Wardlow vs. MJF
This is a squash, plain and simple. But it was one of those special ones that are fantastic to watch. Similar to Raven v Goldberg, this was a spectacle. Wardlow comes off like a huge star with this. Not only with the booking but his performance. His presence, his charisma, his personality was a treat and went to making this work just as much as the booking did.. MJF showed all his ass and took ten powerbombs while Wardlow reaped all the awards. Is MJF leaving? Is it all a work or a shoot? Who cares? Wardlow is All Elite! I’m all for giving Wardlow a push to the moon. ****
The Hardys (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
It’s clear as day that AEW decided to rush this match because of the fear that the Hardys aren’t (can’t) make it for the long run. And that’s fair considering the match. It was honestly fine but the Hardys clearly struggled at times. Jeff was struggling to get a firm foot on the top rope on a spot that he’s done for years. Matt looked slow and took a few hard falls. The Bucks can be nauseating to watch because they just leave me cold, bored and empty but I thought they constructed a match that was suitable for their opponents. The slow(ish) pace then allowed for their usual spots to breathe, which made each other much more effective for my eyes. Once they didn’t blow all their offence in the first five minutes, I could actually enjoy what they were doing in the ring. However, this went on for far too long. That’s a big criticism of the Bucks as well. Their matches, even the ones second from the opener, never goddamn end. **1/2
AEW TBS Title Match: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Anna Jay
This shouldn’t be on the show and the fans know it judging off the amount of people visibly left to go to the toilet. The match wasn’t really good either, so they didn’t miss anything. There were some communication and positioning problems to start with. Then there was so much shenanigans outside, debuts (two of them) in Athena, formerly Ember Moon (Yawn) and Stokely Hathaway, formerly Malcom Bivens (sweet). There was a lot to the match that had no real investment to it. *
Death Triangle (PAC, Penta Oscuro & Rey Fenix) vs. The House Of Black (Brody King, Buddy Matthews & Malakai Black)
Hate the House Of Black gimmick. Hate it. But if AEW has them just wrestle against good opponents, then they are a fun act to watch. Less spooky angles - like the finish - and more kick ass spotfests. Doing a play by play or picking out key spots seems a bit pointless. A lot happened, a ton of good, some dumb spots like two staredown spots that were needless but this was generally really good and worth going out of your way to see. ***1/2
Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament Final Match: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole
I’ve yet to see an Adam Cole match that’s taken place within AEW and today is not the day to change that.
Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament Final Match: Ruby Soho vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD
It seems like Britt has two gears. She can either look like she’s wrestling while under water or just be a typical average wrestler who’s over. Ruby is fine and can do better but the chemistry is rarely there with any Britt opponents and she isn’t on that list either. It was relatively clean and the crowd wasn’t totally dead like they were for the Revolution match. So there are positives. **
Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara & Tay Conti vs. Men Of The Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & Paige Van Zant (w/Dan Lambert)
Filler, filler, so much filler. And it’s not even good filler. This isn’t telling two good wrestlers, like the match that comes after this, to go out and have a good match. This was just bollocks. Utter crap. Unless the story was Conti and Guevara kissing, there was no story. That’s fine but there was no real key spot of the match either. It was either PVZ throwing Conti into Guevara’s groin, Kazarian noping out helping out the favourite couple and Conti audibly calling spots with a super green - a greener than freshly cut grass - Paige Van Zant. Just awful wrestling. I’m not being a grump. This wasn’t upto any good standard. *
Kyle O'Reilly vs. Darby Allin
This was fine.. Both work hard to craft a decent match when they’ve been left to floundering and create time for some basketball game to end. **1/2
AEW Women's World Title Match: Thunder Rosa (c) vs. Serena Deeb
I really enjoyed this match as it was not only technically driven but looked like an actual wrestling match unlike half the matches on the PPV. Now, the Cloverleaf was a bit embarrassing but the rest of the work was of a good standard. The match was never really able to create drama out of the submissions but the exchanges were cool enough to enjoy. Apparently the feud between these two was a bit of a flop but the match certainly delivered. Rosa works much better with Deeb than she does with Britt Baker and those types. Give Thunder Rosa more matches like this, please. ***1/2
Anarchy In The Arena Match: The Jericho Appreciation Society (Angelo Parker, Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager & Matt Menard) vs. The Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley), Eddie Kingston, Ortiz & Santana
This somewhat exceeded expectations, or perhaps it was more my interest levels, but I enjoyed most of this match. The crowd brawling was a ton of fun. The amount of wrestlers and things they were able to do meant that something was always happening and we could see the biggest spots of the match and not the tedious walk and brawl that would normally be done to set it all up. The music continuously playing and Jericho getting heat for cutting it off was a great moment in the match. I also loved Kingston and one of 2.0 (I can’t tell who is who) brawling in the concession stands. The mustard reminded me of the famous Tupelo Concession brawl. All those spots were good. The match simmered down a bit once it got to the ring and that’s where I stopped caring as much. Despite the ring ropes being removed and gasoline being brought in, the match didn’t have that same sense of chaos because no one was being set on fire.. Bryan defending against the JAS was okay but hardly his best work. Everyone was bloody but that didn’t really do much to add to the match, in my opinion. Although the Kingston memes are pretty enjoyable. This was a good match but I wouldn’t call it extraordinary. ***1/2
AEW World Tag Team Title Three Way Match: Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (c) vs. Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. Team Taz (Powerhouse Hobbs & Ricky Starks)
Jurassic Express are boring champions in a stagnated division and yet they win here. Okay. The match was fine enough. I think the 3-way tag at the last PPV was much better and a bit more memorable as well. One of the only memorable spots of the match for me was Ricky Starks trying to walk the ropes like Jinsei Shinzaki, with his own little twist, and Jungle Boy having none of it. The rest was a very predictable tag team match. ***
AEW World Title Match: Adam Page (c) vs. CM Punk
So CM Punk wins the AEW World Title. Good. It was time to put Punk on top of the card for a while now considering the title match was forgotten about over the Punk matches on the last PPV. Now there is no chance of that happening. The match flowed nicely incorporating some storytelling in with the match. The conflicted stuff was lame and there was some sloppiness when Punk did the Buckshot Lariat but the match was good. Perhaps a bit emotionless on my part but I can’t fault a match that’s just good. A tad worse than the Bryan series but better than Hangman’s title win against Omega. ***1/4
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