AEW Five Fingers of Death 4/14 - 4/20

AEW Dynamite 4/16/25

Athena vs Mercedes Mone

MD: There was a post that went viral a month or two ago where people were besmirching the good name of Manami Toyota because she didn't hit some of her stuff clean. I've some issues with Toyota structurally (because of course I do) but that's the last thing I'm going to criticize her on.

You want wrestling a little rough around the edges. You don't want everything to hit clean. You don't want things to look collaborative, even when you know they have to be. You want that grit, because with grit comes determination, and through determination, you get emotion that you can latch onto as a fan. Go back and watch Jumbo from the 70s, watch Fujinami from the 80s. Watch the sweat come down grimacing faces and veins all but popping out of necks. That draws you in, immerses you. It doesn't make for as good a gif but it makes for a far better match.

Almost nothing in this match looked like it hit clean but almost every single thing looked like it hit nonetheless, and it hit messy, and it hit dirty, and it hit after deep struggle, not just a struggle between the wrestlers and one another, but a struggle between the wrestlers and themselves as they worked to heft up their opponent. One might think that would pull people out of the match (feel "botchy"), but it did exactly the opposite. It drew them in all the more because it gave a viewer something to push off against, something real to underpin the fantastical world of pro wrestling, something worth believing in.

What, then, bridged the gap between two people struggling to hit moves and a match so gripping that it's still hanging on to me almost a week later? Some of it was the stakes. This was a big, first time match, champion vs champion, hot act vs hot act. The outcome was up in the air.

And that crowd wanted it so badly. The crowd reminded me of the crowd for Ospreay vs Danielson, a crowd that was reverent, almost too reverent, that was just happy to be there, that knew they were seeing something special. That it was in Boston meant that Mercedes wasn't even a de facto heel, and no one really got cheered or booed. It reminded me too much of that Ospreay vs Danielson crowd, where they weren't necessarily reacting to specific moments but instead just were glad to be there, glad for anything that happened. It's the sort of crowd that you can do anything for and that you can do nothing for. That Fletcher, Callis, the Death Riders were so over as heels later on (and Nick Wayne for the ROH taping) was such a testament to them and their performances both on that night and over time. So it was a special crowd, but that too was a double edged sword. I would have liked to see this somewhere other than Boston. I'd like to see it again somewhere other than Boston.

What really put it over the top for me though was the reactions of Mercedes and most especially of Athena. You watch her face throughout the match, watch her eyes, and you see someone reacting in the moment to everything that's happening, every success, every failure, every advantage, every mistake. Even if she might make the same sort of shocked face you'd get out of other wrestlers (let's say the Adam Coles of the world) on a two-count kickout, there's something that her eyes do a moment later as she shifts gears that almost no one else in wrestling is managing.

And here, it was contagious. I'm not sure I fully bought into the lock up that took them up the ramp and back but once things crashed out on the ring with the fight on the apron and the dive later, everything clicked for me, including Mercedes' own reaction. I haven't seen her this alive in years, and it lasted through the second battle on the apron, through the tombstone sequence, all the way to the finish. I don't know if this is the destination for All In or not. I don't know if Athena's just headed back to ROH where she can continue to anchor it. I'm not sure if she's made for live TV since she's so used to freedom and excess, but as an attraction, she makes everything (and I mean everything) more special around her whenever she's around. Even if there's maybe a potential cost to that, it's one worth paying now and again.

ROH TV 4/18/25

Dustin Rhodes/Ross Von Erich/Marshall Von Erich vs MxM Collection/Johnny TV

MD: There was a moment at right around the halfway point on this one where I was wondering exactly what they were going for. MxM and Johnny took out the champs on the way to the ring and Dustin was on the floor for almost the entirety of the match, but there was a modified shine here. Ross and Marshall fought off everything Mansoor and Johnny threw at them.

And then it hit me, I'm watching Von Erichs. That's exactly what Kerry and Kevin would have done in this situation, and it would have gone just like this for them right until Mason came in, because in this situation, Mason was Gordy and even if the Von Erichs could stand tall and fight off Buddy and Michael, they weren't going to be able to handle Gordy too. Von Erichs are a force of nature but then so's Mason Madden, and I'm not sure I've ever felt that quite so much as I did here.

Everything built to a great hot tag sequence where they made sure to nail Dustin again on the floor so it could go around and around a few times until he finally got in there. By holding back Dustin (as beloved a star in the hearts of the fans as AEW has) so long in these six-men, not only does it really give Ross and Marshall a chance to shine, but it also ramps up the pressure for Dustin to come in and hit his stuff.

This had lots of clever bits down the stretch including the set up for Shattered Dreams off a missed Mason shot and a claw-assisted triple nut shot that was sort of like a pro wrestling Rube Goldberg machine in the best way. There was a lot of wrestling to watch over the last few days but I'm glad I caught this one.