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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 Tim [@TimmayMan] covering match of the week, Sergei [@SergeiAlderman] covering interview, Saul [@SaulKiloh] exploring a key story beat, Greyson [@GreysonNation] with the Most Valuable Performer of the week, and Peter [@PeterEdge7] giving us the Moment of the week.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Mariah may vs. Anna Jay
"Fight Like a Girl..."
by Tim.
This was a week where despite some good matches on Dynamite, the crowd in Bridgeport was so quiet that it sapped my enjoyment levels. When I’m picking a match of the week I’m not just looking at the graps, but the whole presentation and crowd reaction is definitely part of that. Luckily the Collision crowd from Albany was more lively, and we had a great showing by Mariah May and Anna Jay.
There’s something special about AEW Women’s No-DQ matches. We’ve had several classics over the years thanks to Thunder Rosa, Britt Baker, Ruby Soho, the Bunny and several others. It’s this precedent that has set the standard for other talent to follow and this week we had Mariah May and Anna Jay step up. Their rivalry has been a really good feud to play out on TV (until we get to Mina/May or Storm/May). Anna Jay has improved so much this year, it’s really nice to see her time in Japan paid off as she’s crisper in the ring and her moves hit just a bit harder. But Mariah May is champion for a reason — she’s one of the best. I really enjoy the duality of her persona: looking at her one would think Beverly Hills prima donna, which makes her move set of German Suplexes and shotgun dropkicks stand out.
The ring gets littered with plunder early on. It looks like a particularly violent game of Clue has broken out as ladders, chairs, trash cans, a tire iron, a chain, and a wrench litter the ring. Anna hits Mariah with a Gory Special into a ladder in the corner that looks just brutal. Anna retrieves a table from under the ring much to the crowd’s approval. This doesn’t work out for her though as May reverses the sequence and Jay gets folded up within the table. Now having the advantage, May sets about erecting an angled ramp with chairs and a section of barricade. Construction may have taken too long though as Anna Jay capitalizes with a backstabber. It’s back and forth until Anna Jay gets up in the corner with May and hits a super-plex onto the barricade. Tables have a nice give as they break, this barricade does not. Anna Jay then retrieves some barbed wire from under the ring (why would that be there?) and based on her smile she’s delighted by it. A barbed-wire-assisted Queenslayer, and the champ is in real trouble. Superfan Nigel McGuinness on commentary is beside himself. May pulls out her last resort and straight up pepper-sprays Anna Jay in the eyes. Storm Zero on a chair and the champ retains.
The only thing this match was missing was blood, but I can see why they skipped it. When Storm comes back you know that the feud isn't over between her and May. That’s a blood feud and it’s smart to save the bleeding for those future matches. Plus it’s hard to top the bleeding that past workers such as Ruby Soho and the Bunny have accomplished in previous DQ matches. This was a really good and entertaining bout. Good action — Anna Jay looked like she could be a future champ and Mariah May showed why she’s the current champ. Not much more I can ask for for a Saturday-.night fight.
Jon Moxley
"Dangerous Visions..."
by Sergei.
Last week, I called Jon Moxley the Most Valuable Performer of the week over an interview he gave to the NY Post where he talked about his vision for the future of AEW… an interview which seemed to be out-of-kayfabe, but at the same time seemed to fit well with what his character has been saying in kayfabe. I expressed some concern that this might lead to this big overarching Death Rider story getting a little TOO meta and muddling who we're supposed to root for or why. But in a brief, excellent pre-tape promo that aired at the end of Collision, (right before the "November Rain" video that is our Moment of the Week), Jon Moxley showed how he can express some of the same commendable values — in terms of his hopes for AEW, and his desire to give the fans value — as when he was giving pep talks that inspired cheers from the crowd…. and yet still come across as someone we don't trust, and can root against.
Standing outside a parking garage (of the arena, presumably?) next to his bodyguard Shafir chained to the briefcase-concealed AEW title as if it were the nuclear football, Moxley starts out by admitting he had underestimated Orange Cassidy. ICYMI:
Moxley had intended his attack on Chuck T to lead Orange Cassidy to either rage or despair. Mox admits that he's impressed that OC instead maintained his cool composure, but he ensures the compliment is backhanded: rather than crediting Orange with mental fortitude, he asserts that it proved that Cassidy is a snake, and not genuine about the people and ideals that he claims to care about.
He goes on to claim that he envies Cassidy for being cold-blooded, for the advantage that gives him in the chess they are playing, but that he could never be like that…
I feel… everything. Not just the weight of the AEW World Championship. I feel the weight of the last five years. I feel the weight of the last five years. I feel the weight of the dreams and aspirations of every single wrestler who walks through these doors. I feel the weight of everybody else's mistakes and broken promises. I feel the weight of every single AEW fan who buys a ticket and pays for parking and takes off work and gives us their hard-earned money and time and energy because AEW is something THEY BELIEVE IN! WHAT AEW COULD BE!
This seems like exactly what I warned about last week: it sounds an awful lot like something a good guy who loves AEW might say. But Moxley makes all of that work as a villain speech. Sure, some fans might root for him, and his goal seems like a good one, but he believes there is only one bloody path to that goal. His heart is pure because his cause is just… but:
No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.
— James Baldwin
Will Ospreay X Kyle Fletcher
"Confrontation..."
by Saul.
A tense staredown. Betrayal from a partner who feels outshined. A fiery promo from a babyface who’s left heartbroken by their friend's decision. Beats in wrestling stories often go in cycles. That’s why the devil is in the details. Performance, content, consequences. There are the things that make it connect. Why walking a well-trodden road can still be a fun journey. Did Ospreay and Fletcher succeed in this segment?
How a wrestler enters the arena tells us a lot about them. It’s why themes and specific poses often feel focus-tested to ensure that the character comes through in every moment. Ospreay sold his emotions with a more muted entrance. While still reaching out to fans, his hands were well within his pockets. He also had a more muted energy and walked with pace as he wanted to get to business.
Fletcher came to confront Ospreay, the proverbial opponent off which he wishes to make his name. Likely inspired by stablemate Takeshita beating Omega (and by dark whispers from Darth Callis, who wishes to form the next generation of marquee wrestlers, by taking down icons and shaping his roster in their image). Ospreay spoke with fire and brought up some personal details, which helped to flesh out the personal nature of the conflict.
What is the purpose of a promo segment? If it’s to build anticipation for a future match, this did achieve that. If I’m being honest with everybody, I’ve struggled to care about stuff including Don Callis recently. This even includes my guy Takeshita finally getting his well deserved shine. Don’t really have any analysis about this, I just wanted to share that feeling. His absence here probably helped me focus on the conflict between the men. Invest in their beef even if it’s been manipulated by the man in the red shades.
I really care about how stories end, possibly to a fault. To me, the conclusion of a story tells us the final message you wanted to send. Tells us the purpose of why the story was told in the first place. How this story ends compels me. Do you protect your top star, or are they going to commit to Fletcher and make this a marquee victory for him? My common sense and the history with Takeshita suggests the latter, Ospreay being able to take a loss without much impact. However, the impulse to protect your major players is always there (and it’s possible the true purpose is just to fill time, there’s lots of programming hours!)
Anyhow, this was a pretty good segment.
Orange Cassidy
"Orange Cassidy is ready to take the power back..."
by Greyson.
This week on Dynamite, two weeks out from his World Championship match against Jon Moxley, Orange Cassidy gave us a preview of how he would lead as AEW World Champion. In a prior AEWeekly, I discussed the possibility of members of the AEW roster being paradoxically swept away into Moxley’s hard-nosed, no-fun ideology and vision for AEW in the process of trying to defend it from him. As a result of his concern about this conflict turning him into someone he didn’t want to be, Orange Cassidy decided to initially refrain from this conflict and has strategically limited his involvement until Moxley and his Death Riders attacked Chuck Taylor. Cassidy is now showing once again that he has successfully avoided this potential pitfall and is prepared to lead authentically in the way only he can. He begins his promo against Moxley low-key as always, opening with a simple “hello,” using what seems like a capitulation saying “I agree with you, I believe you can do all the things you say you’re going to do,” then pivots to discussing the imperative of attaining the AEW World Championship by explaining that the reason he believes Moxley can impose his agenda is “because of what’s in that briefcase.” As World Champion, Moxley holds “the symbol that represents AEW,” including him, his colleagues in the locker room, and the fans, broadly he does have “the power” in AEW. Cassidy reminds Moxley of his strong track record as a workhorse wrestler, how he had beaten him a year back at Full Gear 2023, and asserts that he will “take the power back” by winning the championship at Full Gear.
He then turns to challenging former Best Friend Wheeler Yuta, and in doing so, Cassidy manages to expose the authoritarian, controlling manner in which Moxley wields power over the Death Riders. Cassidy does so strongly, going so far as calling his former friend a “pawn,” but notably does not resort to the kind of aggressiveness others on the roster have taken to in “defending AEW from Moxley” (which I believe Moxley wants to see them adopt). Moxley has claimed that his intent is to empower everyone on the AEW roster to eliminate complacency, gain strength, become the best they can be, and achieve greatness. Yuta has become a believer in these ideas, having seen significant success since joining the predecessor Blackpool Combat Club, and confidently says “I am no pawn,” but Castagnoli standing next to him tells him to “shut up.” And Yuta complies.
Instead of Yuta responding to Cassidy’s challenge directly, as we would expect a strong, prepared competitor to do, Moxley standing in the ring accepts it on his behalf, denying both his voice and his agency. In that brief statement, Yuta shows clearly how he believes that he has been empowered, has grown to be a fully independent individual as a result of his journey with BCC/Death Riders, and does not perceive himself as being controlled by anyone, but the actions here show otherwise. Yuta is not his own man, he is under the control of Death Riders, whether he believes it or not.
This sequence shows exactly how Moxleyism works. Disillusioned young talent who have failed to reach their full potential and do not see a clear path to doing so will be attracted to strength, discipline, accountability, and success that a community with an intense training approach like that of BCC/Death Riders provides. They will see some results from this approach, perhaps at a level far beyond what they have seen before with other approaches, and view that success as validation of the totality of the ideas of the group. Meanwhile Yuta’s success was the result of his own very hard work in the ring achieving championships, applying himself to the martial arts style training and related elements of the BCC “program,” and technical competencies gained therefrom, not the group’s ideology which has become more and more radical over time to the point of turning him against a friend who helped him greatly when he needed it the most. In fact, this ideology here limited his expression and ability to show his full potential. Who knows, Yuta could have cut an amazing promo responding to his old friend, but he couldn’t and we will never know how he would have responded. He was stifled by people who he believed are helping him. Now he is seeking to do exactly what he did to Wheeler Yuta to the whole AEW roster: make them feel like they are improving, providing some valuable training that gives them a level of validation and confidence they have not been able to find elsewhere, all the while turning them into pawns to be used for brutality like what we saw Yuta do to Bryan Danielson, taking away their freedom of expression, identity, will, and connection to friends that care about them. Orange Cassidy will not let this happen to people he cares about or to AEW.
Being a leader who believes in the AEW culture and what it stands for, including the critical element of creative freedom, having a strong record of in-ring performance, and boldly expressing yourself are all things that make an MVP, and an ideal AEW World Champion. Even more importantly, Cassidy demonstrates that he knows being a champion is not just about himself, not a mere individual athletic accomplishment, but about standing up for others, even when they have been tricked into ceding their power to unsavory actors. Moxley exhorts us to “abandon all hope” and cave to his ways, but though he could not respond in the moment to that assertion, I believe Orange Cassidy would confidently just say “whatever,” knowing he’s ready to take the power back, not just for himself, but for everyone in AEW.
November Rain
"Cause nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain..."
by Peter.
First off, I need to declare a conflict of interest. I fucking love "November Rain" by Guns N' Roses. As a kid getting into music and watching MTV (when it was actually Music Television) and The Box and VH-1 … in amongst the A1 videos, Steps, S Club 7, B*Witched and 5ive videos … once every so often the pre-Grunge-90s "November Rain" music video would pop up, and what's not to love about it. The multiple Slash guitar solos … the literality of the video (I mean, the rain actually kills Axl's wife!) … that final guitar solo, with Slash in concert spliced with the funeral scenes. In an era where the art of music videos is more or less deader than Axl's missus was once it started raining, watching the original back in preparation for what was going to air on Collision brought back memories of the good times for me.
For wrestling fans of an age, November Rain is synonymous with a hype video played in the build up to the 1995 ECW November To Remember show, and that demographic includes a certain Tony Khan. So after NXT put on a show at the ECW Arena which made most people feel as nostalgic for ECW as The Zombie did, Tony — as an old-school ECW fan who felt annoyed with what NXT did — did what other annoyed ECW fans couldn't do: he bought the rights to "November Rain" to do an 8-minute hype video for the next AEW PPV.
And people say there are no good billionaires.
As a self-confessed mark for music videos to hype pro-wrestling events with a childhood that absorbed "My Way" building to WrestleMania 17, "Bring Me To Life" building to No Way Out 2003 and "Champion" building to Royal Rumble 2012, the hype in my own head to the music video hyping to Full Gear was as high as for something I was awaiting for a long time but unlike some hype trains that don't live up to its billing, (I'm looking at you Sin City), boy did this live up to the hype.
From the words of Moxley and Orange as footage of their initial rivalry last year over the International Title to the emphasis on Wheeler Yuta and also The Elite and especially The Young Bucks walking out which lead to a seamless transition to the Garcia/Perry section. The Mone/Statlander recap with the awesome moment of a determined Kris stalking Mercedes in the backstage area but then it all comes down to Mox and Orange.
The recap of Chuckie T getting his neck smashed, and then at 6:49 in the video when that final Slash solo starts to kick just as the video shows Orange realising that this is a fight against the Death Riders he can't stay away from and then we hear all from all the key competitors and we hear their mission statements but the final word goes to the champ and the final words we hear are "abandon all hope," an ominous line in an ominous time in the story of AEW and The Death Riders attempted coup of the company.
As a tool to promote the upcoming Full Gear, the nearly 9-minute video played at the end of Collision was perfect. While it did expose some frailties in the booking — like how the tag team division is just there to exist and that the TBS Title is more important than the Women's World Title — still, the video made a hell of a lot of people more excited about this weekend's Full Gear.
In a Full Gear season where the stories being told have been captivating, the lack of in-ring bangers, aside from Private Party vs Young Bucks, has been telling. Well, this music video to hype up Full Gear was a banger and to paraphrase Mox at the start of the video, a lot of people believed in this video and it didn't disappoint us.
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