Hi, something a bit different here but I wanted to write a slightly longer form review of this show than Twitter or Discord really encourage, mostly just for something to do with my Sunday.
So first of all, this was a great show, I'd need to look back at my notes but this is probably the best PPV I've seen this year, though it didn't quite hit the same level of exhilarating fun that Forbidden Door managed but then I don't think any show will do that again. There were obviously some duds that didn't help the show at all but they never affected my overall enjoyment too much and the peaks were so high that I'm not going to complain too much.
Trent Barreta, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, Orange Cassidy and Danhausen vs QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto, Cole Karter, Lee Johnson
This was fun enough, and makes sense as a way to kill time while you wait for fans to get to their seats, there was nothing super memorable going on until the finish, just your standard simple babyface vs heel tag until Danhausen made his return. Look, I'm never going to be a major Danhausen fan but he is still very over so using him in spots like this makes sense. Bringing in the jar of teeth and changing to a more serious character - well, as serious as a spooky skinny clown man can be - feels like a mis-step but it was a fine 10-minute pre-show match.
***
Ricky Starks vs Brian Cage
I'm enjoying seeing this side of Ricky as a bumping face in peril fighting through injuries, it feels like the best role to put him in for now. I'm still not fully convinced by him as a Top Guy but if he can keep up this level of performance long-term then I can get a lot more on board. I've also enjoyed seeing The Swoleverine back on TV, yeah he's really dumb in real life and also a massive geek but he looks cool as hell and has a big collection of wild moves so sticking him in random TV matches and letting him be good is always fun.
***1/2
Eddie Kingston vs Jun Akiyama
I missed some of this as I was having issues buying the show on Fite but it was still just as great as I expected. I'm never going to stop being happy for Eddie getting to wrestle his idols and "Eddie vs Japanese Veteran" is a winning formula for getting people fired up on the pre-show. Jun brought his working boots more than I expected and took some mad head drops, but then for a match dedicated to the King's Road style it couldn't be anything else.
****
"Jungle Boy" Jack Perry vs Luchasaurus
I am happy that I am once again getting to take a victory lap on Jungle Boy. He's drawn a lot of criticism for having bad boots and long hair, to the point I've seen calls for TK to just cut him straight out, but he also has a natural crowd connection like few others and while his work can be questionable at times he can also do things like this insanely cool match. He's going to be fine, trust me. This was easily Luchasaurus' best match ever and maybe Jungle Boy's too, a great way to open the PPV with violence and drama and a great finish. My only real complaint is that as a staunch keep-the-cage-door-closed defender, them leaving the steel cage felt mostly unnecessary and was executed poorly, with a referee just staring at a one-armed Christian Cage slowly unlock the door. That said, if you're going to insist on people leaving the cage then going out for some big spots and to stock up on plunder for the finishing stretch is the best way to do it. And yeah, a big elbow drop off the cage is always going to be good so thumbs up all round
****1/4
PAC, Fenix, Penta El Zero Miedo vs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks
I am so happy that The Elite are back, while Dynamite has mostly coped without them the moment that Kansas hit and I saw the silhouettes on the stage, everything felt right with the company again. They're the heart and soul of the company and it's just amazing to have the weird goofballs back doing what they do best. I didn't actually keep notes on this match so I can't really do a move-by-move recap (and god were there a lot of moves) but this was everything the trios belts should be and was a firework show from bell to bell. The finish was totally unexpected for me, with Fenix getting the pin after finally turning the the Dark Side (that's how I refer to Newcastle) and using the hammer on Kenny. It was a good feeling to see the pin and realise we were getting another one of these matches but no that wasn't the case. Instead, in one of his crazier moods, Tony Khan decided that this was actually the first match in a best of seven. Madness. But hey I can never complain about more great trios matches so I'm ready for this
****1/2
Jade Cargill vs Nyla Rose
Well, the the three streak of great matches couldn't keep going forever and here's where it came crashing down. This was too long, sloppy, slow, and just not the kind of match you need to put on a PPV. Jade has entirely stagnated in this role and while she still looks great and has charisma, she needs to drop this belt and disappear for a while, hopefully to a training school.
*
Chris Jericho vs Bryan Danielson vs Sammy Guevara vs Claudio Castagnoli
I read a lot of criticism for them booking a 4-way here when pretty much all of the singles matches would have been better and I get it, I'm not huge on multi-mans too but looking at the four men in the match this was obviously still going to be good and I think a lot of people's hatred of WWE turned them on the match before it happened. It did lean into "can these people co-exist" maybe a bit too much but also leant into "watch these men fight" so it balances out into a really good match. I don't know where Jericho's story goes from here but if we can build to Garcia beating him on the first night of ROH TV then I'll be a happy man
***3/4
Saraya vs Britt Baker
This was marginally better than I expected but still not especially good, Saraya was never particularly good when she was a wrestler and 5 years off hasn't helped that, and Britt can have great matches but needs the right opponent and this was not it. It was far better than Nyla vs Jade but that is the lowest bar. I'm not giving up on Saraya quite yet but she needs to get more reps in and see what she can do, because an interminably long match with no heat isn't the way to go.
**3/4
Powerhouse Hobbs vs Samoa Joe vs Wardlow
Another multi-man match people talked themselves into thinking would be bad but ended up being full of strong men doing cool things. This maybe wasn't great but fitted in well as a 10-minute change of pace and we're finally off of the Wardlow TNT title run which has done nothing for me, I don't know what the plan is for him but I'd like some more substantial feuds with some actual names now.
***1/2
Darby Allin & Sting vs Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett
It's the Sting match, and as always it was a great time and Sting continues to defy aging. Jeff Jarrett being in AEW is an odd call but if he has a few matches a year like this then it's okay, I'm sure AEW will survive. I do love the Sting/Darby team and they've consistently had some of the most fun matches on every PPV but I really hope that Darby gets to move into a meaningful singles story now, he's one of the more talented guys they have and has been just milling about for well over a year now. I get that cycling the roster is important in keeping guys fresh but he has been out for so long that I just want to see him in a feud with real stakes. Anyway yeah, great time, Satnam is a king, Sting has definitely made some kind of deal with the Devil to live forever
***3/4
Jamie Hayter vs Toni Storm
The women's match that needed to deliver most on the card, and god they did. This felt intense and dramatic and violent, everything a wrestling match between two ex-friends should. These two just felt so many tiers up from the other women on the show and despite the interference and the crowd being not into this for a lot of it I still think this was really good, and Jamie winning the title is clearly the correct move, I hope she gets crowned as the real champion and we just memory-hole the interim title deal.
***1/2
The Acclaimed vs Swerve in our Glory
This feud has felt like them desperately trying to reclaim the magic that their first match had, but it's never going to happen. However, I still think this was really good and building it around Bowens' (maybe shoot?) damaged shoulder was smart and good and helped it feel different. I loved the time we had with Swerve in our Glory and I'm excited to see Swerve move up the card in singles, the feud with Keith is going to be a great time. It's also been great to see The Acclaimed move from an act people were worried would hold Anthony back to legit top champs, but I'm feeling more and more ready to move the belts onto someone else, but that might just be burnout from this one feud.
***1/2
Jon Moxley vs MJF
And here we are, the main event. It was a weird match to watch, with Moxley getting to work heel for the first time in forever while Max still did his schtick but got cheered for it but I think the psychology worked out. I couldn't get as into this as I'd like because the build to get here was so bad but also unlike Punk vs Mox I didn't have the passion for wanting one guy to win, instead there were two good options which makes me less invested than I would like. I also disagree with doing MJF's first world title win after such a poor story when it could've been saved for a much bigger moment. Despite all of that I still think this was a great match, these two have really good chemistry and I was into the story with the ref bumps and building to the Regal turn. I don't know where MJF, and the Blackpool Combat Club go from here but I'm hyped to see it.
****
So first of all, this was a great show, I'd need to look back at my notes but this is probably the best PPV I've seen this year, though it didn't quite hit the same level of exhilarating fun that Forbidden Door managed but then I don't think any show will do that again. There were obviously some duds that didn't help the show at all but they never affected my overall enjoyment too much and the peaks were so high that I'm not going to complain too much.
Trent Barreta, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, Orange Cassidy and Danhausen vs QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, Nick Comoroto, Cole Karter, Lee Johnson
This was fun enough, and makes sense as a way to kill time while you wait for fans to get to their seats, there was nothing super memorable going on until the finish, just your standard simple babyface vs heel tag until Danhausen made his return. Look, I'm never going to be a major Danhausen fan but he is still very over so using him in spots like this makes sense. Bringing in the jar of teeth and changing to a more serious character - well, as serious as a spooky skinny clown man can be - feels like a mis-step but it was a fine 10-minute pre-show match.
***
Ricky Starks vs Brian Cage
I'm enjoying seeing this side of Ricky as a bumping face in peril fighting through injuries, it feels like the best role to put him in for now. I'm still not fully convinced by him as a Top Guy but if he can keep up this level of performance long-term then I can get a lot more on board. I've also enjoyed seeing The Swoleverine back on TV, yeah he's really dumb in real life and also a massive geek but he looks cool as hell and has a big collection of wild moves so sticking him in random TV matches and letting him be good is always fun.
***1/2
Eddie Kingston vs Jun Akiyama
I missed some of this as I was having issues buying the show on Fite but it was still just as great as I expected. I'm never going to stop being happy for Eddie getting to wrestle his idols and "Eddie vs Japanese Veteran" is a winning formula for getting people fired up on the pre-show. Jun brought his working boots more than I expected and took some mad head drops, but then for a match dedicated to the King's Road style it couldn't be anything else.
****
"Jungle Boy" Jack Perry vs Luchasaurus
I am happy that I am once again getting to take a victory lap on Jungle Boy. He's drawn a lot of criticism for having bad boots and long hair, to the point I've seen calls for TK to just cut him straight out, but he also has a natural crowd connection like few others and while his work can be questionable at times he can also do things like this insanely cool match. He's going to be fine, trust me. This was easily Luchasaurus' best match ever and maybe Jungle Boy's too, a great way to open the PPV with violence and drama and a great finish. My only real complaint is that as a staunch keep-the-cage-door-closed defender, them leaving the steel cage felt mostly unnecessary and was executed poorly, with a referee just staring at a one-armed Christian Cage slowly unlock the door. That said, if you're going to insist on people leaving the cage then going out for some big spots and to stock up on plunder for the finishing stretch is the best way to do it. And yeah, a big elbow drop off the cage is always going to be good so thumbs up all round
****1/4
PAC, Fenix, Penta El Zero Miedo vs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks
I am so happy that The Elite are back, while Dynamite has mostly coped without them the moment that Kansas hit and I saw the silhouettes on the stage, everything felt right with the company again. They're the heart and soul of the company and it's just amazing to have the weird goofballs back doing what they do best. I didn't actually keep notes on this match so I can't really do a move-by-move recap (and god were there a lot of moves) but this was everything the trios belts should be and was a firework show from bell to bell. The finish was totally unexpected for me, with Fenix getting the pin after finally turning the the Dark Side (that's how I refer to Newcastle) and using the hammer on Kenny. It was a good feeling to see the pin and realise we were getting another one of these matches but no that wasn't the case. Instead, in one of his crazier moods, Tony Khan decided that this was actually the first match in a best of seven. Madness. But hey I can never complain about more great trios matches so I'm ready for this
****1/2
Jade Cargill vs Nyla Rose
Well, the the three streak of great matches couldn't keep going forever and here's where it came crashing down. This was too long, sloppy, slow, and just not the kind of match you need to put on a PPV. Jade has entirely stagnated in this role and while she still looks great and has charisma, she needs to drop this belt and disappear for a while, hopefully to a training school.
*
Chris Jericho vs Bryan Danielson vs Sammy Guevara vs Claudio Castagnoli
I read a lot of criticism for them booking a 4-way here when pretty much all of the singles matches would have been better and I get it, I'm not huge on multi-mans too but looking at the four men in the match this was obviously still going to be good and I think a lot of people's hatred of WWE turned them on the match before it happened. It did lean into "can these people co-exist" maybe a bit too much but also leant into "watch these men fight" so it balances out into a really good match. I don't know where Jericho's story goes from here but if we can build to Garcia beating him on the first night of ROH TV then I'll be a happy man
***3/4
Saraya vs Britt Baker
This was marginally better than I expected but still not especially good, Saraya was never particularly good when she was a wrestler and 5 years off hasn't helped that, and Britt can have great matches but needs the right opponent and this was not it. It was far better than Nyla vs Jade but that is the lowest bar. I'm not giving up on Saraya quite yet but she needs to get more reps in and see what she can do, because an interminably long match with no heat isn't the way to go.
**3/4
Powerhouse Hobbs vs Samoa Joe vs Wardlow
Another multi-man match people talked themselves into thinking would be bad but ended up being full of strong men doing cool things. This maybe wasn't great but fitted in well as a 10-minute change of pace and we're finally off of the Wardlow TNT title run which has done nothing for me, I don't know what the plan is for him but I'd like some more substantial feuds with some actual names now.
***1/2
Darby Allin & Sting vs Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett
It's the Sting match, and as always it was a great time and Sting continues to defy aging. Jeff Jarrett being in AEW is an odd call but if he has a few matches a year like this then it's okay, I'm sure AEW will survive. I do love the Sting/Darby team and they've consistently had some of the most fun matches on every PPV but I really hope that Darby gets to move into a meaningful singles story now, he's one of the more talented guys they have and has been just milling about for well over a year now. I get that cycling the roster is important in keeping guys fresh but he has been out for so long that I just want to see him in a feud with real stakes. Anyway yeah, great time, Satnam is a king, Sting has definitely made some kind of deal with the Devil to live forever
***3/4
Jamie Hayter vs Toni Storm
The women's match that needed to deliver most on the card, and god they did. This felt intense and dramatic and violent, everything a wrestling match between two ex-friends should. These two just felt so many tiers up from the other women on the show and despite the interference and the crowd being not into this for a lot of it I still think this was really good, and Jamie winning the title is clearly the correct move, I hope she gets crowned as the real champion and we just memory-hole the interim title deal.
***1/2
The Acclaimed vs Swerve in our Glory
This feud has felt like them desperately trying to reclaim the magic that their first match had, but it's never going to happen. However, I still think this was really good and building it around Bowens' (maybe shoot?) damaged shoulder was smart and good and helped it feel different. I loved the time we had with Swerve in our Glory and I'm excited to see Swerve move up the card in singles, the feud with Keith is going to be a great time. It's also been great to see The Acclaimed move from an act people were worried would hold Anthony back to legit top champs, but I'm feeling more and more ready to move the belts onto someone else, but that might just be burnout from this one feud.
***1/2
Jon Moxley vs MJF
And here we are, the main event. It was a weird match to watch, with Moxley getting to work heel for the first time in forever while Max still did his schtick but got cheered for it but I think the psychology worked out. I couldn't get as into this as I'd like because the build to get here was so bad but also unlike Punk vs Mox I didn't have the passion for wanting one guy to win, instead there were two good options which makes me less invested than I would like. I also disagree with doing MJF's first world title win after such a poor story when it could've been saved for a much bigger moment. Despite all of that I still think this was a great match, these two have really good chemistry and I was into the story with the ref bumps and building to the Regal turn. I don't know where MJF, and the Blackpool Combat Club go from here but I'm hyped to see it.
****