Beat the Clock | AEWeekly #232

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, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring an Intriguing Story Beat, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking about the Best Interview, as well as editing and organizing it all. We also added Quick Takes on the above categories plus on Impactful Moment, Best Move, Best Call & Most Valuable.

Larissa [@actual-swamp-hag.bsky.social] will be on hiatus from writing up Moment to focus on a VERY cool project that I can't wait to tell you more about!

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.

“The only way out is through…”

by Abel.

WrestleDream 2026 was another great AEW PPV. The card was full of fantastic matches – especially Young Bucks vs. Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Knight – that could have won match of the night, but only one brought me to tears: Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis for the AEW Continental Championship. On the surface, the match was simple to follow: two men fighting to best each other for one of the promotion's major championships. But beneath the bombastic wrestling theatrics was a story of a man fighting grief… finally letting his emotions flood over him so he could begin to heal from the loss of a comrade.

The match itself was great. It was a physical spectacle, with both brutes beating the absolute shit out of each other. The match blended physicality and psychology, and we, the audience, were invested for many reasons. The energy at the start was unlike anything I've ever felt at a wrestling bout. I couldn't imagine what it felt like inside the arena. Davis radiated strength and confidence; how could he not? After all, he had pinned the Continental Champion just three days earlier on Dynamite. 

In the other corner, a visibly emotional Moxley carried the weight of both the belt and his grief. The visual nods to The Death Rider’s late friend—Mox wearing the Newcastle FC jersey and Pac’s chair and towel—made it clear Moxley was going into a place he doesn't visit very often.

Throughout the match, you could see Moxley trying to heal in real time. Healing from the loss of a loved one isn't instantaneous, linear, or timed. However, there is a start, and this match was the start of Moxley’s journey. Moxley was too busy holding the locker room together, so he finally had time to mourn his friend and fellow Death Rider. He mourns by getting the shit beat out of him, then doing what he does best: performing for the rest of us and proving he is one of the best. It's almost like he has to feel physically to feel emotionally. Hence the crimson mask from Moxley, which we haven't seen in a while. 

The match climaxed with Davis’ piledriver on Moxley. It was absolutely BRUTAL and the clear turning point. The way Mox’s head slid off Davis’s thighs, due to the blood and sweat, was a sight to behold. That same piledriver also led to the match's emotional highlight: Danny Garcia and Marina Shafir giving Moxley a pep talk to help the former world champion push past the finish line – a magical moment, the kind that makes watching wrestling worth it.

As Moxley leaned against the barricade looking defeated as the ten count ticked down, his Death Rider compatriots appeared behind him, just on the other side (to honor Continental division rules.) Together they talked the doubt out of him and filled him with the confidence he needed to push himself back into the ring before the ten. He rode that momentum to a Bulldog-choke win over Davis, retaining his Continental Championship. ​

The details of the match itself aren't that important, not because it wasn't good, but because it was. This match, at least for me, was impactful because of the burden of grief Mox carried and because he was finally able to start the mourning process. Seeing Moxley cry is like seeing a father figure you have never seen be emotional, cry for the first time. As tough as Moxley is, the Death Rider openly weeping is a middle finger to the toxic masculine mentality that states, “Boys don't cry,” because we most certainly do.

Moxley has won world titles and had some of the best matches at some of the biggest venues in the world. This might have been the most important match of his illustrious career. Watching Moxley leave the ring, covered in literal blood, sweat, and tears, is an image I will never forget, seared into my brain.

​As for Davis, while Mox beat Dunkzilla, the Australian wrestler beat the absolute dog shit out of Mox and keeps raising his profile in AEW. Davis has already been a National Champion, but I don't think that is his ceiling, and his recent run proves it. But this match, specifically from Moxley, was a case study in how wrestling can heal viewers and talent alike.

Sergei: My Match of the Week was (also) Jon Moxley taking on the personification of mortality and grief (played this night by Mark Davis.) I go into the emotional stakes more in Story below, but I'll just note: what a star-making performance from Davis! (And a generous one from Mox….) 

…More on that aspect in Most Valuable below!

Lauren: Mercedes and Thekla kicked off the PPV proper with a barnburner of a match that showed why the women’s roster needs to be taken more seriously. Between the character work and the moves, they set the bar high for everyone else.

Sergei: God DAMN that piledriver and/or Ganso Bomb from Davis to Moxley on the apron!

Lauren: The men’s tag match was full of them, but this move that Kyle Fletcher and Nick Jackson did where Kyle lifted Nick up for a power bomb but Nick reversed into a pin attempt had me screaming.

“Watching Birds…”

by Sergei.

I'd been waiting all week for a really moving, inspiring speech from a wrestler this week and had resigned myself to no awardee this week. Moxley's segment wailing on a pallet was amazing but… not exactly a promo really, right?

But then the day after the PPV, this little social media exclusive segment hit my feed and reminded me… sometimes a wrestling interview is just goofy fun!

Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron depict Irwin-esque naturalists birdwatching… specifically letting us know they have their eyes on the Brawling Birds.

“One of them is mating with an Ospreay!” “Good for her!”

It's goofy, it's silly, it's a little meta when Harley suddenly tries to explain that it's all a metaphor and Kris carries her away reassuring her that we get it…. And it's legit funny rather than awkward and forced like mediocre humor segments tend to be. A real breath of fresh air!

Lauren: Kyle Fletcher being referred to as Scottie Pippin and his increasing confusion as Kevin Knight continued with the basketball metaphors got me good.

Sergei: 

…Just because somebody is strong enough to carry something, doesn't mean it's not heavy…

– Renee Paquette

Lauren: 

THE PANTS KICKED OUT!

-Tony Schiavone

“Just because somebody is strong enough to carry something doesn’t mean that it’s not heavy…”

by Lauren.

WrestleDream was largely a spot of fun after an emotionally grueling few weeks. The deaths of Andy “The Butcher” Williams and Benjamin “PAC” Satterly have still been looming over both the roster and the fans, so a fairly low-stakes celebration felt welcome. But among the pants fights, man-drawn spider chariots, and Clockwork Carnage, was Jon Moxley defending the Continental Championship against Mark Davis.

The Death Riders have been supporting each other since PAC’s death, even physically huddling around an empty chair with his towel draped on it. His chair remains in the red-lit hallways that they prefer to enter from, a visible reminder of someone who is still one of them despite no longer being physically with them. Jon Moxley in particular has been living up to his locker room leader reputation behind the scenes, with stories of him calling to check on other members of the roster coming out since the very day of PAC’s death. Onscreen, this has been affecting him, most visibly in a post-loss freakout where he confessed that he wasn’t sure he could tell the difference from emotional or physical pain any more. Anyone who has suffered a loss in their life can relate to this, the grief that feels like a tangible presence inside of you and leaves room for little else.

The Mox of the beginning of the match felt like a far cry from the fierce brawler that he normally is, allowing Davis to have the upper hand and barely putting up a token defense. One hit opened up Mox’s head causing him to gush blood, a sight that has become more rare in the years since the formation of the Death Riders. The sight of his own blood rallied Mox a little, but not as much as the presence of his teammates. Marina Shafir and Danny Garcia met him at the barriers, with Marina reminding Mox that the only way out is through. Again, anyone who has experienced grief knows how true this is. There is no reprieve from grief. There is no escape. There is only endurance until the weight becomes easier to bear.

Mox fought back against Davis, who was presented as a horror movie monster of a competitor, nearly supernatural in his ability to give and take damage. Mox nearly had the upper hand applying PAC’s Brutalizer hold, but Davis was able to slip out of it, forcing Mox to resort to climbing on Davis’ back like an angry koala, desperately choking his opponent, who once again seemed to gather himself. Roaring, standing straight up and throwing his arms out in defiance, Davis finally collapsed and Mox retained.

Artists frequently express their emotions through their art, and this is no different. Mox and Davis put on a beautiful externalization of the process of grief: the despair, the pain, and the relentlessness of the situation, followed by the strength needed to keep coming back and putting one foot in front of the other. How what you take from your relationships can help you to keep going, and how ultimately you are going to be the person who has to get through it on your own terms.

I sincerely thank Moxley, Davis, the Death Riders, and the rest of the AEW roster for inviting us in and sharing their grief with us. Spreading the weight can make it easier to bear.

Sergei: I agree that Jon Moxley grappling with mortality and grief was the most gripping story this past week, crossing from an emotionally raw backstage segment on the late-nite hour of Collision Wednesday to the horror-movie Continental defense Saturday night. And on both nights, the concern and support of both Renee Paquette and Marina Shafir were a key part of that story.

Sergei: Brody King had tried everything to get Hangman Page to actually lock in on regaining the trios titles rather than obsessing over his nemesis / ex: logic, tough love, appealing to his better nature…. So when Page's hyperfixation kicked in, he seemed to decide… if nothing works, let's try something crazy. What if I pull him off and I start wailing on Swerve? And what do you know!? It worked!

Lauren: Jay White’s unexpected return made me scream and scare my cats!

Sergei: The Hangman Moment above was my personal favorite, but gotta give honorable mention to some really noteworthy moments: Aubrey Edwards counting two on Ciampa’s attempt to pin Andrade’s pants, and Will Ospreay avoiding Samoa Joe’s NOPE spot just to get “noped” again on his second try!

Sergei: There have been so many talents who have been called “break outs” for almost beating Jon Moxley, just to go right back to the spot they were… it makes me cynically dubious of that “rub”... BUT, I think that Mark Davis may be the exception, and that he might build from Saturday night's showing to become a genuine main-event force in the near future. (Obviously only time will tell for sure.) Partly because this one was on PPV, not some random Collision, and partly because Davis kicked Moxley's ass SO hard before the inevitable comeback.

Lauren: Props to Will Ospreay for the Clockwork Carnage. It ended up being a ton of fun, and to quote Bluesky poster @misskittyf: “This really is the kind of match an autistic dude with a special interest in wrestling would come up with.”

YTD (since All In) BEST ALL AROUND

And introducing a brand new category: Best All Around YTD (based on the AEW year, All In to All In)... Counting all awardees as weighted votes (weight based on 2 pts for a main section, 1.5 for a guest piece, 1 for a Quick Take and a 1/2 point for a pick with no wrote up. So far since All In, the Ace Jon Moxley has a commanding lead with about double the points of his runner-ups: Hangman, Swerve, and World Champion Will Ospreay, all within a point of each other:

Mark Davis making a strong showing moving into contention this week. Myron Reed is an interesting case, the least rounded of All Rounders based all on points for Match or Move!