SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
To help you add context, my “Hits” are ordered from best to worst. Each review includes a historical tidbit and a final grade. With that said, let’s move into the high points of this week’s episode, starting with the most significant moments.
HITS
BANDIDO vs. MÁSCARA DORADA
No costumes, no fake fog, no spooky distractions — just two luchadors having a match that would’ve opened an Arena México anniversary show. Technical chain wrestling to start, wild rope-running sequences in the middle, and Bandido pulling out a clean 21-Plex to retain.
MERCEDES MONÉ RETAINS
Olympia had size and power; Moné had ring IQ and spite. The match was paced around that contrast — Olympia tossed her Mone around early, but Moné adapted, slowed the match down, and finished with a crossface.
MEGAN BAYNE & MARINA SHAFIR
Bayne and Shafir wrestle like a tag team built to hurt you and then consider apologizing about it. Double suplexes, suffocating positioning, no wasted motion. Newell and Alize did their jobs as crash-test dummies.
WOMEN’S BLOOD & GUTS ANNOUNCED
Credit where it’s due: AEW finally decided women’s violence isn’t a novelty, but rather it’s a main-event narrative device. Announcing a women’s Blood & Guts match is a massive statement.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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MISSES
WOMEN’S BLOOD & GUTS ANNOUNCED
And here’s the other side of it: AEW announced the most violent women’s stipulation in company history with the energy of tweeting out a merch link.
- No pull-apart brawl.
- No Storm vs. Moné confrontation.
- No team captain promos setting the stakes.
Just a graphic. “This is happening.” Moving on.
It’s the kind of lazy rollout that makes a monumental match feel like a formality instead of a powder keg. The women earned the platform; AEW creative owes them the build.
THE ACCLAIMED — STUCK IN CHARACTER LIMBO
Whatever’s happening between Bowens and Caster isn’t storytelling, it’s static. There’s no clear heel turn, no real dissension arc, no emotional stakes. Just awkward miscommunication spots and passive-aggressive body language that go nowhere.
Right now, it feels like watching a team you used to care about slowly dissolve without purpose, heat, or direction. It isn’t dramatic. It’s just sad.
FINAL SCORE
- HITS: 4
- MISSES: 2
FINAL THOUGHTS
Bandido vs. Dorada was classic ROH-style wrestling. Mercedes Moné continues to operate like someone who actually knows her legacy is on the line.
AEW still struggles with urgency and follow-through. The women’s Blood & Guts announcement should’ve felt like a generational moment — instead, it landed like a press release. The Acclaimed are creatively stranded. Okada and Takeshita’s tension is the most compelling story in the company.
WRESTLING HISTORY: On this week in 2012, in a Guerrilla Warfare match in Reseda, California, Adam Cole beat Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens) to capture the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship.
PODCAST PLUG
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