The Phantom Rant: The Hurt Syndicate is back and it’s Booming

I had originally started writing something completely different for this weeks column. But time kept on slipping by and I thought it was becoming too stale of a topic. Basically NXT whooped on AEW this week in the ratings and every other metric. I love AEW, but as I’ve said before I don’t want to sugar coat things when they are bad. AEW’s ratings have plateaued to sub 650 thousand and despite everything they only seem to be going in reverse. But there might be a light on the horizon so to speak.

I think that light is The Hurt Syndicate. I’m not saying they are the saving grace that will lift AEW out of the abysmal pit it’s in. But they are getting reactions which more than I can say for other people in the company. The former Hurt Business were never given a proper chance in the WWE. Debate among yourselves as to why that didn’t happen. All I know is the WWE had this group and for whatever reason they decided it just wasn’t going to work. AEW has taken things the WWE have tossed aside and showcased that they can work. The Hurt Syndicate has been given to AEW like a gift and I hope they don’t screw them up.

AEW has a habit of screwing up things when the iron is hot. The iron isn’t hot yet, but it’s on it’s way. Right now The Hurt Syndicate is simmering to a nice slow boil. They’re starting off targeting guys like Ricochet and Swerve Strickland. But the real money is in The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Death Riders. Yes, the BCC is no more and in it’s place are The Death Riders. That’s the feud I want to see down the road. Right now though we have to get passed The Death Riders vs. The Conglomeration.

Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy is headlining the Full Gear pay per view in two weeks. Their previous matches have been really good so I figure this will be a good fight between the two. Also at the pay per view, Bobby Lashley will be taking on Swerve Strickland. That should be a good match as well. AEW never fails to deliver at their pay per view’s when it comes to good matches. They however are in desperate need for a money angle/feud that can draw people in and I think if these paths end up crossing, The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Death Riders could be it.

Now does this mean that The Hurt Syndicate need to become traditional good guys? I don’t think so. Everything is shades of gray in this day and age. People want to root for the guy who kicks ass and takes names. Bobby Lashley fills that role very easily. Shelton Benjamin also fills this role and with MVP as the mouthpiece it’s a very solid group that you can see I am excited about. I’m still excited about The Death Riders, but they need an equally badass group to face them and that’s why I think The Hurt Syndicate is the perfect group to combat them down the road.

The Death Riders started out strong. But they are starting to fizzle with this version of the invading marauders coming to “take over” the company. I say this as a fan of the group. Orange Cassidy is a good first feud but what happens after that? It’s clear the second big feud will be Darby Allin vs. Jon Moxley. Allin is basically Sting circa 1997 against the NWO. Hell he literally repelled from the ceiling like Sting would last week on Dynamite. Darby should be primed to win the World Title say at the World’s End pay per view, but I doubt that will happen.

Darby is good as the chaser for the title. It’s like Lemmy said “The chase is better than the catch” (ok, granted the song wasn’t about a title chase…but still). I could see Darby and Moxley having a months long feud over the title. Who knows, maybe it could set up another barbwire match or something down the road. Honestly I’m just playing the waiting game at this point for what I hope will be the big feud in a few months with The Hurt Syndicate vs. The Death Riders. If the cards are played right, I can see Bobby Lashley vs. Jon Moxley as the main event of Double or Nothing.

Of course a lot of things need to go right for that to happen. The big point I’m trying to make is AEW has within itself to turn the ship around. We just have to see where they go after Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley at Full Gear. Of course they could do something crazy and have Orange Cassidy win the world championship at Full Gear. I wouldn’t be opposed to that. But with the show being so heel/bad guy heavy in the championship, I don’t see a good guy/face winning the gold anytime soon.

Tony Khan likes old school wrestling. So seeing AEW be like mid 80’s Mid Atlantic NWA is not a surprise. Are The Death Riders the new Four Horsemen? I doubt it. The Death Riders don’t have that coolness aura that the Horsemen did. We still have to wait and see if the long rumored Shane McMahon is even joining with them or not. Remember that rumor? Wasn’t it fun?

I guess on that note that is it for this week. I will try to be back on time for next time. I was pretty optimistic for the future of AEW in this column if things go the way I hope they go.

As always you can leave comments down below, on twitter or email me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com