Things I'm digging:
- Hangman and his journey. The match with Ospreay was incredible and the whole Owen storyline and Hangman's growth from rock bottom has been a big part of AEW feeling strong again. He feels like the right guy to beat Mox and fully grow into the Face of AEW role he's kind of always been primed to be
- The 6-man matches and small TV feuds and the group of wrestlers that have usually been involved. People like Speedball, Kevin Knight, Briscoe, Ospreay, Ricochet, The Bucks(back on form), recently the LFI. I think AEW have really caught on with their television product filler. They've always had good random matches but I think they've done a better job of focusing on the same crop of people and making it feel relevant whenever their consistent TV time translates into an actual feud. Whether that's just a couple of weeks at a time or up until a PPV bout. This was a weak point of 2022 to most of 2024. The smaller arenas have definitely helped to add to unique vibes and making the place feel packed with wild fans.
- The Don Callis Family. Ignoring my love for Konosuke Takeshita who has been absolutely tearing it up, I think this unit has built into a believable but beatable force that can take up TV and turn our quality. The backup can be mid to awesome depending on how you feel about each wrestler, but I think the nexus of Takeshita and Fletcher has become a dominant force in the company that always raise the stakes a bit more. We know Fletcher will likely be getting gold sooner rather than later. I'm hoping Takeshita gets the chance to move on to bigger things by the end of this year.
- There's still more work to be done, but the women's division has been feeling like it's slowly heating up. Two major stars in Toni and Mone and a crop that's ready to breakthrough and really make the division special if TK can just actually start giving more time to them.
- Double or Nothing was incredible and I think representative of everything that's great about AEW right now, while also showing how special they can be when they actually stick the landing.
All In feels like a proving ground moment where they can make or break their selves for the next few years. We know the matches will deliver. They already have a trio of major matches that are heavily anticipated. All they gotta do is fill the rest of the card with meaningful matches for stars that have earned it and deliver, and then have Hangman do the deed.
If they can capitalize the follow-up for even 1 to 2 months right, then I think it'll be a slam dunk.
