The AEW Championship eliminator tournament kicks off tonight’s episode of AEW, with one of the sleeper hits in the opening bracket. We have the insane power of Wardlow against the speed and technique of Jungle Boy. They’re both still so early in their career, and this has the potential to be a future AEW Championship match a few years down the pipe.
Tonight though, they open the show and have a chance to set the pace for this tournament. Wardlow enters this match on an 8 match win streak in singles, only having lost the cage match to Cody Rhodes. Jungle Boy has more matches in an AEW ring, with an overall record in 2020 of 22 wins to 12 losses.
Jungle Boy Has To Wrestle A Smart Match
They’d lock up, and Jungle Boy would be sent face first into the match. The size difference was staggering, and Wardlow is no slouch in terms of wrestling. Jungle Boy would look to piss off Wardlow with a slap to the face, before using his speed to evade Wardlow and hit a dropkick to the back. He’d seek to chop Wardlow down with some chop blocks, a wise strategy.
Jungle Boy would end up on the apron, and send Wardlow over before looking for the plancha, being caught but working his way back to the apron. He’d jump off for a hurracarrana, get caught and thrown into the corner with a powerbomb. This gave Wardlow the advantage, as he slowed the pace down and threw Jungle Boy around the ring with some toss suplexes.
Jungle Boy would be compressed in the corner with some shoulder tackles, before being choked with the boot. He’d persist after a Gutwrench Powerbomb planted him into the mat, and sent the boot into Wardlow and tried to roll him up. Wardlow went for a powerbomb, Jungle Boy flipped out and got run through with a wicked lariat.
Wardlow Is Unstoppable
Jungle Boy would be set up on the top rope for the driving knee strike, and came back with a knee strike of his own. He had an opening and would hit a dropkick to the back, and do his best to keep him outside before hitting a Tope Suicida to the back. Getting him back in the ring, Jungle Boy would hit the spinning DDT and got a one count.
Wardlow would be kicked back down as Jungle Boy went to the top rope, only for Wardlow to kip up and attack. Jungle Boy was set up for the F-10 off the top, but he’d counter into a hurricanrana sending Wardlow across the ring. He got the backstabber and the diving knee drop, but this got a two count.
Wardlow slipped to the outside, and Jungle Boy went for the DDT, but got caught into the F-10 into the ring. One more in the ring, and Jungle Boy wasn’t getting up. Wardlow will face the winner of Colt Cabana & Hangman Page in the next round, as he reaches a nine match win streak.
Will Wardlow win it all? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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