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WE are all the way live from Dailey's Place. A big happy one year anniversary to AEW as we've got a huge night in store with no less than 4 championship matches tonight. Who will The Young Bucks Superkick? Who will do the right thing and #JoinDarkOrder? Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford are playing a video game at ringside. I assume this means that the guy from that movie will be here.
FTR vs. Best Friends kicks us off tonight and the AEW World Tag Team Championship is on the line. Jim Ross, Excalibur and Tony Schiavone have tonight's call. This should be fast, and I don't mean match length. I, for one, would be shocked if Best Friends win the belts here, as I assuming FTR and the Young Bucks is the money match. I can't argue against the fact that Best Friends have been the MVPs of the tag division in 2020. Great job by the announce team reminding us that this particular match is not a 20 minute brush with greatness. It is a standard 60 minute title match.
FTR is an absolute perfect hybrid of old school and modern wrestling. Everything they do out there is amazingly crisp. My only issue with this is that Best Friends essentially have to lose here, which will make this the 2nd title match they'll lose on big shows. Given how they stepped up this year, especially in the early pandemic era, it'd be unfortunate if they carry the burden of "can't win the big one". Chuck Taylor has Chael Sonnen like facial expressions. I notice he's doing a better job of finding the camera and getting his point across to the crowd at home much better than he did a year or so ago. FTR are playing with fire as Trent scores a 2 and 7/8 count. Cash with a hard short clothesline, that looked brutal. Things are getting wild here but it's controlled chaos. Somewhere in all this, Dax nails a picture perfect DDT.
Strong Zero by the Best fFiends and Cash BARELY makes the save. Jeez did they just incorporate Kip Sabian's arcade game into this? Penelope Ford runs to the back, presumably to get Miro. Please please PLEASE tell me Miro and Kip aren't about to run this over an arcade game...please. Ok at least a belt shot behind the back of a distracted referee by FTR gets the win. Ford didn't run back for nothing. Nice match to kick off the show.
OK here comes Miro to beat down the Best Friends. This feud essentially is a take off of Jean Pierre LaFitte stealing Bret Hart's jacket but at least it had no bearing on the outcome.
As luck would have it, Kip Sabian and Miro are up next. Speaking of Miro, did I read that right that Lana is the number one contender to Asuka. Sean Mulata and Lee Johnson are the unfortunate victims of Miro's rage tonight. Ford is dressed for a match so I wonder if she has something going on tonight. Miro wins this one all by himself. Kip Sabian is FURIOUS over his broken video game. Ok this is a bonafide feud over a video game getting broken.
Lance Archer is ALL OVER Jon Moxley in the back, the one damn time Moxley hangs out backstage and something like this happens.
MJF comes out to preach love and friendship. Nah, he (rightfully) rubs his greatness in our faces. We're about to get a face-off with Chris Jericho. Le Champion comes out with the Inner Circle. I can't help but notice 1/2 of ringside is not wearing masks. Sammy Guevara, the Spanish God, recently got his jacket as a gift and it looks like it fits Andre the Giant in his later years. MJF is laying the BS on thick with his praise of Jericho. Jericho is understandably curious about MJFs planned announcement. MJF wants to work with Jericho. He can't bring himself to admit that he wants to join the Inner Circle (think Fonzie trying to apologize) but he finally does. Ortiz outright says he doesn't want MJF in the Inner Circle. Jericho wants to think about it but suggests he and MJF have a one on one next week for a steak dinner. Really thought we were getting a match but this should be very entertaining.
Speaking of entertaining, Tony Schiavone and Dr. Britt Baker are getting spa treatments. Tony gets his chest waxed. His podcast next week with Conrad Thompson will be something, that's for sure. We get rule number 5: Be the Baddest B***h on the Block. All of this to announce she'll be in action next week. That was very everything. I appreciate Tony having the ability to laugh at himself.
Orange Cassidy saunters to the ring for his TNT Championship match as we go to commercial.
The Champion (not Le Champion) Cody makes his way the ring with his ultra dramatic new music. Brandi with him, sans her action figure. Cody is blond again. Darby Allin is scouting this from the rafters. Cody wants lock up and Cassidy'll have none of it. Hands in the pockets, Cody is furious. Cassidy does lock up. First time in AEW as we're told. Cassidy with some impressive chain reversals as we go to commercial. Again, no advance warning from JR about the upcoming commercial allowed me to get caught up in the enjoyment of the match. I'm so glad that shtick was dropped.
We are back and Cody is in full control. The weakness in Cassidy's game, and I'm saying it again, is that the gimmick does not fit the amount of selling the character has to do in big matches like this. Somewhere in all this the Mighty Dark Order come out to make some chaos but they get ejected almost immediately. Cody just nailed a cutter off the top as reach the 10 minute mark. Another weakness in Cassidy's game: Rapid palm strikes. They don't look remotely believable. Darby Allin, it's announced, will meet the TNT Champion at Full Gear. Cassidy is going back and forth between blaise and wild tonight. Cod y favoring the neck, still selling last week. The story Cody seems to be telling is that he's getting desperate and more willing to do desperate things as the match goes into the deep waters. Justin Roberts is counting off the minutes. Cody with a Figure 4, they're doing a real admirable job re-establishing the move. Beach Break on the apron by Cassidy. I HATE the apron spots. Someone is going to get hurt badly someday. Cassidy counters the Cross Rhodes and nails a beach break for 2, his best shot at winning. Cassidy with a rollup at the 20:00 mark. He had him but we officially have a draw. Cody retains.
Alex Marvez tries to get a word with Jake Roberts and Lance Archer but Moxley immediately jumps them. Good to know he's OK.
Matt Hardy is with his family at Daily's Place. He announces that he's back, although he never actually really left. We get a video from Sammy Guevara announcing that he's going to send Hardy to the hospital again, for good this time. One of these guys is going to get killed for real in this feud.
We've got a lottery for 4 teams to get picked at random to meet in a fatal 4 way. The winners go to Full Gear. Private Party, John Silver & AlexReynolds, Butcher & Blade and the Young Bucks get picked. Doesn't this kind of negate the whole ranking system? Private Party shake hands with the Bucks get proven to be complete suckers when they inevitably get superkicked.
AEW Women's Championship time. Big Swole, after a complete Summer and Fall of carrying the babyface side of the women's division, gets her shot at Hikaru Shida. AEW has done a good bringing her along. The champion makes her entrance and her presentation always screams superstar. I admit I miss the Big Swole matches when Dr. Baker would be out there taunting her. Nice early feeling out process here. I profess to know exactly nothing about directing camera angles for a wrestling show, but they just caught a Shida kick with the focus being on her leg slap to make the noise. Shawn Michaels remains the only one I could never catch in the act, that's how fluid he was with it.
We're in commercial and it's 10:35 here on the East Coast. They've announced the main event is now a no DQ match. That'll let them have a fast paced brawl. Swole with a big cutter on to the ramp. A second one in the ring only gets 2. The moment (this being the biggest profile Swole has ever had on National TV) certainly isn't effecting her performance. Swole kicks out out of the Falcon Arrow but finally succumbs to the running knee. Shida retains as Nyla Rose looks on. I thought having a manager was supposed to help her career. She's been exclusive to Dark...Tuesday night's Dark may, in fact, still be airing.
Cody vs. Orange Cassidy in 2 weeks for the TNT title.
We get a video package on Shawn Spears, with a warning for Scorpio Sky. Spears vs. Christopher Daniels next week on Dark.
Main Event Time! Eddie Kingston and the Lucha Bros have joined the broadcast book. I love me some Eddie on commentary. Archer looks to be wearing a helmet from the WWII era spiked up. We are reminded that this is actually a rematch from Night 1 of this year's WrestleKingdom form the Tokyo Dome when Moxley won the IWGP U.S. Championship (a title he still holds, technically). Barstool Sportsbook wouldn't let me lay a bet on the match not getting through the ring intro. I would have won some cash.
The No DQ stip fits this nicely, as these two are brawling all over the place. Here come the tables. Lots going on during this commercial break. Hard forearms by Archer, he is so big but he moves like a guy 100 lbs lighter and a foot smaller. I am really curious to see if they go for a title switch here to rematch this the PPV next month. There's been no mention of the AEW Title beyond the number one contender's tournament finale. Chokeslam through chairs by Archer. That had to hurt. When Moxley saId he doesn't have more than 2 years left, he wasn't kidding.
The trash can is now involved. Paradigm shift through the tables on the outside by Moxley. The overhead camera shot looked awesome. Archer kicked out of the Paradigm shift. Blackout by Archer but Moxley rolls him up for the pin. I hate rollups in these vicious brawls. Kingston sends The Lucha Bros out to help Moxley from a post match beating. Kingston raises Moxley's hand in victory but nails him with the big back fist. Kingston with the choke out. I'd definitely be up for another Kingston vs. Moxley match. We go off the air with Moxley laid out in a heap.
Thanks for reading. Cory and I will be up later with the post game show.
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