AEW playing risky game with questionable Will Ospreay-Ricochet booking
The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle. The Post Match Angle will return on Oct. 15
AEW did some strange things in the build-up to and during the much-anticipated match between International champion Will Ospreay and Ricochet — potentially wasting a chance at a monumental moment.
The excellent interview segment between Ospreay and Ricochet with Renee Paquette showed the exact issue critics point to with AEW’s storytelling. The YouTube segment gave you their backstory and a clear idea of why their match matters. But instead of letting this eight-minute exchange — which only got 59K views as of Wednesday — happen live in the ring or air on Dynamite, we got pieces of it on the lower-rated Rampage and Collison
How the match played out made the choice make slightly more sense as we never got a clear winner, so AEW can still present the story in a better way down the road.
But the route they took to get there left me wondering if fans in Pittsburgh were booing the booking or AEW’s intended target Konosuke Takeshita.
The match had already been stopped and booed and restarted and cheered after Ospreay and Ricochet pinned each other at the same time. Fans were robbed of a winner shortly after by Takeshita’s attack on Ospreay, which has been building in storyline.
It was hard to tell if fans were more upset that AEW took a winner away from them twice or upset at Takeshita, who eventually caught their unqestioned ire.
At least AEW is finally committing to a Takeshita push as he will face Ricochet and Ospreay for the title at WrestleDream at the needed risk of damaging the feeling around Ricochet-Ospreay rematch.
Road Warriors?
NXT successfully began its new CW era on Tuesday, and with a new era should come changes.
The NXT 2.0 version of the product is clearly over as the brand has a new silver and black branding and new world championships that removed the colorful backgrounds.
But things should go beyond the surface.
It feels imperative after what we saw Tuesday night and the energy in the Allstate Arena in Chicago — and likely from The Factory in St. Louis, Missouri next week — that WWE find a way to keep NXT on the road as regularly as possible.
While no definitive plans have been announced yet, imagine as a viewer seeing two straight weeks of larger crowds only to return back to the studio-wrestling atmosphere at the Performance Center the rest of the way outside of premium live events.
At the least, it should start by taking its special television shows such as New Year’s Evil, Roadblock and Spring Breakin’ outside the PC to make them feel even more special.
This should make it easier to work main roster talent into the shows if WWE is worried about ticket sales.
It should be easier to get main roster stars involved with TKO cutting back on live events (house shows) in 2025. Maybe those resources can go into smaller NXT shows worked around cities near where the main roster will already be performing to make travel eaiser. NXT talent can pop on Raw and SmackDown to push their storylines.
Instead of house shows that maybe don’t make enough money for TKO’s liking it can look at traveling NXT shows as an investment in helping grow its television product.
The 10 Count
Shane McMahon probably needs to show up in AEW soon after The Young Bucks posted a photo with him last week to go along with the previously leaked one of Vince McMahon’s son with AEW boss Tony Khan. We got our first potential on-screen tease when Jon Moxley hinted on Dynamite that someone else was behind the war he’s waging on AEW.
The question fans should be asking is not when will Kevin Owens turn on Cody Rhodes, but when will Owens and Randy Orton turn on their friend? Orton is just taking a more subtle approach than the in-your-face Owens.
Cora Jade’s surprise return may have taken away from the initial clash between NXT Women’s champion Roxanne Perez and Giulia, but it left me wanting to see more after Perez and Jade likely feud with Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer.
What a superb ending to “Monday Night Raw” as Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed gave you a thrilling and explosive Last Monster Standing match— even bringing back the old ring collapse bit (even if it didn’t fully collapse.) Seth Rollins making a truly surprise return to put a Stomp on Reed — who put him out of action in storyline — was such a sneaky and fitting way to do it.
MVP has a chance to be the most dynamic and engaging manager AEW has ever had with endless possibilities. He could be used to make a returning Swerve Strickland feel fresher. After Shelton Benjamin showed up on Wednesday, he’s likely the conduit to a debuting Bobby Lashley and potentially a new Hurt Business faction to feud with Strickland. All eyes should be on him.
AEW and Warner Bros. Discovery both feel like winners in their new media rights agreement. AEW gets a reportedly fair price at upwards of $150 million a year and gets to be simulcast and on-demand on a major streaming platform in Max. WBD trimmed the floundering Rampage and Battle of the Belts shows and double dips on AEW fans (like it or not) by having them pay for Max and the pay-per-views at a discounted rate in the U.S. If AEW landed a third show with a different provider, it could be quite the media rights haul.
WWE needs to turn Naomi heel — and her tense reaction to losing to Bayley feels like the start. Triple H could easily pull that off while turning Tiffany Statton babyface in one fell swoop. It looks like it will be properly gradual, just like what’s going on with Xavier Woods.
Hook needed to unburden himself from the FTW championship to move forward and having him re-retire it in Queens, home of the famous Elks Lodge, was perfect. How his dad Taz got “attacked in the parking lot” could set up his most interesting story yet.
If you’re TNA, you have to put the world championship on Joe Hendry at Bound for Glory, right?
After an understandably slow start considering it was Nigel McGuinness’s first match in 13 years, he and Bryan Danielson gave you everything you hoped for at Dynamite Grand Slam. The pace settled in, the drama built with every McGuinness lariat and Danielson kick. I may have had McGuinness pass out in the Lebell Lock but him thanking Danielson before tapping fit the story of the closure he was looking for and made the finish feel unique.
Wrestler of the Week
Trick Williams, AEW
Trick Williams won in the main event of the debut CW episode to become a two-time NXT champion, even if the match with Ethan Page felt a little clunky — especially late. It was quite the stamp of approval for the rising star. Williams could use a strong TNA crossover match next, maybe with Moose or Josh Alexander.
Social Media Posts of the Week
Match to Watch
Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu, WWE Bad Blood (Saturday, 6 p.m., Peacock)
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre inside Hell in a Cell could main event, but all eyes should be on this match. The outcome will likely drive the separate directions Rhodes and Reigns will go next, while potentially set up an Undisputed WWE championship rematch. How well with these two actually co-exist as they team for the first time?
