CW: This article contains discussion of violence and pictures of blood.
Charlie Davis: Alright! I’ve got my jams and jellies from the aforementioned World’s Largest Orange and I think I am ready to cry. I mean… talk about wrestling this week. How are we feeling, gang? A week on the beach has got to do everyone some good. We’ve got a lot to cover even BEFORE we talk about WrestleMania.
Thomas Cummins: We’re gonna lay on the beach, eat fried chicken, drink champagne, and watch some wrestling.
Mikey Zee: Sun’s out, guns out! [Mikey does a flexing Young Bucks pose.]
Forrest Hollingsworth: I wanna talk about violence!
Vishal Gullapalli: And I wanna talk about video games!
Monday
CD: Monday Night Raw. The A show. The standard. The one with Bad Bunny on it, and Asuka! Surely this show can do something to impress us! It’s the Go Home episode before Mania! Surely! What is that? No? The show is doing nothing for three hours now?
Okay…
MZ: So, I’d like to preface this by saying I did not watch the majority of Monday Night Raw, but what I did do is watch the Bad Bunny segments, because he is my perpetual favorite vocalist and entertainer.
Bad Bunny owns a custom-painted white Bugatti Chiron Sport 110 Ans, which some readers might recognize as a car by the brand that makes absurdly fast, absurdly expensive cars. However, Bad Bunny reportedly hates his vehicle and regrets ever purchasing it. So what better to do than to bring it on Raw and have Mike “The Miz” Mizanin and his partner John Morrison vandalize it?
Despite all of Bad Bunny’s headaches with his vehicle, if he ever puts it up for sale with the ultra-custom Miz-and-Morrison-and-white paint job, CXF readers will be relieved to note that a set of tires for the Chiron Sport 110 Ans are not only much, much cheaper than their Veyron predecessors, but they can also last more than 15 minutes at top speed without utterly disintegrating.
FH: I now watch Raw by fast forwarding to the Asuka and Miz and Morrison segments which is… an improvement!
TC: Last week I was impressed by Alex Gracia on Dark Elevation, and hoped she’d be back. I got my wish! Well, sort of. I wasn’t expecting a squash match on this particular program, because it’s so focused on lifting new talent up, but that is what we got. I was a little bummed out at first, but I think how they framed it actually makes it work for a show like Elevation. Alex makes her way to the ring, and then we hear Britt Baker’s entrance music. She’s got a mic, and the whole segment is essentially Britt cutting a promo on Alex before a quick squash.
Britt has this condescending tone while praising her opponent that makes you root for Alex so much. The way Britt does this is masterful. Britt’s evolution of a heel has been a delight to watch over the past year, and this short match is kind of the result of her seeing what works best for her. I think how this all played out is the perfect jumping on point for a feud between the two. Let Alex work her way up the ranks of Dark and Dark Elevation before getting a long, drawn out rematch with Britt.
FH: Dang Thomas you got a dibs on all the good character work! I thought this week’s Elevation was pretty middling to be honest, but there were a few things I really enjoyed: Jake Roberts darkly chuckling directly into the mic as Lance Archer decimated Baron Black, and Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky’s tag match against the Sydal Brothers.
Ethan and Scorpio approach the ring in a showboaty tandem that serves the story of their dejection and disservice in the face of greatness well, and the Sydal Brothers are the kind of seamless, deeply athletic and acrobatic hurdle that makes Page and Scorpio’s win over them feel earned. I especially enjoy Ethan’s finisher, Ego’s Edge, and its relatively simple but devastating look. It’s the kind of thing you believe would really disorient and destabilize an otherwise sound wrestler to get the kind of win he got here. I think these two are probably the ones to retire SCU, a real twist of the knife after Scorpio’s time there.
Tuesday
CD: Impact wasn’t on Tuesday and I didn’t miss it! Score one for Charlie’s brain!
TC: As some of you may know I’m in the middle of experiencing what I call the Earth-1307: WWE Reality Cinematic Universe. Yes that’s right, I’m binge watching all of Total Divas, Total Bellas, and Miz and Mrs. Seventeen total seasons of quality reality television. Why? Because I’m a messy bitch who loves drama. Sue me. Regardless, because of this, there was a very good reason for me to tune into the WWE Hall of Fame: Nikki and Brie Bella were inducted in the class of 2020. The pandemic caused the ceremony to be canceled last year, so they were included in this very long 4-hour special. There’s no crowd and it takes place in the Thunderdome, but if you’re a fan, they made a very heartwarming speech and there was a nice video that went through their career as WWE Superstars.
FH: If folks have been keeping up with these columns weekly it’s probably become obvious that I am a very big fan of a certain style of Japanese wrestling. Among my most favorite wrestlers of all time are Asuka, Shinsuke Nakamura and of course, the incomparable Jushin “Thunder” Liger. Liger was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year after 2020’s ceremony was cancelled and I am hard pressed to think of many more deserving than him. Considering how little Liger has worked with WWE, his inclusion here feels heartwarming and sincere, a celebration of a genuine contribution to the sport that we all can and should appreciate regardless of international or corporate boundary.
Wednesday
CD: Ya’ll. Someone is gonna have to help me out here because… BECAUSE I AM NOT SURE I CAN ARTICULATE MYSELF. I always gorge myself here on Wednesday. But I want to know how YOU all felt about this first.
FH: CD, I would love to but…
CD: Is that some hesitation I am sensing, Forrest? Because… it seems like maybe you and Matt have some of the same feelings. Should we talk about the TNT title match or Hangman first? He did have some more Pagewisers, as Excalibur has crowned them.
FH: No, no, I want to talk about the Elite! I just…
CD: …Forrest
FH: Just… gimme a minute Charlie
CD: OKAY. OKAY! There is something to be said about how we actually watched The Bucks get corrupted over the last several months and unfortunately, the last nail in the coffin of their face selves seemed to come in the form of Brandon Cutler, a man whose own imposter syndrome may have been the last straw. I really liked the episode Wednesday and I liked the TNT title match, but The Elite’s story has been the bread and butter of the show ever since Kenny turned heel. I was very much looking forward to MoxBucks, and was NOT looking forward to experiencing a swerve ending when we found out that Matt and Nick were with Kenny all along.
While there was no swerve for swerves sake, what we did get was pretty damn riveting, if I do say so myself. Matt’s hands on his hips constantly, notwithstanding. I can say with a degree of relative certainty, that Matt and Nick came out with all the intentions in the world to kick some sense into Kenny, but Matt just could not do it; and Nick backed his older brothers’ play. I want to talk about this story at length in a stand alone column, but for now, please know that I loved this match and it broke my damn heart.
FH: I have to admit that even for me, someone who is less immediately invested in the Elite stuff than a lot of us here, it felt very cathartic both narratively and physically – Matt hitting that devastating sequence on Kenny that culminated in a frustrated slap, Mox’s swagger infusing the whole thing with a violent unease. The Bucks have been playing keep away with the audience…and with themselves. Don Callis knows who they are, Brandon Cutler knows who they are, we know who they are. Nevertheless, they resisted it until the last possible moment. They wanted to be better – Excalibur even said “Matt Jackson never wanted to be in this situation, you did this Don” – but that time has passed, for both better and worse.
It’s for the better, I think, as they can tell a more straightforward story that they’ve been skirting for probably a little too long both on Dynamite and on BTE. I also, and this is admittedly petty, wish they would trust the audience a little more! As we were goofing about above, Matt Jackson theatrically put his hands on his hips in faux conflict no less than 5 times, reaching almost parody in an otherwise well constructed, revealing bit of character work that stood on its own.
FH: Elsewhere Dynamite was fine. Hangman’s match was the best case for The Acclaimed that I’ve seen yet, and Jericho’s promo on the Pinnacle was one of those electric moments that only AEW is producing right now — really earning that Blood and Guts moniker — to say nothing of how fun it was when Sting agreed that Lance Archer should be in the main event after Archer and Jake Roberts unloaded on him subverting a weeks long angle in a way that makes everyone feel in on the bit…
…and then Mike Tyson was there. We don’t need to detail the numerous reasons to dislike Tyson here, and I understand that TNT may have imposed some sort of appearance for ‘Mania counterprogramming, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. When AEW presents itself as working hard to foster an inclusive, positive environment, things like this simply can’t be dismissed and I want to see them do better now, and for the future.
MZ: Agreed on the Tyson thing; he didn’t do anything for the program and for me actively detracted from it. I pray this is the last time we see him.
We’d be slacking if we didn’t bring up the Best Friends (now including a Kris Statlander with an incredibly good alien look) come out and reignite Orange Cassidy’s feud with Death Triangle. I know we talk about The Elite a lot here, but it made me genuinely excited to see them bring back a plot point for other factions from a year ago!
The QT Marshall/Nightmare Factory thing continues to be inexplicable to me, although seeing their new merch, it makes SLIGHTLY more sense as maybe their attempt to explain via wrestling canon a re-branding of the wrestling school? Shrug.
The women of AEW continue to kick ass: Tay Conti and the Bunny put on an absolute BANGER of a match. I’m so glad to see Bunny wrestling again, especially because I love a mean lady very much, and Tay’s kicks make me wince to see (in a good way). I can’t wait to see more of both these ladies, especially how their feud seems to be intersecting with the rest of the womens’ division, and the entire roster at large.
Last but not least… woof. That main event. Bucks. BOYS. I do not usually scream out loud while watching wrestling. I screamed involuntarily MULTIPLE times during this match. It was so, so painful to watch Matt and Nick get manipulated by Don the same as Kenny has been. Also… can we talk about what happened after the show went off air? Because I feel like that deserves mentioning…
CD: I can’t feel my limbs. The Heel Elite is back! The kiss above alludes to several different things at once, but it’s a very very real callback. It’s hard to say if Matt and Nick are up to something considering the LAST person they kissed like that…ended up like this; poisoned in the hallway of American Legion Hall Post #308 in Reseda, California.
MZ: Kenny better watch his blender bottles and his pre-workout powder tubs, is all I’m saying…
Thursday
CD: Impact WAS on Thursday and I DID miss it because I was too busy watching Takeover. Impact cannot win with me.
TC: Charlie, you aren’t the only one. I meant to watch Impact and still couldn’t muster the determination to do it. There’s always next week, I suppose.
Indie Stuff That’s Happening
CD: Man, it really feels like whatever dam was holding back all the good wrestling energy in 2020 actually broke this week. It could not contain all the amazing things that just happened on the indie side of Wrestlemania Week. Both Bloodsport and GCW’s Spring Break were very fulfilling shows, from what I can tell. I was watching Takeover because this dang week was so overbooked, so I could not watch Bloodsport, but I know that Mox and Barnett had a barn burner. I have curated with some lovely pictures.
And TALK ABOUT EXCITING!! Mox and NICK GAGE. GOD. What a horrible, violent, disaster that is going to be. Mox’s fearlessness to embrace his roots, but now informed by all his experiences in AEW and WWE… It’s no wonder he’s still, for my money, the coolest guy in wrestling today.
FH: Luckily I have nothing better to do so I’ll fill you in with a few takeaways from what I’ve caught of GCW’s The Collective, essentially the indie version of WrestleMania, and a stunningly fun one at that:
- As you mentioned CD, Bloodsport 6 was fantastic. A singularly focused condemnation of the artifice of televised wrestling complete with a stark, stripped down concrete and floodlights treatment. KZT and Janai Kai opened with a cathartic, electrifying kickboxing meets grappling exhibition, Allysin Kay and Masha Slamovich demonstrated their mat wrestling prowess in a fiery back and forth, Chris Dickinson and Shane Mercer delivered a masterclass in judo styling, and Josh Barnett and Jon Moxley nearly killed each other in a deliriously violent and bloody back and forth that would’ve stopped Mox from appearing anywhere else this weekend if I was Tony Khan and yet…
- After a gut wrenching match between Rickey Shane Page (the best heel on the indies?) and Nick Gage at GCW’s rSpring Break, Mox appeared to challenge Gage, headbutting and striking the deathmatch legend before driving him headfirst into some light tubes in a kayfabe shattering demonstration of legitimate aggression and recklessness. Mox’s bloodsoaked loss to Barnett via ref stoppage earlier in the week is like watching a friend just barely avoid death jumping their bike over their mom’s van, letting him face Gage is like watching them get up to try and jump a bus.
- Faye Jackson’s Grey Sweatpants Battle Royale (the gimmick is exactly what you think it is) was a really fun, lighthearted affair that met its peak when Suge D came out with a bible demanding all the entrants repent.
- Matthew Justice, generating a fair amount of buzz in his own right, will probably get some more after jumping off a literal second story rafter:
- Effy’s Big Gay Brunch is hands-down my favorite recurring event industry wide, a glowing, hilarious and heartwarming celebration of the diversity of the wrestling community. Edith Surreal is that good.
- For the Culture was worth the asking price of the entire Collective package, and if you’re unlikely to catch up on these dozens of hours of other content, is the single show I would say is unmissable. It would be goddamn irresponsible for anyone to act like Lio Rush (who I’ll talk up again soon!) and Lee Moriarty are not some of the best wrestlers in the world today — TAIGASTYLE, BABY!
MZ: Thanks so much for summarizing that, Forrest… and I gotta say, I was too busy to catch the shows live, but I am so, so excited to watch some of this incredible mix of wrestling on offer by some of the best minds in wrestling. The stills I’ve seen have been incredible.
NJPW/NJPW STRONG
FH: The NJPW STRONG Correspondent is tagging in! This week’s episode was dedicated entirely to the quarterfinals of the NJPW USA Cup the winner of which will be NJPW’s first Strong champion. It was a solid, highly athletic showing for all of the talent here. Lio Rush and Clark Connors was probably the showing of the night, Rush impressing with a rope-assisted Frankensteiner and a devastating springboard cutter that secured him a sound win against a much stronger, bulkier opponent. He may exhibit some poor judgment outside of the ring, but Lio’s raw potential can’t be understated.
I also have to call out a deep respect I have for Strong’s willingness to subvert major promotion norms, ending the Lawlor v. Narita match with a referee stoppage after Lawlor beat Narita bloody and demanded the ref raise his hand, “filthy” indeed.
Lastly, a word of genuine delight about the Brody King/Chris Dickinson angle. They’re achieving a degree of nuance here that I appreciate, Dickinson teaming with King on Ring of Honor but as part of Lawlor’s Filthy family on Strong. The will they/won’t they dynamic has created a fascinating unease on Strong, and the sheer brutality with which these guys went at each other really complimented it. Are they putting on a show? Did Brody play Chris so he could go over hard on him tonight (the match finishing lariat looked like King was trying to kill him)? Will someone please let Kevin Kelly in on it so he can stop playing investigative journalist and rest?!
Either way, here’s a song from God’s Hate, Brody King’s band, to set the tone for as of right now I feel, may be his inaugural Strong reign:
The House Always Wins
TC: In an extremely hasty decision on my part, I actually did go to Florida this weekend. After finishing my two doses of the COVID juice, I figured making the 10-hour trek to Jacksonville for AEW’s first house show, The House Always Wins, would be the perfect way to celebrate.
The whole experience was a bit surreal for me. Daily’s place has become this iconic location due to the company being housed there for the past year. This is a place we’ve all watched on TV every week and, if it didn’t feel like it before, it now truly feels like their home base. You can tell they love the city and they put this show together specifically for local fans. I couldn’t help feeling like an outsider when Justin Roberts threw out some inside jokes to the crowd, a lot of whom it seemed had been coming to Dynamite for every TV taping. The big boss himself, Tony Khan, made a brief appearance at the top of the show and gave a thank you to all the fans. This is an homage to shows Tony went to as a kid that weren’t immediately televised, and he wanted to recreate a similar moment to when wrestling fans would have to go online in the dial-up era to get scant details of non-televised shows.
Even being so far away from the ring, everyone there had this excited energy. This was an important show for all of them. After Cody’s match he unexpectedly asked for a microphone, and addressed the crowd. He simply said, “Thank you.” He wanted us to know how much this show and this company and the fans coming out every week meant to him.
The whole show had an air of importance akin to any pay-per-view show they would put on. Even though the card was announced with the show, it was changed afterwards at least once, and things still shifted again day-of. To be honest, those in the moment changes added a whole other layer of excitement, and you could tell based solely on crowd reaction the entire time.
In terms of the “continuity” of the company, this wasn’t just some meaningless house show. They wanted to make this feel like it mattered. There was fallout from the previous Wednesday’s Dynamite, and there will be repercussions on this Wednesday’s Dynamite.
We had our first look at The Elite reunited, but now as a completely heel faction, something we haven’t seen in years.
On top of that, the fallout from their tag-match with Death Triangle led to a title match being booked for this week’s Dynamite. Cody took on Aaron Solow, a member of QT Marshall’s new faction: The Factory. We even got some further confrontation between Michael Nakazawa and Matt Sydal! Also, Matt Hardy upgraded his match with Darby to a fall-anywhere match which of course Darby fearlessly accepted.
The whole night was just a celebration. A celebration of the company, a celebration of the fans, and a celebration of our collective love for pro-wrestling. It was a special event, one I’m beyond happy I was able to make it to in person.
CD: While I was not in attendance, I would like to tell everyone that Thomas called me from the STAFF PARKING LOT of Daily’s Place, in which he found himself accidentally. We viewed Matt Hardy’s White Corvette and then giggled about our penchant for getting into spaces we probably shouldn’t be in. I cannot wait until we can all meet up again and attend a show.
FH: Thomas I hope you maintained the state-recommended distance from Cody, I’ve heard that if you enter his proximity you’re drafted into the Nightmare Family.
Also Konosuke Takeshita from DDT was there?! That’s a fun surprise for people in the know, and a very telling one for the Elite’s story if he sticks around! Also, love this:
TC: Everyone is in the Nightmare Family until proven otherwise. There’s too many members, so it’s just easier to list the people who aren’t members at this point.
Saturday
VG: Now, while WrestleMania was the big thing everyone was waiting for, I had a different main attraction: UpUpDownDown Mania. UUDD goes all out for their PPV events, and this was no different. Creed and Breeze brought in an eSports person named Ovilee from G4 to commentate on the first match. She was great.
Ember Moon beat Liv Morgan in Pokemon Stadium 2, but then offered her hand to team up against the Garganos in a soon-to-come grudge match that I cannot wait for. Jessamyn Duke beat Cesaro in Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, entirely because Cesaro was too busy talking trash and getting distracted to win. CHUGS beat Samoa Joe in Ehrgeiz, a weird fighting game with Final Fantasy characters. And in the penultimate match, AJ Styles and the Miz settled their differences in No Mercy, reliving the main event of Wrestlemania X-7.
And lastly, Mia Yim challenged Tyler Breeze, the LeftRightLeftRight Champion, for the championship, as they played Klax. And in the most important moment of UUDD history, the legendary record-setting Prince Pretty was defeated, losing his Left Right Left Right championship. While he may have been a sore loser in defeat, Prince Pretty’s reign as champion was incredible and will be hard to surpass.
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.
Forrest is an experimental AI that writes and podcasts about comic books and wrestling coming to your area soon.
