Opinion
Tiffany’s AEW Takes: The Road So Far
Follow the AEW YouTube series? If not, you’re in luck, because Tiffany is all caught up and has your back in this all new AEW Takes!
Follow the AEW YouTube series? If not, you’re in luck, because Tiffany is all caught up and has your back in this all new AEW Takes!
So, this is a new thing. I will be doing takes for AEW and it seems best to start at the very beginning, or as close to it as I can get. No, AEW isn’t on TV yet, but they do release their ‘Road to’ videos and we also have the ‘Being the Elite’ videos that are released that aren’t quite AEW, but feature several AEW people, so let’s get started.
Being the Elite #168 – All Out
Okay, I’m going to be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about the Elite, but I do enjoy their self-awareness. They know a lot of the stuff they do is goofy, but they go with it. I know a lot of old school guys hate it, but it works for me.
My impressions of the Young Bucks has been that they’re a bunch of goofs, and they are, but I was very impressed to see how much they truly love this business and the fans at their autograph signings. Also the fan who made the custom sneakers for them was super cool. I also loved them pumping the next Sears Center show in November, which I BELIEVE is Full Gear.
Hangman Page’s ‘I did some cowboy shit and got me a horse’. That made me laugh. I’ve actually always wondered how much prep goes into a big entrance, so that was fun to watch. Plus the horse was beautiful.
Tommy Dreamer playing checkers with someone ‘Great Muta, I guess) with a ref present and getting misted was hilarious.
Hunter Horse Helmsley. I know, the WWE shots are annoying, but that shit was good. Also, Page with the dad jokes.
Luchasaurus, being the voice of reason with Jungle Boy was weird. Amusing, but weird.
Dark Order. Ugh.
I still don’t get the Orange Cassidy thing. His tope suicida with hands in pockets was dumb. Sorry.
SCU is so good, but it’s still weird to see a cheerful Christopher Daniels.
Again, I love the self-awareness of AEW.
I still need to watch that ladder match all the way through. They scared the locker room.
Chris Jericho with the insults. And the bubbly. And the red hot promo after an amazing match.
I like the family atmosphere here, but something is up with Page. Can’t wait for next week.
Road to AEW on TNT Episode 1
I loved the ‘I only want two things:Blood and Guts!’ fan. I did.
This started with a pretty straight forward recap video of All Out, but it gave us all the great highlights. The fan reaction to Omega losing by ref stoppage was really good.
The Casino Royale Battle Royal was amazing! Really good showcase for the Women’s Division.
That Escalera de Muerte was insane from what I saw of it. I can’t say it was the greatest tag team match EVER, but it’s up there with the first TLC in terms of sheer craziness. Also, LAX brings so much to the tag team division. I just wish Konnan was with them.
Cody vs Shawn Spears was pretty good, but Arn Anderson turning on Tully Blanchard and helping Cody win was still the wildest thing ever. A HORSEMAN helped a RHODES. Just insane. Also, Anderson still has it. No better spinebuster.
Jericho vs Page was really good. However, I will admit that Jericho’s age is catching up with him, he wasn’t as quick as he was a few years ago, but he’s not post-WCW Ric Flair bad. Also, Aubrey Edwards making history is still the best. We still don’t know who Jericho’s partners will be for October 2, but that sounds fun.
Chris Jericho Promo
Well, that escalated quickly. I guess a shiny new belt and a little champagne will do that to you. Seriously, Jericho’s in ring skills might be slowing down, but he’s still a master on the mic. My only complaint is that he needs to be careful when he switches to a different language. He’s calling himself ‘Le Champion’ the champion, but the way he says it sounds like he’s calling himself ‘Le Champignon’ which is ‘The Mushroom’, not the vibe I’d be going for, but that’s me.
Road to AEW On TNT Episode 2
Like the 9/11 tribute.
I’m not sure what it says about Cody where his first two feuds in AEW are with guys he’s dismissive of. The whole thing with Shawn Spears started because Cody called him a ‘good hand’, not Cody’s dismissed Sammy Guevara as someone ‘with a lot of potential’. That said, Guevara has the ambition and drive to really be someone in the business. He’s hungry and WANTS to be the best, which means Cody’s going to have his hands full at the premiere. I’m not sure about the panda/wolf headgear though.
Bea Priestly vs Britt Baker is going to be AMAZING! I love that AEW is not only building a title feud, but a top non-title feud, something WWE struggles with.
Cody Rhodes and Tony Schiavone doing an interview. Chills.
Cody needs to re-do the bleach job, his roots are showing.
Cody’s openness to the fan input is interesting. I’m not sure if they want to stick with that long-term, but it’s interesting.
Cody feeling the pressure and not wanting to be embarrassed, but also being aware of Guevara’s feelings is very nice.
Whoa. Cody just said that he will not be in the title match if Sammy Guevara wins on October 2. I know a lot of people have been questioning if AEW will stick with their ‘wins and losses matter’ shtick, but Cody is for right now.
If Jericho loses in Philadelphia, whoever got the win will be in the title match at Full Gear apparently. I don’t remember if the match in Philly is a title match or not.
Cody’s perspective on the change in tune of people now that he’s EVP is spot on. It happened to Triple H too. No one had a problem with him being on top, until he started dating Stephanie McMahon.
I’m a little curious as to how Schiavone and Jim Ross calling the action will work. Last I heard, they had legit heat with each other.
It must be weird AF for Tony Schiavone to have Cody, someone he’s known since birth, as a boss. Again, the self-awareness is fun. Cody still needs to get his roots done.
Being the Elite Episode 169 – WTF is Up with Kenny Omega?
Okay, I’m not sure who is behind the camera for this opener, I assume Omega, but he sounds drunk AF.
If I’m Randy Cutler, whoever the hell that is, I’d have beat Omega and MJF’s asses by now.
MJF is the topish heel, but it’s going to be squirrely because people will literally hate him.
I love the Bucks owning up to how rough the match at All Out was. You don’t hear a lot of wrestlers being so honest about how rough the business is on them and their families. The fact that JERRY LYNN told them to never do that match again is saying something, and it’s making me want to watch the match from the beginning.
Best Friends, Library Guy, and Orange Cassidy eating and the ref bitching about flatware placement is something straight out of ‘Candid Camera’ or ‘Swerve’.
Always love a good training video. The Bucks’ drive to be on top of tag team wrestling is nice. I’m still having a little trouble taking them seriously because they seem to be just spot guys, but they’re winning me over with their love of the business.
Private Party reminds me of Street Profits. I also love that the Bucks are wanting to beat the Party and prove that they’re the best team.
JR and his grill. He’s making the announcement about AEW coming to Nashville. I love JR stating the history of him calling matches in Nashville in WCW. Also, talking about the food in Nashville.
Kenny Omega looks drunk or high. I do love that they’re building a story around Omega having a nervous breakdown over his losses. Or he’s spent the last week at the bottom of a bottle. Not sure. He also looks like he’s at someone’s wedding.
I love the Bucks talking about Kenny’s bizarre footage and whether or not to put it on the show. Keep poking the fourth wall, guys. Also, the discussion about everyone acting weird after their loss is interesting.
Luchasaurus answering questions while drinking wine, with the mask on, is hilarious! He also hates Barney the Purple Dinosaur because Barney wasn’t real but the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were. Uhm…okay. At least he’s leaning into the gimmick…I guess.
That’s it for Tiffany’s AEW Takes! Tune in Sunday for Clash of Champions. Yes, I will still be covering WWE as well as AEW.
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Opinion
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS: WWE Bash In Berlin Immediate Reactions
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
Join DJ and Tunney for their immediate reactions to WWE Bash in Berlin. For the latest, greatest and up to datest, ALWAYS #UseYourHead and visit THECHAIRSHOT.COM
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prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – TONS of Great designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY – Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY – Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
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CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
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About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
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WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
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Opinion
AJ’s Top 3 Favorite SummerSlams
AJ is back with his annual opinion article, and this time the SummerSlam buzz got him wondering about his personal Top 3.
It’s been a while since I have done any form of writing and SummerSlam is this Saturday. Of all the SummerSlams I’ve seen over the years; which ones are my favorites? While it’s not a revolutionary idea, I figured everyone loves to debate favorites of well, anything. Don’t worry though because this isn’t just going to be pure recency bias. I’ve watched the majority of them so with the ones I put on the list, it hit me more in some way shape or form whether it was story, a really good match or it just felt like a solid event.
At least this proves WWE is trending in a good direction for me, when it gets the ol’ brain juices flowing just because a show is around the corner!
#3: 2022 (Ol’ Brock Lesnar Has A Farm)
Starting off the show, we get Bianca looking for a rematch against Becky from last years SummerSlam and it was better than the 21 second affair that everyone claims was a squash. This time Bianca holds her own and beats the Man in a fairly decent match, good way to get the event started. Next up is the heat seeking missile, Logan Paul against the former heat seeking missile because, well he wasn’t cut out for it and wasn’t a guy in everyone’s eyes, The Miz. After they had their blow off at Mania with Logan coming out on top which… isn’t awful, I just don’t like Logan Paul because he has that dude bro aura and swagger to make him more hateable than any other person on the card. Which I suppose is his gimmick…so…kudos?
First Championship match is for the US Championship and it’s as expected that in Theory, he should never beat someone to the caliber of Bobby Lashley which is no surprise. Dominik and Rey still back when Dom wanted the good fight against the Judgement Day before joining them later. The former Colts players, which they hammered it dahn in this match up showed that the canal swimming, trash talkin’, podcastin’, current RAW Color Commentatin’ goofball we all love, Pat McAfee came out on top again Bum Ass Corbin.
Usos putting the Street Profits on lockdown in the penitentiary since I believe this was peak Bloodline with the belt collecting and running all of WWE. Liv beat Ronda Rousey which isn’t astonishing but it’s not something people had on their bingo cards for anything with WWE so it was a nice little shock factor. The most memorable part of the night is obviously the Main Event, Lesnar brings the tractor, Roman catching the Microphone and Brock stands on top of the vehicle. Damn good match that showed off what they do in the ring since Roman caught his stride as the main bad guy and Brock… liked people after all of this? That is still a weird statement in my head. Brock being a good guy people person. If Liv wasn’t on bingo cards for wrestling, that is not on bingo cards in any aspect of life really.
That is more of the event that had solid matches and story going for it. No weird double count out, multiple people involved, 5 tag matches on the card. Things made sense and weren’t convoluted, had shocking moments that were great to see like Liv actually getting a title defense and there were the results we all expected at the time like Theory losing in 4 minutes to Bobby Lashley.
#2: 2009 (Are You Ready for The Return?)
This event wasn’t that strong. It was strong with the star power involved in 2009 with guys like Rey Mysterio as Intercontinental Champion, Orton and Cena for the WWE Championship as it was becoming as stale as month old chips and CM Punk was facing Jeff Hardy before he ultimately returned to TNA at the beginning of 2010 after this PPV. For me, it’s not so much of the show itself, it was more of the memories because the Balai as our friends Chris Platt and Rey Cash like to call my brother and I, we were just coming back into wrestling and we were TNA Fans. We didn’t watch WWE that much really, it was just what came on after another channel had old ROH shows before they moved to three hours and swallowed the 8pm Eastern Slot. No, the reason why this has so many memories for me is three main reasons. First, Orton and Cena. They have had their rivalry since the beginning it seems, being each others foils like Hogan and Piper before them and there had to be a stipulation where if Randy was Counted Out or DQ’d, he’d lose the championship regardless. This was prime Viper Randy and the obvious joke we had of Super Cena where he very rarely lost, unless it was SummerSlam surprisingly enough.
Number two reason was CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. Hardys known for the Ladder and TLC matches in the past and this being the penultimate match for this feud and it was a banger of a match. If you didn’t know Punk before, it was a great introduction to his wrestling. I used to like Punk a lot because of this match because he could talk, wrestle… and not insanely personal with things in wrestling. In all seriousness, this was a great match. Ultimate risks, high reward for Punk grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship and he was given his next feud because of the final boss of SmackDown at that time. Thanks, Teddy Long.
The main and final reason though why this match gave me the memories flowing back is more of the fact that one of my closest and longest termed friends of 23 years, also loves wrestling. Back when we were younger, he’d do MoCap videos on YouTube with his figures. We’d have friends come over for parties at his house and we’d do the one thing WWE always told us not to do and that was try it at home. He was always stronger than me, I was always more charismatic. He had the power aspect and did things with brute force, I could talk my way out of trouble with parents if we did something wrong. There was always one thing that our respective mother’s always called us though… it’s on the tip of my tongue… oh right, ‘Degenerates’.
As soon as we were called that, we kind of parodied the DX line. I was limber enough to do the HBK pose and do a Superkick before it became the new DDT and he would just Spinebuster people and knew how to do the water spit. So what do you think was the main reason we even ordered this PPV for his 13th Birthday? I think the two guys we were pretending to be were set to return on a tank and toss out some glow sticks. The return of DX, Shawn Michaels coming back after Mania with Triple H to deal with the Legacy problem was an amazing return for them and made everything so much fun.
So we have the solid card and this one has a personal story… what’s my number one SummerSlam? Is it personal? Well yes but not going into that. Is it a good card? To me, it was a phenomenal card! Is it memorable? Seeing how wrestling fans still mention at least three matches to this day.
#1: 2005 (Octopus in the Washer, Lover’s Quarrel and Where the F%#$ is Vickie?)
Quite possibly some of the best matches I’ve seen and one that was just the most hilarious moments of overselling in wrestling history, I know why I love this SummerSlam but it’s also a really good card at the same time. Redacted beats Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds for the US Title and they made jokes about it like, he can make a coffee faster than he beat Orlando and stuff like that, it’s pretty funny. Angle getting sick of Eugene’s antics for his Gold Medal was also a great bit they had play up, the Year long feud of Randy Orton and Undertaker was still going on where Orton comes out on top this time around to get the win back from Mania, Jericho returning for the match with Cena in a whole promotional thing for each other’s groups, Fozzy for Jericho and the Chain Gang doing Bad, Bad Man for Cena leading up to a match for the WWE Championship. JBL won a 20 man battle royal on SmackDown to win the Championship…… Opportunity to face the newest member of SmackDown, Batista but the three main matches that a lot of people talk about to this day; Edge vs Matt Hardy, Rey vs Eddie for Dominik and Hogan vs HBK in the Main Event.
I have reasons to enjoy the Hardy/Edge match but it looked like a real fight, it really made us believe that Matt Hardy was going to kill Edge because real names were dropped during this tirade from Hardy. It wasn’t Edge and Lita, it was Adam and Amy. Matt was so dead set on beating the hell out of Edge that they made a situation into gold and it was a great moment for this match to happen, I believe it was also an Unsanctioned Match too which added the intensity until matt got concussed and knocked senseless that it looked like he couldn’t fight for anything but the build up was what made it seem like a marque match. It made it feel real, it made it feel awesome and it made it feel personal.
Eddie kept tormenting Rey Mysterio about Dominik not being Rey’s but Eddie’s for the summer. That’s all you heard from Eddie being the weasel he was is hanging out with Dominik, making the world believe it’s his son and what not (Let’s not do a fast forward to today where he has the mullet, mustache and everything like Eddie) but they settle this in a Ladder Match where the top of it is a document for the custody of Dominik and my god, this match is better than it should have been. I expect nothing else from Eddie because the man hated having a bad match, Dom got involved and stopped Eddie, Vickie was late and stopped Eddie. The whole match was good it was just very weird with the premise but was a great match. I wonder if Rey regrets his decision to win the match now…
Octopus in a Washing Machine… those five words have resonated with Shawn Michaels’ performance in this match, forever. It was supposed to be an amazing match up between Hogan and Michaels, Icon vs Icon it said and suddenly Hogan’s back gives out, can’t do a trilogy of matches so we can only do the one and then pull out of everything after. This match was set up to be a classic and instead turned into the most unbelievable sell fest ever. A Hogan big boot caused Shawn to tumble 3 or 4 times, getting crotched on the ropes had HBK bouncing higher than he should have, being tossed out of the ring made it look like Shawn never broke his back in 1998 from how much he flopped and flipped around like crazy. It’s bad… or maybe even good that a lot of current wrestlers watched this match that went, “I can sell like that, I want to be a wrestler” and did. So good or bad, I don’t know but for some reason this PPV has always had a place in my heart for how memorable it was.
Those are my top three SummerSlams so far but who knows, 2024 has potential to maybe bump something or at least get me to consider a shift. Should be fun to see how the show plays out! What are some of your favorite SummerSlams?
About Chairshot Radio Network
Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)
TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)
WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)
THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)
FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)
SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast
SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast
CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS
Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)
TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends
Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5
Classic POD is WAR
Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!
Powered by RedCircle
Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!