What did you think of Road Rager?
We’ll be discussing the show as well as the Vince McMahon story on Rewind-A-Dynamite.
While it was great to have Ospreay and Tanahashi in such high profile spots on American television, I feel as though this episode raised as many questions about Forbidden Door as it answered, which is an odd position to be in eleven days out from the PPV. Is Okada legitimately not going to be on the show? Is ZSJ/Danielson still in the works? What were Archer and Despy doing on the show if they had no match to be announced for? It feels a bit petty to be complaining about there being too many open possibilities remaining on an inter-promotional dream card, let alone after an episode which had two four-star matches, but it would be nice to give these matches time to percolate via the great sit-down and video package treatments AEW is capable of putting together.
(Also, sign Willow Nightingale, Tony. She’s as natural and likable a babyface as you’ll find.)
Noah from Vaughan
From an in ring perspective I thought the show tonight had 3 really great matches (Opener, Dax vs Will and the ladder match) and sammy/tay joining the JAS makes perfect sense
Super excited to see Christian turn heel and the young bucks holding the tag titles once again.
Ospreay vs Orange Cassidy is a match I never thought about before tonight but im super looking forward to it.
8.5/10 show tonight
Dax Harwood should be in the conversation for every “Wrestler of the Year” list but I have a feeling that he won’t get the praise he deserves because he’s normally a tag wrestler. He does not miss and the match with Ospreay was just one more in an amazing run.
Both the Guevara and Christian turns worked for me- Sammy got fed up with the Inner Circle but never had a huge falling out with Jericho, and Christian ditching JE after they lose the belts makes more sense than having him betray them while they were on top. He looks like a sleazy opportunist, having first attached himself when JB became the #1 title contender against Omega.
I’m guessing that we’re getting Danielson vs Jay White at Forbidden Door, since that’s the biggest match available to them, although I’d still love to see Danielson vs ZSJ. From what I can see, I think I’m the only person who was pretty certain the “Okada isn’t coming to Forbidden Door” was a work. Is there any word that he’s injured?
Harwood/Ospreay was the match of the night until Bucks/Jurassic Express blew it out of the water (unlike Julia Hart, the Christian heel turn came at the right time). The hair vs hair match got me good with the false finishes (I knew it was Guevara under the Fuego Del Sol mask) and the build for Forbidden Door could’ve been handled better.
I haven’t seen any news regarding ZSJ/Danielson or even Okada making the trip.
Khan’s jam-packing habit reared its head at the expense of Moxley/Tanahashi and I wasn’t keen about the six-man tag being announced during the segment.
P.S. Storm/Baker being done so soon after the Owen cup does reek of 50/50 booking.