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Rebel Heart: AEW Gets Emotional In Athens · Elite Heat

• You could pull a pretty compelling story if you could get people to buy in that he's like just this Mm-hmm. Stone cold killer underneath all of that weird. Damn AEW, why you gotta make me cry? Like... Yes, like what is this two weeks in a row now? Three, no, Did we last week? Not last week at the pay-per-view. Well, at All In, yeah, at All In, definitely, Yeah, yeah, But for very different reasons. But damn, man, like why you gotta make me cry? Yes, twice... Twice tonight! Yeah, same. Twice. Yeah. The hell? I mean, it was to be expected, but nonetheless. Yep. Yep. Yeah, we'll talk more about it. But all right, let's talk about this Rebel Heart special live from Athens, Georgia, which of course had the Mm-hmm. Added weight. Of the untimely passing of Andy "The Butcher" Williams over the weekend. Just awful. And then, you know, you read all the tributes from people that worked with him in AEW, on social media, and it's like, like it was bad enough. And then you find out like he may have been the nicest human being that ever lived. And so that just makes it that much worse. Yeah. Exactly. I remember a while back I heard an interview with Butcher and The Blade and as I'm listening Mm-hmm. I didn't have a video to look at. The Blade's voice sounded like what you think would come from Butcher Mm-hmm. And Butcher he was just a soft-spoken dude just sounded Yeah. Like a dude but happened to play a guitar for a band was a cool wrestler and apparently super nice so that sucked. Sucked a lot. Yeah, just awful. So all of that was hanging over this show. And yet, I would say that they also got some work in here tonight. You know, i Huh. I don't know that they sort of like I was saying last week, I don't know how much they advanced us towards All Out tonight versus what they did last week, but I also think that's okay. I don't think that the stuff that I have question marks about is again stuff that I don't need you to answer right now. Like it's Yeah. It's not gonna be any of the matches that would drive ticket sales and pay-per-view buys. You know what I mean? Like the stuff that is gonna drive the money is set. And I think that's what matters. Yes, yeah. And you could tell by how many times they mentioned the tag team triple threat match for the titles. That was, Yes. Yes. Had a lot of graphics, had a lot of mentions. That is clearly Mm-hmm. Yep. One of their big, their big selling points for that, that night. So yeah. Yeah. Yep. And I get it. I think it should Yeah! Be a big selling point. So let's talk about tonight's episode and begin with the heat check. All right, yeah, what do you say to this? You start, and if yours is in my heat check, I'll just agree. Okay. Yeah. I like that. Yeah, well I like that 'cause Does that make sense? It feeds my ego. If you agree, then it means I'm right and that feeds my ego and that's really Yeah. Alright, hold on. I gotta redo most of my heat check. Yeah. Yeah. You probably do. Move everything to mild and move mild to mayo. and mayo to hot. Mayo goes down the front of my swim trunks. And there we go. All right, we're good. Are we though? Are we? Yeah, I mean, I'm not wearing them. I'm not wearing swim trunks, so it's fine. It's fine that's where the mayo goes. I'm actually now more concerned, but anyway. I will be wearing them in a moment, but I'm just not now. Got really weird. Like weirder than usual. Well you're Did it though? Okay. That's fine. Yeah, no, that's fair. All right. Talking about putting mayo down your pants. Yeah, it's a little weird. But anyway. Speaking of heat, All right. So let's pretend none of that happened. And here's what's on my hot list. I mean, Right. Look, The Waiting Room was gonna be pretty much no matter what. I did not realize it had been since 2021, since they did one of those segments. I didn't either Yeah, I didn't realize it had been that long. But look, of course that was gonna be on there. It was Mm-hmm. Fun, it did what it needed to do, but really it just it was fun and it was about, paying tribute to Rebel. So of course that was gonna be on Yep, made it on my hot list as well. Trios match was really Same. Good. That's actually my match of the night is the trios match. I loved it. Okay. It would have been, but I'll tell you why coming up in a little bit, why it wasn't. Okay. Excalibur's tribute to Andy Williams was just beautiful and yeah. That was... That was... Yep, that was hard. That was—it was hard, but it was real and like I said, it was I thought it was beautiful. I don't think Yeah. You could have said it much better and I appreciate you could see it on their faces, I guess not so much Excalibur's 'cause of the mask, but you know, you could tell you heard Boy, you heard it. I mean... It and you could tell Taz was upset and I mean you could Yep. Just it just it I just thought it was a really it was a beautiful moment. For someone that they obviously loved very much. So anyway. And I really did appreciate when Tony played dad and just put his arm Yes. His hand on his shoulder to help him get through it because Yep. Yeah. That's tough. That is tough. I've given one eulogy in front of people I knew. I can't imagine trying to do something like that in front of a televised audience that Has got to be just nerve-wracking and yet hats off, mask off to Excalibur. Thought he did a great job. Like you said, I thought it was gorgeous and, yeah, my heart just goes out Yeah. To everybody. Yep. I thought he was great there. If such a thing exists in that moment, he was. Yes. The women's trios match was also on my hot list. I thought that was very good. Same. I liked it for a lot of reasons that we'll talk about, but obviously the end of it was perfect. Yep. The video package that they put together for Rebel, but also, you know reminding people this is how you can get involved with all the clips of all of them doing the ice bucket thing. I thought that was really good. Andrade versus The Beast Mortos was a good one. Same. The Andrade post-match promo and shenanigans. I enjoyed all of that. Mm-hmm. Ospreay versus David Finlay was really good. Yep, made it to my hot list. Yep. Darby and Steve Stingson versus Davis and Alexander. Thekla and Mercedes, their promo. Dude. Yep, on my list as well. Yeah, that was my favorite promo of the night. They were tremendous. Without a doubt, without a doubt. I did like the backstage with the Death Riders. I thought that was interesting. Yeah. Yeah. And then the tables match. Yep. All of that was on my list. The That's my hot list. Yeah. Only thing that I put on my hot list, and again, this is because I get really into the minutiae with it, is the pop for Andrade's pants. I put that on my hot list. The That's fair. Yeah. Scorpion Coffin Death Drop was on my hot list. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I just have, during the women's trios match, I also put Rebel. Just Rebel. And then... Well yeah. Mm-hmm. Rebel is my match of the night. Does it actually Sure. I yeah. Count as a match? Do not care. Rebel was my match of the night because of what happened to that trios match, especially the end, especially the very end. So, yep, that was my match of the night was Yes. Yep. Rebel. Yep. Yep. Like I said, we'll talk about that more here in a minute, but I'm on board with that. I wholeheartedly support your decision there and kind of want Why thank you. To change mine, but I'm gonna stick with it. Yeah. That's fine. What did did anything make your mild? Yes, I have four things on the mild. The Demand Okay. Promo that followed the trios match, and I'm gonna lump that together with then Bro Hangdo coming out. It was fine. It this Okay. Yeah. Isn't doing a lot for me personally. And I just have to accept it. I just have to accept that this is what we're doing, and it's one of those things that's not gonna trip my trigger the way they want it to. That's okay. The Darby and Stingson promo, again, it was fine. It's short, it should have been short. It was fine. I get it. It's the kid's first promo. On national TV. I didn't expect him to come out and be his dad, but it was fine. It didn't Right. And you can tell it was scripted, and that's okay. But it was just, okay. Yeah. But it was like, alright, that's fine. Yep. Yep. It probably should have been. Yep. Yep. Yep. It was fine. That's why it goes Mm-hmm. In the mild for me. It was fine. The stuff in my mild is all stuff that I went it was fine. You know. Yeah. It wasn't bad. It just was fine. Same thing with the Don Callis Family backstage. It was fine. Yeah. And Renee with Bro Hangdo. That is probably the weakest of the crop in my mind. It wasn't bad enough I agree. To put it on my mayo section. I don't have anything in there actually. But it was the weakest, which is surprising Same. Given the people involved. It, the only thing that kept it really out of mayo for me was Hangman actually saying, no, I need this. I want to be part of the trios. Can we do this? Because I Yep. Yep. Really thought, are we going to get another weird waffling Hangman where he's in, he's out, he wants you, he doesn't, he's by himself. He doesn't have friends. He has friends. I don't want to see that Hangman again. Not right. You Yeah. Know, not in the mood for that wishy washy kind of. I'm such a sad loner. I don't know man get some friends and go beat people up. That's what I want to see you do Yep. I that part is what kept it out of the mayo for me as well. Cause otherwise it's actually pretty awkward. Yeah. Yeah, super awkward. It's pretty awkward. But that's all I have. I don't have anything in the mayo, do you? Nope, not a thing. Swim trunks are Fantastic. That's why it's in your pants. All right. So with that, Over there. Are swim trunks not pants? If they have pockets, yes. Okay, see, all mine have pockets. Cause I'm a fancy lad. So Alright, they're pants. They're pants. All right, fantastic. Next, if you were a hot dog, would you eat yourself? But first, Duh. Let's break this thing down. Again, very emotional night, but I really think that AEW does a really excellent job with these types of shows. They've had to do it before Yes. When Brody Lee died. And I think they do an amazing job of letting everybody feel what they feel, of Mm-hmm. Letting that emotion come across, but then also actually making it a celebration and actually putting on a show that you know, tonight you know Andy Williams would have loved that show. I just you just feel it, you know, Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so I think they do an amazing job with that. And I think Tony Khan deserves an incredible amount of credit. He won't take it, but he deserves it for creating Yes, he does. Absolutely. That kind of environment and creating that kind of company. And then also tackling a heavy subject in ALS because unfortunately we all know what it means for Rebel. There's no cure. And we know that it's not a question of if but when she's going to pass away. So they took on, yep. Yep. And she knows that as well. And seeing her tonight and the way she's facing it is just so... It's insane and incredible and so amazing what a person she is during this whole terrible Yes. Thing. So yeah, hats off. Yep. Yep. Yeah. They handled this beautifully and I want to give them all the credit in the world for that right up front. Leading with The Waiting Room, I thought was exactly how they should have started the show. And doing the callback to the Reba bit was great. I loved it. I just loved the whole So fun. Thing. Yep, I just put crazy throwback like, and I didn't realize it had been that Mm-hmm. Long. And it just, it was such a flashback for me, just that flashback moment of all those Waiting Room bits and those two, the way they interacted and seeing Britt do her thing and seeing Britt try to manage that Waiting Room D.M.D. attitude and yet still giving so much love to her friend was Really, my hat's off to her for even being able to do it. That was, that was well done. It was a very, very cool bit. I agree. It was incredible. Well done. Well done. Then we got that trios title match, which, like I said, was my match of the night this evening. This was really, really good. Duh. I thought it was interesting how they every time Roddy Strong comes in and just looks really good. He looks legit to me when he comes flying in and he's chucking Orange Cassidy at people and he's breaking backs and everything. Obviously Swerve and The New Level are great. You don't need us to tell you that. They're great. Everything they do is great. The only thing that made me raise an eyebrow in this is I don't know where we're going with the whole Roddy walking off thing because he did it, was it last week or at Collision? He did it during a promo. It feels like we're moving backwards with that to the whole like, I'm not part of The Conglomeration thing. I don't love that. I don't love it because like you said, I don't know where we're going with it. It doesn't feel like it has a direction and there doesn't seem to be any motivation behind it. At least none they've bothered to show us yet. So it's weird. It kind of is playing into his just come in, whoop some ass, leave character, but I don't know. It's playing But I mean Weird to me. Yeah, I agree. It's weird and walking off or whatever, because they didn't really show it and Schiavone had to point out that he wasn't there. Right, yeah. It doesn't make sense to me in this context, because this is a championship match. Right. So obviously we're laying the groundwork here for something bigger, but I don't know what it is, and I don't know that splitting him off of this group and at that point basically turning him heel. I don't know that's the best move for him because No. This is probably the best way to be utilizing him on this roster. I think Yep. It's the best way to use him. So I don't know. That's the one thing about it I didn't love. Otherwise it's a great match. Yeah, I really liked it. And I thought it was a really fun opener. Thought the match flowed really well. And I agree. I love it when Roddy comes in and just throws Orange Cassidy all over. I loved Orange Cassidy doing the hands and pockets headlock and the kicks to Swerve. I thought that was super fun. It is interesting to me to see how this pairing of The New Level and Swerve is going to go because The New Level are all about, we know we're good. We know, and we're always having a good time. And then you have most dangerous with them. And so it's weird. I don't know how that's going to break if it's just if they're just going to kind of let it let him be fun and have fun and be done with it until something else comes along. But it is a little interesting right now to see this lighter side of Swerve, which is fine. But I am wondering how this is going to work long term with the two party guys and most dangerous kind of lead in the pack? So it's just. It's an interesting mix, but I'm into it for the time being. Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I think this is the right thing because Swerve was in no man's land for months. You know, Yeah. Yep. He would pop up and he'd get involved in a story and it felt important and it felt like it mattered, and then he'd lose and he'd go away. And Mm-hmm. Then he'd pop back up again after a couple of weeks and we'd do it again. Mm-hmm. And that's fine for a little bit, but Swerve is too big of a deal not to have him on TV. I like this spot a lot for him and for The New Level. I think letting him be a little less serious with those two guys is perfectly fine. I think it makes a lot of sense. And I think that at some point down the road, a couple of months down the road, Swerve and Ospreay, I think is inevitable for the title. It Yep, at some point, yep. Absolutely needs to happen. And I don't know if it's that they're gonna split them. You know, they'll drop the trios belts and he'll split off to go solo. Not even in like a turn on them kind of way, just you know, I gotta go do this kind of a thing. They might make The New Level more serious along the way. They're certainly capable of it. They've shown you they can do it. I'm not sure which way they're gonna go with it. They may not be totally sure yet, and that's okay, because you don't need to make that decision right now. No, and I think... You need to ride this wave and figure it out in two months. I think the crowd is telling you where they want them to go because The Conglomeration are normally crowd favorites. While they weren't heels in this, clearly Swerve Day were... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The faces, and everyone was behind them. And again, I'm not saying I don't like Swerve in this position. I do. Think it's really good. And you're right. He does need to be in a place where he doesn't have to be this weird just Terminator type character. He can be a little more Swerve like he was because people want to love him, and they still love him. So yeah, let him play around. What I'm not super thrilled about is this will-they-won't-they with him and Hangman still. I just Yeah. Maybe it's because we've seen so much of it already and They're great together. Let them be together. We don't need to see him fighting. We don't always need these bizarre stare downs I just want to see them hang out. I just want It's To see them be friends again. That's it. Just be friends again. That's what I want. Yeah, it's a weird dynamic because I don't think there's a bigger or more important feud than those two guys for this company. I mean, I Mm. I really genuinely can't think of it. And I don't mean let me be clear, I don't mean right now, because it would probably be Mox and Ospreay, right? I don't Right, yes. 100%, yeah. Mean That it's the biggest or most important, even in the last, you know, six months or whatever. But overall, you know, when you talk about an overarching kind of narrative for AEW as a company, I think it's those two guys. I always thought it was going to be MJF and Hangman, and it and it still could be those two guys. Like you don't have to have it just locked into Swerve and Hangman, but that. Rivalry was such a big thing for them and made them so much money that, Yeah. Of course, it's something that they can't quit. But The tension is weird and I think that it would be better at this point to move them away from each other for a while until you've got a concrete plan of what you're gonna do to either pit them against each other again over, you know, probably the world title or whatever. Mm-hmm. Or if you're gonna, do the phrenemies thing and have them be a tag team together, which I would be in favor of. Until you've got that plan though. And maybe they do, and maybe this is the groundwork for a long term story, and that's fine. You know, that Mm-hmm. Is going to pay off in two, three months, let's say. That's fine if it is. But right now it is a little bit awkward. And it doesn't help that I think everything with Hangman right now is awkward. It's I agree. Yep. Just an odd spot that he's in. At the moment and it's not the best position for him, I think. So I don't think that's helping Yep. I think later in the night, Anything. I think later in the night, they try to help move that into a more comfortable position. They started. And so I think that's okay. And again, I'm not, I don't have a problem with Hangman helping Swerve. I don't want to see that stop. I just don't need them to constantly have this, you know, they don't have to hug. They don't have to whatever, but this, these, these awkward stare downs that they have. That I think is the part that I don't really need. You don't have to define whether they're going to be best friends, frenemies, or just hate each other. You don't have to define that, but I'm tired of the glare downs. I think what they're trying to do there is show that these two guys are like, Well, you did this thing that helped me, Mm-hmm. But can I trust you? And I don't know that they're getting that Yeah. Don't get me wrong. Across. I know I understand that. Like I get the storytelling behind it. It's just for me having seen them do that, that mutual respect yet mutual. Do I trust you that mutual man? I want to punch you Mm-hmm. That glare. They've done it so often. I don't need to see that anymore. You know, That's what yeah, that's what I mean is I'm not sure they're getting it across. And I think that it's just one of those situations where somebody's gotta basically work with the two of them and go, we have to switch up the facial expressions you're throwing at each other. Yeah, or like I said, just don't have them glare. Like I said, you can, they don't have to say anything. You can just Yeah. Walk by hand them the bell and just keep going. And then that's, that's it, you know, and, I know Yeah. Yeah. It again, I know I'm being hyper critical, but you know, I, I like the fact that they're, they're all now in the ring and I just don't want to see a lot of the old stuff. I want to see where are we going now with this? That's really, Yeah. Yep. I think my critique of it. And it's not a, it's not a bad critique. It's just a critique. That's all it is. Yeah. No, I get that. I get that. This whole thing, you know, post match with The Demand doing their promo, which was fine, and then the Bro Hangdo run in. What I thought in the moment was number one, I don't know why I don't love Hangman with Brodido. I think I kind of figured it out later, but I just don't love that team. And I get it. The other thing I thought was, okay, so this is kind of an awkward way of laying the groundwork for I'm guessing we're getting another multi-team match for the belts at All Out. Probably, Which is fine and it'll be entertaining as hell. Mm-hmm. But I don't know that I love that. And I think that's part of what why this whole thing just felt a little awkward and a little off to me. I don't understand why. The Conglomeration didn't come back and help because they were shaking hands while everybody, know, Roddy Mm. Had already left, but I don't understand why they didn't turn around and come in and help out as opposed to having an entire new trios team come out and Conglomeration not even come back to watch that. That felt weird Yeah. To me that it had to be Bro Hangdo. But okay, you know. Well, I think that's setting up it's gonna be The Demand, Bro Hangdo, and Swerve Level for the trio's titles at All Out. I don't think Conglomeration's gonna factor into it. No. And that's fine, but I yeah. Yeah. But in the moment, it felt like that's what I expected to see that. And then we didn't. And then I'm like, okay, I see what they're doing. But it just, I Yeah. Don't know. It just felt a little weird to me. And maybe it's me. Maybe it was the mayo in my swim trunks. It was. It was a little bit weird. No, I well that d that probably didn't help anything, but I thought the whole thing well, that's true. I thought Didn't hurt. The whole thing, like I said, was just a little bit awkward and a little bit weird. Mm-hmm. And I think the better move, I think the stronger move would be just to pit Swerve and The New Level against The Demand. Because like Yeah? Yeah. You said, the crowd is telling you clearly they're behind Swerve Level. We're always going to boo The Demand. So go ahead and put them against each other. And it doesn't have to be a long program, but you do that at All Out, it would be fine. And I know that would leave Hangman, Brody, and Bandido out in the cold for All Out, and they don't want to do that. So I understand, you know, the rationale behind it. I'm just not sure that it's the best move and the right move at the moment, which again is kind of the theme with Hangman, right? Yeah. Yep. So anywho, let's move on to the Darby and Steven Borden promo, which like I said was fine. Not bad. Yeah, I put meh. Yeah, yeah, It was fine. I do have Mm-hmm. To nitpick commentary though. Okay. Or I'm sorry, I have to nitpick Darby. He is not the first Steven Borden. He would in fact be the second Steven Borden. But you know, whatever, whatever. Yep. Yes, but technically, Sting never went by Steven Borden. So technically, he's correct. Technically. I know. I know. But technically so am I. So And technically, you're a dumb bitch. Well, I think we all know that. I wasn't sure I was gonna get through that one without laughing, but I said all the words. Good job. You did. Good job. Then, you know, we talked about this Excalibur paying tribute to Andy Williams. It was Yeah. We've covered it. Hmm. I don't know about you, but I watched a lot of Andy Williams matches on AEW.com this weekend. I did not, but probably 'cause I didn't feel like crying. I, man, it just made me go back to, was a fan of Butcher and The Blade and now I remember why and he was, man. Yeah. You know I was there when they debuted in AEW? Was I there? No, it was me and my buddy Mike. I believe it was in Chicago. Okay. We were there when they debuted and nobody knew who they were. Nope. And so we literally started chanting, "Who are you?" I remember watching that and hearing probably you Yep. Say it. I was one of I was one of them. Yeah. I bet you were. And it was just really interesting to me to think about that moment and then look at how far they came in that company. Yeah. I mean, you gotta give them credit. Like Mm-hmm. That was a rough debut where Yep. You've got the arena chanting who are you? Cause we didn't know. They turned it around. Yeah, But anyway, I digress. Just, you know, something I thought about a lot this weekend after seeing the news, but Yeah, yeah, yeah. I digress. Then we got that backstage with the Don Callis Family, where I think we learned why Mark Davis doesn't talk a lot. That was a thing that happened. It wasn't bad. Let me be clear. He was not bad here, but just I was like, okay. You yep, I see why we don't have you talk a lot. Yep. He didn't talk much, so that was okay. Yeah, it didn't land the way I think that they had hoped for, at least not with me. No, probably not. It was fine. The main thing was we continue the Proto-Kada tension and beef and I continue to love Okada, so you know. I wrote down Okada, the family man, because that's all he's talking about, you know? And I Yes. Yes. Am really liking, I really like Fletcher and how he's able to go from one week being like, look, I don't want to be with you. And then the next week going, all right, my hat's off. You won your match. You were good. Let's go make the best of it. And just him, Fletcher to me is in an interesting position too. And I think he's doing a really good job and being in what could very well be an awkward position. Because he is kind of being played to waffle a little bit, but I think he's doing a great job with it. And I, I gotta be honest, I was at the end of that promo, which was not the best one they've ever done. I was like, I kind of looking forward to seeing the Protostar and Kevin Knight. I want to see them tag. I want to see how this goes. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It did what it needed to do. It was fine. It just, like you said, it wasn't the best one they've ever done. And with this group of guys, particularly with Don there, my expectation goes up. Which is Yeah. Yeah. Why I was like, that one didn't land the way they had hoped. But it's okay. It's all right. Mm-hmm. You're not always going to hit a home run. The Hall of Fame is full of dudes that hit, you know, did doubles. It's fine. Then the women's trios match, which yep. Loved it. I thought it was look. If you I loved it too. If you removed the emotion of it, right? If you removed the Rebel appearance and all that, this is still a really fun match. And Yeah. I think that this is a great spot. The way they used Britt, I think is exactly how they should use her. Of she's gonna I agree. Do the chicken shit heel thing, let her Mm-hmm. Come in at the end and get the win, have the other people in the match do the heavy lifting. Persephone and Shida were very, very good tonight. Hyan, really, I thought looked very good tonight. Hyan impressed me a lot tonight too, because we haven't seen enough Yeah. Of her yet. But yeah, I liked what she was bringing in the ring. Like you said, I like this match a lot. And the minute Britt started and immediately went to the corner, I thought of you. Was like, yep, this is exactly how she should be used. This is what she needs to do. She gets about three moves in, gets the pin. It is yes. Yep. Yep. Perfect. I will say the superkick looked good. Like the one she threw looked good. Yeah, I don't think she looks bad in the ring. Of course, you didn't get to see her do much and she always came out on top, but I don't think she looked super awkward. She's clearly in shape, but I'm fine with portraying her this way and I like this match a lot. Thought it would have been up there for me without the emotion as one of my match of the night contenders, but... Yep. Yep. I really, really liked the match. I'm with you. You remove that. It's a match of the night contender. Started off, by the way, on a great note when it apparently turns out that Shida has repurposed Sammy Guevara's old panda head. Is that what she was wearing? It wasn't a panda, but I was like, did she just like get Sammy's old panda head and, you know, just repurpose it? Like re That's hilarious. I wasn't making that connection, but that's hilarious. Yeah. I mean, I like it. Whatever it was, I liked it. I don't Yeah. Get it, but I liked it. I don't have to get it. I enjoyed it. But then of Exactly. Course, you know, when Rebel came out in the "Roll Model" thing on the back of the wheelchair and it was great. And man, that shot of both her and Britt just absolutely losing it as the arena was Run if you're in there. Chanting for her, just When Rebel brought the glove, like you said, and with Shida sitting next to her watching the pin, and then Mm-hmm. Britt getting emotional right afterwards, and then just rolling up and then, man, man, and I even wrote down Yeah, I loved How many times is AEW gonna make me tear up tonight? Damn it. Yeah. I actually am surprised it wasn't more, to be honest with you. I loved Well, if you didn't subscribe, then the recap probably got you. Yeah. I loved Shida putting her arm around Rebel as they were watching the finish. I lo I loved it. I it was Yeah. Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah, that was. It was yeah. It was great. It was just it Cause I, Was so good. You didn't see her come over, but you see they have the shot of Rebel and I'm like, whose hand? And then they pull away around and you see that she's sitting with her with her arm around her. Was like, my gosh, man. Yeah, and I don't know if you noticed, but Persephone got out of there. Persephone kind of gave her gave them the ring, like yeah, just God, I'm getting getting choked up again just thinking about it. Yeah. Yep. Hats off. Did a great job. Again, they did such a good job and it's, I, I, nothing I say is going to make it any better. It was so good. And they, like you said at the beginning, AEW does a great job of paying respect, still being entertaining, but letting the people do their thing and paying respect and loved it really good. Yeah, it was great. It was absolutely great. Like you said, the video package, if if you weren't choked up before that, that one probably got you. Then you got the Andrade video. I didn't really mention it in the heat check because it's whatever, it's fine. It, you know, just a reminder, Andrade is good. All right. Then Andrade and The Beast Mortos, which was really entertaining. I enjoyed it. I Yeah. Think it's easy to forget how good The Beast Mortos is because we don't see him all the time because Done. Of. I know that's visa stuff, but I really enjoyed that. Cool. And Mercedes keeps him busy. Well, there is that. Also, he's a But yeah, I... Lawyer, so you know, he's probably got things going on with that. Is he really? Huh. Huh. I... Okay. Yes. Yes, he is. He passed the bar like maybe a year ago. I'm not even sure it's been that long. And he had an amazing tweet that was like, I am now a lawyer. If you are getting divorced, call me. RAR like Yeah, it was R I like it even better now. Didn't even know that. A W R R R R R. I loved it. Yeah. That's the best. That's the best. And speaking of tearing up, Andrade's pants. I got a little tear. No, I'm kidding. But the pop for Andrade's pants made me laugh a lot. It was so fun. I think you did. Yeah. Yeah, that was funny. Everything he's doing right now is great. I mean, it was just great. Yeah. I mean, and honestly, that's another match of the night contender for me, because I thought it was Mm-hmm. Really, really good. Yeah. Mortos is so good. And again, we don't get to see him enough. Andrade just continues to be consistently great. So love that match. Really good. Yep. Yep. Then afterwards we got some shenanigans where I don't know, Gabe Kidd got involved. And I actually like this spot better for him than him sniffing around the world title. Yes. Yes. I'm way more on board with that and way more into that. And then Mm-hmm. Ospreay would come out to clean house, and then Mox comes out but goes and sits on commentary. And that was because we would just roll right into Ospreay versus David Finlay and in in an eliminator match. Say that ten times fast. Which is fine. I didn't mind Yeah, That. For a minute we got to see Ospreay and Andrade kind of together, Mm-hmm. Like back ready to go. And I wrote down, you can give me Ospreay and Andrade all day long as a thrown together team. I'll watch that. Bring that on. I that would be Yeah, absolutely. Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Absolutely. So I thought, you know, that whole sequence was pretty fun, pretty good. Not at all surprising that Will Ospreay and David Finlay were excellent in the ring together. That's not surprising. Absolutely. Another match of the night, contender, we're still good. Yep. I thought hard about giving them match of the night. It was really good. Then Renee was backstage with Bro Hangdo. Yeah. And I agree with what you said in the heat check of I appreciate that Hangman was like, you know what? This isn't what I wanted, but now I there's a bug flying around my face. But now I need it and I'm on board with it. Like, let's do this if you guys will have me, sort of a thing. But I thought it was very awkward because it was like, well, it was like, it was like Brodido were like going, Hey, do you want to go to prom with us? And he was like, yeah, I mean, like, yeah, okay. Like Yeah. It was it was a weird, kind of Yeah. Awkward exchange. It was kind of pointless, but I guess it also clears up why that like it clears up a that there's still a trio and b why they're still a trio. And Yeah It slightly builds slightly to the likely match for the titles at All Out. So from that standpoint, I guess it kind of worked, but it was weird. And It was weird, but I'm okay with it because again, at least they finally give us a little justification for a team. And I really appreciate Brody basically calling Hangman a trio slut and going, Yeah. Hey man, you know, when you've got back, you called out all the titles except the trios. So what are you doing? Do you want to be here or do you not want to be here? Cause you don't have to. So I appreciated that. And I appreciate Hangman going. You're right, I didn't, but yeah, I need this and I want to be here. It probably could have been, they probably could have made that a little bit shorter and got us that same info, but I appreciate the fact that at least they've justified one of the teams that sometimes you look at them and go, huh, I don't understand. And then they don't say anything, but at least they gave us that. Yep. No, I agree with you on that. From that standpoint, I was like, okay, that's pretty good. I do think it was just an awkward promo because I think that like I get it that Brodido are kind of like, Yeah, we have a good time. I just think that you could have you could have cut this way down and it could Mm-hmm. Have just been them going, Hey, like, is this really what you want? And Hangman going, Yep, it is. I'm in. Let's do this. And that could have been the whole thing. Yeah. Like I said, And I think it would've worked a little better. Yeah. Yep. You could have given us that without. Going for some of the comedy stuff at the end was meh, but whatever. I, I do like Brody's, but I like how Brody is presenting himself right now. The other thing, the, yeah, the Bandido. I don't know. Yeah, of course we want that, but Brody I'm always, I don't know what it is. He makes me grin. Well, I mean, like the joke that fell flat was them being like, I thought you were El Guapo. It works if you know what that means, but a lot of people don't. It means the handsome. And so the joke is, Yes, yes. Exactly. The good, the bad, handsome. Yeah, the joke is that, Bandido's the one that's the handsome because you can't see his face, right? Like, which number one isn't the world's greatest joke anyway, but when you were relying on people knowing Spanish, like, mm. So it Exactly. Just that's the stuff that I'm like, we could have done without that. Right. But I did appreciate when Bandido said, no, Brody's the guapo. And Brody's just like, I'm out. That made me grin. So yeah, that was good. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It whatever. It happened. It was fine. Whatever. Whatever. We move on. Yes. Then it was Mark Davis and Josh Alexander versus Darby and Sting Junior. I have a question. Yes. I know Josh just got back from being on hiatus and he is super lean. And maybe it's the fact that he's got super broad shoulders, but is it me or does he just look like a beefed up skeleton? Because he looks That's interesting. Kind of gaunt yet still jacked. And I don't know if it's because It did His body fat is so low right now and that he's ultra lean that his face looks Could be. Really, his face just looks really gaunt to me. And that seems That's interesting. Unhealthy, but it just, maybe it's just cause he's leaner than he's been before he went on a hiatus. But maybe the headgear isn't doing him any favors. I don't know, but it Mm. Could be. Just, I don't know. He just looks super lean and a little, I don't know, it just, it makes my eyeballs do weird things. Of course I did have my eyes dilated today and maybe that's part of it and I don't know what's going on. Well, that could be. I didn't notice it. I'm not saying you're wrong. It just it didn't I did not notice that. I did notice the it's Steve sign, which whoever did that, good job. That was that was funny. Have that Yeah, that was really funny. I enjoyed that a lot. Did you notice that Schiavone said it near the end? That made me grin. Made me grin. Mm-hmm. I did. I did. Yep. His vertical is insane. Dude, he drop kicked him in the face while the like while Alexander was on the top rope sitting down. That was bonkers. When he does stuff like that, that reminds me of Surfer Sting, the original Surfer Sting. And I love the fact that he's not taken a ton of his dad's moves, but I love that he borrowed the giant leaping elbow drop that Sting used to do Yeah. Back in the in the bleach blonde days. I, I think that's great, because again, his leap is stupid. What'd they say, 41 inch vertical at 6'5"? Dude. Yeah. Yeah. It's incredible. And look, I know wrestling, they be lying about stuff, but that one I believe. He can get up. He Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you could probably find the records because it was from his college football. Yeah, probably. I was really impressed by him. And look, I know he didn't do a lot, and what he did was very basic stuff, but that's okay. This was Yep. Yeah. Not an easy spot to debut in and you know what comes with the legacy of your father and I think he's I think he's on a good path right now. Like I was very impressed by what he did tonight. Not Yeah. Here's what I like about it is like you said, he's not doing anything super like he's doing basic stuff, but he's doing those basic things really well or dynamically so that it looks like maybe he's farther along than he is because he is playing into his strengths. He is, he's got a great leap. Let's have him jump around a lot. He's strong. Let's have him show that off. Let's not have him do anything super crazy, but let's have him get in there, do some basics, jump, knock some people down and look good doing it all. And I think job well done. Think he, yeah, he still looks green, but now granted He's gonna. He's no David Flair. Well. Well. I feel bad for even mentioning that. Just feel bad. No one should ever remember that. It was terrible. Yeah. Yeah. Anyhoodle, I liked that match, I thought it was super fun. It was. It was a good match. I liked the tribute to Andy Williams that Mark Davis did real quick there. Yep. Good match. Yep. Thank you. Good match. I agree with everything he said. Utilize that massive vertical of his. Don't ask him to do a ton. It was it was good. It was good. Mm-hm. Yep. Then the Thekla promo that was really Thekla and Mercedes, and I am all for these two having promo battles, especially while they let Mercedes's face heal. Yep. I thought it was, I thought it was so good. I, and it's so funny to me because when Britt Baker came back, was it Bryan Danielson that said this is shaking up the women's division? Mm-hmm. I think Thekla back and on the mic shakes it up even more in a better way because she clearly is a needle mover. She clearly is the one that can help draw good eyeballs towards an even better match. And so I'm so happy to see if they don't even have her wrestle for a while. Fine. Make sure she's out every week doing something. Yep. No, I agree. I think we're gonna get promo battles you know, between now and All Out, because I don't think Mercedes is gonna get in the ring, which is smart. You shouldn't run the risk of making that worse before the pay-per-view. That Mm-hmm. Is what makes me think the random insertion of Willow is all about because I thought that was weird having her come out and then not really do anything. And I think that's gonna lead to Thekla and Willow maybe next week on Dynamite or whatever. And that's fine, we all know this is headed for Mercedes and Thekla, so you I hope so. Know, my guess is that also they put Willow in there in case Mercedes can't go at All Out, which is possible, unlikely, but possible. Maybe that's a like number one contender match or something between Willow and Thekla. I don't know. Otherwise it was a little odd having her come out, having Willow come out and not really do anything, but it certainly wasn't enough to make me go, Ew, this was a bad segment. Anyways. Like, no, that was a really entertaining segment. So good job. Yeah. Yeah, and it makes all the sense in the world to have Willow at least in that mix for right now, you know, to keep things moving. I like that. And thank you for showing Sisters of Sin on TV again. They didn't do dinkum, but they're there on TV. So Mm mm. Yep. Thanks. Good use of dinkum. Then we You're welcome. Got the backstage with the Death Riders, which this I went, okay. All right, because Mm-hmm. We get the explanation of how Ospreay versus Moxley came together. That Ospreay asked for it. He lays out his reasons why. It made sense. I went, Okay. Mm-hmm. I'm on board with your logic here, even though normally I don't like the champion making the match, right? But this made sense. Yep, yes it did. The logic was good. It fits within the story they've been telling. I think it's very interesting that Gabe Kidd and PAC are very upset with Mr. Moxley and Daniel Garcia is not. Yep. Yep. I think this puts Mox in a very interesting position. And of course, there's going to be a major question of what is Claudio going to do. And then who is going to be the one that gets stuck with Wheeler Yuta? You So, you know, they'll... Will it be Death Riders Classic or Death Riders Wolfpack? I don't know. Stay tuned to find out. He is going to be the latest addition to Conglomeration Japan. How funny would First member. It be? How funny would it be if the first member of United Empire AEW is Wheeler Flippin' Yuta? Okay, can we divert before we get to the finale? Can we talk about the rumors? Have you been seeing some people speculating on who they want to see in his United Empire? No. No, I haven't seen anything about that. Buddy Matthews' name keeps coming up. Ooh. Sheamus is one people are pushing. Yeah. I forgot he's about to be a free agent, I think. Yeah, that would be intriguing. That would be kinda interesting, yeah. I've There were a couple, I'm trying to, those are the two that really stood out to me. Buddy Matthews, I'd be very on board with that. Yep, bring that in all day long. I need to see me some Buddy Matthews on TV. And I think teaming him up with Ospreay would be fantastic. Well, apparently he's finally healed up from that injury. Yeah, him and United Empire, I'm very on board with Sheamus is very interesting too. I can't remember the other two names that were thrown around, but those are the two that stuck with me. I was like, Mm-hmm. Buddy Matthews I'm on board with, Sheamus is interesting. But I don't know if That is interesting. Hmm. I want to see him in AEW or not, but. I that's what I was thinking. I'm not sure how I feel about it in general. Like Mm-hmm. There's a part of me that goes, you know, you get these names of people that are that have been released, and I go, I don't know that I want them in AEW. And it's nothing against them. It's just the roster is already too crowded. They can't get everybody Yeah. In as it is. Yeah. And no offense to Sheamus, we already have Claudio. Interesting though. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. We don't... Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I... Like I said, I just don't know if I want to see Sheamus in. But anyway, I thought that was an interesting pairing. And the other Yeah. It's interesting. It's interesting. Yeah. One... Dragunov, the guy that just got released. Yeah. Here's the thing about him. Interesting. I'm not a fan of him in the ring. I get his appeal to a certain degree, but I'm just not. I don't know, there's something about it that like, I'm not, I haven't bought into it. It's like super angry, super tough, smaller guy. I was gonna say he actually makes more sense in my mind with the Death Riders. Yeah, he could. He could work there. He could work there. He could. He's he's kinda in that mold a little bit, you know? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I've seen his name bandied around and I don't know I haven't seen enough of him to have an opinion, to be totally honest. Mm-hmm. I don't know. I don't know. But that's interesting. That's very interesting. We'll see what they do. But going back to this segment with the Death Riders, What I'm wondering is, are we teasing the split finally that I think we've all known was inevitable. Yeah, I think so too. I think we finally are. And I think you could see that PAC is the one who's going to be standing directly opposite of Mox. Mm. And what I really liked about it was they didn't leave it just like vague. Like everyone left and then you just have Mox and you have PAC just standing there shaking his head and Mox getting more more frustrated and threw the chair. And I'm like, yeah, you get it. Now you get it. You get that you messed up. You don't know what you did. But you messed up and now you have to pick which cousin you're gonna kiss. Wait, is that the right analogy? I think so, no, I think that works. Now you have to decide I think so. I think it works. Yeah. Yeah. Well I What pair of trunks you're gonna put your mayo in. Yeah. I mean it just it was very interesting to me. And PAC is the guy that I've thought for a long time is gonna be the one that leads the split. So interesting. He does. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep, he makes the most sense. Because he has better mic skills than Claudio. And you're not going to let Yuta lead it. No. Although I would laugh real hard if they did. All right. So then the tables. All right, you know what? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You've got me down a rabbit hole. That could be one of the best things for Wheeler Yuta, is to have him. It actually could. If they can make him legit, you know. Yeah, have him backbone up and be the one that stands up to Mox. And story-wise, it makes so much sense, because they have put him through the freaking wringer. And he could be the one going, John, what the hell? I have busted my balls, and here you are crying over the Johnny-come-lately Will Ospreay. Why? Because he's got a belt? Screw you. And if they did it right, he could be a killer. And it would be so bonkers. And I know I said it as a joke, but the more I think about it in the whole 12 seconds I've been thinking about it, you could pull a pretty compelling story if you could get people to buy in that he's like just this Mm-hmm. Stone cold killer underneath all of that weird. It would all rest on, so it would have to be he turns on Mox. Like, let's say he turns on him in the Ospreay match at All Out, which would make a lot of sense. He costs Moxley the match. Everything hinges on the promo on Wednesday, and he's got to come out and he's got to give the promo of his life. It can't be the stuff that they were doing in the early days of the Death Riders. Like it's got to be, You're turning into a puddle over Will Ospreay. You had me attempt murder on my mentor, Bryan Danielson. And it was all Yeah. Supposed to be because you were gonna help me get to where I wanted to go. You were gonna get me championships. And here I am just getting my ass kicked all over the place. You have not helped me at all. So screw you. And yeah, that actually, you know what? I'm on board. And here's the line he needs to throw at him, go, you're the one who said, take the shot, no matter who's in front of you. Bang, I'm taking the shot. Yep. Yep. Damn it. I, dude. I can't believe I got there on that, but I'm there now. See, like I said, I thought I was joking, but then I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute. Yeah, that makes sense. That could be I don't believe for a heartbeat that they're going to do that No, it's gonna be PAC. Yeah. But I think that's actually a way more interesting storyline if we do it that way. If Mm-hmm. Yeah. We make him the guy, make him the weird godfather guy. Yeah. Man, Yuta as the godfather, yeah. I'm a fan of that. Of course I am a- Damn, now I want that to happen and it won't. Right? That's kinda good! Get Tony on the horn! It is kind of good. No, call him! No, I don't have his number! What are you here for? Just do it! Yeah! No, two this time. Mm-hmm. Sorry, was getting some appetizers. See, now you ruined it. We were having a nice moment and now you ruined it. Wanted two though. Sorry about that. I told them to stay out. Anyway, we get to we have our we have our main event. We have the Bucks against Fletcher and Knight — Fletch-Knight — in a tables match. And thank you Tony Schiavone for clearing this up because I think sometimes they don't do this. Both people in the team had to be put through a table in order to win the match. And I was like Yes. Thank you for telling us at the very beginning. And specifically with an offensive move, meaning if you accidentally Yes. Put yourself through the table, it doesn't matter. Yes. And I they said it multiple times during the match and I was like, Good, more of that. Yes. I thought it was a lot of fun. That was a very fun match. Yep. Yeah. I thought it was really good. I again, I was very happy with how Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Michael Knight wrestled together. I Mm-hmm. From going from, that's going to be kind of a, we've seen this shit show before too. Okay. I'll watch these guys. These guys make a really good team. And again, Kyle Fletcher just continues to impress. I think he's so good right now. But I like him in this position as opposed to world title position for the moment because it lets him, Mm-hmm. Yep. It lets him cook. It lets him simmer. It lets him be who he is and get the spotlight he needs without getting lost in that heavyweight title shuffle. So I like this position for him. And I think he's, I think he looked great tonight. I think they all looked really good and I liked the Mm-hmm. Finish. I thought the finish was what it should have been. Yeah, I agree. Don't ask me how I knew, but once Kevin Knight got eliminated first, I went, This is gonna come down to Nick Jackson and Kyle Fletcher. And it did. I don't know how I knew it, but I did. Because you're that damn good. Well, I think it was the one that made the most sense stylistically is really what it is, but Look, just take the win, No, you're right. It's all about me being amazing. You But FTR would get involved and cost the Bucks the match, which makes sense because we're furthering the storyline there, which is fine. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was good. I have no problem with it. The at first when Darby and Sting Junior came out, I was like, huh, that's okay. And then I was like, Well, but they do have beef with the Don Callis Family, so I guess it makes sense and you know, whatever. Yeah, I guess. I wrote down Darby and Stingson out for the save. Okay. Yeah, that was my initial reaction. Yeah. I mean, yes, it's a little tenuous, but clearly Cage and Cope weren't there and they weren't going to come out. So, Right. You know, Darby did make a reference to the Don Callis Family earlier about them picking on Sting's sons. So Yep. And there's beef with him and Kevin Knight, so It's a thin thread, but it was there. So I'm okay. But still I was like, Yep. Yep. Yeah. I think it was one of those that it would have been good if they had reminded us of it when they came out, but you know, whatever. Whatever. It's fine. Yeah. I'm not worried about it. Yeah, it was okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's fine, but yeah, it was okay. Yeah. I don't even know if I needed anyone to come out for the save at the end of this. You could have just left it with them getting beat up. If it had for me, it would have been okay. So, but otherwise I liked it. Yeah. Yep, I agree. Yep. I agree with you on that. But I think that's going to lead to I think we're gonna get the TNT title rematch at All Out between Kevin Knight and Darby. And so that I think that's why they did it was just to plant that one little seed that will probably get paid off next week. So Sure, yeah, that's OK. That's all right. Yeah, I have no problem with that. Yeah. So, you know, again, a good show, an emotionally charged show that I think they did a great job with. And, you know, I'm gonna take this opportunity to encourage you if you are able to get involved in the fight against ALS. They have a lot of resources available to you through AEW. I'm gonna encourage you to get involved if you can. I get it. Times are tough, but if you got it and can help out a little bit, that's cool. So yeah, I thought it I thought they did a great job tonight. I really did. It's a good show. And if you didn't feel enough emotions tonight, I'm going to guess if you watch Saturday, there's going to be more. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I'm not sure what to do with that. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. I'm going to watch and I'm going to be sad, but I'm going to watch because I, again, I really liked, I really liked Butcher from way back. I was a fan of him and The Blade from the beginning and wanted them to do even more. And I know it's difficult to watch those matches now because it is sad, but seriously watching The Butcher, these old matches with The Butcher. Just seeing how good he was and seeing that the kind of stuff he was doing like he and I don't know if you remember he and Darby had some banger matches, dude. He's one of the I did not remember that, but He threw he's one of the guys that threw Darby down the steps, not the ones Mm-hmm. Outside, but they were inside and he threw him down the steps inside the arena. And he banged him against like he had him instead of doing an airplane spin, he just swung him and banged his head against the rails and then against the concrete wall before he threw him down the stairs and man those guys went to war and it was Yeah. It was a those were hella matches and I was like man that just sucks the whole thing sucks Yeah. It does. It's just awful. So anyway, yeah, I don't really have anything else to say. This is a really good show. They did a great job. Yep. And No. Like I said, Rebel is my match of the night because she was great. I loved her as the role model Yep. Yep. And all the emotions. Yeah, loved it, loved it, loved it. It was great. It was great. They did a great job. Well done, everybody involved. I'm sure Saturday is gonna be really hard, but I think they'll do a great job with that too. And we may or may not touch on it next week. I don't know. We'll find out. I don't know. But We'll see. In the meantime, go dump some mayo down your pants. And if you don't want to do that, go to doichfoods.com and get yourself Yeah. Some cookie dough. Make that happen. And if you use Elite Heat, when you check out, you'll save 20%. And I'm telling you, it's good. I liked it a lot. And I'm not a guy who doesn't like food—I love to eat. So I'm not going to lie to you when I'm talking about food. I don't, I'm not serious about a whole lot of stuff. I am about my food and I'm digging the Doich Foods. That's all I'm going to say. So go there, grab your faves. All right. There you go. And with that, we will talk to you next week, possibly with mayo in all of our pants. If we're lucky.