AEW TV Megathread

[El-P]

Imagine thinking "I'm so excited" is not a great fucking song... Well, of course, in 2025, you better have some track from Brat if you wanna be relevant to people under 30. Then again, I hear they got Elton Jon's back for Collision, so the musical relevancy of the entire thing is not exactly striking the minds of the younger generation. Nor mine.

22 hours ago, MoS said:

Cope??

More like Copium.

Yeah, that's all I have. Been sick as a dog for the last few days.

(an ok show I guess, which is not exactly what it should have been. Highlight being Ricochet's angle with Swerve, which was great. Lowlight being Hurt Syndicate running over what used to be one of the hottest act of the company while contributing nothing to the overall product. Jarrett having his last ride run to the title angle the same year as Cena is top notch carny bullshit, you gotta love it. I legit enjoy the fact Jarrett and Dustin are gonna retire with AEW, as they are the two oldest wrestler still in activity that I started watching in the 90's. Julia Hart's return was a underwhelming, and returning now after those Moné bangers made it even harder (BTW, whatever happened to Britt Baker ?). No Ospreay, No Okada. Parts of me hope they show up in Tokyo. Mercedes should honestly have been there already and show up at Stardom's show tomorrow instead of having to run a promo by herself with no interaction with anyone. Almost feels like they were waiting for after the Dome shows to load up the card in two weeks)

[Stiva]

Dead in the water Undisputed Kingdom all in the Casino Gauntlet? Tony, you truly are spoiling me 

[El-P]

Back to back 10 minutes non-wrestling segments, one involving Jarrett (and yeah, I like Jeff but come on now), the other involving Cope (and after a week, I can say I have really zero interest in this program, the Deathriders which really started really great as just petered out into "generic heel faction" stuff). After watching two other 50 years old ex-WWE guys get programmed against the tag champs, who are cold as ice anyway.

This is not how you wanna start 2025, especially with WWE getting on fucking Netflix.

Omega's return was what it was (great jumping on Callis ass, super promising face-off with Ospreay, in front of a disappointing crowd sadly), but it seems obvious why he preferred making his big return at the Tokyo Dome delivering a classic.

So, Malakai Black seems to be gone, finally. interesting stint for sure. Protected as all hell but never really pushed either. House of Black did get Julia Hart and Brody King over. Buddy Matthews has resigned with AEW some time ago. At 39 with a really fucked up back, I don't see him ever getting too far when he goes back to WWE (after a gigantic initial pop, of course). Heyman would probably pushed the hell out of him if he had the time and maybe things would have been different.

The Von Erich are All Elite. Major fucking *yawn*. They are 30 something Brian Pilman Jr. Tier talents and will get pushed above much better and more deserving people while trying to sell tickets for that Texas stadium show. Talk about more turn-off for me when I need none.

It's gonna be a long two months before the next PPV I'm afraid.

[Jmare007]

It's been a whole ass trimester since TK decided to once again give Mox the ball and run with whatever idea he had in mind. I remember reading people saying it was an opportunity to make guys like OC and Darby and for the roster to "step up" kayfabe wise. Has any of this actually happened?

I just read that Darby is going away for months to prepare for Everest, I guess he might make All In? can he even get enough momentum to be the guy to dethrone Mox by that point?

[El-P]

2 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

It's been a whole ass trimester since TK decided to once again give Mox the ball and run with whatever idea he had in mind. I remember reading people saying it was an opportunity to make guys like OC and Darby and for the roster to "step up" kayfabe wise. Has any of this actually happened?

I just read that Darby is going away for months to prepare for Everest, I guess he might make All In? can he even get enough momentum to be the guy to dethrone Mox by that point?

The angle, which started awesome, has totally petered out. I still like the Deathriders as a bad ass heel group of great workers, but the angle itself has turned into generic heel group feuding with whomever. The Orange stuff was very cool, because Orange and Darby were the two people in the shot alongside Danielson. But after that, the 4-way felt thrown together kinda randomly. Cope & FTR feels completely off-topic. And yeah, Darby is off doing his stupid rich-boy hobby (fuck rich people going to the Everest, it's awful). If he doesn't die (which could happen, people die all the time there, there are actual corpses on the way and the long line of rich idiots waiting to go to the top collapses regularly because of the weight), at this point it'll be too late anyway.

Ospreay is the way to go. Or Omega. Either of those two. Or hell, Hangman. And it should not be at All In. It should be way before this. 

Also, Jericho needs to retire/go away. Even Dax Harwood could not get a really good match out of him. He has failed time after time the last 6 months, with Mistico, with Ishii, with Cardona. He's 54. Enough.

[Jmare007]

4 hours ago, El-P said:

The angle, which started awesome, has totally petered out. I still like the Deathriders as a bad ass heel group of great workers, but the angle itself has turned into generic heel group feuding with whomever. The Orange stuff was very cool, because Orange and Darby were the two people in the shot alongside Danielson. But after that, the 4-way felt thrown together kinda randomly. Cope & FTR feels completely off-topic. And yeah, Darby is off doing his stupid rich-boy hobby (fuck rich people going to the Everest, it's awful). If he doesn't die (which could happen, people die all the time there, there are actual corpses on the way and the long line of rich idiots waiting to go to the top collapses regularly because of the weight), at this point it'll be too late anyway.

 

I always got the "on paper" argument in favor of running with Mox and this angle, but for the life of me I just couldn't understand why anyone would believe AEW could pull off that kind of program when the past 3 years it's been pretty clear that's never been their strength.

I was repeating myself like crazy in September and October how much of a dumb idea was to go with Mox and try another heel "take over" angle just months removed from the DUD that was VPE/The Elite takeover storyline. The fact they sacrificed Swerve's run so they could give Danielson's "full time retirement" for THIS angle is dumbfounding.

[strobogo]

Darby going to be out for his Everest thing report was instant "oh no" where the Deathriders thing is going to have go on many more months and there isn't juice for anyone involved to keep stretching it out. The whole thing seemed built on eventually Darby getting the big win, but I don't think this can go another few months. 

[Big Pete]

And Darby is great and all but a big part of his appeal is being an underdog babyface. That's a lot of build for a reign that should only last a few months at most.

To me the most logical move would have been to use this as a vehicle to push Hangman. You could easily tie it into the Swerve rivalry and you could have gone in multiple directions with the Death Riders attempting to recruit Hangman only for Hangman to realise he needs some balance in his life and is ready to be THE guy for AEW. Instead it seemed like they got caught up in another side-quest and all that momentum was completely squandered.

With these type of angles you really need a strong foundation. When you look at the AEW angles that have been successful they've been built around rivalries - think Swerve/Hangman & May/Storm. I couldn't say the same for this angle where Mox/OC and Mox/Cope are obvious stepping stones to a bigger rivalry.

 

[El-P]

11 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

The fact they sacrificed Swerve's run so they could give Danielson's "full time retirement" for THIS angle is dumbfounding.

They did not sacrificed Swerve's run at all. Danielson winning at Wembley was an all-time great moment. Swerve lost nothing in this deal.

The issue with Swerve is that they did sacrifice part of his top guy aura by feeding him to 49 years old dumbass Lashley, with *zero* followup. The Hurt Syndicate brings nothing to the table that's worth Swerve or Mark Briscoe losing to them. And don't give me that "But they look like stars" shit. They have produced zero in term of interest, ratings or attendance. They are 50 years old ex WWE guys, one of them being a JTTS for life. Their booking is straight out of TNA circa 2011 thus far. And now they are gonna win the (ice cold, and that's the booking fault for not having built Private Party, despite the Young Bucks working their magic *twice* and making the crowd care about it on those days) tag titles ? Jeez. 

Right now, the top guys are Ospreay, Omega and Hangman. Hopefully Swerve vs Ricochet ends up another awesome personal Swerve blood feud which will elevate Ricochet and gives Swerve his wind back.

[Blehschmidt]

I'm glad someone else sees Hurt Syndicate as a detriment to AEW. 

Lashley being twice the size of 90% of the roster and being marketed as this unstoppable monster gives you the problem that he has to destroy everyone he gets in the ring with, so you can't afford to put half your roster in the ring with him.

Thus he is stuck in some awkward tag team feud, that no one cares about, and I can't imagine that this is what they saw themselves doing when they signed on.

 

[DMJ]

I actually like Lashley and think the feud with Swerve would've been fine...if it had led to a rematch. To me, the booking with Lashley has been silly because I'm not sure why he's not immediately inserting himself into the World Title picture. I think his presence there would actually add to the Death Riders story quite well as, when this whole Death Riders angle started, it seemed to be all about Moxley not being happy that the "AEW Originals" weren't stepping up. Well, now Mox would not only have to deal with the "originals," but he's also getting challenged by a guy who has even less loyalty to the company than he does. 

I also think Lashley going over Mark Briscoe was the perfect booking of him. I know people love Mark Briscoe and all, but he's totally fine being used as almost the modern day equivalent of "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. He absolutely deserves to be on TV and he's dependable for multi-mans and tournaments and whatnot, but he's not a main event guy. He's exactly the kind of credible fan favorite that you want your heels to beat on their way up the ladder, whether its Lashley or MJF or Takeshita or Fletcher. 

As for Shelton, I think where they went wrong with him is that his role became redundant once Lashley came in. Lashley is the big Hurt Syndicate "boss" and Shelton is basically his subordinate/henchman, which works in WWE because Shelton was treated like a midcarder for decades so that made perfect sense. In AEW, its awkward because they basically cut his legs out from under him within the first month of his arrival while still trying to promote him as a major signing/serious threat. And it isn't the first time they've done this. Look at Claudio Castagnoli. He suffered the same fate where he came in as a guy that was being "held back" and was finally going to get his opportunity to be a main eventer, but then, like, within a few weeks, it was clear he was going to be at the exact same position in AEW as he was in WWE (if not, arguably, worse). Midcard there, midcard here. 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, DMJ said:

I also think Lashley going over Mark Briscoe was the perfect booking of him. I know people love Mark Briscoe and all, but he's totally fine being used as almost the modern day equivalent of "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. He absolutely deserves to be on TV and he's dependable for multi-mans and tournaments and whatnot, but he's not a main event guy. He's exactly the kind of credible fan favorite that you want your heels to beat on their way up the ladder, whether its Lashley or MJF or Takeshita or Fletcher.

Absolutely not. Mark Briscoe should be alongside the likes of Darby, Orange, Kingston and the likes. He should be a perennial upper mid-card, near to the top, possibly underdog main-event guy. That's how over he can be (and already has been) and what is actual works warrant. Putting 50 years old ex-WWE guys like Lashley (and, fuck me, Benjamin, who should *never* have been presented as a serious threat to anyone in AEW) over guys like Briscoe is everything (not quite but still) that is wrong with AEW and reeks of old TNA booking. Hell, signing Lashley (and the other two, although MVP can be useful as a manager/character) was a mistake. They are bringing jackshit to the table thus far and hurt the perception of the homegrown guys. And they are not even that over anymore. Of course they got a big pop the first few weeks. Everybody jumping does. Guess what, they don't anymore. The only use for them is put the younger, homegrown talent over. Which probably won't happen. Therefore, terrible signings. There are way too many 50 years old ex-WWE guys getting TV time in this company (Christian, Cope, Lashley, Benjamin, to that add Jericho and Jarrett who are even older). No wonder it's seen as uncool. 

Speaking of stuff that is already overstaying their five minutes of fame, the Outrunners cute cosplay stuff is done already. They got a "polite" reaction on Collision, which had a really active crowd. And they really aren't very good at all in the ring (Magnum is pretty decent, Floyd is plain bad). Interestingly enough, Floyd did not even do the whole Hulk thingy either this week. Wonder why... (and really showed that it's the only thing he has going for him, which is a choice in itself). Still, they are programmed next week on Collision tagging with FTR, Cope (this will never cease to be funny) Hobbs vs the Deathriders and... the Learning Tree. Holy hell. Now the Deathriders are tagging with Jericho ? Talk about the kiss of death for the entire thing (as it seemed Cope was also gonna feud, kinda, with Jericho, something that no one wants to see in 2025 in the so-called alternative company).

Yeah, I said I was too hard on AEW (and I probably am), but sorry, they are kinda asking for it.

[Stiva]

Mark Briscoe should absolutely be getting pushed higher than he is. He always, always gets a good response, people are engaged when he speaks and when he works and he has an unbelievable, true life baby face inspiration story that you could do a hell of a lot with. So, obviously they don’t. In lieu of Kingston being the AEW “leader” against Moxley and co, it could have easily been Briscoe

[DMJ]

Different strokes, I guess.

The redneck kung-fu stuff is goofy to me. His promos also feel at least half-comedic even when he's in a blood feud (like the one with Jericho, for example). 

I also totally agree with most of the points brought up in the above posts...except about Lashley being "too old" or having no value. And pointing to ratings or attendance doesn't really mean much to me because, well, it's AEW. Is there anyone that is really drawing for them right now? And when we do look at things like YouTube views, lo and behold, the Copeland/Moxley segment from the last PPV got loads and loads of views despite it being wildly unpopular among many of us. 
 

[El-P]

1 hour ago, DMJ said:

I also totally agree with most of the points brought up in the above posts...except about Lashley being "too old" or having no value. And pointing to ratings or attendance doesn't really mean much to me because, well, it's AEW. Is there anyone that is really drawing for them right now? And when we do look at things like YouTube views, lo and behold, the Copeland/Moxley segment from the last PPV got loads and loads of views despite it being wildly unpopular among many of us. 

No one being a draw in AEW right now is actually an extra reason not to showcase 50 years old ex-WWE guys and put them over younger, fresher homegrown talent. Since you're not drawing well now, build for the future and make people connect with what should be your own identity.

Lashley *could* have a value. Maybe. Unless he's another Miro-type (without forgetting that Miro was also younger and a better worker, with a lot more charisma, which isn't very hard). Thus far, his booking has been nothing but damaging. Maybe him and Shelton winning the tag belts and having a run as monsters building to a younger team actually dethroning them could work. That is, if they don't run over half of the roster, making AEW talent look like crap, and actually deliver great matches, which is a requisite in the company if you want to amount to anything (remember how Warldow petered out after a while because doing a bunch of powerbombs in a row only gets your so far in front of that audience). But I don't get any good vibes out of the Hurt Syndicate, at all. Also, Swerve needs to beat his dumbass Vince McMahon's praising ass decisively, and do it sooner than later. Coach TK needs to get his head out of his ass and not book like he's working for Dixie Carter.

As far as Cope/Mox getting lots of plays on social media, it's nice for AEW, but social media views have never meant jackshit in the real world. WWE used to push their social medias views like crazy while they were losing popularity. I don't care about this pairing, I also don't doubt they can have a really excellent main-event match, as Copeland's work ethic in AEW has been evident.

[sek69]

Kenny/Ospreay vs Fletcher//Takeshita is gonna be a banger. Someone said earllier AEW and New Japan should be fighting over who gets to push Takeshita harder and I agree 100%.

[Big Pete]

I like Mark, but he's been wrestling for 25 years now, 5 years longer than Lashley and he's always been that Jim Duggan type of gate-keeper. I think he's fine in that role and while he could wave the AEW flag similar to how Hacksaw waved the WCW flag against the nWo that's really the extent of it.

As far as the Hurt Syndicate, I've always liked that pairing dating back to TNA but I'm not really enjoying their direction right now. The influence they had over Ricochet was a net negative and this 'he's totally a heel now bro, you're not sposed to like him' is such a monumental waste. Maybe they can revive the tag team division and they can book actual stars in the division. Private Party just feels like one of those 2010s esque Slater-Gator WWE tag teams and the whole division needs re-tooling.

It's bizarre because AEW have shown on numerous occassions that tag team wrestling can be the highlight of the show but they've never run with it. Hell, I think that match you just posted sek could be the best tag match of the year. However they just never commit to it as strongly as they should.

 

 

[sek69]

JOE JOE JOE

[KawadaSmile]

I find it very symbolic that MJF had another stinker of a promo on the same show Joe comes back.

[Alucard]

if Keith Lee ever comes back, I would dig him and Swerve reuniting to take down the Hurt Syndicate for the tag titles.

[Stiva]

4 hours ago, sek69 said:

JOE JOE JOE

So glad he’s back. Now, have him beat Mox and sort the belt out like he did after beating MJF

[Blehschmidt]

That MJF/Jarrett segment was painful. There was zero need to try and make Alicia Atout look like a whore. Then the Owen stuff. Just a bunch of cheap heat on top of cheat heat that went on WAY too fucking long.

Then after that bullshit, you have the women's gauntlet match end up getting less than 15 minutes.

I am usually not an AEW hater, but between those two things, the Hurt Syndicate which I've already commented on, Omega looking rusty as hell, and my continued indifference to Hook, last nights episode was rough.

 

[El-P]

As far as positives go, I loved the venue. Smaller places with character is the way to go. Hopefully they go back and focus on these kind of venues. Yes, it feels smaller. Well, I always enjoyed smaller venues much better. It's human sized, it's more intimate, it makes for a better atmopshere and cooler look. 

Enjoyed the opener and the main event a lot. Gotta love Mox going for the old Terry Funk "I'll blade my ear and it will be gory as fuck" vibe. The women gauntlet was tons of fun, maybe a bit on the short side though. The Megan Bayne debut was a success (an hopefully that means Kamille is done), she was rumored to be part of AEW for so long, dating back from when she was in Stardom. Mariah announcing is a hoot. On a sidenote, I would have really enjoyed if Nyla Rose was involved, ya know. Take a stand, Coach TK. It's gonna be time. The Ricochet & Swerve Strickland angle was great, once again. Swerve can't miss it seems and Ricochet as a heel is totally a step above is babyface stuff thus far.

Enjoyed the various vignettes they did. That was cool.

Then, Hurt Syndicate had a good match with Briscoe and Private Party. It's funny how MVP is just world ahead of his comrade in term of charisma, promo skills (well, they have none, of either) and at his peak was also the best worker. BUT. Private Party are officially geeks. They just got beat. Clean. Quickly. Again, this stuff is not doing any good. And the bloom is already off the rose, Hurt Syndicate don't get big reactions anymore. They are *there*.

Joe coming back was great. I'm so glad. He saved that segment. Because really, it's time to be real : Hook is an overpushed nepobaby rookie who isn't over anymore. He did not look good at all here. Christian was having a match with himself almost. It was cute when people chanted "We want Hook" even before he debuted. He's been exposed. He needs tons of work from the basics up. Again, Nick Wayne is right there. He's already fucking terrific.

And then, boy oh boy, that MJF / Jarrett segment. My soft spot for Jarrett wanna not be too harsh, and I do appreciate the fact he's still working hard at this point and has been lots of fun in AEW. But this ain't it. Yeah, the entire "Your wife used to fuck Kurt Angle" / "Your girlfriend likes to gangbang in the parking lot" was cringe as hell. Segment went three times as long as it needed to go to. The Owen stuff doesn't bother me 25 years later. I sure hope they asked Martha Hart's permission though. Considering Jarrett was so close, I would guess so. The fun fact of MJF wearing a blue blazer went straight over my head. I dunno, it was a mix of really good stuff and delivery on MJF part, and some really dated edgelord stuff, also typical of MJF. But yeah, the whole slut shaming shit was so tacky in 2025 (not that it would have been better 20 years ago, but it used to be the norm).

BTW, speaking about Alicia Atout, does she ever work ? She has appeared liked once or twice on Rampage or Collision, never to been seen again. They already have Renee and Lexy, who are great at this, both of them, I don't know where Atout fits (obviously nowhere thus far). Maybe make her a manager like she used to do in MLW when she was with RIchard Holliday. 

Last thing that struck me. This can't be ignored. There was this succession of segments with : The Hurt Syndicate (48, 49, 51), Jeff Jarrett (57), Christian Cage (51), and then the show ended with the run in of FTR and Copeland (51). We have a real issue right there. Remember at the start of AEW when the average age of the roster was so much younger than WWE's ? This show felt like old guys after old guys. And then on Collision you have a match with Chris Daniels (whom I love and will probably enjoy a lot) 54, and the the multi-men with Jericho (54) and Copeland again. To make a puroresu analogy, AEW feels more like NOAH of a few years back (dunno if it's still the case) than NJPW.

[Big Pete]

3 hours ago, El-P said:

Last thing that struck me. This can't be ignored. There was this succession of segments with : The Hurt Syndicate (48, 49, 51), Jeff Jarrett (57), Christian Cage (51), and then the show ended with the run in of FTR and Copeland (51). We have a real issue right there. Remember at the start of AEW when the average age of the roster was so much younger than WWE's ? This show felt like old guys after old guys. And then on Collision you have a match with Chris Daniels (whom I love and will probably enjoy a lot) 54, and the the multi-men with Jericho (54) and Copeland again. To make a puroresu analogy, AEW feels more like NOAH of a few years back (dunno if it's still the case) than NJPW.

That thought crossed my mind as well after the Mark Briscoe/Bobby Lashley discussion. Every key segment revolved around an older talent, including the return of Samoa Joe who isn't a spring chicken at 45 (going on 46). Even the opener was between two 40-year olds so the demographic definitely skews older and the roster doesn't feel as fresh as it did in 2019.

[Stiva]

I dug the show as a whole but I third that. They should really be pivoting toward the likes of Swerve, Darby, Hangman, Takeshita, Hobbs, Garcia etc in featured feuds and marquee matches. Obviously, the older guys are still pulling their weight (Jericho aside) but I do hope 2025 is the start of concerted, sustained pushes for their stronger prospects.