AEW Double or Nothing

Overall rating: ★★★●★☆☆

That rating doesn't feel accurate though. There was a really bad match and one I skipped entirely, and a few matches that were just ok, but I really mostly enjoyed the show and there were some absolutely great matches in there. I guess the biggest problem with the show is just how long it was. Nothing can be consistently good for four-and-a-half hours.

AEW Battle of the Belts

Overall Rating: ★★★●★☆☆

I guess these are a semi-regular thing now? Just an excuse for an extra little show on the odd weekend? Well, they're ok. The name makes it seem like it should be bigger and more significant, but it's fine for what it is. And the particular matches this time were decent to good.

AEW Revolution

Overall rating: ★★★●★☆☆

Some really good matches but, unfortunately, a few low points dragging the average down. And did it need to be four hours long? That's not even including the pre-show; the main show was four hours. The main event was very good though and worth the wait. But is it just me, or was Jim Ross sounding a little lost and confused at times? More so than usual, I mean.

AEW Battle of the Belts

Overall rating: ★★★●☆☆☆

If this is the "battle of the belts", why are only two legitimate and one official championships being contested? No TBS championship, no men's championship, no tag championship. The Danielson/Page rematch should have been on this show. The inaugural TBS championship match should have been on this show. The Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros. match should have been on this show. Sure, it would have been twice as long (a whole two hours, even) but it would have justified the name. They could even have introduced a women's tag title if they wanted to go completely crazy with it.

AEW Full Gear

Overall rating: ★★★●☆☆☆

There were a couple of high points, but this was a long, long, mostly boring show. There's so much potential in AEW and so often they waste it. It's hugely disappointing. They do some stuff right, but inconsistently. I just want it to be so much better than it is!

AEW All Out

Overall rating: ★★★●☆☆☆

Obviously the big news from this show were the three additions to the cast (remember when they said there were maybe ten people at most at WWE they'd want to hire if they became available? How many are we up to now?) but I find them rather a mixed bag. I like all three, but... one's a woman so there's not much chance she'll get a better shot here than she got at WWE; one's someone that I know a lot of people love but I guess I got back into wrestling a little bit late to really get on board when that hype train left the station; and one's absolutely fantastic, but I'm a little concerned about the way he'll be used and whether he'll really get the opportunity to shine that he had before. So I'm cautious at this stage. I'd like them to do well, but I often find myself wishing that AEW was better than it is.

AEW Double or Nothing 2021

• Singles (Brian Cage vs. Adam Page): 4/7. These two are both good, and I guess it's building the Team Taz story, but it wasn't clear what the point of the actual match was supposed to be.
• AEW Tag Team Championship (Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston vs. The Young Bucks): 4/7. Both teams are good, but the match didn't really interest me because it was pretty clear which way it was going to go.
• Casino Battle Royale (21 competitors): 6/7. I always love a battle royale. This wasn't the best one, but it wasn't bad.
• Singles (Anthony Ogogo vs. Cody Rhodes): 4/7. The framing where the American is automatically the good guy just doesn't work for me (or, I suspect, for most people outside of America) and so the story they're trying to tell is in conflict with the reality that Anthony's been making some very good points and Cody's been... bad. The match was ok though, and I must admit I did like Cody's outfit.
• TNT Championship (Miro vs. Lance Archer): 6/7. Took a bit for me to get into it, but once I did I was 100% on board.
• AEW Women's Championship (Shida Hikaru vs. Dr. Britt Baker): 5/7. Had a few good moments, but everyone knew how this was going to end and it took a bit long to get there.
• Tag Team (Sting & Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky & Ethan Page): 2/7. Why do they keep saying this is Sting's first match in six years? He was in the stupid street fight at Revolution. I bumped this up a point because Page held Allin over his head and threw him, like, two metres. It was pretty awesome. But I could not give less of a shit about Sting or Darby Allin.
• AEW Men's Championship Triple Threat (Pac vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Kenny Omega): 6/7. Almost great, but this Kenny/Bucks/Good Brothers team just doesn't work for me.
• Stadium Stampede (The Pinnacle vs. The Inner Circle): 6/7. Some very good pieces that didn't really mesh at all. You could probably fix it with editing and get a 7/7.

Overall Rating: 5/7. Nothing was quite as good as it should have been, and some things could easily have been cut. Like the two non-championship singles matches - they weren't bad, they just didn't need to be there. They could have been on Dynamite.

AEW Revolution 2021

• Tag Team Championship (The Young Bucks vs. the Inner Circle): 5/7. Jericho and MJF aren't particularly great as a tag team, but they're not bad. I didn't think they had any chance of winning though, so it didn't feel like the stakes were really there.
• Casino Tag Team Royale: 7/7. I always love a battle royale.
• Women's Championship (Shida Hikaru vs. Ryo Mizunami): 5/7. I felt like this was a bit of a letdown after some of the tournament matches that led up to it.
• Miro and Kip Sabian vs. Best Friends: 4/7. Miro has been pretty funny in this storyline but none of the others have really sold me on it and I just don't care about seeing them actually fight.
• Big Money Match (Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy): 6/7. I love the Dark Order coming out to support Adam Page and I hope they stay friends forever.
• Face of the Revolution Ladder Match (Cody Rhodes vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Lance Archer vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Max Caster vs. Ethan Page): 3/7. Ladder matches are just not good. Everyone's climbed a ladder before; we know it's not that difficult.
• Street Fight (Sting and Darby Allin vs. Team Taz): 1/7. I don't need to see a 62-year-old man wrestling, or Darby Allin doing anything, and if you're going to do a pre-taped match then there'd better be some impossible stunts, magic, or at least a ridiculous arena to fight in. A wrestling ring set up in an empty warehouse just isn't it.
• Men's Championship Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley): 1/7. This was a dumb premise to begin with, and it was always going to be bad, but the "explosion" at the end was just the most pathetic thing ever.

Overall rating: 4/7. Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. Who thought that was a good idea?