No Apologies | AEWeekly #165

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 Sachin [@sachin0mac.bsky.social] talking Best Interview, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week, Peter [@peteredge7.bsky.social] giving us the MVP of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] editing and organizing it all.

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

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Chris Jericho

"You better respect Chris Jericho"

by Sachin.

This week majority of the time, promo wise, was allocated to Hurt People, Deathriders, FTR or Jericho. So even though match wise I was satiated there was nothing that scratched the itch promo wise. Athena came a close second as a vibes based promo but I preferred this as I consider this a more interesting write up than “ATHENA IS GREAT, ATHENA IS GREAT, ATHENA IS GREAT, ATHENA IS GREAT.”

And No, I don't wanna watch a Chris Jericho match in 2025 but it is hard to ignore what makes him such an invaluable asset for AEW. He doesn't get hurt, always shows up to work, puts over young talent when needed, is a great spokesman for AEW and has been involved in a lot of great segments, storylines and matches over the years. Admittedly they are few and far between now but If I am running the show I want this man around in some capacity.

It's hard to talk about Chris Jericho in a positive light nowadays as he has hurt quite a lot of goodwill that he accumulated over decades by continuing wrestling at his age in prominent spots. Nevertheless good work is good work and I can only pick from what is available and if Toni, Hangman and Swerve don't get the mic then the ex-wwe olds are gonna take over this section as well. 

“On Sunday I lost my match, I lost my tooth, and I lost my title. And even though that’s very disappointing to me, I have to give credit where credit is due. Congrats Bandido, you pulled it off. After months of conflict, Bandido was victorious, of course with the intrusive assistance of his sister and his mother. But I get it. He’s got his family, and I’ve got mine. So I’m going to bring them out right now. Please welcome Big Bill and Bryan Keith.”

Jericho walked out with a strict look, spoke simply and acknowledged his defeat to Bandido. A stark contrast to The Learning Tree which always had a disingenuous smile on his face and great but of delusion in his brain. I liked this a lot. Just by a simple and stern beginning the pre-established nature of this segment was dismantled. 

Bill and Keith came out at Jericho’s calling but weren't submissive like before as Bill interrupted and stopped him for berating them again-

“Look Chris, I already know what you’re going to say. You’re angry. You have every right to be angry. I’m angry. In fact I’ve been getting really angry a lot lately. Chris, I have the utmost respect for you. That is why I decided to join the Learning Tree, because I wanted to learn from you. But I did not sign up to be your punching bag whenever things go wrong. So, if we are out here so that you can teach us something, by all means, go ahead, teach. But if we are out here so you can berate us, then let me know right now and I can leave. And I know Bryan feels the same exact way.”

I'm not a big fan of the way Big Bill cuts promos, there is very little change in tone or volume and the pause between words comes off as mechanical. An example to further clarity would be Mercedez Mone, it comes off as written and pre-rehearsed. Still it wasn't bad by any measure as he said all that needed saying adequately. I wish Bryan had spoken here as well but Big Bill’s did enough to establish the new dynamic that will have to prevail if Jericho wants them around. Contrast this with the earlier Learning Tree segments where they served the same purpose as cardboard trees - set pieces whose purpose is to add more Chris Jericho's “aura”.

“That’s not why I brought either one of you out here. I believe in you and when I said I wanted you to win the World Tag Team Championships, I meant it. I hand-picked both of you to stand by me and teach you. You’re future world champions. Your victories are my victories, and your failures are my failures. I lost the ROH World Championship on Sunday and you weren’t there. Some might say it’s your fault I lost that match. But I’m not saying that. I don’t believe that at all. It’s okay. I’m not angry. I’m just disappointed.”

Jericho puts them over and frees them from him as these would be his last words until he returns in a couple of months (allegedly). He leaves angry, bitter and disappointed. Bill and Bryan have to figure it out by themselves now. They have no one to blame. The crowd reacts to them, they adore Big Bill and Bryan is clearly in a better position than he was before this story.

I think as time goes by (don't know how long he will be gone but) people will come to miss the crazy old man that was always around the block. He has been an integral part of AEW from the start and when people talk about “restoring the feeling” they are, whether they are aware or not, talking about the feeling that will always include Jericho in it. I say all this simply to acknowledge the fact that the pick of this week is influenced by my bias for Jericho and this story which I have enjoyed more than others, especially since Grand Slam Australia after which Chris became more serious. This entire story has set up not one (Bandido), not two (Keith), but three (Bill) beneficiaries for success, a complete opposite of a Hurt Syndicate feud, and if the story is not followed up on correctly or the execution is lacking than it's on the booker or the talent involved NOT CHRIS JERICHO.

The Elite

"And oh boy, were they ever pleased with themselves."

by Lauren.

The Elite have long been the emotional heart of AEW, though in recent years the company has grown and blossomed with wrestlers such as Darby Allin, Tony Storm, and MJF all having stories that became the core of the show. But it cannot be denied that the Young Bucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson,) Kenny Omega, and Hangman Adam Page elicit reactions like few others.

The Young Bucks appeared on this past Dynamite both to gloat and to explain why they felt the need to cost Swerve Strickland the men's World Title on Dynasty. They claimed that they were doing business with current champion and leader Jon Moxley, who scorned them and left as soon as they introduced themselves. But most importantly, they claimed to be doing their old friend Hangman a favor.

Hangman and Kenny were both fired from the Elite by the Bucks–Kenny for his health problems, and Hangman for his refusal to be a team player due to his single-minded focus on revenge against Swerve Strickland. But they viewed their meddling as an olive branch--hadn't Hangman vowed to ensure that Swerve never again held that title? To Hangman's credit, he later approached Prince Nana and swore that he had nothing to do with the whole scheme. Nana attempted to make amends, but while Hangman seems to be having second thoughts about the whole affair, he is not yet in any place to forgive anyone.

Kenny is also not ready to forgive. He approached them like Maleficent wondering why there had been no invite to the party, asking rhetorically why they hadn't done any favors for him, one of their oldest and truest friends. He proceeded to compare them to poorly behaved shih tzu dogs, accused the papers they shredded upon leaving AEW on Halloween 2024 of being receipts of illicit purchases, and looked to be ready to kick their asses before being interrupted by Okada.

The Bucks, while EVPs of the company and stars in their own right, seem to collect large blond men that they rally around. First Kenny, then Hangman, and currently Okada, who has historically been one of Kenny's most enduring rivals. While Okada is a legend, he is still a relative newcomer to AEW, whIle Kenny was one of its founding fathers and is also an EVP. Kenny outranks Okada, and if he isn't the heart of AEW, he is certainly close.

But the Bucks currently have little use for loyalty. They are still strutting and preening, lording their power over others and acting every inch the flashy glory hogs that critics have accused them of being.

Hangman is still growing, second-guessing himself and uncomfortable in his own skin after being the surest about anything that we've ever seen him. Kenny is now older and wiser, having seen the dizzying heights of accomplishment and the lows of nearly having it all taken away. But the Bucks are mercurial. Their only consistent loyalty is to each other, and it remains to be seen if they remember that they once considered Hangman and Kenny to be their family, too.

gif lovingly crafted by Emiliana

Hangman Adam Page

"Emotionally Intelligent Or Emotionally Incompetent?...

…Or, Alternatively; Hangman Is Just Like Everybody Else, Except In The Ways In Which He Is Not…"

by Emiliana.

The week before Dynasty, we got to see a very compelling exchange between Hangman Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. It concluded, for all I care, with Swerve admitting his own fault in his own demise and an emotionally tormented Hangman stalking away in his cowboy boots. Because it’s easy for Hangman to be angry. It’s easy for him to be the slighted one, to feel like the world is against him, that Swerve is against him, that he’s fighting against someone with whom he cannot engage in a meaningful conversation, someone who cannot be negotiated with.

Ten weeks ago, in another Moment, I mentioned that at the core of Hangman’s character, he is a man that is so often struggling with and searching for peace. It is both an internal and external struggle that haunts him every waking moment. At the time, I thought surely this was all to come to a head with Swerve, and they would reach a peace accord, or at the very least a tumultuous truce. Throughout the fall and winter, we saw that Hangman was coming into his own with the heel gimmick, only to be burdened by the consequences of his actions in unintentionally retiring Christopher Daniels. His choices were determined and intentional…until suddenly they weren’t.

This is what we saw at Dynasty. Ever since what happened with CD and Hangman’s first venture to Swerve’s locker room, Hangman is back in ambivalence territory. The only thing he was steadfast in was that Swerve Strickland did not deserve to become AEW men’s world champion once more. With this reiterated promise also came the promise that Swerve Strickland would get in his face about it, because what else could really be done? What else could Swerve Strickland do? Despite the lesson learned from Prince Nana, his robe, and Ricochet, Strickland still has a weakness when it comes to Page. And so they did their warrior’s dance once more, feeding off each other’s anger and resentment.

But as the Most Dangerous Man in AEW fixated on the men’s world champion and the world title, the sudden fire burning between he and Hangman escalated so quickly that instead of catching himself making it worse, Swerve did the one thing in the world that would pour water over the fire - he admitted the fault. And with that, Hangman’s rage subsided, if only for a moment.

Now we look to this past week, when Hangman stormed once again into Swerve’s locker room, this time to do the opposite of the last: where ten weeks ago he was looking, probably, to set the terms of a peace between them, now he goes to set the record straight - that he did not interrupt the main event of Dynasty out of some form of understanding with Swerve, that he did not go out there to help him, and do not write it in the newspaper that he did. Here, he lies to Nana - because that’s what he is, a lying liar who lies to himself - that he is not ready to forgive, that he is not ready to negotiate, that he is not ready for peace…because that would mean seeing Swerve in a different light than he has seen him in all this time. It’s also funny that he says if Swerve even thinks about distracting him in the Owen, they will pick up where they left off. Because that’s the easy route, the way their relationship has always been - personally, it felt like when your ex that you hate threatens to date you again despite saying they hate you: they want it bad (and yes, Hangman wants things to go back to the way they were, when it used to be much less complicated).

Hangman, once he’s got this off his chest, makes his move to leave. But the problem with other people is that they also have a right to speak, and they also have a right to react to one’s emotions. Hangman, for all that he has learned when it comes to communicating his emotions to others, still struggles to listen to others’ emotions.

As Nana begins to say that he cannot speak for Swerve but regrets his own actions, Hangman cuts him off.

“You STOP! Don’t you say another word. You don’t get that.”

Get what, exactly? The chance to admit regret? A chance at confession? In this moment, does Hangman see himself as an unwilling priest? I think about the apology that Matt Jackson gave to Hangman in 2022, after everything that went down between them and the rest of the Elite for three years at that point. I think about how, despite Hangman listening to Matt’s apology with an open heart, averted eyes, and an uncomfortable twisting of his body, he tells Matt that he can’t be his trios partner, because he promised to second the Dark Order already. With Matt, it was different. He let Matt say his piece but Matt went straight in from the apology to the thing that he needed from Hangman, a trios partner, and so Hangman never really had the opportunity to extend or deny forgiveness.

But that is not what an apology is for. I think about that a lot. There are many people that apologize to get something off their chest, usually the bad emotions like regret or even guilt at having done wrong and to extend a declaration of knowing better and doing better now. But apologizing does not always mean forgiveness. It is not the victim’s duty to extend it. And I think that is what Hangman means. Nana doesn’t get to apologize. It could go so many ways, as well - is it because Hangman believes the apology should come from Swerve? Is it because he believes neither of them deserve to apologize at all? Is it because Hangman was never given the opportunity to apologize for his own worst wrongs? Is it because he doesn’t see himself worthy of redemption, and so he will not extend that right to Prince Nana or to Swerve?

Does Hangman wish to deny Prince Nana the peace that Hangman himself can never hold onto?

You don’t get that.

An apology, despite forgiveness, is a closure. It is peace. It is the end of a chapter and the beginning of something new. It is a release of the bad to make way for the good. But Hangman is not ready. Or he’s lying.

When Swerve doused the fire, I believe Hangman was close to being ready. Have you ever argued with someone, given them the cold shoulder for a long while, and then realized you didn’t have it in you to hold a grudge anymore? Your whole body was ready to let go for so long but it took your mind another week to give in?

That’s what this feels like. It feels like Hangman knows he deserves better, and he wants to hear it. His body is ready to let go, but his mind - so long tormented - cannot.

I don’t know where this is going. I wish I knew. For now, I guess I’ll just have a giggle at Hangman’s inate ability to walk away from shit that makes him uncomfortable. My boy, the king of one way communication and discomfort with emotional conflict that he did not sign, seal, and approve.

FTR

"No, for real..."

by Peter.

The heel turn of FTR at Dynasty was as expected as a Bret Hart tribute during a Dax and Cash match. Let's be honest, it's been something that has been needed for a while now. They just look reinvigorated as a-hole heels (is this the point when I say that they are just being themselves with the dial turned to eleven).

The scene when they faked being on the stretcher and Dax wore the neck brace post their beat down of Cope was the funniest thing they have done in their AEW careers or not their entire careers.

The first Collision after Dynasty would be the first chance we got to find out the answer to the most cliche question in wrestling "why, _____, why".

Dax did reference the cliche immediately. He did point out to hecklers that their claim that Dax sold out was incorrect, pointing out that they weren't making money out of this. 

The motivation for such a betrayal, they didn't want to be "Edgeheads" , a reference to Cope's past. Which is a little hypocritical when you remember certain "camps" they were in.

The resulting actions towards Tony Schiavone and Nigel McGuiness saving his broadcast colleague because it was the right thing to do even if he was being a jerk about it, even if Nigel was right that Tony dug himself into that hole was Moment of the Week worthy and almost MVP worthy for Nigel. But everything that happened after that made Dax and Cash winners of MVP this week.

A match against 2point0 saw Dax and Cash their most brutal. Dax conveniently forgets that Cool Hand Ange is a new father in his assaults and a brutalization of Daddy Magic which saw Magic hit 4.0 on the Muta scale. 

But maybe it's the sarcasm that makes FTR more compelling than they've been for a couple of years. The way they accepted Daniel Garcia's point that maybe a third spike piledriver was unnecessary and then the way their body language was when Paragon or Undisputed Era or Undisputed Kingdom or whatever their name is (as it's Wednesday I think it's UK) came in to save Garcia and his parents from the attack from the pair was arseholian in the extreme.

In what was a really great Collision, FTR were the standouts, their domination of the show felt different from the days when they were the one of the prime Colliders and dragged the show down in the process. This time round , especially in the 2point0 match they were captivating to watch, the most they've been since the Briscoes trilogy. 

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know what happens next. Cope will be back and he'll have a brother from the past with him. Whether or not the matches will hit, we'll have to see but when it comes to character work, FTR, based on Saturday night will hold up their end.

They just need to change their entrance music back to their heel theme from the first 18 months in the company though.