AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

He can excuse the suffocating, the poisoning and the cat-burgling. But you have to draw the line at teaming with those pricks. Petrol cans at dawn.

Mate, Mox has been teaming with Claudio for years. That well is already pretty poisoned.

[tiger_rick]

Man, I'd love to forget what a dreadful fucking industry this has been for one day. Why on earth would you run a tribute to Steve McMichael, do a nice job of setting it up, invite his widow, have the class to promote an ALS charity to your wide fanbase and then, parade that cunt out. A total lack of any awareness and a lack of anyone backstage with any moral fibre asking "What are we doing?" Ugh.

I blame myself for not even considering it when they announced the Mongo tribute and not even smelling it up until the point Tony started talking about a World Champion and, I blame you lot for not mentioning it. Ugh. Fuck off, Tony.

[mim731]

15 hours ago, CTXRussomark said:

I hope AEW have plans in place to maximise publicity off the back of this.  It's an incredible achievement and is a perfect story for the news/talk show circuit.  That picture with the AEW flag should be all over everything.

I don't say this flippantly given the weight of the subject and I have my own views on those involved, but practically there's probably a fine line with promoting Darby Allin to the mainstream press due to the allegations from SpeakingOut.

I'm not weighing in here or trying to derail the conversation, it's not hard to find that information and you should make up your own mind. However, just from a purely  logical PR perspective that also means that it's not hard for a mainstream press outlets to seize upon that very available information either which probably makes putting him in a prominent position outside of the wrestling bubble a bit of a minefield.

[DavidB6937]

2 minutes ago, mim731 said:

I don't say this flippantly given the weight of the subject and I have my own views on those involved, but practically there's probably a fine line with promoting Darby Allin to the mainstream press due to the allegations from SpeakingOut.

I'm not weighing in here or trying to derail the conversation, it's not hard to find that information and you should make up your own mind. However, just from a purely  logical PR perspective that also means that it's not hard for a mainstream press outlets to seize upon that very available information either which probably makes putting him in a prominent position outside of the wrestling bubble a bit of a minefield.

Has anyone mentioned it to him in any interview he's done in the past however many years? I'm not aware of anyone pressing him on it.

[mim731]

4 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Has anyone mentioned it to him in any interview he's done in the past however many years? I'm not aware of anyone pressing him on it.

Not that I'm aware, but how many of those interviews were outside the wrestling bubble? I meant that very much in response to the idea of garnering publicity enough to go on the mainstream talkshow circuit etc, they will have actual researchers and will do their due diligence which might make it tricky. Equally it's America, so probably not, but there's certainly more of a gamble putting him front and center in that specific scenario. 

Also, the wrestling media are mostly cowards who are terrified of losing access, so they were never going to press him, much like they didn't press Triple H on the Vince stuff. 

[tiger_rick]

Been serious, and 100% honest, I'm not sure on Allin. He was clearly in a toxic relationship and his behaviour was pretty dreadful but I don't know enough to know that he was an abuser and not just half of a horrible environment. I don't say that because I'm a huge fan of Allin, or AEW. He is a brilliant pro-wrestler, but equally he's been off TV for months and I've not missed him at all. So it's not a view from blind loyalty.

I don't know if they know more about it based on their "investigation" at the time. I would hope so, given he's still employed, but I don't trust that's the case at all given the other cunts they use occassionally.

[BomberPat]

I think non-wrestling media are no more likely to pursue it than wrestling media - if Darby Allin gets any mainstream press appearances at all out of this, it's a fluff piece ending with him presenting the weather on a local affiliate station, nobody's going to be doing any deep dives. It's just wrestling.

Now it's possible that it gets picked up somewhere and WWE weaponises the tools at their disposal to get stories out there to undermine it, but that would be an extremely glass house to be throwing stones around in.

 

EDIT: I think with Mongo, he and Flair were genuinely extremely close, and it wouldn't have sat well with some people - potentially even with Mongo's family - to not have Flair involved in a wrestling tribute to him. There's a massive blind spot for too many people in wrestling when it comes to Flair, though my worry would be that they were doing a Mongo tribute as a way to sneak Flair in through the back-door - luckily AEW have been so good at tributes in the past that they've earned some goodwill in that respect, and Flair largely fucking over after initially saying he would be there for the entirety of Sting's retirement run, makes me hope it's the last we've seen of him.

Edited May 20, 2025 by BomberPat

[CTXRussomark]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I think non-wrestling media are no more likely to pursue it than wrestling media - if Darby Allin gets any mainstream press appearances at all out of this, it's a fluff piece ending him presenting the weather on a local affiliate station, nobody's going to be doing any deep dives. It's just wrestling.

Yeah exactly this. The US media (especially the talkshow circuit) is mostly just shallow, pandering bullshit that has no interest in rocking any boats.  They're just happy for the content and having 10 less minutes to fill on any given night.  Their researcher are more likely to bring up his appearance on that old MTV reality show than anything around MeToo. 

[mim731]

5 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I think non-wrestling media are no more likely to pursue it than wrestling media - if Darby Allin gets any mainstream press appearances at all out of this, it's a fluff piece ending with him presenting the weather on a local affiliate station, nobody's going to be doing any deep dives. It's just wrestling.

 

3 hours ago, CTXRussomark said:

Yeah exactly this. The US media (especially the talkshow circuit) is mostly just shallow, pandering bullshit that has no interest in rocking any boats.  They're just happy for the content and having 10 less minutes to fill on any given night.  Their researcher are more likely to bring up his appearance on that old MTV reality show than anything around MeToo. 

Fair points. I'd still be wary if I were AEW about putting him front and center, but perhaps that's a caution-based approach not shared by AEW. Instead he can spend the time trying to explain that AEW is not WWE, and that will be a lovely time for everyone I'm sure. 

[LaGoosh]

7 hours ago, Supremo said:

Announced for Wednesday.

Eddie Kingston, somewhere, presumably.

The Young Bucks should come out in full Shield gear. 

Edited May 20, 2025 by LaGoosh

[Vamp]

First time watching AEW in years.

Last week's Dynamite:

Fuck me, that walkway looks fucking massive. 

 

Ospreay and Page vs. Callis Family

When did Ospreay get a shit tattoo? 

The Callis family is still a thing? How?

"Flat footed moonsault" is an insult right?

I hate the "you hit me and I hit you" tit for tat when it's out of context and Takeshita and Page do an incredibly lame one. 

Ospreay and Alexander do a better tit for tat but it's the second one in the same match and they can fuck off. 

Alexander's catch looked really impressive. As did his suplexes. 

The opening tag definitely got better as it went along. That said, 2 tit for tats in the same match equals -5 stars. 

 

Top Flight Promo

Dustin Rhodes has a nasty looking sunburn. 

 

Ricochet vs. Zach Gowen

I love seeing things like wrestlers high fiving their kids. I haven't seen any Ricochet in AEW and this was a good character piece. 

 

MJF Promo

Wow, MJF looks tiny here. Not that it matters.

 

Hurt Syndicate vs. Top Flight

The "they hurt people" introduction is so shit. I love it. The high knee thigh slap sounded like a gun shot. Fun squash. The CRO music is shite, and I've been watching WWE lately. I hate the look of the AEW tag titles. 

 

MJF/Hurt Syndicate 

Best thumb segment since Batista/HHH. I quite like stupid MJF and Tony Khan smiling at putting someone in potential danger. 

 

Women's Eliminator

I've missed Storm's Timeless gimmick but heard good things. One of my biggest gripes with AEW is the way it books women and chucking 4 of them into the only women's match in the card rather than booking 2 singles matches doesn't particularly convince me that things have changed much on that front. Hopefully it's not the norm. And then the aftermath happens where of course they promote the other women's match for the PPV at the back end of the only women's match on this show. Fuck sake, I'm trying to give AEW another chance.

 

Renee seems very smiley about her husband being in a cage with Samoa Joe later. Going to assume there's trouble at home. 

 

McGuiness and Garcia Segment

5 stars for the winner's purse mention. Hopefully McGuiness takes the tag match so he can win the purse and buy some longer trousers. 

 

Moxley vs. Samoa Joe

I'm giving them a pass on the tit for tats because it fits the context and because they did an Atomic and Manhatten drop. Match was an alright heavyweight brawl. There was a lot going on in the aftermath and the Swerve dive looked terrifying (considering how much time they had to get in position it didn't look like anyone did a good job of catching him). It felt WCW but I don't really see that as a problem. I'd possibly feel different if it was something I'd seen week in and week out.

 

Overall, it was alright. I preferred the format to the one WWE has been using. It seemed to flow better. I was surprised that the main event wasn't treated as a bigger deal but maybe it's not.

I feel like the complaints I've had before haven't changed. This was a "themed" show without any theming and the set is still largely a big screen (I do appreciate the tunnels though) which I think is a wasted opportunity to differentiate themselves from WWE. The women were largely all chucked in the same segment which still feels very "token."

I'll probably try another Dynamite. 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2025 by Vamp

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Vamp said:

One of my biggest gripes with AEW is the way it books women and chucking 4 of them into the only women's match in the card rather than booking 2 singles matches doesn't particularly convince me that things have changed much on that front. Hopefully it's not the norm.

It hasn’t been - they’ve done a really good job with the women recently, and their women’s roster has genuinely been my favourite thing in wrestling in 2025. I shared your frustration at the women’s division, and while I suppose there’s a chance things could go backwards, I think that would be an insane decision given how strong that division has been as of late.

[Supremo]

Collision was a whole lot of nothing. Dark Elevation, with a sex pest cameo. No wonder the live stream cut out. Probably became self aware and ended itself.

Only thing worth watching was the Street Fight. Always enjoy it when guys have their own speciality weapon. Big fan of Big Bill’s Bag o’ Bricks.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah other than Toa Liona throwing himself around like a maniac that was a dud show. Collision seems to have fallen off a bit the past few weeks and turned back into the scrub show.

[tiger_rick]

11 hours ago, Vamp said:

Women's Eliminator

I've missed Storm's Timeless gimmick but heard good things. One of my biggest gripes with AEW is the way it books women and chucking 4 of them into the only women's match in the card rather than booking 2 singles matches doesn't particularly convince me that things have changed much on that front. Hopefully it's not the norm. And then the aftermath happens where of course they promote the other women's match for the PPV at the back end of the only women's match on this show. Fuck sake, I'm trying to give AEW another chance.

There is rarely more than one women's match on Dynamite. I'm not sure why that is as a creative decision but if you're expecting more, you'll almost always be disappointed. There are often more on Collision, sometimes even three, and multiple on PPV too. There are plenty of women's issues going on and plenty featured. Toni, obviously, Mercedes, Hayter, Willow, Shafir, Statlander and Bayne are all featured on most shows, and Athena, Harley, Ford, Anna Jay, Mina, Hart and Thunder Rosa are pretty regular but do cycle in and out in typical AEW fashion.  

I think the biggest difference to several years ago isn't that women's matches are suddenly all over the show, it's that they are genuine star performers, are given the chance to build big matches that deliver and their constant development of character and promos makes them all mean so much more when they come out for a match, promo or run-in, or even when a vignette airs. I love watching them, and I'm not a big "Women's Wrestling, clap, clap, clap" person.