BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 13th, '20, 20:30

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. THE DARK ORDER (Evil Uno & Grayson) (w/the Dark Order)- 6.5/10
The other Dark Order minions jumped the Bucks from behind before the match. The story of this match was them isolating one of the Bucks- sometimes in non-traditional ways. The Bucks won anyway with a roll-up.

MORE DUMB MJF BULLSH*T- He’s a dick. We get it. These segments do nothing for the show. Also, can someone tell Jim Ross that it’s 2020 and you can call someone a “dick” on television. Or an asshole. Or about ninety other things that are better than saying “Richard.”


WHO ARE THE KENNY OMEGA & ADAM PAGE’S FAVORITE TAG TEAM OF ALL TIME?- Kenny said it was Bucks and put them over so strongly that it was impossible to take seriously. Page said it was him and Kenny. I guess this builds to something, but it has been going on for so damn long with no real movement that I’m well out of patience by now.

ANOTHER DUMB MJF SPEECH- TERRIBLE!
This was a repeat of the same unfunny joke we’ve gotten for the last few weeks. Also, more breaking kayfabe, as MJF says that Moxley is “not used to dealing with a pro wrestler who won’t happily look at up at the lights for him.” You know. Because it’s all fake. NXT had someone’s face get burned with a magical fireball, but at least they asked me to pretend that magic was real instead of telling me that everything I’m watching is fake.
Oh, and Taz is on commentary for this. This would be the same Taz who has talked Brian Cage up so much and now MJF is saying that Cage purposely lost to Moxley, and Taz just sits there and agrees “with everything MJF said.” So much for Taz’s credibility.
Also, MJF is out here running his mouth on Moxley for a long time and of course Moxley doesn’t show up until MJF’s prepared speech is done. Isn’t this the exact same sh*t that people hate in WWE?
Moxley’s music hits and MJF sends his goons up into the stands to where he thinks Moxley will come from instead of keeping them in the ring and waiting for Moxley to come at him. Isn’t MJF supposed to be smart?
And, of course, this is the one time that Moxley comes out the normal way. He didn’t know that MJF was going to send his goons into the crowd, but he just happens to choose to do things differently this one time and works out perfectly? F*ck off. If you absolutely must have MJF send the goons into the crowd, just have Moxley beat them up on his way to the ring!
Babyface Jon Moxley attacks MJF from behind like a coward. He then cut a promo saying that he and MJF won’t be even for MJF trying to cost him the title last week until Moxley gets to beat MJF up in a regular match for the title at the PPV. Whatever.

ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIES MATT HARDY- meh
Marvez tells us that Matt won’t be medically cleared for ten more days. I guess he knows the future. And boy is that sure a specific number. You’d think…
Oh my gosh would you look at that! Next week’s Dynamite is one of the shows that got rescheduled due to the NBA playoffs, and it’s scheduled for next Saturday night, which TEN DAYS FROM NOW! What are the odds?! Things like this make the show feel scripted and fake, and thus should be avoided whenever possible.
And this is the sort of thing that could be fixed SOOOO easily. Just don’t have Marvez give a specific number. It’s an injury that included Matt getting busted open. We have no idea how long it will be before he gets cleared. Just have Matt say that “I hope to be cleared by next week,” and early next week you can announce that Matt has been medically cleared!
Matt says that management wants him to go home, but he won’t. Instead, he’s going to go after Sammy Guevara tonight!
And as luck would have it, someone dressed kind of like Sammy Guevara is walking by at that exact moment, facing away from Matt. Matt assaults him, but it turns out it was Mike Posey. Also coincidentally, pretty much every referee in the company happened to be right there to pull Matt off. And those last two coincidences wouldn’t have bothered me at all, except that we’ve already two other “oh my gosh, what a coincidence!” things happen in the past five minutes!

AEW TNT TITLE MATCH: Cody Rhodes(c) (w/the Nightmare Family & Arn Anderson) vs. Scorpio Sky- 6.7/10
Brandi has brought her action figure to the ring, and apparently calls it her “Bran-Bran.” And they think this is going to make her likable?
They’ve brought in Mike Chioda now, too, because apparently we need a sixth referee. Mike Chioda is a guy AEW doesn’t need, and does nothing but make them seem like they’re desperately grabbing up any ex-WWE name they can find.
These two had a very good match, each working a body part. I would have given it a 7/10 if they hadn’t done my most hated spot, which is when someone does a superplex, but then the guy who got hit with the superplex immediately catches the guy who performed the offensive maneuver in a small package. Any time your spot is “I hit you with a move and then you pin me,” you’re doing pro wrestling wrong.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- dull
Brodie Lee shows up on the screen and he wants a title shot next week. He’s also got the original “unfinished” version of the belt with him that he apparently stole at some point. Didn’t the “unfinished” belt get sent back to the shop to be finished, and that’s what Cody is wearing now? Why did they pay for a whole new belt? That seems like a waste of money.

WHO ARE PRIVATE PARTY’S FAVORITE TAG TEAM?- The Hardys

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Adam Page & Kenny Omega(c) vs. A Boy & His Dinosaur (w/Marko Stunt)- 7.5/10
What did these guys do to earn a title shot? And please note that this is about the third or fourth straight tag title challenger who I’ve said that about. AEW needs to do a better job of making people feel like they are making their way towards a tag title shot. I’m sure these guys have won a bunch of squashes on Dark recently, so I’m not ruling out the possibility that they deserve this title shot. What I’m saying is that these challengers get no build and no chance for fans to feel like they have momentum behind them on the main show, so every title match feels like a forgone conclusion.
The match itself was pretty great athletically, and I would love to see any combination of these four in a singles match. Marko Stunt annoyed Kenny on the outside and got what was coming to him in the form of a Snap Dragon on the floor. This follows up on the post-match segment from Fight for the Fallen where Kenny was frustrated at his team’s loss and kicked Marko. The problem is that Luchasaurus later used Marko Stunt as a weapon (which should be a DQ), and this was done with Jungle Boy deliberately distracting the referee, which is obviously a heelish thing to do because it’s cheating, so who are the babyfaces here?

SANATA & ORTIZ DUMP BLEECH ON BEST FRIEND’S STUFF- meh
Yeah, it’s douchy and heelish, but this still feels so low-level. LAX are supposed to feel dangerous, but at the moment they feel more like petty vandals. Comparing them to Retribution is too harsh, but they feel like a complete and total undercard act at this point. They came into this promotion almost a year ago on the very top.

WHO ARE THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE’S FAVORITE TAG TEAM?- the Road Warriors

TAG TEAM APPRECIATION SEGMENT- very bad
We’ve got the Young Bucks, FTR, the Rock N’ Roll Express, and Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard. They are all here for a meeting of the Mutual Admiration Society. Ricky Morton put over FTR for having “so much chemistry in a match that guys put together.” Again… because it’s f*cking fake. Keep that in mind.
Tully eventually got sick of this and said that neither of these teams were the best tag team in the world. Did Tully announce that his search was over and he finally found Shawn Spears a tag team partner? Nope. Instead he says that it’s ridiculous to claim to be the best team in the world when you’re not the champions. This is a very good point, but Tully making that point seems rather strange, and doubly so when it’s exactly the sort of thing that a drunk Adam Page should be stumbling out here to say.
Tully then remembers that he’s not supposed to like Arn because their respective charges are enemies so he starts cutting a promo on Arn. Shawn Spears come out onto the ramp, so Arn goes to leave. Tully turns his attention back to the RnRs, but gets SUCKER-PUNCHED by Ricky Morton. The Young Bucks, FTR, and Shawn Spears run in to hold everyone back. Dax Harwood’s injured knee gives out and Cash Wheeler goes to check on him.
Spears gets Tully out of the ring, and the Bucks go to help Spears back Tully up the ramp, while the RnRs stay in the ring. At this point Dax pops up, Cash hits Robert in the back with the knee brace, and FTR give Ricky Morton a spike piledriver. FTR left, and Page & Omega came out to aid the Bucks in tending to Ricky Morton.
My issues with this are as follows:
1. Three minutes ago Ricky Morton told me this was all pre-arranged between all of the involved parties, so why should I care? That’s why you don’t break kayfabe on the damn show!
2. They beat up an old man? Fine. On paper, I should be angry at them, but there is no emotional punch because they haven’t built Ricky Morton up as meaning anything to anyone (other than that bit of talking they did two minutes ago). What do FTR gain by attacking Ricky Morton? This is like that time the Nexus beat up Ricky Steamboat and a couple of other legends. It’s essentially just cheap heat. Like everything else in this horrendously botched feud, this felt like an angle that was done because they wanted to have someone do something to get heat or cause friction, and this is what they came up with.
3. Like I said above, there is some heat to this on paper because of the treachery and because they beat up an old man, but this isn’t any normal old man. It’s Ricky Morton. He still wrestles regularly. We even saw him take a POWERBOMB THROUGH THE STAGE and he back doing spots THIRTEEN DAYS LATER with no problem. Yes, a spike piledriver is a kayfabe dangerous move, but the effect is lessened if you do it to a guy who wrestles all the time.
4. The effect is also lessened if this isn’t the first time you’ve done this angle with this same guy! Dynamite hasn’t even been on the air for a year now, and they’ve already done “heels attack Ricky Morton from behind and hit him with a dangerous move” TWICE.
5. Most frustratingly, I am sure that AEW and their defenders are patting themselves on the back over this and lauding it as a great example of booking. “This was FTR’s plan all along! This was the whole reason they had Tag Team Appreciation Night written into their contracts.” They’ll point out that Dax faking the leg injury makes sense because the result of it was going to be their enemies (Page, Omega, & the Bucks) wrestling at a disadvantage while they say in the back, not taking any punishment at all. And for all I know, maybe it will even be revealed that Tully and Spears were in on it. But even if Tully and Spears were in on this, the execution of this plan still relied on things that were far outside of their control. What if Ricky Morton doesn’t decide to throw a bunch? What if the Young Bucks didn’t get out of the ring to back Tully up the ramp (which seemed to me like a completely unnecessary thing for them to do at the time because Spears was already doing that)? What if Arn doesn’t leave? What if someone else (like, say the tag champs, or The Butcher & The Blade, who are enemies of both them and the Bucks) decided to crash the segment? What if the KhanTron was on, and thus Ricky & Robert were able to see them coming? And this is all assuming that Tully and Spears actually were in on it, which they might well not have been.

CHRIS JERICHO INTERVIEWS ALEX MARVEZ INTERVIEWING MIKE CHIODA- bad
Why are we interviewing a referee?
Jericho showed tried to convince Chioda to favor him in the main event. If he was going to do this, why the f*ck would he do it IN FRONT OF A LIVE CAMERA?!

HIKARU SHIDA vs. HEATHER MONROE- 2/10
Shida won a short match cleanly with a cool submission finisher.

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS HIKARU SHIDA- pointless
Tony mentioned to Shida that there is a PPV coming up and that she has “a lot of challengers.” Really? WHO? I can’t name one woman in the company who seems like she’s on a trajectory to earn a title shot.
Shida told her challengers to “bring it on.” In other words, absolutely nothing happened that moved any story along in any way whatsoever.

JAKE ROBERTS PROMO & LANCE ARCHER SEGMENT- bad
Some idiot not only walked in front of the camera while Jake was cutting a promo, but was dumb enough to bump into Archer while doing so. This is the first time that Archer has assaulted someone and I have found it warranted. Of course, he ruined it by going over and attacking someone else for no reason, too.
Jake jabbered on for a while, saying nothing. Archer then got upset with Jake for not telling the people something. Archer then ordered Jake to “show them,” and so Jake pulled his shirt up and turned around to reveal that he had “Everybody dies!” written on his back in marker.
So what? This was just another segment where Archer beats people up for no reason in the background while Jake rambles on, making veiled threats about oncoming destruction. These guys have been doing this for two and a half months now. I’m starting to think that Thelone was right when he/she/they posited that Archer was brought in with absolutely no plans for him in place past losing to Cody.

Hey, look! They finally plugged the women’s tag team tournament. Took them long enough. It’s been happening for two weeks already.

After their vicious assault on Ricky Morton, FTR have been booked in a match next week against… Private Party? Not the Young Bucks or Adam Page & Kenny Omega- i.e. the teams it was revealed that they feigned a leg injury and abandoned, and the teams who were out there to check on Morton. Nope. Private Party. The Elite, on the other hand, are facing three scrubs from the Dark Order.

IF CASSIDY LOSES, HE MUST PAY JERICHO $7,000 FOR A NEW JACKET: Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho- 6.75/10
So the main event of Tag Tea Appreciation Night is a singles match?
I f*cking HATED the spot where Jericho actually thinks Chioda is going to turn around and let him hit Orange Cassidy with the baseball bat. It’s so dumb, and did nothing for the match.
The execution on the run-in was also pretty bad. A Best Friends vs. LAX brawl spills out onto the stage- one on each side, but at the exact same time… and right when that happens and Chioda turns to look at it, Jake Hager just happens to be in position to run in from the crowd behind Chioda’s back? And the brawl just happens to head to the back right after Hager hits his spot? F*ck off.
Other than that, this was very good. Not coincidentally, it involved a grand total of zero stupid Orange Cassidy bullsh*t. OC overcame Hager’s interference and a low blow by Jericho to win with a roll-up, presumably setting up a third match at the PPV.


This was a frustrating episode of AEW. There was way too much stuff that happened that made the show feel scripted. It was very WWE-like. Then there was the actual breaking of kayfabe which was very Vince Russo-like. Then there were the terrible segments, which were just plain bad. The wrestling saved this show from being terrible, but even that was particularly outstanding.



STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Jim Ross thinks Scorpio Sky vs. Cody “could be the match of the year.”
There’s trying to hype the match up, and then there’s just lying, and this is about fifteen miles on the wrong side of that line.

2. Jim Ross asked “who the hell kicks out of the Cross-Rhodes?” At this point I think the answer is pretty much everyone.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Thelone » Aug 15th, '20, 11:43

That was a nice dumpster fire apparently.
I’m starting to think that Thelone was right when he/she/they posited that Archer was brought in with absolutely no plans for him in place past losing to Cody.
First of all, I'm a guy, so that's "he".

More importantly, Archer isn't the only one in that situation and frankly, most of the people they brought in fit that bill.
  • Spears feuds with Cody, then does mostly nothing besides trying to find a tag partner for the last millenium (and making veiled threats at Cody no one takes seriously at this point) and wasting Blanchard on this idiot
  • Butcher and Blade come in as MJF's hired goons or whatever that was, then it's forgotten two minutes later and they're just job guys now
  • """Legend""" Luther and Melanie Cruise join the shitty Brandi group which is disbanded out of nowhere five seconds later because it sucked ass, but they're still around despite being both useless
  • Lee is revealed to be the leader of an awful, bloated faction everybody wants to be gone and is seemingly going nowhere (both him and his group) besides... making veiled threats to whoever crosses their path
  • Archer, Cage, Abadon, Starks, Hardy, the list goes on
There's a reason why some people still say today that AEW is just a vanity promotion for the Elite, and that's because they're the only consistant presence on the show (+ Jericho and Moxley kinda) and everything revolves around them. It's been ten months of TV shows and they've created no "homegrown" star during that time. Worse, they're bringing more and more WWE cast-offs and ramping up the shitty comedy and ludicrous setups lately.

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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by XIV » Aug 16th, '20, 06:24

I'd argue that MJF is their "homegrown" star. His biggest gigs to date were things like MLW. This is his first international promotion gig and he's growing in that role. But besides him, you're right. The Elite are the focus, but it probably should be the case right now. Darby Allin is another who didn't have massive exposure before but does and seems to be doing okay, so you can argue a couple of cases here.

But the ex-WWE midcard guys who hated WWE for being midcard guys are in AEW being midcard guys.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 16th, '20, 10:47

Thelone wrote: Aug 15th, '20, 11:43 That was a nice dumpster fire apparently.
I’m starting to think that Thelone was right when he/she/they posited that Archer was brought in with absolutely no plans for him in place past losing to Cody.
First of all, I'm a guy, so that's "he".
Noted.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Thelone » Aug 16th, '20, 17:06

XIV wrote: Aug 16th, '20, 06:24I'd argue that MJF is their "homegrown" star. His biggest gigs to date were things like MLW. This is his first international promotion gig and he's growing in that role. But besides him, you're right.
Eh, I see your point, but MJF already had about two years of TV exposure/experience when he came in. Sure, it was only MLW, but that was still more than 90% of the original roster. They gave him a bigger platform, I'll give you that, but he's not doing anything different than what he was doing in MLW with Dynasty.
The Elite are the focus, but it probably should be the case right now.
At this point, the issue is more that despite being the center of attention, most of the Elite guys have not accomplished much in a year when you think about it. The Bucks have literally done fuck all in AEW besides having matches (+ book the tag division with one believable team to beat the current champions and the Dark Order garbage), Omega is tag champ and lost any aura he had when he left New Japan (+ books the women's division which is awful), and Cody is the only one doing well, mostly because he books himself to be in the spotlight and doesn't elevate anybody.
Darby Allin is another who didn't have massive exposure before but does and seems to be doing okay, so you can argue a couple of cases here.
I'm not denying that there is some talent in AEW, but Allin for instance is a guy they put in short storylines once in a while and gains nothing out of them. They're beating Jungle Boy like a drum because allegedly, they're also waiting for crowds to come back to give him a big win, which will take MONTHS and no one will give a shit by that point. Scorpio Sky is another guy they're supposedly high on (that young, 37yo upstart, but whatever) and is mostly beating jobbers on the Youtube show and being forgotten about unless Cody needs another tomato can to add to his collection. Then you have a guy like Guevara who's making weird Handbanana comments in the past and busting people open hard way who is now the lowest henchman in a comedy midcard faction.
But the ex-WWE midcard guys who hated WWE for being midcard guys are in AEW being midcard guys.
I'm SHOCKED that Spears, Lee, Hardy and not-Ryder aren't the future of the business.
Big Red Machine wrote: Aug 16th, '20, 10:47Noted.
Sorry, that sounded a bit rude I've noticed afterwards.

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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by XIV » Aug 17th, '20, 05:44

Edited below. Such a technophobe!
Last edited by XIV on Aug 17th, '20, 05:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by XIV » Aug 17th, '20, 05:47

Thelone wrote: Aug 16th, '20, 17:06
XIV wrote: Aug 16th, '20, 06:24I'd argue that MJF is their "homegrown" star. His biggest gigs to date were things like MLW. This is his first international promotion gig and he's growing in that role. But besides him, you're right.
Eh, I see your point, but MJF already had about two years of TV exposure/experience when he came in. Sure, it was only MLW, but that was still more than 90% of the original roster. They gave him a bigger platform, I'll give you that, but he's not doing anything different than what he was doing in MLW with Dynasty.
The Elite are the focus, but it probably should be the case right now.
At this point, the issue is more that despite being the center of attention, most of the Elite guys have not accomplished much in a year when you think about it. The Bucks have literally done fuck all in AEW besides having matches (+ book the tag division with one believable team to beat the current champions and the Dark Order garbage), Omega is tag champ and lost any aura he had when he left New Japan (+ books the women's division which is awful), and Cody is the only one doing well, mostly because he books himself to be in the spotlight and doesn't elevate anybody.
Darby Allin is another who didn't have massive exposure before but does and seems to be doing okay, so you can argue a couple of cases here.
I'm not denying that there is some talent in AEW, but Allin for instance is a guy they put in short storylines once in a while and gains nothing out of them. They're beating Jungle Boy like a drum because allegedly, they're also waiting for crowds to come back to give him a big win, which will take MONTHS and no one will give a shit by that point. Scorpio Sky is another guy they're supposedly high on (that young, 37yo upstart, but whatever) and is mostly beating jobbers on the Youtube show and being forgotten about unless Cody needs another tomato can to add to his collection. Then you have a guy like Guevara who's making weird Handbanana comments in the past and busting people open hard way who is now the lowest henchman in a comedy midcard faction.
But the ex-WWE midcard guys who hated WWE for being midcard guys are in AEW being midcard guys.
I'm SHOCKED that Spears, Lee, Hardy and not-Ryder aren't the future of the business.
Big Red Machine wrote: Aug 16th, '20, 10:47Noted.
Sorry, that sounded a bit rude I've noticed afterwards.
I don't have time to cut lovely little quotes the way you have! I'll just addres this as one thing.

MJF
You must forget he is YOUNG. Like, under 25, and he carries himself and speaks the way he does. Sure, he had a little TV practice, but he's carried it over to national networks, you'd be surprised how many guys cannot do this.

The Elite
Whilst it does feel like they've done fuck all, they are featured on every show, that was more my point, and they should be. The wrong guys are Tag Team Champions. All day long, but with the arrival of FTR, that can be fixed.

Darby Allin
He is hurting due to the lack of long term storylines, hopefully they've started something between him and Ricky Starks, I think there could be some decent matches to be had there for sure.

Ex-Midcard WWE Guys
I grant you this to a degree. But its more the fact that they go unused rather than where they are. I'd like to see Cardona try a heel run, turn on Cody, want that title. Have it feel real "personal". They're beginning to use Matt Hardy right to put someone over, but definitely could be doing more with Shawn Spears.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 17th, '20, 16:19

XIV wrote: Aug 17th, '20, 05:47

The Elite
Whilst it does feel like they've done fuck all, they are featured on every show, that was more my point, and they should be. The wrong guys are Tag Team Champions. All day long, but with the arrival of FTR, that can be fixed.

Darby Allin
He is hurting due to the lack of long term storylines, hopefully they've started something between him and Ricky Starks, I think there could be some decent matches to be had there for sure.

Ex-Midcard WWE Guys
I grant you this to a degree. But its more the fact that they go unused rather than where they are. I'd like to see Cardona try a heel run, turn on Cody, want that title. Have it feel real "personal". They're beginning to use Matt Hardy right to put someone over, but definitely could be doing more with Shawn Spears.
I agree with pretty much all of this. FTR are a great pick-up, Cardona has the potential to be as well, and I'm a big fan of Conti, but hopefully they've learned from Hardy and especially Spears that if you pick up an ex-WWE guy, you can't push them above their ability just because they did a popular internet thing (Hardy) or are Cody's friend (Spears).
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Thelone » Aug 18th, '20, 08:34

XIV wrote: Aug 17th, '20, 05:47MJF
You must forget he is YOUNG. Like, under 25, and he carries himself and speaks the way he does. Sure, he had a little TV practice, but he's carried it over to national networks, you'd be surprised how many guys cannot do this.
I didn't forget how young MJF is, I just don't think you can really call him a homegrown guy when he's been doing mostly the same thing on another televised promotion for two years.
The Elite
Whilst it does feel like they've done fuck all, they are featured on every show, that was more my point, and they should be. The wrong guys are Tag Team Champions. All day long, but with the arrival of FTR, that can be fixed.
I don't want to write a long diatribe, so I'll try to be concise.
  • The Bucks and Omega just don't come off as big stars
  • The Bucks were never even in the chase for the tag belts
  • Same thing with Omega for the world title
  • Those three things make the announcers sound silly for hyping a bunch of mid/upper-carders as the greatests ever
  • Cody is the only one coming off as a star, but he's hogging the spotlight like there's no tomorrow and really isn't helping/elevating anybody
What I would have done :
  • Keep the Rhodes as a team, make them the first tag champions and have the Bucks chase them
  • Have a three-way feud for the world title between Jericho, Moxley and Omega that THE ARTIST can ultimately win for a lenghty reign
  • Create the TNT title much earlier and put it on PAC
My point here would have been to put the belts on names that people know because despite what they think, the Bucks and Omega aren't household names for a bigger audience. Same thing with the TNT title that someone like Page or MJF can win. Afterwards, you can easily transition Cody to the world or TNT title, put Dustin with another partner he can take under his wing (not QT Marshall preferably), maybe do the same with Jericho, the Bucks as champions can feud with the Revival, PAC can move up to the world title (or be stuck in the UK, hopefully after he dropped the belt), have Page and MJF feud for the TNT belt and slowly elevate guys like Allin, Jungle Boy, Guevara to that level.

Notice how I've mostly mentioned wrestlers who were under contract since the beginning. This is a bunch of stuff they could have done from day 1 without signing 50 more wrestlers/managers/whatever.
Darby Allin
He is hurting due to the lack of long term storylines, hopefully they've started something between him and Ricky Starks, I think there could be some decent matches to be had there for sure.
Is that really a storyline or was it just another short term thing to get to the Moxley match?
Ex-Midcard WWE Guys
I grant you this to a degree. But its more the fact that they go unused rather than where they are. I'd like to see Cardona try a heel run, turn on Cody, want that title. Have it feel real "personal". They're beginning to use Matt Hardy right to put someone over, but definitely could be doing more with Shawn Spears.
So, just the Spears feud again, but with a belt on the line then.

Speaking of good ol' Shawn Spears, where were all those fans crying about WWE (and now AEW I suppose) mishandling this clown when he wasn't the Ten Guy years ago? To make a video game analogy, Spears should be the first boss of the game or the henchman of a bigger boss, not actually being a bigger boss himself. If they really wanted to do something with him, they should have paired him with MJF when he turned heel on Cody and act like MJF paid him to soften Cody up with his previous feud and let his guard down or whatever. You can then pair Spears with Wardlow as a tag team because while I rag constantly about him, Spears is a seasoned veteran who knows what he's doing and can help a green guy like Wardlow. So yeah, they could do a bit more with him, but can we stop pretending like AEW is leaving money on the table by not using him?

I'd agree about Hardy, it just took them a while to realize that "Oh yeah, we can use this older star to put over the new generation".

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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 8/12/2020 AEW (extremely frustrating)

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 18th, '20, 11:27

Thelone wrote: Aug 18th, '20, 08:34

What I would have done :
  • Keep the Rhodes as a team, make them the first tag champions and have the Bucks chase them
  • Have a three-way feud for the world title between Jericho, Moxley and Omega that THE ARTIST can ultimately win for a lenghty reign
  • Create the TNT title much earlier and put it on PAC
My point here would have been to put the belts on names that people know because despite what they think, the Bucks and Omega aren't household names for a bigger audience. Same thing with the TNT title that someone like Page or MJF can win. Afterwards, you can easily transition Cody to the world or TNT title, put Dustin with another partner he can take under his wing (not QT Marshall preferably), maybe do the same with Jericho, the Bucks as champions can feud with the Revival, PAC can move up to the world title (or be stuck in the UK, hopefully after he dropped the belt), have Page and MJF feud for the TNT belt and slowly elevate guys like Allin, Jungle Boy, Guevara to that level.

Notice how I've mostly mentioned wrestlers who were under contract since the beginning. This is a bunch of stuff they could have done from day 1 without signing 50 more wrestlers/managers/whatever.
This is really good stuff.

Thelone wrote: Aug 18th, '20, 08:34
Speaking of good ol' Shawn Spears, where were all those fans crying about WWE (and now AEW I suppose) mishandling this clown when he wasn't the Ten Guy years ago?
Nowhere, of course. Because Shawn Spears/Tye Dillinger has never been over. Chanting "TEN! TEN! TEN!" was over, because that's what modern wrestling fans are. Broken Matt wasn't over until he started shouting "DELETE!" Bullet Club wouldn't have been anywhere near as over as they were if they didn't start shouting "SUCK IT!" Once "RUSEV DAY!" became a thing, fans stopped actually caring about the results of Rusev's matches.



Thelone wrote: Aug 18th, '20, 08:34 To make a video game analogy, Spears should be the first boss of the game or the henchman of a bigger boss, not actually being a bigger boss himself. If they really wanted to do something with him, they should have paired him with MJF when he turned heel on Cody and act like MJF paid him to soften Cody up with his previous feud and let his guard down or whatever. You can then pair Spears with Wardlow as a tag team because while I rag constantly about him, Spears is a seasoned veteran who knows what he's doing and can help a green guy like Wardlow. So yeah, they could do a bit more with him, but can we stop pretending like AEW is leaving money on the table by not using him?
This, too, is very good.
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