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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.
Welcome to our team: Abel [@loza3.bsky.social] who will be covering Match of the Week going forward and is working on developing a Power Rankings feature for PWM.
The rest of this week’s contributors are Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking Best Interview, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week, and Peter [@peteredge7.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Kenny Omega vs Brian Cage
"Return of the King… "
by Abel.
"Restoring the feeling" is a mantra many AEW fans will proclaim when a moment happens that reminds them of the early days of the young promotion. Nobody really knows what that "feeling" is — even as Daniel Garcia sells merch with the catchphrase — but there is no denying that seeing Kenny Omega in All Elite Wrestling restores some of those feelings and emotions. The new presentation (entrance music and video) makes Omega seem like a conquering hero on his way to take AEW back from their oppressive leader, Jon Moxley.
After being out of action for 18 months, dealing with what ended up being a life-threatening case of diverticulitis, the Best Bout Machine finally made his triumphant return to an AEW ring — this was his second match back after taking on Gabe Kidd in NJPW at Wrestle Dynasty — and looked as good as he ever has. Sure, there were a couple of hiccups in the match, but they were more due to timing than rust, as this was Omega's first-ever solo match against Brian Cage. (The only other match between the two was an eight-man tag match back in November of 2023, right before being sidelined).
Brian Cage being Kenny's first opponent back in AEW, was unexpected but not disappointing. Cage thrives in the matches where he can be the ultimate hulking brute, throwing his opponent around. Cage was no slouch in this match, as many have been eaten alive by being in the ring with Omega. Cage did his part in making us believe Omega is still tender in his abdomen and still not 100%. Even though we all know that Omega is healthy, between Cage throwing Omega around and the cleaner's visceral facial expressions and stomach holding after those punches and bumps, the magic of pro wrestling made us believe. Cage is a solid worker, and it will be exciting to see what he and Lance Archer can do in the tag-team division.
The match's aftermath was just as important and entertaining as the fight. For the second time in as many weeks, Will Ospreay — once a mortal enemy of Kenny's — came to his aid to fight off the Don Callis Family. This time, however, the save wasn't successful as the Don Callis Family got the upper hand. The excitement is because the after-match skirmish sets up a rematch between International Champion Konosuke Takeshita and an Omega/Ospreay alliance. The potential and direction for where Omega can go from here are interesting and, honestly, a lot of fun.
The match was good, and the aftermath built up potential programs. Still, most importantly, it was great to see Kenny Omega back, especially considering we might never have seen him again. Seeing Kenny Omega brings back a much-needed sense of normalcy and stability to AEW. Let's not take that for granted again.
Casino Gauntlet Match
"I want to be champion … and you don't get there by being nice..."
by Lauren.
While there has been much said about the first AEW Women's Casino Gauntlet Match over the last several days, very little of it has discussed the actual contents of the match. While it was short, it packed in a number of excellent story and character moments in that time, first and foremost the Women's World Championship match at Grand Slam in a few weeks.
Mariah May sat at commentary, offering her acerbic commentary on her potential challengers and amusing herself by provoking Taz and Tony Schiavone. Over the last several months, she has presented herself as aloof and cold, willing to destroy anyone to get what she wants. However, her composure was shaken with the arrival of Megan Bayne, whom she had crossed paths with in Stardom. Her reaction serves a double purpose: first, to introduce Megan to the audience as a credible threat in the women's division, which was quickly backed up by Megan's performance in the ring. And secondly, it revealed a crack in Mariah's armor. She hoped out loud that the rest of the potential challengers are smaller and more manageable. She seemed close to biting her nails as the crowd cheered Megan. In short: she showed fear.
The match itself presented several small character moments: Julia Hart renewed her aggression toward Jamie Hayter, leading to another match scheduled between them for the following week. Harley Cameron got misted by Julia Hart and showed visible effects from the misting during a follow-up match on Collision. But perhaps most importantly, Willow Nightingale and Kris Statlander smiled at each other.
It was more than just a smile. Last year Kris turned on Willow — her ego outpaced their friendship; it outpaced all of her friendships. It all ended in blood, first when she assisted Trent Beretta in an attack against Orange Cassidy, and then in a Street Fight with Willow for daring to stand against her. It seemed as if that would be the end of things.
But something changed after Kris tried and failed to win back the TBS title. Her ego, no longer being fed by Stokely Hathaway in her ear, has deflated. She admitted to regret in a backstage interview and wished Willow luck before darting away. During the gauntlet match, Willow assisted Kris in suplexing Megan, which led to that shared smile. This is not to say that everything has been forgiven — Willow and Kris exchanged chops immediately after… But Kris opened her arms wide, inviting the blows. An act of contrition? A gesture of respect?
But they were interrupted by the arrival of the "rookie" (but also three-time champion) Toni Storm. Mariah seemed delighted by the arrival of her former love/mentor/rival, and whooped when Toni quickly won. All match long, Mariah had been reminding the other commentators that she had murdered Timeless Toni Storm, delighting in her own cleverness and betrayal. She will not have to face a feared rival; instead she will be facing a familiar — if apparently addled — opponent. She made a victim of Toni before, and now plans to repeat herself on Toni's home turf.
Hubris and underestimating her erstwhile protégé brought down Timeless Toni Storm before. Even Kris Statlander's hubris, lesser but still inflated, was punctured by defeat. Mariah’s hubris has been on full display since her rise. What will it take to bring her down to earth?... and will it happen at Grand Slam?
Toni Storm
"The Key to Success in Show Business..."
by Sergei.
"...Sincerity: if you can fake that, you've got it made..." It's a joke attributed to many humorists over the years, and falls into the category of "it's funny because it's true." There's a certain persona that's generally expected by powers that be… (I don't just mean in wrestling, but in any situation where someone wants to assimilate into a new setting) …and that persona tends to be very earnest, humble, and grateful for the opportunity — virtues we all may find admirable, but not necessarily anything we want to emulate personally… Since her return to AEW programming, Toni Storm has perfectly modeled that ideal of what we've all heard the stereotypical locker-room vet wants to see from a newbie: making a point to humbly introduce herself to all of her new peers and to shake everyone's hands, and expressing just how great everybody else is and how lucky she is to even be there. "Rock Star" Toni Storm is probably the most gee-whiz friend-shaped character in wrestling programming since the early days of Bayley in NXT.
Just last week, I was talking about the earnest good nature we've consistently seen in the persona of Kenny Omega. While obviously none of us can see what's inside anybody's heart, it's always seemed likely that the reason Kenny connects so well with audiences is that that's no facade, but representative of his genuine personality. Not that Kenny's kindheartedness is quite the same as what we see from Toni: for one, he shows much more of a healthy self-regard. But even moreso, regardless of how pro wrestling often blurs the edges of fact and fiction, it seems safe to say that the whole memory-loss business that Storm's new personality is founded on is not in any way a "shoot."
The obvious fakeness of the amnesia plot point invites the viewer "behind the curtain" of the consciously-constructed nature of pro-wrestling personae in a manner that I've honestly found a bit disconcerting. The fact that I've been having trouble connecting with this new character and story is certainly no reflection on Storm as a performer. Just last week I wrote in Storm's entry in PWM's Top-100 of 2024 that over the course of the year she had grown "into the most consistently funny and entertaining interview in wrestling." But — as much as I'm obviously aware in the back of my mind of the fakery inherently built into pro wrestling — while watching, I prefer to be able to suspend disbelief… and this new story has just seemed a touch too meta for my druthers. Even though the "Timeless" character had also been based on the premise that Storm had perhaps had a mental breakdown on account of losing the World title. Even though the "Rock Star" had Storm's real accent and her real background (other than pretending the last three years had never happened) this persona somehow seemed even faker than the "Timeless" version pretending to be Norma Desmond. This may partly come down to the silliness of doing an amnesia plot like a shark-jumping sitcom. But I think even moreso it's attributable to the fact that we know that this "golly gee" act isn't how a freshly-debuting Storm would act, because that's not how she DID act when we originally saw the "Toni Storm is All Elite" graphic. She's gone back to the entrance and mannerisms and look that she had then… Both versions had high-energy enthusiasm… but day-one Storm was no self-effacing naïf. Storm carried herself as a big deal because she knew she was a big deal — as I claimed a few sentences ago for Omega: she had a healthy self-regard.
On Wednesday night, Storm became #1 contender for Mariah May's World Championship: the title Storm would be aching to reclaim, held by the nemesis she would be out for revenge against — except that she's pretending (?) that she doesn't remember any of that. On Saturday night, she had an in-ring interview by Tony Schiavone where I feel she did her best job so far of blurring what's real and what's fake. ICYMI:
Did Mama Storm really sell hot dogs to pay for Toni's training? I don't know, but I do know that the tale of a parent making sacrifices to help their child achieve a dream is a very common real story. Is Grand Slam genuinely going to be emanating from the same arena where Storm saw her first live wrestling match? I don't know, but I do know that Brisbane is only about an hour's drive from Gold Coast, where Storm grew up. So it makes sense that the emotion choking her words could be legitimate.
But at the same time, the obvious artifice of the whole situation makes you wonder: she's obviously faking some aspects, so could she be faking all? After all, her previous gimmick, the one she claims not to remember, was that of a scheming dramatist. The question of "how much of this is really real?" pulls me out of the story, but the question "how much of this is real within the story" — that's a different matter. I hate to be the fan who says "I only like this if it goes the direction I prefer," but if the amnesia is all an act to lower her hated archenemy's guard, that raises all of this from stale sitcom to juicy soap opera. Supporting this interpretation is the way that Toni interrupts Tony just as he says "come on…" and is clearly about to ask Storm if she really expects us to believe that she believes she's "never met" the current World Champ. In contrast with her usual self-effacing deference, she talks over Schiavone, going so far as to play him like a marionette — like the old Whose Line Is It? "Helping Hands" bit — and prompting her music to cut off the segment without any further questions.
If this is all a put-on (within kayfabe as well), it clearly seems to be working — the oblivious champ appears to have zero regard for Storm as a threat to her reign. King Claudius didn't see Hamlet as a threat, either. There are no "asides" that only the audience is supposed to hear in pro wrestling (or at least there shouldn't be) and this can make foreshadowing tough to do. But hopefully we may get some clue of which way they're playing this when Storm confronts May face-to-face "for the first time" tomorrow night…
Hangman Adam Page
by Emiliana.
A Texas Death, or any deathmatch for that matter, is always a feast for the senses. Whether it’s the sight of glistening crimson on flesh or the satisfying crunch of tables breaking under the weight of bodies, it is a delightful consumption of excess. A Texas Death like the one at Full Gear in 2023, for example, is borderline gluttonous. But this Texas Death, for all its sights and sounds and emotion, was fluid, and quick, and yet — still compelling. In hindsight, it turned out to be the perfect way to end the career of Christopher Daniels — and also to add a new, tantalizing layer to our favorite cowboy.
After the Hangman's decisive victory, the Fallen Angel lies in a pool of his own blood. It is a familiar sight for those of us with permanent Hangman-related brain damage — a parallel to Swerve’s lifeless body at the end of All Out 2024.
As Hangman makes his way out of the ring and is walking back up the ramp, we see another flash of memory cross his face, and he stops. The camera holds there, watching his back heave — the welts there a recent, painful reminder of the battle that was just won. But in this moment, there is another battle being raged — warring against the past. We have been here before.
Only this time, rather than allowing the screams of the terrified audience to stop him, Hangman elects to walk back into the ring and finish what he started:
He picks up the Fallen Angel and hits him with CD’s own finishing move — the Angel’s Wings. Nigel McGuinness on commentary makes the greatest call we’ve heard in the last four months: “Hangman Page is the Angel of Death.”
Some may believe redemption is around the corner, but it feels to me like this cowboy has reaffirmed his newfound comfort in darkness. He has battled with his conscience, and the choice has been made. The Angel of Death will not pass over this house.
Time will tell if Hangman Adam Page will take up the mantle and sobriquet left behind by Christopher Daniels. However, I am left with one last, selfish question: what will the One Winged Angel do, when eventually, inevitably, the Angel of Death casts a shadow on his doorstep?
gifs by Emiliana
Hangman Adam Page
“...Who'd do such a thing? How do you defend against it…?”
by Peter.
So, last week, I awarded my MVP for last week's AEW TV to Hangman Page. His promo was one of a man who is now comfortable in his own skin and warned of the consequences that were about to fall upon Christopher Daniels for his actions towards Hangman in the last few weeks.
Now, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I look at spoilers.
I mean, it's Collision. I don't think I'm supposed to say that, but — it's Collision, and with this past weekends Collision being recorded on Thursday, instead of trying to avoid the results from the recording, a simple click on the right site and I found out the details and happenings of, in particular, the match I had been anticipating: Hangman × Fallen Angel in a Texas Death Match and — while the write up from the person in the arena was all good — something released on Fightful Select the next day stating that Thursday night and the Texas Death Match would be the final match Christopher Daniels' career led to this thought entering my mind:
"Hangman is going to kill Christopher Daniels isn't he?"
It felt like the caliber of match that Hangman had promised the week before was really going to happen. The rage of violence that Hangman vowed to inflict, now he was comfortable in his own skin, was edging closer to reality and once I actually watched?... boy, did it live up to expectation!
Yes, Daniels has his moments of hope, but Page would eradicate that hope throughout the night, just as quickly as he leaps to his feet at the count of nine. Hangman gives a performance of deranged yet precise madness that shows that he's not just comfortable in his own skin, he is thriving as AEW's Grim Reaper, the man who can and will bury anyone who dares to cross him.
Hangman, when he was wearing the white hat, was prone to acts of violence in this Texas Death, what has become his specialty match. But whereas the first time he fought in one — where he had to survive everything Lance Archer threw at him before improvising his way to victory — as the TDMs went on, the violence became more extreme. But this time, instead of a burst of punishment to his opponent like in the Moxley, Cole and Swerve Death Matches, the violence this night was more clinical. And none more so than that final Buckshot Lariat.
While we've seen some imitate that move, no one can master it like Hangman… and when he wants, Page can use it to truly hurt someone. Hangman went for the neck in the final shot: the sacred part of the body for a professional wrestler. A body part telling its host: "you shouldn't do this endeavour anymore." A body part when operated on can take you nearly a year to recover from... Hangman knew what he was doing with that Buckshot — actions must have consequences.
Emi has already fantastically written about that Moment when Hangman just strolls right back down to the crime scene to put the final nail into Daniels's coffin, but I have to talk about that last move he uses in what turns out to be the final seconds of Daniels's career. The man that Nigel McGuinness calls the "Angel of Death" didn't just drag the bloody corpse of Christopher Daniels to hell, but he also took his dignity — he stole his Angel Wings. It wasn't a passing of the torch — Hangman took every last thing from Daniels… because actions must have consequences in the world of the Hangman.
In what is quickly becoming a Country for Old Men, one of the OG's of AEW showed once again on Thursday/Saturday night that he is capable of being AEW's Most Valuable Player — but this time round, the story he is trying to complete isn't for anyone but himself, and if he has to drag anyone else to hell to get his own personal happy ending? So be it.
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