AEW TV 2026 discussion

[Tennessee Moltisanti]

I wasn't for Darby winning the title until I saw Uncle Sting in the back, with that fantastic goatee and his lovely new jacket.

Best way to do the title switch if MJF is leaving to go to do another movie. No issues with Darby holding it for a month until Double or Nothing and dropping it to Omega/Swerve/Whoever.

Electric feeling to that main event, loved the opening of the show. A great bit of business all round.

[Supremo]

I’m bang up for Darby having a month-long run before dropping it back to Max at the pay per view.

It speaks to how far the pendulum has swung the other way that I’m now nostalgic for short World Title reigns. When everyone has a lengthy, record-breaking reign it no longer means anything and kills any sense of excitement or spontaneity.

Might treat myself to some 2000 WCW later.

Edited April 16 by Supremo

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, sukhy said:

I wasn't for Darby winning the title until I saw Uncle Sting in the back, with that fantastic goatee and his lovely new jacket.

It’s a shame he never used that look while wrestling in AEW, it’s brilliant. 

I was kind of hoping they were setting the audience up for a gut punch - all this build-up, yet MJF wins anyway. It could have set up a blockbuster rematch if played right. 

But I can’t complain about the approach they took here. And I’d go as far as to say MJF ended up having one of the best World title runs in AEW history, much against my initial expectations.

[Chili]

MJF is off to film a movie apparently, so this is probably why they also did it, plus it was more of a fun surprise having Darby do it instead of Kenny. Swerve to fucking murder Darby and take the belt I say chaps.

Also the callback to MJF saying he'd win with a side headlock was a lovely catharic fuck you, plus lovely to see weekend dad Sting absolutely overjoyed, your weird son did good Steve.

[Chris B]

A surprise title switch just before a Wrestlemania where people are complaining about the build is some pretty fantastic timing. Pretty much guarantees some new eyes on them. For that alone, I think this was a smart move, even more so than doing it at the PPV.

[BomberPat]

I've no real interest in Darby Allin as champion, but I had no interest in MJF continuing as champion anyway, so what's the difference? Doing a big feelgood hometown babyface win the week of Wrestlemania is smart - it ensures AEW are getting some big headlines and chat around them, rather than WWE dominating the news feed all week. The show in general had a lot of the feelgood vibes that were missing from Dynasty - if a show could have captured these vibes with the in-ring of the PPV, it would be an all-timer.

Interesting that Swerve has completely vanished from TV to such an extent that he's not even on the Washington shows, though, particularly as they have made a point of booking pretty much every other Buddy Wayne dojo guy. I hope that nothing's going on there, and that it's more a case of keeping him off the hometown shows because they don't want him getting a babyface pop.

It will take a very different route to get there than I expected, but I do think we're getting Ospreay/Omega at All In. Outside chance, assuming nothing weird going on, of it being Ospreay/Swerve, as they never got around to that feud they were starting to build to before Will got hurt. Again, assuming no weirdness, I can see Swerve being the one to take the belt from Darby, it's just a question of where Will and Kenny then fit into the broader title picture, and how long MJF is out for, after that. It doesn't feel very AEW to water down a match like Ospreay/Omega by making it a triple threat, though I can see Omega/Ospreay/Swerve as a possibility. I can also see them remaining weirdly averse to putting the World Title on Will at Wembley, and have Ospreay/Omega non-title, and Swerve/Darby for the belt. You then have the question of how Hangman copes, whenever he comes back, with not being able to challenge for the title while it's on Swerve.

[Supremo]

Watching that Omega/Ospreay backstage deal, I am now also back on the bandwagon for Ospreay vs. Omega at Wembley.

Maybe they don’t put the belt back on MJF. Maybe he needs to take more time off to shoot a movie than anyone is reporting.

Watching how everything played out, I’m now expecting it to be Omega vs. Darby at Double or Nothing, delivering that match after teasing it, with Omega winning and going into All In defending the belt against Ospreay. AEW don’t do stuff like Will calling Kenny his hero unless it’s directly leading to something. Kenny becoming a bit of a cocky dickhead again based on that would be brilliant. I still think the best Kenny of all time was dickhead heel Kenny in 2021.

Manifest it!

Edited April 16 by Supremo

[tiger_rick]

I watched the few Darby segments on YouTube this morning. First AEW I've watched since Hangman let us all down. I'm not a huge fan of Darby at the top level either. He's a bundle of fun in mid-card matches and a credible challenger but I was never into him being the one to dethrone Mox and that carried over to this. It was a great moment though, hearing the crowd piss their pants, Excalibur's outstanding commentary, the post-match celebration, the Stinger and the way they signed off and let it breathe for a minute or two afterwards.

They do this stuff better than anyone has for a long time.

[NeverYield]

Just catching up now, watching all the long YT clips

Fair play to them it was executed well, it felt big. Im not the biggest fan of Darby Allin but the moment felt great, and wont hurt them at all in WrestleMania week.

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

Can I nominate Renee Paquette for being the unsung hero in the opening segments with her expressions and trying to get a word and eventually losing patience 'MAX!' She's utterly brilliant at what she does. Even when Callis rocked up she still managed to keep it going with a look of 'oh for fucks sake' but still being professional. 

Also Don Callis's 'eerrrrrr' when Renee shouted. It's those little touches of keeping the look of the snivelling chickenshit heel going even when it's not even his segment really 

Edited April 16 by Tim Healys Chutney Spoon

[Supremo]

Funny when Darby mentioned, “taking a deep breath,” before starting his career. Listening to his promos, he never stopped taking those deep breaths!

Once you notice Darby taking massive gulps of air between sentences, you can never go back. It’s insane.

He probably didn’t even take oxygen up when climbing Everest. He gets more than enough just having a chin wag.

[WyattSheepMask]

I’m not necessarily for Darby winning the belt, but as I made a point of on here a few months ago when they switched the belt from Cody to Drew, I am for shorter reigns/unexpected title changes. 

We’ve become far too accustomed to guys having year long (sometimes even longer) title reigns to the point that the majority of title matches have no stakes because you know they’re not switching the belt. 
And then they go and do it and it gets a reaction

Edited April 16 by WyattSheepMask

[RedTwoster]

14 minutes ago, WyattSheepMask said:

We’ve become far too accustomed to guys having year long (sometimes even longer) title reigns to the point that the majority of title matches have no stakes because you know they’re not switching the belt. 

I generally prefer longer title reigns, but this is a great point that is not considered. Doing things like this and even the Samoa Joe title win (still think that was a dumb one though) does create a layer of tension with any World title match, as you know they have it in them to do something unexpected.

[mim731]

2 hours ago, BomberPat said:

Interesting that Swerve has completely vanished from TV to such an extent that he's not even on the Washington shows, though, particularly as they have made a point of booking pretty much every other Buddy Wayne dojo guy. I hope that nothing's going on there, and that it's more a case of keeping him off the hometown shows because they don't want him getting a babyface pop.

Apparently Swerve is off doing something for WBD this week, so I'd say he's still in the mix. They were probably just not wanting to draw focus from the title win. Wouldn't be shocked to see him attack Darby next week and go from there. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

Great show this week. Loved the whole-show build to the main event, multiple winners of other matches shouting out the main event, and could feel my nerves growing when there was 10 minutes left on the episode and they hadn’t finished the entrances yet. Could have absolutely gone either way, and I’m glad they did the feel good happy ending with Darby winning. Always nice to see Sting too. Darby as the underdog champion killing himself to hold on to the belt could lead to some great matches if he keeps it for a little while.

Elsewhere Ospreay-Hechi was a very good match, Kamille looked better than in her first run, and Takeshita might finally have had enough of the Family, this time, maybe? Things are good in AEW land this week.

Couldn’t imagine saying this a year ago but I don’t miss Hangman at all right now.