Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast and 607TWS on Twitch (& now in podcast form). On this edition, it’s the road to Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event of the year. There will be a deep dive on this week’s ODPHpod breaking that card down. For this blog, let’s take a quick trip around some other federations and stories that are making some noise going into this week. And here we go…..

HOW GOOD WAS THIS MATCH?!?!

All Elite Wrestling kicked off AEW Dynamite with an absolute classic between Dax Harwood of FTR vs. CM Punk. Classic storytelling that many feel was a love letter to Bret “the Hitman” Hart. Everything about this match clicked. The crowd and fans watching at home were locked in from the jump. Obviously, with who was involved, you knew this was gonna be something special & it delivered. Maybe that Dog Collar match at AEW Revolution finally awoke something? Maybe it’s because he had a great opponent who’s in arguably the best tag team on the planet right now facing him and at pushing him? In any case, anyone who missed it, make a point to check this match out. Definitely wouldn’t mind seeing this ran back sometime. However from that lead, the rest of the show started to slowly lose steam…then this happened:

Fans had a promo segment with Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti addressing Dan Lambert with his AEW American Top Team faction (TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, Paige Van Zant). In case anyone didn’t know, Guevara and Conti have become a bit of a polarizing couple imo. Ever since their relationship went public and other drama involving Guevara ( I don’t want to get into that situation), they have had very split opinions on social media from fans.

On Wednesday, Lambert wore the original TNT Championship belt while champion Sky had the newer belt. In story line purposes, Guevara wore both belts (old and interim) after winning a unification bout with Cody Rhodes. After battling on the mic, Guevara claimed that he and Conti did some “adult things” while wearing the belt Lambert kissed and left some “souvenirs” on the belt. Even post match, there was a tweet with a picture of Conti and Guevara naked with the belt alluding to what they “did”. That comment drew a lot of negative attention from some AEW members, most notably Eddie Kingston and fans who thought the comments was disrespectful to the belt and its’ legacy with the late Brodie Lee. I agree with that as well.

I understand that the promo was to get a “shock” moment but considering the PR damage that was done when WWE stars were involved in a situation like that, it was a bad look. Why after that promo was done, Conti and Guevara were trending on socials with Brad Maddox right behind them? For AEW, this is another situation of where promos like this need to be ran thru the proper channels. Knowing the legacy of Brodie Lee and what that belt means, it was a complete insult. Seeing the negative fan reaction, doubling down on it with the tweet after didn’t help matters.

Should any more drastic action be done about this? No. I’ve read where people online want Guevara and Conti off AEW and that’s way too much. IMO, What should be done is better regulation by AEW about promo content and crossing that line. It’s a fine line that needs to be walked but I can’t really see the brass at Warner Media being cool with this long term. There are better ways to cut promos and getting that type of “heat” is not a direction that Guevara and Conti want to go in.

Hook’s reaction was my reaction hearing that segment as well. Btw… Hook v. Danhausen? ok…..

Now onto some better news to talk about:

This Friday, Ring Of Honor returns with SuperCard of Honor taking place on Fite.TV with a new look for the well respected promotion. This will be the first card under the Tony Khan regime. There have been some small changes to the card but the big matches are still locked and loaded. Gresham vs. Bandido for the undisputed ROH title & Briscoes vs. FTR for the tag team titles are the big draws but there’s another match that was added that fans shouldn’t sleep on:

Jay Lethal (pictured above) will be taking on Lee Moriarty! Expect some great wrestling action in this one (as well as Swerve Strickland vs. Alex Zayne). Lethal, the longtime franchise player in ROH returns for this Pay-Per-View is an interesting move. Lethal was one of the first wave of ROH talent to sign elsewhere when everyone was released from their contracts. Now coming bck full circle, will he be the face of ROH 2.0 now or how will the landscape of Ring Of Honor now change with Khan at the helm. We will see the beginnings starting this Friday.

Game Changer Wrestling once again takes over Wrestlemania weekend with the Collective. It is a showcase of great cards throughout the weekend such as Glory Pro, For The Culture, & Effy’s Big Gay Brunch to name a few. However, the one that has become the most attatched to the Collective is Joey Janela’s Spring Break. This card has literally everything on it & will be the one GCW fans will be buzzing about. Personally, I can’t wait to see Joey Janela vs X-Pac. It’s gonna be a loaded weekend of shows so make sure to check out Fite.TV and watch some great indie shows before or after Wrestlemania.

Just a reminder that “Super B” Brandon Sevilla will be in studio on the April 4th edition of 607TWS!

That’s all for this week. Hit me up on Twitter and let me know what pro wrestling you’re checking out and what card this weekend you’re most excited to see! As always, thanks for reading!

Welcome to an all new edition of Blogs Count Anywhere, the complementary pro wrestling blog to the ODPH podcast & 607TWS on Twitch. For this edition, it’s been a relatively quieter week than usual. Arguably the biggest story is multiple reports of Cody Rhodes signing to the WWE. This really has been an interesting topic to watch. However, until we see him in a WWE ring, fans won’t see the real reaction until that moment. If/whgen it happens, I’ll deep dive into my thoughts on the Rhodeslander’s landing spot. If you’re an AEW fan, I’m sure you have feelings about it as well, but there’s a lot to be excited about with All Elite Wrestling that SHOULD be where the attention needs to be focused on.

On Wednesday’s “AEW Dynamite”, Thunder Rosa FINALLY captured the Women’s World title from Britt Baker in a Steel Cage Match. Their match is almost 1 year to the date of their epic St, Patrick’s Street Fight which was a Match Of The Year Candidate in 2021. The story line to make this happen was a bit confusing as Rosa lost to Baker at AEW Revolution only to get the 3rd match after winning a world title eliminator bout 3 days after.

No matter how we got here, the fact is we got here! Fans finally got #ANDNEW! For Rosa, who’s one of the best on the planet, defeating Baker in San Antonio (her current home base) & that crowd’s reaction was worth the wait. The match was solid and now the door is open for some new matches for the belt. With Baker being so dominant in her title reign, most challengers were one and done in a title program. Rosa as champion opens up quite a few possibilities of programs to run.

One rumored idea floated around was Rosa against TBS Champion Jade Cargill, but I don’t see that happening. It’s way too early for “Champ vs. Champ.” For where I think we’re going is into a program with a new version of Kris Statlander. With the new vignettes, it appears Statlander might be turning heel which would make for a great opponent for Rosa to start her reign against.

Another long shot idea would be setting up Rosa for a Match of The Year candidate against Ring Of Honor champion Deanna Purrazzo. Since AEW & ROH now have the same owner, the idea isn’t out of possibility. This could be something to watch out for at Supercard of Honor, but there’s already one dream match made there. Not sure if we will have this one made there too. Regardless of that, the Thunder Rosa era with the title has begun. With all the hard work and excitement that Rosa has added to that division, giving her the belt is long overdue and now a new chapter in AEW starts….

Wednesday also brought back the much hyped return of Matt & Jeff, The Hardys to tag team action. Their match with Private Party went as expected (along with an assist from Darby Allin & Sting post match) & has now set up for an 8 man Tag team match on the next AEW Dynamite against the rest of the AFO. At first glance, teaming with Darby & Sting is fun for a quick second, but hopefully not leading to another faction. After this match, Matt & Jeff need to get something going against another tag team or we’re looking at a “Stadium Stampede” type blow off match down the road.

While this makes sense short term, stretching this story line out long term isn’t helping anyone out imo. The Hardys should start working up the rankings for a title shot ASAP. Darby & Sting are….. Darby & Sting. It is what it is there. Plus, Andrade just took over the HFO. Let him build that up in his vision and go from there. No matter what, Matt & Jeff need to strike while the buzz is there and get a program started for a run at the belts. Anything else is just wasting time at this stage.

Speaking of time wasting, I wasn’t a huge fan of the Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS) segment this week. For dismantling the Inner Circle, AEW’s first faction, only to roll it out as whatever this is going to be just didn’t click. 2.0 & Daniel Garcia now are in a prime story for them to grow. That’s a plus, especially for Garcia but the whole “I Am a sports entertainer” skit just made this new group feel like a reset of someone else’s character taking shots at a certain other federation. Maybe it was a subtle jab at the Cody stories? Either way, not the best first impression to make with “Inner Circle 2.0”

This past week, Ring Of Honor finally made an announcement that fans have been waiting to hear. After weeks of back and forth along with an encounter at “Final Battle”, the match has been made! BRISCOES VS. FTR is set for April 1st at Supercard of Honor! Expect fireworks and a lot of buzz coming from this match. Two of the best tag teams on the planet are finally squaring off. What, if anyhting, this means for Ring Of Honor moving forward is anyone’s guess but this card just brought some new eyes onto the product in April. Make sure to save that date if you haven’t already. For more info: ROHWrestling.com.

Lastly, On Saturday night, Circle 6 ran their first ever show: Circle 6 Skewered on Twitch. This was the new promotion that Atticus Cogar was connected with revolving around his fallout with GCW. New company, new set of rules and a very stacked lineup for free on Twitch? No way I was missing that. Initial reaction is the in-ring work was great. Christopher Daniels vs. RSP & Biff Busick vs. Brody King really stand out. Unfortunately, it was over shadowed by a delay in starting & multiple stream crashes. Being on the east coast, I didn’t check the chance to watch after intermission (it started around 1:30am).

Eventually, the show stream went off Twitch (reasons) but from what I saw, I was very happy with the product. There are many things production wise (imo) that need to be fixed before next show: Streaming, audio, etc. but if you get the chance to check this product out, do it. Keep an eye on their social media for more news on further events.

That’s all for this week. Hit me up on Twitter and let me know what wrestling you’ve been checking out.

As always, thanks for reading and supporting 607 Podcasts & the ODPH!

CM PUNK vs. DAX/ SUPERCARD OF HONOR/ JOEY JANELA SPRING BREAK

THUNDER ROSA WINS!!! / BRISCOES VS. FTR / CIRCLE 6