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Post by robeiae on Sept 23, 2021 8:20:47 GMT -5
Night one was last night. Opened with Omega v. Danielson. Lights out. Perfect storytelling from both. One of the best matches--that was uber-hyped--I've seen in quite some time.
The rest of the card was top drawer, too. Once again, Sting has no right to look as good as he does. It's ridiculous. And Cody Rhodes was, I think, really strong in his loss to Black. Then there's Ruby Soho and Britt Baker. Good stuff from both.
The bar is really high now, don't know what will happen Friday but am excited to see.
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Post by Optimus on Sept 23, 2021 13:20:57 GMT -5
Agreed. It was nearly PPV-level on cable. The Omega/Danielson match was certainly PPV-level.
I didn't think Soho looked all that great during the main event. That one was okay but there were some obvious sloppy spots. Was also interesting that the NY crowd didn't seem to give much of a crap about her, which was a big difference from the pop she got at All Out in Chicago. She might not be quite as over as some in AEW think.
Sting looks better in the ring than any 62-year-old has any right to. Hell, he looks like someone 10 to 15 years younger.
Arn Anderson accidentally falling off the apron while trying to get to his spot where he was supposed to be intentionally knocked off, and then having to quickly climb back up to then be knocked off again (as was planned), and that second fall looked so lame...was probably one of the funniest sequences of errors I've seen in a while.
Cody getting booed against Black was funny to me for some reason. It's understandable though. Black is undoubtedly the "cooler" character and Cody has been off TV for a while trying to be "Hollywood TV guy" for most of this year, so he's probably starting to get that kind of out of touch vibe to him. That ugly, stupid-looking neck tattoo also just screams "douchebag who wears Affliction t-shirts unironically."
His entrances have always seemed to me to be pretty un-self-aware (if that's even a word) because they're super dramatic, showy, and mysterious...like it's about to be some amazing, iconic, Undertaker-like god of destruction...and then it's just Cody Rhodes who comes out. His entrances don't fit his character or his level of crowd appeal at all, and I think that was particularly clear last night.
He's good in the ring but his character (which basically just seems to be his regular personality) is Blandy McBlanderson. Black's "mist in the face" thing to win it last night channeled a little from The Great Kabuki, which was a nice "old-school wrestling" touch, I thought.
As sexy and delicious as I think Brandi is, I also think she can be really annoying on camera. I bet she honestly thought that getting in the ring and mocking the way Black was sitting, and then flipping him off and dropping an F-bomb to his face, was gonna get her a huge "face pop." The fact that she got major boos and came off looking more like Vicki Guerro than Miss Elizabeth had me laughing.
I also think this is a good excuse for Rhodes to finally turn heel. The fact that he just happened to mention in a radio interview this week that he'd "never go heel" makes me think they might've anticipated this crowd reaction and were setting him up to eventually turn, possibly sooner rather than later? I might be reading way too much into it, but I think he could (and should) absolutely use the crowd reaction last night as a very believable excuse to turn heel. "I've given everything for this sport and the fans, and they turned on me! I don't need you!" etc. etc. kind of a thing. I'm not sure he'd be a great heel but I generally find AEW's heels to be very entertaining and currently the best in the biz (Omega, MJF, and Baker are all fantastic).
Anyway, a few rough edges but an overall stellar show.
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