SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW Grand Slam: Australia is officially behind us. Other than a completely manufactured and overblown controversy over the size of the ring, the show was very good. My advice though: Next time don’t do it on NBA All-Star weekend and instead offer a commercial-free airing on Max.
All that said, the road to Revolution in three weeks has begun. AEW is on West Coast swing now starting tonight in Phoenix, Ariz. and culminating with Revolution in Los Angeles, Calif. Tonight’s Dynamite should be interesting for a variety of reasons as the card for the PPV comes into shape. So, in the words of Pink, let’s get this party started.
Jon Moxley vs. Adam Copeland (8 weeks)
Latest Developments
In something of a surprising outcome Jon Moxley forced Adam Copeland to pass out to the Bulldog Choke to secure the win for himself and Claudio Castagnoli in the Brisbane Brawl.
Analysis
Before the match began, the Brisbane crowd serenaded Copeland acapella with the second chorus of his entrance song. It was a beautiful moment and Copeland looked genuinely moved. The match sort of peaked there. It was street fight that didn’t exactly stand out from any other street fight. There was no blood. At one point in the match I did think Marina Shafir was going to wind up going through a table, but it ended up being Copeland. Wheeler Yuta made his presence felt, crawling out from under the ring to whip Jay White with a belt. White absorbed the shots and laid Yuta out with a Blade Runner. In the end, Mox got Copeland in the Bulldog Choke. Copeland fought as long as he could, but eventually lost consciousness. Even after the match was over, Mox kept it on a little longer for good measure.
The match was what it was, no more no less. The outcome, however, was baffling. Copeland losing, even by choke out, doesn’t help his credibility as an opponent. He was already an un-sexy choice. They had something with the reverse psychology of making fans want a match because it’s being denied to them and they sped the story up and made the match official last week. That instantly made it twice as hard to sell the match given Copeland’s inherent weakness as an opponent.
Now that Mox beat him, there’s even less of a reason to think Copeland has a chance. It was just a strange decision. The way I see it, the only option is have Copeland somehow get the Mechanics banned from ringside. It won’t fix all the flaws in the match, but it would be a good faith effort.
The outcome of the Brisbane Brawl led to renewed questions about the viability of the Mox + The Mechanics story. I get it, but I think all of the frustration is a sign that the story is actually working. The point is for people to be tired of the domination and to want to see Mox dethroned so people are feeling how they’re supposed to feel.
Grade: B-
Kenny Omega & Will Ospreay vs. Don Callis Family (7 weeks)
Latest Developments
The Omega Powers defeated the Don Callis Family in sensational opener to Grand Slam Australia.
Analysis
To the surprise of nobody who’s ever seen any of these four guys wrestle, this match was great. The action was fast-paced and crisp, save for one scary spot where Omega undershot a poison rana and crashed down on the back of his head. At one point late in the match Ospreay ran and dove over the back of Konosuke Takeshita, over the ring post and onto Kyle Fletcher. It was absolutely absurd visual. The finish was a combination Hidden Blade into a One Winged Angel, that should be henceforth known as the Hidden Angel.
My only real critique of this match was that I would’ve had the babyfaces come out first. There’s something special about starting a show off with Osperay’s music. It elevates (pun fully intended) a show. Omega got his big time entrance with his new Final Fantasy theme which was cool.
Later in the night Omega challenged Takeshita to a match at Revolution and Ospreay challenged Fletcher to a steel cage match. As expected, the tag match set up two incredible singles matches for the PPV. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Grade: A
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Mariah May vs. Toni Storm (15 months)
Latest Developments
Timeless Toni Storm defeated Mariah May at Grand Slam Australia to capture the AEW Women’s World Title for the fourth time.
Analysis
Last week on Dynamite, Mariah cut a pre-taped promo in which she in one breath proclaimed that Toni wasn’t real and in the next, said that Grand Slam would be a mercy killing. It was short but effective promo which got across the point of showing cracks in Mariah’s veneer of self-confidence. Sociopaths don’t scare easy, but Toni had Mariah shook.
On Saturday, this match rightfully main evented the show. Toni came out to massive ovation wearing Australian blue with Australian flag in the left corner of her tights. Once that bell rang they feigned a lock up before it quickly devolved into a fistfight. These two weren’t looking for headlocks and fancy counters; they just wanted to beat the brakes off each other.
At one point, Toni sent Mariah on a trip to Suplex City, hitting six Germans in a row. Towards the end of the match, Toni hit three successive hip attacks each with a little extra sauce on it, followed by a Storm Zero, but Mariah survived. Each woman hit a MayDay on the other and each survived. Toni hit a second Storm Zero but Mariah wisely rolled out of the ring. Once back in the ring, Mariah landed a hip attack of her own, followed by a Storm Zero. She set up Toni up for another MayDay, but Toni reversed it into a small package for the win.
Personally, I thought this match was better than their All In match. The emotions were different. At All In, Mariah was self-confident and in control of herself while Toni was out for revenge. At Grand Slam, Toni was still out for revenge, but Mariah was shook and just wanted to be done with Toni. The match felt like more of a fight as a result.
Obviously, the right person won but initially the finish was a little flat to me. After thinking about for a day or two, it occurred to me that during her “performance” as her old persona, she consistently won her matches with a small package so the finish showed some consistency. It also sets up the need for a third and final blowoff match at Revolution, likely with some kind of stipulation.
Credit to Zack Heydorn for the idea: I think the first ever women’s dog collar match would be a fitting conclusion. Toni and Mariah have been figuratively tethered together since Mariah’s arrival so literally tethering them together so they could put this to rivalry to bed would be poetic. Either way, I expect this 15-month odyssey to be quickly reaching its conclusion.
Grade: A
Mercedes Moné vs. Harley Cameron (5 weeks)
Latest Developments
Mercedes Moné defeated a spirited Harley Cameron to retain the TBS Title.
Analysis
Harley Cameron got a huge match in front of her friends and family and made the most of it. She hung with Mercedes Moné and did not look out of place at all. The moment of the match came when Harley popped up from outside the ring frazzled with the Mercedes puppet on her hand. That shot was gold. The finish came when Harley missed an attempted Swanton and Mercedes hit the MonéMaker.
Just 43 matches into her young career, Harley proved she really is a quick learner. It really is to Harley’s credit that she’s as good as she is this fast and she’s only going to get better. Even though I advocated for it, I think it was smart to resist the temptation to go for the ephemeral feel good moment. There’s something in Harley Cameron. Build that up and maybe next year in Australia put a title on her. In the meantime, she ought to continue her preexisting feud with The Vendetta. Let her lose to Deonna twice before she finally gets the win the third time around. That can be the start of climb.
As for Mercedes, it seems like her next opponent is going to be Momo Wantanabe who earned a title match against any champion of her choosing by virtue of winning the International Women’s Cup match at Wrestle Dynasty in January. Momo was sitting ringside for the match on Saturday and Mercedes pie-faced her after the match, so it would appear that rematch is on deck.
Grade: B+
Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet (10 weeks)
Latest Developments
Swerve and Prince Nana argued about Swerve’s continued pursuit of Ricochet
Analysis
Not a ton to this one this week. A video package aired recapping the match from last week as well as Ricochet’s interaction with Bun B. Interspersed with that was a new footage of Swerve and Nana. Swerve made it clear that he wasn’t finished with Ricochet while Nana wanted him to focus on going after the World Title again.
Good stuff here. Swerve has justified reasons to want to get even with Ricochet especially since Ricochet is still in possession of the Jimmy Rave robe. While I’m glad Nana brought up the World Title, I was a little surprised he wasn’t more concerned about getting his robe back. It seemed like he was worried about Swerve potentially going down the same dark path with Ricochet that he went down with “Hangman” Page which, is understandable.
Grade: B
Christian Cage vs. Hook (10 weeks)
Latest Developments
Samoa Joe challenged Christian Cage and the Patriarchy to a six-man tag match.
Analysis
Samoa Joe, Hook, and Shibata made quick work of three enhancement guys. Joe then got on the mic. He officially named their group “The Opps” and challenged The Patriarchy to a six-man tag match which Tony Khan later made official.
This was fun. It’s a blast watching Joe destroy people. Joe cutting a promo is just as fun because he’s so effortlessly cool and you believe every single thing he says. With the challenge to the Patriarchy, it feels like this feud is finally reaching its conclusion – and that’s good, because it’s run out of steam. I expect the newly christened Opps to defeat the Patriarchy and close the door on this rivalry. Once Daniel Garcia and 2.0 are finished, the Opps would be a good team to go after the AEW Trios Tag Team Titles.
Grade: B
MJF vs. Hangman Page (1 week)
Latest Developments
Tensions between Hangman and MJF boiled over into an out-of-control pull apart brawl that security struggled to control.
Analysis
Ahead of his match with Dustin Rhodes, MJF was being interviewed in the back when Hangman interrupted him. MJF made a joke about Hangman’s cologne being Eau de Jack Daniels to which Hangman responded with essentially “that’s the best you got?” MJF got serious and said that Hangman wasn’t who he was claiming to be, that he didn’t have the stomach for it and that MJF was going to focus on something Hangman had failed at: becoming AEW world champion again.
Excellent segment here. Hangman shut down MJF’s Don Rickles routine before he could get started and forced MJF to get serious. MJF saying Hangman doesn’t have the stomach to be a bad person is a reflection of everything I’ve been saying for the last several months, that Hangman’s descent into madness was not a true heel turn but one man’s battle with his own psyche. It’s unconventional in pro wrestling I know, but this has always been about Hangman finally hitting rock bottom and finding his way back. It seems like we might be there even if Hangman hasn’t fully realized it yet.
MJF and Dustin Rhodes had a good match buoyed by the Texas crowd’s enthusiasm for their hometown guy. Dustin got a great near fall off of a Shattered Dreams and Final Reckoning. MJF locked Dustin in the Salt of the Earth armbar which Dustin fought out of only to locked in a crossface. Despite his best efforts, Dustin passed out thus giving MJF the win.
MJF continued the assault after the match which brought out Hangman. The two immediately started trading blows, fighting into the crowd and up to the second level where security first tried to pull them apart as MJF attempted to dump Hangman over the balcony. The fight continued back into the ring where security struggled to contain it. Eventually Hangman was forced out of the ring and to the back. MJF grabbed a mic and called Hangman a coward. That brought the crazed cowboy back out to the ring where the two fought some more before security finally dragged Max away.
This was fantastic. The match with Dustin was good because Dustin can still go even in his 50s. It was really all about the post-match angle, though. The brawl between these two had the crowd rocking. It was wild, out of control, and intense.
MJF provoked a guy who’s been living on the edge of sanity the last six months and, no surprise, stuff got crazy. As for MJF, he wasn’t running from Hangman, even after he called him back out. That’s how you know this is different for him too. It’s something for both guys to really sink their teeth into. There was no sign of Jeff Jarrett, either. It would seem that that feud has been put on ice and that’s just as well. This is a much better use of MJF. At some point down the road he can have that match with Double J. Tonight, though, he’s scheduled to have a face-to-face with Hangman and if last week is any indication the Arizona National Guard better be on hand to contain these two.
Grade: A-
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