Hating Haters Hate | AEWeekly #187

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 a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking Best Interview and with a few words on Moment as well as editing and organizing it all.

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

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Hangman vs Josh Alexander

"The most important word in All Elite Wrestling is wrestling…"

by Abel.

Sometimes, two hosses can go at it without the need of a title. Sometimes, they want to beat each other's asses for the love of the game. That is what "Hangman" Adam Page and "The Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander did in the opening match of Dynamite last Wednesday, and why it's earning the title of match of the week. This is the second singles bout between the two, the first of which came in Alexander's AEW debut during the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament quarterfinal on the April 16, 2025, edition of Dynamite. That match was a banger, and the sequel lived up to the expectations it set. 

Before the match started, Bryan Danielson got a hero's welcome as he began his tenure as one of the official members of the Dynamite announce team. What a match to debut on! The insight Danielson gives to these matches is at a level only one of the greatest ever can provide, and he will be a welcome addition to the commentary team.

On to the match. To describe this fight as physical doesn't even start to explain how much these two men put their bodies on the line. Alexander and Hangman have sneaky good chemistry in the ring, as if they had wrestled each other a million times. The flow between each spot and each moment in the match was seamless, making the match riveting to watch, even more so on the second go-round. 

Both men demonstrated their physical strength, agility, and athleticism in this match, which was highlighted in the best two spots of the match (and of the night.) Alexander German suplexing Hangman from the ring, to the apron, to the walkway, then Hangman still having the stamina to complete a backflip out of the German Suplex is quietly one of the most athletic things I have ever seen. Hangman continues to prove why he is one of the best wrestlers in the world right now, and possibly, of a generation.

Not to be outdone, Alexander's avalanche front flip/ senton bomb with Hangman on his shoulders was beautifully executed and gave the crowd an honest, “HOLY S***” moment. If you were lucky enough to see Alexander during his TNA run, this type of match shouldn't come as a surprise to you. While known as a technical wrestler, Alexander does have enough “weapons” in his arsenal to compete with some of the best in the world. Hopefully, with this match against Hangman under his belt, Alexander can now receive the singles push he deserves in All Elite Wrestling, as he has proven he can work on the mic and in the ring on a bigger stage.

It's refreshing to see a world champion that is on our television every week, wrestling some of the best talent the company has to offer. That builds the current roster's middle and top of the card, and elevates the entire promotion. Even if it's not for the world title, now we all know that Alexander can bang with the best of them, and has now gotten the Hangman seal of approval. The more we see of the Cowboy on our televisions, the better for the company … and for our eyes. 

What followed after the match was an excellent setup for the Kyle Fletcher vs Hangman match at All Out, which will probably be the match of the night on Saturday. Hangman, just as he did with Alexander in this match, is poised to help launch Fletcher into the stratosphere and make him a bona fide top-of-the-card player.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman

"I am Married to Hate..."

by Sergei.

Sometimes someone says a phrase that is both badass and sums up their character so perfectly that it comes to mind any time you think of them. For example, when you think of Kevin Conroy's Batman, you can't even help but think of "I am the night, I am vengeance, I am Batman." Max Friedman had a few words commenting on attacking Mark Brisco the very day after his own wedding (recorded last week post-Collision but played for us on national TV on Dynamite) that I think might sum up his character in an equally punchy manner:

I am married to hate

I am married to vengeance

I am married to ending you

The context here: during the main event at the most recent PPV, Mark Briscoe caused a distraction during MJF's shot at the AEW World Championship (in Max's mind, at least), costing him the title. Then, a week before last Friday, our Max got married to interviewer Alicia Atout. The next day, he got wind that Briscoe would be fighting to become #1 contender that night, making it a perfect opportunity for his revenge. Evidently, his new bride told him that if he walked out that door and prioritized a wrestling beef over their honeymoon, it was over. Our asshole then explained why he couldn't prioritize her, even though they're newlyweds: because when they said "I do," he had already been married…. to hate, vengeance, etc.

Whether (kayfabe) Maxwell is really headed for an annulment remains to be seen. But interrupting his own honeymoon to answer Kendrick Lamar's challenge to us all to be better haters earned him the AEWeekly MVP spot last week, convincing MVP writer Emiliana in spite of her own hate toward Maxwell. But, foppr me, Max's unhinged words about the situation were the hate icing on the hate cake. MJF's character is often typified as cynical and calculating, but this emotional and rage-driven side is one I wouldn't at all mind seeing more of.

Daniel Garcia 

"Danny, no..."

by Lauren.

Over the past several months, Daniel Garcia found himself hitting a wall. No matter how much effort he put in, no matter how much the crowd has been behind him, even physically lifting him up at points, he was on a losing streak. He lost his chance at the TNT Title twice, then he lost his chance for a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Title to Nigel McGuinness (and then Nigel broke his promise to Danny that he would win,) and finally he has been throwing himself unsuccessfully against Jon Moxley. This week, he gave in to the old adage, “If you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em,” by attacking Darby Allin on Dynamite. Sweet spunky Danny Garcia is now a Death Rider.

Danny's choice has been a long time coming, and is more meaningful than it appears at first glance. Unlike Wheeler Yuta, who in many ways has been the Bryan Danielson to Danny's Nigel McGuinness, Danny made his turn without a direct physical betrayal. While Danielson, Nigel, and Daddy Magic have all expressed disappointment – Bryan's soft, “Danny, no,” from commentary was heartwrenching – and Daddy Magic screamed in his face on Collision, he has not touched them. Yuta, in comparison, has murdered first Chuck Taylor and then Bryan Danielson.

Yuta has also been dubbed the Death Riders’ whipping boy, with Mox and Claudio Castagnioli seeming to withdraw all affection after their rebranding. Marina Shafir, who joined after their turn, has seemed to regard Yuta as an annoying dog she's inherited. Danny, in contrast, feels like the pet she picked out. When Danny and Mox teamed against the Paragon on Collision, she encouraged Danny. She smiled at him. She patted his cheek.

Likewise, when Bryan Danielson was still active in the ring, Danny seemed to receive more attention from him than Yuta, Bryan's official teammate and protégé. Bryan did his best to lure Danny – then a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society and identifying as a sports entertainer instead of a wrestler – to his side, the American Dragon's interest signaling what a spectacular technical wrestler Danny truly is. Since then, Danny won the Ring of Honor Pure Championship off of Wheeler Yuta, and won the AEW TNT Championship, which Yuta has yet to win. But Garcia has been title-less since June of 2025.

After a year of near-misses and almost-wins, it became clear that Danny needed something to push him beyond his current point, and his matches against Mox showed that the something was ruthlessness. For now, the scrappy kid is gone, and the Red Death seems to be taking his place. The next few weeks and months will show whether or not he finds that killer instinct, how Yuta will react to this interloper, and what will become of his relationship with Daddy Magic after they inevitably meet inside the ring.

Timeless Toni Storm

"...and the Oscar for headbutting a beer can goes to..."

by Sergei.

We've been without someone to cover Moment of the Week for a while now, and it occurred to me: I always envisioned this segment as being for honoring true Moments – that is to say, a split second, or maybe as many as two or three seconds, when something just amazing happens.

A picture (or maybe a gif) is worth a thousand words, so how many words does it really take to talk about why a Moment is awesome? Maybe not so many, so maybe we can make this a brief section that whichever of our regulars feels like it any given week can write on top of their regular beat without it being too onerous.

This week the moment I want to talk about is Timeless Toni Storm doing Sandman schtick before her Philly Street Fight last Wednesday. She came out with a trash can full of plunder and the last item was a beer can which she proceeded to chug, then repeatedly smash into her own forehead and then spit the beer into the air, prompting the Philly faithful to erupt in an "EC-dub!" chant. She then prompted the cameraman to zoom in on the "Singapore" cane she was holding to reveal it had been signed by ECW legend Sandman himself.

What I think makes this moment SO special is that it's amazing in-and-of itself – out of context, it's just a fantastic visual – but at the same time the context adds to it in so many different ways. It fits the tone with the match being a street fight, it provides fan-service since the location and crowd are such a storied ECW venue. And it suits the Timeless character, since she's an actor so she's playing a role…

All of those aspects compound to build a moment that with no context at all would've been cool as fuck to create a memory for fans that I think will last and feature in highlight reels for years to come.

Danny Garcia

"A New (Evil) Beginning..."

by Emiliana.

It’s been a really long while since the last good, well-developed story with Danny Garcia. For the past year, maybe two, it’s felt like he’s just been drudging along, doing matches, losing, whatever. Yes, he won the TNT title during that time, but let’s be honest - it was a nothing reign. And the entire feud with Adam Cole built around the title was kind of nothing at best and boring at worst. That might not be true for others, but it was true for me. It was even more disappointing because I considered both Adam Cole and Danny Garcia in that upper echelon of guys that I’m a fan of.

And yes, he was part of the storyline between FTR, Nigel McGuinness and Tony Schiavone. But even in that story - it was more about Nigel McGuinness and Schiavone than it ever was about Danny, which is a shame because of the four men in the storyline that were ring ready, Danny is the youngest and had the most potential to work with. If anything, yeah, that’s the guy you want to build? But no. That’s not how it worked.

Then Nigel got a shot at the IWGP title over Danny, and everyone thought that, with him asking for Danny to second him and be in his corner, it meant we’d see a turn in the near future….and nothing. No turn. Forbidden Door came and went. I was fairly disappointed; truly by this point I thought we’d see something evolve in Danny’s character. Past his initiation into the JAS and then the dissolving of that faction, which was YEARS AGO now, it’s felt stagnant.

And then the Philadelphia residency happened and we began to see more of Garcia on television, but more importantly – we saw Jon Moxley taking an interest in him.

Gotta say: love when Mox is on the prowl for fresh meat. Good stuff.

Anyway, so this week we had Danny come out to help the Death Riders at the end of the $500K tag match. It was quite a shock to me for sure, despite that there was clearly something brewing. I guess I just didn’t expect anything to actually happen because the last two times we thought Garcia would choose a different path, he didn’t. But I’m glad he did here, and that Bryan Danielson was on commentary to witness it. (Something tells me he won’t sit behind the desk for long.)

On Saturday, we watched Garcia and Mox in a tag match, but what I enjoyed most was the way that Garcia behaved at the end of the show. Daddy Magic came up to him, yelling in his face, asking where his pants were (Danny was wearing different ring attire than normal). But Danny’s facial expression was dead, complete apathy, like a young rebellious teenager that’s just started hanging out with terrible influences and couldn’t give less of a damn. Just genius. Chef’s kiss.

I’m unsure what we can expect from this new outlook on life, but personally, I’d love to know what the dynamics will be between Yuta and Danny, and hell, maybe even Stat if she ends up in the group. But Yuta and Danny have a storied history with each other, so it will be interesting to see if they can deal with being on the same team. I will greatly enjoy the competitive sibling rivalry for sure. Danny and Mox have been some of the most compelling bits of television this week for me, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store.