Really? I thought it was mediocre. Baker is pretty limited and I hope they take the belt off her soon. Also agree w/one of LKJ's rants for once that surprised faces by Conti after every kickout were just silly.

Regarding the bolded, you kinda touched on something I wanted to point out, that 4 hours is too long for these events, 3 would've been perfect.

Re: the exact same stuff, I think the styles of each match are varied enough, that it shouldn't feel too similar. Punk's match was a brawl, Danielson technical, a (shitty) street fight, a couple spot fests, etc.

But yah, when there's a deep storyline involved, it makes the match so much better. Still, if you didn't enjoy Hangman/Omega and the payoff to Hangman's arc, then it's possible it just isn't your thing.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what kind of explanation you're wanting to hear. There were a lot of layers to that championship match, down to not only psychology and facial reactions, but also the wrestling moves and the flow itself. As FossilKid points out, it just might not be your thing. Not everything has to do it for you. But in my eyes, that championship match really did hit all the notes.

I would like to point out that Hangman's struggle was never alcoholism, it was just having a healthy relationship with alcohol in general. He turned to the booze in times of despair, but the Dark Order storyline showed him what he was truly missing (friendship) and he didn't need to fill that hole with alcohol. Him tossing the beer wasn't a rejection of booze, it was reinforcement that he could take or leave the alcohol as long as he has the support of his friends. I actually really love the nuance of this, as taking the black/white route of "alcohol bad" is well tread ground and doesn't bring anything new to the table.

I loved it. Tay really put herself over in my eyes and she really impressed me with her improvement in the ring. I still don't understand the "surprised faces" hate in general. But, just as with synth_floyd's views I can realize that everyone doesn't have to like everything (and that's okay).


I do agree that the pacing could have been better served by removing a match or two. I think the PAC/Cody vs Black/El Idolo would have served better as a main event for Dynamite. I'm honestly surprised how well the crowd kept their energy levels up, as this was a breakneck-paced card.

Disagreeing with it is obviously fine, these things are subjective, but you really don't even understand the objection? It's not a natural human reaction in the heat of competition, and it betrays the conceit that pro wrestling itself is supposed to be driving at. And at this point, it's so woefully overused that what would have been its value in the past - putting over the kickout as something special - has been 100% lost.

(Unfortunately I didn't see the PPV, so I can't speak to the specific instance there.)

Neither are reactions in theatre productions or comic books. For me, the outrageous faces have always come with the territory.
And I see that as an evolution of the product. The conceit is something I am simply not concerned about.

When I say I don't understand, I just mean I don't understand getting so worked up over it. But again, as I immediately qualified after my bit you quoted, I don't have to get people not getting it. There's plenty of stuff I just don't get or like in modern wrestling. Recently, it's that Danhausen guy that the interent seems to love. In the end it's not my (or anyone's) burden to convince others to like the things that I enjoy (or at the least, don't bother me). I very much understand that people like me are probably what's "killing old school wrestling" to a lot of diehard minds. But hey, that's why we have archives-- the older stuff can always be revisited.

As for me, I am way more into wrestling now than I have ever been in my entire life. That tells me that someone is doing something right.

Btw, this is my vote for sign of the night:

After so many bangers in a row, I was admittedly pretty gassed by the time of the main event last night. I just rewatched the championship match again with a clearer head.

Wow, absolutely wow. A truly amazing piece of work. I caught way more things this time around, so many brilliant callbacks and twists. Incredibly impressed with these guys and what they were able to do out there. I already expected the psychology to be fantastic, but the wrestling itself was absolutely top tier. I saw a couple of things I've never seen before in the ring. I hate scales and ratings, but that **** was 3/3, 5/5, 10/10. Yes I'm an insane mark for both of these guys. But goddamn, stuff like this is why! They absolutely delivered in the pinnacle match.

That is a championship match and that is how you deliver on some long term storytelling. This truly feels like the close of a definitive arc and chapter. Best part is, you can already see how many different directions things can go and it makes the next phase seem even more exciting.

Jeeeeesus christ. So I knew Kenny has been wrestling hurt for awhile, but not to the full extent. New word is that he's got some real neck and shoulder issues that need surgery and he can hardly lift anything over 50 pounds at the moment.

In addition to that, he has apparently been experiencing VERTIGO since 2018 and has essentially learned to, "wrestle in a spinning ring." He explains this in a recent video detailing his chiro regimen.



I ****ing love seeing this guy, but holy hell I hope he takes a long time off to heal up after he drops the AAA belt. But truly, this makes his match with Hangman that much more spectacular. I didn't see any sign of these issues in his performance. He's really something else.


Edit: Additionally, it sounds like there are a couple injuries specifically from Full Gear. Dax Harwood apparently got clocked near the end of the Lucha Bros match, which explains the weird finish. Eddie Kingston is also reporting an injury and his match had a rather sudden finish.

Sometimes I think, "Man it would've been cool to be a wrestler." The job is a combination actor and athlete. But then I hear stories like this about the injuries and the constant wear and tear they take on their bodies and think, "Yeah maybe being a wrestler wouldn't be that great." On the Cody Rhodes reality show he said something similar about how he's in constant pain from low level injuries that he can't take time off to properly heal.

Wrestling has the showbiz mantra of "The show must go on."

Yah, a good parallel is probably NFL in terms of impact on the body. And those guys have a relatively short schedule and then an offseason that lasts 7 months. Even still, they have reduced lifespans, although not quite as bad as wrestling I don't think. Wrestlers need at least a 3 month offseason to heal and unwind, ideally more. AEW's roster is so big now that you could probably rotate wrestlers being off for 3 months without affecting the product much.

Almost surely coined by some rich white guys who weren't putting their livelihoods on the line, but were benefitting financially nonetheless.

I thought the circus came up with "the show must go on"

If you have a chance to watch this 5 part series on the Hangman arc it is absolutely fantastic. Watched it before the match at Full Gear and it makes an already great match that much more special. Tonight is going to be a good episode of Dynamite in his home state, can't wait for it.

https://youtu.be/o0YJgm6Auz8

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Danielson is just too excited to heel it up.

Remembered AEW was on and caught a fire promo by Bryan. Good (Cowboy) ****.

Shida and Rose really ****ing going for it.

CM Punk just cut an amazing promo without saying a word, lol.

Darby broke at "turtles" hahahahahaaaaaaaaa

I didn't even know who those guys were lol. Referring to Gunn Club.

Sickkkkk table spot.

These Meltzer ratings for Full Gear are absurd.

Shida/Rosa vs Hayter/Nyla - 2.5
MJF vs Darby Allin - 4.5
FTR vs Lucha Bros - 4.25
Danielson vs Miro - 4.5
SuperKliq vs JE and Christian - 5
Cody/PAC vs Andrade/Black - 4
Tay Conti vs Britt Baker - 3.5
CM Punk vs Eddie Kingston - 4.5
Inner Crcle vs ATT - 4
Hangman vs Omega - 5.5

Billy Gunn actually has a very believable "mini-boss" thing going on. I always forget how huge he is.

That was actually a pretty fun match.

Ricky Starks is hilarious on commentary.

“MJF, as usual, dripping with smarm.”

This promo is ****ing fire

MJF got the best there. Promo had some **** material. Some good stuff too but lol at the bad

That match went on wayyy too long. Should’ve been a squash after that promo.


Definitely.