Coming from Philadelphia, PA at the Liacouras Center, this show started off without any introductions on TV and went straight into the opening bout. To see the entrances, you would have to check out Twitter as everyone’s except Bryan Danielson’s ended up playing.
The Elite Vs. Bryan Danielson / Jungle Boy / Luchasaurus / Christian
This was a fairly long match because of who was involved. In addition to the four main members of the Elite, Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler accompanied the Elite to the ring. The only other major member missing was Don Callis. Since no interview was required, they cut him out.
During the match Christian took a big spiked pile driver on the floor from the Bucks causing him to be out of action for the remainder of the match. That left Luchasaurus, Bryan Danielson and Jungle Boy at a distinct disadvantage. Bryan and Adam Cole attempt to act like the biggest professionals on their respective teams. Loud Luchasaurus chant at one time. End came when Adam Cole gave Jungle Boy the Boom after the four delivered simultaneous V-Triggers. I think Adam Cole and Jungle Boy still have more work together in the future, although I anticipate at least one singles match between Cole and Luchasaurus and Christian Cage down the line. But Cole winning here was good since Bryan beat Nick Jackson on Rampage last week. Thankfully, no after birth from this match, even though they buried the referee.
CM Punk Interview Segment
Punk is still teasing a possible turn down the line, although he’s still legitimately Happy Punk for now (kinda like Happy Corbin although Punk didn’t need to go to Vegas to hit the jackpot). Asked the crowd whether they wanted Cheese steaks or for him to wrestle. They chose wrestling so he declared that he would be facing Daniel Garcia on Friday’s Rampage, thus closing the open loop from Chicago where Garcia assaulted him. Personal note: I would have taken the Cheese steak. That actually sounds damn good right now.
Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes Video
This was silly because Arn shows up to Cody’s home (supposedly) and burns his suit. Arn delivers a good promo but the premise stinks since it’s a not-so-subtle hint to watch Cody’s dumb reality show. People still want Cody to turn heel but I don’t know if he’s capable at this point on his own. This is almost like when they paired Edge against John Cena to get the heat off of Cena.
Sammy Guevara Vs. Bobby Fish for the TNT Title
This had a nice video package from Bobby Fish to give us a summary of whom he is. Strange match but I was excited because I had never seen Bobby Fish before and this was a fresh match. Two completely different styles where Bobby Fish was positioned more as a striker while Sammy is a high flyer. Bobby Fish gave a crazy top rope Falcon Arrow to Sammy for only a 2 count. The end had Sammy hit a GTH for a flash pin. It works for me because it was quick and surprised Fish without burying him.
We did have an after birth here but not with Bobby Fish. America’s Top Team showed up with Scorpio Sky and Dan Lambert to gang up on Sammy. Fuego Del Sol tried to run in but got clobbered. Following that, Jericho and Jack Hager ran down with Judas playing to clear the ring. Lambert and Jericho went at it verbally and there and will be having a match in Florida with Jr Dos Santos in his first pro-wrestling match.
Side Note: The after birth here was odd but worked in the end. I just think that America Top Team brazenly walking to the ring looks stupid because it means that they’re just hanging around the back some place waiting to ambush someone. I mean Scorpio Sky is there but is he just letting them lounge around? For all of Lambert’s shit talking of AEW, you would think that he would be banned. And that’s where WCW got the NWO angle right because they had police officers by ring side so at least the NWO didn’t embarrass the security.
Lastly, Paige VanZant just looks terribly out of place. Even if she’s a legitimate fighter, who is she going to take on? Maybe Red Velvet whenever she’s back because they won’t stop talking about her boxing background. Don’t think I want to see that though. It won’t be like Ronda Rousey in the WWE.
The Acclaim Backstage Segment
Small free style rap. Basically, they have a tag title match against the Lucha Bros on Rampage. Felt kinda weird with these guys coming out of nowhere for the title match. But I guess they’re trying to give the Lucha Bros a variety of victories against the various teams before FTR come in and reclaim the tag titles.
Tony Schiavone/Tony Khan Announcement
Formally, announces that Dynamite will move to TBS in early January. To partly commemorate that event, they designed a new women’s title which will be the women’s TBS title with an upcoming tournament. This one might be interesting and I’ll put some thoughts down later.
Darby Allin and JR Sit Down Segment
I guess these JR sit downs are a regular thing now. I don’t mind since he can help draw out the character of these guys a bit more. Darby explained his face paint as well as why he didn’t blow up at MJF last week.
Darby Allin vs Nick Comoroto
Bell doesn’t get to ring and they’re just going straight in. Fast match I guess to give Comoroto some TV time while building Darby up a little bit more. Comoroto is still quite bad comparable to Jade Cargill. The Difference is that Jade actually is pleasant to look at if nothing else. Sting got to no sell QT Marshall’s Diamond Cutter then hit a Scorpion Death Drop on him. Whole thing felt pointless.
Dark Order Backstage Segment
Pointless drek. What was the point of even having dissension? I really wanted Dark Order to break up since those guys are meaningless equally together or apart. But perhaps 1-2 people might get over by distancing themselves far away from the nondescript jobbers here.
Dante Martin Interview Segment
Dante Martin actually gets some in ring mic time with Tony Schiavone. Makes a claim that he’s basically pushing people (like Omega) to their limit and challenges anyone in the back. So who do they bring out? Malakai Black with flickering lights, mist and a knock out blow before he accepts the challenge.
Side Note: Again, AEW pairs veterans with experienced people with name value. Might be a good match but I don’t know where Malakai is going.
Hikaru Shida Vs. Serena Deeb
This was supposedly to commemorate Shida’s 50th win….if she could win that is. Actually, I was looking forward to this match because I enjoy watching Serena Deeb and Shida isn’t terrible. Shida’s biggest issue is pacing. I think she felt too excited in front of the live American crowd and got a little nervous because there were a few moments where she wasn’t sharp.
Deeb got the victory here and smashed the award over Shida’s head. Believe it or not, this was the right result all the way through. Shida gets cheers but isn’t hugely over. But Deeb is damn good and she works best when she’s super aggressive. Pretty sure her frustration here was to send a message regarding the newly declared women’s TBS title and upcoming tournament.
Darby Allin Backstage Destruction Segment
Guess whom the interviewer was for this segment? Yup, Mr. Less Valuable Than A Career Politician Alex Marvez. Just as Darby says his piece a limo pulls up at the right time to ambush him. It’s obvious that the Pinnacle are the ones behind this despite being masked and dressed as thugs. They even had a spare cameraman filming this.
Here’s the thing. I really wish we could have seen Tully Blanchard or MJF hand Alex Marvez $10 for being the guy setting up the beat down. Then at least they can come full circle in explaining why almost any segment he’s involved in ends up being in some obscure spot where a person or group easily get ambushed.
Lio Rush Backstage Segment
Yet another talking segment this time with the newly signed Lio Rush. He addresses Dante Martin in being a fan. My guess is that they’re going to do this long, drawn out process where eventually Lio Rush gets Dante to join him after Dante gets his head pounded in one too many times.
Pac / Andrade / Moxley / Archer / Cassidy / Hardy / Joker
This is a Casino Ladder Match where they have this large chip on a hook in the middle of the ring where people need to grab a spare ladder to reach it. This was just a clusterfuck as you might expect. There were a few crazy spots. The two most notable were Pac sending Andrade from top of the turnbuckle onto a ladder on the floor. Andrade possibly could’ve been legitimately hurt there. It was such a bad bump it didn’t even get a reaction. The second psychotic bump involved the returning Adam Page (spoiler kinda alert) to deliver Dead Eye with Pac through a table.That looked so dangerous in aiming Pac’s neck/head from that high. Definitely was the holy shit moment of the night for all the wrong reasons.
So as I mentioned the returning Adam Page was the Joker here. More on that later. The ending had Moxley and Page on the ladder giving each other shitty looking punches. For whatever reason Moxley looked like a drunk and stumbled off the ladder, leaving the runway clear for Page to pick up the chip and a future title shot. I suppose the main positives here were that you got to see very briefly people working together who normally haven’t been in a program with each other like Andrade and Orange Cassidy. The ordering was logical enough as people who were in a program together were paired up. But it was just a sloppy demolition derby.
Final Thoughts
There were a few good moments on the show marred by the usual AEW shenanigans. The Darby Allin beat down segment could’ve been cut because he had three friggin’ segments and a match to boot. A pro-wrestling match would have been nice here instead of that extended stupid brawl.
QT Marshall once again proves why no one cares. In facing Sting, QT had no reaction. There’s no animation from him. He’s really a mediocre wrestler with zero charisma. Likewise, the two job guys paired with him are equally boring and heatless like placing ones naked balls onto arctic ice.
No Don Callis on commentary was a blessing. Cutler and Nakazawa get TV time because they’re friends is silly. Neither are any good nor over and subtract rather than add anything they’re involved in.
Now, the one thing that really intrigued me was the women’s TBS title. That has some potential even though the real talent for AEW’s women’s division feels thin. I don’t mean it lacks numbers but actually having veterans that are capable of going or are over. However, the positive of bringing in a secondary women’s title implies that there’s something else the women can shoot after not just from within the company but outside of it as well.
I doubt that Britt will be losing her title anytime soon since Ruby Soho was probably the closest person capable of beating Britt outside of Thunder Rosa. So this title should help someone else get a bit of recognition who is in that middle tier ranking. Serena Deeb would be my choice, although Ruby Soho would make an excellent TBS champion as well. I don’t want to put Thunder Rosa with that title because I’d prefer her to chase after Britt Baker. But with this title, you can eventually get a Kris Statlander or Red Velvet into position without adding the pressure of being pushed too far beyond where they should be but at the same time give them a stepping stone.
I heard some people saying Shida should get it. But Shida just isn’t over enough nor good enough to really place Randy Savage as the Intercontinental champion. Deeb is more along those lines minus the outrageous personality.