AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 5/5 - 5/11

AEW Collision 5/8/25

Ricochet vs. Angelico

MD: When I think of the New Heel Movement in AEW, some surprises have been bigger than others. I don't think Okada leaning into getting heat as a TV worker was a surprise. I had seen inklings with Kyle Fletcher in commercial breaks for well over a year; no one could have anticipated just how far he'd go with it all, but potential had been there. Someone like Blake Christian still does just a little too much instead of letting things sink in, even if he's doing shtick instead of spots. Up and comers like Lee Johnson and Red Velvet are known to be hard workers and it made sense that they'd take to the rising wave. 

But Ricochet. Ricochet has taken me completely by surprise. I know there were some signs of stooging and heatseeking back in his indie days, but even then it had that aftertaste of PWG irony. Yeah, that's a thing. It's been absolutely telling watching him with the Bucks the last few weeks, because they come at it from different angles. For the Bucks, they always have to be winking, always have to be in on the joke, always have to have an arm around your shoulder so that you know they're laughing with you and you're laughing with them. In some ways, it's lovely, because they bring you into the tent with them. In others ways, though, it covers a lack of fearlessness. They can never be truly vulnerable. They're always playing the role. You'll always see the strings. They never REALLY let anything get to them, not really. They'll commit fully for any spot or any bump, but they won't commit emotionally.

And I get it. Given their size and their style and their preferences, they couldn't show that sort of weakness, or at least felt like they couldn't. Here's a bit of actual irony. They were, of course, essential to the creation of AEW. It's because AEW exists, it being a place where people can work their style and not be ridiculed or depushed or punished but instead glorified, I think Ricochet feels safe to be so confident and fearless and genuine as a performer. He has that layer of safety and security. He knows that he's safe from a monster who gets off on ridiculing his employees and that lets him put himself fully as the butt of the joke. In this case, the agency is in his hand. He doesn't have to worry about being dressed in in a bee costume or in polka dots or as a rooster against his will. If he ends up a rooster, it's because it's his creative vision. I get why the Bucks can't fully embrace that because they had to build everything and it's probably so very hard to let go and push away from what established them as stars in the first place. But now that AEW exists, to see wrestlers letting themselves stooge and show ass and be vulnerable is an amazing thing, a light of pro wrestling's uniqueness and specialness bursting out of the clouds once more.

And Ricochet is able to balance it with his big spots and quick action to high effect. Because he has that extra gear and everyone knows he has that extra gear, he can build and build to it by drawing heat and getting stooged. It's giving the fans the best of both worlds. That was certainly true in his match with Angelico, and it carried through all the way to the post match where he was able to push things all the way into the red emotionally in his interactions with Gowen. 

The fans and Angelico went straight to hair taunts to start and Ricochet responded, chip on his shoulder,  by winning the initial wrestling exchange of the match. He boasted about it and then Angelico did what Angelico does, trapping the arm out of a pin attempt after a trip and not letting go. Ricochet tried to roll out and Angelico rolled him back in, leaning on superior reach and ungodly technique. All the while he took liberties, paintbrushing the head while Ricochet could do nothing about it. Immediate comeuppance. When Ricochet finally scrambled to the ropes, the fans didn't cheer the exchange and the fact they got to see it, but they booed Ricochet's craven exit and the fact that it was over. That doesn't sound like much but it's the way pro wrestling is supposed to work, the emotional tugging that is supposed to happen, and something that's been lost in a sea of "This is Awesome."

Angelico went back to the hair in the ropes and Ricochet went for the eyes taking over. He cemented it with athleticism and beat down Angelico during the break while also fighting off the crowd, selling (because that's what it is!) everything the crowd was throwing at him. That's the key. That's what keeps them going that's what keeps this churning. That's what makes the fans want to tune in and buy tickets to see Ricochet. He's reacting to everything. He's letting it get under his skin. It's affecting his face, his actions, his body language, his everything. It means that he looks the fool when he's working from underneath and it drives his viciousness when he's on top. It's human and believable even if it's exaggerated and entertaining. It's perfect. If ever it becomes too distracting and the fans are chanting bald instead of responding to what's happening in the match, that's when Ricochet ramps up the viciousness a little and makes it clear that it's the fans' fault for what's happening to the babyface. That's tried and true heeling and it still works today. 

Angelico mounted a comeback after the break but maybe took his eye off the ball due to the temptation of mocking Ricochet more. Ricochet leaned hard into that viciousness and put him away in a manner that spoke well to hierarchy. Angelico left the match looking better than he came in. Ricochet was all the stronger for his immense vulnerability because he won so definitively and defeated someone who had pushed him to a limit (even if not the limit). And all of that set the stage for him to take everything one step further in the amazing post match angle with Gowen.

There's room for all sorts of styles and approaches in AEW. That's part of the strength of the promotion. But something genuine like this will always resonate more emotionally than something that's simply spectacle for the sake of spectacle and certainly more than something that's too winking and emotionally guarded. The more wrestlers give themselves over to pro wrestling in this way, the deeper the connection they'll have with the crowd. 

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2023 Ongoing MOTY List: Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico

 

21. Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico AEW Rampage 12/8/23

ER: I'm not sure I could have possibly predicted how much of a Modern Orange Cassidy Lover I have become. I am old and much more forgetful than I used to be, but I cannot think of another wrestler who went from one of my least favorite guys on the scene to one of my absolute favorites to watch. If Doc Brown had shown up at my house with a dot matrix print out of AEW's 23/24 roster and asked me to guess My Future Favorites, it would have been pretty easy to quickly pool Darby, Danielson, and Kingston. That hasn't changed. But I'm not sure how I would have explained to myself that in the future we will come to love Orange Cassidy. Liking Trent Beretta is one thing (I do), Wheeler Yuta is another (his improvement isn't a real shock I guess), but I really did not like Orange Cassidy. My hate for him was the kind of hate that was coupled with him as the masthead of a whole Type of wrestling I did not like. 

Every time I write about OC I am still framing it around my actual shock that he connects with me as much as he does, but I shouldn't be shocked anymore. It's been too consistent. I was probably on board with OC by the pandemic Jericho match, but that felt like me occasionally liking a Johnny Gargano match rather than me coming around on his style and gimmick. But now he is must watch for me, a perfect babyface. Maybe I like Jefferson Starship more than Pixies and that shifted my mental balance. Maybe my tastes have changed so much that I no longer recognize my tastes. I don't know. But I'm great at recognizing just what works for me, and he works. 

He's just an excellent babyface, and that's that. He defies the odds such, that here I am writing about a truly enjoyable match against one of the Top 50 IWRG Wrestlers of 2010 and plenty of Danhausen at ringside. If this is slop, I guess I'm a slop swiller now. I liked every little part, even the stupid stuff. I loved OC tying up Angelico's arms and the exhibition rope running and avoidance they started with, the fighting over Angelico keeping Cassidy's hands out of his pockets, and the 1-2 of Orange finally getting those hands in his pockets but hurting his knee while showing off. The pocket hands headscissors looked great, the knee buckle on the pocket hands kip-up perhaps even better. 

Angelico's work on Cassidy's knee was good, and I loved the way Cassidy was able to sell that leg convincingly while still hitting big offense. It's not easy to sell well while still building to the hot part of the match, and while I don't need every match to feature someone limping around and grabbing at their knee, I like when Cassidy does a limb selling match. Angelico had some great asshole stuff on OC's leg: running around the ring to kick his leg out, knocking him back on his face with an inside ankle kick after Orange had just fought to his feet, twisting hard into the Grapevine, and an awesome moment where he lifted Orange for a knee breaker and instead ran him knee first into the top turnbuckle (spinning him around nicely into a back suplex). Would I have wanted less of Danhausen and Serpentico at ringside? Probably. But I liked when Serpentico was throwing punches at Cassidy's kneecap, and the payoff to Danhausen punching Serpentico in the dick was well done. Angelico's fall after catching the Orange Punch right after is a beauty, takes it on the chin and goes sideways and stiff on the fall. I eat-a the slop now. It's delicious. 

2023 MOTY MASTER LIST

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 5/27 - 6/2

ROH TV 5/23/24

Workhorsemen vs Angelico/Serpentico

MD: We've got no Fingers of Death active this week and it's going to be a little bleak for a while with Kingston out. The fifth one is eternally floating and there are various people that will get rotated in there like Christian and Rush and Athena, but today, we're playing moneyball with the Workhorsemen and friends.

Anthony Henry is right off of an ill-timed jaw injury and a sort of a strange journey of being gone and being back and you can tell that he was rearing to get back in the game. JD Drake is the very definition of a DVDVR/Segunda Caida guy and I'm happy for whatever focus he gets. These ROH matches really do buck a lot of the current AEW criticism. They're closer to ten minutes than twenty, not stretched out by a commercial break, and very often, you don't know coming in who's going to win. There was just as much chance that Angelico and Serpentico took this as the Workhorsemen. And given that Workhorsemen won this, just as much chance that they were going to win as Top Flight in the match covered next.  

While the comeback was a lot of fun, my favorite part here was the opening exchanges. Where the Workhorsemen excel most is enabling their opponents to really be the best versions of themselves possible. They're versatile, contrasting in size and shape and style. Drake's excellent at knowing when to give and when not to give. Here he was matched up with Angelico and combined one or two slick and smooth little counters with jamming Angelico on a trip, only to miss a senton a moment later to put himself off balance for Angelico to actually hit. He was able to be there for Angelico so he could hit some of his more tricked out stuff but not make it look overly collaborative either. Then Henry and Serpentico did an extended tit-for-tat exchange that veered just far enough away from looking choreographed to work even though it was all done at high speed with everything hitting. Then, as the crowd was cheering, Henry nailed a cheapshot to take over and start the heat. Maybe it's because he appreciates the roar of the crowd and the thirll of the action more than ever post-injury but he was really living in the moment in these matches, pumped up and gloating during the spaces in-between. He's always a "hit it clean" guy but he was projecting for the last row in the best way in these. They made it seem like Angelico and Serpentico were going to take this before Maria's guys came out for the distraction, but that's part of the Workhorsemen's strength as well, making it all believable not matter what 'it' needs to be.

ROH TV 5/30/24

Workhorsemen vs Top Flight

MD: More of them enabling their opponents to be their absolute best. That meant that Dante was bounding off of Drake's back or leaping over and under and in between the ropes with Henry on a hook for a big move. It meant that Darius was able to storm in after the hot tag as scrappy and gritty and fiery as can be, with big and broad canvases to attack. Darius has pretty snappy punches in a world where no one's doing punches anymore and he stands out even next to his own brother because of it; that said, you couldn't overly fault Dante's rapid-fire forearms right into Henry's recently injured jaw.

And in between those moments, when it was time to grind down on Dante, the Workhorsemen kept things moving while being oppressive and interesting at the same time. Drake's took full advantage of Dante's jumping ability in the transition to heat as he pressed him up against the ropes and smashed him on the outside. It's a move that always looks great and effective, that was especially so here, and that is used at varying times in the match by Drake, but I'm actively glad it didn't show up in the Angelico/Serpentico match because while it can be a 75% of the time move, it really shouldn't be an every match one. It's too unique and conditional for that. This had just the right balance for a competitive mid-card TV match that could have gone either way, the sort of thing people occasionally lament is missing these days.

AEW Collision 6/1/24

Workhorsemen vs Daniel Garcia/Katsuyori Shibata

MD: Got to admit that it seemed like a nice neat way to do it this week. Three Workhorsemen matches over two weeks. Three very different sets of opponents. I didn't know that JD's leg was going to go out here putting a bit of a damper on all of this.

That said, it makes for a completely different sort of watching experience, right? It's 2024. When you peel back why we watch wrestling, old wrestling, new wrestling, it doesn't matter, it's not the same as why and how someone might have been watching it in 64 or 84. A lot of the time when I watch matches, I already know who goes over, right? I want to see the journey. I want to see it play out. I want to see the creative choices and how they're executed. I want to see if they zig in the way I want them to zig or zag in a way that I'd never seen before. I want to see them take the old structures and overlay new bits of execution. I want to see them tug at those most human emotions like only wrestling can do in ways both classic and novel.

Rarely do you really, truly connect with who you're watching though. When you do, it's special. It's like watching a perfect game in baseball a little bit, right? That butterfly in your stomach feeling where you don't want to jinx it. You want them to hit the landing. You think to yourself "man, if this thing just has the right finish and they make it the rest of the way..." I'll admit to watching some 2023-2024 Danielson matches and thinking to myself "I hope he's ok," but then he's been a jerk like that (and has landed on his head errantly a few times too).

Where I'm going here is that shortly into this one, JD Drake messed up his leg or his foot. They could have went home. They persisted. He could have stayed on the apron and had Anthony Henry work the lion's share of it. That would have been a pretty tough sell overall though. For a minute, it seemed like they might go that route, that we might have actually gotten something of a heel-in-peril structure for good or ill. Truth be told, they needed JD in there to shut Garcia down, to turn the tide, to justify a team of two killers like Shibata and Garcia getting dragged under.

Shibata and Garcia are like a modern day Raging and Ravishing, except for Shibata is more cold steel than hot fire and Garcia has a ton of steak to go along with the sizzle. When it happened and they were checking on Drake, Shibata dropped down into his pose and after a moment, Garcia did the same. Then we got that extra bit with Garcia and Henry, with Garcia hitting his new triple twisting neckbreakers (with a Henry heelbutt in the middle to keep it interesting), before Drake came in and asserted himself. The guy could barely walk but he is such a presence and an imposing figure that he could control the center of the ring with sheer gravitational force. Garcia created motion and movement by coming towards him and he powered through and did the rest.

There were moments in the back half where you maybe looked twice or wondered at something feeling just a bit off. Shibata has a great way of making his violence look natural, of just walking over and getting a shot in as opposed to setting up a complex spot (the world's big enough for both approaches), but some of those Tenryu tribute shots looked a bit hesitant which might have had to do to filling in necessary gaps. But like I said, they didn't just go home with it even though no one would have blamed them for that. They kept going. Shibata and Garcia needed a win that meant something, one that had heft and weight to it. Shibata and Garcia didn't need to just win; they needed to overcome. That meant when Drake finally did make it up and hit his moonsault, the fans knew full well what they were witnessing, the effort at play, the gutsiness in front of them, and they popped big accordingly. And when Shibata interjected to set up a win for his side, it meant something. It meant everything that it needed to mean, really a hell of an accomplishment, all things considered.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 11/6 - 11/12

AEW Dynamite 11/8/23

Darby Allin/Sting vs Outrunners

MD: This was a tight piece of business, obviously, a way to keep the Sting farewell tour feeling special, in front of a crowd that was chanting for him in the early going, and a nice way to throw a bone to the Outrunners who ape his early aesthetic, maybe by way of the Beverly Brothers. That meant they could lean on Darby coming off of injury and let the Outrunners play the numbers game early, sneak in the clever tag out of a suplex position that we saw Darby and Orange Cassidy use when they were teaming in the already-missed house show run, and give Sting his iconic moment of shrugging off the double back elbow. Small nitpick: maybe have him win with the Death Drop considering that a Scorpion Deathlock played into the finish of the previous match, but at the end of the day, let Sting be Sting too, you know? A fun match that lets everyone in the crowd who hadn't been watching wrestling in 89 say that they got to see Sting live.

Ring of Honor 11/9/23

Eddie Kingston vs Angelico

MD: Of all of Eddie's great quality, maybe the greatest is that every match he's in, no matter how little build or notice it gets, instantly becomes a grudge match. It's because the chip on his shoulder is so big that any contest, be it an enhancement match or a dream match, tumbles right into it. Just to stand across the ring from him unlocks all sorts of grievances. Heel, face, storyline or no, he takes it personal and he makes it personal. You look at him the wrong way and it's an insult. And there's no right way to look at him if you're his opponent. That gives us, as viewers, reason to care about each and every match. 

It can be a little exhausting too. It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but you don't let go and relax when watching Eddie wrestle. He carries a weight and you carry it with him. That feels good. It has substance to it. When he walks a mile, you walk that mile with him, and you're better off for it, but it's hard. And sometimes, it leaves some possibilities on the table. An Eddie Kingston match is going to be a fight. This isn't Bryan Danielson who is endlessly adaptable and reactive. Eddie's a black hole and you can't escape his gravitational pull. Traditionally, if you're wrestling Eddie, it can only be about one thing, that chip, that insult, that grievance.

The belt kind of changes that though. Yes, sure, Eddie is going to see it in personal terms; you want to take away what he cares about, what he clawed and scraped for, what he fights for every day, something he cares about more than you ever could. But it's also business too. And more than that, it's wrestling, the grandeur of wrestling along with the blood, something that you might not think a guy like Eddie would understand. But he does, because he understands what it means to be an ace, to carry a weight upon his back that's not just the burden of life, to carry a company, the hopes and dreams of everyone in the back, the reputation of everything that came before. 

That means we get to see a little bit of a different side to Eddie in these matches. Yes, he took it personal when Angelico made the challenge, but that didn't define this match; it just provided some extra color to it. Eddie's used to charging forward with a certain sort of abandon. He's used to being a man with nothing to lose. Now he has something to protect. That meant he came at this different. Angelico's always dangerous so he started the match by switching from one hand to the next, and avoiding a lock up, cautious. But he's Eddie so he got goaded in and threw a shot that let Angelico start to twist and tear at his hand. But he's Eddie so he pushed through it and kept throwing those chops, relentless. 

In return, Angelico realized that he wasn't going to get a quick tap on Eddie, no matter how skillfully he tied him up. He started throwing low kicks, started throwing his body at Eddie with dives. Angelico could chip away at his arm or his leg, but he couldn't make a chip larger than that one already on Eddie's shoulder though. All it ever takes is one backfist to change the complexion of the match and that's what it did here. Still, they gave Angelico a kickout and then finished things with the Northern Lights Driver, a nice hierarchy decision that helps keep over one of Eddie's four viable finishers after the story with Claudio where he needed to escalate to the power bomb. The variety of opponents and the more ace-tinted approach to these matches has been a nice change of pace, especially knowing that Eddie can take things deep into a land of grudges whenever the situation calls for it.

AEW Collision 11/11/23

Adam Copeland/Sting/Darby Allin vs Vincent/Dutch/Lance Archer

MD: Very complete, very satisfying match given that it had two commercial breaks, a little less time than some other Collision main events, and a lot of personalities to highlight on the face side. We've seen some matches lately where they hold back Sting and you sort of would expect them to do that with Copeland too here but they cycled through all of the faces early on (teasing Darby being in trouble and having him smack Archer away and dart to the corner) and gave the crowd a taste of everyone before they leaned into the first commercial break not with the usual transition into heat but with chaos and everything breaking down. That gave us the great shot of Sting elatedly dragging Vincent around the ringside area. It wasn't until the end of the break that they had Dutch jump him to lead into the first face-in-peril. It's important to have a little bit of variety now and again.

I always see the commercial breaks as an opportunity. Someday when AEW's on a streaming service and people are going back through these the same way that we watch 1992 WCW or 95 All Japan or 84 Mid South or old Houston footage, we'll hopefully have the international feed to watch and not have to worry about picture and picture and it'll be a net positive overall. It stops the proclivity for pure action for the sake of action and forces interaction with the crowd and a doubling down with the story at hand. 

This was our second look at Copeland and while he was fine against Luchasaurus, he wrestled like someone with something to prove here, hitting a dive, asserting himself with clotheslines, hitting a double team with Sting which harkened back to his late 90s creativity with Christian, eating Dutch's Bossman Slam with wild momentum. He's such an interesting case in some ways, someone who great up as much of a fan of wrestling as could be, but that has spent the entirety of his time within a carefully controlled system. He's someone that excelled in gimmick matches, that had offense which maybe wouldn't have held up in a less produced environment. He can't compete with the conditioning of  a lot of the AEW talent, but relying on smoke and mirrors instead of sheer athleticism might make him stand out, especially if he leans into his height a bit more than he has in his career. A lot of his major WWE feuds were against his size or larger than him. I'm curious how he resets this last act; he's suggested an interest in facing a lot of the ex-WWE guys that he missed in the 2010s, the Samoa Joes and Andrades and Malakai Blacks of the world, and to port his WWE act over against new a generation he missed could be of some interest, but the real value would be if he took what made him special over the years and tried to figure out how to refine it in a world without corporate limits and monolithic preferences. That doesn't necessarily mean aping Sting's proclivity for crazy dives. It doesn't just mean blood and pile drivers and a freedom of speech either. I don't entirely know what it means. Were I Copeland, I'd be spending every second of this borrowed time that was an impossibility ten years ago trying to figure out the myriad possibilities before me though. For the first time in two and a half decades, he can be anything and do anything; for someone who loves pro wrestling, what could that possibly look like? 

Here, in this bizarre WAR six-man with Jake Roberts on the outside and very unlikely partners on the inside, it looked like a pretty good start actually.

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AEW Five Fingers of Death: Week of 5/2 - 5/8

AEW Dynamite 5/4

Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson/Jon Moxley/Wheeler Yuta) vs. Andrade Family Office (Angelico/Butcher/Blade)

MD: This is the first of these trios matches where I came off a little underwhelmed. It needed another minute or two, maybe. Angelico got to do one tricked out submission on Danielson and Danielson responded by kicking the soul out of him in the corner, but it wasn't the 90 second exchange on the mat that we've been itching for since Danielson came into the company. That said, as a cliff notes version of the sort of match you'd want, everyone still got to highlight what makes them special, it's just that no one got to do a whole lot of it. Moxley got to toss Blade around the ringside area, and Blade got to get tossed around; Butcher got to be a brick wall against Yuta, and Yuta got to scrap against everyone and then fight from underneath, and the fans plenty happy to chant for him. This was by far the best use of Yuta's "through the legs" theatrics, and that means something. It shouldn't be in every match and he can do it as part of a feeling out opening exchange, but it's way more effective when used to build to a hot tag. A guy like Butcher is the perfect guy to use it against. Hopefully we get that ten minute Dark match between Angelico and Danielson at some point, that's the pairing everyone wants to see.

ER: I really loved the enthusiasm everyone worked this with, but I also thought that Angelico was the worst part about it. At one point I swear he threw a legsweep at Moxley that swept 5 feet in front of Mox's feet. Moxley still hopped in reaction, and it kind of made the follow up make more sense. But I don't care about Angelico, I care about how good The Blade looked here, because I thought The Blade looked great. I've always liked the Butcher and the Blade team even though I don't view them as a team that has great matches, but Blade gets better as a worker the more he just works like LA Knight. Watch the two of them: the movement is near identical, and the way they feed opponents is identical. Blade has really good timing when it comes to feeds, and I'll always love a worker who tags into a match and then runs immediately into a backdrop. I think Blade is always really good in matches with a lot of guys, as he seems to always be among the best at knowing exactly where to be when everything starts to break down. Also, Blade has Actually Great punches now. He throws a lot of long right hands in this match and I was really impressed by how they connected. I've said before that AEW isn't really a fed with a lot of punchers, and now I have to talk about how The Blade is one of the best punchers in AEW. Love to see it. 

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AEW All Out 9/5/21 Pt. 1

Private Party/Jack Evans/Angelico/Matt Hardy vs. Jungle Boy/Orange Cassidy/Luchasaurus/Wheeler Yuta/Chuck Taylor

PAS: This was a match full of guys I am a low voter on (I like Jungle Boy, Hardy and Jack Evans a fair amount, the rest aren't for me), but this kind of fast moving 10 man is a good way to hid limited guys and keep things moving at a nice pace. The Private Party have some fun SAT's double teams, and didn't have to do things they couldn't do. The top rope blockbuster by Jungle Boy was a great spot, and they did some amusing Chikara stuff like the chicken fight and submission chain, and left slow motion spots and invisible grenades in the trash where they belong. I don't know why Chuck Taylor did two dives to the floor and Jack Evans did none and Luchasarus needs to dump the spin kick when Tommy End is in your fed, but otherwise this got Cassidy and Jungle Boy on the show and it is smart to get really over acts like them to open a show. 

Eddie Kingston vs. Miro - EPIC

PAS: The first real Eddie Kingston classic we have seen in AEW. This was King's Road Eddie, he maybe the only US wrestler to actually understand what made those All Japan matches so special, and it wasn't the moves it was the meaning. Eddie and Miro really beat the hell out of each other with Miro landing great looking kicks and straight rights and Eddie absolutely beating the hell out of Miro's chest and neck with blood blistering chops. I loved the little selling Eddie did throughout the match, eyes getting glassy after eating big shots, never fully able to get movement in his back after getting powerslammed on the floor, shaking out his fingers when Miro bit them, masterful stuff from one of the greatest sellers in wrestling history. All of the stuff with the turnbuckle pad was great business. Remsberg being a beat too slow on the Kingston pinfall, him stopping Kingston from slamming Miro into the turnbuckle only to be out of position and miss the low blow. This is how you protect an over babyface like Eddie, he was the better man, but lost out due to fate. This is another level performance by Miro and another feather in Eddie's all time resume. 

ER: Incredible, passionate performance for Eddie Kingston, a guy with a career's worth of great passionate matches. He's the guy I currently want to see against every other wrestler, the guy I think is most likely to have someone's best match (at least until Hero gets back). And if there's a Miro match I've ever enjoyed more, it's been many years since it happened, as these two really tapped into something. This is the coolest version of Miro we've gotten, and I love Eddie in big title matches so I was buzzed about it. Eddie got to have a great selling match, working a ton of match long bits in between quick bursts of damaging Miro. Eddie brings that ability to have a chance in any moment of the match, the same way Fujiwara was always in it. Kingston could lose every single match he's in for two years straight and people will still believe he has a chance the next match. It's a strong connection and it elevates his biggest singles matches. 

I fully bought into how big each guy was missing, both running hard into turnbuckles and guardrails, and I also bought into how both would immediately come firing back. Kingston firing off the guardrail with a yakuza kick or how Miro would scream into Eddie. Eddie's chops really did look blistering, and the way all of his offense had these triumphant builds due to the way Miro had avoided them really added to his aura. Seeing Kingston finally land his tope or his backfist really meant something, and the two suplexes he hit looked like a title change. I really liked all the nonsense with the turnbuckle, loved the way it played out. Miro's winning combo was like something Kingston himself would set up: A mule kick low, big high kick, and a big exclamation point running kick to turn out the lights. Great presentation, great title match. 

Jon Moxley vs. Satoshi Kojima

PAS: This was a solid hard hitting New Japan style match which I think was hurt a bit by following Kingston and Miro doing a better version of a similar thing. They really put Kojima over on commentary and it is cool he got to have a big US moment like this. Stuff landed with thuds and I thought Kojima got several big near falls (without ever hitting his Koji lariat), the DDT on the apron looked appropriately nasty and the bloody elbow from Moxley added a bit of spice to the match. But this had a lot of the elbow strike, make a face, elbow strike stuff which I don't like in current Japanese wrestling. Suzuki coming out post match felt like a big moment and I like how AEW takes advantage of an open door policy to have surprises like this.

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 12/16/20

What Worked

-My WCW muscle memory kicked in when the snow started falling after Cody's win, and I actually said "Glacier" aloud, to myself. 

-I actually really liked The Acclaim's rap AND Kazarian's rap before their match. Honestly, the raps probably made me enjoy the match more than I should have. I don't think the match was very good, but the wrestling on this show has been dreadful so...I thought Christopher Daniels's jabs looked really good?

-Diamante decided to have her whole butt hanging out of her trunks so that seems like it works? 

-Omega/Janela was about as dumb as it gets, nothing but stunt spots segueing into stunt spots with no flow to them. BUT the stunt spots look good so fuck it, need to populate the top side of this write up a bit. Janela's tope looked good and Omega plastered himself into the guardrail a couple times, Janela took a bulldog face first on a chair, got hilariously into place for an Omega top con hilo, etc. Every spot was a restart, but the landings looked sick enough and Don Callis on house mic commentary was great. This is the best Omega's V Trigger knees have looked in lord knows when, really looked like he was going to cave in Janela's face with them. After seeing those 1/2 speed knees he through past Moxley's head last week I was thinking Omega had lost his speed, but I really loved the aggression he used to wreck Janela. 

What Didn't Work

-Opening trios was pretty disjointed and didn't have any kind of flow to it. It slowed down at weird times and never felt like it had any kind of consistent (or good) pace to it. NOAH knew how to throw six random guys into a trios and have a nice high floor, but this had very little going for it. It's great that Alex Reynolds is confirmed Alive after definitely not being knocked out cold, and Hangman had a couple nice lariats (including one that Kassidy bumped onto the side of his head). But a lot of this had bumps that felt a little too disconnected from the offense they were supposed to be taking, and it never came together in a meaningful way. 

-I think there is a potentially good Cody/Angelico match, but this was not that match. I'm not into match layouts where one guy does his stuff, and then the other guy decides to stop taking offense and start doing all of his own offense. I liked the Angelico wrist control do-si-do arm drags but didn't love much else. Neither was great at taking the other's offense, and that's going to hurt a match that's nothing but guys taking turns on offense. Angelico is good at taking headstand plants on cutters or DDTs, but the way he just stands there waiting to take something never looks good. Cody had kind of a similar thing where he would just stand there waiting for Angelico to run into his offense, and it all sucked brother. 

-Lance Archer interrupting Eddie Kingston's Airing of Grievances like 30 seconds in while wearing the shittiest ripped and distressed jeans I have ever seen is a big damn heel move

-I like when Butcher wears his butcher's apron, but why is Blade out there in one? Wearing his dirty jeans, t shirt, and apron he just looks like a Whole Foods burrito bar employee at the end of his shift. 

-12 man had the same problems the other matches have had so far, real weird energy and a lot of people on a different page. Jericho/Pillman stuff was decent, and I loved Jericho's straight right hands more than anything else in the match (other than Sammy Guevara's awesome folded over his knees sell of a Trent kick), and that's because most of the match didn't work. When you have a match like this and a bunch of guys who have never been in a match with 11 other people, you're going to have a bunch of people getting in each other's way. There were several guys who didn't look ready for prime time (not sure I've ever seen a sloppier slingshot legdrop than whatever it was Griff Garrison did), but I did laugh a bunch when Jake Hager - on the apron for most of the match - finally got in the ring. Not only did he trip over the ropes, but then he hit one of the ugliest, sloppy "F10" finishers I've seen, just a lazy spin that basically resulted in Garrison being dropped in a weak body slam. That's what gets a pin? Total mess. 

-You give me Ivelisse in a tag match and I'm going to want to see that trademark unprofessional Ivelisse work. But this was mostly just Diamante and Swole going through some rehearsed sequences, some of which looked good, some of which looked like a couple people standing around counting out their steps. It's hard to get any kind of heat or maintain much interest when it feels like the in ring is just going through the motions. This whole damn show has felt like it's going through the motions. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 12/9/20

What Worked

-I wasn't really feeling the Bucks/Hybrid2 match, but the more ridiculous shit got kicked out of, the more I got into it. If you're gonna get crazy with it, get crazy with it. If you're going to indulge, indulge. This blew several minutes past where I assumed it was going to end, and that somehow wound up working in favor of the match. I don't love Nick Jackson's superkick as a finisher, but I love it as a cut off spot, and there were some great cut off kicks here. My favorite spot of the match was Evans missing the Angelico-assisted 450, and basically landing face first into a superkick. When the timing is that tight, it's such a great looking spot. The whole match felt like it was Jack Evans kicking out of one Bucks finisher after the other, then getting up two seconds later to hit another crazy flip, and that's the kind of BS I can get into. If you're going to have a bunch of kickouts, just go for it and through everything else out the window. That's what they did, that's why it worked. 

-The match itself was a little messy, but how could I not get behind FTR beating the hell out of Brian Pillman Jr.? Dax especially seemed to really be going after him, and it looked awesome. I loved Cash baiting Griff Garrison around the ring and back into being stopped by the ref, allowing them to hit a great Demolition Decapitation on Pillman. Dax's chops and elbows really sang off Pillman's body, and I like the way the tag was worked as a real hierarchy tag. Varsity Blondes have won a few matches on Dark, get their shot on Dynamite, get mostly run over by FTR. Having that kind of slow progress is a really satisfying way to present wrestling for me, feels similar to working Kings Road guys up the card. Pillman got to land a really great punch on Dax on the floor, and I love how Dax sold it like his orbital bone just got hit with a wrench. 

-Dustin took a big bump off the apron and hit a nice bulldog finish on Ten, though any time Dustin is on TV I think he should get at least 4 minutes. Dustin is a smart enough worker to have a special 4 minute match, anything shorter than that feels like a waste of bullets. They also managed to make a couple jokes about his Seven gimmick while avoiding a "we know what THAT means" wink, with Tony hitting the right tone with his "well he doesn't want to go by THAT number".

-Abadon looked like a real savage murdering Tesha Price with elbows in the corner and an awesome stranglehold STO. I don't know what she'll look like in a full match, but her squash work has been compelling. 

What Didn't Work

-I still don't know what to expect from Sting in AEW, and I'm not really excited for whatever it might be. I've never been a big Sting guy (nothing personal, just didn't have cable growing up so child me had no idea who Sting even was), and I can't imagine becoming a Sting guy now that he is in his 60s. 

-I kind of want someone new to throw a glass of water into Shaq's face every couple weeks, never actually leading to any kind of match, only used as a way to get a bunch of different comical dripping Shaq reaction faces. That, or I want a Shaq/Brandi street fight. 

-It feels like a crime to put an Eddie Kingston match down below, but that trios match had too much awkward miscommunication. Fenix looked bad, and honestly he hasn't looked very good ever since that awful match against his brother where he got dropped on his head. The camera caught him missing an early kick on Blade by nearly two feet, and his performance didn't get better. Butcher and Blade (mainly Butcher) were not going to be the ones to help him get back on the page, and Fenix/Butcher got hung up on a time stand still loop, trapped in a Rainmaker set up for way too long, neither sure who was supposed to turn around. At one point it looked like Kingston was trying to set up a blind tag to Butcher and Blade, but both of them just stood on the apron while Kingston yelled at them repeatedly to get in the ring, before he just went back to beating on Fenix himself. The only good from this match came from Kingston himself, since Butcher and Blade didn't seem to understand that they were supposed to be cutting off the ring. Kingston's beatdown on Fenix looked good, and I dug the way he took a beating from Lance Archer, while also doing stuff like holding onto Archer's leg from the mat, to keep him close. He took a clunky headscissors from Fenix, and sadly couldn't do much to catch a Fenix tope con hilo as Fenix landed short. The match finishing powerbomb/neckbreaker on Fenix looked intentionally gentle, possibly because his short tope con hilo landed him harder on the back of his neck than this finish would have. Maybe it would be a good idea for Fenix to not wrestle for awhile? 

-I am in the MJF in ring > MJF mic (but I mean that as a compliment, not the I suppose obvious take that it is), but this MJF/Orange Cassidy match was not good. There was a lot of work based around Cassidy's hand, which gets instantly forgotten once it's time for Cassidy's comeback, but - this will surprise you - comes back for one spot and one spot only and this hand that injured hand that was not even acknowledged for several minutes was now suddenly sold more than it had been sold in any other part of the match. Cassidy was good at taking MJF's offense, and MJF was especially good at feeding Cassidy's comeback, really leaning into everything and planting himself on all things that required it. Sadly, the best part of the match was probably the locker room babyfaces emptying out to cheer Orange on, but it all happened during the commercial break. That kind of noise would have been cool to hear. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 11/25/20

What Worked

-I liked most of Hangman vs. Silver, good way to start off the show. Silver is a fun guy to feature, a compact power pack who was really good at cutting off Page. One of my least favorite things in Page matches is how unnecessarily complicated some of his offense is, and how it is never reversed. I liked how Silver cut off a lot of signature offense, like hitting a rana to counter the rope flip lariat. It made Page approach things differently and made for a more satisfying story. Silver has a low center of gravity and can use it in cool ways, like dropping low to the ground to do a quick go behind and snap German suplex. I wish Page had treated Silver's kicks a little more seriously, as it felt like we were building to something really cool when Silver was kicking away at Page, not letting him up, dodging right when he needed to, landing a big hooking kick to the jaw, but Page kinda just stood up and beat him anyway. Also, Silver doesn't need to do the half gainer flip bump every time he takes a clothesline. He did it three times here and you really don't need to be doing the same signature bump three times in three minutes. However, he also planted Page with a brainbuster and took a nice high backdrop bump, and there was more than enough here to make it work. 

-When Lee Johnson makes it onto Dynamite, you know you're getting a nice squad match, because he always takes the best beatings in squash matches. I need to seek out some of his Dark matches to see how he does with actual offense, because I like the way he bumps for lariats and other big offense. He doesn't take intentionally athletic feather soft bumps, his bumps look like he is being hurt. He made that lariat on the floor look brutal, and I don't think Will Hobbs has a very brutal lariat. 

-I do like that AEW is the kind of fed that makes mention about how cool it is that Jericho and Chris Daniels are meeting for the very first time. That's always cool to me when two guys who have been in wrestling for so long finally cross paths in the ring, like Buddy Rose facing Kerry von Erich in WWF. And let me tell you, if this was the year 1999 or 2000, I could not tell you just how over the moon excited I would be to see a Jericho/Daniels match. But this 2020 version is probably about as good as could reasonably expected. Jake Hager was my favorite guy here, and Hager might be THEE guy that I am absolutely never excited to see on my TV screen who can actually deliver something cool. He always gets an "oh sheesh this guy?" reaction from me, but I can't deny how much I enjoy Hager's meathead mouth breathing style. The best part of this was when Hager was driving his knee right into Danielses' back while throwing fists right into the ribs. It looked nasty as hell. 

-The gear AND choreography of the Omega Sweepers has improved every week. It's really satisfying to watch performers get better at their craft in real time. Moxley beatdown was strong. I want Moxley to wreck this guy. 

-Shida/Anna Jay was better than I expected, mainly because Jay doesn't even have 20 career matches work. Obviously there are going to be some glitches, so I'm more impressed with the things she can pull off naturally. She is really strong at making up the difference when selling strikes, like when Shida threw a dropkick that landed a little low and Jay sold her jaw convincingly. She goes to the jaw/mouth sell a bit much, did it right before that dropkick when missing a charge into the buckles, but it's a strong looking sell so hats off. I liked a lot of the ways she would counter Shida offense, like blocking the running apron knee with a downward strike, and especially her shifting weight at the last minute to land on Shida after a vertical suplex. I thought it was just a bad looking suplex at first, but I love a reversal that actually makes it look like the move wasn't pulled off quite right. Reversals in 2020 wrestling are so clean that they usually don't look like they're reversing anything. This looked like Shida tried to do a suplex and wasn't expecting Jay's weight shift. The nearfall kickout by Shida was perfectly timed, actually got me to buy into Jay sneaking away with the upset. 

-Fenix running into Blade's awesome powerslam, that works.

What Didn't Work

-Taz dropping silly shooty comments like "creative has nothing for me" or "wish me luck in my future endeavors" does nothing for me. Taz does not come off threatening to me at this point, and there are too many guys on the roster who could have locked in a better looking submission. Cody's burn about Taz's son (Hook!) training with Cody and not Taz was strong. 

-I feel bad for all the people who have strongly backed Rusev and have been gifted Miro. 

-I love Jack Evans and would rather see him on Dynamite than any number of other less interesting flippers that have been featured. But it's also really weird to give Top Flight a big Dynamite match last week ago, a match that got them buzz and made a big impression, to then bring Evans and Angelico back to Dynamite just to beat Top Flight. I don't think the match worked as a match, as all of these AEW flyer vs. flyer matches feel so same-y. I don't think Top Flight does much of anything that comes off natural, can't adjust on the fly; They can either do long semi-complicated sequences that end with something dumb like kicking Angelico in the arm, or they do weird things like adjust their several feet while rope running. It all comes off like guys just running through some spots that don't always feel like they belong to the same match. I did like the way Angelico went after Daunte's leg, thought his roll throughs to trap Daunte in leg locks and holds looked super cool and felt like old IWRG bleeding into AEW. Also, it is supremely annoying to give these guys names like Darius and Daunte, because there is no way I'm going to remember which one is fucking Daunte and which is Darius. Air Wolf I can remember, but Darius Martin? 

-I didn't think Fenix and PAC looked good as a team. They're two guys who, from their styles, seem like they would complement each other nicely, but their set ups felt long and things missed the mark. But I thought Butcher and the Blade looked good as heel opposition, thought Butcher looked great as a fist swinging bully, thought Blade worked some nice sequences with Fenix and especially loved Fenix aborting a flying attack off the top, jumping past Blade, and running hard into a great snap powerslam. But the match overall felt scattered and like it would have been a real mess without Butcher and Blade. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 10/7/20

 What Worked

-Both Young Bucks standing and watching TV while peering back over their shoulders, set apart so that both were visible for the shot, was such a hilarious artistic decision. I suppose they could have been watching the TV from between their legs, but then we wouldn't have had them posed side by side, watching TV over their shoulders like they were stand-ins on a Nelson album cover. 

-Ringside doctor being announced before a dog collar match is a nice touch, and having Greg Valentine there is even better. Even better than that, is Valentine's graphic that refers to him as a "Dog Collar Match Survivor". 

-I LOVE that Dr. Luther was in the main for Jericho's 30th anniversary celebration, although I wish they had some balls and made it a Jericho/Luther singles match. I had that opinion before the match, and I think it stands after, because Serpentico and Hager were the weak parts of the match. The Luther/Hager sections were clunky (which kind of made the stand and trade look cool and uneven, but other parts less so) and Serpentico is just...not a guy I need to see in a main event. But the Luther/Jericho sections were fun as hell. People laughed when Luther was signed, because obviously it was just a friend getting his buddy a gig. But fuck it, we should get gigs for our friends if we're in a position to do so. Why wouldn't we do that? Luther is in his early 50s and has barely been active as a wrestler for the past 20 years (sheesh I saw him live on an APW show 20 years ago) and he can still clearly go. His cannonball was awesome, dug his big boots, and I liked the way he and Jericho interacted. I've seen nastier Judas Effect elbows, but I dug how Luther dropped to his knees after taking it instead of flat back bumps like everyone else. Fun match, and possibly the only match of the evening that knew what it was supposed to be. 

What Didn't Work

-I wanted a LOT more out of the Cage/Hobbs opener but it fell short. The standing exchanges looked bad, the elbows thrown just looked weak and lacking, the shoulderblocks looked like two guys trying to not hit each other (although I liked Hobbs' late match torpedo shoulderblock), and a lot of this came off like a Lance Storm super heavyweight match. The missed strikes or clotheslines to set up planned offense all came off phony and leading, even if some of the moves they lead to looked good (Hobbs hit a nice powerslam and spinebuster, Cage hit a couple of big drivers that could have landed Hobbs on his head). But the moves didn't mean much to me because of the laziness in setting up literally every move. Almost every piece of offense was set up by a guy missing a slow strike, or a guy slightly overrunning the other and then turning around into a move. Both of these guys are big, but both seem less interested in running into each other and more interested in slightly missing each other to then do a big spot. The big spots looked good. Every single thing gluing those spots together looked bad. 

-We're really on a big moves/no substance roll tonight, and the FTR vs. Evans/Angelico match underwhelmed. Last week was FTR's best AEW performance so far, but they came off like SCU Best Friends or any of the other lesser AEW teams who have their set movesets they're going to work through, and selling is only based on whose turn it is next. Evans and Angelico have been underutilized in AEW, in that I cannot believe some of the flippy goofballs we've seen a ton on TV when they have two of the better flippy goofballs hanging out on Dark. That said, Evans whiffed bad on a flipping legdrop, so bad that there was absolutely no way to cover for it. Dax did his best by immediately grabbing his face, and Excalibur picked up on it and said that Evans' boot hit Harwood in the face, but it is never going to look good when you miss your opponent entirely and then just keep your opponent in position and climb to the top to do another move. That's ugly backyard stuff. A lot of FTR's chain offense looked good, but both teams turned off who was on offense with a switch, so you'd have weird close nearfalls that would lead immediately to the person being pinned going on offense. It was laid out messily, even when it was executed well. 

-Every week they build FTR vs. Young Bucks is a week where the feud seems less interesting. The Bucks are not playing this right, FTR are coming off very miscast as babyfaces (tweeners? men with no alliances?) and Best Friends making hack jokes while winking that they're hack jokes doesn't make the jokes any less hack. 

-Liked the blood, liked Arn's old man spinebuster, liked a couple of the inadvertent falls onto the chain, but did not like the Dog Collar match. They went out and worked a mostly normal match while just so happening to have a chain tied around their necks. There was a lot of time spent on moving the chain out of the way, or adjusting the chain, or making sure they don't hit the chain, and that time needed to just be spent punching each other with the chain. Brodie Lee is also someone who is not great at taking offense anymore. I'm not sure how long that has been going on, but it's something I don't remember being a problem 2-3 years ago. In AEW he takes offense awkwardly and gets into position for offense even more awkwardly. Look how he takes that front suplex (a move he has taken several times in AEW and always takes badly) on his knees, face coming nowhere near the chain it was supposed to be near, and the announcers having to sell it anyway. Moves where he has to bend at the waist are even worse, as he doesn't know to do anything other than make his body a 90 degree angle and freeze. The table piledriver was unfortunate as Brodie's weight went the wrong way, flattening Cody, who then had to go back on offense despite it looking like he had taken the worst of his own move. I liked Cody's dive (doing dives while attached to a chain and another person will always be impressive), but did not like this match. It didn't come off like a violent chain match to me, it came off like a poor Cody/Lee match with them trying to work around the chain as an obstacle. 

-Women's match probably would have made the top side had the finish been a little cleaner. But I don't like those kind of runs where each person knocks the other into the ropes with a strike, which gives them momentum for their own strike, which so on and so on. It looks even worse when the strike gave you momentum to fire back with your own strike, but also you can still stop at will or change directions on rope running. Is the strike moving you, or is it all just terrible. The finish stretch was ugly, with lots of bad thigh slaps, but I liked a lot of the early stuff, liked Serena's leg drags and how she would trap Swole's arm in her leg before rolling over her, but I hate that move begets move nonsense.  

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 9/9/20

What Worked

-Eddie Kingston used a microphone, obviously it winds up here. I giggled every time he yelled at the Lucha Bros. to separate.

-I like Joey Janela when he is a Jericho punching bag.

-ALL ELITE HEELS IS REAL!!!!! I saw something about it on Twitter weeks ago and thought someone made a hilarious meme.

-Dustin match goes up here, but it was close. Brodie Lee looked really bad here, looking like someone who had no idea where he needed to be and couldn't think of interesting ways to get there. Dustin made this as salvageable as it was, so basically Dustin turning in a typical Dustin performance gets this up here. If I wasn't lazy I would write the Dustin part here and the Lee part down below, but let's call it at 55% good. Lee stumbled his way through things and looked lame enough through parts of this that it made me think there's a chance he is pulling double duty as Luchasaurus. Lee had a bunch of moments where he was just waiting to take moves, with no artistry whatsoever. He telegraphs all of Dustin's offense by just standing perfectly still and waiting for it, just horrible at occupying himself. When he took Dustin's drop down uppercut he literally just bent at the waist with his head up, watching Dustin the entire time while standing still. What a fucking idiot. He was at his best when he was Godzilla, throwing tables and barricades into Dustin while Dustin scrambled to safety, Dustin throwing punches while working to avoid him. But Lee has been bit by that really contagious Dijakovic bug, that makes him chain together a bunch of offense that looks like total rehearsed shit. He make Dustin's bulldog look like shit, and the finish was especially risible. The finishing lariat looked good, but making Dustin bounce back and forth between the ropes and his boot might have sounded like a good idea on paper, but it was hilarious in execution. Dustin keeps this here - barely - and Brodie Lee's stock has fallen every single week he's been in AEW.


What Didn't Work

-You know who stinks in AEW? Luchasaurus. That's a guy who stinks up a match. I really thought he had made strides in Lucha Underground, but he is pro wrestling poison in AEW. He always throws off the timing of a match, as everyone slows down to work in his spots and he does bad slow versions of cruiserweight spots. It wouldn't be SO bad if any of his spots looked good, but the thing is, none of his spots look good. Fenix looked great doing Fenix things, loved his rope work and his big dive into Luchasaurus down the finishing stretch (that Luchasaurus caught by falling over), but the finish of this was as putrid as anything Luchasaurus did. This was one of the more idiotically laid out finishes I've seen in AEW. Lucha Bros. hit a package piledriver on Jungle Boy, the Fenix hits the dive, gets back in the ring, but Jungle Boy is apparently Actually Fine from taking a tandem package piledriver just seconds before, and tricks Pentagon into giving Fenix a flipping piledriver. Incredibly, impossibly stupid.

-I guess I should be glad that they didn't work a physical angle with Hardy, but once I saw Reby there with their child I thought "Oh man Matt Hardy is gonna get fucked up". And I'm a monster because I am left disappointed by a man who clearly got a very bad concussion did not get nuked on TV a few days later.

-Jack Evans has just been on the roster, not being on TV? And he's not even wrestling tonight, just appearing at ringside? There are plenty of chuds on TV every week that should be replaced with Evans. Cassidy/Angelico (oh yeah, they still have Angelico too. I have not watched any episodes of Dark) was ehhhh. I liked Angelico's Jerry bump, but th Navarro sub looked like it was the first time he was trying it, and all of Cassidy's offense landed feather light. Then we end the segment with some Best Friends and this is firmly in the bottom half of the page.

-Not only do we get a segment showcasing Kip Sabian's comedy chops (and an unexpected Puf appearance), but Rusev/Miro is here and lemme tell you people, he's got something things to say about SOME PEOPLE UP NORTH. We know who HE'S talking about!! Get outta here. Bring someone in and do something other than that, ANYTHING other than that. Also, Miro is absolute wedding poison. Nobody should want him anywhere near an official role in their wedding. You'd think he wouldn't even want to be involved. THOSE PEOPLE UP NORTH had me do some stupid
wedding cuck angle. I'm going DOWN SOUTH to also then do a wedding angle.

-Boy, Hager/Sonny Kiss is an ugly style clash. Kiss has been great in trios matches, awkward in tags and singles, and Hager is not going to help him look good. I liked Janela's big bumps to the floor, liked Jericho getting run into a chair, but there was a lot of clunk in this tag.

-I did not anticipate FTR being this toothless in AEW. I'd rather see them Old School Tag Wrasslin on Main Event rather than these weekly talk segments and disappointing matches.

-You know what the women's division was missing? Someone with another awkward style that requires matches to come to a halt just so bad looking spots can be done. Well, they checked that box with Tay Conti! Capoeira almost always translates poorly to pro wrestling (I have been a fan of some Arturo Ruas matches, others I found his capoeira getting completely in the way). He submissions looked slow, her kicks looked bad. She hit one nice knee on the floor. And she's going to be a babyface? She feels like a natural heel to me, but hey, they seem to know what they're doing with this division.

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 10/30/19

What Worked:

-The non-wrestling stuff in this show worked for me. I thought the Tony Schiavone limo ride with Cody was great old school stuff. The Dusty and Willie Nelson story was great and the whole presentation made the contract signing seem like a big deal. Jericho is pretty great as a bloated creep leading a pack of wolves, heel Rock of Love era Brett Michaels is a great fucking gimmick, I can just see him faking an OD mid ring only to roll up his opponent when he tries CPR. Dustin's broken arm is a great way to heat up the PPV main event, although that might mean we don't see in ring Dustin for a while, and this show could desperately use him.

-Similarly Santana and Ortiz beating down the Rock and Roll Express was simple pro-wrestling storytelling. Ricky Morton is an all timer at taking a beating and Santana and Ortiz are really great as out of control thugs, you can tell they are from that JAPW family tree (speaking of which, sign Homicide and Eddie Kingston already AEW, what are you waiting for). I liked them jumping the Bucks too, nice use of the Rick and Morty gimmick which actually gave that goofy thing some purpose.

- Moxley's promo was fine, and he is undoubtedly over. I miss the old Moxley promos where he was talking about his mom turning tricks where he came off like a real unhinged psycho, but he is clearly in a different place in his career. Don't love Tony Khan showing up as an on air character. AEW should stay far away from Authority Figure angles, it has been a stain on wrestling for two decades now, and no one is ever going to approach Vince as a performer. If you need a Jack Tunney for an angle, give it to Arn or Bob Armstrong or something and just have them make pronouncements and don't have them do anything else.

-The six man tag was the best of the car crash matches on this show. It isn't really my thing, but the Bucks have clearly mastered that formula, and Jack Evans is still breathtaking to watch. If they did one of these matches a show it would work great, unfortunately that isn't what is going on.

What Didn't Work:

-God, is the ringwork on this show one note. Every match is worked at the same pace, with the same headdrops, 2.9 counts, dives and near falls. They need some fat guys, some mat workers, a couple of guys with good punches, anything to break this up.

-Why is Adam Page doing flips and dives? Isn't he your tough Cowboy character? A lariat does not need a fucking front flip. I liked Sammy faking a dive and instead slapping Page, but outside of that this was just white noise

-Why does your undercard women's match go 15 minutes with the same dramatic near falls as every other match. Is Shanna even part of the roster? If you have plans for Shida, why is her debut undercard squash worked like a main event title match. Outside of a couple of nice knees by Shida (and there were a bunch that looked bad too) the work didn't particularly move me, and there needs to be an agent telling people that they can't use up all of the tricks in every match.

-Why in god's name does your comedy squash have an insane headdrop finish? If your comedy guys are doing moves that look like they should lead to a stretcher job and six month hiatus what does that mean for your main eventers? Just insane escalation which is going to lead to someone breaking their neck trying to outdo the undercard. On the plus side, I think they may have tweaked the Orange Cassidy character enough to make it work for me, having those kicks be a taunt as opposed to something their opponent has to play along with, makes a big difference. The hands in the pocket tope stands out in a show with dozens of crazy dives. Shoot the Best Friends into the sun though.

- Fenix is really special to watch, on a show where everyone is working as some variation of his style, he still outshines them. I almost feel sorry for Kazarian and Scorpio, those guys are old, and they are still trying to work a gogo highspot style. Cut off the ring or something. No wonder Kazarian almost broke his neck on that rana to the floor, Vince Carter isn't still trying to thunder dunk every time he gets the ball. You guys are almost 40, work on a midrange jumper.

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Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 17: The Gauntlet

ER: So Vampiro has a split personality, but when does he find the time to apply all that grease paint and Spirit Superstore fake blood? What does he do with his XXL plaid shirts and bomber jackets when he is dark Vampiro?

MD: I'm more confused why the house band only knows La Bamba.

1. Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes

ER: Man, we see guys eat pump kicks with gunshot sound FX every damn week, and now one of those is enough to put down Muertes, just because he got hit with a flexible stick first? That's stupid as hell. I wanted this match, a match I was genuinely excited for once Callihan debuted with LU. At least somebody somewhere probably made a gif of Crane eating that shoulderblock in a loony way (Matt!! Make a gif out of Crane eating that shoulderblock!).

MD: Yep. This has been the match I've been looking forward to for weeks. Obviously, they'll go back to it at some point, but this was just a tease. As will become utterly evident in the next match, Muertes (and Matanza and to a lesser extent Pentagon) singles matches are a different beast than almost everything the promotion offers and there was a real chance here. Just not the time and the place. As always, however, I do like just how much is going on storyline wise. This match had a point in existing. The Catrina/Ivelisse/Crane stuff will continue (and loop back into Muertes at some point), but the direction now is Puma vs Mil.

And here's Eric's gif.

https://j.gifs.com/58YQZv.gif

ER: I don't know who Johnny Mundo's Stan is, but I like that Sexy Star clearly doesn't trust this guy...yet then gets excited because that same guy gives her a hat box with her name spelled out in serial killer magazine letters. "Oooooooooo someone left a present for meeeeeeee?" This is why you got kidnapped and molested for 6 months, Sexy Star. I'm now thinking Moth was just casually hanging out in his van and forgot he had left the sliding door open and Sexy Star just wandered inside, and he took it as a sign.

MD: I was just thinking how glad I was that they were moving off of Sexy Star and then we get this. Past the debut of the Holy Armlet of +2 Enhanced Aggression at the end, Stan's probably the best part of this episode. Just saying.

2. Jack Evans/PJ Black vs. Angelico/Son of Havoc

ER: Real shame, as this whole thing clearly fell apart right when Angelico torched his elbow on a nasty landing. Everything up to that point was really fun, the minute after the elbow injury was unfortunate and showed everybody nervously scrambling. The first 90 seconds of Evans/Angelico stuff felt like that first time you saw Low Ki/Red, just crazy Jackie Chan stunt fighting. I'm really liked Evans working as a Memphis stooge with actual break dancing ability. I have to imagine they had a lot of neat things planned in this that went right out the window with the injury. Although I'm kind of shocked how poorly everyone handled the injury, a lot of standing around awkwardly, then Evans slowly rolling Havoc in and hitting a slam, and then a sloppy phoenix splash. They couldn't have improvised anything better?

MD: This is a night of disappointment. When I saw that this was 2x2 my initial thought was that we'd get something with some real heat and the crowd would have something to react to. I knew it wouldn't be a full Southern tag, but it made sense that Havoc would get beaten on a bit and Angelico would get to have a hot tag. That's just how tag wrestling works. Was there an injury? Maybe, but I think what happened instead is this: they clipped it. We hear about this now and again, that a lot of the LU matches go longer than what we see, but rarely do I get a real sense of it. Here, I did. Striker went on about how they'd been beating on Havoc for a while, when he'd really just come in and then immediately went into his comeback with the neckjam back off the ropes. In a tag match, the heat is everything. That's not just southern tags either. It's lucha. It's 100% lucha, which is all about anticipation and payoff. You can't have any sort of payoff without building anticipation and that's the heat/beatdown. That's Lucha Underground in a nutshell; they'd cut out the absolute heart of a match in order to create a "good parts version" because they don't understand it's the heart. I don't know. Either I'm right or Eric's right, or we're both right which is probably a worst possible scenario.

ER: Oh dear, that Sexy Star acting. I wonder how many takes they have her go through, if they do some crazy Kubrick-esque 70 takes and just try to piece together the best parts of each one ransom note style, or if they just shoot one knowing it's not going to get any better. Her final clenched teeth ARRRRGHHHHH made me think of Sexy Star as Cathy, just looking at that sky high inbox and releasing a bad hair day ACK!

MD: I am increasingly getting a kick out of how people speak English to Sexy Star and she responds in Spanish. I cannot think of a situation in either real life or any other movie/TV show I've seen where that's happened as a commonplace thing that we're just supposed to accept as normal.

3. Cage vs. Texano

ER: I was pretty prepared to dislike this one as their other three matches have been mostly snoozefests, and after this match went less than three minutes I was ready to declare it the most pointless match series in wrestling history (even though I liked the finish of Cage being knocked loopy and busted open by the turnbuckle, just thought it came WAY too early). But then MF Dario comes out with one of his best promos, with several funny little riffs, and with Cage knocked loopy and bleeding we get match 5...RIGHT NOW. And then both guys finally break out against each other and since Dario made it anything goes, they do anything. I thought Texano looked awful in the "match 4" portion of this, constantly looking like he was thinking of the next move, major disconnect in his face and movements. And some of that is still present in "match 5" (like that weird spot where he takes a bump over the top, but just made it look like he ran at the ropes with the intention of bumping over them; nothing in his movements made it look like he was going to do a move to Cage, but Cage moved, just lazy set-up), but it mostly didn't matter as he took heavy knuckles right to Cage's cut and Cage started getting wild color. Cage totally owns this match, the guy is nuts. He hits a huge dive to the floor that Texano mostly whiffs on, landing Cage's face inches from the Temple steps. They brawl through the crowd and Cage takes a spinebuster on the bleachers (Texano had taken a suplex), and then an awesome backwards bump off the second level, and eats a heavy crossbody. Cage takes the awesome LU signature bump through the chairs, both guys stupidly eat chairshots, Cage lands his great discus lariat, and that screwdriver finisher is just nasty. We had to sit through 4 totally forgettable matches to get to the keeper, but hats off to them for having a keeper.

MD: I was thinking to myself (a common occurrence for this episode apparently) how rushed some things lately have been, like the debut of the Rabbit Tribe in a random match after weeks of promos, and likewise how drawn out this has been, three matches, plus a four man and interference in another. And lo and behold, they get the picture and take the thing home. Again, I hate being that guy but the blood sort of made this. It's so relatively rare in 2017 and even and especially in Lucha Underground, where there are so many situations where it might make sense that they don't actually go there. It's a basic truth of wrestling: less is more. If you hold something back, when you actually go to it, it means something. It made the fall of the fourth match completely believable. It made the relative peril that Cage was in for the start of the fifth match believable. When he fought back, it actually meant something, and all of that played into the escalation of the match, getting bigger and bigger right up until the Steiner Screwdriver which ended it. Boy were those chairshots stupid in 2017, though.

ER: LOVED the show ending meeting with Cage in Dario's office, with Cage getting presented with a black Power Glove (It's so bad!!!) and I just love the idea of Cage with a 2017 Lex Luger metal plate gimmick. I need to have him kill a couple of guys with heart punches and I will be officially over the moon. I also love how the case containing the glove was glowing whenever it was opened, as if it contained Marsellus Wallace's soul. Terrific segment.

MD: Wherever this is going, I hope there's lots of fake lightning.


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Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 15: En La Sombras

1. Killshot vs. Dante Fox vs. Mariposa vs. Jeremiah Crane

ER: I thought this was one of the more successful 4 way scrambles of the season. Participants don't always matter in these matches, as there's enough down time for everybody that people can be hidden. But layout is important and you need a traffic director, and people need to hit their stuff. It got a little kick-y and way too sound effects-y at one point (there's a spot down the home stretch where everybody is hitting a variety of kicks, back to back, and all of them have the exact same sound effect, so you were just getting that Slim Jim snap every two seconds), but this was a fun 10 minutes. Fox hit a bunch of rabid succession dives, and then Crane levels him with his awesome low tope. We get a ridiculous chair tower spot that leads to Mariposa throwing nasty chair shots at everyone, throwing chairs around like Necro Butcher, hitting guys at annoying angles with unfolded chairs, really fun bit of violence. Crane felt like he was running things in there, hanging back for the flip offense and always there to cut things off and keep it flowing. The postscript of the match was terrible though, with our final image being the continuing feud of Killshot/Fox, and Killshot hitting his finisher. And I still have zero clue what his finisher is supposed to be. He always just stomps both feet next to his opponent's head. Is it supposed to look like he's stomping the guy's face? Is it a bad bombs away? Whatever it is, no part of him makes any sort of contact with his opponent. Is the fear of another human being leaping high into the sky and *almost* landing on your face enough to paralyze one man long enough to get a 3 count? I'd probably be pretty rattled if I were lying around somewhere, and somebody almost landed on my face. So that's probably it. We'll go with that.

MD: I wanted to name this review: "Night of a Thousand Kicks." that's what this match felt like. In general, though, and this might just be me not watching a lot of super indy multimans and tags, I was really impressed by the complexity of the layout of this. There was a ton for these guys to keep track of and they did so pretty smoothly. I'm tempted to agree with Eric and give the credit for that to Crane. On the other hand, when you have this many strikes and kicks, none of them end up meaning anything. As much as I loved the image of the chairs (and it makes sense because Callihan's the world's best Ambrose), the unprotected shot meant nothing and was totally unnecessary. If you're going to do a spot like that, make it matter. On the other hand, Mariposa's shoulder blocks felt like they did matter because it was such a striking image to have the female in the match be the bully. They completely made it work and believable. Striker insinuating on commentary that insane Mariposa was somehow inspired, like the rest of America, by Sexy Star was pretty maddening though. And sure, if the shoulder blocks resonated, her tossing chairs around the ring absolutely did. She was a total bruiser in this match, even getting to finish the Tower of doom spot. I liked how frustrated she was in not winning the match too. Reactions like that are important in putting over the stakes. Killshot was generally as annoying as usual. Fox wasn't much better (and they're both all the worse for being neither heels nor faces; just being there). And yes, absolutely, on a show that's so heavily produced, why would they so clearly show us Killshot whiffing on his post-match finisher?

ER: There's not much worse than slo mo training in a dark gym to soft flamenco guitar plucking, and then finding a spider in your locker. Yucky! Luckily, that spider was in the locker of the woman who has overcome more than any woman in history.

MD: The Sexy Star thing wasn't so bad in 2x speed. She was hitting that bag super fast.

2. Kobra Moon vs. Drago

ER: Not a lot of LU matches end in a DQ, so I guess that makes this one noteworthy? According to Vampiro, Kobra Moon might not have any bones or cartilage, which I suppose could explain some of the clumsiness. I thought Drago looked quite good in the limited time we got; he did this single leg while shrugging her other leg over his body with his shoulder that looked smooth in a nice understated way. The smaller lizard person looks like Dirk Benedict at the end of Sssssss ("Don't say it, hiss it!").

MD: I'm thinking they should probably have done this over a span of three weeks right? Lizard guy one could debut after a normal Drago squash and look good in the debut. The next week, the trios champs could run him off. Then Lizard Kane could show up on week 3? That would have made everyone look stronger. This way Lizard Kane (did they have to give him both the Chokeslam AND the Tombstone?) was the only one who really got over. Drago's trip-based offense looked better than Angelico's trip based offense later in the night at least. His Dominator was brutal. I can't believe they let Ron Simmons do that week in and week out in 1996.

ER: Sexy Star has shown more anger and passion over this spider in her locker than she showed following her six months as a kidnapped slave. I'm starting to think Sexy Star is really bad at this.

MD: Hey, they made the Iron Fist hallway fight look good. Is this the first real time we've heard Mariposa speak? That's a mistake.

3. Jack Evans vs. PJ Black vs. Son of Havoc vs. Angelico

ER: This was quite the worst of stupid multiman spots, with tons of really bad set ups for moves that didn't look great anyway. PJ Black standing bent at the waist holding Angelico's waistband for an eternity, just to set up Havoc doing a double stomp, was a microcosm of this match. But it did peak with a legitimately holy shit spot with Angelico superplexing Jack Evans off the buckles to the floor. He clearly went over PJ/Havoc and took a full superplex all the way to the floor. Crazy, insane spot, taken by an insane man. But it was fine, as Jack was back in the ring for the finish no less than 15 seconds later. Very little to love about this match.

MD: In theory, I kind of liked that they switched up the way the match was laid out compared to the other multimans and made it a bit more of a 2 vs 2 thing. In practice, they didn't lean hard enough into it. Angelico/Havoc/Ivelisse had a real connection with the crowd. They could have done more with that. I don't think this was necessary worse than some of the other Bulls matches with the contrived set ups, but when you add in the lack of (narrative) impact everything had, it was pretty grating. I liked when they dumped Havoc out of the ring and that did set up an Angelico vs the World bit, but the bit itself was so bad that it didn't really earn any lasting goodwill. And hey, Angelico looks like a putz after they set up his return.

ER: This, right here, was a bad episode of professional wrestling.

MD: I'd call it more middling. That first multiman, while not necessarily a good professional wrestling match, was at least an impressive spectacle.

ER: I will compromise and say, "This, right here, was not a good episode of professional wrestling."


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2015 Ongoing Match of the Year List

17. Young Bucks v. Angelico/Jack Evans PWG 7/24

PAS: I am really rating this as a whole segment. Ricochet and Tozawa are hugging after their wank off of a match, and Super Dragon comes from the back and starts killing folks, the Young Bucks come out in Super Dragon masks and the three of them lay waste to the entire locker room. Super Dragon especially kills Candace LaRae including curb stomping her on the bottom turnbuckle which is just horrific looking. All three guys are hateble dicks. Finally Evans and Angelico make the save with some big dives and we have a balls to the wall spotfest tag. I imagine if I watched a lot of Young Bucks matches I would get tired of their shtick, but it is fun in small doses, and Jack Evans just takes a huge asskicking. Didn't out stay it's welcome (Hero v. Bailey earlier on the show went 5 near falls and 6 minutes too long) kept it moving and had plenty of high points.

ER: Well this is pretty much the spotfest of the year. This is just absurd, at times flat out impossible wrestling. This whole segment was outstanding, with Super Dragon destroying everybody while the Bucks wait for them to feed out of the entrance way. Reminded me of the big coliseum scene in Gladiator where all the captives are shoved into the battle arena and one gladiator is just waiting at the entranceway to blindside them. The abuse LaRae takes is borderline uncomfortable, and Super Dragon basks in the discomfort. And the beatings just continue, and continue, and that's what makes the Evans and Angelico entrances so great, as they rush out and separately fling themselves into the attackers. Angelico especially just launches himself past the rinpost and into the crowd. The Reseda venue adds TONS to a match like this, as the crowd is just directly in the way of everything at all times, and this match featured guys constantly flying into the crowd in dangerous and spectacular ways. Some of the double teams in this are just.....I have no idea how they came up with them. I'm not even going to begin to describe them, but there were so many strange "I'm holding this guy and then another guy jumps off of me into a shooting star and then I do a 450 while holding this guy" and it's incredible that nobody broke their neck. Sometimes I think they're setting up one insane spot and then they take it a whole different direction ("oh, obviously Evans is going to springboard onto his partner's back while Matt is holding Angelico in a samoan drop.....wait Evans did that and then moonsaulted from Angelico's back to the floor!?!?"). Guys fly in and out of frame, you get every flying move you could possibly desire, done from the top to the floor, done springboard style, men fly into fans, through chairs, and the whole thing is a flat out sprint from beginning to end. This is the match you show to your friends who don't care about one bit about pro wrestling, and then watch them lose their shit the entire time. Just unreal.


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Lucha Underground Season 2 Episode 10: El Jefe is Back

ER: Weird that Striker didn't point out that Chingon is Robert Rodriguez's band. You'd think he'd have all sorts of face slap worthy facts to spout. But I really liked Dario back in the temple, and liked him telling Pentagon that maybe he wasn't "champion material". Pentagon's reaction was understandable, but check out Cueto's awesome instincts when he clutches his arm in tight to his waist to try and prevent Pentagon from breaking it. How many times have you see wrestlers lock on something like a surfboard, and the wrestler taking the move willingly goes along with the sequence and just holds his arms up for his opponent? And here's a non wrestler who gets it.

1. Taya & Johnny Mundo vs. Mr. Cisco & Cortez Castro

ER: This seemed like a match long internal battle wherein Mundo tried to throw the worst clothesline possible. Castro had a nice kick on Taya to start, and then he had some meh kicks the rest of the match. Cisco had some nice moments with Mundo, really dug his big punch. Taya isn't that good when she's not taking big spills, her timing is all wonky and her moveset is loose. If we're going on the sliding Sexy Star scale then she's excellent. But in these matches she's not much. And why the hell were they already hinting at a "feuding tag partners" thing with Taya/Mundo. We don't even know who she is or why they're teaming, just that they've been affiliated since her debut. And now in their first actual tag together he's tagging himself in and stealing pinfalls. It seems like they not only skipped a few steps, but skipped steps to get to an angle nobody would want to see.

PAS: I like Taya's look and I think she fits well with Mundo as a pair of sleazy heel crossfit trainers, but she is really tentative and off looking in the ring. She takes huge bumps, she should probably just be a Sherri Martel like valet, not everyone has to be a wrestler. Mr. Cisco is my favorite under the radar guy in this fed, just so fun to watch.

ER: Man, Marty the Moth has a wildly punchable shitty face. He's like the Mark Teixera of LU. And look at that, we see Mariposa in action beating up unknown luchadors in suits. Hey good idea, guys!! Showing debuting workers beating up random luchadors is LU's "We know who that is!!!"

ER: I still don't know how they haven't gotten any bourbon or scotch companies to sign up as LU sponsors. Cueto would be so great at wedging the brand name into the sketches. "Oh Catrina, I didn't see you there. I was lost in my...Woodford Reserve" (Dario looks at camera before Catrina quickly turns his head toward her).

2. Elimination Match: Ivelisse, Angelico & Son of Havoc vs. Disciples of Death

ER: Oh god these scrubs are still around? Were there only two trios teams at this set of tapings? The gold one takes a cool fast bump through the ropes to the floor. Is that Argenis? He jumped into Angelico's flying knee nicely as well. The purple one was decidedly worse than the gold one. I think he fell over before even being hit by an Angelico flip dive. Angelico had a bunch of cool stuff throughout, dug his run up the apron, jump to inside middle rope knee. His knees usually look cool, though, so this isn't news. Son of Havoc's body presses land pillowy soft but damn him hopping on two DOD members off the top rope was neat. And then his two topes were the first time the match really felt any sort of real excitement or energy. What is the point of DOD again? Also, I assumed at the beginning of the season that they were building to a "Catrina loses her wig" spot, but now I'm pretty sure that she's too serious for that to happen. But it's getting really distracting seeing her holding onto her hair every time she has to take a bump.

PAS: Yeah there were occasional moments from the DoD but man what a nothing group they are. They need to cut bait on these guys, I like the idea of Muertes and Catrina having lackeys, but they need cool costumes and way better wrestlers under them, and they need to be built strong, not like goofball jobber scrubs. I liked Angelico in this too, can't believe he has turned into a wrestler I don't mind watching, his early IWRG days were a tire fire.

3. Sexy Star vs. Mariposa

ER: What the fuck was the point of this? So Moth and Mariposa held Sexy Star captive for some time, then we don't really hear about any of it, and then they just fight with no real build up, both women look bad, and then the match ends. It was mercifully short, but this feud and the Mariposa character are DOA. This violent kidnapper with her savage creep brother just kind of throws some goofy ass stomach punches and whiffs on a sloppy moonsault, while Sexy Star just does a bunch of bad rope running. This was all embarrassing.

PAS: I kind of like Marty the Moth, he is a total sleaze, but Sexy Star is a black hole of interest. Also I feel a little weird about them pushing her as this feminist hero the whole first season, only to have her kidnapped and presumably sexually abused in between seasons. Whole thing just rubs me the wrong way.

4. Pentagon Jr. vs. Matanza

ER:  Boy Matanza (btw "Matanza Cueto" sounds realllllly stupid. Let's just keep the monster on a first name basis, shall we?) is going to be a real tough character to book going forward. Will fans respond to a character in 2016 who sells no offense from anybody? Will he just operate at an untouchable level above every other worker? They have to create a weakness for him at some point, but what will it be without being something silly like Undertaker's urn? Are we going to have somebody melt down Dario's key to harness Matanza's powers? Cobb is a beast and his deadlift throws are awesome, we get our NOAH rail ride/LU guy tossed through chairs spot that I love, but I could see the Matanza character getting real difficult real fast.

PAS: It might be the end of great main event matches, but I thought that was a pretty impressive one sided beat down. Pentagon Jr. will be back I assume and this sure as heck gives him a incentive to come back strong. I liked Pentagon Jr. using the X arm signal, often that Russo break kayfabe stuff irritates me, but here it looked like a guy who was afraid for his life.

ER: Pretty flat episode after some very good ones. Maybe we need that breather episode so we don't get too spoiled. Or something. Dario's segments were a welcome return on this show, and that's really the only thing that kept this episode from being completely terrible. The Sexy Star feud would be a dud even if it was not Sexy Star in the feud, and the Disciples of Death still appearing on TV in any capacity - let alone still competing in matches where Striker talks about how evil they are - is a head scratcher. Famous B wouldn't even give these assholes his card. If anything though the episode set up a couple of future stories that could pay off down the road, with a new trios tournament and Vampiro potentially bringing back Monster Pentagon. But we shall see.


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Lucha Underground Season 2 Episode 8: Life After Death

ER: Dammmmn Fenix and Catrina bring the sensuality, with tender arm caressing and neck touching and gentle tear wiping. I bought in. You can't fake upper arm caressing or waist touching. Shit's real.

1. Ivelisse, Angelico & Son of Havoc vs. Disciples of Death

ER: We get another major stipulation literally mentioned as an afterthought, as Melissa Santos does ring intros and as she's exiting the ring goes "Oh, the team of Ivelisse, Angelico and Son of Havoc have agreed to leave the temple forever if they lose." Oh. Okay! It immediately telegraphs the ending, although it would have been quite the hilarious boner if it hadn't. I mean, they hadn't wrestled on TV in a month, and I can't think of a more last minute way to announce a major stip like being gone FOREVER, so by doing that either you immediately reveal the result (which is what happened),  or you treat a major stip - again - like an afterthought. So stupidity aside, and it was stupid, the match was fun. Short and rather inconsequential, but fun. Disciples of Death are second only to Sexy Star in terms of Striker's commentary not ever matching up to anything we've ever seen. "This team is hate personified" "Don't be alarmed by their violence" This is a team who has beaten Pimpi teaming with a mini, lost to Puma/Pentagon without ever even having an advantage despite them being on the privileged side of a handicap, and then got handily beaten here. This is not a team anybody is scared of. Billy Zabka's skeleton gang looked far more menacing biking after Ralph Macchio. They aren't violent, they don't wrestle any bit out of the ordinary. They have never, ever looked threatening. Nothing at all about them is "the embodiment of pure evil". One of them did a really nasty stretch muffler on Ivelisse. That, I liked. Your tecnicos all looked good with Ivelisse standing out, as she has better facials than the other members of her team it's easier for her to make stuff more meaningful.

PAS: This was fine, the Ivelisse, Angelico, Havoc team have turned into a consistently entertaining act. Ivelisse is by far the best in ring female act in the fed and has been able to make the otherwise terrible mixed matches tolerable. The Disciples of Death are such goobers, a total zero. I like the idea of Muretes having a group of evil henchmen, but if you put jobbers like Ricky Mandel and Argenis under spooky masks you just have masked jobbers, and every time they wrestled they felt like that. I hope this is the end of this concept.

2. Bullrope Match: Chavo Guerrero vs. Texano

ER: This was a weird culmination of a pretty bad, very rushed feud. A few weeks ago Texano dominated a 3 on 1 handicap match and lost due to cheating. That kind of thing tends to lead to a cage match or something, but he's a whipmaster so for whatever reason it leads to a bullrope match. I guess that's his special match? They do a decent job, but this whole feud was dead out of the gates anyway, and a bullrope match doesn't tend to be a good visually violent match. I'm sure getting smacked with a thick rope hurts like hell, but it's a violence that hurts more the next day than to the TV audience watching at home. Still, this had moments. Chavo was effective getting yanked around by the rope, off the top, splitting his uprights; Texano took a nice spill through the ringside chairs, and spills through ringside chairs have officially become their version of a NOAH rail ride or a WWE ring steps bump. I like it. The chairs bump is the best of the three as you get tons of motion, like getting tossed into a swimming pool but you get rows of chairs rocking and sprawling. So yeah, okay enough match for what it was, and hopefully the feud is over. Texano has really been quite the muffled fart in LU so far.

PAS: I like Chavo, and I think he has had some nice character moments in this fed but he hasn't really delivered a great match, this was the closest to a good match, as there was some nice violence, but this could have used some blood or a bit more ferocity. I would have no problem if we never see Texano again.

ER: Muertes finally dispatches the Disciples of Death (at least two of them), flipping out and chucking them all around the locker room. I mean that's what happens when you summon a trio of jobbers from the netherrealm. You don't have Hogan recruit Joey Maggs and Frankie Lancaster to do his bidding.

3. Fenix vs. Mil Muertes

ER: Great great big match feel from the guy who has been probably the best big match worker of the last year plus. These guys both know how to read the room and that's important in a big match epic. It's not that far removed from just doing heatless spots in a questionable order. But this whole thing built and Fenix was really able to bring the fight to Muertes the Insatiable. Muertes would stomp him down and pound him through the mat but Fenix was so great in the struggle, so great at fighting back and surviving. Once masks started getting ripped you knew this shit was heating up. That's a thing we've seen a lot in actual lucha, but I don't believe that's a road they've traveled down in LU, as right when Mil started ripping into Fenix's mask it had an Oh Shit feel to it...and once Fenix started ripping Mil's mask it had an OHHH SHIIIIIIT feel to it. Once Muertes spears the shit out of Fenix off the apron things really start to feel real, and as they brawl through the crowd and the bloodied up Fenix is rubbing through people, Muertes just ups the ante by awesomely shoving Fenix into the crowd as he's running towards him on the rail. That was not what I was expecting. Just a bullying, tossed off shove right into the crowd. The fans help Fenix back, and the lunatic runs right back onto that rail, launching himself at the farthest point right into Muertes on the floor. Muertes gets pissed and back in we get nastiness like a DDT off the top rope and a vicious urunage. You haven't seen a urunage this awesome since grumpy old man Hiroshi Hase wrestled a trainee. But Fenix keeps fighting, and just when he's down that's when he sneaks in a superkick, or a rabbit punch, tricking Mil into punching a chair, just annoying Muertes with his mere survival. I was not actually seeing his victory coming. I was looking forward to a long Muertes reign, just a dominant monster on top of his throne. Fenix getting the win was a big surprise and a nice moment, but now I'm wondering what the angry godlord is going to do to get his title back. There's something special about not just an epic, but a main event epic, and this totally delivered.

PAS: This was a killer match, that is three great matches this pair of guys had in 2015. I am pretty sure Fenix got his mask ripped in Grave Consequences too, but Fenix tearing Muertes's mask and blooding him up was a great moment. Fenix is awesome at throwing in crazy highspots in ways that fit in perfectly,  there are a lot of guys in LU who do cool shit, no one makes it matter as much as him. Muertes is so great, he is maybe the best guy at working at vulnerable monster since Vader (Brock is great, but I think I would take Muertes over him.) Great overcoming the odds victory, which makes the goofy post match a little worse, they should have let the victory soak in a bit.

ER: They announce that Aztec Warfare is now for Fenix's just won title, and Fenix is now the #1 entrant, and Mil is now the #20 entrant. That kind of stuff is starting to feel way too overdone and "The Authority" when I'd rather just see Mil murder somebody. We'll see how that works, but this show was mostly a win, and you can argue with that main event it was a major win. And this show needed a win after the last few weeks.

PAS: I totally agree, that kind of stuff is very bush league heel authority figure stuff. This fed is at its best when it does its own thing, and there is no need to book like a tossed off RAW episode. This is the same instinct that brings in guys like PJ Black, and it isn't a good one.


***Muertes/Fenix is an easy add to our 2015 Ongoing MOTY List, because apparently every time these dudes match up it manages to be completely great***


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