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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 this week includes the most recent episode of Dynamite and Collision, Sunday's Revolution event, plus any social-media exclusives up until publication.
This week’s contributors are Abel [@loza3.bsky.social] covering Match of the Week, Sachin [@sachin0mac.bsky.social] talking Best Interview and covering for Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] on exploring a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week, Peter [@peteredge7.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] editing and organizing it all. Feel better soon, Lauren!
A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly
We'd love for this and any and all of our content to be the beginning of a conversation with our readers. To interact with any and all of our contributors please accept our invitation to join the Pro Wrestling Musings Community Discord. Then follow this link to the #AEWeekly Discord Thread.
Toni Storm vs Mariah May
"All good things must come to an End…"
by Abel.
Revolution 2025 was a generational AEW pay-per-view, even if you include that dud of a main event. There was a three-match stretch where a case could be made that any of those matches could have been the match of the week — Omega vs Takeshita, Osprey vs Fletcher, and… the correct choice. Appropriately, the very red, bloody cherry on top of a masterful wrestling event, and the match that SHOULD have ended Revolution, was a historical rubber match for the AEW Women's World Title, (C) "Timeless" Toni Storm vs "The Glamour" Mariah May.
The program between Storm and May is not only one of the greatest rivalries but also one of the most memorable wrestling stories ever told. Full stop. No gender distinction is needed, as it is often used to diminish the accomplishments of women in wrestling. In a night filled with excellent matches and fantastic storytelling, this one was the best. Very rarely do we get a fulfilling part three to a trilogy, but May/Storm was just that: the perfect Hollywood ending.
It was a high-octane match right from the get-go, as both women were throwing haymakers before the bell even rang to start the fight. The pace of this match was chaotic, as the kayfabe hatred between the two rivals was on full display. The match was "only" 13 minutes long, but what they did in those 13 minutes, most wrestlers would be lucky to manage in a span of 30. The match's frantic pace and frenzied structure made it feel like a truly heated blow-off.
More "blood feuds" should have this type of match pacing. If you genuinely hate someone's guts, you would want to beat their brains in as quickly and effectively as possible. It makes sense. Such as trying to blade your opponent in the face. In a scene straight out of Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1989 classic Kickboxer, both ladies decided that they hated each other enough that they would punch one another with knuckles full of shattered glass. That wasn't the craziest thing done with glass, as Toni's inner thighs met the end of a broken bottle of champagne, which made everyone wince — an all-time AEW moment.
Everything looked real and really painful. This allowed Storm and May to have the crowd in the palm of their hands — waiting with bated breath to see what could be next in this unpredictable classic. For the crowd at home, Jim Ross joined the desk and — just like a relief pitcher in baseball — came in and did his job for a short time. In small doses, Jim Ross is still incredibly effective at commentary. His career of nearly 50 years lends a certain gravitas… which gave this match a sense of importance and history. Good ole JR still has his fastball.
The shot of Toni Storm's crimson mask from above the ring is one of the most iconic shots in wrestling history. The visceral recoil those in the crowd gave when seeing Storm's face only enhanced the experience and reaction at home. Not to be outdone by Storm, May's face was drenched in blood when combined with her shrieks of pain, adding an element of Hollywood horror to the match.
After 13 excruciating, fast-paced minutes of pure blood and violence — in what must have seemed like an eternity for Storm and Mariah — the spectacle came to an end when Storm put May through a table with the Storm Zero.
But not before the iconic shoe that ended their friendship made its Chekov's-gun return to exact Storm's final revenge on May.
Everyone watching the match could finally breathe and try to compartmentalize what we had all just witnessed. To answer that — what we had witnessed was greatness. The mat was left bloodied and torn to shreds, just like a crime scene. With the final 1,2,3 count given by referee Aubrey Edwards, one of the most extraordinary pay-per-view matches of our lives had finished.
The ending shot of Storm laying directly on top of May, as if she was saying, "Thank you for everything," was oddly emotional and moving. Storm's open embrace of May reminded us that these performers put their mental and physical health to entertain us, and we, as fans, should never take that for granted.
Where these women go after this rivalry is yet to be hinted at — and it makes for quite the shoes to fill for all their future opponents. But just like Rock / Austin, Shawn Michaels / Undertaker, and Kenny Omega / Kazuchika Okada, Toni Storm and Mariah May will forever be linked.
JON MOXLEY
"You don’t know what you got till it’s gone..."
by Sachin.
Such good shit! Watching this promo reminded me of how good Jon Moxley is and how much I have missed him. The biggest crime The Deathriders storyline has committed is that it has taken from us one of the Best wrestlers of this generation and I hope we get to see him (the REAL him) again soon.
I will not try to deconstruct and criticise The Deathriders story as not only am I constrained by the length and objective of this piece but also my outrage on this particular subject doesn’t pass the minimum rationality criteria that these write-ups are supposed to have. I have never felt more gotten-to by a wrestling storyline than this one. Sleepless nights, terrible nightmares, mind in a perpetual state of unrest. Pills, potions, powders, syringes and straws scattered throughout the room, manic episodes, mad ramblings at my therapists' office, countless visits to doctors, hokum-pokum, voo-doo. I just can’t take it!
But nothing makes a man's day better than to see someone have a worse one. Jon Moxley both in kayfabe and in reality has been having a tough time. In reality –– what was supposed to be a storyline constructed and contrived to get Darby Allin over as a world champion has actually damaged Jon Moxley’s reputation as Ace of the company. In the storyline –– Mox is no longer “a Sick man” with a cool and calm demeanor that takes challenges head on. He has become a shadow of his past self, one of the realest characters in wrestling turned into a chickenshit heel whose behaviour and mannerisms are that of a meth addict.
Another major issue with the Deathriders saga is the time and focus it takes away from a lot of wrestlers on the show right now who are doing far more interesting and better work. Their wrestling is better, their promos are better and I would love for any one of those wrestlers to be the world champion right now and have the show revolve around them but that has been the opportunity-cost of this particular choice.
However, this week I got to see a glimpse of the Jon Moxley that made me a fan of this game that I love.
Moxley stared at the camera menacingly with that beautiful face which used to pop the female demos on the show and decided to show what we haven’t gotten to see in a long time… SINCERITY.
Adam Copeland and I are so different. We are not the same animal, we are barely the same species. But it's funny how much we do have in common. Copeland came up the hard way – poverty, starvation, drives across frozen lakes. We're The Last of a Dying Breed, you and I. On the road every single night busting your ass through injuries, through illness, through every obstacle they want to throw in your path chasing a dream –– this fantasy you can't see but you can feel it in your heart, you can almost feel it on your fingertips. The dream is that chance to one day wrap that gold around your waist, feel that gold in your hands to be world champion. That's what drives you, man. That passion, that drive, every single night you'd sacrifice it all for one more chance to play the game. Once you get there, man, you don't want to give it up for anything. That's what this is about.
He acknowledges the similarity of their personal history and their struggles to get to the top of the mountain. How much they had to do for something that they never might have seen –– the World Championship. If you haven’t gotten it by this point –– Mox hides the title because he believes it’s a privilege to see the world title and a man has to earn it to see it.
The reason why guys like Kingston, Hangman and Moxley stand out to me in terms of promo style is that they rarely use complex language to communicate their message. Their wording is simple and they get to their point in due time. They masterfully employ changes in the tone of their voice and facial acting to show their emotions and add authenticity and layers to their speech.
Respect! I want to respect Adam Copeland. I want to like Adam Copeland. I really do and I really tried but I just just don't get what you're about, man. When I get my hands around your busted neck – and I will – should I show you Mercy? Would you show me Mercy? Did you show my people Mercy? When you hear the sound of your spinal column busting and cracking and popping and breaking and you hear that sound reverberating in your skull in your eardrums, you will feel what respect feels like.
One of the standout features of the Deathriders story has been the absence of common logic and reasoning e.g. OC coming out to get himself beat, FTR coming to help him instead of the Conglomeration, A Random and Inconsequential Four-way, FTR’s departure from this storyline, Jay White helping to get a title shot for COPE and not himself and so on.
Therefore it was great to see a series of events that make sense and add intrigue. This week instead of brutally attacking Wheeler Yuta and taking him out before his bout, COPE decided to show him respect. This was the first time he got treated with respect after Danielson's departure and as a result he walked away like he didn’t know who Moxley was. Mox is clearly affected by this and his reaction to this –– there is no place for respect in this business and he will break COPE’s neck to remind Wheeler Yuta the lesson he forgot. He is going to do to Adam Copeland what he did to Bryan and Yuta will (supposedly) come back to him.
All I want is for wrestling to be this good all the time.
Note: This was written Pre-Revolution. At Revolution, Mox and COPE had a bad match and Yuta joined Moxley again because he’s got the stockholm syndrome up in this son of a B.
Ospreay × Fletcher
"I hate your fucking guts..."
by Sachin.
Some people have been fed too much and it can't be more apparent when you put them next to the hungry animals that are willing to die for food.
There are no two ways about it anymore (for me at least). Will Ospreay is the BEST wrestler on the planet right now, and Kyle Fletcher is destined to be a world champion. Of course, by this point you may have noticed that my fellow contributors showed a lot of much-deserved love to the Toni × Mariah match this week, but I feel it would be a crime to not have something in this week's #AEWeekly for one of the most incredible cage matches you will ever see.
Editor's note: Sachin's perspective on the relevance of this match doesn't grapple quite so much with the Story Beat aspect, but I had a section that needed filling and he had FEELINGS to express! Suffice it to say that folks in our chat were comparing Fletcher's declaration of undying hatred towards former-brother Ospreay at the end to Anakin after being defeated by Obi Wan in Revenge of the Sith, which is just the sort of observation Lauren might be making if she were feeling up to it this week!
If you didn't listen to Will Ospreay's comments about his detractors in his Chris Van Vliet interview, you still heard them loud and clear from inside a cage on Sunday night — FUCK THEM. Who wants to see a cage match with technical wrestling, chain holds and submission trades? THEY DO. Who wants to watch a cage match with 35 finishers and a stupid stipulations like escaping the cage to win? THEY DO. They not like us.
You beat people up in a cage match, you make em bleed. If people aren't wincing and cringing while watching the match, praying for the competitors safety then the job was not done right.
These two beat the ever living shiz-nit out of each other. Oz-cutter from the cage, Styles Clash onto thumbtacks, barbed wire, bats, stiff strikes, amazing athleticism, Mick Foley reference for good measure and HATE, HATE, HATE. The match could have ended with all this and I would've left satisfied but these two had to ensure that you as a viewer felt shame for watching that insult of a main event. Spanish fly off the top of the cage – let's goooo. That's what this is about. Hatred combined with competitive spirit. The main event and semi-main event had these two things in common but what truly differentiates them is Hunger. Nothing makes a man act more feral than hunger and Pro-wrestling is at it's best when people behave like animals.
Though It was Fletcher and Ospreay’s bodies that hit the mat – it was COPE and Mox who were thrown off a cliff. Pain is temporary, embarrassment is permanent. These two ascended miles in the eyes of those watching during every milli-second of their fall. They showed you a match that can't be emulated by just any wrestler. You have to be a top-tier athlete and one crazy mother-lover to even think about trying it.
On one hand (sigh) you have guys who have done it all and so they do the same match that any two wrestlers can have nowadays and the justification for their main event status – They have become accustomed to a certain style and a specific spot and anything else might be taken as an insult, on the other hand you had guys that are begging, screaming and scratching to get the ball and are willing to fall so that they can rise. The choice seems obvious – to hell with nostalgia. Bury the old and not let their memories haunt us and prevent us from nurturing and feeding the young. VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN.
Swerve Strickland & Prince Nana
"The Once and Future King"
by Emiliana.
This week in AEW was stacked in terms of banger wrestling, compelling storylines, and great moments — so much so that all of us are probably finding it difficult and almost sad that we can’t talk about all of them. It is a very competitive week, and I found myself holding one moment in each hand and weighing them, as if my brain could figure out which was heavier. But since it can’t, and I cheated by waiting to see what my co-conspirators chose for their categories, I get to delve into this beautiful moment without regret.
For the past couple of weeks, the AEW audience has been torn at the terrible thought that maybe Prince Nana would betray Swerve in his moment of greatest need — at Revolution, against Ricochet, to finally get back into contendership for the AEW men’s world championship. In hindsight, this made no sense. Why would Nana betray Swerve during the match if it would be more beneficial for both of them to work together to bring Ricochet down? Three birds, one stone: Kill the feud, prioritize world title contention, and get Nana’s robe back. But look, we were all caught up in the worry of losing the greatest manager / wrestler duo that we’ve ever seen.
As the match between Swerve and Ricochet amped up, it seemed as if Swerve and Nana were not on the same page. When Swerve had Ricochet on the outside, Nana pulled at Swerve because this match had to be won in the ring — and it was the quickest way of making sure he got his robe back and for Swerve to become number-one contender. And yet, Swerve was doing what Nana had asked, because not only did Prince Nana tell Swerve to get his robe back and to prioritize the world title, but he also reminded Swerve that he had to become the most dangerous man in AEW again. And sometimes, being the most dangerous man comes with devastating consequences. Unleashing that ferocity can result in friendly fire.
But even with the emotional turmoil of Swerve and Prince Nana being at odds, Swerve was still able to come out with the win against Ricochet and that number-one contender status. And here’s what made the drama all worth it — once Ricochet left the ring, Swerve picked up the robe. He kneeled down, like a white knight at the foot of his King (or in this case, Prince), and he presented the robe to Prince Nana. This hit me like an emotional train, because it is not often that you see Swerve defer to another human being. If the robe is a representation of respect, then this was Swerve giving that same level of respect back to Prince Nana. This is not the same “most dangerous man” that we saw a year and a half ago that fought against Hangman Adam Page in a brutal Texas Death Match. This Swerve Strickland has shown in the last year that he has vulnerabilities… but at the core of him he now carries an emotional center in wanting to be something for others as opposed to just himself. He is not heartless, even if he goes back to his violent ways. It is interesting that he should come out of his feud with Hangman six months later to find that he does, in fact, carry an honorable heart that yearns for friendship, and this may be the strength he was missing all along.
Not only is the presentation of the robe a symbol of respect and honor, but it becomes an invitation. When Prince Nana accepted the robe, he pulled Swerve up to his level — a visual reminder that they are equal partners — and into a welcoming embrace. The crowd went wild. I may have cried a little bit. Prince Nana laid the robe back on Swerve’s shoulders, re-anointing Swerve with his favor and accepting Swerve’s invitation back into the fold. This mantle of opportunity requires a united front.
Swerve Strickland is number-one contender once more, a white knight anointed with a Prince’s favor looking to dethrone a usurper King. With Ricochet behind him, Nana at his side, and a mantle of respect on his shoulders, Swerve Strickland is ready to take back a kingdom he never should have lost.
Edit: About an hour after I finished writing this piece, Swerve posted this on bluesky...
Notice how it is “number 1 contenders,” plural. In Swerve’s eyes, contendership of the world title was a team effort and so it is shared with his manager, his partner, his equal. Perfect timing, king.
Toni Storm
"A prelude to a battle without honour or humanity"
by Peter.
By now, you all will know how great that Toni/Mariah match at Revolution was. Abel has talked about what made the match tick so wonderfully. In my opinion it's the best women's match we've seen since the days of the Hokuto / Satomura classic of 2001. In a situation like this, I should give both participants in what is provisionally No.2 on my MOTY list (sorry Omega vs Kidd on Jan 5th is still top of my list) equal love… but on this occasion, you just have to talk about what happened leading up to the match, too.
Storm and May were booked to sit face-to-face. It's in this segment with a moderator, in this case Renee, that the combatants for an upcoming match state their mission for what is about to come. In a go-home show for a PPV, it is also the chance for the wrestlers to incentivise the viewer to part with their money for the show that coming weekend.
Toni looks like she has come out of a territory wrestling show of the 70s, dressed up like how the NWA World's Heavyweight champion should dress like. Stoic facing the crazy of Mariah — who is unhinged at the prospect of being a couple of moves away from being in checkmate — Toni when she speaks gives the best promo of her career.
It's short, it's sweet, it's to the point. The end game isn't the death of the career of Mariah May. It's to see the aftermath of the Hollywood Ending. One she knows she's going to win. Toni in her confidence, knows she's the main star. The hero of this story, Toni knows like all stories made that the hero will go on to do great things while the villain ends up being a plot point in her story.
It's the assurance in her tone when she speaks that is striking. It's the knowledge of what she says that will come true. Spoken like someone who is at the peak of their powers. It's why Sunday night and the Hollywood Ending really wasn't a surprise.
To some, the 5 stars that will follow this match and the spot in wrestling's version of IMDb — Cagematch and its Top 250 — might have surprised some, but a feud that has been built on blood deserved an Endgame that was more Kill Bill Vol.1 than Don't Worry Darling.
Whether or not Toni's prophecy on Mariah's career comes true or not is for another day. May deserves her flowers for — in the face of criticism from observers of wrestling that has been unnerving at times — she delivered a fantastic performance in what well might be AEW's 2025 MOTY when the calendar switches to 2026. But on this occasion, the award simply has to go to Toni Storm.
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