AEW TV Megathread

[Blehschmidt]

The Claudio Castagnoli/Kommander match from Collision last night was something to behold.

IMO, most weeks Kommander hits his two spots then looks like he doesn't know his left from right. Last night Claudio made him look like 1998 Rey Jr. 

A highly entertaining carry job

[Johnny Sorrow]

For the second year in a row, Dynamite is in Colorado on my Birthday. And I'm getting Mark Briscoe vs. Moxley in the main event. It's as if TK knows and is giving me a gift. 

[Timbo Slice]

Watch them have a bloodless technical match. 

[sek69]

Somewhere brother @KawadaSmile is celebrating the return of Tay Melo.

[MoS]

I am getting the feeling that Ospreay costs Hangman the world title at All In. I think that would be a mistake. 

[DMJ]

3 hours ago, MoS said:

I am getting the feeling that Ospreay costs Hangman the world title at All In. I think that would be a mistake. 

I really, really hope TK doesn't go that route too. Even if it was "accidental," there's no reason to make Ospreay look like a goober.

There's also simply no reason to put heel heat on Ospreay when he has been killing it as a babyface for them. I just don't see the logic in muddying those waters, especially if the longterm plan is to give Ospreay the title in some sort of big babyface title victory in late 2025/2026. Also, with Forbidden Door in the UK in August, you'd be a fool to turn Ospreay before that event even if he was stale (which he isn't). 

To me, you give "Hangman" the win over Mox. I'm not sure how you get there, though I assume the plan is an overbooked mess (which I'm okay with as the ends justify the means).

I guess if I had the pencil, I'd have Willow and Briscoe run in to even the odds at one point, they can't do it because there's more run-in fuckery (Young Bucks?), so out comes Ospreay, he can't turn the tide either because of Gabe Kidd (?), so out comes Swerve...but Swerve doesn't help either side, he just watches, conflicted. Mox gets the upper-hand with a low blow or some other heel bullshit, but instead of Swerve doing the right thing, its Darby Allin who returns to help Hangman win. Hangman gets his victory, shakes Darby's hand and shakes Ospreay's hand, walks out with the title, brushes by Swerve (who stands with a face of angry resignation/frustration/mixed emotion as he's angry at himself for not screwing Hangman, but also respects that Hangman beat Mox and the Death Riders were vanquished). Show closes with the "feel good" babyfaces (Darby, Ospreay, Willow, and Briscoe) celebrating in the ring.

From there, you kinda have a lot of big chess pieces on the board for Forbidden Door, but you've effectively kept Ospreay as a babyface, taken the title off of Moxley and put it on Hangman (a huge plus), given Allin a big return and instant feud with Mox (which doesn't need the title) plus implied heat with Swerve and maybe even a little with Hangman (who hates that he needed Allin to save him), and provided something of a blow-off for the Death Riders storyline so that it can evolve into something different, which it desperately needs to do. 

[Stiva]

I think Danielson will be at All In and will play some role in the main event. I could see Darby returning if they do a Casino Gauntlet too 

[Gramsci]

I think Darby walks out of All In as World champion.

[C.S.]

8 hours ago, DMJ said:

I really, really hope TK doesn't go that route too.

TK is the master of heel turns no one asked for or wants - Danielson, Hangman, etc. 

But I also hope not. 

In before someone says "but they wanted to turn heel." I don't give a flying fuck what they want. Yes, listening to talent and keeping them happy is important, but there's a fine line.

[The Thread Killer]

As long as the belt isn’t on Moxley, I really don’t care who ends up with it. Hangman, Swerve, Ospreay, whoever. Just get it the hell off Moxley and end this interminable Deathriders angle.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Cross posted from DVDVR:

 

Well, here it is. Fyter Fest in Denver, CO 6/4/25 ROAD REPORT!

I've been to three Dynamites over the years here in Colorado, two at the late, lamented First Bank Center in Broomfield and one at The Budweiser Event Center in Loveland. The shows were all fun and those arenas were/ are your larger venues that host minor league Hockey, concerts, and things like the Globetrotters. They were never sold out but the crowds were always loud since Colorado wrestling crowds are always hot. Last night was at the Mission Ballroom in Denver and it was sold out, so I was looking forward to seeing the show in a smaller venue with a raucous and packed house. Oh, and it was the day before my birthday.

Over the last 19 years I've been living in Colorado, I've gone to a lot of wrestling shows . Besides the aforementioned Dynamites, I've been to RAW, more WWE House shows than I can remember, and some super low rent Indy shows. Usually, I go with my pal Chris, with the "You fly, I'll buy" deal so I can drink many over priced beers. Well, the couple of times we brought my nephew and his friends it was just a few over priced beers. 

Last year, Dynamite in Loveland was on my birthday, and it was just Chris and myself. I had a lot of anger to vent since the day before I almost knocked out the asshole fellow assistant coach of the Little League team I was volunteering for. It was in the middle of Left Field, after the game, in front of the kids. I came THIS close. The people sitting in our section experienced three hours of drunk and stoned Philadelphia wrestling fan from the 80's, without cursing. There were kids and families around us. I'm not a complete fucking monster.

Sadly, Chris couldn't make it so I was flying solo. This 55 year old man was going to a Pro Wrestling show stag, wearing the same tye dye dress shirt I wore at DEAN~!. So, that meant two things. One, no drinking and just one gummie. Two, there was no way I was going to stay for Collision. I had to work the next day. I'm old and there's traffic to beat. 

I planned on getting to the Mission early in the afternoon since my ticket was in the GA bowl, and I wanted to get the best seat I could. We had a work meeting that day that was supposed to wrap up at 1, and I was taking off the rest of the day to drive home, feed the dogs, and drive back to Denver. I didn't get out of the office until 2:30. Sure it was Bill's retirement party, but some people got pro wrestling to go see by themselves. By the time I got to the Mission, it was nearly 5:30. I'd never been there before, and it's fantastic. It's in the shadow of the old Denver Coliseum in a commercial area, but it's as if the block around the Mission was gentrified. There were some cool restaurants and bars surrounding the place. When I got in, I was really taken with the ballroom interior. The joint is motherfuckin' cool. It's a perfect venue for a concert. 

And that's what it was like for me. The place was already packed. I had to settle for a "seat" up in the corner by one of the many bars. No chairs, just that concrete shelving, like the seats at the old JFK Stadium in Philly. And I stood the whole show, while dodging people going back and forth from the bar. And I ended up having an amazing time.

First of all, there were no bad seats. We were right up close. TV always makes small places look big, but trust me, this place is intimate. I could see everything from my perch. And the place was rocking. The crowd was a mix of belt carrying husky fellas, awkward nerds who can let their freak flag fly, some older folks including the granny sitting a few feet away, just plain normal wrestling fans, and casual fans. And the best casual fans were all kids in their early twenties who had heard about the show because they're hip to what's going on in the city's entertainment scene. And I loved each and every one of them. The energy was electric. Everyone talks about the age fan demo stuff between AEW and WWE, but I'll tell you the difference I see.  At the Denver WWE shows there are far more families with kids, and it's more multi cultural. And lots of the husky men with belts are super jacked dudes from the city who look like athletes.

I don't watch a lot of AEW lately, to be honest. There's a lot I just don't care for, including some shit at this show. there was a lot of stuff that I'd have fast forwarded through or rolled my eyes at. But you'd have to be a fucking mental patient if you can't forget all that and have fun at wrestling show. Especially THIS wrestling show being in this crowd, and part of this crowd. I was basically the old man in a tye dye at the Dead and Company show hanging with two young Deadheads and the gang of 21 year old guys and gals checking it out for the first time. 

My crew ended up being two young "smart" fans, one being a husky guy with a belt. The other was a gang of the 21 year olds checking out the show. And they were awesome. They started asking belt guy and myself what was going on, and that's when the gummy kicked in so I was happy to oblige. It was so much fun. These kids were whooping it up and pounding cocktails. Belt guy and his pal were also getting wasted on cocktails and weed so it was party time and I'm the old guy at the party. I bonded with Belt Guy's pal when Belt Guy tried to start a "This is Awesome" chant and his pal told him to shut up, and that shit sucks. His quote was, "If everything is fuckin' awesome, then nothing is awesome!" but very slurred.

My favorite chat with them was when the young lady behind me, who been asking the most questions, asked me what Julia Hart's deal was.  I could barely get it out cause I started laughing.

" So she was a cheerleader who got spit in the face with a magic mist and it turned her into a spooky witch."

And she said whatever the latest slang for "I'm down with that!" is, and belt guy kinda laughs and said to his friend, "When he puts it that way, it sounds fucking dumb."

THE SHOW

Before our little crew came together, Justin Roberts came out to be awful and hype up a crowd that didn't need it. And he also asked us if wanted a special bonus match! When the crowd cheered he declared that the impromptu match was on! And it was a good thing, because the ROH ring aprons were already on the ring.

1. Evil Uno vs. Preston Vance

The Frat House gimmick is so fucking dumb and indy low rent. It feels like The Spirit Squad, too. However, each and every one of those guys look like frat boy douchebags, and they use their stupid Frat House paddle as a weapon. I think that's a new one...so I'm fine with this. At least live cause they're fun to boo and heckle. Which is something I did all night, as well as cheer, until I couldn't.  On the Sal Bellomo vs. Johnny Rodz meter, I'll give it a 3. The Frat Douches need to use that beer boing to choke someone, or else get rid of it. It's the most Flea Market looking prop they have.

There were big cheers for Taz and Schiavone . Right before the show went live, it got a little quiet and someone  near us yelled "I LOVE YOU TONY!" And Tony slightly glanced over slowly, and gave a single finger gun.

Ospreay is over as fuck. I didn't give a shit about all the story about him, Swerve, and Page. I know it's live TV, but I'm used to going to shows with no in ring promos or backstage shit. The RAW I went to had a 20 minute "College Bowl" segment between Alpha Academy and RK-Bro that the crowd and our kids went ape for, while I was dying inside.

Big boos for Andretti and Lio, and in our section it was "Fuck off, who are these two goofs?" heat .

2. Mark Briscoe vs. Moxley:  This was my main event. I first saw Mark when he was ringside during the Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe bloodbath. He's my favorite wrestler in AEW, along with Samoa Joe and Eddie Kingston. They played the promo from Mark about how he has to win this match to prove himself to his questioning children, and it's a Non-title match to open the show! There's no way someone could fuck this up! I even told Belt Guy that I thought Mark was gonna win. "There's no way Mark is going to get beat the same way twice in a NON-TITLE match!" is what I said! And he doubted me.

After a great match, and I think Moxley kinda stinks, Belt Guy was either too high or too nice to mention it. It was the only time I screamed "FUCK YOU!" all night. The air went out of the crowd for a minute, but the place was rocking too much for it to settle in.

3. Mina Shirakawa/ Toni Storm vs. Julia Hart/ Skye Blue:

Toni Storm is a superstar. When she made her entrance I felt that feeling you get when a STAR appears live. It's amazing. The match was fun. The young lady behind me was a huge fan of Skye Blue's ass. She was a FAN. When I said that Toni is famous for her ass attacks, she wasn't having it. " How can you compare?!"

4. The crowd went nuts for the Hurt Syndicate while also booing the shit out of MJF. Folks were eager to see Bobby Lashley. He's a hometown hero. Even his "I moved to Texas" stuff didn't really work. I've seen Bobby at a few WWE Shows here and he's always one of , if not the most over guys. Where I was sitting, I couldn't hear MJF's promo because we were all booing and heckling too loud.

5. Komander/ Speedball/ Knight vs. La Facion Ingobernable:

The story with the babyfaces coming out to answer MVP's challenge would have made more sense if they weren't already advertised to wrestle Mortos and his crew,  This match was a complete blast live. And I probably would have kinda hated it watching at home. There were lots of the little things involving guys just waiting outside for their cue to run in and do the next planned spot. And from my vantage point, I could see all of it. But it didn't matter, because live with this crowd it was a blast. When Hurt Syndicate came back out, Kommander left the ring and did the whole "Fuck this shit, not my issue." wave. It was weird. I guess it was him trying to have a reason to leave the ring and hide so that it was a surprise when he leaped back in a minute later.

I went to get some water and have a smoke during the backstage stuff that led to the Caster segment. When I did, I walked into the causeway and the first thing in front of me is Powerhouse Hobbs with his belt over his shoulder, head down. Holy shit, what a specimen. It was another "That's a star!" moment. By the time I got back from the balcony smoking lounge, Hobbs was surrounded by people. By the time I got a water and went back to my seat, the match was over.

6. Kenny Omega vs Brody King vs Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mascara Dorada:

Kenny's Entrance in a small ballroom looked dope and I hate four way matches. The "two guys waiting outside for their cue" thing from earlier was worse here. And Dorada was the worst at it. Brody would at least try and look exhausted, and even bled. Claudio would walk away and make it clear he's being a slimy heel avoiding contact, and Dorada would just kneel down in front of the barricade and wait. By this time I was already tired, and honestly not that into the match. It was fun watching everyone else enjoy it and I just popped for a couple of cool spots.  The crowd went nuts for the Okada/ Omega bit to wrap up Dynamite.

I stuck around for half of Ospreay vs. Lio Rush, and when Ospreay didn't beat him in three minutes, I realized it was time to hit the trail. The gang of kids behind me all wanted high fives, and said they had a blast talking with me, which was so cool. Two guys a couple rows up yelled, "LATER MAN! LOVE YOUR ENERGY! WOO!" and I beat that traffic. I was starving so when I got close to home I had a 9:00 pm sit down meal of mozzerella sticks and a French Dip at Arby's because they have the meats. 

AEW playing ballrooms is the way to go. I had a fantastic time.

 

[Ricky Jackson]

I love Arby's so much I splurged for a personal bottle of Arby's sauce about a month ago. Yummy