thelesterlee
Welcome to The Pipe Bomb, where we discuss the latest news and events from the wrestling world, both inside and outside the ring. This week we have a review of the women’s division and an AEW All In 2025 preview
AEW Women’s Division Review
This time last year, AEW had one women’s match on an 11-match card at All In.
Saraya won the women’s championship against Hikaru Shida, Toni Storm and Britt Baker—a result forced upon us following an injury to Jamie Hayer.
This led to the worst title reign in the company’s history as Saraya exhausted more energy being a loser on Twitter than being interesting on television.
Shout out to Saraya for being a decent wrestler a decade ago and never improving at any aspect of the job. If those checks are still coming in every other week, who cares?
Right now, 9 matches are set in stone for All In 2024 and 3 are women’s matches.
Plus, Thunder Rosa and Deonna Purrazo are murdering each other every week in the type of blood feud that’ll slingshot Thunder Rosa back into the title picture.
I used to dink on this women’s division just like everyone else—not due to their lack of talent—but their lack of time on screen and lack of interesting stories.
This is the first time in the company’s history we are witnessing several individual women’s stories simultaneously and none of them involve Riho ironically running to the ring with a pipe for no reason.
And with all that said, I do feel bad for Britt Baker who was recently suspended after a strange backstage altercation with MJF where she apparently shit on his hour-long match with Will Ospreay on the Dynamite anniversary show.
The same Britt Baker I genuinely believe tried to derail Thunder Rosa’s run a couple years back.
Britt Baker is not the first and for sure will not be the last wrestler who secured a top spot and became paranoid about maintaining it. Who knows what Jeff Jarrett’s career looked like if Stone Cold had agreed to work with him instead of treating him like dogshit.
Although, I love the way Jarrett’s career turned out and wrestling history would be astronomically different if Stone Cold weren’t a paranoid asshole. Who else could’ve created TNA and turned themselves into a main eventer, whether we liked it or not?
I could talk about Jeff Jarrett all day. What was I saying? Umm..oh yea, Britt Baker being an asshole.
I imagine it’s frustrating as hell for Britt—who clearly doesn’t believe MJF is worth the hype—to watch that guy get unlimited TV time, including an hour-long match for no reason, while she has to scratch and claw for every crumb of camera she can get.
That fear of losing your spot is real. It’s understandable.
She came into AEW in her 20’s after wadding through a crowded underground women’s scene ruled by the iron fist of Tessa Blanchard and her favorite slurs. Britt probably adopted some nasty habits.
I hate pretending as if we can’t comprehend why she may be prickly backstage but we’ve also seen in AEW, unlike any other company, that what you do in the ring can and will get you more time in the ring. Julia Hart and Skye Blue were running Collison before their injuries and they started outt as jobbers.
This year, Tony Khan trusts Britt enough to be Mercedes Mone’s first big title defense at the biggest show of the year. I pray she recognizes this as an opportunity to get her spot back but I fear she’s too far gone.
Here she is on Dynamite last week in what was supposed to be a surprise post-match beat down but turned into an awkward, illogical moment as Britt takes her time getting to the ring, slowly climbing the apron and putting her gloves on like OJ Simpson and refusing to release her submission after Kamille pulled her so Kamille, the powerhouse, looked weak and weird.
Britt’s narcissism and unprofessionalism were on full display. She dragged out her entrance which made Kamille & the extra look bad, hogged camera time with the glove bit making Mercedes look bad, and then refused to release the Lockjaw when Kamille was trying to help Mercedes. pic.twitter.com/gp2VmmC0cI
— uppity dei ☝🏾 (@rouseysky) August 16, 2024
Maybe this is nitpicky or whatever but again, look where this women’s division was a year ago. This is the best women’s product AEW has ever produced and I’d love it if Britt Baker didn’t ruin it being an asshole.
The women’s division has evolved past the need for Britt. Athena is the baddest woman on the planet and she’s a phone call away from being the star of AEW. Jamie Hayter is coming back from injury any day now.
Just do the job to Sasha Banks and shut up.
Booking All In 2025 in Texas
This week, AEW announced they are bringing All In to Globe Life Field in Arlington next year.
Time to wildly speculate on what that card could potentially look like a year from now.
But first, we have to quickly run through some of the bare-bone requirements for an AEW All In card:
- The Elite (Kenny/Bucks) match
- Maxwell Jacob Friedman match
- Will Ospreay match
- Super old guy on the card to draw attention from casuals
- Darby Allin coffin match
- Men’s/Women’s world title matches
- The “How Do We Stuff Like, 10-12 People In One Match” match
- The hometown wrestler being unnecessarily rewarded for having been born there match
Edge and Christian vs. The Young Bucks
I was going to make this a trios match with E&C teaming up with Chris Jericho against Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks but Jericho is wrestling Hook for the FTW championship this year.
Jericho seems self-aware enough to recognize he’s fallen to the bottom of the card so I expect him to take his ball and go home before he’s stuck in a Ring of Honor feud with Dalton Castle.
Let’s give Edge and Christian a big finale. The Young Bucks have established themselves as the ones who retire you here.
We’re like, a month away from the Bucks jumping Billy Gunn backstage and never seeing Gunn on TV again. They’re going to super kick Jeff Jarrett directly into Mai Tai’s at his beach house.
Coffin match: Darby Allin vs. MJF
Darby has a clause in his contract requiring him to be body slammed onto a coffin once a year.
MJF is going to burst his kneecaps to smithereens tombstoning Darby onto a coffin as hard as he possibly can because he forgets wrestling isn’t real.
In the end, MJF returns to the main picture after almost two years of punishment for how stinky his run ended last time and Darby Allin gets time off so he can skydive out of a rocketship or whatever.
Swerve Strickland vs. Konosuke Takeshita
I don’t know what this story would be but does it even matter?
Get the two coolest guys in the world inside of a ring together at the biggest show of the year. This is Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. ..uh..Japanese Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. The Von Erichs vs. The Acclaimed vs. Hologram and [insert name of any luchador available for the vent] vs. MandM vs. Top Flight
The Von Erichs time has begun. I have no idea if they’re good wrestlers or not but I know I almost cried at their movie and this show is in Texas.
It’s a tag team championship match so FTR has to be around. And I’ve seen Tony Khan gush over Hologram enough to know he will be on the AEW All In 2025 card no matter what. Let him team up with literally anyone and they’ll steal the show.
Also, The Acclaimed are a thing still, so.
Women’s World Title: Willow Nightengale vs. Asuka
Last year, I watched Saray win the championship and thought the women’s division would be shut down by now. Never could I have predicted Toni Storm and a woman not even signed to the company yet would be their biggest story.
So let’s take that same formula and put a woman on this year’ card against a woman who isn’t in the company yet. Asuka is the greatest women’s wrestler of her generation and I’d love to see what she’s capable of outside of WWE’s style.
Jay White vs. Kyle Fletcher
So full disclosure, I was done with this article, editing it to be sent out into the void when I realized my guy, Jay White, wasn’t on the card. Cannot have that two years in a row.
Kyle Fletcher has proven he can put on a 5-star match with anyone nad Jay White has proven he’s cool enough to make us care about Billy Gunn’s lame sons so I imagine he can make me care about Kyle Fletcher too.
(I’m also okay with Jay White just being AEW champ as long as he wants.)
Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega vs. Okada
Just do it. You know you want to, Tony. Just smash your action figures together.
AEW World Title: Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page
I recognize it’s still super possible Danielson truly retires at All In this month but if EYE were booking, Bryan Danielson would beat Swerve and go on to be the MAN in AEW for a full calendar year, his first time as the top guy since his Ring of Honor reign many moons ago.
If we are truly in the twilight of his career while he’s still capable of delivering 5-star matches whenever he wants, let’s squeeze every ounce of magic out of him.
We are witnessing the greatest professional wrestler of all time and he deserves to go down as the greatest AEW champion ever.
I know the Von Erichs are from Texas and they’ll for sure get their big Iron Claw scary-Zac-Effron-faced victory in front of the home crowd and I know Hangman Page is from Virginia, not Texas, but I feel like the whole cowboy gimmick thing works as a pseudo-home court too.
Hangman gets to have his little moment and Bryan Danielson, for the last time, shows us why he’s the GOAT.
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What’s your ideal card for AEW All in 2025? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee.
