DISCLAIMER: This show seems to have fallen flatter for me than for most, and I think it’s because I watched it on my computer in a rush. If I had been able to kick back and watch it live or at least in one sitting on DVR, I would’ve probably liked it better.
- FTR defeated Jurassic Express via cheating pinfall on Jungle Boy
I was mistaken last week when I said this would be a tag title match. Either that or they changed their minds over the week. Anyway, it was the usual banger of an opener, though I thought it went a little long. But they are trying to make Jungle Boy extremely resilient, so it makes sense. FTR won when one guy pinned Jungle Boy while the other one held his hand from the outside. Everyone looked good.
- Adam Page defeated Frankie Kazarian via Buckshot Lariat
This match also felt a little long to me, considering its place on the show. Had it been on a pay-per-view or in a main event slot, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. But when Kazarian kicked out of a modified Death Valley Driver, I realized it was going to be one of those matches where only a finisher will win it, even when other moves look more devastating than the finisher.
The real story, though, was Kenny Omega on commentary subtly burying Page and acting like it was a major feat for him to win a match where he couldn’t tag anyone in to help him. Then he left without acknowledging him to his face, and Page had a lonely beer.
- MJF defeated Shawn Dean via Salt of the Earth Armbar
Hardly a match. My man Shawn Dean got poked in the eye and put in an armbar, and that was it. It really just existed so that MJF could declare himself the uncrowned AEW Champion since Moxley cheated at the PPV (even though MJF cheated first). Then he teased joining a stable.
- “Le Champion” “Demo God” “Lionheart” “Y2J” “Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla” Chris Jericho and Jake Hager defeated Private Party via Judas Effect Elbow on Isaiah Kassidy
Private Party almost had me on a couple pinfall attempts, but I figured the Inner Circle members would win. Isiah Kassidy got hit in the leg with a bat by Hager, but it only led to a commercial break and not the finish. He was still able to fight back for a while. The most interesting thing was Jericho attacking Kassidy after beating him, only to be driven off by Marq Quen. Future singles program?
- Thunder Rosa successfully defended the NWA Women’s Championship against Ivelisse via Tombstone Piledriver
HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT. This was hard-hitting and intense. Regardless of some backstage rumors that I didn’t even find out about until later, I dug this one. Diamante attacked afterwards, so Hikaru Shida ran in for the save and handed Rosa the NWA belt.
- Best Friends defeated Santana and Ortiz in a Parking Lot Fight via Crunchy through a board on the back of a pickup truck on Ortiz.
This was brutal. I’m really not sure if I should commend these guys for putting on such a show or chastise them for endangering their lives and conditioning fans to expect dangerous stuff like this at the end of feuds. I feel that hardcore stuff like we saw back in ECW or at King of the Ring ’98 set the bar high for wrestling violence, and the TLC matches of the ’00s kept it there. There was a time when my favorite matches were these kinds of matches, but these days, I feel like wrestlers ought to be conditioning fans to accept less as more when it comes to hardcore stuff. It’ll help them and their successors extend their careers and maybe even their lives.
Also, am I supposed to believe that Orange Cassidy hid in the trunk of that car for the whole match, just waiting for Santana or Ortiz to get Trent or Chuck in just that position so he could make the surprise save? What if they’d lost before that? But at least his interference made sense and seemed somewhat less unfair since S&O had attacked him the week before. And Trent’s mom flipping off the heels as they all left was a good bookend.
Outside of the matches, the Young Bucks are now the Grump Bucks (my words, not theirs) after they came out and superkicked the referee before the FTR match. Then they tossed a stack of cash to Tony Khan to pay their fine. So they’re heels…but FTR are also heels…are we still building to that match?
Matt Hardy got attacked before the Private Party match so he couldn’t accompany them, and then Jericho and Hager made fun of him. I don’t know why they did this since Hardy pretty much said he would be gone for a while during his promo last week anyway. Maybe it’s to set up a program with him and Jericho when he gets back.
Taz went back to his move breakdown video series as a way to put over Ricky Starks and take a shot at Darby Allin.
Eddie Kingston and his crew beat up some ringside jobbers for kicks. The big takeaways from this segment were 1) Eddie is still insisting he was never eliminated from the All Out battle royal, so he deserves something, and 2) the Blade was told to get his “house in order,” which probably means something involving Allie since she’s his wife in real life. QT Marshall may have more to worry about than the Dark Order now…
Miro and Kip Sabian did a promo in a weight room. It was fine. At least Miro looks tougher this week.
Jake Roberts and Taz made a deal where Brian Cage and Ricky Starks will tag with Lance Archer against John Moxley and two partners next week. In return, Cage will get the first shot when Archer wins the title. Archer mentioned Eddie Kingston’s earlier comments. Moxley came out and got jumped by Starks and Cage, but Will Hobbs made the save. Hobbs making a big leap from Dark jobber to side player in the main event program, and I’m a bit surprised but very happy for him. Moxley put Hobbs over and told Darby Allin to get to Jacksonville next week for the match.
Conspicuous by their absence on this show were the members of the Dark Order and the Nightmare Family.
Next week will be interesting because it seems we’re getting two Dynamites – a one-hour special after the NBA game on Tuesday, and the regular Wednesday show. The Wednesday show will have Moxley, Hobbs, and Allin vs. Archer, Cage, and Starks; Shida and Rosa vs. Ivelisse and Diamante; and a TNT Championship match between Brodie Lee and Orange Cassidy. According to AEW’s Twitter, the Tuesday show will have Scorpio Sky vs. Ben Carter, Matt Sydal vs. Shawn Spears, and Brandi Rhodes vs. Anna Jay.
Hook the Leg, Man! 