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Post by The anti-ratings Luddite on Sept 3, 2023 23:12:38 GMT -5
Except it felt like heels won and ended the stories unhappily. I doubt OC is beating Moxley to get that belt back. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but it sure feels like Kenny loses too much and Moxley never does. Moxley is kept strong but he is also a company ace, someone will have to beat him for that belt Kenny and Takeshita isn't anywhere close to over, and the story is Omega hasn't won a big singles match in some time
Non-Kayfabe, I totally get it. I'm an adult and I know what the goal and aim is, here. Takeshita is a thoroughbred stud and it wouldn't shock me at all if it was Kenny's idea to put him over. FTR and the Bucks hate each other, so of course they're not going to get along. OC's story was such that he was burning the candle at both ends knowing damn well he'd eventually burn out. I get all of that and appreciate it.
But from a balance perspective, it just seemed like there were too many downer endings for a card I paid for. Save that shit for Dynamite and Collision, you know?
I guess I'm just used to the old school way of thinking where you paid your money to see the face beat the heel after seeing the face get beat up on free TV.
I would also like to point out that Empire Strikes Back is among my least favorite Star Wars movies, so it's not that I'm just being contrarian about wrestling in this regard lol
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Denny Zen
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Post by Denny Zen on Sept 3, 2023 23:20:05 GMT -5
10 just for the being there live bump. But, damn if I’m not proud of Chicago…there were some people trying to stir up shit, but that was decidedly not a pro Punk crowd. The oh cry me a river chant was my favorite live crowd wrestling moment ever.
My favorite moment of the night was this one guy in my section trying to start CM Punk chants repeatedly, and just getting booed down repeatedly, before just dejectedly being like “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU CHICAGO?!?
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Post by Some Guy on Sept 3, 2023 23:25:45 GMT -5
10 I think. As one of the last remaining Punk fans around here, I've just been kinda down on both Dynamite/Collision for a while and I didn't love All In as much as most. But I thought tonight was basically exactly what I needed in every single capacity. I can count five **** or more matches offhand, and set-ups for a ton of matches (Athena/Shida, Claudio/Shibata, Omega/Takeshita II, Joe/MJF) that I'm really pumped to see.
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Post by Mayonnaise on Sept 3, 2023 23:31:25 GMT -5
Sometimes heels need to win or storylines can't advance onward All In was full of face wins, there has to be some pushback or your heels can't be taken seriously ever. Except it felt like heels won and ended the stories unhappily. I doubt OC is beating Moxley to get that belt back. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but it sure feels like Kenny loses too much and Moxley never does. And I know from downer PPVs, I spent $80 on a ticket to Armageddon 2003. But OC's story is over and Mox has Kingston to come. Plus Mox is their ACE and his losses are few and far between like any Ace. OC just had arguably the greatest title run in AEW history, made a title, and secured his spot at the top of AEW's hierarchy. I agree Omega losses too much for my liking but they are also banking heavy on Takeshita as a major player in the coming years so this was going to happen sooner rather than later.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 3, 2023 23:34:56 GMT -5
Solid 9. I save 10s for shows that feel like they hit a level rarely seen, and I don’t usually rate based on who wins matches since I’m more concerned with how well matches and stories were executed or set up.
Match quality was very high, but what was extra vital was that there was a lot of story and character beats integrated that built off what led to this show and set up what’s likely coming next.
Preshow gave us a taste of Shida vs. Athena and I need mooooooar. Also gave Hangman a notable win to get him back in the limelight, and he has a segment coming up on Dynamite that’ll likely set up his next feud.
Opener tag gave us full “persevering babyface” MJF, and was the clearest sign yet that the feud with The Righteous in ROH has Dark Order back on the dark path.
Joe vs. Taylor was a great big guy slugfest but obviously was mainly to set up that Joe’s coming to kill Max, based partly on “remember when I had no idea who you were and shoved you against a wall? Good times, let’s do that again.” Would’ve loved if the match went a few minutes longer, but I get this was to set up Joe as a challenger, plus there was another beef match coming.
Luchasaurus murdered Darby, who is now dead, RIP. All seriousness, Darby’s brutal recent schedule hurts him, Luchasaurus looks like a killer, curious if a bunch of the locker room clearing to save Darby leads to something.
TBS title match was damn good, both women had their working boots on. I get frustration for Ruby coming up short again, but they opted to go for the story of the Outcasts falling apart now, not later, and Ruby will no doubt be *pissed* that Toni cost her. I like to think Toni did it without any intention or hurting Ruby, she’s just out of her damned mind, is all.
Miro/Hobbs was everything you could ask it to be. Interesting that Miro is sticking to his vow to even reject his hot, flexible wife, so we have something to see moving forward there, while Hobbs went it alone, no QTV help, and was very close to winning but fell just short, so we have to see what he does to try and make that next big step. With Punk gone, CJ should now be called HF Wife.
Strap match was brutal, and like with Ruby I get people feeling Ricky could use the win, but Ricky only turned to face Punk, and this felt like they’re going to turn him back. He got hoisted by his own petard and it cost him, but he still went down fighting to the bitter end.
Tag match tells me the final chapter of Claudio vs. Eddie likely goes down at Final Battle this December.
Omega/Takeshita was only chapter one. Kenny’s still not 100% since Don’s betrayal, but this ain’t over.
PEW PEW PALS FOR TAG CHAMPS PLS N THNX.
Dat main event. I know, people usually want a reign like Orange’s to be ended by an up and comer who’ll get out over by beating him, but this outcome and this entire reign put over *Orange*. For all the talk early in AEW that he was a midcard act, he’s now a certified top card player, and he only lost thanks to compiling injuries and running into the promotion’s final boss in Moxley.
So yeah, very high match quality, thought out story beats and some character developments, great stuff. The main event and the TBS title might’ve been the only matches that had me in full “I have no clue which way this goes” mode, so maybe that’s what’s keeping me from a full 10, but especially with all the chaos this past week that was just a very cathartic show.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2023 23:46:19 GMT -5
It gets a 9 outta 10 just for the glorious call back. Joe has to be my 2nd favourite thing in all of wrestling right now he is having such a f***ing great time being a giant asshole dude is living the life lol.
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Jonathan Michaels
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Archduke of Levity
Here since TNA was still kinda okay
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Post by Jonathan Michaels on Sept 4, 2023 0:27:43 GMT -5
I will say I can understand why others like the show more than I did, but…
I’ve seen people elsewhere saying this was better than All In and those people are insane.
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Soultastic
El Dandy
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Post by Soultastic on Sept 4, 2023 0:38:02 GMT -5
Two 10/10 ppvs in a row. Money well spent.
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Post by The Prince That Was Promised on Sept 4, 2023 0:56:27 GMT -5
8.5/10. f***in awesome show. I thought the 8 man tag was un-necessary and Joe vs Taylor was out of place, but other than that this show truly delivered.
OC/Mox, Omega/Takeshita, Miro/Hobbs, Darby/Lucha and Starks/Bryan were all bangers. Bravo to AEW. This is exactly what they needed. Seemed like the locker room was rejuvenated now that the dark cloud has dissipated.
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clifford
King Koopa
Shingo Takagi stan
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Post by clifford on Sept 4, 2023 1:49:18 GMT -5
Yeah, that's a 9. Insanely good PPV. To be able to put on a show like that a week after a show the magnitude of All In is mind boggling.
The 3 big matches (main event, strap match, Kenny/Takeshita) all delivered big time and everything else was good to very good.
This was the first PPV that didn't feel like it HAD to be the greatest show AEW ever put on, and that worked to its advantage. It was so good.
Now I prefered All In, mainly because I was there live, but if anyone wants to say that this show was better, I won't argue with it.
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Post by Hurbster on Sept 4, 2023 4:44:31 GMT -5
Lovely show, straight 9.
Urban legend has it that Dennis Rodman is still standing in the corner of the ring, right in front of the Hard Cam to this day.
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Post by Mid-Carder on Sept 4, 2023 4:49:34 GMT -5
A 9 for the event as a whole but the usual 1 point off for Claudio's awful theme music and another 1 off for CJ Perry. 7!
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King Devitt
Grimlock
It gets better the longer you stare at it
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Post by King Devitt on Sept 4, 2023 5:21:00 GMT -5
7. LOVED Omega vs. Takeshita. The strap match was very good, and the main event was also solid. I don't think the BCC needed to sweep the show. And Moxley didn't need the rub from ending OC's title reign. Felt a bit like SuperMox that I grew tired of. As always I know I'm in the minority when it comes to Mox, and I respect the hell out of the guy and his worth ethic, but his booking (and selling, and character) doesn't vibe with me sometimes. And I get why they made the decisions they did before it's explained to me. I just don't like it. Glad Takeshita won tho. Last 5 minutes of that one were mint. My favorite match of the night. Much respect to Orange Cassidy and the best title run of the modern era. It ended too soon. And while he looked strong in defeat, Moxley could have made OC look like a goddam beast by putting him over. Oh well, we'll see what TK does from here. Edit: I forgot to add before bed that Kevin Kelly knocked this one down too. JR wasn't as bad, but having the revolving door of them back to back dampened the first half of the show. Once Taz arrived things got MUCH better.
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FinalGwen
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Particularly fond of muffins.
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Post by FinalGwen on Sept 4, 2023 5:40:32 GMT -5
Giving it a 7 for now, though still need to watch the main event so that might bump it up a bit. Main issues with the night were lots of quite flat finishes where it was like "Oh, that was it?", rather than building to a full culmination, and the one full finish was Ruby jobbing again when she reaches a big title match. And then there's the crowd. Miro/Hobbs was already quite a dull match to me but the 'meat' chants quickly went from fun to 'oh god you're going to do this for everything they do, aren't you' and that's before we get to the Punk stans who had me tapping out at 4am.
That said, Omega/Takeshita is one of the MOTYs, they really proved how much they see in Konosuke and he and Kenny put on an absolute blinder with so many times I bit on the finishes. Also enjoyed the Joe/MJF angle and seeing the Dark Order get a bit of chance to shine, and Starks getting his Austin WM13 moment.
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Post by dynamitekidd on Sept 4, 2023 5:52:43 GMT -5
8. Much better show than it had any right to be. Pretty much enjoyed everything.
Had like 3 choices for match of the night but going with Omega/Takeshita.
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XIII
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Post by XIII on Sept 4, 2023 7:59:05 GMT -5
Didn’t watch it but just reading that CM Punk dumbed himself out of the hometown market brings cheer to my cold black heart.
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Post by SneakMan on Sept 4, 2023 8:43:23 GMT -5
Easy 10/10. Even the worst match of the night, Darby vs Luchasaurus, was still good owing to Darby bumping like a goddamn pinball. Beyond that we got three legit 5-star matches, a great variety of wrestling styles, a super-hot crowd…pretty much everything you could want. This was the exact type of show AEW needed after the Punk fiasco and IMO they absolutely delivered.
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Post by HMARK Center on Sept 4, 2023 9:05:31 GMT -5
Easy 10/10. Even the worst match of the night, Darby vs Luchasaurus, was still good owing to Darby bumping like a goddamn pinball. Beyond that we got three legit 5-star matches, a great variety of wrestling styles, a super-hot crowd…pretty much everything you could want. This was the exact type of show AEW needed after the Punk fiasco and IMO they absolutely delivered. That's actually a point I wanted to make above in my rambling narrative: between this show and All In, the sheer variety of match types, layouts, and styles involved in both PPV cards in the last week is pretty damn impressive.
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lucas_lee
Hank Scorpio
Heel turn is finished, now stripping away my personality
Posts: 6,702
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Post by lucas_lee on Sept 4, 2023 9:32:59 GMT -5
Way better than All In. I didnt feel it dragging like All In did.
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Post by grunt on Sept 4, 2023 9:57:13 GMT -5
Didn't expect much, came out of it happily surprised, although frustrated by a few things.
- Don't care much for the Dark Order or for MJF/Cole, so kinda skipped the first match. - Joe vs Taylor was fine but would have been better with build. - Darby/Luchasaurus was about what you could expect from it. I'm fine with the result. - Miro/Hobbs was tons of fun, especially once the guys started playing into the Meat chants. Not a fan of Lana finally getting an on-screen role, it's just unneeded. - Soho/Statlander was fine, even though I tend to tune out during everything Outcasts-related. - I don't like strap matches, and the build got derailed by Punk's antics, but Danielson/Starks was solid. Still, I would have loved for Nigel to get his moment vs Bryan at All In or something here, but hopefully it will come by next year. - Tag match was solid. Nothing more, nothing less. - Omega/Takeshita was excellent. - Skipped the Bullet Gold/Bucks+FTR match. The feud just doesn't do much for me, and I had to take care of stuff. - OC/Moxley was great... except I just don't like that result. Moxley doesn't need the belt, other heels could have benefited more from it, and it just ended the night on a down note for me.
Overall a 8/10.
Also, Kevin Kelly sucks.
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