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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Jul 21, 2023 23:02:17 GMT -5
I genuinely have no idea who beats Athena now? She’s kind of run through all of the credible challengers now. I cannot help but think Willow should have won here. Still fantastic match. Maybe they can build up Skye Blue again. I know Athena beat her previously, but they can easily build Skye back up as a viable challenger.
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Soultastic
El Dandy
Only an idiot can be completely happy.
Posts: 7,865
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Post by Soultastic on Jul 22, 2023 9:05:15 GMT -5
As much as I love Athena, between the crowd and the fact that this was the first time the women's world title main evented an ROH ppv, I do believe Willow should've won. The right energy was there.
Overall a great ppv. Bought it on a whim last minute, got more than my money's worth.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 22, 2023 12:16:17 GMT -5
Glad I went, honestly; missed the preshow, but had a very good time both for the obvious reasons (matches were good to great pretty much top to bottom) and for a few other factors.
-I've now been to something like seven live AEW events in big venues - Prudential Center in Newark, Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens, and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Big arena wrestling is *not* something I'm very used to: my parents only took me to a couple of WWF house shows in the early 90s, I got to see Wrestlemania X at MSG as a present for my 9th birthday, and I think I saw another house show at the Meadowlands during the Attitude Era, and outside of that the only only big venue card I had attended live before AEW was the NJPW/ROH show at MSG.
Instead, most of the live wrestling I've attended, mostly thanks to ROH back in the day, has been at smaller venues: rec centers, small arenas that host high school hockey, ballrooms, smaller concert venues, nothing larger than the Hammerstein in Manhattan. I got very accustomed to that, and while I've enjoyed seeing AEW live I can't deny the experience of 10,000 people just carries a very different vibe.
I bring this up because being in a mid-sized venue like the Cure Arena in Trenton just felt right for ROH, you know? It wasn't tiny; I'm pretty sure it was set up to hold around 3,000 people, and I'd say we had something like 2,000+ plus there - Ian said on commentary that it was the biggest New Jersey crowd in ROH history, which would have to top the 1,800 or so they drew to a Wrestlemania weekend card at the RexPlex in Elizabeth in 2004. But the angles, the greater sense of intimacy, still just being large enough to feel like something bigger than a smaller indie, it felt like a sweet spot for ROH and I hope they kind of keep it up.
-To tie that in, I went back and watched Zero Hour on YouTube, and because of the size and setup of the venue I loved that it gave the show a distinctive feeling from AEW. That's been a big issue with ROH of late, now that they're doing matches before AEW shows: they're in the same large venues using the same basic camera work and staging and what have you, so it adds to that feeling of "oh, this is just a glorified version of Dark" for some people.
Instead, the way it looked yesterday reminded me of what it looked like before the hiatus after Final Battle 2021; again, it didn't feel tiny, but the greater intimacy and the stage behind the ring created a look that felt like it gave greater emphasis to the little details of what the wrestlers were doing in the ring, something that's so key for a promotion built around in-ring storytelling and technical wrestling. I'd love to see it look more like that, as it creates a more distinct feel for the promotion; when they run Universal Studios it's hard not to get an Impact Zone vibe and when they're recorded before AEW it's tough to stand out from that format, but this kind of setup just really felt like "this is what a ROH show looks like", at least for now.
-Yeah, I wish Willow had won, but I'm guessing she's ticketed for big things on AEW proper, so maybe they're going to give the big win over Athena to someone who'll be more ROH-focused. Still, crowd was *ready* for it, wish it had happened.
-The guys in section 1 were simultaneously the best and worst section of the night. Glad they were loud and got chants going, but holy shit do you squander your goodwill when you start chanting "We are awesome!" or do shit like chant "We the people" at Claudio, hell out of here with that shit.
-The Josh Woods vs. Tracy Williams preshow match is the underrated match of the night, and holy hell I hope both guys get a spotlight moving forward. Woods is a monster, Williams deserves all the love for nearly ending his career trying to save a pet from a car accident, keep beefing up that Pure title scene, pls.
-Dark Order going, well, dark might mean that Stu is ready to come back to them, curious where that goes.
-Liked Joe intimidating Stokley into doing his bidding; "hey man, you're alright...so long as you do as I tell you, otherwise I'll end you."
-Love the idea of Death Triangle and Best Friends going at it, but thrilled to see Aussie Open back at full power. All four teams delivered in that tag match.
-Garcia's just getting it more and more, but I am ride or die with Shibata. Dude thanked Khan and ROH at the presser for helping him come back as a wrestler, and I can't express how happy I am to have seen him live twice this year, never thought I'd get to after Sakura Genesis 2017.
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Post by Super Duper Dragunov on Jul 24, 2023 20:09:57 GMT -5
Decided to go ahead and check this one out.
I enjoyed the ending to Joe/Castle with Samoa Joe bullying Stokely (I also enjoyed him on commentary too for that brief bit).
The tag match was very good, but I would much rather have just had Lucha Bros. vs. Aussie Open. Speaking of which, super glad they won, they're a solid choice to be champs in ROH.
I mainly watched for the Dark Order 6 man tag. And it was my favorite match of the night. DO also felt like they belonged on ROH too. Maybe make them a focus so they stop getting lost on AEW TV or in the shadow of Adam Page. It was cool watching Uno and Stu go at it, and I really like The Righteous, but then again I'm a sucker for culty-Wyatt family-esque stables. Vincent I feel like has a massive ceiling, and could be huge elsewhere. If Bray ever went to managing full time, I could see him easily managing Vincent as his protege in WWE. But hey DARK ORDER WON SOMETHING!!
Pure title match was okay. I was mostly entertained due to Sexy Dancing Danny G. I still don't care for Shibata. Something about him doesn't click with me. Glad the crowd popped for the sports entertainment bits.
Claudio/PAC was a decent match, but I just wasn't into it. A decent make good due to Mark Briscoe being injured, and Kingston being in the G1. I would rather have had either of those. And more Best Friends being forced onto my eyes. My least favorite tag team in wrestling. Trent has so much upside as a solo heel. They should've pulled the trigger when he was bullying Wheels.
Athena vs. Willow was solid, and I really like Willow, but I'm glad Athena won. I wish there were more eyes on what Athena is doing character-wise. She's one of the best characters in wrestling right now. I'm glad they had a chance to shine.
For TK dropping the ball big time in building this up, the show itself wasn't bad. Maybe hire someone to run ROH for you if you're being spread too thin. 6.5/10
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