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[Mike E]

Hearing that Stu Bennett is the commentator replacing Cornette???

I'll watch NWA for him alone, he's always been a first rate talker in all his roles!

[Bigdoggsteel]

21 hours ago, DE. said:

Another clip-heavy episode of NWA Powerrr this week. It had more matches/live segments than the last episode (which means more than zero) but there was still a clear effort to limit Cornette's contributions as much as possible. He wasn't shown on camera at all except at the very end, although his commentary was on the live segments. They also showed some "unaired" footage which assumedly was from last week's binned episode. Suggests that the excuse from Aldis last week about episode 8 being 'normal' was BS. They obviously had a bit more time to edit this week's so they were able to throw in a small amount of live segments, but only where Cornette is nowhere to be seen on camera. They also thanked Cornette at the end of the episode, which is hilarious considering his recent comments.

The only positive is that there will be a totally new batch of episodes now, so it should be back to normal. Just a question of how much momentum they've lost in the last two weeks.

Indeed. They clearly don't air the segments from last week because of the Cornette stuff. 

Not related,but what do you think of Aldis? Open question to all posters here 

[Bigdoggsteel]

17 hours ago, Mike E said:

Hearing that Stu Bennett is the commentator replacing Cornette???

I'll watch NWA for him alone, he's always been a first rate talker in all his roles!

Yes, a great appointment to be fair,but I liked the nostalgia that came with Cornette 

[Bigdoggsteel]

21 hours ago, DE. said:

I'm already getting consistency headaches watching AEW Dark. Apparently it was supposed to be Excalibur and Shanna on commentary this week but Shanna is out because Nyla Rose attacked her at some kind of fan event. The response from AEW was apparently to punish Rose by putting her on commentary instead. OK?

Brandon Cutler's gimmick is "I play Dungeons and Dragons" which is amusingly pointless. 

I turned it off about 2 min into Cutler and Havok. The commentary thing was so stupid and Nayla and Excaliburs interactions were awkward to say the least. Made no sense that she was on commentary. 

I liked Cutlers ring gear,but when I saw the dice on the titantron I was like "oh,that's fucking nerdy". Havok just does nothing for me. Ok,he looks grand with his mask and his theme music fits,but hes puny, so so puny. 

[DE.]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Yes, a great appointment to be fair,but I liked the nostalgia that came with Cornette 

Agreed, it would be an excellent replacement on a normal wrestling company, but I'm not sure how it'll translate to a retro show like NWA. I guess we'll have to see.Corny's authenticity will be missed.

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Indeed. They clearly don't air the segments from last week because of the Cornette stuff. 

Not related,but what do you think of Aldis? Open question to all posters here 

I didn't think much of him when he was Magnus in TNA, but he's come on leaps and bounds since being NWA champion. His match with Cody at All In last year and the build up to it was great. He's definitely got the "look" of an old school champion, plays the role well and is solid in the ring too. I think he deserves a shot somewhere bigger - probably AEW at some point in the future.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Just now, DE. said:

Agreed, it would be an excellent replacement on a normal wrestling company, but I'm not sure how it'll translate to a retro show like NWA. I guess we'll have to see.Corny's authenticity will be missed.

I didn't think much of him when he was Magnus in TNA, but he's come on leaps and bounds since being NWA champion. His match with Cody at All In last year and the build up to it was great. He's definitely got the "look" of an old school champion, plays the role well and is solid in the ring too. I think he deserves a shot somewhere bigger - probably AEW at some point in the future.

Ya. I'm not sure about him. He has the look for sure,but I dont recall him having a good match,cody aside. I think I'm basing a lot on his match against Ellsworth a while back when he was the champion, my god he sold WAY to much for him. Ellsworth rolled him up at one stage from nowhere and it was actually a 3 count,but the ref said 2. I suppose that is being a good guy and worker, but it just looked pathetic

When he is cutting promos I always think he sounds awkward and it's like hes thinking too hard. In fairness though the ad he did for the retro videogame on NWA was funny. It's the best thing I have seen him do. He has done very,very well to position himself where he is. He bet his own path fair play to him and is probably in the top 3 current wrestlers never to have been in WWE. Doesn't really do it for me though. 

Does he have a finisher apart from that clover leaf? It seems his matches have so many false finishes 

[DE.]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

I turned it off about 2 min into Cutler and Havok. The commentary thing was so stupid and Nayla and Excaliburs interactions were awkward to say the least. Made no sense that she was on commentary. 

I liked Cutlers ring gear,but when I saw the dice on the titantron I was like "oh,that's fucking nerdy". Havok just does nothing for me. Ok,he looks grand with his mask and his theme music fits,but hes puny, so so puny. 

Yeah completely agree. There are a lot of characters on Dynamite that aren't clicking with me at the moment and I think that's translating to the broader audience, hence the drop in both live attendence and ratings. There's almost too much freedom there, without a clear vision running through the entire company. I thought this week's Dynamite show was alright, but there were still some problems.

- significant audio issues on the TNT broadcast, which has been happening for multiple weeks now. This is amateur stuff that needs to be addressed ASAP. Makes them look really bush league.

- first two matches and the Cody interview were good. Although Cody showing off how rich he is was a bit weird for a face character, particularly the son of Dusty Rhodes.

- Don't understand Jericho fighting with the Jurassic Express. Why does he need another bunch of people to feud with? This is what I mean by a lack of clear vision. I don't buy the Jurassic Express as a legitimate threat to the world champion (they've lost all their matches and Jericho even pointed that out). If they were going to go with anyone fighting Jericho it should have been Luchasaurus, not Jungle Boy. Regardless the whole Jurassic Express concept is a bit too hokey for me and it doesn't jive with the more serious and realistic storylines going on in the main event. It's admirable that Jericho wants to help put over the younger members of the roster but doing it with no build up is just jarring and out of place. I don't think it does anybody any favours.

- Kris Statlander is a good wrestler but her gimmick is ridiculous. Also disagree with putting her over Shida.

- How many cult like factions does this promotion need? We now have the Dark Order and the Nightmare Collective, both of whom are doing initiations into their families and other nonsense. You've also got this Butcher/Blade/Bunny team who are in the same mould. It's too much of the same thing.

- Main event was okay but is Joey Janela really main event level talent? Again they could be using Moxley a lot better. Lack of star power is starting to hurt the brand imo. It's not that the match between Moxley/Janela was bad, it was fine, but I don't know and haven't been given a reason to care about Janela.

I'm a bit down on AEW at the moment to be honest. I thought they got off to a strong start but they're starting to stumble and I'm finding myself far more invested in NXT right now.

 

[DE.]

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya. I'm not sure about him. He has the look for sure,but I dont recall him having a good match,cody aside. I think I'm basing a lot on his match against Ellsworth a while back when he was the champion, my god he sold WAY to much for him. Ellsworth rolled him up at one stage from nowhere and it was actually a 3 count,but the ref said 2. I suppose that is being a good guy and worker, but it just looked pathetic

When he is cutting promos I always think he sounds awkward and it's like hes thinking too hard. In fairness though the ad he did for the retro videogame on NWA was funny. It's the best thing I have seen him do. He has done very,very well to position himself where he is. He bet his own path fair play to him and is probably in the top 3 current wrestlers never to have been in WWE. Doesn't really do it for me though. 

Does he have a finisher apart from that clover leaf? It seems his matches have so many false finishes 

Pretty much agree with you. Honestly outside of TNA I haven't seen a great deal of Aldis. I've been impressed with him on Powerrr but it's a very limited production. Not sure how well he'd handle stepping back up to the big leagues, although I think he has the look and ability to carry himself there if he's handled correctly. British people almost always sound awkward in american wrestling tbh... something about the traditional English and Irish accents just doesn't sound quite right. Well, for me anyway. Even when Becky is talking I find a lot of it more cringey than compelling.

[DE.]

Good news for AEW, their audience bounced back this week to 851k, whilst NXT drew 845k. Apparently the DVR numbers for AEW last week were huge (roughly 300k more than usual) so it seems like a lot of their fans were legitimately just out for Thanksgiving. AEW skewers a lot lower age wise than NXT (AEW tends to draw more 18-34, whilst NXT and WWE as a whole relies almost solely on the 50+ demo) so last week's ratings make sense in that context.

WWE are probably a bit disappointed with the NXT rating off the back of Survivor Series, where NXT was spotlighted heavily. Nonetheless both shows seem to be settling in around the 700-900k range most weeks which is reasonable for the day and time slot. The big worry for WWE as a whole, not just NXT, is that their core audience is decidedly in the older demographic. That's obviously not great for their future, but it's also not the demo that advertisers target. AEW are far more successful in the demographic that advertisers desire, which bodes well for them at this point in time.

[Bigdoggsteel]

19 hours ago, DE. said:

Pretty much agree with you. Honestly outside of TNA I haven't seen a great deal of Aldis. I've been impressed with him on Powerrr but it's a very limited production. Not sure how well he'd handle stepping back up to the big leagues, although I think he has the look and ability to carry himself there if he's handled correctly. British people almost always sound awkward in american wrestling tbh... something about the traditional English and Irish accents just doesn't sound quite right. Well, for me anyway. Even when Becky is talking I find a lot of it more cringey than compelling.

Ya she does sound cringey and awkward and Balór is worse, hence why he rarely speaks. In fairness to Seamus, he actually tries , but I think he splits opinion. Be interesting to see where he ends up when he returns. Just needs the IC titles for the grand slam. I'd say he will get that. 

An Aldis, he is a great fir for Power alright, but can you imagine what the WWE would do with him. I'd say he knows that too. It would hurt him going there and I wouldn't be optimistic that AEW would be much better. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

19 hours ago, DE. said:

Yeah completely agree. There are a lot of characters on Dynamite that aren't clicking with me at the moment and I think that's translating to the broader audience, hence the drop in both live attendence and ratings. There's almost too much freedom there, without a clear vision running through the entire company. I thought this week's Dynamite show was alright, but there were still some problems.

- significant audio issues on the TNT broadcast, which has been happening for multiple weeks now. This is amateur stuff that needs to be addressed ASAP. Makes them look really bush league.

- first two matches and the Cody interview were good. Although Cody showing off how rich he is was a bit weird for a face character, particularly the son of Dusty Rhodes.

- Don't understand Jericho fighting with the Jurassic Express. Why does he need another bunch of people to feud with? This is what I mean by a lack of clear vision. I don't buy the Jurassic Express as a legitimate threat to the world champion (they've lost all their matches and Jericho even pointed that out). If they were going to go with anyone fighting Jericho it should have been Luchasaurus, not Jungle Boy. Regardless the whole Jurassic Express concept is a bit too hokey for me and it doesn't jive with the more serious and realistic storylines going on in the main event. It's admirable that Jericho wants to help put over the younger members of the roster but doing it with no build up is just jarring and out of place. I don't think it does anybody any favours.

- Kris Statlander is a good wrestler but her gimmick is ridiculous. Also disagree with putting her over Shida.

- How many cult like factions does this promotion need? We now have the Dark Order and the Nightmare Collective, both of whom are doing initiations into their families and other nonsense. You've also got this Butcher/Blade/Bunny team who are in the same mould. It's too much of the same thing.

- Main event was okay but is Joey Janela really main event level talent? Again they could be using Moxley a lot better. Lack of star power is starting to hurt the brand imo. It's not that the match between Moxley/Janela was bad, it was fine, but I don't know and haven't been given a reason to care about Janela.

I'm a bit down on AEW at the moment to be honest. I thought they got off to a strong start but they're starting to stumble and I'm finding myself far more invested in NXT right now.

 

Yep, all true. With the Jurassic express AEW have pulled a total WWE. An individual or team gets over and then they are pushed too soon, without really achieving anything. They did a move the other night where 2 of them threw Stunt at Guevarra (I think) and straight into a Canadian destroyer. Firstly Guevarra stood wobbling for what felt like 20 seconds while they prepared to throw Stunt. It looked ridiculous. I watched the clip on Instagram. 

I think AEW have too many wrestlers, not enough titles and a lack of cohesion with direction and storylines. As I said before, take Jericho out and I wouldn't say they have mush more going for them than say Impact wrestling. 

[DE.]

3 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

Ya she does sound cringey and awkward and Balór is worse, hence why he rarely speaks. In fairness to Seamus, he actually tries , but I think he splits opinion. Be interesting to see where he ends up when he returns. Just needs the IC titles for the grand slam. I'd say he will get that. 

An Aldis, he is a great fir for Power alright, but can you imagine what the WWE would do with him. I'd say he knows that too. It would hurt him going there and I wouldn't be optimistic that AEW would be much better. 

It's funny because a few years ago Sheamus bored me to tears, but that best of 7 he had with Cesaro followed by their tag team exploits really changed my opinion of him. Not sure how much longer he's got left though. I heard he has spinal stenosis which rarely bodes well. 

WWE would probably make Aldis a wrestling butler or something equally ridiculous and stereotypical. He'd be used better in AEW for sure.

Just now, Bigdoggsteel said:

Yep, all true. With the Jurassic express AEW have pulled a total WWE. An individual or team gets over and then they are pushed too soon, without really achieving anything. They did a move the other night where 2 of them threw Stunt at Guevarra (I think) and straight into a Canadian destroyer. Firstly Guevarra stood wobbling for what felt like 20 seconds while they prepared to throw Stunt. It looked ridiculous. I watched the clip on Instagram. 

I think AEW have too many wrestlers, not enough titles and a lack of cohesion with direction and storylines. As I said before, take Jericho out and I wouldn't say they have mush more going for them than say Impact wrestling. 

There's a lot of AEW stuff which is a little too choreographed. You can get away with it on indie shows but not so much when you're trying to step up to the big leagues. It doesn't feel like AEW has gotten out of that 'indie' mentality yet and they really need to do so if they want to grow beyond their current fanbase. 

Meltzer mentioned that right now AEW is like a smorgasbord of everything in wrestling, and it's coming off as confusing and unfocused. I pretty much completely agree with him. The storylines in AEW are all over the place at the moment. 

I mean, has anyone in AEW ever explained who 'The Elite' actually are? If you don't watch their YouTube channel you wouldn't know. Apparently MJF revealed on Twitter that he hired the Butcher/Blade/Bunny to attack Cody. Why wasn't that mentioned on Dynamite ffs? It feels like you have to search all over the place to properly piece together these storylines. Twitter, AEW Dark, Being the Elite, Instagram... it's too much. Everything you need to know should be presented on Dynamite. Anything outside of that should be purely supplemental and not necessary in understanding the basic storyline and motivation of the characters.

[Vinjay]

Just now, DE. said:

It's funny because a few years ago Sheamus bored me to tears, but that best of 7 he had with Cesaro followed by their tag team exploits really changed my opinion of him. Not sure how much longer he's got left though. I heard he has spinal stenosis which rarely bodes well. 

WWE would probably make Aldis a wrestling butler or something equally ridiculous and stereotypical. He'd be used better in AEW for sure.

There's a lot of AEW stuff which is a little too choreographed. You can get away with it on indie shows but not so much when you're trying to step up to the big leagues. It doesn't feel like AEW has gotten out of that 'indie' mentality yet and they really need to do so if they want to grow beyond their current fanbase. 

Meltzer mentioned that right now AEW is like a smorgasbord of everything in wrestling, and it's coming off as confusing and unfocused. I pretty much completely agree with him. The storylines in AEW are all over the place at the moment. 

I mean, has anyone in AEW ever explained who 'The Elite' actually are? If you don't watch their YouTube channel you wouldn't know. Apparently MJF revealed on Twitter that he hired the Butcher/Blade/Bunny to attack Cody. Why wasn't that mentioned on Dynamite ffs? It feels like you have to search all over the place to properly piece together these storylines. Twitter, AEW Dark, Being the Elite, Instagram... it's too much. Everything you need to know should be presented on Dynamite. Anything outside of that should be purely supplemental and not necessary in understanding the basic storyline and motivation of the characters.

I've never really agreed with that approach. WWE in 80's and 90's had distinct characters. For instance in late 90's virtually everyone had an attitude. On AEW there's Jon Moxley and then there's people calling themselves librarians. Being different does not always mean be different if you get what I mean. Once again though AEW's stuff whatever it is does not come across as watered down. Besides the women's division and I'm unimpressed enough by WWE's.

[DE.]

Just now, Vinjay17 said:

I've never really agreed with that approach. WWE in 80's and 90's had distinct characters. For instance in late 90's virtually everyone had an attitude. On AEW there's Jon Moxley and then there's people calling themselves librarians. Being different does not always mean be different if you get what I mean. Once again though AEW's stuff whatever it is does not come across as watered down. Besides the women's division and I'm unimpressed enough by WWE's.

I don't really understand what AEW's identity is. I don't think it has one. It's trying to be everything to everyone and that's, imo at least, not the route they want to go down.

WCW for all its flaws was great, pre-1999 at least, at being different to WWE - more sports-orientated and reality based. Granted they had stupid hokey stuff in the beginning like the Dungeon of Doom but by mid-1996 it was all about feeling 'real'. WWE came off as looking cartoonish and outdated in comparison.

To me shit like the Librarians and the Jurassic Express and Statlander being an "alien" are throwbacks to 1995 WWF when everybody had a stupid gimmick and just happened to wrestle as well. If I were them I would be ditching the hokey stuff ASAP and focus on being sports-based and legitimate. 

[Miller11]

The last two episodes of Dynamite have been, on the whole, awful. Some very good bits interspersed in garbage.

I think DE absolutely nailed it saying it had an indie show feel. I absolutely guarantee that at least 50% of the AEW roster would not be allowed on WWE programming, they would be sent to developmental (not NXT shows, the performance centre) for at least a year because they are so lacking in the basics. Some of those are people AEW seems to be pushing. Some common threads in almost every match they air are that they are over choreographed, incoherently moving from spot to spot, loads of false finishes, decent looking punches are never thrown, loads of super kicks, stomps and dives, a general lack of logic and an unawareness of where the cameras are. 

I like the idea of quarterly PPV events, but the pacing of the build is all wrong. It also seems as though there is only a very small handful of performers they feel are capable of building feuds and storylines around.

Plenty of potential, but it’s all a big mess at the moment in my opinion. They have a rabidly loyal core fanbase, many of which will gladly delude themselves as they have their colours nailed firmly to the AEW mast. I don’t know how long this will last, and I can’t see them growing their viewership any time soon.

[Bigdoggsteel]

4 hours ago, DE. said:

It's funny because a few years ago Sheamus bored me to tears, but that best of 7 he had with Cesaro followed by their tag team exploits really changed my opinion of him. Not sure how much longer he's got left though. I heard he has spinal stenosis which rarely bodes well. 

WWE would probably make Aldis a wrestling butler or something equally ridiculous and stereotypical. He'd be used better in AEW for sure.

There's a lot of AEW stuff which is a little too choreographed. You can get away with it on indie shows but not so much when you're trying to step up to the big leagues. It doesn't feel like AEW has gotten out of that 'indie' mentality yet and they really need to do so if they want to grow beyond their current fanbase. 

Meltzer mentioned that right now AEW is like a smorgasbord of everything in wrestling, and it's coming off as confusing and unfocused. I pretty much completely agree with him. The storylines in AEW are all over the place at the moment. 

I mean, has anyone in AEW ever explained who 'The Elite' actually are? If you don't watch their YouTube channel you wouldn't know. Apparently MJF revealed on Twitter that he hired the Butcher/Blade/Bunny to attack Cody. Why wasn't that mentioned on Dynamite ffs? It feels like you have to search all over the place to properly piece together these storylines. Twitter, AEW Dark, Being the Elite, Instagram... it's too much. Everything you need to know should be presented on Dynamite. Anything outside of that should be purely supplemental and not necessary in understanding the basic storyline and motivation of the characters.

A wrestling butler ? Ya, or maybe an evil poacher or something. No doubt Vince would have ideas for such good shit. 

Ah Seamus is a legend. He has achieved some amount to be fair to him. I have seen him in Dublin twice. The first time I said "well Seamus" as we walked past each other. He looked really confused. The second time I didnt say anything. Hes a big unit. Really stood out in the crowd. Wrestlers are actually big in real life too,as opposed to actors who are surprisingly small, Cillian Murphy springs to mind. I'd say his career is winding down alright. That sounds like a nasty injury, or condition he has. Wrestlers seem to always have crippling and chronic stuff like that when they are older, even more than professional athletes from other sports. It's a gruelling business. 

I'm more lost about who the elite are now than I was before AEW and I only watched being the elite around 10 times. I suppose they dont want to be accused of just copying the WWE, so are trying different things, but as you say it's all coming across very indy and disjointed. As I've mentioned a few times, they would be in big trouble without Jericho, even at this early stage. He's quality. I remember being a huge fan of his back in wcw when he was a cocky heel and was in a feud with Dean Malenko. His best work imo. 

 

[DE.]

On 06/12/2019 at 17:30, Bigdoggsteel said:

I'm more lost about who the elite are now than I was before AEW and I only watched being the elite around 10 times. I suppose they dont want to be accused of just copying the WWE, so are trying different things, but as you say it's all coming across very indy and disjointed. As I've mentioned a few times, they would be in big trouble without Jericho, even at this early stage. He's quality. I remember being a huge fan of his back in wcw when he was a cocky heel and was in a feud with Dean Malenko. His best work imo. 

Problem is "The Elite" haven't been established as a proper stable on TV. They have helped each other out on occasion but there's never been an explanation as to who they are, what their goals are, etc. Commentary announced a couple of weeks ago that "Hangman" Adam Page had left the Elite, but why would anyone care? He's not been shown doing anything with them on TV, so unless you watch the BTE show on YouTube it isn't going to mean anything. It's just going to cause casuals to tune out because they have no idea what is happening, and would need to invest too much time into catching up and then keeping up. As I said before, anything of consequence needs to be on TV so people understand what is going on. 

A perfect example is the Daniels/Pentagon match this week. The crowd weren't really into it, and despite the commentators declaring it was a hot feud with history it didn't ring true because a lot of it hasn't been shown on TV. Daniels came out singing and dancing for what was supposed to be a grudge match. Also how about a video package to remind the viewers why these guys want to fight each other so much? AEW assumes the viewer knows far more than is reasonable. They act like they're a promotion which has been running for years rather than one that only started producing TV in October. I still enjoy watching Dynamite overall, but I think a lot of things have less impact on me than they should because I don't know the history behind the feuds and AEW don't bother to explain it to me either through commentary or hype packages. 

Jericho is holding the show together right now and is consistently the best thing about Dynamite, but others need to start stepping up if they want to build a serious fanbase.

[DE.]

That time Goldberg joined the #VenkysOut campaign...

 

[Miller11]

https://twitter.com/btsportwwe/status/1205171944250843138

 

another Rovers/Wrestling crossover tweet

[Vinjay]

Blackburn has some wrestling history. Of course "World of Sport" had shows at King Georges' Hall but besides that WWE were at Blackburn Arena in 1994. I don't think that had anything to do with Shawn Michaels (his fan status is probably exaggerated) but like to think it did lol. WCW also had shows and the "Moat House Hotel" (which has since been demolished) was the scene of an infamous fight between Psycho Sid and Arn Anderson. Bet that made the local paper. There's also been UK independent shows including one where the ring didn't show up due to some nefarious shenanigans which ruined that promoter before he even got started. I guess people see those "American Wrestling" posters at King Georges' Hall but if any of you have kids who like wrestling and think that's THE Undertaker...well it's not. Blackburn Arena did have it's first wrestling show booked for many years last year but that promotion quickly went out of business and the show was cancelled. I doubt that's gonna make them go out of their way to book more shows.

Edited December 13, 2019 by Vinjay

[DE.]

This week's audience share: AEW 778K, NXT... 778K. Yes, according to Nielsen they tied at the same number of viewers. AEW slightly ahead in the 18-49 demo (0.28 to 0.24) but overall the shows seem to be locked neck and neck for the moment. 

Personally I thought AEW was much better this week than it has been as of late. I really enjoyed the overall show. NXT was good but not great. The opening and closing matches were superb, the rest largely passable. I definitely give AEW the "W" this week in terms of show quality. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Marty Schurll turning up at the NWA was a surprise. Good move for all involved really. Elevates the NWAs pulling power and also gives a good rub to schurll. He will eventually turn up on AEW. I'm sure there is a plan in place for that already.

Some talented guys there now. I like Eli Drake, but my favorites are Arron Stevens, he is pure comedy gold, I think he is my favourite wrestler and to a lesser degree Colt Cabana.. The women's division is abysmal to be frank,but I think Thunder Rosa has a bit about her. 

On that, I just find it strange sometimes how certain guys or gals get pushed into the Championship picture who are boring or just awful. I just don't really get James Storm. He is Stone cold very light. Was decent in Beer money to be fair, but Bobby Roode is a serious operator, whatever his role. The one that really puzzles me is Sienna. From what I have watched of her, she can't act, cut a promo or wrestle very well. I just don't get it. 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Bigdoggsteel

[Bigdoggsteel]

NWA power last night was one of the best wrestling shows I have seen in years.

[DE.]

On 17/12/2019 at 12:31, Bigdoggsteel said:

On that, I just find it strange sometimes how certain guys or gals get pushed into the Championship picture who are boring or just awful. I just don't really get James Storm. He is Stone cold very light. Was decent in Beer money to be fair, but Bobby Roode is a serious operator, whatever his role. The one that really puzzles me is Sienna. From what I have watched of her, she can't act, cut a promo or wrestle very well. I just don't get it. 

In fairness Storm is a big name, which I think is why he's being pushed into the title picture at the moment. I agree that he's nothing special these days, although ten years ago in TNA he was decent. His feud with Chris Harris was awesome and the America's Most Wanted tag team was great, as was Beer Money. I think overall he's better as a tag team wrestler but for name value alone I can see why they are featuring him prominently for now. I agree on Allysin Kay/Sienna - I don't think she has a great look nor is she that good in the ring. I'd much rather they give the belt to Thunder Rosa or even Melina.  

I enjoyed Into the Fire, thought it was a good PPV and Stu Bennett is excellent as a replacement for Cornette. The Marty Scurll reveal was a nice surprise although I get the feeling he'll eventually end up in AEW. There's no rush though as AEW has a big enough roster as it is without adding more to the mix. Probably better for him to wait until things have settled down a bit in AEW before appearing there.

Powerrr was back to being decent after a few dodgy weeks following the Cornette incident. Aron Stevens is a fantastic promo, and the eventual match between him and Question Mark should be a lot of fun. It's been ages since I've seen CW Anderson, I didn't even know he was still active tbh. Zicky Dice was... interesting. I'd never heard of him before seeing him this week on Powerrr. Storm's "keep messin' around with me and turn me back to the old me" line from his post-Into the Fire promo is lifted straight out of "Forgot About Dre" by Dr. Dre/Eminem which, uh... OK? Maybe it wasn't intentional, but it sure sounded like it was. Aldis being in the TV title tournament is a bit odd. I don't think the world champion should be concerned by a lower mid-card title, but whatever. He did a promo about it so they at least explained why and I assume he'll be out of the tournament quickly to move into a feud with Scurll. I thought Aldis' "team" felt a bit similar to Jericho creating the Inner Circle - or a retread of DX with Camille playing Chyna - but  I guess we'll see where that goes. The main event was alright but I've never been huge fan of Ken Anderson so it wasn't that interesting to me. His gut is pretty big nowadays too.

I'm a bit surprised they're doing another PPV so soon - even AEW are only doing them quarterly. I'm very curious to know how Into the Fire did, and what they needed to pull in viewers to break even. 

[DE.]

Watching Dynamite - a bit confused by Omega and Hangman Page teaming up. They announced a few weeks ago that Hangman was no longer in the Elite, so why is he still tagging with Omega? Also Schaivone on commentary this week said Page and Omega were in the Elite, so I don't know if they've dropped the idea of Page leaving the Elite or if Schiavone just forgot that Hangman had left. Couldn't blame him if he did forget as it hasn't been referenced on Dynamite in any way other than a couple of brief throwaway commentary lines. The Omega/Page dissension would have been more interesting if Page was still a part of the Elite, as it would be a logical storyline for Hangman splitting from the group - but according to AEW canon he already left for reasons that were never really explained, so... just confusing all around. Even at the end of the show the commentary team were asking why Page wasn't out helping the Elite - well, in storyline he isn't a member so that would be why, unless you've retconned that already. The match itself between Page/Omega and the Lucha Bros was good, but Omega eating the pin again is questionable booking IMV. I really don't think they're booking Omega well at all - or Page for that matter. 

JR seems to have a real problem remembering Jungle Boy's name. It's been the case for a couple of weeks now - he keeps calling him "Jungle Jack" and "Jungle Jack Perry" - but to everybody else on AEW he is and always has just been Jungle Boy. Not sure why he is finding it so hard to remember! He also kept confusing Butcher & Blade, although it's not like they've been spotlighted nor have the fans been given any major reason to care about them so whatever. The match between Cody/Darby & Butcher/Blade was alright but a bit sloppy. The crowd were into it at least. 

The Jungle Boy sit down interview with JR was good. He comes across as really likable. Between him and Darby Allin AEW have a couple of potential young breakout stars imo. They've both got a ton of natural charisma and are solid in the ring. Jericho/Jungle Boy was really solid. Jungle Boy looked impressive and Jericho played his role of cocky champion perfectly, whilst selling well for the smaller guy. I'm sure Jericho remembers back in WCW when he was the smaller up and coming talent and the older/bigger wrestlers (Goldberg especially) refused to let him get over. Jericho letting Jungle Boy hold out in the Walls of Jericho that long was very generous. The match ending confused me though. I'm not sure if Jericho got the extra five minutes or not. The ref was counting pinfalls after that but when Jericho walked out didn't count him out, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ AEW being AEW I guess. I think they did clarify on commentary later in the show that the stuff that happened after the ten minutes were up didn't count - but then why was the ref counting pins and why did the bell ring? 

I still don't get Kris Statlander's alien gimmick. It's really hokey and stupid to me. Like 1995 WCW/WWF level of ridiculous. The Nightmare Collective and Dark Order are similarly hokey and dumb, although at least the Nightmare Collective gets Brandi on TV which I'm certainly OK with. Regardless they are clearly strapping a rocket to Statlander's back so we'll see how it goes. 

"Revolution" is an incredibly generic name for a PPV. NWA's "Hard Times" is better. 

Main event was a solid enough tag team match. Much like with Omega I really do question having the Bucks lose so often, but it is what it is. The Dark Order being involved in the main event scene is just nonsense imo. At best they're a lower-mid card act. I do not see the Dark Order in the main event scene as 'money' in any respect. 

Dynamite was OK at best this week. Right now the show feels like a weird mix of 1995 WCW/WWF and mid-2000s TNA. I don't think that's what fans want and I fear the ratings will continue to decline as a result. Meltzer said this week that NXT is what people were expecting AEW to be, and he's right. NXT is the sports-orientated wrestling show everybody assumed AEW would be.