.png)
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, Peter [@PeterEdge7] with the moment of the week, and Joe [@GoodVsBadGuys] giving us the MVP of the week.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong
"Workers putting in the work..."
by Tim.
Looking at the participants in this match, it would seem that Roderick Strong is outnumbered, but by adding the stipulation for the #1 entry to the Casino Battle Royal, this evens things out. One of my favorite things in wrestling is multi-man matches that lead to creative move combinations. It can get silly sometimes, but it’s also fun to see one man lock a submission on two others. Reversals get exponentially more complex as they chain from one competitor to another. It’s fun and at the end of the day I want my wrestling to be fun.
Midway into the match, Strong attempts a double Boston Crab to the Conglomeration members. On commentary Taz calls this a half Boston, half New Hampshire crab which leads commentary to debate the home state of North Atlantic American crustaceans. Pro-wrestling is just the best. We get an attempted run in by Taven/Bennett who introduce a chair to the ring, followed by a run in from Briscoe and Ishii. They end up brawling with each other to the back but we still have the chair in the ring. Cassidy uses this to his advantage as he takes a comfortable seat to avoid a Strong lariat. A “we want tables” chant breaks out in the crowd which is quickly becoming my least favorite chant in wrestling. Strong and Cassidy play into it great though, Strong wags his finger at the crowd denying their request. Cassidy flips up the ring skirt as if he may be looking for a table, but Strong interrupts this with a suicide dive followed by more finger wagging. It’s small moments but it’s improvised on the spot to get heel heat for Strong and get a reaction from the crowd. Cool spot from Strong as he peppers Cassidy with a series of running forearm strikes. More great crowd work from Strong as he goes to all four sides of the ring “looking” for tables with no luck. Knowing that they were on a commercial break, Strong takes a moment to rile up the crowd and doesn’t have to be physical to do so. O’Reilly gets back on the action and we have a strike competition followed by a double hurricanrana from Cassidy. I could go another 1000 words breaking it down move by move, the action is fast and furious but in the end Cassidy catches O’Reilly out of a hold on Strong, into a crucifix pin for the win.
O’Reilly is really upset by the loss so we’ll have to wait and see if this causes a rift in the Conglomeration. While I do imagine this will play into the Casino Gauntlet at All In, I hope that O’Reilly stays face for the immediate future. I really like his goofy energy and coming back from serious injury like he did I want to cheer for him. Roderick Strong can stay a heel for the rest of his career as far as I'm concerned because he excels at it. He may be one of the most underrated wrestlers in North America over the last 20 years. Cassidy continues to be the babyface of all babyfaces. Looking ahead to All In, my prediction for the Casino Gauntlet is that this will be the first one we get all 21 entrants. We know that Cassidy is going to be #1 and O’Reilly and Strong are going to be featured. I imagine the rest of the Conglomeration, and Taven/Bennett are going to be entrants as well so we’re up to seven. The remaining 66% are a mystery and I’m looking forward to a few surprises. This threeway match was a great prelude to whatever we’re going to see next Sunday.
TK Announces All In: Texas
"All in on a change of scenery..."
by Peter.
Not gonna lie, seeing the words "All In: Texas 2025" kinda broke my heart. Having gone to the Wembley All In last year and going this year, what has become an annual pilgrimage which is seeing fans from all-around the world congregate in the capital of the UK to watch an event that seemed barely believable in 2017, the idea that Wembley Stadium on Bank Holiday weekend in 2025 isn't happening is gutting even if my bank account is doing cartwheels right now. But the pragmatic in me knows that the announcement that a stadium in Texas will be hosting an AEW PPV in July 2025 is a massive deal for AEW.
Perception is a thing that moves the needle, well, that's what I hear from Dave Meltzer three times a week on Wrestling Observer Radio (did you know that AEW are a distant No.2 company right now?) While WWE tours all over the world, AEW has only put shows on in 3 countries. While WWE has put on stadium shows yearly in the month of April since 2007 and in the summer since 2021, AEW are going to put on just their second ever stadium show this coming weekend. It doesn't matter that AEW are in the sixth year as a company and WWE have been around since Dwight Eisenhower was President of the USA, AEW being Five Guys to WWE's McDonald's is seen as a failure to some so an announcement this week that AEW are booking a 40,000 seat stadium in one of the biggest states in America, in one of the biggest markets in America might not be able to placate those that seek to profit in being anti-AEW but to those who want to see AEW on bigger stages this news was a big deal.
Has last week's announcement eliminated the problems in storytelling that AEW has at the moment? Has last week's announcement made us forget that the traditional venues for AEW's September events are down from last year and the gap in tickets bought YOY is bigger than Tony Khan would like it to be? The answer to both questions is no, but in a world where perception is key, a stadium show in Texas in AEW's horizon is a good way of saying that the company isn't as minor league as some tell you it is.
Now, I just need to figure out how to spend a bucket load of money on August Bank Holiday next year!
Swerve Strickland
"Swerve Gives Fans Cause to Care..."
by Joe.
Before Dynamite last week, Swerve still had his edge, but hadn’t completely let go of his ethics either. This created the potential for an exciting wrestling match with Bryan Danielson at All In, but not a very heated feud heading into All In.
That changed at the end of the show Wednesday night. After Swerve Strickland showed off an arsenal of attacks that were centered on damaging necks, clearly a menu of moves curated for Bryan Danielson’s glaring physical weakness, he defeated his opponent, but after the bell rang, he continued to wallop Wheeler Yuta without showing any mercy.
images]
This post-match pulverizing was a prelude to a particularly evil promo that shifted the dynamics of this feud. Swerve Strickland claimed that he will “cripple” Bryan Danielson, a word that commentator Taz claimed is a dirty word that is off-limits among wrestlers, and after crossing that line of professional respect and compassion, Swerve crossed another line. Swerve claimed that not only would he CRIPPLE Bryan Danielson, he would do it in front of his daughter. After speaking like a sociopath, Swerve attacked like a coward, waiting until Danielson was vulnerable and preoccupied and turned the other way before laying him out. As Bryan Danielson once said about Swerve’s nemesis the Hangman, “that’s COWARD shit”.
This pissed me off, and I believe that was the intended creative purpose. Bryan is now firmly in the babyface position, and Swerve is strongly aligned in the heel slot. This now gives me, 50 thousand fans at Wembley, and hopefully 200,000-ish fans around the world, someone to root for, and someone to root against.
It also gives Bryan Danielson a reason to not just wrestle to win at Wembley, but fight to avenge and defend at Wembley. In a heated post-Dynamite promo that went straight to social media, Danielson said that Swerve hurt Wheeler Yuta, who is “like a son” to him.
Bryan continued, “You mentioned my [****] daughter, and you mentioned crippling me in front of my [****] daughter”, and therefore Swerve isn’t getting “underdog Bryan Danielson” he’s getting the Bryan Danielson that “kicks peoples’ [****] heads in!”. Bryan mentioned Swerve’s archenemy, saying “I saw what you did to Hangman, and when you broke into his house. Don’t you dare, do that [****] to me.” During that impassioned warning, Bryan also said, “I don’t think you know what you just did”. Swerve might not know, but the writers do. Swerve is a man who crossed the line with Hangman’s son in Hangman’s house, he brutally bloodied a teenage boy in his own house, and he is now trying to threaten the health and well-being of Bryan Danielson’s house. He might say it’s Swerve’s house, but this nasty pattern needs to end, and there is now a fire-breathing American Dragon ready to burn Swerve’s house to the ground in front of 50,000 fans in London, in the form of some karma-loaded kicks to the head.
Creating this cause to care, that’s a very valuable contribution from the World Heavyweight Champion of AEW, making Swerve Strickland this week’s MVP.
Eddie Kingston
"The Anti-Promo..."
by Sergei.
When we first started the format of AEWeekly with "X of the Week" categories, I took on this one and originally called it: "Promo of the Week." But I later decided to change that to "Interview," because in my view a promo is a specific kind of interview—a "promo" is "promoting" a match. Sometimes this is as blatant as outright saying "this match will be amazing, tune in!" But more often, the promotion is more subtle, using character and plot to sell the audience on the idea that a match is must-see because of how the characters feel and what the match will mean to them. Last week, while I was on hiatus from the "Best Interview" beat, Gareth gave Danielson the nod for a promo selling the main event as can't miss because Bryan is risking his career in the match. Above in our MVP section, Joe talks about how impressed he was by a promo after Wednesday night's main event, selling the match as the Dragon's fiery revenge for Swerve's offensive actions and threats. Personally, both interviews struck me as forced and by-the-numbers. This might be because in other contexts, Danielson keeps saying things that make people question if he even cares about the outcome on Sunday.
He seems more resigned than anything about the possibility (probability?) of retiring. And in spite of his huffing about Swerve bringing up crippling him in front of his daughter, his lack of fire makes us question if this Dragon has any flame left, and if this Final Countdown will end with a bang or a whimper….
Fans like myself aren't the only ones to have noticed this. A month ago, Jeff Jarrett overheard what sounded to him like loser talk from Danielson in a sit-down backstage with Renee Paquette. But this led to an "Anything Goes" match ostensibly putting to rest any doubts of how far Danielson will go to win at Wembley. And yet, doubts in the Dragon's commitment persist, exacerbated by continued "thoughtfully resigned" loser talk from the man himself. Leading up to Eddie Kingston—in my mind one of Danielson's greatest rivals—unequivocally airing his doubts about the man's fire and commitment on AEW programming just 8 days out from the biggest main event of the year, and possibly the Dragon's very last match. ICYMI:
As Eddie highlights at the very start, he is sidelined with injury and nowhere near coming back, so there is no way for this to be setting up a match to prove Eddie wrong. And this is not a case of Kingston simply rooting for Strickland. Eddie and Bryan were enemies and rivals for a long time, but they buried that hatchet, and Kingston very clearly WANTS to see the Dragon that chewed him up and motivated him to always get better to go out, if he must, with a bang!
Eddie Kingston rightfully has a reputation as one of the best promos in the business—a man who could sell you back your own belly lint and have you thanking him for the privilege. But this interview was very much the antithesis of that: rather than firing up the audience to see one of the biggest matches of the year, maybe ever, he instead characterized it as a depressing slog towards a preordained doom. His words were brutally precise but the exact opposite of a "promo."
Kingston closes this interview asking Danielson "what's the point?" but the same could be asked about this interview, itself. I believe that Eddie Kingston is a man who knows his business, so I just can't see this as merely some wrongheaded misstep. So I see two possibilities:
Perhaps AEW sees a Danielson victory as a too-obvious outcome, and the doubts cast at Dragon first by Jarrett and now by Kingston are their idea of adding intrigue to the outcome. Or (more likely "And") this is laying the seeds for the story direction of Bryan Danielson's reign. Perhaps he will reveal he had been faking Swerve out all along—letting him underestimate a dangerous man who should never be underestimated. Or maybe anger over those doubts will set a whole new fire under the American Dragon to provide the light and heat for his final run.
Strickland & Danielson
"What makes a hero or a villain..."
by Saul.
There’s nothing I love more than making myself the judge of group-chat debates. Even more so, I have entitled myself the final adjudicator of wrestler’s face/heel alignments. Therefore, a discussion about Swerve Strickland between my fellow contributors brought me back from my short hiatus from #AEWeekly to deliver a final verdict. Spoiler alert, it will be some vague equivocating BS.
The Rule of Cool, a somewhat well known media concept, is defined by TV Tropes as “the limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its awesomeness.” One example of this could be the “Doof Warriors” in Mad Max: Fury Road (recently watched this sick movie), who wields a flame throwing electric guitar and plays rad riffs to support the evil militia. Another example can be seen in Austin Powers, which made fun of this with Dr. Evil’s laser beam wielding sharks.
I would propose that a somewhat similar rule applies to wrestling. If I were to try to fully define this in the language of TV Tropes, it would be something like “the limit of the fans' willingness to forgive a wrestler's bad behaviour is directly proportional to their awesomeness.” Maybe that’s not putting it perfectly, but hopefully you get my meaning. I’m not the first to note this certain dissonance that often comes with the crowd participatory nature of wrestling storytelling, but Swerve Strickland strikes me as a particularly interesting example of it.
Swerve brutalised a mentee to get a mental advantage over the mentor. He threatened a man’s wife and young child. He promised to physically injure Danielson badly enough that his family wouldn’t be able to recognise him. These are things he did with Darby Allin and “Hangman” Adam Page when he was a heel. They are decidedly villainous actions. However, Swerve is now nominally a “face”, but he never really changed from his time as a baddie. He didn’t have a redemption arc, ala Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and grow as a person or apologise for his past actions. The fans just decided to cheer him, because of his excellent in-ring work and sheer force of his aura, which basically turned him face by default. This tension is basically the cause of the “Hangman’s” grievances.
This kind of morality is also present in other media. There are numerous examples of film and TV characters who may be morally dubious, yet you end up rooting for them anyway. Dexter, Don Draper, Tony Soprano, Walter White, Saul Goodman and so on, to name just a few who may fall into such categorisation. However, I do think wrestling is a particularly interesting medium for this because of the live crowd. You can literally audibly hear a villain turn into a hero or anti-hero in real time, oftentimes unplanned from the promotion as the crowd is just naturally drawn to a wrestler and cheers them despite the moral implications of their actions. This often forces a shift in characterisation, because it can be awkward to present someone as a pure villain when there’s hundreds of people constantly cheering their support for them. (Theoretically this isn’t impossible, but I can’t really think of any successful attempts of it in wrestling.)
Swerve is the antagonist in this story, right? We all love Danielson. Most of the fanbase would like him to hold the AEW World Championship. We don’t want his storied career to come to an end. This possibility was reinforced by a video package showcasing moments from the long history of the American Dragon. Therefore, Swerve should be traditionally considered a heel, but it doesn’t fully feel like that, as the majority of the group chat pointed out (at least the majority of people who piped up).
Maybe some would decry this as a failure of the storytelling. However, the feud has well-established high stakes, as well as a clear protagonist and antagonist. As much as I’d like to emphatically declare a final verdict of every character’s face and heel alignment, morality is really up for every person to decide for themselves. (Is that equivocating enough?)
Comments