Welcome to After 48 on GrapPro where we discuss an All Elite Wrestling pay per view two days after it aired. That way the hot takes cool down and we can think about it with a clear perspective. At least that’s the idea.
You know what’s the easiest job for me? When I finish a pay per view and have to ask myself if it’s the best pay per view All Elite Wrestling has put on.
Shows like Dynasty I had to justify a bit. This show my biggest question thinking about it was how it stacked up to the best pay per views AEW has ever presented. The fact this company six years in are still able to raise the bar is just what makes covering All Elite Wrestling a pretty easy experience. I now get disappointed when the card is merely very good.
We’re so spoiled as pro wrestling fans. Good to think about that once in a while.
The main event, Anarchy in the Arena, the opener, the stretcher match, the women’s match, almost everything met or exceeded expectations. Even Kazuchika Okada had his working boots on. The only weak point of the show ended up the tag team division, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with how much complaining I do about that division.
As I talked about in Redemption is Ascension I feel like the main event, and the show entirely, was a real epiphany for AEW. People have joked online that AEW will do one bad angle and undo all the good, which could happen, but I feel it’s more about the macro than the micro. The main event feels right for the first time in a long time. The decisions made from top to bottom are finally feeling right. There’s still things I would change (Kenny Omega and Adam Cole are the laziest champions in the company, tag team division, wrestler cycle needing a bit improvement) but I’m for the most part happy about the product.
Should I talk about the length? Fine I’ll talk about the length. Length of the show was fine because the show was great. No different to the great Wrestle Kingdom shows I watched in the early morning in the 2010s. If you watched a show this great and felt like it needed less great pro wrestling? You’re in the wrong industry. Go join a speed running community.
Favourite Wrestling Match
Best Wrestling Match
Hangman Adam Page versus Will Ospreay
I already talked at great length about this match in Redemption is Ascension and I also talked a lot about it on Bluesky since I rewatched it.
It’s rare that pro wrestling can give you a match like this where the stakes are high for both men, one has to win, one has to lose, and the pro wrestling company actually goes through with a clean finish. I thought both Owen finals had a risk of a dirty finish. I thought we’d see Athena interfere and cost Mercedes her shot to win, while when I thought Ospreay was winning it would be due to the Young Bucks costing Hangman.
I don’t immediately freak out when I see an interference or a dirty finish like some. It’s a part of pro wrestling storytelling. Yes, I also prefer a clean finish, but I understand why it’s used. It does need to be used less, and Double or Nothing provided us multiple clean finishes. It was the right decision.
I love any match I can break down based on the styles and strategies the wrestlers bring to it, and this was a perfect example. Hangman Adam Page was focused for the most part, his greatest error was when he tried to get too fancy with a tribute to Christopher Daniels and mucked the Best Moonsault Ever. Which, by the way, wasn’t a botch. It was intentional. He stuck to his strengths which are his power in striking and technique and his resilience. Will Ospreay on the other hand had to try and prove he could match striking power with Hangman and lost every time. His only win was when he switched up to using his speed and aerial ability to go with the striking.
Ospreay tries to be great at everything and aside from maybe 2010s Kenny Omega he’s the closest any wrestler has come to being absolutely great at everything. It reminds me of Minoru Suzuki talking about what made Jon Moxley great is what he can’t do instead of what he can. Will Ospreay tries to be the exception of that. It ends up his attempt to be great at everything is his downfall in a match against someone like Hangman Adam Page.
Like Suzuki says, people trying to be a perfect hexagon. Ospreay tries to be that perfect hexagon. And in doing so, when he faces someone who is better at him in something, he doesn’t stick to what he’s better at. He needs to prove he can match Page in power. He needs to prove he can be more vicious. He needs to bring up his aggression. Had he stuck to his speed, aerial, technique, and combined it with his level of power? He might have won.
In the end what I loved most is how much of this match reflected their promos against each other. They told a complete story. There was no disconnect. Ospreay talked about how he tries to just wrestle his best and prove he doesn’t need extra to win. Hangman asked him if that’s enough for Jon Moxley and he said he didn’t no. In this match it was Ospreay who lost his cool, Ospreay who nearly attacked a referee, and Ospreay who tried to pull Page to the outside to do something on the announce table.
Out of this match I believe Will Ospreay will eventually realize that for him to finally get to the top of AEW he needs to start doing the things he refuses to do. As for Hangman Adam Page? He’s essentially done everything he needs to do. He beat the best Bruv. Everything is now the road to Y’All In Texas to face Jon Moxley.
More Thoughts After 48
Mercedes Moné: Mercedes proved at Double or Nothing she’s the best American women’s wrestler in the world and quite possibly the greatest of all time despite only being 33. She probably has another 10 years of incredible wrestling in her now that she’s got properly healthy from her injuries and we’re going to be rewarded due to it. Her match with Hayter was incredible. When I see people trying to call her a Hogan because she wins all the time they miss the point. This is her Okada run. Appreciate it.
Mina Shirakawa: I absolutely loved how Mina worked her match against Timeless Toni Storm. Both were babyfaces and well liked and there was nothing she could do to really be the heel, so instead she was the technician. She tried to tear Toni’s leg from the bone with all of the leg work she did to neutralize her, and while it didn’t succeed, it led to an exciting title defence and ensured Mina would stay high in the card in AEW. Whatever spot Mariah May was being promised? Mina has taken.
Kazuchika Okada: The best wrestler alive when he wants to be, and he’s got a date with Kenny Omega in July.
Speedball Mike Bailey: I will forever fight the narratives that AEW can’t sign WWE wrestlers because of their attitudes. Ricochet is a perfect example that it just takes good scouting to know who is a fit and who isn’t. That said, Speedball Mike Bailey has fit AEW perfectly in ways I didn’t even think of. I’ve always thought of Bailey similar to Mike Sydal, and he feels like getting a younger Sydal on the roster with more of a striking focus than flying focus. Miss you Mike, hope we see you back to work Speedball.
The Sons of Texas: I do not like being mean with Dustin Rhodes because he works really hard, he believes in the company, and he is fighting time in a way I’m sure I’ll do at some point in my life. But he isn’t good enough for these spots, just like Jeff Jarrett wasn’t, and just like Chris Jericho is no longer. Sammy Guevara honestly was the highlight of the match, and I wish he had a better opponent, and I wish AEW could somehow rehabilitate him so people don’t automatically reject him.
The Hurt Syndicate: Are they trying to turn MJF babyface? I cannot understand that act one bit. It’s over, which makes it hard to be critical of, but I really think this whole act would be better without a title.
Mark Briscoe: The People’s Champion of AEW. Until Eddie Kingston returns? Mark is the beating heart of this company.
Ricochet: I don’t know where they go with him right now. Kyle Fletcher seems to be on the road to becoming TNT Champion, while he can’t get the belt off Omega or Okada for the other midcard belts. I know the plan was at one point a Swerve Strickland versus The Bucks at Y’All In Texas but if it was up to me I would pivot to Ricochet and the Young Bucks versus The Opps for the Trios Championship.
Timeless Toni Storm: Toni has been a wonderful champion, and during the darkest days of AEW this year (January to March) she was the shining light of the company. I don’t know if she ends up beating Mercedes Moné at Y’All In Texas but I’m excited to see if she can.
Jamie Hayter: With both the TBS and Women’s World Championship locked up in the same match, I don’t know what the likes of Hayter, Athena, Kris Statlander, and Willow Nightingale end up doing on the show. They could always throw them all into a Casino Gauntlet but that’s lazy. I said on BlueSky I thought that match was important in keeping Hayter as an established top woman in the company and I think she proved she still deserves that distinction. I just don’t know what she does next.
FTR: I absolutely love FTR as a heel act and Stokely has been a perfect addition for them. This match somehow… didn’t work? Maybe it’s because Nigel and Garcia didn’t have much chemistry so it felt like two singles guys against a tag team, and it did go a bit long in the tooth, but I guess I came out feeling more like I want to see what’s next from this FTR over appreciating what they did here.
Trios Match: Belonged as the main event of an AEW Collision. I’m glad everyone there got the PPV time on the main show and it was used to separate Anarchy in the Arena and the main event but I feel like if that was the main event of a TV show it would have got more love.
Anarchy In The Arena: What an incredible match. I couldn’t call it my favourite match over the main event but there was absolutely so much to it. I hope the Young Bucks stick with the Founding Fathers gimmick. Swerve Strickland was incredible. Kenny Omega looked great. Marina Shafir actually looked good for once! Willow was a beast. Powerhouse Hobbs was my MVP of the match with all the ways he used his strength and base to make everything work.
The Death Riders: The Death Riders losing Anarchy in the Arena means they will need a big win on the road to Y’All In Texas and I think that comes in the form of Blood and Guts.
Road to Y’All In Texas
The end of the Death Riders storyline should have always been an AEW original, a day one warrior, climbing the ranks to defeat Jon Moxley and save All Elite Wrestling from their goal of causing a blight to All Elite Wrestling and breaking it down to dust to start anew.
From the moment Bryan Danielson lost the AEW Men’s World Championship, it felt like this story would be about Darby Allin. And it would have. Darby however broke his leg in a match with Jay White which delayed his personal trip to Mount Everest. When it finally came time to do it, it was 2025 and he had to wait for the right weather to safely climb. Allin reached the peak but by that time the 2025 Owen Hart Foundation Tournament was in place. He couldn’t make it back in time, get in ring shape, and complete the story that was laid out for him.
AEW had to pivot. For all the screams of pivoting this time their hand was forced. That pivot came down to who would be the person to get that shot to face Jon Moxley at Y’All In Texas.
The company provided us two choices. One wasn’t an original, but someone who stepped up to be a heart and soul AEW guy in the less than two years he’s been here. It could have also worked with Swerve Strickland. Had Will Ospreay won though? It would have made more sense for him to lose against Jon Moxley and go right back to Darby Allin once he was ready. Might not have been the storybook ending people wanted.
The second choice was Hangman Adam Page, who is used to being the second choice. He was only handpicked once in 2021 and the moment he won the championship pundits were asking what new AEW arrival should be beating him for it. He was never given the proper respect. He’s spent three years trying to get back to this and now he finally has the perfect opportunity.
I expect AEW to do a lot to get heat on Page and present the Death Riders as the killers they’ve always supposed to be. I also expect to see the real frustration and desperation in Jon Moxley knowing this isn’t the Hangman he faced at Worlds End 2024. This isn’t even the Hangman who beat him in Texas Death at Revolution 2023. This is a Hangman Adam Page who has grown through his trials and tribulations. An Adam Page ready to be embraced by the AEW fans and be the hero he was born to be. Moxley cannot hold back this tide with interference and weapon shots. This is more powerful than anything he’s ever faced.
Not to be forgotten, we have the biggest women’s match AEW has ever been able to promote in Mercedes Moné versus Timeless Toni Storm. Champion versus Champion. An undefeated titan versus the most decorated champion of the women’s division. It should be very exciting to see how they keep us on the road and where this ends up on the card.
I said AEW should have announced Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada at Worlds End 2024 but instead they just teased it. Provided Kenny is healthy enough to do the match after Anarchy in the Arena, it’s no surprise they are also doing title versus title here. I’ve heard people try to say this is the real main event of Y’All In Texas. No it isn’t. And stop devaluing having a strong midcard. Having a match like this makes your card stronger. Not everything can be the main event and not everything should be the main event.
I’m curious to see what Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, Willow Nightingale, Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander, and others do on this show. We will probably get some more multi wrestler matches and possibly a Casino Gauntlet.
AEW can breathe a little easy. There’s no Forbidden Door between Double or Nothing and All In now, and with All In running in July, they have seven Dynamite’s to build to this show. Hopefully Tony doesn’t lean on that and just do a couple meaningless shows. Give these programs proper time to build and breathe. Let us know what you’re going to do early on so you can sell more tickets. Already with the three guaranteed matches we know this might end up the best show AEW has ever done. Build on that and it’ll confirm that our good vibes coming out of Double or Nothing were not misplaced. This could be the best time for AEW since 2021. Remember all that restore the feeling talk? AEW is no longer restoring an old feeling. It’s creating a new one.
