Official WWE/ECW/WCW/TNA talk, or whatever v2 - Page 58 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

CMPunk · 10-02-2019, 11:36 PM

NXT is pretty hit and miss right now. With it just showing on USA and not in Canada(that I know of) you have to find it on the network.

AEW is on TSN2 at 6pm on Wednesdays for the next little bit. It might bounce between TSN channels from what I thought I saw

CaptainCrunch · 10-03-2019, 12:12 AM

AEW was on TWN at 6. I think that NXT is on Friday's on Sportsnet1 but I'm not sure because I have it on the network

But I was really happy to see

Spoiler!

Ozy_Flame · 10-03-2019, 07:49 AM

AEW was solid last night, with a really hot crowd. That Rioh/Nyla Rose match was the best of the night. Possibly a new faction as well (end of the show).

I am a little disappointed by Cody saying their product was not like WWEs. Nothing production-wise suggested that was true, although the wrestling was a bit better.

I also hate Justin Roberts as the announcer. I hated him in WWE and I hate him now. It's like Derek Wils in the wrestling world.

CMPunk · 10-03-2019, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

AEW was on TWN at 6. I think that NXT is on Friday's on Sportsnet1 but I'm not sure because I have it on the network

But I was really happy to see

Spoiler!

Whenever I searched for NXT, I only ever saw it on the Network, so I'm not sure.

How bad did it suck last night to see NXT taped and then find out it was a watch along...uggg

Inferno · 10-03-2019, 09:50 AM

The NXT that's on Sportsnet is supposed to be a condensed version which kind of sucks. I'd rather just watch the 90 minute commercial free version on Thursdays on the Network.

rubecube · 10-03-2019, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I am a little disappointed by Cody saying their product was not like WWEs. Nothing production-wise suggested that was true, although the wrestling was a bit better.

Really? I thought there were substantial differences between the two products. Outside of the Jay and Silent Bob, there was really no unnecessary fat on this show. There was no bull####, 20-minute promo to start the show and set up the matches for the rest of the night, no stupid backstage hijinks, no Michael Cole screaming "IT'S BOSS TIME" or every other overused catchphrase in an attempt to sell t-shirts. While the picture-in-picture commercial breaks need some fine-tuning, they were much better than WWE cutting to commercial in the middle of the match.

Honestly, this felt more like an old episode of Nitro (the good ones) than it did a WWE telecast.

Ozy_Flame · 10-03-2019, 10:40 AM

You do make some valid points. It was wrestling focused and a more efficient use of time. I think part of the issues is still sorting out who is the main card, mid card and under card - and developing the stories around them - but that will come with time. I guess the main thing is no interview in the ring right off the top that sets up "impromptu" matches which is a big plus. One thing I did like was the hype promotion for matches on the card - and the same thing happening next week. You know what you're going to get and don't get disappointed with constant "surprise" Baron Corbin matches.

I do think an authority figure is good to some extent, but it has to be done differently too. Would like to see a panel or Commission that assemble matches, and the panel has personality and influence. Something like a couple of old school retired guys, a manager personality, and two rotating active wrestlers (male and female). I think that might an interesting route to go down. Then wrestlers plead their case to the panel, or they get involved with some storylines (e.g. bias conspiracies, youth promotion vs. vet arguments, etc.). One of the issues I take is that you sort of know Cody/Bucks/Khan are arranging the matches but if things don't make sense (and there will be that) it may unfairly fall to that ambiguity.

rubecube · 10-03-2019, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You do make some valid points. It was wrestling focused and a more efficient use of time. I think part of the issues is still sorting out who is the main card, mid card and under card - and developing the stories around them - but that will come with time. I guess the main thing is no interview in the ring right off the top that sets up "impromptu" matches which is a big plus. One thing I did like was the hype promotion for matches on the card - and the same thing happening next week. You know what you're going to get and don't get disappointed with constant "surprise" Baron Corbin matches.

I do think an authority figure is good to some extent, but it has to be done differently too. Would like to see a panel or Commission that assemble matches, and the panel has personality and influence. Something like a couple of old school retired guys, a manager personality, and two rotating active wrestlers (male and female). I think that might an interesting route to go down. Then wrestlers plead their case to the panel, or they get involved with some storylines (e.g. bias conspiracies, youth promotion vs. vet arguments, etc.). One of the issues I take is that you sort of know Cody/Bucks/Khan are arranging the matches but if things don't make sense (and there will be that) it may unfairly fall to that ambiguity.

I think they're sort of handling that with the whole "wins and losses matter" aspect. You heard the announcers refer to it when Hangman lost to PAC last night. They're also doing the tournament for the vacant tag team titles. Will be interesting to see if they keep a running tally of wins and losses each week and set up matches accordingly.

Finger Cookin · 10-03-2019, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubecube

Honestly, this felt more like an old episode of Nitro (the good ones) than it did a WWE telecast.

It felt like a time warp to 1998.

Wrestling on TNT? Check
Tony Schiavone and JR on commentary? Check
Jay and Silent Bob in a ringside promo? Check
Weird cluster#### at the end revealing you've signed someone who used to be with the other guys? Check.

rubecube · 10-03-2019, 02:50 PM

It's only week 1, but can't imagine WWE are thrilled with this considering all the stops they pulled out for NXT last night.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1179853758018326534

CaptainCrunch · 10-03-2019, 02:52 PM

Probably not, but NXT has been around forever and a lot of people will probably wait to watch it on the network with no commercial interruptions or editing.

AEW has had a good debut, its also the new and exciting thing with a ton of hype.

I want a "Wednesday Night War" Wrestling is best when there is competition.

rubecube · 10-03-2019, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Probably not, but NXT has been around forever and a lot of people will probably wait to watch it on the network with no commercial interruptions or editing.

AEW has had a good debut, its also the new and exciting thing with a ton of hype.

I want a "Wednesday Night War" Wrestling is best when there is competition.

The big thing is that AEW crushed NXT in the ultra-coveted 18-49 demographic (878,000 to 414,000). That's huge and I don't think anyone would have predicted it in January when they first announced the company.

SuperMatt18 · 10-03-2019, 04:07 PM

I'm not that surprised that they won - I think there were a lot of people that really wanted to see something different. NXT is awesome but most people are used to watching that delayed on the Network anyways, so not something you need to watch live.

Also it's not like AEW is completely unknown. The Bullet Club and Young Bucks have had a huge following, and I feel like I see more Bullet Club merchandise and WWE merchandise around most of the time.

The one think i think that AEW does need to do is move away from Jericho sooner rather than later. I thought it was a good call to bring him in initially but now my feeling has changed. I love Jericho and he's amazing at reinventing himself but at this point he really does look old and think he might be actually taking away from the "new" and "different" feel that AEW is going for.

Kind of like TNA when they started bringing in ex WWE guys who took away from the cool stuff like the X-Division that made them different.

Ozy_Flame · 10-03-2019, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

The one think i think that AEW does need to do is move away from Jericho sooner rather than later. I thought it was a good call to bring him in initially but now my feeling has changed. I love Jericho and he's amazing at reinventing himself but at this point he really does look old and think he might be actually taking away from the "new" and "different" feel that AEW is going for.

I agree. Jericho as an initial temporary champion is fine, but Jericho as an active wrestling anchor in the main card I don't approve of. The main event should be all on Moxley/Omega/Cody and for pushing new stars. And to be fair, I think Jericho knows this; he's not stupid to think that people want to see a 50-year old guy in the ring. His Judas Effect finisher is clearly being used to compliment his age and back issues (even though he does do DDP Yoga).

Now, Jericho as a personality? All day every day. his "Little Bit of the Bubbly" is a fantastic meme for the flavor of the month and he's very good at creating buzz. He could basically be AEW's Paul Heyman.

rubecube · 10-03-2019, 04:22 PM

I wouldn't surprised if this is Jericho's swan-song. He has a match with Tanahashi scheduled for WK in January and I would imagine they'll have the belt off of him by then, unless the plan is for him to go over Tanahashi (and no freaking way in hell NJPW lets that happen).

CaptainCrunch · 10-03-2019, 04:45 PM

https://twitter.com/user/status/1179889251892072448

A few years ago I would have expected that Kurt was his biggest customer.

CaptainCrunch · 10-04-2019, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

AEW was solid last night, with a really hot crowd. That Rioh/Nyla Rose match was the best of the night. Possibly a new faction as well (end of the show).

I am a little disappointed by Cody saying their product was not like WWEs. Nothing production-wise suggested that was true, although the wrestling was a bit better.

I also hate Justin Roberts as the announcer. I hated him in WWE and I hate him now. It's like Derek Wils in the wrestling world.

I watched the show finally last night, and I was ok with it from a first show on TV perspective.

Cody vs. Sammy Guevara

I thought that this was a pretty nifty match with a pretty good ending. I always like the story line of the young guy against the established veteran. It's usually pretty cool to me and my second favorite story line. I was confused by Cody going to the heel showcase (pushups posing) it seemed out of place in the match. And Tony Schivone never dissaspoints in terms of saying something stupid. He did it to the point that Heenan hated working with him in WCW.

OF course we get the whole emotional moment with Tony and Cody Hugging it out and the I respect you handshake, which sets up mean old Mr Jericho coming out for the dastardly assault.

MJF vs. Brandon Cutler

This to me was a pretty forgettable match.

Hangman Page vs. PAC

I tend to forget how good of a worker PAC (Neville is) and how smooth he can be in the ring. We got the low blow thing which lead to the win for PAC. This was a good match from a technical standpoint, but felt a little flat emotionally to me.

AEW Women’s World Championship
Riho vs. Nyla Rose

I wasn't as big of a fan of this match as I thought I would be. First of all Britt added nothing to commentary. Rihi just seems clumsy in the ring and her offense feels soft and looks a little fake. I love the story line of big versus small when its done right, but I don't think it was well executed. That pile of chairs spot was stupid booking to me, it took forever to set up only to be over in two seconds. Whether the booker thought it would look cool it just wasn't organic to me. That northern lights suplex by Riho was pretty insane. I don't know, when I look at the Japanese contingent in WWE and especially ones like Io, Riho just doesn't seem polished and just looked clumsy

Again the problem on a new show is you tend to over book, I thought the prolonged beatdown after the match wasn't really necessary. This is your first woman's champion, you can celebrate it and beat her down on the next show. Also Omega coming out for the save was to me really un needed.

MAIN EVENT
The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) vs. Chris Jericho & LAX (Santana & Ortiz)

I'm going to state right now that this whole main event was a completely over booked mess. Splitting off Omega by having Moxley interfere was a cool moment at the start, but now as they fight down to the VIP area ala Stampede Wrestling we loose track of the actual main event and it just seemed to be pointless in the end and took out one of your main event players.

The in ring match was decent with the three on two continuing. Jericho is still awesome as a worker for his age but its clear he's slowing down.

Ok, so here's my problem, you open up your first show, you book in what should be a dynamite main event, then you pull out the Dusty finish and start having interference from everywhere. Then to add on you get Cody and Dustin coming in for the save (I'm still of the standpoint that honestly, if you're running the company, don't be Bruce Hart and make it all about you). Then we have the former Jack Swagger coming out as the surprise villain destroyer who wrecks the Rhodes Brothers and everyone else while Jericho smirks. It was pretty much the NWO formula.

I actually liked the show, it was a nice change without more then one real back stage segment and it kept the action in the ring. I did think that this show was way over booked, like they were trying to throw every wrestling cliche (The beat down after the woman's match) (the whole freaking main event).

In a sense I agree that this felt like a Nitro Show. Shivone saying stupid stuff at times. A really good under card, overbooking in championship matches and a dusty style booking in the Main Event.

SuperMatt18 · 10-04-2019, 11:43 AM

Oh yeah the whole Jack Swagger thing was too early to me.

You want to make your show different and about guys people have never seen before, and show that it's not just "WWE lite".

And the show ended with 4 former WWE guys Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, Jack Swagger, and Dean Ambrose all interfering in the main event, and then your standing tall at the end of it all was still a WWE mainstay in Jericho.

They need to really make sure they don't fall into the NWO / TNA trap of bringing in these old WWE guys they were buddies with and hotshotting them in prominent roles.

Ozy_Flame · 10-04-2019, 11:46 AM

Well Rhodes is a producer, and that was a Dusty finish (as Cap said).

Swagger was totally not needed on this debut. What should have happened is that new Jericho/Guevara/LAX stable feuds with the Elite for a week or two (and appear to lose the upper hand), then Swagger is brought in as a ringer to balance the scale.

CaptainCrunch · 10-04-2019, 11:52 AM

I would have run the whole show straight, Show you're different then the WWE, put on 5 really good matches without interference or prolonged beat downs.

Suddenly due to booking, you ended up with a very NWO style WWE guys versus AEW royalty. Basically the WWE guys came in and beat the crap out of the Bucks and Cody and Kenny who are executives behind the scenes. I don't want a replay of the McMahons story styles. One thing that I've always said is that active wrestlers should never be given the book, it always turns out poorly.