AEW Discussion 2020

[Kam 243]

I watched Revolution - I thought it was excellent!

 

Jake Hager / Dustin Rhodes - Good opener, did what it needed to do

 

Darby Allin / Sammy Guevara - How over is Darby?! He's got a great look/presence, some nice moments in this one. I'm glad Darby one but I'd like to see Sammy pick up some more wins. Good match.

 

Kenny Omega and Adam Page / The Young Bucks - Great match, my favourite from the night, I didn't have any idea who would win or if any of them would turn on each other, really enjoyed it.

 

Nyla Rose / Kris Statlander - This was my least favourite match of the night, it was alright but nothing stood out for me.

 

MJF / Cody - This was good, I was hoping for something a little bit more but I still enjoyed it.

 

Pac / Orange Cassidy - This one surpassed expectations, really enjoyed it, was a fun match where both men came out looking good.

 

Jon Moxley / Chris Jericho - Loved Jericho's choir! This was good too, I thought Jericho would retain but I'm OK with Moxley taking the title too.

 

Overall, a fun show (helped by a very vocal crowd) with some great matches!

[Gareth The Great 20]

@Zack T, are you still hanging out here? I miss your entertaining weekly recaps.

 

@Kam, in a few years time I can see MJF sliding into the biggest slot. He has so much potential. I wonder if Omega really broke his hand? It would be awful to have that happen when he's been doing so well.

[Zack T 171]

I'm still visiting, albeit sometimes I forget for a few days. I've been posting thoughts about shows less in general (Here, and my other forum). Over at my other forum, I've posted some majorly long ones and ones about the length of Kam's post above and I dunno, I just get tired of it sometimes. Lack of feedback, I guess. I'm putting all this down in writing and it's mostly for myself, but I'm also trying to discuss it with others and see if they agree or disagree with me and how they view it and oftentimes, I just don't get that nearly as much as I'm hoping to and so I don't do it as often.

 

BUT SINCE YOU ASKED AND I'M BORED WITH NOTHING TO DO AT WORK, HERE WE GO.

 

SCU/Dark Order - Didn't see this due to not watching Revolution on Saturday the 29th, I watched it the day after. What I read makes it seem like a quick and easy match, the real story was Colt Cabana and to a lesser extent, Christopher Daniels. I have seen that both on YouTube and on Dynamite this week when they recapped it. I'm glad to see Cabana, I've actually never seen him wrestle outside his brief stint in WWE as Scotty Goldman. Good for him though, he seems like a good dude.

 

Hager/Rhodes - So if you had told us in say, 2013, that we'd get a pay per view match between Jack Swagger and Goldust, I think the collective response would've been "...Why?". However things are different in 2019/2020 AEW and I was looking forward to this one. I didn't expect it to be a 5 star classic, but I did expect it to be better than what it was. Dustin Rhodes has stepped up his game but also has been showing everyone that WWE only ever allowed him to be weird, not great in the ring aside from a couple moments in his WWE run. Unfortunately, Jake didn't really rise to the occasion. He was still essentially the same old Jack Swagger, and while I don't have a problem with him using the same moves (I love the Gutwrench Powerbomb I WISH he'd use that as his primary finisher), he just didn't have much flair for story telling and he was honestly a bit sloppy in his execution. Not as accurate as others his age are, which is odd given that he's MMA fighter. You'd think that'd require him to hone his accuracy on strikes a bit more as the opponent will be actively trying to dodge or counter him. Anyway, it told a fine story, it was functional, it wasn't "bad", just kinda there. Hager winning was the right move, though.

 

Darby/Sammy - OH BOY. This was freakin nuts. I love Darby's recent character work, sort of like a new age Charlie Chaplin in his silent promo's and it's rad. Hopefully they don't force him to remain silent much longer though. Not that he should talk A LOT, but he should be able to talk. Anyway, fantastic match. They went fast and hard throughout the whole thing. Sammy doing that 630 to the outside through a table was one of the craziest things I've ever seen, and he NAILED it. AEW loves their young and somewhat inexperienced wrestlers. Darby is at 5 years, Sammy is at 7. But as we've seen with some guys like Velveteen Dream, youth and being surrounded by the right people helps groom these wrestling prodigy's. Darby needed a big win here, and he got it. Hopefully he goes on and gets another big win after this.

 

Tag Title Match - The first thing that I think of when I think about this match is the very end. Right at the very end, you can hear Justin Roberts announce "30 minutes gone by, 30 minutes remain" and within a minute or 2 of that, the match ends. I remember hearing that announcement going "Wow it's been 30 minutes? I haven't thought about the time or how long this match is going even once". From start to finish, this match delivered and far exceeded my already high expectations for it. You take Adam Page, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks and throw them in a tag match, you're gonna get something good, it'd take a catastrophe for it not to be good. But the story telling they put in before this match to set the stage, and then in the match itself...my god. On 1 hand, you could really feel for Adam Page now that he'd finally expressed his frustrations in that interview last week on Dynamite. "This is the biggest accomplishment of my career so far and you already want to take it away from me!" - That was SO simple, but damn if it doesn't make sense. The Bucks, on the other hand, feel disrespected by Page and that continued in the match. I love the tension they showed, I love how both Omega and Nick Jackson had to pull Page and Matt back at times because both of them got so heated that they were taking things too far. I love how Kenny seemed trapped in the middle between both teams and ended up actually getting caught in the cross-fire, the Bucks didn't give him any mercy after awhile. It was so intense that even Kenny Omega was hesitant to shake hands afterward. This match had absolutely brilliant story telling that allowed you to make up your own mind as to who was in the right and who was in the wrong and even when you had your opinion, you could still understand why the other side was behaving/feeling the way they did and your heart was torn to pieces because you probably loved everyone involved and it was just brilliant. Not just the best match of the night, quite possibly (And dare I say, probably) the best tag match of the year, possibly the best match of any match type. Also, it was great Omega/Page won. I thought they would, it seemed slightly too soon to break them up just yet or end their run. Bucks will be tag champions eventually, no doubt.

 

Women's Title match - Kris Statlander and Nyla Rose had to follow THAT. What do you even do? The crowd is exhausted from going crazy for half an hour straight, and to be honest this match didn't have a ton of build for it. However, Nyla and Kris are both turning heads and they put forth a great match. It started off slow enough that it allowed the crowd time to recover, and later in the match when Kris and Nyla were both getting their stuff in (Like the boop!), the fans had been allowed to rest enough that they came alive yet again. There was some sloppy spots in this match, but nothing that was so badly bungled it took away from it. And to be perfectly honest, I like it when there's a little bit of imperfection. It can make a match feel more like a real fight when things don't look quite so perfect and crisp and clean. Anyway, more young wrestlers getting a chance to shine and they did real well. Kris Statlander's only got slightly less than 3 years wrestling experience and she's already here (You can see her inexperience at times, she's still kind of lost when she's in control and not doing a pre-planned spot, but she's improving). Nyla Rose has more experience, she's around 8 years now, but she's also been in and out doing acting at times. She's more confident and took charge of this match more than Kris did, which was the right call. It was also the right call to have her win and retain, Kris looked great in defeat and that's exactly what you want.

 

MJF/Cody - Similar to the women's match, they played it a bit slow in the start, build anticipation and give the crowd a chance to rest. I thought Cody's entrance started off very well. The live band playing was a cool reveal, Cody coming out with an extended crew was cool. I'm 90% sure Stephen Amell (He played Oliver Queen in Arrow) was among them, and if so they really should've had the camera focus on him just a bit more to take advantage of the "cool celebrity" factor, but they barely showed him and the commentary didn't even mention him, which feels like a missed opportunity. Cody's song probably shouldn't have been played the full length, though. It got a bit awkward about halfway through when it SHOULD'VE ended, but they kept going and the Nightmare Family had to pace around to wait and the crowd kinda stopped reacting to the music, conserving energy for the match itself. Regardless, EXCELLENT match, great emotion, and I also expected MJF to win. There's more to having Cody chase him a bit longer, I think. Regardless, Cody certainly looked like he could've won, but allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment. Excellent.

 

Orange Cassidy/PAC - Jesus. I didn't know what to expect here, but WOW. My 2nd favorite match of the night. I LOVE Orange Cassidy, I LOVE PAC, and I love how the crowd treats Orange Cassidy like he's the biggest star on the planet. It's just wonderful. I legit laughed out loud when Cassidy was rolling away from PAC over and over again, at one point Cassidy looked at his face and laughed and started rolling away again. I actually believed Orange might win for a brief moment there, WELL DONE. Orange Cassidy will eventually casually walk his way into becoming AEW Champion.

 

Moxley/Jericho - I loved this. The match itself was fairly average in terms of the fighting, but there was great psychology and that's more of what you should be looking for from Jericho at this stage in his career. Moxley absolutely was the right person to put the title on. I loved the subplot of Aubrey Edwards refusing to DQ/Count out Jericho and Mox. There's just something about adding that to an important match, that even the ref is willing to bend the rules so that we get a proper decision. Figured that Moxley would lift the eye patch and reveal he actually can see, it got a big pop. That was a cool moment, although it's weird to think about it logically. Why not just lift it up in the beginning? Kinda silly to take all that beating, but it was good in the moment. Love Mox's promo at the end too, especially when they played his music for just a sec and he says "Hey what the f***", I legit laughed out loud again. Little things like that highlight the difference between AEW and WWE. WWE would've given him a script. But the AEW way allowed him to just riff how he wanted and it wasn't always super coherent but it was genuine and that's what mattered most. You could FEEL his energy, his happiness, and the crowd's as well. Great way to end the show.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Zack T

[Kam 243]

I'm 90% sure Stephen Amell (He played Oliver Queen in Arrow) was among them, and if so they really should've had the camera focus on him just a bit more to take advantage of the "cool celebrity" factor, but they barely showed him and the commentary didn't even mention him, which feels like a missed opportunity.

I noticed Amell too but thought it can't have been him since he wasn't mentioned at all.

 

Glad to see you enjoyed it as much as I did!

[Zack T 171]

Overall, I think it was about a 7.5/10 type of show. We had a match of the year (Tag title match), we had 3 damn good matches (Cody/MJF, Sammy/Darby, Cassidy/PAC), 2 solidly good matches (Women's and AEW World title matches), and then 2 decent matches (Hager/Rhodes and SCU/Dark Order) plus a nice surprise debut by Colt Cabana. There hasn't been a bad AEW pay per view yet, just like there hasn't been a bad NXT Take Over yet. Loving that trend. Hope they keep it up!

[Zack T 171]

Lance Archer was originally advertised to debut this week, but plans change. They may have had a different idea about Archer last week and then suddenly had a better one shortly after the announcement. It's fine. I figure Jake Roberts is either Brodie Lee or Lance Archer's manager but it could be someone completely different. Maybe they'll swerve everyone and it'll be for Matt Hardy :eek: Regardless, I really enjoyed Jake's promo. Started off like he was gonna give Cody a grizzled old vet toughen up speech, but then he went full heel and it was glorious.

 

The opening segment was very WWE-esque and that's not necessarily a bad thing, they do need to do storytelling segments like this. But admittedly this one wasn't super great, it went on too long. If they'd shortened it by maybe 5 to 10 minutes even, it would've been cleaner. It dragged on, as much as I enjoy listening to Jericho trash a crowd.

 

I expected the Exalted One to arrive tonight, but "He" did not. Ah well. Makes sense Cabana would get a feel-good win in his AEW in ring debut. That's fine. Once the Exalted One debuts, I imagine Dark Order will be on a winning streak. Also, I LOVE The Dark Order now. I get their music stuck in my head, I love their vibe, I love the mystique. They really turned that team and that gimmick around.

 

Adam Page coming out was absolutely the highlight of the night for me. I was hoping he'd make the reluctant save, but what we got was so much better. I think he tricked the Inner Circle into thinking he was gonna join them what with the tension Page has had with the Bucks and the Elite lately. Good grief, the crowd just loves Adam Page everywhere he goes and that's another dude who's gone from being another "indy" guy to being on FIRE. Adam Page may be AEW World champion within the next year or 2. I would not be surprised if he were to win it this year. At All Out, he didn't feel ready. I'm not saying he's quite ready yet (Though I think he is), we have plenty more journey to fully explore before he gets set on that path. But they're building Page up extremely well and at this point, I'm not sure if he's going to turn on anyone anymore. They could just keep him as he is and let him be that, seems to be working brilliantly. Also, I love the little snippets they put on Adam Page's name graphic. Last week it was "For the love of god give me my own graphic even for just 1 frame" and it displayed for less than 1 second. This week it was "Whooped both their asses". Little touches like that go a long way.

 

QT Marshal has a dad bod and I just can't take the dude seriously with the acrobatics he pulls off. It just looks so weird. But they might be able to do the underdog slightly comedic tag team with him and Dustin, though I'd like better for Dustin. I'd rather him win the tag belts with Cody.

 

Big Swole won a match, I don't even remember her opponent anymore. Swole's getting over though, she's got a presence and charisma. Still not all that great in the ring, but she is functional and can hang when she's got a more experienced opponent in there with her to help guide her. Britt Baker is a gem, heel Baker is absolutely wonderful.

 

Was it just me or did Chuck Taylor seem like he was moving sluggishly during that match? Just seemed like he didn't have as much energy throughout most of it. Maybe it was the elevation, being in CO and all. LOVE how Orange Cassidy stepped up to PAC at the end, and Lucha Bros teaming with PAC makes sense. They've teamed off and on for a few months now and it's finally coalesced. THOUGH I do wonder if maybe we're forming 1 too many trios/stables in AEW. Inner Circle, Dark Order, no more Nightmare Collective but we still have the Elite and the Nightmare Family, Jurassic Express, SCU, Best Friends, and now Death Triangle. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, I just worry that too many teams will dilute the pool so to speak. But so far so good, we'll see.

 

There was some great shots during the commercial break when Best Friends were at ringside. I always love seeing them get those commercial break spots cause they all just go around doing fun stuff with the fans. Cassidy takes pics with people, their props, it's great. Earlier, Brandi and Dustin and QT threw fake apples they had all 3 autographed into the crowd during their commercial break. When Cody was out during commercial break, he introduced a couple camera men to the crowd as well as Doc Samson and some of the clean up ring-crew guys, put over the production crew. The crowd chanted those people's names, it was very endearing. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy, giving appreciation to the unsung heroes that help put these shows together.

 

Great promo by MJF. Especially love that jab about the neck tattoo at the end, really well done. That's a perfect example of how you stay topical without beating something into the ground the way WWE does when they realize something's "hot" or being noticed by the fans that they didn't plan on.

 

We saw A LOT of the Inner Circle and Jon Moxley tonight. So much so that I thought for sure Moxley would leave the night standing tall and send Jericho packing for 60 days, but surprisingly it went the other way. Thank goodness the outside attack didn't send Mox into the dippin dots, they didn't do anything to anyone damn it! But they did hit him with the Shield's triple powerbomb (I wish Jake would've done the OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH thing for good measure) and instead of bumping fists, they all flipped Mox off. Nice.

 

Darby Allin looked like a star, and I love how he gave himself the hot tag at the end. That dude is FIRE. Him and Sammy seem to have excellent chemistry too. While this episode of Dynamite may not have been as great as last week (Come on guys, we had a 30 minute iron man match last week, nothing's gonna compare), I enjoyed it and we immediately began moving pieces around to set ourselves up for the Blood And Guts (HAH) War Games coming up in a few weeks.

Edited March 6, 2020 by Zack T

[Gareth The Great 20]

I'm still visiting, albeit sometimes I forget for a few days. I've been posting thoughts about shows less in general (Here, and my other forum). Over at my other forum, I've posted some majorly long ones and ones about the length of Kam's post above and I dunno, I just get tired of it sometimes. Lack of feedback, I guess. I'm putting all this down in writing and it's mostly for myself, but I'm also trying to discuss it with others and see if they agree or disagree with me and how they view it and oftentimes, I just don't get that nearly as much as I'm hoping to and so I don't do it as often.

I hear that and if I'm honest, I quit watching as much because I figured I could get the highlights from your awesome recaps. You're a bit better at it than the bloggers who only discuss their favourites or the main matches and your writing makes me feel like I'm there. I bet it takes loads of time though. I hadn't looked at it from your point of view and will try to participate more.

[Zack T 171]

I really appreciate that, I had no idea some folks liked it enough to read them regularly. I'll try to get back to writing them weekly. It does take a bit of time, probably about half an hour to 40 minutes is what it took me to write that Revolution review. But it just flies by because I'm reliving it in my mind, trying to remember all the stuff I wanted to point out. I also type at over 100 WPM, so that's helpful. I particularly aim to bring up things that maybe aren't what a regular fan would immediately think of, or even a more knowledgeable fan. Not that I'm a genius :p I just have been watching over 20 years at this point and would've gone into pro wrestling myself if I hadn't of had back surgery at 18 years old.

[ShadowEdge 48]

Jake The Snake - you all caught that right? Man, he looks really good now. I'm glad he's pulled himself together and has gotten healthy again! Good for him! What a coup for AEW by bringing him on the show.

 

Is Cody's neck tattoo real? I hope it's just part of kayfabe because it looks awful.

 

I think AEW is making a mistake by pushing Jericho so much, even though he's fun to watch. I still wish they'd get better female wrestlers. Brandi is about the only one I like and that's saying something. WWE has several women who are good in the ring and on the mic and it's hard not to compare the two promotions.

. . . would've gone into pro wrestling myself if I hadn't of had back surgery at 18 years old.

I think we all had that dream. I used to pretend that I was The Undertaker (I wasn't that into any of the women at that time, so why not). Truthfully, I don't want to get hurt and couldn't handle taking bumps.

[Zack T 171]

Yea I'm all current with AEW. Jake Roberts return was freakin great, didn't see that coming but boy howdy that was wonderful.

 

It's really telling, the differences in the crowd. Remember back to January 2014 when Jake Roberts returned on Raw Old School? The fans in attendance barely reacted for him at all. It's like they didn't remember, or they just didn't care. But that's what you get with a lot of WWE fans these days, more and more of the deeper-loving fan base is leaving because the product sucks overall (despite having great talented wrestlers) and what's left behind is a bunch of kids and casual fans who may be vaguely aware who Jake Roberts is, but don't care.

 

Then, fast forward to 2020 and Jake Roberts comes out on AEW and the roof explodes. THAT'S the reception he deserved.

 

Cody's neck tattoo is real, by all accounts. Give it some time. We'll end up getting used to it.

 

I think pushing Jericho has made a lot of sense, because he was legitimately their biggest starpower name at the beginning of AEW. Now you could argue that Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega are up there too, maybe even Cody, but the problem is Jon Moxley would be unfamiliar to the lapsed fan that AEW would hope to draw in - They'd maybe know him as Dean Ambrose. Kenny might be known by reputation but heck even a super fan like me hadn't actually seen him perform until Double Or Nothing last year. So keeping the focus on Jericho for just a bit longer feels right to me. Don't worry, he's got maybe 1 last title match for now and then he'll either truly take some time off, or he'll feud with someone else. But for now, I think the booking is logical. Jericho forms the Inner Circle to help him dominate AEW and when he finally loses the title, the Inner Circle gets even more vicious because they want that title back. It's logical that they wouldn't just back off and be like "Aw shucks he got the best of us, I guess we'll try to do something else".

 

The women's division is a work in progress, I agree. But how can you not like Riho or Britt Baker at the very least? Throw Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida in there too, because all 5 of them have had some pretty kick ass matches, especially Riho and Nyla. They need more top talent women for sure - Big Swole and Kris are both good, but they're also still fairly inexperienced and are gonna get better over time. Past that, the biggest thing hurting them I think is that they want to rely a lot on the women from Japan - Logical, because they're very very good. It's problematic though because that means they have to compete with Starrdom for talent-time. But as we've seen, that does lead to us having a bit of a rotating roster and I think that's interesting and ultimately beneficial. Riho is a big splash every time she's there cause we don't get to see her quite as frequently, and she over-delivers every time she's there so it's always great to see her. But it also means we have people like Emi Sakura, Yuka Sakazuki, Bea Priestley, and so on all taking a few months over there, then a few months in AEW, and back and forth like that. I think that'll help keep their characters fresh in both promotions, as well as probably provide the talent with a nice change of pace every so often as well. If they start hitting a wall in 1 place, send them to the other and see what other cool stuff we can do, what they can learn.

 

By exchanging talent like that, the women will keep on growing as they're exposed to both styles of wrestling and different opponents and talents in both places.

 

Hopefully they can really start setting the women's division into place, get them some major stories going like the other divisions have, and it'll be good.

[Knox 4]

I never got into AEW due to time constraints, but now I've got nothing but time on hands. Which of their old PPVs is a good starting point? I recognize Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, Rhodes, Ambrose (goes by something else) and Jericho. Do those guys see a lot of action in AEW? My guess is yes - they're the main stars.

 

Zack, I'll join the chorus of folks who like your recaps, but I can't tell if those are PPVs or their Wednesday show. I'm out of the loop.

[Poppy 31]

Can you believe they snagged Matt Hardy? I love Jim Ross, but I'm looking forward to hearing Cody as a commentator. I think it's sweet that they're looking out for Ross - because you know that's what they're doing, so he won't have to fly in.

 

@Knox Try Revolution (PPV) or just watch their Wednesday show. Zack and Kam give great recaps and there's also a few on Cult of Whatever as well, though they're more of a summery. They aren't like the WWE where things get dropped, ignored, flipped, and all without explanation. The stories/feuds on AEW build nice and slow. You'll catch up in no time.

 

I just realized you're new(ish) so welcome to the forum!

[Zack T 171]

Revolution was the most recent PPV, that was pretty good. Though honestly, I'd suggest starting with Double Or Nothing, then All Out, then Full Gear, then Revolution. That's the only 4 real PPV's they've done so far. There's also Fyter Fest and Fight For The Fallen that took place between Double Or Nothing and All Out, but those were charity events that had little to no impact on storylines. But they do help you get to know the characters a bit more.

 

But for realsies, start with Double Or Nothing. Cody vs Dustin Rhodes is incredible, Young Bucks vs Lucha Bros is out of this world. Kenny Omega vs Jericho is great. All around it's a really solid show too. You may not be familiar with the rest of the people or even most of them, but that's ok. I was the same way. I know who Cody, Jericho, Dustin Rhodes are, obviously. I knew who Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were by reputation, as well as a couple others. But it only takes about 2 or 3 shows and you'll start to get real familiar with them.

 

You'll also see their growth in terms of commentary and production. Double Or Nothing is literally their first ever live show, and although there's some miscue'd spots and the commentary team could've been better (Mainly Alex Marvez, but thankfully that's the only major PPV he does commentary for I believe, he's a backstage interviewer now) but overall it still looks GREAT.

 

Make sure to watch the Buy In as well. They have a Casino Battle Royal thing. It's basically a mini royal rumble with different entrant rules - They enter in groups of 4 (these groups aren't allies, just all entering at the same time), then 1 final entrant (like a #30 entrant) after these 4 groups have entered. The winner goes on to face the winner of Jericho/Omega for the first ever AEW World Heavyweight Championship match at All Out. The battle royal is real good fun.

[Knox 4]

@Poppy, Matt Hardy switched to AEW? Is he still tag-teaming a lot? Did Jeff go too?

 

@Zack T Thanks for the info. The Buy In is on YouTube, so I'll definitely check that one out. I bet I can find the rest on FITE TV. I've been getting bored with the WWE, except for NXT, so this will be a welcome change.

[Zack T 171]

Matt literally just debuted last week. No, he'll be singles, Jeff is still in WWE and just returned to Smackdown a week or 2 ago.

 

Fite.TV and Bleacher Report have them, yea :D

[Gareth The Great 20]

Cody's speech about his dad was amazing (old news, I'm catching up). You could hear the unwavering pride in his voice and thankfulness for his own career. That was cool.

 

It's surreal to watch these matches with no live audience. I wonder if the wrestlers find it harder to do their thing without that immediate feedback.

[Knox 4]

That was too much blood, but the match with the Rhodes brothers was still fantastic! Those two have always been able to play off of each other well. I remember when Cody eliminated Goldust during the WWE Royal Rumble PPV a few years ago which was a phenomenal match. They made a great tag team too. What made Double or Nothing better than the other PPV matches was seeing the real Dustin Rhodes instead of Goldust. I've just always thought that The Natural gimmick suited him better. I was never a big fan of Cody's Stardust gimmick either. So, I'm assuming that Dustin bladed himself, but I couldn't catch when he did it. He kept trying to wipe the blood out of his eyes.

 

I wonder whether Alex Marvez knows anything about those guys. He didn't seem to. Bro needed to read a summary before jumping in. Jim Ross is still awesome.

 

I dig Luchasaurus.

 

And I'm probably boring you guys with my commentary since you've already seen and discussed it.

[Zack T 171]

Alex Marvez comes from a different sport, I can't remember which one. I agree with you, it felt a lot like he didn't have much knowledge of what he was commentating for. I think he was trying real hard, and I'd imagine by now he knows much better, but I think it was a situation of AEW just pulling in anyone they could.

 

Nah it's cool, I love talking about wrestling <3

 

You'll come to love all of Jurassic Express, Luchasaurus is great, Jungle Boy is actually quite incredible, and so is little Marko Stunt. Good grief, you wouldn't expect him to be so awesome, but he is.

[Gareth The Great 20]

Alex Marvez is an NFL writer and radio guy. I don't follow American football, but I don't think Marvez played sports professionally. Not that it matters, it's just that some commentators get their start after retiring from the sport. I was absolutely annoyed by the bloke originally, but looking back, I believe he was just nervous. He probably knew he wasn't doing well, which just made it worse.

 

No harm in chatting about an old PPV. I enjoy reminiscing about them. And it's not like I'm not stuck at home social distancing. One cool thing that strikes me about Dustin Rhodes is how he's still passionate about wrestling and entertaining the fans. I think that's rare for someone who has been at it as long as Dustin has. For instance, I know Randy Orton is still a crowd favourite and has earned respect over the years due to his abilities, but he just seems to do as little as possible now. He shows up for the paycheck, not because it means something to him anymore. Dustin Rhodes wrestles because he loves it; Randy Orton wrestles because it loves him.

[Zack T 171]

Randy's never really done much to begin with, beyond a Superplex or a really flashy RKO. Beyond that, he's a very methodical and paced wrestler. He's good in no DQ situations because he can get wicked with it, and he's good in things where he can be in and out. But he's had extremely few memorable 1 on 1 matches and the few he's had, are arguably more because of who the opponent was. Not saying Randy's a bad wrestler, he's not. He's super well timed, athletic, accurate, safe, and fairly well versed in grappling around and brawling. But his style is just very safe and boring, except for his few flash spots.