#this is technically a rematch since they competed in the main bracket already

[bl-bracket]

Poorest Little Meow Meow - Loser's Bracket Round 9: Kenta (Pit Babe) vs Zongzheng Huaien (Meet You at the Blossom)

[Submitted Reasons Under Cut]

Kenta: Morally questionable: Kenta participated in human trafficking, attempted to murder his first love, kidnapped his brother, convinced multiple people to sabotage Babe’s car on separate occasions, killed his own father Pathetic and or pitiful: Kenta’s tits are so big because they’re full of angst. Did he enjoy any of his crimes? No, but he did them anyways because he had been groomed into a tool from a young age. Was not given the privilege to leave the house as a child. Had a tragic unfulfilled love. Physically and emotionally abused by his father repeatedly throughout the show. Cries in the bathroom when no one is looking. Referred to as a dog by multiple people. Gets on his knees and begs for his father’s forgiveness for not being evil enough, but still gets stepped on and told he was never seen as a son. Saves the heroes of the story and ends up alone and discarded at the end.

Zongzheng Huaien: This feral cat went from pushing his excitable puppy boyfriend away to nearly razing a brothel to the ground because his beloved was there. He got his poor naive boyfriend to agree to forgive him for any misdeed, then promptly knocked him out, kidnapped his adopted sister, got him and his parents arrested and nearly executed, enabled a spiteful frenemy to torture said boyfriend and hit him with a curse so devastating it is literally killing him from the inside out, then shows up wearing the jewelry he pretended to hate when it was given to him expecting to kiss and be loveydovey. He has said that he will have Xiao Bao no matter what, willing or no, and he will torch the earth otherwise. He is a beautiful idiot who was abused by the man who brought him up and never knew love; now that he has fallen ass over teakettle in love he is going to make it everyone else’s problem. I love him so much.

[danwhobrowses]

Predictions: The AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament Winner

The brackets are on, and yesterday on Dynamite the AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament began with Leyla vs Rosa. While I won’t give away the winner it was a good match.

Since it’s just kicking off, I’m going to offer my predictions for who will win each round, and the final bout itself and be the one to challenge for Hikaru Shida’s AEW Women’s Championship

Also cheap plug, I did do a long post profiling the Joshi entrants Here give it a read if you’re interested, I do think I added more info than Tony did in his Bracketology video.

Spoilers for AEW Dynamite 11th Feb 2021 below

USA Bracket - Round 1 Leyla Hirsch vs Thunder Rosa The result of this hard fought match is already decided, while I would’ve been happy with either it did indeed make sense for the winner to be Thunder Rosa. Leyla was strong in the match and her placement in the tournament and the first match is proof that AEW definitely have stock invested in Hirsch, but Rosa is recognized due to being a former NWA Women’s World Champion and that pedigree has to carry over in this tournament.

Serena Deeb vs Riho Next up is the first return, current NWA Women’s World Champion vs former AEW Women’s World Champion. Already on paper this will be an absolute banger and while Deeb is Number 1 in the Women’s Rankings right now, I have to give this bout to Riho. She has the comeback energy and as a former champion it doesn’t make Deeb look weak, we can see more of Deeb often but Riho’s comeback cannot be redone so easily.

Tay Conti vs Nyla Rose (likely w/ Vickie Guerrero) I do seem to make a habit of contradicting my explanations, because I have Tay Conti with the upset! Nyla is established as a former women’s champion and has already squashed Conti before, but that’s how we make the victory big. Conti has been steadily improving since her debut, getting some proper shine during her NWA Women’s Title match with Deeb. With continued strong outings in Dark I could see Conti outwitting Rose, especially with Dark Order or at least Anna Jay in her corner to neutralize Vickie. Every tourney needs an upset and for the USA bracket it’s this one, this could also have negative effects on Nyla where we could pick up from we left off on that dressing down she got from Vickie against Shida.

Anna Jay vs Dr Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) With Conti beating Nyla we have the Round 1 storyline in the tough spot this puts Team TayJay in. Should Jay win they will have to fight each other, that thought can hang on the back of Conti and/or Jay’s mind in the bout which can lead to Baker sneaking a win. On top of Baker progressing this can lead to a story of tension between Conti and Jay - which can lead into Round 2.

Japan Bracket - Round 1 Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga Alas, the Japan Bracket is stacked, and yet someone has to lose. Sadly, the Apple Girl will be taking the fall against the still very-over and entertaining Magical Girl. I feel that AEW will lean into Mei’s ‘inexperience’ since she’s 21 and only has 2 years of wrestling - while also glancing over the 300 matches she’s had. This won’t be too bad though, Yuka like Riho will have the comeback energy and there is the story of Mei wanting to proceed in the prospect of fighting her teacher.

VENY vs Emi Sakura I do expect a good showing from VENY, but in spite of Suruga’s failure to make the next round I will still hand this win to Sakura. The veteran experience of Sakura will pull through over VENY’s technical offense as she will push to escape the shadow of the ‘teacher’.

Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami Maki Itoh is over. She hasn’t even stepped foot in Jacksonville and she is over, as she should be. So knowing this, AEW would be absolute fools to not have The Cutest in the World progress in the next round. Mizunami will get some cool points for being her experience but Itoh’s charisma and two middle fingers will prove to be too much for the MAX VOLTAGE stablewoman as Itoh’s rise to megastardom continues.

Aja Kong vs Rin Kadokura You have to pity the one who draws Aja Kong. Sadly I don’t think anyone’s giving Kadokura much of a chance to progress. Hopefully she gets to show off some of her skills and not simply get squashed, but Kong is Kong, she will steamroll when she gets the chance into Round 2.

USA Bracket - Round 2 Thunder Rosa vs Riho Rosa carries one of the stories of Round 2, the lingering feud with Baker. Unfinished business is blocked by Riho’s comeback on the path to the tournament, and I see Riho winning the battle of the former champions, but not cleanly. I can see Baker once again pulling a sly one to rob Rosa of revenge and a title rematch with Shida, though I could also see Riho winning cleanly and Rosa turning heel. It can go either way but Rosa is less likely to me for what I’m thinking.

Tay Conti vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) Since Anna Jay was unable to beat Baker, friction could start to show between the team of TayJay if Anna feels that Tay is at fault. After all, the two are best friends and yet Conti has yet to join the Dark Order, after months of publicly inviting her and them having her back. This tension could also gift Baker the win while also opening a mini-feud between the two friends before they smooth things over and have Conti officially join. By then however, the Good Doctor will have already progressed and is relieved to not be facing Rosa.

Japan Bracket - Round 2 Yuka Sakazaki vs Emi Sakura Unable to face her Protege, Sakura can drive into the match with the intention of avenging Mei instead, even perhaps having Suruga in her corner for the bout. This could be the battle of styles for the Joshi bracket with Yuka’s aerial and speedy wrestling against Emi’s all-round and grounded offense. Guts can be shown at either side but the winner will be Yuka once again. Having beaten the upstart and the master, she will have the momentum to look legitimate in the face of potential victory.

Maki Itoh vs Aja Kong Itoh and Kong have history, they may not have wrestled as much but Itoh has often grown to never back down against Kong even when her fellow TJPW members have to pull her away. That being said, if there’s anyone who can shoulder the heat of beating someone as over as Itoh, it’s Aja Kong. While Itoh would play the cool tweener against Mizunami, against Kong she would be the defiant badass, even in defeat she will look resilient. While it is a shame to only get 2 matches out of Itoh in the tournament, we could still use this momentum in other ways, perhaps a longer Itoh vs Kong program in a battle of respect? It would definitely give Itoh a strong rub to beat Kong but for the tournament it may not be on the cards.

USA Bracket - Final Riho vs Dr. Britt Baker DMD (likely w/ Rebel ‘Reba’ Tanea) The USA bracket final will have the prestige of the first Women’s Champion of AEW going against the top personality of the roster, and AEW’s faith in Baker will pull through as they further look to making her the face of the women’s division - as they had intended before her injury. I do want to avert from screwy finishes but this could also be a time where Rosa’s temper may flare and end up helping Baker against Rosa’s intentions, or it could simply be a clean win to show Baker’s competence. Regardless, Riho’s comeback is finally halted by Baker who starts to step her way into the top of the women’s division card.

Japan Bracket - Final Yuka Sakazaki vs Aja Kong Yuka is over, but if she were placed against Maki Itoh there would’ve been huge risk of her being booed, this is why Kong goes over against Itoh to give Yuka the clear babyface dynamic. Yuka’s topped the student, the teacher and now she must face the master, and she will win. Absorbing the bulldozer offense and slipping past Kong with her agility and high flying wrestling, Yuka gets the rub to be the babyface joshi who tops the bracket of the tournament.

Tournament Final? Right now the bracket is a little unclear what happens after, there’s a winner on the Japan side and the USA side, but do they face each other or both get a title shot? I am thinking the former though we have yet to have a triple threat for the Women’s Title anyway.  However, if I were to speculate a 1v1 it would make sense that the final opponents are Dr Britt Baker DMD vs Yuka Sakazaki While Baker secured a heel turn against Shida, her defeat to Yuka is what led to her brutal side showing. Baker took out one of Yuka’s teeth, so revenge will be on the cards for the Magical Girl - but not victory. Sadly, if they are to face each other for the main winner, the tournament - and later the title - goes to Baker. It feels like this is the plan and it gets more heat on Baker to get the win back against Yuka with similar levels of brutality. Yuka stays the strong babyface but Baker’s tournament win leads into her winning the AEW Women’s Championship and then perhaps even 5 opponents already in line (Yuka, Rosa, Riho, Shida and a returning Kris Statlander), on top of that we have midcard stories established through the tournament itself and the building of new stars.

Winner: Britt Baker

But aside from Nyla right now, I would be happy with anyone. It’s no offense to Nyla she’s just had her go twice now and this is the chance for a fresh opponent and heel contender. And Baker hasn’t faced Shida for the title yet, which is why she is my favourite to win.

[danwhobrowses]

General Discussion: All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Part 2

This is a part 2 of a recent dump of stuff I’m talking about in regards to AEW, if you want to see my critiques and comments in hindsight about AEW Check it out on part 1 -> Here Part 2 is gonna revolve around the future, immediate and long-term, starting with the upcoming All Out PPV

All Out 2020

Criticisms about the Buy In aside, All Out still looks like a heavily stacked card, which is always a positive. I do worry a little that the Tooth and Nail match’s addition will cut into others’ time so hopefully everyone gets a good amount, but if people criticise some matches for being too short remember that fan demand insisted that the same Swole/Baker match be on the paid card rather than having a lot of time to show it for free. And as much as people criticise AEW’s women, the women’s matches are among the top 5 most anticipated matches on the card, probably only behind the tag title and world title match, isn’t that a great thing? Not to mention that the women’s title match encourages AEW/NWA relations, which really would make wrestling better if wrestlers could be more fluid in their appearances. But anyway, All Out is something I look forward to, so let’s break down some predictions? (if you’re wondering why I’m not just doing this on a podcast or something, my voice is not the dulcet flowing river of articulation my writing would imply to be, I like having time and proofing my words, plus if I talk to much my tongue swells and I stutter, stammer and suck at eye contact) So my thoughts for the full card

Predictions

The Buy In

Casino Battle Royale - Eddie Kingston. While I’d be down for Fénix, Pentagon, Archer or even a new or returning face like PAC to win, I think Kingston is the safe bet. The man talks like liquid and his match with Cody brought a lot of eyes to the product. This will continue and start new hostilities, but don’t expect anyone who has faced Moxley before to win, AEW don’t do title rematches so much.

Private Party vs Dark Order (Silver and Reynolds) - this quickly put-together match is going to Private Party, because Silver and Reynolds are enhancement tag teams still, they can win but they won’t win often. Plus the more Silver loses the more bits he’ll have with Brodie on BTE and those are gold.

Main Card

Tooth and Nail - Britt Baker, I expect the cinematic match to have shenanigans but also protect Baker in the midst of her injury recovery. While Swole has been doing the physical lifting of the feud I think having Britt lose on her return could be the wrong choice in the long run.

Dark Order vs The Nightmare Family - Dark Order, Brodie has elevated the tag team to the point where they are a big faction, and they need the big win for this. Cardona, Sky and the Natural Nightmares can take this loss too, but I’d expect QT or Dustin to take the fall for this. Bonus prediction that Tay Conti will indeed join the Dark Order with Anna Jay, leading to them beating down Brandi and Allie at ringside (setting up a women’s tag feud that’d explain why they were kept on other sides of the Deadly Draw bracket)

The Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express - This one I have Jurassic Express, it may be an upset because the Bucks are still reeling from Hangman’s betrayal, this can also lead to the Bucks being more heelish to accompany a Cleaner Kenny Omega. Keep your eye on Jungle Boy, AEW are still hot on him for good reason, this’ll be a huge scalping for Jurassic Express if they pull it off.

Broken Rules - A tough one, but I’m gonna stick with the Multifarious Matt Hardy. I don’t think he wants to end his career just yet and AEW would be foolish to let him go. Plus technically Sami is 2-0 in this feud, so it won’t hurt Sami too much to win in Hardy’s wheelhouse.

Mimosa Mayhem - Another tough one to put down the middle, I am gonna go with Orange Cassidy though. I think Jericho wants to amend the sloppy finish Cassidy’s win had and this’ll make for good comedy to see Jericho (and maybe Hager) flailing around in Mimosa

Women’s Title - I will be happy with either winning, but my heart says Shida. Mainly because I think Britt is the one who should take it from her, their last match was a banger after all. Rosa won’t look weak though, they may even have Shida challenge for the NWA women’s title down the line.

Tag Titles - FTR. That’s it, that’s all you need to know. Hangman’s head is out of the game and Kenny is becoming the Cleaner, it’s time for this schism to start properly, they’ve held it for about a year as well, it’s time.

World Title (Moxley cannot use Paradigm Shift) - It’s easy to say MJF, he is the home breed future and Moxley has had a long run defeating tougher opponents, but I am thinking that Moxley will retain. This is mainly because the odds are so stacked against him, he’ll eke out a win despite MJF’s trickery. The challenger will look fantastic to prove that he will be champion some day, but not today. Instead I think MJF will be thwarted by miscommunication, and as he hinted at during his tag match with Jurassic Express, will split from Wardlow for his ‘fatal error’. Then we’ll get Moxley vs Kingston which can be just as fantastic.

Looking to the Future So ‘looking to the future’ is not gonna all be direct consequences of All Out, some of it is just stuff I’d like to see happen, not all of it has to and my enjoyment isn’t killed from it, but certain things would make AEW better in my opinion. Business Relations So of course it’d be great to have more working relationships with other brands, AEW is already close to OWE and AAA, getting NWA on board would be a good step to establishing good relationships with ROH as well, maybe even NJPW. On the women’s side it’d be nice if they made more solid ties with Cyberfight - which has DDT Pro, TJPW and NOAH, maybe even Stardom, Sendai Girls, EVE and Ice Ribbon. More relationships would offer wrestlers not working Dynamite or Dark to perhaps represent elsewhere. In this representing it’d be great to see more outside titles being shown, it’s free advertising really. Thunder Rosa will for sure be carrying her NWA Women’s title but wouldn’t it be cool if other brand titles could be carried; Kenny carrying his AAA title with the tag titles, Cardona his Internet title, Lucha Bros their HOG and AAA Tag titles, Big Swole her Phoenix of Rise title, Moxley his NJPW US title (though I expect him to lose to KENTA soon), Rosa’s TJPW International Princess title as well and Yuka Sakazaki’s TJPW Princess of Princess Title. It may be me but seeing these titles does add an air of legitimacy to the competitors, showing how successful they are overseas while promoting other promotions. I’d also like to pitch a ‘Locked Down’ mini show or segment where AEW could show what their international talent is doing, Emi Sakura’s ChocoPro could be a light hearted segment, PAC could do some solid promos and like showing the titles, it’d expose the roster as talented. New Signings Someone just has to do good to have people ask for AEW to sign them, but in some cases it would be cool to sign them up. Of the frequent flyers right now AEW would be mad not to sign Ivelisse and Diamante, and I’ve already expressed my hopes that they sign Will Hobbs, Serpentico, Shawn Dean, Brian Pillman Jr, Kilynn King, Tay Conti, Veda Scott, Nicole Savoy/Lil’ Swole and Pineapple Pete, but it’d also be good business to at least call up Renee Paquette/Good/Young and Mauro Ranallo, even if it is for some guest appearances. Signing the likes of Danhausen, Warhorse, ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, Millie McKenzie, Laura Di Matteo, Lana Austin, Jamie Hayter, Chris Brookes, Maki Itoh, Miyu Yamashita, Mirio (if he wants to come back into wrestling) and AR Fox. This being said, this should only ease into the Second Show, where we can expose more of the current roster as well. Speaking of Which. (A Few) New Accolades With a bigger division will require more competition. Not all of them need to be titles but something to be fought for. MJF’s Diamond Ring and Cage’s FTW title can help in that matter, but I think a Trios Accolade would be next in line for AEW. This would open the door for more teams to compete; The Elite, Jurassic Express, Best Friends, SCU, Dark Order, Nightmare Family, Death Triangle etc. would still keep it competitive and open the door for more stories of faction warfare. Since this is only my thoughts I would love to see the tag division be intergender too but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that. If we do move to this though PLEASE use whoever designed the world and tag belt, not the TNT belt. Faction Bolstering AEW are looking at the NJPW formula or big factions going into war or tensions with one another, which is good since it does make for lines to be written in the sand. But I think the factions can just be a little bit bigger in some places, and some are easy to add in already. Conti joins Dark Order for 2 women there, have Ivelisse and Diamante join the Inner Circle so we have full LAX (plus Ivelisse tagged with Sammy in LU), Statlander can pair with Best Friends and renew BTE’s skits of her and Orange Cassidy’s palpable sexual tension, I would also enjoy the thought of TH2 joining with Kip and Penelope just to be a faction of talented arseholes. May be the crass side of me, but I also seem to want Brian Pillman Jr to join the Gunn Club simply so we can have an entrance theme that starts ‘Someone call 911, Pillman’s got a Gunn’, Vickie Guerrero could grow her managing of Nyla to an all women ‘Las Guerreras’ faction maybe with Kilynn King, Shaul Guerrero, Abadon or someone else would be a decent move in my books but an exciting faction I can see clearly is a Moxley faction with Darby Allin and Lance Archer. Imagine having Jake the Snake taking care of all that, oh yes is that the good stuff. Future Feuds We’ll end with talking about some feuds I hope to see down the line too, even if they’re not set up already. I’ve already expressed my want for Kingston vs Moxley but another Kingston feud I see in the making is against PAC, Kingston is the man with the plan but PAC will want his Death Triangle buddies back. Speaking of, Moxley could use some bangers with Fenix and Pentagon, both are megastars. While the tag division is looking like it’ll lead to FTR vs Bucks, I think the bigger money is FTR vs Bucks vs Hangman and Kenny first, with Kenny having the Elite ties and Hangman with the FTR ties the storytelling would be ridiculously immense. This thought almost made me pick Hangman and Kenny to win at All Out...almost. I would expect a lot of title defenses from Mr. Brodie Lee, particularly from Cardona but I’d love it if Jungle Boy was the one to win it from him, and for JB to face Sammy Guevara, of the 4 Young Prospects of AEW I don’t think Sammy and JB have gone 1-on-1, could be wrong but Sammy usually went for Darby and JB to MJF, Fénix vs JB would be excellent also. Luchasaurus is also due his hoss match with the Butcher, as well as further conflict with Cage and Archer Also I’d like Shida vs Conti, both are very martial arts-like in their wrestling especially the latter so it would be a good physical match. But yeah, that’s out of my system for now, we’ve talked some good, some bad and some middle, don’t think it matters to anyone but I’ve said my piece Bring on All Out!