Trick or treat? In AEW it’s trick. It’s always trick and the trick is always somebody getting jumped after the main event. Or at least that’s how it feels. But despite AEW exhausting another post-match beatdown, having too many mid-match distractions tonight and dragging out more feuds longer than they should I actually thought the show was more of a treat overall. So let’s get to this week’s rankings!
Honorable Mention: Jade Cargill. Jade was doing pull-ups as she talked about being undefeated and wanting to whoop Nyla’s ass to prove she is “that bitch.”
5. Ethan Page was interviewed by Lexy Nair in the back. Page said The Firm didn’t change, MJF did. MJF thinks he did it by himself or can do it by himself but he can’t. So they did a favor for Moxley by making sure MJF doesn’t enter Full Gear at 100% But he’s going to be at Full Gear too as he announced himself as an entrant into the World Title Eliminator tournament that was announced tonight set to culminate at Full Gear with the winner getting a title shot at Winter Is Coming. He joins Dante Martin as the only 2 of the 8 participants announced so far. Having not seen the field yet I’m thinking Page would be a good choice to at least make the finals. It could help The Firm feel like they have a more legit leader during this either feud or scheming they have against, or maybe with, MJF.
4. Tay Melo. Melo faced Madison Rayne. Commentary reminded us Rayne is the “wrestling coach” against the sports entertainer in Melo. Melo delivered a backbreaker on to the top corner but it looked a bit awkward as Rayne appeared to miss the ropes and turnbuckles almost entirely and just crash to the mat. Actually it kind of made it look more painful so maybe it’s a Bob Ross-esque “Happy Accident” After a commercial Rayne turned a suplex attempt from Melo into a DDT. She followed up with a neckbreaker for 2. Rayne hit a less than clean top rope cutter on Melo but still only got a near fall. The “wrestling coach” did have a really smooth looking move though when she did a schoolboy roll-up taking Melo from the apron through the ropes for 2. In another exchange Tay teased a Gotch style piledriver seemingly taunting the BCC but Rayne got out. Melo hit a TayKO for the win. The timing seemed off with these 2 but I appreciated what they tried to do here.
3. Keith Lee. Serpentico was Lee’s victim tonight and honestly he deserves it for being the partner of the worst wrestler I’ve ever seen; Luther. Lee delivered a massive powerbomb immediately for the win. The perfect match for the two guys involved. After the match Tony Schiavone got in the ring to interview him and said “Big win for Keith Lee” while Lee grinned and shrugged which made me laugh. Tony announced the trilogy with The Acclaimed for Full Gear. The Acclaimed came out and Bowens apologized for their being no rap tonight but they were with Billy Gunn earlier and he went missing. Tony said Billy had a family emergency and had to leave to which Caster responded “We’re his family” Swerve popped up on screen and said he’s not just a music mogul he’s also a Hollywood director and his favorite genre is horror. So this film is “Billy Scissorhands” starring Daddy Ass himself. He revealed Billy Gunn in a chair with his hands behind his back in a dark room with 1 single light. Swerve said he’s going to make sure Billy isn’t there for the rematch and then held a pair of pliers behind Billy and seemingly broke his fingers with them as he screamed in agony. Swerve said “It’s spooky season!” as The Acclaimed ran off and Lee was left looking puzzled. I did not want this trilogy because I feel like the magic of first match is going to be impossible to top and you can’t get a better moment than The Acclaimed’s first title win. I also hate that the Lee/Swerve friction is another thing AEW is dragging out way longer than it needs to be dragged but all things considered this segment was good and firmly establishing Swerve as a heel is cool. I really just want him as a singles act though so I’m hoping the story isn’t just ultimately another “Actually we’re not splitting up!” reveal with a Lee turn because it feels like we just got a variation of that with this same duo in the Starks/Hobbs feud over the summer.
2. Jon Moxley. The night opened with “Wild Thing” blaring through the arena as the AEW World Champion was out for a title eliminator match with “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard of the Jericho Appreciation Society. Angelo Parker tried to distract Moxley right after the bell to no avail. After a back and forth contest that saw plenty of involvement from Parker Menard attempted the BCC face stomps himself but Mox kicked him off and locked in the rear naked choke for a quick tap. This was only 10 minutes and I appreciated them relying so heavily on Parker but Menard should never look as competitive as he did with Mox. The plus side is Mox didn’t bleed. After the match Stokely Hathaway came out with Lee Moriarty and said he knows Mox must be pissed to the highest level of pisstivity so Moriarty wants to challenge him to a match next week. Big Stoke said he knew Mox was a visual learner so they threw to a package where Lee, wearing a TLC (the group, not the match or PPV) shirt that I could only assume came from Stokely’s personal collection, explainined “Taiga Style” as they showed his highlights. Mox said the BCC actually likes Moriarty but he’s on! I appreciated them keeping the continuity from Bryan mentioning Lee during his initial feud with Moxley and as a Moriarty fan it was nice for them to give him a sort of reintroduction to the audience since he’s largely just been 1 piece of The Firm lately and never really given his identity on core AEW TV. The match should be great!
1. Wardlow. During the pre-match split-screen Taven said he won the TV title in his first night under contract to ROH. This monotone Melvin doesn’t realize we are living in the time of Taven. Tonight they crown a new Taven Network TV Champion. Wardlow said that’s cute but all he does is powerbomb people over and over and over so tonight he’s going to throw in an extra couple to welcome The Kingdom to “Wardlow’s World” Excalibur reminded us that Taven is one of only 3 ROH Grand Slam Champions and became it when he won the ROH Championship at MSG. Taven started the match puffing up his chest and walking on his tippy toes to mock Wardlow. Mike and Maria of The Kingdom distracted Wardlow so Taven could fly clean over the top rope with no hands. He sent Wardlow into the steps and then hit a big frog splash inside. Taven worked over Wardlow’s leg during the commercial but back from break Wardlow caught Taven running at him and flattened Taven with an F10. He hit a spinebuster on Taven and tried for a powerbomb only for Maria to get on the apron. Taven tripped him and tried to cover but Wardlow had a really slick bridge up to start his Lydia Tar like conducting of the powerbomb symphony. When all was said and done Wardlow hit 4 powerbombs and got the win with his foot on Taven’s chest. Mike Bennett jumped Wardlow after but Samoa Joe ran out to clear out The Kingdom. But in a shocker Powerhouse Hobbs came out and The Embassy and Hobbs jumped WarJoe. The show closed with Brian Cage holding up the ROH TV title and Hobbs holding the TNT belt. There’s a lot to digest here. I’ve been very negative about Taven before because prior to this I thought he was awful and he largely has been. He’s not Luther bad. He has the look and seemingly the technical ability he’s just always felt like a lame create-a-wrestler where there’s nothing really great or memorable about him. He’s also had some horrible catchphrases or puns that I despised and didn’t feel intentionally cringey, just bad, like “Madison Square Taven” when the logical “Mattison Square Garden” was right there. But he did well in this match and this was the best he’s ever looked to me. I’m not going to call him good but he’s fine. The post match stuff just felt very forced and random. Like Swerve v. Lee I was hoping for Joe v. Wardlow at Full Gear in a mutual respect “may the best monster win” type match but now it seems like we’re going with Wardlow v. Hobbs and Joe v. Cage sometime between now and then which could be good too. It’s nice to see Hobbs finally doing something again but this felt odd. Is he a member of The Embassy now? That would help them but feel like a step backward for him. It’d be strange if he isn’t because it felt like his entrance was their cue to attack. We’ll see where it goes. I’m thinking we get a Pinnacle/Joe v. Embassy/Hobbs big 8 or 10 man tag match before Full Gear which would be nice but if you put a Blood & Guts or Anarchy in the Arena type stipulation on it I could even see the faction warfare at Full Gear.
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