Alright. So I was probably critical of a lot of the Cordy stuff in the recent past despite being a big fan of the character, and maybe I didn’t get it, but this promo won me back. Brilliant stuff tbh. I liked that Cordy saw all of this as Chandler shifting the narrative toward himself, essentially stabbing his friend in the back. This promo doesn’t make Cordy come off as a heel whereas her Aftershow seg made her seem really tweenerish, so I don’t know where this leaves us-- and I dig the uncertainty. Does this turn Chandler heel? Do we see a situation where the fans turn him heel a la IRL? Mah gahd. Tune in next week bitch.
AN EVAN ENVI SEGMENT, THANK GOD FOR THE CHIEF, ISN’T HE GREAT? SAY YES.
Kudos to the writer for slippin’ up (or subtly, purposely) and billing Jason Hawk as Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw in the beginning of this match. I envisioned this entire thing being Bradshaw vs Jack Gallagher pretty much and no one is taking that away from me. Bradshaw won, because of course Bradshaw won. He’s big and Jack Gallagher is small. Shut up.
Dom Harter’s wild lol. The guy definitely doesn’t strike me as a good guy though. Not even Attitude-y era, Jericho good guy. But IRL Harter would still probably get cheered, even though he’s one of the worst people to ever work in FGA, morally. This was a good promo, though; a solid one that forces you to think of Dom alongside Cordy, Zero, and Chandler despite Dom already holding another championship at the moment. Instead of being in a throwaway position, you still feel he wants to be the top guy, so kudos.
REY DEL AIRE BUMPER WOO I SURE HOPE NANDO FRESNO DOES SOME COOL FLIPPY STUFF
The Lowri Moss promo wasn’t bad but after all the teasers, it would’ve been 20x better to just have her debut with an impressive victory instead of appearing on camera and cutting a promo ahead of time. Slight wince at the “did they book us together because our names rhyme?” comment. Definitely should’ve just wrestled first. Perhaps submitting two alternate post-match promos in the case of either a loss or victory?
Stunray vs Aries was a quick one and I thought Stunray won but…
So I dunno. Glad to see the weird, foggy Daniel Widdel and Stunray stuff still going on though. I have an odd fascination with this… whatever this is. Stunray is an awesome name btw. I should’ve made a character named Stunray. I missed the boat. Fuck.
Lol “El Goober.” Pretty much a been a big fan of everything the AMIRA (and Cloud) character has done thus far. I think I just smile nervously whenever “The Mexican” is uttered as most people within earshot are likely to do. Kind of a shame they’re not fighting above a volcano. That should remain on the table tbh.
The rhyme battle is next. Conflicted about Moss shaking Ian’s hand despite such a hostile response from the crowd. But I’m not sure what a rookie would realistically do in that situation, so, interesting to think about really. Anyway, another quick one which doesn’t necessarily make Cross look like he’s not worth the time, but deffff makes Lowri Moss look super strong. Good debut here and good bit of momentum.
Izzy Anders continues to be one of my favorite wrestlers on the roster. Kind of haunting, the words about how Johnny Karma is the only one on the roster who’s “alone.” Does seem like she has her hand in quite a few pots, but it’s easy for that to happen fresh off a PPV.
The slow heel turn continues for Molly Reid, and seems to be nearly in full swing here tonight. I wasn’t initially a fan of Morrison coming off as a little preachy for a good guy, but the emotion is understandable and it works well in the contrast. The slow burn has worked well to add new layers to the Pride Championship rivalry and I’m excited to see Madison get a rematch now.
Blake Rogers was broodin’ hard. Man, a lot of people have an issue with Tijerina lol. It leads into his match with AMIRA which I thought was gonna [SWERVE] TAKE PLACE OVER A GD VOLCANO ANYWAY [/SWERVE] but this proved not to be the case, so I died a little inside. Good match regardless and not a throwaway “good read, kept the show moving” kind of thing-- which is true-- but it seemed like the writer went the extra mile with this match which I can always appreciate. Really glad to see Blake Rogers get involved. Classic heel shit at the end ending in an AMIRA victory.
Up.Lawdy this is a long show.
Another Molly segment and again, cool to see the BTC thing and Undisputed Championship brought back into this. Almost like a second part of the show is beginning. BECAUSE IT KICKS OFF WITH SAVANNAH TAYLOR AND THE CHIEF, AYYY. I enjoyed this match and it’s always 50/50 on how the first match in a series like this is gonna go tbh, but it was handled well. No one walks away from this looking bad and the idea of the Beat the Clock challenge isn’t farted on, so nice.
I kind of wish Harter v Zellor would’ve just been given a Best of _ Series with how often they’ve done battle over the months lol. (Even though that series would’ve been one-sided and emphatically over BUT STILL.) I like the theme and I think Annie will eventually overcome on a big stage or in a crucial situation (not in FGA obviously
) but I kind of dig the run Harter’s on right now. I wouldn’t say it’s a “rejuvenation” but he’s definitely looked strong on all fronts.
Short, sweet pre-match hype from Madison. Perfect way for him to handle the situation he finds himself in. The two had a match that was different enough from their Grapple Kingdom bout to keep us from feeling like it was a repeat of a repeat. Good back and forth with good callbacks, and definitely nice to see Chris Madison pick up a small measure of revenge. Now as Madison said earlier, this may “force the committee's hand” leading to a rubber match that is ideally now also a title match.
Some Gold Rush Rumble foreshadowing in a short Annie promo. ‘Tis about that time, innit?!
Anders and Valero was a good match. Didn’t stick out like AMIRA vs Tijerina but definitely proved to be an important match bc reasons. I feel like I would’ve liked to see more commentary during this match in particular. Sometimes more commentary is good. Sometimes less is better. All depends.
Hmmmm crowd hasn’t quite turned on Chandler Scott. So I’m still not sure where the Cordy/Zero/Scott stuff goes, but I like that I don’t know lol. The match was good and it was another where it feels like the writer went the extra mile to tell a great story. It earned my vote as MOTN despite the obvious non-finish. As stated before, I really appreciate the result of Izzy Anders getting the W and am wholly excited to see her enter the main event scene as a full-time player.
Overall, good show. Felt like a second part to the PPV to be honest but it was a fun episode to read.
) but I kind of dig the run Harter’s on right now. I wouldn’t say it’s a “rejuvenation” but he’s definitely looked strong on all fronts.