BRYAN DANIELSON vs. ANTHONY BOWENS (w/Max Castor)- 5/10
This match is happening, in Excalibur’s own words, because the Acclaimed said Tony Khan as “a horrible boss,” and so now Bowens is booked against Bryan Danielson “as punishment.” Are you kidding me? Is Tony Khan supposed to be a heel? You can cheat all you want and assault people backstage and he barely does anything, but if you say he’s a “horrible boss,” he’ll book you in a punishment match?
They gave Bowens enough to look credible, but once Dragon took over, he really took over.

Taz referred to Dragon as a “four-time world champion,” which implies that they’re only counting WWE, which I also answers the question I asked about Punk when his number of world championships was brought up: so AEW is counting the WWECW Title as a world title, but not the ROH World Title. Didn’t see that coming.

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS ANDRADE EL IDOLO, MJF, & FTR- didn’t like it
The deal was that Andrade would pay MJF money in order to gain the services of FTR for two weeks. A few issues here:
1. Why does he have to pay MJF for this? Shouldn’t he have to pay FTR themselves, or at least pay Tully Blanchard, who is their manager? Maybe you can argue that they needed MJF’s blessing to work for someone else and had to bribe him, but in that case you’d think the deal would have been made between Andrade and Tully/FTR instead of what we saw here, which seemed to be that the deal was brokered between Andrade and MJF.
2. Why pay for FTR when Andrade surely has friends of his own he can bring in? AEW was clearly willing to book Andrade’s team without knowing who they were, so why would Andrade not bring in guys who he doesn’t have to pay for, and who he knows won’t screw him once they have what they want (in FTR’s case, apparently the belts. Yeah, MJF wouldn’t get his money if FTR screwed Andrade and didn’t help against Cody, but MJF already has money, so why would he care about that, especially if his group still come out of this with championships)?
FTR cut a promo saying they would get “their” AEW World Tag Team Titles back at Full Gear, and called Pac a “little British bitch” for not coming out to help his friends. Dax challenged Pac to a match on Dynamite.

CM PUNK & EDDIE KINGSTON FACE TO FACE- good until the end
I really liked this for a while (other than Kingston’s line about Punk “burying other people to get his own sh*t in” or however exactly Kingston put it, which doesn’t have any kayfabe meaning that I can come up with), but I do think it contradicts the CM Punk we have kayfabe known in a way that won’t work for most people. I can believe that a young CM Punk did the things that Kingston said, but only because I know of a story of him behaving similarly towards Kevin Steen in ROH in 2005. I don’t know how well known that story is at this point.
They did a decent job of explaining the idea, but I don’t think it will quite click to people exactly how much Kingston feels his career was being held back without an understanding of what the indy scene was like at the time (and specifically how far ahead of everyone else ROH was).
I thought the pull-apart at the end was decent and I liked how they got there, but I thought that Punk had been a little too much of a jerk for me to fault Eddie for going where he did.
Am I the only one who did a double-take and thought someone was right behind Eddie when they shoved that shot of him backing up from Punk with his arms up and the KhanTron was right over his shoulder?

TONY SCHIAVONE INTERVIEWS CHRISTIAN CAGE, LUCHASAURUS, & JUNGLE BOY- fine
They challenged the SuperKliq to a Falls Count Anywhere match at the PPV.

AEW TBS TITLE TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND MATCH: Red Velvet vs. The Bunny- 4/10
Red Velvet won a short match. Jade Cargill was watching from ringside with her manager and jawed with Red Velvet.

MARK HENRY INTERVIEWS THE PEOPLE IN THE MAIN EVENT- Cole was great, Silver was a clown.

JOHN SILVER vs. ADAM COLE (w/the Young Bucks)- 6/10
We’ve been constantly told that the Dark Order are “family.” The Bucks always interfere in matches when they’re at ringside, and yet no one from the Dark Order was at ringside for Silver. They only came out after the Bucks saved Cole from losing by putting his foot on the rope. And yes, that means that if the Young Bucks were not at ringside, ADAM COLE WOULD HAVE LOST TO JOHN SILVER. That’s the message AEW sent here.
They teased that Cole was having his equilibrium effected by the Con-Chair-To he took two days ago. How the hell did he get cleared to wrestle?
They action was good, but Cole spent most of it getting beaten by a clown. And if you’re going to argue that the “lingering effects of that Con-Chair-To” story is supposed to protect Cole from this, then this match did nothing for Silver because he was facing a guy who probably shouldn’t have even been in the ring.


A bad episode of Rampage. Watch the Punk/Kingston segment, but save yourself the rest of the time by skipping everything else.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 7th, '21, 14:42 CM PUNK & EDDIE KINGSTON FACE TO FACE- good until the end
I really liked this for a while (other than Kingston’s line about Punk “burying other people to get his own sh*t in” or however exactly Kingston put it, which doesn’t have any kayfabe meaning that I can come up with), but I do think it contradicts the CM Punk we have kayfabe known in a way that won’t work for most people. I can believe that a young CM Punk did the things that Kingston said, but only because I know of a story of him behaving similarly towards Kevin Steen in ROH in 2005. I don’t know how well known that story is at this point.
They did a decent job of explaining the idea, but I don’t think it will quite click to people exactly how much Kingston feels his career was being held back without an understanding of what the indy scene was like at the time (and specifically how far ahead of everyone else ROH was).
I thought the pull-apart at the end was decent and I liked how they got there, but I thought that Punk had been a little too much of a jerk for me to fault Eddie for going where he did.
Am I the only one who did a double-take and thought someone was right behind Eddie when they shoved that shot of him backing up from Punk with his arms up and the KhanTron was right over his shoulder?

It's a story that works well when we don't know all the details, because we do kinda know how both guys careers went on up to this point, but there is a lot of reality there for those that will want to research. Punk had his issues with Chikara and talked trash back in the day of a lot of those guys, Kingston included, so it works both on the surface and the depths. This is an example of a feud where you are going to be able to appreciate it on a level because you know the history of the indies during the last 20 years, whereas people who didn't, at this point know that Kingston was a guy that is barely making it against a dude that was on top of WWE.
I don't think this is a feud were they're setting up clear sides, at least not yet. They way that you thought Punk was a bit more dickish, I think people may think that Kingston is the one exaggerating and picking up fights. it's a feud with two egos and different career paths clashing is likely to appeal differently to different people.

cero2k wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 19:20

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 7th, '21, 14:42 CM PUNK & EDDIE KINGSTON FACE TO FACE- good until the end
I really liked this for a while (other than Kingston’s line about Punk “burying other people to get his own sh*t in” or however exactly Kingston put it, which doesn’t have any kayfabe meaning that I can come up with), but I do think it contradicts the CM Punk we have kayfabe known in a way that won’t work for most people. I can believe that a young CM Punk did the things that Kingston said, but only because I know of a story of him behaving similarly towards Kevin Steen in ROH in 2005. I don’t know how well known that story is at this point.
They did a decent job of explaining the idea, but I don’t think it will quite click to people exactly how much Kingston feels his career was being held back without an understanding of what the indy scene was like at the time (and specifically how far ahead of everyone else ROH was).
I thought the pull-apart at the end was decent and I liked how they got there, but I thought that Punk had been a little too much of a jerk for me to fault Eddie for going where he did.
Am I the only one who did a double-take and thought someone was right behind Eddie when they shoved that shot of him backing up from Punk with his arms up and the KhanTron was right over his shoulder?

It's a story that works well when we don't know all the details, because we do kinda know how both guys careers went on up to this point, but there is a lot of reality there for those that will want to research. Punk had his issues with Chikara and talked trash back in the day of a lot of those guys, Kingston included, so it works both on the surface and the depths. This is an example of a feud where you are going to be able to appreciate it on a level because you know the history of the indies during the last 20 years, whereas people who didn't, at this point know that Kingston was a guy that is barely making it against a dude that was on top of WWE.
I don't think this is a feud were they're setting up clear sides, at least not yet. They way that you thought Punk was a bit more dickish, I think people may think that Kingston is the one exaggerating and picking up fights. it's a feud with two egos and different career paths clashing is likely to appeal differently to different people.

I think you're describing what they are aiming for, but I haven't heard anyone side with Punk here because he's saying those little extra things where he comes off like a he's being a dick for the sake of being a dick, and that's never a good look.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 20:17 I think you're describing what they are aiming for, but I haven't heard anyone side with Punk here because he's saying those little extra things where he comes off like a he's being a dick for the sake of being a dick, and that's never a good look.

Then maybe he's the one turning heel and that's exactly the point of it all

cero2k wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 21:18

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 20:17 I think you're describing what they are aiming for, but I haven't heard anyone side with Punk here because he's saying those little extra things where he comes off like a he's being a dick for the sake of being a dick, and that's never a good look.

Then maybe he's the one turning heel and that's exactly the point of it all

Could be, but I don't think that's the intention. I just don't see what the point of turning Punk heel would be other than to shock people.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 23:50

Could be, but I don't think that's the intention. I just don't see what the point of turning Punk heel would be other than to shock people.

dude is not doing anything and there aren't many top level heels like there are babyfaces, it wouldn't be the worst thing. I don't know if it will work tho, Punk is one of those that people love or hate regardless of what character he portrays

cero2k wrote: ↑Nov 9th, '21, 07:28

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 8th, '21, 23:50

Could be, but I don't think that's the intention. I just don't see what the point of turning Punk heel would be other than to shock people.

dude is not doing anything and there aren't many top level heels like there are babyfaces, it wouldn't be the worst thing. I don't know if it will work tho, Punk is one of those that people love or hate regardless of what character he portrays

Fair point about top level heels, although I assume the seemingly-clear Moxley heel turn was meant to rectify that. And, of course, there is Cody who could be turned. Even if you told me to pick two out of three of turn Punk, turn Cody, and elevate someone who is already heel (Black, Miro, abd Archer being the best choices), I'd still keep Punk babyface.
I just don't see anything coming out of a Punk turn. However disappointed people seem to be with his run so far creatively, I think turning him heel is still trying to swim upstream.

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 9th, '21, 10:26 Fair point about top level heels, although I assume the seemingly-clear Moxley heel turn was meant to rectify that. And, of course, there is Cody who could be turned. Even if you told me to pick two out of three of turn Punk, turn Cody, and elevate someone who is already heel (Black, Miro, abd Archer being the best choices), I'd still keep Punk babyface.
I just don't see anything coming out of a Punk turn. However disappointed people seem to be with his run so far creatively, I think turning him heel is still trying to swim upstream.

I almost feel like Punk IS to replace a Mox that won't be going heel, and more than just having heels, I think Page will need a top level heel to come after him, I don't think Cody, Andrade, Black, Miro, or even MJF are those guys to make Page's title run reach a new level.

I do agree turning Punk is swimming upstream, but he's also really hateable, him talking shit to guys like Dragon, Page, and even Kingston could be a good approach.

cero2k wrote: ↑Nov 9th, '21, 11:22

Big Red Machine wrote: ↑Nov 9th, '21, 10:26 Fair point about top level heels, although I assume the seemingly-clear Moxley heel turn was meant to rectify that. And, of course, there is Cody who could be turned. Even if you told me to pick two out of three of turn Punk, turn Cody, and elevate someone who is already heel (Black, Miro, abd Archer being the best choices), I'd still keep Punk babyface.
I just don't see anything coming out of a Punk turn. However disappointed people seem to be with his run so far creatively, I think turning him heel is still trying to swim upstream.

I almost feel like Punk IS to replace a Mox that won't be going heel, and more than just having heels, I think Page will need a top level heel to come after him, I don't think Cody, Andrade, Black, Miro, or even MJF are those guys to make Page's title run reach a new level.

I do agree turning Punk is swimming upstream, but he's also really hateable, him talking shit to guys like Dragon, Page, and even Kingston could be a good approach.

I agree that most of the guys you mentioned aren't (currently) the guy who makes Page's reign, but AEW doesn't need that guy yet. No one is going to buy him losing the belt until at least his first PPV defense against anyone other than Dragon, so that's not the defense where you need that defining program. A heel Kingston or possibly Miro (who seems like he could be set up as a foil of Page with a loss to him, going down the same path of depression with a loss, although Miro would take his anger out on others and become more and more deranged rather than just drink) would be an excellent first defense or two. The question is how do you get those guys to the title shot without beating Dragon (which I wouldn't waste to set up a title shot where everyone knows the challenger in question will lose to Page).
AEW has plenty of time to turn Black, Andraade, or even Cody into that big heel for Page.