Tearing Away | AEWeekly #220

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 Emiliana [sayakakurara.tumblr] lovingly hand-crafting the gifs, Abel [@loza3.bsky.social] covering the Match of the Week and MVP, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, Greyson [@greysonpeltier.bsky.social] expanding on 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

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Kyle Fletcher vs Bandido

"SAY. HIS. FULL. NAME"

by Abel.

The No. 1 contender Ladder match, ultimately won by “Speedball” Mike Bailey, was a hell of a way to start Redemption. The Young Bucks and Will Ospreay / Jon Moxley followed with another strong match. Following such a strong start, Kyle Fletcher and Bandido had their work cut out for them, but they not only lived up to expectations, but they delivered the best match of the night. Fletcher has been on an absolute roll lately in the ring, and Bandido, as always, proved he is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Their chemistry stood out in a solid AEW PPV, making this the match of the week.

While there was not much of a formal build, that did not stop either man from beating the absolute dog crap out of each other; they fought as though they had a blood feud for years. That is credit to both performers and their professionalism. When wrestlers care, they put on an absolute magisterial match.

I'm starting to figure out Fletcher's match tempo: a hot start from his opponent, then he regains his composure on the outside. A physical battle follows, and Fletcher starts to chop down his opponent before a major clash. The third act is an all-out fight that ends with the most gravity-defying, strength-proving finish. This structure really benefits Fletcher against high flyers, and it speaks to his conditioning.

Just like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when he faced Komander, Fletcher thrives against luchadores because of his speed, strength, and ability to sell high-flying offense. That helps when Bandido, pound for pound, is one of the strongest wrestlers in the world. The height difference was stark, but Bandido still handled himself like a force. He can throw around a much bigger wrestler like a rag doll, and when he has Fletcher as his partner, they create a beautiful ballet.

But as beautiful as it was, it was equal parts brutal. Bandido’s frog splash from the top rope to the outside mat is one of the gnarliest things I've ever seen. The way both bodies bounced from the contact was absolutely disgusting (in a good way!) What followed may have been even more impressive: a shooting star press and one of the most fluid DDTs I've ever seen had me thinking Bandido was winning. There were at least four occasions where I truly believed the match was over, especially when Bandido hit Fletcher with the X-Knee and 21-Plex, and Fletcher still kicked out.

However, the champion got the last laugh when he landed his patented corner big boot and Avalanche Brain Buster – and, despite a bit of a botch, still got the 1, 2, 3. This match was truly spectacular and is a microcosm of what makes AEW the most fun promotion in the world.

Fletcher now turns his ire toward Speedball, as he has two weeks to refine his match and prove he can win big matches without the DC Family. Bandido, on the other hand, has to figure out his next move. He keeps losing these big matches, and I do not like that. He should be next in line for a mega push. There is room on this roster for two Mexican stars to be superstars, and Bandido should be next in line. Tony Khan needs to capitalize on the popularity of the Mexican superstar luchador.

​This outcome is about Fletcher, though, because this is as dominant a push as AEW has ever seen. Tony Khan continues to line them up for Fletcher, and the Protostar keeps knocking them down. And even more than the wins and losses, Fletcher is proving he is one of the best in-ring competitors in the world. The question now is whether it leads to an AEW championship, and the odds are that it will.

Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay

"You'l never take what's mine!"

by Lauren.

The first ever AEW Redemption pay-per-view is in the rear mirror, and Kenny Omega remains champion of the Men’s division as All In approaches. Will Ospreay, who faced and lost to Kenny’s friends the Young Bucks, will be challenging for the title next.

Most people, myself included, assumed that Ospreay would be making his entrance into Wembley as a part of the Death Riders, following his acceptance of a patch from Jon Moxley, as well as him coming out with Mox through the crowd instead of allowing the crowd to sing along to his theme during his tag match with the Bucks. But when he balked at essentially murdering a woozy Nick, who had been selling a head injury early in the match, the Bucks were able to recover and win. This infuriated Mox, and he reiterated to Will that his full potential could only be reached through the willingness to do anything to win, and he would be a fool to think that anyone at that level wouldn't do the same.

Likewise, Kenny walked into Redemption as a good guy, the corny uncle who was trying to do things the right way compared to his first run as an evil egotist. Kevin Knight struck Kenny from behind, putting him off-center at the beginning of their match together. Kevin dominated the match for a while, but finally Kenny snapped, screaming in his face that the Jet would never beat Kenny, never be Kenny, and never take what was his. Despite all his claims of wanting to be better than he had been, he was the Cleaner again for the last portion of the match, brutally destroying Kevin for having the audacity to think that he could win.

Afterwards, as the Death Riders showed up to teach both Kenny and Ospreay a lesson in dominance and the pecking order of AEW, Kenny lay on the ground alone and vulnerable, while Ospreay physically shook with the stress of deciding whether to side with his current friends or his rival-turned friend. But, importantly, when being given the opportunity to commit murder (side note: well done, Wheeler Yuta, for calling back to when Ospreay was in your own place, being hugged as an assault of a loved one occurred) Ospreay held that bag in his hands for forty-one seconds. Kenny, seeing the bag in the ring, knew what it meant. And Ospreay holding onto Kenny's belt for just a little too long – shades of both of their reaching out to the IWGP belt as they lost it to each other – Kenny attacked Will from behind, taking him out with a One-Winged Angel. He made it clear how unhappy he was that things had escalated to the point of Will taking the bag, much less taking nearly a minute to decide not to take Kenny out the way Bryan Danielson had been.

Both these men are once again mirrors, both at the tipping point. Kenny is still the man who can become a killer in the ring, but without the need to possess and hoard. Ospreay has so far tried to remain loyal, but was laid out twice that night despite that. They've now had three days to sit with those consequences. We'll see what that means for what they choose going forward.

Ospreay Rips & Refuses The Bag

"Ripping away from Death Riders..."

by Greyson.

Will Ospreay’s relationship with the Death Riders has been complex to say the least. At first he was among their most ardent opponents, helping Hangman Adam Page to victory at All In against Jon Moxley in one of the biggest triumphs of the authentic AEW culture ever, and they returned fire consistently up to injuring his neck to a point where he had to have spinal fusion surgery. However, in Ospreay’s quest for the AEW Men’s World Championship, he made amends with Death Riders in a most peculiar fashion with them physically dragging him to a room to meet with Moxley and them purporting to help fix his neck with what would appear to be some sort of spinal manipulation by Marina Shafir as well as intense physical training. This correlates with an apparent shift in the Death Riders, towards a mission of using its intense style to push the roster to be its best, in line with their principles of “persistence, resilience, and preparation,” rather than Moxley’s earlier attempts to domineer everything in AEW towards his preferred style of the sport. This has been slow-burning and oscillating since Moxley lost to Page and symbolized by a promo after winning the Continental Championship I wrote about in AEWeekly then, in a piece named interestingly enough “The Redemption of Jon Moxley,” and many fans have come around to rooting for what was just a year before the most maligned group in AEW. I have waxed and waned about whether or not there truly has been a fork in the road for Moxley and the Death Riders. Ospreay’s relationship has seemed to be rather pragmatic and he at times has sought to assure the fans he wasn’t joining Death Riders, but that he needed their help to reach his full potential after the setbacks from his injury. But alas, Ospreay, while still trying to be supportive and diplomatic with him, ultimately rebuffed his hero, and soon-to-be world title rival in Omega, and joined Death Riders, as I sat upset (but not really that surprised) in the arena watching on the Jumbotron in San Diego. 

Earlier that night, Ospreay had hesitated against Moxley’s wishes in a match at Redemption this weekend against The Young Bucks not wanting to further injure Nick Jackson, who left the match victorious but banged up and has a history of head injuries, one of many incremental signals that Ospreay was not totally sold on all of the brutal ideas Moxley sought to instill. Moxley did one of his classic motivational promos exhorting Ospreay that if he were to hesitate in his match against Omega like he did that night against Jackson, he may not win the prize he he desires most. Further, going back to Omega’s world title win, Ospreay had been rather friendly, in an un-Death Rider like way, with his coming opponent Kenny Omega. 

Am I afraid to lose or more afraid to lose my way?

- Cage The Elephant, Rainbow

I believe that throughout, Ospreay’s main objective in working with Moxley is for someone to train him, push him to his limits, toughen him up, and give him guidance to get to the biggest opportunity of his career on the especially meaningful stage of Wembley Stadium in his home country of the United Kingdom, rather than to adopt a shift in his core values. Any athlete of his caliber would want the absolute best in terms of physical conditioning, discipline, motivation, and skills training. And Moxley is as good as anyone in AEW in delivering that and then some. Mox’s promos even make me, watching at home, want to go to the gym. Ospreay saw excellent results, learning improved technical wrestling skills to add a strong ground game to his exemplary high-flying skill, stated his neck had improved with their methods, and achieved the Owen Hart tournament win, which created trust. But like far too many athletes aspiring to improve, especially young men seeking discipline, strength, and performance, he wound up with a group with ideological baggage he deep down does not want to carry. And here the symbol of that could not be clearer: a plastic bag, like the one used to suffocate and end the career of Bryan Danielson, a symbol of the gratuitous brutality and underlying willingness to set aside respect and sportsmanship in service of that, which still characterizes Death Riderism. After Omega’s win against Kevin Knight at Redemption, Moxley sought to have Ospreay repeat to another legend in Omega what they had done to Danielson. Ospreay had been holding back his fellow Death Riders from attacking Omega then was presented with the pivotal decision when Moxley handed him the infamous plastic bag presumably to suffocate Omega. After much hesitation, Ospreay ultimately did not do so and tore the plastic bag apart, but instead of a warm embrace by the man who he spared now and consistently expressed his support for in his pursuit of the championship, he was ambushed and attacked. 

It is perhaps at least in part because Omega knows that Ospreay was looking for that level of intensity from a mentor that he decided to attack him even after he retreated. He may have thought that being too conciliatory ran the risk of looking weak to Ospreay. There was certainly some pent up animosity, so he may have just gotten fed up with Ospreay, thought that him just holding back in that moment was not enough, and decided to take the advice of Darby Allin from a couple weeks back. But the fact that Ospreay chose to join someone who injured him so badly while not being as responsive to Omega’s olive branches could very well have lead Omega to believe he needed to mirror Moxley’s ideals to some extent in order to be respected by him, and the fact that they are feuding gave him an opening to do so. Basically, metaphorically he’s saying “You want the tough guy mentor who likes to fight and push you beyond any typical wrestling match? You’ve got him, and he’s facing you in the biggest fight of your life.” During his match with Knight, Omega did seem to challenge the up-and-coming star a bit, showing that elevating (effortless pun here) talent is on his agenda. Now I believe there are better ways and my point here is not to defend Omega’s choice – but alone, a heel turn this is certainly not. 

This moment, where Ospreay clearly breaks away from Death Riders, refusing and dismantling something symbolic to their founding (and their worst attributes), is our Moment of the week because it is one of the clearest signals in a storyline that has them sparingly. However, like many times before in the story of Ospreay’s Elevation to the World Championship, we are still left with questions. Will Ospreay is still his own man and showed his own strength by refusing that act, but who exactly is he after all he has gone through? Who knows, perhaps somehow Moxley tries to salvage what could be the best success story yet for his methods. Can the Death Riders truly change or merely be temporarily nudged into a more neutral form by overwhelming forces like that of Hangman’s win last year? We may not know until Wembley, or perhaps even after then, when if Ospreay wins, he takes up the mantle of leadership in AEW – a tougher test than any workout, sparring, grappling session, or even a match ever could be. Just like any aspiring AEW champion, Ospreay must train hard, go in prepared to fight harder than he ever has, and just as importantly, know why he’s doing it. 

Kenny Omega

"The Best to Ever Do It."

by Abel.

Kenny Omega vs Kevin Knight, which main-evented Redemption, was the battle before the battle, as Omega had his eyes set on taking on Will Ospreay at All In. However, looking past Knight would have been a mistake. But that is what makes Omega one of the all-time greats. It could have been easy for Omega to tank the match and set his sights on London. That's not how the Best Bout Machine rolls. The MVP was clear, at least for me. Kenny Omega not only put on a fantastic match – second only to my match of the week – but he officially kicked off All In season with his One-Winged Angel on Ospreay.

The match was great, but the post-match angle is some of the finer storytelling Omega has done in his career. I think it's irrelevant if Omega knew or didn't know if Ospreay tried to save him. Ultimately, the tension was going to boil over as two men had eyes on the same prize and goal. Pulling the trigger at Redemption instead of right before All In was the right call, and it will make the build-up towards their match feel more well-rounded.

If you were not excited for the build-up to All In before, Omega made sure to change that. This will no longer be two buddies holding hands, going into the biggest match of the year. Instead, now it's two wronged parties (or at least they think they were wronged) trying to get their receipt on their opponent. But more importantly, I think Omega is willing to take one for the team and become the foil to Ospreay’s presumably championship win. If that is what happens, no one can ever say that Omega doesn't stand on business.

Many people would collapse at the thought of having to carry the company. That's not Omega. He thrives when the weight of the wrestling world is on his shoulders, and he has proven it again with his second AEW World Championship reign. MJF was the perfect champion during AEW’s time of growth; however, Omega is the ideal champion during a time of transition and popularity. He knows how to connect with fans and sacrifice for the greater good. That not only makes him MVP of the Week, but it might even make him the MVP of the year. Omega is willing to be a transitional champion during his final AEW World Heavyweight reign. That is not something that every wrestler would do in an industry filled with ego.

Kenny Omega could easily be the MVP every week he's on television. His presence is that electric. However, on weeks like this past one, it's easy to see why he is considered one of the best of all time, as his impact goes far beyond what he does in the ring and on the mic. He looks ahead to building up other wrestlers, which will, in turn, build up AEW. Long live the Best Bout Machine.