Deadly draw

[Deleted]

Just a placeholder thread for now to chat about the tag tournament. It's on YouTube premiering currently, first match just finished

[Yambag Jones]

I’m setting expectations pretty low for this.

[Deleted]

Night one in the books. 2 matches tonight. I'm assuming the setup is 2 matches each of the next 2 weeks as well, and then the final on dynamite.

Veda Scott on commentary with Skiivone & Medusa came out to introduce the cup. Good call.

Started with Nightmare Sisters against Penelope & Mel. (Allie cheated to grab the same colour as Brandi, so they at least had a kayfabe way of doing it, and Allie's character work is so strong that I think it worked)

Match itself was pretty decent I thought. Allie & Brandi have developed some chemistry, and Brandi is improving all the time. Penelope looks so damn good now. From the girl that did the 'rana spots on the outside to a legit threat in the division, she's come a hell of a long way. I thought this might have been the best Mel has looked too so far. Nightmare sisters picked up the win after some shenanigans. We'll probably get QT vs. Kip shortly as well, kip decked Marshall on the outside.

Second match was Nyla/Ariana vs. Tay Conti & Anna Jay. Anna came out with D.O, but they left after her entrance. Anna is looking better and better, but you can still tell she's very very new. Not in a bad way, she is just oozing potential, just that she can't quite go at pace yet. Match has to move just a little bit slower so she can keep up with the spots. I don't know if I would have paired Ariana against her to start the match since this is the first time in a ring officially in forever for Ariana, but oh well. I really enjoyed this match. Ariana wasn't great, and a couple botches, but she wasn't awful. It's very clear she's been training and working hard to improve. With a bit more work I could see her actually being pretty decent. She's very very athletic, the botches looked a bit like ring rust more than anything. Consider me impressed all things considered. Tay looked really good I thought. She used her martial arts background a lot like she should. They laid out this match really smartly. Nyla getting her leg destroyed by Tay & Anna consistently to the point where she couldn't walk on it. After Ariana gets back in Nyla is down and out. Ariana doesn't notice a blind tag, and in what was brilliant, goes to pin Tay in the same way as her botch pin on Naomi, but with Tay laying face up this time. Only problem is Tay wasn't legal so Anna comes in and essentially cutters Ariana for the win. Thought it was a great way to throw back and make fun of that spot, but in a way that also shows Ariana is actually better and it was a "kayfabe botch" on her part. I popped hard for Anna & Tay winning. I really hope Tay is a permanent part of the roster. I didn't give Nyla a ton of focus here but she sold perfect and really helped carry that entire match. I've always been a bit more receptive to Nyla than most in terms of her in ring abilities, but I think it's hopefully becoming clearer that she can in fact wrestle quite well. I think so at least.

That was it for night one. Good call to put them on youtube, I think it'll get much better reception this way, and I thought both matches were pretty solid. Well structured, everything made sense. Couple botches and rough spots but that's part of the game. Especially when 3 of the 4 are still all pretty green.

Edit: Oh, and Shaul Guererro did the introductions

[toki]

i had low expectations for this, so i still haven't watched. BUT, i'm much more interested now that i've read taynara conti and anna jay weren't there to be squashed. i enjoy conti a lot, so i'll have to check the show out. i really hope they sign her.

[Deleted]

I should’ve watched this over raw. Jesus Christ that show is ass

[toki]

Aug 3, 2020 21:44:00 GMT -5 @whathefreak said:

I should’ve watched this over raw. Jesus Christ that show is ass

[K5]

Aug 3, 2020 21:44:00 GMT -5 @whathefreak said:

I should’ve watched this over raw. Jesus Christ that show is ass

it sure was something. lol



for those looking for it.

[Deleted]

Aug 3, 2020 22:05:47 GMT -5 K5 said:

Aug 3, 2020 21:44:00 GMT -5 @whathefreak said:

I should’ve watched this over raw. Jesus Christ that show is ass

it sure was something. lol



for those looking for it.

If I didn’t know any better I’d say Russo is back lol

[toki]

even though i don't really care about it at all...if there weren't travel restrictions, i'd want bea priestley and jamie hayter to win the cup, sue me.

[Deleted]

^^ Imagine what this could have been with a Bea & Jamie team, and a Riho/Yuka team. Even getting Sadie back for this would have been sweet. Girl was like a week from moving full time to the states when everything hit the fan. Her and Shanna would have made a great team too. Statlander and Britt both hurt. Yeeshk.

I mean I obviously can't sit here and tell you that the actual wrestling quality tonight is gonna rival the best Shida matches in the company, or basically anything Stardom can do.

That said the fact that the wrestling quality may not be quite as high is exactly why these sorts of things are important. We didn't get to actual relevance in WWE overnight for women's wrestling. It took years and years. Women's wrestling got set back decades from mens, in no small part thanks to that s***stick Moolah. If we're gonna have North American women's wrestling really on the same level as mens, which it should be, there's gonna be some bumps along the way. As long as the women are consistently trying to improve, and getting opportunities to improve, that's all I can ask for. The talent pool is just not nearly as large right now. But if women continue to get these types of opportunities, etc, in a generation, that talent pool shoots way up. There's a reason Japanese female wrestlers are by and large superior to American female wrestlers, and its because they actually have opportunity there and people respect it. I know most people here can't stand listening to Aubrey talk and I kinda get why, but she has talked about how many more female referees in training she encounters now that she is on AEW and Jess is on Smackdown/was in NXT. Like an immediate, noticeable increase.

It's bad enough that most of the popular sports don't get any female coverage, and the ones that do (Tennis, golf) there is still a huge pay discrepancy. (Market dictated, but that's part of the problem). Wrestling is a perfect fit for trying to help improve the publics impression of female athletes in general. Also like the single perfect transgender sport, because its all a work anyways, so the genetic advantages are meaningless.

I'll get off my soap box now lol. I coach almost exclusively teenage female athletes (Seriously. This year I had 2 guys and 13 girls in my training group. The 2 guys was an increase of 1 from the year before) so its easy to see why I get so adamant about representation in sport. I see the way they get treated compared to their male counterparts, and it's really frustrating. Not so much within our local track community, but outside of it.

[rowdy1971]

It sucks that Mel went from almost having a good angle started with Brandi, to losing to her team in the first round. I wonder what went wrong there?

[Deleted]

Just got around to watching the first episode. Here are my thoughts...

It's good to see Veda Scott. Big fan of hers. Hopefully she has a match or two in AEW. Liked her on commentary.

Good to see Madusa as well. A true legend in women's wrestling

Love Allie. Brandi not so much. Their match was ok.

Nyla Rose made Conti look like a million bucks.

Ariane Andrew sucks!

Anna Jay and Conti are one HOT duo! I'm glad they won.

[Deleted]

Watching this now. I popped for Madusa

[Deleted]

I appreciate Brandi's role in the company, and for seeing to it that AEW provides sensory kits for their fans that need them, but she should be kept out of the ring. Allie's not great, either, but she is solid enough to hang.

[Yambag Jones]

I'm still holding out hope for Jazz to be in AEW. Her legendary NWA run was really cool. She's definitely on the back 9 of her career, but I think she has a lot to offer.

[Deleted]

Aug 5, 2020 9:02:52 GMT -5 Yambag Jones said:

I'm still holding out hope for Jazz to be in AEW. Her legendary NWA run was really cool. She's definitely on the back 9 of her career, but I think she has a lot to offer.

Agreed. 

Jazz has always looked "natural," too, never waiting around to make sure she's in the correct place for a spot, or anything. Her comfort in the ring would do wonders for the AEW female wrestlers (the males, too). It's hard to suspend disbelief with a lot of the female roster at this point. 

[snowjorden]

Aug 5, 2020 9:26:06 GMT -5 @gchdmi said:

Aug 5, 2020 9:02:52 GMT -5 Yambag Jones said:

I'm still holding out hope for Jazz to be in AEW. Her legendary NWA run was really cool. She's definitely on the back 9 of her career, but I think she has a lot to offer.

Agreed. 

Jazz has always looked "natural," too, never waiting around to make sure she's in the correct place for a spot, or anything. Her comfort in the ring would do wonders for the AEW female wrestlers (the males, too). It's hard to suspend disbelief with a lot of the female roster at this point. 

Odd. Jazz literally just liked my tweet about this.. and the tweet was a couple days ago.

[Yambag Jones]

Jazz & Swole would be so great! Swole is young enough to take the majority of bumps for the team and Jazz could still contribute in the match.

[snowjorden]

Aug 5, 2020 10:32:24 GMT -5 Yambag Jones said:

Jazz & Swole would be so great! Swole is young enough to take the majority of bumps for the team and Jazz could still contribute in the match.

They could've told me Jazz was Swoles momma, and I'd have bought it. They have the same personality, lol.

[Yambag Jones]

Aug 5, 2020 10:34:06 GMT -5 snowjorden said:

Aug 5, 2020 10:32:24 GMT -5 Yambag Jones said:

Jazz & Swole would be so great! Swole is young enough to take the majority of bumps for the team and Jazz could still contribute in the match.

They could've told me Jazz was Swoles momma, and I'd have bought it. They have the same personality, lol.

When not tagging, Jazz could be Swole's Tazz. Just saying.