AEW Dynamite / Fyter Fest – 7.8.2020 (Night Two)
Fyter Fest night two has come and gone, and our broadcast special is now complete. Or, it will be once we’ve ruminated on its successes and failures and digested the show as a community. Perhaps in some sort of article reviewing the show, and in an attached comments section? Perhaps in this very article? Around here at Steel Ringpost, we call them Pops and Botches, so gear up for the Pops and Botches from AEW’s Fyter Fest July 8th, 2020.
Check out last week’s coverage here and our AEW Dark coverage here for all your weekly poppin’ and botchin’ with the Elite!
POP: ONE MORE ROUND
Real life threw AEW a curve ball this week, but they responded with a solid base hit. This match that only happened because Jon Moxley is in quarantine turned out to be another strong title defense for Hung Winged Angel and an entertaining start to the evening.
Page came out sullen and picking a fight from the start; he still resents that twelve dollars Private Party gouged him for! That aggression would bleed into his tag partner, as they seemed to be telling the story of hard-hitting veterans taking violent advantage of Private Party’s “rookie” mistakes. They came right to the edge of playing heels, here; isolating Mark Quen, kicking him with malice, powerbombing him into the crowd, then smacking him around the ring with chops, chops, chops on chops.
Private Party’s comeback would show some of that hesitation and confusion that I mentioned in last week’s P&B. Kassidy’s second rope springboard somersault to the outside demonstrated crazy balance, but the “double spanish fly” PP hit on Kenny was indistinguishable from Kenny giving them a double clothesline. Kassidy’s slingblade backbreaker attempt, on that same score, ended up halfway between both moves. Private Party are young guys trying out new, elaborate offense, and both parties to the moves seem a little confused on how they should go.
Not confusing, but probably contusing, was the monkey flip Kenny tossed on Quen that dropped his knee directly on Kassidy’s face. The champs followed that with powerbombing Quen onto Kassidy, and I’m delighted by how brutal they’re being tonight. They got stuck with this second title defense, and they are not having any of Private Party’s bullshit.
Quen and Kassidy weren’t out yet, though, and got back into the game with a brilliant Silly String counter to the Buckshot Lariat that I never would’ve seen coming but makes all the sense in the world. A whirlwind DDT on the stage and a gorgeous shooting star from Quen made a believable near fall, but I think the random addition of this match and the champs’ demeanor told us from the start who were taking those belts home tonight. Private Party serve up a Gin and Juice, but Hangman won’t have one. Those titles must mean so much to him! Instead we get a badass super powerbomb, Last Call, and a win with authority for the champions. Hangman’s more of a whiskey guy, anyway.
POP: THE RAD BOY
A quick shout out to Joey Janela’s entrance package. The faux 80’s “computer graphics”, screaming guitar, the reflection, the rain soaked neon font, all of it. Joey Janela’s aesthetic is the best thing about him, and conjures up some kind of wrestling Blade Runner. Unfortunately, Joey is not that, and all of his matches will be lost, like tears in rain.
POP: EVERY JOEY DIES
Another bit of props for Janela showing up in briefs instead of his usual tights. Between shirts that won’t come off and pants that won’t stay on, Joey seems destined to Donald Duck it on Dynamite, but these briefs can save us all from that fate.
The match starts off with Archer’s entrance finally making sense, as he carries a beaten Sonny Kiss to the ring. Beating up some rando every time feels forced, and a little too cute for Archer’s serious persona. From there it goes a little different than I’d expected; Archer starts strong, but Janela gets long stretches on offense, starting with a top rope splash to the outside that I swear crashed his entire body weight into the side of Archer’s face. Archer legitimately sells more here for Janela than he did for the entire TNT title tournament, including his final with Cody. After crushing Archer’s chest with a top rope senton and a follow up 450 from Sonny Kiss, I earnestly thought, for the length of the count, that Janela might pull off the upset.
But the point of the match was always to restore Archer’s status after the loss to Cody and weeks of inactivity. Joey countered the Blackout by flipping into an elbow drop on a standing Archer, which was creative, but shortly after met a much worse fate, eating the Blackout off the apron through a previously-set table. I had forgotten the table was there, so I dreaded Janela taking the Blackout straight onto the ringside mat. You know he’d do it. As it was, he checked off the “Joey takes career-shortening bump” box on his card, so the match could end.
I’m sure discussion of this match will focus on Janela getting too much against Archer. I had similar thoughts throughout the match. But Joey Janela isn’t nobody in AEW; he’s hung with the very best, in Kenny Omega and Moxley, and he put up a similar fight against Archer. Besides, I don’t remember Joey Family Guy flopping when Mox slapped him.
POP: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION
This week’s Darby Allin video was concise and left out the griping to instead call out Cage and quickly show Darby’s fearlessness. Much better.
POP: FYTE THE WORLD
When I saw Tazz holding that suspiciously title-shaped object in a bag, two possibilities flashed in my mind; we’re bringing back a piece of history or it turns out Moxley does have COVID and Cage is just getting the world title by default. Thankfully, it was the first one. FTW joins FTR in the “acronyms we can’t actually explain on-air” category. Cage “earns” a title that only ever existed by Taz’s fiat, through Taz’s fiat. It doesn’t mean anything, per se, but I give it a pop for AEW acknowledging and integrating wrestling history that existed before and outside their company, as they are wont to do. History is an asset; it casts everything happening in wrestling as part of a larger whole, a universe where things matter and are remembered. It’s the spell that binds long term fans, and honestly, the only way we can pretend any of this shit matters.
POP OF THE SHOW: LUCHA BROS MEXI-CAN!
Good god. A match with eight people that never felt disjointed, that never went off the rails. For all the wild action that it held, and it held a lot, I didn’t see anyone screw up, or be out of position, or confuse the viewer with too much going on. These guys weren’t just on point, this was pointillist art. This match was a freakin’ Sunday Afternoon at the Grand Jatte.
The heel team looked badass riding in on FTR’s truck, as seen in our header, and from the bell, everyone brought something to this match and brought it hard. Dax’s pissed off strikes, Pentagon’s firecracker chops, Fenix doing stalling rope handstands just because he can. Nick and Fenix pulling off a double rope jump into a top rope hurricanrana. Those two guys need a singles feud yesterday. By the time Matt threw a superkick fake and Dax slid in with a silky running DDT, I was exclaiming “ah-HA!” out loud. And when Fenix pulled a flying destroyer over the ropes into a crowd of people, I was covering my mouth with both hands.
Going in, I expected the match to be seriously good. It lived up to that. But then, something I never expected. Following the destroyer, Matt misses a superkick on Penta and drops Dax. The Luchas take Matt for an “LB Driver”, according to Excalibur, which I honestly hope is their new finisher. “Jump off the ropes and lightly touch my opponent’s butt so my partner can piledrive them” is oversaturated in AEW as it is. Anyway, they hit the LB Driver, and they just win. The Lucha Brothers and Slash Fiction straight up beat the two “best teams in the world”. Hallelujah.
This match delivered on every level, and my only gripe is that we didn’t get to see the longer PPV version. A couple teams who desperately need wins got a big one, and the FTR/Bucks beef gets more meat on the bone. Excellent all around, and my favorite match of Fyter Fest.
CONFUSED APPLAUSE: NYLA ASKS TO SEE THE MANAGER
Can a black/native trans woman DO that?
Nyla Rose murks two girls in short order. Not much to say on it, she wrestles competently and puts them down. Her spear is maybe the best in the business. More curious, though, is her plan to get herself a manager. She references the success managers have brought Cody and Cage while forgetting Shawn Spears, like everyone else.
It’s a middling response from me. I think Nyla is one of the best talkers in AEW’s women’s division already. I’m not sure what a manager is going to bring to the table. But on the other hand, Nyla has a story and a woman wrestler with a manager is rare. Very much a “see where it goes” bit of TV.
MILD CHEERS: DARK AND ORDER: SCU
Our next outing was a fine match, overshadowed by what it had to follow in the 8-man tag. It didn’t quite live up to the “PPV-lite” status of Fyter Fest, either, feeling like a pretty good Dynamite match. Still, it served a few purposes for the ongoing story.
I loved how Colt’s gnarly hematoma and bruising played into the overall Dark Order story; it made Colt wrestle gingerly at every step, which only reinforced how hesitant he was to be fighting SCU in this match. He didn’t want to be doing this, on several levels, but damnit, he needs to. He can’t stay a career loser, a comedy guy afterthought like he’s always been. Dark Order has brought him winning ways so far, and he’s not going to give up that chance. But even as that’s a villainous turn, Colt seems a bit heroic as he guts his way through personal feelings AND a nasty injury.
Because Colt is hurt and Mr. Brodie is the big boss, Stu Grayson (don’t call him Dick, it’s very important, so important that JR brings it up in every match he has. Seriously, don’t call him Dick.) carries the load for Dark Order. Stu finally gets to show off on Dynamite again, and man, that guy is way too good for his name, his ring gear, his character…pretty much everything about him. He’s more in need of a makeover than anybody else on the roster.
SCU performs as well as usual, though it kind of broke my heart to see Daniels do the senior discount BME. Colt gets another win with Dark Order, and Mr. Brodie Lee hands SCU their first trios loss to avenge Daniels’ heresy before he revealed himself as the Exalted One. I like that Lee, after his title match loss to Moxley, has taken to rebuilding himself by fortifying the Dark Order. But I’m still curious how, in kayfabe, Colt Cabana is the key to Dark Order’s future success. Some disrespect to Colt, but he’s not an obvious choice to put your group on top of the world. They already have their world champion guy. They already have their tag team. What will Colt’s role be, when he’s fully converted? Do they just need a really solid seat for the human throne, since Lee is so much bigger than Uno?
POP: REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Next week AEW holds Fight for the Fallen, with proceeds going to COVID relief charity. Last year, it was for victims of gun violence. Later THIS night, AEW would show their Puppy Battle Royal on behalf of an animal shelter. AEW gives out sensory inclusion packages at their live events, just to make their shows more accessible. Companies exist to make profit, not to serve social causes, and we should never fully buy into philanthropy as the new PR, as Stephanie McMahon puts it. But we should still give some modicum of credit when they try.
BOTCH: REBA CRUSH
Earlier in the show, Big Swole was served a suspension to keep her away from Britt Baker and threatened with legal action. Now, here’s Swole in the loosest possible definition of a disguise, just..in the arena, anyway, with nobody trying to stop her, risking penalty of law so she can angrily talk at Baker a little. That ends up with Swole smacking Rebel’s hand so that it flies back into Britt’s nose and somehow turns Baker into Lana. Modern, pointlessly screaming at everything Lana. Quirky condescension is so much better than grating noise. I don’t have to tell you that Britt’s heel work has been a highlight of Dynamite since she turned, but this ain’t it, Doc.
POP: ORANGE CASSIDAY!
Our main event of Fyter Fest seems like a mismatch at first look. On one side of the ring, a four decade veteran multi-time world champion who is definitively one of the best ever. On the other side, a slightly more muscular Seth Green. But as Jericho would learn; if you push Oz far enough, you’re gonna get the wolf.
Cassidy, surprisingly, starts the match wolfed out for a change and takes it to Jericho, until he’s caught in the Walls and hit in the back with a madball. This sets up Jericho working over Cassidy’s back, and sets up my one complaint about the match. Cassidy would keep coming back throughout with swift, complicated, agile bursts of offense, and never once did his “injured” back stop him from doing that, or show through in how he performed his moves. Yeah, I’m one of those guys who wants people selling on offense. But I wonder if that’s even possible for Orange Cassidy, or if it’s just a limit of his character? His bread and butter, his balanced breakfast if you will, is these sudden, unexpected fast breaks where he pulls out something you didn’t think the funny sloth was capable of. How can he be explosive out of nowhere while also hampered by a bum spine? This may be a limitation that OC’s whole gimmick enforces on what he can do in the ring, and that’s kind of a shame.
This match was never anything but what we knew it would be; Cassidy takes Jericho to the limit and looks great doing it, but catches a Judas Effect and a pin. That’s not a bad thing, though, and there were smaller surprises peppered through it that made it a delight. Jericho bringing back his classic “Come on baybay!” pin, but subbing in Orange’s name. Cassidy throwing the play kicks as a fake for a real superkick. Orange’s springboard corkscrew plancha on the outside. Jericho’s mastery of near falls adding tension despite the match’s outcome never being in doubt. Even if we always knew where we were going, it was a good time getting there.
With a heel win and no pyro, no fanfare, Fyter Fest goes off the air with a bit of a damp squib feeling. There’s no lingering shot of a triumphant Jericho, there’s no teaser for next week’s stories. The show just ends. I’d venture it’s because we were denied the title match and the way the show was supposed to end, and so they just finished the match and got out. An unfortunate end to an otherwise banging show.
POP: FYTER FEST
That doesn’t take too much away from an all around excellent show, though. Both nights put together make me grateful AEW does these special dynamite mini-ppvs, and reinforce my love for the company. If for some reason you’re reading this column and haven’t watched the show, I strongly recommend you check it out. It’s energetic, fun, and breezy. A perfect waft of wrestling in a muggy summer.
Thank you for joining us on our AEW journey, and I hope you’ll be with us again next week when we Fight for the Fallen. I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below and spread the word about P&B, Steel Ringpost, and AEW itself to all your wrestlefriends. Wrestling needs this alternative, and all of us need our community.
