AEW TV Megathread

[El-P]

18 hours ago, Boss Rock said:

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.

I wasn't sure it was gonna happen at first. But when Sting showed up backstage, it was like, yep, this is Lex Luger winning against Hogan at Nitro. And although it wasn't exactly that, because context are very different, it pretty much was. So, enjoy it while you can Darby, you're losing it at Double or Nothing in NY. Difference is, now you're made. Gotta love how they really are pushing the idea now that when you're getting close to the top, you are going for the big one, whether you're a heel or a face. (BTW, Kevin Knight is absolutely turning heel on Speedball when joining Swerve, right ?)

And yeah, whatever is happening with Mox and Ospreay, William is winning at Wembley. And then... Ospreay vs Omega ?

Thekla is so fucking awesome. It's crazy, when you think back like 4 years ago in Stardom, looking at Giulia, Mariah May and Thekla and thought, well, these three are gonna be in the US, who do you think is gonna be the biggest star. And Mariah *could* have (although it has to be said she really never got that over when she was away from Toni, and I say that despite really loving her work). Giulia, well, it was obvious to anyone paying attention to what she was about WWE was gonna ruin her. And yet, it's not like Thekla became the one by default, as she basically is the best women's champ they had apart from Toni. Gotta love her throwing "dumb bitches" and shit in front of those kids too 😅.

 

[Blehschmidt]

Thekla going from basically being "Giulia's tag team partner" in Stardom to eclipsing her in pretty much every way in the U.S. certainly wasn't on my radar 

[sek69]

7 hours ago, El-P said:

Gotta love her throwing "dumb bitches" and shit in front of those kids too 😅.

The look on that kid's face when she said that had me rolling 

Speaking of kids, watching the kids in the audience losing their shit when Darby won reminded me of Ron Simmons winning the WCW title. Obviously the contexts were different but that vibe of "my guy did it" was similar. 

[MoS]

Watched the full Dynamite. Tremendous, tremendous show. Darby is the best TV worker of the decade and him having a cup of coffee with the belt is good. He is terrible on the mic though lol, so best to just have him remain mostly silent. When did MJF become such a great main event-level worker?!?! He was certainly not this comfortable and good in his first world title run 

[El-P]

Meanwhile, at the Stardom show in Vegas...

This shit is just gold.

[MoS]

Thekla is awesome. I had seen a bit of her before work overwhelmed me last year but I watched this Dynamite episode and what an absolute superstar. "I was talking aobut dumb bitches, and here you magically appear!!" LMAO big pop

[El-P]

I don't care, I'm actually enjoying Lio Rush's Gollum persona a lot. I'm always a sucker for good creepy gimmick, and this one is particulary fitting both this guy's singular body type (he's a tiny mofo) and very singular working abilities (super quick, super explosive). He's doing a great job at it too. No idea if it is gonna get over, but I must say PAC and even Danny Garcia at ringside did a hell of a job selling the character, and so did Excalibur talking about the Great Muta, which is really how you should sell it (it's really a mix of Mankind/Muta, and actually can get over as a babyface). I hope it will get the time to develop and chance to get over, because Rush is so damn talented and so unique.

[MoS]

I owe Ciampa an apology. Years of NXT slop had corrupted my impression of him. Tremendous match tonight and this Darby mini-reign is going to be awesome. 

 

I think Darby will be my highest-ranked AEW wrestler (as in, those who have made their names in the North American scene by working in AEW, so people like Danielson are excluded) in GWE. Dude never misses. He is the best TV worker of the last 15 years at minimum. 

[Timbo Slice]

A lot of AEW fans are showing ass right now around the Darby reign and it’s aggravating. This idea that he’s not a Top Guy or some shit or whatever subjective gatekeeping they come with is nonsense. 
 

He’s had a ton of title shots over the years, he’s one of the AEW Four Pillars, he is one of the few names with legit crossover appeal given what he’s done outside the ring, and folks want to say this is the Foley reign or whatever lazy comparison. 
 

These types of title changes and reigns have happened for decades. There’s not a damn thing wrong with the decision, and Darby is more than good enough to have the title. Not everyone in the company needs to work 30 minute Epic Main Events to be World Champion. Enjoy the fact you truly have variety that can work at the top of the company when the competition can only offer anodyne, highly sanitized folks at the top. 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Timbo Slice said:

There’s not a damn thing wrong with the decision, and Darby is more than good enough to have the title. Not everyone in the company needs to work 30 minute Epic Main Events to be World Champion. Enjoy the fact you truly have variety that can work at the top of the company when the competition can only offer anodyne, highly sanitized folks at the top. 

This.

I'm just glad I'm away from most discourse, although I do check bluesky and (gasp) reddit a bit.

Darby as short-term world champ working great TV match is awesome.

[MoS]

People will complain about anything AEW does. The parasocial relationship so many fans have with WWE is pathetic

[Jmare007]

23 hours ago, Timbo Slice said:

A lot of AEW fans are showing ass right now around the Darby reign and it’s aggravating. This idea that he’s not a Top Guy or some shit or whatever subjective gatekeeping they come with is nonsense. 
 

He’s had a ton of title shots over the years, he’s one of the AEW Four Pillars, he is one of the few names with legit crossover appeal given what he’s done outside the ring, and folks want to say this is the Foley reign or whatever lazy comparison. 
 

These types of title changes and reigns have happened for decades. There’s not a damn thing wrong with the decision, and Darby is more than good enough to have the title. Not everyone in the company needs to work 30 minute Epic Main Events to be World Champion. Enjoy the fact you truly have variety that can work at the top of the company when the competition can only offer anodyne, highly sanitized folks at the top. 

I agree with all of this. I do think we gotta stop using "AEW Four Pillars" as a thing though. That promo aged like milk and only MFJ and Darby showed they belonged on a foundational level. 

I mean, Sammy Guevara being named at the time was laughable in 2022 and nowadays he's in the spot he should be in. And Jungle Boy also found his real place on the card.  

[MoS]

MJF and Darby were always a level above the other two anyway. Yeah, AEW should never have used the "4 Pillars" term. No way it would have resulted in anything good

[The Thread Killer]

57 minutes ago, MoS said:

MJF and Darby were always a level above the other two anyway. Yeah, AEW should never have used the "4 Pillars" term. No way it would have resulted in anything good

Hey, when he was in AEW, Punk suggested that Britt Baker should have been named as one of the 4 AEW Pillars, and her AEW career has certainly turned out…

Oh, right. Never mind.

Perhaps in hindsight it was a bad idea after all.

[El-P]

Sammy is actually great and living his best life doing hilarious sleazy heel shit in ROH tagging alongside LFI. He just needs to never ever be a babyface again.

[El-P]

Love the latest twist in Ospreay/Mox feud. Mox is gonna be the arch enemy leading Ospreay to actually get over his neck injury and win it all. And then... Mox and the Deathriders really are the most compelling group in pro-wrestling in eons. And they always deliver in-ring to boot. Some all-time great shit, really.

Collision becoming "the show with cool ass matches back to back" is really the perfect fit.

[Timbo Slice]

I’m really stoked that they’re telling that story with Ospreay. It plays into all the narratives about him being reckless, it shows self-awareness on his part coming back from injury like that to actually show some type of evolution, it’s compelling! It’s something I’ve wanted from him for a long time!

But I also like that there’s a tinge of him learning a bit of the Dark Arts to find that control to reach his full potential. This has my full attention. 

[Boss Rock]

I thought they were overcomplicating things at first and thought it should just be about Ospreay seeking revenge. But this undoubtedly adds a super interesting wrinkle.

[MoS]

What a delightful episode of Dynamite. Kevin Knight is a star. 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, MoS said:

What a delightful episode of Dynamite. Kevin Knight is a star. 

It's crazy to think back of his NJPW Strong days where basically he was "the guy who jumps very high". He has come a long way, and really improved a ton this last year. I never thought he could be that kinda guy even just before he jumped, when he was still in TNA tagging with Kushida. He was a really good high flying tag guy, but now he's on another level. Not yet Kyle Fletcher, but clearly someone TK was right to focus on.

Okada is so damn smart and it's also in little details like stuff in that Austin match that you can see it. Knowing Ace Austin very well (I've watched him for years and years in TNA), it's fun to see how Okada uses some his his key spots and moves (like the handstand on the apron) to do stuff that no one else does with it. The spot he chosed to counter with his dropkick was another one. Also says how much Okada actually cares and pays attention to his dance partner, because he will not do routine things, he pick a few key spots and make things more interesting with them. Also, it has to be reminded everytime how great Callis is putting people over. Match had not yet started and he was already saying he great Ace Austin was (the opposite of MVP, basically).

Brodie trying to bump harder than Darby was quite something.

I dunno if they have a plan for Rush, but they sure seem to build him for something. 

Loving the Mox/Ospreay stuff. As I said before. Cool vignette. (was Mox poking PAC's lil belly, well, non-existent belly, a try to break him out of character 😄 ?)

I don't care much for the Cope & Cage nostalgia run, and Excalibur saying they basically were on another level than FTR was a mistake (and absolutely wrong and every level imaginable, they were not even the Hardies as a tag team), but there you go, they had a really good match with Roppongi Vice. Kinda shocked they made it so competitive too, as Rocky I don't think as won one match in AEW. Hopefully if they get a title run it's just a quickie with them running a gauntlet of cool teams and good matches that actually elevates everyone involved.

The women tag match had a few rough spot, but godamn they picked it up. And Bayne is both such a monster AND an awesome bumper. Her & Lena vs the Brawling Birds, I guess at Wembley, should bring the ass beating. Really like that version of Shida. I guess it will end up with some wild brawl against Stat, who looked great in this BTW.

So, now it's Anna Jay's time to make a losing return against Willow on Collision ? Last time I saw her was on a Twitch clip where Jack Perry fell off his chair (took a good bump too). This has become such a gimmick that it has to lead to some bigger return. They could throw Tay Melo in there, as she really has not been seen for ever again. But in the end, either you could make it Mercedes coming back, but then again the TNT title is a latter of been there, done that. Either... Britt Baker ? (I mean, now that Jericho has come back, I could see them trying a Britt comeback, if she's healthy and actually willing to do business and try something different, because the days of "The house that Britt Baker DMD built" are way behind now) Or someone new, ya know... 

Oh yeah, and Andrade leaning into the "How you know ?" thingy that had become a meme got a good laugh out of me. Babyface turn when ? You know it's coming.

Oh yeah too : Swerve going after Bandido ? Please. Yes.

[MoS]

I am not enjoying the Cope and Cage stuff either, but it is nice to see Cope playing 2nd fiddle to Cage. Something that should have happened from 1999 onwards 

[Stiva]

I assume the plan is C+C winning the title then having the matches against the Bucks, MCMG, JetSpeed and whoever else before losing them around All Out time. I really don’t have an issue with that side of it 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Stiva said:

I assume the plan is C+C winning the title then having the matches against the Bucks, MCMG, JetSpeed and whoever else before losing them around All Out time. I really don’t have an issue with that side of it 

I mean, I can get behind that, judging from how much they gave Roppongi Vice. They seem pretty motivated (which is something I will never take away from Copeland in AEW at least. Oh, and glad he's Adam Copeland again). 

[El-P]

Also, after seeing B3CCA used last week, I just hope they sign her and have her do the "Hot Bod" song intro. So I won't be the only one stuck with it in my brains for weeks now. And she seriously looked good again Stat too, so there you go. Sign her.

[Luna_Bourke]

8 hours ago, El-P said:

It's crazy to think back of his NJPW Strong days where basically he was "the guy who jumps very high". He has come a long way, and really improved a ton this last year. I never thought he could be that kinda guy even just before he jumped, when he was still in TNA tagging with Kushida. He was a really good high flying tag guy, but now he's on another level. Not yet Kyle Fletcher, but clearly someone TK was right to focus on.

Okada is so damn smart and it's also in little details like stuff in that Austin match that you can see it. Knowing Ace Austin very well (I've watched him for years and years in TNA), it's fun to see how Okada uses some his his key spots and moves (like the handstand on the apron) to do stuff that no one else does with it. The spot he chosed to counter with his dropkick was another one. Also says how much Okada actually cares and pays attention to his dance partner, because he will not do routine things, he pick a few key spots and make things more interesting with them. Also, it has to be reminded everytime how great Callis is putting people over. Match had not yet started and he was already saying he great Ace Austin was (the opposite of MVP, basically).

Brodie trying to bump harder than Darby was quite something.

I dunno if they have a plan for Rush, but they sure seem to build him for something. 

Loving the Mox/Ospreay stuff. As I said before. Cool vignette. (was Mox poking PAC's lil belly, well, non-existent belly, a try to break him out of character 😄 ?)

I don't care much for the Cope & Cage nostalgia run, and Excalibur saying they basically were on another level than FTR was a mistake (and absolutely wrong and every level imaginable, they were not even the Hardies as a tag team), but there you go, they had a really good match with Roppongi Vice. Kinda shocked they made it so competitive too, as Rocky I don't think as won one match in AEW. Hopefully if they get a title run it's just a quickie with them running a gauntlet of cool teams and good matches that actually elevates everyone involved.

The women tag match had a few rough spot, but godamn they picked it up. And Bayne is both such a monster AND an awesome bumper. Her & Lena vs the Brawling Birds, I guess at Wembley, should bring the ass beating. Really like that version of Shida. I guess it will end up with some wild brawl against Stat, who looked great in this BTW.

So, now it's Anna Jay's time to make a losing return against Willow on Collision ? Last time I saw her was on a Twitch clip where Jack Perry fell off his chair (took a good bump too). This has become such a gimmick that it has to lead to some bigger return. They could throw Tay Melo in there, as she really has not been seen for ever again. But in the end, either you could make it Mercedes coming back, but then again the TNT title is a latter of been there, done that. Either... Britt Baker ? (I mean, now that Jericho has come back, I could see them trying a Britt comeback, if she's healthy and actually willing to do business and try something different, because the days of "The house that Britt Baker DMD built" are way behind now) Or someone new, ya know... 

Oh yeah, and Andrade leaning into the "How you know ?" thingy that had become a meme got a good laugh out of me. Babyface turn when ? You know it's coming.

Oh yeah too : Swerve going after Bandido ? Please. Yes.

When it comes to Kevin Knight, I thought he was an really good when tagging with Kushida, a great tag team. But it just seems like NJPW didn't see much in him, like he was a set Jr Tag guy, never even challenged for the singles Jr Title, and the junior division is certainly a ceiling, he was (possibly is) under a dual contract, but after BOSJ he said he wanted to turn heavyweight NJPW stopped using him, I guess a bit of a TJP situation (except Kevin Knight had a future past NJPW jr tag guy, which is a really fun role to watch, probs less fulfilling to be in). I guess cause he is a high flyer, and still is firmly junior weight so I can see why AEW sees more in him, but NJPW. I think he has improved, especially in his presentation, but I think he hasn't improved greatly since in-ring since was already very good to great. I don't see him leapfroging Kyle Fletcher, who was better than him at 2021 than Kevin Knight is now, and is now best in the world material. For me Kevin Knight is defo making the most of his current oppertunities, his C2 run and JetSpeed stuff has been great, and I think his TNT run should be great and I am excited for the World Title match, but I don't think he should be World Champ for a bit (World Tag and World Trios, but not the Men's World Title), I would put Ospreay, Fletcher and Takeshita above him, and maybe Bandido (plus reigns for a few of the prev champs again as well).