{"id":178137,"date":"2024-05-08T13:14:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=178137"},"modified":"2024-05-08T13:14:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T18:14:58","slug":"aew-feud-tracker-assessing-and-grading-elite-hostile-takeover-swerve-vs-strickland-storm-vs-deeb-copeland-vs-house-of-black-cassidy-vs-trent-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/05\/08\/aew-feud-tracker-assessing-and-grading-elite-hostile-takeover-swerve-vs-strickland-storm-vs-deeb-copeland-vs-house-of-black-cassidy-vs-trent-more\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW FEUD TRACKER: Assessing and grading Elite Hostile Takeover, Swerve vs. Strickland, Storm vs. Deeb, Copeland vs. House of Black, Cassidy vs. Trent, more"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2777120184\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Four pieces of housekeeping this week..<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Jon Moxley retained his IWGP Heavyweight Championship, defeating Ren Narita at Dontaku last Friday night.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Ethan Page has left AEW. He started the year in ROH but in recent months had disappeared from ROH TV. Behinds the scenes he was reportedly frustrated and this week he received his release. Best wishes to him in whatever he decides to do next.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Julia Hart successfully underwent shoulder surgery. There\u2019s currently no timetable for her return. Perhaps the most important piece of business, though: Wendi Richter finally responded to Toni Storm\u2019s repeated call-outs! During a virtual signing with Highspots, the Hall of Famer was asked about what the AEW Women\u2019s Champion has been saying about her for months to which she responded: \u201cI didn\u2019t know she\u2019d been calling me out\u2026Well you, know, money does talk. If they could cough up enough money, I\u2019d take her on. I\u2019d even give her the first swing. Bring it on, Toni. You think you can beat me, I\u2019d like to see it.&#8221; I have no interest in seeing the 63 year old legend who hasn\u2019t wrestled since 2005 have an actual match, but Tony Khan should absolutely cough up enough money to make a cameo happen to pay off this story. It\u2019s certainly the most I\u2019ve ever cared about Wendi Richter. Make it happen, Tony.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>There\u2019s a contingent of detractors who claim that AEW is devoid of stories, but coming into this week AEW is teeming with stories, stories of revenge, stories of betrayal, stories of championship aspirations. There\u2019s even an umbrella story, one that\u2019s pulling from the best parts of two of the most famous stories of all time, that has tentacles throughout the canvas. That umbrella story is likely to carry AEW through the summer which means it must continue to deliver or else it can take AEW down with it. In a lot of ways AEW is entering its hottest season as goes from Double or Nothing to its biggest event of the year All In and its twin, All Out. To quote &#8220;Apollo 13&#8221; flight director Gene Kranz, \u201cFailure is not an option.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Elite Hostile Takeover<\/h3>\n<p>AEW needed a strong follow-up to the attack on Tony Khan and the Hostile Takeover by the Elite and I\u2019d say they did that and then some. The show opened with Tony Khan in his neck brace addressing the audience from Jacksonville, Fla.<\/p>\n<p>While I prefer Tony never speak on television, I think this 20 seconds or so was necessary to set up how The Elite can logically run AEW. I said Tony only spoke for 20 seconds because he was interrupted by the Bucks who cut his feed. They proceeded to explain that they had ironclad contracts with founder\u2019s clauses and couldn\u2019t be fired and as the next highest ranking executives they would be running the show in Tony&#8217;s absence.<\/p>\n<p>From there, they played an Elite-centered opening video intro. They interacted with Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, and Renee Paquette throughout the night. Jack Perry cut a brief but good backstage promo.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-10869102\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The Elite&#8217;s big moment came at the end of the night with the return of Kenny Omega. Omega came out wearing a suit and a very serious demeanor. He explained in sometimes graphic detail the severity of his battle with diverticulitis and what the doctors told him his prognosis would be if he elected to have surgery. He recounted how doctors told him any blunt force trauma to his abdomen could kill him (a not-so-subtle setup for what was to come), but he promised everyone that if there was even a 10 percent chance he could wrestle again, he\u2019d make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>He then turned his attention to the Elite, specifically the Bucks, reminding them that he was also an EVP and informed them that he intended to exercise his EVP power, effectively signing his death warrant. Okada interrupted, leading to a surreal face-to-face.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, Kenny told Okada to give him a couple months and they could run it back one more time. That\u2019s when Jack Perry pounced, attacking Omega from behind. Kenny was able to fight off Kazuchika Okada and Perry briefly, even hitting a Snap Dragon Suplex on Perry before the Hollywood scion struck him in the gut with a steel chair. Kenny dropped and a hush came over the crowd before they erupted into boos. The Bucks came down the ring and hit an EVP Trigger on their former friend. FTR finally came to Kenny\u2019s aid before Okada could hit a Rainmaker.<\/p>\n<p>The attack didn\u2019t stop there, however. Kenny was strapped to a stretcher and rolled out of the arena to a waiting ambulance. Before he could be loaded up, however, The Elite struck again, taking the medics out before tipping over the stretcher leaving a defenseless Omega to slam into the concrete.<\/p>\n<p>This angle was brilliant. It effectively removed the last person who could impede The Elite\u2019s ascent to full control. It put a ton of heat on the group and it set up Omega for an epic return potentially at the end of the summer leading to a match with Okada at Wembley&#8230; or so it seemed.<\/p>\n<p>It was announced yesterday that Kenny would be making a \u201cimportant announcement\u201d on Dynamite. What could that be? What\u2019s next for The Elite. How will they throw their weight around and abuse their power? The idea of a heel authority figure is polarizing given how overdone they\u2019ve been since the Attitude Era, but this is set up as something with a clear ending as opposed to the typically more open-ended heel authority figure scenarios WWE employed throughout the years. Unlike, say, the NWO, there actually seems to be a plan in place as to how this story will end with Kenny Omega maybe being the Sting of this angle. I\u2019m certainly willing to let it play out for a while.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: A+<\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;Swerve&#8221; Strickland vs. Christian Cage<\/h3>\n<p>The Elite\u2019s first act of business running the show was to strike back at the man who called their attack on a Tony Khan \u201ca bitch move,\u201d AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland. They interrupted Swerve\u2019s opening promo via video to announce that Swerve\u2019s opponent at Double or Nothing would be Christian Cage.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1671201790\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Christian was last seen losing the TNT Title to Adam Copeland on Dynamite in Toronto in mid-March. Failing upwards is normally something that bothers me, but in this case The Bucks gave Christian this match. On top of that, Christian and Swerve have history stemming back to last August when they teamed up to face Darby Allin and Sting in a Coffin Match. Swerve took the fall in that match.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also the small matter of Swerve breaking into Nick Wayne\u2019s garage and the leaving The Prodigy to bleed out on the floor. Christian and the Patriarchy attacked Swerve and Prince Nana before Christian cut a promo going over that aforementioned history.<\/p>\n<p>The segment ended with Christian instructing Killswitch to rip out one of Swerve\u2019s dreads. This week Swerve has vowed to call out Christian but said he\u2019s not coming alone. It feels like he\u2019s really separated from the Mogul Embassy, so I don\u2019t if Brian Cage or the Gates of Agony are who he\u2019s referring to. At the same time, I don\u2019t know who else he could be referring to.<\/p>\n<p>As far as the PPV match goes, it\u2019s not going to be a 5-star classic. It\u2019ll be a good match, but it\u2019s much more about the story surrounding it, specifically the Bucks throwing opponents at Swerve. I think that\u2019s fine especially for Swerve\u2019s first opponent. He can beat a strong heel and stick it to the Bucks all at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: A<\/p>\n<h3>Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb<\/h3>\n<p>Serena Deeb battled Mariah May in a hard-hitting match. Serena\u2019s transitions into submissions were fantastic. Mariah\u2019s shotgun dropkick from the top was great.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Serena locked Mariah in a half Boston Crab. Mariah struggled in the hold until Toni Storm, unable to continue watching her understudy suffer any longer, threw in the towel. Toni\u2019s concern for Mariah May superseded her own interests as by virtue of the win Serena Deeb earned her match against Toni.<\/p>\n<p>The story of the relationship between Toni and Mariah is the best women\u2019s story in wrestling right now. We\u2019ve seen it go from Toni barely acknowledging Mariah\u2019s existence to being either maternal or romantic towards her; I\u2019m not sure which. It\u2019s really good stuff and it\u2019s going to make Mariah\u2019s eventual betrayal that much more painful.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the match against Serena, this should be Toni\u2019s stiffest challenge. She cut a very fun if slightly NSFW promo on The Professor on Twitter. I can\u2019t wait to see Serena respond to and play off the very offbeat champion.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: A+<\/p>\n<h3>Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mon\u00e9<\/h3>\n<p>For the first time since her debut, Mercedes Mon\u00e9 was not on the show. Instead there was a backstage segment which featured Kris Statlander apologizing to Willow for causing Mercedes to slap her. There was something off about the apology and Willow seemed to pick up on it although she gave her friend the benefit of the doubt. This is when the Bucks interjected themselves in Willow\u2019s business.<\/p>\n<p>Skye Blue had challenged Willow to a TBS Title match. Willow accepted but the Bucks banned Stat and Stokely Hathaway from ringside (his reaction was hilarious) and made the match a Manitoba Massacre.<\/p>\n<p>The match itself was a chaotically fun hardcore brawl that culminated in Willow hitting the Doctor Bomb off the apron through a table with a barbed wire board on top.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly the point of all of this was to build Willow up as a tough champion and in that vein, it was successful. The lack of Mercedes was conspicuous though. Her promos aren\u2019t great &#8211; I understand that &#8211; but there should\u2019ve more than just Willow mentioning her. Hopefully Mercedes is cleared for physical activity before Double or Nothing because we need some kind of physical interaction between the two to lift this match up a level.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p>\n<h3>Adam Copeland vs. House of Black<\/h3>\n<p>If you paid attention to this column last week, I said there was Option A and Option B. Well, it looks like it\u2019s going to be Option A, Adam Copeland working his way through the HOB. He started with Buddy Matthews.<\/p>\n<p>The match overstayed its welcome, but it was never bad. There was a gnarly mid-air collision when both men went for a crossbody. Copeland won with a spear. After the match he began exhibiting erratic behavior. He snapped for seemingly no reason, assaulting Buddy and set him up for a Conchairto.<\/p>\n<p>Lights off, lights on, Malakai Black appeared and tried to prod Copeland into following through with the attack. Lights off, lights on, HOB disappeared. Later in the night Copeland was once again erratic during an interview with Renee in which Kyle O\u2019Reilly offered to help Cope if he needed it. Clearly the mystical power of the mist is having an effect on Copeland.<\/p>\n<p>As much as Prowrestling.net&#8217;s Jason Powell might roll his eyes at the mystical mist, I\u2019m glad they\u2019re at least consistent. It\u2019s had a effect on everyone who\u2019s been sprayed; Copeland should be no exception. It\u2019s just a matter of whether he\u2019s able to fight off the mist as he battles each member.<\/p>\n<p>This week he goes one-on-one with Brody King. I fully expect him to win, but the match should be physical.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p>\n<h3>Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Baretta<\/h3>\n<p>Orange Cassidy came out uncharacteristically but appropriately serious for his promo. He announced that Chuck Taylor\u2019s career had been ended by Trent\u2019s post-match assault which meant that he\u2019s alone. Before he could complete his next sentence, Trent came out to the stage and it was on sight from there.<\/p>\n<p>OC removed his jacket and charged up the ramp. The two fought until security came out to separate them. Don Callis came out and, to the surprise of everyone, approached OC rather than Trent. Even more surprising, OC walked out with Callis.<\/p>\n<p>It seems unlikely that OC is really buying whatever Callis is selling. This week he gets a match with Trent. I\u2019m surprised the match is happening now, but I sense a screwy finish coming. Trent\u2019s probably picking up this first win to set up a rematch at the PPV. I just hope OC sees the double-cross from Callis coming.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p>\n<h3>Will Ospreay vs. Roderick Strong<\/h3>\n<p>There wasn\u2019t much build for this one last week, just a brief promo from the Undisputed Kingdom. Strong is a perfectly fine worker, but I continue to feel like he\u2019s not a PPV-worthy opponent for Ospreay. I hope they do something to change my mind, but I\u2019m not optimistic. I still don\u2019t really have enough to properly grade this one.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: Incomplete<\/p>\n<h3>Deonna Purrazzo vs. Thunder Rosa<\/h3>\n<p>The build for this feud last week consisted of a sole Deonna promo. I will say this: This was the most comfortable Deonna has come across in a promo since her arrival. Being a babyface never felt like it really suited her, so all her promos had a certain amount of awkwardness. This promo, where she essentially told Rosa she\u2019s going full Jersey on her, felt much more natural. It\u2019s nice to have a real non-title feud in the women\u2019s division for a change.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-80520727\"><div id=\"pwtor-1453987173\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Four pieces of housekeeping this week.. \u2022Jon Moxley retained his IWGP Heavyweight Championship, defeating Ren Narita at Dontaku last Friday night. \u2022Ethan Page has left AEW. He started the year in ROH but in recent <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/05\/08\/aew-feud-tracker-assessing-and-grading-elite-hostile-takeover-swerve-vs-strickland-storm-vs-deeb-copeland-vs-house-of-black-cassidy-vs-trent-more\/\" title=\"AEW FEUD TRACKER: Assessing and grading Elite Hostile Takeover, Swerve vs. Strickland, Storm vs. Deeb, Copeland vs. House of Black, Cassidy vs. Trent, more\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,6447,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-feud-tracker","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-08-at-12.58.44\u202fPM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178145,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178137\/revisions\/178145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}