Fyter Fest Night II certainly had its fair share of surprises.
Some major highlights:
- An IWGP Championship changed hands on AEW television
- The Bullet Club is here
- The Guerrero legacy strengthens
- Sting and Orange Cassidy wage war
- Next week- Painmaker vs. Gage
The show kicks off with the first Labour of MJF for Chris Jericho to overcome, facing a chair-wielding Shawn Spears. This was a hot one to start the show with Spears maintaining a dominating advantage early on, shortly after Sammy Guevara stops Tully Blanchard from getting involved any more in the match. Remember, Spears has the advantage of the chair, which was used on multiple occasions. Jericho was able to turn things around and trap Spears in the Walls of Jericho but a chair shot to the face ended the rally. Spears hits one C4, tries for a second on the chair, but Jericho gains enough momentum to strike with Judas Effect to win the first round.
An irate MJF announced next week it will be No Disqualification-Anything Goes when Jericho faces off with NICK GAGE. Yes. That guy. A guy who would rather bleed to death than quit. A modern-day New Jack.
The right match to kick off the show to rile up the Texas crowd, it would be strange for Jericho to lose, so once more, predictable takes a little bit away from the match. But not much as Spears and Jericho put on a great showing. Shows how confident AEW is in Spears and how much they are likely going to invest in him in the future.
Doc Gallows defeated Frankie Kazarian in a good match. Gallows is the lumbering big guy who swats off most offense. Kazarian as the “Elite Hunter” appeared to be a good spot, running in or sabotaging Elite plans, but putting him in a losing position felt to devalue the character. But then again, when you are in the Elite, the presentation of being unbeatable has to be maintained. Not the best showing, but hopefully not the last.
The segment goes further when Kenny Omega comes out to add insult in injury, and appears to intentionally flub lines to Don Callis can coach him on what to say. I can understand a long game of brainwashing will inevitably lead to a clean shaven babyface turn in a year from now, but it feels like Omega’s championship run is being slighted a bit. Hangman Adam Page hits the ring and confronts them all, no backing down as he slugs it out with Gallows and Anderson while Kenny dives from the ring. The rest of the Dark Order arrives with John Silver and Alex Reynolds dizzy Karl Anderson with their duo barrage, capped off with his head taken off by a Buckshot Lariat.
Just a thought, but perhaps to stretch the long story, have Kazarian fight his way through the Elite to earn a title match, but lose to Kenny, which then puts Hangman in the position. Maybe I just want this build to be as dramatic as possible.
Pre-taped promo: FTR and Tully Blanchard make their match with Santana and Ortiz official.
This was a very strange press conference-style bit. Clearly pre-taped, but cut in a way where the back-and-forth didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Santana brought out the photos of his mother and family to emphasize his never-say-die attitude, FTR puts on a “we worked as hard as anyone” blue collar bit, which culminated in a brawl. I got the point, but the method was strange.
Darby Allin defeated Wheeler Yuta in a match much better than anticipated. AEW must be very, very confident in Yuta to have him challenge Darby Allin.
The match was great, Yuta displays some more-than-impressive skills, even though ultimately Darby got the win via Coffin Drop.
Let’s talk about the real story. Sting and Orange Cassidy come to blows at ringside. It was a massacre. As Allin and Yuta were down, the two icons stared each other down. A strange turn of events when Sting strikes first, a lazy kick, which is answered back by Cassidy, lazy kick of his own, possibly shattering bone. After a few back and forth kicks which appeared to intensify with each strike, both men simultaneously went for sloth kicks, which appeared to strike and negate the other. Sting’s haphazard chest beating was the icing on the cake.
I couldn’t help by laugh my ass off. This might have been the greatest bit since Jericho and Cassidy had their run a year ago.
Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. retains the AEW Women’s Championship against Nyla Rose
It was a great build to an OK match. Prior to the match, Rose could have been perceived as a credible threat, but let’s be honest, would Baker have dropped the belt so soon? Nah.
Rose dominated majority of the match, but it was the resilience of Baker which carried the bout along. Rose is great, but the time to rotate is now. Despite the heel versus heel booking which doesn’t always work, it worked here because of the live crowd. Baker plays heel, but the fans in the arena and at home do not give a damn. Dr. Baker is at the peak right now, built up from injury, stellar promos, in-ring antics, and her not-giving-a-damn attitude which won her over with fans. Double Curb Stomp, countering a Beast Bomb into the Lockjaw, we’ve got a winner.
Time for new women to challenge and step up. The roster is there, let’s gooooo!
Tony Schiavone almost interviews Andrade El Idolo but instead we are graced with Chavo Guererro who has joined AEW as Andrade’s manager. Death Triangle come out to confront Andrade, who tells his luchador brethren they would be better off working for him. This ticks of the Lucha Brothers as they don’t work or anyone, and the back and forth banter English mixing with Spanish was great, capped off with Alex Abrahantes cry of “Penta Saaaaaays…”
Following the match between Wheeler Yuta and Darby Allin, The Blade struck with the Brass Knuckles which appeared to weaken Cassidy before his match tonight. While Blade appeared to have victory in hand easily, especially after a Doctor Bomb off the turnbuckles. I sat in pain. However, tables would turn as the brass knuckles came into play, but was not enough to keep Freshly Squeezed down. One Beach Break later and Cassidy once again, with help from Kris Statlander, would foil the nefarious plans. In an act of vengeance, Cassidy would KO the Blade with his own Brass Knux.
Backstage: Alex Marvez is with Chris Jericho who reveals only one persona will be able to withstand Nick Gage and this is the embodiment of evil itself, The Painmaker.
Lance Archer defeated Jon Moxley in a Last Man Standing Match to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
This one would appeal to the ECW old school fans. What a match. It was fantastic. The right mix of bloody extreme action with a solidly healthy dose of actual wrestling. Of course, the wrestling would inevitably fall by the wayside as chairs, tables, barbed wire, and Rene Paquette’s missing forks (see her twitter posts).
Archer was at his best here, despite his head being the target of multiple forkings, just absorbing punishment, becoming a bloody mess, but still managing to overcome everything Mox threw at him. Mox did exactly the same. Talk about two guys who don’t like selling weakness. Two badasses tearing into each other.
The big exaclamation point for the end was a pair of barbwire platforms set atop two tables. It appeared Mox would drive Archer head-first, but the Murderhawk lived up to the moniker by powering out and powerbombing Mox right into it all. Tangled up, Mox could not get up, and Archer would become the new IWGP U.S. Champion.
But it’s not over yet, at ringside, Buller Club member Hikuleo would climb into the ring, and for the first time I can think of, Lance Archer had to look up at someone. Hikuleo, if you have not googled by now, is brother to Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa of the Guerrillas of Destiny. It’s safe to say a Bullet Club invasion may be on the horizon.
Oh. How’s the Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson rumor doing today? One has to wonder if this has anything to do with Tony Khan’s major announcement next week?
