Post by Billie Gein on Jun 26, 2023 10:35:04 GMT -5
Strong 9. Loved it, Kenny/Ospreay ruled, the 10 man tag and Punk/Kojima were also great. Okada/Danielson, Willow/Toni & MJF/Tana were solid and everything else was pretty decent!
Edit: somehow forgot about the 4 way but yeah that was great fun
Last Edit: Jun 26, 2023 10:35:40 GMT -5 by Billie Gein
Omega/Ospreay was excellent and the four way was one of the most enjoyable matches I've seen. I just smiled throughout all of it. The 10-man was fantastic, too.
The opening two matches were perfectly fine and did what they needed to. I won't remember either of them in a week.
I didn't expect Danielson/Okada to live up to the hype so I wasn't disappointed by it. Hearing the Final Countdown again was great.
An easy 9 for me. Danielson vs Okada was underwhelming and I feel Omega vs Ospreay should've main evented instead.
But to be honest, it's a minor issue. What matters is the show was jam-packed full of excitement. I'd have to rank it up there as AEW's best event this year.
Struggling to think of a better bell to bell ring work level ppv. Revolution was superb but this was touch better. All Out 2021 was great and it had the debuts and suprises which elevated it. Nothing can touch the buzz that ppv created. But bell to bell I think this is the best I've ever seen.
For me there were 3 bonafide 5 star matches in the 2 mains and 5 vs 5. Punk/Kojima and 4 way were high 4 stars. Nothing on this show was remotely close to be bad or uninteresting
The Zero Hour matches were all good. I especially liked Athena vs. Billie.
MJF vs. Tanahashi was the best you could probably get given Tanahashi’s physical limitations. MJF really held things together with his heel work.
Punk vs. Kojima was also fun. Kojima has still got it and Punk was clearly relishing the boos. Him aping Hulk Hogan was a great touch.
The Fatal Four Way was a really good sprint. And OC escaping by the skin of his teeth yet again furthers that story.
SANADA vs. JB was decent, but the more important part was the heel turn afterwards.
The 10 man tag was awesome!! It felt like a showcase for Takeshita above al else and that worked beautifully. But everyone looked great here. And the Mox/Eddie drama is fantastic.
Omega vs. Ospreay was MOTN easily. Callis being ejected, only to just come back later on anyway with no consequences was the only down spot. I also loved all the callbacks to their Wrestle Kingdom match as well.
Toni vs. Willow was good. But it was a match we’ve seen before. And I wish they Toni freaking Storm did not have to cheat in EVERY match. She’s better than that.
The six man tag was probably the weakest match on the show. But it was still a bit of fun nonsense.
Okada vs. Danielson was great, and I was not expecting that finish. Genuinely shocking.
9/10. MJF vs Tanahashi and Le Suzuki Gods vs Stingobernables were both “eh” matches, I skipped Punk vs Kojima, and Danielson vs Okada, while good, didn’t live up to the hype. Everything else was good to great, and though Omega vs Ospreay was far and away the best match of the night, the 10-man tag and the International four-way were both awesome as well. Damn good show all-around.
9.25, so I voted 9. If the main hadn't been so deflating it could have easily been a 10 even if Danielson/Okada didn't surpass Omega/Ospreay. Final Countdown had probably got a reaction from everyone watching of a certain age. Going into the show, my interest in it was minimal. It was easily among the best top-to-bottom shows they've ever put on though.
7. It had some good matches, a shockingly poor match in MJF/Tanahashi, and very few moments I'll remember in a week. I did think ZSJ was really good and wouldn't mind seeing more of him. It's bizarre to me that Omega/Ospreay wasn't the main event; it had more story, more heat, more stakes and was both longer and better. Willow/Toni actually had a pretty nice little match, and it was good to see Punk could still more than hold his own in a singles match after all his time off.
9/10. MJF vs Tanahashi and Le Suzuki Gods vs Stingobernables were both “eh” matches, I skipped Punk vs Kojima, and Danielson vs Okada, while good, didn’t live up to the hype. Everything else was good to great, and though Omega vs Ospreay was far and away the best match of the night, the 10-man tag and the International four-way were both awesome as well. Damn good show all-around.
If you skipped Punk/Kojima due to not liking Punk, I recommend at least checking out Kojima's diving elbow drop to Punk's junk.
There were definitely some things that just didn't hit all high marks, but it gets an 8/10 just for Ospreay/Omega II alone
MJF/Tanahashi - **1/2. It hurts me to say this, but MJF is the one who had his working boots on in that match, and he's the one who carried that match. I love Tanahashi, but he really does need to consider hanging them up.
Punk/Kojima - ***1/2. I hate Punk at this point and I hate how Tony insists on kissing his ass and giving him whatever he wants. Still, Phil IS a petulant manchild, so being the heel in this match worked perfectly.
International Title 4 way- *****. Orange Cassidy continues to show why he's the true workhorse of AEW. Anybody who thinks he's just a stupid gimmick that doesn't know how to tell a story or wrestle can watch his whole title run and then shut the hell up.
SANADA/JB - ***. A foregone conclusion of a match, but a fun one. Maybe Jack as a heel will have some legs underneath him.
10 Man Tag - ****1/2 BCC needed to eat a pin, here, and I'm glad Ishii is the one who got to hit his finish and get the pin. The BCC absolutely thrive in multiman clusterf*** brawls.
Toni/Willow - **. The ladies worked hard, but the match seemed cold and we all knew the finish was going to be Toni winning due to Outsiders shenanigans.
Omega/Ospreay - ****** it gets 6 stars because I needed a cigarette after watching it. Kenny is the f***ing GOAT, and Ospreay ain't too far behind him. Some hated the ending, but as long as they don't tap the well too many times, I don't hate it. It gives Kenny an out as a face, and taints Ospreay's victory.
That Naito/Sting/Darby JAS tag - **3/4. It did what it needed to do, which is give the crowd a fun little breather after the wrestling tour de force that occurred before it. Yeah, we got T-shirt Naito, but he still oozes charisma.
Dragon/Okada - ****. I know being disappointed in a 4 star match is weird, but you expect fireworks when you see these two names. Danielson apparently got hurt, so I'm not gonna blame either performer for it. Just that it didn't live up to the advertisement. The finish also felt weirdly flat.
Post by Viking Hall on Jun 27, 2023 12:09:51 GMT -5
I've given it a 9 but I think in reality it's probably an 8.5. I think Omega vs Ospreay will go down as one of the matches of the decade and would give the showa high score regardless of what else was on it. The four way match was really well done, everyone came out looking great and it had some really fun stuff without ever getting silly. And Elite & Friends vs The BCC was a really entertaining war, furthered the storyline and I think will end up being viewed as something of a breakout performance for Takeshita who I believe is on his way to becoming one of the faces of the company.
As for everything else, I wouldn't say there was anything outright bad, but everything did its job. I'm in the camp that was a little underwhelmed by Danielson vs Okada, but I didn't expect them to exceed Omega and Ospreay anyway, so that's not a huge blot on the card for me anyway.