An AEW World title match between Kenny Omega and Rey Fenix has been announced for the final Dynamite of 2020 on December 30th, the first of their two New Year’s Smash shows.
After Omega defeated Joey Janela in Wednesday’s main event, PAC, Rey Fenix, and Penta El 0 M came out on the stage. PAC said they had unfinished business, noting that Fenix was never eliminated from the recent World title elminator tournament as he had been removed due to injury.
He suggested Fenix should be next in line for a title match and announced that was indeed happening, much to Omega and Don Callis’ dismay. Callis said PAC had no power to make a match to which PAC responded by saying that Tony Khan had already sanctioned it.
The next three weeks of Dynamite will be special edition shows as December 23rd will be their taped Holiday Bash event while the December 30th and January 6th live shows will be called New Year’s Smash. Chris Jericho will do commentary on the first night, while Snoop Dogg will appear on the second night.
Jon Moxley made his World title defense against Kenny Omega official on last night’s AEW Dynamite.
After Omega signed the contract last week for their match at December 2nd’s Winter is Coming, Moxley put pen to paper on this week’s Dynamite. Before signing, Moxley laid Omega out with a Paradigm Shift.
Hikaru Shida defeated Anna Jay to retain the AEW Women’s World Championship on Dynamite. After the match, Abadon entered and left a blood stain on Shida’s title belt.
In the Dynamite opener, Hangman Page defeated The Dark Order’s John Silver. Dark Order’s Evil Uno made a recruiting pitch to Page after the match.
A week before Cody Rhodes and Darby Allin face Team Taz’s Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks, Taz choked out Rhodes with a Tazmission.
Chris Jericho and Jake Hager of The Inner Circle defeated SCU’s Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian after MJF hit Daniels with his Dynamite Diamond ring. Scorpio Sky saved Kazarian and Daniels from a post-match attack from the entire Inner Circle.
In the show’s final match, Butcher and Blade beat Death Triangle members PAC and Rey Fenix after an assist from Eddie Kingston. Kingston and his family assaulted Death Triangle after the match, but Lance Archer ran in to make the save and attacked Kingston.
For more of what you missed, including TH2 vs. Top Flight and Powerhouse Hobbs in action, scroll down.
Four matches, including an AEW Women’s title match, were announced for next week’s Dynamite.
Hikaru Shida will defend the championship against Anna Jay of The Dark Order. It was revealed that Mr. Brodie Lee (off-screen) demanded a title match for next week. Jay, along with John Silver, cut a promo tonight saying she was no longer a rookie, that she was in the Dark Order, and that she would win the championship.
Chris Jericho will also be in action next week, teaming with Jake Hager to take on SCU (Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels). Jericho appeared briefly on commentary Wednesday and promised The Inner Circle would be back in action next week following their trip to Las Vegas.
In other matches:
Death Triangle members PAC and Rey Fenix will face The Butcher and The Blade. This comes after Penta El Zero M made the save for Fenix who had ran out to help PAC fend off a three-on-one attack from Eddie Kingston, Butcher and Blade after PAC’s win over Blade Wednesday.
Will Hobbs will be in action against an opponent to be named. It will be a follow-up to his heel turn to close out Dynamite as he aligned himself with Team Taz.
AEW Dynamite airs live tonight from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
After defeating Chris Jericho at Full Gear, MJF will be inducted into The Inner Circle tonight. MJF faked being hit by a baseball bat at Full Gear to create an issue between Jericho and referee Aubrey Edwards, allowing MJF to roll Jericho up and pin him while holding the tights.
Natural Nightmares vs. The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny) has been announced. This feud began on AEW Dark where it was revealed that The Bunny had been seducing QT Marshall only to financially ruin him before she returned to her Bunny persona and her real-life husband, The Blade.
An appearance by new number one contender to Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship Kenny Omega was announced earlier today.
A Cody Rhodes promo has also been advertised. Rhodes lost the TNT Championship to Darby Allin at Full Gear.
Penta El Zero M vs. Rey Fenix will take place. The tag partners faced off in the first round of the World title eliminator tournament. Fenix came away with the win, but Penta took his place in the second round against Kenny Omega after Fenix was injured.
Shawn Spears (w/Tully Blanchard) will take on Scorpio Sky. This bout was originally slated for last week, but Sky was pulled from the show due to COVID contact tracing.
Brian Cage vs. Matt Sydal and Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet have also been announced for the show.
Tony Khan has also promised that “the balance of power in wrestling will shift tonight.”
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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Dynamite has a fresh presentation package, including a new intro and revised graphics.
Taz opened the show with a promo ahead of Brian Cage’s match against Matt Sydal. He addressed Darby Allin, who was sitting high up in the audience. Taz told Allin not to interfere in the match, and to tell Cody Rhodes the same thing. Taz put over Sydal, and notably said that Sydal has a win over Chris Jericho, which was either a mistake where Taz meant to say “Christopher Daniels” or a reference to their WWE days.
Brian Cage (w/ Taz & Ricky Starks) defeated Matt Sydal
Taz joined commentary. Sydal surprised Cage with a couple kicks. Cage popped up and beat him down with power moves and strikes. Sydal would occasionally hit some hopeful offense, but Cage’s power was too much. Cage taunted Sydal by curling him.
Cage got cocky and attempted a hurricanrana, which Sydal turned into a hurricanrana before hitting a brutal meteora on the ramp. Sydal hit kicks and a standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Cage went for the Drill Claw, but Sydal fought out. Sydal hit a roundhouse kick but was leveled with a lariat before countering out of the Drill Claw into a cradle for a close near fall.
Sydal attempted a top-rope blockbuster, but Cage caught him out of midair right into the Drill Claw for the win.
After the match, Starks cut a promo, emphasizing how he and Cage are both now on the men’s singles rankings. “The revolution will be televised.”
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Cody Rhodes made his full entrance and congratulated Darby Allin on his championship victory. Cody will not be seeking a rematch, and instead wants a match with MJF. Some tall bodybuilder woman entered the ring, took the microphone, and accused Cody of lying.
Her name is Jade Cargill, and she called herself the “total package”. She’s been sitting on the sidelines studying her competition. Cargill said that Cody wants to topple giants, but there’s nothing giant about Cody.
Cargill told Cody to keep his thoughts to himself, and told him to watch his back, before sarcastically congratulating him on his name. Cargill said that Cody was too scared to go by just one name, and said that the giant she’s representing was Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal).
Brandi Rhodes came out and tore into Cargill, but Cargill was unfazed. Cargill gave Brandi a lovetap on the way out before Jerry Lynn came out to prevent the fight.
With Cody distracted, Cage re-entered the ring and laid him out. He and Starks attacked Cody, but Allin’s music played, and he made the save. Cody’s music played as Will Hobbs made his way out to even the odds.
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Alex Marvez interviewed Jon Moxley. When Moxley came to AEW he wasn’t interested in championships, but now, the world title represents every single one of the fans. He has a big challenge ahead with Kenny Omega. He’s beaten Omega once, but beating him twice is another story.
They announced that Moxley will the AEW World Championship against Omega in three weeks, on the December 2 episode of Dynamite. It was billed as the “biggest match in Dynamite history.”
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Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) defeated The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Allie) in a Bunkhouse Match
This was tons of fun.
There are no disqualifications or countouts in a Bunkhouse match. Everyone in the match was wearing jeans and there were props next to the stage.
Marshall attacked before the bell and the Natural Nightmares worked over their opponents on the floor. Dustin hit the Final Reckoning on Blade through a chair. Bunny distracted them, and Blade smashed a guitar over Marshall’s head as Dustin grabbed a bullrope. Dustin set up to use the rope but was leveled with a chair shot from Butcher.
The camera cut to Marshall, who was bloodied. Bunny handcuffed Dustin to the ropes. It was all Butcher and Blade during the commercial break as Dustin was helpless and Marshall was incapacitated.
A ladder and a kendo stick were introduced during the break. Dustin grabbed the kendo stick, so Blade tackled him, but in the process, Dustin was set free from the cuffs. He made a one-man comeback after flipping off his opponents.
Dustin and Butcher fought with weapons abnd brawled over to a staging area. Marshall blinded Butcher with a fire extinguisher, allowing Dustin to bulldog him through a plywood structure.
Back in the ring, Blade had been opened up badly. Marshall and Blade’s relationship with Allie/Bunny was the focus of this feud, so they brawled in the ring before Marshall cracked him with a trashcan. Marshall climbed a ladder and hit an elbow drop from the top, but Blade got his shoulder up at two.
Butcher and Dustin made their way back into the fight as the latter hit signature offense before they whiffed on a Code Red. Butcher and Blade hit the Full Death through chairs, but Marshall broke up the pin. Marshall hit a chain-assisted Diamond Cutter on Butcher and Blade into Bunny, which sent her through a table. Dustin nailed Blade with a cowbell and Marshall hit the cutter for the win.
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Matt Hardy cut a promo from his compound. He said that Sammy Guevara earned his respect through all the violence and that Guevara will be a big star.
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MJF’s Inner Circle Induction Ceremony
There was a podium set up in the ring. Chris Jericho came out, addressed the crowd, and invited out the original Inner Circle first. Hager, Santana, and Ortiz came out without Guevara, but Jericho brushed it off.
Next were MJF and Wardlow, both of whom are being inducted into the Inner Circle. MJF took the podium and acted all emotional, saying he overcame the adversity of a one million dollar loan and handled the burden of being the ratings champion. He then read a prepared poem, but he was just plagiarazing the rapper Drake’s song “All Me”.
Santana and Ortiz got heated, but Jericho calmed everyone down and said the Inner Circle would be stronger than ever, imploring everyone to make it work.
MJF said they weren’t just here to celebrate his induction, they were also celebrating Jericho’s birthday as confetti and balloons rained down. He announced that the Inner Circle was headed to Las Vegas next week, and the trip was on him, before singing “Happy Birthday” to close the segment.
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Alex Marvez interviewed the Young Bucks. In a funny moment, he flinched when their dressing room opened, expecting to be superkicked. The Bucks called the tag championships the biggest achievement of their career.
Matt mentioned that they received a message from Top Flight, the high-flying team of brothers that’s appeared on Dark, and then Matt granted them a tag team championship opportunity next week.
This was the culmination of a feud. They traded big moves early on. Ahead of the commercial, Sky went for a dive, but Spears sprung up and suplexed him.
Back from break, Sky fought out of C4 and hit a plancha and a slingshot cutter. Spears had set up stairs on the outside. Sky attempted a diving clothesline off of them, but Spears kicked him out of the air before dropping Sky with a sidewalk slam onto the stairs.
Spears went for the TKO, but Spears turned it into a sharpshooter. Tully dropped Spears’ Kevlar slug gimmick in the corner and distracted the referee and Sky. Spears crushed Sky with a steel slug inserted into his left glove, and that was enough to get the three count.
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During the previous match, Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks of Team Taz was announced for next week’s Dynamite.
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Dasha Gonzalez had been sitting with Kenny Omega for an interview, but Omega left in a hurry. They cut to Alex Marvez, who had caught up to Omega outside. Marvez asked for Omega’s thoughts on being the next world championship challenger.
Omega said that he needs the championship to live up to the standards of the Kenny Omega we saw in New Japan. He’s ready to assume the responsibility of being world champion, and noted that despite their previous encounter, this is the first official match between him and Moxley. He closed the interview with an intriguing cliffanger: Omega has a flight to catch.
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Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay) defeated Red Velvet (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
Conti took control with judo throws before a commercial break. Velvet came back with clotheslines and a cazadora bulldog before following it up with double knees and a stunner for two.
They downed each other with double roundhouse kicks. Jay slipped a chair to Conti, but Conti didn’t want to cheat, and she kicked it out of the ring. Velvet surprised her with a leg lariat for a near fall, but missed a dropkick. Conti followed with a pump kick and a Gory Special transitioned into a knee strike for the victory.
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Alex Marvez interviewed Jericho, MJF, and the rest of the Inner Circle. They celebrated with their tickets to Las Vegas. Sammy Guevara approached. Guevara missed the induction ceremony because he didn’t get a follow-up email about where it would take place, but MJF was adamant he sent it.
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They replayed the Best Friends/Sabian & Miro angle from Full Gear and announced Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy for next week.
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Eddie Kingston cut a promo. Even though he said “I quit,” he will never stop wrestling and will become world champion. Penta vs. Fénix is next, and all Kingston can say to the fans is “you’re welcome.”
Penta El Zero Miedo defeated Rey Fénix
This was a very good match but it wasn’t quite as great as their previous encounter.
Kingston joined commentary and they teased dissension as Kingston clearly favors Penta. The Lucha Bros traded kicks right away. They traded cradles before Fénix sent Penta outside with a hurricanrana. Fénix set up for a dive, but Penta backdropped him to the floor. Penta tore at his brother’s mask and flattened him with a thrust kick.
A lot of Fénix’s face was exposed during and after Penta’s attack on his mask. Schiavone accused Kingston of breaking up a great tag team. They brawled outside during the break and Penta maintained control of the match.
Penta set up for the package piledriver but Fénix turned it into a cradle. Fénix hit a handspring cutter before returning the favor and ripping his brother’s mask. We just about saw Penta’s entire face. They traded headbutts and Penta hit a flipping DDT for two.
A tijeras sent Penta outside before Fénix laid him out with a tornillo dive. Fénix hit a senton atomico for two. They fought on the apron as Penta hit the package piledriver right on the ring frame. On the floor, Penta hit a destroyer.
Back in the ring, Penta hit a second package piledriver for the win.
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Kingston immediately grabbed a microphone and congratulated Penta before pushing Fénix out of the ring. He said that Penta doesn’t need that dead weight.
He was interrupted by the returning PAC, who said that the Bastard is back and that Kingston made a bad mistake. Officials came out to prevent the brawl.
It was announced that PAC will make his in-ring return on next week’s Dynamite, facing The Blade.
Three matches have been announced for this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
Already announced on this week’s episode, Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) vs. The Butcher and The Blade will now be a bunkhouse match. No further details as to what that stipulation represents were announced. In storyline, The Bunny, formerly Allie, pretended to be romantically interested in Marshall. After maxing out Marshall’s credit cards, Allie supposedly returned to her real-life husband, The Blade.
In women’s division action, Tay Conti will take on Red Velvet. Velvet, who is coming off a loss to Nyla Rose on this week’s Dynamite, will have Brandi Rhodes in her corner.
The Lucha Bros will also face off in a singles match as Rey Fenix faces Penta El Zero M. The two met in the first round of the AEW World title eliminator tournament on October 21. Fenix was victorious but was also injured in the match. As a result, Penta took his place in the tournament semifinals against Kenny Omega.
AEW Dynamite airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time on TNT.
Due to injury, Rey Fenix is out of AEW’s World title eliminator tournament.
AEW posted a video today where Eddie Kingston announced that Fenix is forfeiting his first round win against Penta El Zero M in the tournament due to injury. Penta will face Kenny Omega in the semifinals on Dynamite next Wednesday (October 28).
Kingston told Fenix that he had to forfeit his spot because it’s not about Fenix — it’s about The Family.
Fenix defeated his brother Penta in the first round of the World title eliminator tournament on Dynamite this week but got hurt in the process. The entire first round of the tournament was held this Wednesday, with Fenix defeating Penta, Omega defeating Sonny Kiss, Hangman Page defeating Colt Cabana and Wardlow defeating Jungle Boy. Page and Wardlow’s semifinal match will also take place on Dynamite next Wednesday.
The finals of the World title eliminator tournament will be held at Full Gear on Saturday, November 7. The winner will get a future shot at the AEW World Championship.
Jon Moxley is the current AEW World Champion. He’s defending his title against Kingston in an I Quit match at Full Gear.
AEW has revealed the fourth participant for their Casino Ladder Match at Double or Nothing.
It was announced today that Rey Fenix will be taking part in the Casino Ladder Match. Darby Allin, Colt Cabana, and Orange Cassidy are the other wrestlers who have been confirmed for the match so far.
The winner of the Casino Ladder Match will receive an upcoming shot at the AEW World Championship.
For the first time since the March 18 episode of Dynamite, Fenix was back in action on the AEW Dark episode that premiered last night. He defeated Alan Angels.
Fenix and Pentagon Jr. are part of a stable with PAC called Death Triangle.
Double or Nothing is taking place on Saturday, May 23. Three other matches have been announced for the pay-per-view thus far. Jon Moxley will defend his AEW World Championship against Brodie Lee, Cody and Lance Archer will face off in the finals of the TNT Championship tournament, and MJF will take on Jungle Boy.
– In collaboration with WrestleCon, Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground took place in New Orleans tonight. The main event was supposed to be Austin Aries & Fenix vs. Alberto El Patron & Pentagon Jr., but Patron didn’t end up appearing on the show and it was changed to a triple threat. No explanation was given for Patron’s absence.
– Josh Mathews (Impact) and Matt Striker (LU) were the commentators for tonight.
Matanza defeated Moose, Matt Sydal, Caleb Konley, Jack Evans, and Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a six-way match
Moose and Matanza cleared the ring and squared off. Moose took out Matanza, but Guerrero caught Moose with a dropkick. Konley hit a suicide dive to the floor and Sydal followed up with a moonsault.
Evans hit a springboard moonsault to the floor, wiping out everyone. Evans hit a standing twisting moonsault on Sydal for a near fall. Moose ran wild but was cut off by Konley. Matanza threw Konley across the ring and hit the Wrath of the Gods for the win.
Knockouts Champion Allie defeated Taya Valkyrie to retain her title
Valkyrie took over after double knees to the back of the head. Allie fired up and hit a DDT for a near fall. She countered a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Valkyrie into a backstabber and followed up with the codebreaker to retain.
Scott Steiner & Teddy Hart defeated OVE (Dave & Jake Crist)
OVE gained control and isolated Hart on their side of the ring, but Steiner got the hot tag and ran wild. He hit a belly-to-belly suplex on Jake for a two count. Steiner caught Dave and threw him across the ring. He locked on the Steiner Recliner on Jake for the win.
King Cuerno, Drago & Aerostar defeated Andrew Everett, Dezmond Xavier & DJZ
DJZ wiped out Drago and Aerostar with a flip dive to the floor. Xavier followed up with a handspring back flip, and Aerostar hit a step-up springboard dive to the floor.
Cuerno set up for a dive, but Everett cut him off with a springboard dropkick. Everett hit a dive to the floor, taking everyone out. Aerostar hit an RKO on DJ Z for a close near fall. Cuerno locked on a reverse Indian deathlock on Everett for the submission victory.
Trevor Lee (w/ Caleb Konley) defeated Marty The Moth (w/ Famous B)
Lee hit a stacked-up powerbomb for a two count. Marty missed a moonsault, then Lee rolled him up with a handful of tights for the win.
Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz w/ Diamante) defeated Killshot & The Mack to retain their titles
LAX were firmly in control and isolated Killshot in their corner. Santana put him in a fireman’s carry, but Killshot countered into a double foot stomp.
Mack and Killshot hit a double foot stomp into a sit-out powerbomb for a very close near fall. The finish came when LAX used the Street Sweeper on Killshot for the win.
Brian Cage defeated Eli Drake
Drake took over after dropping Cage throat first on the rope. Cage missed a discus lariat and Drake caught him with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Drake attempted the Gravy Train, but Cage slipped out and pinned him for the win.
Jeremiah Crane (Sami Callihan) defeated Eddie Edwards in an I Quit match
Edwards hit a suicide dive to Crane as he entered the ring. Edwards gave him a fishermen’s buster on the ring apron. Edwards hit the Boston Knee Party with a chair, but Crane refused to quit. Crane gave Edwards a running Death Valley Driver through a chair that was upright.
Edwards fired back and powerbombed Crane through a guardrail in the corner. OVE ran out and distracted Edwards — and Crane jumped him from behind. Crane set up the chair on Edwards and teased hitting him with the bat, calling back to the spot that went wrong where Edwards got injured earlier this year.
Don Callis came out and threw in the towel to protect Edwards. Moose ran out with a chair and Crane ran off.
– McKenzie Mitchell announced that Fenix will take on Pentagon Jr. at Impact’s Redemption pay-per-view on April 22nd.
Pentagon Jr. defeated Austin Aries and Fenix in a triple threat match
The main event was changed to a triple threat match. There was no explanation given for Alberto El Patron’s absence.
Pentagon set up for a dive, but Fenix caught him with a rolling cutter. Aries took out Pentagon with a suicide dive, but Fenix followed up with a twisting crossbody to the floor. Fenix and Pentagon worked together and hit a series of double-team moves on Aries.
Fenix and Pentagon traded stiff shots in the middle of the ring. Aries tried to get involved but was taken out by a double superkick. Pentagon caught Fenix with a back drop into a powerbomb. The finish came when Pentagon hit the Pentagon Driver on Fenix for the win.
Though the show is still over five months away, the list of people who will be appearing at All In continues to grow.
Penta El Zero M and his brother Rey Fenix became the most recent names announced for the show last night. Whether they’ll be teaming together as the Lucha Brothers or not has yet to be revealed.
They join Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, “Arrow” star Stephen Amell, and Tessa Blanchard as people who have been confirmed for All In.
The show is being self-financed by Cody and Matt & Nick Jackson and will take place at the Sears Centre Arena in the Chicago area on September 1st. Cody tweeted earlier this week that he expects May is the earliest that tickets will go on sale.
MLW also announced Penta El Zero M vs. Fenix for their show in Orlando on April 12th today. It’s a rematch from when they first faced off for MLW in January.
Last night’s PWG show in Reseda, California, was, due to the last four matches, considered one of the best non-BOLA shows in company history, and really not far off the BOLA standard.
– Flash Morgan Webster defeated Brian Cage
This was a big man/little man match as Webster is probably about 140 pounds and Cage is probably 260 or more. They worked the right style to make it work. Cage went for a powerslam and Webster cradled him. Cage was a last minute replacement for Travis Banks, who had visa issues.
– Mark Haskins defeated Adam Brooks
Brooks was making his PWG debut. They went long, doing lots of near falls and having a very good match. It could have been a few minutes shorter, but Brooks got over. He does a lot of comedy and talking but is technically really good.
– Joey Janela defeated Trevor Lee
Excellent match, with the first three minutes being crazy. Janela did a lot of high flying. Lee is more of a standard great worker in the sense everything he does looks great and he can build a match with the best of them.
– Keith Lee defeated Jonah Rock
Rock was so much better here than in BOLA. Lee outright claims to be the best big man in wrestling and then over and over goes out and proves it. Lee showed amazing agility and both did a lot of power spots since both these guys are about 310-330 legit.
Great finish. Rock came off the top rope, Lee caught him, then hoisted him up to his shoulders and like he was going to do a Death Valley bomb, but instead used a jackhammer from there for the pin.
– Sammy Guevara defeated Flamita and Rey Horus in a three-way match
They had a crazy flying match. It was crisp, and this match looked like it potentially could be fun and overachieved. If this was at Arena Mexico, it would be the best match there all year, that’s how good it was.
– Ricochet defeated WALTER
WALTER throws the hardest chops, except for maybe Katsuya Kitamura. Ricochet had an incredible match working with him. With the huge size difference, Ricochet sold a lot but did great flying moves including a Fosbury Flop late.
This and the previous match were the two best. Ricochet should have won even though he’s likely not around much longer, since he’s going against Chuck Taylor for the title tonight.
– The Chosen Bros (Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb) defeated The Lucha Brothers (Penta 0M & Rey Fenix) to win the PWG tag titles
Super match as well. Riddle & Cobb won clean with a combo GTS where Cobb threw Fenix (I think) into Riddle’s knee. These have to be two of the three or four best tag teams in the world right now. Penta & Fenix have so many unique moves, so much charisma, and you never knew what they were doing next.
The Battle of Los Angeles continued in Reseda, California on Saturday night. Here are the results:
– Based on post-show reaction, this was considered among the best shows in company history. It was among the best shows of the year, and who knows how good it would have been had the ring not broken a few minutes into the main event.
The finals are today, which will be a long 11 match show with a three-way finale, plus the usual ten-man tag team pure comedy match.
This was one of the hardest tickets to get in wrestling. It would have sold out instantly, but when it was announced that Kenny Omega was on the show, the demand was ridiculous. One fairly major celebrity friend that I know couldn’t get tickets (although they would have let him in) and I know Ronda Rousey was scrambling for tickets, and she was there on the stage and Matt Riddle and Michael Elgin played to her during their match.
– Donovan Dijak defeated Trevor Lee with Feast Your Eyes.
I’d consider this an upset since Dijak is WWE bound and Lee is a regular here and one of the company’s best wrestlers.
– Sammy Guevara defeated Joey Janela with a 630.
This match was insane. The consensus was it was the best match so far this weekend, although there are four or five bouts you could argue for that spot. It was two guys trying to make a mark who decided they were going to do a match that reminded me of the Kevin Steen vs. El Generico Final Battle match. Guevara after the match said he was the best ever.
– Travis Banks defeated Mark Haskins
The finish was messed up which hurt what was otherwise a great match, and they were handicapped having to follow Guevara and Janela. There was a spot that looked to be a normal near fall, and then the ref yelled to ring the bell. Haskins may have been hurt, although he seemed okay after the show.
– Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll defeated Ricochet & Matt Sydal in a non-tournament match when Sydal did a top rope hurricanrana and Sabre rolled through for a cradle.
Excellent match. If these two pairs teamed up regularly for the long haul they could be among the best face and heel teams in decades. The match was old school psychology mixed with new school athleticism and creativity.
– Jeff Cobb defeated Sami Callihan with the Tour of the Islands.
Good match. Callihan did no comedy and played to Cobb’s power spots.
– Matt Riddle defeated Michael Elgin
This was a high-end G1 Climax style match: hard hitting, tremendous heat, and tons of near falls. With the exception of The Young Bucks and Omega, Riddle was the most over guy on the show. They hugged after and Elgin told him to go out and win the thing.
– Keith Lee defeated WALTER with a twisting powerslam.
WALTER throws some of the hardest chops around. He’s about 6-foot-4 or 6-foot-5, much taller than Lee and while not a pretty body, he’d have been an absolute monster as a Bruno Sammartino contender if he came around in that era. He got over great with the crowd to the point I think a lot of people figured he’d win.
– The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega) defeated Penta 0M, Rey Fenix & Flamita in a non-tournament match
Omega pinned Flamita with the One Winged Angel. They went 27:00, with some early comedy and then got into all the creative spots. The ring broke only a few minutes into the match and the ropes sagged badly. They had to improvise and change on the spot and while a great match, it probably would have been a lot better without the ring problem.
One highlight was Flamita doing a top rope Asai moonsault where he got so high he kicked one of the overhead lights and actually knocked the power off. This had a lot of similarities to the Dublin Elite match except it got more serious and there was a lot more stuff. Marty Scurll did a cameo. They really tried to push Omega vs. Penta as the key face-off.
