IN LAIMAN’S TERMS #483 – Thoughts on AEW’s 2025 Summer
1. I haven’t written in a few months. Not because I haven’t been watching, but because life has been chaotic and inconsistent. I watched Dynasty and Double or Nothing with other people and was more interested in how they were enjoying it than thinking of what to write. I attended Dynamite #299 in Kent, WA, but was more focused on spending time with the person I went with than being on my phone. I’ve enjoyed the product but felt malaise at the same time, most notably on what everyone seems to enjoy the most, and rather than spoil that with my own rambling, I kept it to myself. Now, as Y’All In approaches and the keyboard feels more refreshed after a little time off, I’m hoping to regather what I’ve felt for the last few months and put it together before the biggest show of AEW’s calendar year. This isn’t a review of anything specific, but more just where I’ve seen the product go in the last few months, and how I’ve experienced it.
2. It cannot be understated how significant having a “community” has been. My partner enjoys wrestling, but only to the extent that they’ll watch it with me or go to it with me. If we’re not together on a Wednesday night, I’m watching it by myself and catching them up. That isn’t new, but having a small community of folx on the one social media I utilize has enhanced my enjoyment considerably.
3. When I was much younger and the fed was the only option, the internet community wasn’t what it became. Even once I started writing on here, the culture was a lot different. Some would say better, as the written columns didn’t have the competition of listicles and podcasts, but it’s just a different time. But back in the early aughts especially, it wasn’t possible to pop on a VPN and watch the PPVs on a computer. Either you had to drop 50 bucks (or talk your parents into doing so, something I was only ever able to do one time: Royal Rumble 2004), or you found a place where they would air the shows. In my case in central Pennsylvania, unfortunately, the only location that aired PPVs for years was that place that’s named after owls. If you’re too young to know what that is, just trust me on that.
4. It’s fair to say that while I’ve always loved wrestling, wrestling fans and I haven’t always gotten along very well. Read into that anything you want, but sitting at the owl restaurant on Sunday nights for fed PPVs, there were a few of us who would go on the regular, but to call it a community would be an exaggeration. There were others that seemed to be in groups of friends. There were familiar faces I’d recognize, but we never really talked to each other. The poor waitresses would have us there for hours at a time, and in retrospect I can understand why they dreaded those Sunday nights because the tables weren’t changing over. But my friend and I were the two who went consistently, and their parents joined. Dad was a jaded fan, Mom mostly read books during the show, which was a testament to her ability to focus in loud environments. But it was never a community.
5. I’ve been a member of Fightful Select for years, and the best thing that ever came of it for me is the Sour Graps Society. Mainstream Fightful is great, but the comparatively small SGS, that’s what’s given me the sense of community that I’ve never really felt as a fan, and I don’t even post that much. I think about how many shows I watched back at the owl restaurant, and how the wrestling community (or lackthereof) felt more like a bunch of outcasts with this one less than socially desirable interest in common, but very rarely crossing the boundaries of watching it together. It was watching in the same place while we might as well have been separated by canals and linguistic drift. The Wrestlemanias and Royal Rumbles were always a lot more crowded, naturally.
6. Back in the day though, I was the kind of mark that would even go watch the single-branded PPVs, and if you aren’t old enough to remember those, they’ve made up a lot of listicles compiled by people with British accents you’ve likely heard referenced beyond the point of reason. I saw them all for years, and I sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair at a restaurant I didn’t want to be for the privilege. Having a few hundred people to share live reactions with who are of a similar persuasion and a commitment to kindness and respect, that is something I wish it didn’t take me so long to find. I’ve been watching wrestling longer than some of the wrestlers on the show have been alive, and it’s still amazing to me how lonely of an experience that was a majority of that time.
7. It is with that said, over 25 years of watching wrestling, not to mention 14 years of writing about it, that I’ve struggled in the last few months. Yes, some of it was circumstantial, because it sure wasn’t a lack of enjoyment of the product. AEW has been the best it’s been, I would say, since at least 2021 before the fit hit the shan. It feels like those who didn’t want to be there and didn’t fit the alternative mold have worked themselves out, and there’s a sense of cohesion that wasn’t present when it had the sense of being the same show but with several isolated universes being there coincidentally. Not to mention the flurry of free agent signings who languished for various reasons, as well as the storylines that seemed more like trying to appeal to fans of the fed than the core audience they’d cultivated. I enjoyed some stuff in 2023 and 2024 tremendously, especially as a HAM connoisseur, but the product is no doubt in an exceptionally better place in 2025 than either of those years.
8. The dynamic of different kinds of venues has been refreshing, both from a crowd perspective and from changing the presentation. Variance in the types of buildings has been something I didn’t know I needed. I love the look of those big theatres or other unique venues that don’t look like Generic Arena No. 6. I’m not one of those people who cares about ratings or crowd size, but a small venue filled to capacity does look and sound better than that same number of people in a building more cavernous. For instance, Dynamite in November 2023 at the Target Center had a solid 4-5k but felt drowned out in that massive arena. But at the auditorium in April, a similar number of people in an old-school hockey arena felt vivid and loud, even if the acoustics sucked so bad that we couldn’t understand anything they were saying.
9. I can see that this Hangman story is what they were going for the whole time, and to many, that’s the one they wanted. I haven’t been as down on the Death Riders as many were, and that’s likely because I was there at WrestleDream when the angle truly started, and that feeling will always stick with me. The one that the first couple shows with the ominous threat hanging over the entire roster, where specific shots of Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin watching on felt like the setting of pieces that would carry out until this moment, stuck with me like few angles I’ve experienced in person ever have. That threat of danger, the sense when those slow guitar notes started playing that something terrible was about to happen, it wasn’t capitalized on.
10. I loved the initial presentation. That promo Mox cut from the back of the pickup truck, filmed right outside the Tacoma Dome, had so much potential for how all of this would go. Even the lowest members of the card trying to get involved, the Dark Order begging the Bucks to get in the fight to no avail, it felt like a big deal. Then it got convoluted in the three faces who couldn’t get along well enough to fight the problem, and Darby wasn’t around to continue his part of the story, and Orange Cassidy got hurt, and there was an extended program with Copeland that nobody really bought into… Like I said, I didn’t hate it as much as most did, but I’m disappointed that it didn’t live up to what was promised at the end of WrestleDream.
11. It was odd, because the rest of the card was flourishing. Everything other than the main event title picture felt better than it had in years, and not just because my favorite of all time Toni Storm kept upping her game in new and unique ways, though that certainly helps for my personal enjoyment. I didn’t name the HAM Award for her because of a blase reaction to such things, after all. Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland, and Toni Storm felt like the heart of the show for me, and the lines in the sand with The Ops evening out the odds built longterm crowd disposition stances designed to pay off at a show like this.
12. However, opportunities felt missed for me. Swerve winning at Dynasty seemed like the perfect call, even if the belt got back on Moxley not long after. Ospreay winning the Owen felt telegraphed in that kind of way that could be predictable but the kind of predictable that you don’t mind, but then he didn’t win. Why wrestling’s golden retriever good boy always seems to come up short is something I struggle to comprehend, but alas. Kenny Omega returns in fine form, feeling like a vessel of vengeance come to set things right in the world, and while the confrontation with Okada was always the main target, the general sense of having that kind of presence back only contributed to the depth at the top of the card.
13. New faces that didn’t feel like retreads, or those who simply picked the other option, started to fill out the roster on all levels. Megan Bayne, Speedball, Kevin Knight, those were names I’d heard but didn’t know much about, and now they feel integral. The Hurt Syndicate felt like a correction of past wrongdoings, at least before they got bogged down in endless segments with MJF that even in person had me going “My good JBL, these segments never END!!!!” Glorious spamming of 3v3 and 4v4 (or more) matches for no other reason than pure fun popped up all over the place. The Don Callis Family grew into an actual threat. Kyle Fletcher and Konosuke Takeshita both feel like the main eventers of years to come, and not just because that is a pure love that I will fight to protect with everything I have. Thekla and Queen Aminata made a vibe just out of facial expressions and stiff shots. The shows constantly deliver and feel like a worthwhile experience, both on television and attending live. Mixed in are incredible moments I’ll never forget, like Mistico’s entrance at Grand Slam or Toni Storm pressing the Exponential button on my already infinite fandom by dressing up like Carmen Sandiego. The show doesn’t feel like something I need to defend or excuse anymore.
14. But… I still don’t buy Hangman as the end-all, be-all that so many have made him out to be. The Death Riders fatigue is real to many, but once Ospreay wasn’t the one who won it, I felt a lot less invested. I saw the potential of Hangman and Swerve having to team up while Ospreay was the one who toppled the mountain, since Darby preferred an actual mountain off of which I’m sure he Coffin Dropped at some point. The way it’s played out is not terrible by any means, but I’m not as invested as I want to be. I know it’s all headed toward some kind of silent acknowledgement between the two, as they’ve built it for a year at least now, but I also don’t know what the obsession with “the nod” is. I swear every time I hear someone talk about this storyline, they want Swerve to “nod” at Hangman as if it’s a rite of passage. I know it’s how Hangman’s first title run essentially began, but I don’t feel like a particular head movement is what will make or break this season finale.
15. And I also don’t buy it. Begrudging respect and common enemies, tale as old as time. Even The Rock and Stone Cold teamed up many times throughout their storied, years-long war, and the slow burn of the moments between the two has been excellently executed. I just feel like the roles should be reversed, and that might be a bias on my part. I didn’t want to see Swerve and Ospreay supporting Hangman, as I think Swerve and Ospreay are the two of the three biggest icons the roster has to offer, and Swerve supporting someone else doesn’t feel true to his character, though Ospreay would likely support anyone who would give him some headpats and I’d buy it. Nobody can touch Swerve, in my opinion, and while that may become a factor if Hangman does indeed free the mystery briefcase-hidden belt, but a moment felt missed at Dynasty and I haven’t entirely let that go.
16. I have no doubt that Y’All In is going to slay. Dynasty was great, even with the deflating ending. Double or Nothing was even better, even if I was one of the few who felt deflated by that ending as well. The Anarchy in the Arena match was one of the most fun things I’ve ever experienced as a wrestling fan. While I’ve groaned my way through endless MJF/HS segments, not helped by the funniest joke Mark Briscoe can come up with ended up being about a pickle, I nonetheless found great amusement at the Kent crowd chanting things like “empathy.” The dueling “Kyle!” chants later that evening is what I love about being a wrestling fan and unique ways that can manifest when a bunch of people who love the show are in the same place facing vaguely the same direction.
17. Wrestling is like no other form of entertainment. The things I enjoy about it most cannot exist in any other performance or athletic venue. American football will never have entrance music suddenly hit in the middle of the 3rd quarter with a key player suddenly rejoining the roster for a surprise pop. While other forms of entertainment have recognized the power of the entrance pop with the right soundtrack, wrestling is still where it makes the most sense, and the aura of an entire arena singing along with a ballad while a hero stands before them is magical. I still love wrestling, I just wish my outward expressions and fulfillment matched the genuine enjoyment I do experience.
18. While I’ll likely be watching Y’All In alone, much to my dismay, the show that I enjoy is in a much better place than it was before. I don’t take away from anyone’s enjoyment of the fed, and I don’t engage in those petty squabbles. I like what I like, and the fed stopped being for me a long time ago. I have the energy to follow one company, and this is the one that makes me happy, and I make no apologies for that. I don’t care if the other one is more popular, agreeing with the majority has never been my flavor in any context. I’m just happy this is where the company I prefer is, and I look forward to what will likely be a tremendous show where my enjoyment will not be based on someone’s head movement either JBLdamn way.
19. I hope all of you are well, things are going the way you need them to, and that you’re safe and happy in your place in the world. While my place has changed and everything is less consistent and typical than it once was, I will nonetheless try to write again when possible. Thanks to those of you who reached out, your kindness does mean the world to me. Enjoy All In weekend, or whatever form of wrestling it is that you prefer, and if that means you want Hangers and Bangers to have a head gesture of approval in accordance with a vision you have, I applaud you for knowing what you want, even if I don’t get it. May all your five star dreams come true.
