Welcome back for another edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary blog to the ODPH Podcast & 607TWS. It’s been an interesting week to say the least in the land of pro wrestling. Lots of AEW, WWE NXT, & more company talk so lets’ take a look around what’s making news, shall we?
Arguably one of the biggest stories was the in-ring debut of someone we’ve seen on the AEW roster for a while now. Coming down to the ring with “The Chairman’s Intent by Action Bronson , HOOK, son of the legendary TAZ made his debut on AEW Rampage Friday night against Fuego Del Sol.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Initial reactions to Hook’s debut: The kid looked solid against Del Sol showing off his Judo skills. His body language was great for the story telling part of the match (Back turned to opponent, getting in Ref’s face, sliding up Del Sol’s mask to distract before putting on the submission, etc). Even the use of the Tazzmision, now known as “Redrum” was a great touch. Overall, it was a good debut for the 22 year-old.
However, by the way some in the wrestling community are running with this is how Hook’s debut is THE game changer AEW has been looking for. While the debut was good, imo, I feel that people are rushing a bit to crown him before he walked up to the throne, which isn’t fair to him.
First off, AEW Dynamite was in Long Island this week, which was basically a “hometown hero” moment with the crowd (Hook is from St. Mark’s Place in the NYC area). The pop from the crowd reflected that. Secondly, Hook’s announced weight is 20 1lbs. Doing the aesthetic test, much of his offense worked against Del Sol, who weighed in at 176 lbs. How is he going to match up with wrestlers the size of Brian Cage & Lance Archer to name a few? Jury is still out until we see that.
What I think that AEW should seriously look into at this stage is a cruiserweight division. Think about this line-up: Hook, Darby Allin, Dante Martin, Lio Rush, Rickey Starks, & Feugo Del Sol just to name a few. The talent is there to do it and watch how they would remind fans of what that division can do. Until then, let’s see some more from Hook before we crown him King.
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Speaking of the King of AEW, this Wednesday is their mimi-event “Winter Is Coming” on AEW Dynamite. Adam Page defends his title against Bryan Danielson in the main event. This should be a classic match to close out the year for AEW. Page is the “homegrown” champon. Danielson has turned it up a few notches since debuting in AEW at September’s Full Gear PPV.
What should & will happen: Page defeats Danielson in a very competitive match.
Giving the belt to Danielson at this time would be a mistake imo. Page has earned a run with the belt & the powers that be need to have him go over here. After this, either fans will seen this ran back or possibly someone else will pop up in that #1 contender role…winner of MJF/CM Punk match perhaps?
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Saturday night is Ring Of Honor’s “Final Battle”, their final show before temp. shutting down until April. One late change to the card is Bandito is unable to wrestle on the show & former mainstay of ROH/recent AEW signee Jay Lethal is stepping up to take his place on the show. “Final Battle” takes place 7pm Saturday December 11th on pay-per-view. 607 Podcasts will be live reaction to the final show. Jump in the chat & send ROH off in style for their final event of the year.
WWE NXT has lost a few members from their roster: Kyle O’Reilly & Johnny Gargano. Both did not renew their deals with the company while Jeff Hardy was released from his contract. Where we will see those 3 end up is anyone’s guess with Jeff Hardy being the closest lock to sign with AEW. O’Reilly most likely will but Gargano is the biggest question mark. As stated on the 607 Podcasts this week, he’s a big fan of the indies and there is no better time to work them than right now. I wouldn’t expect to see Gargano in an AEW ring until Double or Nothing at the earliest, but we shall see.
Photo Credit: Xcite Wrestling
In closing & speaking of ROH, it has been announced by Xcite Wrestling that Dalton Castle will be wrestling at the X on January 1st. For more info, head over to Xcite Wrestling social media for more information.
Expect all the 607 podcast family to be talkig about these stories on more detail next week. Hit me up on Twitter & let me know what wrestling stories you wanna talk about! As always, thanks for reading.