AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Lorne Malvo]

I'll post more detailed thoughts later, but it was a very good night hampered by the fact it didn't finish until 11 fucking 30 of a night and I'd been up since 5am and I'm just too old now for staying up that long.

There was also major travel disruption at Wigan station meaning my simple 2-train journey became a 5-train journey which also included a mad dash (on foot) across Warrington. So by the time I'd even got to Glasgow all I wanted was my bed.

An absolutely chaotic day. 

[Chili]

28 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I'll post more detailed thoughts later, but it was a very good night hampered by the fact it didn't finish until 11 fucking 30 of a night and I'd been up since 5am and I'm just too old now for staying up that long.

There was also major travel disruption at Wigan station meaning my simple 2-train journey became a 5-train journey which also included a mad dash (on foot) across Warrington. So by the time I'd even got to Glasgow all I wanted was my bed.

An absolutely chaotic day. 

Warrington Central to Bank Quay (or vice versa) by the sounds of it. An absolute arsehole of a mad dash.

Edited August 21, 2025 by Chili

[RedTwoster]

What a show. I knew within 30-seconds of Dynamite starting that I’d made a monumental mistake in not attending this, one that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.

But fuck, this was So much fun to watch on TV. Easily my favourite episode of wrestling television this year. Might even be my favourite show of the year, full stop. 

The Ospreay promo at the start was fantastic if a bit worrying. I imagine he really has been cleared, but I’m concerned that he might be in need of surgery or something, and that there really will be an extended absence. We’ll see. But yeah, Ospreay is one of the best promos in the business. I enjoyed that a lot.

Cope/Christian was great, and the Luchasaurus return was fantastic, I loved everything about it. It’s a much more interesting match for having Killswitch in it too, and I really hope the next step is a Jurassic Express reunion.

FTR/Brodido was sensational, but I hope that this wasn’t done so that Lashley and Benjamin don’t have to take the pin. I reckon FTR probably will win, to set up a bit FTR/E&C tag title match.

I’ve done a 180 on Stokely, he’s great in his role as FTR’s weasel of a manager. I’d been pushing for MVP to win non-wrestler of the year at the UKFF Awards, but I’ve probably changed my mind on that. Big Stoke has been so good recently that he absolutely deserves to be in contention, and Renee also deserves recognition. 

I loved the Hangman/MJF segment as they addressed my complaints from last week about the rules surrounding the contract. I should never have doubted them. I don’t think MJF will win on Sunday, but I’m not certain either - it certainly could happen, even if MJF loses only to immediately cash in on his contract after doing something nefarious. 

Storm/Athena should be great on Sunday. 

I can’t believe we’re heading into a Forbidden Door show that’s been made to feel every bit as significant as All In. When this was announced as the London show, I gave it a shoulder shrug. But holy shit, I’m buzzing for Sunday. 

I hope everyone who attended last night had as good a time there as I did watching at home - and if you’re attending Forbidden Door, fuck you - I’m jealous. But also, I hope you have an incredible night. 

[The Gaffer]

As a fully paid up member of both the "Too much wrestling on the wrestling" and "Shut the fuck up and have a match" clubs, the pacing of this show was amongst the best I've ever seen for a go home. 

Hot promo. Hot match. Hot promo. Hot match. 

All logical, feel good, above board. Top marks. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

***THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR COLLISION TAPING***

 

 

What a long night that was. Left the house at 5pm and did not get home until 1am! And I don't even live that far from Glasgow.

Doors at half 5 was a killer. A guarantee to hit awful rush hour traffic for anyone driving.

Got inside the venue in time for a Scott 2 Hotty match (????????). This was followed by Lance Archer squashing a couple of Jobbers and then a Grado appearance. It was clear to me in this moment that the spirit of ROH is alive and well. I could have done without any of this to be honest.

To continue the negativity, the guy beside me said "real graps" out loud. He also kept chanting everything that came into his head to the tune of Seven Nation Army. I was fantasizing about being back in gridlock traffic by that point. It was clear I was going to have to move seats. I had a quick check on Ticketmaster and noticed there were several unsold seats in the front row of the lower tier facing the entrance way. Armed with that info, my brother and I just moved there instead.

I was excited to see Tanahashi. I was a gigantic fan of the 2010's New Japan glory period. It's up there with 90's All Japan and 00's NOAH for me. He is an all time great as far as I am concerned. As cool as it was to see him for the final time, it's also sad to see how broken down he is. You can really see just from his walk to the ring that he is hurting real bad. Trios match was ok and the big brawl and balcony dive at the end was cool to see. Sadly this was the only time we would see Shibata and Joe all night.

The Copeland/Christian promo was good and the Killswitch/Luchasauraus reveal REALLY worked. I was surprised what a big reaction it got and both guys sold big for him. 

FTR v Brodido was incredible. I expected it to be great but it overdelivered enormously. Loved this. Another one in the impressive list of superb FTR matches.

I fucking hated the Page/MJF segment! So stupid. Give me what I want or I will set this man ablaze. I will literally kill him with fire. Ok fine, you can have your stips then. Absolutely hideous.

Toni Storm got the biggest pop of the night by some distance. Womens tag was a good main event but have to say I thought Windsor was levels below the other 3.

Quite a few left after Dynamite. They could have probably done more to hype up Collision. The announcer and Tony Khan just kept saying "some of the best wrestlers in the world are still to come!". They should have announced some matches to the house at least.

8 man tag was quite good. Other than Hiromu, the babyface team was incredibly vanilla. Surprisingly Hechicero was by far the most over guy in the match. 

I was zoning out in a big way at this point. There was a couple of womens matches that I was pretty zoned out for and Mark Andrews being squashed. I was quite surprised to see Mark Andrews. Given his era of BRITWRES~! and the fact he is in a pop punk band, I honestly just assumed he was a cancelled paedo. 

Ishii/Takeshita was an easy second best match of the night. Ishii looks so old and small and tired and has done for years now. In every one of his matches there will be a well timed spot that gets everyone up and then its off the races. In this case, it was a huge top rope superplex. Lovely stuff. Felt like a glory days G1 match.

I was so amused when O'Reilly and Strong came out as The Young Bucks opponents for the main event. I have nothing against either but people were absolutely sprinting for the exits. They did still get the remaining crowd going to be fair to all 4.

I enjoyed this overall but I dont know if I would attend another TV taping.  I was left thinking this roster could put on some fucking great house shows if they ever decided to do a proper UK tour. 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2025 by Ironic Indie Lad

[RedTwoster]

15 minutes ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

I fucking hated the Page/MJF segment! So stupid. Give me what I want or I will set this man ablaze. I will literally kill him with fire. Ok fine, you can have your stips then. Absolutely hideous.

It seems like something I’d also have hated, but for whatever reason I didn’t. It linked back to the already OTT house-burning segment, turning it into an example of Hangman’s past actions during his heel run coming back to haunt him. He’s paying for his own mistakes. 

When I’m having fun, I can put up with implausibility to a degree, and that show left me hyped. I would have quite liked to see MJF rub some salt into the wound and say ‘it was water, you stupid prick’, or something like that - just to show that he really does want to be the smartest person in the room. 

Edited August 21, 2025 by RedTwoster

[JLM]

Yuta, Harley Cameron, Rocky Romero, Ian Riccabonezone and RJ City are all in the same train carriage as me. I’m not going to bother any of them but I was a bit star struck to see RJ. Yuta just tried his first ever Percy Pig. He was underwhelmed. I’ll inform the dirt sheets ASAP. 

Edited August 21, 2025 by JLM

[Merzbow]

Popped huge for Hangman getting there by train, real men don't complain about having to use public transport to get to a UK show.

[BomberPat]

in case anyone wasn't aware, as I haven't seen it mentioned, the lad tagging with Scotty was his son.

 

I thought Dynamite was pretty good, but they just cannot avoid tedious sports entertainment bollocks when it comes to MJF, can they? Title can change on a DQ, fine. Title can change on a count out, fine. Those are elements that I think MJF and Hangman can play around with really well within the match itself. But retconning that he hadn't cashed in his contract? Fuck off with that. 

One of my least favourite trends of the last 25 years of wrestling is how often storylines become about contracts and bureaucracy, and another of my least favourite trends is ripping off Money In The Bank to have a magic contract you can cash in at any time, it's a lazy booking crutch and one ripped off from WWE, it's a tired gimmick there, let alone every other company trying to do it as well. Combining both of those, and now adding MJF pulling a "well actually" is bullshit. It undermines an important moment on last week's show, of MJF being goaded into using his contract, by saying that actually that didn't matter. Sorry if you're a fan who got invested in that moment and what it meant, turns out it meant nothing at all, and you're an idiot for thinking it did. Hangman's an idiot for believing him, and Tony Khan and AEW are idiots for having announced a match based on that contract being enacted when it turns out that actually either it hadn't been enacted at all, or it isn't worth the paper it's written and MJF can just renege on it. If the match didn't rely on him having signed that contract, how is MJF number one contender, and what contract did he sign to get a main event World Title match? Why should I give a toss about any future match announcement or contract signing angle, let alone any future time when anyone else cashes in a contract like MJF's, when we now know that you can just go back on it? If I was Athena watching this show, I'd be wondering why I've wasted my magic contract on a title match when it turns out you can get given the match and then just ask for the contract back and there's nothing AEW can do to stop you.

Bollocks, the lot of it.

[JLM]

Brody King is trying to find a toilet. He is huuuuuuuge. Bloody hell. I was close to the ring last night, but seeing these people in a normal situation like a busy train really puts into perspective how large they are. 
 

Speaking of people being bloody massive, minor Collision spoiler:

Spoiler

 

Edited August 21, 2025 by JLM

[DebbieHardy_v2]

**Perhaps some Spoilers will be mentioned below**

 

This was my first time attending an AEW show and what a show it was!

I got offered some freebies the week before and they were for 7th row ringside. We were going to by tickets nearer the time so it all worked out quite well in the end with the great seats. 

Best matches of the night were FTR/Brodido and Ishii/Takeshita - just so entertaining and fun to watch. Also liked the women's main event and seeing Toni Storm live for the first time, the crowd loved her!

Other segments that stood out - the Copeland/Christian/Killswitch promo, loved the Grado appearance with the Madonna tune at the start, Billy Gunn also appeared (loved him back in the New Age Outlaws days!?) he's bloody huge up close! and Will Ospreay got the crowd going at the start. 

My hubby was at the bar at the time the big brawl happened with Mox and co and almost walked into it on his way back ?

It was a long show and finished at 11:30pm considering the early start time but we stayed until the end then scooted out. Overall a really enjoyable night.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention when we walked into the Hydro Aubrey Edwards was taking selfies with fans so managed to get a pic with her, she was really nice. 

Edited August 21, 2025 by DebbieHardy_v2

[Infinity Land]

I know people travelled from all over which would have helped the numbers, but AEW really should look to do a separate Dynamite and Collision next time they are in the UK. Could easily enough have been something like Glasgow/Manchester this year or Cardiff/Birmingham last year. Forbidden Door will only be the 5th UK show. 

[RedTwoster]

18 minutes ago, Infinity Land said:

I know people travelled from all over which would have helped the numbers, but AEW really should look to do a separate Dynamite and Collision next time they are in the UK. Could easily enough have been something like Glasgow/Manchester this year or Cardiff/Birmingham last year. Forbidden Door will only be the 5th UK show. 

Honestly, I’d love to have seen them do Collision at the Edinburgh Fringe. It would be a smaller audience, but they’d certainly sell out and it would be such a unique experience. There have been wrestling shows at the Festival before, and they’ve been well received. But this, obviously, would be a bit different and would allow for some unique angles and moments. 

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Popped huge for Hangman getting there by train, real men don't complain about having to use public transport to get to a UK show.

He’s been involved in countless high spots, but relying on a ScotRail train to get to the venue is unquestionably the riskiest thing he’s ever done. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

It was a bit weird when Tony Khan came out and it seemed he was announcing something for the UK. He waffled on for ages about coming back but before next summer. He ultimately announced nothing.

I assume maybe something getting announced over the weekend? 

[RedTwoster]

1 minute ago, Ironic Indie Lad said:

It was a bit weird when Tony Khan came out and it seemed he was announcing something for the UK. He waffled on for ages about coming back but before next summer. He ultimately announced nothing.

I assume maybe something getting announced over the weekend? 

To be fair, he might not have had anything to announce! It was such a hot crowd that he might have been pumped up, to the point he decided on a whim that they should be back sooner.