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Elite Heat is the All Elite Wrestling podcast for fans who want more than just a recap.
Every week, Tim and Doug — two AEW fans who've been All Elite since day one — react to AEW Dynamite and Collision, break down the latest storylines, analyze the characters driving the product, and give you their unfiltered take on everything happening in All Elite Wrestling.
From weekly show reactions to PPV breakdowns, roster moves to long-term booking analysis, Elite Heat covers the full spectrum of AEW. No fluff, no filler...just two passionate pro wrestling fans who care deeply about the product and aren't afraid to say exactly what they think.
New episodes drop every week. Subscribe and join the conversation.
Well, the big question as we start this episode is will Doug sneeze or not? Because that's what's been happening since before I hit record.
You know, I thought I really was and now it's gone. It's gone. It's gone away. Back inside. Back inside. Back inside.
Okay, well that's good. I say the more that you say that though, the more likely it is it's going to happen.
Okay.
There was like a little hair on the monitor where your face was, but anyway.
to say anything about anything now.
Yeah, I get that. All right, so let's jump into tonight's dynamite. By the way, if you haven't, you know, hit the follow button or subscribed yet, you should go ahead and do that. Yeah, you should go ahead and do that right now. Right now. Maybe leave a five star little little review before we really get into this. But we opened up with MJF and the Knight Rider for the TNT championship. Figured I'd do that one for you.
Yeah. Clicky.
Thank you for that. Love it. Night Rider got a big pop, I thought.
He did, I agree. I thought it was interesting Excalibur. I don't know if he misspoke here or if I just don't remember, but he said that Kevin Michael Knight had won three championships in a calendar year and I remember two, but I don't know what the third would be because the trios and the TNT championship, obviously. I don't know that he may have just misspoke.
Right. Was he an ROH champ?
Maybe he might have been now that you mention it. He might have been
Did he get a tag? Did he get an ROH tag champ with Speed Nuts? Speed Nuts, that's what I'm calling him from now on. Speed Nuts Mike A.
Or maybe like the Pure or the TV?
But anyway, I don't know. I bring that up mostly just because it's stuck in my brain throughout pretty much the whole match.
He, you know, it's funny because now that you mentioned it, I heard him say it, but I thought he was talking about MJF in my head. And then, but now you're right. He was talking about Kevin McKnight and I don't recall that third title either. So I'll just, you know what? I'll take his word for it.
Uhhhh...
It might've been an ROH one. Yeah, it's not a big deal, but it was just something that was banging around in my brain during this match. Yeah, now it is. Could we Google it? Sure. Are we gonna? Nah.
Well, now it is. Now it is.
No, there's no way for us to know. There's literally no way for us to know, Tim. No way. No way.
That's true. That's true. You're right. You're right. but as for the match itself, I thought this was a really, really good match and I was honestly pretty shocked that MJF did not win here.
Mm-hmm.
I was stunned. I was stunned. I literally said, Kevin Knight with the low blow for the win, color me surprised. but A, great match. Amazing match, loved it. And I thought he was, know, MJF's doing the knee thing. He's working on the knee. I thought that was going to be the end of it. All right. I'm kind of intrigued by what's next. Kind of intrigued.
Yeah.
I am too. I am too. There was a lot of, well, maybe not a lot of that tonight, but there were a couple things tonight that I went, okay, well, I'm very intrigued by what are you gonna do now? But yeah, that surprised me a bit. What did you think of Darby dropping in for the save?
Yeah.
Meh, yeah, I mean, I get it, but I don't know. It seems a bit like, I get, we understand. Look, you were the Sting protege for a while. We get it. You didn't need to drop from the rafters, but, and here's the thing about dropping from the rafters. When Sting was doing it back in the day, it's because you never knew where he was and he would just randomly show up. But when Darby does it at the beginning of the show,
Yeah.
Yeah.
Then it's like, okay, he's planning to do it. just, the mystique is different. It doesn't hit the same. And I could have done without it. He could have just came in from the crowd or came in from the ramp. That was fine. But there was a lot of post-match chicanery going on, which I got to be honest, kind of dug it. But the dropping from the ceiling. Okay. Okay. I mean, look, we get it. Sting came out when he won the title. You're his buddy. You're his son. Whatever.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's not the first time that they've done it. I just thought in my mind, I was like, I don't understand why we're doing the sting impression when the whole point of this and they would reiterate it is that Darby is still saying no. So why are you getting involved here? Like I think it makes more sense from a kayfabe standpoint, if it's like, well, yeah, he and Max are like full on beefing, but they're really not. And
I don't know if we needed that one.
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
other than it's just the good guy thing to do. didn't, I don't know, it felt a little strange, I guess.
It was weird. And like I said, you had a lot of post-match chicanery. You had Max attacking after the bell, then Darby dropping from the rafters and doing the scorpion death drop. I think the death drop alone is the tip of the hat. That's really all you needed. Max wants his rebatch. Darby again says no, says Kevin Knight deserves it. Then Brody comes out and says, that's great, but you ain't winning tonight, Darby. It's me against Kevin Knight next week.
Yeah.
a lot of story mixing and matching going on after this match, which actually I was kind of okay with. Kind of okay with it.
Yeah, I didn't have a problem with it. I just thought him coming out of the rafters was an odd choice, but whatever. But everything else I was fine with. So from that, we went to Renee who kudos to her for powering through tonight, despite the fact she was clearly losing her voice. She was backstage with Edge and Christian. Literally all I wrote here was, okay.
A bit much. A bit much.
Right.
Yes. What did you, before that though, we got the video recap of Darby and Brody. What did you think? Here's the thing. Here's, I liked this one. I liked it a lot because it didn't, it felt different to me. The music was intense. The video editing was, it was sharper. I felt like they were trying a little bit harder on this. I don't know. That seems unfair.
Yeah, I'm mostly skipping those recaps.
Okay. Okay.
But this seemed like they decided to take a different creative tack to it. And it was short, it was efficient, and it felt like it had a lot of energy and umph. And I really liked it. And I don't know where they're getting this new type of preview from. I feel like maybe they're taking, borrowing some ideas, which is great. But I thought it really worked. because a lot of times I think when they do these recaps, they're a little too long and we don't really need them.
but this one was bing, bing, bing, energy, and I really liked it. But then, yes, we get to cope with Christian and Renee. OK, and again, apparently we need to watch collision because FTR said, now the Street Fight and I quit match. OK.
Mm-hmm.
I did know that because I had read it on the interwebs. My thought on that is I fear we're overbooking this a little bit. Yeah, because it's a street fight and an I quit match, which
You think? You think?
feel like you only needed one of those.
And the step of if we lose, we aren't going to team again. But only Cage and Cope have that, so.
Right, right. What I will say that is quasi interesting about this is right now it feels like there's a whole bunch stacked against Edge and Christian. I can't bring myself to say cope and I don't know why.
Yes. Because it doesn't flow well and it is kind of dopey sounding.
Well, and every time that I've seen him, brain, like I can't, I can't divorce my brain from edge when I see him, you know what I mean? But anyway, I, it feels like they're stacking the deck really hard against them. It feels like there's almost no way they win it, which makes me wonder if they are going to switch the belts here.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I'll tell you though, the more I think about it, the more I think it might be more interesting to have them lose and have them break up because I don't know where you go from there, but it might be a better angle for both of them to go their own way.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
I wouldn't argue with that. It does feel like in the past, Tony has always tipped his hat to these guys that are in no offense to either one of them. They're doing, they're killing it out there, but they're on the backend of their careers and Tony likes to give a tip of the hat to let them ride out on their shields. And so it does feel like they're stacking the deck so that they can come out with a W.
But I agree, the storytelling is gonna be interesting because it is an I Quit match and if you don't think that's gonna come into play, it definitely is. Especially when Edge is telling Christian, know, your record with I Quit matches isn't great. So they're already laying the groundwork that there's gonna be some kind of weird chicanery going on. So it is hard to tell where we're going with this, but I'm in, I like it, I'm okay.
yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm yeah, I mean, I think there's no question it's gonna be a good match. I just think it's a yeah, it's overbooked. Yeah. And and it does set up some interesting future storytelling. Going back to what you were saying of Tony likes to let them go out on their shield. Yeah, he does. But part of it also is he likes being able to take these legends that he gets a hold of and say they held a belt, right? Like
But it is a
A bit overbooked, yes.
Yeah, oh, 100%, yeah.
It matters if you say Edgen Christian held the AEW Tag Team titles. know, like it's, that's part of what he's doing is creating the lineage of the titles. And I get that. And I don't think that's a bad idea.
No, and I would have a hard time arguing with putting the belts on them, especially having them fight from underneath and against the odds. You have them hold it for a while. There's no shame in that. You lose it to someone like the Bucks or Don Callis family or something like that. The dogs, oh, the dog, that'd be great. But yeah, I would have no problem with either scenario of them winning or losing.
I would too.
The dogs maybe, yeah.
Yeah, I agree. So, you know, they're doing a nice job with the build to this. I'll give them that. It's just a tad overbooked. you know, I love me some, great British baking show. This is where the judges would say, you just slightly overbaked it, you know,
Yep. I would agree.
For two seconds, I thought that was your segue into the brawl on birds because it's the great British baking show. And they're next. is that what it was? Did I get it? All right. Yay.
Yeah. Yes. Let's say that that's where I was going with it. Yes. Speaking of Brits, the brawling birds came out. See, we got there. We tied it together. And they fought some people that were going to lose. That's what I wrote down. Some people that are going to lose.
You did, yeah.
Yep, I put brawling birds versus two women, dominant win. The other team never got to tag in.
No, I mean, I'll say this, it was a proper squash. And it wasn't the only one we would see tonight.
Yeah. By the way, proper squash, I think is the next challenge on the British baking show. I'm pretty sure cooking a proper squash. Squash week. God.
It is, yeah, it's squash week. Yeah. Yeah. yeah. but you know, it's a proper squash match, which we don't usually get with AEW. They usually let the other person get some offense in. like I said, not the, not the only one of those we would see tonight, but we'll get to that. But you know, I, here's what I thought about it. Like,
Mm-hmm.
Okay, you let them showcase some of their teamwork ability and made them look like a good team. Other than that, I don't know that this did a lot for them. It's obvious to me that they're going to be the next contenders for the Women's Tag Titles, that it's going to be them and Divine Dominion at double or nothing. Just start building the program. Just get into it.
Nope.
Yeah. Yep. This is where I started to go down the, because, well, I'll get into it at the end. I'll touch back on this at the end.
Okay.
Okay. After that, speaking of ladies, we went to Sky Blue and Tekla. And my main takeaway from this is that Tekla's promos just get better and better. mean, I don't know what changed, but I'm really enjoying her promos.
Yes.
Yeah. And I was a little confused because I had written down Swerve was at the NFL draft. And when you said we go to the ladies, I was like, uh-oh. Don't let Swerve hear you say that.
I skipped, I mean, yes, technically that is what came next. I skipped some stuff in my recap, cause whatever.
Yeah, it's fine, but I just thought it was interesting that they, you know, of all the people, the guy who hasn't been on TV in a while was at the draft for you. That's all. But yes, Tecla, Sky Blue, Sky Blue didn't have much to add, although the sisters got a win over, who, I can't think of the other, the CMLL channel.
Yeah, I... yeah.
Mm-mm.
Persephone, yeah. Statlander, right? No.
Persephone was tagging with, no, the other one, with half of the birds. And the bird, no, Persephone got sprayed in the face and so they got the pinfall over half of the brawling birds. I mean, they continued that tension and storyline a little bit, but.
that's right. That's right.
But yeah, Tecla's promos are heating up. I like the new swagger she's got. And again, I think it's what we referenced before is this is how I think we both felt she should have been presented from the get-go. And the promos are now catching up. And I like it. I like it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree. You know, going back to that match with the win over one half of the birds, they'll probably do a match between them and the sisters of sin at some point, because why not? Where it'll be, well, you only beat half of us, you know, the Persephone thing is a little bit interesting because there's some rumblings that she's going to be finishing up with CMLL relatively soon in that AAA, AKA WWE is hot after her.
yeah.
So I'm wondering if the mist is a little bit of a write off to take her, because I think she's one of those that's on a AEW-CMLL contract. So it makes me wonder if that's a write out because she's not gonna resign. I don't know, we will see. Yep, we will see.
Got it.
could be.
Interesting, interesting, could be.
then I mean, there might've been something else I didn't write down and I'm skipping over it, but nope. Then it was Okada and Ace Austin for the international title. Nice to see the international title on TV again. You kind of forget about it.
Nope.
Yeah, yeah. I guess he's defended it. This was the fifth time this year, they said. Yeah, five times.
Correct. Yeah. Yeah. He was four and to that point. Yeah. You know, look, this, this was a really good match. thought this was a great opportunity for ACE Austin to look really good against a guy who, as they pointed out during the match is one of the best ever in Okada. I thought they did a really, really strong match here. Unfortunately, at no point did I think ACE Austin was going to win.
No, no, but here's the deal. at first I was like, what are they doing? And then I was like, you know what? That's fine because you're building up.
one of your new acquisitions and I have been noticing that they're trying to make efforts to take their established people and have solid, solid matches with these newer guys, not necessarily younger, but newer and they don't even have to win, but man, Austin looked great tonight. Now, and the only caveat I'll put is I hope they keep his momentum going because he looked really good. He looked really strong, although...
That one drop kick he ate near the end of the match when he was coming off the top rope, I thought he legit broke his jaw. That looked so sick.
Yeah, I, that was one, that was one that got a verbal reaction from me where I was like,
That one was rough looking but and of course in to Kesha comes out and you know, we're finally gonna see them in three weeks Yeah
Yeah.
yeah, just, just shy of a month. Yeah. Yep. So, you know, I look good match. I'm with you. I hope they capitalize on this momentum with ACE Austin in the past. I would have been, a little leery of that. but I will say the stuff they did with speed ball and Kevin Knight has given me some optimism that they can build on this. I don't know if they will, but I hope they do.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Right. Yeah, I hope they do too. Because he looked really good. And let me give it to Don Callis. Even though he's healing it up, he always puts over the opposition for the obvious qualities that they have. He always puts over that they're great athletes, that they know what they're doing. But then he...
He did. He did.
is going to put Okada over. So hats off to Don Callis for actually making that believable and doing a hell of a job because he's so good. He's just so damn good.
He is. He is. He's tremendous. Yeah, I agree. Then we went to the, what I thought was a bandito vignette, but it turns out, no, it's a swerve vignette.
What did you think? I'm so curious as to what your reaction was.
so the vignette itself, I loved, I thought it was really cool. The, you know, I believe they call that a wonder where it's just all one shot. Like I don't think there were any cuts in there. I think it was just one continuous shot. thought that was really cool that they did it that way. like I said, I started out thinking it was for Bandido and then for it to be swerve, went, okay, that's interesting. So
I don't think so, no.
I'm split on this one because for the vignette itself, loved it. Love, love, loved it. Thought it was great. I think it's really weird to start a program between Swerve and Bandito. Makes no sense to me.
Yep.
That was my thought. And the only thought I can think of is that he, Bandito, is Brody's guy.
I don't get it.
Mmm.
But there's no re- it was just, it was weird. I liked it, but I thought, okay, you're bringing the guy that had the world title and you're bringing him after the ROH heavyweight champ, Bandito. Okay. If we get to see Swerve and Bandito, I'm in, but okay.
It was.
Yep. Yeah, that was my thought of like, look, I'm not going to say no to that match. I think it's going to be very good. but it's a weird one for this to be swerve's return program after, you know, a couple of weeks away when you're looking at, you know, everything that he was involved in before to me feels unfinished. And you've also got Kenny Omega, who again, we did not see.
yeah.
And we did not.
after his weird like, maybe there's maybe it's not too late or maybe it's not or whatever it was a couple weeks ago. That feels to me like that would have made more sense putting those two guys back together rather than sending swerve at bandito. Again, I'm not mad at it. I just it's it's a head scratcher to me. I don't get it. And I hope that they provide some sort of explanation as to why
Mm-mm.
Swerve is targeting Bandito and I hope it goes beyond the ROH title. Nothing against the ROH title, I just... I want some context here and I want it to matter more than that.
Right.
Yeah, you need a little more meat on that sandwich. And for two seconds, until I saw the boots walk out, I thought, holy crap, is this going to be a hangman vignette? Because I'm like, wait, it's a Western. There's stuff going on. And then the boots came out. I'm like, well, that's not hangman. What the heck? And then the hands come down. I'm like, oh my gosh, swerve? Band- what?
Yeah.
Hmm, that's interesting.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay. Yeah, like I 100 % agree. I loved the vignette, thought it was really cool. As a matter of fact, I had at the, between the vignette and the match before, I had turned and like got something to drink like for just three seconds, looked up. I thought it was a commercial at first. I didn't realize it was just, and then I'm like, wait, there's still closed captioning. What is going, what? Loved it though. I thought it was really cool.
Mmm.
I agree. I think this segment itself was great. I want to make that very clear. I thought was very, very cool. I just don't get putting these two guys together, but they've got time to explain it. If we're going to get this match a double or nothing, which I assume we are, they've got time to explain it. So I hope they do.
Mm-hmm.
Yep. All right, same.
From there, Osprey and the Death Riders, which was really interesting to me.
I loved it. This is kind of what I was hoping for when they stole him last week. The way it was set up was a little odd because there was no contention, but like I really liked it. And Osprey's, just was, I thought it was really good. Finally, this was...
I did too.
Yeah.
something that I thought like Mox should have been doing from the word go with these younger guys and bringing them in and testing their metal. And I really liked it. And I did love how Pac has given Osprey the stink eye and Mox is just like,
Boop, boop, boop. Yeah. I loved that. I laughed at that. I thought it was really good. You know, this ties in a little bit to collision where they, if you didn't see it, they had done a very similar backstage where basically Mox said to him, you know, we can make you essentially like the ultimate weapon. It's up to you, right? Osprey showing up is really interesting to me. Really interesting. I have no idea where we're going with this, but I love it.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I am super intrigued. This is the most interested I have been in John Moxley in quite some time. He was really good in this.
Yeah.
Yep. Yes, he was. And I think it's a really interesting option for Osprey. I think it's a really interesting device for him. I think I am super intrigued by it. And it's not the last time we're going to hear about Osprey in the night.
Mm-hmm.
What am I forgetting? Well, you bring it up when we get there and I'm sure I'll go, yeah, okay. Then we got Edge and Christian and RPG Vice. Good match, know. Yeah, solid. Good storytelling with them working Christian's arm, which is obviously gonna be a thing between now and Double or Nothing. It's not gonna magically get better. My other thought here was...
Nope. We'll get to it. Yep, we'll get to it. We're not there yet.
I had two other thoughts. Number one, the finisher that Edge and Christian broke out was great. I thought that was really cool. Why did the conglomeration get involved?
Yes.
I don't understand that one.
It, I, the only, I mean, they, they, they spell it out a little bit in a backstage vignette later, but like, I, think it's just a trigger to get a TRIO's title match with FTR and, and Champa. It was, it was really weird. And why Stokely decided to swing on Orange is way out of character.
Yeah.
Yeah, that didn't make any sense to I will say Orange giving him the noogie was really funny. I really enjoyed that. I think this is another one where it's out of order. I think that this makes a lot more sense if they had done the backstage challenging for the trios prior to it. Now, granted, if they had done that, we would have been sitting here going, well, that's out of the blue. That's weird. You know, there wasn't a great way to do it here.
Yep.
the way, you know, to get them to the, to the trios match. don't know that there was a great way to do it other than having probably Roddy strong and Kyle O'Reilly just have a tag team match against FTR and let it all break down and let it go from there. So it's, it's a, it's a very wonky way to get to the match that we'll talk about more when we get to that vignette, but it was real wonky to me. I don't hate it. It just was weird.
Right.
Yep. Yeah, you're not wrong. was like, okay. I guess this is a way. My only thought was, okay, this is a way to get the interference out of the match. And that's okay. It's like, all right, I get that. That's fine. I can live with that. So.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah, I yeah, it was just a little odd, whatever.
What did you think of Christian's post-match chair demolition and then what he had Edge do with it?
I thought that first of all, I was not sure where we were going with it. I thought he was going to try and break somebody's arm like his was. So I thought that was interesting to switch it. I thought it was very interesting. I think to me, my interpretation of it is that the point is to show you that they are ruthless, that this is the version of both of these guys that we, that we have seen before of
I did too.
Mm-hmm.
they'll do whatever it takes. And again, when you're talking about a match that is setting up to be fairly brutal, potentially, I think that makes sense to showcase that side of both of them. So I thought from a storytelling standpoint made a lot of sense.
Mm-hm. Yep.
Mm-hmm.
I was fine with it, I guess.
I just thought it was interesting. It's not like you, like you, like you, didn't think that's where they were going with that. thought, all right, he's going to try to break his arm. No, maybe he's going to do a one man concerto. No. Oh, okay. He's all right. So interesting. I love the storytelling with the arm. The arm is clearly going to be part of the story. The I quit is going to be part of that story. So we'll see how that goes. So yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I felt that too, yeah.
Yep, yeah. So yeah, it was interesting. Then Jericho got his ass whipped again backstage.
Mm-hmm.
I didn't have a problem with it. I don't mind the demand consistently whipping his ass. I don't think that's a bad thing. I will say I thought Ricochet was kind of meh here. He's not great at these, at this talking while beating somebody up, because he just repeats, you know, the same thing over and over again. And it, okay, I'd rather you just not talk and lay a beat down on him.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Or let the other two guys beat him up and you just say stuff. But I did like the faux Rico salt at the end and then just, it's not even worth my time. I thought that was good.
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think it would have been a little bit better if, and not that this was a bad segment by any means, but I think it would have been a little bit better if the gates of agony had just wailed on him since they're big dudes anyway, it just, you know, destroyed Jericho and then ricocheted the fake, you know, Rick assault and, said the thing of you're not even worth it and just walked away. That would have been, I would have been like, damn, like, I was really good. So, you know,
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
little tweak and that's a really, really good segment.
Yeah, but he was fine. I think it's an interesting angle for Jericho to take on his way back to get his ass whooped every week, but I'm still watching.
Yeah, it was fine.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, I'm really curious where this is going because especially since the Hurt Syndicate did not make the save tonight, it makes me think maybe that was just a one-off and Jericho's gonna find some other dudes to help him at double or nothing because of course that's where this is going. I don't know. I don't know. It is interesting. That's really all you can ask for.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Then, for the first time in three weeks, we see the women's tag team champs.
Then it, yeah.
Yeah, Stat and Sheetah versus Divine Dominion. I thought the match was pretty good. Really thought the Sheetah turn was officially happening here. It's weird to me that it didn't.
Yep. It was interesting because they had Renee do a recap of a conversation she had with Sheeda talking about, look, me and Stat have tagged more than me and anybody else in AEW and more than her and anybody else in AEW. So we're going to be great. And then when she kicked Stat and suplexed her into the corner onto the, I believe it was not Meghan Bain.
Correct. It was other tall lady whose name we can't remember. Sure.
Yes. Cross? Yeah. And then she's just like, go get her, get her. I was like, this is weird.
Yeah, that felt to me like the moment where the turn happened and then it didn't.
I thought for sure when Stat was trying to make the hot tag that Sheeta was gonna do little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms and short armor, but didn't. And Statlin are pulling out the 450 at the end, dude. What? What?
I, yep. That's what I thought too. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, like I said, the match was pretty good. It's just weird. The Sheetah Statlander thing to me in general is just weird. I think we all agree that this is going to end with Sheetah turning on her, so I don't know why we're still dragging it out.
Mm-hmm.
This is one of the things I was talking about earlier where for a story heavy show, because this had a lot of story elements in it, the women's storylines are not coherent right now. You had the brawl and birds reasons. There's no clear, there's still kind of beefing with Tecla and the sisters, but nothing, you know, it was just a promo vignette and a squash. So, meh.
Yeah.
And then you had this where the story's kind of messy because when Sheeta came back, they made it clear that, she's going to be healed. She's going to be not fun to be around. And now she's this weird, I don't even know what character she's playing. And there wasn't a full turn. So.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
down.
I just feel like it feels to me like they are trying really hard to go story first, but they don't have much of a story for the ladies right now. And I think it's a shame because I think, you you've got so much talent there and there could be something, but I don't know. I don't know what it is. And I don't have much of a clue as to what we're getting to, especially with these four.
Yeah, I agree. It's very odd and I don't necessarily mind the weirdness of it if it's kind of going in a more, I'm going to say obvious for lack of a better term, direction. And it just feels real muddled and just real like, it's like you're going, well, we kind of like what we're doing here. We kind of like this.
Right.
but we're not quite ready to pull the trigger. And I don't really get that because for as much as we have for the last couple of weeks been like, man, they're moving awfully fast on some of this stuff. This one, if we're right that this is ultimately building to StatLander and Sheet-a potentially a double or nothing, this one you're almost moving too slow. You're flirting with moving a little too slow on it, especially when there's not a lot of that character development.
Yep.
with Sheeta whom we haven't seen in a long time and is clearly doing a different version than what we've been used to.
Yep. just wrote stories messy. No real followup, no real direction.
Yeah, I would absolutely agree with that. And then that actually leads in nicely to the backstage with Andrade, Don Callis, and MJF, because I thought this one was messy and no real story either. Like, I know that there's sort of a story here of, hey, I paid you to take these guys out and you didn't do it, but Andrade just repeating himself over and over again, I thought was very odd. Yeah, I thought that was weird.
How you know? How you know? I thought it was super weird. I enjoyed him saying it. I didn't get it, but I enjoyed him saying it.
Yeah, I got a little bit of a kick out of it, but I just don't get it.
It is weird because he was the one guy that was like, Don, what are we doing? We shouldn't be working with this guy. I want his belt. And they tried to clean it up with Don going, look, let's not fight. He doesn't have a belt. We don't need to be fighting him. He needs a belt because we're all better off when he has it. So let's just all play along. And so I like Don being able to try and smooth it over and be trying to make sense of the weirdness.
Right.
But it, and I understand MJF being mad at Andrade and he's blaming Andrade for not beating Darby. And that's what caused this whole thing. So I did like that, but Andrade's role tonight was who had been on such a solid, solid trajectory. This was weird and I didn't get it.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree. It felt to me like a little bit of a sloppy setup for MJF and Andrade to wrestle potentially this coming Wednesday. I don't know. I agree with you. It felt weird, felt a little sloppy. I don't get it, especially with it being those guys. It was a little weird.
Right. Yeah. What did you think? What did you think of the next vignette? I'm curious, because we had some wood, Joe, Samoa, Joe and the Ops that prom.
Anywho.
What was it? Because I didn't write it down. was that next? wrote the, I have that after a match.
Rouge One, sorry.
Yeah, Roosh got, was there was second proper squash of the night against a jobber.
I took my dog out because he had to poo.
no, you're that's fine. I mean, it's it's a squash. It's a straight up squash of the dude got no offense in. It was all Roosh. So is the second proper squash of the night. My only thought on this was, OK, if you're doing this because we're going to do some with Roosh again, good because I like him. I like seeing him. But again, same thing like we said with Ace Austin. OK, but now let's make sure that momentum. Happens and continues.
Yep. Let's keep that. Yes. What did you think of that? It was different.
So then the ops backstage.
It was different. I thought it was very interesting for, to me for two reasons. Number one was that felt pretty baby face to me for a group that turned heel and had been working heel. That felt a little bit like baby face Joe talking about like putting them over as being bad asses, but also kind of
I don't know, like Joe is one of those guys where it's always gonna be the same with him regardless of how he's working and I don't mean that in a bad way. Austin was the same way and Austin's my favorite wrestler ever, you know, like it felt a little bit more on the face side to me whether that was intentional or not. The other thing I thought was very interesting was that I guess Bowens is now officially part of the group and...
Yep.
Yep.
I'll be honest, I like that if it means they feature him, if it means that he's going to actually get a role because I like that dude. So now do something here. Make this group matter.
Yes.
By the way, this is the second time in the night that we heard about Osprey because Joe's like, we're recruiting. Well, Osprey, what are you doing with mocks? We were the ones that saved you. So now you have two factions vying for Osprey's attentions. And I thought it was interesting. And go ahead.
yeah!
You're right, I did forget about that.
Yeah, you know what?
no, I just was going to say I meant to write it down and I guess I forgot because when he said that in my head I went, so Osprey is just the prettiest girl in school all of sudden.
Yes. I have this feeling and I could be way wrong, but it feels a little bit like maybe we could be seeing Hook like Joe doing the face turn and Hook staying heel and those two vying for control of the Ops. And you could see Hook and Bowens pairing off and Joe and...
Shabbat
Shabbat, thank you. Joe and Shabbat, pairing off and going at it. I don't know why there really wasn't anything overt, but it just feels like that would be the way because, what was it, six weeks ago? Shabbat and Hook were like, we're recruiting.
Mm.
And then nothing. Nothing.
Nope. Bowens came to them. They didn't even go to Bowens.
Right, and the other thing about that too is I was like, so okay, just like that, everything's fine, even though Joe gets hurt and Hook is immediately like, I'm the leader now. You know, look at me, I'm the captain now, right? And I think the way they were positioned mattered with Bowens and Hook next to each other, a little bit of space, and then Joe and Shabata. Joe...
Yep.
100.
Mm-hmm.
put Shibata over first. Shibata was kind of like, mm-hmm, you know, I mean, like, he doesn't talk as I get it. I liked the cell phone bit, but I get it doesn't work for the current version of the character. I agree with you. It felt to me like this is either gonna be the ops turning on Joe or same thing, that they're gonna split them two and two, and that's where it's gonna go. I think that's probably the more likely is that they're gonna split them.
and I think that's okay. Again, like you said, if we get more Bowens on TV, I'm in because like we said the last time he was on, I was like, my God, he's so good. And we've forgotten that because we haven't seen him enough. So yeah, put him on TV and let's see that happen. Love it.
I do too. I do too.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yep. Yep. I agree. So again, hopefully we carry this momentum forward. We're starting to get into the territory though, where you got a lot of people where it feels like you either have momentum or you're trying to build it and it's like, you only got so much time. So then in the previously mentioned FTR backstage where it was
Exactly. Exactly.
It was a little convoluted to me of, guess if they win, then it's the trio shot. if the conglomeration guys win in a tag match, then they get a shot at the tag titles. Do I have that right?
I don't know because I, Orange Cassidy is taking on Dax and they're calling it a double Jeopardy, which I don't get because if Orange Cassidy wins something.
Or no, it's a one-on-one. Yes.
Double Jeopardy match? don't... Yeah, I don't either.
I think if he wins, then some version of the three of them get a championship match for the tag titles. But if Dax wins, then the two of them and Champa will challenge for the trios title. And aside from the a little bit confusing stipulation there.
That's what it is. Yes.
Yes.
What I put down here was having Champa be the third man and immediately revealing him almost makes me feel like they gave away the ending of next week's match. It almost makes me feel like Dax is winning and it's gonna be them fighting for the trios championship because I don't know why you immediately reveal Champa if not to make that the match.
Yeah.
Why would you spoil that? So it does feel like that's where we're going. And it wouldn't shock if Champa costs Orange Cassidy the match so that he can get a TRIO's title.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, I agree. And from that standpoint, it feels to me a little bit like a missed opportunity. It feels to me a little bit like you could have teased us with, it's not gonna be Stoke. We got somebody else up our sleeve, you know, and you could have teased that to next week for the match.
or they could let them believe it's gonna be Stoke and then show up the night of and be like, we never said it was gonna be Stoke. know, so yeah, they, do believe they kind of showed their hand a bit on that one, but okay.
Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, yeah, that would that would have been really good too. Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
But again, like I said, I think last week, like to, lately they have really liked to go opposite of what the seemingly obvious path is. So we'll see what happens. Then it was main event time and Brody and Darbs, which is in my mind, D-A-R-B-Z, Darbs.
Mm-hmm.
I think that's the only way you can spell it with that guy. This was a hell of a match. I really, and here's the thing. I am buying more into Darby as the AEW champion in this vein, in this mold of being a fighting champion of just being so tenacious that you know this guy's never gonna give up. And so there's something kind of cool about that's your champ.
I think so. It was, it was really good.
I am too.
that he knows he's gonna have an uphill battle every time he steps in the ring. And it's kinda, I'm so, I'm happier with it than I thought it was gonna be. But the only issue I have with this match is I am such a mark right now for Brody King, I really wanted him to win, but I didn't think he was going to, but I really, really wanted him to win.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I agree. I mean, that's the bummer of it is I wanted Brody to win. I don't care about Kevin Michael Knight next week. Like, like I said, I think they have him on a trajectory where one day I'm going to want him to be the world champ, but we're not there yet. I agree with you on the Brody thing. It, this is the problem of having like, it's a good problem to have, I think, but this is the problem of having multiple.
Right. No.
a storylines running with the world championship, which is that I know the story is Darby and MJF. I know that's the story. So when you throw Brody at him, when you throw Kevin Knight at him, I'm immediately going, it'll be an entertaining match, but I know who's winning. Cause I know what the story is. But to your point, I wrote down as well, they're making Darby look legit. They're doing a really good job with him. Also, let me, let me tip the cap to him.
I feel like he's put some muscle on lately. Like I don't know if he's on a new training regimen or a new, you know, nutrition plan, but I feel like Darby's never gonna like bulk, bulk, you know what I mean? But I'm like, he's put some muscle on, like he's looking pretty legit lately. And you combine that with the stuff they're doing in the ring with him and the way that opponents are really selling for him and really making him look good.
Yep.
Yeah, you've made me a believer. Good job. I'm in. Like you have gotten me in on world champion Darby Allen. Now that said, would I prefer that they switch it back to Max, a double or nothing? I would. I would. But you know, good job. Good job nonetheless.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I will say, and again, this match, I thought this match was really good. Brody going through the barricade was brutal. The coffin drop to the cement. my God. These two, these two let it out and.
Yeah, was bonkers. Yep.
I don't know. was just a, it was a really impressive match. really liked it. And I liked the fact that you've got MJF watching. You've got Kevin Michael McNutt watching from the rafters kind of sorta. yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Way to go. Way to go. Champ.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, just stand him in the aisle there, which I'm pretty sure is a fire hazard, but...
Yeah.
But yeah, no, I liked everything about it. I really did. I really enjoyed this. I liked everything about it. I liked everything that went into it. Yeah, good job. You got me on board with this and I really didn't think I was gonna be. So good job.
Yeah.
Yeah. I thought tonight, like I alluded to earlier, I thought tonight was very story heavy, which I'm a fan of. And you book ended it with probably your two most coherent stories, although the heavyweight title is a little wonky, but it's clear that they know what they're doing and know where they're going with it. I just feel bad for the women because I do not feel those storylines are coherent at all.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And I hope we don't ruin any momentum that we're getting with Roosh and with Ace Austin. And the absences are being noticed, as far as I'm concerned. The Kenny Omega's being gone. Again, the radicals who were hot as all get out, nowhere to be seen tonight, not even mentioned other than Ace Austin. Wait, no, he's with the guns.
Yes. Yes.
Easy with bang bang gang, yeah.
He's with Bang Bang Gang. So no mention of the radicals. And you got Swerve back, but he's going against Bandito, which, okay, that's story, but we don't know what it is yet. So again,
Yeah.
A tip of the hat for them putting story first. I really, really, really want them to clean up the ladies and the women's division and get some solid stories. Because it's not like they don't have enough bodies in the building at this point. They have enough people. They have enough players that they could do something coherent. They can do something valid. It's just not there yet. And it's just disappointing. mean, you've got Willow going up against Anna Jay. Anna Jay's not going to win.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, but I will say this, when I saw the tease for that I went, okay that's interesting because we haven't seen her in quite a while. So I'm curious how that match is going to play itself out because again, I think AEW has done a great job of figuring out how to make somebody look really good and to start building momentum for them in a loss.
Correct, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, with the men, I don't think they've done the same for the women at all.
I agree, but I'm curious about the match to see if they managed to pull it off with Anna Jay, because I don't know why you put her in that spot if the idea isn't to then utilize her again. And you know, it's, it's to your point on the absences, particularly with the women, you know, Willow not being on TV tonight, I thought was very interesting. That's I think a couple of weeks in a row and she might be your most interesting, you know, in the women's division.
Mm-hmm.
Also...
Also, where's Camille?
I had the same thought tonight. Where is Camille? Right? Cause we're talking about, you know, capitalize on the momentum. You bring her back on the pay-per-view and she's MIA all over again. So where is Camille? no Mina Shirakawa who has seemed to be heavily involved in things. Marina Shafir was part of the death writer segment with Osprey, but really just there cause she's part of the group, you know, so she didn't really do anything.
Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yep.
You know, you've got, you've, you've lost all momentum with the tag teams. Harley's been MIA since they lost, you know.
I, is she, she might be, I almost said wounded. She might be injured. I'm not a hundred percent.
She might be. I don't know. She might be. But you know what I mean? Like, like to your point, you've got all those. And then of course, the biggest of the women, Mercedes Monet is still not there. And I get that she took time off. But if the idea is, I do think, I think that at some point, relatively soon, they're going to make a women's title match. have no idea who Tekla is going to defend against. Because I don't think you have anybody
Mm-hmm.
ready, you know, heated up for that spot. But at some point you're going to make that match. You're going to put it on double or nothing. And I do think that that's when we're going to get the Mercedes return and build for her and Tecla at all in.
Mm-mm.
Right.
I think that's a smart move if they go with it. When you think about it, really the only one logical to try and take on Teclo would be Willow because she's a belt holder and she's the only one that has any kind of coherent momentum right now. But like you said, we haven't seen her today. although hats off to her, she's been competing a lot. It's not like she hasn't been absent from TV for a while. It's just we didn't get to see her tonight, which again, a little disappointing.
Yeah.
you
Yeah.
Yeah, and they can sell it as the shoulder injury, you know, so I get it. Get it, but it's just it's, know, the vignette probably wouldn't have been a bad thing there.
Yeah. Yep.
Yeah, show our face, show we're talking. Give us 30 seconds.
Yeah. Yeah. I just, I, I agree with you. They got a lot of work to do on the women's side of things. but overall, I thought this was a really good show. And again, you very much have, you, you have my attention on a whole bunch of different storylines headed into double or nothing. You know, normally I think for any, any wrestling promotion, if you've got one person interested in like three storylines, you're doing pretty good.
Yep. Yep.
Yeah.
I think you're doing pretty good at that point. I would say at this point I'm interested in probably five, maybe six, where I'm like, okay, let's see where this goes. know, like, okay, you have my attention. That's pretty damn impressive.
Yeah, that's really good. That's really good. Let me, and I just, thought of this tonight as we were talking and when you brought up Mina Shirakawa, it made me think I'm going to pitch to you that it's not Shida who turns heel. That it's that Statlander turns and joins up with Shida and they're actually going to form a team on the other side of the coin. And it's Statlander that's going to take out Mina Shirakawa.
Interesting. Interesting. Okay, so...
And I, it, it, like, I'm a fan of it because, hey, I just thought of it and it makes a little bit of sense. But the thing that I don't, if that is where we're going, because at this point, anything's possible, because they haven't really given us a clear path. it means stat once again has been flip-flopping, but to me that makes a little more sense to have Sheeta win her back over.
Yeah.
as opposed to this weird turn that they're trying to do with Sheeta when they made it obvious she was going to be a heel. maybe I would just rather see Statlander do that and let him be, you because then I think you have a legitimate challenger to divine dominion with those two.
Yeah, I think you do too. I think that's interesting.
But they have to be on the same page. If we're going to believe that they're going to win, they have to be on the same page. Unless you're going to give us this weird like throwback Hogan macho where they didn't get along, but they were still the champs. I mean, that could be interesting for a while, but they're going to have to do something different with that story to heat that up if that's the angle they're going to go with.
Yeah, I think that's interesting. I have a suspicion that where this is going is that those two are going to be the challengers for Divine Dominion, which again then makes me wonder what we're doing with the brawling birds after all that hype. You know, but I have a suspicion that these two, that Sheeta and Statlander are going to be the challengers for Divine Dominion. I think they might win, but I think they might keep them completely as is and just be like...
Yep.
Like, yeah, she does kind of a heel, but kind of not, but Statlanders is like, whatever. don't like, she seems to not care. She, she seemed to not care at all that she had a suplexed her tonight.
but she didn't let her use the kindle stick.
Right. So I have a suspicion that's where it's going to go. I think right now, as it pertains to anything in the women's division, prepare yourself to be confused and probably disappointed. They're just not doing it very well right now. What it feels like to me is they have put a lot of effort into the men's world title scene, which I get. I understand that.
Thank
Unfortunately,
Mm-hmm. Yep. As they should.
Yeah. And it feels to me that they've had a plan in place for months. Now, I don't think any of it really started to take shape until recently, but it feels like, no, they've been planning this for a while. which tip of the cap again, good job. It feels to me like they've got a pretty coherent plan for that. That they've got an idea of what they're doing. They know what they're doing with mocks and osprey.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
And that's very interesting. I think they've got a plan for the tag team stuff.
Yep, I was just going to say I think that that is on course.
Yep. Yep. So, you know, I think that they have taken their time with several areas to figure it all out, but they haven't done everything yet. And, and, you know, like I think the TNT title falls into that now granted that's not their fault. Fletcher getting hurt. Obviously they, had to change plans on the fly and they're probably building that, that airplane in the air. get that.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And in what they've done putting it on Kevin Knight, think is actually really smart. You know, and keeping him relevant is, you know, even if you have to throw him at the world title to keep him on TV, I'm fine with that.
I agree. I will say though, it... Yeah.
I will say it has hurt Speedball though.
yeah. I really thought we were going to see a speedball turn or Kevin Knight turning on speedball long time ago, like the next week.
I think they need to have those two, yeah, I think they need to have those two go at it for the TNT Championship. You don't even have to turn one of them. I think it just needs to be a, you know, it can just be like a, hey man, yeah, like let's do it, you know?
Oh, I agree.
Mm-hmm.
Yep. But I really thought they were leaning towards that because when they brought out Kevin after he won, he was inching towards that damn I'm good kind of heel turn of, of course I'm good. Why wouldn't I go after the world title? So I was a little surprised we haven't seen that yet, but yeah, just let him turn to his friend and be like, Hey, you deserve a shot. Let's do this.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's all they have to do. And I'd be on board for it. And I think it'd be a really good match, but you know, in the meantime, speed ball is stalling for sure.
Yep, he's another one that was absent tonight. And again, I get it. You can't put everybody on TV.
Yeah. Well, he came out a little bit on the entrance, but that was it. He didn't even walk him to the ring. He just came out from the wing with him and they, you know,
I must have, I think I missed that.
So they're fighting. That's what I'm reading into this. They're fighting now. Yeah, they're spading.
Yes, clearly. Yeah. But yeah, I you know, I think you've got several things going here where you've got some some really strong story going and some really interesting stuff. And then you've got some things where it's like, well, that needs some work. And unfortunately, right now, most of that is centered with the women, which is a real bummer. But
Yeah.
And what I find weird is I'm most intrigued by the Will Ospreay John Moxley storyline right now.
Yeah, I agree. I'm really, really interested in that. Secondary to that for me is the swerve bandito thing.
More from just a pure curiosity standpoint. Because I'm like, I don't, I think I know the angle you're going for, but okay. I'll watch that match any day.
Yes, exactly. I'm super curious.
Yeah. Yeah. I'm super, super curious about where we're going with that. So I think those are like my top two angles. And then
Yeah.
I'd say at that point then probably the world title for me.
Hmm? Sure. That makes sense. Because I think that's where I'm at. And then you've got the tag titles. After that.
Yeah, and then.
Yeah, I would say the tag titles, that's exactly what I was gonna say, tag titles after that, and then probably the Jericho, the demand stuff would be after that for me, yeah. So like I said, what was that? That's like five.
Yeah? Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's a solid, I mean, that's a solid batch of storytelling they had. Like I said, I'm very happy with the fact that they're trying to go story first and they're putting a lot of that out there. And I think they're not doing a terrible job of it. Some of it's getting a little bit sloppy and that's not anyone's, I don't know, I'm not going to point any fingers because I've never stepped in the ring. So who am I to judge? But I do feel like the women are suffering. I think Speedball suffered a little bit. So.
Yeah, yeah. I... Yep, it's really hard. Like, I get it. You have, you know, so many hours of TV a week. And was it four hours of TV a week, I believe, for them? It's hard to get everything in there.
I would like to see that tightened up with the women.
Yeah. Although, yeah. Next week we get a three hour dynamite, though. So.
Yeah, but you know, I mean, like it's hard to get everything on that you want to get on. And it's a very difficult balancing act to give everybody the spotlight that you want to give them and to give everybody the time that you need to give them to build these stories. So I get that. I'm not super critical of that. That's a difficult thing to do. But, you know, again, I think that that's where, you know, and a little bit of grace here, only, you know, on one hand you go, well, we're
Yep.
like seven years into this almost. But on the other hand, you're seven years into it. You think there's still a ton to be learned in that amount that you learn a ton in that time and there's still a lot more to be learned. And I think that we're seeing the evolution of that and seeing them try to figure out a better way to organize all this, to make sure that people are getting the time that they need. And I think they're getting better at it.
Yep. I would agree, yeah.
But I think they still have have work to do there. And you know what? I have a suspicion that Tony Khan would agree with that. I have a suspicion that he would say, yeah, I'm I'm still figuring that out.
Probably.
And I realize I'm being a little hard on the women's division, the Tony Storm thing really threw them. That really threw a monkey wrench into things. So there's that.
I think so too. think that. Yep. Yep.
Yeah, I think they had big plans for her and all of a sudden we're like, okay, we got to pivot and we got to pivot hard and we're not sure what we're going to do. Yeah, I agree with you.
Exactly. Here's what I am a little bothered by is they've hinted at it and I don't like it when they don't focus is they've hinted at all these clues as to who beat her up in the back. Let's have a, is that going to be a thing or not? Cause if it's not shut up about it, stop bringing it up every once in a while.
and show us what you're talking about because every time it's mentioned that yes there was a kendo stick back there and then i think every time they bring that up someone on the announced team goes well there were a lot of clues back there okay like what show us tell us let's see
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Like.
That alone would be a path for the women's division. Then you could work everybody in. My God.
Yeah, on one hand, I'm mildly curious where they're going to go with that.
But if everything that has been put out there of she's gonna be out for a long time is true, you have to slow burn it. And I think what they're, again, I think this is a, we're trying to figure this out as we go of we don't want you to forget about it.
Right.
but we also can't advance it too much because she may not be back until, I mean, it's April 29th. What if she's not back until mid-March of 2027? And she might even be out longer than that. What if she's out the full year plus? I mean...
Right. Yeah. That's possible and probable, but there's no reason why we can't see Mina take a tact and find a culprit or a suspect and run that into the ground and then prove innocent, you know, and then go and then go and then go.
Well, I guess that's my question then to you is, do you want to watch her do that for the next, let's just say calendar year for the next 365 days? Okay, okay. I mean, I mean, look, if you do, like legitimately, if you do, awesome. And there probably is a way to do it where it's pretty interesting. I'm just not sure that I don't think they're fully prepared to commit to that because
Yes. Yes I do. No, I don't know.
Good.
because I think there's two things at play here. Number one is I get the, I am under the impression that they don't know when Tony's gonna be back. Okay. And when you don't have that information, real hard to work backwards off that. The other part of it is I don't think they know who the attacker is. Yeah.
I agree. Yep.
Very true.
And that's okay. That's okay. My only point with it is, and I don't think we need to drag it out for a year, but my only point is this, you have a built in mechanism to bring in a bunch of names into some TV storyline and give them an opportunity and a story, even if they end up not being the culprit or whatever, you at least have a way to get some names on TV and get some people, you know,
Mm-hmm.
into something that matters and give them something to chew on. And from there, you could build other stories off of that. And then if that main story fades into the background, we won't mind as much because now you've built these three other stories from it because of this one thing. And I just feel like it's a missed opportunity to bring in other, you know, some names that you've been struggling to get on and get some momentum with. And I think it's...
Like I said, I think it's just a bit of a missed opportunity. And I understand the hesitation from a logical standpoint, but I also would like to see them take advantage of this. That's all.
Yeah, I know. I don't think you're wrong. think that it's a, I think all your logic there is sound. Again, I think that they're building this airplane in the air and they're doing their best to try and figure it out. And it's, the problem is we're watching, I think we're watching the sausage get made a little bit here. We're watching them try to play it out in real time and they're doing stuff on TV and then basically going.
Mm-hmm.
yeah.
How do we feel about that? Did that work? Did it not? Do we want to come back to that? You know, I think that that's kind of what we're seeing here. And that's why it's like, Nina's on TV, then she's not. This person's on TV, then they're not. Like, I just, I think that that's a lot of what's going on there. And yeah, I mean, whatever's going on with Toni Storm really messed things up for them on the women's side of stuff. I mean, it just, I think it just did.
Right.
Yep.
Yep. Bring back Ruby Soho.
Yeah. Is she just done?
She's about due to come back. I don't know. I don't know. She had a baby. They got married, had a baby. They opened up a, like a game cafe place, which dope, love it. But bring her back.
I don't know either. Yeah. Like a game store. Yeah. Yeah.
If she's willing to, you could use some help. Yeah. Well, and now we'll...
Yeah, yeah, that'd be a nice, that'd be a good, that would be a great name to bring back just to at least throw it, throw, you know, look, if we don't have a plan, that's fine. She could wrestle, you know, she could have a four week program with Tecla.
You would.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and now, of course, you've got the added wrinkle of the releases that that just happened of 24, I think, is what the final count was. Twenty four people that are going to be out there in 90 days. So.
yep. I don't know.
Who knows?
who is it? Is it?
Who's it? Was it Eos guy that got released? I be saying she's the one name. She's the one name that I think. OK, I'd be down bringing her on board.
No, it's Kyrie saying, I would love.
I would love for AEW to get her, but I don't think it's gonna happen. I think that she's gonna do stardom in Japan. think she just wants, I think she wants to live in Japan, is what I've read. So.
Probably,
Mm-hmm. But if this is how we get the Motor City machine guns into AEW for a year, I can't wait. I can't wait.
I think that's happening. I think, yeah, I think Motor City machine guns are almost definitely coming. I'd love for Kyrie saying to come. I'll tell you one of the names that I think is very interesting for AEW is Apollo Cruz.
I hope so.
I think he could be interesting, especially if you put him with the Hertz syndicate. I think that could be really interesting.
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yep.
Thank you.
Yes, what I don't want to see is half of them show up. I don't want to see that. You know what I mean? I don't either. But...
I don't think that's going to happen. Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen.
And I'll say this to people that immediately started salivating over Alistair slash Malachi Black. I don't think that's going to happen.
I don't either. Have you seen all the backlash from all the AEW people? They've been like, no thanks. Nope. No thank you.
Yeah, bunch of people just immediately like don't want him.
Yep. Yep.
Yep. Yeah. I think that's going to happen. I think that's going to happen because I think that the young bucks are salivating over that. I really do. They should be. Yeah.
Well, give me the Motor City Machine Guns and Car Stain and I'd be happy.
I agree, they should be, because that, my gosh. We can do a whole episode on just Dream Tag Team matches if you bring them in, and how freaking good it would be.
You know what? I got time. I got the time to do it. Yeah.
We might have to do that. Might have to do that. Because that's so good. I love those guys. think they're one of my favorite tag teams. I'm just a fan. Just a big fan. So good.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, no, I think that that is definitely going to happen. But I suppose you know. Nothing is certain, but I think that's pretty likely. I think Tony is going to go after them hard, but. We shall see in 90 days so. We have.
Yeah. Yup. I think they should. Yeah. All right. Yup. Well, we've talked a lot tonight. And the last, went over an hour, last 10 minutes, was just me yammering on about the women's division and fanboying over the motorsuit and machine guns. But like, subscribe, tell your friends. Tell all your friends. Make new friends. Tell them.
Exactly. Just yell it at random strangers in the street. Be very beneficial. Be very helpful. Yeah. So like and subscribe, rate the show if you enjoyed it really truly does help. We're on social media at Elite Heat Pod. Feel free to join the conversation. We'll get some more Darby stuff going, I'm sure this week and everybody's got thoughts on that and I enjoy them. So.
Please! That'd be great! Yeah.
There you go.
By all means, let us know what you think about what all's going on there. Fantasy Book It, all of that. I'm here for all of it.
Yep, tell us what you think about this sort of bandito angle.
Yeah, yeah, very curious about that one too. So on that note, we are on to next week and we'll see if they capitalize on momentum that they built tonight or not.
Yip yip yip.
I got nothing else here.
Bye?
We didn't land the plane very well on that one. All right,
Wait, Bye?
You