Reviews by Dave
Show air date: July 8, 2020
Night Two of AEW Dynamite’s Fyter Fest and I’m calling it “The Night Everyone Got All Their Shit In”. If you like countless flips, dives, superkicks, kickouts at 2 , and wild, if illogical, spots, this was the show for you. If you’re looking for that “sports-based” presentation, come back next week. Maybe that will show up then.
Hangman Page and Kenny Omega (c) defeated Private Party for the AEW Tag Team Championships
AEW opened with Private Party (PP) challenging tag champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page for the titles. Good match but if you’ve seen one Omega match, you’ve seen them all. He got in all his shit, Page got in all his moves, PP got in all of theirs. Way too much PP getting beat up one on two by either Page or Omega. Champs retain. You can hear Jim Ross’ legit aggravation when one of these young stars hits their flashy moves and then mugs for the camera instead of pressing the advantage.
Lance Archer defeated Joey Janela
Lance Archer jumped on Sonny Kiss before his own match with Kiss’ tag partner Joey Janela and then beat up Janela. Way too long. They’ve waited too long to get back to rebuilding the “MurderHawk” momentum and the better way to do that is just have him murderlize Janela, who just Joey’ed it up out there. I knew as soon as they were announced there would be table spots in this match and in Yim/LaRae on NXT. Both lived up to my low expectations. Weird spot with Jake Roberts distracting the ref so Kiss could interfere. Huh? Why would a 35-year vet make that mistake in the moment? The right guy won, moving on.
Taz Brings Back the FTW Championship
Taz makes a big announcement that he is awarding his charge, “The Machine Brian Cage, the classic FTW (F%^k The World) title. I guess he liked the way that angle was working in IMPACT.
Butcher and Blade and The Lucha Bros defeated FTR and the Young Bucks
FTR and the Young Bucks had an entertaining eight-man match against Butcher and Blade and the Lucha Bros but came up short. Everybody did everything but there was enough smart wrestling to keep it from being a trashy spotfest. Finally, Butcher and Blade get a good win.
Nyla Rose Gets a Manager
“The Native Beast” Nyla Rose steamrolled Kenzie Page and Kilynn King in a handicap match and then announces she has hired a manager but doesn’t reveal who. Hm. I have no idea why Rose needs a manager since she’s very good talking for herself but…whatever. A good segment that ends with her mad dogging champion Hikaru Shida.
The Dark Order (Mr. Brodie Lee, Stu Grayson) and Colt Cabana defeated SCU
The Dark Order, represented by Mr. Brodie Lee, Stu Grayson, and a compromised Colt Cabana, beat the full SCU team–Scorpio Sky, Christopher Daniels (who looks to be all the way back) and Frankie Kazarian. Good match with a good ending as Lee takes out Daniels with the discus lariat and gives the pin to Cabana, their newest member. That’s how you convert someone. Ross says Cabana is undefeated since joining TDO.
Big Swole is Suspended
Big Swole is met outside and was given her suspension papers from AEW management for the way she’s harassed and kidnapped Dr. Britt Baker. I like Swole but hey sis, you got to the show an hour late. Swole is very good here because yeah, they could have called her. Faxed her. Something. She then shows up in the arena!!! Fire security!! Hire Atlas Security!! That big dude fanning the Roll Model is just going to stand there??!! You’re fired too!
Main Event: Chris Jericho defeated Orange Cassidy
The main event of Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy (OC) was pretty good. A lot of good work. My complaint is AEW makes their referees the most incompetent in the business. WWE makes their refs incompetent, but AEW refs can’t count and just allow blatant interference with no consequences routinely. This week, it was Ortiz splashing some cheap-looking orange juice in OC’s face in the middle of the match. And why would he want Trent and Chuck Taylor to go in the back if Jericho had Ortiz and Santana there? Why would they stay back there? They also make their faces stupid as hell. Age and experience won out over youthful passion as “Le All Lives Matter” won with a nice looking Judas Effect elbow.
I was hot and cold on the show but everyone worked hard. There’s that.
