Chris Jericho & MJF vs. Matt & Nick Jackson
I wasn't expecting this to come off as such a good match, but it truly was exactly that. Very good tag team action from bell-to-bell with some real cool singular moments such as Matt Jackson selling big for the "more simple" things like MJF's awesome whip/takedown-thingy into the corner or Jericho realizing the sneaky tag The Bucks made behind his back & reacting accordingly to that. I think they probably went a bit too cute with all the nearfalls towards the end, but that's a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things, as it didn't ruin the match or anything close to that. The whole thing certainly served its purpose as the red hot PPV opener! ***
Casino Tag Team Royale
This was a fun battle royale. Came with its awkward moments here n' there, but matches like these always do. Solid action all the way trough with a real nice flow - all elevated by the awesome finishing stretch between Fenix & Jungle Boy. Good match. ***
Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami
I must say that I really didn't get this match much at all. Felt like
the most 'all over the place' pro-wrestling thing I've watched in a good
while -- it felt like they weren't settling for one dynamic; was Shida
the underdog champ not being taken seriously by the challenger? I don't
think so, because after a while of that narrative being told, she is
busting out these big power moves like it's nothing. It was changing
back & forth as the minutes went on, and talking about stuff
changing by the minute, the babyface-heel alignments also seemed to
change throughout the match? Whether that was intentional or not, it
definitely left me feeling just confused for the most part. And on top
of all that said confusion, the match was real 50/50 with everything
anyways; some of their strikes looked good, some of them didn't look
good at all. Some of the sequences & moves looked n' felt real nice
within the bout, but most of them came off awkward. Didn't care for the fighting spirit no-sell moments either; especially when it felt like they did 1 too many of 'em. Certainly an...
interestingly confusing match all in all. I think I can sum it up by saying that it felt like they tried to cram wayyyy too much content into the thing, and it ended up in a kind-of-a-forced-epic mess. *3/4
Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian & Miro
This was lots of fun! Miro looked like a killer when on the offense, Chuck's a good FIP, OC's arrival was epic & Miro's selling of OC's usual signature repertoire was great. Real different from everything else on the card, and it definitely did its thing. Extremely enjoyable number. ***
Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy
Other than the brief attack on Page's hand/fingers by Hardy, this was largely absolutely forgettable. Easy to watch though, as it wasn't bad by any means. **
Cody Rhodes vs. Ethan Page vs. Lance Archer vs. Max Caster vs. Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Scorpio Sky
A very decent, rock-solid multi-man ladder match. Matches of this type are so overdone these days though, it's hard for them to truly standout, and such was the case here. It was fine, but nothing very memorable. **3/4
Brian Cage & Ricky Starks vs. Darby Allin & Sting
This was real different from every other cinematic match thus far, and I loved every bit of it. GRIMY presentation all around, which was a perfect fit. Felt like a badass movie fight scene essentially, complete with some fantastic visuals throughout.
Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega
Man, the big post-match explosion being a complete (to say the least) dud is such a damn shame. That face turn angle w/ Eddie Kingston would've been absolute magic had they not butchered it. And while it happened after the match was over, it still does suck a lot of juices out of the thing when looking at it as an overall package. I also wasn't a fan of the Gallows & Anderson run-in finishing stretch at all -- usually I don't get bothered by stuff like that in wrestling, but here I was enjoying the action between Moxley & Omega so much, I felt like things went downhill big time for the last some-minutes when the Good Brothers got involved. Nice finish with the One Winged Angel on the chair, but yeah, I thought that the energy & the pure raw feeling of a WAR the bout had died down pretty effectively. Without those two major negative factors, this really could've been one of the best things AEW has done thus far, because everything that Mox & Kenny did up until that run-in, it was legitimately some really goddamn great stuff, truly making the gimmick justice. It was easily the best match of the night, but aye, as implied, I can't help but to feel that it should've been more & really one of the best pieces of pro-wrestling for the entire year, but by the end of things, it just wasn't. ***3/4
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