AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong shine in Blood & Guts, AEW production sloppiness, Thekla stands out, Athena still deserves better

Welcome everyone!

After a week off, we are back! What a wild a crazy show on Wednesday with AEW Dynamite “Blood & Guts.” So let’s look back at who I feel is rising and falling on AEW television.

Rising Star of the Week

Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong

I know, I don’t like having a tie either. So let me explain. While Kyle and Roddy aren’t going to become a main event players over the next year, both have had a few really good weeks.

Both have wins against Jon Moxley during that time. Kyle with a DQ win and then Roddy winning to give his team the Blood and Guts advantage. Then Kyle being the reason his side won Blood & Guts getting Mox to tap out.

I am not sure where they want to go from here with the two of them, but I have an idea, shocking I know. This would be a great time to put Kyle and Roddy together as a somewhat serious tag team. After putting in the TV time leading up to Blood & Guts, you have to do something with the two of them. Please don’t just let them fall back down to a random segment on Collision each week.

Make this win mean something.

1st Runner Up: Thekla

Of all the craziness that happened during the women’s Blood & Guts – from Mercedes Mone bringing all her belts in the ring, Blue Skye bleeding buckets of blood, Mirina Shafir being a dominant figure, and a lot more – Thekla just looked like a star on my television.

Thekla is one of those wrestlers where I can’t pinpoint what “it” is but she definitely has “it.” From her entrance, to the immediate belt whipping of all the babyfaces, to her escape from the ring – the list could go on – she just looks the part more than a lot of wrestlers. Now it’s time to build on that.

The Triangle of Madness is still a newer group, but they have been protected. The Sisters of Sin should make it to the AEW Women’s Tag Title Tournament finals and really have a chance of winning.

In my opinion, Thekla is proof why they his TBS Title reign by Mercedes Mone is hurting the overall Women’s Division. Thekla should be embroiled in a feud with a babyface TBS Champion and win that belt. Going forward, I don’t know how you get there, but that needs to be on the 2026 Bingo card.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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Fading Star of the Week

Athena

Part of me just wants to put Athena at the top of this list until she is a weekly fixture on AEW Dynamite and Collision. Then again, it’s also possible she doesn’t want to be a fixture on AEW proper television. Perhaps she is content being the staple of ROH. I just don’t know why.

That’s not even talking about how she is portrayed on AEW vs. ROH. She is the top female, maybe even the top wrestler overall, on ROH and you know it when she steps on an ROH screen, but on AEW television we haven’t been shown why she is that.

So when she shows up to be apart of this AEW Women’s Tag Tournament I was excited. Add to that, she was paired with Mercedes Mone and I got even more excited. I thought these are our first tag champs. With their pedigree and history it would give those titles immediate credibility. Then they got bounced in the first round.

So where do you go from here with Athena? I’m honestly at a loss. I hate to say that she’s wasting her prime years but it’s what it kind of feels like. Can you imagine them putting someone like Kyle Fletcher exclusively on ROH? That’s what this feels like. You have top 5 female in ring performer who can talk on the mic in your, basically, developmental brand. It just makes no sense to me.

So in honor of my dude Rich Fann, let’s start this here #FreeAthena

Honorable Mention: AEW’s production staff

I will start by saying they have gotten better in recent months. That said, six years in and they still miss basic things you should not miss as a professional company. The amount of times they cut away right as a big move is happening can be infuriating.

Then the staff is made to look stupid and this week was no better. What am I talking about? Well let me explain.

Seriously, who the lowered that cage for Samoa Joe? Who and why? If it was just “random production guy,” why on Earth was it lowered? Last, why was it lowered so quickly?! Joe didn’t even have a mic, he just said “lower the cage” and the camera mic picked it up. This was just sloppy and could have easily been cleaned up. How you ask? Well you put a guy in the time keeper’s area who is the one lowering and raising the cage. Even if it’s a fake button, you just put someone in that roll. Then you have Joe attack this guy and lower the cage himself, or bully them into lowering the cage. Boom, that’s it, quick fix and the production staff doesn’t look incompetent. Or you have Joe get on the mic and say something t like “Hey (production guys name) remember what I told you earlier, lower the cage now or else,” Both of those ideas took 1.3 seconds to come up with.

Just do better AEW.