![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Rampage/Dynamite (10.22.21/10.23.21)
It has been RAINING! Off and on all day! RAINING! In October! It's very COLD rain, admittedly, but still! Madness!
Was saved from myself by Skip the Dishes being a real bitch and not wanting to bring me my horrible cheesy dough balls in a reasonable time frame, I have been eating TERRIBLY over the last few days. Fate stepping in! In the most annoying way possible!
Wrestling has successfully made the weekend fly by, as I had hoped it would. Onto the home stretch!
Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Man, I wish they hadn't already set up Orange vs. Mox so much, there were a lot of moments in this match that had me feeling it could go either way and that kinda removed all doubt. The way they played up Orange's injured ribs from the ladder match! Would have totally protected him if he lost! Which he doesn't really need anyway, his whole gimmick means it's not a big deal when he loses, but they seem intent on keeping Orange as a top guy, so SHRUG. Was not a fan of the screwy finish, I'm guessing they did it to protect Hobbs, but unless he can follow it up with a win down the line or something, it just feels kinda pointless and lame. Also oh my god end the Matt Hardy feud already, PLEASE.
It takes so much to get me genuinely worked up over heels doing heel things, but apparently beating on Alex Abrahantes is my LINE IN THE SAND, I got SO UPSET when FTR went after him, LIKE!! I'M HEATED!! LEAVE THE GOOD GOOD QVC MAN ALONE HE IS LIVING HIS BEST LIFE OUT THERE!!! ;______; (look at him, though, from interviewer and spanish commentator to full time translator/manager for the tag champs, taking bumps like a trooper and switching from heel to face on a dime, so proud of himmmm)
Britt Baker vs. Anna Jay: This got six whole minutes, with a commercial break in the middle. Fucking WEAK. Still, nice to see Anna continuing to knock off the ring rust, she's still so young and inexperienced and to have had to take all that time off must have suuuuuucked. This was a solid match for what it was, though I really hated how long Baker was able to just push through repeated Queenslayers while her own submission finish remains a fucking insta-kill. Looks like they're setting up Britt vs. Tay for the title, probably at Full Gear? That... could kick ass, hopefully Dark Order comes out to support her as well as Hangman if that's the case.
TBS title tournament bracket announced! Once again, the lack of ongoing storylines in the women's division makes for a much more interesting, unpredictable tournament than the men get, which is kinda funny. I have no clue which way it's gonna go! None of the first round matchup outcomes feel super obvious, save Ford/Soho. And beyond that, I'm just like ??? Kris vs. Ford, probably Ford? Shida/Deeb, the only showdown we KNEW was coming, being in the first round is CRAZY. Deeb was my pick to win the whole thing before this, but would they really have Shida lose to her twice in a row, STILL failing to pick up her 50th?? The winner faces Nyla, though, and we've already seen her and Shida fight each other plenty, so??? Velvet vs. Bunny, Velvet is obviously my pick, but feeding her to Jade AGAIN?? Unless bringing that feud back is where they pull the trigger on giving Jade her first loss, angering the entire internet who want her to go on some Goldberg streak even though she's been wrestling for like a year??? Ugh, she had better not win the whole thing. Jade/Rosa would be a pretty intense semifinal matchup, though, and maybe Rosa ending the streak is another link in the chain towards her being world champion, instead. They could put it in the Full Gear buy-in or something (since two women's matches on the actual card still feels like a stretch, ugh) so Jade's first loss still feels like a big deal? Guessing Jamie beats Anna, leading to her face Rosa, and then Rosa can beat her, furthering her long-running angle with Britt? But if she's still the chosen one to topple Britt, she'll have to lose this tournament, the two women's titles should NOT overlap like that. Maybe Rosa/Ruby for the final?? With Ruby the inaugural champ??? And Rosa gunning for Britt at Revolution in the aftermath??? Or my gut was right and Deeb beats Shida and then Ruby in the semis (Ruby storming into AEW and winning both the casino battle royale and then this would be a bit much) so we get a rematch between her and Rosa in the final? And then Rosa can go straight from one of her OG AEW grudge feuds with a belt on the line to the other? SO MANY OPTIONS. And they're starting the tournament early enough that all of the matches should at least get to be on TV this time, jfc. FUCK YOU, AEW, YOU GIVE THE WOMEN NEXT TO NO TIME, I WILL RAMBLE ABOUT THEM THE LONGEST OUT OF SPITE.
PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo: REMATCH! Oh, this was so good. I'm not sure if I'm quite up to 'fight forever' territory with these two, but they clearly trust each other a LOT to go for a lot of the crazy shit they were pulling in this fight, and it made for a great main event as a result. Tons of brutal-looking spots, but what struck me was how... clever so many of them were? This was not a fight built around what looks the coolest, this was two guys playing a very violent chess game with their bodies and it ruled. Andrade has looked better with every single match I've seen from him, I think it's safe to say he has finally figured out how his big beefy build works at this point and can do a lot more with it, with a lot more confidence. AND THEN THAT ENDING! The lights went out and I was like 'Malakai? But he's got his thing with Cody right now, why would he come out for this?' and the lights came on and said to me 'who gives a shit he rules MOAR MALAKAI' and I replied 'YES PLEASE' and it was DELIGHTFUL. I guess he's gonna team up with Andrade now?? Sure why not!! And then Arn came out and did a shooty gun finger at Malakai and it was the funniest shit ever and while I don't love Cody coming out to do the big babyface hero spot, the way he ripped his fucking shirt open while screaming and brandishing a chair gave me BIG horny anime villain Cody vibes, so MY HOPES CONTINUE TO THRIVE. BEAT HIS ASS ALL THE WAY TO THE DARK SIDE, MALAKAI, COME ON, I BELIEVE IN YOU.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bryan Danielson (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Really solid showing for one of the more obvious matchups in this tournament, they got a ton of time to play, Dustin looked better than he has in at least a year, ANOTHER unique finisher from Danielson (he has yet to end two matches the same way and it rules), just good stuff all around, a nice surprise from what felt like an underwhelming opener!
And then Kenny cut a promo on Hangman and it hurt my heart a lot. :( At least the Elite'll be dressing up for Halloween this year, I was sad when they skipped the tradition in 2020.
FTR holding the AAA titles remains EXTREMELY surreal, they are the least fucking lucha guys on the roster, but it's fun! But then Penta and Alex cut a promo on them and ALEX'S FACE WAS ALL BRUISED and I got SO UPSET BY IT why am I so soft for him I just want him to be happy
Big faceoff between MJF and Sting, and this Darby feud has really been the most effective use of both men that I've seen them get in a WHILE, I tend to find both very tedious for very different reasons, but this was hard hitting (even if the Lex Luger wheelchair reference was lame cheap heat). MJF cradling Sting's unconscious head while screaming into the camera for an hour? Strangely erotic. Wardlow? Still handsome.
Kind of a boilerplate Britt promo on Tay, though it's nice to see how good she's gotten on the mic that she can just start phoning these in a bit. Also she talks about Tay's ass a lot (it is a very good ass). Title shot for Tay at Full Gear! Good for her!!
Penelope Ford vs. Ruby Soho (TBS Championship Tournament): Starting with one of the more obvious matchups, I'm cool with that. Mostly it was just sad how excited I got not to see this match buried in the pre-main event slot! They got about nine minutes, enough to really go, and when the Bunny skipped in, I got a little worried that they were gonna have another fucky finish like with Orange/Hobbs, but this wasn't too bad and par for the course with Penelope. The Red Velvet run-in at the end was way too predictable, just the laziest of setups for her upcoming tournament match, but I still enjoy seeing random ladies team up, so. You could call them Ruby Red!
AND THEN WARDLOW CALLED OUT MJF FOR THE SHIT HE PULLED LAST WEEK!!! MY WIFE IS FINALLY GONNA TURN ON HIM AND BREAK FREE!!!! Not anytime too soon, necessarily, but OH, IT'S COMIN' AND I CAN'T WAIT!! Maybe at this year's Dynamite Diamond? MJF can't win that shit three years in a row. Also, Spears' little "heyyy" to Wardlow after MJF assigns him as Wardlow's new accountibilibuddy made me laugh VERY hard.
Anthony Greene vs. Bobby Fish: Just a quick little job to set up Fish vs. Punk, apparently! Damn, Fish is getting a lot of exposure right off the bat. Good for Anthony Greene, getting an opportunity like this though; his dark match against FTR with that cancelled Stallion guy was one of the highlights of the first set of Universal tapings.
Man, I cannot figure out what the hell Lio is doing week to week, apparently now he and Dante are gonna team up AGAINST the Sydals? Still, it'll be nice to see him actually wrestle a match in AEW, and I've been wondering where Mike's been for a while now. Also, this clearly seems to be setting up an angle for Darius' return, whenever that's gonna be, which is nice. This should kick ass!
Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Aaaaagh, so conflicted. This match was so good and extremely sexy in a 'wrestling makes you hot for dudes you would NOT have been a year ago' kind of way and it's so cool how they've kinda flipped alignments since they feuded a year ago but not entirely??? Like the way Eddie would just keep slipping eye pokes into the middle of his brutal chop assaults (Lance's CHEST, fuck) and I loved it so much and then Lance landed on the TOP OF HIS FUCKING HEAD after a botched moonsault and AAAHHH. I was terrified until they aired a replay and I could see that he did at least get his hands up somewhat so as not to break... everything from the spine up THE MAN WEIGHS ALMOST 300 POUNDS, but still, FUCK. I really loved it up until then, though, and the fact that he could get back in the ring for Eddie to pin him and then walk out unassisted is a good sign. WHATEVER, EVERYTHING INTENTIONAL ABOUT THIS MATCH WAS GREAT.
And then it's Inner Circle/Top Team time, and it still fucking sucks, so I just zoned out and thought about Lance and Eddie some more. At least Ethan/Sammy should be a good match, shame that it's only happening as a part of this whole trash plotline. And then Mox cut a very sweet promo where he didn't call his baby daughter crazy this time, and that's called character growth.
AND THEN HANGMAN FINALLY REUNITED WITH DARK ORDER!! Gosh, I missed those dorks all interacting. I think my two favourite beats here were A) Hangman apologizing for keeping his distance, really putting in the effort to repair his relationships as he goes now, BEFORE things get bad, and B) the way he still hasn't actually said anything negative about the Elite, even as Kenny calls him a coward and disparages their year together as a team; he just talks about them like his old friends who aren't in his life anymore (this time, just to tell Dark Order that he knows the Elite will definitely be dressing up for their Halloween show match so they should start planning costumes, too). IT'S ALL SO FUCKING WHOLESOME.
Jungle Boy vs. Brandon Cutler: A fun squash to further the Young Bucks/Jurassic Express angle. I wonder if there's anything to the fact that Adam was the one to show up to help Brandon first; was he just a distraction for the Bucks to get in there for the superkick party, or does he just... care more? As the new guy on the block, less corrupted by Don's bullshit (the way the Bucks were hyping up Kenny earlier in the show was VERY Callistic). Either way, as much as I am enjoying wacky Waluigi stooge Brandon while the Heelite run rampant, I do hope we get good good dragon boy Brandon back one day.
God, Miro is so good at making the most of these little random 90-second promos. GOD'S FORSAKEN CHAMPION.
Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes: Oh boy, I have shit to unpack with this one. First of all, a very solid match, if kinda weird and overbooked in the middle (why was Arn just hanging out in the ring for so long? Jose is not nearly as effective a bullet as Cody was the other night! PAC and Andrade still need their rubber match! Brock and Lee are back on Cody's side now?), right up until the fucking inevitable bullshit lol cody wins conclusion.
HOWEVER.
The more I think about it, the more I don't hate it. I don't LIKE it, I really wanted Malakai to go 3-0 against him, but I don't hate it. There is a LOT more nuance here than all the people boggling at the fact that Cody's still trying to be a face seem to notice or give credit for. I think the problem is that people are still expecting Cody to turn heel, when I think what we're seeing already IS heel Cody. Like, there's no way they didn't know what kind of reception he'd get in this match; yeah, people popped for him at the end of the show last week, but Florida fucking loves his Amurrca schtick, they KNOW it doesn't hold up on the road, and they KNOW people were really fucking rooting for Malakai here. And he leaned into the flag bullshit in his titantron, and he wore the same gear he wore before beating Ogogo (another ostensible bad guy that people nevertheless wanted to see beat Cody's ass), like... he KNOWS. And the way he just chucked the weight belt into the crowd was a far cry from how he's been lovingly handing it to some special needs fan in the front row for ages now. People are expecting him to suddenly make an evil face or hit a Cross Rhodes on Arn to signal an alignment shift and I think it's gonna be more subtle than that. He IS the bad guy here, he's the guy the crowds love to hate (oh my GOD this crowd was on FIRE during this match, those 'FUCK YOU CODY' chants came through loud and clear on TV), and just because Cody Rhodes the CHARACTER isn't doing it on purpose and still thinks he's the hero of his own story doesn't mean that it isn't VERY intentional. The way he teased the Pedigree at the end before putting away his hottest, toughest rival with a fucking TIGER DRIVER? After running through all of his ACTUAL current finishers?? It's all to get heat and it's working! People hate him more than MJF! He knows exactly what he's doing! He's working everybody! And if Cody's the villain...
...then that means Malakai won the match after all. Because that was his whooooooole goal here. And that's fucking art.
PS: Haven't even watched Bound for Glory yet, but Impact did Josh Alexander DIRTY. I hope he goes somewhere that deserves him when his contract is up.
Was saved from myself by Skip the Dishes being a real bitch and not wanting to bring me my horrible cheesy dough balls in a reasonable time frame, I have been eating TERRIBLY over the last few days. Fate stepping in! In the most annoying way possible!
Wrestling has successfully made the weekend fly by, as I had hoped it would. Onto the home stretch!
Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Man, I wish they hadn't already set up Orange vs. Mox so much, there were a lot of moments in this match that had me feeling it could go either way and that kinda removed all doubt. The way they played up Orange's injured ribs from the ladder match! Would have totally protected him if he lost! Which he doesn't really need anyway, his whole gimmick means it's not a big deal when he loses, but they seem intent on keeping Orange as a top guy, so SHRUG. Was not a fan of the screwy finish, I'm guessing they did it to protect Hobbs, but unless he can follow it up with a win down the line or something, it just feels kinda pointless and lame. Also oh my god end the Matt Hardy feud already, PLEASE.
It takes so much to get me genuinely worked up over heels doing heel things, but apparently beating on Alex Abrahantes is my LINE IN THE SAND, I got SO UPSET when FTR went after him, LIKE!! I'M HEATED!! LEAVE THE GOOD GOOD QVC MAN ALONE HE IS LIVING HIS BEST LIFE OUT THERE!!! ;______; (look at him, though, from interviewer and spanish commentator to full time translator/manager for the tag champs, taking bumps like a trooper and switching from heel to face on a dime, so proud of himmmm)
Britt Baker vs. Anna Jay: This got six whole minutes, with a commercial break in the middle. Fucking WEAK. Still, nice to see Anna continuing to knock off the ring rust, she's still so young and inexperienced and to have had to take all that time off must have suuuuuucked. This was a solid match for what it was, though I really hated how long Baker was able to just push through repeated Queenslayers while her own submission finish remains a fucking insta-kill. Looks like they're setting up Britt vs. Tay for the title, probably at Full Gear? That... could kick ass, hopefully Dark Order comes out to support her as well as Hangman if that's the case.
TBS title tournament bracket announced! Once again, the lack of ongoing storylines in the women's division makes for a much more interesting, unpredictable tournament than the men get, which is kinda funny. I have no clue which way it's gonna go! None of the first round matchup outcomes feel super obvious, save Ford/Soho. And beyond that, I'm just like ??? Kris vs. Ford, probably Ford? Shida/Deeb, the only showdown we KNEW was coming, being in the first round is CRAZY. Deeb was my pick to win the whole thing before this, but would they really have Shida lose to her twice in a row, STILL failing to pick up her 50th?? The winner faces Nyla, though, and we've already seen her and Shida fight each other plenty, so??? Velvet vs. Bunny, Velvet is obviously my pick, but feeding her to Jade AGAIN?? Unless bringing that feud back is where they pull the trigger on giving Jade her first loss, angering the entire internet who want her to go on some Goldberg streak even though she's been wrestling for like a year??? Ugh, she had better not win the whole thing. Jade/Rosa would be a pretty intense semifinal matchup, though, and maybe Rosa ending the streak is another link in the chain towards her being world champion, instead. They could put it in the Full Gear buy-in or something (since two women's matches on the actual card still feels like a stretch, ugh) so Jade's first loss still feels like a big deal? Guessing Jamie beats Anna, leading to her face Rosa, and then Rosa can beat her, furthering her long-running angle with Britt? But if she's still the chosen one to topple Britt, she'll have to lose this tournament, the two women's titles should NOT overlap like that. Maybe Rosa/Ruby for the final?? With Ruby the inaugural champ??? And Rosa gunning for Britt at Revolution in the aftermath??? Or my gut was right and Deeb beats Shida and then Ruby in the semis (Ruby storming into AEW and winning both the casino battle royale and then this would be a bit much) so we get a rematch between her and Rosa in the final? And then Rosa can go straight from one of her OG AEW grudge feuds with a belt on the line to the other? SO MANY OPTIONS. And they're starting the tournament early enough that all of the matches should at least get to be on TV this time, jfc. FUCK YOU, AEW, YOU GIVE THE WOMEN NEXT TO NO TIME, I WILL RAMBLE ABOUT THEM THE LONGEST OUT OF SPITE.
PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo: REMATCH! Oh, this was so good. I'm not sure if I'm quite up to 'fight forever' territory with these two, but they clearly trust each other a LOT to go for a lot of the crazy shit they were pulling in this fight, and it made for a great main event as a result. Tons of brutal-looking spots, but what struck me was how... clever so many of them were? This was not a fight built around what looks the coolest, this was two guys playing a very violent chess game with their bodies and it ruled. Andrade has looked better with every single match I've seen from him, I think it's safe to say he has finally figured out how his big beefy build works at this point and can do a lot more with it, with a lot more confidence. AND THEN THAT ENDING! The lights went out and I was like 'Malakai? But he's got his thing with Cody right now, why would he come out for this?' and the lights came on and said to me 'who gives a shit he rules MOAR MALAKAI' and I replied 'YES PLEASE' and it was DELIGHTFUL. I guess he's gonna team up with Andrade now?? Sure why not!! And then Arn came out and did a shooty gun finger at Malakai and it was the funniest shit ever and while I don't love Cody coming out to do the big babyface hero spot, the way he ripped his fucking shirt open while screaming and brandishing a chair gave me BIG horny anime villain Cody vibes, so MY HOPES CONTINUE TO THRIVE. BEAT HIS ASS ALL THE WAY TO THE DARK SIDE, MALAKAI, COME ON, I BELIEVE IN YOU.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bryan Danielson (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Really solid showing for one of the more obvious matchups in this tournament, they got a ton of time to play, Dustin looked better than he has in at least a year, ANOTHER unique finisher from Danielson (he has yet to end two matches the same way and it rules), just good stuff all around, a nice surprise from what felt like an underwhelming opener!
And then Kenny cut a promo on Hangman and it hurt my heart a lot. :( At least the Elite'll be dressing up for Halloween this year, I was sad when they skipped the tradition in 2020.
FTR holding the AAA titles remains EXTREMELY surreal, they are the least fucking lucha guys on the roster, but it's fun! But then Penta and Alex cut a promo on them and ALEX'S FACE WAS ALL BRUISED and I got SO UPSET BY IT why am I so soft for him I just want him to be happy
Big faceoff between MJF and Sting, and this Darby feud has really been the most effective use of both men that I've seen them get in a WHILE, I tend to find both very tedious for very different reasons, but this was hard hitting (even if the Lex Luger wheelchair reference was lame cheap heat). MJF cradling Sting's unconscious head while screaming into the camera for an hour? Strangely erotic. Wardlow? Still handsome.
Kind of a boilerplate Britt promo on Tay, though it's nice to see how good she's gotten on the mic that she can just start phoning these in a bit. Also she talks about Tay's ass a lot (it is a very good ass). Title shot for Tay at Full Gear! Good for her!!
Penelope Ford vs. Ruby Soho (TBS Championship Tournament): Starting with one of the more obvious matchups, I'm cool with that. Mostly it was just sad how excited I got not to see this match buried in the pre-main event slot! They got about nine minutes, enough to really go, and when the Bunny skipped in, I got a little worried that they were gonna have another fucky finish like with Orange/Hobbs, but this wasn't too bad and par for the course with Penelope. The Red Velvet run-in at the end was way too predictable, just the laziest of setups for her upcoming tournament match, but I still enjoy seeing random ladies team up, so. You could call them Ruby Red!
AND THEN WARDLOW CALLED OUT MJF FOR THE SHIT HE PULLED LAST WEEK!!! MY WIFE IS FINALLY GONNA TURN ON HIM AND BREAK FREE!!!! Not anytime too soon, necessarily, but OH, IT'S COMIN' AND I CAN'T WAIT!! Maybe at this year's Dynamite Diamond? MJF can't win that shit three years in a row. Also, Spears' little "heyyy" to Wardlow after MJF assigns him as Wardlow's new accountibilibuddy made me laugh VERY hard.
Anthony Greene vs. Bobby Fish: Just a quick little job to set up Fish vs. Punk, apparently! Damn, Fish is getting a lot of exposure right off the bat. Good for Anthony Greene, getting an opportunity like this though; his dark match against FTR with that cancelled Stallion guy was one of the highlights of the first set of Universal tapings.
Man, I cannot figure out what the hell Lio is doing week to week, apparently now he and Dante are gonna team up AGAINST the Sydals? Still, it'll be nice to see him actually wrestle a match in AEW, and I've been wondering where Mike's been for a while now. Also, this clearly seems to be setting up an angle for Darius' return, whenever that's gonna be, which is nice. This should kick ass!
Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston (World Title Eliminator Tournament): Aaaaagh, so conflicted. This match was so good and extremely sexy in a 'wrestling makes you hot for dudes you would NOT have been a year ago' kind of way and it's so cool how they've kinda flipped alignments since they feuded a year ago but not entirely??? Like the way Eddie would just keep slipping eye pokes into the middle of his brutal chop assaults (Lance's CHEST, fuck) and I loved it so much and then Lance landed on the TOP OF HIS FUCKING HEAD after a botched moonsault and AAAHHH. I was terrified until they aired a replay and I could see that he did at least get his hands up somewhat so as not to break... everything from the spine up THE MAN WEIGHS ALMOST 300 POUNDS, but still, FUCK. I really loved it up until then, though, and the fact that he could get back in the ring for Eddie to pin him and then walk out unassisted is a good sign. WHATEVER, EVERYTHING INTENTIONAL ABOUT THIS MATCH WAS GREAT.
And then it's Inner Circle/Top Team time, and it still fucking sucks, so I just zoned out and thought about Lance and Eddie some more. At least Ethan/Sammy should be a good match, shame that it's only happening as a part of this whole trash plotline. And then Mox cut a very sweet promo where he didn't call his baby daughter crazy this time, and that's called character growth.
AND THEN HANGMAN FINALLY REUNITED WITH DARK ORDER!! Gosh, I missed those dorks all interacting. I think my two favourite beats here were A) Hangman apologizing for keeping his distance, really putting in the effort to repair his relationships as he goes now, BEFORE things get bad, and B) the way he still hasn't actually said anything negative about the Elite, even as Kenny calls him a coward and disparages their year together as a team; he just talks about them like his old friends who aren't in his life anymore (this time, just to tell Dark Order that he knows the Elite will definitely be dressing up for their Halloween show match so they should start planning costumes, too). IT'S ALL SO FUCKING WHOLESOME.
Jungle Boy vs. Brandon Cutler: A fun squash to further the Young Bucks/Jurassic Express angle. I wonder if there's anything to the fact that Adam was the one to show up to help Brandon first; was he just a distraction for the Bucks to get in there for the superkick party, or does he just... care more? As the new guy on the block, less corrupted by Don's bullshit (the way the Bucks were hyping up Kenny earlier in the show was VERY Callistic). Either way, as much as I am enjoying wacky Waluigi stooge Brandon while the Heelite run rampant, I do hope we get good good dragon boy Brandon back one day.
God, Miro is so good at making the most of these little random 90-second promos. GOD'S FORSAKEN CHAMPION.
Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes: Oh boy, I have shit to unpack with this one. First of all, a very solid match, if kinda weird and overbooked in the middle (why was Arn just hanging out in the ring for so long? Jose is not nearly as effective a bullet as Cody was the other night! PAC and Andrade still need their rubber match! Brock and Lee are back on Cody's side now?), right up until the fucking inevitable bullshit lol cody wins conclusion.
HOWEVER.
The more I think about it, the more I don't hate it. I don't LIKE it, I really wanted Malakai to go 3-0 against him, but I don't hate it. There is a LOT more nuance here than all the people boggling at the fact that Cody's still trying to be a face seem to notice or give credit for. I think the problem is that people are still expecting Cody to turn heel, when I think what we're seeing already IS heel Cody. Like, there's no way they didn't know what kind of reception he'd get in this match; yeah, people popped for him at the end of the show last week, but Florida fucking loves his Amurrca schtick, they KNOW it doesn't hold up on the road, and they KNOW people were really fucking rooting for Malakai here. And he leaned into the flag bullshit in his titantron, and he wore the same gear he wore before beating Ogogo (another ostensible bad guy that people nevertheless wanted to see beat Cody's ass), like... he KNOWS. And the way he just chucked the weight belt into the crowd was a far cry from how he's been lovingly handing it to some special needs fan in the front row for ages now. People are expecting him to suddenly make an evil face or hit a Cross Rhodes on Arn to signal an alignment shift and I think it's gonna be more subtle than that. He IS the bad guy here, he's the guy the crowds love to hate (oh my GOD this crowd was on FIRE during this match, those 'FUCK YOU CODY' chants came through loud and clear on TV), and just because Cody Rhodes the CHARACTER isn't doing it on purpose and still thinks he's the hero of his own story doesn't mean that it isn't VERY intentional. The way he teased the Pedigree at the end before putting away his hottest, toughest rival with a fucking TIGER DRIVER? After running through all of his ACTUAL current finishers?? It's all to get heat and it's working! People hate him more than MJF! He knows exactly what he's doing! He's working everybody! And if Cody's the villain...
...then that means Malakai won the match after all. Because that was his whooooooole goal here. And that's fucking art.
PS: Haven't even watched Bound for Glory yet, but Impact did Josh Alexander DIRTY. I hope he goes somewhere that deserves him when his contract is up.