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Elite Heat is the All Elite Wrestling podcast for fans who want more than just a recap.
Every week, Tim and Dug — two AEW fans who've been All Elite since day one — react to AEW Dynamite and Collision, break down the latest storylines, analyze the characters driving the product, and give you their unfiltered take on everything happening in All Elite Wrestling.
From weekly show reactions to PPV breakdowns, roster moves to long-term booking analysis, Elite Heat covers the full spectrum of AEW. No fluff, no filler...just two passionate pro wrestling fans who care deeply about the product and aren't afraid to say exactly what they think.
New episodes drop every week. Subscribe and join the conversation.
I think the heel turn's coming. Because we've been headed that way for a while with him, I feel like. And…
That's fine. Yep. Yep.
I think now he may be next for Ospreay. Some of you as we record this may actually be wrestle dreaming because while they have had shows end later than this one did, it still went pretty late, especially if you're on the East Coast.
This was a long one. I was a little shocked at how long this one went.
I wasn't. At this point, I was actually surprised that it ended when it did. I thought…
Yeah.
We were going to minimum eleven thirty this evening central time.
Yeah. Yeah.
And as you and I are recording, it has just now clicked over to eleven thirty. So I mean I really thought we were going to midnight, but…
Yep. I will say I will say even though it was long, I honestly didn't feel like it was it didn't feel super long. I didn't feel like there was a lot of bloat and a lot of nonsense. So even though by the time I was closing, I was like, Holy crap, it's already after eleven. What's going on here? So…
Yeah. I think there have been other ones where I was like, Wow, we're still going, sort of a thing. This one tonight I didn't feel that way. Part of that might be because after the first match, I drank a cup of coffee. I will…
[Unclear.]
I will explain more about that in a couple of minutes. But…
Proud. Proud of you.
That might be the only reason that I'm not currently just like drooling onto the microphone, but Anyway, so here we…
I will…
Go.
Yeah, I will just say before we even start, I will give them credit. They crammed a lot of wrestling in.
They did.
Even with this long show. And like I said, I don't think they did a lot of fluff and I was pretty happy with that. So…
Yeah, yeah, I think this is a really solid show tonight. I really do. So…
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Here we go. Let's bang through this thing and begin.
All right.
With the heat check. So here's mine. On my hot list. Once again, the good news for them is it's a lot. Let's begin with Sisters of Sin and Divine Dominion. I liked that match a lot, like more than I thought I was gonna.
Yeah, I thought that was a really solid way to kick off the tailgate and…
Yeah.
Was a little surprised at how much I liked it.
Yeah, I was really impressed by it and I was like, wow, that is a strong start to this show. Well done, ladies.
Now, do you think Julia Hart looked better than she's looked in years here? Cause I thought she looked amazing tonight.
Yes. Yes. I thought she looked really good. And I don't know what I'm trying to figure out is has there been a nagging injury that we didn't know about, which is fine. That's technically none of our business. HIPAA exists, but…
Are your dogs playing the drums?
You'll excuse me for just one moment. I will be right back. I'm going to guess she wants water. So my deaf dog, we tried to teach her to use the button to tell us when she wants water because she will.
Hmm.
Consume insane amounts of water. It has not taken. Her version of hitting the button is she slaps the empty bowl. And she what you heard was because I didn't react fast enough because I'm wearing headphones, she knocked the whole damn feeder over.
Okay.
Like she flipped the bowl and the feeder upside down.
Hey, did it get her water? All right.
It did, which is the problem, 'cause now she's gonna do it again. She is a ridiculous.
Well, you know what?
Person.
She's person. She's hilarious. I…
Just a ridiculous person.
Th I thought she was amazing when I babysat, so yeah. Mm-hmm. Yes, she is. Yes, she is.
Don't get me wrong. She's wonderful. I love her, but she's a ridiculous person. So, anyway, where was I?
I was just saying that I don't know if Julia had a nagging injury,.
Mm.
But I thought she looked really good. And I don't know if it's because they if it was a booking thing or a her thing, but I it could be that they needed both of them to look really good against Divine Dominion tonight. And I think that mission got accomplished. And I was I was happy to see Divine Dominion win. So that was good stuff. Liked it.
Yeah, I think I thought all four of them looked really good in that match. I thought really well done by all four of them. And I really liked Hello Kaia I really like she can't hear that…
I No.
I really liked the like the eye makeup was good for Lena Kross after the miss, but I liked her wearing all black.
Yeah.
Like, you know, she's been corrupted or whatever. I liked that. So anyway.
Mm-hmm. I now see, I hope they continue that because they did that a little bit with Persephone and then they dropped it. But I'd be.
Yeah. Yeah.
Interested to see where that if they bother to do anything with that…
I agree. Same. There's several things that happened tonight that I'm like, hmm. That could be interesting. Let's see what happens here. So they were on my hot list. The fact that Switchblade is back and healthy definitely made my hot list.
Same.
FTR versus Motor City Machine Guns. I don't think anybody's surprised to hear that's on the hot list.
So good.
Thekla and Mercedes. I put them on the hot list, but I'm Going to add an asterisk to that of I'm not sure I have that right. And I'll explain why.
Okay.
Jericho and Nick Wayne actually made my hot list, which I did not think it was going to. And I think a lot of that was again, boy, I enjoyed that more than I thought I was gonna.
Yeah, that made my hot list as well.
Yeah, yeah. Paul Wight on Commentary makes my hot list.
Yeah, that was great.
I enjoy him a lot. Bucks and ProtoJet. The TBS title match. The I Just Know trunks.
Yes.
The throwing of the original trunks to Nigel, Ciampa and Andrade, the Trios match, Mox and Mark Davis, and Clockwork Carnage. That is my hot list.
I have because you know how I like to get weird with it. I have a few extra things.
I figured.
On my hot list. I thought it was great that Willow came out with a Conglomeration. I thought that was really good.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
And I almost hated to put it on the hot list, but the biggest giant swing ever by Claudio with I have to think fifty plus rotations because…
Probably.
That was ridiculous.
Somebody online timed it and I think it's like a minute twenty. Give or take.
My gosh. Yeah.
Maybe maybe it was a minute nine. I don't know, but he went over a minute swinging.
Mm-hmm.
Him, which is impressive.
Jericho giving Paul Wight a necklace. That was amazing.
That was good.
Jericho shrugging before he jumped off the top turnbuckle to the outside. I thought you okay? Kind of doing something. There she is. I see her. She I can see her behind you. Yeah. Anyway, Jericho shrugging.
Yeah, I just I was checking on the dog behind me. Yeah, I just was making sure she actually laid down. That's all.
Yeah, Jericho shrugging before he jumped off the top turnbuckle on to the outside. I thought was really good. Jericho pulling out the cup. That was fun. ProtoJet stealing the Bucks moves. I thought that was really fun. Like that a lot. The Kevin Knight coast to coast twofer and then the UFO splash that was three quarters of the way across the ring. My god. That dude's insane. I liked the I think you said the four way for the I like Ciampa taking picks with his kid. Thought that was good.
Yeah, that was good. I laugh because Kaia's head just popped up over my shoulder. Let me explain. I'm a single parent tonight, so that's why the door is open. You're probably gonna get multiple cameos from her. So further incentive to watch on YouTube if you're not.
Yeah, and she's adorbs. So the death.
She is. You might if you're lucky, we might get both of.
Ooh, I hope so. Anywho, the Death Riders once again doing the circle around the empty PAC chair. I don't I don't that's always gonna be a hot button for me. That pile driver Mox took on the apron.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
But then Mox using the brutalizer that made my hot list. Takeshita doing the knee to Darby while Darby was flinging himself outside the ring. That was amazing. Speedball flipping off over.
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. I did make a note of that. I didn't put it on the hot list because I don't break it out that way like you do, but I did make a note of that. That was incredible.
Speedball flipping off Okada. Loved it.
Yep. Yep.
I was really impressed that the crowd sang Cope song, even though they played about eight seconds and then they started fighting and they sang through the first chorus. Hi Kaia even though you can't hear us. Hi. I liked the clock and the scorecard for clockwork carnage. I thought that was great.
I did too. I did too. Yep. I for as much as leading into that match that I think both you and I…
Okay.
Were like, I don't know about this. I really enjoyed it. I only have one suggestion for them on how to, I think, make it a little bit better. We'll talk.
Okay.
About it when we get there. But that's it. One suggestion. That's it.
Okay.
And honestly, even if they didn't do it, it's not the end of the world. I just think it would make it slightly better.
Gotcha. And then the only other thing I have on there is Joe double nope and Ospreay back to back. I thought that…
Yep.
Was really, really good.
That was good. Yep. Mild for me, the Don Callis family versus already in the ring in the pre show. You you know how I feel about those.
I you know what? That should've made my mayo 'cause I didn't even write it down.
Yeah, you know how I feel about those and it was I really think it was all an excuse just to get Wardlow in the ring, which is fine, but like…
Right.
You got plenty of big meaty guys. Let him slap man meat with them.
Right. Here's here's the only thing 'cause I've been doing a little bit of soul searching on how hard I've been on already in the ring.
Mm-hmm.
I can't be too upset about it because you're giving three guys an opportunity to be on a pay-per-view who may never get another shot at it, but they might.
That's fair.
And this could be one of their big now, granted, they didn't get anything in. It's hard to look good in this type of match, but it's hard for me to be completely against it once I was thinking about it. That these guys, they're they're busting their balls out on the indies. They're doing their best. There are probably three local guys from right there. And they got on a pay-per-view and they got their hand they just got their ass whooped by all three of them. It's you know, hats off to them. This may be a lifetime dream, so hats off to them. So I can't really crap on it too bad, but I don't think this match was necessary.
I agree. And I hear everything you said and I get it. And I agree with you in principle. If this was dynamite or collision, but as you pointed out, it is a pay-per-view. And you know who wasn't on the pay-per-view tonight? The rascals. Or if I pull up the website, I'm gonna rattle off 10, 15, 20 names of people that are on their payroll that weren't on the pay-per-view tonight.
And that's my big caveat is I think this match was completely unnecessary. But it's hard for me to crap on it just because of those guys. Otherwise,.
It.
Unneeded should have had something else or not at all. That's my humble opinion.
Yeah. If you're gonna keep doing these, and clearly they are, bring back.
Uh-huh.
The damn YouTube shows. Do it there. Do it there. Those were fun. Do it there. Yeah, they were fun. Just do it there. I d you know,.
Yes, thank you. Yeah. Give us give us a Dark. We can have that. Yeah.
I could watch that and be like, Look, I know nothing really of consequence is gonna happen here. I don't care. It's a chance for me to see people I don't get to see. Do that, you know? Anyway.
Yep. Have some people get their reps in, build up some young stars and maybe find a new local talent you like. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Who knows what comes out of it. Yeah. I also had on the mild the twelve man tag, even though it did have the giant swing and there were elements of it I liked. I just was like,.
Okay.
Again, this feels somewhat unnecessary to me. And it got slapped together literally like after the pre-show started was when they announced it. And…
Mm.
I was just like, okay. I mean, it was one of those where it got on the mild for me because it falls under the my my new kind of rule of I went, it was fine. And if I go, it was fine. And that's the best I can give you, that's kinda on the mild, you know? Yeah.
That's fair. Yeah.
And I like all those guys, or at least most of them. Yuta, I'm talking about you. But you know, I like most of them, but it was fine. What anything else on your mild.
This is me nitpicking.
I do have one more actually. Yeah. I didn't write it down, but yeah. But go ahead.
Jericho's punches when he's on the top turnbuckle look weak as hell lately. And…
Yeah.
For some hi Kaia for some for someone who has so much experience, either don't do that anymore or fix what you're doing. Because if I, complete idiot layman, am looking at that going, that doesn't look like a punch. I can't be the only one. And that, and that I know, I understand that's nitpicking. That's why it's in the mild, not the mayo.
Yeah.
But I'm like, come on, Jericho, you're you are much better than this, so…
Yeah. And there she goes.
Yep. There's your butt.
Yep. Now I just have to pay attention to what she's gonna do. The other mild for me, and I probably would not say this to his face, 'cause he is.
Yeah.
A large man that could crush me like a grape. So Mark Davis, fellow hairy guy to hairy guy,.
Mm.
Nobody's arm hair just stops here in a perfect ring, like in a perfect line. If you're gonna shave it, shave elbow up, my guy. That'll look more natural. Because when it just stops like that on both arms, and then now there's nothing on the shoulders and the back, like I know what you did. It's okay. I get it. I get that as part of your job. But just go ahead and just take that part out too.
You know what's really weird? As someone who has commented multiple times on people's boots and shorts, I did not notice this…
So I don't think I had noticed it until tonight, but then once I did, it was all I saw. Like the man is covered in blood.
Yeah.
And I'm looking at his arm hair. Like…
Yeah, no, I get it. Once you see it, it you can't Yeah. You can't not see that kind of shit. It just happened. Yeah, so I was yep. So there we go. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. It's like once you pop, you can't stop. But anyway. Yeah. Yep. And then finally, I do have one thing on my mayo list,.
Okay.
And it is this. So I'm watching the TNT pre-show on my HBO Max.
Mm-hmm.
And it's fine. Everything's fine. And then I flip to the pay-per-view stream. And you know I don't like that, but I'm not gonna continue to pound that every.
Yep. I get it.
Every time. I flipped to the pay-per-view stream. The picture is now darker and blurrier. I paid more for this. What are we doing? How is it worse? Like your stream was just fine. In theory, it's the same one, but this is the problem with having to switch the streams. And it's and I paid more above and beyond for it. No.
Did it Did it get better?
Stayed like that the whole show.
Mine wasn't that way.
Well, what's interesting was I was popping on the Bluesky periodically. People had been talking about it on the pre-show. They were having that issue. So…
Mm.
I don't I don't know what was going on. I really don't. But a little tech issue.
But weird.
There this evening, I think. So okay. So let's run through this thing. And you know, the good news is with the pay-per-views, we usually do this in less time than the dynamites, but let's see what happens.
Yep. By the way, I did go back and listen and I have our picks and some of them we weren't.
I do too.
Able to match up, so…
Yep, I do too. So I think we talked pretty much about everything I wanted to talk about with Sisters of Sin and Divine Dominion. Really good. Really enjoyed it. I'm not sure what's next, but I enjoyed it.
Yeah, same. And I will point out that I said Divine Dominion would win and you said Sisters of Sin.
Yeah. Yeah, I was kind of keeping track through the show. So…
Yep, same.
Yep. Then Wardlow, Josh Alexander, and Jake Doyle, with Roppongi Vice, versus “already in the ring.” Again, I think we kind of say everything about that. The one thing I will say was our specifically Trent laughing at the guys already in the ring. I was like, Yes, same, Trent, same.
I thought for one hot minute, Josh Alexander was gonna go in and beat them all by himself.
I thought he was too. I really did. Yeah.
And I'm a little surprised at how much Wardlow is over right now and how much everyone was loving the his Powerbomb Symphony, which really was just one on each guy except two on the last one, which.
Yeah.
Is I'm actually I'd much rather see that. But yeah, I was a little surprised at how over he is right now. So congrats.
I was too. I also thought it was interesting and they pointed it out on commentary that he did the reverse. He put the straps up and then took them down again. I also thought it.
Yes.
Was interesting when he did the two sweet before the first one. I'm like, is that a Kevin Nash shout out?
I don't I don't know what it is. Is he d I can't tell if he's yeah, was it too sweet or is he doing like the sit thing like okay.
It was t it looked to me like it was the too sweet. And I cause you know, Nash would do that before the…
All right. Mm-hmm.
Jack knife, so I was like, hmm.
Maybe maybe that's it. Maybe that's his hero.
Yeah. And then he turned around and did a semi warrior. It was…
Yeah, that was…
Very, very warrior rope shake there. But yeah. Anywho,.
Yeah, it was weird. Yep. Yep.
Then the twelve man tag with The Dogs and the Death Riders versus the Conglomeration and the bang bang gang. To me, the main thing is that switchblade's healthy. The only other thing I wrote down was, Well, this happened.
I mean I liked it because I like everyone involved. No, I get it.
I'm not saying I didn't like it. I just was like, okay.
I liked it. I probably did I put it on my hot list? I might have. Nope, I just put Jay was back. Yep.
I mean to me that's the takeaway is that Jay White's back, I think a bit earlier than expected.
Without a doubt. Without a doubt. So yeah, I but I liked this match. I thought it was really good. I thought it was weird. The fight kind of continued after the match, but it felt a little like, hm, I don't.
Mm-hmm.
Know if this is supposed to happen, but it's kinda happening and then it kinda stopped. So that was fine.
Yeah, I agree. I thought it was a I felt like they were sort of setting something up, but also sort of not.
Yeah, and then it no one like I if they were setting something up, I thought commentary would make more of it, but they…
Yeah.
They were just like, Things are still crazy. I was like, All right, well we're not trying much here. So…
Yeah. Same. I don't know. It was it was interesting.
Mm.
FTR versus Motor City Machine Guns was excellent, which I think we all expected.
Yes it was. Yep.
I got this one right as well. To pat myself on the back. I went Motor City Machine Guns. You went FTR. Yep.
I did not. I really I really thought FTR was gonna win and put mo the baby faces on the hunt immediately and on the back foot. I was wrong.
I get that. I just felt like this is the first kind of like real match or at least match of consequence for them.
Mm-hmm.
In AEW. So I was like, I think they're gonna put over shiny new toy and all that. But it's a strong, strong start to that best of five, which is gonna be just fantastic. Yeah.
I'm so excited for that. Like I said on Dynamite, I'm such a fan of this type of thing. Give it to me more. Love it.
Yep. Yep. Gonna be just fantastic.
Yep.
Okay. So then Thekla and Mercedes. Now I said this is on my hot list with an asterisk because I'm not sure I got it right.
Mm-hmm.
Here's why. I have had a long two days. And my experience for this match was the I watched the entrances. I saw about three moves. And then I fell asleep. And that is that has nothing to do with them. Cause I was looking forward to this match. That has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with the last two days that I have had. And I woke up to see Mercedes celebrating. I have no.
Okay.
Idea what else happened.
That's fair. Then I had a few things that didn't I didn't write down for the hot list, but I made note of them. And this should have made my hot list, and it's on me for not doing it. But Mercedes going for the statement maker really early. I thought was great.
Yeah, that's smart.
I did write down the crowd is really split down the middle on these two, and I thought that was nothing but good.
Yeah.
I loved you probably missed this part. Thekla had Mercedes on the outside and stood over and then started swinging the belt without the belt. So if you know what I'm saying, yep.
I do and I did miss that. I plan to at some point go watch it. I just I passed out. I mean there's like I know people say that. I mean I passed out. Like…
No, I understand completely. Paul Wight made one of my quotes of the night where he said, I wonder how many conversations Thekla has going on in her head at once, which made me laugh.
I like that…
There was a really good one two oo after Mercedes took her face guard off and smacked Thekla in the head. And everyone, you know, I thought it was done, but nope, it was not. So that was really cool. And I put this down as a possible match of the night for me. I thought it was really, really good. I thought they both did.
Okay.
Great. But I am concerned about Thekla moving forward.
What I'm wondering is, and I kind of wondered this pre like this week in the buildup to the show. I'm not sure we're finished with these two.
I don't think we should be.
I don't think we should be either, again, having even missed most of the match, but…
Right.
I don't I don't necessarily think we should be, and I'm not sure that we are. So I'll be this is one of, like I said, there's several things that I have on the show where I'm like, I'm very curious to see where we're gonna go next. This is one I'm curious about of.
Yeah.
Do we start setting it up to do it again at full gear on Wednesday night? Or cause if not, I don't I don't know what we're gonna do with either of these two, to be honest with you.
My guess would be if w how healthy Willow is.
Yeah, good point. Good point.
That would be my guess.
Yep. Good point. I guess you could throw one of them at Persephone for the TBS title. I guess it would be Thekla at that point, but…
Yeah.
Interesting. Okay. Well, so we'll see what happens. And my apologies to those ladies. They're great. I love them both. I will go watch it. I just fell asleep. So then I literally went and got a cup of coffee. I'm not kidding. That's probably the only reason I'm still even remotely functional right now. So I was drinking my coffee watching Jericho and Nick Wayne. And like I said, I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I…
Yeah.
Like Nick's new music. I like that better than his old entrance music by quite a bit.
Yeah, that was cool. Yep. Thanks to tonight, I have a new name for Jericho. Instead of Y two J, S P J. Sparkle Pants Jericho. Yep.
I like that. So anyway, after the match, the way that he was kind of reacting to losing again, are we gonna get the heel turn? Because I think he needs it.
I think so. I hope so…
I think he needs it.
I will say we both got this one right. We picked Nick Wayne to win. And…
We did. Mm-hmm. We also both got the Mercedes win too, so…
That's true. Yep. And I want this feud to be over.
I do too. It needs to be over now. I agree. And they need to move.
It's a it's a…
Nick Wayne onto something that matters.
Yeah. Yeah. I think he should be in the next round of like whatever tournament y thing they have to throw him in there and give him some exposure like they did with speedball coming up. So I think he'd fit right in there and yeah. I think he's great.
Here's here's my little bit of fantasy booking, and I don't know if they're going to do it. I think it's going to depend on a lot of other factors. I would put him in a program with Darby for the TNT title. There's history there. It gives.
One hundred percent. Yep.
Darby something to do and gives the TNT championship a spotlight again, which it kind of hasn't had for a little bit now. So I I would like to see them do that. I don't know if they're gonna, but I'd like to see them do that…
Yeah, that would be a good a really good spot to put him in. Really good spot.
And then Young Bucks and ProtoJet, which was friggin' awesome. It.
Man, that was fire, dude. So good.
Spoiler, not really. This is my match of the night.
I'm trying to desi I'm gonna have to I it's on my probable match of the night, but I don't.
Mm-hmm.
Remember I'm gonna have to go through and look at the rest of But it's right up there if it isn't, because it was so…
That's fair. Yeah.
Damn good.
They were excellent. This was my match of the night. The standing dropkick doomsday device thing that Proto.
Mm.
Jet did was so good. I really, really loved this match. Really loved it.
I how Kevin Knight has grown so much in such a short amount of time.
Yeah.
And how you can keep Kyle Fletcher away from a belt at this point is kind of beyond me. That dude's so damn good.
I agree. Mm-hmm.
So good.
Yep. Yep. So yeah, I and that opens up another question for what's next, right? Because on one hand, I'm looking at this going, so what's next for ProtoJet? And they teased.
Yeah.
A little dissension there in the match tonight. So it could be that…
Yeah.
But I think I don't know that you keep them in the tag title picture right now. I almost think it's more interesting to have the two of them go after Ospreay.
Yeah, one hundred percent. I think that would be fine.
I think that yeah, I think that might be more interesting. I don't know that they're going to do it, but I think that might be more interesting because I think next for the Bucks, based on other events of this evening, I think New Level should be next for the Bucks. And I think very well maybe. So…
Yes, one hundred percent. Yep. I would tend to agree.
Yeah, so I'm curious what you do with ProtoJet after this, but…
Yeah, I don't know. And I have to be honest, I'm a little disappointed that they pulled the dissension card yet again with a team in the Don Callis family. Because…
Yeah.
I liked having these two Yeah, there's still egos in it. I don't mind the like glances over like, what'd you say? I don't mind those.
Mm-hmm.
Kind of things. I would rather not see them get physical. I have a feeling that is what could potentially happen for them next. But we've danced that dance already a couple of times with the Don Callis family. Let them get along, let them defy the odds and continue to be good. And like I said, it could almost be like R V D and Sabu, where one of them like, No, no, no, we're great. I mean, I'm greater, but you no, you're good too. Like that kind of vibe. I don't know. That's just that's just my two cents. I like I said, how do you keep a belt off either either one of those guys at this point? They're so damn good. So…
Yeah. No,.
Really like it.
I agree with you on that. And and I think the thing I'm least interested in is those two feuding. And…
Yeah.
I think unfortunately that may be the most likely next move for them. But I think having the two of them go after Ospreay is really interesting. I think pairing them with insert Don Callis' family member here, maybe Wardlow, given how over he is, and sending them after the trios championships would be more interesting. Than having the proto jet breakup. So I hope it does not happen. I fear.
Mm-hmm.
It is going to starting on Wednesday. We'll see.
Yeah, I yeah. Like I said, I'm not looking forward to that if it happens. But if it does it.
I agree. Yeah. But man, that was good. Wow, that was a good match. They were incredible.
Yes, so damn good. Mm-hmm.
Then the four-way for the TBS championship between Queen Aminata, Persephone, Dani Luna, and Hyan, let me first of all say Dani Luna does not skip leg day. When she had two people up, and…
Yeah, man.
She's not, you know, huge. You know what I mean? Like she's not like not like Megan Bain, you know. I was like, wow.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
That takes some serious, serious core and leg power. I am impressed, ma'am.
I'm a I'm a fan of Dani Luna. I liked this four-way a lot. And…
Mm-hmm. I did too.
Once again, you and I both got it right. We got the last one right as well. So we're both doing pretty good.
Yep. Yep. Yep.
I this made a possible match of the night for me as.
It was really good.
As well. And I thought everyone looked great. I thought that Dani Luna looked really good. And I felt that was kind of necessary since she was kind of I think when she debuted and everyone thought it was not gonna be her, but ex WWE employee. So…
Yeah.
I was really happy to see her get some crowd reaction and look really good in this match. And once again, Persephone just looks great.
Yeah. She is I think she's a star already. I think she's gonna be a huge star, Persephone. But yeah,.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
I thought all four women looked really good in this in very in various points in the match. I want to give some love to Queen Aminata, who I remember when she first showed up on a dynamite, I was like, okay, you're gonna probably be one of those people that mostly works ROH and they'll bring you in for like tournaments and things like that…
Yep. No.
And there's nothing wrong with that. And I was like, yeah, okay, cool. She impresses me every time out. I think that she has grown a ton as a performer. I'm really impressed by her. She's one that I think is starting to get on the fringe of the I'm not sure how much longer you keep her out of like the really meaningful TV programs and you know, like TV time and I'm not saying you necessarily have to put a belt on her right now, but I'm not sure how much longer you can keep her out of those pictures.
Yeah. I felt the same way about Hyan.
Yeah.
Actually I felt the same way about everyone in this match. I thought…
Yeah.
This did such a good job of elevating all of them to I don't think Persephone needs elevating. I think she's already there, but it did it just reinforced how damn good she is. But I thought Hyan looked really, really good. I think she's continued to look good,.
Mm-hmm.
Standing apart because I was afraid she was gonna be the Marty Jannetty to Maya World's you know, heartbreak Kidd.
I was too, Shawn Michaels, yeah.
All I can think of is was sexy boy. The song was through my head and I was like, that's not his name. Right.
You're not wrong though. He is a sexy boy.
Yeah he it well, boy's a little misnomer at this point, but we get it.
Yeah look, he's not your boy toy.
No, no, he is not. But yeah, I thought all all four of these participants looked really, really good. I agree with…
Yeah.
Queen the Queen Aminata reference. I…
Mm-hmm.
Think that it's gonna be tough to keep her off TV. She's got a really cool style. She's got a unique look. She's got a unique personality in the ring. And she's doing great. And Hyan, like I said, Hyan, I think, is looking really, really good in the ring. And…
Yeah.
I think performing above my expectations, because I didn't have I didn't know a bunch about her before she came in.
Same.
To AEW. So very happy for all four of them in this match. I thought it was fantastic.
Yeah, I agree. And let me be clear. I know somebody will be like, she was just in a title match that you're talking about with Queen Aminata. Yeah, I know. But I mean like a legitimate program and a legitimate,.
Correct.
Like she gets into these things and I go, Okay, I think you're good, but I don't think you're gonna win. Right. I'm talking about putting her in a program where I'm legitimately going, I think she might win, you know.
Yeah. Yeah. One hundred percent.
That's what I'm talking about. So I don't know how much longer you can keep her out of that. But I think it's the same thing for so with Hyan, I read today Maya World is now cleared again. So…
Mm-hmm.
They may send Maya World and Hyan.
Yeah,.
After the tag titles, which I think might be the right thing to do. Yeah.
Good. Yeah, good. Because I think now if you did if you did it before building Hyan like they have because of Maya World's injury, I don't think it would have bit felt as legit. But right now, having if Maya World comes back and having this really solid run by Hyan right now, I think now the two of them together look threatening. So I like…
Yep, totally agree.
That. I like that vibe a lot.
Yep, I totally agree. And I think that's probably the move. And then maybe you can have I think it'll be They may continue the Persephone Dani Luna thing because they seem really high on Dani Luna, which I get. I don't know that…
Yep.
Isn't the spot for Queen Aminata, but I d I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what they do. Again, this is another one of those where I'm very curious to see what we're gonna do on Wednesday.
And quite frankly, I'm not gonna be mad at any of throwing any of those three at Persephone.
Agreed. Yeah. Yeah, agreed. Then sorry, dogs moving around back there. Yeah.
I'm sorry. Yep, I've.
Then Andrade and Ciampa for the national championship. I enjoyed almost this whole match.
I bet I know what you didn't like, but…
There I bet you do too. There was a lot about it that I liked. It was very close to a match of the night contender for me, but the stuff I didn't like is what held it back.
Let me guess. Pants.
Yeah. Yeah. I it but I will say thank you, Nigel McGuinness, for pointing out this is a bad idea. Like…
Okay.
Nigel sitting here going, This is a terrible idea. You shouldn't be doing this. Now I will say, I will say this. I didn't hate the pants stuff as much as I have in the past because having them kick out was actually pr really funny. I enjoyed that. That made me laugh.
Yep. Yep. Here's here's gonna be my counter, cause I was looking at it and here's what I thought. I loved this match all the way through. This is this is a really strong contender for me for match of the night. And the reason I'm I'm okay with the pants with and by the pants stuff we're talking about, Ciampa actually wrestling the pants and pinning them and having the pants kick out.
Yes. Yeah.
At first I was like, ugh. He stomped the pants, but then he took it a little farther and a little farther. And I was much happier, I was much more okay with him doing that in this match because to, and this is just to me, and I'm sure I'm just over reading everything. I to me, I was reading it as Ciampa is showing how ridiculous Andrade taking his pants off in a match is. And…
That's interesting. Okay.
By being ridiculous with Them. And in a way, having the pants kick out is, and again, I know I'm reading a lot into this, is a subtle nod to your pants are more over than you are, but probably not.
That's funny.
But so from that, because when he did it before with Jericho, that whole thing felt bad.
Yeah. Yeah, it did.
But this felt legitimate, this felt really good. And then he got the pants thing, and I just And may and like I said, maybe it's just the right mood, maybe my meds kicked in at the right time. I don't know. But that's how it felt is like if they're doing this to show that he feels that Andrade in his pants because he's got his own pants on underneath his pants, and so…
Mm-hmm.
And they didn't, they did the bit, they did the spot, and that was it. Moved past it. It didn't become a…
Yeah. Yeah.
Thing. And so I really liked this band. Like I said, this is a really close match of the night for me and I don't know where I'm gonna land yet still. Cause I think I got.
Yeah, that's fair.
One, maybe two more that could be my match of the night.
Yeah, I get that. So let okay, so let me be clear, first of all, before I say more here, but the pants thing did not bother me as much tonight as it did with the Jericho thing. Like it really didn't. And like I said, having.
Mm-hmm.
The pants kick out, I thought was pretty funny.
So good.
And and I think that it made more sense within the context of this match, aside from the stuff that you all just said, which I actually I think is very insightful. I really I'm like, okay, I think you're on to something there. Where it made more sense to me in this match was Ciampa was being he was being goofy, but in a way of like What am I trying to say? In in the way of like, I'm in on the joke too. You know what I mean? Like when.
Right.
He did it with Jericho, it was it was like he was taking it really seriously. And all.
Uh-huh.
Night, from the teasing of taking off his trunks to then actually doing it. And again, I put the “I JUST KNOW” trunks on my hot list and him throwing the trunks at Nigel on my, I thought that was very funny. Him doing the selfie with his family was I really liked that. So It felt to me more like he was just being like, Look, I'm just gonna be kind of goofy tonight.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm gonna do it in a way of like, we're all in on the joke together. Like, this isn't I'm not doing it in the whole like I'm insane thing, just like I'm gonna.
Right.
Kind of just have some fun. So I was way better with it tonight than I was when he did it against Jericho. All that stuff you said there, I'm like, okay, that actually makes a tremendous amount of sense. And okay. Yeah.
Especially when you layer that other stuff on of him having the “I JUST KNOW” and the it's like he's just mocking everything Andrade is doing that is getting pops and he's just going, I can take pics. I got pictures of my family I have other shorts on too. I can do.
Right. I can do this. Yeah. Yeah.
All of this and I you know, and I'm gonna show how cool your pants are actually by being ridiculous and they're gonna kick out and it was hilarious.
Yeah. And one other thing I really liked that Ciampa did, because I've never I've not understood why people don't do this. Because Andrade doesn't wear tearaway pants and…
Mm.
He always struggles to get them off over his boots. I'm like, why is the opponent not jumping him? Ciampa did.
Yes.
He jumped him while he was trying to take the pants off. I'm like, that's very smart.
I wrote it down. I said, Finally, someone attacks Andrade with his pants.
Yeah.
Half down.
Like that's very, very smart. So…
By the way, Nigel McGuinness makes my other quote of the night. What Andrade needs to do now is tag his pants in.
Tremendous.
Here's w one of the reasons I liked it is 'cause he said it, no one says anything, he sniped it and about two seconds later I went That's funny. That was really.
Yeah. Yeah. That's good. So I mean, again, it this is a good match. It and I'm with you on so much about it is really good and it probably was a legitimate match of the night contender for me. I okay, I might have been a little hard on it. All right. You talked me into I'm…
No, that's fine. I…
I mean to me, Bucks and ProtoJet are still my match of the night. Nothing's bumping me off that, but you I'm I'm okay, you've talked me into it a little bit more. And by.
Understood. Understood.
The way, I got that one right.
Yeah, and if you.
'Cause I picked Andrade.
If you remember, I 'cause I listened and it's like, I picked Ciampa just 'cause.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, the other thing though too is with Ciampa, he's got to win one of these. Otherwise, as we've talked about with him and with other people, otherwise it's like, okay, great, I'll I'll enjoy the match, but I n I have zero faith you're gonna win.
Right, right. Now, if they use this to heat him up more to move him towards a different belt and have him win that, okay. Okay. 'Cause he's he won one immediately, lost it, had had a terrible feud with Jericho,.
Yeah.
Did really good against Andrade tonight. So yeah.
What what I would propose is rather than having him go after another one of their eighteen belts 'cause he's kinda running out of to challenge for at this point. I think, I don't, I don't actually think this is what's going to happen, but I think it would be very interesting if he is the first program for Dragunov.
I had the same thought, but for a different reason.
Okay.
I thought and we're d can we just talk about Dragunov right now? Okay.
Yeah, yeah.
I thought, you know, Renee says, introduce and then here comes Dragunov.
Mm-hmm.
And there the you know, commentary's going off about, he's great, he's good. I in the back of my head said, I wish Ciampa would come down and attack him and be like, Who the hell do you think you are? You no, you know, just kind of like from a no no no no no no you're not gonna steal my thunder. Yeah,.
Mm-hmm.
I lost tonight, but you know, I was here first, me, me, me, me, me. So I'm a little surprised no one attacked him. I thought maybe Ciampa would for that reason, because he made the most sense in my head. So I'm one hundred percent fine putting Ciampa and Dragunov together and have them run it. Do it.
Yeah, I think that's a really, really interesting first program in AEW for Dragunov. I don't think it's gonna happen. I have a suspicion I know what they're gonna do with him first, but I think that would be a really, really interesting program for the two of them, and I think it'd be entertaining as hell.
Yeah, I think that could be something you could stretch out for a while.
Yeah. And and I had thought I had thought, okay, if they put the if they put Ciampa over tonight, if he had beaten Andrade, then I was like, okay, so then the next thing is gonna be Andrade's gonna announce that he's cashing in and that'll be the full gear match, right? For…
Right. Mm-hmm.
Him and Ospreay. But when they didn't do that, I was sitting there going, So what do you do with Ciampa now? I mean, really, what do you do with him? I think this makes the most sense. I don't I don't know that's what they're gonna do. I think they might continue the Champas Chasing Championships storyline, which I mean he already lost to Okada. He lost this one. What I guess Darby Try and get the TNT back. I guess Darby.
Maybe.
But I really think him and Dragunov is the way to go. We'll see what they do Wednesday. Again, this is one of those I'm very curious about. I think that's the best move for both of them. My fear.
I agree.
Is. They're going to put Dragunov immediately up against Ospreay. They kind of like to do that sometimes.
Yeah, I really hope they don't.
I same, but I think that there's a chance that might be your full gear match.
The only other thing I was considering, and I'm sure I'm wrong about this, is I thought they were I don't have any reason to think this, but I do. I just thought maybe Dragunov was going to be the newest member of United Empire and therefore not be put into the world title belt sitch yet.
That could be. That certainly could be. I don't know. He's another one, again, kind of my theme of the night. He's one that I'm not I ha I genuinely have no idea what they're gonna do with him.
Mm-hmm. The good thing about having him here though is there's a lot he could do. Like you.
Yes.
You believe he could fit into any program right away. But I do.
Yeah. Yeah.
Like the thought of him and Ciampa. And don't have this be like a a one-week buildup of.
Do.
I don't like you. Let's fight. And then they fight in Dragunov wins and Ciampa. And then that's it.
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Let it be, let it simmer, let it marinate, let it be a full gear blood feud kind of match that will be really good. Yeah.
Yes, please. Yeah, please.
So in between, we had that trios title match, two out of three falls between New House and Brohangdo, which neither of us got right.
No, I was super shocked by this one.
I was too. I literally wrote down, I'm shocked by this…
Yep.
That final sequence though was incredible.
Yeah.
That that final the go home sequence for the finish was absolutely incredible. With that said, this needs to be done now.
I don't think it's over.
I don't think it is either, but I think it needs to be done because I here's where I'm disappointed by this. And this is purely personal,.
Right.
Right? As we've talked about, this storyline, I don't it's not firing for me, right? It's it's it's.
Right.
Not hitting for me. And look,.
Mm-hmm.
If you're way into it, that's awesome. There's thirty one flavors for a reason.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
That's awesome. For me, don't love it. I don't love the team of Hangman and Brodido. I don't know why. I like all three of those guys a lot. I don't know what it is about them together that I don't like, but I don't. It's just, again, it's not hitting for me.
I think it's because it feels very much like we've got we've got Bandito and Brody, but we don't have anything for Hangman.
Yeah.
Now you've got hey, Brodyto, now you've got Hangman. Enjoy. It.
Yeah.
Just feels very slapped together.
It does. It feels very wrestling, right? Like very, we're just gonna put.
Yes.
These randos together and see what happens, right?
Yep.
And the other part of it where I'm disappointed in it is I think this finish, like you said, I think it means that the story's gonna continue. But what else is the story here?
Here's here's here's where I think it makes sense. And what you said earlier, I think really kind of solidifies why it might make sense. By doing this, by giving Brohangdo the belts, by giving them the win, now you have New Level free to go after the tag titles because now you have a separation between them and Swerve. Saw that Saw that at the end of the match.
And I'm on board with that. Let me be clear. I'm on board with that…
So now I think this gives a reason for Swerve to somehow interfere and cause the breakup of Brohangdo with Hangman getting like I said, I would still love to see a hangman swerve and team with Swerve or Swerve. I shouldn't have said that. A hangman switch and heel turn to go hang out with Swerve and finally have them just, you know, finally admit how much they love each other and just walk off into the sunset together. And beat hell out of everybody. And then you could have, you know, Brodido and those and Swerve and Hangman go up against each other for a while. So th that's my only thought is I hope they somehow use the swerve hangman thing to cost Brohangdo the belts and then get it on a trios that's gonna defend it on a regular basis. And that's.
Right.
My biggest disappointment by taking it off new house so soon.
Yeah. I mean, like I said, I'm fully on board for New Level and the Young Bucks for the tag titles. I am. I'm fully on board with that. I want it. Hell,.
Mm-hmm.
I might go so far as to say I need it.
Okay.
But I just don't know. I'm just looking at it and I'm going, so this either continues the story between these six guys, and I don't know what meat is left on that bone. I get it. Swerve and hangman don't like each other. Got.
Right. Mm-hmm.
It. Or I'd be okay with it if you're gonna move them on to put a different trio over. But I don't know who it's gonna be because as we've been talking.
Yes. Right.
About, they have not done anything to heat anybody up.
No, after they had that giant tournament with all these trios teams, the everyone else went quiet.
Yeah. So I don't know what you do. I mean, I it.
Yeah, I know.
It feels to me like they're not looking at Bang Bang Gang as being legitimate contenders to anything right now. And I've read the stuff that Cope took switchblade spot in Clockwork Carnage that was supposed to be switchblade before he got hurt. I don't know if that's true or not. But…
I don't either. I've read that as well.
Yeah, but I'm just looking at it going, so if you're not willing to put those guys, like if you're not willing to put the belts on three of them. Then really your only other option based on how you've been booking is Don Callis' family. And if the whole point of Wardlow, Doyle, and Josh Alexander against already in the ring tonight was that's gonna somehow vault them into the trios title spot. I'm gonna say it again. You could have just not done it. And I s and if you had just said that those three guys, if they just came out Wednesday and were like, we're taking those belts, I'd been like, all right, cool.
Yeah.
I don't need justification for it. I don't need them beating people I'll never see again. It's fine.
Because quite frankly, that's not justification.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So I don't know. Again, I don't know where we're going with it. The problem with this one is with all the others, when I say I don't know where we're going with it, but I'm very intrigued. It's a very positive thing, right?
Yes.
I think there's a lot of different avenues we can go down, and I'm excited to see what you're going to do. This…
Mm-hmm.
Is the one where I'm going. I don't know what you're going to do. And that scares me. I'm concerned.
Right. This is where this story path does feel a bit overbooked in a way that there's gotta there's too many moving parts to get to the end of the sentence. And so that concerns me. But like I said, if they somehow use Swerve and his dissension with the rest of New House and then costing Brohangdo the belts or costing division amongst them and he and like I said, he and Hangman go off together. Then okay, but it doesn't solve the Trios belts problem yet. So…
Agreed. Agreed. They've got some work to do there for sure.
Mm-hmm.
Mox versus Davis for the Continental Championship. And I had this thought. Tell me if you agree. I feel like Mox has not bled in a while. And boy, did he take his opportunity tonight.
I don't know. I don't know if he if he did that or if he legit got hit in the head, but if he bladed, he chose the wrong spot. And that…
I that was nasty, dude.
Looked bad. Especially when Davis had him hung upside down. Dude. And and by the…
Yeah. Well I mean.
Way, I don't think we picked this match, did we?
No, we did. We both picked Mox. Yeah.
Okay, good. I didn't I could I didn't write it down when I was listening. I guess I missed it the first episode. Yeah.
Yeah, we did. We got this one right.
Okay, good.
Yeah, we did really well on this show. We really did.
Yeah, we did.
Yeah, it was nasty the skin hanging at the end of the match when he was walking around. I was like, good lord, my guy. And like I said, Davis just covered in blood at one point. Like it made for some good visuals. I'll give you that. But whoo.
Kinda. Yeah.
Also, Danny Garcia, Hall of Fame hype man.
Dude, I really liked Marina and Garcia urging Moxley to continue. I thought that was a really good play, keeping them behind the barrier. I j that was so good. I thought that was really, really good.
So when they did that, that's when this clicked for me of what this story is. So if you go back to Wednesday, we were like, I is this like a crisis of confidence thing? Like I don't kinda I don't really understand what they're doing with him here. With Mox, I mean. And for a little bit going into this match, I thought they may put the belt on Davis if for no other reason than to give Jon Moxley time off.
Mm-hmm.
I really truly was thinking that. And when that happened, and you combine it with his reaction after the match, right? How emotional he was and how spent he was, that's when it clicked in my brain of, I see what we're doing. Jon Moxley has dis whether this was his decision or I don't know. But Jon Moxley is now the face of all of their grief. And I don't just.
Yes.
Mean with PAC, I mean The Andy Williams stuff, everything that…
Yep.
This company has been through, he has made himself the face of their grief. And now I get it. And now.
Yep. Yep.
I get Marina saying there's all the only way is through. Because anybody that has grieved loss like that knows that's the only way. You can't.
It's.
Duck it, you can't ignore it. You just have to go through it.
That clicked for me right before the match because Renee says this man has been grieving publicly on TV and he hasn't had a minute to really stop and process. And I was like, This is what all that meant Wednesday, and this is what this is all about. And so that really elevated this match. For me. And I really, this is another possible match of the night. And I have to be honest, I think this one is getting my match of the night.
That's completely fair. I enjoyed this match a lot. I think even if you remove that component, I enjoyed it a lot. When you put that in there and I got it, I was like, wow, that's really impressive. Mm-hmm.
I just thought this match was so good from start to finish and told a really, really good story about you know Mox f you know coming up against a wall he's not used to pushing back against and not doesn't really know what to do with. And in this instance, doesn't look like a Superman. And part of it is internal, part of it is fact that Mark Davis is a just a beast. And so having then Marina and Garcia be the two that are really helping him through this and having him finally come back. I that for me kind of tipped it. But I just I thought this match was really good. Just, you know,.
It was…
Even with all the blood. I thought this was a really good match back and forth.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it was a lot of what I wanted to see in a match and that yeah, so I think that's my match of the night.
I have zero issue with that. I think that's a fine, fine pick. I totally agree with what you said there. And then clockwork carnage time. So my first little nitpick, and this is a little nitpick. Was why do you do the video package that explains the match and then have Justin immediately explain the match after it?
You're right. That's not smart.
I thought that was an unnecessary use of time.
And to be honest, I missed that because I chose that time to get up and go to the bathroom.
Don't blame you. And that's one of those where again, small nitpick. Small. Not a big deal.
Was was that the one change you said? Okay. All.
Nope. Nope. I'll tell I'll tell you what it is. So I the I really enjoyed this match. I thought it was fun as hell. And I was skepti Yeah. Yeah,.
Yeah. I like it way more than I thought I was going to…
I was really skeptical going into it. I thought this was super fun. When it was over, I was like, we gotta do it again. We gotta do.
Yeah.
It again. So here's my one little thing. Kaia is smacking me right now. I know.
Huh.
Here's my one little change that I think helps the match. Okay, and it's very small. When the eighth guy comes in, I think they have to do something to make sure we know that we're now into phase two of the match. Because when Joe pinned Darby, this is literally what I thought. I went. Cool. I got both the eliminations right. Like I Takeshida was in between, but I thought Speedball and Darby would would be the possible eliminations in phase one. I was like, cool, I got them both right. And then I went, no, wait, we're in the part where that doesn't happen anymore. Okay, okay. Was it a huge deal? No. But if you can just do something, whether it's ring the bell again or Justin announces it or they put something up, I don't know. And it was their first time. You're not going.
Mm-hmm.
To be perfect your first time. That's the one little change I would make. I think it helps just a little bit. That's the one little change.
I agree. I agree. And what I think they should do is before having having the eighth guy come out and the match starts immediately, I don't think is right. I think if having the eighth guy and then putting three minutes on the clock and…
Mm-hmm.
If someone came a gets eliminated in that three minutes, including number eight, then they're gone. After that three.
I like that…
Minutes, 'cause that 'cause otherwise the guy at number eight isn't going to get you know, he's automatically in the running. And I don't like it I g you know,.
So that…
Kind of makes sense. But this would give us that separation 'cause you now you have a visual clock running, three minutes timing down since number eight's announced, and then.
Yeah. Yep.
Boom, and you can have Justin be the match beyond begins or whatever the hell they're gonna say.
Yeah. Yeah. I yeah, I think that's a great idea. And that gave me another idea. I was thinking this during the match when they were talking about how like the eighth spot is the only one who's really truly safe, right? What they should do, and again, first time, not gonna get a perfect. What I…
Mm-hmm.
Think they could do is you could do the qualifying matches that they did. I don't have a problem with that. But then like once you've got all the qualifiers, what if we do like a battle royal for the eighth spot? If you're not gonna have it be,.
Okay.
If you're not gonna put that person on the same three minute timer that everybody else was in, why not.
Mm-hmm.
Do a battle royal for who gets the eight spot? Cause it's so valuable. Like they do that with the gauntlet, the casino gauntlet, right? Like get the number one and number two spots so you're guaranteed to be in it.
Right? Mm-hmm.
Just a thought.
Not bad. Not bad. More.
But other than that, man, and again, not a big deal. Other than that, I really enjoyed this…
Again, it all clicked as it's happening.
Mm-hmm.
Because it sounded just convoluted as balls before going in. And then as it's going, it's like, and having the clock and the scorecard right when the new part started, I'm like, okay, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be so good. So I was very happy with that. Now,.
Yep. Yep. Super helpful to do that. Yep. Yep.
I found it interesting because I liked the story that. Cope wasn't scoring any points with five minutes.
I did too.
Left to go. And honestly, I'm a little disappointed he came back so strong because I liked where they were going with that. And then he comes back strong, you know, and then at the end he shakes Ospreay's hand and then pulls a trump and pulls him towards him and is like, I'm gonna get the ball, blah, blah, blah, or whatever. Sure. I mean, that's what he did, you know. It's a…
How we're calling that now? Sure. Yeah, I know.
It's a, you know, he pulled the dick handshake move, whatever you want to call it. And 'cause that's what it is.
It is.
And so I was really enjoying that. I'm like, okay, you're gonna give this guy who's a legend, he's a vet, and he's not scoring any points. And even Nigel was playing it up that, you know, maybe this is maybe he's right, maybe he should retire sooner than twenty twenty seven. And I'm like, see, now this is something that I could work with and then it's like, he's okay, he's getting two in a row. And now he's.
Yeah.
Back in the okay.
Yep. So I think you bring up two good points. I was very on board with the idea that Cope scores zero, that he doesn't get a single point. I was very.
Yeah. Yep.
On board with that. And I think they could have done a lot with that. The other thing you bring up that I think really helped this match. Not that it again, I think the match was fun, but what really helped it, commentary did a great job with this. All three of them. They did.
Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm.
Such a good job. Of raising the level of, you know, their energy with it really made it feel like we're in the final two minutes of the Super Bowl and they're just trading points back and forth, right? And it's like whoever has the ball last is who's gonna win this thing. Like I thought they were great during.
Yeah.
This match. They did a tremendous job, all three of them. So, so round of applause to you guys. I…
Absolutely.
Yeah, super fun match. Like I said, let's do it again. Let's not do it a lot. Let's maybe do it once a year, but let's do it again. But I agree. I think zero points from Cope would have been a really interesting thing. Instead, here's what I think is going to happen. I think the heel turn's coming. Because we've been headed that way for a while with him, I feel like. And…
That's fine. Yep. Yep.
I think now he may be next for Ospreay. Because I had had a theory that whoever is real close at the end. Might be the one and I kinda thought it would be Joe. I kinda thought Joe would be like, you can't beat me one on one. You needed.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
To do this weird gimmick match. Come fight me like a man. And they still may do that…
Mm-hmm.
But I think now it might be Cope doing the heel turn and going, you know I need that belt. Like him looking at it and going, but I want it, which is what I'm pretty sure what he said at the end. I'm pretty sure that's where we're headed now, which on one hand, like this is where I go, okay, the part of me that understands that a huge portion of the existence of AEW is to just give us really good matches, which is what I like. It's a…
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Big part of why I'm such a fan. That part of me goes, okay, cool, let's do it because it's gonna be a good match. The story part of me goes, I know. The story part of me goes. You're rushing that. Like if.
Yeah, well. Yep.
The narrative around Cope for the rest of this is gonna be this is it. This is this is, you know, the last time, just like they just did with Cena and AJ Styles a little bit. And I don't have problem doing that, but…
Mm-hmm.
If that's what's gonna be number one, I think you're gonna struggle to get him over as a heel a little bit.
Right.
And number two, you don't need to do the title match now. Cause you've still got all of twenty twenty seven unless.
Mm-hmm.
He's gonna d you know. Retire in April, but I don't think that's.
Right.
The case. So you've got time to come back to this. And I think it would have been far more interesting of exactly what you were talking about. He didn't score a single point in this match. Maybe I do need to hang it up now. Maybe, maybe I don't have it left in the tank. I think that's a far more interesting narrative than him doing a heel turn possibly as fast as Wednesday and then doing it at full gear with him and Ospreay, which again, I don't think will be bad But I think there's a more interesting angle here.
I'm not a hundred percent sold that he's next and here's why.
I mean to be fair, I did also just say I think it's Dragunov, but whatever, you know.
Darby Darby Right. But Darby pinned Ospreay.
Yeah.
Joe tapped out Ospreay. So now you clearly have four people. Cause for a hot damn minute, I thought, holy shit, they're heating up Darby again to go after a world title run. So now Yes. Yes.
For a minute, I thought Joe was taking it. I really did. And again, that was part of the fun of this match. Now, again, cr kudos to Nigel here. I had the exact same thought right before Nigel said it. When Ospreay was locked in the coquina clutch, just tap. Don't try and fight out, but just tap. Just give him the point. See.
Mm-hmm.
If he'll let go, which he did do when Ospreay finally tapped.
Yeah.
Just tap and get out of it. Because in the context of the match, It's fine. Surrender the point and get out of it. The other thing that I think was a Kfabe mistake, right? When Joe Joe had him in the coquina clutch for like a minute and a half, something.
Mm-hmm.
Like that, maybe even two minutes, you just made him tap. Why do you not then immediately either.
Pin him.
Pin him or put or put him right back in it? Because that would have put Joe in the lead.
Yeah.
So, like from a kayfabe standpoint, There were some things that I'm like, Gotta use the brain, boys. Gotta use the brain, you know, but that's nitpicky again.
And I'll jump on the same thought because Nigel a lot of times is not my favorite commentator.
Mm-hmm.
I felt like Nigel did a lot of really good heavy lifting in this match by pointing out things like that. And like even when it had gone on too long and he's there's a shot where you can see Nigel in the background and he's going, Just tap, just tap. You know, it's like…
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
That felt so real and visceral.
Mm-hmm.
And he was the other I think he it was him who was getting on Joe's case when I think he had Darby in the corner. And he's like, Joe, what are you doing? Stop wasting time. You need to get in there and get a pin or do something, you know.
Yeah. I actually wrote down, I think Nigel is the only one who actually understood this match. And what I mean by that is not from the rules or whatever, I think he was the only one tonight that understood strategically how to win this match. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. How to game that system. Yeah, absolutely. But I thought Nigel did a great job on this match. And…
Uh-huh.
Like I said, he's not always my favorite commentator, but tonight, especially during this match, I think hats off, he did a fantastic job of helping make this new match coherent and point out strategies that maybe some of the participants didn't even think of.
Yeah, and I'll tell you something that's very interesting about that. If slash when they do it again, if they put him in the match, that makes him a legitimate threat in the match.
Yeah it does. That's interesting. Yeah. That's really interesting.
Just something I'm gonna put out there into the world. You do with that what you want, Tony Khan. But…
Don't hate it. Don't hate it.
Yep. So anyway, I really liked the match. It was super fun. Like I said, we should absolutely do it again. Shocked they didn't go to sudden death. I really thought.
I am due.
They were gonna. I'm glad they didn't. I just was stunned by that…
Same. Yep. Same.
A lot of really good stuff in this. You mentioned those jumping knees from Takeshida. Okada's sell of the Spear was great.
Yeah.
So good. A lot of really good stuff in this match. Really well done. Super fun. Good job, guys.
Yeah. For a match that neither one of us was looking forward to, this again was another potential match of the night. But I think.
Yes it was…
I'm sticking with Mox and Davis. I think for me that one I don't know, there was…
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Something about it that really hit home and I was like, Nope, that's my match of the night.
Nope, I agree. I totally get it. Like I said, Bucks and ProtoJet for me. Nothing was knocking me off that. But but…
So good. So damn good though.
Again, you know, when we're talking about multiple potential matches of the night, you had a pretty good show. So what's.
Yeah.
Your grade for it?
You know what? I'm gonna give it an A. And it's it's.
I am too.
It's graded on a bit of a curve because they had so much to get done in a short amount of time, minus one week. And Tony Khan even came out this week in on X or whatever and was saying we felt it was necessary to do the PAC Memorial and not focus on WrestleDream. So we had a lot of ground to cover. And then of course we didn't get the brawling birds because of the injury. Jamie Hayter that we found out about in that same X. So I'm giving this one an A. I thought this was so good for the short amount of time they did. I thought like I said, I had what five potential match of the nights on there for me, legitimately.
Something like that. Yeah. Yeah.
And from start to bottom, I had I had one mild and no mayo on this…
Yeah. Do I have a couple suggestions of how you can tighten it up and make things a little bit better? Yeah. Is it anything that I think is like, ooh, that's really bad? Nope.
No.
No, I do not. I would agree. I g I give it an A as well. I came into this show not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I didn't.
Yeah.
I thought this was gonna be like a solid B plus like all out was…
Mm-hmm.
And I and it was gonna be one of those that I really thought at the end of this I was gonna be going. It's just they're a victim of their own success. They set the bar so…
Right.
High that they just didn't clear at this time, and that's okay. You can't always. This was really good. They did.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
A really great job. I agree. They they what he said about the PAC tribute is absolutely the correct decision. Absolutely.
One hundred percent. Without a doubt.
And they made up that ground, I think, extremely well.
Mm-hmm.
I think they had to pivot a lot of creative. Not just because of injury, but like like we had talked about, PAC was in for a big push. That was obvious that…
Yep. Yep.
The Death Rider split was coming. He was in for a big push, and they had to scrap all that and figure out what they were going to do next. I think they did a great job with it. I applaud them. This had to have been insanely difficult for them. I applaud everybody involved with it. Really well done. And again, almost everything. That they did tonight set up a storyline or, you know, potential storylines where I'm going, I'm very interested in a good way to see where you're going. There's only one that I'm concerned about. Only one. So that's real good.
Yeah, exactly. And other than the squash match, there…
Mm-hmm.
Wasn't a bad match on this show tonight. I don't.
Mm. I agree.
I can't I don't I can't point out one match that went too long.
Is it?
I 'cause a lot of times you and I will be like, yeah, it was a good match, but they could have turned five minutes out of that one. Didn't need to go.
Mm-hmm.
Twenty. Never felt that way about this any matches except the squash match. And luckily they kept it short and got it in and out and done. But I meant it when I said yes. When I looked at the clock and it's like after eleven, I was like, wow, this is a long show. But it honestly didn't feel super long because the matches I thought were timed to almost perfectly. They were all entertaining. They all were really good. So yeah, I've got this is getting an A from me, man. I loved it.
Yeah, totally agree. Totally agree with you on that. All right. So with that, we will see what happens on what should be a very interesting dynamite this coming Wednesday.
Yeah.
And hopefully I won't need a cup of coffee to make it through that one, but we'll see.
Fingers crossed.
Yep. And with that, like, share, and subscribe to this here show. If you haven't already done those things, please do. You can follow us on social media at Elite Heat Pod. We are also available on the World Wide Web at eliteheatpod.com. And of course, go to DoichFoods.com. Use promo code EliteHeat when you check out. You'll save 20%, which is always a good thing. My wife and I have been talking a lot about getting it and making the cookies. We just haven't done it yet. Why? Because both of us forget things. Like…
Yeah, true. So go do it.
It's that quick where I can go, yeah, we should do that. Ooh. What's that? And with that, I…
Yep. Exactly. Exactly.
Have a couple of dogs that very badly want to go to bed. So I'ma go.
All right. Well good night everybody.
They are not happy.