La Zona Muerta

Some things, maybe of relevance, maybe not, bouncing around in my brain the last day or two:

“How are we gonna financially recover from this?” – Nick Jackson

“I will never let somebody weaponize a friendship against me.” – Ricky Saints née Starks

“Save the performative bullshit for your entrance!” – Toni Storm

“Baby, life’s what you make it / Can’t escape it / Baby, yesterday’s favorite / don’t you hate it” – Mark Hollis of Talk Talk

“It lingered in the background / followed till we found our lost cause / we were all in” – Peter Vâgan of the Fjords

“The tide’s turned; it’s our inning now.” – Brian “Capitan Britain” Braddock circa Uncanny X-Men Annual #11

So, it’s all over but the waitin’. The All In go home shows have, well, went home. And, save the ROH Supercard of Honor show tomorrow… we await a show cresting on probably what has been the most positive wave of momentum AEW has had since, I dunno… maybe All Out 2021? Something like that anyway; I’m terrible at quantifying in that manner. As of tonight, AEW is at over 23,000 tickets out (which probably means a few hundred comps for dignitaries, families and other assorted riffraff) so that pretty much assures over 25,000 people the day of, given a healthy walk up. Nothing to sneeze at.

There’s still a lot of dopey “BUT WHAT IF JON MOXLEY” panic amongst the faithful but I think most people understand by this point that they are paying to see Hangman Adam Page reassume his place as the number one guy in AEW… and this time, I feel he’s MUCH better equipped to handle that role. I also believe that AEW from a CREATIVE standpoint is much better equipped to take advantage of Page on top (ooh, er, missus) this time around. The only real fantasy booking (ew, gross) I’m prepared to give you here is, in the aftermath after the violence, after the JARRETTIAN levels of overbooking, as the streamers fall, the confetti drops, the cheers of 25,000 fans ring out… Hanger takes the briefcase holding the AEW Men’s Heavyweight title, pops it open to retrieve the prize he put his soul on the line for… and… it’s EMPTY. Then you can extend the feud a bit longer with Moxley WITHOUT screwing Page OR the fans. What has Mox done to the belt? Etc., etc. Darby Allin (All In? Okay, I’ll stop) can, I dunno, do an ollie onto Mox or whatever after Mox is no longer champ and EVERYONE CAN FUCKING RELAX.

*cough*

Now… was there some sports entertainment horseshit towards the end to get us to the finish line on these programs that were largely already all set? Yeah… Swerve Strickland used his mastery over industrial vehicles to destroy the Young Bucks’ (decidedly not so) fresh limo with a giant excavator of some kind. I mean, yeah, it’s a car angle, straight outta the year of our lord Nineteen Hundred and Ninety Eight. I thought it was well executed for what it was… cute… but it’s not really the kinda thing I watch wrestling for. Your mileage may vary, obviously, and surprisingly AEW has done a number of car angles (Chris Jericho’s car and the terrible, terrible Orange Cassidy penny drop which was NOT bad on purpose, it was simply bad, the Hurt Syndicate stole Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s car just recently, Someone… maybe Mox? I forget, but someone drove a truck through the Elite’s trailer or bus or something… Trent Baretta’s mother and her minivan have played a semi-significant role like at least three or four times… I think Cody Rhodes gave QT Marshall a Stone Cold Stunner on top of a bus… I vaguely remember someone stole FTR’s old beat up truck… I think Moxley stole Jericho’s car and there are probably others I’m forgetting). Out of those… this was probably in the upper echelon of DUMB CAR ANGLES but y’know, whatever. It was fun for what it was. There was a violent eight man tag taking place during all of this silliness, but suddenly the wrestling was merely a backdrop for CAR MELODRAMA (TM). The poorly acted histrionics of the Bucks were probably the highlight of all this but there was actually something important amidst the scrape of metal on metal. While Swerve taunted the Bucks, he pointed out that he had once told a man that he would have to make a choice between peace and success, between hate and vengeance and that he had been reminded that the man had told him that they were one and the same.

The man that told Swerve that cynical nugget of wisdom was none other Hangman Adam Page, during the formative stages of their feud.

Dynamite went off the air with Page (mostly) triumphant, but clutching a steel chain (and if you don’t think that chain is ending up around Mox’ throat on Saturday, you’re crazy), staring at Swerve. Tonight’s Collision continued the threads of that story; Renee Paquette cornering Hangman Page to ask if he wanted to talk about the chaotic scene. “Probably… but not to YOU,” Hanger said pointedly. OH THE SOUND THE MISSUS AND I MADE WHEN HE SAID THAT. FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY. He then sought out Swerve Strickland and didn’t attack him, didn’t scream at him, didn’t threaten him. He got out a chair and sat down, and waited for Swerve to do the same. The two men then had what Frank Costanza might have called an “airing of grievances.” I’m perhaps making a bit light of it here but this was genuinely, especially for those of us who pay attention and don’t fast forward entrances and backstage promos, one of the best non wrestling wrestling segments I’ve seen in YEARS. The other guys HOWL about how they want Emmys for a “storyline” (stories traditionally have beginnings, middles and ENDS) that has been treading water for three years and meanwhile these two creative dudes are sitting down and producing COMPELLING television together, drawing together threads, rewarding those who have paid attention, carrying those who haven’t. A decided contrast from the sports entertainment antics we saw on Wednesday.

Everything is set up, everything is in place for this emotional catharsis on Saturday, with plenty of intrigue left to be had (presumably MJF wins the Casino Gauntlet and goes on to challenge Page which they have been simmering in the background since January. Presumably the Bucks beat Swerve and Will Ospreay and keeps them out of the title picture for a year… and that sets Swerve and Ospreay down a certain path. Presumably Page will have to worry about facing whomever the new United champion is… either his once and former friend Kenny Omega, or a man he’s never quite feuded with but has come close a couple of times in the form of Kazuchika Okada). Again, not to fantasy book, but look at all the stuff I just rattled off in the main event scene without even THINKING about it! This, THIS is the strength of AEW, Sure, your fav guy or gal might get bogged down in the mix but when everything is pulling in one direction, when that mix is cohering into a tasty batter… AEW is as good as it gets.

I don’t know where we go with dudes like Mark Briscoe (more serious Mark, please, and less evoking Jay Briscoe’s death. I don’t care for it and for Gotch’s sake there were KIDS involved in that car wreck. It’s ENOUGH), Adam Cole (obviously losing to Kyle Fletcher on Saturday which is just fine, but where do we go from here?), Konosuke Takeshita (my hopes that he goes and puts New Japan on his back dwindle by the day), Danny Garcia (hurry up and TURN for the love of Gotch), Kyle Fletcher (new TNT Champion but what’s next?), Anthony Bowens (unfortunately now eclipsed by his dopey ex tag team partner and by his chemically enhanced manager), etc. I mean… what does Kenny Omega do if he loses Saturday night? What’s Okada’s agenda gonna be? And that’s saying nothing of cats who haven’t made their comeback yet (the aforementioned Darby, the snake bitten Jay White, the overrated by some, underrated by others Jack Perry, the long suffering Eddie Kingston, the grim, bloated and looming spectre of Chris Jericho, the sunken cheeks of Edge)… there are a LOT of dudes who could come back and spice up the mid card, the upper mid card and even the main event scene. That’s exciting! You just hope people don’t get lost (again) in the shuffle.

Hopefully, out of All In we have:

1) a direction for the top of the card (this is what I have by FAR the most confidence in right now)

2) a recommitment to the tag division (oh and how about the Hurt Syndicate suddenly “doing business” on Wednesday, huh? Almost like someone has been reading this blog) and maybe even the trios division (a boy can dream, yes?)

3) Toni Storm and Mercedes Moné NOT taking all of the oxygen from the women’s scene (now THERE’S a match I really don’t know the outcome of. You’d want to probably say Toni but some people really dig the WWE coding strong push of Mercedes never losing. Side note, some people want to defend her SO BADLY that they thought her botching the date of the pay per view Wednesday night was INTENTIONAL)

4) some stuff for the mid card to sink their collective teeth into. I think AEW is largely doing pretty well in that regard. I like the slow burn on the Nick Wayne / Christian storyline, what Garcia’s surely inevitable turn will mean for a cat like Daddy Magic and some of the other stuff that has some seeds planted. Will Blake Christian and Shotty Lee Johnson step up (especially given how Tony Khan likes to book; a million losses and then you’re in)? What’s Ricochet gonna do now that he has two terrifying heaters?

5) and hopefully we get to see a true elevation of AEW’s second generation. No, not that dumb Pillars crap (ugh) but your Fletchers, your Takeshitas, your Garcias, your YUTAS, and dare I hope, your Moriartys. I mean, is there a good reason those two beautiful men (Protoshita) aren’t tag champs right now? Imagine them going full tilt for three months against the delightful current version of FTR. I’m not a big Speedball Mike Bailey guy but I like JerSpeed well enough… let’s car crash them against the newly formed Sky Flight team of Scorpio Sky, Top FLight and my BELOVED Christophers Daniels. Let’s get the luchadores some WINS. Let’s get RUSH and his crew set back up as killers running roughshod.

I have high expectations for All In. I have high hopes POST All In. And, for a change, I actually have a measure of confidence in AEW to rise to the occasion on both fronts.