InTrust Bank Arena, Witchita, Kansas
Commentators – Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness
A few short promos hyping the matches start the show with some words from FTR, Big Bill and Ricky Starks and then the show starts off with Swerve Strickland getting jumped by AR Fox backstage which escalated to the ring.
Singles Match
Sweeve Strickland vs AR Fox
I’m glad Tony Schiavone explained why AR Fox attacked Swerve because judging by the last month of Television I had no idea. Turns out Swerve kicked him out of the Mogul Embassy and I would ask why didn’t AR Fox who returned last week go for Swerve then?
AR Fox caught Swerve with some high flying dives out of the ring. Fox comes across a little different than the rest of the roster that do highflying dives and risks, he actually looks like he would take your head off with how much ferocity he puts behind his dives.
I think very highly of Swerve Strickland and if it were me, he would be the guy I would have take the belt off MJF down the track.
Fox hit a perfect 450 splash from the top rope with Swerve kicking out at the last second, the rest of the Mogul Embassy were at ringside watching this match and I was just waiting for some interference but Swerve didn’t need it as he turned a powerbomb into a power slam then hit his double stomp off the top rope for the win.
Fox was surrounded after the match and looked like he was going to get a beat down but was saved by FTR but then Big Bill and Ricky Starks came down then FLI (Rush new stable) came down also, it was pandemonium in the ring.
Another segment where AEW is guilty of too much going on. Rush’s group refused a handshake and left, House of Black were also watching in the stands, a lot of moving parts in this opening segment.
We heard promos from MJF and Jay White after their matches from Dynamite. Jay was as arrogant as ever and as a heel he is doing a great job being unlikable.
Kip Sabian cuts a promo backstage, he is pissed at last weeks altercation with Mark Briscoe and introduces the tag team The Workhorsemen to help him tonight. He named the team “The Sex Stallions”.
Sabian is very entertaining and I love that he uses British insults like “Tosspot”, brilliant!
Tag Team Match
The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) (w/Roderick Strong) defeat The Crucible (Brixton Nash & Jameson McGregor)
Roderick Strong comes out with Bennett and Taven, Strong has the mic and says the crowd don’t take neck health seriously or them for that matter.
I’m not understanding this “Neck Strong” gimmick it hasn’t been explained why they keep saying this since I’ve been watching.
Brixton Nash and James Mcgregor are already in the ring, Taven and Bennet come in and wipe the floor with them in this jobber match.
Mark Briscoe is backstage talking about who he is going to have as his tag partners against Kip Sabian and The Workhorses, FTR come in the scene and offer their services to do double duty tonight, Mark won’t allow them to do that and says he has his partners in mind, Lexi quizzes him about it but says you will find out later.
Singles Match
Lance Archer (with Jake “The Snake” Roberts) vs Darby Allin
It’s good to see Jake Robert’s back on the show. One of my childhood favourites.
The size difference between these two men was miles apart, the problem I have with this size difference is the believability factor in the match.
Darby’s character is a guy that can take a lot of punishment and never quit. That’s what we saw with this match.
Archer dominated this match and toyed with Allin which was a mistake as it allowed Allin to gain a little bit of momentum jumping on Archers back to lock in a sleeper hold.
Archer got back to toying with Darby Allin, when he could have pinned him buy he didn’t and chokeslammed him on the outside apron.
Jake Robert’s tried to hit Allin with his skateboard but was caught by the referee, he was ejected to the back.
Archer toyed with Allin more and had him on the top rope, he made a mistake with Allin reversing it and hitting a Destroyer on Archer from the top ropes to get the win.
I had no problem with the way this was done. Archer had all the offense but it was his own mistakes that cost him the match as opposed to last show we seen Orange Cassidy vs Claudio Castagnoli, that came across as not believable.
After the match Jake Robert’s was on the mic and said he had a couple more guys for Allin and introduced The Righteous who hadn’t been seen since losing to MJF at Wrestledream.
Archer attacked Darby as The Righteous and Robert’s looked on. Schiavone hinted that Robert’s was assembling a stable.
I’m not sure how you build the Righteous up after their match with MJF, it made them look really stupid and kinda killed their gimmick.
Kris Statlander with Willow and Sky Blue backstage
This is the third ones of these backstage segments requested by Statlander. She thanked Sky Blue for doing the right thing and helping Willow against Julia Heart.
Skye Blue said she didn’t do it for her but her friend Willow who she has her back. All these segments have been very scripted and unnatural, time to change it up or do something different because this isn’t helping any of them in the scene.
Alex Abrahantes is backstage being interviewed by Lexi but is interrupted by Swerve Strickland and Prince Nana, Alex makes a match on behalf of Penta and challenges Swerve for this Wednesday on Dynamite.
Acclaimed 69 days Party
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass are celebrating their 69 days as trios champs.
The crowd loves these guys, quite possibly they’re the hottest thing on the show.
They had 69 balloons and pink and white streamers to celebrate this momentous occasion. Bowen had a surprise for his friend Max Caster.
On the screen was a video from MJF who said that Caster was growing on him and he started to like the acclaimed.
Caster got all giddy from the message like a little girl. “Ohhhh Scissor Me Daddy” erupted from the crowd.
Dalton Castle and The Boys came out and interrupted the celebration. When Castle and The Boys came in the ring they looked so small compared to Billy Gunn, Gunn looked like he could take all three men by himself with no problem.
Dalton grabbed a 69 days celebration trophy the acclaimed had and smashed it on the outside.
AEW World Trios Title Match
Billy Gunn & The Acclaimed (c) vs Dalton Castle & The Boys
This ended up turning into a trios title match with it probably going on too long with the Acclaimed and Daddy Ass winning convincingly.
Lexi was backstage with Andrade asking about CJ Perry’s offer to manage him, he said next week he will tell her face to face.
Six Man Tag Team Match
Kip Sabian and The Workhorsemen vs Mark Briscoe, Dustin Rhodes and Keith Lee
A match set up earlier on tonight, this seemed a big mismatch with Briscoe having the advantage.
Sabian is a talented member of the roster and I feel his role will be limited to this kind of stuff where he gets beat up weekly.
My suspicions were correct as Briscoe pinned and beat him for the second week in a row.
Backstage Lexi was with Mark Briscoe, he challenged Jay White to a match on Dynamite to put his shot at MJF on the line.
Singles Match
Emi Sakura vs Willow Nightingale
Willow has been growing on me weekly, I just wish they could give her a storyline better than what she currently has to get to know her more.
Physical contest with Willow beating Sakura with the Doctor Bomb to gain momentum.
Backstage Lexi has Samoa Joe backstage, he talks about MJF needing him to watch is back, he said his ROH TV title reign has been great and he has beat everyone they have given him, Keith Lee comes into the scene. The match is made for Dynamite.
Eight Man Tag Team Match
FTR, Rush and Preston Vance vs Ricky Starks, Big Bill and Gates of Agony
This match seems like it was designed for Rush to get a win and try to make him a big deal.
The problem I have is once again, Gates of Agony is taking the pin. They made these guys ROH Tag Champions last week out of the blue, they have never built these guys to be a threat and getting pinned again does them no favors.
This main event was kind of mashed together this week and wasn’t really something you had to watch.
Fair week of AEW Collision, onto Dynamite.
