Night two of wrestling in the Hammerstein Ballroom! I didn't write about Ring of Honor last night but I did watch it, and it was overall a pretty fun show. I skipped Chris Jericho vs Matt Cardona because I don't hate myself, but I did see Bandido's cursed run-in after the match. I hope he's alright and just got a little rattled rather than anything more serious like a bad concussion.

The updated color scheme of the Hammerstein isn't the best especially on TV. They should paint it back to how I remember it from 35 years ago or however long it's been since TV wrestling was in the old version of this building.

I used to take a Greyhound bus six hours each way to see Ring of Honor at the Manhattan Center but I don't think I've ever seen wrestling in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Maybe I can change that someday.

For now, I'll just kick back while it's toasty in my house and 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside (with a "feels like" of 0).

The devious Ricochet continues his slow burn

I've talked about how much cheating there has been in the C2 this year and how much it's soured me on a lot of the matches. Not necessarily the results because I think most everyone who has won has won when they should have. But, it seems like heels are cheating to win almost every match.

If it were done more sparingly, it'd be fine! For instance, if it was just Ricochet's tournament story that he started cheating to win matches as a way to impress The Hurt Syndicate then it'd be a fun story to see unfold. Unfortunately, we're also seeing at least Kyle Fletcher and Claudio also cheating to win matches.

Ricochet pulling out some sneaky tactics tonight was the perfect way to put him over Ospreay while also trying to establish himself as a guy who will do whatever it takes to win a match, a killer instinct that's missing from his character if he wants to run with MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Bobby Lashley.

With his victory, Ricochet became the first man in the Gold League to capture 9 points. Darby Allin and Claudio Castagnoli had the same opportunity to reach 9 points in their match tonight as well.

What is actually happening with Kris Statlander?

I love Kris Statlander. This much can not be disputed. But, what exactly is going on with her in AEW?

She had an incredibly fun heel run with Stokely Hathaway as her manager and in one backstage segment, she announced that she was no longer associated with Stokely and was going to be changing her ways.

It was a true bummer of a situation because she really shined as a heel with Stokely by her side. Stokely more or less disappeared (will he ever find his tag team?) and all of the character Stat got to show as a heel suddenly went out the window. Not that she doesn't have character or charisma as a babyface, but as a heel she was just operating on a different level.

Now, Statlander is challenging Mercedes Moné for the TBS Title at Worlds End. It's not like she hasn't been talking about wanting to challenge for the belt again, it's just that it seems like short notice for Moné to lose the belt while it also seems like Stat isn't in a position to be the one to dethrone her right now.

If Statlander loses at Worlds End, it signifies another setback for her after the sudden split with Stokely. If Mercedes loses, does she bounce back at Wrestle Dynasty or does she lose all of her gold in the span of a week?

The only way I can see Mercedes losing is if the plan is for her to ascend to the World Title, but I also don't see that happening while a heel Mariah May is holding the belt.

It might all come out in the wash (and likely will) – AEW has more than earned its "wait and see" points. Right now, though, it just all feels a bit ramshackle.

More of the same in the rest of the Continental Classic

Daniel Garcia and Shelton Benjamin had, not surprisingly, a great match. Garcia came up with the win using the jackknife pin again which marks the third time that pin has been used to finish a match in the tournament – twice from Garcia and once from Will Ospreay. Are Ospreay and Garcia going to meet in the semi-finals to see who has the better jackknife?

I'm curious to see where Shelton Benjamin winds up after the Continental Classic. MVP already laid into him a bit for a previous loss in the tournament, and tonight we saw Shelton lose again while Hurt Syndicate Hopeful Ricochet won his match.

I'm starting to wonder if Ricochet is going to pitch himself as a replacement for Shelton in the group based on C2 performances alone. As it stands after tonight, Ricochet is up 9 points to Shelton's 6 in their separate Leagues.

I find myself disappointed that The Beast Mortos ended the tournament with 0 points after his loss to Mark Briscoe tonight. Briscoe has been on a good run in the tournament winning far more matches than I expected him to win.

After tonight, Briscoe is tied with with Kyle Fletcher for 9 points atop the Blue League. Kazuchika Okada and Daniel Garcia both have the chance to spoil the endings for Fletcher and Briscoe by winning their final matches and ending with 10 points, while Shelton Benjamin has a chance to tie with 9 points if he beats Okada on Wednesday. Still a lot of room to play in the Blue League with one final night to go!

Claudio Castagnoli defeated Darby Allin in the Gold League via, surprise surprise, cheating! The constant cheating is just leaving such a sour taste in my mouth for the tournament this year. It's marring a lot of what would otherwise be great matches.

I'm also a little lost on the story they were telling with Darby in the C2 this year. His sole purpose was to stop Claudio (and, thus, Death Riders) but here he is eating another close to the over-protected Castagnoli. It's all just falling a bit flat for me.

Wrapping Up

I don't know how many people fit into the Hammerstein Ballroom but I wish AEW would run venues like this for TV shows all of the time. Smaller, hotter crowds in unique-looking buildings is a wonderful thing in professional wrestling. I always love a an out of the ordinary venue, and I won't rest until Tony Khan revives the old WCW Spring Break setup of putting a wrestling ring over a swimming pool while college bozos go nuts in the crowd.

I'll be honest, I did laundry and washed my face during the MJF/Adam Cole segment. When I came back, it was still happening. Please, make it stop.

Bobby Lashley out there looking like jacked RuPaul with those gigantic glasses on.

My picks are basically trash at this point but I think I could still get some portion of my initial Darby/Ospreay and Garcia/Fletcher league finalists in the end.