In the back, Lexy interviewed Dante Martin who said that he wants to be a champion. Orange Cassidy walked into the scene and Dante challenged him for the International Championship. Cassidy agreed and set the match for this Wednesday on Dynamite.
Match 4: Swerve Strickland (w/ Prince Nana) vs. Dustin Rhodes
If you didn’t know, Keith Lee announced earlier to day that he was not medically cleared to compete, so they replaced him with Dustin Rhodes. I had written up a rant on how stupid that idea was. But then they did something interesting to turn lemons into lemonade, so I deleted the rant. Too bad, because it was a good one – I even got in a Star Trek reference.
What did happen is that Sweve attacked Rhodes before the bell and threw him into the ringside barricades several times. He and Nana then lay Rhodes on the floor and propped his leg up on a cinder block. Swerve then jumped off the ring apron and stomped on Dustin’s leg, crushing the block underneath and seemingly hobbling Dustin Misery-style. The ringside doctor checked on Rhodes and they took him to the back for medical attention.
Oh, for f—s sake. No they didn’t. Instead, Rhodes insisted on going to the ring to compete. Why? Dang it, now I wish I hadn’t deleted the rant. Way to kill the angle. And for what? No way Dustin is going to win, so why bother? This is just stupid on every level.
The match went on with Dustin no-selling the leg and nearly getting the win several times. He was Superman and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin all rolled into one, getting in tons of offense and absorbing anything and everything Swerve dished out. But nobody even cared – the crowd was solidly behind Swerve for the entire thing. Including when he hit the Stomp off the top rope – not on the leg, because why would they use logic now? – and got the pin.
This was a PhD-level case study on bad booking.
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Match Rating: 5/10
Match 5: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and Sting vs. Ricky Starks, Big Bill, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Konosuke Takeshita (w/ Don Callis)
Early on, the best sequence was an extended battle between Takeshita and Allin that saw Allin hit a series of quick moves and nearly get a pin before eating a Twisting Thunder Bomb off the top. Allin then got trapped in the wrong end of town, including being swung and heaved all the way across the ring by Big Bill and Hobbs – that looked stellar.
Allin finally got the tag to Sting who cleaned house, taking out all four opponents before he and Jericho hit tandem Stinger Splashes on one hapless duo. Later, Sammy and Starks had a nice exchange of moves at blistering speed. Though Sammy got slowed down after a Spinning Sidewalk Slam by Big Bill – who later bounced back immediately after taking a Codebreaker by Jericho in an impressive sight.
The referee lost all control at this point, and this led to a series where, without tagging, people ran in and hit moves on each other – including a nasty Release German Suplex by Takeshita that dumped Darby right on his head, followed by a Double German on both Sammy and Darby at the same time. Sting had seen enough and came in and locked Takeshita in a Scorpion Deathlock – which he only broke when Don Callis ran into the ring with Sting’s baseball bat – though Callis backed down and slid out of the ring when Sting glared at him.
More bad refereeing led to more chaos and after everyone else was out of the ring, Sammy and Ricky were the last two in the ring. Sammy eventually hit a Shooting Star Press on Ricky to get the win. After the match, Sting’s opponents left the ring to let Sting pose for the crowd and celebrate with the ringside fans, as this is his last match in New York. Notably, Sting made his way over to superfan Vlad who was in the front row to give him a hug.
The match was a chaotic mess at times, but it was pretty fun overall. There was no doubt that Sting’s team would win – no way he’s losing before his retirement match in March. The win also gives Sammy and Jericho momentum in their feud with Bill and Starks for the AEW Tag Team Championship.
Winners: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and Sting
Match Rating: 6/10
Match 6: Abadon vs. Julia Hart (c) – House Rules match for the TBS Championship
Standard House Rules applied for this one – meaning there is a 20-count on the outside and there are no rope breaks. For her choice of stipulation, Abadon made biting legal in the match. Funny start to this one with the crowd chanting “This is spooky” before the action started.
Abadon started off dominantly, hitting Hart with multiple hard Clotheslines in the corner. But Hart gave as good as she got, blasting the challenger with hard overhead punches to the head and then throwing Abadon to the floor where Hart Suplexed Abadon on the floor. Abadon finally used the biting to break free of a submission attempt by Hart, and then Abadon went to town, hitting some hard shots that hurt the champ.
Julia stopped Abadon up top and hit a Superplex for a 2-count. She then locked on Hartless, but Abadon was able to turn Hart over and get a near fall. Abadon got another after a Running Knee Strike. Abadon went up top, but Hart distracted the ref, and that allowed Skye Blue to slide out from underneath the ring and throw Abadon off the top rope to the mat, and head back under the ring. Abadon reached under and pulled out Blue and made her pay. But that allowed Hart to attack Abadon from behind and bounce Abadon’s head off the ring steps. Julia rolled a dazed Abadon back in the ring and hit a Moonsault for the pin.
This was pretty good for what it was. Nothing to write home about, and could have easily been on TV instead of PPV. But it was fine.
Winner and still TBS Champion: Julia Hart
Match Rating: 6/10
Match 7: Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage (c) (w/ Nick Wayne and Shayna “Mama” Wayne) – No Disqualification match for the TNT Championship
The commentators noted that Copeland was wearing the same ring attire as he did during his Hardcore match against Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22 (though they didn’t name the event or company). If this doesn’t end with a flaming table, they just set everyone up for disappointment.
Edge charged up the ramp when Christian was making his entrance, sending the Wayne family scrambling. Copeland then battered Christian all around the ringside area, before viciously ground-and-pounding him in the ring. Christian tried to head for the hills, but Copeland chased him into the crowd where the battle continued. They fought up to the lower bowl where Copeland flattened both Christian and Wayne with a Flying Dive off the stairway deck.
They fought their way back to the ring where Copeland continued the beatdown, taking a page out of Jeff Hardy’s book and hitting a running attack off the ringside barrier.
Cage dodged a Corner Shoulder Block and Copeland tumbled to the floor. There, Cage took over, placing Copeland’s head onto the ring steps and then jumping on Copeland’s neck, bloodying up Copeland’s face in the process and giving him a nasty mouse on his temple. Cage got out a Singapore cane and started waylaying Copeland with it, while the Wayne’s laughed and cheered.
Cage instructed Nick to give him some chairs, but instead of going for the Con-Chair-To, Cage set one up on top of Copeland, trapping him, and sat on it while locking on a Boston Crab. Cage called for a metal rod, but swung and missed, and then Copeland retaliated with some Singapore cane shots. Copeland locked on a Crossface and then amplified the effect by using the metal rod to pull back on Cage’s mouth.
Copeland went under the ring for a ladder, prompting “TLC” chants from the crowd, and he bridged it in the corner, where he Slingshotted Cage’s face into it – ouch. Copeland then set up the ladder, but before he could use it, Cage surprised him with a Singapore cane shot.
The two raced up either side of the ladder, and Cage thwarted a Superplex attempt and hit a Sunset Bomb off the ladder for a two-count. With Copeland down, this gave Cage the time to get a table from under the ring and set one up at ringside. They both avoided going through it (for now) and went back to fighting with chairs, with Copeland getting the better end of things, hitting Cage with an Impaler on a chair. Copeland then set up Cage for a Con-Chair-To, but Nick Wayne ran in and grabbed the chair from Copeland. Cage tried to capitalize with a low blow and a roll-up, but Copeland kicked out.
Cage propped a table up in the corner and went to Spear Copeland through it, but Copeland leapfrogged him. Copeland then threw a chair in Cage’s face and Speared Cage through the table, for the 1-2-NO! Shayna Wayne pulled the ref out of the ring before he could finish the three-count.
Copeland went after Shayna, but Nick blasted him in the back of the head with the TNT title, and then hit a Springboard Cutter on Copeland on the floor. Copeland stumbled back into the ring and Cage hit him with the Unprettier – but Copeland kicked out!
The crowd – who had been chanting for fire earlier – finally got their wish. Cage and Nick went under the ring and got out some lighter fluid, which they drenched a ringside table with. Wayne lit it on fire, and Cage tried to send Copeland through it. But Copeland blocked it and Speared Cage in the ring. He then went out to the floor and re-ignited the table, which had gone out by then. Copeland then tried to Powerbomb Nick through the table off the apron, but overshot and Wayne hit the far end of the table and bounced off to the floor – luckily for him, when the table tipped over, it missed him and the flames got smothered and extinguished without burning him.
Copeland went back in the ring, avoided a charge by Cage who looked to hit him with the TNT title, and punted Cage in the little Christians. Copeland then hit the Unprettier on Cage and pinned him to win the match and the title.
This was great. Even the presence of Nick and Shayna Wayne didn’t detract from this one. A good, violent hardcore match, with the right result.
Winner, and new TNT Champion: Adam Copeland
Match Rating: 9/10
After the match, Copeland celebrated his win. But then Killswitch ran in from behind and attacked. He set up a chair in the ring and Chokeslammed Copeland onto it. Killswitch then tried to cash in his TNT title shot, but Cage shoved the referee aside. Cage demanded that Killswitch hand over the contract to him. Killswitch initially argued, but Cage whispered something in his ear, and Killswitch succumbed, surrendering the contract. Cage signed it, and the match was on.
Match 8: Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland (c) – for the TNT Championship
Copeland was still down from the attack by Killswitch while the contract shenanigans were going on. When the bell rang, he struggled to his feet, only to get Speared by Cage and pinned.
Everything about this worked perfectly. Some people will hate it, since the booking of this feud hasn’t always made sense. But given where we are, this is the best way to continue (if not advance) the story.
Winner, and new TNT Champion: Christian Cage
Match Rating: Not rated (9/10 for the angle)
Match 9: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston – Continental Classic Tournament Finals for the ROH World Championship, the NJPW Strong Openweight Championship, and the Continental Classic Championship
Bryan Danielson joined the commentary team for this one.
They started out with a lengthy feeling-out process with both men trying to out-tough one another. Then things got a bit scary when Kingston did a Flying Dive to the floor and it looked like he crashed into the ringside barrier hard with his head – but he was able to go on. Moxley capitalized, blasting Eddie with a Double-Arm DDT on the floor, which couldn’t have been fun.
The fight waged on with both men hitting strong strikes (with the exception of Mox’s fake-looking forearms), with Moxley getting the best of things as Kingston was still reeling from the damages from his hard landing and the DDT.
They had a chop battle that went on forever, then Eddie knocked Moxley down with a throw followed by a Spinning Backhand. He hit the rapid-fire chops and a DDT, but then Moxley recovered with a huge Lariat. Eddie replied with a Northern Lights Bomb and some elbows. Eddie locked on a submission, but Moxley broke out and locked on one of his own, but Eddie got to the ropes to force the break.
They had a headbutt exchange and some more strikes, and then Eddie hit a huge Spinning Backfist that put Moxley down for the pin.
After the match, Moxley and Eddie shook hugged as the crowd chanted “You deserve it” to Eddie.
If you like Japanese strong-style matches, you might like this one. If you like wrestling matches with psychology, probably not so much. It was the right result, though, as Eddie seems a better fit for ROH and Japan than Moxley, and probably needs the new title more than Moxley, too.
Winner, and still ROH World Champion and NJPW Strong Openweight Champion and new Continental Champion: Eddie Kingston
Match Rating: 6/10
Match 10: MJF (c) (w/ Adam Cole) vs. Samoa Joe – for the World Championship
Winner, and new World Champion: Samoa Joe
Match Rating: 9/10
Top photo: courtesy AllEliteWrestling.com
RELATED LINKS
AEW Worlds End - December 30th, 2023
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Long Island, NY
The main event and the Cage-Copeland match were both stellar, both in terms of in-ring, storyline, and psychology. Mostly everything else was adequate , though many of them felt like glorified TV matches. The Mox-Kingston match was one that depends on your tastes – not my cup of tea. If there was one misstep it was the Swerve-Rhodes match which did nobody any favours and actually may have been counterproductive to Swerve. One thing AEW needs to do is cut down on the number of matches – this show didn’t feel as long as some of their PPVs. But less, in this case, would have been more.
