I really try not to pre-judge someone else’s art – the author of a book I’m reading, the creative mind behind a TV show, for the purposes of this column, a pro wrestling auteur.
The storyteller knows where they’re going with the story they’re trying to tell.
As hard as it can be to do this, we need to let them tell their story to the end, before we tear it apart.
Pro wrestling is a particularly hard case, because unlike a book or TV show, it never ends – there’s no final chapter, no series finale; the conclusion to the storylines we’re being given now is just the prelude to the ones that we’ll be getting next week to play out for however long those are slated to run.
OK, that said – thinking out beyond AEW “Double or Nothing,” which is one of the company’s tentpole shows, where are things headed toward the other tentpole show on the annual calendar, “All In,” and how does what we’ve been seeing for the past few weeks factor in?
This is where I wish there was more time, certainly more than three months, between “Double or Nothing” and “All In” – for that matter, more time between all of the big shows on the AEW calendar, which would mean, fewer big shows.
I know that’s not possible; they need my $49.99 every month to balance their books.
But, being honest here, having a pay-per-view every month is why everything feels rushed.
Tony Khan, the auteur at AEW, has shown that he can book long-term – I wasn’t a fan of the uncomfortably long story behind Jon Moxley and The Death Riders that finally ended with his loss to “Hangman” Adam Page last summer, but, hey, he committed, fully, to the bit, and let it play out.
This Darby Allin AEW title reign doesn’t make obvious sense to me, as a long-term story.
Feels to me that it was TK hot-shot booking to get attention as the industry was focused on “Wrestlemania 42” more than building a long-term story.
Because if Allin is booked to retain the world title in the main event of this week’s “Double or Nothing,” which has him defending against two-time AEW champ Maxwell Jacob Friedman, where do things go from there – to “All In,” in London, in a big stadium with lots of good seats still available, three months hence?
The most likely story you’d want for “All In” would seem to be having Will Ospreay as the challenger in a world title main event, and Ospreay alluded to that in a promo on “Dynamite” last night, touting the opportunity he’s been given to compete in the Owen Hart Cup – the winner of the tournament one gets a future world title shot – as a chance for the native Brit to cash in for the big show at Wembley Stadium.
It’s odd to me that Ospreay had been booked for a brief losing streak, and that the storyline solution to the skid was to have Moxley and The Death Riders, the company’s top heel group, take him under their wing.
Again, I don’t want to judge, but.
Ospreay still seems to be presented as being a babyface, which, that’s what you’d want – if he’s going to get the shot at Wembley, it’s because he’s literally (as a native of London) the hometown hero, and it would be to book him to win his first major (with apologies to New Japan) world title in front of his adoring hometown fans.
This, as Moxley and The Death Riders are still being presented as heels, though maybe Khan is using the storyline with Ospreay to nudge them over to the other side.
Moxley had some brief momentum toward being a face after losing to Page, which Khan tried to build on by having The Death Riders feud with The Don Callis Family.
It didn’t take, clearly.
Whatever is going on there, Ospreay is going to London as a babyface and the top contender for the AEW title.
Which seems to presume a heel as the world champ.
Now, Khan could build a Bret Hart-in-Canada vibe, where he has Ospreay as a heel here in the States to face a babyface Allin, with their roles reversed once they are on the other side of the pond, but, no, don’t do that.
Or TK could try a Hulk Hogan-Ultimate Warrior face-vs.-face title match, but if you remember that one, it didn’t work – reinforcing why Vince Sr. used the likes of temporary heel champs like Ivan Koloff and Stan Stasiak, and Vince Jr. went with The Iron Sheik, to switch his world title from one face to the next.
The logical approach is face vs. heel, which seems to foretell Allin dropping the belt, either this weekend to MJF, or …
I don’t know that there’s a free-agent main-event heel who could make a surprise appearance at the end of “Double or Nothing” to challenge Allin, maybe even talk himself into an impromptu match before the lights go out on Sunday’s show.
(There’s not.)
Do you wait another month, or two, to take the belt from Allin?
Probably not, with ticket sales for the London show lagging.
Let’s circle back next week; we’re still in the middle of wherever this story is going.
What to watch for: ‘Double or Nothing’
FTR vs. Adam Copeland/Christian Cage
It feels like we’re in a holding pattern in terms of the tag team division, with The New Day on the free-agent market, and waiting out their 90-day. Giving Copeland and Cage a run with the belts could serve as the reset for a run of matches involving them, FTR, The Young Bucks and The New Day. If TK doesn’t screw this up, this could be akin to the 1980s tag team glory days in Crockett.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Takeshita needs the win here, to be able to take the next step in his progression. Complicating a possible face turn for him is his poor English, meaning, he needs a mouthpiece. Everything else about him – his look, his demeanor – screams top babyface.
Thekla defends the AEW women’s title in a four-way
Thekla has been a breath of fresh air as the world champ. Her in-ring work has always been elite; her work on the mic makes you wonder, why didn’t TK give her a mic sooner?
Also keep an eye on: Mick Foley
Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy debuts on the “Zero Hour” on Sunday.
Which means, for the first time, I won’t just have the TV tuned to “Zero Hour,” but, I’ll actually be watching.
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Chris Graham
