{"id":189800,"date":"2024-12-18T12:42:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T18:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=189800"},"modified":"2024-12-18T12:42:51","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T18:42:51","slug":"aew-feud-tracker-barbers-assessment-and-grading-of-moxley-vs-his-challengers-christian-vs-hook-mercedes-vs-anna-jay-shirakawa-vs-mariah-may-cole-vs-mjf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/12\/18\/aew-feud-tracker-barbers-assessment-and-grading-of-moxley-vs-his-challengers-christian-vs-hook-mercedes-vs-anna-jay-shirakawa-vs-mariah-may-cole-vs-mjf\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW FEUD TRACKER: Barber&#8217;s assessment and grading of Moxley vs. his challengers, Christian vs. Hook, Mercedes vs. Anna Jay, Shirakawa vs. Mariah May, Cole vs. MJF"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-91991504\" 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><h3>NEWS &amp; NOTES<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022ROH Final Battle takes place this Friday from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The show will likely be headlined by Athena vs. Billie Starkz for the ROH Women\u2019s Title. Also on the show Chris Jericho defends the ROH World Title against Matt Cardona and the Sons of Texas defend the ROH Tag Team Titles against The Righteous in a double bullrope match.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Willow Nightingale defeated Jamie Hayter to earn her way into the Women\u2019s International Cup four-way at Wrestle Dynasty<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Julia Hart made her return after the match, laying out Jamie Hayter with a hammerlock DDT. Also, Julia Hart\u2019s entrance music made its return as well. I forgot how much I\u2019ve missed it until immediately began singing along with it as did the crowd in St. Louis.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Lio Rush &amp; Action Andretti became the number one contenders for the tag team titles after defeating Top Flight on Collision.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>INTRODUCTION<\/h3>\n<p>AEW Dynamite: Holiday Bash will be live from Washington D.C. t0night. The subtitles for the shows don\u2019t particularly bother me, but coming off the heels of the annual Winter is Coming show, it doesn\u2019t feel a little superfluous.<\/p>\n<p>If Blood and Guts, Grand Slam, and Fight for the Fallen are meant to stand out, adding holiday themed names to shows simply because it\u2019s Christmastime undercuts that a little bit. All that said, it should be a fun show. Will Ospreay vs. Darby Allin should be a really good match. Darby will of course bump like a madman, but I\u2019ll be interested to see how he adapts his style to Ospreay and if he brings some of his amateur background into it. The TBS Title match could surprise some folks. There\u2019s also the little matter of what exactly happened to FTR after Collision went off the air. So, grab a glass of eggnog and let\u2019s see if Mox &amp; the Mechanics decide to roast someone\u2019s chestnuts on an open fire.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>FEUD ANALYSIS<\/h3>\n<h3>Jon Moxley vs. Jay White vs. Hangman Page vs. Orange Cassidy<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Latest Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fatal four-way match for World\u2019s End was made official; FTR were hooded and either abducted or simply assaulted as Collision went off the air.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3320311525\" 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><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dynamite opened with Jay White and Orange Cassidy teaming up to fight Pac and Jon Moxley. The match was predictably strong right up until &#8220;Hangman&#8221; Adam Page inserted himself and attacked Mox leading to the faces being disqualified. The dissension continued when OC and Hangman took to fighting and then OC accidentally hit Jay with an Orange Punch to which Jay responded with a Blade Runner. The fighting amongst the opposition lead Mox to lay out the challenge for the four-way.<\/p>\n<p>This was mostly well done. I didn\u2019t like the DQ finish. It was a cheap way out. That said, it did directly lay the foundation for Mox\u2019s challenge. Speaking of which, Mox\u2019s promo was very smart. He pointed out that the inability of OC, White, and Hangman to get along for a common goal would ultimately be their downfall, therefore he was fully confident in challenging the three of them. I love that Mox established that it\u2019s going to take a concerted effort from a unified group to bring him and the Mechanics down.<\/p>\n<p>That played right into the cold opening of Collision where a video aired of Will Ospreay approaching Darby Allin backstage at Dynamite shortly after Darby had saved him from a post-match attack by Claudio Castagnoli. Darby questioned why Ospreay hasn\u2019t been in the fight against Mox and the Mechanics to which Ospreay responded by saying he was focused on the Continental Calssic, but Darby could reach out to him once it was over.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly Tony Khan heard some of the criticism about the biggest stars not being involved and sought to correct that. Bringing Ospreay into the fold not only expands the story, it ties the biggest babyface into biggest story with the biggest heel.<\/p>\n<p>Collision closed with Mox and the Mechanics commandeering a camera backstage and waiting for FTR to get ready to walk out. That\u2019s when Marina Shafir stepped into their path long enough for the others to jump out, place black cloth hoods over their heads, and drag them out the door. It\u2019s unclear whether they were abducted or simply assaulted but the noise as the show ended would strongly imply the latter.<\/p>\n<p>This angle continued the spinoff feud between FTR and The Mechanics presumably leading to a match at Fight for the Fallen and Adam Copeland\u2019s return. There\u2019s been some chatter about this story become a regular story and Mox a regular heel. The inclusion of Ospreay as well as FTR keeps this more of the umbrella story it\u2019s supposed to be. It\u2019s not that Mox is trying to take AEW from Tony Khan. That\u2019s never been the point in fact. It\u2019s that they are running roughshod over the company and the babyfaces are fighting to bring them down.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1776475900\" 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<hr \/>\n<h3>Mina Shirakawa vs. Mariah May<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Latest Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mariah May defeated Mina Shirakawa to retain the AEW Women\u2019s World title. After the match, Toni Storm made her return to AEW.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mariah and Mina main evented Dynamite last week. They had a really good match that could\u2019ve gone into another gear if they\u2019d had the time. As it stands, though, they laid into each other and in the end Mariah survived a Glamorous Driver and pinned Mina after a Storm Zero. Mariah didn\u2019t have time to celebrate long though because knockoff \u201cBarracuda\u201d hit and Toni Storm, in her classic rock star gear, made her long-awaited (at least by me) comeback to a loud pop from the Kansas City crowd.<\/p>\n<p>Toni wasn\u2019t back five minutes before controversy erupted over Toni\u2019s return match taking place on last Friday\u2019s Rampage. Initially I felt the criticism was wholly valid. Having seen how things played out between Friday and Saturday, it seems there was a method to the madness.<\/p>\n<p>Toni defeated a game Harley Cameron on Rampage. While sitting on the apron after the match, Toni said \u201cI\u2019m very happy to be here.\u201d It was innocuous if you weren\u2019t really paying attention. The next night on Collision she quickly beat Shazza McKenzie and then grabbed a mic and announced that she was officially \u201cAll Elite.\u201d She followed that up by interrupting a Thunder Rosa interview backstage to introduce herself to both Rosa and Tony Schiavone who were both perplexed<\/p>\n<p>There are two plausible explanations for what\u2019s going on with Toni. It\u2019s possible that she\u2019s suffering from amnesia a la Cactus Jack after Vader powerbombed him on concrete in 1993 in which case something is going to eventually trigger her memory to come back.<\/p>\n<p>The other explanation is that she\u2019s still actually \u201cTimeless\u201d Toni and she\u2019s playing an amnesiac version of Toni Storm classic with the ultimate goal of getting even with Mariah. That would almost be like some 3D chess on her part. Either way, the best story in wrestling is back and this time there\u2019s some interesting uncertainty mixed in.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, Mariah cut a fiery promo immediately after Dynamite that was first posted to social media and then aired on Collision. She was profane in her disregard for Toni before turning her attention to Thunder Rosa who&#8217;d done her best Lodi impression by sitting in the crowd during the Mariah-Mina match holding up signs. She told Rosa she would put her down if she stepped to her.<br \/>\nRosa responded the next night by challenging Mariah to a Tijuana street fight. A Mariah May vs. Thunder Rosa match would be really good on its own. I don\u2019t understand the need for a street fight, especially since the feud doesn\u2019t really justify it.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B+<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Mercedes Mon\u00e9 vs. Anna Jay<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Latest Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mercedes and Anna had a backstage promo segment to build up to their match tonight. Kris Statlander reemerged and made it clear that she has unfinished business with the TBS Title.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The backstage interview done by Renee Paquette was simple but effective. Mon\u00e9 was supremely arrogant and obnoxious. Anna refused to be intimidated by Mercedes and reminded her that all she needs is three seconds to shock the world.<\/p>\n<p>I expect these two to have a pretty darn good match. The likelihood of Anna winning is slim, especially with Kris Statlander back in the picture. Statlander had a promo on Rampage in which she said she had unfinished business with the TBS Title and then squashed an opponent on Collision. It certainly seems that the plan is to run back Mercedes vs Stat at World\u2019s End and I\u2019m perfectly fine with that.<\/p>\n<p>Something else to keep an eye on. Athena qualified to represent ROH in the Women\u2019s International Cup match at WrestleDynasty. The winner gets a shot at any title of her choosing. There\u2019s strong chance Athena drops the ROH Women\u2019s Title to Billie Starkz at Final Battle on Friday night. If that\u2019s the case, her chances of winning that match shoot up and I could see her picking the TBS Title for her title shot. Just food for thought.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the &#8220;All Elite Conversation Club&#8221; with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/all-elite-conversation-club-dehnel-kanner-cover-the-continental-classic-thus-far-worlds-end-ppv-starting-to-take-shape-more--63200089\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cpwtorch\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=63200089&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Adam Cole vs. MJF<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Latest Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adam Cole defeated Kyle O\u2019Reilly to earn the right to face MJF at World\u2019s End for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going to try and keep this short this week. Cole and KOR had a perfectly fine wrestling match that the crowd struggled to really get into. That\u2019s mostly because this story has been so snakebitten and disjointed. MJF, live and in person, attempted to interfere. Cole caught him, superkicked him, and then used the distraction to roll up KOR for the win.<\/p>\n<p>Honestly, I\u2019m just relieved Cole won and there was no further attempt at delaying this match. He just needs to go over MJF even if it means winning that gaudy ring because this feud needs to end. MJF is scheduled to speak live tomorrow night, but I\u2019m not sure he can breathe any new life into this feud. It just needs to be over so they can both move on.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: C+<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Christian Cage vs. Hook<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Latest Developments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hook jumped Christian in his luxury box until the Patriarchy made the save.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Christian Cage watched the opening tag match (Mox &amp; Pac vs. OC &amp; Jay White) from his luxury box. He sent the Patria<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>rchy on an assignment mid-match. After the match and after the post-match fracas, he got on the mic and once again talked about cashing in his contract. He said he was going to beat Mox so bad he\u2019d send him back to rehab. (As an aside, I don\u2019t necessarily have a problem with heels going after other heels. It\u2019s tricky because you don\u2019t want to accidentally turn one heel face, but villains don\u2019t have to like each other. That said, Christian going there with Mox was on-brand for Christian but it still felt gratuitous.)<\/p>\n<p>Digressing as he finished his promo, he wandered into his suite and on the other side of the door stood Hook, arm in cast after the attack the previous week. Hook smashed the glass, opened the door, and proceeded to beat Christian all over the box until the Patriarchy finally came back and gave Christian the chance to make an escape.<\/p>\n<p>Hook whooping that ass was fun to watch. Christian certainly deserved it. That said, there were two small things that bugged me. One, Christian should\u2019ve have stayed in the arena until he and all of us heard Hook smash the glass. That\u2019s when the camera should\u2019ve panned. The other thing, as pointed out by Wade Keller on the post-show (I didn\u2019t catch it live) Hook should\u2019ve reached through the broken door to unlatch it from the inside. That\u2019s the whole point of break the glass. Otherwise this was effective in building up this feud.<\/p>\n<p>Grade: B-<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Stay right here and keep the flow going. We think you&#8217;ll like to read this next&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>RECOMMENDED NEXT:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/vip.pwtorch.com\/2024\/12\/12\/aew-dynamite-hits-misses-12-11-dissension-among-top-babyfaces-mjf-cole-saga-darbys-promo-ospreay-vs-claudio-ricochet-vs-brody-continental-classic-finishes-more\/\">AEW DYNAMITE HITS &amp; MISSES (12\/11): Dissension among top babyfaces, MJF-Cole saga, Darby\u2019s promo, Ospreay vs. Claudio, Ricochet vs. Brody, Continental Classic finishes, more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>O<strong>R CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2024\/12\/15\/aew-collision-results-12-14-powells-review-of-kyle-fletcher-vs-mark-briscoe-and-kazuchika-okada-vs-the-beast-mortos-in-continental-classic-matches-jamie-hayter-vs-willow-nightingale\/\">AEW Collision results (12\/14): Powell\u2019s review of Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe and Kazuchika Okada vs. The Beast Mortos in Continental Classic matches, Jamie Hayter vs. Willow Nightingale<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at <a href=\"mailto:kellerwade@gmail.com\">kellerwade@gmail.com<\/a>. You can also send live event results and news tips to <a href=\"mailto:pwtorch@gmail.com\">pwtorch@gmail.com<\/a>. Also, we&#8217;re always looking for volunteer contributors to help us round out of coverage of the pro wrestling scene.)<\/p>\n<h3>Follow us on Blue Sky, a great Twitter alternative, as we shift away from TwitterX\u2026<\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pwtorch.bsky.social<\/a> (search \u201cpwtorch\u201d)<\/h3>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/thewadekeller.bsky.social\">https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/thewadekeller.bsky.social<\/a> (search \u201cthewadekeller\u201d)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show - AEW Dynamite w\/Wade Keller &amp; Rich Fann\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9HwMPdtuby4?start=1987&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1040239010\"><div id=\"pwtor-3772836231\"><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>NEWS &amp; NOTES \u2022ROH Final Battle takes place this Friday from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The show will likely be headlined by Athena vs. Billie Starkz for the ROH Women\u2019s Title. Also <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2024\/12\/18\/aew-feud-tracker-barbers-assessment-and-grading-of-moxley-vs-his-challengers-christian-vs-hook-mercedes-vs-anna-jay-shirakawa-vs-mariah-may-cole-vs-mjf\/\" title=\"AEW FEUD TRACKER: Barber&#8217;s assessment and grading of Moxley vs. his challengers, Christian vs. Hook, Mercedes vs. Anna Jay, Shirakawa vs. Mariah May, Cole vs. MJF\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":189801,"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-189800","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\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-18-at-12.23.37\u202fPM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189800","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=189800"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189803,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189800\/revisions\/189803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}