AEW Rankings and WrestleDream 2025 Review

GrapTop

Scores for matches, previews for what's ahead, and some unhinged rambles that I don't regret at all. I am so irritated at how I screwed up more basic things, but I don't think it's noticeable so rolling with it.   04:17 Thekla vs Jamie  04:42 Women's Tag Contenders  05:57 Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express  07:20 The Hurt Syndicate vs The Demand, trios rankings  09:00 Kyle Fletcher vs Mark Briscoe, TNT rankings  10:40 Kris Statlander vs Toni Storm, Women's World rankings  12:29 Mercedes Mone vs Mina Shirakawa  13:49 Brodido vs Okada/Takeishta, Men's Tag rankings  15:42 Unified rankings  16:49 Hangman Page vs Samoa Joe, Men's World rankings  18:35 Darby Allin vs Jon Moxley

Transcript

00:00What up nerds? This is Raptops. We pay people and we do not like state athletic conditions.

00:07I'm back with a WrestleGreen review and the rankings alongside them, more of a secondary

00:13vibes kind of thing. You'll see what happens. We went to three AEW shows in six days and it

00:20took more out of me than I expected, but that's for another time. With the pay-per-view itself,

00:25sorry speedball, using one of our pictures isn't enough to get a full breakdown on the

00:29match. We appreciated the company trying something different, just like Cody wanted match to finish

00:35during Picture in Picture. You never really know unless you actually do it. The change

00:40of page was interesting and the show didn't really let down from the opening pyro.

00:46What did let me down was HBO Max being extremely fiddly with allowing devices to watch. It was

00:52dead set to, well, only allow one thing at a time. I'm trying to go from TV to Xbox when

00:58I got an error, didn't go well in real time with too many concurrent viewers this morning

01:03kept popping up, enough that I missed the finish of FTR Jet Feeds stuck in menus.

01:09I want to compare the available video feeds somehow, but I discovered that the trailer files out

01:14there are 25 FPS, which would seem strange if not for the fact that HBO Max speed with all

01:21options available on Xbox defaults to 50 FPS. If you turn off the 50Hz mode in the settings,

01:29you will get the Martin Scorsese approved 24Hz cinematic mode output. Why does it do this?

01:36Maybe I'll find out, or maybe someone out there can let us know. I do know that the Android TV app version

01:43of HBO. It simply gave a 60Hz, no HDR feed on the night, but is now full Dolby Vision with EAC3,

01:53but neither get the Atmos pop-up. Part of what I want to do is compare the signals because the HDR

01:59implementation seems well done and that there weren't obvious peaks messing things up, and I did

02:05not notice color banding that often occurs in large dark spaces and graphic elements. I filled out my

02:12complaint form and did not get any ICE ads on this past Dynamite, but I did see other people were

02:18still getting them. I can only testify to my experience, so I went ahead and purchased on HBO,

02:24since they at least removed the commercials from me. No, it doesn't mean anything big picture,

02:29but it wouldn't be a genuine argument if I went to Prime or Triller after reaching out and seeing the

02:34change. This does mean if the ads come back, I have no problem making the future purchases on other

02:40platforms. Stop the ads. Someone please stop the illiterate toddlers who are abducting people.

02:47A separate video is still coming about crowd signs, but I want that one to be a little more polished

02:52than these are. I want to take this moment to thank everyone who has subscribed and watched so far.

02:59I'm up to 130 on YouTube as of writing, which genuinely already being in triple digits is great to me.

03:06As inconsistent and as a process as this is, I'm at least trying to bring clarity and a degree of

03:13logic to all of this, even if it's just to set it aside to have fun. I'm also uploading to Daily

03:19Motion and PeerTube, because a flood of videos from people I watch telling me the system is broken

03:25is certainly motivation to branch out, but at the same time, I repeat one of the founding principles

03:31of this channel, we will never have a Discord. Even as I wish to find a place to discuss with like-minded

03:37fans since social media is unpalatable, Discord is a broken system destined to be abused even further

03:45than leaking uploaded government IDs. But here and now, please like, share, and subscribe wherever you are.

03:53It's been infuriating seeing how each platform is busted and takes a lot more effort to fix than I am

03:59willing to give without guidance. Come to Blue Sky, the mods are being garbage lately, different from

04:05other garbage mods. But it's a garbage truck versus an entire globe's worth of trash on some other sites.

04:13Fat Club versus Jamie Hayter. This was a fantastic match. Four flat. The physicality hopefully driving

04:20forward plot development as commentary mentioned that the Blood and Guts challenge has been unanswered.

04:26Now that Jamie has run through all of the triangle of madness, it will hopefully wound their pride to

04:31find help and finally respond. And this is where I'm going to jump right into previewing the women's

04:36tag team title bracket that will be announced on Dynamite this week. I give you my predicted eight teams.

04:42Megabath. Hijank. Sisters of Sin. Jamie Hayter. And either Queen Aminata, who I saw comments say she's injured,

04:53but she also just won the deadlock women's championship ski woe. So if not her, Alex Windsor,

05:01Mina Shirakawa, Toni Storm, Babes with the Wrath, as I'm dubbing them, Willow Nightingale and Harley

05:07Cameron. Now, my throwing things at the wall, first guests, Casey Katanzaro and Lacey Lane. Being in the

05:16stands for Lacey and Mercedes was enough to convince me that an eight-seed who gets clobbered isn't that

05:22far-fetched for those who protest at this inclusion. A more realistic guess, since the Renegade twins

05:29seem to be missing, is a combination of misfits, Kid Bandit, and the former women's champion,

05:35the Maid of Beast, Nyla Rose. We want to see Nyla back on TV, and we'll find any excuse to pitch her.

05:41This is also a reminder that the Ring of Honor Women's Pure title tournament was announced in

05:47April, six months ago, and we don't even have finalists yet, so excuse me if I'm a little nervous

05:53about the women's tag title rollout going well. Next up on the show was the tag match that's pure

06:00story for the OG sickos who watched through Being the Elite and have already noticed Hangman's water

06:06bottle was in Buck's dressing room. I put this match at the core of what the company stands for,

06:11long-term storytelling paired with the nearly non-stop highlight reel of action.

06:16The Bucks are still broke, which annoys plenty of people who are tired of the story,

06:20but this BTE involved the rarity of self-reflection and quite possibly Kenny getting to find some friends

06:27after his best friend got injured right in front of us. Consistency is hard to come by,

06:33sometimes it's too much, sometimes not enough with who has allies willing to come make a save.

06:39It happens when it's convenient, although it is often addressed such as all in who could

06:45not come help to fight off the Death Riders. Why do Kenny or Hanger not have friends? Because it's

06:51convenient. Will the Bucks find humility? As much as I want to say I hope not for the lols,

06:57it's nice to actually see the characters on both sides here, the Bucks and Jurassic Express going

07:03through character growth. As poorly as the Scapegoat TNT title run routes received by a large portion of

07:09the fanbase, this looks poised to make sure Jack's place in the future is as secure as we know it

07:16actually is since Tony loves him. Four and a quarter. I've been wrong multiple times with my prediction

07:23that the Hurt Syndicate will win a match by adding a surprise new member. No, they just win. It has

07:30come out that yes the Hurt Syndicate are particular about who they lose to, which I both completely

07:35understand and I hope going forward we have who dethrones them figured out ahead of time so we don't

07:42have another meandering run like they did with the tag title belts. Watching Hurt Syndicate and demand

07:48on the night, I didn't really like it. It felt too short and that the demand got put down easier than I

07:54expected. On rewatch, I don't know what I was thinking. It was a good back and forth, both teams

08:00were able to shine and even though I would have preferred the demand going on for Trio's goal, I can

08:06understand the bigger picture of rewarding and overact as well as placating egos with another

08:13parking of Trio's belts for a vanity run. It's happened before. May I be proven wrong, but I only

08:20have said tag title run to draw conclusions from. Overall, I do expect the Trio's belts to change hands

08:26this week, but I have no idea what this does to the prolonged run of the ops at the top of the card.

08:32Joe doesn't need anything else to get angrier, but then again I thought they should have lost the belts

08:37to LFI last week on Dynamite. That match serves as a time marker for me. It takes two months to get

08:44tossed back in to lose a title challenge. I've been having trouble figuring out names to put against

08:49Okada for the unified title, but now I know that after two months it's been long enough and names can go

08:55back in the hat. Syndicate versus the demand gets three and a half. Mark Briscoe is destined to suffer

09:02as a singles wrestler. Need to chart him on the Takeshita scale for how long he's losing before

09:07his luck finally turns. I didn't expect this challenge, although the fifth match was a nice

09:13hope to explain it. This was a very, very good match that did not come close enough to making me

09:19think there was a chance of title change. I knew it wasn't going to happen watching Alex Windsor and

09:24Sari, but in the building as it happened, we wondered, is there a chance? Coming up later is a match that

09:31gets a better rating because they sold the illusion better. Not a knock on either talent, it's just how

09:35the story is being told. The family persists as long as it needs to, which I'm not calling a bad thing,

09:43but Kyle Fletcher is doing so well right now that I don't know how he falls, other than eventual

09:48overconfidence of course, but the future is completely up in the air. Even though Roddy is in

09:53the conglomeration sitcom intro, he doesn't feel at home and I keep expecting him to turn. The previous

10:00champ gets a spot for being a fun challenge that doesn't have to go anywhere. The rankings have turned

10:05into likely to have a title match more than genuine power rankings, and Jack won't lose momentum being

10:11hoodwinked out of the title by that devious Don Callis family, possibly building towards a rumored

10:17men's blood and guts match. Does having a second cage match diminish the women's that's already announced?

10:23I would say AEW was doing a good job diminishing it themselves so far by dropping any momentum that did

10:29exist. So here's hoping the hype starts at 200% coming this week. Mark Briscoe and the proto-star

10:36Kyle Fletcher, three proto-strokes. Now the match that I was most looking forward to and had a taste

10:44that should main event this night, Chris Statlander defending against Tony Storm. This was also very,

10:50very good. We're completely on board with both stories, Tony seeking to see if this was indeed a final

10:56death while Chris embracing the alien and adjusting everybody's posture with that straplander shirt.

11:03This was a story of Chris simply being better. She has adapted and overcome and doesn't need dirty

11:09Uta tricks to get the win. Chris is more than a woman, more than Tony can handle, and a hearty end to

11:16Tony Storm's singles run. Three and three quarters. Mercedes gets the top spot on the rankings with the

11:23already announced full gear challenge. I hate that we're getting yet another current champ not satisfied

11:29and needs another title match. But with Mercedes at the same time, I am actively cheering on the Ultimo

11:37Monet run. As much as I don't care for the particular story implementation, I am all profoundly putting

11:43the women's world title in the main event of the show. I thought there was an argument for this match

11:49to main event over the men's world title, but putting a stipulation match on last is not unprecedented

11:56and overall made sense for the night. The women main eventing needs to happen. We haven't had the

12:02tag belts main event to pay for it yet, and that was a premise at the start of the company. But I think

12:08having the women on top is deserved and the story can absolutely merit the spot. I would have put

12:14Marina Shafir on the list because Chris named her alongside Wheeler, but that's not where the jokes

12:19are. Willow will eternally be on the list until it happens because they need to work through some

12:25things. I don't care who wins. I just want to see it. Right after Chris wins, we have Mercedes come

12:32out for her open challenge to be dramatic and try and upstage Chris, and I was not enthused when the

12:38challenger's music hit. But they got me. Absolutely not, Nina is not retaining her interim title, but in the

12:47course of the match, they made us believe. Nina is underrated. I will admit somewhat by me taking

12:54her for granted as Tony Storm's roomie, but when the bell rings, Nina knows what to do and this was

13:00spellbinding. Three and a half, out comes Foregon, but they caught the magic that makes you wonder when

13:05you know better. We covered this. This was the better of the Foregon matches between this and the TNT.

13:11The TBS title ranking graphic is unchanged, and I was tempted to put some version of a piece of poo

13:17since the title has been put on the back burner while going for the women's world title.

13:22A reminder that if you are upset about Mercedes, quote, breaking Ultimo's records, I need a few

13:28hundred words from you about the importance of each of the Dre crown belts and why they are being

13:33disrespected. No, at least two of the current belts are gratuitous, but I have some shocking news for those

13:40who feel compelled to point it out as a detriment pose mad.

13:46The match that I was most interested in going in was the tag titles for Chaos. I stayed up to watch

13:52Daquesta win the IWGP Heavyweight title from our boy Zack Sabre Jr. and was intensely curious how the

13:59partner company's top champ would be treated and I was not disappointed. Grodito have been a breath of

14:06fresh air with dynamic moves and great developing chemistry. Bandito has put up an easy wrestler of

14:12the year case if it wasn't for living in the same time as Mystico, but he's year-end top five for sure.

14:18Like many others, I was worried that Brody King actually dancing would be the end of the title run,

14:23but they knew we would think that and subverted us in a polite and tame manner, delivering the spot after

14:29the match, despite I can't think of anyone at the start of the year who would imagine cheering for a

14:34Macarena in 2325. Four and a half for combining the drama and the action on so many levels.

14:43Confession, I'm actually tired of champion Okada while enjoying him being a jerk. I'm still booing,

14:50the Don Callis family needs to tune things slightly so it's not so much forced respectful booing.

14:55It's a stable of nothing the people I actually want to watch. It's hard not to cheer for them.

15:01Tag titles? The shady win at the start of the night puts prestige hunters right back on top.

15:07FTR challenging one of the big four feels appropriate for the level of competitor they sell themselves as,

15:13which is a nice way of saying the match isn't really what I want to see, but it makes sense on paper.

15:19Jurassic Express get on the list by way of beating the Bucks, who had a tenuous claim based on

15:25getting a pin on Bandido, and then Jet Speed, who are number one in our hearts, which the In Our House

15:31ranking is not happening this week because I'm already at 200 words at this point. 2,000 words.

15:38I have a cat trying to have on my lap. The unified title rankings get Bandido on top with the match

15:44for Dynamite this week. Orange Cassidy stays near the top with the Dallas Speed and the continued case

15:50to elevate Cassidy to the main event scene after coming close with the three-way men's world title

15:55match at Double Nothing 2021. 3rd is Mark Briscoe because I think this is the singles title he ends

16:02up breaking through with. The TNT title match on this show never felt right, but Mark with the unified

16:09title is something I can see. But actually booking a change this close to the end of the year and the

16:15Continental Classic is pointless, we're going down to the tournament final to get new owners of that

16:21belt. How does it work with Takeshita having the nooch title? I don't see them actually doing Okada

16:28Takeshita in the dome. I don't know when it pays off, but it should at least be an interesting journey.

16:35Despite the stated growing numbers of the Don Callis family, there's a shortage of main event heals

16:41right now. I don't think it's related to anyone being away right now. That's not the fix. It's not

16:46managing the roster on hand properly. Not only did we conjure a feud out of thin air, we're running it

16:52back for at least a TV match. Four and a quarter, very good with a great finish. That many finishers will

16:58knock some sense into Joe, right? Wrong. Samoa Joe being salty is consistent with his character and fits

17:05no matter how much this is being dragged along further just because. Will that next match be good?

17:11It'll probably be great as well, but it doesn't change being another lazy challenger. The recent

17:17men's world title programs have been disappointing in how much the Vaunted Deep roster actually has to

17:23offer since the Cowboy claimed the belt. I don't need another Lance Archer challenge like in Page's first

17:29run to match with the buckshot on the referee, but I would also love to know why so many groups get

17:36treated like also rands and some get other turns. I'm sure there's personal slash political slash

17:43business slash someone is just a different conversation style and freaked out TK and didn't

17:49realize they accidentally screwed themselves reasons, but I will never be privy to about why some people

17:55languish or don't get that other chance. While other acts continue to flop around on screen aimlessly,

18:02and no I am not pointing at anyone in particular on either side, I'm simply calling out that there

18:07are not enough credible deals on the roster that I hope that it gets addressed as time goes by.

18:13The graphic didn't change here either, maybe if the trio's belts do change hands it'll be enough

18:18motivation to make new templates. This is about learning as I go, hence why I'm writing all of this out to

18:25read back because I despise all the pausing for thought and bound for glory review. There are at

18:30least three things in that video that I'm going to make sure I address going forward.

18:35Main event of the night ended up spawning a new main character on Twitter come Sunday daytime.

18:41The newest scrifters are up in arms over a team by comparison match hampered by a state athletic

18:47commission that likely combined with Darby's Everest breath training for the more creative spot where Darby

18:53did his goldfish impression. My biggest disappointment with the whole night, only being half the thesis

19:00here, is that nothing happened with the big decorative arch on the stage. But I'm not that

19:06disappointed because every time something doesn't happen with decorations it makes you let your defenses

19:11down so when it does happen it'll be even more exciting. Overall, no it's not a big deal that nobody

19:18was suspended from the arch, but I know I saw a lot of posts at the start of the night expecting Darby to be

19:24dangling from the arch while on fire. So we did not get fire, we got water, in the exponentially more

19:31dangerous Aquarian class, which I read that Mox did get cut up on his arms at the finish, which I'm not surprised,

19:38and yeesh. Watching live, I didn't like the finish. I know Sting is a legendary summon that clears the field of battle,

19:46but the Deathriders seemed to go down too easily. Just like with the Tornado Trios match, a rewatch fixed

19:53whatever I saw, seeing Claudio and Top take shots with the bat to go down, as well as Moxley being beaten

20:00on the knees before Darby used his wrestling daddy's hold to win. But I'm sorry that we've been conditioned

20:07to not really respect the Scorpion Deathlock's last sharpshooter over time. Watching back, yes,

20:14but at the time it was underwhelming. Jon Moxley, at his heart, is a coward. The character without

20:21backup knows the advantage of strategic retreat to come back and fight dirtier another day.

20:26So once everything is gone, he folds incredibly quickly. The finish for All In was perfect,

20:32the flailing, the facial expressions, the colors. Face down in the wet is where Jon Moxley deserved to

20:39give up. But it felt anticlimactic in the moment by comparison. Darby using Sting's move to level up

20:47and finish this fight was absolutely the correct move. I give the match 4.5. I still want to see

20:54another exploding barbed wire match one day. And just like the continued calls for House of Torture

21:00acknowledgement with Jack or the Gates of Agony. Agony. I know I'm not the only one who wants to see

21:06these two without the restrictions. But I also don't know where they go from here, as this could

21:11be the actual blow-off that I imagined it was supposed to be. Mox showed weakness in front of

21:16the crew. The crew that won their match on Tailgate Brawl, and Daniel Garcia made a point recently

21:23about how the Deathriders are winners, not losers. They're certainly not quitters, so I am on the edge of

21:29my seat with where this story goes from here. Hangman is the main character and a worthy champion

21:35I will follow anywhere. But there's something special about Jon Moxley, the new ace of the

21:40universe. A man who doesn't care so much that he does. A character so well defined that it makes

21:47sense even as he betrays himself. I can't imagine anyone trusting Moxley after this year of terror,

21:54so I don't know how a face turn would work. But then again, I haven't seen him be excommunicated

21:59to the street yet. It's going to be an interesting week of television. I hope they build on the success

22:05of WrestleDream and go from strength to strength and start dead of falling in any of the clearly marked

22:11potholes. It was a great show. This was good pacing these years. I didn't need to take a nap this year.

22:20It's a good pay-per-view where in 2021, 2022, yeah, there was a definite nap for at least a half hour

22:27on those nights. I'm abandoning my exit line since I sat in the stands and it gave me so much back pain.

22:35Give me the warp any day.

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