By Will Pruett, ProWrestling.net Co-Senior Staffer (@itswilltime)
Another week, another wrestling show I attended and photographed (I promise I don’t do this weekly, just when they’re around me and my schedule fits theirs). Here are my in-person thoughts from San Diego – a city that is entirely too far from Orange County for a Wednesday night.
– Every post-pay-per-view Dynamite episode since AEW Dynasty has opened with a backstage segment featuring Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. All of these segments have been very good and very interesting. They are not classic wrestling promos with big bold statements, but quiet moments between these two men sharing doubts and encouraging each other. As a storytelling device, these have felt different than what we usually see on wrestling TV. This month’s segment also featured MJF and Jon Moxley prominently and built directly to next week’s television main event. I believe that after next week, we will look at that first segment after Dynasty as the beginning of AEW’s Road to All In.
– Will Ospreay is in a battle over who will be his real dad – longtime friend, mentor, and enemy Kenny Omega or Jon Moxley, his newer gruffer dad with a stronger neck. Ospreay being pulled between these two AEW originals (and AEW’s original major feud) is a compelling story. I expect Ospreay’s answer to be declining to have a wrestling dad at all and for it to upset both men. There is some great potential for matches coming out of Ospreay’s Dad Drama – including revisiting Moxley vs. Omega with Omega as the babyface in the feud again.
– MJF vs. Mark Briscoe was a great television AEW Men’s World Championship match. I never bought into Briscoe winning the title, but I did buy into the action here and Briscoe’s motivation to win. The prior Darby Allin title change after a pay-per-view did set this one up with at least a glimmer of hope for Briscoe. The match was brutal, and one of Briscoe’s best singles matches in AEW to date.
– Kenny Omega’s show-long story from the opening post-pay-per-view video to his show-closing promo was excellent. Kenny shed a lot of his unserious nature and gave us some of the best performances we’ve seen on the mic since he was in New Japan. This was the “Best Bout Machine” actually stopping to tell a story and tell it well. While his decision about next week should have never been in doubt, mentioning the other “Elite brothers” who have fallen to this stipulation (including a rare AEW mention of Cody Rhodes) added weight and meaning to the moment.
– I find myself wondering again if Kenny Omega can manage to turn it on at the level he could in 2023. I know his body has been through a lot in three years, and perhaps my expectations should not be this high, but for the AEW World Championship and for a shot at Wembley Stadium, will we see some version of Classic Kenny Omega?
– Lio Rush vs. Kevin Knight for the TNT Championship was a fine match, but I still find myself feeling mostly “meh” about Lio’s character. Knight selling a ton for him did not delight me either. The post-match, where Rush was quickly forgotten in favor of Darby Allin, was better. If I am correct, Darby Allin is threatening to blow Knight up (or attempt to) a bunch of times to get a title shot, right? That’s new in wrestling storytelling.
– Hikaru Shida is the new TBS Champion, which seems right for that title and Shida’s current role in AEW. I assumed she would be the human to beat Willow for that title as Willow came to the end of her “comeback killer” gimmick. Sadly, that gimmick had to end too early. I did not love the Survival of the Fittest match, and building this one up for the last month did not help it feel better. The entrances and early eliminations felt rushed. I would have also enjoyed seeing Harley Cameron stick around this one longer because of her long-term story with Shida.
– Persephone’s heel turn did not stop this live crowd from loving her. In Southern California during World Cup season, you are going to have a hard time turning a Mexican wrestler heel.
– Jay White’s return to AEW Dynamite was really well done. Jay had some electricity to his in-ring promo that is often missing from Dynamite. White is a wrestler who always seems like a main event player, even surrounded by goofs (complimentary, I think). I would really love to see White included in some post-All In main event plans.
– Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay vs. The Swirl was too long. The two wrestlers presented as the toughest in AEW should not need nine minutes to dispose of The Swirl. This is a long-term problem in AEW where a match that should be a squash or squash-adjacent ends up being long and oddly competitive (see Swerve vs. Garcia last week). It’s a major issue when you’re doing this with a wrestler of the caliber of Will Ospreay going into the match of his life in Wembley Stadium.
Another week and more thoughts to think! I’ll be recording an audio review of AEW Collision after the show airs tonight for Dot Net Members with more than 10 Thoughts on the week of AEW Wrestling I attended live!
Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. To see his video content, subscribe to his YouTube channel. To contact Will, check him out on Bluesky @itswilltime, leave a comment, or email him at itswilltime@gmail.com.
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