See that Shaq picture on top? That was my face after watching last Monday’s RAW.
Anyway, we go from that to a GOOD show… though honestly, I’ve got little to say about this show because I was just enjoying the ride. So we’ll do the five point thing we usually do with the other show when it was worth watching and stick with that.
Continue reading “AEW Dynamite (Jan. 20th, 2021): Jon Moxley Hits Puberty”
Every year, WWE likes to do a tribute video to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as part of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities. It’s usually a touching tribute and this year’s video is no exception. I bring up this point because following this wonderfully-crafted tribute to one of the most influential figures in human history, we would get one of the worst editions of Monday Night RAW ever conceived.
Continue reading “RAW (January 18th, 2021) – Fuck You And Fuck Your Show”
The first two editions of AEW Dynamite in 2021 comprise the promotion’s New Year’s Smash event, both shows featuring big main events. We’ll touch on both shows here, but I thought they were fairly enjoyable fare. Not quite top-tier stuff, but a solid two-hour block on both nights with some high points and one dreadfully low one each.
Let’s get into it.
Continue reading “AEW Dynamite (Jan 6th & Jan 13th, 2021): New Year’s Smash”
And so, my friends, we’ve come to the end. The last of the two-hour RAWs, as this would be the year where RAW would permanently bloat itself to THREE HOURS OF TEDIUM that continues to this very day. As I’ve stated in the past, this is as far as I was willing to go and given the sad state of the past couple entries, it’s probably for the best.
For what it’s worth, I actually enjoyed watching these RAW after Mania shows. It’s neat to be able to go back and see what they were kicking off and reflecting on how badly they bungled things… case in point, today’s show.
Continue reading “RAW After Mania (April 2nd, 2012) – Well… Here Comes The Pain”
So, for those who missed the Winter Is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite earlier this month, Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley with help from Impact Wrestling executive Don Callis to win the AEW World title. He and Callis then ran out of the arena and mentioned that they were going to announce their intentions on Impact. And this is the episode where AEW World Champion Kenny Omega makes his TNA Impact Wrestling debut.
Impact Wrestling, to their credit for lack of a better word, posted the entire episode up on Youtube for free for all to see… but they also uploaded the individual clips that people would want to see on their Youtube channel as well, so everyone can watch that one Kenny segment immediately instead of sitting through an episode of an empty arena edition of Impact. I even said as much in my Dynamite musings for the Dec. 9th edition:
“So… the Impact show is something that I just breezed through for the most part. An empty studio show with a bunch of stuff happening and no effort to get potential new viewers familiar with any of the characters since this was their most watched show in ages. There’s a pretty good Sami Calihan promo hyping his rivalry with Eddie Edwards over that errant baseball bat hit across the face from yesteryear – I’m amazed I actually remember that angle – and there’s a neat bit where the reigning Impact World champion is refused entry to the parking lot… yes, the reigning world champion of your company was shut out by a portly security officer, which is a hell of a first impression for new viewers… but other than that, the only notable bits were the two AEW segments. The first being a paid ad with the two Tonys and the second being the awesome interview between Josh Matthews and the Don Callis/Kenny Omega team… and since those segments are online, it renders the whole episode pointless if you’re just tuning in for the AEW stuff.”
So suffice it to say that it was not a glowing endorsement of the Impact Wrestling product and truth be told, revisiting Impact for the umpteenth time after failed attempts to suck me in didn’t exactly sit well with me. Not to mention that the prospect of another empty arena show, which I’ve had more than my fair fill.
Regardless, I did give the show another watch and what strikes is the commentary team’s gushing over this big thing involving Kenny Omega and Don Callis, which is funny in retrospect because that one piece has almost nothing to do with anything on the actual program. Honestly, in hindsight, that was a segment that could’ve aired on Dynamite, just with someone else instead of Josh Matthews. In fact, the Dynamite appearance the next night basically blew through those points again, but to an audience that was actually watching. So while having the reigning world champion of the second biggest wrestling promotion on your television show might seem like a big deal, it means very little until he’s actively interacting with your talent and if these pre-tapes are the extent of Kenny’s involvement, then I don’t see what Impact or AEW has to gain from this arrangement.
It also doesn’t help that on this very important edition of Impact Wrestling that may have gotten a boost in viewership thanks to the AE-Rub, the wrestling show that they did put out wasn’t the most compelling show there. There was a really good match between Josh Alexander and Chris Sabin that opened the show, but then they followed that with a Curt Hawkins match that – bless him, I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but this match with TJP almost cured my insomnia. The only other match that stood out as any good was the main event; the tag match between Chris Bey and Moose beats Willie Mack and Rich Swann. I thought that was good stuff and all four guys were really good. Everything else in between wasn’t anywhere close to that level of quality or notability and it’s a damned shame.
In any event, not the strongest first impression for anyone coming to see Kenny in another promotion. Maybe things will pick up as this goes on, but right now, I’m not entirely sold on Impact and don’t see myself following this show on a weekly basis. We’ll try this again in a few weeks. Later.
So, I guess we should talk about this Dynamite show… and probably Impact too, but I’ve got less to say about that one, hence no musings. But we’ll save that for after the break.
Just as an aside, I’m not covering the whole show; just some of the more notable bits that I can recall from memory. For what it’s worth, this was a fairly busy show with a lot of stuff going on. Hopefully, things slow down for the next episode.
So… the Impact show is something that I just breezed through for the most part. An empty studio show with a bunch of stuff happening and no effort to get potential new viewers familiar with any of the characters since this was their most watched show in ages. There’s a pretty good Sami Calihan promo hyping his rivalry with Eddie Edwards over that errant baseball bat hit across the face from yesteryear – I’m amazed I actually remember that angle – and there’s a neat bit where the reigning Impact World champion is refused entry to the parking lot… yes, the reigning world champion of your company was shut out by a portly security officer, which is a hell of a first impression for new viewers… but other than that, the only notable bits were the two AEW segments. The first being a paid ad with the two Tonys and the second being the awesome interview between Josh Matthews and the Don Callis/Kenny Omega team… and since those segments are online, it renders the whole episode pointless if you’re just tuning in for the AEW stuff.
Continue reading “AEW Dynamite (Dec. 9th, 2020): Slow Down A Bit, Kid”
So Wrestlemania 27 was a thing… touted as one of the worst Wrestlemanias of all time, and considering the scant number of shows with stakes to the claim, that’s saying quite a bit.
Continue reading “RAW After Mania (April 4th, 2011) – Once In A Li-BWAH-HAH-HAH GOOD ONE PAL!”
(Yeah, so I was going to put this out last week, but forgot about it, so better late than never.)
Winter came and went… some quick thoughts on the monumental edition of AEW Dynamite where a bunch of stuff happened…
THIS SHOW FUCKING RULED. THE END.
Oh, you want more? Fine… but don’t expect much more. When a show leaves me with little to say other than “this rule”, then that’s a sign of a quality, entertainment program.
Continue reading “AEW Dynamite (Dec. 2nd, 2020): I’m With Vinny On This One”
So Wrestlemania 26 saw Undertaker beat Shawn Michaels in what ended up being HBK’s retirement match, as per the stipulation. And to give credit where credit is due, Shawn stuck to his guns and opted not to make a comeback between then and now, rightfully believing that he went out on a high note and wouldn’t want to sully that moment in much the same way Ric Flair did when he had his “retirement” match in 2008, only to sully that by wrestling on TNA.
And then in 2018, Shawn Michaels came out of retirement for a Saudi payday to team up with Triple H in a tag match against Undertaker and Kane in a match that was a complete and utter disaster… because as it turns out, not everyone ages gracefully and can go as well as they did in their younger years… and apparently, Shawn, despite being out of action for years, was still the best worker on the card.
So the show ends with Shawn giving the big ol’ retirement speech and that’s the focus of the show, but there was some fun stuff here. Christian and Ted DiBiase Jr had a match featuring a bunch of legends as lumberjacks. John Cena & Randy Orton defeated Batista and Jack Swagger in an alright match, and even the multi-person Divas match wasn’t so bad… because it didn’t last long and my brain was spared the misery of bad Divas booking.
A fine show, all things considered. Not much to say there.
So, there were a bunch of multi-person matches that seemed liked they were tossed together to give people something to do, capped off with a Randy Orton/Vince McMahon match that ended in a No Contest and gave us Batista giving Orton a powerbomb, causing Vince to book a match between the two at the following month’s Backlash show. Much like a Survivor Series PPV of recent years focused on the battle between red shirts and blue shirts, a lot of the show was largely forgettable fare and honestly, didn’t do much for me.
Sorry, folks. Maybe next year.
dtm666 