Indy: All-Purpose Non-WWE Discussion Thread -- Part 3 [Impact coming to AXS in October]

[SeidoN]

So that’s why Cody vs. Nick Aldis didn’t go on last, needed to make sure they had the time.

Couldn't do Omega last either cause Jericho got straight on a flight to the Fozzy show lol

 

[GKJ]

Couldn't do Omega last either cause Jericho got straight on a flight to the Fozzy show lol

With the logistics Jericho has to endure, should’ve went on earlier, that set is going to start at like midnight.

That was never going to be last anyways. It had to be Cody or the Young Bucks. They’re not going to make someone else cut their match short. I thought maybe there would be some kind of surprise, but when they rushed right into the main event you could tell they were going to go a thousand miles an hour.

 

[dahrougem2]

That was a phenomenal PPV. The matches, the talent involved, the storytelling, the build up leading to these matchups and the payoffs.

THIS IS WHAT WRESTLEMANIA IS SUPPOSED TO BE. WWE just doesn't get it anymore. This is what the product needs to be like. And clearly, there's proof in the pudding that it's possible. It just takes the right booking and creative storytelling/freedom. Won't happen in WWE, though, so here's to hoping The Elite and anyone else willing to get involved make this as big as possible moving forward.

Omega/Pentagon was match of the night for me, followed by Cody/Aldis. What a PPV. That women's match too. Incredible. There's not a chance in hell any match at Evolution touches this one.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

 

[Disclose]

just finished this. pretty fun show.
happy for the guys to have pulled this out.

i guess following Being the Elite made it a little more fun too.

we need more of this.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

For a bunch of guys running their first event like this they did a very good job. I'm sure alot of people helped them put it together, JeriGOAT was a great surprise, WWE should take notes and realize you don't need to shove people down our throats, the commentary was eons better than anything they do

 

[BKIslandersFan]

THIS IS WHAT WRESTLEMANIA IS SUPPOSED TO BE. WWE just doesn't get it anymore. This is what the product needs to be like. And clearly, there's proof in the pudding that it's possible. It just takes the right booking and creative storytelling/freedom. Won't happen in WWE, though, so here's to hoping The Elite and anyone else willing to get involved make this as big as possible moving forward.

Which is insane, because NXT Takeover, while rarely as good as this show was, comes close I think.

 

[Serac]

Scurll v Okada was probably my favourite match. Fantastic story telling. The 205 taunt reversal was my favourite moment.

The ROH title match was a lot of fun. Flip is great.

Omega v Penta was probably my second favourite match. Seemed to get super stiff in the latter half of the match. Those package piledrivers, oof. Then the post match beatdown was incredible.

 

[Le Tricolore]

What a fantastic show. It's a shame that these are all people from different companies. I'd watch a regular show with all these people on it if it existed. Hopefully they have events like this every six months or so.

 

[GKJ]

The biggest thing is that wrestlers let their talents speak for themselves. Same goes for NXT.

Main roster WWE, it's more important for your character to be over, which is why everyone sucks because nobody works to their advantages. It's too much of a variety show and not wrestling.

 

[GKJ]

Listening to WOR, So the main event was supposed to be 28 minutes, got cut down to 12, the Okada/Scurll match went 12 minutes longer than it was supposed to. Which is a lot, that probably shouldn't happen, but are you gonna tell Okada to cut he's gotta cut half of his match down? Probably not.

 

[SeidoN]

Okada put on a fantastic match with Scurll and the main event was still alot of fun. worked out alright id say

 

[quoipourquoi]

I’m still recovering but that was the most insane night of wrestling I’ve ever seen live.

My wife and I are divided on the match of the night: she says Hangman for four reasons: jumping over barrels like Donkey Kong is brilliant product placement for Cracker Barrell, the integration of the boots and phone, the near death throw off the stage, and Penelope. I say the 6-man (but Hangman was my #1a). Crowd was HOT for the last five minutes of Scurll/Okada.

I’m sure the post-PPV promos have leaked (probably the 2nd biggest pop after Scurll’s Rainmaker was the Young Bucks saying they were worried the PPV would end without a finish, but they got the pin with 3 seconds left), but they were essentially mission statements from the group that took me back to Shane Douglas. Cody says they’re escalating the bet to double or nothing, at which point everyone started shouting out their cities.

Only the two lines for merch, and both were long lines. We ended up with a $20 foam finger, two $30 shirts, and the best pickup: a $10 zine that looks like those early-1990s Riot Grrrl zines. $6 Pepsi bottles and $6 hot dogs was brutal.

At least four people dressed like Pentagon (not including Jericho), including one woman who went all out. Everything was a sea of black t-shirts (hard to say which variation of the Bullet Club shirt I saw the most of, but I’d guess the pixelated Kenny Omega) except one orange Cody Sucks Eggs shirt. They had tables set up for Rock Em Sock Em Robots, and apparently I’m terrible.

The feeling driving home is comparable to driving home after winning a big game. You simultaneously want to both party and rest your bones from exhaustion. All smiles, even when you’re honking at the guy cutting everybody off in the parking lot.

Now to get ready for our second night. All In set a pretty high bar, but Jordynne Grace vs. Tessa Blanchard might be up to the task. Also, meeting Rey Mysterio is going to be one of those lifetime highlights.

This thing feels like it could be the new WrestleMania weekend. Smaller scale, but still.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Listening to WOR, So the main event was supposed to be 28 minutes, got cut down to 12, the Okada/Scurll match went 12 minutes longer than it was supposed to. Which is a lot, that probably shouldn't happen, but are you gonna tell Okada to cut he's gotta cut half of his match down? Probably not.

Glad to hear it confirmed (I probably won’t catch WOR until Monday). We thought Okada/Scurll dragged a little at the beginning, but obviously, they paid everything off by the end.

Total WrestleMania 22 vibe where the multi-man went 100 miles-per-hour to make up for one over-stuffed match.

 

[GKJ]

I’m still recovering but that was the most insane night of wrestling I’ve ever seen live.

My wife and I are divided on the match of the night: she says Hangman for four reasons: jumping over barrels like Donkey Kong is brilliant product placement for Cracker Barrell, the integration of the boots and phone, the near death throw off the stage, and Penelope. I say the 6-man (but Hangman was my #1a). Crowd was HOT for the last five minutes of Scurll/Okada.

I’m sure the post-PPV promos have leaked (probably the 2nd biggest pop after Scurll’s Rainmaker was the Young Bucks saying they were worried the PPV would end without a finish, but they got the pin with 3 seconds left), but they were essentially mission statements from the group that took me back to Shane Douglas. Cody says they’re escalating the bet to double or nothing, at which point everyone started shouting out their cities.

Only the two lines for merch, and both were long lines. We ended up with a $20 foam finger, two $30 shirts, and the best pickup: a $10 zine that looks like those early-1990s Riot Grrrl zines. $6 Pepsi bottles and $6 hot dogs was brutal.

At least four people dressed like Pentagon (not including Jericho), including one woman who went all out. Everything was a sea of black t-shirts (hard to say which variation of the Bullet Club shirt I saw the most of, but I’d guess the pixelated Kenny Omega) except one orange Cody Sucks Eggs shirt. They had tables set up for Rock Em Sock Em Robots, and apparently I’m terrible.

The feeling driving home is comparable to driving home after winning a big game. You simultaneously want to both party and rest your bones from exhaustion. All smiles, even when you’re honking at the guy cutting everybody off in the parking lot.

Now to get ready for our second night. All In set a pretty high bar, but Jordynne Grace vs. Tessa Blanchard might be up to the task. Also, meeting Rey Mysterio is going to be one of those lifetime highlights.

This thing feels like it could be the new WrestleMania weekend. Smaller scale, but still.

It basically was like an indy-Wrestlemania, when you see all the other shows going on and the Starrcast.

And the show felt like a spectacle, just like Wrestlemania is a spectacle. This was not pure-wrestling, everything done within context. Anything can get over if you do it right, that's what this show proved other than how out of touch Vince McMahon is, which I think was another big goal of the show that was accomplished.

 

[JackSlater]

I watched part of the show, from the interesting "finish" of Page's match and then turned it off right before the main event. I found it overall enjoyable. Wrestling looks better when presented simply, like this. Some backstage segments, commentary following the actual match etc. There is a charm to seeing people walking into shots accidentally or hearing a woman in the front row clearly yelling for one wrestling to "kick his f***ing ass" on what otherwise actually looks like a pretty big show. Interesting marriage of indy and large scale. The crowd came off to me as surprisingly quiet. I really liked the Omega-Pentagon Jr. match, including the Jericho segment. Didn't care for Lethal-Gordon, though I do enjoy Lethal and i was amused to see Lanny Poffo there. Okada vs Scurll was an overall slight positive for me but that's mostly because Okada is so great. I've got no time at all for Scurll. I'm probably going to look up the Rhodes match, even though him booking himself to finally win daddy's title makes me cringe a little, because I want to see all the guys who came out with them.

It's an interesting thing overall. By all accounts the show was a success, and it was built in a way completely different from what we've seen in recent times. The utilization of social media to promote the event has never been seen on such a large scale in wrestling, but it still retained a somewhat territorial feel. Interesting mix of styles and I think it's definitely an overall positive for wrestling.

 

[GKJ]

Cody wining the title could only be done with Billy Corgan's approval

 

[Serac]

Cody also helped in making Aldis look very good. Had no issue with Cody "booking himself to win". It made sense

 

[quoipourquoi]

One of my biggest takeaways in terms of broader thinking is that everything was predictable in a POSITIVE way. In terms of matches, the only pick I got wrong was the 6-man. Everyone was talking about Flip being under a mask like Dean Malenko. Everyone expected Cody to win the championship. Everyone was chanting for Joey Ryan.

It didn’t feel like they were doing things just to be surprising. Felt like the show was on the same page with the fans and the fans were on the same page with the show and everyone had a really good time.

 

[Cor]

Meh.

Seemed like a show for The Elite to put themselves over. Good for them though. 10,000 is impressive.

 

[GKJ]

Meh.

Seemed like a show for The Elite to put themselves over. Good for them though. 10,000 is impressive.

Well, it's one thing the crowd came to see. They produced a show that 10,000 people wanted to see, and 10,000 people went home happy with

 

[Serac]

Meh.

Seemed like a show for The Elite to put themselves over. Good for them though. 10,000 is impressive.

Everyone who faced the elite looked very strong.

Aldis looked very good as I said previously. Penta retains looking crazy (again, those package piledrivers, oof), Janela looks like a beast for what he went through, and the main event was super, super rushed so it's hard to fault cutting out some back and forth there. Maybe some purists don't like how Scurll did against Okada, but it was a classic underestimating the opponent type of deal where both guys looked good.

Not sure how you book these matches otherwise, especially with some matches progressing stories (Omega and Hangman specifically).

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Reading the show review and came to this:

"After the match, an army of “penis druids” came out that led to the resurrection of Joey Ryan."

 

[SeidoN]

Kenny switching to the left arm on the One Winged Angel. this guy

 

[GKJ]

Reading the show review and came to this:

"After the match, an army of “penis druids” came out that led to the resurrection of Joey Ryan."

Yup, that's exactly what happened