AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with even more Rampage action, and with the PPV getting closer and closer it will only mean more chaos and more surprises around every corner! Does this continue the build to the big show with lots of fun and excitement, or will the pressures of the PPV keep this from straying too far from the destination? Let’s find out!!
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Sammy Guevara Vs. Andrade El Idolo – TNT Title Match
Andrade is accompanied to the ring by AHFO
Doesn’t it feel like this match should have been on the PPV? I mean if you’re gonna have Andrade go for a title, it should be at a show big enough for such an occasion, right? Well, we’ve got the match that we have, and for a Rampage opener, it was pretty darn good. Sammy once again proves he’s willing to completely destroy himself as he goes for the Double Springboard Cutter only to get shoved off the ropes by Andrade, and Andrade himself is much more reserved and methodical in his approach. He works over Sammy during the commercial break with a lot of heavy strikes, but then he makes a mistake as he goes for a Flying Knee which Sammy dodges and sends him tumbling over the turnbuckle and down to the floor. Eventually, it settles into a decent back and forth exchange of great moves like when Andrade hits a DDT over the apron and when Sammy hits an Avalanche Spanish Fly, but the Heel can’t help from cheating, and once again this is his downfall. Andrade distracts the ref while Matt Hardy takes off one of the turnbuckles and Andrade keeps trying to throw him into it. Eventually he goes up top and sets Sammy up for an Avalanche El Idolo, but Sammy escapes and kicks him off the corner which sends him fac- first into the exposed turnbuckle. Just once I’d like to see a Heel actually pull something like this off so that it makes sense for other Heels to try it. As far as I can tell, the only guy who has any luck with weapons is MJF and his Diamond Ring, but even he hasn’t tried to remove a turnbuckle! With Andrade’s face smashed open by the steel corner, Sammy finally lands the Double Springboard Cutter to get the pin and win the match; an outcome that Matt Hardy doesn’t approve of and so he starts attacking Sammy. Fortunately for the champ, Darby runs down, runs through the ring, and hits Matt Hardy on the other side like a cannonball while Sting provides backup in the ring. Not a bad match, but the fact that it was on TV means that it wasn’t as big as it could have been and I would have liked to see it on Revolution, even as one of the lower card matches.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
We’re back with another week of AEW action, and we are creeping slowly but steadily back to relevance here on the site! We’re still a little bit behind, but the gap is growing closer just as we start to build towards the next AEW PPV. Will this be another solid episode full of great matches and interesting storylines as we head to the big event, or will my quest to catch up on the slow be an unending slog of tedium? Let’s find out!!
The episode begins with MJF and his cronies in The Pinnacle coming to the ring to celebrate his win last week against CM Punk. To say MJF is good at being a Heel is overwhelmingly redundant at this point, but he can still surprise you with how clever he can be in being a hateable tool. While everyone else comes down wearing suits and clutching drinks, he is carried out on a throne to an unimpressed and vocal crowd. After several minutes of milking his entrance, he finally starts talking about how he’s better than the best in the world and how the next step is obviously to crown him as AEW World Champion. Now I would have expected Adam Cole to come out since he made his intentions for the title clear on Rampage, but instead, it’s CM Punk who answers MJF’s tirade. Tony Schiavone is more than happy to meet him with a microphone, and Punk calls into question the win he had last week. More importantly though, he learned the lesson that no man is an island, and he brought some friends along to back him up this time; namely, Darby Allin and Sting who come out with baseball bats. Now this is where Punk gets clever, and this segment goes from good to great because he starts demanding a rematch… but NOT against MJF! Plot twist! He wants it against the person who was ACTUALLY responsible for his loss last week, namely Wardlow. This is brilliant because it’s an unexpected turn that puts The Pinnacle on their back foot while also hitting MJF right in his overinflated ego. In fact, it works so well that MJF proposes a different match and puts himself up as the prize; if Punk and a partner of his choosing can beat FTR tonight, then Punk can get a rematch against him. The catch is that Punk cannot choose Sting or Darby Allin as his partner; assuming of course that everyone in the back hates Punk as much as he does. Punk naturally accepts and leaves us in suspense as to who he will choose to be his partner. This was not just a solid Heel promo for MJF, but a great example of a Baby Face trying to get a rematch without looking desperate. Punk looks genuinely smart in the way that he’s manipulated MJF into giving him exactly what he wants, but MJF also doesn’t look like a total irrational fool because he managed to get the stipulation he wanted into the tag match, so both walk away with something which makes the feud that much more interesting!
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back another episode of Rampage which often ends up being the better of the two shows; mostly because they can get in and out with a bunch of good matches while Dynamite tries to figure out what the direction is for the next few weeks. That said, Dynamite had a pretty solid show with a fantastic main event, so is this one of the few times where Rampage isn’t the more exciting show of the week? Let’s find out!!
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Adam Cole Vs. Evil Uno
As a diehard Evil Uno fan, this wasn’t exactly a fun match to watch. The guy doesn’t even get his entrance and it’s over in less than two minutes which is quite below what I expect to see from the de facto leader of the Dark Order! Oh sure he gets to do that Hanging Neck Breaker thing and gets a bit of a hope spot after that, but then Cole gets the knees up on a Senton attempt and that’s pretty much it for Uno. He gets one Rolling Elbow after that before a High Knee from Cole that knocks him out cold. For good measure, Cole hits another kick to the face and a Boom Knee Strike, and then finally goes for the pin to win the match. The goal was clearly to make Adam Cole look strong which is good because of what they do after the match, but I know Uno can put on a better showing than this! Maybe he and Stu can get a decent match challenging Jurassic Express for the Tag Team Titles, but for now, let’s hear what Cole has to say.
Cole starts listing off all the guys he beat in singles competition and reiterates that OFFICIALLY he has never lost a singles match. Sure, there was that thing with Orange Cassidy a week ago, but that was a Lights-Out match and doesn’t count in the record books! Still, even as the words are coming out of his mouth it’s clear he doesn’t believe them as e feels the need to reassert himself here as the best in this business, and what better way to do that than to go for the AEW World Title? Assuming of course that Hangman Adam Page can survive the TEXAS DEATH MATCH with Lance Archer, it would be pretty interesting to see those two lock it up in the ring, and it wouldn’t be the first time a challenger to Hangman went through Evil Uno first.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
We’re back with another week of Dynamite action that you probably forgot about already given that I’m still about two weeks behind! Then again, this DOES have the confrontation between MJF and CM Punk that we were waiting months to see, so perhaps the memories are still a bit fresh in your minds! Was this a fantastic blowoff to a fantastic feud, or were we all just setting ourselves up for disappointment? Let’s find out!!
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Jon Moxley Vs. Wheeler Yuta
Yuta is accompanied to the ring by Orange Cassidy and Danhausen
I still have no idea who this Danhausen guy is, but it hardly matters as he’s not much of a factor here. For the most part, it stays focused on Moxley and Yuta with only the occasional interaction with Orange Cassidy to foreshadow a future match between him and Moxley. As I’ve said before, AEW doesn’t typically do squashes with their named talent, and so Wheeler Yuta gets plenty of offense here with a Manhattan Drop, Step Up Enziguri, and Corner Splash combo giving him a decent hope spot in the middle of the match, and this forces Moxley to roll to the apron. The two start fighting on there, but it’s clear that whatever Yuta throws at him, Moxley can not only take it but dish it back with twice as much force and so he manages to hit a DDT on the apron that sends Yuta to the floor. This is when he spends time to confront Orange Cassidy while Danhausen does some sort of finger magic thing, and it gives Yuta enough time to land a Top Rope Splash onto Moxley, and this leads to a German Suplex into a bridge that gets Yuta a two count. The two go back and forth for a bit with Yuta managing to turn a Paradigm Shift into a slam on Moxley, but Moxley once again brute forces his way to having the upper hand. He locks in a Rear Naked Choke to stop Yuta’s momentum and knocks him to the floor with a King Kong Lariat. A Paradigm Shift soon follows and that’s all she wrote as Yuta stays down for the three count which gives Moxley the win. It wasn’t a bad opener, but it wasn’t anything special either. Moxley seems to be easing back into his role here at AEW with basic matches, but it looks like we’ll be moving towards something bigger soon enough because…
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with more AEW action, though at this rate we’re probably a solid two weeks behind here and I’m sure everyone has already moved on to talk about whatever headline-grabbing events occurred on the most recent episode. Still, it’s good to keep chugging away at these for posterities sake, and honestly, missing an episode of wrestling is like skipping over an issue of a superhero comic; you’re guaranteed to get lost if you don’t have the complete picture at all times. Does this episode of Rampage live up to the Beach Break event in ways that the Dynamite show did not? Let’s find out!!
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Jon Moxley Vs. Anthony Bowens
Bowens is accompanied to the ring Max Caster
Despite Moxley’s overwhelming popularity, he’s not a guy who lets it go to his head. Where a place like WWE would want winners to be winners and never show an inch, AEW has a much less strict attitude for its wrestlers which is just another reason that fits in so well here. To wit, Moxley gives up quite a bit to Anthony Bowens who eats a lot of offense and does a lot of bumping at the start of the match but eventually turns things in his favor for the rest of it. It helps that Caster is on the outside to provide the occasional distraction, but Bowens is still a great wrestler and they certainly don’t want to bury him here, even against a top talent guy like Moxley. Bowens manages to hit a Superplex on Moxley which gets him a pretty close two-count, and Caster makes a big save by pushing Bowens out of the way of a Suicide Dive. This gives Bowens a chance to hit a DDT, but still, Moxley will not stay down as he kicks out at two. With Bowens seeing the writing on the wall, he manages to get a chain from Caster and attempts to hit Moxley behind the ref’s back, but Moxley quickly hits a Cutter that leaves Bowens flat on the mat. Caster makes a desperate attempt to even the odds, but Moxley throws him out of the ring immediately and finishes off Bowens with a King Kong Lariat and a Paradigm Shift. I’m glad that Moxley is back and putting on good matches, and I’m MORE than glad that AEW is recognizing Bowens as a solid talent, but the match couldn’t really rise above being good as I think the Acclaimed formula is getting stale. Having Caster interfere constantly and teasing the boom box spot only for the Heels to get their comeuppance is a fine formula, but it starts to lose its impact if that’s what we see every time.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
We’re back with another week of AEW action that everyone else saw a while ago, and while I’ve said I will catch up for a while now, I can feel it this time! This weekend I will be nice and caught up, but for now let’s take a look at this episode of Dynamite, starting with…
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The Return of Jon Moxley – Ready to Kick Butt and Drink Blood!
Jon Moxley has been out for several months now to deal with some serious issues, and in that time he missed a lot of big moments at AEW. Hangman Adam Page winning the title, Bryan Danielson’s turn to the dark side, even his buddy, Eddie Kingston, facing off against CM Punk! Thankfully he seems to be in a much better place now and is more than ready to make up for lost time, though even this happy occasion is not without its sourpusses as some dude starts heckling Moxley from the crowd. Not missing a beat, Moxley tells him to go F**k himself and has the dude ejected which the crowd went wild for. He’s still one of the top draws at this company and is an expert at being an unscripted force of nature (he even threatens to drink his opponents’ blood) and I’m curious to see what he does next!
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS
We’re back with more AEW action, albeit action that’s over a week old. January’s been a rough month and the week-long power outage coupled with the bonus Battle of the Belts show that AEW threw at us, it’s been hard to find time to get up to date, but that’s a problem for another day as we’re here to focus on this one show! Let’s get started!!
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The show starts with Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly coming out to talk about how awesome last year was and how great 2022 will be; Cole in particular bragging about not being pinned or submitted yet which means he’s undefeated as a singles wrestler. The party gets cut short however as the Young Bucks come out with Brandon Cutler to confront Red Dragon (Fish and O’Reilly) as both teams are going to be chasing after the Tag Team Titles. Cole is stuck between the two groups to try and make them all play nice when Best Friends come out with Orange Cassidy to throw a match at this powder keg that’s already primed to go off. Naturally, a brawl ensues and Cole hits a low blow on Orange Cassidy which causes Kris Statlander to jump in, but then Britt Baker runs down to the ring and Curb Stomps Statlander. With her out of the way, she holds down Cassidy while Cole gives him a few kicks and the Boom Knee Strike before sharing a kiss in the middle of the ring. The fact that Cole and Baker are a couple has been brought up before on the show, but this is the first time they’ve been in the ring together since his arrival. They announce later in the show that they will have a Mixed Tag Match with Cassidy and Statlander, and frankly, I’m excited to see it!
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CM Punk Vs. Wardlow
Wardlow is accompanied to the ring by MJF
I’m a little surprised that Wardlow didn’t come down with Shawn Spears considering how integral he’s been to Wardlow’s matches up to this point, but I guess MJF wants to get a view of the carnage and didn’t want to share floor space with one of his cronies. Carnage, by the way, is exactly what we get here as Wardlow is twice Punk’s size and probably half his age. Punk manages a few shots in the corner and goes for a GTS, but Wardlow shrugs it all off and easily overpowers his opponent. He tosses Punk around for a bit and throughout the commercial break until he’s ready to set him up for a Powerbomb, but Punk escapes and hits a Roundhouse kick to the head. He gets a few more kicks and a bunch of clotheslines which do little more than stumble Wardlow, but then he hits a Springboard Clothesline that finally knocks the big guy to the mat. I hope that minor victory was sweet because Wardlow is upset now and finally hits the Powerbomb after a distraction from MJF. He hits him with another, and another, and a fourth, and a FIFTH! Wardlow is finally ready to pin him, but MJF has to rear his ugly head and demands that Wardlow hit him with even more Powerbombs despite CM Punk being a pile of putty on the mat. Wardlow rolls his eyes and hits him with a few more Powerbombs, including one Powerbomb through the timekeeper’s table, but that’s still not enough and MJF demands a ninth one. Wardlow reluctantly picks him up to do it again, but Punk quickly rolls him over into an Inside Cradle and keeps Wardlow down just long enough for the three count to win the match out of nowhere! Punk rolls immediately to avoid the wrath of Wardlow, but the one who is really wrathful is MJF who gets in the ring and gives Wardlow a serious tongue lashing; complete with shoves and finger jabs to the chest! Wardlow has had enough of this and grabs MJF’s arm whose eyes start to grow huge, but Shawn Spears finally makes his appearance and runs in to quickly act as peacemaker between the two. Wardlow walks out without taking another shot at MJF, but he’s definitely ticked off as he storms up the ramp. I can’t say that this was the match I was expecting to get, especially given how many Powerbombs Punk was able to sell for Wardlow, but I enjoyed it quite a bit! Sometimes you can get away with an unconventional style and pace if it serves an interesting story, and I think the impending breakup between MJF and Wardlow is one of the stronger ongoing storylines they have at the moment.
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
Yes, we are still WOEFULLY behind here, but I’ll catch up on everything soon enough! Where the last Dynamite (at least the one I saw) was the final one on TNT, Rampage isn’t going anywhere is just gonna keep trucking along on that network to give us quick and easy wrestling action to balance out the more plot-heavy shenanigans on Dynamite! Is this another week of Rampage picking up the slack from Dynamite, or will we start to see the cracks in their formula, and perhaps they should try to shake things up as well? Let’s find out!!
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Darby Allin Vs. Anthony Bowens
Allin is accompanied to the ring by Sting while Bowens is accompanied by Max Caster
Caster I can take or leave, but I really like Anthony Bowens and I kind of wish they’d give him a bigger push. Now obviously AEW is pretty tightly packed so not everyone gets a real shot at the spotlight, but Bowens has got something special and I’d like to see him become a powerhouse; not unlike Wardlow, Hobbs, and Brian Cage. Tonight is not his night to win since he’s up against Darby, but he does put on a decent performance here. Darby gets an early lead that leaves Bowens frustrated and anxious, but that’s why Heels have guys on the outside to run distractions as Max Caster eats a punch from Darby which gives Bowens JUST enough time to land a punch of his own and toss Darby into the ring post. This starts the heat segment which comes to an end when Darby escapes a Vertical Suplex, but the fight is much more even as Bowens lands a few moves on Darby that are mostly there to show off how much damage Darby is willing to inflict on himself. Caster tries to run a few more distractions, but Sting finally gets up off his butt and takes care of him which allows Darby to land a Code Red followed by a Suicide Dive. He throws Bowens back into the ring, hits the Coffin Drop, and gets the pin to win the match. It would have been a fine match on its own, but then they do a post-match angle which kind of sours it a bit for me. Andrade El Idolo’s music hits and he starts walking out. He does nothing at all, but this is enough for Darby and Sting to gob at him for several seconds, so OF COURSE The Acclaimed sucker punch them and gang up on Darby! It’s not like AEW doesn’t know how to book Baby Faces as the feud between Hangman Adam Page and Daniel Bryan has been pretty solid, but too often they rely on old tropes about foolish Baby Faces and it gets old pretty quickly.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
As much as I love wrestling, the Holidays are a tough time to find the three hours it takes to watch these shows what with a million other things to worry about this time of year. Still, you can’t say AEW doesn’t put in the effort, and not taking a week away from the show even with everyone being busy is laudable I suppose; especially since they film Rampage on the same night as Dynamite which hopefully meant that everyone got to go home as soon as it was over. Is this a great present for AEW to give us despite the poor timing of it, or will it get lost in the Holiday shuffle like everything else we don’t have time to think about because we’ve got so many other things to do right now!? Okay, maybe not everyone is stressed out like that, but that’s beside the point! Is this a good show or not!? Let’s find out!!
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Orange Cassidy Vs. Adam Cole
Cole and Cassidy are two of the biggest stars who aren’t currently in the title picture, so putting them together in an opening match is as good a way as any to try and tear people away from their packed Holiday schedules to tune in. It’s a solid match with a lot of back and for the action between the two, but things don’t really pick up until Cassidy gets a two count from a Diving Cross Body and a Swinging DDT. This forces the Bucks and Brandon Cutler to come out just as Cassidy is going up top for a big splash, and instead of hitting Cole, Cassidy jumps down on Cutler. It’s at this point that the Best Friends run down to make the save, but not before Cassidy hits a Suicide Dive on the Bucks which allows the Best Friends to fight them back up the ramp and to the back. Despite his buddies getting overwhelmed, it does create an opening for Cole who throws Cassidy shoulder-first into the steps; hoping to neutralize his Orange Punch finisher. Cassidy is left limp against the steps so Cole tries to follow up with a Boom Knee Strike, but Cassidy moves and Cole’s knee hits the steel instead of Cassidy’s squishy body. With both suffering injuries, the two continue to brawl throughout the commercial break and start to kick things into high gear once we return. Lousy Kicks, Brain Busters, Stundog Millionaires and Diving DDTs, All of which hit their mark, but the damage they’ve incurred end up blunting their effectiveness, so neither manage to get the pin. Cole tries to set up Cassidy for the Panama Sunrise by dragging him to the corner, but Cassidy merely rolls away to overcome his scheme. Frustrated by this, Colle tries to go after him but Cassidy hits a Michinoku Driver! Now it’s his turn to set up a move as he puts on his shades and gets to the top rope, and once he’s up there he puts his hands in his pockets and tries to dive on Cole. He’s WAY short on his dive however and ends up eating a Super Kick which allows Cole to get the Panama Sunrise and goes for a lackadaisical cover on Cassidy. He might have won if he tried to do a serious pin, but Cassidy kicks out. Cassidy takes this unforced error from Cole and ducks and hits a Beach Break for a two count before setting up for the Orange Punch. Seeing what’s about to happen, Cole rolls out of the ring right as Bobby Fish runs down to start yelling at the ref. He’s doing it for a long time and Cassidy is just standing there looking perturbed, and right when I was wondering what the heck was going on here, NONE OTHER THAN KYLE O’REILLY RUNS IN TO ATTACK CASSIDY! As soon as Cassidy is on the ground, Cole hits the Boom Knee Strike and gets the pin on Cassidy, but that’s almost immaterial because the big news here is that the original Undisputed Era (Roderick Strong was added later) has officially moved to AEW after WWE cast them aside like yesterday’s news! There seems to be some tension as the Bucks run down and seem a bit hesitant about the Undisputed Era reforming right in front of them, but it was a solid match with a really cool surprise ending that is sure to get AEW even more clout with the fans! I don’t know if we’ll hit the point where it becomes passé for great wrestlers from the other company to show up here and prove how great they are, but it certainly hasn’t happened yet!
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with AEW, and there’s certainly a chill in the air as Winter has officially come! We’ve still got a few more weeks of shows this year, but this is the big one that they try to build up as a game-changer to start the New Year on a high note; especially with the AEW World Title on the line in a genuinely competitive match! Will this be as exciting as when Moxley lost the title to Kenny Omega on last year’s show, or will my enthusiasm drop faster than the temperature outside? Let’s find out!!
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Hangman Adam Page Vs. Bryan Danielson – AEW World Title Match
A rather bold choice for AEW to start with the big match instead of saving it for the main event! Then again, given what’s about to happen it was probably the only choice they could go with as this match goes on for over an hour! That’s right, more than half the show is dedicated to this one match, and we’ll talk about what this meant for the rest of the show once we get there, but for now, we need to talk about what happened here. First and foremost, Danielson proves once again that he’s not just a great technical wrestler but a fantastic storyteller between the ropes as he’s very good at projecting the entirety of his thoughts through his movements and facial expressions. It’s clear at the outset that Danielson does not consider Hangman to be an insurmountable challenge. He’s certainly bigger and strong than him, but Danielson has faced those kinds of odds before and he has a plan for it. For several minutes of the match, he refuses to engage with Hangman to any degree by keeping his distance, avoiding any real contact, and using the ropes to keep Hangman at bay; all the while grinning from ear to ear as the frustration mounts in Hangman. He’s waiting for Hangman to get ahead of himself and to do something brash which Danielson can easily overcome, but Hangman is no fool and is keeping his cool just as much as Danielson is. After a while of this, Hangman gets a quick boot to the chest that catches Danielson off guard and there’s a moment of uncertainty before he collects himself and gets back on track. Still, Hangman has found his inch and he manages to force this into a proper match. Danielson has to start engaging with Hangman, but he’s also staying smart about it by going for submissions and trying to damage the limbs while avoiding big moves from Hangman. The strategy seems to be working, but Hangman manages to force Danielson into more direct confrontations and so Danielson starts using his chops and kicks that eventually send Hangman out of the ring. This is when things start to get more violent as Danielson and Hangman start to slug it out in a war of brutal attrition, and this is what we get for a good chunk of the match. Sometimes Danielson is in control, sometimes it’s Hangman, and they stick to their initial strategies as much as they can. Hangman is hitting a lot of big and flashy moves like the Moonsault from the top rope to the floor, but Danielson stays on track and keeps picking at Hangman’s limbs to neutralize their power. He also is keeping a sharp eye out for Hangman’s finishers, and so attempts at the Deadeye or the Buckshot Lariat are constantly avoided throughout the match despite the crowd desperately wanting to see it. The only thing about the match that doesn’t work very well, and is probably why they should have saved this for a PPV, is that they simply can’t run the show for a full hour without commercial breaks and so the pacing of the match feels a bit wonky. The worst of this is when Hangman goes for a Moonsault but is shoved off the turnbuckle by Danielson. He hits the apron on his way to the floor and Danielson bashes Hangman’s shoulder into the post; continuing his strategy of neutralizing Hangman’s offense. However, this also causes Hangman to bleed and so for an entire commercial break he’s being looked at by the doctors as Danielson poses in the ring. We saw this same spot used in the Guevara/Lethal match and I just don’t think it’s helpful to a match. If you need to fill a commercial break, then sure; have the doc look at the wrestler so that the TV audience doesn’t miss anything significant. However, this still creates the problem as to why the ref doesn’t call for the bell as soon as the doctor is out there, or why he stops the ten count while the doctors attend to him. It highlights the advantage that the champ has in title defense (titles can only change hands on pinfalls or submissions) which is great when you have a Heel champ, but it’s also not the kind of thing you want to advertise when it’s a Babyface with the title. In any case, Hangman finally starts to stumble his way to the ring once the commercial break is over and they keep going from there. We’re only at about the halfway point so the injury is kind of a moot point, but they do at least keep track of Hangman’s shoulder which is being brutalized by Danielson and is going to make it nearly impossible for Hangman to hit the Buckshot Lariat. Turnabout is fair play however and Hangman starts targeting Danielson’s leg after he misses a Yes Kick that sends his shin right into the post. This ends up playing into the rest of the match as we get closer and close to the time limit, and once we’re down to the final five minutes they have to leave everything they can in that ring to see who is still standing by the end of it! Danielson has Hangman on the match and grabs his arms to start stomping on his face, the same way he did to all the members of the Dark Order, but with the bad leg, it’s not hard for Hangman to escape. Danielson charges and Hangman catches him to at last land the Deadeye, but it’s only a two count. Undeterred however, Hangman is now the one to grab his opponent’s arms and stomp on their face; a taste of Danielson’s own medicine if you will! With Danielson sufficiently dazed, Hangman goes for the Buckshot Lariat with whatever strength he has left in the arm… BUT DANIELSON DODGES IT AND PUTS HANGMAN IN THE LABELLE LOCK! With just over a minute left in the match, this is Danielson’s last chance to come away the champion, but perhaps that eagerness left him open for Hangman to escape and Slingshot him into the ropes. Hangman hits a big lariat on Danielson which leaves him nearly dead on the floor, and Hangman goes to the apron one last time. He waits for Danielson to stumble back to his feet, and he FINALLY hits the Buckshot Lariat just as the time expired! Whether or not Hangman had enough in the tank for that hit to keep Danielson down for good is something we will never know, but it was about as satisfying an ending as you could get for a match that ends in a time limit draw! This was a good match and I thought that both guys put in an exceptional amount of effort here, but I don’t think it needed a full hour to tell this story; especially with the commercial breaks wreaking havoc with the pacing. Where we’ve seen PPV quality matches on TV before, this felt like a PPV match shunted into the TV format, but there’s very little doubt that the ending of this match is to set us up for a PPV main event, so as far as that goes it did its job brilliantly!
The Reviewers Unite 