Oh my fucking God!
Maki Itoh & Britt Baker vs Riho & Thunder Rosa
This was not very good. But I guess that's okay as it's a pre show match and just a showcase for Maki Itoh for the most part. She didn't look good but she seemed over so job done. **
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AEW World Tag Team Title Match: The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) (c) vs MJF & Chris Jericho
As the saying goes, put the Bucks in the opener and they'll have a banger of an opening match. This didn't do that though. It's an odd criticism to make but there wasn't much real drive to score the victory in this match. There were nearfalls, sure, but none of them were critical or nail biting. It was just two teams gelling together, doing their spots until it was time to go home. And again, that's an odd criticism because that's what wrestling is but it was so obvious that it took me out of the match completely. I liked a few bits like the Bucks starting off the match hot with fists and kicks but it then just turned into a usual tag team match. Some of the spots were nicely done like MJF's slobber spot and Nick Jackson hitting the Canadian Destroyer but otherwise, it was hard to get invested in. **1/2
Tag Team Casino Battle Royal
A bit more eventful than usual but I'm still not a fan of the sprint rumbles. There is no real drama to them. **
AEW Women's Title Match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs Ryo Mizunami
Easy MOTN upto this point. Now, the match isn't great and has some problems itself - a tad long and not totally compelling enough to be better than solid - but they worked hard and hit each other hard, most importantly. The nearfall were mostly well executed and not oversaturated so you still cared about the final blow. But the fighting spirit spots were so not earned. Those are the worst. **1/2
Miro & Kip Sabian v Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy
Short and purposeful. That's all I want from my wrestling. Miro looked like a total badass who was motivated and had no other intention than win, even using Penelope. He kicked Chuckie T’s ass and looked great doing it. Even when he sold for Orange Cassidy, who put in a good performance himself, he still looked great after being able to quickly recover and score the win. Great short match. ***
Matt Hardy vs Hangman Page
Both are pros so there wasn't a lot to pick apart in their work except the match layout. I haven't got a clue for why AEW decided it would be best to have a future world champion, someone they love, go toe to toe, not even that, against Matt Hardy who is far past his prime of 2007. Page didn't look like anything but a standard midcarder that's got some push. Page should've been squashing Hardy and taking out the Private Party by himself but they seem to insist that Page be partnered with the Dark Order. Whatever. **3/4
Brass Ring Ladder Match
How am I supposed to care about this? It's the same old multi-man match doing the same old, tiresome spots with generic, interchangeable wrestlers. Only Cody decided to play Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 22. That's the only difference between this and any other ladder match in recent memory. Change the matches up. Go back to basics instead of relying on the same inorganic spots. And okay, Ethan Page is in AEW. Great. Another fine midcarder who won't do anything to buck the trend. *
Sting & Darby vs Brian Cage & Ricky Starks
Well shit. I can handle this kind of match. The music, colour imagery and camera work definitely made this somewhat cinematic but it was essentially a broad, open version of a street fight taking place within a warehouse, keeping the very essence of wrestling. If you're going to do this seriously, unlike the Takeshita/Yoshihiko which was meant to be peak absurdity, then this is one of the best examples to show. The brawling was always interesting and snappy, utilising their surroundings really well. Sting looked good and well protected by taking very little bumps but still sold well for Starks and Cage, making them come off as viable threats. There were some great spots in this match too, like Cage carrying Darby up the stairs in the suplex position, although it's a bit silly in hindsight, and Darby’s huge drive into nothingness. There was a lot to like about this match. ***1/2
AEW World Title Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Jon Moxley
The main event got overshadowed by everything that took place after. It was a wet-fart. I'm all for little references to the main influences but a full blown homage to Funk/Onita was not necessary. Kingston running down to save a tied up Moxley would've been a touching moment in a vacuum but it came across as very inorganic and unearned to me. But what was truly unfortunate was Eddie Kingston having to sell like death for the all-time worst explosions. Let's get the jokes out of the way: Happy New Year! Sparklers! Cody's pyro was bigger than this! They all work. Embarrassing. The match was pretty good and worked in certain ways. While it lacked the drama that the best version of the match had, it built up to the explosions well enough. I did think their selling of the explosions was a little goofy and could've been done better both in the moment and as the match went on. The action got faster instead of the slow. You're being blown up, show some fatigue. The grand finale was a let down and the build wasn't great enough to stand out without a great climax. ***1/2
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