I watched the last half of the show live and was impressed. It's a great second effort, that ended perfectly, but the crazy smark praise is annoying. I can't can't blame fans though, as WWE is such hot garbage these days. It has been since the later 2000's, minus some great moments.
I really liked that Cody/Dustin match. It felt like old school WCW glory, Flair/Steamboat/Sting style. I've always been a huge Goldust/Dustin fan, guy is master of his craft. I was never a big Cody fan, and his weird lisp, but he and his bro brough it in there. Dusty would be proud.
I felt like the Young Bucks should have lost, to help put over the Lucha Bros. They had a built in excuse, as the announcers kept mentioning how rusty they were.They didn't need the win. I loved the match though.
Jericho and Omega was a solid messy match, and I was happy to see Y2J go over. Kenny is going to help carry this company, but Jericho needed the win, going over clean was unexpected and nice! Moxley coming out was pure gold. That was played perfectly. It didn't affect the main event, and still put Moxley way over.
Ambrose was my least fav member of the Shield, even though I loved them as a unit. He just never looked believable in there, looking spastic/awkward with his weak punches and feminine movements. His promos were generally disappointing, especially considering the hype behind his mic work before he joined WWE. Judging from what he said on Jericho's podcast, he was given terrible scripts, as most wrestlers are, but I just never cared for his delivery.
Hopefully this fresh start for him will bring out his best. I absolutely loved his debut, and the crowd reaction made it more epic.
All in all, AEW feels like the competition WWE, and wrestling in general, has long needed.
p.s. did anyone not like the commentary? JR is my all time fav, and brings cred anywhere, but the team in the booth was forgettable.