8 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (1 May - Results & Review)

5. Willow Nightingale Speaks, But What Else Gets Discussed?

Willow Nightingale
AEW

The promo featuring Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway ostensibly existed for Willow to set up a Rampage match against Skye Blue, but it was so much more about what wasn’t getting said.

Statlander apologised for her role in Nightingale getting slapped by Mercedes Moné last week. She wasn’t forgiven but the matter was forgotten - another clue that she could be hiding in plain sight as Mercedes’ mystery attacker to frame Willow ahead of turning on her. As part of an ongoing runner, Renee Paquette was messaged by the EVPs midway through the interview and patronisingly asked to “smile more”, and Stokely noted with some frustration that he had nobody to complain to because those same men had taken out Tony Khan. Is this bringing The Elite into their orbit on purpose? Moné, heel turn confirmed, would sure make an amazing fifth member. And what of their continued needling of Paquette? Could that eventually raise the ire of Jon Moxley for an Elite/BCC feud vastly superior to the laboured series in 2023? At very least yet another Kazuchuka Okada dream match with Claudio Castagnoli?

Could all be speculation. Could all be reaching, bro. Could all just be layers of wasted fantasy booking. But wrestling shows exist to inspire everybody’s creative juices to flow. AEW wouldn’t exist without The Elite’s knack for it just under a decade ago. Plenty of clues turn out not to be clues at all, but you kick yourself for missing the ones that are.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett