People, please educate me on AEW

[Stu]

Okay, now is probably a good time for me to ask this question. I have literally never watched a single episode of AEW wrestling and know little outside of the occasional Youtube clip or whatever the heck you all mention in threads in the WWE or Wrest sections. So I call upon you to present me with some basic facts about AEW. I'm talking who's who and what's what.

What nights of the week is AEW on TV and what's the difference between the shows?

What are the championships and their lineages?

Who are the main eventers? Who are midcarders? Who actually matters?

What is up with MJF and why is he a big deal? Who or what is this Danhausen guy? Do people chant 90210 at Jungle Boy? Is Orange Cassidy still a thing? What the hell is the Dark Order? Is Tony Khan any different from Dixie Carter?

I don't need anyone to explain whether or not AEW is better than WWE, nor do I really care. I just need a basic understanding of AEW so I know what you all are talking about.

So please, learn me some AEW!

[Deleted]

What nights of the week is AEW on TV and what's the difference between the shows?

Dynamite on Wednesdays is 2-hours, live, and is the flagship show. Rampage on Fridays is 1-hour, taped, and usually features talent and/or storylines not on Dynamite. AEW Elevation and AEW Dark are YouTube-exclusive shows used mainly to pad out talents' win-loss records.

What are the championships and their lineages?

The AEW World Title, currently held by CM Punk, was previously held by Adam Page, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, and Chris Jericho. Moxley is also the current interim champion since Punk is out injured and AEW doesn't vacate titles. 

The AEW World Tag Team Titles are currently held by Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland, and were previously held by Jurassic Express, the Lucha Brothers, the Young Bucks, Adam Page and Kenny Omega, and SCU.

The AEW Women's World Title is currently held by Thunder Rosa and was previously held by Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida, Nyla Rose and Riho. 

The TNT Title is an open-challenge belt currently held by Wardlow, and was previously held at various times by Scorpio Sky, Sammy Guevara, Cody Rhodes, Darby Allin, and the late Brodie Lee. This belt changes hands more frequently than the other titles due to its open-challenge gimmick.

The TBS Title is an open-challenge belt for the women's division, and is currently held by inaugural champion Jade Cargill.

The All-Atlantic Title is an interpromotional title currently held by inaugural champion PAC. The belt is defended at other promotions' shows with the matches airing on AEW Dark, though it can presumably be defended on AEW shows as well. 

Who are the main eventers? Who are midcarders? Who actually matters?

The most consistently important wrestlers in the company's history have been Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and CM Punk. Adam Page, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson and MJF are all in a sphere right below that. Generally speaking though, main eventer and midcarder are both nebulous terms since performers often move up and down the card freely - Lance Archer, for example, spends most of his time squashing jobbers on the YouTube shows, but has been slotted into world title matches with no objection. 

What is up with MJF and why is he a big deal? Who or what is this Danhausen guy? Do people chant 90210 at Jungle Boy? Is Orange Cassidy still a thing? What the hell is the Dark Order? Is Tony Khan any different from Dixie Carter?

MJF is a big deal owing to three factors - his incredible promo ability, his very good in-ring work, and his youth. Danhausen is what would happen if a demonically-possessed Conan O'Brien decided to try his hand at wrestling. Jungle Boy is very popular and that chant has never been uttered to the best of my knowledge. Orange Cassidy is still a thing and is still very popular. The Dark Order WAS a spooky cult led by Brodie Lee but is now mainly "Adam Page's friends who don't do much of note." Tony Khan is different from Dixie Carter in that he's not an on-screen character, doesn't have a bizarre fondness for Vince Russo, and is actually capable of growing his company. 

[Ash Kingston]

Well, I can answer a couple of these...

What nights of the week is AEW on TV and what's the difference between the shows?

There are technically four shows for AEW. AEW Dark Elevation (on Monday) and Dark (on Tuesday) air on their YouTube channel, and are primarily there to serve as a show like Heat or Velocity; somewhere for the lower card (and midcard) to build up their win/loss record, and just generally serve as a way to get enhancement talent some time in the ring (which is what I think Elevation in particular is for). Meanwhile, Dynamite (on Wednesday) and Rampage (on Friday) are their main TV shows; in terms of difference, it's probably just length - 2 hours Wednesday versus 1 on Friday. Can't really speak to more beyond that, because TSN (the channel AEW is on in Canada) still refuses to air Rampage on TV on Fridays.

What are the championships and their lineages?

Mens
AEW World Championship: Chris Jericho -> Jon Moxley -> Kenny Omega -> "Hangman" Adam Page -> CM Punk. Since Punk is injured, Moxley is the interim champion.
AEW TNT Title: Cody Rhodes -> Brodie Lee -> Cody Rhodes -> Darby Allin -> Miro -> Sammy Guevara -> Cody Rhodes -> Sammy Guevara (who was interim champion after Cody caught Covid, and then beat him to unify the titles) -> Scorpio Sky -> Sammy Guevara -> Scorpio Sky -> Wardlow.
AEW Tag Team Titles: SCU (Kazarian and Scorpio Sky) -> Kenny Omega & "Hangman" Adam Page -> FTR -> The Young Bucks -> Lucha Bros -> Jurassic Express -> The Young Bucks -> Swerve In Our Glory (Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee).
All-Atlantic Title: PAC (He's the inaugural champion.)
Trios: TBD
FTW Title: Brian Cage -> "Absolute" Ricky Starks -> Hook

Womens
AEW Women's World Championship: Riho -> Nyla Rose -> Hikaru Shida -> Britt Baker -> Thunder Rosa
AEW TBS Title: Jade Cargill

What is up with MJF and why is he a big deal? Who or what is this Danhausen guy? Do people chant 90210 at Jungle Boy? Is Orange Cassidy still a thing? What the hell is the Dark Order? Is Tony Khan any different from Dixie Carter?

-MJF is a fantastic heel, able to make most people hate his freaking guts, and is also a talented wrestler. However, last I heard he was caught up in some contract negotiations with Tony Khan, where he wants to get paid more since he was once their top heel, but was being paid a lot less than other, newer people to the roster.
-Danhausen is... Danhausen. Very Nice, Very Evil.
-No.
-Yes.
-They're a former lame cult turned into a bunch of wacky and hilarious perverts (who are also in a cult), and became best friends with Adam Page after Brodie Lee died... and are now mostly jobbers since they've lost, like, three members in the past six months or so, and a fourth (Colt Cabana) has been busy with his own stuff.
-Oh my god, yes.

[Stu]

So Punk can just come back and be champion again? Yeah, I’m sure there will be a storyline with Mox refusing to give up the title. But the rule is Punk is supposed to get it automatically upon return?

What are or have been feuds and storylines of note? What’s up with all the former WWE guys? Big Show still around?

Like I said, I know nothing. So please just throw out random facts

[Stu]

Oh, and why does Cornette hate AEW? What did they do wrong in his eyes?

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

When CM Punk returns from his injury he'll be taking on whoever is the interim champ.

Aug 1, 2022 1:07:45 GMT -5 Stu said:

Oh, and why does Cornette hate AEW? What did they do wrong in his eyes?

a) Cornette hates Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks and uses very homophobic language about Kenny in particular.


b) Cornette is a racist asshole and hates that AEW uses Joshi since he sees them as Kenny's fetish objects.

c) He's a miserable prick that hates fun

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2022 1:04:54 GMT -5 Stu said:

So Punk can just come back and be champion again? Yeah, I’m sure there will be a storyline with Mox refusing to give up the title. But the rule is Punk is supposed to get it automatically upon return?

What are or have been feuds and storylines of note? What’s up with all the former WWE guys? Big Show still around?

Like I said, I know nothing. So please just throw out random facts

Punk is, for all intents and purposes, still the champion since he never lost the belt. When Punk comes back, he'll have a unification match against Mox to determine the undisputed champion. They previously did this with Cody and Sammy Guevara over the TNT Title.

Feuds of note...hoo boy. Adam Page's gradual ascension to the world title took the better part of 2 years and is the company's crowning achievement from a storyline standpoint. The MJF and CM Punk feud is also up there for being deeply emotional and intense, and also for leading into Wardlow's ascent into an upper midcard force of nature (think Goldberg in WCW). 

The ex-WWE guys usually are in AEW because WWE dropped the ball with them - Malakai Black, Miro, and Adam Cole all fall into this category. Sometimes they're there as mentors or managers - this is where guys like William Regal and Taz end up. Sometimes they're there as staff or commentators - Big Show and Mark Henry being chief examples of this role - while other times they're just there as a good hand - guys like Tony Nese for example.

Despite the stigma AEW has of hiring a ton of ex-WWE guys, a vast majority of their signed, full-time roster is folks without any experience in that company.

[Stu]

And what’s the deal with that woman ref who tries to be the center of attention? Is that a gimmick or is she really trying to be part of the show when she shouldn’t be?

[Dub H]

Aug 1, 2022 1:04:54 GMT -5 Stu said:

So Punk can just come back and be champion again? Yeah, I’m sure there will be a storyline with Mox refusing to give up the title. But the rule is Punk is supposed to get it automatically upon return?

What are or have been feuds and storylines of note? What’s up with all the former WWE guys? Big Show still around?

Like I said, I know nothing. So please just throw out random facts

Feuds of Note:

Adam Page has a 2-years saga that but the two most important feuds are

Hangman & Omega vs Young Buck, Hangman and Omega both failed to live to their hype and found success in tag team, causing a big rift between The Bucks and Hangman. Aggravated by The Bucks being bad friends and Hangman increasing alcoholism.

and Hangman vs Kenny Omega. Which after 2 Years of self-doubt and after losing the tag titles being ghosted and demeaned by Omega, Hangman finally wins the AEW Title


Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley


The arguably best drawing feud in the company that kickstarted Kenny Omega big heel turn.



MJF vs CM punk

A multiple months feuds that draws back to MJF origins as a wrestling fan that felt abandoend by his hero.

Big Show is mainly a commentator

Mr Brodie Lee vs Cody


it was the start of soemthing amazing with Brodie and the Dark Order


Also a few videos of note:

[Dub H]

Aug 1, 2022 1:25:20 GMT -5 Stu said:

And what’s the deal with that woman ref who tries to be the center of attention? Is that a gimmick or is she really trying to be part of the show when she shouldn’t be?

She really doesnt try to be.

Each referee has a personality and her is very emotive and more confrontative than other refs but almost always they dont bring attention to thenselves

but she does have a history of not getting along with Jericho(mostly due to Jericho)

[Stu]

What are Daniel Bryan and Christian doing

[Dub H]

Aug 1, 2022 1:38:50 GMT -5 Stu said:

What are Daniel Bryan and Christian doing

Christian spent months as a manager to Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus, just so he could get back eventually on Jungle Boy for eliminating from a battle royale(he did beat Kenny for the Impact Title tho),now he is the epitome of pettines with a hate boner for Jungle Boy,


Bryan just returned from Injury but he is basically part of a stable of Violent Technical Wrestlers,currently feuding(As Part of the BCC) with the Jericho Appreciation Society a group of wrestlers more focused on being showoffs and over the top celebrities(or superstars ) and against Eddie Kingston on the side(As they hate each other as Bryan finds Eddie lazy and Eddie finds Bryan a judgmental prick)

[Stu]

Okay, thanks for all the help folks. It’s bed time for me. But feel free to throw out random facts, important moments, controversies, etc

[lockedontarget]

One thing to note is that since TK bought Ring of Honor, the ROH titles have become a part of the show. ROH has yet to get a TV deal, so for now the championships are fought for on AEW programming and most of the title holders are AEW talent. Claudio(aka Cesaro) is the ROH world champ, Mercedes Martinez is the womens, FTR(aka The Revival) are the tag champs, Wheeler Yuta is the Pure champ, and Samoa Joe is the TV champ.

Crossovers with other promotions happen, most commonly with NJPW(they just did a joint ppv with each other called Forbidden Door). Joshi wrestlers come down to visit from time to time.

The Elite is one of the main factions. Their history goes back to the Bullet Club in NJPW. The Elite started as a sub-faction within the BC. Eventually they would split, and then the core of Omega, Cody, Hangman Adam Page, and the Young Bucks departed NJPW and helped found AEW. Over time Cody and Hangman would leave the Elite. Omega and the Bucks turned heel and eventually Adam Cole made his way into the company. He was an old Bullet Club member back in the day, and a good friend of the Bucks, so he was welcomed into The Elite. Soon after Omega would have to take an extended break to heal various injuries, a break he has yet to return from. In his absence, Cole has sort of casually usurped the role of leader. He then brought his NXT buddies Kyle and Fish into the group, renaming it the Undisputed Elite. The Bucks weren’t too crazy about this. He’s also tried to cozy up to NJPW wrestler Jay White, the current leader of the Bullet Club. But Cole recently betrayed White in a failed attempt to take the NJPW world title for himself, so that bridge is probably burned. It’s very likely that the endgame for this is going to be Omega returning, turning face with the Bucks, and facing Cole/Kyle/Fish. Possibly to crown the first ever six-man tag team champions.

There’s also the Blackpool Combat Club, a stable headed up by William Regal that is essentially just a group of badass wrestlers who want to have good fights. Moxley, Bryan, Claudio, and young up-and-comer Wheeler Yuta are the current members. They are currently locked in a major rivalry with…

The Jericho Appreciation Society. When AEW began, Jericho became the first champion, and built a heel faction around himself. It was called the Inner Circle. It consisted of Jericho, Jake Hager(aka Jack Swagger), Sammy Guevara, and the former LAX team Santana and Ortiz(now going by the team name Proud and Powerful). For a good while they were the big bads of the company, culminating in a big feud vs The Elite. Later on, MJF would attempt to infiltrate the group and take control of it from the inside, turning the members against each other. He was foiled, but ended up forming his own group, The Pinnacle. Consisting of MJF, his bodyguard Wardlow, FTR, Shawn Spears(aka Tye Dillenger), and Tully Blanchard as manager, they feuded with the Inner Circle, turning Jericho and his pals face in the process. Jericho would ultimately defeat MJF in the blowoff, and the Inner Circle were solidified as a babyface group. But it didn’t last. Santana and Ortiz were unhappy, starting to feel like Jericho was just using them and was the reason they never got to be champions. Their friend Eddie Kingston encouraged this line of thinking, which led to he and Jericho having issues. This led to drama andinfighting, with Sammy leaving the IC because he was tired of it, After losing a grudge match against Eddie Kingston, Jericho turned heel, assaulting Eddie, Santana, and Ortiz. Jake Hager remained aligned with Jericho, and they were joined by newly-signed wrestlers Daniel Garcia and the tag team 2.0. Together the five would be christened The Jericho Appreciation Society. Sammy, now turned heel as well, would hook back up with Jericho again and become part of JAS, along with his girlfriend Tay Conti and now Tay’s friend, Anna Jay. The JAS have been in a blood feud with Eddie and friends ever since. Eddie is tight with Mox, and this led to the BCC getting dragged into the war. The two sides have had a lot of matches against each other, and Mox will soon be defending his Interim Championship against Jericho.

There’s lots of other factions, but those are the main three right now.

[Kalmia]

Aug 1, 2022 1:25:20 GMT -5 Stu said:

And what’s the deal with that woman ref who tries to be the center of attention? Is that a gimmick or is she really trying to be part of the show when she shouldn’t be?

She really doesn't. All of the referees in AEW have more personality than the WWE ones do. When Aubrey is in there with Chris Jericho (and she always referees Jericho's matches) they usually get into an argument but in many other matches, you'll barely notice her. Other refs have their "thing" too, for example, Rick Knox always does the Young Bucks matches and usually lets things get out of hand and misses all sorts of cheating (a non-canon skit had them paying him off.) It's just similar to how the refs were in the WWF/E back in the 80s and 90s before Vince wanted them all to be interchangeable bodies with no names or personalities.

[Cyno]

Aug 1, 2022 1:25:20 GMT -5 Stu said:

And what’s the deal with that woman ref who tries to be the center of attention? Is that a gimmick or is she really trying to be part of the show when she shouldn’t be?

Honestly the people who single out Aubrey that way tend to come off as pretty sexist. Especially since they don't lob the same complaints at male refs who act similarly like Bryce or NJPW's Red Shoes.

[Stu]

Sounds like there's always some controversy about the women's division. All I need to know is whether the issue revolves around the talent or the booking/writing.

Is Orange Cassidy just supposed to be a midcard comedy act like Santino? Or is he actually a threat?

And fill me in on whatever happened with Matt Hardy falling off a lift during a match a year or two ago

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2022 11:49:42 GMT -5 Stu said:

Sounds like there's always some controversy about the women's division. All I need to know is whether the issue revolves around the talent or the booking/writing.

Is Orange Cassidy just supposed to be a midcard comedy act like Santino? Or is he actually a threat?

And fill me in on whatever happened with Matt Hardy falling off a lift during a match a year or two ago

Booking

He's a threat and probably the best fiery baby face in ring performer when he turns it on.

It was a bad match and a dumb finish. Everyone just kinda moved on.

[Cyno]

Orange Cassidy is basically that anime character trope who presents himself as lazy and unmotivated but is a secret badass.

[Denny Zen]

Aug 1, 2022 11:49:42 GMT -5 Stu said:

Sounds like there's always some controversy about the women's division. All I need to know is whether the issue revolves around the talent or the booking/writing.

Is Orange Cassidy just supposed to be a midcard comedy act like Santino? Or is he actually a threat?

And fill me in on whatever happened with Matt Hardy falling off a lift during a match a year or two ago

The issue with the women's division is 100% around the booking. AEW has an excellent core of women's talent, and often augments it by bringing in joshi from Japanese promotions it has working agreements with. As an example, the champion (Thunder Rosa) defended against Miyu Yamashita from TJPW just last week. The problem in most peoples' eyes is that the division is foundationally built around a heel, Britt Baker, who has a tendency to talk a bunch of shit about how she's better than everyone, only to just...kind of...prove it. She's never gotten any real comeuppance, and it all feels very Triple H reign of terror-y. Even now that Rosa is the champ (coming off a nearly year long run from Britt), Britt still very much feels like the most important and prominent of the women's wrestlers, and continues to cut "no one is on my level" promos without anyone ever really demonstrating otherwise. A lot of people also have pretty severe issues with Dynamite tending to stick to a formula of putting a single women's match on in the 9:30 timeslot every week. Which, that's very much a subjective criticism, so your mileage may vary in terms of if that's actually an issue with the division as a whole, or just the nature of booking a weekly professional wrestling television show. 

That being said, AEW's women's division has markedly improved over the last couple of years and, really, I get the feeling that all it would take for the tide to turn around here is for Jamie Hayter to turn on Britt and kick the shit out of her. 

Orange Cassidy is nothing like Santino. He's got some comedic elements, but everything he does is expressly for the purpose of getting into his opponent's heads and causing them to make mistakes, so that he can win matches. He's always presented as a talented wrestler and a legitimate threat in the ring. Honestly, if we're being honest, the closest comparison is that he's a bit of a face version of the original Goldust character, insofar as he does weird shit to try and get his opponents off of their game, but is very much a competent and dangerous wrestler. 

During All Out 2020, Matt Hardy did a high risk spot where he was speared off of a scissor lift by Sammy Guevara, and the two were supposed to go through a table. Matt overshot the table and hit the back of hit head pretty severely, and was obviously concussed. The match continued anyway, and AEW (rightfully) drew a great deal of criticism for that decision being negligent.