AEW won the wrestling weekend and has the momentum. Could this be a vintage year for Tony Khan?
Wrestling fans were well fed this past weekend, with three big events across the two major promotions and a TNA pay-per-view to boot. With Sunday's AEW Double or Nothing being cited as an instant classic and WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) delivering its best outing since its revival in late 2024, there was plenty to digest from more than two dozen matches. Here are my big takeaways:
1. We called it wrong on Will Ospreay…
For all my rhapsodizing on Friday about how the stars were aligned for Ospreay, Tony Khan had other plans. Was Hangman Adam Page winning the wrong call? Perhaps not — in his review, our own Drake Riggs makes a persuasive case that Hangman's pivotal role in AEW makes him the ideal contender to dethrone Moxley and restore glory to the world title. Still, the surprise outcome begs the question of what's next for Ospreay, who has spent two years diligently building himself up as the company's king babyface.
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As for AEW's creative future, we're working from the assumption here that Hangman is actually winning at July's All In showcase. If that's not the case, there will be hell to pay.
2. Are things looking up for AEW?
It's been received wisdom for years that AEW knows how to deliver big events, and this weekend's Double or Nothing was the perfect demonstration of that maxim. Sure, we can pick holes if we're being pedantic — putting the last-minute trios match after an absolutely bonkers Anarchy in the Arena match was a bad move, for example — but they don't detract from the fact that this was the best AEW event in many moons. Even Mercedes Moné pulled out all the stops to deliver a stellar performance.
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With "Collision" on a hot streak at the moment, the consensus seems to be that AEW has the momentum right now. Whisper it, but could we be in the middle of a vintage year for Tony Khan? Let's come back to that question in December but, right now, things at least appear to be pointing in the right direction.
3. WWE is sticking to its guns on John Cena
Grumbles about John Cena's heel turn have been gathering pace in recent weeks, not helped by the champion's absence from the weekly shows. Just in case you had any doubts (or perhaps even hopes) that WWE might change course, this past Saturday's event confirmed what most of us suspected: That the company remains absolutely resolute in its commitment to dark Cena.
Cena's two appearances — defeating R-Truth and then reappearing later to try to screw Jey Uso out of the world title — weren't bad by any means, but they were a reiteration of the same playbook we've seen twice now, right down to the dirty low-blow finish. (Incidentally, it didn't go unnoticed that TNA's Trick Williams vs. Joe Hendry championship match had a much more imaginative heel finish, despite working with exactly the same tools).
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Whether you're sold on him or not, heel Cena is here to stay. Next stop: Money in the Bank on June 7, as the Universal Champion teams with Logan Paul to square off against Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso.
4. TKO's events strategy is taking shape
For all the chaos around the switcheroo for next year's WrestleMania 42, this weekend looks like a successful test case for TKO's events strategy. Admittedly, we don't know how much Tampa paid for the privilege of its WWE takeover, but to have three full arena audiences (SNME, Battleground, and Monday's episode of 'WWE Raw') on back-to-back-to-back nights is no mean feat.
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Wrestling obsessives can be as sniffy as they like about SNME being a glorified house show, but the fact remains that WWE still managed to deliver John Cena, Logan Paul and Cody Rhodes and a big TV audience. That's the sort of thing that host cities are going to want to see before they start shelling out these nine-figure sums to bring WWE in for the weekend.
We also had the news that WWE intends to run a similar takeover in Atlanta in July, with NXT's Great American Bash running alongside the next installment of SNME. In terms of big names, the latter is rumored to include Goldberg's retirement match. From a wrestling perspective, though, perhaps the real winners are the NXT talents, who will benefit from their PLEs feeling like a much bigger deal with these arena shows.
5. … as is the WWE/TNA partnership (kind of)
WWE pulled a big rabbit out of the hat back in January, with the announcement of its TNA partnership. In truth, it's still not clear exactly how the collaboration is intended to work on a business and creative level, but this past Sunday's Battleground event saw the boldest crossover yet, with the aforementioned Trick Williams winning the TNA world championship from TNA golden boy Joe Hendry.
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Does the former NXT champion now take a secondment over to Nashville to defend his prize against the TNA regulars and thus cement himself as the first cross-company heel? That would seem like the most logical step. And does that mean WWE gets a claim on Joe Hendry, who was one of the big winners (in the big picture sense at least) of this year's WrestleMania 41 weekend?
Up until now, WWE vs. TNA matches have largely been cameo moments, with title matches in particular being a foregone conclusion. After Sunday night, all bets are off the table.
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