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Welcome to the #AEWeekly review discussion where PWM contributors reflect on the highlights of the last week in AEW. The eligibility week always includes the most recent episode of Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, plus any social-media exclusives up until publication.
This week’s contributors are Sergei [SergeiAlderman@PWM] talking Best Interview and Match, Gareth [@gareth-eno.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week, and Peter [@peteredge7.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week.
Last week was our last Match of the Week from Tim, his longstanding contributions to Pro Wrestling Musings both in AEWeekly and his Faction Rankings have been greatly appreciated and he will be missed as part of our team!
Also, Gareth has been helping out with Story Beat just for a few weeks, but this is the last week that he can. So if you would like to try your hand at being a contributor to AEWeekly, please reach out to me at @sergeialderman.bsky.social and lets talk about it!
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Kazuchika Okada × Will Ospreay
"A Valiant Struggle..."
by Sergei.
With the Continental Classic, AEW has been throwing so many great matches at us, it often hasn't been easy to pick a favorite each week. And this final week has been no exception in throwing one classic after another our way. As respected a name as Dave Meltzer has claimed that Ospreay × Fletcher earlier the same night might've been the greatest opening match ever. But for me the choice was not difficult at all. The Continental final between Ospreay and Okada was, for me, an example of perfect performance and storytelling in the ring.
What made it work so well for me was that everything revolved around Okada's Rainmaker finish — countering it, avoiding it, creatively reversing it… (into the Styles Clash, which we wouldn't normally bite on that near fall, since he never wins with that — except he JUST beat Fletcher with that very move!) …no-selling it with fighting spirit, and finally succumbing and selling it like instant death. It made for a constantly escalating dance that was perfectly enthralling.
Will Ospreay
"Immortal Words..."
by Sergei.
Bell-to-bell, Will Ospreay has been on a hell of a run, ever since his debut with AEW in March. This week marks his 9th Match of the Week in that time, far more than anyone else on the roster. But on the mic, he has been in a bit of a lull. When he first debuted, every time he got on the mic was a thrill, but the last really noteworthy interview from the Assassin was back in May after an attack by Undisputed Kingdom. There's an interesting commonality between that promo and the one getting the nod this week: in both cases Will Ospreay is wearing the proverbial crimson mask.
But on another level, the two monologues couldn't be more different. Back then Ospreay was angry and promising vengeance on Roddy Strong. Whereas on Saturday night, we saw the version of Ospreay that suits him best: the happy warrior, delighted by the physical challenge of fighting through adversity. And he plays on one of the most useful tropes in pro wrestling: letting the fans know that he needs their support in order to fight on. With a few words, he has the whole crowd (and myself!) ready to run through a brick wall for him!
"In the immortal words of Tony Khan: Let's Fuckin Go, lads!"
Kenny Omega
"The Best Bout Machine has returned..."
by Gareth.
The return of Kenny Omega to the wrestling ring has been known for some time, but his return to AEW has been subject to much discussion. Worries about how ‘The Best Bout Machine’ will be presented and fantasy booking of possible stories and feuds.
A lot of excitement, but also anxiousness, has surrounded these conversations. There is an eagerness to see Kenny Omega presented as a major singles babyface star of AEW. Something we have somehow not yet seen in AEW’s first five years.
Therefore, when Kenny Omega returned this week at World’s End to hand his long-time rival Kazuchika Okada with the Continental Championship, there was unsurprisingly a huge amount of excitement. With AEW heavily teasing a fifth match between the two for All In, it seems fans will finally get their wish. Kenny Omega booked as the ‘Best Bout Machine’.
However, this wasn’t just a great development for Omega. Okada himself hasn’t quite been booked as the megastar he was in Japan and that has been a point of criticism from many fans. Now with this match with Omega on the horizon one would assume AEW ramps up their booking of Okada to build that match to feel as big as possible.
This isn’t mentioning all of the story possibilities with The Elite, Kota Ibushi and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page. The options AEW have in this regard are endless and they may not even dive into them so quickly, so it feels pointless to go too in depth on that now. But it is an exciting prospect for fans to think about.
Kenny Omega
"Hopes And Dreams Will Never Die..."
by Emiliana.
Kenny Omega returned to All Elite Wrestling at World’s End this past Saturday. The pops (yes, multiple) were huge. Not only did he come out not dressed in a Redcon shirt and basketball shorts, but he came out in a SUIT - curly hair pulled back in a low ponytail and freshly shaved, all business in his eyes as he took in the sight of Kazuchika Okada before him in the ring.
There really is no greater star in AEW than Kenny Omega. Let’s think back to the last time we saw him, in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the Young Bucks and their newly appointed co-EVP Kazuchika Okada interrupted one of the best, emotionally-compelling promos I’ve ever heard Kenny cut on this side of the Pacific Ocean. He painted a terrible picture of what had happened to his insides and that they were still very tender, before the Bucks and Okada came out to capitalize on those exact weaknesses.
All those months ago, he left on a stretcher, betrayed once more by his friends.
On Saturday, he came back through center stage, the likes of which have only been done by current and former Executive Vice Presidents of AEW. This is a reminder of who we’re dealing with. He is not just Elite, he is a superstar who is meant to be taken seriously, which is why the choice to barely acknowledge his in-ring return on a joint NJPW and AEW show seems baffling to me, and why the choice to have him return second from the top of the card was also befuddling.
After all, it’s not like they all but announced the first match on the All In card, aka the biggest AEW show of the coming year. It’s not like Okada/Omega 5 is one of the most anticipated bouts since Okada’s signing to AEW. Oh, wait.
I don’t have much else to say on the matter, except that I’m happy to see him healthy and out of his laundry-day outfits. We love you, Kenny. We’re glad you’re back. Guardian angel, it’s been too long. Answer our prayers.
Awardee
"No matches off…"
by Peter.
It's not often we give back to back MVPs in our beautiful little thing that is AEWeekly but on a night that frustrated the fanbase at times (yes, I'm talking about the main event) the actual main drawing point of the latest PPV cycle, the C2 saw another night from the undisputed best wrestler right now that will surely clinch another Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Year.
Let's start with the Kyle Fletcher match. As a child of the one night King of the Ring tournament that was an annual feature of the month of June in the 90s, the thought was that you pace yourself throughout the night. You take a "match off" so you can put in a memorable performance later in the night. Bret Hart did it in 1993, staying in a lower gear in the quarter final match against Razor Ramon before hitting top gear against Mr Perfect in the final four.
Akira Hokuto did the same in the Tokyo Dome women's tournament in 1994 and to show how hard it is too pace yourself in these scenarios, Aja Kong didn't pace herself and was gassed for the final against Hokuto that November night.
It became apparent on this night that Will Ospreay doesn't know how to "take matches off"
Within 5 minutes of the match starting against his former United Empire protege, Will has been busted open. His face is already threatening to break the "Muta scale" there's so much blood.
In his infinite wisdom, Will does a clunking headbutt spot with Kyle. There's a multitude of reversals that wouldn't look uncommon in a Will G1 match from back in the day. With the canvas looking with a Jackson Pollack painting with Ospreay's paint the centerpiece of this masterpiece, Will takes everything Kyle throws at him and kicks out everytime and with every piece of energy, wherewithal and timing, he hits the STYLES CLASH and manages to fold Fletcher up enough to get the three count and get his revenge on his rival in the best opening match of all time according to Dave Meltzer (that's another five star match then) and another PPV stealer from the "Aerial Assassin".
That's another great night's work from Will Os....
Oh wait, he has to wrestle again doesn't he?
The next match saw Kazuchika Okada almost end his first calendar year in 2024 in typical Okada fashion. He didn't get out of third gear against everyone's least favourite (except Emi) try-hard Ricochet. It was a perfect clash of journeys to the C2 final. The full-throttle journey of Will narrowly avoiding calamity at all times and Okada's laid-back drive to the final — listening to the OST of A Star is Born, calling people who dared to overtake him "bitches" — couldn't have been more different.
The bandage Will had on lasted longer than the wine in my cabinet on Christmas Day this year, and as the match went on, it became clear that for all the intangibles Will has that makes him the Best in the World right now and on that helter-skelter ride to wrestling's Rushmore, one aspect of his presentation to the fans that is severely underrated was at the forefront.
The bravery displayed by Will, having to fight for half an hour with blood streaming out of his forehead, repeatedly taking shot after shot was a throwback to the days of when wrestlers became beloved by the fans for moments of not what they did, but what damage they took.
The most despised heel in Mid South, Ted Dibiase, became beloved by the fans in the space of an hour because of his bravery when busted open before a World Title shot against Ric Flair. Steve Austin's ascension to the top of wrestling which would change the landscape of the industry started when, his face covered in blood, he refused to quit in his submission match against Bret Hart. And Will himself taking everything Kenny Omega could throw at him in the Dome on 4/1/23. Moments of bravery like the above don't get forgotten by fans and while Will in December 2024 is already one of the three most popular wrestlers in AEW, if not the most popular, the talk of when will Will be given the keys of the main event scene has been one of the discourses of 2024 and probably 2025, and with performances like World's End to a section of a fanbase that weren't as familiar with the Essex lad as a lot of you reading were, it makes his case stronger.
The final itself saw Ospreay drag 2024 Okada kicking and screaming to a 5-star match because Will Ospreay, it was like watching two masters at work. The chemistry the pair have dating back to their first match at Rev Pro in 2016 can never be denied, the last minutes were vintage Okada and Ospreay from the G1 classics and while the STYLES CLASH, the Stormbreaker and even a stolen Rainmaker couldn't prevent Okada from winning his 5th "major" and the events after the match which are a rightful winner for Best Moment will burn in the brain, the performance of Will Ospreay should never be forgotten and I don't think it will be when Will ends up climbing the top of the AEW mountain down the line.