AEW International Title Match: Roderick Strong (c) vs. Will Ospreay
This started off with Taven and Bennett attacking Ospreay, hoping to give Strong the advantage. Ospreay outwitted them though and it wasn’t until they attempted a tope version of the doomsday advice, where Ospreay landed on his HEAD, that it worked. Strong took over briefly. Strong had some good chops and strikes but Ospreay took over once more, and then came the interference from Wardlow this time. Strong needs his buddies in order to hold Ospreay down. Then came the true meat of the match. Ospreay had a poor landing, which hurt his knee. And Strong went to work from there but the story of the match persisted. Ospreay was able to fight against it, catching Roddy with a powerbomb, They restart with the strike exchange. And then came the downfall of the match. I don’t mind a story match, but the whole “conflicted” arc is not only tiresome and never convincing (and I have no faith in Ospreay’s acting abilities), the angle never makes sense. The amount of moves Ospreay does, including moves that have also injured wrestlers like the hidden blade. And now he is conflicted about the tiger driver? Surface level bullshit. Then he and Roddy did a rushing sequence to a finish that no one will remember. Ospreay wins the title. Underwhelming. And MJF making his return and cutting a 10 minute promo afterwards made the win feel even more so. Match was fine, not great. Lacked Roddy being as good as he can be when in control, Ospreay didn’t do anything special. Finish was a joke. ***
AEW World Trios Title / ROH World Six Man Tag Team Title Match: Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn & Jay White) (c) vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (w/Alex Abrahantes)
A forgettable match. A comedown match following what just happened. **1/4
AEW Women's World Title Match: Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) (c) vs. Serena Deeb
I like Deeb in specific spots but this seemed ill-placed for her. She isn’t suited to PPV title matches. The crowd rarely cares for the women’s bouts and her technical style requires care and investment. Toni Storm is a mediocre wrestler who provides a low energy, boring style of her own. So it produced the expected outcome. It was slow in pace, a slog to watch and felt too long. Deeb tried with some heel work but this was very boring. I was bored. **
Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta
This felt like a match that would belong in 2021 AEW. But this felt passe and not that interesting. Trent’s injury sucked but he’s long past being big enough for PPVs. The match is a fine one. They put in some effort to sell the match, like the dark denim, Trent’s facial expressions, but this wasn’t all that compelling. The crowd wasn’t that loud for it either, only a little more than previous matches on the show. OC won like he should and Trent walked off all sad. This doesn’t do anything for me as a viewer. Sorry. **1/2
FTW Title Three Way Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hook
I didn’t expect much from this but then the dice came out and probably saved this match. It became a quasi comedy/hardcore match. It lost its appeal quickly but it was lively at least. **1/2
IWGP World Heavyweight Title Eliminator Match: Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita
The crowd continues to be low volume but this is an example of the match rising above that and producing good work in spite of it. Takeshita initially worked too slow of a pace for my liking but once he started to truly work on the arm, this got really great. Takeshita is someone you don’t have to worry about credible offence. He is probably one of the best at making his moves have impact. Moxley, to his credit, isn’t afraid of a bump or two which leads to something like the arm-wringer pull on the apron. A nasty move that could be an arm breaker on a different day. Moxley’s selling was good for the most part too. The match kind of lot me towards the end and the super man finish from Moxley wasn’t ideal but this was a good match. One of the better match so far. I’ll end this by saying that Takeshita shouldn’t have been booed in the match since he is contracted to DDT and there are politics that can’t be touched. ***1/4
AEW TNT Title Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match: Adam Copeland (c) vs. Malakai Black
It was kind of soulless with its empty symbolisms, lack of intensity and nonsense swerves and surprises but it’s insane and had some value as a viewer. I was a little bored but there are more boring matches on this show. And seeing Edge miss the mark on, what I assume is, a double footstomp entirely had me kicking and laughing. Gangrel showed up and took out the House of Black. Need I say more? This is a weird match but I perversely dug it. Reminds me of the makjang style of Korean dramas. Absurd but you can’t not watch it. **3/4
AEW TBS Title Match: Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Mone
I wasn’t entirely convinced that this would deliver. Mone didn’t impress me outside of WWE prior to this match. Willow is fine but can lose her grasp on matches easily. Both are sloppy but it turns out to be a good aspect of the match. Both portrayed the opposite sides of the face/heel spectrum. Mone was sneaky and cowardly while Willow strong, raw but sympathetic. They matched well together in that regard. Mone was up for the match too. I thought her early offence was poor but Willow turned out to be a good base for her technical moves and Mone could bump for Willow’s power moves. Mone wins and Willow gets turned on. The result was predictable but it was good. A good debut for Mone. ***1/4
AEW World Title Match: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Christian Cage
This was a fine match but it proved something vital. That Swerve isn’t ready for the AEW Title. This could be replaced as the world title match with a lot of the matches on the card. It didn’t feel big at all. Christian is a great utility player but Swerve is the champ. The onus is on him to make this feel like a must see match, and it wasn’t. It was a bland match with Christian working over Swerve, using interference and trickstry spots. Swerve isn't that compelling of a performer. He had a few decent moves but that doesn’t make a wrestler. From a story perspective, I see little issues with this but I wasn’t invested. **3/4
Anarchy In The Arena Match: FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood), Bryan Danielson & Darby Allin vs. The Elite (Jack Perry, Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson)
This was pretty much the perfect indictment of AEW as a whole. This was an overly confused match that went from one tone to another. This seems to be a comedic heavy bout with the music being played and then stopped and changed to something else. That was all fine but then they would switch to straight brawling, but then again switch to absurdist spots like a flame thrower. It was all incoherent and messy. It wasn’t totally unworthwhile and there were some aspects of the match that were enjoyable to an extent. But this wasn’t a good match. It didn’t make good use of people like Okada or Danielson, who went missing at one point. Then you add in the phantom hit and run with Jack Perry, the driver being knocked out. It fell flat as a narrative. And most of the spots felt tame even compared to the Copeland vs Black cage match earlier in the show. A misfire if there was one. **
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