Charlie Davis: Itās a new week in wrestling! Wheels are turning on some stories! Weāve got some NJPW news to catch up on and Raw wasā¦ it wasnāt SO BAD? No, that canāt be right.
Mikey Zee: Well, Charlie, good for Raw doesnāt necessarily meanā¦ good? But thankfully there was some really solid wrestling this week.
Vishal Gullapalli: I had a good time! And isnāt that what ultimately matters? That I have a good time?
Monday: WWE Monday Night RAW, Being the Elite
Charlie: I said Raw wasn’t bad this week. And it wasnāt, or at least not as abysmal as it usually is. The bad thing about it is I think my standards are all messed up. Even if it wasnāt horrible, by all means does not mean that the show was good. They shifted pretty quickly from all the fallout from HIAC to the next PPV they have which is Money in the Bank. Itās so blatantly obvious now that they were stalling to literally do anything until fans could come back. AEW had been in a holding pattern as well last year, but they never felt as stale as the WWE product has felt for the last year and several months. AEW also realized at some point last year that they had to pull the triggers they were waiting on. It made for a better show even if things like Kenny turning heel and Sting’s debut should have been in front of packed crowds. WWE seemingly knows their very āmomentā based approach thrives on the audience and they just had dedicated themselves to not do anything for more than a year. Ugh.
That aside, I do wanna talk about BTE this week.
Mikey: BTE was really good!
Charlie: It was! But maybe not for the reasons that I usually say that BTE is good. Since AEW started the focus of BTE has slowly shifted away from The Elite to focus on more of the AEW talent. Last summer, BTE was so, so good. A perfect blend of Elite based storytelling and the renaissance of the Dark Order. Lets not forget that Silver and Reynolds got over on BTE and then it directly translated to them getting over on Dynamite. ANYWAY, what I mean to say here is that when the Elite went sideways story-wise, Kenny stopped showing up on BTE and The Bucks were hardly on it. It kind of became something else and wellā¦ I am just happy that itās getting some of the classic energy back.
Mikey: Yeah, the Dark Order felt like it was in a holding pattern for a long time, with Silver doing the same bit week after week. Now, not only are the Elite getting some progressionā¦ but we get to see whatās really ticking with the Dark Order as almost every member gets their own David Lynch-style surrealist fantasy sequence. The most tragic of all is Hangman Adam Page hallucinating that the DO presented him with the AEW title belt. Itāsā¦ a lot.
Charlie: I am glad the BTE is being used as a vessel for storytelling again because for a while there, it really wasnāt. More Elite on my TV will always make me happy.
Tuesday: NXT
Charlie: NXT was REALLY good this week. Something that seems to have spilled over from the excellent episode last week. Joeās presence and its effect on the roster has seemed to sweep through the place and thatās the kind of effective change that I love to see in a wrestling show. It seems to have affected almost everyone and that sort of momentum poured out into the rest of the show.
Vishal: Not to get hyperbolic, but I think this was the best episode of NXT this year, and potentially even longer than that. The weaving of all these various feuds and stories together in a way that feels unscheduled is reminiscent of the NXT of old, the one that got months of content taped at a time with the same group of fans. Like, from the opening of the episode with Adam Coleās refusal to choose an opponent to the brawl and beatdown that closed the show, this episode of NXT felt like a cohesive and complete wrestling show.
Mikey: Can we talk about how good Carmelo Hayes is? Adam Cole came in talking a big talk, refusing to even choose a match, but then Carmelo met him bluster for bluster. āRemember the phrase ‘Ruthless Aggression’? …Yeah, same energy.ā Just. Incredible.
Charlie: It was a really fun throwback and they had a really fun match. Meeting each other almost move for move, Adam Cole basically saying my pump kick is better than yours and then finally finishing him with a Panama Sunrise like it was just another day at the office. Beautiful.
Vishal: This is the first finish with the Panama Sunrise in a while, and Iām curious what that means. For a while it was Adam Coleās āBlue Thunderbombā in that he would use it and almost always go for the pin, and always look shocked when it didnāt put his opponent away. I canāt tell if this is a way to show that Carmelo Hayes wasnāt good enough for the Last Shot, or if weāre just getting a new finisher for Adam. I hope itās the latter.
Charlie: What I really, really wanna talk about is Johnny Gargano though. Like really. What a SEAMLESS babyface turn. Heās been heel for more than a year now, but with Kross being a really bad champion and the attack after his matchā¦I canāt imagine it will be too long before we hear Rebel Heart again. My body wonāt be able to take it.
Vishal: Johnnyās babyface turn is something that I want to focus on because it was a mark of something that I think has been a significant factor in modern NXT. AEWās biggest advantage, in my opinion, more than the wrestlers (who are very talented) or the booking (which is generally solid), is their fans. Not just that AEW fans are ride or die for their company, but that the fans in the crowd are willing to throw away their smark cards to cheer the faces and boo the heels. Kenny Omega is one of the most beloved wrestlers in the world, but youād never be able to tell that by the way the crowd responds to him on Dynamite – because heās a heel who does bad things, and the crowd knows they have to boo him.
NXT had this for a while, when they were regularly taping in Full Sail with the same group of loyal fans who were there every month. You had Izzy, Bayleyās number 1 fan, you had the same people around Finn when he did his little thing in the corner, you had this group of people who had a more intimate relationship with these wrestlers than the average mainstream wrestling fan. When Sasha Banks, who everyone loved, bullied Izzy the crowd screamed and booed her. When Finn Balor beat Kevin Owens, the crowd was ecstatic.
But when NXT started touring, when they started having shows in arenas and giant Takeovers, that was lost. The smarks entered the fray. Adam Cole, despite having his posse beat everyone down in every match and never winning clean, was the most cheered person at the company. Tommaso Ciampa, the most evil psychopath (in kayfabe) the brand had ever dealt with, got the loudest of pops when he returned. And Johnny Gargano, the heart and soul of the company, the babyface at the center of it all, got booed by people who wanted their cool heels to win.
But for the first time in a long time, the first time in honestly over 2 years, that didnāt happen. The crowd watched Johnny Wrestling fight his heart out in what was honestly an incredible tag match, they watched him care for his partner, and saw him do everything heād always been doing, and they realized – this guy deserves our praise. The match started with piped in boos because Johnny was a heel, but by the end even the commentary team was putting over how the crowd had gotten behind him. Itās very rare that you can see a face or heel turn just over the course of a match – there was no betrayal, no backstage segments, nothing. Just a wrestler putting everything he had on the line and the audience acknowledging and falling in love with him again.
Okay admittedly I have a lot of feelings about Johnny Gargano as a wrestler and I will always attribute a lot of significance to things that heās involved in, but I 100% believe that this performance in an impromptu tag match on just a random episode of NXT is one of Johnny Garganoās greatest.
Charlie: I couldnāt agree more. This year Iāve had to endure the aching sting of literally ALL my favorite wrestlers turning heel, something I have an interesting relationship with anyway. I watched Matt Jacksonās heart crack in half as he fought his best friend whoād been cutting him out of his life for MONTHS, ultimately deciding he couldnāt lose him so he had to turn heel. Watching Johnny actually turn face was something I didnāt know I needed so badly. Bravo.
Vishal: I also want to point out the rumors that Kross and Bronson Reed are both going to the main roster sooner rather than later – it makes me wonder if their current feuds (Gargano and Santos Escobar, respectively) are going to lead to title changes. Because honestly, truly, that would be the best case scenario for olā Vishal here.
Charlie: Enjoy Johnny Champion, Vishal. You deserve it. Iāll just watch my favorite wrestler have a complete mental break over the next 3 months and lose all his gold. Itās fine. Oh also, Kushida and KOR had an awesome match and The Diamond Mine debuted. It was largely fine. Good For Roddy.
Thursday: Impact!
Charlie: Hello Impact my old friend, itās time to talk about you again. But really, after Donās firing on Impact last week, we got some pretty direct fallout in the form of Don losing his EVP entrance perks and various other things. He and Kenny were indignant and honestly, Donās promo work is always super great. Kenny is the biggest baby brat around and he showed it all right here.
Now Impact is headed toward their big PPV and Iām interested to see how muddy this water gets with Kenny. When does he lose the title and to who?
Friday: Smackdown, WWE Releases
Charlie: I think Smackdown’s dirty secret is that it hasnāt actually been good for awhile, just that everything surrounding Roman Reigns and the Usos was covering it up. Itās been endless rematches since WrestleMania and it seems that no one has gotten over anything since then. Well, except of course Roman who actually has no challengers that seem viable because WWE sucks so badly at making babyfaces. Or at least manufacturing them to fit into the mold that they want them to. Edge came back and it’s just another rematch from WrestleMania. Just like everything else.
Outside of Smackdown. There were more releases. Which, if Iām being honest, really sucks. Weāve had to talk about this more than once in our write ups and frankly, it feels bad every time.
Vishal: I donāt think thereāll ever be a point where I can be callous enough to treat these releases in a matter-of-fact way. It sucks every time. This time, it looks like WWEās decided to shutter 205 Live, leaving only a handful of folks there. They also got rid of Breezango and Killian Dain, a move that legitimately broke my heart. Clinically, I can see that they might want to liquidate the contracts of people who moved from the main roster back down to NXT but were still making main roster money – it makes some amount of sense. But also could you not just renegotiate a contract? I donāt know. Obviously Iām not actually knowledgeable about WWEās business practices, but looking from the outside I canāt help but feel frustrated and sad about the whole thing. Breezeās presence on UpUpDownDown was fundamental to the channelās success, and the idea of any of their regular content without him feels hollow. I feel nothing but sympathy for the people whoāve had to watch so many friends lose their jobs like this.
Forrest: Popping in real quick to say that Eās tongue in cheek nod to Breeze this week on actual WWE programming was touching.
Charlie: It feels like every time we see people get released we finally hear about their immense kindness or the impact they had on other members of the roster. Itās a shame we only get to hear these things when something bad happens, but nothing but good vibes goes out to the people who lost their jobs.
Saturday: Dynamite, TJPW Stand Proud 2021
Charlie: Gosh even though maybe it didnāt seem like a lot of stuff happened on Dynamite this week, A LOT of stuff happened on Dynamite this week. Iām gonna bullet point it, because well. I’M JUST GONNA.
- Hangman and Powerhouse Hobbs had a banger of a match. Hangmanās smile when he won and then how it immediately dropped when he realized that the person heās gotta face next is Kenny. Truly, itās incredible.
- Mikeyās note: They missed this shot on TV, but Will Hobbs had an AMAZING counter to Hangmanās Buckshot Lariat.
Also, the BLEEDING. Hangman has somehow managed to become the Blood Pervert since Cody Rhodes mysteriously disappeared in a fire months ago, and he might wear it even better.
- Andrade had an announcement to make and he still hasnāt been able to make it. Matt Sydal interrupted him and heās probably gonna die next week at some point.
- Mikeyās note: Well, technically Andrade interrupted before Mattās match, so itās technically his fault…
- Miroās God promos rule.
- Ethan and his wife Scorpio Sky are still incredibly great and the coffin match between he and Darby in two weeks time will be incredible.
- Matt and Nick had an incredible promo. The continue to be the best versions of themselves in 2021. Maybe of all time in my opinion.
- Jade continues to STUN.
- Mikeyās note: Shockingly, she and Mark Sterling have incredible chemistry. Plus, he managed to almost get her to burst out laughing this episode, which was great.
- Kenny and Jungle Boy had an incredible match and Kenny just unspooling further and further is yet another advancement in his story. He was all alone in the ring after the Good Brothers were thrown out and he had an obvious breakdown.
- Mikeyās note: SO many great moments in this match, from Jungle Boy soaking up the adulation of the crowd during his entrance, to Kenny disassociating at the beginning, to his hands shaking as he just combed through Jungle Boyās hair with a lost thousand-yard stare, to Jungle Boy finally waking Kenny up and getting the AEW Champion to finally view him as a threat. Definitely worth watching.
- I know they are heels, but I loved the ending shots of the Bucks with Kenny.
- Mikeyās note: Matt and Nick aping the Hardys directly by working with the Hardy Family Office stable was a great moment. Also, Matt and Nickās fashion continues to be incredible. https://twitter.com/quantumdotdot/status/1409171417300602880
Mikey: On a Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling note, I have been horribly behind on keeping up with that promotion due to moving. I was able to catch some of this event while watching with a group so I wanted to talk about it! The card was an absolute smorgasbord of the best that TJPW has to offer, and I highly recommend watching it. Since this articleās already a bit long in the tooth, Iāll do this as bullet points too!
- The tag match featuring Maki Itoh was just absolutely killer.
- So glad I could finally catch rookie Kaya Toribami in action: a bird wrestler with a mask reminiscent of a plague doctor. Sheās an instant star in my eyes, and so zippy! Lots of fun to watch.
- The Triple Threat match whipped. Rookie Arisu Endoās gotten a brand-new look since the last time I saw her: purple and yellow hair. It looked great on her. All three women wrestled their hearts out.
- Miu Watanabe must be SO STRONG to spin a kaiju around like Cesaro spins people! Of course, unfortunately for her the kaiju and karate took the day.
- In the first six man tag, itās RAKU TIME. The Goodnight Express might be my favorite move in all of pro wrestling.
- CHOO FUCKING CHOO
- I sadly had to stop watching right after Yuka Sakazakiās entrance, but obligatory AYAYAYAYAYAY! Iām excited to catch the rest of it when I finally get the chance!
Charlie: Justin is still sending me messages so I think he’s OKAY. But lets check in.
Into The Nitro-Verse #4
(Bash at the Beach ā96)
Ooooohohohohohohohohoho, O comrades and only friends, weāve arrived. The big one. Bash at the Beach ā96 and the debut of The New World Order. AKA your stoner, vaguely threatening uncleās favorite wrestling stable of all time.
As always, Iām your Rip Rogers-Hunter and I come to you live(ish) through a 1996 modem that is putting off an astounding amount of heat atm. Iām sure itās fine. Itās not like they randomly burst into white hot flames, unable to be doused by the paltry humanoid resource known as water.
What was I talking about again? OH YEAH, Bash at the Beach! So even without The Big Moment of this PPV, I think the show overall largely works. You have a lot of storylines that are kinda stapled onto the main potboilers (namely the āHostile Takeoverā and the still ongoing Dungeon of Doom/NU 4 Horsemen War) but the in-ring work continues to be really solid. LOTTA tag matches though. Enough to even make Dario Cueto say, āmaybe we cut one. Sātoo much.ā
At the risk of sounding like an unspooled cassette tape, again, much of the show working is squarely on the shoulders of the Cruiserweights and DDP (who is REALLY starting to find a groove here as a sleazy, but genuinely watchable midcard heel. Despite the fact that I still donāt know what the fuck a Lord of The Ring does).
In particular the matches between Actual Love of My Life Lord Steven Regal and Eddie āThe GOATā Guerrero and Ric Flairās attempt to recapture the WCW US Title from Konnan really sing. The latter in particular, Flair is really fired up and makes Konnan look like a real Top Man.
Christ, I love the US Title. Where the hell has THAT gone, he asks, wistfully crushing Jolt! Soda cans and turning them into homemade dry pipes. OH there is also a tremendous Rey Mysterio Jr/Psychosis match! An embarrassing embarrassment of riches!
Seeing this unlikely ascent of Diamond Dallas Page as well has been a real treat to jazz up my temporal exile. Iāve always really loved him on the strength of his work rate and the charm of his āEverymanā character in his later years at WCW. BUT seeing the bedrock of all that, with him spinning gold out of the shit straw that is his booking, STILL with the skills to support it, both in the ring and on the mic. OOF, itās just candy.
But you wanna know the REAL tea, donāt you? The night Daytona Beach turned heel as fuck. I have to admit, watching it now, I am still shocked at how well itās pulled off.
Team WCW trots triumphant to the ring, ready to take on the Interlopers, who are still playing cagey about The Third Man. Worldās World Best Friend Lex Luger terfs out early, finally matchingThe Outsiders on an even playing field. From there a pretty standard tag TEEEEAMMMM match carries out (continuing the nightās tag heavy booking), with The Outsiders coming out pretty strong.
But just as the tables start to turn and a last ditch effort from Randy āDid The Job to Spider-Man, Macho Manā Savage is batted aside, THE OWNER OF GAWKER APPEARS. After literal WEEKS off of tv, which is genuinely unfathomable by yāallās paltry āpresent dayā standards.
And the way that room TUUURNED YALL. Itās a thing of beauty. Seriously, just rewatch it now (and try to catch my āTIGER MASK II 3:16ā sign). Every single person is REACTING. Cut right the fuck up the middle between āTHIS IS INCREDIBLEā and āI WANT TO DIEā. Itās exquisite.
The best part is, heās basically just making explicit all the intensely heel shit he did prior to his āabsenceā. Right before he left, he was ignoring the Will of the WCW Commission. Breaking into buildings to beat people up. And constantly getting his āfriendsā disqualified by interfering in their matches.
His āBillionaire Tedā promo just finally puts it all into real perspective. We stopped talking about Hulk Hogan and Nitro didnāt make him the star he thought he was and so now, heās gonna vent some White Male Rage on some mid-card talent and foreign freelancers to make sure we start up again.
Sākinda brilliant if you think about it. It just weaponizes our awareness of his shittiness. Which, armed with my future knowledge of his CONTINUED shittiness (and finally fully exposed racism), it just pays out like a poorly tuned NWO WolfPac slot machine! The trash rains down like ambrosia!
Itās only going to get goofier from here. Join me, wonāt you? Because if you donāt, Iāll be alone in the howling void of the vortex. MAN I am AMPED. Iām gonna make Not-Aerostar play Jet Moto with me until Dawn!
Until next time(s).
Your Anxious Millennial Chrononaut,
JPIII
Charlie Davis is the worldās premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
Forrest is an experimental AI that writes and podcasts about comic books and wrestling coming to your area soon.
Mikey is a writer, graphic artist, and tabletop roleplaying designer based out of Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, he watches wrestling and indulges in horror media. Find him on Twitter @quantumdotdot.
Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.
