SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
I’m sitting here on the train writing this as I start a new job today. It’s a “Big Boy” job, as my uncle called it. I’m the new head of legal for a cancer research non-profit and, if I’m being honest, I’m nervous. I turned 40 this year and now I’m doing that classic thing of looking back on my life and looking back at past mistakes I’ve made, decisions I should have made, but ultimately, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Wait. I would change one thing. I would have bought Bitcoin in 2012 when the pot head kid I used to work with at the Deli told me to buy as much as I can. I wonder where that kid is now…
Anyway, I write all this because I’m not the biggest fan of change. I’m a creature of habit and it takes me a while to get used to changes in my life. One of the biggest changes that I am going through now is watching all these wrestlers I grew up with retiring or getting older. John Cena, A.J. Styles, Brock Lesnar. etc. I’m also watching guys from that generation who are still wrestling like Adam Copeland who are looking older and older every show I see them on.
I recently watched the Shawn Michales documentary on Peacock and Shawn looks like a totally different guy. When I had my first son, I had someone tell me, “The days are long, but the years are fast.” This is some of the truest advice I’ve ever received. I feel like I was just watching these guys in their prime, and it’s just a sign of the times to me that I am getting older.
I may be an idiot and I may regret typing this, but when Brock retired at WrestleMania, I was obviously shocked, but then I found myself getting weirdly emotional over the whole thing. I guess my thought was, “Ohh no another one.” Don’t get me wrong; I love this new batch of stars that WWE and AEW are creating, but everyone has their generations and their “guys.”
My two generations are really the Attitude Era and the Ruthless Aggression Era. All these guys are retired or are on the 17th hole in their careers. It’s just a weird thing to think that I lived through both those eras and now they are just documentary fodder for WWE. I can’t picture a time that I won’t be watching pro wrestling or won’t be a pro wrestling fan. It’s just in my blood and one of the many things in my life that make me happy.
I’ll most likely be going through these same emotions again as I watch the stars of today get older and retire, but for me this is the first time watching wrestling that I’ve thought to myself, “Damn I’m getting old.”
Promo of the Week
Jon Moxley – Dynamite 4/29/26
Even if this promo wasn’t that great, I still would have put this here solely for the fact that Jon Moxley started poking Pac’s belly the way I poke my five-year-olds belly and I was hysterically laughing on the couch. This Ospreay and Moxley team up definitely has some holes in it, but they are not so big that I can’t enjoy this.
I thought AEW did their fans an enormous disservice by not showing the segment that aired on Collision the previous week that showed why Ospreay has decided to team up with Moxley and mentor him. If you haven’t watched it yet, I implore you to do so because it will make much more sense of why Ospreay walked through that door on Dynamite to be mentored by Moxley.
I love Moxley asking Ospreay if he’s been cleared yet, and Ospreay responding “No” but that he’s loyal to his guys and that he has a tag match in NJPW that he isn’t going to miss. I loved Moxley’s reaction of “You are too good to be true” when Ospreay told him he’s “loyal.” This was when Moxley turned to Pac and started poking him in the belly inexplicably.
I was howling on my couch. I also loved Moxley telling Ospreay that “We don’t need excess baggage” so clear your mind and drop all the bullshit.
The end of this promo to me shows you where this is heading with Moxley looking at Ospreay and telling him “I expect loyalty till the end.”
Moxley is going to mold Ospreay into the best version of himself and then there is going to come a point where Ospreay is going to have to choose between Moxley or someone one else. Whether that is United Empire, the fans, Alex Windsor, or something else, there is a decision coming for Ospreay. This is going to be a fun four months leading up to All In in London, where we all think Ospreay is winning the title. Tony Khan does switch things up a bit when we all think he is going one way, though. This is not one of those times I think he should do it, though.
I do wonder what a babyface Ospreay title reign looks like, though. I hope they learn from the mistakes of the Hangman runs.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Match Highlight of the Week
Darby Allin (c) vs. Brody King for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship – Dynamite 4/29/26
I was firmly in the camp of not wanting that title to come off of MJF. I wrote about it last week and talked about it with Wade Keller on the Wade Keller Post-Show after Dynamite. Two weeks in though, and I am pleasantly surprised with what they have done with Darby and his reign so far: Two very entertaining matches, and the focus is still on the title.
There are multiple guys circling the title and that was one of my favorite things about MJFs title run. There should always be multiple sharks circling the waters of the World Champion. I’m not a fan of a every week title defense because after so many of those it’s going to become watered down, but if you were going to do it with one guy, then Darby would be that guy. It makes sense for his character and if we are following the storyline correctly, then this every week title defense will be his downfall at Double or Nothing.
He is fighting Kevin Knight this week, and my prediction is that MJF interferes in the match to get revenge against Knight for his loss against him last week, but the MJF character will want to face a broken-down Darby Allin for the title rather than Kevin Knight who has already beat him. I’m also predicting that Darby makes MJF go the route of Cody Rhodes and “Hangman” Adam Page and make him out up never fighting for the World Title again if he loses to Darby at Double or Nothing.
I thought this match was great and, even though it’s another big match where Brody King is taking another loss, I thought it was a great showing for him. When Darby dove through the ropes and hit Brody’s chest, it was like a bug hitting a windshield. It reminded me of the old “Batman” show with Adam West where they would put the graphics up on screen like “Pow” or “Bam” when Batman was fighting The Joker or The Penguin. I just kept picturing Darby hitting Brody’s chest and “Splat” popping up on the screen.
The ring apron bumps that Darby takes when his neck smashes off the ring apron are a stunning visual every time. It makes me cringe. I also appreciated that when they showed MJF watching the match in the back he was watching the TV like a normal person and wasn’t off to the side at an angle like Vince McMahon would make his wrestlers do.
Speaking of putting “Splat” on the screen, those cannonball dives into the corner of the ring on Darby were insane. Brody’s entire body would cover Darby. I was wondering how they were going to make it look credible that Darby could beat Brody and I think they did a good job of pulling it off. A powerbomb onto concrete and two Coffin Drops will do that. I really enjoyed this match, but still think having Brody lose all these big-time matches is going to catch up to him character wise and may diminish him in the fans eyes.
Thoughts and Observations:
– I really like this new camera angle they are doing on Kevin Knight’s entrance. He comes out almost bathed in his lights and I like how the camera angles they use are totally unique to him.
– I got a good laugh at Taz telling Tony Schiavove what a “Dub” meant.
– I wish Brody King had kissed MJF on the cheek during his first entrance on the show like Ciampa did last week. I think it would have sent MJF into a frenzy.
– MJF telling Darby after he lost “This match doesn’t even count, I was barely trying” was so so good.
– The post-match angle with Copeland and Christian on Dynamite really fell flat this week.
– I’m happy to see Swerve is coming back but the whole Wild West skit they did was a little too much. It was too movie-ish for me.
– And just like that I’m interested in The Opps again. A three-minute promo by Samoa Joe did what Hook couldn’t do in the last two months.
– I don’t need New Day in AEW. They don’t need more ex-WWE guys. The New Day hasn’t been relevant in a long time.
PODCAST PLUG
Be sure to check out the Collision Café podcast I host with PWTorch’s Brian Zilem, available exclusively to PWTorch VIP members. Be sure to also check out Brian Zilem’s weekly AEW Collision Hits and Misses article.
To reach out to the podcast please email collisioncafevip@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from our listeners.
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