Kevin’s AEW Fyter Fest 2021 Night 1 Review

AEW Fyter Fest Night 1

July 14th, 2021 | H-E-B Center at Cedar Park in Cedar Park, Texas

We’re right into the action tonight!

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley [c] (34-2-1) vs. Karl Anderson (7-1)

Huge pop for Moxley. Anderson was billed from Tokyo. This started hot with the action coming right at the bell and I loved that Eddie Kingston fought Doc Gallows to the back. It allowed this to be a straight-up match and it was done in a smart way. This was contested under New Japan rules, so it had a 60-minute time limit and a 20 count outside. They had a slugfest like it was a NEVER Title match and not a US one. They had some quality back and forth but what made this work was the hard hitting aspects. At times, it felt like the entire thing was the final 10 or so minutes of a NEVER Title match and I dug that. Moxley survived some Gun Stuns and won with the Paradigm Shift in 9:40. Look, that’s all I need from an opener. A hard hitting match that didn’t overdo anything and was entertaining. [***¼]

Backstage, Lance Archer cut a promo about wanting a shot at Jon Moxley’s title. He is the man Moxley dethroned after the title was vacated. Next week, it’ll be a Texas Death Match again!

Andrade El Idolo was interviewed and

FTW Championship: Brian Cage [c] (12-2 in 2021) vs. Ricky Starks (11-2)

It’s Ricky’s return from injury. Cage seemed enraged in the early goings as he beat on his smaller opponent. Through the commercial break, he was in control and after returning, Starks oddly went after the title but Cage cut him off. Starks had his big moment when he avoided the deadlift superplex and hit a sweet powerbomb for two. Powerhouse Hobbs stopped him from using the title as a weapon and Starks took an F5 for a near fall. Then, the twist came. Hook distracted the referee and Hobbs clocked Cage with the title. Starks nailed a spear and won the title in 9:23. That was a fine match and it seemed like they have something better in them as Starks is likely a bit rusty. The ending was well done and should set up a babyface Cage. Cocky heel Starks is good stuff. [**¾]

Cody Rhodes came out in his white suit to complain about Malakai Black hurting Arn Anderson. Since doing it on commentary isn’t big enough for his ego, he opted for a microphone to do it in the ring. Black appeared on screen to trade barbs and then the lights went out. When they came up, Black was in the ring. If you don’t get it, Malakai was in a black suit to oppose white suit Cody. They brawled and officials had to break them up.

Backstage, Santana and Ortiz jumped Tully Blanchard and faked him out with a joke pipe. They respect their elders but not FTR.

Tony Schiavone interviewed Hangman Page, who is “feeling weird” tonight, in the ring. He was out to officially challenge Kenny Omega but Don Callis interrupted. He came out with the Bucks, Gallows, Kenny, and Cutler. They dissed Page and said that he’s not “that guy.” Matt Jackson got in his face, saying he seems drunk again and that he’s the next great wrestling tragedy. Page leveled him and some other heels. Kenny went to attack from behind but Dark Order rushed out to step in between them and save Hangman. Great reaction for this. Page made the challenge and Kenny accepted but only a ten-man elimination tag. Page said that if they win, he gets a World Title shot and Dark Order gets a Tag Title opportunity. Kenny freaked out but Callis calmed him down and they came up with the idea that if Dark Order loses, none of them gets shots at anything. Page accepted, which Omega didn’t expect. I like how they’re doing this but it is odd given AEW’s “ranking system” gimmick. If Hangman is ranked #1, why does he have to jump through hoops to get a shot?

Backstage, Chris Jericho was interviewed about MJF but got cut off by Shawn Spears attacking him with a chair, hitting him in the throat. Next week, Jericho has his first match against Pinnacle, facing Shawn Spears in a match where only Spears can use the chair. Jericho/Spears sounds like an absolutely terrible time.

Christian Cage (5-0) vs. Matt Hardy (14-3)

I love 2001. When you’ve wrestled as often as these two have, things are pretty seamless. Even at their age, they can still have a quality bout together. I popped seeing Christian bust out classic moves like the reverse DDT. Matt got the expected heel upper hand through the break before Christian made the babyface rally. He countered the Twist of Fate and Matt avoided the Spear, but got hit with one anyway. It showed how well these two know one another. There was a strong closing stretch with Hardy using underhanded tactics to try and win but Christian was resilient as ever. Hardy used the Leech outside to try a countout win but Christian beat the count and won with the Killswitch in 12:58. The old guys can still go. [***]

The Hardy Family hit the ring to surround Christian but out ran Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy to even things out.

In the back, Miro cut a promo about becoming God’s Favorite Champion and that he’ll defend it anywhere as the “Redeemer.”

Tony Schiavone brought out Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. to a thunderous pop for an interview. She said that she’s not scared of Nyla Rose next week because she’s been through everything and is still here. However, the daunting part is trying to keep Rose relevant. She’s top of the food chain but Baker is special order off the menu. Rose needs the title to be relevant and it’s not going anywhere. Good work from Baker, though this didn’t add much to the match.

Jon Moxley accepted Archer’s challenge.

Sammy Guevara (2-1 in 2021) vs. Wheeler YUTA (2-2 in 2021)

For those unaware, YUTA is associated with Best Friends. Blade and Bunny watched from ringside. After his main event loss two weeks ago, Guevara needed a win and this was it. YUTA put up a decent fight in what was mostly a squash and Guevara won with the GTH in 3:43. [**]

Backstage, QT Marshall said he wasn’t buried by Cody’s golden shovel and then poured a protein shake on Tony.

Penelope Ford (8-1 in 2021) vs. Yuka Sakazaki (3-1 in 2021)

I love me some Penelope Ford. It’s Sakazaki’s first Dynamite match in 16 months. You know the idea here was to get her a win but this wasn’t any kind of squash. Ford is too high up in the card for that. She was the aggressor, really taking it to Yuka in the opening few minutes and through the commercial break. Yuka surprisingly got the better of a slugfest and hit a sweet stalling vertical suplex. She won soon after with the Magical Girl Splash in 7:30. A decent match. [**¼]

NEXT WEEK ~ The Blade vs. Orange Cassidy and Moxley/Archer added.

Coffin Match: Darby Allin (13-2 in 2021) vs. Ethan Page (17-2 in 2021)

Darby pulled a 1999 Bret Hart by wearing a metal plate on his back and using it to even the odds against Page. Of course, Scorpio Sky was hiding in the coffin when Darby went to open it and launched him into the steel steps. Sting hit the ring to fight Sky to the back the way Kingston did to Gallows earlier. Through the commercial, the brawl got more intense as they fought through the crowd and back to the ring. The stairs were in there and the bottom rope had been dismantled when the show returned. The two continued to brawl in the coffin, with Page beating the hell out of the guy who takes a beating better than almost anyone. Darby counted a move on the steps and hit a sweet Stunner off of it. Page responded with a release powerbomb off the top onto the steel steps. It looked brutal. Darby survived that, because of course he did, and then rode his skateboard off the top onto Page’s back, sending him into the coffin to win after 11:40. Short, sweet, and awesome. It was the war it needed to be and felt like the perfect way to end this feud. [****]

To add to it all, Darby then delivered a Coffin Drop onto the coffin with Page inside.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

A great start for Fyter Fest. This had several really good matches, some angle advancement, and a banger of a main event. Easy win for AEW in terms of quality this week.