AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[Merzbow]

The fact that Hangman ever needed to be reheated is a damning indictment of this company, why should I trust that they're not going to cool him off yet again?

That match was pitch perfect to showcase just how lost in violence Adam is, how does he ever find himself again? Crazy that it was an opener on Collision but it gave the show some much needed gravitas and props to Daniels for taking such a beating.

But yeah, he's the deathmatch God, Jon Mox-who?

 

[Supremo]

Originally, with all their history, I wanted Kenny Omega to be Hangman’s saviour.

Spend the next four months building up Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay as Super Best Friends. Maybe even bring Orange Cassidy into the mix if/when Trent returns as a part of the Callis Family. And then, only once the Holy Triforce of Goodies is fully formed, can they somehow save Hangman Adam Page from himself.

But as time goes on, the more obvious answer seems right there. Fuck knows how you get there, and it’ll take some real skill writing it, but it has to be Swerve Strickland, doesn’t it? He broke him. Only he can fix him. Maybe I’ve been watching too much WWE melodrama (I definitely have, there’s no “maybe,” about it), but the idea of Swerve or Hangman one day begrudgingly saving the other? A subtle nod of respect? A fucking fist bump? I’ll explode.

In super positive news, the Long Overdue Fucking Off of Malakai Black now looks to be canon. Praise be. It’ll be funny watching him in WWE. The difference between how much shit knobheads can get away with in AEW compared to WWE will be completely exposed when Malakai is eliminated from the Royal Rumble and he doesn’t get to do his patented emo, overdramatic exit to the back.

 

Edited January 19, 2025 by Supremo

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Supremo said:

But as time goes on, the more obvious answer seems right there. Fuck knows how you get there, and it’ll take some real skill writing it, but it has to be Swerve Strickland, doesn’t it? He broke him. Only he can fix him. Maybe I’ve been watching too much WWE melodrama (I definitely have, there’s no “maybe,” about it), but the idea of Swerve or Hangman one day begrudgingly saving the other? A subtle nod of respect? A fucking fist bump? I’ll explode.

It’s such a shame that they utterly arsed up Moxley’s group. If this was a storyline that was working, the prospect of the only thing that could take them down being Hangman and Swerve putting their differences aside would be absolutely magical. 

On a separate note, I’m intrigued by The Acclaimed split and I thought it was done relatively well - although I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep Bowens and Gunn together in the longer term. Gunn telling him to go off and carve his own path, and Bowens hanging up the scissors for the time being seems the sensible way to go. 

[LaGoosh]

11 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

It’s such a shame that they utterly arsed up Moxley’s group. If this was a storyline that was working, the prospect of the only thing that could take them down being Hangman and Swerve putting their differences aside would be absolutely magical. 

Completely agree. I don't think there's any potential big bad they could set up in the next year that would warrant a Swerve/Hangman joining forces story sadly. But to me this story has a clear ending moment, Swerve is in danger and Hangman sees the light, holds out his hand and picks him up.

How they get there though I've no idea.

[RedTwoster]

7 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

Completely agree. I don't think there's any potential big bad they could set up in the next year that would warrant a Swerve/Hangman joining forces story sadly. But to me this story has a clear ending moment, Swerve is in danger and Hangman sees the light, holds out his hand and picks him up.

How they get there though I've no idea.

I hate to say it, but maybe it is Moxley. I’m conflicted for sure, but if they wait too long the moment won’t mean as much. For me, Hangman’s face turn should come through a truce with Swerve, and he probably should turn face in 2025. Hangman helping take out the Death Riders to help Swerve become champion - the one thing he vowed to prevent? I like it.

Edited January 19, 2025 by RedTwoster

[Chili]

I love that they poochied Malakai Black. A pain in the arse from most accounts. Proper big star in TNA so I'm very much above this energy to him. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2025 by Chili

[Merzbow]

The best thing about Black finally fucking off is that Brody King can now get pushed to the moon without that baggage, he looked boss coming out as the world's biggest hardcore pit ninja at the recent New Japan show. Fuck all the goth bollocks.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah if King/Matthews can just be pushed as a pair of dangerous double hard bastards going after the tag titles I'd be over the moon. No room for spooky magical shite in modern wrestling any more. 

[RedTwoster]

45 minutes ago, Chili said:

I love that they poochied Malakai Black. A pain in the arse from most accounts. Proper big star in TNA so I'm very much above this energy to him. 

If he’s on his way to WWE, I very much hope they keep him away from the Wyatt Sicks, and completely remove any supernatural bollocks from his act. He’s ended up massively damaged from his time in AEW and I don’t even think it’s the company’s fault. He had the chance to present the version of himself he presumably felt was best, and it simply wasn’t enjoyable.

[Merzbow]

3 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

He had the chance to present the version of himself he presumably felt was best, and it simply wasn’t enjoyable.

It turns out "guy who listened to a couple of black metal albums" really isn't a gimmick that works.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

Completely agree. I don't think there's any potential big bad they could set up in the next year that would warrant a Swerve/Hangman joining forces story sadly. But to me this story has a clear ending moment, Swerve is in danger and Hangman sees the light, holds out his hand and picks him up.

How they get there though I've no idea.

That's because this moment, if it should ever happen (and I don't think it should) shouldn't happen for 3-5 years. The idea of them writing off implicit threats to a baby, drinking someone's blood and literal arson in a year really upsets me. I want Swerve and Hangman at each others throats forever. Even if they reach a point where they're on the same side of something, they should refuse to work together and that should be part of the story of the match.

2 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

He’s ended up massively damaged from his time in AEW and I don’t even think it’s the company’s fault

Really? I mean, I'm not saying the AEW run did him any favours, but he was in a fairly rotten state before he left WWE. What I will say is the only person that ever seemed to be able to make him work was HHH, so that's where I've got the most hope for him.

[LaGoosh]

The problem with Black is all his stuff is surface level. He looks cool, he does cool kicks, he says things that sound cool but there's no depth to any of it. It's like a wrestler you come up with in your notebook when your 14.

Which is fine for a midcarder to a point but with an act that's completely two dimensional and doesn't evolve there's not a huge amount you can do with him really and the crowd aren't going to really connect with him to get him to the main event . On top of that, he's not the best singles wrestler. Apart from cool kicks he doesn't really do anything interesting in his matches.

[RedTwoster]

9 minutes ago, Duke said:

Really? I mean, I'm not saying the AEW run did him any favours, but he was in a fairly rotten state before he left WWE. What I will say is the only person that ever seemed to be able to make him work was HHH, so that's where I've got the most hope for him.

I would say so. When he arrived in AEW pretty much everyone had high hopes for him. After a promising first feud against Cody, it soon became apparent that his ring work wasn’t particularly good. Strip away the unique look, and you have very little to work with. His gimmick wasn’t for me either, but I appreciate that’s subjective. His run in AEW has exposed him as simply not being as special as he initially seemed, to the point I don’t want to see him in WWE.

There are plenty of floundering or rarely used AEW wrestlers who I think would do much better in WWE, and who I’d feel enthusiastic about if they were to move. But I don’t feel that way about Black at all.

[Hannibal Scorch]

13 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

I would say so. When he arrived in AEW pretty much everyone had high hopes for him. After a promising first feud against Cody, it soon became apparent that his ring work wasn’t particularly good. Strip away the unique look, and you have very little to work with. His gimmick wasn’t for me either, but I appreciate that’s subjective. His run in AEW has exposed him as simply not being as special as he initially seemed, to the point I don’t want to see him in WWE.

There are plenty of floundering or rarely used AEW wrestlers who I think would do much better in WWE, and who I’d feel enthusiastic about if they were to move. But I don’t feel that way about Black at all.

People who had high hopes for him were thinking of his pre main roster run in WWE. It’s no coincidence that he came in pretty strong but as soon as HHH got power in WWE he seemed less and less fussed. Partly probably because he wasn’t top of the card, and partly because he loved Trips so much. 
 

He’ll come into WWE, big presentation and he’ll be a regular competitor for the speed title within 6 months.

[HarmonicGenerator]

 

4 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I hate to say it, but maybe it is Moxley. I’m conflicted for sure, but if they wait too long the moment won’t mean as much. For me, Hangman’s face turn should come through a truce with Swerve, and he probably should turn face in 2025. Hangman helping take out the Death Riders to help Swerve become champion - the one thing he vowed to prevent? I like it.

I think it might be even more meaningful the other way round. Swerve, the one more likely to be able to move on from it all, helping out Hangman, and Hangman, knowing he couldn’t have managed without help from the last person he would have wanted… there’s something in that.