AEW Hot Topics | Best Wrestlers in 2024?

It's Tuesday. You know what that means. It's time for ignition with the aw fan Hub podcast team. This is Kelson and I want to start off by announcing an interview that we're doing with the All Elait Wrestling staff psychiatrist doctor David Reese, MD. That'll be taking place right here on our discord at three pm Eastern time on Thursday, December two. Of inviting everybody to come in and just

Well, first off, Kelson, I'll be unveiling to the world the the the art of time travel because uh, December second was yesterday, but I said.

Well, yeah, it happens.

But we'll be pulling some uh some top topics of conversation from the community, and obviously we're going to keep it light and keep it fresh. I kind of want to dig into like the inner workings of you know, the mochanisms of Mental Health CTE and the aw locker room. So it's great to be given the privilege as a member of this community to lead that project and you know, be able to talk to this guy, and I assure you it'll be a good listen.

I have. I can't wait. Obviously, I can't wait. It's already happened according to my calendar. Ums. Hey, right, yeah, for sure, that's not what I look like. Well some of you don't know what I look like. Anyway, let's get started with the show. We've got the second annual twenty twenty four. Well it's the first annual twenty twenty four. We had the twenty twenty three ones last year. Boy, I'm having an aneurysm right as we speak. I don't think.

You've been hitting the little hard there.

All right, what is in this water that I'm drinking? Hintint. Anyway, we're doing the second annual aw Fan Hubb Awards. We did it last year and it was a lot of fun. What we're doing right now is we are coming up with nominations. We have seven categories and everybody is invited to go on our discord or on our Subreddit or on Blue Sky, and I will put the links to each in the description of this podcast, and you can

You want me to go for the low hanging Fruit, We'll go Heal the Year. We'll go for Heal the Year. It's obvious who the Heel of the Year is. For the men, I'd probably go with them JF. For the women, I'd go with Mariah May. No one's really painted a more convincing portrait as who is doing all the bs and aw th those two. So I can't imagine that anyone here would or would disagree with that statement.

I mean, do you.

Think that anybody's even close, Shane.

No, no, no, Mariah May is convincing. Although I know this is a hot topic, definitely convincing argument for the females. MJF has it. No one has ripped that diamond diamond U dynamite ring off of him yet, so I think I tell he is completely humbled. He's going to continue to be a thorn in everybody's side. No one's really risen up to the occasion to dethron him from that place.

So about that, because weventually got the diamond diamond ring? Uh so what is it? Diamond think? Do you think? Does anybody think that MJF is gonna lose the dynamite diamond ring tomorrow night? It's kind of like synonymous with MJF at this point, don't you think.

Oh yes, yeah, I think it's time for five years in a row. I think he's losing it on your six. I think it's going to hyper drive his bullshit and I think we're gonna see a lot of great exposition for a potential you know, mega heel turned to Adam Cole. I would put it on coal, but I don't think that's going to be the case either. I'd like to see someone out of left field, grab it, give it, put it on j White. If you're not gonna put the World Championship on him, give it to him.

Sir Petico or bust Shane.

No, no, no, Luther, Luther's coming back. Luther announced again we don't but.

He had transplanted because Tony Storm had no clue and when she announced it he had a transplant. I don't know if that's k paper if he actually had one.

As to your I agree with you as MJF being the heel of the year, but I would put Adam Page getting up there because he hasn't exactly been mister nice guy this year, and uh, he's probably for me, he's probably the second best when it comes to a heel right now.

Yeah, but I still think he has that goodness in him somewhere. I think that's the whole thing. He's doing this to per j a e w of the the evil and anyone that's getting in the way of it is going to get crushed with his fist of angry emo.

Yeah.

Funny you mentioned that, shame because I think that that that heartness, that heart you mentioned, is going to play a big part in these storylines. Going forward. So but that's a tangent for now.

Does anybody else think that, you know, for lack of better words, drunk onco Jesse is the heuel of the year.

Oh a lot of morset wept, no about that, No, dude, he's not drunk Uncle Jesse. Dude, we haven't seen him consume alcohol on screen since last sense he was chugging beers in front of ambulances last year. No, dude, I.

He's built up quite a reserve.

Yes, of alcohol that in his empty house.

So it is spleed or it his liver. I mean he's that thing saturated by now, don't.

You think most likely?

Yeah, it's like pumping up a Nike shoe. Nope, speaking about aw and heals, but it's like pumping up a Nike shoe, you know, punch him in the liver. He's gonna be drunk for three days.

You know. I'm gonna break in and I'm gonna say my most improved wrestler of the year, And honestly, there's a lot of them, but I don't think anybody is more improved than Harley Cameron. I mean, just because she's losing doesn't mean that she hasn't improved at her character work is something to really look forward to.

I'm I'm giving it to Jack Perry. He's came a long way from Jungle Boy and he had to look. I love the skateegoat band bust whatever it is, and he's came a long way. New Japan really helped him.

See, I'm going with Danny k on that, because she has made super strides this year. She went from being a barely mid carter to getting some shots. Her trip to stardom really really helped her.

And they just did. They just announce a match for Anna Jay tomorrow night on Dynamite against Emmy Soccer, which is always I love seeing Emmy.

Emmy Soccer is back.

She is second match.

You have that. You have that list of as energy versus Penelope forod on your tomorrow on your Dynamite cord.

I posted that from a w so Penelop before.

But Emmy Soccer is back tomorrow night. I just can't remember who she's wrestling me. There you go, well, even better, we want Mina. We're getting Mina.

Everybody wants.

Everybody wants Mina.

Yeah, I gotta feel bad for Penelope that they have Penelope tomorrow night, because she goes from a loss to Britt Baker to facing off another one that they're pushing kind of hard with Anna Jay.

You know, I think we're gonna see some more out of that. I think she's losing for a reason, and I think it has something to do with somebody who's coming back soon.

You think's coming back soon now that.

Honor, I think there may be two people coming back. Yeah who So listen because I when I first saw this match, now that I remember that it is Anna Jay and Penelope Ford and not Amy Sacra. When I first saw this match, again, my aneurysm is kicking in there.

Uh.

When I first saw this match, the first thing that went through in my mind was, of course Ta Mellow coming back, which we haven't seen yet, which is like, I don't know what they're waiting for. But who was Penelope Ford's most prominent partner, the money monny, Yeah, the Bunny. Would it be something if the Bunny came back tomorrow night? She ain't and we set up something like that. I don't think she is, but it's.

Not coming back.

He left, she didn't renew her contract. She's been doing any work.

Yeah, I think.

I'll go out on a limb. I think I think we're going to see and I'll before siding with Julia Hart And I think once sky Blue comes back, it's going to be the House of Hearts. They're gonna be a badass ladies heel faction, probably the first, the first one, first one since the Radicals. I think that was the last heel faction for the women.

You know what, Well Blue is not coming back till next summer. Yeah, there's there's just no way she'll be back before then.

Julius, Julia is better when she has a minion and a piece available. She's got the look, She's good enough in the ring. I think that rub dor do her well, and I think that's why she's losing. Julie's gonna help her find her way.

Barry. I had come up with a little bit of a of a scenario where Julia and Jamie Hayter actually team up and that this has all been a ploy on both of their parts. If you watched the last match that Jamie Hayter Matt had, which was against and the aneurysm is coming in again, who would who did she wrestle against?

Yeah?

Can I name that go ahead, Yeah, red Dead Redemption too, don't sue rock Star.

Point is is that if you watch that match between Hater and Amanada, Hater was very heelish in that match. She was very violent. I wouldn't say heelish, but she was more violent than she had been. That was a brutal match. That was a really hard hit Aramananda likes to work stiff.

When she works stiff, she's good. She can't that's she doesn't do as good in the ring and Jamie works.

I wasn't there what Jamie was all about when she was before she got hurt with she I mean, it's not like she's changing who she is. She just seems to be becoming what she was before she got hurt.

Yeah, because she's not.

She's not looked great in the ring yet and they really haven't put her in very many matches since she's come back. And you know.

Something that Yeah, I think you up a good point there too. And this was something I want to take a step back because we were talking about ant and j and A. Jay has carried a confidence with her, but there's a strain that she's carrying and I think that's because she's about ten pounds heavier. You can see the muscle, you can see just the strength in her

Well, we have we have talked about the leanness as you put it, of Jamie Hayter before. Add to that point. Also, Jamie Hayter is scheduled to appear on Dynamite and a you'll hear from Jamie Hayter. I would be interested to see if her demeanor or even her outfit changes a little bit after last week. I just thought last week was a little bit better as far as bringing back

Thanks. No, I was going to say, is you know, we've talked about this in the past. When somebody comes back, especially recently, it seems like they're bringing them back when they're they're they're they're able to go, but not necessarily ready. Because of all the returns that we've had in ae W, I think the only one that I can think of that came back where they left off was when stat Lerner came back and beat Jay Cargill and didn't really show any missing and she came back from a knee

Well, one of the things I will say is that we mentioned this way back when it happened when Serena Deeb came back from her lengthy time off, a lot of us mentioned there's no such thing as ring ross with Serena Deeb. She came back and she looked like a house of buyer, right.

I can't forgot she came back from that too bad.

Yeah, she doesn't have any ring ross. She's one one of the best women's wrestlers, but she can't cut a promo to save her life. She's a she's a charisma. She's a charismavor attax.

Like Serena, you know, like the problems she cut. I believe good. Who was in the ring with her? Was it Cody Rhodes when she talked about how w W made her put in breast in plants. She got rid of at A soon as she left squad. Honestly, that's another thing that you know, we keep talking talking about doctor David Reese. Are women do they feel pressured and you know, mentally anguished about their appearance compared to some

Well, let's move go ahead.

You definitely couldn't you know, tell that by how often he's injured accidentally?

Yeah? Yeah, Does anybody else have a nomination that they want to share for one of the seven?

I did, go ahead?

Yeah, I wanted to nominate Danny Garcia for most Improved

But but really, really.

Just I thought his his rise and improvement both on the mic and in the ring has been great. A little more to go on the mic, but but he's starting to look the part of what they need him to be if they're going to invest in him for a few years going forward.

Well, Barry, I'm going and I'm glad that go ahead, man, go ahead.

I'm glad he won that. Uh not one, but he he did a draw with o'card.

That's going to jump him farther than I think people recognize. Going toe to toe with Ocado, one of the best in the business is really going to help him. So I'm looking forward to big things with him in that T and T title and seeing who he fused with. He's a he's a go getter and he's going to be far, but he yet he's probably it's still charisma, but he'll get there.

Yeah. Well, Barry, I wanted to ask you ques when it comes to down and his you know, a lack of push as I guess is what you were alluding to. After the C two last year, do you think that they had how much of the contract situation?

Do you think I can do with that?

From what I understand, if I'm remembering right, that did impact his match with MJF on who went over on that. Initially they were hesitant to put him over MJF if they weren't certain he was coming back.

But earlier in the year is really what I.

Was talking about. I thought what they did with him leading into all In with that short term feud with with with MGF and stuff, and since then has been really really good. But it's the earlier part of the year, coming out of the C two, you could tell they just they wanted to get behind him, but they couldn't figure out really where to slot him in. And so if there was ever a group of baby faces, he'd be there and they try to get some things and

Yeah, well yeah, Garcia to me, Garcia can be one of the pillars, I guess is the best way of putting it, you know, accepted pillar, I guess in aw I wanted to ask a specific question because this has been really interesting based on the nominations that we've already gotten in the community, and there's been hundreds Faction of the Year, A lot of people are picking a combination of the BCC and the Death Writers this Faction of

Would you guys want to turn you want to talk about impact? Though I thought I figured Sulton would have something to say about this. So I was going to wait, Sulton, if you got it go ahead, Well, I just.

I agree with you. If you're going for if you're going to base it on impact that they're having to ae W, it's got to be BCC Death Writers because they're the only faction that's done something. For the last five months. There's not really been a faction that's actually done anything to warrant that. I mean, BC, I love House of Black, but they really haven't done much of

You could certainly put you could certainly put the elite in that conversation as well, in terms of impact and character development, story development and story and if you really want to consider the full spectrum of impact, you know, the top light has been if a pretty decent set of guys performing as an enhancement to ealent not to mention the character development the past two months has been steadily inclining.

But see I pushed that. I'd put that push because of what the Death Riders has been doing, because otherwise doing anything.

Nobody has mentioned one faction that has been Wait.

Wait, I got a dark Horse, and if it's who you're gonna say, Helston, these are my guys and that's bull of of Gold?

Is that who you're going with?

Yeah, these guys, these are This is a group that I personally don't really think works very well. And maybe that's why nobody has mentioned them. But do you want me to tell you who? I think the conglomeration nobody is mentioned. Ye, word of the day is overrated.

This conglomeration is like the B Team All Stars. That's kind of how I they're not bad guys, but you're not going to run a main event program with them.

You know, it's space Jam at the first half of the first movie without Michael Jordan's.

I mean another another dark order. Another faction that nobody is mentioned. And I know these are I particularly I know this is your favorite faction of all time? Is the Learning Tree? Nope? Text is that you can't you can't get away.

I just think Don Kallas family needs to be mentioned, and how much nuclear heat they had, uh, their investment with Kyle Fletcher, who who I think needs a nod at least a little bit of honorable mentioned for most improved because his look went from bleached, bleached out to honed and skilled and looking uh like a badass. So I think he deserves something and him coming in and that little feud with will Osprey is still going on

Well to that point is, uh, how do does anybody have any opinions? And maybe Kyle Fletcher is the most.

Improved of the year, a case for it, absolutely think that.

Yeah, but the way he was booked and he was overshadowed by will Osprey and let's be honest here, Ossie Open just never got over what.

Yeah, in America, it's like the dude, It's like the dude starts with dating sky Blue and he's immediately the top guy in.

A w UP with that for the most for the most part of the time they've been here, his partner has been hurt. So, you know, the Open didn't really get a chance to.

Be a tough tag team at about six months and they just, I mean.

Well, we can't really say.

What you mean.

The team is the best.

They're phenomenal team, don't get me wrong, but the reception by a w fans was not what I was expecting.

I remember watching those matches thinking, man, also opens a great tag team, but this Kyle Fletcher guy is gonna be a gonna be a rock star. Like every time they were out there, I just kept thinking, man, this kid. When they split these guys up, eventually, this kid's gonna be huge. And then Mark Davis got hurt, and I remember thinking the first time I saw Fletcher wrestle on his own, and I can't remember who it was, but I said, he's never gonna wrestle with Mark Davis again.

Well, you know, I'm gonna say something and I'm gonna probably get hate for it, but Kyle Fletcher definitely has the look for look to be successful. Mark Davis looks like Kyle Fletcher's Kyle Fletcher's great uncle or something.

You know, Mark Davis like ftr's third member.

Yes, you.

Will get me wrong, but when it comes to wrestling, Mark Davis is phenomenal. When it comes to marketability, Kyle Fletcher more marketable than Mark Davis. Yes, based on the look. And I'm trying not to be disrespectful at all, because, like I said, Mark Davis is phenomenal, but they just don't look right together.

Yeah, Davis coming out with baggy sweats and stuff like it, just it's not helping him. Man, I'm not buying him as a serious competitor out there when he comes out dressed like a bag of bond.

You know.

Well, what I'm saying is you presented himself as kind of like the older mentor instead of the tag team partner.

There they were tagging together and he was like six or seven years older than him. Anyways, I mean Kyle Fletcher's inn mid to early twenties kind of Fletcher's in his mid to early thirties. No, the other way around, all the way around.

You know, I'm having today moment, Yeahlson moment.

Wait did you say Mark Davis?

Yeah, I mean I just don't know. It's all about presentation. Will Osprey and Kyle Fletcher look like tag team Parker, They really do. Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher just don't if if they were to get the you know, the United Empire back together, then that could work. But only if they do that, because Mark Davis is kind of on an island right now. He doesn't deserve it, but he needs somebody to work with, can't you know, Shane, you made a joke about FTR, but I see it. He's perfect for FDR.

Yeah.

I just wonder how long it's gonna before Callous and Takesha turned on on Fletcher because there's gonna be jealous. I just Seekesha getting pissed about it.

Because you remember earlier. Yeah, but remember earlier in the year, late last year that seed was sown. I mean, Fletcher was really ticking off Callous I mean as well, Yeah, I mean flapped around and then it just ended and now Fletcher breakers like the Golden child.

For now, we need to see this painting again so we can see where he's actually at.

Yeah, we need to see the painting.

You get to Kesh on one side, and you have the other on the other side. You have Fletcher and you have Callous standing over him with his hands over their heads like nothing collision between.

Yeah, yeah, what do you do to set up that eventual feud? In my view, the no brainer is one of their silly like four person competitions for a number one contender, and those two face each other in the finals, and that starts that seed with ever who wins.

I mean, like, what do you do to what do you do to start that?

Well, you could do it a lot of different ways, but all Callis is gotta do is just turn on him. I mean he can use any excuse to turn on Fletcher and vice versas. I mean he could turn he could take in and say, okay, well to Kish's gun as far as I can take him. Fletcher bigger, He's got a bigger deal, He's got a bigger future. So let's cut out.

You got you need more motive, Like I got a care man, I got I have to have somebody I'm rooting for in that conflict, So who who gets set is the sympathetic one in that conflict?

Though?

How do you set that up? Because Kallis is the one we're gonna hate unless they do the weirdest booking and turning babyface, which is impossible.

Yeah callis babyface. Oh my god, Yeah, exactly would freeze over. I mean, but I mean, it doesn't have to be anything major to start that, because it could be something simply that down the road you have a match between uh Taqushta and shit, now I'm having Kelson issues between him and Ospray, that is it is being over sixty

Yeah, if I do it, I have to set that up.

Whoever's going to be the babyface coming out of that. You got to make him sympathetic. So to start this, they got to get inadvertently screwed out of something. So if I see like a number one contender's four way and Takeshaa and Fletcher and the two other goobers are in it, the story is what happens between the two of them. Something happens on the outside. Callous says, Fletcher's

Calus like, oh man, yeah.

I wasn't thinking. I just you know, but he slipped them. But hey, you know, team win for us, right, then when the big turn happens, you got your built in babyface and we got a reason to care.

Now, I think anybody's going to be simpleathetic with anybody that Callous turns on because Callus has so much hate it doesn't matter what happens.

Yeah, Callus is turning on a lot of people and uh Omega and several others.

But you need to set it up, man. I think you need to make him sympathetic before the turn. You gotta, you gotta, you gotta make us want this guy to to not have it happen.

Though.

Yeah, I hate to make the Cross promotional comparison, but Don Challis has dominic mysterio heat every time that he's anywhere on Like, you can't you can't have him cut a promo without the sound of booze drowning him out. It's it's amazing, Yeah.

And it could be something as simple as the in the in the rubber match between Osbray and Fletcher, Osprey gets beat and he's like Callous is pushing to have some one of his cash to help him make sure he gets that third win, and Fletcher says, no, he does it anyway. I mean, it's something as simple as that could get people to be sympathetic for Fletcher. But it's like I said, it doesn't take a lot to make people hate anybody if you're with callous and to make the other person sympathetic.

Now, I just think maybe maybe it's Fletcher who makes a better heel and Takashi can make a better face. In my opinion, Uh, I don't you know. I think it's jealousy because Fletcher wants a title, wants to be more. You know, he's beaten, you know in this se too. He has a chance to perform. If he loses it, he might lose his mind a little bit. If it may come down to the C two, may come down to the finals, may come down to Ospray and him, and he loses this one and he flips the lid

I think you're right, he's a baby face already. Ruby's steering for him when he's out there. They want to see him when they wanted to see him get the international title.

So I think you're right.

I think that's who. That's who you should go forward as a babyface if they do that.

I already feel sympathy for Kyle Fletcher, to be quite honest with all of you, because I see Callous treating him very much the same way that he treated Kenny Omega. So I feel bad for Kyle.

So he's manipulating him.

Huh, he's manipulating him, calling his son his you know, he's family, giving him a little kiss on the cheek, holding him close, telling them all his secrets. I've even read different things online that with his hair shape, Fletcher looks like Callous now, and I think it's all a big setup. It's not him doing this with Omega.

So I feel if Letcher comes out with the real colored glasses on too, there's gonna be a problem.

Simply.

Omega is the outlier factor here. Something people aren't really taking into consideration is that they're building some kind of Kenny Omega story centered around his final run and can and leaving the industry with his title as the best bout machine. There have been applications of Fletcher Osprey Okada. There's been implications of Gabe, Kid Desperado, you know a couple of guys. He I mean like I could very I could very well see the rubber match Fletcher winning.

So I wanted I wanted to revisit something that somebody said earlier about Don Kallis becoming a babyface. Yeah, it seems kind of improbable, but I do have the scenario in which he could become a baby face. Tony Storm is out with the torn labia, why not have Don Callis give her his that saw his forehead, the time for everything and the labor. No, that's not what she had she I know, I know that's the specifically said that she was cutting wood with an axe. Okay, he doesn't have a torn labor.

That's gonna be funny.

The best part.

About Tony Storm matches is like when they do the crotch kick. It works on everybody. I just I can never get over. That's the only women's match where that works.

Whenever she got kicked in the hurt like hell I would.

I'm sure it does.

I've often said, if you want to really, really make a man visitable, kick the guy next to him in a cross just the thought of it will cripple him in.

He's got to show him a picture of it, or a small video.

Well, not many people video, Not many people walk around.

Here sympathy.

Lead by examples.

Let's sake you a perfect, a perfect from that brand.

I mean, come on, does anybody else have any of the nominations in one of the categories for for the A W Vennable Awards.

I think the hardest one for me was the baby Face of the Year, because there are so few baby faces in a W.

That's a great point.

I mean, you very have very few baby faces. If Private Party would have won the titles earlier, I might have said them. I honestly can't remember who I put on this for the h my nominations I did. I think I did him on Reddit. I don't remember who I put in there, to be honest with you, but I can't really think. I mean, the the only one that I did I could think of right off hand. If I was going to put somebody in it now, would be Daniel Garcia.

I think for me it's Danielson.

Yeah, that's Mike you pick.

But even earlier.

Danielson was, you know, talking about amateurs and he was going nuts.

Wasn't me he was he was playing tween or King of the Year. You know, he wasn't really being a baby face at all?

Did Did nobody pay attention to the person they crowned? Is the new guy this year who had a three month run as the top baby face in the company and is still arguably the hottest baby face in the company next to Will ask for everybody missed that.

One?

Did nobody?

Did nobody pop when he beats Mojo for that title and go crazy?

Like?

Am I the only one that thinks he is the baby face.

Of the year?

Watching him rise from the end to see too and become the people's champ and then the real champ and then like classics with Hangar like Swarve?

Yeah? Am I? Like?

Was I the only one watching all that? I don't understand how nobody else does?

I never really people said that hag Man isn't necessarily a heel. I look at Swerve the same way. I don't really consider him a babyface.

No, I don't either.

He's the top baby face to me, Man, to me, if.

You're going to be a baby face, you have to you don't. You don't get the flip flop back and forth every other match. And to me, that's what he did all year one one, Matthew was a baby face. The next match he was it was a heel. You can't have that, that that makes you a bona fide point ma baby.

And that was against his art rival Hangar. Like once he got the belt, he has been a baby face the whole time. You have to set the blood feud matches aside. Those are kind of like out of cannon matches and it's anything goes its rivalry weekend and college football when those two hook up. Outside of that, since getting the belt from Samo Joe, he has one a baby face the entire time. People chant whose house randomly throughout the show like nobody else has anything like that?

Yeah, I just don't see him as I get.

At a fright night. In between matches, people were chanting for m v P SO and not a baby face. I'm just saying, like, aw fans are nothing less than zealous.

So I mean, and you can be a so much different in the past. You can be for the well, you can be a he and have the best pup.

A catchphrases.

Everybody loves them.

Aw only has one true baby face, and That'ski.

I love the silence after that statement.

Nobody is coming up with anybody else.

Everyone they're truly. That's like I said, That's what made it so hard, is there are so few baby faces.

Exactly.

You don't have the problems right now too. Yeah, it is. We've discussed that before. You can't have every champion in your company be a be a heel. I can't. I don't makes no sense.

Well, if the a W has had baby faces though, I mean classified baby face to a W. If I were to pick, I would say three years ago Alcoholic king Man had a page.

Oh yeah, what about just going have been faces or try to be faces and not Now they've been over, you know, you go to the Super sizermy Daddy stuff and all that. So I so I say they've been super over and then win in the tag titles was freaking huge and everybody wanted it.

Yeah, I mean they've they've had babyfaces, they just have a problem with them right now. And I think that's an issue with the booking too, Like again the Death Writers, who are they feuding with every Magic collaboration and a couple additional top mid card guys. They were not with top guys. It's only been this week when they started introducing the Hangman and Jay White stuff that we're starting

The reason that the Death Writers started out the way they did was exactly what they're trying to do. They didn't go out of the top guys because that's not who his intentions are for. He wants to elevate the young guys, motivate the younger people who are just sitting back taking a paycheck. It has nothing to do with the top people, and that's why they haven't had that feud yet they're not anywhere near trying to go after them.

So I don't disagree that that's potentially what they're trying to tell you. That works great if you've got an hour long drama and it's fifteen episodes in a television series, and you can really really get that across the fans. But in professional wrestling, if you want people to give a crap about a feud, it's got to involve a top person, and in this case, the Death Riders and this last week have not been feuding with anybody at the top of the card. Orange Cassidy not a top guy.

Now.

I thought it would be fun to revisit last year and give you the winner from last year just to see how it's changed. Let me list the seven categories and who won it last year. For Men's Wrestler of the Year was MJF. For Women's Wrestler of the Year, it was Tony Storm. For Babyface of the Year, it was MJF. For Heel of the Year, it was Christian Cage. For Most Improved of the Year, it was Julia Hart. For Character Work of the Year, it was Tony Storm.

So not much wow, not much.

Couple name changes.

I will say this that as far as who was nominated last year and who was nominated this year, who's leading the nominations. From what I've seen, I haven't tallied them yet, there's a lot more names in there, so there's a lot more diversity in there going toward it. I want to move on because it kind of kind of bleeds into what we just talked about about the

And do you like this match?

Yeah, it's gonna be a banker.

It was mox Hager White? And who is the fourth one?

Christian?

Christian Cage Christian the wild card? Mmmmm.

If you're going to bring that Copeland that works perfect.

It'll be a big match. But as far as story goes, this doesn't make any sense to me.

Yeah, I would.

First of all, I'm not a fan of the four way at all. I don't care who you put in it. I'm not a fan of the four way at all. If Boxley beats I just want to person If Boxley beats Cage, Page and White, who in the hell is get to challenge him next? There is nobody really that there's.

It won't be a clean somebody's going to come back.

You would need at least three or four people coming back. There's no way that this match.

And can I ask Shane a question?

Oh here we.

Go, Shane, who do you think speeding Max for that belt?

Darby or Kenny.

I'm thinking the same thing. I think it's ny.

I think it could. I think in our hearts we wanted to be Kenny just because we know that he's on his farewell tour. He puts so much work into the company. He's paying his tribute to Japan right now. He thinks that that his last major health scare is, you know, his coup de gras for entering work. You know, I think Tony would honor the work that he did by putting the belt for on him, send him for a short run, and then let him hang his boots the way that he wants to. I also think that

Yeah, your thing for Kenny is exactly what I was thinking. I viewed it from an emotional, long term storytelling aspect. Kenny Omega is the guy that they built this promotion around, and he is did Mox beat him for the belt or was it Hangar was it hangman?

Hangman?

No?

He beat mox for the belt.

Right yep?

Then hang okay, yes, dark order stuff right.

So for me, like just again the emotional center of the establishment and writing this wrong, that is the death writers. I mean, I'm just using some emotional terms. It makes sense for it to be Kenny. Like you said, he has a short term run, and he gets to pick the guy he wants to put over to drop the title to May who knows. I mean, that's a huge golden ticket for wherever he decides to drop it to.

I mean from a logistical standpoint too, I I mean with the impact that the exploding barbed wire death match hat. I'm just saying it because it's in the dark history of aw I don't think it'd be a wise move to put Kenny in box together, like in a setting like that. So I mean, maybe Kenny off a box or Kenny off of Derby. But Kenny ultimately holds it again and goes on one final run. Maybe belt clocks for one more time because they're giving him plenty of time.

You asked about who could be the next in line after that. My son was in the kitchen and he ever heard her conversation and he held her a name at me. He said, it would be cool if Hobbes was included in that talk, and I think that would be an amazing person to put in that battle. Eventually he is, he's come back. He's talking about how he wants to bring his real life personality into his character, and he would go over huge as a babyface and nothing.

Hobbs them stopping that book of Hobbs stuff.

You're spot on.

It was awful like he had a good thing going and it was easy to get invested in Historian And I think you're right getting back that's gonna be good. I'm Kelson. I'm sorry. I think I talked over you.

Yeah, I mean I've said it before and I'll say it again. I am a huge mark for our house Hobbs. I just think he's great. I said it. I think last week where if I could pick one man from AW to just hang out with and you know, bend their ears, just have dinner with, you know, and just talk wrestling, it would probably be Powerhouse Hobbs because I just like his person. He just strikes me as an all round good guy. He just snarls a lot. But

I think he could do it.

They just gotta make him. And the one thing that I have reservations about, and you guys may disagree with me, but he's a big guy. He's the big muscular guy, and Tony Kahn just doesn't seem to like that much.

I don't know everything you've ever saw on WWE a w because for the longest most of the time that McMahon was in charge. He loved his big guys. Didn't matter they were big, they were good to him. So yeah, I mean, but the other thing about that is, like you said, not at the moment, I agree. But the nice thing about the way they're doing this, and what makes this storyline so good is you can string this out.

I would rather have Ospray be a champion in Omega or Darby. I just don't see the point of having this whole.

Dude, if if an older guy's gonna come in and and beat Moxley, and I don't think Darby's would make a good world champion. I used to think that, but by the way his matches goes reminded me so much of how Orange Cassidy's thing go to the the roll up stuff I just don't want to see him. But Will is a future and I wouldn't mind seeing him with that bell, but I don't know how to throw him into the mix eventually.

Well, and they can.

Always say if if they do put it on Kenny, he could drop it to Osprey. Yeah, I mean that would be They've have a history. It would make sense. I mean Osprey, you could put it on him. You could put it on Jay White through Kenny. I mean they have a history in New Japan.

I would be very omega got it.

I think from when I was talking about that storyline earlier. Maybe it's not Kenny, but it seems to me they're setting this up that somebody who beats Max is an eight. It's going to be an a W original, whether that's one of the Elite, whether that's Darby, it's an a W. It's got to be an AW original. So I don't know who else they go with.

But like a tough guy.

Could see m j F getting involved in this and the story that he could prove pool and they could have with him versus Mox and the and the Death Riders. I mean, oh my god, well he would he would probably want to join them and then not necessarily join with them.

Put together, if Mox is the muscle, MGFS team would have to be the smarter ones. They'd have to be able to outwit them and out scheme them, and they you know, they'd have some beef in there. But if Max is the power they got to out smart them, that could be a fun feud. Suddon, I think it's I don't think it's a terrible idea. It could be a lot of fun with done right.

Yeah. The funny part is we can sit here and we can talk about this for the next four hours and you can name off everybody in ae W and you're not going to find a bad option in any of them, to be honest. Yeah, Yeah, I mean that's the great part about this. Everybody, you know, like you said earlier, you don't necessarily or somebody said it, they don't necessarily like what the death Writers are doing. But

Yeah, show, I disagree on every show, every show, and it's the same thing on every show except for this past week. I was surprised. I was surprised this past week, and I enjoyed it this past week. Every show for weeks, the Death Writers did the same exact thing that they did the previous week. The only one, the only one that I can distinguish from any of the others, was the show that I was at Wilkespeare, Pennsylvania. You know that's the only one, because for five weeks we talked

I really need something bad to happen to Wheeler.

Dah.

I'm tired of waiting so.

To happen.

Every week.

I'm on the edge of my seat like he's going to get it, and and he somehow squirms away.

You need to week eventually, somewhere along the line.

How could you be hating on Wheeler?

You to that I have never liked Wheeler. I have never liked him.

I want to toss this out there to you guys, to so many it might have been something he was saying a second ago. When they do the four way match,

It is, but unfortunately ridiculous. I wish Tony would take more liberties.

And like it.

For a dude that works so hard to emulate the attitude area, you think he'd make steeper and more consequential choices in storytelling, but he always seems to dance around the same thematic principles and it makes aw sometimes difficult to watch. As much as I love the product, it's just frustrating. It's just being transparent.

Soary, did you say that this was something that Shade has been I thought.

Yeah, Shades, and I every time joke that anytime now Oc is going to turn heel, and just how great it'll be when he turns because he can be we can finally see an orange casside who cares. You can spin it with like you guys taught me something in the ring and that I never took myself seriously, and I saw what a wrestler takes himself seriously is like.

Of played with it and we do the live chats well.

To be fair though, Barry Shades, you know, God love him. I love the guy, but he's also the one that just kept saying, showed me the bunny and that shit ever happened, So you maybe for a long wait, I just put.

It, well, the fantasy booking, you know, scenarios that aren't going to happen. It's just part of the game.

It's fun.

My brother in Christ I also uh, like three or four weeks ago prior to Full gear.

Uh.

That was one of my Full Gear predictions was Orange. Cassidy turns to the Death Riders. I would love to please give it to me.

We're not gonna even break up. Who you thought the devil was?

So I.

Never know what to let that out. No, I suck, No, that came out wrong.

Who did you think the devil was?

Come on?

Was seeing punk?

It would word it would have in surreal.

You should have seen me on the forums back in my my o G days of the fan hub. I was. I was out there. I was fulloil hat like you guys. They're still selling his merch on the merch store. I would use the wayback machine on the internet to see when they No, I'm always that guys.

As crazy as what as you were, Shane, you did make some really good points.

Yeah, I'm still like that. I just unfortunately that uh really, that whole entire situation took me and knocked me down my huge bag. I'm pretty good at Do you remember?

Do you remember who I said was the devil? Shade?

No, I was too caught up in my own bullshit to pay well.

My bullshit was almost as bad as yours. I thought Tony K was.

The Oh we did say that? Oh god, that would have been great.

I remember that because I thought that for a while.

You know, but let's be fair, at times, Tony Khan can't actually be the devil.

To the Internet wrestling community. He is, in fact the devil he is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, what I don't understand why he gets to hate like everybody who works for him says, he seems to be one of the most genuinely nice people.

Yes, and I don't understand w W. I don't think that's I don't know if that's what it is. It's just people just create villains in their heads to justify perspectives sometimes.

Just the reason why the reason why people don't like Tony Kahan is because he's not w W plain.

And literally understand him.

Those are the body in charge of a W and they would get the same hey Tony does, right.

You know what's crazy though, those are any successful.

That's any of those guys that are so critical of the product because of Tony Kahan also owned w c W replica books or replica belts and sting action figures so they could check out forever.

Please put us on how long did w c W ls four years?

Whoa a lot longer than four years? Well, yeah, from the from the era.

I think it was four or four and a half years.

Okay, so that's the other reason. Is he actually lasted longer. Yeah. The other competition has been stuff.

Now, if I'm not mistaken, sometime like around May or June, a.

W will pass, yeah, metrically in terms of viewership and uh and find financials.

I mean a or I'm talking about lake of time.

Yeah, Nitro.

According to this, Nitro ran five years, so past the Nitro era soon.

See.

But people don't understand Tony. He's he's smaller framed, He's not a big guy. I personally think he's on the spectrum and and people just love to bully him because of that.

Yeah, I would say that's the superpowers.

You see people talk about he's a cocad, he's spending his daddy's money, and all this other stuff that is just playground bullshit, and that the Internet wrestling community brings out Tony Khan bullshit. And I still believe that if Tony Khan were to just say the heck with it, I'm giving it to name anybody ever wrestling and put that in charge, they will get the same hate.

And let him give it to Eric Bischoff. Maybe he'll shut the.

Maybe somebody success, what about Carter?

Dixie Carter comment got no hate, unbelievable, So there you go, it's gonna go to Dixie Carter.

And here I would have, like I said, give them somebody who's been successful.

At all.

I think you get a group together out of aw fanhom and we should just all just say hey, we'll run it for you.

I will say this, we've come up early fantasy booking year that I personally would have loved to have seed. You know, not only in the podcast, but in the aw fan of community. There's been some great fantasy booking that is totally feasible using what they have. And it's better that it's been that it's better than what has been on the show. So don't hold hold back on on just a regular, average, every day Joe. Maybe they get that Peter Griffin guy to you.

I would love to know, like to pick Tony or Shawn Michaels or brain and just like underderstand the challenges that goes into booking, Like how much does logistics come in? How like how do you guys plan three months out? Like I would just love to understand doing that because when they used to run the more of the house shows too, they'd have to work in guys for traveling and balance how many days contractually they need to be home and all that. It's just I don't know, it's fascinating.

Has written out years, not a year. He has this written out years ahead. That is a lot of that's a lot of his problem.

Why yeah, I wanted the first couple of years go ahead.

Sorry, oh thank you. Tony Kahan is always slighted and talked poorly about that he's spending his dad's money. That you know, he hangs under his dad and and he's sheltered by his dad, and in his own right, his

And I'm sorry that, but I think that the things that people say on the internet wrestling community about Tony Kahan are more vile than if they had simply said that it's because he's a brown guy. To be honest with you, I disagree with you. I don't think it has anything to do with his ethnicity at all. I think it comes right down to if Tony Kahan was in WWE and never bet at aw and ben at WWE, he'd be bloved. See he was in WWE. It's as simple as that.

His dad came out as an NFL owner and said that he faced a lot of these issues as an NFL owner. Sure, And I think that if Tony Khan were to say that out loud, Hey, I'm a brown guy in this industry doing this, making these strides where no one else has, people would immediately point at him and go, oh, you're just like your dad. You're just like you said we were, we said you were. And I can't help but think that that does play into it to some.

Degree to challenge the great and mighty W W.

E and Vince bickmahon and all them as for people hate him because he dared challenge them.

I don't know. I could kind of see it though, because the image of promoters predominantly have been, you know, guys like Cornett, guys like Bischoff, guys like Brusso, guys like making all of the McMahon's Hunterley, they all follow kind of like a character model, and Tony kin is nothing like that. And he's energetic, and he's bouncy, and you know, I believe sudden he's the.

Yeah, like he talked about amusing his dad's money. His dad owns the Jaguars. Tony Kahn, I believe owns. Fulham is one of the most one of the most, highly prestigious and worth a lot of damn money. He and by it with his has money butt with his own so you know they can sit there and go well, using his dad, there's money to do all this. He's not I mean seriously, he said in the past that his dad has nothing to do with aw.

Yeah, ill things are true. I don't think I can discredit what Nott's saying. I'm certain there is a portion of the fandom who hates him just because of where they think he's family's from and they don't like that area. There's a portion of folks who subconsciously feel that way but don't know how to articulate it, so they come up with other stuff. I think the majority of people hate him are along the lines of what everybody else is saying. But I don't think we can discredit that

He's unfortunate, but I'm sure it is, you know, I don't think there's any question. But I think that there's more people that dislike Tony Kof does his favorite movies time. I think you're right because he's a brown guy.

Yeah, yeah, I mean a lot of this and I know this is like beating a dead horse on these podcasts conversation, but you know the toxicity in pro wrestling tribalism and how people have been conditioned to only follow one brand for thirty plus years and they're so desensitized to anything outside of it that they'll listen to anything the FED tells them is real wrestling as opposed to not. I mean, you have people that are on the forums

I think, Shane, I do want to address this because we actually had a topic about this on the aw PAN Subreditor earlier today, and I will say this, I think that it comes down to you, especially on places like reddit where moderators do have a semblance of control. It's all about the culture that's built. Something you got to new buddy, Yes, there you go, thank you. It's

Man, I was just happy to see him on TV again. He's great and like I feel the same way about Ricky Starks. Hey, it's not working on aw Hopefully if he goes to the FED that they got the right thing and it works out. Like, I just want to see these people on TV.

Man, I just want to see on TV.

Yeah, I say, Ricky Starks and maybe Rollins is going to try to pop back in here again. No, just the the Dirt Sheets are like last year. I always had this ideology that the Dirt Sheets were the new k FABE, and I think that's a lot of the problem is people are so quick to go to their own little corner of the Internet to gather news from sources that are mostly not credible, you know, and even the ones that are of lean in one direction or the other you know, you know, cultaholic, what culture are

I don't know where we're at.

Many see I went, I mentioned h DIR sheets in it and earlier for a topic, and I want to hit on something real quick that with the whole Tony Khan, I could never see Fightful doing to Tony Kahan, to WWE what they did to Tony Khan with Ricky Stark saying of demanding he be on TV and stuff, and that absolutely that just blew me away, Like shut up. I don't like Sean ross Stapp as a person in his personality.

I don't.

You know, three of them got on there and did that, and that's bogus to do to a promoter who you literally make your living off of.

One for him, you would be making a whole lot less money. So that's.

Okay to be fair here, and I'm not I'm not justifying this at all, but as somebody who you know is very active in trying to come up with something to post about on Discord and Blue Sky and Reddit, there are sometimes there are just slow weeks where nothing is happening and you got to come up with something.

You know you do. You have to come up with something, and you know you can run the storyline, but to post on there to three different people to post on your.

You know you're blue, that's.

Just how they are. Man Like the guys wrestling talk about it all the time too. Why aren't they using Ricky starts or whatever.

That's just that's just what I ad because I have something to say.

I think Ray Phoenix said it best if you read the thing that he his thing that he said, you don't know everything that's going on, don't start ship, you don't talk about let it go until you know everything. You don't and you won't and you can. You just make yourself look stupid if you post that kind of stuff. The good thing about it is Tony didn't cave in and go, well, we're gonna put him on TV now, so they can run their mouths all they want to

Well here's here's what I was gonna say. Look, we do a podcast twice a week, and we've come up with some of the most outlandish things that you could possibly say. And frankly, you know, I said some things about Eddie Kingston Sutton. You hate everybody but Chris Statlander and the women's division.

That's true. I hate two people, specifically.

You.

I think you need to go back and listen to the podcast. You say nice things about Chris Statlander and bad things about everybody else. I've never heard you say anything nice about any other woman but Chris Statlander, period. Sorry, it's the truth, just like you've never heard me say anything nice about Eddie Kingston except for that. Oh here we go for what I'm saying. What I'm saying is is that look, if you're going to point fingers quite about yourself too, expect now.

And be all and al.

I respect Tony Connan what he's done for the industry and stuff like that. I'm you know, I can say it, but I don't have the platform that they do, and you know, people aren't coming to me for my news, and they need to be held to a higher standard. If they're gonna be called quote unquote journalists, then they need to be treat a life journalists. What they do is yellow journalism.

You know, I agree.

I agree with what you're saying. They have a responsibility as reporters to you know, convey the most honest and accurate, you know, information that they're gathering. That I mean again, like it's that's a the microcosm of a much bigger issue in our country as a whole. I mean, it's just if we just want to like laser focusing on professional wrestling, I don't think it's stopping anytime soon. Now that there's a second FED, it's not gonna happen.

Well, you don't what, Shane, and I'm going to say this too. When you're somebody like what Culture, fight Full or whatever, Busted Open Radio, whatever, whatever you're doing, you're also competing with the blue check marks on Twitter. There are people on Twitter that went out and bought a blue check mark money monetize their posts, and then they just post the dumbest it that you can possibly post.

So it is what it is.

But you've got the when you're doing a podcast or where you're doing a website or whatever, you're gonna come up with some really weird stuff. You know, I'm sorry you are, and I hope that it flies. You're gonna make seeing your pants. You're gonna make seen of your pants, opinions or whatnot, and sometimes it blows up in your face. You do it enough, they cease to exist. Thank you

Kingston for two time Triple Crown Champion when he comes back. Good night.

I met it, but I think de thren monks, he knocked her right off the toilet.