Browsing: Loved

AEW/Lee South

The road to AEW Full Gear has begun, and it began in San Antonio, TX, where “AEW Dynamite” brought a night of wild action. With the dust settled and the results written, it’s time to break down what worked and what didn’t from the October 22 broadcast.

There was plenty of good and there was plenty of bad, and the Wrestling Inc. Staff has done their best to flesh out what was what. There were tremendous highs, like much of the title action throughout the night, or Mercedes Mone’s ever-intensifying feud with her puppet doppelganger. There were also woeful lows, like the fact that there are a number of feuds sticking around past their WrestleDream expiration date, or the overwhelming sense that everyone is twelve now.

As usual, we will not be stepping on the toes of the results page, but instead coming straight from the heart, straight from the gut, straight off the dome, and whatever off-the-cuff synonym you can think of. So without further ado, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly from Wednesday’s show.

Loved: Bandido Can’t Stop The Rainmaker

AEW/Lee South

Bandido got one of the biggest victories of his career at AEW WrestleDream 2025 when he became only the third man in AEW to pin Kazuchika Okada, while also retaining the AEW Tag Team Championships in the process. Naturally, this led to an AEW Unified Championship match for this week on “AEW Dynamite,” and while I personally think a match of this size could have sat very nicely on a Full Gear card that I literally can’t predict right now, this was an excellent TV wrestling match.

One of the biggest issues that people had with Okada when he initially came to AEW was that his big matches on pay-per-view always delivered, but he would always short-change you on television for the simple fact that he isn’t used to wrestling shorter singles matches. However, “The Rainmaker” seemed to figure it out during last year’s Continental Classic tournament, and now he is flourishing in this new role in The Don Callis Family as the AEW Unified Champion.

For Bandido, I don’t even think it’s an exaggeration to say that he might genuinely be one of the purest babyfaces in all of wrestling right now. Whenever he is in the ring, the crowd gets lost in his infectious energy, and he has a catalog of impressive moves that he can basically use on anyone, even with one good arm. That was the story in this match as Okada zoned in on Bandido’s already beaten-up shoulder, knowing full well that he might be able to do certain moves with one arm, but it would take everything in Bandido’s being to get it done.

The closing stretch of this bout is particularly special as Bandido hits a Rainmaker of his own on Okada, and thanks to how protected that move has been in AEW, there was a genuine rush through the crowd of “wait a minute, is Bandido going to beat Kazuchika Okada?” Obviously, that never happened, and Okada got his win back after hitting a Rainmaker of his own in a breezy watch that gives you just enough to call it a great match, while also preserving a few things for if they ever meet on a bigger stage.

The aftermath of the family being torn between Okada and Konosuke Takeshita builds anticipation for their eventual match, and “Dynamite” went off the air with a sense of satisfaction that you don’t always get. Sometimes, “Dynamite” is main evented by whatever match Tony Khan thinks is cool, but Bandido versus Okada felt like a main event, was treated like a main event, and performed by two guys who belong in the main event. A great finish to a great show all around.

Written by Sam Palmer

Hated: Everyone Is Twelve Now

AEW/Lee South

There’s a new unified theory sweeping online circles called “Everyone is twelve now,” and it does explain a lot of the issues I tend to have with a night of AEW programming.

“I think the bravest thing a man can do is a kickflip on Mt. Everest,” of course you do, you’re twelve. “Every other tag match should be for half a million dollars,” hell yeah, homie, you’re twelve. “I think the ring should be surrounded by the faces of comic book characters,” bless your heart, my twelve-year-old buddy.

Nowhere else was that more apparent than in the announcement that the brackets of the AEW Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament would be partially decided by the winners of a four-way tag match picking their first-round opponents.Â

Women’s wrestling fans have been waiting for the tournament ever since Tony Khan announced the long-expected titles and then went radio silent for a number of weeks. The announcement of the teams alone could’ve been enough of a hook, but the four-way tag match, as well as the somewhat last-minute, unserious union of Athena and Mercedes Mone, added a certain immaturity to the proceedings. The team of Athena and Mone actually works as a metaphor for the women’s tag titles, as everything about it is tremendous on paper, but there’s something about the slapdash way that it’s come about that leaves me feeling a little cold, as if they don’t trust the allure of the women’s tag division.

“This long-awaited women’s tag title tournament is so boring! How can we make it fun and gimmicky?” Aw, my guy, that’s exactly what I’d expect a twelve-year-old to ask.

Written by Ross Berman

Loved: Jon Moxley’s downward spiral

AEW/Lee South

The one consolation the smallfolk can take solace in is that while Empires will rise, absorbing what they can until there is very little left, oppressing and depressing the many for the benefits of the few, is that they will at some stage or another begin their descent.

Tying that to professional wrestling, the same can be said for the heels that surround themselves with numbers and exert their own will upon others for their personal gain – whether described as a mission or a familial obligation – only to make enough enemies to make their position untenable. The more prominent example in recent memory would be that of Roman Reigns with The Bloodline, though more recently, Seth Rollins experienced a similar yet necessarily abrupt end with The Vision, and now in AEW, it certainly appears as though Jon Moxley and the Death Riders are entering that territory. Moxley did what he had promised he would never do, uttering the words ‘I Quit’ to a Scorpion Deathlock applied by Darby Allin in the middle of the ring.

His reign with the World Championship ended in July, failing to get it back in a rematch, losing alongside the Death Riders and their allies against Allin and his in a Lights Out Steel Cage match, and now, with the loss to Allin in such a way, a question had to be asked whether he would still have the support of his faction. The immediate answer during “AEW Dynamite” was yes, with them coming out to aid him after he was exposed in a singles match with Kyle O’Reilly, forced to attack the referee and prompt a disqualification as he neared submission for the second time in the space of a week. But while they fought, Moxley retreated, rattled and visibly defeated by O’Reilly and, even having lost so much in recent months, looking the most vulnerable he has for quite some time.

His faction also lost to the Conglomeration in a subsequent trios match, further rattling the entire group as they sought to run roughshod over their rivals in a post-match attack. They, more specifically Claudio Castagnoli in the ring, were caught by Allin with a baseball bat to save Orange Cassidy, and were swiftly run off by the group. It will be interesting to see how they address the clear cracks in their group, especially with Moxley dragging them into battles they keep on losing. After all, this is the same group that turned on Bryan Danielson. In any case, it was cool to see Moxley’s character reacting to his defeat this past weekend organically and believably, and it was a wrestling disqualification done right. That deserves some love.

Written by Max Everett

Hated: A Pointless Promo From A Relentless Man

AEW/X

If there’s one thing that AEW affirmed in my mind tonight, it’s that the combination of little airtime and a pointless sentiment in a promo doesn’t make a good mix with one another.

Darby Allin is coming off a big win in his I Quit Match against Jon Moxley at WrestleDream. While it makes sense to have him appear on “Dynamite” because of that, his appearance during the post-match brawl that broke out between The Death Riders and The Conglomeration would’ve sufficed. There was absolutely no reason for him to come to the ring simply to say that he was willing to die for AEW and wouldn’t stop coming after The Death Riders as long as they’re breathing, as his coming to the aid of The Conglomeration would’ve gotten across the message that Allin isn’t set to stop feuding with The Death Riders anytime soon. This entire segment was completely pointless and lame, feeling like it was nothing more than a way to eat up some extra television meant to get in as much screen time for Allin as possible.

Written by Oliva Quinlan

Loved: Puppet Mone ‘celebrates’ with ’12 Belts Mone’

AEW/Ricky Havlik

I thought tonight’s celebration of Mercedes Mone and her now 12 belts would be a bit boring. Not because I dislike the “belt collector” gimmick or Mone, but it just feels like we so often get these celebration segments for her, and they’re not too exciting. Thankfully, tonight, I was very wrong, and I should have figured something fun would be in store following AEW Women’s World Champion Kris Statlander accepting Mone’s challenge for a match at AEW Full Gear earlier in the night. When “Stat” accepted the challenge during the backstage segment, she gave a little, not-so-subtle wink and nudge to the audience when she told Mone to enjoy her championship celebration tonight.

What I didn’t expect was an appearance at the celebration by “Mini Mone,” or puppet Mone, or whatever you want to call Harley Cameron’s Muppet-like version of the TBS Champion. I thought it was cute that Cameron must have just rolled under the ring after the women’s tag team fatal four-way to get in positions to sneak under the table that was set up, complete with a big ol’ sheet cake and a bottle of vodka. I figured Cameron had just moved on to be Willow Nightingale’s tag team partner, so I really didn’t expect this.

I don’t think I have to openly gush anymore about how much I love Cameron and her puppeting skills, though I will admit this was slightly less impressive since it wasn’t exactly a ventriloquist act, but when the puppet popped up instead of Mone’s music hitting following Renee Paquette’s grand introduction talking about how fantastic “Ultimo Mone” is, I had to laugh. Eventually, we did get “The CEO” down the ramp with all of her belt boys, but she shooed them and Paquette off to run down the fans, Cameron, and “Mini Mone” in the ring.

And, of course, if there’s a cake involved in a wrestling segment, someone’s going through it. First, that was Puppet Mone, much to poor Cameron’s shock, but in the best part of the segment, Statlander was revealed to also be under the table. Mone then got a face full of cake, followed by a chokeslam through the table by the AEW Women’s Champion. There’s a lot of hate for Mone floating around on social media right now, and while I’m already not here for that, you can’t deny the fact that she is willing to look silly for a good moment to benefit her opponent and the story overall.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Hated: I Thought We Were Done With This

AEW/Lee South

For the record, I have no problems with feuds spanning over multiple pay-per-views. Jumping from feud to feud based solely on the fact that there is another marquee event isn’t a formula that should be followed, and I’m glad that we have mostly moved away from all of that. However, I do have a problem when it seems like a feud has ended, and because there is no real idea of what to do with people, the feud just continues.

That was one of my main gripes with the October 22 episode of “AEW Dynamite.” Fresh off a pay-per-view like AEW WrestleDream 2025 where we saw the fifth match between Kyle Fletcher and Mark Briscoe, and the “I Quit” match between Darby Allin and Jon Moxley, “Dynamite” gave us no signs of anything new on the horizon and instead decided to hint at the fact that two of the feuds that looked to be over on the weekend are somehow still going.

Part of the reason why Darby and Moxley headlined WrestleDream was because it was built as the final showdown, the ultimate example of violence, the most wince-inducing match this side of the millennium, and it ended with the hero conquering the villain in the exact way that they had laid out in the build up. Outside of the fact that St. Louis didn’t allow them to bleed all over each other, there is really no need to keep the Darby and Moxley story going, and while they seem to have a neat direction for Moxley, Darby being like “As long as the Death Riders exist I’m not finished with you” doesn’t really seem like inspired booking. They are an inspired pairing for sure, but that story has been told for now. Move forward, not sideways.

The Briscoe and Fletcher situation is even more frustrating because their whole deal was that Briscoe had Fletcher’s number, but as time went on, Fletcher grew in confidence and now has beaten Briscoe in their series three wins to two. Tony Khan probably wasn’t going for a best-of-five series when he booked them for a match in June 2024, but the way it naturally ended up like that was such a good way to finish it. However, Briscoe wants one more match, and, thankfully, Don Callis said no to that offer, and it should stay that way, giving Fletcher something new and different heading into the final few months of the year. He’s proven he’s better than Briscoe, let’s leave it there. This was a great show, all things considered, but the direction of some of the top stars in the company just seems a bit uninspired.

Written by Sam Palmer

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If you’ve ever stood around the practice green at a tour event, you’ve likely seen players using a thin string as they putt. It’s called a start-line string or an alignment string, and it’s one of the most effective — yet underrated — training aids for dialing in your putting.

Recently, Ian Poulter shared a behind-the-scenes video explaining how he uses this Tour-trusted training aid to boost his alignment on the green — and how you can too.

How to use an alignment string

The string is stretched between two stakes and runs directly over your target line, giving you a visual guide to align your eyes and putter face. To set it up, Poulter says to put one stake behind the putt line and the other, down behind the hole.

“Roughly where you think where the ball is going to move from,” he says.

From here, he says to hit a few putts to see if your intended start line that you selected reflects what the ball is actually doing.

“You want to see if your eyes picked up how much the ball is going to break,” Poulter says, “This is a really good test.”

You should be able to tell immediately if the line you selected is correct. If your start line is off, simply adjust the string by moving the stake behind the hole to account for any additional curve in the green you didn’t see at first.

Once you have your aim locked in, you can check your start line. All you have to do is watch your ball after you hit it. If your ball rolls directly under the string, you’ve started it on the correct line.

Not only will practicing with this tool improve your alignment, but it will even help you become a better green reader. You can also use the alignment string to check your eye position — a crucial aspect of the setup — and stroke length.

To check your eye position, Poulter says to set up to a ball with your putter — with the string over the midline of the golf ball. Grab a second ball and bring it directly under your dominant eye. Then drop it from this position.

“You want that ball ideally to land straight on top of the ball that’s below,” he says, “That means that your eyeline is straight above the line.”

To check your stroke, Poulter says to place two tees down to mark the length of your stroke.

“You would like, in an ideal world, for the backstroke to be exactly the same distance as the follow through,” Poulter says, “That helps to give you a nice tempo back, slight acceleration onto the actual ball itself. And then as the putt finishes, it finishes the same distance on the way through, as the distance you’ve taken it back.”

The alignment string might be a simple tool, but as Ian Poulter shows, its impact on putting performance can be huge. Whether you’re working on aim, eye position, or stroke consistency, this underrated training aid gives you the fast feedback you need to putt like the pros.

WWE

A chaotic episode of “WWE SmackDown” has come and gone. There were title changes, Wyatt Sicks videos, and impromptu title matches littered throughout the broadcast, but enough about “what happened” on the show, since that’s been handily covered over on the results page.

Instead, it’s time to break down what worked and what didn’t from the October 17 broadcast. WWE is on the road to Saturday Night’s Main Event, which itself will set the stage for Survivor Series, and so there were plenty of moving parts on Friday’s show. There was an open challenge that went poorly for Sami Zayn, but very well for fans of Ilja Dragunov. There was a lot -and I mean a lot- of backstage segments. There was even some great wrestling amidst it all.

The Wrestling Inc. Staff will break down the good, the bad, and the downright ugly of WWE’s trip to San Jose. Here’s what we loved and what we hated.

Loved: Blake Monroe, ZaRuca further NXT feud on main roster

WWE

I am never going to complain about more of the talent from the best women’s roster in wrestling right now, “WWE NXT,” getting time to shine on the main roster, but I love it even more when those women get to further their “NXT” storylines in front of a much larger audience. With Blake Monroe in attendance tonight at “SmackDown,” that’s exactly what happened.

Monroe is currently feuding on “NXT” with Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca and her tag team partner, Zaria, who faced Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss for the Women’s Tag Team Championships tonight. She was seen sitting ringside before the match, so while it was obvious she was going to get involved, I still really liked it. WWE doesn’t often bring up other “NXT” talent just to further their storylines and feuds with other developmental talent who are working matches on the main brands. But it makes sense to get Monroe even the slightest bit more exposure in front of a main roster crowd.

Tonight, she simply distracted Ruca, which thankfully distracted me and hopefully a lot of others from the not-so-great looking Sol Snatcher Ruca attempted to hit Flair from the ropes to the outside. The distraction let Flair take out Ruca at the knees to weaken her for the figure eight, which Ruca tapped to. I like that there’s now a little story that WWE could always go back to there, with Flair owing Monroe something after “The Glamour” helped her a bit there. That gets me thinking about how much I’d love to see a Monroe versus Flair feud, though I’m not sure who would be the face and who would be the heel there.

Either way, I loved that Monroe got some screen time alongside “ZaRuca” tonight. Commentary was able to mention their Women’s North American Championship match coming up at Halloween Havoc, getting “NXT” a little more exposure. If this is how things are going to be with the main and developmental rosters working together just the tiniest bit more in places where it makes sense, I’m absolutely all for it.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Hated: Carmelo Hayes Is Lost In The Shuffle

Wwe/Getty Images

While former WWE NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov won the United States Title, and fellow former champions like Bron Breakker ascend to the top of the “Raw” roster, Carmelo Hayes remains in a go-nowhere feud with The Miz. Some Fridays can be a glaring reminder that WWE has a bad habit of fumbling NXT stars on the main roster.

There was a time when Hayes was getting comparisons to Seth Rollins or John Cena, someone who could be a franchise face for years to come, and yet it feels like he’s being held down, held back, or just plain restrained in some fashion. It doesn’t feel like WWE fans are getting the best of what Hayes can do, and it also doesn’t feel like his feud with Miz is doing anything to add what wasn’t already there for the former NXT Title holder. It feels like the big match is always around the corner, but like the tag division in general, Hayes can never find his way onto PLEs to show off what he can really do.

At this rate, I am going to have to wait until the f***ing Royal Rumble to see Hayes eliminate Miz and get any semblance of catharsis from this feud. I get it, TV time is limited, and top stars that can take a loss are limited even more so. It doesn’t change the fact that Hayes has swiftly gone from “Him!” to “him?”

Written by Ross Berman

Loved: Sami Zayn’s United States Open Challenge goes off the rails

WWE

Where do we even begin?

No, really — how do we even begin to talk about everything that happened during Sami Zayn’s United States Championship open challenge? When Zayn took to the ring to mark the halfway point of Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown,” I doubt he could have anticipated being present for the amalgamation of storylines that were presented to him. At least, I wasn’t anticipating the absolute avalanche of information (and chaos) we were presented with on Friday’s episode of the blue brand.

I’ll tip my hat to WWE for continuing the Carmelo Hayes and Miz implosion storyline. While this appreciation is mostly self-indulgent (I love Hayes and despise the Miz), I do appreciate how WWE is not just letting the storyline drop off the face of the Earth, only to be built up over the course of two weeks for some C-tier “premium” live event. They’re following up on Hayes, especially, which is absolutely necessary, considering that this is a pivotal time of growth for him in this company. I’d also like to give a shout to the MFTs, Rey Fenix, and the Wyatt Sicks for their contributions. This segment never relented in its shock value, and I found myself having the most fun I’ve had watching “SmackDown” in months.

Now, to the Mad Dragon. Ilja Dragunov made his stunning return to WWE programming after thirteen months on the shelf to answer Zayn’s United States open challenge, and the match they had was magnificent: some of “SmackDown’s” best contests. The man who put down “WWE NXT: UK’s” Walter (now known as GUNTHER) came out in full force and set San Jose ablaze with nothing but his rage and vicious strikes. Dragunov is an absolutely insane performer. He is flat-out. He is explosive. The sparks that fly off of him when he lands a Senton, Torpedo Moscow, or H-Bomb could light up even the darkest of spaces. If this is his first match back after over a year on the shelf, we are in for a stunning reign from Dragunov.

Zayn was right there with him, and we got to see a downright belligerent Zayn as the technician was forced to slug his opponent just as hard. The refreshing change of pace from Zayn and the shared aggression made this one of the most captivating, dare I say “realistic” matches WWE has put on. Dragunov is just built differently, and Zayn is both experienced and flexible enough to match his freak. I was shocked to see Dragunov walk out of his first match back in WWE with the title, and as much as I’ll miss Zayn’s open challenge series, I’m glad to see WWE pull the trigger on Dragunov. They need to push that guy to the moon.

Written by Angeline Phu

Hated: Why so many backstage segments?

WWE

For once, I don’t have many complaints about an episode of “WWE SmackDown.” I thought the matches we had were utterly insane, and the blue brand’s highlighted storylines, while not the most sophisticated or thought-provoking, were almost always high-stakes, explosive, and downright chaotic. I don’t think there was a match on Friday’s card that didn’t hold severe repercussions for its outcome, either in its stipulation, cast, or final result.

Can’t say that I feel the same way about the backstage segment and video packages, though.

I’ll give WWE some grace: I know that certain backstage segments, like Jacob Fatu’s backstage assault, did have tangible ramifications on the show. Other segments, however, like Fraxiom’s interaction with #DIY and Candice Lerae, didn’t really strike me as anything that special. It didn’t help that some of the dialogue in these promos was far from the best. Like, Los Garzas and Motor City Machine Guns’ backstage promo exchange was far from any man’s best work, and it read like a bunch of somewhat-buzzed dudes at the bar trying to get in a fight fueled by the masculine urge to fight for glory (no matter how low the stakes were). Don’t even get me started on how useless Aleister Black and Zelina Vega’s video package was — or do, because it was so inconsequential that I completely forgot to write about it until I was reading back this paragraph. I understand that backstage segments are necessary to progress storylines (we can’t be in the ring, in front of fans, all the time), but compared to the rest of “SmackDown’s” high-octane, engaging on-camera segments, these backstage and prerecorded broadcasting beats simply fell flat for me. I would have much preferred to have an extra few minutes of Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov’s insane United States Championship title match, or maybe even a post-match angle for Sol Ruca and Blake Monroe following ZaRuca’s unsuccessful WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship bout, over whatever Black and Vega’s general brand Karrion and Scarlet pitch. I would have taken an official broadcast of Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes’ ad break crowd-side brawl over whatever Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa had to say to Nathan Frazer and Axiom.

I know that cool-down segments are necessary, especially in an episode of “SmackDown” as jammed-packed as this one was — generally, I don’t mind a cute little backstage segment or two. I just felt like there were a bit too many in this episode, placed in spaces that could have been given to the show’s more exciting in-ring moments. It’s a hard balance to strike, but if anyone can do it, it should be the company that has monopolized the professional wrestling game for the past three decades. Right?

Written by Angeline Phu

Loved: A Fight in The Main Event

WWE

Drew McIntyre’s pursuit of the WWE Championship, currently weighing down Cody Rhodes’ shoulders, continued this week with a number one contender’s match booked between him and his rival, Jacob Fatu. There had been rumblings heading into the show that Fatu was injured, so naturally, a question loomed over the status of their match that had, up until the very last moment, continued to be advertised as going ahead. But then it was at the very last moment that at least half of that question was answered, with Fatu having been discovered backstage, attacked by some unknown assailant – one would presume McIntyre had done so, but we all love a “Who done it?” when the opportunity arises – and thus the match was unable to take place.

McIntyre made his entrance, Nick Aldis tried to get a handle on the situation, with one man apparently attacked by another, and him having to manage the fallout. But before he could, McIntyre got to defending himself and begging for Aldis not to be another to cost him in his quest through, what he perceives as, unjust means. And then Rhodes emerged because he, like most of his colleagues and rivals, had grown tired of McIntyre’s drilled whinging, taking the situation further out of the control of Aldis as he stomped to the ring suit and all to get into a fight. The bell rang like there was a match between them, commentary struggled to ascertain whether the title was on the line, and still, they continued to fight through the arena and ringside area.

McIntyre tried to make it a match within the ring, because of course he would, while Rhodes had, as you would expect from a man in dress shoes, zero interest in wrestling a cookie-cutter wrestling match. As such, he ended things via disqualification with a shot to the head with his championship belt, and then they fought until the officials got involved; well, Rhodes did hit a final splash from the top rope to put an exclamation point to things, but aside from that, that was it. For what it was, the segment did well to bridge the gap between injury-forced match cancellation and the next stage of McIntyre and Rhodes’ feud for the title. They couldn’t find the final resolution during this week’s show and on such short notice, so this was a great way for them to extend the story while circumventing the need to put a winner to things as of yet.

Written by Max Everett

Hated: Fatu backstage attack drug out, leading to chaotic main event

WWE

I thought this was one of the best episodes of “SmackDown” in quite some time, and I was trying to look at this main event angle through the eyes of someone who hadn’t seen the news that poor Jacob Fatu is injured and who didn’t see the spoiler about tonight ahead of time. However, it’s pretty difficult for me to even try to imagine that. Even if I weren’t writing wrestling news, I’m certain I would have seen it on social media, so it’s impossible to look at things any differently.

That being said, I thought General Manager Nick Aldis was going to announce Fatu wasn’t cleared to compete at the beginning of the show. I guess WWE was trying to play at some kind of swerve, because Aldis just announced it was a number one contender’s match. And with that, it was pretty obvious that Fatu was somehow getting taken out before that match, presumably by McIntyre, though I guess we aren’t exactly sure about that.

The way Fatu was taken out backstage was kind of silly, too. It looked like some kind of light fixture fell on him, rather than just a straight-up beat down by another star with a chair or kendo stick, and they went as far as putting fake teeth in the fake blood by his mouth. Gore doesn’t bother me, especially stuff that looks pretty cheesy, but that just felt really goofy.

The spoiler earlier in the day revealed that the main event would then be changed to Cody Rhodes versus McIntyre, but it wasn’t initially clear if it would be for the championship. And it still wasn’t clear even after the bell rang for the match, which didn’t happen until well after their initial brawl throughout the crowd during a commercial break. Commentary didn’t have any clue either because Rhodes mentioned McIntyre could have his title match right then, but Aldis didn’t say anything, which didn’t help and only added to the chaos.

While it’s unclear what the plan was before Fatu’s injury, I’m not looking forward to seeing Rhodes and McIntyre for the title at yet another premium live event. It’s getting sad to see McIntyre keep losing every title match he gets. And Rhodes’ motivations for snapping at the end of tonight’s segment are very unclear. Is he that furious at McIntyre for taking out Fatu? I highly doubt it, so we’re bound to get some half-baked story about Rhodes losing his mind after losing the Crown Jewel Championship.

Written by Daisy Ruth

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The build to Darby Allin and Jon Moxley’s “I Quit” match has been the focal point of AEW programming as of late, and Wednesday’s three-hour “AEW Dynamite” and “AEW Collision” double feature was no exception. While the two men had a generally positively-received pre-taped “cinematic” promo exchange, I can’t say that their in-person altercation on the “Collision” portion of Wednesday’s broadcast held up nearly as well.

After the Death Riders outnumbered Paragon and associates at the end of “Collision’s” Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Kyle O’Reilly, and Orange Cassidy opener, Darby Allin made an incredibly dramatic entrance to intercept the violence. Now, when I say “incredibly dramatic” for Allin, what do you think of? Do you imagine him armed with a steel chair? Perhaps you picture him zooming down the ramp, skateboard in hand. Maybe, in your mind’s eye, Allin is making a heroic save with his finger on a flamethrower’s trigger.

I’m glad to report (sarcastically) that Allin’s dramatic entrance saw him standing at the top of the entrance ramp, limbs crooked and lifeless, like a zombie. Before you comment, I know that his less-than-lively disposition is not unreasonable, considering that he did get beaten to a bloody pulp by Pac earlier during “Dynamite,” and, honestly, if you had just given me a tired Allin, it could have been salvaged. Allin, however, in his incredible commitment to the bit, begins shambling down the entrance ramp like an extra off “The Walking Dead.” I’m talking failed sobriety test levels of swaying, with his body swinging off to the side against a steel barrier at one point. All the while, the Death Riders confronted him, one by agonizing one.

Allin got up every time. The message here is resilience, right? It’s a tale of Allin’s grit, how he is willing to get beaten down, but still rise to his feet (or hands and knees) in order to climb whatever mountain he has his eyes set on: Everest or otherwise. That’s all fine and good…but can we not have the rest of the Death Riders just staring at him as he crawls pathetically to Moxley at two miles an hour? I understand what they were going for here, and on paper, this sounds amazing and more introspective than what I expect from AEW. In practice, though, this segment dragged on in such an awkward way, I found myself hating it before it was even done. By the time Allin finally got to Moxley, he unfurled the AEW flag at Moxley’s feet, only to be at the receiving end of Death Rider. Something, something, Moxley’s war on AEW. Segment over.

Like I said, in theory, this makes sense. On paper, this is cool. In practice? Painstaking to watch.

Written by Angeline Phu

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On Tuesday’s episode of “AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday,” The Hurt Syndicate sought to settle their differences against Ricochet, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun (known collectively as The Demand) in a Street Fight, and it was everything you could hope for it to be. There was a liberal use of weapons (steel chairs, tables, trash cans, the whole nine), a good amount of fun spots, and a victory for the babyface-leaning Hurt Syndicate to, hopefully, close the books on what has been a very volatile chapter in both factions’ histories. While match participants such as Ricochet are known for their aesthetically pleasing and artisanal wrestling styles, this match was not some superior show of in-ring prowess, and that is intentional. It wasn’t a bad match, don’t misunderstand, but there was nothing pretty Tuesday night. You won’t find any poetic monologues about aerial arcs or in-ring chemistry here. Tuesday’s contest was clunky. Tuesday’s match was unpolished, raw, and bitter. Tuesday’s Street Fight was gritty, and it worked.

For MVP to be wrestling at this age is impressive. I commend his commitment to the business and to the success of this 3-on-3 storyline. However, you can kind of tell he’s 51 years old. Where most guys walk and run around the ring, MVP tends to waddle. While his aged waddles might be awkward to watch in other matches, say, All Out’s relatively tame trios match, that same clunkiness worked surprisingly wonderfully in Tuesday’s Street Fight. Like I said, there was nothing polished in Tuesday’s Street Fight. There was no room for intellectual or overcomplicated in-ring dramatics. This was a Street Fight. This was unadulterated, unpolished violence. MVP’s brutish style of wrestling matched the stipulation’s freak.

Aside from MVP’s performance, this was a fun, simple Street Fight. Everyone got their offense in, a multitude of tables were broken, and the home crowd in Jacksonville got their money’s worth in pure violence as all six men threw caution to the wind. The match did go on for a bit too long, and it was anticlimactic to have Shelton Benjamin get the pin off of a Suplex (as incredibly as Ricochet sold it). However, the match was, by and large, just a fun bout, and that’s all it really needed to be. If this is where The Hurt Syndicate and The Demand’s vitriolic rivalry ends (and it should be, Tuesday’s Street Fight felt like the natural conclusion to things), I wouldn’t be mad.

I understand that this entire piece feels like a backhanded compliment, but I genuinely believe this match was as fun and fitting as it was because it was unpolished. If this had been a technical masterpiece, I don’t think it would have been nearly as entertaining or narratively fitting as it was. In a company full of the best technical wrestlers in the world, there is a place for in-ring ugliness. There is merit to not having the most precise, polished match on the card. The Hurt Syndicate and The Demand proved that Tuesday.

Written by Angeline Phu

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Vince McMahon isn’t exactly a favorite among most pro wrestling fans, with many rarely having kind words for the disgraced former WWE Chairman. However, Matt Riddle has praised one aspect of McMahon’s booking, something he feels neither Triple H nor Tony Khan does.

McMahon, during his time leading WWE creative, was often criticized for not listening to the fans and giving them what they wanted. Riddle thinks that this is a good trait for a wrestling booker, which he explained during his recent appearance on “TMZ Sports.”

“I will say, the one thing I loved about Vince is, Vince was like, ‘This is my company. I run it. It’s my company.’ It didn’t matter if the fans were like, ‘Oh, we don’t like this.’ The storyline was going to go as long as Vince wanted it to. And with that, it kind of works better if you don’t give people everything they want,” he said. “It’s like a plant — or anything else. If you give it everything you think it wants, just like a kid, they get slow, they don’t appreciate what they have, etc. But just like a plant, if you let it starve a little bit, then you feed it, it gets stronger, it gets healthier, it eats more, you know? And I feel like fans are like that too. If you give them everything they want, like that dream match tomorrow, what are they going to tune in for next week, you know?” he said.

The former WWE star believes that McMahon would stick to his guns and follow through with his original ideas, something he feels neither Triple H, who currently oversees WWE creative, nor AEW’s Tony Khan do.

“I feel like Triple H bends a little more [to what fans want]. Tony [Khan] definitely bends a lot, you know.”

Riddle wasn’t favored by McMahon at first, as the latter considered him too goofy for his liking. Their equation changed later on, and Riddle recently even discussed the possibility of working with McMahon again if he were to start a pro wrestling company.

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Let’s be honest, it can be boring when a group gets along really well, and many a toxic workplace will have surely told you that dissent between workers shapes character; while that maybe shouldn’t be the case in real life, wrestling is exactly the sort of medium where that very flawed relationship, that of the marriage of convenience, can be as unhinged as the mind goes. For that in the current day WWE, look no further than The Vision.

They are, for what they have been presented, one of, if not the most dangerous factions in WWE, cunning, crafty, and willing to do everything both within and well beyond the ruleset. But they are also a group of volatile egos, led by WWE’s arch-egomaniac in Seth “Freakin'” Rollins, the loyal-so-long-as-the-going-is-good Paul Heyman, “Big” Bronson Reed, and the blue-chip prospect with no regard for any human life, including his own within a match, Bron Breakker.

They shouldn’t get along; they don’t really get along. But in being a group of spectacular individuals with a mostly shared goal – a Vision, one might say – they have thus far been able to have the last laugh on every occasion. Whether it be Roman Reigns or the Usos, the Vision cares not for the results of a match as opposed to the damage they can do in the long term. They have lost, but they ensured that they were the only ones walking out with their hands raised. But one thing that has been consistently shown, and was once again reflected in the closing angle of the show, has been the overplaying of their hand and, ironically, how blind the Vision can be in pursuing that damage.

In the main event of “SmackDown,” Reed and Breakker scored a victory over the pair of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes; Heyman distracted the referee, allowing Rollins to enter the ring and deliver a curbstomp to Orton, thus allowing Reed to deliver a Tsunami Splash for the win. For all intents and purposes, they had the last laugh. Rollins told Breakker and Reed not to go after Rhodes, telling them that he was his, and Breakker could be heard arguing over the fact. But then, allured by the sight of Rhodes in the ring, seemingly open for attack, Rollins turned his attention to the ring.

Heyman explicitly told Rollins not to pursue the invasive thought, explaining that Rhodes was in Rollins’ head, but his decision was already made up, and sure enough, he went into the ring and received a Cross Rhodes for his troubles. There it is, the weakness within the group, and it’s been compelling to follow the interactions between this volatile set of characters. Thus far, The Vision has proved to be successful. But the hottest fires burn fast, and continually there is a theme that hubris and impulse is costing the group. It feels like the seeds are being sown for their eventual downfall, but in any case it makes for entertaining TV, and thus gets a love from me.

Written by Max Everett

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The Don Callis Family keeps growing, and it’s getting to the point of ridiculous now, if it wasn’t already. The faction got two new members tonight, one return and one debut, which would be fine if it didn’t feel like everyone returning or debuting on AEW in the last few months was aligning themselves with Don Callis. The manager himself gets good heel heat, and it’s not to the point of “go-away heat” for me yet, but if this man takes up any more time on commentary, it might happen. I think the faction is also to the point where Callis doesn’t always need to insert himself into a backstage segment or come out to the ring. There are plenty of guys who are actual wrestlers to back up the other guys now. We know who is the brains behind the operation.

As I sit here and think about where both Andrade and El Clon would fit into the AEW picture right now, I’m left clueless. It almost seems as though if someone feels directionless, or there’s even the slightest chance that they might be, they’re just put with Callis. Andrade, I suppose I can understand and give a little bit of a break too, because I really have no clue where he would fit in to AEW during his second time around, and honestly, El Clon just really got the short end of the stick with Hologram’s injury, which is extremely unfortunate.

The faction is just so massive that not everyone gets television time on AEW’s flagship show on Wednesdays, which I fully admit is the only AEW I watch on a weekly basis, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. When they all united on the ramp following El Clon’s distraction in the TNT Championship match to help out Kyle Fletcher, poor Lance Archer and Rocky Romero were just hanging out in the back. In Romero’s case, I honestly forget he’s in the Callis Family at points.

I had to laugh, because during our last glimpse of the Callis Family tonight in a backstage segment, Don said something along the lines of, “just when you think we’re down and out!” and, no, Don, I can’t say I’ve even been given a single second to ever assume that about your ever-growing stable. I don’t think you can be down and out if you just keep growing in numbers.

I initially wasn’t too thrilled about all this Callis Family on tonight’s “Dynamite” without any Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita tension, but thankfully, we at least got that in the backstage segment. We found out they’ll be taking on Brodido next week, so at least that’s one thing involving Callis and his army of a faction next week we can look forward to. Fletcher, Okada, and Takeshita are the best things going in the Callis Family right now, but they certainly have the numbers for someone else to step up to the plate, as well.

Written by Daisy Ruth

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Willow Nightingale is genuinely a woman whom you could build an entire division around. She is fantastic in the ring, has a great character, and is adored by virtually everyone who sees her wrestle. She literally has the ability to be the ace of any women’s division on planet earth and the fact that she hasn’t even come close to winning the AEW Women’s World Championship at all is a crime against wrestling.

Of course, not everyone can be a world champion at the same time, and the fact that Kris Statlander is finally getting her chance to showcase what she’s made of at the top of the card is great. With that said, the fact that Willow is not only nowhere near the AEW Women’s World Championship scene, despite having such a long and personal history with the champion, but is now getting involved with what FTR and Stokely are doing is a real shame.

Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, and Stokely arrived on the September 24 episode of “AEW Dynamite” to explain why they put Beth Copeland in the hospital at AEW All Out following a Spike Piledriver. They were booed by the fans in attendance, which was expected and the fact that the rare 2300 Arena heat seems to have followed FTR and Stokely is great for them, but once they started describing what they did to Beth, Willow’s music hit and everyone in the arena went “erm, what has Willow got to do with this?” Obviously, this could always be the start of a new story that leads to something down the line, but Willow coming out to basically lavish Beth with praise and let the world know how inspirational she is to other female wrestlers just seemed a bit odd.

There’s nothing wrong with intergender wrestling, and the thought of Willow actually getting to mix it up with FTR does seem like an interesting path to go down, particularly if it results in Willow vs. Stokely, because who wouldn’t want to see that match? However, bringing Willow out to tell FTR that their apology wasn’t very good, knowing full well that neither Dax nor Cash could really do anything to her, was a bit pointless in the grand scheme of things. To make it even more puzzling, it was JetSpeed who came out to give Willow some back-up, which makes very little sense, as you would think that the members of The Conglomeration who weren’t wrestling tonight could have made the save instead.

Overall, Willow Nightingale is a future AEW Women’s World Champion who, for whatever reason, is being booked terribly. Yes, it’s fun to see her get involved in the guys’ business, but she could be the woman that everyone in AEW strives to be, and she simply can’t do that if she’s constantly involved in storylines involving people like FTR. Someone please tell Tony Khan to book Willow like the generational ace everyone knows she can be; it’s really starting to become a problem.

Written by Sam Palmer

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It’s always a good idea to rely on the relay action of tag team wrestling to pack out a three-hour…