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CAGE SWERVE
Last week I wrote that I hoped we would get an explanation as to where The Mogul Embassy stood with Swerve Strickland after they were nowhere to be seen as he was left laid out by Christian and family. Well, we found out. Swerve coming to the ring as a pissed off angry man was very good stuff and he cut a really good babyface promo. Unfortunately production missed the all important shot of Brian Cage nailing Swerve from behind, but we did get a really good beatdown angle with the Embassy laying out their former boss. Now we have more questions that I hope will also be answered. What were the motivations behind the attack? What is the relationship between Christian and The Elite and does it relate to his history with Jack Perry? Do The Young Bucks have enough of a reason to not want Swerve to be champion? This was a solid angle, and gives Swerve a lot to overcome as a babyface.
ANARCHY
After last week's attack, the first we heard from Kenny Omega was this address from a hospital bed. Was it a bit hokey? Yes. But it was handled a lot better than Tony Khan’s injuries essentially becoming a comedy bit in the previous week. Anarchy in the Arena is set for Double or Nothing as The Elite will face the all star babyface team of FTR, Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson. Now, why can Omega make a match and why can’t The Elite just overrule it? There are many logic gaps here, as there is always going to be with authority figure storylines, but the reveal of Kingston and Danielson to close the show was well received by the crowd and created a nice moment. I would have preferred Danielson to have returned and jumped right back into something with Will Ospreay, as they have a story there that can and should be followed up on, to create a much more heated angle between the two, but that just hasn’t really been done outside of a few references on commentary. Will this be followed up on in more detail next week? We wait and see. I thought the opportunity for a Samoa Joe babyface turn as part of team AEW was the way to go.
There is a lot of The Young Bucks on this show, and given that their delivery is still that of a tongue in cheek nature, it may be detrimental to the shows viewership numbers, as it just does not appeal to a lot of people. There is something here with this act and this angle. Okada vs Omega is simmering in the background, Jack Perry is showing improvements as a talker, and The Bucks are doing something fresh. But it needs to be handled with care, because too much of anything is not a good thing.
WOMEN'S WORLD TITLE
While Serena Deeb is an outstanding technical wrestler, she has very little momentum as a title challenger. Since her return from a 15 month lay off, outside of a few appearances on Collision, she has done nothing of note on Dynamite. This is a broader issue with AEW’s booking, as she may have a certain number of wins that puts her in line for a title shot, it is no substitute for momentum or creating angles and stories that leave you believing the challenger may dethrone the champion. At the moment I don’t believe for a second that Deeb will be winning the title. The content of her promo was good, and referencing real events, especially when they help the babyface garner sympathy is always good. The delivery was not great at times, and Deeb seemed very distracted by the crowd early in the promo. But it did end strong. Toni Storm's comedic character elements can make it an uphill battle to create a serious issue surrounding the women's world title.
Mariah May now clearly seems to be a babyface and is continuing to put out really strong work in the ring and as a character. Unless you are a Stardom viewer, you will know very little about May’s association with the charismatic Mina Shirakawa, so I hope more effort is made to tell this story, because there is something there and Mina has all the tools to get over with the AEW audience. This is all presumably leading to something at Forbidden Door, which Stardom are expected to be a part of. Harley Cameron had a very strong showing in her Dynamite debut. Sadly, Saraya has never felt less important and it’s not her fault. She came in as a major name acquisition and her momentum was lost very quickly, now to the point where she is a sidekick on a Rampage storyline. I hope this angle is used to help bring Saraya back to a position of importance in this division, which needs all the star power it can get.
BAD FRIENDS
The Best Friends break up has been unfolding over the past few weeks, most notably with Trent getting a win over Chuck Taylor in a parking lot brawl, and seemingly retiring Taylor in the process. This felt very soon for Trent and Orange to meet in the ring, but the match turned into more of an angle, and one with issues. Trent dominated the match, and Orange got a fluke win, something that never really helps anyone, but the real problem came after the match. I was stunned when Trent dropped Orange on the steps with an amazing looking piledriver, and just minutes later Orange was back on his feet. This should have been a stretcher job and not much less. Why Trent wasn’t made to look like a remorseless killer here is something I do not have an answer for. Instead we got an angle that didn’t really help anyone, and took a devastating move and stripped away any impact it could have in adding much needed drama and sympathy to this story.
NO DQ COPELAND
Much like last week's Adam Copeland vs Buddy Matthews match, there was no reason to believe that Brody King had any chance of winning the TBS title. Unlike last week, this was an excellent match. Although, not helped by No DQ stipulation matches coming to mean very little in AEW due to overuse. Just last week we had Sky Blue and Willow Nightingale dropping each other in barbed wire and thumbtacks in a Rampage match that was thrown together an hour before. Blood use in wrestling is endlessly debated, and in my opinion should only be used sporadically. It is something that is being used LESS than it was on AEW TV, but still too much. However this did give us some amazing visuals, and Copeland continues this excellent AEW run with another excellent showing. One where he was probably doing things a man with his history of neck issues shouldn’t be doing, but you can only admire his passion for what he does. Brody King has major potential as a singles star, and I hope AEW have plans to push him as one in the future. Kyle O’Reilly made the save here and set up him, challenging Copeland for the title this Saturday in Collision in his hometown. A good idea on paper, and one that the crowd will probably be into, but again, it’s another title match where you know there is zero chance that the challenger will win.
I can be reached at matthewmacklin90@gmail.com
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