Well, hello! Y’all thought you saw the last of me, but I’m back for another commentary recap because I’m funny. We’re off to a great start when I thought that Adam Copeland went by Edge, similiar to his WWE persona, at AEW, but no. His song is still the same, though. I recognized it, folks. The crowd were so enthused by Copeland’s presense that they sang his song long after it stopped. It was beautiful to witness, as well as Christian Cage. I haven’t seen him in quite some time.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. FTR (c) – AEW World Tag Team Championship match
The bell rang, and we were off in a brawl between all four men in the center of the ring. Copeland, in particular, has beef with these men for giving them a place to train only to be backstabbed with an injury that fractured his phyche. Christian also suffered at their hands, too. All fights seem personal the more you look at it, and this one enters that category. Copeland and Cash tumbled outside and continued fighting while Cage dealt with Dax by delivering a clothesline and…. bitting the man’s scalp.
Cage wrapped a bared-wire around the middle rope, tripped Dax, so he could collide with the trap across his chest and underarms. Adam added on with a body splash to his back. Both Adam and Christian unleashed absolute hell towards their opponents in a match that truly favors one team over the other if they say “I quit”. I love chaos just as the curtains open as Copeland delivered a suplex to Dax onto a ladder. At the fans’ request, Adam brought out a table. Annoyingly so, Copeland tried to put Cash through the furniture, but Stokley intervened, which allowed Dax to save his partner and get pummeled.
Dax attempted to use a tool box he found near the timekeeper’s area against Cage, luckily, he avoided disaster with a kick to Harwood’s face. Instead, Christian found utility by clamping Dax’s nose, then doing the same to Cash’s crutch. Ha! Ha! The box was smashed into Cage’s head and now, he’s left at FTR’s mercy. Adam did his best to fend them off, however, that pile driver on the broadcaster’s desk stunned him badly. It was only a matter of time until they ganged up on Christian with a cinderblock. I wasn’t sure what Cage said into the microphone . I heard two things: “I paid your mortgage.” and “I banged your mother.”
FTR continued their rampage by performing the Shatter Machine on Christian. Cash very nearly used a wrench on Cage as Adam speared both men out of orbit. Like a madman, Copeland was relentless in his chair strikes. Stokley intercepted for the last time as Beth Copeland hasn’t forgotten what Stokley did to her… and her husband, of course. What really, REALLY surprised me was how Dax sent Beth face first into the stairs. That’s a kind of madness I do not accept…
These people were so insane that FTR ventured to burn Beth. I sat there in silence for a bit. Fortunately, the idiots crashed into their own trap as Beth sidestepped, Stokley receiving the worst of it. Harwood came close to slamming a chair on top of Adam’s head with another laid on the other side like a pillow, but Beth twarthed his plans by targeting his crutch, Cage did the same. As payback, Copeland delivered a Pile Driver. Harwood was in two submissions, the Sharpshooter and a crossface, still he refused to quit, so Beth brought a spike-covered bat as Copeland forced it into Dax’s skull. It was a tearjerker to witness Cage and Copeland secure their titles once again.
You better check those burns, Stokley.
Winners: Christian Cage & Adam Copeland
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) – AEW International Championship match
Okada may have failed with his shoulder tackle, but he succeeded with a kick to Takeshita’s face instead. They’ve been in each other’s mug trying to get the upper hand on the opposition, yet since they’re familiar with the other, it made some attempts difficult to apply. At least in the later moments of the match, Kazuchika managed to place Konosuke on the turnbuckles and drop kick him off onto the floor. The Champion kept his foot on the gas paddle by shoving Takeshita into the stairs and the guardrailing.
Whatever Kazuchika was planning, he was whirlwinded by Konosuke’s athleticism, he wowed everyone by reversing a move made against him, but Okada was no newbie as he got right back up with a drop kick. Takeshita returned to his feet, too, for a short while until he ran into a heavy lariat. it was agonizing, however, both men were able to enter a tussle on the apron. Konosuke was hoping for a Blue Thunder, unfortunately, he suffered yet another massive lariat that punished him to the floor again. That truly left him dazed, Okada made matters worse with a DDT on the ground.
Takeshita almost got his neck broken if his… manager, I think, didn’t stop Okada. However, that gave Konosuke the breathing space he needed to inflict his neck breaking maneuver instead. He was done listening to his manager after the small verbal tiff they had near the broadcasting table. Takeshita came so damn close after he ploughed Kazuchika from a highly elevated German suplex. I was shocked! As retaliation, Okada spiked Takeshita, hard, yet he couldn’t make the cover. Konosuke succeeded with the Blue Thunderbomb, and Kazuchika countered with a spinning powerslam.
These boys were amazing! There were so many near-falls that I held my breath maybe six different times. With Raging Fire, Takeshita was able to dethrone Kazuchika for the AEW International Championship. The celebrations were dampened by the presense of a very daper-looking man in a pink suit… Kyle Fletcher.
Winner: Konosuke Takeshita
Mina Shirakawa vs. Athena – Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Quarterfinals Tournament
For someone who isn’t that much aware of both these women until the first time arriving here lately, the footage clips of them already got me invested. I wanted to see more of these kind of brutal, in-your-face, no holds barred women fighters. Those who are like this or close, give the best performances. Mina may have allowed herself to get distracted by her enthusiasm, but she managed to amend for it with a sliding drop kick to Athena’s knee. Amazingly so, Athena shocked Shirakawa with a flying kick out of nowhere. Wow!
Athena’s knee might be in trouble after colliding into some hard surfaces twice already. Vengeful, Athena’s tremendous power sent Mina flying backwards into a digital barricade. Athena provided a swing, yet Shirakawa’s spike was harder. She kept her eye on the soon-to-be broken knee of her opponent. “Like a sack of spuds,” Athena slammed Shirakawa down. Luckily, Mina remained in the game. Shirakawa responded with a slingblade. Athena got spiked all the way to the main floor. Mina was a delight to see.
Oh, my God… Athena crossed Mina’s legs. grabbed both her arms, and stomped on her spine. Damn. I laughed, I won’t lie. She hasn’t lost any of her 77 matches, that’s how incredible Athena is. Shirakawa isn’t someone to toss aside. He inventiveness in her pin came close to a bell ringing. She can keep up with Athena and deliver just as much intensity as she attempts to break this girl’s knee. As a last relief, Athena was able to grab the bottom rope. She was ruthless with that jumping tombstone pile driver to Mina that left the referee shook. Athena put Shirakawa away with that leaping cutter to advance.
We’ll see who between Skye Blue and Sareee will she face later on in the tournament.
Winner: Athena
Jon Moxley (c) vs. Kyle O’Reilly – AEW Continental Championship match
That kick to the back of Moxley barely got a reaction out of him, as if a feather landed on his spine, or something. He got up like nothing happened. O’Reilly didn’t allow that to phase him as he remained stoick in his approach. Jon should still be careful since he’s already tapped to this man twice, which doesn’t normally happen.
I personally haven’t seen Moxley submit that often, so that perplexed me. During a standing-sitting guillotine, Jon managed to pace himself long enough to get out of the maneuver and slam Kyle to the mat. A running double knee off the apron broke Moxley’s momentum. O’Reilly making contact with the poll gave Jon his reprive. Kyle hurt his knee, which prevented him from inflicting the full extent of his attacks, and Moxley capitilazed on the opening. Jon even bit Kyle’s eye… oof, gross.
O’Reilly fought back with a standing guillotine, despite the limping. That still slowed him down as Jon had a strong grip around his neck and used every single one of those seconds choking the man out. What was hilarious was how jokingly Kyle yanked Jon’s arm as he crash onto the mat. It seemed like Moxley wanted to fall. Ha! O’Reilly transitioned into an attempt of an armbar as Jon kept intercepting. A half-crab was implanted on Kyle’s bruised knee. Moxley kept his sights on O’Reilly’s injury, while Kyle focused on the champ’s ankle. O’Reilly was inflicting an excrutiating type of ankle lock that frightingly gives the impression that he’ll break Moxley’s foot off.
He looked mad.
I started laughed so hard when I noticed that Moxley suffered both the guillotine and a curb stomp, as if it was The Shield attacking him without knowing. Jon answered with a Cutter. Both are down again after that double clothesline. Moxley delivered the better hand of that lariat, then followed that up with a double underhook. They both had each other in ankle locks that it was pure anarchy gold. AEW can be just as vicious as MLW, and to prove my point, O’Reilly tapped. He couldn’t get the satisfaction of Moxley tapping a third time.
Winner: Jon Moxley
During a Owen Hart Men’s Tournament, Will Ospray had to utilize his newfound extremes taught by the Death Riders against a formidable force in Samoa Joe. He definitely delivered after he stayed on target like a relentless boar and pinned Joe with a massive strike to the back of Samoa’s head, similiar to Tama Tonga’s Cutthroat. He advanced in hopes to see who between Jungle Jack Perry and Mark Davis will he face in the semifinals.
I’m not sure, but it seemed like Swerve Strickland came in the match thinking he’d get the better hand on Bandido, yet the Luchador proved to be menace… a good one. He drop kicked Strickland off the apron, and Swerve looked like he was seeing stars. He kept waving his hand around in the air. This is the second Men’s Tournament of the evening. From an elevated weight on the apron, Bandido flew and landed on Swerve, flattening both Strickland and the chair he was sittilng on. Strickland side-stepped as Bandido harshly collided with the turnbuckle. He suffered a release German on the back of him, truly experiencing whiplash at the hands of Swerve. Bandido specatularly spiked Swerve on his forehead, but he lost to his challenger’s Last Call. Strickland awaits either Claudio Castagnoli or Brody King.
Hikaru Shida, Jamie Hayter, and Kris Statlander are each vining for Tekla’s AEW Women’s World Championship in this Fatal 4-Way match. Statlander, Shida, and Hayter momentarily banded together to eliminate Tekla, so they could focus on each other. Who knows how this match will go with Hikaru and Kris fighting for the same thing at the same time, which explains why they rarely brawled one-on-one. Statlander got mad that Shida attempted a pin on her, yet she didn’t seem guilty when she rolled Hikaru for a short while. Shida finally had enough and took a swing at Statlander with her kendo stick. Tekla retained with a stomp to Kris. She has been the most amazing throughout the fight.
We’ve arrived at the part of the night with he Stadium Stampede match, the team of: Andrade el Idolo, Ricochet, Gabe Kidd, Clark Connors, David Finley, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona vs. Chris Jericho, Bobby Lashley, Shelton Bemjamin, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson, plus Jungle Jack Perry and Kenny Omega. The Demand have made it their mission to run Jericho out of All Elite Wrestling.
When they said stampede, dear Christ, was this a mess to look at. It was difficult to keep up. Everyone was dressed up in suits and baseball uniforms that I was in a mind kurffle. Things barely calmed down, they just kept getting crazier as time passed. Pure nonsense, indeed. I don’t think this was meant to be followed the way a regular timeline would be structured. And if things couldn’t get any weirder, LIO GODDAMN RUSH has envocked his inner Gollum. What am I watching??… The man actually ran on four legs… Now, Andrade got sprayed with something by a guy dressed as a lizard or a dragon… I don’t know.
Even a food fight brought out backstage… What even is this? My stomach was in knots from all that laughter. That spear to Lashley made me cry of a giggle fit. A tennis ball machine was activated by Jericho towards Ricochet… I think the bus ramming was done for theatrics rather than practical. Ricochet was annihilated left, right and center. Lucky for him, Bishop Kaun shoved him out of the way, yet he received seven Super Kicks in tandum and a springboard Moonsault from Jericho as the final nail in the coffin.
Darby Allen (c) vs. MJF- AEW World Championship Title vs. Hair match
At the start, Allen initiated a side headlock twice on MJF, but his challenger fended him off, so much so, that Darby went crashing against the commentary table. He bounced, ladies and gentlemen. He didn’t move for a couple of seconds, so MJF took advantage with a powerbomb on the apron. Allen ventured for a springboard, MJF striked him in the back of the head, then slammed him on the mat for a two count. We weren’t sure if Darby was convolsing involuntarily, but it frightened me a little out of concern. Nevertheless, he managed to drag himself into the corner, away from MJF.
Darby came back with a few well-placed slaps to the face, plus a headbutt that somewhat stunned him, too. This time, Darby was able to suicide dive MJF into the commentary desk. Allen tried to leap after Freeman, but the cameraman got floored in a cowardly advance from Max. Everyone was down, yet MJF was the first to his feet. Darby was the last one on the floor, so MJF forced him upright. Allen squeezed the air out of Max with a guillotine and took things higher by Coffin Dropping from 20 feet upward. That was brilliant, however, it wasn’t enough to keep him down since Freeman performed a super Pile Driver and a side takedown headlock to become 3-time Champion.
Winner: MJF
TOP PHOTO: MJF holding the title. Courtesy of AEW
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