The first night of Fyter Fest is in the books, but to me, a wrestling show is never really complete until I’ve read a review and talked it over with my online comrades.
I hope you feel the same, because that’s what we’re here for! If you’re left wanting in the wake of a good show, fill that void with some Pops & Botches.
I’m M.A. Hendricks (Michael, I don’t abbreviate to obscure my name, it just sounds better as an author), also known as Sentmerc in the “Battle of the Smarky Juniors” Discord, and this is Pops & Botches’ inaugural AEW column.
First, about our author…
Feel free to skip this paragraph, as why should you care about the guy writing this?
But, maybe it’ll give context to my perspective and takes on the wrestling we’re watching to know where I’m coming from.
I’ve been a wrestling fan since right about November of 1990 when the Undertaker debuted (still my favorite wrestler of all time), but I didn’t get into it seriously until late 1997.
Yeah, I’m an Attitude Era baby. I’m sure plenty of us are. WWF, WCW, dabbled in ECW, wrestling was exploding into popular consciousness and my own consciousness found a wide world to explore.
For a time I believed I would devote my life to wrestling, but the closest I got to the business was wrestling a backyard match against a high-school friend who had become an indy wrestler. Still, that match puts me at three degrees of separation from Hulk Hogan.
All of this puts me dead-center of AEW’s demographic, don’t be surprised if a lot of these columns are Pop-heavy.
The Elite’s entire endeavor takes aim at my wrestling heart.
So, without further self-indulgence…Fyter Fest Night One.
POP: Le Commentateur
The first pop of the night was an easy one. Jericho on commentary has been quick, clever, and quotable. Above all he brings an excitement and an energy to every match with his screechy voice and palpable disdain for half the competitors. He’s engaged, even freaking out at the high points in matches, but he never crosses that feigned enthusiasm line into Cole country.
Or even Ranallo avenue. He can get so animated because it’s believable, it’s in keeping with everything we know about him. Like so much else, he can get away with it because he’s Chris Jericho.
POP: Let Them Fyte!
Jericho’s energy was quickly matched by the barnburner opener. This was pure fun, with every guy getting a chance to show off their creativity, their athleticism, and expressive wrestling.
That opener was so fucking good. Watching Luchasaurus and Wardlow do all the shit they do at their size is so fun to watch. Amazing start.#FyterFest pic.twitter.com/giBTebJNcj
— EliteAEW®️ (@EIiteAEW) July 2, 2020
Whether it was a rock-hopping Jungle Destroyer, Wardlow eating a poisoned rana, all four men in an aggressive kip-up challenge, Wardlow casually powerbomb-tossing Jack into the crowd, Jungle Boy’s equally casual flip-evasion to same, Wardlow’s swanton (Wanton?), or Luchasaurus kicking MJF’s elbow to make him ring-blast Wardlow, the whole match was peppered with things that felt fresh and unexpected.
Everyone looked like a star. Special mention, though, of how dope Luchasaurus is in tag matches. He has that Roman Reigns quality where he can tag in and hit thunderous offense, and get back out to let his partner do the heavy lifting of the match. It keeps Luchasaurus feeling special and conserved, even in his own matches. And here he gets to tangle with somebody his own size and, spoiler, almost a match for his athleticism.
AEW does a better job than anybody of making their hoss clashes, appropriately enough, big. Every time in a tag, or a battle royal, or even just a brawl, when they have two of their local kaiju square off, it gets my attention.
There were some quibbles; MJF’s delayed sell of a powerbomb being more like he didn’t know he was powerbombed but knocked himself out kicking, or Marko’s clear attack not drawing a DQ (to my knowledge there hasn’t been a single DQ in AEW’s history, and it’s not because refs haven’t seen DQ-able offenses).
But overall, this was a titanic start to the show.
BOTCH: AEW Puppy Battle Royale
#AEW have confirmed that the first ever All Elite Wrestling Puppy Battle Royale will take place during next week’s Fyter Fest. pic.twitter.com/sIr4c4pKQ3
— Gary Cassidy (@WrestlingGary) July 2, 2020
AEW can have adorable puppies fight to the last, that’s fine. But Orange Cassidy is going to squash that dog for stealing his offense.
BOTCH: Light-Pummeling Hawk
Lance Archer and Joey Janela get into a mild fight in what we’re generously calling the crowd. The most notable thing is how much Janela has to struggle to get his top off.
I guess even his shirts don’t want to see Joey Janela shirtless.
POP: Every Little Thing She Does
Hikaru Shida versus Penelope Ford was a seriously good match, bolstered in large part by all the little things they brought to it. Ford’s improved look, Shida’s improved English in the promo.
Ford fanning herself while stretching Shida, or the way Shida failed a kick with one leg while pinned to make me buy the pinfall before really kicking out with the -other- leg.
The ringpost cam showing all the impacts when Ford rammed Shida’s head into the buckles, the way Ford sprawled when selling Shida’s knees, or the super high stack on the final pin. They all sold the importance of the match and the impact of the offense at every turn.
When Sabian was ejected at the start, it shook up expectations for the match. So much so that when Shida hit a running knee and went for the falcon arrow (calling back to how she’d just beaten Red Velvet in seconds on Dynamite), I was terrified the match was going to end then and there.
It’s a women’s match, after all, and AEW has been notoriously shaky with how they treat their women’s division. Maybe they decided to cut this match and save time for other endeavors, my brain told me.
But it was not to be, and I’m glad it wasn’t. It was a breakout performance for Penelope Ford in her first big showcase single match. Plus, another solid defense for Hikaru Shida.
With COVID neutering Nyla’s run, and Riho barely defending it, I’d say Shida is already the best women’s champion in AEW’s short history.
BOTCH: Kip Sabian’s Kendo Toss
.@shidahikaru looking like prime Ken Griffey on @TheKipSabian's skull #FyterFest pic.twitter.com/udkIhXDgvR
— All Elite Wrestling on TNT (@AEWonTNT) July 2, 2020
Who knew Kip Sabian was a mob that drops a legendary Kendo Stick? It’s cut out of the clip, there, but he seriously reacted to a forearm in the face by heaving his weapon into the lights. Like you do.
POP: Trash Talk by Taz
Taz using his technique by Taz segments to explain why Mox can’t beat Cage is some A+ heeling. Taz shit-talking WWE’s COVID response is well earned. And AEW actually following good protocol and benching Mox for next week is worthy of acknowledgement.
Some will say Taz shouldn’t be saying COVID is a poor excuse; for me, it falls into the territory where the heel is clearly full of it. Your mileage may vary on that, and on how honest AEW dumping on WWE”s COVID response is when they’re still running shows and bringing in un-masked bikini models to stand around as set dressing.
BOTCH: Rock Hard Jake Hager
Hager comes to his TNT title match with a new nickname and a pair of Hanes boxer-briefs. Clearly his gear was in his house, and Mrs. Hager isn’t letting him back in.
And when a guy like Jake Hager shows up in his underwear saying he’s rock hard, it sets off every alarm bell in Jacksonville.
POP: Rock Hard Jake Hager versus Ambiguously Evil Cody
Hager’s offensive blandness aside, this was easily his best match in AEW, right?
It wasn’t plodding, all his offense looked powerful, and Cody owned the ropes for that triangle plancha, a series of Disaster style pump-kicks, and maybe the best Cody Cutter ever?
What balance. @CodyRhodes delivers the Cody Cutter. #FyterFest #AEW #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/puNYaPORvm
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) July 2, 2020
It had mat wrestling, working in a hint of both men’s amateur backgrounds, it had brawling, including Cody’s powerful sell of body blows, and it had that aerial artistry from Cody.
And unlike most Cody matches, it had only a -little- shenanigans, with Dustin and Mrs. Hager each getting in a slap.
I particularly appreciated how they teased the Hart/Piper finish (maybe more famed as the Hart/Austin finish, but he and Piper did it first) early in the match but had Jake get out of it, only to bring it back at the end as the actual finish.
It subverted my expectations, and I like that, even if I didn’t like the commentary trying to get over Cody “passing out” in the hold when he was in it for a couple seconds at most and was totally active the whole time.
Oh, and credit to Jericho for bringing up Tyson presenting the TNT title to Cody, and challenging Tyson once more. Jericho never forgets, and that’s why he’s so good.
BOTCH?: Darby Simpson
Darby Allin comes back with another video of skating and general faffing about at his home while he’s not cleared to wrestle.
At least this time he showed us the times he nailed the tricks, instead of eating it a ton of times until he got lucky once.
I think Darby Allin is one of the biggest success stories in AEW and will be a huge star in years to come.
But he’s done himself no favors since that day Taz showed up to talk to him. From his “I took THIRD place in state wrestling, UGH!” reaction to now “I can do kick flips, you can’t stop me, DOCTOR!” video, he’s veering hard from counter-culture warrior to petulant teenage twit.
His rebellious nature is looking more like Bart Simpson than GG Allin, and that is not a good look.
Please get better, get back to the ring, and get back to being awesome soon, Darby.
Public Service Announcement:
Orange Cassidy prefers his right ear. That is all.
Mild Applause: Proud and Partyful
PP vs P&P was…fine. Nobody looked bad, and Private Party hit their offense with precision and without some of the hesitation that often plagues them.
I’m a little bummed that Proud and Powerful can’t win a match to save their lives, but with how stacked AEW’s tag division is (and it is MONSTROUSLY stacked) somebody has to lose, and it’s almost always somebody you’d rather see winning.
Least noteworthy match of the night, for me, and the match that felt most like a regular Dynamite.
BOTCH: Play Date
You’re probably gonna come down loving or hating Best Friends’ entrance, driven to the ring by Trent’s mom. I come down on the hate side.
Best Friends always feel a little childish, intentionally so, but this leaned too hard into it for me and…why do you -want- to present yourselves as middle schoolers showing up for soccer practice?
Ah, well. I already wanted them to eat a Last Call and get knocked out of the title picture, this just made me want it a little more.
Pop: Best Friends Eat Last Call, Get Knocked Out of the Title Picture
Straight up, I can’t stand Chuck Taylor. I think Trent is an impressive wrestler, but his association with Taylor and the character of their tag team drags him down hard, for me.
I find the zoom-out on the hug and Excalibur’s “you’ve got to give the people what they want” call to be the most grating, worn out repetitive thing in wrestling. But I don’t watch WWE anymore, so make of that what you will.
I’m outing my bias at the start in case it’s what makes me see the match as I do.
This was another match that was good, but less good than I think we all were expecting. Hung Winged Angel (credit to “Rock Hard” Bachur) versus the Young Bucks at Revolution was the best tag match I’ve ever seen.
Everyone’s seen how Hangman and Kenny are a surprisingly great team. And Trent is also a good wrestler. I think what kept it to a pretty good match instead of something special was the paucity of story going into it.
Storytelling is what makes Omega and Page work, and the only story here was “we have titles, they want titles, whoop they ass”. Enough to get you through, but not enough to make it mean something.
Everything they did worked, but none of it felt new. And in the end, the finish fell oddly flat. Hangman managed to hit Deadeye, his actual finisher?, and Trent kicked out.
Then Hangman hits a Buckshot, which at least used to be his signature, false finish move, and just wins. No partner interference, no counter from Trent, no sequence, just “I hit you with this move, you kick out. I hit you with THIS move, I win.”
Maybe that’s a more realistic finish, but wrestling has trained me to expect something in between a tight, tight nearfall and the actual fall.
Much has been said about tag teams ignoring the rules in AEW, and most of it by Jim Ross. I’m not usually going to raise a stink about it, and to me the big problem isn’t wrestlers not following the tag rules, it’s commentators that draw attention to the fact that AEW never, ever enforces its rules.
You’re not getting a story over doing that, guys. You’re not contributing to the match, you’re just griping. That said, even without JR it would’ve been hard to ignore in this match how Aubrey’s 10 count got slower, and slower as it approached ten. Or how she eventually just gave up on counting at all, when it was clear they were not going to vacate the ring. Maybe the commentary team should get on these guys -backstage- and try to enforce it just a miniscule bit.
A good enough match, though, to close Fyter Fest’s night one, and to embarrass Best Friends in front of Trent’s mom. We cruise into night two with Hung Winged Angel defending against Best Friends, and with FTR…making friends? Picking a fight? Picking a friendship?
With the tag champs, and the Bucks interfering to stop them from doing whichever.
But heyyyy, look who’s on the angry, “let’s all be fights” side of this deal along with FTR.
When you finally turn around and get Buckshot in the face, Kenny, remember this; you do NOT waste perfectly good beer.
Pop: Fyter Fest Night One
A show without a bad match that progressed a number of stories and delivered satisfying action and, in my eyes, picked all the right winners (maaaybe P&P could’ve got the win…).
I had to dig a little bit to find downsides, though I am an admitted AEW mark. Cannot complain, Fyter Fest is a cracking show so far that promises greater heights on night two.
I hope you’ll be back here with us to celebrate the highs and laugh at the lows.
