BRM Reviews AEW Deadly Draw Episode 3 (dull)

[Big Red Machine]

DEADLY DRAW TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Big Swole & Lil’ Swole vs. the Nightmare Sisters (w/Dustin Rhodes & Q.T. Marshall)- 5/10
Brandi is not only bringing the action-figure to the ring, but she is insisting on being introduced as “the only woman in AEW with her own action figure.” The defense I have often heard of this and of other heelish things that both Brandi and Cody have been doing is that they are, in fact, part of a heel turn. The problem with that theory is as follows:
If this behavior is intended to be part of a heel turn, it must be treated as such by the announcers. The babyface announcers (and AEW has THREE) are supposed to be our viewpoint characters. Behavior that viewers are supposed to be questioning must also be questioned by the announcers (like they’re doing with Kenny Omega). Is that “spoon-feeding the audience?” Yes. And it is important to remember that there might be some younger viewers out there who need that spoon-feeding. But even for people who don’t need the spoon-feeding, questionable behavior must be questioned by the announcers for the simple reason of maintaining the announcers’ credibility. You can’t have the announcers point to his series of open challenges as evidence of Cody’s heelishness if the announcers themselves were heaping lavish praise on Cody every time he held an open challenge and set it up so some tomato can would answer it.
And yes, we saw a tiny bit of this tonight, but even that was more them being perplexed that Brandi likes the action figure so much and is acting like it’s a four-year-old pretending the action figure is a real person than hinting that they think she’s way too proud of being the first woman in the company to have an action figure and that constantly talking about it is rubbing it in the faces of more deserving women (Riho, Nyla, Shida).
The match had its good moments, but was brought down by Brandi going full goof with the action figure. The worst of it was a spot where Q.T. got nailed by a dive, and Brandi ran over to make sure the action figure was okay. Does someone want to tell her that there is a whole warehouse full of them somewhere? Britt Baker showed up with a bullhorn to distract Big Swole when the Swoles were about to hit their finisher, allowing Allie to hit her finisher and pin Lil’ Swole for the win. Brandi celebrated this win by shaking her action figure by its legs like a goof.

DEADLY DRAW TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL MATCH: Ivelisse & Diamante vs. Tay Conti & Anna Jay- 6/10
Everyone was good. Conti’s facial expressions are tremendous.

ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWS THE NIGHTMARE SISTERS- Brandi was very rude to her partner. She’s basically an arrogant heel at this point, with Allie as the babyface, which I guess means we won’t get any explanation for why she left The Butcher & The Blade and decided to stop being The Bunny with no notice.

ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWS IVELISSE & DIAMANTE- They were WAY too coordinated to not feel goofy. Whoever came up with that idea should have been flogged for suggesting it.


Another disappointing episode of whatever this is, with the same relatively short matches. Between that and the fact that we’ve got one team with of a heel and someone who I still assume is a secret heel taking on two people just pledged to win “by any means necessary,” I’m having trouble caring about the finals because I have no team to root for and am not certain that they’re going to give the finals enough time.

[Thelone]

Brandi might legitimately be the worst thing about AEW, and that's quite the feat considering you have horrors like the Dark Order and Marko Stunt. Everything she does is panned by almost everyone (Nightmare Collective, this, the whole AEW Heels debacle), and yet they'll keep pushing her over and over and trying to make her a figurehead for women or Not-Stephanie McMahon or whatever this is supposed to be.