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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, but is more flexible in terms of Collision and Rampage, to account for busy folks not always being 100% caught up, so can include this week OR last week’s episode.
This week’s contributors are Tim [@TimmayMan] covering match of the week, Sergei [@SergeiAlderman] covering interview, Saul [@SaulKiloh] exploring a key story beat, Sam P. [@BigBadaBruce] with Throwback of the week, and Joe [@GoodVsBadGuys] giving us the Moment & MVP of the week.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Hangman X Bryan
"The dose makes the poison..."
by Tim.
I’ve counted myself among a variety of fanbases over the years: such as comic books, cinema, American football, and professional wrestling. Seeing how said fanbases react to things is part of fandom but I’ve come to believe that there is a toxic level to fan engagement that is detrimental to everyone. Toxicity in nature is a simple concept, you have a little bit of something added to your system and your body can handle it fine, but if you increase the dose to a certain level problems start developing. I think this can apply to many social and psychological areas as well. Patriotism turned toxic mutates into nationalism. Gambling can be a fun experience, but when you’ve lost your house because you can’t stop losing, that’s toxic. Pro-Wrestling fans have a tendency to armchair book their passion, to the point where I wonder if they even enjoy the product at all.
The general fan consensus going into the Owen Cup Final was that Hangman should win. He’d cut some killer backstage promos since his return, and a Swerve/Hangman title feud feels like guaranteed money. Yet that’s not what happened, Bryan Danielson picked up the win to challenge Swerve. The storyline of Danielson is also a good one though, the aging gunslinger that has a final chance at championship gold before he hangs up his tights (full time anyway). I was of the mind that Hangman/Swerve being the hottest feud at the moment deserved the Wembley main event. Yet after the closing moments of Dynamite it feels that the hottest feud belongs to Mariah May and Toni Storm and they would be deserving of the top spot in London.
Are pro-wrestling fans denying themselves enjoyment by looking too deep into things? If you wanted a Hangman X Swerve showdown, you’re still getting that at Blood & Guts in a couple of weeks. If, (like me) you want to see Swerve walk into the Tacoma Dome with the World Title in October, there’s still a chance for that. Only now he has to get past one of the greatest of all time. Storylines are still happening, just because they're not going exactly how one might've imagined them to, does not make them “bad”. Wrestling is as subjective as any other art medium. Fans that boil everything creative down to good v. bad are, quite frankly, boring. It’s all opinion, if you don’t like it that’s fine… but to spend time harping on booking decisions is a discourse that I find exhausting.
The match in question had lots of quality moments. Danielson springboarded off the top rope to the outside, something that he hasn’t done in a long, long time. This move served two purposes, one it showed that Danielson had to pull out something big to counter Hangman, secondly it harkened back to the ROH-era Danielson. I expect we’ll see more of this in the last few weeks of his full-time career. Hangman pulled out more heel-like tendencies—he may have entered from the face tunnel, but exposing turnbuckles and whipping your opponent with a belt are decidedly heelish actions. Jeff Jarrett provided extra levels of shenanigans by being the special enforcer/back-up referee. Not everyone is excited by a potential Jarrett/Hangman feud, but I’d be okay with it. But wait, I hear you saying, aren’t I going into the armchair booking that I derided at the beginning? There’s nothing inherently wrong with spitballing potential angles, just be cool when said angles don’t come to fruition. The world will continue to spin on, AEW is going to be around for a good while. Find enjoyment where you can, and if you can’t, move on.
Bryan Danielson
"A Dragon with something to prove..."
by Sergei.
There's no way to go through life without expectations, humans by our nature inherently try to anticipate how we expect things to turn out. Sometimes life gives us a warning: a clue that that thing you were expecting, maybe it's not quite as likely as you thought. But other times, everything seems to change on a dime: one moment we are confidently expecting one thing, the next moment discovering that we are in an entirely different timeline than we had believed.
Storytelling is different from life of course—most of the time in a story the expectations set up by foreshadowing need to pay off, or the audience will rebel. In wrestling, sometimes the real world gets in the way and a real-world injury, for example, can force a story to go in an unexpected direction. Or ego or poor judgment may take storytellers down a wrong path. BUT, every once in a while, a truly surprising twist will be the perfect new direction for a story.
Dynamite this week was an entire succession of shocking twists. Until the words "next week" came out of his mouth, there was no reason not to think Max Friedman would challenge for Ospreay's International Championship on AEW's biggest stage. After the fact, no-one—possibly not even the World Champion herself—would count themselves surprised at Mariah May turning on her mentor Toni Storm… but in the moment, it was so sudden and brutal it couldn't help but shock…. But the biggest twist was Hangman Adam Page.
I was one of a chorus of voices absolutely convinced that Hangman X Swerve at Wembley was an absolute lock. Danielson getting a flash pin to take that opportunity for himself, instead, seemed to shock us fans as much as it shocked the Hangman.
This setback for Hangman was one more in a long and growing list of them, as Samuel will go into in the Flashback section this week. But until winning the Owen Hart Cup and this opportunity on AEW's grandest stage, Danielson had also had a series of setbacks since announcing his impending retirement. He lost in his challenge to become TNT champ to Christian Cage. He lost the Blue League finals to fail to make the final of the Continental Classic. Then he lost his epic rematch to Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom. Over the last few months he's lost more big matches against Zack Sabre Jr, Eddie Kingston, and Will Ospreay. Then he lost Anarchy in the Arena for Team AEW by getting pinned by Jack Perry.
One might think: this is only natural, he's about to retire so he's doing business on his way out… Sting was a very unusual exception, why would Bryan even want the championship when he's about to retire? Danielson forcefully delivered his answer to that question in a moving backstage interview after winning the Owen Hart tournament on Wednesday.
Icymi:
At the start, it seems like Danielson is about to deliver some rather anodyne words about the electric atmosphere, the honor of winning something dedicated to the memory of Owen Hart… but then interrupts himself, completely overtaken by pain shooting down his arms. The more gullible of fans may question why they didn't do another take, why they didn't come back later… let's not forget, this is Danielson!
This man loves to trick the audience and manipulate their emotions. We'll never know if that pain was real or kayfabe or exaggerated, just that it set the tone for what was to come. It's always horrific when Danielson says "this is why I meditate," but never more so than this night.
Danielson goes on:
… as Martha was shaking my hand and giving me the trophy, I think—we call this the Owen Hart Memorial Foundation Tournament, but I'm just as proud to shake her hand. Because what she's done, as a mother, all on her own, and raised those kids, and started the Owen Hart Memorial Foundation, and all the good that she's done, getting her doctorate, the people that her children have become, that's inspiring to me. And THAT…
That—not because I can't handle it anymore, not because I'm not good enough—THAT… because I want to be the type of parent that Martha Hart is: THAT'S why I'm stopping full-time wrestling.
But, one of the things I wanna do before I go—this is important to me: this is why I'm doing this... Everybody needs a fucking "why"—this is my fucking "why"... is because I'm not going out because I can't do this anymore. I wanna show my kids, and my family, that I can be the BEST IN THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD, and I'm not stopping cause I can't hang it anymore. I'm stopping because I love my family so much. We talk about Owen Hart… tonight, I'm talking about Martha Hart. That's the kind of parent I wanna be, and that's what this represents.
This may be the most powerful speech Danielson's ever given, and that's saying a lot from a powerful and passionate speaker. As he says, everyone needs a reason "why", and if he had won Wednesday, Hangman's would've been "to take from a man he hates." But Danielson's is to prove to his own family that he is still the best in the world, and more importantly that he is not hanging it up because he is washed, but purely for the sake of his love for them. That's the most powerful motivation for a World Title challenge I can imagine, and I can't wait to see how it all plays out.
Hangman Fails
"You can’t win every shootout..."
by Saul.
As promised last week, I shall finally be talking about “Hangman” Adam Page and the truly exquisite work he’s been doing since his return. I had already planned out some of the piece, about how the two most bitter rivals would respark their infamous feud on the biggest stage AEW has to offer. I even had a couple Shawshank Redemption references prepared. It would’ve been great…but then Hangman lost and everything, including my hopes and dreams, went up in smoke.
This isn’t going to be one of those articles where I endlessly whinge on because they didn’t book my favourite to win (I already got all my complaining out in private, so you're welcome, although my mother won’t speak to me any more). I was being a bit tongue and cheek in the previous paragraph, as the silly boy I am, but I promise to be fair as I analyse this week’s events.
In my fair analysis, this was disappointing. Note that I didn’t say bad or incorrect or CATASTROPHIC or that this one decision will RUIN AEW. None of those things are true, but nevertheless, this result was a disappointment and maybe that’s harsh considering the brilliant work involved, but it’s undeniably true.
While I stand behind that, it also feels a bit silly. Bryan Danielson is one of the best wrestlers alive and currently on an incredible run during his last year as an in-ring performer. Personally, I love the man and have long wanted him to be AEW World Champion. In fact, the sample piece I submitted to become involved with PWMusings in the first place was a fervent critique of the decision to crown Moxley over Danielson after Punk was stripped of the title. The match is guaranteed to totally slap. However, I will not lie to you (about this at least, I didn’t have any Shawshank jokes prepared, I was just being dramatic to make a point), after Danielson was victorious, I watched the next half hour of Dynamite in a haze, rocked by the outcome.
As many people noted in last week’s #AEWeekly, “Hangman” has been on an absolute tear since he returned. Fiery promos and intense in-ring action that even turned many of his biggest supporters against him. The touch to have Jerrett look at the Heel tunnel for “Hangman's” arrival, only for him to come out the Face one was an ingenious bit of storytelling. There was a slight difference in opinion between our contributors as well as the AEW audience in general about Adam Page being a true heel or not. Let me plant my stance. He’s clearly a heel. What makes him interesting is the fact that he’s convinced himself that he’s totally in the right and hasn’t changed. While he’s totally justified in his feeling of betrayal from the fans, it doesn’t alter the fact that he’s let his hatred totally consume him, changing him into a man who only sees red and is furious at the world, using that moral conviction to brutalise opponents unnecessarily and treat everybody like crap, the way he feels he was treated by the fans. There’s justification for his actions, but that doesn’t explain away his behaviour. This little moment really underscored the tragedy of his character, and helped spotlight why he’s so damn compelling.
Then he lost and stormed off. His mission to get payback on Swerve will have to wait for another day, more specifically Blood and Guts, as Page agreed to be on Team Elite after Swerve announced that he would be on Team AEW. This was clearly setup as the direction before the Owen. I even predicted that this was the way the story would play out (check out AEWeekly #122). However, that was before “Hangman” came back. Before he entered the Owen and took AEW by storm with the sheer force of his vengeance. We were presented with a final that offered two possible main events for All In, and they chose the less enticing match.
This feeling was underlined by Swerve’s promo following the match. Firstly, he didn’t even mention “Hangman”, which I guess could read as a “I don’t think about you at all” cool guy thing, but in the heat of the result felt like trying to hide the fact that they weren't doing the match people really wanted to see. (Also, in kayfabe, why didn’t Page come out to attack him. Was he angrily looking at his reflection in the mirror? Was he crying and listening to My Chemical Romance on loop? Did he storm about for one hour looking for The Elite backstage? Any of these options are acceptable, but I desperately need to know). Worse than ignoring the rageful cowboy was Swerve’s promo on Danielson. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance, where after announcing that he’ll be in Blood and Guts, he discussed his opponent for All In. He said Danielson had a win over him and that he needed to right that wrong. Okay? That’s fine I guess, but the crowd didn’t really react and I was left feeling that there was literally no heat for this match. No real issue between these men other than wanting to be champion. That can work, but is clearly lacking when compared to what could have been.
As I said before, Swerve vs Danielson will be great, and they may even build some heat for it in the upcoming weeks. I also believe that this could lead to some really interesting fallout for “Hangman”, as this failure leads him further down into his hatred, tailspinning as he continues his quest for vengeance. This has already started, with him selling his soul to The Elite, something he said he’d never do, but did without much thought when it became the best way to satiate his darkness. This could be incredibly compelling, but this unrivaled rivalry feels like it deserved the biggest stage, and that was squashed.
I haven’t even mentioned what this means if Danielson is victorious in London. Many people believe that he wouldn’t be put in this spot if he wasn’t going to become champion. While something I’ve long hoped for, I now have to wonder where this would leave Page. I feel it would render his quest impotent. You could argue that he could still get revenge by injuring Swerve or something, but a large aspect of Page’s indignant fury is that his belief that Strickland isn’t the type of person that should be world champion. Swerve being the face of the company is a personal affront to Page, due to what he’s put him through. Therefore, his vengeance can only really be quelled by him being the man to take away the championship that is Swerve’s most prized possession and proving that Strickland isn’t the type of man that should represent AEW (this of course being the height of hypocrisy, due to Page turning into a mirror image of the type of person that Swerve was).
This is the issue of having such a talented roster. Stories end up clashing with each other, and telling one often comes with the consequence of hurting another. I’m interested to see if they can thread that needle, but also if we’re done being even keeled, then IF HANGMAN DOESN’T DETHRONE SWERVE WE RIOT (and by riot, i mean writing a slightly critical story-beat entry)!!!!!!
Hangman's Failures
"I gave them every damn thing I had...and they chose him."
by Sam P.
Adam Page has undertaken one of the greatest character arcs in wrestling over the last five years. He began as the possible anointed one, seemingly set to become the first ever AEW World Champion, only to fall at the final hurdle to Chris Jericho. From there, his growing anxiety and feelings of inadequacy meant even as Tag Team Champion with Kenny Omega, he gradually pushed away his friends from The Elite in Kenny, Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson. But as he reached his bottom, comforted by alcohol and attempting to keep himself from being hurt again, it took the comfort of a group consumed by grief from the loss of their leader and mentor to begin his bounceback. And while the majority of audiences have supported the Anxious Millennial Cowboy as he fought through the pain, the suffering, and the depression, and cheered on his biggest victories, it is those major setbacks that made us fall in love with him, because we felt a kinship with this man. With his most recent setback being his hatred for the World Champion who invaded his home, and his loss in the Final of the Owen Hart Invitational, it seemed an appropriate time to look back at some of the biggest setbacks our beloved protagonist has suffered on television.
Following the defeat to Chris Jericho for the AEW World Title, the debut episode of AEW Dynamite on 2nd October 2019 featured Page attempting to bounce back with a major victory. On a night when Cody defeated Sammy Guevara in the opener, MJF continued his winning streak over Brandon Cutler, and even Chris Jericho ended the main event standing tall alongside the Inner Circle, Page took on the man he was meant to face at AEW Double Or Nothing, PAC. The newly unveiled rankings system gave this match major stakes, and unsurprisingly the two had tremendous chemistry. However, despite a strong fan support, PAC’s nefarious methods left a defeated Page having to come to terms with not only having lost his chance at the World Title, but suddenly being further away than ever.
This became Page’s first major feud in AEW, as he defeated PAC at Full Gear 2019 and on the 7th episode of AEW Dynamite, 13th November, they met in a rubber match. The momentum seemed to be on Page’s side, as he had the recent victory to propel him. Unfortunately, while Page had defeated PAC, he still didn’t have that killer instinct that his opponent did, and a relentless PAC both feigned injury and attacked the head with an element of brutality, stamping on the back of Page’s head before hitting the Black Arrow. The Brutalizer was appropriately named, as PAC cemented his victory and defeated the Cowboy, who was left to reflect on his own failure.
Over the next sixteen months, Page won the Tag Team Titles and alongside Omega had one of the most successful Tag Team reigns in AEW history. However, under the surface, Page’s demons became stronger, alienating the Young Bucks and eventually Omega, even losing to Omega in a #1 Contender Final in the process. By 28th April 2021, AEW Dynamite was ruled by Omega and Young Bucks as AEW World and Tag Team Champion respectively, but with the Dark Order in support, Page seemed to be on the right path to become #1 Contender…until he met The Machine. After an extended pre-match beatdown, in less than six minutes bell to bell, Brian Cage on behalf of Team Taz decimated Page with a Powerbomb, Deadlift Suplex and a vicious Drillhammer, taking the victory and prolonging Page’s future opportunity for the AEW World Title.
Three months later, it was Fight For The Fallen on the 28th July 2021 edition of AEW Dynamite. Inspired by his friends in the Dark Order (including one of the most heartfelt scenes I’ve ever seen in wrestling), Page finally decided to challenge his former friends for the opportunity at the AEW World Title. It was AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, and Impact Tag Team Champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson against Hangman Adam Page, John Silver, Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, and the stakes were astronomical. If Page and the Dark Order won, they would get shots at the AEW World and Tag Team Titles. If they lost, they would lose their title shots. A masterclass in emotional storytelling, Page would see his stablemates fall, until he was 3-1 down against Omega and the Jacksons. As the fans willed him on, chanting “Cowboy Shit” at the top of their lungs, Page faced V-Triggers, Superkicks, Dragon Suplexes, and Powerbombs, but Page somehow eliminated Matt with a Buckshot Lariat, leaving just Nick and Kenny to go. Momentum on his side, crowd behind him, adrenaline pumping, it seemed like it was Page’s moment…until a belt shot to the face, two V-Triggers and the unbeatable One-Winged Angel proved too much. Page had lost, and his chance at the AEW World Title had seemingly been taken from him. Unbeknownst to his fans, this was just the final burden Page had to suffer, before he came back to become #1 Contender after the birth of his baby boy, and finally become world Champion. Maybe Page is just a man who has to suffer loss before he can attain victory. Maybe this loss to Danielson is not the end. Maybe, this Cowboy will get back on his horse, and prove once again why he is the beating heart of All…Elite…Wrestling.
Moment: Mariah betrays Toni
MVP: Mariah May
"Watch for the STAR..."
by Joe.
My MVP this week is a member of AEW, “Where The Best Wrestle”, but she was presented to us as a character that we should care about first. Then, we figured that she could wrestle. Now, we care about it when she wrestles. And, after the ending of Dynamite, we probably care about it even more, and in a different way.
Before the main event on Dynamite began, a second viewing allowed me to view some clues as to Mariah May’s consequential choices at the end of the show. Up at the top of the entrance ramp, Mariah touched the Owen Hart trophy, did her gesture - or rather Toni Storm’s gesture that she has taken on - and pointed it up towards the sky, then turned and frowned towards Toni Storm, who seemed to mirror the emotion back to her. They then grabbed each other’s shoulders, looked into each other’s eyes, and Toni seemingly shared some last words of wisdom before the big main event.
Once inside the ring, Mariah threw the gesture up - again - and frowned - again. Then, slowly taking off her ring jacket, looked out into the distance seemingly on the verge of tears. Watching this live, it would be easy to interpret this as nerves she was feeling in her first big AEW tournament final with a chance to land a spot on AEW’s biggest show of the year in her home country. In retrospect, she was probably less worried about if she could win, and more worried about what would come next if she did win. At this point, Mariah to me felt like an undercover cop who had developed actual bonds with a gang they were infiltrating. She knew the next step in the plan, but she was sad about it.
Before we talk about the match, I would like to talk about the commentary. They started changing the backstory of the Mariah and Toni dynamic, talking about how Toni has been Mariah’s biggest and best supporter. For fans who have been paying attention since the start, we know that Toni unleashed tantrums around and towards Mariah in the early days, and couldn’t be bothered to watch Mariah’s matches or give Mariah specific and helpful feedback to move forward in her career. Toni has definitely grown and changed and developed into a more equal partnership with Mariah, but it would be unfair to completely wipe her slate clean. Mariah began her relationship with Toni having to duck her violently thrown shoes during entitled tantrums. It seems like, on a karmic level, those shoes thrown from the Australian star turned into boomerangs that were sharpened by the wind they were tossed into. More on that later.
The match itself was good, but the in-ring was not the strength of the main-event time slot. There were key moments from the match worth mentioning. When Mariah was struggling, the director cut to Toni Storm, who was holding her shoe up and gesturing with it. What was Toni suggesting there? Did she believe that Mariah would need to cheat to win, and that she should? As the match rolled on, at one point, Stokely Hathaway interfered to distract Willow. While this was happening, Toni Storm jumped up on the apron, and either intentionally or unintentionally, distracted the referee. While the ref was distracted, Kris Statlander struck Willow in the side of the head, pushing the advantage back towards Mariah May. May followed up with a knee strike to the head, but that was only good for a 2-count against the resilient Willow. Willow fought back and hoisted Mariah over her shoulders, only for Mariah to roll forward into a victory roll to win the Owen Hart Cup, with the same move Owen Hart used to beat his brother and mentor Bret. That move wasn’t the only thing Mariah borrowed from Owen’s arsenal, as what followed was a vicious attack that was even more brutal than anything Owen ever did to Bret.
It began with a belt shot. That newly won Owen Hart belt, smashed against the face of her former mentor, who became a friend, and in recent times, seemed like that relationship had progressed to being more than friends. After the belt shot, Mariah whipped Toni with the belt, then bashed Luther with it, then whipped Luther. Then she kicked a bloody Toni Storm - busted open by the belt - in the ribs. Then she smashed Luther in the head with the metal belt plate, knocking him off of the stage and through the tables to the floor. That was all a prelude to what will be a lasting memory for viewers, and lasting trauma for Toni Storm. Toni has famously told those around her to “watch for the shoe”. A catchphrase that was born out of Toni’s tantrums, telling people that they needed to watch out when she was in a bad and entitled mood or risk getting hurt. Now, it was Toni who should have watched out for the shoe. And that was Tony Schiavone’s call “Oh my god, watch for the shoe”, as Mariah bludgeoned a bloody Toni Storm with a shoe 7 times, then dug the heel into the wound. Mariah then kissed Toni’s bloody face and nuzzled into the open wound, bloodying her own face. At this point, Mariah’s early nerves were gone, her rage also seemed to be gone, and a look of relief washed over her as she seemingly had accomplished a goal she set out for herself.
The ending to this show gave us answers. We know who will face Toni Storm for the title at All In. We know that it will not be a friendly dynamic like MJF vs Cole from last year’s Wembley Show. Those are some things we can anticipate and look forward to, and that clarity and anticipation is helpful for a wrestling feud and a wrestling CARD. However, we also have some questions, creating some suspense, which is good for a wrestling SHOW.
Was Mariah’s face looking so sad because she was regretting what she was going to do? Were Mariah’s actions motivated by revenge for the way Toni treated her in the past, or envy over Toni’s name on the marquee? Was Stokely’s interference purely motivated by his revenge against Willow, or was it also motivated by the business opportunity of endearing himself to Mariah May? Is it possible Mariah knew Stokely was going to interfere? Is AEW’s creative team going to acknowledge Toni’s past poor treatment of Mariah to give her some depth and justification as a character (ala Hangman Page), or are they going to make her a 2-Dimensional starlet jealous of her star mentor’s top billing? These are questions I would like to get answers to, and they have motivated me to pay closer attention to this story, and these stars. That’s an incredibly valuable outcome created by Mariah - and by Toni, but seeing as this was more of Mariah’s coming out party as a major player, I am awarding Mariah May the MVP of AEW for this week.
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