SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Housekeeping
• After a scant three years of marriage Warner Bros Discovery announced they would be getting a divorce. That is to say the company will be splitting into two different entities, one housing the streaming service and movie studios and the other all of the cable networks. In the near term this move isn’t likely to affect AEW but it will be interesting to see what happens down the road.
Intro
Did you miss me? I decided to take a week off so that I could get back to the right day. Tonight we’re in for another four hour block of AEW. I love wrestling more than the average fan (I am writing about it after all) but four hours on a Wednesday night is a little much. The Collision portion of the show definitely felt weaker than I think it would have if it aired in its normal Saturday timeslot. Hopefully this experiment only lasts two weeks and Tony Khan realizes it’s not a good idea. That said the Dynamite portion of the show was very strong and definitely entertaining. Given what’s on the docket for tonight. I expect much the same.
AEW Avengers Civil War
Latest Developments
Will Ospreay challenged Swerve to a match after the two came to blows; Ospreay came to the aid of Hangman Page before the Death Riders could overwhelm him
Analysis
Footage from after Dynamite two weeks ago aired showing Ospreay confronting Swerve about coming together to backup Hangman. Swerve reiterated that he was never going to help Hangman. Ospreay contended that the Death Riders but Swerve was unmoved and the two wound up coming to blows. Back live on Dynamite, Ospreay said that all he wanted was Swerbe and Hangman to be allies for one night, get the belt from Mox, and then they could kill each other if they wanted to. He said Mox was the enemy and that maybe Swerve was getting in the way of that. He challenged him to a match on this week’s Summer Blockbuster.
Later in the show, Hangman cut a promo in which he once again promised to beat Mox at All In and bring the title home. That brought Mox and the Death Riders who proceeded to surround three sides of the ring. Ospreay ran out armed with chair for himself and for Hangman, keeping his vow to have Hangman’s back.
Holistically, I really like this story. AEW’s version of the Avengers getting together to finally bring an end to the Death Riders’ tumultuous reign of terror makes perfect sense. Right now, we’re in the civil war phase. Hangman is Captain America, Swerve is Iron Man, and Ospreay is the Winter Soldier. The one hiccup is Ospreay and Swerve having an official match. It doesn’t make a lot of sense if Ospreay is trying to sway Swerve over to allying himself with Hangman. It certainly feels like this is a vehicle for perhaps the Young Bucks to return to try and help the Death Riders by cutting Ospreay and Swerve off at the pass. That would allow the overarching story of the Avengers eventually getting together to be told while Ospreay and Swerve have their own sub-story with the Bucks.
Grade: B-
It’s Official!
Latest Developments
After another scuffle between them the match between archrivals Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega was made official for All In.
Analysis
Kenny Omega successfully defended his AEW International title in a wild, hard-hitting four way match, pinning Mascara Dorada after reversing an attempted hurricanrana into the One Winged Angel. Following the match, Okada once again came out to taunt Omega. The two men came to blows quickly. Omega blocked a Rainmaker and attempted to get Okada in the One Winged Angel but Okada squirmed at and bailed from the ring. Later during the Collision portion of the show, the match was made official: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada V at All In, Winner Take All for both the AEW International and Continental titles.
As evidenced by the “holy s***” chants from the Denver crowd when Kenny and Okada were merely standing in the ring holding their respective belts, this match almost sells itself. The rivalry between Omega and Okada created an entire new generation of wrestling fans and redefined what a wrestling match could be. Of their four previous encounters, the shortest one was 24 minutes and that was largely because it was part of the 2017 G1 Climax tournament. If you have not seen their matches, I strongly encourage you to go out of your way to watch them. You will not regret it. Honestly I was Tony Khan, I would’ve already been on the phone with New Japan asking them to allow me to upload the Okada/Omega series to my YouTube even if it was for a limited time only.
While their last match was at WrestleKingdom 11 in 2018 and they’ve both aged seven years, expectations for this one will certainly be high. Tony really ought to use the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid) to build this match. We’ve already seen Okada be the aggressor, the instigator because he’s looking to get even after their last epic. That should be the selling point but he has to be dialed-in, deadly serious Okada. He’s been on autopilot for a year so he’s going to have to deliver these next few weeks to help repair some of the damage done to his perception. The one other thing that I believe is crucial is take this match a step further than winner take all. Make it the unification match we’ve all been expecting. There should be one champion and one belt coming out of this match. Maybe we arrive at that point after tonight’s contract signing which should be very good.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Punching Below Their Weight
Latest Developments
The Don Callis Family continued to feud with Paragon, this time with the lesser Family members taking the loss in an 8 man tag.
Analysis
Adam Cole recruited Daniel Garcia to join him and Paragon to do battle against the Don Callis Family, this time consisting of Josh Alexander, Lance Archer, and RPG Vice. This match had the unenviable position of being the final match of the four hour block. It was a perfectly fine match still. To the surprise of nobody Rocky Romero ate the pin.
The issue here is that the Don Callis Family is being positioned as the next dominant heel faction once the Death Riders are knocked off. Takeshita and Fletcher are two of the top wrestlers in the company. The idea of them toiling with Paragon who aren’t bad but have firmly settled into the lower mid-card, feels beneath them. If the idea is for Kyle Fletcher to take the TNT title off of Adam Cole, that’s fine. We just need to get to that ASAP. Cole is the only member of Paragon that doesn’t seem out of place in a match any member of The Family.
Grade: C+
Meal and a Match
Latest Developments
Mercedes ate at a steak while watching Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa defeat Julia Hart and Skye Blue.
Analysis
The match itself was fine. Toni Storm got the win forcing Skye Blue to tap out to the TCM chicken wing. The reality is though that the match served as a backdrop for the Toni/Mercedes story. Mercedes was advertised as being on commentary. This was somewhat surprising given that the last time she donned a headset it was far from pleasant. Apparently someone realized that and instead of doing commentary, she had a table set up alongside the announce desk and was served a large steak and a glass of wine. That certainly fit her haughty, arrogant persona. After the match Toni approached Mercedes table and grabbed the steak with her hands, and bit off a chunk. She then stuffed some of the garnish in her mouth.
Toni vs Mercedes is the third big match for the show and so far, it’s got the weakest build. The whole foundation of it is that Mercedes won a tournament. It’s been proven that Toni’s at her best when she’s in a more personal feud. That doesn’t seem likely so I think the best course of action would be to simplify. Hone in on the greatest women’s champion (arguably) in AEW’s short history vs one the greatest women’s wrestlers of all time aspect. Minimize Toni’s zaniness and remove these other uninvolved parties like Julia Hart or Mina Shirakawa from the equation.
Grade: C
Square Peg in a Round Hole
Latest Developments
MJF settled into being a member of the Hurt Syndicate and called out Mistico for a match at Grand Slam Mexico.
Analysis
The Hurt Syndicate came to the ring for its first promo with MJF as a member. Right of the bat, MJF and Bobby Lashley heeled on the crowd in Lashley’s hometown no less. From there MVP said that no team in AEW could beat the Hurt Syndicate. He then passed the mic to MJF. Max talked about his goal of winning back the world title and said he was going to have wrestle some more even if he didn’t really want to. He then basically called out Mistico for a match at Grand Slam Mexico. Ahead of their match in the next segment, Kevin Knight, Speedball Mike Bailey, and Komander came out. MVP clowned them but after the babyfaces verbally fired back he set up a trios match for tonight’s show.
This was all over the place. MJF as an official member of the Hurt Syndicate is just an awkward fit. The Hurt Syndicate aren’t heels. They’re treated as popular badasses. Because of that MVP is having to overcompensate and go for the cheapest heat to try and get the crowd to boo. There’s never a clearer sign that someone shouldn’t be heel then when they have to go for the cheap heat of heeling on the crowd. The one positive is that MJF isn’t having to act like a goof to stay in the Syndicate’s good graces. He gets to remain the same heel he’s always been. Him calling out Mistico was unexpected but it’s always great when MJF gets in the ring and reminds the world that he is a damn good pro wrestler.
The question though is how long this goes on for. The expectation remains that there’s another shoe to drop when it comes to MJF and Hurt Syndicate and that colors and distracts from everything else going on. This is why I said they should’ve made them adversarial weeks ago. Instead we’ve got this bizarre staus quo.
Grade: C
Random Questions
• Why debut Thekla against Lady Frost? In my mind it would’ve made more sense to have her squash a true enhancement talent instead of someone who needed some off. She looked good anyway.
• Where was Jamie Hayter? Queen Aminata made the save but it obviously Jamie should have a bone to pick with the Toxic Spider.
• What the hell is going on with Max Caster? This best wrestler alive schtick has worn thin and doesn’t seem to actually be going anywhere.
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