La Zona Muerta

Figured I’d delay MDTD until the Collision show was over since they were on back to back nights this week… and frankly, Dynamite was SO GOOD, anything I have to say about it is nitpicky (and my two big gripes would probably be considered nitpicks) and I didn’t want to bring anyone down. That being said, Collision was basically just a solid show with only one real notable thing… mmmmmaybe two depending on how you feel about Adam Cole (bay bay). There’s a lot to talk about AROUND the show(s)… the MGM Music Hall ended up being an INCREDIBLE venue packed with great fans, particularly on Wednesday night. I’d rather 3000 plus rabid fans who love EVERYTHING than 10,000 who sit on their hands for everything but entrance music and highspots.

The other thing I’d like to address is the weird insecurity around some AEW fans. It’s NOT weird in some respects; AEW is beleaguered, often under attack from all sides, all angles… but then AEW fans will often cling to the wrong things as defense. The thing this week was the very real accomplishment of Dynamite OUTLASTING WCW Monday Night Nitro (obviously Dynamite would have to last for over twenty plus years to dethrone WCW Saturday Night), which is definitely cool and a big deal… but since mortgage selling griftlord Eric Bischoff has set himself up as AEW Public Enemy Number One, a lot of kids who don’t know any better were shitting on Nitro and what it was.

If you only know about Nitro from watching gifs and WWE documentaries… you need to keep your mouth shut about it, and WCW in general. IS that gatekeeping? No, it’s telling you that your opinion is only worthwhile if it’s an INFORMED opinion. Watch the shows, decide for yourself and get back to me. A LOT of people seem to think Nitro was only awful WCW 2000 shit and they have NO CLUE that Nitro completely changed wrestling television FOREVER, making it so squash matches and generic coming to your town promos where no longer de rigueur. Nitro gave us COMPETITIVE MATCHES, PPV marquee matches (if not PPV quality, but given the strength of WCW’s undercard, you sometimes got that level of workrate, too). Nitro gave us lunchadores on US TV on a consistent basis. Nitro brought back the junior heavyweights, something WWF had all but killed off. Nitro brought us show long angles (they didn’t invent that, you can look to Memphis for that, but they popularized it), they brought us cliffhangers that made us tune in next week. RAW had to completely change to an ADHD riddled mess to try to keep up and compete with what Nitro was. EVERYTHING CHANGED DUE TO MONDAY NIGHT NITRO. Bury Bischoff all you want… he’s a hack, a fraud and, unbelievably, a DANGER to modern pro wrestling… but you don’t need to be like LOL NITRO SUX, okay?

Old man rant over… but tangentially… the other big rallying cry this week was that Tony Khan should do something to directly tweak Bischoff’s nose.

Collectively, as AEW fans… we really need to move on past stuff like that. That level of petty action is the domain of VINCE MCMAHON, not Khan. Tony did a bit of that sort of stuff early on, particularly doing his own “McMemphis” (IYKYK) schtick when AEW was working with TNA and it was cute, I guess… I was always really against TK being an on screen character so it wasn’t really my jam, but TK appears to have matured past the need for doing that kind of stuff and we are all better for it. TRUST ME. If they had spent ONE SECOND attacking Bischoff, it would have taken away from how special Dynamite number two hundred and eighty nine ended up being.

Khan ended up celebrating Dynamite “beating” Nitro by using some of Nitro’s hallmarks:

1. A surprise debut
2. Great matches
3. A big schmozz at the end but one that led to a happy ending (see the August 4th, 1997 episode of Monday Nitro)

By having a KILLER show with an atmosphere untouched all year long (and there have been really good crowds in 2025), Dynamite did the best thing possible; it celebrated Nitro by being GREAT, not by being petty or pandering.

If I were to take issue with a couple of things…

I simply CAN NOT believe they gave Athena’s undefeated streak to Mercedes Moné. Moné simply DOES NOT need that scalp… they have spent two and a half years building up Athena as this undefeated monster and since it’s over in Ring of Honor, no one cares. The other thing seems to be that since AThena didn’t lose the belt, it’s fine and they can run it back. I really, truly can NOT foresee Mercedes dropping the fall back to Athena. All that being said, this was a hard hitting match and easily the best thing Mercedes has done in AEW. There’s an odd thing with her; she will go back to WWE one day and all the good will will evaporate… but right now, whenever she has a good match, AEW fans will bash you over the head with how good she is, was and will be (and will forget how bad her first couple matches were and how bad her promos were and CONTINUE to be). Mark my words in two years when she goes back to Stamford and they ALL change their tune. Anyway, I firmly believe that first loss should have been reserved for young Billie Starkz, a story they have been telling for over two years but what the hell do I know? CEO CEO CEO

The other thing that really felt like a gross call back to the Attitude Era, an era we would all be better off leaving in the FUCKING DIRT, was MJF trying to buy his way into the Hurt Syndicate with a bevy of ladies of the night. I wasn’t as upset about it as some (and MVP was AWFULLY defensive about it the next day, perhaps too much so) but I certainly UNDERSTAND why some people found it icky and MJF certainly has no problem casually inserting some misogyny in his programs. Just saying.

Okay. Griping out of the way.

THIS SHOW WAS INCREDIBLE. I can’t recommend The Will Ospreay / Konosuke Takeshita match highly enough. When Takeshita gets “taken” by New Japan Pro Wrestling to SAVE THE SINKING SHIP OVER THERE, I sure hope he still comes and does matches in AEW from time to time. Will Ospreay really IS AEW personified… a guy who WANTS to be there, a guy who doesn’t want to take it easy (perhaps to his detriment) and yeah, he’s in there with Takeshita, a man who will possibly / probably supercede Ospreay but… these guys know how to make an excited crowd go even MORE nuts. Just beautiful pro wrestling.

You also had the Death Riders FINALLY show some ass and lose the trios titles, and BOY, AFTER MONTHS OF HEEEEEEEEAT~! DID THEY FINALLY SEND PEOPLE HOME HAPPY.

Of course the weird, new pro DR backlashers were quick to point out “you wouldn’t have that reaction without dominant heels getting heat” and, yeah, sure, there’s truth to that… but AEW has been doing big angle downers for TOO LONG NOW, all the way since SEPTEMBER OF 2024. Jon Moxley is certainly NOT going to be losing the heavyweight title to Samoa Joe and it doesn’t hurt the DRs to drop the trios titles, so a happy ending here made sense. What was REALLY good about all this was also teasing the Young Bucks interfering and having them neutralized by Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale also coming in to mess with Mox. This was the GOOD kind of overbooking and boy, Joe and friends holding the trios titles aloft was a GREAT visual. Also, since HOOK was out (presumably) due to a concussion, they subbed in POWERHOUSE HOBBS who was pretty much a PERFECT addition to Joe’s kick ass shooter club of himself and Katsuyori Shibata (the only thing that sucks is the name). TOUGH GUYS BEATING PEOPLE UP? YES, PLEASE.

This led to a perfectly cromulent Collison… not bad, certainly, but there’s always people saying COLLISION IS THE NEW A SHOW when it’s usually no better than a decent little weekend diversion. The DRs tore up the annonce are and the ringside crew, Claudio Castagnoli hilariously UPPERCUTTING A CAMERA. FANTASTIC stuff. The Death Riders shouldn’t do stuff that brings me MIRTH AND JOY but I’ll take it where I can get it. At one point, Nigel McGuinness shielded Tony Schiavone and PICKED UP THE BELL HAMMER TO DEFEND THEMSELVES WITH. I couldn’t love this more if I tried. Actually, they seem to be building up Nigel for a feud with newly heel FTR, as well. Hmmmm.

The last thing that really needs to be talked about here was the Nick Wayne / Komander match for the ROH TV Title. Young Nick Wayne has been mostly in the background in AEW, not getting the crucial reps he needs but he’s going to Japan in a couple of weeks to compete in New Japan’s Best of Super Juniors tourney, so they made the decision to belt him here, and I’m here for it. Wayne is a fantastic prospect, good for his (incredibly young) age and a Japan tour, a HARD Japanese tour is going to do wonders for him.

People have to lose matches and, of course, Komander went under here. If there’s ONE THING that really irks me about AEW (there isn’t ONE thing, there are SEVERAL things), it’s that… Komander had to do the honors here. Komander is SO improved and I worry he’s going to find himself in the permanent enhancement role that The Beat Mortos also seems to be relegated to. The Lucha Bros/ LEFT over this, for Gotch’s sake! Do more with luchadores than making them the ultimate underneath guys, PLEASE.

That being said, this was a great match and got the crowd rolling.

What You Know

So, an amazing Wednesday and a good Thursday for AEW during a week that’s supposed to belong to the other guys. There were certainly be nothing on WrestleMania that will come CLOSE to Ospreay / Takeshita and I doubt the crowd reaction for whatever preposterous crap they have happen will match the passion of 3200 fans from the MGM Music Hall. You can enjoy that spectacle that will likely devolve into a Trump rally (whoops, too political) but AEW when it’s on is UNTOUCHABLE and despite some missteps 2025 has very much been AEW on the come up.