IMO what it depends on most is whether they get Eddie Kingston more actively involved and actually let him get on the mic, either to mentor Hook and fire him back up, or to turn on him for being a loser and have them feud

I feel like between this and the way they've emphasized him tapping out to Samoa Joe last time, they're deliberately telling a story about him doubting himself / losing confidence. Whether or not that's a good thing or not really depends on where they go with it

Yeah same here

I'm hoping that the great work he's been doing with Adam Priest in DPW, combined with Priest now starting to show up on AEW TV, means that Trevor Lee will follow eventually (maybe when Priest inevitably turns heel on the Dynamite Kid)

Fair enough! I totally get where you're coming from

I totally get that and I think there's been too much predictable stuff in AEW overall lately for sure. Like I said, it really just boils down to me being a Samoa Joe mark, he can completely sell me on a 2.5 week program that I know he's losing. And Hangman was doing his part in his promo as well!

That is totally fair! It definitely doesn't feel at this point like a feud that is going to last long or have the outcome be in doubt, it seems like more of a filler arc to get us to whatever comes next for Hangman

Yeah I am admittedly a Samoa Joe mark so I'm definitely biased

Absolutely! I definitely don't think Darby vs. Mox SHOULD main event over either world title match, I just also feel like Tony has given Darby positions more prominent than what was warranted before

That would definitely be my preference! I've also seen speculation about Darby vs. Mox main eventing, but I personally do not need that whatsoever

Also if anyone can sell a feud on the basis of "You think you're the best but I know I'M the best, and I feel like you disrespected me," rather than traditional heel/face dynamics, it's Samoa Joe

I wonder if maybe a different match is going to be the main event, and so they don't want to blow any of the major heel feud possibilities on a match that isn't the main event?

NOW he shows up 🙄

I mean whichever way you interpret the coffin, they do also show Jack Perry re-animating Luchasaurus pretty directly. Even if he wasn't dead, he must have been in a coma or something