You Couldn’t Let Us Have This One, Tony Khan?!?

If you’ve been reading my work over the last year-and-a-half, it’s no secret that I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Jeff Jarrett and his cronies on AEW programming.

Sure, they’ve had their moments, but my issue has always been that AEW’s roster is BEYOND bloated, and it’s incredibly difficult for a huge chunk of that roster to get any time on television. Having Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, and Sonjay Dutt on the air, even for short periods of time, only makes it harder for a lot of the company’s younger talent to get any shine.

It’s not like they were technically receiving pushes or anything. Lethal hasn’t won a match on any of AEW’s television shows since October of last year. Singh wrestles occasionally, usually against enhancement talent, and didn’t show any in-ring progression whatsoever. Jarrett’s last win on AEW television was about a week after Lethal’s last one. Again, it’s more that they’re taking up time and space on television, not that they’re being pushed over anybody in particular.

The group had their fans, but I’m comfortable enough to say that my line of thinking was right about where the majority of AEW fans were at.

When it was first announced that Jarrett would be competing in this year’s Owen Hart Cup tournament, a lot of the reaction on social media was of the negative variety. Jeff Jarrett?!? The guy who rarely wrestles, and when he does, he usually loses?!? That guy?!? Right away, I tweeted that the fans sharing those opinions should be ashamed of themselves. Jeff Jarrett was one of Owen Hart’s best friends, and the duo won the WWF Tag Team Titles together in 1999. If there’s ANYONE on the entire AEW roster who should be involved in something with Owen Hart’s name on it, it’s Jeff Jarrett.

Then… we were treated to a pre-taped backstage vignette that featured an emotional Jarrett talking about his relationship with Owen, as well as what it meant to him to be involved in something that features Owen’s name attached to it. It was more of an emotionally releasing therapy session than a promo.

Just like that, opinions across the globe began to change.

Not only did people understand why Jarrett was in the tournament, they were actually rooting for him. Some were rooting for him to win the entire thing, while others felt that it would make for a great story if he reached the finals, only to lose there.

The more I thought about it, the more I fell into the latter category. There’s so much drama in the story of Jarrett picking up multiple wins, building more and more crowd support, and giving his absolute all in the tournament final, only to fall short.

Well… it doesn’t matter much now, does it?

In the first round of the tournament, Jarrett lost to the “Wild Card” entrant, “Hangman” Adam Page.

“Double J” put up a valiant effort, but he was ultimately defeated, and now, I’m left wondering what the point of it all was.

One of the biggest knocks against AEW (whether you agree with it or not) is that they would much rather deliver “random” matches to get high star ratings instead of telling actual stories. Here, they had the perfect opportunity to not only tell a story, but to tell a potentially great one.

They had the ball, and they fumbled it, and for what?

To make sure that The Elite are involved in yet more television time? The same Elite that has dominated AEW television for months, not-so-coincidentally aligning with AEW television viewership numbers dropping and dropping some more? That Elite? Word?

Does that make sense to anybody?

In the aftermath of the Jarrett loss, negative reactions have flooded social media. Hilariously enough, it’s Adam Page that seems to be on the receiving end of a ton of that negativity. I’ve seen him called “bland,” “unmotivated,” “lazy,” “overrated,” and “selfish,” among other things.

While I understand that wrestlers have a lot more control over their characters in AEW, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this wasn’t an Adam Page decision. I don’t think he heard about the plans for Jarrett to be in the tournament and then ran to Tony Khan to demand that he be the one chosen to destroy everyone’s hopes and dreams.

No, this has “Tony Khan” written all over it.

Cody Rhodes. The Young Bucks. Kenny Omega. Adam Page. When you look at all of those names, they have one specific thing in common… the space they take up in Tony Khan’s heart. If they have an idea, he can’t turn it down. If they don’t have an idea, he’ll come up with one for them. Those guys get (or got, in Cody’s case) pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed, no matter what it means for the rest of the roster. It doesn’t have to be a good idea… if they’re involved, it’s happening.

“Hangman” didn’t need to pick up the win here. In fact, “Hangman” didn’t even need to be in the tournament in the first place.

If you’re going to put Jeff Jarrett in the tournament… and if you’re going to dedicate the time and effort to giving him a platform to emotionally connect with fans across the globe… then you should’ve at least attempted to milk that story for everything you could. As I said earlier, even if Jarrett didn’t win the entire thing, giving him a win or two would’ve made for some great storytelling.

There are no less than 9,128 wrestlers on the AEW roster at any given time. It wouldn’t have taken much effort to find someone to put in Page’s place and have them put Jarrett over.

Big Bill? Easy.

Buddy Matthews? Done.

Brody King? Yeah.

Brian Cage? Yup.

Dustin Rhodes? Indeed.

Juice Robinson? Yes.

Killswitch? Obviously.

Kyle O’Reilly? Uh-huh.

Lance Archer? Word.

Nick Wayne? Clearly.

Roderick Strong? Mm-hmm.

Trent Beretta? Duh.

That’s just a relatively short list of people that could’ve faced Jarrett in the first round, lost, and not had too many people complain about it. Then, no matter how you feel about “Switchblade” Jay White, the way he has been booked in AEW wouldn’t cause a ton of people to be too shocked if he lost to Jeff Jarrett in the second round.

That would’ve placed Jarrett in the final round against Bryan Danielson. From all the rumor and innuendo that we’ve heard about Danielson purposely using his “clout” to lose big matches in AEW, that would’ve placed a lot of doubt over the match result.

“Hangman” still could’ve made his return to the company, and still gotten involved with The Elite in a story, one way or another, so where’s the harm?

Where’s the harm in delivering a satisfying (even if it didn’t get seen through to the end) story?

Where’s the harm in switching things up and giving the fan base something different?

Where’s the harm?

Booking for the “sickos” is fine and dandy, but this one just doesn’t make sense to me. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion if it wasn’t for the promo video… ordered by Tony Khan. If Jeff Jarrett would’ve been revealed as a tourney participant, with no fanfare, and then simply lost his first round matchup, we wouldn’t even think twice. As I said before, Jarrett and his crew tend to lose when they wrestle on television, so this would be no different.

It… just… doesn’t… make… sense. AEW and Tony Khan created a hurdle that wasn’t there before, placed right in the middle of solid ground and smooth walking, and then they tripped over the hurdle.

Is it going to be the demise of the company? No, but that isn’t the point. To me, it’s another sign that Tony Khan is in a situation where he, at best, needs help, and at worst, needs to be replaced completely when it comes to AEW creative.

Jarrett continues to be on a roll. We got a backstage segment that saw him go to Tony Khan and Christopher Daniels, demanding that the Owen Cup finals deserves to be free from any outside interference. In return, Jarrett was made the Special Guest Enforcer for the upcoming match between Bryan Danielson and “Hangman” Adam Page. Then, Jarrett cut another emotional promo, talking about the “good” that was Owen Hart, and how that “good” is being exposed to an entirely new generation of fans because of the Owen Cup. He says that he wants the finals to be fought with the honor and integrity that Owen Hart was all about in his life.

The man is getting people excited to see him as a glorified referee, for fuck’s sake!

Just imagine the excitement if he would’ve continued to advance in the tournament as a wrestler.

What would you have done if you were Tony Khan? Would you put Jeff Jarrett in the tournament in the first place? Would you give the green light for the video package? If you would’ve had Jarrett in the tournament, how far would you have him go? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind.

Now, let’s switch things over to my Weekly Power Rankings, before closing it out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this very column together.

Weekly Power Rankings

Bryan Danielson vs Pac: I’ve mentioned this type of thing before, but it’s amazing what stakes will do for a wrestling match. Danielson and Pac wrestled as if an AEW World Title shot at the company’s biggest show of the year was on the line, because it was.

Oba Femi vs Wes Lee: The champion continues to look completely indestructible, while the challenger continues to show that he might have the biggest heart of anybody on the NXT roster. It really doesn’t take much more than that to create a really fun match when people involved are as talented as these two.

Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens & Randy Orton vs Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga & Jacob Fatu: Yet another very simple premise. Take six men, have them deliver non-stop action, and throw in a red hot crowd for everything they did. Whether you liked it or not, it made sense to have Solo get the pin on Cody. Some fans are already having a hard enough time buying Solo as a WWE Championship contender for SummerSlam. At least WWE is trying to build Solo up here. Not many people can say they’ve beaten Cody since he returned to WWE. Solo is now one of those people.

Sami Zayn vs Bron Breakker: This might be the match outcome from the week that had the most people scratching their heads. It seemed like it was going to be Bron’s time to become the Intercontinental Champion and move up the card, but it was not to be. It had more to do with the company wanting to show how much heart and resilience Sami Zayn has than anything else, though. Bron is clearly going to be a huge part of WWE moving forward. Don’t worry.

Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: It had the good aspects of a pro wrestling train wreck, and it had some of the bad aspects of a pro wrestling train wreck. What matters most, though, is that all six women had the attention of viewers, who couldn’t look away. Isn’t that what matters most, especially in these types of matches?

Will Ospreay vs Daniel Garcia: I guess any huge push for Garcia will have to be put on hold for a bit. Not only was he unsuccessful in taking the AEW International Title from Ospreay, but he was also on the receiving end of a major beatdown from MJF after the match. More on MJF in a bit, though. Garcia looked good in a loss, though, and if he returns to AEW, he should still be in play for something big. I say “if” only because some are speculating that this attack was to write Garcia off, as his AEW contract expires in a couple months. I’m not one of those people, though. I think he will re-sign with the company, if he hasn’t done so already.

Trick Williams vs Ethan Page vs Shawn Spears vs Je’Von Evans: Yes, we got the surprise ending with Ethan Page becoming the new NXT Champion. Even before that, though, this match was a lot of fun. All four of them got to shine, but whenever Je’Von Evans is in the ring, it’s pretty clear that NXT is positioning him for something special in the perhaps not-too-distant future.

MJF: Some wanted him to continue being the “scumbag” face that he has been for a while, but he definitely works better as a heel, so I’m not complaining. He followed up his memorable heel turn with an effective promo that explained why he turned. He feels that the AEW fans turned their backs on him while he was out with his injuries, and now, he wants to take everything they love away from them. I dig it.

John Cena: He announced his retirement from the ring, saying that he’ll be performing on a bit of a “goodbye” tour in 2025. It wasn’t necessarily clear during his promo, but he clarified during the Money In The Bank post-show media scrum that he hopes to work in the vicinity of 40 dates during the 2025 calendar year, and then step away for good. The greatest WWE career of all-time is about to come to an end. It will be very, very interesting to see how he’s used in his final year.

Sheamus vs Drew McIntyre vs Ilja Dragunov: When you see these three names in the mix, you know you’re going to get a ton of physicality. Guess what we got here? A ton of physicality. Works for me.

Nathan Frazer & Axiom vs Andre Chase & Duke Hudson: Frazer and Axiom have become “must-see” performers. Their in-ring chemistry is off the charts, and they continue to have some really good matches as they build their legacy as a tag team. They’re ready for a main roster run, but as we’ve seen, that doesn’t always work out well for names coming up from NXT.

Jeff Jarrett: Multiple great emotional promos delivered on AEW’s social media pages, and a really good performance against Adam Page in the Owen Hart Cup. It has been a long time since Jarrett has had this much momentum, and just as importantly, has had the fans behind him this much.

Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match: It was the “safer” alternative to the women’s match later in the show, but it was still plenty entertaining. The Toronto crowd wasn’t happy with the result, as the super popular LA Knight and Jey Uso fell short again, but Drew McIntyre’s win made sense with what was to come later in the show. By the way… no, the MITB briefcase isn’t “meaningless” now that Drew cashed in and didn’t become the World Champion. There were five unsuccessful cash-in attempts before Drew, including one for the United States Title. If that didn’t kill the gimmick, this certainly won’t.

“Hangman” Adam Page vs “Switchblade” Jay White: Jay White continues to be involved in some important matches, but he also continues to be booked at a level or two behind AEW’s top tier. Some are upset about it, while others feel it’s the right spot for him. Either way, it’s an important place to be in any wrestling promotion.

Kevin Owens: He has a connection with the fans better than almost anyone else in the business, and he only strengthened that connection by opening up about his mother’s current hospital stint. It was an emotional promo, and it made you want to root for him even more.

Kelani Jordan vs Sol Ruca: Neither woman is close to a point in their career where they can be considered a “ring general,” but that didn’t matter much here. They’re both incredibly athletic, and they showcased their skills here. Their futures remain very bright.

“Hangman” Adam Page vs Jeff Jarrett: *sigh*

WrestleMania XL Behind The Curtain: After a few months of delays, we finally got the heavily-hyped documentary on the build to WrestleMania 40. WWE excels at making documentaries, and this was no different. However, I can’t help but think the delay here was nothing more than an attempt to make a fluff piece about how awesome of a person Dwayne Johnson is, and how he listened to the fans and helped to save the day for Cody Rhodes. The entire documentary was pretty much “we have a chance to make this huge match, but the crowd has spoken out about wanting something else, so even though you guys aren’t going to listen to them, I will” and nothing else. He had to save face somehow after people began turning on him after it seemed like he strong-armed his way into the Mania main event.

Britt Baker: It had been forever since we had seen the former AEW Women’s Champion, and we didn’t even get any updates on her condition. After she made her return at Forbidden Door, fans were looking to have some of their questions answered, and that’s exactly what they got with her promo on Dynamite. It turns out that on top of herniated discs in her back and a torn labrum in her hip, she would eventually have what turned out to be a mini-stroke. Lots of setbacks, but it seems like she’s back and ready to go. I’m glad to see her again. It has been too long.

Rey Mysterio vs Dominik Mysterio: Another instance where that deadbeat dad, Rey Mysterio, gets to physically, emotionally, and verbally abuse his son. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.

Uncle Howdy & Bo Dallas: Their latest interview clip probably wasn’t as good as the first one, but it pushed the Wyatt Sicks story along even further. It seems like the group is out for revenge on people who turn their backs on family, which opens the door for a few different feuds, all of which could be interesting.

A-Town Down Under vs DIY: I don’t know why, but part of my mind blocked out the fact that DIY hadn’t won any Tag Team Titles on the main roster before this. It just felt like they had won them before. Either way, they won them here in front of a hot crowd. The inevitable breakup of Austin Theory and Grayson Waller continues. Are we really about to get a face Austin Theory again? We’ll see.

Solo Sikoa: He’s still playing second fiddle to Jacob Fatu in the eyes of many, but he joins a small group of people to have defeated Cody Rhodes since he made his WWE return a little over two years ago. Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, and The Rock were the only ones to have pinned Cody before Money In The Bank (Brock Lesnar made Cody pass out in a submission, too). That’s pretty exclusive.

This Week’s Playlist: “Win Wit Us” by 42 Dugg… “Megan” by 42 Dugg & Blac Youngsta… “Drowning” by The Red Clay Strays… “DEGENERATE” by STARSET… “Brave New World” by STARSET… “Made Me This Way” by Silent Theory… “Night Drive” by Kingcrow… “Down Below” by Ghost Iris… “The Gallow” by Never Back Down… “Weeping” by Our Common Collapse… “golden hour” by JVKE… “this is what falling in love feels like” by JVKE… “this is what heartbreak feels like” by JVKE… “High Road” by Koe Wetzel & Jessie Murph… “#1” by Nelly… “Icey” by St. Lunatics… “My Place” by Nelly & Jaheim… “Grillz” by Nelly, Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp… “Bugatti” by Ace Hood, Future & Rick Ross… “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Chris Cornell