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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 and Collision, plus any social-media exclusives up until publication.
This week’s contributors are Abel [@loza3.bsky.social] covering Match of the Week, Sachin [@sachin111222333.bsky.social] talking Best Interview, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week, Peter [@peteredge7.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] editing and organizing it all.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
We'd love for this and any and all of our content to be the beginning of a conversation with our readers. To interact with any and all of our contributors please accept our invitation to join the Pro Wrestling Musings Community Discord. Then follow this link to the #AEWeekly Discord Thread.
Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet
"You and I are destined to do this forever..."
by Abel.
Last week was one of the finest weeks of AEW television ever — including the vaunted and revered 2021 year, when All Elite Wrestling was hitting on all cylinders. Nearly every non-squash match was a clinic in storytelling and in-ring performance. The choices this week made it extremely hard to choose a Match of the Week — The Hounds of Hell vs. The Don Callis Family (Kyle Fletcher / Konusuke Takeshita), Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher, or Bandido vs. Bryan Keith all had a strong case for the honor. But (fortunately for fans) Swerve Strickland vs Ricochet promised and delivered in such a fashion that their match stood out even in a wonderful week like this one, full of amazing AEW matches.
It was an easy decision for Tony Khan to start a Swerve / Ricochet program the minute "Trevor" debuted at All In in 2024. Both have previous experience in other promotions and work very well together. The chemistry between the two works so well, both on the mic and in backstage segments, and — as we saw on Wednesday — in the ring. Only wrestlers who work well together can pull off something like that powerbomb from the edge of the barricade we saw from them.
Even when things don't work out as planned — that hurricanrana apron spot — both men move so well together that they can bounce right back and keep the match moving. Speaking of which: the flow of the match was impeccable, and even for a match that is limited due to TV, it did not feel short nor incomplete.
The throughline for Swerve vs Ricochet is the ceremonial robe that Nana bestowed upon Swerve right before he won the AEW World Heavyweight title. The robe has now essentially become a full-fledged character that lives within this rivalry that has now extended outside of an AEW ring as we saw the footage of Rico flaunting the robe at the local indie Defy that is Swerve's old stomping grounds. The robe, and its significance to Nana and Swerve, give the rivalry extra emotion to get us all invested.
The s***-eating grin Ricochet sported when his cowering fetal-position low blow clipped Swerve was extraordinary. As a hater, Kendrick Lamar would be proud! This heel run has been an excellent reinvention for Ricochet, potentially adding years to his career.
Ricochet has been on an absolute tear. His in-ring talent has never been questioned, but his mic time has improved tenfold in AEW. When given the time to flex that muscle, Ricochet has proven that he can become an interesting, intriguing, and in-depth character — a vile heel.
Swerve again proves that he is the go-to performer if you want an S-tier, hate-filled rivalry in AEW. Whether it is Keith Lee, "Hangman" Adam Page, or Ricochet, Swerve always shines in these blood feuds.
Ricochet winning, especially in the way he did, is the best thing that could have happened. It leaves meat on the bone of this rivalry, which can be picked at, at least until All In. If the reports of Keith Lee being backstage at last week's Dynamite are to be believed, an old Swerve nemesis could provide a significant detour to delay the inevitable confrontation and five-star match between Ricochet and Swerve on the big stage in Arlington.
Max Caster "The Best Wrestler Alive"™
"I AM THE REALEST BITCH ALIVE!"
— a Fake Bitch
by Sachin.
(Disclaimer: This section was going to be about Hangman’s promo on Dynamite but his intimidation tactics against Max Caster warranted some form of punitive action...)
Wrestling needs more useless bums. Heels that show ass. Stupid Idiots getting outsmarted by the Smart Heroes.
There is entertainment value in an incompetent moron hastily creating a random, not-so-thought-out plan, filled with logical loopholes, devoid of any sense, and solely fuelled by arrogance and lack of self-awareness, or straight-up delusion, and then having it all blow-up in his face.
What can be said about Max Caster that hasn't already been said about Gandhi, Mandela, Jesus, Anne Hathaway, Pablo Escobar, Pablo Picasso, Hans Niemann, Hans Zimmer......
Nevertheless, it is important to throw light on the differences between the characters of Max Caster and Ricochet. Both these guys seem to have found their footing in this current era of AEW as "Geeks", but one is clever, despicable and a somewhat competent wrestler and the other one is Max Caster.
If you've been following Max Caster on "X — the everything app"™ you probably would've noticed that he was (probably still is) deliberately tweeting out unpleasant and obviously wrongheaded opinions to "work” the audience and pre-establish his heel bona fides. Now, it's not the objective of this piece to discuss how useful "internet heat" is or isn't, or the lengths a pro-wrestling heel should go to get it, but I'll just say that I muted him after a while.
However, I don't believe that Caster sincerely believed in those rancid opinions, and a more probable theory is that Max Caster probably saw the vacancy sign for a "Geek" on the roster even before Ricochet did and decided to do something about it via his own platform. There were additional factors as well, such as the failure of The Acclaimed to get over as a main-event angle outside of their catch-phrase, and the insufficiency of Max Caster's in-ring and on-mic ability to reach a spot among the upper echelon of AEW.
But let's be done with all the exposition — the good name of "The Best Wrestler Alive"™ has been denigrated enough! This section is meant to praise, applaud, congratulate, celebrate, express admiration of, pay tribute to, speak highly of, lay flattery at the feet of the quality work that is being done by "The Best Wrestler Alive"™!
On this week's Collision, Max Caster stood in all his glory –– jacket-ed, capped, moustach-ed and disappointed. First he condemned the heel-ish actions of that rapscallion "Hang-person", then reminded him of his place on this roster and commanded him to get in line if he wishes to see eye-to-eye with the "The Best Wrestler Alive"™.
Hangman got angry at me for interrupting on Dynamite. That's not how a man acts. I wouldn't call him "HangMAN". He’s more like a "Hang-person".
Hang-person if you want to get in the ring with me, if you want to go eye to eye with "The Best Wrestler Alive"™, then you need to get in line… because I’ve got an Open Challenge going on.
Who can survive the "The Best Wrestler Alive"™? WHO CAN SURVIVE "The Best Wrestler Alive"™?! The Open Challenge is coming back this Wednesday and I am gonna show everybody that you can't be better than the best. And that is a mic drop.
What an impactful and intimidating way to assert dominance –– grabbing the microphone from the interviewer and then dropping it purposefully to signal that a mic-drop moment just occurred… The casuals will surely get this!
The ultimate yardstick to gauge a wrestling promos' success is to simply ask yourself one question. Did it make you want to watch the upcoming match?
Now, I can't answer for you, but personally? I'm hyped, energised, electrified, invigorated, vitalised, stirred up and stimulated for this week's Dynamite™. I can only hope that the challenge is answered by that rapscallion, That Man (who is more like a person). If I know Max Caster then I know it's going to be … well… a pathetic, easy squash. Some may see that as a negative.… but not me! As an old-school Goldberg fan myself, nothing gives me more satisfaction than seeing a powerful wrestler dominate and destroy a man who has brought it onto himself by talking too much. FAFO, Max.
Timeless Toni Storm and Mariah May
"The only way out is through..."
by Lauren.
In a week when everything in AEW felt like it was firing on all cylinders, choosing one single standout story moment was truly difficult. But the story between Timeless Toni Storm and Mariah May continues to prove itself over and over again. The story has been a psychosexual onion for over a year now, and every segment reveals a new layer.
Toni has been speedrunning a mirror of her and Mariah's relationship for the past several months, from her reinvention as a naïve rookie to meeting her idol. The play has now reached the point where the ingénue imitates the idol in the ring. But the mirror is a dark one; instead of taking the new girl under her wing, Mariah rejected her. Instead of being flattered by the imitation, Mariah is apoplectic.
Toni's portrayal of Mariah was far from flattering. From the mismatched and loosely done hair extensions to the cartoonish exaggerations of Mariah's mannerisms and speech, it is a far cry from the seemingly exuberant and almost worshipful homage that Mariah performed last year.
The mockery serves two very important purposes. First, Toni previously stated that she realized that the only way out of her trauma is through. This imitation is her taking back her power by recontextualizing Mariah. Mariah is presented not as a threat, but as a comic figure, an object of mockery. Since Toni is inspired by Hollywood, movie comparisons seem apt, and one might be reminded of Sarah in Labyrinth when she said: "You have no power over me."
The second purpose continues the movie metaphor. From Mariah's point of view, this is a horror movie. This is The Stepford Wives or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Her behavior, on the other hand, is less of a final girl and more of a monster. On Collision she made up an opponent to look like Toni, just for the enjoyment of destroying her — much like a serial killer with a type. And like a scene out of a movie, Toni Storm replaced the victim in a surprise switch (in a clever sleight-of-hand while the audience's attention was turned to the return of Luther the butler.)
The climax at Grand Slam is fast approaching. Toni will have a hometown crowd behind her through the final act of this particular story. But Mariah, cunning villain that she is, is bound to have a few more tricks up her sleeve. The question is: who will survive, and what will be left of them?
Bryan Keith & Bandido
"It’s High Noon…"
by Emiliana.
Amazing moments abounded this past week on both Dynamite and Collision, most of which I think my fellow contributors will cover. For example, Hangman Adam Page referring to that moment last week when he entered Swerve’s locker room as a "moment of weakness" will forever be seared into my brain, or Harley Halftime ending in Mercedes finally accepting Harley’s challenge for her TBS championship. [Ed Note: Sachin considered covering that Hangman segment but decided to talk about Max Caster being a hapless bum instead lol. But, yeah, Peter made Harley his MVP. Feel the wrath!] But since I was there live for Collision in the great state of Texas, it is only right that we talk about some outlaw business. And no, I do not mean the Last Outlaw, which we were lucky enough to have a reprieve from in these last couple of episodes.
No, I’m here to talk about the standoff between Bandido and Bryan Keith. It’s not often that we get similar gimmicks in the ring together, but this is a version of something that I’ve wanted to see in AEW for a while — on a roster with a Hangman, a Bandido, a Bounty Hunter, and an Outlaw, it just makes sense! At some point, at least two of these men would collide, but this is probably the greatest moment to come out of these possibilities so far. With The Learning Tree Chris Jericho putting a bounty out on the fresh-off-the-DL Bandido, Bryan Keith took up the mantle (or poncho) of the Bounty Hunter once more for one night only.
I won’t get too into it because this isn’t "Match of the Week,” this is "Moment of the Week,” so I’m just going to tell y’all straight up — the standoff spot toward the end of the match blew the roof off of Houston. Maybe we’re a little corny, but given how many local fans there were of BK (including his family sitting front row!) and how many Latino fans of Bandido were in the building, this bit was just a perfect blend of — dare I say it — Cowboy Shit.
They played it so perfectly… From them slowly getting up, back to back, to the creeping head turns to face each other and coming to a clear agreement, to the fact that it was just a well placed spot at the crescendo of the match. It’s not often one sees perfect moments like that in wrestling between two guys that aren’t at the top of the card. But that just goes to show us how little that kind of stuff matters, in the end, when two characters are in just the right place and at the right time.
I hope these two get more great moments like this, and I hope we get to see them on the biggest stage in Texas at Y’All In. It just makes sense. Don’t make me have to hoot and holler for it, ‘cause I will.
Harley Cameron
"Opportunity: a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something…"
by Peter.
Opportunity has been a running thread in the story of AEW. It's been grabbed by many, it's been squandered by some. Opportunity can come to the unlikeliest recipient. That's what makes opportunity so beautiful. Sometimes it comes to the person you suspect the least, and when they take advantage of it, it makes the heart glow that much more.
When Harley Cameron turned up on AEW, she was part of the QTV segments. Remember them? I didn't dislike them, but I was in a minority. [Ed note: No, QTV was unequivocally terrible.] While the unnamed blonde that was in the background of the first QTV segment was likely the least-criticized part of said segment, she was fighting an uphill battle from the start in an industry in which its critical sphere is laser focused much more on women than it is on men.
But as the months have gone by, Harley Cameron has taken every opportunity she can to make the most of her minutes to entertain the AEW fans. The segment when Harley hit on Anthony Bowens, being the only person in the building to not know the reason that he was going to reject those advances was fun television, Harley being the best part of the Outcasts faction is a hill that I will die on, and in the ring she is improving by the month — but in a crowded Women's division with many more experienced wrestlers and just one segment, maybe two if they are lucky, to get show off, you need to go outside the traditional ways of wrestling to stand out and get over, and that's exactly what's set Harley apart.
Harley's use of social media showcasing her multidimensional talents has seen AEW fans take her to their hearts. With videos showing off everything from her musical talents to her ventriloquism skills, her charms have engrossed the fans to the point that she has become one of the most popular women on the AEW roster. That connection was there to see during her appearance on Collision on Saturday night in her musical performance. But that performance had a motive apart from Harley being her usual entertaining self.
With just one win on her CV in AEW so far, it's pretty obvious Mercedes Moné hasn't taken the attention that Harley has been giving her seriously. It's pretty obvious that she thinks Harley isn't on her level and — dare I say it — she is right.
I mean, Harley Cameron still has just one win in AEW. With all due respect, if we were to do a power ranking of the Women's division, Moné is Liverpool FC and Harley is down the rankings and maybe in a lower-tier league… and deep down, in storyline, Harley knows it.
Why do you think she came up with Mercedes the puppet a couple of weeks back and used it as an excuse to try and invade Moné's private dressing room? Why did Harley get herself booked into performing a concert on a pro-wrestling show?
She wanted the attention of Mercedes… her first song was an obvious fishing rod hanging over the sea and Mercedes took the bait. All hijinks over and done with, Harley dropped the facade and spoke to Mercedes eye to eye. She conceded that she isn't on Mercedes' level, that her inexperience is overshadowed by the litany of achievements that Moné has accomplished, something that Harley admits she aspires to achieve. Deep down, hiding in the entertainer is the determination to succeed at a sport she fell in love with through her husband and a desire to test herself against one of North American Women's wrestling's Mt. Rushmore.
The series of events that led to the bully getting hit back by Harley led to the TBS Title match being made. Harley gets her wish — she is now swimming with the sharks of the Women's division and it's sink or swim time. That's what comes with opportunity. In a business that doesn't give you many David-vs-Goliath stories at big events, this could end up being the wrestling version of "Manchester City – 8, Salford City – 0"... However… on the same weekend when Harley got her dream match, she could end up being Plymouth Argyle in this weekend's FA Cup — the David on home-turf to the Goliath that is Liverpool — and maybe, just maybe, she will be able to pull off the biggest upset and beat an overconfident Mercedes Moné in what would be a March Madness shock come early.
Sometimes circumstances can bring the best opportunities…
P.S. After I wrote my MVP bit about Harley, Dave Meltzer reported this about the quarter hours on Collision this past Saturday
Harley popping numbers like Kendrick Lamar!
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