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AEW Fyter Fest was certainly no Double or Nothing, in my opinion. Let's get that out of the way at the very start, because the scale and impact of the show did not compare.
But does that mean that the show wasn't good? I wouldn't necessarily say that, because there was enough good and bad interspersed across the course of the broadcast, I felt.
It's very difficult to invest in matches that have had no build at all, but I'm guessing that this is a problem that will be remedied once the weekly television show begins. AEW Fyter Fest is a show that everyone in the audience seemed to enjoy, but there were points where it lost my interest.
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Here is an analysis of the good and the bad from the show...
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#1 Best: Jon Moxley proves he's no longer Dean Ambrose
The question of whether Jon Moxley will be a different character from Dean Ambrose was answered brilliantly at AEW Fyter Fest. Jon Moxley scoured the section underneath the ring apron and found a variety of furniture items that he used against Joey Janela in what was a brutal match from bell to bell.
It was great to hear Jim Ross lament at the fact that Joey Janela wrestles such a daredevil style in the ring, making him look like a reckless, dangerous man that added a degree of insanity to the overall proceedings. Moxley played his part like a sadistic, calculated individual as well, tearing Janela apart.
And then when the thumbtacks came in, the audience would gasp in unison. By dropping Janela on the tacks, Moxley proved to the world that Dean Ambrose was dead and buried.
Jon Moxley is here and he's not a PG character at all.
#1 Worst: Chair shot to the head
I loved the fact that Shawn Spears is getting screen time and that he will obviously be a much bigger deal in AEW than he ever was in WWE. But I am not sure that I want to see people bashing each other on the head with steel chairs.
While people complain about the fact that WWE is very 'safe' these days, the fact of the matter is that by eliminating chair shots to the head, they have actually taken a massive step forward. You never know what long-term effects these chair shots can have on the careers of the performers.
Sometimes you want to create a moment and therefore, you end up doing something of this nature to get a pop. But the long term impact of foolhardy moves like these can be quite brutal indeed.
This was the scariest moment of the whole show.
#2 Best: 6 of the best wrestlers in the world
What happens when you put 6 of the world's best wrestlers in the ring at the very same time. Well, they go out there and put on a match for the ages. I thought that The Elite vs. The Lucha Bros. and Laredo Kid was easily the best match on the entire show.
The fact is that we all expected it to be good, but it's incredible how much they exceeded my expectations. I know that Jim Cornette is watching the show and he's going to have a Heart Attack when he sees the Street Fighter video game spot from Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. But as someone who's considerably younger than Jim Cornette, I quite enjoyed the match myself, even the silly spots.
There were 'fight forever' chants through the course of the contest. I echoed their sentiments.
#2 Worst: An unadvertised change?
I'm not hating on Allie replacing Kylie Rae in this match because I'm a fan of hers. I've had a chance to interview her multiple times and she's always been a class act on every occasion and is a pretty good hand in the ring too. I'm just a little surprised that AEW replaced Kylie Rae from the match without any fanfare.
I just wish that they had made a storyline out of this because there was a real opportunity to do so. I do hope that Kylie is alright and this was just a glitch on the poster and nothing more. To be honest, I didn't care for the match between Leva Bates and Allie either, all that much.
The women's division in AEW just seemed like it's a step behind everything else, at that point in time. And then, this other women's match happened...
#3 Best: The Joshis steal the show one more time
What a lot of people may not know is that Riho is someone who had teamed up with Kenny Omega some time back. And since then, he's been a big fan of hers which is why the six Joshis had been invited to Double or Nothing for the 6-woman tag.
Riho and Yuka Sakazaki were incredible in the match which also featured the rather monstrous Nyla Rose. There were so many near falls and nail-biting moments that the crowd began to chant 'this is awesome', commending the performance of the women in the match.
I had a chance to interview Riho and she told me that she's not moving to the US at all. I wonder if this is just a special appearance for her and she won't be a part of the AEW roster.
I wonder the same about Yuka Sakazaki as well.
#3 Worst: The Librarians
There's a lot of silliness that I can stand in pro wrestling. I mean I'm okay with Michael Nakazawa applying oil on himself in the pre-show of Fyter Fest because it serves a purpose and makes sense in the context of the match.
But I don't get the Librarian gimmick at all, to be honest. It's not funny, it's not interesting, and nobody in the crowd was reacting to it at all because it is a very pointless and silly gimmick.
I mean, I thought that people preferred AEW to WWE because there was a lot less silliness in this company as compared to Vince McMahon's operations! I'd rather watch a WWE Champion eat pancakes than have to sit through two librarians asking the crowd to shush.
When I'm watching wrestling, that's what I want to watch and not necessarily an episode of 'Being The Elite'.
#4 Best/worst: Another show in 2 weeks
I love the concept and the cause behind AEW Fight For the Fallen. But I really think that they need to build a little more anticipation for the event. We just had Fyter Place take place and doing Fight for the Fallen right away may not necessarily be the best idea.
I know it becomes a nightmare for me as a journalist to cover shows over the weekend because you work through the week and then when you think you have a day off, there's no give. However, spacing the shows out could have been a good idea, because the 'Fight for the Fallen' card looks quite good.
There's Slammiversary next weekend and then Fight for the Fallen is followed a day later by Extreme Rules. There's a lot of pro wrestling for fans in the weeks to come.
Is too much wrestling a bad thing?
