#how a more talented wrestler gets pushed to the side for a main event

[astral-from-afar]

This is what I’ve been feeling like all weekend

[livfastdieyoung69]

Bones, Body, Soul.

(A Jeff Hardy Story. Ch.7)

WWF was great. In the six months Lemmy had been there, they had made so many friends and couldn’t be prouder of the success their boys had on the tag-team side of the roster. Most days they wandered around backstage and waited for cameras to go off, happy to have a match even if it wasn’t aired. But recently, they hadn’t even had dark matches.

Lots of new talent was slowly filling in from WCW who were already classified as great wrestlers with great careers, so they went straight to the top of the roster, immediately making it on the card every time and shoving those who were finally getting a push way to the end of the long line of superstars hoping to get their in. Plus, no matter how much Lemmy tried to fight with the executives, they refused to let them wrestle anyone but the Women’s roster which hardly got pushed on a normal basis let alone with all the WCW stuff.

But it didn’t matter. They were having a great time, and Jeff and Matt were just doing so good- they had already even held the titles! They would seem ungrateful if they said anything about it. Right?

So today, just like any other day Lemmy sat backstage with the Hardys, waiting for the night to be over so they could go to the next city, or the next state, or wherever the hell they were going next and watch their friends perform in front of crowds of thousands, drawing even more to watch from their TV, just so the crowds could file out and the TV’s would turn off, and Lemmy was performing in front of no one, again.

What was the point of signing a year-long contract with a multi-million dollar media company if it refuses to share the millions or the media time?

Jeff breaks them from their hateful thoughts as he laughs at one of Matt's bad jokes. The sound echoed against the almost empty hallway, bar from the trio and E&C. Lemmy looked away from the brick and mortar they had been glaring down at as if the wall was the one that put them in this position. Christian and Adam were laughing too. They were all talking about their upcoming match at SummerSlam, four days before Jeff’s birthday.

���Enough about that, you got anything going on Lemm?” Christian spoke up, probably noticing that they were there again when they stopped death-staring the concrete. Lemmy’s eyebrows shot up at the sudden attention, eyes glancing around the other four.

“Oh! Uhm, no, not really. They might put me in dark matches again next week.” They looked down to the floor as they spoke, almost embarrassed about how little they had come compared to the two tag-teams besides them main eventing SummerSlam.

Jeff nudged their feet with his wrestling boots, shooting a small smile their way. But Lemmy didn’t look up to see him smile. They just stared at his wrestling boots, the shiny white and black of the leather and their sneakers. DC’s. The big, chunky ones meant for skating. Impossible to wrestle in, and Lemmy knew so, once they had forgotten their wrestling boots back in OMEGA’s gymnasium days and had to wrestle with no shoes. But they still retained their championship, and the crowd loved Karma and their ally Willow as much as they usually did. How come Jeff gets to wrestle but I don’t? That's rude! He worked for it just as hard as you did, don’t think like that…right?

“I don’t get why they don’t give you time on the screen, people loved your debut! I’m really sorry, it must suck not wrestling with how much you put into this.” Christian had always been good at comforting people, but it didn’t seem to be working right now. Lemmy only offered him a shrug and a shaking smile, a hand coming up to scratch the underside of their face- another one of their nervous habits Jeff was quick to catch onto.

“Well, y’know, at least I’ll get to wrestle next week.”

“Hey, how come they don’t put you on anyways? You’re a great wrestler.” Adam asked, finally gearing a bigger response from Lemm. Shaking hands moved furiously, picking, itching, anything for a distraction. A watery laugh left them, and they looked Adam in the eyes.

“I’m on the women's roster.”

Nobody had heard from Lemmy all night after their interaction with The Hardyz and E&C. Matt and Jeff searched every corner of the arena, asked every single staff member and superstar, hell even random people just walking around outside, and nothing.

Jeff had never been more worried, but Lemmy had left their bag in the locker room which consoled him a little. Nonetheless, the distraction the Hardyz faced caused them to lose their match, which sure, was frustrating but one of their best friends was missing, they had bigger things to worry about.

“Has anyone seen them?” Matt asked the first staff member he saw the second he walked backstage, eyebrows crinkled with worry and his breath heavy. The man stuttered over his words before quickly giving up and shaking his head at both of the boys who rushed past him and to their locker room, E&C shortly behind them. Christian and Adam had become great friends of the trio, and were pretty worried for Lemm too.

“Guys, I think we should just take a minute and breathe. I mean you’ve known them for so long, maybe if you just sat down for a sec you could think of where they might be?” Christian, always the smartest in any group, spoke to both of the Hardyz, but his reasoning only seemed to reach Matt, who took a quick breather as his hand moved to his forehead, rubbing back and forth.

“Okay. Okay, where the hell would Lemmy be?” Matt stressed from his place on the wooden locker seat, Jeff throwing himself onto the bench as well. The room filled with silence, E&C with no answer, and Jeff too worried to even think of one. Matt quickly noticed his brother's growing anxiety and spoke up again.

“Jeff.” He only sighed, leg bouncing and hands wringing together as his eyes burned holes into the floor underneath him. “Jeff, buddy, Lemm’s gonna be okay. We’ll be able to find them faster if you’re able to help us.”

Jeff gave his brother no response, and instead his head shot up, his body following shortly as he dove for Lemmy’s duffel bag and quickly started going through that.

“Should..should you really be going through that?” Christian asked, still standing next to the bench, Adam trying to peak at whatever Jeff was doing from beside his best friend. When Jeff didn’t answer, Christian looked over to Matt and pointed his hand in Jeff's general direction with an exasperated look. As close as E&C are, they’ve always fought like the brothers they are when one of the touches the others things.

“Oh, it’s fine, half of it’s probably his anyway.” Matt waved off, but his attention quickly returned to his brother stumbling up and towards the door. “Jeff? Jeff!”

The arena was right next to a boardwalk, covered in creaky wood, here and there a patch of new concrete and colorful sidewalk chalk of visiting children’s artwork, almost impossible to see but the moon shined brightly that night. The tides were high and the wind was strong, pushing the waves and the smell of freshwater onto the rickety benches, as old as the dead wood lifting up from under the feet of tourists in the daylight.

But there were no tourists, not this far into the night. Now, it was only Lemmy who sat with the cold metal outline of one of the wooden benches digging into their back, shaking hands holding a small blue book in one and a cigarette in the other. A sigh matching the stature of their hands leaves Lemmy.

Lemmy had found water calming for quite a while. They didn’t have to necessarily be in it, they just liked to appreciate the beauty of it. As a teenager, they had spent most of their days at the “Hardy Compound” as the boys like to call it for whatever odd reason, and late nights filled with campfires and dirt bikes always ended with someone being tossed in the mud filled pond.

Maybe that’s why Lemmy liked the water. They never did as a kid. They didn’t like much before North Carolina, except wrestling. The heat of their cigarette grew closer to their fingers and drew them from their daydreams. They took another drag before stubbing it out on the bench and placing it next to them, refusing to litter as if they hadn’t just blackened their lungs.

The crowd cheered from inside the arena.

Lemmy sighed, bitter in a way they wish they weren’t. Their neck fell back against the prickly, curved wood and their eyes fell upon the stars before closing with another sigh. The hand that once held the cigarette grabbed the other end of the blue book, more of a journal really, trembling hands flipping scratchy pages in search for a specific page.

Lemmy pushed up from the bench and stalked towards the old pay phone, grabbing cold quarters from their jean pocket, trembling fingers pushing them into the machine with a clank and dialing the numbers in their little journal.

The phone rang for a couple times before rustling was heard on the other end along with a rough, muffled voice mumbling a questioned greeting.

“Uncle Scott?” Lemmy sounded desperate, voice raised in the way it gets before tears start pouring. The man on the other side answered quickly, clearly concerned.

“No, no, I’m okay, I promise.” They paused again, listening to the other end. A quiet, short laughter left them. “The boys are okay too, promise. I just, um, I just need your thoughts on some stuff.”

Jeff frantically pushed the arena’s metal door open, quickly being greeted by the cold breeze and the loud clanking of the door locking behind him. Still in his ring gear, the leather on his feet shined bright under the glare of the moon as they led his body to the brink of the boardwalk.

He stared down at the start of the wood and the contrasting concrete under his aching soles before he quickly looked up, scanning the edge of the boardwalk. With nothing but darkness in his view he spun, a silhouette outlined on a park bench now in sight, thighs to chest and chin to knees. The posture gave it away, his Lemm sat cuddled up by themselves with nothing but the blue book that had been missing from their duffel sat next to them.

“Oh, Jesus, Dallas.” Jeff cursed under his breath, already jogging his way over.

“Dallas!”

Lemmy’s head left their knees and whipped towards his voice as it quickly grew closer, rushing to their feet as he lewers in on them. Jeff's hand reaches for the back of their head, roughly pulling them to his body and causing Lemm to stumble back, Jeff moving with them.

“Oh, God, man, you scared the hell straight out of me, Dallas Austin.” His words were shakey as he held them tightly, afraid they would disappear if he even thought of letting go. Lemmy breathed in, enjoying the comfort of the washing waves and Jeff’s embrace and wrapped their arms around him, holding him just as tight as he did to them.

“Don’t ever do that again. Please.” He whispered into the harsh wind as Lemm shoved their face further into his neck.

“M’sorry. Know I shouldn’ta left like that, just had to-had to get outta there.” Their voice was muffled against his skin, growing tighter as they stuttered through an apology. Jeff loosened his grip, hands moving to gently grasp their upper arms, all of his worry obvious on his face.

‘Is this about whatever that was earlier? You wanna talk about what's goin’ on now?” His voice was gentler than it seemed like it ever could be. Lemmy’s eyelids crinkled shut, head frantically shaking. They refused to look him in the eyes and lie like that.

“I’m fine, promise. I’ve been upset ‘cause of booking, I just needed a cool down.” Not necessarily a lie, just not all of the truth.

“You sure, Lemm?” Jeff dipped his head down, now at their level as his concern grew at their refusal to look him in the eyes.

“Really, I’m fine, Jeff. It’s just a little upsetting not getting booked and I’ve just been missing home and Uncle Scott so I thought I'd give him a call.” Again, not the truth but also not a lie.

“Alright, I guess, man.” Jeff finally relented but was obviously still skeptical. He brought them back into a hug with a deep, worried breath. “Y’know, you scared all of us pretty bad. You’re important, Dallas. Don’t forget that.”

Lemmy’s eyes held a glint of something he couldn’t recognize, conflict hidden beneath their resolve.

“I know. I know, I just needed to call Uncle Scott.” Lemmy repeated their alibi but their words were shaky, hinting at the emotion lingering behind. Jeff only hums in response, pulling Lemmy closer as he shivers in the wind.

Noticing his tenseness Lemmy pushed their hands under his shirt- not that it was much, he had run out in his ring gear which had only consisted of one of the mesh shirts that night- and pressed their palms to his lower back. Their attempts to make Jeff warmer clearly didn’t work very well, he only arched away from their unknowingly cold hands and screeched their name.

“Sorry! Sorry, I thought my hands were warm, sorry Jeffro.” Lemmy laughs, genuine happiness for the first time in much longer they would’ve liked to admit. “Maybe we should go back inside before one of us catches a cold.” They muttered into the harsh fabric of the bright yellow flesh covering his shoulder.

Before Jeff could even consider moving inside, the metal door clinkered open. Matt with E&C following shortly behind him shuffled out from it in much more comfortable clothes than what Jeff still wore, his shirt making it very easy for the duo to find Jeff and Lemm.

“You guys suck.” Neither could tell if Matt’s exclamation was sarcastic or not.

“We asked just about every single person if they’d seen either of you leave! We even asked Mankind, do you know how weird that guy is?” Adam playfully scolded the two with his usual grin.

“Hey! Mick might be a little…unusual, but he’s real nice!” Lemmy stuck up for their old friend, playfully yelling back. Matt and Jeff’s confusion was obvious, eyebrows furrowing.

“How do you know that guy, Lemm?” Jeff asked.

“Oh, uh, my dad wrestled with him for a bit in ECW. I’ve met him a couple times.” Lemmy brushed it off with a shrug.

“They were in ECW at the same time? I thought your dad left to come over to WWF just a couple months before Mick returned back to ECW.” Matt and his all-knowing wrestling knowledge questioned.

“Oh, really? I must have confused him for someone else then.” Lemmy spoke almost frantically with a nervous laughter attached. An awkward silence blanketed over the five as Lemmy looked down to their hands, picking at the already chipping nail polish Jeff had haphazardly painted on so they could be matching. The others stared over at them, still confused.

“Um, anyways, we should probably get heading to the hotel. We brought your guys’ stuff so we wouldn’t have to go back inside.” Christian spoke up, taking Lemmy’s duffel off of his shoulder, Adam doing the same with Jeff’s. Jeff and Lemmy said their thanks while grabbing their bags. Jeff took Lemm’s from them before they had the chance to put it over their shoulder and held it with his own.

“I can carry my bag, dude.”

“I don’t want you runnin’ off on me again, Lemm. Now come on, I’m tired, man.” Jeff threw the bags over his shoulder and started walking to their car. Lemmy rolled their eyes from behind him before stumbling to catch up and bumped their shoulders together, sending both of them wobbling in opposite directions. Jeff grabbed their arm closest to him and pulled Lemm back to his side. The three men watched from behind them as Lemmy cackled while they tripped over their own feet and fell straight into Jeff, his own laughter quickly adding to the mix.

“Y’know, I thought they liked each other but I didn’t know it was this bad!” Adam looked at Matt with an exasperated smile, Christian agreeing from his side with laughter.

“Oh, yeah. You’ll get used to that too. They've been like this since Lemmy got to junior year, I think.”

Finally arriving at the hotel, Jeff and Lemm- who are both very bad drivers, Lemmy out of recklessness and Jeff out of blindness, but especially bad at night- pile out of the back with everyone’s bag while Matt goes to check in with the receptionist and E&C roughhoused out beside the car. They played a game of rock paper scissors to see who had to be shoved in the back, back seat and Edge lost, like he always does.

Jeff stared up at the sky, admiring the stars with Lemmy’s hand carelessly in his, every once in a while pointing out a constellation to them with a tug to their hand. Lemmy stared down at the ground with sleepy eyes, head leaning against Jeff’s shoulder- much more comfortable now against his thin, black sweatshirt than before.

“Matt booked the rooms right?” Christian asked through a yawn and a sleepy grin, gaining the two’s attention. Jeff nodded at him, confusion once again finding its way to his face. “He mentioned something about two rooms and I figured that it would be you three and us that would get roomed together ‘cause, I don’t know, that’s just how it is. I just wanted to make sure that’s what’s happening” Christian explained, Adam snickering at his rambling from besides him.

“Yeah, that’s all good. That’s what we usually do anyway.” Lemmy spoke with a smile, happy with the arrangement. “Actually, usually we only get one room and we all shove into it with a couple other guys but I guess it’s a special occasion. Or Matt just wanted his own bed for a night.” Jeff and Lemmy always shared, they’d just been doing it for so long it became weird not to. E&C clearly didn’t think so, Adams eyebrows raising at their casualness of the subject, Jeff shoved them under his arm as they spoke, the cold reaching him again.

Matt walked back to the car with two keys, giving E&C one, who are quick to scatter to their room after a quick goodbye, the trio doing the same.

Lemmy opened the door and practically fell on one of the beds, Jeff shortly doing the same right on top of them. Matt tossed his backpack onto the other bed and announced, though probably unheard through Lemmy’s groans under Jeff, that he was going to take a shower.

“Jeffro, there’s a whole ‘nother bed, you ain’t gotta be on top of me.” Lemmy muffled into the bed under them. Jeff groaned but moved over, leaving the both of them squished on the twin bed meant for one.

“S’too cold for that, man.” He pouted over at Lemm, who only laughed at his brattyness.

“You’d think all of those North Carolina winters would make you a little more warm blooded. C’mere, quit bein’ a baby.”

“M’not bein’ a baby, it’s cold!” Jeff pouted some more, but did as Lemmy said and moved back on top of them but this time with Lemmy not being suffocated. Jeff searched for their hand under the blankets, fingers locking in between fingers. His hand was as warm as they always were, but Lemmy didn’t say anything about his claims of being cold.

“Night, Jeffro. Love you.”

“Night, Lemm. Love you, too.”

Jeff fell asleep quickly, light snores leaving his lips from his seemingly comfortable spot. Though Jeff slept seamlessly, Lemmy didn't at all. Instead they thought. They thought of their career, and of The Hardyz. Of the new girl joining Matt and Jeff next week, Amy. Of WWF, and E&C. Of Karma, and Willow. Of just about every single thing ever. But mostly, they thought of Jeff.

They thought of what would happen when Jeff and Matt’s career continued to soar and they were left behind, far far behind. Maybe Jeff would replace them with someone more…normal. More attractive, cooler. Less complicated. But when Jeff took a deep breath in his sleep and snuggled closer to them, the future didn’t seem to matter much anymore. At least they had Jeff now.

I know this took me forever but I also have some of chapter eight done and the body of chapter nine figured out. I feel like I’ve definitely grown as a writer since the last time i wrote for bbs but idk might just be feelin stuff. Anyways, ignore the whole mick foley and stone cold not being in ECW together they were but shhhh its for the plottt. Also very tempted to start an mjf series but i have this and a Nikki sixx series already that I’m bad enough at keeping up with so i think I’ll unfortunately stick to one shots for now. Might keep my inbox closed for just a lil bit longer so i can breathe for a sec lol i hate school

So Y’know how sometimes when you write something and it comes out completely diff than what you wanted? That’s kinda what happened for Lemm’s backstory at first, so I did go back and change some things that didn’t really make sense or just things that I wanted to change loll for instance, uncle Scott is now a thing and if you dont wanna go back and reread this shit that’s ok cuz i also wouldn’t want to it shouldn’t be that different. Should i write more about Lemm’s back story? Or just give y’all like a basic run down? Get in my inbox rn and talk to me 😡 idc ab what just talkkkk to meeeeeeeeee

I actually hate the ending but i am tired and over this y’all

[dreadwhoop]

Reviewing the All Elite Wrestling personnel 2023 Edition (Part 2) -

PUSH -

The Most Wanted. A wrestler I look forward to seeing on TV every single time which is a rarity in AEW these days. He's incredible! Yes I imagine his lack of promo deflates a full-on title push but this is why managers were invented. Put him with CJ Perry and let him chase the TNT title. Bandido. TNT. See how effective this all sounds? His win-loss record is criminal - I would protect this guy as a serious project to develop.

Likely the prime choice to be the next AEW Champion all things considered. He's clever to protect his spot. Call it akin to Hogan or Cena or anybody politicing in the back the guy must have a silver tongue backstage. Not to bash Adam Cole once again but the moment I saw Jay White I asked out loud what was the point of Adam Cole now? We can clearly see, unlike Adam Cole, Jay White welcomes the promo battles with MJF because he wants to be considered as good and, yeah, MJF smoked him with the 'Tofu' line but you know I've seen Tofu survive a Zombie Apocalypse with only a knife so color me interested at the success he's getting.

A dark horse in AEW's future success. Transplant Jay White's goatee onto him and you've got a serious contender for future AEW Champion. Also can't speak a lick of English hence Don Callis. Nothing much more can be said. He's got size, impression, and time on his side. He isn't being made into some gimmick joke character so they must think highly on the guy. A time will come when one has to ask who people see doing well when they're not in AEW. Relatively safe and solid worker.

Aah yes a favourite of mine. Should of been everything Sammy Guevara could of been and, hopefully, more. Santana is one of AEW's most missed opportunities and it's obvious he tried to go to WWE but got rejected so could never debut on the Puerto Rico event. A shame. It's a risk to invest in him but it's worth taking if it pays off - the guy is easily able to hang with the established main eventers and future stars if he can finally detach himself from the chains of Ortiz.

I debated this one for a bit. On one hand it's frustrating how badly they've booked big men in this company. Lance Archer. Powerhouse Hobbs. Wardlow. Miro included, but Miro still gets attention because of the absurdity of his story. The right thing to do with him is to make him a chaser who keeps having obstacles put in his way. A "12 Labours of Hercules" kind of deal. Miro is a long-term push who, on his way up, can highlight other talents too.

A 11th hour success story - the BCC, JAS, and Outcasts have been insufferable drains on television time - non-story factions who pick fights which mean nothing to serve the cause of one person - Moxley, Jericho, and Saraya (dis)respectably. Put some AM Radio filters on her promos and even during the intro for the commentary, pull out a red carpet with photographers when she wins the Women's Title and have her kiss a plastic baby held by Gene Snitsky before he punts it. Have Toni Storm stalk Darby Allin thinking he's pining for the "good old days" whilst Danhausen stalks her like Nosferatu. Have Hikaru Shida do something with her Kurosawa style…it's endless…dare I say…Timeless??? People naturally knew to clap her instead of cheer. This is how you get OVER.

Would of included her last year but official roster candidates qualify so here she is now. She's someone who I can count the number of moves she does yet every move she does counts. Special mention to Brody King who has been a beacon of inspiration for her and championing her cause. She should be the next TBS Champion but not yet do it next year. All she needs is a broader moveset and she'll soar to new heights in her young career what most veterans never see at all. Great finisher. Great theme song too.

In many ways the contrast of Julia Hart in the sense of being a fantastic veteran who has always had the look of a serious competitor and the attitude of a rugged badass. AEW has always flirted with the idea of Mercedes Martinez for some time and it seems like the time has come for her to go full mercenary and take everyone and anyone out before she's out of opportunities.

Speaking of Latina latents, Thunder Rosa is due for a return and it should be a monumental one building up to feuds with Jamie Hayter (when she's ready) and Britt Baker (if she's still here). Or why not Taya too…actually where's Deeb? One of the biggest mysteries is Deeb's disappearance. Anyways Thunder Rosa is a complete flavour of work, look, and promo it's just not everyones' taste. She's been doing Vlogs so it's not like she's missing just not being used. Why?

Every year I seem to nominate at the end a former AEW Champ to get rid of so, for a change of pace, here's a former AEW Champ to push. Kenny Omega is still a viable draw when you detach him from all the stupidity associated with his personality. The Cleaner needs to find a way to make AEW's faithful more than just hanger-ons and return to being the franchise player where he can mix with any style. Keep his work inside the ring, build psychology, wrestle fundamentals, and revise his goals to humble his way without gimmicks or stipulations. Make him just WRESTLE and let time speak for it.

[danwhobrowses]

AEW - Best and Worst Booking Decisions from Double or Nothing 2020 to 2021

As I promised back in my WWE Post Reviewing the Booking of Mania 35-36 it is time for me to run down AEW's booking over the last year.

Double or Nothing 2020 was AEW's first PPV of the Empty Arena Era, which they pulled off with the inaugural TNT champion being Cody'd, Brian Cage's debut and murder of Darby Allin, Hikaru Shida began her mammoth title reign, Moxley and Brodie Lee put on a fantastic show with their short build and we finished off with the wacky Stadium Stampede. But since then, it's had some ups and downs.

As I said with the WWE one, these are my opinions: some of which will act within hindsight rather than within the moment.

There will also be spoilers from the Dynamite after DoN 2020 to the end of DoN 2021, you have been warned

May 2020 Best - FTR They told us one day they would wrestle the Bucks and the world shall rejoice, and after several teases on BTE following The Revival's release from the E, FTR arrived and the division got even more stacked because of it.

Worst - Mike Tyson loses to his shirt AEW did try with Tyson, pushing for some shared history with Jericho as they began to stand off with one another. But his struggle to cleanly tear off his shirt really made the confrontation awkward and it wouldn't go anywhere.

Best - Baker becomes the Roll Model Baker's injury was a huge blow given how she was finally getting over thanks to her heel turn and bloody battle with Shida. It would've very easily killed her momentum to be off TV, but AEW instead played into Baker's injury by making her flaunt her heelish hilarity, starting with her being a wheelchair-riding 'roll model', this would begin Baker's time entertaining in spite of injury.

Worst - Allie and QT begin What was this huh? Now Allie in a red dress was a sight to behold but the whole romance angle where a very married Allie had a brief period as a babyface and pairing with the also very married QT Marshall. We all knew it was gonna lead to Butcher and Blade jumping the Natural Nightmares, but it really overstayed its welcome.

Best - The TNT Open Challenge We will get more on this but Cody's win of the TNT title was met with concern given the monster push of Lance Archer - not to mention the dismal design of the championship itself. But Cody did his best to add prestige via the weekly Open Challenge, which would showcase a lot of talent in a similar way to Cena's US title Open Challenge.

June 2020 Best - Brodie goes on the Recruitment Prowl Being the leader of the Dark Order, Mr. Brodie Lee needed a new direction after being felled by Jon Moxley. What he decided was to add to his ranks; bringing in Dark Standout Alan Angels, enticing Colt Cabana and extending a hand to Anna Jay. These choices bolstered the Dark Order's ranks to last much longer, especially with their segments in BTE showing all their comedic flair.

Worst - Sammy Guevara eats his words The Speaking Out movement affected AEW just as it did most of wrestling, leading to the release of Jimmy Havoc. But Sammy Guevara also got done in by his egregiously vulgar comments he made regarding his attraction WWE's Sasha Banks in an old interview that had now surfaced. While this isn't a booking decision per se, it was the fault of AEW to have not caught this on their background check. Sammy would rightfully be suspended with a full apology, seminars taken and a direct conversation with Banks herself to make amends.

Best - Red Velvet stirs in Red Velvet would debut on Dark in June, showcasing talent which would later be enhanced and explored later in the year, adding Red Velvet did indeed bolster the women's division a bit more, showing AEW's dedication towards building new stars was still alive.

Best - Wardlow vs Luchasaurus rocks the house Lumberjack matches are more miss than hit, but the long-awaited match between Wardlow and Luchasaurus was a sleeper hit for the month. Big time spots of athletic hosses slapping meat and flipping feet continued to showcase Wardlow's dominance with a big win over the Dino-man, just a good wrestling match worth the wait.

July 2020

Best - Open Challenge Opens Doors Cody's open challenges started with the AEW roster, but they soon expanded to being for indy talent and cross-promotional challengers too: Enter Eddie Kingston. The Mad King made an instant impact in his hardcore challenge against Cody, which quickly earned him a contract with the company. Also among the challengers was Ricky Starks - who would also get a contract - and Warhorse, who had rallied the fans into giving him a shot - and AEW did play into his popularity, having an answer for a lot of Cody's offense until he hurt his leg for the finish. It was smart booking even if Cody was bound to win.

Worst - Cardona's time is Radio Silence You gotta feel bad for Matt Cardona, he has all the makings to be a great star, but he just suffers from either company disinterest, injury or poor timing. The latter was the case for his AEW time, since AEW were having to deal with WWE's COVID outbreak by extension of any partners, Cardona only had a rare appearance backing up Cody a few times and while he did find himself in Impact, it's sadly not as green as the other side.

Best - Sue is Over The Best Friends as babyfaces walk the line perfectly of being a group of goofball man-children but also legitimate and talented wrestlers. The cherry on the top though was the Friends' entrance to Fyter Fest in Trent's mom Sue's mini-van for their tag title match, immediately getting Sue over with fans. Sue would also be a cult figure for BTE in her skits with the Dark Order, being the only person ever to make Brodie Lee break character and corpse.

Worst - Cody cannot elevate Hager Cody's defenses led to Hager (and his wife) looking for a title match, the sale of it being a more legitimate bout with the weigh in and packages didn't pull off in the match though, being quite slow and simplistic. Hager still remains a wrestler who lacks any more potential than what he has now but knows the right people.

Best - Taz promos around Mox's COVID absence Due to the aforementioned outbreak, AEW were forced to reschedule their main event when Renee Young had contracted the virus, exposing their world champion Jon Moxley by extension. This meant that Brian Cage would have to wait longer for their match (though not as long as UK fans are waiting for AEW to come overseas), so AEW decided to let Taz carry them over this predicament, which he did marvelously by reviving his FTW title and handing it to Cage. It added some extra heat and something for Cage to carry around as if he had won the personal victory over Moxley already, and it would lead us into the following week's rescheduled Main Event at Fight for the Fallen.

August 2020 Best - Brodie Destroys Cody After a lot of defenses and Cody getting the 'finished product' TNT title, fans wondered how Cody's defense against Mr. Brodie Lee would go. And boy did we get a spectacle, the Exalted One demolished Cody, Anna Jay then choked out Brandi as the rest of the Dark Order held the Nightmare Family at bay, and we were left with the visual of Brodie on top and Cody and Brandi at their feet, covered in the shredded remains of the old TNT title that Cody had reigned with. It was great storytelling and a great way to elevate Brodie as well as finally putting the Dark Order over, the stable rode the highest they had been since their debut while Cody disappeared to film for the Go Big Show.

Worst - Bea and Sadie get released, Mel stays AEW did their best to keep as many people they could during the Pandemic, but due to the travel restrictions Bea Priestley was very much land locked and Sadie Gibbs was not getting a second chance at her botched debut. It was a shame because of how talented both women were, Bea especially since rumor has it she might be en route to the E. What was baffling was that Mel, of the failed Nightmare Collective, remains on AEW's payroll despite not having appeared for over a year, hard to add that up.

Best - Thunder Rosa makes her challenge Before the Forbidden Door, NWA opened their doors to AEW while the pandemic prevented them from filming shows. With champion Hikaru Shida lacking a built-up challenger, fans were interested in Thunder Rosa's intrigue about Shida's challenge, and would be pleased to see AEW roll with it too. Rosa and Shida made for a great cross-promotional feud which'd lead to a great match in the following month. To this very day, Thunder Rosa's appearance on AEW is one of the brand's most vital steps in terms of strengthening their women's division.

Worst - The Deadly Draw is on Youtube Speaking of the Women's Division, AEW had also decided to have an all-women's tournament called the Deadly Draw. 'Random' tag teams would be forged in a tag tournament that'd give women some time to show their stuff. Unfortunately, this would mostly be on Youtube - save for the Finals - and be dominated by Fans' disdain that Allie and Brandi were making the finals. The method of picking was not handled well since we didn't really get any mismatch teams aside from Nyla, and the amount of women we got were not all spectacular with Rache Chanel and the former Cameron being a part of it. While Ivelisse and Diamante would win too they only got some crappy medals, all of which leaves a bitter taste following Ivelisse's release.

Best - Deadly Draw gives us Conti, Diamante and Savoy That being said, the Deadly Draw had its saving graces. For one the use of Veda Scott on commentary, Madusa as the host and Shaul Guerrero as the announcer were nice touches, we also got to see Tay Conti, Diamante, Ivelisse and Nicole Savoy wrestle - the middle two win. Conti would turn out to be the most important of the lot with her team and friendship with Dark Order's Anna Jay, getting over because of their chemistry and making it to the semi-finals.

Worst - Conti to Dark Order doesn't develop Conti and Anna's friendship meant that soon after, Jay had extended an offer for her friend to join the stable. For weeks we saw Conti carry around this invitation but then: nothing. Conti never joined Dark Order and this didn't beget any friction between the friends either - in the end it became a missed opportunity as Conti dances on the edge of being supported by the Dark Order but not a part of the Dark Order.

Best - Jericho and Cassidy Debate With Mike Tyson unable to appear more to feud with Jericho, AEW slotted over-as-fuck Orange Cassidy to face Jericho. While Jericho got the win in the first match, we were graced with a fun 'debate' hosted by Schiavone and with a guest appearance of Eric Bischoff. Cassidy's monologue during the debate was great too.

Worst - Cassidy's first win over Jericho isn't as big as it should be Unfortunately, when Cassidy did get the win over Jericho was not as good as the first, getting clunky at times with some miscommunication and slow pacing. They would have their rubber match in the gimmicky Mimosa Mayhem which would also be a bit of a mixed bag.

Best - Hardy and the Mad King Squad Up Despite solid starts, Private Party, Lucha Bros and Butcher & the Blade had struggled a little to find success in AEW, but they would gain some benefit by associating with Matt Hardy and Eddie Kingston. Hardy worked well as a mentor to the similar styled tag team to his younger years, while Kingston's evil grin to the camera did signal that Kingston's new squad would be up to no good.

Best - Moxley and Allin make another classic Allin and Moxley somehow just click, they click so well that you could put them in a match every week and people wouldn't complain, hell there's fanart of Moxley essentially adopting Allin in the same vein as Shota 'Shooter' Umino. Anyway, Allin vs Moxley is always fantastic, and it made sense for the feud that was growing.

Best - You're Out of the Elite! Hangman's slow burn storytelling has been sublime, and it was at a new height when FTR started sniffing around Hangman like lions around a wounded gazelle. Feeding into Hangman's alcoholism - established since his inability to beat Jericho or PAC in his hunt to be world champion - FTR exposed doubt within Page that the Bucks were ousting him out and would soon turn on him. All of which were mind games to sow discontent between him and Omega in their bid for the tag titles. The cherry on the top came with Hangman's removal from the Elite, after a stellar feud in Revolution being brought up, Hangman impulsively screwed out the Bucks from getting another title match, after a dressing down and being kicked out of the group we pan to a shot of Hangman staring into a mirror cracked - perfect storytelling.

Best - MJF campaigns against Moxley MJF had been undefeated and fans have wondered when rather than if he would get his shot. And when he set his eyes on Moxley it is spectacular. The faux presidential campaign was right up MJF's alley as he looked to write out Moxley's go-to finish of the Paradigm Shift, this also had great easter eggs like MJF emulating Samoa Joe's shove on him to one of his entourage, as well as his lawyer Sterling being a good addition for the feud.

September 2020 Best - Allin/Starks, Johnson/Carter are bangers September came out with some very impressive matches, for Dynamite it was the culmination of Allin and Starks' feuding but on Dark we got unsigned Lee Johnson and Ben Carter blow the roof off, immediately both names were a topic of scouting and it remains a top level match.

Worst - Billy Mitchell's cameo Early into Miro's debut we got some vignettes of 'The Best Man' enjoying his other past-time as a gamer. While this wasn't the right way to go in hindsight, the cameo of Billy Mitchell - a controversial figure in Arcade Gaming - was quite out of place for AEW as well, many having to look up who the dude was anyway and why many gamers were disgruntled about it. 'Celebrity' Cameos can only really work if you know who they are.

Best - Kingston stories a weird finish into a Title Match It would've been a Worst moment on this list when Eddie Kingston lost a battle royale for a title shot by being pushed off the turnbuckle despite leaving to the apron via the middle rope. However, when winner Archer came down with COVID, AEW was put in a reverse Fyter Fest scenario, a champion but no opponent. This allowed Kingston an in to use the fact that he never technically went over the top rope to barter a title match, which he used to impressive effect.

Worst - Sydal Slips The Shooting Star Press is a difficult move to pull off, and dangerous to botch. It had also been the staple of Matt Sydal, who was the Joker in the Casino Battle Royale of All Out, but when he did his Shooting Star he slipped and faceplanted. While it's not a booking decision it is a sore spot, Sydal has partly recovered as a full time worker and a mini-feud with Nakazawa to save face on the botch, but he has only once tried the move again.

Best - Will Hobbs impresses When Sydal botched and hit the floor though, Will Hobbs was the one you saw roll over inconspicuously to check he wasn't hurt. The youngster had already been impressing on AEW Dark on a regular basis and his appearance alone in the Battle Royale was an encouraging sign. Hobbs would also put on a strong performance in that match, which would lean in on being more utilized on Dynamite, his momentum would also carry to Double or Nothing with another strong run in a Battle Royale mostly pitted against Christian Cage.

Worst - The Matt Hardy incident Perhaps the lowest point of All Out was the Broken Rules Match. Hardy and Sydal had overshot their spear spot from a forklift to a table and Hardy hit his head hard. Hardy wobbled with signs of concussion as the match to and fro'd about being called off, Hardy though was having none of it - since the stipulation would have him retire had he lost - he would continue for a scaffolding spot for the finish but it did put a lot of heat on Guevara and AEW for allowing the match to continue. Matt would make a recovery and have a cinematic match with Sammy to finish the tainted feud, but from there BROKEN Matt Hardy was seldom seen.

Best - Deeb arrives Serena Deeb is one of the most technically gifted women on wrestling. Someone so grossly underutilized by WWE that it's baffling that the best thing they would do with her on the main roster is shave her head for the admittedly great Straight Edge Society but then release her for not keeping up kayfabe in her personal life. This was the month though that the current NWA Women's Champion debuted on AEW Dark and would later get signed, Deeb adds veteran experience and technical mastery to AEW's women's roster and she is a cert to be AEW Women's Champion someday.

Worst - Fans fight Tooth and Nail but Swole/Baker doesn't deliver Despite Britt Baker's rise to superstardom, her return feud with Big Swole became a bit of a mishit. The build was fine with Swole often getting the better of the wheelchair-bound Baker, so for Baker's return AEW had set a cinematic match in her dentist's office. The match was placed on the Buy-In, which pissed a lot of fans off and had them strong-arm Khan into putting it as the opener, and it didn't pay off. The match was par at best, ending with Baker losing as well, while the quickly-put-together match of Private Party vs Silver & Reynolds shone brightly on the Buy In in the spot this match should've taken. Listening to fans is of course good but AEW had the hindsight to judge whether the match was worth it in the eyes of the fans and they picked wrong.

Best - Parking Lot Brawl But for every par match AEW has they always sneak in a blinder, and it was Best Friends' 5-Star Parking Lot Brawl against Santana & Ortiz that pulled it off. With Orange Cassidy coming out of the boot of the car, Santana & Ortiz's Dead Presidents' appearance and Sue getting a brand new minivan and flipping off the Inner Circle duo at the end, the match was a fantastic closer for the night.

October 2020 Best - Brandon Cutler gets the W Brandon Cutler had AEW's longest losing streak, and they loved to ham it up, except Peter Avalon also had AEW's longest losing streak too. They had tried working together but couldn't find the common ground, so when Avalon turned on Cutler we were set for one of these men to get the win. After two no contests due to double count outs and double disqualifications, Cutler and Avalon had a no rules rubber match on Dark and it was great. Cutler got his win in probably AEW Dark's best feud storytelling - though it probably should've been on Dynamite or even the Buy In of the PPV - giving a payoff years in the making.

Worst - Nyla/Shida II is built on Dark Hikaru Shida had gone through the majority of the Women's Roster, so with new manager Vickie Guerrero, Nyla Rose wanted her title back. The problem however was that all of Vickie's calling out of Shida after a Nyla squash was on Dark, so the match was poorly built. You feel bad for Tony Khan because he tried this so more eyes would go on Dark but it was also a reminder that title matches should be built on the Main Show.

Best - MJF and Jericho get musical MJF had decided once again to try and get in with the Inner Circle, only this time he was faring better thanks to his chemistry with Chris Jericho. What we got was Le Dinner Debonair, a pompous, broadway-esque musical scene that fit the larger than life and delusional heel aura of both men's ego. While some people called it 'too goofy', it was also named one of the best TV moments of the year.

Worst - Miro feuds over an Arcade Machine Fans wanted one thing from Miro: the beast, but AEW did not lead with that. Instead they had him feud with Best Friends because they were thrown into an Arcade Machine he was playing. While it's not the level of feuding over shampoo, it was still rather dumb and contrived given how the rest of this weak feud was telegraphed leading up to Kip and Penelope's wedding - despite Miro's attempts to subvert Wrestling Wedding Tropes.

Best - Leyla legitimately impresses In October, 'Legit' Leyla Hirsch came out of nowhere and made the best of her moment. A non-title debut against champion Hikaru Shida on Dark proved an extremely entertaining affair as Hirsch got to showcase her physicality, and then that was followed instantly by a NWA Women's Title shot against Deeb on Dynamite - which she also really impressed in. While it took a while for AEW to announce Leyla as a signing, it was a definite plus to see Olympic qualities in the Women's Division.

Worst - Jericho can't get Luther over When Jericho got a whole Dynamite to celebrate 30 years in the business he had a lot on his plate, several cameos from Slash and Hiroshi Tanahashi made it a special moment but the Main Event didn't work. Luther is sadly another one of those Brutus Beefcake cases of knowing the right people, and while Luther could probably go when he was younger, currently he isn't the best. People wondered if Jericho could carry Luther in his match with Chaos Project but unfortunately it didn't land, Luther after all has his place on the undercard throwing Serpentico around, he doesn't need any more than that.

Best - The Cleaner shows signs of returning After an Anniversary Show meant that Moxley had gone through another opponent in his mammoth title reign, AEW had set up a tournament to name the new Number 1 Contender. At this time as well FTR had already dealt with Hangman and Omega but their post-match embrace was not reciprocated by Omega, who had more or less washed his hands with his partner. The two were in different places, Page had descended further into the bottom of a drink without any of his friends while Kenny had become focused upon being a singles competitor again. Metaphorically winking to the hard cam, Omega would enter in an over the top fashion with cheerleaders of the Jacksonville Jaguars dancing with brooms to hark the slow arrival of the Cleaner. His disgruntled face after squashing Sonny Kiss was also meme quality.

Worst - Brodie's Reign is cut short Brodie Lee's TNT title reign was great, it had put the Dark Order on top and his segments on BTE were extremely entertaining too. An emphatic return of the dark haired Cody Rhodes did invite a rematch which would be a more brutal affair than Cody's prior squashing, but sadly Brodie would not retain. His reign only lasted a month and in hindsight that would be the only time Brodie held gold, while he stated he had no regrets on how short his reign was it was not great booking to put it immediately back on Cody as if Brodie only held it because Cody had another show to record.

Best - Dog Collar Match was great Result notwithstanding though, the Dog Collar match proved as brutal as it was entertaining. Another match that elevated the TNT title's prestige, Lee and Cody tore into each other in a match that could've easily screamed Vince Russo late-WCW failure. But the men pulled it off with their raw talent and nobody looked bad out of it.

November 2020 Best - Kenny vs Hangman I Since AEW's inception, Hangman Page has been on a slow course to squaring off against Kenny Omega. This came to a head in the finals of the No.1 Contendership Tournament, the confident Kenny vs the angsty Page proved an effective opener which further spiralled Hangman into depression while Kenny would return to the top of the card.

Worst - Hornswoggle in a nappy? The Inner Circle's Vegas skit was probably too much, it had some good moments like Hager and Wardlow continually staring at each other as they beat up people in the club, also the appearance of an Elvis Impersonator and Konnan. But the bit finished on a weird note trying to homage The Hangover by having WWE's former Hornswoggle appear in a baby's nappy, it was just weird no ways around it.

Best - Cargill and Top Flight make an impression November saw the debuts of new members of the Women's and Tag Division. The Martin brothers impressed as the new vibrant and athletic tag team, putting on a wild show against The Bucks. Jade Cargill would start AEW by confronting Cody with the tease of one Shaquille O'Neal, but the moment the camera panned to Cargill she had one word printed on her and it was 'Star'. While Top Flight are halved by injury, Cargill has continued to show her growth.

Worst - Shida vs Abadon has a short build When Abadon debuted on AEW Dark she put on an impressive match with then-not-champion Hikaru Shida, the story being that Shida was weirded out by the Living Dead Girl. Since then, Abadon had been undefeated in her sporadic appearances - partly delayed by injury - so she was put on a course to reignite this storyline with Shida. However, they didn't get enough time, only a couple segments of Shida trying to prove herself not scared and an AEW Dark segment when Abadon jumped Shida and hit a Cemetery Drive on her. A decent match would follow, but we could've done a lot more.

Best - Hobbs turns to FTW Will Hobbs had grown more and more impressive with each appearance, put over as well in promo by Jon Moxley too gave him a lot of credit. During Darby's feud with Team Taz, Hobbs had often come to make the save to prevent Darby from being injured, however he did have a habit of arriving a little late. This proved to be intentional when Hobbs turned heel, aligning with Team Taz to learn under the ECW Legend. While Hobbs has yet to taste gold, he has of recent found himself elevated by the feud with Christian Cage and should Brian Cage move away from Team Taz, he would clearly be the top choice to take the FTW belt from him.

Worst - Cody Hogan's his title loss When it was time for Cody to drop the TNT belt again, fans would hope that it would be a similar case of Cody putting someone over red hot like he did Brodie. However, instead Darby defeated Cody with a series of roll ups which Cody kicked out in 3.1, a very Hogan vs Warrior title change with Cody also having to keep the spotlight on him by handing the belt to Darby before Darby's moment was further interrupted by Team Taz's attack.

Best - Darby has gold At the very least, Darby being crowned TNT champion after finally beating Cody was a perfect narrative for the talented and albeit batshit crazy masochist Emo Skater Boy. Darby's reign would also be consistently good and maintain Allin's star aura against opponents of all shapes and sizes.

Best - PAC is BAC Due to COVID, several of AEW's international talents were land-locked and unable to appear, but when the UK's borders loosened slightly The Bastard PAC made an emphatic return to reestablish Death Triangle. This had also come off the heels of Eddie Kingston trying to sway Penta away from his brother and kick Fénix out of his group. PAC's mini-feud with Kingston would remind the world that AEW had some world class talent to put in against Kenny Omega as well as reminding the world that PAC is just amazing as a wrestler.

Best - Bunkhouse match blows the roof off Dustin Rhodes seems to have carved an interesting spot for himself as the 'Obscure Gimmick Match Master'. Currently teasing a Bullrope match with Nick Comoroto, he shone brightly in the culmination of the long-winded QT/Allie storyline which lead to a Bunkhouse Match against the Butcher and the Blade. It had old school qualities with amazing spots that continued a long chain of AEW pulling off impressive gimmick matches even if the feud wasn't as impressive itself.

Best - Mox and Kingston, Feud of the Year 2020 You know what was an impressive feud though? Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston. Imagine winning feud of the year for something set up in September to November? And most of it was promo, but these were two of the best promo guys in the world, touching on their roots, their former friendship, the lengths either would go and all coming to a head in an I Quit Match. Kingston made you believe every word he said when he declared that he would never quit and he wouldn't stop until he was champion but come the match Moxley proved more resilient than words can be. Getting Feud of the Year is not bad going for what originally started as a one-off title match because Archer got COVID.

December 2020 Best - Brodie Lee Memorial Show Near the end of December the wrestling world was shocked by the death of Brodie Lee, the Exalted One was someone fans really wanted to see be a major world champion someday, but he had tragically succumbed to a Lung condition. At this time too AEW were promoting a 2-part special of New Year's Dash, but delayed the shows a week to put on a memorial show for Brodie. With matches picked by Brodie's eldest son, AEW did perhaps the perfect tribute show, with a perfect blend of clips and tributes paired with matches that honored the Big Rig. Brodie's influence was shown with Silver emulating Brodie's outfit, Eric Redbeard appearing, FTR renaming their Goodnight Express to the Big Rig, and the TNT title being handed to Brodie Lee Jr. - who became AEW's youngest signing - and a special t-shirt being the highest selling t-shirt of 2020, with proceeds going to Brodie's wife, Amanda. Brodie's influence still reigns in AEW as the Dark Order have become somewhat gatekeepers to the TNT title and the quote 'It's [day], and you know what that means' being frequently used or displayed via signs to start off an AEW show.

Worst - Ben Carter slips through their fingers Ben Carter had proven a sensational talent on his AEW showings, quickly having rose to having a match on Dynamite. However, AEW did not get his signature on the dotted line, and the E came a-callin'. The loss of the now-Nathan Frazer was a rough blow for AEW business since it showed that WWE could still outbid them if they wanted someone enough, and AEW made the mistake of not signing him before other companies started sniffing around.

Best - IT'S STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! The 'Winter is Coming' special had many big things happen, but one of the biggest of all was the return of Sting. Instantly Sting's T-Shirt sales broke records in AEW (until the Brodie shirt would break Sting's) as the WCW legend had made his return to TNT in a veil of snow staring down Darby Allin, nostalgia was high on this moment.

Worst - STIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING does nothing for a month But. There was a problem with Sting's arrival on AEW, he wasn't exactly spry in his 60s and AEW were cautious in wanting him to come back into the ring despite being classed as an active talent. AEW did miss a mark by promoting Sting to just do the same interview over and over, more than once in fact, you gotta do something with Sting to get the fans excited.

Best - Taz chokes out Cody While feuding with Darby, Cody became involved when he dropped the TNT title to Darby and got attacked by Team Taz all the same. When this led to a verbose conflict between Cody and Taz over the legitimacy of the FTW championship, Cody made the mistake of turning his back on Taz after diminishing his philosophy because Taz's son Hook was training under his factory rather than his father. Jake the Snake did warn him not to turn your back on someone you respect, but maybe he should've warned him to not turn your back on a Human Suplex Machine, because Taz immediately put him in the Tazmission - to a huge pop from fans - choking out the younger Rhodes to further personalize their feud.

Worst - Dynamite Diamond Ring doesn't change MJF had used the Dynamite Diamond Ring sporadically as a weapon to cheat in matches, but it anything it was a glorified brass knuckles that had limited prestige. When AEW had the chance to give it new prestige by having it fought over a year after MJF won it, they decided to simply keep it on MJF's pinky finger. As a result we had a battle royale and a match that kinda went nowhere narratively, and AEW should've really just made the ring a one-off or given it to someone else to signify a young up-and-coming talent getting a rub.

Best - The Acclaimed prove they're not all talk Not to be outdone by Top Flight, who they seem destined to have an eternal rivalry with, The Acclaimed put on an impressive showing in their title match with the Bucks too. Max Caster's diss tracks continue to slowly win fans over but this was the moment the Acclaimed turned into a mainstay of AEW's tag division.

Worst - TNT ask for no more surprises While reported months later, fans were alerted that after Sting's debut, TNT had asked AEW to not do any more surprises. Business-wise it made sense since they wanted to promote any big moments on the show for a greater viewership, but Wrestling-wise eliminating the shock factor would be a detriment to the business as a whole. AEW have managed to work their way around such things by promoting 'mystery entrants' or debuting surprise characters between other promoted segments but it is still a questionable decision by TNT to request such a thing.

Best - This is Bear Country Next on the 'XX impress on Dark, get signed up' is the tag team of Bear Country. Different to Top Flight's flippy talent and the Acclaimed's knack for mind games and more technical wrestling was two big hoss men running roughshot War Machine-style, there's not much else you need to sell with that, Bear Country was just good stuff and provided another style AEW's tag division could use.

January 2021 Best - Negative One With Brodie Lee Jr. now signed to AEW, he started to make appearances as Dark Order's new leader 'Negative One'. And instantly, Brodie Jr had become an excellent presence. With great understanding of the business for such a young age, Negative One would delight audiences on Dark and Elevation be it on commentary or simply being the feral prince that often accompanied Preston Vance, Anna Jay and/or Tay Conti. The kid was having the time of his life too.

Worst - TNT title doesn't get revamped enough With the original finished product of the TNT title handed to Brodie Jr, there was an opening to make a new TNT title which learned from the criticisms that the original had. Unfortunately we did not have this, we mostly just got a Black strap. Granted COVID would've been a part of that but given how long Darby's reign was, we could've put work towards giving us a better looking TNT championship.

Best - Dark Order turn face, help the Hangman On BTE Dark Order found their feet with their flair for comedy, one of the segments that began this was Evil Uno's selling of Brodie's throwing of papers, the bit originated from Lee discovering that Hangman had once reached out to the Dark Order website sometime at the beginning of his depression spiral. Because of the rejection, the Dark Order had fostered an animosity against Page with frequent 'Fuck Hangman' chants, and yet Hangman would sporadically appear in their hangout, starting his own 'Fuck Hangman' chant when kicked out of the Elite in a brutal show of Page's self-loathing. From there though the Dark Order had softened to the Anxious Millennial Cowboy and after a face turn they had grown to become AEW's most popular faction and a much-needed friend for Page. While Hangman wouldn't officially join the Dark Order, it definitely proved to be an entertaining chapter in Page's story from an unlikely source.

Worst - Team Taz will jump Darby, but not Sting During their feud, Team Taz were seen to jump Darby Allin whenever they could, didn't matter if he had Cody or Moxley on his side they would still try to get the upper hand on the TNT champion. But now that Sting has arrived, Team Taz decided to stop doing that. As much as it was AEW protecting Sting from bumps, it really diminished Team Taz as well because five men that included Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs and Brian Cage were scurrying away from a lone 60 year old with a baseball bat.

Best - Bullet Club in AEW Tama Tonga might refute it, but the appearance of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in AEW was big, and their arrival to aid Kenny and then to two sweet him with the Bucks was an image definitely worthy of closing the night. From Gallows and Anderson's arrival to AEW led to Impact's doors being opened, which has recently led to Omega being the Belt Collector.

Worst - Callis' feud with the Bucks is gimmicky When Kenny won the AEW World Title at Winter is Coming, he had began a full on chaotic turn with Don Callis as his manager of sorts. The Young Bucks however were still firm babyfaces and were perturbed by Callis' actions that were ousting the Jackson brothers out of Kenny's social circles. Some bits were good, Callis really laying in thick the fact that he felt the Bucks had lost their edge, but the majority of it was a bit too much soap opera for my liking, the fake shiner was probably where it jumped the shark.

Best - Tay Conti shows her improvement against Deeb Tay Conti had grown a lot as a wrestler since her debut, and when set to challenge Serena Deeb for the NWA Women's Championship we had the story of 'Jack of All Trades vs Master of One'. Leaning more into her Judo and martial arts background, Tay Conti showed the wrestling world that she had arrived as a wrestler thanks to the AEW machine. WWE's loss had officially become AEW's gain as Tay Conti continues her rise to perhaps being one of the biggest female stars in the company.

Worst - Archer can't win a feud Having lost to Cody in May and then Moxley on the Anniversary episode, Archer was put in a no-win situation by feuding with Eddie Kingston. Now Kingston is great, but the problem was that both men desperately needed to win a feud for credibility, and Archer was the one who lost. Archer continues to be sold as a monster but also someone who will lose all his major feuds. Suffice to say, more can be done with the Murderhawk Monster.

Best - MJF sows seeds of discontent Having officially gotten in with the Inner Circle, MJF now had Chris Jericho's ear and he was ready to spread his poison. This started with the ousting of Sammy Guevara - Jericho's protege of sorts - before moving on to sowing tension between Jericho and Santana & Ortiz. This would be the beginnings of an excellent swerve by AEW, which we will get to later.

Worst - Santana and Ortiz aren't even the Inner Circle's tag team? Because of MJF's sowing though, we had a weird scenario where the Inner Circle were debating who was their official tag team? Debating between Jericho and MJF the singles competitors, Sammy and Hager the singles competitors or Santana & Ortiz the tag team. In this as well MJF and Jericho won, which was more sowing on MJF's part but it does still leave the worrying sense that AEW's tag division is perhaps too big as Tony Khan waits for the right moment to introduce a Trios title.

Best - Wardlow vs Hager was surprisingly good Another recurring narrative of MJF joining the Inner Circle was Jake Hager and Wardlow staring each other off whenever they could. In order to 'bury the hatchet', Hager challenged the War Dog to a match, and surprisingly this was Hager's best match in an AEW ring so far, big men slapping meat with the right conclusion of Wardlow winning.

Worst - The Waiting Room fades out While Britt Baker was injured but not Wheelchair bound she had started an interview show on Dark called 'The Waiting Room', it had a few flaws here and there but eventually it showed on Dynamite to decent effect. But after that it was gone, which is a shame because it could've easily been a longstanding segment for either of AEW's shows at the time to give some promo segments or interviews to AEW's talent.

Best - Private Party are leeched After working under the wing of 'Big Money' Matt Hardy, Private Party turned heel to compliment Hardy's newfound persona as the Company Leech. The heel turn has somewhat revitalized the once-promising tag team and proved they can play either side, it even got them an Impact Tag Title shot and an impressive match on the PPV.

Worst - Whatever Snoop Dogg was doing Snoop Dogg made an AEW appearance where he was insistent on doing a spot, but it didn't really work - much like it didn't really work when he tried it in WWE. Snoop as a guest wasn't the worst idea in the world and it is good that he's willing to bump on the show, but could does not always mean should.

Best - Jungle Boy and Dax put on a masterclass In the middle of FTR's midcard feud with Jurassic Express - the one that'd involve Marko Stunt being kidnapped - Dax Harwood and Jungle Boy crossed paths in an excellently technical match. The match received high praise that'd further put Jungle Boy over while also giving worthy praise for Harwood's wrestling ability.

Best - Jungle Boy gets some Baltimora While on the subject of Jungle Jack Perry, Tony Khan had decided that he had a library of songs he owned or could own and use as entrance themes for some of AEW's more earmarked talent. This would begin with Jungle Boy, who was given Baltimora's 'Tarzan Boy' per the suggestion of Joey Janela. Immediately Jungle Boy had something the fans could use to rally behind, a chantable song that embraced all that Jungle Boy's character was.

February 2021 Best - JD Drake makes an impression JD Drake does not look like AEW's typical wrestler, but that's the point. On his debut on Dark he surprised many with his great offense and agility, even able to pull off a moonsault. Quickly Drake was signed and becomes the odd one out but also the oft-ignored voice of common sense in the Wingmen faction of prettyboys. He's having a lot of fun with it too and has put on good matches, recently against Rocky Romero.

Worst - Women's Eliminator Tournament partly goes on Youtube The Women's Eliminator Tournament opened up the Women's Division in a big way, but COVID meant that not all of it could be filmed in Jacksonville. So like the Deadly Draw, the tournament had to spend some of its time on Youtube. Now I have no problem with Youtube being used, it's a wider medium that can be accessed at any time, but it did mimic the downsides of the Deadly Draw and alienate the TNT-only audience, especially since Dynamite rarely showed highlights of the tournament progress.

Best - Women's Eliminator Tournament exceeds expectations That is however, the only criticism with hindsight one can give the Eliminator Tournament. Because not only did it give us the return of Riho, Yuka Sakazaki, Ryo Mizunami, Emi Sakura and Aja Kong, but it also graced us with the talented debuts of Maki Itoh, VENY (aka Asuka, who also wore Hana Kimura's robe) and Mei Suruga. In addition Shida provided Japanese commentary for the Joshi matches sporting a strikingly beautiful white suit. The tournament did not have a bad match at all; with VENY vs Sakura, Suruga vs Sakazaki, Sakazaki vs Sakura (which had Sakura perform a fantastic entrance), Serena Deeb vs Riho, Leyla Hirsch vs Thunder Rosa, Riho vs Rosa, Baker vs Nyla, Conti vs Nyla and the finals were all great and unique matches. The non-tournament 6-woman joshi tag match was also excellent and so was the surprise winner of Ryo Mizunami and her title shot against Shida at Revolution.

Best - Moxley brings the IWGP US Championship Jon Moxley may've lost the AEW World Championship, he still had a title on hand he could use: the IWGP US Championship. While NJPW had intended to keep it mainly on NJPW Strong during COVID, New Japan also allowed Moxley to bring his title on rare occasions to AEW, later to the point where he could defend it. It was definite good business and the next thing is why it was such a big deal.

Best - THE FORBIDDEN DOOR OPENS! 'New Japan will not work with AEW' - that was what we were told in the early stages of AEW, but we held out hope. We got more hope when Harold Meij stepped down from NJPW but still the 'Forbidden Door' remained shut, all the way until Beach Break when a hooded figure came up to Jon Moxley, hit a GTS and revealed himself. KENTA, the holder of the IWGP US Championship Briefcase he won in the inaugural New Japan Cup USA tournament. The internet went wild, the forbidden door was open and there was no way fans will let it close again.

March 2021 Best - Sting debuts cinematically Team Taz's feud with Darby came to a head with a Tag Team Street Fight. It was Sting's first AEW match and fans were concerned on how many bumps he could take - memory of his 'career-ending' match with Rollins echoing in the mind. AEW though would not make that mistake, deciding to go cinematic to protect Sting and give him time to recover from any bumps caused - as well as win the match like one HHH refused to do - the match itself was fantastic with Team Taz and Darby fitting in a ton of extreme spots and Brian Cage just flexing all over the place.

Worst - Archer feuds(?) with Sting After said Street Fight though, Sting continued said momentum with: Interviews. Worse yet these interviews started being interrupted by Lance Archer, who wanted to take Sting's TV time from him. This amounted to nothing as well because after Sting put an endorsement on Archer, the Murderhawk Monster would decide not to fight for a spot and come in to save Sting and Darby from time to time. If we were gonna establish this alliance we could've done more with it, sadly AEW keep on following up Sting wrestling with a ton of Sting talking.

Best - The Pinnacle debut MJF's snaking in on the Inner Circle was paying off dividends, but after an unsuccessful challenge for the tag titles, the Inner Circle had announced a 'War Council' to discuss their future. It looked as though MJF was gonna completely oust out Jericho from his own group, but out came Sammy Guevara. Absent since leaving the group, Guevara had unraveled MJF, revealing that the Inner Circle was wise to MJF's plot all along: except they weren't. MJF had played 5 steps ahead of the Inner Circle, because he wasn't trying to steal his faction, he was setting up his own. FTR, Spears, Wardlow and MJF swarmed the Inner Circle for an epic debut which would be known as the Pinnacle.

Worst - Cody beats Penta despite a shoulder injury At this point fans were beginning to wonder how Cody Rhodes would write himself off of TV. His wife Brandi was halfway through pregnancy and the Rhodes had announced a Miz & Mrs-esque reality show too. So when Cody was kayfabing a shoulder injury and pitted against Penta El 0M, fans were hoping that this time Cody could not finagle his way into defeating a charismatic and popular member of the roster who could use the rub and has a history of kayfabe breaking arms, and yet he did. The feud set up ended up being a one-off that harmed Penta more than it did good, he had done the arm breaker but Cody just shrugged it off and won anyway. It was growing all too apparent that clean Cody losses will remain to be few and far between.

Best - Penta Says that Alex is a Great Hype Man There is one saving grace to the Penta/Cody mini feud though and it's that pseudo-Dark Order member, Spanish announcer and interviewer Alex Abrahantes had been paired with Penta as his translator/hype man. Sporting some Rollins-esque outfitting of gloves and jackets, Abrahantes added extra venom to his translations which of course gave Penta a lot more vibrance. Alex as well seems to be having a whale of a time doing so.

Worst - Team Taz Dissension starts, but will pause for 2 months In the aftermath of their Street Fight defeat, Cage had drawn the ire of his Team Taz comrades by showing Sting some respect. This led to some light tension between Cage and the rest of the team, especially Ricky Starks. While this could've worked towards a Cage face turn, the tension fizzled out, only reigniting recently.

Best - Jade, Velvet and Shaq impress at a Crossroads The special episode 'The Crossroads' had been set up to promote a mixed tag match which served as Jade Cargill and Shaq's AEW wrestling debut. Competing against Cody and Red Velvet, the match did put fan minds at ease by keeping Shaq's spots simple but classic, while Velvet and Cargill ran the show in the ring. Shaq took a table bump as well which was cool and the match started Jade's star-level momentum on a high.

Worst - Shaq just, disappears In the aftermath of the table spot Shaq was put on a stretcher and into an ambulance, but when we went backstage to get some comments from Shaq before being sent off we found that the ambulance was empty. A weird thing considering that in a few days Shaq would be back on TNT anyway like that had no continuity, it was a strange decision nonetheless.

Best - Exploding. Barbed Wire. Deathmatch! AEW and their penchant for gimmick matches is an interesting relationship, but the moment this match was announced it had garnered a lot of hype. I mean it's not every day you see an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, and Kenny and Mox had already tore into each other in Full Gear to the point where they legitimately broke state laws. The match was every bit as brutal as promised, homaging Onita many a time through Mox but also with the wired up baseball bat, 99% of the match was freaking awesome.

Worst - Fizzling. Barbed Wire. Deathmatch. Sadly, that 1% that wasn't would be the final visual of the PPV. Moxley is defeated and the whole ring is gonna blow, Kenny and co have scurried and Mox is handcuffed and KO'd in the middle of the ring. Disregarding the warnings of the Butcher, Blade and Bunny, Eddie Kingston rushes in to help his former friend, past enmity be damned, he cannot free Mox in time and in a narratively pivotal act of self-sacrifice drapes himself over Moxley to take the blow. And all we got was a fizzle, a few sparklers and fireworks would end the night unfulfilled, undoing all the good the match had delivered. It would be AEW's most unsatisfying moment caused by a botched ending that could never be undone.

Best - Mox and Kingston reunite to rule the promos Although they could not take back the botched finish, the storyline still allowed a new dynamic of Moxley and Kingston reuniting as chaotic street brothers eyeing up the Elite for a fight. One King of Promo would be enough but two was just fantastic, you could watch Kingston and Moxley bounce off of each other all day and still remain thoroughly entertained.

Worst - Kingston doesn't get a crack at Kenny It was however a shame that draping your body over your friend to protect him from an intended explosion was not enough to validate a feud between said person and the creator of the explosive device. Kingston looked all but set to try and avenge his friend by facing Kenny, but it would not turn out to be. The closest we got was a jump and a One Winged Angel, which is a shame because Kingston vs Kenny would've been fantastic - but alas, Mox and Kingston jumped over Kenny and just went for the tag teams instead.

Best - AEW support Cezar Bononi and his wife Cezar Bononi was doing fine as part of the Undercard faction of the Wingmen with Pretty Peter Avalon, Ryan Nemeth and JD Drake. Behind the curtain though Bononi's wife Camila was suffering from Leukemia and needed a Bone Marrow transplant, her sister was a match but she was in Brazil so they needed an emergency visa so to do the transplant on time. Thanks to the collective efforts of fans and the continued exposure AEW provided for Bononi, Camila's sister would make it in time and Camila herself got her transplant and seems to be doing well.

Worst - Big Money Matt loses his quarter, but it doesn't go anywhere In the conclusion of the chapter where Matt Hardy tried to leech his way into Hangman Page's profits, Hangman had defeated Hardy in a 'Big Money' match which meant that Page had won all of Hardy's money over the last quarter. This opened an avenue to see what Big Money Matt could be like with No Money, but it amounted to very little. In fact the worst we got from Matt was eating olives, a missed opportunity for sure, we could've even had Matt be hounded by loan sharks and debt collectors but alas, it didn't dent his money in the end, at the very least Hangman got his lawnmower.

Best - Elevation elevates Mizunami, Leyla and Limelight In March, AEW debuted a more canonized version of Dark called Elevation, which'd be used to show off a bit of the undercard and allow more opportunity to climb the rankings. In the first month of Elevation, we were graced with several good matches, usually including one of three Elevation Regulars. The Eliminator Tournament Winner Ryo Mizunami would go on a series of bouts with female talent such as Tesha Price and KiLynn King where she effortlessly fit into the role of AEW's women's division gatekeeper, meaning that whoever beat her would get a solid rub - and Abadon did. When Mizunami returned to Japan, one of the people she felled took over from her duties and that was Leyla Hirsch, Hirsch had teamed successfully with Mizunami a couple of times as well and has effectively used her spot to get some wins in. On the men's side, NJPW Strong regular Danny Limelight was given his namesake with some high profile matches including Jungle Boy, Frankie Kazarian and Dark Order's 10, not to mention Takeshita, Omega, Kingston and Moxley in later months, the Team Filthy member definitely taking the show's name to heart.

Best - Cassidy wonders where his mind is Not long after Jungle Boy had obtained Baltimora, plans had been made to give Orange Cassidy a new theme too. The pick was an inspired one with The Pixies' 'Where is My Mind?' - which many would be familiar with as the ending song to Fight Club - the song suited Cassidy really well, and after positive testing on Dark it was used for the next Dynamite to close off the night.

Best - Arcade Anarchy delivers in spite of a weak feud It should probably be a word of caution to not face the Best Friends in a gimmick match in AEW, because they hit a new gear whenever they do. The feud with Miro and Kip was poor, and fans were more than happy for it to end on the PPV when Miro got his win, but AEW insisted on one more match: Arcade Anarchy - agreed to by Kip. In spite of fears this match ruled: Trent's return with Sue was great, Kris Statlander's return was a huge surprise, it took all 3 Best Friends to keep Miro down and we finished the night with Where is My Mind playing us off. Despite the weak feud, AEW had finished strongly which made reheating Miro a lot easier.

Best - Tully Blanchard wrestles in 2021 The culmination of Jurassic Express vs FTR came in the Crossroads in a 6-Man tag match. Made extra bonkers because Tully Blanchard was FTR's third man in the match. They of course limited his spots and a Shawn Spears return would prove the difference, but it's an entertainingly ridiculous thing that Tully Blanchard both wrestled in 2021 and won: wrestling is just crazy.

Best - Final 4 of Casino Tag Royale put on a Show AEW have played around with the 'Casino' concept for a few stipulations; regular battle royale for men and women, ladder match, and then tag royale. This royale finished strongly though with the final 4; John Silver, Fénix, PAC and Jungle Boy. Four absolutely over stars brawling out in mini-matches that left fans salivating for more, after Silver and PAC were eliminated Fénix and JB put on an absolute treat of a finale, which ended with Fénix getting the win for Death Triangle to face the Bucks.

Best - Silver earns Sting's respect with a Dislocated Shoulder John Silver was voted by Dark Order to take Darby Allin's open challenge for the TNT title - offered because it was the anniversary of Brodie's debut. Silver vs Allin became a great match, made even more impressive since Silver dislocated his shoulder early in the match and kept going. While Silver couldn't bring the title home to the Dark Order, he got a show of respect from Sting - which in turn would lead to the Dark Order coming to Darby and Sting's aid at times.

Best - Maki Itoh breaks America Fans of TJPW or twitter's tdegifs were very familiar with the charismatic foul-mouthed hard-headed former idol Maki Itoh, and seeing her in the Women's Eliminator tournament paid dividends despite her first round elimination. Itoh's popularity skyrocketed, she had an It factor which pissed off Jim Cornette for extra adulation, and come Revolution's Buy-In, Maki Itoh had arrived in Jacksonville for one of the biggest pops of the night. Itoh proved charming and entertaining even though she was aligned with the heels, to the point where she even main evented the inaugural Elevation against Riho. Sadly Itoh would have to return to Japan and unsuccessfully challenge for Rika Tatsumi's TJPW Princess of Princess Championship (her tag partner/former longstanding rival/sauce boss/Pink Striker Miyu Yamashita would however win), have her twitter hacked and set up a new division of her faction 'Saitama Itoh Respect Army 2021' with Yuki Kamifuku and Marika Kobashi, but she had made her mark and then some, the world was a simp for Maki Itoh, and she allowed it because she needed the monies.

Best - Rosa/Baker break the ceiling Itoh vs Riho wasn't the only cross-promotional women's main event AEW gave us, because 2 days later on St. Patrick's Day Smash, Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa's unsanctioned match would deliver on one of the highest rated matches in modern women's wrestling. A bloody and fantastic affair instantly rose Baker and Rosa's stakes in a fitting end to their rivalry, but one that also didn't cost Baker any standing because it technically 'didn't count'. It remains to this day AEW's best match in the women's division.

April 2021 Best - Miro ditches Kip After months of hanging with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford, Miro had become fed up with Superbad. The acceptance against his wishes to fight the Arcade Anarchy proved the last straw as Miro set his focus on capturing any and every title within his reach, with or without Kip. After a few weeks of not seeing Sabian, Miro attacked him, writing Sabian out of action with a legitimate wrist injury while Ford was dealing with an allergic reaction to her eyelashes, with Kip gone Miro could finally be who we were waiting for: at freaking last.

Worst - Interference finishes beget questions of Faction Bloat Although not as bad as WWE, many matches on AEW seemed to end one way or another with factions fighting one another, clean finish or not. This did of course grind on fans and cause questions to arise that perhaps there are too many factions in AEW, they have a point, though easily fixable without splitting any factions up.

Best - Bucks descend to heeldom Don Callis had been a thorn in the Bucks' side for a while, but his words had got in their head, they were indeed the most successful when they were cocky assholes. Although they did save Moxley from being swarmed one time, the six-man tag proved too much for them: they didn't want to see the feral Moxley take out their old and storied friend and so they chose Kenny over morality. No longer annoyed by Callis, the Bucks became absolute shiteating heels again, which benefits the climate of the tag division.

Best - Jade is elevated by being sought out While Jade Cargill would only sporadically appear for squashes, AEW have done well to slow burn her star power by having managers try to get her as a client. It's simple storytelling but effective, because people want Jade it means that Jade is desirable and that makes her more important as a talent.

Best - Baker DeManDs her title shot Because the Unsanctioned Match 'didn't count' Britt Baker had carried the acclaim of that match even in defeat. Baker had stopped dossing around too, legitimately rising up the ranks to the Number 1 spot like a looming shadow to have her crack at Shida's title. It could've been easy to give her a shot by virtue of her performance but AEW did it right - and gave Tay Conti her shot in the process - which made Baker much more valued in her title hunt.

Best - Cage upsets the Hangman At the Number 1 Spot, Hangman Page looked like he was on course to fight Kenny Omega, but when asked about this prospect Page dodged the subject entirely. The thought though would weigh on his mind in his match against Cage, where he was practically squashed in an upset fashion, it was a surprising plot twist and delays Page's clash with Kenny while also adds to Cage's reputation.

May 2021 Best - Varsity Blonds add some Hart The Varsity Blonds had done well considering that they started as being an undercard pair-up and grew into a talented young combo homaging Brian Pillman and Steve Austin's team of the Hollywood Blonds. But adding Nightmare Factory upstart Julia Hart just added the missing piece for the blonds, as a trio they look the part, and their rise feels earned as they put on a great showing against the Bucks.

Worst - QT loses to Cody after all that Cody's Ace Problem had transitioned to the point where QT Marshall was picked to turn on him next, collecting a small portion of the Nightmare Factory who felt that the students were secondary to Cody's ego. When it came to the exhibition Cody won by DQ, but got assaulted by the Factory, so when they had a proper match we had a choice: elevate this new faction or have their leader lose, guess which they chose? QT tapped out to the Figure Four and Cody prevailed.

Best - SCU put it on the line For several months, SCU had put a challenge on themselves that if they lost in tag competition (not singles or battle royales) they would split up. It had worked well because they were undefeated since, but being at the top of the rankings with a heel Young Bucks signalled the inevitable clash between the two teams. The question would be could the Bucks really end the team they welcomed to AEW on Day 1, their friends, the first World Tag Champions of their company, and the answer was yes. A bloodied affair of near falls and the Bucks hamming up any emotional bonds they once had led to a fantastic match that has put a tragic end to SCU.

Worst - SCU's embrace is cut short But immediately after that we cut to Mox and Eddie trashing their locker room. AEW would return to show SCU's final embrace but a 'previously on' is not as effective as seeing it when the wound is fresh, it was the end of a partnership that had spanned a decade, all the way back to Fortune, Bad Influence and then The Addiction, it deserved the time to linger.

Best - Blood and Guts! Last year it was planned that the Elite would face the Inner Circle in a WarGames-esque match called Blood and Guts. But COVID had prevented this, so we changed to Stadium Stampede. With the Inner Circle feuding with the newfly formed Pinnacle, AEW made the right call in bringing Blood and Guts back a year later to clash the two factions against one another. And it truly did live up to its names, a brutish match which cemented the Pinnacle as one of AEW's top factions.

Worst - Blood and Guts (nor Stadium Stampede II) doesn't finish the feud Big gimmick matches like these should be feud enders, but AEW wanted to put the two factions at odds again. With the threat of disbanding, the Inner Circle got a rematch for Double or Nothing for Stadium Stampede and while it wasn't bad fans did feel that the feud should've ended at Blood and Guts. In addition, Stadium Stampede wouldn't even finish their beef as they look to divide into 3 mini-feuds again.

Best - Miro crushes Darby Without Kip, Miro was a monster and he immediately went for gold. A perfect usurper for Darby Allin's TNT title reign, Miro destroyed the fearless and near-indestructible daredevil - who was protected from the squash because Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky had thrown him down some stairs last week - his look over to Sting as they both accepted that they were likely losing this match was a great moment between Miro's destructive force. And as TNT champion Miro is great, his thanking of God for various things are both charming and hilarious but he also manages to pair it with psychotic menace, long may the Best Man reign.

Worst - Cody's American Dream wins over Ogogo's valid points After submitting QT in his match, Cody's celebrations were cut off by Anthony Ogogo, the Olympic Bronze Medallist and former Boxer in QT's Factory, who KO'd Cody and covered him with the UK flag. A feud with Ogogo could've been the saving face moment for the Factory but instead Cody opted to zone in on the flag thing. Painting Ogogo as the 'Anti-American Foreign Heel' did not sit well for anyone who wasn't an uber-American 'Patriot' since the concept was heavily outdated, in addition Ogogo was making real valid points about why he disliked America: pointing out the gross flaws in the country's healthcare system and Cody would reply with how his pregnant wife and unborn daughter were black, choking up his words to garner sympathy. This all falls flat given how Ogogo is also black and never once implied that Cody was a racist. With the chance to put over the Factory with a charismatic young competitor, Cody instead decided to win without even using a finisher - because it was Memorial Day Weekend and America always wins, at this point the Factory remain pretty tainted now since Cody has beaten every member he's faced (and Dustin beat the other one). Saying things worked out on 'Focus Groups' didn't help Cody's defense as to why the feud went the way it did either, it was an outdated narrative with a result that all but screws over the Factory.

Best - The Forbidden Door opens again While none have risen the heights of KENTA's shocking arrival, the Forbidden Door did remain open for some more appearances from NJPW's personnel. Yuji Nagata made a big return to TNT to fight Moxley for the IWGP US Championship but also Ren Narita and Rocky Romero made appearances, the latter having a mini Roppongi Vice reunion with Trent. AEW had also extended the forbidden door to DDT with Konosuke Takeshita impressing on AEW's first house show and on Elevation, and recently a Joker Card appearance for Lio Rush.

Best - Shida gets recognized, and a revamped title After a year of holding the AEW Women's Championship Hikaru Shida had been the subject of criticism from neckbeards acting like she was the 'female Brock Lesnar'. Some were annoyed that Shida's title reign had lasted so long and were blind to the fact that this was clearly intended so Baker could win in front of a crowd. The Dynamite before Double or Nothing though AEW did right by recognizing Shida's work ethic and title reign and by presenting her with a new and larger Women's Championship. While people may complain that they could've unveiled this new title at the PPV I felt it was right to at least let Shida enter the PPV with this title considering how long she had held the Women's Division down. Some poor builds aside, Shida had carried the division with strong matches and worked behind the scenes as well for improving the division, as well as producing the Women's Eliminator Tournament. In this house we do not disrespect Hikaru Shida.

Best - Double or Nothing 2021 And we end on the crescendo, and what a crescendo. The full-time return of fans were graced with an excellently feel-good PPV - aside from Cody beating Ogogo - which had all the competitors perform at a high level. Starting hot, giving Jungle Boy a big unexpected win, Mark Henry debuting and topping it off with Stadium Stampede signed off a big and entertaining year for AEW and closing off with the returning crowd chanting Judas: masterful chef kiss level idea.

The aftermath of DoN while mentioned will probably not be touched on next year because damn were these posts long, but at the very least I did it for WWE and AEW as I said I would. Let's hope that both companies can rise to higher heights and avoid lower lows in the next year when we retread these ppvs again.

[wrestlingwithhistory]

Seisan Matchi - Yoshiko vs Act Yasakawa

In 2015, Joshi Wrestling was experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to a wealth of both experienced and up and coming wrestlers under various promotions across Japan. Stardom is consistently recognised as one of the premier Joshi Puroresu companies in Japan and has had established the careers of wrestlers such as Io Shirai, Kairi Hojo (Kairi Sane in WWE) and Mayu Iwatani to name but a few. Since its inception in 2010. They were always known for high quality matches that would outshine the US companies at the time who were still establishing their women’s wrestling as they moved away from the era of the Diva.

Throughout the 80’s and 90’s, Joshi Puroresu was always well respected, not just in Japan but across the world as talents would travel into the US and perform for WWF and WCW, most notably Bull Nakano who won the then WWF women’s title in 1994. And in reverse, there was a wealth of US talent that would travel to Japan to ply their trade with their Japanese peers, learning the style that was much more than the glamour of the American counterparts. Women such as Madusa (Alundra Blayze), Monster Ripper and Amazing Kong (later Awesome Kong) would establish themselves within the Joshi system despite being Gaijin (foreigners).

World Wonder Ring Stardom – known more commonly as Stardom – was founded in 2010 by former All Japan Women producer Rossy Ogawa, retired wrestler Fuka Kakimoto (known as Fuka) and professional wrestler Nanae Takahashi (known as Nanae). Although Stardom prides itself in hard hitting matches and work rate, it has previous come under fire for its unfair approach to pushing its female stars, placing a huge emphasis on the attractiveness of its stars to promote the company. This would be considered common within the Joshi system as the majority of the people that are attending the shows are male. Usually around 70% of the fanbase at shows are male, but in counter to that New Japan shows, which have Male only talent, the fan base is around 60% female.

This emphasis on attractiveness and professional jealousy is what is believed to be the main reason for what happened on February 22nd, 2015 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall at a Stardom event which was contested for the World of Stardom Championship.

Yoshiko Hirano was born July 26th, 1993. At the time of the incident, she was 21 years old. She was trained by Stardom founders Nanae and Fuka, as well as her tag team partner Natsuki Taiyo and Yuu Yamagata. She was a part of Stardom’s first trainees alongside Mayu Iwatani and Yoko Bito. She was given a heel persona which followed the style of the Yankii culture, which is considered to be brash, non-conforming and disrespectful.

Yusa Yasakawa was born November 13th, 1986. She made her Pro Wrestling debut in 2012 for Stardom, for whom she wrestled exclusively during her career. She was trained by Stardom founder Fuka. She has won the World of Stardom championship twice and was forced to vacate the title on both occasions due to injuries and illness. In 2014, after several defences of her belt, she relinquishes due to complications with her thyroid which was linked to Graves Disease. She went away for cataract surgery and returned to wrestle again 12 months later.

Yoshiko was considered to be protégé of Nanae, a true monster wrestler who was moulded in the old-fashioned Joshi style that was more in place with that of the cotemporaries of All Japan women. At the time of the match, she was the World of Stardom champion. Act Yasakawa was more of a style for the newer generation of Joshi puroresu. She was smaller in stature that Yoshiko and also, from the view of those higher up in the company, considered to be more attractive and marketable than her counterpart. Both women were part of the same stable in Stardom at one point named Kawasaki Katsushika Saikyou Densetsu Plus One.

As the match begins, both women stare across the ring from each other before they eventually begin trading blows with elbows and punches connecting wildly. Yoshiko, as the bigger of the two, managed to drag Yasakawa to the ground after throwing lots of punches at her face in the corner. The referee intervenes at this point and forces a break by Yoshiko as he can see that Yasakawa is bleeding heavily from her nose and mouth. Yasakawa crawls to the corner where she is checked on by the referee and Kyoko Kimura who was at ringside. The referee goes across to Yoshiko and you can sim him making a closed fist gesture, warning her that she must not punch with a closed fist which is traditional in wrestling to protect your opponent. As Yasakawa gets treatment from her corner, the camera zooms in to Yoshiko’s welted hands. The match was barely 1 minute in from the start bell and her hands showed signs of the closed fist punches that she’s was warned of by the referee.

The match restarts and Yasakawa is still getting to her feet when Yoshiko makes her way to the centre of the ring. Yoshiko makes a grab for Yasakawa’s hair which forces her into the ropes. She manages to fight back hitting her with some punches of her own, but Yoshiko is much larger and stronger than the smaller Yasakawa and hits her with a few more punches to the head and body before taking her to the ground again. Yoshiko then continues the use palm strikes to the side of Yasakawa’s head and face before standing up and moving away for a brief moment. The clearly frustrated Act stands up, still blood running from her nose and staggered from the assault.

Act approaches Yoshiko, looking as if she tries to engage with her to cooperate but Yoshiko stands stoic, hands on hips to signify her disrespect towards her opponent. Act throws a kick towards Yoshiko’s left side, but she grabs her leg and swings another palm strike towards Yasakawa’s face which narrowly misses, and they grapple into the centre of the ring, where Yoshiko again has gained the top control. Act’s head is in between Yoshiko’s legs and unable to attack, so Yoshiko powers Act over onto her back and struggles to manoeuvre into a position to attack again before Yasakawa gets her foot onto the ropes to force a break. As the referee asks for the break, Yoshiko places herself into a push-up pose, using Yasakawa’s face and abdomen as her balance points. She is pushing down on Act’s face the majority of this and eventually gets up, which then allows her to hit a heavy kick onto Yasakawa’s back as she attempts to stand up.

In a momentary change of pace, Yoshiko whips Yasakawa off the ropes and hits a heavy shoulder block/push which sends Yasakawa flying backwards to the floor. This happens a second time but while Yasakawa is grounded, Yoshiko stomps to the back of Act’s head 3 times, 2 which connected, one which was avoided by Act in a last-ditch effort.

Yoshiko then picks up Yasakawa, driving her face into the turnbuckle pad. Act turns around but is met quickly by Yoshiko who grabs her hair and throws her into the opposite corner, following up the more strikes to the head and then applying a guillotine choke. Yoshiko tries to drag the flailing Act into the centre of the ring but Yasakawa grabs the rope and then wraps her foot around the bottom rope, forcing the referee to start a 5 count for a break.

As Yoshiko walks back to the centre of the ring, the referee seems to motion towards Act to see if she is able to continue. Yasakawa nods and tried to regain some composure before returning to the centre of the ring herself. She circles Yoshiko before swinging out at her, which Yoshiko anticipates and throws a few strikes before again getting Act onto the ground by her hair. While on the ground, Yoshiko mounts her back and begins closed fist punching to Act’s face and head again. Act spins onto her front and with Yoshiko sitting atop of her, the referee calls for another break. While getting up, Yoshiko stands her full body weight onto Yasakawa’s stomach. As she moves away, Yasakawa rolls out of the ring where she is immediately met by Kris Wolf and other ringside wrestlers.

Yasakawa’s face is heavily swollen and visible, evident from the closed fist punches and palm strikes by Yoshiko. The referee begins a count but is called to check on Act and see that she is unfit to continue the match. The Referee re-enters the ring but at this point has not drawn a conclusion to the match. Yasakawa tried to climb back into the ring to maintain her dignity but is stopped by the other ringside players and as Yasakawa screams towards Yoshiko, a towel is thrown in to signify that the fight is over. The referee refers to the bell keeper and the bell rings around the arena.

With Yasakawa still screaming at ringside angrily, Kyoko Kimura lauched herself at Yoshiko before being dragged away from her by other present players. Yasakawa was taken away to hospital where they diagnosed fractured cheek nasal and orbital bones which required surgery, with doctors being very concerned with the damage to her eyes due to her surgery the previous year.

3 days later, a press conference was held where the World of Stardom championship was vacated, and Yoshiko was suspended indefinitely. The founders took a 30% pay cut for several months and Nanae ended up leaving the company as tensions between the foundrs over the incident continued.

Although Yoshiko apologised for the incident, many questioned her motives as 3 months later she decided to retire. During the customary 10 bell salute of a retiring player, she turned her back and walked out of the ceremony.

Though the reason for the fight is still contested and speculated, the fact this this match was given the name Seisan Matchi (Ghastly Match) shows how difficult it is to watch.

Act Yasakawa retired from In-ring competition on December 23rd, 2015 as a result of her injuries but continues to work with Stardom, most recently as a manager for the Oedo Tai stable.

Yoshiko had a 5-year exodus from Stardom, working with Nanae’s company Seadlinnng since its inception in 2016. She also tried her hand at MMA with Korean company Road FC. In March 3rd, 2021 both she and Nanae returned to Stardom competing at their 10th year anniversary show, All Star Dream Cinderella. Nanae fought against Momo Watanabe coming out with a victory and Yoshiko took on Mayu Iwatani in a losing effort.

I have put a link below so you can watch the match at your discretion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qstbjwENFy0

[sstrongstyle]

𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Adam Cole x OC, mentions of Seth Rollins x OC 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: After nearly a decade of being the golden girl of WWE, Adaline Marin wants out. Their ring was no longer home, haunted by her first love and upon reaching her thirties, the face behind "Aspen Glory" wonders if the passion she once had was still ablaze. Instead, she gets sent down to NXT to join the Undisputed Era. The next three hundred and sixty-five days, all captured by cameras for the history books, become a year of revival, reinvention, and realization with her legacy at stake and a new flame from the past emerging. 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: All characters are referred to by their real life names (for the most part)

CHAPTER ONE.

August 11th, 2019

If Adaline had to force another wide smile for an Instagram selfie to celebrate the bright and beautiful Summerslam week that ended, she was going to completely lose it. The only person who seemed to notice was Trinity and, stifling a laugh at her irritated mood, went out of her way to buy Adaline a drink to help her get through the night. She shot her a relieved look, as she pretended to listen to Nattie talk about her cats for the nth time and trying to stay away from the Total Divas cameras.

"Hey, Addie!" Turning around, she saw that it was Kyle to her rescue. He was waving her over, presumably to join his table on the other side of the restaurant. There, most of the NXT roster and personnel had isolated themselves away from the other talent from Raw and Smackdown.

A thin smile stretched across her face. "I'll be back, girl." A complete lie, as Adaline patted Nattie's shoulder and got up to join her stable mates.

There was a different vibe to the NXT people; the family image and reputation that was painted on the Performance Centre residents wasn't far from the reality. Everyone under the yellow brand stuck together like glue and looked out for one another, something that Adaline hadn't felt in years. Initially, when she was assigned to the roster after nearly ten years on the "main roster," the Canadian felt somewhat insulted. Sure, they wanted a vet to guide the women's division, but she knew it was an excuse for the fact that creative had absolutely nothing for her.

And then, she found out that she was getting put with the Undisputed Era.

Austin smirked when he saw her approach. "You looked like you wanted to die over there." He pulled out a chair for her, always the gentleman.

"Those stupid camera guys put me on edge whenever they're nearby," she grumbled, sitting down in between him and Bobby with her drink still at hand.

"Smile a little. We had a good show," Austin nudged her. "Plus, we're in your hometown."

It was the late hours of Sunday night and as soon as Summerslam went off air, nearly all, if not most, of the on air employees that took part in the event, as well as Takeover, decided to go to a local bar and grill to celebrate. Raw and Smackdown were to follow in the next two days, but they wanted to gather while the NXT talent was still in Toronto. The city was alive and bustling, even dipping into the morning, and so was the entire locker room. Normally, Adaline would embrace the energy and take the time to bask in her surroundings—ever since she moved to Florida, she was rarely home.

Then, they walked in.

Kyle had impeccable timing in calling her over because Adaline was sure that she would have completely frozen up if she was still sitting with Trinity on the other side of the restaurant. As soon as she saw the flash of fiery orange hair, she completely turned her body away from the entrance in the hopes that it would appear as though she didn't notice the pairing appear at all. However, it was hard to do so when a round of greetings emerged from the crowd of wrestlers, upon realizing that the newest company power couple had walked into the room.

"Colby! Becky! Come sit here!" If anyone's voice on the entire roster was going to fill up an entire room, it was Ron Killings. It boomed and demanded attention from the entire restaurant and most people looked up, especially when it was the two biggest faces of the company.

Initially, Adaline thought the only good part about getting moved to NXT was getting away from Colby. He was the only constant in her life for the past decade and moving away to only see him once every few months was. . .different. Ever since the breakup, she wanted to completely erase him from her mind. Sure, that was the game plan for the few times they'd broken up before in the past—which, by the way, horribly failed every time and was the reason why they always seemed to crawl back to each other—but, this time was different. This time, it was for good. Adaline didn't know just how serious that promise was until she heard through the locker room grapevine about them shortly after the Royal Rumble.

"It's natural," Renee had told her one night over dinner at her house. "You guys were together since you were eighteen. Letting go of your first love is hard, especially when you see them everyday at work."

With a mouthful of broccoli, Mox had thought it would be smart to add on. "Yeah, especially when he's walking around backstage with the new chick that he's sleeping with." Though it was meant to be a lighthearted comment towards his former group members, Renee slapped her husband upside on the head for it.

At the restaurant, the only people who didn't care about the couple's appearance—or at least, pretended not to care for Adaline's sake—were her fellow Undisputed members. Bobby and Kyle continued to shovel food into their mouths. Austin didn't even flinch. While the couple entered, Christopher reached over the table to show the group a picture that his son drew of the stable.

Chris grinned. "There's Kyle and Bobby, still with the tag belts, obviously." The duo were at the front and although they were basically scribbles, you could tell which one Kyle was because of the guitar pose that the stick figure held. "There's Austin, with his luscious locks. There's me, handsome as ever. And then, there's you—"

"Um, why don't I have any hair?" Adaline deadpanned, thinking that she was supposed to be Austin in the drawing.

The boys peered over and started laughing. Adaline was clearly the only girl with a pink triangle body for a dress, but was bald. She was in the back, beside Austin, and the five of them were in a square that she assumed was a ring.

Kyle ruffled her hair. "Because you went and made it all white, obviously." The once black haired beauty went all the way in her transformation last month, when she cropped her curly hair to her chin and dyed the locks silver. It was supposed to be a little bonus to her heel turn, but ended up becoming more of a metaphor for her career and being assigned to NXT after all this time.

"Yeah, there's clearly white crayon marks," Austin pointed out.

"What? Oh. My bad." Adaline chuckled a bit, leaning back into her seat. The banter helped distract her easily and she was thankful for that.

She had her reservations about being lumped in as the token female member of a stable again. By the time it was decided that the female was going to be sent to NXT, Adaline had only just recovered from her past in The Shield and worse—Seth Rollins' arm candy. After making history as Smackdown Women's Champion, she thought that this would only be the beginning to the peak. Wrong. Adaline dropped the title to Becky at Wrestlemania and was subsequently shipped off the brand, never to be seen again, until emerging as apart of Adam Cole's crew. She was over it and she hated having sit back and let the men take the spotlight.

But, this was NXT. It was 2019. Adaline had proven that she was a valuable asset to the company, especially after her two years away to share her talents in Japan and thus, creating a deep hole in the women's division of WWE of the time. She wasn't being inserted into the stable to be eye candy or a joke. And, honestly? Adaline loved being around the other Undisputed guys. She was an equal in the group and her time with them completely exceeded her initially low expectations.

Bobby peered over at Adaline, who was just sitting there. "Are you not going to eat anything?"

"No," was all she said.

"We had a good weekend, why are you so down?" he asked, as she called a waitress over to order another virgin mojito.

Adaline was the life of the party. She was capable of shining with the brightest smile in the room, always made sure everyone was included, and was capable of sharing anecdotes that captivated the attention of the entire group. Tonight, she was a shell of that woman.

She replied, "Well, you guys had a good weekend." Adaline's dejected mood came from the fact that she didn't even have a match at Takeover, barely had an impact. It was different now that she was on NXT, knowing full well how methodical and planned out the booking was, as opposed to last minute changes done by Vince on the fly. They simply did not have a place for her on the card and she instead accompanied her members to their matches to support them from the sidelines.

"It's building, Addie and you know that," Bobby pointed out. "You're next in the title picture." And he was right. People in the higher ups were rumoured to be quite high on the Undisputed Era and they wanted all of the group members to be pushed to the top of the pyramid of the brand. They were all next in the title picture, it was only a matter of time.

However, she just wasn't used to it. After being one of the mainstays in the women's division even before the so-called Divas Revolution, Adaline was used to staying at the top. It was a little bit arrogant, but she felt like she had earned her place.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit bummed out since everyone else seemed to have had a better time than I did." She discreetly glanced over at the other side of the restaurant, where everybody seemed to be talking about the main event that Colby, the newly crowned Universal Champion, had put on.

The waitress came back with her drink and set it down in front of the Canadian. She thanked her and began sipping on it immediately.

The only person who caught Adaline's quick look towards Colby was Kyle, who slapped her wrist to distract her. "Stop it."

"What?"

"It." Kyle pointed at her with his fork with a cocked eyebrow, causing her to giggle. He knew her too well and didn't want her to dwell on her ex any longer.

She replied. "Whatever. I'm fine," Adaline insisted.

The five talked a little bit more for the next while and it remained on the relaxing side. She chose to not rejoin her friends on the other side of the restaurant for the fear that she would have to interact with Colby. Maybe it was stupid, walking on eggshells around him after almost a year since their breakup and it wasn't always like that, but then he went and started dating her friend. The dynamic was different and Adaline didn't know how to handle it. The awkwardness was natural, but she didn't think it would last this long. She missed Becky and to an extent, Colby, too. Together, though, it wasn't the same.

Upon looking at her phone, the clock eventually had run faster than Adaline anticipated, but the establishment was still open and the WWE personnel dining were still lively and going nowhere. She, however, had an early morning flight to Chicago that she'd been dreading since it was planned. The notion of what was waiting for her at her destination caused a knot to form at the pit of her stomach—selling her house. Adaline took one last swig of her drink, swallowing it down along with the thought.

"I have to go," she announced, which left the boys groaning in protest.

This caught the attention of some of the other NXT roster members. "Don't tell me you're already going," Candice tried her best puppy dog eyes on her from the other table. "We just got here!"

Adaline smiled sadly. "I'll see you guys in Winter Park soon." The next set of tapings weren't until the end of the week, but she was planning to get back as soon as possible. That all depended on how quick the process was going to be once landing in Illinois.

It seemed like she was one of the first ones to leave, as it was still within the first hour of everybody arriving. A chorus of goodbye's followed from the crowd. She stood up.

"Be safe," Christopher said, also standing up to give her a quick hug. Among all of the Undisputed guys, Adaline saw him as a big brother figure the most. He'd known her since she was an annoying eighteen year old who demanded the wrestling world at the palm of her hand—now, she was just an annoying thirty year old who demanded it.

She hugged him back, waved at Kyle, and ruffled Bobby and Austin's hair. "Bye, boys." They responded with their own farewells, dejected that she was leaving so soon—as if the five never left each other's sides in Florida already.

The last beast of the night that Adaline had to conquer was grabbing her purse. It was abandoned when she left for the Undisputed boys and remained nestled beside Trinity at her original table. The occupants also included Jonathan, Nattie, TJ, Claudio, and Stephen. All she had to do was walk past the table before them. It wasn't that hard.

Speeding past them, Adaline could swear that she felt a burning sensation at the back of her head and she could only pray that it was just her imagination and not either Colby or Becky staring. It'd been months since they went public with their relationship and Adaline had effectively avoided talking to either one of them unless she absolutely had to. Maybe it wasn't very mature of her, but confronting that reality was painful and awkward. She tried to relax her body, remaining natural, as she approached her destination.

Claudio was the first one to notice her and must've thought that she was coming over to join them because he scooted over to leave a space for her. Instead, Adaline shook her head and instead leaned over to pick up her small purse wedged in between Nattie and Trinity.

"Already? What time is your flight?" Trinity frowned, watching her friend.

Adaline sighed. "In three hours. I'm just gonna grab my things and haul my ass straight to the airport, so I can sleep on the plane."

Another chorus of farewells emerged. The night was finally over and Adaline seemed to have the least amount of energy out of everybody in the room. Most of them had what was going to be, as it always was, a rowdy Raw show to look forward to tomorrow night. There was still a buzz in the air and she truly wanted to indulge in it, but there was just so much on her mind.

Her lack of spot on the card. Colby. Selling the house that she made home with him. Her upcoming contract negotiations. She just needed some alone time in her rental car with the windows all the way down and the music all the way up.

Maybe not alone.

Upon exiting the restaurant, the midnight summer chill planted a kiss on Adaline and she shivered slightly. That's when she felt the draping of a worn, light jacket over her shoulders. Taken aback, she turned around and was faced with Austin's icy blue eyes. He smiled slightly, his eyes disappearing into crescents.

"Hey."

She raised an eyebrow. "Hey." Then, she hadn't even realized it, but he snatched her keys away from her. "Hey!" Adaline yelled this time, but he was already gone.

Austin said, "I saw you having a drink. Better safe than sorry, right?" He'd already unlocked her rental car and she began jogging towards him.

"You really don't have to," she stated, even though she knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

A year ago, there was no way she could've imagined being in this position. Adaline wouldn't have even dreamed of being friends with Austin once again. Yet, she was standing here, fresh off of a Takeover of all things. She couldn't believe it. Something told her that this wasn't the end of this rollercoaster ride and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to not lose herself in the daze.

[writinglionqueen]

Softer and Softer

@lilred91 said: So one of your drabble requests gave me a idea.  But what about one where reader is new to WWE and Drew overhears some of the people picking on her and or talking bad about her. Either reader and Drew are already together and no one knows, like if they are together he confronts her why she kept it from him. And if they aren't together he maybe gets up and goes over to defend her and walks out with her??

~Thank you for being patient, lovely. I’ve had a hectic couple of days. I don’t do a bunch of requests other than the blurbs for My King but....this idea can play off of Soft~

You’ve heard all the whispers, heard all the jokes and jabs, heard everything about you being homegrown talent rather than making a name for yourself in this industry. 

It was true. Hunter saw something in you, something he liked. Everybody else may call it star power. He called it “potential.”

And that potential pushed you to do everything you could to learn the craft of wrestling. Of doing your best at everything even if it meant putting in more effort that you originally thought it would. But you did it. You pushed through NXT with flying colors. You were cutting promo like no one’s business. You were doing moves you’ve only dreamed about doing. 

Maybe wrestling hadn’t been your life long dream like a lot of your peers, but it has became your recent passion, one you were ready to see to fruition. Especially now that you were a few months into being called up onto the main roster. Hunter was full of pride on your final, tearful night of NXT. He hugged you and told you how much potential you had for the RAW roster and how he couldn’t wait to see what was going to become of you. How he was going to see you be the wrestler he saw in you from day one. 

Your first match was incredible and the pop you received from the crowd was something you could only dream about. You had the upgrade of your life...but...even good things came with the bad. 

Some of the other talent, especially those who moved up with you talked about you behind your back. You felt like the butt of a joke...one everyone else laughs at but you couldn’t understand it. The talent that moved up with you didn’t like you were homegrown. The other talent came from the indies before going to NXT. They made names for themselves....but you. You could hear them make fun of your style...of how insignificant your name meant in the industry.

It hurt. It really did. It was worse when they said it to your face though. Especially when you’ve been trying to make friends and hang out with the new and old RAW talent. 

“Wish I was Hunter’s favorite and got his special treatment,” one said, with snark in her voice. You looked to her and her friend. You remembered them from NXT...they were like this then too. They didn’t like that Hunter had chosen you as his special project to become a new upstart from nothing. They didn’t like your success...but....were they right? Was it really success when you were just one of the boss’s favorites?

“You don’t belong here with the real talent,” her friend said, “with the biggest names of the industry.” You tensed at that, practically feeling the venom in her words. 

“I worked hard to get here,” you argued quietly. “I have been since the day I signed up for this.” The two scoffed and you tried not to flinch. 

“You worked hard?” the first one asked. “You were handed a spot on this roster just like you were handed a spot in NXT. You never worked for this a day in your life.” You knew it was untrue. The bumps and bruises you suffered for to get this spot has said other wise. But...were you just handed these opportunities? No. No way. Not after what you’ve gone through, the amount of change you did to be a wrestler. 

“That’s not true,” you argued. 

“Is it?” the other asked. “What makes you think you’re even good enough to be here?”

“What makes you think you’re so special?” the first countered. You wanted to say something -anything- to get them to stop. But you feel your walls crumbling, your heart sinking and everything felt like it was going wrong.  

That was until a person caught your attention, but not just anyone. It was your Mixed Match partner and he didn’t look too happy. 

“I know you two aren’t haggling another person about deserving their place here,” Drew said from behind them. 

The two girls jumped and looked panicked as they turned to the scowling Scotsman. Both of them belted out quick and scared no’s as they rose their hands in defense. Drew’s intense, grey eyes looked to you before looking to the two girls in front of him. 

“Because the way I see it, real wrestlers don’t make the cut if they’re going to be jealous about one of their peer’s success versus their own.” The two remained silent as Drew’s tone deepened. “The paths that got us here are different. But everyone got here with hard work. Now, if you two want to keep the jobs you have, you’d better leave her alone and be thankful you’re here as well. Unlike you two jobbers, she’s on the Mixed Match challenge with me.” You could see the tremors of the two girls who stood between you and Drew. They were afraid. Even more so that Drew’s tone was way more dangerous. Even you felt scared.  “Now run along and don’t you ever mess with her again.”

The two girls scurried off and you watched them leave, fully aware that Drew’s full attention was on you now. 

“How long has that been going on, princess?” Drew asked you. His voice was a lot softer than when he spoke to the girls. It made you want to melt. 

“Since we were in NXT together,” you admitted, quietly. “Since...it was found out Hunter offered my spot there because he said he saw potential in me.” You turned to look at the soft expression of Drew. “I never went to the Indies....never made a name for myself other than the WWE. Hell...this wasn’t a dream of mine until I got to NXT.” You looked to your boots with a frown as their words played in your head. “Maybe I was handed everything and didn’t work for it.” Drew reached for you, his large hand pressed against your back as he pulled you into his chest, holding you.

“No, I’ve seen your progress, little one,” he said to you. You said nothing as your curled in on yourself, allowing your Mixed Match partner to hold you softly, to speak to you softly, to touch you softly. “I’ve seen the way you’ve changed. I saw who you were when you first started in NXT...the shy new girl who had no idea what she was getting herself into...and I’ve watched whom you’ve become now. You’ve worked so hard and look at where you are now.” 

He pulled away to look down into your eyes and you looked up at him. 

“You’re about to main event RAW, the two of us have been undefeated in Mixed Match, hell....little one...you’ve earned my respect after how much we used to hate each other.” 

You giggled at that, trying to fight back tears because your partner, Drew McIntyre, was singing your praises. 

“Don’t let the likes of those two....or any other wrestler here, for that matter, bring you down and say how much you’re not a real wrestler because the path you took was different. Some people are in the same boat as you; Roman, Charlotte, Alexa, Naomi....all of them are homegrown as well.”

“I’m not like them though,” you murmured, wiping away a stray tear that broke the well. Drew gave you a soft smile. Softer than the ones he’s ever given you before....even after the Nikki fiasco. 

“But you will be...someday,” he said to you, voice dropping to a softer tone. You gave him a smile before you crashed into his torso again, hugging him for a change. He chuckled as he allowed it. 

“You’re getting softer and softer every day,” you said into his chest. Drew let out a quick laugh. 

“Yeah....but I got a reason to be, because my partner needs me to be,” he said, quietly. You smiled. All you wanted to do was be wallowed up in his warm embrace and stay that way for a long, long time. 

You liked this side of Drew;

This softer side he reserved...only for you. 

Tag: @adriennegabriella​ @alwaysbenhardysgirl​ @amariemoore​ @andie01​ @annoyingasian​ @artemisapalla316​ @aspiringhorrorfilmmaker​ @balorstrowmanblackmurphy​ @baronsbelleevangeline​ @biforbecky2belts​ @blackmoonrising​ @burning-coco​ @calicina​ @calwitch​ @claymoreme​ @darlingambrose​ @dcnmarvelgamergeek​ @demonqueen29​ @desstehhnee​ @drewmcintyreinarefereeoutfit​ @fireyegale​ @fivefootxo​ @flawlessglamazon​ @haharollins​ @hardcoresweet45​ @homeorbust​ @i-have-saracasm​ @itsicantbelievethis666​ @kalliravenne​ @king-drew-mcintyre​ @lilred91​ @littledeadrottinghood  @littlesuperstar​ @lolorockstar101boom​ @madamaholmes​ @madebypointlesswerewolves​ @meishaabae​ @meremaidqueen​ @moxleysbaby​ @moxley-unhinged​ @mox-made-me-do-it​ @moxtiel​ @neversatisfiedgirl​ @new-zealand-chic​ @nicolewoo​ @nothinginlifebutgreif​ @number1120​ @ofbeornandbjorn​ @psychic-angus​ @queenofthearchitect​ @reigns420​ @rollinsreginssupreme​ @rollynch-roman-empire @sassymox​ @sassyspacedust​ @savemeroman​ @scuzmunkie​ @shieldgirl18​ @slytherinyourrpants​ @snowtroopergirl​ @softmoxymuffin​  @superrezzy00​ @svnflowrs​ @taryn-dibiase​ @thatpanpal​ @the-beastslayers-queen​ @thehoundsofjustice​ @thewrestlingwarehouse​ @theworldofotps​ @trashofambrolleigns​  @twistedbeautifully​ @undeadspazzattack​ @unprettypeony​ @voidstrugh​ @wrestlersownmyheart​ @writing-reigns​ @writtingrose​ @xbreezymeadowsx​ @xladyxfatex​ @xprincessofthefallenangels​ @yaint-me​ @youcantreignonmyparade​​

[hrhgeorgevi]

[TV REPORT] ON THE MAT III

18 April 2020

(Taped Saturday 4 April at Wolverhampton Civic Hall and 6 April at Liverpool Stadium)

Welcome

Dougie Wright opens the show, not from ringside as normal but sat in the changing rooms, trousers smartly pressed, mustard turtle neck and navy blazer, his hair slicked back - microphone in hand. He is also holding the British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship belt.

“Greetings, grapple fans” - he says. Next to him, lacing his boots is Barry Bridges.

We’re told we’ll see three bouts on this afternoon’s show - all of which are Championship contests, including the main event featuring ‘Battling’ Barry Bridges taking on Canada’s ‘Benjamin ‘Bruiser’ Benson. 

“But first we head to the West Midlands, where a few weeks ago - 4 April to be exact Mexico brothers Los Metallica Panthers made their first defence of the World Trios Championships against Northern Irish brothers John and Jimmy Murphy along with their regular partner - Scotland’s Les Allen. 

[1] Metallica Panther I, Metallica Panther II and Metallica Panther III © beat Jimmy, John Murphy & Les Allen to retain the World Trios Championships and Belts (Metallica Panther III submitted Jimmy Murphy with the Cristo Metallica in 23:16 with 4:10 shown - first defence).

(Taped Saturday 4 April at Wolverhampton Civic Hall)

Metallica Panther II and Les Allen are in the ring as we join the action, both appear to be getting back to their feet after slugging it out. Allen grabs Panther for a snap suplex but its blocked and Allen is thrown towards Panthers’ corner. 

Metallica Panther I is tagged in and Allen is taken apart with kicks to the body before a big slam and cover. John Murphy breaks it up which brings in Metallica Panther III and the two spill to the outside with fists flying. 

It looks like Allen is down and out, but as Metallica Panther I attempt to pull Allen to his feet he is rolled up with a small package for a two and three quarters. Many fans - Dougie Wright included thought the match was over. 

Allen ducks a right hand, hits a head but of his own and tags in Jimmy Murphy who heads straight to the top rope for a big cross body block but is caught in mid air and dropped down for a Powerslam. Metallica Panther I stumbles back losing his balance allowing his brother Metallica Panther III to tag in and the World Lightweight Champion crosses the legs of Murphy and locks him in a front face look to submit his opponent with the Cristo Metallica for the victory.

Benjamin ‘Bruiser’ Benson Interview

Benson the huge Canadian is filmed earlier in the day. He’s dressed in a white singlet and trucker cap, he’s flanked by Brady Todd in equally casual attire.

“I’ve said since day one that belt is mine Bridges” he shouts, his voice distorted due to the volume.

We’re promised a physical encounter and a new Champion in this evenings main event.

[2] Len Ashurst (195lbs, Bradford, England) and Billy Tucker (c) (205lbs, Clinton, Mississippi, USA) wrestled to a time limit draw for the World Heavy-Middleweight Championship and Belt (First defence, 60:00 draw, 15 minutes shown - clipped)

Both wrestlers are in the ring, Ashurst is seconded by Billy Bingham who has the St Georges Flag while Billy Tucker is seconded by Dexter Eagles who has the USA flag. Referee’s instructions are followed by a handshake. The two circle each other before finally we see a collar and elbow link up. They fight for control but the hold is broken by the referee as they reach the ropes. More feeling each other out before Ashurst executes a single leg takedown, he goes to add a hold but Tucker makes the ropes for another clean break. 

Another tie up and Tucker pulls Ashurst into a side headlock, he drops the weight onto his left leg and applies a tight grip but Ashurst pushes Tucker back into the ropes and shoots him across the ring before taking him down off his feet with a big shoulder tackle, there’s a cover but the referee doesn’t even count one.

We join the match again - this time and Dougie Wright informs us these two are already more than fifteen minutes into the contest. Tucker is in full control, he has Ashurst on the mat with figure four leg lock applied. Ashurst - now covered in sweat - his thinning blond hair a mess is struggling to stay in the contest, he shifts his weight though and we see Tucker screaming in pain as he feels the pain of the Figure Four Leg Lock. Eventually he gets to the ropes and the hold is broken. 

As Tucker pulls himself up by the ropes - Len Ashurst charges him and they both fly over the top rope to the ringside area - narrowly missing Dougie Wright’s ringside position. The two lay prone for the first half of the referee’s five count but - to the surprise of the audience both manage to slide into the ring at the count of nine. 

This time we join the action at the halfway mark - Dougie Wright throwing superlatives around about both men’s conditioning he claims that Ashurst a former member of the Duke of Lancaster Regiment still runs up to ten miles a day. Ashurst has Tucker sat on the top rope and hits a big uppercut that nearly sees Tucker slide down to the ringside area but he grabs hold of the turnbuckle post to stay put. Ashurst climbs up to join him, hooks Tucker’s arm around his own head and lifts him into the air - both men falling crashing to the ring with a big superplex from the middle roe. The referee counts to seven before Ashurst is able to roll an arm onto him for a two count. 

Ashurst is suffering some obvious pain to his left knee and shakes his head when the referee asks if he needs any medical attention. Ashurst locks on his trademark surfboard submission move, but he’s to close to the ropes and Tucker is able to wriggle free. 

The next time we join the action and we’re 45minutes - both men worse for wear, with Ashurst now suffering a small cut above his right eye. Tucker sees the blood and fires two straight jabs into it, the referee warns Tucker about the use of a closed fist but the eye is now starting to close. 

Wright informs us Tucker is a second generation star who has been around the sport his entire life, the American showing all of the crafts he has picked up in that time. 

Ashurst hits a bit head but that sends Tucker staggering back, he goes for another one but eats a knee to the mid section by Tucker who then scoops him up and throws him over his shoulder before dropping to his knees for his trademark tombstone reverse piledriver. He hooks the leg but some how Ashurst kicks out. Wright cannot believe it. Three elderly ladies jump from their seat and rush to the apron to check on Ashurst - they’re advised to go back to their seats by his second Billy Bingham. 

The final time we join this great contest and we’re in the final stages. Ashurst swinging wildly with the use of one eye and his dark hair now bloody red, the ringside Doctor has left his seat and is carefully examining the action. Dougie Wright reminds us what happened when Metallica Panther III and Johnny Fresno met a few weeks ago and the same doctor stopped the contest due to the amount of blood that Fresno had lost. 

Ashurst though still has free in his belly and rocks Tucker with a foreman. Tucker replies with a big right hand and scoops Ashurst up for a another Tombstone, this time Ashurst wriggles free - pushes Tucker down face first to the mat and starts to put him in his surfboard submission. 

As soon as Ashurts rolls back and pulls Tucker into the hold the bell rings. There’s a gasp from the audience - Dougie Wright is almost out of breath himself. 

Everyone in the hall takes their feet as the two men are helped to theirs by their seconds. Ashurst smiles - knowing he was maybe minutes away from becoming a World Champion while Tucker smiles knowing he still has the Championship and Belt. As the referee returns the belt both men shake hands in the ring. 

Post Match

Dougie Wright joins both men in the ring - congratulations both on a great game of human chess.

“Like many here today and no doubt all of the wrestling fans at home - I too would love to see a return bout,” says Wright. 

Another handshake and they are both helped from the ring. 

Video Package From Albufeira, Portugal 

A pre-recorded message from European Heavy-Middleweight Champion Joao Silva. 

Silva, dressed in cream linen suit - accentuating his Mediterranean tan his enjoying a cigarette and coffee in the sunshine. 

He tells us he has just returned from two defences of his European title and is looking forward to making his first defence of the championship in Britain during his upcoming visit with King George VI Wrestling Club. Silva says that he has heard that Mikolaj Salak is a talented wrestler and will looking forward to the challenge that awaits him as well as the chance to test his skills against many top international athletes. 

[3] ‘Battling’ Barry Bridges (c) (251lbs, Deptford, Kent, England) beat Benjamin ‘Bruiser’ Benson (271lbs, Toronto, Canada) to retain the British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship and Belt (Piledriver in 13:54, first defence, full match shown)

Bridges was seconded by Leon Maddison while Benson by Brady Todd. Formal ring introductions with flags and referee instructions followed. Benson refused a handshake until it was insisted by the referee.

“He’s giving up 20lbs, a large amount in the Heavyweight classification,” Wright informs us refereeing to Barry Bridges. Neither man can gain control through a collar and elbow link up and Benson hits Bridges with an elbow that sends him to the corner where he starts to maul him before the referee is able to interject.

Benson sends the ring rocking with a series of corner to corner clothesline’s and Irish whips. The two Heavyweights then start to trade shoulder tackles but neither can take the other man down. Benson is finally sent crashing to the mat when Bridges hits a hip toss and follows him down for a one count.

Bridges takes control, putting on his typical scientific masterclass, arm leavers into leg bars and then a body scissors - Benson simply isn’t able to get to his feet and use his size against the Champion.

Despite his control there is no submission in sight for Bridges when his attempted Half Nelson sees him sent crashing back into the corner only for Benson to follow him with another one of his running clothesline’s to the corner. Bridges is now on the reverse and being knocked around the ring with some clubbing blows. Benson is able to lift Bridges onto his shoulder and even hits his running Powerslam that has claimed many victims but Bridges gets his foot on the bottom rope. 

The referee then nearly disqualifies Benson as he refuses to halt his attack with Bridges tangled in the ropes. His lack of sportsmanship riles up the fans at the Liverpool Stadium and it starts to distract the Canadian allowing Bridges to hit a Piledriver for the win.

Post Match

Bridges lifts the British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship high into the air as Dougie Wright congratulates him on his victory. 

Bridges tells Wright that he will take on any challenger and once he’s finished with those he is more than happy to lay claims to a World Heavyweight Championship. 

Next Week

Jackie Joyce puts his British Commonwealth Lightweight Championship and Belt on the lines against Jamaica’s Junior ‘Iron Man’ Morgan, while four champions will be involved in a spectacular Six Man Tag Contest when Mikolaj Salak, Samir Pande, Barry Bridges take on Joao Silva, Eugen Bastiens and Billy Tucker.

“Have a good week, until next week,” - Dougie Wright.

[emblem-333]

Rebooking WrestleMania 35

What stays the same:

Kofi beats Bryan

Whatever else I didn’t care enough about to mention.

Brock Lesnar retains vs Seth Rollins

Why: Is Brock a good champion? No. He works very few dates and his best in-ring days are long gone. But give me him over Rollins as a Babyface. Rollins is a fine wrestler, one of the best in the WWE. However, his microphone skills are nonexistent and his feuds subsequent winning the strap from Lesnar have either been uninspiring or downright pathetic.

Still, there was a groundswell of support from fans eager to see the Universal Championship around the waist of a full timer once more. The secondary WWE title has had many misadventures. It’s inaugural champion Finn Balor suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and relinquished the belt the day after winning it at SummerSlam. WWE held a fatal-4-way match on Raw a week later between Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Big Cass, and Seth Rollins - the winner being Owens. He went on to hold the belt for nearly 200 days, but his reign came to a screeching halt when Goldberg returned and steamrolled him.

Since Owens ate a Goldberg spear, the belt spent nearly two-years around the waists PF part-timers. Frankly, I’ve forgotten it’s existed at points. To be honest, I was glad to see Rollins win initially for these reasons alone. Then came the night after ‘Mania, Rollins is in the middle of the ring out comes Triple H, his former rival who tried to derail his career... and they hug. THEY HUG. Instantly I get this feeling Rollins is a corporate backed champion packaged as a Babyface. While every WWE champion is a corporate champion at the very least give me the veneer Rollins isn’t a suck up behind the scenes by making him one during the show.

But the WWE is infatuated with themselves. They were so satisfied to have pulled off the angle and believed to have gotten Rollins over as a Babyface they couldn’t help but rub it in for all of us to see.

Lesnar, in hindsight, needed to remain champion. Rollins simply wasn’t the guy. But Vince McMahon isn’t going to put over someone like Samoa Joe- and let’s be honest, neither is Triple H or Stephenie. Whoever beats Lesnar has to be a creation of the WWE laboratory. If not Rollins, then there’s nobody on the Raw roster worth giving a look at.

If I was booking the WWE, I’d have Kurt Angle’s last match be against Lesnar and call it a night.

Sasha Banks and Bayley retain vs The IIconics, Nia Jax & Tamina, Beth Phoenix and Natalya

Why: The Women’s Tag Titles are the offspring of Bayley and Sasha’s constant lobbying. It is odd the women’s division does not have a tag championship in the first place. For all this talk of a “Women’s Revolution” and the idiotic elevation of “The Four Horsewomen” as if on par with “The Four Horseman,” the whole thing proves to be a farce despite the wrestlers being insanely talented and effective.

Heading into the eight women tag match the “Boss ‘n Hug Connection,” the inaugural champs had held the belts for 49 days. While their defense wasn’t something to write home about the whole point of their run was supposed to add legitimacy and mystic to the strap. Yeah, the IIconics are solid heels, but after winning the titles their reign didn’t last long either ending in 120 days before dropping them to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, who later lost it to the current champions Asuka and Kairi Sane after their heel turn. (Why are the tag titles primarily held by heels?)

Just let Bayley and Sasha keep the belts. Since ‘Mania, Bayley’s won Money in the Bank, cashing in on Charlotte Flair and is still the champion today. Holding the belt for 197 of the last 202 days. The interim period occurred when Flair beat Bayley at Hell in a Cell. On the following Smackdown, Bayley returned for her rematch with a new look and a new attitude. The lovable hugger with a back bone became a chicken shit heel over night. Instantly undercutting months of booking. While she did get a main event slot at pay-per-view at Survivor Series, she was treated as an afterthought by many inside and out of the company. The morning after Shayna Baszler made Bayley submit, the WWE twitter account reminded fans that Baszler didn’t beat “The Man” a.k.a the champion they actually care about. (https://twitter.com/wwe/status/1198805122681147392?s=21)

It’s a damn shame how Bayley’s been booked. A complete waste of her character and even from the standpoint of solely caring about making money, WWE circumvented an avenue of revenue by turning her heel. Bayley’s whole character is designed to appeal to young kids, girls in particular. Changing her to someone who makes them cry is a fun thing to do on paper, but in actual practice is awful.

Batista def. Triple H

Why: Triple H is 46. He sucks as a Babyface and is a fraud. He should retire. He does the same goddamn thing every year where he wears a suit, acts as an authority figure and then takes the suit off because things have gotten serious. This happens every year. It’s beyond annoying.

Bobby Lashley retains vs “The Demon” Finn Balor

Why: Poor Finn. Never able to find his footing on the main roster. Such a big star at NXT putting on clinics against Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens. Ironically, neither of them have been properly booked since their NXT days came to a close. WWE has a habit of restraining their talent. Balor fell prey to this and his run as Intercontinental Champion wasn’t relevant and later would lose it to fellow roamer of purgatory Shinsuke Nakamura.

I don’t see a reality where Balor as I.C champion works out. He was a lukewarm, forgetful player on the main roster. It’s good he’s back at NXT. They let their talent express themselves a little more than WWE. Best thing for him.

The Main Event:

The main event between Ronda, Becky and Flair was.. okay. Nothing special. I was happy for Becky. Initially booked to turn heel after SummerSlam in 2018, her promo the night after Flair stole her title made her a star overnight and plans changed to have her turn Babyface and keep Flair heel. Despite numerous attempts by WWE to make Lynch a heel fans simply weren’t allowing it just so Flair could win another title. That didn’t stop them from giving Flair titles, but at least it won’t be at Becky’s expense anymore.

Why did this culmination of months long storytelling feel so underwhelming in its conclusion? Simply put, it wasn’t a good story. Every participant was an absolute fool and the WWE doesn't remember how to book Babyfaces anymore. Becky failed at the Royal Rumble losing to Asuka clean. Then hijacks the No. 30 spot in the rumble when there were more deserving candidates available. What makes matters worse is Asuka would have the rug pulled out from under her a week before WrestleMania losing the belt to Flair. So why bother having her retain against Lynch and making things more complicated?

Following the rumble, Flair and Lynch battled for the right to go to WrestleMania. Despite being cleared to compete weeks before the PPV she still entered the ring on crutches and got the crap beaten out of her before Rousey inexplicably crashed the party, got Flair DQ'd and doubled the chances of her losing her title making the match a triple-threat.

The main event of WrestleMania didn’t need to be a triple-threat. It didn’t need Charlotte. And most certainly didn’t need to have both belts on the line. You had an actual fighter in Ronda Rousey and someone from the wrestling world who took an actual punch to the face, broke her nose and suffered a concussion so both participants had credibility entering.

In my eyes, the WWE could’ve done the following, dominate the headlines for their inclusivity, make everyone who needed to look good look good, and not marginalize Asuka in the process:

Becky Lynch def. Asuka for Smackdown Women’s Title at the Royal Rumble, Flair wins the rumble:

Asuka submits to the “Dis-Arm-Her” and Lynch is once again on top of the world after being unceremoniously knocked off by Nia Jax. Flair wins the rumble, and demands both belts are on the line to prove she’s the “Queen.” Both parties oblige and volià! There’s your WrestleMania main event done without unnecessary detours.

Or

Asuka retains vs Becky Lynch, faces Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a triple-threat for the title; Banks wins vs Rousey, Ronda is the one to enter No. 30 into the rumble and turning heel in the process.

Pushing Flair to the side here. She’s had enough moments in the spotlight and she’ll have tons more. Being omitted from me, WrestleMania isn’t the end or the world. This year belonged to Becky and Ronda. Let them have the spotlight.

I kind of think a Ronda heel turn would have worked if they paired her up with Paul Heyman. Would’ve made sense since she isn’t much of a talker and is from the ultimate fighting background as Lesnar. But that’s far too simple! And we can’t forget about The Queen. Heavens, no!

Sasha Banks wins vs Rousey; Flair wins the rumble. Lynch vs Rousey has no belt on the line. Banks vs Flair for ‘Mania:

Oooh, this is probably my worst take, but c’mon the Becky Two Belts story didn’t really lead to anything besides Bayley’s revival when a simple win over whoever was champion at the time would’ve done the trick.

Sasha Banks and Ronda had a very nice battle for the Raw Women’s Title. Perhaps the best match of Ronda’s one year stint in the WWE. If anyone doubts Banks’ in-ring capabilities, tell them to look at how she guides the green Rousey through the match. Booking Banks to win the title is a risky proposition. Ronda built a mystic of being unbeatable. A real fighter. Not a fake entertainer pumping ‘roids. Beating her essentially undos all of that. I guess Banks’ could have turned heel here and used a chair when the referee is unconscious and smashed it over Ronda’s head knocking her out of commission for a couple of weeks.

Anyways, Banks defends the title versus Flair. Asuka defends vs Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose; Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey have an old fashioned grudge match settled at ‘Mania. How’s that for inclusivity? Why aren’t I working for the WWE? Is it because my ideas suck and have no basis in reality? Probably.

[hazyheel]

Smackdown Live 4/2/19 Review

We started the night with a new installment of the Kevin Owens Show, with Randy Orton and AJ Styles. Owens confronted Orton about his interference in the match last week, and Orton simply said that no one wanted to see Styles vs. Kurt Angle. Styles responded by saying that the RKO is the only move he knows. Orton again insulted Styles’ indie roots, saying that he was just wrestling in high school gyms, the same argument he always had. Styles then brought up Orton’s drug suspensions, which seemed to bother him a lot. Orton completely ignored that point, saying that Styles wasn’t in WWE because he wasn’t good enough, and that he is the new corporate bitch now that Cena is gone. Owens then just walked out of the ring, as the two started to brawl. Orton countered the Phenomenal forearm with an RKO, and Styles stayed on the mat.

Grade: B+. Even though this was really just a rehash of what they have done the past few weeks, it is entertaining, and I like it. it is a personal feud, Randy seems into it, and I think they can put on a great match. I’m looking forward to it, probably the most out of the non-title matches.

Next was an 8-man tag, pitting the Usos, Ricochet and Aleister Black against The Bar, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev. Seeing Ricochet and Cesaro start out the match really made me think about the sheer amount of raw talent in this match. I mean, at least 6 out of 8 of these guys are amazing wrestlers, and I would argue that all of them are above average. The match didn’t have much to it, but there was a fun finisher fest, and the Usos got the pin on Rusev. But after the match, Alexa Bliss showed up, and announced that all of these teams will be against each other for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania. They brawled, and Ricochet and Aleister Black stood tall as usual.

Grade: B. Oddly fun match. Reminded me of the multi man matches of New Japan. Plus, I was hoping that the Smackdown Tag Team Championships would have a match, but it should have been to unify them with the Raw belts. Should be pretty fun though.

The Iiconics then came out to address their match on Sunday, basically running down the normal “we can pin anyone to win the belts.” I really like them on the main roster, they are having a lot more success than they did in NXT, and I like them a lot. I don’t think, nor really want them to win, but if they did I wouldn’t be heartbroken.

In an interesting booking choice, the Miz took on SAnitY in a 3 on 1 handicap match. Glad to see those guys again, but they really should be in the fatal 4-way rather than Black and Ricochet, just because Black and Ricochet are already in a wrestlemania weekend match. Before the match, Miz cut a promo saying that his match is about proving that he is a good family man, and proving that he is a better man than Shane McMahon. Shane McMahon came out to start the match himself. Miz was doing quite well, but Shane then announced that the handicap match was also falls count anywhere. Miz then brawled with his opponents through the crowd, backstage and eventually outside, before smashing Eric Young’s head with a cart and pinning him for the win.

Grade: D. The action was fine, but there was no reason for the Miz to win here. I get keeping him strong, but beating a three man team in a no DQ match? That is too much, especially when two of his opponents are pretty big guys. This was an absolute burial of SAnitY, and it made them look like shit. They used to be dangerous, but the Miz kicked their asses the entire match. I just can’t stand that. Miz should be an underdog, but he looks like he will definitely win on Sunday. But maybe that is what we are supposed to think.

Then, Becky Lynch emerged from a cop car and cut a promo on top of the announce table. She recounted her previous year, about how it seemed like Rousey and Flair were going to take the main event of Wrestlemania 35, but she was able to throw a wrench into those plans and become the champion that she was meant to be. She gave a rousing (no pun intended) speech about how she was going to go to wrestlemania as a bit of an underdog, but with all the love of the fans. Then she dropped her Mic, and took in the applause.

Grade: B-. Becky’s writing has gone downhill for a while now, but she is still a pretty good anti-hero. She is charismatic enough to draw people to her, and she is still a pretty interesting underdog. She is hot as hell right now, and the fans want her to win really really bad.

Then, we had an 18 person mixed tag team match, pitting Carmella, Asuka, Naomi, Nikki Cross, Heavy Machinery, R-Truth and the Hardy’s against Lana, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Zelina Vega, Andrade, EC3, The Good Brothers and Shelton Benjamin. Lacy Evans had a cameo in the very beginning of the match, and it was basically a greatest hits match. Otis hit the caterpillar, R-Truth and Carmella had a seven second dance break. Everyone started to brawl and the match was thrown out, and they did that over-the-top-rope fight thing that they do before the rumble and stuff. Otis was being creepy towards Rose at one point, jiggling around before being thrown out by Shelton Benjamin. Nikki Cross acted crazy, and even attacked Benjamin, taking him out of the ring. Asuka was the last woman standing, aiding Jeff Hardy by attacking EC3, making those two the “winners.” Then Asuka threw Jeff over the top, to make a point I think?

Grade: D-. I like greatest hits, and I like that they actually used the people in the Battle Royal for a match, rather than having a weird lumberjack stip. But I still don’t really care about the battle royal.

Samoa Joe then came out for a match against Ali. I fucking hate that they took his first name, Mustafa Ali was an awesome name and that is how he became a star on 205 Live. He and Andrade have been robbed. It is only a matter of time before Aleister Black just becomes Aleister. Anyway, the two had a strike based match. Joe rolled out of the way of a 450 splash and locked in the Coquina Clutch for the win.

Grade: B. Decent match for how short it was. If it had more time then it could’ve been a great match. Looking forward to the US Championship match.

And in the main event, we had the contract signing for the WWE Championship match. Rowan was flanking Daniel Bryan, while Xavier Woods and Big E backed up Kofi. The crowd was super into Kofi, chanting straight through Daniel Bryan’s promo. Bryan told the crowd to never become complacent like Kofi had, and told them not to sit on the sidelines of your own life. He said that Kofi waited until he was handed an opportunity. The crowd had none of it. Kofi then stood up and said that he watched Daniel Bryan become the WWE Champion. He never minded that he didn’t have a 1 on 1 WWE Championship match because he was a company man. He didn’t complain, because it wasn’t his time, but now is his time. He said that Bryan knows what comes next in this tale, because Bryan lived it. He said that Bryan was scared, and rightfully so. Kofi then signed the contract, and they squared off to end the show.

Grade: A. Kofi is cutting the promos of his life, Bryan is the perfect cocky and insulting heel. What could be better? The fans are firmly behind Kofi at this point, and he needs to win at Wrestlemania. I don’t know how much of this push was supposed to go to Mustafa Ali (I refuse to just call him Ali) but it is definitely benefitting Kofi much more. Any other year, I would have loved to see this in the main event.

Overall Grade: B+, on the weaker side.

Pros: Opening Promo; 8-man tag; Becky Promo; Joe vs. Ali; Contract Signing

Cons: SAnitY burial; mixed tag match

[wham-bam-thank-you-jam-wrestling]

WWE Championships (Part One)

Okay, here's the deal: as I write this I am getting set to watch the 8th August episode of Raw. When I have finished watching, or perhaps whilst I am watching, I am going to give my thoughts on the state of play for each of the existing WWE Championships followed by how I think they should be booked over the next few months, maybe all the way to Wrestlemania 39. There might also be some wrestler-specific digressions along the way because I do love a good tangent.

Before I do either of those things, however, can I say how great it is that these championships, these titles, these... belts, are meaningful again!

Also, because I'm watching the opening segment as I share these preliminary thoughts, I will quickly say that (a) the women's divisions, on Raw in particular, are absolute fire right now and (b) Dakota Kai and Io Sky are absolute weekly highlights for me.

Alright, here's my thoughts on the belts:

24/7 Championship

Get rid of it. Enough said.

Women's Tag Team Championships

I'm excited for this tournament, which is kind of a crazy thing to type. Of course, I am a big fan of tournaments and their story-telling potential, something I am going to elaborate on soon. Hopefully. The bracket is solid, the pairings are interesting and there should be some good to great matches. The inclusion of Nikita Lyons & Zoey Stark is something I didn't anticipate. I'd suggest Toxic Attraction is more "ready", but I'm just a guy who watches wrestling. Plus, they needed another heel team to balance the bracket, and Lacey Evans seems to have been told to stay off TV for the time being.

On the left-hand side of the bracket, I think it is pretty obvious that Sky & Kai advance to face Alexa & Asuka in the semis. In my opinion, it is the former who need to advance to the final, with them being presented as a legit tag team, as opposed to two moonlighting singles stars such as their competitors. I also think that they should have the easier path to the semis, with Nikki A.S.H. and Doudrop needing a good showing far more than the comedic duo of Tamina & Dana Brooke.

The right-hand side of the bracket is a little more difficult to call. Before the matchups were established, I was hopeful that Sasha Banks & Naomi would return and make it all the way to the final of the tournament for the Championships that they never lost in the ring. The matchups we have though... well, I'm not sure how I want this to play out. If I have to choose something that I would like to see and would make for a good story, I think I'm going to have to pick Raquel Rodriguez & Aaliyah to defeat Natalya & Sonya Devile in the semi-finals and face the Sky & Kai team in the final.

Xia Li & Shotzi don't make for a natural tag team (though they're not the only pairing in this tournament to which that assessment applies) and they don't appear to be the kind of talent want to or need to push right now. Lyons & Stark could get the underdog run, but once again I do not think they're ready. They're also still young and they are babyfaces, which wouldn't make for the most compelling semi-final. Deville & Natalya on the other hand, well at least one of them feels like a solid showing or two away from being a consistent threat to upper mid-card and even main-event talent.

So, that leaves us with a Dakota Kai & Io Sky vs. Raquel Rodriguez & Aaliyah final. I don't think I need to type out who I think should win this matchup and be crowned the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. Rodriquez and Aaliyah can put up a little bit of a fight, particularly Rodriquez, who should continue to be pushed in the Smackdown Women's division, but in the end, the heels should score the, dare I say it, clean pin on Aaliyah.

As the newly crowned champions, Sky and Kai should be given a substantial run with the belts. They should be positioned as clever, crafty and talented title holders and should come out victorious in television and premium live event matchups against a variety of teams from the tournament bracket. Not all the victories need to be clean, but they do need to portray the champs as professionals who know what they're doing.

After that? Well, that's where I would bring back Sasha & Naomi. The former champions should be the first big test for the new champs. Whether that test comes at Day One, the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania, that depends on how much WWE can get out of some of the smaller programs with their existing roster and whether or not they can establish or bring onboard any new teams in the coming months.

Ultimately, I believe that Sasha should be put into a main event-level singles program for Wrestlemania, one that she wins and that Naomi should join the Bloodline in order to freshen up her character and that stable as a whole.

WWE Intercontinental Championship

The good work is already underway with this title. Surprisingly enough, it started under the previous regime.

The best path to take here is to stay the course. Gunther needs to hold the title until Wrestlemania at the very least. He should be given quality, increasingly difficult challenges from former Intercontinental Champions and up-and-coming babyface talent alike, but he needs to continue to retain and he needs to do so cleanly. Should a credible opponent emerge, one that shouldn't be given the belt but does need to be protected to an extent, then some shenanigans are acceptable, but overall Gunther needs to be dominant. He needs the Roman Reigns push.

After that, I don't know that the answer is there right now. It could be Gunther's associate Ludwig Kaiser in a slow burn face turn. It could be Madcap Moss or a returning Rick Boogs, if they can improve their work rate. It could and probably should be Xavier Woods. It could be someone from Raw who is ready to breakout. In any event, it shouldn't happen for a while, but when it does it needs to mean something.

United States Championship

Look, I'm not a fan of former WWE , World or Universal Champions holding one of the traditionally secondary titles. That said, Bobby Lashley does make for a good choice as United States Champion. And I fully buy into the John Cena comparison here; Lashley is in that sweet spot where he makes for a believable champion who can elevate the prestige of the title and the reputations of his competition. However, and I'll be blunt here, there are far more interesting talents that are already at or need to be elevated to the main event level than the Almighty,

And this is why I think Bobby should remain the United States Champion for the foreseeable future. Exactly how long that is doesn't need to be expressly agreed upon right now, but the eventual title change needs to mean something in much the same way as the eventual IC title change does. The only difference between the two situations is that Gunther's title reign should probably be his one and only run with the secondary title before he is elevated to monster heel on the main event level, whereas Bobby is more someone who should stay at this level, for the most part, occasionally pinch-hitting in the main event scene.

What's the difference between the, you might ask? If anything, Bobby Lashley deserves to be higher on the card than Gunther because he is arguably more over with fans and his matches are far more representative of what WWE generally like to see their talent deliver in the ring. My response to these valid arguments is that Gunther is 34 years old, just hitting his wrestling rime, Bobby Lashley is 46.

Bobby has most probably hit his ceiling in terms o all the skills required to be at the top of a wrestling card. Yes, he is more over as a babyface now than he has been in his career, but I just don't see that continuing for long. His ringwork is fine, but it's never much more than that. His mic work has never been a strong suit and it feels like it is heading in the wrong direction listening to some of his solo promos.

Walter's promo work is behind Lashley's at present, but he has shown signs of improvement over the past few months, and the work he has put into other aspects of his character gives you a good indication that he is the sort of person who will keep working to improve. As far as in-ring work goes, Gunther has almost always delivered, his style suits his character far more than Bobby's does, and he can be relied upon to deliver better matches, more consistently and against a wider range of opponents.

All of this is to say that the United States championship should stay around the waist of Bobby Lashley even longer than the Intercontinental Championship should stay around the waist of Gunther and that even after Lashley loses it to Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Chad Gable, Otis, Ciampa, Logan Paul or whomever, he should stay in that title scene.

Undisputed Tag Team Championships

Should the Undisputed Tag Team Championships be split and should we return to having Raw Tag Team Champions and Smackdown Tag Team Champions? That's the question that needs answering before a plan is made for who the Usos feud with over the coming months, who they eventually drop the titles to when they're done, and who enters the title picture after that. I don't want to waste too much time on answering this question because to me it is pretty simple. The title unification happened less than 6 months ago and there are barely enough established tag teams to support one set of belts. These two facts alone tell me that we keep the titles unified for the time being.

The only argument for two sets of titles that makes sense to me is the utilisation of talent argument. That is, with two sets of titles to target, more wrestlers can be involved in meaningful matches and programs. However, that can actually be done without extra belts, just write better segments for tag teams and have more competitive matches in the division. I also think that it is a bit of a tail-wags-the-dog argument in that, first, you establish teams, a division and a pecking order, then you think about installing a second prize for which to aim. It's the same reason I think the Women's division would have an Undisputed World Championship and two brand-exclusive secondary titles, rather than two world championships and tag tea championships, but I digress.

Right now, The Usos are the champs and given that The Street Profits didn't defeat the at SummerSlam and seem to have their own story playing out outside of the tag division, I don't think those titles would change hands anytime soon. WWE needs to build this division quickly with 2-3 teams who can credibly stand across the ring from The Usos. Right now, I don't know that there are any tag teams who are qualified to do just that. Even the teams sitting a tier below that believable title contender level - we're talking The Viking Raiders, Alpha Academy, any two of the Brawling Brutes, and Los Lotharios if you're being generous - won't work right now because they're heels.

I will quickly note that I haven't included the Mysterios, RK-Bro or the New Day in my considerations here because, in my opinion, these are all singles wrestlers who have been moonlighting (for lack of a better word) in the tag team division over the past 12 - 18 months. I'm alright with teams like this having a title reign every now and again - the RK-Bro reign with the Raw Tag Team titles was very good - but they shouldn't be a fixture of the division in the long term and when they've had their moment they should move on.

So, who is up next for The Usos? Who takes the titles? And when does this title change occur?

Firstly, despite what I have said previously and in previous posts, you're going to have to put The Usos against a non-tag team pairing for their next couple of marquee matches. It's not ideal, but it is a direct result of the tag division being neglected for so long. After Clash at the Castle, where I don't think there needs to be a Tag Team Championship match, there are three more premium live events this year. I think The Usos need to hold those titles for the rest of the year. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think Day One 2023 is where they should finally drop the belts.

Let's say that the ridiculous "brand supremacy" nonsense is dropped from this year's Survivor Series and The Usos are instead involved in a traditional Survivor Series match with Roman and Sami Zayn. They can go up against Drew and the other top three babyfaces on Smackdown. Drew can get his heat back by eliminating Roman. Sami can somehow be the sole survivor, annoying the Bloodline who were looking for a reason to kick him out or end their association, and setting the table for the Sami Zayn face turn.

This leaves two PLE's or which The Usos need a Tag Team Championship challenger. The first of these, which will be at Extreme Rules, should probably be against Drew McIntyre and a mystery opponent because Drew is sick of The Usos interfering in his matches against Roman. Who is Drew's mystery partner? Take your pick from these five options: Ricochet, Madcap Moss, Kofi Kingston, Shinsuke Nakamura and Pat McAfee. All these men either already have beef with the Bloodline or are a segment or two away from drawing the Bloodline's ire. Easy example, Ricochet wins a television tournament to earn a Smackdown title shot against Roman Reigns but loses due to interference from The Usos.

The second defense should be against a team or quasi-team from Raw. this one would take place at Crown Jewel. Again The Usos are the Usos, they're everywhere and they're annoying, so it's not hard to match someone up against them. For this defense, which is pretty much 3 months away, we simply need two Raw babyfaces who have a loose connection with each other and with The Usos. AJ Styles and Dolph Ziggler tagged together a couple of weeks back and are both amazing workers who could put on a brilliant catch with The Usos, so they're two of the options. Rounding out a top six options list, because that's how many people I considered for Smackdown, are Mustafa Ali, Riddle and Edge. (Side note: OMG the Raw babyface brigade is a shambles right now.)

Next question. The team that should take the titles from The Usos is... DIY. That's right, Johny Gargano is going to return, Ciampa is going to turn face and this already been a tag team with a tag team name and tag team aesthetic are getting a feel-good victory at Day One as well as a title reign that lasts through Wrestlemania 39. The team that finally defeats The Usos needs to be a beloved babyface team, which DIY is, because of who The Usos are and because 80% of the established tag teams in WWE are heels.

Post-Day One, DIY can feud with two or more of the heel teams I mentioned earlier. And throughout all of this, the mentioned-above teams, the yet-to-be-mentioned teams like The Judgement Day and Maximum Male Models, and a handful of brand new teams, are being built up through competitive matches against each other and squashes of local talent. I'm giving the Wrestlemania match to Alpha Academy, because Chad Gable should ALWAYS be given a featured spot, with the team to defeat DIY probably the Viking Raiders, because those guys have had to put up with a lot of shit and I really don't see either of them being future singles stars.

Right, that's five of the eight WWE title belts and I have written A LOT of words. I am going to put a pin in this for now and come back with a Part Two where I look at the two WWE Women's Championships as well as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

I hope this has been an interesting read so far. Thanks for allowing me to fantasy book for a bit.

[oneworldnetwork]

POWER RANKINGS

Chapter 2 - 18.07.2018

On a bi-weekly basis, One World's Newsletter will be unveiling a power ranking based on those two week's top performers! The list will encompass everyone on the roster, and be cut down to a field of ten, based on their win-loss record, performance, and overall impact. Here is this week's!

Honorable mentions:

• Hiromu Takahashi

After narrowly missing Chapter 2 due to injury, Hiromu was cleared just in time to not only defeat Sami Callihan, but also set his sights on Adam Cole and his Atlas Championship. Despite not being in competition this week, his presence was felt as he stared down Cole from the commentary table, but not competing is what set him just outside the top ten.

• Nikki Cross

Going against Abigail's orders to leave Taya and the Stardust Championship alone, Nikki Cross stunned everyone as she battled her heart out in front of her hometown crowd. Despite losing, she had an impressive showing, and pushed Taya to her limit. On the following Vendetta, she continued to impress by picking up a win against Sasha Banks. However, the loss is what kept her out of contention.

• Tetsuya Naito

As with anywhere he goes, Tetsuya Naito's presence is always felt. A bonafide superstar and one of the best wrestlers in the world, he always puts on a show and leaves everyone in awe. But his loss to Abigail has knocked him down a notch.

• Syn

Standing alongside rival turned friend in Lennox, Syn had an incredible match against O.V.E., showing both his vicious and humorous side in One World's first deathmatch. Unfortunately for him it ended in defeat, and the same would be said for the following week as he tapped out to ZSJ. But his incredible athleticism and talent has kept him on the verge of the top ten.

Top 10

#10: Draven

One World's resident King of Darkness burst onto the scene and easily dominated Blaze and Colin Delaney. Despite the shortness of the matches, his intensity and skillset were on full display. But even more impressive was his challenge sent out to the submission specialist, ZSJ, who finds himself higher up on this list.

#9: Rocky Jordan

After making quick work of Jewels, the wrestling rookie dazzled the fans in her match against Riley Ishimori, coming out on top in a grueling matchup. Officially undefeated after her first two matches, things will only be going up for Rocky Jordan.

#8: Adam Cole

Adam Cole "BayBay" has been on a roll despite losing his Undisputed Era comrades, proving to everyone why he deserves to be the first ever Atlas Champion, and making his case for one of the best wrestlers in the world. The only blemish comes from the loss to Lennox following the distraction from current number one contender, Hiromu Takahashi.

#7: Lennox Dudley

Similar to his partner Syn, Lennox finds himself high-up on this list because of his performance in the tag team deathmatch, even though he suffered a defeat. However, he solidifies his spot at number seven due to a better win-loss record, including picking up a win over Atlas Champion Adam Cole.

#6: Pentagon Jr

One of the four challengers to Aleister's title, Pentagon Jr may have used cheap shots to get there, but he made his presence felt in big matches, including the fatal four way to Chapter Two. Multiple victories over members of the roster alongside Perros de Mel, put his impressive luchador moveset on display, and earned him a strong placing.

#5: Jake and Dave Crist

As two thirds of O.V.E. and members of The Family, these brothers have stated their claim for being the best tag team in the company, and many are having a hard time proving them wrong. Becoming the first tag team champions, winning One World's first ever deathmatch, and notching multiple tag victories under their belts - it's safe to say the Crist Brothers have the tag division on lockdown.

#4: Zack Sabre Jr

The Technical Wizard has continued his mission to submit every active wrestler, or simply amaze everyone with his unlimited number of submissions, and either way we're not complaining. Answering Draven's challenge, he and the King of Darkness will square off in a first time ever matchup - after tapping out Syn in this week's main event and the roll he's been on, the fate of Draven, and the rest of One World, will end in a tap out.

#3: Taya Valkyrie

Following her brutal match that saw Nikki Cross go face first into a car, losing in front of her hometown, Taya set out a challenge to Heyman to find anyone worthy of facing her - but after the standard she has set for the women's division, that may just be impossible.

#2: Aleister Black

Going from the black horse of the World Championship tournament, to defeating Abigail for said title, to defending it against three of the most talented wrestlers in One World; it's fair to say that no one has had a better track record than the Anti-Hero. No one has the image, the talent, or the heart that Aleister does, which has earned him such a high place in the top ten and in the company, but there's been one person more dominant.

#1: Sister Abigail

Abigail continued to shock the fans and roster alike with The Family's attack on 1WPW owner Paul Heyman, assuming position of general manager until his recovery. She made an example of Tetsuya Naito, leaving him bloody on the mat, and vows to do the same to the rest. But with the surprising debut of Jay White and their upcoming match up, how long will her reign atop last?

[tkmedia]

Dynamite recap & reactions: Wrestling God

AEW Dynamite (June 26, 2021) emanated from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, FL. The Saturday night show featured Hangman Page riding high, the Pinnacle setting traps for the Inner Circle, and Kenny Omega defending the AEW World Championship against Jungle Boy. Get caught up on all the Dynamite details with excellent play-by-play. Wrestling God The main event of the evening was Kenny Omega putting the AEW World Championship on the line against underdog contender Jungle Boy. I am pleased as punch to report that AEW curbed outside interference for this contest and allowed Omega to be the wrestling god that he is. The result had a clean finish. Jungle Boy was coming in nervous about the opportunity. Christian Cage provided words of encouragement. Jungle Boy was accompanied by Jurassic Express, and Omega had the Good Brothers by his side. Stunt was a hothead early, so referee Paul Turner ejected everyone from ringside. That didn’t stop the Good Brothers from returning later, but Jurassic Express and Frankie Kazarian beat them off to prevent any shenanigans. The title match was a fair fight all the way through. Omega and Jungle Boy wrestled close to 20 minutes. They kicked it off with wrist lock theatrics during the feeling out process. The counter game was tight. Jungle Boy reacted with evasion, whereas Omega was out to inflict pain. The champ did so with a side suplex on the steel steps then tossing Jungle Boy over the guardrail onto fans. Jungle Boy found his groove for two consecutive suicide dives. He hit a DDT once Omega reentered the ring. The champ smartly rolled back outside to avoid a pinfall, so JB followed with a tope con hilo. It was only a matter of time before Omega connected on the V-Trigger. He followed with a snap dragon suplex and a second V-Trigger. Omega aimed to close with the One Winged Angel, however, Jungle Boy countered for a reverse rana. JB connected on his running elbow finisher to the back of Omega’s head, but it didn’t keep the champ down. Omega fired back with his third V-Trigger. He followed with a powerbomb and a fourth V-Trigger. Jungle Boy still had enough fighting spirit to kick out. Omega went for another V-Trigger. This time, Jungle Boy ducked under to roll through for a Snare Trap submission. Omega eventually reached the ropes for the break. After an exchange of fisticuffs in the center of the ring, Omega hit his fifth V-Trigger. Jungle Boy rebounded off the ropes for a clothesline then a brainbuster. Omega kicked out on the cover. V-Trigger number six led to the One Winged Angel attempt. Jungle Boy escaped for a roll-up then transitioned into the Snare Trap again. Omega was close to passing out, so he pulled JB’s hair to allegedly hide an eye gouge to get free. Commentary theorized about the gouge, even though, the camera didn’t catch it. Jungle Boy went for broke on a super hurricanrana, but the champ slipped under for a vicious Snake Eyes into the top turnbuckle. Omega charged for a V-Trigger to the back of Jungle Boy’s head. After a Tiger Driver ‘98, Jungle Boy kicked out. Omega wasted no time and immediately hit the One Winged Angel for victory. That was a great match for TV. It was so much more enjoyable without outside interference. Omega won relatively clean to prove himself as a wrestling god. Omega is reaching that age where his peak days might be numbered. I want to see the best perform at their best while they can. These kind of wins will make his eventual defeat sweeter to witness, as opposed to the safety net shenanigans in previous title defenses. Sure, Omega still cheated with the hair grab, but it was an acceptable bending of the rules within the rhythm of the flow. Jungle Boy rose to the occasion. He didn’t quite force me into believing he could win, but that second Snare Trap was darn close. It made me check the clock to see if time was running out or if there was room for more action. Once Jungle Boy gets his promo work down, he’ll be main event for years to come. Shout-out to Justin Roberts for nailing those notes on Omega’s entrance. He helped make this feel like a big fight. Chaos erupted in the aftermath. Omega was waiting for Jungle Boy to rise, so he could blast him with the title belt. Christian ran in for the save before the heinous act could be completed. Matt Hardy and Private Party ran in to fight Christian. As Christian positioned Hardy for a Killswitch, the Young Bucks were waiting for a double superkick. The Elite and HFO closed the show standing tall. The conclusion was a bit overdone. It would have been okay with Christian sending a message to Omega. The scene became muddled once everyone else ran in. Pinnacle set a trap The Pinnacle had payback on their minds coming into Dynamite. It started as the broadcast opened. Alex Marvez interviewed Sammy Guevara as he was entering the venue. Shawn Spears was hiding for an ambush. He used a chair to bash Guevara on the shoulder and arm. The Spanish God was left on the ground in pain, compliments of MJF prior to their singles showdown on June 30. The Pinnacle’s next trap involved the face-to-face interview between Tully Blanchard and Konnan. The lucha libre legend refused to be intimidated by mind games. He spoke about the differences of Santana and Ortiz growing up on the streets compared to FTR growing up as country boys. Blanchard threatened to have FTR come out to handle Konnan. Konnan countered by calling Santana and Ortiz to the ring. The duo entered with bandanas covering their faces. That’s when the Pinnacle’s trap was revealed. Blanchard showed the real Santana and Ortiz on the big screen beat up backstage. The imposters turned out to be FTR. They proceeded to pummel Konnan and execute a spike piledriver. The third scene of the evening for this feud began with a backstage interview for MJF, Wardlow, and Spears. MJF didn’t understand why people are upset about him punching Dean Malenko. If anything, fans should be thanking MJF for sending the old man into retirement. That’s when Chris Jericho and Jake Hager ran in for a brawl. The action spilled out to the ring, where the Pinnacle’s three-on-two advantage took over. Guevara’s music hit as he cleaned house to save the day. On June 30, Guevara will prove that AEW chose the wrong one to support as a top guy. With so many people involved in this feud, it was smart to space it out through the show. They probably could have combined it all into the Konnan segment, but that would not have been nearly as effective. As it was, Konnan helped build heat by taking a piledriver from FTR, and MJF built heat for Sammy to shut his mouth next week. The only downside was the Pinnacle being pushed back on their heels once again. It seemed like this was the week for them to stand tall, but the Inner Circle ended up getting the final shine on Guevara’s save. Even when the Pinnacle wins, the Inner Circle has still looked tougher throughout the majority of the feud. My favorite thing about the feud on this evening was Jericho breaking out the hockey fight tricks. It is an effective tactic and also adds a little absurdity to the entertainment. My ears perked to Konnan’s reference of Tessa Blanchard. He told Tully to learn Spanish to speak to hid grandkids, since Tessa is married to Daga. Those two free agents have to show up somewhere eventually. I wonder if Konnan’s comment was just for a pop or to open the door for a potential debut in AEW. Let’s jam through the rest of Dynamite. Hangman Page defeated Will Hobbs. Primo matchup of #2 versus #4. Taz was on commentary. Hobbs chose to roll solo without Team Taz ringside. Hobbs focused on damaging Hangman’s lariat arm. Ricky Starks and Hook eventually decided to appear with the intention of lending a helping hand. Hobbs was in control, but Starks tried to give him the FTW title anyway. Brian Cage ran out to strip Starks of both his clothes and the FTW title. Hobbs kept his head on a swivel amidst the confusion to counter a buckshot lariat into a spinebuster. Hangman stayed alive though. After an exchange of elbow strikes, Hangman ducked low under a running crossbody. The cowboy seized the moment for German suplex then a Dead Eye piledriver to win. Strong opening bout. Hangman took out top competition to prove his ranking is no fluke. I like how AEW has developed multiple finishers for wrestlers. It allows more leeway in terms of strategic storytelling. In this case, damage was done to prevent Hangman’s lariat, so he pivoted to the Dead Eye. It was smart to see Hobbs work on preventing the buckshot lariat and also smart to see Hangman adapt with other methods to win. When Hangman started bleeding from his head, it made me think of wig splitting. I now want to see Mark Henry versus Hobbs with a stipulation. First one to split a wig wins. They can practice on enhancement talent to hype the match. You know how the song goes. “Somebody gonna get their ass kicked. Somebody gonna get their wig split. Beat ‘em up, beat ‘em up, break his neck, break his neck.” As for Team Taz, it is definitely time to dump Cage. He was selfish in his actions. Cage could have waited until after the match to put hands on Starks. Also, I have to question why Starks and Hook consistently choose poor moments to appear. They often come out when one of their mates is in control but hasn’t finished the job yet. In this case, Hobbs didn’t necessarily need the help of cheating with the FTW title. Taz must coach Starks and Hook on the fine art of interference. Matt Sydal defeated Dante Martin. Sydal focused on cool pretzel submissions to weaken the knees. Martin still strut his electric offense, such as floating through the air for a double springboard moonsault, a high leaping sunset flip, and a flipping stunner. In the end, Sydal dodged a flying stomp. The impact jammed Martin’s tender knee. Sydal took advantage for a head kick then a Lightning Spiral slam to win. The flashy fight produced fireworks of excitement. Sydal demonstrated veteran strategy to chip away at the knee, while Martin shined with acrobatics. It was the kind of match that leaves me wanting to see more from both men in the near future. Ethan Page defeated Bear Bronson. Scorpio Sky and Bear Boulder were ringside. The finish came down to the Men of the Year outsmarting their opponents and referee Bryce Remsburg. Bronson was on the turnbuckles with momentum, so Sky hopped onto the apron. Sky took a hit for the team when Boulder bashed him. That distraction allowed Page to deliver a vicious low blow to set up the Ego’s Edge for victory. After the contest, Page cut a promo. He knows Darby Allin isn’t done with him. Page admitted that he isn’t done with Allin either. Page wants to be the nail in Allin’s coffin, so he challenged him to a Coffin Match for July 7. Another match where both men came out looking impressive. Bronson’s power game is top notch. Page wowed me by lifting the bear’s weight for the stalling Ego’s Edge. That took serious functional strength. The post-match promo had nice wordplay for the Coffin Match challenge. It will be interesting to see how AEW puts their own twist on the casket match. Kris Statlander defeated Bunny. Blade distracted the referee to slip brass knuckles to Bunny. Orange Cassidy entered the ring to steal the foreign object and place it in his pocket. Statlander took advantage of the commotion to win via Big Bang Theory piledriver. After the match, Blade attacked OC. TH2 ran in to help with the pummeling. Blade retrieved the brass knuckles to land a clean punch on Cassidy’s jaw. Solid women’s match. Other than Statlander picking up a win to keep her record undefeated, it didn’t do much to advance the division. It seemed more like a setup for Cassidy to now have three enemies to occupy his time. The image of Cassidy knocked out cold on the mat was the laugh of the night for me. His dazed expression was excellent.

AEW Dynamite Notes: The Young Bucks ran down the list of people they have eliminated with violence. Eddie Kingston and Pentagon get a chance to earn a tag title shot if they can beat the Bucks in a non-title bout next week. The Jacksons aren’t worried, because they have transformed into Extremely Violent People. Nick closed by cawing like a bird. I don’t know why. Later in the show, Eddie Kingston pointed out how the Bucks only care about their egos. The way to hurt them is to take the tag titles. Kingston and Pentagon will achieve step one with a win over the Bucks next week to earn the title shot. Mark Sterling’s latest monetization plan for Jade Cargill is to offer fans a 10% discount off her two t-shirts in the AEW shop with the code THATB. Jade talked up being undefeated. Dr. Britt Baker DMD laughed at the idea of Vickie Guerrero cashing in her favor from Tony Khan on a tag match. Baker could think of a million other things to request instead. Now, Baker has to beat Vickie’s ass. Vickie stated that the tag match would be an appetizer to solidify Nyla Rose at the #1 contender. Nyla is coming for the women’s title on night 2 of Fyter Fest. It came across as an unofficial match announcement that will become official soon enough. QT Marshall hopes Cody Rhodes gets cast in a geeky superhero movie, so he won’t be around. That will give time for QT to focus on winning a championship in AEW. Brian Pillman Jr. cut a promo for Miro ahead of their TNT title contest. Pillman has fought for everything he has, and that includes his friends. Pillman will win the gold. Stud of the Show: Miro Miro delivers the most entertaining promos in AEW at the moment. He laid out so many good lines when discussing his upcoming TNT title bout against Brian Pillman Jr. on June 30. It starts with a little humor about his flexible hot wife, then veers into ass-kicking territory. When Miro scowls while saying, “Standing between the righteous man and his path is like standing between the cleaver and its meat,” you know those are not empty words. Miro single-handedly sold the match just to see how bad he will beat up Pillman. Dud of the Show: Andrade’s announcement tease During Dante Martin’s entrance, Vickie Guerrero chose to interrupt to introduce Andrade. They had panned to make a huge announcement, but Matt Sydal’s music hit for his entrance. No announcement was made. AEW has dipped into this story well too often. Star comes out, then doesn’t get to speak. Due to this method dragging on for weeks in the past, Andrade’s appearance didn’t really build anticipation to finally learn the announcement. Besides, if it was something huge, then AEW should have sent Alex Marvez or scoop master Paul Wight to break the news. That said, I am all aboard on seeing Matt Sydal as Andrade’s first opponent. Sydal can work a variety of styles to shine with Andrade. Grade: B+ This show was anchored by the main event. AEW delivered a satisfying finish with zero interference. Thank you! The rest of the matches carried their weight as well. There are still snafus in production. The camera missed a pivotal spinebuster moment for Hobbs. Share your thoughts about Dynamite. How do you rate it? Who stole the show? Read the full article

[mytwitterisdogtoast1]

My idea to help out the wrestlers of WWE.

I’ve been a large fan of WWE for a long time now and I’ve noticed a major single problem that could really help out for people on the roster. Now it’s a kind of strange idea but it’s to me a great one that could help out many people on the roster. Heck no real change needed to implement it except maybe one or two things really but this change isn’t going to ruin the company in general but it might in general make things better. Now I know I’m beating around the bush but I figure if anyone reads this that is in the company might want a little assurance that I’m not just an angry fan who wants major change because I’m unhappy with the company. So what is this change? More championship titles. So what do I mean when I say more championship titles? Well lets look at the most successful time in the WWE and see the one thing that made it one of the most memorable times in the company. If we look at the attitude era one of the most prominent things everyone that ever talks about that era ever mentions is that there was many people from different levels of importance wrestling each week and stories with many people. Now sure many people could talk about how it could “use better writing” but sometimes stories wont always cut it when the roster is so huge but people in lower than main event status sit around and do nothing or in general get thrown into places they probably don’t need to be on the card. For example when the 24/7 title came out a lot of people just got thrown into it and sure, that’s fine, but I’m sure they could be doing more. Also Many upper card people also in general got thrown into the mid card because they needed more people to do stuff with the IC title when Brock Lesnar had the Universal championship. So what amount of titles do we need? That’s entirely dependent on if it is the male or female roster. For the male roster we need to look at what we have on it. Firstly we have many people who are either not there all the time such as Lesnar or people who are part timers who don’t show up often and just want to work maybe once every 4 months. Is that an issue? Not at all. See I think that having someone like Goldberg come in and be Goldberg for a short while is fine. I think Lesnar is one of the best things on the roster as well as the most legitimate man on the roster because even though Matt Riddle is indeed one of the most legit wrestlers in ability of fighting Lesnar is much larger and looks more threatening. Remember, this isn’t a bad thing for Lesnar to LOOK impressive because in general when that man wants to go he can and if given a chance to have matches with people he wants than he will work hard. So what do we do? We turn the WWE championship into the main title of the company. Make the person who has it the man and image of the company itself being your biggest draw. People can challenge him once every 3 months on the big shows of Wrestlemania or Summer slam and on. This would be one of those things where the person doesn’t even have to show up often and the person challenging him for the title can do all the promotional stuff. Heck you can even take this as your main title when you go to Saudi Arabia. Anyone can challenge for this belt. So if you wanted a small exhibition for the belt you could do so. Skies the limit. This belt holder can go to any show any time if they want to be on television as well. This allows the belt to literally be the companies belt. That means Raw and Smackdown. That means NXT and even UK. This means even b shows like The Main Event. Main titles should be kept separate from this belt. It’s fine to have 2 different rosters and two different belts but compared to the yester years of the Attitude era where the roster was stacked while not being TOO big we have a large roster on both shows. This isn’t a bad thing as if you want your company to be 2 rosters than each roster NEEDS to have a large amount of people. The main problem is this. Cards in WWE like the upper mid and lower cards are kinda “wonky” in that people from NXT when they come to the main roster are treated as lower card members. This is in itself its own issue as anyone who is amazing in NXT that wins their equivalent of the main championship isn’t a part of the same card. So when thrown into the lower card they need belts to strive for. Each show will have 3 male held belts. The upper card, mid card, and lower card belts. Each show can have their own style of belts. Upper card belts would be so, The Universal title and the World Heavyweight Championship. Sure it was retired to become the Universal title but why not have both? Each belt is relatively the same in “level” so they could freely be moved to any show and in general no company that airs the show would feel slighted that the other show has the WWE championship. The belt that replaced the WWE title on the show it is on. Whoever has the title gets to keep it and things can go as they had been since before the change. Once you’re a part of the main title picture that should be where you’re at. The reason why is lower card belts are made for the lower card people. The mid card would have to remain the same but the bigger issue here is we would have to treat the US championship at the same level as the IC title. We can’t have people from the upper card coming in here. Like Seth Rollins is fantastic but he should be in the upper card and not here. The Miz is one of the best of his time and as much as he was turned into the best IC champ in my eyes I think he should have stayed in the upper card. When you get to the upper card you need to stay there regardless. Mid card is to make a real name for yourself and if you’re here you might be here forever. The thing is though that sometimes the IC title in general is treated as the “superior” title of the two. When you have one brand sure it is the mid card title of the two but when you have them on separate brands than they can’t be treated as anything other than what they are. Which is currently the mid/lower card belt. To fix this we need these belts to be mid card belts and equal in stature. Both are prestigious and have a long storied history of some of the best champions of all time. For this to actually be true we need a lower card belt. Back in the early 2000′s and the late 90′s we had 3 cards and each had a belt and a chunk of others that people could win in the grander scheme of things. We had things like the European championship, the hardcore championship, and even the light heavyweight championship. We’ve also had titles from earlier times with Canadian championship, junior heavyweight championship, cruiserweight championship. Let’s be fair. With the 24/7 championship we have the main thing that people really loved about the hardcore title and that was Crash having it be able to be fought for anywhere any time. With the Cruiserweight championship still existing we don’t need to “bring it back” or even have a light heavyweight championship/junior heavyweight championship. What we do need is for the Canadian championship and the European championship to be brought back. The reasons why is that we have the United States championship and the Intercontinental championship. One is pretty much the right side of the world on a US map and the other is the Us/left side of the world. The Canadian belt is on the left and the European is on the right side. Make them the lower card belts and you can now have 3 different belts for 3 different cards. Building up performers is important. To really build up performers we really in general need some special belts and we do have those. I can understand fully not bring back the Hardcore championship since injury and the probability of more concussions so let’s not bring it back because we have the 24/7 title. As for things like the cruiserweight championship having anyone who weighs 205 pounds or less is great because it adds some realism to the sports part of the sports entertainment aspect. Many people comment on how it’s unrealistic for someone like Finn Balor to go after the belt while Brock Lesnar has it. Now I don’t agree with that aspect as this isn’t a “real” fight where a different weight class would murder someone. This is sports entertainment and it’s fantastic to see someone that’s a lower weight class fight a behemoth of a man. Underdog stories are fantastic that way. But this being the weight restricted class allows for people who are on a more “equal level” to fight each other and make it more “realistic” What we need is something that people can win and allow them to be either completely new who is to be pushed and get a spotlight to see where they can go on the card, or for a way for people who are a little over seasoned to put over younger talent or for them to get some spotlight as well. Let’s look at 2 different types of people with those examples. For example we have Humberto Carillo who unless you watched 205 live or NXT you wouldn’t know who this guy is. He was given a huge push when he got to the main roster. If we had a belt to throw on him since we want him to have a main spot we could give him this final belt. It would put him into the picture and show “hey, we have faith in this guy on the main roster.” People who are new and haven’t had a chance to shine could go straight for the belt and get it. As for the people who are seasoned? Let’s look at someone such as Goldust. I know he is no longer with the company but giving him the belt to show he is still worth something to the company allowing him to put over some younger talent would serve to make the belt look legitimate as well. Sure we can look at Goldust and say “he’s a joke character” or isn’t “worth it” but we all see now that he has so much to give compared to what he was doing before. People like Booker T, or even Jerry the king Lawler could even win this belt and wrestle with it. Allowing older people and people who are relatively retired to have the belt and not have to do too much with it. It wouldn’t even need a program like other belts. This belt could also allow people to move from show to show so if you needed or wanted someone to move over to another show you could have them move to any place and the winner could get the belt and go anywhere and the loser could stay on that show. What would we call the belt? Well if WWE was willing to the TV championship is a great name as it’s a belt worthy of being on TV more than a PPV. Women would need their own set of belts and a complete overhaul. Here’s the thing. We have a ton of women wrestlers BUT in general they are still limited. Let’s look at the womens roster. Alexa Bliss Asuka Becky Lynch Dana Brooke Lana Lacey Evans Liv Morgan Mandy Rose Mia Yim Mercedes Martinez Naomi Nia Jax Nikki Cross Peyton Royce Reckoning Ruby Riott Shayna Baszler Bayley Bianca Belair Billie Kay Carmella Ember Moon Liv Morgan Mickie James Natalya Ruby Riott Sasha Banks Sonya Deville Tamina Zelina Vega Aliyah Candice LeRae Chelsea Green Dakota Kai Indi Hartwell Io Shirai Jessamyn Duke Jessi Kamea Kacy Catanzaro Kayden Carter Marina Shafir Raquel González Rhea Ripley Santana Garrett Scarlett Bordeaux Shotzi Blackheart Tegan Nox Toni Storm Vanessa Borne Xia Li. This is a loaded roster but, let’s be fair, the amount of wrestlers here is very limited compared to the male roster so having them split into 3 different groups makes it a little less like we have this many people to instead look like this. Raw -  Alexa Bliss Asuka Becky Lynch Dana Brooke Lana Lacey Evans Liv Morgan Mandy Rose Mia Yim Mercedes Martinez Naomi Nia Jax Nikki Cross Peyton Royce Reckoning Ruby Riott Shayna Baszler Smackdown -  Bayley Bianca Belair Billie Kay Carmella Liv Morgan Mickie James Natalya Ruby Riott Sasha Banks Sonya Deville Tamina Zelina Vega NXT -  Aliyah Candice LeRae Chelsea Green Dakota Kai Ember Moon Indi Hartwell Io Shirai Jessamyn Duke Jessi Kamea Kacy Catanzaro Kayden Carter Marina Shafir Raquel González Rhea Ripley Santana Garrett Scarlett Bordeaux Shotzi Blackheart Tegan Nox Toni Storm Vanessa Borne Xia Li. Those rosters now look very small. Here is the main thing. Some of those people are in tag championships such as Nia and Shayna and there are other women who are in tag division such as the Riott squad, Mandy and Dana, Peyton and Lacy. As much as I like the tag teams and feel there should be tag teams it’s kinda hard in general to take them seriously since it is lacking and tag teams kind of fall apart. What’s the answer? Well, More women in the roster for 1 but have all women on all rosters. Sure we would have some people from NXT fight people from Smackdown and Raw but we would have a larger roster of Women. The roster right now has a lack of women in the main event in the main roster. Those women are  Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Bayley, Carmella, Mickie James, Natalya, Sasha Banks. These are All people who have been champion on the main roster. Nothing against NXT. but the point is even if we look there it will still have a “lack” of main eventers. If everyone was on both shows we could still have the champs of any show but it would allow them to move around trying to get the main titles. Another thing you could do is make the women have one mid/lower card title. This would allow women in the lower card to show what they can do and allow it like the tag belts to go across all shows. This is a lot of information to take in but I feel this would help the roster out for amazing talent such as Chad Gable, or all of The Hurt Business, or heck everyone who needs a push. There is nothing else I could think of that would help out more than giving people a chance to shine in that company. 

[gdwessel]

STARDOM Dark Match Added To WK14 But Won’t Be Aired Live; Anthem Cancels NJPW on AXS, Fight Network; Jericho Open To Tanahashi Match for AEW Title As Elite Slag Off NJPW

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 60: Side A - Wrestle Kingdom 14 and Side B- 4th Anniversary Show on the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Network

So, hey, after a couple of days rest over a Christmas period, and with no NJPW show going on, surely NOTHING could be happen--

Oh.

OH.

Several news items from the NJPW realm have caused Wrestling Twitter to go into meltdown over the last few days of the holiday period. The first was the announcement of a STARDOM dark match at the Tokyo Dome during Wrestle Kingdom 14, announced during STARDOM’s 2019 finale at Tokyo Korakuen Hall on 12/24/2019, which was also the retirement show for wrestler Hazuki (allegedly for political reasons, but anway...). The match itself sees World of Stardom champion Mayu Iwatani & Wonder of Stardom champion Arisa Hoshiki take on the team of Hana Kimura & Giulia.

What sent Twitter into meltdown was twofold - the very idea the match was happening, and the fact it will not be shown live on NJPWWorld like the other pre-show matches. The second part is easy to explain - as noted by this blog, and many, many others when Bushiroad purchased STARDOM, the promotion has different pre-existing TV contracts than NJPW, who primarily deal with TV Asahi, a minority stake owner in NJPWWorld, therefore they do not want to, and legally cannot, put another network’s property on their network or services. So while it stinks, it’s the world of TV contracts prohibiting the STARDOM women from appearing on NJPWWorld. If nothing else, STARDOM gets a Tokyo Dome match, and presumably a real shot in the arm for exposure to an audience who may not necessarily know STARDOM. I’m pretty sure Bushiroad wants STARDOM to succeed under their watch, and apparently, the show on Christmas Eve was their highest ever attendance in Korakuen Hall, so that’s a good sign.

The first is just Twitter-dick-swinging, as certain members of Wrestling Twitter wanted to turn the event into I Told You So Olympics, who was “Right,” etc. Which, who gives a shit? Congratulations, you predicted a company who owns one wrestling promotion decided to give their latest acquisition a spot on one of their biggest events. You mental giants, you.

Yesterday brought on several meltdown-worthy items.  The first was a tweet from @NJPWglobal, in which they more or less came out and said “There are currently no plans for TV broadcast of NJPW events in 2020 (WK14 included) in the US. “ Later in the day, it was also revealed Fight Network in Canada will also be dropping the English NJPW show.

Both AXS TV and Fight Network are now owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, the owners of Impact Wrestling. Clearly, Anthem has more investment in Impact being a bigger show on their networks. NJPW worked with Impact in the past, when they were still known as TNA, and just as clearly, don’t wish to work with them again, no matter who is in charge. There have been no new episodes of NJPW on AXS for the whole month of December, despite there being plenty of content from the World Tag League and Road to Tokyo Dome tours, and the show has been in a repeat cycle since then.

This is a real shame. Honestly, it was the debut of NJPW on AXS on 1/13/2015 which brought me back completely into the New Japan, and wrestling folds, after being away for many years. This show got my partner into wrestling. It was a show that broke out boxing/MMA announcer Mauro Ranallo as a pro wrestling commentator, so much so that WWE snagged him up when they could. For better or for worse, it also was one of the shows that resurrected the wrestling announcing career of current AEW announcer/executive Jim Ross, as well as put Josh Barnett back in the public eye. Through NJPW on AXS, we got live NJPW events from the USA, on cable TV, something that was inconceivable even at the beginning of NJPW on AXS’s run. We even managed to get same-day/week coverage of several Wrestle Kingdoms, something else that was inconceivable before it actually happened. Not to mention many of the moments that happened live on AXS, good (Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight title on US soil v. Cody Rhodes), bad (the shoot incident between Josh Barnett & Jay White), and ugly (Hiromu Takahashi’s horrific neck injury).

At the same time, it’s been clear since JR and Barnett ended their tenures, and the episodes were merely edits of the English NJPWWorld feeds, that the show was not really a priority. In the beginning, the show were overdubs of World Pro Wrestling episodes from TV Asahi, but we got great introductions by the wrestlers, always ending with some variation of “World Pro Wrestling RETURNS!”, in addition to interviews with the featured wrestlers on that episode, many of which were very enlightening, in-character and otherwise. When they transitioned to edited NJPWWorld feeds, a lot of the character of the show was lost, and at that point, why not just subscribe to NJPWWorld.

Even so, it’s the end of an era, and I don’t think it can be overstated how much of an effect NJPW on AXS had on New Japan’s ability to establish a foothold in the USA. Personally, I’ll miss writing about it, and am grateful to AXS for the nearly five years (the contract allegedly runs til 2021) on the air on Amerian cable television. Pour one out.

Lastly, the scheduled match at Night 2 of WK14 between Hiroshi Tanahashi v. current AEW World Champion Chris Jericho has taken a very interesting turn. Earlier this week, Tanahashi gave an interview in Tokyo Sports, where he said “He’s a champion right? All I’m saying is if I beat him and he comes back asking for a rematch then I think it’s reasonable to tell him to put the belt up. If that happened it would break down a door.”

This has now prompted a response from Le Champion on Instagram, and, well, he agrees:

What you don't know is I speak and read perfect Japanese and I read what you said about the Tokyo Dome. You said if you can beat me that you would enter the forbidding portal and request a title shot for the AEW Championship. I thought it's a great idea. So, 'Le Champion' asked the Chairman of the Board, the owner of AEW, Tony Khan, if it was okay to grant your request, and he said 'yes.' So, if you can beat me in the Tokyo Dome, I will give you a championship match for the AEW Title.

So if nothing else, Chris Jericho and Tony Khan are open to the idea of NJPW talents coming to AEW.

This might not sit well with the Executive Vice Presidents of All Elite Wrestling, aka The Elite, aka Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and Matt & Nick Jackson. Released a couple of days ago, the latest episode of the Bucks’ Wrestlers On The Road Ordering Room Service YouTube show has both Omega and the Jacksons griping about feeling betrayed about their exits from both NJPW and ROH. Watch it and decide for yourselves. Or don’t. Personally, it seems to me the Elite are bitter that they weren’t nearly as over as they thought they were, while also not understanding why companies they were under contract to might not feel very warm & fuzzy about wrestlers who were trying to form another company on their clock. Kenny Omega in particular has tried to say in other interviews that NJPW are trying to prevent him from visas to enter Japan. (NJPW president Harold Meij has denied this accusation previously.) Indeed, on the Halloween edition of AEW Dynamite, Kenny’s entrance video for a match was an Undertale re-do saying NJPW tried to ruin him. 

We all watched NJPW in the latter half of 2018, and trust me, nothing could be further from the truth than the notion that NJPW were trying to bury the Elite, when in fact, the promotion was very centered on the Elite during that period, and made the company nearly unwatchable in the main event scene. 

Considering how far backwards NJPW bent over for The Elite, and particularly for Omega, from making him the only gaijin to ever win G1 Climax; creating an entire title belt for him in the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship; holding gimmick matches that traditionally NJPW would never do (i.e. the 2016 ladder match for the IWGP Intercontinental title that was first supposed to be v. Hiroshi Tanahashi but changed to Michael Elgin due to Tanahashi being injured); allowing Cody Rhodes two IWGP Heavyweight title shots in the span of three months, including turning a match everybody wanted (Omega v. Kota Ibushi at King Of Pro Wrestling 2018) into a match absolutely nobody asked for (Omega v. Ibushi v. Cody); how much tag team title programs focused on the Young Bucks when they were not very over at all outside of Tokyo...

Honestly, I could go on. And if that’s how they feel, so be it. But only one side in this is taking shots at the other, and it’s not NJPW. Considering AEW has been under the microscope the last few weeks, for everything to falling ratings, to both of the Young Bucks leaving Twitter in the face of dire criticism of the main event angle on the 12/18/2019 year-ending episode of AEW Dynamite, to how AEW is pushing (or NOT pushing) certain talents, one would think that the Executive Vice Presidents might want to get their own house in order before slagging off NJPW, ROH, WWE, or anyone else. They are already getting mocked on Twitter for failing to deliver a promised match on their New Year’s Day opening show in Jacksonville, FL, this coming week. And with one side talking about “betrayal” from NJPW while another part of the company, including the actual owner and money man of the promotion, is opening the door with a stipulation, something tells me AEW may not be as cohesive as a functioning unit as they may think.

Strong Style Story Podcast Episode 60: Side A - Wrestle Kingdom 14 and Side B- 4th Anniversary Show on the Pro Wrestling Only Podcast Network

[concussed-to-pieces]

Quiet; Part Four

Fandom: WWE

Pairing: Baron Corbin/Female Reader

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Thirst Party Saturday! We embark on a voyage to last year's Wrestlemania, hope you all have your tickets! Tagging Bossa Nova @toxiicpop, Riot Squad @oraclegazes, Big Gun @hardcorewwetrash and of course, Wolf Expert @writergrrrl29.

Enjoy!

Wrestlemania.

The word always held such gravity. It could hush a rowdy locker room, raise the spirits of the most downtrodden wrestler. It was a dream, a symbol of everything you could ever hope for as talent working for WWE. Wrestlemania. From Kickoff to Main Event, the notion alone sent electricity down your spine.

Meetings were more and more frequent. What with Nikki Bella nursing her neck back to health and various other issues the women's division was looking sparse. You weren't sure you were ready for that kind of move up though. The idea of working live with a camera at least once a week made you nervous beyond repair. NXT tapings were one thing, and maybe you could manage Smackdown, but what about Raw?

No, you were better in NXT. Less likely to get lost in the shuffle, not quite so caged by your stammer and inability to come up with dialogue on the fly.

Baron came out of his own meeting with ‘the powers that be’ more subdued than usual, a thoughtful expression on his face as he took his seat across from you for your weekly lunch date.

“H-Hey, are you okay?” You finally asked after he’d sat there silent aside from a few grunts for over half an hour, staring down at his salad. “Baron? I…can you talk to me, please?” You reached across the table to squeeze his hand and he looked up, seeming startled.

“Sorry, I’m uh, in my own head. Not fair to you, little one. How did your day go, anything interesting happen? Good meetings, bad meetings?” Baron asked, avoiding your eyes as he went to stab vigorously at a cherry tomato with his fork. The whole while his other hand stayed in yours, thumb rubbing the back of your hand.

“They’re talking about putting me o-on the main roster soon. I don’t know if I’m ready f-f-for that.” Your stammer kicked up in the face of your nerves and you swore inwardly.

That news certainly got his attention though, Baron’s head whipping up. “Really? Little one, that’s--shit that’s so cool!” His abrupt enthusiasm made you giggle a little.

“I'm nowhere near prepared for that kind of stuff yet, Baron. N-Nice to think about though.”

“It’s pretty sweet that they’re even considering you, right? All that hard work is payin’ off!” Baron smiled, giving your hand a squeeze of his own before letting go and actually beginning to eat his salad. “I’m proud of you, y’know that?” He said after a minute. “I promise I’m not just talkin’ out my ass, I am really, really proud of you. Bouncing back from your concussion, feuding with Becky…I mean shit, you’re moving leaps and fuckin’ bounds both in-ring and on the mic.”

He took a deep breath and your heart sank, waiting for the “but”. Nobody was more supportive when it came to your career, so it might hurt a little bit to hear it from his mouth. You were strong though, you could take it.

“So they want me to be in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Wrestlemania.” Baron said all in a rush. “Breeze and I are supposed to be Hunter's picks. I…I told them I would have to run it by you first.”

“Uh…wait, what?” You asked, certain you’d heard wrong. Why would he need to--

“Look, this is kind of a Big Fucking Deal, little one. Wrestler Superbowl. I ain’t gonna’ barrel off into this shit without talking with you about it first. You’re the most important person in the world to me, you're my mate and…I mean, it’s a battle royal, I’m probably going to get at least a little fucked up.” Baron explained. “If you don’t want me to do it, I’ll tell them I can’t and then they can find someone else.” He leaned forward, folding his hands. “Or…” He trailed off, a smirk tugging at his mouth.

“’Or…’?” You echoed, raising an eyebrow at his antics.

“I could win the whole thing for you, get my name on a shiny trophy, really stir the place up.” The smirk was a full-blown grin now. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning. “Show everyone what NXT can do, what I can do. Granted, Breeze alone is kinda’ more than enough representation for NXT, although he's not with us anymore. Talented motherfucker. But Hunter is worried that the crowd will be too focused on his ‘pretty’ gimmick, and that’s where I come in.” Baron spread his arms like he did during his entrance. “Big Bad Lone Wolf Baron Corbin, tossing dudes around like they’re lightweights, talkin’ trash and just being loud and ornery as fuck.” He seemed like he’d given this a lot of thought. Either that or Hunter had been pushing for it for ages and had just made Baron a hell of a sales pitch. “What do you say, little one? Wanna’ watch me lay fucking waste?”

You bit your lip. Any multi-individual matches always made you nervous. The more people involved, the more likely it was that someone would get hurt. Baron had a competitive streak in him that was a mile wide, always eager to prove himself, to move up to the next rung on the ladder. But he also worried so much about being a good pack leader, about being strong for you after what had happened. Something like this…if you agreed to it, maybe it would ease some of his worry. You knew how much of a distraction it could be. Plus, maybe it would encourage him to be more cautious in the weeks leading up to ‘Mania. There wouldn’t be any ‘laying waste’ if he was injured. “Okay. Yeah, okay.” You said finally.

Baron looked shocked, which was a very funny expression to see on the stoic man. “I…really? Holy shit, really?!” He damn near flipped the table when he got up without shoving his chair back, scooping you up out of your own chair and into a rib-cracking hug. “Thank you, thank you little one, I promise I won’t let you down!” You sputtered, laughing as he peppered your face with kisses. Baron wasn’t a PDA person, normally content with a hand on your lower back or a quick peck on the cheek if you leaned into him. This…it was touching to see how happy you’d made him, that he would completely forget his own hangups in order to express his gratitude.

“Hey, listen, I don’t c-care if you win it all or if you get thrown out first. As long as you’re safe, alright Baron?” You had to clarify, doing your best to look serious.

Baron nodded, tucking his face into your neck and closing his eyes. “You got it, little one.”

“Baron can…can you maybe put me down?”

“Oh! Oh sorry, sorry, shit.”

…

The weeks passed in a flurry of singles matches, short-term feuds and extra training sessions. Corbin was obviously excited about the coming battle, hating the days when he had to turn. He admitted it felt like he was wasting time that he could be running the ropes with.

He didn’t seem to mind accompanying you on your morning jogs on those days though, dark brown fur usually covered in dew from when he would roll around in the grass. Xander would come along as well, trotting docile at your hip while Baron lunged and bounded all over the trail.

Some nights Baron was so exhausted from his supplemental training he would fall asleep sitting up on the end of the bed, slumped over his knees with his boots still on. You grew used to nudging him onto his back and then dealing with his boots, unlacing them and laying them carefully to the side of the bed so neither of you would trip over them in the morning.

Baron mumbled more in his sleep, held you a little tighter.

“I’m going to make you proud, little one.”

You had no idea how to convince him that he’d already made you proud, the determination and tenacity he displayed never ceasing to amaze you. Always willing to go one more round, always improving, single-mindedly striving for the next goal he set himself. It was incredible to watch him progress so rapidly, even if you did worry the nights he fell asleep on the end of the bed.

“My poor boy.” You said softly one such night, settling his head into your lap and starting to carefully stroke his hair. Baron sighed in his sleep when you cupped his jaw and bent down to kiss his cheek. He shoved one of his arms beneath your thigh, snuggling your leg tightly. You stayed there for a little while, gently fingercombing his hair and letting him hold your leg. “You’re w-working so hard, Baron. I hope you’re going to be okay.”

“Mm, m’onna’ be fine.” He grunted. “Y’ so good t’ me, s’not fair.”

“Shh, sleep Baron.” You urged, smiling when he scrunched his face up grumpily. “Sleep, have good dreams about that big fight you’re going to be part of. My money’s on you.”

“Mm, you’re biased though.” Baron pointed out, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He pressed his forehead to yours, sleepily smiling at you. “Thanks for that. The head rubs and the encouragement. It’s still…a little weird for me to not be alone. So um. Thanks.”

“Hey, I want to always be there for you, okay?” You replied sincerely. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I--I care about you. A lot. So let’s go to bed. Tomorrow is another day and I’m sure you have to get up early so Bloom can-”

“Kick the shit out of me some more, yeah, I know.” Baron grumbled, kissing your forehead and then scooting himself up the bed. “Now get over here and snuggle my ass. I need to be at maximum cozy capacity in order to get to sleep, little one, so you have to try harder.”

“Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.” You shuffled up the bed and settled into his arms, hearing (and feeling) the contented sigh he let out. “Good night, Baron.”

“G’night…”

Sleep eluded you for most of the night. You laid there, listening to Baron breathe slow and deep, your mind buzzing with what might happen at Wrestlemania. What if Baron won the whole thing? The powers that be had been dangling a call up for months, that win would definitely be enough to tip the scale in Baron’s favor. Your excitement faded as you realized that meant he would obviously be leaving NXT. I’m not ready for the main roster. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready. What would happen once your tours went different ways? You had been looking forward to the Download Fest tour, but if Baron was on the main roster he probably wouldn’t be on that leg. Or any others. This was the end of your travels together, it would seem.

You scrubbed at your eyes, fighting back the tears. Baron groaned, hugging you even tighter. “Mm, shh, gotcha’.” He mumbled, “Jus’ me. Jus’ me.” You hoped he was talking in his sleep again and that you hadn’t woken him up. “Jus’ good dreams, li’l one. Shh.” Baron kissed the back of your head. “Dun’ cry.” He dissolved into murmuring nonsense words and humming, the constant rumble of his voice in his chest finally lulling you to sleep.

Everything will be fine.

…

“I uh. I kind of want to puke.” Baron said quietly as you helped spritz his hair wet. “S’loud as fuck out there, little one. I’m…I’m real nervous and I’d like to sink into the fuckin’ floor right about now.”

From his spot in the makeup chair across from Baron, you saw Tyler roll his eyes. “Just follow me down the ramp, Corbin. I promise once you get in the ring you’ll forget about the people watching. Don’t let all those uggos psych you out.” Breeze’s words were firm. “This is your chance, our chance. If we put on a good show, a great show, people will start noticing NXT more. I mean, I was the best thing about NXT when I was in it, right? You and I both know that roster is way more talented than the main one anyhow.” Breeze huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

“D-Do you guys know who else is going to be in the Battle Royal?” You asked timidly.

Baron shook his head. “All we know is to be careful with the older guys if any of them make an appearance. Show respect for the giant, that kinda’ thing. Rumor is that DDP is gonna’ be in the ring at some point.”

“Psh, yeah right. Where did you hear that?” Tyler scoffed, checking his face with his phone.

“I mean, it’s a rumor. DDP, Mark Henry…” Baron paused, shrugging. “Rumors. We won’t know until we get down there, right Breeze?”

You cupped Baron’s chin, getting his attention as Tyler fussed over his nose, it’s too orange, you ruined it! “How are you doing?” You whispered, resting your forehead against his.

Baron looked unsettled. “Smellin’ a lot of prey. I…I’m better than that, but goddamn if this shit doesn’t reek of easy targets.” He admitted. “Just have to keep myself under control. Probably should have turned a few days ago but I needed the time to train. I’ll be okay. I have to be, y’know? Gotta’ be strong for the pack.”

“You’re the strongest person I know, Baron. I’m so proud of you already. I just wanted you to know that.”

Baron rubbed his forehead back and forth across your own, chuckling at the squeaking noises his damp skin made and how you crinkled your face. “Means a lot coming from you, little one. I’ll do even better than my best. Promise.”

You watched from the curtain as everyone filed out down the ramp to the ring. Baron was last in line and he gave you a shaky smile, before straightening his shoulders and heading forward into the bluish twilight of the arena.

…

The entrance ramp looked like it stretched to fucking eternity. Baron swallowed hard, trying to just focus on the area directly in front of him. He was bombarded with smells from the crowd, the excitement and tension sharp in the air.

He might puke. He might be the guy that puked at Wrestlemania. That might be him. Some pack leader he was, shit. His heart was slamming in his chest much worse than it used to when he boxed, he was pretty sure his nose was already fucking running like a faucet. He was overwhelmed with nerves when he tried to look up at the crowd. He fixed his eyes on Tyler’s goofy fringes, watched as they swished back and forth on the ramp like the world’s most impractical mop.

Mark Henry stormed out, one of the first who was important enough to at least get his music played. Baron didn't like how Konnor and Viktor hovered so close to him in the ring, and he certainly didn't care for the goddamn Social Outcasts swarming around him like a hyperactive welcoming committee. Swagger was practically crowding him out of his fucking skin. Baron toyed momentarily with the idea of turning right there and scaring everyone shitless.

Something stank of sulfur. Baron was willing to bet his paycheck on it being Kane and he was not disappointed as the pyro jolted to life. Honestly out of the whole lot of his opponents, he was the most concerned about the demon and Breeze. Kane for obvious fucking reasons, and Tyler knew all his tricks. As long as one of them was eliminated quickly, his job would be made leaps and bounds easier.

Need to be strong, for little one.

Fandango had started gyrating towards Tyler with obvious intent. Baron watched Breeze out of the corner of his eye, laughing to himself when Breeze huffed out an annoyed breath and mouthed 'uggo' at Fandango. The dancer didn't seem put off at all. In fact, his smile widened.

The crowd burst to life when Diamond Dallas Page's music hit, the older man emerging and looking as excited as a youngster while he practically bolted down the ramp to the ring. The 'Master of the Diamond Cutter' seemed...overeager. Baron realized his job may have gotten much, much more difficult, what with the whole, 'be careful with the older guys' rule. He wondered if that rule also applied to Goldust, unsure if it was only aimed at the less-active superstars.

He definitely felt like his job had gotten harder when he heard Big Show's music blast out, but he kept his chin up, watching as the world's largest athlete sauntered up to the ring and climbed over the top rope. Surely, that was it as far as participants went, right? They'd start the match and...well, he'd just have to be smart is all. Baron knew he was big, but he liked to believe that the reason why he was dangerous was his ability to out-think his opponents.

Adam Rose smacked him on the arm, either accidentally or to get his attention and Baron bared his teeth, snarling at the lithe man for daring to lay a hand on him. On the other side of him Curtis Axel snickered. Unfamiliar music met Baron's ears and he looked up to see none other than Shaquille fucking O'Neal staring down Big Show with obvious malice in his eyes.

Wonderful. Old guys, a celebrity, a demon...

Baron grimaced. This was not looking like a smooth run in the slightest. Breeze caught his eye as Fandango continued to gently salsa dance in place, mouthing 'we got this'. Baron nodded, surreptitiously wiping his nose on his arm. Hadn't started running yet, thank heavens for small fucking favors. He knew once his blood really started pumping it was only a matter of time.

Sandow sidled up to him as Shaq and Big Show glared vigorously at one another. “I believe it would be in our best interest to work as a team, yes?” Sandow suggested.

Baron rolled his neck, loosening himself up a little bit. “Nobody tells me what to do, Pinky.” He grunted. “Pretty sure you're just statin' the obvious anyhow. For being so smart, you might be an idiot.”

“What a crude individual you are. Perhaps one of these Outcasts will listen to reason. Bo, my friend!”

The sulfur smell grew stronger when Kane moved towards Shaq and Big Show, and Baron watched from the back of the herd as the demon attempted to make a bold statement. The Red Machine was sent crashing to the mat for his efforts, and Swagger and R-Truth led the charge to trap Shaq in the corner. Baron went along with it, giving Sandow a shove in the opposite direction just because he could. It looked like the group had divided almost evenly to focus on the two large men, but to no avail.

Again, Baron went along with the motion when Shaq started throwing people off, sliding out of the ring beneath the bottom rope. He knew it was inevitable that the titans would clash, and hopefully they would take each other out. Big Show had easily shaken off the Social Outcasts and assorted sundry that had swarmed him, still focused on meeting Shaquille in the middle of the ring.

Fandango was the first man back into the ring, interrupting the heated standoff by resuming that damned gyrating as vigorously as possible. Baron didn't consider the dancer particularly smart, but he had to admire his bravery. And he had to admire the airtime he got when Big Show ushered him over the top rope by the back of his neck. Sandow was next in the ring, smirking unwisely at the two huge men. Shaq had obviously had enough, mirroring Big Show's actions and launching the pink-trunks-clad man over the top rope.

Two down.

O'Neal and Big Show grabbed each other around the neck and everyone else poured back into the ring to force the two largest threats out, Bo and Curtis' hollering nearly deafening Baron as they all strained and shoved and finally tumbled Big Show and Shaq out.

Then, all hell broke loose. Baron might as well have had his eyes closed for all the coordination he was displaying, delivering quick elbow shots to the backs of necks in an almost-indiscriminate manner. He may have gifted Bo with his first of the evening, just for being so damn loud.

He remembered nearly stepping on DDP, mumbling out an apology and continuing over the floored legend to his next target.

He remembered Goldust with his hand way too tight on his ass for comfort, trying to tip him out of the ring. Goldust landed a few stinging blows to his back and then started wrapping an arm around Baron's thigh, either attempting to get better leverage or just cop a feel. Never really knew with Goldust. Baron returned fire, tired of the games, one thunderous elbow to the back of Goldust's neck laying the man out cold.

Tyler beckoned him over, accepting a light chop across his chest in response. “How you doing, Big Banter?” He asked, swatting Corbin right back. “Saw that geriatric uggo almost toss you out. You sure you're okay for this?” Baron's reply was to hoist Breeze up bodily and dangle him over the top rope for a minute, making the other man squawk and flail. “Only teasing, only teasing! C'mon man, we need to make Hunter proud!”

“Don't test me, Tyler.” Baron grunted, releasing him and then turning to assess the state of the ring. A few more eliminations had been made while Goldust was fighting/groping him. DDP was eliminated as he watched, the crowd booing when Konnor roared in victory. His glee was short-lived as R-Truth and Goldust (perhaps on the behalf of the 'Old Guys Committee' or something) clotheslined him out.

Baron suddenly had Bo fucking Dallas delivering rather hard shots to his head and chest, yelling and grinning with a total maniac look on his face. Then Slater, and then Axel, it was like a Social Outcast beatdown. Baron endured, kept waiting for an opening, tried to ignore the scent of blood and prey in the air. He and R-Truth almost had Slater out but then Tatanka was there, practically begging, and with a swift forearm Baron sent him on his way.

Baron grinned, feeling stupidly accomplished as he rested there on the ropes for a second. His whole body sang with the fight, his heart racing. He almost wished he could throw caution to the wind and just start decimating people. But no, no, he couldn't hand out Ends Of Days to everyone in the ring. People would probably get a little suspicious.

Swagger caught him on the jaw as he turned back to the action and Corbin was sent reeling across the ring. Jack, pink as a fucking ham with exertion but packing a hell of a punch, moved boldly to push Kane out and got himself eliminated for his trouble. Adam Rose landed a vicious stomp on Baron's stomach, knocking the air out of him and crumpling him momentarily. Baron choked a little bit, gagging as that sulfur smell filled his nose again. Kane was getting pissed, obviously, biding his time in the opposite corner while the Social Outcasts proceeded to heave a few more combatants out.

Baron watched Kane, watched the Big Red Machine watch the Outcasts, and when Kane stopped their Bo Train, Baron was right there waiting to keep them from slipping away in the other direction.

Corbin remembered blindly punching Rose square in the jaw, more than a little angry about the stomp from earlier. And then Kane's gloved hand was slammed into his throat, cutting Baron's air off to essentially nothing. Kane's fingers burned, even through the leather of his glove, the chokeslam knocking the rest of the air from Baron's lungs.

He spent what he felt was too long trying to stay conscious, brain screaming for precious oxygen. God he hurt, everything hurt, why the hell had he thought this was a good idea? The wolf in him was snapping, snarling, forcing him to stay awake. Prey smell, blood smell, sulfur, bruises blooming-

Baron snapped his teeth, struggling to at least rise to one knee. He wasn't going down without a fucking fight.

Kane discarded Darren Young and Bo Dallas, then paused for a moment to enjoy his handiwork. Baron's eyes narrowed.

Prey!

Baron lunged forward, whole body aching as he latched onto Kane’s leg like a goddamn bear trap's jaws. The demon tried to shake him off, nearly kicking him in the head. All Baron could taste and smell was charred, bitter smoke; he could feel the feverish, sickly heat radiating off Kane’s body like some terrible version of what Bayley could do. With everything he had, every belligerent, stubborn muscle in him that refused to give, refused to surrender, Baron strained to tip Kane out of the ring.

He unleashed a furious snarl, barely resisting the urge to dig his teeth in and tear Kane to pieces. For one breathless second it seemed almost like the demon had regained his balance, an elbow heading straight for Corbin’s head.

Baron tore down deep, deeper than he ever had before. The wolf in him came raging to the surface and with his last fucking ounce of determination, he sucked in a breath that felt like ash in his lungs and heaved upwards, dumping Kane unceremoniously outside the ring. He collapsed onto his knees, gasping for air while he dimly realized they were playing his music. He had won, somehow, somehow he’d done it!

Corbin covered his face with his hands for a moment, feeling overwhelmed in a different way now. All the hard work, all the extra hours in the gym and of Bloom making him drill over and over and over, everything had paid off.

He longed for you to be here as he got to his feet and stretched his arms wide, a display of cocky dominance for the hard cam. Sneer firmly in place, teeth bared, and he wanted nothing more than to drop it all and gather you into his arms. He was sore, exhausted, sweaty, but happy, so fucking happy. He could hardly manage to keep the smirk disdainful when all he wanted to do was start laughing like a fucking hyena. He’d done it! Tears welled suddenly in his eyes as he heard the chants of 'NXT!', thunderous and triumphant. He had to take a few deep breaths to fight back the urge to cry.

Baron rolled out of the ring and went to stand beside the trophy, folding his arms across his chest to mimic the original giant of old. He had never felt so damn tall, so proud in his whole life, whole body at peace as he basked in the glow of his hard-fought victory. Never let it be said that someone like him couldn't focus, couldn't get the job done, couldn't work in sync with what he was. He had achieved what he'd set out to do, and now he was forever in the history books of WWE. All hail in-fucking-deed.

I am the pack leader, and I will do whatever it takes to make my mate proud.

…

You waited until everyone had congratulated Baron, until the pictures had been taken. He cut quite the dashing figure, arms crossed firmly over his chest in tribute to the mighty Andre and his hair barely tamed. You felt like you might burst with pride. “B-Baron!” You called finally, waving.

He waited for one last camera flash and then he was bounding across the room and wrapping you up in a tight embrace. “I did it.” He mumbled into your hair, sounding like he was inches from tears. You looked up, cupping his jaw as he sniffled. “I did it. I fucking did that shit. Are you proud of me?”

“I’ve never been more proud in my whole life.” You said firmly. Baron whined in his throat. “I’m serious! N-Never ever. You…that was so impressive.” You continued sincerely, feeling like you would never stop smiling. “You’re amazing, you’re incredibly amazing.”

“For you, little one. I don’t want you to think you have to worry ever again.” Baron’s eyes were that rich shade of honey-gold, the other side of him probably forced closer to the surface from the fight. “I am yours and I will take care of you, you’re my pack, my mate and I…you’re everything to me. I love you.” He finished awkwardly, making your breath catch in your throat. He wasn’t incredibly comfortable with normal terms of endearment. An unprompted ‘I love you’ was very rare for him; he preferred to say things like ‘forever-mate’ or ‘I will keep you safe’.

You were pretty sure your smile was bright enough to be seen from space. You wrapped your arms around Baron’s neck, tugging him down into a well-deserved kiss. “Alpha…” You breathed against his mouth, feeling the contented rumble he let out.

“Little one, God, God. Fuck.” Baron growled, crushing you even closer and mouthing over your neck. “You’re coming with me. You’re coming with me right now and then you’re comin’ with me, you got that? C’mon.” You barely managed to keep up with him as he strode through the hallways, down into the belly of the arena. The crowd was nothing but a faint roar, a quiet ringing in your ears. Baron finally forced open a door and tugged you into the dimly-lit room. “Let me touch you let me fucking touch you let me please you let me let me let me--” Baron rambled, crooning low in his throat when you nodded eagerly and started fumbling with the buttons on your shirt.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d w-want to, after all that. I thought m-m-maybe you might want to uh…snuggle or something.” You said, making him pause. He cocked his head and you hastily added, “I’m totally f-fine with banging, obviously! I just know you’ve had a rough night. Didn’t want to force you i-if you’re tuckered out.”

“You’re too good to me, you fuckin’ know that?” Baron growled, sounding bewildered. “I could smell you a mile away, you’re so thick and fucking heady with want and...and even in spite of fucking wanting me, needing me, you still give me the out. You get me all funny in the chest, little one.”

“Well just because I want something doesn’t m-mean you want something. You went through a lot! I can wait, if you-” Baron’s mouth on your own stopped your offer and you leaned against him, fingers digging into his hips.

He snarled, nipping gently at your lower lip and then he got a faraway look in his eyes, snuffling along your neck and pressing kisses to the skin there. “Mm, you surged little one. I felt it. Heat pooling in your stomach, all tight because you want me, you need your alpha don’t you?” Baron asked, his voice gravelly.

His breath hitched when you unbuckled his belt, your fingers teasing at the top of his boxers before you snapped them lightly. Baron jolted, his back arching momentarily before he was back to snarling, hands hungrily grasping at your clothes. He wrangled your pants down and then wrapped an arm around your waist, roughly pressing your back against the wall on top of a stack of gear crates. You barely felt the cement bite into your shoulders, too mesmerized by your huge mate, who at this point seemed to be reduced to making nothing but feral noises. He knocked his forehead into yours, his hips rocking up over and over to the apex of your thighs. Baron’s eyes were half-lidded, the wolf just watching the way your breasts shifted every time he ground against you. He licked his lips absently and a shiver ran through you.

You called his name and Baron glanced up, giving you a slow smile and a gentle whiffle of breath in reply. It was still him, still your mate. “Hey.” You said shyly, running your fingers through his hair and making his eyes close in bliss. “Love you.”

Baron drew back to preen a little, sharp teeth bared in a smile. It was always strange to see the way he softened even while he was so much the predator, the way his eyes warmed and his body relaxed under your touch. You smiled back and he dropped his hands to his tights, unlacing them and then shoving them off over his hips. His boxers quickly followed suit and he gestured for you to raise your legs. You obeyed, confused for a second and then eyes widening as Baron caught both your legs with one arm and dragged you towards him, slinging your legs over his shoulder and pinning them there with one massive hand. “Mate.” He rumbled, stroking his cock with his other hand and making himself shudder and growl. “Fuck. Want, y-yeah?” He managed to say, interspersed with a low, drawn out whine.

“Baron-“ You wanted to beg for whatever he would give you, you wanted to surrender every ounce of yourself to this ultimate symbol of dominance in front of you. The ultimate symbol of dominance that was rendered almost speechless by his need for you, you! Baron waited patiently, his hand still slowly working his cock while his eyes stayed trained on your face. You finally nodded, gasping out a pitiful noise when Corbin pressed on your clit with the head of his cock, the pleasure flaring lightning-bright for a second.

“Good.” Baron grunted, letting you wrap your fingers around the base of his cock so you could tease yourself for a minute. He seemed to enjoy the sounds you made when you did this, when you toyed with him and, by extension, yourself. “Mm, good, fuck.”

“I want it to be good for my alpha. You did so w-well tonight.” You said shakily, finally brushing him over your entrance. Baron rocked forward, almost teasing himself as he breached you and then pulled back.

“Always tight for me.” He patted your legs over his shoulder and gave you another smile. “Even better for you this way.” You soon understood what he meant as he sheathed himself in one smooth motion. With your legs up out of the way he could reach deeper, his cock plunging past your spot with that delicious pressure you needed. Baron closed his eyes at the hungry cry you let out, inhaling through his nose. “Yes.” He drew the word into another growl, looking utterly content already. His fingers tightened on your legs and he began to move.

All you could do was lay back and accept his ministrations, the helplessness of your position sending a thrill of excitement through you. Completely at the mercy of your alpha, whimpering when Baron reached up and started rubbing slow circles around one of your nipples with his thumb. You arched up into his touch as best as you could, trembling with want.

His hips continued their thrusting movement and he pressed sloppy kisses to the skin on the side of your knee before looking down. “So fuckin’ cute, so fuckin’ good.” He groaned, his fingers now roving to your clit. “Mine.”

“Y-You’re mine too, y-y-yeah?” You half-panted the words, smiling when Baron nodded. “Forever-mate.” Baron’s eyes went wide at you using his term and he whined, cinching your legs tighter so he could hammer into you. He started growling, a deep rumble that kept going and going, rolling over your body in waves.

“Smell so fuckin’ good fuck me little one m’ gonna’ devour--” He choked, pulling out and surprising you by crouching and licking enthusiastically over your quivering cunt. You couldn’t help the cry that burst out of you, your pussy abruptly assaulted by a questing tongue, slicked fingers and the almost-pinch graze of sharp teeth.

“Baron!” The man in question moaned in reply, spreading you open and making contented noises as he worked to satisfy the burning need in your belly. His tongue lapped wetly over your clit and then he pressed down, harder and harder, keeping up the pressure. “Baron m’gonna’ come, m’gonna’ come, oh f-f-fuck Baron I’m gonna’ come-” You grabbed the back of his head to keep him steady, your fingers shaking as you went to pieces under his mouth. Baron growled in approval while you soaked his tongue and cried out his name, hips bucking against his face.

“More?” He grunted finally, laughing when you tightened your grip on his hair and begged for his cock again.

…

“Mate wants, mate gets.” Baron could hardly complain if you wanted him, wanted his cock back in you. He’d just needed to taste you, needed to get you off with his mouth. Licking and teasing and suckling, soothing the ache of want in his chest. He knew he could get too rough sometimes when the beast roamed close to the surface, he’d needed to take a step back and ground himself.

Baron could feel his own release closing in as he resumed a pace that was a little less punishing, a little less frantic. The smell of want had calmed, eased away into the warm embrace of content, of tired, snuggle alpha. You still had a tight grip on his hair, though, ordering him to plunge deep, to claim you, alpha alpha just like how you knew he liked. Baron loved it when you would beg, but it was always better when you fucking demanded, when you would mate him to exhaustion and then have him buck into you, claim you over and over and fucking over until all you could do was lay there and accept him and stroke his hair while his claim trickled hot down your thighs.

“Mine.” He growled again, loving how you fucking jerked his head down. “Mine.”

“Yours, yours, give it to me, I’m so proud of you, forever-mate.” You crooned to him and he completely lost the shattered remains of his cool, rutting his hips against yours and clenching his hands into fists as he came with a loud howl that was yes and good and mate, yours and mine all in one sound. You claimed him with the scratches raked down his back, with the hickies through his tattoos and the iron fucking grip you had on his heart.

Baron stared down at you, sure he was probably weirding you out. You laid there, panting, skin all flushed and pupils blown with arousal and he wanted to fucking cry because he had done that, he had made you proud and proved himself strong enough to still be your mate. “Y’kay?” He finally gasped.

“Fuck’s sake, I hope this winning streak k-keeps going.” You huffed, making him grin and press a kiss to your belly. “I dunno' if I can move, Baron. You might have destroyed my l-legs.”

Baron wasn't able to help his surge of pride, doing up his tights loosely and then tugging your pants back on. “Can carry you. C'mon.”

“B-But your trophy-!”

“You. Can carry you. Figure that out later.” Baron's voice had dropped into that lower register. He knew that late tonight or tomorrow he would be unable to stave off the turn any longer. “Mate important.” He said with a little more difficulty, carefully forming the words. “Important. Now.” He struck upon a genius idea as you settled into his arms. “You can hold it, yeah? I'll carry you. You hold it.”

“You g-got it, Baron.”

“Good. Let's go.” You leaned up to peck him on the mouth and Baron cocked his head, confused. “Why?” He asked.

“Because you're the b-best. Obviously.” You smiled and he couldn't keep from smiling back, knowing it must look odd with his sharp teeth. “Forever-mate.”

He bumped his forehead against your own, nuzzling your nose. “Forever-mate.”