AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 3/24 - 3/30

AEW Dynamite 3/26/25

Kyle Fletcher vs Brody King

MD: Kyle Fletcher is the most interesting wrestler in AEW. I'm not 100% sure they know what they have in him. He's the honestly surprising frontrunner of what I'm more or less calling the New Heel Movement (Neo-Heelism? Probably I stick with New Heel Movement). Yes, he looks like a star now, in his own way. But it's not his looks but how he carries himself. So long as he's kept away from some of the worst perpetrators of action for the sake of action on the babyface side, he expands and takes up the air in every match that he wrestles in the most selfless, entertaining, productive way. 

He's a counterbalance to three decades of cool heels who refused to take anything seriously and show real vulnerability and at least a decade and a half of selfish spottiness that has honestly plagued pro wrestling, pushing fans away from caring about outcomes and characters and towards rewarding sensationalism and celebrating the means, not the ends. And he's not alone. You see it up and down the card, from people like MxM, Blake Christian, Red Velvet, and Lee Johnson on ROH, all the way to guys like Ricochet and Okada at the top of the card (and of course there's MJF when he's at his most MJF-ish). 

But none of them are managing it quite like Fletcher. You actually expect it more on ROH with looser time cues and more creative freedom and less need to clutch onto every ratings decimal. But there he is, taking his time, basking in every moment, leaning hard into every opportunity to push things over the top and get under the skin of the fans. And they respond in turn, chanting against him, chanting for the babyface, chanting anything at all except for "This is Awesome" or "Fight Forever." In this case, they were going after Callis too and I wonder how much of that was the fan in the first row dressed just like him, but it's still all way more of a positive scenario than having fans blandly celebrate the match simply existing as a spectacle instead of being engaged in its outcome. 

And he keeps adding to the act (which is much more of an overall philosophy and mindset than a series of spots/bits). Here, he had the pullaway pants at the start. He ambushed King and then took the time to really show off the new gear to the crowd, smiling, posing, all but preening, even as King crept up behind him. It was honestly beautiful stuff and he leaned into it 30% harder and 30% longer than anyone else on the roster would have and that investment paid off huge in reaction and how memorable it all was. 

It's incredibly hard for a heel to balance the sort of corpsing, stooging, sprawling bumping and selling that Fletcher did here while still maintaining credibility, but he managed it. Some of that is simply putting him over enough (as they did here), but so much of it comes down to the heel figuring out how to be vicious and making the most of his time on top in a match. Fletcher, in the midst of cracking the code, seems to realizes that it doesn't just mean hitting great looking dynamic offense, but making sure to engage with the crowd, with the ref, with the opponent, with the world while doing it, and then letting it sink in and resonate after the fact. Basically, everything he's been doing while taking offense applies just as much when he's on top. That could be as simple as living and breathing and being the Protostar while stepping on Brody's face. It's showing that he cares about what he's doing instead of just rushing to hit the next spot and spoonfeeding the fans action on top of action. It sounds so simple but it's become increasingly rare and it doesn't just make him stand out, but it makes both the moments and the overall effect of his matches mean all the more. 

It also means that when he does something truly impressive, like hefting up Brody for his tombstone, the fans are even more frustrated, for they have to give it to him, and he's given them nothing to latch on to before that. It means that instead of supporting him or thinking the match is simply great, they end up resenting him all the more, and that he gets real, honest, meaningful heat that maybe, just maybe can drive the sorts of business metrics that had seem dead and dusted, the notion that you want to see a heel get his comeuppance at the hands of a babyface. And of course, just when they had the fans begrudgingly handing it to Fletcher and resenting him all the more for it, Mark Davis came out to take things over the top and push everything the other way, distracting Brody so that Fletcher could steal the win. That he did it with the corner brainbuster, yet another impressive move on a massive opponent, just increased the dissonance and writhing, churning feeling in the stomach of the fans.

Fletcher's become a heel that poisons everything he touches in the very best of ways, something that frankly, we haven't seen on top in a US company in ages. He's gold, and in some ways, he's going to be bulletproof as long he can continue to lead with bluster and live in the moment, as long as he doesn't lose his nerve and get pressured to speed things up and rush to the next thing like so many of his peers. But he still needs to be protected and valued. Everyone around him, from the wrestlers he faces, to the commentators, and all the way to the top of the company should be shown to care as much as he does, in both his successes and his failures. If that can happen, way I see it, the sky's the limit.

ROH TV 3/27/25

Athena/Diamante vs Jordan Blu/Mazzerati

MD: I honestly love matches like this. Yes, it was a squash. Blu/Mazzeratti got almost no offense in. But if you watch five hundred matches in one year, you're probably not going to see another match that tries to tell this specific story. The last time I can remember something quite like this was back during the Mercedes Martinez vs Serena Deeb feud where they were trying to one-up each other. This wasn't quite that but it was a similar idea, with Diamante trying to show her value to Athena. I'm not entirely sure what's going on with the story overall (for one thing, it's going to clash with the main roster story, almost like Lawler doing one thing in Memphis and another on WWF TV). Diamante doesn't quite seem minion material, but she also seems like she might go with the flow if she sees a success bully successfully bullying, so who knows. 

The match itself was a lot of fun though, because Diamante kept looking over for approval and to see what Athena had to think about things, and Athena would react accordingly. My big regret here (and it's a shame because I can't see them doing this again) is that I wish they had an Athena cam set up. I'm not sure what the rationale for it would have been, kayfabe-wise, but I'm sure they could have thought of something. And she could have been a corner insert for the entire match as we just saw her reacting to all of Diamante's stuff. Otherwise, this was fun because it was so different and told so unique a story. I love the idea of a tag match where the focus is equally on the person on the apron as it is the person in the ring. It just expands and stretches the limits of the form. It's one of those things you can really get away with on ROH that you can't quite get away with as easily on Dynamite or Collision.

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 12/16/20

What Worked

-My WCW muscle memory kicked in when the snow started falling after Cody's win, and I actually said "Glacier" aloud, to myself. 

-I actually really liked The Acclaim's rap AND Kazarian's rap before their match. Honestly, the raps probably made me enjoy the match more than I should have. I don't think the match was very good, but the wrestling on this show has been dreadful so...I thought Christopher Daniels's jabs looked really good?

-Diamante decided to have her whole butt hanging out of her trunks so that seems like it works? 

-Omega/Janela was about as dumb as it gets, nothing but stunt spots segueing into stunt spots with no flow to them. BUT the stunt spots look good so fuck it, need to populate the top side of this write up a bit. Janela's tope looked good and Omega plastered himself into the guardrail a couple times, Janela took a bulldog face first on a chair, got hilariously into place for an Omega top con hilo, etc. Every spot was a restart, but the landings looked sick enough and Don Callis on house mic commentary was great. This is the best Omega's V Trigger knees have looked in lord knows when, really looked like he was going to cave in Janela's face with them. After seeing those 1/2 speed knees he through past Moxley's head last week I was thinking Omega had lost his speed, but I really loved the aggression he used to wreck Janela. 

What Didn't Work

-Opening trios was pretty disjointed and didn't have any kind of flow to it. It slowed down at weird times and never felt like it had any kind of consistent (or good) pace to it. NOAH knew how to throw six random guys into a trios and have a nice high floor, but this had very little going for it. It's great that Alex Reynolds is confirmed Alive after definitely not being knocked out cold, and Hangman had a couple nice lariats (including one that Kassidy bumped onto the side of his head). But a lot of this had bumps that felt a little too disconnected from the offense they were supposed to be taking, and it never came together in a meaningful way. 

-I think there is a potentially good Cody/Angelico match, but this was not that match. I'm not into match layouts where one guy does his stuff, and then the other guy decides to stop taking offense and start doing all of his own offense. I liked the Angelico wrist control do-si-do arm drags but didn't love much else. Neither was great at taking the other's offense, and that's going to hurt a match that's nothing but guys taking turns on offense. Angelico is good at taking headstand plants on cutters or DDTs, but the way he just stands there waiting to take something never looks good. Cody had kind of a similar thing where he would just stand there waiting for Angelico to run into his offense, and it all sucked brother. 

-Lance Archer interrupting Eddie Kingston's Airing of Grievances like 30 seconds in while wearing the shittiest ripped and distressed jeans I have ever seen is a big damn heel move

-I like when Butcher wears his butcher's apron, but why is Blade out there in one? Wearing his dirty jeans, t shirt, and apron he just looks like a Whole Foods burrito bar employee at the end of his shift. 

-12 man had the same problems the other matches have had so far, real weird energy and a lot of people on a different page. Jericho/Pillman stuff was decent, and I loved Jericho's straight right hands more than anything else in the match (other than Sammy Guevara's awesome folded over his knees sell of a Trent kick), and that's because most of the match didn't work. When you have a match like this and a bunch of guys who have never been in a match with 11 other people, you're going to have a bunch of people getting in each other's way. There were several guys who didn't look ready for prime time (not sure I've ever seen a sloppier slingshot legdrop than whatever it was Griff Garrison did), but I did laugh a bunch when Jake Hager - on the apron for most of the match - finally got in the ring. Not only did he trip over the ropes, but then he hit one of the ugliest, sloppy "F10" finishers I've seen, just a lazy spin that basically resulted in Garrison being dropped in a weak body slam. That's what gets a pin? Total mess. 

-You give me Ivelisse in a tag match and I'm going to want to see that trademark unprofessional Ivelisse work. But this was mostly just Diamante and Swole going through some rehearsed sequences, some of which looked good, some of which looked like a couple people standing around counting out their steps. It's hard to get any kind of heat or maintain much interest when it feels like the in ring is just going through the motions. This whole damn show has felt like it's going through the motions. 

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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 9/23/20

What Worked

-Evil Uno/Hangman eeks onto the top side here just because I still like what Uno brings to AEW. Page has several cool bits of offense and then other things he should drop entirely. Things like his moonsault off the apron that rarely connects, offense like that just looks silly with his character. It's that Silas Young thing where he looks like James Gammon and is a real man, then goes out and wrestles like a bad Chris Sabin clone. Page needs to drop the flips and just focus on cool fallaway slams and big lariats, because those things work well within his character AND are moves that look good. I really liked the fallaway slam where he held a bridge, not an easy thing to do. Uno is someone in AEW who makes little things look good, but here he also gets to splat Page with a huge cannonball off the top. The match wasn't perfect, but Uno made Page's offense look good (Page makes stuff look good, but Uno helped with some things), so this landed up top.

-Uno was selling his head and neck around ringside during the Lee/Cassidy match and that rules.

-Cassidy/Brodie was a good use of bullshit that leaves the door open for Cassidy to get some kind of cage match revenge. I dug Lee knocking Cassidy's block off after the hands went in the pockets, but I am a fan of the hands in pockets spots. His dive that was caught by the Dark Order was a cool trick, and they managed to all impressively scatter at the right time to make it look like Cassidy actually got the worst of Lee's dive. Lee has a few too many goofy twists and turns to his offense still, but he's great at barreling into Cassidy with falling lariats and big boots, and I loved that grounded side headlock he worked during the commercial break (also hit a great elbowdrop during the break, shame some of his coolest stuff was during the break). Cassidy's comeback was good and I liked the way they worked in him dealing with the Dark Order (lots of fun work with him dodging interference in between hitting dives), dealing with them leading to him getting blown up. Run this back, throw them in a cage, give me a Cassidy pockets dive off the top of the cage.

-I like a good "look we WANT to fight you guys, but that wouldn't be fair to YOU because of how beat up you are" and FTR pulled off that attitude well.

-You know? Just keep matching up Thunder Rosa and Ivelisse every week. There have been plenty of AEW women's matches that are just actually bad, so it's way way way more interesting to just have two women in there who look and act like they genuinely hate each other. Having unprofessional looking exchanges is an upgrade over having bad looking rehearsed exchanges. There was plenty of stuff here that was out of sync (including a hilarious moment where Tony and JR are talking about how perfectly in sync Shida and Ivelisse were, as Ivelisse's timing was clearly off on two things in a row), but I'll take a couple out of sync moments if you give me some stiff punches and kicks. Every time Ivelisse and Rosa were in there together was noteworthy and the hate bled through the screen. Ivelisse mounted her and looked like she would have punched her right in the nose if Rosa didn't know how to cover up and buck her off, and it added a sick "what will happen next?" element to things. I dug Shida suplexing Ivelisse boots first into Diamante's face (with Rosa hitting slingshot knees after), and later Shida running across the ring to stop a hot tag by hitting a flying knee to Diamante on the apron. It didn't totally matter much as the finishing stretch fell apart a bit, but the falling apart was some of the best stuff here. Pure hate and actual emotion are things we don't get enough of in wrestling, so I celebrate this unprofessionalism and welcome it to my television.

22. Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley

ER: It's cruel of AEW to make us wait two months for another Kings(ton) Road match in prime time, because of course King is going to deliver. I could watch Kingston sell chops all day, love watching him take a hit and see his muscle memory go to respond with a hit, only for the pain to hit mid throw. Gimme more of Kingston duck walking away holding his chest. You never get rote exchanges with King, the strikes are always mixed up and broken up with unexpected kicks. Kingston hits a lariat and  takes it to the floor, goes after Moxley's ear, yanks his waistband into an elbow to the back, dumps him into the timekeeper's table, and we get a nice tour of the AEW floor. King eats a vertical suplex and they both whip each other into the barricades. I love Kingston faces after he takes a suplex. We get too many idiotic facial reactions in wrestling, Kingston's reactions are the only ones that feel honest. These two kept it close and always punished lag, like Kingston headbutting Moxley off the top after Moxley left space between an elbow, or Moxley powering through a lariat after Kingston gloated a wee bit. We get some big moves, like Mox hitting a piledriver, or Kingston taking a big German suplex before dropping Mox with a backdrop, but there's never the feeling of moving from spot to spot. Kingston matches always feel like a strike battle broken up by occasional bigger moves, but everything is glued together with chops and headbutts and elbows. The sudden finish was awesome, with Moxley blocking a backfist and just pouncing on Kingston, dropping him to his knees with his weight while applying a sleeper that turns into a sick side headlock. Kingston is a man who knows how to make a side headlock look like a finish, turning purple and spitting, and Mox did his part by really hooking that chin. It's almost like Kingston needs to be wrestling on TV more.

PAS: All Japan Eddie Kingston isn't my favorite version of Eddie Kingston, although I love all versions. We are far enough removed from that era, that matches paying tribute to it don't seem as trite, and Kingston does that tribute stuff better than anyone. He understands that what made those matches great were timing and reaction and not just moves, and his reactions to getting hit were even cooler then the nastiness of the shots. Moxley had some cool little moments too, this wasn't just a Kingston showcase. I loved how he sold the downward elbows like he got a muscle cramp, and I really felt like he was excited to be working this kind of match and that excitement was contagious. I wish such a big chunk of this match wasn't in picture in picture, it's better then not getting it all, but they should time things better so your main event doesn't get chopped up. I thought the finish was really cool, no need for a bunch of near falls, that quick bulldog choke felt like an ending. Too bad it took COVID to slot Kingston in the main event where he belongs, but hopefully they realize he belongs there now, and a title rematch between these too - with a big build up - is the most exciting thing AEW could do right now.


What Didn't Work

-Opening tag was a real slog, not at all the kind of debut that made Miro looked like an asset. Miro looked fine in the match (although I couldn't stop laughing at JR fawning over his quads the whole time), but it went way too long, and it was easily the slowest paced match that Janela or Kiss have been involved with in AEW. Some nice individual moments (Kiss took a nice bump to the floor after Janela got shoved into him), but this whole thing felt sleepy.

-Jericho has made some pretty uninteresting on paper matches into interesting or even really good matches, but getting something good out of Private Party might be his greatest task. The promo didn't hit me, but I'll hold out hope.


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AEW Dynamite Workrate Report 7/22/20

What Worked

Eddie Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes

ER: I wasn't sure who to expect when it was announced a "top independent star" would be challenging Cody. My first thought was Hero, my second thought was Kingston, my third thought was "someone I don't care about nearly as much as Hero or Kingston". I think we've been just about the loudest Eddie Kingston drum beaters on the internet this past decade, and not only was he our favorite wrestler of 2019, but both Phil and I agreed that he was the #1 wrestler in the world. This is a great get for AEW, and you can bet the beautiful eyes of Eddie Kingston's mother that I am excited. This is Eddie Kingston, in his debut, getting to do every single thing that makes him great against the top guy in the company, and I can't imagine a better debut. Kingston talks a bunch of trash to Arn (actually surprised it didn't lead to any kind of moment where Arn throws a left at him, especially once it became No DQ), incredibly threatening to gouge his eye out if he keeps "throwing Murder Ones his way", and clowns Cody into accepting a No DQ stip.

This match, again, is everything that any Kingston fan could - and any pro wrestling fan - could want out of a match. Kingston is a great foil for Cody, and Cody wasn't afraid to lean right into having an Eddie Kingston match. Cody goes right in on Kingston's head with hard punches, a straight overhand right to the jaw, and some of the best headlock punches I've seen in a year. Kingston lands heavy chops and the best desperation bar fight offense in the game, grabbing at Cody's face, ear, hair, just digging nails in to break holds. Kingston is my favorite injury salesman in the game, bringing that cumulative damage finer than anyone since Kikuchi. It's not in your face, it doesn't guarantee the match will lead to a "work the limb" match, it's just a 38 year old banged up man not sure what part might give out. Kingston and I were born the same year. I went out jogging after work today and sometimes when I jog for too long I get a twinge on the inside of my right shoulder blade. Don't know why it's there, don't know what caused it, but I'm pushing 40 and I have weird aches. Kingston plays those aches better than anyone. His knee injury wasn't always the focus, but it was used to set up cheapshots and smart attacks. Kingston crumpling on an Irish whip is a spot that I love, but a spot that I've seen played way too melodramatically, and Kingston is a guy who knows how to hit just the right notes. I like how he blurs the lines between doing something like that just to land a cheap low blow on Cody, or doing the low blow as a last resort. It's the sign of a smart, confident wrestler that he doesn't need to show his hand, just leaves us speculating.

I cannot believe thumbtacks got involved, and I can't believe Cody was crazy enough to get powerbombed into those tacks. Eddie Kingston debuted on national television, and powerbombed the face of the company into thumbtacks. What?! I would have liked one more beat before Kingston tapped to the figure 4, something like King grabbing a handful of tacks and grinding them into Cody to force a break, but King played such strong attention to the knee that you can't argue with the quick tap. What an incredible segment, the kind of thing that should put Kingston on everyone's radar.

PAS: Pretty much the platonic ideal of What Worked. Eddie is one of all time favorite wrestlers, and while the EVOLVE show on the Network didn't let him do his thing, AEW gave us every bit of peak King. We got a great promo to start it off, establishing him immediately as a long time veteran tough guy who was going to make the most of his last chance. Then he actually integrated that story into the match, constantly ripping at the eyes, tearing at the face, throwing low blows, even breaking out a bag of thumbtacks. We have written a William Vollmann novel amount of text on Kingston's masterful body part selling. It is the thing he does as good as any wrestler ever, and his knee selling in this match was perfect. Him tweaking it early, attempting to walk it off, stomp it out, and how it slowly minute by minute betrayed him, leading to his downfall. Kingston has always been the guy who has fallen a bit short, that has been the story arc of his career. I am not sure if Eddie gets another AEW shot (if they have any sense they bring him back, #SignEddieKingston was even trending on Twitter), but if this is the only chance he gets I can't imagine a more perfect one match story.


-MJF has been one of the best squash match workers in AEW, always bringing the right amount of stiffness and intensity while showing just enough ass to give his opponent a little dignity. MJF showing that Garrison got under his skin with a "you got beat" comment is a strong aspect of his character, just enough of a peak that he's not quite as confident as he plays.

-Ricky Starks blindsiding Darby looked great, really flying down the ramp and smacking him. Cage hitting that big powerbomb into the ring looked great too.

-Bucks/Butcher and Blade brawl wasn't perfect, but it's a cool thing to have on the show as a change of pace. Blade was good at bumping around a kitchen (shame we didn't get a Sudden Death kitchen fight though), loved Matt Jackson's big flip dive out of the semi trailer, dug Nick getting lawn darted right into his own large face on the truck door. The big stunt spots played well, the fun stuff like Blade eating a superkick and falling into an up escalator played well, it was all fun. You don't need a match like this every show, but it's good to have something like this for flavor.

-Who was that ginger who got his head thrown up through a ceiling tile, landed hard, and then got dumped even harder by Archer into a trash can? Because that guy is awesome.

-Main event tag was good, felt like a cool ramped up house show main event, and Jericho is someone who has decades of experience working crowd pleasing house show main events. Jericho uses slightly different versions of his act depending on which Inner Circle member he's teaming with. I can't decide if I like Jericho/Sammy or Jericho/Hager more as a team, they both bring different elements. Sometimes I'm more into a stooging match and sometimes I'm more into a bully match, and  tonight I was into Jericho teaming with and being inspired by a bully. Hager has the dumbest face imaginable, a guy who always has his mouth open, but when he closes it you wish he would open it, but then he hangs it open again and you know he's unbearable when chewing food. But he's been real good in AEW as nothing but a Mongo Smash type dumb jock. He's not clean and not smooth about it, but I like him just taking guys down and lurching after them. Fun tag match to round out a very good night of wrestling.


What Didn't Work

-I've been really impressed with MJF's AEW work, but that's a tough call to have MJF come out to do a "Get in your opponent's face in the ring" promo in the segment directly following an Eddie Kingston segment doing just that. That's sending Kajagoogoo out on the stage after Napalm Death.

-Cool to see Ivelisse back on TV, but the match as a whole didn't work for me. They went out to have one of those compact "We're in a WAR" epics and it would have been more interesting for them to work a match more suited for the time they were given. I just can't get into a short match that needs to include a slow motion Godspell curtain call heavy breathing stand and trade. Both of their "big" high kicks looks like they were thrown at half speed. This had moments, and I'd like to see them both turn up in the Dynamite women's division, but this fell short.

-Page/Angels wasn't helped by mostly taking place during a commercial break (which is an immediate mute from me), but the timed step sequences didn't look great, Angels threw bad mounted punches (Dark Order need to do a Team Building weekend and work on their mounted punches), and a lot of stuff looked like they were focusing too hard on steps instead of where strikes landed. Page's lariat looked good, but a lot of this didn't.


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