A little bit about AEW Dynasty

 

Good Morning!

We’ve got this dog, Zelda. Well, actually, we’ve got two dogs, Ditka and Zelda. Zelda is our lovable, neurotic “replacement” dog. That is to say, when our beloved semi-foster dog, Frank the Pug, passed away during a routine surgery several years ago, we were heartbroken. We went to Rocky Mountain Puppy Rescue the next day and got her. Needless to say, it was a knee jerk reaction, but one that gave us the weirdest addition to our weird pack. 

Zelda is a terrier mix, but that’s about as far as we can figure on her lineage. She’s wiry, hairy, overly cuddly, and goes absolutely insane when people come into, or anywhere near, the house – not in an aggressive way, just in a “happy to see you” way. We love her, and despite the occasional diva attitude towards food, she loves us back. 

A strange thing has happened over the past few months, though. As we discussed, my little sidekick Mudge the Pug passed away on Christmas, and we have yet to decide if we want to take in another pup, especially since the other two dogs are getting older too. But Zelda has decided to take on more of a “dog” role in the house, as opposed to “weird overly cuddly child.” She’s bringing toys to me for the first 15-20 minutes I’m in the office, she plays fetch, she barks and plays – all things she never really did before. I wonder if she is trying to fill the void that the dumb little sister left. Of course, more often than not she decides to go full cute pupper right when I’m sitting down to work on something for the blog or SlashGear, which means I’m kind of an asshole in her eyes. That’s not fair! Be a pup when we’re hanging out!

It's a terrible thing, this dog owning. You know when you get into it you're going to outlive the things. You know you're going to love them, because they're willing to love you unconditionally. And you know the heartache you'll feel when they pass on. But you're still willing to risk it, because it's one of the best relationships you'll ever know. It's heartbreaking but in a way that reminds you that life is worth living, and that love is worth sharing, even if it's just with some dumb little furball that licks your face and sheds on your furniture.

Zelda is just so empathetic. On some level, she probably knows she's our "replacement," a mutt that was brought in to fill a pug-sized void in our hearts. My wife has been thinking about getting another pug, because we've kind of accepted that we're pug people. But while Ditka is our old guy, and our pugs are beloved memories, Zelda will always be special because of what she represents to me -- a little ball of fur that knows what our family needs, and is more than happy to change for the betterment of us all. That's a rare trait in any friendship, and one I don't think many of us have.

“It’s A Soap Opera With More Suplexes and Less Violence”

…in which I discuss the storylines that keep us watching week to week

I wanted to write about AEW Dynasty because I didn’t write about WrestleMania (I still might) but also because it was a fantastic show! There was maybe one match I didn’t love, and one story beat I could have done without, but otherwise it was a lot of fun! In keeping with the “untitled blog” theme, we’ll do more of a chat than a structured match-by-match recap.

The decision to start the show proper with Pac and Kazuchika Okada was interesting, because AEW has a tendency to want to kick things off with a high-energy banger. I was thinking maybe the ladder match with the Young Bucks and FTR, or maybe the Copeland-and-pals versus House of Black match. But Pac and Okada put on a master class in pacing, keeping things slow to start but unleashing devastating attacks to keep things exciting, but even-keeled until the finish. The outcome was predictable – Okada isn’t about to drop his new championship while the new Elite is still being established – but I still had my doubts a few times. And the audience’s reassurance of Pac after the loss was kinda heartwarming; the “he’s our bastard” chants seemed to really affect the guy.

Actually, a lot of the outcomes on Dynasty were predictable, but that didn’t make them any less interesting. Of the 12 announced matches, we were right on 11 of them. And in hindsight, it makes sense that House of Black FINALLY picked up a win on a pay-per-view, adding fuel to the rivalry between Adam Copeland and Malachai Black and hopefully getting us a singles match between the two at Double or Nothing with Cope’s TNT championship on the line.

I was hoping for Willow Nightingale to win, and when I heard that TBS champ Julia Hart was working through a shoulder injury, I figured it was even more likely to happen at Dynasty. Sure enough, the match was basically an extended squash, and Willow got her moment. Unfortunately, it was literally just a moment, because Mercedes Moné was there to interrupt her celebration to reiterate that she’d be challenging for the TBS Championship at Double or Nothing. 

So either the rankings don’t matter, don’t count towards mid-level championships, or don’t apply towards Mercedes, who hasn’t wrestled a match in over a year. Honestly, I’m already getting tired of her. She hasn’t done anything but wear some stylish outfits and have a theme song that instructs the audience to chant, and she either can’t or won’t do anything physical yet. Also, about that chant – in a promotion where the EVPs are actively involved in storylines, does it make sense to claim another wrestler is CEO, but not as a title, just as a gimmick? Maybe I’m just nitpicking here, but it’s a miss in presentation for me.

She’s going to take that TBS title from Willow in about a month, and hopefully she reminds me why she’s considered one of the best in the world in the ring, because AEW has given her plenty of chances to remind me that she’s not on that level on the microphone. I liked Sasha Banks, and I’m looking forward to liking Mercedes Mone, I’m just not there yet. I’m all in on Willow Nightingale, though. She’s a peach!

Roddy Strong and Kyle O’Reilly (Kylo Reilly to me and my household) had a solid match, but nothing that couldn’t have headlined a Dynamite. And then Chris Jericho did the one thing nobody wanted and defeated HOOK for the FTW Championship. I had this feeling in my gut that Jericho was going to talk his way into forcing the audience’s rejection of him into an angle, but he’s not getting regular boos here, he’s getting “go home heat,” that rare flavor of vitriol where the crowd just does its best to get someone out of the ring and off their TVs. 

Jericho has reinvented himself more times than I can count, and many of those reinventions have been successful. But he’s also done those things while taking breaks from TV, and it really feels like he’s just unwilling to go away for a while. Maybe he’s afraid of losing his spot, or facing the very relatable fear of being replaced by younger, more popular wrestlers. Whatever it is, taking the FTR title while also forcing this program with HOOK feels desperate, like he’s hanging on to a popular young performer just to take credit for that popularity. Hopefully it’s a short program, one that ends with HOOK getting his family’s title back and Jericho going on a cruise or a Fozzy tour.

Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa switched this show into overdrive, and the last four matches were all certified main event level performances. These two women beat the hell out of each other, and even though I was pretty sure Mariah May is the one who will eventually relieve Storm of her AEW Women’s Championship, I talked myself into the makeup-less Thunder Rosa getting back the title she never lost, but had to relinquish due to injuries. 

Seriously, if you somehow have access to the whole show but are wondering what’s really worth the time, watch the opener and the final four and you’ll be impressed. There was a bit of shmozz in the back half of Rosa/Toni when Deonna Purrazzo, frenemy of Rosa, dealt with the distraction of May, but that means we’ve got four women involved in the main title picture, which is never a bad thing. I’ll be interested to see what direction they head in for next month’s Double or Nothing PPV, whether it’s a rematch between Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm, or whether Purrazzo and/or May get involved.

That Will Ospreay match with Bryan Danielson was something else. I’m literally watching it a third time on my second monitor while I’m writing this. Folks are already calling it a contender for best of the year, or even best of all time, and I’m inclined to agree with at least the former statement. Incredible pacing, amazing moves including a few that we rarely see, an incredible anime-looking finishing sequence, and an interesting angle after the match all added up to one of the best bits of storytelling in a wrestling ring. 

And for those folks who are adamant that we aren’t allowed to fully appreciate the match because Ospreay was a jerk in his younger days, maybe remember that the guy seems genuinely contrite, was young, and also deals with some mental health issues every day of his life. And even if that’s not enough for you, personally, sometimes you gotta be able to separate art from the artist. It’s true in music, in cinema, and in professional wrestling. 

The example that many people from my generation of wrestling enthusiasts point to is Chris Benoit. What he did as a person was reprehensible, regardless of what led to it. However, watching his matches in a bubble, the guy was an incredible performer, and his win at WrestleMania 20 was one a lot of us won’t ever forget, especially when he and Eddie Guerrero celebrated with their championships to close out the show. 

It’s a rough business, and always has been, and there will always be people whose personalities or politics aren’t the same as yours. That’s fair, and if you can’t square those things away in a healthy way, maybe it's best to just not watch them. I know a lot of people have been actively avoiding MLW because they signed Matt Riddle, and I understand that. Actually, I’m just incurious and not-online enough to not know why, but one can glean from the occasional visit to BlueSky or Twitter that he’s not the best guy. 

Regardless, you can’t say that a match isn’t good simply because you don’t like one of the participants – I’ll admit that Logan Paul is a good wrestler while also acknowledging that he’s kind of a turd, but that WrestleMania 40 match with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton was still a blast.

But I digress! My point is, even if one doesn’t like Ospreay (or Danielson, for that matter) one has to admit that their match was fantastic.

And then the Young Bucks, who I’ll say right off the bat aren’t my favorite, met FTR for the AEW Tag Team Championships and had to follow the aforementioned match of the year candidate, and somehow managed to keep the crowd interested and put on a hell of a match in their own right! I’ve seen some talk that this match wasn’t anticipated for much more than the expected Jack Perry interference, but I thought the Bucks and FTR understood their place on the card and added the ladder stipulation to keep things as intense as possible. There were some intense spots, a lot of blood from Uncle Dax’s forehead, and a terrific “Please be careful” chant from the St. Louis crowd, which was incredible all night long. When a masked fan ran in to knock Dax off the ladder, we all knew it was Jack Perry, but the reveal was well done and Perry must have practiced what version of “smug prick smile” he would use, because it was perfect.

So Jack Perry is back, meaning my least favorite storyline in AEW must continue – the CM Punk backstage kerfuffle fallout. Part of why I don’t like the Young Bucks’ shtick is because of all the little “too cute” meta storylines they love. A lot of people like it! It’s just not for me. I do like a lot of their in-ring work, and as champs we’ll likely get some good matches down the line, especially since they have rebuilt the Elite with Okada and, I would assume, Perry. It’s fine, though. Bad guys get to do bad guy stuff, I’ll cringe at the “clever” promos, and eventually the Bucks will get their comeuppance.

I will also admit that I had my doubts going into the main event. My worry was that the moment might have been dulled because Swerve Strickland wasn’t facing his rival Hangman Adam Page. Or that Swerve might already be considered a transitional champion, since Will Ospreay fighting for that championship at All In in the UK seems to be a given. But Samoa Joe was also called a transitional champ, and I think he’s done a fantastic job as the tweener tough guy champ, being cheered when the match called for it or respectfully booed when he was the baddie. 

When Swerve hit the stomp and got the pinfall, I felt like his long, long journey had finally paid off. I’ve been following his career since Lucha Underground, where he performed under a mask as Killshot, and during his NXT run where he was honestly terribly booked and never really got the shot he should have. But in AEW he’s been able to work his way into the main event, and in the process has built a rival in Hangman that might be the Rock/Stone Cold of this promotion. 

The fact that Swerve managed to do a home invasion – in which he literally threatened a man’s baby – and worked himself into the good guy role against Joe in a matter of months is something of a miracle, and I think a lot of that has to do with AEW’s audience being able to keep kayfabe separate from real life. Swerve has earned our respect, and he earned that belt. Even if a long title run isn’t to be, he will always be a champion – the first Black AEW World Heavyweight Champion – and nobody can take that away from him. 

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

Thank you so much for reading. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

Casual Friday, but the one where we discuss burnout

 

Good Morning!

Man, what a week. WrestleMania had two nights of incredible spectacle, and some really good wrestling mixed in there too. AEW Dynamite gave us the big reveal of the kerfuffle between CM Punk and Jack Perry from last year’s “All In” show. And social media’s discussion of that, paired with some lackluster numbers on my previews, were just disheartening enough to get me to think about quitting. 

It’s a strange place to be in as far as these things go. Obviously I love the wrestling aspect of things – I’ve been watching for so long, I can’t imagine just stopping. But at the same time, there’s still overload, and when the conversations around your favorite thing become toxic it really sucks the joy out of things like writing about it. And, if we’re being completely honest, there’s so little feedback from doing this that I just kinda felt like nobody would notice if I stopped.

But! I think there’s a plan B, and it’s not giving up. We can’t just give up after being consistent for so long. And I have heard from a couple people who noticed I skipped last week, which was nice. So, rather than tapping out, we’re going to take a little breather from the structured format, and just kinda pop in whenever something comes up that I feel like sharing my thoughts about. Whether that’s wrestling, or something else, at least it’ll be here for those of you interested. 

We’ve got a PPV coming up this weekend, with AEW’s Dynasty hopefully representing a turning point for the company after several lackluster weeks of TV. I think the in-ring product is unquestionably excellent; it’s why a lot of us watch week after week. But the focus on non-AEW things has really hurt the show recently. 

I believe that this weekend is really important for All Elite Wrestling as a company. We’re likely to see a couple new champs crowned in Willow Nightingale and Swerve Strickland. The trios championships for AEW and Ring of Honor will be unified. And we’re getting a dream match in Will Ospreay versus Brian Danielson. This is the time for AEW to show what it does best, build up what it doesn’t, and really recalibrate into the product so many fans fell in love with. 

I’m not going to be giving up on them anytime soon. As I said, the matches are so good they overshadow everything else the company doesn’t do well. But ratings and buyrates are a real thing that might affect the company in the long run, and while I don’t really follow those numbers, one can see the crowds shrinking on TV. And I hate that folks online use those numbers and photos of arenas as a reason to argue that AEW shouldn't exist. Competition is good! Having a second national promotion where the best wrestlers in the world get to ply their trade on TV is good! 

One last thing. I really hope this feeling I have in my gut about Willow and Swerve is wrong. But when AEW signed Mercedes Mone and Will Ospreay, and Mercedes made her intention to go after the TBS championship at Double or Nothing known, I immediately worried that we’re crowning two transitional champions this weekend, people who will hold the titles until Mercedes is cleared to wrestle and Ospreay goes to Wembley to claim his title. We saw the latter play out with Saraya, a person who really didn’t earn a title but got one because she’s from the UK. Now, Ospreay is far more deserving of a world championship, and has earned it in matches week after week, but it does kinda feel like a foregone conclusion that he’s getting crowned in front of his home crowd. Does that make Swerve, a man who has clawed his way to the top with great promos, matches, and entrances, a temporary fix? I think it feels that way, but he’s also talented enough to make the most of the time he’ll be champion, and hopefully it leads to a number of reigns to come.

Oh! Since we’re talking AEW, I’d like to do at least a short Dynasty picks preview. Not a big whole post like usual, but at least I’ll list names. If I’m feeling saucy after Saturday’s Collision/Rampage twofer, I’ll write up a full on preview. *Glances at Wikipedia* Jesus Christ, there’s already 12 matches listed?!?

[if that image is illegible, it's part of this Wikipedia article]

In order from top to bottom, we’re going with: Bullet Club Gold, Trent Beretta, OC and Shibata all win on the pre-show. Copeland/Kingston/Briscoe, Jericho (ugh) takes the FTW Championship, Roddy Strong retains the International Championship, Willow Nightingale wins the TBS belt. Okada and the Young Bucks win their matches, keeping the bad guy Elite on top for now. Toni Storm retains, but maybe interference from Deonna Purazzo costs Rosa her title shot. Ospreay wins, respectful handshake, attempted Don Callis Family interference leads to BCC/Callis feud continuing but Ospreay walking away from the Family. And, Strickland wins the big one!

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! SmackDown is tonight, and Collision and Rampage will air back-to-back on 4/20, a national holiday around these parts. Sunday night brings AEW Dynasty, and I’ll try to compile some thoughts on that for an Untitled Monday Blog on, well, Monday.

 If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

The offramp from the Road to WrestleMania, plus Collision and Rampage thoughts: It's the Untitled Monday Blog!

 

Good Morning!

I love a Saturday in Suburbia. The sun is shining, the lawn care machines are running, the kids are shooting hoops in the cul-de-sac. My wife and her buddy are watching something in the other room and laughing maniacally, but that’s why they made headphones. The wife and I spent the better part of this morning on lawn care duty, picking up after my two pups, laying down clover and grass seed, and burning the weeds and brush we cleared out earlier this week. I watched SmackDown this morning while grocery shopping, a surprisingly easy task when the store is mostly empty. And now we’re here, ready to recap SmackDown and add to it once Collision airs. It’s almost WrestleMania week! SUPER EXCITING TIMES!

Weekend Rasslin'!

With the weekend having been pretty busy, let’s jump right in with some thoughts on the penultimate SmackDown before WrestleMania, an episode of WWE TV that surprisingly didn’t focus on the Bloodline’s story. We got four matches, none of them great but all serviceable, and they were there to move their respective plot lines along anyways. We saw A-Town Down Under defeat a distracted Street Profits, and the New Catch Republic take out the previously-assaulted Humberto and Angel of the Legado del Fantasma. Those two winners will get to fight for the tag belts at WrestleMania, along with DIY, Awesome Truth, the New Day, and current champions Judgment Day. I would love to see R-Truth get a title win at WrestleMania, even if that means Miz gets another one as well. Truth is a ray of sunshine, and deserves the reward of even just a short title reign. The guy is just universally beloved, like Paul Rudd or Kermit the Frog.

We got a couple more matches announced during the show, too! Jade Cargill signed her SmackDown contract, and after the main event arrived to help Naomi and Bianca Belair as they were getting assaulted by Damage CTRL. She’ll be teaming up with Naomi and Belair against the Kabuki Warriors and Dakota Kai, just like we predicted last week! I think it’s a great way to showcase Jade in the ring next to and against a bunch of veteran performers who can help make her look good in the ring, and I envy Kairi Sane, who I imagine will be getting tossed around the ring by Jade.

The Ligado del Fantasma and Latino World Order had a big promo-off that led to Rey Mysterio and the newest member of the LWO, Dragon Lee, challenging Dominic Mysterio and Santos Escobar to a tag match at WrestleMania that will undoubtedly feature both of these groups in an all-out brawl by the end. I was hoping for a big old street fight, but this should be fun as Lee is fantastic and the other folks have all proven their chops in the ring.

Some good promo work tonight, as well, headed up by IYO SKY getting to talk smack to Bayley in Japanese! I love me a good native language promo, because it feels more natural and even though I’m reading subtitles I can sense the annunciation and passion that sometimes doesn’t come across when folks are using a second language. Bayley was polite enough to let IYO say what she had to say before absolutely jacking her on the set of that video, tossing lighting setups and beating her down before the crew realized their equipment was at risk and stepped in. 

Naomi and Bianca had a really sweet friendly chat a little later, and AJ Styles got to talk in the ring before getting assaulted (again) by LA Knight. Oh, and we got a glimpse of a non-goth Isla Dawn trying to chat up GM Nick Aldis. All good stuff, everybody got their point across in their own ways. 

AEW Collision opened up with Adam Copeland heading to the ring for an open challenge, just ten days removed from his incredibly brutal match for the TNT Championship against Christian Cage. Cope offered up a title shot, and beloved indie deathmatch king Matt Cardona accepted. The two had a really fun match, with commentary doing a great job of catching those of us not in the know about the long mentor/student relationship the two had. The outcome never really seemed in doubt, but it was a cool surprise and a good match with a creative finish. 

Oh, and speaking of cool surprises – post match, the lights went down and Malakai Black appeared in the ring when they came back. That was enough of a distraction to allow Black’s pal Buddy Matthews to attack Copeland from behind, but Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston arrived to even the odds. Briscoe and Kingston will be fighting at Friday’s Ring of Honor show, but we’d find out later that the pair will team with Cope at AEW Dynasty against the House of Black.

After some promos setting up Billy Gunn vs Jay White, with the two men’s factions staying in back, we got FTR versus The Infantry in the OTHER tag team tournament we’re keeping up with. Infantry looked great in this one, actually much better than the squeak-by victory they got over the House of Black to get here. FTR, as always, was solid, letting the younger men look faster before catching up by way of their veteran savvy. 

A squash for the recently-returned Kyle O’Reilly (or Kylo Reilly, as we call him ‘round these parts) was next, followed by a celebration by the Undisputed Kingdom with their old pal. Then we had the second tournament match, with Top Flight taking on Big Bill and Ricky Starks, the latter of whom we haven’t seen much of since they lost the tag titles to Sting and Darby. It was what you’d expect from the high-flying Martin brothers and Bill and Starks, although there was a scary moment when Ricky suffered what’s been called a “stinger,” which might have led to Top Flight getting the win as a precaution/call on the fly kind of thing. Thankfully, Starks has said on social media that he’s okay, and since it feels like this whole tournament was set up for us to get to another FTR/Young Bucks match anyway, I don’t think it’s that big a setback for the Big/Ricky team.

A good match between Thunder Rosa and Lady Frost followed, and I have been noticing that Rosa acts kinda mad for her matches lately. Like, not salty, per se, but definitely like she’s got a chip on her shoulder, or feels disrespected by booking. Regardless, it was a solid fight, and Lady Frost is really good in the role AEW has given her.

Speaking of, Storm and Mariah May were interviewed after that match, with Toni learning that a match next week will decide whether Thunder Rosa or Mariah May will face her at Dynasty. Storm immediately, charmingly, turns on May, asking if that was her plan all along before smooching her and calling her a genius. “I see myself in you and I love me” was just a great line, and Storm continues to do well with a gimmick some have turned on, but I was slow to warm to so it’s still working for me.

Our main event was Claudio Castignoli, Bryan Danielson, and Katsuyori Shibata challenging The Righteous and Lance Archer. This one was one of those matches that pits big guys who lose a lot against an AEW favorites group, which are always a good time even if the ending is rarely in doubt. There were some entertaining spots, including Castignoli and Shibata teaming up on a series of running uppercuts and shotgun dropkicks, and Shibata ended up getting the victory with his PK. Overall, a fine ending to a good episode of Collision!

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! This week should be pretty stacked with WrestleMania and Stand and Deliver go-home shows, an already-loaded Dynamite card, and the Bray Wyatt documentary dropping tomorrow. I can’t say I’m in a rush to start bawling in front of my wife and my TV, but she really liked Bray too, and I would like to review the program, so be on the lookout for that whenever I get to watching it!

 I’ll also be doing the usual previews for ‘Mania and Stand and Deliver, with the latter probably coming Wednesday or Thursday after we’ve watched the last episode of NXT, and the former going up as part of the Casual Friday blog – most of SmackDown looks to be devoted to Hall of Fame stuff, promo packages for WrestleMania, and the Andre the Giant Battle Royale. 

My "plan," dear reader, is to knock out the article I’m working on for SlashGear after I've published this, and write the previews as kind of a primer, perfect for lapsed fans or people who just want to watch the biggest show of the year with a little background. I’m hoping to break the preview into two parts, but that kinda depends on tonight’s Raw and whether they announce what matches will be on what nights. Regardless, if you’ve got plans to watch, or you’ve got Peacock and a free weekend, this will be perfect for you -- or perfect to share with a buddy before the biggest weekend on the pro wrestling calendar!

If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and we’ll see you back here Fridays and Mondays. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

The best Raw in the last ten years? That and more...it's Casual Friday!

 

Good Morning!

It’s a busy sports weekend, with the next round of the NCAA tournament already running and baseball’s first weekend of the regular season. We’ve also got WrestleMania week coming up, with all the go-home madness that comes with that, plus AEW’s continuing build to its Dynasty PPV. 

But what I wanna talk about today is expectations. They’re related to all of those things, really. Whether it’s your March Madness brackets or your hopes for the Cubbies, people put a lot of stake in the things they love – or the things they’ve decided to identify with. And wrestling is no different. The problem comes when someone’s expectations are unrealistic, or they put too much stake in an opinion or a hope that may be less than plausible. Take the latest trend in Twitter takes – the stopwatch guys. These are people who time things on wrestling shows – stuff like match length, or the amount of actual wrestling on a show, or the amount of time women’s matches are allotted. They are rarely unbiased or presented in good faith – more often than not, it’s fans of “the other side” pointing out their perceived shortcomings with the product they’re analyzing. 

But why do that at all? If you don’t enjoy WWE’s focus on storytelling, or presentation, what good are you doing by timing the amount of time matches are taking up on their programming? Preaching to the choir? Upping your follower count? Yelling at another fanbase who values different parts of pro wrestling? I just find it exhausting. 

There is SO MUCH wrestling out there, there’s literally no reason to get mad at others for liking what they like. I mainly watch Raw, NXT, SmackDown, Dynamite, and Collision. I enjoy them for very different reasons. WWE for its larger than life image, storytelling, presentation, and stars. AEW for its incredible matches and smaller feel. And NXT because it’s just kinda silly, and I like seeing younger talent find their abilities. I’m fully aware of a bunch of other stuff, and when I’m in the mood I’ll watch some New Japan, or TNA, or just find matches on YouTube that folks recommend. And I feel like I’m on the low end of wrestling consumption – you go on BlueSky or Twitter and there are people live-tweeting shows at all hours. 

My point is, maybe we need to enjoy what we enjoy. I like liking things – and yeah, I’ll complain a little when the thing I like doesn’t go how I’d hope, because I’m invested. But I’m not going on social media to argue about that because a) nobody has ever won an internet argument and b) I simply don’t want to. Everything in life seems so polarizing – I don’t need my entertainment to fall into that as well. 

“It’s A Soap Opera With More Suplexes and Less Violence”

…in which I discuss the storylines that keep us watching week to week

It’s the week before WrestleMania and all eyes were on Raw this week, emanating from my beloved hometown WWE arena of the Allstate Arena (or the Rosemont Horizon for the real ones – the real old ones, that is). For a show that had minimal wrestling – a thing that we accept in WWE programming, especially this close to ‘Mania – this might have been one of the best booked Raws in years! The Cody speech that opened the show was great. The little teases that nodded towards the chaos that would ensue during the main event were so good. And that post-main event beatdown of Rhodes by The Rock, outside, in the rain, with the ghosts of Stone Cold and Cena looking on from a semi trailer? Cinematic feels like it’s too strong a word, but I got nothing else. Rock versus Cody has to be coming if Rocky’s schedule allows for it, but we’re also expecting Rock to take on Roman Reigns at some point. We’re spoiled, is what it comes down to. 

AEW has been putting on shows that are basically the opposite of WWE, keeping the focus in the ring and signing some of the best talent in the world. Hopefully the attendance starts to reflect the in-ring product, because I feel like it really puts a damper on the shows when they take place in these mostly empty arenas. I see people saying it’s a bad crowd, but even a good crowd can only make so much noise in a barn. Khan has said that they book the larger arenas because of their ability to market the shows better, but we’re not seeing that marketing pay off in full stadiums. I’d like more small venues, personally. Sell out! Get people mad that they can’t get in, and next time around maybe you book that larger option.

Dynamite gave us some amazing matches in the opener and main, with Shibata fighting Will Ospreay and Takeshita taking on Swerve Strickland. Both were great matches, if not the best they could pull off, and they just made me look forward to more battles between these four. 

NXT, also building to a big WrestleMania weekend show with their always-good Stand and Deliver on next Saturday afternoon, had some great stuff too! A fantastic main event featuring main-roster guys Otis and Tozawa of Alpha Academy taking on the NXT tag champs, the Wolf Dogs, stood out as the best thing on the show. But we also got Dijak beating Shawn Spears with a little help from former foe Joe Gacy, and Natalya showed up to answer an open challenge from well-regarded new-ish wrestler Lola Vice…and beat her, because we need to keep Nattie strong for, um, reasons. 

I just…I don’t like Natalya. I don’t like that she’s always around, I don’t think she’s as good as WWE seems to think she is, and I think she’s kinda turning into Chris Jericho in a way, just always around the younger talent. No thank you. 

We Watched Some Wrestling!

…in which I recommend some of the best matches I saw last week

AEW gave us Swerve Strickland versus Konosuke Takeshita, and as a fan of both, that’s an easy recommendation:

And, as I mentioned a little while ago, that NXT main event between Alpha Academy and the Wolf Dogs was a lot of fun!

But rather than a match, the WWE offering is going to be the last bit of Raw. The CM Punk/Seth Rollins/Drew McIntyre segment was crazy in an unhinged, unscripted, almost reactionary kind of way, though, and since I already linked the Rock’s assault on Cody, I’ll link that promo here:

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! Thanks for coming with me on that journey. No pay-per-views or premium live events this weekend, so it’s “just” the five hours of WWE SmackDown, AEW Rampage, and AEW Collision to keep up with. Next week is the biggest week of the wrestling year, and I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about after this weekend, so I’m looking forward to catching up with you on Monday, dear reader.

I’ll see you next week for the usual Casual Friday and Untitled Monday blog posts. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

The Casual Friday, um, Saturday Morning Edition!

 

Good Morning!

It’s been a little while! I had some existential crises coupled with some commitments to help my pals, that ate into the time I usually spend bullshitting with you, dear reader, about pro wrestling and whatnot. But I’ve also been reading a lot, and it’s all very depressing.

Big websites are kinda being eaten by these moneyed groups – groups that aren’t interested in the work these sites put out, but are interested in either constant growth and increased revenue or in saddling the company with a ton of debt before letting it die. Kotaku just had its editor-in-chief resign after being on the job less than a year, because (allegedly) the owners of the site decided they should be less about reporting and more about producing fifty gaming guides or tips articles a week. As somebody who sometimes has trouble pumping out a single blog post – a post recapping my favorite thing in the world, mind you – this seems insane to me. 

Bloody Elbow, a popular MMA blog, had a similar fate. Less than 24 hours after the site was sold off, writers there were laid off and much of their work was scrubbed from the site. Suspiciously, most of the stuff that was deleted first was Bloody Elbow’s work reporting and investigating the business behind the fights. It’s great work, see, but it could be viewed as “controversial” by the people who run UFC and other fight groups. 

So we’re losing the actual reporting and having it replaced by things like “What did Dave StrongPunch say to his upcoming opponent on camera in a staged confrontation?” or “How to find the third (of seven) special statues in the Stardew Valley update” – things that will get clicks but don’t really have a reason to exist, aside from selling you on the popular game or upcoming PPV. It’s gross! And while I’m not exactly a reporter or journalist over here, I do appreciate the sites that do things like original reporting, or stories that aren’t just reviews or previews (he says as a guy who does just that.)

But I don't want to be all doom and gloom. Yes, media isn’t in the best spot, but we’re getting a lot of worker-owned co-ops that are continuing the traditions of these bought-out shells. For every Deadspin or Kotaku that failed their writers, a Defector or Aftermath have risen from their ashes, sites founded by writers from those sites and continuing to produce good work. These sites are typically subscription based, but I think it’s worth supporting these writers for the same amount one might pay for a Max or Netflix – and you’re getting new content every day, and lots of it, from a variety of good voices. 

“It’s A Soap Opera With More Suplexes and Less Violence”

…in which I discuss the storylines that keep us watching week to week

A weird double-dip this week, as I didn’t publish last week’s Casual Friday because of reasons. I did drop last week’s a little earlier today – you can read it here if you’d like to catch up on Mercedes Moné’s debut and the continued build to WrestleMania – but I think since we’re on a multi-lane highway to both WrestleMania AND AEW Dynasty, you’ll be ok just jumping on with this blog. Still, give that link a click for my ego’s sake, would ya?

This week was kinda packed, with Rampage airing immediately after Dynamite this week because of the college basketball tournament. So we had two three-hour blocks of wrestling on Monday and Wednesday – and a third if you watch Rampage after SmackDown like I do. 

Fortunately, as all roads lead to pay-per-views, most of the actual wrestling shows are serving those shows. While we had *checks notes* some great matches and a ton of promos in the twelve hours of WWE, ten hours of AEW, and four of NXT since last we spoke, we’ve mostly been focused on building matches – even when the matches used to build those matches have been really good! Did that make sense?

So we’ve seen build towards Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, and the tag match leading into that, Cody and Seth Rollins facing off against The Rock and Reigns. But that also means we’ve gotta think about Drew McIntyre, who will face Rollins at some point over WrestleMania weekend as well. With Raw heading to Chicago on Monday, maybe CM Punk – who was involved with both guys before and immediately after his triceps injury – will be involved? Not in a triple threat, at least I don’t think, but maybe as a guest referee, or guest commentator who gets involved. Who’s to say?

The whole Rock/Cody side quest has taken center stage, as The Rock has been using social media to cut some particularly nasty promos on Cody and his family. While I am not super invested in that stuff, as I’m not really a socials guy, people seem to be enjoying it, and those shorts are definitely getting people talking. And they allow Rocky some creative freedom, even if he basically has regressed to the 90s version of himself, questionable promos and all. And if a rising tide raises all ships (is that the phrase?) then Rock getting attention on SmackDown will raise the whole company’s profile on the remaining road to WrestleMania.

It’s really the only thing in flux at this point. Sure, we’re still two weeks out, and we will likely see another four matches or so finalized. But aside from the intrigue of the two heavyweight championships, WrestleMania is all but set. And that’s great! There’s a lot to look forward to and we’ll be here to break it all down for you. Really! I swear!

Over on the All Elite side of things, Kazuchika Okada has become the Continental Champion, defeating Eddie Kingston in a pretty decent match for that title. Okada is a megastar, and putting a title on him while he’s growing more comfortable in his role as a super douche alongside the Young Bucks was a good call. Eddie already seems to have moved on from that title picture, which is fine. The guy has two other titles to worry about, and with Supercard of Honor coming in a few weeks he’ll be defending that Ring of Honor Championship against … somebody. And PAC vs Okada should rule.

Mercedes Mone continues to make her presence known, getting involved in the TBS title picture a bit. I think it’s just a way to ease her into the Willow Nightingale match that seems to be coming, although I can’t imagine they would try to make Willow the bad guy in that rivalry. Willow is just too goddamn lovable to be a heel! And honestly, Mercedes is better as a baddie.

So that’s what comes immediately to mind. Of course, several other storylines are chugging along, and I think it would be better if I try to write a shorter something the morning after shows, and keep Casual Friday just that – a casual talk about the best stuff of the week, and a way to catch up. I know some of you, dear readers, just come here to get caught up on the overall vibe of wrestling, or you’re just being nice and reading the stuff I put out there because you know me, or I said something funny on Twitter or BlueSky. And I appreciate that! I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do things around here, you know?

Speaking of that, I made my friend Sarah in WWE 2K24. While I don’t think I’m going to try to do the whole “animal hospital fights amongst themselves” thing again, I do enjoy making people in the game, and I haven’t played through the mens and womens storylines in a few years. Maybe I should try streaming the game? If I do, it would probably be on Twitch. I’ll let you know on here when I decide to do it, and of course I’ll tweet and skeet before we get started. 

Skeets being the posts on BlueSky. I don’t make these things up.

And! I’m writing this as SmackDown is on, and some fun stuff happened on here as well. KO is a gem despite not really having anything to do at WrestleMania, and he and Randy Orton will be teaming up against the amazing Pretty Deadly next week. Damage CTRL continued their assault on the SmackDown women, with Iyo Sky beating down Bayley before heading to her match against Naomi. After a distraction finish, the champ and the tag champs – and Dakota Kai – took out both Naomi and attempted hero Bianca Belair, with Asuka spitting some poison mist into the eyes of Naomi. I’m hoping this leads to another women’s match being added to ‘Mania – maybe something that gets Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton pulled into it as well? Steiner math gets us 4-on-3 if we assume Asuka, Kairi Sane, Dakota Kai, and Tiffany Stratton against Naomi, Bianca, and maybe Jade Cargill. That won’t do. Maybe just Naomi and Bianca against the Kabuki Warriors for the tag belts? I haven’t worked this out yet, obviously.

Of course, this week’s SmackDown truly existed for one thing – a face-to-face meeting between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, with both men agreeing to head into the arena alone. It closed the show, because that’s how you get people to watch, and after Roman sauntered into the ring with about ten minutes of TV time remaining, Cody Rhodes followed. Some quality references to both the Shield and Bullet Club followed, as Roman tried to bring Seth Rollins’ loyalty into question. Cody tried to turn the tables on Roman, asking if The Rock was trustworthy. All in all, it was another solid promo segment, ending with Reigns refusing to shake Rhodes’ hand after Cody offered good luck. And, after Roman left the ring, Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso approached the ring, as we all probably should have expected. But! Another pair of hoodies appeared in the crowd, and Seth Rollins and Jey Uso kept things civil as the music in the arena switched from Roman’s to Cody’s, and that wrapped things up.

One last observation: commentary duo Corey Graves and Wade Barrett are pretty good, but it did seem like Graves was really pushing Wade’s old “Bad News” nickname this week. I won’t speculate as to why –  I mean, it is a cool nickname, it just seemed a little pushy is all.

We Watched Some Wrestling!

…in which I recommend some of the best matches I saw last week

Oh boy, there were some good ones! If we’re just doing the one-match-per-company setup (and we should, or I’ll easily get overwhelmed with options) then here’s my picks. WWE wrapped up the Becky Lynch versus Nia Jax storyline, with Lynch scoring a definitive win over the much-improved Jax. Becky has been on a roll lately, getting really good matches out of some often disappointing talent. That’s not to say Liv Morgan or Nia Jax are bad, but they stepped their games up against The Man and it showed.

AEW had at least three I’d love to tag here, but the match between Adam “I was Edge in WWE” Copeland and Christian Cage was a hockey lover’s dream. A street fight in Toronto that brought in hockey jerseys, a goal and stick, and a big board with nails in it (not a hockey thing) this match was just a lot of fun. 

And NXT gave us Drew Gulak taking on Riley Osborne for the Heritage Cup, which means weird rules and technically proficient wrestling.

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! Thanks for coming with me on that journey. No pay-per-views or premium live events this weekend, and the NCAA tournament is pre-empting Collision, so we’re taking the weekend off. Maybe it’s time to go out and see a movie, or check out that X-Men ‘97 that all the kids are talking about.

I’ll see you next week for Casual Friday, but I’ll also try to put something up the mornings after Raw, NXT, and Dynamite. As always, this is a work in progress, and it’s easier to play around with the format now, as opposed to when we somehow end up with actual people reading this stuff. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, drop 'em in the comments section below! And follow me on Twitter (X), Facebook, BlueSky and/or Instagram using the links on the right.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!