WingedEagle

It ended at a reasonable time of night. That's about all the positive I can say about it. The women's tag was okay and far & away the best match on the show. The new woman from Australia is being presented as a big deal. Everything else fall way below expectations and/or precedent.

In the moment I didn't like the ending. Its not at all what I wanted and isn't remotely satisfying to me. But its probably not the end. This may set up the next 3-6+ months of feuds at the top of the card. It may set up Danielson returning once or twice next year. I may feel very differently about it all then. But right now it was a sour note to wrap an absolutely incredible, riveting match.

Absolutely incredible match but the finish somehow felt a bit sudden.

Really incredible thus far. Even the unexpected use of Shafir has been pitch perfect. Moxley pacing his violence has really been something.

I didn't love the finish but it served a purpose, builds TV and the Australia show, and that match was absolutely bonkers and somehow exceeded expectations. Loved it.

Apparently it puts me on an island with my boy Wilson, but MXM is an absolute zero for me. On a good day. Just doesn't move the needle at all in the right direction. Page/White is absolutely rocking now but it feels a PPV or 2 early for for a babyface White to face this strong a heel. Just not there yet as a face but no surprise the work is overcoming it.

My wife generally loves documentaries so she was open to this but when I saw it was heavy on storyline stuff like that I knew it wasn't worth the effort.

1000%. We're a generation or two past Jericho having any value on top or legitimate heat. But, sure, let's light a match on our way out the door.

Why is Chris Jericho getting a 20 minute TV match in 2024?

Is this because of Bret? Or because since that time we can now access the classics in real time or near-real time? Because we're flooded with wrestling, sports, news, media, culture and takes on all of the above 24/7 and thus the bar for breaking through to become part of canon rather than forgettable has been raised to a level unfathomable 30 years ago? I don't think the answer is clear but I think such questions and context are vital to consider when discussing such an issue.

Yet another phenomenal AEW PPV. Page/Swerve was a fitting next step and escalation in their feud and I didn't mind the length or pacing at all. The needle absolutely bothered me as it felt like something out of a snuff film for the sake of it. They had more than established violence, brutality, hatred and whatever other visceral feelings you could possibly want by that point and that single spot felt like a complete divergence from everything they'd done on this night and previously. I just don't get why it was needed or what it added. I loved the match and it was hardly ruined by it, but it would've been so much cleaner to right to the finish without that spot. Willow vs. Stat blew away every expectation I had and worked with such stiffness and energy in what was probably my second favorite match of the night. The violence felt organic and generally flowed pretty well and didn't feel like a stunt show save a couple minor exceptions. Possibly my favorite women's match in company history (unless I'm overlooking something obvious). Danielson vs. Perry was good. Which is fine, except Danielson usually delivers something a whole lot better than good. Perry needed to work like a chickenshit heel looking for any and every edge rather than as Dragon's equal, but whatever. Onward and upward. That angle afterwards was absolutely INCREDIBLE, with Yuta's performance putting it over the top. Really, really curious where they go next as it seemed like Dragon would defend and perhaps drop the title at WrestleDream in front of a hometown crowd. But now they've got Darby at Grand Slam along with Mox, Claudio, maybe Pac, perhaps Christian and an Ospreay return encounter all in the cards. Maybe Danielson is working us all again and sticking around a little longer? Ospreay vs. Pac was great. On most nights perhaps my MOTN but Swerve/Page and Willow/Stat both connected more with me here. I just didn't this at the MOTYC level some folks were immediately discussing it as, but this was great and would love to see it revisited.

I haven't made it to the subsequent TV yet and don't remember from when I watched this in real time (Good lord that is 27 years ago!), but did they ever explain why Savage linked up with Sting before the turn?

Really good call. Man is not eager to get off his feet and will only do so in the most delicate manner possible. Will be tough to unsee that.

That Gunther pop seemed pretty tame, especially relative to Kaiser's last night and a number of others on this show. Berlin not feeling the ring general?

Tye Dillinger, tell us how she rates tonight?! Meanwhile, with all the chatter about Sid the last few days -- is Rhea somewhat a vastly better yet comparable female? Incredible look, charisma and presence with a few absolute gems in the ring. But generally relying on said look, charisma and presence between the ropes.

I thought it was pretty damn good as well. Good pacing, big spots, a solid story of Owens not going far enough to finish the job but without overdoing it and they brought it home without overstaying their welcome. Maybe match of the week. MOTY? Yeah, not that high on it.

Strap match was pretty damn good until the bracelet appeared. But that was about as dominant a win as you could give a babyface.

Sweeping all that dirt under the rug before Raw premieres on the station? Certainly feels like an attempt to present a nicer, better WWE with all the actual bad guys gone just in time for the Netflix debut.

Or not. If he never steps foot in a ring again this was still a memorable moment in a great match on an an all time show. Certainly scratched the itch for me in the best way possible.

This was by far the highlight of the early footage we have available. Both worked with tremendous physicality and aggression and while its not something one can rate given the clipping, its easy to say that this looked like an absolutely tremendous match rather than good for its time.

Everything he did but looked good, but incredibly slow, to the point that it overcame his mechanics and fluidity. That didn't make it any less of a moment or less fun, but my man was working on 0.5/0.75 speed.

Literally the king at which all must come from this point forward. Good luck. Odds are someone will surpass him as long as this business continues because that's what happens. But I'm not betting on it happening in my lifetime.

Maybe not!

Only if worth a damn means not as worthless as Hook/Jericho. That was incredibly disappointing. Are we at the point where we ask what Britt Baker has done other than bleed against Thunder Rosa?

How late is this show going? With 3.5 matches left it doesn't seem like there's any shot of it fitting in a 4 hour window.