AEW NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2025

[ExcellenceofAirPollution]

Lots to cover here

How far out did they move the All In start time?  A month?  I think it's probably the right move, and personally I love it because afternoon PPVs are my jam.  Sucks for the people who won't be able to go, but hopefully it's not too many and they understand why it happened.  Toronto is a pretty big travel hub, I could actually see this show having a decent number of fly-ins.  I don't see it as "backing down" more like WWE cornered them and they made the smart play.  It may embolden WWE to fuck with them more, but who are we kidding they were going to do that anyway.  I mentioned before that I've never been as tribal of a wrestling fan as I am now with AEW vs. WWE, with politics being part of it because you can't ignore it when Hunter is directly involving himself not to mention Dana White.  TKO is "too big to fail" but I'm rooting hard for them to crash and burn and if we ever restore sanity in this country it'll be time for some investigations.  

I'm hoping for a triple threat with Hangman, Okada and Takeshita.  I like the tension with Okada and Takeshita of veteran Japanese ace and hungry rising Ace in waiting, great promo from Okada on Wednesday and it feels like it's time to turn Takeshita because people don't really want to boo him anyway.  KF and Okada are great heels and that stable is getting too bloated as well.  Meltzer seems to think it will be KF getting the match which I'm not a huge fan of at this point in time.

I think it's entirely possible that the money is in the chase with Hangman, but I also think it's way too early to make that call.  He had two excellent builds to his world title wins and it can be hard to follow that up for any booker.  I write off the first run entirely as I felt it was sabotaged by bad booking pretty much from the start.  Cole was not a good choice as his first challenger and they spent like 2-3 months with that.  And not to beat a dead horse but he shouldn't have lost to Punk, and if was going to he needed to get a win over him first.  So yeah, from beginning to end his title run sucked and it wasn't really his fault.  And since winning the title they've basically been doing residencies so it's hard to gauge.....but I do have to say his reactions haven't been blowing me away compared to where they were in the chase.  I'm a big fan of Hanger though, and I think he deserves a lot of rope with this title reign.  It'll probably be MJF who beats him, but I'm hoping they hold off until next year.....or maybe Winter Is Coming to bring some prestige back to that event

Edited September 6 by ExcellenceofAirPollution

[The Green Meanie]

1 hour ago, Craig H said:

Marina is so fucking bad. She's pretty fortunate to have been in the Mr. Hughes/911 role in the Death Riders. If she could work at all then doing her vs Willow is a no brainer, or even Marina vs Statlander, but they're staying away from that with a 10 foot pole. It feels like there is zero confidence Marina could put on a decent match with anyone. The only way it probably works if she just gets her ass beat for about 5 minutes and then gets pinned. 

You don't know her!

Edited September 6 by The Green Meanie

[ExcellenceofAirPollution]

Wow, I'd totally forgotten Vickie Guerrero was in AEW.....

[stuntmanc]

7 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

You don't know her!

The edit of this promo with the Twin Peaks music over it is still amazing though.

[Death From Above]

 Looks like MJF got married, no word on whether Tony Schiavone objected on the grounds that MJF is "a giant asshole" 

[just drew]

I think it's wayyy too soon to make any sort of declarative statement on the quality of Hangman's title reign based a couple of bad numbers. Kenny and the Bucks hemorrhaged viewers when they were on top, and I was assured that it wasn't a big deal.

I think Okada "accidentally" costs Takeshita the match with Briscoe. Build the tension. 

I think it's too soon to run back Bayne vs. Toni. Bayne needs to go on a tear for another few months. I'd bring in a guest or have a Casino Gauntlet where the winner faces Storm. 

 

[Niners Fan in CT]

This is almost always AEW's weakest part of the year.  The buildup and resolution to all the major feuds headed to 'ALL IN' and then football season around the corner always makes for a month or two of what feels like directionless booking for some of the talent and then you have a lot of major players out with injuries. 

[The Green Meanie]

[NikoBaltimore]

12 hours ago, ExcellenceofAirPollution said:

Lots to cover here

How far out did they move the All In start time?  A month?  I think it's probably the right move, and personally I love it because afternoon PPVs are my jam.  Sucks for the people who won't be able to go, but hopefully it's not too many and they understand why it happened.  Toronto is a pretty big travel hub, I could actually see this show having a decent number of fly-ins.  I don't see it as "backing down" more like WWE cornered them and they made the smart play.  It may embolden WWE to fuck with them more, but who are we kidding they were going to do that anyway.  I mentioned before that I've never been as tribal of a wrestling fan as I am now with AEW vs. WWE, with politics being part of it because you can't ignore it when Hunter is directly involving himself not to mention Dana White.  TKO is "too big to fail" but I'm rooting hard for them to crash and burn and if we ever restore sanity in this country it'll be time for some investigations.  

I'm hoping for a triple threat with Hangman, Okada and Takeshita.  I like the tension with Okada and Takeshita of veteran Japanese ace and hungry rising Ace in waiting, great promo from Okada on Wednesday and it feels like it's time to turn Takeshita because people don't really want to boo him anyway.  KF and Okada are great heels and that stable is getting too bloated as well.  Meltzer seems to think it will be KF getting the match which I'm not a huge fan of at this point in time.

I think it's entirely possible that the money is in the chase with Hangman, but I also think it's way too early to make that call.  He had two excellent builds to his world title wins and it can be hard to follow that up for any booker.  I write off the first run entirely as I felt it was sabotaged by bad booking pretty much from the start.  Cole was not a good choice as his first challenger and they spent like 2-3 months with that.  And not to beat a dead horse but he shouldn't have lost to Punk, and if was going to he needed to get a win over him first.  So yeah, from beginning to end his title run sucked and it wasn't really his fault.  And since winning the title they've basically been doing residencies so it's hard to gauge.....but I do have to say his reactions haven't been blowing me away compared to where they were in the chase.  I'm a big fan of Hanger though, and I think he deserves a lot of rope with this title reign.  It'll probably be MJF who beats him, but I'm hoping they hold off until next year.....or maybe Winter Is Coming to bring some prestige back to that event

I'm a tiny bit salty at the moment from catching up on the news but people should never have to back down or concede when fucked up people are trying to go after them. I'm sure AEW will try to have a reason but I'd rather they do shows when they usually do them and fuck the others. It's kinda like a "Which side are you on?" situation and if people choose wrong it's on them to wise up. 

Also, @Craig H Marina has had some matches in ROH and has gotten a bit better. If they can get her in longer matches on there she might have something worth bringing to a title match one day. 

[The Natural]

14 minutes ago, The Green Meanie said:

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/bryan-danielson-joining-aew-commentary-team-full-time/

Bryan Danielson, the GOAT.

[NikoBaltimore]

I like the move as it frees up Schiavone for Collision plus his enthusiasm for everything is infectious. I don't want to invoke a beloved name unless I feel there's something to it so I hope this lands. But given his obsession for all wrestling types and his enthusiasm Danielson is essentially the Dean of AEW.

Edited September 6 by NikoBaltimore

[HarryArchieGus]

2 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

1 hour ago, NikoBaltimore said:

Danielson is essentially the Dean of AEW.

I totally hear that. This is great news! 

[Death From Above]

Schiavone has been pretty open that his voice just can't take the pounding it used to, but luckily AEW has 42 commentators. I still say they could get Eddie Kingston in there if they can just get him to promise not to say "fuck" too much.

[Technico Support]

On 9/4/2025 at 11:19 PM, Craig H said:

I wanted to throw something. Dave is becoming more and more unlistenable. I've made plenty of excuses for Dave in the past, but at this point, I might just cancel my subscription. The longer version of this on the show is even more frustrating. Of note:

- Dave now insists the number of hardcore fans that buy every AEW PPV is 15,000 people.
- Bryan actually doesn't know how Dave comes up with the numbers he comes up with, but Dave says he has a system and it's accurate and apparently it's so secret even Bryan doesn't know.
- Later on when talking about WWE PPV numbers, Dave goes on a tangent about how WWE and Peacock lie about viewership numbers. When asked by Bryan why even report or talking about the numbers if they're just making them up, Dave tells Bryan that what he reports are the correct numbers because he gets them from the hour by hour numbers that WWE and Peacock report. Bryan goes back to the words that just came out of Dave's mouth that they make the numbers up so why would the hourly numbers not be made up and Dave's response is basically, "because, uh uh uh, they, you know, they just, uh, they can't, you uh, you know, you can't make up hourly numbers." And the whole thing is essentially a dissection of Dave's horseshit reporting on numbers or what drives them and it's being done by his friend Bryan. 

Bryan also sounded like he really has had it with Dave interrupting him all the time and he sounds even more frustrated that Dave is just making shit up. I think their common connection will be the stuff they enjoy outside of wrestling and that they've been friends for as long as they have been and they both clearly enjoy watching wrestling. I don't think WOR will end or anything, it just sounds like one friend is kind of annoyed with another, but not enough to not be friends anymore.

My god, Bryan just throwing up his hands and saying IF THE NUMBERS ARE FAKE WHY ARE WE EVEN REPORTING RATINGS ANYMORE was amazing.  Dave is on the spectrum, which is fine, but sometimes it’s just too fucking much.  
 

I seriously look at the timestamps just to skip past ratings talk because, FUUUUUUCK, it’s not 1998.  Who cares?

[Technico Support]

Also, Marina hates bras as much as an 80s horror casting director.  She’s okay with me.

ps I’ve been drinking, ymmv

Edited September 6 by Technico Support

[Niners Fan in CT]

Not defending Dave at all but they kind of have to report the numbers even if none of the numbers make any sense.  The online nerds love to discuss the numbers to death mostly over tribalist bullshit and the Twitter handles and websites that talk numbers get a lot of engagement from all of it.  Social media has ruined wrestling discourse on 99% of sites, forums, anywhere.  Consider yourselves lucky that we don't get bogged down in all of that on here.  We talk about it a little bit but it's usually with nuance and without hyperbole. 

You have guys like Brandon Thurston who considers himself a numbers geek more or less and he doesn't have a clue how many viewers 'Dynamite' gets on HBO or what any of the Netflix numbers for 'RAW' really mean.   But does that stop him from going all in with the reporting on them?  Of course not. They feed off negative energy. 

[Casey]

AEW just posted a picture of a Segunda Caida and ACTION Wrestling shirt they’re selling at the show tonight with a Danielson quote on the back.

I know you’re reading this, AEW. TK, Chris Hero, whoever. SELL IT ONLINE. 

[NikoBaltimore]

20 minutes ago, Casey said:

AEW just posted a picture of a Segunda Caida and ACTION Wrestling shirt they’re selling at the show tonight with a Danielson quote on the back.

I know you’re reading this, AEW. TK, Chris Hero, whoever. SELL IT ONLINE. 

I can try and get one if you want it.

EDIT: Target acquired. 

Edited September 6 by NikoBaltimore

[ErinQuinn]

31 minutes ago, Casey said:

AEW just posted a picture of a Segunda Caida and ACTION Wrestling shirt they’re selling at the show tonight with a Danielson quote on the back.

I know you’re reading this, AEW. TK, Chris Hero, whoever. SELL IT ONLINE. 

I just saw these and would like to second this suggestion. Need Ken the Box "Express Anger Through Dance" shirt for all future wrestling live events

Edited September 6 by ErinQuinn

[Casey]

@NikoBaltimore is a goddamn treasure, I just want to say that publicly and express thanks.

[Technico Support]

Yeah dude, Nick is a credit to my hometown, fuck anybody who calls it a shithole.

[tbarrie]

On 9/4/2025 at 9:34 PM, tbarrie said:

Whom Hangman faces at All Out is an interesting question. Unless I'm forgetting somebody, the only Callis family members who are plausible PPV world title challengers are Okada, Fletcher, and Takeshita. But something seems off about Takeshita challenging for two different world titles within a month (or so) of each other. And Mark Briscoe has been trying to earn a title shot at Fletcher, and I have to assume he'll eventually do so (though I doubt he's beating Takeshita on Saturday); presumably that match will then happen at All Out.

So I guess that leaves Okada? Sure, let's put Okada down as my guess.

Okay, props to the AEW booker(s) - they found a narratively satisfying solution that I hadn't thought of. Well done.

[Casey]

You’re welcome

[The Natural]

5 hours ago, Casey said:

AEW just posted a picture of a Segunda Caida and ACTION Wrestling shirt they’re selling at the show tonight with a Danielson quote on the back.

I know you’re reading this, AEW. TK, Chris Hero, whoever. SELL IT ONLINE. 

 

5 hours ago, NikoBaltimore said:

I can try and get one if you want it.

EDIT: Target acquired. 

 

4 hours ago, Casey said:

@NikoBaltimore is a goddamn treasure, I just want to say that publicly and express thanks.

 

4 hours ago, Technico Support said:

Yeah dude, Nick is a credit to my hometown, fuck anybody who calls it a shithole.

This. NikoBaltimore is the absolute best. A real one. Love you, mate.

Edited September 7 by The Natural

[username]

On 9/5/2025 at 11:19 PM, Craig H said:

I think the problem with Toni is that she is too over. I think anyone that goes over her that isn't Mone or Statlander or Willow or, well, WINDSAAAAH (as she seems to be getting more and more over) is going to be a disappointment. Honorable mention to Harley because she still rules. They have just given no character for Bayne and she hasn't really helped herself much either. 

I think the issue is that Willow and Stat have been stuck in a holding pattern for months now, it feels like either should be ready to challenge Toni with the division not missing a beat but there's no real easy way to get there. My gut feel is this is one of those times TK has an idea for someone(s) but it keeps getting delayed for reasons and he's too stubborn to move off it. My go-to is the several months Jade Cargill was stuck in neutral waiting for Stat to come back, I personally think they are waiting for people to heal up before bringing in the women's tag belts and those two ladies have been left waiting for everything to line up.