-Well, welcome back Jon Moxley! It’s good to see Mox back and AEW needed him back badly. He cut a tremendous promo this week in an intense and dramatic way that only Moxley can. Mox is the backbone of AEW and after last week, it’s perfect timing to bring him back into the fold. Mox was smart in how he defined the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship he held, but also emphasized how the impact of AEW allowed him to chase down that title. The audience loved him. Tony Khan needs to hear that response and push back on any attempt by Mox to be a bad guy. It just isn’t happening at this point.
Mone clears a very low bar
-Finally, a decent promo from Mercedes Mone. She laid on the “CEO” jargon a little thick as usual, but at least it was directed toward a wrestling feud. It’s a low bar to clear, but this was her best work to date since joining AEW. It doesn’t excuse the shockingly bad usage of her so far, but it’s a step in the right direction.
-Adam Copeland and Brody King had a good enough match. It interesting to see Copeland this much involved in a storyline with Willow Nightingale and now Mercedes Mone. That integration between the men’s and women’s division is something to keep an eye on. Not bad by any means, but a new AEW direction for sure.
Go-home hype
-Both Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland were very effective in their taped interviews with Renee Paquette this week. The format was good for them each to speak on the big championship match at Dynasty this weekend and setup the final encounter between the two men later in the night. Joe was a serious, menacing, bad ass champion. Swerve, the confident and equally bad ass challenger. This remains one of the best built AEW World Championship matches that the company has done for a PPV.
-Are we really talking on the microphone during matches now? C’mon. Just another bad idea from the Young Bucks. That duo needs to take something seriously at some point, but it wasn’t this week during their match. This was awful stuff. And look, it’s one thing if you’re going to have a manager do it outside of the ring, but for Matt Jackson to do it while taking a bump? It’s silly and completely misguided given what AEW is trying to sell their product as.
-Now, I give the ladder match stipulation for Bucks vs. FTR at Dynasty a thumbs up. After having three matches together without gimmicks, this is a fresh twist on their rivalry. It also leaves the door wide open for a Jack Perry return.
What do you say about The Rainmaker?
-Ha! I want to write something about Kazuchika Okada here and believe I should because, well, it’s Kazuchika Okada. There just isn’t much to say and that’s all you need to know about the success of his introduction to AEW programming.
-I’m in on Chris Jericho vs. Hook. Once they realized a true partnership between the two wasn’t getting over, they immediately pivoted to a fight between both guys. That was the right call to make. Jericho is leaning into all the commentary on him as an act in 2024 (stealing the spotlight and branding himself to up and coming talent) and using that to get heat. Hook played off it well. Very straightforward stuff, but thumbs up.
-Another strong performance from Mariah May this week. She keeps bringing it week in and week out. The consistency in which she is put on television is important. Fans are developing a relationship with her.
Apologies in advance to Thunder Rosa
-As for the Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa angle, I mean, it was fine. Good even. The problem is, everyone loves Toni Storm. She pretends she’s a heel, but if you listen to crowd responses, they are overwhelmingly positive. So, seeing Rosa mess up Storm’s face with lipstick just made Rosa look like a jerk. The Toni Storm act is a problem for this very reason. She makes life difficult for any babyface she works with.
-Orange Cassidy did Orange Cassidy things this week. They laid a ton of sympathy on him in getting beat up by his former Best Friends and surely Cassidy will overcome when it comes time for the big match to happen between them. Nothing wrong with what they did here, but Cassidy certainly has the ability and notoriety to sink his teeth into something a little more substantial at this point.
-As expected, Will Ospreay vs. Claudio Castagnoli was a gem of a match. They both had chemistry together and thanks to Castagnoli’s size and skill, Ospreay was able to do all sorts of “Ospreay” like moves throughout the match. Ospreay got the W, which was obvious going in. All good on this front and for the match between Ospreay and Bryan Danielson at Dynasty. One thing, though. Why are we pretending like Ospreay is still in the Don Callis Family? That relationship has barely been referenced on television the last three weeks and Ospreay has already beaten everyone in that group. Since debuting with AEW full time, Ospreay has proven to have significantly more value than being a member of Don Callis’ faction. Nobody cares. Of all the times to ditch a storyline out of nowhere, this would be a time when it’s actually beneficial.
It’s about being the best
-A strong angle in the ring between Samoa Joe and Swerve Strickland to close the show on the way to Dynasty this weekend. Both guys looked tough and were able to get some physical harm done to the other during their brawl. It was intense and watching the fight made you feel like there was a true rivalry between both men about being the best. That’s what you want with world title matches. Really well done.
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