Live from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, FL attendance around 1000
Some random facts about Nov. 7, 2020, earlier that day the media declared Joe Biden the winner of the U.S. Presidential Election, defeating incumbent and WWE Hall of Famer, Donald Trump. The number one song in America was "Positions" by Ariana Grande and the number one movie was "Come Play." Never heard of either one.
We open with an introductory promo package. Voice over man declares tonight is the "culmination and celebration of AEW's fighting spirit. Several feuds are highlighted; Darby vs. Cody, MJF vs. Jericho, Young Bucks vs. FTR, Nyla Rose vs. Shida, Omega vs. Page, and Kingston vs. Moxley. It's a great card, but this package is pretty underwhelming.
Our hosts tonight are Good ol' J.R, Tony Schiavone, and Excalibur. We have nearly 1,000 fans for this first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the announcers run down the card again.
Because Omega's entrance is so ridiculous, I feel the need to document it here:
Omega offers a handshake, which Page rejects. We quickly get to the "I chop/You chop" spot, Hangman wins that particular exchange, but gets cut off with a hurricanrana from Kenny. Kenny goes for a dive but Hangman stops him dead in his tracks with a big boot. JR informs us that there is no time limit in this match. Brawl on the outside for a while. Kenny leaps into the railing and moonsaults, and J.R. curiously calls it a rana. The Cleaner is talking to himself, character depth. Callis mentions Kenny's uncle, and also said Omega was scouted by the NHL to be a goalie when he was 16. Sorry Don, J.R. is only impressed with football. Huge tope by Kenny to the outside but he tweaks the knee on the descent. Missile dropkick gets 2. Hangman fights out of a snap dragon, and counters his way out of the One Winged Angel. He tries a Buckshot Lariat, but Omega charges and nails the V-Trigger. More back and forth, Omega wiggles out of a Dead-Eye on the stage, but can't avoid a pop up powerbomb. Ouch. Back inside, another powerbomb gets 2. Replay shows Kenny's head bounce on the outside, really, ouch. We get back to the "I punch you, you punch me," this time Omega wins and he hits the Tiger Driver ‘98. It's not the finish and it's No-Sellamania because it's 2020 and this is wrestling now, so Page gets Dead-Eye but can't hook both legs, and Kenny kicks out. Page tries the Lariat again, Omega stops him, then ducks a third attempt, and nails the V-Trigger. Kenny lifts him for the One-Winged Angel, and Hangman fights it mightily, but Omega finally reaches his head and delivers the slam, and it's over. Kenny Omega is the new number one contender to the AEW World Title.
Kenny Omega defeats Hangman Adam Page by pinfall (16:30)
That was a great opener. ***3/4. There's a teaser commercial for the AEW Games announcement on Tuesday.
Bell rings and Orange puts his hands in his pockets. He delivers his devastating kicks, Silver tells him it doesn't hurt and slams Cassidy. Silver tears the pockets from the pants because this is serious business, the crowd is disgusted by this show of disrespect. Silver begins his offensive attack which appears to consist of 95% posing and flexing. He has some very impressive biels though. Orange tries a tornado DDT but Silver blocks and hits a suplex. Impressive strength. Excalibur name drops Worcester, MA and my younger self pops. OC makes his comeback and hits the DDT on a second try. Silver does a one handed Gorilla Press, but OC is the star here and he wiggles free and lands a Michinoku Driver. He even taunts lazy and takes three tries to do the throat cut. He attempts Beach Break, but Silver hits a Spin Doctor, which is a Torture Rack/F-5 type of maneuver. Silver tries Brodie Lee's Discus Lariat, but OC ducks, hits the Superman Punch and Beach Break and secures the 3. Cassidy wins but commentary puts over John Silver's effort.
Orange Cassidy defeats John Silver by pinfall (9:41)
** good match but should have been on Dynamite. Best Friends come out and give the people what they want by hugging their pal.
Cody and Darby promo package. Cody, Arn, JR all have quotes. Darby says he will be the Face of TNT. Cody says Darby can be the face, but won't.
**** really well done. AND NEW TNT CHAMPION Darby Allin gets handed the title by Cody in a gracious gesture. Fans chant "you deserve it."
Team Taz enters the arena. Taz is sick and thinks that Cody and Darby are "bitch asses." Ricky Starks and Brian Cage attack. Ricky is wearing some lovely ladies' shoes. Cage carries Darby like a sack of apples through the arena and launches him through a piece of the set. Cody attempts a save but gets beat down again. I am forced to wonder what happened to the 30 people who love Cody and came to the ring with him. Cage and Starks continue their ambush on Allin and drag him to his car, and threaten to break his injured limb in the driver side door or his automobile. But just before they slam the door, Will Hobbs to the rescue, chasing off Team Taz with a steel chair.
Dasha is backstage with QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes. They say Allie is the real problem (not the two guys who just left Cody for dead) and Dustin adds that Allie is not successful. Their upcoming match with the Butcher and the Blade will be a Bunkhouse Match. Also on Dynamite is Fenix vs. Penta and Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet.
Promo package for the next match between Hikaru Shida and Nyla Rose. The package shows Shida defeat Rose to win the title and Rose subsequently hiring Vicki Guerrero to be her manager. Taz and JR are quoted. The actual build was very weak and thrown together last minute.
**1/2 I thought it was pretty good until the end when it just never seemed to hit its apex. After the match, Vicki is mad about her charge flattening her and losing the match. She slaps Nyla, and they tease a split. Seems kinda early to me but whatever, the pairing doesn't seem to be doing anything for either one.
Promo Package airs featuring the rivalry between the Young Bucks and FTR. We get lots of quotes here, JR, Taz, Excalibur, Tony and the angsty Bucks. It's almost all about the Bucks. Why not give the champs a little shine? Matt has a bad ankle. Also, if the Bucks don't win, they will never challenge for the tag belts again.
AEW video game news this Tuesday! JR tries to help the audience at home by asking why Tully was banned. Dax and Nick tag in and I realize that these might be two of the best wrestlers in the world right now. Excalibur talks about how the feud began on social media and dirt sheet awards. Match would got 5* in the Tokyo Twitter Dome. All four men are in the ring now and Young Bucks do Young Buck things. Outside, Dax swings with a hard right hand, The YB ducks and Dax's fist cracks the ring post, HARD. It even breaks the skin and we have minimal juice. Harwood plays "heel-in-peril" for a bit. Matt does a backflip into the ring from the top rope for seemingly no reason and oh yea, his leg hurts. Dax rags out to Cash and goes to the trainer to have Doc Sampson look at his hand. Cash and Dax resume their beating on Matt. Dax twists the ankle. Tony talks about the Young Bucks backyard wrestling career. FTR cuts off the tag and hit a super plex, Cash tried to follow with a top rope splash, but Matt gets the knees up, because his leg hurts. Miraculously Matt eludes both men and finally gets the tag. Nick is on fire. Crowd chanting for the Young Bucks. Wheeler with a great roll through and FTR nail a Hart Attack. It gets 2. Spear from Matt, oh yea his leg hurts, more inconsistent selling and he gets hit with the Steiners' top rope bulldog. Bucks come back with super kicks and a 3-D. Follow with a Twist of Fate and and Swanton Bomb. Tag team finisher Party! 20 mins have elapsed we are told. FTR reaches into their history and steal D.I.Y's finish. Matt gets Dax into a sharpshooter in the ring, Nick traps Cash in one outside the ring. Dax gets the ropes but Matt pulls him back and for some reason the hold wasn't broken. Dax and Cash even lock their hands together and the hold still isn't broken. JR gets upset about the bad officiating and I am sure people criticized JR for burying the match on commentary but he isn't saying anything I wasn't saying to my wife when we watched it live. What's the point of having rules anyway? Matt remembers Dax has a bad hand and goes HAM on it. The brothers hit a BTE-Trigger but Wheeler breaks up the pin attempt. Nick with a massive dive. Matt brings in a chair, but elects to not use it (did they miss the Cody match?). Dax begs him to hit him with the chair but Matt isn't falling for it, even though he grabbed the chair intending to use it, originally. They set up the Meltzer instead but Cash kills Nick on the outside. Spike piledriver to Matt, but he gets his foot on the ropes. FTR removes Matt boot. More attacks on the ankle, and an inverted Figure-4. Nick breaks it up with a Springboard 450, that gets 2. Wheeler uses the Bucks moves against them, and connects with his own super kick, grabs Dax and drags him to the corner, tags himself in and another huge kick to Matt. But he doesn't cover, and instead goes to the apron and attempts a springboard 450. He misses, eats super kick, and the Young Bucks get the win and the belts.
The Young Bucks defeats FTR by pinfall to become the AEW World Tag Team Champions (28:35)
****1/2 very good match, I think the wrong team won. I hated the Young Bucks stipulation and didn't like Tully not being allowed at ringside. I think my point is the Young Bucks make me feel a lot of negative things but at the end of the day even if the matches lack logic or psychology, and even if Matt is more impervious to pain than John Cena or Road Warrior Hawk, they still do such incredible things that these matches are GREAT. But I liked Revolution better.
Omega comes to celebrate with his Elite buddies. You can see Hangman standing in the babyface tunnel, but he doesn't approach. JR tells the audience that that match was FTR's first loss.
We are moving locations, to Cameron, North Carolina
The 3-on-1 continues until Private Party finally come to the rescue. Jim Ross says "these guys are dressed like funky....superheroes." Matt grabs some fireworks and shoots them off at Sammy while chasing him. Sammy fires back with pyro of his own. Santana and Ortiz and Private Party continue having a bizarre tag match in the woods with no fans and only loss connections to this match. Sammy falls into the mud. Matt with two good lines-"get up or the old folks will think this is a mud show," and "the competition is in the mud." Sammy appears finished but a masked strangers appears holding the Hurricane Shane Helms captive." It's Gangrel! Private Party attack the vampire while Matt saves Helms. Guevara with a super kick to Matt. Sammy tosses Hurricane into the lake of reincarnation, emerges as the alter ego reporter, and gets thrown back in again. Back in the ring for some reason, PP are wrestling with Santana, Ortiz, and Gangrel, and Hurricane joins. Matt leaves and Sammy pursues, but it was a trap and Matt closes the "Dome or Deletion." Everyone else is locked out. There's a ring in here as well, but not for long, Sammy begins pulling the bottom ropes off. He waffles Matt with the turnbuckle hook. Then he chokes Hardy with the middle rope until he seems incapacitated. Sammy wants to end it and he lays Hardy on a table and climbs the ladder. Swanton through Hardy and the table, but only a two count. Matt gets a Twist of Fate and then spears Sammy to the concrete floor, through two tables. Sammy is shown to be busted open on the back of his head. Matt with a hard chair shot to the face, then a conchairto with the concrete floor and Matt wins.
Matt Hardy defeats Sammy Guevara by attempted murder (19:39)
Private Party dump Sammy into the garbage bin, and throw him on a truck to be properly disposed, Senor Benjamin cameo as the driver. Reby plays piano and we get a replay package of this thrilling encounter I have chosen not to rate (take that as you will). Reby, Private Party, Hurricane and the Master of Mattitude pop champagne and shoot fireworks.
Lance Archer and Jake "the Snake" are in a dark alley. Archer is killing some little man. Jake tells us no one wants to train with Lance. Lance wants to eat people. Everybody Dies. Okay then.
Promo package for MJF and Chris Jericho. If MJF wins, he will join the Inner Circle. The package includes sit downs with MJF, Jericho, and Excalibur.
**1/2. After the match, Jericho and MJF shake hands and hug. All the bad guys are friends now! Wardlow and MJF are officially in the Inner Circle.
Revolution is in February. Similar marketing to last year. I think the name sucks but the 2020 show was aces. I feel like AEW has delivered on PPV pretty consistently to this point, no reason not to keep ordering the shows.
Dasha is backstage with Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends. OC doesn't have much to say. Enter Miro, Kip Sabian, and Penelope Ford, who are mad because some encounter between the Dark Order and Cassidy almost resulted in hurting Penelope. Kip demands an apology, and Cassidy obliges, but Sabian slaps him anyway. Best Friends get hot but OC blows it off and they walk. Poor Miro. Poor Trent. Poor Penelope.
This Wednesday on Dynamite-Natural Nightmares take on the Butcher and the Blade in a Bunkhouse match! Penta vs. Fenix 2! Tay Conti vs. Red Velvet! And more people not booked tonight!
Promo package for the main event. It's old indy footage galore! These guys go back! Realism! (I am being sarcastic but truly this entire feud has been fantastic and it feeling real is a big part of why). You can tell it's a big feud because they have Imagine Dragons.
****. Moxley tries to help Eddie up but Eddie still has too much pride. Eddie exists, Moxley celebrates victory. Kenny Omega enters. There are words exchanged, but Omega never enters the ring. That is a story for another day.
Great show! Hard to argue with a show where the storylines had me invested and the action delivered. Absolutely recommend this show to anyone who has enjoyed pro wrestling. Aside from the Hardy Compound fooloshness, there's nothing I hated.