SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Welcome everyone!
Another week of AEW is in the books and I have to say, as a whole, AEW has gotten so much better at the post PPV Dynamite’s. Sometimes it would feel like the PPV was mentioned and then it was time to move on. Last week felt different.
Let’s look back and see what I thought.
RISING STAR OF THE WEEK
“THE JET” KEVIN KNIGHT
What a pleasant surprise Kevin Knight was on the mic as he gave his explanation for his heel turn. I think that everything went about as well as it could have. Before we get to where I think this could go, let’s do a little history lesson of The Jet.
Knight has only been in this sport for seven years, debuting in May of 2019. He worked for a year on the American independent wrestling scene before catching his first break. In July of 2020 Knight signed as a “young lion” with New Japan’s LA Dojo. Not too bad for a 23 year old who had been in the business for a very short time.
Knight then spent the next few years learning under the New Japan banner. While his win/loss record was not great, I am sure the experience was exactly what he needed. During his time there he did form a tag team with Kushida and together they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles twice.
A fun note that ties into AEW: Back in 2023, Knight competed in a tournament for a shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title and made it to the finals before losing. Who did he lose to? “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
While still with New Japan, Knight also began to show up in AEW. Starting out on AEW Dark and Ring of Honor. Knight then officially became All Elite on March 29, 2025, meaning he has been with the company 14 months at this point.
From then we all know his story, right? Let me remind you, just a week after officially becoming “All Elite,” Knight replaced Jay White in the 2025 Owen Hart Tournament. Knight then lost in the first round to Will Ospreay. Welcome to AEW, kid. Fortunately for Knight, things turned around after that.
Knight then formed a tag team with “Speedball” called “JetSpeed.” Terrible name, but the team clicked with the crowds. They quickly became a very popular underdog type team and even earned an AEW Tag Title shot just three months later at All Out 2025.
Knight and Speedball really got over with the crowd as a team and as single’s competitors. This led to Knight getting more singles matches. He has a nice showing in the 2025 Continental Classic and then started. 2026 splitting between singles and trios matches. Knight formed two short-lived trios teams. Both teams had Speedball, but the third member was different. The first was “Hangman” Adam Page and the second was the legendary Mistico. Knight got his first taste of AEW gold during this time and the change started to happen.
Another thing that happened when the calendar turned to 2026 was the seeds of this heel turn being planted and watered. Swerve Strickland had a brief but memorable interaction with Knight telling him to basically become like him, a killer. The two men had a great Dynamite main event match, which Knight lost.
After this is when you started to see Knight change. While still Trios Tag Team Champs with Bailey and Hangman, Knight talked down to Hangman a couple of times during promos. This is also when he started to slip talking in the third person in. He did play nice for a couple of more months.
His loss to MJF in an AEW World Title match in March was followed up by losing the Trios Titles, winning them back with a different third partner, and losing them again. All of this was in the span of a month – and again, if you go back, the heel seeds planted started to bloom.
At Dynasty, Knight got a shot at the vacated TNT Title and won a ten-man gauntlet match. After the title win, Knight really started to act like a heel, calling himself the Jet and talking about how “fly” he is. Knight really started to like himself. Knight defended the title against a some big names, including MJF which led to Knight’s second shot at the AEW World Title where he lost to Darby Allin. All of this lead to his turn on Darby Allin at Double or Nothing.
I was very curious how the crowd would react to Knight’s turn at the following Dynamite and we quickly found out it worked. Knight came out to nearly all boos from the Dynamite crowd, a good sign with notoriously hostile Philly crowd. Knight then spoke confidently on the mic and explained his actions. His year-long tag partner, Speedball, came out to try to talk some sense into him. Knight listened but did not hear what Speedball was saying and cemented the turn after attacking Speedball. Not a bad story for a turn at all.
Now going forward Knight just needs to continue to improve on the mic and AEW could be on to something. Knight seems to be part of the next group that will be in the main event scene over the next year or that’s the hope. I would put him right below Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher if there was a depth chart. So the future is bright for the Jet, maybe that’s why he needed new sunglasses?
His first match, and possible feud, is against Speedball this week on Dynamite. I am curious how this match ends and if their feud continues or if the man he screwed over, Darby Allin, is back for revenge. Either way, I give this heel turn a thumbs up and am excited to see where it goes.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: CLICK HERE (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
FADING STAR OF THE WEEK
THE GUNNS
I really wish I was not writing about the Gunns in this part of my column. I think they should be one of the top team in AEW, but instead they are not.
After Colten Gunn’s return from injury, in the beginning of May, the Gunns have been in two matches. The first was a ten-man tag and they just happened to be on the right side of that one.
Last week was their first straight up tag match since Colten’s return and they unfortunately were matched up against The Dogs. The Dogs just happen to be the next team in line for an AEW Tag Team Title shot, meaning the Gunns lost their first two man tag match since the return. Frustrating.
In fact, going back a little bit, the Gunns have not won a straight tag team match in over two years. You read that right, two years! Their last win was April 20 2024 where they defeated The Acclaimed. The did a bunch of trios stuff during that time, but this was a team who AEW built from the ground up and should be treated a little better.
Going forward they should be back in the hunt for the AEW Tag Team Titles and get away from the “Bang Bang Gang” crap, partially because I think that’s group brings them all down, not builds them up. The Gunns should be in the tag scene and the Jay White and Juice Robinson can do their own thing, away from the Gunns.
If you are building out the tag division, there is no way the top five can not look like this. Adam Copeland & Christian Cage, FTR, The Bucks, The Hurt Syndicate (if they are okay with losing), and The Gunns. Then you have all the other tag teams around and the tag division looks really good. I am really just advocating for the Gunns to get back to 2023 form, when they won the tag titles.
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