IMG Credit: AEW Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: December 11, 2019
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re down in Texas for one of the last two shows of the year. This time around the focus is going to be on a Texas Street Fight between the Young Bucks and Santana and Ortiz, which should be a heck of a battle if they’re allowed to be themselves. Other than that it’s time to get ready for next week’s World Title match between champion Chris Jericho and Jungle Boy. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley vs. Alex Reynolds

Paradigm Shift finishes Reynolds at 8 seconds.

Post match Reynolds’ partner John Silver takes the Paradigm Shift as well. Cue the Inner Circle to surround the ring though, with Chris Jericho getting into the ring to praise Moxley for his success. They have a history together, with Moxley having asked him for advice ten years ago. Then they became adversaries and beat each other up, with Jericho gaining his respect. Now they’re here in AEW and Jericho wants him to join the Inner Circle. Jericho gives him until after the holidays and leaves him with the shirt.

Video on the Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz, with Excalibur talking about how the street fight rules favor the Bucks.

The announcers preview the show.

Butcher and the Blade vs. QT Marshall/Cody

The Bunny is with the Butcher and the Blade. During Cody’s entrance, MJF mocks Cody’s misfortunes over the last few weeks and is looking forward to this one. Cody tags himself in to start and hammers on the Blade to start. The snap powerslam puts him down so it’s off to Butcher. Marshall comes in but the Bunny offers a distraction so Butcher can take over as we go to a break.

Back with Marshall jawbreaking his way out of trouble but getting pulled down again. An enziguri off the ropes gets Marshall a breather though and the Blade misses a charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag to Cody. The Disaster Kick hits the Butcher and a high crossbody gets two.

A double springboard cutter gets two more but the Figure Four is broken up, allowing Bunny to get in a rake to the eyes. Marshall tags himself in and hits a handspring tumble over the top to take both of them down. Back in and Marshall hits Cross Rhodes on the Blade and a twisting Swanton gets two. Butcher takes Cody down though and it’s a Stunner for Marshall. The suplex onto the double knees finishes Marshall at 11:04.

Rating: C. This was angle advancement more than anything else but the act works well for the Butcher and the Blade. That being said, the Bunny is going to be the star of the team no matter what they do as they aren’t the most interesting team on their own. That being said, putting someone like the Bunny out there is going to get attention and that’s what they got here.

Post match Darby Allin comes out to help Cody up and seemingly offer his friendship.

Here are MJF and Wardlow for a chat. First though, MJF says one of the grips was laughing last week when Cody made fun of his Cross Rhodes. Therefore MJF has him get in the ring and kiss the ring. With that out of the way, it’s Cross Rhodes for the grip anyway. That brings MJF back to Cody, who is a great wrestler and incredible on the microphone, but one man is better.

Last week MJF liked Cody’s business proposal, but MJF already has as much money as he needs. What he wants is for Cody to suffer. Last week Cody called him a knockoff Chris Jericho, which may have been because of the scarf. The fans think it’s fake, which is what MJF thinks of when he hears Cody’s name. You have the fake hair and the fake teeth, plus Cody’s fake feelings about the fans.

MJF brings up the lisp and says he knows Cody wants to get his hands on him more than anything else. The people want to see it too so Cody is on….with a catch. We won’t be hearing those stipulations in a hick place like Texas though, which is why we’ll hear them in Jacksonville on January 1. What matters is that MJF is in control because he’s better than Cody and Cody knows it. MJF is just great on these kinds of promos and can command the microphone like few others.

Alex Reynolds is in his hotel room when the Dark Order commercial comes on. The TV talks to him, saying they know he’s sick of losing and there is strength in numbers. John Silver comes in and asks what Reynolds is listening to.

Big Swole vs. Emi Sakura

A drop toehold lets Sakura rake the back, with Excalibur saying it’s like a Freddie Mercury cat. Sakura pulls her back into a surfboard and we take a break. Back with Sakura throwing her down and starting the clapping to the tune of We Will Rock You. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plants Swole but hang on because we need the mic stand.

The abdominal stretch with the mic stand included is….quickly broken up because the referee takes it away. JR isn’t impressed but seems to like it better when Swole takes it away for some James Brown. Sakura spins her into a backbreaker and gets two off a spinning Vader Bomb. The moonsault misses though and Swole kicks her in the face for two. Dirty Dancing (discus forearm) finishes Sakura at 10:38.

Rating: D+. Yeah forgive me for not getting interested in a match that turned into Freddie Mercury vs. James Brown for the sake of unfunny comedy. I don’t know what the appeal is of the Mercury stuff but it’s about as dumb of a thing this company does aside from the Librarians. Swole is growing on me though and they seem interested in pushing her so maybe they can make something.

Pac wants his rubber match with Kenny Omega or he can’t be responsible for his actions.

Kip Sabian/Shawn Spears vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

Penelope Ford is here with Sabian but there’s no Tully Blanchard. We do get an insert promo from Tully though, talking about how you have to find the partner who meshes with him. Maybe Sabian can be that for Spears. Page sends Sabian into the ropes to start and it’s time to run a bit. A kick to the chest puts Sabian down and it’s off to Omega for the chop. Kenny hits a running hip attack in the corner but gets knocked outside, leaving Page to fight both of them off as we take a break.

Back with Omega fighting back against both of them and dropkicking both legs out at once. A running jumping Fameasser/bulldog puts both of them down again but a Ford distraction lets Sabian get in a Backstabber. The springboard missile dropkick gets two and there’s a hurricanrana to keep Omega rocked. The fans want cowboy s*** but settle for Ford’s hurricanrana off the apron as they keep getting in all of the spots from the Dark match between Sabian and Omega.

Ford comes in again and hits a handspring elbow in the corner, setting up Sabian’s fisherman’s suplex for two. Omega slips out of the Deathly Hallows though and it’s the V Trigger to put Sabian down. The lights go out and it’s…..Tully Blanchard tied up on the stage with Joey Janela waiting on Spears.

They fight on the stage with Spears saving Tully (who looked like he was tied up ala a bad gangster movie) and then head to the back. Back inside and Kenny hits the snapdragon on Sabian, setting up the V Trigger to the back of the head. Page tags himself in though and hits the Buckshot lariat for the pin at 11:32. Kenny isn’t sure but then takes the win for being a win.

Rating: C+. The unintentionally funny scene of Tully looking like the damsel in distress on the train tracks aside, this was a nice tag match with page showing some issues of needing a win. Omega vs. Page could be interesting, though Sabian didn’t get any favors here because Ford looks like a far bigger star.

Brandi Rhodes talks about how AEW is nothing without her. Riho is gone for weeks at a time and Britt Baker keeps talking about her boyfriend. Kris Stadtlander’s offer still stands as the family is waiting on the alien to come home. There is someone else, with a shaved head, whose back is to the camera but Brandi won’t let us see their face. This continues to be a thing that does not need to exist.

Luchasaurus vs. Sammy Guevara

Jericho and Jake Hager replace Schiavone and Excalibur on commentary. Sammy is here alone but Luchasaurus has the rest of the Jurassic Express with him. A running dropkick into the corner has Luchasaurus in very limited trouble so it’s a big boot to put Sammy on the floor. Sammy gets dropped onto the apron and we take a break. Back with Sammy kicking away, with Jericho saying Sammy is kicking the tar out of him. Jericho: “Yeah tar! It’s what killed the dinosaurs!” The moonsault misses though and Luchasaurus hits the reverse powerbomb for the pin at 6:32.

Rating: C. This is a step up for Luchasaurus and it’s a very good sign that he is getting these bigger matches. The idea of eventually pushing him to the top of the card certainly sounds interesting and it wouldn’t shock me to see it happen one day. Yes he’s a gimmick, but with that size, power and talking ability, they can find a way around it.

Post match Jericho and Hager go after Luchasaurus so Stunt and Jungle Boy come in for the save. Boy hits a quick hurricanrana on Jericho with Stunt counting the pin.

Revolution is coming to Chicago on February 29.

The announcers talk about next week’s Dynamite when Jericho comes up to shout that IT DIDN’T COUNT.

Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz

Anything goes and this is officially sanctioned with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot next week. Santana and Ortiz, plus Sammy Guevara, jump the Bucks during the entrance. The beatdown is on with Brandon Cutler’s save earning himself a powerbomb through the stage. The Bucks fight back though and it’s an Indytaker to plant Sammy on the stage as well.

A Swanton off the entrance puts Ortiz through a table for two despite the lack of a bell. Matt launches Nick for a dropkick to Santana but hang on as Matt needs to point at SCU in the front row. They get inside for the first time with Santana getting in some shots with the rolled up sock. Nick is put in a chair and beaten up with various weapons, only to have Nick come back with a Dallas Cowboys helmet to avoid a lot of the pain.

A double spear takes Santana and Ortiz down but Santana gets in a shot to the ribs and steals the helmet. He then SPITS ONT HE HELMET, because he just wasn’t evil enough yet. Santana and Matt are sent through tables at ringside so Ortiz hits the Cannonball to put Nick through another table as we take a break. Back with Nick hitting a 450 onto a trashcan onto Ortiz for two, with Hager making the save.

Nick kicks the referee in the face by mistake as Dustin Rhodes comes out to deal with Hager. More Bang For Your Buck hits Ortiz but there is no referee. Cue Aubrey Edwards to count two but Nick gets knocked off the apron and through another table. The Street Sweeper onto a trashcan gets two with Nick making another save. Another Street Sweeper onto some chairs is broken up and Nick bulldogs Ortiz onto said chairs. The Meltzer Driver onto a chair finishes Ortiz at 14:30.

Rating: B. They got the wild stuff in and the interference made sense in this case. Sometimes you need to have the wild brawl which actually counts and the Bucks vs. SCU is enough of a dream match. A title change wouldn’t surprise me either as AEW has made no secret of the Bucks being the top team in the promotion. Just give them the titles already so they can get on with it already. Good match here though as the teams have chemistry together.

Post match SCU comes in to hold up the titles to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked more of this than I didn’t and other than the stupid battle of the musicians deal in the women’s match, it was a mostly solid show. Next week is the big one though and AEW isn’t really hiding that. We could be in for a rather nice evening if we can have the big matches deliver. Nice effort this week, but it was just setting the table for the major show.

Results

Jon Moxley b. Alex Reynolds – Paradigm Shift

Butcher and the Blade b. QT Marshall/Cody – Suplex onto double knees to Marshall

Big Swole b. Emi Sakura – Dirty Dancing

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page b. Kip Sabian/Shawn Spears – Buckshot lariat to Sabian

Luchasaurus b. Sammy Guevara – Reverse powerbomb

Young Bucks b. Santana and Ortiz – Meltzer Driver to Ortiz onto a chair

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: AEW

Full Gear
Date: November 9, 2019
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur

Despite being less than a month and a half after the debut of their weekly television show, it is already time for their next pay per view. The big main event tonight is Cody vs. Chris Jericho for the latter’s World Title, but if Cold loses he can never challenge for the title again. I’m not sure what is going to happen there and that makes things more interesting. Let’s get to it.

Preshow: Britt Baker vs. Bea Priestly

There is a ramp to the ring for an old WCW feel. It’s a fight to start with Baker taking her down but not being able to get in the Lockjaw. Priestly is right back with some kicks to the chest and choking across the ropes until Baker is able to fight back up with some forearms of her own. A double clothesline gives us a double knockdown and it’s Baker up first with a Sling Blade.

Priestly is right back with a bridging belly to back suplex for two and it’s off to an arm trap choke to keep Baker in trouble. The slow crawl gets Baker over to the ropes for the break so Baker is right back up with a Canadian Destroyer for two of her own. A Paige Turner looks to set up Lockjaw but Priestly stacks her up for two instead. Baker tries it again and this time Priestly has to tap at 11:22.

Rating: C. Just a match for the most part and it’s time for Baker to get closer to the title scene, even though Riho already beat her. I would have gone with Priestly winning here as she seems like someone who could take the title from Riho and then drop it to Baker (or Allie) eventually but they’re going with the Baker push again, which is far from a terrible idea. Just push someone up against Riho though.

Post match here are Brandi Rhodes and Awesome Kong with the latter laying out Priestly. Brandi whips out a knife (yes a knife) and it’s time for a haircut.

The opening video focuses on the pressure to prove that you are the best over and over, including tonight.

Young Bucks vs. Proud And Powerful

Just call them Santana and Ortiz. The Rock N Roll Express is in the front row. Ortiz hits Matt in the face for an early cheap shot and everything breaks down in a hurry. Matt spears Santana down and it’s the stereo dives out to the floor. We settle down to the Bucks working on Santana’s arm and it’s off to Ortiz, who gets armdragged into an armbar. Santana: “WHAT HAPPENED???”

Ortiz slaps Santana’s foot but that’s not a tag, which does not please the fans. Now the referee doesn’t see a tag to Santana and it’s another armbar. The referee’s shirt gets untucked and it’s Ortiz sneaking in for a cheap shot to Nick. Everything breaks down and it’s a Boston crab to Nick and a Gory Stretch to Matt, with everyone standing together in one big ball for a heck of a visual. That lets LAX beat on Nick with some shots to the back but it’s off to Matt pretty quickly.

Everything breaks down and a big dive takes Ortiz down on the floor. Nick goes leg first into the post though and Ortiz is all over the injury, like any good heel should be. That’s not enough as Nick gets thrown at the Rock N Roll Express, with Santana blowing his nose at them for a bonus. Back in and Matt gets knocked to the floor, setting up another shot to Nick’s legs to cut off the comeback bid.

There’s a dragon screw legwhip for two but Nick uses the good leg for the superkick. Matt comes in for the rolling northern lights suplexes, including a double version for a double near fall. The standing moonsault/top rope splash combination gets two but Nick gets pulled out to the floor. Ortiz rolls Santana backwards so he can cutter Matt for two as we hit the fifteen minute mark.

The Street Sweeper is countered with a belly to belly suplex for a little Steiner Brothers and it’s Nick coming back in for a double superkick. The powerbomb/Sliced Bread #2 combination gets two on Ortiz but the leg gives out on a Meltzer Driver attempt. Nick spits his gum at Ortiz so Ortiz puts it in his mouth, meaning it’s Nick forearming both of them at once. That’s cut off by a powerbomb though and the Street Sweeper gives Santana the pin at 21:10.

Rating: B+. This was exactly what fans wanted to see out of this match as it really was two of the biggest teams in the world today going at it on the big stage. That being said, they really need to cut out the dives, cutters and false finishes as they go through so many of them in a single match that it takes away the impact they have. It’s one thing if it happens here, but how many matches are going to have several of them all over again?

Post match Sammy Guevara comes in for the beatdown, bringing in the Express for the save. Ricky Morton hits a Canadian Destroyer and a suicide dive to stand tall.

Here’s the rest of the card that you already paid to see.

Hangman Page vs. Pac

Pac beat him a few weeks ago and Page wants revenge. It’s a brawl to start with Pac being sent outside, which of course means a dive. Back in and Pac gets his knees up to block a running shooting star press and it’s time for Pac to hammer away. A running knee in the corner gets two and there’s a kick to the face for a bonus. Pac snapmares him into a chinlock as the pace continues to go slowly.

The delay lets JR rant about refereeing, though clarifying that this match’s referee is doing it right. Pac’s running kick to the head rocks Page again and it’s time to stare at the crowd. The chinlock goes on again, with JR saying Page looks like Tony Schiavone getting out of a tanning booth. Pac misses a middle rope Phoenix splash and Page hits a big clothesline. A spinebuster sends Pac to the apron where Page hits a Boss Man Slam.

The middle rope moonsault to the floor drops Pac again but he’s fine enough to roll to the floor before the Buckshot Lariat can launch. Page goes out after him and gets brainbustered onto an open chair. For reasons of modern wrestling, that isn’t two weeks/months away from the ring but rather Page coming back inside and telling Pac to kick him harder. Pac gets crotched on top so Page hits a super fall away slam to put them both down.

The Buckshot Lariat is countered into the snap German suplex but Page is right back with a pop up powerbomb. The Deadeye is countered into the Brutalizer but they fall into the ropes for the break. Page can’t hit the Buckshot again but he’s able to block a low blow. A hard clothesline sets up the Deadeye for the pin on Pac at 18:51.

Rating: B. So in a match where someone too a brainbuster onto a steel chair, he wins the match five minutes later? Sure why not. They beat each other up well here and it gives Page the big win, though I’m not sure where he is supposed to go from here. We’ve done Jericho vs. Page already and there isn’t anything else for him to do at the moment. Maybe we get a trilogy match, but at least round two was good.

We look at the preshow.

Shawn Spears vs. Joey Janela

Grudge match after Janela put a cigarette in Spears’ manager Tully Blanchard’s soda, so they tried to pull out his tongue with pliers. Spears chops away to start but gets knocked outside with Janela hitting a quick hurricanrana. That’s fine with Spears, who powerslams him on the floor to start in on the back.

They head inside with Spears working on the back, including a chinlock with a knee in said back. Janela’s back gets rammed into the apron and Spears ties him into the corner by the hair. That’s broken up and Spears grabs a Sharpshooter to work on the back some more. Janela makes the ropes and hits a superkick, followed by a top rope flip dive to the floor. Back in and Spears catches him on top with a superplex for two more.

Spears gets sent outside though and it’s a suicide dive (take a shot) to give Janela two again. Janela goes up top so Spears catches him with a backbreaker onto the buckle and it’s time to go for a turnbuckle pad. The referee deals with that so Tully does the spiking in a spike piledriver to knock Janela silly. A running Death Valley Driver finishes Janela at 11:28.

Rating: C. Both of these guys continue to just exist for the most part. Spears has gotten a little better, mainly because he has actually won a few things. Janela on the other hand comes off as someone who just kept showing up one day and then was allowed to have a match to make him happy. Tully getting more involved is a good idea too, and hopefully it happens more often.

Kip Sabian is glad to be teaming with the Hybrid Two because he can trust them and rely on them. Penelope Ford comes up and kisses him on the cheek, saying it’s time to bring some sex appeal to the company. Ford: “Why be bad, when you can be super bad?”

We recap the Tag Team Title tournament.

Tag Team Titles: SCU vs. Lucha Bros vs. Private Party

SCU is defending and this is one fall to a finish. Kazarian headlocks Quen down to start so Quen flips to his feet for a standoff. Fenix comes in and counters the whip to the floor, setting up the kick to Kazarian’s back. Everything breaks down for a bit until Fenix suplexes Kazarian for two. It’s Pentagon coming in for some kicks of his own, including a superkick to Kazarian’s jaw.

There’s a double clothesline and it’s off to Kassidy for a kick to Pentagon and a springboard X Factor for two. Quen takes Kassidy’s place and it’s the camel clutch into a double stomp to the back of Pentagon’s head for two more. The Bros are back with a Doomsday Dropkick to Quen, followed by a monkey flip Cannonball for their own near fall. The spike package piledriver is broken up though and Quen hits a Backstabber for two as Kazarian makes the save.

Quen hits a dropkick and brings in Sky for some kicks of his own. A slingshot cutter sets up a dragon sleeper on Fenix, who gets caught in a cutter from Kazarian. Everything breaks down and it’s time for the series of dives, with Fenix walking the ropes for a knee to Sky’s face to cut him off.

More dives ensue, with Fenix hitting a big corkscrew version onto the pile. Kazarian hits an assisted tornado DDT on Fenix for two with Private Party making the save. Quen drops the perfect shooting star on Kazarian for two more, because that move isn’t allowed to EVER get a pin. Gin and Juice is broken up and it’s the SCULater to finish Quen at 12:02.

Rating: B-. Entertaining stuff, but it feels like the kind of match that we see at least once a week around here. I like SCU retaining and Private Party taking the loss isn’t going to hurt them. The Lucha Bros or Santana/Ortiz would make great next challengers and you have to expect that to be the case in one way or another, though the latter would be more likely. It’s a fun match, but it’s been done better.

Post match the Bros beat up the champs until a third masked man runs in for the save. He unmasks as….Christopher Daniels.

Video on Riho, who is awesome and was trained by Emi Sakura, her challenger for the Women’s Title. Kenny Omega makes sure we know how big this is.

Women’s Title: Riho vs. Emi Sakura

Riho is defending and we hear about them being in the ring together in one way or another 287 times. An early test of strength goes to Sakura off a legsweep and a dropkick puts Riho down again. Riho gets sent outside but she’s back up in time to block a dive to the floor. The top rope double stomp to the apron rocks Sakura and it’s off to a half crab to keep the champ in control.

Sakura fights right back with a surfboard that doesn’t last long so Riho is up with a high crossbody for two more. A spinning Vader Bomb gives Sakura her own two and a tiger driver makes it worse, only to have Riho pop up for a fast double stomp before Sakura can get up.

Riho hammers away and hits a middle rope double stomp to put Sakura in more trouble. The top rope double stomp gets two with Sakura bridging up for the kickout. Riho is right back with a spinning pair of knees to the chest before spinning around into a rollup for a stacked up pin to retain at 11:17.

Rating: C+. Well worked, nice technical match here with Riho doing enough to make up for the size different. Sakura is hardly huge but she’s bigger than Riho, which isn’t that hard to do. Riho has to wrestle the right style to be believable and she did that here. The story worked well enough, though it was a pretty basic way to do everything. That’s fine enough, but it could have been more.

We recap the World Title match. Cody needs to win and is willing to never challenge for the title again should he not win here. Jericho is as arrogant as he can get and that is one of the best things about him. He also had Cody’s brother Dustin’s arm broken by the Inner Circle.

AEW World Title: Cody vs. Chris Jericho

Cody is challenging and has MJF with him while Jericho has Jake Hager. There is a sixty minute time limit and if we go the distance, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Great Muta are here to pick a winner. The fans give Jericho a HAPPY BIRTHDAY chant and he bails to the floor at the bell. Back in and Cody works on a hammerlock to send Jericho to the ropes, meaning it’s a cartwheel from Cody for a little mind game.

Back up and Jericho grabs a headlock before shouldering Cody down. The Dustin Rhodes pop up uppercut rocks Jericho so he goes to the floor and glares at Malenko. Cody is right back with a dive (in front of the judges) and it’s time to work on the arm. Some good cranking has Jericho in trouble but he sends Cody down hard onto the ramp, with Cody coming up bleeding.

We get a breather for the doctor to check on Cody so Jericho sits down in a chair in the ring as he should. Cody comes up favoring his ribs but Jericho is right on the cut forehead in an attempt to get the doctor to stop it. Hager gets in a cheap shot behind the referee’s back and Jericho puts a knee in the ribs to drop Cody again. Cody fights up and knocks Jericho down, only to have the moonsault hit knees.

The chinlock doesn’t last long so Jericho dropkicks him down for two and we hit the chinlock with a knee in the back. The Lionsault hits raised knees as well though and Cody hits a springboard cutter (Has there been a match yet that didn’t include a cutter? The Women’s Title maybe?) to start the comeback. There’s the Disaster Kick to knock Jericho off the apron and even Cody’s mom gets in some yelling.

Back in and the Alabama Slam (with Excalibur blanking on the name) out of the corner plants Jericho again. The Figure Four goes on as Excalibur remembers the name of the Alabama Slam (JR: “DING DING DING!”) but Hager gets in a cheap shot for the save. Cody goes with a rollup instead but the kickout sends him into another shot from Hager as JR is losing his mind at the cheating. MJF yells at Hager and gets mauled for it, allowing Jericho to get in a belt shot.

The very slow cover gets two but the Judas Effect is countered into Cross Rhodes. JR wants Cody to pull….I’m going to assume leg because JR is rather unbiased but Jericho kicks out anyway. Back up and Jericho knocks him into the ropes, setting up a whipping with the weight belt. Cody fights back and puts Jericho up, only to get pulled down into the Walls in the middle of the ring. It’s broken up so Jericho tries it again, this time making it the Liontamer. Cody is in trouble and MJF throws in the towel to keep the title on Jericho at 29:33.

Rating: B-. This was a tricky one to grade and I’m going to have to let the ending sink in a bit. What matters here is finding a way around the ending, but what would matter the most here would be to have MJF turn on Cody, though you could go the other way also. Good match, but it felt like they were stalling at times. That being said, they were VERY smart to not drag this out any longer. It felt a little long, but thank goodness the judges were red herrings.

Post match MJF looks crushed as the Inner Circle has some bubbly. The team leaves and Cody tells MJF it’s ok….and then MJF kicks him low and gives us a great evil smirk. A fan throws a bottle at him on the way out. That was a heck of a heel turn, even it if was far from shocking.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley. They’ve been trying to fight for months now but this is the rescheduled match after Moxley was hurt. Moxley has promised violence so the match is unsanctioned.

Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley

Anything goes. Moxley goes straight at him to start and it’s a Boss Man Slam to put Omega down early. The trashcan is brought in but they fight to the floor with Moxley being put over the barricade. Kenny hits a running dropkick over the barricade, followed by a beer to the head. The regular trashcan is poured onto Moxley and a stomp off the barricade crushes him again.

Omega’s moonsault is broken up though and it’s time to go back to ringside. That means Moxley can pull out a barbed wire baseball bat and some shots to the back have Omega pounding the mat in pain. Moxley puts the wire on Omega’s back and stomps on it as the fans are impressed. Back up and Omega blocks a shot to the face before trying a snapdragon, only to have Moxley rake it across his arm. That’s a good storytelling device as Omega is in Moxley’s world here.

Omega gets in a trashcan shot to the head and it’s table time, plus the barbed wire broom. Moxley throws the trashcan at his head to break it up though, only to have a dive cut off with a broom to the head. Back in and Omega sweeps Moxley’s back to keep the blood flowing. The bat across the face cuts Moxley open and it’s a running Fameasser onto the bat to make it worse.

The Regal Roll sets up a middle rope moonsault with the trashcan for two….and it’s time for a board of mousetraps. Yeah I’m done with this now as this is CZW level nonsense. Omega hits a jumping knee but gets clotheslined down. Moxley drops him onto the mousetraps and now, it’s time for some big gold chains. They get wrapped around Omega’s mouth before Moxley pulls out a spike.

That’s blocked with a chain to the ribs but Moxley suplexes him onto the chains. Omega hits the snapdragon suplex and a second one makes it even worse. The chain goes around Moxley’s throat to choke him over the rope but Omega’s hands slip to get Moxley to the floor. Omega hits a big flip dive through a table and takes his sweet time finding a bag of….broken glass.

A Sky High puts Moxley onto the glass for two and Omega drags him through the glass to set up a Sharpshooter. Moxley has to crawl through the glass to get to the ropes, thankfully with the referee not calling for the break and only watching as Moxley climbs the ropes for the break. Omega tries to put the glass in Moxley’s mouth but gets German suplexed into the glass.

Some V Triggers rock Moxley and they head to the ramp. Omega calls Page and the Bucks to bring something out but the say that’s too far. They reluctantly bring out….a big barbed wire spider web board. The One Winged Angel is loaded up but Moxley reverses into a suplex to send them both into the wire and get a lot of gasping.

A bunch of people come out to help them escape and Omega hits him with something made of metal. The V Trigger sends Moxley through a wall covering a spotlight and stay down for a bit. Back in and it’s a Paradigm Shift onto the glass for two so Moxley grabs a knife and cuts up the mat away from the ring.

The pad is pulled back as well and the wood is exposed. Omega backdrops him onto the wood and hits a V Trigger, setting up a Paradigm Shift to Moxley onto the wood….for two. END THIS ALREADY. Omega’s Phoenix splash hits wood and Moxley gets two more. An elevated Paradigm Shift onto the wood finally finishes Omega at 39:22.

Rating: D+. That’s the one that is going to get the most arguments and I completely understand that one. They went on WAY too long here and you could have cut at least ten to fifteen minutes out of it. Some of the near falls near the end had me sighing because it just kept going for whatever reason. The violence and hardcore elements went further than I was good with, though it didn’t get all the way to the point of no return (the mousetraps were at least kept…..yeah I’m not finishing that). I completely get why people are going to like this, but it’s a case of a match not being for me.

Overall Rating: B. That main event took a lot out of what was an otherwise rather good show. There are still some things that I would change but they’re getting to a point where they have an established style. That may or may not be to your liking, but it is a good thing for them to figure out something that works for them. I would still cut down some of the lengths, but the action itself is good enough. Stick with what works and fix what didn’t and they have something, but that main event is going to divide the audience, at least somewhat.

Results

Proud And Powerful b. Young Bucks – Street Sweeper to Nick

Adam Page b. Pac – Deadeye

Shawn Spears b. Joey Janela – Running Death Valley Driver

So Cal Uncensored b. Lucha Bros and Private Party – SCULater to Quen

Riho b. Emi Sakura – Rollup

Chris Jericho b. Cody when MJF threw in the towel

Jon Moxley b. Kenny Omega – Elevated Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: November 6, 2019
Location: Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re back in Flair Country this week and it’s the go home show for Full Gear. Therefore, Chris Jericho is wrestling again because he does that quite often. In theory we should get some more matches announced for the show tonight as there are only five matches for the regular pay per view card so far. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

The announcers preview the show.

Pac vs. Trent

Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy are here too. Pac takes him down with a headlock to start and goes outside to glare at Cassidy. Back in and Trent hits a chop in the corner but Pac takes him outside for some hard whips into the barricade. Trent’s head gets bounced off of the ramp and there’s the big flip dive to knock him down again. The missile dropkick gets one back inside and the headline goes on. A bridging German suplex gives Pac two and we hit the chinlock again.

Trent gets sent outside and it’s time for the Pac vs. Cassidy showdown, including the leg kicks. Pac kicks him down though (Tony: “He’s black and blue Cassidy now!”) and Trent is ticked off enough for a half and half suplex. That’s enough to put Pac on the floor for a big flip dive from Trent and there’s a whip into the barricade. A running knee to the back of the head gives Pac two and a tornado DDT is good for the same. Pac busts Trent’s brain on the floor and it’s the Red Arrow….for two? With that out of the way, it’s the Brutalizer to make Trent give up at 11:43.

Rating: C+. This was much longer than it needed to be as Trent shouldn’t be hanging with Pac for that long. That’s been a problem with AEW: it’s ok to have a match like this go a little shorter to make Pac look better. Instead he was standing there so Cassidy could do his thing and going move for move with Trent. There’s nothing wrong with Trent, but he’s not a singles guy and shouldn’t be hanging this long (six or seven minutes would have been fine) with Pac and certainly not kicking out of his finisher.

Here’s Cody for his big announcement. Cody thanks the fans for being behind AEW before moving on to the match with Chris Jericho at Full Gear. He brings up some great bookers (Eddie Graham, Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes), saying that they were great bell to bell and great at the box office. The controversy about them is that they were also management and that is where they connect to him. He has been honest about that since the beginning and loves the pressure that comes with it.

However, if he does not defeat Jericho at Full Gear, he will never challenge for the title again. Cody is tired of hearing about Jericho thinking he is some privileged kid when Jericho is the son of a famous hockey player. Jericho is a carny succubus because Jericho needs this generation more than it needs him. This isn’t about Cody or his family but rather the fourteen years it took him to get from undesirable to undeniable. At Full Gear, he’s eating Jericho alive. This was a heck of a promo and I want to see Cody win the title, which wasn’t the case before.

Dark Order vs. Private Party

The winners are added to a triple threat title match at Full Gear, along with the Lucha Bros and SCU, the latter of whom is on commentary. Therefore, there are even bronze medals for the winners. The Dark Order takes over on Quen to start but it’s an atomic drop into an enziguri to Grayson. Kassidy screeches rather loudly and gets planted with a Rock Bottom so Uno can come in for some choking on the ropes. The Order poses with the Creepers and we take a break.

Back with Grayson suplexing Quen for two but the Fatality is countered with a dropkick. Another dropkick puts Grayson on the floor and a middle rope moonsault drops Uno. There’s the big flip dive to Order but Uno is back in with a Russian legsweep. Grayson suplexes Quen into Kassidy in the corner and it’s a Cannonball/450 combination for two on Quen. Kassidy gets kneed out of the air but Quen breaks up another Fatality attempt. Silly String puts Uno down and it’s Gin and Juice for the pin on Grayson at 11:46.

Rating: C+. Total spotfest here and you knew that was going to be the case when the match started. The Order has looked better in their last two matches but that doesn’t make them much more interesting. Private Party winning is the better call though and that is what matters most in the end. I could see them winning the titles too and that could be interesting.

Post match SCU comes in to stare down Private Party.

We get an Inner Circle video mocking Cody’s big video from a few weeks back. Basically Jericho is awesome and a legend who likes the bubbly and is going to retain the title. Even Virgil gets a cameo. His friend from church, Patricia Bobski, knew him when he was a kid and knew that he would be AEW World Champion. Jake Hager says nothing at all while Virgil says Jericho’s talent is like the Olive Garden breadsticks: unlimited. All that matters to Jericho is finding the best bubbly, which is hard to do but it’s part of being le champion. Hilarious stuff here and one of the best things AEW has done so far.

We look at the Proud and Powerful jumping the Rock N Roll Express and the Young Bucks last week.

Full Gear rundown.

Jamie Hayter/Emi Sakura vs. Shanna/Riho

Riho and Sakura trade takedowns and escapes to start until Sakura throws her down by the hair. Hayter comes in for a cheap shot from behind to slow Riho down, only to have Riho knee Sakura down. Shanna comes in with a dropkick to Sakura before dropping Riho onto Sakura for two. Sakura is back up with a double underhook backbreaker to Riho and it’s Hayter coming in for the first time.

Back from a break with Riho fighting out of a chinlock and getting in a headscissors, only to have the hot tag attempt broken up. A double stomp crushed Sakura and the tag brings in Shanna to take over. Shanna runs into Hayter in the corner a few times but charges into a chokebreaker. Sakura’s Vader Bomb hits raised knees but Hayter pulls Riho off the apron. Shanna is back up with a dive to the floor and a double underhook piledriver to drop Sakura on her head.

Sakura is comes back as well and hits a rolling cutter on Shanna, followed by a Falcon Arrow from Hayter. Riho tries to come back in but gets knocked right back to the floor. Sakura’s butterfly backbreaker sets up a Vader Bomb with Riho’s top rope double stomp making the save. Riho and Sakura trade near falls until La Majistral finishes Riho at 13:49.

Rating: C+. Nice match here, though the same issues with Riho and Sakura continue. These matches come and go and it still feels like there is a huge gap between the women AEW wants to push and the rest of the division. Riho and Sakura are very technically skilled but I know almost nothing about them other than how long they have been training and that they’re from Japan. You can’t give me anything more than that?

Brandi Rhodes talks about how people have written her off as just another pretty face. However, there is nothing wrong with a combination of her mind and Awesome Kong’s body. As Kong’s face keeps popping up, Brandi talks about how she never wanted to be in charge of a women’s division so the question is who are the bullies now. Well it’s better than the witchcraft stuff last week.

Brandon Cutler vs. Shawn Spears

Cutler starts fast and sends Spears into the ropes for a slingshot legdrop to the head. That’s enough for Spears to snap and send him into the barricade, followed by a running knee to the side of the head. Back in and Spears chops away but gets kicked in the arm and head. Spears shrugs that off and hits the running Death Valley Driver for the pin at 3:15.

Rating: C-. Now was that too much to ask for??? Spears gets to beat up one of the designated jobbers and gets a little boost, which he has been needing since he debuted. Maybe this is more his style, but it certainly hasn’t been what he has been doing so far. He’s not bad, but he hasn’t been interesting and around here that is worse.

Post match Blanchard throws in a chair but here’s Joey Janela, who Blanchard and Spears attacked on Dark, for the save.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega, who are driving each other to get violent in their match at Full Gear.

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara

Jericho and Omega start things off and never mind as let’s make that Sammy instead. Omega takes him down to start but gets caught in an early front facelock. That’s broken up and Omega chops him down so it’s off to Page as Omega hits the running Fameasser from behind. Page’s running shooting star gets two on Sammy and the tabletop suplex gets the same.

Jericho comes in for a middle rope missile dropkick, knocks Omega off the apron and does a rather obvious spot call (made even worse as the camera was on the corner). Page gets in a clothesline and it’s off to Omega to start cleaning house, including a discus double ax handle to Sammy’s chest. The Regal Roll into the middle rope moonsault gets two more and Omega dropkicks Sammy out of the air. A hurricanrana puts Jericho on the floor but Jake Hager breaks up a big flip dive.

Back from a break with Jericho elbowing Omega down, only to have Omega make the hot tag a few seconds later. Page blocks the Walls attempt and Sammy’s dive hits Hager by mistake. Omega’s dive drops both of them and Page moonsaults onto Omega and Sammy at the same time. Cue Pac to kick Page low though and the Judas Effect finishes Page at 13:05.

Rating: B. This was almost a straight formula tag match and it was a good, entertaining way to make Jericho look strong heading into Sunday. Pac vs. Page is advanced as well, which was kind of needed after being set up not too long ago. They’ve done a nice job with Omega vs. Moxley as well and we should be in for a good show on Sunday on all counts.

Post match the Inner Circle is on Page but Cody runs in for the save. The Circle leaves so here’s MJF to hit them with a chair, allowing Cody to hit Cross Rhodes on Jericho. Cue Moxley with a barbed wire baseball bat but Jericho and Hager go after Cody and MJF. Omega finds the barbed wire bat but it’s Santana and Ortiz to jump Omega and Moxley. Therefore it’s the Young Bucks coming in for the save with superkicks and dives.

They fight up the ramp and it’s Moxley and Omega making the save before getting in a fight of their own. Nick gets on top of the entrance and hits the big flip dive to take down everyone, including the cameraman. The fight is on one more time to finally end the show. This was a HECK of a fight and one of the best go home segments for a pay per view I can remember in a long time.

Overall Rating: B+. I wasn’t into some of the wrestling here but they got one big thing accomplished by making me want to see the pay per view. This was a very, very effective go home show that made the pay per view feel a lot more important. Now if they can back that up on Saturday and keep it going in the future, they’re in business. Last week didn’t feel that energized but it seems more like a fluke, which is a very nice sign for the future. Great go home show here and one of the better shows they have done so far. Oh and find that Jericho video if you can because it was hilarious.

Results

Pac b. Trent – Brutalizer

Private Party b. Dark Order – Gin and Juice to Grayson

Emi Sakura/Jamie Hayter b. Riho/Shanna – La Majistral to Riho

Shawn Spears b. Brandon Cutler – Running Death Valley Driver

Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Judas Effect to Page

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: October 30, 2019
Location: Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, West Virginia
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s time to crown some new champions and that means we’re in for a tournament final. Tonight we get the first ever AEW Tag Team Champions as SCU faces the Lucha Bros for the inaugural titles. Other than that we have the contract signing for Full Gear between Chris Jericho and Cody. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with Dustin Rhodes and Cody going to the signing with Jericho. Dustin hugs him and Cody gets in a car with Schiavone.

We see a clip of the end of last week’s show and the aftermath, with Adam Page and Kenny Omega hitting the ring to chase off Pac. Page wants Pac at Full Gear.

Post match, Moxley went to the back and Tony Khan needed to see him. They went into a locker room and Khan said the match with Omega is going to be unsanctioned because Moxley is too violent. That isn’t cool with Moxley, who has been working to get a win over Omega and now it won’t count because AEW doesn’t want him beating their golden boy. He accuses Tony of treating him like everyone else so Omega’s blood is on Khan’s hands.

Opening sequence.

The announcers preview the show.

The posts and buckles are Rick and Morty themed.

Sammy Guevara vs. Hangman Page

Page chops away and kicks Guevara in the face to start but Sammy is right back up with a dropkick into a bow. Guevara’s suplex gets two but Page takes him into the corner for a slap to the face. A middle rope crossbody is pulled out of the air for a fall away slam and Page clotheslines him to the floor. That’s fine with Sammy who sends Page into the barricade, allowing Sammy to go up top. Instead though he drops down for a slap to the face, which only fires Page up.

Page no sells a superkick and hits a hard lariat for the double knockdown. They head to the apron with Sammy having to escape the Deadeye. Instead Page hits a Boss Man Slam onto the apron for a big crash. Back in and a pop up powerbomb gets two on Sammy, followed by a moonsault to the floor. Sammy is smart enough to drop to the mat to avoid the Buckshot Lariat. Not that it matters as Page is right back with the right hand and the Lariat for the pin at 8:07.

Rating: B-. Page looks like a star in every sense of the word but he still needs some time and experience to become a top star. He has all the tools that you could ask for though and if he keeps going at this rate, he is going to be a big deal. It’s not like losing to him hurts Sammy either so this was completely fine for what it was.

Post match Page says he’s been losing lately but this felt good. At Full Gear, he’s going to do some cowboy s***. JR: “There’s a shirt.”

Hikaru Shida vs. Shanna

They slug it out to start and head outside early on with Shida setting up a chair for a running knee to the face. A backbreaker gives Shida two and another knee gets another near fall as it’s all Shida so far. Shanna shrugs it off though and gets fired up as we take an early break.

Back with Shanna hitting an Alberto top rope double stomp but Shida grabs a sunset driver to knock Shanna silly. They trade rollups for two each and Shida gets in the running knee for two more. The Falcon Arrow gives Shida two more and another running knee is enough to put Shanna away at 10:44.

Rating: C+. I liked this one with Shida hitting some hard strikes and Shanna getting to show off a little bit. There was a good amount of action packed into this one and Shanna looks like someone else who could be a big deal in the division. Then again that is the case for a lot of women and only Riho has really gotten to showcase herself at a high level.

Video on Brandi Rhodes going nuts last week. She seems to be doing something almost occultish and is still involved with Awesome Kong.

Here are the Rock and Roll Express (reigning NWA World Tag Team Champions) to talk about some old times in the building but here are Santana and Ortiz to take then out. Morton gets hit with a loaded sock and powerbombed off the stage through a table. The Young Bucks come out for the save.

Cody and Schiavone continue their Ric Flair from Starrcade 1993 segment and Tony talks about hanging out with Willie Nelson and Dusty Rhodes. Dusty had Willie come out first, because the star always comes out last. Cody talks about his mom being at Full Gear and how much he wants his dad to be proud of him. Tony is proud of him, which seems to touch Cody.

Best Friends/Orange Cassidy vs. Alex Reynolds/QT Marshall/Jon Silver

Cassidy and the Best Friends are dressed as Rick and Morty and the fans have masks of the characters for a bonus. And yes, Morty does the ring announcing for the Friends/Cassidy. Silver knocks Trent’s wig off and the villains cheat to clean house like villains should. Trent manages a tornado DDT to Silver so the wig can be replaced, but Marshall breaks up the hug attempt. That draw Cassidy, who takes off his costume, into the ring for the weak kicks. A dropkick into a nipup into the triple hug sets up the suicide dive. Strong Zero finishes Reynolds at 3:13.

Rating: D. Yeah I’m thinking no on this one. The Rick and Morty stuff was fine for a one off promotional deal (WWE has done WAY dumber things over the years in the same vein) but I wasn’t liking the match as the Friends and Cassidy’s acts have worn on me pretty badly. That being said, they kept this really short and it isn’t something that is going to hurt the show whatsoever.

Full Gear rundown.

Here’s Chris Jericho for the contract signing on the stage. Tony and Cody come into the building and then the arena. After a quick intro, Cody signs and Jericho teases charging at him. Jericho talks about how Cody is giving this everything he has, but it’s time for Cody to learn a lesson.

Cody needs to learn what it’s like to be a loser and Jericho signs, Jericho stands up for the big staredown and gives him a hard handshake, saying he’ll see Cody at Full Gear. Jericho says Cody can stand there all night, but he might be needed elsewhere. Sammy Guevara pops up on screen and we cut to the back where Jake Hager is beating up Dustin. His head dents the car and Hager slams the car door on his arm, ala Larry Zbyszko and Barry Windham in 1991, when Dustin was Windham’s partner.

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs. Kip Sabian/Hybrid Two

Kenny gets a big video gamed themed entrance and is wearing a mask that I don’t recognize. The Bucks on the other hand are in Street Fighter gear. It’s a brawl to start with Sabian hitting a flip dive onto the Bucks so Kenny has to fight off the Two on his own. The Bucks are right back in for the series of kicks to the head, setting up a springboard double stomp to Sabian’s ribs.

The Rise of the Terminators is broken up and Evans kicks Omega in the head to send him outside. That means the Sauske Special to drop Omega and it’s a middle rope hurricanrana for two on Matt. Back from a break with Omega getting the hot tag and cleaning house with Snapdragons. Everything breaks down and it’s the parade of kicks to the head. The big flip dive to the floor is blocked so Sabian tries a springboard only to dive into a triple superkick. The One Winged Angel finishes Evans at 11:27.

Rating: C+. Maybe it’s the pure insanity that the matches include or the lack of any real psychology to the whole thing but there is something that holds these matches back from me. They feel like performances instead of matches and that makes them a little bit difficult to get behind. They’re still enjoyable and I have a good time with them, but they just don’t feel the same.

Post match Santana and Ortiz, now known as Power N Pride, jump the Bucks from the crowd with Omega making the save.

Here’s Peter Avalon to rant about how terrible Charleston is but Jon Moxley comes in through the crowd with the Paradigm Shift. Moxley grabs the mic and mentions his match with Omega being unsanctioned. That means no rules but it also means that the match doesn’t count. Moxley knows AEW is trying to protect their boy and put Moxley in their box so he can’t hurt the star. He’ll beat Omega in a match even if it doesn’t exist and if you think he’s out of control, you haven’t seen anything yet. Omega’s blood is on AEW’s hands and stay the h*** out of his way. That was a fired up promo.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. SCU

For the inaugural titles and they’re just in the ring when we come back from a break. Various teams are watching in the back. It turns into a brawl to start and Pentagon hits the Pentagon Driver for a very early two on Kazarian. The Sling Blade takes Sky down but we settle down to Kazarian slamming Fenix and dropping the spinning legdrop for two, with Kazarian being ready for Pentagon’s save.

Fenix is back up to clean house and Pentagon superkicks Sky on the floor. Sky is sent outside and gets kicked in the face as well, setting up a backbreaker/slingshot legdrop combination to really take him down. Back from a break with Kazarian fighting out of trouble and hitting an Angel’s Wings as an ode to Daniels.

Sky gets the hot tag and everything breaks down (again) with Kazarian somewhat missing a hurricanrana tot he floor. Back in and a pair of tornado DDT drops both Bros for two. SCULater is broken up and Pentagon hits the Pentagon Driver on Kazarian. Fenix’s rolling cutter gets two on Sky, followed by stereo crossbodies to put Fenix and Sky down. Pentagon powerbombs Kazarian through a table at ringside, followed by a splash off of Pentagon’s shoulders for two on Sky. The spike Fear Factor is blocked though and Kazarian cuts Fenix off so Sky can get a small package for the pin at 12:36.

Rating: B. I know it’s a fine rating but that was a rather disappointing result. The wrestling and action was good (though it felt WAY too similar to the six man) but it didn’t have enough time and the ending came out of nowhere. I am a sucker for the fast paced, flying all over the place matches ending with a quick change of gear into a fast pin though and the match was entertaining, but I was expecting a lot more and didn’t get it, mainly due to having everything be so rushed.

Overall Rating: B-. While it’s still a good show, this one came off as a misfire in a lot of areas. The Cody stuff wasn’t great and felt like it was just copying better angles with more talented people. I’m sure the match will be good, but it’s a little hard to get fired up about Cody vs. Jericho. The wrestling was mostly entertaining, but I feel like I’ve seen some variation of that six man a dozen times already. It was an entertaining show and certainly had more positives than negatives. Just something about it threw me off and it felt like a few steps below their previous shows.

Results

Hangman Page b. Sammy Guevara – Buckshot Lariat

Hikaru Shida b. Shanna – Running knee to the face

Orange Cassidy/Best Friends b. Jon Silver/Alex Reynolds/QT Marshall – Strong Zero to Reynolds

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks b. Hybrid Two/Kip Sabian – One Winged Angel to Sabian

SCU b. Lucha Bros – Small package

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Dynamite
Date: October 23, 2019
Location: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Lucha Bros vs. Private Party

Quen headlocks Fenix to start but can’t hit a standing moonsault. A dropkick sends Fenix into the ropes but it’s Pentagon hitting an enziguri from the apron, allowing Fenix to snap off a release German suplex. Kassidy makes the save and it’s Fenix being sent to the floor. A pop up hurricanrana sends Pentagon outside as JR doesn’t seem pleased with the style of offense so far. An atomic drop into an enziguri sets up a jump over Kassidy’s back into a double stomp to the head.

Quen hits the crazy high flip dive to take out Fenix on the floor, leaving Kassidy to enziguri Pentagon again. Fenix is right back in with a top rope double stomp to the standing Quen’s back, followed by a pop up double stomp low to Quen in the corner. Kassidy is set on Quen’s shoulders so Fenix can dropkick him down, making Quen hit a reverse hurricanrana to plant Kassidy in a heap.

The Pentagon Driver gets two on Quen so Fenix sends him into the ropes, only to have Quen cartwheel over to the ropes. Kassidy springboards in and picks up the pace (if that’s possible), including an Asai moonsault to Pentagon. A slingshot crucifix bomb gets two on Fenix, setting up the assisted Sliced Bread from Kassidy. Quen takes off the jacket and hits the perfect shooting star for the….two count.

Fenix is back up with a Gory bomb/legdrop combination for two and it’s back to Pentagon for the house cleaning. The spike Fear Factor is broken up and Gin and Juice hits Fenix. He isn’t legal though so it’s another Gin and Juice for Pentagon, who reverses into the Canadian Destroyer. Pentagon breaks Quen’s arm and it’s the spike Fear Factor for the pin at 12:23.

Rating: A-. Yeah what do you want me to say here? This was incredible stuff with both teams looking like they moved as one and the whole thing was just awesome. The Bros are just on a different level right now and get better every single week. I could have gone with either team winning here but dang this was a blast.

Wardlow is still coming.

We look at Christopher Daniels getting taken out, giving him a pinched nerve to put him on the shelf for six to eight week.

Video on the Dark Order.

Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Dark Order vs. SCU

The Creepers are here with Dark Order. Grayson and Kazarian exchange armdrags to start so it’s Uno coming in and getting dropkicked down. Grayson is already back in so Kazarian and Sky take turns on his arm again. A Pele kick gets Grayson out of trouble though and Uno sends Sky into the steps. Back with Sky still in trouble and the Inner Circle coming into the arena, tickets in hand.

Sky slips away and brings in Kazarian to clean house, including a neckbreaker for two on Grayson. Everything breaks down and Kazarian gets suplexed into Sky in the corner. Kazarian gets in his slingshot cutter though and it’s a double dragon sleeper to the order….so let’s cut to some young woman in the crowd and come back with the hold broken up.

Grayson flips onto Kazarian as we keep cutting to the Inner Circle in the corner. Uno hits something like the Bitter End bu the Fatality is broken up. Kazarian hits a running DDT onto the apron to drop Uno and it’s SCULater (Gory Bomb spun into a knee from Kazarian) to finish Grayson at 13:48.

Rating: C+. It was good for the most part but my goodness Dark Order has an ability to suck the life out of a show. No one was buying this as having any drama whatsoever and they really could have shortened things up a bit. That and drop it with the camera cuts. WWE does that all the time and it’s annoying there too.

Joey Janela vs. Kenny Omega

Janela grabs the arm to start but gets sent out to the apron. Omega’s running boot knocks him to the floor and there’s the big dive, with Kenny sitting down and yelling up at the Inner Circle (still in their private box). Back in and Janela starts the chops before sending Omega outside for the big crossbody.

We take a break and come back with the Inner Circle shouting a lot and Omega getting German suplexed into the corner. A top rope elbow connects with Omega but he’s fine enough to drop a showboating Janela face first onto the turnbuckle. Janela is right back with a block to the V Trigger and a fisherman’s buster for the double knockdown. A Swanton to the apron only hits apron so it’s the V Trigger into the One Winged Angel to finish Janela at 13:46.

Rating: C+. Well that was quite the drop from their hardcore match, which tends to be the case every time with Janela. I’m not big on Omega most of the time, but I can at least get the appeal of him and he certainly does something big more often than not. Janela….yeah I’m not really getting it. He looks like a guy in tights doing stuff with no real idea of why he’s doing things and that shows badly a lot of the time.

Here’s Cody for an interview but the Inner Circle starts blowing air horns every time he talks. Cody says that this isn’t like the other wrestling company they used to work for and he can come up there and take Jericho out. Jericho makes fun of him and we get a shot of Cody showing the almost entirely empty hard camera side. After that rather bad angle, here are Dustin and MJF (Jericho: “Now I’m supposed to be scared of someone wearing a scarf? Who wears a scarf?”) to even things up a bit.

Diamond Dallas Page of all people is here to even things up and the Inner Circle bails into a locked room. MJF hands Cody the scarf so Cody can break through the glass and the fight is on as they head into the concourse. JR: “They’re gonna destroy Dip N Dots!” Jericho points at the ticket as security breaks things up and takes Cody away. Jericho was awesome here, as he tends to be.

Young Bucks vs. Best Friends

The Bucks superkick Orange Cassidy to start so it’s a brawl early on. The Bucks throw Chuck to the floor and it’s a neckbreaker/backbreaker combination on Trent. They all head outside with Trent spearing Matt and it’s a Doomsday Knee to Nick. A knee to the head keeps Nick in trouble and Trent knocks him outside as we take a break.

Back with Nick rolling out of a 450 and getting caught in a German suplex. Matt takes a Saito suplex and everything breaks down. Taylor’s standing Sliced Bread sets up a sitout powerbomb for two on Matt. The Falcon Arrow (with Excalibur getting in his jokes) gets two more and Trent hits Matt with a super German suplex.

Soul Food into a half and half and Cassidy is back up for the hands in the pockets dive onto the Bucks. Strong Zero hits Matt but Nick Swantons in for the save. The Doomsday Knee hits Nick, so he backflips out of it and lands on his feet, showing that a springboard knee to the head has no effect. More Bang For Your Buck finishes Chuck at 12:08.

Rating: C. This was like watching the opener in slow motion and that’s not a good thing. For the life of me I don’t get the Best Friends and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. They kept this a little shorter too and that’s a better choice. Not every match needs to be some big showcase, especially when the Bucks are set for a huge match at Full Gear.

Post match the Bucks accept Santana and Ortiz’s challenge for Full Gear.

Video on Britt Baker, who is making her homecoming tonight. JR: “She can break your teeth and fix them in the same day!”

Jamie Hayter vs. Britt Baker

Baker starts fast but gets thrown into the corner and knocked off the apron. Baker gets whipped into the barricade and we take a break. Back with a slugout going to Baker but Hayter grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up with a drop back and a clothesline gives Baker two. Hayter comes back with a Michinoku Driver for two but Baker grabs a middle rope brainbuster. Hayter’s release Rock Bottom plants Baker and a clothesline gets two more. Baker hits her in the face though and a cutter (very popular move tonight) sets up the fisherman’s neckbreaker for two more. Lockjaw finishes Hayter at 8:31.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t a big match or even very good but it got the nice moment out of the way. I’ll certainly take that over having someone get the big homecoming in WWE and then losing so Vince can laugh about it or whatever. Baker has some star power but it seems like it’s going to be a while before she gets a real run at the title.

Hayter is in the back for an interview but cuts off the questions….as Brandi throws her down from behind. Brandi glares at the interviewer and storms off without saying anything.

Jon Moxley vs. Pac

Pac jumps him from behind with a chair on the ramp and the beating starts on the floor. They get in for the opening bell and Pac loads up the Red Arrow, sending Moxley bailing outside again. Pac’s running flip dive takes Moxley down and we seem to have a concussion. A running kick to the head cuts Moxley’s comeback off and we take a break.

Back with Moxley blocking a German suplex onto the apron and hitting the headlock driver instead. Moxley nails a suicide dive as we have five minutes of TV time left. The Cloverleaf has Pac in the ropes at four minutes left but Pac is right back with a super Falcon Arrow for a close two.

Moxley gets knocked to the floor and it’s a 450 from the apron for a VERY surprised look from a fan. Back in and the Red Arrow misses as we have a minute left. The Paradigm Shift connects but it’s a delayed cover as TV time runs out at 12:09. JR: “Twenty minutes of intensity and they couldn’t settle it.”

Rating: B-. The ending intrigues me as there are a few directions they could go with it, though the concussion deal (which to be fair they never specifically said) came and went about halfway through the match. The match was entertaining though and these two come off as stars, so it’s a smart move to not have either of them take a fall here.

Post match Moxley hits the Paradigm Shift on the referee for letting the time run out. Moxley rants about the time limit to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. I had a really good time with this show and the hot angle with Jericho vs. Cody made up for some of the weaker (yet still good) matches. The opener was excellent and maybe the best match I’ve seen yet from AEW. Just a heck of a fun two hours and they feel like they’re getting into a groove out there, which is pretty impressive so soon. Awesome show this week and next week could be even better.

Results

Lucha Bros b. Private Party – Spike Fear Factor to Quen

SCU b. Dark Order – SCULater to Grayson

Kenny Omega b. Joey Janela – One Winged Angel

Young Bucks b. Best Friends – More Bang For Your Buck

Britt Baker b. Jamie Hayter – Lockjaw

Jon Moxley vs. Pac went to a time limit draw

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AEW Dark
Date: October 15, 2019
Location: Liacouras Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz
Host: Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another week of dark matches on Dark, because the show’s title is as appropriate as you can get. One thing that has surprised me is how big these matches have felt. Normally a dark match is going to be about five minutes long and nothing worth seeing. Last week’s main event was 25 minutes and pay per view quality, which was WAY more than I would have bet on. It’s always nice to get a surprise like that and I was rather pleased. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Tony welcomes us to the show and runs down the card.

Brandon Cutler vs. Joey Janela

Joey soaks in some cheers to start as guest commentator Taz is getting right back into the analysis here. A headlock takeover brings Janela down so Cutler reverses into a handstand, which Cutler breaks up in a hurry. Janela shoulders him down and goes to the corner to pose, allowing Cutler to kick him in the head.

The chinlock goes on for all of a few moments before it’s time to strike it out again. Cutler’s DDT gets two and the fans are behind Janela in a hurry. A hard clothesline drops Cutler to the floor and there’s the suicide dive, followed by a dive off the steps. Back in and Cutler’s springboard is broken up, allowing Janela to hit a super brainbuster (looked more superplexish) for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: C-. Janela is one of those weird stars who needs the more extreme elements to really make things look that much better and he didn’t showcase himself all that well here. Instead we got a perfectly watchable match, but it wasn’t anything that made me think Janela was a star. I liked it well enough, but Janela doesn’t work that well in a standard match like this.

We get a sitdown interview with QT Marshall, a former wrestler who works backstage now as a producer. Cody hypes him up and Marshall talks about how he made it to Ring of Honor but was treated like nothing there. Then he had neck surgery and shifted to a backstage role. Now he does a little bit of everything around here.

Leva Bates vs. Nyla Rose

The shhhing makes its Dark debut. Peter Avalon mocks the Philadelphia Phillies and Bates isn’t sure if this is the best course of action. Bates knocks her into the corner to start and a DDT gets one. That’s enough for Rose, who snaps off a powerbomb for a knockdown of her own. A kick to the face rocks Rose but she’s fine enough to hit a Death Valley Driver. Avalon offers a distraction though, only to have Rose knock Bates away from a rollup attempt. Rose throws Bates onto Avalon and then swings her into the steps for a bonus. The sitout powerbomb finishes Bates at 3:42.

Rating: D. Rose getting a win is a good thing and having the Librarians get beaten up is better but this wasn’t very good. It just kind of came and went with nothing interesting aside from a decent powerbomb finisher. That being said, it’s hard to get overly annoyed at a three and a half minute squash, but neither of them looked very good here.

We run down tomorrow’s Dynamite card.

Video on the Dark Order. I wouldn’t recommend that one.

We look back at Scorpio Sky jumping in to replace the attacked Christopher Daniels in the Tag Team Tournament.

SCU isn’t happy but they’re ready to face the Dark Order in the semifinals. They’re coming for the Lucha Bros too.

A bloody Pac swears vengeance on Jon Moxley.

TV ads. They’re going around the country now and that’s a good sign.

We recap Darby Allin vs. Chris Jericho from Dynamite.

Strong Hearts/Private Party vs. Young Bucks/Dustin Rhodes/Cody

Cima and T-Hawk can’t get past Private Party’s velvet ropes until Private Party makes their entrance for a funny bit. MJF and Brandi are here with Cody and company. Cima and Cody start things off, with commentary saying not many wrestlers can say they have an experience advantage over Cody. Half of the people in this match can so that’s not the most accurate statement. Cima rolls him up for two so Cody bails to the floor for a breather and a kiss.

Back in and Cima gets in a shot to the face, drawing in all eight for the staredown. Things settle down and it’s Dustin coming in to face T-Hawk with a chop sending Dustin into the corner. Back up and Dustin hits some shoulders and a clothesline before the Bucks come in for an assisted kick to the chest. T-Hawk is right back with a sitout spinebuster to Nick, only to have Matt grab his face. Cody tries to make a save and gets chopped so hard that it hurts T-Hawk’s hand.

Private Party remembers that they’re in the match and comes in to stomp Matt in the head, allowing Cima to come back in for a freaky looking hold on Matt’s…..legs? Maybe? Private Party knocks Cody and company off the apron but Matt is back with the rolling northern lights suplexes to send Quen into the corner. It’s back to Nick to start striking away, including the stomps from the apron to everyone on the floor. Well all of the members of the opposing team that is as he didn’t stomp his partners or the fans.

The slingshot X Factor drops Quen and the moonsault to the floor takes down the Strong Hearts for a bonus. Back in and Nick gets caught with Gin and Juice to set up Cima’s Meteora for a fast two. Cima chops T-Hawk by mistake though and gets superkicked for his efforts, allowing the hot tag to Dustin. The snap powerslams abound but hang on because Dustin needs to catch his breath before hitting one more on Kassidy.

Cody dives off the top onto Cima but Private Party hits their stereo flip dives. The Bucks do the same but Brandi hits a flip dive off the apron to take everyone down. MJF even teases his own dive but instead runs the ropes and makes a rather rude gesture to the fans. Back in and we get the big showdown between the Bucks and Private Party. The Superkick Party is on to put Private Party back on the floor, but they come back in….and get quadruple superkicked. A four way Shattered Dreams sets up the Final Reckoning to finish T-Hawk at 15:03.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match I was hoping for when this show was announced. It isn’t going to matter in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t have a big surprise ending or some kind of a twist, and it was exactly what it was supposed to be. The wrestlers went out there and did a bunch of stuff for fifteen minutes and the fans got to cheer a lot. It’s a great way to send the fans home happy and that’s what they did here. Good ending and the kind of thing that fits the idea very well.

Tony wraps it up.

Overall Rating: C. The show is still a perfectly fine supplement to AEW, though I’m not sure we need all the recaps from Dynamite in there when those could just be a secondary video. Either way (and either way would be fine), this was a completely entertaining use of an hour and lets you see the stars of the promotion without having to have the weight of the storylines on top of it. That’s a good idea as some fans want one or the other and that’s what you got here. Good enough show that serves its purpose just fine.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: October 2, 2019
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re finally here. It almost feels weird to imagine that it’s actually happening but here we are. This is the debut episode of the much ballyhooed weekly series from AEW and the hype seems to be real. The show is going head to head live with NXT as the Wednesday Night Wars begin. I’m actually excited for this so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The announcers welcome us to the show.

We get some clips from last night’s Countdown show to hype up Cody vs. Sammy Guevara, which will be the first match in the history of the show.

Cody vs. Sammy Guevara

Brandi is here with Cody and that is a lot of pyro. Feeling out process to start with Sammy’s speed giving Cody some issues. A trip to the floor lets Cody have a breather and it’s back in for an armbar from Sammy. That’s broken up as Cody powerslams him down and slaps on the Figure Four so we can hit the WOOing. Sammy makes the rope so Cody kicks him down again and does some pushups, setting up a springboard cutter/Stunner for two. Sammy is right back with a slingshot cutter for two of his own.

Cody sends him outside as well though and nails a suicide dive….which hits both Brandi and Sammy. Thankfully Brandi isn’t knocked cold and gets in a shoe to Sammy’s head, setting up Cody’s Disaster Kick for two. To mix it up a bit, Cody takes it to the top rope for a reverse superplex for two more. They head up again with Sammy hitting a super Spanish Fly, only to have a shooting star hit raised knees so Cody can small package him for the pin at 11:52.

Rating: C+. They were clearly jazzed to be on a big show and you knew Cody was winning here to set up his World Title shot at the next pay per view. The spots were good here and Sammy was fine for a villain here. They didn’t need to do anything more than get through a fast paced match here and that’s what they did. Nice first match with Cody playing the face role well.

Post match Cody has something to say but Sammy stops him for a tense handshake. Cue Jericho to jump him from behind and hit a Codebreaker as we take a break, albeit going split screen with Jericho beating him up even more during the commercial. Back with Jericho powerbombing him through some open chairs to really bang up the spine. Jericho declares himself the champion before leaving.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Brandon Cutler

Friedman has a mic on the way to the ring and insults the poor looking crowd, along with Cutler, who looks like a Dungeons and Dragon fan who got lost and needs to be back in his seat. We hear about Cutler being a big Dungeons and Dragons fan, with JR cutting the other two off as Cutler slaps Friedman in the face.

A shot to the throat gets Friedman out of trouble and he works on the arm while demanding Cutler tell his family that he’s a bum. Cutler gets fired up and sends him outside for a suicide dive but comes up favoring his knee. Back in and the knee doesn’t seem to be working so Friedman grabs his Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 2:45. That felt like a very sudden ending so maybe the injury was legit.

Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (as Jay and Silent Bob) are here to hype up their new movie, featuring Chris Jericho. Cue Angelico and Jack Evans to yell, so Jay makes fun of them for not being able to win a match. Private Party shows up with drinks for some laughter.

SCU is in Washington DC to announce that they will be in the tournament, with Scorpio Sky impersonating Barack Obama.

In the arena, SCU announces that it will be Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian representing the team in the tournament. Cue the Lucha Bros to say they’re the best team in the world, with Pentagon spitting water in Daniels’ face. The fight is on but security quickly breaks it up.

Pac vs. Adam Page

Make up match after Pac’s contractual issues over the summer. Joined in progress with JR promising a picture in picture commercial break next time. Pac slides back in and forearms away but a discus lariat turns him inside out. They head outside with Pac being sent into the barricade, followed by a fall away slam into a running shooting star press back inside. Pac is fine enough to knock him back to the floor for an Asai moonsault and Page’s head bangs off the ramp.

Page is a bit rocked as Pac puts him on top, only to elbow Pac in the face. A super fall away slam sets up a slam into a reverse flapjack (that’s a new one) for two. Pac whips him shoulder first into the post though and we take a break. Back with Page in trouble and Pac shouting a lot before walking into a spinebuster. Page gets two off a powerbomb but Pac kicks him low. The Red Arrow hits Page in the back and the Brutalizer is good for the knockout win at 13:00.

Rating: B-. I’m a little surprised by the result here as Page seems to have had the plug pulled out from underneath him. Pac is certainly a star and someone who could be a huge deal around here, though I didn’t think it would be at the expense of Page. It wasn’t clean though and a rematch wouldn’t shock me, nor would it annoy me in the slightest.

Women’s Title: Nyla Rose vs. Riho

For the inaugural title and Britt Baker is on commentary. After the Big Match Intros, Riho starts with some dropkicks but gets shouldered down without much impact. Riho knocks her down again and tries a double stomp to the back but Rose just sits up for the block. The STF goes on for a bit until Riho makes the rope to save herself. A running knee sends Rose outside but she’s fine enough to send Riho into the barricade.

The ref takes a chair away so Rose sends her into the barricade again and pulls out a bunch of chairs. She puts Riho on those chairs but the middle rope dive only hits the steel, allowing Riho to hit a double stomp off the apron. Another double stomp sets up a Bank Statement inside and we take a break.

Back with Riho in trouble and making the mistake of trying a backdrop. Some forearms are cut off by a kick to the face but Riho slips out of a powerbomb. A rollup gets a very close two and the fans aren’t pleased by the kickout. Rose’s Death Valley Driver gets two more and she goes up top, only to get caught with even more forearms. A northern lights superplex gives Riho two so she knees Riho in the face for the pin and the title at 13:27.

Rating: C+. Yeah I can’t say I’m surprised. The tiny newcomer beats the seemingly unstoppable monster in your metaphor of the night. The problem with Riho continues to be that her whole character is that she’s small. Rose continues to lose far more often than she should and that was the case here as well. The crowd got into it though and those near falls were quite good at times. Fine match, but it’s going to take some time to get into Riho.

Post match Michael Nakazawa comes in for the interview in Japanese but Rose comes in to jump them both and powerbomb Nakazawa. A Death Valley Driver on the apron is broken up but Kenny Omega makes the save.

Elite vs. Chris Jericho/Santana/Ortiz

Omega runs back to the stage for his entrance despite the lack of a commercial. Jericho starts against Omega but tags out to Santana before anything happens in an old but classic move. Omega kicks Santana’s knee out and tries his running Fameasser but has to settle for a bulldog as he overshoots it a bit. Jericho comes in for the chops and the Bucks have to break up the Walls with some superkicks.

Back with the Bucks in trouble and Santana/Ortiz hitting their assortment of splashes. Jericho misses the Lionsault to Nick but Ortiz breaks up the hot tag attempt. A cutter out of the corner sets up some rolling northern lights suplexes and the hot tag brings in Nick to clean house. Everything breaks down and it’s Matt taking a springboard Cannonball in the corner. The Judas Effect gives Jericho the pin at 13:20.

Rating: C. The Omega deal took things down a bit here and it felt like it just came and went. It was a good choice for a first main event as it showcased Santana and Ortiz and it’s not like losing to the World Champion is a bad thing. What we got here was good enough and it gave us a fine enough main event, even if the big angle came a bit early.

Post match the big brawl is on with Cody coming in for the save. Sammy Guevara comes in to kick him low so Dustin Rhodes is out for the save. Cue the debuting Jake Hager (Jack Swagger) to wreck Cody, Dustin and the Bucks. That means a WE THE PEOPLE chant as the villains stand tall together. A table is brought in and Dustin gets powerbombed onto (not through) it for the big OOH from the crowd. The Judas Effect leaves Cody laying to end the show. They did get the timing right to wrap it up this time around.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t what mattered here. The point of this was everything working well enough and the presentation feeling big overall. Everything looked great here and it felt like a WWE level show. There are a lot of things to work on still, but what we got was rather good. I want to see where things are going in the future and that’s a great sign for a first night.

That’s what matters the most here: it was the first night and the show worked well. Nothing was bad and they had a big moment with the title change. Nothing blew me away, which is actually a silver lining in a way. If you start with your biggest, best show ever, where can you go from there? They have room to improve, but what matters most is to keep things going. Very good start, now keep doing it and make it better.

Results

Cody b. Sammy Guevara – Small package

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Brandon Cutler – Fujiwara armbar

Pac b. Adam Page – Brutalizer

Riho b. Nyla Rose – Running knee to the face

Chris Jericho/Santana/Ortiz b. Kenny Omega/Young Bucks

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

All Out
Date: August 31, 2019
Location: Sears Center, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Alex Mendez

It’s time for the fourth AEW show and the final one before we get to the weekly TNT show. This show might not mean as much as the other shows as it is all leading up to October, but the World Title will be decided for the first time. We should be in for a good show, but they have a hard one to follow after Takeover this afternoon. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Casino Battle Royal

So it’s twenty one women in four groups of five with each group named after a card suit. Then there is a twenty first entrant with the Joker. The winner is in the Women’s Title match at the first TNT show. The Clubs (Nyla Rose, Faby Apache, Leva Bates, Shalanda Royal, Priscilla Kelly) start things off and it’s Rose cleaning house. Peter Avalon (Bates’ fellow librarian) offers Bates some books to stand on but Rose tosses everyone with almost no effort, plus Peter for a bonus.

The Diamonds (Britt Baker, Penelope Ford, Sadie Gibbs, Shazza McKenzie, Big Swoll) come in next with Ford hitting a handspring elbow on Rose as the ganging up….is broken up in just a few seconds. Baker pulls Shazza out for an elimination, leaving Rose to chokeslam Baker and Gibbs at the same time, leaving Swoll for a showdown. Rose isn’t having any of this and puts Swoll on the apron, setting up a Rock Bottom onto the apron for the elimination. A hard German suplex drops Ford as the countdown clock ends and….no one is here at the moment.

Ford is out as the Spades (Tenille Dashwood, Ivelisse, Bea Priestly, Brandi Rhodes and Awesome Kong) come out. Baker jumps Priestly in the aisle and it’s Ivelisse hurricanranaing Gibbs down. Dashwood butterfly suplexes Ivelisse into Gibbs in the corner, setting up Taste of Tenille to both of them. Brandi orders Kong to start cleaning house but Rose gets back in as a group of people go after Kong. Brandi’s Stunner takes Rose down as Kong picks up Ivelisse to use as a weapon.

Dashwood and Ivelisse are out and here are the Hearts (Allie, Nicole Savoy, Teal Piper, ODB and the bald Jazz). Allie goes straight after Brandi and it’s Savoy squaring off with Kong, who whips her into the ropes so Savoy can hit a big suicide dive. Piper pokes ODB in the eyes and grabs the sleeper but Kong breaks it up. Rose dumps Savoy and Kong tosses Piper through the ropes (no elimination), setting up the big monster showdown.

Jazz breaks that up and ODB joins them for the four way brawl. Kong and Jazz are eliminated as Mercedes Martinez is the Joker and the final entrant. Martinez starts suplexing everyone in sight and it’s a curb stomp to Priestly. Allie gets up and starts cleaning house but Rose knocks her out. It seems that we’re down to Rose, Gibbs, Martinez, Priestly and Baker, plus anyone on the floor. Gibbs gorilla presses Priestly but gets tossed a second later and we’re down to four.

A Sling Blade lets Baker put Martinez down and it’s time to double team Rose. Priestly tries to dump both of them but saves Rose in the process. Baker superkicks Martinez out but Rose survives a double toss attempt. Rose manages a cartwheel kick on the apron so Baker hits a Canadian Destroyer on Priestly. One heck of a forearm gets rid of Priestly and Rose dumps Baker (with an assist from Priestly) for the win at 20:41.

Rating: D. I really don’t care for this concept as it’s either the groups not coming out when the buzzer sounds or trying to keep track of who all is in there. At least they didn’t do the stupid “OH LOOK SOMEONE IS SNEAKING BACK IN!” but it’s still not a great concept. If you want to do a battle royal then do a battle royal, but the casino/gambling thing only really works in Las Vegas.

Pre-Show: Private Party vs. Jack Evans/Angelico

Isaiah Kassidy starts things off with Angelico and they waste no time in flipping around. Kassidy takes him down and starts dancing so it’s off to Marq Quen vs. Evans, with the former taking over in a hurry. Evans gets in a shot to the face on Quen though and the villains (or the closest things we have to villains in this match) take over. A guillotine choke has Quen reaching for the ropes as we already get the five minute announcement.

That’s broken up so it’s Kassidy coming back in to clean house, including the big dive onto Angelico. Back in and a slingshot splash gets two on Evans. A camel clutch into a leap frog double stomp to the back of the head plants Evans, followed by Kassidy flipping over a standing Quen and then flipping back into a tornado DDT on Angelico. An assisted Sliced Bread hits Evans and Kassidy nails a bit running flip dive to the floor.

Quen hits a great looking shooting star press but Evans is back in to suplex Kassidy off the top. A kick to the face and an assisted 450 gets two on Kassidy as we hit five minutes left. Everything breaks down and it’s a series of hurricanranas to Evans and Angelico, setting up another hurricanrana into a cutter to finish Evans at 11:14.

Rating: C+. Yeah it was a moves match but Private Party continues to look great. That’s the kind of thing that AEW needs: some teams (or acts in general) who can come in and be more original stars. Private Party has been around the indies for a good while but now they’re getting their first national exposure and they look like hidden gems.

Post match Evans and Angelico jump Private Party and wreck Quen’s knee as the fans are not pleased.

Some kids from a charity sing the Star Spangled Banner.

The opening video looks at just about every match on the show tonight in a well produced package.

The announcers preview the card again.

SoCal Uncensored vs. A Small Boy/A Boy And His Dinosaur

SCU does their usual stuff before the match with Daniels talking about how they were All In last year and now it’s a new deck and a new dealer. Jungle Boy and Kazarian start things off with neither being able to get anywhere, meaning they flip to a standoff. Daniels comes in for an STO to put Jungle Boy down but he’s right back up with a springboard armdrag. Luchasaurus comes in and it’s a series of kicks to take Daniels down, with the fans being WAY into the dinosaur.

It’s off to Stunt for a running dropkick and the required Floss Dance, setting up the even more required suicide dive. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus hit their own dives and we settle down to Jungle Boy chopping and headlocking Daniels. A blind tag brings in Kazarian for a dropkick before it’s back to Daniels for a dance of his own. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Jungle Boy fights up and brings in Luchasaurus to kick away.

The chokeslam into a standing moonsault gets two on Kazarian and the fans are rather pleased. Stunt gets tossed into a tornado DDT on Kazarian but Celebrity Rehab gets SCU out of trouble. A slingshot hurricanrana takes out Jungle Boy and Stunt, followed by Sky’s big flip dive onto Luchasaurus. The Best Meltzer Ever finishes Stunt at 11:58.

Rating: C. The Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy stuff is awesome as they work perfectly well together but Stunt….yeah it’s too much. Even Rey Mysterio is bigger than he is and that’s as much of a stretch as you can get. It’s like forcing a comedy act in there but they don’t really treat it as comedy. Sometimes its ok to not try for every smile possible and just have a good match without something like that. A Boy and His Dinosaur are awesome on their own so don’t mess with it any more.

Kenny Omega vs. Pac

They circle each other to start and the fans seem to be more behind Omega. Pac drops down and Kenny walks over his back for a bit of taunting. They take turns shoving each other in the face and the 205 chants begin. Omega sends him outside and tries the dive but Pac is waiting on him with a kick to the ribs. A whip into the barricade staggers Pac but he’s fine enough to drive Omega back first into the barricade as well.

The choking against the barricade continues, followed by a great looking dropkick to put Omega down again. Omega fights out of a chinlock in a hurry before sending him outside. That means a suicide dive to take Pack out but Omega comes up holding his ankle. As long as it’s not the V Trigger knee, he still has 89% of his offense. Back in and the ankle is fine enough for a missile dropkick to the back of the head and a fisherman’s buster gets two.

The Regal Roll connects but Pac rolls away before the middle rope moonsault can connect. Pac spikes him with a DDT for two but it’s too early for the Black Arrow. Instead Pac moonsaults to the floor, with his leg crashing into the barricade. Back in and a 450 gives Pac two, followed by Omega’s spinebuster for the same. Something like a fisherman’s buster onto the knee sets up the first V Trigger. The One Winged Angel is broken up so Omega settles for a bridging German suplex instead.

Pac is back up with a slingshot cutter and a snap German suplex of his own. The Snapdragon sets up Omega’s second V Trigger for two, followed by the third to stagger Pac some more. Pac hits something like a reverse hurricanrana but gets caught in a fireman’s carry. Before Omega can throw him anywhere though, Pac reverses into the Brutalizer (standing Rings of Saturn) to knock Omega out for the win at 23:14.

Rating: B-. Almost every Omega criticism is right here: longer than it needed to be, little building to anything and even less selling. It’s a bunch of spots and shots to the head with both of them popping right back up. I’m sure Omega will go on a winning streak and win the title eventually and that’s acceptable, but it’s the kind of thing that you know is coming at the end of the day. The idea here was that Omega isn’t what he’s capable of being and his “heart isn’t in AEW” yet so I’m sure he’s going to get a big featured story.

Darby Allin vs. Joey Janela vs. Jimmy Havoc

This is the Cracker Barrel Clash as we have a sponsored match. They go straight for the weapons and it’s time for the staple gun. Jimmy uses it on himself and it’s time to head outside with Jimmy getting taped into a chair. Joey puts thumbtacks in Jimmy’s mouth and tapes it shut as well, leaving Joey vs. Darby inside. A flipping Stunner takes Joey down but Darby would rather flip dive onto Jimmy, who begs him to do it.

The fight heads outside with Joey busting out weapons of his own, including a tennis racket, which he throws away (hilarious you see). Jimmy chops Joey down and gives him the paper cuts between the fingers. A monkey flip sends Joey flying but he lands in the chair, only to get a paper cut in the mouth. Joey brainbusters Jimmy through a chair and hits a running Canadian Destroyer to send Darby through a table in a nasty crash. Back up and Jimmy goes for a moonsault to the floor….with absolutely no one there to catch him.

Jimmy was down a few feet away but that looked Joey was trying to hurt himself. Since Joey has been crushed, Jimmy throws a plate of biscuits at him and then brings some barrels to the ring. Darby is back in with a skateboard covered in tacks, which he double stomps onto Joey’s back.

Darby throws Havoc at the steps and puts him on them….before grabbing a barrel. The Coffin Drop, with a barrel on Darby’s back, only hits steps as JR declares this insanity. Back in and Joey drops a top rope elbow for two on Jimmy. Another barrel is brought in and Havoc superplexes Joey….well his foot went through it at least. The Acid Rainmaker through the barrel finishes Janela to give Havoc the pin at 14:40.

Rating: D+. I didn’t hate this, mainly because they kept this in one match by itself instead of putting it in some big match that means something. Some of the stuff involved here was so ridiculous that it’s almost impossible to not smile a bit. There’s nothing more than freak show appeal here and some of it was so goofy that it was entertaining. Not the worst, with the biscuits being amusing and Cornette’s response to the tennis racket thing will be worth it alone.

Dark Order vs. Best Friends

The winners get a first round bye in the Tag Team Title tournament. Chuck can’t do much with Stu to start so everything breaks down in a hurry with the Friends cleaning house for the hug. We get a SPOOKY PERVERTS chant (JR: “That’s another t-shirt!”) after what the Best Friends have dubbed the Dark Order.

We settle down to the Order taking over on Trent with a side slam/knee drop combination for two. Grayson hits some knees to the ribs to keep Trent in trouble and it’s a slingshot hilo to the apron as Uno comes back in. A running clothesline isn’t enough for Trent to get over for the tag though as Uno brings him back to the wrong corner. Grayson pulls Chuck off the apron to break up a tag in another classic move. The beating continues, including something like Chasing the Dragon.

Trent gets in a tornado DDT and there’s the hot tag to Chuck so house can be cleaned. The Friends are right back into it Sliced Bread from Chuck, followed by a toss 3D for two on Grayson. That’s not cool with Uno, who comes right back in to toss Trent to the floor. A top rope backsplash gets two on Trent, as does Grayson’s 450. Chuck is back in though and house is cleaned, including Soul Food into a half and half suplex on Grayson. The Awful Waffle hits Uno but the Creepers (Order’s minions) beat up Chuck. The Fatality finishes Trent at 14:43.

Rating: C-. Yeah next please. I don’t like either of these teams and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. They’re not very interesting with the Best Friends coming off like they’re just goofing off and the Dark Order looking like cosplay evil wrestlers. Not a bad match, but a match I was wanting to wrap up in a hurry.

Post match the Creepers go after Trent but Orange Cassidy comes in for the save without ever taking his hands out of his pockets, as is his custom.

Hikaru Shida vs. Riho

The winner gets Nyla Rose for the Women’s Title on the first TNT show. The much smaller Riho slugs away to start but gets cut off by a knee lift. Shida knees her again and grabs a half crab with Riho being bent way too far back. Somehow that doesn’t break Riho in half so Shida sticks with the power by throwing Riho around some more.

A superplex is broken up though with Shida being sent down to the apron for a top rope double stomp. Back up and Shida goes for a Stretch Muffler but Riho makes the rope. With JR demanding separation, Shida pulls her away from the rope and bends the knee around some more. Riho escapes and hits a double stomp but can’t follow up. Shida’s running knee to the arms over Riho’s face gets two and frustration is setting in.

Riho grabs the leg to slow Shida down and it’s a northern lights suplex to drop Shida. A missed kick in the corner sets up the Alberto double stomp on Shida, followed by running knees for two. Shida is right back up with a fireman’s carry backbreaker for two and Shida is ready for a rollup. The second attempt works for Riho and puts Shida away at 13:14.

Rating: C. Again: next please. I know there is a reason for these things but it’s not clicking and seeing Riho vs. Rose is about the least most interesting combination they could go with for the first title match. There are so many interesting names on the roster and they pick these two for the best options? I get why with both of them, but it’s really not worth seeing.

We recap Cody vs. Shawn Spears. Cody brought Spears in and said he was a good hand who could become a player/coach. Spears didn’t like that and hit Cody with a chair to bust him open, plus got Tully Blanchard as a manager. This one is personal.

Cody vs. Shawn Spears

Shawn has Tully Blanchard in his corner but Cody counters with Pharaoh (who does not look happy about appearing), Brandi, Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Diamond Dallas Page in Star Trek gear. Only MJF stays and I think you know where this is going. Cody dives onto Spears before the bell and the fight heads into the crowd early on. They head back inside for the opening bell and go right back to the floor with Tully grabbing Cody’s arm so Spears can get in a low blow.

Back in and Cody shrugs off some chops but a suicide dive is knocked away because Spears saw it coming on the screen. That’s a nice touch that you don’t see very often. Back in and Spears hammers away with left hands to the head. Cody gets in the Dustin uppercut but misses a charge into the post. A hanging DDT onto the apron rocks Cody and it’s time for the weight belt.

Earl Hebner isn’t letting that happen though and yells, but the distraction lets Tully slip in a regular belt to beat on Cody again. Cody no sells a belt shot to the head and the beatdown is on. A springboard cutter into an Alabama Slam makes it even worse for Spears and it’s time for the leg. The Figure Four is applied but Spears turns it over, with an assist from Tully. They head outside with Cody getting dropped on the ramp, only to have MJF drag Cody back towards the ring.

Rating: C+. This was a bit better than I was expecting but as tends to be the case in a Cody match, it was too much stuff going on and the show was hurt as a result. Spears was good enough as a heel, though it feels like MJF is the real big bad for Cody later on. It was fine, though the show is starting to run long and it’s hurting things a bit.

Post match MJF teases a chair shot to Cody but hugs him instead.

We recap the ladder match. The Young Bucks and the Lucha Bros have fought a bunch of times and now they’re fighting in a ladder match for the final win.

AAA Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks

The Bros are defending in a ladder match and the Bucks are in deer masks (bucks you see) Thankfully they come off after the bell as I have enough trouble remembering which is which in the first place. Pentagon breaks up a very early Meltzer Driver attempt and the Bucks are sent outside early on. A ladder shot breaks up a Bros dive and the Bucks start the kicking. Fenix is right back up with a springboard flip dive over a ladder to take everyone down.

Back in and Nick and Fenix springboard onto the ladder but get taken down with rolling cutters. Since we’re doing the “we know each other so well” sequences, it’s a pair of spears to put Nick and Fenix through tables at ringside. That leaves Pentagon to kick Matt in the leg but Matt sends him outside for a flip dive. Back in and Nick rolls some northern lights suplexes on Pentagon but Fenix is back up with a springboard hurricanrana to send Nick into a ladder.

The Bros springboard off the ropes and then off the ladder to take out both Bucks. Another ladder is brought in but Nick gorilla presses Fenix and spears Pentagon down. Nick springboards onto the ladder, which is nowhere near the belts, but gets it turned over. That’s fine with Nick, who springboards off the top to take Pentagon down outside. Fenix’s springboard moonsaults takes Nick down so it’s Pentagon and Matt fighting on top of the ladder.

A super Sling Blade brings Matt off the ladder and it’s Pentagon going outside. That means a suicide dive from Nick, leaving Fenix to hit a Canadian Destroyer on Matt. A table is brought in as JR talks about barbecue sauce. Just because we need one, Pentagon hits a Canadian Destroyer off the ladder to drive Matt through the table and everyone is pretty much dead.

With the other two down, Nick and Fenix put them on tables and climb ladders at opposite sides of the ring. They shout at each other and there are the big dives through their brothers so everyone is down again. Nick and Fenix fight over another ladder until Nick dives over it for a tornado DDT. Two tables are set up at ringside but Nick has to superkick Fenix to prevent a climb. Since back to back huge moves don’t keep you down long, Matt is back in with a Crossface on Pentagon but lets go to cut Fenix off again.

Nick is alone on top so he teases a dive, allowing Pentagon to superkick Matt and then shove the ladder over, sending Nick through the tables. Matt and Pentagon go up with Matt taking off the mask, but Fenix kicks the ladder out for the bigger crash. Pentagon has the mask back on and it’s a spike Fear Factor onto the bridged ladder to kill Matt dead. The Bros FINALLY get the titles for the win at 24:06.

Rating: B. It was a complete stunt show spot fest and that’s all it was trying to be. There was no storytelling and nothing in the way of psychology as everything was one spot after another. Now in this case, that’s what it was supposed to be and in that sense it worked well. Now at the same time, it went on longer than it should have this late in a show and there were way too many instances of the teams having a chance to go up and then doing a spot instead.

Post match some masked men come in and beat down the Lucha Bros. The Bucks get laid out as well and it’s Santana and Ortiz, formerly known as LAX. Their matches with the Bros in Impact were awesome so I’m more than good with that.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Adam Page. Jericho beat Kenny Omega and Page won a battle royal to earn their spots here, then Jericho busted him open to make things personal. Tonight it’s for the inaugural title.

AEW World Title: Adam Page vs. Chris Jericho

The title is vacant coming in and Page rides in on a horse. We get Big Match Intros and an introduction from the referee to stretch things out even more. Page drives him into the corner to start and it’s an early clean break. A fall away slam and a clothesline put Jericho on the floor but he’s right back in with a middle rope dropkick.

The Liontamer attempt is broken up so Page sends him outside for a suicide dive. A top rope clothesline gives Page two and he ducks the triangle dropkick. The shooting star off the apron is blocked though and Page is down on the floor. Jericho knocks him off the barricade for a big crash with Page’s elbow banging into the barricade. Back in and Jericho bends the arm around the rope, followed by a backsplash for two.

Page fights back up with some strikes and a sliding lariat. The middle rope Russian legsweep gets two but a piledriver attempt is countered into the Walls to put Page in real trouble. That’s broken up and a discus punch busts Jericho open. Page slowly throws him back in, yells at the referee, and then punches Jericho down.

As JR asks if Jericho has enough soldiers in his tank, Page hits a super swinging neckbreaker, followed by the Buckshot Lariat. The Deadeye is countered into the Walls again but Page gets out one more time. Jericho is sent outside and Page’s top rope moonsault….somewhat connects.

Another Buckshot Lariat is countered into the Codebreaker (cool) for two and they’re both down again. Page gets back up but the running shooting star hits knees. The Deadeye is countered into a sunset flip but another attempt plants Jericho….for two. Another Buckshot Lariat misses and the Judas Effect gives Jericho the pin and the title at 26:23.

Rating: C+. It was a perfectly watchable match but it went on too long and the fans were just done by the end. Jericho winning was pretty clear about halfway through (at the latest) and while it makes sense to have the World Title (especially the first one) go longer than anything else, it came after a very long show. Jericho isn’t likely to hold the title for a long time but he’s the right call for the first champion.

Page is crushed as Jericho poses with the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. These shows have got to be shortened a bit as the length is their biggest problem. Eventually you’re two and a half hours in and looking at the clock because the show just keeps going with one long match after another. What we got was mostly good and it set up some stuff for later but my goodness it felt every bit of those five hours.

They need to shorten a few matches (it’s ok to have something go seven or eight minutes) and do something in between them every now and then, just for the sake of a breather. Having it be two hours a week will help, but these pay per views have got to pick up the pace a bit. This didn’t change a lot and I wouldn’t say it built up any real momentum for them, but I’m really not as interested in the promotion as I used to be. I hope TV helps them with that, because their spark isn’t going to last forever with these five hour shows that aren’t exactly burning the house down.

Results

SoCal Uncensored b. A Small Boy/A Boy And His Dinosaur – Best Meltzer Ever to Stunt

Pac b. Kenny Omega – Brutalizer

Jimmy Havoc b. Joey Janela and Darby Allin – Acid Rainmaker through a barrel to Janela

Dark Order b. Best Friends – Fatality to Barreta

Riho b. Hikaru Shida – Rollup

Cody b. Shawn Spears – Cross Rhodes

Lucha Bros b. Young Bucks – Bros pulled down the titles

Chris Jericho b. Adam Page – Judas Effect

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: AEW

Fight For The Fallen
Date: July 13, 2019
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Alex Marvez, Jim Ross, Excalibur

The shows are starting to pick up the pace around here and that could be a good thing. What matters here is figuring out what works and what doesn’t work before the big TV launch in October, so hopefully they can get closer to that here. I’m not sure what to expect with what we’re getting but if the show is anything like the previous two, we should be good to go. Let’s get to it.

This is an outdoor show in an amphitheater, meaning it looks more like a play, albeit with some seats behind the ring as well. It’s a really cool setup actually.

Pre-Show: Peter Avalon vs. Sonny Kiss

Avalon is one of the Librarians and says that since this is a library….here’s Kiss to break it up. His entrance is a little more energetic, with some Jacksonville Jaguars cheerleaders and the Jaguars’ mascot for a lot of dancing. Kiss dances around a lot and headscissors Avalon down, meaning more dancing. A suplex gives Kiss two as the announcers talk about Avalon having some romantic interest in fellow librarian Leva Bates. That’s more of a backstory than we’ve gotten on them in two shows. Kiss gets sent outside with Bates slowly sending him back in. Excalibur: “That’s odd.”

Kiss gets in a kick to the head and an exploder suplex, followed by the twerksault (just go with it) for two. Hang on though as Bates offers a distraction so Avalon can roll him up for two. Fans: “READING SUCKS!” Just not the book that Cody put out this week right? Avalon misses a moonsault though and Kiss’s split legged crotch drop finishes Avalon at 5:08.

Rating: D+. You can get the idea of the gimmicks a bit better here, but the match just wasn’t very good. Kiss’ dancing and stuff will get the fans energized to start things off so that’s fine, but the Librarians deal….I’m still not sure what that is supposed to be. Reading is now a heel action? Seriously? Not a good match either, but it got the fans going a bit more.

Pre-Show: Britt Baker/Riho vs. Bea Priestly/Shoko Nakajima

Riho and Priestly (Will Ospreay’s girlfriend) are the Tokyo Joshi Pro and Stardom champions respectively. Baker takes Shoko to the mat to start but gets flipped back into a quickly broken leg hold. Shoko’s crawl between the legs is cut off by the tail so it’s a not great looking running dropkick to take Baker down. Priestly comes in to quite the reaction but Baker rolls her up for a fast one.

We get some miscommunication with Britt trying to tag Shoko before going over to tag Riho instead. Priestly slams the much smaller Riho down and there’s a Shayna Baszler style arm stomp. The Fujiwara armbar sends sends Riho’s feet onto the ropes as the announcers talk about common languages and laugh about it far too much. The arm work continues for a bit until Riho finally slips over and brings in Baker.

That’s fine with Shoko, who hits a DDT and missile dropkick, sending her right back into the corner. Riho is already back in and picks up the pace, setting up a weird looking 619 from Shoko (the side of one foot hit Riho in the face). Riho tries her own 619 but Priestly kicks her in the face. Baker comes in to take Priestly down and gets faceplanted for her efforts. Shoko and Riho slug it out until Priestly and Baker break it up. They drag their partners to the corner for a pair of tags and the fans gasp at Priestly vs. Baker, which isn’t quite as epic as they seem to think it is.

Baker sends her into the corner but Priestly runs the corner for a springboard….knee to the face? I think it was supposed to be a clothesline but the placement wasn’t quite right. A butterfly suplex gives Baker two as Shoko gets back in to throw her outside. The double suicide dive connects and Shoko’s top rope backsplash gives Priestly two. Riho’s running knee to the back of Baker’s head gets two but Riho hits a running knee to Shoko’s face. The northern lights suplex gives Riho two but Shoko snaps off a hurricanrana for the pin at 15:37.

Rating: B-. This would have been better off as a four way instead of a tag match as it was much more like singles matches which were going on at the same time (as commentary said). I’m still not feeling the women’s division just yet as it’s been a bunch of random matches and pairings so far. The wrestling has been good, but these matches have been mostly interchangeable.

Post match Baker and Priestly get into it again with their partners breaking it up.

The opening video looks at most of the card and does a great job making the matches feel important. There’s no tie into the name or purpose of the show, but that’s a bit of a serious place to go so early on.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Sammy Guevara/Shawn Spears vs. Jimmy Havoc/Darby Allin/Joey Janela

Allin has bad ribs from the Cody match. Friedman was mad at Spears for the post match chair shot on Cody at Fyter Fest, which the announcers do bring up during the entrances. Friedman starts with Janela and says Spears is about to see greatness. That earns him a hiptoss, which pleases Spears very much. Havoc comes in and bites the finger but gets reversed into a wristlock, much to the fans’ annoyance.

Guevara comes in to ask who the man is before chopping Janela in the corner. A springboard crossbody misses with the fans VERY into Janela. It’s back to Havoc, with Allin not being happy with not getting the tag. Guevara gets in a jumping knee to the face so it’s off to Allin for the very high angle springboard wristdrag (Humberto Carrillo does that as well and it looks great from both of them). Janela comes back in and the announcers reference the fight with Enzo Amore, which they almost have to do.

Spears knocks Janela off the apron and starts stomping away before handing it back to Guevara. The chinlock doesn’t work and it’s almost time for Friedman and Spears to get into a fight. Friedman even gives him the ten pose but switches to a double middle finger. Janela uses the distraction to knock Spears down, allowing Friedman to call Spears an idiot. Everything breaks down with Havoc hitting a top rope superplex to Spears, complete with stepping on his partners’ backs.

Allin comes in with a flip over the back into a Stunner (cool) for two on Guevara, who is right back up to knock Havoc outside. Guevara backflips to the floor and superkicks Janela before going back inside for a standing Spanish Fly for two on Allin. Janela plants Guevara with a Death Valley Driver onto the apron, leaving Allin to hit a springboard spinning crossbody on Friedman. It bangs up the bad ribs though and Spears hits running Death Valley Driver to finish Allin at 13:15.

Rating: B. Yeah this was fun but not just for the action. The most interesting part here was having the partners who didn’t like each other, which made things a lot different than you might have guessed. That’s a nice twist and something you don’t see very often without it being hammered into your head. The match was almost all action but still managed to advance some stories. Well done indeed.

Private Party is sitting at ringside when Alex Jebailey pops in. Security gets rid of him though, because it’s a private party. Eh I chuckled. Just don’t have him wrestle again.

Video on Allie vs. Brandi Rhodes, both of whom seem to have confidence issues but keep going because they will never quit.

Brandi Rhodes vs. Allie

Hold on though as here’s Awesome Kong for a distraction but Allie ducks the cheap shot and takes over to start. Brandi gets sent outside but Allie stops to stare at Kong, allowing Brandi to take over with a shot from behind. A low superkick gets two on Allie and Kong grabs the leg to cut off any comeback attempt. Brandi hits a German suplex for two but Allie is right back with a neckbreaker for the double knockdown. A sliding forearm and a bulldog give Allie two and she puts Brandi on top.

That’s countered into the Wade Barrett swinging superplex into the suplex for two more and they’re both down. Allie is up first with a running Death Valley Driver (same spot from the previous match) with Kong putting Brandi’s foot on the ropes for the save. The distraction doesn’t quite work as Allie grabs a dragon sleeper, so Kong offers another distraction, meaning the referee doesn’t see the tap. Allie lets go and Brandi hits the Bionic Spear (with the announcers mentioning that it’s because she has a plate in her shoulder, thank goodness) for the pin at 10:16.

Rating: C-. Not terrible at all here with Brandi’s pre-match vignette making the Kong factor that much better. Brandi isn’t the most polished wrestler in the world but she isn’t embarrassing herself whatsoever, which is all you can ask for from someone in her position. This was the storyline part of the division and I’m glad they’re keeping that away from the wrestling part on the preshow.

Post match Kong goes after Allie and loads up the Implant Buster, drawing out Aja Kong for the save. Awesome Kong backs away from the staredown and Aja helps Allie up.

The announcers have a rather nice talk about the brothers vs. brothers match.

Dark Order vs. Angelico/Jack Evans vs. Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus

The winners get a shot at a bye at All Out. The Dark Order have the Creepers (JR: “Jeepers!”) but they go to the back before the bell. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus have Marko Stunt with them and you can hear Jim Cornette losing it from here. Grayson drives Evans into the corner to start and snaps off a northern lights suplex to keep Evans in trouble. Angelico comes in and hammers at the jaw but gets dropkicked in the face for his efforts.

It’s Uno coming in to bite Angelico’s ear so Jungle Boy comes in for an Arabian armdrag. A neckbreaker gets Uno out of trouble but he stops to pose, allowing the tag to Luchasaurus for the monster staredown. Uno tags Angelico, who tags Evans from the apron. Evans fires himself up and is chopped right back down, followed by the big toss from Luchasaurus. A nasty wheelbarrow suplex sends Evans flying and Jungle Boy knees him into the Order’s corner.

Grayson comes in and shoves Jungle Boy into the ropes with Uno low bridging him to the floor. Back in and the Order stomp on Jungle Boy in the corner with JR wanting the referee to get involved. Jungle Boy fights back but Grayson is right there to pull Angelico and Evans off the apron. Uno’s top rope backsplash gets two but Jungle Boy is right there with a slingshot spear. The hot tag brings in Luchasaurus to kick away at the Order and chokeslam Evans over the top onto Angelico. Jungle Boy adds a shooting star onto the pile and the Tombstone Age (reverse powerbomb) gets two on Grayson.

Angelico and Evans get back in with a springboard double stomp/belly to back suplex combination for two on Jungle Boy. The assisted 450 gets the same and there’s a Razor’s Edge buckle bomb to make it even worse. Marko breaks up the 630 though and hits a super hurricanrana, with the referee ejecting Marko as a result.

Instead of leaving, Luchasaurus launches Marko onto Angelico in a huge crash. Grayson is flipped into a powerbomb from Jungle Boy (cool finisher) for two with Uno making the save. Jungle Boy gets suplexed into Luchasaurus in the corner and Fatality (Gory Bomb/Diamond Dust combination) gives Uno the pin at 15:13.

Rating: C+. This went a little longer than it needed to and Angelico and Evans could have been cut without losing much. Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy is an oddball team but the big man/small man combination has worked for years and it can work well for them too. If nothing else, the more Luchasaurus I see the happier I am, though the same isn’t the case with the Dark Order, who didn’t really stand out aside from an awesome finisher.

Video on Adam Page, who seems to be the chosen one.

Adam Page vs. Kip Sabian

Feeling out process to start with Page grabbing a headlock and hitting a hard shoulder to put Kip down. Some chops have Sabian in more trouble and a clothesline puts him on the floor. Page seems to have tweaked his leg or knee though, allowing Sabian to springboard enziguri him down to the floor. The dive is blocked with a forearm though and a tabletop suplex gives Page two.

Sabian knocks him outside and gets in an argument with a fan, though Page can’t make a comeback. The springboard missile dropkick gives Sabian two and it’s off to a half nelson. Page fights up and hits an overhead belly to belly with Sabian bouncing on his head. They’re both down until Sabian is back up with a middle rope DDT for two and a knee to the face. The slugout goes to Page though and a discus lariat turns Sabian inside out.

Back up and Sabian misses a stomp, allowing Page to belly to back suplex him onto the apron. Page hits a moonsault out to the floor but there goes the knee, with Page writhing in pain. The knee is fine enough for Page to hit a toss powerbomb to send Sabian over the top and onto the ramp for a heck of a crash.

Sabian slowly rolls back in to beat the count so Page takes him up top for a super swinging neckbreaker and another near fall. The Deadeye is broken up and Sabian bends the knee around the middle rope to put them both down as we have less than two minutes left. We hit the pinfall reversal sequence but Page reverses a sunset flip into the Deadeye for the pin at 19:04.

Rating: B-. Knee selling issues aside, Page looked like a star here as he came back from behind and won in the end with his finisher. Sabian looked great as well and that’s a very nice bonus in a match designed to make Page look like a star. It was good stuff and Page gets another win, so mission accomplished.

So Cal Uncensored vs. Lucha Bros

It’s Scorpio Sky/Kazarian for SCU here and we get their usual shtick before the match. Kazarian and Fenix start things off with the partners coming in early on for the big standoff. That means a double tag to Pentagon vs. Sky as the fans are split down the middle again. They stare each other down and pose a lot until Pentagon takes off the glove and throws it to the referee….who drops it. No worries though as she throws it back and tries again, this time for a catch.

The chop means it’s time to head to the floor as everything breaks down again, with Christopher Daniels taking one of the loudest chops I can remember in recent memory. Sky gets one of his own and the cringing is real with this one. Fenix misses a dive onto Daniels and hits his brother by mistake, leaving Daniels to hit an Arabian moonsault onto the floor. Daniels gets ejected (thank you) and it’s Fenix being taken back inside for an assisted wheelbarrow bomb from SCU.

Kazarian’s legdrop gets two and it’s back to Sky as Fenix is in trouble off a front facelock. Fenix manages to fight up and hit a pair of kicks Kazarian’s face, allowing the hot tag off to Pentagon. Sling Blades abound as everything breaks down, including more kicks to SCU’s heads. Kazarian is sat in the corner as Sky is tied in the Tree of Woe, allowing Fenix to flip Pentagon into the two of them at once.

Fenix and Kazarian head outside as Pentagon gets two on Sky. Everyone gets back inside with a top rope double stomp/Unprettier combination getting two on Pentagon. Not to be outdone, an assisted super DDT gets two on Fenix. Back up and Fenix rope walks into a double stomp to Sky’s back, followed by the Canadian Destroyer to give Pentagon two more. The double stomp/Fear Factor finishes Sky at 15:00.

Rating: B. This is the wild kind of tag match that the company seems to focus on. There’s nothing wrong with that either as the tag division has been one of the highlights of the first three shows. The Lucha Bros are one of the best teams around too so giving them their first win makes a lot of sense. I’m sure So Cal Uncensored is going to be fine in short order.

Post match Daniels comes back out but the Bros pull out a ladder to clean house. Pentagon grabs the mic and says they’re the best team in the world. As for the ladder, how about a rematch with the Young Bucks in a ladder match at All Out?

Kenny Omega vs. Cima

Feeling out process to start with an early armbar attempt sending Omega to the ropes. Omega’s sunset flip is broken up and Cima nails a double stomp to keep Omega in trouble early on. Something like a reverse Rings of Saturn has Omega reaching for the ropes again and things reset again. Omega hits a hard chop and a belly to back suplex for two and a hurricanrana puts Cima on the floor.

Cima dives back in and kicks Omega in the face to break up a dive attempt and a Perfect Driver gets two. A knee to the face rocks Cima though and Omega takes him up top. The super Snap Dragon is broken up as Cima climbs into an electric chair but spins down into a super sunset bomb to send Omega crashing. Omega is back up and goes for the leg with a kick to the thigh before stomping on it in the corner. A Regal Roll looks to set up a middle rope moonsault but Cima gets the knees up.

The regular Snap Dragon connects though but the One Winged Angle is broken up. That means a Backstabber to Omega and they’re both down again. It’s Cima up first with a dropkick to put Omega on the floor, where he pulls Cima down by the leg again. Omega goes over to the timekeeper’s table but Cima rams him into it, setting up a Meteora off the balcony to crush Omega.

They get back in as the fans keep booing and cheering as the big screen goes in and out. Back in and a pair of springboard Meteoras give Cima two but his super Codebreaker is countered into a buckle bomb. The V Trigger connects for two and it’s a second V Trigger to set up another failed One Winged Angel attempt. Cima rolls out of a powerbomb into a DDT, followed by another Meteora (and I thought the V Trigger was bad).

They head to the apron with Cima planting him down hard, drawing a YOU KILLED KENNY chant. Yet another Meteora gets yet another two and they strike it out again. Omega hits another V Trigger into the Tiger Driver 98 for two of his own. There’s another V Trigger (JR: “I could have sworn that was a knee to the head.”) and the One Winged Angel finishes Cima at 22:35.

Rating: B. They hit a lot of V Triggers (“But that makes sense for Omega!”) and a lot of Meteoras (“But that makes sense for Cima!”) and it was a hard hitting match, though it felt longer than it needed to be, which is a trend tonight. Omega continues to be the really awesome junk food of wrestling: the matches might not be the best constructed or highest quality, but dang they’re fun to watch.

Here’s Chris Jericho for his open mic promo. Jericho talks about having Page’s blood on his hands and asks if we can see it. He’s still looking for a thank you, but not from the fans here in Jerksonville. Jericho knows that the thank yous from the people here don’t matter so he’s going to get it every night by beating up the fans’ heroes one at a time. All Elite Wrestling is taking place because of him, including the TV show on TNT in October. Jericho watched the battle royal at Double Or Nothing very carefully and counted down the entrants until only Hangman Page was left.

Ever since then, Jericho has been sitting up worrying about facing the Hangman, but he’ll beat him for sure. That’s just another victory for the greatest of all time, but if he loses….it’s the beginning of the end of AEW and of Jericho’s career. Therefore, he has to beat the Hangman. Cue Page for the brawl with referees breaking it up. Page’s eye looks very nasty from earlier.

We recap the Young Bucks vs. Cody/Dustin Rhodes with Tony Schiavone and Jake Roberts of all people talking about how important it is and how the fans want to see it. That’s quite the interesting pair.

Cody/Dustin Rhodes vs. Young Bucks

Cody and Nick start things off with Nick kicking his hand away. Everything teases breaking down before Cody goes with a headlock to bring Nick over to Dustin. Now everything breaks down with Matt being knocked outside off a double clothesline. Back in and the Bucks start their double teaming, including a headscissors to Cody to set up an enziguri. Stereo dives to the floor drop Cody and Dustin and we get a mock hug.

We settle down to Matt working on Dustin’s arm and Nick adding the slingshot X Factor. A boot scrape lets Matt come back in for some shoulders in the corner, followed by a double dropkick. Nick pulls Cody off of the apron and teases taking the tag from Goldust, who does in fact tag him with a shot to the jaw. The distraction lets Goldust go up top for a spinning crossbody to both Bucks and NOW we get the hot tag to Cody.

That means a top rope moonsault of his own to Nick and a dive onto the ramp to take Matt down as well. It’s time for the weightlifting belt to Matt’s back, followed by a missed charge to send Matt shoulder first into the post. Dustin starts in on the arm with an armbar and a whip into the corner as this is dragging a good bit. Another whip sends Matt into the post again and it’s time to go to the floor for a whip into the barricade.

Back in and the Fujiwara armbar goes on but Matt finally fights up and brings in Nick to clean house. The clothesline/bulldog combination takes Cody and Dustin down, followed by a Backstabber out of the corner to Cody. The Bucks go with double sunset flips into a double Sharpshooter, which is broken up for a double Figure Four. That’s broken up with some rope grabs and quadruple lariats give us a four way knockdown. Fans: “THIS IS WRESTLING!” No. This is long and needs to end so JR and Dustin can go to bed.

Dustin gets up for some powerslams and an assisted Cross Rhodes plants Nick. Matt dives in for the save and it’s time for a double slugout. Double powerslams take the Bucks down again and the ref gets bumped at the same time. Stereo Shattered Dreams take the Bucks down for two each with the Bucks rolling outside.

Cody’s springboard dive is superkicked out of the air, leaving Dustin to hit some Flip Flop and Fly. Another superkick drops Dustin but he’s right back up with a Code Red for two. Cody comes back in and it’s a double superkick to the back of the head for two more. More superkicks connect so Nick can hit Cross Rhodes for two on Cody. The Meltzer Driver hits Cody for the pin at 31:34.

Rating: C-. This was a match that is going to be praised for how long it went but that’s all it was. It wasn’t bad, but there were far too many moments where I was looking at the clock and sighing because this just wouldn’t end. You could have easily cut ten or so minutes out of it and still had the same match, including the long arm work in the middle. Dustin and Cody just losing is a bit anticlimactic, but you knew the Bucks were the heavy favorites coming into this one.

Cody doesn’t know if they’re still on the air but you can’t counter program what AEW is doing. You can counter program some of them but you can’t counter program the love in this company. Kenny talks about how cool it is to make this kind of a donation but there is a bit of a conundrum. His signature line doesn’t seem appropriate right now, partially because it ends with him poking a finger gun in the air. Instead it’s adieu, but since we’re off the air, we’ll change it from BANG to BOING. JR can be heard asking if they’re clear as Kenny thanks the fans for coming out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling was good and the energy was high but this went WAY too long and it took away a lot of the positives about the show. That main event and the post match stuff were major hits to the evening and it didn’t do them any favors. It’s still an entertaining show, but for the first time I was thinking about how long it was and that’s not a good sign. These timing issues aren’t going to work on TNT and they need to fix them before we get there. Not a bad show by any means, but they have a lot of tightening up to do.

Results

Shawn Spears/Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Sammy Guevara b. Darby Allin/Jimmy Havoc/Joey Janela – Running Death Valley Driver to Allin

Brandi Rhodes b. Allie – Bionic Spear

Dark Order b. Luchasaurus/Jungle Boy and Angelico/Jack Evans – Fatality to Jungle Boy

Adam Page b. Kip Sabian – Deadeye

Lucha Bros b. So Cal Uncensored – Spike Fear Factor to Sky

Kenny Omega b. Cima – One Winged Angel

Young Bucks b. Cody/Dustin Rhodes – Meltzer Driver to Cody

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: AEW

Fyter Fest
Date: June 29, 2019
Location: Ocean Center, Daytona Beach, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Alex Marvez

We’re back for round two and things are already being shaken up a bit. This isn’t going to be anything like Double Or Nothing as this is taking place at a gaming festival. That’s going to mean a change in the way the audience reacts but at the moment, getting AEW wrestlers in the ring and in front of people is what matters most. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Best Friends vs. So Cal Uncensored vs. Private Party

The winners get into a match for a bye in the Tag Team Title tournament and it’s Kazarian/Sky for SCU. Trent shoulders Isaiah down to start and Chuck does the same. It’s off to Sky vs. Quen with the former hitting a rather spinning backbreaker. Trent comes in again and gets double teamed by SCU but Quen springboards in with a crossbody to Trent and Sky. That means some house cleaning and dancing, followed by a heck of a tornado DDT onto Chuck.

A big flip dive has the ring cleared as Private Party gets quite the showcase moment. SCU pulls Isaiah to the floor to take over and it’s the Best Friends taking over, including the hug (with the fans going nuts again). Trent’s northern lights suplex gets two on Cassidy and Chuck adds Soul Food. A spinning kick to the face drops Trent but since Quen is down, Cassidy has to dive over and bring in Kazarian instead.

Everything breaks down and Trent gets run over, setting up a gorgeous shooting star press to give Quen two. Chuck is back up with the short piledriver to Quen, setting up Trent’s sliding knee for two more. Quen gets put on top for a belly to back superplex but manages to land on his feet, setting up a super hurricanrana to send Trent into a cutter from Cassidy. Quen hits a big dive over the top onto Sky, leaving Trent to hit a knee to Cassidy’s face. Strong Zero gives the Friends the pin at 15:57.

Rating: B-. The sloppiness was high with this one but that has to be expected in a match built around spot after spot. They needed to trim things down a little bit here and the winners get a chance to get a bye in a tournament? Isn’t that overthinking things a bit? Finally, still no explanation on who these people are, who I’m supposed to cheer for or anything about them really. I know who they are, but what about the people trying this out for the first time? This shouldn’t be this hard. The action was very entertaining, but slow down and get some of the details right first.

Post match the Dark Order (the former Super Smash Bros) appear on screen to say the Best Friends will be their first. A snap of their fingers makes the lights go out. Back up and the minions are around three sides of the ring. Excalibur: “They are completely surrounded!” After establishing that we are apparently in a sitcom, the lights go out again and the minions disappear.

Leva Bates vs. Allie

Bates (formerly known as Blue Pants) is one of the Librarians and gets into a long shush-off with Peter Avalon (the other Librarian). She also rips on the fans for not reading enough but the fans shout that they can’t read. Is there some joke here from the webseries that is sailing over my head here?

Allie takes over to start and knocks Leva outside but Avalon trips Allie up. Back in and a fisherman’s buster gives Bates two, followed by a northern lights one for the same. The fans actually start a HOOKED ON PHONICS chant as Bates grabs the Rings of Saturn, complete with a shush as Allie is in trouble. That’s broken up but Allie gets dropkicked into the corner, setting up some slingshot knees to the chest.

Now it’s a READING RAINBOW chant as Allie makes her comeback with a neckbreaker and a sliding forearm in the corner. Bates gets in a Backstabber out of the corner and a Pedigree (with the camera missing the impact) gets two. Avalon tries to throw Bates a book but Allie intercepts it and hits the BSE for the pin at 8:50.

Rating: D+. This was every indy match you could imagine and the librarian deal got annoying in a hurry. Maybe I just don’t get the joke but it isn’t funny and I need a little better reason to boo someone because they don’t read. It was just a match and not exactly a great way to showcase the women’s division.

Alex Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa

Jebailey is the CEO of the gaming convention and not a wrestler. Therefore, this is a hardcore match. Before we get going, Nakazawa talks about an unspecified issue the two of them had last year and tricks Jebailey into telling him about a previous leg injury. Jebailey manages a hiptoss and grabs a waistlock so Nakazawa busts out the baby oil to escape. That makes Jebailey and the referee slip before they head outside, with Jebailey whipping Nakazawa into the barricade.

Back in and a gaming console to the back gives Jebailey two and it’s time to go up to the set. Nakazawa gets choked in a kiddie pool (part of the jokes about Fyre Fest and the “luxurious” accommodations being bad) but comes back with a pool float to the head. They go back to ringside where Nakazawa chokes with a GameCube controller and spears him off the apron through a table. Nakazawa lets him up at two and pulls out a thong, but Jebailey ties his arm into it.

Jebailey comes back with a SCARY German suplex that drops Nakazawa on top of his head. And now, a bag of…..some kind of button toys that I’m not familiar with is poured out on the mat. Nakazawa’s powerbomb is countered into a backdrop onto them but Nakazawa shoves the thong into the referee’s face. There’s no count for Jebailey’s Majistral cradle so it’s another thong shot to the face to give Nakazawa the rollup pin at 8:50.

Rating: F. Look back at what happened here, pick two things, and count those as the reasons for the rating.

Jon Moxley tells us to stay tuned because he’s going to show us who he is.

The opening video looks at how Double or Nothing started an empire and tonight it’s time to raise the game. Tonight it’s time to show us why AEW is here to stay.

The announcers run down part of the card.

Christopher Daniels vs. Cima

The announcers give us a bio on Daniels, because of all the people on this show, they think Daniels needs an explanation. Feeling out process to start until Daniels is sent outside for a baseball slide. Back in and a reverse Rings of Saturn has Daniels in trouble until a foot reaches the rope (with JR explaining why that is a break). A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker is broken up and Cima is sent outside with his back going into the barricade.

Back in and a running STO gets two and the Arabian moonsault sets up a Crossface. Daniels gets driven into the corner though and Cima hits a rolling palm strike. The Iconoclasm gets two but Daniels is right back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Angel’s Wings gets two but Cima kicks him in the head. A Liger Bomb sets up something like a fisherman’s driver for two more and Cima can’t believe the kickout. White Noise sets up a top rope Meteora to finish Daniels at 9:43.

Rating: C+. This was the highest quality match on the show so far and that isn’t surprising whatsoever. You had two veterans who know what they’re doing and were able to have a solid match with a story included. Cima winning makes sense as we heard about his upcoming match against Kenny Omega, making this a perfectly fine opener.

Yuka Sakazaki vs. Riho vs. Nyla Rose

Rose offers to shake hands to start but then jumps both of them, turning it into a handicap match early on. A double cover is escaped by a double bridge but Rose slams them both to set up a double camel clutch. That’s broken up and Sakazaki knocks them to the floor for a big dive (nearly losing her balance on the way up).

Back in and Sakazaki and Riho strike it out with Riho getting the better of things. Rose is back up so Riho knocks her into the ropes for a 619. Riho’s top rope double stomp keeps Rose down and a jumping version has Sakazaki down. Rose breaks up the cover and chokeslams Sakazaki for two. A suplex sends Sakazaki to the floor and Riho gets draped over the top.

Rose jumps to the top for a jumping knee to the head but misses a Swanton. Back up and Rose catches Riho’s high crossbody….and then catches Sakazaki at the same time for a VERY cool visual. Riho tries a top rope splash but hits knees, allowing Rose to fold her up with a German suplex. With Sakazaki down, Rose hits a Death Valley Driver for a delayed two on Riho. Rose loads up a powerbomb but gets rolled up to give Riho the surprise pin at 13:05.

Rating: B. They do realize that they have a pretty unique monster in Rose right? The match was a good bit better than I was expecting and once they got into their rhythm, it was a good showcase for all three. That’s a good thing too because they still did very little to tell us about the women or who they were. I get that they’re talented, but a few details wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Jungle Boy vs. Adam Page vs. Jimmy Havoc

Kip Sabian is on commentary and gets the winner of this, presumably at Fight For The Fallen. Before the match, Friedman grabs the mic to make fun of the crowd for being nerds who got shoved into lockers a lot. Friedman: “That mother of yours, whose basement you live in? She swallows.” Friedman used to love video games….and then he lost his virginity. Jungle Boy is carried to the ring on Luchasaurus’ shoulders, with the announcers dubbing them A Boy and His Dinosaur and the Jurassic Friends. Friedman and Page feel like they’re on a different planet here and that’s both a good and bad sign.

Havoc and Friedman head outside, leaving Page to kick Jungle Boy in the face. Jungle Boy snaps off a running hurricanrana but gets caught in Havoc’s Michinoku Driver. Friedman comes in to steal a rollup two but bails when Page is back up. A slingshot dive takes Friedman down, followed by Havoc’s running flip dive from the apron. Friedman teases a dive of his own but stops to make a rather rude gesture to the fans.

With everyone on the floor, Jungle Boy hits a very quick moonsault to take all three out. Back in and Jungle Boy powerbombs Friedman for two as everyone gets in again. The Tower of Doom sends Jungle Boy flying into Friedman Havoc’s Acid Rainmaker is broken up so Page hits a pop up powerbomb on Jungle Boy. Friedman and Page slug it out with Friedman taking out Page’s bad knee. A Sharpshooter (with a Bret Hart pose) is broken up and Page puts on his own version.

That’s broken up as well and Friedman hits a hanging piledriver for two. Jungle Boy makes the save but Havoc throws him onto Luchasaurus. Another hanging piledriver is broken up and Havoc gets two off a double stomp. The Acid Rainmaker is blocked with a poke to the eye and Page adds the Buckshot lariat to drop Havoc. Deadeye finishes Havoc at 9:52.

Rating: C. Page feels like the chosen one and while I’d bet on Jericho winning the title at All Out, they have something special with him going forward. Friedman’s promo before the match made him feel like the guy you want to see get destroyed and that’s a very valuable name to have. Jungle Boy and Havoc feel like pure gimmicks and while that’s not terrible, they don’t feel anywhere near as important.

We look at Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes from Double Or Nothing and the great post match promo that set up their tag match against the Young Bucks. Darby Allin respects Cody but promises to give him his first loss.

Cody vs. Darby Allin

Allin is a tortured soul who lost faith in humanity after his uncle was killed in a car wreck when he was five with Allin in the car. He even brings in a body bag with Cody 1-1 painted on it. Allin works on a hammerlock to start and backflips up off the escape. Cody grabs a headlock so Allin walks the ropes for a high angle armdrag to send Cody outside. Back in and Cody sends Allin hard into the corner for a nasty crash to the floor, leaving Cody to do the slow motion pushups.

Back in and Cody starts stomping away before sending Allin outside again. Allin grabs the arm to send it into the post but Cody is right back in control as Allin comes in again. Cody goes with a double underhook to keep Allin down before a release suplex drops Allin again. Another suplex is loaded up but Allin grabs the bad arm as he’s upside down for the escape.

A Fujiwara armbar stays on Cody’s arm so Cody gets outside, meaning it’s a fast suicide dive from Allin. Cody slams him onto the steps and adds his own suicide dive for good measure. Back in and Allin gets two off a Code Red before heading up, only to get pulled down with a reverse superplex. They head to the apron with Allin biting the hand to take Cody down.

Allin heads up top and tries the Coffin Drop (jumping straight backwards), landing square on the apron as Cody moves away. Back in and Cody puts him in the body bag and hits the Disaster Kick for two. The bag comes off and we have a minute left. Cody whips him with the weightlifting belt but Cross Rhodes is broken up. The second attempt connects for two but time runs out at 20:00.

Rating: B. I’m not sure on having Allin survive that long as taking a close loss here wouldn’t have hurt him, but this was the breakout performance that they were shooting for. Allin looked smart and completely capable of holding his own against a top name like Cody. Cut out the body bag part and this is even better. Well done match with the arm playing a major role for a good story. I’m impressed.

Post match Cody and Brandi want five more minutes but here’s Shawn Spears with a gruesome, no hands chair shot to Cody, who is busted open badly. Wrestlers, including Friedman, come out to chase Spears off. Cody very slowly walks to the back with some help. It’s a good moment, but I do not want to ever see a chair shot like that again. Period.

Lucha Bros/Laredo Kid vs. Young Bucks/Kenny Omega

The Bucks are in Street Fighter (I think?) gear and Omega lays out a man who runs up onto the stage for their entrance. I’m not a fighting game guy so I’m missing this one. Ring announcer Justin Roberts gets in a ROUND ONE FIGHT and it’s Nick working on a wristlock to Kid to start. The flips begin and both miss dropkicks to give us a standoff. Kid hits a springboard high crossbody for no cover as Nick gets up and spits in his face.

All six get in for a big standoff and it’s a trio of superkicks to send Kenny and the Bucks to the floor. An Asai moonsault and stereo running flip dives take them out again and the non-luchadors are in trouble. Back in and stereo superkicks to Nick set up a reverse hurricanrana from Kid. We settle down to Matt rolling northern lights suplexes on all three of them, including both Pentagon and Fenix at the same time.

Omega comes in to a big reaction and hits a backbreaker on Kid. The Terminator dive is loaded up but Pentagon cuts it off with CERO MIEDO. They slug it out with Omega hitting (or coming close to it) a sliding dropkick into the leg, followed by the running Fameasser. Matt comes back in for a German suplex on Kid and the series of top rope dives crush him for two. A spear accidentally hits Nick though and it’s off to Pentagon to pick up the pace.

That means a Backstabber to Omega to send him outside, followed by a running hurricanrana. Another spear allows the tag to Omega and it’s the snapdragon on Pentagon. Matt gets sent outside so Pentagon backdrops Fenix over the top and onto him for a huge crash. A super Spanish Fly plants Omega but Nick makes the save, only to take a running Canadian Destroyer from Pentagon. The Superkick Party is on but the luchadors hit superkicks of their own.

Not to be outdone, Omega and the Bucks hit Hadoukens, followed by a triple Liger Bomb for two each. The Bucks start their usual series but Pentagon hits a Sling Blade to take Nick down on the floor. Omega nails Kid with the V Trigger but Fenix cuts him off with a cutter. Matt gives Fenix a cutter of his own and that means a Meltzer Driver on the floor. Since that would kill him though, Fenix dives in to make a save, leaving Omega to hit the Tiger Driver 98 for two on Kid. Another running knee sets up the One Winged Angel to finish Kid at 20:30.

Rating: B. Yeah it was good and athletic, albeit with most of the usual issues from the Bucks and Omega (though only two V Triggers, which is acceptable for once). You knew the Bucks weren’t going to lose because they almost never do, though at least the match was rather entertaining.

Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela

Anything goes and unsanctioned. They’re on the floor in a hurry and brawl into the crowd for a bit. Back to ringside and Janela posts him before going for the first table. Moxley comes back and grabs a chair, with Janela being slammed onto it. Since long term selling isn’t going to be a thing in this match, Janela is right back up and puts Moxley (with a bloody eyebrow) in the chair for a high crossbody. Moxley gets sent outside and finds a chair wrapped in barbed wire.

The chair is driven into Janela’s chest so the fans dub Moxley “YOU SICK F***!” Moxley takes a bow, which takes a little too long as Janela hurricanranas him onto the barbed wire. A chair shot to the back gets two on Moxley and another table is brought in. Janela doesn’t like that one though so it’s a Russian legsweep off the apron through the table at ringside. Back in and Moxley drives him through a table in the corner for no cover. Instead he loads up two more tables on the floor but Janela flips him off.

Moxley beats him up some more and it’s time for a barbed wire board. Janela is back with a running AA through the barbed wire though the table and let’s get a ladder. With Moxley on the table on the floor, Janela climbs the ladder in the ring and drops the big elbow. And now, it’s another barbed wire board (Goldenboy: “He’s got one too?”), with this one being bridged between the ring and the barricade.

That takes too long though and Moxley grabs a DDT, followed by an AA through the barbed wire board. It’s time for the thumbtacks but Moxley takes off Janela’s boots and socks. Janela saves himself so Moxley hits a release suplex onto the tacks instead. That’s not enough though and Moxley sends him feet first into the tacks to draw some screaming. Janela flips him off again so Moxley pulls out more tacks for the Paradigm Shift (Dirty Deeds) onto said tacks for the pin at 20:00.

Rating: D. Your individual tastes may vary but I’ve never been a fan of this kind of match. It’s violence for the sake of violence and that isn’t the most entertaining thing in the world. Moxley is capable of having a good match without this stuff but I guess he needed to prove something or other. It’s nowhere near as bad as some of the nonsense death match garbage, but it’s still nothing I needed to see.

Post match Omega runs out with a V Trigger to Moxley, who is laid on the pieces of table. A springboard double stomp crushes Moxley and Omega takes him up to the set. Omega uses some of the equipment for the band that never showed up, including a guitar shot to the back. Moxley isn’t going to be helped out so Omega runs back out with a trashcan to take Moxley out again. A Paradigm Shift to the trashcan leaves Moxley laying, but he smiles at Omega to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. There are a few factors here (the kind of show and the price among others) but this was another heck of a show. The action was good up and down the card and they were in and out in less than three hours. I could have gone without the chair shot to Cody (which is just dumb, dangerous and unnecessary) and some more character stuff early on, but I had a good time with this and never got bored. It’s a smart move to not have every event be the big time show as this won’t have near the expectations, making it feel that much better. Very good followup, if you ignore the awful preshow.

Results

Cima b. Christopher Daniels – Top rope Meteora

Riho b. Yuka Sakazaki and Nyla Rose – Rollup to Rose

Adam Page b. Jungle Boy, Jimmy Havoc and Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Deadeye to Havoc

Cody vs. Darby Allin went to a time limit draw

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks b. Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros – One Winged Angel to Laredo Kid

Jon Moxley b. Joey Janela – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6