AEW - All Elite Wrestling (*Spoilers for Latest Show*)

LineOfBeauty

It's for the purpose of story. Cody's stuff, and his laughably bloated faction, is presented the way it is for a reason.

Loughc

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

It's for the purpose of story. Cody's stuff, and his laughably bloated faction, is presented the way it is for a reason.

What’s the reason for the bloated faction so?

savemejebus

Neil3030 wrote: »

Not even sure what the Nightmare family is supposed to achieve?

I suppose he/they want a 'brand'. A bullet club/elite of their own.

Neil3030 wrote: »

It doesn't help or hinder Cody one bit. He always gets his angles over, and they rarely involve the Nightmare Family faction to any great degree.

And Dustin is over no matter what role he's in - some combination of his legacy, ring work and promo will always get you interested, one way or another.

Brandi doesn't even seem to be fully invested in it, e.g., the thing with Shaq/Jade Cargill is very much her vs them. Not NF vs them.

Sorry but, and I know it's an unpopular opinion, but the only over that Cody and Brandi get me is to turn over to something else. I feel that he is a charisma black hole, decent worker, but nothing special and she comes across as self entitled collection of 'popular gir/cheerleader' stereotypes. Which is fine if that is what they're going for but for me it's just go away heat.

beakerjoe

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

It's for the purpose of story. Cody's stuff, and his laughably bloated faction, is presented the way it is for a reason.

Yeah, whats the purpose?

They dont appear to serve a purposes yet and he hasnt needed them to get over.

Codys been presented like a star and even in defeat he gets over. AEW have been excellent in this regard.

Though his Cody Cutter is an awful finisher for him considering he can never time it well. When he messes up and wins it comes off very weak.

LineOfBeauty

Loughc wrote: »

What’s the reason for the bloated faction so?

Multiple. AEW tend to split wrestlers into factions for the purposes of booking (in this sense a kind of Dragon Gate lite method) so it works to have pin eaters on Cody's side. Another is that it gives wrestlers lower down the card purpose and identity (Dustin, Gunn Club, Lee Johnson, QT Marshall) and finally it fits Cody's character. Everything he does is OTT, the entrance, the coach, of course his faction should be ridiculously big. The size and relative uselessness of the faction is a device they've used to bloat Cody's kayfabe ego even though obviously their usefulness and effectiveness is next to nil, they aren't supposed to be that. Think of it like a big time boxer who enters a title fight with a huge posse, Cody's family is just his posse. If they do ever do the Cody heel turn, you've got a ready made item of ridicule right there. Those who are fans of Cody enjoy the ridiculousness of it, his dog is literally named "Pharaoh" and is in the thing, it's fairly obvious what that group is designed for.

beakerjoe

LineOfBeauty wrote: »

Multiple. AEW tend to split wrestlers into factions for the purposes of booking (in this sense a kind of Dragon Gate lite method) so it works to have pin eaters on Cody's side. Another is that it gives wrestlers lower down the card purpose and identity (Dustin, Gunn Club, Lee Johnson, QT Marshall) and finally it fits Cody's character. Everything he does is OTT, the entrance, the coach, of course his faction should be ridiculously big. The size and relative uselessness of the faction is a device they've used to bloat Cody's kayfabe ego even though obviously their usefulness and effectiveness is next to nil, they aren't supposed to be that. Think of it like a big time boxer who enters a title fight with a huge posse, Cody's family is just his posse. If they do ever do the Cody heel turn, you've got a ready made item of ridicule right there. Those who are fans of Cody enjoy the ridiculousness of it, his dog is literally named "Pharaoh" and is in the thing, it's fairly obvious what that group is designed for.

They are fine points but does Cody need them and overall they dont add much to Dynamite or Cody.

While yes it gives those like QT and others a slight identity, I think Cody would be perfectly fine without them. Yes, the ego point is fair but how much does it add to Codys character. The same could be achieved with one of QT and Dustin in terms eating pins.

I just feel any positive is minimal. But to be fair they dont real take away from Cody either. I find the whole faction insignificant besides Cody.

LineOfBeauty

beakerjoe wrote: »

They are fine points but does Cody need them and overall they dont add much to Dynamite or Cody.

While yes it gives those like QT and others a slight identity, I think Cody would be perfectly fine without them. Yes, the ego point is fair but how much does it add to Codys character. The same could be achieved with one of QT and Dustin in terms eating pins.

I just feel any positive is minimal. But to be fair they dont real take away from Cody either. I find the whole faction insignificant besides Cody.

They're not really supposed to. On Dark you've got guys with easier made match ups if you want to do them because they're associated with Cody and whatever feuds he happens to be in. Factioning off your roster is a brilliant and easy device to create ready made stories and give matches stakes, it's just good booking.

Cody's faction barely ever wrestle on Dynamite, outside of him, Dustin and Marshall they basically never do. But having so many of them in it adds to that hyperbolic nature of it, it's laid on thick.

Without Cody it wouldn't exist, right now it's merely a plot device for both the visual nature to show how big a star Cody thinks he is, and as a funny little tidbit. I'd rather that than having these guys floating around solo doing nothing. But it's a tiny part of the company and often a nonfactor on the show. It's just a silly thing Cody has, which works with the Cody character. At the end of the day, when Team Tazz come to town to threaten Cody, it's not Cody's useless family that make the save, it's Sting or Darby, real stars.

oldtimeyfella

Factions allow the top people in the faction to stay strong by having the jobbers eat pins/cost them matches.



It also gives the bad-ass loner guy a big evil to fight against so that he can overcome the odds to get to the end boss.


It gives more booking options with the established tag teams of one faction going against another in the other faction regardless of heel/face alignment. Womens matches can be booked between the female wrestlers in the factions etc. It ties everything together and makes random match-ups have an over-arching story.



Pretty much every popular period in any given wrestling promotion has heavily featured well-booked factions. A big reason that current day WWE is bad is because directionless factions are a dumping ground for people that creative has nothing for.

beakerjoe

But Cody looks like a star without them the faction dont add any star power to him, well in my opinion. Everything else does, just not the piss poor stable. Its unnecessary.

Ive no problem with factions, I just dont see much point beyond giving smaller guys a bit of an identity.... which to br fair is a good point you made.

QT and Dustin are invloved enough on Dynamite, too much for my liking. Dustin had a match last week against 10 which went on what seemed to be forever and they went over the Butcher and Blade recently in an overly long bunkhouse match. Dustin went over in both and personally feel they were the wrong decisions.


I just feel the faction in its current form adds very little and while I agree the lower members could be floating around doing nothing, Id say remove them all at the minute and give the time to others. I would have rather see Kingston get more promo time this week than Dustins short promo.

But sure, thats just me. Im usually in the minority with my thoughts.

All that aside, I really have enjoyed Cody's run thus far.

On another note, I cant wait for Dynamite to get a crowd back. Imagine how hot last weeks show eoulf have been with a live crowd.

Neil3030

I totally get that it'll sell more merch.

I just don't think it does anything for any of the involved parties.

E.g., is anyone tuning into the show wondering what on earth will be next for QT Marshall?

Omackeral

Neil3030 wrote: »

E.g., is anyone tuning into the show wondering what on earth will be next for QT Marshall?

Not even QT wonders that.

I loved the logical booking of Rey Fenix vs Kenny Omega. I love that PAC hasn’t forgotten about himself and Kenny too. I love that Archer and PAC have a bit of heat. I love that the commentary team mentioned not to forget Moxley. Then you have Kingston stirring the pot with Blade, Butcher and Penta in the mix too. It’s absolutely fantastic the layers.

The White Wolf

beakerjoe wrote: »

They are fine points but does Cody need them and overall they dont add much to Dynamite or Cody.

While yes it gives those like QT and others a slight identity, I think Cody would be perfectly fine without them. Yes, the ego point is fair but how much does it add to Codys character. The same could be achieved with one of QT and Dustin in terms eating pins.

I just feel any positive is minimal. But to be fair they dont real take away from Cody either. I find the whole faction insignificant besides Cody.

Cody has done the hateable heel so well on multiple occasions so he should do what he needs to do to make things interesting.

I always thought the nightmare family was initially designed to make a for a future heel turn tbh. Cody with his douchy Entourage would be something else.

I will say though that the entrance is completely unnecessary. Completely unnecessary for a face whether it's "all part of the plan" or not. We should retain some sort of anger towards a guy who does a heel turn instead of it being a "all the signs pointed to it" situation.

brianregan09

I think that faction is ready made for when Cody goes Heel , even the stuff with Arn Anderson checking him before every match it's all such egocentric bull**** but for me it all works

It's how he's presented , it's like he's presented as someone who is a massive mark for himself (probably true irl) he's like the antony joshua of AEW a good guy but surrounded by a dozen hype men that he doesn't need and as someone else pointed out 90% of them are useless

Agent Coulson

Don’t forget Cody is also a big deal for TNT he is part of non wrestling shows on the Network this all plays a part in him being a deal on the Network and being part of face of not just AEW but TNT as well.

LineOfBeauty

brianregan09 wrote: »

I think that faction is ready made for when Cody goes Heel , even the stuff with Arn Anderson checking him before every match it's all such egocentric bull**** but for me it all works

It's how he's presented , it's like he's presented as someone who is a massive mark for himself (probably true irl) he's like the antony joshua of AEW a good guy but surrounded by a dozen hype men that he doesn't need and as someone else pointed out 90% of them are useless

Nail on the head. And as a face it works, his fans love the OTT nature of how he's presented himself from the day he's left WWE. A guy who at his core believes wrestling owes him glory because of his last name. The posse doesn't take away from his popularity, it gives something to the other members and if he ever does go heel it's absolutely ready made to work in his favour.

Omackeral

How do y’all feel about Jurassic Express in here? I’m not sure what I think to be honest.

LineOfBeauty

Omackeral wrote: »

How do y’all feel about Jurassic Express in here? I’m not sure what I think to be honest.

Nice little act. I think their ceiling is Tag Title challenger. I do think an area of pro wrestling in America that's been lost is using a tag team to develop a young wrestler, get the audience familiar with them and get them over. To an extent they've done that with Adam Page (though that was more a rehab job) , but there's a few other tag teams where something similar is happening and one of those is Jurassic Express and Jungle Boy. In WWE, they're doing something similar with the Street Profits and Montez Ford.

gerrybbadd

Omackeral wrote: »

How do y’all feel about Jurassic Express in here? I’m not sure what I think to be honest.

I think there's potential there for them to be big singles stars in the future. I'm not sure how Luchasauras is on the mic, but hes good in ring.

Jungle Boy has a great look, is very entertaining in ring, a really great "babyface in peril" too.

Are you including Marco dude? I don't see much upside to him unfortunately.

Omackeral

Marco is more like a Hornswoggle type to me in that he’s more of a mascot act more than anything else. He can definitely do some cool stuff but it’s not very believable.

I think Jungle Boy is good in the ring. I dig his look and he has a likeablity that you can’t teach. Maybe if he goes by “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry and finally Jack Perry if he breaks out.

Luchasaurus is one I can’t put my finger on. He does impressive stuff for sure. Sometimes his offends is a bit slow or rigid but there’s still enough there. Could he be a good bullying heel down the road without the dinosaur get-up? I’m no sure really what to make of him in particular. How was he on NXT, for example?

J. Marston

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Don’t forget Cody is also a big deal for TNT he is part of non wrestling shows on the Network this all plays a part in him being a deal on the Network and being part of face of not just AEW but TNT as well.

I think that tattoo killed any chance of him going properly mainstream.

beakerjoe

J. Marston wrote: »

I think that tattoo killed any chance of him going properly mainstream.

I doubt it will have any relevance whether he becomes a main stream.

Its a horrible tattoo but it wont affect his popularity.

Lithium93_

J. Marston wrote: »

I think that tattoo killed any chance of him going properly mainstream.

New Generation rappers and their face tattoos laugh at ya. Cody will be fine.

beakerjoe

Omackeral wrote: »

Marco is more like a Hornswoggle type to me in that he’s more of a mascot act more than anything else. He can definitely do some cool stuff but it’s not very believable.

I think Jungle Boy is good in the ring. I dig his look and he has a likeablity that you can’t teach. Maybe if he goes by “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry and finally Jack Perry if he breaks out.

Luchasaurus is one I can’t put my finger on. He does impressive stuff for sure. Sometimes his offends is a bit slow or rigid but there’s still enough there. Could he be a good bullying heel down the road without the dinosaur get-up? I’m no sure really what to make of him in particular. How was he on NXT, for example?

I like the act. Cant fault them much for what they are.

Jungle Boy is the one with most potential and appeal to me. Hes already got the ultra underdog face act down. Ive enjoyed probably all his work in AEW thus far.

My jury is still out on Luchasaurus. Hes big, can move and has a unique look. I think he is a bit sloppy at times and his offence can be very cautious at times. Overall theyve booked him and Jack very well thus far. Plenty of potential, Im just less confident that he will reach it conpared to his partner.

Marko has been booked well too but his ceiling is much, much lower. Like Zach Gowan, he is interesting and can go, but his schtick has a shelf life.

So far AEW have done a great job with them. A great mid card act.

Neil3030

Omackeral wrote: »

Marco is more like a Hornswoggle type to me in that he’s more of a mascot act more than anything else. He can definitely do some cool stuff but it’s not very believable.

I think Jungle Boy is good in the ring. I dig his look and he has a likeablity that you can’t teach. Maybe if he goes by “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry and finally Jack Perry if he breaks out.

Luchasaurus is one I can’t put my finger on. He does impressive stuff for sure. Sometimes his offends is a bit slow or rigid but there’s still enough there. Could he be a good bullying heel down the road without the dinosaur get-up? I’m no sure really what to make of him in particular. How was he on NXT, for example?

Other way for me with Luchasaurus. He needs to slow down his offense completely and perfect the art of working as a big man, so it really contrasts with Jungle Boy's athleticism and selling.

I also really don't like them being a three man team. A big lumbering dinosaur protecting his human was silly but straight forward enough to get behind. Was totally digging them at the start. But with another smaller guy there it just muddies everything.

beakerjoe

Neil3030 wrote: »

Other way for me with Luchasaurus. He needs to slow down his offense completely and perfect the art of working as a big man, so it really contrasts with Jungle Boy's athleticism and selling.
.

Thats something Id agree with.

So many big men in wrestling, like Dijack, Keith Lee and Luchasaurus can do amazing things. They dont need to break out big atheltic maneuvers so frequently. Less is more, if they always do it it looks less special.

Luchasaurus could do with slowing it down and let Jack do the high flying moves while he does the power moves. I feel his power move offence needs work though.

Its a minor quibble though. Really enjoyed how AEW have elevated the group.

RollieFingers

I think Luchasaurus is pretty good, but I'd like to see him be more of a powerhouse in his in-ring style rather than trying to keep pace and flips with the smaller wrestlers.

Same for Brian Cage, I'd rather see him obliterate an opponent more so than I'd rather see him do a Canadian Destroyer.

beakerjoe

What do guys think of the Acclaimed.

One one hand I dislike the gimmick yet its the gimmick that makes them stand out.

I just not a fan of rap battle gimmicks.

LineOfBeauty

beakerjoe wrote: »

What do guys think of the Acclaimed.

One one hand I dislike the gimmick yet its the gimmick that makes them stand out.

I just not a fan of rap battle gimmicks.

They've got something with them. Bowens is a guy whose been on the indies for ages but was not picked up. He's 30 years old, he's got a great look, good experience, he's a really good pick up for AEW. Max Caster I have no clue what age he is, but I assume he's younger, I'm guessing probably mid 20's, and I think his ceiling is higher. He's not as good in ring right now as Bowens, that's obvious, he's far less polished but that's to be expected, he debuted in 2015, this is his exposure to any kind of notable audience. Right now he's inconsistent, some weeks it hits, some weeks (like Dark I think a week ago) he whiffs, but that's going to happen with young wrestlers. He's a great look, his dad was a famous NFL player, note how much mic time he gets on the TV, AEW are very careful with who they give mic time to on Dynamite and Caster is one of those guys. He's got charisma, with more seasoning, more reps that guy could be World Champion.

Neil3030

beakerjoe wrote: »

Thats something Id agree with.

So many big men in wrestling, like Dijack, Keith Lee and Luchasaurus can do amazing things. They dont need to break out big atheltic maneuvers so frequently. Less is more, if they always do it it looks less special.

Luchasaurus could do with slowing it down and let Jack do the high flying moves while he does the power moves. I feel his power move offence needs work though.

Its a minor quibble though. Really enjoyed how AEW have elevated the group.

I heard an interview with Luchasaurus that he changed his style to the more martial arts approach due to various injuries he had. So his big man work will need to look a little different, i.e., can't be too reliant on power. But that's totally fine if he masters the timing and psychology of the offense he can perform safely. Oh, and ffs, stop diving off stages.

Omackeral

beakerjoe wrote: »

What do guys think of the Acclaimed.

One one hand I dislike the gimmick yet its the gimmick that makes them stand out.

I just not a fan of rap battle gimmicks.

I like them. Theyn give me similar energy to 1997 New Age Outlaws. Quite raw with a live vocal dissing angle. I enjoy them but think they need a much better finish and don't have them as serious championship contenders for another while yet.