10 Secret AEW Storyline Details Hiding In Plain Sight

10. Matt Jackson: How It Started Vs. How It's Going

Perhaps disappointed that no hardcore sleuth noticed the detail, Matt Jackson posted a mirror image to his Twitter page after losing the AEW World Tag Team Titles to the Lucha Bros. at All Out '21.

Alongside Nick, he first captured the belts in a classic outing against FTR at Full Gear; there, as a babyface, he fought through an injured ankle, removed from its wrestling boot, to score the winning fall. At All Out the next year, assisted by "goon" Brandon Cutler, he cut Penta open with a thumbtack-spiked sneaker before Fénix removed it from his foot, smashed him in the face, and captured the gold.

This unique story beat underscored the man he had become through the use of parallel; once a fighting hero, he failed when his inner, hubristic d*ckhead took it too far. Matt Jackson told an electrifying story within the context of pro wrestling as a morality play with a shoe.

And people still think he's a spot monkey.

Interestingly, from that moment on, Matt started to fail. The Elite lost their long-term rivalry to Jurassic Express at Full Gear. On the same show, he showed a fear or reverence towards Hangman Page, almost endorsing his Buckshot Lariat to Kenny Omega - who, it should be noted, led the Bucks after some conflict to rediscover their dark side in the first place.

The shoe foreshadowed the slow-burn face turn, too.