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Well, Collision will have its largest audience for their first segment (it airs after Heat vs Celtics) so if they wanna make this angle worth a damn, they better come up with a killer opening angle and not a random opening match.

Once Danielson officially wraps it up as a full-time wrestler, he'd be the perfect choice to serve as a troubleshooting commissioner type who maintains law and order and occasionally steps in the ring to put the heels in their place when they get too far out of line. I'd be much more interested in that than an increasingly self-indulgent dream match retirement tour.

He most definitely won't have the time, but Shahid Khan def has the aura and the presence to be the badasss babyface owner/promoter who shows up once in a while to make sure things don't get out of hand too much, like Bil Watts in Mid-South or even Gorilla Monsoon in the 90s in WWF. He would serve the role far better than any on-screen version of Tony. I cannot imagine Shahid Khan ever in his life stating that he feared for his life because of another person. This is most definitely projection, but as I said, watching him reminded me of the many badass desi uncles I know, who look like him and also have that aura. Hey, in fact, his schedule might mean he only shows up like 5 times a year at most, which really is the most number you want to see an authority figure on screen.

He showed a lot of restraint, I'll be very honest. Between the tweets and his eventual on-screen appearances, it always felt like he wanted to be part of angles, so finally doing so on Year 6 is a feat.

Tony Khan as an on-air character was inevitable. Shame.

Shad reminds me of the uncle in My Beautiful Launderette, and he was straight gangster.

Shahid Khan has an aura. I know many many desi uncles who look like him who are not to be messed with. Just looks like someone you don't fuck with. In a way, unfortunate for Jungle Boy, cuz one look at Shahid Khan and I refuse to believe that JB can pull that shit on TK in Shahid Khan's presence and not get murdered within 10 minutes

- I'm fine saying that Danielson/Ospreay was one of the top 50-75 matches I've seen and I'm an admittedly rather ignorant WWE/WCW/ECW viewer who hasn't seen a ton of ROH, TNA, Mexico, or Japan stuff, let alone whatever Europe or Australia has to offer or territory stuff from the 70s. But even with that mainstream-dominant background, I think it is hyperbolic to call it the best US match in history. As someone else said, I think the Takeshita match from the last PPV was almost nose-to-nose until the last 10 minutes of this one. Plus, sure, this had a ton of great moves and counters and I loved how they built to the Tiger Driver and I'm a mark for basically everything Danielson...but, push comes to shove, I don't know, I still think there is more subtle brilliance in the Austin/Bret series? Or HBK/Mankind? Or some of the Sting/Vader matches? Flair/Steamboat obviously? Nostalgia certainly plays a factor, sure, but I'm much more comfortable calling this a top 50 than I am a top 5. - I thought the FTR/Bucks match was terrific as well. They had a very hard act to follow, so I'm glad it was a ladder match spotfest. It also meant that the Bucks didn't do any of the lame, "anti-comedy" bullshit that they did on TV last week. That shit was unfunny and atrocious. I thought this was the best possible solution - go out there, do a hard-hitting, physical, weapons-heavy spotfest that shows off both teams' exceptional timing and execution, and then do the big "swerve" at the end to protect FTR while giving the Bucks the W. (Is Cash Wheeler going to prison? Is that still possible? I'm a bigger FTR fan than Bucks fan, but I feel like that still needs to be sorted out...?) - Liked Jericho/HOOK more than seemingly everyone else on Earth. You can call it "Go Away Heat" or "Jericho Heat" or whatever you want, but the crowd seemed into the match. The real problem is that HOOK isn't very good and the crowd was much more anti-Jericho than it was pro-HOOK. But, in terms of who delivered, my eyes saw Jericho taking some gnarly bumps and really working his ass off to try to "make" HOOK. I am 100% in agreement that Jericho needs to go home for awhile (I've also suggested before that instead of being "Lionheart," he really should be going back to his even lamer bedazzled-vest and short haircut gimmick from the mid-00s when he came back as a lukewarm babyface to feud with Orton), but I thought this was easily the best 15-20 minutes of Jericho I've seen in at least a year or two.

I've currently got him at 26 on my draft. There's still a lot I haven't seen, so he could change, but for now something that I'm certain of is that he has the "it" factor for me. Even with how he constantly got jobbed out in NJPW and AJPW, he has that ability to make you buy into him against anyone he's in the ring with. I currently see him as the best of the NJPW's 90's heavies and a huge blessing for AJPW after he jumped. Compared to his contemporaries, he was the best by far on the mat, had charisma out the ass, and could trade open handed strikes as good as anyone. Hash peaked higher and got more opportunities, but Hase blows him away for consistency/variety. He's done quite well for me just watching random NJPW matches with stuff like somehow pulling a good match out of Tadao Yasuda's debut or the aforementioned 93 G1 Chono miracle match. But I see his run from after the AJPW jump as the point where he leaves no doubt of himself as an elite level performer, and I think it deserves some in-depth talk here. So, here's some recommendations from that period as supplement to Loss's list from earlier. Lots of stuff I haven't seen even just from this period but should be enough for a starting point. w/ Misawa & Kawada vs. Taue, Akiyama & Kobashi 9/15/1997 - Awesome 60 minute 6-man that recaptures the energy of the Jumbo 6-mans while still feeling fresh thanks to Hase's role as the odd man. vs. Kikuchi 1/3/1998 - Some of the most tricked out matwork you'll find from 90's AJPW, made even more awesome by Kikuchi's trademark underdog selling. vs. Akiyama 5/1/1998 - First of Hase's AJPW Dome show epics and one of the greatest meat stick measuring matches. Two wrestling jocks from the same college going hard flexing their mat wrestling and then dropping each other on their heads. vs. Kawada 5/2/1999 - Second of Hase's AJPW Dome show epics and not far behind the Akiyama match in quality. Perfect combination of bodypart focused grappling, hot strike exchanges, and incredibly nasty head drops. vs. Vader 8/30/1999 - Great 11 minute quasi-squash that feels right at home as a sequel to their tags from earlier in the decade. Hase sells his ass off and gets the crowd huge into it. vs. Taue 9/4/1999 - Have only seen the JIP NTV version, but looks like a hella fun bomb throwing match adapted nicely to the size difference and both guys' unique movesets. w/ Izumada & Momota vs. Akiyama, Eigen, & Honda 9/18/1999- Again have only seen the JIP version, but way better than it looks on paper. Hase gels really well with Eigen mixing workrate wrestling and old man comedy spots. vs. Misawa 1/9/2000 - Already discussed extensively but well worth a watch if you haven't seen it. Impressive feat from these guys having a great match in the year 2000 that's almost 25 minutes of various Hase armlocks. vs. Fuchi 1/2/2001 - Basically the AJPW equivalent to a lucha maestros match. Great matwork and loads of fun moments from both guys. Watch the GAORA broadcast for the first 5 minutes then switch to the New Year Giant Series comm for the last 9 minutes. vs. Muto 6/6/2001 - Incredible matwork in the first 20 minutes or so. Muto gasses out and they have to switch to more straightforward bomb throwing, but still well worth a watch. vs. Tenryu 8/30/2002 - Awesome striking-based match that works for how careful both guys are in selling damage and varying their attacks as needed. Feels like a match that dudes working soulless forearms exchanges should study. vs. Kojima 10/27/2002 - First half is Hase gobbling up Kojima on the mat and it's glorious. Second half is fun bomb throwing with a passing of the torch feel.

Had not seen the official card posted so putting here. I think Sumo Hall was a WILD choice. That said, card is sick. A few guaranteed "good" matches with Mox vs Barnett, Thatcher vs Suzuki, and Yu vs Abe. I think Sato vs Suzuki I would marginally put in there, I think even low effort that could be decent. But the brain tingles at a few of these others. Nomura vs. Duffee is a match that spiritually speaks to me. Duffee early on got pegged as the next great American heavyweight. At least that was the promotion, it seems he never felt that was his destiny but after recording a :07 KO in your UFC debut, things tend to pick up for you. An okay MMA career, 9-4, beat a couple of names but lost to folks that aren't that great. But he's big as shit and Nomura is stocky but not built like that. My curiosity kjnows no bounds on this one. Rampage vs. Shrek is the clear other match of interest. Interest in a bit of a different way because Quentin always came off as a pro wrestling personality in the MMA world but I don't know how 2024 Rampage carries over. Is he on the juice? Shrek has experience but he himself is usually the MMA counter to a wrestler to garner interest in a bout, so to see him have to be the experienced side of this match...could be really bad! Could also be deeply exciting! Only time will tell.

Late to the show but it ruled. Even the pre show matches were rad. Idk if Bryan/Ospreay was "greatest American match of all time", but it was an absolute delight and could have gone another 2 hours. Danny Bryan's AEW has been so fucking great. Dude already had a GOAT tier in ring career even up to the first retirement, had absolutely no reason to go to AEW other than love of the game and wanting to have great matches with people he hadn't worked with (or at least hadn't in a long time). Roddy/KOR had some really great familiarity spots and fake outs and double/triple fake out counters.

Fantastic. "Putting his draft obligations in question". Hoping he shows up in a neck brace.

Time will tell indeed, but they couldn't have sold that This is Serious Shit any harder than having Big Bad Dad Shad make his debut.

You're not wrong in the least, but I fucking love it that Jericho turned the internet's opinion of him into his new reinvention. That's some epic trolling combined with some epic carny work finding a way to make money off it. That's some HOF level work, bubbas.

Stardom ladies being a semi-regular thing in AEW is going to be a hoot. Also, Kenny stopped as short as humanly possible calling Rossy a pedo on one of his livestreams. What was possibly more alarming is that he heavily implied it was an open secret and people who want to praise him better watch their words because they'll end up looking really bad if/when the full story comes out. Made me think of all the times Cornette made off color jokes about Kenny being around underage Japanese girls, and how it might end up he was the one protecting them.

They’ve showed some decent restraint to not pull the “heels attack Tony Khan” angle up until now but it’s finally done. It’s all in the follow-up. Also, I’d have bet good money that this Jericho shit was leading to ANOTHER stable where 80% of the matches around it see Jericho facing someone to force them to join. Has he missed any TV since Dynamite started? Seems like every other worker in the company has went away, at least for a bit, but he’s there every week. Did he even miss much time when MJF turned on him?

Sting starts the night with a bang winning the TV title. Sid actually needs some help to get past Reed. Luger has better luck than Gilbert. Debeers manages to screw Atlas out of a fair match again. Terri might've just earned herself a women's title match. Piper brought a partner alright, just not the kind we expected. Sting's banner night continues as he breaks Sid's streak. Reed avenges his friend by helping Luger advance. Woman steps up to make sure her boys retain the tag titles. Luger legitimately deserves a award for his acting in the match with Sting. Made sure it he caught everyone off guard when he literally dragged Flair across the finish line. Woman's Horsemen now have all the gold but Luger now has a shot at Flair's title, I'll be looking forward to how that's resolved.

It's wild because it's a call back to a match they had in February. It's the exact same spot, except with Ilja hitting his move.

It's big brained shit but at the same time it can come across as cowardly. Yeah, give me all my dream matches while I won't commit to holding the top belt or any belt at all, thus making long-term feuds an impossibility.

Agreed, for as much as he loves wrestling, it's pretty staggering how he's doesn't see the upside of putting 1 guy over big instead of putting as many people over as possible. What makes it more weird is that he saw how that formula work when he did it with Homicide and Kofi.

Meltzer actually made a fairly compelling argument that Danielson should have gone over Ospreay. If Ospreay just wins non-stop through All In or whenever he gets the World title, he'll have no challengers. If his first loss is closer to All In, how does he get a World title shot? A Danielson loss would give him something to fight for that goes a little beyond, "Has great matches." But then, Danielson's "aw shucks, I just want to put guys over" act is in its own way as selfish as stuff not working for Hogan, brother.

Yeah, of all the options to delay him challenging Swerve and make him wait till August, an IC Title match was a bizarre move. And if he loses the match then it's just downright stupid.

Not to mention, Ospreay has all that momentum and they book him with lame-ass Roderick Strong (good worker, negligible character) for a title no one cares about?

-siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh-

Caught the angle at the end (thinking I was tuning in to watch the finish of Mox vs Hobbs, lol) and I truly hope they have a decent story to tell with this one because if the The Elite 2.0 become a heel authority figure I'm out. Done seen that fucking shit too many times in my life.