse than I thought just hearing Schiavone say it during the Battle Royle. Not sure who thought that was a good idea, but stop it

[StLunatic88]

Really like this match to start Zero Hour.

Still very surprised they didn’t use Jeff Cobb for the Ring of Jericho stuff. 

They did a nice job with the set-up too

[StLunatic88]

Good start to the night for the JAS. I always enjoy 2.0, and this is a good table setter for the rest of their bright. 
 

 

Getting Willow over to ROH is the move. She has what it takes to be the Babyface of that division. 
 

Top Flight should do great things in AEW (I’d like them to have those Tag Titles this year). But man did they misfire with The Kingdom debut on AEW. Feels like that was the point where TK slammed on the breaks

[StLunatic88]

LFI is just old school wrestling. Love it. But are they going ROH? Are they going to span all of TKs promotions? Could overextend them. 
 

The more I see of AR Fox the more I like him. Keep him rolling. 
 

I know Athena marches to the bear if her own drum, and I know she is all about her entrance and gear, but someone had to stop her from the googly eye. Have it painted on, or part of the entrance, but don’t wrestle with it. Thankfully it fell off before her big moment

The right person won, but if you were going to give it to her, after touting how badass and stiff/strong she is, why do it with the exposed turnbuckle? They should have had Martinez run out of gas (that way it protects her when she “gets back in the swing of it” for a rematch down the road) and then have Athena put 2 min of a clinic to win it convincingly. Oh well, she has it, hopefully she comes off as a badass heel

Edited December 10, 2022 by StLunatic88

[StLunatic88]

Great story in the grudge tag match. Swerve walking out made sense, this does make me think that Taylor and Griffey aren’t  in any immediate plans for ROH. 

Did I maybe miss the potential of Keith Lee being the baby face headliner for ROH? That would be pretty nice, and get him away from the crowded situation in AEW

 

This Six man match was perfect. Showed of Castle and his antics we all love. Even The Boys showed out better than I expected. But in the end, Domination from The Embassy, and gold for Prince Nana 

[beekay414]

William Regal back to WWE

[StLunatic88]

I got pulled away, but just to put a bow on Final Battle;

HO-LY-SH!T - Thats all Ive got to say about the Double Dog Collar Match. My little recap thoughts wouldnt do it any amount of justice, just make sure you watch it. (should have been the Main Event, but you couldnt with this World Title stuff happening)

But this is also when I think I realized that the hope for a network ROH show was dead (for now). TK would just not give them a premier spot on a syndicated show. Do I agree with that? Not really. Even though The Briscoes arent exactly my cup of tea, I respect what they have done in the business.

 

I did like the showing by Juice, never thought he would take the belt off of Joe here. Ive enjoyed him since his CJ Parker days, although not many share that sentiment, but nowadays he would be a really good piece for ROH, although he would likely get lost on AEW at this point. Joe still looked good, King of TV should be fun for a bit.

 

After the Briscoes won, I all but assumed Claudio was going to win also. I dont hate it, It was likely TK's plan all along for Claudio (before the BCC emergency button) and resetting all of these titles is a good thing in my mind. The Giant Swing tap out was an interesting way to do it, but at the same time, I think it kind of took away from the moment. It was more confusion than pop there. Good for Claudio, hes a guy Ive always liked, and ROH is the kind of place where him as the Top Dog actually works. Im assuming we are mostly just dropping the JAS stuff now as far as ROH goes, which is fine, it was losing steam (really think the ball was dropped here)

 

I will admit, that I now realize that I had too much faith in Tony Khan and his ability to parlay all of this into a weekly TV Show. Now is that his downfall, or all the stuff going on at WB/D right now? Probably a mix of both. But atleast we are getting some thing weekly for ROH, even if it is on Honor Club. With that change, I will pull back my ROH love-fests in this thread for a while, but I will say while its not the most ideal situation, its not a bad landing spot per-say. I would think this is a placeholder till all AEW properties come up for negotiation with WB/D, and I wouldnt be shocked to see it wrapped into a package, wherever they end up. (4 hours of Wrestling a week isnt a crazy ask from TK to whoever he signs the next deal with, I would even say he should go to 5 and Rampage should be 2 hours as well)

Edited December 13, 2022 by StLunatic88

[Dr LBC]

6 hours ago, StLunatic88 said:

After the Briscoes won, I all but assumed Claudio was going to win also. I dont hate it, It was likely TK's plan all along for Claudio (before the BCC emergency button) and resetting all of these titles is a good thing in my mind. The Giant Swing tap out was an interesting way to do it, but at the same time, I think it kind of took away from the moment. It was more confusion than pop there. Good for Claudio, hes a guy Ive always liked, and ROH is the kind of place where him as the Top Dog actually works. Im assuming we are mostly just dropping the JAS stuff now as far as ROH goes, which is fine, it was losing steam (really think the ball was dropped here)

See, the appeal for me with the Briscoes has always been a higher-grade level of why Mance Warner has appeal with people.  I could give a crap that they're willing to work hardcore stuff or take bumps (though in Jay and Mark's defense, they do them better protected than a lot of guys out there taking those same bumps).  Does some of that augment and act as a multiplier to what I like about them?  Sure.  But they'd have what I like regardless.  They come across in a way that transcends gimmick.  They're the sort of characters that aren't even necessarily characters, where they make you believe that - kind of in an inverse to Brock, who could go into business for himself if he wanted to and he's made so damn much money, he could survive a massive lawsuit and still be comfortable - with the Briscoes, they could believably (particularly the characters) go into business for themselves because they haven't got anything of value to lose.  Go ahead and sue them, you'll get a dilapidated double-wide in Podunk, West Virginia.

It's one of the same reasons why I had initially thought I could get into Nick Gage, until I discovered how much of a POS he is who takes his gimmick too seriously.

I get that the Briscoes aren't Tony's cup of tea (and I still suspect some of that may be less Tony and more the Jacksons not wanting another established team with an established reputation that is perceived to be on - or above - their level that they'd be expected to put over at least 50% of the time).  But I just need someone to pick up and run with Mark and Jay (because they're not going to Japan for any extended period of time) before Impact tries to (or does) sign them and makes a mockery out of what is so good about them by doing the cinematic stuff beyond the realms of absurdity.

[Dr LBC]

Also, if Tony's going to run Rampage 2 hours per episode, he needs to either move it from Fridays or have it go head-to-head in part of its timeslot with Smackdown (which if the WWE model from back when pro wrestling was A LOT hotter with the general masses is any barometer - airing a taped show opposite a live show isn't good for your ratings or advertisers, especially in the age of DVR).  Because you're otherwise looking at asking your key demographic (the one AEW loves to sing to the heavens that they dominate: the 18-25's) to stay in till 10-11pm in a good chunk of domestic time zones... on a Friday night.

Asking that demo to choose between AEW and WWE is one thing.  Asking them to choose between a taped wrestling show (that they can just as easily DVR or read the spoilers for in advance) and their weekly alcohol binge is something entirely different.

[StLunatic88]

31 minutes ago, Dr LBC said:

get that the Briscoes aren't Tony's cup of tea (and I still suspect some of that may be less Tony and more the Jacksons not wanting another established team with an established reputation that is perceived to be on - or above - their level that they'd be expected to put over at least 50% of the time).

Im not saying that the Jackson's arent part of what is holding the Briscoes out of AEW, but I dont think its as much to do with them not being TK's "cup of tea" and more so the baggage that comes with them, and broadcasting that on to a nationally syndicated television station.

Weather or not those past transgressions (insensitive tweets, clothing/gear used) should be still held against them nearly a decade later is not really up for discussion at this point, the reality is that they are, and especially by those people who are not die hard wrestling fans. Those voices are unfortuately louder against them than any voice supporting them, so when it comes along with advertising dollars, they arent going to win that fight until they are a big enough draw to outweigh any backlash.

And sadly, that may be the easy excuse that those trying to hold them out of AEW use to make sure they dont get that chance. I mean Brian Kendrick's opportunity got halted before it even started just recently. So with ROH going onto Honor Club, people are making a choice to watch them, hopefully that becomes alot of people and they do get that chance.

[StLunatic88]

31 minutes ago, Dr LBC said:

Also, if Tony's going to run Rampage 2 hours per episode, he needs to either move it from Fridays or have it go head-to-head in part of its timeslot with Smackdown (which if the WWE model from back when pro wrestling was A LOT hotter with the general masses is any barometer - airing a taped show opposite a live show isn't good for your ratings or advertisers, especially in the age of DVR).  Because you're otherwise looking at asking your key demographic (the one AEW loves to sing to the heavens that they dominate: the 18-25's) to stay in till 10-11pm in a good chunk of domestic time zones... on a Friday night.

Asking that demo to choose between AEW and WWE is one thing.  Asking them to choose between a taped wrestling show (that they can just as easily DVR or read the spoilers for in advance) and their weekly alcohol binge is something entirely different.

I agree here, but I think the vey set up of a 2 hour show is what allows you to go Live on most/all Fridays. Its having just a 1 hour show that makes it hard to justify every week getting a whole new arena and setting up everything, rather than just tacking it on what you are already doing on Wednesdays.

If you have Wednesday's set up as Dynamite for 2 hours live, and then your hour+ of dark matches in that arena are the YouTube show (should be just Dark). Then you could do your 2 hours Live of Rampage (I think moving it forward an hour is the way to go also) but you could use the other Hour you have of the Live Crowd to tape your ROH show, weather thats still on Honor Club or a real station. It wouldn't be that hard to have an adjustable set up for the entrance way, and change the lighting in the arena to make them feel different enough.

 

Also, WWE might be in some trouble with Fox on Friday nights as it is, and could end up somewhere other than Fox proper in the near future. Could open up some more viewership on Fridays.