AEW TV - 4/29 - 5/5/2026 - You're The Iinspiration

[Dolfan in NYC]

 You know our love was meant to be. The kind of love that lasts forever... And I want you here with me. From tonight until the end of time...

Last week!  HEY GIMME MY TITLE BAC... oooh look at the bird! 

(Well, I guess this is where you have Bailey betray him or help him retain... and turn on him after to take his own shot.)

 You should know, everywhere I go... You're always on my mind, in my heart... In my soul... baby.

Meanwhile, (that motherfucker) Tomasso Ciampa made the new champ look like $10 Trillion last week.  

 

(I thought for half a second, they wouldn't have Allin hang onto the rope to make TC tap would they? )

 You're the meaning in my life. You're the inspiration. You bring feeling to my life. You're the inspiration. 

STACKED~ doesn't begin to describe this week's Dynamite...

 

Coincidentally, that filter should accurately show what King and Allin will look like at the end of their match.

 

 

(One of my all time favorite commercials...  "But the ladies love Cetera. Therefore..."   "...I love Peter Cetera?")

Enjoy the week!

[Casey]

I love you Tony Khan but 7 matches is fucking insane - even if at least two (if not four) will basically just be squash matches. God bless you sir, I know you're lurking.

Please don't let MJF win the TNT title, for the love of God.

[The Natural]

Looking forward to Darby Allin vs. Brody King the most then Kevin Knight vs. MJF.

[JLowe]

As far as 80s soft rock/pop era Chicago goes, this is one of their better songs. Faint praise, but…

Hell of a card, so much top level talent right now.

[Cobra Commander]

Things I Remember From This Week's Edition of AEW Dynamite:

MJF loses because he gets punched in the balls. Darby was just hanging out in the rafters before doing a Sting intro. MJF still wants Darby.

Taz is belligerent on commentary and maybe was a little too confident in MJF to the point of telegraphing that MJF wouldn't win

Okada retains his title

Christian accepts an I Quit match with FTR

Birds squash

Cage/Cope essentially a squash. Then the C&C Canadian Factory tries to make someone say I Quit with a bar in their mouth

The Death Riders are grooming Wil Ospreay... wait that sounds bad

The Opps also want to train Wil Ospreay for some reason and the Opps found other members too

I remember nothing from the Divine Dominion match aside from a group of ringside fans having a huge sign

Rush beats Strong Steve

Andrade and MJF have words

Next week is three hours from North Charleston

Darby takes a beating. The "Fuck ICE" roll call eventually happens (good move to not accidentally do it during the break). Darby gets thrown into a camera man. That was a cool camera angle on the somersault into the barricade. Even if it would have been a shitty camera angle if Brody had actually hit that move.

Our hero kills our other hero to get the win.

Kevin Knight vs Darby next week. (Kevin Knight is working Hook in-between tonight and next week)

Wait, the Office is the post-AEW programming now? I never watched the Office when it was on NBC

Edited April 30 by Cobra Commander

[caley]

That last match kinda veered into snuff film territory. I honestly couldn't fathom how Darby could believable beat Brody, save for a flash pin. Was not expecting a powerbomb/coffin drop on the concrete. That was nuts.

The Will Ospreay "Well they did try to cripple me" but...aligning with the Death Riders is still weird to me.

Anthony Bowens with the Ops is off to a good start because he stopped smiling all the time. I think if he tries to look and act meaner, it will improve his presentation 60-80%!

Is The Demand beating up Jericho going to lead to a reformation of The Learning Tree. Or is Jericho going to keep getting beat up every week like his form of penance to win back the fans?!

[hammerva]

On the dark matches last night,  I got to see one of Sting's son Steve Borden wrestle for the first time against some mask guy with a hell of a mullet.   For someone with probably less than 2 years experience he was very solid and has a hell of a drop kick.    And he comes out to Sting's NWA entrance music so that is always great.

The opening match and main event was just great to see live.   I was worried about what a Darby Allin vs Brody King match in a state as restrictive as Virginia would be but yeah both are so bat shit crazy my worries were unfounded.    Darby after the match needed assistance to go to the back.  I bet those knees were fucked after that match and probably every match

Okada vs Ace really picked up at the end but I thought in the beginning was slow and Okada looked almost bored to be there.  Maybe that was just stuff during commercial break .   The women's tag title match had its moments but most of them fell apart when Shida showed up.  She seemed to be a serious round peg in a square hole in the match.   Not sure why RPG Vice got so much offense on Christian.  Way more competitive then I thought

[J.T.]

9 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

Things I Remember From This Week's Edition of AEW Dynamite:

MJF loses because he gets punched in the balls. Darby was just hanging out in the rafters before doing a Sting intro. MJF still wants Darby.

Taz is belligerent on commentary and maybe was a little too confident in MJF to the point of telegraphing that MJF wouldn't win

Okada retains his title

Christian accepts an I Quit match with FTR

Birds squash

Cage/Cope essentially a squash. Then the C&C Canadian Factory tries to make someone say I Quit with a bar in their mouth

The Death Riders are grooming Wil Ospreay... wait that sounds bad

The Opps also want to train Wil Ospreay for some reason and the Opps found other members too

I remember nothing from the Divine Dominion match aside from a group of ringside fans having a huge sign

Rush beats Strong Steve

Andrade and MJF have words

Next week is three hours from North Charleston

Darby takes a beating. The "Fuck ICE" roll call eventually happens (good move to not accidentally do it during the break). Darby gets thrown into a camera man. That was a cool camera angle on the somersault into the barricade. Even if it would have been a shitty camera angle if Brody had actually hit that move.

Our hero kills our other hero to get the win.

Kevin Knight vs Darby next week. (Kevin Knight is working Hook in-between tonight and next week)

Wait, the Office is the post-AEW programming now? I never watched the Office when it was on NBC

I learned that according to Thekla, there sure are a lot of dumb bitches on the AEW women's roster.

[Technico Support]

1 hour ago, hammerva said:

On the dark matches last night,  I got to see one of Sting's son Steve Borden wrestle for the first time against some mask guy with a hell of a mullet.

I could barely hear the guy's name but his outfit was the most 90's thrown-together local indy shit I've ever seen.  Weird mask with huge blonde mullet hanging out, spandex sleeveless top, camo pants.  Looked like local Maryland wrestler Agent Orange from back in the day.  I'm guessing he was someone from the roster or one of the semi-retired guys who work at AEW, because I wouldn't think any local indy would wear such heinous gear on purpose anymore.  Plus Borden is still training, so they'd probably put him in there with a veteran.  Anyway, seeing him in person made me feel old as dirt, because I saw his dad wrestle in person in his prime.

Does "Manscout" Jake Manning work backstage at AEW?  I swear I was standing next to him in the concourse when we were getting ready to leave.  EDIT: looking up pics, yeah, that was definitely him.  

Edited April 30 by Technico Support

[hammerva]

3 minutes ago, J.T. said:

I learned that according to Thekla, there sure are a lot of dumb bitches on the AEW women's roster.

Which led to this bit of greatness

 

[JLSigman]

12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

MJF still wants Darby.

What's great about this is the contrasts - MJF is practically foaming at the mouth, and Darby's utterly unconcerned, "No," pisses him off even more. My guess is that this is going to end with Darby dropping the title to someone else (Kenny? Will?) and then MJF getting the first shot at that person.

 

12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

The Death Riders are grooming Wil Ospreay... wait that sounds bad

The fan fiction group is in a tizzy. Not, not that I know from personal experience or anything.

 

12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

The Opps also want to train Wil Ospreay for some reason

Yeah, this was weird, and not because Hook looked exactly like, "Teenager who just got out of bed"

 

12 hours ago, Cobra Commander said:

I remember nothing from the Divine Dominion match

This was sloppy as hell until the last minute or so. Just dropped shit everywhere. Really disappointing.

 

[Pete]

19 minutes ago, JLSigman said:

What's great about this is the contrasts - MJF is practically foaming at the mouth, and Darby's utterly unconcerned, "No," pisses him off even more. My guess is that this is going to end with Darby dropping the title to someone else (Kenny? Will?) and then MJF getting the first shot at that person.

Andrade, after MJF "helps him win" and we get a big tizzy because Andrade wouldn't need anyone's help beating a guy like Darby with one foot in the grave (figuratively and quite possibly literally). So MJF destroys Andrade, and DCF doesn't try to save him because he's turning face and already halfway out their door.

[Kevin Wilson]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

Andrade, after MJF "helps him win" and we get a big tizzy because Andrade wouldn't need anyone's help beating a guy like Darby with one foot in the grave (figuratively and quite possibly literally). So MJF destroys Andrade, and DCF doesn't try to save him because he's turning face and already halfway out their door.

How you know?

[Kevin Wilson]

As someone that has been a Shida fan for a long time and was happy to see her live, something definitely wasn't clicking in their tag match. When Kris was tagged in, she was fantastic and the match got back together but Shida just wasn't on the same page as everyone else and it brought the match down overall. Impressed with Lena Kross though, she's fun.

I haven't watched the broadcast but the crowd live was really into just about everything so hope that came across. Final ticket sales had them almost 1,000 more tickets than when they were in Fairfax two years ago, course having four title matches no doubt helped but seeing an increase is always encouraging for a promotion's long term health.

[Pete]

30 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said:

How you know?

 

[hammerva]

The other thing I noticed is that Rush is extremely over.  Not sure if it is just a Virginia thing or overall.   The last time they were in Virginia it was that really good singles match against MJF.  I don't know if it is just injuries or something else but he has never gotten to the next level

[Kevin Wilson]

3 hours ago, hammerva said:

The other thing I noticed is that Rush is extremely over.  Not sure if it is just a Virginia thing or overall.   The last time they were in Virginia it was that really good singles match against MJF.  I don't know if it is just injuries or something else but he has never gotten to the next level

Isn't part of his thing is he's legitimately borderline insane. Along with the injuries and visa issues in the past. Probably internally seen as someone that can put in good matches against anyone but perhaps not to put a title on.

[The Green Meanie]

10 hours ago, J.T. said:

I learned that according to Thekla, there sure are a lot of dumb bitches on the AEW women's roster.

I mean, she's right! I used to hate Thekla, she was just so...generic and boring. Since they've been letting her just riff on the mic, she's been hilarious! I especially loved how she pointed out much Rosa sucks.

[SovietShooter]

12 hours ago, hammerva said:

 I was worried about what a Darby Allin vs Brody King match in a state as restrictive as Virginia would be but yeah both are so bat shit crazy my worries were unfounded. 

As someone formerly licensed to wrestle in Virginia, the commission sucks, and I assumed there would be nothing too crazy in this match. When Brody did the spot on the folding chair outside the ring I thought he was getting color, and I was worried we'd get a bunch of newz about AEW defying the commission or whatever. 

7 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said:

As someone that has been a Shida fan for a long time and was happy to see her live, something definitely wasn't clicking in their tag match. When Kris was tagged in, she was fantastic and the match got back together but Shida just wasn't on the same page as everyone else and it brought the match down overall. Impressed with Lena Kross though, she's fun.

Shida was sandbagging and not selling shit like her name was Ivelisse. 

6 hours ago, hammerva said:

The other thing I noticed is that Rush is extremely over.  Not sure if it is just a Virginia thing or overall.   The last time they were in Virginia it was that really good singles match against MJF.  I don't know if it is just injuries or something else but he has never gotten to the next level

Rush was mega over during his run in CMLL. Like, generationally over. He wasn't working the same rugged style he is now, but he brawled as much as he could get away with in CMLL. He was so over, there were rumors a CMLL Anniversary Show was going to have LA Park vs Rush mask vs hair on top; The Rush/CMLL relationship definitely soured when this did not happen. 

[DJ Hero Morganti]

Stat sold her ass off to keep that match going

[HarryArchieGus]

What was with that Shida heel turn (but not) mid-match? Very strange. 

[Kevin Wilson]

4 hours ago, SovietShooter said:

As someone formerly licensed to wrestle in Virginia, the commission sucks, and I assumed there would be nothing too crazy in this match. When Brody did the spot on the folding chair outside the ring I thought he was getting color, and I was worried we'd get a bunch of newz about AEW defying the commission or whatever. 

Funny enough I think the only 'color' we got all night was Steven Borden in the opening dark match (that I could see from my seats), his back isn't "wrestler tough" yet so he cut his back when he was thrown into the guardrail. Not gushing blood but enough that the ref put on the black gloves. He was fine of course. If there were limitations due to the commission, they wrestled around it really well in the main event to make it brutal but not really use "weapons" in the traditional sense.

[just drew]

I really liked this show, even though 4 title matches with zero title changes is a bit counter-intuitive. Kevin Knight is dope as hell. 

[porksweats]

4 minutes ago, just drew said:

I really liked this show, even though 4 title matches with zero title changes is a bit counter-intuitive. Kevin Knight is dope as hell. 

Might as well called it Battle Of The Belts

[HarryArchieGus]

Friedman-Knight was very good with a clever finish. They've done a great job thus far elevating Knight. Max has had his working boots on lately. The Christian-Copeland promo was funny. Christian sticking to his heel character continues to be very rewarding. I liked the RPG match - no complaints about getting time. Trent/Rocky are a helluva team, and should be competitive. The Birds and Rush squashes were fun. Great to see Hayter back in the saddle. Okada-Ace built nice and steady to the feverish close. Okada seemed to be having a great time there. Austin continues to be a great hand wherever needed. I’m totally in on the silly Ospreay-Death Riders B Movie. Moxley looks like he's having the time of his life. Will’s carrying his role terrifically. I’m not sure I quite get the Opps lobbying to instead train Will, but okay. Let's see where that goes. Hook looked hilarious mean-mugging thru the whole promo.  The Ricochet-Jericho stuff is a bit repetitive, but I popped for the fake out on the Rico-sault. Bayne/Kross-Stat/Shida was a mixed bag, but Stat, as mentioned, was working very hard in there. The Bayne/Cross team is a well oiled machine. I don’t at all get the weird Shida non-heel turn. I know suplexing your partner onto your opponent has modern day tag team logic, but not kicking them in the gut beforehand. Very strange. The MJF/Andrade/Callis promo was amusing. I like Ciampa running with FTR, and I like them coming back to the rivalry with Strong/O’Reilly. I was very into their Collision matches from last year. Darby-Brody was excellent to close it out. Nicely paced. Unfortunately, it does seem like the crowd aren’t really biting on the near falls. Brody killed him with a clothesline for 2 that really should have got them to bite on a near fall The crowds seem to expect that Darby will just keep getting up now. Whatever the case, I”m loving this run. Darby working the main event is putting a spotlight on his too often overlooked greatness. He's been this great all along. Fun show as per usual. AEDub!

Edited May 3 by HarryArchieGus