AEW Rewind: Hangman Page finally leaves the Elite, Cody to keep his word, more!

Don’t have time to follow all of AEW’s online content? Don’t worry. We got you covered with the AEW Rewind, which will rewind through social media bits and YouTube videos from the past week to prepare you for Dynamite tonight.

We’ll start with a couple of tweets from Cody Rhodes during a short Q&A. Cody confirmed that he will be keeping his word about not challenging for the AEW World Championship.

Could one of those matches on the table be a rematch with MJF? MJF will no doubt keep rubbing his win in Cody’s face. Look at the “I pinned Cody” shirt MJF wore last week, which is not available for sale for a very good reason.

Cody touched on his thoughts about Nick Jackson calling Hangman Page a jobber in ROH.

Cody also shared some info about AEW’s training facility opening this summer.

Road to Salt Lake City

AEW’s “Road to Salt Lake City,” (here) featured:

• The Librarians went to the books to figure out who the Exalted One is. There was a possible hint of it being Matt Hardy.
• Jim Ross, Dustin Rhodes, and Arn Anderson broke down analysis of competing in Blood & Guts. It will be the Inner Circle versus the Elite in two rings covered by one giant cage. Dustin closed by saying, “There will be pain. There will be blood. This is not for the faint of heart. Will you survive?”
• Alex Marvez interviewed Santana and Ortiz. Ortiz was more concerned about eating chicken wings than wrestling Cody Rhodes, who is on a losing streak.

Being the Elite

“Mile High City” - Being The Elite, Ep. 194 (here) featured:

• Matt Jackson was selling coffee. One of the cups teased Lance Archer with the name Lince Urcher. Matt was overwhelmed by orders from people behind the camera. One of the voices imitated Jim Ross by asking for BBQ sauce instead of caramel sauce. Matt quit being a barista.
• The Young Bucks said Dynamite in Kansas City was 100 seats shy of selling out. They accidentally dropped the camera onto somebody’s head down below.
• In Denver, Kenny Omega fed french fries to geese.
• Chuck Taylor and Frankie Kazarian shot hoops. I guess the point was to see Trent cleaning up coffee on the hardwood floor as a blooper.
• Matt Jackson and Brandon Cutler talked about Matt Hardy’s Free the Delete. Jackson wasn’t even sure what happened. Jackson was eager to open his makeshift coffee shop. When lifting a table, Jackson had a flashback to lifting a coffin on the Hardy compound.
• Hangman Page visited Kenny Omega to check on his injury status. Colt Cabana accidentally walked in on the segment. Omega accused Cabana of trying to hijack the show. They can make a star out of Cabana, but creative has nothing for him right now. Omega outright admitted that he doesn’t want Cabana on the show. Cabana exploded and said he will find a way to be on the show every single week whether Omega likes it or not. Omega is going to find Cabana every week and destroy him. Challenge accepted.
• Public Swole Announcement. She advised to never put raisins in potato salad. Also, tenderize your meat.
• Billy Gunn was sad about not connecting with his son, Austin. Dasha Gonzalez suggested he meet with Benigno Bodega. Bodega read the cards to break the news that Billy is not Austin’s favorite wrestler. Billy didn’t believe that. Bodega said he better call somebody to imply Austin’s favorite was Road Dogg. Billy found Austin and asked him who he favorite wrestler is. Austin praised Billy but said his favorite has always been Road Dogg. Billy was stunned.
• Peter Avalon made fun of Brandon Cutler for losing. Cutler pointed out that Avalon lost as well. Both turned to Michael Nakazawa and claimed he was the worst. Nakazawa corrected them that he was a win in AEW. Matt Jackson came in. Cutler asked him if he was being buried. Matt had flashbacks to digging on the Hardy compound.
• Matt and Brandon discussed loving Denver. It was almost like being in a whole new world. Cue the Aladdin music.
• Matt, Cody Rhodes,and Hangman Page were backstage. Cody thanked Matt for having his back on a run-in. Hangman burst in to point out they were getting beat up and he was the one who made the save. Hangman said it will be the last time he saves them. He tried to leave the Elite, but they wouldn’t listen. Now that he whopped the Young Bucks’ asses at Revolution, he has earned the right to leave. Matt said it was fair. Hangman is out of the Elite. Hangman came back to ask where Nick was. Matt informed him that Nick was injured by Hangman. Hangman passive-aggressively wanted Nick to heal up.

There are two scenes worth talking about from the episode. Be aware that both have language not suitable for work.

The first is Kenny Omega and Colt Cabana. It was funniest scene of the bunch. I don’t understand where Omega’s attitude came from. Is there story history between these two? If it was to set up a recurring bit for BTE, then I look forward to it. Cabana crashing the show each week and Omega destroying him should be worth a chuckle each week.

The second is Hangman Page finally leaving the Elite. That is definitely worth watching for story purposes, however, there is no guarantee this carries over to Dynamite. It should, but that hasn’t always been the case so far. It showed how Matt Jackson’s character is a condescending prick and worthy of boos when facing Hangman. He blamed Hangman for injuring Nick Jackson. Matt was the one that went over the line and tried injuring Hangman and Omega in their match. That gets brushed under the rug though in Matt’s mind. Combine that with Hangman showing remorse for Nick’s pain. In my view, Nick is clearly the bad guy for this personal feud. Great character work by both.

Cody did an excellent job in facial emotion. He started as condescending thinking it was drunk talk, then his face transitioned into sadness when realizing Hangman was serious about leaving the Elite.

While Hangman wants out of the Elite, it seems it won’t be so simple. He is scheduled to compete with the Elite against the Inner Circle in Blood & Guts. Hangman’s reaction to the news says it all.

We’ll close with a silly animated short of the moment when Chris Jericho and MJF shared a promo in the ring.

Also of note, here is Fozzy’s upcoming tour schedule.

There are no Wednesdays on that list, so Jericho will be available to entertain the masses on each and every Dynamite.