A spiritual successor of sorts from the CEO x NJPW show from last year, comes All Elite Wrestling (AEW)’s Fyter Fest. Newly debuted Jon Moxley, fresh of his IWGP United States Championship win in NJPW will have a war against Joey Janela in a Non-Sanction Match in the main event, whilst The Elite – the trio of the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega – face off against The Lucha Bros, Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix, with their surprise partner Laredo Kid in the semi-main event. Cody will face off with Darby Allin, three of AEW’s top women will be in action, as Nyla Rose, Riho and Yuka Sakazaki battle in a three way match.
+ Jon Moxley vs Joey Janela (Non-sanctioned Match): the presentation before this match made it feel like something special before the bell even rang. Moxley is the biggest star in the wrestling world right now, and Janela will literally die in the ring one way, and I think that’s what he wants. This was the Moxley fans have wanted to see for a long time, and against a Janela fans have known for a long time will hold nothing back. This was simply heart-in-mouth stuff, which kept escalating until a final few moments which left me with a hand over my eyes. I loved it
+ The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr & Rey Fénix) & Laredo Kid: this was good, if not great, but frankly they all just tried too much. If they cut out some of the more risky (and subsequently, more sloppy) stuff this would have been much better. Saying that, this was still great, and no matter since leaving NJPW, Omega is still one of the best in the world, and Pentagon is and will be something truly special
+ Darby Allin vs Cody (w/ Brandi Rhodes): this was nuts, entirely due to the punishment Allin was willing to take, as Cody swaggered around the ring. From a technical standpoint this was not worth writing home about, but for other reasons (one being that Allin may have literally died at any point), this match built the tension and suspense more than anything in recent memory
+ MJF vs Jungle Boy (w/ Luchasaurus) vs Jimmy Havok vs Hangman Page: truth be told, this was probably the weakest match on the show, but MJF is such a heat magnet, and AEW is clearly behind Hangman to the extent that it made the match pretty good. Jungle Boy is going to be a star (and his teaming with Luchasaurus is great for both of them), and Jimmy Havok will surely be a go-to feud for anyone that needs some more of a ‘hardcore’ aura. This was fine, but quite predictable, and probably not entirely necessary
+ Riho vs Nyla Rose vs Yuka Sakazaki: this was so much better than I thought it was going to be, and it was an equal effort form all three competitors. Obviously Rose had the power and size advantage, but that meant the team ups from the two Joshis made more sense than them simply both being Japanese. The smoothness in which all three worked together was commendable, and it made for a match that was unpredictable and flowed perfectly, which is surely all you could ever want and even more
+ Christopher Daniels vs CIMA: this opened the show, and I found it really enjoyable. Both guys are long time veterans, and both guys are incredibly talented, but it always blows my mind how great Daniels is, even as he pushes 50. Despite the veteran talent, AEW is still a new promotion, trying to build fans, and with legends like these two putting on matches like this, I think they will do so sooner rather than later
– the aftermath of the Cody/Allin match was absolutely unnecessary, and I don’t want to see that in AEW. Whether it was fake, accidental or I am just getting completely suckered in, it just made me angry at the company more than any of the competitors involved
> I only caught the final five minutes or so of hardcore legend Michael Nakazawa versus CEO organiser Alex Jebailey on the pre-show, but it looked bonkers. I’ll definitely be going back to watch it in full
> referee Aubrey Edwards was great for the whole show whenever she was involved. I hardly noticed her until she did something well, which is exactly how referees should be
Should you watch this event: Whether it is the novelty of a new company, the fact the wrestlers are given a bit more freedom, or simply the quality of the competitors involved, this was another absolute home run from AEW. Every single match was good to great, and the way
MoshFish Reviews 