Brandon Cutler vs "Bad Boy" Joey Janella
Both of these guys are coming off competitive losses. Joey's theme sounds like something ripped from Halo 2. Taz, who's joining Excalibur on commentary, calls both guys "Our guy". This won't get annoying at all.
This is a showcase for Joey. Brandon didn't get a lot in, but he got enough in to where you can just barely call it a competitive match. However, this was an excellent showing for Joey Janella, who is far more multi-talented than he gets credit for. Joey wins with a top rope brainbuster.
5/10
From Undesirable to Undeniable with Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall: QT is a former ROH performer who got pushed very quickly and was despised by the locker room, but got injured so he's retired from active competition. He does lots of things behind the scenes. He seems like a nice, humble fella. I like this, I like knowing agents and producers by name when they make cameos. This seems a little jumbled, as we learn in a throwaway that he'll be wrestling in Pittsburgh.
Nyla Rose vs Leva Bates (w/ Peter Avalon)
Taz name drops Garth Ennis on commentary and I popped. The more I watch The Librarians, the less sure I am about what the hell the gimmick is supposed to be. Leva always seems upset when Peter is talking, but reacts positively when he makes his point. Excalibur says she's "questioning his tactics". If she's that upset by him why do they hang out? Is this like the world's slowest burn on the Robert Roode/Traci Brooks angle from TNA? Despite the dressing down I just gave The Libarians, Leva doing curls with books in preparation was awesome. You can't say Leva and Peter don't play geeks expertly.
Leva plays a geek even when she's on offense, when she's selling etc. I don't think she should've gotten any offense on The Native Beast though. We even get a nearfall via distraction. Nyla throws Leva onto Peter to neutralize him, and the Awesome Kong esque destruction begins. Nyla wins with a powerbomb. Not only did she eventually get to go beast mode, but she stomped on Peter's chest as she was entering the ring after the gorilla press spot, logically to prevent the "I'm going to grab your leg so you lose by count out." spot
So, I'm just gonna level with y'all. If this were any other team than The Librarians, this would've been dudsville, but their work, along with some genre savvy/great storytelling by Nyla pulled it up ever so slightly.
2.5/10
The Dark Order hype video: This comes from an Event Center recap/hype for the Tag Team Championship tournament. This is the first time they've been made to look cool, so good for AEW.
Kazarian and Scorpio Sky promo from last week: Good. They will be ready despite the heinous attack on Daniels earlier that night.
PAC promo from last week: GREAT! PAC is bloody and spitting in anger. He's mad about trying to help Jon but getting beat up in return. I LOVE the fact that AEW isn't afraid to have its more anti social characters be tweeners
We get a ton of live event promotion/Full Gear hype, and then...
8-man tag
#Stronghearts (CIMA and T-Hawk) and Private Party vs. The Young Bucks and The Rhodes Brothers (w/ Brandi Rhodes and MJF)
This starts out as a gilgamesh of Rhodes stalling and Jacksons doing moves. Then the heels take control with chops (yes, chops) and the heels get to work. MJF gets heated when Private Party mocks The Bucks, this was awesome. Meanwhile, Matt gets worked over Hearing Taz genuinely mark the fuck out for Matt's quadruple Northern Lights was great. The Bucks, while going 30 percent for this show, still dazzle. Nick eats Gin and Juice as well as a CIMA meteora. They tease the old "Accidentally superkick your partner" with Nick and Stronghearts a bunch. but CIMA gets chopped. We get some comedy and big dives, Brandi even gets a dive in! More mayhem and madness leads to Dustin pinning CIMA
This was basically the best house show match you'll ever see. Lots of fun, and the people got what they came for
7/10
Conclusion
AEW's got this B-Show thing down pat. Give people you want to build up wins, have a fun main event, and leave lots of time for the event center to hype upcoming events. This was a great show!