 Tiger Driver: Lou Pickney's Wrestling BlogAugust 24, 2022 (AEW Dynamite — Cleveland, Ohio)Notes/thoughts from Lou Pickney:• Solid segment with Chris Jericho/Daniel Garcia & Bryan Danielson. Jericho vs. Danielson should be a great PPV match. The long-term goal is the build/elevating of Garcia and they're well on their way, particularly for a talent like Garcia who is only 23. • Dax Harwood vs. Jay Lethal was a good match. MCMG coming in to team with Lethal on the PPV was a welcomed reveal. Keep in mind that getting Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin means more vintage ROH that can be potentially marketed/repurposed, at least if this is more than just a one-off appearance for the PPV. • Stokely Hathaway: still great. I'm so glad he was able to get out of the WWE system. Tremendous on the mic and able to emote remarkably well with just a facial reaction. You could plug in Stoke with nearly anyone and he'd find a way to make it work. • They don't trust the reaction for Thunder Rosa in front of a live crowd. Nor should they. I wish they'd have stripped her of the AEW Women's World Title; this reign has hurt that championship (and my opinion of Rosa for that matter), and the Interim idea only compounds the problem. • Bad ideas from UFC need to stay in UFC, especially on the same night where the coolest guy in AEW rightly buried the concept of an Interim champion once again. This was a failure to course correct in my estimation.
• If CM Punk vs. Jon Moxley to unify the Real vs. Interim AEW World Titles had gone 20 minutes, there would've been complaints that they didn't leave anything to anticipate for the PPV, provided that's still actually the match. The fan in the Punk shirt doing a surrender cobra in a post-match cutaway was amusing to me. • I'm not sure what this means for the PPV. My anticipation was Moxley winning in Cleveland, fixing the pesky problem that would've happened had Mox won the belt again next year or in 2024. Instead of a a two-time champion with an interim asterisk, Mox would now be a three-time champion in that scenario. • You'd figure there has to be some sort of stip for a rematch at All Out. There are only a few options that make sense, perhaps the strongest being if Punk puts his AEW career on the line to get a rematch in Chicago. They could also do the Cody Rhodes stip where Punk can never challenge again if he loses, and in a related note that's why it was so important that AEW not let Cody ruin their history of upholding stips because Cody had a change of heart. • Britt Baker with the giant oversized Terrible Towel was a great visual. Pittsburgh and Cleveland should be rivals in more sports, but there's no NHL in Cleveland, no NBA in Pittsburgh, and the Pirates and Indians/Guardians being in separate leagues in MLB means those teams have seldom played. AL vs. NL: now that's a brand split. • That six-man tag main event (Will Ospreay & Aussie Open vs. Death Triangle) was outstanding and it's impressive that Ospreay could pull it off so well after his run in this year's G1, particularly the last three singles matches he worked.
Next week in Chicago should be exciting to watch play out.
The Emotions of New Japan (September 2020)
New Japan returns to Jingu Stadium (preview)
Top 10 Matches of the Year for 2019
New Beginning in Osaka preview
10 Under the Radar Matches from 2019
G1 Climax 29: The Stretch Run (B Block)
G1 Climax 29: The Stretch Run (A Block)
G1 Climax 29: Korakuen Hall
Prepping for G1 Climax 29
Potential Fresh G1 Matches
Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito: A History
Previous BOSJ Final matches
2019 BOTSJ 26 update (plus Lou's recommended matches)
2019 BOTSJ 26: Previews and Videos
UPDATED tournament match list for 2019 BOTSJ
Night-by-night tournament match list for 2019 BOTSJ
Location of New Japan's TIME'S UP exterior shot revealed
2019 New Japan Cup: The Stretch Run
Prepping for Round Two of the 2019 New Japan Cup
Previewing the 2019 New Japan Cup
Predictions for Wrestle Kingdom 13
Preview: King of Pro-Wrestling 2018
Stretch Run for the 2018 G1
Early Thoughts on the 2018 G1
Projecting the 2018 NJPW G1 Climax Tournament
Danielson's Final Countdown?
The Complete 2018 G1 Climax 28 Schedule
Top 5 Anticipated Matches in the 2018 G1
G1 2018: The Participants
Momentum and Threats
Prelude to Dominion
Block B scenarios for the final night of round-robin competition
Block A scenarios for the final night of round-robin competition
Thoughts on the first five nights of the 2018 BOTSJ
2018 Best of the Super Juniors preview: Block B
2018 Best of the Super Juniors preview: Block A
Lou's List of Best NJPW World matcheshttps://www.tigerdriver.com/best.shtml
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