AEW Discussion Thread

[VHS]

Things I'm digging right now:

- Ricochet continues to be my favorite heel right now. He's found himself so well in this bald prick persona, and I see him being a wonderful champ one day.

- Hurt Syndicate is the shit. They're super over, and it's going to be glorious when MJF screws them over someway somehow.

- Thekla. She's going to be really something.

- Toni/Mercedes has potential to be an end all be all feud.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

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.

 

[Mazer]

I was thinking about it. Can Hangman be the face? Does AEW need a face?

Hangman is great. I've been a fan for a while. However, I'm not sure that he's more than a few month champion. He strikes me as more of an "Edge" level at best, than a Cena/Punk/Roman/Brock/Cody. Maybe that's not fair, because of how few guys make that level. And if Hangman's role is of an "original" who protects the company and rises to the top intermittently....I still think that's good.

That said, I'm not convinced AEW presentation is set up for a face of the men's division - for good and for bad. There's almost too many moving parts. The Death riders have had their weaknesses, but its allowed for them to mix in more with various threads, which I think is kind of what you need in current AEW.

 

[Mazer]

I also am enjoying the Hurt Syndicate.

 

[Mazer]

After taking shit for defending Mercedes early on, and then feeling like I was going to be the one proven wrong, and then seeing her level up now.....it's been an interesting journey.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

I was thinking about it. Can Hangman be the face? Does AEW need a face?

Hangman is great. I've been a fan for a while. However, I'm not sure that he's more than a few month champion. He strikes me as more of an "Edge" level at best, than a Cena/Punk/Roman/Brock/Cody. Maybe that's not fair, because of how few guys make that level. And if Hangman's role is of an "original" who protects the company and rises to the top intermittently....I still think that's good.

That said, I'm not convinced AEW presentation is set up for a face of the men's division - for good and for bad. There's almost too many moving parts. The Death riders have had their weaknesses, but its allowed for them to mix in more with various threads, which I think is kind of what you need in current AEW.

When I say "face," I just mean a guy that is consistently in or near the top programs and can be relied on to be the ultimate hero when need be. I don't think he has the "star power" necessarily to be like a promotional face, but he's a guy that is believable and the crowd loves him, makes everyone buy into the emotion more than most. If we're talking about a guy who makes sense right now to dethrone Mox and usher AEW into a potential new golden era, he feels like the best choice right now. But I agree he doesn't need to be champ beyond a few months. I just want like 3-4 months of consistent defenses against the top guys of the division.

I agree AEW isn't really built to have a single face, and for me it's all about having a strong rotating roster of top draws in the company. Between Swerve, Hangman, Ospreay, Omega, and Mox, you have a strong base to splinter out to.

I think Ricochet is right on the verge of putting himself in that bunch as well

 

[Mazer]

I'm in line with your take. I think that's pretty much exactly how they should handle Hangman.

The "what does AEW need" thought train is just kind of interesting of me, so I kind of spun that off in a different direction.

There's one side of me that says "I don't know that AEW needs anything". They've successfully set-up an "Upper middle class" American wrestling company, and have made a lot of big moments and regularly put on a quality show. Their ups and downs aren't anything that I consider overly problematic. I'll definitely compliment or critique in the moment, but its all...realistic.

On the other hand, as really the only other alternative on a near mainstream level, I do root for them. And their owner has pretty regularly made WWE a point of comparison and held them up as something he shoots to surpass. To get anywhere close to that in the next 10 years, there is obviously "need".

You don't get there over night, or even in a year, so its interesting to ask what would get them to the next tier in a sustainable point. The obvious answer is that plus level superstar. However, I'm not sure that's realistic for AEW. One, I'm not sure that the fandom isn't a little more segmented and maybe a little more resistant to "mainstreaming" tendencies (Unless its the women's division-but that's a separate HOT TAKE). Also, with the more New Japan style combined, it almost takes a group to interact well with most of the roster.

Where AEW differentiates is in the style and match presentation. So....what could they do different to level up that is unique to them? I've been thinking they need to capitalize a little better on some of their big moments, and educate build more on their cross-promotion and "Forbidden Door" events.

Also, extend Eddie Kingston's rehab time period.

 

[MTR]

I haven't really watched hardly any AEW recently. Been keeping up best I can though. I have to say I kind of want to watch All In if nothing else to see Omega vs Okada.

 

[Badger]

Sorry but 4 hour weekly shows back to back is not the answer. Honestly watching their mega-long. PPVs is long enough but doing it weekly combining with Collision…nah that’s way too much. I just stuck to watching highlights on YouTube this week.

Getting to be too much filler and even though the in-ring action is generally top notch, the why and how storytelling ain’t great.

 

[Blind Ninja]

Sorry but 4 hour weekly shows back to back is not the answer. Honestly watching their mega-long. PPVs is long enough but doing it weekly combining with Collision…nah that’s way too much. I just stuck to watching highlights on YouTube this week.

Getting to be too much filler and even though the in-ring action is generally top notch, the why and how storytelling ain’t great.

They typically only do the back to back things when priority items are on. Such as game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals this week. Unsure of why they did it last week. I dont see it as a thing that will stay. AEW flexes around to avoid the major sports scheduling obligations that MAX/TBS/TNT have to run with.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

Sorry but 4 hour weekly shows back to back is not the answer. Honestly watching their mega-long. PPVs is long enough but doing it weekly combining with Collision…nah that’s way too much. I just stuck to watching highlights on YouTube this week.

Getting to be too much filler and even though the in-ring action is generally top notch, the why and how storytelling ain’t great.

The move is to treat it 2 separate tapings and watch them on two different days

 

[Mazer]

Still feels a bit much on successive weeks

 

[Badger]

Still feels a bit much on successive weeks

Yeah and really only half of the content if that was worth checking out anyway. Too much filler. Just ended up catching highlights on YouTube.

Ospreay/Strickland as great as they worked, you just knew there wouldn’t be a winner due to 50/50 booking. WWE typically does no contests/DQs whereas AEW does time limit draws in cases where they want to protect both. Different methods but same goal.