SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
As is custom, a little housekeeping first. Welcome back Rey Fenix. It was great to see him back in the ring after six months on the shelf with a hip injury and visa issues. His match with The Beast Mortos on Collision was really good. Mortos is such a unique luchador. He needs to be on TV more often. Welcome back as well to Rush. El Toro Blanco had been out of action since the C2 back in December, but he returned on Collision as well quickly dispatching of the former Danny Burch who was dressed as though he should be bouncing at a local Jacksonville nightclub.
Kamille has officially been signed by AEW. Not the highest profile free agent but a good signing nonetheless. Speaking of free agents, Grizzled Young Vets had a great showing against the Acclaimed. I understand why they had to lose but they really should’ve won. Tony Khan needs to get them under contract ASAP to help rebuild the tag division.
A note about The Acclaimed: It’s time to break them up. Max Caster has never been Tupac Shakur on the mic, but his raps are getting more desperate, and frankly offensive. Bowens has single star potential. It’s time to see what he can do on his own. One final bit of housekeeping, shout out to Rich Eisen who put over AEW on the NFL Network coverage of the opening night NFL Draft. He did “whose house”, alluded to being “All In” multiple times and put over the TK piledriver angle with a straight face, so props to him.
That brings us to current business. AEW is back in the Great White North, specifically Winnipeg, Manitoba and it promises to be an interesting show. Last week AEW kicked off its first real umbrella story in the biggest way possible. This week it’s all about the follow-up. The follow-up, which is almost surely going to involve a certain returning Winnipegger, must be strong to keep this story generating buzz.
Elsewhere we are due to learn who will challenge the new world champion at Double or Nothing. There’s also a very strong women’s match and a TNT title match on tap. AEW certainly took a shot last week and to quote the most famous hockey player of all time, The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”.
The Elite Hostile Takeover
Last week on Dynamite the Elite made a statement by attacking AEW CEO and GM Tony Khan. The returning Jack Perry, who returned alongside the Elite (albeit in separate vehicles), requested an in-ring audience with Khan after initially being prevented from entering the building. Khan came out and Perry, after initially buttering up the Jacksonville crowd, said he always acted in AEW’s best interests and asked Khan to reinstate him and shake his hand. Khan obliged without much of a second thought, shaking hands with and embracing the Hollywood scion. As they hugged Perry ominously smirked towards the camera and as they raised each other’s arms, Perry struck Khan in the midsection with the mic.
Initially Khan dropped to mat as though he had been shot before (comically) selling his ribs. The rest of the Elite ran out feigning shock and pretending to help Tony to his feet before clearly positioning him for an EVP Trigger. Okada intervened and called for the Tony Khan Driver. The Bucks obliged and while Okada did his best Scott Hall pointing pose, laid out Tony to the shock of the crowd and disgust of the commentators. The moment was sold well, with the commentators dropped out, no music played, referees, officials, medical staff and some of the locker room entered the ring as the Elite proudly walked away. Even Shad Khan made an appearance as the show faded out. This was certainly a big angle to run with Tony taking his first ever bumps.
Though his selling of the punch was delightfully funny, the rest of the execution was actually pretty good. The silence from the commentators and the lack of entrance music playing made everything feel more serious as did Shad Khan coming out. It was hard to tell because of the audio issues TBS was having and the fact that that Daily’s Place is an amphitheater but there were definitely boos. Tony sold the injury, wearing a neck brace throughout the draft. On Collision Tony Schiavone updated his medical status, saying that he suffered head and neck injuries and would be running AEW remotely as he is not cleared to travel.
While he may technically be running the company remotely, the Elite will be on site doing whatever they please and throwing their weight around. This is their Hostile Takeover. I use that term on purpose. When the NWO staged their Hostile Takeover of WCW in the summer of 1996, it produced some of the most compelling television of all time. AEW now has an opportunity to produce some of their most compelling television if this angle is booked properly.
Kenny Omega returns to AEW for the first time since being diagnosed with diverticulitis back in December. I fully expect the Elite to absolutely destroy Kenny. Even with his health situation I think he could handle a Rainmaker, EVP Trigger, and/or a TK Driver. The Elite must use a guy they considered a friend at one point as an example of what they’re capable of. I don’t anticipate dealing with Kenny is the only segment we’ll see The Elite in during the show. For this kind of angle to work, they must be all over the show multiple times interacting with different people. AEW has an opportunity here, I really hope they run with it.
Grade: A
Swerve Strickland vs. ???
Swerve had an interesting first week as champion. Instead of opening Dynamite with a promo, he wrestled a really good match against Kyle Flecther. The promo was saved, intentionally, for Collision which had a lead-in of an NBA playoff game. The promo itself felt safe. It felt like Swerve walked the line between typical babyface and his genuine edgy coolness. The best part of the promo was him calling The Elite’s attack on Tony Khan “a bitch move” to which the crowd responded by chanting the phrase back at him. As the AEW champion and de facto face of the company, Swerve firmly planted himself opposite the Elite. That could play a pivotal part in determining his opponent for Double or Nothing.
Right now, there is no clear opponent for Swerve. It’s entirely possible that the Bucks intervene and replace whoever Tony was going to designate as Swerve’s opponent with a choice of their own. Whatever happens I don’t expect The Elite to ignore Swerve’s comment. Maybe Hangman Page returns and rejoins his friends. After all, he was last seen beating up referees to try and prevent Swerve from becoming champion. It would make sense for Hangman to link up with the Elite and use their backing to further his obsession with Swerve while simultaneously strengthening their grip on the company with the world title.
Grade: N/A
Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb
I was pleasantly surprised when AEW opted not to go the route of a triple threat for Toni at Double or Nothing. Instead she’s been moved into a brand new feud. Mariah May with glasses and champagne intending to celebrate with Mina Shirakawa after Mina defeated Anna Jay in a fine match. Anna Jay attacked them both and attempted to choke out when Toni Storm ran out for the save clearly positioning Storm properly as a babyface. Incidentally this weird love triangle of sorts with Shirakawa, May, and Storm is an interesting subplot.
In any case, Serena Deeb then made her way to the stage where she sat down and essentially laid out her claim to the AEW Women’s title. She further elaborated on Collision pointing out that she’s been undefeated since her return in February. With Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazzo both eating losses and Willow Nightingale becoming TBS Champion, Deeb presumably moves up the rankings. This week she takes on Mariah May. Serena has a very Bret Hart vibe to her. She’s earnest and straightforward, and what she lacks in charisma she more than makes up for in the ring so the match with Mariah should be really good. Putting someone as serious as Serena against someone as off the wall as Toni Storm should make for very fun TV in the coming weeks.
Grade: A+
Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Mone
Willow cut easily the best promo of her career as part of the championship celebration organized by Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander. She was fiery and passionate as she chronicled her AEW journey. She was once again interrupted by Mercedes. Mercedes essentially told Willow to keep the title warm for her. Willow finally asked Mercedes if she blamed her for the injury that Mercedes suffered last May that was a freak accident and not Willow’s fault. Mercedes told her that she didn’t want to know the answer. It seemed pretty clear that Mercedes was leaning into being a heel and the commentators were definitely framing her as heel so that’s a welcome change. Mercedes is a much better fit that way.
At the end of the segment Stat grabbed Mercedes’ arm while she had her back turn and when she wheeled around Stat clearly stepped out of the way and Mercedes slapped Willow so hard she broke her ring. To me that was some more subtle seeds planted for the coming Statlander heel turn. I expect her to turn at Double or Nothing and cost Willow, igniting a feud between the two. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mercedes introduces the newly signed Kamille as her heater. Given Kamille’s size, it would be a perfect fit.
Grade: A+
Adam Copeland vs. House of Black
Apologies for completely forgetting this feud last week. Copeland, Eddie Kingston, and Mark Briscoe had a very fun match with the House of Black at Dynasty that culminated in Malakai Black spitting the black mist in Copeland’s face and kicking his head off for the pin. Now this week Copeland is scheduled to defend his TNT title against a member of the HOB. I find it very interesting that it’s not just announced that it will be against Malakai himself.
If Malaki doesn’t end up being the opponent that certainly feeds the rumor that Black doesn’t want to do jobs even to someone like Copeland. I can ultimately see this going one of two ways. Option A, Copeland faces Buddy Matthews tonight, beats him, and works his way through the HOB concluding with Malakai at Double or Nothing. Option B, Copeland beats whichever member of HOB and is then confronted by The Elite, specifically Jack Perry. Perry can target the TNT title and bring that into the Elite fold. If any faction should be focused on being draped in gold it’s The Elite.
Grade: B+
Will Ospreay vs. Roderick Strong
A week ago, I would’ve laughed in your face if you told me that I would be writing those words in that order as an actual feud that is happening but here we are. A interesting new match concept, the Casino Gauntlet match was introduced to crown a challenger for Roddy’s International Title. The premise was that the participants were unknown, entered at unspecified intervals, and the winner was the first person to score a pinfall or submission whether all participants had entered or not. I thought the match concept was a lot of fun. My only two tweaks would be to specify the number of entrants and the intervals by which they enter. Among the participants were Jay White, Kyle O’Reilly, Penta El Zero Miedo, and Will Ospreay.
Ospreay was a real shocker, especially considering the conventional wisdom that he was going to headline All In challenging for the world title. Instead, he destroyed Dante Martin with the Hidden Blade and earned a title match against Roddy at Double or Nothing. I fully expect Ospreay to win. While I fully endorse Todd Martin’s sentiments in his epic rant from this past week’s Fix podcast concerning Ospreay winning the International Title, I do think some good can come of it.
A Roddy loss should spell the end of the Undisputed Kingdom. The group has never really worked largely because their frontman has been recovering from an ankle injury. Once Roddy loses, Cole can abandon them for The Elite. He’s longtime friends with those guys and fits better with them. It would also put a returning MJF in the umbrella story. Roddy can be perfectly fine utility worker. Taven and Bennett can take their ROH tag belts back to ROH.
Wardlow, well I really don’t know what to do with him but that’s a discussion for another time. On the Ospreay front, the seeds were planted for his departure from the Callis Family. He and Don Callis were at odds over his refusal to use the Tiger Driver ’91 during the gauntlet match. Callis called out a play that involved using a table to Fletcher during his match with Swerve but Fletcher chose to fight honorably, so it seems like Fletcher might depart with his best friend.
Grade: Incomplete
Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Baretta
Baretta sneak attacked Cassidy at the beginning of last week’s Dynamite and threw his limp body in the ring before calling Chuck Taylor out for his decision. Trent argued that OC was supposed to have been the Best Friends’ “mascot”, but they wound up becoming his lackeys. He said that OC doesn’t care about Trent or Chuck and implored Chuck to make the right decision. Chuck emphatically chose OC by blasting Trent in the head with mic. He then challenged him to a parking lot brawl. The fight took place on Rampage, and it was a bloodbath. Those two guys beat the living hell out of each other. The fight ended after Chuck was choked out in a triangle after eating a piledriver on the roof of a car.
Trent smashed Chucks already injured ankle with a monkey wrench for good measure. Interestingly Don Callis was seen watching on a monitor. With Ospreay and Fletcher likely leaving the group and Hobbs badly injuring his knee in the match against Moxley, Callis is going to need new Family members. Might Trent and perhaps Kris Statlander, be possibilities? It would certainly be an entirely different looking faction for sure. Digressing, we scheduled to hear from OC tonight. I hope it’s an uncharacteristically angry promo where Orange brings the fire and really lambasts Trent.
Grade: A
Deonna Purrazzo vs. Thunder Rosa
Tensions between these two have been simmering since Rosa became the number one contender for the women’s world championship. Following her controversial loss to Toni Storm, things got even more heated between La Mera Mera and The Virtuosa. A match was made for Rampage and unsurprisingly it was pretty darn good. Deonna worked over Rosa’s arm leaving Rosa to fight back with one arm for most of the match. Deonna had Rosa in a Fujiwara armbar when Rosa rolled her hips and leveraged into a pin. That’s when things really boiled over. Deonna attacked Rosa from behind on the stage and the two fought along the edge of the seating area before being pulled apart by security. Things between these two are clearly far from over and I’m very interested to see where this goes now that Deonna is firmly a heel.
Grade: A
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