AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Lorne Malvo]

Nothing says 'throwaway Collision' more than a CMLL six-man and the Don Callis family being all over the show.

Grizzled Young Vets were very good though, and looked like they were wrestling with a point to prove after not doing much all year.

Putting the TNT champion on commentary for the past few weeks seemed like an odd choice, but Adam Cole is good in the role plus it's being used as a starting point for feuds and also making Cole seem more likeable after a rough couple of years. Would be open to them doing this with other guys in the future.

EDIT: Just to add, LFI are rubbish and if I had the power to get rid of anyone from the AEW roster, it would likely be these guys. Beast Mortos would be better on his own (and has disappeared anyway), Dralistico has always been crap and Rush, while good, is a prick and not THAT good to justify how much of a dickhead he is. Get rid.

Edited May 26, 2025 by Lorne Malvo

[tiger_rick]

Just got an email about tickets for All Out. Saturday 20th September in Toronto. The company's debut on PPV in Canada. That already common knowledge? Was news to me, anyway.

[Infinity Land]

23 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Just got an email about tickets for All Out. Saturday 20th September in Toronto. The company's debut on PPV in Canada. That already common knowledge? Was news to me, anyway.

It was announced a couple of weeks ago roughly. With all the attention on current events it was easily missed. 

[Kamran]

Scheduled for tonight:

[RedTwoster]

A really fun show - and the build for All In is starting to feel really exciting. It’s such a shame AEW had a rocky few years before becoming brilliant again, as they deserve far more attention than WWE does right now. 

I know very little about Thekla, but it was a weird debut. She has a cool look, but the way it was filmed was a bit messy. I was expecting someone more recognisable to turn up - maybe a returning Mariah May. Still, I’m sure she’ll be a nice addition to the already-strong AEW women’s division.

I really enjoyed the closing segment. Mercedes is still crap on the mic, but Toni carried her and the end result was me wanting to see the match even more - and I was already hyped for it.

The opening segment with Hangman, Swerve and Ospreay was great. They need to bring back Hangman’s old theme though - you couldn’t do this with his current theme:

The greatest entrance of all time, in my opinion. Anyway…I wouldn’t be against Hangman opening and closing the show, starting things off with a trios match, in which he teams with Swerve and Ospreay before winning the title in the final match. I really want to see Swerve and Hangman team up in a match, and clearly it’s coming in some form. 

They need to start giving Josh Alexander a few victories. Controversial opinion, but I think he’s got more going for him than Brodie King, whose mic work leaves a lot to be desired. 

Kyle Fletcher/Adam Cole was a bit of an odd one too. I don’t think they should be looking to put the TNT belt on Kyle, if anything, it might make sense to build him up for a World title run later this year. I hope this feud doesn’t result in him beating Cole for the belt. 

I’m intrigued as to who Ricochet teams up with. MJF might have been a good shout, and maybe they’ll still do that, as his membership of The Hurt Syndicate doesn’t feel like it should be long-lasting.

[LaGoosh]

The Thekla debut was so shit it made me laugh. It made me feel weirdly nostalgic for AEW's early days when they did stuff like that all the time.

Rest of the show was bloody excellent. Action packed, filled to the brim with fantastic babyfaces and great stuff. No notes!

Edited May 29, 2025 by LaGoosh

[thatvinylgeek]

I just can't get onboard with Mone, and I don't know why...well I do, but it seems I am in minority.

To me, she is poor on the mic, her acting is very wooden and lacks conviction, she gets away with it against people matched the same, but someone like Toni really makes it obvious. Also in the ring I don't see the praise the gets. I think she can hold her own, but I find her very loose and she flails around a lot. Her moves lack impact and some of them are plain sloppy...and she needs a new finish ASAP.

As I say, I know I am in the minority, but for some reason I just cannot see the star that others do.

[RedTwoster]

3 minutes ago, thatvinylgeek said:

I just can't get onboard with Mone, and I don't know why...well I do, but it seems I am in minority.

To me, she is poor on the mic, her acting is very wooden and lacks conviction, she gets away with it against people matched the same, but someone like Toni really makes it obvious. Also in the ring I don't see the praise the gets. I think she can hold her own, but I find her very loose and she flails around a lot. Her moves lack impact and some of them are plain sloppy...and she needs a new finish ASAP.

As I say, I know I am in the minority, but for some reason I just cannot see the star that others do.

I think that’s totally fair, and her character work is what made me think of her as being utterly abysmal when she first debuted for AEW. But then she kept having banger match after banger match, and slowly but surely she won me over, to the point she’s become one of my favourite in ring performers in the company. 

Storm-Mone would sell me on the PPV alone, but the fact we’re getting that and Hangman/Moxley - I can’t wait. It feels like we might be on the verge of getting women’s tag belts too, and I’d love to see a major company do a good job with them, given that WWE essentially treats them with a shoulder shrug. It would be a great opportunity to give some of the forgotten or underutilised women a chance to shine again. I could see, for example, Nyla Rose being a tremendous tag wrestler with the right partner - maybe Deonna or someone small and quick, like Riho. 

[Guest]

"I'm the Toni Storm of professional wrestling" is an absolutely fantastic line. That woman's aura just grows and grows. 

[LaGoosh]

I used to work with a guy I just couldn't get along with. He was whiney, he smelled bad, smug, boring, looked like a manky potato. One day he let something slip about his personal life which was quite sad and actually probably explained a lot about why he was the way he was. I went home, thought about it for awhile and eventually said to myself "you know what, let's let bygones be bygones. I'm going to move on and be pleasant with this guy, be empathetic and try and build a better relationship with this person". The next day within about 90 seconds of seeing the guy again I forgot all that and immediately went back into the hostile and toxic relationship we had. I just couldn't help myself. 

So when Hangman, on his journey of redemption, came face to face with Swerve again and immediately reverted back to hostility, anger and petty insults I could really relate.

[DavidB6937]

And it's absolutely one of the best things about Hangman - the genuine authenticity of the character, to the point where he doesn't feel like someone playing a character at all.

It's such a rare thing that someone doesn't fall into the usual face/heel turn tropes somewhere along the way or the lazy booking of a character. Which is why he's absolutely up there with the best. Not only from a performance perspective but the writing behind the man too. It all has to come together to make it feel real.

[BrodyGraham]

I will never not be uneasy at how much Preston Vance looks like Harry Kane. Conversely, I will never not enjoy watching Preston Vance take a kicking. 

[tiger_rick]

Opening and closing segments were absolutely brilliant. I'd love to know now that Hangman wins so I can get invested for the next 6 weeks. I can't take another loss. Excited to see how Swerve comes around and to see these guys standing tall in the end.

The women were incredible. Toni is the best promo in all of wrestling. Mercedes is a fabulous heel and is the anthesis of Toni. Even her coming back with "Patience, darling, patience" was so inauthentic compared to Toni. Just a great start to the build.

Almost all of the rest of the show was super strong. I thought the Thekla debut was fine. I dunno who she is but she looked great and Excalibur was able to make her sound great.

I'm really enjoying the MJF and Hurts partnership. I don't want to see that end anytime soon. I'd continue it until MJF has been Hangman's first challenger and failed.

Good stuff from Ricochet, again. The man's a revelation. Two good trios matches. The Frat House are potentially a great little under-card act that will get over. Unless they disappear for 3 months after every match. 

7 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

They need to start giving Josh Alexander a few victories. Controversial opinion, but I think he’s got more going for him than Brodie King

Terrible take. You've made him cry now.

Thanks for posting the Hangman entrance. I could watch that every day and twice on Sundays. I think I agree it's the best entrance ever.

I didn't watch Cole & Fletcher because life is too short. 

[Supremo]

I was a bit disappointed when that news leaked about Ospreay and Hangman being the reverse Shawn and Bret, arguing to put each other over.

I want to imagine this is one big, masterful storyline that’s been carefully plotted out months in advance. I don’t want to know they’re making it up as they go along and something as massive as the winner of The Owen and the main event of All In is something being decided the afternoon of the match.

Watching Hangman here though, I think it just further proves what a phenomenal character and performer he is. He probably had a genius direction, filled with loads of interesting ideas, whether he won or lost. He’s the most authentic, realised person in the business, always acting and reacting in these clever, surprising ways. You can believe he would have adapted and delivered regardless of the outcome.

Most wrestlers will make friends with their arch nemesis the following week, simply because a Tag Team Match requires it. This man is two years deep in this grudge and won’t let it go even when his life is turning around, they’re fighting for the same cause and his nemesis has admitted he deserved his house being burnt down. Amazing stuff. He’s the not only the best. He’s so far ahead it makes everyone else look silly.

I’m going to explode when they eventually shake hands.

Edited May 29, 2025 by Supremo

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I was a bit disappointed when that news leaked about Ospreay and Hangman being the reverse Shawn and Bret, arguing to put each other over.

I want to imagine this is one big, masterful storyline that’s been carefully plotted out months in advance. I don’t want to know they’re making it up as they go along and something as massive as the winner of The Owen and the main event of All In is something being decided the afternoon of the match.

I don't think it was to be fair. The report I read from SRS was Tony knew who he wanted, he just wasn't sharing it with people, and we know Osprey has form for going in and saying "let me put him over, bruv" because he did it with Swerve. I think it's that they were lobbying him and he was keeping his own counsel, rather than he hadn't decided and was getting the puppets to dance.