Tagging In | AEWeekly #167

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, 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, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] 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.

The Young Bucks vs Speedball & the Jet

"The Super Kick Paaaaartay is back..."

by Abel.

If there was any doubt as to who the best tag team in the world is, that doubt should be put to rest as the Young Bucks on Dynamite, once again, proved that they are the standard. In their first AEW match in over six months, Nick and M…., erm, sorry, Nicholas and Matthew Jackson, took on the newly formed team of "The Jet" Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey in what was the best match of a stacked week of great matches. 

The match displayed physical talent and mental creativity, which is what makes AEW the promotion where wrestlers can showcase their abilities and spread their creative wings. The timing and chemistry of all four wrestlers in the ring were an incredible sight to behold, which not only highlighted the greatness of the Young Bucks but also showcased the young talents and future superstars that are Kevin Knight and Mike Bailey. 

Bailey and Knight fit in All Elite Wrestling like a glove. They both fit the company's style and aesthetic, and those in the back realize this, as both have consistently been on television since their debuts earlier this year. They weren't signed as a tag team, but having them go on a tag team run wouldn't be such a bad idea. They work well together and have the potential to be a great team. 

There are so many memorable spots and moments in this match, but the ones that come to mind are the Nicholas and Bailey duel of feet in the middle of the ring. The agility of both wrestlers to pull it off without tripping their feet is a fantastic feat. 

Knight moves in the air as if gravity does not affect him. Show highlights of "The Jet" in the air to a pilgrim, and they would explode right after accusing you and Knight of witchcraft. Bailey's footwork is nothing short of extraordinary and is an added element to AEW that we haven't seen before. Both wrestlers elevate the locker room in a way that puts everyone on high alert and forces everyone to bring their A-game to every Dynamite and Collision. 

AEW is just better when the Young Bucks consistently appear on television, and this match proves that even after all these years in the business, Nicholas and Matthew Jackson are still innovative and at the top of their game. It's like time off reinvigorated the Young Bucks' passion and creativity for the business

Stokely & FTR 

"Go woke - Go Broke"

by Sachin.

The Big Stoke made his return to the squared circle this week. Though fluent in multitudes of languages he decided to speak the coolest but the bitterest language of them all — FAX (also known as Facts).

Stokely came to the ring with FTR. Balder than Ricochet, Beautiful-er than Swerve and Blacker than a tanned MJF.

I’m Stokely Hathaway and I’m going to address the elephant here in the room. You two (Dax and Cash) were fined for accidentally hitting someone and touching Tony Schiavone? That’s interesting to me. Hangman Adam Page has committed arson. Ricochet comes to work every week and shakes people with scissors. And should I list the crimes that Jon Moxley has committed? Yet he walks around AEW unpunished. 

First things first, regarding the arson charge on Hangman. SO WHAT. Which one of us hasn't burned his enemy's house down at one point or another?

Let he throw the first stone who hasn't committed arson - Jesus.

Secondly but more importantly — he is right. FTR have given their blood, sweat and tears to get this company where it is and now just because they attempted to attack a couple of commentators, bloodily brutalised 2.0 and attacked DG, suddenly this company wants to get on a high horse and start virtue signalling. Did they think for one second how hard FTR works and how much their family is rooting for them? No. No, I don't think so.

Those heartless bastards wanted to get rid of FTR. Use em, abuse em and then throw them away like trash. But they had forgotten that in the same junkyard they tried to throw FTR there lived another man who was denied by Private Party not too long ago (how'd that work out for them anyway).

That suspension…I’m going to have expunged from your permanent record and have the fine reimbursed to you. Moving forward, if you want to have a conversation with these guys, then you need to have a conversation with me. And as of today, I’m the new agent for FTR! Now Tony Schiavone, do your job!

Every Tear - pushed deep down and imprisoned inside me - rushed towards my sleep deprived eyes and vaulted directly onto the barren, infertile dirt beneath my feet and made mother earth wet. My soul cheered along at home and joined the crowd in attendance with chants of “let's go Stoke you're the best manager alive”, “let's go Stoke you're the best manager alive”. 

Cash responds:

Thank you Mr. Hathaway. What happened last week with Danny Garcia, that wasn’t an easy decision for us but he gave us no choice. Danny made his own decision. It was 2.0 that got in front of our face that said they wanted to fight. I don’t think they were ready to fight. And when Danny asked us to stop, we stopped. We got you to the TNT Title. We put Garcia first. We put Cope first, and it got us nowhere.

Stone Cold never cut a promo this good, the rock neither and don't even bother comparing my goats to mid-carders like swerve or hangman. Cash had Aura. Infinite Aura.

FTR has poured nothing but love out into this world. They loved DG more than his father ever did. They love COPE more than his wife or for that matter Matt Hardy’s wife ever did. But what did they get? 

Nothing. Cash, just like his idol - Big Stoke, told nothing but the truth.

But Good Guys stay good guys. And even though they had been betrayed by DG and COPE, FTR still wanted to do good for this world. They invited Ricky and Robert of Rock and Roll Express into the ring and wanted to show them respect but just like all the older guys these glory-hoarders just didn't want to put young talent over and went into business for themselves.

Dax:

One of the greatest tag teams of all time, Rock N Roll Express. They had some of the greatest matches of all time. What would you say is your greatest match ever? If it was up to me, I would say Philadelphia with the Midnight Express and if I’m being honest, they were better than you. But we’re here tonight to talk about the Rock N Roll Express. If I was judging by looks alone, I’d say you’re about 108 and 109 years old.

Ricky Morton: “We’re going to stop this right now. You’re not going to embarrass us in front of the entire wrestling world tonight.”

Jesus Christ. Moxley was right. “Fragile ego, fragile body, weak mind, weak spirit”. One little comment and that was it. God forbid people tell some jokes. The leftist wokie Ricky and The communist tyrant Robert got their feelings offended because of “ageism”. Cancel culture working in real time. Some people just want to carry out their agendas even at the cost of young wrestlers' careers. Smh.

Well Dax The Axe is a man's man and he wasn't gonna stand around for this woke B.S. and let it ruin the culture of this world or worse his own country - U S of America. Many of us have wanted to do to cancel culture what Dax did to the woke leftist mob of Ricky and Robert — PILEDRIVE THEM INTO OBLIVION. 

I'm not gonna say names but I'll just say that I was the only PWM contributor that had stuck around FTR all this time. “Day one-ish” as my favourite wwe wrestler would say. While many others called them - Boring, A one note act, Stale and even Old. I stood my ground. I said NOT ME. It could never have been me.

[ed note: it was him]

Eternal TOP GUYS fan out.

FTR (also!)

"It’s FTR first from now on."

by Lauren.

In a week of two spectacular shows, the storytelling was surprisingly sparing. This is not to say that story was absent; far from it, with little tastes sprinkled through various matches and segments. But possibly the best in terms of taking a leap forward was a surprise: FTR.

FTR have been a solid tag team for their entire existence, and have been a staple of the division since joining AEW. They had a stretch as heels while they were members of the Pinnacle, but in the years since then they have been stable but somewhat static faces. Their characterization largely revolves around, to quote MJF, “I love my wife, I love my baby daughter, I love this business.” They have been involved in stories, but rarely find themselves growing as characters inside of them.

This changed when Dax turned on Adam Copeland, breaking up the trios team of RatedFTR. Dax and Cash celebrated closing their relationship by attacking Cope’s fragile neck and then proceeded to ham it up with the EMT equipment. This burst of personality has been even more evident since then, with them threatening Tony Schiavone and returning this week with Stokely Hathaway at their side, defending their previous actions as nothing compared to that of other beloved AEW wrestlers.

With this move, FTR have firmly established themselves as part of the gremlin crew of AEW, wrestlers who seem to cause trouble solely for the sake of fun. This week saw them antagonizing the Rock ‘n’ ’Roll Express, whose presence signaled an imminent murder attempt. (As a side note, every single time they have come to AEW, someone has tried to kill them. This isn’t even the first time that the assailants have been FTR.) Dax in particular was shining, making as if to allow his elders to speak and then pulling the mic away and interrupting in order to put himself over.

There are other stakes at play–particularly with Daniel Garcia, who had previously seen FTR as allies. His trust was repaid with first the bloodying of his wrestle fathers 2.0 at the hands of FTR and then watching them try and destroy two legends of yesteryear. Danny has so far remained loyal to his own righteous cause, though undoubtedly FTR will do their best to test that.

But for now, FTR is letting loose, letting their (proverbial, in Dax’s case) hair down and indulging themselves. They are done living in the shadow of legends and are ready to cause problems on purpose. They are, for once, dynamic in character instead of just in motion. The prospect of FTR on nobody’s leash but their own is an oddly exciting one. It just proves that sometimes, a little chaos is self-care.

Hangman Adam Page

"Wait No, Maybe The Award Goes To Toni Storm"

by Emiliana.

It’s funny, last week I was so over-enthused by everything that happened that I chose everyone. This week, I didn’t really like anything much above anything else but I would say that I was still pleased overall; however, nothing really stood out to me. Nothing feels deep enough to talk about. The lows of the show weren’t nearly as bad as previous weeks, but the highs weren’t as high, either.

I think that maybe the Hangman stuff made me happiest, though. It’s clear that he’s in this weird limbo, what with his previous feud partner MJF being in the middle of something with the Hurt Syndicate, the guy he supposedly hates but helped in the main event of Dynasty is currently fighting with Hangman’s old friends and making acquaintance with another of Hangman’s old friends, and Hangman himself is currently trying to make it to the finals of the Owen cup tournament.

With all that in mind, there’s not really a relationship or interaction in Hangman’s life that soars above the rest, nothing that truly forces him to think about anything of substance at the minute, so Hangman is making the best he can out of a bad situation — and that comes with double entendres.

“…like you’d know anything about the back door…”

“Oh, I got somethin’ you can CHOKE on, dumbass!”

I was about to write an entire paragraph about how maybe Max was right (ya know, the bit about how Hangman will do what he does best - choke), but the truth is that Hangman has only had four real chances at the world title since he lost it in 2022: against Mox (when he got injured), against Samoa Joe and Swerve (when he tapped out, purposefully, some might say, to keep Swerve from having it), in the Owen against Bryan Danielson (probably the fairest that he’s lost, despite making it that far in the tournament with the aid of Christian Cage), and then against against Mox and OC and Jay White (which, as we all know, was full of bullshit shenanigans).

So for now, I guess I’ll just sit here and laugh at the sexual innuendos, all the while thanking Toni Storm for giving the rest of the locker room the confidence to find out just how gay they can be on television before somebody shuts them down. Am I still delusional enough to believe that Hangman can make it to the main event of All In? I am vehemently shaking my head while telling you, “yes.”