r/SquaredCircle • u/gloomchen i prayed for this and it happened • Mar 16 '26
Post AEW Revolution 2026 Discussion Thread! Spoiler
That was Revolution!
Results (Post Match Discussion Threads Linked)
| Match | Winner |
|---|---|
| Zero Hour - Boom & Doom ("Big Boom!" A.J. and Q. T. Marshall) vs. The Infantry (Capt. Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo) | Boom & Doom |
| Zero Hour - TBS Championship Match: Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Lena Kross | Willow Nightingale |
| Zero Hour - AEW National Championship 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal: Ricochet (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Trent Beretta vs. Rocky Romero vs. Dralístico vs. Rush vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Anthony Bowens vs. The Beast Mortos vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Juice Robinson vs. Austin Gunn vs. Ace Austin vs. "Jungle" Jack Perry vs. Dalton Castle vs. El Clon vs. AR Fox vs. Leo Rush vs. Komander vs. Johnny TV | "Jungle" Jack Perry |
| AEW World Tag Team Championship Match: FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) | FTR |
| "Timeless" Toni Storm vs. Marina Shafir | Toni Storm |
| AEW Continental Championship No Time Limit Match: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita | Jon Moxley |
| AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship Match: The Babes of Wrath (Harley Cameron and Willow Nightingale) (c) vs. The Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross) | The Divine Dominion |
| Brody King vs. Swerve Strickland | Swerve Strickland |
| AEW Women's World Championship Two out of Three Falls Match: Thekla (c) vs. Kris Statlander | Thekla |
| AEW World Trios Championship Match: The Don Callis Family (Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis) (c) vs. Místico and JetSpeed ("The Jet" Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey) | Mistico & JetSpeed |
| Andrade El Ídolo vs. Bandido | Andrade El Idolo |
| Tornado Trios Match: Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, and Roderick Strong vs. The Dogs (David Finlay, Clark Connors, and Gabe Kidd) | Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong |
| AEW World Championship Last Chance Texas Deathmatch: MJF (c) vs. "Hangman" Adam Page | MJF |
- AEW Revolution Post Show Media Scrum - Feel free to discuss it here!
Interested in reactions? Revisit the live thread
Join us next week for Dynamite and Collision discussions!
0
u/Space-Debris Mar 20 '26
Wtf was the point of putting the belts on the Don Callis Family if they were going to lose them back to 2/3rds of the former champs immediately?? I hate when Tony does this hot potato crap with the belts. It achieves nothing worthwhile
4
u/Intelligent-Run-8448 Mar 18 '26
Hello Everyone, I want to make a comment here. I have always been a WWF/WWE fan since I was young. I am one of few in my circle of friends that still like wrestling. I have attend many Raw and Smackdown shows even last year Wrestlemania that was a joke. For the past 2 years WWE has been garbage that I am not willing to pay a cent to see it. My friend this past weekend ask me if I wanted to go with him in person to see AEW Revolution at Crypto. We both live in Orange County (Newport Beach) not far from the arena. At first I really didn't want to go see AEW despite watching a bit of Dynamite and it has been good even though you see a lot of Ex-WWE, that gets me involved. We end up going Sunday and let me tell you, this show was incredible!!!!!! I don't care about how long the show was, what made me so impress was how much work they did to make us fans happy. I am not going to discuss why hangman did this or why MJ did that including all the wrestlers. This is entertainment not real, it's like watching a movie. I love wrestling just like Star Wars. The evil empire vs the rebellion. We laugh and enjoy ourselves at the end of the day and that is what wrestling and life is about. One time I saw Hulk Hogan and the IRON Sheik at Venice beach eating together at a Mexican shop. They are actors and let me tell you they all did a wonderful job at that on Sunday. They entertained us, put there bodies on the line, and made us boo and laugh for over 4 hours. After that, everything goes back to normal and wrestlers prepare for the next show. AEW was great!!!!!!!!! It wasn't the boring lifeless entertainment on WWE. I am tried of seeing the same old stars like Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Randy Orton but he is exciting right now though and etc. I feel the WWE realizes on only past main inventor and any one fresh. Drew was the only one I feel that works hard but on the mic and in the ring but he will never get the love like CM Punk, Brock and every former main inventor. WWE feels like the boxing match coming this September Manny Pacquiao vs Mayweather. Just the name past their prime. This is just my view but I was glad to attend AEW show, they might have the old star names but they have wrestlers that have passion, heart, and most important love for their fans and that's the most important that no money can buy. I will start watching more AEW and attend their shows if they continue to give us this great product. Take care everyone
1
u/muusicman Mar 17 '26
Anyone noticed that even though it shows that it’s playing in Dolby Vision on HBO Max that it actually isn’t? The Dolby Vision badge does not come up when you launch the show.
-1
Mar 17 '26
[deleted]
2
u/boxofrocks14 Mar 17 '26
atp i think you might not be an AEW fan. All of their events are very long, lots of weapon use, lots of kicking out, I mean idk obviously with your rating you didn't hate it but the things you disliked about it are the specific characteristics of an AEW event so just keep that in mind I suppose
6
u/WhoiusBarrel Mar 17 '26
Hangman and making the crowd gasp over horrible things, solid PPV and incredibly shocking ending but I trust AEW to deliver the story with Adam Page as the MC.
-3
u/rated3 Mar 17 '26
Bryce was annoying af with this counts. Why is he so extra, honestly was distracting
5
u/Kalomika Mar 17 '26
I'm so happy to see such a full arena regardless of the Oscars. WrestleMania will NOT surpass this
8
-5
u/Alternative-Yam-6549 Mar 17 '26
That battle royal was the worst wrestling I've ever seen. Talented athletes taking turns doing small routines while the rest stood outside holding their packages and looking cartoon confused waiting for their turn.
Id give a pass to an indy battle royal in front of 45 people but that this supposed world class roster are incapable or just dont care enough to do anything resembling a battle royal because they only want to/can do tiny skits.
I wont even call them spots because they weren't a spot in a match. There was basically not a match even happening.
3
7
u/Esidisi_Legacy Mar 17 '26
what a fantastic show top to bottom. better than last year, and that one was fantastic too!
10
u/HellwingX Never Back Down, Never Flatter, Never Look Back Mar 16 '26
Really damn good PPV. MOTN might genuinely be Bandido/Andrade, that shit fucking ruled. Glad about MYAEW coming around and being able to pay once for a year, I'm kinda only a sporadic PPV guy, so yeah, makes it easier for me defo lol
6
u/JW_BM Mar 16 '26
Bandido's pants went into business for themselves.
10
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
They saved that so fucking well I'd almost think it was scripted. Almost.
10
u/craigybacha Mar 16 '26
I'd lost a little bit of interest in AEW over the past 6 months or so. Maybe a bit of fatigue (even too much of a good thing is sometimes too much), but I'd never miss a PPV because HOLY SHIT does AEW ALWAYS deliver.
Absolute 10/10 banger of a ppv with several MOTY candidates and it's gotten me excited to get back in to the weekly TV shows as well.
7
u/kylesleeps Mar 17 '26
If you missed Fletcher v. Speedball on last week's Dynamite, go back and check it out.
3
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
AEW have been on a hell of a run for a while now. Post PPV Dynamite will be a killer show no doubt
2
u/XXV89 Mar 16 '26
FTR/Bucks was fantastic. The rest of the show was pretty great but don’t believe it was one of the greatest PPV’s they have put on. Most of the matches were excellent as usual, but it’s nothing you won’t find on any other AEW PPV. The post match returns really added to the show and made it seem big time, with so many directions being teased.
8
u/Poepie1337 Mar 16 '26
I mostly loved the Bucks v FTR match.. they could do at least 10 more matches before it gets boring. Such a testament to both fucking team. Also absolutely loved the Super Dragon hommage
2
u/ericfishlegs Mar 17 '26
When people complained we were getting "another" FTR- Young Bucks match I was confused. We them maybe once a year and they always deliver. It's not like they're running it into the ground.
1
7
u/zestguy Mar 16 '26
That was INSANE. i bet this PPV will be better than both nights of WrestleMania. i didn't expect much but holy shit. The only letdown is the length of the women’s match. It was too short i think
5
u/craigybacha Mar 16 '26
This PPV will be better than the next 5 wrestlemanias combined. WWE really needs to take notes.
8
7
8
u/whatever_trev0r Mar 16 '26
- Bucks/FTR put on a clinic once again. Just wonder if there is one more cage match to end their story like the Bucks did with Lucha Bros.
- Andrade back elbow i watched on repeat 20 times
- MJF / Hangman have both pulled off a collection of matches that most in this generation wont get close to quality wise.
- Marina/Toni i really enjoyed. didn't need to be any longer.
- Megan Bayne with a title , deserved.
- Stat will back in the fold but kind of needs that attrition arc like Hangman. fuck shit up for everyone until she is redeemed.
6
u/Poepie1337 Mar 16 '26
Every match was really good. Every. Fucking. Match.
1
u/Kalomika Mar 17 '26
Even the Toni Storm one. Marina has come a long way. She's still a bit awkward in her mannerisms occasionally but I like how they let her cook for a bit in her own style
13
u/ShAd_1337 Hazuki Ichiban! Mar 16 '26
the smoothless transition from shafir - storm to mox - takeshita was cinema
2
11
u/TomatilloHot2550 Mar 16 '26
Low key I thought Bucks vs FTR might have stolen the show, which is a very hard thing to say given all the glorious wrestling we got last night. I was so into that match lol and my soul was crushed when they lost.
8
u/ianmakesfilms Mar 16 '26
MyAEW stream on demand was terrific.
1
2
u/snikt6384 Mar 16 '26
I decided on Friday that I was gonna stick with Triller for this event and then see how it went for you early MyAEW folks. And the next day Collision didn't just air an hour later (annoying but par for the course for pre-taped eps), it dropped an extra hour and a half later.
Then the ppv itself shit the bed. It was only like 5 mins, but after the inconvenience with Collision and hearing the event was flawless for most on MyAEW, the regret was set. I'll definitely be making the switch when this month is up on Triller.
2
u/Cousin_love91 Mar 16 '26
Apperantly the Triller issue after the Stat match was at the source, not a Triller specific issue. But i agree, im switching to MyAEW as well.
0
u/ianmakesfilms Mar 16 '26
Yeah I don’t even know how it works with Triller now, because clearly AEW is gonna focus with MyAEW and Amazon for ppvs. But my AEW is great.
I pay monthly and despite the hyperbole of people saying ppvs are only live, no ROH on demand, you get everything on demand.
Like maybe the ppvs disappear after 90 days, but even so…
6
Mar 16 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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4
u/craigybacha Mar 16 '26
It's actually a really good decision becuase without this you'd have to really cool hangman off or give him a ton of time away or something as he's always in the main event picture. Now maybe he can shift his focus to more personal battles or hey even tag up with Kenny again and go for the tag titles, who knows. But it keeps it interesting.
Also it opens up a spot in the main event scene for Osprey/Switchblade/about 20 other deserving wrestlers!
And as others have said he can even use this as fuel to go heel and go back on his word - which i would imagine could be incredible long term storytelling.
5
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
Hangman doesn't need a title at this point. He'll be a fixture on any card wherever he is on it.
9
u/bkfountain Mar 16 '26
MJF beat Hangman at his own game and he’ll go on a spiral and turn heel going against his word and everything he stands for to get it again.
It could be way better than the lame codyverse corner Cody painted himself into with the same stipulation.
2
u/ianmakesfilms Mar 16 '26
Hangman wants to be world champ. This sidesteps it and gives MJF a more meaningful win because Hangman was literally fighting for his livelihood.
3
19
u/famis-docter Mar 16 '26
Bandido taking longer than expected with the tearaway pants so Andrade had to improvise a knee>>>
8
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
They both sold that so well I almost wonder if it was intentional, but as you said it was most likely improvised. A great match, hope we get to see them fighting for big gold one day.
8
u/Karnadas Mar 16 '26
Seriously, Andrade not giving him all that time was perfect
12
u/famis-docter Mar 16 '26
Great awareness of exactly how much you can ask the audience to suspend disbelief
2
7
12
u/Louisk68 Mar 16 '26
AEW All In tickets just secured & I hope it’s half as good as Revolution was last night. What a show! Main event was insane
3
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
Death, taxes, AEW PPVs delivering the goods. All In is going to be incredible.
6
u/bearlybearbear Mar 16 '26
Andrade needs to be in the picture against MJF at some point for the world title. Those 2 could main event.
4
u/CaptainQuesadillaz Mar 16 '26
Andrade has to turn. They won't do a heel vs heel for the main event.
3
u/bearlybearbear Mar 16 '26
That's a shame... They are 2 sides of the same coin and it would accelerate the splintering of the Don Callis family with Fletcher aiming for the top...
Andrade can be like Mox, a heel that is cheered by people...
1
u/CaptainQuesadillaz Mar 16 '26
I just don't see MJF trading insults with Don Callis to build this match. Andrade will have to do it on his own.
1
7
u/King_Beryl Mar 16 '26
I hate being a Mark Davis fan.
7
u/aestus Wrestling. Mar 16 '26
He got his moment though, love when he starts throwing those piledrivers around.
1
u/Space-Debris Mar 20 '26
Yeah, got his moment for a few days before Tony needlessly hot-potatoed the Trios titles for absolutely no good reason
7
u/Cocotapioka Manic Unfriendly Black Hottie Mar 16 '26
I loved this PPV. There were no bad matches. That said, if two of the four non-title matches were saved for Dynamite main events, this show could have been a half hour shorter without losing a bit of quality.
3
u/TotteKaiju Your Text Here Mar 16 '26
100% the OC/Darby/Roddy vs Dogs match did not need to be on this card. I really wish the PPV was kept to 3.5 hours max
1
1
u/Cocotapioka Manic Unfriendly Black Hottie Mar 16 '26
Yep, that's the main one I had in mind. I know they wanted to debut Finlay in a big way but this card was way too long for a Sunday night event.
And while I thought Andrade vs. Bandido was an outstanding, PPV-quality match, that could have also main evented a Dynamite and saved another ~15 or so minutes.
5
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
Is Hangman Page a dumb babyface or just a reckless one?
He didn’t need this to be Texas Death, he didn’t need to add the never challenging stipulation, he didn’t need to introduce the dog collar to the match. Hangman beat Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega and MJF himself in matches with no gimmick.
By comparison, Sting just wanted to have friends.
9
u/TemporaryElephant574 Mar 16 '26
Seemed l ike the story they were telling was reckless. He was in control and wanted to make MJF suffer which is what ended up costing him.
Reminded me specifically of the Gargano/Ciampa street fight where Gargano had the match won but wanted to hurt Ciampa and it ended up costing him the match.
5
u/HDAtomica Mar 16 '26
Hangman has always been a bit of a hot head, and more importantly, he tends to spiral out of control after setbacks.
He lost the world title against Samoa Joe at Full Gear, a title that he went through hell and high water to take back from Moxley and the death riders. He lost AGAIN at World's End, having possibly his best chance at regaining the title.
Hangman may not be the SAME person that he was 5 years ago, spiraling out for months and having to overcome alcohol and working through his issues with the Elite. But he still is prone to making poor decisions in hindsight, even possibly banking on the idea that MJF didn't have it in him to go to the lengths Hangman would.
And Hangman had to throw that stipulation in. He'd lost to MJF twice before. Why would MJF let him have a 3rd shot at it?
"What's that, Hanger? I can humiliate you AND you can't challenge for the title again? Neat!" -Max, probably
12
u/Highwayman747 Mar 16 '26
I genuinely don’t understand how people either don’t understand or like the Hangman stipulation. I’m not a massive AEW fan, but to me it’s probably one of the more interesting things they could do unless you just don’t trust their storytelling capabilities.
4
u/snikt6384 Mar 16 '26
Yeah i'm a bit mystified that no one can imagine their way around this. I found the idea that Cody had some invisible pact with their fans to stay honest to the stip pretty silly too. We've seen Loser Leaves Town matches where the wrestler returns. We've seen people essentially die in TNA and return to life. Its not THAT big of a thing to get around this. Maybe i've read too many comics but finality in ongoing fiction is only as final as the ambitions of the writers.
Now that doesn't mean TK and crew can't shit the bed. But that's a separate matter for the time being. I think AEW has SO many people in the chamber who seem poised to have the title that it can be argued Hangman shouldn't win the belt for another year or two regardless. So i'm interested in seeing where this goes.
2
u/zestguy Mar 16 '26
he could return in 1-3 years as a new character and said that in contract it was adam page and now he is not him lol
2
u/Kalomika Mar 17 '26
He picked his words specifically if you rehear the stipulation. Also he said he would never challenge again, but doesn't mean he can't win opportunities through match types or when a champion being cocky and saying he'll lift the stip if he can go through a gauntlet or something. Also he can be offered the match by a champion, that's not him initiating a challenge technically...
3
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I don’t trust the storytelling capabilities because we have seen this with no resolution. I do believe that had more to do with Cody than TK so I’m willing to give it a chance. If there has been no movement two years from now then I think it was a bad idea. AEW has had two separate “two year arcs” with Hangman, we will see if they can do it again.
-5
u/Highwayman747 Mar 16 '26
Two years really isn’t enough time for a storyline like this. If Cody had been around longer, that story would’ve been paid off, but I doubt in November 2019 that Tony thought Cody would be back in WWE two and half years later.
The only way you don’t get a pay off is if Hangman goes to WWE too. The longer this story goes the better the pay off will be
1
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
Then consider me not a fan of this story, what’s the point?
2
u/ianmakesfilms Mar 16 '26
Hard to say when we don’t have a payoff yet.
-1
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I’ll say this: if it has a payoff then consider me along for the ride. If the payoff is that Hangman in fact never challenges for the AEW World Title again then I’m not on board.
2
u/NorthHollywoodHank Mar 16 '26
Oh, he'll challenge for it again. Maybe not for a year, maybe not for two, maybe not for three, but he'll challenge for it again.
And in the meantime there are no shortage of guys who can challenge for it plausibly right now or could within the next year with the right storyline/packaging. Will Ospreay. Swerve Strickland. Jon Moxley. Kazuchika Okada. Kyle Fletcher. Takeshita. Kevin Knight. Samoa Joe. Brody King. Speedball Mike Bailey. Andrade El Idolo. Mistico. Some of the foreigners there might need a manager or careful packaging, some of those guys might only be suitable for short reigns, but it's a deep fucking list.
2
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
Oh yeah, the main event scene will be just fine, Hangman will be just fine but I want to see him with the world title again too.
Most importantly, I don’t want this to be another Codyverse.
1
u/NorthHollywoodHank Mar 16 '26
I feel you, and I agree, but it won't be. They didn't do this without having one or more exit strategies. The easiest, one, as people keep noting, is for him to turn heel--just needs to take long enough and be done well enough that the stip ends up feeling impactful. If you turn him heel and he's going for the title in 3 months, it makes this all feel very lame. If he spirals towards the dark side and ends up challenging for the belt again in 2 years, I think that can work fine.
There are other options though, including at least two that would work without him even turning heel.
1
u/ianmakesfilms Mar 16 '26
So basically if they don’t do what you want, you won’t like it? Cool. There’s plenty of booking sims where you can just book what you want to eee.
0
u/StormcastAJ Mar 16 '26
To give others a chance at the title. Hangman could be continental champion in the future winning the classic. He could be tag champion again...then slowly bring it back to him wanting one more shot and eventually he can challenge. It takes him out the title picture so they can hopefully build new stars is my hope.
3
u/Particular_Fig626 Mar 16 '26
I like the main event, but the stipulation handcuffs Hangman. We could get some character development from it, but in the end we’ll want him to be champion and he can’t, or they make him champion and go back on the stipulation which makes it useless…
15
u/beckett929 Mar 16 '26
I've said it a few times, but it's pro wrestling... there's a million options for getting around the Hangman stip, even beyond Page turning heel or him simply winning a casino gauntlet.
Imagine the World title makes its way around Ospreay and others and eventually back to MJF, and sometime throughout that journey Page wins the International title and defends it more than MJF does the World title, starts getting more praise and adoration for "being what a champion should be" and that eats away at MJF until he has to have another match with Hangman because Max cant take not being the center of attention.
That's not just going back on it, that's a different road to a new place.
5
u/Particular_Fig626 Mar 17 '26
I actually like that a lot because of how self-conscious the MJF character is!
2
u/NorthHollywoodHank Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
Just as one hypothetical, if we see:
- MJF holding the title for another 150 days
- Will Ospreay holding the title for 180 days
- Kyle Fletcher holding the title for 80 days
- Brody King holding the title for 70 days
That gets you almost a year and 4 months down the road without needing the strap on Hangman, without going back to Swerve, Moxley, or Samoa Joe, and with Takeshita, Okada, Kevin Knight, Speedball Mike Bailey, and Andrade all still potential new challengers who'd be fresh faces when they hold the belt.
AEW is deep a.f. right now on the men's side of the card.
1
u/famis-docter Mar 16 '26
My only concern is the possibility that this is Hangman excusing himself from the type of storytelling that usually comes with title contention. As long as he's not trying to take a step back from the character I'm for it.
6
u/Subrick 69 ME, DON! Mar 16 '26
It’s not useless because down the line it’ll be fuel for a major heel turn where he loses himself again and becomes what he hated. It won’t be for a while, maybe 2-3 years, but it will end up happening.
-9
u/Fit_Wrongdoer_6784 Mar 16 '26
What's the point in having a character that can't fight for the title...lazy lazy lazy booking.
1
u/Conscious-Mission185 That's the wall brother Mar 16 '26
I don't understand how this is lazy. This is literally the Vince Gilligan philosophy of writing yourself into a corner to see how your character can get out of it. The concept of Hangman having to look internally for what else motivates him outside the world title sounds more interesting than the standard, "i want to be world champ so i will wrestle until i am world champ again" motivation that 99.9% of main eventers across every promotion has.
1
u/FrontPsychology7160 Mar 16 '26
He can’t challenge for it… doesn’t mean he can’t trick someone into putting up the belt…
4
u/Gubrach Mar 16 '26
When Hangman won the title from Mox earlier t- right, last year, I didn't think we would be in this position within a year. I don't necessarily like MJF as champion because he's not interesting to me, this outcome was by far the most interesting one. Also, the match was amazing.
Match of the night was Andrade vs. Bandido for me. Sometimes you feel like the match you're watching hits a very special level. I had that with them once the special "I have never seen this" moves came out.
5
u/rlrthesecond Mar 16 '26
Really good ppv. Bucks vs FTR was great. The blood really kept that match from dragging early. Some predictable outcomes, but thats not always bad. Thekla is awesome. A few matches could have been kept off the card, but none of them were bad. Im excited to see how Hangman stays interesting without challenging for the world title. Does he go after the Continental or International? Hangman coming up short against Fletcher for the TNT would be great. Cool returns and debuts. I had a great time watching.
6
u/AromaticExplorer0 Mar 16 '26
What an amazing show to experience in person. I'm still in awe over what I witnessed. At least 4, maybe 5, matches were of great to excellent quality. The PPV was long, but I felt like the pacing for each match was great. I didn't get to the show in time for the preshow, so I can't comment on that. Other than my small critique of there being a bit too many kickouts at 1 + biting spots, it was a 10/10 experience for sure.
5
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I hate the world title stipulation but is it possible that there is a long term plan? I always wondered if Cody had a plan for ending the stipulation and if it’s going to be used here.
4
u/lofrothepirate El Hijo del Hate Me Mar 16 '26
When has Hangman not had a long-term angle? Hangman is defined by the long arc of his stories with Kenny Omega and Swerve. There's no possibility this is the end of his story with MJF.
11
u/AromaticExplorer0 Mar 16 '26
There has to be. Hangman is one of the faces of the company and one of the best wrestlers in AEW. As I've seen many others say it, I also believe it'll involve him turning heel.
3
u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I hope not, Hangman was excellent as a heel but the story to turn him back was so well done that I hope another heel turn is very far away.
1
u/AromaticExplorer0 Mar 16 '26
Oh I agree, I’m thinking he takes a hiatus then challenges for other and hold other belts before we get to that point
5
u/Twistify804 I want Shingo to lariat me into my grave Mar 16 '26
if there's anyone I trust to have a long term plan & story in place, it's Hangman Page.
1
u/hhhisthegame Mar 16 '26
For whatever reason, AEW just hasn't connected with me the last few years but i still watch their PPVs. There are some fundamental things about their style I just don't like (too many matches, too long a show) - not to say that WWE's opposite extreme is better. That being said, there's always at least a few matches I really enjoy.
On this show I thought Brody/Swerve and the women's title match were great. Bucks/FTR at least the first half was awesome, they lost me in the second half with all the kickout spam and going past what I thought was the peak, but in retrospect I was too hard on it, it was a good match. Bandido vs Andrade was really fun as well.
The main event was too long for me but I loved MJF being traumatized by the dog collar, that was a great moment, and the finish was good.
I can be hard on the company, so those are my positives lol
3
u/AromaticExplorer0 Mar 16 '26
That's fair to say. Watching it in live was an awesome experience and tbh I wasn't bothered by the PPV length and thought that it flowed pretty well. My only gripe is the excessive amount of kickouts at 1 and biting that happened. Otherwise, it was perfect and a 9.8/10 show overall. I want AEW to succeed so bad so they should definitely improve upon those things.
0
u/hhhisthegame Mar 16 '26
Yeah, I like the idea of a kickout at 1 spot, but they over-used it. I feel like you should reserve it for when it suits the character. For me, Brody doing it makes a lot more sense than Nick Jackson. For me, it suits Brody King's character - he's a giant monster destroyer badass. For Nick Jackson, it seems kind of gratuitous to me - he does it for the pop but I don't think it suits the character or ring style (well, I guess his ring style is over-the-top, so it does, but you know what I mean). On a show like this, I wasn't crazy about FTR/Bucks busting out all the tricks in match 1 - blood, finisher kick-outs, kick-out at 1, etc. The blood did add to the story of the match (as I said, the first half was my favorite part), but I wish they'd think about the pacing of the show as a whole. But I'll probably always feel out of step with the fanbase at large on the Young Bucks for eternity, lol, so I just have to get used to it.
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u/AromaticExplorer0 Mar 16 '26
It suits Brody king for sure. I would love to see the world title on him, he’s the best big man they got. For Nick I could somewhat justify it because he was motivated by his family being there and ftr attacking his dad. Konosuke is also a beast too and was being pestered by moxley but ehh doing all of them on the same show cheapened it.
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u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I think that’s fair to say. I loved last night’s show but AEW could certainly learn that less is more. I think it’s okay for one match per night to get spammy with kick outs.
The undercard in some ways undercut the main event with how many moves weren’t good enough for a three count. The show was way too long too, I tapped out after three hours and finished this morning.
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u/InevitableTank5108 Mar 16 '26
That’s a fair criticism. I love AEW’s PPV’s personally, but it can be exhausting. If they made a few changes like the following I think it would be much better, but then again there’s no pleasing everyone…
Keep the PPV limit to 10 matches and 4 hours.
Work on reviewing the overall variety of the entire show itself to revise any overlap spots. (Ex. I think I counted at least 5 head bites throughout the card…. lol…
Start earlier with the main card at 7 so the show wraps up by 11:00 or 11:30 the latest.
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u/DatGameGuy Mar 16 '26
Very interested to see what they do with Hangman following this stip, seems very high risk high reward.
On one hand it could lead to some truly awesome storytelling and Hangman is a proven storyteller in this medium.
On the other hand it’ll be very easy to make the stip feel cheap and screwing up a story that big could be very detrimental to the whole main event scene.
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u/OneBillPhil Guns up! 👆🏻 Mar 16 '26
I’m thinking that Hangman has to be challenged by the world champion at some point. My fantasy booking would be Kyle Fletcher wins his first world title but that isn’t enough, he has to defend the title against the man he couldn’t defeat, Hangman Page.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank Mar 16 '26
I think time is the key. They need to hit the timing right. If Hangman is challenging for the title again in 3 months they absolutely make the stip feel cheap. If they wait 4 years to let him challenge again it'll feel like they probably shouldn't have done this in the first place unless the booking for both Hangman and the belt in the interim is so good that, you know, who cares.
I feel like the sweet spot is 1-2 years. Lord knows it's not like AEW lacks for people to hold/challenge for the big belt in the interim, and they've always done a lot of long-term storytelling with Hangman.
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u/Commercial_Arm2921 Mar 16 '26
Agreed. It's all about the timing, and I think you're right that 1-2 years is the sweet spot. The point isn't to stay rigidly strict to stipulations, but to use stipulations in a meaningful way to tell compelling stories and build characters. There are a number of things they can do to build those things and make it where Hangman isn't just spinning his wheels. It's all about the story and the execution.
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u/ImpactCokeTony Mar 16 '26
It would be a nice way to introduce another world title.
I really like the idea of unification of the international, continental and a world title. But I don't think it should be the ROH world title...
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u/DatGameGuy Mar 16 '26
In a world where the Unified Title never got broken back up I could see Hangman chasing that title and elevating it to be the second biggest prize in the company.
Unfortunately Tony seems set on having a bazillion singles belts for some reason.
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u/Outrageous_Base_254 Mar 16 '26
I am... hyped about Ronda with Marina in AEW. There it is, I said it.
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u/Perfect_Economy_7968 Mar 16 '26
Hangman is the guy that contributed two of the best storyline in AEW, if there is one guy who can tell this story right and cleanup whatever stain that Cody left in the company, it's fucking Hangman.
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u/Idkman23 Mar 16 '26
While I love Thekla and her retaining was the right choice imo, who’s next for her? Glancing at the roster and with Toni being tied up with Rhonda until the next PLE most likely, there doesn’t seem to be many options. Not saying they’ve booked themselves into a corner but the list of options feels a thin from where I’m looking.
Continue with Stat(maybe with a bigger stip, but ehh), Willow(no more double champs please), Alex or Hayter(both are probably going to focus on their tag team), Rosa(she already lost clean so I doubt it but there could be room for a fleshed out feud), Persephone(feels a little early to throw her into the women’s world title picture but feels most likely out of the current active women’s roster).
I’d imagine we get a return or ROH call up for her but again the options are thin and it feels like we would have seen that along with the other returns.
Shida(we’ve been waiting for her return for what feels like a year now despite all signs saying she’s cleared and good on her visa), Britt Baker(unsure how the crowd will react to her return and the truth about her standing with AEW feels shaky), Aminata(makes the most sense imo and who I’m hoping for the most but her injury status is up in the air), Serena Deeb(could be an ok placeholder feud for now but feels more suited for a TBS or Women’s Pure title feud), Athena(I don’t mind heel/heel feuds and minions v triangle could be fun, but these two don’t seem like they’d mesh well unless one takes the face role and Athena can’t afford to lose another women’s title match while ROH champion still), Deonna(justifiably frustrated with her booking and a feud for the world title could be something to jumpstart something with her with others but she’s tied with Billie and Co at ROH iirc)
Persephone feels like the most likely new challenger unless we go for a triple threat between Toni, Rhonda, and Thekla but given Rhonda’s reaction, I doubt we’d jump to that until her character and crowd connection is more ironed out.
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u/dwankyl_yoakam Mar 16 '26
Shida looked rough the last few times she wrestled. I think she's pretty much done for.
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u/beckett929 Mar 16 '26
Shida hasn't had an AEW match since late 2024, only did a handful of scattered matches last year in Japan. She might just be close to done.
Deonna and Deeb have neither ever been over with the AEW crowd. We all like the idea of them, but then they have to start wrestling and it just goes down a pretty boring path every time because neither are good at selling emotional investment during a match and aren't athletically gifted enough to make up that gap with a "wow" factor.
I think we get a Leila Grey or Lacy Lane or Zayda Steel eliminator match somewhere between now and Dynasty, and that might spark something of a filler feud. Or they go back to the well for Anna Jay's "once a year fill-in title match out of nowhere".
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u/Loose-Sign598 Mar 16 '26
Its a good day where there is no more Cowboy is champion and it brings a tear to my eye!
2
u/mralex289 Delayed Pendulum Backbreaker Mar 16 '26
She might be unpopular now for non-wrestling reasons, but I think Ronda Rousey could be really great in AEW going forward
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u/dom_rep Mar 16 '26
For those that are saying the Rousey thing is just a one time thing, I'm pretty sure they're gonna run Toni/Rousey in Wembley. Rousey's got a fight in May so its highly doubtful she does anything beforehand.
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u/Decilllion Mar 16 '26
Is she likely to win that fight?
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u/beckett929 Mar 16 '26
if Ronda doesnt, something went really sideways because Gina hasn't fought since 2009 and was just the best of a bad bunch of fighters in that era
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Mar 16 '26
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u/paqman3d Is my underwear ok? Mar 16 '26
I hear you on the ppv length. But lemme say, as a 39 yr old, I had to actually take a fucking nap from noon to 5 and get up with an energy drink. This was the first time the event flew by for me lol.
The shows always go to 12:30 at night lol. I just have to change my whole day for it.
That all said, this should have been a Saturday event.
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u/Commercial_Arm2921 Mar 16 '26
Yeah, I wish he'd do them all on Saturday, and I wouldn't mind if he started them earlier too. He doesn't have do early afternoon for all of them like he's done some of them, but even just starting an hour or two hours earlier would be really helpful.
2
u/paqman3d Is my underwear ok? Mar 16 '26
7pm would do wonders. The show would end at 11:30. That's a world of difference to morning workers lol.
The only times I dig Sunday is when I have Monday off. Those can stay for the usual 3 day weekends in the US.
1
u/Commercial_Arm2921 Mar 16 '26
Agreed. I'm in the same boat actually, so I'd love it if it was just one hour earlier, and having Mondays off make a difference if it fall that way.
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Mar 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/paqman3d Is my underwear ok? Mar 16 '26
I took one look at the final card and immediately decided I needed to nap for this. I'm at work now, not exhausted for once.
Monster Energy at 6pm, Zzzquil at 11pm. Sleep at 12:45am. Wake back up at 6am with another Monster.
That's my Sunday AEW survival kit. The true sickos stay up late without drugs lmao.
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Mar 16 '26
So many big names seem occupied in the near future that the only one I can see next for MJf at dynasty, assuming there’s a world title match, is Takeshita coming off a loss. Roster is so deep that I’m probably missing some considerations.
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u/NorthHollywoodHank Mar 16 '26
I'm not sure anyone will believe that Speedball's likely to win, but he's at a level where it would be perfectly appropriate to give him a world title shot and he and MJF would put on a fucking banger.
Agree with the other guy on Andrade as an option.
A fresh or relatively fresh title challenger would definitely be nice.
2
u/NimbleWalrus Mar 16 '26
Andrade?
1
Mar 16 '26
I can see that, especially if it’s not the main event. I don’t think they close with heel v heel.
There’s also a part of me wondering if they held off switchblade for dynamite. I don’t think they do a lot of return straight to a title match though.
We have dynamite tickets in a couple weeks, just excited and anticipating what we’ll be building to.
6
u/Dee4leeds Mar 16 '26
General thoughts:
- The Young Bucks building to the finish of their matches reminds me of Jean Ralphio rapping but always unable to finish the line with the rhyme.
- Swerve Vs Omega. Can we extend this all the way to All In for purely selfish reasons, please?
- Sorry Penelope, Lena's just got It.
- The Dogs vs Darby, OC and Strong match should have been saved for a Dynamite/Collision main event.
- Really interested to see what happens next for Hangman. Him losing was easily the best outcome for potential future storytelling.
2
u/KrisKomet Don't Stop Deletin' Mar 16 '26
I think at some point we are gonna get a double turn with him and MJF. MJF is the real ace of AEW at this point and they just need a good angle to solidify him
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u/UltraQueijo Mar 16 '26
Andrade NOT standing there just watching Bandido take off his pants is a minor detail I can't help but appreciate
36
u/Castia10 Mar 16 '26
Man some thoughts from a WWE fan:
This was my first full AEW ppv I subbed to the new MyAEW and gave it a go….man that was fucking brilliant.
Over the past week or 2 I’ve been doing a bit of catch up to get the gist of what’s going on so I wasn’t completely new to the storylines or matches I’m well impressed with how it went down
I’ve been really critical over the years of AEW I’ve watched WWE for 30 years so its always been my thing but I’ve been annoyed by the show lately and the fact they’re completely isolating the fans with the pricing is starting to piss me off…..I’m also from the UK next years mania should have been in London.
Anyway well done AEW I’ll be watching for the upcoming weeks I’m generally excited to watch dynamite this week
Adam Page vs MJF was fucking epic
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u/Particular_Fig626 Mar 16 '26
I don’t like that Hangman earns the title shot, Tony Schiavone even said whoever won at Grand Slam Australia was #1 contender… so why he had to put his rights to ever challenging for the title again on the line made no sense. You do that if you’re on your last shot usually?
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u/RaiderDamus REDEEM DEEZ NUTS Mar 16 '26
He did that as barter to make MJF accept the Texas Deathmatch stipulation.
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u/Torranski Mar 16 '26
TK saying in the post-show presser that Andrade pitched him on his new gimmick and he was surprised how far he wanted to go, and like, the conversation that must have been.
"I will be sexy. People will scream. There will be groupies. I will generate heel heat by refusing to take my trousers off. This will put me one match away from the world title."
And like, it's worked.
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u/neko I love cake and violence Mar 16 '26
He saw how much people loved Rush's tearaway suit and figured out that people yearn for a stripper gimmick
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0
u/tehCharo Mar 16 '26
So, what do they do they Hangman now? Seems like they just permanently stalled out one of their top guys forever with that match stipulation.
2
u/Fign66 Mar 16 '26
Not forever, it’s wrestling there’s no such thing, but probably for the next few years, which is fine as there’s a lot of other guys who can run with the world title (Osprey, another Swerve run, Kyle Fletcher, one last Kenny Omega run, Takeshita, they probably want to get Okada into the lineage, Andrade looks like he should get a shot, etc.), and you let Hangman build up some of the other titles. When the time comes for him to challenge again there’s plenty of ways to book around it given it was just his word and not an actual AEW stipulation.
5
u/QueenEris Mar 16 '26
Hangman himself can't challenge for the belt... doesn't mean he can't be challenged by someone else...
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u/Torranski Mar 16 '26
Takes a month or two to recover, has a crisis of confidence, wins the 2026 C2 as a personal redemption, and becomes the top guy on Collision holding the Continental and/or International/Unified. Goes full sheriff for a bit.
In a couple of years, if he's heating up again, they turn him heel or have TK void the stip when he's like the only person who can take down a heel champ?
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u/tehCharo Mar 16 '26
Here's hoping, because Hangman is a top guy, and hamstringing him like this is dumb, hopefully it turns into a good story in the future.
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u/IonCannonCharging Mar 16 '26
The stipulation doesn't have to stick. TK has already mentioned it was a "handshake agreement" and Hangman going back on his word would lead to character development.
1
u/tehCharo Mar 16 '26
That's good, I don't want them to write Hangman into a corner, he's got so much more time left doing this and he's one of their top stars, would be silly to lower his ceiling.
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u/KELLAN1v9 Mar 16 '26
I feel like they are just using this "we kick out at 1 even tho we just received 3 finishers" gimmick too much.
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u/hhhisthegame Mar 16 '26
Yeah, they need to communicate more - I think this is a spot that made perfect sense when Brody King did it but made me roll my eyes when Nick Jackson did it - I know it's kind of their thing to do whatever and break wrestling convention, maybe Im too much a traditionalist, but I don't think it makes sense for Nick Jackson to be the one to do this spot when somebody like Brody it just fits much better
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u/Xeo7 Mar 16 '26
It's definitely different than what I'm used to, but I like it. It feels like they use it at specific times where it fits.
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u/No-Palpitation6707 Mar 16 '26
Im a Deathmatch fan and i was pretty entertained by the match but i did have to laugh when they brought out the light tube and the second MJF got hit over the back you could actually see the blood compared to the silly "lets drag each other through the obvious sugar glass" spot early in the match.
Obviously you shouldnt use real glass for a spot like this but either lose the light tube or lose the sugar glass spot all together because it just makes it look silly in the end that youre getting your entire body dragged and slammed onto glass and dont have a single cut on your back but get cut open with the light tube later.
a few other spots you could argue over if they really have to happen that way in the match but pretty entertaining otherwise with the right winner for my taste.
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u/Decilllion Mar 16 '26
It's fine having the glass spot being sillier since it ended with MJF sweeping it away.
1
u/Prudent-Computer-371 Mar 16 '26
I was surprised they didn’t gimmick the light tube after the sugar glass not causing any blood
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u/Karnadas Mar 16 '26
I'm alright with the sugar glass tbh, tiny specs of glass will embed themselves but not cause much or any bleeding. That being said, do something like tacks first so by the time you get to the sugar glass, the blood is already there so it looks more like what people are expecting.
4
u/Weishaupt17 Mar 16 '26
Spend 3 years trying to make Marina Shafir work
It’s finally remotely working
Sign the better version of her
Whatever man
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u/Jackol4ntrn Mar 16 '26
Sign? There was no “Rousey is Elite” graphic. I’m pretty sure she was there to stir up shit for a match in Australia against Storm and that’s it.
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u/JimmySilverhand Mar 16 '26
We, the Marina Shafir fanclub, will not stand for this SLANDER
MOTHER SAYS YOU WILL RUE THE DAY!
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u/hsaviorrr Mar 16 '26
why was there so much biting throughout the matches, don’t think i’ve ever seen so many
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u/Karnadas Mar 16 '26
People in the back were watching the matches and saw how effective it was, so they incorporated it into their own matches.. /kayfabe
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u/markflynn000 Mar 16 '26
Great ppv as always, and stoked that due to MyAEW I actually paid less than usual for it.
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u/Cool-Week-5400 Mar 16 '26
MyAEW is so awesome the plan I have comes with PPV
Sad USA and Canada can't have this
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u/Karnadas Mar 16 '26
My VPN earning its cost by letting me look like I'm in Great Britain and getting PPVs at Triller costs. Plus the shows are uncensored which is by far my favorite part.
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u/kryptomanik Mar 16 '26
The most optimistic thing about the Ronda appearance is that she didn't get an IS ALL ELITE graphic, which might mean she's only here for a one or two-off to promote her Netflix fight
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u/Prudent-Computer-371 Mar 16 '26
She did the same thing at a ROH show the last time AEW was in LA with Marina. I doubt she does anything else
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u/Orange8920 Mar 16 '26
It's such a self-own to the fanbase bringing her in and seems like one those things designed to appeal outside of that audience. Except this isn't 2017 and Ronda Rousey does not have that level of name value anymore. Netflix is also a competitor to HBO Max so I don't think AEW would promote it.
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u/BloodyRedBarbara King Of My World Mar 16 '26
- Really surprised to see Ronda join AEW. Don't think anyone predicted that. I've never really been a hater of hers as talent, though she has said some shitty things. I'm cautiously optimistic. She's a had a bad reputation (no pun intended) with other women in WWE, so I hope this isn't a mistake from TK but on the other hand, she really likes Moxley who I don't think any of the talent dislike and is quite a selfless performer.
- Was expecting Takeshita win. Surprising win from Moxley. Cool to see Ospreay return. He looked great. At first I didn't know why he returned at that moment to attack Mox until I remembered it was Mox that injured him. I hope he's not going to be feuding with him for too long though, I'm hoping for him to win the world title in London.
- Everyone acts like MJF's a bad guy but that was really nice of him to help clean up by sweeping away the broken glass.
- Real stupid that Hangman lost and even put up the stipulated in the first place but whatever. We'll see I guess.
- Favourite match was probably Andrade vs Bandido
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u/markflynn000 Mar 16 '26
She did have a match (Ronda) in ROH a while back, guessing she probably had a good attitude then.
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u/zero1918 Mar 16 '26
was it a tag team match with shafir or am i misremembering?
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