It’s heavy on the AEW this week as we’re dealing with WrestleDream weekend. As such, we’re covering a lot of the great stuff that happened on that show, as well as things from the build up to it. But even then, we have a few fun stragglers from wXw as we wrap up covering World Tag Team Festival weekend and even one last minute sneak from the fed.
On to the Real…
Note on dates: Review dates refer to my local timezone in the Philippines, match dates are based on the timezone each match occurred in.
Timothy Thatcher vs. Fuminori Abe (wXw Inner Circle 16 10/4/24)
Reviewed: October 9, 2024
The third match I’d describe as a Fighting Detectives main event since the inaugural show. This absolutely fucking rocks. I wrote in last week’s piece about how Abe needs someone in wXw to really push him past the vacation mode malaise that takes over him in Europe.
Who better than Timothy Thatcher?
Thatcher’s a wonderful counterpoint to Abe here because he’s sort of an ideal road map for what Abe’s skillset could lead to. This real battle hardened grappler who fires off stiff shots but really threads the needle with these incredibly expressive pro wrestling-ass facial expressions. Where Abe often finds himself leaning too far towards that expressiveness, Thatcher forces him to achieve balance here by maintaining the pressure on the man.
This match has basically everything advertised by just the name alone. There’s a lot of mat work that Thatcher’s wise enough to stay in control of, but at every turn it’s just a little bit nastier than usual. Thatcher’s always mean in general but the brand of pettiness he brings here suits Abe so well. Things like twisting at the nose down on the mat, really picking apart Abe’s arm, and the nastiness of the short strikes these two exchange. In return, we get the best version of Abe–focused and scrappy, always firing back with these crunchy punches, headbutts, and kicks while trying to take down a truly significant challenge here.
There’s a few things that keep this out of the upper reaches of classic status. For how nasty Thatcher’s arm work is, Abe’s selling never really follows along for the long haul, for example. But in terms of just crashing two great wrestlers into each other, and the glorious sound of flesh smacking flesh, there’s few better this year.
Rating: ****¼
Mercedes Mone vs. Emi Sakura (AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday 10/8/24)
Reviewed: October 9, 2024
Here we see one of the cleanest Mercedes performances in a bit. Position properly on the card and paired with a strong opponent, this feels like one of Mone’s most confident matches since first winning the championship. She’s smug, nails her offense well, and creates great little pockets for Kamille to interfere on her behalf at ringside. That said, it’s Emi Sakura that really helps make this sing as well as it does. Her stiff chops leading into that great little rally at the end where she takes out both Mercedes and Kamille is a delight. Overall, just a tight piece of work that makes the best of two great talents. Satisfying for what it is, and a strong piece of TV.
Rating: ***¾
Bryan Danielson & Wheeler YUTA vs. Claudio Castagnoli & PAC (AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday 10/8/24)
Reviewed: October 9, 2024
It’s just so like Bryan Danielson to make himself something of a side character in a big match like this. To his credit though, it makes a lot of sense in this instance. Danielson has bad blood with Claudio for the betrayal, and he certainly wrestles that way, but it’s YUTA’s relationship with both Claduio and PAC that’s far more up in the air and less defined. As such, the match gives us the most room to explore that dynamic through an extended heat segment on YUTA.
And my god, it really does rule how well both Claudio, PAC, and YUTA play off this dynamic through simple pro wrestling. PAC’s just a bit of a bastard, attacking without remorse. Claudio, on the other hand, doesn’t so much hesitate as he seeks to impose any lasting damage. Claudio’s not standing there pondering his mortality for minutes on end, but his in-ring strategy is significantly contrasted to PAC’s here. Claudio’s focused more on grounding YUTA, at times seeming to want to just smother the anger out of YUTA by draining his wind down on the mat. Their interactions resemble more of a spar one might see in a training dojo than the usual action we might get from either man, and even that can’t help but call to mind the relationship the characters have forged through the years.
That said, the Danielson stuff does feel pretty great too. Unlike last week’s disinterested moving through the motions, Dragon feels properly pissed here. He strings it together too in two beautiful segments: the initial shine and the final comeback. The shine almost plays out like a tecnico-controlled CMLL tercera with Dragon doing his signature comeback sequence, syncing up dives with YUTA, bamboozling the heels while still infusing this real sense of rageful aggression. Meanwhile the comeback leans much more into Dragon’s viciousness, focusing in on those cathartic head stomps while YUTA makes a moral choice that wins his side the day. In that finish too, abrupt as it may feel, there’s a real lesson too about the distinction between Danielson and Mox’s side of this particular war. It’s in sticking to the rules, to the honorable side of things that Danielson and YUTA win the day, with PAC’s aggression costing him in the end.
Rating: ****
Hangman Page vs. Jay White (AEW WrestleDream 10/12/24)
Reviewed: October 14, 2024
While I’m quite a fan of this pairing in general, I was still caught off guard by how well this functioned under this dynamic. I’d argue that they’re both miscast here in the babyface/heel roles, but man they really do make the most of it. To that end, Jay White’s performance might be a hell of a lot more fascinating than Hangman’s. With Jay, it’s admirable just how little his core character changes despite the disposition shift. He’s still crafty, focusing a lot on his defensive work by evading Hangman in interesting ways like keeping to the sides of the ring to avoid Hangman’s positioning for the Buckshot. On the offense too, Jay’s still more scheming than valiant: picking at the leg to wear down Hangman.
Luckily, they do a lot structurally to massage away the residual weirdness. Hangman’s done most of the adjusting in recent months, and his heel act is coming together niely. A lot of just these crowding punches that feel more vicious than fiery. And it’s Hangman that tends to escalate things here like with the eye gouging which makes it feel better when Jay returns that in kind. Hangman’s frustration also grows more satisfying every week, it’s fun to see him get flustered and annoyed as Jay finds a strategy and sticks with it. Great way to open a show.
Rating: ***¾
Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos (AEW WrestleDream 10/12/24)
Reviewed: October 14, 2024
As spectacular as these two are in fireworks-laden TV showcases, one of my common criticisms for some of their lesser work is a certain lack of structure. Luckily, a two out of three falls match is fantastic at providing more structure. How that manifests is that the second fall actually feels like a proper heat segment for Mortos, and I’d argue it’s the best part of the match. Even there, we’re treated to some great big spots too like that disgusting press slam on the rampway.
The rest of it is just as wild as expected from these two. Hologram remains not my favorite in this style, at his worst he always feels a step behind or slipping one too many times for my liking, but paired with such a great base like Mortos makes all those little flaws a lot easier to bear. Applying their standard big spots to the two out of three falls template helps make this feel a lot more whole too instead of just their standard compilation of nutty dives.
Rating: ***¾
Darby Allin vs. Brody King (AEW WrestleDream 10/12/24)
Reviewed: October 14, 2024
A match made in heaven with these two. Darby is pretty easily Brody King’s career opponent, and the two really do bring out the best in each other. As always, this follows the wonderful Darby formula: building almost entirely around an extended heat where Darby gets the life absolutely battered out of him before finding a scrappy means of getting back into it in the end. And Brody King’s perfect in that formula, using his massive size to just ragdoll Darby like the skinny little twerp that he is. It fucking rocks, with all those wonderful Darby death bumps we want, getting hoofed into the barricades, thrown off the top, crashing all over the place.
To Darby’s credit though, his comebacks have started to feel even better than ever too. I’ve mentioned before that his best matches see him lose, but I think this year the tide has started to shift on that front. Here especially, his comeback feels reasonably brief (thus avoiding excess) but absolutely laser focused on these great setpieces. The finish is especially great with Brody taking his own gross bump off the ropes to the steps on the outside, and then leaving us with a stunning finish too: Brody stumbling back in to beat a ten count only to be caught by the decisive Coffin Drop for the win. Hell fucking yeah.
Rating: ****
Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley (AEW WrestleDream 10/12/24)
Reviewed: October 15, 2024
I wrote in detail about the post-match angle already. As for the match itself, I’ve only seen it the once as it aired and I don’t know that I’m entirely ready to go back through it again quite so soon. What I can say though is that so much of it was very deeply felt. Just all, the classic emotions pro wrestling can access. The indignance at seeing Moxley interrupt the “Final Countdown” pose, the rush of joy of seeing Dragon work to beat Mox’s ass as Europe played, the horror at the lengths Mox was willing to go whether that be neck attacks or table bumps. And then just the way these two felt so fully realized in each moment, they way they felt so of the moment for most of it. Moxley making the fans think about those head stomps before laying them in, the way the crowd bayed for Mox to receive the same punishment and the steel in Danielson’s eyes as he prepares to make good for them.
One of those matches that just made me believe.
Rating: Come back in January
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. IYO SKY & Kairi Sane (WWE Raw 10/14/24)
Reviewed: October 15, 2024
This feels like a spiritual successor to something like Sting & Luger vs. The Steiners from the 90s. These two teams (mostly) eschew traditional tag formula and instead stick to just doing the sickest shit imaginable for a reasonably concise amount of time, and it turns out awesome. I say mostly eschews because the commercial break eliminates the initial heat on Bianca, but we do at least get some of the babyface shine and the cut off before we go to break. I love how the champions rely on their power and athleticism to retain an early advantage and the heels are forced to use both quickness and a numbers game in order to finally swing things in their favor.
The back half of this after the hot tag though (not all that hot really since Jade has to make her own comeback real soon after tagging in) is just pedal to the metal stuff. Big dives from the challengers and cool power spots from the champions. This is some of the best that Jade Cargill has looked in her short career, really feeling she’s putting her weight behind things like that spear. That sense of getting cut off brutally permeates all the big counters in this match and they really only escalate up to things like Jade and Bianca doing that assisted Joe-esque swing right into the barricades. One of the most breezy and watchable matches of the year.
Rating: ****
