AEW Rewind: Jade Cargill dodging questions about Mercedes Martinez, Young Bucks stirring the pot, 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 Wednesday night Dynamite.

This week’s ‘Road to’ video hyped Hangman Page versus Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship, Jade Cargill versus Ruby Soho for the TBS Championship, Dr. Britt Baker DMD versus Riho for the AEW Women’s World Championship, and Cody Rhodes versus Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship. The first two bouts will be on Dynamite, and the last two bouts will be at Battle of the Belts on January 8.

This episode of ‘Road to’ is really good as a pre-show to get pumped for all the title matches. One thing that stood out to me was Cargill dodging questions about the presence of Mercedes Martinez. She declined to answer and refereed the interviewer to speak with attorney Mark Sterling. The trash talk for Cargill and Soho had interesting points about things coming so easily for Cargill while Soho had to work so hard for this moment. Soho is relying on that character-building struggle to help her push through and win the TBS Championship.

In undercard action on Dynamite, Brian Pillman Jr. is out for revenge against Malakai Black. Pillman has been working on specific training to counter high kicks.

Black was not impressed. He responded, “Yeah always good to show me what you’re working on, definitely not a dumb idea. Also, ducking the heel kick? Genius.”

AEW also posted a look back at the best moments from 2021. It’s amazing how many cool things AEW pulled off in one year. That will be tough to beat in 2022.

Being the Elite

“Accidental Or On Purpose?” - Being The Elite, Ep. 288 (here) featured:

• The Young Bucks gifted a pair of sneakers to -1. It was a ruse as payback for a BTE Trigger, but -1 ducked and stole the sneakers off their feet.
• The Bucks and Brandon Cutler were backstage watching the trios bout with Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly. When O’Reilly kicked Cole, the Bucks assumed it was on purpose and plotted a plan. After the match on stage, Cole stated that he didn’t think the kick was intentional. Backstage, the Bucks plotted seeds of doubt into Cole’s mind about trusting O’Reilly.
• Dark Order returned to their lair at Daily’s Place to relive fond memories. Colt Cabana performed a magic trick to disappear and transform into a mini pumpkin.
• A voice-over commercial played for clean cheese. I assume this is part of Ryan Nemeth’s cream shtick, but I don’t know for sure.
• Cole and Alex Reynolds & John Silver felt lonely without sharing the hotel bed together.
• Christopher Daniels returned teasing that he has work to do.

The Bucks’ scene with Cole is worth watching for a little bit of background exploration in the SuperKliq story. It seems to me that the Bucks are stirring the pot. I appreciate Cole not being so easily swayed to recognize that O’Reilly’s kick did not appear malicious. Time will tell if the Bucks can succeed in driving a wedge into the Undisputed Era partnership.

We’ll close with a sweet new shirt for Cody Rhodes.

Whether fans cheer Cody or boo him, the most important thing is that he is a winner.