AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[BomberPat]

God, imagine if we had some version of that Bryan promo building up Eddie before the title match. Something to put him on that level, fire up the crowd, and make it work. 

The point of that match was that we knew Eddie was never going to win, but we wanted to believe, and should have come away heartbroken that he lost. I don't think it really achieved that, and part of that is that whether it was AEW's choice or Eddie's, not having Kingston really do a big fired up promo about why he should be World Champion - his first promo on Joe was about Joe's legacy and respect, his promo tonight was hitting the emotional side, but there hadn't been that fire, and that's what Bryan gave here. Imagine if they really focused on this feud from the beginning, had Bryan do that promo at the top of the show to light a fire under Eddie? It could have been something. 

A lot of the time I come away from AEW shows thinking "okay, what next?". Because Eddie's presumably not going to be in the title picture for a while - the next few weeks, if not months, are going to involve some combination of Joe, Swerve, Hangman, and MJF, I suspect. So what do they do with Eddie Kingston to make sure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle, and doesn't lose any of the goodwill from people wanting him to be in that picture? Same goes elsewhere on the show - I was pleasantly surprised to see Babes Of Wrath win the tag titles, but I want to know what happens next for them. What programmes and feuds are there for them, that aren't revisiting matches from the tournament? 

[Chili]

MJF cashes in and gets the belt from Joe. MJF eventually drops it to the Mad King. Then figure out the middle without it fucking up or MJF getting in his own way on the mic.

[BomberPat]

Kingston vs. MJF feels like such a natural feud, and it says a lot about how much my opinion of MJF has soured that I don't trust him to not completely fuck it up and introduce twenty extra layers that really aren't needed when "over-confident and entitled rich heel vs. tough working class babyface who needs the audience's support to convince him he deserves to win" is as simple and as perfect a wrestling story as you could ever come up with. 

[RedTwoster]

Unless MJF reinvents himself completely, I’d prefer to see him return as a babyface. What he was doing during his last run was essentially the best of the worst of MJF. He was usually the one black spot on an otherwise strong show. The company does need a hot top heel, but I’m not convinced that MJF has it in him to get back to that point.

[tiger_rick]

5 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

That show really fell flat for me.

I quite enjoyed it. Putting the tag title match on first meant there was always going to be a babyface moment to get it started. Hangman & Swerve teaming and winning and Speedball winning were more nice babyface moments. 

It's a small thing but having Eddie cut a promo, having Babes of Wrath talk afterwards and then celebrate backstage and having a Hangman promo after the match were things they must do more of to sell the importance of what's happening on the show. FTR being in two segments helped too. They used to be really good at stuff crossing over into other feuds and matches. The Callis family feuding with every bastard on the roster doesn't count.

Speaking of them, I agree with The Twoster and Gaffer about Callis. He's a good enough promo and has some heat but he does the same thing every week, he's got a massive faction of absolute losers and he brings absolutely nothing additional to the only two decent guys in it - Okada and Takeshita. I think Tony thinks it brings old school territory vibes like Bobby Heenan or Jimmy Hart but it's miles from that level. Get Takeshita turned and scrap the lot of it.

Really enjoyed Collision this week. The last couple of shows have increased my enjoyment of the C2 this year. I'm warming up to it. Wish Jack Perry had replaced Roddy Strong though.

I'm asking Santa to cull this roster, ban ROH mentions from AEW TV and for my missus to be Willow Nightingale. 

[RedTwoster]

5 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Really enjoyed Collision this week. The last couple of shows have increased my enjoyment of the C2 this year. I'm warming up to it. Wish Jack Perry had replaced Roddy Strong though.

It’s weird - while Dynamite has gone on a bit of a duff run, Collision rarely puts a foot wrong. I’d love for it to win show of the year at the UKFF Awards this year, although I suspect only a small number of people on here actually watch it! 

[BomberPat]

I think Don Callis was, up until the Bucks face turn, doing his best work since he was with Omega, but the last couple of weeks have been repetitive. If they could get the focus on Okada, Takeshita, and Fletcher as his big three guys all in the Continental Classic, and stop fucking about with him trying to recruit people, there would be something there - him as the smarmy politician trying to play every side to make all three think that they're his priority would be superb, and would give that much more to the eventual Takeshita turn; at the moment, Takeshita's beef is solely with Okada, but to really turn babyface, he needs to walk away from Don Callis more than from the guy he already doesn't like.

The dynamic, as I see it, is that Okada is more than good enough that he doesn't need Don Callis, but even in kayfabe he'd always rather take the easiest route, so having a manager to watch his back suits him. Konosuke Takeshita was the first pick, the guy who's been there from the beginning, and just can't bring himself to admit that Don doesn't have his best interests at heart - so when he does see that, he'll be furious. Kyle Fletcher is the only one to know exactly what Don is all about, but to actually like that about him - to the point of even dressing like Don half of the time. That's a good group of archetypes to play around with, but what does Rocky Romero add to the mix?

It's been annoying the last couple of weeks that there have been Young Bucks/Jurassic Express/Callis Family brawls, and despite having any number of schmucks that could be taking finishers, it's been Kyle Fletcher and Okada that have taken the BTE Trigger from the Bucks. They should be the ones slipping away unscathed to rob the audience of the chance to see them hit with a move, while the expendables take the finisher because, ultimately, they're just cannon fodder for the real money-makers in the faction anyway.

 

I would forgive the size of the Don Callis Family if the plan is for Takeshita to effectively blaze a path through all of them en route to finally getting his hands on Okada, and I could see us getting a Takeshita/Omega/Young Bucks vs. Don Callis Family eight-man tag later down the line, maybe even a ten-man if they end up bringing Hangman back into the Elite mix at all, depending on what the plans are for the World Title. But beyond that point, they need to start trimming the fat.

Just looking at the current members:

Brian Cage - out injured, but cut your losses. He's had the odd fun match as part of a tag team, but he's never going to be anything.
El Clon - still hasn't even fucking wrestled yet. Should be doing the evil clone of Hologram stuff in Hologram's absence, to set up an obvious feud when Hologram returns, or just scrapping the gimmick and being Arez, because he's too good to not be working. None of these ideas require him to be in the Don Callis Family.
Josh Alexander - I can live with him staying a member of a stripped down, more focused Callis Family after the Takeshita turn. He fits the part.
Kazuchika Okada - the meal ticket, Don should alienate other members of the group with how much time he spends on Okada.
Konosuke Takeshita - needs to beat Okada in the final of the Continental Classic, and turn on Don Callis either the same night or the next show. Get to the fireworks factory already. I can envision them doing the Evolution "Batista overhearing Triple H plotting backstage" bit with him and Don.
Kyle Fletcher - will probably turn babyface eventually, but for now should stick with Don Callis and keep doing what he's doing.
Lance Archer - surely on his way out? They seem to have been giving him more opportunities on things like commentary and pre-show panels over the last year, and having him wrestle a lot less. Cagematch tells me he's been in NJPW for the last couple of months, which I have heard nothing about. He's pushing 50, and doesn't really have anything left as a serious threat, but is too big to just be a mook in a massive stable. I would give him a more formal role as either Don or Kyle Fletcher's bodyguard/heavy, or get him out of the group altogether.
Mark Davis - I love Davis. It's odd that he's in the same stable as Kyle Fletcher without them ever teaming together. I think he'd probably be better off doing his own thing outside of the Family at this point. 
RPG Vice - sack them both off, they add nothing to the group.
Wardlow - let's be honest, nobody remembers he's there anyway. Unfortunate timing. Hit reset on him yet again.
Andrade - fuck knows on this one, lads.
Hechicero - people are desperate to cheer for him. Get him out of there.

So I would cut that down to, post-Takeshita babyface turn, a core of Okada, Fletcher, and Josh Alexander, possibly with Lance Archer as effectively a non-wrestling back-up member of the group. It wouldn't hurt to have a tag team in there too, but not Romero & Baretta. Keep that spot open until it makes sense for a babyface team to turn heel and side with them.

[I Bent My Wookie]

Tempted by Collision on Saturday, but paying 40 odd quid for a train thats an hour journey that also doesn't let me get back that night seems absolutely mad. 

But for some of the ticket prices its hard to say no to something that I've not done before. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

I really enjoyed that Dynamite.

I was so happy that Babes of Wrath won the tag titles, I love them, especially Willow who is just the best. I don't know exactly where they go, but at the very least they have the other side of the tournament bracket who they haven't beaten yet.

This team with Mina is by far the least interested I've been in Toni Storm since she became Timeless (that music is just... no) but I loved how wild the crowd got when she was in there with Willow for the first time. Wembley 2026, Nightingale vs Storm please!

Hangman and Swerve's match was the wild kind of brawl I wanted, I always like when AEW do the splitscreen to show multiple arena fights happening at the same time. Would have been fine with this one never getting into the ring!

Fletcher vs. Speedball was an excellent match, really felt how desperate they both were to win and didn't know which way it would go.

Main event was better than I'd expected, I just wish I'd felt more than a very slight hope that Eddie might somehow win. 

 

[LaGoosh]

I thought that was a pretty ok episode with some great stuff and some definitely less than great stuff. I'll put my CC thoughts in that thread.

- Glad Babes of Wrath won the tag titles but this really should have been against a heel team. Because it was face vs face there wasn't that sense of catharsis it should have had. It felt more like the Marge Simpsons "I hope both teams have fun". The match itself was fine if ropey in parts. I'm finding Mina pretty boring and she's dragging Toni Storm down with her, I think she could do with a heel turn.

- The Don Callis Family has enough going on right now with Okada, Takeshita and Fletcher being in the Continental Classic. That should be there primary focus right now. This stuff with the Bucks, Jurassic Express and Kenny is too much, repetitive and feels like it's going nowhere. Agree that The Don Callis Family could do with some slimming down too. Clon and Romero are doing nothing and just don't fit the vibe of "hench men and super athletes" the Family should have. But now to contradict my own point, I'd like to see Big Bill join the Don Callis Family. I think he'd have fun with it and bring some additional personality to the group while also being a suitable physical threat to make them more formidable. It would also get him away from Bryan Keith which he desperately needs.

- The Briscoe/Garcia confrontation was decent enough, I suppose.

- AEW doing the WWE trope where someone in a backstage fight appears from off camera and it's like they appeared from nothingness made me a bit sad. I don't know who those women the Triangle of Madness were beating up were though.

- the Tornado Tag was so GODDAMN GOOD. I had a blast with it. Hangman and Swerve are the best babyfaces around and Hobbs/Shibata played their roles perfectly. Though every time I see Hangman without the title it breaks my heart a little bit. Taking the belt off him was such a huge mistake. Hangman putting Hobbs through a table then high-fiving the joyous bar man and downing a pint ...he's the greatest of all time. I like it when wrestlers get their own trademark weapon and Swerve's weapon being the staple gun is brilliant. I love how he does these wacky spots with it that are still brutal. 5 stars all round.

- I liked Joe vs Kingston a lot. It was better than I expected while managing to feel like the first in a series of matches they'll have. Eddie perhaps should have passed out at the end rather than tapped out but that's a minor complaint. The issue with the match was that it was a World title match so the result was never in any doubt. A Kingston/Joe feud doesn't need the title. It'd be easy to build a storyline and issue between these two that'd be far more engaging and exciting.

- Joe as Champion is a real problem. His first title reign was good and felt like a necessary step to give the title back some credibility after the wacky MJF/Devil shenanigans had tarnished it. But this time round him being Champ has made the title feel like an afterthought and Hangman dropping it so soon into his reign has damaged Hangman and the belt. No matter from what perspective you look at it, anything they could do would be more interesting if Hangman was still Champion.

Edited December 12, 2025 by LaGoosh

[Chris B]

18 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

It’s weird - while Dynamite has gone on a bit of a duff run, Collision rarely puts a foot wrong. I’d love for it to win show of the year at the UKFF Awards this year, although I suspect only a small number of people on here actually watch it! 

Do you think part of that might be expectations? If you're generally expecting Dynamite to be good, then being let down vs expecting Collision to be a nothing show and being pleasantly surprised? 

Enjoyed that Dynamite a lot - some really good matches and it feels like a lot of people are in a good place.

Babes of Wrath are great. They're just both so likeable. Good choice for first tag champions and, while it could have felt like a bigger deal, it positions them nicely.

Jack Perry and Okada was a lot of fun. While I get some reservations around it, I don't think there's any harm in putting Jack Perry in a bunch of good singles matches and reminding people that he can be good at this. The dick-biting counter was brilliant and almost entirely due to Okada being hilarious. God, I love Okada. Although entertained by Perry's '...bit off more than I can chew' clearly being meant as an insult, but basically saying 'total beast down there, dude'.

Enjoyed the Hangman/Swerve team a lot, although didn't get into this match as much as some of the others. Fun, but more interested in where it goes.

Fletcher/Speedball was great stuff. Crowd got really into it, it felt like a sprint, and it shows how far Kyle has come that he's now feeling like a big deal to beat for a lower/mid-carder.

Main event, I enjoyed a decent amount - came across as both guys being tough, and if this was my first show, I'd feel it as being different to a bunch of the other matches. Kingston doesn't have much snap to his stuff, but he draws you in, and Joe still feels like a beast.

[RedTwoster]

11 minutes ago, Chris B said:

Do you think part of that might be expectations? If you're generally expecting Dynamite to be good, then being let down vs expecting Collision to be a nothing show and being pleasantly surprised?

Initially that was definitely true for Collision, but not Dynamite - for the majority of the year Dynamite did meet my expectations, while initially Collision surpassed them. Now my expectations are the other way around, and Collision consistently delivers. Even when it’s non-essential viewing, it’s always a show that leaves you feeling good about wrestling. 

It’s also worth adding that this is a show that frequently features Roderick Strong, my least favourite wrestler who hasn’t committed a crime in years. My dislike of him isn’t pretend, he really does annoy the piss out of me. Yet I still love this show, even when he’s on it!

[LaGoosh]

Real ones know Collision has been great for ages. It's the perfect relaxing B show to have with a cup of tea and some toast. You get a couple of decent matches, some fun promos and a squash match or two. It's very consistent.

[Chili]

Rampage was for the real sickos.

[The Gaffer]

1 hour ago, RedTwoster said:

Roderick Strong, my least favourite wrestler who hasn’t committed a crime

That's a great prompt. I feel like the entire Undisputed Era could be its Mt. Rushmore.