SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HOUSEKEEPING
• MJF showed up via video at NJPW event over the weekend to declare war on the promotion and challenge G1 Climax winner Ryohei Oiwa to a match vowing to beat him with a headlock takeover. This will be the former two-time world champion’s first match in Japan.
INTRO
Last week AEW was put in the unenviable position of having to honor another fallen comrade for the second time in a month. This time it was Ben Satterley a/k/a The Bastard Pac who died tragically in his car less than 24 hours after All Out. Once again, they more than rose to the occasion, putting on an incredible episode of Dynamite that felt a real celebration of Pac’s life and gave his friends and fans an opportunity to grieve. The Jon Moxley recorded after All Out and aired Wednesday was the most extraordinary promo I’ve certainly ever seen, perhaps of all time, and doubled as eerily prophetic eulogy for Pac. AEW is unmatched at these tribute shows, but I sincerely hope we don’t see another one for a long long time. As far as takeaways go I do have three
- Given the circumstances and Bryan Danielson reconciling with Jon Moxley, The Death Riders are babyfaces for life at this point so there’s going to need to be a pivot from whatever the plan was. Perhaps a split with Gabe Kidd and a feud with the Dogs?
- Push Marina Shafir as a babyface. Make her Mercedes Moné’s challenger at Full Gear (the PPV named for Pac)
- Sign newly free agent Sheamus and bring him into the DR to be the fifth member. He fits the mold of that group perfectly.
Kubrick Would Never
Latest
Having gotten past Jon Moxley at All Out and Kazuchika Okada at Grand Slam France, Will Ospreay now faces a brand new challenge: Defending his AEW World Championship in a match of his own creation, the first-ever Clockwork Carnage.
Analysis
Will Ospreay overcame his sensei Jon Moxley in a hard fought bloody battle at All Out. Ospreay refused to give up eventually bringing down Mox with Hidden Blade straight to the face. Mox shook Ospreay’s hand giving him his endorsement. During the post-show media scrum, Ospreay challenged Okada to an AEW World Championship match. Given the tragic circumstances of the week, that wasn’t mentioned until this past weekend on Collision. To their credit AEW put together a great video package using New Japan footage to highlight the history between the two. Unsurprisingly, these two had another very good match that the Parisian audience enhanced with their enthusiasm. Okada was actually motivated and Ospreay was, well Ospreay.
As expected he retained his title. What awaits him at WrestleDream then is a match of his own creation: Clockwork Carnage. The rules of this one are as follows: two men start. Every three minutes another competitor enters until all eight men are in the ring. During the staggered entrances, wrestlers can be eliminated via pinfall or submission. Once all eight wrestlers have entered, a 15 minute timer kicks and the winner is the person who scores the most falls (pinfall or submission) wins.
It’s an interesting concept and I think justifiable as a World Title match given the short turnaround. I like the elimination aspect as keeps that first 18 minutes interesting with wrestlers fighting to make it to the Iron man stage. I also like that Ospreay ran one of these matches in his Pro Wrestling Eve promotion (as Tony Schiavone explained on Collision) to test out the concept and make sure it works. The question is who Ospreay’s seven opponents will be.
Grade: N/A
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Latest Developments
Mercedes Moné sneak attacked Thekla outside her locker room
Analysis
Thekla approached Mercedes Moné’s locker room. The door had a keypad entry, so Thekla was forced to talk to Mercedes through the door, or at least she thought Mercedes was in there. Nonetheless, she did her Thekla thing calling Mercedes “Big D Moné” and asking her if she was afraid to get toxic all while banging on the door. Mercedes snuck up from behind and clobbered her with the title, stepped over her, and punched in the code to open the locker room door.
This was fine. Honestly, I think these two in a promo battle might be more beneficial, but Thekla can show off more of that irreverent personality that’s gotten her over with the crowd. The bigger issue at hand, though, is Thekla has next to no chance to win the title, so it’s more about what she does next. I don’t know what heel she can be positioned against, but I do think it’s important to separate her from the Sisters of Sin because those two aren’t babyfaces at all and it could stymy Thekla’s momentum.
Grade: B
Best Frenemies Forever
Latest Developments
Built largely around the long-standing feud between “Hangman” Adam Page and Swerve Strickland, Swerve and The New Level will defend the AEW Trios Titles against Hangman & Brody King & Bandido in two-out-of-three falls match
Analysis
The rich and storied history between the two has been the backbone of this trios feud and that didn’t change in Paris. Kofi unsuccessfully challenged Bandido for the ROH Title on Dynamite. The match was pretty good, but the focus was more on Hangman and Swerve staring daggers at each other and having to be held apart on the floor. Later in the night, Swerve and The New Level laid out the challenge for the two-out-of-three fall match. These two teams arguably had the match of the night at All Out. I expect more of the same at WrestleDream.
Grade: B
Random Questions
– Can Nick Wayne please beat Chris Jericho? There is no benefit to dragging this feud past Saturday night. Nick just needs to beat the washed legend and continue moving up the card.
