AEW HITS & MISSES (1/28): Kenny Omega being featured as a top star, Tommaso Ciampa’s debut, Swerve vs. Andrade, MJF and Brody, Schiavone’s outfit

HITS

BIG STAR KENNY OMEGA – OPENING SEGMENT

Opening the show with Kenny Omega was a smart move especially with the way the crowd reacted to him. If you were tuning into AEW for the first time, you would know this guy is a star. The crowd chants and reaction combined with his charismatic facial expressions and move set was on the money. The match with Rocky Romero was shot very well with camera angles perfectly placed for all the big moves. In addition, this was not a match that was longer than it needed to be. This was a quick, solid win by a World Title contender.

Once again, I loved the top stars being showcased all vying for the World Championship. Hangman Page is as serious and motivated as ever. Swerve Strickland looks like a million bucks. Don Callis got major heat from the crowd. There were no jokes, nothing clever, just a bunch of top guys wanting the top prize. This was a great segment.

BRISCOE WINS / CIAMPA DEBUTS

First, I very much enjoyed the match between Mark Bricoe and El Clon. They worked well together and the chemistry was there. El Clon’s escape from the ‘Jay Driller’ was amazing and unique. After Romero’s near squash against Omega, it was important for a Don Callis Family member to put up a fight and El Clon was able to do that.

The debut of Tommaso Ciampa was really well done. I loved the entrance and music and he was treated like a big deal. I thought mentioning the history between the two was an important note that added to the moment. Ciampa seems like a perfect fit for AEW and I’m curious how they are going to use him. Despite my affection for Briscoe, I think it would be a huge statement to have Ciampa beat him on Collision to punctuate his arrival and also show fans that Collision is a show worth watching for big moments.

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MJF AND BRODY KING

Another solid in-ring promo from both MJF and Brody King to set up next week’s title eliminator match. Once again, it did not overstay its welcome and Max did not lean on cheap meta lines or attempts to entertain the crowd. When he did say something amusing, he immediately heeled on the crowd to get the boos going again. That is showing he is learning from past mistakes.

Brody continues to impress me with how calm and comfortable he looks sharing the ring with the World Champ. He comes across as a genuine guy who is easy for the fans to root for and that’s exactly what you want for this feud while we wait for the next group of challengers to emerge.

SWERVE VS. ANDRADE

Wow.

What a match this was.

I’ve been lukewarm when it comes to Andrade, however I’ve always thought he was a decent midcard guy who would put on some good matches despite having a ceiling. He really came across as a star in this match. The mannerisms were on point and his moveset was near perfect. I’m not sure I see him as a World Champion, but he can certainly pull off being at the top of the card at times and a solid upper-mid card wrestler with more performances like this.

Swerve deserves a lot of credit as well. He looks like a million bucks these days and is always sensational in the ring. He is able to take a cheap loss and still retain his fan support and level on the card. There always seems to be a storyline reason when he loses and I expect the same here.

The final segment of the show was also strong as you can see MJF surrounded by contenders and he is clearly starting to feel the heat. The entire show revolved around the World Championship and I can’t remember the last time AEW put this much attention on the title.

QUICK HITS

– Tony Schiavone’s outfit. I rely on my 19-year-old son to let me know what is considered “Dad Cool” so I can pull off my attire. I think Tony should have reached out to my boy for some advice! Still, it was fun to hear Taz poke fun at him!

– I like Swerve Strickland’s new music a lot, but I felt that it took too long to get going when he saves someone or comes down to the ring for a talking segment. They fixed that this week by ditching the intro music and getting right to the rap and I think that’s much more effective. I think the longer version is fine when he is introduced for a match.

– Despite the dumb Continental rules, Jon Moxley vs. Ace Austin was a good match and I’m intrigued by what looks like an upcoming feud with Konosuke Takeshita.

– I liked the storytelling between Kazuchika Okada and Kyle Fletcher in their backstage promo. Okada’s delivery was good and easily understood. It made sense and clearly shows that Fletcher is staying a member of the Callis Family while Takeshita is slowly separating himself from the rest of them.

– Taz line of the night in reaction to MJF’s arrival being like “turning on the water during a hot shower”:
“Buy a better water heater, you cheap bastard!”

– The women’s title match was really good. I thought Thekla showed what she can do in the ring and it was impressive. This was clearly her best match so far in AEW and I see a lot of promise moving forward with her. She was able to win the crowd over despite being the heel and had them chanting for her. I would say much of the crowd was disappointed she was unable to pull off the victory. This is something I hope Tony Khan saw as well.

MISSES

I refuse to try and “find something” I didn’t like so I can put a “Miss” in this column. I found nothing on this show I’d consider a miss. This was a fun two hours of television and I’m looking forward to all of these storylines progressing. They’ve done a great job setting up the next six weeks of programming. Bring it on!

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