There was a lot to like in last night's show, including the actual match in the main event which was great. But unfortunately that show gets a D- from me, and only if I am being generous on the grading curve. The surprise signing(s) and the last two minutes were just awful. It was like whoever booked the show intentionally decided to add the worst parts of WWE and old school TNA into the show. Overhype a WWE has been that no one cares about? Check. Cinematic match to hide the fact a participant should be collecting social security instead of wrestling, while narrating it as if it were live? Check. Absurd storyline that suggests someone might get murdered? Check.
I'm not abandoning AEW over one show, but that last two minutes in particular have me really worried. Somehow, despite all that talent backstage, no one was able or allowed to signal to Kingston that he should stop pretending to be knocked into a coma by some sparklers and smoke bombs that never went near him? That ending was right up there with the worst wrestling storylines of all time.
Yeah I wouldn't go as far to give the show that bad a grade, somewhere in the B to B- range for me personally. Yes, the ending was bad, but haven't almost every one of these "Death matches" over the past couple decades had issues like this? I mean, it's not like they are testing out a bomb and then repackaging it. It was a bad idea to have the explosion thing from the start, but apparently the only way they can write off Dean for a while is to murder him since Tony has such a rock hard boner for the man that death is the only way to get Mox off of TV.
Pre-Show tag match was fun, I have no clue why they continue to waste Britt on this feud with someone from NWA when she should already have knocked off Shida. All 4 of the women in this match are solid, and hopefully we get more from them all, and less Nyla Rose.
Bucks match was good, went as expected with Fat2J taking the fall so he can be kicked out of IC, Bucks move on, MJF looked great as well as the Bucks.
Battle Royale was solid, but I feared that Pac/Fenix were going to win since they are levels above everybody else in the match, but was still solid. Uno had the bad botch, but in hindsight had he went immediately he'd have dropped a 3 foot tall 60 pound kick some 8 feet straight onto his head. Bad spot, Marko needs to go, he brings NOTHING to the table. Otherwise, usual Rumble spots, not sure why I'd care about QT turning on Golddust, somebody needs to tell Cody that not every member of his 50 person "family" stable needs TV time. Jungle Boy is set to be a singles star the second they stop wasting time on the tag team. He will be great in the TNT title picture soon I hope.
Womens Title match, I guess I'm in the minority cause this was the only match I did not enjoy. I didn't see this "Stiff as hell Japanese style match" that all of Reddit watched. I saw two women that haven't worked together in a while put on a sloppy match with a 100% known outcome going into the match with too many kickouts of finishers. All around I thought this match was horrible, and I'm to the point where Shida having the belt and being booked this strong is doing more damage to the division then good. IF your whole division is kind of weak you need more then 1 title change a year, since the belt can be used to help elevate a superstar. Shida doesn't need it to look strong, others could. I'm ready for a Britt title reign where her size can help her look even bigger then she is against all the japanese babyfaces they have.
Miro tag match was fine, probably would have been better after the Battle Royale to keep some hype going with the prematch beatdown then after a boring long womens match. Miro looked good here finally, and hoping the seeds are laid for him to turn on Kip cause this team is a complete waste of a dude that can get over on his own huge.
Money Match was good, went as expected, until I was reading comments that people thought a good turn would have been DO coming out to help Hangman only to turn on him and have Matt as the new DO leader....that's the world I want more then Hangman hanging out with DO being a bunch of nerds. Hangman looked good, although all his matches go the same, and Matt is Matt...I mean what do you expect from such an old guy with so many miles...but hey 47 year old fucking Christian is here....so bleh
Ladder match was decent, although I think they've done much better ones. I understand that match was partially a way to write Cody off for a while, but I just can't take this much Cody overcoming the odds to almost win and still look good. Cody is literally my 2nd least favorite AEW performer behind OC so good riddance. Archer looked like a monster, but I feel like they struggle to know what to do with him, much like Brodie when he was there. Archer is too good to just be the big dude in the multiman matches, but not on the level for Main Event (Although I think he is). Ethan Page was such a letdown, dude won't make a single difference in an already overcrowded midcard. He'll likely get himself an indy partner and be random who cares tag team #48. Loved Scorpio winning, because he's the only one that made any sense. I hope this leads to him taking the belt off Darby and turning heel in the process, cause Darby has been a waste as champion, and he's a one trick pony as far as what he can do. You can't just force a Jeff Hardy, you let it organically happen, and I think AEW has failed with him and OC as pushing them too fast before they are there.
Movie Match - I was entertained, but these aren't matches, my wife said it reminded her of Lucha Underground and I miss that kind of show where it was some wrestling and some soap opera. This was the way you were gonna get a Sting match, you knew Sting was winning, and you knew Starks was there to eat the pin. Cage looked like a monster in this, Starks doesn't really look any worse for losing to Sting, and Darby falls off stuff. Now get that belt onto somebody who will defend it.
Main Event- I didn't hide the fact that I wasn't looking forward to this because I think these matches are dumb, and maybe it's because of just how far away the explosions were from them when they went off that I got a chuckle out of the theatrics. Didn't understand how after a few explosions one side just didn't go off anymore? Alot of blood, but that was just bad blading, match was actually well done, wasn't a fan of Kenny taking a DDT through the barb wire board head first, but it could have been worse. Liked the finish, although the GB were out there a little too long, quick interference leading to the OWA through the chair would have been enough, but "Gotta Keep Mox Strong" is now a thing I guess. Ending is what it is, yes it was lame, and honestly we should have expected it to be. At no point were they going to put Mox/Eddie in a situation where they could have been blown up for real. I'm shocked there wasn't a pre planned "Plan B" since these spots never seem to go as planned. Jerry Lynn being in ECW I'm pretty sure he had to be there for 1 of their 2 blown Death Match bombs should have told them it didn't go and it would play better into the "Kenny build a dud" story we will get.
Overall I liked it outside of the bomb dud, and the two new signings duds. Those mistakes are on AEW, people would have been more hyped for Christian had they not advertised a HOF level talent (Sorry him on his own is not), and they should have just told us about the Page signing. Another gripe is stop having mystery guys in your Battle ROyales and Ladder matches if they aren't going over, they gain nothing from being in the match and losing in a debut.
