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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, 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 interviews, , Peter [@PeterEdge7] with storybeat and 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
Darby Allin vs The Butcher
"Simple, straightforward wrestling"
by Tim
It was a buffet of good wrestling this week, from a veteran showcase on Dynamite (Danielson vs. Jarrett) to a women’s Texas bull rope match on Collision (Thunder Rosa vs. Purrazzo). We had a rising star (Kyle Fletcher) showing off and a chaotic multi-man tag between House of Black and The Bang Bang Gang. Yet with all the options to choose from my mind settled on Darby Allin vs. the Butcher from Rampage as the match of the week.
Why? That’s a good question. It could be argued it’s not even the best Darby Allin match of the week as his tag with Hologram vs. the Premier Athletes was a lot of fun. This match certainly isn’t going to break the star scale from Meltzer. By the time All In roles around in two weeks time, no one will be talking about this match from Friday. So why of all the options I had did I settle on this one? Well, from a purely subjective perspective, I like both guys a lot. The Butcher is a year one AEW talent and his look is what one would imagine a pro-wrestler to be. I doubt he’ll ever hold gold in AEW but titles aren’t everything. Someone on a comments page said he’s become the Brooklyn Brawler of AEW and while they meant it jokingly, this isn’t the worst thing in this business. The Brawler wrestled for longer than many of his contemporaries and to this day is looked back on fondly by fans. As for Darby, he’s a Seattle guy like me and local ties go a long way towards making a connection. Fearless and with a unique physicality, he can bring out things in his opponents that no one else can.
Butcher’s size and strength advantage is on display early, as is the bloody mouth of Darby who got busted open the hard way. Darby hits a Coffin Drop to the outside to buy some time (it’s effective), back in the ring Darby goes for a cross body body but just bounces off Butcher (less effective). Butcher goes deep into his move set and launches a shotgun dropkick (!) putting Darby into the corner. Butcher lands a series of blows and strikes. Darby is great as his ragdoll selling is unparalleled, Butcher looks like a complete brute. Darby goes up top but Butcher counters it into a Texas Cloverleaf. Then something happens that I don’t think I’ve ever seen and only a combination like Allin/Butcher could produce. Butcher whips Darby up from between his legs into a powerbomb. It’s so smooth, powerful, and creative, all the elements that I watch wrestling for. Up to the ropes again and a straight slap from Butcher puts Darby to the floor. Again, it’s a simple spot, but Darby’s selling makes it great. Butcher keeps up the pressure by just brutalizing Darby’s back on the ring barricade and on the steel ring post. He rolls Darby back in the ring and takes time to taunt at the crowd, a slight smile grows under his bearded visage. He’s having fun. Darby hits a suicide dive (more of a plummet) then it’s back in the ring. A back-breaker/powerbomb combo from Butcher isn’t enough to keep Darby down. An avalanche Code Red and Coffin Drop later and Darby gets the win.
Nyla Rose joked on Twitter that if breakdancing can be an Olympic sport, why not pro-wrestling? I thought about it and what would Olympic level pro-wrestling look like? Well, you couldn’t have 60 minute Iron Man matches as Olympic events tend to be short and to the point. Ten or twelve minutes tops would be ideal. You’d want to keep it clean (no plunder, stipulations, etc) so 1v1 would be the way to go. I’d imagine that pro-wrestling would be scored like ice skating, you have a pair that puts on a performance and judges would score accordingly. In an alternate universe, Olympic Pro-Wrestling looks just like this match. Just daydreaming here, but the thought of Team USA being represented by Darby and Butcher puts a smile on my face.
Hikaru Shida
"One Last Chance for Wembley..."
by Sergei.
One of the great things about having a massive, special show like Wembley is the way that it raises the stakes, raising everyone's game. There are only so many slots on the show and everyone wants one and will do anything to earn it. (Both in and out of kayfabe, no doubt, but in this case I'm referring to within the storyline.)
Since the start of AEWeekly, Hikaru Shida has been an awardee seven times, spread among every category except for Interview. This is hardly surprising: while she is a passionate speaker, there is a language barrier, and English pronunciation is especially difficult for Japanese speakers. But, in spite of some haltingness, Shida really raised her interview game in her post-match challenge to Mercedes Moné on Collision. And it's the stakes that made that possible. A challenge for a title is one thing. That opportunity represents story stakes all by itself, but this time of year, what that challenge implies is even more important. If Hikaru were to beat Mercedes, sure, she'd be a champion. But even more, she'd be on a collision course with the established Wembley contender, Britt Baker, with the opportunity to avenge her recent loss to her and to come out ahead in their long-running, currently-tied series on the biggest stage in wrestling.
Shida does a fantastic job of evoking the passion and desperation inherent in that situation. And equally important—while it is clearly a desperate longshot—there was no trace of disappointment hinting that the character onscreen, unlike the real performer, knows the outcome of that last chance at Wembley, giving that all-important frisson of doubt to keep the match itself from becoming de rigeur.
I mean, of COURSE they aren't writing Moné out of the Wembley match in favor of Shida, but…. maybe???
Britt Baker vs Mercedes Mone is back on track
"Take your ball and go home."
by Peter
One of the stories that has been seen as one of the most captivating on the road of All In has been Mercedes Mone vs Britt Baker. CEO vs DMD. One of the faces of the revitalisation of AEW’s women’s division vs The OG of that division. But then everything regarding this story stopped.
If you don’t spend your time looking at wrestling twitter (first off, I envy you) the disappearance of Britt Baker due to the Young Bucks using their EVP privileges brought further exposure to the alignment between The Elite and Mercedes made sense in storyline. Of course the truth of the matter was Britt was suspended in “real life” after a dispute with a co-worker as Simon Miller put it in the latest edition of Up and Down’s. But of course with it being AEW a dispute at work was amplified and magnified. But this isn’t a piece of record of the cottage industry that is producing anti-AEW content but the story of Britt and Mercedes being back on track.
After a dominant display by Kamille and a promo from Mone, we got an announcement that the kayfabe suspension was lifted and via satellite, Britt got her rebuttal in and what can be included as my Moment of the Week saw Britt put in a vicious sting on Mercedes.
With the reminder of Mercedes' past in WWE and her past walk-outs, Britt put in the dagger into Mone verbally and in doing so talked about the elephant in the room regarding Mercedes. The quote “take your ball and go home” was a quote intended to wound Mercedes but it also showed that Britt will not change for anyone. Her mouth might have got her in trouble before but in the world of AEW, it’s her greatest strength. It gave her career the boost it needed in 2020. It helped the wrestling world anticipate the CEO vs DMD contest at All In and while in two weekends time, she will have a hill to climb in conquering the TBS Champion, the person many see as the best female wrestler in the world east of the Pacific Ocean and her new muscle Kamille but in the next 10 hours of AEW television time between now and All In if when she gets the chance to wind up Mercedes Mone with her words, Britt Baker will take that chance and that will make great television in a period where some builds to some All In matches have been lacking
Yes, I’m looking at you Swerve Strickland vs Bryan Danielson.
The American Dragon Bryan Danielson
“Danielson’s road starts here"
by Joe.
Before heading to London, England for AEW’s biggest show of the year on the international stage, the American Dragon Bryan Danielson engaged in a very American style of match against Jeff Jarrett on Dynamite. The man who is so skilled at Technical wrestling that Dave Meltzer named the award after him, battled Jeff Jarrett through the crowd, into the concession stands, a method popularized in Memphis from Jarrett’s home state of Tennessee.
Danielson fended off a trash can to the face, and suplex onto a trash can. Danielson attacked Jeff Jarrett with an aluminium beer bottle, using it as the crescendo strike of his Yes Kick combination inside a circle of screaming fans. Back in the ring, Danielson used a steel chair to smash Jarrett’s shins and knees to escape a figure four. Danielson attempted his running knee strike off the apron, but Jarrett smashed that knee with a steel chair. That combination of chair and knee would come back to bite Jarrett in the butt, or rather the jaw, as Bryan Danielson hit his Busaiku Knee with a chair over his knee into Jarrett’s jaw, splitting him open, and earning Bryan the victory.
Believe it or not, after exchanged trash smashes and chair shots, Danielson and Jarrett exchanged a handshake and a hug. So that was a fun match, but what was the point? It showed that although Bryan is winding down, he isn’t slowing down. It showed that while Bryan is a wise man, he’s still a proud man. It showed that Bryan isn’t just a wrestler, he is a fighter. It also established that Bryan is capable of being respectful to his opponents, and it should be interesting to see if Swerve Strickland extends that same babyface respect to Wheeler Yuta after their match on Dynamite. If not, Bryan has helped show us the babyface and heel alignment for that World Title Wembley Main Event.
Then, on Rampage, Bryan showed he is supportive by coming out to watch Wheeler Yuta’s match, praise him on commentary, and lift his hand in victory at the top of the ramp.
Lastly, on Collision, Bryan showed his thoughtfulness and gratitude in the sit down with Jim Ross. He was vulnerable and opened up about how urgently he needs neck surgery. Do we think Swerve will be considerate of that neck injury, or exploitative of that neck injury?
Across Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, Bryan Danielson displayed his value to AEW as a wrestler, as a commentator, and as a person, while creating some extra suspense for the Wembley World Title Showdown. That’s why Bryan Danielson is this week’s MVP.
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