MoS

I watched the full PPV and it was a very good show. It's Tony Khan's own fault that with PPV endings like this, he allows the conversation to focus solely on his booking mistakes, especially when he knows how anti-AEW grifting is a lucrative cottage industry and everyone is salivating at the chance to criticise AEW, whether in good faith or not. The main event angle was bad. But the show was good, nothing close to late-era WCW or the lifeless feeling of 2010s WWE - it was a good show with good angles until the main event and a hot crowd. It is ridiculous just how good Toni Storm has got with this gimmick, hats off to her.

Caught the end of the main event angle and it was a bad one. The Young Bucks jumped the shark years ago, and they ruined what could have been an all-time moment. It is impossible for me to get mad at them, simply because they are just not interesting enough. This is the most disappointed I have felt at the end of the show this whole year.

I will always maintain that AEW booked Sting far better than anyone ever. Watts, JCP, WCW, TNA, all of them. His AEW run was the best run of his career. He obviously didn't have the kind of matches that he did with Ric Flair in JCP/WCW or Cactus Jack and Big Van Vader in WCW, but he was presented and booked in a far superior way.

AEW is also past the point where top WWE names jumping ship will make a difference. So might as well go with young promising wrestlers who are fresh on TV and can bring a different energy. I don't think it gives AEW any credibility that old WWE stars no longer wanted by the company get a red carpet in AEW. This is not a Danielson situation, where WWE was actively trying to retain him. AEW's attendance and ratings have actually started stabilising and trending upwards after years, and I think it's solely due to improved booking, great matches, learning from mistakes and most importantly, creating stars in Swerve and Ospreay while giving Hangman a tremendous makeover. They should continue doing that. And yeah, while all old WWE stars claim they are here to help the younger wrestlers and get them over, how many of them apart from Danielson and FTR have actually put young wrestlers over? Adam Copeland's match history in AEW is downright depressing in that regard.

That was an awesome spot. Match did well in the ratings too. Hopefully Swerve beats Mox at Dynasty and Swerve, Hangman and Ospreay feud for the title all year.

Toni-May should have been the main event. Easily MOTN and a MOTYC

Storm-May was incredible. Ospreay-Fletcher honestly felt like a longer, cheaper, inferior version of Storm-May. Way too long for starters, and I can go the rest of my life without watching an interference in a cage match again Hey, congrats to Cope for managing to find a way to not do a job yet again

Another tremendous Dynamite episode.

If it helps, AEW has stopped airing live shows in India since the beginning of the year - no doubt, their completed and ongoing negotiations for TV rights are having a collateral effect. But it doesn't stop the old Indian channel that used to air AEW from airing old pre-2025 footage. In fact, they just replayed World's End...with Hindi commentary. In fact, so many old PPV, Dynamite and even Collision shows are being re-aired here in India with Hindi commentary, so clearly the Indian channels are making *some* effort and want to close the deal.

This main is a ton of fun. I always support the Aussies over the Brits in the Ashes, so I am Team Toni here

The tag was good. Okada still has great presence, even if he is shot physically

Good match between Mercedes and Cameron. Mercedes has come into her own and is now doing great work

Another great episode of Dynamite. Past week's Collision was excellent too

I really liked this week's Dynamite, but they really need to stop saying "The feeling is back!" again and again. It's a lose-lose proposition. Show me the feeling is back, what's the point of telling me? It's "Show, not tell" for a reason.

Hangman is such a fascinating character. He should be the one to take down the Deathriders. AEW should be built around him

Has Meltzer refuted it? I know Alvarez said it was blown out of proportion, don't know if Dave has said anything about it yet.

https://x.com/WrestlePurists/status/1881319899814932714 This will please a lot of people here.

Meanwhile, this is two straight weeks that Jarret has cut a terrible promo. Almost as if he is an overrated micarder who invariably fails when pushed prominently.

Cope??

I was disappointed with how the four-way was structured. There was a real potential to do something different with Mox against the AEW OGs, but it was ultimately booked like a standard Four Star Four-Way. AEW OGs being rescued by Edge because they couldn't get the job done against Mox despite there being three of them is stupid and tone-deaf, counter-productive booking. A waste.

Mercedes v. Statlander was absolutely fantastic. They botched the finish, which is inevitable when every finish needs to be an elaborate sequence with multiple reversals and counter-reversals, instead of simply the finish that pays off the story's match perfectly. Doesn't take away from the fact that their match was fantastic.

Darby v. Ospreay is a late contender for TV match of the year.

Toni and Claudio are definitely good examples of positive difference-makers. Not sure about Copeland

Adam Cole has never been good, and he is particularly bad now. It's really weird that TK got so many 2019-21 NXT talents - and feuds! - to AEW and made them central to his booking....after two years of kicking their ass so badly that they did an entire revamp of the show. Trying to think of ex-WWE hires (made after AEW was already established, so between 2020-present) who have actually made a difference for the better. I won't include Punk in this because while he is "ex-WWE", it's a unique set of circumstances. Dragon has been a huge, unqualified positive. Swerve is awesome, and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands and showed us all that he isn't just a good wrestler, but also a tremendous promo, and his charisma has really shined through and gone to the next level in the last year, taking him along to the next level as well. And although a section of fans don't like them, I think FTR has also overall been an excellent addition to the company, not just in the tag division, but also as part of alliances feuding with and wrestling other such alliances. I am a massive Mercedes fan, but she has been quite spotty, with some very good stuff mixed with some boring/bad angles. Christian has been tremendous in certain angles and stories, but is now losing his effect due to repetitive, predictable, uninspired booking and storylines. Which other ex-WWE hire made after AEW was already established as a legit major-league national promotion has made a proper positive impact?

A much better episode and also a much hotter crowd. Seems like a chicken-and-egg thing. Which one is the cause and which one is the effect?