Together Again | AEWeekly #185

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.

Many thanks to Sachin [@sachin0mac.bsky.social] whose contributions covering the Interview of the Week over the last several months have been greatly appreciated. Sachin is moving on, and will be deeply missed.

This week’s contributors are Emiliana [@emilianartb.bsky.social] with the Moment of the Week and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] editing and organizing it all. At least SOME of our usual sections will be back next week.

Someone, anyone... please help us out and come join our team! (Reach out to Sergei on bluesky DMs if interested.)

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Kenny Omega

"’...cause last call don’t mean not one damn thing to me... oh it’s just another cue for me to go get my next round..."

by Emiliana.

If there’s one thing I couldn’t have imagined would happen in a small venue in Philly, it was probably this. Now, I’m not here to judge or to say somethin’ like, “Wow, wasted this on a small venue” or anything, I’m just genuinely surprised. Because holy shit what a moment. It’s one of those that kind of creeps up on you in the best way.

Here I was, watching the entirety of Don Callis’s large numerical faction walk out one by one, surrounding the men’s world champion like a pack of wolves, and all I could think to myself was, “Who? HANGMAN HAS NO FRIENDS! WHO??”

I am, of course, the biggest idiot. It’s the Don Callis Family, who ELSE could it have been? But sure enough, as Hangman Adam Page is getting his ass handed to him by many large men (and Rocky), what theme should hit but “Battle Cry”?

The grin that erupted on my face. The swelling of my heart. I’m not the biggest Kenny Omega fan, but there is something special about him with Hangman. Okay, I’ll be honest – there is something special with most men when they’re with Hangman. But after eight months of watching Kenny kind of – I don’t know – feel aimless, no sense of passion, it was nice to see him crack a smile here.

What makes AEW special to me is that despite it being a TV show and despite the characters on said show being fictional, these wrestlers are not always the best actors. And that’s fine! I actually prefer it. Because I like to feel a connection to them in a way that differs from watching actors play a part. But because of that, you can always sense when something might be a little…off. And so I guess I’m looking at it from that point of view. Maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time but there’s a definite distinction between how happy Kenny looked in New Japan at Wrestle Dynasty wrestling Gabe Kidd to pretty much anything he’d done the rest of the year in AEW. It is not fun to see one of the cornerstones of the promotion look like he’s unsure of what he’s doing, especially when it’s the god of pro wrestling, Kenny Omega.

So forgive me if I’m putting too much weight into his energy, too much anticipation into what will happen next, too much implication into what I saw in his eyes. I don’t know, man. Just feels like he looked different.

(And no, I don’t mean the lack of a beard. I don’t want to talk about that. If I start talking about it I’ll just get mad. Grow it back out. Buy a keratin mask for your curls. Fake it till you make it, Kenny.)

That Last Call Buckshot-V-Trigger combo will feed me for weeks. The last time they had the chance to do that was at All In 2023, two years ago. So much has changed since then. Hangman is no longer devoid of purpose. Kenny is on the other side of it. And yet — death, taxes, and Don Callis will get booed out of the building every single time.

I’m glad someone has Hangman’s back while Swerve and Will are out for their surgeries and recovery. This week we have a big tag match with Kenny and Hangman and the Bucks on opposite sides. Holy shit. This is five years in the making.

We have never been more back.