Get YAMCHA'd, Loser! | AEWeekly #213

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 and the week's MVP, Larissa [@actual-swamp-hag.bsky.social] expanding on the Moment of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking about the Best Interview, as well as editing and organizing it all.

 A page of links to prior installments may be found here: #AEWeekly

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Will Ospreay vs Mark Davis

“So, We Meet Again…”

by Abel.

This week, Pro Wrestling Musings’ Match of the Week was an easy pick. Not because it was a down week – it was a really good week in matches – but because that is how good Mark Davis versus Will Ospreay in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament semi-final was. Both wrestlers know each other well and have trained together for countless hours, and it showed during their main event match on last week’s Dynamite. It had everything I look for in a match: high-flying, physicality, and storytelling – all wrapped up into one fantastic match that showcased how two friends who grew up together are battling for a world title. Inject that straight into my veins!

​The atmosphere for the match was built throughout the night, as the advertisement seemed to appear every 5 minutes. It paid off, though, as the crowd was white-hot for it. As soon as Ospreay’s music hit, every set of cheeks lifted from those seats and started to sing along with Ospreay’s song. Davis even had a great heel entrance, too. People were booing and giving him the thumbs down, which is a great sign! (Any reaction is better than no reaction.) The work Davis has put in on his character, physique, and in-ring skills has paid off. He is no longer the lost third member of United Empire. He is his own man.

The match itself was extraordinary. You can tell Ospreay and Davis have spent hours, days, and months together over the last few years, perfecting their technique. I did notice a couple of hiccups in the match; however, this is where the experience comes in. I saw them working through it and they course-corrected mid-move, almost seamlessly. This is where their familiarity came into play and paid off. I don't want to say that Davis is the perfect base for Ospreay, but he's getting up there. Ospreay moves so effortlessly with Davis, as he trusts him to catch him when needed. That also means that Ospreay trusts Davis to just throw Ospreay around like a trashbag. It's poetry in motion.

Dunkzilla has the look and the moveset of a madman. He throws himself around like he wasn't 350+ lbs. Everything he does looks, and I'm sure feels, so tough. Chops, clothesline, and elbows all look like they could decapitate an elephant. His piledrivers look so incredibly vicious. The quick motion and sudden drop to them gives them this look that makes you think Ospreay, or any of his opponents, is going to snap their head right off their neck – and with Ospreay’s history of neck problems, that is the perfect storytelling tool.

​Of course, Ospreay is still as incredible as ever. He has obviously cut down on his moveset since his injury, but you wouldn't notice if you weren't paying attention. His bag is so deep (as the kids say) that he can still leave us in awe. I think one of his tricks is that he limits his time in the air but still makes the moves look devastating. Example: that spinning kick he landed on Davis. It was low impact for him, while still spinning to make it look extraordinary. It also helps that this Death Rider’s storyline has “taught” him to be more efficient and to develop a mat game, so he has a storyline reason for changing his style up.

​The hijinks that ensued after Paul Turner was knocked out by a Davis enzuigiri is what I live for. The Don Calli Family and The Death Riders went full gang wars, and we even got to see Konosuke Takeshita finally get his licks back against Kyle Fletcher. Everyone was out there, creating chaos, including Marina Shafir. I pop every time Marina Shafir gets into fights with the men. It's such a good, believable spot for her. Each and every near fall after the referee bump was eaten up and loved by the crowd. Because I mean, c’mon. We all thought that final pile driver was going to be it for Ospreay.

​I might be looking too much into it, but I think – before Fletcher stopped him – Ospreay was going to hit Davis with the Tiger Driver 91. This will play a big part in the finals against whoever I can only assume is Swerve. But Ospreay was finally able to get payback on Davis and tap him out with the Death Ground, which came after an unbelievable transition from Davis back to the mat. Ospreay is now back in the Owen Hart Final for the second consecutive year

​As good as this match was, I think the stories it is telling are that much better. Which is saying something because this match kicked so much ass. The path towards the final was littered with ghosts from his past and hurdles to his future. Samoa Joe taking him back to the time right before he broke his neck, Davis being the one who broke Ospreay after his return. And next, (I'm presuming Swerve will be the winner tonight) a former friend who once helped him to take down the Young Bucks will be in the way for his redemption and his place at Wembley. (Ed. Note: Swerve is also the man who crushed Ospreay's first shot at AEW gold.) It's full circle. Tournaments, when done right, like it is here, are a great storytelling tool.

Shane Taylor

"I WANT to believe!"

by Sergei.

Here are some words by me about Shane Taylor:

It’s tough to come across as a threat just on big words while you’re being booked to consistently lose. AEW doesn’t do upsets often. (And rightly so: an upset isn’t an upset if they happen all the time.) But STP needs to start picking up wins to back up their words, and I hope that tonight is the night!

These words could be about Taylor's massive opportunity at the John Moxley's Continental Championship tonight. But they aren't. They were about Taylor's previous attempt to take down Moxley – two and a half years ago!

I feel the same way about Taylor now as I did then: he is a performer with every tool needed to take on whatever role AEW needs of him. In that intervening 2 1/2 years, what AEW has in fact needed has been a steady hand to help bring up their kids on their developmental show. And that's a worthy task, no doubt. But I am a selfish man – I want to see Main Event Shane Taylor and the biological clock for that to ever happen is ticking VERY loudly.

Shane Taylor cut not one, but two attention-grabbing promos on Saturday night. Both were brief meat-and-potatos callouts. He didn't weave a story about the reason for his grudge against Moxley (though he can, and has in that Interview of the Week back in early 2024.) But he was instantly compelling and convincing, and I had no question from that instant that despite everything, he would be my Interview of the Week.

For comparison's sake, Samoa Joe cuts very similar promos: threat-filled harangues that are well-suited to his deep voice and imposing frame. The difference is that Samoa Joe has DECADES of success – long undefeated streaks, wins over some of the biggest legends of the business, any reversal of fortune self-evidently temporary. Shane Taylor has NONE of that. He makes the same threats and promises week in and week out and he never delivers. (Not on the upper-midcard or higher levels, anyhow.) And yet every time he comes across as credible. Every time he makes you believe.

Which unfortunately means... for any rational booker the logical use for Shane Taylor is to keep letting him job to the stars until he eventually wears out that credibility. It's working, why change it? Which is why I thank my lucky stars that – at least some of the time – Tony Khan is an absolute madman and maybe we'll get something different tonight. Some kind of outcome that allows Taylor to build on the momentum that started on Saturday.

As Moxley said about Taylor's chess moves Saturday night:

Would I have done the same? Maybe. But I wouldn't make that move unless I was absolutely sure. Because what happens when you get there – Continental championship match, mano y mano – you find out you are not who you thought you were. Wednesday night on Dynamite? I'm going to give you exactly what you asked for.

So, both in and out of kayfabe, the stakes could not be higher for Taylor tonight. They could've made this a Qualifier match, to allow Shane the opportunity to finally get one win over Mox without huge ramifications, but they didn't do that. It's a title match: all or nothing. Do they have some crazy plan to keep Taylor's momentum going, or will it be back to the drawing board, just like in 2024? 

I'm on tenterhooks!

Mercedes Moné

"The CEO returns to clean house"

by Larissa.

The AEW women’s division has taken some serious hits in the last few months. Toni Storm is out through at least the rest of the year for reasons that are still unclear, Willow Nightingale was recently forced to vacate the TBS championship and drop out of the Owen Hart tournament, and Mercedes Moné has been on the world tour from hell, dropping all of her 13 belts one after another. In their absence, some women have stepped up – thank God for Thekla – but it wasn’t until one of the roster’s stars returned on Dynamite this week that I realized just how much I’ve missed her. There was plenty of speculation about who Alex Windsor’s “wild card” opponent might be in the first round of the Owen Hart tournament. When Mercedes Moné swaggered out from the heel tunnel, draped in about 30 feet of gold chain, I was reminded of why she’s one of the biggest stars in wrestling. She just has it all – charisma, scorching in-ring ability, and some of the coolest gear I’ve ever seen

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Moreover, this isn’t the frantic, fragile Mercedes we saw towards the end of her “Belt Collector” reign a few months ago – instead, she has returned as a cold, calculating assassin. At one point during the match, (which was a banger, by the way. Alex and Mercedes have great in-ring chemistry) Mercedes looked like she was about to crash out, then stopped and said to herself “I’m good. I went to therapy,” and ended up getting the win over Windsor to advance in the tournament. I think the CEO will claw her way to the Owen Hart final, but first, she has to get through Stardom’s Hazuki in what I anticipate is going to be a brutally hard-hitting match. The women’s division has been feeling stagnant lately, and Moné’s return was like a shot of pure adrenaline. I can’t wait to see what evil deeds she gets up to next.

Honorable mention: Excalibur’s lovely sign-off on Dynamite: “Fix your hearts or die!” What an artful, appropriate way to acknowledge Pride Month and show love to trans folks in particular. Classy stuff.

Shane Taylor

"Rumble, Bad Man. Rumble..."

by Abel.

Shane Taylor is this week’s Pro Wrestling Musings' MVP. I don't think anyone would have expected that to open a review in 2026. (Ed. Note: true, should've been much sooner!) Yet Taylor has been putting in the work, and with Shane Taylor Promotions, has lifted the profile of everyone in his faction. It feels out of left field for Taylor and Shane Taylor Shane Taylor Promotions to be getting this push, but if you've been watching ROH over the last year or so, you know it isn't sudden. Taylor seems to be another talent benefiting from scratching Tony Khan's back.

Taylor and his Shane Taylor Promotions have been feuding with Big Boom AJ and the rest of Costco for the last couple of months on the PPVs, platforming AEW outside of the usual wrestling bubble. Now, Taylor is getting his, feuding with the biggest fish in the pond-- Jon Moxley and the Death Riders. TK and Creative gave Shane Taylor Collision as his canvas, and Taylor ran with it. Between winning a squash match, being on commentary, destroying Wheeler Yuta, and challenging Moxley for the Continental Championship, this week's Collision might as well have been called, Shane Taylor Presents: Collision.

Taylor started his night by absolutely killing old AEW regular Alan Angels in a quick 3-minute match, which built his profile and momentum and officially reintroduced him to the audience at large. This recent push hasn't just been for Taylor. Lee Moriarty, the Infantry, and everyone else have been getting major minutes later by starting fights with Nigel McGuinness and The Death Riders. The start of Shane Taylor Productions, about 2 years ago now, has been a great landing spot for all these guys and gals. They thrived as a midcard heel stable, and now they are being catapulted to the tippy top.

After making quick work of Angels, Taylor then sat on commentary. They don't let just anyone sit at commentary, as you have to have the skills to push the storyline ahead while still paying attention to the match. (Ed. Note: Taylor is and always has been magnificent on the mic. But as our history guy Peter pointed out in his recent GOAT100 profile of Superstar Billy Graham, even a legend on the mic can't always hack it in the booth.) Even though The Infantry and Lee Moriarty lost, this was a means to an end to help Taylor finally call his shot and challenge for the Continental Championship. After beating Yuta senseless, Taylor’s promo on Collision, calling out Jon – or as he said, Jonathan Moxley – was the promo of the week. He came off looking like a legitimate contender for Moxley’s Continental title and as a master strategist.

Moxley quickly responded, basically asking if Taylor is ready for this moment. If this is what Taylor is asking for, then Moxley is more than happy to oblige and give him his title shot at this week’s Dynamite. As with my thoughts on RUSH, last week’s MVP, I hope this isn't a one-and-done push for Shane or the rest of his crew. They have been so good at shit-stirring and presenting themselves as a legitimate rival to the Death Riders that what they have been doing in the developmental mid-card can definitely work at the top of the card.

​Shane Taylor has left his mark in AEW, propelling him to the top of the card and our MVP of the Week. Collision has become integral to AEW’s storytelling, with Shane Taylor (among others) as a perfect example. Wrestlers who need and want a shot are given Collision to see if they sink or swim. Taylor and Shane Taylor Promotions are not only swimming, but also having a summer pool party!