SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Housekeeping
•Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd was announced officially for WrestleDynasty
•“The Mother of All Simulcasts”, the first episode of Dynamite streaming on MAX, was announced for January 1st. It will be the annual Fight for the Fallen show this year benefiting hurricane relief in Ashville.
•The official field for the 2024 Continental Classic was announced Sunday night in a YouTube special. The Blue League will consist of current Continental champion Kazuchika Okada, new TNT champion Daniel Garcia, Kyle Flecther, Shelton Benjamin, The Beast Mortos, and Mark Briscoe. The Gold League consists of Will Ospreay, Juice Robinson, Ricochet, Brody King, Darby Allin, and Claudio Castignoli. Look for my separate in-depth coverage of this year’s C2.
Intro
AEW just doesn’t miss on PPV. Full Gear was a very good show in spite of the hit and miss booking to get there. There were some really good matches, Danny Garcia finally won the big one, and the show ended in a way that left a lot of people scratching their heads. Now we move into C2 season. The tournament officially kicks off tomorrow night on Dynamite in Chicago. Elsewhere Jon Moxley looks to have a new opponent and Mariah May might just be back on track. Dynamite should be a good show (other than Chris Jericho). Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy
Latest Developments
Jon Moxley defeated Orange Cassidy in a bloody, violent affair after which Jay White was seemingly set up as his next challenger.
Analysis
The concluding angle on last week’s Dynamite which consisted of Mox and the Mechanics duct taping Orange Cassidy’s hands into his pockets and beating him up after he’d successfully defeated Wheeler Yuta did OC no favors in presenting him as someone who might beat Jon Moxley. The match, however, made him look great. It started off hot with OC interrupting the introduction of Mox by Justin Roberts to surprise him with three Orange Punches in quick succession. Mox bailed to the floor and that’s where things took a turn. Mox gained control and wound up splitting OC open on the stairs. From there it was a very bloody Cassidy fighting from underneath. He’d have an occasional hope spot before Mox inevitably snuffed it out. The conclusion match began when Cassidy did the slow motion kicks on Mox which only angered the champion who went for a big lariat which Cassidy ducked and then hit the Beach Break for a two. That brought out Claudio and PAC. Before The Mechanics could interfere The Conglomeration ran out to fight them off. Marina jumped in the ring, Steve McMichael memorial Haliburton briefcase in hand only to neutralized by a returning Willow Nightingale. OC picked up the briefcase and blasted Mox for maybe the second best two count of the night. A discombobulated Mox distracted the ref, which allowed a hooded Yuta to hit Cassidy with a Busiku knee. Mox followed that with a Death Rider for the win.
The match was really good. OC put up a valiant fight but lost to the NWO-style antics of Mox and The Mechanics. I would’ve preferred a clean loss but given that we got clean losses all night and OC came in on the weaker end, I understand wanting to protect him. The two count off the briefcase shot was great and Yuta is playing his role well even if wish it were someone else in it.
Holy head spin Batman, that post-match was busy! First Mox and Yuta poured disinfectant on the bloody head of Orange Cassidy. Hangman Page hit the ring out of nowhere with a chair which he used to whack Yuta. He then stared down Mox which allowed Christian Cage to come in from behind and hit the Killswitch. Hangman handed Christian the contract case and left the ring. Before he could cash in Jay White hit the ring and dropped him with the Blade Runner. The Mechanics returned to the ring, beat up Jay, and then headed for the exit. As they approached their gray pickup truck in the back another car crashed into it at high speed. Mox and Co. commandeered another car and escaped. Darby emerged from the crashed car bloodied with his skateboard in hand to close the show.
So much happened here and I think most of it was ok. Christian picking his spot to try and cash-in his contract on a vulnerable, tired Mox made sense. Jay White coming in to prevent Christian from being successful made sense given he’s still looking to get even with him. The attack by the Mechanics on Jay would seem to indicate that he’s probably the next opponent which should be a fun match. Darby has been a part of this since the beginning, so I had no problem with him doing something crazy to try and get the heels. The only thing that didn’t work for me was Hangman’s involvement. It was too random and can’t really lead anywhere at this point. I would’ve nixed that part. That said moving into a Jay White/Jon Moxley feud elevates the overarching Mox and the Mechanics story now because you have a top tier babyface fighting back against them. What will be interesting is whether and how Switchblade carries the banner for Team AEW given that he’s never been an AEW diehard like OC or Darby.
Grade: B+
Jay White vs. Hangman Page
Latest Developments
Jay White defeated Hangman Page clean for the second straight PPV
Analysis
The final angle was not much, just a simple video recap. It was fitting though as this has been a simple feud. The match however was anything but simple. What AEW struggles with in week-to-week storytelling, they excel at in in-ring storytelling. Hangman began the match by going after White’s ankle in a bit of turnabout being fair play after White targeted Hangman’s knee last month. White eventually turned the tables on Hangman, exploiting his still injured knee. On top of the limb work both of these guys knew each other so well that they had counters for everything. The finishing sequence was especially nifty. Hangman went for a Buckshot, but Jay attempted to repeat last month’s finish catching Hangman in Blade Runner position. Hangman countered; White tried for a roll-up, but Hangman put on an anklelock. White reversed the ankle lock into a Blade Runner for the winner.
Jay White has been considered to be the greatest counter wrestler in the world and he certainly backed that up in this match. The counters were unreal. The limb work was fantastic. These guys have great in-ring chemistry and cannot have a bad match. White going over clean for the second month in a row was what I predicted because I felt like White needed the win more. Hangman’s entire arc right now is his further descent into madness. This furthered that. White has suffered from a lack of consistent booking so get two strong wins over Hangman was a positive sign especially if he is next in line for Mox as it seems.
Grade: A-
Mina Shirakawa vs. Mariah May
Latest Developments
Mariah May intended to turn on Mina Shirakawa, but Mina caught her, disarmed her in wild fashion and then speared her off the stage through a table.
Analysis
The final “build” for the champagne celebration consisted of a short backstage segment and a squash match on Rampage. That was part of the problem with the angle on Saturday night, but more on that later.
Mina came out midway through Full Gear and introduced Mariah as “the love of her life”. Mariah came out said there wasn’t a single woman who could touch her and then called Mina her “one true friend”. The two intertwined arms and sipped champagne. They started dancing and then Mariah reverted to type, grabbed the champagne bottle and swung at Mina. Mina however saw it coming, ducked and then channeled her inner Jackie Chan kicking the bottle right out of Mariah’s hand. That she did it in open-toed shoes made even more impressive. She then speared Mariah off the stage. They were supposed to go through two tables but bounced off one and crashed through the other in a brutal bump. Mina came up with a bloody lip and then wiped the blood a prone Mariah.
I didn’t hate the execution of this. Mina didn’t look like a dumb babyface. As much as she loves Mariah, she’s smart enough to know what Mariah is capable of. Kicking the bottle out Mariah’s hands was crazy, and Bloody Mina was a quite the visual. That said this segment suffered from Mina being unavailable for so long. In addition to Mariah having to be redirected into a feud with Anna Jay, AEW was unable to tell a story between Mariah and Mina and then had to get to the turn to get to the match at World’s End because this is all part of the larger Mariah vs Toni Storm story. Even with Mina unavailable, the announce team could’ve reminded us a couple times in the last few weeks that Mina teamed with Toni in Japan as that perceived betrayal is going to be Mariah’s reasoning for clearly intending to smash her best friend over the head with a bottle. Instead, we got a turn that will turn out to make sense but was not at all properly set up. That said I think this will finally give Mariah a meaty feud to sink her teeth into and hopefully set the stage for Toni’s return as they are all interconnected.
Grade: B
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship episode with guest cohost Jason Powell: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Mercedes Moné vs. Kris Statlander
Latest Developments
Mercedes Moné defeated Kris Statlander in a barnburner to retain her TBS title.
Analysis
Again the go-home angle was super basic. Stat defeated Shida and then fended off an attack from Mercedes and Kamille, ultimately leaving Mercedes laid out after Staturday Night Fever.
On the Zero Hour, Mercedes berated Kamille again and banished her to the back for the night. Once it was match time Mercedes and Stat took any expectations people had and blew right past them. The match was great. Mercedes bumped like crazy and Stat was a great base. At one point Mercedes went for the fourth meteora, this one off the top rope and Stat caught her flat-footed and tossed her into the turnbuckle. There was a great near fall, best of the night in fact, when Stat kicked out of the MoneMaker. It felt like she might actually win the thing. In the process of the match Stat appeared to tweak her knee which was believable given that she’s blown out both of her knees in the past. That injury would play a direct role in the finish. Mercedes went for a 619 but Stat caught her and turned it into the setup for Staturday Night Fever. Before she could execute the move, Mercedes pounded on the injured knee until it buckled allowing her to messily roll Stat up for the win.
This was easily Mercedes best match in AEW thus far and Stat’s best match maybe ever. Hopefully Tony realizes this is the formula for Mercedes. Just put her in the ring with a good opponent and let her cook. Pairing her with Kamille sounded good on paper but it made her too reliant on the outside interference when her strong suit is wrestling. Have her fire Kamille, and move on. I would not complain if they wanted to rerun this match again next month given the rollup finish but we’ll see where it goes.
Grade: B
Adam Cole vs. MJF
Latest Developments
MJF defeated Roddy Strong in a match that was mechanically fine but felt wildly out of place on PPV.
Analysis
Dynamite last week was an omen for Full Gear or it should’ve been. MJF, from another undisclosed location, cut a promo on Roddy. He brought up Strong’s troubled childhood, how his mother shot his father. It felt like a somewhat desperate attempt to intensify a match that people weren’t that interested in. The ultimate goal is Cole vs MJF. This detour with Roddy, especially once it became clear he and the Kingdom weren’t turning on Cole, became pointless. Because of that they tried to make it super personal super quick and it didn’t stick. Elsewhere Adam Cole came out to cut a promo only to be surprised by Kyle O’Reilly who chastised him for not letting the feud with MJF go and dragging their friends into it. I’ll get back to that later.
The match itself, second on the show, was fine from an in-ring standpoint but it was just there. Strong hurt his hand early slamming it into a ring post in an attempt to chop MJF and Max focused on it the rest of the match eventually forcing the tap out with the Salt of the Earth armbar.
The post-match is where things got even more complicated. MJF crushed Roddy’s arm in a chair which brought out Cole, The Kingdom, and KOR all after the deed was done. A frustrated KOR shoved Cole to the mat complaining about what his obsession with MJF cost Roddy.
I’m all for layered storytelling but this story feels way overcomplicated especially given its already messy history. The money is in getting the fans behind wanting to see Adam Cole get his hands on MJF. It feels like everything else going on in this story is distracting from that. If ever there was a story that needed to be cut, dry, and straight to the point, it’s this one. Instead, we’re mixing in the Undisputed Kingdom and KOR. It’s a lot. Cole has not been helped one iota by anything that’s happened thus far. At this point the best course of action would be to get to Cole/MJF at World’s End and let everyone move on to something else.
Grade: C
Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher
Latest Developments
Kyle Fletcher defeated Will Ospreay clean with a top rope brainbuster after a sensational match.
Analysis
I don’t think I can say anything that hasn’t already been said about this match. These two tore the house down. Will Ospreay is not only incapable of having a bad match, it’s like they start at great and work their way up. Fletcher more than held his own. He proved he’s only the level of the best wrestler in the world. He worked over Osperay’s injured neck culminating with an insane tombstone piledriver from the apron onto the stairs. Surprisingly that wasn’t the finish. The finish was great though. Fletcher dropped Ospreay head first onto the top turnbuckle with the brainbuster. Ospreay boinged off and went stiff, arms down to his side, as though rigor mortis had set in.
Fletcher was instantly elevated with this victory. He’s now in the top mix of heels of AEW so it’s only fitting that he and Ospreay are both in the C2, though they’re in opposite leagues. Expect both to have strong runs though the likelihood of them meeting in the finals is slim.
Grade: A-
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet
Latest Developments
Konosuke Takeshita defeated Ricochet to retain the International title.
Analysis
This match was pretty good. Takeshita won with an avalanche falcon arrow from the top rope which looked snazzy. That said this much suffered from being on the same card as Ospreay/Fletcher. The matches were similar except Ospreay/Fletcher already wowed the crowd.
As expected Takeshita as International champion is not in the C2. Ricochet is though, and he’s looking for redemption. It’ll be interesting to see who next steps up to Takeshita.
Grade: B-
Swerve Strickland vs. The Hurt Syndicate
Latest Developments
Bobby Lashley defeated Swerve Strickland in impressive fashion putting him out with the Hurt Lock.
Analysis
Last week’s Dynamite saw Swerve finally get one over on Lashley and the Hurt Syndicate. After quickly dispatched of two enhancement talents, Swerve used Prince Nana as a decoy distracting Shelton Benjamin and MVP. He then crawled out from under the ring and blasted Lashley from behind with a chain. He was aiming for the back of his head but only hit between the shoulders which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He hit the House Call and Swerve Stomp. Lashley didn’t sell for very long which is why it was good that the chain shot only caught him between his shoulders.
The match itself was different than every other match on the card mostly because Bobby Lashley is built differently than anyone else in AEW. He utterly dominated Swerve for the first minutes and looked like he could’ve had him beat after a spinebuster until he pulled him up after a two count. Swerve fought his way back into the match and made it semi-competitive. His highlight was hitting a wild Swerve Stomp off the stairs through the announce table. Lashley turned the tide back in his favor by spearing Swerve through the barricade. He tossed him back in the ring, speared him again, and then applied the Hurt Lock, getting the win after the ref deemed Swerve out cold. For good measure he put Nana in the Hurt Lock too.
Lashley looked like a beast in this match. He already has a different look than anyone else. This booking made him look like a real threat, the final boss of the Hurt Syndicate as it were. I’m sure this feud is far from over and Swerve will eventually get his win over Lashley but this dominate loss he took will make that win mean that much more.
Grade: A-
Stay right here and keep the flow going. We think you’ll like to read this next…
RECOMMENDED NEXT: LECLAIR’S AEW FULL GEAR 2024 REPORT: Alt perspective, detailed coverage of Moxley vs. Cassidy, Strickland vs. Lashley, Mone vs. Statlander, more
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Pruett’s Blog: AEW’s Continental Classic is my favorite thing in wrestling, and the Continental Championship sucks
(You can always reach PWTorch editor Wade Keller at kellerwade@gmail.com. You can also send live event results and news tips to pwtorch@gmail.com. Also, we’re always looking for volunteer contributors to help us round out of coverage of the pro wrestling scene.)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.