Where the Best Wrestle | AEWeekly #166

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.

This week’s contributors are Abel [@loza3.bsky.social] covering Match of the Week, Sachin [@sachin0mac.bsky.social] talking Best Interview, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] 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.

 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.

Ospreay vs Takeshita

"Where the Best Wrestle.."

by Abel.

2025 has been a banner year for All Elite Wrestling, marking one of the most exciting eras in the company's six-year history. Every week, I'm not sure if any other era of AEW has produced the quality of matches that 2025 has already delivered, and it's only April! At the center of that success are two of the most impressive athletes the wrestling world has to offer: Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita. 

In only their second singles match against each other, Ospreay and Takeshita delivered a television masterclass that was the highlight of perhaps the best episode of Dynamite ever, and certainly the best televised match of 2025. 

The atmosphere before the match and throughout the bout was tremendous. The entire Boston crowd was waiting to see what amazing thing each competitor would do next. The venue itself, the MGM Music Hall at Fenway, was a character in the match. The uniqueness of the landscape, its lighting, and structure added an element of beauty to the backdrop, one that was only matched by the action in the ring. 

Very few wrestlers who haven't faced each other a million times-- a la Ric Flair vs Ricky Steamboat-- have the chemistry that Takeshita and Ospreay have in the ring.  Even when one of the two stumbles or makes a mistake, just like an intricate, violent dance, their partner can pick them up and make it look routine. The two's fluidity is remarkable and presents well for a PPV or television match. This match ran just as long (21:43) as their first encounter at Revolution 2024 (21:57). 

Every time Takeshita earns Match of the Week honors — three times now in 2025, if not mistaken —his strength is emphasized. But how can it not? His ability to pick up a human is not something we should ever take lightly as wrestling fans. Takeshita's German Suplexes are jaw-dropping and exquisite and are the new standard for a move that is as old as professional wrestling. No matter how often you have seen Takeshita suplex someone, it's still awe-inspiring. 

One important detail we must not overlook is that this match was part of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament. If not for Jay White's injury, this could have been the most stacked tournament in the history of North American pro wrestling tournaments. So even though Takeshita lost, because of the caliber of competitors and ballers in this tournament, there is nothing "lost" for Takeshita only gained. 

Of course, the viral moment that everyone has seen —the back and forth between Ospreay and Takeshita, which saw both men kick out at one another— is spiritual and precisely what AEW is all about, and why many of us fell in love with the company in the first place. No words can adequately describe those feelings, and only those who were lucky enough to watch it live can truly surpass the sensation that all those who watched it at home felt. That exchange of moves also proved that Takeshita and Ospreay might have the deepest arsenal of any two wrestlers. 

The re-watchability factor for this match is high, as is almost every Takeshita or Ospreay match. With every rewatch, the viewer will discover something new to admire, providing another reason to watch it again.  Beyond the viral moments, this match excels in its pacing and in-ring storytelling foundation, particularly for a television match. So, while most people will remember this episode of Dynamite as the one that surpassed WCW: Nitro, real grap knowers will recall the epic match between the Aerial Assassin and Alpha. 

The term "Fight Forever" is profoundly overused in professional wrestling, but when it comes to these two, it is not hyperbole to say everyone would watch these two fight every week, twice a week, for the rest of our lives. If "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland are destined to do it forever, Ospreay and Takeshita will do this for eternity. Hopefully, the next time these men face off against each other, it will be for the AEW World Championship.  

Nobody 

"At least it's not Chris Jericho"

by Sachin.

All things being equal, I would always prefer to watch pro-wrestling on a pro-wrestling show. Of Course when it comes to traditional American television wrestling you are gonna see a lot of stories being forwarded by promos and acting scenes. And when those bits have Hangman Adam Page, Toni Storm, Swerve Swerve, Ricochet or THE PROTOSTAR KYLE FLETCHER, I am seated. Unfortunately just like last week none of these people spent a lot of time on the mic.

Which brings me to the people who got to talk this week. And why the winner is No one.

V-Neck Jackson and others

Pretty funny but there's not much I can write without making it sound like hang-okada yaoi fanfic. 

Nick Wayne and Christian 

A great segment where a lot of things happened in a short span of time - Christian returns, Nick Wayne spoke with complete confidence, Christian revealed that he has booking powers in New Japan, A ROH TV Title matches set for Nick (which he won) and Mama Wayne abandoning her son for Daddy Cage - this did a lot but the brilliance lies in the acting and the story not the talking. However the talking was good too.

Jon Moxley 

NO.

FTR/Tony Schivonne

Not a promo but if it was it most likely would've won. 

Mercedes,Harley and a Puppet

This story has the potential to be very good and I'm intrigued but the puppet bit has kinda gotten repetitive. (Don't shoot me, lemme finish) Compare it to Tony Storm’s comedic jabs on commentary where they are almost always sexual innuendos or derisive insults towards her opponents but her ability to come up with something new every week just keeps me locked in anytime she is out there. In the case of Harley/Puppet Mone, they have done similar bits before and even though I find them entertaining it needs to evolve just a little that's all.

Big Bill and Bryan Keith

I liked this. Simple and Plain. Not everyone needs to shout and do something controversial or edgy all the time. This did the job as intended. It was never supposed to be the best promo you ever heard and that's okay. Normalcy is a requirement sometimes.

Before You Proceed: PWM usually likes to keep an air of positivity for its readers as there are enough real life issues to get mad about. But the nature of pro-wrestling is such that sometimes it blends and blurs the real with fiction and I felt it'd be better to mention and give my thoughts on the “controversial” segment and move on rather than ignore what this was. So before you read further please note that I hated this segment and the strong opinions below are just my feelings.

MJF and Hurt Syndicate 

Fuck me. I'd like to publicly apologise to myself for watching this bullshit. I genuinely felt ashamed at myself for watching this. There's a better form of entertainment out there - why am I watching AEW? This is what I do with my time? I really don't want someone to read this and try and argue in support of this just to give their perspective. No, stay over there, Don't wanna hear it. 

And just for argument's sake let's say you are a supporter of sex workers' rights. Do you really see this segment going down in history as a provocative piece of art that made society think of sex workers as human beings who deserve their fair bit of compassion and empathy?

No, the focus was men (not honourable ones). A bunch of women (Given no more identity than the watch) were brought in and rented out during a contract negotiation.

If your argument is that these guys are heels and they are supposed to be like this then first you are wrong in a very objective sense. There are heels in current times across promotions that get booed without doing this. Second, I encourage you to go watch the segment again. These people were CHEERED. It was a segment designed to appeal to the lowest segment of the people who would've clapped and probably were clapping and cheering when Vince Mcmahon was booking women in WWE as he saw them - like objects for men to lust after. 

This was a segment that was constructed to be controversial, it aimed to use their audience's attachment to the product or wrestlers for free marketing e.g. people rage posting across social media and bringing more attention thereby giving it free marketing.

The last argument I can perceive is that this is kayfabe and I shouldn't take this seriously. To that I say that the issue isn't that I'm taking this seriously but that the performers weren't taking their job seriously. This is lazy, uncreative and in bad taste. All the people involved could and should do better. The defence that this was kayfabe is bullshit. Any kind of bigotry should immediately cause a lifting of the veil between the real world and a fake one. There should be demand from the performers and the organizers for an explanation. If you don't wanna yell, fine, but I will shout and say I hated this. It inspired disgust and in the true sense of the word was Harmful.

Also why in the fuck was this on a wrestling show? 

If you like these kinds of segments and consider it an integral part of wrestling then let me tell you about a company called W. W. E. They used to do these types of segments in the 2000s a lot, today not so much. Perhaps they don't want to do anything that reminds their audience that the previous owner of the company (who still has a lot of interest in the company and supporters inside) was trafficking women during contract negotiations.

Claudio Castagnoli

"From iron cometh strength…"

by Lauren.

The Death Riders are in decline. With Pac injured, Jon Moxley took the third place in the Trios match against the Opps. Commentary stated that he would only be considered a champion if he won the match, and not only did the Death Riders not win, but Mox was the one who was choked out in the middle of the ring by Samoa Joe, much to the celebration of the AEW locker room–the good guys, at least.

Collision picked up right after that celebration, as the Death Riders raged around outside of the ring. Most notably, Claudio Castagnoli picked up the commentary table and threw it. He would revisit this later upon his loss to Adam Cole later that night, completely destroying the table this time.

Claudio has been presenting himself as Mox’s ultimate soldier for the past few months. He’s proclaimed himself Mox’s right hand man, both vocally by calling Mox his king, and with details like the Warhammer 40k Purity Seals on his entrance jacket. These seals are a pledge of loyalty to the God-Emperor of Mankind in Warhammer, with various pledges and prayers emblazoned on them. Thanks to various people on Tumblr, some of the text has been deciphered as existing Warhammer texts, though altered to reference the Death Riders and Mox.

Specifically, he has used prayers and quotes related to the Grey Knights, the Black Templars, and the Iron Warriors. In 40k lore, the Grey Knights and Black Templars are both chapters of Space Marines–or Adeptus Astartes as they are now known–who pride themselves on their loyalty. The Grey Knights have never had a member fall to the evil of Chaos, and the Black Templars were founded after the God-Emperor had been betrayed by his own son and prove their loyalty through endless crusades against their enemies. This is fitting with how Claudio perceives himself: endlessly loyal and above reproach.

But the Iron Warriors are a chapter who fell to Chaos. That is, they turned on their God-Emperor. Their Unbreakable Litany is currently on one of the seals on his left side–that is, the sinister side. In 40k, the Iron Warriors turned after becoming disillusioned after being forced to take actions that were one step too far for them.

On Collision, Claudio’s rage was eventually controlled by Mox, who literally held Claudio up at one point. Yuta reached out to try and comfort his friend and mentor, only to be shoved away by Mox. Claudio now knows that his king is mortal. What will his tipping point be?

The Entire AEW Roster

"High Tides And All That"

by Emiliana.

This week is a cop-out. I think the entire AEW roster deserves a slice of the pie for the moment of the week. Barring one ill-advised segment on Dynamite, the four hours of wrestling and stories produced for AEW television this week on back-to-back nights were nothing short of fantastic.

Dynamite opened with a stellar women’s match, a dream match for many, if you will. Athena vs Mercedes tore the house down as both women gave each other their absolute best in an effort to continue onto the finals of the Owen Hart tournament. It would be Athena whose shoulders would fall for a three-count, ensuring Mercedes made it to the next round. The wild card opponent for Hangman would turn out to be Josh Alexander, a happy surprise for many wrestling fans in the building and watching at home. This match, which was great, was preceded by a funny Elite segment where the Bucks accepted an apology that was never given and ended with Okada committing a microaggression against Hangman Page by telling him to smile instead of being angry (and every woman watching heaving a heavy sigh of understanding). The Hangman match would end with chess pieces falling into place for the Don Callis Family, as Don Callis would recruit the debuting Alexander to the DCF. The DCF would later, on Collision, also see the return of Trent Beretta coming to the aid (& abetting) of his Roppongi Vice tag partner, Rocky Romero, who turned on Tomohiro Ishii and subsequently the rest of the absent Conglomeration.

There would be a killer match between Ospreay & Takeshita later on the wednesday night, and the Death Riders would lose their trios titles in the main event, with the babyface locker room emptying out to congratulate the Opps on their well-played trios coup. The Death Riders would return to Collision, waging war on backstage staff, camera crew, and a planted camera, to the chants of “you tapped out” and “Yuta sucks.” Seeing the Death Riders at the end of their rope is some of the best television that Mox and his crew have put out in months. FTR, who were notably absent this week, would speak through the man they threatened the week before (Tony Schiavone), giving him an apology through a badly composed letter that somehow expresses more character than they’ve shown in years. Nick Wayne would fight and beat Komander in a great showing, winning the ROH Television championship and later cutting a promo in which he stated that he did not need Christian Cage to win titles, all while sounding, with every husky inflection, just like the leader of the Patriarchy. We would also see Mercedes more than a few times between both shows, as AEW were live in her hometown of BO$$ton, but I’ll let Peter go more in-depth about that.

All of these great moments, and many more, were to be found on last week’s television. While the reception of Dynasty was a tad disappointing (which in the grand scheme isn’t that bad, considering how high the expectations are for AEW), there is no doubt that the entire AEW roster was ready to rumble this week for the newly appointed Spring Breakthru, which also marked AEW as the longest-running wrestling show on Turner Broadcasting, surpassing WCW. It was apparent that the entire locker room understood the significance of this week, and they poured their entire hearts and souls into their work.

It cannot be forgotten that there was a lot riding on this week particularly because WWE would be catching the wave of Wrestlemania weekend, but I think that AEW knocked it out of the park. I have never been so pleased to just enjoy wrestling. Despite one small blemish (which shall remain nameless), AEW television was so fun to watch that I simply cannot pinpoint one moment over another. All the ships were raised, making me a very happy wrestling fan. This really is where the best wrestle.

Mercedes Mone

"Chief Elite Officer"

by Peter.

I'll be transparent with you guys. Quite a bit of this awarding of MVP this week is based on a deviation of the criteria set for AEWeekly. I was lucky enough to see Mercedes Mone in person this past week but not in the AEWverse but in of all places Doncaster.

Her match against Kanji for the Undisputed British Women's Title (the two of the four belts that Mone holds with her at all times) was fantastic and a illustration of why Mercedes is the best women's wrestler in the world but the best women's wrestler to ever live east of the Pacific Ocean. But the Easter Sunday cracker in Yorkshire was just the the treat inside the Easter Egg of what was a fantastic week for the CEO.

On Wednesday came a fantastic match against Athena. It was a match that was a dream of many fans of wrestling that have an interest in seeing the women's side get the respect they deserve for years now. 

While Sasha Banks and Ember Moon have been across the ring six times in WWE, not once was it in a singles match constellation. When the bracket came out for the Owen and the signs were that Mercedes and Athena would meet in the Final Four, all eyes would be on that potential date and on a day in which AEW would become the longest running primetime wrestling show on the Turner networks (or in simple English, haha, we overtook your show Eric Bischoff) Mercedes and Athena would clash on a big stage 

What a match it was. A match worthy of Match of the Week any week, but Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita had to have THAT match. Mercedes and Athena had a contender for the best women's match in AEW Dynamite history. A match, had it been on our Match Madness series we had last month, would have been a contender to bust many brackets. It was just a great match.

As Collision was the night after and also in the same MGM Grand at Fenway building in the city that made Mercedes, we got another helping of the CEO. But in a different light.

Mercedes and Harley are the newest love story in AEW. It's the classic girl meets girl, girl likes girl, girl hates girl, one day they will get married (i.e become a full-time tag team) and conquer the world rom-com story that made Tom Hanks famous.

You can see Mercedes is starting to like Harley. She's acknowledging Mini Mone more. While two weeks ago, she simply told Mini Mone to shut up, this Thursday she actually got into an argument with Mini. In a wrestling landscape in which the words "acknowledge" has entered the language of the sport, Mercedes acknowledging the puppet that has gotten so popular in the last few months just brings a glow to the heart.

In a time where many of the big acquisitions AEW have made in its time chasing the number of episodes WCW produced have wanted to take themselves too seriously, Mercedes is one of the exceptions. Mercedes and her partnership with Harley the last few weeks have shown Mercedes isn't afraid to play the role of the fool in situations like the Thursday night. 

On a weekend where in a Doncaster hotel (I'm guessing that Premier Inn next to the The Dome in Donny) upon finding out that Bayley wasn't to be wrestling on the Buy 1 Get 1 Free Extrangezava that was WrestleMania, she sent a tweet telling her wrestling soulmate to call her.

It set off talk of potential AEW Women's Tag Titles and TAFKA The Hug n Boss Connection being the inaugural champs. But there are perfect inaugural champs in Mercedes and Harley in front of us. Their chemistry is just too undeniable. 

It's weeks like this for Mercedes with that cracker vs Athena, the fun we had watching her and Harley and seeing the CEO that makes me think of someone trying to heckle Mercedes at the start of the match vs Kanji in Donny. He shouted "this isn't Vegas" but the truth is after a week like this where she showed everyone how great she is, Mercedes would rather have been in Boston and Doncaster rather than Sin City.