Vishal Gullapalli: Every time there’s a go home show I’m reminded that go home shows are usually the weakest part of the PPV cycle. Not surprising, just something I don’t realize immediately. All Out is almost here!
Forrest Hollingsworth: The vibes definitely are off going into All Out, let’s get into it.
Monday: Monday Night Raw
Forrest: So…Nia and Charlotte were the talk of the wrestling world this week. In short succession: Nia got some legitimate heat in an earlier tag match for being unnecessarily rough, and then her title contender match with Charlotte devolved further. The two shared some aggressive slaps to the face, the camera fixated on Nia warning “don’t…” before a sloppy, sandbag filled semblance of a match riding the lines of shoot played out, Nia got a clean win over the new Raw women’s champion.
It’s hard to tell exactly what happened from a viewer’s perspective. My best guess is that Charlotte got heated as she sometimes does, probably spurned by the idea of losing a match immediately after her SummerSlam title win clean to Nia (on a show that never has clean finishes) and intentionally egged Nia into a fight before trying to continue working as the match called for — you can literally see her prepare to punch Nia and then think better of it.
Either way, there’s a lot at play in an environment where fans and critics are needlessly critical of women’s wrestling and of oversized wrestlers in general, and I think an unfair amount of the blame falls on Nia here thusly…but she also has a history of being unnecessarily rough and injuring other wrestlers that has bred that specific uncharitable view of her work.
It was a mess, and I’m left wondering after both this and “my hole” exactly what Nia has that’s giving her the upper hand on creative. Hopefully cooler heads prevail if we’re really going with this as a title feud. Ultimately, I wish the women got good stories and not whatever this is.
(Does it feel like Raw has something like this every week now? I swear they’re trying to see if this or SmackDown’s legitimately good moments get more traction).
Vishal: What a weird main headline from this week’s Raw. As usual, I personally don’t watch the show, but this bit (with an interesting outsider’s breakdown by Bully Ray) was all over the place. I could easily believe these two just don’t like each other, since Nia’s pretty well-known for being an unsafe worker. I just never expect to see stuff like this actually happen on screen.
Tuesday: NXT
Vishal: I’m going to be honest, I didn’t even watch this week’s NXT. I was busy during the actual show, and I’ve been too upset about all the news coming out about the new show to watch the recording. I’m genuinely pretty upset about the death of what was to me the best wrestling show every week. Specifically, there were reports about Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard producing the show after the revamp (that have since been corrected), and that there’s a “chopping block” of longtime NXT wrestlers who haven’t gone to the main roster.
Forrest: I put the image of Roderick flanked by two local cop-looking create-a-wrestlers nobody has heard of, nor ever seen work, above as a sign of how the whole thing is going.
Wednesday: AEW Dynamite
Vishal: It’s the go-home Dynamite! So obviously it wasn’t going to be the meatiest episode.
I have a weird feeling about FTR vs Santana and Ortiz, because of the ambiguity between work and shoot. I really like FTR to begin with, and I truly do think they’ve gotten the short end of the stick since their first few months at AEW, but the entire framing this match around Cash getting injured and potentially not being able to wrestle anymore only to have FTR lose makes me feel a bit off. I don’t know, if this is actually FTR’s last match together, it was a bit of a letdown, and even if it’s not, playing the revenge angle into it made the whole thing deflate for me.
Forrest: I honestly didn’t think of the match much in either direction, but I do like that P&P’s Dead Presidents paint has become shorthand for “We’re going to kill someone”.
Vishal: Most of the card was otherwise average. Orange Cassidy vs Jack Evans should be a good match but there’s just something not working with the HFO. Penelope Ford vs Tay Conti was a genuinely good match stuck in the requisite Women’s Match timeslot. Cage vs Hobbs was two big boys but Brian Cage needs anything else to do that isn’t more Team Taz feuding.
The best part of the show, though, was Gunn Club turning heel. We talked trash on them last week, and I maintain that they’re incredibly forgettable, but this heel turn was just the most unnecessary twist on top of this incredibly unnecessary Paul Wight/QT Marshall feud. It was comical.
Forrest: I am fully convinced that the Gunn Club (shoutout my GUNNERS) turned heel not to align themselves with QT, but to rebuke their relationship with the Nightmare Family so Malakai Black doesn’t kill them.
Vishal: The main event was a very fun match, but I also just tire of the Elite. I think it’s very possible the Bucks lose in the steel cage on Saturday, but I honestly feel like that’s unfair to the Lucha Bros, who aren’t being given a personalized title chase story so much as they’re just the guys who will unseat the far more important Young Bucks. The match still feels like it’s about the Elite, and I wish AEW would not tie up two title scenes in these people. They can definitely put on a good match, though.
Thursday:
The wrestling world mourns the loss of Shannon “Daffney Unger” Spruill, WCW and Impact star, who tragically lost her life to suicide.
You are not alone and asking for help is not a sign of weakness. There are a number of resources available to anyone struggling:
Friday: Smackdown, AEW Rampage
Vishal: As of now, I have tickets to the Super Smackdown show at Madison Square Garden next week, so it’s hard for me to watch any of this show without using it to try and piece together what I’ll see. And honestly, I’m bummed that the only two things that are confirmed are… a contract signing and Brock Lesnar. I wish they could’ve saved Finn vs Roman for next week!
Forrest: All signs point to Demon Finn re-debuting at MSG, though! If I were WWE I would be stacking that card to the ceiling. You’ll have to tell us how it went next week.
Vishal: Rampage was a good time as always – Malakai Black is putting on longer matches and doing storytelling that I love, the women’s match was fun even if it was just an excuse to get Kris a strong-looking win before she loses to Britt, and I really like Daniel Garcia. (Obviously I like Darby too, but that’s just constant.)
Forrest: Rampage was a perfectly functional go home show compared to Dynamite’s miss, but I just can’t stop thinking about Punk being relatively tall compared to a lot of AEW’s roster – you can really see it when he runs into the ring with 2point0, Garcia, and Darby. Only going to be more obvious once Adam Cole debuts!
AEW All Out Predictions
Buy In: Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor, Wheeler Yuta) and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus) vs HFO (Matt Hardy, Jack Evans, Angelico, Marq Quen, Isaiah Kassidy)
Vishal: The faces win this one, because HFO are just not an engaging faction despite having two of my favorite tag teams in the company.
Forrest: The arcade match was a layup, why not do it again? Trent(?) returns, faces win.
Women’s Casino Battle Royal
Vishal: I think this one goes to Anna Jay. Rosa is, in my mind, Britt’s final challenger, the one who beats her for the title (this first reign) and I think we still have some time to go on that with some other babyfaces ready to serve as fodder to extend Britt’s title run. Anna Jay’s big return is enough momentum to give her that push for the next title match cycle.
Forrest: I was thinking of Rosa for this one, but you’re right about the relative timeline Vishal. I don’t really want to see them do the Jungle Boy win and loss in such quick succession again with Thunder so I’ll go with Anna as well. Hopefully Rosa and a debuting Ruby Soho (fka Riott) get some cool spots.
Paul Wight vs QT Marshall
Vishal: This is a gimmick match and Paul Wight is going to win it. Sorry Gunn Club, you’re not affecting the outcome of this match.
Forrest: They should’ve put this on the go home Dynamite or Rampage, still a moderate ratings draw without taking up precious card space. That being said, every PPV needs a bathroom break and this is a good one…assuming you can go in the approximately two minutes it will take The Large Situation to squash QT.
Jon Moxley vs Satoshi Kojima
Vishal: Moxley wins this one because Satoshi Kojima is already a legend and doesn’t need the win, and these NJPW legend matches serve both as a means to puff up Mox’s record and as a stepping stone for the eventual Tanahashi feud.
Forrest: I think NJPW might like Mox more than any of their homegrown stars at this point.
The Final Fight: Chris Jericho vs MJF
Vishal: This is the one I’m least certain about. MJF has had Jericho’s number for their entire feud, and general wrestling storytelling would dictate that Jericho is finally going to win this match, because it seems bizarre that he goes 0-3 against MJF (0-4 if you count Blood and Guts) and then retires from AEW. I also can’t see what they’d do to create that finish that wasn’t in either of their previous matches. But AEW does surprise me from time to time, so this could go the other way. I’m sticking with Jericho though.
Forrest: Look, it’s entirely possible that the labors of Jericho were an intentional, protracted swerve leading to this, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. MJF wins with Jericho’s bat or something.
TNT Championship Match: Eddie Kingston vs Miro (c)
Vishal: Eddie puts on a valiant effort, but Miro wins. Partially because the TV title changing hands on a Pay-Per-View is bad practice, partially because I think the Redeemer still has some room in his title reign.
Forrest: Eddie is one of my favorites in the company, but I have done such a complete 180 on Miro since his initially weak debut that I would like to see him going just a bit longer. Have a good night, Lana!
AEW Women’s Championship Match: Kris Statlander vs Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (c)
Vishal: Kris isn’t championship material yet, especially over Britt. This one’s going to the DMD.
Forrest: AEW needs to get better at producing women’s stories in general, but specifically outside of the title scene for that very reason. Kris, Jade, Rosa, Tay, they don’t feel like legitimate threats to Britt because they don’t get the same amount of television, match, and promo time. The uneven production communicates directly who is going to win, and neither of these very talented performers deserves that at the end of the day, no matter how good the match is in spite of it. DMD.
AEW Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match: The Lucha Brothers vs The Young Bucks (c)
Vishal: I’m also not certain about this match, but I do feel more confident in saying the Lucha Bros take it. There’s gotta be a title change on the show, IMO, and this is the most likely one to do it. Plus the Lucha Bros need to get their big win or otherwise split and go singles, they’re too good of wrestlers to constantly choke at the finish line.
Forrest: As of right now I think this will probably be the most fun match on the card, but I kind of wish it was Jurassic Express (the babyface builds are getting a little too punishing for my taste). Regardless, The Lucha Bros raw wrestling talent is enough to surmount whatever chicanery the Bucks introduce, to be sure. A dominant mexikings and a dismayed Elite is also the best way for the story to split at this junction.
AEW World Championship Match: Christian Cage vs Kenny Omega (c)
Vishal: Kenny wins this one. Obviously. Christian winning the Impact title due to the Bucks’ interference, on top of the Bucks very possibly losing their match, will result in them not being in Kenny’s corner. So there’s no shenanigans for Christian to take advantage of like he did at Rampage. Kenny’s gonna out-wrestle him, and remind everyone that he is one of the best in the world.
Forrest: The only question I have is how purely dominant Kenny’s performance is going to be. I love Christian (probably more than anyone else that contributes to this column), but it’s obvious the way this is going.
Darby Allin vs CM Punk
Vishal: Speaking of the best in the world, the self-proclaimed one is obviously winning this match. Darby’s greatest strength as a wrestler is being able to look great any time he loses a match, and you don’t spoil CM Punk’s big return to pro wrestling by having him lose, even to put over a younger guy.
Forrest: A GTS into Bryan Danielson’s debut is a hell of a way to end a PPV, isn’t it?
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.
