AEW TV 2025 Discussion

[LaGoosh]

I didn't really get much out of Edge but mostly enjoyed Copeland in AEW so far. I like that he's mainly been on Collision. An old WWE veteran testing himself one last time in new waters is both a cool work and shoot story. I've enjoyed seeing him work different styles and trying out new things.

I've got no interest in a main event run but as an established star in the upper/mid card doing fresh work with a new generation who don't wrestle the WWE style - I'm all for it. It's a fun bit of variety and him being there is good PR for them.

I like the idea of AEW being a place old vets have one last run and go out in style.

[DavidB6937]

2 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I like the idea of AEW being a place old vets have one last run and go out in style.

Shhh don't give Ric any ideas.

[LaGoosh]

Ric Blade? Loved him in CZW. I'm be well up for him turning up.

 

[BomberPat]

it's probably unfair, but I've always seen Edge and Christian as a team who were stronger than the sum of their parts - prior to his current heel run, I was never as high on Christian as some are, and found Edge largely fairly skippable as a main event talent, and very representative of an era of wrestling where it felt like all the real stars had gone home. When Christian returned in that Royal Rumble prior to signing with AEW, and ran some spots with Edge, I remember loving it, and realising that the prospect of Edge & Christian vs. The Usos or the New Day was a much more exciting idea than WWE doing anything with Edge as a serious singles main event attraction. I'm in a similar place in AEW; Cope has done some good stuff, but it does feel like they're just delaying getting to the firework factory of the eventual reunion and retirement run.

I don't think Cope has shown himself to be as creative or as open to reinvention as Christian is, and since coming out of retirement he falls back on very tedious "I'm a tough guy" promos too often - it seemed like every promo he did in WWE was about how it was time to get serious, and I just remember thinking, "fuck's sake, how much more serious can he get?". I must have audibly groaned when he did a promo about how he was "sicker" than Jon Moxley, because super-serious hard bastard Adam Copeland is the least interesting version of Adam Copeland this side of The Grit Couple, and I'm not ruling out that we get that act in AEW too, with Beth coming in to counteract Marina Shafir. Cope can be a really likeable, funny, goofy personality, and I wish he did that more often. Give me the goofball with a kazoo over Tough Guy Cope.

[The King of Old School]

10 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

it's probably unfair, but I've always seen Edge and Christian as a team who were stronger than the sum of their parts - prior to his current heel run, I was never as high on Christian as some are, and found Edge largely fairly skippable as a main event talent, and very representative of an era of wrestling where it felt like all the real stars had gone home. When Christian returned in that Royal Rumble prior to signing with AEW, and ran some spots with Edge, I remember loving it, and realising that the prospect of Edge & Christian vs. The Usos or the New Day was a much more exciting idea than WWE doing anything with Edge as a serious singles main event attraction. I'm in a similar place in AEW; Cope has done some good stuff, but it does feel like they're just delaying getting to the firework factory of the eventual reunion and retirement run.

I don't think Cope has shown himself to be as creative or as open to reinvention as Christian is, and since coming out of retirement he falls back on very tedious "I'm a tough guy" promos too often - it seemed like every promo he did in WWE was about how it was time to get serious, and I just remember thinking, "fuck's sake, how much more serious can he get?". I must have audibly groaned when he did a promo about how he was "sicker" than Jon Moxley, because super-serious hard bastard Adam Copeland is the least interesting version of Adam Copeland this side of The Grit Couple, and I'm not ruling out that we get that act in AEW too, with Beth coming in to counteract Marina Shafir. Cope can be a really likeable, funny, goofy personality, and I wish he did that more often. Give me the goofball with a kazoo over Tough Guy Cope.

Perfect representation of Edge's time at the "top".

[69MeDon]

This week's Dynamite a good spot to jump back into AEW with? It's been a while so not sure if I should wait until whatever the next PPV/special Dynamite is.

[d-d-d-dAz]

25 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

it's probably unfair, but I've always seen Edge and Christian as a team who were stronger than the sum of their parts - prior to his current heel run, I was never as high on Christian as some are, and found Edge largely fairly skippable as a main event talent, and very representative of an era of wrestling where it felt like all the real stars had gone home. When Christian returned in that Royal Rumble prior to signing with AEW, and ran some spots with Edge, I remember loving it, and realising that the prospect of Edge & Christian vs. The Usos or the New Day was a much more exciting idea than WWE doing anything with Edge as a serious singles main event attraction. I'm in a similar place in AEW; Cope has done some good stuff, but it does feel like they're just delaying getting to the firework factory of the eventual reunion and retirement run.

I don't think Cope has shown himself to be as creative or as open to reinvention as Christian is, and since coming out of retirement he falls back on very tedious "I'm a tough guy" promos too often - it seemed like every promo he did in WWE was about how it was time to get serious, and I just remember thinking, "fuck's sake, how much more serious can he get?". I must have audibly groaned when he did a promo about how he was "sicker" than Jon Moxley, because super-serious hard bastard Adam Copeland is the least interesting version of Adam Copeland this side of The Grit Couple, and I'm not ruling out that we get that act in AEW too, with Beth coming in to counteract Marina Shafir. Cope can be a really likeable, funny, goofy personality, and I wish he did that more often. Give me the goofball with a kazoo over Tough Guy Cope.

I think there's probably a bigger question to be asked as well, which is when did it get decided that main eventers had to be serious?

I think it's a fairly new phenomenon, but there is definitely an assumption that once you get past a certain level you have to 'get serious'. Which is a shame, as there's plenty of wrestlers who have a fun side who could also headline.

Kurt Angle is maybe the last example I can think of, maybe Eddie and/or JBL, as far as WWE are concerned, of people who were happy to bring humour into a World Title act.

Latter day Edge was awful precisely because he was trying to adopt this new standard of 'serious gritty man' which main event talent seem to have adopted, where his talents lay in being a bit goofy. His best main event runs were when he was still goofing about with Lita or Vicky or that tag team that sort of kind of looked like him.

It's why I was - and to an extent still am - hoping that Orange Cassidy comes through, and MJF returns to his former glory. 

#MakeMainEventFeudsFunAgain

Edited January 3, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz

[Supremo]

It hadn’t even occurred to me before.

Adam Copeland vs. Orange Cassidy, with loads of funny house show spots, concluding with a handshake and a double thumbs up pose, with matching shades.

It’ll go down in the history books. The most Collision opener in the history of Collision.

[LaGoosh]

51 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I must have audibly groaned when he did a promo about how he was "sicker" than Jon Moxley

Yeah I don't really think of Copeland as a "sick" guy. I'm sure those TLC matches weren't a barrel of laughs to do but he's not exactly got a reputation as a Mick Foley esque hardcore guy. Especially in comparison to Mox who has left gallons of blood in AEW over the years, regularly stabs people with forks, rolled around in barbed wire, thumb tacks etc and does Indy deathmatches for fun.

[Hannibal Scorch]

32 minutes ago, 69MeDon said:

This week's Dynamite a good spot to jump back into AEW with? It's been a while so not sure if I should wait until whatever the next PPV/special Dynamite is.

Yeah, it brings you up to speed with most of the things that have happened recently 

[ReturnOfTheMack]

9 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

I can't speak for others but her promos have always been the worst thing for me. I don't buy into them. I don't find them effective. I get that heels can be fake and arrogant but there are far better people out there at conveying that and convincing me that they're genuinely unlikeable and make me want to see them lose. Her? I never feel invested in the character whatsoever. It was the same in WWE. I just don't enjoy her character work whatsoever.

Pretty much this.

I find everything she does outside of the ring so shit that I just don't care. She doesn't have heel heat, she just makes me tune out. Her in ring stuff is fine, but nothing more. She hasn't, in my opinion, justified her position on the roster yet. 

[WeeAl]

On 1/2/2025 at 9:52 AM, Supremo said:

“Adam Copeland,” was fine. Especially when they secured the, “Rated R Superstar,” copyright. “Cope,” absolutely reeks of ex-WWE star showing up in the Impact Zone in late 2000s. You can almost hear poor Mike Tenay trying to make it work.

I’m hoping the intro music becomes a fun rolling feature, where it changes every week. Running Spotify Radio on The Pointer Sisters suggests the following tracks, which would all be brilliant.

“Hungry Eyes,” from Dirty Dancing.

”Love Really Hurts Without You,” by Billy Ocean.

“September,” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

“Don’t You Want Me,” by The Human League.

“(I Just) Died In Your Arms,” by Cutting Crew.

 

Quit stealing playlists out of my Spotify account fella. Unless you're going to pay for Duo, I feel this is some real espionage shite you're up to here. 

[Supremo]

My 2025 Wrapped has already been deeply affected by this issue.

Having now finally finished this show (these bloody kids get far too long off for Christmas!), I thought it was an excellent start to the year.

I’m probably biased though. Those dark, empty, echoey arenas haunted so much of my 2024 that they could probably pump out any old shit and provided they turn the lights on and you can actually hear some fans, I’m happy. The novelty of these smaller, packed buildings hasn’t even come close to wearing off yet. Just look at this! Absolute beauty! We’re back, baby!

Orange Cassidy vs. Hangman didn’t deliver quite as much as recent dream matches like Darby and Ospreay, but it was still a very enjoyable affair and was definitely the right two guys to put in front of potential new viewers. These two are the biggest success stories in the history of this company. The two absolute bankers that you can always rely on. Home grown gems. They both looked great here and I’m more convinced than ever that the Hangman Page Redemption Arc should be the focus of this entire company over the next twelve months. There’s still good in that man! I can feel it!

The Moxley promo sounded like a badly-veiled whinge. Mox bringing up carrying the belt through Covid felt similar to people trying to defend Moxley online. It’s as if there’s this weird belief that he can do no wrong and is beyond criticism. Look, there’s no denying he’s been amazing for AEW overall. He carried this company when the Pandemics and the Punks came close to killing it, but that doesn’t mean everything he does is going to be great. Even the best guys can be involved in some shit. Bret Hart had his Wrestlemania 12 Iron Man Match. Bryan Danielson had those slightly disappointing matches with Okada. And now Moxley has this Death Rider bollocks.

What makes it extra sad was watching Mox in that main event. He looked the fucking business in there. Best shape I’ve ever seen him in. Shaved head looks perfect on him. He had spectacular chemistry with Cope. The cracking brawl between them bodes extremely well for the eventual singles match. The only thing letting the whole thing down is the deeply, deeply flawed angle he’s built around himself. I see his trousers got even sillier this week too, with added decorations on them. The man knows. We all know. With any luck he can speed run some TV Title Defences against Cope and Swerve leading up to the Pay Per View, and then just drop the belt to Darby and move on to something new. Everyone involved is better than this. Pour some chemicals down the angle’s throat already!

It was a good show for putting people in the correct lanes. Keep MJF and Adam Cole as far away from each other as possible. Make The Hurt Syndicate a Tag Team. Make the Undisputed Knobheads a Trio to hide how washed Adam Cole is. Turn FTR into a Trios to freshen them up. And finally, split up The Acclaimed. Great move, but I do have my reservations. In any other company, Anthony Bowens as a singles would have unlimited upside. Am I being too cynical to think he’ll get lost in the shuffle in current day AEW?

Ricochet’s angle with Swerve was the best thing on the show. What a revelation this heel run has been for Ricochet. He looked absolutely terrifying calmly walking through the crowd to stab Swerve in the face. Swerve remains a phenomenal bleeder, too. Similar to how I can’t remember Ricochet being a heel before, has he ever had a Death Match? You assume that’s what this is leading to and I cannot wait.

My only criticism was the glasses. It was all a bit too on-the-nose. It’s a good heel character already. He doesn’t need to lean into it even further and become Andrew Rico-Tate. I can completely understand everyone’s concerns about him going too far with that idea. Especially considering what an idiotic whopper Ricochet has always proven himself to be online. Wouldn’t be shocked if he starts using that mad Tate music as his entrance theme next week.

The deathly silence for Mercedes was frightening. Never has it been clearer how little GOOD MATCHES matter anymore. She needs to completely change the act if she ever wants to amount to anything. Whoever that writer is who’s specifically hired for Mercedes, sack her already. It doesn’t help her at all doing all these rubbish WWE-style promos, speaking exclusively in rhyming couplets.

”Say hello…

..:to another dog shit promo!”

Double J rules. What a promo. What a career resurgence. What a moustache. I’m all in on The Last Outlaw’s Last Stand. I think everyone involved realised too late what they had with him in last year’s Owen Tournament. You could sense they’d already decided on Danielson vs. Swerve at Wembley, only for Jeff to steal everyone’s heart with that one promo. Everything after that felt like them trying to juggle and make it all work. This year’s Tournament has got to be Jeff’s for the taking. Ain’t he great!

Brilliant main event. Everything I’ve already mentioned. Despite having never wrestled before, Mox and Cope looked great knocking shite out of each other, the Trios environment completely freshened up FTR and the happy, feel good ending was exactly what I need from this company right now. It’s probably come far sooner than anyone wanted, but the Death Rider angle has peaked. They’ve got all the heat they need. It’s time for the good times to roll. And roll. And roll. Until it all culminates in the ultimate crescendo.

Edited January 4, 2025 by Supremo

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

6 minutes ago, Supremo said:

My 2025 Wrapped has already been deeply affected by this issue.

Having now finally finished this show (these bloody kids get far too long off for Christmas!), I thought it was an excellent start to the year.

I’m probably biased though. Those dark, empty, echoey arenas haunted so much of my 2024 that they could probably pump out any old shit and provided they turn the lights on and you can actually hear some fans, I’m happy. The novelty of these smaller, packed buildings hasn’t even come close to wearing off yet. Just look at this! Absolute beauty! We’re back, baby!

Orange Cassidy vs. Hangman didn’t deliver quite as much as recent dream matches like Darby and Ospreay, but it was still a very enjoyable affair and was definitely the right two guys to put in front of potential new viewers. These two are the biggest success stories in the history of this company. The two absolute bankers that you can always rely on. Home grown gems. They both looked great here and I’m more convinced than ever that the Hangman Page Redemption Arc should be the focus of this entire company over the next twelve months. There’s still good in that man! I can feel it!

The Moxley promo sounded like a badly-veiled whinge. Mox bringing up carrying the belt through Covid felt similar to people trying to defend Moxley online. It’s as if there’s this weird belief that he can do no wrong and is beyond criticism. Look, there’s no denying he’s been amazing for AEW overall. He carried this company when the Pandemics and the Punks came close to killing it, but that doesn’t mean everything he does is going to be great. Even the best guys can be involved in some shit. Bret Hart had his Wrestlemania 12 Iron Man Match. Bryan Danielson had those slightly disappointing matches with Okada. And now Moxley has this Death Rider bollocks.

What makes it extra sad was watching Mox in that main event. He looked the fucking business in there. Best shape I’ve ever seen him in. Shaved head looks perfect on him. He had spectacular chemistry with Cope. The cracking brawl between them bodes extremely well for the eventual singles match. The only thing letting the whole thing down is the deeply, deeply flawed angle he’s built around himself. I see his trousers got even sillier this week too, with added decorations on them. The man knows. We all know. With any luck he can speed run some TV Title Defences against Cope and Swerve leading up to the Pay Per View, and then just drop the belt to Darby and move on to something new. Everyone involved is better than this. Pour some chemicals down the angle’s throat already!

It was a good show for putting people in the correct lanes. Keep MJF and Adam Cole as far away from each other as possible. Make The Hurt Syndicate a Tag Team. Make the Undisputed Knobheads a Trio to hide how washed Adam Cole is. Turn FTR into a Trios to freshen them up. And finally, split up The Acclaimed. Great move, but I do have my reservations. In any other company, Anthony Bowens as a singles would have unlimited upside. Am I being too cynical to think he’ll get lost in the shuffle in current day AEW?

Ricochet’s angle with Swerve was the best thing on the show. What a revelation this heel run has been for Ricochet. He looked absolutely terrifying calmly walking through the crowd to stab Swerve in the face. Swerve remains a phenomenal bleeder, too. Similar to how I can’t remember Ricochet being a heel before, has he ever had a Death Match? You assume that’s what this is leading to and I cannot wait.

My only criticism was the glasses. It was all a bit too on-the-nose. It’s a good heel character already. He doesn’t need to lean into it even further and become Andrew Rico-Tate. I can completely understand everyone’s concerns about him going too far with that idea. Especially considering what an idiotic whopper Ricochet has always proven himself to be online. Wouldn’t be shocked if he starts using that mad Tate music as his entrance theme next week.

The deathly silence for Mercedes was frightening. Never has it been clearer how little GOOD MATCHES matter anymore. She needs to completely change the act if she ever wants to amount to anything. Whoever that writer is who’s specifically hired for Mercedes, sack her already. It doesn’t help her at all doing all these rubbish WWE-style promos, speaking exclusively in rhyming couplets.

”Say hello…

..:to another dog sit promo!”

Double J rules. What a promo. What a career resurgence. What a moustache. I’m all in on The Last Outlaw’s Last Stand. I think everyone involved realised too late what they had with him in last year’s Owen Tournament. You could sense they’d already decided on Danielson vs. Swerve at Wembley, only for Jeff to steal everyone’s heart with that one promo. Everything after that felt like them trying to juggle and make it all work. This year’s Tournament has got to be Jeff’s for the taking. Ain’t he great!

Brilliant main event. Everything I’ve already mentioned. Despite having never wrestled before, Mox and Cope looked great knocking shite out of each other, the Trios environment completely freshened up FTR and the happy, feel good ending was exactly what I need from this company right now. It’s probably come far sooner than anyone wanted, but the Death Rider angle has peaked. They’ve got all the heat they need. It’s time for the good times to roll. And roll. And roll. Until it all culminates in the ultimate crescendo.

Don't be so silly..... that image is ridiculous.

They retired the FTW belt remember?

[RedTwoster]

According to Wade Keller, ‘multiple sources’ told him that Tony Khan dropped the angle in which The Elite were taking over AEW because he didn’t want the perception that someone other than him was booking the matches.

Which, if true, may explain why Jon Moxley’s AEW takeover has been similarly unsuccessful, and rather half-arsed.