AEW TOP PROMOS OF THE WEEK: Breaking down what works (and didn’t work) with Samoa Joe-Swerve Strickland-Hangman Page-MJF, Kingston, and Moxley

Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, “Hangman” Adam Page, and MJF – Dynamite 12/17/25

There is a lot to unpack here so I’m going to break it down by talking about each of the participants individually. When Hangman lost the title to Samoa Joe, I said that I strongly disagreed with the decision unless this was leading to an MJF return and a possible MJF-Swerve rivalry to take us into the spring. That is what I hope is happening here.

I’d have Swerve hit his finisher on Samoa Joe or Hangman, make it look like he’s about to win the title, and then at the last second have MJF slide in and steal the pin from him somehow. Put the title on MJF and now we have the ultimate heel champion going up against a roster full of strong baby aces… to hopefully the eventual return of Will Ospreay.

MJF: When MJF’s entrance music hit and the crowd started singing the “Da, Na, Na” part of the song it was like when John Travolta hit Uma Thurman with that adrenaline shot in “ Pulp Fiction.” This match and storyline desperately needed that shot and boy did MJF deliver.

I could have done without the WWE reference and the “Sloppy Joe” line reminds me of something The Rock would say (and then do a documentary about how he came up with it). It’s a lame line and MJF is too good for that. I loved that right off the top, MJF gave his reasoning for wanting to join the 4-way match. It goes against his character to do things that make it harder for him to win the title and his reasoning made sense.

I had just watched the P. Diddy documentary on Netflix, so the Diddy line he hit on Swerve was a tough one. He also cooked Swerve with the “Twerk for Top Dolla” line. It was so bad that I almost wished Swerve had gone after him. I thought it was a bad look for Swerve to just sit there and let MJF dump all over him. I also really loved when MJF purposely walked towards Hangman when he talked about being the best “Homegrown” star in AEW. His line about Samoa Joe, Hangman, and Swerve being “ very messy tenants” was also a great line.

There is just no one better at running down his opponent’s than MJF. He still needs to be reeled in sometimes and his promos like this one would hit a little harder if he had some editing, but man was it great to have him back.

I wish we had more than two weeks to build up to this match now that MJF is involved due to the great promos we could get out of this, but this match will be great and I’m hoping MJF gets the title because I think a little refresh of the title scene is just what AEW needs right now.

Samoa Joe: I’m convinced that Samoa Joe knows that people are heavily criticizing his promos during this Hangman feud because he keeps going back to yelling at the crowd and insulting the crowd every week. He is trolling us now. There is no other reason he’d keep doing the lame “this town is dumb” shtick. Also, someone must stop Hook from dressing like a teenager. It is the least intimidating look I’ve ever seen on a guy who could look intimidating if he just switched up his wardrobe.

Swerve Strickland: I didn’t think Swerve had a strong showing in this promo battle and I thought he spent too much time trying to get over new catchphrases “God body” and “ Hard-body Swerve.” I also didn’t understand his final line of “You can’t kill a god with bullets.” No one is shooting him, so it just made no sense.

I almost felt like he knew MJF was coming out so he was trying to hit as many one-liners as possible so he could compete with what MJF was about to do. I also didn’t think the “fake tattoo” line on Samoa Joe hit the way he thought it would. I mean, we are bringing up things from 18 years ago now. I’m a huge Swerve fan, but this just didn’t work for me this week.

“Hangman” Adam Page: This went a little long for me, but other than MJF, this was my second-favorite part of this segment. I thought Hangman brought a lot of passion to this promo, and he didn’t scream as much so that was also a plus. Hangman has this cadence that he talks with that, when he’s not screaming, can really draw you in. He’s very good at making you feel the emotions he is feeling as well. I liked him going back to Samoa Joe telling him he has become the very thing he was trying to beat against the Death Riders. I also like the emphasis he put on the line, “You turned to Hook.” The way he delivered it was like “Really, this guy?”

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)

=

Jon Moxley – Collision 12/14/25

If you had told me a couple months ago that Jon Moxley would be cutting underdog, babyface promos while he was still a member of The Death Riders, I would have thought you were crazy. Well, he is, and it’s awesome.

He’s the no. 1 babyface in the company right now, I think. I loved him talking about the Continental Classic and how its “simple” is “ measured in guts and effort” and how he pushes people and how that can turn people into “monsters.” This guy is talking about how he’s on an “uphill climb” and that he “left it all out there.”

I was waiting for him to pull out a Death Riders “ Never Give Up” towel at the end of this promo. It’s incredible character work he’s doing. He has become my favorite part of the Continental Classic. I also think other than Kyle Fletcher he’s having the best matches of the tournament. I hope people are really appreciating the work he’s putting in right now.

Eddie Kingston – Dynamite 12/14/25

This was a short but very effective promo in my eyes. Listen, it would really take a lot for the fans not to be behind Eddie Kingston and, after this 1 minute promo, you could hear the fans in the arena chanting “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!”

I loved Eddie just being like, “Yeah, I lost, but I’m never going to stop. I learned in my loss to Joe and now I feel bad for whoever is next.” Eddie Kingston is like the tide. He’s never going to stop coming. This was just such an effective promo to help his character. Samoa Joe’s whole premise to Kingston was that “you always lose the big one.” Then Eddie lost another “Big One.” I just thought this was a great way to move Eddie’s character past another big loss. He lost, he learned, and now he’s going to use that loss to adapt and not make the same mistakes again. Wrestling is at its best when it’s at its most simple like this.