Three weeks into their deal with TNT and AEW just keeps getting better each week. Their show is fresh, exciting, energetic, and unhindered by an overbearing Godfather, and it shows. While there are some chinks in the armor here and there, they’re putting out a far superior product..
On to the Awesome
- Fast start with the Lucha Brothers attacking SCU while the latter made their way to the ring. While this is a regular trope, the way it was used, including moves like a piledriver on the steel ramp, heightened the show and added a sense of unpredictability to the next couple of hours. The lone downside to this is personal, as every time I see SCU I think of my old Stone Cold University tee-shirt. Who knows, it’s probably being used on purpose for nostalgia reasons. Not that they need it as the whole show is a throwback with current times mixed in.
- The fans throwing back Scorpio Sky’s shoe. Seriously. I know this is mundane and doesn’t amount to much overall, but having a fan throw it back into the ring after he tossed it to them got the crowd excited and earned a laugh. It worked.
- It’s awesome to see what new and inventive ways she uses her smaller stature to her advantage. Her defense and offense are creative and leaves the door open for her to do just about anything in the ring.
- Jurassic Express. Yeah, they lost to the Lucha Brothers, but they put up a good fight and showed some amazing athleticism. They put on an extremely fun match and it’ll be interesting to see where they go from here. It’s going to be a fun ride.
- Hitting suicide moves. It’s fun to see wrestlers actually hit their suicide dives or other flips instead of missing the person or grazing their arm and forcing them and the announcers to sell it like a flopping fish. No one wants to see anyone hurt, but AEW and NXT are doing it seemingly without injury, and that’s a huge bonus.
- Jon Moxely and Pac versus Kenny Omega and “Hangman” Adam Page. The best match of the night by far, it had a little of everything from action to extra-curricular activities. Seeing Moxley embrace his “Stone Cold” side was awesome as he flipped Pac off with double ones and hit him with a DDT before leaving his partner to lose the match. This was a great lead into the main event.
- Darby Allin and Chris Jericho. The Philadelphia Street fight was as hard hitting as we expected. Darby Allin gave Chris Jericho everything Jericho could handle and more. His athleticism is off the charts and it was on full display for the world to see. The fact he nearly beat Jericho a couple of times with his hands tied behind his back was very telling. He and Jericho meshed perfectly together as Jericho put him over in a big way, and it’s going to be fun to see where Allin goes from here. Will he feud with Jericho, or turn his attention to Jake Hager for costing him the match? Can’t wait to find out.
Final thoughts
There’s no doubt which is the superior product in the wrestling world, and AEW showed it’s an entire promotion behind the result and not just a few stars (a far cry from WCW and TNA signing WWE’s stars). The perfect example was the main event where they allowed a low card wrestler like Darby Allin to have a shot at the AEW championship. Allin connects with an audience like few wrestlers, and this was a huge risk for AEW. Chris Jericho showed what kind of person he is by allowing a young talent to push him so hard to put Allin over and help the overall product. This was an awesome moment that pushed AEW further ahead of the WWE and other promotions.
AEW Dy
