-It was very smart of AEW to copy WWE who copied UFC on the backstage fighter walks to start off the show. Good is good regardless of where it comes from and this shot immediately indicates to the viewer what is important on the show. It’s instant hype for big matches in just seconds of air time and is something AEW should continue to roll out week to week.
Mid-card Mercedes?
-Once again, AEW hit a home run in presenting Mercedes Mone as a big, larger than life star. Again, Mone looked the part, the promo was a lot of what we heard last week. Nothing wrong with that, but I was looking for her to set a hook on big matches she’s planning on having against the likes of Toni Storm, Britt Baker, and others. Instead, she seems to be entrenched with Julia Hart, Willow Nightingale, and other mid-card talent in the women’s division — around the mid-card women’s title too. This is a curious bunch to debut her with given what Tony Khan is paying Mone and the type of grand, top star presentation she’s gotten.
-Did you guys hear the pop for Kazuchika Okada this week? I mean, how could you not? Yikes. Okada is supposed to be a heel and is aligned with the heel Young Bucks team. Yet, he was received like a hero babyface. Not good and exactly why turning him heel wasn’t a smart move. The crowd wants to cheer him. Okada can “play” heel all he wants, but the audience just isn’t buying it.
-As for Okada vs. Eddie Kingston, it was a good match, but severely undercut due to Okada being cheered as much as he was.
-Pac vs. Okada seems to be on deck. Okada will be cheered in this one too. Problem!
Hook Lesnar
-Hook vs. Chris Jericho was very good. The worry going into this for me was both Jericho and Hook doing too much and the match not working because of it. What they did worked incredibly well. The match was entertaining, Hook was able to showcase dominance as a young star, Jericho took the time to sell Hook’s offense, and Hook got a big win that sets up more stories between the two guys. Jericho has a history of helping and hurting young talent when he works with them. Will this be Action Andretti or will this be MJF? Time will tell.
-Thank GOODNESS Adam Cole didn’t wheel out in a wheel chair to cut the promo on Wardlow this week. It’s pretty early to needle Wardlow, isn’t it? Undisputed Kingdom just got together and hasn’t even feuded with the key talent that brought the faction together yet. AEW has skipped 12 chapters in this story and needs to take time to define the group rather than open wounds up already. Cole presentation was finally repaired a little this week, but it’s way too soon for this dissension story between him and Wardlow.
Will Ospreay … Hogan style
-Damn. Will Ospreay is the guy. The energy he has is off the charts and it very much seems to resonate with the audience regardless of where these shows are taking place. Tony Khan, listen, he’s your guy. The pop he got was passionate and the style he works is synonymous with what the AEW brand is. It’s time to take a page out of the old school booker playbook, attach the company to Ospreay’s shoulders, and go. There is money all over that guy right now.
-The women’s tag match was fine. Nothing more and nothing less. Rosa getting the pin over Toni Storm to win the match for her team indicates she’s getting a title shot at the Dynasty PPV next month.
-Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe were both excellent during their promo segment this week. Strickland was likable, but in a way that jived with his character. Joe leaned heel for Swerve and the audience went with him that way. Konosuke Takeshita being dropped into the title picture via a match with Swerve next week is a bit out of nowhere, but works to give Swerve another hurdle to jump over on the way to his title match with Joe at Dynasty. If Swerve and Joe can keep up this level of work, their title match should be sizzling by the time we get to the PPV.
Hockey goals?
-Overall, I liked Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland. The audience very much was invested, which made it better than it otherwise would have been. Here’s the thing. It’s really hard to get into Copeland trying to choke the life out of Cage just seconds after he jokingly used a gimmick hockey goal to “hurt” him. The match was manic in that way. It had serious moments like the spikes, tables, and chairs, but then had goofiness with the hockey jerseys and hockey goals.
-Copeland is watered down thanks to winning that TNT Championship. It keeps him in the middle of the card, but frankly, he doesn’t deserve to be at the top at this moment. So, with that said, he should have some fresh feuds on tap that may finally light him up enough to get to that next level in AEW.
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