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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.
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We are tape delayed from Paris, France, and on a Tuesday, the whole world is upside down.
And to be fair, we are technically tape delayed because I didn't realize that it was Tuesday that we had our Wednesday Night Dynamite night.
Wow, yeah.
Well, I mean, also to be fair, you we we are always tape delayed. We don't pretend to be live, but you know, usually it's live from wherever and no, not tonight. We were tape delayed 'cause they were doing Grand Slam Paris And yeah, I don't know what else I was gonna say there.
Right.
Yeah. No, yeah. But yeah. We were tape delayed as well simply because needed that's it. Needed a needed a little extra time. No, no I did not.
Yes. We were delayed in our taping because you didn't realize it was tonight. Yeah. You can also thank baseball for that. Baseball booted it. And that's on me because my White Sox are part of the problem. But really, really if you're gonna blame anybody for the White Sox being part of the problem, blame the Pope because we were terrible and then the Pope
Hmm.
Who's a Sox fan Like the guy from Chicago that's a Sox fan becomes Pope, and look at us now. So Pope Bob, that's my guy. Pope Bob. After they win the World Series, me and Pope Bob gonna go have a couple Polish sausages, maybe a couple shots of Malört, get a
Look at look at you go.
That's your guy right there. He's a fan.
God don't do the do not do that to yourself. That no sir.
Gonna have we're gonna go have a Chicago handshake. It's gonna get the Malört with the Old Styles. Couple get a couple tree Polish sausages, go down to Portillo's, get a beef. I like mine wet. I can do this all day. All right. But anyway, let's launch into the heat check for Grand Slam Paris, which I believe is the technical name of the show. again on a Tuesday.
my
Yeah, man.
yes.
So we didn't really heat check last time 'cause it was the tribute show to PAC and w how are you gonna do that? And before that was All Out, so obviously that was me because you bailed on a pay-per-view.
Right. Correct.
me? Yeah, I did. I did. I did. Maybe.
Yeah, what d no was I talking to your cat? Well like what I I guess that's true. So you go and I will react to your heat check, sir.
Okay.
Here's my heat check. First up, this crowd is hot. my god.
They were really good. Yeah, they were really good.
This crowd is what wrestling crowds, wrestling crowds aspire to be. This was a great crowd. I really liked the the the pack band on the ROH title that Bandido brought out. That was dope. that Kofi foot stomp to his head. Damn. That looked vicious. The the 21-Plex with Kofi on the ground, I think was.
I liked that too. Yep.
Yep, I had that on
lost on a few people, but that was amazing.
No, I I had that on my list. The 21-Plex from the mat was really good, yeah.
And of course, that whole match makes makes the hot list. Joe back on TV makes my hot list. Jack Perry bouncing Joe's head off the second turnbuckle via the kicks, something new. At least I haven't seen it. If I have, it's been a while. Thought that was great. I thought that match was great. And now Joe's in clockwork Carnage Orange or whatever it is.
Mm-hmm.
It's gonna be really hard not to say Clockwork Orange. Really hard. Yeah, we're gonna talk about that match.
Yes. let me just say I think Mox and Kidd as a team, I think that's great. That's on my hot list. And and that match they had. I thought that was possible match of the night. Right there. Right there. Possible match of the night. Darby versus Fletcher. Possible the night. There is so much I could put on the hot list for that match. I'll wait till that match because holy.
Mm-hmm. I actually do too.
Mm-hmm.
I did too. Yep.
Yep, agreed.
Balls. That was bonkers. I thought Queen Aminata with speaking French in the back, hot list, one hundred percent, plus the whole match with her and Mercedes. I thought that was really good. The Thekla's spider pose over the title was really good. And of course, I mean Ospreay versus Okada, of course that's on the hot list. What did what did I miss, if anything?
Yep, I agree.
Yeah.
I don't the the only things that I have on my list that you did not talk about were I also put Thekla specifically doing the swinging belt wink wink doing that to Mercedes. I enjoyed that. Again, it's I love everything Thekla's doing right now. And I actually put the Nick Wayne promo on my hot list.
Yes. Mm-hmm.
To be fair, because I missed the original airing, I may have accidentally skipped that without knowing it. So I didn't see it.
Okay. So it's I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that it's the best thing on the show, and I'm not gonna sit here and tell you it's the greatest promo I've ever seen, but it's not bad. And it it did some work to help give some depth to him and this feud with Jericho. So I liked it. All right. Mild, what you got?
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Okay. Good. That's all we ask.
there were a few production here's what's weird. There were a few production miscues, and I noticed a lot during Mox Kidd Davis Doyle. But then production also had some really cool, interesting shots that looked really good that I hadn't seen in a while. And I'm like, you're doing so well. And then you blow what I think is simple stuff. So that's in mild for me. And then I this might actually have to go to mayo, but at the very least it's mild.
I did not need to see Darby bleeding that much on the mat for that long that close. I mean, I get it.
All right, fair enough.
Yeah.
I don't need to see it that close up for that long. That's all. That's all. Did you have any mildness?
That's fair. That's fair.
I have four things on my mild list. And the first one is controversial and I know it's controversial, but I put Kofi versus Bandido on the mild.
man.
Well, I'll be the judge of the
okay.
Now here's what's interesting about it. If you go back to the All Out show, I specifically said I want more from these two guys, and I meant it. And I think perhaps my bar was too high. But I found myself going, "It was fine." And when I go, it was fine, that parks you on the mild list. So,
Yes.
I can see that, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. Now, did you did you feel it was a little overshadowed by Hangman Swerve?
Yes, I did. Yes, I did. We're gonna talk about that, I'm sure. But yes, I did. And I think that's part of it. Yep. I think that's part of it. Yep. Well, it won't take very long because it was the first match, but the other stuff on my mild, I'm sp I'm putting the Clockwork Carnage match on my mild. They talked about it on this show, which makes sense, but I'm putting that match on my mild.
Okay. I'm just wondering if maybe that Yeah, okay. Okay. That's all. We could get into that later.
With a st with a asterisk, I guess, of this could very well end up like when WrestleDream gets here, it could very well end up being high on my hot list, because I'm sure the match is gonna be good. It could also end up on the mayo because I'm not loving this concept. I may be wrong. It's happened before. We've never seen this before. We'll wait and let it play itself out. But as it sits right now.
It's on the mild for me. I put Ospreay and Speedball with Renee on the mild for me because again it was one where I just went, It's fine. But it's fine.
Yeah, I kind of I kinda didn't really rate any of the backstage stuff. I saw a lot of it, but
Yeah, that's fair. I put the New House video on the mild for the same reason really for the Ospreay and Speedball one where it's like, okay, like I see what you did. I understand the point of it. But again, it was fine. It was fine. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad. It was it was fine. so that was that was my mild. yeah, that was my mild.
Right.
Do you I have one thing on my mayo. And this is this could be nitpicky, but I noticed it early on, and then I th I believe my suspicions were confirmed later in the evening. But my nit nitpick is this Clockwork Carnage graphic they have with the silhouettes. I'm one I'm a hundred percent convinced that those silhouettes represent the actual people that will be in the match.
okay. I don't have anything, so what you got?
Mm-hmm.
And they match up directly. I almost guarantee—now I could be hallucinating, which could be accurate.
I didn't even notice that.
Well, now I'm gonna pull it up. But I I I didn't look at it that closely, but I could see it.
But if you could see one
If you if you see one before before well, I spoiler. If you see one before Ospreay, I think it's Ospreay, right? At the end? Who were the two that made it? Yeah, okay. If you look when they put Ospreay in and you look before they put him in, I almost guarantee that silhouette is i identical.
Yeah. Joe and Ospreay
I gotta find it. I'm trying to find I gotta scroll a lot 'cause I went to their Facebook page 'cause I was like, Well I can find the the graphic there, I'm sure, but I gotta scroll a lot 'cause obviously they've been posting lots of things from the show.
Yeah, but they didn't post that every every other post 'cause they've been talking.
you know what? They d well, okay, that's a graphic explaining it.
Huh. Okay, I'm gonna have to look it up and and pay attention, but it would not shock me to find that out because I I feel like that's been a thing with wrestling a lot in the past is where you've got a graphic of, we don't know who's gonna be in it, but if you really look at the silhouettes, you can go, Well, that looks like, you know, big show or whatever, you know.
Right. Yeah. Isn't that the L O D with their spiked armor?
Yeah, exactly. Like there's something telling about it. Like you like when Rock had the flat top, it's like, well, that's that's him. Like that's nobody else has that haircut, you know? Like so, yeah. Okay, that's interesting. I'll have to go look at that. But yeah, you're probably right on that.
Right.
And again, I know it's a nitpick and I didn't know if I should put this in a mayo or just we should discuss it, but we kind of touched on it. Just the whole Clockwork Carnage Casino Gauntlet Iron Man Eliminator Orange Match.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's not Blood and Guts or WarGames, but also kind of is slash Survivor series. Yeah.
No. But also as yes. I just I I I think you're right. We well clearly you're right. We have to just wait and see. I'm just and I think the match will be fun, but yeah, it's just it's too much, man. Come on.
It's overbooked.
So so here's what here was my thought on it. When they played the video with Renee narrating it, explaining the match. I was like, if you have a match that includes phase one and phase two of the match, you have probably overbooked it. And I think that they have
Mm-hmm.
Yes, yeah.
Let me put it like this. I understand that AEW is a very young company. And one of the things, you know, the seventh anniversary was this week of Dynamite. And I understand that on one hand, you sit there and go, wow, seven years, that's a long time. But on the other hand, in the grand scheme of things, it's really not, right? And so I understand that so much of what they do when they do.
well.
No, not really.
These types of things, or what they're doing, is they're trying to find those sort of signature matches and things that they can make recurring that they can build on. Blood and guts is clearly one of those. But we all know it's just their version of WarGames, right? Because they can't call it WarGames. And the Casino Gauntlet match is definitely one of those things that they have landed on. We like this, it's unique to us, whatever, right?
Right. Mm-hmm.
But we all know it's just their twist on the Royal Rumble. We all know also that it's kind of it's not only the Royal Rumble, but it's also a little bit of their Money in the Bank, because you get the contract usually.
Yes.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And and so I think that they're really truly trying to find something that is original to them because the Continental Classic is the G1 and this thing is this thing, right? I'm just not sure that this is it. I actually think the thing that was unique to them that that could have been sort of their thing was like Stadium Stampede slash Anarchy in the Arena and just leaning into it's goofy as hell and let it be goofy, you know.
yeah. Yes.
So I under but I understand that that's what they're doing here. I just think, like I said, when you've got when you have to lay it out of okay, so we're gonna do this chunk, and then this chunk of the match happens and they're different because here pinfall or submission means somebody's out, but then here, no, it doesn't. And I just think that that it's another one of those.
Yeah.
Matches, stories, whatever, where I'm going, you overbooked it a little bit. Like I understand that you're trying to find your your you're trying to find something here. I get that. And I applaud it. I celebrate the creativity and I celebrate you taking risks. I think you should do it. But when you have to create graphics explaining the match and it includes phase one, phase two, et cetera, that's when you need to stop and go, We may have overdone it. Let's see if we can figure out how to streamline.
Yeah. Yep.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Especially when what, they gave us ten days with this information that it was even gonna be a thing and it was happening.
So I I think they may have announced it on Collision because I started seeing it pop up over the weekend on their social media. And and I saw the graphic and I went, no. no. This is because it's gonna be like I said, it's gonna be a thing where we're gonna have to sit there and try and keep track of it. And if you're even remotely casual to it, like
Right. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
I it I would even argue if you're like me and you really don't ever watch Collision, and if you miss, you know, if you miss tonight or if you miss next week's dynamite and you'd go to watch WrestleDream, I think you're probably gonna be a little bit confused by that match. And so I just think that like I said, I I don't blame them for trying it, and I think they should try things. I just think that they have to rein themselves in.
Right.
yeah. Yeah.
And go, okay, we we've maybe gotten a little too far off the rails here. Let's split this, right? Like, let's do the whole like I think you just split it and you go, okay, we're gonna make the phase two part of it the match of we're gonna put these guys in the ring and it's just gonna be a free-for-all of who can score the most falls in 15 minutes or whatever the time period is. You know, I really think that's the way to do it.
Is just go, that's what we're gonna do. And whoever gets the most points wins. And you don't need that opening phase of, you know, if J well, he didn't make it. So if, you know, if the two that we know are in it, if Samoa Joe gets eliminated by Will Ospreay in that first, then he's out. You know what I mean? Like that's where I think you're gonna start to run into the confusion of it. And so
Mm-hmm.
Right. Yep.
I just think if they cut the concept in half, I'd go, Okay, let's let's do it. Let's see what happens, you know.
Yeah. I mean it's a little like the original WarGames, which was one coming back and forth and the match technically doesn't start until all the members are in. That's kind of it, but kind of not as well. And I think what would have helped Yeah.
Little, yeah.
Right.
Well, and and again, it's a little bit Survivor Series, right? Of we're gonna eliminate people one at a time, but we also might not. And so, yeah.
Yeah. And I I think what would have helped is because tonight Will Ospreay said, This was my idea. Well, then have him talk about it from the go. And it feels like they made this announcement, they put out a bunch of stuff and they're like, This is a little confusing. Let's say Will came up with it. Or maybe he actually did. I don't know. But I I that would have been a better pitch, I think, if he would have been like, look, this is what I was thinking. This is the reason why I want to do it.
Who knows? Yeah. But the but I I what
Then maybe you're like, I mean, okay, it's goofy, but okay.
Yeah. I mean, so he has become their like fall guy for wait, why is this happening? Because they did the same thing with the match with Mox of well, I asked for it. But then credit where he's where it's due, he did a good job of making me go, okay, you know what, that actually makes some sense to me. Your explanation for it makes sense. Okay, great. Tonight he explained it in a way that I went, Yeah, okay, I get it, but I don't think it has to always be
Good.
Yeah.
Will went and asked for it and and like you said, maybe it was his idea and they just went, Yeah, let's do it. Could be. Could be. Like that could be a shoot thing. But I do think that in a situation like this, you can just go, look, you can just have him go, Okay, look, we're gonna they're doing this match, fine, bring it on, let's do it. You know. 'Cause that's kind of who he is. So
Right. Yeah. It's entirely possible.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yep. Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely.
So, you know, again, I wanna be clear on this of I have a suspicion when we're talking about WrestleDream, we're gonna end up saying the the rules are confusing, but the match was really good. I have a suspicion we're gonna say that.
I one hundred percent agree. One hundred percent.
So, you know, I think it's gonna end up being a thing that we go, well, okay, they can tweak it and make it a little bit better or whatever. You know, kinda like we've been talking about with the Casino Gauntlet of of changing up people going which they finally did, changing up, you know, don't let people do their full entrance and all that. And it worked really well, I thought. So
Right.
Right. And if you remember, wasn't it or did they call it something else? Was it the the ca the first casino battle ro where they came out in groups of like five and they were based on the suits of the cards? Yeah.
In groups. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There were the hearts and diamonds and yeah. Yeah. No, I think that was the very first version of it. Yeah. And so I don't know. I mean, it it's I will say this, it's a somewhat interesting idea. I just think like I said, when you're talking about phase one of the match, is this, I'm like, boy, okay, boy. All right, here we go.
Right. Yep. Phase two is happening tomorrow night on Collision, but no one's allowed to leave the ring.
Right. Right, exactly. So what we're going to do is actually phase one will happen on the Buy-In, but then phase two is the main event. Like I you know.
Shit, they've been doing that for a while now. Buy into well, maybe not Buy-Into main event, but yes. The bleedover.
Well yeah, that's true. Yeah. No, that's it. It's gonna start on the Buy-In and there's just gonna be the whole show is these guys duking it out, but yeah.
Yeah. That's it. That's it. What do you say we get to the actual show for tonight?
I don't know. I think our work here is done.
Okay. Don't forget DoichFoods.com. That's DoichFoods.com. Make sure you order Get your cookie dough, get your protein cups whenever those come online. And don't forget to put Elite Heat as your co discount code. Could you get twenty percent off your order? And I suggest you get one of each. Get five, because they're tasty, tasty, tasty. Hmm. See you next. What's okay.
Ha ha ha.
Mm-hmm. They are good. Yeah. All right, we'll talk about the actual show.
I mean we're here, we might as well.
Right. Well I deleted all my notes. Let me roll quick. No, I'm kidding. Well, I know you yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.
I know you are. Look, if if anything deleted your notes, it's that pesky virus from all the, you know, sock puppet porn.
All right. Doug, you know I don't speak French. And that was the problem with tonight's show, really. No, I'm kidding. I mean, there were a couple times where they were speaking French, and I was like, I don't I don't know what's happening, but I'm sure it was good. but let's get into this show. So Kofi V versus Bandido for the ROH world title, which does answer our question is Bandido still the Ring of Honor world champion?
X day on a oxy opposite orange. I mean, what?
Anyway. Yeah.
Yes, he is. so that that led us off. I think really we hit on
Yes he is. Yes he is. Mm-hmm.
Arguably the biggest thing from this, which is I I felt it was overshadowed by Hangman and Swerve.
Yeah, and it didn't need to be, because I think this could have been a really good match without that, but I do understand they feel like this is a story they need to continue to tell. And here's here's where I may go out on a ledge and be like, here's I want them to finally basically I want them to finally kiss. I want them to be on the same team. I want Hangman to finally whatever, see the light, whatever he w needs to do.
Mm-hmm.
I'm tired of this weird standoff, right? And I've been trying to let them cook. I've been trying to let it simmer but it's been on the stove for so long. And it did feel like once they came out, they were the focus.
Mm-hmm.
Yes. I think once they came out, this is not I don't really think this, but I would actually like somebody to go through and add it up and check me on this. But it felt to me like once they both were out there that Swerve and Hangman actually got more camera time than the match going on in the ring. And I don't think that that's actually what I don't think that's actually what happened, but it started to feel that way.
Hm. I mean they they were definitely
I think it's because they were definitely in frame more than before when Brody and Creed were out. Cause those two
They were. Yeah. Yeah. But also they're calling your attention to it. Like commentary is making sure you're seeing them. They're talking about them a lot, you know, and
Yes. Yes.
That and that's one of the things I was talking about production, where they had this really cool shot over Hangman's shoulder of Swerve, and he was in focus and Hangman wasn't, and they pulled you know, that was a really cool shot. But that's not what that's not that shouldn't have been our focus in this match. But AEW is telling us different. AEW is telling us no, that is the focus because we're doing these things. Okay, I just would have preferred to see this match.
Yeah.
Yep. Yep.
And I thought it was fine. I don't know if I would have put it in my hot. I didn't even put it in my list. But Moments from It made it and that was kinda fun.
Sure. Yeah. I mean, I think the match was fine. Like I said, I think my bar for it was probably a little, a little too high. which I suppose is a credit to the two of them, right? But but I do think that those guys overshadowed it a lot. And look, I understand that that part of the storyline here is that like I said a couple weeks ago, Hangman and Swerve are now my dogs. Like they annoy each other, they're going to get on each other's nerves, but they also
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
don't hate each other so much that they're going to, you know, attempt murder, right?
Right.
But I'm with you of let's do something with it or let's not. And I know that later in the show they would make the two out of three falls match for WrestleDream, which is fine. This has got to be the blow off. It's gotta be. Because I don't know how much more you can milk this. Number one. And number two, I I would like to see them. Like we have talked about this.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I hope so. I hope so.
Well that's the one.
I want them to keep the Trios beltss on New House. I want them to keep them there for a while. But I would like you to then also use these other groups that you have and send them at Swerve in New Day. Sorry, New Level. There it was. but part of my concern here is I don't really feel like they've done anything to heat any other trios up. And so
Mm-hmm.
No.
I don't know. So here's what I actually am a little bit concerned about for WrestleDream. I think, first of all, I think that if they book it where Brohangdo wins, then this feud is going to continue. And I think you've pretty well picked the meat off this bone, at least for now. So if they keep it on New House, which I think they should, I fear that the next opponent for them is going to be The Elite.
Mm-hmm. Yep.
I do too.
And I fear that they're going to take the tag titles off the Young Bucks at WrestleDream so that they have, I don't know, further motivation or something to team back up with Kenny and go after the trios. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But I I'm yeah, but I'm wondering if The Elite, like those three guys, are gonna be next for New House and and even if you leave the tag titles on the Bucks.
Okay.
Interesting. Okay. that's interesting.
Well now you've hamstrung the tag division, right? Because you've removed the champions from the equation. So I don't know.
Right.
Mm-hmm. I I I don't know because wasn't it j was it last week, the week before, when The Demand came in and and just cleaned house with new with New House? balls, I forgot about that.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. But they got the match and they lost.
'Cause that was pre All Out, if I'm not mistaken. They got the match and they lost it. And so yeah. Well, to be fair, remember this is a small window between All Out and WrestleDream. And you know, I I do feel like the tragedies that they have dealt with has kind of warped our sense of of time here.
Was it that long ago? Holy crap.
Yeah, that's kinda
One hundred percent. Yeah. So 'cause it wasn't that long ago that we were going, Holy crap, look at all the all the trios teams. And now it's like, Where'd they go?
Mm-hmm. Yeah. But I mean, you know, as we're sitting here, I think that that match was like three weeks ago with The Demand and and New House. So or two.
Yeah. Probably, yeah. Yep. Yep, yep, yep.
I guess it would have been two weeks ago. three, whatever. Doesn't matter. But I agree with you. Like, I'd like to see them get The Demand back in the picture. I'd like to see them maybe have the dogs do something. I'd like to see the the rascals who we talk about all the time. I feel like, you know, bang, bang, gang. Like I know Jay White got hurt again and that's a bummer, but you've still got four Yeah. Yeah. But you've still got four other guys there.
Nope.
Yeah.
Yeah.
did he? I missed that. Damn it. Yeah, but they aren't the same without JY, and I hate to say
I agree that they're not the same without Jay White, but that's where I think you could take. So if you if you make the trio The Guns and Ace Austin and you keep working the Coach Juice angle, which is really fun, and and it's like him firing them up all the time or whatever, kind of like what Mark Briscoe was doing with The Conglomeration, which by the way, there's another trio. I think I think you could have like I think you could have that, you know.
That is very fun.
Yep. But
I'm not saying that's necessarily like a super long term thing, but I think you could have something there with the Bang Bang Gang doing that.
Okay. Okay. There's some interesting possible conglomeration issues because of this weekend.
My opinion.
What?
I think if they haven't officially all flipped heel, they're gonna. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Really? Even Orange Cassidy? What happened? What did I miss?
I have to go back and watch, but apparently orange, you know how when he normally does his like in the corner like ten count? I guess he clobbered him for thirty and not just orange punches. Just like his it actually and then I think he was trying to I think he was gonna hit somebody like after the match with a chair or some noise. And they it they came out wearing matching they have a new graphic. They came out with matching sweat, like starting gear.
And so it just and I haven't watched the whole thing. I've only seen some clips, but it does look like that. And that makes sense for when we take a look at what's coming up later in the night with a different faction possibly flipping. So
Well, yeah. That's interesting. Okay. I'll have to go watch that then. I had no idea, but that's very interesting. So anyway, point is like in terms of this match, I don't think the match was bad. I had a high bar for it. I thought it was good, not great. I just i and I think a little bit of it is hurt by being part of this trio story that again for me personally is just not hitting the way that I think they hoped it would. And I
That's fair.
Right. I I think what we're I think what we're feeling is they brought in New Level to get the the trios titles. And they immediately started they did a t I think New Level did a tag match. Kofi's done a singles match. I think Creed you know now they're spreading them out already. I think they should have kept them isolated to the trios challenges before they started divvying up
I hope the blow off happens a WrestleDream.
The cake. It's like, let us at least see them as trios champs. And don't get me I'll I'll watch Kofi by himself. I'll watch all three of them by themselves. But they're the trios champs now. So let them wrestle as the Trios champs. And I think that's
Sure.
Mm-hmm.
Well, and I think it was an opportunity to elevate the trios championships pretty nicely, which they've needed, and I'm not sure that it's happening. And I don't think it's the fault of I think it's just the fault of booking because really the story is Swerve and Hangman with these other four dudes tossed in. So anyway, we beat that to death. I we talked about Clockwork Orange match, so let's move on to Ospreay and Speedball with Renee. Did you see that or did you skip it?
Yes.
Right.
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Who the
I didn't I saw parts of it. But d just screw was that between the Joe and Jack? B was that before or after the Joe and Jack? okay. then I only saw a little bit of it where
It's all parts of it, okay.
It's before Joe and Jack.
Okay, so the main takeaway here is that Speedball says, Well, I want to be in the clockwork match and Ospreay, you know, it's it's what we talk about Ospreay being like, it was my idea, and then Speedball saying I want to be on it, and Ospreay's Yeah, no, that's great, man, do it. And so then they make the match where it's I believe on Collision it's gonna be Speedball and Lee Moriarty, which with all due respect to Lee Moriarty, who I actually kind of like. Gee, I wonder who's winning that.
Yes.
Yeah, unfortunately I don't think it's gonna be Lee.
think so either. So then it was Samoa Joe and Jack Perry, which was a I thought it was a banger.
Yeah, I liked it.
Joe, I I just love him. I'm always happy when he's on my TV. I thought this was a potential match of the night. Let me ask you this question. Is Jack Perry's current storyline that he can't win?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
See, that's what I was going to discuss with this match is what is Jack Perry's deal right now?
Great question.
there really hasn't like they started to address it a couple of weeks ago with the I'm trying, you know, steel sharpened steel. I want to go against the best, but I don't think he's won any of those matches yet. And
Think he has either.
I if if they're going for the angle of Jo of Jack is trying to take on all these champs and losing, I don't think that's doing what they think it could do when he's a former he's held titles before. He's former TNT champ, right?
Yep. And he had the tag titles with Luchasaurus. Yeah. And was he No, he wasn't. Never mind.
Right. So he's
He's not unfamiliar with championship gold, so now to put him in this weird I'm gonna fight a bunch of former champs and then not win, I don't know what the payoff to that story is.
I'm not sure either. And what I'm trying to figure out with it is is this a story? And we've seen these before. I mean, they they've done it in AEW. They kind of did it with Eddie Kingston, they did it with Mark Briscoe. But it it it goes well beyond that of guy wants to be champion, but he keeps losing when it matters, and he loses and he loses and he loses, and he's gotta hit rock bottom, and it's the redemption story, right? Like
Right.
Now you gotta climb all the way back out of the hole and you lose yourself and they c they did it with Hangman kind of and
Well, that was one of the first Kenny Omega storylines.
Mm-hmm. And and so I'm wondering if we're doing that, but I'm also wondering if is this going to lead to I'm wondering if it's gonna lead to a heel turn for him where he's gonna flip back full heel, the scapegoat kind of character that he was for a while there, which by the way, I enjoyed. And I I don't know. I don't know. I mean, like right now
Mm-hmm.
Honest to God, right now where where I'm at is I'm going, if I'm Jack Perry and truly my goal is to win the world championship, and I can't beat all these former champions, which seems to be the story that you can't beat them, I'm going to John Moxley and The Death Riders and going, I need you to do for me what you did for Ospreay.
I mean, that would make the most that would make the most sense. And I'm just wondering if this isn't this is just a a stopgap storyline until Luchasaurus is back, because I think he's supposed to finally be back relatively soonish. So if they're just holding on for another two, three months and they just made a big deal about re-signing Jack Perry, so they need him on TV.
And maybe that's where we're headed. I don't know, but
Could be.
Okay okay. But do me a favor, give him a win.
Yeah.
That's all. Yep.
Yeah, let him beat some of these guys. Yeah. So anyway, match was good. Like I said, potential match of the night. there was an Okada pre-taped promo in there where he's Yeah, where he was him. He spoke French. It was great. I enjoyed it. I love this version of Okada. That's not gonna change, probably. then it was Mox and Kidd versus Doyle and Davis, and I think you summed it up really nicely.
Mm-hmm.
It's so goofy.
Yep.
No.
in the heat check, this is a really good match. Potential match of the night contender. I I can't believe I'm saying this. I liked Gabe Kidd in this. I like him and Mox together. I agree with you on that. I thought Davis and Doyle looked great. I was surprised they won, but of course we would find out the why of it. It was to get them a win to set up a match at WrestleMania. Well, it is at WrestleDream, right? Yeah.
my god.
Yep.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I believe so, yeah.
That's gonna be Davis and Mox for the Continental title, I believe. but also I don't have a problem. Like The Death Riders have been damn near invincible as it was anyway. I don't have a problem with them taking a loss here.
Right.
No, it's not gonna hurt them. They're fine. And I think this really showed and it it's something we I commented on and I think we talked about it last week in the the tribute to pack, is they need to lean into this face love they're getting. And I think they're doing that, and that could be the reason why The Conglomeration is showing heel tendencies because they they need to kind of fill that void and
No, no.
Yeah, I think I think they are, yeah.
Sure.
Flip the switch a little bit. And to be fair, if that's what they're doing with The Conglomeration, they needed a fresh coat of paint. And I like The Death Riders this way. I want to be able to cheer for them. And I agree. I thought Gabe Kidd, A, he looked better tonight because he wasn't doing quite as much goofy stuff. He was still but he was still headbutting everything. But the crowd ate him up. So I say lean into that. Let them be the face team that is still like.
I do too.
He was more subdued. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yeah.
when the when the Road Warriors were faces because you just couldn't hate them because they were so damn good. Let them do that. Let them take on Davis and Doyle. Let them take some lumps and come out, you know, I'm fine with that. I really liked this match. I thought this was a surprise all the way around. And I was surprised at the the the fact that Davis and Doyle won. So yeah, it was at that moment, I would have said match of the night.
Yeah.
Yes, same. Yeah, absolutely. yeah, I agree with everything you said there. so then it was the Nick Wayne promo that you missed. So basically what I liked here is it's it's all Nick Wayne and and it's pre recorded, which I think helped him a lot here. Basically his whole thing was, okay, so Jericho, you're telling me, you had 15 years of experience when I was born. Great. And you've done all this stuff. That's great.
I missed it.
And while I respect what you have done, I do not respect you. And then he was like, You telling you said that I remind you of you. So when you say that, what I hear is that I'm gonna be a nine time world champion, that I'm gonna do all these things that you did. And it starts with me beating you, is basically what the point of his promo was. I that's not verbatim, some of it was, but
That makes sense.
That's, you know, kind of my takeaway from it. And I went, That is exactly what this feud needed. Good job. And he's being the smarmy douchebag in it, you know. So
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Thank
Yeah. Did did did they interview the necklace?
He did not.
Yeah, well, lost to me. I'm back off.
Doug, I hate to break it to you, but I think that the necklace is just no longer with us. Yeah. It's yeah.
What?
So help me God if it shows up on the next WW WWE pay-per-view, I'm gonna be really upset.
I I I I think it's actually going to NXT. I believe they've signed it. They have given it a new name. It's no longer Puka Shell Necklace. Its new name is Bafo McGillicuddy.
Really okay.
Course it is.
And it will be wrestling for the NXT Championship next week. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Then it's there's really not. No, you're fine. That's good. I I've what it is is in my head I'm I'm trying to do like the WWE name generator now, but anyway.
Okay. That's a hell of a debut. Hell of a debut.
There is no good transition. I apologize. That's on me. That's on me. I apologize.
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
then it was time for Kyle Fletcher and Darby Allen for the TNT Championship, which was really good. my God, was it good?
Holy crap, dude. Holy crap. From the word go.
I I have so many notes. Fletcher yard darting Darby. Holy crap. And then that that Darby crossbody could have broken Fletcher literally in half. They could have replayed every Jim Ross saying, my God, he's broken him in half. Because he literally could have.
Off the off the turnbuckle into the timekeeper area, yeah.
Yep. Yes.
Also, I pro I wrote, shout out to the ring announcer for grabbing her beverage before the table carnage, because at one point there's a shot of her with her mic in her drink. Just made me laugh. In the the Darby 360 backdrop where he lands on his face? What?
Yeah, I mean, yeah.
The onto the announce table. Yeah, that was nuts. Yeah.
Yes. And then of course the the turnbuckle brain buster where I think he got busted hard way and he bled all over the place and they showed us too much in my humble opinion. And I don't really I'm not averse to that, but there's something about being seeing someone and then it's something about seeing someone bleed like that.
I think you did too.
Yeah.
I don't know, man. But God, I love that match. I thought it was great.
Yeah, I I thought it was great. It is I I've actually been going back and forth for a while now on if it's my match of the night. Cause I thought it was really good. Really, really good. excellent effort from those guys. then Queen Aminata did the French promo.
Okay. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
Yes, that mm, so good.
Which again, I'm I'm if you speak French, I'm sure it was great. I Okay. then she would fight Mercedes Moné for the women's world championship, which I thought was pretty good. I thought Queen Aminata actually came out looking really good in this one.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I thought that was a really good match.
I thought it did a lot for her and I think that they did a nice job of, you know, getting Mercedes in the ring, but also doing a pretty good job of protecting the broken nose. yeah, that was good. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. And yet still playing into that without sh being overtly shying away from it. I thought they did a great job on that. I also I wrote down that she's losing feathers like Darby was losing blood.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that was nuts. At one point, Queen Aminata had one like hanging from her mouth and just left it there. I was like, doesn't that bother you?
Yeah, that was so funny. I saw that and I was like, nope, she's leaving it But then of course Thekla came out looking like a damn champ, speared CEO. She was so good.
but I thought it was a good match. I thought they did a really good job.
Yep. Yep. Like I said, every like I said in the heat check, everything Thekla did there was great. looking forward to that match. I think it's gonna be good. I'm curious. I I gotta believe they're gonna keep it on Mercedes. But I'm not like I wouldn't bet on it. You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
That's a that's hard to call at this point. It really is. I would I would think you would want to keep it on her. Unless you're gonna look at the reaction Thekla's been getting and and give Mercedes an extra month or two off to heal better. I wouldn't be mad at that.
Yeah.
I would think so too. But
That's what I was gonna say, like
Yeah. That's what I was gonna say is yeah, the pops that Thekla's getting right now, it's kinda tough to keep the belt off her, in my opinion. But you know, you could just lean into it and do I'm not saying do a you know thousand some odd day title reign, but do what they did with Roman Reigns and go. You're not gonna it doesn't matter. You're it doesn't matter. You're not gonna win. It doesn't matter, you know. Doesn't matter how over you are.
Yeah man. She
Yep. Mm-hmm. Exactly.
then we got the New House video where they would set up the two out of three falls for the Trios belts at WrestleDream, which we talked about. We we talked about everything we need to with that. So And then it was main event time, Okada versus Ospreay for the men's world championship. And I needed a cigarette when it was over. Whew.
It was intense, man. Yeah.
It was it was really good. Of course it was good. It was always there was no way it wouldn't have been with those two guys. But sorta like, you know, with Bandido and Kofi, where I was like, I went into it with a high bar and I don't think they cleared it. I went into it with a high bar for these two guys and boy they cleared it.
Yeah. They just it's it's so fun to watch people that are performing at their level and just it doesn't matter what they do. It just looks so smooth, it looks so good. And I think we could agree Okada is not the Okada of ten years ago. But then again, who who no one is. But holy balls, that guy is still outperforming most people on any roster. He is that damn good.
I think the comparison Mike made on the All Out show is correct. I think he said this on the show. Okada at this point is basically like Nakamura when he came to NXT, where the strong style has put you in a position where you're not gonna you can't necessarily do the stuff that you did at your peak because working that Japanese strong style, like it takes it out of you, you know? And so he came here.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably for a little bit of a lighter schedule, probably for a little bit of, you know, my body's been through it and I can work a little bit easier here in the US, right? But just like when Nakamura went to NXT, still very much capable of pull of pulling out a banger, right? I think Okada's in a little bit better physical shape than maybe Shinsuke was when he went to NXT, but
Right. Mm-hmm.
yeah.
And I don't mean that from a like a physique standpoint. I mean that from a having had the shit beat out of you consistently for years standpoint, you know. I think Okada's maybe in a little bit of a better place than Shinsuke was when he came. but I mean some of the stuff he did on NXT was holy crap. But anyway, so I think you know Okada when he gets in the ring, it's always gonna be good. This was great.
Right from the Yes. Right. Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, this was amazing.
I I think it's I'm still a little torn. This is such a credit to Fletcher and Darby. I'm still a little torn, but I think this is probably my match of the night.
I
But I'm torn.
It might be my first ever co match of the night. I'm doing that. I'm leaning into that.
I you know what? I don't it's our rules, we can do what we want. So that's what I'm saying that's what mean. I they were great for different reasons and I think they both deserve match of the night status.
Well, I don't know how you pick between them. I really don't.
Yeah. I agree. We're doing it. Co match of the night. First time ever. Matches of the night. I said match of the night. That doesn't make sense when there's two of them.
Yep. And here and here's what I'll say. There
This this show, this Tuesday night, Wednesday Night Dynamite, could have been a pay-per-view for any other company with the level of matches they put on. Now, this is this is a quiz for you, Tim. Do you know how you can tell this was not an AEW pay-per-view?
Mm-hmm.
Ooh.
Because it didn't go eight hours. It was two hours. Well, they did a slight overrun, but but it was slight. Yeah. Yeah. It was two hours. Yeah. No, I mean this was a great match. I I gotta give them credit too. There were actually a couple points where I went, They're not gonna do it, are they? They're not gonna have Okada win, are they? And
It was two hours. That's it. That's it. But nothing like normal.
Mm-hmm.
Dude, there were a lot of really one, two, ooze, and they were, I felt the same way after we had about our fourth or fifth one. I was like, holy crap.
Mm-hmm.
When when Ospreay ate, if I if I recall correctly, he ate multiple Rainmakers in a row. And that was when I really went, my God, are they gonna do it? So really well done. Excellent job by those guys. and now we move on to WrestleDream, where there's gonna be I think eight guys and phases and the whole thing.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Think so.
And here's correct okay. Correct me if I'm wrong. Did Excalibur not say guaranteed to have a new champion at the end of that pay-per-view? Or did he just speak it weird? Because I could swear he said that.
He may have said it weird. I don't recall him saying that. He may have said it weird. Like there was something I picked up on with him tonight, and let me preface this with I think Excalibur is really good.
he's killing it right now.
I'm a big, big fan of his. I think that a lot of the issues that he was having when they first came on TV, which was primarily him talking too fast, I think he's worked a lot of that out. I think he does a great job. One of the things he's got to break the habit of is saying, and it is official, or and Tony Khan has made it official because he did that with, I believe it was with.
That's right.
Yes. Mm-hmm.
Yes. Yep.
When they announced the Continental Championship match for WrestleDream. And I'm like, you can't do that in that situation because there was no setup to it. It was just, okay, thanks to Mark Davis and Jake Doyle winning tonight. Now Mark Davis gets John Moxley at WrestleDream or whatever. And so, like, it made sense in the context of New House saying, two out of three falls at WrestleDream. Let's do it. Okay. Now you can say Antoni Khan has made it official, but he crutches on that.
Okay. Mm-hmm.
Right.
Yes. Yes. Yep.
And I I noticed that a l well, I noticed it at least more than once tonight. And I was like, man, he's gotta break that. So it could just be he phrased it weird on that. Cause I know they were talking about like, well, you could get a new champion. It's the same thing that you always get with the multi person championship match of you could get a new champion without him being involved in it. And I think what they were talking about
Yeah.
Right.
Is they were saying he could get eliminated before they go to the point system part, and then you would be guaranteed a new champion, but
He that I that may be. I may have missed the first part. I think it was during the Joe and Jack match that I heard it, but I could be misremembering the entire thing. But I thought for two seconds, it struck me enough where I was like, The hell did you just say? But
I don't know.
Mm.
Well, we're talking about
They were talking about like, well, you know, if Okada wins, then but I but then you still wouldn't be guaranteed a new champion at WrestleDream, so I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, doesn't matter.
True. Yeah. So i anyway, I do want to point out I have a quote of the night.
Ooh, hit me.
From Tony Schiavone. Everyone's going down here tonight.
I did catch that. Yeah.
Everybody's going down here tonight.
Yep. Every now and then I well, it's actually it usually happens about once a week where Tony says something and I'm like, phrasing. Phrasing Tony. Phrasing.
Yep. Now, here's how y here's how you know Taz was not on commentary because no one said anything.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Anywho, but we have, and that's what matters. That's what matters. So all right. So pretty good show tonight. I thought it was very good. I thought they did a nice job. Yeah. Thought they did a nice job getting back on track after obviously a really, really hard well, really hard couple of weeks, but a very hard week last week. And yeah, I I think
No one said anything.
That is what matters.
Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought it was great.
That, you know, we knew it was gonna be a sprint to WrestleDream anyway, but now it's really gonna be. So they'll make a lot of matches. I'm sure they'll make more for the pay-per-view on Saturday. They'll make a bunch next week, and then it'll be WrestleDream time and o'clockwork orange match. Anywho.
Right.
Yep, yep, yep.
If Orange Cassidy isn't in it, that's a crying shame.
Yeah. Now that you mention it, yeah. Yeah. But anyway, on that note, like, share, and subscribe when it comes to this show. It really does help us a lot if you could reveal Reve. If you could Reave five star reviews, that would be wonderful. One of those times I said that on purpose, you decide which one. That would really help us. share it with your friends. Bring them into the conversation.
Crying shame.
Everyone looks like
Yeah.
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Yeah.
Then it's the next week. It's the next week and then. Get regardless, get some in time for the pay-per-view. And if you have any willpower at all, which I do not, save some for the save some for the pay-per-view. Or don't. I don't care. It's your stuff. Eat it when you want. You bought it.
Yes, do that. Me neither.
Yeah. It's your life. You do what you want. so anyway, and with that
You wanna You wanna speak some French?
No. I was I was I was squelching a belch and I was really trying hard not to not to go go through with it.
Okay, that's good because
Okay. Well that's good 'cause I don't know any French, so
Mm. We
I know ratatouille.
It's a