Performance Review
Evaluate Performance and achieved goals
If you ignore all the stupidity dragging everything down and AEW being nowhere nowhere close to the breath of fresh air implicitly promised, this show was fine. All the stupidity was really kind of stupid though. Back-to-back interference finishes and cult recruitment angles in a row is just extra stupid, especially when both angles individually were so stupid to begin with, that I’d say it has to be on purpose, but this is pro wrestling which just seems magnetically attracted to things that are stupid.
The boys have got to get on the same page. We’ve got Kenny Omega and Hangman Page going 15 in forgettable workrate tags, Pentagon Jr. cutting heel promos, Dustin Rhodes pinning Fenix, Diamond Dallas Page returning to wrestling and teaming with QT Marshall, and the main feud is Jericho and Moxley which anyone who’s watched wrestling in the last half decade knows is a real shit match.
I’m cool with asking for patience, but not when you blew your load on the MJF return like a month into your TV. This isn’t variety, it is kind of a shit show!
Areas of excellence within performance
MJF is finding a balance between yelling for no reason and classic 1980s coked up pro wrestling yelling. Seems like a keeper.
Hangman Adam Page looked like a pretty good wrestler in that wrestling match.
Arn Anderson got to talk on TV.
Jon Moxley‘s delivery of the “Chris, I forgot – I was just kidding” was incredible. Might’ve been game changer stuff on a stronger show.
Suggested areas of improvement
Why is PAC so obsessed with a “rubber” match with Kenny Omega? Why the stressing of “rubber” match? This does not make AEW appear to be more like sport. It just makes it sound off-putting and creepy. Also, why is this what PAC is doing? It’s PAC! GOD DAMN PAC!! HE’S HERE! IN AMERICA! ON TV! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?
After all the hoopla surrounding the Riho vs. Kris Statlander AEW Women’s World Title match, the call to have it end with such rotting apathy in the form of a convoluted appearance by Brandi Rhodes and crew was extra special dumb. Maybe you grab Britt Baker or something, but there isn’t even a possible match at the end here. What is going on? DR. LUTHER? FMW… Deathmatch Legend… Dr. Luther?
And then they did a Dark Order thing like 10 minutes later, another stupid embarrassing wrestling thing, another thing where some creep is slowly recruiting members of the roster to their team of unsuccessful nobodies through spooky video editing. It’s not just a basic wrestling rule being broken, it’s two bad angles back-to-back that overshadowed each other both in what they were trying to accomplish and just how stupid they each were.
I wish I could be fired up about DDP‘s return to the ring being announced via match graphic, but all I could do is put my palm on my face.
My suggestion is to stop being disappointing and stupid. I still am a fan of like 75% of the folks you employ. Let them succeed!
Additional Feedback
Top Plays of the Week
3. Hangman Page’s Powerbomb: I don’t want to encourage that type of thing, but that was very cool. I could get into Kenny and Page just destroying other teams but they’re definitely going to be feuding within a month.
2. “I wish Lance was here”: A sweet moment right at the start of the show show, with Jim Ross telling old Memphis announcer Dave Brown he wishes the late Lance Russell was on the headsets with them.
1. That Last Shot of Jon Moxley: Mox holding up the Ford GT car keys he just swindled Chris Jericho out of surrounded by fans all crazy-eyed and excited about the wrath that will come from The Inner Circle is the Jon Moxley I was excited about.
Lowest Moments of the Week
3. Dustin Rhodes Pins Fenix: I am all for another resurgence of Dustin Rhodes but what’re we doing with ol Fenix here?
2. Marq Quen’s Elbows: Love Private Party but tighten that up, c’mon.
1. That Women’s Title Match Finish: Over-complicated, eye roll inducing, poorly executed – just bad wrestling.
Confident Statements
3. The Nightmare Collective can stop now. Putting on my big boy pants and saying what needs to be said, again, in perpetuity, like everybody else, because I and everybody else just can’t put our finger on why we’re so unimpressed with the biggest alternative to WWE in years.
2. The eyeballs on AEW blew NXT’s out of the water this week. Hey, I wasn’t expecting that.
1. The possibilities here are lacking. I look at a wrestling roster, and I go: hey, that’d be cool if those guys wrestled. After a few months, the exciting pairings have dwindled, either due to them already showing all their cards or not slotting and establishing guys well. That’s disappointing, especially after some incredible initial hype as they signed all the most interesting free agents in pro wrestling
And The Wrestling
Kenny Omega & Hangman Adam Page vs. Private Party went nearly 20 minutes and they did ALL the stuff, just an endless array of double teams and superkicks and powerbombs and big moves, including Marq Quen just going off with four big dives to the floor in a row. They did so much wild stuff that it did that AEW thing where it almost seemed like too much, like at the end of the day nobody really got over but they also got a lot of pops and everybody seemed to have a good time. Page stood out, just hauling ass to ensure that if this thing is gonna suck it won’t be his fault. Dave Brown doing commentary for ALL THIS had to be a rib, but a wonderful rib.
Kris Statlander looked like Andre the Giant next to AEW Women’s World Champ Riho, though I guess that’s kind of Riho’s thing. It was a few minutes of stuff overwhelmed by Brandi Rhodes being a jerk on commentary, and then they ran the finish I’ve already cried enough about.
Sammy Guevera, a highlight of AEW Dynamite, wrestled Christopher Daniels in a very solid basic match that ended with more interference and more creeps trying to recruit people.
Cody & Dustin Rhodes teaming on TV again should be a blessing and them opposite The Lucha Bros sure had potential but it was all just kind of there. Still not sure what the play is with the Lucha fellas. Cody trying a complicated Frankensteiner was cute, but like the Mox thing a fun spot on a better show.
Jurassic Express vs. Best Friends & Orange Cassidy – happy they all got time, Orange Cassidy is great, Marko Stunt is good, but generally this all felt kind of meaningless.
Official Star Rating
1.75 out of 5 Stars
