Please don’t WASTE Will Ospreay at All In – A plea to Tony Khan – By Wrestle G

Hello again wrestling fans and I am delighted to be back at my keyboard today to talk some pro wrestling after a fair few weeks of holiday time. I have had a PACKED few weeks enjoying myself firstly at Glastonbury festival, which is one of the most amazing festivals and places on earth and then jetting off to Sorrento in Italy for a friends wedding.

One thing that struck me while I was away, is just how much wrestling is packed in to the week these days. Upon coming home it’s been a pretty impossible task to catch up on absolutely everything. Between Forbidden Door and Money in the bank alone was a full 7 hours to try and find in life and that’s before we even scratch the surface of Dynamite, Raw, Smackdown, Collision and Rampage and that’s only two wrestling companies!

But I don’t want to complain about this too much because we are eating well as wrestling fans currently. So many wrestlers are stepping up to be the guy in their respective companies, some storylines are absolutely cooking and there’s a sense of real anticipation no matter what show or company you are watching. No one is absolutely perfect but that in itself is sometimes the fun of this business. I have managed to watch quite a lot of the stuff I’ve missed so I’d like to get into some thoughts on things before we move on to the meat and bones of what I want to discuss today, so some wrestling Tapas to get things started……

Wrestling Tapas

– John Cena going on a retirement tour has me absolutely invested. Now I am going to be completely honest here and say that for the longest time Cena had huge go away heat with me. Culminating in what I consider to be one of the worst booking decisions in history when he went over the Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. That booking was so selfish and centred and stopped Wade Barrett from being a bigger star than he turned out to be. The Super Cena stuff used to drive me insane. Then I went to my first Wrestlemania and my first Raw after Wrestlemania in the Izod Centre. It was there I saw why Cena had the wagon pitched to him, he went out of his way to ensure every fan in that building had a good time.

From there I was converted and last year in Money in the Bank in London when he made a surprise appearance, I popped huge for his music hitting. I only hope he can find time to make a last UK appearance before he hands up the boots. Pardon the terminology but it does feel like ‘The Time is now’ for John to hang up his sneakers. There’s a deep pool of top talent that he no longer needs to help get over and a run at a title doesn’t seem like it would quite fit. But the opportunity for Cena to celebrated from now until next Wrestlemania is something I am really looking forward to, a hell of a run for one of the best to lace them up.

– Mariah May and Toni Storm may be actually getting into award territory for the performance they are putting on. Sometimes in wrestling you never quite get the pay off at the right time. But Mariah May’s attack on Wednesday just felt perfect and the impact landed with a bang. Their match now at All In has me fully invested. That image of Mariah with blood on her face, shoe in hand and Toni helpless in his grasp feels like it will be an iconic image for years to come on AEW television. It’s been around close to a year since Toni Storm went Timeless and you just have to give her so much credit for going full tilt into the transformation. In other hands this gimmick would have adorned the halls of WrestleCrap, instead its going to be long remembered as a fun intriguing home run. Can’t wait for the match at All In.

– Bo Dallas is another who’s acting chops have had me glued to the screen. His spate of sit down interviews with himself have set this angle off in a really interesting way. Is Bo in control? Or is he still in Psychosis? Who is in control of this thing, Bo or his weird alter ego. We left it last with Bo in the office of Adam Pearce and I can’t wait for this weeks Raw to see if we find out what was said. I am also bursting to hear from the other members of the faction for them to flesh out how they have ended up in the servitude of Bo/Howdy.

The only part of this angle I am not enjoying is the addition of Chad Gable. It just feels clunky having him inserted into this. He was gathering some momentum with his work with Sami Zayn and finally looked to be fleshing out his character and solidifying himself as a single. He’s newly Heel but now up against a faction of 5 people? Are we meant to sympathise with him? Are the Wyatt sicks the Babyfaces? Its’ all just a bit messy and I can’t help but think there were much better candidates to be used in this spot other than Chad. I can’t help but think his dragging of his heels to re-sign with the company may have rubbed a few people up the wrong way potentially……..

– I Believe in Joe Hendry

– Finally, I love what the WWE is doing with the New Bloodline, and I was so pleased for Paul Heyman to take a bump in the Garden where he grew up as a photographer and first cut his teeth in the pro wrestling business. That must have been a thrill for him to hear that Garden reaction to his work. Solo Sikoa has a bunch of savages, and the crowd is aching for Roman Reigns to come back and retrieve his necklace and return to the Head of the Table.

We are about to go on some twists and turns with the Rock returning (has been behind Solo’s ascension all along?) and Jacob Fatu undoubtedly about to break out and the Bloodline saga somehow looks to be reinvented once again. We may have to have a conversation shortly on where the faction and storyline ranks as an all timer. Let’s see how the next year goes.

Ok so let’s get into the meat and potatoes of todays column shall we?

Tony Khan please don’t waste my boy Will at All In!

 

We are just a few short weeks away from AEW presenting their second All In event. Last year was a huge success and one of the best wrestling events I have had the pleasure of attending in person. I’m super excited to go again this year as well as having a Dynamite and Collision taping in my hometown of Cardiff (which isn’t sold out yet due to some of the Insane pricing! Do better Wrestling companies) and now with Forbidden Door out of the way the card is starting to take shape.

And we have quite a start indeed. Bryan Danielson is set to face Swerve Strickland following his Owen Hart Tournament win and as mentioned previously Mariah May and Toni Storm are set to face off. Elsewhere bubbling around are a few interesting bits and pieces with the Elite and the Acclaimed etc but there’s the curious fog of confusion over where Will Ospreay is going to end up on the card. Now he has a match set with MJF for next weeks Dynamite and my hope upon hope is that this is the start of a set up towards a pay off between the two at All In. The best on the mic against the best in Ring that AEW has to offer feels to me like a match that deserves the stage of Wembley Stadium. However there appears to be a fly in the ointment in the form of PAC. PAC has managed to attain a title shot to Will Ospreay’s International Title. Now I love PAC in the ring bell to bell but with the injury and visa issues during his time in AEW it’s been a very stop start career and he’s just never found the momentum needed to break through, just as you become invested he goes away for months again. I just don’t feel that him and Ospreay as good as the match will be on a technical level is befitting of Ospreay’s standing in the company.

Yes it is two British Wrestlers but this setting is crying out for Ospreay to have his British Bulldog moment. Personally I would have put the belt on him and have him beat Swerve in the main event, I am totally happy with Bryan in that spot but its not the way I would have gone. Failing the moment against Swerve I think Ospreay taking out the scapegoat on the anniversary of the Punk situation would have had some intrigue and the TNT championship feels like something that would be elevated by Ospreay but also elevate him with the litany of challengers he would have. Sadly it appears both of those avenues are not available so we are left with two potentials the MJF or the PAC match.

I can’t lie and say I won’t be disappointed if it is the PAC match but I am willing to see how they manage the build to it. But it just doesn’t feel big time enough for someone who has had a great start to his AEW career and who is clearly going to be someone in the mix for years to come.

But I am interested to know what you guys think? Am I being unfair? Is PAC vs Ospreay something you are interested in? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I’ve missed something.

But Tony….. Please don’t waste my boy on bank holiday weekend, lets make some memories for years to come.

That’s it for another edition. As always you can follow me on Twitter via @Wrestle_G for more as it happens wrestling opinions.

Otherwise, until next time.

Cheers,

G