Chapter 1: What happened during the Darby Allin vs. MJF contract signing?
What's up and welcome in to the busted open after dark podcast. I'm just in the bar. We kick it off with Darby Allen, putting the title up on the line on AEW dynamite. This is the busted open podcast. AEW dynamite wrapped up tonight coming from Asheville, North Carolina, plenty of things to talk about coming out of tonight's show as they are on their road to double or nothing.
Lots of things to look at. Some hits, some misses. That's the way the world goes. That's the way AEW seems to go. Some hits and some misses. Some things that I go, wow. I'll even stand up and give you a little bit of an applause. And then there's some things that I can see it coming from a mile away. And I even start typing the tweet before it happens. And then it happens.
Chapter 2: How is Darby Allin's title reign being perceived?
We'll talk about it all, and I'd love to hear you talk about it with me. 877-344-4893 is the number. And, of course, you can reach us on social media as well if that is your choice. But I'd really like to hear the sweet, soothing sounds of your voice.
By the way, Justin, there's a new way that everybody could chime on in, and that's with our new intake. So just hop on SiriusXM.com slash the intake, leave a voice message, and you'll hear it on the air. We'll get the chime in on your thoughts.
There you go. See Andre jumping around. It's like leaving a voicemail. It's perfect. If you can't hang on hold or if you don't want to spar with LeBar and go one-on-one, if you just want to drop it in, You can do the intake. As I said, SiriusXM.com slash the intake. Leave a message right now.
Okay, let's start out with the main event, which is driving AEW's programming right now, which is, again, assuming the main event, I can't see any bigger match that there's going to be at double or nothing. Well, they're doing Stadium Stampede, right? But still, AEW world title. Darby Allin, the champion, we know he's going to take on Takeshita. He does...
And then, of course, this is all for him to survive, remaining champion to then take on MJF at Double or Nothing with the stipulation of title belt versus MJF's hair. We'll get to MJF and Darby here in a moment. I'll just start real quick with Darby and Takeshita. Obviously, Takeshita, one of the 33 members of the Don Callis family. Don's out there. Don has been given...
MJF's ring earlier in the night saying, you know, if you should need, you should know what to do with this. And so we get this match between Darby and Takeshita. The history here is Takeshita has a win over Darby from a few years ago. And so that is something that is lurking here.
And I do what I do like about what's going on here is some, you know, at times I have I've had I've had critiques about AEW's commentary. But mostly, it's just them trying to keep up. They're trying to rattle off as much as they do, and they're promoting this and telling you this match or whatever. And I just feel it doesn't do the favors that I think it's intended to.
It's not necessarily the fault of them. It's just what they're given. But so for as much critiquing as I've given them over the time, I wanted to give them the props here for what they did do in commentary. I loved...
commentary and i think excalibur and tony they all kind of had you know we're sharing notes here um really giving off the number of title defenses the stats the number of title defenses that darby's had since becoming champion in the last what 21 days um the number of minutes this was a great one i forget which which of the commentators said this so i apologize but one of them said you know the number of minutes that darby has found himself in the ring
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of the Darby Allin vs. MJF match?
And then if that doesn't sell you on Darby being the fighting champion and, oh, how much does he have left? Jesus, again, some of the spots, the blue thunderbomb spots, they're on the apron, and Darby takes a big back bump from apron to the floor, and they go to commercial for it. And then Takeshita gives Darby a German suplex from the top rope. It just, I mean, I...
I guess it's part of the entertainment. I guess it's part of the attraction. You've got to watch Darby's match because you're just going to see something you can't believe, and then you can breathe a sigh of relief when you see him walk away, appearing to be okay. But damn, man, I just fear... One of these times, it's just going to be the planks just not going to be quite long enough.
He's going to think he has an extra step to go. And I don't know. But again, I guess it's part of the attraction. I guess it's part of the maybe I'm just getting older. Maybe I'm just getting older and more sensitive. And, you know, I don't know. Maybe that's me. Maybe I'm just starting to holler at clouds.
But nonetheless, I respect and mad respect to Darby and what he's out there doing for the sake of entertainment. And finally, it gets to a point where referees distracted and Don Callis. Don Callis gives the ring to DeCosta. Finish it now. But DeCosta doesn't want to do it that way. He's beat Darby before. You know, and Don jumps back on the commentary.
I plucked this guy out of obscurity four years ago. Now all of a sudden he has a brain. He thinks for himself. A great, great, great bit of in and out of commentary for Don Callis. Ultimately, though, Darby, he's going to get the Scorpion Deathlock submission, and that's going to lead right into several coffin drops, and he is going to get...
the win so darby gets the win he's got blood coming out of his mouth there again speculating did he bite his lip did he bite his tongue does he have internal bleeding what is it but all i know is it's it's pretty gross looking it's it's it's just dripping down it's mixed up the saliva and it's tripping down the chin so he looks like uh he's been through hell and back and he calls that mgf and now it's time for our contract signing
Great stuff here in the back and forth. They kept it nice, short, and sweet. MJF very hesitant, obviously, to put ink to paper. They're already past two hours. We're on the overrun at this point. So they kept it to a nice, quick pace. We didn't need to draw this out too much more. We've seen these guys go back and forth verbally. So there's not much more to say other than get the contract signed.
and and and give us something hard to sell by yeah so there you go so ink gets to paper then mjf attacks starving again right there tony shivani again selling the stats selling uh the burning of the candle at both ends and just prior to that again some good just quotes some good sound bites to again further sell this match you know mjf saying you brag about uh climbing a mountain well you know here in this industry i am the mountain so just good stuff overall
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Chapter 4: How does the commentary enhance the AEW viewing experience?
And I got to say, when Darby won the title, somewhat shockingly, not somewhat, it was shocking, three weeks ago, I really doubted and questioned what they were doing here. My mind immediately went for justification that, okay, MJF must be going away to Hollywood. He's got something going on and he's not going to be able to be around on Wednesdays.
That obviously has not been the case because MJF has been around. Now that I've seen it unfold for the last few weeks, I've warmed up to it. Each week I've warmed up to this Darby surprise title reign and this valiant, I will fight anybody, I will defend it at any time.
Quite frankly, it is a change of pace from what we have with the AEW world title, which is a title that's primarily seen on the pay-per-views, a title that if being held by MJF, a heel, and logically so, isn't going to defend it any more than he has to. He's going to only defend it when the money's right.
And so this was a bit of a change of pace, and especially when I look at, okay, all in in London at the end of the summer, I think a lot of us expect MJF to be champion or involved in the title match at that event, but that still is, what, three-plus months away, so what are you going to do between now and then? How many more...
do you have for MJF at the moment without getting repetitive or stale? So as I've seen Darby in this fighting effort, I've warmed up to it. And then now we're getting him. I mean, it seems like he's on pace to lose it here to MJF. Unless, again, going back to the movie aspect, unless MJF actually has a Hollywood role coming up, where he needs to have his hair different than what it is.
We've seen wrestlers do that before. We've seen wrestlers who have had a crossover in Hollywood before, you know, put the hair, you know, Kevin Nash, I think had to have his haircut. He's doing, I think that one of the, I think he was doing the shredder super shredder.
And so he, he did a hair match to cut his long hair to get, to get it short, you know, so unless that's the case and then Darby's going to keep going, I don't know. We can, we can ponder more predictions for, for double or nothing here in a bit. But overall, it's something different. In AEW's, what, seven-year history, it's not like hair being on the line is a common thing.
This might even be the first one. I can't recall the hair being on the line. So hair versus title and no character more than MJF is going to value his head of hair. I loved, by the way, early in the show, they showed you earlier in the day, MJF arriving to the venue and he's just surrounded by bald people.
I thought that was just a very simple, nice little touch, again, to push this entire stipulation. Well done. And then to Tony Schiavone's credit, as they come back to the commentary, he didn't realize there were so many bald people around there in AEW. So, yeah, I mean, look. So, yeah, I guess what we got. This is the second hair match. We had Chris Jericho versus Ortiz in 2022.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of the Death Riders in AEW?
Yes, Wheeler with his hair. So not the first, but still, you could argue this is going to be the most effective one, I would say, again, because MJF more than any other character is going to be. Um, you could, you can completely, completely buy into him, uh, being in fear of a pair of clippers or razor coming at that head of hair.
So as I watch this, like I said, I'm, I'm good with this, this detour, which is what it has been to me of Darby's the champion. I've been fine with it. It's also managed to elevate a few other talents in the process and in their own way, Brody King, uh, Kevin Knight. Uh, it's just all a matter of follow-up with AEW is just, you know,
You can give somebody an opportunity, and even if they don't win the title, you still have to follow up with them. Kevin Knight certainly has been followed up with. Brody King, I believe, is going to be in the Owen Hart tournament brackets, which we'll touch on if we get a chance here in a bit. So I've been fine with it.
And really, as I watch the dynamic and I listen to Max and Darby go back and forth and I watch the physicality when they break out into it like they did tonight, the best compliment of... of past comparison that this makes me feel, and to me this is a compliment, is it gives me some feeling similar to that of late 90s, like 1999, Rock and McFoley. where obviously MJF would be the rock.
The rock at the time was the corporate champion working for Vince and was the corporate asshole and holding the title for the most part. And then, of course, Darby Allin being the Mick Foley. Now, obviously, Darby, from a physical standpoint, nothing like Mick Foley. Mick Foley obviously came off of a run of being heel-demented characters.
Darby's been a babyface his entire time in AEW, so there's obviously differences there. But the common ground being... Obviously, the reckless physical nature that Mick Foley always had, Darby has that, and maybe even to the point to where there might be stuff that Darby does now that maybe ā I'd love to watch a Darby Allin match sitting next to Mick Foley. Wouldn't that be a fun watch-along?
And to see what Mick thinks is, ooh, Mick, would you have done that spot? That'd be fun. That's a money podcast that we need to get signed is the Darby Allin watch-along with Mick Foley. uh... you know but so similarities in the reckless a hardcore nature of their offense and what they're willing to take uh... and then again kind of that's uh... and what would say common man but that's
being beat down and looked down and looked down by the rich, by the elite, by those who think that they're better than. It just has that feel. That's what I kind of feel of Darby in that role. And then again, MJF playing that role, The Rock. And look,
There was a lot of chemistry and a lot of magic that happened on the mic and physically between those two back in the late 90s when they were rivals before they would have the rock and sock connection. And I kind of feel that here with MJF and Darby. And I think it's a good, it's something that everybody seems to be biting on.
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Chapter 6: What are the latest developments regarding Will Ospreay?
when MJF is their champ and people are chasing MJF. I think there's enough data out there that proves it. Not to say that Darby's been a business failure. I'm not saying that, but I think in the long run, in the bigger picture, just of consistency, MJF, to me, he's the most overacting in the company. And I say that, but I'm not even counting, you know, yeah, you have Cope, who obviously has...
30 years of history on national television to a wrestling audience. I'm not even really counting that, though. I really think if you look just objectively and you watch AEW, everybody's got a huge reaction for MJF one way or the other. So I'm intrigued. I like the build. And double or nothing, we'll see what happens.
But like I said, if I had to put my money on it, I'm going to go ahead and roll with MJF. Coming up next, Jon Moxley, Will Ospreay. What does it all mean? We talk about it. Your one-stop shop for R-A-S-S-L-I and that's wrestling.
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All right, let's continue with our dynamite here. Let's talk about Will Ospreay. We'll go in order of what we saw here. So we've seen this in the last few weeks. Will Ospreay, obviously several weeks ago, the Death Riders came kind of in, protected Will Ospreay from getting any more damage done to him, and they carried him out.
And since then, we have seen these training sessions, these stripping Ospreay down, essentially, and trying to rebuild him. And when the first one that happened, I was very intrigued. It was a very... uh bizarre but entertaining segment this was the one from a few weeks ago of moxley you know you know giving his state of will osprey address and then he turned and
He'd boop, boop, boop back in the stomach. I wasn't sure what I was seeing, but I was willing to see where it goes. And we've had a few more weeks of these training sessions. Let's take a little listen to the latest. This is this airtime on Dynamite. This is earlier in the day. They look like they're on a rooftop somewhere.
And some of the death riders are playing like handball and running around. Uh, but then we see, uh, Moxley he's, he's teaching, uh, submission holds and Ospreys bridging and testing the strength of his neck. The way I feel right now is the way that I felt. God, what was it? I guess a year and a half ago now when the death riders formed. Right. I think that's what it was.
So, you know, they formed, we, we heard a lot of. A lot of real serious talk about, you know, you're not in control anymore. We are. And a bunch of guys around here playing grab ass. And we were seeing vignettes of the death of the death riders riding in a truck around the middle of the desert. They're setting off signal flares and.
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Chapter 7: How does Brian Cage's return impact AEW's storyline?
So I'll get to it. Anyways, Ace Austin wanted to give him a shout. Very, very, very good. Very good. So we have Ace Austin versus Ospreay. Now, Ospreay wins the match via submission. Ace Austin taps out almost immediately. And I believe, I think commentary said this, that was the first time in AEW that Ospreay has won a match via submission. Right? So, okay.
You tie that back to, okay, this is part of the Death Rider's training. He's adding to the arsenal. He's adding to the finishing moves. Okay. That's something. I'll give you credit. I'll put it down in the good for you column.
But, again, I'm just weary as we continue on here is that if that's what it is, if we're building Will Ospreay up and we're going to give you an even greater version of him to make him absolutely foolproof, unstoppable to become the world champion, all right, I'll see how you do it. But then what?
He wins the title and then immediately Moxley and crew either, what, turn their back on him or claim that they Euro'd us the first title defense. I don't know. I'm just real weary, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Moxley can cut a promo. He can say some things that are ā he can cut a promo and be interesting. Again, Marina Shafir, she looks great out there. Claudia looks great. Pac looks great.
I mean, Wheeler and Garcia don't. Again, they look like they should be working at the gap. They don't fit. They're there, but they don't fit, but whatever. They're there. I have no say. I put it in the complaint box, and they haven't listened, so whatever. So, again, the Riddle and Rhymes are fine by Mox and this and that.
I mean, I guess, again, I'll wait and see if this puts a new coat of paint on Osprey that I feel is worthwhile. But based upon Death Rider material I've seen over the last year and a half, too much gets started and the follow through just ain't there.
Can I give you a follow-through, Justin? Please, Andre. So we have Osprey now deep into Death Riders. He's in Death Riders culture at the moment. What if over time he ends up getting to pack Claudio and Yuta, just giving them seeds of doubt about Moxley, or... If they see how Moxley mistreats Osprey, they kind of see him as going too far.
Either way, Osprey being around just plants seeds of doubt on Moxley as leader, which eventually leads to the Death Riders imploding, which could be a big moment at Double or Nothing, which then could leave something in the, like leave the whole faction scattering around trying to figure out what to do. And by the time we get to All In, we see Will Osprey somehow emerge from this
ready to be world champion, and we see Marina Shafir being the one that says to the Death Riders, we got to stay together, and I'll take the lead on this. That's the only way I can see where I'm like, okay, I'm really happy with the direction of this. Other than that, big question marks.
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Chapter 8: What predictions can be made for AEW's Double or Nothing event?
Brian Cage appears out of the curtain, unadvertised, mind you, unadvertised. Nobody knew Brian Cage was coming back tonight and going to be on the show. He comes out and he is shredded. Now, Brian Cage has always been in shape. Somehow he's putting his past self to shame. Comes out, is absolutely shredded.
And while I'm excited to see Brian Cage and he looks great, I already started typing the tweet. I kept it in the drafts. Wasn't going to preemptively, prematurely hit send. But I already said, I went, oh, God, no. Don't do this. So you've got a guy who's been out for 14 months, comes back, looks shredded as all hell, comes back unadvertised. So you can beat him.
I understand some people's logic is, well, he's been out for 14 months, and he's going up against Kevin Knight, who's been on a roll, Kevin Knight, who's, you know... And so the struggle was like, oh, Brian Cage put up a big fight. He looks good, but he's been running. No, no, I'm sorry. We don't book the same way. To me, this is just a massive waste. Have Brian Cage come back.
Let him win for some weeks in a row. Let him get some Ws on his record. Let him show up at that fairway to hell and break a golf club over somebody's ass. Let him do some things to pump up his image, to pump up his numbers. And then let him have a courageous fight where he comes up just a little bit short. But to unadvertise, have him come back.
And, again, he comes back, and it's not like he's one of those wrestlers that used to wrestle in short spandex, no pants, no shirt, and now he's coming back and he's wearing a T-shirt and baggy pants because he hasn't quite got the gym regimen back. No, he comes back looking better than ever. This guy looks like a superhero. This guy looks like a Greek god that they chiseled out of stone.
And you have him lose. And now he's just going to fall back in the crowd of all the Don Cali. We're not going to see him have another match again for several weeks. And then you got Lance Archer out there. Lance is just in street clothes. Lance has got a cell for Mike Bailey hitting him. I don't get it. I'm sorry. But Lance out there, again, another guy who loses all the time. Big, big.
Bring your friend who doesn't watch regularly. Bring him to the show. Let him see some of these guys. These bigger guys are going to stand out. I'm not saying all big guys. Got to win every single one of the matches. I'm not saying that, but I just, I continue to be baffled by, it's like, it's like AEW's, it's like AEW's an amusement park on, on, in complete opposite bizarro land.
You must be this short in order to win. Oh, you're this tall. Oh, you're just a few inches past. You're going to lose. Too tall for this ride. What?
What?
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