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*Official* Pro-Wrestling Thread II
- Thread starter GIMH
- Start date
Bahseph
International Debutant
Okay so what's the consensus on the state of AEW now? I used to be the biggest Mox fan but the more I watch of him the less I like. I like his persona and his promos but when he is in the ring I just don't feel it. I actually felt the same when he was Ambrose.
I just feel like after 5 years there should be someone else homegrown in that top spot not named MJF.
I just feel like after 5 years there should be someone else homegrown in that top spot not named MJF.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
I've never been fully sold on Ambrose/Mox myself tbh.
I certainly don't dislike him (as a wrestler anyway, I know next to nothing about the guy as a person), and there is no denying that he has absolutely carried that company over the years (particularly during the various absences of Omega and Punk). But there's just something about him that makes me feel he's not really top tier.
In fact, with the exception of probably Danielson (who is now done full-time), and maybe Omega (and who knows when/if we'll ever see him again, and if he'll ever be anything close to the level he was at a few years ago, which in turn was several levels below what he was in his peak NJPW days), this is how I feel about the majority of the AEW roster tbh.
Tbf to them they've done a good job of building up guys like Swerve, Hangman, and Ospreay, and (in the context of the AEW universe) and trying to make them feel like a big deal. But on the whole I feel underwhelmed with the whole thing more often than not.
Two factors for all this immediately spring to mind for me. The first was the loss of Cody. Even before he went on to have the success he has had since returning to WWE was a big loss, symbolically if nothing else. Everything felt different to me from that point onwards. The second is serious roster-bloat. They have so many talented people, and so good talents just get lost in the shuffle. So many just get featured randomly for a short while before going away for ages and disappearing. And some of the big names they have and use aren't really used for anything meaningful (Okada anyone?).
I certainly don't dislike him (as a wrestler anyway, I know next to nothing about the guy as a person), and there is no denying that he has absolutely carried that company over the years (particularly during the various absences of Omega and Punk). But there's just something about him that makes me feel he's not really top tier.
In fact, with the exception of probably Danielson (who is now done full-time), and maybe Omega (and who knows when/if we'll ever see him again, and if he'll ever be anything close to the level he was at a few years ago, which in turn was several levels below what he was in his peak NJPW days), this is how I feel about the majority of the AEW roster tbh.
Tbf to them they've done a good job of building up guys like Swerve, Hangman, and Ospreay, and (in the context of the AEW universe) and trying to make them feel like a big deal. But on the whole I feel underwhelmed with the whole thing more often than not.
Two factors for all this immediately spring to mind for me. The first was the loss of Cody. Even before he went on to have the success he has had since returning to WWE was a big loss, symbolically if nothing else. Everything felt different to me from that point onwards. The second is serious roster-bloat. They have so many talented people, and so good talents just get lost in the shuffle. So many just get featured randomly for a short while before going away for ages and disappearing. And some of the big names they have and use aren't really used for anything meaningful (Okada anyone?).
Red_Ink_Squid
Global Moderator
I think a lot depends on how they handle this Mox angle and title reign. A couple of months of BCC terrorising the show and Mox looking invincible could be fun providing 1) it doesn't run too long and 2) they put over a new star (or ideally stars) decisively at the end I think it could be good. Darby the obvious choice to eventually topple Mox. Maybe OC and Garcia can help him take down the BCC. But as ever it depends how they stick the landing. Lots of big wrestling angles start hot but fizzle out before the story is finished, so we'll see if they can make this one work.
I only cherry pick stuff to watch that sounds interesting to me (and a lot of what I would seek out was Danielson matches...) so can't really comment on the week-to-week quality side.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Darby's ceiling is well below world champion level imo. Same for OC and Garcia. They are the archetypal AEW talent (i.e., good at what they do, but have a definite mid-card feel about them - and as mentioned above, it feels to me like they have about 100 guys who could be described like this).
Ricky Starks would have been a better option to get behind for me personally, but seems that he, like many others, has just ended up in booking oblivion/disappeared off the face of the earth.
RE: The Mox title reign - seems like the "higher power" (or whatever they are calling it) that he is answering to will be Shane O'Mac, which imo could be absolutely disastrous (albeit amusingly disastrous).
Ricky Starks would have been a better option to get behind for me personally, but seems that he, like many others, has just ended up in booking oblivion/disappeared off the face of the earth.
RE: The Mox title reign - seems like the "higher power" (or whatever they are calling it) that he is answering to will be Shane O'Mac, which imo could be absolutely disastrous (albeit amusingly disastrous).
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
In b4 Vince buys AEW
Athlai
Not Terrible
Darby is a guy I'd see as a Rey Mysterio style champ, wins the belt and immediately loses the belt.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Yeah. He reminds me of Jeff Hardy from the late 90s/early 2000s tbh. With more star-power and a more developed character though tbf to him.
Aritro
International Regular
Been reading he had his head turned by WWE ages ago and that they may have decided there was no point giving him airtime over someone else in that case
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Yeah I've heard that too tbf.
Aritro
International Regular
I still follow it but not as closely as before.
It would help if they had more faces who the crowd explode for. Too many heels, not enough genuinely exciting faces who get the blood pumping. I'd also echo the usual commentary about too many wrestlers, not enough continuity. It's just piss poor booking.
I also absolutely can't stand the trios and other multiman matches. Every bit of action in them is completely meaningless because the bumps mean nothing story-wise. The proliferation of trios matches is probably the single biggest sticking point for me.
Other complaints: there's so many spectacular spots and sick bumps in every match such that none of them feel special any more. Also their commitment to workrate means that every match is fairly long, so you know going there's no chance there'll be a three count until you're a fair way in. They need to shorten a match or two on the weekly shows.
There's also way too many near falls. And I know the frenetic indie style matches is part of their brand but it would be nice if there was a bit more focus on story.
I do like that they've started making space for more old style gimmicks with Toni Storm's delusional Hollywood diva being the best example. Possibly my favourite character since I started watching wrestling again.
I'm also finding that their womens division is suddenly the best thing about the company, with Jamie Hayter, Toni Storm and Willow Nightingale probably the most over characters there with few exceptions. Britt Baker also had the crowd on her side before she got suspended and there's a bunch of others who are worth watching. But in the best AEW tradition of making stupid booking decisions, they seem to gone back to having **** all womens matches on a card just when they'd got people caring.
I still watch it primarily because the pay per views are amazing and they have top class wrestling, despite my many complaints.
EDIT: I also absolutely agree with the bolded bit. Early on, the maxim seemed to be that AEW "make stars, they don't sign stars". Obviously they now have a long-established pattern of signing everyone in sight, but I also think they've done a poor job of creating the sort of stars who have the star power to carry the company (other than MJF). Wardlow was the one who looked most likely to attain that sort of star power but then every bit of that momentum was somehow squandered.
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Heboric
International Regular
Still watching Dynamite and some PPV.
I dabble in various interests and I thought I was dealing with some toxic environments but boy wrestling takes the cake.
A non-WWE promotion does something and its crap. WWE does exactly the same thing and all the zoomer kids go ga ga saying its the best thing ever
I dabble in various interests and I thought I was dealing with some toxic environments but boy wrestling takes the cake.
A non-WWE promotion does something and its crap. WWE does exactly the same thing and all the zoomer kids go ga ga saying its the best thing ever
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Agree with all of this.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
Do you have any examples of this? Curious about what you're referring to.Still watching Dynamite and some PPV.
I dabble in various interests and I thought I was dealing with some toxic environments but boy wrestling takes the cake.
A non-WWE promotion does something and its crap. WWE does exactly the same thing and all the zoomer kids go ga ga saying its the best thing ever
Athlai
Not Terrible
Yeah the trios stuff has just made their tag division feel less important. It was genuinely stellar for a long time and while there were a lot of teams that deserved the spotlight, the sheer competition for that top tag rivalry made it more important.
Who gives a **** about the trios? Who really cares about the tag belts right now?
I do think Hangman and Swerve deserve to be called homegrown top tier talents. They simply weren't anywhere near this level prior to AEW.
Who gives a **** about the trios? Who really cares about the tag belts right now?
I do think Hangman and Swerve deserve to be called homegrown top tier talents. They simply weren't anywhere near this level prior to AEW.
Athlai
Not Terrible
Twitter/reddit reactions to anything AEW ever does, even if widely positively received by sensible folk.
It's pretty easy to ignore though