Sunday May 29, Las Vegas, NV
MJF vs Wardlow
The show started off with the long building feud of MJF and his longtime bodyguard, turned sworn enemy Wardlow. I was shocked to hear MJF’s music hit to start the night off after hearing about his no show appearance at Saturday night’s fan fest and speculation on if he was even at the show to begin with. But this is pro wrestling after all, and we are never really quite sure what is real heat, what’s a work on the crowd, and what’s a mixture of real heat turned into a storyline. But none the less, the match went off without a hitch. Wardlow was escorted down to the ring in handcuffs with no entrance music once again which we have seen quite a bit as of late, still being under MJF’s thumb. MJF, almost immediately into the match got Wardlow down on the mat with a quick series of punches before going for his trademark diamond pinkie ring but his plans were quickly thwarted by the referee who confiscated the ring and left MJF helpless with the beast Wardlow. He was subjected to a long-awaited beating from Wardlow who handed out 10 powerbombs before finally pinning MJF and releasing himself from his control and gaining his own AEW contract as a singles competitor. Winner: Wardlow
The Young Bucks vs The Hardys
This match was one for the ages. Although not the first time these 2 teams have ever faced, they are 2 of the arguably greatest tag teams of the last 20 years. I grew up on the Hardy Boyz and no one can deny the sheer talent and charisma of the Young Bucks, that they’ve carried through every promotion possible all around the world. The match itself was decently back and forth action for a while until the endurance of The Bucks started to catch up with the older, veteran Hardys. Nick and Matt Jackson took over for a while eliminating Jeff Hardy from the match momentarily with a couple power moves and focusing their attention on Matt trying to wear him down enough to score the pinfall, using the Hardys trademark moves like the Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb on them along the way. The Hardys had a momentum shift later in the match and Jeff hit his signature Swanton on Matt Jackson on the sideways ring steps, while Matt hit the Twist of Fate on Nick on the inside of the ring before tagging in Jeff for a final Swanton onto Nick to seal the deal and give them the victory. Winners: The Hardy Boyz
TBS Championship match: Jade Cargill (C) vs Anna Jay
Jade was escorted down to the ring with her entourage of “Baddies” who played their role well in looking their part and causing distractions for Anna along the way. Jade dominated the early parts of this match overwhelming her smaller opponent with size and strength (which is a pretty common theme for Jade) until Anna was able to counter her for a little burst of momentum. Jade’s trusty manager Mark Sterling made his way down the ramp attempting to slide a crutch into the ring for Jade to use before Anna quickly eliminated it from the equation and was saved by trusty friend and fellow member of the Dark Order, John Silver, who gave a beatdown to Mark Sterling, much to the Baddies disapproval. Anna rode the momentum for a few moments before Stokely Hathaway made his AEW debut, coming out and distracting Anna Jay, causing Jade to hit her with a devastating Jaded and her signature pin for the win. After the match Kris Statlander came out to Anna Jay’s aide and then Athena (Ember Moon in her WWE run), made her debut and evened the odds standing alongside Jay and Statlander. Winner: Jade Cargill
Death Triangle vs House of Black
This was a highly entertaining, high impact, 6-man tag. House of Black looked like a dark, disturbed cohesive unit as always donning a smoky, black/gray face paint, and lost, far away eyes. While the Death Triangle went for the Ying Yang Energy (Fenix sporting white attire, Penta in the black, and Pac in a split black/white mask and trunks.) The match itself was very back and forth for a majority of it with both teams picking up momentum and hitting big spots along the way. The match saw some grade A dives as expected from the Lucha Bros and Pac, and even Brody King pulled out all the stops with an over the top rope dive of his own at 1 point. Pac hit Malakai Black with a lowblow and was setting up to end it with his signature Black Arrow before the lights went out. When they came back on Julia Hart was in the ring (looking like a much darker, twisted version of herself) who spit a black mist into Pac’s eyes setting him up for a devastating kick to the head by Black and the pin. Winners: House of Black
Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament Final: Adam Cole vs Samoa Joe
The beginning of the match saw the bigger and bulkier Samoa Joe dominating Cole with some hefty power moves and slams before Cole was able to slow his momentum and the pace of the match with some superkicks and submission holds onto the mat targeting Joe’s arm. This was far from keeping the big man grounded though as he continued to counter with slams and his sheer power. Bobby Fish came down to the ring causing a distraction to Joe which gave Cole an opportunity to capitalize and gain the upper hand. After a little back and forth and a couple distractions from Fish to help Cole along the way, he was able to connect with his signature Boom to the back of Joe’s head eventually to put him away and earn the tournament victory. Winner: Adam Cole
Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Final: Dr. Britt Baker DMD vs Ruby Soho
Britt was played down to the ring by Fozzy’s lead guitarist and before you even got to think “hey that’s pretty cool”, Ruby made her entrance with the famous punk rock group, Rancid singing and jamming out to her theme as she made her way down to the ring. Definitely best entrances of the night. Britt took control early targeting damage to Ruby’s ribs and arm trying to weaken her weapons and make it harder for her to hit her big moves. Ruby came back with a momentum shift of her own for a while before Britt was able to counter due to Ruby’s damaged ribs and set her up for the Lockjaw to finish it. Ruby was able to get out of it and counter with a near fall pin before hitting No Future and locking her into a sharpshooter of her own (paying tribute to the late Owen Hart in his tournament). Baker nearly got the rope break and Ruby quickly continued her attack before trying to get her with a victory rollup, which Britt was able to swiftly counter into a rollup pin of her own and a victory, winning the match and the tournament. Winner. Britt Baker
TNT Champion Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, & Paige VanZant (American Top Team) vs Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara, & Tay Conti
This match featured multiple layers to it. It was the debut match of Paige VanZant in AEW as well as the stipulation that Sammy Guevara won another chance at the TNT title with a team victory, but he was never able to challenge for the TNT title again as long as Scorpio Sky was champion if he and his team won. Sammy and Tay made their impression in their entrance, Sammy donning a feathered black jacket and Tay doing her best Maleficent cosplay before excessively french kissing on the ramp attempting to further solidify their position as “most annoying couple in wrestling”. Guevara started the match with Scorpio Sky and took the advantage hitting Sky with a big springboard cutter before teaming up with Conti who eliminated VanZant off the apron early, saving her inevitable tag till later in the match. Paige was tagged in and lit Guevara up with stiff punches, elbows, and stomps of pure hatred for Sammy. Guevara and Kazarian had their fair share of issues, tagging in and out, throughout the match as they’re not the best of friends to begin with, before VanZant got her inevitable hot tag, forcing Conti into the ring with her. VanZant ran house showing off her cage fighting skills with hip tosses and slams to Conti before being saved by her boo, Sammy Guevara. VanZant took Sammy down with a stomach kick and a tilt a whirl DDT before dropping Conti. The teams face off in the center of the ring but Frankie gave a proverbial screw you to Sammy and Tay leaving them high and dry in the ring for a beatdown before tagging himself in. Sammy went for a superkick on his own team mate Frankie who ducked out of the way causing him to kick his girl Conti across the face, setting Scorpio up to hit Kazarian with a cutter and score the win. Winners: Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Paige VanZant (American Top Team)
Kyle O’Reilly vs Darby Allin
O’Reilly got the jump early taking Darby down with heavy grounded strikes causing Darby to spew blood from his mouth. Darby shifted the momentum back his direction hitting some big moves including a couple signature dives on the outside onto Kyle. Momentum shifted back and forth throughout the match with these men’s differing styles, with O’Reilly attempting to slow the pace forcing Darby to the mat with submission holds and heavy strikes, while Darby attempted to speed things up with drops, dives, and his typical daredevil style. Darby hit a Coffin Drop onto O’Reilly on the ring apron before tossing him inside and attempting another one which O’Reilly countered into a guillotine choke. O’Reilly eventually gained enough momentum to keep Darby down on the mat long enough to hit him with not 1 or 2, but 3 Penalty Kicks across the body with Darby begging him for more after each one. The 3rd PK stunned him long enough for a top rope knee drop from O’Reilly who scored the pin and victory. Winner: Kyle O’Reilly
AEW Women’s World Championship match: Thunder Rosa (c) vs Serena Deeb
Solid, straight up wrestling match from the get-go, with Rosa showing off her technical skills with submissions before being countered by Deeb with a couple of neckbreakers, taking the momentum in her direction at least for the moment. The match itself saw a solid amount of counter moves and submission holds as both women showed off their technical ability and in ring knowledge. Later into the match, Deeb brought Rosa down on the mat before locking a figure four in deep and putting the champ into momentary trouble before she was able to roll out of the ring spilling them both to the outside and breaking the hold, freeing herself. Deeb brought her back into the ring and hit her with her signature move the Deebtox, scoring a nail biting near victory before Rosa was able to set her foot on the bottom rope, stopping the count and breaking up the pinfall. Rosa fired back moments later with a few quick counters and a superplex from the top, before hitting her signature Fire Thunder Driver to score the pin and the win. Winner: Thunder Rosa
The Jericho Appreciation Society vs Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, Santana, Ortiz, and Eddie Kingston (Anarchy in the Arena Match)
This match delivered on its title as being “anarchy in the arena”. Absolute chaos from the jump, Matt Minard was spilling buckets o’ blood, sporting the classic “crimson mask” within minutes of the match brawling with Eddie Kingston in the crowd. Jon Moxley was busted open within the opening minutes as well, in a brawl with Chris Jericho as his theme song ‘Wild Thing’ played throughout the arena for an excessively long time amidst the chaos. Jake Hager was put through a table by a Street Sweeper from Santana and Ortiz. Daniel Garcia hit a piledriver on the steel steps to Ortiz. It was madness within minutes of this contest with guys being paired off with one another brawling all throughout the arena. Ringside, on the stage, in the crowd, and up by the concession and merchandise tables, there was nowhere that this match was off limits. Cannot imagine being one of the poor referees or cameramen chasing these guys all throughout the arena, but it was pretty entertaining to watch them try. Eventually, Moxley and Jericho were in the ring where Moxley unhooked the top rope and used it to low blow and crotch Jericho. They were shortly met in the ring by a brawling Danielson and Hager, until a blood-soaked Kingston stumbled his way down the ramp with a crazy, faraway look in his eyes and a can of gasoline in hand. He poured the gas all over Danielson and Jericho while Bryan had a submission locked in on Jericho. This caused Bryan to begin brawling his own teammate, Kingston, to prevent him from haphazardly lighting a lighter and setting everyone in the ring ablaze while Moxley tried to stop them. Chris Jericho took advantage of the situation and struck Danielson with a chair before hitting Kingston with a Judas Effect. Meanwhile, Jake Hager disposed of Moxley onto a barbed wire table. Danielson brought the fight to Jericho and Hager as long as possible until Jericho locked him in a half crab and Hager wrapped the broken ring rope around his neck choking him until he passed out. Winners: Jericho Appreciation Society
AEW Tag Team Championship match: Jurassic Express (c) vs Team Taz (Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs) vs Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland
Jurassic Express came out the gate hot, hitting diving moonsaults on the outside to both teams. After the match settled in a while and all teams involved got in a fair amount of action in, Jungle Boy attempted a dive onto the big man Keith Lee, who caught him in mid air before powerbombing him onto his own partner, Luchasaurus. This match saw a lot of fast paced action with 3 teams involved opposed to 2, and everyone seemed to get their moment to shine and show off what they got. This included but was not limited to Ricky Starks easily and casually strutting across the ropes, before pelvic thrusting and eventually being dropped and racked onto the ropes by Jungle Boy. Keith Lee also showed off his agility with a dive on the outside onto everyone. Later on in the match Luchasaurus went for a superkick onto Swerve who ducked out of the way causing him to kick his own partner, Jungle Boy across the face before Swerve returned with one of his own to Luchasaurus and nearly scored the victory. Ricky Starks almost picked up the win as well, hitting Luchasaurus with the FTW title before connecting with his signature move, the Rochambeau on Jungle Boy who managed to kick out at 2. Eventually Jungle Boy and Swerve ended up the legal men and had an exciting few moments of action showing off their athletic ability before Jungle Boy was able to tag in Luchasaurus to hit their tag team finisher, the Jurassic Express powerbomb, onto Swerve while everyone was laid out, scoring the victory. Winners: Jurassic Express
AEW World Championship match: ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (c) vs CM Punk
After an intense stare down in the middle of the ring, with an ensemble of “Let’s Go Hangman!…Let’s Go Punk!” raining down from a split audience, Punk took the momentum early. The vet attempted to wear down the younger champ with a classic mat wrestling technique, showing off his vast move set. Hangman was eventually able to stop the onslaught of technical ability, tossing Punk to the outside and nailing him with a flying crossbody. Page carried that momentum in an onslaught of his own, until he finally had Punk down in the middle of the ring for a long enough period of time to go for his patented Buckshot. Sensing the danger, Punk leapt to his feet and ran into Hangman, knocking him off the apron and into the barricade on the floor below. After a little back and forth, Page had Punk on the mat where he attempted a leaping moonsault which he missed and damaged his leg in the process. Punk seeing the opening attempted a Buckshot of his own, trying to steal one out of Hangman’s arsenal. But on the flip he tweaked his knee causing him to collapse and opening the door for Page to lift him up on his shoulders for Punk’s classic finisher the Go To Sleep, attempting to return the favor right back to Punk, which he was also able to counter out of. Shortly after Page hit the Deadeye onto Punk for a very, very close 2 count nearly sealing the deal. Moments later, Page brought him back up on his shoulders this time successfully hitting the Go To Sleep onto Punk and looking like a done deal…CM Punk kicked out again after a very near fall. Hangman continued riding the wave he was on, landing in a few more clean shots onto Punk before setting up for the Buckshot once again, but Punk was able to counter lifting Hangman up (knocking Page’s feet into the ref and knocking him down in the process) and trying another GTS. Hangman counters with heavy elbows to the head, bringing Punk to a knee and taking control again. As both Punk and the ref lay beaten in the ring, Hangman goes and grabs the AEW title with a crazed, angered look on his face. He lines Punk up, thinking about smashing the title off of his head but second guesses himself and drops it in the ring. He instead attempts another Buckshot to put him away as the ref starts stirring again, but Punk was able to see this one coming. He lifts him up, successfully connecting with a Go To Sleep putting Hangman away and winning his first championship in professional wrestling in nearly 10 years. Outpouring of emotion from CM Punk after the match as he celebrates in the ring with the title. Winner: CM Punk
