AEW TV - 11/5 - 11/11/2025 - Fighting The Battle of Who Could Caster Less

[tbarrie]

59 minutes ago, Log said:

There's a part of me that respects what these girls did. I think, in general, wrestlers need to be more protective of their image. It's an opportunity, but not all opportunities are equal. If they really did pull that off without burning the bridge, it may work out for them in the long run. It may totally bite them in the asses and tank their prospects with AEW, too, but I respect the choice.

I agree to some extent. I certainly support workers' right to walk away from a job opportunity that doesn't suit them.

But I don't think it's true that getting squashed in three minutes would hurt their image. That's kayfabe thinking, and it's 2025. Just because one creative team had them get quickly squashed, that's not going to reflect badly on their ability as performers. Nor will anybody (except maybe a small lunatic fringe) conclude that because they were written as jobbers they can't effectively portray a top act at some later date. Look at Willow Nightingale - unless I'm misremembering, she started her AEW career as an unsigned squash victim. But she currently would be completely credible trying to regain the TBS title or even wrestling for the world title. Nobody cares about her squashtastic past, if they even remember it.

And I just saw Matt D's post, and come to think of it, he's right. Getting quickly squashed probably would have raised their stock more than walking away did.

[Zimbra]

I actually think they do understand the market and this was them auditioning for their next job doing weird online right-wing outrage shit.

[mystman]

28 minutes ago, tbarrie said:

I agree to some extent. I certainly support workers' right to walk away from a job opportunity that doesn't suit them.

But I don't think it's true that getting squashed in three minutes would hurt their image. That's kayfabe thinking, and it's 2025. Just because one creative team had them get quickly squashed, that's not going to reflect badly on their ability as performers. Nor will anybody (except maybe a small lunatic fringe) conclude that because they were written as jobbers they can't effectively portray a top act at some later date. Look at Willow Nightingale - unless I'm misremembering, she started her AEW career as an unsigned squash victim. But she currently would be completely credible trying to regain the TBS title or even wrestling for the world title. Nobody cares about her squashtastic past, if they even remember it.

And I just saw Matt D's post, and come to think of it, he's right. Getting quickly squashed probably would have raised their stock more than walking away did.

Nixon has stated that this is the last year of her career. Maybe she's not looking at the long game here.

[mystman]

1 hour ago, Zimbra said:

I actually think they do understand the market and this was them auditioning for their next job doing weird online right-wing outrage shit.

What does not wanting to job to Anna Jay in two minutes have to do with politics?

[HarryArchieGus]

2 hours ago, AxB said:

...this is overshadowing what was a pretty good Collision TV show.

Yeah, that was a fun show. A small part of that enjoyment was seeing Anna Jay and Tay Melo look like a killing machine. Great lead in match to the tournament for them. Mox-Roddy was rocking throughout. A nice sequel to the London match. Not into kayfabing on Roddy/Marina. A feud between the two is potentially the best possible story for both of them. Roddy shows a lot of fun character in these matches with Mox. The shenanigans to close with Darby etc. was also a fun lead in to BNG. I may regret this statement one day, but for now - AEW has made countouts a fun option. 

[Log]

1 hour ago, tbarrie said:

I agree to some extent. I certainly support workers' right to walk away from a job opportunity that doesn't suit them.

But I don't think it's true that getting squashed in three minutes would hurt their image. That's kayfabe thinking, and it's 2025. Just because one creative team had them get quickly squashed, that's not going to reflect badly on their ability as performers. Nor will anybody (except maybe a small lunatic fringe) conclude that because they were written as jobbers they can't effectively portray a top act at some later date. Look at Willow Nightingale - unless I'm misremembering, she started her AEW career as an unsigned squash victim. But she currently would be completely credible trying to regain the TBS title or even wrestling for the world title. Nobody cares about her squashtastic past, if they even remember it.

And I just saw Matt D's post, and come to think of it, he's right. Getting quickly squashed probably would have raised their stock more than walking away did.

Yeah, the bolded part is where I only partially agreed with them. I'm not sure it matters these days. I can see the thinking that being a "jobber" on tv might hurt indie bookings or something, but that doesn't seem to happen these days. I was at an AEW taping where Kevin Ku got squashed pretty good, and I think he's doing ok. My guess is that they see themselves as already being somewhat established names, so they may feel their past that. Again, respect that. But, not sure it was the best move. 

 

[Zimbra]

25 minutes ago, mystman said:

What does not wanting to job to Anna Jay in two minutes have to do with politics?

Their social media is 90% chud shit already, the market for mid-tier indie wrestlers is weak, the market for mid-tier attractive ladies who will say weird transphobic shit is strong, being in conflict with AEW is a great attention-getter for a certain kind of internet mouth-breather.  

I'm guessing their podcast gets announced before the week is out.

[tbarrie]

1 hour ago, mystman said:

Nixon has stated that this is the last year of her career. Maybe she's not looking at the long game here.

That's useful info, but my point about Willow Nightingale wasn't that you can overcome "jobber stink" with time. It's that I'm not convinced there's even such a thing as "jobber stink" in 2025. I doubt getting squashed on Collision would have hurt the two even in the short term. For the one who didn't have a WWE run, I would think would being on international TV would only raise her profile.

[HarryArchieGus]

I loved the 'Iceman' Dean Malenko nerration on the BNG video. Unfortunately the clips were, as per usual, like a kaleidoscope. The feverish pace of the recap videos are the most Cocaine thing about AEW. I would have to think these videos are for new viewers or those who have missed some shows, how effective is 'fast and furious'? I sense Tony paid too close attention to ECW commercial tapes and not enough the ECW TV shows. That's where the real magic happened. 

[JLowe]

6 hours ago, Matt D said:

The absolutely crazy thing is that if they had done the match, people on the internet would have been up in arms about it only being 3 minutes long, how much TK hates women's wrestling, etc. and so on, and they would have been far better off with far more wind in their sails despite deep disdain for Alize's instagram posts or whatever. Instead the entire fanbase has turned on them. 

It's not about being protective of their image so much as it's about not understanding the market and the fanbase and how to manipulate public opinion. 

Based on her Instagram posts, it’s pretty clear that Alize knows how to manipulate public opinion, only from the perspective of the sucker being manipulated.

Also, they would have been in the 3rd women’s match on that Collision, so any argument about 3 minute long and TK hates women’s matches would’ve been easily countered by that.

[Ramo2653]

5 hours ago, Zimbra said:

I actually think they do understand the market and this was them auditioning for their next job doing weird online right-wing outrage shit.

LOL. I wonder what the market would be for lesbians with multi colored hair spouting transphobic stuff would be.

3 hours ago, tbarrie said:

That's useful info, but my point about Willow Nightingale wasn't that you can overcome "jobber stink" with time. It's that I'm not convinced there's even such a thing as "jobber stink" in 2025. I doubt getting squashed on Collision would have hurt the two even in the short term. For the one who didn't have a WWE run, I would think would being on international TV would only raise her profile.

Watching the match, I could see why they refused because Hyan and the other lady didn't get much in. That's the perfect spot for local talent. Having the match set up via backstage segment a few weeks ago and then turning into a squash would have been an odd booking choice, but I assume other things happened with laying out the show so they only got 3 minutes.

Of course Nixon has some name recognition, but I haven't heard of Miranda before (and I'm not exactly up to date with all the indy workers) so that probably would have been a good spot for her to get some TV time. But that's probably done. And the comments about no hard feelings or bad blood makes sense because it seems like AEW operates a little less insanely than what we've heard about WWE. Like of course they're not going to blow up on you backstage, they'll be polite and send you on your way and then you'll never get a call back like most jobs.

[Matt D]

15 minutes ago, JLowe said:

Also, they would have been in the 3rd women’s match on that Collision, so any argument about 3 minute long and TK hates women’s matches would’ve been easily countered by that.

Have you seen the internet, my man?

[SovietShooter]

9 minutes ago, Ramo2653 said:

I could see why they refused because Hyan and the other lady didn't get much in. That's the perfect spot for local talent.

Here's the thing though - that shit was a TEST.  And these ladies failed.  

You know who was tested the same way?  Mace & Mansour. They ate shit a few times, but then got some competitive matches. Now they're a featured act in ROH, and getting prelim matches, angles, and promo time on the main shows. 

 

They passed the test. 

[Ramo2653]

I wondered about that and if that's something AEW does or not. I remember Scott Hall talking about that in a shoot he did with Austin on his podcast. He was brought in to WWE for a taping and they jobbed him out a few times and he knew it was a test to see if he'd throw a fit or not. He did the jobs and got a contract.

If Nixon is serious about not working after next year, then I could see why she wouldn't bother with it. If she's trying to use her rep to get Miranda a leg up before she retires, it really doesn't make sense to walk out. Also if she's a vet, it can't be the first time she's seen something like that.

[SovietShooter]

5 minutes ago, Ramo2653 said:

I wondered about that and if that's something AEW does or not.

I would think that, at the very least, Coach TK learned from the Miro/Andrade/Black situations (and from other dunbasses such as the Tate Twins), that you have to get the lay of the land before signing anyone.  And I would think especially if it is someone that hasn't really done much outside the WWE/NXT/PC environment. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

Maya World is kinda newer to pro wrestling, but Hyan is way overqualified to be enhancement talent having seen some of her work. She may be the best worker in the match and most matches where she is asked to do a job. That said, it may be easier for her cause I believe she has done enhancement work for AEW and/or ROH before anytime they've rolled through Texas. I wouldn't be shocked if she got a contract with any of the top companies sooner rather than later.

 

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

1 hour ago, Ramo2653 said:

LOL. I wonder what the market would be for lesbians with multi colored hair spouting transphobic stuff would be.

Quite large as long as you swear allegiance to JK Rowling. Just imagine me saying that with the deepest of sighs.

[The Natural]

1 hour ago, Stefanie Sparkleface said:

Quite large as long as you swear allegiance to JK Rowling. Just imagine me saying that with the deepest of sighs.

I feel for you. It must be tiring. We have your back here on the DVDVR MB. Virtual hugs.

Edited November 11, 2025 by The Natural

[The Green Meanie]

AEW Collision Road Report:

Re: Signs
We had the same seats as Dynamite. Crowd was not entirely the same folks as before, I'd say about 50% were new fans. Wife ended up going with "I'm only here for Schiavone" on one side and "Don Callis puts beans in his chili" on the other. Her initial idea for the sign was going to be "I'm only here for Daddy Schiavone", but considering the recent controversy regarding Hangman's signs, we decided to change it. Ironically enough, security had more issues with the chili side, it was checked 5 times, but they always laughed when reading it. She got a TON of reactions from female fans in the audience that absolutely loved the sign (I joked with her, "Look, other women with daddy issues!")

ROH taped three matches before Collision started:
 

Spoiler

Lance Archer defeated Aaron Solo
Archer, a native Texan, got a bit of a cheer from the crowd. He's about as big as I thought he'd be.

Six-Man Tag Team match – The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, John Silver, & Evil Uno) defeated three enhancement talents
Dark Order was over with the crowd. Didn't know they've now gone with purple with green trim on their color scheme, it looked good. One fan yelled "I want to join The Dark Order!" at Reynolds, who looked at him and said "Okay, you're in!" The Brad Maddox-looking security guard from Collision was in this match and took the loss (he ended up working THREE times this night.)

The Von Erichs (Ross & Marshall Von Erich) defeated Warren J & Zack Zilla
Warren & Zack are local wrestlers with Booker's ROW promotion. Crowd seemed to like them more then The Von Erichs, honestly. (It's a Houston vs. Dallas thing.) Match was alright, but kinda short.

Announcers Nigel McGuiness and Tony Schiavone walked out to the announce desk. Tony was in our line of sight, so I had my wife stand up with her sign and wave it at him. Tony saw it, smiled, and blew her a kiss. She was SOOOO happy! "Best night of my life!" she beamed. I was really happy she got that moment and that Tony got to see it.

Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn and Juice Robinson) def. FTR (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler)
Saw it mentioned elsewhere, but yes, crowd was super PUMPED for Juice. Not sure why exactly, but it was exciting and made the match better. Austin was super sparkly in person (more then it showed on TV) but watching the match on TNT showed he had a lot more backne then we saw in person. FTR were booed like crazy, as usual. I didn't see when they snuck in, but huge pop for Bandito and Gravity for their reveal, and also for seeing Jet Speed. We were all legit surprised that Bang Bang Gang won.

“The Protostar” Kyle Fletcher (c) def. Ace Austin 
Possibly the match of the night. Not much to add to this one, it was great on TV but better in person.

Video package about Megan, a segment with Stat, and Death Riders/DCF were for the most part routine and uneventful, except for the lingering part with Claudio and Fletcher.

TayJay (Tay Melo and Anna Jay) def. Maya World & Hyan
I was confused as to why they brought out the tag team belts for this match as it's not in the tournament. Maya and Hyan are local wrestlers for Booker's promotion. The crowd knew both by name and were constantly chanting "Maya! Maya!", they were cheered more then TayJay. Wife mentioned "I only wanted Tay's doofy husband to come out so I could boo him." (The last time they were in Houston, we had that doomed incident of Sammy proposing to Pam. 'Nuff said.) At the time, we knew nothing of the controversy regarding this match, for all intents and purposes it was just a regular squash match.

Jamie Hayter def. Skye Blue
Crowd wasn't really into this match that much. Seemed like more people were rooting for Skye. I was slightly distracted by the guys in the row in front of me taking videos of Arkady's and Jamie's butts during the match. My wife said of the main culprit, "Who served that 12 year old a beer?" Crowd did pick up with the others ran in.

Thekla def. Harley Cameron to Win the Advantage for Her Team
This segment was VERY different for the television version. So the TNT version shows them entering the ring (with the local talent I mentioned before, the Brad Maddox-looking security guard making his second of three appearances, the other guards also being Booker's wrestlers) and then when they came back from commercial, the match starting. What actually happened, was them being held back, then charging and fighting, then being pulled apart about three times. Harley gets on the mic and mentions she's Australian and going to squash the spider.

JetSpeed Makes an Announcement for Full Gear
Of Speedball, I said "He's so Canadian!" and several folks in the audience laughed and agreed.

Roderick Strong def. Jon Moxley via Countout to Win the Advantage For His Team
This match....was really something. We didn't get to see a lot of the outside stuff (due to angles, either being on sides we didn't have any view of, or being blocked by the announcer's desk on our side) but we saw was great. At one point, the crowd started chanting "We want tables!" and I countered with "Why?" "It's not a tables match!" Weird that they later did pull one out. I still don't know where Pac came from (AGAIN, as he did on Dynamite). TV cameras definitely sweeten the sound of someone going through a table, as it wasn't as crisp sounding in person. From our seats, we couldn't figure out what happened to Moxley, as suddenly he was standing up, something happened, then he went down. Then all of a sudden I heard the trademark crackle of a tazer (EVERYONE in the arena heard it, that's how loud it legit was) and all of a sudden we saw Darby appear. Previously mentioned pervert was super annoying during this match, he kept calling him Ambrose and calling for Dirty Deeds. The part at the end with Darby and Roderick celebrating in the crowd was cut down severely. It was pretty amusing seeing Darby trying to figure out how to get to the second level (where the booths were) and one point he was shoving fans out of the way as they started to realize where he was going. One lady that was standing closest to him looked like she was about to have heart palpitations at the very least, the vapors. Death Riders stood in the ring while Darby, Roddy, and Kyle were in the audience. Ref Stephon Smith was on the floor level, all the way at the back, with security watching the later three. I saw him and yelled "Yay Stephon!" and he gave me a thumbs up!

After Collision went off the air, Tony Khan came out and mentioned that we were a great crowd (again) asked some of the same questions he did on Wednesday, and brought Bobby Cruise. He mentioned it was his 21st year of working with ROH. He also said he'd be back after the ROH matches to talk with us some more.

Second round of ROH matches:
 

Spoiler

Six-Man Tag Team match – Jay Lethal, Adam Priest, & “The Dynamite Kid” Tommy Billington defeated The Frat House (Cole Karter, Griff Garrison. & Jacked Jameson)

Biggest reaction was for Lethal. Crowd didn't seem to know who anyone else was, except for one fan that yelled "Who the fuck is Griff Garrision?" I had to reply with "He's the Ivy League MVP!" Good overall match here.

The Swirl (Lee Johnson & Blake Christian) defeated Will Allday & unnamed enhancement talent
This was Brad Maddox-security guard's THIRD appearance of the night. Not complaining, but I think he might be a rookie getting his work in. Will Allday is a well-known Houston wrestler that has appeared on AEW before. Crowd chanted a TON for Will. Pretty good match overall.

Athena & Billie Starkz defeated Hyan & Maya World
Myself, and the whole audience went ".....they're pulling double duty?" Not that we were upset, just...confused? At this point we still didn't know what happened exactly. Crowd again, was super pro-Hyan and Maya, who got louder, longer chants in this match. Athena and Billie also gave them a lot more, and this match was definitely better then their first.

Six-Person Mixed Tag Team match – The Premiere Athletes (Ariya Daivari, Tony Nese, & Stori Denali) defeated three enhancement talents
This was the first time I had ever seen Stori wrestle, television or otherwise. That was a big lady! Is Josh Woods not with them anymore?

Six-Man Tag Team match – Dalton Castle & The Outrunners (Truth Magnum & Turbo Floyd) defeated Warren J, Zack Zilla, and an unnamed enhancement talent
Highlight of my night! I was soooo excited to see Dalton & The Outrunners, and it appeared it livened up the crowd as well. Dalton only had two boys with him that night. Warren & Zack making their second appearances of the night as well.

We were bummed there wasn't a MxM Open Casting Challenge during Collision, but instead we got...
Eight-Person Mixed Tag Team match – SkyFlight (Top Flight (Darius & Dante Martin), Scorpio Sky, & Leila Grey) defeated MxM Collection (Johnny TV, Mason Madden, Mansoor, & Taya Valkyrie)
Crowd was very much pro-MxM Collection in this one. There was a funny spot when all eight were brawling in the ring, and Leila and Taya brawled outside on the floor, the other six just stood in the ring watching (their backs were turned to us, so I'm assuming they're going to make it look like they all watched a catfight) STP & The Infantry were ushered into the front row behind and to the left of the announce desk, and were constantly harassing SkyFlight. At one point we got worried that Darius got injured again.

ROH Pure Championship Proving Ground match – Lee Moriarty (c) defeated Willie Mack
During the previous match crowd kept asking where Lee was. Immediately following the previous match, Lee came out and this one started. Willie came out wearing a purple and gold outfit very reminiscent of Men On A Mission. Both wrestlers were super over but crowd seemed to like Willie more and more as the match went on. My wife had never seen Willie before: "That's a big motherfucker." (thanks Rick Ross)

Don Callis Family (Hechicero & Rocky Romero) defeated The Spanish Announce Project (Angelico & Serpentico)
NEW HIGHLIGHT OF MY NIGHT. Minus Rocky, I absoltely love everyone in this match. I was wearing my CHAOS PROJECT t-shirt and was hoping that Serpentico would see it, but he never did (I think). Hechicero WAS SUPER OVER. There were several signs for him in the audience. Angelico is a tall, lanky, handsome dude. It was a great match overall, Hechicero and both SAP members had a lot of memorable exchanges and many times my wife said "What was that?!" at moves that Hechicero did.

At the end of the match, all four wrestlers stayed in the ring, while Tony Khan came back out. Tony again mentioned what a great crowd we were for both Collision and ROH. He mentioned that all taping had stopped, and wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit. He mentioned that Rocky is vice president, and wanted to get his opinion if Houston should get more shows and/or PPV. Rocky said he'd ask the living legend, Hechicero. Hechicero gave a very impassioned speech in Spanish, which I had to translate for my wife. He mentioned how he's wrestled in many different places, but that this was one of the best crowds he's even seen and loved our passion, and would be glad to return here in the future. He also said a few cuss words that I wasn't 100% on what exactly he said, but they did get great laughs from the audience. In the end, Tony agreed, and said "sooner then later, I promise you I will bring a PPV to this great city of Houston. And let's remain friends, I know we're playing the Texans' tomorrow, so remember we're wrestling friends!" and the show ended. Tony shook hands with all four wrestlers before leaving.

Overall I think I liked the second night better, while you had very clearly defined stops in action during commercials, and there was more downtime, the addition of ROH matches put it over the top. From what I've read it appeared that we were a good crowd TV wise. I kinda groaned that some folks couldn't come up with things more clever to say other then "kick their ass!" How did it look to the rest of you?

Edited November 11, 2025 by The Green Meanie

[username]

The one thing I do wonder is... the match vs TayJay was set up with a backstage promo a couple weeks ago, right? I am kinda curious how the match was "pitched" to them at the time as it does seem like an odd thing to do for a 3 minute glorified squash, wrestling history is full of stories about talent being told their role is one thing and quickly finding out that it is something else entirely. Generally those stories don't end with the person walking out but even years later they are often grumbly about it so I can get how they'd feel a bit put out by it. 

[Shartnado]

Ace vs Fletcher was even more fantastic than I expected!

Yay for Harley Cameron getting a shot at Athena, but that was a pretty convincing win by Thekla.

Roddy held up under pressure and Darby seems to have some cunning plans that don't always just involve falling onto people from great heights! If Death Riders lose Blood and Guts, they may be done. I do worry that they will take out Kyle's knee before the match, though.

Shouldn't TayJay be pretty concerned if their first round opponents squashed the team who called TayJay out so badly, that they had to face some other team as a warm-up instead?

[Curt McGirt]

Like I said, that crowd was super hot, and if they want a PPV they deserve it. 

Rocky Romero is VP? That's... interesting? Unexpected is more like it. 

[Ace]

Rocky's the liaison between AEW, CMLL, and NJPW.

[HarryArchieGus]

FTR-Gunn/Robinson was so good. Despite the lame 'challengers should never lose argument', it feels like FTR are strong enough to withstand being overtly cheated out of a match. I'm glad Meltzer was able to walk Alvarez off the ledge with that one. Imagine wanting Wrestling to always follow some basic handbook? This match/upset loss nicely builds multiple opponents for if they win (or lose) the title match. It also made perfect storyline sense after the nice little Bandido family segment on Dynamite. FTR continue to have one of the best (segment for segment, match for match) runs of 2025.  

[HarryArchieGus]

9 hours ago, The Green Meanie said:

Thekla def. Harley Cameron to Win the Advantage for Her Team
This segment was VERY different for the television version. So the TNT version shows them entering the ring (with the local talent I mentioned before, the Brad Maddox-looking security guard making his second of three appearances, the other guards also being Booker's wrestlers) and then when they came back from commercial, the match starting. What actually happened, was them being held back, then charging and fighting, then being pulled apart about three times. Harley gets on the mic and mentions she's Australian and going to squash the spider.

JetSpeed Makes an Announcement for Full Gear
Of Speedball, I said "He's so Canadian!" and several folks in the audience laughed and agreed.

Ha, it's always interesting to see somebody sum up a rather large group of ppl by a barefoot wrestler with an eye-catching mullet. That said, there is something about Speedball's promo style that absolutely does scream CANCON.

I wondered what happened coming in from the break with Thekla-Harley. They should rinse-repeat that use of a commercial break every week. That was such a fun way to start. I'm with the challenging of Harley losing after scoring the big win on Wednesday. I'd have gone Harley over Skye and Thekla over Hayter with shenanigans. That said, I love that they've been protecting Hayter. She's been sensational since returning - consistently carrying lesser workers to fun matches. I'm hoping it ends with gold.    

Edited November 11, 2025 by HarryArchieGus