AEW - MAY 2025

[colonial]

I do feel bad for Abadon -- they seem like a good person and has improved as a worker over the last five years. But there may be a ceiling as to how far they go and, honestly, if AEW couldn't find long-term story plans for them, it may be wise to have them continue on the indies, possibly bring them back on Halloween and the like. I do think Abby has more potential with content creation, cosplay and makeup work -- they definitely have talent with all three.

Add Bear Bronson to the departure list with his contract expiring on Sunday. When Boulder was arrested and fired, Bronson was caught in the crossfire and a goner. The team was fun (you can add them to the "Universal Taping All-Stars for AEW Dark" along with Abby, Emi Sakura, Slim J and the like) but both were injury-prone and got lost in the shuffle of a sizable roster. Having them get a manager, only to have them change managers a few weeks later without explanation, didn't help. Would have had them as the muscles for a cowardly heel a few steps below MJF who did the dirty work for said heel. As of now, Bronson likely needs a gimmick makeover to get a second chance.

[AxB]

Bronson was MJF's tag team partner when they both broke in.

[DMJ]

Thinking about Ricochet's search for a "crew" and most people believing it will be either Top Flight, CRU, Private Party or some other team, I kinda wish they'd go in a completely different direction and have it be, like, Evil Uno and Big Show. Just something ridiculous that makes very little sense but also kinda points to Ricochet not being able to convince an "actual" team to join him because he's such an arrogant, annoying nerd...aside from Evil Uno, who is has always been a follower, and Big Show, who could almost play it as taking pity on him or only doing it because Ricochet is paying him some ludicrous amount of money. Big Show is good at the comedy stuff, Uno is a great bumping henchman (and a good physical foil to Ricochet), and, if it works, maybe we'd even get Grayson back. 

[EVA]

I noticed Gates of Agony are “in action” on Collision this week (i.e., squashing some dudes), so I assume they’re being built up to be Ricochet’s guys.

[HumanChessgame]

16 hours ago, Casey said:

Are you confusing Mariah May with Harley Cameron?

Yes, I completely am. I always had trouble remembering the two of them were different people.

[Kevin Wilson]

I got my brother a dual signed Toni Storm/Mariah May poster as a thanks for helping me with a recent hospital trip as he's a big AEW fan (this one, except I paid a bit extra for Toni to inscribe it with her catch phrase: https://highspots.com/products/toni-storm-vs-mariah-may-the-hollywood-ending-12-x-18-poster-jsa-dual-autographed). I got it knowing Mariah May was likely gone, I thought it would be a fun visual "memory" for him of one of the better storylines in AEW history. I think there was more May could have done in AEW but I'm not annoyed she left either, she came in, kicked ass, and moved on. AEW's roster is stacked enough now they can sometimes lose people and its ok, there will be a give and take between AEW and WWE going forward and nothing wrong with that, its healthy for wrestling as a whole for both fans and wrestlers to have options. She'll be fondly remembered though, a hell of a run.

[AxB]

There's every possibility that Mariah goes to WWE for two or three years, does whatever she does there, and then that contract starts winding down and she decides it's time to test the market once again.

I did see something from Meltzer saying that WWE tends to offer less money than AEW does, because they're banking on the Wrestlers being enough of a mark for the company and it's mystique that they think of it as a dream job. And there's photos of Mariah attending Mania 38 (as a fan).

[twiztor]

3 hours ago, DMJ said:

Private Party

i forgot they existed until i watched Dynamite and saw the Frat Boys debut. My first thought was "that's gimmick infringement!" 

PP has been off TV since losing the tag titles back in January. Is one of them hurt (again)?

[JLowe]

10 hours ago, The Natural said:

Mercedes Mone has held the TBS Championship for 365+ days joining a select AEW group:

Jade Cargill, TBS Champion. 508 days.

MJF, AEW World Champion. 406 days.

Hikaru Shida, AEW Women's World Champion. 372 days.

Mercedes Mone. 370 days.

The fact that two of the TBS title holders have had year-long reigns, both of which also involved undefeated streaks, is poor booking IMO. 

[Casey]

4 hours ago, AxB said:

There's every possibility that Mariah goes to WWE for two or three years, does whatever she does there, and then that contract starts winding down and she decides it's time to test the market once again.

I did see something from Meltzer saying that WWE tends to offer less money than AEW does, because they're banking on the Wrestlers being enough of a mark for the company and it's mystique that they think of it as a dream job. And there's photos of Mariah attending Mania 38 (as a fan).

I think this was about Jordynne Grace, was it not? The rumor was that her TNA contract plus Onlyfans (mainly OF) meant she was making a lot of money, but she chose to sign with WWE and give that up with the idea that she could earn more there eventually over time. Or something like that.

[Kevin Wilson]

39 minutes ago, Casey said:

I think this was about Jordynne Grace, was it not? The rumor was that her TNA contract plus Onlyfans (mainly OF) meant she was making a lot of money, but she chose to sign with WWE and give that up with the idea that she could earn more there eventually over time. Or something like that.

Also about Vaquer who openly discussed taking less money from WWE than AEW offered. I'm not saying that as a criticism of her, everyone has their own goals but that was the biggest example. There were also rumors back when Okada signed that WWE thought the money + WM Moment would get him to sign but they wouldn't match what AEW offered. I don't blame WWE for using their prestige as a bonus to sign with them, it just won't work with everyone.

[StevieNippz]

8 hours ago, DMJ said:

Thinking about Ricochet's search for a "crew" and most people believing it will be either Top Flight, CRU, Private Party or some other team, I kinda wish they'd go in a completely different direction and have it be, like, Evil Uno and Big Show. Just something ridiculous that makes very little sense but also kinda points to Ricochet not being able to convince an "actual" team to join him because he's such an arrogant, annoying nerd...aside from Evil Uno, who is has always been a follower, and Big Show, who could almost play it as taking pity on him or only doing it because Ricochet is paying him some ludicrous amount of money. Big Show is good at the comedy stuff, Uno is a great bumping henchman (and a good physical foil to Ricochet), and, if it works, maybe we'd even get Grayson back. 

I had a thought that the Frat Bros or whatever they're called would be a funny choice. Ricochet thinks having a stable will be the answer but he picks the biggest bunch of goobers and they do nothing to help him and he has to win in spite of their shenanigans 

[Niners Fan in CT]

I hate cage matches that have a roof and people constantly find ways out of the cage.  But on the other hand,  I don't mind cage matches with no roof and that happening because I'm so used to WWE's "escape the cage" stipulation.  That's always been their stipulation too dating all the way back to the 60s and maybe before that. However, the point of the stip in those days was more to beat the shit out of the guy and then walk out of the cage. 

[SovietShooter]

The only time "escape the cage" makes sense in when the last guy in the cage loses their mask/hair/etc.