{"id":220691,"date":"2026-08-11T11:18:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=220691"},"modified":"2026-08-11T11:18:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:18:53","slug":"aew-best-of-the-week-halleys-pick-for-the-top-match-of-the-week-in-aew-and-the-top-promo-plus-concerns-about-the-developing-all-in-line-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/08\/11\/aew-best-of-the-week-halleys-pick-for-the-top-match-of-the-week-in-aew-and-the-top-promo-plus-concerns-about-the-developing-all-in-line-up\/","title":{"rendered":"AEW &#8211; BEST OF THE WEEK: Halley&#8217;s pick for the top match of the week in AEW and the top promo, plus concerns about the developing All In line-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2481261903\" 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>Nights like last Wednesday at Arena Mexico are nights that I feel bad for people who aren\u2019t pro wrestling fans. As soon as Adam Copeland\u2019s music hit to start Dynamite, you knew we were in for a special night as AEW fans.<\/p>\n<p>Were there too many highspots and not enough selling of those highspots? Of course. But overall, this was one of my favorite Dynamites in a while and may be in the top 10 of Dynamites of all time. You could tell that the men and women really wanted to go out there and put on a show for the fans in Mexico and it was truly a special night.<\/p>\n<p>Also &#8211; and I\u2019m burying the lead here &#8211; it\u2019s great to be back! I have not written this article in a few months due to some work commitments; I am excited to be back writing about the positives of AEW. I was able to co-host this past week\u2019s Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-Show live on YouTube with Wade Keller after last week&#8217;s Dynamite and it felt great to be back talking about wrestling. I even missed Zach Barber\u2019s comments explaining why Wade and I were wrong on most things we said (Shout out Zach! Always love the comments).<\/p>\n<p>Alright, without further delay, here is the return of AEW Best of the Week (with some complaints, of course).<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Dynamite: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/aew-dynamite-post-show-8-5-keller-halley-talk-night-of-1-000-highspots-great-arena-mexico-crowd-mjf-s-return-all-in-line-up-thoughts--73537594\">CLICK HERE<\/a> (or search \u201cwade keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"AEW DYNAMITE POST-SHOW (8\/5): Keller &amp; Halley talk Night of 1,000 Highspots, great Arena Mexico crowd, MJF's return, All In line-up thoughts\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=73537594&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>Top Match<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. \u201cSpeedball\u201d Mike Bailey for the AEW International Championship &#8211; Dynamite 8\/5\/26<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are a lot &#8211; and I mean a lot &#8211; of wrestling crowd chants that I believe are played out (see, I told you there would be complaints). \u201cYou still got it!\u201d, \u201cThis is Awesome!\u201d, \u201cWhat do you want to talk about?\u201d (I know that\u2019s not a crowd chant, but do the &#8220;douche chills&#8221; kick in every time Cody says that). The one I believe that is most overused is \u201cFight Forever!\u201d but this is a match where the crowd should have been chanting \u201cFight Forever\u201d for the entire match.<\/p>\n<p>Fletcher and Speedball have chemistry that is off the charts and towards the end of this match they fully had me believing that Speedball was going to pull off the upset here. I said it on the Dynamite after show with Wade Keller and I\u2019ll say it here again: the Ultimate Weapon that Speedball hit on Fletcher was nasty and it had to suck when Speedball&#8217;s knees hit Fletcher square in the ribs.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3845948111\" 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>Fletcher continues to have the best match on the card every time he wrestles. It has been a complete delight watching him come into his own over the last 18 months. During last year\u2019s Continental Classic, he really hit another gear, and it is so cool to watch a guy put it all together and become a star.<\/p>\n<p>Same goes for Speedball in my opinion. He is not going to be as big of a star as Kyle Fletcher, but he continues to show up and show out every match. He has put on phenomenal matches in his time in AEW and this last one with Fletcher may have been his best. His match with Kazuchika Okada is also up there for me, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Two of my favorite moments in this match were the reverse huracanrana that Speedball hit on Fletcher from the top rope and Fletcher launching Speedball like a lawn dart into the barricade and the turnbuckle.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Top Promo<\/h3>\n<p><strong>MJF \u2013 Dynamite 8\/5\/26<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Selfishly I\u2019m putting this here because I want to spend some time talking about the direction of some of the top stars heading into All In. When MJF is gone for a bit and then comes back, he just elevates everything. Plain and simple. His intensity, his voice, his passion are just on another level than the entire roster.<\/p>\n<p>I love that he is back and that he is coming back for his World Title. He is the only wrestler on the roster who will lose the World Title and then come out the next time on TV and talk about how he is going to get it back. Too many times &#8211;\u00a0 and it seems like all the time &#8211; someone will lose the AEW World Title and then just move on to the next thing. MJF makes the title feel important, and isn\u2019t that the point.<\/p>\n<p>Alright, now let\u2019s get to why I put MJF here. I hate that he is going to be in the Casino Gauntlet again! This will be two years in a row that he is in the Casino Gauntlet at All In and I believe that is a major mistake this year. I\u2019m not sure if he is still nursing an injury or what, but MJF has been the MVP of the men\u2019s division all year and, in my opinion, got AEW back on track this year with his AEW World Title reign.<\/p>\n<p>I would much rather be watching MJF vs. Andrade in a singles match at All In and, if you gave me truth serum, I would much rather be watching MJF vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World Heavyweight Title at All In. I feel like a conquering Ospreay taking out the ultimate heel in MJF would be a much more compelling storyline going into All In. I also think the match would be better.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-578462630\" 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>MJF is a storyteller in that ring, and I think Ospreay and MJF would have put on a better story in that ring than what we are going to see from Ospreay and Kenny Omega. I worry we are just going to get a finisher spam for the last ten minutes. I hope I\u2019m wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Ospreay and Omega can sometimes be awkward on the mic, and I worry with the lead up to All In we are going to get some clunkers in the promo department. I thought Ospreay and Omega did a great job two weeks ago bringing the intensity, but you just never know with Kenny. If it was MJF in Omega\u2019s place it would make Ospreay step up his promo game, and I think we would be getting a legendary month leading up to their eventual faceoff at All In.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Thoughts and Observations:<\/h3>\n<p>&#8211; Jon Moxley, \u201cHangman\u201d Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland are total afterthoughts heading into All In and I believe that\u2019s a huge mistake. Moxley being thrown into this Continental Cup is a waste. I\u2019m sorry but Moxley is too good a storyteller to just be in a thrown together tournament for your company\u2019s equivalent of WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Eddie Kingston did not look good on Collision. I am a big Eddie fan, but it\u2019s become tough to watch him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I loved watching how much that reception meant to Adam Copeland this week to open Dynamite. You can tell he\u2019s never going to forget it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Excellent video packages this week to highlight both world title matches coming up at All In. I especially thought the Omega and Ospreay package was great.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Tommaso Ciampa needs a course correction quickly. I do not need to see him wrestling a pair of pants.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; I love watching Jamie Hayter wrestle she makes every move count and really lays in all her moves. I hope she can get another big-time single run in the future.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Having Will Ospreay, who is in the main event of your biggest show of the year, who is less than a year removed from neck surgery, wrestle in a street fight match three weeks from said show is&#8230; a choice.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (8\/5) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; Halley\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3vrKqhjFQB8?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-748905813\"><div id=\"pwtor-178461927\"><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>Nights like last Wednesday at Arena Mexico are nights that I feel bad for people who aren\u2019t pro wrestling fans. As soon as Adam Copeland\u2019s music hit to start Dynamite, you knew we were in <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/08\/11\/aew-best-of-the-week-halleys-pick-for-the-top-match-of-the-week-in-aew-and-the-top-promo-plus-concerns-about-the-developing-all-in-line-up\/\" title=\"AEW &#8211; BEST OF THE WEEK: Halley&#8217;s pick for the top match of the week in AEW and the top promo, plus concerns about the developing All In line-up\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215559,"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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,27,4488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists","category-top-five-lists"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/04\/Screenshot-2026-04-27-at-2.55.40-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220691","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=220691"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220695,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220691\/revisions\/220695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}