For this set, we're looking at Fight for the Fallen and Fyter Fest episodes! I'm feeling absolutely awful, though, so we're keeping this one short.
Yuta lost, via yet another flashpin, and Orange pushes forward. After, he was beaten up by BCC until Eddie and the Lucha Bros ran out for the save. Stadium Stampede was announced at the end.
Jericho said yes, Don didn't expect it, an interesting photo was shown, then Takeshita and Ospreay attacked Chris. Pretty solid TV and Don continues to be sold as a force capable of getting any heel to work with him. Sammy made the save for Chris.
Darby and Wayne did their thing against Gates of Agony, then Sting appeared on screen with Mogul's Prince while the unit ran to the back. The attack on Nick at his home was well done and this was a decent follow up. I love Joker Sting, to be fair, and he's been showing a bit of that character lately to great approval from...me.
MJF and Cole's segment was the latest gold drop in this ongoing program. I've enjoyed this far more than expected and consider it my favorite current thing being ran on any promotion. Note I am very far behind on a lot of other stuff, so don't @ me with some bullshit. I say they should have The Kingdom, with Strong, attack MJF sometime during the preshow. Aussie Open to retain though MJF will put in for a hard fought performance. Later, have Cole turn during the main event and establish himself as being back with the unit. Just an idea.
I'll refrain from being too negative on the movie tie-in thing because I know they supposedly made a decent chunk of cash for the people of Maui. Considering our Government clearly doesn't care about these people and that the vultures like Blackrock are circling, I refuse to be too harsh on anything that is supposed to be of assistance. It wasn't good, but was for a good cause. I hope it doesn't happen again. That's all.
House of Black attacked The Acclaimed and took Billy's boots.
Dynamite closed with the Bucks versus Gunn's kids. Too be honest, this was fine but not what the show needed right now. The BCG duo is very mid. They tried to step up a bit here I think but it was still mid. The Bucks had to nerf themselves a bit, as a result. Meh.
After, Jay and Juice attacked until FTR made the save and had a moment with their All In opponents.
An okay installment of Dynamite, but also one of the weakest ever. Especially sad considering how close to the biggest wrestling show ever runs.
Next, I did something weird and watched an entire Rampage. In 2023.
It's Komander versus Fenix casually opening things up with a high octane spotfest with some meat. A display of modern pro-wrestling athleticism, this one was a fantastic contest that really sung to my lucha love side. If you missed it, like a lot of people considering Rampage's numbers, I do strongly recommend it.
The Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships are on the line next as Aussie Open defends against Ethan Page and Isiah Kassidy in a random throwaway defense because this is still AEW.
Kassidy was actually better here than he's been in a while. Ethan was fine, but it's been clear since his EVOLVE days that he needs the right opponent and/or situation to really shine. Aussie felt like they were working down, to be honest. Good, but largely forgettable filler to showcase the champs ahead of their match with MJF and Cole.
Kangaroo kicks for all!
Sammy didn't break a sweat and won a squash match to get him a W and some screen time.
Last, from the episode, we had Hikaru Shida and Skye Blue teaming to take on Storm and Ruby. A bit rough, but largely fine. Ruby ate a flashpin, of course, from the new champ to close it.
A far better episode of Rampage than usual, though the opener is really the only thing you have to actually see.
Collision time!
AEW's current A-show featured Samoa Joe getting attacked early by his masked opponent for the evening, instead of taking the beating all the other masked dudes, and Everett, had taken. Of course, it was just CM Punk accepting the "bitches" challenge.
White beat Dalton Castle in a solid, but largely forgettable matchup. Jay pinning a former Ring of Honor World Champion is a nice thing to brag about, I guess? After, Mr. TS joined for a chat with BCG. They talked some shit and set up...
Juice and the Gunn kids beating Bear Country or the Iron Savages or whatever along with Jacked Jameson. The latter I barely know, though I believe he mainly works the southern scene on small shows. He has been on a few of AEW's old YouTube shows, too. They let Bear come off big here, hard not to do I guess, but otherwise this was basic stuff and the ass boys still do little for me, sadly.
Starks managed Big Bill in a squash. After, they beat up on Derek Neal.
MJF and Cole went to Outback and got into trouble and shit. It was excellent and I want folks to just watch it instead of me rambling about it.
Next, Willow beat Diamante. Kris came out to fuck up Mercedes in this one. A good contest to continue the best women's program AEW has running right now. Sadly, it's still very 2D.
The main event saw Darby beat Christian with a flashpin finish, then Captain Charisma and Luchasaurus fucked him up. It was a good contest honestly. Closing the show with a midcard rivalry is a choice, but it worked thanks to how damn good C.C. still is. Darby was Darby, too.
Bullet Club Gold talking shit in a recap segment backstage closed my Fight for the Fallen coverage. They should air these weekly.
Fight for the Fallen, like AEW of late, was a mixed-bag. If you are pressed for time, watch select segments on YT that catch your eye and then watch the Fenix/Komander and Christian/Darby matches. Consider Willow/Diamante, too.
Fight for the Fallen Ratings Roundup
Dynamite
Orange vs Yuta NR
Gates of Agony vs Darby, Wayne NR
Texas Chainsaw Massacre Match NR
Young Bucks vs Gunn Club **3/4
Rampage
Komander vs Fenix ****
ROH Tag Titles: Aussie Open(c) vs Page, Isiah NR
Guevara vs Cruz NR
The Outcasts vs Shida, Blue **1/2
Rampage Overall Rating: 70%
Collision
White vs Castle **3/4
BCG vs Iron Savages, Jacked **1/4
Big Bill Squash NR
Willow vs Diamante ***
Darby vs Christian ***1/2
They played it very safe this week ahead of All In, especially on Rampage and Collision.
Dynamite was good, at least.
The Elite and Bullet Club Gold brawled, with Takeshita and FTR adding on for good measure. Fun stuff ahead of UK.
Mox and Fenix was a pretty damn good contest and ended with a clean finish! Borderline great stuff in all and after we had Santana and Ortiz coming to join BCC's side, Fenix getting fucked up to write him off thanks to his VISA issues, and another example of how bad AEW's production crew is. Good stuff poorly shown.
Ospreay and Jericho's contract signing segment was entertaining as hell, folks. He's likely New Japan for AEW soon and I would likely bet money on him getting the nod at Wembley. These segments are typically copy/paste but the promos can save them from the pit of completely forgettable versions and they did well here. A good way to add fire to the program.
Next, we saw Darby team with Nick Wayne to face Fox and Swerve. I enjoyed most of this program so far and had hopes for this chapter. The match itself was honestly pretty good. Fox and Strickland worked very well as a team in fact and I appreciate the way they are trying to pump up Wayne. This, of course, had a flashpin finish.
After, Swerve said he was disappointed in Fox and talked a lot of shit. He failed the test and is out of Mogul. Cage then nailed the dude responsible for training most of your favorites. Sting, Wayne, and Darby came out for the save. Christian Cage and Luchasaurus came to align with the heel side and so that Captain Charisma could talk some shit about Wayne's dad. I hope it was approved, to be honest. If so this was honestly one of the best heel promos of the year. Nick and Darby versus Cage and Strickland in a coffin match at All In.
Ruby took on Skye next in our women's match of the night. It was seven-minutes and had a surprisingly clean finish. A fine throwaway, I suppose but they didn't gel super well and the 2D nature of the division continues to be a big problem.
Moving along, The Acclaimed came out and said they were no longer fun. Called out House of Black. Lights out. House of Black in. A handicap brawl while Hart watched saw an obvious outcome until Daddy Ass came out for the save. Gunn grabbed a mic and made it clear that he wasn't actually done. All In, The Acclaimed with Bad Ass Billy Gunn versus Black and crew for the Trios belts. I don't care much for false retirements and stuff, but this works for me.
The main event for some reason saw Matt and Jeff Hardy getting a title shot against Aussie Open. Just being a team of historic importance is enough, even if your last match was an L, I guess. The Hardyz were such a big chunk of my childhood and I think Aussie Open are a top ten current team so it's hard to be too mad, I guess. I complain a lot (maybe?) but when I do so it's a minor annoyance at worse and typically just me laughing at stupid shit more often than not. It's death ballet, so never take any of this too seriously, folks!
Anyway, this was short. It started fine and then ended fast without picking up much steam along the way and ended up being very average in the end. Oh well, it was an okay throwaway defense and a notch for the champs.
After, the retaining champs called out their opponents for the big show leading to a face-off moment between the four that broke into a brawl. Their challengers won the fight, then had a moment themselves.
The second half of the show was a dip, but it closed on a strong go-home moment that sold the show well. A good episode overall, but one that could've been much better with some tweaks.
Over to Rampage, we had Saraya and Storm versus Shida and Baker in tag team action. The rest of the show had Orange beating Solo to retain, QT retaining his AAA belt (since Konnan's plug is giving him bad shit now for a year or so, clearly) against Gravity, and then Lucha squashing a fool from the Michigan scene. AEW didn't try much with this episode again.
A blinded-by-green-spray Shida would take a shot on the dentist, setting up the finish after a fine, but rough around the edges tag match. Meh.
Storm and Knight both had a slight moment after.
On Collision, Perry went to retire the FTW strap in a segment Tony actually spoiled (not that it wasn't obvious) and was instead fucked up by Hook.
Next, Orange, with Kingston and Penta, beat Butcher, Blader, and Kip. After, the face side of the Stampede talked some trash. BCC would appear on screen to do the same. Eddie made his way to the back and cut some fire to end the segment. Good TV!
An all-star atomico main event saw Punk, Darby, Sting, and Hook beat Mogul and Luchasaurus, with Punk hitting a GTS and then locking in a sleeper while staring at Joe.
"I believe the match is officially over, correct gentlemen?"
That killed my ass. Perry ran out and brawled with Hook. Darby and Sting brawled with Swerve. Punk and Joe battled.
It felt a bit like a house show multiman, but it was fun and good for what it was.
Dynamite was okay, but below average. Rampage remained an afterthought. Collision was meh. They played it safe ahead of All In here, sadly, but there were pockets of entertainment that did well for the go-home week of content. Pick and choose what you add to your grab bag if you missed any of it.
Due to my health sucking last week and then some additional things I had to deal with, this set was written over the course of around a week and did not land before UK like I wanted. Shit happens. Thanks to those that read it. Be kind to yourself and others!
Fyter Fest Ratings Roundup
Dynamite
Moxley vs Fenix ***1/2
Darby, Wayne vs Mogul Embassy ***1/4
Ruby vs Blue **1/4
ROH World Tag Titles: Aussie Open(c) vs Hardys **1/2
Dynamite Overall Rating: 75%
The Outcasts vs Baker, Shida **1/4
Penta, Kingston, Orange vs Kip, Butcher & Blade NR
Punk, Darby, Sting, Hook vs Mogul Embassy, Luchasaurus ***
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