All Elite Wrestling (AEW) brought us yet another week of an action-packed, two-hour show. If you missed Wednesday’s show, don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!
Private Party vs. The Lucha Brothers:
Fasten your seatbelts, throw on your helmets, and tighten your chin straps because this first match is a wild ride. Pittsburgh kicked off the night with a semi-final tag team showdown between Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen), and The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. and Fenix).
These are two athletic and acrobatic teams, so it is no surprise that the match got off to a flying start. Momentum quickly shifted in favor of The Lucha Brothers when Pentagon Jr. delivered a nasty head kick to Quen as he tried to use the ropes to his advantage. That faded soon when Pentagon Jr. and Fenix launched Quen into the air. Instead of serving its intended purpose, it resulted in Quen coming down directly on their heads. Quen immediately went for the tag. Now, rather than being two-on-one in favor of The Lucha Brothers, it’s in favor of the Private Party. It was all fun and high-flying games for a while, but the pendulum did eventually swing back to the Lucha Brothers after Kassidy tagged out. Pentagon Jr. delivered a swift, powerful kick to the thigh of Quen, who kicked out of a pin at the last second. The Lucha Brothers dominated for several more minutes until Quen was able to use his acrobatics to escape the melee to tag his partner. With Kassidy now in the match, he bounces back and forth, attacking his opponents and earning another near pinfall. Private Party’s inexperience in timing allowed Fenix to pop back to his feet and deliver a kick to Quen’s head. Though on quite the roll, Fenix decided to tag in his partner, who came flying in with a head full of steam. Pentagon Jr. lifted Quen onto his shoulders, creating the perfect opportunity for the waiting Fenix to take flight from the top rope. Still, before that could happen, Quen performed a defensive move, sending Pentagon into the turnbuckle. Okay, so maybe it was more of a half-head of steam than a full head. With Fenix still on the top rope, Quen sent him flying right into the waiting arms of Kassidy for a Stunner. The Private Party was broken up following some confusion regarding which of The Lucha Brothers was the legal man. Pentagon Jr. capitalized on the moment of weakness. First, by putting Kassidy out of commission, then focusing his attack on Quen, ultimately resulting in a pin. The Lucha Brothers are headed for the finals!
SCU vs. Dark Order:
The second semi-final match took place between SCU (Scorpio Sky and Frankie Kazarian), and Dark Order (Stu Grayson and Evil Uno).
Kazarian quickly got the upper hand on Grayson, at least until Uno jumped in with a cheap shot. While referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted by Scorpio Sky attempting to even the two-on-one odds, Grayson tagged out. After, Kazarian immediately got hit with the full, 220-pound force of Uno. Surprisingly uninjured, Kazarian was able to use his explosiveness to turn the tables on the bigger man, taking him to the mat with a swift kick followed by a clothesline. Sky entered the match, performing only a dropkick before moving to pin his opponent, who kicked out at two counts. Sky and Uno began to grapple, the latter quickly gaining the upper hand, driving Sky into the corner, and tagging in his partner. Now it was his turn to take the brunt of Uno’s size, once again doing very little. Sky was able to come out of the corner swinging, performing two clotheslines back-to-back on Grayson. Despite a kick in the back from Uno on the apron, Sky was able to keep the upper hand and bring Kazarian back into the match. Kazarian quickly moved to pin Grayson unsuccessfully. Sky re-entered, giving Grayson the upper hand. As Sky moved towards the edge of the ring, Uno sat on the middle rope, creating enough space for Sky to fall through. Kazarian quickly jumped into the ring, causing another distraction for the referee, one that Uno took full advantage of by slamming Sky into the steel steps. Dark Order continued to dominate the match through the commercial break with Grayson having Sky on the mat when we returned to the action. Later, in a decision that worked against him, Uno entered the ring. SCU puts Dark Order into a double submission hold, though Grayson was able to throw Kazarian into both Sky and Uno. All four men were momentarily incapacitated with Dark Order the first to recover. Grayson launched himself over the turnbuckle, taking out Kazarian and leaving Uno and Sky to battle it out in the ring. Unfortunately for Dark Order, that inadvertent distraction would cost them the match. Uno had Sky pinned, but the referee had turned her attention to the men outside the ring, allowing Sky time to kick out. Grayson was quickly tagged into the match and climbed to the top rope while Uno lifted Sky onto his back. Just before Grayson took flight, Sky wiggled free, shoved Uno into the turnbuckle, and sent Grayson flying across the ring where Kazarian was waiting with a DDT. That, combined with a knee to the head, allowed Sky to get the 1-2-3.
With both semi-final matches now complete, we know at least one of the matches next week will occur between SCU and the Lucha Brothers!
During the SCU vs. Dark Order match, Chris Jericho, followed by members of the Inner Circle, made their way through the crowd up to a skybox. With the camera switching back and forth between the in-ring action and the Inner Circle, tossing popcorn into their mouths.
Bad Boy Joey Janela vs. Kenny Omega:
This was hands down the evenest matchup of the night.
Omega attempted to throw Janela out of the ring, but it took a boot to the head to get him off the apron. When Janela eventually got back into the ring, Omega lost his slight advantage. The two traded equal blows once again, but things would shift in Janela’s favor. He repaid the boot to the head, then dropped Omega with a leg-sweep, followed quickly by another shot to the head. With Omega now seeming to be completely disoriented, Janela went for a pin. Just as it went into the commercial break, Omega began fighting his way back into the match, one blow at a time. According to commentator Jim Ross, he dominated throughout. The scales evened out for the third time but continued tipping into Janela’s favor, allowing him to attempt a second unsuccessful pin. His initial disbelief followed with simple slaps to the chest of Omega meant his momentum was dissipating, and fast. Omega sat atop the turnbuckle with Janela in front of him. He lifted Janela and dropped him back down, causing his face to break the fall. Omega slowly rolled to the edge of the ring as Janela climbed to the top rope and leaped off, narrowly missing his intended target and costing himself the match. Omega threw his opponent back into the ring, performed his signature One-Winged Angel, and successfully pinned Janela.
It was not a match, but it was the most entertaining thing to happen. The arena went dark momentarily as The American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes, slowly rose from the depths. Returning from commercial break, Cody was in the ring on the verge of making a significant announcement. Unfortunately, the Inner Circle used the opportunity to begin blasting air horns each time Cody opened his mouth. Jericho eventually added booing to the mix, and that’s when things got interesting. Cody turned and looked up at the four men, addressing Jericho directly,
“Hey Chris, I know you purchased your tickets, and that’s all fine and good, but this isn’t like the other wrestling company we came from. This isn’t an invisible wall right here, I could easily step through, and I could easily come up there, and we can fight right here, and right now!”
As Cody began to climb over the security railing, Jericho pointed out it was four against one, causing Cody to hesitate. Dustin Rhodes then entered the arena, “…big brother gonna come save you, Cody-Wody?” It didn’t stop there, MJF was hot on Dustin’s heels. “So now we’re gonna be scared of someone wearing a scarf? Who wears a scarf?!” The next thing we hear is, “It’s me. It’s DDP.”
The four men jump the rail and make their way up the steps. By the time they got to the top, the Inner Circle had locked themselves in the luxury box. They didn’t think that one through as the door is glass. It turns out you should be afraid of someone wearing a scarf, especially if he wraps it around Cody’s hand. An all-out brawl ensues, spilling into the concession area, forcing security to break it up and escort Team Cody to the exit.
Best Friends vs. Young Bucks:
Chuck Taylor and Trent, accompanied by Orange Cassidy, made their way to the ring during the commercial break, with Young Bucks- Nick and Matt Jackson.
Orange Cassidy’s interruption of the Young Bucks signature pose earned him a simultaneous Superkick, subsequently kicking off the match. Taylor quickly sent Matt flying out of the ring and turned his attention to aiding Trent’s attack on Nick. The odds evened out as Taylor exited the ring. Nick uses his incredible athleticism to turn the tables and take out Trent in the ring and Taylor on the apron. Trent rolled out of the ring, leaving the Young Bucks in the ring. The latter decided to take the fight to their opponents but were thrown into the security railing and subsequently dominated. Trent and Matt made their way back into the ring with Matt not staying in long, opting to begin stalking Orange Cassidy. This decision proved inadequate when Trent slid under the bottom rope, kicking Matt into the security rail. Returning from commercial break, Nick is on the top line looking for a 450 splash on Trent, who rolled out of the way, hitting him with a German Suplex. Luckily for Nick, the Suplex landed him in front of Matt, enabling him to tag in. That luck didn’t last long as Matt also found himself on the receiving end of the same move. It seemed Trent was unaware that Nick was no longer the legal man, and his attempted attack earned him a boot to the head. Trent was able to make his way to the corner and get Taylor into the match to take near-complete momentary control. Orange Kassidy decided to take matters into his hands by leaping from the top rope onto both members of the Young Bucks, after which Trent went for another pin. Also unsuccessful, Taylor re-entered the match as the legal man and lifted Matt onto his shoulders as Trent climbed to the top rope and leaped off. Matt was somehow able to land on his feet and first deliver a Superkick to Taylor, then one to Trent. As he turned his attention back to Taylor, Nick climbed back in the ring. The brothers gave another simultaneous kick, leading to a successful pinfall.
Before exiting the ring, Nick handed a microphone to Matt, who stated, “Santana. Ortiz. We accept.” That was about the challenge laid out last week by Chris Jericho to take on the two members of the Inner Circle on November 9, at Full Gear.
Britt Baker D.M.D vs Jamie Hayter:
The penultimate match of the night was a homecoming for the Doctor and an AEW debut for Jamie Hayter.
Hayter jumped to an early advantage, backing Baker into a corner and throwing a melee of punches. Referee Aubrey Edwards was able to create some separation between the fighters, something that gave Baker enough time to prepare for Hayter’s second attack. She turned the tables and backed Hayter into the corner, giving her a taste of her own medicine. Just before the commercial break, the action spilled out of the ring, where the two used the security rail to their advantage. During the break, Baker momentarily took control, getting two near pinfalls. Looking for a submission, Hayter jumped onto the back of Baker, putting her in a Sleeper Hold. Baker saved herself with a Fallaway Slam. As the match continued, Hayter’s frustration became increasingly apparent, and the scales tipped further and further into Baker’s favor. With a quick combination of a Swinging Neckbreaker, a Superkick, and Baker’s signature move the Lockjaw, Hayter had no choice but to tap out.
Jon Moxley vs PAC:
Wednesday night’s main event didn’t start as planned when PAC beatdown Moxley before the match could even begin.
PAC hit Moxley over the head with a steel chair on the ramp, then proceeded to use Moxley’s jacket to choke him, and threw him into the security railing twice. When the bell finally rang, PAC immediately targeted Moxley’s head once again with a step-up Enziguri before looking for the Black Arrow. After a failed attempt to pin, Moxley came alive, driving PAC into the corner and unleashing several kicks to the abdomen, taking a toll on himself in the process. Throughout the commercial break, PAC stayed focused on his opponent’s head. When we returned, we saw Moxley seeming to ask PAC to continue delivering blows to his upper body. The two men began trading blows, with Moxley eventually gaining the upper hand. It was at this point we heard “five minutes of tv time remain,” the pressure was on. Moxley quickly went for two pins back-to-back, followed by a submission hold, all unsuccessful. “Three minutes remain.” Moxley went for yet another pin, but PAC was able to get back to his feet and deliver the umpteenth kick to Moxley’s head. Climbing to the top rope, again looking for the Black Arrow, though this time, instead of merely being able to climb back down, he missed his jump and landed flat. “One minute remaining.” Moxley slowly crawled across the ring to cover his opponent only or him to kick out. “30 seconds remaining.” PAC was able to kick out of the final pin of the night with only four seconds remaining. Moxley quickly began pacing the ring, clearly angry that time had expired.
AEW airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on TNT!