AEW is in the home of ECW, Philadelphia, PA! Will the Elites be able to wow the Land of Extreme?

SCU vs Best Friends

I’m going to admit, when the Young Bucks came out to check on SCU, my first thought was that this was a ploy to get the Bucks back in the title picture by taking out SCU, I’m happy that wasn’t the case.

One thing I’m noticing, and liking, about how this tournament features the more established stars putting over the younger talent. SCU pulled out the win, but Best Friends definitely looked like stars.

Proud and Powerful (LAX) vs Jobbers

I like that a superstar or team’s win/loss record is mentioned as they enter the arena.  I don’t know who these jobbers are, but the bald one has a lot of guts. There’s not much to say about this match, it was mainly to make P and P look strong and introduce them to the AEW audience. Love Jericho giving them the rub. Also, P and P vs the Young Bucks sounds great!

Cody 

Okay, WTF is this? Dude, you’re wife is trying to help you, at least look interested.  I did not need to see Cody in a tanning bed. That said, I do enjoy this vignette on Cody’s drive for the title. The music is annoying though.

AEW Women’s Championship Match – Riho vs Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D

I’ll be the first to admit that AEW’s Women’s Division is pretty rough, but I think it has a lot of promise. No, they aren’t as smooth and polished as the Women’s Division of WWE, who have also been trained on how to wrestle to the camera and not just the audience, but I think AEW’s Women’s Division could be a show stealer if given enough time.

All that said, this was a really good match. Britt Baker definitely seems to be being groomed to be THE star of the division. I will say that I’m disappointed that Baker lost. They’re going to be in her hometown next week and having the Mayor of Brittsburgh come in has the hometown champ seemed like an easy booking decision.

Lucha Brothers vs Jurassic Express

This match was supposed to feature Luchasaurus, but a pulled hamstring stopped that. At least they kept the cool, shaking glass part of the entrance.

I get that AEW wanted to make Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt look like a viable team without Luchasaurus, but the fact that Lucha Brothers didn’t squash them in a couple of minutes was just sad. Lucha Brothers got the unsurprising win, but it shouldn’t have gone as long as it did.

Jon Moxley and Pac vs Kenny Omega and Hangman Page

Well, we knew that there had to be a random tag match in here somewhere, but thankfully, these pairings make some kid of sense. Mox got a HUGE pop from the Philadelphia crowd.

LOVED Mox’s promo. He doesn’t need Pac and Omega is crazy to think ONE match with Joey Janela will prepare him for what Jon Moxley will do to him on November 9th.

I’ll admit to being surprised by this match. I figured Cody wouldn’t give Mox vs Omega away on TV and he did, up to a point. We at least got a tease, but this was a tag match and since Mox didn’t get to wrestled in Japan on Monday, he was definitely itching for a fight and Page was the punching bag.

This was such a good match. I loved watching Mox in the ring after he’s been forced out over injuries and illness and he and Pac were a surprisingly good team. Page and Omega won because Pac took away Barby and got a Paradigm Shift for his efforts, which lead to him being taken out by Omega and Page.

Philadelphia Street Fight for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship – Chris Jericho vs Darby Allin

Well, this is for all the marbles and Jericho’s make up collection. I hate his Painmaker gimmick, he looks like a demented mime. Aubrey Edwards calling the shots is FABULOUS, as always.

This match was okay. I pretty much guessed that this was done to give Jericho some cover when dealing with a much younger and more agile opponent and I was right, but it wasn’t a terrible match. Darby Allin looked like a star. Jake Hager securing the win for Jericho wasn’t a surprise, but it wasn’t the best match I’ve ever seen performed in Philadelphia.

Overall, this felt like a stop gap show. We’re past the premiere and the second week, now we’re knuckling down to building a card and the roster. All of the matches were good, but the Lucha Brothers vs Jurassic Express went on too long and Jericho vs Allin wasn’t as extreme as it could’ve been, but still made Darby Allin look like a star.

That’s it for Tiffany’s Dynamite Takes!