Wembley Waiting | AEWeekly #224

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, Lauren [@sithwitch.bsky.social] exploring a key Story Beat, and Sergei [@sergeialderman.bsky.social] talking about the Best Moment & Interview as well as editing and organizing it all. As a special bonus, we have some VERY concise words from Emiliana [sayakakurara.tumblr] on the Week's MVP.

 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.

Jon Moxley vs Jay White

“Where the Best Wrestle (...each other, even!)...”

by Abel.

John Moxley vs. Jay White in the Continental Cup quarterfinals is why I will always welcome a new tournament in AEW. These tournaments have no easy matches, and favorites eventually lose. No other American promotion gives you two of the very best wrestlers in the world in a tournament quarterfinal, let alone on television. Many expected this to be the tournament final. Instead, it was the quarterfinal match and our Match of the Week. That’s exactly what we got this past Wednesday on Dynamite, as Moxley and White pushed each other to the limit for the right to move on in the Continental Tournament.

Entering this match, White was 2-0 against Moxley in one-on-one matches. Moxley still had a few hurdles to clear, but that was a major storyline going in. Could Moxley not only lose his Continental title, but also fail to snap his losing streak against White? Could White finally live up to the championship expectations many of us had for him when he made the jump to AEW? There was only one way to find out. The match was slow, methodical, and physical, and it ground both opponents to dust. This type of match really showed both wrestlers' mettle.

Honestly, I don't think anyone would have been shocked if White had pulled this off. Moxley selling his shoulder would have been the excuse for White winning, and for a while I even believed that might happen. However, White hitting the Blade Runner and Moxley rolling out was the writing on the wall for me. After that, I knew this was Moxley’s match to win. It wasn't long until Moxley took control and claimed his spot in the semifinals. The final moments were the best, as the transition from the Death Rider – even after White kicked out – to the rear naked choke was phenomenal wrestling. For television timing, this match was fantastic; I can only imagine what it would look like on a PPV.

Now that Moxley is moving on, I do wonder if the “blind” draw would have been different if TK had known Eddie Kingston wasn't going to be able to participate in the semifinals. Maybe Eddie loses to Moxley, and Jay earns his way to the semifinals. I guess we'll never know.

Moxley is now on his way to face his stablemate Claudio Castagnoli in the semifinals of the tournament, and I will be very interested to see where Jay White goes from here. He needs to be on the shortlist of those next in line for the AEW World Championship. Will that start at All In, or in 2027?

Nigel McGuinness

“A United Kingdom…”

by Sergei.

Nigel. Nigel. Nigel!

Last week I honored semi-retired colour commentator Nigel McGuinness with both my choice as Match and Interview of the Week. And this week I am selecting him again as Best on the Mic. One might be forgiven for thinking I'm a bit biased, perhaps obsessed with the Ring of Honor stalwart.

In fairness, I did not go into Renee Paquette’s trainer-room interview with McGuinness expecting anything extraordinary. He was just a few words into a serious, downbeat little “medical update” monologue that would've been workmanlike, excellent, but not especially noteworthy… when Will Ospreay stumbled into his shot like the eager Golden Retriever that he is.

https://youtu.be/F8gWciKPmTw?is=nKOps_klZ4BYiFfx

After gawping at Nigel's off-screen swollen foot, Will asks how he's feeling. McGuinness replies dourly that all congratulations can wait till after Glasgow, because he doesn't know what he's going to do. Competing in sports at Wembley has been his dream since he was very little, but as every match in the tournament exacerbates his injury, that dream seems like a moving target quickly outpacing all of his efforts.

This leads Will to give a little pep talk, telling Nigel how much seeing his success as Ring of Honor World champ back in the day gave hope to himself and all of the British kids aspiring to success in wrestling someday. He tops it off by exposing his own insecurity, saying he has more faith in McGuinness winning the Cup than in himself taking the World title at Wembley.

This is where the interview takes a turn and I am suddenly sitting up and really taking notice….

...see that's the problem, Will.

Suddenly, the focus turns from Nigel's (purely realistic) doubts about even making it to Wembley, to Will's (all in his head and being played on by Omega) insecurities. McGuinness gives Ospreay a heated reminder of what's at stake: possibly his only opportunity to overcome a longstanding sports curse and become the first Brit wrestler to win the World title in England, (and at the legendary venue of Wembley!) not just for himself but for every Limey kid looking up to him with wrestling dreams, just like Will had done with Nigel back in the day.

It's moving, it's evocative, it advances a main-event-level story, and it really shows how AEW knows how to get value out of someone who has more to offer on the mic, even if they are on their last leg (literally) in ring – utilizing that silver tongue by redirecting their fire to talk up somebody with more road ahead than themselves. They've pulled a similar trick with Eddie Kingston at times, and I think that the fact that they've done it here shows that they see McGuiness on a similar level as a king of the mic, and (as much of an Eddie idolator as I admittedly am) I agree.

Daniel Garcia

"I’m just playin’ witchu..."

by Lauren.

Daniel Garcia bit off a little more than he could chew this week. At Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor event, he faced Adam Priest to decide who would replace Eddie Kingston in the Continental Cup and fight Claudio Castagnoli on AEW Collision. (Side note: nothing but good wishes to Eddie, who was not cleared to compete.)Danny was the only Death Rider to win that night, as Marina Shafir failed to take the Women’s TV Championship in a four-way match. Feeling himself, Danny talked a big game in his post-match promo: insinuating that Claudio was slacking for not being at an event he was not booked for, that his attention is split because he has a wife and kids, and then calling Mox a punk-ass. Mox and Marina were obviously less than pleased by this.

On Saturday, at Collision, reality hit. Danny looked scared and haunted as Claudio’s theme hit, possibly remembering all that he’d said the night before. Even so, he put up a good fight. He’s been the Ring of Honor Pure Champion and the AEW TNT Champion. He was indirectly mentored by Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. He’s an excellent technical wrestler when he’s allowed to be, and he gave the match his all.

Much has been said about how dog-coded the Death Riders are: they move in a pack, they play-fight constantly, and some fans have even decided which dog breeds best fit each individual member. Danny, though, fought like a cat, seeming to twist in his own skin at times. Danny’s reaction to Claudio’s brutal one-legged Giant Swing reminded me of nothing more than watching a panicked cat try and escape the vet’s office.

Still, he couldn’t resist his greatest weakness: showboating. Whether it’s talking himself up at the expense of others or dance-taunting his enemies, Danny still has a young man’s bravado and it cost him. Claudio, ever the professional, was not having any of it.

Still, Danny’s performance was nothing to be ashamed of. He still has a lot to learn, and some rough edges that need to be either filed off or sharpened to a point and used with precision. Danny’s confidence easily turns to arrogance, and once that illusion is shattered, he loses his focus. Perhaps his defeat by Claudio will help drive this home.

Or maybe he’s just always meant to be a trash-talking brat. Either way, it’s fun to watch.

Mercedes Moné & Willow Nightingale

“Well, that's enough talk. It's time for the main event!”

by Sergei.

One of the classic tropes of a build to a big match is the massive pull-apart brawl, where the feud is so heated that it takes an army of security to (try to) keep the combatants apart to save the fight for when the viewers are paying for the privilege. The awesome pull-apart between the World champion and challenger on Wednesday night showed two things: the fact that it was given time and space to happen at all shows that AEW decision makers see this as a money match, and by extension that they (correctly!) see the Women's division as a drawing aspect of the show. And the excellence of it shows that Mercedes Moné and Willow Nightingale are putting on the premier feud of the promotion heading into the premier show of the year.

I've heard many murmurs that this match ought to be the All In 2026 main event, and I would agree except for one thing: the hometown, childhood-dream aspect boosts Ospreay to the point where I feel it makes no sense – on the night, for that audience specifically – to have anybody follow him. (Unless he's losing! If I hear “Elevation” before curfew Sunday night, I'll expect that means a pretty surprising upset!)

I love that AEW puts logical lampshades on their tropes so that they make some reasonable sense. If they want a face-off between two heated antagonists without a fight, they make a stipulation that the match is off if there's any contact. But in this case when they wanted to start with talk but move into a brawl, why didn't they take similar steps? They did, just ones that didn't end up effective: they conducted the interview in “separate rooms” on a split screen, like the fondly-remembered Mark Henry Collision pre-match interviews.

However, they didn't account for Mercedes realizing that rooms have doors that lead to hallways that might lead to separate rooms! (Don’t you love a villain who isn’t forced to hold the idiot ball?) So, after some VERY heated words, we got to see some very heated contact as well, and the two fated nemeses gave us the perfect tease to have us ready to spend some cash to see a match that (admittedly) we've already seen a few times by now.

In addition to Moment of the Week, Emi felt strongly that Mercedes and Willow ought to be co-MVPs this week as well. We would've loved to hear all of her thoughts on this, but she was too busy with her studies, so here's a few words, anyhow:

Mercedes Moné & Willow Nightingale

“‘Nuff Said…”

by Emiliana.