Hawke’s AEW Fyter Fest Review

My list of five-star matches.

My list of Wrestlemania main event reviews.

My list of G1 Climax finals reviews

 

June 29, 2019
Daytona Beach, Florida, USA

 

Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Logen Sama, Kip Sabian, & Goldenboy

 

Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) vs. SCU (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. The Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen)

They basically decided to do a main event triple threat tag in this pre-show opener spot. That may seem questionable on paper, but it led to an incredibly over match here that absolutely solidified Private Party as stars in the promotion. Best Friends pinning them to win also provides a lot of potentially interesting paths for the teams to go in. Big thumbs up for this. (***3/4)

 

They did yet another shitty librarian segment. That led to what will hopefully be the nadir of the night.

 

Allie vs. Leva Bates

Leva Bates is one of the worst professional wrestlers ever. The match was embarrassing. I don’t know a lot about Allie, but unless she’s like a Republican or something, she deserved a lot better than what happened to her here. She seems talented based on how she was moving in here though. It can at least only get better from here! (1/2*)

 

Jebailey vs. Michael Nakazawa

This was a hardcore match.

Alex Jebailey serves as a reminder to all wrestling fans about why we should never become pro wrestlers because that is exactly what we would look like doing it. Michael Nakazawa probably could be the best wrestler in the world if he wanted to be though so he managed to carry this to “Acceptable Trainwreck” levels. (**1/2)

 

Christopher Daniels vs. CIMA

This was the exact match that it needed to be. Cima got to look very good. Daniels was made to look respectable in defeat. Cima won cleanly and decisively going into what will likely be the biggest singles match he ever has in AEW when he main events against Kenny Omega next month. [Cima won after connecting on the Meteora.] (***)

 

Nyla Rose vs. Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki

This was really well done. Sakazaki and Riho did a great job of flying all over the place to both make Rosa look strong while also conveying a sense of desperation. The closing sequence was particularly exciting and ensured that the match ended on a high note. They pulled out a lot of cool spots that made everyone look great. Riho pulling off the miracle win on Rose really sets things up for all three wrestlers to do interesting things going forward. (***3/4)

 

Hangman Page vs. Jimmy Havoc vs. Jungle Boy vs. MJF

This match was all action, and most of it was pretty fun all things considered. Probably the most notable aspect of the match was that Jimmy Havoc did basically nothing throughout and then lost cleanly to Adam Page. For some reason, Page earned a match with Kip Sabian for winning this match? Weird. (***1/4)

 

Cody vs. Darby Allin

This match was not really all that interesting a lot of the time because the idea was that Darby was getting destroyed by Cody Rhodes. Cody Rhodes can do some things well. Beating people up is not one of them.

With that said though, this was an overall good way to debuting Darby. He took an insane bump of cocaine and then took an insane bump onto the apron to wake the crowd up. Everything that followed that was gold and salvaged the contest. Darby managing to earn a draw with Cody really does position him quite well within the context of AEW as much as it pains me to say. (***)

Shawn Spears showed up after the match and hit Cody with a chair. They tried to sell it as a completely unprotected chairshot that probably caused a concussion. If you’re gonna do it, do it like this.

 

The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix) & Laredo Kid vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) & Kenny Omega

Young Bucks/Omega trios matches feel like a “solved equation” much in the same that IWGP Heavyweight Championship matches do. There’s a cynicism in how predictably they are constructed despite the “spectacular” nature of them. It makes them feel unnecessarily soulless which is unfair given the effort and talent in the ring. These six could have something more interesting than this. [Omega finished Laredo with the One Winged Angel.] (**1/2)

 

Joey Janela vs. Jon Moxley

This was a non-sanctioned match.

This a WWF hardcore match instead of a real violent death match which would have been infinitely better. It was still a very easy-to-watch battle though that had no real down periods, and both dudes looked very happy! That’s good enough! [Moxley won with a double arm DDT into the thumbtacks.] (***1/4)

 

Some notable 2019 Reviews

Chris Jericho vs. Kazuchika Okada

The Young Bucks vs. Pentagon Jr. & Fenix

Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin

Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson

Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

This was a very easy show to watch, and most of the key matches delivered what they needed to do. This was clearly the best of the first three shows that AEW has produced.