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Rob from Texas,
The opening promo by Copeland was a strange way to start the show to me. The fact that the audience didn’t seem to know exactly what Copeland was referring to and had a quiet reaction to the start of the promo (after the mic issues) is actually a nice reminder that we don’t all live on twitter listening to shoot interviews.
Overall all the matches were pretty good on the show. I’m always happy to see North Texas native Lance Archer get TV time. Against Danielson no less. Archer has always seemed to me like he could be a good fit for the Blackpool Combat Club as a physical, violent wrestler.
Great show, Copeland’s promo was wonderful. Non-defensive in defence of AEW, and genuine.
I am enjoying seeing talents get the mic, this show seemed to have a bit promo and helped make Willow more defined as a character.
Swerve and Joe segment was amazing.I’m glad Trent finally turned, it’s much needed. Mae and Rosa had a good match and I’m looking forward to seeing Rosa and Toni at Dynasty.
I watched Punk’s interview, and I felt he was candid without being totally scorched earth, most of the media pick-up I’ve seen has over-amplified it all of course, so I see why AEW had Adam Copeland out to address directly/indirectly.
Re: WWE x Netflix, the interview snippet you posted in the story, is what I thought was key in making the deal. WWE, historically handles their own production, but they also developed the Network, and that infrastructure positions them uniquely to serve content without needing any production investment from a streaming partner. More so than any broadcast network, like NBC or FOX, Netflix gives WWE global reach with less content restrictions and gatekeeping. SmackDown moving back to NBC/USA seems like a money deal, and also to keep a presence in a broadcast space.
In contrast, for AEW, and I am not saying they should already have all of this built, but it’s an impediment in serving their audiences, and hinders their options in partner shopping when it’s time for them to negotiate.
Andrew from Cape Breton
I liked the rah-rah speech at the start of the show. The CM Punk stuff has been litigated to death and it felt like AEW wanted to move on from everything. I also like AEW-style rah-rah speeches, compared to WWE ones where poor Titus O’Neil is thrown out there to talk about how non-political WWE is. The show again is good. Despite the weird criticism, every match had a story and built towards the pay-per-view and that Willow promo showed why she might be one of the best babyfaces in wrestling. I was enjoying the Billy Gunn/Jay White match until it started to go a bit long and ended in a DQ. But the crowd loved it. I can’t say that was the case for Chris Jericho, who seems to be getting the dreaded “X-Pac Heat” at this point in his career. It’s sad. Jericho was one of the biggest stars in wrestling history, and unlike the many old guys in AEW, his career seems to be ending with a whimper. He needs to be off television, for his own good.
Kurtis from the 519 -
After attending Collision this past Saturday, I thought this was another good output by AEW, in a year that has been filled with them. While not their greatest show ever by any means, AEW has been on a role of good TV to kick off 2024.
The Copeland promo was a great reminder of how good he can be on the mic, and really set a nice tone for the evening. With that being said I think AEW needs to hush a little about how great they are and continue to show fans how good they are. I don’t need the Blue Jays to constantly remind me how bad they are, I just watch the product and figure that out for myself. I think AEW needs to follow a similar idea of don’t tell me how great the product is, show me.
I have many thoughts on the Jay White/Billy Gunn match but in short, absolutely embarrassing booking. What should have been a ass kicking by Jay turned into a shit show of a match. I am sure Wai will have lots to say about this
Question; Typically around this time of year AEW begins the build to their Summer Blood and Guts match. There is no obvious factions/feuds for this match as we speak. Do you think AEW begins a build for another summer B&G or do they save the match for when the feud calls for it rather than meet a yearly quota IE the Hell in a Cell PPV. I could see maybe a BCC vs CMLL feud peaking there but outside of that there is no obvious direction towards that match
A rather ups-and-downs episode. Copeland’s rallying promo was strong (despite it reeking of damage control). The wrestling was reliably good. Willow’s promo was very good and is AEW gonna hold out on Mercy’s first match until Vegas? I’d like to think she’d work a match prior to Double or Nothing because if she’s gonna cut promos for weeks, it’s gonna get old fast.
Jay White is stuck in midcard hell. The Acclaimed are pretty cold as an act.
Really loved Willow’s promo.
Good luck to everyone who plans on watching as much wrestling as they can this week.
I’ve just finished watching Tournament Of Breath which saw Speedball Mike Bailey lose 3 consecutive matches.
Which performers do you guys have your eyes on this week?
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Dynamite in 2024, but this wasn’t a great episode. The Edge promo with the background of the cuts felt dissonant, especially since it was designed as a retort to Punk, Didn’t care for much outside the opening match and Willow’s promo. The closing angle made Joe look a badass but I was made to cringe by his Diddy line which trivialised the trauma of others and was in poor taste.