AEW TV Megathread

[sek69]

Mistico is ALL ELITE! and also a new trios champ

[sek69]

I thought the Dogs vs Darby/Orange/Roddy was going to die a death after everything this crowd has seen, but it still ended up really good.  So far every match has delivered except the women's tag titles but that was by design since it was basically angle advancement.

[sek69]

MJF coming out with the Terry Funk gear is fucking great. 

[Blehschmidt]

This new Gollum gimmick that Lio Rush is doing might be one of the dumbest things I've seen in a long time.

[sek69]

PWO's favorite wrestler is back, baby! Jericho returned on Dynamite tonight. I have absolutely no source for this but I would not be surprised if he had been watching the build to Mania this year and was like "nah I'm good, I'll head back to AEW". 

[The Thread Killer]

6 minutes ago, sek69 said:

PWO's favorite wrestler is back, baby! Jericho returned on Dynamite tonight. I have absolutely no source for this but I would not be surprised if he had been watching the build to Mania this year and was like "nah I'm good, I'll head back to AEW". 

Meltzer was saying it was pretty much the opposite. He apparently had talks with WWE, and they told him they were good. And honestly…why wouldn’t they? Whatever problems WWE has, the answer is definitely not a 55 year old Chris Jericho.

[sek69]

They don't need him, but I would have assumed they'd want to have him just to "hurt" AEW since one of the reasons they initially got a deal with WBD is that Jericho was a name their execs recognized along with Jim Ross. 

[DMJ]

^ Agreed. I don't buy that WWE wasn't interested. I think they were...but whether it was money or dates or creative, it didn't work out. My assumption is that it was the first two. To pile on to what sek69 said, if the WWE had their way, they'd have every major "name" in wrestling under contract, past, present, and future. Moxley, MJF, Ospreay, Swerve, Kenny, Toni, Mercedes, Darby...it doesn't matter if they're in the middle of a massive cost-cutting, if they can make a buck off you, they want you.

We may all be tired of Chris Jericho, but the guy still sells merch and would get that big nostalgia pop in WWE (and even got one last night). When the nostalgia pop fades (and it will fade quickly in AEW), he'll turn it into part of his "gimmick" to get heat and they'll use it to try to get someone else over (a pattern they've now done so many times that its become a trope that has go-away heat of its own). The Jericho Return in WWE would've been profitable. 

Also, if the WBD execs care about Jericho as a name, so do the Saudi princes. 

[BigBadMick]

Any chance they use him solely as a manager/commentator this time? Really can’t see anything enticing from him in-ring. 

[El-P]

I mean, I would gladly not have had Jericho come back, but let's be real, it's kinda hilarious to think he saw how the Goldy, Cena and AJ Styles retirement thingys went and thought "Uhhh, can I have Sting's retirement instead ?". Also, the idea that WWE did not want him when they literally teased he might appear before one of their big shows earlier this year is laughable. 

And yeah, AEW has been mostly awesome, thanks.

[El-P]

The advantage of having a "bloated" roster, is that there's such an obscene amount of talent available that they don't even bat an eye when they lose major names/talent to injuries (Fletcher) and while others are going away for a while (Toni, Hangman).

Aminata came back a house of fire, so happy she's here again and looking so good.

Hurt Syndicate.... not so much. I'm guessing they are adding someone to do jobs. When do their contracts end anyway ? 

Between that final United Empire vs Deathriders insane brawl and that *AWESOME* promo segments by MJF and Omega (his best promo work since his NJPW days ?), that was one hell of a hot show leading into a supposed "transitional" PPV.

AEW is soon 7 years. And so many brains crushed and flushed in the process. Amazing run, really.

[sek69]

So Dynasty was great and all, but it was odd that all the Canadians lost on the PPV in Canada except....... *checks notes* Kyle O'Reily?

 

Jericho I get, he probably wants to show that he can put over the youngins. TK probably has the AEW title booked for the next 7 years so Omega wasn't winning, but I was shocked Cope and Cage didn't win the tag titles. 

[Boss Rock]

7 hours ago, sek69 said:

So Dynasty was great and all, but it was odd that all the Canadians lost on the PPV in Canada except....... *checks notes* Kyle O'Reily?

 

Jericho I get, he probably wants to show that he can put over the youngins. TK probably has the AEW title booked for the next 7 years so Omega wasn't winning, but I was shocked Cope and Cage didn't win the tag titles. 

At least Kyle is actually from Vancouver, ha. But yeah, odd bit of booking to have that many Canadians lose, particularly Cope and Cage (even if I am personally totally fine with them not winning the tag titles).

[Timbo Slice]

So some things I fear coming out of this:

1. Ospreay will be more of a focal point for New Japan rest of year than AEW. Meaning Tony never had him in mind for All In given his neck injury and is playing out the story he always had.
2. It’s gonna be Page somehow coming back and goading or loopholing himself the title shot at All In, which will not help fill that stadium even to the 50k they had with Danielson. 

Ospreay being in the main event should be a slam dunk; I don’t like his style but his star power in England is unquestioned, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be there. I like how Tony has booked Max as champ, and the multiple challengers gunning for him is great, but it seems odd not to lean on the obvious plays in favor of the long game he always plays?

[sek69]

Based on New Japan booking, it looks like Callum Newman is going to turn on Will at some point. 

[MoS]

Dynasty was the first wrestling event I have watched in many months, and my first thought was it was so much better-paced than usual AEW PPVs. All matches except the 6-man were excellent (at least to their audience). MJF retaining was the right decision imo. 

[El-P]

21 hours ago, Timbo Slice said:

So some things I fear coming out of this:

1. Ospreay will be more of a focal point for New Japan rest of year than AEW. Meaning Tony never had him in mind for All In given his neck injury and is playing out the story he always had.

Nope. Ospreay is winning the Owen and going to win the title at All In. I'd be *very surprised* if it did not happen like that. Him losing here against Mox is classic Ospreay's storytelling, I 100% expected him to lose this one (although they did got me because they both are so damn awesome).

6 hours ago, MoS said:

Dynasty was the first wrestling event I have watched in many months, and my first thought was it was so much better-paced than usual AEW PPVs. All matches except the 6-man were excellent (at least to their audience). MJF retaining was the right decision imo. 

AEW's PPV's have been more and more compact and well put together than before for a while now. The company is getting to a certain point of maturity and knowing where they need to be. The streak of ridiculously great PPV is now, well, ridiculous. Even more impressive when this one was basically a three week build and had absences and injuries derailing some of it too. There was a nice element of meta-booking in this one is that with Jericho and Cage & Cope losing, you could think Omega was winning in the end. Then again, you also had feel good moments with Young Bucks, Kevin Knight and the Conglomeration, so maybe it wasn't so obvious.

Omega is the best wrestler ever. Yeah, I sound like a broken record, but he really is. This match was a masterclass in build, dynamic switches, selling (Omega is the greatest seller ever too), fake finishes. It wasn't Okada vs Tanahashi, because nothing can be, but good luck to do better this year.

Also, Mox is on such a a streak. Has been for more than one year now.

Also, Thekla. Just Thekla.

I was pleasantly surprised by Jericho's performance. I mean, the man is 55. Of course, Ricochet was the perfect opponent, on many levels, but still. Same for Cage & Cope, who did end up having their great match they wanted to have. And I actually look forward to the incoming three-ways with the Bucks now.

Also, fucking Okada made me legit laugh out loud like I haven't in a long ass time watching pro-wrestling.

With Double of Nothing coming up, leading into the Owen/Forbidden Door into All In. Yeah, Summer looks great for here.

[sek69]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

Also, fucking Okada made me legit laugh out loud like I haven't in a long ass time watching pro-wrestling.

Heel Okada has been one of the best things to come out of AEW, and I love how he's clearly having the time of his life doing it. 

Also the Bucks may be the greatest I have ever seen at putting matches together. They just never miss.

[El-P]

18 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Heel Okada has been one of the best things to come out of AEW, and I love how he's clearly having the time of his life doing it. 

Oh yeah. And you know that deep inside, that's him. He's a goofball who happens to be one of the greatest and smartest wrestler ever. Remember after his legendary title reign was over, that G1 Climax where he would come to the ring carrying a bunch of balloons. But the big Takeshita match when it's going to happen, and it's happening sooner than later now, man...

18 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Also the Bucks may be the greatest I have ever seen at putting matches together. They just never miss.

This. A 1000 times. They are on a completely different level. And the thing is, not only do they put this shit together : they execute it (including when paired with extremely inferior opponents, which of course wasn't the case here).

(on a sidenote, I would have gladly done without Kamille coming back, but I'm guessing that's plugging American Gladiator and getting fed to Willow in the process)

[sek69]

12 minutes ago, El-P said:

(on a sidenote, I would have gladly done without Kamille coming back, but I'm guessing that's plugging American Gladiator and getting fed to Willow in the process)

Hey the women's division can use someone who can be something the babyface overcomes on the way up the card. 

[El-P]

40 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Hey the women's division can use someone who can be something the babyface overcomes on the way up the card. 

Might as well use someone who isn't a crappy worker that will gave them a shit match (Kamille is the only woman who had a bad match with Stat). There are plenty out there. Better abort those plans, really. (see what I did there ?)

On the other hand, Hyan and Maya World sure got tons of shit in against Lena & Bayne, good for them ! (how his that ex-WWE girl and her MAGA girlfriend's "brand" doing these days, uh ?)

On the women side, I'm just waiting for that Shida heel turn that is incoming soon.

[Blehschmidt]

3 hours ago, El-P said:

On the other hand, Hyan and Maya World sure got tons of shit in against Lena & Bayne, good for them ! (how his that ex-WWE girl and her MAGA girlfriend's "brand" doing these days, uh ?)

I'll have you know that they are doing just fine! They were signing autographs on the same show where John Lauranaitis crawled out of his hole and "returned to wrestling" for Bobby Fulton's dipshit kid in Ohio.....

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Blehschmidt said:

I'll have you know that they are doing just fine! They were signing autographs on the same show where John Lauranaitis crawled out of his hole and "returned to wrestling" for Bobby Fulton's dipshit kid in Ohio.....

Oh my God 😂 

[MoS]

Also, Jon Moxley is awesome. Forever the ace of AEW. 

[Boss Rock]

Darby did it. And while I still feel pretty confident Ospreay will win at Wembley, the path to get there and the title picture as a whole feels very unpredictable. And that's good.