…Wars… and Rumors of Wars… | AEWeekly #136

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 Greyson {@GreysonNation} with our Moment, Tim [@TimmayMan]  covering match of the week, Sergei [@SergeiAlderman] covering interview, Saul [@SaulKiloh] exploring a key story beat, Peter [@PeterEdge7] giving us the MVP of the week.

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

Evil Uno X Darby Allin

"Evil Uno Proves to Darby: he still has that Dog in him…"

by Greyson.

Late last year, I wrote about a framework based on Brandon Cutler’s exhortation to “Stand Tall, Don’t Back Down, and Be Elite”, where I looked to the AEW locker room to lead, and to Be Elite: to keep alive the authentic and unique culture of AEW, outside of the original "Elite" context while the Elite faction themselves have been in turmoil, having seemingly turned their backs on the culture they had pioneered. And over the past year, many have risen to the occasion, including notably Darby Allin and Evil Uno: the former serving to counter Matthew and Nicholas Jackson’s turn away from their initial values and toward corporatist tactics ahead of Sting’s retirement match, while the latter has been helping his Dark Order faction to continue the legacy of the discontinued Being The Elite vlog show with its spiritual sequel, Being the Dark Order. This framework is very much applicable in 2024, as from the outset of the year we saw a growing level of “ostentatious seriousness” …and recently a more brutal form of intensity and seriousness across AEW—which has been described as a “war”—since Jon Moxley’s return.

On Collision, Darby Allin very strongly challenged Evil Uno to “remind” him of what he’s “capable of,” and denounced Uno’s participation in “dumb little skits and video games” as signs he lacked the strength and seriousness for the war Allin sees coming. Allin added that he intends to “lead AEW into the future as the next World Champion.” This challenge seemed to be a test of whether Uno and Dark Order have what it takes to be a part of Allin's vision for AEW.

Even as I understand the idea of what Darby was seeking to convey to Uno, (and to the AEW locker room in general,) during such a harsh season… still, “dumb little skits and video games” are key catalysts of the original culture created through Being The Elite that formed the foundation that AEW was built on. And… come on, Kenny Omega is a master of both gaming and silly skits, and are you really going to imply that the Best Bout Machine is somehow not serious enough for you? On the other hand, Kenny's form of seriousness is its own distinct brand. In The Elite’s feud with the Blackpool Combat Club, Omega declared his conceptualization of the sport in stark contrast from theirs: “it’s more than about fighting… heart, passion, soul, friendship, love.” 

This war Darby sees coming in AEW may perhaps be reminiscent of something he is surely familiar with: the clash of visions in skateboarding— the war between “skate and create”... and “skate and destroy.” With his approach focusing on intensity, and specializing in massive, extreme stunts, both on the board and in the ring, Darby seems to lean toward the “skate and destroy” side if this schism. The distinction Allin made in his promo about this not being a wrestling match but a fight likewise could imply he holds a philosophy closer to “wrestle and destroy” than Omega’s “friendship and love.” This suggests that things may become very interesting between Allin and his upcoming opponent at Grand Slam, Jon Moxley, since he seems more philosophically aligned with Moxley in spite of his current opposition. However, Darby did show common cause with Uno and Private Party at the outset of his promo, counting himself with them among those that Moxley views as a joke— taking a tone more like he was warning them about a coming war than threatening. As such, and given Darby’s role throughout this year as a strong ambassador of the AEW culture, my current view is that Darby is using his stronger and aggressive approach to do the important work of preparing those in the locker room to defend themselves, by fighting fire with fire— standing firmly against Moxley's cause, in spite of any surface philosophical resemblance. But that similarity still suggests the outside possibility that Darby may remain somewhat persuadable to Moxley’s side— a “swing vote” so to speak between the old-school Elite's original model of what AEW should be, and Moxley's vision for the future. A third possible view is that he may support some of Moxley’s ideas related to a more serious presentation of AEW, but has unresolvable disagreements with other aspects, or simply with Moxley’s fitness to lead into that future as he had expressed in his head-to-head promo with would-be-King Moxley a couple weeks back. So, for all of those reasons I do not see him supporting Moxley, at least not in the near term, in spite of the suggestive philosophical similarities.

Whatever side Allin turns out to be on, he would win the battle of the moment with Uno in the squared circle on Saturday. But at the end of the fight, the normally indomitable and phenomenally capable athlete Darby looked completely exhausted and drained… from fighting someone he had just accused of being weak and distracted, so perhaps the moral victory belonged to Uno, after all. Based on his words beforehand, I do believe Darby actually came into this with a good deal of respect for Uno, and Allin can now be assured that Uno does indeed “have that dog” still in him. In that moment, I feel Darby Allin realized that Evil Uno and Dark Order were more than ready to be part of Darby’s future for AEW. By extension, he also now knows that those on the more “creative” side of the AEW culture can fight and “destroy” an opponent when they need to. This, I believe, was the intention of this match. Allin knows what is coming with Moxley and his new group seeking to tear through the locker room. And Allin seeks to use his acumen in the "destroy" mindset similar to Moxley’s to train up the resilience of his allies, so they are prepared to battle this formidable challenge that may be beyond anything they have faced before, by using intense bouts to improve toughness and build confidence in members of the roster who might arguably have been "coasting". Ironically enough, this is a role Moxley has taken to in the past —another suggestive similarity between the two men. 

The moment at the end of this fight where Darby tacitly acknowledges Uno's formidability as a foe or ally is my Moment of the Week. At the same time, the lack of any explicit acknowledgment— such as a handshake of respect—of Uno’s tremendous work indicates to me that this issue between Uno and Allin is perhaps not done yet.

Given Uno's impressive performance with a future world champion, hopefully this leads to a real push for Uno and his Dark Order, as they have earned it. Uno will continue to serve as an example that just because you play video games and do skits, doesn't mean you can't put on banger matches, even brutal hardcore matches. As for Darby, we will have to see what transpires at Grand Slam and in the weeks following, to see how Darby responds to Moxley’s onslaught on the roster. What Darby does in the coming weeks will be very instructive as to the leadership style, philosophy, and approach we can expect when (yes, when) he takes on the leadership mantle of AEW World Champion. I believe he will remember how he felt after this fight— the experience of the aftermath of the strength and relentlessness from one of the most creative and fun athletes in AEW— and this moment will continue to guide him to appreciate and respect these crucial aspects of the original All-Elite culture.

The Sons of Texas vs. the Kingdom

"There’s crazy… then there’s Texas crazy."

by Tim.

In picking the Match of the Week, different elements appeal to me different weeks. Some weeks it’s cool moves, other weeks it’s the drama of a storyline paying off. This week it’s the risk to the competitors amid a wild plunder match for the ROH Tag Team Championships. This was only the 2nd Bunkhouse Brawl match in AEW, but a plunder match goes by many different names in wrestling. Hardcore, Lights Out, No DQ, Street Fight, etc. It’s all window dressing to allow wrestlers to hit each other with a variety of gimmicks and not deal with any count outs.

I’m going to forego the blow-by-blow this week and instead focus on the workers. Dustin Rhodes has very little to prove at this point. He could have comfortably retired to his school and spent his 50s training the next generation of workers, but he still puts himself out there for the roar of the crowd. Dustin Rhodes’s face—half blue paint, the other half a crimson mask of blood— makes for a striking image. I expected he would have retired by now, but knowing that next year’s All In is going to be a stadium show in Texas, that feels like the perfect moment to leave his boots in the middle of the ring.

His partner, Sammy Gueverra, has really benefited from this pairing. A bit of a character reset was much needed, as Gueverra has spent too much time orbiting Jericho for the past several years. (If this builds to Gueverra turning on Rhodes, however, that would feel like a step backwards.)

The Kingdom may be two of the most underrated guys on the AEW roster—they can work with anyone and do any match type. Taven, especially, has impressed me with both his in-ring work and his promos. He also has some of the most expressive eyes for a wrestler—a trait that is underappreciated, but is so important for TV wrestling. I never saw Taven in old-school ROH, but I really do enjoy his work since arriving in AEW.

Post-match, we got some words from Bennett and Taven on how the ROH Tag Titles were still special to them, but now may be the time to switch it up and go after the AEW Tag Titles. They expanded this thought on switching paths to include Roderick Strong and, interestingly enough, no one else. No mention of Adam Cole or Wardlow, so we may be seeing a rebranding of the Undisputed Kingdom as a whole… it was a nice little bit of storyline progression. Also post-match we had Sammy challenging Okada for a chance at the Continental title, a development I’m less than excited about… (although I'm sure the match will be good.)

What the Bunkhouse Brawl accomplished was to remind the AEW audience what all four men are capable of.  It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle in the AEW roster, even with (maybe especially with?) five hours of national TV time a week.  Sammy showed that he’s still a crazy daredevil taking insane ladder bumps. The Kingdom reinforced that they’re diabolical heels that will sink to any depths to win… (they also had the spot of the night with their Doomsday Device to the outside!) Finally, Dustin Rhodes reminded us that he’s got "a lot left in the tank" and can still hang with the best of them in AEW. 

Nigel McGuinness

"...may the Devil hear my prayer..."

by Sergei.

At the end of Collision—the go-home show for AEW's big Grand Slam event—Nigel McGuinness had the entire final segment of the night to himself to say a few pointed and dramatic words about his challenge to face his lifelong rival Bryan Danielson… IF the World Champion is cleared to wrestle in time. The dramatic and well-chosen words, the momentousness conferred by such a prominent segment, having the very last word before a big stadium show… normally all of that would be more than enough to make for a home run as best promo. But I really questioned the choice of McGuinness this week, all because of a couple little tells that made him come across as lacking conviction. But what clinched Nigel as Interview awardee for me was: considering the context and the story, I realized that maybe his questionable conviction was intentional. And—intentional or not—that perhaps the promo better served the story with a delivery that fell short of entirely convincing.

(On top of this, this interview has technical merits* that I can't even fit into this conversation, due to my focus on these quirks of delivery, and the broader context that I will assert explains and makes virtues of those quirks.)

If you haven't seen the interview in question, you should… and even if you have— give it one more watch with me, to look for the little quirks I'm referring to:

Did you see it? Note how McGuinness glances to the side: when he says that the fans identify with him… and when he says that this match is his destiny. And finally he does it TWICE during that last, chilling line:

If there is a God in heaven, IT WILL HAPPEN! And if there's not… may the Devil… HEAR MY PRAYER!

These blasphemous words remind me of the Scripture recited by Jules the hitman from the movie Pulp Fiction:

...And not just on account of the sacrilege… but the insincerity. Near the end of the film, we hear a reassessing Jules admit to stick-up man "Pumpkin" that those words had never actually meant anything more to him than "a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker" before killing him. But unlike Sam Jackson— who portrays a Jules who fakes his sincerity very convincingly before blowing away big-brained Brett in the opening scene— McGuinness's portrayal lets us inside, to see in his body language that all of his bluster is purely a front… both with his nervously darting eyes and with his stiff facade of a grimace: the locked jaw and the frozen squint.

But if Nigel is fronting, what's behind this facade? The answer to this relies on literal decades of backstory. Luckily for those of us who haven't watched the bulk of the golden era of Ring of Honor, Joe Monticello put together an amazing video that does an excellent job of providing both an effective quick recap and an insightful literary analysis of the Danielson X McGuinness feud:

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it… of course not only for the sake of context for this promo, but more importantly for the sake of fully appreciating the hidden currents of subtext that will undoubtedly be lurking under the surface in the classic final battle that we are likely getting between the two nemeses tonight at the Arthur Ashe show.

Monticello compares the antagonism between the two brilliant technical grapplers to the vendetta between Salieri and Mozart in the Peter Shaffer penned drama Amadeus. For those unfamiliar, Antonio Salieri was a brilliant composer who lived and worked in the Habsburg court of Vienna in the late 18th Century, whose talent was utterly eclipsed by the genius of his contemporary, Wolfgang Mozart. Shaffer's fictionalized version of Salieri—hagridden by envy… not of Mozart's success, but of his genius… in the end cursing God for not choosing him as the vessel for that gift—is one of the great Tragic archetypes of literature. Some (Twitter philistines) have characterized the parallels that Monticello highlights between McGuinness and Salieri as highbrow "pretension"...

…but they are SO wrong, as never has a comparison been more apt. Note some of the more relevant lines from Amadeus: 

Salieri: "Lord, make me a great composer. Let me celebrate Your glory through music and be celebrated myself. Make me famous through the world. … Make me immortal."

Salieri: "If He didn't want me to praise him with music, why implant the desire? Like a lust in my body! And then deny me the talent?"

Salieri: "32 years of torture! 32 years of slowly watching myself become extinct. My music growing fainter, all the fainter till no one plays it at all, and his…"

Salieri: "From now on, we are enemies - You [God] and I. … Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature [Mozart] as far as I am able. I will ruin [him]."

Mozart: "Do you believe in it? … A fire which never dies, burning you forever?" Salieri: "Oh, yes."

Salieri: "I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint."

A priest: "All men are equal in God's eyes." Salieri: "Are they?"

It's easy to see the parallels between McGuinness's sacrilegious prayer to whichever will listen, whether God or the Devil… to some of Salieri's appeals to God and later repudiations of a deity he felt betrayed by. And— while McGuinness claims he believes he is just as good as Danielson— Salieri's self-proclamation as the Saint of Mediocrity brings to mind Nigel's assertion that the crowd may cheer Bryan, but they identify with him.

But the parallels run far deeper than one amazing go-home promo. Almost every wrestling fan today likely remembers Bryan Danielson's tear-choked first retirement, in his green plaid shirt. Fewer know that McGuinness also cut a retirement promo of sorts— one equally emotional, but… other than the tears, so very different:

I wanted to be a wrestler. I wanted to prove that if you've got a dream?... you can make it! And I believe that! And that's why I paid my dues and I made my sacrifices and, fuckin'... God strike me down if I didn't just do my best.

With this "promo" the parallels between Salieri and McGuinness seem almost to collapse down to ≡ —a mathematical identity. But it should be noted, among the many differences between the two retirement promos, Nigel's technically is not a "promo". Rather than a speech from a fictional competitor as part of a fictional wrestling program, Nigel's monologue was ostensibly a "shoot" coming from the non-fictional performer as part of a non-kayfabe documentary, the Last of McGuinness. A documentary which was produced, directed, and edited over 10 years ago by a talented young filmmaker named Steven Haworth. Which just happens to be the real name of the performer who portrays the fictional competitor Nigel McGuinness…

Now, am I claiming that McGuinness PLANNED that tearful Tiktok-esque video to be a chapter in a story that would go on hiatus to build antici… pation for over a decade? No, of course that's ridiculous. But note: Peter Shaffer's Salieri was based on the real composer, and while the playwright undoubtedly punched some things up for the fictionalized version, in broad strokes, the consuming envy of the Amadeus character has its seeds in the very real overshadowing of the real-world Salieri by his genius contemporary. Similarly, the bitterness of the fictional Nigel is rooted in the heartbreaking real career frustrations of the real man who embodies that role.

Another arguably-relevant point: most everyone knows about the infamous 1999 Rock X Mankind "I Quit Match" and how miscommunication and inexperience on the Rock's part lead to brutal real-world head trauma to Mick Foley. In one of his many memoirs, Foley reveals that years later he realized that he had never really let go of that grudge because subconsciously he was hoping to use it in a wrestling angle if the two men were to ever feud again.

So, while those were undoubtedly Nigel's real feelings and real tears shed over his frustrations with his real career… I would not put it past him that he had some inkling in the very back of his twisty wrestler mind that on the off-chance he were to someday make a comeback… "boy, this would play amazing as part of my video package!"

The character "Nigel McGuinness" —with his long-festering bitterness and his desperation to hide his sense of inadequacy behind a facade of fake arrogance— is quite possibly on a similar lofty level to the Hangman Page character in terms of both Tragedy and three-dimensionality. And Saturday night's promo was the first glimmer for most AEW fans of the hidden depths of a character who had, up until now in his AEW run, mostly come across as a funny, but paper-thin, hater.

* A technical virtue that wasn't relevant enough to the theme here for me to cover directly that leaps most readily to mind: the way that Nigel's words and actions were so perfectly timed or planned or perhaps just brilliantly extemporized… such that his words: "I want you to walk down this rampway, I want you to walk up these steps, and I want you to meet me in the middle of this ring, for the final chapter of our rivalry!" sync up almost perfectly with his actions as he walks down the ramp, climbs the steel steps, and steps through the ropes into the ring…

Wheeler Yuta

"Stay Together for the Kids..."

by Saul.

Factions and tag teams have an even higher divorce rate than marriage. Seriously, it must be a headache to be friends with a member of a faction as they endlessly drone on about which members have joined and left, and who mates who and blah-blah blah blah-blah. I mean, imagine trying to keep up with all the relationship updates Chris Jericho has gone through during his AEW tenure. Ugh, what a pain. (Nevermind the umm, many other reasons this might be bad.) While there are differences between a faction break-up and a divorce, (marriage endings usually have less attempted murder via plastic bag, at least ones that don’t happen in Florida,) but one similarity is the poor traumatised children that these spoiled relationships leave in their wake.

Yuta has been in an absolute state since his dad tried to murder his other dad while his bald uncle watched on, and the mentally-unbalanced family friend held him back from intervening. I mean, I was pretty shaken up when the same thing happened to me, (sorta). This is a sort of basic, but also rather compelling fallout of Moxley going full "Dexter". However, the vast majority of faction/tag-team break-ups fail to reach this level of interesting character stuff. This is likely because of the significance of the faction involved and the success of the angle itself, but also elevated through Yuta truly embodying his feeling of betrayal in his every action. 

With a family squabble, you could find some sanctuary out of the house, or avoid them at work. Yuta doesn’t even get that luxury, as he happens to be trios champions with bald uncle and weird family friend, and they have demanded his presence for a title defence. This is a brilliant wrinkle to this whole thing, pushing this conflict forward and forcing Yuta to make a choice. He declared that he’s a champion and will defend his title, but you have to wonder how long this’ll last. 

The way that Yuta originally joining the BCC was handled two years ago was fantastic, showing an entirely new dimension to the rookie as a performer, and properly opening the eyes of many people in the AEW audience. However, as time went on, his spotlight waned. The BCC lost focus, other wrestlers received pushes, new people were signed, etc. He eventually became… just another guy: the young one in the BCC. A shame, after the promise his initiation showcased.

With this betrayal, Yuta has one again been given a massive character beat and once again he has taken that opportunity and has truly shined. We can only hope that this angle doesn’t just lead to a Moxley X Danielson match, but moreso to an evolution of Wheeler Yuta… as he learns that he may have to stand apart from his mentors in order to stay true to the ideals they had cultivated in him.

Tony Schiavone

"A much-needed Moral Compass..."

by Peter.

Obsession is a funny thing… it can drive people to undeniable heights– Would Tom Brady have been the GOAT quarterback had it not been for his obsessive attention to detail? Would Novak Djokovic be the player he has been without his obsessive work ethic? But obsession can also make a man's life hell. And sometimes, maybe, an obsessed competitor needs someone with the guts and moral authority to ask: "are you okay, man?"

I was very close to writing about Nigel McGuinness and the final minutes of his speech on Collision—the fact that he was on the verge of tears as he exclaimed that he was as good as his lifelong rival—for my Moment of the Week… but it was the man who stood on the same stage with him during his town-hall address, and for the last several months had shared a commentary table with McGuinness, who just had to intervene… and maybe by unknowingly trying to stage a intervention, showed that he is the conscience of AEW in a time where in the AEW canon we are struggling to find a conscience right now.

Had #AEWeekly been a thing in the first few months of Dynamite, Tony Schiavone would have been a very good shout to be the MVP any given week for those first 3 months of the show. While Excalibur was still learning that the jobs of being a wrestling television announcer and being the PWG play-by-play guy needed two entirely different skillsets, and Jim Ross was audibly getting more annoyed every time a Lucha Brother didn't hold the tag rope, Schiavone was the glue holding the announcers' desk together. His enthusiasm for the product— in a world where every other old guy from the world of 80s and 90s wrestling were bursting at the chomps to condemn AEW— was heartening to see. To see a man… who was so disheartened and worn down by wrestling that he completely left—only really coming back to the wrestling bubble to do a podcast because he needed to finance his daughter's wedding— fall back in love with wrestling in real time… was one of the true joys of those first three months.

In the years since, his endorsement of certain wrestlers has helped to make them stars… while his outrage at heinous acts helped us to calibrate our compass of morality. Tony shouting "I knew it!" when MJF showed his true colors by kicking Daniel Garcia low echoed what we were all thinking. In a world where the MVP usually goes to that flashiest person, the utility player usually gets ignored. The guy who stepped up to cover Dynamite's play-by-play when Excalibur couldn't reach Jacksonville  during the pandemic, Tony would go on to get AEW out of a jam again when the big star signing for the play-by-play gig for Collision just didn't live up to his billing. And it would be the relationship he then established with Collision's colour commentator, Nigel McGuinness, that would set the stage for Tony's finest hour in AEW so far.

Someone had to defend Bryan Danielson when Nigel was telling the world that he was the "American Coward," and with Danielson's friends-list getting shorter with every day that he holds Big Platinum, the queue to stand up for the American Dragon seemed non-existent… but Tony Schiavone had to say something, so he broke in on his broadcast partner to unleash a defense of the AEW World Champion.

Even though it sometimes comes across as though Nigel would rather spend the 2 hours of Collision in anyone else's company than Schiavone, the fact that when Tony said the most heinous things you could, from Nigel McGuinness's POV—that not only is Danielson better than Nigel, but that Bryan Danielson is the best wrestler Schiavone has ever seen, living up to every bit of his rep—that Nigel spared him. He told Tony that if anyone else had said those words, they would have gotten a moment of violence from him. Sparing Tony reflects how deep down—in spite of Nigel's villainy—Schiavone has his respect. On the flipside, earlier in the week, the man who was once seen as the moral compass of AEW— and probably still is in his own mind— Hangman Page was on the verge of assaulting Tony Schiavone had Jeff Jarrett not saved the day. But that would have only added to the Hangman's growing resume of unforgivable acts…

Schiavone's intervention with his broadcast partner showed that he is now indeed the moral conscience of AEW in a land that sometimes seems to be running out of morals. And sometimes the moral conscience of the land needs to take a man aside and just go: "hey, man: is everything ok?”