Reviews

The John Report: AEW Dynamite 10/18/22 Review

By John Canton • Published 19th October 2022
aew dynamite oct 18

This week’s AEW Dynamite featured four title matches on a special Tuesday edition of AEW’s main show with Jon Moxley defending the World Title against “Hangman” Adam Page in the main event.

The reason it’s a Tuesday night show this week is because TBS is airing the MLB Playoffs on Wednesday night.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #159 at the Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Check out the AEW PPV listing archive only on TJRWrestling as well. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means. Excalibur welcomed us to the show along with Taz and Tony Schiavone. They called it “Title Tuesday” since there are four title matches. Get ready to hear it about 20 times from these announcers.

AEW World Trios Championships: Death Triangle (Pac, Rey Fenix & Penta) vs. Best Friends (Orange Cassidy, Trent Beretta & Chuck Taylor)

Pac immediately knocked Cassidy off the apron since Orange beat Pac for the All-Atlantic Title last week. Trent with a clothesline on Pac. Penta hit a superkick and Fenix tagged in with a senton bomb off the top onto Taylor for a two count. There was some other stuff, but these guys are so quick. The challengers went for some triple team move that was broken up by the champions. Pac, Fenix and Penta sent their opponents to the floor, so the champions hit dives onto their three challengers on the floor. That was impressive. The match slowed down with Pac driving his knee into Cassidy’s throat. All three Death Triangle guys went into the ring for some triple team offense with some kicks along with a dropkick. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

There was a lot of quick action as usual with a lot of guys down around the ring while Trent hit a Tornado DDT on Fenix. Trent sent Pac out of the ring while Tony mentioned The Elite were the first Trios champions. Cassidy was held by Penta and Fenix as Pac hit a dropkick. Pac hit a German Suplex on Cassidy after Penta/Fenix kicked Cassidy before the move. Taylor sent Fenix into the ring post. Pac went up top, Trent back into the ring with Taylor and they hit the boot/half n half suplex combo on Pac. Lots of illegal offense going on as Taylor hit a stuck piledriver and Trent hit a piledriver on Penta as well. Best Friends did their hug in the middle of the ring. Penta jumped off the shoulders of his partners for a two count on Penta because Pac broke up the pin attempt. Pac grabbed the hammer, but Fenix told him they didn’t need that and Cassidy got a rollup on Pac for two. Pac with a German Suplex on Orange and then Orange hit the Orange Punch. Penta and Trent were legal with Penta hitting a kick to the head on Trent. Taylor jumped off the top with a stomp on Penta for a Strong Zero double team move for two as Fenix broke up the pin. Fenix hit a double team move, then he tagged in with a spin kick. Fenix with a sitout driver into the mat for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Death Triangle (Pac, Rey Fenix & Penta)

Analysis: ***1/2 It’s the typical AEW tag team match where they ignore the rules and just do spot after spot after spot. The action is good enough that I rate it fairly high, but it’s silly how they ignore psychology throughout the match while barely selling some of the moves just so they can get to the next spot. There was a good nearfall for Trent near the end, but other than that it seemed obvious that the champions would retain. I was impressed by some of the double/triple team moves. I just think they should structure the match better instead of being such a spotfest.

Post match, Pac didn’t seem happy a bit about the hammer spot, but then he hugged Fenix, so it looked like they were okay for now.

Analysis: It seems like they are going to turn Pac fully heel while Lucha Bros will stay faces. That’s probably coming soon.

They showed a video featuring Jon Moxley and “Hangman” Adam Page with Moxley training in Cincinnati while Page said that they have beaten everybody there is to beat in AEW. That match is the main event.

(Commercial)

The trio of Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter & Rebel were interviewed by Tony Schiavone. Hayter said that one of them is going to be the Interim AEW World Champion. Baker corrected it without the “interim” part.

Analysis: There wasn’t much to it. Just a way to get Baker on the show for 30 seconds, I guess.

Interim AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida got a pin in a tag team match with Storm as the partner last week, so now Shida gets a title shot. They shook hands before the match since they are both faces. Storm with a shoulder tackle, then a kick to the gut and Shida hit a dropkick. Shida on the apron, Storm punched her down and Storm hit a running hip attack to knock Shida off the apron to the floor.

(Commercial)

Shida got a hurricanrana followed by a forearm to the head. Shida hit a jumping knee. Shida with punches while Storm was against the turnbuckle followed by Shida hitting a missile dropkick off the top. Storm with forearms, then Storm hit a headbutt and Shida hit a jumping kick to the head. Shida to the top, she did some headbutts to knock Storm off the ropes and Shida hit a double knee attack off the top. Shida hit a Dominator-style slam off the shoulders for two. Storm got out of a move, Storm ducked a kick and Storm hit a release German Suplex that had a nasty landing. Storm hit the running hip attack in the corner. Shida hit some suplex into a slam style move that looked like it was botched, but it got a two count. Storm with a forearm, then they exchanged pin attempts with Shida nearly getting the win. Storm did a safer German Suplex this time for a two count. Storm with a forearm followed by a DDT. Storm hit the Storm Zero piledriver into an awkward pin for the pinfall win after nine minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Toni Storm

Analysis: *** It was good for a competitive championship match between two faces. There was no story going in or anything like that, so it was tough to get into it. The last minute or two felt like they were told to go home and they had to get a bunch of moves in. That one German Suplex by Storm looked nasty, but Shida is tough and got through it fine. I’m not surprised by the result.

After the match, Jamie Hayter and Rebel entered with Rebel using a crutch to attack. Britt Baker made her entrance to her music wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers Najee Harris jersey, so the fans booed due to Cincy-Pittsburgh being in the same division. Saraya ran out to the ring to fight with Baker. Saraya tossed Baker over the barricade. Riho ran out to the ring and poor Rebel had to wait for her like a dumbass so Riho could dropkick her out of the ring. Hayter charged at Riho with nothing, so Riho tossed Hayter out of the ring. Riho hit a cross body block off the top onto Hayter on the floor. Riho hugged Storm since they are babyface friends.

Analysis: That was chaotic with a lot of things going on quickly. Sometimes you have to slow down a bit and let things breathe again, but AEW books these spots that are so chaotic. The Saraya/Baker thing didn’t feel like a big deal because they

Wardlow and Samoa Joe aka WarJoe talked about how they can teach The Kingdom a lesson. Joe told them to pick a championship while issuing a warning to them.

FTR was interviewed by Renee Paquette as the team had their three titles on them. Dax Harwood talked about how they have a big target on their backs since they have three sets of titles. Harwood said that they want the fourth titles, the AEW Tag Team Titles. Cash Wheeler said it’s been the best year of their careers and said they have to get the AEW Tag Team Titles. Wheeler said that they are the number one contenders. Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee interrupted with Swerve mentioned they have been number one contenders for six months and now they want to go for the titles. Lee said that they do deserve a shot at the championships. Harwood suggested a match with FTR against Swerve In Our Glory next week on Dynamite for the number one contendership.

Analysis: It’s so absurd that FTR still can’t get an AEW Tag Team Title match without winning another match considering they have been the number one ranked team for six months, but that’s how AEW books them. Anyway, that should be a good match next week. I think FTR should win it.

(Commercial)

Jay Lethal with Sonjay Dutt were standing opposite Darby Allin with Alex Marvez conducting the interview with his legs spread apart because he was talking to two short guys. Allin beat Lethal the last time they had a match. Lethal and Allin exchanged words to set up another match, then Dutt and Lethal attacked Allin with Lethal whipping Allin into the steel garage door. Allin shut the door onto Allin’s ribs. Lethal applied the Figure Four Leglock on Allin in the parking lot under the door.

Analysis: A cheap way to get some heat to build to their next match. I remember a garage door spot between Jericho-Benoit over 20 years ago.

Let’s Hear from William Regal…and MJF

William Regal was in the ring for an interview with Tony Schiavone, but Maxwell Jacob Friedman interrupted before it got started. Regal put his brass knuckles on, MJF took his diamond ring off and MJF said he was there to talk.

MJF said he’s going to tell a story while telling Regal that Regal owes MJF that. MJF said when he was 19 years old training in the business for one year, one faithful day he got pulled over by Pat Buck and Brian Myers, which led to MJF saying he got WWE extra work. MJF said he packed his best gear, put on his best suit and drove to the Barclays Center as extras. MJF said they were spoken to by Sir William Regal. MJF said that Regal told them they would have tryout matches before the show, they were put against a random opponent and there were onlookers like Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko, Adam Pearce and William Regal. Two guys locked up, then Malenko told them to get out and MJF said he was fighting for his life. MJF yelled that “professional wrestling is my life.” MJF said that after his victorious match, every single one of them looked at MJF like he had eight heads and Regal brought MJF to a separate room. MJF was told that Regal told him he had three minutes to sell himself. MJF said that by the time he was done talking, Regal’s jaw was on the floor. MJF was told that Regal would get him a job and then what happened? MJF realized he would no longer be an “ADD-riddle Jew Boy” because he was going to be a superstar. When MJF told him he was 19 years old, Regal said that MJF was much too young…and the fans booed that. MJF said that his heart stopped, his dreams evaporated and fans chanted “you fucked up” although it wasn’t loud. MJF mentioned Regal got jobs for Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley. MJF said that Regal will put his name on him when he becomes of age. MJF said that Regal told him to send a match and promo. MJF said he kept sending his match/promo, Regal told him thank you after two months and MJF said Regal sent him a promo. MJF found the email from Regal saying that Regal is a busy man. MJF told Regal not to reply to this because he showed his acting schools and Regal told MJF that WWE exclusively hires the best talent in the world, so when MJF is one of them, then he can send him his stuff. Regal smirked as MJF read it.

MJF said that Regal squandered MJF’s dream. MJF said that this was real life. MJF said that he wanted to quit wrestling, he wanted to quit his life and it made him want to kill himself. Regal stared at MJF right in the mouth while MJF had to compose himself. MJF said that if he did then Regal and the naysayers would win. MJF said now the tables have turned, the year is 2022 and Regal is a sad, withered old man who got fired. MJF said now Regal is in the company like a flea-ridden rat that is with talents that are better than Regal was. MJF said he’s a 26-year-old kid on top of this business and a generational talent. MJF said that Regal’s men would take human lives to put pen to paper for the “bidding war of 2024.” MJF said he reads that email when he needs a laugh because Regal is a joke. MJF said he’s about to become the AEW Champion of the World because his name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman because “I’m better than you and you know it.” The fans were cheering after that.

Regal started his promo with the fans booing him. Regal talked about MJF mentioned being 19 and being a child. Regal talked about how at 16, he had to fight grown men to get into this industry. Regal said that he wasn’t trying to cast him aside, he saw somebody that was going to be a big star and he saw a fire in his eyes. Regal shouted about how we can’t beat up a 16-year-old kid and bloody their face like Regal had to do. Regal said if an email is what it took to get MJF to this place then it worked. Regal told MJF that he needs to practice, he can see what an incredible talent that MJF was and he was insulting Mr. Schiavone before MJF was even born. Regal told MJF he should never put his hands on a guy like Mr. Schiavone. Regal said that MJF let him down because he took shortcuts. Regal said just because you’re making lots of money doesn’t prove anything to Regal. That led to Regal saying that MJF used help to get his title opportunity while using a diamond ring. Regal said he used brass knuckles because he liked hitting people.

Regal said if you want to be the devil, do it right and beat everybody that stands in front of you. Regal said if you want to be the devil, show the world right now and Regal turned his back to MJF. Regal asked if MJF is going to take a shortcut, act like a victim and whine and cry. MJF put on his diamond ring, Regal put his arms out, MJF didn’t actually hit him and Regal looked disappointed. Regal: “You still have a lot to prove.” Regal left while MJF was alone and silent in the ring. MJF left after that.

Analysis: That was outstanding. They were given a lot of time, MJF told his side of the story and Regal responded in kind. The way MJF speaks is so perfect with the right amount of emotion and it doesn’t feel like a guy playing an over the top wrestling character. It feels genuine, which is why people react to him whether they boo or want to cheer. I think this promo made MJF more like a babyface that you want to root for, but he’s still going to do heelish things because that’s what he does and who he is. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and thought it was one of the better promo segments in AEW this year. I don’t really have a ranking of AEW promos this year or anything like that, but this was excellent. Maybe it was a bit long, but you can tell they were given a lot of time and MJF wanted to go through the whole thing about how he felt disrespected by Regal when MJF thought he might have gotten signed by WWE, but it didn’t happen. Clearly, that stuck with MJF since he still had the email handy and was willing to read it on national television.

A quick video aired to set up the Jericho-Castle match.

The AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn were interviewed by Renee Paquette. Gunn talked about scissoring. Anthony Bowens talked about how they are going to beat Tony Nese and Josh Woods. Max Caster said that they’ll stomp Smart Mark Sterling in the nuts.

This Friday on a live Rampage from Jacksonville it’s The Acclaimed defending the Tag Team Titles against Nese/Woods aka the Varsity Athletes.

(Commercial)

Bryan Danielson and Wheeler Yuta did a sitdown interview with Renee Paquette earlier in the night. Bryan talked about how it was tough losing to Chris Jericho last week. Bryan said he had high hopes for Daniel Garcia and he thought that with the right guidance, Garcia can be the best wrestler you’ve ever seen. Yuta asked Bryan how he couldn’t see that happen. Yuta said that Garcia was just using Bryan to get what he wants and get what Jericho wants. Yuta said that the Blackpool Combat Club means something to Mox and Claudio, but he guesses it doesn’t mean anything to Bryan clearly.

Analysis: A good point by Yuta that Garcia just used Bryan and Bryan didn’t see it. I don’t see Garcia being as good as Bryan thinks, but Garcia is still very young.

It was time for the ROH World Title match with Dalton Castle making his entrance with The Boys. Castle and The Boys are the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions. The fans were cheering for Castle during this elaborate entrance. Ian Riccaboni from ROH was on commentary and Bobby Cruise was the ring announcer.

Chris Jericho made his entrance as the ROH World Champion with the fans singing along to “Judas” as usual. It was announced earlier on Tuesday that Jericho signed a new three-year deal with AEW. Jake Hager was wearing the same purple hat from the segment they did a few weeks ago.

ROH World Championship: Chris Jericho (w/Jake Hager) vs. Dalton Castle (w/The Boys)

Jericho wanted a handshake, Castle reached into his trunks and gave him a middle finger gesture instead. Jericho with chops, then forearms to the head and Castle hit two shoulder tackles. Castle with a hiptoss across the ring. Jericho sent a charging Castle out of the ring. Castle went back into the ring with two overhead suplexes. Castle with a third suplex. Castle flipped Jericho around a few times before hitting a release suplex. Castle knocked Hager off the apron, then Castle tossed his two Boys onto Hager. A third Boy was sent over the top onto Hager on the floor. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

Castle went for a running knee in the corner, Jericho moved and Castle bumped over the top to the floor. Castle stopped Jericho from doing a springboard attack and knocked Jericho out of the ring. Castle hit a hurricanrana on the floor. Hager tried an attack, so the four Boys attacked Hager with some weak-looking punches. Those punches looked so bad. Jericho and Castle did a double cross body spot so the camera can focus on Hager and The Boys. One of the guys took Hager’s hat, so Jake screamed “don’t touch my hat” and Hager easily beat them up. Hager put the purple hat on again. Jericho with a rollup on Castle for two. Castle reversed a Walls of Jericho and applied a submission pulling back on the arm while doing a body scissors. Jericho with punches followed by the Walls of Jericho that was more like a Boston Crab style of the move. Castle got to the ropes to break the hold. Jericho argued with referee Aubrey Edwards, so Castle hit a clothesline for two. Jericho got a knockdown, Castle blocked a Lionsault and hit a German Suplex into a pin for two. Castle got a hold of Jericho on shoulders for the Bang-A-Rang move where he spun Jericho around into a slam for two. Castle with punches, Jericho broke free after ducking a clothesline and Jericho hit the Judas Effect elbow for the pinfall win after 13 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Chris Jericho

Analysis: ***1/4 The match was pretty good, but not at the level of Jericho’s matches with better opponents. It was the kind of match you would expect with Castle getting some decent offense with Jericho trying to make him look like a threat. The reality is that nobody watching this thought that Castle could win. The comedy spot with Hager and The Boys on the floor was dumb to me. Castle is a unique character that has charisma along with a unique gimmick, so the fans get into his act during his matches. It took one move for Jericho to win.

Chris Jericho celebrated the win with the Jericho Appreciation Society on the ramp. Jericho said he was going to desecrate the legacy of Ring of Honor and he’s doing it. Jericho said that ROH Champions out, ROH ring announcers done and even ROH commentators. Angelo Parker and Matt Menard held Riccaboni. Jerry Lynn, who works backstage for AEW, stopped Jericho from attacking. Jericho kicked Lynn in the gut and gave the safest Tombstone Piledriver ever on the ramp. Excalibur said that Lynn had a surgically repaired neck. That led to officials and medical personnel checking on Lynn. The fans booed while Jericho laughed about it.

Analysis: It was a very safe Tombstone Piledriver. They shot it from a back angle so you couldn’t see how Jericho landed on his knees. It was a way to get more heat on Jericho with Excalibur screaming about Jerry’s surgically repaired neck making Jericho seem like even more of a jerk.

Christian Cage and Luchasaurus did a promo with Christian said that they are done with Jungle Boy. Christian said that Luchasaurus is coming for titles in AEW.

This Friday on a live Rampage from Jacksonville:

* AEW Tag Team Championships: The Acclaimed – Anthony Bowens & Max Caster (c) vs. Varsity Athletes – Tony Nese & Josh Woods.

* Penelope Ford vs. Willow Nightingale.

* Ten vs. Rush.

* FTW Championship: Hook (c) vs. Ari Daivari.

Next Wednesday on Dynamite:

* FTR – Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Swerve In Our Glory – Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland.

* Riho vs. Jamie Hayter.

* Chris Jericho & Daniel Garcia vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta.

* Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara.

The AEW World Championship match was up next.

(Commercial)

Jade Cargill was backstage with Keira Hogan and Leyla Grey with Renee Paquette there to talk to them. Cargill said that Nyla Rose is not at Dynamite. Cargill said she’ll be at Rampage, so will Rose and Cargill will hijack the show if Rose doesn’t give Cargill the TBS Title back.

“Hangman” Adam Page made his entrance as the challenger for the AEW World Title match. Page was the fourth man to hold the AEW World Title in company history as pointed out by Excalibur. William Regal was on commentary since his Blackpool Combat Club ally Jon Moxley was in this match.

Jon Moxley made his entrance with the AEW World Title on his left shoulder as the fans popped big for him since he’s from Cincinnati. MJF was shown in a private suite holding the casino chip that gives him a title match when he wants it. As Moxley was shown making his entrance from the back part of the arena, Page left the ringside area and got into a fight with Moxley.

Page kicked Moxley against the hockey boards in the arena. Page suplexed Moxley on the floor. Page climbed up to a platform about 12 feet high and hit a moonsault onto standing Moxley. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. “Hangman” Adam Page

Moxley was already bleeding from the forehead, which is what you expect from him. Page was punching Moxley while on the steel steps and the fans were booing. Page hit a snap suplex along with a boot to the head. Moxley wanted Page to hit him some more, so Page punched him in the open wound repeatedly. Moxley tripped up Page and applied a Figure Four Leglock along with a middle finger gesture as well. Page got out of it as the fans were chanting for Moxley. Page with chops to the chest, Moxley fired back with punches and Page did a hard whip into the turnbuckle. Page hit a fallaway slam across the ring followed by a kip-up, but Moxley was able to get back up with a Cutter. The fans popped big for that. Moxley hit a corner clothesline followed by the corner punches along with some head biting. Moxley with some back raking while on the top rope and Moxley hit a superkick while standing on the middle rope for a two count. Moxley held onto the arms along with stomps to the head. They went to the apron, Page reversed a Moxley move and Page hit the Deadeye slam on the apron. The bump is Hangman’s knees hitting the apron, but Moxley sold it anyway. I guess you could say it wrenches the back of the guy taking the move as well.

(Commercial)

They got into a slugfest while on the turnbuckle. Page hit a headbutt, then he went up top and Page hit a top rope fallaway slam for a two count. MJF was no longer in the skybox that he was in earlier in the match. Moxley went for a German Suplex, Hangman landed on his feet and Page hit a lefty lariat. Moxley ran out of the corner with his King Kong Lariat that saw Page run right into it, then Page did a flip to sell it and landed right on his head/neck. Unfortunately, Page was legitimately hurt with referee Paul Turner checking on him right away.

The referee Paul Turner called for Dr. Sampson to check on Page, who wasn’t responding. The match ended there by referee stoppage as the bell rang to put a stop to it. It went about 12 minutes with about ten minutes left in the show.

Match Result: Referee Stoppage – Jon Moxley retains his AEW World Title

Analysis: I’m not going to rate it due to the unfortunate ending. They were on their way to having a great match that could have reached the four-star level, but the match was stopped and all that really matters is that Page is okay. The bump that Page took was a flip bump that a lot of wrestlers take, but he landed badly. You could tell that Page was legitimately hurt.

Justin Roberts announced the referee stoppage and that Moxley was still the AEW World Champion. Moxley had his hands raised as the winner.

The commentary team of Excalibur, Tony Schiavone and Taz filmed time talking about what happened. Taz mentioned that there was a stretcher to take Page out of there, but that wasn’t shown. They also did a rundown of the Rampage and Dynamite matches. The commentary team was shown on camera again as they tried to recap what happened to Page. Taz said you never want to see a wrestler get injured like this and they hope he’s okay.

Let’s Hear from Jon Moxley…with MJF

There were about six minutes left in the show. Moxley said he hopes and prays that Hangman Page recovers to 100%, can walk again, talk again and play with his baby again. Moxley said he hopes Page can perform for us again. Moxley said that you have to risk it all to play this game. Moxley mentioned MJF talking shit earlier, so Moxley called out MJF to try to prove how tough he really is.

Analysis: I assume the plan was for Moxley to beat Page after a few more minutes in their match, then do a quick Moxley promo and bring out MJF for this final segment.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman made his entrance with the poker chip in his hand along with referee Bryce Remsburg. MJF had his dress clothes on. MJF teased having a match while referee Remsburg held the AEW World Title in his arms. However, MJF grabbed the poker chip, handed the chip to Regal and MJF ran up the ramp where he grabbed a microphone.

MJF said that these fans know he’s a man. MJF said that he’s going to cash that chip in, but when he does he wants Moxley at 110% because he doesn’t want any excuses. MJF said that when he beats Moxley clean in the middle of the ring because he’s better than Mox and you know it. Moxley said he’s cashing in his chip. MJF: “I’m cashing my chip in…Full Gear! Because for the first time, look at me when I say this Regal, you piece of shit. For the first time in my miserable life, I’m going to earn it!” MJF was playing to the crowd a bit while some fans were cheering him.

Moxley told MJF that he’s going to earn the heel of Mox’s boot in his mouth, teeth rolling around in his mouth and a fist up your ass. Moxley told MJF that he’s got a date with destiny, a date with Moxley – the best in the world and the AEW World Champion. Moxley said that he’s going to show the world that getting in the ring with Moxley is dangerous as hell. That Full Gear show is on Saturday, November 19th as mentioned by Excalibur. MJF left to the back while Moxley posed for the crowd with his title. End show.

Analysis: Good promos from Moxley and MJF there. It was pretty obvious that they were going to save the match for Full Gear and now that it’s a month away they can start pushing it. I think MJF certainly could win the title at that show, but if not I think he’ll win it in early 2023 at some point.

UPDATE: AEW posted this tweet over two hours after Dynamite with an update on “Hangman” Adam Page noting that he was diagnosed with a concussion and discharged from the hospital. Best wishes to Hangman as he recovers from that concussion.

Three Stars of the Show

  1. MJF/William Regal
  2. Jon Moxley
  3. Death Triangle

The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.5 out of 10

Last Week: 7.75

Final Thoughts

It was a pretty good show overall. It’s a tough episode to rate because the Moxley-Hangman match was incomplete due to Hangman suffering a concussion in the main event after a Moxley lariat leading to a flip bump where Hangman hit the mat hard. AEW released a statement a few hours after the show saying Page had a concussion and was discharged from the hospital. Best wishes to Hangman as he recovers from that concussion. It wasn’t Moxley’s fault. It sucks that it happened and cut short what was going to be a great World Title match. Hopefully we get to see Mox vs. Hangman again at some point in the coming weeks or months.

The promo exchange between MJF and William Regal was outstanding. It’s another example of MJF being absolutely gifted when it comes to the promos he delivers week after week. This time, he talked about how Regal didn’t hire him to work for WWE and that led to Regal firing back. It felt genuine and real probably because a lot of it was. It’s a smart thing to let MJF get that promo time to tell a story like that, to say that it hurt him so much and then he used it as motivation. They are slowly turning MJF into a babyface as well because the fans are starting to cheer him a bit more every week. Moxley vs. MJF at Full Gear should be great and might have a title change too.

I thought the other matches were okay, but not necessarily anything that stood out. It was obvious that Jericho, Death Triangle and Toni Storm would retain their titles, so it was tough to get into those matches. The trios tag was a typical AEW tag team spotfest, which we get all the time anyway.

Once again, our thoughts are with “Hangman” Adam Page. Get well soon, buddy.

—

Thanks for reading. Go Los Angeles Rams, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport