AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[RedTwoster]

32 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

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.

To be fair, I think AEW have demonstrated that they’re able to do that, they’ve been very creative with their presentation of promos throughout the years and have generally been good at playing to people’s strengths - I’d point to their presentations of Storm, Okada and Shafir as recent examples of that. 

I don’t think they’ve ever got babyface Statlander right though - at least not consistently. I thought she was great as a heel, though and is perhaps better suited to that role in the short term.

30 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

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. 

Quite a few of their stables need to implode sooner rather than later. They’ve gotten what they can out of the Death Riders, and the longer they wait to have them turn on Moxley, the less it’ll mean when they do. If they do, I’m starting to worry that Moxley simply likes working with them, and they’ll never go away.

While we are clearly heading towards Okada/Takeshita, I struggle to see what an association with Don Callis does for the vast majority of that stable; perhaps even all of them. To be honest, a trimmed down version of that group with Okada as leader would probably work much better. Callis is, at best, a generic loudmouth character. His promos are virtually all the same, and I find him very dull. 

The Conglomeration is similar. Individually, they’re stronger than they are as a collective. Orange Cassidy in particular would be better off spending more time away from his chums - he’s someone who could easily be slotted in to a compelling feud with Hangman, MJF, Kyle Fletcher or Okada. 

I feel like AEW tends to go through duff spells when plans are forced to change through injury or general unavailability. They kind of set into a holding pattern and the product suffers as a result. They need to be better at coping with that, and adapting on the fly. 

[BomberPat]

the Death Riders need to do more than just get rid of Moxley; they need something that makes the group as a whole noticeably different without him. I'm not convinced we get either, because every possible catalyst for a break-up just passes by and nothing happens. If it doesn't happen at Full Gear, then maybe they do something at World's End just for the timing of "New Year, New Stories", but that will be too late. I think maybe a break-up happens at Full Gear partly just so the PPV can have a big angle, and partly because they intend to do something like the plastic bag choking again that's easier to get away with on PPV than on network TV. But even after the break-up, they can't just be Death Riders Minus Moxley, there needs to be something else going on there - I would take Mox off TV altogether for a while, and bring the group down to being Marina Shafir, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia at their core. Have Darby take out PAC, and Claudio be conflicted and walk out rather than siding with either team. That gets rid of the last vestiges of the Blackpool Combat Club bar Yuta, with the story being that the people Moxley brought in to serve him - Yuta and Shafir - are the two who ultimately take him out. 

I can forgive the Don Callis Family because Callis has added to the presentation of Kyle Fletcher, accented this version of Okada, and will play a part in the Takeshita/Okada feud when it really kicks off. It's not like Rocky Romero, 50 year old Lance Archer, Trent Baretta and Josh Alexander would be setting the world on fire without Callis in their corner. I'm hoping that the size of the group will pay off in giving hot new babyface Takeshita a heel factory to fight his way through.

The Conglomeration I'm generally a fan of, but I prefer them as a loose alliance of mates who help each other out than a formal stable. Get Roddy Strong out of their orbit, and Orange Cassidy doing more singles stuff, and they'd be golden. I come back to this constantly, but they're a stable that would be better served by a competently booked Trios division - Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly would make for a really fun Trios act, both in-ring and in terms of personality, and would be a great feud for The Opps, if those titles were ever the focal point of anything. Only one iteration of the group have ever even challenged for the Trios belts once!

 

Tony Khan's worst trait as a booker is that when something throws a spanner in the works, he just lets people spin their wheels until he has every piece in place to get back on track, rather than playing the curveballs and letting chance dictate the direction of any of his stories. The main event scene is really depleted at the moment with the loss of Swerve, Ospreay and MJF, with Jon Moxley being rightly kept away from Hangman and the World Title, and with a big storyline in FTR vs. Cope & Christian being on hold while Copeland is filming The Beekeeper 2 (which I'm hoping places The Beekeeper in a shared cinematic universe with Money Plane). And yet they haven't really given anyone the space to step up and fill that gap - Samoa Joe made sense as a credible challenger of the month, but there's not enough there for a feud to span two PPV cycles. Darby Allin has gone from a PPV main event with Moxley to wrestling one of Mox's underlings at the next PPV, rather than riding that momentum into something bigger. Orange Cassidy and Eddie Kingston both returned during a dearth of babyfaces, and OC isn't even booked (unless he ends up in the Gauntlet) and Kingston is doing fuck all on the pre-show. Kenny Omega could step up into a bigger match, but is instead doing rehashed Elite drama in the midcard. Okada and Takeshita could be playing out their angle, with the Unified Championship being presented as an almost equal to the World Title to try and distract from how diminished the main event scene is, yet instead they're on the pre-show fighting for a CMLL belt.

Hell, they could fall back on Jeff Jarrett's abandoned storyline about wanting one last title run before he retires, and lean into his history with Hangman for a respectful babyface match, but Jeff hasn't even wrestled for AEW in almost a year - he wrestled for AAA more recently than for the promotion he actually works for. It wouldn't necessarily make for a PPV main event, but Jeff earning a shot would at least be a story that could play out on TV for a few weeks, and get a midcard PPV match out of him becoming number one contender.

And not that I'm crying out for him to have a big storyline, but where's Kip Sabian been since Killswitch turned on him? Why is Ricochet still feuding with the Hurt Syndicate, rather than maybe getting a fresh World Title match out of either Ricochet or Lashley? Why have they invented a brand new title for them to wrestle over, rather than The Demand/Hurt Syndicate Trios feud ever coming anywhere near being for the Trios belts? 

[Chili]

Death Riders are going fucking nowhere. They strike me as AEW's proper go at a Bullet Club faction where they'll have different leaders who'll eventually be forced to abdicate via coup d'êtat.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

45 minutes ago, Chili said:

Death Riders are going fucking nowhere. They strike me as AEW's proper go at a Bullet Club faction where they'll have different leaders who'll eventually be forced to abdicate via coup d'êtat.

I had to check this twice as on first glance I thought you'd written coup d'twat

[RedTwoster]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

Tony Khan's worst trait as a booker is that when something throws a spanner in the works, he just lets people spin their wheels until he has every piece in place to get back on track, rather than playing the curveballs and letting chance dictate the direction of any of his stories.

And that’s a crucial thing for wrestling bookers to do, you rarely have all pieces on the board. 

The worst part for me really is that they still have plenty of brilliant pieces to play. 

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

I can forgive the Don Callis Family because Callis has added to the presentation of Kyle Fletcher, accented this version of Okada, and will play a part in the Takeshita/Okada feud when it really kicks off. It's not like Rocky Romero, 50 year old Lance Archer, Trent Baretta and Josh Alexander would be setting the world on fire without Callis in their corner.

I dunno, Archer was pretty good when he first debuted and his tag team with Brian Cage could be a fun act with or without Callis. Josh Alexander offers something different as far as his wrestling goes, and I still think he could be more than he currently is for the company.

Trent is a bit of a shame really, there was a fantastic moment to be had in the Best Friends finally winning the tag belts together, but obviously that can now never be, with Taylor’s injury.

[LaGoosh]

I'd like to see more of Lance Archer in general, he's good fun. 

[Chili]

The thing with a lot of modern wrestlers and this is something I'd attach with Archer and Trent is they're in the same position, but TV wrestling characters are and stagnate a lot quicker because of the never taking time off thing. It's how in WWE people found the Dudleyz stale in their first run after a while but their run was only about 5 1/2 years. The TV age of a wrestler ages quicker than their career to me. Archer, I love, but peaked around 2022 after that really fun match with Hangman and I miss him as that kind of 911 character they nearly committed to with him. Trent's issue is the poor sod constantly gets hit with long injuries and all his momentum gets knackered. But yeah, I'd like to see more people leave or move about or whatnot, or just evolve them. I'm still someone who enjoys Sammy Guevara but he got absolutely fucked after turning on Jericho and them unspooling the turn back after. He should have evolved but instead it killed his journey stone dead. I don't want to see anyone doing the Dolph Ziggler thing anymore where they're around forever in essentially the same sort of place on the card. 

Edited November 21, 2025 by Chili

[mrtrickio]

On 11/21/2025 at 12:10 AM, Infinity Land said:

Manchester has been turned into a Dynamite & Collision taping. 

I've not really kept up with TV much since attending forbidden door but where was this announced? Wasn't gonna bother for just a dynamite but enjoyed the double taping in Cardiff (except the queueing beforehand!). If Manchester is a double taping then what is the Cardiff show now? Thanks

[Infinity Land]

3 minutes ago, mrtrickio said:

I've not really kept up with TV much since attending forbidden door but where was this announced? Wasn't gonna bother for just a dynamite but enjoyed the double taping in Cardiff (except the queueing beforehand!). If Manchester is a double taping then what is the Cardiff show now? Thanks

Cardiff is just a Collision. Probably get some ROH stuff. 

After they announced the Hammerstein Ballroom tapings. On Saturday 20/12 they're taping Dynamite on 34th St. Sunday 21/12 it will be Christmas Collision. That means taping Collision in Manchester to air on 20/12. 

As for announcements. This is AEW we're talking about  I don't know how to properly link to Instagram. On the 1st pic of the below post it's the schedule rundown with Manchester Dynamite. Then when you click through to the 8th and last pic. Cardiff Collision and Manchester Dynamite/Collision

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRRB7kYDar9/?img_index=1

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRRB7kYDar9/?img_index=8

[The King Of Swing]

Not as down on the show as much as others but definitely on the weaker side. 

Has to be Babes of Wrath, for the tag belts for me.

I quite like them on their own but Bayne and Marina are rubbish as a team, imo.

TayJay ain't much better. Outside of one hardcore match during the pandemic, they've been bland as hell. 

Maybe it's just me but lately Storm's promos are feeling really forced. I think a heel turn might actually be needed to freshen her and Mina up as an act. 

As much as I hate the idea of putting the world title on Mone. Statlander isn't making a strong case for herself. 

I would have made Mox Vs. Better Kyle a submission match. Would have added some solid drama considering Mox's recent tap outs. 

I'm desperately hoping for Briscoe to win the TNT title. Send Boring Kyle back to the tag division. 

Biggest sin on the show? Red Velvet wrestling in green gear.

6/10.

[RedTwoster]

17 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

Maybe it's just me but lately Storm's promos are feeling really forced.

Do you know what? I think I agree with this. I don’t think she has much chemistry with Mina, although I like them both individually. I imagine they’re real life friends, and want to work together - but on-screen it’s just not working. 

19 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

I would have made Mox Vs. Better Kyle a submission match. Would have added some solid drama considering Mox's recent tap outs. 

Now you mention it, this would have been the logical step to take. 

[The King Of Swing]

I would actually like to see more of Windsor and Riho as a team.

Hopefully Riho actually sticks around this time. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

Also is Shida ever returning? I know visa issues can be a pain but just how long has she been gone now? Riho is back and it doesn't seem like Mina is having any issues. 

Of course I'm no visa expert but it just feels off to me. Unless there's something I've missed. 

Edited November 22, 2025 by The King Of Swing

[Chili]

I like the Toni/Mina combo. I'm honestly not seeing the issues others are and I like Storm being in the tag division for a while to let others shine. 

Statlander should keep the title. I know she hasn't set the world on fire like Storm's reign but Mone winning the belt solves nothing. If she wins the title, she has to drop the TBS title sooner, and her character wouldn't vacate it. Mone should only win the women's belt when it all goes to shit and she works her way back up to it. It's a perfect story that hopefully they tell. It's so much more interesting than, she wins ALL the belts, then loses them. It's way less intriguing, character building or interesting.

[LaGoosh]

Not hugely blown away by that line up but I'm sure it'll still be decent. Lot of fun first time matches for Darby but a lot of rematches for mostly everyone else.

Not including Bandido feels like a massive mistake.

I would have liked to have seen Powerhouse Hobbs in this.

Roderick Strong clearly just in this to do all the jobs but fucking hell surely there's someone more interesting they could have found.

I'm mostly surprised that Pac is going to turn up to TV every week.

Edited November 25, 2025 by LaGoosh

[HarmonicGenerator]

Very surprised at the lack of Bandido there. Would definitely have swapped out Moxley or Roderick for him.