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Post by OneFanGang on Dec 21, 2022 2:42:24 GMT
AEW Dark tonight with the Marina experiment continuing with no Nyla/Vickie. Less than three minutes about 20:00 into the show. Whoever runs the TV truck is taking perverse pleasure in the Wayne’s World-style extreme closeup once again. I’ve got to think she’s been sentenced to Dark and Elevation matches until her deal expires, but disguising the booking as something positive for her. Some podcast used the phrase “Walking them around the block” in describing how Andrade was used for most of his time, basically running time off the game clock…and I think this terminology fits here.
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Post by srossi on Dec 21, 2022 3:13:47 GMT
AEW Dark tonight with the Marina experiment continuing with no Nyla/Vickie. Less than three minutes about 20:00 into the show. Whoever runs the TV truck is taking perverse pleasure in the Wayne’s World-style extreme closeup once again. I’ve got to think she’s been sentenced to Dark and Elevation matches until her deal expires, but disguising the booking as something positive for her. Some podcast used the phrase “Walking them around the block” in describing how Andrade was used for most of his time, basically running time off the game clock…and I think this terminology fits here. Saw a clip earlier today of her taking off a jobber’s head with a spinning heel kick that was supposed to miss. There’s some debate over whether it was completely Marina’s fault or if the jobber didn’t duck enough, but it was a mess.
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Post by OneFanGang on Dec 22, 2022 3:37:31 GMT
A number of segments in tonight's Dynamite (12/21) involved either a central wrestling character being snuck up on and attacked, or a referee kept out of position to see obvious interference. A fitting theme in that the booking seems to be done with blinders on to the fact that the over talent isn't being put in great positions, and a bunch of vanity projects are paraded out there that are tone-deaf in relation to drawing more of an audience. Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida for the AEW Women's title was the main event and the match itself was competitive enough to be compelling, but a lot of post match antics from Saraya, Britt Baker and Toni Storm cluttered the segment at the end.
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Post by cookie on Dec 22, 2022 4:25:58 GMT
Hayter and Shida put on one of the better AEW women’s matches in quite awhile. Very hard hitting and competitive match even though there was no way Hayter was losing the title yet.
The Keith Lee/Swerve segment was terrible. Rick Ross dropping a motherfucker without being bleeped and then just saying whoa again and again was not good, and Parker Bordeaux and jacked up Post Malone are part of his new stable now?? Weird segment. Swerve constantly seems to be involved in bad skits, this one coming a month after breaking Billy Gunns finger with pliers after kidnapping him.
FTR losing to the Ass Boys seems to be part of a bigger storyline with FTR having lost 3 matches in a row, it’ll be interesting to see where that goes.
The trios title match was good as always but 7 matches is too much in a short time period. The type of matches these guys have is entertaining if you like the style, which I do, but all of the matches run together at this point.
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Post by OneFanGang on Dec 22, 2022 5:07:30 GMT
Hayter and Shida put on one of the better AEW women’s matches in quite awhile. Very hard hitting and competitive match even though there was no way Hayter was losing the title yet. The Keith Lee/Swerve segment was terrible. Rick Ross dropping a motherfucker without being bleeped and then just saying whoa again and again was not good, and Parker Bordeaux and jacked up Post Malone are part of his new stable now?? Weird segment. Swerve constantly seems to be involved in bad skits, this one coming a month after breaking Billy Gunns finger with pliers after kidnapping him. FTR losing to the Ass Boys seems to be part of a bigger storyline with FTR having lost 3 matches in a row, it’ll be interesting to see where that goes. The trios title match was good as always but 7 matches is too much in a short time period. The type of matches these guys have is entertaining if you like the style, which I do, but all of the matches run together at this point. Bucks/Omega seem to have no idea how to come across as babyfaces, based on this promo previewing the show tonight. Crying about Death Triangle using objects to win every time and bad refereeing is hilarious when they show the previous bout where the Bucks were ready to use a hammer themselves. Then they liken making a comeback after being down 3-1 to LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Omega tells the audience James was in SpaceJam "For those of you who don't watch sports." That's condescending and talking down to the audience that heels do. None of their presentation comes off as genuine or makes you want to see them succeed. Contrasted with the Ricky Starks in-ring promo that started the show tonight, where he delivers attitude on the mic and vows to work harder for a rematch. THAT's someone who can draw some ratings for them if they don't screw up his booking.
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Post by Kriss on Dec 22, 2022 9:10:33 GMT
Poor Keith Lee. Absolutely wasted in this pairing with Swerve Strickland. Strickland's promos send me to sleep. His low-energy style just doesn't work on national television. Bringing in outside people to cut promos, whether they are rappers or NASCAR drivers, almost never works. Lee is a great promo, and he didn't get to say a single word last night. Just let the guy talk and have great matches. Swerve and his goons can leave, zero interest in them. Swerve can reunite with Hit Row and stink up SmackDown instead.
The show was really good apart from that. The opening promo segment was awesome. Jericho's expression when Starks called him a jobber was so good. The trios match was great. A holiday comedy garbage match was a good way to throw in something different. It's a nice story that Death Triangle win by cheating, but lose when weapons are allowed. The women's match was really good, and it's a shame that Rick Ross and Swerve had killed the crowd before the match, because the crowd were really hot at the start of the show.
Hopefully their new producer will help them with the pacing as well as the presentation. Raw is a 2 hour show stretched to three hours, and Smackdown often has similar issues. Dynamite is a 2 1/2 hour show squeezed into 2 hours. In terms of actual content, Dynamite is a longer show than Raw.
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Post by srossi on Dec 22, 2022 14:13:09 GMT
I thought last night's Dynamite was largely terrible. Rick Ross was as bad a celebrity guest as I've ever seen and seemed to not be sure where he was. He certainly wasn't produced AT ALL. He didn't know where the camera was, when to start talking, when to stop. Just a disaster even if he hadn't dropped an unbleeped mf. This is where AEW seems clueless. Yes, you shouldn't over-produce your talent who know what they're doing, but outside celebrities and the dozens of undercard guys they have absolutely need to be produced. And I don't believe for one second that it's all on Ross, I don't think anyone guided him properly on what to do. You can't just talk through it for 5 minutes and throw someone out on live TV in wrestling, it's a different environment than most of these guys have ever been in before. Then they top that shit off with the NXT Schism cast-off and a complete unknown who even they didn't pretend to care about getting involved, because what AEW really needs is 2 more jobbers in an angle that will go nowhere when a dozen stars aren't getting TV time.
Omega and the Bucks have come back a bigger mess than when they left, completely lacking direction, and apparently double-downing on obnoxious behavior to make a point to their critics rather than wanting to get over at this point. Sometimes I swear they talk backstage about what will got Cornette mad and then do that x3 rather than try to figure out any logical way to present themselves on TV. This was not the case before. They were doing shit that Cornette hated but the fans loved and they were just doing it naturally and because it wasn't 1985 anymore and having fun. Now they're being dicks and the difference shows.
The one bright spot was Ricky Starks unleashing another banger of a promo. His comments on Jericho were even funnier than his ones about MJF, and it was tighter and better delivered plus had Jericho's facials selling them. Just incredible work. He's become a star in 3 weeks if they don't blow it. And Jericho is bending over backwards trying to make anyone and everyone single-handedly. Jericho has probably solidified his status and the true and only possible GOAT of the 2000s. No one is close. I don't want to hear Cena, who isn't even in the top 100 WWE stars of all-time. Jericho is the closest thing to Flair in his prime that we've seen in decades.
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Post by Jim on Dec 22, 2022 14:51:11 GMT
. Jericho is the closest thing to Flair in his prime that we've seen in decades. But... but... he gave money to Trump!!! And his wife went to Capitol Hill on Jan 6th!!!
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Post by Jim on Dec 22, 2022 14:54:06 GMT
The stuff with Swerve, Lee and Ross (and the other 2 guys) was absolutely fucking shit. I hadn't seen Lee nor Swerve before AEW. I like Swerve and haven't seen much from Lee, mainly because they are putting him in awful situations. He comes across as an even stupider idiot now than before last night.
Women's match was good.
FTR and Ass Boys was pretty good too- the Gunns are going to be great.
And Ricky Starks is very close to greatness, if they don't fuck it all up.
I didn't watch the 6-man match.
and why is Jeff JArrett still on screen? NOBODY WANTS THIS
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Post by srossi on Dec 22, 2022 15:04:03 GMT
. Jericho is the closest thing to Flair in his prime that we've seen in decades. But... but... he gave money to Trump!!! And his wife went to Capitol Hill on Jan 6th!!! Wait until people remember the politicians Flair supported.
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Post by OneFanGang on Dec 22, 2022 15:07:09 GMT
Starks appears to have the charisma to freestyle some lines if need be; when he threw a couple of barbs Jericho's way and said "that's a free one" I could believe he had them in his pocket to try out on the crowd, and Jericho's wheels were turning as he gauged their response.
Yesterday I saw a retrospective on the Happy Days TV show, with a segment on how they actively sought to get catchphrases over like "Sit On It" and "Ayyy!" by peppering their dialogue with them. Donnie Most as Ralph mentioned his memorable "I still got it" came from producer Jerry Paris who used it in everyday life. The fans have created a sing-songy chant out of that line today!
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Post by Jim on Dec 22, 2022 15:14:48 GMT
But... but... he gave money to Trump!!! And his wife went to Capitol Hill on Jan 6th!!! Wait until people remember the politicians Flair supported. Flair is a childish degenerate who gets away with a lot.
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Superstar
Junior Member
HALL OF FAMER
Posts: 71
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Post by Superstar on Dec 22, 2022 15:18:41 GMT
The stuff with Swerve, Lee and Ross (and the other 2 guys) was absolutely fucking shit. I hadn't seen Lee nor Swerve before AEW. I like Swerve and haven't seen much from Lee, mainly because they are putting him in awful situations. He comes across as an even stupider idiot now than before last night. Women's match was good. FTR and Ass Boys was pretty good too- the Gunns are going to be great. And Ricky Starks is very close to greatness, if they don't fuck it all up. I didn't watch the 6-man match. and why is Jeff JArrett still on screen? NOBODY WANTS THISTell me somebody in that company that plays his part as good as Jericho plays his...The first name that pops into my head is Jeff Jarrett. He is a heel personified. He isn't out there looking to pop the crowd, or have an agenda backstage with anybody, he just does his part and actually looks to be in better shape than half of the WWE roster. Jericho will be cheered because he's Jericho but he still plays the heel. Jarrett is hated, and does everything in his power to embrace it. All of the heels in the back should watch him piss off the crowd and take notes on it. But in my opinion, he should be a manager because he can actually still bump and fight. Watching him get his ass kicked would be fun, not like watching Tully Blanchard where you felt sorry for him when he got hit.
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Post by srossi on Dec 22, 2022 15:24:58 GMT
The stuff with Swerve, Lee and Ross (and the other 2 guys) was absolutely fucking shit. I hadn't seen Lee nor Swerve before AEW. I like Swerve and haven't seen much from Lee, mainly because they are putting him in awful situations. He comes across as an even stupider idiot now than before last night. Women's match was good. FTR and Ass Boys was pretty good too- the Gunns are going to be great. And Ricky Starks is very close to greatness, if they don't fuck it all up. I didn't watch the 6-man match. and why is Jeff JArrett still on screen? NOBODY WANTS THISTell me somebody in that company that plays his part as good as Jericho plays his...The first name that pops into my head is Jeff Jarrett. He is a heel personified. He isn't out there looking to pop the crowd, or have an agenda backstage with anybody, he just does his part and actually looks to be in better shape than half of the WWE roster. Jericho will be cheered because he's Jericho but he still plays the heel. Jarrett is hated, and does everything in his power to embrace it. All of the heels in the back should watch him piss off the crowd and take notes on it. But in my opinion, he should be a manager because he can actually still bump and fight. Watching him get his ass kicked would be fun, not like watching Tully Blanchard where you felt sorry for him when he got hit. Jarrett is good in his role but whether it’s his fault or not, I think he has change the channel heat. Much like Tony Schiavone, who was never really bad at his job, Jarrett has a stench on him that it might take 20 years to shake.
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Post by Jim on Dec 22, 2022 16:56:05 GMT
I think Jeff Jarrett could have a great match with anyone, still. And he looks great, still. And I'm not saying he's not playing his part well, not at all.
The problem with him, in my estimation, is that nobody ever bought him as a top guy but he was pushed as one for years, starting in WCW and then into TNa where he was effectively booking himself as top guy. It's X-Pac heat though X-Pac shook that off long ago.
It also doesn't help that Jarrett is in another nonsensical angle, aligned with people nobody cares about and aligned with them for no real reason, and everyone is long sick of the guitar schtick.
I've nothing against his work, I used to really like him. Just not at the level he's been portrayed from 20+ years.
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