AEW TV Megathread

[The Thread Killer]

One of the main reasons FTR left WWE to begin with is because the fed treated their Tag Division and Tag Team Wrestling like a joke and an afterthought. That hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s gotten worse. There is literally no competition for FTR in WWE. I’m not even an AEW fan but I think it would be ridiculous for them to leave AEW. Plus @sek69 is right, no way TKO pays the kind of money FTR would want to make the jump.

[Stiva]

I imagine FTR will re-up for the reasons stated but it’s also probably a good time for them to take a few months off. Especially with MCMG and New Day likely to come in. 

As for DoN, yeah, that feels like the best show they’ve ever done. It just came roaring out the blocks with the opening tag and just never let up 

[El-P]

Hey, so Double of Nothing was awesome. Who could have predicted ? Funny though, I don't really get the feeling it was one of their greatest show ever, as it has been pimped as, just yet another great one. Although it's true it did not really had any lulls. Takeshita vs Okada was one for the ages. The stadium itself was a wonderful place for an AEW show and they should come back again and again.

[DMJ]

I'm one of those people of the opinion that it wasn't just one of AEW's greatest shows ever, but on the shortlist for best PPVs ever from any company.

I didn't think a single match was a 5-star classic - certainly not Takeshita/Okada (which was very good, just not an all-timer) - but there no match was less than good and I think I was pretty conservative in my own ratings (cheap plug: Kwang The Blog) compared to some of the scores on Cagematch or that Meltzer gave.

Aside from just the uniformly good-to-great wrestling, I think the show was very wisely structured, and, rather shockingly, restrained (at least in terms of AEW). There wasn't any over-the-top gore and, in the better matches, including Allin/MJF, they let things breathe between the bigger spots.

I'll use a few examples to highlight my point: in the opener, we saw a flaming table spot but it actually only involved one of the four wrestlers in the match, which was smart because being put through a flaming table should be an automatic match-ender. AEW gets a ton of criticism for having guys withstand uncanny amounts of violence and kick out of the craziest moves, but that wasn't the case here. Then, when Edge busted out "Spike," it was treated like a match-ender, and not like any ol' weapon. Fast forward to the main event and, if one was actually watching and not just giving bad faith knee-jerk reactions, Darby Allin took a ton of punishment to his neck but after each big spot, MJF also struggled to make a real cover, often having to bring Allin back into the ring from the outside (like the piledriver on the steps) or reposition him or gather his own bearings. The actual finish not only played-up Darby's exhaustion but MJF finally stringing together the right move - a piledriver from the top - in the right position (center of the ring) to win the match. 

I'll also say, without checking on match runtimes, it felt like there was some variety there too. I really liked Ospreay/Joe and the Thekla match and Swerve/Bandido and the Stadium Stampede and I don't really know how long any of them went (aside from the Stampede being 30+ with all the entrances and hijinks) but they all felt like they got enough time without veering into repetitiveness or "self-conscious epic territory." Even O'Reilly/Mox, with its "No Time Limit" stipulation - usually a tell that the match is going to go 25+ - didn't feel too long. In fact, despite being a bigger fan of Takeshita (who had a similar stipulation match with Mox not too long ago), I think Mox and O'Reilly simply have better chemistry.

I would've preferred a better, more exciting show-ending angle than the Kevin Knight turn - something that probably could've been saved for Dynamite, to be honest - but that's a small gripe based on AEW sometimes ending their shows with these big reveals/returns/debuts (which don't always pan out anyway). I don't think fans were expecting any sort of big angle at the end so I wouldn't consider it a disappointment and I'll at least give credit to TK for attempting to make Knight a bigger star by giving him that spotlight moment. Again, it may not pan out long-term, but at least he's trying to keep things fresh at the top of the card. 

 

[El-P]

8 minutes ago, DMJ said:

There wasn't any over-the-top gore 

They really could not bleed in NYC because commissions are still a thing. Which is the most ridiculous thing ever.

I thought the main event, although absolutely a great match, needed that *one* false finish where everybody really thought Darby was actually winning, to really put it over the top, and I feel like it did not had that. Minor quibble, really.

The Kevin Knight turn was really well done, as it really was half-way predictable, but only in a way where you could see it happen *just before* it happened, because of how Knight had been acting in the previous weeks, with the almost exaggerated, performative positivity. 

 

[El-P]

They sure made up for the lack of blood at DoN with Shida breaking lightubes on Stat's back. We're at this point where stuff that would have been really good PPV matches 7 years ago are not regular stuff on weekly TV. Crazy times. This week's episode looks special already, with Rush vs MJF and JetSpeed exploding. Also, who is gonna be the wild card ? Plugging Mercedes in this would not be the worst idea now, you know...

[sek69]

I think Mercedes is a better fit for the TBS title match, since she wouldn't be winning the Owen unless TK threw out whatever plan he had going into it. Plus it would make sense story wise since the TBS title was one of the 47 million belts she had before she left. 

[El-P]

Yeah, but she's been there done that. The one story you tell about Mercedes when she comes back is the fact she could never win the World title and her quest to do so. But yeah, I don't think it will be her either. If she wasn't part of the plan at first, I don't see them derailing the entire booking that way. Unless Willow was winning. 

Man. Marina Shafir is unhinged. I love her so much. 😂

[Monch Wrestling]

1 hour ago, El-P said:

Yeah, but she's been there done that. The one story you tell about Mercedes when she comes back is the fact she could never win the World title and her quest to do so. But yeah, I don't think it will be her either. If she wasn't part of the plan at first, I don't see them derailing the entire booking that way. Unless Willow was winning. 

Man. Marina Shafir is unhinged. I love her so much. 😂

The Mercedes story works better if she beats Toni, the only person she hasn't beat before, to finally win the big one, unfortunately it's not possible right now.

[El-P]

25 minutes ago, Monch Wrestling said:

The Mercedes story works better if she beats Toni, the only person she hasn't beat before, to finally win the big one, unfortunately it's not possible right now.

Oh yeah, that too. 

[Stephen-]

Mercedes is not supposed to be sympathetic. She’s the furthest thing from it. I don’t think she needs a payoff to win the world title. In fact, maybe it’s better if she doesn’t beat Toni, and she is conscious of Toni beating her before. 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, Stephen- said:

Mercedes is not supposed to be sympathetic. She’s the furthest thing from it. I don’t think she needs a payoff to win the world title. In fact, maybe it’s better if she doesn’t beat Toni, and she is conscious of Toni beating her before. 

Oh yeah, that too. 

Any way is fine with me. And yes, she's a born heel and ten times better as a heel, although at one point people will just want to cheer for her because of how appreciative they are. Maybe Mercedes winning it with the shadow of Toni looming is actually the best scenario, yes.

Maybe the wild card will be Britt Baker... For some reason, I still believe she will show up once again for one last ride if her health allows it.

Or Serena Deeb... Ya know.

[Timbo Slice]

Baker is basically at home waiting out her contract, no chance she returns. 
 

An interesting thing to watch the next few weeks is going to be who Tony decides to go with at All In to face Will: I actually think they’re going to lean towards Kenny in that spot because they did Will/MJF already at Wembley AND he won decisively. Have to imagine Kenny is gonna wind down as a full time guy soon enough and him getting a chance to lead a show would be a fitting way to end that time. Hardly a bad choice, though. Tony has booked this beautifully. He has really done a great job of leaving multiple paths out there across the board. Some of his finest work this year. 

[El-P]

35 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said:

Baker is basically at home waiting out her contract, no chance she returns. 

Maybe so, yes. BTW, remember Keith Lee ?

35 minutes ago, Timbo Slice said:

An interesting thing to watch the next few weeks is going to be who Tony decides to go with at All In to face Will: I actually think they’re going to lean towards Kenny in that spot because they did Will/MJF already at Wembley AND he won decisively. Have to imagine Kenny is gonna wind down as a full time guy soon enough and him getting a chance to lead a show would be a fitting way to end that time. Hardly a bad choice, though. Tony has booked this beautifully. He has really done a great job of leaving multiple paths out there across the board. Some of his finest work this year. 

Ospreay vs Omega at Wembley would be beautiful. Yeah, the main event scene this year has really been super strongly booked. It's been pretty compelling, and very different from last year too, which is always good. Mix up the dynamics.

[Blehschmidt]

11 hours ago, El-P said:

Yeah, but she's been there done that. The one story you tell about Mercedes when she comes back is the fact she could never win the World title and her quest to do so. But yeah, I don't think it will be her either. If she wasn't part of the plan at first, I don't see them derailing the entire booking that way. Unless Willow was winning. 

Man. Marina Shafir is unhinged. I love her so much. 😂

I honestly feel like Willow was the plan if you look at the brackets.

Hazuki/Persephone, Willow/Windsor, Athena/Mina, Skye/Sareee 

Unless the plan is to have both Will and Windsor get the shots at Wembley (which god I hope not cause Alex is fucking terrible) Willow makes the most sense out of those brackets.

and my guess is that the mystery person just ends up being Jamie Hayter unless they have a debut waiting to happen like Charlie or Kairi

 

as for your mention of Keith Lee.... did we ever actually find out what the fuck is going on there?

[El-P]

Last match on December 2023. Against Brian Cage of all people. 

Britt Baker on November 2024. Against Penelope Ford of all people (crazy when you check her matches, she debuted in 2015 and has worked only 266 matches total, and she's 35 now)

(speaking of people I don't mind if they never show up again, Wardlow is 38 and has had a whooping 190 matches in his career. yeah, no wonder some people never ever progress)

So many vanishing acts around...

[Scarletlikesounds]

The womens owen is definitely interesting when you combine it with the fact they're going to be running a survival of the fittest for the TBS title soon- if it felt like the division was stretched thin before now we have two tournaments and who knows how they're going to go. Bets perhaps on Athena winning owen Marina as TBS? Fair warning I may be misunderstanding something as I've never seen a survival of the fittest.

[Scarletlikesounds]

Also, can I say how perfect Collision 146 was? First off, loved the revolving door of guest commentators. Even if they weren't all great it added another unique flavor to the show. TayJay finally giving Divine Dominion a challenge was nice to see. Hazuki in AEW is awesome and her and Maya World went out there and showed off for 10 minutes. Out of nowhere, random unannounced dream match in Lee Moriarty vs. Tim Bosby which was great even for a 1 minute match. STP on collision! And what a fun ass match too, loved the spot in the corner, the knockout punch from Shane to Mox & PAC having to play babyface in peril desperate for the hot tag for the first time in his life. Dogs vs. Gunns was almost as great, The Dogs have been on a tear lately with some really special intensity and the Gunns looked great returning as a team. Jake Doyle is back and they've teamed him with Brian Cage, which is a kickass pairing if i've ever seen one. Finally, top it off with a shockingly great Takeshita vs. Garcia match where Takeshita actually manages to sell for once. Throw in some fun segments like Triangle of Madness drama, Lio Rush goofin off, and Ciampa doing a throwback, it was everything I wanted from a Collision.

[El-P]

As far as the wild card goes, since we're into this UK thingy, just give me Dani Luna. She didn't leave TNA on her own just to go back to RevPro to put Alexxis Falcon over, ya know.

Also, this is the peak commentary. Tony Schiavone is living his best life (and so am I).

[MoS]

Pretty much everything in AEW is clicking right now - except Jungle Jack doing a discount version of Raven. 

I also think they should go with Omega-Ospreay for Wembley. I think that will both draw more and be a better story.