SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli & Mark Briscoe & Daniel Garcia vs. Brody King & Jay White & Rush & Jay Lethal
This was a good, fun opener. Typically I don’t want a match thrown together at the last minute with no real build put onto a PPV but this worked well because it involved almost all of the participants of the Continental Classic and helped cap off some of the fall out of the tournament. It feels like Garcia will be getting some sort of push coming out of the tournament and that there has to be something to Lethal losing every match in the tournament and taking the fall in the “Superstar 8-man Tag.” Call me crazy but I’m actually more intrigued with the Lethal fall out rather than the Garcia push but I’m still curious to see where each go from here. The biggest question mark will hang over White though because he’s a major talent that finally seemed to be getting used more properly in the months previous to the C2.
Toni Storm vs. Riho (AEW Women’s Title): A well worked match here. Riho has hit Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega status in that I don’t know that you can have a bad match with her. Save the complaints on the comparison; I simply mean that I’ve never seen anyone have a bad match with Riho much like it’s very rare to see the same in those that have matches with Danielson and Omega. I still continue to get a kick out of the “Timeless” character and am very into the story that they’re building with Toni and Mariah May. I guess we’ll find out soon if Riho is planning on sticking around this time or was simply brought in as another “one off” for Toni to just get a win over.
Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland – TNT Title match
This match really jumpstarted this PPV and was a much needed boost to the show. Christian and Copeland had a hell of a brawl and was able to breath a lot of life back into the show. While the spot with lighting the table on fire was botched a bit, I still think it was a great match and was probably the match of the evening. I also loved the finish and immediate rematch (and not because I predicted it three hours ahead of time on Twitter/X, which you should follow me on, details at the bottom). It wasn’t time for Christian to drop the TNT Title yet but Copeland couldn’t lose this match to Christian after losing to him just a few weeks ago. The “cash in” helped keep both of those things intact. The other thing at play here is Christian’s story with Killswitch (the former Luchasaurus). Christian’s had a hold on Killswitch for months and months now and I’m curious to see, ultimately, what the reason is for that and what Christian needs to constantly remind Killswitch about secretly. I’m wondering how the trilogy (it’s technically four matches, I know) to this will be capped off. I could see a cage or whatever AEW wants to call its version of TLC as the way to cap off this feud.
Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley – Continental Crown
This was a good, hard hitting match that further helped to turn this show around from its odd start. Also important is that the right guy was chosen to win considering the story that was told. The Continental Crown win would’ve not done much for Moxley but helps to further legitimize Kingston. This probably isn’t the way I would’ve gone at the start of the tournament but considering the stories that were told I was happy with its conclusion and its winner. My original choice of Swerve Strickland being the winner also seems to be on a trajectory for bigger and better things so, again, I’m pretty content with where this landed and I hope the Continental Crown will be treated with respect. Having said that, it’s gonna be tough considering how many titles already exist in AEW (and it’s extended ROH universe).
MJF vs. Samoa Joe (AEW Title)
The first thing worth noting is that MJF had a very good title run. It’s always interesting to see a big title run where someone starts as a heel and ends it as a big babyface (or even vice versa; see CM Punk’s 434 day WWE Title run). It’s also been reported that MJF has been working for months now in a lot of pain so kudos to him for gutting that out and putting over a new champion cleanly. It’ll be fun to see what a Samoa Joe world title run will look like in AEW. I could see him holding the title for 6 months. I could also see him holding it for 2-3 weeks. The match itself was very good and the finish was shocking to a lot of people based on the reaction.
Devil reveal
This seems to be a polarizing decision but I’m happy with the reveal. The most obvious choice is sometimes the right choice and I’m happy that it wasn’t a surprise or “out of left field” option just for the sake of shock value. Adam Cole does his best work as a series heel and I believe that along with Roderick Strong, Wardlow, and The Kingdom this group could be a blast to watch in the coming weeks and months. However, I do agree with Sean Radican that some of the dots don’t connect when leading up to this. Part of that I think is Cole’s injury throwing a wrench into things. Another part is the trigger on this should’ve probably been pulled at All In. There’s also other factors that make the dots not connect. Having said that, if anyone can cut a promo to make things work it’s Adam Cole. Perhaps they’ll lean into that Cole wanted the title for himself in time but had to get the title off of MJF as his (seemingly in storyline) contract was up with AEW. Cole did fumble around looking for the Dynamite Diamond Ring and gave Joe time to recover ultimately costing MJF the title; let’s not forget that. I’m happy with the reveal and am definitely optimistic while I am in “wait and see mode.”
Overall Show
The show grades out for me as a minor hit. This ultimately was a three match show and those matches happened to be the final three on the show. The first half of this show felt like a fever dream. There were matches where I didn’t know who I was supposed to be rooting for, odd booking for one of AEW’s rising young stars, and subpar in-ring action compared to what I’m used to seeing in AEW (read more about this below). The fact that this was really a three match show also means it would’ve also been a better idea to spread those three matches throughout the show to take the live crowd on a bit of a ride. Personally, I’d have opened up with the Continental Crown match since this show had the finals to the tournament that lead into it. WWE will, at times, put a title match on to open the show and bookend the show with both world titles. That could’ve worked here for the C2 Final. The show was also very newsworthy with the AEW Title change and Adam Cole being revealed as the devil. This was certainly the weakest AEW PPV to end the year but it was largely saved by the final three matches including the main event match and angle. A main event can sometimes save a show. In this case, the big three matches did just that. Overall grade: B-
MISSES
Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo
I guess it’s fair to start by saying that there was nothing wrong with the ring work in this match. Both guys worked really hard and it was hard hitting at times. Having said that, who were we supposed to be rooting for in this match? Neither man had been set up as face or heel coming in. A heel vs. heel match almost never works and a face vs. face match can work. But, when neither has been quite defined it doesn’t work at all either. Since it’s been confirmed that Andrade is now gone from AEW, I suppose it’s best to just put CJ Perry back with Miro. But even that felt like it was up in the air at the end as they didn’t leave together and Miro still didn’t look happy despite CJ, seemingly, throwing her support back behind him. When all is said and done, it’s for the best to just have them back together and I’m curious to see where they go from here. It’s just a shame that the story really didn’t hook me like I’d hoped it would the past few months.
Swerve Stickland vs. Dustin Rhodes
To me, this was the most baffling booking of the evening. There were three ways this could’ve gone that were better than what actually happened. The first way was simply having Dustin too injured to compete. The crowd was into the attack in a huge way and it felt like that was more than enough for this part of the show. The second way was having Dustin still compete but be squashed immediately. The third way was to have just a straight up match with no pre-match attack. At least with this the length of the match would’ve made sense with Swerve dominating most of the match. This match, as it was constructed with the pre-match attack went about 7 minutes too long. However, for a man that was perceived to have a shattered ankle going nearly 10 minutes with a rising, majorly over wrestler like Swerve was simply incredulous. Swerve, on paper, is still a heel but is receiving 1996-97 Steve Austin type reactions in that he can pretty much do whatever he wants to right now and still get babyface cheers. There’s nothing wrong with that for the time being but sooner or later the full face turn will have to occur.
Sting & Darby Allin & Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Ricky Starks & Big Bill & Powerhouse Hobbs & Konosuke Takeshita
First things first, how was this match not promoted as Sting’s final match in the New York market? I suppose there’s a chance they swing through the area again sometime in the next few months but I haven’t seen anything on the calendar for that yet. That aside, this match felt clunky and wasn’t very well worked considering the eight involved. It was also marred by the crowd really laying into Jericho with the 2019 allegations from Kylie Rae resurfacing earlier in the day. It doesn’t seem as though the booking was changed and it looks like we’ll be getting Jericho and Guevara challenging for the tag titles in the near future. With the allegations levied against Jericho and the reaction of both the crowd and media being what it is I’m curious to see if the course going forward will take a detour.
Julia Hart vs. Abadon (TBS Title): I’ll start by saying I think there is a spot for Abadon on the roster and the character has evolved since the first time we’ve seen it on AEW TV way back when. But, this match wasn’t strong and Julia Hart, while much improved, is not yet ready to carry a match yet at her age and experience level. The crowd humored itself with some “this is spooky” chants but the result never felt like it was in doubt and there wasn’t much heat for it. Hart has come a long way but this match could’ve easily been one that was on any of AEW’s three TV shows.
Tony Donofrio is a Contributor for PWTorch.com. Follow Tony on Twitter/X and Threads @TonyDonofrio.
RECOMMENDED NEXT: LECLAIR’S AEW WORLD’S END 2023 REPORT: Alt perpsective, detailed coverage of MJF vs. Samoa Joe, Moxley vs. Kingston, Cage vs. Copeland, more
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: AEW Worlds End poll results for best match and overall grade
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