RedTwoster

The most remarkable thing about Copeland is that he's the only example that comes to mind of an active AEW wrestler who hasn't been able to shed his WWE legacy. No one says Moxley/Ambrose, FTR/The Revival, Mercedes/Sasha or Danielson/Daniel Bryan - they managed to shake off their previous identities, but people - myself included - frequently slip into calling Copeland 'Edge' again. I've enjoyed his AEW run, particularly his feud with Christian - but he's really struggled to redefine himself in a way that I don't think is true of anyone else. Even Paul Wight - who I do find myself referring to as "Big Show" every now and again - has managed to move past his former WWE identity; although he does have the advantage of doing so as an announcer.

It’s pretty remarkable that they’ve managed to run four main events at their biggest show of the year featuring completely different people; with no one as of yet headlining twice.

They didn't! I enjoyed the match in spite of that, but it's an added bit of fun that I hope they bring back next time they run this match.

Throughout the years, AEW has made a number of key signings from WWE - many of which don't even feel like former WWE wrestlers anymore. My question is simple - which one has been the most important? I'm going to exclude ex-developmental wrestlers from this - people who did not wrestle on the main roster - otherwise Kenny Omega is technically eligible. I'm also including FTR as a tag team. I was in two minds about including Swerve given that he only wrestled one main roster match, but given that "Tony fumbled" is a thing, it seems only fair to include arguably the biggest example of a company 'fumbling' with a male wrestler in recent memory. I'm also including former AEW wrestlers. CM Punk ended up crashing and burning, but it's hard to deny that he was involved in some of the greatest feuds in the history of the company when it comes to his rivalries with MJF and Eddie Kingston. Same goes for Cody Rhodes - his value to the company's history is obvious. If it was my favourite signing, I'd probably have selected Christian Cage. He has redefined his legacy in a way no one predicted. However, as far as the 'most important' signing goes I'm going to go with - perhaps controversially - this guy... His debut marked a momentum shift - signifying that AEW had truly arrived and could compete with WWE. He would go on to have legendary rivalries, then utterly fuck up the company for a few years. AEW lost the good feeling that it had - then slowly clawed it back, having two of the best years in the company's history in 2025 and 2026. It's hard to dispute that the company is on anything other than an all-time high after All In this year. Without Punk, I'm not sure that would have happened - he seems to have redefined Tony Khan's policy when it comes to signing people. If someone is going to create disharmony, you don't need them. Malaki Black won't return, nor will Miro if he's ever released. I highly doubt Punk himself would get another chance. At the moment, AEW seems to have a locker room full of wrestlers who love the company and want to put on the best show that they possibly can, and it's led to a real golden spell. It's also shown that the company can bounce back from a slump - something that WCW and TNA were never able to do, at least not in a significant way. TNA still exists, but it's not been able to get back to the heights it once reached. So in a weird way, I think Punk's signing has ended up being an enormous positive for AEW precisely because of how it panned out. It's shown that the company is resilient, and it's probably led to an even better product.

I think that’s the exact point. There’s a tremendous story to be told in Willow eventually rising to the top again - a bit like Hangman Page, in which his second World Title win felt just as special as his first. She has tremendous chemistry with Mercedes both in and out of the ring, and I can’t imagine anyone would look at the prospect of a rematch as anything other than exciting. I mean, they had that match with an injured Willow - when she’s fully fit, they can eclipse something that was already tremendous. As for Thekla - fans are definitely ready to cheer her, and I think you could easily turn her. As far as other opponents for Mercedes go, she’s one of the best wrestlers on the planet and she’s clearly motivated to go on one hell of a run. Whoever they have her wrestle, she’ll make it work - Statlander, Harley Cameron, Thekla, Athena, a returning Toni Storm, Jamie , Thunder Rosa or even Megan Bayne or Lena Kross. Heck, people loved the Maya World match so there’s probably intrigue in a rematch there. The only bad match Mone has had since joining AEW was with Britt Baker. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if she wanted to rectify that, and I’ve no doubt that she could. In addition, if Bayley does come in (though I don’t think she will), you only have a month or so until her contract is allegedly up - so there’s another option. AEW has a stacked women’s roster, but you’re right in suggesting that it’s more impressive on the heel side. But that can easily be fixed.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that - on any other show he’d have been the highlight for me, he was just sensational. He’s such a believable twat, he might actually be my favourite wrestler right now. I hope he’s the person who eventually takes the title from Ospreay. And I also hope we see him interact with Christian, MJF or Toni Storm at some point. Four brilliant characters who have barely acknowledged one another on-screen. I’m just about to watch the show again, and even knowing every result I’m so frigging excited - the more I think about it, the more I feel like it’s my favourite ever wrestling show. Omega/Ospreay - which I’ve already rewatched…twice - might even be my favourite ever match. The presentation, the emotion, the actual wrestling - everything came together in the most special way possible.

It's a risky move, but I guess you could explain it through Baker being at her best when she was in a tandem with Rebel. She also had great chemistry with Tony Schiavone. So give her someone to bounce off, and perhaps you have a better chance of finding a winning formula? Given her importance to the company during its infancy, I imagine Khan feels some sort of loyalty towards her, even if the stories about her being a pain in the arse are true. It probably is her final opportunity with the company, so you'd have to hope she feels motivated to take advantage of it.

The women's roster has evolved significantly since she last appeared - unless she's improved significantly I'm not even sure there's value in having her wrestle. She's the only wrestler in AEW who has had a bad match with Mercedes Mone, which is pretty remarkable. Having said that, perhaps she was checked out at that point and not really trying. As a character, she can be good - I hope we get more of 'role model' era Baker, and less of the character she became. He can have a generational run with this title if booked right. Andrade winning the Casino Gauntlet was a really smart move - the two of them can have a spectacular match; what a way that would be to start off his reign. One other thing this show made me think - I wonder how close we are to a version of AEW without The Bucks and Kenny? I love all three of them, but I wouldn't be shocked to see them wrap up their in ring careers by the end of this decade, if not sooner than that.

I thought the commentary was fine, but it's a heck of a long time for anyone to be on the desk - Excalibur was there right from the start of the pre-show, I'm amazed his bladder didn't explode. I think they'd be better off having more of a split for the show just to keep everyone fresh and energised - even if it's something as simple as going with a different team (the ROH crew?) for the pre-show. Given that Mick Foley is around quite a lot at the moment, I'm pretty surprised that he's not been on the announce desk yet. He was really good at that during his time on Smackdown in the late 2000s, and I imagine he'd bring something new to the table here.

That doesn’t really bother me, it stands to reason that - in kayfabe terms - they’d prepare graphics for either eventuality, and that they might discuss what they would do on Dynamite in the event of either result.

I totally agree. It beats Hangman and the Dark Order’s entrance for the greatest wrestling entrance ever for me. I watched the show with my wife, who isn’t exactly a wrestling fan (despite watching some of AEW during its early years) and she shed a tear during his entrance. Heck, when you could see Ospreay was on the verge of crying I welled up a bit too. And fuck, the pressure on the match after such magical intros - how could it possibly live up to that? But it fucking did. @The Gaffer mentioned recency bias and I’m very conscious of that and I’ll need to watch this again but that might have been the greatest match I’ve ever seen. I was so invested throughout and the final moments were magical. My only complaint is that I’d like to have seen more of Ospreay’s celebration after, but that’s a minor one. I loved that match so much. Willow/Mercedes was also fantastic and honestly, I think that was the right result. There’s going to be so much emotion in seeing Willow get back to the top, and a rematch when Willow’s hand has fully healed should be even better. You don’t want to lose the momentum Willow has built up, but I don’t think you have to. I’d like to see both Ospreay and Mercedes get lengthy title reigns now; they’re two of the best wrestlers on the planet right now and what ambassadors to have for your company. Outside of that, the only match I didn’t really like was the women’s tag title match. The Brawling Birds just didn’t feel like the right team to unseat Divine Dominion, and the crowd didn’t seem to care much that they did. Everything else though? Just brilliant. Show of the year, hands down. If something tops that, my brain might actually explode while I’m watching it. Dynasty being in Liverpool suggests what seemed likely, All In will take place elsewhere next year. I know it’s bringing it forward somewhat, but I’d love to see Tony Khan take a big swing and run it while Wrestlemania takes place in Saudi Arabia. Maybe we need a few years before it comes back to Wembley. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

Have a great time if you’re going, and if you can actively prevent any renditions of DJ Otzi or Daddy Cool that would be just lovely.

I enjoyed Collision, but that might be in part because I’m so excited for All In later. I think I’d have liked it anyway, though. I still really like The Dogs. I know most people here find Gabe Kidd ridiculous but I do enjoy his nonsense. Clark Connors strikes me as a potential breakout star. The Bang Bang Gang are probably the coolest stable in wrestling. Jay White was really boring as a heel, and he’s a rare example of someone who is better in every way as a babyface. He pisses charisma, and The Gunns are great too. I’d love to see White get a main event push in 2027, though. Skye Blue seems to get a lot of viral attention for her bloodbath matches, and fair play to her for her dedication, but in a standard match she’s no better than mediocre. She might improve, but if she doesn’t, even a hint of promo ability could give her value. Harley feels slightly underutilised these days. I’m very intrigued by Steven Borden. While this all likely leads to a Sting appearance at All In, I’m very interested in seeing his son wrestle now. A match against Kevin Knight could be very fun. And speaking of Knight, he’s overcome a rough start to his singles career to become a true rising star. His mic work has gone from being poor, to being solid to actually being quite strong, and he always had the ring work nailed. He feels like he’s above the Don Callis Family, and I hope that is intentional; a move designed to end this stable at last. A random thought, I’d like to see them do more with Rocky Romero, he’s really fun. He’d make a good manager in his own right, I reckon. All In can’t come soon enough, I’m stupidly excited for this.

There’s a bit of hyperbole of course, but even the direction of Owens/Punk doesn’t feel fresh. At this point I’m being subjective and perception comes into it, but to me it just felt like everything here was a retread. I’m someone who has enjoyed WWE at various points during the post-McMahon era, and I think it’s underperformed at times at the UKFF Awards. Even so, everything feels like it’s happening on a loop to me. See, that’s a choice, though. They’re choosing to have a roster split, and they’re choosing to take their time with the likes of Trick Williams and Oba Femi. But even then, they don’t necessarily need a full main event overhaul, they just need to vary their approach and the way they tell stories. As it stands, pretty much every show starts the same way; with wrestlers arriving. On the whole, it doesn’t feel like there’s much character development with the vast majority of the roster, or even much of an effort to make them feel like there’s a direction in mind. I’d exclude Sami Zayn from this, and there are probably others too, but I feel like they tell different versions of the same story quite frequently. My mistake - I typed Fatal Influence and I’ve just realised I meant The Baddies. I was pretty confused by your comment until I realised my own error, apols.

I’m not talking about the feuds, I’m talking about the execution. Main event is a multi-person match for the number one contendership. A version of this very match with more of less the same people happened mere weeks ago at Summerslam. It ended in a no-contest due to Sami Zayn. Last week, the Punk/Owens match also involved outside interference from Sami Zayn. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss have been arsing around with the Baddies for months now - seriously, take a look, it’s been going on for ages. Similarly, how many matches have we seen involving Nia Jax and Tiffany Stratton? Granted it was a tag match this week, but it feels so prolonged. Then again, everything Jax does feels prolonged. Then there’s Cody/Orton. The quality of their Mania feud doesn’t help, but there hasn’t been a huge amount of progression or development in the story, outside of McAfee getting ditched. Trick/Corbin once again feels like a feud that’ll never die. You look at the show and it’s very difficult to answer the question of ‘what is new’? The answer is not very much. Perhaps this is more an issue with your attention span, and that’s why you didn’t notice. Who’s to say? 😉

Man, I’m so excited for tomorrow. Even though they ran a duffer of a go-home show, it doesn’t take away from how great the build has been as a whole. I’ve stopped giving a toss about Wrestlemania, but it’s great to have another annual wrestling show that feels absolutely blockbuster.

This was the most Déjà vu wrestling I’ve ever seen. I had to double check very early on to make sure I’d not started watching the previous week’s episode as it felt like I’d seen everything already in some shape or form involving the exact same people. I know WWE has had a habit of prolonging storylines, but this is probably the first time I felt as convinced as I was that I’d already seen this. Maybe it’s me getting older, maybe it’s their ChatGPT booking, but I’m still feeling a degree of Groundhog Day.

I don’t know why they don’t just use Cassie Lee as a Max Caster-type. She’s charismatic, and could absolutely be a very entertaining mouthy jobber-to-the-stars who fans eventually get behind. If you’re going to sign someone, you’re as well as to find a use for them.

You never really know, but I suppose the difference with Kofi and Creed compared to the latter two at least is that they've actively chosen to leave, whereas Black and Miro were released, with clear aspirations of returning. I'm not really sure what the logic is with the Hurt Syndicate. The Usos may have main evented Wrestlemania but in spite of that, I'd still say there's no such thing as a main event tag team in WWE. Heck, you can evidence that with the fact Road Dogg suggested the AEW tag titles were 'beneath' The Gunns. Tag teams aren't viewed in that way. In AEW, Kofi and Creed can absolutely become a main event act, much as FTR and others did. There have been situations in which wrestlers have debuted in AEW and quickly disappeared - The Inspiration and MCMG being recent examples of that - but I don't see that happening here. Tony Khan gets accused of liking 'shiny new toys', and I've made that suggestion in the past myself, but the more time has gone on, the less I feel that way. If someone disappears there always seems to be a reason, he just doesn't go public with it. Eddie Kingston was dealing with his mental health, Britt Baker was allegedly causing disharmony backstage, Miro was outright refusing the creative he was offered while others had seemingly made it clear they did not plan to renew their contracts. Assuming there are no backstage issues, I reckon they could be about to go on the tag run of their lives.

The frustrating thing is, The Hurt Syndicate could be absolutely brilliant, and they’ve shown glimpses of being exactly that, like Black they seem to have self-sabotaged. I’d love to know what the MJF payoff was originally supposed to be, there’s no way it was what they ended up doing. It’s unfortunate we’ve not been able to see Lashley having slugfests with the likes of Brody King, Moxley and Hangman, but if they’re unwilling to lose - which their tag title reign very much suggests - what can you really do? It’s not worth having people like that around. Kofi and Creed don’t strike me as having that kind of attitude, and I think there’s a high chance they’ll end up being brilliant additions.

I normally want to see every Scottish team do well in Europe, but I can’t pretend I’m not taking a huge amount of satisfaction from seeing Hearts progress further than Rangers in Europe. Long live Derek McInnes for giving me two glorious seasons, albeit in very different ways.

I didn’t have time to post this yesterday because I was too busy praying to the football gods, but fucking YES to Hearts, what a result! Wouter Vrancken, I always had faith in you - now go and win the league!

Aw no, so the New Day might be debuting on the pre-show, with the match carrying over? That’s rubbish. Boo to that.

According to Bryan Alvarez, while she'll be able to work All In, Willow has a legitimate hand injury, which is why they ran the angle they did last night. Even if that's the case, they surely could have done something better; even if it had to be a backstage thing to make sure it was a bit more controlled. Both women have done some of their best ever promo work these past few weeks, and it's such a shame that this was the final angle before the show given how brilliant they've both been.

Surely they can't run a match with that many teams? It's a ludicrous number. I wish they'd just focused on the Swerve vs. Hangman & Brodido feud, treating it a bit like Rollins vs Cody at Wrestlemania. The big moment, assuming this is what they're doing, is the New Day coming out as Swerve's partners, you just dilute things if you run a multi, multi, multi, multi-team match and potentially make the match less good. If it's simply those two teams, you have arguably their most significant ever trios title match. You have the New Day arriving, and then the magical moment where Hangman and Swerve lock up one more time.