IN LAIMAN’S TERMS #462
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Thoughts on AEW: At World’s End 2023
1. So we’re all just gonna pretend a loud-ass horn didn’t interrupt Wheeler’s promo?
2. You know it’s a good crowd when Dalton Castle getting eliminated erupts in a chorus of boos.
3. Finally, it’s time for At Feud’s End. This show has the vibe of a season finale.
4. This presentation just feels so epic. Where has this level of gravitas been? Damn, the arena looks packed too, this should be fun.
5. This opening match of the Continental Classic stars doesn’t quite feel like a consolation round, but everyone involved deserves an encore on PPV.
6. Daddy Magic on commentary one more time for Garcia’s match is fitting. I still think his Big Damn Hero moment was understated as hell.
7. That pop for Daniel Garcia… Looks like his moment in the Classic did its job.
8. Nigel has stepped up a level in HAM yelling about Danielson. He’s an early contender for the HAM by calling him King of the Clams and comparing him to Nick Fury.
9. Briscoe let out a yell just this side of Chuck Taylor.
10. Danielson and Switchblade tagging in gets another massive reaction. We are in for a special night if they deliver on what they’ve implied with this card.
11. HAT of the night passing by right about now behind the floor seats. Big yellow hat with a red ribbon.
12. Daniel Garcia gets some heat with the most casual blind tag of all time. He gets the pleasure of going back in there with Brody King. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
13. Brody gets in Menard’s face, and that gets a “Daddy Magic” chant going. Big damn hero again, let’s see how this pans out.
14. This is perfect, so many participants from the respective leads getting to mix it up while they’ve been dealing with the others in their own. This is a time where the term “all-star match” is appropriate, as that’s what All-Star Games used to be.
15. Rush and Brody King, the odd couple tag team we didn’t know we needed.
16. Spam the finishers button, here we go! Garcia suplexes Brody King and then flips over Lethal for the win. Menard gives him permission to dance all night. Brody King punches him, and they think so little of him that they don’t even show it. They keep teasing the dissent between Garcia and Danielson.
17. Miro against Andrade is next. After Andrade felt so strong in the tournament, according to Fightful he’s on the way out. I didn’t expect Andrade to beat Miro anyway, but it’s not much in doubt now. He doesn’t even get promo time during the vignette. I still can only hope that CJ is feeling better.
18. Referring to Miro’s absence as “self-imposed” just feels like such a slap in the face. I very much doubt he sat out as long as he did by his own volition.
19. If those outfits aren’t Mortal Kombat references, it feels like they should be. (I don’t know enough about Mortal Kombat to know if it actually is or not.)
20. Andrade hasn’t gotten out of his entrance jacket yet, and he counters a charge into the corner, which is more offense than I expected him to get, given the circumstances. Then again, maybe they won’t be petty about a reportedly “less-than-amicable” parting of ways.
21. CJ yells about her infected finger to Miro, “is this what you wanted?” Okay then.
22. I’m amazed that they had Andrade go over Danielson in the C2, if this split was something people were aware was probably going to happen.
23. Miro goes back-first over the announce table, and I just hope he didn’t land on his head. He’s gonna be a bit sticky though, because he took someone’s drink with him. And hey, gee, those energy drink promos have certainly been toned down since a certain someone was really fucking gross a few minutes after I left the show during Rampage, eh?
24. Dueling chant right now: “Let’s Go Miro/You Fucked Up!” I don’t think I’ve ever heard that combo before.
25. The fragility gets really strong when Andrade hugs CJ. Ooh, a hug?! That’s like third base!
26. “GAME… OVER!” So badass, how is this only his 7th match this year? Miro has the slippy slippy issues that he had with Hobbs, but thankfully Andrade doesn’t tap during one of the slip-n-slides.
27. CJ breaks the Figure-Eight. Andrade eats the superkick and still kicks out. They’re really putting him over strong, which again, despite the circumstances is a huge surprise. So after all this, they’re just on the same page anyway? What was the point again?
28. Toni Storm against Riho is next, and now Toni even has stylistic vignettes. They keep diving further into this and I love every second of it.
29. I also love this theme the more I hear it. Well done on the composer’s part, it fits to perfection.
30. Riho sells the back, and Toni does several heel steps over it. This gets a “Toni!” chant going. Or maybe they’re just really big Tony!Toni!Tone! fans and this is just a coincidence.
31. Luther gets tossed from ringside, and you don’t take the Golden Age starlet’s butler away. Wait until the presses hear about this indignity!
32. Riho kicked out of a… Storm Zero? I think? And I don’t know if it was the angle, but it looked like she had a big smile on her face at the time. It made me laugh.
33. Toni Storm gets the win after… a weird-looking move. They said it was pulling her over the back for a DDT, but I don’t know if that was intentional or not. Toni is so over though, it’s wonderful.
34. Mariah May comes out with rose petals for a classic black-and-white celebration, and Toni celebrates American Beauty-style. Thankfully it’s a significantly less creepy version of that particular sequence.
35. Dante Martin gets another promo backstage, and I love the push they’ve been giving Top Flight. They set up Dante vs. OC for the title on Wednesday. Right on. I’d rather see them as the Trios champions, as I’m not sure what the hell’s going on with the Acclaimed.
36. The star of the show is here, with the once-again failed attempt to pay off the Keith Lee/Swerve feud. Keith Lee was injured? This feud is cursed.
37. I don’t like Dustin Rhodes’ chances. I don’t even remember the last time he won a match, and Swerve is getting a massive reaction even compared to the rest of this show so far. I expect only MJF and Eddie to match it.
38. We’re going back to the cinder block already. You’d think they’d stop leaving those under the ring at some point. Do they serve any other practical purpose? Even as over as he is, he’s still wrestling like a pure heel. It’s starting to approach the territory of MJF earlier this year, when even his attempts to get people to boo him didn’t work.
39. Swerve stands with his hands folded, and Bob tells Dustin not to head back to the ring. Ya gotta listen to Bob, man. That’s why Danielson didn’t win the CC. He went after Bob. He fucked around and found out. Don’t make the same mistake, Dustin. Learn from Minneapolis.
40. I can’t believe Swerve is doing this to Keith Lee’s long-tenured tag partner. All the things they’ve been through, the ups, the downs, the epic journeys all over the tens of places they’ve been… There was Rampage, and… another Rampage, and… backstage that one time. Not since the epic saga of Braden Walker have we seen such a tragic fall from grace.
41. “Yambag Yahtzee City.” That was a thing that was said.
42. Dustin’s comeback is getting booed. That’s how ridiculously over Swerve is. The guy who had his leg crushed with a cinderblock is getting booed for trying to fight on despite the circumstances. Wrestling is weird sometimes.
43. “My leg hurts, you know what a good idea is? Try to do something where I post my injured leg right where the guy who tried to break it can grab it. I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”
44. This feels like the Andrade/Miro match, in the “why the hell is this going so long” way.
45. This is dragging on like the Full Gear main event. At least Swerve gets the win. The image of the crowd doing the Swerve dance as he stands on the turnbuckles is amazing.
46. How often are there multiple 8-person tags on the same show? With this one, I get the gift that keeps on giving, face Chris Jericho. And now we throw in “how dare you paint a picture of me with my baby?!”
47. Also Sting and Darby are involved. For reasons. Did he climb Everest?
48. “World’s NDA.” I see what you did there.
49. Takeshita is wearing *a* devil mask. But it’s not *the* devil mask. Interesting choice.
50. All this fallout with Sammy Guevara turning on the Callis family after that time they hung out. First Naturally Limitless, now this. My heart can’t take it.
51. Dem bright orange shoes on Bill though.
52. Someone in the floor seats was really, really excited to see Darby tag in.
53. Takeshita did an avalanche blue thunder bomb on Darby, but I think it hurt Takeshita more. That did not look like selling. Hit his tailbone on the landing, did he?
54. The crowd wants Sting. You gotta give the people what they want. How can we ruin it? Have Jericho tell Sting to do his own taunt. I’d rather watch a 24-hour marathon of Country Hearts. Long Island’s reaction to him seems to be a similar vibe.
55. Sting tried to hit the HotShot on Ricky, but it looked more like a worse version of that DDT thing Toni did to end the match. This is a weird show. I hope the bigger matches pick it up a bit.
56. Even Big Bill threw Jericho down really awkwardly. What is going on?
57. Takeshita German suplexes both Sammy and Darby. That was freaking awesome, even if it did make it look like Darby landed right on his head. Headbounce Jones.
58. Callis tries to get involved with the bat and nothing happens. Jericho gets kicked right in the fuck though, so there’s a silver lining.
59. Sammy gets the win for the team. I couldn’t care less. But this is just one more encore for Sting. I’m glad he’s getting all these moments. That match just couldn’t get out of second gear though.
60. I don’t understand why Julia started just coming out to stare at Abadon. Just a spooky square-off kinda thing? I’m not complaining with the results though. I didn’t expect Thunder Rosa to get involved though.
61. The stipulation is “biting is legal.” More creative than some of the trios House Rules stips.
62. I already loved Julia’s entrance, but after seeing it in person, not to mention in her hometown, I appreciate it that much more. It keeps getting better the more they add to it.
63. “This is spooky!” chant. Dead.
64. Is it part of their makeup or does Abadon have a cut on their forehead? I’m guessing the former.
65. Julia’s outfit is very, very red. I guess with Abadon in green, it is appropriate for multiple holidays. Festive and practical, always a good combination.
66. Skye Blue appears from under the ring, and Abadon does the Kane zombie situp. I wonder if this will turn into a distraction changing of advantage? Damn, that’s exactly what happened.
67. Julia Hart’s moonsault is being done though. She’s lucky she didn’t blow out a knee though, because she almost does a double knee drop with it. Now that they call it that way, maybe it was intentional.
68. I didn’t expect Abadon to get a win in this match though, I’m glad to see them getting consistent TV time. Skye kicks Abadon out of the ring. I guess Thunder Rosa was on a one-time help-out deal?
69. Edge vs. Christian, the rematch and a NEWWWWW disqualification match.
70. They say Adam is wearing the gear he did for the WrestleMania match with Foley? Damn, I never would’ve picked up on that.
71. The brawl begins early. I wonder if the outfit and match reference they’re making means there will be sharp things and a fire table? I guess Nicky’s mom would play the Lita role of pouring the lighter fluid?
72. The crowd’s onto the idea too, as they’re chanting for tables two minutes into the match. Some things never change.
73. Copeland does a big dive out in the crowd, and the reaction is incredible. This is bringing energy back to this feud which felt a bit lacking for a while.
74. The “you still got it!” chant starts. Now this would be a good reference to something Jericho once said. “I never lost it!”
75. We’ve got a caning going on. I wonder if this is the real story of what the Crash Test Dummies were singing about once upon a time.
76. Adam’s got one hell of a swollen brow. That probably didn’t feel good.
77. This is the time to do the Swerve dance, I suppose. Anything to get on camera, right?
78. We’ve got a ladder. The crowd chants “TLC!” Tony!Toni!Tone! earlier and now people want to chase some waterfalls. Maybe all the red lights in Julia’s entrance inspired them.
79. Christian does a sunset flip off the ladder, and Adam’s head misses the leg of the chair by… not far. That was terrifying. On the replay, it looked like more space, but it was still too close for comfort.
80. Here comes the table. Or tables, rather. Will one get set on fire? It is being set in the appropriate place.
81. Excalibur said “the mood changed.” Well, Taz was warning us a long time ago that was imminent.
82. The crowd chants “we want fire.” Is some sparkletable imminent? We’ll find out soon enough.
83. A table gets set up in the corner, you could see the spear setup coming a mile away, and it doesn’t matter in the slightest. The crowd loved it.
84. Nicky’s mom interfered with the ref count, which leads to a title belt shot. Nick then does the Wayne’s World onto the floor, and much like Takeshita earlier, that did not look like a comfortable landing.
85. A well-timed near-fall kickout after a Killswitch (no Luchasaurus.)
86. Here comes the the stuff that make the fire go big. The table is in the right spot. A GFY before Nick lights the table. Adam pours more on the table. The fire was sandbagging this match, that’s really unprofessional.
87. Adam powerbombs Nick off the ring apron and he mostly goes over the table. Well, better that than that hoodie catching on fire. Still probably didn’t feel good after that Wayne’s World landing earlier. Adam pins Christian to win the TNT title, so now Killasaurus must avenge the Patriarch.
88. Adam staring at the title like he did after cashing in MITB once upon a time puts over that title so huge.
89. Speaking of Killasaurus, there he is. Multiple chokeslams, including one on the chair. Are they using this like a MITB?
90. Christian stops him from using it, and asks him to hand it over. Does Adam really have no friends backstage? They’re just letting this happen?
91. Killasaurus hands it over, they must drag this out as long as possible.
92. Christian wins the title right back. Okay, I admit, I did not see that coming. What a match, what a twist. I wonder what he said to Killasaurus.
93. What a brutal match, followed by a surprising twist of something from Adam’s earlier career coming back to bite him. Even despite the condition he’s in, Adam poses for a selfie with a fan. What a guy.
94. The final of the C2 is here. I lament that there’s going to be three separate titles, because that means there’s even more in a place where there’s already too many, but this tournament has been incredibly awesome. Even if the finalists were extremely predictable.
95. Danielson comes down to do some bitchy commentary on this match. I doubt it’ll be as supportive as Menard’s was earlier, for obvious reasons.
96. Forget the curveball, Moxy. Give ’em the heater!
97. Mox has a conversation with a person at ringside before stepping over the barrier.
98. Damn, these Eddie chants are something special. Even if the story of the tournament was telegraphed as hell, it has exceeded expectations.
99. Danielson is comparing stats with Eddie. I wonder if this is how he tells the video game programmers to do stats. “I have better kicks than he does, but his hands are better than mine.”
100. “Now they’re just getting in a pissing contest, boys.” I’m surprised to not hear any of Nigel’s snide remarks at comments like that.
101. Awful crash on the barricade as Eddie did a dive to the outside. How is he standing?
102. Mox is heel for this match, and the BCC were the faces earlier. They really will just adapt to whatever moment they’re in. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a group who could do that this seamlessly.
103. The machine gun chops aren’t hard enough, “you want 100 percent, mothafucka?” New Yorkers gonna New York.
104. Mox does a double bird to the crowd. Right after he was having a nice conversation earlier tonight. How rude.
105. Despite my often-stated distaste for that finisher, Eddie winning and Bryan’s disdain written all over his face was huge. I’m not surprised at all that Eddie won, and I think it’s okay in that regard. These are some wins that eluded him for a long time.
106. They hug it out afterward. I suppose this will counteract the other hometown star losing later tonight. I’m still not sure how MJF’s gonna even wrestle given how banged up he is. I feel for him.
107. I expect this one to be pretty storyline heavy, all things considered, but also hopefully it’s time for some pay-off after months of build. Will it be the obvious answer? Will it be a surprise? Will it be that person in the front row with the backward hat? Let’s find out.
108. Hometown promo vignette, MJF-style. I’ve loved the different versions of these he’s done. This one? It might as well say “we are all scumbags.”
109. He still gets that huge hometown pop, and I’m glad he gets this despite what I think is going to happen. He looks like he tears up a bit while sitting on the turnbuckle.
110. Oh, look who’s here! The best friend and totally not Devil, Adam Cole, baybay! Nice of them to remind us that Adam convinced Max to team with Joe. I wonder if that’ll come back later.
111. Long Island not fans of Bryce Remsburg, damn. That was an odd place for a round of boos. What the hell did Bryce do? Wait, what was it I said earlier? “New Yorkers gonna New York.” Oh right.
112. Samoa Joe stomps Max in the corner, and yells “Long Island sucks!” just in case the crowd wasn’t chanting “fuck you, Joe!” already.
113. I cannot imagine the amount of pain Max must be in, given the various injuries he’s currently dealing with.
114. The commentators ask if MJF can dig deep. Well I sure hope he can, given what his theme song is and all.
115. MJF skins the cat, despite the obvious pain, and while upside down, Joe boots him right in the head. That looked vicious.
116. Musclebuster on the damn ring apron. Good JBL that looked devastating. How the hell did he kick out of that, other than the delay in the pin attempt?
117. Looks like bites are legal in this match too.
118. The Kangaroo Kick fails for the second time. But then he tries to get Joe up on his shoulders, and nope. He then does a double stomp to the arms and catches his feet on the ropes.
119. This is one of those matches where you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. There’s no way this can’t be the night of the big reveal. The name itself had to be the biggest hint.
120. With a shoot torn labrum, even working an armbar has to be devastating.
121. Ref bump, here we go. Time for some shenanigans!
122. So far, all we’ve had was a slow count and a truly, truly invested Adam Cole watching on. Adam takes a super long time looking for the ring which is definitely, definitely accidental.
123. Wait, there was something really weird about that third arm drop. Bryce paused, that was awkward. Was it supposed to be? Joe wins the title despite the heroic effort of the injured Joe.
124. Adam gets in the ring with Max, who is devastated. I’m still not sure what happened with that third arm drop. The crowd appears to be voicing their displeasure.
125. Here come the minions. It’s not Wardlow though, he’s in London, I assure you. They easily overcome the two, and they each beg for themselves to be hit over the other. Then… the lights go out.
126. The lights go out, and you mean Adam was the Devil this whole time? And it was Wardlow and the Kingdom? Yeah, that was pretty obvious, but what makes this moment is the way MJF sells it. He’s had his heart broken by the only one he ever let himself be vulnerable with, and that’s how the show ends. Max has time to heal up, and hopefully when he’s ready, make the triumphant comeback to take on the one who betrayed him after all this time.
127. This show started strong, and ended pretty damn strong, but some of the stuff in the middle was a chore to get through. I really did enjoy it though, and the hot crowd made it even better.
LARGE HAM
For the last HAM of the year, it’s gotta be Nigel with his big Danielson HAM freakout. HAM awards start fresh next year. Thus concludes the year of wrestling, as well as my first full year back of writing columns. I hope 2024 is wonderful for all of you.