SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING…
• Kazuchika Okada was revealed to be the final opponent for his mentor/longtime rival Hiroshi Tanahasi at WrestleKingdom. The match will be Okada’s first match in NJPW in just about two years.
• Nixon Newell and Miranda Alize walked out of Dynamite prior to the Collision taping. According to Fightful, their issue was that their scheduled match with TayJay was only slotted for 3 minutes. They wanted more time which was not possible so they left. While I understand their frustration, I’m certain there would’ve been other opportunities for longer matches in the future. Tony Khan seems to be a forgiving guy so hopefully there are no hard feelings and they’ll be brought back at some point.
INTRO…
Apologies for missing last week, but life was once again life-ing. We’re back this week, just in time too because tonight’s a big night. Two rings. One cage. Three words. Blood & Guts. Tonight AEW presents its annual version of WarGames. While I have mixed feelings about this year’s offerings, as an old WCW fan this is always one of my favorite nights of the year.
We’re also less than two weeks away from AEW’s next PPV offering. I wouldn’t expect too many developments though given that the Blood & Guts matches will take up the bulk of the show.
Could This Be the Beginning of the End?
Latest Developments
With a little help from the hand of Darby Allin, Roderick Strong won the advantage in Blood & Guts for the babyface team.
Analysis
The story of Jon Moxley being cautious and doubting himself coming out of the I Quit match is a logical story beat and has been pretty well told. It played into his match with Roddy Strong on Collision. The match was, quite frankly, better than it had any right to be. There was the expected Death Rider interference which was thwarted at most every turn. Eventually Roddy reversed an attempted Paradigm Shift on the steps into a backbreaker onto the steps. Roddy got back in the ring and as Mox attempted to beat the 10 count a hand reached out from under the ring and grabbed on to his ankle leading to a count out. For the first time that I can remember a babyface team won the advantage in a WarGames/Blood & Guts match. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays with the heels constantly working off their back foot.
About this Blood & Guts match though. I don’t find it to be necessary. I think two Blood & Guts matches is a lot for 2.5 hour show. I think it waters down the concept. Most importantly, I think it’s a slap in the face to the women who have been working for months to build their match. It’s tantamount to saying that they can’t carry this show, which I think is ludicrous.
All of that said, the actual build to the match has left me with mixed emotions. Yes, the overall terror and havoc the Death Riders have wrought over the last year justifies a big blow. The problem is, aside from Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin nobody on the babyface side has been consistently fighting the DR. For that reason, the face side feels cobbled together. We didn’t even get something as simple as Darby talking to OC about linking up, something to give teeth to the grouping.
I still expect this to be an insane match built largely around the story of Mox’s self-doubt. I sound like a broken record, but this has to be the big turning point for the Death Riders. There’s no other alternative, nowhere else to go. Mox should submit, maybe to KOR or perhaps to Darby’s Scorpion Deathlock and then the Death Riders should turn on him, obliterate him, and leave him broken and bloody in the cage. Anything less would be a disappointment.
Grade: C+
Blood & Guts, Titles, and Tournament Madness
Latest Developments
The heels won the advantage for Blood & Guts and the Babes of Wrath advanced in the Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament
Analysis
Megan Bayne defeated Mina Shirakawa. Jamie Hayter defeated Skye Blue. Thekla then defeated Harley Cameron to give the heels two wins to one and the advantage for Blood & Guts. The matches themselves were fine, with Thekla and Harley being the best of the bunch.
After nearly six months of fighting amongst these women, Blood & Guts feels earned. The only qualm I have with this match is the inclusion of Mercedes Moné. She’s clearly put in the match because she’s fighting Kris Statlander at Full Gear because, unlike Stat, she’s never been a part of the larger war within the Women’s division.
In that way, it muddies things and makes it feel like less than a blow off. That said, Mercedes doesn’t half-ass things in the ring, so I expect her to fit like a glove once the bell rings. I think the women will be extra-motivated given that this is their first opportunity in this match. I think it makes more sense for the heels to win given that individually they’re likely to lose some prominent matches soon.
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)
Was It Worth It?
Latest Developments
The “Hangman” Page-Samoa Joe feud rebounded to a basic heel-face feud after a too over-the-top Halloween segment.
Analysis
Two weeks ago on Fright Night Dynamite, Samoa Joe won an unnecessary four-way match to earn another shot at Hangman’s title. After the match Hangman, with a little help from Tony Schiavone, pulled an elaborate rouse in order to get the jump on Joe and the Opps.
Though the crowd popped for the reveal of Hangman dressed as Tony, the entire thing was poorly timed, dragged awkwardly, and didn’t fit with the tenor of the Hangman and Joe beef.
Thankfully, they rebounded nicely last week. Joe, with the Opps in tow, confronted Schiavone for his role in Hangman’s scheme, and threatened him before Hangman made the save. In the evening’s main event, Hangman teamed with Eddie Kingston and Hook to challenge the Opps for the AEW Trios Titles. Right near the end, Hobbs hit a World’s Strongest Slam on Hangman off the stage through a table. Joe then forced Hook to tap to the Coquina Clutch.
This feud had been largely boilerplate stuff. Joe’s motivation was pretty generic. There’s not a lot of depth or nuance involved. Yes, Hangman has a feud. I just wish it was as good some of his other ones.
Grade: B-
Delusions of Don
Latest Developments
While Don Callis attempted to convince himself and everyone else that things were fine between Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita, he worked on recruiting the downtrodden Young Bucks and backed Mark Briscoe into a corner.
Analysis
The Okada-Takeshita feud continued to simmer nicely. Okada refused to shake Takeshita’s hand during the Don Callis Family summit leading to Callis forcing them to team up on Collision. Despite their inability to get along, they were able to defeat Anthony Bowens & Max Caster. Last week Okada took a not-so-subtle dig at Takeshita who was in Japan fulfilling NJPW commitments.
These two are headed for a clash sooner rather than later. It’s only a matter of time before they come to blows. This is one of the biggest matches AEW can present right now, so it’s important that they get this right. So far, they have. Takeshita is being set up for a big moment when he finally splits from the DCF.
Elsewhere Callis continues his courting of the down-on-their-luck Bucks. He’s gifted them Escalades, a personalized ring entrance, and opportunity to win part of a million-dollar prize (the grand total is now up $4.3 million awarded in the last six months) in a trios match at Full Gear. Thus far, The Bucks have been less than enthusiastic about the idea of officially joining the Family, but have gone along with him thus far.
I think Callis’s efforts will be all for naught. It really feels like the groundwork is being laid for an Elite reunion. The Bucks have been hesitant to attack Kenny Omega. It feels like they’ve just about hit rock bottom which is when people begin to reassess their life choices. Perhaps the Bucks will see the error of their ways and realize that they need to rebuild their friendship with Kenny who certainly needs allies in his eternal battle with the DCF.
The other person Callis has targeted is Mark Briscoe. Briscoe has been after just one more TNT Title shot against Kyle Fletcher. Callis turned him down flat two weeks ago. Last week, Briscoe threw out the challenge one time, adding in a no DQ stipulation for good measure. Kyle accepted the challenge but Callis added a caveat. He said Briscoe needed to put something up too and said if Briscoe lost, he had to leave the Conglomeration and join the DCF.
I don’t see Fletcher losing the title so it looks like we’re going to have the classic story of a babyface trapped in a heel faction against his will. They attempted to run this with Mark Davis but this Mark will be much more effective in the role.
Grade: B+
RANDOM QUESTIONS…
•Another title, seriously? After decades of one company centering itself in the history of wrestling and rarely if ever acknowledging other promotions and their contributions or the legends who wrestled there, Tony Khan’s respect for wrestling history is commendable. He honors the history of promotions from Wrestling at the Chase to Jim Crockett Promotions to ECW. That doesn’t mean he needs to create another new championship.
AEW is already awash in titles. With the new women’s tag titles there are eight primary AEW belts. Thankfully the ROH titles have largely been kept on that brand in recent months.
Still, the existing men’s secondary titles are already too loosely defined. Adding another won’t help. It’s senseless. Quite frankly, it feels like a shortcut for adding superficial stakes to a match. Fewer titles and a little more effort in building rivalries would yield better results.
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