A Real Live Wire | AEWeekly #205

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, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat as well as 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.

Mark Briscoe vs Tommaso Ciampa

"Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est…"

by Abel.

This week, two matches were running for the matches of the week, and we know which ones they were. On Dynamite, Swerve Strickland and Andrade “El Idolo” brought down the house, intensifying the AEW World title scene. On Collision, Mark Briscoe put his TNT Championship on the line against Tommaso Ciampa in his very first AEW match. You can argue for either match, and I wouldn't give you much pushback. However, for the shock of a title change, match quality, and for the release of a caged Psycho Killer, Tomasso Ciampa vs Mark Briscoe is this week’s match of the week for me.

​Certain wrestlers have always looked like they belonged in AEW, and Ciampa is one of those. He feels, and looks, like what AEW is supposed to be. His being in WWE, withering away, felt like a war crime. In his first match being All Elite, Ciampa reminded everyone that he is STILL one of the best wrestlers in the world. Ciampa seems unshackled from his “sports entertainment” chains. The new TNT Champions wrestled like they did during their Black and Gold years.

​You can tell Tony Khan has a deep reverence for NXT's Black and Gold era. Almost all of those wrestlers who have made the jump (Cole, Strong, O’Reilly, Joe, Lee, and now Ciampa) have all had immediate success stepping into an AEW ring. The influence of that wrestling period on AEW is very prominent.

The match itself was a masterclass of how you can maximize two babyfaces facing off against each other. There is this weird hangup about two faces or heels fighting against each other, because traditionalists will tell you that you can't do these types of matches correctly. That, as proven in this match, is unequivocally false. These matches can work when there are no shenanigans, both competitors give it their all, all for the ultimate prize – in this case, the TNT title. That low-five in the middle of the match was fantastic. It shows there are no hard feelings, and after this, we can grab dinner, but right now, only one of us can win.

The Air Raid Crash on the apron of the ring was something else. That other company had Ciampa jobbing out to tag teams. In his very first AEW match, Ciampa already cemented himself as an elite wrestler in the company – no pun intended. That Air Raid Crash, combined with that Widow’s Bell, surely had Briscoe regretting his TNT open challenge.

All the credit in the world goes to Briscoe. The decision makes me wonder whether this was a last-minute change of hands for the TNT title, and he still gave it his all and was a true professional. Briscoe continues to prove, every week on every match, that he has quickly grown into one of the staples of AEW.  It will be interesting to see where Briscoe goes from here. In my view, it shouldn't be the AEW title scene – right now, that is already chock-full of a bunch of great wrestlers, and I wouldn’t want Briscoe to be lost in the mix.

The ending of this match came as a complete and utter shock. As you heard the announce team bring up, only Mercedes Mone has won gold in their first AEW match before this. The genuine shock, for myself and everyone watching this match, was palpable. The roar and pop from the crowd was one of the loudest I've ever heard on Collision. Ciampa, looking at the title with such reverence, told a story. It gave his move to AEW validation and legitimacy.

​Immediately after the match, Kyle Fletcher came out to make his case as the next contender. Kyle Fletcher vs Tomasso Ciampa?! Give me 14 of them, right now. These are the types of matches that make AEW a hot spot destination for wrestlers. It truly is where the best wrestle, and this match proves that all over. 

Andrade, MJF, Swerve, Hangman, Kenny

"(Bleeding) Circling Sharks..."

by Sergei.

Since MJF became the new AEW Men's Singles World Champion, AEW has been doing a really exceptional job of building intrigue into the perennial question: "Who's Next?" All too often there are early heavy-handed hints of who the challenger at the next big show will be, while others who logically ought to have equal standing and motive to make a challenge are handwaved away for the sake of story focus. Whereas this cycle we have everyone circling our Maxwell and his Triple B who (by rights) ought to be. But what lifts this from just a logical plot development to a compelling one is the fraught relationships among those contenders…

Swerve and Hangman, of course, have the most fraught and complex relationship ever – the ship that launched a thousand think pieces (read mine here!) … but before "Who's House" had SO many implications, Adam already had a love/hate situationship with Kenny. And having Omega insert himself into the title picture now – when Page and Strickland are already balancing their hardwon alliance against both wanting the same prize – has led to such tasty Triangular implications…

But one man in the title picture is the odd-man-out of that triangle: Andrade. Hooking up again with Don Callis's management puts some personal heat on the upcoming #-1 Contender match with Omega, at least. But other than his manager's forever-grudge with Kenny, Andrade has no personal issue with any of the other contenders OR the current champ. He's just a top-level competitor who wants to be champion. That's a feature, not a bug – Andrade's simple hunt for gold just puts into greater relief the messiness of all of the other relationships involved.

Patient zero of that mess is indubitably our main character, the Hangman Adam Page. We've talked about his history with Swerve and with Kenny, but let's not leave out our champion (for now!) Maxwell. While only rarely coming into direct contact, Adam Page and Max Friedman developed in parallel along with AEW itself (with the Men's Singles World scene, specifically) going all the way back to Day One, each growing from the hot rookie who isn't QUITE ready, to perennial champions along parallel paths – always clearly side-eyeing each other (disapprovingly) along their journey, even when not directly involved.

MJF's returning promo back in December was (understandably) poorly received because of his unfortunate penchant for crossing the line in his attempts to be edgy and topical. But there was one part of that promo that I (at least) found really intriguing: the part where he addressed Page. Why was Max – the ultimate min-maxer – throwing his fate to the wind by risking his guaranteed shot at the World title in a chaotic four-way match? When he'd gone to so much trouble to save it in reserve back when pursuing Page's World title before, 5 months ago?  

Friedman's answer: because he wanted to silence Page's assertions of his cowardice by not considering the odds for once. Max, naturally, framed this as one-upping Hanger, but… from an objective pov… isn't he actually saying that Hangman is in his head? Rent free? Provoking him to that thing he hates most: personal growth? Maybe even… to be a more worthy champion?

Last week's Dynamite closed with Page stopping Friedman as he was about to jump into his getaway car after the others in the title picture had already one-by-one buttonholed him about their designs on Max's title. But rather than taking the opportunity to have the last word, Hangman instead got a thoughtful look on his face, and then let Max leave without a word. What was that about? It's intriguing, anyway, especially in the context of MJF having revealed back when he first returned that he actually cares what Hangman thinks… 

Honestly, it reminds me of Hanger "mistakenly" wandering into Swerve's dressing room, beginning a slow-burn tease of a new chapter in their relationship, until they finally sat down and hashed out their differences. Sheer speculation on my part, here – odds are, Page's silence didn't signify anything more than deciding that there was nothing more to be said about his ongoing intent to take the Men's World title. But MAYBE Hangman was thinking "hey, I see you Max: in your fumbling weird way, I see you trying to be better, to be more worthy of that belt on your shoulder." Wouldn't that be interesting? Can't wait to find out!

Tommaso Ciampa

"Something Something Shadow, Something Something Story…?"

by Emiliana.

This week we had the esteemed pleasure of welcoming some new faces to the roster. It seems that January is the month of brand new contract signings, so we got guys like Clark Connors, the Rascalz, and Tommaso Ciampa to debut (or re-debut) in our little corner of wrestling. While they all had stellar debuts, one outshone the rest by far. Tommaso Ciampa, an NXT black-and-gold era acolyte, made his surprise appearance after Mark Briscoe announced the return of the TNT title open challenge - but barring the entirety of the Don Callis Family from participating. And yeah, fair enough, those men are a handful and Briscoe has had to contend with them for the past half a year or so already. I imagine that gets old.

In lieu of them, an incredible new theme hit signaling the return of the RoH famed “Psycho Killer” Tommaso Ciampa. The lights, the music! He walked up to Mark Briscoe in the ring and planted a kiss on him. Truly, he understood the assignment. You can’t work AEW unless you get a lil’ gay with it.

This obviously set up a match for Collision on Saturday. And boy, what a banger. I can’t say I’ve figured out the taste of my co-correspondent Abel, but surely this match is in contention for Match of the Week. (Ed: as you see above, yes Abel DID choose this as Match otW) I have the brain of a goldfish, so all I can give you is vibes: the Arlington crowd was SUPER pumped for this match, and it even felt at times that the crowd was behind Ciampa more than Briscoe. Either way, the match was hot, and both these veterans delivered a brutal match that they could be proud of. I never claimed to be spoiler free, so I gotta say - the result of this match was interesting. It’s not often you get a WWE star walk in and immediately win a title. I’m sure many will compare his debut to the former Powerhouse Hobbs’ debut at the Royal Rumble. For the sake of making AEW the greener grass, I hope all the WWE wrestlers are paying attention.

Anyway, the match ended and both men came together in an embrace and the softest forehead nuzzle I’ve seen in ages. We are all back in our 19th century yearning eras. It’s about time!

Ciampa had a promo later on with a family appearance, which was sweet. But in terms of character, it seems he’s pulling from a familiar bag of tricks. When referring to the TNT title belt, he used terms of endearment and compared the belt to his daughter. I’ve been waiting on more wrestlers that would treat the title belts with, to quote Hangman Adam Page, “reverence.” And here we are. Let’s make that dragon sickness into full text rather than subtext.

PS, however: If I have to read the words “his shadow knows his story” one more time in an internet shitpost I may lose it. It’s been one week, guys. Let’s not overdo it.