AEW FEUD TRACKER: Barber’s look at the latest feuds including Joe-Hangman-Swerve, The Elite vs. Don Callis Family, Babes of Wrath, MJF speculation

Housekeeping

•Claudio Castagnoli will defend his newly won CMLL World Title against Último Guerrero on the CMLL Dream Match Friday show. Also on the card, Speedball Mike Bailey challenges Mascara Dorada for the Welterweight Title and Místico defends the World Historic Middleweight Title against Soberano Jr. This show will be available on TrillerTV and will be worth the $10.

Intro

Tonight AEW puts on their Holiday Bash live from Manchester, England. In addition to the Continental Classic continuing there’s an 8-woman tag and trios match for a cool million dollars as well the return of the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal. So let’s gather together and unwrap the presents AEW has for us.

Triple Threat

Latest Developments

On Collision it was announced that both “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland will challenge Samoa Joe for the AEW Men’s World Title at Worlds End

Analysis

In the middle of and eventually in front of a raucous Atlanta crowd on Dynamite Hangman and Swerve teamed up to battle Hobbs and Shibata. The moment the two former rivals turned allies looked at each other in the center of the ring was electric. They finished off Shibata with Buckshot lariat into a House Call. Backstage after the match Hangman declared his intent to reclaim the title stolen from him at Full Gear.

Swerve meanwhile opened up Collision in Cardiff, Wales by fending off the challenge of Josh Alexander. After successfully defeating the Walking Weapon, Swerve got on the mic and declared himself a “top contender” for the Men’s World Title. The three way match was then announced with no fanfare in the middle of the TNT Title main event via a graphic at the bottom of the screen.

The stipulation doesn’t bother me. It was imminently foreseeable that this was where things were going. I think there’s enough difference in where the three men are in their AEW journeys from the last three-way match. My issue is that the match was announced in such uneventful manner. Sure, the contract signing will likely clean a of this up but I think it still would’ve been more effective if this forthcoming segment had happened prior to the match being officially announced.

Grade: B

Championship Desperation

Latest Developments

The Babes of Wrath became the inaugural AEW Women’s Tag Team champions and seemingly landed squarely in Mercedes Moné’s crosshairs.

Analysis

The match between the Babes of Wrath and the Timeless Love Bombs was really good. All four women were clearly motivated and did not take the rare opening match slot they were given for granted. Most observers assumed that the Timeless Love Bombs were going to win the titles because of Toni’s star power so it was a welcome surprise to see The Babes of Wrath pull off the win. Harley Cameron has worked extremely hard to improve her ring work this year but she’s not quite ready for singles run so a tag team title feels like a deserved compromise. Having Toni bless the new champions was also smart.

The Babes of Wrath were in the middle of a champagne toast alongside Toni and Mina when Mercedes interrupted the proceedings. She essentially laid out a challenge for an eight-woman tag which was quickly accepted. Given that she lost one of her titles eleven days ago it does seem that she is in desperation mode trying to win another title to make up for it. This could be good storytelling if Mercedes can pull it off. The question is whether Athena will be her partner again

Grade: B+

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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The Wayward Sons Ride Again

Latest Developments

The Elite will officially reunite to do battle with members of the Don Callis Family for the money the Bucks won with Josh Alexander at Full Gear

Analysis

Following Jack Perry’s loss to Okada, Callis attempted to bribe Perry to join the DCF with the $1 million. Perry turned the offer down and immediately started swinging despite being woefully outnumbered. Luchasaurus came to ringside and acted as a distraction while the Bucks came in from the other side with steel chairs. The Bucks and the Jurassic Express cleared the ring of the DCF allowing the Bucks to reclaim the duffel bags full of cash.

Callis was not to be outdone though. He challenged the Bucks to a trios match for the money. The Bucks initially asked Luchasaurus to be their partner, but he pointed them towards Kenny’s locker room. Kenny quickly agreed to team with the Bucks, saying if it was a chance to get his hands on the Family he’d have done it for free.

For the first time since 2023, The Elite will team up in trios match. Okada, Takeshita, and Hechicero will represent the Family. This should be a very good match. I expect that we finally get the return of “Carry On Wayward Son” now that The Elite are officially teaming together. That will be an electric moment in Manchester. I expect the Elite to win and hopefully put this feud to bed for awhile.

Grade: B+

Random Questions

-MJF’s returning tonight, right? The annual Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal takes place tonight. Though there’s been no specific mention of MJF he is the current holder of the ring so I would expect him to make his return to AEW since All Out in September. This year’s battle royal is going back to the original rules where the final two participants left will then do battle next week in NYC for the ring and a Men’s World title match. That means MJF will almost certainly be one of those two people. The problem is that with the C2 going on much of top talent is occupied so the participants in the battle royal are quite World Title level. The most likely finalist besides MJF is probably Brody King.

– Is it time to consider moving on from Kris Statlander? Kris Statlander vs Jamie Hayter for the Women’s World Title was made official after Stat and Hayter agreed to the match following their victory over the Sisters of Sin. I expect the match to be very hard hitting. AEW has done everything to legitimize Stat’s title run. She’s beaten Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné in back-to-back months. She’s not quite catching fire the way AEW had hoped. I’m never one to advocate abandoning ship so quickly, but Jamie Hayter does have a stronger personality and more of a connection with the fans.