![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Dynamite/Rampage (09.29.21/10.01.21)
CyberFight completely revamped the Wrestle Universe site and offered four months for the price of one, so I finally bit the bullet and have started paying for my first wrestling streaming service! My internal calculations between value/ease of use and my willingness to just pirate whatever the hell I want to are nebulous and ever-shifting, but c'mon, four whole months for 900 yen! Which I think is like ten bucks? I don't even pay anything until January! I can fill my fuckin' boots with all the Japanese wrestling I can handle for the rest of the year, and if I feel like I'm getting my money's worth, stick with it and add it to the growing pile of subscriptions that we're all steadily racking up in this OTT world of ours. They're really actively courting English-speaking audiences in a way that other Japanese promotions aren't, and also they basically offer four promotions in one, so as much as I'd like to get into NJPW and Stardom more than just idle dabbling via YouTube and the Roku Channel, Wrestle Universe is just a way better value.
So many streaming services, why can't I just be rich? Maybe I'll try to unload my half of the Netflix sub onto my mom, since I could take it or leave it.
Quick thoughts only this week, I am just procrastinating on doing chores.
They opened with the Brodie Lee memorial title card, so you know at the top it's gonna get emotional at SOME point, dang.
Jungle Boy vs. Adam Cole: Great, high energy opener; JB kicking out of the Panama Sunrise and still needing a low blow to be put down was fairly insane! The post-match was my favourite part though, it's still so surreal seeing Adam back with the Elite, back with his friends after all these years. I can't wait for him to ruin them!!
Andrade challenging the Lucha Brothers to defend their AAA titles is a fun change of pace for this oddly aimless feud, and it's got me interested enough to wonder what kind of tag partner he'll come up with. PAC HAD BETTER STAY LOYAL TO THEM.
Dante Martin & Matt Sydal vs. Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson: Of all the ways I thought this could go, all leading to the proper Cody heel turn that we all crave whether we know it or not, 'Arn Anderson calls Cody a little bitch and tells him that he would straight up murder a man in cold blood' was PRETTY FAR DOWN THE LIST, but it was delightful nonetheless. I am still living for the damn memes it spawned (which reminds me that I still have to watch the new Botchamania). Also he was totally right about the way Cody just fucking ditched his alleged family to get systematically murdered by Malakai for weeks on end FUCK CODY ALL MY HOMIES HATE CODY (I do not hate Cody, his time as the perfect cream-faced business boy of AEW is just loooooong over).
Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley & Darby Allin vs. Bear Country & Anthony Greene: Look, I will never complain about an opportunity to see Moxie in action, but this wasn't even announced until the top of the show and it furthered absolutely nothing; they absolutely could have put another goddamn women's match here instead.
Dark Order & Orange Cassidy vs. H.F.O.: A SIXTEEN-MAN MATCH. THAT IS SO MANY MANS, YOU GUYS. Obviously, it was mostly chaos, but oh my god, when Uno tried to abandon the rest of Dark Order and AMANDA FUCKING HUBER came out with TayJay and -1 to knock some sense into him, I absolutely lost my shit. Imagine being widowed for less than a year with two small sons and having to walk out in front of a giant rowdy New York crowd to yell at your husband's coworkers because they won't get along; what a colossal fucking badass she is, both in and out of kayfabe. Hopefully Dark Order's rifts are healed for keeps after this. Also I really like 10's new mask and hope he keeps it.
Lio Rush promo! Remember Lio? The guy who debuted at Double or Nothing and then immediately retired for the second time? He's unretired again! And sporting some kind of... crypto-bro gimmick, maybe? Not sure what that's all about, but maybe he can poach Private Party from the H.F.O., they've really kinda gotten lost in the shuffle of the big amorphous blob of a faction that the H.F.O. has become.
FTR promo that I have already forgotten. Dan Lambert promo, and seriously, fuck this shit. At least Ethan and Scorpio got to talk this time, which only drove home the point that they really don't need this asshole. And then SHIDA SHOWS UP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FUCKING MONTHS TO SAVE ME, THANK FUCK. AEW's longest-reigning champion and she just fucking disappeared from television the instant she dropped the belt, what absolute bullshit that was.
Penelope Ford & The Bunny vs. Tay Conti & Anna Jay: Murder Girlfriends vs. Goth Sunshine Girlfriends: The Thrilling Conclusion. I like that they found a way to give every member of Dark Order a win this week without having that be the entire card; just CRAM 'EM ALL INTO TWO MATCHES.
Fantastic MJF promo here; really well structured with the 'four pillar' angle and he got off a lot of genuinely funny digs. School shooter mime on a skateboard! And bringing back Darby's dead drunk uncle backstory was fun. Wardlow? Still handsome.
Miro (c) vs. Sammy Guevara for the AEW TNT Championship: AND NEW!!! It really felt like this match could go either way, I love that the TNT belt keeps switching hands on random episodes of Dynamite. That's totally how it should be (being named after the TV station, after all), and it makes the changes way more unpredictable. Like, if this match had happened last week at Grand Slam, Sammy's odds would have felt way higher to me? But instead they put it here, continuing to cement the TNT title as a big part of Brodie's legacy, which is really nice. FUEGO HAS BEEN AVENGED~~~~
Nick Jackson vs. Bryan Danielson: This didn't fuck quiiiiiite as hard as I was hoping it would when it was announced, but it still fucked quite a bit! It also, however, reminded me that it's only the fourth Danielson match I've ever seen, and the first one was the infamous fucking DDT4 match that Matt Jackson can't even go back and rewatch over a decade later because of how traumatic and upsetting it was for them, which isn't a GREAT thing to be reminded of. They're cool enough about it now to joke about it on twitter, though, so it's probably fine. Anyway, Adam screaming out for Kenny to save him in the post-match scrumbling with Jurassic Express et al was fucking f r a u g h t
Fantaaaaaaastic, cinematic Ricky Starks promo, and I am really to the point of hoping he beats the shit out of Cage clean this time around, really rub that FTW belt in his face. The CM Punk promo that followed was honestly kinda forgettable in comparison.
Jade Cargill vs. Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa: How do I ALWAYS forget that three-way matches are automatically no DQ until suddenly there's a trash can in the ring? This was a fun showcase for three dominant ladies, but I haaaaated the ending; Jade putting my girl Thunder Rosa down with those weak-ass-looking chair shots like she didn't go through a fucking lights out WAR with Britt back in March? Nah, fuck that noise. I'm guessing this is to set Jade up as Britt's opponent for Full Gear (Rosa having to slide down the ranks in the process because she's been #1 for so long) so that Rosa can rally back to the top and be the one to take her down at Revolution, so it'll be worth it eventually, but I still hate it and am officially over Jade's extremely green ass getting this monster push just because she looks amazing.
Amazing Malakai Black promo (they are all amazing) where he just says he's bored of Cody's shit and is moving the fuck on, YOU LOVE TO SEE IT. And then Bobby Fish is gonna be Sammy's first title defense, I think he's one of the last round of WWE release guys? Anyway, this ladder match they are announcing for next week is fucking STACKED, and if Hangman's not the joker, I riot (it's not gonna be him, sob).
Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans in a Hair vs. Hair Match: This whole thing was absolute fucking nonsense from beginning to end. Largely entertaining nonsense, but nonsense. Chuck and Yuta came out in li'l barber smocks and Kris had a towel swan. Everyone from the Dynamite sixteen-man match was also there. They put a big fake mustache on -1 and the show ended with everyone hugging him while Jack's entire faction abandoned him (only Angelico even TRIED to go help, although Marq Quen seemed fairly appalled with the decision (BUY OUT THAT CONTRACT, LIO)) and he had his head shaved all alone. NONSENSE.
I think my favourite thing about what Dark Order has become is the giant gulf between what Brodie Lee the character would think of it and what Jon Huber the man would hopefully think of it if he could see how happy it makes his kid in what has to be the toughest year of his life so far. Brodie would so fuckin' disgusted by them all and how wholesome they are, though. XD
I should get a Dark Order icon.
Oh my god it's 4:20 in the morning why am I not tired yet???
So many streaming services, why can't I just be rich? Maybe I'll try to unload my half of the Netflix sub onto my mom, since I could take it or leave it.
Quick thoughts only this week, I am just procrastinating on doing chores.
They opened with the Brodie Lee memorial title card, so you know at the top it's gonna get emotional at SOME point, dang.
Jungle Boy vs. Adam Cole: Great, high energy opener; JB kicking out of the Panama Sunrise and still needing a low blow to be put down was fairly insane! The post-match was my favourite part though, it's still so surreal seeing Adam back with the Elite, back with his friends after all these years. I can't wait for him to ruin them!!
Andrade challenging the Lucha Brothers to defend their AAA titles is a fun change of pace for this oddly aimless feud, and it's got me interested enough to wonder what kind of tag partner he'll come up with. PAC HAD BETTER STAY LOYAL TO THEM.
Dante Martin & Matt Sydal vs. Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson: Of all the ways I thought this could go, all leading to the proper Cody heel turn that we all crave whether we know it or not, 'Arn Anderson calls Cody a little bitch and tells him that he would straight up murder a man in cold blood' was PRETTY FAR DOWN THE LIST, but it was delightful nonetheless. I am still living for the damn memes it spawned (which reminds me that I still have to watch the new Botchamania). Also he was totally right about the way Cody just fucking ditched his alleged family to get systematically murdered by Malakai for weeks on end FUCK CODY ALL MY HOMIES HATE CODY (I do not hate Cody, his time as the perfect cream-faced business boy of AEW is just loooooong over).
Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley & Darby Allin vs. Bear Country & Anthony Greene: Look, I will never complain about an opportunity to see Moxie in action, but this wasn't even announced until the top of the show and it furthered absolutely nothing; they absolutely could have put another goddamn women's match here instead.
Dark Order & Orange Cassidy vs. H.F.O.: A SIXTEEN-MAN MATCH. THAT IS SO MANY MANS, YOU GUYS. Obviously, it was mostly chaos, but oh my god, when Uno tried to abandon the rest of Dark Order and AMANDA FUCKING HUBER came out with TayJay and -1 to knock some sense into him, I absolutely lost my shit. Imagine being widowed for less than a year with two small sons and having to walk out in front of a giant rowdy New York crowd to yell at your husband's coworkers because they won't get along; what a colossal fucking badass she is, both in and out of kayfabe. Hopefully Dark Order's rifts are healed for keeps after this. Also I really like 10's new mask and hope he keeps it.
Lio Rush promo! Remember Lio? The guy who debuted at Double or Nothing and then immediately retired for the second time? He's unretired again! And sporting some kind of... crypto-bro gimmick, maybe? Not sure what that's all about, but maybe he can poach Private Party from the H.F.O., they've really kinda gotten lost in the shuffle of the big amorphous blob of a faction that the H.F.O. has become.
FTR promo that I have already forgotten. Dan Lambert promo, and seriously, fuck this shit. At least Ethan and Scorpio got to talk this time, which only drove home the point that they really don't need this asshole. And then SHIDA SHOWS UP FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FUCKING MONTHS TO SAVE ME, THANK FUCK. AEW's longest-reigning champion and she just fucking disappeared from television the instant she dropped the belt, what absolute bullshit that was.
Penelope Ford & The Bunny vs. Tay Conti & Anna Jay: Murder Girlfriends vs. Goth Sunshine Girlfriends: The Thrilling Conclusion. I like that they found a way to give every member of Dark Order a win this week without having that be the entire card; just CRAM 'EM ALL INTO TWO MATCHES.
Fantastic MJF promo here; really well structured with the 'four pillar' angle and he got off a lot of genuinely funny digs. School shooter mime on a skateboard! And bringing back Darby's dead drunk uncle backstory was fun. Wardlow? Still handsome.
Miro (c) vs. Sammy Guevara for the AEW TNT Championship: AND NEW!!! It really felt like this match could go either way, I love that the TNT belt keeps switching hands on random episodes of Dynamite. That's totally how it should be (being named after the TV station, after all), and it makes the changes way more unpredictable. Like, if this match had happened last week at Grand Slam, Sammy's odds would have felt way higher to me? But instead they put it here, continuing to cement the TNT title as a big part of Brodie's legacy, which is really nice. FUEGO HAS BEEN AVENGED~~~~
Nick Jackson vs. Bryan Danielson: This didn't fuck quiiiiiite as hard as I was hoping it would when it was announced, but it still fucked quite a bit! It also, however, reminded me that it's only the fourth Danielson match I've ever seen, and the first one was the infamous fucking DDT4 match that Matt Jackson can't even go back and rewatch over a decade later because of how traumatic and upsetting it was for them, which isn't a GREAT thing to be reminded of. They're cool enough about it now to joke about it on twitter, though, so it's probably fine. Anyway, Adam screaming out for Kenny to save him in the post-match scrumbling with Jurassic Express et al was fucking f r a u g h t
Fantaaaaaaastic, cinematic Ricky Starks promo, and I am really to the point of hoping he beats the shit out of Cage clean this time around, really rub that FTW belt in his face. The CM Punk promo that followed was honestly kinda forgettable in comparison.
Jade Cargill vs. Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa: How do I ALWAYS forget that three-way matches are automatically no DQ until suddenly there's a trash can in the ring? This was a fun showcase for three dominant ladies, but I haaaaated the ending; Jade putting my girl Thunder Rosa down with those weak-ass-looking chair shots like she didn't go through a fucking lights out WAR with Britt back in March? Nah, fuck that noise. I'm guessing this is to set Jade up as Britt's opponent for Full Gear (Rosa having to slide down the ranks in the process because she's been #1 for so long) so that Rosa can rally back to the top and be the one to take her down at Revolution, so it'll be worth it eventually, but I still hate it and am officially over Jade's extremely green ass getting this monster push just because she looks amazing.
Amazing Malakai Black promo (they are all amazing) where he just says he's bored of Cody's shit and is moving the fuck on, YOU LOVE TO SEE IT. And then Bobby Fish is gonna be Sammy's first title defense, I think he's one of the last round of WWE release guys? Anyway, this ladder match they are announcing for next week is fucking STACKED, and if Hangman's not the joker, I riot (it's not gonna be him, sob).
Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans in a Hair vs. Hair Match: This whole thing was absolute fucking nonsense from beginning to end. Largely entertaining nonsense, but nonsense. Chuck and Yuta came out in li'l barber smocks and Kris had a towel swan. Everyone from the Dynamite sixteen-man match was also there. They put a big fake mustache on -1 and the show ended with everyone hugging him while Jack's entire faction abandoned him (only Angelico even TRIED to go help, although Marq Quen seemed fairly appalled with the decision (BUY OUT THAT CONTRACT, LIO)) and he had his head shaved all alone. NONSENSE.
I think my favourite thing about what Dark Order has become is the giant gulf between what Brodie Lee the character would think of it and what Jon Huber the man would hopefully think of it if he could see how happy it makes his kid in what has to be the toughest year of his life so far. Brodie would so fuckin' disgusted by them all and how wholesome they are, though. XD
I should get a Dark Order icon.
Oh my god it's 4:20 in the morning why am I not tired yet???