I don't think they pull the trigger on MJF yet. Omega has to turn heel on Page. Hopefully the Baker-Swole cinematic match is good, because if they have a bad one after fan complaints about them being on pre-show, there will be an inevitable, unwarranted backlash against them. 

 

I hope they don't pull the trigger on MJF, I don't think he's the right guy to end Moxley's reign. 

The same. And although I did love some of the segments and promos, I must say that as a "feud", the whole Mox vs MJF thing has kinda felt thrown together at the last moment and is not very compelling, honestly. The "issue" I have with MJF is that he's almost *too* old-school. Some people have mentionned how they didn't buy his heel act and although it's not the case for me, there's still something to that... in that I don't really buy MJF as this rich kid character. It's almost like his gimmick is not "Despicable rich kid" but rather "Old-school heel wrestler with a despicable rich kid gimmick", but since he's playing it straight, well, at some point there's almost a disconnect. To me it would be better if it was more meta actually. The whole presidential gimmick stuff worked on its own because the promos were great as exemples of great old-school style stuff, but really when you think about the whole MJF/Mox angle, it really did not click on a broader level. Whereas Jericho vs Orange has been awesome from start to finish. I dunno, but clearly Mox vs MJF, although is very interesting and amazing to have MJF already main-eventing a PPV and feeling it's not a miscast, still doesn't interests me nearly as much as a feud as Jericho vs Orange, Omega/Page vs FTS or even Dark Order vs Cody's family (not to mention Darby vs Team Taz).

I think most of these matches should be good, even if the booking has definitely stuttered in the last couple of weeks. I’m going to blame Fulham’s transfer window

MJF when he is being serious and selling a program is great. The Dictator Jon stuff was really goofy though and him wearing a neckbrace and crying about the paradigm shift made him feel midcard-ish. The lawyer thing was bad and I hope they learned a lesson from it.

24 minutes ago, MoS said:

MJF when he is being serious and selling a program is great. The Dictator Jon stuff was really goofy though and him wearing a neckbrace and crying about the paradigm shift made him feel midcard-ish.

Agreed. Too gimmicky. Too much of a cheap 80's trick, not to mention he did it already the first time he was out with the fake injury. 

I've got zero interest in Moxley/MJF or Jericho/OC so will wait to see how the rest of the card delivers before deciding if this is worth a watch.

While I agree the build to MJF-Mox has been underwhelming due to the thrown-together nature, I'm not sure what you do with MJF afterwards or how to rebuild momentum with him if he loses. Might be worth just pulling the trigger on him now unless the plan is for Kingston or a major surprise win the battle royale.

Rest of the card looks good, but Mimosa Mayhem still feels too WWE-gimmicky for me. I think OC needs the win more but wouldn't be surprised by a Jericho victory.

50 minutes ago, Boss Rock said:

While I agree the build to MJF-Mox has been underwhelming due to the thrown-together nature, I'm not sure what you do with MJF afterwards or how to rebuild momentum with him if he loses. Might be worth just pulling the trigger on him now unless the plan is for Kingston or a major surprise win the battle royale.

I'd shuffle him down as mid-card schtick heel, but I know I'm in the minority there.

34 minutes ago, WingedEagle said:

I'd shuffle him down as mid-card schtick heel, but I know I'm in the minority there.

I had disagreed with you when you first voiced your opinion on MJF but now I think you are right. I don't want to say this feud exposed him, but I think it showed me he is not ready for a main event run yet. It was when he went one on one with Mox on the mic during the contract signing when Mox looked comfortably a level above him that I was first 100% certain they should not be switching the title.

I really think he has all the talent in the world, especially on the mic. He can also be nasty in the ring when he is not playing up the shtick. It would be best if he goes to the midcard and really finds his character. 

Even though he's not as ready for the main event as I thought he was, I'm glad he's getting the title shot, never hurts to get some experience at the top of the card.

Yeah, MJF is only 24. He's still learning. So are Tony Khan, Cody, the Bucks & Omega as far as booking goes.

The president thing would have been fine for a one week gimmick with a couple of skits until he got the match. Then Mox tell him he needs to get serious so MJF does that beatdown two or three weeks earlier. Couple of good promos and a pull apart on the go home and it would all have been fine. They over complicated what should have been a simple storyline about two unbeaten guys fighting for the belt.

There aren't many matches on the show that stand out as potentially being really great but I'm looking forward to the stories progressing because I think they're about ready to change things up a bit and pull the V-trigger on the next stage of the Omega and Page angle.

31 minutes ago, FMKK said:

The president thing would have been fine for a one week gimmick with a couple of skits until he got the match. Then Mox tell him he needs to get serious so MJF does that beatdown two or three weeks earlier. Couple of good promos and a pull apart on the go home and it would all have been fine. They over complicated what should have been a simple storyline about two unbeaten guys fighting for the belt.

That's where I'm at. The feud just felt rushed and this honestly should've been part 1. Given how well he did in the Cody feud, I don't think it's an issue of him not being ready. I also don't really have any issue with his current gimmick and don't think he really needs to adjust anything. They just rushed a feud that could have had way more juice.

Brandi cutting promos with the exact same cadence as rhythm as Cody is pretty wholesome.

My bold prediction is Cody returns and screws over MJF to ignite chapter two of their feud. Jericho goes in the drink. Matt takes a walk. Dark Order reigns supreme. Kingston or bust for the battle royal. Kenny turns on Paige and Dave gives the match 5+. Women’s match will slap and Rosa will be Thunder dos cinturones soon if not tonight. I have no love for cinematic wrestling or anything to do with Brit Baker so I’ll just say it’s gonna suck and move on. Bucks-Express will be a lot of fun and the Bucks will cheat 2 win.

Cody should really introduce Jake Hager to whoever the coach was that helped him get rid of the lisp.

I feel like AEW really drops the ball & wastes their Buy-In time. 

8 minutes ago, Coffey said:

I feel like AEW really drops the ball & wastes their Buy-In time. 

The idea of a pre-show is archaic to me anyhow 

Opening with the cinematic match is a bold move 

Reba is the real MVP here

This was less a cinematic match and more of a reallw slow and boring brawl tbh. Wrong person won wtf. Britt was robbed. 

I missed the preshow. How were the matches?

That was not very good. They were right to have it on the pre-show initially 

Other than the "she got a naner on her head" one liner, I'm just going to pretend that cinematic match didn't happen & that this tag match is the actual opener.

I will say this. Reggie Miller talking about AEW and Jurassic Express enhusiastically during the playoffs was a nice change of pace because every time mainstream broadcasters are contractually mandated to plug pro wrestling, they make sure that everyone listening knows that they think wrestling is stupid and they are being forced to talk about it. 

This was a good match but still felt throwaway.