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AEW 2026: Year Seven

Any time Deonna has been on TV she's done nothing for me. I think AEW has a pretty good cast of women that are regularly featured on TV. Are there as many as on WWE? I don't know because I don't watch that shit, but probably not. However, There's only so much TV time to go around and I don't think AEW is wrong to focus more heavily on the men.

Any time a female act catches on in AEW like Toni, Mercedes, Harley or further back Brit then the company has shown they're willing to give them lots of TV time. There is sometimes a problem of "sink or swim" in the company but at the same time people have gone done to ROH and come back up with new gimmicks or fine-tuned themselves.

I'll never understand anyone who think the women are booked terribly in AEW tbh. The point of any division is to create stars and Toni Storm is possibly the biggest star AEW has created. You can't give everyone equal time and parity. They prioritize Toni, Mercedes, Willow, Harley, and a few others and generally they've been successful getting them over.
 
I think it's valid to be disappointed in the lack of TV time but the women's division is usually booked quite well these days. It just is a shame that they can't devote more time to everyone because it's hard to get over when you are either being fed to the champion or just show up intermittently. Like Thunder Rosa coming back should be a big deal but it just feels like another return that won't get follow up in a few weeks. There's great booking to be had for everyone but the TV time is a killer, and you can't blame TK for that, necessarily.
 
So I watched Grand Slam and it was fine, usual issues that I have.

Then I decided to start watching Dynamite...

...when did the format change to having backstage interviews shot in a "reality" style? Grainier video, actual wrestling promos, etc.? I'm digging it.
 
cobainwasmurdered said:
Any time Deonna has been on TV she's done nothing for me. I think AEW has a pretty good cast of women that are regularly featured on TV. Are there as many as on WWE? I don't know because I don't watch that shit, but probably not. However, There's only so much TV time to go around and I don't think AEW is wrong to focus more heavily on the men.

Any time a female act catches on in AEW like Toni, Mercedes, Harley or further back Brit then the company has shown they're willing to give them lots of TV time. There is sometimes a problem of "sink or swim" in the company but at the same time people have gone done to ROH and come back up with new gimmicks or fine-tuned themselves.

I'll never understand anyone who think the women are booked terribly in AEW tbh. The point of any division is to create stars and Toni Storm is possibly the biggest star AEW has created. You can't give everyone equal time and parity. They prioritize Toni, Mercedes, Willow, Harley, and a few others and generally they've been successful getting them over.
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There's also a bizarre sect of fans online who think the women who've been there longest (Julia, Anna, Tay) should be the top stars even though they take no indy bookings to improve and are still pretty green in the ring.
 
strummer said:
did not know the Bucks younger brother was a wrestler.
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The short-lived poster Dr. Funkenstein, who I recruited here and was improperly banned, had some sort of Facebook plan to harass Malachi Massie over his conservative Christian posts. I don't remember the details because it was 15-16 years ago and the board where he was explaining his hijinks has been deleted but this was around the time Dr. Funk would befriend indie wrestlers on there and then post gay porn on their pages; not sure if it ever got to that point with the Bonus Buck.
 
after years of just taping on pre and post shows, ROH will begin doing tapings from a studio in Jacksonville. It’ll be a positive step for the brand to perform in front of a steady local audience rather than a mostly empty random music hall.
 
I still think that Tony should run bi-weekly ROH shows and tape a pair of 60-minute episodes each time. Fill in the space with promos, angles, etc.

The classic ROH era had VideoWire specials to hype the next card that could have, and should have, been what the TV product was.
 
Alright. Alright.

After Grand Slam, the following Dynamite, and this past Collision? I can kinda see why people like Takeshita. He still needs to ditch some of the generic modern tropes (which I've seen less of over the last three viewings, thankfully), but when he's working hard he's not bad.

That finish is mint, too. Always loved the Falcon Arrow, and the Raging Fire is a nice and snappy version of it.
 
“Billie Starkz has been wrestling since she was A MIIIINOOOOOOOOOOOR”
 
I completely understand that people dislike Mauro (trust me, I get it) but I do like listening to him once in awhile. AEW bringing him on full time might be a bit much but keeping him on ROH and occasionally doing a Dynamite or Collision would be optimal use of him.
 
The ever so slight chance of 2026 JR calling a match with Mauro is enough to make me ill
 
Speaking of announcers, do we know why Nigel has been off Collision the past three weeks?
 
dubq said:
There's also a bizarre sect of fans online who think the women who've been there longest (Julia, Anna, Tay) should be the top stars even though they take no indy bookings to improve and are still pretty green in the ring.
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In my case, it's less me thinking that Julia should be "on top" (which I don't believe at all) and more a combination of a) I'm simply not impressed by Thekla, and b) I'm amused by the parallels that I see between ToM and NOD, except that Thekla ain't no Rock.
 
So Julia has not been lapped? Because as a big Skye Blue supporter there's no way Thekla isn't the right call if one is made.
 
Only thing about Thekla I don't like is that her finish is the spear. She's too small for that move and it looked really silly against Statlander whenever she hit it. She needs a new finish. I do like her in the ring, and she has an it factor that Julia doesn't have. I like her promos too, and she carries herself really well in the off wrestling irl interviews I've seen her give. She has an aura and cool factor that the likes of Kris Statlander, Jamie Hayter, Julia Hart, TayJay, and some of the other longer tenured women do not have imo.

I do think Skye Blue has a bunch of potential and has gotten pretty good. Still only 26, so I wonder how good she will be in a year or two.
 
Valeyard said:
The ever so slight chance of 2026 JR calling a match with Mauro is enough to make me ill
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If there is one way to get me to stop watching AEW it is to have Mauro on it. I stopped watching Collision when Kevin Kelly was on. I can't do wrestling with bad commentary anymore and Mauro is the worst.
 
Honestly, I usually watch a bunch of wrestling with music on in the background. I'm pretty weird, but it makes it easy to avoid commentators I can't stand.
 
Brocklock said:
Honestly, I usually watch a bunch of wrestling with music on in the background. I'm pretty weird, but it makes it easy to avoid commentators I can't stand.
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I do that sometimes especially with Puro but with AEW I really like Danielson, Nigel, etc so it would be hard to do that. It would feel weird to change.
 
cobainwasmurdered said:
I do that sometimes especially with Puro but with AEW I really like Danielson, Nigel, etc so it would be hard to do that. It would feel weird to change.
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I've been doing it to Michael Cole for like 18 years lol. But yeah, at this point I really like every announcer and Excalibur is one of my favorite Color guys ever probably tbh. I still enjoy Tony S even. I know he's basically a soundboard at this point and just says everything is great, but I like the kind but surly grandpa vibe he brings.
 
Tony's great because he sounds like he's having fun and genuinely loves his job. He's crusty but he is clearly enjoying his second career and that makes the shows much better for me. It's like introducing an older relative to what you're into and they fall in love with it. JR meanwhile is the opposite of that and kills the joy.

Mauro is just a fucking idiot who smothers everything under the weight of his own enthusiasm. Absolutely has ruined matches in a way so unique that he should be a cautionary example for anyone wanting to get into the business
 
I don't want it to catch on but "(X number") MORE TABLES" as a countdown chant in a match where they've broken like 20 was fun as a one off.
 
the injury luck continues in rasslin with Penelope Ford getting a ankle injury in the match last night, unclear how severe it is as of now.
 
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