“You know, I grew up loving Greek mythology, Chris…” – MJF to Chris Jericho
The people! THE PEOPLE!! The real people. The actual people. The unruly people. They have all returned to make the pro wrestling I watch every week feel like something other than the village idiot shouting to nobody in particular about nothing at all.
AEW returned to a weekly road schedule (and Wednesday nights) with Road Rager from Miami, FL, a fun show highlighted by the occasional legitimately great thing. Even without legitimate greatness, it was a layup that these two hours would at the very least have some of the best vibes so far this year.
They did.
The World
It’s just a different energy when the people are yelling and the workers are trying.
Cody Rhodes‘ excessive entrance, Malakai Black‘s AEW debut, Lance Archer crushing a troll – these were tremendous things made extra tremendous in front of the people.
They also wasted no time re-igniting the saga that laid dormant all year: Hangman Page‘s reluctant path to Kenny Omega‘s World Championship. Hangman and Omega on-screen together for the first time in a long time had the benefit of a bunch of people that were not just happy to be there but buying what they were selling. I got my ticket to All Out – do you!?
Based on the last year-and-a-half I can’t confidently say whether working your first program in AEW with Cody Rhodes is a good thing for you professionally or not, but freshly released Malakai Black appearing to spin kick Cody and Arn Anderson straight to hell was one of the better moments in wrestling I’ve seen recently. He and Andrade el Idolo seem poised for a similar path of using the AEW platform to prove the losers and haters at WWE wrong.
It wasn’t all treasure. The audio remains suspect and they did a sit-down interview right after an in-ring interview. Chris Jericho and MJF back-and-forth on the mic with a crowd wasn’t so hot either, especially some of MJF’s lines that were so lame I’m thinking it may be some meta heel thing. Maybe that dipshit jumping the barricade killed the mood.
Darby Allin and Ethan Page continued to build their world and there’s both Christian Cage/Matt Hardy and IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title matches next week too.
The Wrestling
Much like the Antonio Inoki/Masa Saito Island Death Match, this was more about the environment than the work.
South Beach Strap Match: Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall – For what was started as a pretty neat old school storyline, this felt more about MOVES than any match on the show. They were rewarded for it with a pretty bored crowd. I don’t know for sure that the powerbomb from the top rope killed the whole vibe, but I am pretty sure it did.
Jake Hager, Santana & Ortiz w/ Konnan vs. Wardlow & FTR w/ Tully Blanchard – I enjoyed seeing this on the card more than the actual match, as a pretty cool faction war (plus Konnan!!) setup ended up feeling like an overstuffed Monday Night RAW match.
Matt Sydal vs. Andrade el Idolo w/ Vickie Guerrero – This was pretty basic introductory stuff but was somehow also Andrade’s most alive match since he worked Rey Mysterio and then before that probably NXT. What a run.
Orange Cassidy & Kris Statlander vs. The Butcher & The Bunny – I think there’s plenty of room to weave together male and female stories in AEW and it’s something wrestling could use more of, though it shouldn’t be the only thing going on. Hijinks were followed here by a Kris Statlander 450 splash.
Street Fight – AEW Tag Team Title: The Young Bucks [c] vs. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero Miedo – This is what we call a crowd-pleaser. Eddie and Penta had fun with weapons and the Bucks… I don’t know, dressed up for Pride? The workshopping is out of control. The match wasn’t much more or less than many recent in-ring efforts, but as a welcome back sort of thing I think it read the room correctly.
The Entertainment
American Top Team’s Dan Lambert got in the ring to cut a promo about how pro wrestling has gone downhill since the 80s and 90s, to which the fans in attendance and watching at home responded: well… kind of, yeah. Good setup for a beatdown though.
“WE WANT HANG-MAN!”
Evil Uno has always been a quality promo but really brought the DICTION in front of a live audience, providing as ideal a setup for the Omega/Hangman angle as possible. There were a few too many extended promos on this show; bless this one that was quick and to the point.
“Wait a minute – what the..” – fun words in professional wrestling.
Konnan is just a part of the show now!
My Favorite Things
- Starks Special Security — straight out of his pocket!
- Hangman Page’s pause on the Buckshot lariat
- Britt Baker straight-up calls out WWE’s Saudi Arabian blood money
Room for Improvement
- Make MJF a bad guy, but please don’t make him lame
- Why do they think the cold spray is so funny?
- Omega’s Lemmy mustache is a lot better than jokes about Bangkok
Happy Wrestling Land Power Rankings
- Hangman Page (3)
- Kenny Omega (-)
- Miro (1)
- Darby Allin (-)
- Britt Baker (-)
- Eddie Kingston (-)
- The Young Bucks (NEW)
- Ethan Page (10)
- Cody Rhodes (NEW)
- Jon Moxley (NEW)
