The Phantom Rant: Trying to find a positive in AEW

Greetings and salutations from the big apple that is New York City. I am Joe Davis and this is The Phantom Rant. According to my filing system this is column number thirteen. A lot has happened over these last thirteen columns in the world of wrestling. I am sorry for the delay in columns. Originally I had this column written twice halfway through, but my arch nemesis hit…writers block. But third time’s the charm so here we are. I thought the Royal Rumble was really good this past week. I was honestly shocked by Jey Uso winning. I fully expected John Cena to win and when he was in the final two I was like “well, this is over”. I’ll hand it to the WWE for taking a hard left turn with Jey Uso winning. Cena winning was the easy road to take. This is far more interesting and while I suspect he will choose GUNTHER to face for the World Heavyweight Title, it should be a compelling story which is all I really ask for.

What’s not been compelling is what’s going on with AEW. While they might be doing good financially, everything else is going to hell. I said in my first column back here on NoDQ that Tony Khan should step down from creative. In the time since then, things have only gone downhill. Sure there are a few sparks of hope. Harley Cameron is pure gold. “Timeless” Toni Storm is amazing as is Mariah May. But the things that should be carrying the company are just falling flat. The Death Rider’s are just becoming so stale and at this rate we have at least another month until the Revolution pay per view in Los Angeles until there MIGHT be some resolution.

I have no problem with Ed…errr COPE vs. Moxley for the title. It should be a good match. But storyline wise it just is not clicking. In an interview with his wife Renee, Moxley said “Or, maybe, everyone can just stop asking questions. Trust in us, and just enjoy the damn ride.” Well Jon, I’ve been on the ride since the beginning. It’s gotten a little too bumpy for me and I would like to get off. It started off good…but it’s terrible now. It sucks saying that, but it’s true. And I liked The Death Riders. I like COPE along with FTR. But the combination of these two factions together is like oil and water. It’s just not mixing.

Maybe I just don’t get the story. Well I’m sure a lot of you reading don’t get it either. The Death Riders were supposed to be this renegade group and I got that part. But it’s amazing how quickly it went from something that was interesting to something that was lame. It shouldn’t be lame…but it is. I can only fault creative because it’s all on them. In an interview with SHAK Wrestling, Eric Bischoff put it all on creative very bluntly. “That promotion is circling the toilet bowl. And it’s because of the creative. It’s because of the lack of leadership. It’s because of the lack of structure, creative structure, and the lack of vision.”

Uncle Eric is right about this. I mean when it comes to a company with no direction, he lived it with WCW. The WWE right now is a company that is thriving because of it’s creative direction. AEW honestly should be doing a lot better than they are right now. It’s like I said, there are a few bright spots. But not nearly enough to light the way. I hate seeing AEW like this. I want to just watch and be happy, but they make it very difficult.

Okay, maybe I should focus on something positive they are doing. The feud between Ricochet and Swerve Strickland has been really good. Ricochet has really found his calling as a slimey chicken heel. I was watching DEFY’s anniversary show earlier and Ricochet showed up clad in the robe he stole from Swerve Strickland. The heat was off the charts for him. Swerve needs a good feud after his lackluster 2024 that saw him as World Champion…but just not at levels he should have been at.

I’m hoping we get some big match between the two. Ricochet won the first match this past week on Dynamite by cheating, so we need something a bit more definitive. Swerve likes to use a chain so perhaps a Russian Chain match between the two. Ricochet wouldn’t be able to run from that. It would also effectively ground Ricochet so he wouldn’t be able to use most of his high flying offense. Obviously this would be good for the Revolution pay per view next month. Swerve, like I said needs something definitive and that would do it.

Another positive has been Harley Cameron. The best stuff always comes from comedy that turns serious. For the past few weeks Harley has been begging for a shot the TBS Championship at Grand Slam Australia. According to google maps, Gold Coast, Australia (where Harley is billed from) is just about an hour away from Brisbane where the show will be. She’s practically a home town girl for that event. So now that we are getting Harley vs. Mercedes Mone for the TBS Championship, I personally can’t wait to see that match. Tony Khan needs to strike while the iron is hot and jump on that money train that is Harley Cameron.

See, there are positives if you look for them in AEW. But as I said the big problem right now is The Death Riders. Individually I like them all. But together as a group not so much. I can only hope between now and Revolution things pick back up since they are going with COPE vs. Mox for the title at the pay per view. A month is more than enough time to do that.

On that note I am done for this week. Once again I apologize for the delay in columns. I shall be back next week. Hopefully I’ll have something good to write about. The WWE is cleaning house right now so that always sucks. Can’t believe they released Isla Dawn.

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