AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Merzbow]

4 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I also think the decision to put the World title on Statlander has quite clearly been proven to be a mistake.

I thought that day one, but maybe I'm just too cynical in thinking it was a "you deserve it" type handing over of the belt, a Kofi like situation. As she's been there since the start and while solid had never come across as a main eventer in the slightest.

[RedTwoster]

4 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I thought that day one, but maybe I'm just too cynical in thinking it was a "you deserve it" type handing over of the belt, a Kofi like situation. As she's been there since the start and while solid had never come across as a main eventer in the slightest.

I did too, but I feel like that was the minority view. I actually quite liked her as a heel, but her mic skills continue to hold her back. Maybe making her a Death Rider would have helped, poor mic ability hasn’t hindered Mercedes Mone much. 

[DavidB6937]

I think if you're looking to establish new belts and a strong division then TayJay wouldn't be the first choice. I know it didn't last long but Sasha/Bayley were a good choice to immediately put importance on the WWE belts, so I think there are a few better options here to kickstart the division properly. Then longer term have TayJay hopefully keep improving to the point where they're believable and viable champions. I'd be into a heel winner and then have multiple face teams chasing them to add to the significance.

[RedTwoster]

15 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

I think if you're looking to establish new belts and a strong division then TayJay wouldn't be the first choice. I know it didn't last long but Sasha/Bayley were a good choice to immediately put importance on the WWE belts, so I think there are a few better options here to kickstart the division properly. Then longer term have TayJay hopefully keep improving to the point where they're believable and viable champions. I'd be into a heel winner and then have multiple face teams chasing them to add to the significance.

It has to be Bayne and Shafir for me, a team they kind of lucked into on the back of Penelope Ford’s misfortune. They’d be very believable as unstoppable first champions, and you could easily give them a long title run. It’s a good way to cash in on the credibility Shamir has built up through the Death Riders too, without her needing to do anything more than she’s capable of.

[Infinity Land]

Just seen Kingston & Hook v. The Workhorsemen announced for the Tailgate Brawl. I'm just going to pretend that Eddie's still injured. After all we're still waiting on his return.  

[BomberPat]

I've never been more "what the fuck are they doing?" about AEW.

Jon Moxley lost the World Title, lost to Darby Allin, and lost Blood & Guts for his team, and the progression to that is....winning a midcard tag team match the next week as if nothing ever happened? To set up a pay-per-view match with Kyle O'Reilly? While Darby Allin continues just wrestling the other Death Riders after having already beaten Moxley? 

Every time it feels like there might be some progression in that story, it's back to tag matches and run-ins and Jon Moxley choking somebody out. Commentary tell us he's wrestling differently, or that something has changed, but everything remains the same. If the Death Riders don't turn on Mox at Full Gear - and I only think they might because the pay-per-view needs something so maybe they're holding off the big angle until there - then I no longer think there's any end game for this story planned whatsoever, it's just Death Riders vs. midcarders forever.

When they announced on Dynamite that everyone in the women's tag tournament would be in an eight-woman tag at the PPV, it was the first time it dawned on me that they haven't even timed this tournament to end at the pay-per-view. The new title they announced after the Women's Tag Titles will be decided first. 

On top of all that, the coldest go-home show imaginable, with the coldest main event programme, an Elite melodrama that surely nobody actually gives a fuck about and two matches on PPV where the crux of the story is about whether somebody joins the Don Callis Family or not (while, just to remind you, El Clon still hasn't had a match yet). Eddie Kingston, Takeshita, and Okada can't even make the main show, and you'd have to hope that the Casino Gauntlet will do some heavy lifting star power-wise at the PPV, but who knows, because as far as I can tell the only people actually announced as in it are Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Ricochet, and Speedball Mike Bailey.

[HarmonicGenerator]

2 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

Just seen Kingston & Hook v. The Workhorsemen announced for the Tailgate Brawl. I'm just going to pretend that Eddie's still injured. After all we're still waiting on his return.  

Wow. That’s … I’ll join you in pretending.

Not the best of shows this week. Mascara Dorada had a mare, two or three big things going wrong. Best bit, maybe Toni doing a very brief Bushwhacker walk just as she headed offstage after her match.

[Infinity Land]

48 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Wow. That’s … I’ll join you in pretending.

If he pops up in the C2 announcement it'll be easy to pretend the last couple of months haven't happened. 

After announcing his plan for one last year on the indies, I hoped he'd be a surprise National champion winner. Even less likely now. 

[Statto]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

while, just to remind you, El Clon still hasn't had a match yet

Appreciate the reminder, as I'd honestly forgotten he existed. They've clearly been thrown off track with it with Hologram getting hurt, but that suggests the plan was just to have the two wrestle straight away which is madness IMO. If anything, Hologram getting hurt should have been a blessing in disguise for this angle - Callis parades his knock-off version around until the real thing comes back and gets revenge. Writes itself, doesn't it?

The biggest WTF in AEW right now though is introducing a new men's championship called the National Championship not 3 months after you folded the International Championship into something called the Unified Championship, which might possibly be defended in the Continental Classic as it also incorporates the Continental Championship, but it just isn't called that anymore. I think Tony just likes getting belts made.

Actually, I'm wrong - the biggest WTF is Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong being upper card guys for some reason.

[Infinity Land]

Manchester has been turned into a Dynamite & Collision taping. 

[LaGoosh]

I agree with most the criticisms of Dynamite this week so will focus on one of the positives from this week.

Lashley vs Ricochet was a wonderful little bit of business. It was a perfect example of making the most of your minutes. The whole segment ran about 9 minutes but about half of that was Ricochet cutting a tremendous little shit heel promo where he droned on in that squeaky voice of his and at first I thought "this is dragging a bit" and then I realised what he was doing as the audience heat got louder and louder rather than trailing off. Then you had Bobby hilariously cutting him off as Ricochet pleads for mercy like the most pathetic coward. They followd that up with a super fun 3 minute sprint where they packed absolutely loads in but it all made sense. It highlighted Ricochet's incredible athleticism while he also took every heel short cut and Lashley got in a good handful of super hero babyface moments. The babyface got a big win but the heel lost nothing. Beautiful. More stuff like this and less 15-20 minute epic back and forth TV matches and I'll be a happy man.

[The King of Old School]

I enjoyed the Lashley/Ricochet stuff too.

Probably enjoyed it a lot more because like you say every other AEW match has to go 20 minutes with everyone kicking out of moves that should end any normal match,

Find it exhausting most of the time.

[Supremo]

Ricochet still holding the microphone and begging for mercy as he’s being lifted and chucked through the air was fantastic. Perfectly punctuated by the hilarious squeal.

He’s heel of the year. 

[LaGoosh]

21 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I actually quite liked her as a heel, but her mic skills continue to hold her back.

I like Kris Statlander. But like most people she needs to be presented and booked to her strengths. If you need a standard babyface Champion promo well yeah she's not very good at that stuff and never has been. However she does have a unique, funny and weird charisma that shines through when they let it. Statlander's best promo was when she had Renee Paquette on her shoulders, doing squats while cutting a promo. She needs to be doing more of that kind of stuff.

But it's typical pro wrestling booking to try and fit everyone in the same box and do the same generic things. They all need to be more creative rather than relying/hoping on the performers to fit the mould.

[BomberPat]

13 hours ago, Statto said:

Actually, I'm wrong - the biggest WTF is Kyle O'Reilly & Roderick Strong being upper card guys for some reason.

Credit where credit's due, Kyle was fantastic in Blood & Guts and showed some real intensity in his promo on Wednesday. But it still feels like things are completely backwards; rather than the story being that Moxley was so rattled by losing to Darby Allin that he's being bested by someone who wasn't previously on his level, the story they seem to be telling is that Moxley is still as good and as dangerous as he ever was, and Kyle has been elevated to be his equal. None of it feels like there's been an actual consequence to any of Moxley's losses, and Kyle feels like he's been picked out of a hat to be his next feud. On top of that, after weeks of Kyle coming close to making Moxley tap out, Kyle refusing to tap to Mox in Blood & Guts, then finally making him submit in that same match, the stipulation is...No Holds Barred? Not a submission match, or I Quit then? 

At best, Mox loses to Kyle again, but in a submission mode with some added violence and weapons that warrant the stipulation, and protect Moxley rather than having him submit to an ordinary move, even though the story has been that he's extremely susceptible to Kyle's anklelock (a story which might have made more sense if that were the move Darby made him submit to, but I digress) and it would do more to serve that story to have Moxley lose to a straight wrestling hold. Then, the Death Riders kick him out because it's the umpteenth time he's submitted, and they've been waiting for the PPV to do that big angle rather than any of the times it would have made more sense. But I have no faith that actually happens, I assume the Death Riders are just going to continue plodding on forever, and Moxley will choke out Kyle O'Reilly to rebuild Mox rather than following the logical character development path.

 

My worry above all else, though, is that Roderick Strong will be revealed as the man who took out Mark Briscoe, and will join either the Don Callis Family or the Death Riders as a result, meaning that alongside reheated Elite in-fighting drama we will also be back to Undisputed Kingdom in-fighting that has been going on across multiple promotions forever.