AEW TV - 8/27 - 9/2/2025 - It's A CRU Summer

[Dolfan in NYC]

 Fever dream high in the quiet of the night, you know that I caught it.  Bad, bad boy, shiny toy with a price, you know that I bought it...

Well, once again the Forbidden Door has opened and closed and we're all out of highlights! (pun!) And Ospreay's neck is all out of time...

(See you next year William.)

 Killing me slow, out the window, I'm always waiting for you to be waiting below... Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes, what doesn't kill me makes me want you more!

AEW is running through it's ROH library to find you the greatest hits from the 2300 Arena's history, such as...

I hate this because it reminded me of the existence of Mikey Whipwreck.  

 

 And it's new, the shape of your body, it's blue, the feeling I've got... And it's ooh, whoa-oh, it's a cruel summer...

And tonight... live from Philly...

WATCH... AS PRINCE NANA...  DANCES ON THE ROOF OF THE E... C... W... ARENA. Or the 2300 Arena... whatever it's called now.  

(Yes, it's the same joke I made last time. You try having watched any ECW back in the day and not remember being bombarded by that Hawaiian chick allegedly "dancing" 74,000 times.)

 

(Oh you thought I meant Bananarama?  a) Not when She just got engaged.  b) Recall, I don't like you.)

Enjoy the last full week of summer!

[NikoBaltimore]

Nice misdirect with the song choice.

If they're at ECW Arena I know it's not likely but I'd be thrilled if they open with "Closer"/"Thunderkiss '65".

[The Natural]

I forgot AEW Dynamite is tonight, tomorrow UK time. Stupid Bank Holiday always means you get lost which day/date it is as my fellow UK posters can testify.

[hammerva]

Quote

IATSE Local 8 is protesting AEW and 2300 Arena's stagehand compensation ahead the series of shows that begin tonight in Philadelphia.

They've also posted videos on their Facebook page outside the venue, using AEW's business talking points against them:

According to Brandon Thurston tweets today.   I mean now this is an issue?   Someone must had a longing for glory and messy Philly indie wars of the 2000s

[SovietShooter]

I used to work as a stagehand when I was in college; More than likely they are protesting because the venue is non-union, or maybe there is some dispute between the local and the arena management. 

It probably doesn't have anything to do with AEW directly.

[Curt McGirt]

Awww, what's wrong with Mikey? What he do?

You know there is going to be a DIVE FROM THE EAGLE'S NEST in this episode from a certain person. Excaliber is definitely yelling OH MY GOD

[Craig H]

8 hours ago, NikoBaltimore said:

Nice misdirect with the song choice.

If they're at ECW Arena I know it's not likely but I'd be thrilled if they open with "Closer"/"Thunderkiss '65".

Going to need a Pulp Fiction vignette set to Miserlou and a Heart Shaped Box music video too.

[Technico Support]

Excalibur doing promos in front of a cheap backdrop in TK’s basement while Shad does the ironing five feet away.

[JLowe]

Best Taylor song.

”I’m drunk in the back of the car and I’m crying like a baby coming home from the bar”

Looked online today out of curiosity and there were barely any tickets in Seatgeek and they were way over face value.

[JLowe]

2 hours ago, SovietShooter said:

I used to work as a stagehand when I was in college; More than likely they are protesting because the venue is non-union, or maybe there is some dispute between the local and the arena management. 

It probably doesn't have anything to do with AEW directly.

That is correct, 2300 is non-union and they’re also mad AEW didn’t negotiate a deal with them to work the events directly even though AEW has their own IATSE crew they bring for events. Kind of a no-win situation, plus the local using the event to get more attention to 2300 being non-union (which is really bold in South Philly, wonder who they’re paying off).

[Casey]

I saw on Reddit that the local IATSE that’s protesting is across the street from the ECW Arena, and something about AEW using another chapter in the city instead of them.

I don’t know how true that is, though.

[SovietShooter]

26 minutes ago, JLowe said:

2300 being non-union (which is really bold in South Philly, wonder who they’re paying off).

So, I worked at a major arena in college (Schottenstein Center, at Ohio State) and we were a non-union shop, but we hired union stagehands freelance for events. I don't know the specifics of it, but I remember something about it being advantageous for us to be a non-union shop because we had so many work-study student workers.  

So, I wonder how often 2300 has events, and who they hire as stagehands for events - are they in-house non-union workers? 

[Peck]

10 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

(Yes, it's the same joke I made last time. You try having watched any ECW back in the day and not remember being bombarded by that Hawaiian chick allegedly "dancing" 74,000 times.)

Thanks.. now that's in my head again.

UNCUT.................. UNCENSORED............... NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN............ the night Kimona Wanalaya danced atop the E-C-W Arena....

[Curt McGirt]

I watched exactly one ECW show as a kid (that I recorded at my aunt/uncle/cousins' house off the Sunshine Network in Florida) and I can STILL hear Joey read that off in my head. 

I wonder if Atlas Security was union.

[Peck]

My ECW claim to fame was being 15 at the time and my mom walking in the room RIGHT as Rick Rude had Francine upside down and uh.... went to the buffet.... 

Needless to say, I had to sneak my ECW viewing for awhile after that.

[hammerva]

I am with Naylor and saying that Kenny Omega's look was his 2001 John Zandig tribute.  

[Death From Above]

Really fun week of TV. The Moxley/Garcia match honestly was nothing like what I expected but was very cool for what it was. The women's tag was fun. The 8 man was a nice Brody/Bandito showcase. The six man match was a bunch of BIG MANLY MEN SLAPPING MEAT, it was snappy and exactly what I wanted. And that main event I was really hyped for and totally delivered. Darby is a lunatic, Claudio is one of the best in the world, easy good match.

[Niners Fan in CT]

That was a great show.  FINALLY we seem to be getting Don Callis Family vs. Hangman.  I swear I'm not in the writing room but this is what I been talking about. 

Hangman can have so many great matches with them.  So many cool opponents for him.   Like a Hogan and Heenan Family type deal 

Takeshita is obviously the final boss 

[Nineteen]

Copeland trying to cut off Cage when he started in on the father routine was great, only to realize that... it was gonna happen

Loved Max's post match crash out from the weekend. I'm glad Hanger vs. the Callis family is here to keep Max away for a bit and it should result in some great matches. Wondering if there's enough time to properly build for Hangman vs. Takeshita at Toronto though, or maybe we get a Kenny/Hangman vs. Takehshita/Okada or another pairing.

Mox and Garcia was loads of fun. I agree with SRS that Mox just having opening match bangers since losing the title has been a dope move.

Didn't love the match but Claudio and Darby recreating the famous Bam Bam throws Spike Dudley into the third row was a nice tribute. Match felt way too one sided for Darby to win with the pair of coffin drops. 

[Curt McGirt]

This was a HOT HOT HOT crowd and I'm sure Philly is gonna be burning up these next couple shows. The setup at the arena feels way strange now, like there's no seating, and the lighting structure is super low. No sign of the Eagle's Nest either. 

Really, I don't feel it's necessary to dissect the matches much because they were all good. The eight-man had the lineup I would like the best (poor Wardlow didn't even get a spot from Callis haha, you're always gonna be an also-ran, dude) and that meant even though it was a spotfest it was awesome. Plus the Takeshita/Okada tension! Women's tag was the same way but we also got Harley's Revenge. We really need Heel Garcia already but that crowd did not want that tonight. The BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT match was probably my favorite of the evening. Shibata is the race car between two tanks. Prince Bald is the weenie between two battleships. It just works. And then there's the main which was, well you know, a Darby Allin Almost Dies match. The five different camera angles on the Spike spot replays were awesome. 

Other stuff: Mark Briscoe showing off his seed and then saying "Take this and GO" to whoever off camera so he could cuss -- just a little -- at MJF was funny. The open (god they hated FTR) with "your dad" was, too. But the cake was taken completely by I WILL DANCE ON TOP OF THIS ARENA  

[Craig H]

What a cool as hell show. This is definitely the best year for AEW. Their pivot to smaller venues for weekly shows and arenas for PPVs have paid off massively.

That opening segment was awesome. I love wild pull apart brawls when they’re done well and each guy looks like they’re throwing live rounds and this is one of the good ones. I was laughing pretty hard at one point where Dax is in the corner being held back, the refs are trying to hold Cope back right in front of Dax, and Christian hops up on the apron the start punching Dax in the head.

Like…everything about this show was so much fun. Mox vs Garcia ruled. You rarely if ever see someone go hold for hold with Moxley and even out grapple him and Garcia did just that. The end reminded me of what Samoa Joe said to Brock Lesnar - “You didn’t beat me, you escaped me!”

We got great promos, fun matches, MEAT, and Darby taking some hellacious bumps. He’s one match in to running the gauntlet to get to Moxley and I’m not sure it could get much worse for him.

[The Natural]

https://x.com/ShopAEW/status/1960768700711063571

Great AEW/Philadelphia match especially the AEW/ECW one.

[The Green Meanie]

Shout out for the Blue Meanie reference!
I love that they're still zooming in during Don's bad Spanish, but boo to his low-key racism.
Thumbs up for Hook's Perry Como music, though I wish we'd finally get an answer on his standing regarding The Ops.
Likewise, are The Hounds of Hell still a thing?

[Cobra Commander]

From what I’ve seen in clips and photos, it looks like they scrubbed the layer of grime off the arena in the last 20 years

[AxB]

The reason the arena looks different to how it did in the 90s is, it was extensively remodelled in the early 2000s, making the main room significantly bigger. And the reason it looks smaller is, at one point CZW had an exclusive deal to be the only wrestling company that runs there, and Zandig painted all of the walls black. Which so impressed Kenny Omega that he showed up to this show cosplaying Zandig.