| 1 | [[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/small_kassem_card_1d7443e2c3.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Where the Best Wrestle.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | -> '''[[Wrestling/TheYoungBucks Nick Jackson]]:''' Some people think that we're getting rich, that's completely the opposite. Get out of here! We're probably break even at the end of the day. |
| 5 | -> '''Wrestling/CodyRhodes:''' ''[laughs]'' |
| 6 | -->-- ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-UOUryWijY "ALL US - The ALL IN Story as Told by Cody and The Young Bucks, Episode 1"]]'' |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ''[[Wrestling/LukeHarper It's [today]. You know what that means.]]'' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | All Elite Wrestling, LLC (AEW) is an American ProfessionalWrestling promotion based out of Jacksonville, UsefulNotes/{{Florida}}. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Its early seeds were planted by Wrestling/CodyRhodes, [[Wrestling/TheYoungBucks Matt & Nick Jackson]] as a result of their successful show ''ALL IN'' in late 2018, alongside the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague Jacksonville Jaguars]] owner Shahid Khan, and his son Tony Khan who would join in their journey later that year. After Wrestling/TheElite (Cody, Matt, Nick, Wrestling/KennyOmega, and "Hangman" Wrestling/AdamPage) finished up their [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]]/[[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling NJPW]] commitments (save for stablemate Wrestling/MartyScurll who had several months on his ROH contract), they went on to launch the AEW venture. (Scurll eventually did not follow them to AEW, choosing to continue with ROH & the newly revitalized [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]][[note]]until his Anglosphere career rapidly ended after his sexual assault of an inebriated 16-year-old girl came to light[[/note]].) |
| 13 | |
| 14 | In January 2019, the promotion announced a sequel to ''ALL IN'' dubbed ''Double or Nothing'', which would serve as the company's inaugural event, as well as announcing the roles of Executive Vice President (initially consisting of Cody Rhodes and Matt & Nick Jackson, with Wrestling/KennyOmega coming on board the following month), Chief Brand Officer (Brandi Rhodes), and the initial roster. They also announced a working relationship with Chinese professional wrestling promotion Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE) founded by Japanese wrestler Wrestling/{{CIMA}}. Also in February 2019, AEW announced a partnership with Mexican promotion Wrestling/{{AAA}}. AEW has since established working relationships with Wrestling/ImpactWrestling (December 2020–October 2021), Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (February 2021–present), [[Wrestling/DramaticDreamTeam DDT Pro-Wrestling]] (March 2022–present), and Wrestling/{{CMLL}} (October 2023–present).[[note]]Yes, AEW has partnerships with ''both'' of the biggest Mexican wrestling companies. It doesn't book any matches involving talent from both promotions.[[/note]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | The developments of the company can be followed in the following channels: |
| 17 | |
| 18 | * The promotion's [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFN4JkGP_bVhAdBsoV9xftA official channel]]. |
| 19 | * Wrestling/TheYoungBucks' own Website/YouTube series, ''WebVideo/BeingTheElite''. |
| 20 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxp3mUefk8cVEoHzO_fFXA "Nightmare Family"]] channel (property of both Cody and Brandi), which runs both the "All Us" series, documenting the ins and outs of ''ALL IN'', and the "Road to..." series. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | AEW's first weekly show, ''AEW Dynamite'', which airs on Creator/{{TBS}} in the United States on Wednesdays, premiered on October 2, 2019.A secondary show, ''AEW Rampage'', [[https://deadline.com/2021/05/aew-dynamite-moving-to-tbs-2022-1234760112/ debuted in August 2021]] on TNT; January 2022 saw ''Dynamite'' move from TNT to Creator/{{TBS}}, as TNT became occupied by both their long-standing coverage of [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation the NBA]], and their new coverage of [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague the NHL]] (in a split deal with Creator/{{ESPN}}, taking over from Creator/{{NBC}}). However, ''Rampage'' remained on TNT. A third weekly show, ''AEW Collision'' on Saturday nights, launched on the 17th of June 2023. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | On the March 2, 2022 episode of ''Dynamite'', Tony Khan announced that he had purchased Wrestling/RingOfHonor. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | The promotion recognizes eight championships: |
| 27 | |
| 28 | * '''AEW World Champion''': '''Wrestling/SwerveStrickland''' since April 21, 2024 |
| 29 | * '''AEW Women's World Champion''': '''Wrestling/ToniStorm''' since November 18, 2023 |
| 30 | * '''AEW World Tag Team Champions''': '''Wrestling/TheYoungBucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson)''' since April 21, 2024 |
| 31 | * '''AEW TNT Champion''': '''[[Wrestling/EdgeWrestler Adam Copeland]]''' since March 20, 2024 |
| 32 | * '''AEW TBS Champion''': '''Willow Nightingale''' since April 21, 2024 |
| 33 | * '''AEW International Champion''': '''Wrestling/RoderickStrong''' since March 3, 2024 |
| 34 | * '''AEW World Trios Champions''': '''[[Wrestling/BulletClub Bullet Club Gold]] (Wrestling/JayWhite and The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn))''' since April 21, 2024[[note]]The AEW World Trios and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team titles became unified at the inaugural ''AEW Dynasty'' when Bullet Club Gold defeated The Acclaimed when both trios put their respective titles on the line[[/note]] |
| 35 | * '''AEW Continental Crown Championship''': '''Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada''' since March 20, 2024 |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Other championships that are currently defended on AEW include: |
| 38 | %%For a non-AEW championship to be listed here, it should be currently held by a wrestler actively signed to AEW, and be defended at least once on an AEW show. |
| 39 | * '''FTW Champion''': '''Wrestling/ChrisJericho''' since April 21, 2024[[note]]The FTW Championship is an unsanctioned "renegade" title, originating from Wrestling/{{ECW}}, which is not officially recognized by AEW, but they do allow it to be defended on their shows[[/note]] |
| 40 | %% * '''ROH World Champion''': '''[[Wrestling/TheBriscoeBrothers Mark Briscoe]]''' since April 5, 2024 [[note]]Ring of Honor is owned by AEW CEO Tony Khan and is operated as a separate promotion, with its championships being defended in both brands.[[/note]] |
| 41 | * '''ROH Pure Champion''': '''Wheeler Yuta''' since November 25, 2023 [[note]]Defended on both AEW and ROH[[/note]] |
| 42 | * '''ROH World Tag Team Champions''': '''The Kingdom (Wrestling/MattTaven and Wrestling/MikeBennett)''' since December 27, 2023[[note]]Defended on both AEW and ROH[[/note]] |
| 43 | * '''ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions''': '''[[Wrestling/BulletClub Bullet Club Gold]] (Wrestling/JayWhite and The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn))''' since January 17, 2024[[note]]Defended on both AEW and ROH[[/note]] |
| 44 | %%* '''ROH World Television Champion''': '''Kyle Fletcher''' since December 15, 2023[[note]]Defended on both AEW and ROH[[/note]] |
| 45 | * '''ROH Women's World Champion''': '''[[Wrestling/EmberMoon Athena]]''' since December 10, 2022[[note]]Defended on both AEW and ROH[[/note]] |
| 46 | * '''NJPW Strong Openweight Champion''': '''Wrestling/EddieKingston''' since July 5, 2023 |
| 47 | * '''IWGP World Heavyweight Champion''': '''Wrestling/JonMoxley''' since April 12, 2024 |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Roster]] |
| 50 | Both rosters include tag teams. |
| 51 | |
| 52 | * Male roster: Wrestling/DarbyAllin, Action Andretti, Angélico, Alan Angels, Lance Archer, Peter Avalon, Bandido, Trent Beretta, [[Wrestling/EnzoAndCass Big Bill]], [[Wrestling/AleisterBlack Malakai Black]], The Blade, Bear Boulder, [[Wrestling/TheAcclaimed Anthony Bowens]], [[Wrestling/TheBriscoeBrothers Mark Briscoe]], Bear Bronson, The Butcher, Wrestling/AdamCole, [[Wrestling/EdgeWrestler Adam Copeland]], Wrestling/ColtCabana, Brian Cage, Wrestling/ChristianCage, Wrestling/OrangeCassidy, Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli, [[Wrestling/TheAcclaimed Max Caster]], Nick Comoroto, Brandon Cutler, Wrestling/{{Danhausen}}, Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Mark Davis, Shawn Dean, Evil Uno, [[Wrestling/{{Fenix}} Rey Fénix]], Kyle Fletcher, AR Fox, Daniel Garcia, Griff Garrison, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, Wrestling/SammyGuevara, [[Wrestling/JackSwagger Jake Hager]], Wrestling/JeffHardy, [[Wrestling/TheRevival Dax Harwood]], Powerhouse Hobbs, Wrestling/{{Hook}}, Wrestling/KotaIbushi, [[Wrestling/TheYoungBucks Matthew Jackson]], [[Wrestling/TheYoungBucks Nicholas Jackson]], Wrestling/ChrisJericho, Wrestling/SamoaJoe, Lee Johnson, Isiah Kassidy, Bryan Keith, Killswitch (formerly Luchasaurus), Brody King, Wrestling/EddieKingston, Zak Knight, Komander, Wrestling/KeithLee, Wrestling/JayLethal, Luther, Wrestling/{{MJF}}, Dante Martin, Darius Martin, Buddy Matthews, [[Wrestling/ThreePoint0 Matt Menard]], [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Miro]], Lee Moriarty, Wrestling/JonMoxley, Michael Nakazawa, Tony Nese, Wrestling/KyleOReilly, Anthony Ogogo, Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada, Wrestling/KennyOmega, Ortiz, Wrestling/WillOspreay, Wrestling/{{PAC}}, Wrestling/AdamPage, Ethan Page, [[Wrestling/ThreePoint0 Angelo Parker]], [[Wrestling/PentagonJr Penta El Zero Miedo]], Perro Peligroso, Jack Perry, Marq Quen, Alex Reynolds, [[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} Dustin Rhodes]], [[Wrestling/LosIngobernables Rush]], Kip Sabian, Scorpio Sky, Wrestling/KatsuyoriShibata, John Silver, Aaron Solow, Ricky Starks, Wrestling/{{Sting}}, Wrestling/SwerveStrickland, Wrestling/RoderickStrong, [[Wrestling/EvanBourne Matt Sydal]], Konosuke Takeshita, Wrestling/ChuckTaylor, [[Wrestling/JohnMorrison Johnny TV]], Wrestling/{{Wardlow}}, Nick Wayne, [[Wrestling/TheRevival Cash Wheeler]], Wrestling/JayWhite, [[Wrestling/BigShow Paul Wight]], Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, Wheeler Yuta. |
| 53 | * Female roster: Abadon, [[Wrestling/EmberMoon Athena]], Wrestling/BrittBaker, Skye Blue, Serena Deeb, Penelope Ford, Julia Hart, Jamie Hayter, Leyla Hirsch, Anna Jay, Wrestling/MercedesMartinez, Mariah May, Tay Melo, Wrestling/MercedesMone, Willow Nightingale, Deonna Purrazzo, Queen Aminata, Red Velvet, Riho, Thunder Rosa, Nyla Rose, Yuka Sakazaki, Emi Sakura, [[Wrestling/{{Paige}} Saraya]], Wrestling/HikaruShida, [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Ruby Soho]], Billie Starkz, Wrestling/KrisStatlander, Wrestling/ToniStorm, Taya Valkyrie, Paige [=VanZant=]. |
| 54 | * Broadcast team: Alex Abrahantes, Excalibur, Wrestling/MarkHenry, Alex Marvez, Wrestling/NigelMcGuinness, Renee Paquette, Justin Roberts, Wrestling/JimRoss, Wrestling/TonySchiavone, Wrestling/{{Taz|z}}, Paul Wight. |
| 55 | * Producers and coaches: Wrestling/ArnAnderson, Tanea Brooks, Sonjay Dutt, Wrestling/BillyGunn, Wrestling/ChrisHero, Wrestling/JeffJarrett, Wrestling/JerryLynn, Wrestling/DeanMalenko, Keith Mitchell, Nick Mondo, Jon Moxley[[note]]Serves as both a wrestler and coach[[/note]], Wrestling/MadisonRayne, Wrestling/SarahStock, B.J. Whitmer. |
| 56 | * Managers: Stokely Hathaway, Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr, Dan Lambert, Wrestling/JakeRoberts, "Smart" Mark Sterling. |
| 57 | * Referees: Mike Chioda, Aubrey Edwards, Earl Hebner, Rick Knox, Bryce Remsburg, Paul Turner. |
| 58 | * Other personnel: "–1" Mr. Brodie Lee Jr., Katelyn Borden, Amanda Huber, Rebel, Mikey Rukus. Will Washington. %% –1: Associate of The Dark Order. Borden (daughter-in-law of Sting): Community engagement director. Amanda Huber (widow of [[Wrestling/LukeHarper Brodie Lee]], mother of –1): Second-in-command to Borden. Rebel: Hair and makeup for women's roster; also appears on-screen with Britt Baker and others. Mikey Rukus: AEW's in-house composer. Will Washington: Administration coordinator. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | ---- |
| 61 | !! All Elite Tropes: |
| 62 | |
| 63 | * AbortedArc: |
| 64 | ** In the face of a consistently chilly reception from fans, the Nightmare Collective stable was shut down at the behest of Brandi Rhodes. Where it was meant to go will likely be a RiddleForTheAges. |
| 65 | ** Whatever story was being told with Allie "the Bunny" infiltrating the Nightmare Family by seducing QT Marshall and teaming with Brandi as "the Nightmare Sisters" was apparently scrapped for whatever reason, with Bunny simply leaving QT again to rejoin the Butcher and the Blade once she'd maxed out his credit cards. |
| 66 | ** After the tragic and unexpected death of Brodie Lee, almost all Dark Order storylines got thrown out the door, as the entire group spontaneously turned face in honour of their late leader. Evil Uno had been looking like he was contemplating turning face after tiring of Brodie's abuse, while Anna Jay had been attempting to recruit her friend and tag team partner Tay Conti into the group despite Tay becoming somewhat disturbed by Anna's heelish behavior. The group as a whole were setting up a feud with Dustin Rhodes, who they saw as a recruitment target. All these stories were dropped without a trace, with Uno (still "Evil") returning to being the stable's leader alongside Brodie's son -1, and Tay finally joining the group as an associate member (especially after Anna was taken out by a training injury). The only storyline continued was the Dark Order trying to recruit Hangman Adam Page and even then, any hints of heelish intentions beforehand were also dropped in favour of the Dark Order genuinely wanting Adam to join them as a friend. |
| 67 | ** The AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament in the build to ''Full Gear 2021'' was disrupted when Wrestling/JonMoxley took a hiatus from wrestling in order to attend an alcohol treatment program. Before his departure, the story of this TournamentArc revolved around Moxley displaying a level of brutality not seen from him before in AEW, squashing [[Wrestling/TheDarkOrder 10]] and leaving him in a bloody mess that appeared to signal an incoming FaceHeelTurn. He would've likely dealt with Wrestling/OrangeCassidy in a similar way before facing Wrestling/BryanDanielson in the finals; [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Miro]] took his place in the tournament, filling a similar role as a ruthless heel. |
| 68 | ** Near the end of 2022, Jade Cargill had several promos building up to a conflict with the rapper, Bow Wow, the latter eventually sending a video message warning Jade that she'll see him soon. However, by the start of 2023, all signs of that conflict have been dropped, Jade herself stating that she doesn't know what happened with it, but that AEW has moved on from the storyline. |
| 69 | ** After Johnny TV joined QTV, he declared that he would be making a lot of changes while Q.T Marshall was absent, implying that he was planning on taking over the stable from under Q.T's nose. Later, Q.T stated that he would be defending the AAA Latin American Championship against the Luchadores of AEW, the stable later watching one of Penta's matches, implying that he would be their next feud. Neither of these plotlines would be followed through on due to Q.T dropping the title on AAA to Octagón Jr on November of 2023, before Q.T made any defenses of the title on AEW, and then leaving AEW soon afterwards, resulting in QTV quietly dissolving. |
| 70 | * ArtEvolution: In terms of championships, the AEW Women's World Championship has undergone a couple of redesigns. When the belt was first revealed in June 2019, it was incredibly small, had a small oval shaped center plate and three side plates on each side of the centerplate. In May 2021, a new belt was awarded to then-champion, Wrestling/HikaruShida, which kept the overall design, but was slightly larger, had more diamonds and plating, and reduced the number of side plates to four rather than six. During [[Wrestling/BrittBaker Britt Baker's]] title defense against Thunder Rosa at ''Revolution 2022'', a completely new belt was revealed, which sported larger plates and had a design more reminiscent of the men's World Championship. |
| 71 | * AudienceParticipationSong: Chris Jericho's DoItYourselfThemeTune "Judas" became this to the extent that everything in the ring stops while the audience finishes singing up to the end of the first chorus ("I'm becoming Judas in my mind.") |
| 72 | ** Jungle Boy's theme, "Tarzan Boy", has become this. |
| 73 | ** The moment Wrestling/JonMoxley got "Wild Thing", the crowd started singing him to the ring every time he appears. |
| 74 | * ABoyAndHisX: Prior to having Marko Stunt in and renaming themselves as "Jurassic Express", Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy's tag team name was originally "A Boy and His Dinosaur". |
| 75 | * BarBrawl: Both Stadium Stampedes have featured these. |
| 76 | ** The first was between Jake Hager and Adam Page & Kenny Omega. |
| 77 | ** The second took place inside of a nightclub inside the stadium between FTR and Santana & Ortiz. Prior to them beginning hostilities, FTR's manager Tully Blanchard poured both teams a shot. Wrestling/{{Konnan}}, who was the DJ, even got involved in his old protege's defense after Blanchard began to get involved. |
| 78 | * BigBadEnsemble: |
| 79 | ** First-ever AEW World Champion Chris Jericho was the main BigBad for a while, after his vicious attack on Cody and Dustin Rhodes and the Young Bucks, alongside Sammy Guevara, Ortiz, Santana, and a debuting Jake Hager, dubbing the [[PowerStable stable]] the Wrestling/InnerCircle. |
| 80 | ** The Wrestling/DarkOrder is another stable that was not on the same level as The Inner Circle, but was shaping up to become one similar to them. Led by Evil Uno, under the command of the Exalted One, the stable attacked at random and seemed to be a {{cult}} of [[{{Mook}} Creepers]]. While the Inner Circle was all about [[{{Greed}} money]] and [[GlorySeeker fame in AEW]], [[HiddenAgendaVillain nothing was known about The Dark Order's goals]]; Evil Uno seemed to be building an army of followers for the Exalted One, going as far to recruit those on a losing streak, or tag team members like Christopher Daniels. With the revelation of the Exalted One as Brodie Lee (the former Luke Harper), it's clearer that the Dark Order was basically corporate arrogance that only plays at being dark and edgy. It's a bit of a TakeThat to a certain other wrestling promotion's corporate culture. However, after the untimely death of Brodie Lee, they turned face. |
| 81 | ** More recently Wrestling/ThePinnacle, led by Wrestling/{{MJF}} along with [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]], Wardlow, Shawn Spears, and manager Tully Blanchard. Though in March 2022, Wardlow left the stable and Blanchard was [[{{Kayfabe}} fired]]. |
| 82 | ** Matt Hardy's faction, the Hardy Family Office counted as one as well due to their grievances with Adam Page, the Dark Order, and most recently Darby Allin. After Hardy [[{{Kayfabe}} sold]] his stable to [[Wrestling/AndradeCienAlmas Andrade El Ídolo]] and left for good to team with [[Wrestling/JeffHardy his brother]], it became the Andrade Family Office with a slightly retooled lineup. |
| 83 | ** After Jericho broke up The Inner Circle in March 2022, he started a new heel stable, the Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety, including former Inner Circle member Jake Hager as well as Daniel Garcia and 2.0. Another former Inner Circle member, Sammy Guevara, would later reunite with Jericho in the JAS, bringing along his real-life fiancée (now wife) Tay Conti, who would soon change her ring name to Tay Melo, as the stable's first female member. Anna Jay soon followed. |
| 84 | ** After turning Main/{{Heel}} in March 2023, the Wrestling/BlackpoolCombatClub became the most dangerous faction in AEW, regularly conducting brutal assaults on wrestlers to the point of hospitalizing them. Meanwhile, after betraying Wrestling/KennyOmega, Wrestling/DonCallis began to enlist other wrestlers into his new "family", intending to have them make a name for themselves through any means possible. And resting on the throne was AEW World Champion, Wrestling/{{MJF}}, who had been hated by virtually everyone for his cowardly and arrogant ways, and is willing to pull every dirty tactic in the book to ensure that he remains champion. |
| 85 | ** With the BCC turning back to faces that October, the Callis "family" has become one of the main BBE factions. And with MJF turning face in summer of 2023, the mysterious "Devil" who stole his mask, eventually revealed to be Wrestling/AdamCole, has been acting in his place, organizing gang attacks on enemy and ally of MJF's alike, with the goal of turning everyone against Max to make it easier to take away everything from him. After officially introducing The Undisputed Kingdom to the audience on the following show, Cole revealed his plans to have his stable become the most dominant force in AEW. Meanwhile, [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]] has been acting as AEW's top Heel as reigning TNT champion, mocking and brutalizing anybody who gets in his way while cultivating his own "family" of previous victims of his who he's been emotionally manipulating to act as his pawns, naming the faction The Patriarchy. |
| 86 | ** Upon their FaceHeelTurn in winter of 2024, Wrestling/TheYoungBucks have been running rampant in the company, abusing their status as Executive Vice Presidents of AEW, and conducting attacks on anyone who crosses them. They eventually recruited Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada and Jack Perry and reinvented Wrestling/TheElite, with the goal of making a hostile takeover of the company. |
| 87 | * BigGood: |
| 88 | ** Initially Cody, as not only executive vice president of the company but also a ''phenomenally'' over babyface. |
| 89 | ** Above Cody is Tony Khan as the BenevolentBoss of the company. |
| 90 | ** From 2022 to 2023, "Hangman" Adam Page was the indisputable BigGood, while Cody first became more of a [[GreyAndGreyMorality morally ambiguous character]], then left the company altogether. However, his grudge against Wrestling/SwerveStrickland and inability to officially beat him in a match gradually caused him to grow more unstable and immoral. |
| 91 | * BloodierAndGorier: Than WWE, without a doubt. AEW may not be as relentlessly violent as, say, Wrestling/{{CZW}} or even old Wrestling/{{ECW}}, but they fully embrace the old tradition of blading in particularly intense matches. This was made apparent from their very first show, when during Cody and Dustin's match at ''Double or Nothing 2019'' Dustin bled so heavily that he, his brother and the entire ring were soaked red. One of their most protected stipulations is the "Unsanctioned Lights Out Match", where the company officially washes their hands of the match and the two wrestlers are basically allowed to kill each other in the ring; there have only been a few and they've been some of the most extreme matches of recent years. They're also notable for being willing to do ''women's'' hardcore matches, such as the St. Patrick's Day Slam match between Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa (the second of the Lights Out matches) and the street fight between Team [=TayJay=] vs The Bunny and Penelope Ford, which both involved heaps of blood, thumbtacks, and massive, brutal table spots. |
| 92 | * ButtMonkey: Brandon Cutler and Peter Avalon have both been piling up losses since AEW started doing shows. They didn't manage to score a win as a tag team either, so eventually they decided to go one-on-one on the September 15, 2020 episode of ''Dark'' to settle who would be the first to get a win... resulting in ''[[EpicFail AEW's first-ever double count-out]]''. |
| 93 | * CacophonyCoverUp: At ''Double or Nothing 2019'', Chris Jericho was cutting a heel promo in which he demanded that the hostile crowd cheer for him, which coincided with the crowd going crazy as Jon Moxley walked through the crowd in his surprise debut. The cheering kept Jericho distracted long enough (believing that it was the crowd obeying his order) for Moxley to enter the ring and confront him. |
| 94 | * CallBack: |
| 95 | ** During ''Double or Nothing'' 2019, MJF eliminated sentimental fan favorite Wrestling/{{Glacier}} from the Casino Battle Royale — and while basking in the boos, he backed into a [[DeathGlare glaring]] Wrestling/BillyGunn. Then in the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale on the November 20 ''Dynamite'', the ''exact'' same thing happened with Wrestling/OrangeCassidy in Glacier's role. |
| 96 | ** Wrestling/BryanDanielson's Championship bout with Wrestling/AdamPage at ''Winter is Coming'' in December 2021 ended in a draw after the two hit the time limit--just like Danielson's very first match in AEW against [[Wrestling/KennyOmega Page's former mentor and tag-team partner]]. |
| 97 | ** Wrestling/{{Sting}}'s retirement match at ''Revolution'' 2024, a tag team championship defense with Wrestling/DarbyAllin against Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, was filled with call-backs to his [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] and Wrestling/{{WCW}} days. |
| 98 | *** First, it was held at the Greensboro Coliseum in the eponymous North Carolina city–the same venue where Sting challenged Wrestling/RicFlair for the NWA [[Wrestling/BigGoldBelt World Heavyweight Championship]] at the first ''Clash of the Champions'' in 1988. The match, which ended in a time-limit draw, is generally considered to have elevated Sting to superstardom. |
| 99 | *** Sting came out to Music/{{Metallica}}'s "[[Music/KillEmAll Seek & Destroy]]", a song he had previously used as entrance music in the final years of WCW. It was also the entrance music he and Allin used at the 2023 ''All In'' show in London. |
| 100 | *** Flair accompanied him to the match. |
| 101 | *** Sting's real-life sons were physically involved, each dressed as one of their father's WCW ring personas. Garrett Borden portrayed Sting's original WCW "surfer" gimmick, and Steve Borden Jr. was dressed in Sting's [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo Wolfpac]] attire. On top of that, Garrett wore the red, white, and blue gear his father wore when he defeated Flair for his first world title in 1990. |
| 102 | * TheCameo: AEW makes extensive use of journeyman wrestlers (men and women who are brought in to wrestle without being signed to a long-term contract), not only as {{jobber}}s on ''Dark'' but on the main show (such as Matt Sydal's brother Mike [[BashBrothers teaming with him]]) and even occasionally in main events, perhaps most notably when Chris Jericho brought in "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb as a hired gun to take out Jon Moxley ahead of their championship match at ''Revolution 2020''. |
| 103 | * CanonWelding: Due to the insular nature of Wrestling/{{WWE}}, the time of wrestlers in that promotion are rarely given extended mentions beyond one-off {{mythology gag}}s. There are a few exceptions to this, however. |
| 104 | ** When Wrestling/AleisterBlack was abruptly released from WWE, he was in the middle of debuting a new "TheStoryteller"-type gimmick. In AEW, he has continued to use the aesthetics and general tone that he had established in WWE (most notably, he keeps the damaged eye that Wrestling/SethRollins and Murphy gave him), while coupling it with an ambiguous case of DemonicPossession. A vignette he created during the transition between the two companies implies that his time in WWE is a case of OrWasItADream. |
| 105 | ** When Wrestling/AdamCole introduced Wrestling/BobbyFish to Wrestling/TheYoungBucks, he referred to him as "[[Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra an old friend]]". Notably in [[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT]], Bobby Fish was out with an injury when Cole turned on the rest of the Undisputed Era and effectively disbanded it, meaning that the plot detail that Cole never betrayed Fish remains true in AEW. |
| 106 | *** Further CanonWelding occurred with the introduction of Wrestling/KyleOReilly, stitching together storylines from Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} and Wrestling/RingOfHonor by saying that they have "a lot of stuff to work out". If you acknowledge NXT as the last time Cole and O'Reilly encountered each other, Cole was responsible for breaking up the [[Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra Undisputed Era]], then being run out by O'Reilly. If you acknowledge ROH as the last time that Cole and O'Reilly encountered each other, they had a year and a half long feud which ended in them trading the ROH championship. In addition, O'Reilly says he knows Wrestling/BobbyFish has his back, and they've re-formed Wrestling/{{reDRagon}}. |
| 107 | ** When introducing Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club, Wrestling/WilliamRegal makes reference to his final match before in-ring retirement was with Claudio in Wrestling/{{WWENXT}}. |
| 108 | ** FTR’s "Seven Star" nickname refers to the major Tag Team Championships they have held. Three of those stars are the NXT, Raw and [=SmackDown=] belts. |
| 109 | * CombatCommentator: |
| 110 | ** Retired wrestler Excalibur is a color commentator. |
| 111 | ** Allie did commentary during the women's fatal four-way in ''Double or Nothing''. |
| 112 | ** Since Wrestling/JimRoss stopped featuring in ''AEW Dark'', a number of wrestlers have taken turns in joining Excalibur in the commentary booth, including Chuck Taylor, Shawn Spears, Nyla Rose, Eddie Kingston, and MJF. Some unaffiliated guests have even joined in, such as Wrestling/ColtCabana and Wrestling/VickieGuerrero (both of whom signed full-time shortly thereafter). Fellow retired wrestler Wrestling/{{Taz|z}} would join Excalibur full-time. |
| 113 | ** ''Rampage'' has a rotating crew of (usually) Taz, Wrestling/ChrisJericho, and "Absolute" Ricky Starks joining Excalibur. |
| 114 | ** Wrestling/RingOfHonor and ''Collision'' has former wrestler Wrestling/NigelMcGuinness on the desk. |
| 115 | * {{Crossover}}: |
| 116 | ** While AEW has maintained cordial working relationships with a number of other promotions since its inception, in December 2020 it began a more direct crossover with Wrestling/ImpactWrestling when Wrestling/DonCallis helped Kenny Omega cheat to beat Champion Jon Moxley, then declared that Omega would be appearing on ''Impact'' with the AEW belt. This grew into the start of a mutual invasion angle, with Impact Tag Team champions The Good Brothers ([[Wrestling/DrewHankinson Doc Gallows]] and Wrestling/KarlAnderson, formerly of Wrestling/BulletClub with Kenny) showing up on ''Dynamite'' to wrestle, Kenny joining them to take on Impact Champion Rich Swann, [[Wrestling/QuinnOjinnaka Moose]] and Chris Sabin at Impact's ''Hard to Kill 2021'' PPV, and Matt Hardy leading Private Party to Impact to challenge the Good Brothers as well. AEW owner Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone even started buying ad space on ''Impact'' episodes, cutting snarky promos on the promotion. The conflict between the two promotions escalated until it eventually led to a champion vs champion winner-take-all match between Omega and Swann set for Impact's ''Rebellion'' PPV. |
| 117 | ** Wrestling fans refer to AEW's method of crossovers as "Opening the Forbidden Door", referring to a Japanese wrestling term for the status quo of a company not allowing wrestlers to appear on their show who are not explicitly under contract with them. Traditionally, wrestlers who leave a company and appear on another may keep some or most of their original gimmicks and may be given winks and nods to their old employer, but that's as far as it goes. The cross appearances between AEW and Impact talent mark the first time since Wrestling/{{ECW}} appearing on [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]] television in the mid '90s that one company's talent appeared on another company's programming with the explicit acknowledgement that they work for an entirely different company (and are not, say, a stable masquerading as another company). |
| 118 | ** A two-way crossover occurred for a single title that AEW didn't even own: in early 2021, KENTA of New Japan Pro Wrestling suddenly attacked Jon Moxley over the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship - a title that Moxley had held for over a year and one that KENTA had the rights to challenge for. Not only did this allow KENTA to wrestle a match on ''Dynamite'' (a tag match alongside Kenny Omega against Moxley and Lance Archer), but this also resulted in a brief time period where Moxley was officially recognized as a titleholder in New Japan despite no prior mention of it. |
| 119 | ** On the April 20, 2022 episode of Dynamite it was announced that on June 26th the first ever full inter-company PPV would be held between AEW and NJPW, called (appropriately enough) "Forbidden Door". Both companies' main titles were put on the line in the dual main events, with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship defended in a 4-way between current holder Wrestling/JayWhite, former champion Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada and AEW's Adam Cole and Adam Page, and the AEW Interim[[note]]since current champion CM Punk was currently out with a broken foot[[/note]] World Championship being contested between Jon Moxley and NJPW's Ace Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi. IWGP United States Champion Wrestling/WillOspreay faced Orange Cassidy for the title, and FTR actually ''won'' the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from United Empire, while up and down the rest of the card other AEW and NJPW wrestlers either teamed up with or faced off against each other[[note]]the only exceptions being a match on the Buy-In between AEW's Nick Comoroto and Lance Archer, who was well-known for his NJPW run, and the AEW Women's World Championship match between champion Thunder Rosa and challenger Toni Storm, both of whom were AEW wrestlers, although commentary noted that both had competed in NJPW's "sister promotion" Wrestling/WorldWonderRingStardom[[/note]]. |
| 120 | * CursedItem: In October of 2023, Excalibur mused on commentary that the International Title was cursed as Orange Cassidy ran himself ragged defending the title before losing it to Jon Moxley. Moxley lost the belt soon afterwards after he suffered a (legitimate) injury in match against Rey Fenix (and called an audible mid-match and had Fenix pin him). Finally, Fenix himself lost the title in quick fashion after several nagging injuries caught up with him. |
| 121 | * CustomUniform: |
| 122 | ** The first six TNT Champions have had their own unique variation of the belt. At first, this was something of a coincidence: Cody had to make-do with an unfinished placeholder belt during his first run, Brodie Lee had the finished version of that belt associated with him when it was retired after his death, and Darby Allin got a black leather version of the belt as a replacement. The unique belt idea was solidified with Miro's reign, when he got a white and green variant of the belt (which alongside his red trunks matches the colors of the flag of Bulgaria, Miro's home country), with the coat-of-arms of his hometown, Plovdiv, replacing the Turner Mansion side plates. When Sammy Guevara won the title, the standard version was reinstated, albeit with rhinestones added in the circular area behind the TNT logo (likely to compliment Sammy's bedazzled ring gear). During Scorpio Sky's second reign, he would receive a Los Angeles Lakers-inspired yellow and purple variant of the belt (which also has the numbers "8-24" emblazoned on the strap where the snap buttons are [[note]] A nod to the late Kobe Bryant, who played for the Lakers under those numbers.[[/note]]), after Sammy and Frankie Kazarian smashed the standard version with a sledgehammer. |
| 123 | ** When MJF won the AEW World Championship, he debuted a custom version of the belt that retains the same overall design, but has a brown strap with a subtle Burberry check pattern. Beginning with Samoa Joe's reign, the standard version's inner side plates were updated with a removable section that can be customized with the reigning champion's logo. |
| 124 | ** The AEW World Trios Championship have gotten this treatment as well. During the House of Black's reign as World Trios Champions, they introduced a custom variant of the belts that eschew the blue and gold color on the plating in favor of a monochromatic grey, silver and black color scheme, befitting their dark natures, as well as the group's logos adorning the side plates and a vertical "HOB" engraved by the snap buttons.. When The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn won the titles, they unveiled their own custom belts with a pink leather strap and the ends of the belt shaped like scissors and the words "SCISSOR ME" on one end, and "DADDY ASS" on the other. |
| 125 | * DarkReprise: The theme song for Wrestling/LuchaBrothers underwent this after teaming with PAC to become Death Triangle. |
| 126 | * DifferentInEveryEpisode: Instead of the usual kayfabe factoids, the information tab on Hangman Adam Page's entrance graphic changes every week to reflect some random thought in-character as the FunctionalAddict, such as "Days Sober: 0", "Social Distancing Since November", and "IDK Make It Say Something Like Happee Hawlidays". |
| 127 | * TheDragon: Several wrestlers have a [[TheBrute big, strong enforcer]]. |
| 128 | ** Jake Hager for Chris Jericho, until the Jericho Appreciation Society broke up. |
| 129 | ** Wardlow for MJF, before the former [[HeelFaceTurn turned face]]. |
| 130 | ** Evil Uno for the Exalted One, before the latter's untimely passing. |
| 131 | ** Awesome Kong for Brandi Rhodes, [[AbortedArc until the Nightmare Collective dissolved]]. |
| 132 | ** Luchasaurus, later renamed Killswitch, for Christian Cage. |
| 133 | * DramaticUnmask: |
| 134 | ** For the {{Masked Luchador}}es who compete in AEW, it is not against the rules for an opponent to tear off your mask, though the camera crews are courteous enough to not focus on your face when it does happen. Notably, FTR earned a win against the Lucha Brothers by ripping off Penta's mask and pinning him in the ensuring shock. The Lucha Brothers got their revenge over a year later when they got the stipulation that they would fight a mysterious masked tag team of Andrade's choosing; this turned out to be FTR competing as "Las Super Ranas", whom the Lucha Brothers quickly unmasked to reveal their real identities. |
| 135 | ** Happened twice at the 2022 edition of ''All Out''. |
| 136 | *** First, late in the Casino Ladder Match, the opening match of the show's PPV feed, a group of masked men stormed the ring and took out all of the competitors. One of them climbed the ladder and grabbed the poker chip that assured its holder a future shot at the AEW World Championship, and then unmasked, revealing himself to be manager Stokely Hathaway. The rest of the crew then unmasked, revealing themselves as W. Morrissey,[[note]]later renamed Big Bill[[/note]] Austin and Colten Gunn, Lee Moriarty, and Ethan Page. Finally, ''another'' masked man entered the ring and was announced as the final entrant, "The Joker", and Hathaway gave the poker chip to him. "The Joker" teased unmasking, but didn't... |
| 137 | *** ...until after Wrestling/CMPunk reclaimed the World Championship from Wrestling/JonMoxley. Immediately afterward, The Joker was shown in a video and revealed himself as Wrestling/{{MJF}}, who hadn't appeared in AEW since a searing {{worked shoot}} promo three months earlier. MJF then came on stage, flipping off the crowd and gesturing that Punk's belt would be his. |
| 138 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: |
| 139 | ** Alex Marvez was a fixture of the company's commentary team in its pre-''Dynamite'' days. After Wrestling/TonySchiavone joined, Marvez was relegated to being the promotion's backstage interviewer, where he has remained since. |
| 140 | ** Early episodes of ''Dark'' lacked a consistent commentary team; it was usually Excalibur with a SpecialGuest from the wrestling roster. ''Dark'' eventually settled on pairing Excalibur with Wrestling/{{Taz|z}} for most matches. |
| 141 | ** Similarly, ''Elevation'' began with the commentary team of Wrestling/TonySchiavone and [[Wrestling/TheBigShow Paul Wight]]. Later, Wrestling/EddieKingston was introduced as a third wheel, and has mostly stuck around since. |
| 142 | ** At the start of the "[[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic pandemic]] era", AEW took the initiative in taping around five weeks of shows overnight at the Nightmare Factory wrestling school (operated by AEW's Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall) in Norcross, Georgia, so they would be prepared if wrestling shows could not continue to be produced in the short-term. These episodes certainly stand out as AEW would use the distinctive Daily's Place as their home venue throughout the rest of this era. |
| 143 | ** For most of 2019 and early 2020, the "Elite" part of the company name was much more indicative of its brand identity. Omega and the Young Bucks were featured much more prominently, even above the world champions. Promos and segments on actual AEW shows were rare, usually being featured on Being the Elite instead. Inside jokes and references from the Elite's fanbase were extremely common and they even booked most of the matches and storylines. Essentially, if you weren't an established fan of the Elite and/or a regular viewer of BTE, you would have a very difficult time following the development of feuds and storylines. This seems to have been phased out over the course of 2020. |
| 144 | * EliteFour: The "Four Pillars" of AEW, a name coined by MJF for the top young stars who would be carrying the company forward into the future -- himself, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy (now working under his real name of Jack Perry). Although during their epic promo face-off, CM Punk suggested that MJF had been supplanted as one of the Pillars by Britt Baker, while a lot of fans in 2022 decided to replace Sammy with Wheeler Yuta, due to the former's lukewarmly received angle with Tay Conti and the latter's rising prominence and acclaimed matches. |
| 145 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Several heels have justified their actions in promos by saying they do it to put food on their family’s table. |
| 146 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Prince Nana was okay with barging through Hangman Page's house with Swerve Strickland when he thought nobody was home. However, when they started hearing noises in the house, Nana became uncomfortable with the idea. |
| 147 | * GameChanger: |
| 148 | ** The foundation of AEW marked a significant shift in the balance of power in the North American wrestling scene. After the fall of Wrestling/{{WCW}} and Wrestling/{{ECW}} at the end of the Wrestling/MondayNightWars, and after Wrestling/ImpactWrestling and Wrestling/RingOfHonor had failed to gain more than niche followings (and Impact, formerly known as TNA, had managed to repeatedly embarrass itself when it had tried to compete with WWE on its own level, such as the "New Monday Night Wars" when they moved their flagship TV show to Mondays to go against ''Raw''), the backing of Tony Khan and the guiding hands of The Elite meant that AEW aimed to be the true SpiritualSuccessor to WCW that fans had long been clamoring for. Even though it didn't aim to directly confront WWE on its own massive level[[note]]Tony Khan and his father Shahid Khan are considerably richer than Wrestling/VinceMcMahon, but this still doesn't give AEW even a fraction of the phenomenal operating budget that WWE enjoys, as it is still ultimately a passion project for Tony; the "Wednesday Night War" was actually initiated by Vince, when he moved ''NXT'' to go head-to-head against ''Dynamite''[[/note]], by providing another promotion where wrestlers can sign to gain a relatively good amount of mainstream exposure without the harsh working schedules and difficult backstage environment of WWE, AEW managed to offer workers on the North American wrestling scene an alternative career trajectory than ultimately striving to end up in WWE. The existence of AEW had a considerable effect on the way WWE did business almost immediately, with the company signing more talent to longer, more lucrative contracts in order to keep as many wrestlers as possible away from AEW. |
| 149 | ** On November 12, 2020, Tony Khan [[https://twitter.com/TonyKhan/status/1326536467414396928 tweeted]] that "the balance of power in wrestling will shift tonight". When the most dramatic thing to happen on the episode of ''Dynamite'' aired that night was the return of Wrestling/{{PAC}} (who had been absent for months thanks to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic), this tweet became the subject of some mockery, but events that shortly followed suggested he had simply been a couple of weeks premature, as the December 2 episode revealed that AEW had entered into a working relationship with Wrestling/ImpactWrestling (which, despite the past failings mentioned above, was still the third biggest wrestling promotion in the USA after AEW's foundation) when Kenny Omega won the AEW World Championship and absconded together with Impact Wrestling vice president Wrestling/DonCallis to make his next appearance on the subsequent episode of ''Impact!'', eventually leading to Impact World Tag Team Champions the Good Brothers (Wrestling/DocGallows and Wrestling/KarlAnderson) appearing on ''Dynamite'', and even Kenny wrestling a main event match on the next Impact PPV. Together with the working relationships AEW already had with the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] and Wrestling/{{AAA}}, it was speculated that AEW was assembling [[TheAlliance a massive wrestling company coalition]] to compete against WWE, speculation that went into overdrive when Wrestling/{{KENTA}} kicked open the "forbidden door" at the end of the February 3, 2021 ''Beach Break'' special episode of ''Dynamite'', revealing that AEW had also come to terms (or was in the process of coming to terms) with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, the biggest wrestling company in Japan. Fans have theorized that AEW is attempting to revive the interpromotional wrestling network of the pre-WWE hegemony territory days, only now on a ''global'' scale. |
| 150 | ** In the fall of 2021, AEW signed in rapid succession Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Wrestling/AdamCole, and Wrestling/RubyRiott. The injection of massively notable talent (specifically Punk, who had not wrestled in seven years, yet still retained a devoted cult following through that time) gave the company a shot in the arm at a time when the AEW roster had not seen much of a shake-up in a while. The result was ''Dynamite'' and new sister show ''Rampage'' pulling numbers (over a million viewers) AEW had not seen since the first month of existence when they were still a novelty, with 18-49 demographic ratings that toppled even ''WWE Raw''; filled Arthur Ashe Stadium (home of tennis' US Open) with 18,000 fans at a time when WWE struggled to hit ''5,000'' in return to live arenas; and led ''All Out 2021'' to crack over 200,000 PPV buys, a first for a non-WWE PPV since 1999. The publicly expressed joy of Punk, Danielson, and Riott (now christened Ruby Soho) returning to action in front of rabid fans with more creative freedom than they had in WWE had wrestling journalists reporting that more disgruntled WWE talent were now counting down the clock on their WWE contracts in hopes of making a similar jump, and noting that jump of talent may be the most important since Scott Hall and Kevin Nash infamously jumped to WCW. |
| 151 | * GenkiGirl: |
| 152 | ** Kylie Rae was basically AEW's equivalent of Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, always showing herself smiling and cheerful. When she left the company, the void of that role seems to be filled by both Riho and Allie (at least until Allie [[FaceHeelTurn turned heel]] and joined The Butcher and The Blade as The Bunny). |
| 153 | ** Yuka Sakazaki fully counts as one, especially when she goofs off in the ring. |
| 154 | ** Maki Itoh is shaping up to be a lunatic version of this trope. |
| 155 | ** Tay Conti (now Tay Melo) is dancing her way to the role nicely. |
| 156 | ** Willow Nightingale is the new crowd favourite for how ''infectiously'' happy she always is. |
| 157 | * GenreThrowback: |
| 158 | ** Most AEW matches feature a 20-minute time limit, which has come into play on a few occasions (most notably Darby Allin vs. Cody at ''Fyter Fest 2019'', where Allin surviving until the time limit draw served to build him up as a credible {{Determinator}}). Strictly enforced time limits was a staple of old-school professional wrestling, but had largely been abandoned outside of special stipulation matches as the major wrestling promotions evolved from being kayfabe broadcasts of sporting events to something more tailor-made for television. |
| 159 | ** Main event non-title matches on TV are also under ''TV time remaining" limits as an old-school kayfabe concession that the last match will conclude by the time they're scheduled to go off-air. For title matches, it would continue on AEW's [=YouTube=] channel should they go long, but that has yet to be enacted. |
| 160 | * GoryDiscretionShot: A (presumably) unintentional one during the AEW World Championship match between Chris Jericho and Cody at ''Full Gear 2019'' when Cody went for a suicide dive out of the ring onto Jericho, only for Jericho to roll out of the way towards the cameraman, causing his body to block a lot of the shot as Cody ''smashed headfirst into the steel entrance ramp,'' tearing a vicious gash open in his forehead. Given the brutality of the spot, it may have been for the better. |
| 161 | * GratuitousSpanish: One of the silly nameplate facts given to Adam Page when he and Kenny Omega faced off against the Lucha Brothers said, "''¿Cómo se dice yeehaw?''" ("How does one say yeehaw?"). |
| 162 | * GrievousBottleyHarm: |
| 163 | ** On the January 8, 2020 episode of ''Dynamite'', Moxley smashed a bottle of "a little bit of the bubbly" over Jericho's head after refusing his offer to join The Inner Circle. |
| 164 | ** During the Stadium Stampede match at ''Double or Nothing'' 2020, Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page had to break ''five'' bottles of "a little bit of the bubbly" (from a bar inside the stadium where the match took place) over Jake Hager's head before hitting him with Page's finisher (with Kenny providing the boost) to take him out of the match. |
| 165 | * GreyAndGrayMorality: As AEW started, Cody Rhodes stated that he believes {{Heel}}s and {{Face}}s are tired tropes and that all wrestlers are merely “competitors”. However, AEW would still follow the traditional tropes -- like ''TNA Impact'' in its heyday, there are separate entrance tunnels for heels and faces -- although employ several tweeners like PAC and Lance Archer, while Cody Rhodes has his own entrance way between both designated tunnels. |
| 166 | * HalloweenEpisode: The October 30, 2019 edition of ''Dynamite'' featured numerous wrestlers coming to the ring in costume, including Best Friends as WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty, the Young Bucks as [[Franchise/StreetFighter Ryu and Ken]], and Kenny Omega as [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Sans]]. |
| 167 | ** The Elite vs Dark Order match on the 10/27/21 episode of ''Dynamite'' had multiple costumes. The Dark Order had an eclectic costume style (John Silver in a Bambi onesie, Stu Grayson as Kratos, Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and Alan Angels as cowboys, and Colt Cabana as The Elite's valet, Brandon Cutler), with the Elite having to scrap their ''Series/SquidGame'' idea for a ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' theme instead. After eliminating the Dark Order horse (assumed to be Preston "10" Vance, in actuality Brandon Cutler) with a BTE-trigger, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man reveals himself to be [[Wrestling/AdamPage Hangman Adam Page]]! |
| 168 | ** The 10/28/23 ''Collision'' "Fright Night Fight" match saw Hikaru Shida dressed as [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Ada Wong]] vs. Abadon, who had styled their makeup and ring gear for the night like ComicBook/{{Spawn}}. Additionally, the ring was decorated with Halloween ephemera, and a pumpkin pail of candy was used in place of the more typical bag of thumbtacks. |
| 169 | * HiddenDepths: On the December 4, 2019 ''Dynamite'', Luchasaurus roared at Chris Jericho... then asked if Jericho really thought he talked like that and bragged about his Masters in medieval history (which he really does have). |
| 170 | * IMeantToDoThat: |
| 171 | ** [[invoked]] After the embarrassing incident during a beatdown by the Dark Order on the Elite where one of the Creepers was caught full-on camera [[FightSceneFailure throwing punches at Dustin Rhodes that weren't even in the same postcode as his head]], AEW came in for a lot of mockery for the segment. They responded by working it into the story, giving the Dark Order another one of their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jsvjERWrsI vignette videos]] where it was implied that the Creeper in question was [[TheMole a mole infiltrating the Order]] who was only faking his participation in the beatdown and [[YouHaveFailedMe they had him "dealt with"]]. |
| 172 | ** Similarly, after a spectacular fail of the pyros at the end of the "Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match" between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega, Omega and Don Callis played it off as an intentional joke they played on Mox and Eddie Kingston. Probably the best "save" the promotion could have come up with, but still. |
| 173 | * INeverSaidItWasPoison: At All Out 2021, with his originally scheduled opponent Pac unable to attend due to travel issues (which had plagued Pac and the Lucha Bros. before hand, all of which were implied to have been caused by Andrade), Andrade and Chavo Guerrero Jr. were interviewed backstage. After having been asked point blank if they were the cause of Pac's travel issues, Chavo quickly interjected that he didn't even know the number for American Airlines, and then quickly backtracked and said "if that's the flight he was using." |
| 174 | * InterfaceSpoiler: A hypothetical one, but during the premiere episode of ''Dynamite'' when the Women's World Championship belt was revealed, a lot of people took one look at it and immediately guessed who was going to win it. The belt is absolutely ''tiny'' by wrestling belt standards, even women's belt standards (as could be seen [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeckoe_K6OqrJtizhc7grZaV3lOgCEfYcWVoBYSJo7RGWRBHcK when the ref held it up]]), and was being contested between female WrestlingMonster Nyla Rose and petite Japanese ''joshi'' Riho, who weighs well under 100lbs soaking wet. Riho won, and the tiny belt was nicely sized for her. AEW eventually replaced the belt with a new one that had a similar design but was significantly larger during the celebration for Hikaru Shida's year-long title reign in early 2021, and again in 2022 with an even larger belt when Britt Baker was defeated by Thunder Rosa. |
| 175 | * ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Dan Lambert and his American Top Team faction's feud with The Inner Circle caused audiences to chant "Fat-faced dip shit" at him. He constantly insists that his face is '''not''' fat. |
| 176 | * {{Jobber}}: AEW has a recurring roster of jobbers (of both genders) who show up repeatedly to lose to higher-standing talent. Some of them, like Peter "the Librarian" Avalon and Brandon Cutler, are full characters who wrestle on the main show as well, while most are enhancement talent who only appear on ''Dark'' and don't have a real character or get an opportunity to talk. Regardless, some of them (like Shawn "The Captain" Dean, Lee Johnson, Skyler Moore and Musa) manage to get quite over with the fans who want to see them pick up their first win due to good performances. You can also never tell when an apparent jobber losing on ''Dark'' will be picked up and promoted to a full performer if they're well-received enough, like Preston Vance, who lost his debut match to Darby Allin and was promptly recruited by the Dark Order as "10", or Alan Angels, who was recruited as "5". |
| 177 | * KidAppealCharacter: |
| 178 | ** Riho is only and became the inaugural Women's World Champion at age 22, having been wrestling since she was nine years old. Ratings have shown her segments are especially popular among teenage audiences. |
| 179 | ** During their tag-team partnership, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy were very popular with younger fans as well, due to their cartoony gimmicks and Jungle Boy's youth. Marko Stunt's arrival in the stable added to it because of his unusually small size for a male wrestler (billed as 5'2", 120 lb). |
| 180 | * LawyerFriendlyCameo: During Kenny Omega's ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' entrance on the October 30th, 2019 edition of ''Dynamite'', a silhouette of Wrestling/KotaIbushi (Omega's old tag team partner in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling) holding the G1 Climax trophy was shown along with a modified version of the famous Lionmark of NJPW as a continuation of the ''Undertale''-themed cutscenes made for Omega's Wrestle Kingdom entrance. |
| 181 | * LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: At the start of the Anarchy in the Arena match, Moxley, Danielson, Kingston, Santana and Ortiz came out to Moxley's theme song, "Wild Thing". However, the song didn't stop when the match started, and kept playing on repeat until Jericho trashed the sound system, much to the crowd's displeasure. This may have been influenced by New Jack in ECW, somewhat of a hardcore icon. |
| 182 | * MalevolentMaskedMen: |
| 183 | ** The Dark Order (except Stu Grayson and Brodie Lee) were a stable of these back when they were heels. Evil Uno and 10 still wear their intimidating masks, but subvert the malevolent aspect since turning face. The young masked leader –1 is arguably still a heel, but since he's just a kid he still comes across as more endearing than malevolent, no matter how mean he is. |
| 184 | ** The House of Black wear [[SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset skull-faced]] and animal-horned masks when making their sinister entrance, and are easily the scariest faction in the entire company. |
| 185 | * MeaningfulName: The Elite in the name? It's because the wrestling part of their owning board formed a subgroup in the Wrestling/BulletClub called "Wrestling/TheElite". |
| 186 | * MeleeATrois: ''Double or Nothing'' 2019 had a triple threat booked between Dr. Britt Baker, Kylie Rae, and Nyla Rose [[spoiler:and [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Awesome Kong]] as a surprise entrant to make it a fatal four-way]]. |
| 187 | * MythologyGag: As a dedicated promotion for hardcore wrestling fans, AEW incorporates a LOT of call-backs to famous elements of wrestling history. |
| 188 | ** AEW's TV series on TNT being named ''AEW Dynamite''. Just remember that the last wrestling program TNT had [[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro was also named after an explosive substance]]. Also, the TNT Championship belt has images of the "Turner Mansion" (the Turner campus at Techwood, a former country club converted into CNN's original home in 1980; after CNN left for the CNN Center in 1987, it became home to every other Turner network, excepting Creator/AdultSwim, which is based in an "overflow" facility on Williams Street) flanking the TNT logo; the "mansion" was where the WCW's predecessor, Jim Crockett Promotions, taped their shows (as in, you could feel the vibrations in CNN's original newsroom, and the wrestlers were in the basement, as several ex-Turner employees have recounted). |
| 189 | ** Brian Pillman Jr.'s tag team with Griff Garrison, the Varsity Blondes, is a call back to [[Wrestling/BrianPillman his late father's]] WCW tag team with the future legend then known as [[Wrestling/SteveAustin "Stunning" Steve Austin]], the Hollywood Blonds.[[note]]There were several tag teams known as the Hollywood Blonds throughout wrestling history, but the Austin/Pillman one is the last, the most well-known and the most highly-regarded.[[/note]] |
| 190 | ** The red and gold TNT Championship belt is a subtle nod to [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/e/e3/TNT.svg/revision/latest?cb=20190112182950 the classic TNT channel logo]] used from 1995 to 2001, which not coincidentally was the logo used throughout the life of ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro''. |
| 191 | ** Brodie Lee's brutal squash of Cody for the TNT Championship was directly based on Wrestling/AntonioInoki being flattened by [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] in 1987, one of the most infamous {{Squash Match}}es of all time. Similarly, their dog-collar rematch was chosen by Brodie himself as a tribute to his personal favourite wrestling match of all time, Wrestling/GregValentine vs. Wrestling/RoddyPiper at ''Starrcade 1983'', with Valentine himself in attendance. |
| 192 | ** Cody having a supposedly-friendly exhibition match against QT Marshall where QT snaps in response to Cody patronising him by holding the ropes open for him to reenter the ring after being thrown out and turning on him and attacking him was a call back to the famous "master vs student" match between Wrestling/BrunoSammartino and Larry Zbyszko which ended the same way when Zbyszko beat up his mentor with a chair. |
| 193 | ** In the second Stadium Stampede, Tully Blanchard was attacked with a shard of wood, much like the ending of his famous "I Quit" match against Magnum TA. This time, Blanchard didn't say the two words. |
| 194 | ** CM Punk's debut match against Darby Allin featured several direct references to and recreations of spots from one of Punk's favourite matches, Wrestling/BretHart vs [[Wrestling/SeanWaltman the 1-2-3 Kid]] from a 1994 RAW. Someone even made [[https://www.instagram.com/tv/CTeelRQl3RY/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=f5b93870-8869-4d45-9e63-00034ca9dec1 a video comparison]] of the matching spots and X-Pac himself [[https://twitter.com/TheRealXPac/status/1434945746491494401 thanked Punk and Darby for the homage]]. |
| 195 | ** Immediately after Tony Khan opened the March 2, 2022 episode of ''Dynamite'' by announcing he had bought Wrestling/RingOfHonor, he brought out Wrestling/BryanDanielson and Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels for a match. The two had performed in the very first ROH main event in 2002. |
| 196 | ** At ''Forbidden Door 2022'' the team of Sting, Darby Allin and NJPW's Shingo Takagi was called "Dudes With Attitudes", a homage to the team Sting formed in Wrestling/{{WCW}} ("The Dudes With Attitude", consisting of Sting, Wrestling/LexLuger, Wrestling/PaulOrndorff, [[Wrestling/ScottSteiner the Steiner Brothers]], Wrestling/JunkyardDog and [[Wrestling/GiantGonzalez El Gigante]]) to face Wrestling/TheFourHorsemen at ''The Great American Bash'' in 1990. |
| 197 | ** It did not escape many fans that ''AEW Collision'''s logo [[https://twitter.com/WrestlingNewsCo/status/1658850290160873477 bared more than a passing resemblance to]] ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro''. |
| 198 | * OneSteveLimit: Completely {{averted|Trope}}, sometimes to near-comical levels; since AEW doesn't mandate its performers take on a new name when they sign with the company (unlike WWE under Vince; with Triple H, this seems to be going away) there's a significant amount of name overlap. Orange Cassidy has wrestled against Isiah Kassidy. In early 2022 Bryan Danielson wrestled Daniel Garcia one week, then Christopher Daniels the next, while at the same time AEW Champion Adam Page was feuding with Adam Cole (and during their match at ''Revolution 2022'' the crowd completely leaned into it by chanting '''"Let's go Adam!"''' and other similarly unspecific chants). It may be fortunate that Adam Cole was out with an injury just when Adam Copeland was signed, but at the same time The Acclaimed's Max Caster was trying to make friends witH Maxwell Jacob Friedman. It's a meme among fans that AEW should book Adam Page, Ethan Page, Christian Cage and Brian Cage in a cage match with Diamond Dallas Page as the special guest referee. And when Tony Khan does interview segments, he's usually accompanied by Tony Schiavone to introduce him, with the two men simply addressing each other as "Tony." |
| 199 | ** Played straight, however, when Chris Jericho was introducing his new Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety, part of which included renaming the former [=2point0=] members Matt Lee and Jeff Parker as "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand Ang" Angelo Parker. It was such an obvious TakeThat to WWE's habit of repackaging every wrestler who debuts on the main roster with a stupid new name that it took a while for fans to notice that he'd done this the week after '''Jeff''' Hardy had debuted in AEW to reunite his legendary tag team with his brother '''Matt''' Hardy. A few guys who share names is one thing (Matt Hardy had even teamed with Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks when he'd first debuted) but two separate tag teams where both pairs of guys share the same two names is one too far. |
| 200 | * OnlyOneName: Several amongst the roster; notably, Cody Rhodes initially went by "Cody" as he did on the indies as the name "Cody Rhodes" was in a trademarked battle with WWE. Cody was able to get the rights to use "Rhodes" in November 2020, competing from that point as "Cody Rhodes" once more. |
| 201 | * ParentChildTeam: As well as being a backstage figure, Wrestling/BillyGunn was wrestling together with his son Austin as Gunn Club. Younger son Colten later joined them, and still later the sons turned on their father, now working as The Gunns. |
| 202 | ** In a slightly different version, Taz's real-life son Tyler Senerchia wrestles as Wrestling/{{Hook}}. The son had been in his father's Team Taz stable until it broke up in 2022. |
| 203 | * PartsUnknown: |
| 204 | ** Private Party hail from "A Location Where You Need an Invitation" and have a combined weight of " of Vodka Cranberry" (or "Cranberry Vodka"; the order varies). |
| 205 | ** Wrestling/OrangeCassidy is from "...wherever" and weighs "...whatever". |
| 206 | ** Wrestling/KrisStatlander was originally billed as being from "The Andromeda Galaxy". |
| 207 | ** Wrestling/{{Danhausen}} is "from some place far away", claims to stand "six feet, seven inches tall" and "weighs over 300 pounds." |
| 208 | ** Before being renamed Killswitch, Luchasaurus was "from the tar pits". He's now introduced without a location at all. |
| 209 | * PlayerElimination: The Casino Battle Royale has 21 entrants, with the first 20 entering at intervals in groups of 5 based on the cards they drew from a deck before the match. The wrestler who drew the Joker from said deck enters solo as the last entrant. Eliminations can occur at any time, and all entrants must have joined before a victory can be valid. |
| 210 | * PowerStable: The Wrestling/InnerCircle is the first prominent group in the promotion, followed by Wrestling/TheDarkOrder and more recently Wrestling/ThePinnacle, the Andrade Family Office (before it broke up; it was originally the "Hardy Family Office" until Wrestling/MattHardy "sold" a majority interest to [[Wrestling/{{Andrade|CienAlmas}} Andrade El Ídolo]] and later left the stable), Team Taz (until it too broke up), the Wrestling/JerichoAppreciationSociety (ditto), and the Wrestling/BlackpoolCombatClub. As of the end of 2023, the BCC has been joined by the Mogul Embassy, the Patriarchy, and the Undisputed Kingdom. There are also the {{Power Trio}}s mentioned below. |
| 211 | * PowerTrio: |
| 212 | ** Wrestling/TheElite (Wrestling/KennyOmega and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks; In 2024, Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada would replace Kenny Omega in the group) |
| 213 | ** SCU/[=SoCal=] Uncensored (Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels, Wrestling/FrankieKazarian, Scorpio Sky) |
| 214 | ** [=#StrongHearts=] (Wrestling/{{CIMA}}, El Lindaman, T-Hawk) |
| 215 | ** Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Marko Stunt, later changed to JB, Luchasaurus, and Wrestling/{{Christian}}) |
| 216 | ** Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent) and Wrestling/OrangeCassidy. |
| 217 | ** Death Triangle (Wrestling/LuchaBrothers, [[Wrestling/AdrianNeville PAC]]) |
| 218 | ** Dr. Wrestling/BrittBaker D.M.D., Rebel, and Jamie Hayter. |
| 219 | ** The Superkliq (Wrestling/AdamCole and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks or Wrestling/{{ReDragon}}) |
| 220 | ** [[Wrestling/ThreePoint0 2.0]] (Jeff Parker and Matt Lee, later known as Angelo Parker and Matt Menard) and Daniel Garcia |
| 221 | ** Wrestling/HouseOfBlack ([[Wrestling/AleisterBlack Malakai Black]], Brody King, Buddy Matthews) |
| 222 | ** Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Wrestling/JonMoxley and Wrestling/WilliamRegal (before Wheeler Yuta and Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli joined their group) |
| 223 | ** The Outcasts ([[Wrestling/{{Paige}} Saraya]], Wrestling/ToniStorm, [[Wrestling/RubyRiott Ruby Soho]]) |
| 224 | ** Wrestling/TheAcclaimed (Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Wrestling/BillyGunn) |
| 225 | ** The Patriarchy ([[Wrestling/{{Christian}} Christian Cage]], Killswitch, and Nick Wayne) |
| 226 | * PreciousPuppy: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxpGLX95DTY The AEW Puppy Battle Royale]], done as a promotion for the [[https://www.angelsrescue.org/ Angels Among Us Pet Rescue]], and also [[RuleOfFunny for a laugh]]. |
| 227 | * PrecisionFStrike: Moxley got one in himself during his post-match promo at ''Revolution'', when the sound guys thought he had finished after a long pause to soak in a reaction and hit his music prematurely: |
| 228 | --->'''Moxley:''' I'm gonna--''[music hits]''-- 'ey, what the fuck?! |
| 229 | ** Happened again after he returned from rehab and some unruly fan heckled him during his return promo, leading Mox to respond accordingly: |
| 230 | --->'''Moxley:''' Hey, go fuck yourself! Get that guy outta here! |
| 231 | ** Bryan Danielson got in his usual pre-WWE one after hitting Kenny Omega with a particularly vicious kick to the head during their match at Grand Slam. |
| 232 | --->'''Danielson:''' He just got his FUCKING HEAD KICKED IN! |
| 233 | ** MJF got one in the main event of ''All In'' 2023, likely getting the biggest cheer of the night in the process: |
| 234 | --->'''MJF:''' We're going 'til we got a winner in '''FUCKING''' Wembley!! |
| 235 | * RecurringExtra: Many of the wrestlers on the ''AEW Dark'' roster play this role on ''Dynamite''. You can usually find Kilynn King, Tessa Price, Katalina Perez and Dani Jordyn (among others) in the background of most matches on ''Dynamite'', but they rarely play a prominent role in the story. |
| 236 | * RedHerring: During the championship match between Jericho and Cody at ''Full Gear'' 2019, a time limit of 60 minutes was put on the bout, with three judges on hand to decide on a winner if it went to time. Even more notably, the judges were Wrestling/ArnAnderson, the legendary Wrestling/KeijiMutoh, and ''Wrestling/DeanMalenko'', Jericho's ArchEnemy from WCW, and during the match Jericho even got into Malenko's face, almost starting a physical altercation with him, all of which pointed towards the possibility of the match using all of its alotted time and requiring the judges to step in. [[spoiler:As it turned out, the match didn't even get close to 60 minutes, ending just shy of 30 minutes when Wrestling/{{MJF}} threw in the towel for Cody, with the judges not being required at all.]] |
| 237 | * RunningGag: |
| 238 | ** The text above "Hangman" Adam Page's nameplate being changed to various silly things, much to his frustration. Examples include, "Drank a bottle of whiskey at home alone last Wednesday", "IDK make it say something like Happyee Hawlidays", "Has been drinking" ([[https://twitter.com/theAdamPage/status/1214536322402131969 which got popular enough to make it onto a shirt]]), and "Not gonna pay Private Party that $. |
| 239 | ** A shot of Britt Baker sitting in the audience giving shocked reactions, which is a nod to her appearance in ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT: WarGames 2019]]''.[[labelnote:Background]]Baker is in a relationship with Wrestling/AdamCole, who was then in NXT but has since joined her in AEW. She was shown on-camera multiple times because of the concern she expressed over her boyfriend during his appearance in the [=WarGames=] main event. According to NXT booker Wrestling/TripleH, the director simply had the camera focus on the woman in the crowd who showed the most concern for Cole's condition, and didn't know who Baker was. Trip added that he didn't want Baker to receive any heat from AEW because of that gaffe. In the end, she didn't.[[/labelnote]] |
| 240 | ** Wrestling/TheElite's promos continuing to run after they're done speaking, since [[ButtMonkey Brandon Cutler]] [[SurroundedByIdiots doesn't know how to make a video camera stop recording]]. |
| 241 | ** The Pinnacle somehow being unable to defeat [[{{Jobber}} Captain Shawn Dean]], with MJF himself having two losses against him. |
| 242 | * ShoutOut: |
| 243 | ** In the 4/13 episode of ''Dark'', Luther was introduced as from "The Kingdom of Nye". This is the nickname of Nye County, Nevada, home of the late broadcaster [[Radio/CoastToCoastAM Art Bell]]. Appropriate as Luther is also a paranormal podcast host, and the show aired on the third anniversary of Bell's death. |
| 244 | ** Penta's ring gear in 2021 greatly resembles ComicBook/TheJoker. To keep the DC references going, Andrade came to the ring of his debut match dressed as Black Mask. |
| 245 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: [[https://twitter.com/TheWWEGuy_/status/864542537360474112 A random guy on Twitter]] doing a question to [[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Dave Meltzer]] led to [[https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/864546973461950465 a bet]] with Wrestling/CodyRhodes which also involved Wrestling/TheYoungBucks. A year later this strange chain of events led to the creation of ''All In'', the biggest indie PPV, and half a year later, it ended up with the creation of AEW. |
| 246 | * SpanishAnnouncersTable: While the foreign language commentary is done from backstage, there is a timekeeper's table right next to the ring that is available to be smashed up if the match demands it. |
| 247 | * SpinOff: AEW could be considered to be technically a clean break from Wrestling/RingOfHonor that ROH itself didn't see coming, as opposed to something intentionally setup like Full Impact Pro or Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}}. While ''All In'' was independent from any particular promotion, ROH was part of it by virtue of several of its then-contracted wrestlers taking part of it, and the resulting promotion continued to have ROH's blessing going forward, even if it meant another competitor.[[note]]What ROH didn't anticipate was ripple effects from the loss of their biggest stars to AEW. 2019 saw the company suffer from poorly-received angles and storylines, friction with NJPW over the booking of the G1 Supercard (and subsequent distancing by them), various controversies and incidents, and the sudden plunge in attendances due to the lack of main event talent.[[/note]] |
| 248 | * SpiritualSuccessor: AEW is a promotion based in the American South with a Rhodes holding the book, a weekly show on TNT (named ''[[Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro Dynamite]]'', no less), a popular faction of real-life close friends up front and center, international agreements that grant access to cutting-edge talent, and a billionaire backing it all... hmm, [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} what major wrestling company could this possibly remind people of?]] Cody has admitted that this is a little deliberate, and that he has harbored some thoughts that AEW is an avenger for WCW. He's also stated that, while it's certainly a romantic idea, he isn't going to be pursuing it, as he has people who rely on him and have no interest in taking down WWE.[[note]]While there are some similarities between AEW and WCW, the differences actually appear to greatly outweigh them, key being that WCW was built upon one of the oldest wrestling companies, the [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]], which had a venerable lineage of titles, an established audience, and a sizable talent pool with mainstream recognition. In fact, ''World Championship Wrestling'' had actually started as the NWA's weekly studio TV show for years before becoming a distinct company. AEW, on the other hand, was an unproven entity, with talent mostly from the independent scenes or who were highly popular overseas but remained relatively unknown to the mainstream audiences in the US.[[/note]] |
| 249 | * StartMyOwn: After a stint in the indies, Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, and Wrestling/RingOfHonor, the Elite contingent of Bullet Club split up from both New Japan and Ring of Honor and started their own promotion. |
| 250 | * StreisandEffect: An [[InUniverse intentional]] invoking of this was done in response to MJF's brutal WorkedShoot promo against the company and Tony Khan on the June 1, 2022 episode of ''Dynamite''. Immediately after the promo, the show cut to commercial and made zero mention of what just happened when it returned. The promo was not uploaded to AEW's official [=YouTube=] channel, and the press kit lacked any photographs of it. MJF was also subsequently removed from the roster page, and his merch pulled from [=ShopAEW=]. If you want to watch the promo, you need to seek out a third-party upload of it. |
| 251 | * StylisticSuck: |
| 252 | ** The Librarian gimmick is intentionally bad. In fact, it traces its origins to [[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Dave Meltzer]] saying that the one gimmick that would never get over in wrestling would be that of a librarian. |
| 253 | ** ''Revolution'' 2020 marked the debut of Orange Cassidy's titantron graphics... which is just his name written in black marker on a white background. |
| 254 | ** Ever since Malakai Black spit poison into her eye, Julia Hart started wearing an eyepatch. For several months, said eyepatch appeared in her promotional renders, albeit [[https://i0.wp.com/www.diva-dirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/FKIOkWpXwAwxbgt.jpg?resize=1024%2C576 poorly]] [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FK4yenZXIAA6JKU?format=jpg&name=large photoshopped]]. |
| 255 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: An onscreen variation. As commentary was wont to point out many times since Cody's initial title victory, Cody's weekly TNT Title defenses, coupled with his heavy workload as EVP of the company, was clearly taking a great physical toll, as it took increasingly more effort to put away later opponents and Cody had little to no time to rest any of his accrued injuries leading up to the next show with his company-related responsibilities. Enter Mister Brodie Lee as the latest challenger. While Cody put up an initial flurry, the exhaustion and numerous injuries finally caught up with him, and Lee bulldozes Cody in 4 minutes flat to become the new champion. |
| 256 | * TagTeam: AEW has repeatedly been praised for having the single deepest and best-developed tag team scene in the entire history of the wrestling industry, and the division arguably receives even more attention than the singles wrestlers do. Past and present teams include: |
| 257 | ** Wrestling/TheYoungBucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) |
| 258 | ** [[Wrestling/TheRevival FTR]] (Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler) |
| 259 | ** Wrestling/LuchaBrothers (Pentagón Jr. and Fénix) |
| 260 | ** The Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta) |
| 261 | ** Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) |
| 262 | ** Hybrid 2 (Angelico and Jack Evans) |
| 263 | ** Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) |
| 264 | ** [[Wrestling/TheSuperSmashBrothers The Dark Order]] (Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) |
| 265 | ** Proud N' Powerful ( Wrestling/SantanaAndOrtiz) |
| 266 | ** Natural Nightmares ([[Wrestling/{{Goldust}} Dustin Rhodes]] and QT Marshall) |
| 267 | ** The Butcher and The Blade |
| 268 | ** The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) |
| 269 | ** The Gunns (originally Wrestling/{{Billy|Gunn}} and Austin Gunn as Gunn Club; later Austin and his real-life brother Colten. Austin and Colten are now also known as the Ass Boys, though they apparently don't like it.) |
| 270 | ** [=SoCal=] Uncensored (Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels and Wrestling/FrankieKazarian) |
| 271 | ** Wrestling/ChrisJericho and [[Wrestling/JackSwagger Jake Hager]] |
| 272 | ** The Jersey Boys (Wrestling/JoeyJanela and Sonny Kiss) |
| 273 | ** MJF and Wardlow |
| 274 | ** The Dark Order ([[Wrestling/LukeHarper Brodie Lee]] and Wrestling/ColtCabana) |
| 275 | ** Team Taz (Brian Cage, Ricky Starks and Will Hobbs) |
| 276 | ** Le Sex Gods (Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/SammyGuevara) |
| 277 | ** Chaos Project (Luther and Serpentico) |
| 278 | ** Wrestling/TheAcclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) |
| 279 | ** Top Flight (Darius and Dante Martin) |
| 280 | ** Varsity Blondes (Brian Pillman Jr. and Griff Garrison) |
| 281 | ** [[Wrestling/ThreePoint0 2.0]] (Matt Menard and Angelo Parker) |
| 282 | ** [=TayJay=] (Anna Jay and Tay Conti/Melo) |
| 283 | ** Wrestling/DarbyAllin and Wrestling/{{Sting}} |
| 284 | ** The Wild Things (Wrestling/JonMoxley and Wrestling/EddieKingston) |
| 285 | ** Wrestling/{{ReDragon}} (Wrestling/BobbyFish and Wrestling/KyleOReilly) |
| 286 | ** Wrestling/BlackpoolCombatClub (Wrestling/BryanDanielson and Jon Moxley, before it became a stable) |
| 287 | ** The Hardys (Wrestling/MattHardy and Wrestling/JeffHardy) |
| 288 | ** Swerve in Our Glory (Wrestling/KeithLee and Swerve Strickland) |
| 289 | ** Hookhausen (Wrestling/{{Hook}} and Wrestling/{{Danhausen}}) |
| 290 | ** [=JungleHOOK=] ("Jungle Boy" Jack Perry and Hook) |
| 291 | ** Better Than You Bay Bay (Wrestling/{{MJF}} and Wrestling/AdamCole, before their breakup at ''Worlds End'' 2023) |
| 292 | * TakeThat: |
| 293 | ** Over time, it became noticeable that the Librarian gimmick was basically [[StylisticSuck a perfect storm of anything that can go wrong in a storyline]], especially "comedy storylines" Wrestling/{{WWE}} is known for. First, The Elite claimed that Tony Khan forced the storyline on them (in reality he wasn't), much like how it's claimed that certain storylines only go ahead because Wrestling/VinceMcMahon finds them amusing. Then, when one of the wrestlers performing the character, Peter Avalon, went to Creative to complain (as shown on ''Being the Elite''), he finds a pair of {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s who talk him into continuing it; their conversation mirrors one Wrestling/JonMoxley described to have when discussing his own issues with his character's direction in WWE. |
| 294 | ** ''Dynamite'' has produced several instances where the wrestlers have not-so-subtly mocked WWE in their promos, such as Wrestling/ChrisJericho telling the audience to stop chanting "We the people" at [[Wrestling/JackSwagger Jake Hager]] because it sucked and was a stupid idea from creative, or Wrestling/CodyRhodes saying that "this isn't like the other company we came from" where there was an invisible wall stopping him from reaching Jericho in the luxury box. But perhaps the most obvious one was at ''Double or Nothing'' 2019, where after Cody's entrance, a chair filled with the imagery of [[Wrestling/TripleH a certain wrestler]] was revealed, which Cody promptly destroyed with a sledgehammer (said wrestler's IconicItem). |
| 295 | ** After Christopher Daniels had spent weeks questioning the existence of "The Exalted One", the supposed leader of the Dark Order, said "Exalted One" finally reveals himself as [[Wrestling/LukeHarper Brodie Lee]] (formerly known as Luke Harper in WWE, and known for being one of many wrestlers to be ''very'' underutilized while on WWE's roster), and strikes at both Daniels (who at the time had just turned 50 years old) and Wrestling/VinceMcMahon in a single line: |
| 296 | --->'''Brodie Lee:''' Mr. Daniels, I assure you you're not the first out-of-touch old man to not believe in me, but I will make damn sure you're the last. |
| 297 | ** During the build to the 2020 edition of ''Fight for the Fallen'', Taz cut a promo on Moxley, whose title match with Taz's client Brian Cage was delayed after Moxley's wife, WWE commentator Renee Young, contracted COVID-19, forcing Moxley to quarantine at home as a precaution. Taz alleged that Moxley was simply ducking Cage because all of Mox's COVID-19 tests came back negative, and Taz pointed out Mox would still get tested upon return because "We don't run a sloppy shop!" This was a shot at WWE, who had just had a highly-publicized wave of over 30 performers and crew testing positive for COVID-19, in part because of lax protocols (reportedly, Kevin Dunn had consistently downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic to the talent, and had even told the NXT/Performance Center talent acting as audience to not wear face masks because "if you wear a mask, you're not a real fan"; masks only began to be worn after the wave of infections). While neither AEW or WWE had been enforcing standard social distancing guidelines among talent during production, AEW had been giving full COVID-19 tests to talent while WWE had simply been running temperature checks as a precaution. According to industry journalists Brian Alvarez and Dave Meltzer, WWE brass were extremely angry at this jab. |
| 298 | ** During 2020's ''All Out'', one segment features Kip Sabian announcing that he will be married on a future episode of ''Dynamite'', before plugging his Website/{{Twitch}} channel with an on-screen message reading "This message has been approved by All Elite Wrestling". This was a shot at WWE over the ongoing story at the time that they were cracking down on talent using their wrestling names (or even their real names) to promote themselves on third-party platforms such as Twitch and Cameo. |
| 299 | ** During AEW Games' first announcement, they have officially confirmed that Yuke's and VideoGame/WWFNoMercy's developer Geta-San (real name Hideyuki Iwashita) are part of the development team for their first console video game. This is a huge blow for a couple of reasons: |
| 300 | *** For Yuke's, the company had a falling out with 2K Games, who still publishes games for the WWE. Being able to make a game that competes with the WWE's games invigorated the company's team. This was a shot at both WWE and 2K for making decisions outside what Yuke's wanted. |
| 301 | *** For Geta-San, this is a historical shot at WWE. Geta-San was the director of the 4 main Nintendo 64 pro wrestling games under AKI Corp, now known as Syn Sophia, since 1997. The first N64 game, [[TropeCodifier WCW vs. nWo World Tour]], was the game that set the standard of pro wrestling games and fighting games because of its focal point: The unrivaled game engine that was very simple to play, but difficult-yet-addicting to master thanks to the many available gameplay options. WCW was WWF's competitor at the time, and to see a game dent WWF's fortunes shows how big this game is. WCW/nWo Revenge was the tipping point where WWF decided to actually buy the competition away from WCW to do WWF Wrestlemania 2000 and WWF No Mercy, which later on led to WCW's demise and later on purchase from WWF. What made these 4 games great is that while it adds new features, it only refines the core gameplay without mass overhauling the game's engine like other wrestling games. WWF No Mercy, the last of the series, is the TropeCodifier of pro wrestling games, to the point that even hardcore fans today have modded it to match the current roster such as NXT. WWF Backlash (2001) was also in development for the Nintendo 64, but that game was never completed. Despite Syn Sophia suggesting Yuke's to WWF for [[Wrestling/WWESmackdown SmackDown]] development for [=PlayStation=], it is unknown why WWF and Syn Sophia separated ways in favor of Yuke's for the Nintendo Gamecube. |
| 302 | *** Kenny Omega and Cody mentioning that this game will take time to develop and wants to make this the best pro wrestling game ever, thanks to the above mentioned. This is a shot at WWE's practice of releasing a game every year and lowering the quality testing, which was the result of [[invoked]] [[ObviousBeta WWE 2K20's abysmal launch that set the pro wrestling bar very low]]. This is also a shot at TNA (Impact Wrestling) for rushing their game and getting such mediocre reviews that it did not release a sequel after that, even with some input from AJ Styles and Samoa Joe who were known gamers and also wanted a No Mercy like game for TNA. |
| 303 | ** The "Paid Advertisements" featuring Tony Khan and Wrestling/TonySchiavone during Kenny Omega's invasion of Wrestling/ImpactWrestling was full of digs at that promotion. Doubles as BitingTheHandHumor, given that the clips were being shown on ''Impact!'' itself (then again, a big part of the digs is that by paying for the ads, Tony Khan was helping fund ''Impact!''). |
| 304 | *** In the first ad, Tony Khan brings up Schiavone's one-off appearance early in TNA's run: |
| 305 | ----> '''Khan''': You spent a cup of coffee in Impact Wrestling yourself, didn't you, Tony? |
| 306 | ----> '''Schiavone''': Yeah, one night, and then I quit the business for eighteen years. |
| 307 | *** In the second advertisement, Schiavone gets the input of two wrestlers known for their runs in TNA: |
| 308 | ----> The two greatest wrestlers in Impact history now with AEW: Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels and Wrestling/FrankieKazarian. [...] You know, I asked Daniels and Kazarian "Remember when Impact had fans when they were TNA?" And they said "No, we don't." |
| 309 | *** Schiavone also throws in a few shots at Creator/{{AXSTV}} while he's at it. |
| 310 | ----> It's great to be on cable AXS TV. Following this program, you will see the latest city council meeting. |
| 311 | ----> Lesson number one would be where to watch AXS; I don't even know where to find it. If you ask your smart TV to put on AXS, it says: "Dude, why?" |
| 312 | ** Another shot at WWE at ''Revolution ' when the "Face of TNT" ladder match required the winner to climb a ladder and grab a huge [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon brass ring]]. |
| 313 | ** When WWE ceded the "Wednesday Night Wars" to AEW in April 2021 and moved ''NXT'' to Tuesday nights after a decidedly one-sided affair[[note]]Just once in the 75 weeks the shows went head-to-head was ''NXT'' able to topple ''Dynamite'' in the ad-money-coveted viewership among 18-49-year-olds, and even that particular show required a supercard of Adam Cole vs. Finn Bálor and Rhea Ripley vs. Shayna Baszler for their respective world titles[[/note]], ''Dynamite'' has made a few jabs. Notably, when ''NXT'' mainstay Adam Cole signed with AEW after his contract expired with WWE, he immediately ran afoul of Christian Cage, who said he didn't sweat Cole because "you're so used to losing Wednesday night wars". |
| 314 | ** On the first 2022 episode of ''Dynamite'' on January 5, Wrestling/{{MJF}} wrestled Shawn Dean. Just as the match was starting, Wrestling/CMPunk ran in as part of his ongoing feud with MJF, who immediately left. Then, Punk performed a GTS on Dean, handing MJF a DQ loss. In the following days, MJF tweeted that Dean didn't beat him; Dean then responded using Wrestling/RomanReigns' catchphrase of "Acknowledge Me!" Also, cue Dean getting a new T-shirt that skewered MJF's catchphrase: "I Beat You And You Know It". |
| 315 | ** As part of his 2022 heel turn, Chris Jericho rebranded himself as a "sports entertainer", with his new stable the Jericho Appreciation Society all following his lead and boasting that they "beat up wrestlers", leaning into the "wrestling vs sports entertainment" narrative that defines AEW (and arguably every other wrestling company) vs. WWE. |
| 316 | ** After Wardlow turned face on MJF, MJF revealed that he (in kayfabe) still owned Wardlow's contract, refused to release him, and was just going to pay him to stay home until everyone forgot him, something WWE has been accused of doing with signed talent they have no interest in utilizing (most recently and infamously Wrestling/MustafaAli). |
| 317 | * WhamEpisode: |
| 318 | ** The March 18, 2020 episode of ''Dynamite'' revealed a debuting [[Wrestling/LukeHarper Brodie Lee]] as TheLeader of Wrestling/TheDarkOrder, and closed with Wrestling/MattHardy also joining AEW. |
| 319 | ** The special December 2, ''Winter Is Coming'' episode of ''Dynamite'' featured two major reveals. The first was Wrestling/{{Sting}} becoming All Elite, walking out to break up a post-match brawl with his presence alone. The second was Wrestling/KennyOmega winning the AEW World Championship, and subsequently revealing that he would be celebrating his victory on the next week's episode of ''[[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling Impact!]]''. The reign of the Belt Collector has begun. |
| 320 | ** The March 10, 'Dynamite'' saw Wrestling/ChrisJericho call a "war council" of the Wrestling/InnerCircle. First, Sammy Guevara, who had left the stable due to Wrestling/{{MJF}}'s antics, came back, showing a video which revealed MJF had been plotting to usurp Jericho's leadership. Then, the rest of the stable revealed their continued loyalty to Jericho, who kicked MJF out... only for MJF to reveal he had [[Wrestling/ThePinnacle started his own stable]], which proceeded to beat down the Inner Circle. |
| 321 | ** The second episode of ''Rampage'', on August 20, 2021, began with the long-awaited return to professional wrestling of Wrestling/CMPunk after being retired for seven years, making his debut on AEW in the process. |
| 322 | ** The 2021 edition of ''All Out'' pay-per-view was this, seeing Wrestling/AdamCole debut, seemingly looking to challenge Kenny Omega, only to reveal that he was joining the Elite. And if that wasn't enough, just as Omega was about to gloat about his victory, Wrestling/BryanDanielson finally makes his AEW debut. |
| 323 | ** The special two-year anniversary episode of ''Dynamite'' on October 6, 2021 saw the unveiling of the new TBS Championship title, as well as Wrestling/AdamPage's [[HesBack dramatic return to the ring]] for the first time since his humiliation at the hands of Wrestling/{{the Elite}}. The episode ends with Page emerging victorious in the seven-man Casino Ladder Match after being revealed as the "Joker"--''finally'' giving him his long-awaited shot at challenging [[Wrestling/KennyOmega his former mentor]] for the World Championship title. |
| 324 | ** The March 2, 2022 episode opened with Tony Khan making the huge special announcement that he'd been teasing—that he had acquired Wrestling/RingOfHonor! |
| 325 | * WhamLine: |
| 326 | ** After Wrestling/KennyOmega defeated Wrestling/JonMoxley for the World Championship, then immediately booked it for the back with Wrestling/DonCallis: |
| 327 | --->'''Alex Marvez:''' Guys, what did you ''do'', what's going-what's going on here?! |
| 328 | --->'''Don Callis:''' You'll find out this ''Tuesday'' night! |
| 329 | --->'''Marvez:''' "Tuesday"?! ''Dynamite's'' on Wednesday! |
| 330 | --->'''Callis:''' This Tuesday, Wrestling/ImpactWrestling on Creator/{{AXS TV}}! |
| 331 | ** After Jericho kicked MJF out of the Inner Circle: |
| 332 | --->'''MJF:''' Chris, I swear to God I didn't want to take over your group. I swear, I swear, man... ''(slows down)'' 'cause I was too busy... building [[Wrestling/ThePinnacle my own]]! ''(smirks)'' |
| 333 | ** On CM Punk's ''Dynamite'' debut, he seemingly goaded the crowd into starting up a "Yes!" chant with several rhetorical questions. His response to them? |
| 334 | --->'''CM Punk:''' That's [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson somebody else]]'s schtick, and you might just need to be a little bit more patient, okay? |
| 335 | * WhamShot: |
| 336 | ** The company's first PPV ''Double or Nothing'' 2019 ended featuring one. Wrestling/ChrisJericho is gloating in the ring after defeating Wrestling/KennyOmega, demanding a thank you from the fans, before the camera cuts to [[Wrestling/JonMoxley a very familiar, very lunatic man]] stalking through the crowd and heading to the ring (after having become famous in another company for [[Wrestling/TheShield entering the ring through the crowd]], no less). |
| 337 | ** The end of the March 18, 2020 episode of ''Dynamite'' has the Wrestling/InnerCircle gloating over their win against Wrestling/TheElite, when a white drone appears. A ''[[Wrestling/MattHardy very familiar]]'' white drone. |
| 338 | ** At the end of the "Beach Break" special episode on February 3, 2021, following his team's loss to the team of his hated rival Wrestling/KennyOmega and the Good Brothers, Jon Moxley is about to put some pain into Omega, when a masked figure in a hoodie runs out and attacks him... who then unmasks to reveal himself as '''[[Wrestling/KentaKobayashi KENTA]]''', who not only has an upcoming challenge against Moxley for his IWGP US Heavyweight Championship, but is also a current member of the ''actual'' Wrestling/BulletClub in [[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling NJPW]]! It looks not only like the "Forbidden Door"[[note]]the FanNickname for the previously impossible prospect of direct cooperation between AEW and NJPW[[/note]] may be finally opening, but a full-blown intercompany Bullet Club reunion may be coming as well! |
| 339 | ** MJF revealing himself as the masked "Joker" at the end of ''All Out'' 2022, marking his first appearance since his searing worked shoot promo three months earlier. (For more background, see "Dramatic Unmask" above.) |
| 340 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Happened to Marko Stunt, the third member of Jurassic Express, who disappeared around the autumn of 2021 and never returned. His absence was all the more notable when his partners finally won the Tag Team Championship, yet he didn't join them in celebrating. He ended up being released in early 2022 after his contract expired. |
| 341 | * WhereItAllBegan: The 100th episode of ''Dynamite'' took place in the former Sears Centre (now known as NOW Arena) in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, where ''ALL IN'' took place exactly 3 years to the day of the latter. |
| 342 | * WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing: On an episode of ''Dark'', Leva Bates was paired with Nyla Rose for a tag team match. Commentators implied that Bates was there because management refused to let Rose work a two-on-one match, [[LoopholeAbuse but they couldn't force her to tag Leva in]], so Bates scored her first AEW win by standing on the apron while Nyla single-handedly bulldozed the other team. |
| 343 | * WouldNotHitAGirl: In an episode of ''Dark Elevation'' Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky state in a promo that they would go after all the champions -- except Shida. Scorpio actually backpedals after saying her name and he and Ethan agree that she is safe from their wrath. |
| 344 | * WrestlingDoesntPay: |
| 345 | ** At AEW's initial announcement, Britt Baker was introduced as "Dr. Britt Baker DMD"...[[note]]she's since been billed both with and without the "DMD", though now both "Dr." and "DMD" are [[InsistentTerminology obligatory]][[/note]] which is exactly what she is outside the ring. Baker graduated from the University of UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}} School of Dental Medicine in 2018, and has a dental practice in the UsefulNotes/{{Orlando}} area. |
| 346 | ** One of the promotion's early storylines concerned two wrestlers being given the gimmick of "The Librarian", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a wrestling librarian]]. Cody and Kenny backed Leva Bates for the role of The Librarian, while Matt Jackson and Christopher Daniels backed Peter Avalon for the role. Eventually, both Librarians met each other at the ''Double or Nothing'' Buy-In, and subsequently managed each other in their matches. |
| 347 | * WrestlingMonster: AEW has an impressive roster of monster wrestlers: |
| 348 | ** Jake Hager debuted at the end of the first episode of ''Dynamite'' as the enforcer for Chris Jericho's new faction, the Inner Circle, providing most of their serious muscle. |
| 349 | ** MJF hired the services of the hulking and brutal Wardlow as his personal bodyguard. |
| 350 | ** Lance Archer came into the company as the client of Jake "the Snake" Roberts and murdered ''everyone'' who got in his way, in keeping with his CatchPhrase "Everyone dies!" He has a tendency to attack random ringside crew and other personnel on his way to the ring, perhaps the most notable incident being when he gave a pop-up powerbomb to a random guy on the locker room. A locker room with a ''very'' low ceiling, resulting in the guy ''crashing through the roof'' before landing on the floor. |
| 351 | ** Brian Cage, "the Machine", is an almost Wrestling/BrockLesnar-esque construct of solid muscle and callous brutality. |
| 352 | ** More recently, Nick Comoroto has drawn comparisons to Wrestling/BruiserBrody for his size and in-ring viciousness. |
| 353 | ** For the women, the intimidating Nyla Rose is the leading monster of the division, and the second Women's Champion after eventually overcoming the petite Riho who'd defeated her before. They also had [[Wrestling/KiaStevens Awesome Kong]] at the start, but she had to leave to shoot the next series of ''Series/{{GLOW|2017}}''. The legendary Wrestling/AjaKong has also made occasional appearances. |
| 354 | ** Although she's smaller than the usual "monster", Abadon is pure nightmare fuel incarnate, like a female version of [[Wrestling/BrayWyatt The Fiend]] in her howling psychotic brutality. |
| 355 | * WritingAroundTrademarks: |
| 356 | ** While AEW is the SpiritualSuccessor to Wrestling/{{WCW}}, they can't actually ''say'' WCW, because WCW is owned entirely by WWE, who bought it up for pennies at the end of the Wrestling/MondayNightWars. Notably, when Sting made his iconic debut on the "Winter Is Coming" episode of ''Dynamite'', Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross could only refer to him being "back on TNT" after not having been seen there "since . Similarly, during the aforementioned Puppy Battle Royale, Schiavone said "This match is better than anything I called back in 2000." |
| 357 | ** They got away with tacitly referencing Wrestling/BryanDanielson's tenure in Wrestling/{{WWE}} as "Daniel Bryan" in September 2022 when Danielson was announced as an entrant in the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions (a tournament ostensibly intended only for former AEW champions), despite never having won an AEW championship title at that point. Notably, Tony Khan announced him as a "six-time champion", but just didn't say ''which'' championship titles he'd held in the past (he was WWE Champion once, WWE World Heavyweight Champion four times, and Wrestling/RingOfHonor World Champion once). |
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