Fight For The Fallen review.
I don't know the results of this ahead of time as i didn't bother to go look, so this is written as I'm watching it.
Peter Avalon vs Sonny Kiss- I guess I'll have to be the asshole here because if these matches all have this acrobatic gymnastic bullshit in them, I'll be doing alot of fast forwarding, that's for sure. While as a fan i could get into Avalon as a heel. I'm one that is old school and a stickler for, why is the match happening? Something leading up to it, an actual 'reason' would be a hell of a concept, a concept that when AEW's TV gets going that they'll embrace so people can have a reason to get behind the talents and the 'reasons' why the matches are happening.
That being said, Sonny winning I didn't expect. Was hoping more of Leva Bates interference leading to Avalon winning. Match was short and after the initial few minutes of the gymnastic stuff, it came across good. I could see a feud coming from this that if it was done right, or done at all I could get into.
Britt Baker and Riho vs Sshoko Nakajima and Bea Priestley- This, is a breath of fresh air watching. Actual wrestling holds, chain wrestling.. very nice level of 'selling'.. Such a solid match and this was on the preshow no less.
MJF, Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears vs Darby Allin, Jimmy Havoc and Joey Janela- This was good in some parts but it all comes down to everyone has to get their little spots in to 'wow' the crowd. Along with me asking myself 'why do I care about either team? Hopefully there'll be a feud or something built off from thi, Like Spears vs Allin.. If not, it becomes another one of those pointless just t fill in time matches that after the match, nobody's gonna care about, or even remember t a week from now. and oh yeah, Janela giving the camera the finger and saying "fuck you Cornette" when he's supposed to be 'selling' being hurt on the outside? Uh yeah, ok. If there ever was an example of how bad current guys 'sell', that would be a god one, right there.
Brandi Rhodes vs Allie- If you're looking for say Sherri Martel vs Candi Devine, thus wasn't it, but it told a story. And with Awesome Kong at ringside, the classic interfering was there so it worked well. The build up for this match especially by Brandi was solid as well. So you knew something going into this. Aja Kong coming out after the match to build up a Kong vs Kong match was excellently done.
Dark Order vs Jack Evans & Angelico vs Jungle boy & Luchasauras- Well what do you know, an actual 'reason' for having a match. A goal for the winners. But I'm still with this "Why am I supposed to care" about any of these teams? Why should I be invested in them, let alone care which one moves onto the first round bye goal. WWAAYY too many of these spin kicks for my liking, and WWAAYY too many of these close two counts as well. Made me lose interest and no longer care now.
At this point it's pretty much "AAHH" when it comes to my opinion of AEW. I'm not seeing all the over hyped hoopla about it. I can name half a dozen indie groups that from start to the finish of their shows I like more.
Kip Sabain vs Hangman Page- Two guys who I haven't been able to get into before this are now facing each other. This is the kind of match I walk away from usually and make something to eat, take a piss, something. Nineteen minutes of this and I got sleepy waiting for it to end. I'm sure there's others who saw it different than me but I'm writing how I saw it. U figured fast forwarding would be a cheap way out so I suffered thru it and almost fell asleep to it. That's what happens when you have two guys you care for facing each other. The only highlight I enjoyed was Chris Jericho coming in the ring after the match. Oh yeah, Sabian wasn't the first guy to have "Superbad" as his nickname. The late Steve Bradley did it first.
SCU vs the Lucha brothers- Alot of spot fest stuff and way too many super kicks, as well as too many of this roster using the clothesline.. Guess doing moves that make you stand out as an individual is a lost art when it's just better in some way to have three dozen guys all doing the same moves. I should've hit fast forward on this as well.
Kenny Omega vs CIMA- This was a real solid match. I'm not familiar with CHIMA and Omega, there's some matches of his I like and others I could care less for. But this match told a solid story in the ring. The only thing and it's been a theme all show. way too many close two counts. When every match has this theme it doesn't 'feel' special anymore.
Cody & Dustin Rhodes vs The Young Bucks. The build up for this was as text book excellent as you can get. I'm not a fan of the Young Bucks, not at all so as a 'fan' there's the team I want the Rhodes brothers to fuck up. Alot of the typical gymnastic moves that the Bucks are known for, which of course for me is a huge turn off. BUT, it's not as bad as it usually is in their matches.. But on the flip side there's alot of that classic style of what tag team wrestling is supposed to be about here as well. The selling of matt jackson has been better than anything I've seen anywhere in the major feds in years. THIS, is what 'selling' is and alot of current era wrestlers need to watch this, and take notes because this is how it's done. But later in the match that theme of too many two counts came into play. Why people think that's so great I have no idea.
In the end AEW isn't bad but not 'all that' either.. A step above Impact Wrestling but not worth all the hype and hoopla the internet marks have been putting out.
