AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[WeeAl]

Haven't seen Collision yet, just finished Dynamite. Jesus, MJF and Jarrett was one of the worst segments this company has ever put on. If there is any salvaging MJF as a top guy, he needs a period of time now where he never opens his mouth and just has a match. Which is a damning indictment of him and the company, as him wrestling so rarely was probably part of his appeal. Currently though, it's the only part of his act he does well and he needs to get to it asap to try and cover up the stink of his run ever since the Cole story first started to go to shit. 

Rated FTR coming out that late that it was almost next Wednesday? For that, I hope Hobbs didn't take part in that 12 man and then came out and power slammed the three of the fuckers whilst in a wheelchair. State of it. 

Samoa Joe coming back and Kenny Omega in the opener were the saviour of the show. 

[The King Of Swing]

Decent episode of Collision.

Fun Toni Storm segment

Max Caster is so good at being a mouthy little prick, I'm starting to think it's not an act. 

Main event was fine, especially after last week's shit show.

I'm actually not against Hart, King and Matthews continuing as the HoB.

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, The King Of Swing said:

Max Caster is so good at being a mouthy little prick, I'm starting to think it's not an act.

I’d be all for them putting the TNT title on him. He’s doing a very good job, and holding a title is probably the next logical step with the whole ‘best wrestler alive’ gimmick. And heck, Daniel Garcia is hardly setting the heather alight as champion anyway. 

[Chili]

I never gave up on Max Caster when parts of the internet decided he was a genuine cunt and should be fired. He's great, he was good for a bit as this silly 'edgy' babyface with an eccentric childish streak in him, as a heel he'll be even better. He's not the world's best worker but that's never been his strong suit. 

[The King Of Swing]

He'd probably be a decent, Honky Tonk Man style champion.

Fluke title win and DQ finishes galore. 

[RedTwoster]

15 minutes ago, The King Of Swing said:

He'd probably be a decent, Honky Tonk Man style champion.

Fluke title win and DQ finishes galore. 

I think that would fit the gimmick brilliantly - with him celebrating like he’s conquered Everest every time. I don’t necessarily need to see a match between Bowens and Caster, but if their paths do eventually cross as singles wrestlers, I’d like it to be a while away, for a title.

Bowens really impresses me in ring, and I’d love to see him in the Continental Classic this year.

[Devon Malcolm]

What the hell are they doing with Harley Cameron now? Did Tony Khan notice her? Absolutely the worst thing that could happen to her.

[Kamran]

With GrandSlam approaching, most of the Aussies will get a little more focus to build some matches towards it. 

[tiger_rick]

Really enjoyable Collision. My biggest pet peeve with it is still Tony's commentary though. He's everything that became irritating in WCW. Christopher Daniels is one of the best ever. I know we want to build these guys up but is he fuck. Dustin Rhodes is as good as her ever was. He isn't. He's old and slow. I get that Dustin is having a greatest hits match so no one is selling anything, and it won't matter because Dustin will disappear for 6 months, but fucking hell, tell the story.

Putting the belts on Benjamin and Lashley and heating up Archer & Cage is getting me up for this tag division. Where are Buddy and Brody killing fools to establish them? Don't dip out now, TK.

Loved the Toni Storm segment. It's nice that the interviewers are clearly in on it and don't look like idiots. But they cleverly don't get to make their point. That is actually one way Tony is different to WCW - there he'd just have been booked as the moron who's also forgotten the last 2 years.

Main event was OK. I just don't really want any of this stuff. Match was fine and the outcome was right.

Highlight was the opener. Brutal stuff. Hanger looked great. Wish I had faith that it was going somewhere.

What happened to Ospreay smashing these Death Rider wankers once the C2 is finished? And where even is Darby?

[BomberPat]

completely agreed on the Toni Storm point - and Toni cutting Tony off was the first hint that maybe she knows what she's doing, or that there's some kind of repressed memory thing going on, that's fighting against any suggestion that she has met Mariah May before; fittingly after David Lynch's death, the first analogy that comes to mind is Dougie Jones. Whatever the end-game is, it's the first time they're planting a bit of intrigue on Toni's part rather than just playing it for laughs. Renee Paquette is another one who plays up to it brilliantly, just with her little side-eyes and facial expression whenever she's interviewing Toni.

I actually found myself getting annoyed by a recent Sports Illustrated interview with Toni Storm, because the person writing the article plays up that she's a brilliant rookie new signing, and that Timeless Toni Storm was a separate wrestler who preceded her. But the whole point is Toni is the only one who thinks she's a rookie, the rest of us know she isn't, so that's not the right way to play along with the act. Similarly, on Dynamite, Mariah May was pretending to play along, claiming that she had never seen Toni Storm before - but this version of Toni isn't meant to be brand new to wrestling, just to AEW, and surely it's this version of Toni Storm that, canonically, Mariah May idolised enough to follow in her footsteps and wrestle in Stardom? Not a good look to forget your own origin story, though she always has the "she's a heel and she's lying" get-out clause, I suppose.

Darby Allin has been written out by the Death Riders sticking a chair around his neck and throwing him down a flight of stairs, so he can go and train to climb. The problem is that they haven't done a good enough job of telling us that Darby is written out, that he (and several other members of the roster) routinely just disappear from TV for weeks at a time anyway so it doesn't feel like he's been written off, and Darby Allin takes madder bumps than that in throwaway matches, and still came to work after being hit by a bus, so nothing a heel can do to him ever actually feels sufficient cause to write him off anyway.

[tiger_rick]

3 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Similarly, on Dynamite, Mariah May was pretending to play along, claiming that she had never seen Toni Storm before - but this version of Toni isn't meant to be brand new to wrestling, just to AEW, and surely it's this version of Toni Storm that, canonically, Mariah May idolised enough to follow in her footsteps and wrestle in Stardom? Not a good look to forget your own origin story, though she always has the "she's a heel and she's lying" get-out clause, I suppose.

I thought Mariah's delivery was enough to suggest she's just going along with it. Surely if anyone doesn't want to remind Toni of their history, it's her. Will see where they go next but I thought Mariah was brilliant in that commentary spot. I know this Toni thing has to go somewhere but I hope it's not yet because I really wouldn't have Mariah lose.

3 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

Darby Allin has been written out by the Death Riders sticking a chair around his neck and throwing him down a flight of stairs, so he can go and train to climb. The problem is that they haven't done a good enough job of telling us that Darby is written out, that he (and several other members of the roster) routinely just disappear from TV for weeks at a time anyway so it doesn't feel like he's been written off, and Darby Allin takes madder bumps than that in throwaway matches, and still came to work after being hit by a bus, so nothing a heel can do to him ever actually feels sufficient cause to write him off anyway.

They do occasionally mention the stairs. I just agree, it's not enough to keep Darby off TV this long. Plus, why on earth would you make it so clear that the guy who is the one to beat Moxley is a guy who is not going to be around for months. Maybe they think this stuff is good, I dunno. It's messy.

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

I thought Mariah's delivery was enough to suggest she's just going along with it. Surely if anyone doesn't want to remind Toni of their history, it's her. Will see where they go next but I thought Mariah was brilliant in that commentary spot. I know this Toni thing has to go somewhere but I hope it's not yet because I really wouldn't have Mariah lose.

Yeah Mariah came off as more mocking to me. She's taking evil delight in Toni's mental breakdown and cruelly going along with it.

[Chris B]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

Similarly, on Dynamite, Mariah May was pretending to play along, claiming that she had never seen Toni Storm before - but this version of Toni isn't meant to be brand new to wrestling, just to AEW, and surely it's this version of Toni Storm that, canonically, Mariah May idolised enough to follow in her footsteps and wrestle in Stardom? Not a good look to forget your own origin story, though she always has the "she's a heel and she's lying" get-out clause, I suppose.

She also said "Timeless Toni Storm is dead and buried under Wembley Stadium". She's just mocking Toni and loving it.

I'm very much hoping that Toni claims to be Mariah's number one fan next week, and Mariah is so delighted at how much she's broken Toni that she goes along with it. 

The only real question is whether they do the reveal before or at the Australia shows. I suspect it'll happen beforehand, because you want Timeless Toni Storm on the build up.

That said, her accepting a bunch of 'Best wrestler' and 'Best promo' awards, and claiming they're all ribs by Prince Nana is fucking brilliant.

 

[BomberPat]

Just now, Chris B said:

I'm very much hoping that Toni claims to be Mariah's number one fan next week, and Mariah is so delighted at how much she's broken Toni that she goes along with it. 

I do wonder about that - are we going to get effectively a mirror image of the original story, with Toni as the understudy, who eventually turns on Mariah? Whether that's Toni genuinely believing it, or playing the part of the starstruck rookie so well that she genuinely suckers Mariah in, I'm really looking forward for the moment that Toni is stood behind Mariah with a shoe in her hand. 

[LaGoosh]

Finally some good news: