Cody Def. Joey Janela

Summary:

Both men go back and forth for control but are equal. Cody overpowers Janela in a striking contest and sets him up for an extended hold suplex. Cody telegraphs a kick and Janela is in charge and runs the show for quite some time but after getting out of the body scissors Cody rolls out. Janela continues on the offense but after trying to do Cody’s running Lariat ends up getting a big kick from Cody followed by a moonsault off the stage.

Cody and Janela are back in the ring but Janela gains the upper hand and hits Cody with an elbow drop from the top. Janela goes to the top again and Cody meets him with a reverse suplex. Janela battles back after a pin attempt and they take it to the top again with Janela missing Cody but Cody getting to the top and hitting him with a Cody Cutter. Back on their feet both men exchange blows but Cody gets the advantage and hits the Cross Rhodes for the pin and the win.

Review:

Despite Cody pulling out the win he had a battle with Joey Janela. Not once did Janela feel weak. The whole match starts with both men going back and forth locking up and exchanging blows. When one person does gain the upper hand it doesn’t last long. When Cody does finally pick up the win it’s been a fight.

***1/2

Nyla Rose Def. Kenzie Paige

Summary: 

Nyla dominates and throws Kenzie into the corner and proceeds to beat her down. Kenzie gets out of the corner ducks over Nyla and goes tries to go for a pin but Nyla grabs her off the ground. Nyla drags her over to the corner and hits a senton for a cover. Not happy Nyla proceeds to hit Kenzie with three powerbombs before finally pinning her the victory.

Review:

The champ is back! and it’s not good. With this being her first match back you think we would see more but instead, the women’s division continues to suffer. This week Nyla Rose squashes an 18-year old jobber and continues to beat her after she could have scored the win. Aside from the Senton from the top rope there isn’t anything else that stood out about this. AEW really needs to fix their women’s division. 

*1/2

Jon Moxley Def. Frankie Kazarian

Summary:

Both men exchange holds with Kazarian syncing in a headlock on Moxley that proves tough to break. Moxley gets out of it and tries to get an armbar but it’s reversed to a wrist lock. A few strikes are exchanged before Moxley gets another armbar locked in but Kazarian gets another headlock on Mox which proves again difficult to break. Mox reverses it with a backbreaker and starts to fight back and Kazarian ends up outside the ring.

During the commercial, they continue to fight back and forth until Kazarian gets knocked out of the ring again. Moxley goes to the top and gets a boot to the face going to the outside before fighting back into the ring. Both men are on the offense and Kazarian gets the advantage and heads for the top but Mox tries to stop him. Kazarian goes for the attack but no one is home Mox avoids running attack rolls through and hits a paradigm shift for the pin and the win.

Post-match Moxely and SCU are attacked by the Dark Order. Brodie Lee comes out demanding a title shot and Moxley agrees.

Review: 

Despite what could have been another squash Frankie Kazarian gets a fair shake in this match. We get a taste of everything in this match. This match has some intense technical holds but they also brawl on the outside and we see some top ropes moves as well. The whole time it never felt like Mox was dominating and that finish felt like he had lucked out. The post-match beat down by The Dark Order is greatly appreciated. It’s hard to take them seriously with no target or goal.

****

Lance Archer Def. QT Marshall

Summary: 

Lance Archer Knocks out QT before the match even starts and continues to do so. Archer throws QT into the corner but QT gets out and tries to strike Archer in vain. Archer continues throwing QT into the corner and hitting him with running strikes. QT manages to outsmart Archer and gets him outside the ring but ends up getting chokeslammed onto the apron for his troubles.

Archer continues the assault ending with both men in and out of the ring until QT ends up getting the upper hand with a springboard enziguri. He sends QT into the corner and goes after him but QT lifts him and gets out of the corner. Archer looks for the suplex and it ends up reversed. The momentum doesn’t last long as QT goes to the top rope and misses Archer who then hits him with a shoulder block and hits him with the blackout for a pin and a win.

Review:

QT Marshall has become the Glass Joe of AEW. Pretty soon him and Brandon Cutler, and Peter Avalon will be fighting to not be last. Another enhancement match for Lance Archer but where the other match was pure domination we get a brief burst of incredible athleticism from QT. Hopefully, we’ll see something more done with QT in the future.

**

Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara Def. Matt Hardy and Kenny Omega

Summary:

Hardy goes after Guevara while Jericho beats down Kenny. Jericho gets beat by Omega and Hardy hits the BT bomb and Omega joins him in beating down Guevara. Momentum shifts when Omega’s moonsault is met with Guevara’s knees and Jericho throws Hardy to the back. Jericho and Guevara take turns beating Omega and double-teaming him until Matt Hardy returns. Matt takes out Jericho and Guevara’s alone, Omega and Hardy set up a ladder and a table with Guevara on it and Hardy takes flight. Cut to commercial, Jake Hager gets involved and the fight heads backstage. Back from commercial, Jericho and Hager have shoved Hardy in an icebox, Omega comes out and hits both men with a trash can. Guevara attacks Omega and gets power bombed against the security gate.

Jericho returns and hits Omega with a cart before suplexing him onto a downed safety guard. Hardy returns as Damascus and clips Jericho with a golf cart and then hits Guevara. Jericho gets laid on a table before Hager comes to the rescue, Omega whose up on a scissor lift sees this and lands a moonsault on all three men. Santana and Ortiz make a return and Hardy gets power bombed through a table and Omega gets the Judas Effect and Jericho pins.    

Review:

This is the kind of match we want to see when there’s no rules. Channeling 90’s era hardcore we get an amazing backstage brawl featuring some incredible spots including Kenny Omega’s Somersault off of a scissor lift and Sammy Guevara being hit by a golf cart. Though it takes a bit to warm up when it gets going it was amazing.

****1/2