Reverse Hipster's AEW &Impact Highlights
5. (Impact) Crazy Steve
Crazy Steve has a new interview series, and I'm enjoying it. He reveals he is legally blind, and he was about to talk about his family when the first installment ended. I love that TNA is diving deeper into this deranged character. It reminds me of the interviews JR used to do with Kane and Mick Foley.
4. (Dynamite) Lonely at the Top
All of Jericho's group members said their peace and walked out on Jericho. Jericho has a pretty big ego, but having your entire faction of villains walk out on you has to be a sobering moment. I loved this segment. We got a promo out of every single JAS member. Surprisingly it was Daddy Magic who delivered the best one. This is also a very compelling story that I want to see develop.
3. (Dynamite) Sting Throws Down the Gauntlet
Even after all these years, Sting still feels special. The Mogul Embassy called out Darby Allin, and they were ready to jump him when Darby invoked Sting. The lights went off, and I got chills. Darby ran in. Sting started beating everyone up until it was just him and Swerve. Sting held Swerve at Batpoint and pointed up to the All I sign, challenging Swerve to a match at All In. That challenge gave me big chills. It's crazy that Sting still has this much star power to where I want to see him fight the much younger Swerve, but they don't call him the Icon for nothing.
2. (Dynamite) Shake It Off
Adam Cole made a passionate case for why he and MJF should challenge for the ROH Tag Titles on the All in preshow. This was a very tight rope for Adam Cole to walk because you want to acknowledge that you lost your AEW tag team opportunity without making the ROH Titles seem secondary. Adam Cole did this perfectly by bringing up the history of the belt as well as his history in ROH. It's the last ROH Title he has to win.
MJF agreed to wrestle two times in one night but only for Adam Cole. My only problem with this is that it's too important a match to be on the All In preshow. I'm sorry, but you got the world champion and the number one contender, who are the hottest acts in the company, in a title match, that's got to be on the main card. Also, Rodrick Strong came out to scold Cole for wanting to win the ROH titles with MJF instead of him. MJF delivered such a great promo smackdown that he had the whole crowd singing Taylor Swift's Shake it off at Strong. It was an excellent moment for MJF, but it caused trouble for Adam Cole, causing a flash of tension between the two before they shook it off.
I asked the fans, and many of you think Cole should turn on MJF or they shouldn't turn at all. This week swayed me the other way. I think MJF should be the one to turn on Adam Cole. Because it would be frustratingly expected, we all knew who MJF was, and still, we let our guard down, just like Adam Cole.
1. (Dynamite) ONE OF A KIND!
The ONE OF A KIND RVD came back to face Jack Perry for the FTW title, and they put on a hell of a show; first off, it's amazing that this happened on weekly tv. Second, RVD is still the man. RVD has an awesome moveset, but it's not the easiest thing to do as an older man. However, Rob was still hitting everything. He was still able to get the leg extension on the Van Damanater. He can still catch the leg, hop over your foot, and kick you in the face. He struggled a little to get on the ropes in one motion, but that Frog Splash is still 5-star.
Jack Perry got a huge rub defeating and hanging with a Hall of Famer. The way Jack won was legal but quite literally underhanded. After being bailed out by the ref being down while he was pinned, Jack low-blowed RVD and threw him into a chair, and rolled him up for the win. I love that his match with MJF had consequences. Jack realized he needed to go dark to succeed.
Reverse Hipster's AEW and Impact Lowlights
1. (Impact)Bhupinder Gujjar
I don't know what Impact plans to do with this guy, and apparently, they don't either. He's had moments where it looked like he might climb out of the abyss, but it hasn't happened. Gujjar jobbing to Dango has been his career for the last year. He doesn't have to win a title, but he could be more than a lovable loser.
Rob’s Highlights (WWE/NXT)
5. New Day return, WWE Raw
WWE without the New Day has felt like a bowl of milk without Booty-O’s cereal. The faction has survived nearly ten years in the WWE with successful singles runs as well. Off the break, I hope WWE can find something fresh for the New Day and use them to help build their up-and-coming roster as well.
4. Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee, NXT
NXT has featured great match work, and this match was no exception. Dominik Mysterio’s reign early on has actually helped elevate Dominik and shown the talented NXT roster to people who may not have tuned in otherwise. Dragon Lee is obviously main roster ready, but his feature on NXT is better than anything we will likely see him do on Raw or SmackDown. Rhea Ripley also looks like she may work a match with NXT women that could be mutually beneficial as well.
3. Tyler Bate Wins the Heritage Cup, NXT
I love the Heritage Cup because the format is unique from anything else in wrestling. Noam Dar continues to brag over the Heritage Cup, so it makes for a natural moment when a babyface gets to take it from him. Years ago, Tyler Bate looked like the sure future of WWE before being surpassed by Pete Dunne and many other young stars. Perhaps this could be part of Bate’s resurgence to relevance in NXT and beyond.
2. Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Matt Riddle vs. Tommaso Ciampa, WWE Raw
This was a feature of underutilized wrestlers who were all Triple H guys during the peak of NXT, and it made for a great match on Raw. It felt like any one of them would be a worthy challenger to Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship. It was an extra surprise to see Chad Gable win. Gable makes the best of any creative he is given. A featured singles match with Gunther is an interesting clash of contrast between both wrestlers’ styles.
1. Edge challenges Sheamus, WWE SmackDown
Edge has been absent from WWE TV for a while. It was good to see him on SmackDown, and a reminder that he can cut a promo and make a story better than 99% of the current roster. He has a way of being casual, connecting with fans, but to the point, setting up a story and reason for his matches. For those familiar with the story, Sheamus bickering with Edge led to the return of the Rated R superstar. Now, Edge will fight Sheamus in his hometown on SmackDown.
Rob’s Lowlights (WWE/NXT)
3. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed, WWE Raw
For weeks, Shinsuke Nakamura and Bronson Reed have had a back-and-forth feud with no substance, development, or big matches. On top of that, Nakamura won the match instead of the relatively new Reed. WWE needs to take a deep dive on what they think feuds like this are achieving aside from filling time.
2. AJ Styles vs. Karrion Kross, WWE SmackDown
Speaking of feuds that will not end, AJ Styles and Karrion Kross had a mediocre match to pay off months of a mediocre feud. We know what Styles can do, and perhaps he is best served at this point in his career putting others over. Kross looks like an idiot for coming back to WWE. He hasn’t been featured in any way for the past few months, and this loss to Styles sets him back again.
1. The Bloodline, WWE SmackDown
For the first time in recent memory, the Bloodline is on the lowlights list for WWE. After months of rollercoaster storytelling, the story took its first turn that made no sense at Summerslam with Jimmy Uso turning on Jey Uso to cost him the championship against Roman Reigns. Jimmy claimed he didn’t want Jey to become the Tribal Chief and be corrupted by power like Reigns was. Jey took out Reigns and Jimmy and declared he was quitting WWE. Put this in the column of underdeveloped stories that have gone on too long. Rumor has it that WWE is going to draw out the Jimmy/Jey storyline until WrestleMania, and I think it would be a big mistake to keep Jey off TV for that amount of time.
Rob’s Winner of the Week
NXT was the best show of the week out of everything that I watched. NXT continues to have important and novel matches on weekly TV. While we have critiqued NXT’s usage of main roster stars in the past, their involvement this week helped everyone on NXT.
Reverse Hipster's Winner of the Week
Dynamite won, and it wasn't particularly close. Dynamite was almost all five highlights on this list. It had bigger and better stories than the other shows. Dynamite delivered a special show without calling it that. Amazing product for free tv.
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