Charlie Davis: I am first again! Well, first is relative, but weāve got a big AEW PPV coming up, a weird Backlash we are putting under our belts and a lot of gooey stuff in between!
Mikey Zee: Oh, boy, do we have some gooey emotional stuff this week in wrestling. And, well, everyone else was busy or had a birthday this week, so itās Charlie and I running the show this time around.
[whispers quietly] The. Elite. The. The Elite…
Weekend Wrap-Up: Impact! Under Siege, WrestleMania Backlash, GCW Draft Day
CD: Gonna be real honest here, there is not enough time in the week to catch up with literally everything that happened as last weekend was JAMMED with content. Usually itās easy, just try and get past the barrier that is Monday Night Raw in the opening salvo of the recap, but damn this weekend just had so much going on. Between Impactās mini PPV, Backlash and Nick Gage and Jon Moxley having an impromptu Street Fight in Las Vegas at the GCW showā¦ where to start. Maybeā¦ we should talk about the zombies first. Specifically, the zombies that somehow were also in the same match in which The Miz managed to tear his ACL? I donāt so much have an issue with the zombies in concept as I do with the fact that this was horrific product placement. I just…anywhere where WWE can make a quick dollar and create any sort of synergy even if itās bad.
Backlash was largely fine to good. The wrestling on the back half of the show was actually really great and I am glad Cesaro got his flowers, I just also wish that he maybe got to win the belt for even just a week.
MZ: I think you mentioned an impromptu street fight?
Mox showed up at GCW Draft Day totally unexpectedly, and the way the crowd pops for him, both out of anger and excitementā¦ itās so good to see Mox completely in his element, just totally loving it.
Monday: Being the Elite, Thatās J-PW #11
CD: We usually start with talking about how none of us actually watch RAW, but I am going to take a different approach. Nearly none of us watch RAW, but most of us tune into Being The Elite every week with ONE notable exception. Ahem.
MZ: Not that Charlie would ever call anyone out.
CD: Anyway, the BTEs as of late have been giving us some great content, but they have been rather bereft of big story line points. Or at least they wereā¦ until this week. Christopher Daniels cut a heart-wrenching promo at the beginning of this episode following his and Frankie Kazarianās loss to The Bucks, which ultimately cost them SCU. It was a great way to spotlight him and honestly, I donāt know a single person that watched this that didnāt also have tears in their eyes after. Give it a watch if you havenāt. Itās a tear jerker. Whatever is next for CD, I have mad respect for him and I hope that Nicholas apologized in real life for the nasty state of CDās eye after the match last Wednesday. Woof.
MZ: Geez, this promo. This might be an all-time best promo for me, personally. I thought I was done crying after CD gave his shuddering sigh and went to go exitā¦ and then he collapsed on the floor and I started crying all over again. Jesus.
What did you think of Nickās absolutely brutal and frustrated roast of the fan theyāve been dealing with at the airport? I actually really love that this new persona is getting to let the Bucks vent their pent-up anger and emotions.
CD: The Bucks outside of kayfabe are SUPER NICE GUYS. It speaks volumes to me that they went ahead and signed everything he brought them every time he stood outside in the hotel lobby or the airportā¦ itās more than I would do for someone presenting creepy behavior at the best of times. But HONESTLY. Donāt do this. Donāt take advantage of people’s goodwill. I love that turning heel means they get let this out. I love that for them.
In other Being The Elite news, Matt had an āOut, damned Spot!ā Lady MacBeth moment while he was trying to get CDās blood off of his shoes in a perfect moment of brilliant symbolism. I love these boys to death.
MZ: I also really enjoyed that we got to see some more behind the scenes as they were testing the Bubbly Cannon from last weekās Inner Circle spot. I love seeing the āhow the sausage is madeā segments, because these are really the unsung parts of AEW and wrestling more broadly. The ring crew does an awesome job, and I hereby salute them.
The Dark Order bit was amusing enough (and Iām glad they finally replaced the table in the bar at Dailyās Place) but they continue to feel a little stale and direction-less here. The bits from the other non-Elite cast were pretty good this week though.
I do however want to talk about Sour Boyā¦ Charlie, do you want to take a stab at explaining Sour Boy?
CD: Oh god. So. The EVP office and also home to the Elite while at Dailyās Place is PACKED with a table full of candy. Itās Kennyās, as heās very much a man with a large sweet tooth. This week, Gallows, Anderson, Matt and Nick stood in the aftermath of Mox and Eddie destroying the room. They made Brandon clean it up and while Gallows ranted and raved, Matt offered Anderson one of Kennyās sour patch kids. Mikeyā¦ do you wanna talk about what happened next?
MZ: Well, they do say a picture tells a thousand words…
Anderson made the most ridiculous face, causing Matt to burst out laughing, which was just exacerbated by Gallows off-camera singing Hallelujah and then switching that out for āSour, Sour Sour Boy!ā over and over again. It was so ridiculous and funny, and was kind of the moment that I at least needed to buoy my spirits after the mood of CDās introduction.
This is Being the Elite at its finest; something that offers us as the audience a view into the backstage of wrestling; the struggles, the emotion, but also the joy of making friends with people that you have to trust your body and your life with, and those bonds you create along the way.
CD: Amen.
MZ: As for Thatās J-PW #11, this weekās match features the team of the āWhite Dragonā Rika Tatsumi (who Iāve seen before in a previous Thatās J-PW episode) and newcomer āSleeping Expressā Raku vs the Bakuretsu Sisters: āStorm Punk Blitzā Nodoka Tenma and āBurning Venusā Yuki Aino. In the pre-match promo, Rika Tatsumi said that the Sisters are too hungry, so she and her partner have a good chance of winning. (I feel like thereās a recurring theme on TJPW with hunger and opportunityā¦) Raku also spoiled that they have a special move planned called the Goodnight Express. I did love Rikaās enthusiasm and encouragement of her greener partner; thatās one of the fun things about TJPW. It very rarely feels mean, and even though these matches are fairly low-stakes, theyāre still fun.
The Sisters, on the other hand, came in brandishing snacks true to the words of Rika Tatsumi: bananas for Nodoka and an onigiri for Yuki. Yuki was emphatic that she loves Raku, but she has to be careful because she doesnāt know where Rakuās true loyalties lie. (Not with Yukiās snacks, certainly.) Nodoka, on the other hand, emphasized the fearsome dragon nature of her opponent, but was confident in her ability to win as she downed bites of banana.
The match was given a longer than typical Thatās J-PW time limit of 20 minutes, and started with Rika and Raku going to square up with the Sisters, and thenā¦ immediately going to sleep? (One thingās for sure with TJPW, they will always keep you on your toes.) However, naptime didnāt last long as mocking from Nodoka offended the White Dragon, and she woke from her slumber with a furious vengeance. A Dragon Goodnight Express is both Raku and Rika repeatedly jumping on the pile of both of their opponents, then posing over them CM Punk-style.
The match itself was really great in terms of action, comedy, and storytelling, and Raku really seems like a natural in the ring. Her sling blade looked better than a lot of Seth Rollins slingblades, if Iām being honest! My favorite performer out of the match probably has to be Yuki Aino, who did an incredible job in terms of athletics and selling the story of the match (especially after such a big snack). However, in the end, the pin went to her sister Nodoka as Yuki kept the White Dragon outside of the ring. I think both Riku and Raku have learned better than to make fun of the Bakuretsu Sisters and their snacks!
Brookes and Akki are great at commentary, flawlessly balancing translating giving necessary context and history, calling the ring action, and translating what the wrestlers are saying for an English-speaking audience. I really do think Thatās J-PW! is doing something special, and this match was a lot of fun!
Tuesday: NXT
CD: Vishal isnāt here to recap NXT like the very loyal guy he is, so here are some thoughts.
- I like that Toni Storm is finally getting wins back, but something about this whole thing with Zoey Stark has made them both feel like chumps.
- The Way remains the best thing about NXT for me and Candice and Indyās trip to the spa was no different.
- Let me see Cameron Grimes v The Million Dollar Man forever, dammit.
- Adam Cole is still missing from the program and Iām upset.
- Johnny lost the United States Championship in a really fun Cage Match with Bronson Reed! Happy for Bronson!
- Everyone loves Hit Row, but Iām unsure. I donāt know why Iām unsure, but I am.
- I cannot bring myself to care about Karrion Kross. His presentation since becoming NXT champion has been sloppy.
Wednesday: AEW Dynamite
CD: Man. As someone whoās been loving Dynamite more often than I am not, this week’s episode was great. For awhile now Iāve seen a light at the end of the tunnel as far as pandemic wrestling is concerned. With AEW going back on the road in July, it feels like things can maybe shift back to stories they planned to tell in front of an audience again.
This weekās Dynamite hit on every single big story. Christianās ongoing issues with Team Taz were on full display during his match with Matt Sydal, which culminated in a Team Taz beatdown where even Hangman got involved. His matchup with Brian Cage at Double or Nothing should be a good one, and I hope it propels Hangman closer to a collision course with the storyline of his now evil ex-best friends.
MZ: We also got to see some surprise Ricky Starks, who unfortunately is out of wrestling action right now with a neck injury.
CD: Mox and Eddieās tag team has been incredible so far, but Iāll graciously let you cover that, Mikey.
MZ: First off, we got yet another promo from this amazing team, which had me absolutely chortling.
Mox: āAre we invite–are we inviting them to a superkick party?ā
Eddie: āDawg, I don’t get the superkick part.
Mox: āIs that what that means?ā
Eddie: āCuz I donāt throw superkicks, you donāt throw superkicks…ā
Mox: āI definitely do not throw superkicks.ā
Eddie, emphatically: “Do we have to throw superkicks? To go to said party?ā
As Eddie and Mox take to the ring, we also got a different version of Wild Thing, apparently because Mox actually wanted the version both from Atsushi Onitaās iconic Tokyo Dome entrance and the 1989 film Major League. Looking back, itās clear how displeased he was last week when the flutes started in. This version definitely fit Mox and Eddie better.
The Acclaimed also got a promo, and a rap with their entrance as is their due. This weekās rap wasā¦ actually pretty good? The Valentineās gifts line in particular sent me.
CD: This episode was very fun even just a half and hour in and we hadnāt gotten to the main stuff even! Britt and Shida furthered their story line and Iām so so excited for the match at Double or Nothing, Ethan and Scorpio did what they do best which is be mean and beat up Darby even though it was Darby and Sting who got the last laugh. And THEN. Then we got the segment with Kenny, Don and Orange Cassidy which I have to say was masterful. I think Kenny has found a rhythm with this character now after adding in dashes of The Cleaner of old.
What do you think, Mikey?
MZ: God, did they. This segment was absolute comedy gold. Though Orange Cassidy is good in pretty much any segment he does (more on that later), this was just absolutely perfect. First off, Kris Stat glaring at Kenny as he sizes her up with āCāmon Kris, you know Iām a lover, not a fighter, eh?ā and then the nervous laugh before he says in the most CARTOONISH mob voice possible āBeat it! Hit da bricks.ā God.
The way Kenny maintains that heās just working in Orangeās best interests? That they need Orange to be healthy so they can just sell t-shirts. The way Orange not only rips the paper slowly, but starts to rip through it twice before Don stops him? The ice pack? Chefās. Kiss.
CD: LOVE ITTTTT. Cartoon campy Kenny whoās ALSO awful and mean and scary is so good. People seem to not understand that Kenny can be ALL these things. And he IS all these things.
Serena Deeb and Red Velvet had an incredible match on this episode too and hell, if you watch one thing this week, Iād recommend you watch that. I justā¦ Iām so happy that we are getting this caliber of womenās matches in AEW now on a more frequent basis. Things are not perfect and we still have a long way to go, but damn I also need more women in the stables.
MZ: Speaking of women in stables, I love Julia Hart as part of the Varsity Blondes! I had a hard time caring about them as a tag team before, but Julia Hart is the, well, heart that they really needed to pull things together as a group.
CD: Miro also had a promo this week and UHHH I love this. Lots of people were down on Miro when he came to AEW, but I donāt think if we didnāt have the subdued Miro at first, that this Miro would have this much of an impact.
MZ: Yeah, seeing his transformation from disaffected gamer bro to absolute MONSTER has actually been great, and this promo cemented it for me. Belt Chase Miro was a terror to behold, and Miro with belt is a dark god. I agree that it works really well in retrospect.
That being said, we did get another run-in after the fact this week. I know last weekās post-title match run in was more chaos than storyline, but it seems like they at leastā¦ tried to make it make more sense this week?
CD: I donāt mind the run ins, thatās essentially why there are factions…I donāt know. AEW is made up of this complex web of factions and I love them bouncing off of each other. ANYWAY. The main event of The Varsity Blonds v The Young Bucks ruled. Every match The Bucks have had since turning heel has RULED. Hard. Itās shifted the focus back onto the tag division as they run through the whole damn thing. There were super kicks! Cold spray spots! And Matt spraying Julia Hart right in the damn face as she got up on the apron. The Heel Bucks rule and I love watching them.
Eddie and Mox rule too and came out to beat the hell out of Matt and Nick before Eddie stole Nickās $10,000 Nike Diors. Bless this timeline for giving us this.
Thursday: Impact! Highlights, Colt Cabanaās Podcast Interview, Wrestling with the Week, Thatās J-PW #12
CD: Man, the clips from Impact always seem to do the talking. Letās cue one up, shall we?
MZ: Hereās my contribution, in meme form:
Also, FinJuice officially lost the IMPACT World Tag Team titles, which is probably for the best given things weāll discuss later.
Oh, I almost forgot! Next week NJPW legend Kojima is going to make the Impact zone the BREAD ZONE. I will watch just for him.
Thursday was a pretty great day for wrestling content all things considered. We also got this incredible interview between Orange Cassidy and Colt Cabana, which. Honestly? If thereās one wrestling video you watch this week, make it this one. It will make you laugh and brighten your day (or your money back, guaranteed)!
CD: This is why Orange will win the AEW Championship.
MZ: Honestly? Not wrong. I absolutely love him. Also released on Thursday was Scorpio Skyās podcast, Wrestling with the Week. Now, I hadnāt listened to this pod before, but longtime readers will probably discern that I will give a watch to anything revolving around a) wrestlers talking video games b) Kenny Omega or c) all of the above. So of course I had to watch Kenny Omega talk about, um.
Charlie, he really did use the phrase ābig beautiful womenā innocently and without a shred of irony, right? That wasnāt just something I imagined?
CD: Kenny was earnestly talking about Lady D from Resident Evil 8 this way, yes. The same day this occurred Kenny was also on Impact talking about loving Big Men as well. I love our ludicrous AEW Champion.
MZ: Chaos bi energy indeed. This video is also very funny, though the parts with Sky and his co-host James Willems were largely skippable. (I did watch all of it, though!) While the concept of a shooting the shit podcast that keeps within AEW kayfabe is interesting, it wasnāt interesting enough for me to recommend watching the whole thing. However, the interview WAS very funny. So just, uh, skip right to 31:00 for the āRun-Inā segment with Kenny.
Finally, this weekās second episode of Thatās J-PW was between Maki Itoh (who AEW viewers likely already know as the āFired Idolā, but sheās also āThe Cutest in the Worldā) and āPassion Blueā Mahiro Kiryu. I was really excited for this match, not only because Maki!!! but also, getting to see her square up against another TJPW opponent and really show off that TJPW character work. Mahiro acknowledged in her promo that thereās been a lot of attention on her match, but that gives her āall the more reason to win.ā Maki Itoh, on the other hand, is here to break backs and kick ass.
LETāS FUCKING GOOOO indeed. This match? INCREDIBLE. Great stuff. Not only is Maki Itoh really, really goodā¦ she met quite a match in Mahiro Kiryu, who delivered some incredibly brutal spinebusters during this match. A passionate fighter full of traditional wrestling moves in Mahiro, and the aggressively cute irreverent Maki. Mahiro had Makiās signature Kokeshi headbutt well-scouted, but Maki was more than happy to punish her for refusing to let her do what she wanted. Mahiro was more than happy to put Maki Itoh in a beautiful and devastating Boston Crab.
After fighting back, Maki Itoh was able to get her Kokeshi headbutt off, and punished Mahiro by putting her in the Itoh Deluxe, a complex technical wrestling hold which appears to be a combination of a cloverleaf and a liontamer? Either way, it was more than enough to make Mahiro tap as she was completely unable to fight her way out of it, giving Maki Itoh the victory as she taunted the camera asking her signature question: whoās the cutest in the world? (Maki Itoh!)
Iāve tried to keep the details of my summary here sparing, because I really really do think you should try to watch this one on DDTUniverse if you can.. Just absolutely great wrestling with a great narrative to boot. I look forward to seeing more of Mahiroās wrestling, and matching her up with Maki Itoh here played to both of their strengths as they traded control of the match back and forth.
On a production note, overall quality was better this week than last. Last week I had issues hearing hosts Chris Brookes and Baliyan Akki over the background music; this week I didnāt have that issue on #11, but unfortunately it was very loud compared to the wrestlersā promos in #12. Hopefully in future episodes, they will get those issues all ironed out.
Friday: Wrestling business wrap-up (AEW announcements, NXT releases, NJPW issues)
MZ: Well, I donāt know that either of us watched SmackDown this week, but what we didnāt really talk about earlier was all the events on the BUSINESS side of the wrestling world this week. And golly, there sure were a lot of them. Charlie, should we start the people off with some good news?
CD: Yeah! AEW is moving to TBS starting in 2022! They also finally announced the new 1 hour show thatās happening on TNT later this year. Iām super stoked for Rampage and Iām ultimately thrilled for whatever keeps AEW moving forward and growing. Great job everyone!
MZ: Yeah, given that the move to TBS will stop sports pre-empting AEW broadcasts and get more money for the talent, itās hard to see this as anything but a really good move. Iām also hoping that another hour of TV will mean more time for these stories to breathe because I donāt know about you Charlie, but I have a really hard time committing to Dark and Dark Elevation, not knowing how much of either show be good wrestling and how much will be filler or squashes.
CD: There is too much wrestling to watch! Thatās my take. You either have to commit to watching only AEW products or WWE, because without some help from some friends, it becomes a bit overwhelming to even cover. Mikey and I know where our bread is buttered, which is why youāve gotten what youāve gotten here this week. Now for maybe someā¦ less good news.
MZ: Yeah, well. NXT had some releases this week after Backlash, and they areā¦ kind of a mixed bag, so Content Warning for QAnon, Speaking Out, and COVID-19 as we get into it.
The total list is: Drake Wuertz, Alexander Wolfe, Jessamyn Duke, Vanessa Bourne, Skyler Story, Ezra Judge, Kavita Devi, referee Jake Clemons, and later on in the week, Velveteen Dream (who was named in awful accounts during last yearās #SpeakingOut movement).
Jessamyn Duke was a standout for me there and a huge bummer, even if she is staying on UpUpDownDown as both a streamer and a producer.
Forrest spoke about the slew of issues with Drake Wuertz before, and as it turns out, what was public (aka his QAnon associations, as detailed by David Bix) was only the tip of the iceberg.
The only surprise here is exactly how long it took them to take action and release him. I almost wonder if they prefer to do all of these releases like this at once? Whatever the reason, even if he shouldāve been gone sooner, I am glad heās gone, and Iām sure the talent affected by his presence is as well.
CD: That goes double for Dream. Glad I donāt have to see him on NXT programming anymore. There are some others that remain, however.
And now onto what maybe is the most baffling thing that continues to happen in wrestling: the horrid state of NJPWās booking and the absolute terrible luck the promotionās had since its return after quarantine. Woof.
Will Osprey vacated the IWGP Heavyweight Belt due to a neck injury he sustained during his last title match. Considering how many people push through injuries in NJPW because they need to, itās pretty telling that Will has backed out of action. I donāt wish anyone harm, but hopefully Will can take this time away and maybe justāI donāt know, reflect on things he should have reflected on after #SpeakingOut. I literallyā¦ have no idea what NJPW is going to look like at Dominion now.
MZ: Yeah, that is the big question, isnāt it? Before this week, two of their top talent tested positive for COVID and sidelined three more within that bubbleā¦ but they reassured everyone that shows would happen. This forced talent who wouldāve otherwise been able to go home to stay while NJPW spun their wheels about whether or not theyād move forward with their next round of touring shows to stay in Japan.
In fact, NJPW mucked this whole situation up so badly that when they did another round of testing, several top non-Japanese talent were only told that theyād tested positive literally as they were getting ready to board a plane. Iām incredibly sympathetic to the fact that no one in Japan predicted theyād have another pandemic wave this bad, and that the vaccine situation there would be as dire as it is. However, at this point, whether itās executives or bookers responsible for NJPWās poor decision-making, something has got to give. Morale has got to be at an all-time low, and you had to vacate your belt. Why push forward like this?
CD: I have no idea what triggers are going to be pulled and why. I have some thoughts, but none of them really work with talent being what it is and Japan being as bad as it is with COVID right now. Cross your fingers that things get better soon for everyone and maybe we can get some stuff we were all looking forward to.
MZ: Here, here.
Charlie Davis is the worldās premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
