JON MOXLEY vs. ORTIZ (w/Santana)- 5/10
J.R. called Jericho the “reverend of reinvention.” I hope he never says that again, and that that is as close as AEW ever gets to giving someone a stupid WWE nickname.
The rest of the Inner Circle were on commentary. Moxley won a passable match cleanly. I really didn’t like the finish, though. I thought having Moxley cause LAX to bump into each other kind of felt like him beating the team (especially with the story being Santana’s repeated interference) rather than him just beating Ortiz.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- hated it
As you can probably guess based on what I just said, I REALLY disliked Santana attacking Moxley from behind, only for Moxley to pop back up and dispose of him with ease.
Moxley then pulled the keys he stole to Jericho’s car out of his pocket. Did Paul Turner not check him for weapons before the match? And don’t tell me “they’re just keys,” because Moxley proceeded to take one and STAB SANTANA IN THE F*CKING EYE!
For the record, I don’t actually have a problem with Moxley going the “an eye for an eye” route, but you need to have the announcers put it over as being extreme and out of control and dangerous, and I think the announcers did a great job at that.

SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. BEST FRIENDS (w/Orange Cassidy)- 5.5/10
They pointed out to us that Christopher Daniels is not at ringside with SCU. Action happened. Ross rightly pointed out that SCU’s hug cost them a win because they didn’t follow up. Well… that and Trent decided to turn around while still holding Kaz instead of just hitting his finisher on him. I hate finishes like that where the wrestler keeps holding someone in a ridiculous situation (and even TURNING AROUND WITH HIM) just to get one last flippy spot in for the finish.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- meh
The Dark Order attacked everyone. Orange Cassidy didn’t give a sh*t. For some reason the Dark Order want this idiot in their group. Or not. That was a pointless swerve.
Christopher Daniels finally showed up and the Dark Order backed away from him. They did a good job of keeping things logical while also keeping open the possibility of Daniels being the Exalted One.

MJF VIDEO PROMO ON WHY HE WANTS TO GIVE CODY TEN LASHESH- good

TAZ COMMENTS ON CODY TAKING LASHES- GREAT!... but at the same time, maybe it’s not such a good idea to tell us that your big segment will be difficult to watch while there is a show running opposition. Actually, I guess the real mistake is in doing the segment on this show rather than on Dark. It’s actually pretty responsible of them to give us a warning.

YUKA SAKAZAKI vs. DR. BRITT BAKER, DMD- 2/10
Jim Ross’ tone of voice is right. “Magical Girl Splash” is a dumb name for a move, and if you want me to take her seriously, the name needs to change (and doubly so if she’s going to dress like some sort of cosplayer and look like she’s fourteen). She got the win via roll-up.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- bad
Dr. Baker hit Yuka in the back of the head with the ring bell. Aubrey Edwards too the bell away… and then apparently just felt her work was done and made no effort to prevent anything else that Britt did to Yuka. The big angle here is that Britt broke some of Yuka’s teeth.

ADAM PAGE & THE ELITE (Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks) vs. LUCHA BROS. & THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)- 7/10
Much action happened. The important thing you need to know is that Page could have tagged out but didn’t, resulting in him getting pinned by Pentagon Jr.

TONY SCHIAVONE’S INTERVIEW OF KENNY OMEGA IS INTERRUPTED BY PAC, WHO IS BACKSTAGE WITH ANOTHER INTERVIEWER AND A CAMERA AND RIHO- HORRIBLE!
I don’t get it. Is Pac right and this was supposed to be a contract signing? If so, why wasn’t Kenny at the signing? (Or, perhaps more correctly, why did AEW book the show in such a way that it was possible Kenny wouldn’t have time to get to his contract signing on time, and why did they exacerbate the problem by having Schiavone interview him now?) And if not… why is there a camera and an interviewer there? Did Pac kidnap and interviewer and a production crew and set this up? And what about Riho? She’s just standing there holding her title belt. She’s not tied up or anything. Why is she standing here allowing herself to be a damsel in distress? She’s supposed to be a f*cking champion!
Also, Pac seems to be right that Kenny Omega doesn’t give a sh*t about whatever terrible thing Pac did to Michael Nakazwa, as we haven’t heard Kenny mention it or attempt to avenge his friend in any way.
Pac finally gets Kenny to give him a match by threatening Riho. First of all, like I said above, she’s supposed to be a f*cking champion, not a damsel in distress! She’s even standing there holding the damn belt! Secondly, while whatever Pac is about to do to Riho is obviously morally wrong because she is an innocent party, it’s also kind of hard for me to be too worried about her when you realize that she has fought and defeated Nyla Rose on a regular basis, and Nyla Rose isn’t much smaller than Pac is, so I’m not really sure why I’m supposed to be too worried for her.
And speaking of Nyla Rose, Pac is apparently not evil enough to attack a woman… so he has Nyla Rose do it for him. Nyla ran out from behind a curtain and attacked Riho, then put Riho through a table (barely. That had to hurt). AGAIN. How many times are they going to do this same angle with these same two women?
Also… Pac has just shown his duplicitousness by having Nyla in place to attack Riho and ordering the attack even though Kenny agreed to have a match with him. If Pac went back on his word (which he did, unless you’re going to play heel announcer and let him off on the technicality that he didn’t perform the assault himself), what’s to stop Kenny from going back on his word and not have the match? He would be completely morally justified in doing so.
The answer to that question, of course, is that Kenny is now so angry at Pac for what Pac had done to Riho that Kenny now wants a match with a Pac to get his hands on him. The problem with that, however, is that this same scenario happened a few weeks ago with Michael Nakazawa and Kenny didn’t want a match with Pac. Michael Nakazawa, as we have been told many times over, is Kenny’s “best friend.” Riho, on the other hand, (as far was we kayfabe know) is just coworker of Kenny’s. Maybe they’re good friends, but she’s not his best friend, so why does he want the match now while he let it all slide when best “best friend” was assaulted.
And finally, this is YET ANOTHER example of AEW running the same angle in two different stories. Pac is attacking Kenny’s friends to get what he wants out of Kenny, while the Dark Order is attacking Daniels’ friends to get what they want out of Daniels.

DARBY ALLIN VIDEO PROMO- AWESOME!
He took a cardboard cutout of Sammy Guevara and Chris Jericho… and roasted it with a flamethrower. Then, for the first time in the almost four years I’ve been watching him wrestle, I saw Darby Allin smile.

JOEY JANELA vs. KIP SABIAN (w/Penelope Ford)- 6.75/10
Wow. They FINALLY got around to booking the obvious match. Excalibur referred to Kip Sabian’s “feetsies.” That sort of lack of judgment should be a firing offense. The match was good. Sabian won via roll-up with a handful of tights after Janela bumped into Penelope on the apron.

JERICHO & SANTANA (& THE INNER CIRCLE) PROMO- good
Jericho was an excellent hypocrite. Santana then cut a promo that came across dangerously like a babyface promo.

THE YOUNG BUCKS CONFRONT ADAM PAGE BACKSTAGE- very well done… until they ruined it at the end
The Bucks are angry at Page for costing their team the match. That closing line of “I was just about to ask you what your damn problem was but I’m pretty sure I know what the problem is,” followed by taking Page’s beer away was BRILLIANT… and then AEW had to go ruin it by taking their dramatic zoom in on Page, seemingly about to take the first step in considering that he might have a drinking problem… and turning it into a joke by having Page magically pull out a big pitcher of beer that he clearly wasn’t holding earlier in the segment. F*cking morons.
And the fans, too. We could be having a serious storyline about Adam Page dealing with alcoholism… but instead the fans just want to cheer him drinking.

CODY RHODES PROMO ABOUT CODY TAKING TEN LASHES FROM MJF- good
Some last-minute reassurance for us fans that Cody is not taking this lashing in vain and it will all be worth it in the end.

CODY GETS TEN LASHES FROM MJF- didn’t like it
I can’t say this was executed poorly because it wasn’t. The problem with it was that it was false drama because we all know that Cody isn’t going to quit in the middle, so this was really them taking a long time to get to an obvious conclusion. Yeah, the extra shot in the balls was mean, but we already know that MJF is a dick-head.
The one thing here that did bother me from a storyline point of view was Brandi’s presence. If you want to have her be the supportive wife then that’s fine, but then you need to acknowledge and account for all of the implications of that relationship. You can’t have her be the supportive wife this week when you’ve spent the past three months having him be seemingly ignorant of the fact that she is building an evil cult on the very national television show that he helps run.

Anyway, this was a mixed bag show from AEW. There wasn’t much that really annoyed me, but there wasn’t much I thought was too great, either. We’re now four months in, and the promotion is very much what I thought it was going to be. There is some good wrestling and some great promos, but the storylines and the universe often suffer from a lack of coherence and logic.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 5th, '20, 23:03ADAM PAGE & THE ELITE (Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks) vs. LUCHA BROS. & THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)- 7/10
Much action happened. The important thing you need to know is that Page could have tagged out but didn’t, resulting in him getting pinned by Pentagon Jr.

Is it just me, or do we have an Elite vs. Lucha Bros + X match almost every other week?

Thelone wrote: ↑Feb 6th, '20, 08:12

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 5th, '20, 23:03ADAM PAGE & THE ELITE (Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks) vs. LUCHA BROS. & THE BUTCHER & THE BLADE (w/the Bunny)- 7/10
Much action happened. The important thing you need to know is that Page could have tagged out but didn’t, resulting in him getting pinned by Pentagon Jr.

Is it just me, or do we have an Elite vs. Lucha Bros + X match almost every other week?

I don't remember many, but then again I dont watch Dark.

Alright, I looked it up and there were the three matches before Dynamite, then you have :

1) Fenix vs. Nick Jackson on November 29th
2) LB vs. Omega and Page on December 18th
3) Elite vs. LB and PAC on January 1st
3.2) Cody and Dustin vs. LB on January 8th (I guess this one is debatable)
4) This week's match

So it isn't as much as I thought, but you can see a pattern lately.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 5th, '20, 23:03

CODY GETS TEN LASHES FROM MJF- didn’t like it
I can’t say this was executed poorly because it wasn’t. The problem with it was that it was false drama because we all know that Cody isn’t going to quit in the middle, so this was really them taking a long time to get to an obvious conclusion. Yeah, the extra shot in the balls was mean, but we already know that MJF is a dick-head.
The one thing here that did bother me from a storyline point of view was Brandi’s presence. If you want to have her be the supportive wife then that’s fine, but then you need to acknowledge and account for all of the implications of that relationship. You can’t have her be the supportive wife this week when you’ve spent the past three months having him be seemingly ignorant of the fact that she is building an evil cult on the very national television show that he helps run.

1. I wasn't expecting Cody to give up, but I wouldn't put it past them, we already saw Cody lose his rights to championship matches for instance, I don't put it past them doing drastic things and milking things out. These being shoot lashes gives it a completely different perspective tho, it's not whether Cody will give up or not, this was a shoot 'is Cody tough enough?'. This was Dreamer getting caned, or Edge/Orton brawling with Foley. Knowing the outcome is not bad when it's logical.

2. Cody had acknowledged Brandi starting a cult in a promo. But (I personally) not knowing that the Nightmare Collective had disbanded the previous week made this better, it was shoot concern and support, which isn't completely off, it's not like Cody and Brandi don't talk to each other since the NC started, nor that Brandi is suddenly a sociopath.

cero2k wrote: ↑Feb 7th, '20, 09:25

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 5th, '20, 23:03

CODY GETS TEN LASHES FROM MJF- didn’t like it
I can’t say this was executed poorly because it wasn’t. The problem with it was that it was false drama because we all know that Cody isn’t going to quit in the middle, so this was really them taking a long time to get to an obvious conclusion. Yeah, the extra shot in the balls was mean, but we already know that MJF is a dick-head.
The one thing here that did bother me from a storyline point of view was Brandi’s presence. If you want to have her be the supportive wife then that’s fine, but then you need to acknowledge and account for all of the implications of that relationship. You can’t have her be the supportive wife this week when you’ve spent the past three months having him be seemingly ignorant of the fact that she is building an evil cult on the very national television show that he helps run.

1. I wasn't expecting Cody to give up, but I wouldn't put it past them, we already saw Cody lose his rights to championship matches for instance, I don't put it past them doing drastic things and milking things out. These being shoot lashes gives it a completely different perspective tho, it's not whether Cody will give up or not, this was a shoot 'is Cody tough enough?'. This was Dreamer getting caned, or Edge/Orton brawling with Foley. Knowing the outcome is not bad when it's logical.



2. Cody had acknowledged Brandi starting a cult in a promo. But (I personally) not knowing that the Nightmare Collective had disbanded the previous week made this better, it was shoot concern and support, which isn't completely off, it's not like Cody and Brandi don't talk to each other since the NC started, nor that Brandi is suddenly a sociopath.

1. There is a difference between this and the title match stip, though, as this is just step one in a three-step thing, and they'd have to change a lot of stuff up in the direction just to make this match still work if Cody quit during the lashings (including the Wardlow vs. Cody cage match they've been pushing hard). If they had done it and still made everythign work then more power to them, but I don't think anyone would have expected that.

The Dreamer and Orton comparisons don't work because those angles/feuds were specifically done because fans saw Dreamer and Orton was pretty-boys who weren't "really" tough. That perception doesn't exist with Cody, simply because of all of the other things we've seen him do over the years, from ladder matches in WWE to thumbtack bumps in ROH to getting the sh*t stiffed out of him by guys in NJPW to bleeding all over the place in AEW.
I think they just milked this too much. If you Cody Cody's selling down to half the amount of time for each lash, I don't think you would have lost anything. Also, while I get why Cody's friends would show up, random people like Kip Sabian showing up to watch really didn't make much sense to me. it just felt like a time-waster and/or something done to make the segment seem more important but the lack of good explantion for it exposed it for the trick it was and thus it failed to make things seem more important.

2. Where did Cody acknowledge such a thing, and he's such a babyface, why hasn't he done anything about it? Where is Jim Ross asking "I wonder what Cody thinks about his wife's actions?" Where are the Bucks and Kenny and Tony Khan saying "Hey, Cody... you're wife's cult just stabbed someone in the f*cking eye! This needs to stop!" Or where are those guys all going to Brandi and speaking to her EVP to EVP about how it's not okay to go around attacking the employees?
Do Cody and Brandi talk to each other since the Nightmare Collective started? Because we sure haven't seen it. We've seen Cody talking to Arn and DDP and Dustin, but not to Brandi. Brandi's stuff feels like it happens in a completely isolated, alternate universe from the rest of the show.

As for the Nightmare Collective breaking up, HOW THE F*CK DOES THAT NOT GET MENTIONED ON DYNAMITE?! it seems pretty f*cking important, and doubly so if I'm not supposed to wonder why Brandi is all of a sudden back to being pre-evil cult leader Brandi.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 8th, '20, 16:31
1. There is a difference between this and the title match stip, though, as this is just step one in a three-step thing, and they'd have to change a lot of stuff up in the direction just to make this match still work if Cody quit during the lashings (including the Wardlow vs. Cody cage match they've been pushing hard). If they had done it and still made everythign work then more power to them, but I don't think anyone would have expected that.

The Dreamer and Orton comparisons don't work because those angles/feuds were specifically done because fans saw Dreamer and Orton was pretty-boys who weren't "really" tough. That perception doesn't exist with Cody, simply because of all of the other things we've seen him do over the years, from ladder matches in WWE to thumbtack bumps in ROH to getting the sh*t stiffed out of him by guys in NJPW to bleeding all over the place in AEW.
I think they just milked this too much. If you Cody Cody's selling down to half the amount of time for each lash, I don't think you would have lost anything. Also, while I get why Cody's friends would show up, random people like Kip Sabian showing up to watch really didn't make much sense to me. it just felt like a time-waster and/or something done to make the segment seem more important but the lack of good explantion for it exposed it for the trick it was and thus it failed to make things seem more important.

2. Where did Cody acknowledge such a thing, and he's such a babyface, why hasn't he done anything about it? Where is Jim Ross asking "I wonder what Cody thinks about his wife's actions?" Where are the Bucks and Kenny and Tony Khan saying "Hey, Cody... you're wife's cult just stabbed someone in the f*cking eye! This needs to stop!" Or where are those guys all going to Brandi and speaking to her EVP to EVP about how it's not okay to go around attacking the employees?
Do Cody and Brandi talk to each other since the Nightmare Collective started? Because we sure haven't seen it. We've seen Cody talking to Arn and DDP and Dustin, but not to Brandi. Brandi's stuff feels like it happens in a completely isolated, alternate universe from the rest of the show.

As for the Nightmare Collective breaking up, HOW THE F*CK DOES THAT NOT GET MENTIONED ON DYNAMITE?! it seems pretty f*cking important, and doubly so if I'm not supposed to wonder why Brandi is all of a sudden back to being pre-evil cult leader Brandi.

1. It's predetermined, they don't need to change anything, there are several ways to get from point a to point b, they went for the straight forward logical route that gave everyone a great chapter in the story. Of course everyone knew that Cody was going to take those lashes, what kind of promotion would book a babyface that runs away from their problems and cries in the face of adversity, it doesn't take anything away from 'knowing'. I don't understand that mentality in wrestling, it's a predetermined show, everyone can anticipate everything.

2. He said said it at of the MJF promos when he was challenging for the match, he referenced 'brandi cutting off people's hair'. Why didn't he do anything about it? because he has his own problems to deal with, he's not a babysitter to the women's division and surely not to Brandi. If anyone had an issue with Brandi's actions then they need to go to her, not complain to Cody, Brandi's actions are not Cody's responsibility, they're both EVPs at the same level, as well as everyone else. You're trying to add unnecessary details to an already straight forward story. This is like asking why Vince McMahon allows The Fiend to attack people outside of matches? it is outside of the relevance of the story

There is no 'going back' to pre-evil cult Brandi, just because you run a cult doesn't mean you stop being a concerned spouse. If they haven't mentioned the end of the NC, maybe it's because we haven't seen where it all goes to.

cero2k wrote: ↑Feb 9th, '20, 13:22

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Feb 8th, '20, 16:31
1. There is a difference between this and the title match stip, though, as this is just step one in a three-step thing, and they'd have to change a lot of stuff up in the direction just to make this match still work if Cody quit during the lashings (including the Wardlow vs. Cody cage match they've been pushing hard). If they had done it and still made everythign work then more power to them, but I don't think anyone would have expected that.

The Dreamer and Orton comparisons don't work because those angles/feuds were specifically done because fans saw Dreamer and Orton was pretty-boys who weren't "really" tough. That perception doesn't exist with Cody, simply because of all of the other things we've seen him do over the years, from ladder matches in WWE to thumbtack bumps in ROH to getting the sh*t stiffed out of him by guys in NJPW to bleeding all over the place in AEW.
I think they just milked this too much. If you Cody Cody's selling down to half the amount of time for each lash, I don't think you would have lost anything. Also, while I get why Cody's friends would show up, random people like Kip Sabian showing up to watch really didn't make much sense to me. it just felt like a time-waster and/or something done to make the segment seem more important but the lack of good explantion for it exposed it for the trick it was and thus it failed to make things seem more important.

2. Where did Cody acknowledge such a thing, and he's such a babyface, why hasn't he done anything about it? Where is Jim Ross asking "I wonder what Cody thinks about his wife's actions?" Where are the Bucks and Kenny and Tony Khan saying "Hey, Cody... you're wife's cult just stabbed someone in the f*cking eye! This needs to stop!" Or where are those guys all going to Brandi and speaking to her EVP to EVP about how it's not okay to go around attacking the employees?
Do Cody and Brandi talk to each other since the Nightmare Collective started? Because we sure haven't seen it. We've seen Cody talking to Arn and DDP and Dustin, but not to Brandi. Brandi's stuff feels like it happens in a completely isolated, alternate universe from the rest of the show.

As for the Nightmare Collective breaking up, HOW THE F*CK DOES THAT NOT GET MENTIONED ON DYNAMITE?! it seems pretty f*cking important, and doubly so if I'm not supposed to wonder why Brandi is all of a sudden back to being pre-evil cult leader Brandi.

1. It's predetermined, they don't need to change anything, there are several ways to get from point a to point b, they went for the straight forward logical route that gave everyone a great chapter in the story. Of course everyone knew that Cody was going to take those lashes, what kind of promotion would book a babyface that runs away from their problems and cries in the face of adversity, it doesn't take anything away from 'knowing'. I don't understand that mentality in wrestling, it's a predetermined show, everyone can anticipate everything.

I'm not saying that the problem is the predetermined nature. I'm saying that the problem is that because it felt so plainly predetermined there wasn't as much drama there, and thus, in their efforts to milk as much drama out of it as possible, they crossed a line into milking for drama when the cow has no more milk to give, and it got boring. It wasn't the lashings that were the problem but rather the vast amount of time spent in between them with all of the people coming out, one at a time and just how long Cody was selling for (not that he shouldn't have sold, but cut 15%off of it to make sure this doesn't take so damn long).

cero2k wrote: ↑Feb 9th, '20, 13:22 2. He said said it at of the MJF promos when he was challenging for the match, he referenced 'brandi cutting off people's hair'. Why didn't he do anything about it? because he has his own problems to deal with, he's not a babysitter to the women's division and surely not to Brandi. If anyone had an issue with Brandi's actions then they need to go to her, not complain to Cody, Brandi's actions are not Cody's responsibility, they're both EVPs at the same level, as well as everyone else. You're trying to add unnecessary details to an already straight forward story. This is like asking why Vince McMahon allows The Fiend to attack people outside of matches? it is outside of the relevance of the story


There is no 'going back' to pre-evil cult Brandi, just because you run a cult doesn't mean you stop being a concerned spouse. If they haven't mentioned the end of the NC, maybe it's because we haven't seen where it all goes to.

It's not about the storylines individually because you can't look at these things in a vacuum. It's about the cohesive whole of the universe.

I very much WOULD like security or at least the other wrestlers to run in and stop brawls or save people from beat-downs. I think a low tolerance for brawling and such attacks adds to the sports-like feel that pro wrestling should endeavor to create. I love it when William Regal or Johnny Saint or Karsten Beck come out and yell at the wrestlers for brawling.

That being said, pro wrestling is a kayfabe combat sport and thus it usually doesn't bug me too much when I see promoters being lenient on this kind of thing because that makes them money (to a degree, of course. I think Raw has taken it too far recently, and I said as much in my review). The flip side of that, though, is it that it is the promoter allowing the wrestler to be illegally violent with each other because it ultimately lines the promoter's pockets. It's a little greedy. Yes, it helps the wrestlers', too, if we assume that kayfabe contracts are based on buyrates and gates (which I don't think is too unreasonable of an assumption to make), but the promoter's part in it is still a little exploitative.

I firmly believe that unless you're doing a heel authority figure angle, the promotion should always be portrayed as a babyface. Vince has mostly been portrayed as a greedy heel. Even as a babyface he's been shown to be greedy, so I think he's more okay with people attacking each other because he thinks it will draw eyeballs to his product. And even Vince tried to stop the Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon 2000 from happening because he didn't want his top stars all getting injured.

AEW has taken the idea of the babyface promotion to a level rarely (if ever) seen before. Even in Japan, where places can often be thought of as "Inoki's/Baba's/Misawa's/Onita's/Tenryu's/Hashimoto's/Muta's/Choshu's promotion," they often at least have a fake sanctioning body like GHC or PWF kayabe making the decisions. In AEW we are outright told that the Elite, Brandi Rhodes, and Tony Khan are the ones making the decisions. They have been credited with being the ones to sign wrestlers, we've seen Brandi make changes to women's matches, etc. The whole reason Cody said he would never have another title shot again if he lost was because he didn't want to be accused of abusing his power (and part of the reason I hated it so much was that it didn't make any mention of the fact that if he won, he would still be able to abuse his power to help himself in the title matches). I don't think they've ever said it outright (and they really should have), but the whole reason that Cody let MJF set these ridiculous hoops that Cody has to jump through in order to get a match with him is that he didn't want himself or his buddies to be seen as abusing their power by just booking the match, even though that's the completely logical thing to do and any allegations of bias in that scenario would clearly be unfounded.

That means that if someone- in this case Brandi- is doing something wrong and abusive of her power, then it's something that it's their responsibility as a group to deal with. And yes, we need to see it on TV because that's how we know that it's not a plot-hole; that the promotion has actually thought things through. Because it's a completely logical thing for the announcers to speculate about and for an interviewer to ask them about, and every time that doesn't happen it makes it feel like AEW is committing a classic WWE mistake of having relationships only matter when the promotion wants them to. It's no different than WWE suddenly no longer bringing up Jimmy & Naomi or Dragon & Brie's marriage up when both of them are on TV but one is a babyface and the other is a heel. It's not that she went back to being pre-cult Brandi in that her character changed all of a sudden but rather than she went back to being pre-cult Brandi in that she and her husband suddenly started to interact on screen again and people started to talk about their marriage again.