SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING
•Fightful reported this week that Ilja Dragunov is AEW bound. Look for him to probably join Will Ospreay’s AEW based United Empire.
INTRO
All Elite Wrestling had a tough task ahead of them last week. Not only did they have previously planned event to honor Rebel and bring awareness to horrible disease she’s battling, they had to deal with the sudden death of “The Butcher” Andy Williams. The outpouring of love and grief for Andy was extraordinary. He was well-respected by his peers in the locker room and in the music industry. AEW did a great job balancing the two things. Rebel got to have her moment in front of the crowd and see how much she is loved while she’s still with us. Andy Williams got his own separate tribute show on Collison complete with Raw is Owen-style video segments with wrestlers talking about what Andy meant to them and a Butcher Battle Royale for a $100,000. Daniel Garcia won and donated the money to MusiCares in Andy’s name. It’s a shame they’ve had to do so many of these in their short existence but they are impeccable at them nonetheless.
With all that emotion tonight returns to behind us, things return to business as usual as Will Ospreay leads members of the United Empire against Jon Moxley and the Death Riders.
Teacher vs. Student
Latest Developments
Will Ospreay is set to defend the AEW World Championship against Jon Moxley at All Out
Analysis
At the conclusion of last week’s PPV fallout edition of Dynamite, after Mox saved Ospreay from an attack by part-time Death Rider Gabe Kidd, a graphic appeared on the screen announcing the match as official for All Out. At the time it seemed sudden but the explanation came this week. Ospreay approached Mox in the back and told him that he’d requested the match between the two of them because he felt like he owed Mox. He credited the training he’d received as the reason he won the world title and pointed out that the only blemish on his record this year was a pinfall loss to Mox which he wanted to rectify. He also said there was no better way to start his reign than to cave in the skull of the “ace”. After Ospreay walked away Mox tossed a chair in frustration.
This was very well executed storytelling. Ospreay was confident and sure of himself as he gave a completely logical explanation for why he asked for his first title defense to be against his former sensei. It’s the Mox element of this that’s the most interesting. Prior to Ospreay interrupting he was being chastised by both Pac and Gabe Kidd for having trusted Ospreay in the first place and for having saved him the previous week. Stop me if you’ve heard this before but it feels like cracks are forming in the Death Riders. Perhaps his inability to defeat Ospreay will be the thing that finally leads to his expulsion from the group. It also lead to a merging of the Death Riders and The Dogs with Gabe Kidd at the helm. What would be even more interesting would be Ospreay offering Mox membership in this AEW-based United Empire he’s looking to form. Only time will tell.
Grade: B+
Spider Comes Calling
Latest Developments
Thekla confronted Mercedes Moné only for Willow Nightingale to re-enter the title picture herself.
Analysis
With her bawdy sense of humor, unique delivery, and penchant for cocktails, Thekla accidentally got herself over as a babyface with the crowd. Couple that with the fact that she lost the title in July but never got a rematch, it made perfect sense then for her to be the person to confront Mercedes. After all Mercedes repeatedly called Willow a “dumb bitch” in the buildup to their match so the groundwork was laid for the Toxic Spider to come calling and she did. She made it clear to Mercedes that she wants a rematch for the title. Last week Thekla even gave us some of her backstory, that she started in wrestling via her work as a guitarist in a punk rock band. That’s a deliberate move to further ingratiate her with the audience.
The one thing Thekla and Mercedes have agreed on over the last two weeks is their mutual dislike for Willow. This week the shots taken at Willow brought the former champion out and sent Thekla scurrying from the ring. Thekla going after Willow might seem like a bad idea on the surface, I think it makes sense. AEW presents many of their wrestlers as fully fleshed humans who are complicated, neither 100% good or 100% bad.
That’s where Thekla is. She’s confident, a little cocky, willing to say almost anything and directing her acerbic tongue towards Mercedes now. Her going after Willow doesn’t hurt Willow (she’s bulletproof) and demonstrates that Thekla didn’t suddenly become friends with the woman who took her title which would be weird. I do think that she needs to separate herself from the Sisters of Sin as I don’t think they’re helping her anymore especially if she’s angling for the middle ground between a pure heel and a pure face.
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)
TLC or Is It CTL?
Latest Developments
Adam Copeland, on behalf of himself and Christian Cage, challenged FTR and The Young Bucks to a three-way ladder match at All Out.
Analysis
The Young Bucks questioned whether Copeland and Christian were happy with nefarious way they retained their tag titles. That actually brought out the returning FTR to mock The Bucks and demand a rematch. Once the champions made their way out to the ramp, Christian proudly owned how he cheated to retain the titles. Copeland on the other hand was not as proud. He said they were better than how they won, to which Christian hilariously mouthed “no we’re not”, and challenged both teams to a three way ladder match which he said would also feature tables and chairs.
The way AEW has avoided saying TLC or even tables, ladders, and chairs in that order is humorous. I have a hard time believing something like that could be trademarked but clearly they don’t want test it. Either way this is the match we’ve been expecting with these three teams. We saw a preview last week when the Bucks lost to Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight in a tables match thanks FTR and Stokely Hathaway. I expect these teams to go balls to the wall in Chicago. I just hope nobody gets hurt.
Grade: B-
RANDOM QUESTIONS
•Does anyone enjoy being a dickhead more than Kazuchika Okada? He seems to take a particular delight in being totally smarmy and insincere with Kyle Fletcher all while wearing that amazing Cheshire Cat grin. This may not be the Okada everyone was expecting in AEW but it definitely seems like he’s found his groove. At some point Fletcher will have enough and the crowd will pop huge.
•Is Steven Borden reminiscent of Erik Watts? Wade Keller made the comparison between the two second generation wrestlers last week and I think it’s unfair. Borden is green but he showed a lot of potential in his TV debut last week. He’s got a hell of vertical leap for sure. Comparing him to a guy whose name has become a pejorative when discussing second generation wrestlers isn’t right.
•Can Nick Wayne just beat Chris Jericho and be done? This rinse and repeat cycle of someone starting a feud with Jericho, beating him, and then continuing to feud until Jericho wins doesn’t help anyone. Nick Wayne needs to get the definitive win over and move on. That would be a boost to his career. Being stuck in the Jericho vortex would not.
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