TV Party Tonight!: Double Or Nothing (Part 2 – Results and Reaction)

Well, them Bucks of Youth and Cody have had their roll of the dice at Double Or Nothing – question is, did they win or was it a bust?

A+ show, they broke the bank with this one.

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TV Party Tonight!: Double Or Nothing (Part 1 – Predictions and Expectation)

So, a week after a pretty good WWE show capped off by a real turd in the punchbowl of a main event finish, let’s strap in and prepare for what should be a real make or break event for AEW.

As Chris Jericho said on his podcast preview of the show, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and whilst AEW’s forthcoming TV show in the autumn will be the first impression they make on more casual fans, for the hardcore crowd Double Or Nothing will be that first impression – and it’s the buzz from that fanbase which has made AEW so hot to begin with. If the show sucks and the buzz cools off, it’s hard to see how that doesn’t add up to a major stumble on the part of AEW.

I wrote this post while watching the day-before-the-show press conference and weigh-in Friday evening. The idea of having a press conference associated with big events like this as a vehicle for storytelling is something AEW’s borrowing from NJPW, but the idea of including a weigh-in really helps with the “oh yeah, this is meant to be a quasi-sport isn’t it?” thing that AEW wants to have going on. I’ll add thoughts on the weigh-in as they come to me under the relevant matches.

As before, I’ll be on Discord (see the Fake Geek Fun Pit link to the right) if anyone else who’s watching live wants to join me.

TV Party Tonight!: Money In the Bank 2019 (Part 2 – Results and Reaction)

So, let’s see how well this picture has stood up to the test of time…

TV Party Tonight!: Money In the Bank 2019 (Part 1 – Predictions and Expectation)

This poster is probably my favourite thing that WWE has done since Wrestlemania.

I don’t watch Raw or Smackdown weekly anyway – preferring to read summaries – but since Wrestlemania I’ve also dropped 205 Live, NXT, and NXT UK from my weekly watch. In the case of 205 Live, I think the Cruiserweight Division is really suffering from the size of the division – there’s only so many times we can watch the same matches, and Tony Nese doesn’t inspire me all that much as a champion. With the NXT brands, I think I’m a little too heartbroken about my favourites being called up to the main roster and inevitably misused – I don’t want to get invested any more until that changes.

As for the main roster, despite a few things here and there which are fun (I like the tag team of Asuka and Kairi Sane and if Paige as an English-language mouthpiece is needed for Vince to give them a push, fine, and the Iiconics’ promo game has been excellent), it’s just left me entirely cold. It’s like Vince and the booking team only wrote up to Wrestlemania and gave no consideration to following on from that, which is bizarre because I am pretty sure once upon a time they used to plan much longer in advanced than that.

So, that being the case, why am I even planning to watch Money In the Bank? Well, next week there’s this little rinky-dink indie mudshow called Double Or Nothing which apparently has Vince spooked. I’d have hoped that WWE would up their game to give a memorable PPV here to perhaps engage with the competition – but either way, I’m going to look at how I feel about tonight’s show, I’m going to look at what AEW has to offer next week, and then I’m going to make some decisions about my viewing habits going forwards.

Oh, and I’ll be hanging out in the Nothin’ Means Nothin’ Discord if people want to chat during the PPV and preshow!

EDIT: Whoops, forgot notes on the two actual Money In the Bank matches. Have now added.

SideshowMania!: Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3: Part 2

This is the second half of Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3. and whilst it includes a few matches of note – most particularly LAX vs the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, who still move like it’s the 1980s even though the rock and roll figure they most resemble is Iron Maiden’s Eddie mascot – the main attraction here is the Clusterfuck.

The Spring Break Clusterfuck is basically a comedy battle royale, a wild parody of the Royal Rumble. (A nice point which allows for more variety of spots is that the Clusterfuck takes a leaf from MLW’s Battle Riot match format – in that as well as over-the-top-rope elimination being legal, conventional pins also are.) And because of WWE’s Saudi Arabian antics this past year with the Greatest Royal Rumble, Janela’s decided to up his game and offer up… the Greatest Clusterfuck.

TV Party Tonight!: Wrestlemania 35 (Part 2 – Results and Reaction)

Here we go!

This was a great Wrestlemania; there was only one match I actively disliked, which is good going on a card this long.

SideshowMania!: Joey Janela’s Spring Break 3: Part 1

The more comedic flipside of Bloodsport, Joey Janela’s Spring Break debuted two years ago as GCW’s major Wrestlemania week offering for Wrestlemania 33 and has now become a monster – to the point where they had to split it over two nights.

There is, of course, a question mark over whether this will be Joey Janela’s Spring Break this time next year; Janela’s signed to AEW, and whilst they seem to be cultivating a pretty friendly relationship with a range of indies, it’ll be interesting to see whether they’re keen on one of their own putting their name to an indie show once they’re up and running.

SideshowMania!: AIW Slumber Party Massacre

This is another promotion which ran its Wrestlemania-piggybacking show as part of the GCW collective, and they seem to be in a niche not that far away from ISW – maybe a bit lighter on the comedy, maybe a bit heavier on the hardcore stipulations, but they still book Swoggle.

In fact, they booked Swoggle vs. Scott Steiner, in what looks set to be a decidedly meme-worthy match.

TV Party Tonight!: Wrestlemania 35 (Part 1 – Predictions and Expectation)

OK, time for the reason for the season.

I have not, to be honest, actually consistently watched any main roster stuff since Royal Rumble, having missed both Elimination Chamber and Fastlane and to be honest I’m glad – keeping up with results on Cageside Seats and the like means that I’ve been spared the overbooking of some matches and the underbooking of others. (Dear WWE: if you find that you don’t have any credible opponents for Asuka come Wrestlemania, perhaps consider actually building some female stars on the Smackdown brand other than Asuka, who you’ve treated vilely, and Charlotte, who clearly can’t stay on Smackdown if you’re going to have her and Becky feuding with the MMA Four Horsewomen on RAW.) So my view of the matches may be a bit off-kilter, but let’s have a go at assessing what’s ahead of us.

SideshowMania!: ISW Boner Jam IV: Balls Out

Inter Species Wrestling isn’t a promotion I’ve previously seen, but based on the talent involved it looks like a comedy deathmatch promotion – if such a thing is possible.

 

At any rate, Matt Tremont on the card means deathmatch shit is almost certain because you don’t use that dude for his command of flippy shit, their logo is a parody of the NJPW “King of Sports” kitty and they prominently advertise a Lego Deathmatch on the card. This came with the GCW package, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.