I apologize in advance, but I might be a little unhinged. I don’t know if you were watching but I guess AEW is either dying or dead considering they had a near sellout tonight continuing a streak of fantastic weekly programming. I’m sure somebody on Twitter will disagree with me and call me an AEW stan, and quite frankly I don’t give a crap about that. I’m just a guy who likes wrestling, and if I tune in to all elite wrestling and I enjoy the show then damn it I’m going to say that I enjoyed the show. I don’t care about numbers, I don’t care about ratings, I don’t care about ticket sales, just give me a wrestling show.
Tonight I got one hell of a show. Kicking off in clever fashion, Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuinness in a match which took me back to 2007. I’ll admit it wasn’t exactly like an old school Ring of Honor match, but here we are about 15 years later we can’t expect the same performance. I will say I was very impressed with Nigel’s ability to keep up with Danielson, and for a while it seemed that Nigel was truly channeling his old self. First few minutes featured some fantastic wrist locks, arm locks, and headlock combinations. The later parts of the match showed where Nigel really put some classic moves in.
It was fun, it was exciting, and the final dramatic moments of Nigel thanking Danielson before tapping out was simply beautiful like a Bob Ross painting on canvas.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how the show opened, we’re Nigel was in the ring taunting Danielson but his current theme played with no entry. as it seemed Danielson would not appear tonight, The Final Countdown hit the arena and out came our American Dragon.
After the match Christian Cage arrived to tease a cash-in but was stopped by Kip Sabian. I’m sure people thought that was weird, but I think Sabian is a phenomenal wrestler so if we get a feud from these two in the near future I’m all for it.
If that eventful match wasn’t enough, Hook defeated Roderick Strong to retain the FTW Championship. This was an impressive technical match for both of them through each other for loops with various suplexes and of course some backbreaking moments too. Very impressive to see how well Hook and Strong work together, it was believable that strong could have won the championship. However, Hook managed to out wrestle him and retain.
The real shocker came after the match where Tony Schivaone did a quick post-match interview where they briefly discussed the origins of the championship to which Hook thanked everyone and announced that as of tonight the FTW Championship is being retired and given back to his father.
This was done in the classiest way possible. no massive buildup needed, it was short, simple, and directly to the point, I think it was a moment where I believe Taz truly felt emotional and proud of his son.
The Young Bucks retained the AEW Tag Team Championships against United Empire (Kyle Fletcher & Will Ospreay) with Don Callis
Five star match easily. Kyle Fletcher and Will Ospreay could have believably won the titles tonight. The match delivered beyond expectations. Not everyone is into the high risk moves or Dives, but I get a thrill out of it. Watching both Fletcher and Ospreay pull off unbelievable stuff is always exciting to me. I know it’s not for everyone but there’s an excitement to it. They bring such energy. Matt and Nick Jackson do the same, they add their attitude into the mix and it makes for a great combination. I especially liked the series of signature moves with a face plant, followed by 450, followed by a destroyer capped off with a hidden blade. Again not everybody’s cup of tea, but I am entertained.
The end of the match saw Don Callis get involved by trying to give Kyle Fletcher a screwdriver for an illegal advantage, but Ospreay would not allow it, however the distraction gave the Bucks opportunity to clock them both with the tag team title belt and get the pinfall victory. I’m sure this will lead to a feud at some point among the Callis family and again I’m all in for that.
Now the next segment really blew me away by surprise. Prince Nana was out with Tony Schiavone, giving an update on Swerve Strickland. Unfortunately Swerve is not yet cleared to compete. but before he could go into more details a surprise visit by MVP throws everyone off guard. MVP then insinuates that Prince Nana is the reason why swerve is no longer the AEW champion and bluntly says he would love to take swerve and do some real “business” with him.
If that’s not a tease for the return of the Hurt Business or another stable I don’t know what is. Give me Shelton Benjamin any day of the week. I’m just not sure I want Bobby Lashley in AEW.
Mariah May retains the AEW Women’s Championship against Yuka Sakazaki.
Let’s be honest, there was zero chance of a title change tonight. However, it was a pretty good match. The aftermath though, was quite the eyebrow raiser. as Mariah May continued to attack her downed opponent, Willow Nightingale rushed in for the save. However, the sudden appearance of Mina Shirakawa sent Mariah into joyous frenzy but it seems there is more than meets the eye to her sudden appearance.
Jon Moxley defeated Darby Allin to become the new Number One Contender for the AEW World Championship
This turned into a bloodbath rather quickly. and I honestly think it’s because Darby messed himself up on one of his crazy moves. Sure was really because Max probably hit him the hard way but still Darby did just as much damage to himself as mocks tried to inflict on him. I love how Darby has no regard, but one of these days I really fear something bad is going to happen to the poor boy. This was certainly no wrestling clinic, let’s be honest not even close, this was a fight in which Mox displayed nothing but contempt and intent to punish, while Darby showed just as much contempt for his opponent but an eagerness to sacrifice himself to make a point. Unfortunately, Mox was too strong and put Darby away with a near fatality featuring a death writer off the second turnbuckle. it looked brutal all the way down and I felt legit Darby was not out cold.
After the match was over, Bryan Danielson rushed out and started strangling Mox with a rope. This brought out Marina Shafir, Castagnoli, and PAC, to even the odds because it takes four people to put down Danielson, however Private Party and Komander hit the ring to chase them off. not exactly the three people I would imagine to make the save, but I’ll take it.
I have to say I’ve never heard a crowd chant so loudly for Wheeler Yuta to appear. He is supposed to be on Collision this week defending the Trios titles, so I wonder if Yuta will reluctantly team or cause the trio to lose the belts?
AEW continues to put on fantastic shows and they seem to have been on a solid roll ever since All Out.
Wrestle Dream is just a month away and tickets for Full Gear, taking place in November have just gone on sale.
It seems all the wrestling is doing just fine. Just fine.
AEW Grand Slam 2024 is now on demand via your local cable operator & on-demand via the TBS app.
