It’s night two of Fyter Fest, as All Elite Wrestling (AEW) takes over the Curtis Calwell Centre in Garland, Texas. In the main event, long time rivals Jon Moxley and Lance Archer will run things back in a Wrestle Kingdom rematch, as the two face off in a Texas Death Match with Moxley’s IWGP United States Championship on the line. There are no disqualifications, no countouts and almost no chance that this match will end without at least one man wearing the proverbial crimson mask. Also on the card, Dr Britt Baker D.M.D. will defend the AEW Women’s Championship against the former champion and dangerous powerhouse, Nyla Rose. Under the guidance of Vickie Guerrero, Nyla Rose has returned to the form that originally won her the title, which can only spell disaster for the fan favourite, Dr Baker. Orange Cassidy will also be in action against The Blade, while Cassidy’s protégé Wheeler Yuta will face Darby Allin. Frankie Kazarian also gets his hands on another member of the Elite when he faces DOC Gallows. Finally, kicking off the show will be the first of five “Labours” that MJF is putting Chris Jericho through if the two are to have a match. In tonight’s First Labour of Jericho, Jericho must face off with “The Chair Man” of the Pinnacle, Shawn Spears, in a match where Spears can use a steel chair, but Jericho cannot.
+ Jon Moxley (c) vs Lance Archer (w/ Jake The Snake Roberts) (Texas Death Match for the IWGP United States Championship): what else is there to say except that this was nuts. I enjoyed this a lot more than their Wrestle Kingdom match, and Archer really came across as a monster (but a fan favourite at the same time) and I think AEW could use someone like that at the moment. The winner is set to face HIKULEO next week on a massive show, and I can’t wait
+ Orange Cassidy vs The Blade (w/ The Bunny): I say it all the time and I’ll say it forever more, but hot damn I love the Butcher and the Blade and the Bunny. Cassidy is beloved everywhere he goes, and the story between he and the Blade coming in really did make sense, but frankly I’m feeling like we’re seeing too much of Orange Cassidy. His stuff is best when used sparingly
+ Chris Jericho vs Shawn Spears (The First Labour of Jericho): this was by no means a great match, but the crowd was really invested in the match and was fully behind Jericho. Spears is not a big star by any means, but he’s always been perfectly solid in the ring and this was no exception. I enjoyed this for what it was, but if the aftermath doesn’t leave your jaw on the floor then you don’t understand pro wrestling
– Dr Britt Baker, D.M.D. (c) vs Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) (AEW Women’s Championship): I don’t know about this one. I expected significantly more, as both women looked lost a few times. The crowd was excited for everything, but I really had trouble getting into it. The crowd loves Baker, but she’s just not at the level in-ring that I’d want my champions to be
– Darby Allin vs Wheeler Yuta (w/ Orange Cassidy): there wasn’t much to this outside of the expected interaction between the seconds. It was fine, but it was also kind of unnecessary
– Frankie Kazarian vs DOC Gallows (w/ Karl Anderson): this was not good, and I am comfortable in saying that was almost entirely the fault of Gallows. Gallows’ schtick in NJPW’s Bullet Club was that he was the big foreigner, and once he went to the US (as Luke Gallows in WWE, or DOC Gallows everywhere else) that just doesn’t work anymore. I thoroughly enjoy his comedy style, and his role as the “big bad hot tag” in any style of tag team match, but he’s not made for these matches
> Night 1 of Fyter Fest set up a lot of matches for this show. But this show has set up next week to be a simply absolute must-see show.
Should you watch this event: Simply, this show was not quite as good as last week, but there was still a lot of good stuff, even in the matches listed as negatives. Only seek those negatives out if you are a particular fan of those involved, but gosh darn next week is going to be huge.
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