Not-so Private Party | AEWeekly #142

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 moment of the week, and Peter [@PeterEdge7] giving us the MVP of the week.

 A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly

Private Party X Matthew & Nicholas Jackson

"Better late than never..."

by Tim.

I frequently sleep on the Young Bucks and I’m not sure why. I enjoy their matches, I often think they’re hilarious in skits and interviews, yet I find that this most recent run with the titles has underwhelmed. Maybe it’s overexposure. It is their third run with the belts, the most of any team in AEW. If you look at their number of days as champion across all the reigns, they have 522 days as tag champions (more than double that of FTR who are in second). It’s safe to say I wasn’t thrilled when they won the belts back in April and I was ready for someone new.

So that’s probably why I enjoyed this match so much. The Young Bucks have always been tremendous workers. Combine them with a healthy Private Party and you have four individuals who are hard to match based on in-ring abilities. This match was a fireworks show from the start. Stereo 450° top-rope splashes by Private Party, Springboard assisted powerbomb by the Young Bucks, Okada sneaking in with a tombstone on the ramp (bonus points to Okada for moonwalking away, grinning the whole time). Take into consideration that Nicholas Jackson has a shoulder injury he’s dealing with during all of this. The Young Bucks double-team Isiah for a good while. During this Matthew breaks out a One Winged Angel proving that the move is a finisher only when Kenny Omega performs it. Marq Quen breaks up the pin attempt with a desperation shoulder tackle. From here the crowd is red hot. The stipulation of Private Party breaking up in the event of a loss is one of those stipulations that somewhat gives away the outcome. I didn’t think Private Party would lose, and neither did the crowd at this point. That’s a benefit as they believed in the outcome, they believed in the team of Private Party, and the match delivered on the crowd’s belief. One Gin and Juice later and we have new AEW Tag Team Champions.

The post match scene was a bit chaotic as we had a nice moment, albeit slightly out of character, of the Young Bucks handing the titles over to Private Party. PP then celebrated with the crowd, echoing their win over the Young Bucks five years ago in the inaugural Tag Team Championship tournament. Later in the show we’re back to cowardly corporate Young Bucks as they shred documents and make their escape into an unknown sabbatical. My hope is that this time off of AEW TV leads the Young Bucks to a Japanese tour building towards the big Tokyo Dome shows next year. 

As for Private Party, the AEW tag division is in their reign now. I liked that Collision featured them flaunting their belts in front of the other teams. If their run with the titles features lots of fun matches and new challengers, I’m all for it. They’re already getting involved with the Moxley storyline, and that’s fine, but I hope it doesn’t dominate the run. Give me cool moves and crowd pops. If the Young Bucks have left any essence on the tag belts, it should be that. 

Private Party

"A Full Circle Victory..."

by Saul.

It’s often said that wins and losses in wrestling matter. For all intents and purposes, this is true to how a wrestler's value is perceived. However, it’s also accurate to say that not all wins and losses are equally important. Some wins are basically meaningless while others shoot you into the stratosphere. Some losses are easy to bounce back from while others can forever alter a wrestler's perception in the eyes of the audience. 

One such important victory happened on this previous week's Dynamite.

Early on in AEW (might’ve been one of the very first shows ever), Private Party upset the Young Bucks in a tournament to become the inaugural Tag Team champions. This was a clear indicator that the company and the Bucks themselves saw the young team as a large part of the future of AEW. However, the potential promised by this early booking decision was never followed up on.

Private Party has had a mixed run in AEW. This is partly due to injuries, but the fact is that the team were never able to put together a consistent run and collect momentum to reach the top of the tag division. That was until last Wednesday, where after nearly 5 years in the company, the team finally won the gold, once again beating the Bucks, to the jubilation of everyone watching.

In all the criticism people have had about AEW, one that would be almost unanimous is the fall of the tag division. The tag division delivered some of the best stories and matches early on in the company's history. (Obligatory Young Bucks vs Omega & Page mention.) In recent years, the tag division has been much less of a focus. There have still been good tag matches, but it hasn’t felt like the strong selling point like it did in the infancy years of AEW. 

This is another aspect of why this win felt so significant. Private Party represents hope in the tag division. As a team with promise that had kind of lost their way (just like the whole division), the victory hopefully spells a re-focusing to give this young team the spotlight they deserve. 

Orange Cassidy

"Orange Cassidy is still Orange Cassidy"

by Greyson.

One of the biggest concerns for Orange Cassidy (and for that matter anyone on the AEW roster entering the possible “Moxley Rip Current”), was whether or not he would remain his authentic self through this battle. Based on his prior experience dealing with Moxley and winning against him at last year’s Full Gear, the very reason why others like Daniel Garcia desperately sought his help, Cassidy himself expressed that he did not like how his feud with Moxley and BCC changed him and that is why he would not intervene here. His desire to avoid the personality shift he had in the later phases of his championship runs towards a very aggressive style and becoming a workhorse champion, which was uncharacteristic of his approach during most of his career, is why he would not intervene. However, now he has been compelled by the severe attack on his Best Friend Chuck Taylor and on others he cares about to take on Moxley. So would Cassidy revert to his old form, the angry person he did not want to become again? 

In this week’s Moment of the Week, Saturday at Collision, we learned that the answer is a clear and definitive "No". It all starts with Moxley’s segment heaping on the Heel Populism to the Philadelphia crowd, praising Philadelphia native Wheeler Yuta and former Best Friend of Orange Cassidy before defecting to the Blackpool Combat Club as a “hero,” saying he “understands sacrifice,” and later emphasizing that he was hardworking, presumably in contrast to the notable slacker Cassidy. This notion of Yuta as a “hometown hero” was refuted quickly by another local, Action Andretti, who would proceed to have an impromptu match with PAC, where PAC won and continued to keep the Brutalizer on Andretti after getting the win, then switched to a chokehold, which was broken when Cassidy entered the arena the showed up on the screen. 

Moxley’s rhetoric is as hard-hitting as his matches are but Cassidy knows how to play to his hometown crowd better than Moxley can. Low key and understated, Cassidy starts with “Hey, I got to say something real quick, Go Birds,” referring to the Philadelphia Eagles. Then Cassidy talks about his love for the city, how he and Yuta’s roots extend far beyond being in the same stable in AEW. They trained together and Yuta even slept on his couch when he “fell on hard times,” and Chuck Taylor was his roommate. He then proceeds to strongly repudiate the current indoctrinated version of Yuta, laying out in no uncertain terms how the old Yuta would have never let someone attack Taylor and try to crush his neck with a chair. “Jon Moxley is not the man he says he is,” exhorts Cassidy, trying to see if there is any reasonable part of Yuta still left. And there just might be, as Yuta had to be berated and slapped by Moxley to get him to confront his former mentor and friend. 

When Yuta came towards Cassidy with a folding chair in hand, Cassidy did not immediately attack as the former International Champion would have in his more aggressive mode, but rather firmly placed his hands in his pockets as Yuta hesitated and lowered the chair to his side. Cassidy then grabs the chair out of his hands, then instead of using it himself, he throws it behind him. He casually stands there for a brief moment after that before going at Yuta and landing the Orange Punch to finish him off. This is exactly how pre-championship, pre-Moxley feud Cassidy would have handled this. He ended the conflict without resorting to becoming the kind of person Jon Moxley would want him to become. He is still the Orange Cassidy we know and love. This is our Moment of the Week: Orange Cassidy at his best winning in a way that is authentically his. Even though he says he is not a leader, like many participants in action sports cultures who are relatively reluctant to seek leadership roles as compared to using their other skills, he is able to be a positive influence and lead by example without such a title - at least for now. His strong commitment to the authentic AEW culture, unique style, and exceptional performance in the ring make him ideal to win the AEW World Championship from Moxley at Full Gear. 

Private Party

"Everybody is Invited..."

by Sergei.

This was Private Party's week, taking the AEW World Tag Team titles on Wednesday and being the fulcrum that the whole show revolves around on both Wednesday AND Saturday. They had played a very peripheral role in AEW for many years, but they ably rose to the occasion as both the focus of the tag division and a key part of the resistance against the Death Riders.

In a storytelling environment that's taken a sharp turn into grim-and-gritty, Private Party finally achieving their dream and earning their flowers is a bright spot for audiences to cling to and root for. But two of the villains can claim some credit for themselves: Moxley can claim the new Champs as proof that his "tough love" works to push young talent to the next level, while Stokely can claim credit for the idea that allowed them the one last shot they needed, and the "do or die" desperation that arguably may have been key to finally succeeding. But such caveats just add intriguing story possibilities to their reign.

Six teams are vying in qualifier matches for the opportunity to face the World Tag Champs at the upcoming PPV, breathing new life into a division many fans had given up on as DOA. This title reign is shaping up to be a party we're all invited to.