Who will the masked devil be?

[Clutchhausen]

Sept 29, 2023 20:02:59 GMT -5 Lt. Palumbo said:

AW SON OF A BITCH

[Kalmia]

Sept 29, 2023 20:02:59 GMT -5 Lt. Palumbo said:

Adam Cole: Why are you yelling at me?

[Mr Mario Mario]

I just can’t see it being Cole. If you’re gonna do that, you’d do it at All In

[mattyy]

"this message is for Adam Cole... Adam, I know you're supposed to have doctor's appointments all week, and you've delayed your surgery.. if we mean anything to you, meet us at Roddy's house right now. Or get surgery..."

+

twitter.com/AEW/status/1708291441644994895


hmm. Curious.

[Banjo Is Broken]

The masked devil will be the friends we made along the way. If you became friends with Britt Baker.

[bearned]

Sept 30, 2023 23:56:26 GMT -5 mattyy said:

"this message is for Adam Cole... Adam, I know you're supposed to have doctor's appointments all week, and you've delayed your surgery.. if we mean anything to you, meet us at Roddy's house right now. Or get surgery..."

+

hmm. Curious.

Pretty clear the ninjas and the masked man are going to save MJF somehow but it couldn’t possibly be the Kingdom/Roddy/Cole because they’ll all be ‘at Roddys place’

[rajaah]

MASKED DEVIL UPDATE: Well, nothing was revealed/built-on at Wrestledream, so this is going to be a long-term thing it looks like.

[CeilingFan]

Oct 2, 2023 10:23:08 GMT -5 rajaah said:

MASKED DEVIL UPDATE: Well, nothing was revealed/built-on at Wrestledream, so this is going to be a long-term thing it looks like.

I hope it gets resolved before January. No need to drag it out.

[Tom Turkey]

Oct 2, 2023 10:23:08 GMT -5 rajaah said:

MASKED DEVIL UPDATE: Well, nothing was revealed/built-on at Wrestledream, so this is going to be a long-term thing it looks like.

Was honestly surprised they didn’t show up for the RoH tag title match. I felt like the devil ninjas helping Max against his wishes would’ve been a no brainer.

[4real]

Unsurprisingly Max denied it was him and said somebody stole his mask so the story continues. As said was kind of disappointed they didn’t show up on this show and help Max win. Max also beating The Righteous 2 on 1 doesn’t do much for them but he of course cheated to do it.

[rajaah]

Oct 2, 2023 12:24:01 GMT -5 Tom Turkey said:

Oct 2, 2023 10:23:08 GMT -5 rajaah said:

MASKED DEVIL UPDATE: Well, nothing was revealed/built-on at Wrestledream, so this is going to be a long-term thing it looks like.

Was honestly surprised they didn’t show up for the RoH tag title match. I felt like the devil ninjas helping Max against his wishes would’ve been a no brainer.

I also expected this. The Righteous were starting to get over a bit and losing 2-on-1 against MJF probably did nothing to help them in that regard.

Since AEW isn't particularly adept at using stories like this to debut brand new people, at this point I think there are really just five possibilities for who this is: Adam Cole, Edge, CM Punk, Jay White, and Britt Baker.

Since Jay White has a title shot locked in for Full Gear, there isn't really any reason for him to play mind games by attacking himself. The masked ninja had a slight build which tells me it could be Britt Baker. She also has a reason to do it, being jealous of Cole spending so much time with Max. The ninjas could have been Roddy and co.

Edge seems very unlikely since he came in as a full good guy and seems to be locked into a feud with Christian (and then a likely team-up once he finally bests Christian and wins him over).

Storyline-wise and playing into the history of "the devil" and all that, Punk makes total sense. But that would mean the All In incident was either a big work, or that they came to an agreement and rehired him, both of which seem unlikely.

So really the top contenders are Adam Cole and Britt Baker at the moment. Just depends on whether Cole is staying good or not. I'll say this: Cole is an exceedingly good villain.

PS: I wonder if this whole thing is a Jimmy Jacobs creation. He's pretty good at outside-the-box compelling storylines. This could harken back to Age of the Fall and Project 161 if they play it right.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Oct 6, 2023 10:37:56 GMT -5 rajaah said:

Oct 2, 2023 12:24:01 GMT -5 Tom Turkey said:

Was honestly surprised they didn’t show up for the RoH tag title match. I felt like the devil ninjas helping Max against his wishes would’ve been a no brainer.

I also expected this. The Righteous were starting to get over a bit and losing 2-on-1 against MJF probably did nothing to help them in that regard.

Bullshit CuperCena booking, is what it is.

Also this is not great writing. The mask was stolen from MJF's bag? Dude just carries that thing around with him all the time despite having worn it ONCE a long time ago?

[mrpeacock]

Imagine if this is how they return Jack Perry? Would be a lot of momentum.

[mrbananagrabber]

Oct 6, 2023 17:32:52 GMT -5 mrpeacock said:

Imagine if this is how they return Jack Perry? Would be a lot of momentum.

The collective groan of disappointment from the crowd would be something else.

[KME]

Oct 6, 2023 16:59:36 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Oct 6, 2023 10:37:56 GMT -5 rajaah said:

I also expected this. The Righteous were starting to get over a bit and losing 2-on-1 against MJF probably did nothing to help them in that regard.

Bullshit CuperCena booking, is what it is.

Also this is not great writing. The mask was stolen from MJF's bag? Dude just carries that thing around with him all the time despite having worn it ONCE a long time ago?

I hate handicap matches generally but I wouldn't go that far, Cena was booked that way very deliberately, the plan clearly wasn't for MJF to face both on his own, Cole got injured on the same night The Righteous won the right to face them, at that point they didn't know how seriously he'd injured himself. It wasn't an ideal situation but the World Champion should be able to beat a team who've had a handful of AEW matches, it's not like he went out there and beat FTR or the Bucks.

On the mask, he wore it last year when he came back which I'm guessing is what you're referring to as the "ONCE, a long time ago" but he wore it during his entrances this year at Revolution against Danielson, at Double or Nothing in the Pillars Match and at All In as well. Don't see how it's bad writing that he'd take it around with him personally.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Oct 6, 2023 18:07:05 GMT -5 KME said:

Oct 6, 2023 16:59:36 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Bullshit CuperCena booking, is what it is.

Also this is not great writing. The mask was stolen from MJF's bag? Dude just carries that thing around with him all the time despite having worn it ONCE a long time ago?

I hate handicap matches generally but I wouldn't go that far, Cena was booked that way very deliberately, the plan clearly wasn't for MJF to face both on his own, Cole got injured on the same night The Righteous won the right to face them, at that point they didn't know how seriously he'd injured himself. It wasn't an ideal situation but the World Champion should be able to beat a team who've had a handful of AEW matches, it's not like he went out there and beat FTR or the Bucks.

On the mask, he wore it last year when he came back which I'm guessing is what you're referring to as the "ONCE, a long time ago" but he wore it during his entrances this year at Revolution against Danielson, at Double or Nothing in the Pillars Match and at All In as well. Don't see how it's bad writing that he'd take it around with him personally.

Oh well, fair enough on that second point, then. I didn't remember that.

And no, one guy should absolutely never be able to beat any non-jobber tag team, at least in the way MJF did it. It's absolutely entirely unnecessary. He didn't use cunning or luck. He just absorbed their finishers and beat them clean (with a pathetic foot-on-ropes pin that was clearly unnecessary). He gave a Rock-like promo about bodyslams that wasn't funny, and then he just grr roar beat them. He SuperCenaed. That's SuperCenaing.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Oct 6, 2023 17:35:48 GMT -5 mrbananagrabber said:

Oct 6, 2023 17:32:52 GMT -5 mrpeacock said:

Imagine if this is how they return Jack Perry? Would be a lot of momentum.

The collective groan of disappointment from the crowd would be something else.

You're really underestimating how much people care about Jack. I think that'd actually go over quite well.

This isn't a higher power situation where people are EXPECTING some new shocking debut, they're expecting it to tie into the AEW Roster and storylines. Am I saying that it will be Jack? No, I don't think it will be, but this sudden narrative that Jack Perry isn't over and the AEW fans can't stand him sure lines up conveniently with how a certain person got fired, and not with the narrative of how he's always been perceived by the AEW fans at large.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Oct 6, 2023 18:43:44 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Oct 6, 2023 18:07:05 GMT -5 KME said:

I hate handicap matches generally but I wouldn't go that far, Cena was booked that way very deliberately, the plan clearly wasn't for MJF to face both on his own, Cole got injured on the same night The Righteous won the right to face them, at that point they didn't know how seriously he'd injured himself. It wasn't an ideal situation but the World Champion should be able to beat a team who've had a handful of AEW matches, it's not like he went out there and beat FTR or the Bucks.

On the mask, he wore it last year when he came back which I'm guessing is what you're referring to as the "ONCE, a long time ago" but he wore it during his entrances this year at Revolution against Danielson, at Double or Nothing in the Pillars Match and at All In as well. Don't see how it's bad writing that he'd take it around with him personally.

Oh well, fair enough on that second point, then. I didn't remember that.

And no, one guy should absolutely never be able to beat any non-jobber tag team, at least in the way MJF did it. It's absolutely entirely unnecessary. He didn't use cunning or luck. He just absorbed their finishers and beat them clean (with a pathetic foot-on-ropes pin that was clearly unnecessary). He gave a Rock-like promo about bodyslams that wasn't funny, and then he just grr roar beat them. He SuperCenaed. That's SuperCenaing.

The bodyslam thing was insanely over with the crowd there, as was the moment he bodyslammed Dutch

If this was a higher tiered team I feel like there should be an issue, but Righteous weren't that. He's their world champion. He took offense, he found a way to win and outsmart them, and he did. He didn't even take the Righteous' worst moves in the match so I don't see it like how Cena ate a 450 on the outside and then just hulked up and beat the Nexus, like at all.

Should also just say... this wasn't the initial plan of the match, but Adam Cole's injury changed a lot about it. Sucks, but it does continue the storyline pretty well imo.

[Tom Turkey]

Oct 6, 2023 19:05:43 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Oct 6, 2023 18:43:44 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Oh well, fair enough on that second point, then. I didn't remember that.

And no, one guy should absolutely never be able to beat any non-jobber tag team, at least in the way MJF did it. It's absolutely entirely unnecessary. He didn't use cunning or luck. He just absorbed their finishers and beat them clean (with a pathetic foot-on-ropes pin that was clearly unnecessary). He gave a Rock-like promo about bodyslams that wasn't funny, and then he just grr roar beat them. He SuperCenaed. That's SuperCenaing.

The bodyslam thing was insanely over with the crowd there, as was the moment he bodyslammed Dutch

If this was a higher tiered team I feel like there should be an issue, but Righteous weren't that, and he's their world champion. He took offense, he found a way to win, and he did. He didn't even take the Righteous' worst moves in the match so I don't see it like how Cena ate a 450 on the outside and then just hulked up and beat the Nexus, like at all

Even then, Max ended up needing to cheat just to beat two guys, so it’s not like he stacked up Dutch and Vincent and pinned the two of them.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Oct 6, 2023 19:07:36 GMT -5 Tom Turkey said:

Oct 6, 2023 19:05:43 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

The bodyslam thing was insanely over with the crowd there, as was the moment he bodyslammed Dutch

If this was a higher tiered team I feel like there should be an issue, but Righteous weren't that, and he's their world champion. He took offense, he found a way to win, and he did. He didn't even take the Righteous' worst moves in the match so I don't see it like how Cena ate a 450 on the outside and then just hulked up and beat the Nexus, like at all

Even then, Max ended up needing to cheat just to beat two guys, so it’s not like he stacked up Dutch and Vincent and pinned the two of them.

Yeah, and again, if he did this to like The Bucks, FTR, even Aussie Open, there'd be a problem

But he really just showed he got pretty lucky in how he was able to take both of them out, and if he vows to do this until Cole is back, it's not going to get easier for him, and the teams won't either depending on how many defenses that he'd try and make alone (Unless he gets a temporary partner eventually).