Some thoughts on AEW WrestleDream and 10/16/24 Dynamite

 

Good Morning!

Welcome back to Let’s Watch Some Wrestling! I want to go over WrestleDream, which I just caught yesterday after an incredible weekend. But, I’d also like to go through the ELEVEN (!) films I watched over the weekend at the Telluride Horror show with a few of my very favorite people. 

So, let’s get into it. We’ll do the wrestling first, since Dynamite will be starting in just a few hours and pro wrestling is kinda the whole point of this blog. I’ll take notes on Dynamite itself too, pop them in after the WrestleDream recap, and post this here blog. 

But then we’ll make the switch from Let’s Watch Some Wrestling to Let’s Watch Some HORROR, and write up some spoiler-free movie reviews for the weekend’s post. Since I have yet to catch up with Raw, SmackDown, OR NXT, we’re going full AEW around here this week. Which is fine, since I’m thinking about removing the Saudi shows from my viewing rotation, and that’s what most of the Fed’s current build is leading up to. I’ll still do a preview, since speculation is probably my favorite part of pro wrestling, but I’ll maybe just do something else that weekend.  

The Let’s Watch Some Wrestling AEW WrestleDream Recap

To start us off, here’s the preview image I posted to BlueSky prior to the show:

I managed to avoid spoilers for nearly every match on the card all the way through Tuesday by avoiding both Twitter and BlueSky. But then a screenshot on Facebook -- which I felt obligated to pop onto to thank everybody for the kind birthday wishes -- ended that run. Fortunately, that was a spoiler for the result I wanted the most -- a title victory for my sweet Cinnabon son, Konosuke Takeshita. That match was incredible, and you could really tell that both Ricochet and Will Ospreay made the decision to make Takeshita look like a real superstar on the night. Take’s elbows looked like death whenever he hit either opponent, and that brutal move he used to put Ricochet through the table was nasty looking. 

Jay White and “Hangman” Adam Page over delivered, and was a great re-introduction to the suplexes and the skill of the Switchblade. I was a little worried while watching that White couldn’t take the loss, and that really Page could absorb the L because he’s dealing with some stuff that is making him act in a way that shouldn’t earn him wins -- but then Jay White reversed Hanger’s Buckshot Lariat into his Blade Runner and that was that.

Willow Nightingale and Mariah May put on a hell of a match to follow that opener (they should have been the opener, honestly) and I’m starting to think that Willow might be the best thing about AEW’s women’s division. The Ace, if you will. She’s got everything you need to hold that prestigious moniker -- talent, looks, personality, and the ability to get the best out of any opponent. Mariah May is great in the ring, but this title reign has been a little weak. Still, Willow worked great with Mariah, both in the build to this match and in the match itself. She’s going to be a great champ one day, but for now she’ll have to settle for making everyone else look amazing. Let’s just hope that AEW remembers the work she’s putting in now, and rewards her for it.

And you know what? That’s about it for highlights of the show for me. I didn’t hate anything else, but the rest of the undercard matches didn’t really move the needle for me. I didn’t like the finish for Shibata vs Perry, and hated that Perry instantly recovered and was able to attack Shibata, although the introductions of Daniel Garcia, MJF, and Adam Cole covered up Shibata’s uncharacteristic mistake that led to his loss.

Hologram/THE BEAST MORTOS, Bucks/Private Party, and Briscoe/Jericho were all good, but not super memorable. I think the Bucks would like to build Private Party up over the next few months, and then pass the tag team titles off to the younger team, but I guess we’ll have to be patient for that. 

Darby defeated Brody King in another good, not great, match, but the finish seemed more important after the show went off the air. It seems like Darby is going to be the main character of AEW going forward (non-Mox edition) and so having him earn the respect of the monstrous Brody King meant a bit more in hindsight.

And then there’s the main event. Not Danielson’s best, but not terrible either. The finish felt appropriate, and while the post-match beating and melodramatic injury angle felt a little heavy-handed, I understood that AEW was trying to show us that a change has arrived, and Danielson represented the old ways and therefore had to be dispatched, violently.

The match wasn’t the point, though. I think a lot of people, myself included, assumed Danielson wanted to retire in his home state, and I’m sure he had a lot of say in who would be ending his career. Personally, I think Moxley was a boring choice. I don’t love the current version of him, and I don’t like that Danielson was retired by a guy who won’t gain much from it. But I also generally enjoy Moxley’s work, and I love that it looks like WrestleDream was the start of a big sea change for All Elite Wrestling. Maybe the Moxes and the Elite will form a group that’s trying to hold new talent down, and that will lead to fresh faces earning more TV time. But all we can do right now is be optimistic!

The Dynamite Review

Opening the show with 20 minutes of promos certainly was a choice. I get it, though -- we’ve established a new champion and a new faction in charge in John Moxley and nWo mOx, and the new direction of the show is clearly going to be a reflection of the events of this past Saturday. So we had Mox shoot a promo from inside a van, and we’d see the group two more times before the end of the show. 

Moxley’s crew attacked during the trios match between the Elite and members of the Conglomeration, and that brawl led to the Elite stepping away from the fight and a few other trios stepping in (and getting run over.) So it looks like the Young Bucks, Jack Perry, and Kazuchika Okada won’t be getting in the way of whatever Moxley has planned, but Dark Order, Top Flight, the Conglomeration, and Daniel Garcia all seem to be on Moxley’s hit list. 

 Other developments on Wednesday included Adam Cole challenging MJF, Chris Jericho challenging Mark Briscoe again (the Jericho Vortex is real), Private Party teasing a break after challenging the Young Bucks for yet another title match (they declined), my son Konosuke Takeshita issuing an open challenge for his International Title on Collision, and Jay White losing a really good match to Christian Cage after interference from Kip Sabian (unintentional) and “Hangman” Adam Page (very intentional).

It all went by quickly, and it felt like new storylines are popping up everywhere. I overlooked some stuff in that block of text -- Mercedes Mone had a pretty decent showing against Queen Aminata, Lio Rush lost to Shelton Benjamin, who has lost a step but still appears to be refusing to age, and FTR defeated Jericho’s pals and celebrated with the Outrunners afterward. All in all a typical Dynamite from a wrestling standpoint, but the storyline developments were put front and center for this one.

And that’s it!

I’m excited to see where these storylines are going, even though I’ll admit that I don’t love the nWo mOx storyline. I do like that name though, and it’s better than the Poochie joke that keeps popping into my head when I see that crew on screen. 

My problem, as I said on BlueSky, is that these things always start the same -- you run down the young new guys and the established guys look dominant, but you believe it’s because the young guys will give the baddies their comeuppance. However, it’s often not the case, either because of abandoned storylines, injuries, or those established guys deciding they won’t be giving the kids their spots, actually. 

However, I will give Moxley and his buddies the benefit of the doubt because they’ve never acted particularly selfishly, and because despite me not being the MOST online guy you’ve ever met, I haven’t heard anything particularly galling about any of the Mox crew’s behavior backstage.

Next post will be our Telluride Horror Show recap, where we’ll do some synopses of both the festival and the films I watched. I’m excited to try my hand at film review, and have been reading reviews by real writer types in anticipation of this. We’ll see how it goes! I should have that up in the next few days or so, as I’m also working on a pitch for SlashGear. After that, I'll catch up on WWE's stuff and we'll be back on track.

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 LIVE Dynamite Experience, and a short NXT Battleground preview

Good Morning!

My wrestling buddy Adam, lovely wife Mo, new-to-the-sport friend Gabe, and I went to Loveland for this week's AEW Dynamite! I’ll try not to recap every single thing because, well, I wasn’t privy to a lot of backstage segments, and without commentary all I can tell you from the matches is how the crowd reacted. I should mention that this show was the fourth time AEW has come to Colorado, and the third venue they have used. I’ve been to every show, from the first in 2020 at First Bank Center, just before the pandemic. Since then, we saw another AEW show at First Bank in December of 2022 and got to drive home in a legit blizzard, then a show in Colorado Springs during a pretty powerful rainstorm last June. September of 2023 brought us the final event of any kind at the First Bank Center, and this one was up in Loveland, about 50 miles north of Denver. I imagine it’s one of those things where WWE has rights to the Ball Arena in downtown Denver locked up, but I’m surprised AEW doesn’t try for the Denver Coliseum (a really big, really old arena used for the annual Stock Show) or another, smaller downtown arena. 

We had a good crowd, too, with some fans peppered in on the hard camera side and the stands filled for ⅔ of the barn. I’ve attended a couple of Colorado Eagles hockey games here, and it’s a great arena with some good food and a cozy, loud atmosphere. Cow bells are a big thing for the Eagles too, I was kinda surprised that nobody had one for this show. Although security may have prohibited that – who’s to say? Our seat neighbors were all fantastic, aside from the loud younger group a few rows back who felt the need to speak for all of us with screams of NOBODY CARES during the Mercedes Mone video. And even then, they were younger folks with booze, it’s fine. 

Special mention should be made to the granny who my buddy spotted before my wife and I arrived, and who was featured at the end of the broadcast dancing with Swerve and Price Nana. She seemed delighted with the whole event. We also had a kid in front of us with a JARRING voice – that voice that says “I just hit puberty and immediately got a job in a mine or something.” He was great, and with a little encouragement from our group he went and got scissored by both Bowens and Caster, and started a few crowd chants too.

The show began with an MJF promo, although to be fair Mo and I had to watch that after we got home. Construction and rush hour traffic between our place and Loveland were pretty lousy, and a few accidents along the way turned what should have been a 90 minute drive into nearly 2 ½ hours. We got in as Friedman’s music hit, but figured we shouldn’t rush, as our friends were already seated, and hit the washrooms and grabbed some adult beverages. 

After watching the promo, I thought it was a good re-establishment of MJF as “our scumbag” – a good guy who isn’t too good. While I’ll be the first to admit that AEW has a problem with faces and heels, I think Max is a good example of how to be a guy we root for while tempering his cheesier instincts. 

We found our way to our seats just as the first match of the night began, and the crowd was UP for that one. In hindsight it was basically a fight between three guys to pin Jay Lethal, and our friends were unaware of the stipulation that the winner would go on to fight Will Ospreay next week. If we’d have known that, I think the outcome would have been even more obvious. But the match itself was a blast, the crowd had fun, and the best spots all got a pretty great response. Orange Cassidy was confronted by former Best Friend Trent after the match, and Kris Statlander made the most of her recent heel turn by laying Cassidy out before Willow Nightingale made the save. The promo Willow cut later in the night was really good, and I’m looking forward to seeing Nightingale and Cassidy team up!

The first of several Chris Jericho spots was shown on the big screen next, much to the dismay of the crowd. There were some vocal supporters, but you could just feel the overall energy of the group fizzle as folks headed to the bathrooms and concessions. This happened during many of the pre taped segments, but it was definitely more noticeable for the Jericho ones. 

I will admit that I like the unnecessary intensity of Bounty Hunter Bryan Keith, and I’ll always support Big Bill, but I really don’t need several Jericho spots during the show. I don’t need any at all for a while, if we’re being honest.

We were told that Tony Khan came out to say hello before the show, so I don’t really understand the kayfabe logic of Christopher Daniels’ existence, short of “we wanted to rehire the nice man that the evil Young Bucks fired.” Regardless, Daniels announced another qualifying match for the Forbidden Door TNT Ladder Match – Ring of Honor champ Mark Briscoe taking on Bryan Cage. 

I mean, this is another obvious one, right? Briscoe is a champion, which makes it a little odd that he’s going after another, theoretically lower-tier belt in a second promotion, and Cage does nothing but lose matches with any stakes. It was still fun, with Cage tossing Briscoe around for the most part, but it wasn’t exactly unpredictable. Briscoe in a ladder match is a great addition to the lineup, and Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis looked on during the match from the crowd to scout the competition, and the Loveland crowd was not having it, booing them whenever they popped out to watch.

The pairing of Samoa Joe and HOOK continues to interest me, much more so than Jericho and HOOK ever did. Joe is so much more in line with what HOOK could become that it only makes sense to have his former antagonist show him the way. HOOK is never going to be Chris Jericho – and thank God for that – but pairing him with the eloquent juggernaut that is Joe is a great call. 

The BCC vs CMLL match was next, and the crowd was really great to a returning Wheeler Yuta. Supportive and welcoming, and loud throughout the match. It was a great exhibition, and while that kind of thing isn’t for everyone it is a great way to introduce a new fan (like the fourth member of our party, only watching his second ever wrestling show) some different styles of the sport.

The Mercedes Mone video I previously mentioned aired next, and I was honestly surprised that there wasn’t a CEO chant. I don’t want to say AEW is handling Mercedes wrong – she’s literally only had one match and won a championship – but one would at least hope for a hum of boos or cheers. Maybe it was just because she wasn’t there live, though. 

Daniel Bryan Danielson (I cannot believe I still do that) had a passionate speech that really did resonate with the fans in the building, and I think it’s a real possibility that he could win the Owen Hart tournament and face Swerve at Wembley. I guess we’ll see!

I will admit here that I’ve been a fan of Saraya / Paige since NXT, so I’m not as harsh as some about her. The last time I saw her live was when she retired and became GM of Raw over Wrestlemania 38 weekend, so it was a delight to see her in the ring for this match against Mariah May, another performer I’m really high on. I think this match was better than I expected, and more competitive too – and I didn’t expect to see Saraya pick up the win, either. What I did expect was Toni Storm coming to her protege’s aid after the match. Mina Shirakawa and Toni Storm’s interactions were fantastic, and the crowd popped huge for the, ahem, double-breasted celebration of support those two found themselves in for May.

Oh! There was a Patriarchy segment cementing their relationship with the Young Bucks. But more importantly, I got to explain to my friend the lore of Luchasaurus after he grabbed me and screamed “WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”

Wrestling is the best.

The main event followed, and the crowd was HYPED for Swerve. The match itself was good, and the exhausted crowd managed to pull what little energy they had left out for this finale. The good guy got cheered, the baddies were booed, and I think everyone had a great time. 

Rampage featured four matches, but it was easy to see that the crowd was burnt out by then. The opener of Penta el Zero Miedo was good, and the main event featuring Mina Shirakawa and Serena Deeb was way better than I expected – and longer, too – and the post-match angle was silly and delightful, a great way to send the crowd home happy.

I did think of one thing worth pointing out, and it’s something we probably don’t think about a lot when we claim a crowd is dead, or when one goes online to see “Never go back to X town they suck.” Even if one assumes that half the crowd managed to get off work Wednesday, or got a half-day, that’s still half an arena with people who likely woke up at 6am, went to their jobs, worked at least half a day or more, then (especially in this case) sat in traffic for at least an hour and a half. People are bound to be exhausted, and in many cases wouldn’t want to miss parts of the show to wait in line for food, so many were hangry and thirsty as well! I’m just saying, give people the benefit of the doubt. 

It was a great night, and a fun show that started some wrestlers in new directions. Popular opinion seems to be that Danielson will face off with Swerve at All In now, and Ospreay may take on MJF. Ospreay losing to Swerve would be the right call for Forbidden Door, as Ospreay is gonna have to lose at some point. Why not do it to a guy we’re establishing as a worthy champion? A loss will also further the whole Don Callis family storyline, something I’m sure AEW is ready to move on from for babyface Will. 

 I had a blast and really like the setup at that arena – I don’t mind the drive if that’s where Tony Khan decides to set up shop, and it’s pretty cool that they come through a couple times a year. At the end of the show, he thanked fans for coming out and even hinted at a PPV in the years to come, which would be awesome and immediately got my wife and my buddy talking about getting entranceway seats if that comes to pass. I guess we’ll see!

Super Short NXT Battleground Preview!

I’ve got a weekend of hanging out with the wife planned, so I don’t think I’ll do a full NXT Battleground preview. I just wanted to relay my thoughts about the live AEW show. However, for prediction’s sake, I’ll list the matches below, with my picks in bold. We’ll go over them on Monday, assuming all goes well!

Jordynne Grace versus Roxanne Perez © for the NXT Women’s Championship

Ethan Page versus Trick Williams © for the NXT Championship

Lola Vice versus Shayna Baszler in an NXT Underground match

Nathan Frazier and Axiom © versus The Good Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Championship

Oba Femi © versus Joe Coffey versus Wes Lee for the NXT North American Championship

Lash Legend v Sol Ruca v Fallon Henley v Jaida Parker v Kelani Jordan v Michin for the vacant NXT Women’s North American Championship

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! 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!

Let's talk about expectations and Double or Nothing, Dynamite, Raw, AND KaQotR!

 

Good Morning!

A lot has happened since we last talked! AEW’s Double or Nothing was a success, a good and at times great show with some standout matches. We’ve also gone in some interesting directions since that show, both due to booking decisions and Adam Copeland’s nasty injury. 

Before we dive in, I want to talk a little bit about expectations, headcanon, and fantasy booking. After Wednesday’s Dynamite, I saw a lot of discourse about how disappointed so many fans are with the decision to have Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland square off at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in a few weeks. Some folks are worried that it means Ospreay is already going to be taking the AEW World Championship off of Strickland; others feel like AEW is “blowing” this dream match by scheduling it so soon after Ospreay’s debut. And still others believe that Ospreay should be doing something with his newly-won International Championship, and staying away from the world title picture until he’s ready to win it. 

I agree with all those concerns, to a degree. I think I would have preferred Ospreay take on an international star, Hechicero or someone from NJPW for example. I would have liked Strickland to also have one of the performers that isn’t a part of the AEW roster to feature against the champ, since Forbidden Door is kind of an interpromotional exhibition. However, I don’t see any reason for concern.

When AEW brought Ospreay, Mercedes Mone, and Kazuchika Okada into the company, it was fair to assume none of them would be eating a pin anytime soon. However, it’s been a few months now, and with Okada being a part of the biggest heel faction in the promotion, and Mercedes playing a heel-lite role, Will Ospreay’s friendly, crowd loving character is the one to play the victim here. He’ll look strong even in a loss, the match will be incredible, and I imagine that we’ll see the storyline between Ospreay, Don Callis, and whoever distracts or interferes with Will from the Family develop further.

The problem that can happen when we get our hopes up, or talk ourselves into a certain story, is that we can get angry or frustrated when a promoter goes in a different direction. Because once we get started down those rabbit holes, it’s hard not to keep fantasy booking for months ahead. And if those plans are dashed by Tony Khan or Triple H, one can easily fall into the trap of being predisposed to not liking the direction simply because it doesn’t mesh with one’s own plan.

I’ve always been a firm believer in “letting it play out.” That’s not to say I don't get annoyed with booking, whether it’s Tony’s constant tournaments or Trips’ affinity for every bad guy being “cool and relatable.” In the end, though, it’s nothing to get mad about. I don’t have any stake in this stuff, and neither do you. It’s just wrestling, right?

Recapping Raw, King and Queen of the Ring, Dynamite, and Double or Nothing

I assure you, this won’t be the slog it sounds like. I don’t know why I think I’ll make time to write separate blog posts for all this stuff, but I think I bit off more than I can chew again. I watched both PPVs and Raw and Dynamite, but still haven’t caught up with NXT despite having most of the show spoiled for me (which is fine, I’m too old to know what a Sexxy Red is anyways). So we’ll kinda double up on results and where we’re going.

Swerve Strickland beat Christian Cage to retain his AEW World Championship, in a match that was really good despite its predictable outcome. That was kind of a theme for the weekend – apart from a few surprises, almost everything went according to expectations. Dynamite, however, sent those expectations out the window when Will Ospreay became Swerve’s next challenger. This is the part where I admit that, while I’m excited for that match, I almost never catch Forbidden Door. It’s not out of malice or spite, I just have happened to be out of town or busy when the show is scheduled, and it falls on a friend’s birthday this year. So unless I get out of it somehow (unlikely) I’ll be missing yet another PPV. 

Although, I mean, they expanded to like 12 a year and they’re fifty bucks a pop, I won’t die from not watching. You’ll catch me up, won’t you dear reader?

Liv Morgan was the big surprise, possibly the only surprise, on WWE’s Saudi show. She defeated Becky Lynch with a little Dominik Mysterio interference, and repeated the performance on Monday in a steel cage match. Dom was rewarded with a smooch for his “accidental” efforts, although one could argue that Liv was the kissER and Dominik was the kissEE. 

Gunther and Nia Jax became King and Queen of the Ring, with Gunther treating the crown like a bauble with a title shot attached and Nia fully embracing her new royal image. I love both of these decisions, and I can see Gunther facing Drew McIntyre after Drew wins the title from Damian Priest in Scotland. Both of those matches sound pretty fun!

What else was good…oh, right, Darby Allin set Jack Perry on fire before Allin was hung upside down in the middle of the ring. Anarchy in the Arena is always a good time, and this year was no exception. If you’ve got the means, that was one of the best matches of the night.

Adam Copeland went full Vampire Edge for his entrance, and he defeated Malakai Black despite Cope breaking his tibia in a poorly-executed leap from the top of the steel cage in which their match took place. That whole match was a bloody good time, and both guys put themselves through hell before beloved vampire Gangrel tore through the mat to attack the House of Black and help Copeland get the win.

That injury meant the Young Bucks had a reason to yank the TNT title from Adam Copeland, and they immediately did what we were expecting and gave the belt to their pal Jack Perry. However, new “interim EVP” slash Tony Khan mouthpiece Christopher Daniels said why would we give a guy a title when we could have qualifying matches and put on a LADDER MATCH for the TNT championship at Forbidden Door. We’re already getting my sweet Cinnabon son Konosuke Takeshita battling Penta el Zero Miedo for the first spot, and if all the matches are on this level I’ll be pretty stoked. 

Mercedes Mone got the expected win over Willow Nightingale, but she’s still doing her best to play tweener. She offered some supportive words to Willow on Wednesday’s Dynamite during her championship celebration, and a surprise match against Skye Blue was pretty good too!

More importantly, the match rocked. As much as I don’t like that finisher, it kinda made sense in the context of the match, so I’m willing to overlook it. I’m still not completely sold on Mercedes in AEW, but I’m sure I’ll be chanting CEO along with the rest of the crowd when Dynamite comes to Colorado next week!

Trent Baretta beat Orange Cassidy, and Konosuke Takeshita lost his eliminator match against Jon Moxley. I really didn’t like either call, and Dynamite only made me double down on that. Cassidy followed up his victory with a dumb “accept the contract offer from the villain” bit that led to Baretta signing with the Don Callis family. So, to be clear, Callis actually wanted to sign the guy who never wins when it counts, and not the guy who was undefeatable as International champ for months. 

And Moxley? Man, the guy can’t even lose a qualifying match? Who does that help? If anything, it made Take look worse, because Mox was playing the role of injured guy the whole match. He still beat Takeshita, a villain who desperately needs a turn or a real direction. And then he beat Rocky Romero (who, to be fair, hasn't had a singles win in AEW since Dark Elevation existed) in a second Eliminator match on Dynamite just to double down on how cool and tough he is. That annoyed me. I should have added Moxley to that intro, because he’s another guy AEW just can't allow to lose.

I like Moxley, I really do. But I'm not into his current character, and I don't like the Blackpool Combat Club as a unit. There's no reason for it, and the sooner Claudio abandons everybody to join Adam Cole as a full time streamer/part time wrestler, the better.

Oh, and MJF made his return! Shortly after Adam Cole popped up to re-establish that he's still a jerk, and still injured, a first-person video showed someone getting a scarf, a diamond ring, . Max offered a hug, followed up with a kick to the junk, and cut a passionate promo that let us know he's still a good guy (for now) but he's done with the cutesy friendship stuff. He wasn't around on Dynamite, meaning he was waiting for Loveland Colorado, home of AEW's most excitable fan base, to make his Dynamite return next week.

That feels about right, as far as covering the big happenings. Some folks won, some folks lost, and our PPV record for the weekend was 15/18. That’s not too shabby!

Closing Up Shop

And that’s it! I’ve been working on some house projects leading up to my wife’s 39th birthday extravaganza, but I try to make a point to post at least once a week. There aren’t any PPVs this weekend, but we’ve got qualifiers for the AEW TNT Championship ladder match and possibly the Owen Hart cup as well? Besides, I gotta pay attention this weekend so I know what’s going on when I go to the show on Wednesday. We’ll take pics, I’ll try to be observant towards what happens, and I might even try to talk with some other fans. It’s always a blast, and while this is a new location for AEW (its third since they started coming out here) I’m sure we’ll have a good turnout. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me in the comments or on my social media accounts. And if you're feeling super generous, you can buy me a Ko-fi using the link on the bottom of the page (assuming it actually works.) I’ll be back sometime next week, but until then…Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

Casual Friday + The Let's Watch Some Wrestling King of Kings of the Ring Tournament Announcement!

Good Morning!

What an odd week for pro wrestling that was. I felt like neither Raw nor Dynamite did a lot for me, possibly due to both feeling a little off theme. Raw felt weird because there was almost too much wrestling on the longest wrestling show of the week, and Dynamite felt odd because of its pacing and storyline beats that just didn’t work for me. That AEW Edmonton crowd didn’t help matters – I was equal parts annoyed when they were too quiet and annoyed when they started trying to get themselves over. Enjoy your hockey team elsewhere, Oily fans. Except for that guy who harassed Skye Blue to the point that ref Aubrey Edwards called for security to yeet the guy out – that guy can eat a bag of tacks and fall down the Exorcist staircase.

But let’s talk some actual wrestling instead, shall we? The beginning of the King of the Ring tournament gave us a lot of wrestling on Monday night, and plenty of it was good to great! There have already been some injury substitutions, with Kofi Kingston filling in for Xavier Woods (I think this one is storyline), Asuka being replaced with Dakota Kai (legit), Jey Uso replacing Drew McIntyre (real), and Angelo Dawkins taking Bobby Lashley’s spot on SmackDown tonight (also real). Monday saw Jey Uso defeat Finn Balor, Ilja Dragunov beat Ricochet, and Gunther move on at Sheamus’ expense. We also got Zoey Stark over Ivy Nile, former Women’s champ Iyo Sky beat Natalya, and birdperson Lyra Valkyria won over the aforementioned King Kota. The tournaments are off to a solid start, with Gunther being my pick for the guys – and my pick for match of the night, too. I guess that was a given, considering the history he and Sheamus have, but goddamn do those two know how to GO. 

We also got some feud pushes and storyline developments in the rivalries between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre, Becky Lynch and Liv Morgan, and Sami Zayn, Bronson Reed, and Chad Gable. The Judgment Day continues to slowly crumble, but not in any really pressing way. 

I dunno…like I said, there were a bunch of matches, most of them good, but nothing really resonated with me. The same can be said of AEW: despite some truly good wrestling, I just kept thinking to myself that if I had anything else to do, would I really feel like I missed out if I didn’t get the Double or Nothing show?

Again, don’t get me wrong. Trent Beretta and Orange Cassidy opened the show with a hell of a fight, and while Orange got the slippery win I think we’ll see these two face off at the PPV again, possibly with a stipulation to encourage some violence and shenanigans. And the main event between Adam Copeland and Brody King was some hard hitting, bloody violence the likes of which we haven’t seen in some time. 

It was everything else that didn’t click for me. Serena Deeb just isn’t compelling as a good guy, especially when pitted against Toni Storm’s charismatic character. The crowd didn’t help, as they literally started a “Let’s go Oilers” chant while Deeb was recounting her horrific experiences with unexplained seizures. But at the end of the day, a better build (or a better talker) might have made things go more smoothly. 

The Young Bucks popped on screen for four segments to cement that they are a) douchebags and b) in charge. I know a lot of people love this version of their characters, I just am not one of them. I do think Jack Perry is doing great heel work right now, however.

Those Elite appearances were peppered throughout midcard matches between Mariah May and Harley Cameron, Rocky Romero and Jay White, and Big Bill & Chris Jericho and *checks notes* Mo Jabari and Harlon Abbott. If you need me to tell you who won those matches, I … well, I would gladly do so, because I’m a nice guy. It almost felt like the show, bookended by some real AEW action, existed to get these promos and stories told. For me, though, aside from Christian Cage and Swerve Strickland building their Double or Nothing title match, it was just people wrestling and talking on my TV. I’ll say this – at least my weekend watches are delayed, so I can jump forward past commercials and speed up matches a bit.

I hate to sound negative, though! I’m looking forward to Cage vs Strickland. And the New Elite in an Anarchy in the Arena match against FTR, Eddie Kingston, and Brian Danielson should be a blast, possibly ending with someone getting lit on fire before the bad guys steal the victory. Mercedes Mone’s in-ring debut (FINALLY, because these promos ain’t working for me) is a big deal for the show. But right now, the product just isn’t where I know it can be, you know? I’m not mad, just disappointed. 

Enough with that, though. Let’s get into something a little more fun. NXT!!! We saw Wes Lee miraculously return to action after last week’s shocking appearance, around six months ahead of schedule. He picked up a win and has his sights set on Oba Femi’s North American title – the old “title that I never lost” situation, or Rule Four of my wife’s reasons for wrestling matches. HE WANTS THAT CUMMERBUND.

Shayna Baszler won over Natalya’s newest pal Karmen Petrovic, and some highlights from the NXT Combine – the pre-qualifier for the new Women’s North American Championship ladder match – were shown. The beloved mafia guys who may have literally murdered Drew Gulak continue to be the good guys in their feud against No Quarter Catch Crew, who found themselves in a match with some great-looking rookies in Tyriek Igwe and Tyson DuPont. Said mafiosos told the NQCC that the ref for the match was unavailable, but fortunately Stacks, right hand man to NXT Don Tony D’Angelo, happened to be available, and had a stripey shirt on too! How convenient. Good guys won after some questionable officiating, and later we’d see the mafia guys straight up kidnap two of the three remaining members of No Quarter Blah Blah to make sure Tony gets his match against current Heritage Cup champ Charlie Dempsey.

Tough guy Michin visited from the main roster and murdered beauty queen Ariana Grace, which is kind of a bummer since Grace has been doing some fun work with Gigi Dolin. Trick Williams learned the contents of the mysterious envelope that Lash Legend was carrying was a photo of Noam Dar with his shoulder up when Trick pinned him several weeks ago. Dar claimed that Trick was therefore a fake champ, since Trick’s winning streak started with that match, so Trick granted Dar a championship match. Should be fun – Noam’s group, Meta4, are a very silly lot, but that doesn’t mean Noam can’t put on a solid match when the story calls for one. 

Fallon Henley won her first match as a bad guy, Roxanne Perez retained her championship in the main event against a visiting Chelsea Green, and Lexis King defeated Duke Hudson in one of those impromptu matches that we always seem to make time for on wrestling shows. All in all, it was a fun, dumb show with its fun, dumb characters doing fun, dumb stuff.

The Let’s Watch Some Wrestling King of the Kings of the Ring Invitational Tournament!

Alongside our usual Friday banter, I decided I wanted to do a King of the Kings of the Ring tournament! Since it’s KOTR (and QOTR) season in real life, I wanted to put together a tournament to decide, once and for all – or until next year when we have another name to add to the pool – who is King of the Kings of the Ring. There are three brackets, with the first chunk of entrants requiring a bit of fudging to make even sets of eight. Fortunately, the ‘80s featured a ton of just such fudging. 

There were actually double Kings of the Ring after Harley Race took the tournament and the crown in 1986. See, even though the tournament was an annual event from 1985 to 1989, once Race won the title of King of the Ring he really took it to heart. Much like more recent kings Booker T or Baron Corbin, Race fully adopted the King name and mantra, wearing a crown and cape. 

Even though Randy Savage won 1987’s King of the Ring tourney, Race kept the gimmick until he went out with an injury in 1988. After that happened, Race’s manager, the beloved Bobby “the Brain” Heenan decided that he could just name the next King of the fed, and chose Haku.

 “King Haku” ended up losing the crown to “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan in May of ‘89, but then “Hacksaw” lost it to “Macho Man” Randy Savage in late August of that year. The Macho Man celebrated according to tradition, giving birth to the “Macho King” gimmick in the process. 

Hence, we fill out our bracket using King Haku, King Hacksaw, and – since he’s the only two-time winner ever – a double Bret Hart. Fortunately, the game gave us two Brets by default, and I’ve found some great CAWs (or are they CASs now?) for the guys who aren’t in the game. And so, I came up with three divisions and randomized the entries rather than trying to seed the entrants the way any true nerd would – I rolled an eight-sided die and kept rolling until I got the numbers to sync up.

BRACKETS!

Credit where credit is due: WWE 2K24 creator HonchosLegends did Muraco, Haku, Hacksaw, and Santana. DrGorillaNuts (LOL) created Owen, SuperBob made King Mabel, AttitudeCreationz built Mr. Ass, ViceroyFlair put Edge together, and WittyWitterson rounds out the Create-A-Superstar group with his young Brock Lesnar. I also grabbed a King of the Ring belt, made by HeatWave, to award the winner when we get to the Triple Threat Finale.

As you can see, I divided things up from 1985-1991, 1993-2000, and 2001-2021. It worked out that our double-Brets at least are separated by eras. We’ll decide the winner in a triple threat match, but the tournaments will all be simulated by the computer, and we’re turning on the damage retention option to reflect the one-night tournament aspect of King of the Ring that was a thing until its more recent resurrections.

I have a little experience with both brackets and sims, so this is a fun exercise for me. When I was writing for Tilt Magazine, I wrote a piece ranking the Elimination Chamber matches up to 2022 – the 2023 event was about to take place, and that means interest was up in the old Search Engine Optimization stuff. Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s a link to that article.

As for brackets, well…I’ve mentioned before (I think) that I ran a 2k22 Universe featuring the cast and crew of the animal hospital that my wife works with. I even uploaded some of our events on YouTube, and while my camera isn’t the best, my wife and I had a lot of fun making those little videos. She even went fully in character, joining me on commentary for a few of the shows as if she’d just gotten out of the ring from her matches. It was a great time, and even though a lot of those coworkers have moved on to other adventures, I still get the occasional text asking if I’d ever do another.

I totally would, by the way. I just don’t know how to run it outside of the animal hospital environment. But I digress.

How to run these brackets is the next question. Do I try livestreaming the game and watching along with you? Or just sim through and post the results, leaving more time for writing and maybe giving some backstory into the matchups? And what about the finale? Do we go nuts and make it a Ladder Match, or just keep it a traditional triple threat? I’d love any feedback you might have. Let me know, dear reader.

Closing Up Shop

…in which I say goodbye for now

And that’s it! No pay-per-views or premium live events this weekend, so it’s SmackDown on Saturday morning, and then I’ll be playing catch-up with AEW on Sunday morning due to some prior commitments.

I’ll see you next week for the usual Casual Friday and Untitled 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!