Bloody hell, September’s sure kicking off with a bang!
The wrestling world abuzz with positivity as a Vince McMahon-less WWE has finally been able to get its act together, whilst AEW’s star studded injury list has all returned within the span of a few weeks. A dry August for special events, as both promotions built to this first week of September and a great weekend to be a wrestling fan.
WWE Clash At The Castle bringing our fill of scales and fire breathing in time for the HBO Targaryen show (I jokingly write as if I’m not 200 pages into Fire & Blood). AEW didn’t miss out with their own show dedicated to their business daddy’s big, scaly venture, building to an All Out PPV promising to deliver some damn top notch wrestling.
Even if its… 15 matches. Jesus Christ, I’m going to die.
This column coming out on a Sunday to include WWE’s Clash At The Castle, even though I did toy in waiting till tomorrow to also include AEW All Out. However, I will be live on Wrestling Headlines YouTube with Aftershock immediately following All Out, so will be getting all my thoughts out there instead,
A slight tweak to the format as WWE’s Saturday night Live Event replaces my SmackDown coverage for the week, with it making more sense to dedicate my words to the big show instead. I will quickly note how much I enjoyed the Viking Rules match and swiftly move on to Cardiff.
WWE Clash At The Castle
September 3rd 2022
Oo Aye Sco- Wales!
30 years. It’s been three long decades since the UK last had a wrestling stadium show and the atmosphere absolutely showed it. The fans certainly turned up in Cardiff, singing loud and cheering their hometown talent proud.
I mean, Scotland and Ireland are separate countries, but eh close enough. Ignore the tensions of history, the British Isles are one to us wrestling fans!
The perfect length at a snug 6 match card, each match given time to flesh out without the show every worrying about outstaying it’s welcome. The flow of an NXT TakeOver on a grand stadium stage, with the Peacock forced breaks giving me hefty time to fetch a new Magners Irish Cider.
Do AEW think about Matthew’s Cider Time?? No they do not. Consider my Cider Time, Tony! Sure, my judgement may have been clouded by the time the main event rolled around, but that’s the price you pay with a break between every match. I toast your consideration, The Peacock.
Oh the singing! That’s a real atmosphere for yers. Unrelenting in our desire to delightfully sing: Bayley’s one NXT TakeOver trip fondly remembered to the tune of DJ Ötzi, loudly belting out every lyric to Metalingus, serenading Seth and deafening Drew McIntyre melodies.
Sorry, America, your chants are – in comparison – very average.
The whole event the polar opposite of the fun little house show some expected it be. I’m not sure why though, nothing about the build gave that impression, the treatment since its announcement has been to relate the event to SummerSlam 1992. If you were worried about that you simply weren’t paying attention.
The matches themselves with a big time feel on the stadium stage. Playing off the arcs and builds going in, given grander significance with so much of the talent not having similar bouts the month prior in Nashville. Rollins vs Riddle more so than anyone else, the extra month of build did a world of good in heating up their feud.
My personal Match Of The Night falling to Gunther and Sheamus’ sweat pummeling Intercontinental encounter. Both lads left red and welting from barrages and chops, a gradual burner of a bout that fired the Cardiff crowd right up. A testament to the two lads skill given how those kinds of matches normally go down with WWE crowds, but they went barmy for this!
That said there will likely be a different favourite for many fans. The perfect outcome when there’s multiple solid bouts all worthy of applause, a sign of show well done.
Even if most of the discourse will be about the finish of the show, the event as a whole absolutely knocked it out of the park. The British fans disappointed in their man losing on such a stage in such a manner, then the Americans baffled by a silly little sing-song for the loser (Tyson Fury sings American Pie after all of his boxing matches, but not normally to boxers after bouts he’s not in).
P.S. I didn’t laugh louder all weekend than Tyson Fury knocking out Austin Theory trying to cash in.
Monday Night RAW
August 29th 2022
The WWE Competent Era
Will you look at that? Another solid episode of Monday Night RAW. Once again nothing spectacular, however a much stronger foundation is being built with incremental changes each week. The list of -1 detractors taking away from the show continues to shrink, each gradually addressed as the structure of the show is mended.
After just four weeks Triple H’s RAW has so far seen: a refreshing re-energisation of the Women’s Division, importance and prestige returned to the United States Championship, the rehiring and rethinking of multiple creatively mishandled talent and a myriad of production and pacing improvements.
If you’ve got me paying attention to the background as folk are walking backstage you’re damn well doing something right.
Each show starting off in an exciting manner via brawls, show interruptions and high paced math-ups; breaking the former structure of a long promo segment setting up a featured match.
This was another week without your friendly neighborhood DQ finish, a WWE trope for sure, but so far under Triple H they’ve been used to move characters forward from where they started. There has been value from these matches happening as opposed to before.
I’ve said all along that it was never “thing = bad” when critiquing the Vince McMahon product. It was all about the execution, far too often to make a rivalry ‘continue to happen’ rather than progressing any story or characters. Vince’s world resulted in some great matches, yes, but also viewer fatigue, repetition and perceived wasted time.
Triple H and the current creative output is so incredibly vindicating. Bad faith commenters changing face in recognising the product has now vastly improved. “Improved from what?” we ask when we were labelled “complaining for the sake of complaining” and constantly told there was nothing wrong. Well, what on Earth is this then?
The Seth Rollins and Riddle feud has been allowed to shine with creativity. This week in particular had more originality in its little finger than Rollins’ entire rivalry with Cody (a strong comparison with the feud also becoming heated to the boil). Both the initial parking lot brawl and post-interview exchange executed with completely fresh ideas of production.
Rollins vs Cody was one of the better showings of Vince’s quality, but it was also a prime example of repetition and feud fatigue. Exactly what I’m talking about with the product improving on all assets. Because of the attention to detail and allowing of fresh ideas, the top feuds are even hotter and a hell of a lot easy to stay invested in.
AEW Dynamite
August 31st 2022
Has The Build To All Out Been Good?
Every episode of Dynamite has a tone of talking notes, but the past few weeks have been something special. Even on lesser weeks characters are constantly moving forward and setting the stage, then we get nights where CM Punk returns the same show Darby Allin has a bloody coffin kerfuffle with Brody King.
This week we rode on the All Out high, a trait AEW has earned as their shows reliably kick into gear as we close in on a PPV. Tony Khan hyping the show on social media as one the most momentous go home shows he’s ever produced.
Unified AEW Champion Jon Moxley opening the show by dropping a signed open contract in the middle of the ring. Begging the mystery and setting up our arc for the show: who will face Mox at All Out?
The kind of arc we’re used to seeing play out over multiple weeks in AEW, their initial years created an expectation for long form stories. However, this time it all played out in one night over three damn solid segments: Moxley lays down the challenge, CM Punk gets hyped back up by his trainer to accept and Moxley drives us home.
Honestly after last week I wasn’t sure if I was particularly looking forward to the idea of Mox vs Punk II, but I cannot argue that this week they did a truly excellent job. Even if I’m not the most hyped, Chicago bloody well certainly are. Jon Moxley with the perfect set up of ‘no lies’ digs and presented opportunity, before Punk’s segment with his trainer delivered a top draw strike. The story bursting a 10 yard sprint to goal like they’re Erling Braut Haaland.
Likely brought on by injury uncertainty, but that does mean All Out has ended up with a last minute sprint. That’s instead of the gradual arcs we’re used to, building our investment over the course of months rather than the last weeks before the PPV. Because of that expectation you get reactions of the angle being rushed, of that investment we’ve seen in the past not being there.
However, what was has been delivered over the past few weeks since Punk’s return has been of such a high quality that in no world am I going to sit here and type out a whinge and mardy. Every week of TV I’ve been taken for a ride with no idea which way they’ll turn, as I said it’s made some truly compelling TV.
Even if I’m not massively hyped for the PPV itself.
Oh and then they go and have the Trios Championship Tournament bring two absolute stellar main events in a row. United Empire versus The Elite finally bringing Ospreay and Omega together on our screens, doing an excellent job of getting us excited for the pairing.
Watching a possible Wrestle Kingdom build play out on AEW TV sure is the dream crossover I hoped the promotion would be upon their inception.
AEW Rampage
September 2nd 2022
The AEW Trios Tag Team Championship Final Is Set!
Another Friday night, another solid our of professional wrestling. This week’s Rampage arguably the most solid for a while, with a great flow through the show as each match had purpose and moved our characters along to our pre-All Out beat.
I’ll stand by it that Rampage is the easiest watch of the week, whilst also being the least necessary one. You can skip this week’s episode and you’ll be grand, but you tune in and you won’t regret it. Like a delightfully lovely add-on for the fans that just want more AEW, for the rest you can still follow Dynamite perfectly fine without it.
Final All Out additions finalised or elaborated upon ahead of the 14-match epic this Sunday. The AEW Tag Team Champions get to exchange words with their opponents, as did the undefeated Jade Cargill ahead of her toughest test against Athena. The strongest table to be set being Dark Order & Hangman Page advancing to the AEW Trios Championship Final. Our Kenny & The Bucks clash with Hangman officially coming to fruition in the exact kind of exciting match-up these titles exist for.
This week for AEW was honestly a mixture of applause whilst also noting that I’m not particularly hyped for the PPV itself. The matches themselves are sure to deliver a solid outing, but compared to AEW’s own high bar I’m sure if they’ve met it.
As for the actual stories and character work orbiting the thing though, I can’t give enough applause. They’re nailing that aspect, just not all the others.
WWE Clash At The Castle – A delightful ditty in Cardiff, even if with ending on Tyson Fury singing
RAW Grade – Vindicating to watch all the improvements
AEW Dynamite Grade – Operating at such a high level
AEW Rampage Grade – A truly solid hour of pro wrestling
Comment below. I’ll be here to reply and chat this weird wrestling world.
Toodles, chaps.
Contact Imp:
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Email – theimplicationsyt@gmail.com
Previous columns
Imp’s Week In Wrestling – Triple H, Trios & Triple Threats
Imp’s Week In Wrestling – From “Consenual” To “Coercion”
Imp’s Week In Wrestling – Vince McMahon: Hush Money and Creative Bankruptcy
Imp’s Week In Wrestling – The Forbidden Door Swings and Championship Wins