Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted February 28, 2025 Awards Moderator Posted February 28, 2025 The great Frankie Crisp has asked me to take over this bit of the awards for him. Cast your votes, discuss your picks. Voting will be open until probably Monday 10th.
Paid Members Jesse Posted March 1, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 1, 2025 It's Page and Swerve for me and it's not even close. It's been the thing keeping my wrestling fandom alive outside of YouTube clips and this forum's write-ups. It's everything I want from pro wrestling, two amazing athletes pushing past professional competition into some real meat that changes them both as people and results in matches that revolve around my mind when I close my eyes. If they both keep at this level over the next few years and keep finding new edges to it, it might easily become my favourite feud of all-time.
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 1, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 1, 2025 Easily Hangman/Swerve. One of the best feuds ever, really. Especially as this year for the most part it actually played out more in the margins than them actually interacting directly. It simmered in the background constantly and the tension slowly grew all year. When they actually did come face to face it was pure violent magic. They actually managed to make a standard main event run in feel like the wildest and most dangerous thing possible. It completely changed the most loveable hero in years into a monster. In a brilliant moment where Swerve for the first time ever, in a moment of happiness and pride, accidentally revealed a small personal vulnerability and paid for it dearly. And the All Out match. Some hated it. I loved it. An ugly piece of art. The pro wrestling hate feud taken to its natural conclusion. Terrifying and brutal. Them desperately trying to impale eachother on the lowering cage is the most in the moment I've possibly ever felt watching a wrestling match. At the end, Hangman wanted Swerve to beg for mercy on his knees. But Swerve was defiant to the end and Hangman killed him for it. Then he surveys the carnage he's left behind, for a moment seems to realise his hollow victory means nothing...but then evil wins and he psychotically screams in hateful victory. It's an incredible piece of work and I hope it never ends.
Paid Members Supremo Posted March 1, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 1, 2025 (edited) Genuinely can’t imagine anyone voting Punk vs. Drew over Hangman vs. Swerve. Punk and Drew certainly had its moments, and it ended on a fantastic high in the Cell, but it was baggy as fuck throughout most of the Summer, with loads of repetitive angles and dumb bracelet lore. It’s Hangman and Swerve by miles. An absolute masterpiece. Everyone always talks about the genius of Stone Cold and Bret’s double turn, but this was like that on steroids. A genuine thrill watching Swerve become the coolest man alive, whilst once-beloved Hangman descended into indefensible madness. One of my favourite things in pro-wrestling is when you’re rewarded for recognising where a storyline might go. Them releasing that video of Swerve getting the keys to his childhood home earlier in the day is AEW at its best. You knew what was coming. And yet it was somehow even better than you could have imagined. One of the all-time best angles and one of the most iconic images of all time. One day, people are going to start talking about Hangman as one of the best ever. At everything. Edited March 1, 2025 by Supremo
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted March 1, 2025 Paid Members Posted March 1, 2025 Just now, Supremo said: Genuinely can’t imagine anyone voting Punk vs. Drew over Hangman vs. Swerve. Bracelet lovers everywhere you look brother.
Recommended Posts