wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s AEW Full Gear 2023 Review
Image Credit: AEW
Loading...Hey kids! Steve Cook here for AEW’s fifth Full Gear presentation. Tonight’s show comes to us from the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA. Some basketball & hockey teams played there in the past, but tonight is all about the professional wrestling. Hopefully. I’m going to be confused if a basketball game breaks out halfway through this thing.
We start with Zero Hour, which is now ninety minutes because Stokley Hathaway, Renee Paquette & RJ City need at least that much time to talk about Full Gear. Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness call the matches.
ROH World Championship Match: Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Jay Lethal (w/Sonjay Dutt, Santam Singh, Jeff & Karen Jarrett): Stokely joins the announcers for this important ROH matchup, and is not happy that Eddie is carrying his brand’s title. Shoulderblock & headlock by Lethal to start. Into the corner as the fans chant for Eddie to f Jay up. Eddie pounds on Jay in the corner, hits a chop. Lethal runs into an elbow, then a sweep gets a one count. Eddie shrugs off a figure four attempt and clotheslines Lethal over the top to the floor as the fans chant negative things at Jeff Jarrett. Eddie & Jay exchange chops, Eddie wins that battle but Jay yanks him outside and smashes his head off the ringpost. Jarrett with a cheap shot as referee Mike Posey isn’t paying attention. Fargo strut by Lethal. Eddie’s back in the ring to get smacked by Lethal and Dutt while Anne Hathaway’s merits are discussed by the announcers. Lethal with a chinlock. Eddie tries to fight back but gets suplexed into the corner. Lethal returns to the chinlock while Sonjay has some words for the announcers. Tony assures us a capacity crowd will be on hand tonight as folks are still filing in. Lethal with some big chops. Kingston hits an exploder in response. Eddie with some machine gun chops in the corner, then the facewash gets two. Lethal Combination on Kingston, then the elbow pad comes off and Lethal goes up top. Kingston avoids the elbow, then a series of near-fall develops. Lethal hits the elbow off the top without the theatrics and gets two. Eddie blocks the Injection, hits a couple of suplexes and knocks Sonjay off the apron into Jeff. Guitar on the apron! Eddie & Jay both go down after some strikes. Karen & Santam get on the apron so Lethal & Kingston can crawl towards the guitar. Ortiz appears at ringside, gets the guitar and hits Sonjay! Kingston blocks the Injection, hits a half & half suplex & the Backfist to the Future for a three count!
Winner: Eddie Kingston (10:53 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
Decent enough opening match, but didn’t quite reach full gear if you know what I’m saying. Heh? Heh? Yep, y’all are getting the B material tonight.
Eddie & Ortiz are back on the same page, life is good unless you’re Stokely. Eddie joins Renee & RJ for a moment to call Stokely a bald headed b-word.
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Buddy Matthews: Buddy throws his zipup hoodie in Claudio’s face and stomps him down. Claudio fights right back and teases a swing before Buddy rolls outside. Buddy rams Claudio off the apron & barricade, then chops him. Claudio whips Buddy into the barricade, then European uppercuts him down. Claudio runs into a shoulderblock from Buddy, then a flying knee strike by the HOB member. Claudio back in the ring, Buddy up top, a meteora gets two. Chinlock by Buddy, Claudio rams him into the turnbuckle but Buddy still holds on. They trade sleepers and uppercuts. Knee strike by Buddy, clothesline by Claudio. Uppercut in the corner by Claudio followed by strikes. Big boot by Claudio, but Buddy fights off the swing, even turning it into a rollup for two. Super European uppercut gets two for Claudio. Buddy fights off a Neutralizer, kicks are exchanged and then it’s swing time! Two count on Buddy. Claudio double stomps him on the apron, then takes him up top for a superplex. Claudio with some headbutts after Buddy fights it off, but Buddy hits some superkicks. Powerbomb gets two for Buddy, then a jackhammer gets another two count. Crossface by Buddy, transition to the repeated elbows. Claudio lifts Buddy up and hits a TKO. Running European uppercut gets two. Ricola Bomb, then a Sharpshooter! Buddy powers up and tries to get to the ropes, but Claudio marches back to center ring & Buddy taps.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli (10:28 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Two solid pros here putting on a solid match with some good ol’ fashioned hard-hitting.
Claudio wants a handshake, but the House of Black ain’t about that honoriffic stuff. Speaking of honoriffic stuff…
ROH World Tag Team Championship Match: MJF (c) & Samoa Joe vs. Austin & Colten Gunn: The Gunns entrance isn’t quite the same without Juice Robinson’s cheesing. Excalibur explains that Juice is out of action due to the shot to the head he took from a television-swinging MJF. Joe holds the ropes open for the yellow & purple clad MJF like a good tag team partner does. MJF calling his shot with “365” on the robs & elbow pad…apparently he’s only at 364 days with the AEW title. Anywho, MJF starts the match with punches & stomps for both Gunns. Headlocks are exchanged, MJF spits in Gunn’s face, struts & hip swivels. Gunns attack from behind and do the two on one. Joe keeps MJF from hitting the turnbuckle & MJF clotheslines the Gunns down. MJF says he doesn’t need Joe’s help, but Joe tags in anyway. Joe with the tope suicida on the Gunns! Joe avoids Colten’s dropkick in the ring and hits the senton. Repeated jabs by Joe, enziguri in the corner. Joe offers MJF the tag and MJF takes it. Colten gains the advantage with the clothesline & Austin tags in. Double elbow block by the Gunns and some dancing. Colten mocks MJF before applying the reverse chinlock. MJF tries to make the tag but the Gunns keep cutting him off. Colten & Austin both miss in the corner and end up outside. Time for a tag? Yes! Joe goes to town on both Gunns. Powerslam gets two. Joe sets up for the musclebuster, but MJF tags in! He wants to do the musclebuster, but Colten breaks that up with a dropkick. MJF with a double DDT blocking the Gunns’ finish, and here comes the kangaroo kick…until Joe tags in! After some discussion, Joe & MJF try musclebusters. Gunns get out, take out MJF and hit the 3:10 to Yuma on Joe! MJF breaks up the three count and fights both Gunns on the outside. Gunns take MJF out and set up for something on Joe…but Adam Cole’s music plays! Cole comes out on crutches, Joe takes advantage of the distraction and locks in a choke for a submission!
Winners: MJF & Samoa Joe (9:25 via submission)
Match Rating: ***1/4
MJF & Cole embrace on the outside, then MJF shakes hands with Joe in the ring. Cole pumps MJF up with some positive speaking, but the Gunns attack from behind. Cole can only stand there and watch as MJF’s left knee & ankle get pulverized & Pillmanized with a steel chair. MJF goes out on a stretcher, certainly leaving his future as AEW World Champion in doubt. MJF makes Adam promise that he won’t let them take his championship.
Cook’s AEW Full Gear 2023 Review
The main show starts now with Excalibur, Tony & Nigel discussing what just happened to MJF. They’ll pass along updates on MJF’s condition when they get them!
Darby Allin, Adam Copeland & Sting (w/Ric Flair) vs. Christian Cage, Luchasaurus & Nick Wayne: Christian has a children’s choir singing his music for him! What a generous man indeed. Ken Jeong is at ringside, and he apparently does not approve of the Patriarchy. Ric Flair gets his own entrance before Darby, Sting & Adam come out with baseball bats. Copeland has become a brother in paint, and we see Steve-O at ringside. Allin & Wayne get to start things off eventually after Christian stops hugging his new son. Wayne with a headlock takeover, Allin with a writlock out of it. Allin off the ropes with a couple of arm drags. Tag to Sting! Nick Wayne wasn’t even alive when Sting went up to the rafters in 1996, but he’s getting tossed around ringside. Christian tags in, and Sting asks the people if he should tag Copeland in. They say yes, and there’s the tag. Christian teases doing something, but tags Luchasaurus instead because of course. Copeland gets tossed into the corner and punched down. Whip into the corner and a clothesline by Luchasaurus. Edge blocks a backdrop & chokeslam, then hits a legsweep & neckbreaker. Tag to Darby, who gets tossed into the corner. Sunset flip doesn’t work, Darby gets punched but flips out of the chokeslam. Christian with a cheapshot in the corner, then Luchasaurus chokeslams Darby over the top rope off the apron to the floor. Because of course. Darby gets rolled back in the ring and beaten on some more. Now Christian tags in and puts the boots to Darby. Christian rakes at Darby’s face and tags Nick in. Nick does some posing while scraping Darby’s face with his boot. Backbreaker, and Wayne does a Nature Boyesque strut. Luchasaurus tags in. Side slam by Luchasaurus, and a senton by Wayne gets two. Allin briefly fights back, but Wayne follows him up top. Allin bites Wayne, hits a sunset bomb off the top rope. Allin teases a tag to Copeland, but Christian crawls under the ring, pulls Copeland off the apron and takes him out. Sting chases Christian away but the damage is done. Christian whips Darby ass over teakettle into the corner. Christian motions for a spear, but Darby avoids. Heads are bumped and we’re back to looking for tags. Copeland tags in, as does Luchasaurus. Copeland with an impaler on Luchasaurus, then a shoulderblock off the apron to the floor. Wayne gets gorilla pressed into Luchasaurus’s arms, then Allin knocks them both down. Sting with a dive over Flair to the floor! Copeland runs into a goozle, as does Sting, but that gets blocked. Luchasaurus gets punched around, and it’s a tandem Scorpion Deathdrop. Wayne gets thrown back into the ring for a double suplex/bodypress combo meal. Luchasaurus tosses people around, hits a Northern lariat on Copeland. Flair takes his jacket off and squares up to Christian. Flair with chops! Christian goes to the eyes and low blows Flair. Christian misses Copeland with the belt and hits Luchasaurus instead. Copeland chases Christian into the crowd, and he’s gone. Spear by Copeland on Luchasaurus, and a Coffin Drop ends it.
Winners: Darby Allin, Adam Copeland & Sting (15:07 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Fun match with the right result and some entertaining shenanigans. Good way to kick off the main show. Darby drops some F bombs while telling the people to cheer for Sting’s last match in California.
Tony Schiavone is on the stage with Bryce Remsburg, and Jay White comes out to accept the AEW World Championship. Tony tells us that MJF is injured and will not be able to compete tonight. The match has been cancelled, and our new AEW World Champion is-well hold on, here’s Adam Cole’s music & Adam Cole. Cole tells Jay White that he made a promise to MJF and he already talked to Tony Khan. If MJF can’t defend the championship, Adam Cole will! It’ll be Cole defending MJF’s AEW World Championship against White tonight! White says he took Cole out once before, and he’ll take him out for good tonight.
Taz joins Excalibur & Nigel on commentary.
AEW International Championship Match: Orange Cassidy (c) (w/Hook) vs. Jon Moxley (w/Wheeler Yuta): Punches exchanged right away, with Mox getting the upper hand. Mox not getting a lot of sun these days it seems, as he bounces OC off the announce table and suplexes him chest first onto the barricade. Back in the ring, Mox with a front suplex and some chops while he tells OC that he isn’t excrement.OC with some shots before getting Bossman Slammed for two. Mox goes for a Texas Cloverleaf and locks it in. OC gets out but also gets stomped & chopped. The dreaded back scratch and nose bite by Moxley while on the turnbuckle, but OC fights off a suplex attempt and applies a back scratch & nose bite of his own. Headbutts from Mox knock OC off the turnbuckle onto the apron. OC goes back up and they keep fighting up there. Believe it or not, Mox is busted open. Superplex by OC, then a diving DDT and another DDT only gets 1. Jake Roberts just threw something backstage. Big kicks by OC. Mox rises up, then gets knocked out of the ring and on top of the announce table. OC knocks Mox back onto the table with a couple of tope suicidas. Elbow one sends Mox to the floor. OC blocks a Death Rider and hits a Slumdog Millionaire, but then Mox hits a bunch of punches and goes to the bulldog choke. OC gets out, piledriver & Beach Break are teased. Mox fires up out of a PK, but OC locks in a Redrum. Mox maneuvers into the corner and removes a turnbuckle. Mox hits a cutter on OC, then a Gotch piledriver gets two. Mox with some lazy kicks to OC. OC puts his hands in his pockets & Mox runs into the exposed turnbuckle. OC dropkicks Mox’s back, but can’t take advantage. OC hits his Punch once, twice, three times a lady. Mox back up, OC with a rollup for two. Another punch, and another. Six! Beach Break finally gets the three count.
Winner: Orange Cassidy (12:04 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
This was exactly what you would expect from these guys. You’ve all made up your minds on whether you like what they have to offer, and nothing here will change perspectives one way or the other. Trent & Claudio come out for the post-match activity, and Hook & Wheeler Yuta kind of get into it to build their eventual match.
Adam Cole vs. Jay White is made official with a graphic. Meanwhile, Mark Briscoe has entered the Continental Classic, and he has to be considered a favorite because he enjoys a good continental breakfast.
AEW Women’s World Championship Match: Hikaru Shida (c) vs. “Timeless” Toni Storm (w/Lutha): Toni looks at her script and rips it up! She must not like the ending. Shida & Storm trade strikes. Shida with a knee in the corner, then some chops to Storm’s chest. Mariah May looks worried backstage while the chops continue. Storm fights back with chops of her own. Bulldog by Storm. Winding up, and the elbow sends Shida down for a one count. Mariah looks happier now as Toni goes on the offensive. Shida with a knee strike off the ropes, she mounts Toni in the corner and delivers ten punches. Missile dropkick gets two. Toni blocks Shida on the ropes and presses her down for two. Lutha places a foreign object in Toni’s tights, Toni grabs the shoe but Aubrey Edwards blocks that. Of course the other shoe was in Toni’s tights, and she uses it for a two count. Shida counters Toni’s attempted Storm Zero with a Jigntonic. Shida with some punches to Storm. Storm fights back, Shida with a kick and a falcon arrow gets two! Shida goes up top, Storm evades & Shida may have injured her ankle there. Shida tries a slam, but Toni reverses into an ankle lock. SHE’S GOING OFF SCRIPT! Shida makes the ropes but the damage may be donw. Toni removes the shoe, Shida blocks and smacks Storm down to the floor. Shida gets the kendo stick, but Lutha makes sure that doesn’t happen. He also gets smacked several times with the kendo stick. Storm slides another item into her tights. Storm blocks a kick, series of reversals leads to a nearfall for Shida. Storm with a deadlift German suplex, then the hip attack in the corner (perhaps aided by an object in Toni’s tights) gets the three count!
Winner: Toni Storm (10:26 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN INGLEWOOD! Toni joins Hikaru as a three-time Women’s World Champion, and Mariah May comes out with some flowers. Quite the celebration here for our new champion. The fans were into Toni’s character, not so much the match parts that didn’t involve shoes & foreign objects.
Renee is backstage with Eddie Kingston. Eddie is entering the Continental Classic, and wants to defend both of his championships in all of his matches. He then says it’ll make a Triple Crown, as the Continental Championship is also a thing. MOAR BELTS!
AEW World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match: Ricky Starks & Big Bill (c) vs. Rush & Dralistico (w/Jose & Preston Vance) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Malakai Black & Brody King: Ricky Starks’ entrance was the first thing to break my feed tonight, which makes sense. It’s a scrum to begin, and the big boys Bill & Brody almost face off before everybody else breaks it up. Dax knocks Black down with a right hand & fights with Ricky over a ladder. Rush & Wheeler climb a ladder, then climb back down to fight each other. Rush misses a dropkick and ends up on the apron. Cash evades Dralistico and spears Rush onto a crowd on the floor. Dralistico should climb the ladder, but he dives onto the mass of humanity instead. Starks goes up top, but Black breaks that up. Black moonsaults onto the pile. Dax meets Ricky on the turnbuckle and suplexes him into the collection. Excalibur drops a DANGEROUS like he’s Jimmy Bower. The big boys set things up on opposite sides of the ring, then decide to square off after all. AEW crowds sure like their meat, huh? They both go for a chokeslam, but Dax & Rush break it all up with ladders. Dax wins that battle, then thinks he’s Terry Funk and spins around with the ladder until Dralistico dropkicks it. Dralistico tries to climb up but Cash breaks it up. Rush goes after Cash, takes him out with a short dropkick and hits the Tranquilo pose. Cash fights back and takes Rush down with a powerslam. Cash climbs up a ladder, but Black breaks that up. Black gets bounced off the ladder a couple of times before slingshotting it off the ropes onto Cash’s face. Cash gets placed on a ladder propped against a bottom turnbuckle, but Dax & Brody come by. Dax gets knocked off the apron, as does Brody, and Cash & Black keep fighting. Low blow by Cash, and he piledrives Black onto the ladder. Brody tries to dive onto Bill on the outside, but Bill blocks with a ladder. Starks starts spearing people left & right, hits a tornado DDT. Ricky walks the ropes & takes out both FTR members. Brody has some good blood going on the floor. Starks overhead suplexes Black onto the ladder. King takes Starks out and backdrops Dax on the ladder. Cannonball on Dax on the ladder. Brody climbs up, but Bill lifts the ladder up and Brody falls onto the other ladder. Dralistico with some kicks to Bill, springboard into a lungblower. Springboard into a chokeslam by Bill. Rush sandwiches Bill with the corner & a ladder, then IF YOU MESS WITH THE BULL YOU GET THE HORNS. Rush sets up a ladder, but Ricky joins him up top. Dax gets a taller ladder, as does Cash and now we’ve got three ladders. Rush & Ricky fall off, then Brody knocks another ladder over before back suplexing Cash. Dralistico with a poison rana on Black, but Black fights back. He gets Dralistico up and Gonzo Bombs him through a dang ladder propped between the ring apron & barricade. Cash goes up top, and hits a splash onto Brody on the ladder. Dax & Ricky meet at the top of a ladder by the belts. Dax gets taken out, but Bill keeps Starks up there! Cash tries to stop things, but it’s the champions staying the champions tonight.
Winners: Ricky Starks & Big Bill (20:08 via obtaining the belts)
Match Rating: ***1/2
I’m still pretty burnt out on ladder matches, but this was a fun little match. Big win for Starks & Bill, who seem to have pretty good chemistry for a thrown together tag team.
AEW TBS Championship Match: Kris Statlander (c) vs. Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue: It’s been a pretty rough night for the HOB so far, perhaps Julia can save things here. Skye stomps her baseball cap and dons a crown, and has some heavier theme music. No more Scooby Doo attire either, so you know she means business. Bit of a stare down between all three, Statlander finally takes the early advantage, slamming her opponents on top of each other. Double clothesline by Kris. Kris places Julia in the Tree of Woe, which leads to Skye staring at Julia. Julia seems a bit out of it while Skye & Kris go at it. Kris gets knocked out of the ring, and Julia hits a cannonball on the floor. Skye with a rana to Kris on said floor. Kris with a double suplex on her two opponents, and she sends Julia back into the ring. Kicks for Kris including a double superkick. Skye & Julia face off. There’s a truce that lasts about five seconds before Julia goes on the offensive. Skye fights back, hits a PK for two. Statlander with a suplex for Skye, she kicks both women in opposite corners. Samoan drop to Skye, pinfall broken up by a Julia senton. Skye rolls Julia up for two. Neckbreaker to Kris, and all three women are down for a few moments. Julia boots Skye down and clotheslines Kris. Skye with a kick to Julia, but Julia fights out of the powerbomb. Skye runs into a kick from Kris, and a Michinoku Driver gets two. Skye tries for a rana, but Kris faceplants her out of an electric chair instead. Julia knocks Kris off the turnbuckle to the floor, and hits the moonsault on Skye. Kris barely breaks up the pinfall in time. Julia gets powerslammed on the floor. Skye fights back in the ring, hits some kicks on Kris. Kris nearly hits her finish, Skye does end up hitting the Code Blue but it only gets two. Julia blocks another Code Blue and lariats Kris in the back of the head. Hartless Lock on Skye, but Statlander Germans Julia out of it. One for Skye, another one for Julia, another one for Skye. Skye with a quick cover for two. Kris hits the Saturday Night Fever on Skye and gets a two before Julia knocks her off the cover. Julia covers Skye instead and we have a new champion!
Winner: Julia Hart (11:21 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Solid effort from all three here, and it’s nice to see Julia get rewarded for her work over the past several months. She’s put a lot into this character turn and it’s been interesting to see her development.
Tony Schiavone is in the ring to tell us what a spectacular night it’s been, and it’s time for a blockbuster contract signing! The newest member of All Elite Wrestling…is Will Ospreay! The LA fans seem excited about it, and Will wastes no time signing the contract. He’s happy to be part of the team, but he’s not going to come in just yet. He’s going to finish up with New Japan Pro Wrestling first, then he’ll be on the road to Revolution. He’s All Elite, bruv! He tells Tony Khan to line up the best that he’s got, especially for Wembley Stadium. Will says he’ll show us what All Elite is really about.
I’m guessing some of you probably were hoping for Mercedes Mone or somebody with a higher Q rating with the casuals, but I’m down with this. Ospreay is pretty great in the ring and AEW could really use another top flight guy that can wrestle on the regular. Most of their current top flight guys seem to have issues with that.
Texas Death Match: “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana): We got some dancers doing the Nana for this entrance! WHO’S HOUSE? Apparently it’s Swerve’s house. Hangman skips the entrance part and attacks Swerve right away. Buckshot lariat in the first twenty seconds! Knockout & submission are the ways to win this one, and Page throws Swerve around ringside. Page looks under the ring and eventually finds some duct tape. He also has a chair to hit Swerve with. Page uses the tape on Swerve’s wrist, oh, and he also has a staple gun. Staple right to the pec, and another one. Swerve gets stapled around ringside while his wrists are still taped. Page drives a sideways chair into Swerve’s head and the referee starts counting. Swerve is busted open while Page staples a finger painting to the man’s head. He drinks Swerve’s blood, the sick fuck! Now Page has a barbed wire chair. Page swings for the fences but Swerve manages to kick Page between the legs. Nana finally gets the tape off of Swerve’s hands. Page staples the man again, but Swerve is numb to that at the moment. Adrenaline kicking in and such. Now it’s Page getting stapled between the eyes. Swerve staples himself, he’s even sicker of a fuck than the Hangman. Page gets sent head first into the barbed wire chair propped up in the corner. Swerve grabs some barbed wire and introduces it to Page’s face. Swerve gets a cinder block out from under the ring. Man, there’s some weird stuff under the ring at these AEW shows. Both men end up on the apron. Swerve DVDs Page off the cinder block on the apron! They end up on top of the barricade, Swerve piledrives Page off the top of said barricade. That didn’t look fun, and Swerve’s losing as much blood as I’ve seen in recent memory. Page looks like he’s trying to keep up but it’s tough to tell at this point. Back in the ring, punches are exchanged. Big boot by Swerve, but Hangman hits a fallaway slam. No kip up tonight for Page. Another fallaway slam by Page. Page obtains some barbed wire and introduces it to Swerve’s face. Then he ties Swerve up in it before delivering another fallaway slam. Page then takes the barbed wire chair up top and hits a moonsault onto Swerve on the floor. Nana gets kicked away before another attempted buckshot. Swerve avoids it, and boots the barbed wire chair into Page’s skull. Swerve goes for a Tombstone, Hangman reverses and delivers one of his own on the barbed wire chair. Swerve gets up (with a little assistance from Nana) at 9. Barbed wire chair to the back of Swerve. Page places Swerve up top, goes for a Dead Eye but Swerve slips out and hits Hangman in the back with the barbed wire chair! He lost some hair on that one! Sitout powerbomb by Swerve on the chair, then a Swerve Stomp! Yeesh! Swerve gets up and hits Page in the back with the chair again before looking under the ring for yet another tool of destruction. Ah, glass, and it’s poured on Hangman’s back! Swerve with a 450 splash! JML Driver! Somehow Hangman gets up at nine! Swerve Cactus clotheslines Page to the floor. And now we have a barbed wire board. What else is left? Swerve props the board up on two chairs. Swerve sets Page up on the turnbuckle, but Hangman fights back. Page hits a fallaway slam off the top through the board! Powerbomb & a Dead Eye on the board! Swerve makes it to all fours before Page starts wrapping the barbed wire around Swerve’s head. Another buckshot lariat to Swerve, and I feel like this might actually end it. No, hold on, Nana makes sure it doesn’t. And here comes Brian Cage, which is fine since there are obviously no DQs here. Cage hits a couple of power bombs & an F-5, and gets another table out from under the ring. Just a regular ol’ table this time. The fans want fire, instead they get Page hitting some elbow strikes with barbed wire around his arm. Lariat sends Cage to the floor, and now Nana hits Page with a chair. Yah, this won’t end well for the Prince. Dead Eye through the table! Swerve has the cinder block, and he smashes it over Hangman’s back! Will that actually end it? Well, now Swerve has a chain and he’s wrapping it around Page’s neck. He’s gonna hang the Hangman! Page thinks about getting up, but doesn’t and this one is over.
Winner: Swerve Strickland (29:45 via knockout)
Match Rating: ****1/2
Good luck to whoever gets to follow that! Definitely one of those matches not for the faint of heart, or for those that can’t take blood in their wrestling. If you’re one of those old school rasslin fans it’ll probably be your cup of tea. My one complaint would be that they could have done a hell of a lot less and gotten the same reaction. However, that wouldn’t be these guys’ style at all. More power to them sacrificing themselves for our entertainment.
Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson): Don Callis joins Excalibur, Taz & Nigel for commentary here. If Chris & Kenny win, they get the Bucks’ title shot. If they lose, they can never team again. They have a t-shirt! Nick & Kenny start it off with some friendly wrestling. Hip tosses don’t happen. Nick with a twisting arm drag, Kenny blocks a kick. Some respect shown, then Chris & Matt tag in. Jericho with the arm drag, then headlock. Matt takes Jericho down by the hair then swivels the hips. Kenny tags in to keep Jericho off of Matt in the corner, kind of strange. Matt goes on the offensive, but Kenny evades in the corner and hits a rana. Nick tags in and gets thrown outside. Jericho tags in, but right now it’s time for Kenny to dive onto Matt. Nick with a kick, Jericho with a springboard dropkick. Baseball slide dropkick to the floor by Jericho, then he’s sent into the steps. Nick works over Jericho’s right arm with assistance from the steps. Not sure what the fans are chanting here but it might be interesting. Ah, they don’t like the guy that isn’t here. Some blood on Jericho’s elbow now, and he gets dropkicked to the floor. Jericho gets worked over some more before fighting back. Kenny finally tags in and hits a snap dragon on Nick. Matt apparently could escape the first time, but not the second time. Nick gets a backcracker off the middle rope for his trouble. Moonsault to Matt on the floor. Nick rolls through a crossbody and gets two. Backslide into a V-Trigger, but that hurts Kenny’s knee. Jericho tags in and knocks both Bucks down before hitting a double Lionsault. Single arm DDT by Matt on Jericho, and then Matt decides he’s going to apply the Walls. Jericho gets out of that but gets superkicked. Some miscommunication between Jericho & Omega leads to a nearfall, but Jericho locks the Walls on Matt. Kenny keeps Nick from intervening, but Jericho can’t hold on the Walls any longer & Matt boots his way out. Strikes exchanged between Jericho & Matt, Jericho sent onto the apron, he goes up top, Matt blocks & ends up double suplexing Jericho & Omega. Nick German suplexes Kenny on the apron. Jericho with a bulldog on Matt, Bucks get the upper hand & Nick hits a senton for a two count. Jericho gets Matt up top, looks for a top rope rana after some punches and finds it. Nick with the field goal kick between the legs behind Aubrey’s back. Kenny is not thrilled, and then he gets a low kick from Matt! Judas Effect by Nick, and it gets a two count on Jericho. Dive on the floor to Kenny, then it’s time for the BTE Trigger! Jericho eats the double knees, but it only gets two. Meltzer Driver gets blocked, then there’s a miscommunication between the Bucks. Jericho gets kicked on the elbow, then delivers a low blow to Nick! Tag to Kenny, who is now not sure what to do. He teases a V-Trigger on Jericho, hits Nick instead! Nick with a reverse rana on Kenny, then Matt hits a One Winged Angel on Kenny for two. Jericho with a Codebreaker on Nick, Kenny goes for the One Winged Angel, but opts for a German suplex instead for two. Kenny eats a superkick, as does Jericho. Jericho eats a few more. Kenny with a V-Trigger on Matt, then the One Winged Angel ends it.
Winners: Chris Jericho & Kenny Omega (20:52 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
Nick throws a chair around ringside afterward and Aubrey has to try & calm him down. Kind of a 1996 Jericho style temper tantrum from the Buck. It took awhile, but they eventually got the fans into things and told their story.
AEW World Championship Match: Adam Cole (defending on behalf of MJF (c)) vs. Jay White (w/The Gunns): Cole crutches his way down to the ring and does his entrance the best he can. Jay offers to lay down, very nice of him. Oh hold on, there’s an ambulance driving into the building! MJF’s driving! He emerges with a ton of tape on his leg and a limp. Still in better shape to compete than Cole, though a bunch of officials try to stop him from entering the ring. How come they’re ok with Cole getting himself slaughtered, but not MJF? Anyway, looks like we have our originally scheduled main event.
AEW World Championship Match: MJF (c) (w/Adam Cole) vs. Jay White (w/The Gunns): Max slaps Jay then crumples to the mat. Jay clips the knee and stomps MJF down in the corner. MJF tries to fight back, but White suplexes him into the corner for two. White tosses MJF to the floor & the Gunns stomp away on the champion. Cover back in the ring gets two. MJF gets tossed back outside, but this time he bows up on the Gunns for a few seconds before getting thrown back in for another two count. White rolls MJF back outside, and this time Bryce sees the Gunns trying to do something. He ejects them from ringside! Jay is unhappy, and has a few words for Cole before going back to work on MJF. Jay throws something at Adam and invites him into the ring. MJF seems unhappy, and the fans get behind him while he tries to hulk up. MJF hits a slam, but that doesn’t help his leg situation. MJF rams Jay’s head into the corner approximately ten times, then hits approximately nine punches in the corner before biting the man. Lots of biting on this show. MJF sets up for the kangaroo kick, and he hits it! Kips up even though his knee is in such pain. Cole suggests a dive, but White slides back in the ring and dropkicks the leg. Another near-fall for White. Some big chops to MJF’s chest. MJF fights back with a mule kick with the good leg. MJF tries a move off the middle rope but that doesn’t work. Uranage gets two for White. Stomp to MJF’s knee. MJF blocks a suplex, but White back suplexes him to the floor. White hits the loudest chop of the night to MJF’s chest. MJF fights back, gouging White’s eyes and DDTing him on the floor. MJF prepares the announce table for destruction, but it gets destroyed the moment White gets rolled on top of it! So what will MJF do instead? Climb up top and deliver an elbow to White anyway, of course! More dangerous without that pesky table. MJF brings White back into the ring for reasons unknown to the announcers, who were suggesting he take a countout. White dragonscrews MJF while he’s in the ropes. MJF gets placed in the Tree of Woe, then White stands on his knee. MJF suplexes White off of him but remains stuck. Now he’s out. White follows him up top, and hits a uranage off the top rope for two. White with repeated strikes to MJF, and the champion wants more. Reversals lead to a forearm from MJF. White with a flatliner, then a German suplex. Blade Runner? No, MJF reverses and we see a series of tights-assisted rollups for two. MJF hits a Tombstone, but that knee keeps him from covering. Both men back up, MJF with a double stomp off the middle rope. Heat Seeker? No, White shakes it off. MJF goes for it all, hitting White with a running cutter from the apron to the floor! Cole with the motivation, and White gets rolled back in the ring for the two count. MJF starts messing with his knee pad to relieve the pressure. He can’t do much of anything at this point though. The doctor wanders over, but MJF wants none of that. More dragonscrews by White, then the figure four! On the wrong leg, just like the Naitch! Cole has produced MJF’s t-shirt, and is wondering if he should toss it in as a towel or not. MJF almost reaches the ropes but not quite. Lots of fight in the boy though, and he reverses the hold! White teases tapping out but makes the ropes. Cole has his ROH tag team title belt in his hand & looks at White with evil intentions, but White takes it & hits MJF with it! Cover only gets two, fortunately for Adam. MJF tries to fight White off from another figure four attempt, but kicks White into Bryce. Cole produces the Dynamite Diamond Ring, but White gets to it first! White goes for the punch, but MJF hits White low. We’re all about low blows and biting on this show. The Gunns run down to get knocked out of the ring again. MJF hits White with the ring, Bryce sees nothing and counts three!
Winner: MJF (29:45 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ****1/4
MJF & Cole celebrate afterward, as the champion finally gets his title belt back. Good for him! We fade to black without any Devil sightings, in case you were wondering about that.
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