AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[burchybabi]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

Haven’t even properly caught on this week’s Dynamite or Smackdown yet (the joys of half term!) and now I’m hearing next week’s Dynamite is four hours long?

Death by content.

I presume (and hope!) it’s basically a combined Dynamite & Collision to avoid clashing with MITB on the Saturday.

[Infinity Land]

Fyter Fest and the following week Summer Blockbuster are 4 hour blocks. It's the time of year where NBA/NHL play-offs mess up the schedules and this is the newish workaround. Apparently Collision didn't start until after midnight stateside.

[The King Of Swing]

Perfectly watchable episode of Collision.

Even The Don Callis Family was bearable this week, probably because they only featured in one match and a backstage segment.

As usual the FTR segment would have been a lot better if they shaved a few minutes off.

Looking forward to Fyter Fest. 

[Merzbow]

I know it's likely going to be Kenny vs Okada at All In, title vs title, but I think I want Brody King to take it next week.

I didn't mind the ending to Dynamite but it just proved that Toni is leagues ahead of Mercedes, Mone hasn't grown on the mic since coming from WWE and that was always her weak spot.

There's not much more to be said about how great the first segment was, all three guys played a blinder there and Hangman's the realest of the real, I won't call it cinema but his story has nuances unlike any I can think of.

[Hannibal Scorch]

On 5/31/2025 at 10:49 AM, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

 

Also let's not retcon the whole Mariah/Toni storyline as been down to Toni with Mariah as only a bit part of it because she's leaving AEW. It took them both equally to be at the top of their game. None of the other AEW women could have played either part anything like as well. Toni was as much a part of Mariah's story as Mariah was of Toni's. 

It’s been a while since I didn’t agree with you Lion-O, but…

I think the early stuff from Mariah was really rough. When she first came in. I do think she was elevated by association, and she’s only something like 4 years into her career, so she’s learning well. By the Hollywood Ending I think she had greatly improved as a performer and I liked all 3 of their matches.
 

HOWEVER, I don’t think anyone could do the Timeless gimmick as well as Toni, but there were probably a few people who could have done Mariah’s role. Mina, Hayter (of course, not timing wise because of injury), Deonna, Taya. They have a lot of talent there who could have probably been able to play it off.

I’d have loved her to stay, she still had a lot of people to work with that she hadn’t, and I really hope the run will work for her, and she made the right decision chasing her dream. But I don’t know what she brings to WWE that they don’t already have there. Lots of Temu Tiffy talk from the usual awful accounts before they heard the rumours of her going to WWE, but that’s where my worry lies. I hope she proves me wrong.

[The King Of Swing]

I'm a Mina fan but I don't think she would have come anywhere near close to pulling off Mariah's role.

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

HOWEVER, I don’t think anyone could do the Timeless gimmick as well as Toni, but there were probably a few people who could have done Mariah’s role. Mina, Hayter (of course, not timing wise because of injury), Deonna, Taya. They have a lot of talent there who could have probably been able to play it off.

If you take any of the people you’ve suggested and put them in Mariah’s role, the storyline and presentation completely changes. While I don’t doubt that they could have compelling storylines with Toni, I completely disagree that she was interchangeable here. There’s a reason WWE are interested in her, and it’s likely because she’s been genuinely impressive. I’m sorry to see her leave.

[tiger_rick]

On 5/31/2025 at 5:34 PM, ReturnOfTheMack said:

That's the most skippable looking episode of Collision in a while.

It's all Twoster's fault. Ever since he suggested a separate Collision thread, it's been a waste of time. 

On 5/31/2025 at 5:39 PM, Doog said:

Yeah I love Toni Storm, but Mones rubbish

[tiger_rick]

On Mariah, I think all things are true. The Mariah/Toni story was incredible, their best women's work and both ladies were vital to the story, with Toni - the hero - being slightly more important.  Mariah's body of work work away from that story has very little special or memorable, so I don't think I'll miss her either. I don't say that because she's leaving, I think for the most part, I'd put Jamie Hayter in the same category. Mariah's a stunning looking woman, a great character and a good promo. I hope she'll thrive where she's going. If she stayed in AEW, she's only about 5th or 6th best woman on the roster for me*.

(Behind Toni, Willow, Mercedes, Statlander and maybe Hayter, since you didn't ask) 

[BomberPat]

13 hours ago, Merzbow said:

I didn't mind the ending to Dynamite but it just proved that Toni is leagues ahead of Mercedes, Mone hasn't grown on the mic since coming from WWE and that was always her weak spot.

It was rough because Moné's promos are always very obviously scripted and pre-planned; it's why she was awful as a babyface, because that delivery combined with constant taunting and hitting catchphrases came across as very mechanical and self-absorbed compared to AEW's usual much more naturalistic babyface performers - when she was feuding with Willow Nightingale, it was night and day. Toni is almost the opposite; as much as she has her notes that she's going to hit, her promos are much more ad-libbed and running on vibes, so they never really matched up; it was the closest I've seen Toni come to looking anxious or corpsing since she adopted the Timeless gimmick, while Mercedes was clearly stuck whenever she didn't get the exact response she expected - that's always the problem with scripting things too heavily, it relies on everyone else following your plan, and not riffing off your opponent, the audience, whoever else might get involved.

For Mariah May, I don't think there was anyone else you could have slotted into that story with Toni and for it to have worked as well. But during Toni's absence, it was clear that Mariah was a minority partner in that story - the week she came out dressed as Toni and cut a promo, it was interminably long generic heel work that didn't adjust based on how the crowd were reacting to it at all, and I don't think she ever got much better than that, her promos were always the same cadence, and very flat. She's a very WWE Diva level performer when it comes to anything outside of the in-ring work. On paper, that might make her a perfect fit for WWE, but in practice, it might be the opposite - she might just be another blonde face in the crowd. In terms of AEW, I've not watched a single episode of Dynamite and thought, "if only Mariah May was here". 

[LaGoosh]

I think Mariah eventually found her footing but there's no denying how bad some of her post heel turn stuff was at the beginning. Especially her first heel promo which had to be a home run and she completely blew it. 

[Chili]

I disagree that you could have slotted anyone in there. The similar physical resemblance and the way May portrayed the role was extremely important into it working and it's a shame she suffered and shown inexperience when Toni was off. But remember the moment she turned heel with the high heel. Incredible work and it delivered because Mariah May came across as a convincing sociopath. She needs fine tuning and stuff but she's very good, but I don't know what you'd do with her post Hollywood Ending, so it was a perfect send-off.

My thing with Mone, is that the scripted robotic stuff works more when she is a heel as this absolutely vapid, empty literally it's all about me character, with her stupid fucking dance. But she's in there with Timeless Toni. A brimming, hyper sexual joke machine and it just makes Mone look a bit flat. She just isn't THAT type of combative promo, no matter what that Pepperman lady writes for her.

It'll be an INCREDIBLE match, but I hope they have some good story to build in, because promo battle wise it's like watching a top tier improv comic battle wits with a daytime TV soap actor at the moment.

[Gus Mears]

7 hours ago, Chili said:

The similar physical resemblance.

Was it just me who thought they looked fuck all like one another except the hair? Should have lobbed a big brown helmet on her and had her feud with Terry Wogan. 

[Chili]

28 minutes ago, Gus Mears said:

Was it just me who thought they looked fuck all like one another except the hair? Should have lobbed a big brown helmet on her and had her feud with Terry Wogan. 

Think it was the cosplay stuff that sold me. Mariah May as Punk Toni and then Toni imitating Mariah were very well done. The same colour hair given what the story was riffing on too. Just how I saw it. Now I'm sad Terry Wogan will never be in AEW.

[LaGoosh]

On 6/1/2025 at 11:05 AM, RedTwoster said:

Rush can go fuck himself. 

I respect this opinion. However I'm a bit torn on it. Because yes, Rush is a reckless, unprofessional and probably terrible person. However, he's also a fantastic wrestler and brings a genuine feeling of chaos, violence and danger that you rarely see these days. His match against Danielson is a forgotten classic. I'm not suggesting that they should push him because, well, you can't trust that he won't fuck it up and burn every bridge he sees. But there's also loads of singles matches from him I want to see. So if they could just do an absolutely booking blitz with him, put him against the whole roster week after week for say six months then bin him off I'd be pretty happy about it.

Rush vs Samoa Joe, Kingston, Darby, Orange Cassidy, Okada, Brody King, Takeshita...good lord, the list goes on and on.

Edited June 3, 2025 by LaGoosh