SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
INTRO
Greetings! Tonight is the final Dynamite before All In. The show will be live in Glasgow, Scotland where I expect the crowd to be very loud and into everything.
All In crossed 40,000 tickets sold last week. A good, strong final push tonight could get them to maybe 45-50k. AEW rarely misses on go-home shows and tonight should be no different. To close, let me quote the country music legend, American icon, and absolute national treasure Dolly Parton, who died yesterday: “If you see someone without a smile today, give ’em yours.”
The Turn That Wasn’t
Latest
Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay hashed out their history and what the All In main event means to each of them in a sit-down interview moderated by Renee Paquette before Omega ended the night by putting Ospreay through a table with a One-Winged Angel.
Analysis
The sit-down interview was engaging throughout. Both men sat down and hashed out their near decade long history with each other dating back to the DDT days.
Omega admitted to thinking Ospreay was punk kid when they first met but growing to respect him. Ospreay talked about hard he had it during his run atop New Japan because of the pandemic. He raged about how Kenny had come back to WrestleKingdom in 2023 and destroyed all of that by beating Ospreay.
When the topic turned to the rematch at Forbidden Door 2023, Omega asked Ospreay if he felt good about winning that match with the help of Don Callis’s screwdriver. Ospreay admitted that he didn’t, that it keeps him up at night, and that he doesn’t consider it a real victory.
Ospreay said he’s been chasing a win over Kenny Omega for ten years and that he needs it and that he needs to become the first British wrestler to win a world title on home soil. Omega reminded Ospreay that he always crumbles under pressure and that, while his mom would always be proud of him, his son might need a new hero.
Omega was great as the smug elder statesman refusing to give an inch while Ospreay was the younger, more emotional challenger wearing his heart on his sleeve as always. The dynamic was great, the history well used. That includes the stuff about the COVID-era which was more about Ospreay’s run on top of New Japan, not the pandemic.
If things had been left at this, it would’ve been much better and I think opinions on the interview would’ve been higher.
Instead, Ospreay came out to confront came out Omega after the main event. Omega immediately called out security. As the two guards attempted to lead Ospreay away, Omega let out a cartoon-villain maniacal laugh and called him a “little English bitch.”
Ospreay pushed past the guards and took down Omega, but as guards pulled him off and held his arms outstretched Omega nailed him with a V-Trigger followed by a One-Winged Angel through a previously set-up table at ringside. The look on Omega’s face afterwards was cartoonishly over-the-top.
This entire sequence from the laugh on felt like an unnecessary step too far. It’s like AEW wanted their cake in the form of the Omega-Ospreay match with its quality and depth of history and to eat it too in the sense that they want a heel-face dynamic to ensure Ospreay gets the biggest pop possible. Even after this, nobody’s really going to boo Kenny Omega.
To AEW’s credit, perhaps they realized that between Wednesday and Saturday because the Ian Riccaboni-narrated video package that aired on Collision softened the edges of the closing segment by saying Omega was simply refusing to give an inch and that the old Kenny had been reawakened. This cleaned up some of that mess and in a way got things closer to where they were at the end of the video package.
Hopefully tonight we don’t get Kenny trying to play heel. This feud doesn’t need much more juice. A simple send-off to Sunday will suffice. I fully expect an epic match, at least 30 minutes minimum, easily a Match of the Year contender, with Ospreay getting the clean win and being crowned AEW World Champion at last.
Grade: B-
Smile Anyway
Latest Developments
Willow Nightingale and Mercedes Moné had split-screen interview that devolved into a pull apart brawl.
Analysis
The interview itself was fine. To differentiate from the earlier Omega-Ospreay sit-down, the women were interviewed simultaneously but in separate rooms. Willow pointing out that she was still smiling angered Mercedes mightily. Mercedes reiterated her vow to take both Willow’s title and her smile.
Things got progressively heated to the point where Willow decided she wanted to go find Mercedes. Unfortunately, Mercedes was able to get the jump on her. The brawl spilled out to the ring where security had a heck of time separating them. Mercedes cussed Willow and flipped her off as she was finally dragged away.
The pull-apart is what sold this one. The crowd was loud and engaged for it. How viscerally these women want to rip each other apart was palpable. That more than anything is the crux of this feud. I have no doubt these two will deliver when the bell rings.
As for the outcome, I’m torn. Willow is a really over babyface champion and it feels a little too soon to take it off of her. That said, Mercedes has already failed to capture the title once on this very stage so it really feels like she can’t fail again.
Grade: B+
Treading Water
Latest Developments
The Young Bucks and Adam Copeland & Christian got into another friendly-fire incident during a post-match melee.
Analysis
After The Elite defeated members of the Don Callis Family, more Family members hit the ring and things broke down. Copeland & Christian came out to help… or at least Copeland did. Christian waited until Copeland was in trouble before jumping into the fracas. He grabbed Jake Doyle and held him in place for the Bucks or maybe he was going for the Killswitch. Either way, Doyle ducked and the Bucks hit a Superkick Party on Christian. That led to Copeland shoving one of the Jackson brothers in frustration.
Of the big four matches for All In, this one has been the least inspired. Since the first face-to-face, it’s relied largely on the cliché friendly fire trope. It’s a dream match on paper, but it desperately needs a strong closing chapter tonight to get the excitement level back up.
Grade: C
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)
Elevated Trios
Latest Developments
The Dogs, The Demand, and The Bang Bang Gang, as well as Swerve Strickland have all set their sights on the trios titles currently held by The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Analysis
Over the course of the last couple weeks The Demand, The Bang Bang Gang, and The Dogs have all expressed a desire to get their hands on the trios titles. Perhaps the most interesting person to join this fray is Swerve Strickland. Swerve came out to confront his forever frenemy Hangman two weeks ago. After Hangman challenged any trio to meet them at All In, Swerve was interviewed backstage and seemed very intrigued. This has to be the way Daybreak (fka The New Day) are introduced. I just hope they have a more serious vibe to them and stay away from the Booty-Os or pancakes.
Given the sheer number of people potentially involved in this match I feel like it’s going to be made into a ladder match. I’ve expressed my opinion on ladder matches and this one doesn’t fit the narrow parameters under which a ladder match makes sense within a story. Still there doesn’t feel like an alternative so it is what it is.
Grade: B+
The Best Triple Threat Ever?
Latest Developments
As Kazuchika Okada and Kyle Fletcher each made their expectations of the other known, Kazuchika Takeshita returned from the G1 to stake his claim on the title he lost a month ago.
Analysis
Don Callis set up this match with the premise being that the Family has two-thirds chance to walk out with the International Title. That didn’t exactly make Fletcher feel good, though.
Last week, Okada said that the most important thing is keeping the title in the Family, but that if he wins he expects Kyle to raise his arm in victory in the middle of the ring. Fletcher responded with an in-ring promo saying he expects basically the same from Okada then he started running down Takeshita. That brought out the Alpha, back from his month-long excursion in Japan for the G1. He and Fletcher brawled, with Takeshita getting the upper hand and laying Fletcher out with the PowerDrive knee and Raging Fire.
With the three men involved, this could easily be the best three-way match of all time, no hyperbole. Hopefully, Okada can find that extra gear. I know Takeshita and Fletcher can. I fully expect Takeshita to regain his title leading to more friction in the DCF.
Grade: B+
Random Questions
– Was that attack necessary? Kevin Knight called Darby Allin out but stopped him on the stage, demanding that he prove he was unarmed. Darby obliged and then, after standing there awkwardly for 10 seconds, was caught in a storm of exploding pyro. He was blinded and sent rolling down the ramp where Knight threw him in the ring, hung him in the tree of woe, wrapped a chair around his head, and hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick. Darby was stretchered out and eventually loaded into an ambulance. I have no problem getting some heat on Knight. I just think the pyro needed to go off at least 10 seconds earlier so Darby wasn’t standing there looking ridiculous. Ultimately, I think the Coast-to-Coast would’ve been sufficient enough heat. (Side note: Steven Borden accompanied Darby from stretcher to ambulance, at one point having to be held back from confronting Knight. I think it’s highly likely we see the son of Sting debut in a losing effort tonight in Scotland.)
– Can Nigel McGuinness get through Kyle O’Reilly? Nigel gutted his way through a match with Hechicero, finding a way to win and advance to tonight’s semi-final. Tonight he battles another submission specialist in KOR. Expect a match with lots of graps and technical exchanges (sorry, Adam Kidd) that Nigel finds a way to win. It was always going to be Nigel and Mox in the final. Unless Tony really wants to do a British clean sweep, I don’t expect Nigel to beat Mox though.
– What surprise debuts can we expect? I already mentioned Daybreak. I think it’s possible free agent Sheamus shows up in the Casino Gauntlet match. It was also reported that Ilja Dragunov’s WWE contract had expired. It’s not only possible, but likely that he shows up as well.
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