Timbo Slice

People value “speed” in technicians more than anything. Which is why ZSJ got over like he did. Dory and Destroyer doing it the way they did it wasn’t a “lesser” version of it, either.

People think “technicians” are chain-wrestling freaks as opposed to masters of transition: Regal’s biggest strength was always finding the smallest advantage that may have been subtle to most, whereas the great “technicians” make a show out of those subtleties. ZSJ’s flashiness doesn’t make him better; it might make it easier to understand, but Regal’s effortlessness was the draw. He even made it more comedic when he went for a big technical move sometimes, something that was more a rite amongst English heavies since the technical proficiency of the juniors was such a big part of the draw. It’s also hilarious that Thatcher got brought up here given the discourse around him when he was at his peak and was similarly on an island.

Joe/Darby is the 2022 Hoot of the Year, pals.

The Ol’ switcheroo.

You mean like how they put Arn and Dustin on TV in obvious mentor roles? They didn’t add anything to the product?

Great fucking finish though. PAC is a great seller.

She was just…I do not blame Bow Wow at all. Shoot your shot. Meanwhile, this main event has too much fuckery. Too many big moves just being kicked out of. Ref shenanigans that doesn’t mean much. The action is gonna carry it to a favorable result for fans of the style but it also has a weird structure to it.

Tony, if you’re reading this (and you are because you’re conveniently booking Danielson in a main event match for the title), pay Kawada whatever he wants for one match with Eddie.

I can’t tell you what exactly they’re going for but I’ll tell you what, we’re going to be discussing it ad nauseum.

KO wearing the Dusty shirt, my dude about to bleed BUCKETS.

LOL FUCK OUTTA HERE

Also, his forward roll-based offense is shit.

A really weirdly paced show: Women’s WarGames was overconvoluted and bloated. The AJ/Finn match just kinda ended after a somewhat heatless stretch run. And then Ronda/Shotzi was blah because Shotzi had absolutely no chance. These next two matches really need to deliver for me.

Shotzi needed to hit something crazy to start to really get the crowd behind her. The crowd isn’t feeling it at all.

This match is more cute than good.

Too much reliance on plunder and convoluted sequences. It’s WarGames. Keep it simple.

Rhea doing pull-ups in the cage making me thinking things. Respectfully.

The amount of concern trolling here on all sides about Danielson is insane.

In which, like all sports entities, a cool song has a similar title and is used to promote an event but the song doesn’t mean nearly what you think it does! Anyways, here’s The Big Dog.

Fucking no set piece-having ass US squad.

“Workrate” dwarfs that in the newsletter jargon that’s been harmful to the business. Once the cult of star ratings became a thing, wrestlers flocked to snow like 80’s ski instructors. Fucking Ouroboros eating it’s own tail soon followed. The issue is the divergence of what actually “makes money” in pro wrestling nowadays. Focused storytelling with a payoff was always the way, but now it’s a commodity and can really only be done with maybe one or two stories simultaneously per a specific brand on a level that actually “makes money” or at least attempts to. Hardcores THINK it’s the work that’s the main draw to AEW; the fans that tuned in wanted a true alternative to WWE on more than just a work perspective and that’s been scattershot. There was a genuine feeling to the product and that’s eroded due to several factors the last few months (way more than the Punk/Elite stuff). And now the only mainstream compelling thing about them will probably not bring the company (and the wrestlers involved) prosperity because folks are too stingy to play ball and need it to go 50/50 because the “that don’t work for me, brother” meme gets pushed too far. I chuckled at the notion of the Bo7 series as it’s a “real sports” presentation because Kenny thinks he’s fucking Jordan; he’s Kobe at best.

Fucking bullshit ass dumbass tackle that led to the penalty. PLUS Turner guessing right and still missing the save. How you attack like they did for a half and then forget how to do it in the second half is blasphemous. Anyways, here’s The Big Dog.

Absolute GOAT

EDDIE

The TV ratings the Crush Gals pulled at their peak was insane. They were doing shares in the 10-12 range and were the highest rated programming draw in the country. Not pro wrestling. The COUNTRY OF JAPAN. They ran two 10k houses in the span of a week (8/22/85 at the Budokan and the famous 8/28/85 Osaka show) the first time in company history AJW had done such a thing. That is some high stakes shit. The Becky draw argument is strictly on the merits of a traditional wrestling draw and she truly is the biggest female draw in history based on environment and precedent looking at it in that way. I actually think it’s apples to oranges given the societal aspects at play; trying to compare simply because they’re both women does both sides of the argument a disservice.