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AEW Year 2, Thread One

geniusMoment

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So Shaq not being in the ambulance ties into something else tonight right?
 

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Sooo...Any guesses as to who is being introduced on Sunday? My money is on Kurt Angle.
 

geniusMoment

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Sooo...Any guesses as to who is being introduced on Sunday? My money is on Kurt Angle.
I don't have a clue who would be available that would be worth signing. They already have so many old guys that even someone with value like Angle wouldn't make a ton of sense to me. You don't want to be seen as the old timer league.

The obvious names are Angle, Mark Henry or RVD. But, I doubt it's any of them.

Not sure of her contract situation but someone like Mickie James would certainly help their women's division. Lita would be the bigger name, but probably less useful after one match.

If they are doing an entirely new announce team for their 2nd TNT show I could see either Joey Styles as the PBP guy or Jerry Lawler as Color.
 

Big Beard Booty Daddy

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I was very impressed with opening tag match. I expected them to use smoke and mirrors so Shaq didn't look bad, but he went all in. He did a great job with the limited time he was in there. His chops were great, his tribute to Brodie before his great powerbomb was awesome, and he took a damn table spot! I liked that they gave a majority of the match to the women and they didn't disappoint. Jade is obviously green, but she didn't shit the bed, and Red Velvet who has shown that she's good, did a good job helping Jade. It was everything it should have been, and was just fun.

The 6 man tag was great fun, too, and Marko was used very well. He didn't get a lot of time, but when he was in there was used the way he should be. Tully looked great, and having JJ Dillion added to it. Jungle Boy and Luchasauras both looked really good.

The Moxley/Omega video was great. I loved that they not only got the footage they needed, but they have Onita on national TV!

The rest of the show was easy to get through and the matches were good. The only thing I hated was they go to the back to check on Shaq in the ambulance, he isn't in there and then we get zero follow up the rest of the show. Why not have something running throughout the show to keep people tuning in for him to see how he is?

There are going to be 2 big surprises Sunday. The big signing that Paul White announced and the 6th man in the ladder match. I've been thinking Ethan Page as the 6th man since it was announced, but I can't even think of who the other signing is. If it's not a huge name, it'll be a let down. Paul said it's not who we think, and most people think Punk, so that could mean it's not him. Who else would make a splash? At least it keeps fans talking about them over the weekend, which is a big thing.
 

RedJed

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The only qualm I had with the show was that I thought perhaps the mixed tag and the main event should have been flipped around in placement on the card instead. Otherwise not too much on the negative to say about that show last night. The Revolution qualifying match was probably the most disjointed match of the show.
 

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I don’t normally go against the grain this much, but that show did nothing for me last night. You’re trying to sell a PPV that’s coming this weekend, you theoretically have some new viewers checking you out to see Shaq, and the guys in the main event are nowhere to be seen other than one short pre-taped video package in the middle of the show?

Was this really the night to be trotting out 67-year-old Tully Blanchard and 78-year-old JJ Dillon? That was a fun segment for long-time fans, but you aren’t hooking any new viewers with that.

Your go-home segment is a midcard tag team match that ends with an overcrowded brawl and an 8-year-old kid in a mask wandering around the stage aimlessly as you go off the air?

I don’t expect Inside the NBA to maintain wrestling kayfabe, but if Shaq shows up in the studio tonight as if nothing happened, WTF was the point of him “disappearing” and then never being mentioned?

One week you celebrate Rey Fenix as the Observer flying wrestler of the year, this week, he gets a 70-second tag match? Let him do his thing!

I don’t know. I really liked the opening match and the Inner Circle/Bucks segment, but so much of this show just seemed like a wasted opportunity.
 

geniusMoment

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The last segment not being some super hot segment involving Omega-Mox is incredibly puzzling to me. Other than that I liked the show.
 

geniusMoment

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Well, sounds like it's not going to be a woman:

“That brings me to our other announcement. Last night, Paul Wight told you that you’re not going to be the only one with the scoops around here anymore, and he’s gonna break some scoops too,” Khan said. “He told the world, and it’s true that there’s going to be a big star signed with AEW. And he’s coming here, and it’s absolutely true what Paul said.

“This Sunday a major star in the world of wrestling, a huge, huge star is going to come and sign a multi-year contract with AEW on Sunday at the pay-per-view. I can confirm what Paul said is true, and I’m not talking about the person in the ladder match. We have a great, fun sixth person in the ladder match, but the person who I’m saying is going to come and sign a multi-year contract with AEW, the person Paul referenced, that’s not the sixth person in the ladder match. Paul’s talking about a big surprise, and that’s that’s no joke. What he said to you I can confirm is true.”
 

King Kamala

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Is Angle really a "huge, huge star" in 2021 though? Don't get me wrong. He's one of the best North American wrestlers of the past 20 years but his last WWE run proved he is absolutely cooked. Like he's not even on level of Big Show where I could see him having a couple matches of year. And unlike Big Show, it's not like he has an awesome screen presence that translates into being a compelling non wrestling character on the show. (cue @Baby Shoes passionately defending Kurt Angle's Professor X GM Run on 2004 Smackdown!)
 

Big Beard Booty Daddy

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I like Angle, I've always been a fan of his, and he's my dad's favorite wrestler, but it's not the name that would pop anyone right now. I can't think of anyone that could be a game changer, outside of CM Punk. There's no free agent, outside of a Tessa Blanchard who they should stay away from, that could be of any use on the roster. And if they plug that person right into the main event if they are an older wrestler, they're falling into TNA territory.
 

King Kamala

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I said it around a year ago and I know it's not a popular opinion in some segments of the IWC but I'd absolutely love to see Brock in AEW. I think him Vs Omega would be ludicrously fun.
 

tekcop

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if it's brock i'm buying the first ppv he wrestles on.
 

RedJed

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The only two names I think are viable are Punk and Lesnar, really. Lesnar seems like a very strong chance given the way they portrayed the new signing. That was the first thought I had when it was mentioned last night.

Who will be the mystery guy in the ladder match then?
 

geniusMoment

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No way it's Brock. Brock is all about the money. Any offer AEW made he would go to Vince with, and Brock would take the better of the two.

And Vince just signed a billion freaking dollar deal with NBC on top of his other tv deals. He would beat any AEW offer. The only thing AEW could offer Brock that Vince would never do is a percentage of ownership of the company. That would be the only way he'd go. And Tony ain't doing that.
 

RedJed

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Just some food for thought, maybe Lesnar has just kinda had it with WWE and the way they book him, etc? It's not like the last few times he was used, he actually did much in terms of scope of importance. In fact sticking with the company on his end may not, in his mind, be for the best, considering how shoddily he was used for the last few years. He became far less of a draw and far less of the special attraction he used to be back in the mid 2010s.

With Roman now linked with Heyman too, perhaps the company isnt interested in shelling out the big money any further to him, especially now with still so much uncertainty in live attendance as the year moves ahead. I kind of get the impression that maybe he has been used to their best potential and now they are just kind of ready to move on.

In other words, Vince might kind of think at this point he's not worth the money or the headaches, and maybe the investment in him prior has been now considered not really worth it in terms of what he paid and what they got out of that deal from a purely business perspective.
 

King Kamala

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I mean not that it's anywhere near first time it's happened but last time Brock was at WWE event, he allegedly was flipping the fuck out at Vince. More than anyone in wrestling, at least since Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart, I think Brock Lesnar totally operates on spite. I don't see him as a WWE loyalist at all. Money's important but I think doing what the fuck he wants is even more important and I think AEW might be appealing to him in that sense?
 
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