Stiva

This is my thinking tbh. I have mixed feelings about Impact vs AEW but I’m not sure anyone saw it coming and it’s a hell of a hook for next week. I’m guessing Sting is number 4 for War Games with Team Taz and I’m looking forward to Moxley living out his Stone Cold dreams by smashing into Impact in his muscle car. As mentioned, the women’s division will improve immensely and we may also get The North working in the tag ranks. I dig the general chaos and excitement of it all so mission accomplished.

Oh well. That’s what I get for not watching these marathon Dark shows every week

The real joy of Dark this week was me discovering Peter Avalon’s new music. Fantastic. The gimmick probably needs a bit more money pumper into it; I want to see Pretty Peter vignettes, a string of beauty queen valets, t-shirts with his face on, Pretty Peter masks on the AEW merch store. Book it, TK

I don’t want Mox to lose just yet but suit-wearing, dickhead Omega has won me over these last few weeks. I’d be reluctant to switch the belt since I don’t think Omega has any face challengers lined up off the top of my head but it’s the first title match in a long time that I genuinely have no idea which way it’ll turn so I’m pumped.

I dig the idea of Sliver being the one who breaks the Dark Order’s chains since he’s already getting over and he’s great fun in-ring. Rather him than bloody Colt Cabana

God, what terrible news. I loved Rave; his dedication to being a fantastic, slimy heel on those workrate heavy ROH shows was always fantastic and he was so young there too. Could have and should have been a top heel for the rest of his time. One of the best Southern territory heels who was sadly born too late

Nothing wrong with a non-finish if the feud is heated up more coming out of it. A decade of WWE doing it wrong doesn’t invalidate 30 years of evidence it can be done right. Providing you’re not doing them all the time, you don’t lose any of your fans trust, especially if you give them the match with a definitive finish down the line which I’m sure they will.

I know they hate doing DQs and schmozz finishes but this could really do with one and then building again for the PPV.

Just want to say that I’m English and Peter Shilton is a boring old, lead-legged, racist, wife-cheating dickhead and I’m glad Maradona punched one past him. I didn’t watch NXT.

I really hope Miro manages to rediscover what he had since sheesh... I’m into baby face Archer though since he’s already been the monster challenger for both titles and I assume he’s going to settle into a gatekeeper role now. I dig how simple they’ve kept the Moxley/Omega build; some good shit talking and Omega cementing his heel turn and that’s all you need. I assume Cody is finally going to get his War Games against Team Taz?

Sydal is good but I wish they’d go out and sign guys who don’t flip and fly. Top Flight are now in the tag ranks and they were gutted about losing Ben Carter who fit that mould too. Go out and get more guys like Butcher and Blade to have some variation in the shows.

Really dug that show; angles kept trucking nicely, the Hobbs turn was a nice impactful one and the Rosa/Baker pull apart was a genuinely hot angle in a division that has been desperately needing one. The Inner Circle and Jericho coming immediately after the Moxley mystery attacker angle makes me think it was them who laid him out and hatred of Moxley is what’s uniting MJF and Jericho. Omega looked great in that suit though, great heel look. Top Flight looked very accomplished for their age, even if that opener was hilariously choreographed from start to finish but if it means more Jack Evans on TV, I’m all for it

I actually thought they struck a good balance this week in the sense that it felt more like 1995 Saturday Night in that it ended up featuring people in ways that felt useful instead of just a parade of squashes. The Waiting Room has definite potential but I’d say it needs something in there for someone to be hit with/put through. I really do hope we actually get an extended Jack Evans run on Dynamite as a result of it. Im also getting a kick out of old and slowed down Frankie Kazarian building matches around strikes. I think it’s the most I’ve ever enjoyed him.

In ring, this done nothing for me outside of the awesome Bunkhouse match. Dustin could work a great one of these in his sleep but the other three were great. Butcher flying into everything was fantastic and Blade’s willingness to bleed buckets was quite something. QT Marshall is so good though; nailed everything you would want out of someone in a match like this. It was almost Dustin-esque. Brian Cage is clearly the least interesting of the duo even if Sydal is still fun. These interminable attempts at getting Spears over need to stop but a Sky/Spears team might actually make them bearable. I’m sure Pentagon/Fenix is for someone but it’s definitely not for me, even if I think Fenix is absolute money as a future top baby face. The Cody segment was bizarre; they let Cargill speak for way too long, Brandi slipped into a completely different promo style and the Team Taz beat down all seemed very rushed. If the plan is Cody and Brandi vs Shaq and Cargill, then we’ll see what Cody is made of, I guess. Glad PAC is back though; I might be in a minority of loving angry little bastard PAC but he feels really fresh after his enforced break.

Very wary of Yukes making any wrestling game after their last few WWE games before they removed themselves from it but who knows if that was THQs restrictions fucking things up? I’m into a mobile TEW style affair though, it’s the one thing that I’m amazed nobody has made a crack at on phones.

Pretty much everything delivered and in some cases, over delivered. The tag match was too long by about 5 minutes, I’d say but the teams matched up so well that I’m definitely down for a rematch. The main was fantastic; Kingston really is special and seeing him have that moment in a major PPV main event was brilliant and they brought it with the violence. I wonder if they’re going to stretch out Omega/Moxley until Revolution, they get some placeholder feuds in the mean time. Some stray thoughts: Bin Serpentico and give me the Luther/Gangrel team we all need. Feels like Team Taz needs a third member for the eventual Cage/Starks/??? Vs Darby/Cody/Hobbs match. Darby getting the big win was probably overdue but Arn was so great at ringside; absolutely criminal that he wasn’t on WWE TV for all those years. Callis showing up for commentary gives me hope that we can get the Impact women on this show, not to mention Callis leading The North into the tag division. Bunkhouse match with Butcher and Blade and NN is going to be so great. Those four guys will pull it out of the bag, I have no doubt.

I’ll echo what others have said about the Bucks and their insistence on thinking they’re more intelligent than they are getting in the way of things again. I will say that it’s more bearable than their attempts to be funny but if a match ever needed a simple build, it’s The Bucks vs FTR. If this thing had a crowd, nobody would know who to get behind. Dug the two tournament matches again, even if Kenny Omega’s facial expressions are somehow even worse as a heel. Wardlow still isn’t the polished article but he and Page put together a nice little match that kept both strong. Nyla/Shida again on PPV is the very definition of panic booking to get the women on the card. They’re really struggling for the lack of a second show, even if they are starting to run angles on Dark and reference them on TV. Moxley/Kingston is doing it for me though. Two good talkers talking at each other, a personal feud referencing personal histories leading to a bloody PPV main event. Full Gear looks like a solid show, top to bottom but I wish Cody vs Darby had more than one week of build behind it, especially since it feels like Darby has to win to transition to the feud with Starks for the title

Enjoyed the show as per, especially the first tournament hour but is that ending angle supposed to put sympathy on a team who have spent a month attacking non-wrestlers and throwing money around like arrogant dickheads? Should FTR, the heels, be the ones giving them their just desserts?

Thought just about every segment worked except that Jericho/MJF bit. MJF doing bad comedy and over rehearsed acting is exactly why everyone soured on the Moxley program. Coupled with Nick Jackson’s awful hidden camera style facial mugging over the last few weeks, there’s been some terrible acting in a promotion that has skilfully avoided it so far. I’m all in for Private Party besting the Bucks again though; that feels like something they could keep going with them being the Bucks’ bogey team. Kingston should give Moxley his most engaging feud yet; the plan should be to give Eddie a mic every week while Moxley dispatches his stablemates and you’ve got a main event, baby. Could do without a repeat of Cassidy/Cody since neither man should be losing. The time limit draw worked to protect both guys so running it again doesn’t seem to help. If we’re building to Darby winning the belt, him finally beating Cody feels like it should have more build behind it.

Thought for sure we were getting the Jericho and Inner Circle face turn but ending it with the credits and the heels celebrating was hilarious. I’m not sure about building a Jericho tribute and ending it with a tease is the way to go to sustain the angle but whatever. If you watch back, Wardlow and Hager refuse to break eye contact with each other as the ring fills up in a great touch. Dug the show well enough but they need the extra hour show right now; the roster is real deep and the women definitely need more of a focus and more time to get things over

My friend has just bought a Wrexham home shirt and we’re from Newcastle so already the money is flowing into the club

Great return to form. That main event was wild in a way that I was never expecting Best Friends to get; Trent took some absolutely nasty bumps, my god. You can tell there's something in the water when both Hager and Chuck Taylor put in top-drawer performances. I've said it before and I'll say it again; Moxley and Darby's weird little friendship might be my favourite long-running story in AEW. Two loners that always help each other out because they're both headcases is great and Moxley picking Hobbs is exactly something he'd do. Though I am surprised they haven't booked a stronger card for LND since I'm not sure Jericho being on commentary is enough. I'd have maybe had a Young Bucks match in there too.

They've earned some goodwill but these past couple of weeks have been total stinkers. I made the comment in jest but Tony Khan having to concentrate on getting Fulham ready for the Premier League has coincided with it, not to mention Cody being missing. In it's place we've had a ton of gimmicks and way too much shitty comedy that thinks it's funny. I'm hoping that they dial it back a bit when Archer/Moxley and Omega/Page get going. Giving Kingston something to sink his teeth into would help too since Fenix/Pentagon could be a good feud with him in the middle, playing them off each other to get what he wants. And yeah, Miro with Kip Sabian of all people feels like a rib on me. Unless this ends with him stealing Penelope Ford and throwing Sabian into the sea. As mentioned, Jericho/Hager should be Jericho/Sammy since it's the far more entertaining pair. It says a lot when Joey Janela's heat segments are becoming the best parts of the show.

I’d bet they run Cassidy/Brodie for the TNT Title.

Shida/Rosa was great. Rosa doesn’t need to stick around because any time she comes back, she’s an instant threat. i really like AEWs big tag matches; everyone gets some good shine, they always make sure to further a couple of angles and some of the worst tendencies tend to be pushed to one side. Dustin/Brodie has potential to be TV MOTY