SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NEWS ITEMS
• Bryan Danielson made a return of sorts coming to the aid of Blue Panther during the ROH Global Wars taping after Grand Slam Mexico. This return has stirred up questions about when he might return to AEW proper.
• Jim Ross said on his podcast that his cancer surgery was a success and that he hopes to be at All In.
• Bodyslam.net reported that AEW’s women’s title belts have been created. It’s just a matter of when they’ll be introduced.
INTRO
Last week AEW, in collaboration with CMLL, presented Grand Slam Mexico. By any definition the show was a rousing success. The live crowd was on fire, the reviews were rave, and the ratings were the highest of the year. Coming away from the show, the word that kept ringing in my head was authentic.
Hangman presented himself as an authentically good guy cutting a promo entirely in Spanish thanking his hosts for having him and AEW and talking about the benefits of working together. Mistico was presented as authentic Mexico hero with his reception from the crowd and Tony Khan springing for his old theme song.
The show had an overall vibe of wanting to present an authentic lucha libre experience for the viewing audience.
That’s in direct contrast to WWE and their Worlds Collide event a couple weeks ago which was more about presenting their version of lucha while being sure to repeatedly mention how much WWE can do for AAA. Grand Slam Mexico was about respecting lucha and the Mexican fans. It was also a giant advertisement of sorts for Arena Mexico.
On Collision, there was a highlight package of the show which also discussed the significance of Arena Mexico and I couldn’t help but think a similar video would’ve been helpful two weeks ago to set the stage. Still, this was a very strong show to keep the momentum going.
Saturday saw more of a return to regular programming and building all in with a stellar promo from Toni Storm and a surprising return that Don Callis was none too pleased about. Let’s talk about it.
AEW Avengers: Hangman Saves Swerve… Sort of
Latest Developments
After Mox stole the win in a wild ten-man tag, Hangman made a beeline for the ring, indirectly saving Swerve Strickland from a beatdown and taking out the Bucks in the process.
Analysis
Grand Slam Mexico closed with a big ten-man tag pitting The Death Riders, Young Bucks, and Beast Mortos (making an appearance in Arena Mexico for the first time in over a decade) against the Opps, Will Ospreay, and Swerve Strickland. The match was a crazy as one would expect it to be.
In the end, Mox rolled up Swerve with a handful of tights for the win. Afterwards, the heels swarmed the faces, isolating Swerve in the ring and laying into him. Hangman, who during his show-opening promo mentioned that he was banned from ringside during the match, made a beeline for the ring, eyes fully trained on Mox. The two came to blows. Hangman set up for a Buckshot, but Mox ducked and Hangman hit Matthew Jackson instead, leaving Nicholas aghast.
This was an extremely clever way to take a small step towards Hangman and Swerve uniting. Hangman made the save for Swerve without actually acknowledging Swerve. It was all about getting to Mox. Even when the faces stood tall, Swerve was still down in the corner in the background. What will Swerve have to say about Hangman’s help? What’s the next step in this process as we get closer to All In?
Grade: B+
Return of the Golden Star
Latest Developments
As Don Callis officially welcomed Kazuchika Okada to the Family, Kota Ibushi made a surprise return, standing up for his friend and Golden Lovers teammate Kenny Omega.
Analysis
Mark Briscoe called Kazuchika Okada out for a match at Grand Slam Mexico to defend Kenny Omega’s honor. Despite his best effort, Briscoe fell to the Rainmaker. On Collision, Don Callis, flanked by Josh Alexander and Lance Archer, came down to the ring for an in-ring interview with Tony Schiavone.
Callis took over the segment officially introducing Okada as the newest member of the Don Callis Family, taking pleasure in rubbing the alliance in Omega’s face. He told Omega that had “ruined his relationship with the Bucks” as well as his relationship with Callis and that he was all alone without a single friend. That brought out Mark Briscoe who said that not only was he Omega’s friend, so was this guy.
That led to the unexpected return of Kenny’s old tag team partner and longtime best friend Kota Ibushi who hasn’t been seen since the fall of 2023. While Briscoe tangled with Archer, the Golden Star wiped out Alexander with a series of strikes culminating in a brutal roundhouse kick in the head. That left Okada and Ibushi in the ring alone. They exchanged some overly-light forearms before Ibushi unleashed another barrage of strikes, ending with a kick across the Okada’s chest that sent him rolling out of the ring.
Bringing Kota Ibushi back unexpectedly on a Saturday night was certainly a choice. It sort of flies in the face of the argument that Collision that doesn’t matter. The crowd certainly reacted well to Ibushi. That’s a good sign.
The biggest question is what does Ibushi look like in ring? The last few times he’s been in AEW, he’s looked like a shell of himself, the history of injuries having caught up with him. Physically, he looks to be in very good shape. Though the forearms were light, the rest of his strikes and kicks looked pretty good. The big test will be tonight when he goes one-on-one with Trent Baretta.
Up until now, he’s been mostly hidden in tag team matches. A singles match with Baretta is a big step. Hopefully he looks good and he can have one last good run. Bigger picture, Omega having his Golden Lovers teammate by his side for the match against Okada evens the odds and hopefully minimizes the impact of the Callis family.
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)
Not Some Other Mother….
Latest Developments
Mercedes Moné collected her sixth championship before being attacked by Toni Storm. A few days later, Storm cut a wild promo that reinvigorated this feud.
Analysis
At Grand Slam Mexico, Mercedes Moné defeated Zeuxis to become the CMLL World Women’s Champion. The match was fine, if a little underwhelming. The ending felt a little abrupt. Zeuxis hasn’t been super impressive in either of her appearances on AEW TV. In any event, Mercedes collected her sixth title which was the point.
I know there’s a school of thought that Mercedes winning these different belts doesn’t mean anything. I disagree. If they’re going to do a belt collector gimmick, they may as well go all the way. The benefit of working with other international promotions is that those titles are available. Mercedes was much more in her element in the ring than nibbling on a steak at ringside, and winning yet another title reaffirms the threat she poses to Toni.
After the match a brief film noir style vignette with Toni acting the part of a old school private eye played on the big screen. While Mercedes was watching that, the real Toni Storm, dressed in Carmen Sandiego cosplay, snuck in behind her and German suplexed sending all her title belts flying. The two brawled a bit until security separated them.
Things really kicked into gear on Collision. Toni came out to center stage, again in the Carmen Sandiego cosplay, picked up a mic, and cut a promo only Toni Storm could get away with. She said that since their face-to-face, Mercedes has eaten food, played on her telephone, tried to kiss her, and now won another title. She wondered aloud if Mercedes saw her as merely another trophy to aid to her collection and then warned her that she’s not some other motherf—–. she’s “Timeless” Toni Storm and if Mercedes made one false move, she’d eat her alive.
She demanded Mercedes’ best because that’s what she is. Toni described herself as a “manic, neurotic, erotic, sexually questionable, consistently sweaty, bottom-heavy, transatlantic whore” and said that when the Women’s Title was in her bosom, she made magic happen. She said unless Mercedes could pull a rabbit out of her snatch, she couldn’t say the same. She closed by saying that while she only had to beat Mercedes, Mercedes would have to kill her.
Toni Storm is wild on a mic. She was bleeped twice in this promo, but the live crowd ate this up. Toni reminding Mercedes to take her seriously and not just as another notch on her belt and telling what she was going to have to do to win the title from her was just what this program needed. Much like Mercedes was at her best in the ring, Toni was at her best on the mic shooting this feud with a dose of adrenaline.
It feels like this feud is in a much better place than it’s been the last couple weeks. There’s a fired up, determined champion and an arrogant yet consistently successful challenger. The ball is in Mercedes’ court now. For her sake, she better respond physically not verbally.
Grade: B+
Mexico’s Most Hated
Latest Developments
MJF and Mistico clashed resulting in a DQ after MJF low blowed Mistico. Post-match MJF stole Mistico’s mask.
Analysis
Easily the highlight of the show, this match got off to a raucous start. MJF was met with loud boos as he came decked in a star-spangled MVP jumpsuit with his giant American flag dropped from the ceiling. Mistico, on the other hand, came out to his old theme, “Me Muero” for the first time in over a decade. He was given a hero’s welcome as the crowd enthusiastically sang along to every word. The whole thing gave me legit goosebumps.
The match itself was pretty good. It was a old school face vs. heel match complete with Max complaining about Mistico pulling his hair. Mistico was eventually able to apply La Mistica, but the ref didn’t see MJF tap out thanks to a well-timed MVP distraction. After that, a desperate MJF took the cheap way out, kicking Mistico low resulting in an immediate DQ.
After the match, the Hurt Syndicate triple-teamed Mistico which left him prone to MJF making good on his threat to take his mask which MJF then put on. The Hurt Syndicate were finally chased away by Kevin Knight, “Speedball” Mike Bailey, and Mascara Dorada who brought Mistico a replacement mask.
The finish wasn’t great, but I suppose it was the compromise the two promotions worked out. For once, it also got the desired heat on the heel. The post-match mask theft just added even more heat, so much heat in fact, that MJF was later accosted by a fan at his hotel but unharmed. That sort of thing happened all the time back in the day, but not so much anymore so it speaks to how good of a job MJF did.
The big question coming out of this is will there be a rematch so that there can be a conclusive winner? Perhaps “mascara vs. cabello” or mask vs. hair at All In. MJF needs something to do at All In and a Texas crowd would probably be best crowd outside of Mexico to do this match.
Grade: A-
Random Questions
• Is Anthony Bowens finally getting tired of Billy Gunn? There was a vignette from the Summer Blockbuster episode of Collision in which Bowens expressed frustration with losing while under Gunn’s tutelage. Here’s hoping he makes a clean break soon.
• Who will Adam Copeland’s partner be? Presuming he returns to set up a match against FTR, Copeland’s going to need a different partner as Christian Cage is officially off the table seeing as he put himself and Nick Wayne into the tag division.
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