Unparalleled | AEWeekly #210

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 and the week's MVP, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring mentioning a key Story Beat, Larissa [@actual-swamp-hag.bsky.social] expanding on the Moment of the Week, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking about the Best Interview, as well as 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.

Darby Allin vs Konosuke Takeshita

"A Match (Quickly) Made in Heaven"

by Abel.

The current match run by Darby Allin has to be unprecedented. He has put on about eight consecutive matches that could all be match-of-the-year contenders during this title run. But it's not just Darby who is stepping up his game; all of his opponents are taking this opportunity and running with it as well. This week, after Kazuchika Okada had to drop out at the last minute for personal reasons, Konosuke Takeshita took the reins and challenged Darby Allin for the AEW World Championship. Even though we knew the current NJPW Television Champion wasn't going to win the AEW World Championship, he still put on one hell of a match. A showcase of his strength and ability to let the rest of the world know that he is ready to be an AEW World Champion.

Takeshita took the match on short notice, making it impossible to build up. Still, Allin’s run is its own buildup for a final big match. There was no need to add more: Darby is maximizing his title run against AEW’s best, while Takeshita wants the title. That’s the story: where the best wrestle!

The match started fast, as Allin’s matches often do. Allin uses bigger opponents as crash pads, which never gets old. Notably, I’m unsure if he could possibly have meant to hit the announce table so hard when diving at Takeshita with a tope suicida. He truly disregards his own well-being.

​Takeshita brings a different force and brutality than Allin’s previous opponents. He might be AEW’s pound-for-pound strongest. Claudio may contest that, but Takeshita’s natural strength allows for smooth movement regardless of opponent.

​Of course, the move I'm referring to is that amazing wheelbarrow German suplex, but also the Top-Rope (UNRELEASED) German Suplex – something I have never seen before in my life. Not only to lift another human being like that, but to land on your back at full speed and not let go is unreal strength and mental fortitude. An unreal spot.

​There’s no reason Takeshita can’t be the AEW World Champion, and that should happen soon. What will help is his leaving the Don Callis Family – I hope. His face turn is clearly brewing, but refusing to take MJF’s Diamond Ring from Don Callis is a telling turning point. This action turned the tide of the match, giving Allin the win.

​Nobody delivers the Blue Thunder Bomb like Takeshita. Whether you are 100 lbs or 2000 lbs, Takeshita has the ability to throw you across the ring so effortlessly, while looking so damn cool doing it. It was Darby’s turn this week, as Takeshita made Allin look like the stuffed animal we all wrestled with as a kid… from the apron down to the padded floor. The landing outside was gnarly, and I felt it in my bones, sitting at home.

​Not to be outdone, Darby hit Takeshita with a Shotgun dropkick and turned the momentum his way. I will say, Allin's Shotgun dropkick has become a staple in this title run, being executed perfectly against much bigger opponents. While it's become a go-to weapon for Allin now, it's still not as frequent as the Coffin Drop. Allin hit 5, by my count – not even counting one where Takeshita put his knees up. Allin hit a couple of perfect Coffin Drops after Takeshita grabbed the ropes on a Scorpion Deathlock, getting his eighth consecutive title defense. Both men in this match put on a thriller of a show, and given that it was booked as an emergency pivot, one can only imagine what might happen if they were to have a month-long build first.

Jon Moxley

"No Context (or shirts) Required..."

by Sergei.

Context is king. When appreciating a piece of art – especially something like a pro-wrestling segment, always a single thread in a sprawling tapestry woven by many hands – understanding the context of a work is always so important for understanding it as a whole. Except (once in a GREAT while) when it's just not.

I'm giving honors to Jon Moxley's speech to his new protégé Will Ospreay on Dynamite one week ago … and the context of that speech is flatly ludicrous. Moxley's notorious sex cult are working out together in their latest arena hidey-hole – this time rather than lurking in some cave-like stairwell, they are on the roof. Young-boy danny invites the cameraman (and audience) into the insanity, laughably calling (possibly the best in the world) Ospreay "young-boy billy" and claiming he needs to "show him something" tonight. We transition to Moxley and Ospreay working out on the mat and chatting – Will doing neck bridges (implication: "my neck is TOTALLY FINE NOW!") and Jon using young-boy yuta as his crash-test dummy to demonstrate hooks.

With their shirtless / long-pants look, they remind me of nothing more than that idiotic Kid Rock & RFK Jr. fitness PSA that went viral a few weeks ago due to its stupidity. Based on all this context and scene-setting, you might expect Moxley to go on to say something weird, or crazy, or funny. But instead, Moxley starts talking about Ospreay's past, and about following a calling for the sheer joy of it:

You were carefree. Flew like a bird. For no other reason than… that's what birds do: they fly.

You know, it was so simple back then. Just chasing that feeling. Like no other feeling in the world. You can't really grab it in your hands for more than a few seconds – the joy of doing it.

Then he has some words about how that joy can feel weighed down by time and compromise:

Then years pass and life happens. Family, responsibilities… and this weight. Weight that weighs down on your shoulders. You feel like you can't fly.

Finally, Jon has some wisdom to impart:

Let me tell you something. Nothing is different. Nothing has changed. All those things are still going to be there. But you can still fly. You're just more dangerous. You're a bird of prey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkU_eueijcM

In Ospreay's context, he's reluctantly allying with a dangerous man who intentionally injured him and claimed it was just business, a cult leader who he's pretty sure is now giving him a soft sell, but in the long-term is looking to use and manipulate him. Will's reaction face is perfect: the face of a man who would LOVE to be able to say "you're full of shit, man" but honesty won't let him deny that he'll be thinking about what Jon said for a long time.

So will I.

Blackheart

"It's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine..."

by Lauren.

[Ed note: Lio the Blackheart holding himself together (to hide his demonic nature behind dark glasses) long enough to tell Nigel everything is "fiiiiiine" is the Story of the Week, but the time is not yet right to dive deep into analyzing this story. Lauren is going to wait till more has been revealed…]

MJF

"Balds on Parade..."

by Larissa.

To paraphrase Jesus Christ, “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain a title shot, and loses his own hair?” That’s the existential question facing MJF as he prepares to challenge Darby Allin for the AEW Men’s World Championship at Double or Nothing. Everyone from Allin to Hangman has taken shots at MJF’s coiffure, which is shellacked to his head with what looks like about a gallon of hair gel. Whether he grew it himself or paid for it, MJF’s absurdly thick hair has become a key component of his sleazebag image. And now he stands to lose it all in a Title vs. Hair match on Sunday.

Over the last week, we’ve watched via social media as MJF struggled to make peace with the sky-high odds of this match. It was really driven home in a hilarious segment on this week’s Dynamite, where (after brushing off Renee Paquette) MJF walked by seemingly every single bald person who has ever worked for AEW in any capacity. Seriously, there are a lot of cue balls working there, from “Psycho Killer” Tommaso Ciampa, who lifted his beanie with a steely gaze, to the eternally affable referee Bryce Remsburg. All of them drifted past MJF, staring ominously at the man who may very soon be joining their ranks. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L-ARBipRnY

Ed: (Throwing in a whole Editorial paragraph, here. Normally I'd suggest an addition to the writer, but I know that new committeeperson Larissa is busy …)

I think one of the most impressive parts of this segment is how MJF expressed his ongoing emotional state with just his eyes, transitioning from "hey, now, wait a second" to "is this that thing where when something's on your mind you notice it more?" to "okay, someone is definitely messing with me!"

I love when AEW just gets all-gas-no-brakes silly with it. One of my favorite backstage segments in recent history.

Darby Allin

"Completely without parallel..."

by Abel & Sergei.

Abel has been doubling up on covering both Match and MVP since our team has been so short-handed. But today he had an unavoidable circumstance that didn't allow him to finish MVP. He sent his partial draft and said to go ahead and finish however I want… But I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth, so we're going to do this tag-team style. Sections in italics are me.

Darby Allin’s title run is most likely on its last legs. Or last wheels… he's said as much more than once, that he's not holding anything in reserve, and is going to drive this reign till the wheels fall off. As we saw in his Collision match, his body is getting ready to give out, all while still having to defend the title two more times this coming week. As heavy as AEW has been on Darby Allin over the last month, this past week seemed to have been the most "all in" on Allin yet, with defenses against his most physically imposing opponent Wednesday and one on Saturday against a long-time rival who can match his agility and daredevil insanity. When this is all said and done, Darby will need to take some time off and rest in a tub of ice for a couple of months.

After his match (discussed above in Match otW) against Takeshita, the contract signing segment with MJF was the perfect payoff for the weeks of build-up of Friedman's quest for a rematch and Darby's insistence that he risk something of equivalent value. Darby holding fast to his negotiating position while bleeding and battered was perfect Darby.

But that segment wasn't the end of Darby's week. The Daredevil still had another title defense on Collision, this time against long-time rival and adjacent pillar, Sammy Guevara. “The Spanish God" – seemingly coming out of hiding (or just ROH) – has always tested Allin in his matches, so he made a fitting match-up for the champion. To the surprise of no one, Allin and Guevara had a banging match, which brought Darby’s successful consecutive title defenses to six…in just 31 days! An insane pace.

The pace that previous comparable Champions took to reach 6 successful defenses has been slower than Allin's by a factor of TEN.

It's also worth noting that Darby Allin has been in the #AEWeekly Match of the Week four weeks in a row now. In 219 weeks that has NEVER happened before. The closest anyone has come in all that time is Kyle Fletcher with MotW three weeks in a row for three of his C2 tournament matches back in December.

He still has one more (!) match before his Double or Nothing hair vs. title match. Will he be physically able to make it? I know the mind is willing, but the body is failing him. But that's more a rhetorical question: they try to suspend our disbelief, but I can't see Speedball going into the big show on Sunday as AEW Men's World Champion to try to take Maxwell's hair.

The real question is: will Darby's incredible reign end with him blowing his attempt to make MJF pay the price that Allin believes that he owes? Or will he take MJF's hair, just to fall to whomever is his next challenger a week from now? I'd bet my smart mark card it's 99.999% going to be one or the other. But I suspect my tag partner Abel and I might have a different view on whether our unparalleled champion can keep those wheels on through just one more high-stakes match -- the one that will matter the most.