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INTRO
It’s a PPV week in AEW, but this one feels a little bit different. It doesn’t quite have the usual buzz, but more on that later. AEW is also on the road to All In and as such Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay remain center stage. Let’s took at where things stand heading into Redemption this weekend.
The Cleaner Prevails
Latest Developments
Kenny Omega defeated MJF in unsurprisingly excellent in the scorching Florida sun to capture the AEW World title.
Analysis
The build to the match began at the top of the show two weeks ago with Kenny cutting a no-frills, serious promo addressing the stakes of the match. This really gave the match some nice gravitas.
Midway through the show, Renee Paquette interviewed Will Ospreay outside the venue and he expressed a preference of fighting Kenny Omega at All In. MJF quickly interrupted and expressed his displeasure at being looked past. He said he was a “star” and Ospreay and Kenny were just “good little wrestlers.” He vowed to break Ospreay’s neck All In. Ospreay responded that Max was “beggar” and that nobody would respect his talent until he ditched the cheap cheating tactics. MJF spat at him and the two had to be pulled apart. This was a nice way to sew some doubt into the outcome of a main event most people felt was inevitable.
The match itself was very very good. Kenny looked as good as he ever has. Some highlights of the bout included MJF taking a Mick Foley-style header through the announce table, MJF tombstone piledriving Kenny on an open chair, Kenny hitting a messy Croyt’s Wrath on MJF, and MJF reversing an attempted top rope One-Winged Angel into a top rope poison rana that Kenny appeared to take right on top of his head. When Kenny kicked out at one after MJF blasted him with the title belt, the crowd popped. From there Kenny hit three consecutive V-Triggers followed by a One-Winged Angel for the win.
That these two men put on a match of this quality in the brutal Florida heat is that much more impressive. As a result of Kenny’s victory, Ospreay gets his wish. It will be Will Ospreay challenging Kenny Omega for the AEW World Title in the main event of All In. I think this is a fine choice of match. I have no doubt they can tell a story of these two phenomenal athletes doing battle for the third time with Kenny eventually losing and passing the torch to Ospreay. I’m not saying that MJF vs. Ospreay wouldn’t have been great, but the reality is Ospreay beating MJF after MJF had already lost the title to Darby and won it back wouldn’t have meant as much. The open questions at this point were who MJF would face at Wembley and, more pressing, who Kenny would defend against at Redemption.
We now know the answer to the latter: Kevin Knight. It’s a huge spot for Knight, a massive vote of confidence in his abilities and upward trajectory. The only downside is that it doesn’t quite feel like a PPV main event. Knight is moving up, but he’s not there yet. His mic work is still rough, but he’s got the cocky part down. I have no doubt he’ll deliver in-ring even if this match doesn’t have the same pizzazz as the Omega-MJF match everyone assumed would headline when this PPV was first announced.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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To Triple Threat or Not to Triple Threat
Latest Developments
Willow Nightingale returned and won the women’s Casino Gauntlet match. On Collision, Willow and Thekla cut promos on each other in advance of their upcoming match at Redemption.
Analysis
The women’s Casino Gauntlet match was fine if uneventful until Willow Nightingale returned. Frankly, the best part of the match was Thekla’s unhinged commentary. She was saying the wildest things like talking about wanting to motorboat Mina Shirakawa. In any event, the moment Willow’s music hit it was clear who was winning this match. I called this outcome in this space last column. I just wish Willow had come out earlier or there were a couple entrants after her. The match ended very quickly once she hit the ring.
On Collision, Willow got a full in-ring promo segment all to herself. That was certainly an ambitious choice. Willow is not exactly a “hold court mid-ring with a mic” kind of gal. This promo was less syrupy and unintentionally disingenuous-sounding than usual, so that was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, it was still a little disjointed. Her cadence was also off because she insisted on doing this weird breathing thing every time she paused. I applaud her for trying, but being more concise next time would be for the best.
Thekla addressed both Willow and Mercedes Moné in her short promo, telling Willow that she’s never been close to the World Title because she pretends to be a baby while Thekla is a woman.
Thekla and Willow had a face-off moderated by Mick Foley. Having it on the stage was a little awkward. Thekla was typically unhinged and largely carried the segment. Willow was better even than her Collision segment, but her delivery remains a little shaky and she’s still doing the weird breathing thing. At least she’s improving, though.
The main point of this entire thing is that feels like we’re headed for a triple threat match. I’ve been on record saying that a heel vs. heel match at All In would be crazy. I also feel like it would be totally unfair to Thekla to take her out of the title picture before All In given the good work she’s been doing. That leaves the only real option as some kind of interference finish at Redemption which would give Willow a claim to a rematch and thus an avenue to set up the three-way.
Grade: C+
Return of the Cowboy
Latest Developments
“Hangman” Adam Page returned to AEW for the first time since Revolution and addressed his future.
Analysis
Hangman’s return was announced on social media 24 hours before it took place on Collision live from Roanoke, Va. a week ago. That’s not exactly how I expected that to take place. “Hangman” talked about his gardening hobby and then mentioned that he’d been dealing with cervical radiculopathy (a fancy way of saying a pinched nerve). He then addressed the elephant in the room – the fact that he can’t challenge for the AEW World Title anymore.
He said that even though it wasn’t written into the contract, he intended to be a man of his word and honor the stipulation. That certainly feels like the eventual way around this stipulation being set up, but hopefully that’s a ways down the road. In any event, he ran down the four other men’s singles titles he could challenge for, but didn’t specifically set his sights on one in particular.
The TNT Title and National Title both feel beneath him at this point. The Continental Title would mean rehashing him and Mox which I don’t think serves either guy. That leaves the International Title currently in the possession of Kyle Fletcher. Hangman vs. Fletcher feels like a good feud for All In, especially if Takeshita and Okada are going to complete their trilogy.
I am a little surprised that his return has only been mentioned but not shown on AEW TV since it happened. Even if he’s not cleared to compete, he came back and cut a promo. That deserves more than a few passing words.
Grade: B-
Random Questions
– Does Redemption feel like an In Your House event? Sure, the matches will be great. How could they not be with the talent involved? The thing is, with the exception of Chris Jericho vs. Tommaso Ciampa (more on that in a moment) and the Women’s Title match, everything on the card has been thrown together in the last two weeks including the main event. To me, this PPV doesn’t have a strong reason to exist now that Kenny’s already won the title. Again, I’m sure it’ll be good, but this would’ve felt bigger as a special episode of Dynamite.
– Can Ciampa just beat Jericho again? The whole Painmaker thing is ridiculous. Jericho putting on some face paint and a fedora doesn’t change who he fundamentally is: a legend who actively chips away at his legacy every time he steps into the ring. There are other ways for him to contribute to the business besides still wrestling. At this point, Jericho has little to offer as an onscreen presence. Ciampa needs to win decisively and move on to bigger and better things.
– Will any free agents debut at Redemption? The spate of post-WrestleMania releases from WWE are now free agents. While the former New Day are widely expected to end up in AEW, it’s a more a question about when. Could they arrive as soon as Sunday night? What about the Motor City Machine Guns or Kairi Sane? There are a number of potential arrivals to keep people guessing on who’s gonna show up when.
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