Championship Legacies, Disputed Eras, and Doubled Nothings. This is Your Week in Wrestling.

Mikey Zee: This week we’ve got AEW Friday Night Dynamite, BAY BAY!

Charlie Davis: It’s AEW PPV week! And the wrestling schedule is all messed up because of the NBA playoffs! Woooo!

Vishal Gullapalli: I’m just here for NXT, as always.

Mikey: We’re also gonna try a slightly new format this week as far as introducing who’s talking in each section… let us know on Twitter if it’s easier to read! If you missed previous editions, feel free to check out other weeks in wrestling. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Monday: Monday Night Raw, TJPW & CyberFight wrap-up

Charlie: RAW continues to be the worst wrestling show on TV. That is no surprise. I will briefly discuss this because there are wrestlers who are just stuck in Purgatory there. I don’t know what’s going to fix this at this point other than what people have said before. The writers are tasked with writing a three hour show every week, which is basically a weekly Lord of the Rings film. It’s hard on a good day, but for how much talent is being squandered over there… it’s getting a bit unforgivable.

Mikey: It really is unfortunate, because Asuka rules. I wish our real world was more like my Journey of Wrestling wrestling sim save before it got corrupted, where she was the dominant champion in the Alternate Universe NJPW women’s division.

In the real world though, we do have Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling, which is gearing up for their big night with sibling promotions DDT and NOAH at CyberFight Festival on June 6th. (Speaking of which, the CyberFight president did a cool interview over at Inside the Ropes.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to watch either That’s J-PW episode this week (Charlie and I are moving next week, so I’ve been wild busy getting ready for that) 

HOWEVER. I feel confident in recommending Thursday’s episode. Mizuki and Yuka Sakazaki went up against Nao Kakuta and the always-effusive Hyper Misao. Mizuki is the creator of maybe one of the coolest-looking moves in wrestling today, and Yuka has been seen on AEW and is the challenger for the Princess of Princess Championship belt at CyberFight. I’m pretty sure this means this is statistically incapable of being a bad match. If you’re not sure about subscribing to DDT Universe, or just can’t afford another subscription, I’ve still got your back. TJPW put up some of their recent shows for free, in honor of CyberFight! If watching That’s J-PW has taught me anything, you won’t be disappointed.

Tuesday: NXT

Vishal: I feel like it’s telling that I had to go to the Reddit post-NXT thread for a summary of what happened this episode – it was very forgettable outside of the main event. Oh well.

I was very worried that Dakota and Raquel were going to break up after this tag match, but when they lost they didn’t turn on each other – they just bullied Ember and Shotzi. I do think that both teams need something different than an endless feud with each other, but I really hope that “different” doesn’t mean “Dakota and Raquel fight to the death.” 

Charlie: I had a real sinking suspicion that first night that Raquel walked out with the belt that Dakota would be challenging for it and turning on Raquel when I saw her eyeing the belt. It’s just all about when and how it’s going to happen. We will see where we end up when everything shakes out. I really liked this match, and I do hope that Ember is maybe the next person to challenge Raquel for the belt. I would very much like to see that singles match. 

Vishal: Bobby Fish fought Pete Dunne and they had a good match, and then Oney Lorcan beat the crap out of Bobby Fish after he lost. Honestly, my biggest takeaway is how terrible this made Kyle look. Sure, Bobby said that he didn’t actually care about Kyle any more and just wanted revenge on Pete Dunne, but we watched the dude basically get tortured for 5 minutes with no one stepping in. 

Charlie, we’ve talked a bit about how the Undisputed Era’s breakup has been handled weirdly. Kyle and Adam had their short blood feud, Roddy just straight up left, and Bobby Fish came back and said “Yeah it’s gone, I don’t care.” Strange stuff, but the UE had really never been about interpersonal drama, so I guess it’s fine.

Charlie: It hadn’t been, but I was still hoping for something. Stables or teams breaking up used to at least mean a long blood feud for someone in the stable, not them just not caring at all. I have no doubt that Kyle and Adam will fight again but with Adam off of TV and the rest of the UE just scattered in the wind it has me wondering what was it all for if there are no repercussions that are felt through NXT. What did the “Undisputed Era” really even mean? 

Vishal: Franky Monet beat a jobber, and so did Mercedes Martinez. Mercedes looks to be going up against Tian Sha? IDK, I don’t really get what’s going on there. The real highlight before the main event was Cameron Grimes facing off against Ted DiBiase – Grimes turned babyface and I’m really excited for his feud with LA Knight. Cameron Grimes is honestly probably one of my favorite current performers.

And of course, the main event of the night. Finn Balor is my favorite wrestler, and while I don’t get as in my feelings about things as my dear friends Charlie and Mikey, I’ve really appreciated his recent run in NXT, and especially his championship run. I don’t think he’s put on a single match that wasn’t at least “really good” and this one was no exception. I’m not a Kross fan, but his matches since he came back from injury have generally been good at establishing him as a genuine monster, and this one was no exception – Finn didn’t look weak at any point, Kross just looked that good. I’m a little bit sad that Finn’s likely heading back to the main roster after this loss, but it was always going to happen and I’ll always be grateful that we got this run. 

Charlie: I think all things considered, Vishal, you are taking this extremely well. If Adam Cole was headed up to the main roster I would probably lose a few nights of sleep over it. 

Friday: AEW Friday Night Dynamite, NJPW updates

Mikey: Well, Charlie’s internet went out thanks to the storms all over Ohio, so it’s just me summarizing Dynamite this week. And what a week it was. AEW always seems to nail it on the go-home shows, and absolutely did so.

(The weigh-in segment is an outlier and SHOULD NOT BE COUNTED.)

Ahem.

First off, I know we’re not completely out of the COVID woods yet and the decision to have a full capacity venue might still be a contentious one. But damn if it wasn’t good to have the energy and noise of a full crowd in the background of this Dynamite. Hearing the immediate pop for Darby Allin’s music, and then the even bigger pop for Sting, was truly magical. When I think about all the AEW signings that had yet to perform for a crowd with AEW, that sadly never got to perform with a crowd, I can’t help but get a little choked up. After all, wrestling is a medium which exists in a beautiful dance and synergy with the audience reaction. It was a beautiful night in that regard. Tony Schiavone said on commentary that “a large crowd changes things,” and I couldn’t agree more. It felt right in a way that transcends words, and from jump it made me excited for Sunday’s Double or Nothing.

That point was even further reinforced when the Dark Order came out. I had a realization watching this that the Dark Order getting “over” happened entirely within the pandemic era, especially given the past year has sometimes felt like a decade. Back when we still had crowds, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson were little more than jobbers. They swore up down and sideways that they had big things planned, that their “Exalted One” would come and make them powerful. What’s even wilder: Silver and Reynolds were faceless recruits to the Dark Order, which as an organization promised it would help them stop losing. Now they’re arguably even more over than some of the original members.

All of this to say… the Dark Order finally got the audience pop they deserved when they came out to save Sting and Darby from a beating by Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and The Wingmen, absent the late, great Mr. Brodie Lee. The group had teased becoming friends with Sting and Darby on Being the Elite, so seeing that beat make it onto Dynamite in such a solid way was extremely gratifying for me.

Okay, so we’ve come to The Weigh-In. Can we all just agree that despite Paul Wight’s efforts to add interest, it was bad… gross, even? That the flags and weird patriotism are exceedingly dated and uncomfortable, and that maybe Cody should get actual editors instead of simply workshopping his promos with his older industry buds? Yes? Okay. Moving on.

(We also got a tiny taste of what Christian Cage has been up to, in case folks forgot about him.)

Adam Page and Joey Janela’s match. Frankly, especially after Joey refused to help Sonny Kiss on Dark earlier in the week, I wasn’t expecting much here. However, if watching AEW has taught me one thing, it’s taught me to expect the unexpected. This might be one of the stand-out matches of the night for me. The match itself was very technically proficient, and was a good showing from both Joey and Hangman… but this match is one I remembered more for what came after than the match itself. Why?

That’s why. An extremely bloody Hangman Adam Page cut a promo on Brian Cage after Team TAZ threatened to come out and jump him. “Why don’t you come out and face me like a man?” Adam asked. Frankly, Brian Cage has been a bit of a charisma vacuum, and I was only emotionally invested in the PPV match as a broader piece in the saga to redeem the Hangman’s broken soul. I don’t know that this moment changed that, but it does make me interested to see where this match goes in a broader narrative sense.

Once again, there was another great promo by Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley. But then again, at this point, do you really expect anything less? “What makes a great team–what makes a family?” Mox asked as he looked at Eddie before detailing a story of their life before fame on the wrong side of the tracks. What I love so much about this feud is these truly are two groups who both came from blue collar upbringings, and whose hunger and drive brought them to where they are today. That’s true both in and out of the ring. No matter what you think of the Young Bucks or Mox and Eddie as wrestlers, the fact that they are so similar and yet are dark mirrors of one another makes them a can’t-miss match up in my books.

We also got a treat in seeing the dark side of PAC as he pre-empted Orange Cassidy’s segment to remind everyone why he’s the baddest guy in the entire AEW men’s division. “So Kenny, Kenny, Kenny… is this really your prestigious title reign that you’re oh, so proud of?” PAC asked as he looked directly in the camera. Great stuff, and I didn’t realize how much I was missing a PAC promo until it happened. Kenny Omega answered PAC’s call wearing custom Kenny Omega Air Jordan’s in a black/silver/red colorway, and he almost got a One-Winged Angel off on PAC before Orange Cassidy came out to give Don and Kenny an answer.

Orange handing Kenny an envelope labeled “FOR KEVIN KENNY” was. INCREDIBLE. And then the bit went even further, showing that Orange thoroughly shredded the waiver Don Callis gave him last week, after Don urged him not to tear this copy up and think it over. Kenny looking at the shredded paper, utterly confused, and even digging deeper into the envelope to see if there wasn’t something more hiding within… Kenny and Orange both have excellent comedic timing, and this gave me everything I wanted. Friend and sometimes-contributor Thomas joked at the beginning of Kenny’s “Belt Collector” phase that Kenny felt like a principal in a Disney Channel Original Movie, and that vibe could not be stronger here, in the best way. 

Kenny is the nasty principal, and Orange is a Ferris Bueller-like hero of the people. Meanwhile, PAC is just the bully who woke up and immediately chose violence. I know this is extremely catering to me and my tastes personally, but I couldn’t be more pleased and excited.

Jade Cargill. Not only did she manage to make me enjoy Matt Hardy again (who is also someone who I believe works best as a cartoon villain), but her match against KiLynn King was just great stuff. I’m also glad that this served as a showcase for King, who has been tearing it up on AEW Dark, but we had yet to see her in the ring during a Dynamite. The Women’s division still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of their presentation on the product, but matches like this make me hopeful that will be sooner rather than later. (Also, I just want to take this opportunity to say I’m pretty sure pink is absolutely Jade’s color.) I’m also really interested to see where she goes now that she has the lawyer as her manager, and how that furthers her story and career.

The Miro match was also great–I loved Dante Martin so much, it’s a shame Miro had to kill him really. (In all seriousness, killer champ Miro is a great move for his character.) I’m glad Jake the Snake is having fun managing Lance Archer, but did we really need you mocking the fact that he’s Bulgarian with gibberish? “You’re always holding your boy back,” Miro said, and I can’t help but agree. I know Lance is good on the mic, and it does feel like in order to grow, he needs to shed Jake the Snake, or at least let him take more of a background role.

Hikaru Shida got a celebration! And a new belt! I’m so happy for her. For months, she’s talked about how her dream is to defend her belt in front of a sold-out arena as AEW Women’s champion. She’ll finally get to do that at DoN. The joy on her face as the crowd chanted “Shida! Shida!” was just great. It’s been a rough year, and Shida has carried the Women’s division through both an extremely rough period but also a period of its greatest growth. It’s only right that she should have that moment, and she looked beautiful doing it. It’s a shame that some former AEW employees didn’t agree, but in the end they got what they deserved. I can only hope their lack of professionalism didn’t sully this moment for Shida. In-ring, not even Britt Baker could dampen the champ’s spirits too much, and she did a great job with the heartfelt babyface promo. (Her first promo in-ring!)

Okay, I feel like this has gotten REALLY long in the teeth already, so I’ll rattle off just a couple more incredible moments via bulleted list:

• The “GET OVER HERE” from Stu Grayson
• Sting calling back to TNA & WCW by yet again taking off a mask to reveal the facepaint underneath
• Eric Bishoff getting a chance to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the NWO
• The “Too Sweet! WHOOP WHOOP” chant that followed
• The crowd getting to sing Judas again (which despite everything, does kinda slap)

In other wrestling news, as we discussed last week, the pickle NJPW found itself in has been kind of rough. But… despite my concern about Okada’s back, I can’t help but feel a little glad that he’s booked in a championship match again. He is the safe choice, true. But if there’s any champ that can carry New Japan through the pandemic, it’s Okada. Sometimes you need a win.

(I did not watch SmackDown. My apologies. I hear it was okay though? And SummerSlam is coming up! So that’s what we’re marching towards now.)

Double Or Nothing Predictions

Casino Battle Royale 

Charlie: Usually I would usually go with whoever the Joker is as the winner, but I am thinking that a member of the Dark Order might take this one. Giving Uno or 10 the win would bring The Dark Order in the Elite’s orbit and that means that Hangman won’t be able to hide from his former friends for much longer. 

Vishal: I, on the other hand, am going to take the easy route and say the Joker is my favorite to win it! I’ve seen speculation that it could be Andrade to set up the title match at Triplemania, and I also wonder if it could be Rich Swann, back for revenge. Either way, I think it’ll be the surprise entrant.

Mikey: And I’m going to go a completely different path and say I think it will be Christian Cage. Christian is long overdue for his time in the sun, and he’s supposedly here to “OUT. WORK. EVERYONE.” right? So this is his chance to prove it. I think he’ll take it… but I think the Joker is an intriguing choice too.

Hangman Adam Page v Brian Cage

Charlie: Gotta go with Hangman. He needs to be heated up in a big way before he makes a run for the AEW Championship. Hangman gets his revenge. 

Vishal: Definitely Hangman. He always looks good against big beefy boys, and he’ll look good here.

Mikey: See, I am thinking it could be Cage here. Hangman’s promo on Dynamite was great, but I think I also need to see him fully redeemed before he wins a big match-up like this. He’s trying to go mano a mano without anyone backing either of them up, but I just don’t see his character as having the self-confidence to carry through yet. But I’d love to be wrong, as I do love Hangman.

Sting and Darby Allin v Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page

Charlie: I think the money match is Ethan and Darby in a singles match, so this one will go to Ethan and Scorpio furthering the feud. 

Vishal: I feel similarly. I’m disappointed that Darby seems to continuously have Sting attached to him like a ball and chain; I much prefer it when he’s able to completely do his own thing. I do think we’ll get to that, though, with an Ethan Page early victory.

Mikey: Hmm, you all give compelling reasons for Scorpio and Ethan. However… I just don’t think I can see Sting losing in a match? I almost think Sting and Darby take it, but it’s a pyrrhic victory with Sting getting got post-match.

Cody Rhodes v Anthony Ogogo

Charlie: TBH because they made this match about nationalism in the worst way, this will be my designated piss break match. Either way, I hope that Ogogo wins. I know Cody will, however. 

Vishal: Sadly, this match takes place the day before Memorial Day, and it’s about nationalism. Cody, the self-proclaimed “American Dream”, will win and we will all hate it.

Mikey: Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with the consensus on this one. Ugh.

TNT Championship Match: Miro v Lance Archer

Charlie: Miro just won the title and while I love Lance and think they will put this belt on him eventually, Double or Nothing won’t be that time. I do think that this match will be good for fans of really big boys doing big boy things. Miro wins. Game Over. 

Vishal: Miro wins this because dropping it in his first PPV defense would be really embarrassing.

Mikey: I agree. Miro will defeat the Murderhawk Monster and prove his monster superiority.

AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Hikaru Shida v Britt Baker

Charlie: Is there really any other conclusion to this than Britt winning the belt? She’s been so damn great since she returned from injury and she deserves to win here. RIP to the longest reigning AEW Women’s Champion. 

Vishal: I’ll say this, I won’t be surprised if Shida retains, and I generally think they’ve treated her poorly throughout her monster reign with the belt, but yeah. Britt wins this.

Mikey: I agree that I wish Shida could’ve had more during her reign, but I think given all the build-up and wanting to defend her title with a crowd, I agree that this is her last defense. Changing out the old belt for a newer, bigger one on Dynamite was kind of the nail in the coffin too. I do know Britt will be a great champ too, and I definitely don’t think this will be the last we’ll see of Shida.

AEW Tag Team Title Match: The Young Bucks v Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley

Charlie: This could really go either way for me. It might be the match that I am the most up in the air about the outcome of. The Bucks fully turned heel, on a PPV, should be a sight to behold. Eddie and Mox’s chemistry is off the charts. I am predicting this may just be my match of the night. I am also predicting that The Young Bucks retain and continue to buzzsaw though the rest of the tag division. 

Vishal: I think the Bucks retain, because I don’t think the Elite are going to be falling any time soon. I’ve been vocally frustrated with how long they just bogarted the belts without doing anything with them, and I’m glad they’ve finally started defending them recently, so I feel like this will continue the trend of them staying in the spotlight with all the gold.

Mikey: Hmm. Hmmmm. This one is hard for me too. I think the Bucks win by a slim margin or by cheating, and it’s not the end of the feud. That’s the way this works for me without making Mox and Eddie look like chumps.

Stadium Stampede: Inner Circle v The Pinnacle

Charlie: I am being told by several different places that this match will be different from last year’s Stadium Stampede, but damn if it doesn’t have big shoes to fill. I am not sure anything can live up to the feel-good moment we all experienced collectively… but if this is bloody and violent, I am calling it for The Pinnacle. 

Vishal: They’ve teased the Inner Circle breaking up a dozen times now, and they haven’t followed through at any point. I don’t expect them to follow through now. The Inner Circle wins this and stays a faction, because god forbid Jake Hager try to carve out a niche on his own.

Mikey: Hahaha, god, you’re right Vishal. What a thing to imagine. That’s my one criticism with AEW… so often they introduce a stipulation that feels toothless because there’s no way they’d end up following through on it or it just feels unnecessary. Stipulations are kind of starting to feel like a cheap way to increase the stakes of a match. But I digress. I think The Pinnacle wins it, but some of the Inner Circle defect to The Pinnacle. After all, what allegiance does a Jake Hager have? (Also, selfishly, I’m hoping this means we get to see more Santana & Ortiz… and I could also see Santana & Ortiz & Sammy Guevara as trios competitors.)

AEW World Championship 3-Way Match: Kenny Omega v Orange Cassidy v PAC

Charlie: My hopes are so high for this one. I want this to be a different flavor of Kenny Omega match. I want him to flex his comedy wrestling muscles here, while also being put in a desperate position where he can lose the belt without being pinned. I can see something WILD like that happening, but I think Kenny retains. Either that, or Orange has the belt for the week. 

Vishal: Kenny retains. They’re not going to have the first ever triple threat in AEW end in Kenny losing the belt without being pinned, but I’m sure it’ll have countless other shenanigans. Orange winning would be the actual best option, but they didn’t give Rich Swann the title so they won’t give it to Orange.

Mikey: I agree with the consensus this time; I think Kenny retains. Especially given my evil principal comparison earlier, I think OC needs to have a loss that really stings to drive him on further to eventually take Kenny down.

Special Late-Night Edition

Mikey: Okay, because you have me as editor this week, and I am forever someone who can’t go to bed at normal hours… I have to add this very golden update to our recap.

Kota Ibushi, god, former NJPW champion, quote retweeting his former tag team partner Kenny Omega delivering a sick Twitter burn to all of his critics with a T.S. Eliot quote. Charlie (who woke up at 2:30 A.M, internet restored) told me that one of Eliot’s most famous works is The Waste Land, which in Charlie’s words “is chiefly exploring how creating the past as a mythic thing can destroy how you view your own future.”

Charlie: Eliot’s works are primarily about loss, isolation and the degraded value of the present when you juxtapose it with your grand vision of the past. Eliot uses religious metaphor for this mostly, but it can be mapped onto Kenny’s story pretty easily.

Mikey: Well, there you have it folks. Make of this what you will, and we’ll check in next week if any of this has any bearing on the current wrasslin. Until next time!

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Charlie Davis

Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.

Vishal Gullapalli

Vishal Gullapalli is highly opinionated and reads way too much.