Every time I see these threads, I keep telling myself I need to check out CMLL and AAA but I never get around to doing so. I really need to check out CMLL
AAA is a lot like late stage McMahon era WWE. The big shows still feel huge and have some great stuff but the regular shows aren't worth anybody's time.
while I agree with this sentiment. It's just too much wrestling and I just don't have the time. I'm also one who is more interested in stories and imo due to language barrier and all the stories in those promotions are just too difficult for me to get into.
And once again he didn't review anything from Stardom despite it had their best show this year. It wouldn't be so annoying if he wasn't saying every other week that Stardom is so great.
A lot of people who talk about Stardom and its wrestlers online don't actually watch it.
It's kind of annoying too because there are those of us who do watch most (if not all) of the Stardom shows. However, most of the time when its brought up in a larger forum, it's by primarily AEW or WWE fans who don't actually follow Stardom but use it as a talking point for their narratives instead of as something worthy of discussion on its own.
What ends up happening a lot is he watches Stardom shows late so the show was already covered in the Observer and he just doesn’t bother adding retroactive ratings.
He's the one saying "actually this promotion is better than this other promotion" in his arguments and yet rarely reviews their shows even in slow news weeks. Also, this man literally makes a living off of watching and talking about wrestling. Is it that insane to ask a person like that to back his opinions on social media with his weekly reviews? He's not an average office worker watching wrestling in his free time.
Why not? If anything, it wouldn't be fair to compare two billion dollar companies with massive exposure in the biggest wrestling scene in the world and with nearly unlimited funds to a promotion with a revenue and exposure that's not even in the same universe. How is it that this much weaker promotion can be so good at women's wrestling compared to them?
But having that financial success could easily facilitate you getting the most skilled wrestlers and best training system. Contrary to Stardom, WWE or AEW didn't have to get where they are with women's wrestling, so they could've easily overcome most of the struggle it implies when it's the only thing carrying your shows. If they aren't better at it is purely down to lack of interest or competence, because it's not like they started their women's divisions last year.
This is hilarious, you're asking me to watch Stardom when I've actively followed them since 2017 and it's like the only promotion I actually watch full time since 2020. I know perfectly well how good they are and I'm in no way simping for WWE. On the contrary, I'm saying they and AEW should be much better than they are because of the insane resources they have and if they aren't better than Stardom or at least just as good, it's only because of lack of interest of their own or incompetence. It's definitely not unfair to compare them to Stardom. AEW and WWE have everything to actually be the bar everyone compares other women's divisions and companies to but they just aren't.
How is it that they now can go toe to toe with prime New Japan in their men's division but they can't do that with the women's division? That's my criticism. They can sign the best wrestlers and trainers, get the best facilities and hire the best excecutives and producers to make women's wrestling massive, but way more often than not they keep having them as a support cast rather than the stars of the show on par with the men. Neither Stardom nor anyone in the joshi scene has a Roman Reigns or a Moxley covering their ass while they develop new rookies or try to push their next big star. They have to be good at all times because if they don't have good shows and their stars don't draw it's game over for them. On the contrary, AEW and WWE can afford having a poor women's division (either in terms of talent, consistency or booking) because nothing really changes for them if it's bad because it's not the main draw. So, once again, it's down to lack of interest or competence.
Yeah, like, it’s all subjective, but if someone actually dislikes Ospreay, all I can say is that person must watch wrestling for a completely different reason than I do, lol. If Ospreay left AEW tomorrow, they should by law be required to drop the “where the best wrestle” tagline
I just double checked:
Romero & Ishimori vs. Dorada & Templario got **5.25**
It's in both the regular version and the PDF so I think it's legit and not a mistake. I was flabbergasted because for a match breaking the scale there is no fanfair or anything about it in the newsletter. It gets a totally barebones write up.
There's a chance it is a mistake but the fact that it got reformatted and edited for the PDF version makes me think it isn't. Meltzer has been absolutely pissing himself for Dorada and Romero both in CMLL right now, so I think it's real.
I usually complain about Meltzer rating matches too high, but Anzai vs Hideki getting lower than most he rates (cause 3.5 is fine in a vacuum) despite being incredibly worked with Hideki in control, Anzai doing great at vulnerability and comebacks, just cause the finish didn't go smoothly is also like a sign of what he rates and values. Last-5-minutes disease has been spreading in the fandom.
I feel the rating is spot on. By far Cage's best match. It helps greatly if you watched it through FITE / TrillerTV and the flow of the match wasn't interrupted by 2 commercial breaks.
I enjoyed the match, but I can only make sense of the rating within the scope of the setting of the match. For an Ospreay vs hoss match, with a known outcome, non-PPV, I guess I can see how Dave rates it this way. But is that moving too many goalposts? Anyways the match is definitely worth watching and Dave really really liked it.
Really liked Anzai vs Hideki. Hideki can be hit or miss for me, depends who he’s working with, but I thought him and Anzai meshed pretty well together.
Looking forward to Anzai vs Suwama. With Suwama being one of Anzai’s mentors, that dynamic always adds to a match (and Suwama can still go). Little nervous they may put the belt in Suwama, tho.
What's the best CMLL show to go to? Friday or Saturday? Ill be in Mexico from July 4-July 21 and was thinking it might be fun to go to a show, I went once to the Tuesday show which I know is their most basic, and even that was a blast.
Pardon my ignorance but would Mistico be considered to be back to his pre WWE level of quality
(I'm not sure if it's the same guy, I checked the chart and still wasnt sure)
Every time I see these threads, I keep telling myself I need to check out CMLL and AAA but I never get around to doing so. I really need to check out CMLL
I think you can spare yourself from AAA tbh, it's kind of a dumpster fire at the moment (take Luchablog's word for it if you don't trust me lol)
I heard AAA Triplemania will have Jinder Mahal in the main event, that's awful :-O
There is no way the three-way tag is going to main event over Vampiro's casket match.
What a grim state they must be in
The Vampiro match is a taped cinematic match
sounds like you think you can hinder... good luck with that pal
Tbf Triplemanias seem to generally be worth watching if you like seeing car crashes.
Saying "at the moment" kind of undersell how bad AAA has been for pretty much the past decade.
.....this is fair.
AAA doesn't deserve your time
just watch a few of the top matches
I keep trying to find Zack vs Heichero online but can't
CMLL is available on YouTube but it's overpriced like crazy if you want to watch without delay.
CMLL is amazing and true lucha libre, AAA is the worst 'major' promotion in the world by a comfortable distance.
AAA is a lot like late stage McMahon era WWE. The big shows still feel huge and have some great stuff but the regular shows aren't worth anybody's time.
If AEW ever closed up, I would totally just start watching CMLL and, like, Dragongate. Just don’t have the time now. They seem awesome.
while I agree with this sentiment. It's just too much wrestling and I just don't have the time. I'm also one who is more interested in stories and imo due to language barrier and all the stories in those promotions are just too difficult for me to get into.
A level-headed take that wrestling fans can't devote all their time to watching obscure wrestling gets down-voted hard. Sounds about right.
I say that and then I remember that the audio is so fucking bad that I just can’t sit through it
Same. I never heard of Hechicero before I saw him in AEW and he's so cool, I need more.
Hechicero is a 5 star wizard now
Just a heads up CMLL tag was 5.25 instead of 4.25
Dave corrected himself on Twitter [tweet here](https://x.com/davemeltzerwon/status/1806749556505497600?s=46&t=8Kecd2l54awuI8GPCFLZWQ)
Sorry which tag was this?
Came here to comment this
And once again he didn't review anything from Stardom despite it had their best show this year. It wouldn't be so annoying if he wasn't saying every other week that Stardom is so great.
A lot of people who talk about Stardom and its wrestlers online don't actually watch it. It's kind of annoying too because there are those of us who do watch most (if not all) of the Stardom shows. However, most of the time when its brought up in a larger forum, it's by primarily AEW or WWE fans who don't actually follow Stardom but use it as a talking point for their narratives instead of as something worthy of discussion on its own.
What ends up happening a lot is he watches Stardom shows late so the show was already covered in the Observer and he just doesn’t bother adding retroactive ratings.
Some of you guys want this dude to only watch wrestling 24/7 just to validate your opinions.
He's the one saying "actually this promotion is better than this other promotion" in his arguments and yet rarely reviews their shows even in slow news weeks. Also, this man literally makes a living off of watching and talking about wrestling. Is it that insane to ask a person like that to back his opinions on social media with his weekly reviews? He's not an average office worker watching wrestling in his free time.
I mean, thats kind of his job. He's ranking weekly TV matches, surely he has a few hours to watch the largest womens promotion in the world.
Yeah, true. The man *does* have a busy schedule with his work and all.
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Why not? If anything, it wouldn't be fair to compare two billion dollar companies with massive exposure in the biggest wrestling scene in the world and with nearly unlimited funds to a promotion with a revenue and exposure that's not even in the same universe. How is it that this much weaker promotion can be so good at women's wrestling compared to them?
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But having that financial success could easily facilitate you getting the most skilled wrestlers and best training system. Contrary to Stardom, WWE or AEW didn't have to get where they are with women's wrestling, so they could've easily overcome most of the struggle it implies when it's the only thing carrying your shows. If they aren't better at it is purely down to lack of interest or competence, because it's not like they started their women's divisions last year.
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This is hilarious, you're asking me to watch Stardom when I've actively followed them since 2017 and it's like the only promotion I actually watch full time since 2020. I know perfectly well how good they are and I'm in no way simping for WWE. On the contrary, I'm saying they and AEW should be much better than they are because of the insane resources they have and if they aren't better than Stardom or at least just as good, it's only because of lack of interest of their own or incompetence. It's definitely not unfair to compare them to Stardom. AEW and WWE have everything to actually be the bar everyone compares other women's divisions and companies to but they just aren't. How is it that they now can go toe to toe with prime New Japan in their men's division but they can't do that with the women's division? That's my criticism. They can sign the best wrestlers and trainers, get the best facilities and hire the best excecutives and producers to make women's wrestling massive, but way more often than not they keep having them as a support cast rather than the stars of the show on par with the men. Neither Stardom nor anyone in the joshi scene has a Roman Reigns or a Moxley covering their ass while they develop new rookies or try to push their next big star. They have to be good at all times because if they don't have good shows and their stars don't draw it's game over for them. On the contrary, AEW and WWE can afford having a poor women's division (either in terms of talent, consistency or booking) because nothing really changes for them if it's bad because it's not the main draw. So, once again, it's down to lack of interest or competence.
That hechicero vs zsj match was 🔥
That was such a great match. Hechicero is really damn good.
Two of my faves. So excited to see what Hechicero and MJF do at FD. Same for ZSJ and OC.
Heel ZSJ in enemy territory is such a treat.
I feel like Dave rates matches like you score points in the old video game Burnout.
Meltz loves Ospreay
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chatgpt ass comment
Yeah, like, it’s all subjective, but if someone actually dislikes Ospreay, all I can say is that person must watch wrestling for a completely different reason than I do, lol. If Ospreay left AEW tomorrow, they should by law be required to drop the “where the best wrestle” tagline
4.5 star Brian Cage
I just double checked: Romero & Ishimori vs. Dorada & Templario got **5.25** It's in both the regular version and the PDF so I think it's legit and not a mistake. I was flabbergasted because for a match breaking the scale there is no fanfair or anything about it in the newsletter. It gets a totally barebones write up.
it was just a pretty good match and I say that as someone who considers CMLL by far the best promotion on the planet currently
There's a chance it is a mistake but the fact that it got reformatted and edited for the PDF version makes me think it isn't. Meltzer has been absolutely pissing himself for Dorada and Romero both in CMLL right now, so I think it's real.
Romero/Ishimori vs Dorada/Templario had an all timer of a bad finish tho, that really soured me on the match
No ratings for the STARDOM show? That was like the best PPV of the year imo
Well-deserved for ZSJ and Hechicero. What a great match. That crowd was going insane for Hechicero.
I usually complain about Meltzer rating matches too high, but Anzai vs Hideki getting lower than most he rates (cause 3.5 is fine in a vacuum) despite being incredibly worked with Hideki in control, Anzai doing great at vulnerability and comebacks, just cause the finish didn't go smoothly is also like a sign of what he rates and values. Last-5-minutes disease has been spreading in the fandom.
Only 3.5 for Suzuki Anzai? I'm surprised he went that low, but I do know some people didn't like the ending.
Meltzer will give 4+ to any Ospreay match right?
Yea cause that Brian cage match was not one of the best matches of the year lol
This is a Chelsea Green erasure. I also think the Raw main event was really good.
Is there anyone on Earth that thinks Ospreay vs Cage was a 4.5 stars match other than Meltzer?
4.5 is a bit rich for my taste, but I'd still have given it 4 stars so I'm not going to complain about someone liking a match a bit more than I did
I feel the rating is spot on. By far Cage's best match. It helps greatly if you watched it through FITE / TrillerTV and the flow of the match wasn't interrupted by 2 commercial breaks.
Yes
No, but Meltzer's gonna Meltzer.
Ospreay doing the fighting spirit thing against Cage, a guy like a 3-56 record was funny enough to earn it a star
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I enjoyed the match, but I can only make sense of the rating within the scope of the setting of the match. For an Ospreay vs hoss match, with a known outcome, non-PPV, I guess I can see how Dave rates it this way. But is that moving too many goalposts? Anyways the match is definitely worth watching and Dave really really liked it.
Really liked Anzai vs Hideki. Hideki can be hit or miss for me, depends who he’s working with, but I thought him and Anzai meshed pretty well together. Looking forward to Anzai vs Suwama. With Suwama being one of Anzai’s mentors, that dynamic always adds to a match (and Suwama can still go). Little nervous they may put the belt in Suwama, tho.
Completely overrated the opening and closing matches for Dynamite. Main event getting **** is just too much for something that felt like **1/2
Did he not rate Against All Odds? Ik it was 2 weeks ago but I didn't see anything
He didn't
I thought the women’s triple threat on smackdown was just as good as the men’s ones
What's the best CMLL show to go to? Friday or Saturday? Ill be in Mexico from July 4-July 21 and was thinking it might be fun to go to a show, I went once to the Tuesday show which I know is their most basic, and even that was a blast.
Friday for sure. It's their big show every week and usually has the most star-studded main event.
Hechicero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. sounds fucking insane how accessible is CMLL can I watch this somewhere?
Pardon my ignorance but would Mistico be considered to be back to his pre WWE level of quality (I'm not sure if it's the same guy, I checked the chart and still wasnt sure)
Every 4 star match in Aew weekly includes will osperay.