AEW - MARCH 2025

[The Green Meanie]

2 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

Saraya never seemed to fit in well or find her groove in AEW. Fans quickly turned on her with the "This is my house!" business

Saying baby girl all the time so much that it became a punchline didn't help either.

[Matt D]

I thought Saraya brought something unique in her active last year or so. She was willing to stooge and look the fool like almost no other heel on the roster (Taya will do it too). She was basically the only heel that wrestled like a heel and she was pretty important in getting Harley over. The bit where Harley shouted from the outside to hit her with the RamPaige and then Saraya started arguing back that her move hadn't been called that for years was legitimately hilarious. I honestly think she's a bit of a loss since there were ~3 feuds left on the table (full Timeless Toni for the Outcasts stuff as we just got a hint of it as she was changing into a babyface, Mercedes for the injury, and Harley considering their connection). But at the same time, she's not someone I'm going to go out of my way to defend for personal reasons. But I think people really overlook what she still had to bring to the table in 2025.

[Curt McGirt]

She really was one of the few to play to the crowd hard. An asset to ringside. 

Hopefully Papa H can get her away from that disgusting asshole husband like he did with del Rio. 

[just drew]

2 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

She really was one of the few to play to the crowd hard. An asset to ringside. 

Hopefully Papa H can get her away from that disgusting asshole husband like he did with del Rio. 

They split a while back, apparently. 

[Curt McGirt]

Oh man, that's great. I just hope he didn't rub off on her or they were aligned politically/ideologically, because he's preeeeetty bad.

[Cobra Commander]

A good idea by Ricochet to wait until his feud with Swerve cooled off before getting married

[porksweats]

4 hours ago, Matt D said:

I thought Saraya brought something unique in her active last year or so. She was willing to stooge and look the fool like almost no other heel on the roster (Taya will do it too). She was basically the only heel that wrestled like a heel and she was pretty important in getting Harley over. The bit where Harley shouted from the outside to hit her with the RamPaige and then Saraya started arguing back that her move hadn't been called that for years was legitimately hilarious. I honestly think she's a bit of a loss since there were ~3 feuds left on the table (full Timeless Toni for the Outcasts stuff as we just got a hint of it as she was changing into a babyface, Mercedes for the injury, and Harley considering their connection). But at the same time, she's not someone I'm going to go out of my way to defend for personal reasons. But I think people really overlook what she still had to bring to the table in 2025.

The loss of Rampage affected her the most, she was great as a rabble rouser manager even if everyone else has surpassed her in-ring wise.

[HarryArchieGus]

I very much agree with @MattD on this one. Further, considering her physical limitations, I thought she did very well. What I knew of her past injuries, and didn't know (I've yet to see a 'Paige' match), and never getting a solid answer to 'was she good in ring', I was unsure what she could provide AEW. I thought she worked hard to fit in while working alongside a roster of ladies getting better and better. Finding her place in a lower card heel stooge role suggested to me she wasn't letting ego or past achievements get in the way of reality. Her legacy in AEW featured a lot of fun promos few saw on a show they called Rampage.

Edited March 28, 2025 by HarryArchieGus

[John E. Dynamite]

Absolutely mainlining AEW on Max so I can catch up for the next Baltimore show. November to Today is my monthy goal and it's going great. If I was still good at posting about pro wrestling I'd have a whole big list of takes and talking points, but in lieu of that, here's this - Mark Brisoe is at worst a Top 5 guy in this promotion.

Mark Briscoe can do pure doomed JttS babyface better than anyone on the roster - Mortos is very good at the heel version, I should mention. He's the best ring general in tag team matches. His performance in the last Blood & Guts was the undeniable centerpiece of the match due to this. He doesn't just promo well, he promos in under a minute purely to get a crowd revved up in a way that is such a lost art. He bleeds good. I know what his character is, and he wrestles like it. And when called upon to deliver a big ol' kickouty epic, he finds ways to implement the face/heel dynamic and proper timing in ways that most are too eager to even consider. It's like there are two wrestling geniuses inhabiting his one body. I think he's the truest Five Tool Player in the entire business.

Edited March 29, 2025 by John E. Dynamite

[just drew]

9 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Absolutely mainlining AEW on Max so I can catch up for the next Baltimore show. November to Today is my monthy goal and it's going great. If I was still good at posting about pro wrestling I'd have a whole big list of takes and talking points, but in lieu of that, here's this - Mark Brisoe is at worst a Top 5 guy in this promotion.

Mark Briscoe can do pure doomed JttS babyface better than anyone on the roster - Mortos is very good at the heel version, I should mention. He's the best ring general in tag team matches. His performance in the last Blood & Guts was the undeniable centerpiece of the match due to this. He doesn't just promo well, he promos in under a minute purely to get a crowd revved up in a way that is such a lost art. He bleeds good. I know what hps character is, and he wrestles like it. And when called upon to deliver a big ol' kickouty epic, he finds ways to implement the face/heel dynamic and proper timing in ways that most are too eager to even consider. It's like there are two wrestling geniuses inhabiting his one body. I think he's the truest Five Tool Player in the entire business.

I love this. "Mark Briscoe; Singles Ace" was not a thing I was anticipating occurring over the last year or so. 

[SovietShooter]

10 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Mark Brisoe is at worst a Top 5 guy in this promotion.

On Wednesday after his match with Takeshita, I posted on Bluesky that Briscoe is probably the most valuable worker in AEW. He always has a solid match, he can wrestle a number of different styles, and he always makes his opponents look good.  He is a great promo, with a massive personality that can get just about anything over.  You can send him out to get squashed and he will still be over. You can have him win a championship in the main event, and the crowd will pop. He does everything and does it well. 

There isn't a match you can announce with Briscoe that does sound like a good time.  Briscoe vs Mox?  Yup!  Briscoe vs Okada? Yes please!  Briscoe vs Orange?  Fuck yes.

[Curt McGirt]

It's weird that I was disappointed with the Takeshita match. You'd think that would be killer but it was just kinda middling. To me, at least. It felt like they only wanted to give it half the effort they could have, and have a much bigger, better match between them in the chamber.

[HarryArchieGus]

I wonder how Mark Briscoe in the Orange Cassidy role as Mox's first challenger after his title win would've worked. With or without a belt on the line, a Briscoe-Moxley feud could be a helluva piece of business. I hold out hope that Briscoe upsets the field at the 2025 C2. 3rd times a charm. Whatever the case, great to see all the nicely written love for Chicken. I could not agree more.

[Curt McGirt]

Moxley/Briscoe blood feud would be the best shit in the world. Hell, ship them both down to ROH and do it if you have to. Gets Mox out of sight (for most) for awhile, gives Briscoe a big time matchup. Doesn't really matter how you do it; have their shoulders collide while they're walking through the back and Mox takes offense, even. "You don't respect me" is a perfectly fine reason for any wrestling feud.

[Shartnado]

To add to the Mark Briscoe talk, he has had a few shocking wins here and there, so he's at the point where he can basically lose to anyone credibly and ALSO can sneak in a victory with his couple of killer moves against pretty much anyone as well. As a viewer, it adds to the excitement of every match he is in. Most likely, he will lose, BUT you can't actually be sure, unlike with so many others in AEW!

[The Green Meanie]

Oh my goodness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWJjqBKy7dY

"A Nintendo 64, and your mom."

[Curt McGirt]

"I've used machines before" 

[The Green Meanie]

https://i.ibb.co/Ncfq2HB/487789682-10161307485203668-1646004338009125690-n.jpg

[Curt McGirt]

Since a pic of her and Billie showed up on the Zero-1 USA page on Facebook I was led to wonder what happened to Skye Blue, and forgot all about the broken ankle. This was in September, how much longer is she supposed to be out? 

[Casey]

She broke it in July against Shida. A few weeks ago she said she hasn’t been cleared yet because her ankle is really fucked up still. Sometimes recovery after surgery just doesn’t go as planned - see Kingston, Eddie.

[Go2Sleep]

Adam Cole was out for over a year with an ankle/foot injury too.

Speaking of Cole, while his feud with Garcia isn't setting the world on fire or anything, it is good to see him getting back to his old self in the ring (whether you liked that or not) instead of looking totally washed like after his return. Can of worms here, but he's clearly packing on some lean muscle too. I think he'd be a good heel TNT champ at this point.

 

[Curt McGirt]

Yeah I remember the Cole thing. Christ, he had to have a cadaver bone donation for the repair. 

Also clearly I misread the Wiki; she showed back up on crutches in September, so yes July was the break. 

Please Eddie don't retire...

[Niners Fan in CT]

Mercedes broke her heel/ankle at a NJPW show and she was told her career was in jeopardy. It took her over a year to get cleared.  Foot and ankle injuries can take a ton of time, wishing Skye the best. 

[JLowe]

Having now watched Speedball’s first two matches in AEW, I don’t hate him- which is a little unexpected based on the bit of indie work I’ve seen. That said, I think all the kicks will wear thin over time for me. 

[NikoBaltimore]

Catching up it's cool seeing the love for Mark.  If he retired after Jay passed I wouldn't blame him but it's almost like he uses that as fuel to keep going on the best he can.

Speedball is somebody that showed up 3 decades too late.  If he wrestled in the 90s he'd be a big hit with the kids as a midcard act.  Heck, I know I would have been super into him especially since I would mix in Van Damme movies along with everything else.  But while he's going to still be a hit with kids it's hard to imagine his AEW career taking off like it in theory should.  Hope to be proven wrong.