SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Welcome everyone!
My apologies for my missing column last week. Sometimes life gets in the way.
Dynamite was in Baltimore and I was glad my home state crowd was into most of the show. They got some good wrestling action and one of the longest sit-down segments in Dynamite history between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay. For me, that went about 5 minutes too long. Also, why are we having a debate over which wrestlers had it worse during the COVID pandemic? It sucked, for every single one of us.
Okay. Mini rant over. Let’s look back at who I thought had a good week and not so good week.
RISING STAR OF THE WEEK
JON MOXLEY
We are just 20 months from the first time we saw Mox break out the plastic bag and begin his reign of terror as AEW World Champion. We are 13 months since All In Texas when that reign of terror ended and look where Mox is.
Mox is, perhaps, the most organically over guy in the entire company. He didn’t change who he is, what he does, or how he does it. Instead, starting with the Continental Classic, the fans just decided they were done rooting against Mox.
Which, personally, I completely understand. Mox is the wrestler I most relate to on a personal level. His book cemented that.
Mox is now one of the most popular guys, no matter what he does, on the roster right now. Listen to his reaction from my home state of Maryland last week on Dynamite. Mox has organically made himself into a babyface or the fans just don’t want to boo Mox. Maybe a little bit of both.
Last week Mox battled Jay White in a great Dynamite match. Actually, let’s take out the caveat and say it was just a great match. Then in the end Mox showed, again, he is not a white meat everything is happy smiley babyface. Last week he shook Jack Perry’s hand but Jay White did not get that respect. Then White got jumped after the match and Mox just bailed.
One thing I am a little bummed about is that Mox won’t have a higher-end opponent for All In London. The writing is on the wall and it looks like Nigel McGuiness will be his opponent. I am sure they will have a fine match, but this feels more like a reward for Nigel or someone Mox just wanted to fight more than a big match for Mox.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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FADING STAR OF THE WEEK
THE HURT SYNDICATE
What is going on with these guys? Did you know they have not been on Dynamite, wrestling together, since October of 2025? They have only had five televised matches this year, all on Collision. Only one match was against a reputable team, The Demand, and The Hurt Syndicate lost that match.
Remember how over this trio was? It was crazy to see, but I think it was derailed by one person and a microphone. Remember how bad MVP was on the mic during that time? Then the MJF angle. I think I just answered what is going on with these guys.
This is just another pair of ex-WWE guys who came to AEW and got over. The issue is this isn’t TNA circa 2010 and you can’t just step over the guys who helped build the company. Had The Hurt Syndicate come in and it felt like they wanted to work with the teams in the company things might be different. Instead MVP killed most of their momentum by cutting down every person they went against.
The Hurt Syndicate will always be a “what could have been” team in AEW for me. On top of that, whatever went wrong seems to have also derailed Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley from having singles runs. Just a strange one all the way around.
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