SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING
•SEScoops reported that AEW and WBD have a deal in principle for an extension in place but not on paper. Fightful reported that AEW is expected to remain on WBD, but stopped short of fully corroborating the SEScoops story. Tony Khan himself said in an interview with Comicbook.com that productive talks continue. It certainly seems like a deal announcement is imminent and, if the SEScoops report is correct, the PPVs will move to Max which would save AEW fans a lot of money.
•It appears that the Motor City Machine Guns have changed their minds and are heading to WWE instead of AEW. My guess is that Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, after 20-plus years in the business, are looking to not have to go as hard. I can’t say that I blame them even if I’m a little disappointed.
•As the Machine Guns are headed north, it appears that Bobby Lashley and MVP might be headed south. Reports emerged over the weekend that both Lashley and MVP’s contracts are expiring soon. Bobby Lashley in AEW would be interesting. Yes, he’s in his late-40s but the man still looks like he’s carved out of granite. MVP is a great mouthpiece. While I would support Lashley and MVP coming in, I just don’t know that I can fully get behind this potential Hurt Business revival in AEW that’s been bandied about, which would include free agent Shelton Benjamin. It wouldn’t be the self-parody of the NWO that The Band was in TNA, but it feels like Shelton Benjamin would be a waste of a hire. He’s a great wrestler, but he’s over 40 and a career mid-carder. There’s no upward trajectory. There’s plenty of young black talent in AEW that would benefit from being paired with Lashley and MVP if they’re up for that.
•It going to be a busy week. ROH Death Before Dishonor is Friday night from Arlington. In addition, AEW talent will be appearing at the CMLL show in Arena Mexico that same night. Death Triangle is scheduled to wrestle Mistico, Volador Jr, and Mascara Dorada, Kyle Fletcher will be in the Grand Prix match (technically representing ROH), and MJF will be defending his newly won International Title against Templario.
•Tony Khan announced on Twitter that the winner of the annual Royal Rampage match on Friday night will receive a world title match at September’s Dynamite Grand Slam. I expect Royal Rampage to be loaded with some important names given the prize for the winner.
•Last Friday night, Tony Schiavone as this year’s recipient of the Gordon Solie Award was inducted into the Tragos/Thesz National Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. As one of the voices of my and many others childhoods, it’s an honor well deserved. Congratulations Tony!
Elite Hostile Takeover
Latest Developments
The Acclaimed officially joined Team AEW as did Darby Allin in much more dramatic fashion.
Analysis
The Acclaimed simply asked Mark Briscoe and Swerve for the right to join Team AEW. Swerve, referencing his previous battles with the Acclaimed welcomed them to the team and shared a fist bump. Swerve vs Okada main evented the show. It took a little while for these two to find some in-ring chemistry but they eventually did just in time for the Bucks to hit the ring and get the match thrown out. I understand that this was all to done to set up the show closing brawl selling Blood & Guts but I think it’s a risky decision to promote a match with zero intention of giving a finish. This needs to not become a habit. Digressing, after the Bucks caused the DQ , all hell broke loose. The Acclaimed, Mark Briscoe, and Jack Perry all joined in the brawl. At one point Swerve was left inside the ring alone. That’s when Hangman’s music hit. The wild-eyed cowboy came down to the ring and stood on the apron staring at his nemesis. Before they could come to blows Swerve was yanked out of the ring. Fantastic tease. It really whet the appetite for seeing these two clash. All of a sudden Darby Allin descended from the rafters just like his friend and mentor Sting. Once again Tony consulted Dr. Martha Hart before doing this. It was a cool moment to close the show.
I’ve said for weeks that this match needed something on the line given the story going in. We did not get that. As a result, it feels like something is missing. It’s not that WarGames is inherently a blow off match. The idea that is, is a bit of a fallacy. The only WarGames match to blow off a feud was 1992. From 93-97 the feuds going into WarGames continued coming out. The issue is that the overarching story called for a resolution and without explicit stakes this match will not provide that. As I mentioned last week this Blood & Guts match has some commonality with the 93 WarGames match which saw Sting vs Sid Vicious, Davey Boy Smith vs Vader, and the Nasty Boys vs Harlem Heat split into two sides and fused into a WarGames match. Yes there is and overarching story going into tonight’s Blood & Guts but the selling point of this match is Swerve and Hangman going at it again, in addition to Darby Allin vs Jack Perry and the Acclaimed vs The Bucks, rather than a battle for control of AEW which it should’ve been. It’s a very unfortunate fumble that will only be helped by the content of the match itself.
Grade: C-
MJF vs. Will Ospreay
Latest Developments
MJF defeated Will Ospreay with an assist from the Dynamite Diamond Ring after a near hour long barnburner to become the new International champion.
Analysis
Apologies in advance to PWTorch’s Todd Martin, but I disagree with his take on this match. MJF and Will Ospreay put on a classic. At no point during this 59 minute, 58 second endeavor was I bored. Nothing dragged in my opinion which is backed up by the fact that over 800,000 people stayed watching the entire thing. They started at a breakneck pace and barely slowed down. I can’t do this match justice with words. Just go watch it if you haven’t seen it. I do have to shout out the camera shot of the week which was MJF outside the ring bragging about his ability to evade when Ospreay came flying through the middle and bottom ropes to wipe him out with a Hidden Blade. Perfect shot. Once I realized they were going the distance, I thought for sure we were getting a draw. Instead we got a finish that required extremely precise timing. Ospreay once again struggled with his conscience and couldn’t bring himself to hit the Tiger Driver ’91. I could’ve done without him getting MJF all the way up in the move before dropping him but nonetheless. That cost Will. MJF shoved Ospreay into the ref with under 30 seconds to go, pulled the ring from his trunks, knocked him out, and pinned him with two seconds to spare. That’s low margin for error timing pulled off expertly.
This once again throws All In into chaos as it’s unclear what the match or matches will be especially with PAC lurking and a potential Danny Garcia return. I like that. I don’t mind intrigue one bit.
Grade: A+
Toni Storm vs. Mariah May
Latest Developments
Mariah May explained her heinous attack on Toni Storm
Analysis
Mariah May came out dressed as “Timeless” Toni Storm. She looked identical. It was eerie quite frankly. Before she opened her mouth Tony Schiavone piped up on commentary saying “Oh, speak bitch”. It not only took me by surprise, Taz and Excalibur were totally unprepared for Tony’s lack of chill. To me, it made the segment memorable. The babyface announcer viscerally hating the heel reinforces to the crowd that this person deserves to be booed. As for Mariah’s actually promo, I thought the delivery was great. Yes the deliberate pace invited “What” chants, but I think in this instance the deliberate pace fit. As far as the content, it wasn’t blow away but she did something few heels do, took full responsibility for her actions and didn’t blame the fans or the victim. This was her cold, calculated plan from the beginning. It made Mariah irredeemably evil. This week we scheduled to see the re-debut of Mariah May as herself. I think it’s smart to promote that as something important given that we’ve seen her as Toni’s understudy or dressed as old-school Toni Storm for most of the year. Let her establish her identity. Speaking of Toni, they need to hold off on her return until at least next week. That pop should be huge and she needs to come back less focused on theatrics and more focused on kicking Mariah’s ass.
Grade: A-
Mercedes Moné vs. Dr. Britt Baker, DMD
Latest Developments
Mercedes defeated Nyla Rose to retain the TBS Title
Analysis
Mercedes schmoozed with the Bucks and thanked them for banning Britt Baker from the backstage area and then did her CEO dance for Okada who got all hot and bothered. The match with Nyla was pretty good. The highlight was Mercedes going for a float around DDT only for Nyla to catch her and say “Are you out of your mind”. Nyla is just so naturally funny. Mercedes attempted to apply the Lockjaw, complete with special CEO glove, but Nyla just bit her fingers. The commentators did an excellent job explaining that Mercedes didn’t know what nerves to hit to apply the move correctly. In the end she won with the Statement Maker FKA the Bank Statement. Afterwards she got out of the ring and got in the face of a fan holding a “DMD” sign. The fan, of course, turned out to be Dr. Britt Baker. Britt shoved Mercedes down which allowed Mercedes to scurry away. This scene was imminently foreseeable once it was said Britt was banned only from the backstage area. That’s fine. It was simple but effective. Britt returns to the ring for the first time since last September when she takes on her old rival Hikaru Shida tonight. The first time these two met Britt’s nose was broken. Red suit mob boss Shida has promised to do the same thing. This should be a good match and a good opportunity for Britt to work off some ring rust before the big stage of All In.
Grade: B+
Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo
Latest Developments
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Thunder Rosa in a lumberjack match with the assist of Taya Valkyrie and a turnbuckle.
Analysis
Everything that happened between Rosa and Deonna in the ring was really good. Conversely everything that happened with the lumberjacks was, as I predicted, unnecessary goofiness. There were the obligatory spots where all the lumberjacks got wiped out and the traditional conflict between the heel and face lumberjacks which is more distracting than it is interesting. In the end, Taya Valkyrie (Deonna’s friend and rival from TNA) handed Deonna a spare turnbuckle from under the ring which she used to clobber Rosa for the win. Obviously the Rosa/Deonna feud is not over as Rosa continues to chase that win. In the interim, she’s also got at least a grudge match with Taya Valkyrie in the near future. As much as I hate the lumberjack stipulation, this outcome at least gets another woman meaningful TV time and involvement in an ongoing feud so it’s not all bad.
Grade: B+
Chris Jericho vs. Hook
Latest Developments
Minoru Suzuki challenged Chris Jericho to a match for the FTW Title.
Analysis
We were unfortunately subjected to another painful TV Time segment. The stupid Learning Tree shtick was in full effect, awful cadence and all. Thankfully it was fairly brief before Suzuki made his entrance. He announced that he and Jericho would fight this week for the FTW title and then presented an executive order from Tony Khan banning Big Bill and Bryan Keith from ringside. First of all Nashville better show up with a loud and boisterous “Kaze Ni Nare” for Suzuki. Second, I wish Murder Grandpa would maybe not kill Jericho but at least maim him enough to get him off TV for six months. I know however, that’s unlikely to happen. I’m just so over Jericho and this raging dumpster fire of a gimmick.
Grade: C+
Bang Bang Gang vs. The Patriarchy vs House of Black
Latest Developments
The Patriarchy defeated the Bang Bang Gang for the vacant Trios titles.
Analysis
The match between the Bang Bang Gang and the Patriarchy was very entertaining. Juice in particular got some strong reactions from the Texas crowd. The finish saw Shayna Wayne go full Nancy Toffoloni (Woman) by spraying something into Juice’s eyes allowing Christian to hit the Killswitch for the win. As the Patriarchy celebrated their tainted victory, the lights briefly flickered. The House of Black cometh for Christian. Given the screwy way they lost it certainly feels like the Bang Bang Gang has a solid gripe and reason to go after the Patriarchy as well so it definitely feels like the 3 way is still on deck. On a related note, Fightful has confirmed that Jay White’s injury is a legit foot injury so I stand corrected from my assumption last week that it was a work.
Grade: B+
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