One last stop. This is a fluff one, but I'm thinking it might be one of my favorites from this set of road to reviews.
Jay debuted in-ring for AEW first taking on Komander. The masked man walked some ropes and got perhaps the biggest match yet of his career as he got several near-falls against the former world champ. I like when they do shit like this in AEW, to be honest. In WWE, this would've been a squash. Working debuts is the better way.
Spears gave this a 5. I gave it, in his scale, a 6 and change.
A brawl after was fun, largely thanks to a sweet spear from Ricky Sparks. Error intentional.
Dralistico and Vikingo worked a "singles" match with a lot from the LFI. This was a Dynamite midcard match ran as a Rampage main event, keeping the trend running. Still, I enjoyed seeing the former Mistico in a main event role but found this underwhelming in contrast to expectations. If they had worked this as a special event match in CMLL it would've been a MOTYC. Here it was like something from MLW, on a good night, to be honest.
There's a reason I rarely watch that company and it's not solely because Court's a dick.
He is a dick, though. Fuck you, Court.
But yeah, how Tony could have Vikingo in and this match be the result is just sad. Shame, Tony. No cookies for you!
That apron destroyer was sick, though. The last ten seconds were sweet, too.
Fifteen years ago Dave would've given this four and a half.
That it was for the Mega strap is the only reason this closed the show. It didn't make AAA look great and made the workers involved look worse than they are. Konnan is a prick too, by the way.
Juice and Ricky Sparks was a fun TV match. Those spears are maybe the best in the game right now and Ricky taking the W here was absolutely the right move. After, White attacked from behind. Good building block stuff.
Penta, Fenix, and Vikingo would take on QTV in our semi-main for 108. Did you know AAA ran a stalker gimmick where QT was being weird with Penta? What kind of dumbass can book AAA to look this bad? Oh. To be fair, AAA has had several rough patches without Konnan, too. It's just funny seeing someone that opinionated on shit, constantly bitching alongside Disco Inferno of all people, fucking up that bad while simultaneously being one of the most thin skinned dudes in the entire business.
Anyway, the six-man was a bit of a car crash that was used to open the same episode of Rampage that featured Firm Deletion. Good shit, honestly. A better use of Vikingo than the last one, too.
That Rampage also featured Vance versus Mark. Five Plus Five looked good and Mark did, too. Basic but good. A fine throwaway with a sweet moment after.
Still not what Rampage should be, but clearly that episode was better than usual.
Last up, White and Starks worked a match of their own to keep the angle moving. It felt like one of the biggest of Ricky's career so far. It also felt a bit like a mini-New Japan main event with a very American finish. Ricky looked awesome and Jay was the damn glue. The dude doesn't get nearly enough credit for how damn good he is at everything he does. A DQ finish thanks to some chair swings closed this and kept the program open. Good shit.
LFI underdelivered. The Bullet Club stuff was on par with expectations. A mixed bag set, to be blunt. Not a lot of this was must-see while being entertaining nonetheless. You can watch AEW Spark Episode Nine for the whole collection. I know the playlists are watched by a few of y'all. The next entry to the digest should be a Double or Nothing edition.
I do appear to be in a mood or something though so I'll go away now.
A cheap plug first, though. Check out Main Event Magic. It's my Magic: The Gathering show that I think should appeal to wrestling fans. HERE is a link to the first season.
Thanks for stopping by. Be kind to yourself and anyone not named Court today.
Match Ratings
- Komander vs White ***1/4
- AAA Mega Title: Vikingo(c) vs Dralistico **3/4
- Juice vs Starks ***
- Lucha Bros, Vikingo vs QTV ***
- Briscoe vs Vance ***
- Starks vs White ***1/4