- Hardy vs Fish **
- BCC vs AFO **3/4
- Wardlow vs Morrissey *3/4
- Jericho vs Santana **1/4
- Fenix vs Dante ***3/4
- ROH Women's Title Unification: Deonna(c) vs Mercedez(interim) **3/4
Thoughts
We started with Jeff Hardy versus Bobby Fish. I have to admit that I was a huge fan of Jeff's when I was younger, like many of you. I still appreciate the dude's catalog and all but I also don't really need to see him working a 10-minute singles match with his opponent working at half speed. That's what the opener felt like. I also am surprised that we had a big avalanche falcon arrow here considering Jeff has been changing up his moveset to take less damage.
Anyway, I wanted to enjoy this but it was average content to start us off and felt like an unneeded contest in general.
Post-match saw Matt and Nick Jackson come out to check out Fish and to set up a rematch between the Bucks and Hardys. That should be a fun match, even if Matt and Jeff Hardy are largely in their house show mode these days. The Bucks can control things and the Hardys are capable of solid tag content thanks to smoke and mirror tactics.
Next, the latest six-man from BCC. This time, they went over AFO's Butcher, Blade, and Angelico. It was pretty decent. Soon enough the unit will move past this era and start an actual program and I am eager to see it play out.
Jurassic Express and Team Taz have a segment. Jungle Boy wants the FTW strap. Lee and Strickland aren't done with Starks and Hobbs.
Cut to MJF as he brings out Impact's W. Morrissey to take on Wardlow. The two big dudes then had a quick match. It was okay. I wish they would have leaned more into it because Morrissey is capable of more than we got here. I would have to figure that his work on Impact this year is why he got this spot and I get that. I've mentioned recently how much he's improved even. He just didn't get to really show it here. While this was meant to put over Wardlow, of course, I think a more competitive match might have worked better for not just the story but also for TV quality in general.
Oh well.
After, Wardlow killed a bunch of fake guards and screamed for freedom. MJF said they'll have a match with stipulations announced at the Long Island show (that airs tonight).
They then set up the Rampage women's tag match before Adam Page made his way out to promote his upcoming defense with Punk. I actually really enjoyed his promo here. I'm curious to see if they want to go with a 2022 Summer of Punk or if they're going to keep Page strapped until Kenny returns. Based off of what I am hearing about Kenny's potential plans once he returns, I think it's pretty likely that we might actually get the former.
Lethal and crew talk for a moment.
The Wizard and Santana have a match next. It was...okay. I don't care for these types of things and the episode hasn't been strong enough to warrant it. This angle in general hasn't landed super well for me, to be fair. I appreciate how easily Jericho has been able to historically alter himself and evolve but I also have to admit that I haven't always loved all of the versions of the dude. Most have been good-gold. So far, this one has been underwhelming for me. In fact, I feel like it's dragging down several talented workers and has provided for largely skippable television.
To each their own, for those opposite of my take, but I'll be happy when they move on from this one.
Joe has a moment to chat about his ongoing angle.
The Acclaimed and Gunn Club have a moment. Meh.
Next, Pillman and crew are in the ring to cut a sluggish promo and to call out House of Black. They, of course, get murdered. We get a tease that Hart is finally about to join the dark unit but hesitation occurs instead. Death Triangle run off the heels.
Jade backstage segment.
Admittedly, many of the ongoing angles right now aren't landing strong for me right now and this episode in general hasn't hit the mark for the most part.
The good news?
Dante versus Fenix happened.
The two had a great spotfest sprint that more than delivered, especially considering that they had less than ten to work with. A bud of mine also admitted to being wrong as a result of this one, as he had told me that wishing for Vikingo/Dante was a poor desire.
I consider that a cherry.
Watch the clipped version above.
The two had a moment of respect after that I absolutely loved.
Now, TK needs to book a best of 3 series between Vikingo and Dante.
Thunder Rosa and Deeb are up next to promote their upcoming title match. As much as I look forward to seeing this one, the segment itself felt shaky and forced. Serena also looked a bit sick here for some reason.
Punk versus The Meat Man is announced to make up for how iffy this episode has been.
Our main event saw Mercedes Martinez defeat Deonna to become the official Ring of Honor Women's Champion. I am not sure who all TK has in mind for the division, but basing it around the vet is a decent move. Sadly, Deonna, like Morrissey, didn't get to show much here. It picked up a bit as it went along and was ultimately a fine contest overall, but that's about it.
This episode was one of the weakest I've seen from AEW. Adam Page's promo was well done and Dante/Fenix was great. The rest was largely fine, but none of it really made me feel like I HAD to see it. If you're a bit behind and are playing catchup just do yourself a favor and watch the video I placed at the top of this and then check out THIS. If anything else from the episode sounded interesting, consider giving it a few minutes of your time but know that you're pretty safe either way.
Overall Rating: 60/100%
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