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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, Collision and Rampage, and any social media exclusives up until publication.
This week’s contributors are Tim [@TimmayMan] covering match of the week, Sergei [@SergeiAlderman] covering interview & moment of the week, Saul [@SaulKiloh] exploring a key story beat, and Peter [@PeterEdge7] with the MVP of the week.
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
Wheeler Yuta X Anthony Henry
"Actions speak louder than words…"
by Tim.
Finding a match this week to be inspired by was a struggle. I was about to tap out and hand it off to one of the other writers. Post-All Out and pre-Grand Slam there wasn’t much I wanted to write about. Dynamite had okay matches and was capped by possibly the worst Casino Gauntlet Match. Rampage was fine, but nothing to write home about (or write on the internet about). [Editorial context: this is VERY debatable. BEEF's debut was amazing and he should be everyone's new favorite wrestler.] By the time we got to Collision, I was looking at the card and just about to throw up my hands. Luckily Wheeler Yuta and Anthony Henry displayed some good in-ring storytelling on Saturday night that was exactly what I was looking for.
Since the events at All Out involving the Blackpool Combat Club my biggest question has been: where does this leave Yuta? He was distraught over Danielson being attacked by Claudio and Moxley, yet he’s one-third of the AEW Trios Champions. Would he stay in the group? Would he relinquish his title? Pre-match on Collision, Lexi Nair got some words from Yuta but he didn’t answer much. Low energy, confused, distraught: he’s still trying to process the past week’s events.
Down to the ring and even before the bell rings Yuta is telling a story. He’s still wearing the BCC jacket, but it could be just a vestigial remnant of better times. More interesting to me is how he’s carrying his Trios title belt. He carries it how one carries a piece of old luggage, down by his side. Even going to hand it to the ref he does so without any display of reverence. It’s clear that he sees it as tainted gold.
The match starts and Anthony Henry is quick to take the advantage against a distracted Yuta. Henry is one of those workers that I feel is on the cusp of bigger programs. It surprised me to see that he’s already in his 40’s as I assumed he was a much younger man. Yuta isn't focused on the competitor in front of him and he makes some rare mistakes, such as a failed rebound off the bottom rope that results in Yuta falling to the arena floor. Sluggish, sloppy, this isn’t the usual Yuta we’ve seen in the past, (certainly not the ROH Pure Champion that he once was.) Henry hits the taunt button after a very nice Air Raid Crash. More jawing from Henry as Yuta successfully rebounds off the bottom rope and hits a German suplex. Yuta seeks a brief respite on the outside, (perhaps trying to get his head in the match,) but Henry’s not having it. Henry hits a flying attack before sending Yuta back in the ring to be the victim of a top-rope stomp. Henry then makes his one big mistake of the match, mocking Yuta by saying: “I’m a sad boy! Danielson’s not here!” before hitting an open-hand slap. Henry had finally crossed the line to wake Yuta up. Wheeler, with fire in his eyes, lands a big time elbow strike followed up by a flurry of strikes in the corner. The ref almost catches a stray as he pulls Yuta away, only for the strikes to continue. The rest of the match is all Yuta, even as BEEF (Henry’s cornerman and second cousin by marriage) looks on with concern, he catches a boot from Yuta. The big man wasn’t even trying to get involved, Yuta was lashing out like a wild bronco. Yuta finishes things off with the classic BCC elbow strikes and a Cattle Mutilation.
I had wanted some clarity on the fallout from the BCC attack on Danielson,and I’m still not completely there, but I did get the sense of where Yuta’s headspace might be. A little bit of this came from his backstage comments but most of his character progression came from this match. His actions speak volumes and I still have things to look forward to. How do the Trios champions act as a team going forward? What happens when Danielson comes back? What happens if Yuta has to fight the BCC? …Intriguing stuff, and this match between Henry and Yuta is a preamble to all of it.
Wheeler Yuta
"Helpless and Struggling for Breath..."
by Sergei.
This past year, I've been really impressed by a couple of younger guys going for a more naturalistic tone in their interviews. Both Kyle O'Reilly and Daniel Garcia have gotten a lot of praise—including getting the prestigious Interview of the Week award from me more than once—based on a certain style of interview: set backstage or in an empty arena, sitting down, where they come across as real people telling us about their real struggles. In a social-media exclusive interview after his match on Collision (which was also Match of the Week this week!) Wheeler Yuta took that style to a whole new level. ICYMI:
What I think raised this to a whole new level for me, is that Yuta wasn't simply talking about the everyday frustrations of not getting as many wins as one might have hoped. He was talking about such a deeply upsetting situation that might realistically warrant the level of histrionics of a more typical wrestling promo. But instead he spoke calmly, but with a voice cracking with his distress. He used a real-world tragedy from his own life to really ground his reaction to and empathy for a much more melodramatic situation with the BCC's hit job on Danielson:
All I understand is how afraid… how terrified… how concerned… how helpless I was… when all that happened… … … Um. It was a really rough… really rough day for me Saturday? Before the show… um… I found out that my aunt in Japan had passed away… She passed away from complications due to COVID-19. And I just kinda know that in her… her last moments, she was struggling to find breath… And that's really all I could think about when I watched that happen to Bryan.
—Wheeler Yuta
Yuta's words here really resonated for me, echoing one of the greatest episodes of the amazing show, the Venture Brothers…
… and also the Tyler Childers song "Long Violent History" about grappling with the legacy of racism in the shadow of George Floyd:
Could you imagine, just constantly worrying… Kicking and fighting and begging to breathe…
—Tyler Childers
If you saw someone you thought of as a trusted friend apparently try to murder another close friend to both of you right in front of you… maybe you WOULDN'T be shouting about betrayal and revenge? Maybe you'd be shell-shocked and have soft, halting words about questioning everything. And, beyond any question of realism, maybe that will make for a better set-up for the story they are about to tell.
Early this year, PWM contributor Dirk Elevation made the claim that 2024 for AEW would be defined by retirements. Part of that means relative rookies and mentees stepping up and showing that they are ready to fill those shoes. And through his unique storytelling in both the Match otW and the Interview otW, Wheeler Yutah has now shown his first real glimmer of the potential to be the guy to shoulder that burden.
Allin X Moxley
"Allin Finally Checks his messages..."
by Saul.
At All Out, Jon Moxley made a definitive statement by choking his former stablemate Bryan Danielson with a plastic bag. It’s certainly an extreme way to showcase that you wish to change friend groups.
On this week’s Dynamite, Moxley continued his new agenda with a genuinely chilling promo. He declared war on the current status of the company and stated that granola-dad Danielson "doesn't have the stomach for" what needs to be done. If Mox and Danielson were the two dads of the BCC, well… they weren’t seeing eye-to-eye with parenting decisions. Moxley wants tough love, and by god is he going to deliver it.
After being mysteriously called out by Moxley, Darby Allin skated into Kentucky to see what the fuss was about. When Moxley confronted him, seeming to be as amenable as his new attitude would allow, Allin tore into him about his behaviour. Darby looked up to Mox, but his actions were beyond justification. Idols often disappoint you, and this can leave a burning sense of betrayal. Moxley used this against Darby, and with an extra bit of prodding, goaded him into putting his future championship shot on the line at Grand Slam.
In wrestling, when a face gets very upset about something nasty that was done to another good guy by a heel/faction, (obviously I mean when the wrestlers don’t have some pre-established connection,) you’re often left wondering why they’re so invested in this attack when they’ve ignored the hundreds and hundreds of other beatdowns that have happened. However, I think Bryan Danielson at this stage of his career is kind of exempt from this type of criticism, due the massive amount of respect that the audience and every wrestler has for him. Also, with the added context of it being the last major run of his career, this aspect of the segment really worked.
I also imagine there’s some pushback for the idea for Darby choosing to put his shot on the line. This one I get and it’s often something I wince at myself. “Why would you do that?!” I think this is only a problem when not properly justified, which I don’t believe was the case here. Darby sold his emotional state well and with the extra goading from Moxley, I thought the decision made sense. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s obviously a mistake. However, it’s only bad storytelling if the mistake doesn’t stay true to the character. I think this was an in-character mistake, made by an emotional Darby who has a point to prove, which could make it all the more tragic if he were to lose to Moxley and be forced to relinquish his opportunity.
The fallout from Moxley and his crew of nasty boys has already been massive. Bryan has been absent from TV, Darby will be risking his shot and poor Wheeler Yuta’s mindstate has already been explored in the Match and Promo sections. Moxley has decided that Darby will be the first casualty of his warpath. The first unfortunate soul to face his wrath of his mission to burn everything down and rebuild the ashes into the form he wishes. However, Allin is a resilient bastard who’ll refuse to go down without a fight. Darby will force Moxley to drag him through hell to beat him, and Jon might do just that.
BEEF
"BEEF on a Rampage…"
by Sergei.
It seems that Rampage is on the verge of cancellation, and I don't think many people will miss it. It's been the red-headed stepchild of AEW programs almost from the start. For a few weeks, it was a fun, fast hour of entertaining wrestling. But it quickly devolved into the place where iffy ideas were exiled, (unless you're Chris Jericho.) Or to spin it more positively: a place where concepts decision-makers weren't fully confident in got a chance to sink or swim—but they mostly stank… and sank. But every once in a while something amazing made its way onto the C-Show: like Yuta proving his toughness to Moxley… the women's tag-team street fight… a spite-fest from Bryan and Eddie… and, of course, the incandescence of MXM Collection. And finally, possibly as its swan song… perhaps the greatest Rampage moment of them all… the debut of my new favorite wrestler and yours: BEEF!
This week's edition of our roundtable is a bit schizo, reflecting a promotion that features stories and aspects highlighting more than one tone. Match, Interview, and Story Beat ALL recognize the excellent storytelling in the intensely serious and gritty aftermath of Moxley leading his faction in a grim attack on the World Champion. Meanwhile, this section and Peter's words in praise of the Outrunners below both celebrate the silly side of wrestling. But to me, this is no negative: some shows are well-served by unity of tone, but not wrestling. Wrestling, in my opinion, needs variety and contrast—the harmony of the sublime and the absurd…
I barely watched Rampage at all this week— I decided to skip through it to at least watch the non-wrestling segments to keep an eye out for any hidden gems for my Interview of the Week section… although I was already pretty well set on my eventual awardee, Yuta. But I was surprised to end up watching two of the matches all the way through: the Brick House match and the BEEF match. A tweet I'd seen in my Twitter feed had predisposed me to give this match a bit more of a chance than I might've otherwise:
But I think even if I had gone in blind I'd've been drawn in. BEEF X Strong does the little things right to pull a viewer in, even though the babyface is brand new to them. For one, BEEF has a ton of charisma, and gets the chance to showcase that. Daddy Magic on commentary is the first to declare BEEF his new favorite wrestler, based mainly on a finisher name that makes him laugh: "the Kentucky Meat Shower". But he's clearly not the last, as the meat man quickly wins over the whole crowd with his goofy energy, and by consistently wrestling his character.
Also, the gimmick trope of "the enthusiastic, embarrassing relative" is always a hit with crowds, from Eugene to Festus (the ALKA Luke Gallows.) BEEF is presented as his cornerman Anthony Henry's "second cousin by marriage" and even though Henry isn't over himself at all to really give BEEF any reflected shine, the relatable situation immediately endears people and draws them into the little story of some goof trying to impress his underwhelmed cousin. People can relate to the story from both perspectives: we've probably all been (or can easily imagine being) saddled with an annoying relative we have to be polite to for the sake of family peace. And I'm sure we all feel like we've been someone's embarrassment, sometime.
And, most importantly, BEEF has a supremely chant-able name, fuckin' great punches, and he and Roddy do some excellent, basic wrestling storytelling. And it's the confluence of all of those factors that create this Moment of the Week: thousands of wrestling fans who mostly* had never heard of this guy before deciding together that they love him now and rhythmically chanting "BEEF!" to the cadence of a series of punches to Roderick Strong's oh-so-punchable face… climaxing with a thunderous cheer when BEEF raises his fist in (premature) celebration!
* (...This is the eternal question when a guy gets a big reaction for a debut, going back to CM Punk debuting in WWE's ECW back in the day: how much is organic and drawn from a cold audience based on charisma and storytelling, and how much is a core cohort of superfans who lead the chants and cheers based on a guy's indie stuff, while the rest follow along lemming-like? Because BEEF is a local Kentucky native worker and some of the fans in Rupp Arena may have known him from local shows. (And I am VERY concerned that my new favorite may have only gotten this match on account of being local, and they may have no plans to use him further. Hopefully, he's won some fans behind the curtain as well with this performance!) But, although BEEF appears regularly on shows for the local indie promotion OVW, by all accounts these are very sparsely attended, so it's reasonably safe to say that in spite of being a hometown boy, BEEF was a brand new face to the great majority of those in attendance…)
The Outrunners
“Don’t you forget about the Outrunners!”
by Peter
It's not like the Outrunners are new kids on the block. Their first appearance on AEW came just over three years ago on an episode of Dark: Elevation, but gradually with every appearance on AEW and ROH, Truth Magnum and Turbo Floyd have stuck in the fans' minds, and earned more than just a little respect in the process… but this past week, Truth and Turbo had what has felt like their breakout week in the atomic world of AEW
Let's start with the training montage that looked like something out of a Rocky movie, making it clear that the pair had the eye of the tiger with their workout routine… the video garnered attention with people retweeting and liking the video all night long. Even political journalist Aaron Rupar replied to the video...
...But when it came to Wednesday night, the events of the Casino Gauntlet match to find a No.1 Contender for the Tag Titles showed that The Outrunners' 15 minutes of fame might turn into a neverending story.
The eighth team to enter the danger zone, The Outrunners were arguably the most popular team in the match and despite the duo being outnumbered 14 vs 2, against all odds, they took the fight to all the teams in the ring and while Will Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher took home the honours and will face The Young Bucks in a potential thriller at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the standout moment came from Truth and Turbo.
But on Saturday, the newest, hottest, (and youngest?) team in AEW showed that they were having the time of their lives not just with a replay of the video that grabbed the attention of the wrestling world, but also by saving FTR from a post-match attack from Grizzled Young Veterans and posing with Dax and Cash as the credits rolled.
If we learnt anything from this week's AEW action, it was that The Outrunners are over. In a business where the love of the fans is a decisive factor in the future of a potential star… in a company where its fans gave The Acclaimed, Eddie Kingston and Swerve Strickland that extra boost as they went running up that hill to stardom, The Outrunners feel like the next act that the fans could carry to the summit of their division.
It's a tag division that needs help right now. If one of the avenues to making a star is closed off with no teams being booked to beat one of it's top tier-teams in the main event of Collision (was that dig obvious?) that help could come from a source that felt as likely as a USA Hockey Olympic gold a few months ago.
Are The Outrunners future tag champs? The answer is "yes" according to people like Matt Camp and Bryan Alvarez. But whether this upsurge in popularity is a flash in the pan or is a fire burning like an eternal flame, in a division where everybody wants to rule the world, could the power of love from the AEW faithful turn Truth and Turbo into predators in a pond that needs sharks right now and make the next few months reminiscent of the summer of '69 and see that nothing's gonna stop The Outrunners now?
(Ok, that was one too many 80s reference wasn't it?)
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