PREVIEW – AEW Dynamite: Beach Break (Jan 26, 2022)

As we near the end of the first month of 2022, All Elite Wrestling has been on absolute fire. From holding the first ever Battle of the Belts, to debuting superstars like Brody King, AEW has been an exciting watch to say the least. They will look to continue the trend of providing high quality entertainment this Wednesday when they bring a special episode of Dynamite to Cleveland, Ohio; it’s time for Beach Break.

I am sure there are going to be some surprises, and we will get into that in a little while, but let’s start off with covering the segments and matches that have already been announced.

On the segment side of things, we will have two superstars addressing the crowd on Wednesday. The AEW Women’s World Champion Dr. Britt Baker DMD will be taking to the ring with some things to say, and then in another segment, the best in the world CM Punk will be grabbing a mic. As we build towards Revolution, these segments will hold a lot of importance, but for different reasons. Dr. Britt Baker will be looking for an opponent for the PPV, so could this be where the inevitable feud with Thunder Rosa picks back up? I firmly believe that Thunder Rosa will be the one to take the title off of Baker, and maybe that is better suited for Double or Nothing, but regardless I think we will be getting a better idea of the Women’s World Title picture after Beach Break.

CM Punk’s segment will obviously serve to further the story line with him and MJF. Punk has now worked his way through The Pinnacle, and a date with MJF appears to be on the horizon. Interestingly enough, Dynamite is set to live from the Wintrust Area in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, so Beach Break could be the perfect set up to this match finally happening. I don’t even believe the Chicago match will be end of this feud, as I think the logical place for a conclusion would be at the Revolution PPV at the end beginning of March. This would probably also be the best place to pull the trigger on the Wardlow/MJF stuff, which is one of the most interesting stories happening in AEW right now.

As for the matches themselves, let’s start with Legit Leyla Hirsch vs Red Velvet. This match has the potential to be a good one, but the story just isn’t doing it for me. I am not really a fan of Leyla Hirsch. She is obviously talented, but there just seems to be something missing, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Red Velvet has been developing nicely and it’s great to see her getting some TV time, but this match is purely about whats going on with Hirsch and Kris Statlander and honestly, I think Statlander is above all of this. I am a huge fan of Kris Statlander and the Best Friends stable as a whole and I wish AEW could find something more interesting for to do. This is where I say that maybe AEW needs some Women’s Tag Titles, because even though they just added the TBS Title to the fold, there are so many amazing women on this roster and more of them need something to battle for. Anyway, I see Hirsch getting the win here and moving on to pick a fight against Statlander in the coming weeks.

In what could be a very interesting Trios match, The Inner Circle (Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz) will be taking on 2.0 and Daniel Garcia. Jericho has been something of an enigma as of late. I can honestly say I am kind of getting tired of his current gimmick, and it’s only gotten worse with him trying to get over the whole GFY thing. It really comes across as corny and as much as I was happy when the Inner Circle turned face during their confrontation with The Pinnacle, it is time to turn Jericho heel again. The best place to do that will be the culmination of this angle, which I believe will be Jericho battling it out with Eddie Kingston at some point for the “rights” to Santana and Ortiz, and will eventually lead to the end of the Inner Circle. Sammy Guevara is doing his own thing in the TNT Title battle with Cody Rhodes, Jake Hager has been nowhere to be seen and is mostly an afterthought, and it’s time for Santana and Ortiz to get their run at the tag titles. As for this specific match, I see it going one of two ways: either Santana and Ortiz get the win without even tagging in Jericho to prove that they don’t need him, or 2.0 get the win with Jericho somehow costing his team the win. Either way, this match could be great if they find the right finish.

Speaking of the Inner Circle, Sammy Guevara is getting ready for an absolute war against Cody Rhodes in a unification ladder match for the TNT Championship. With Cody having COVID a couple weeks back and unable to perform at Battle of the Belts, Sammy was able to win the Interim TNT Title in a big match against Cody’s brother Dustin Rhodes. Now, as Cody looks to cement his third reign as TNT Champ, a ladder match is the only way for this to go down between these two warriors. If you follow Sammy’s vlog then you’ll know he has been on vacation with his girlfriend Tay Conti in her home country of Brazil, so the Spanish God will be coming into this match well rested and ready for a fight. Cody on the hand, will be looking to show Tony Khan and the rest of the AEW universe why he deserves that new contract, and is a true face of this company. It is hard to predict a winner in this one, but I feel as though Cody most likely retains and moves on to his next opponent.

Last but not least, Wednesday night will feature a Unsanctioned Light Out Match with Orange Cassidy taking on Adam Cole. I couldn’t be a bigger fan of both of these men, and although this feud is clearly just filler until Adam Cole starts tangling with Hangman Page in a bid for the AEW World Championship, that doesn’t mean this I haven’t loved this story line, because I have. That mixed tag from last week was pure flames, so any continuation if this is a welcome sight for me. This match will most likely blow off this feud, and that’s fine, but this match is going to be crazy, and when Adam Cole pulls out the W, it will only be a matter of time before he starts things up with Hangman.

In terms of surprises, there is only one that I am expecting to happen. Now I am not Nostradamus, or some sort of fortune teller, but if I were a betting man, I would be going all in on Johnny Gargano debuting at Beach Break in his home town of Cleveland, Ohio. He is well free and clear of his WWE non-compete, and has been talking the last couple weeks about being ready to wrestle again, so what better place to debut than your hometown on a special episode of Dynamite. Like I said, I don’t actually know this is going to happen, it is just an educated guess, but I like to see the bright side of life and this would be an amazing moment if it were to happen.

Beach Break should be an amazing show, and it all goes down this Wednesday Jan 26th at 8:00pm on TBS in the US and on TSN in Canada.

REVIEW – The WRLD on GCW (Jan 23rd, 2022)

Just as an FYI, this was my first viewing experience of Game Changer Wrestling. Other than the odd Youtube clip or discussion on Busted Open Radio, my knowledge of GCW was mostly limited to whatever involvement Jon Moxley had. In saying that, the buzz around this event was noticeable to even me, and I figured I would pony up the $40 CAD and see what all the fuss was about. I was not disappointed and that is an understatement.

This event was very solid. Like VERY solid. The match quality was high. The guest appearances were pretty amazing. The atmosphere at the Hammerstein Ballroom was absolutely insane. It really gave off ECW vibes, and I am sure that was what they were going for (just check out the merch they were selling for proof). I don’t have much to complain about, but the event wasn’t perfect and we’ll get into that.

Lets start off with the match-ups. I won’t go into the pre-show stuff; you can find that on Youtube and I highly recommend checking it out. The PPV event started off with the Grab the Brass Ring Ladder Match, with the winner able to cash it in at any time for a shot at any title. The match was supposed to feature Lio Rush but he was replaced by G-Raver, and we would find out why a little later on. AJ Gray was also a surprise 7th entrant at the last minute. The GCW Extreme Champion was supposed to have battled Eddie Kingston at this event but Kingston has an injury and was forced to withdraw, so it was nice to see Gray still get in on some action. And Gray ended up winning this match in fact, which could set up some interesting match-ups in the future. This match was pretty insane, with some really crazy ladder spots. The ladders themselves didn’t seem to want to cooperate, which made for some scary moments but they made it through and the right man won.

The next match on the card was a Trios match under luchador rules with Team Bandido taking on Team Gringo. This match was all the proof needed to see why lucha libre wrestling needs to be seen on TV more often. Some of the spots in this match were absolutely insane. At one point all six men were stacked in two towers of three men, with each level fighting their counterpart in the other stack. It was certainly one of the coolest wrestling spots I’ve seen in awhile. In the end Team Gringo pulled out the win with Gringo Loco getting the pin after a spike piledriver on ASF.

Now here is where we get the LIo Rush match that we were promised, even if not what we thought we were getting going into the night. Unfortunately, Jonathon Gresham was unable to appear due to health and safety protocols, so the ROH World Championship match had to be cancelled. Enter Lio Rush, taking Gresham’s spot in his match against Blake Christian. Now I haven’t seen Gresham wrestle much and I was excited to see this match, but it is what it is, and Lio Rush knows what he’s doing. Blake Christian grabbed a mic to express his frustration, and made it be known he still deserves that title shot at some point. The match itself was great. These two guys deserve a lot of credit for putting together a match on such short notice. The ending with Christian landing a 450 double stomp on Rush before snagging the pin was outstanding, and its very obvious that Blake Christian has a bright future ahead of him.

The next match was one of the battles I was most looking forward to going into this event. It was one of the only matchups where I was familiar with both competitors, and had been following the feud through instagram, and I am of course talking about Matt Cardona vs Joey Janella. This match was mostly a handicap match with Chelsea Green basically being another competitor against Janella, but he held his own through most of this match. While starting off as a good old fashioned grudge match, this battle devolved into absolute chaos and I am totally here for that. There was constant interruptions from the likes of Swoggle (from under the ring), Marco Stunt, Brian Myers (spearing Janella with a motorcycle helmet on) and after Cardona got the win and was setting up to beat down Janella even more, the DX music hit and Sean Waltman (Xpac) came in for the save. Like I said, this match was a complete clusterfuck and I loved every minute of it. The competitors were clearly going for a 90’s WWF overbooked match vibe and they certainly accomplished their goal. Great match.

Following the previous match would have been a tough go, but Allie Katch vs Ruby Soho did an admirable job of finding a way to get it done. The match started with a video package featuring Allie Katch talking about how this was her dream match, and these two ladies lived up to that. This was definitely the biggest match of Katch’s career, and although Ruby got the win, these two women put on banger and showed that the future is bright for both GCW and AEW with these women respectively.

While I enjoyed the following match, it kind of came off as kind of a miss. Jeff Jarrett vs Effy seemed like an odd combo, and there didn’t seem to be enough story build to really know the motivation for Jeff Jarrett here. That being said, I am a sucker for an absolute legend getting in the ring, and Jarrett walking to the ring with the dope theme and dressed like the Man in Black, I have to admit I marked out pretty hard, The match itself was nothing special. There was what felt like 10 minutes where the two men just beat each with Jarrett’s belt. They kind of made Jarrett out to be a bit homophobic, and while he can clearly still go, the match was a little more slow and deliberate than anything else on the card. I enjoyed the ending, with Jarrett breaking his guitar over Effy’s head and then slamming him to the ground for the pinfall, but its clear that this feud isn’t over yet and I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.

The GCW World Championship match was next, which felt odd at the time, since it wasn’t even the main event. The reason for this became clear later, but I am still a firm believer in the title match should end the card. Regardless, it was great to see Moxley again after his match on Friday against Ethan Page on Rampage. To be honest, this really does seem like Moxley in his element too; he’s clearly a violent guy, and this kind of promotion just seems like such a natural fit. And don’t get me wrong, I want Mox in AEW until he retires, but it’s nice to see him broadening his horizons. Not to mention that Homicide is an indie wrestling legend (he was inducted into the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame the night before) and I was expecting an absolute banger, but in actuality this match was mostly a let down. To be clear, this was more of a fight and that was perfectly fine too, but I feel like this could have been more. The saving grace was that image of Mox holding the title up after his victory in a sold out Hammerstein, which definitely made up for any shortcomings of the match itself.

Then it was time for the main event, which was the Open Challenge for the GCW Tag Team Titles with the Briscoes facing off against an unnamed opponent. I truly believed that this was going to be FTR showing up, which was the only reason that it made sense to me to throw this match on last. But I was wrong, and the challengers were GCW legend Matt Tremont and the leader of the MDK Gang, Nick Fucking Gage. I was stoked to see Gage but was disappointed that it wasn’t FTR. The match was fast and furious, but it was also really short. I had read somewhere that the event had to be over by 11pm and that didn’t leave the competitors much time. Whether that was true, or it was always supposed to be this kind of match, it reached the desired effect and took the titles off the Briscoes and the fan’s got to have their hero Gage walk out with a belt. The highlight of the last match was actually the post-match gathering of the GCW locker room in the ring with Gage, most drinking a spirituous beverage of some kind (most likely a PBR) with Gage thanking the fans and celebrating an amazing night. Even though the match maybe didn’t live up to expectations, the final hurrah certainly made up for it.

On the whole, this event was extremely successful, and I am not even talking about financially. This was a sold out legendary wrestling venue (I believe I heard an announcer say around 2000 people) by a company that is only gaining popularity by the day. The card itself was stacked and most of the matches were very entertaining if not legitimately awesome. Were there some minor production issues? Yes, but this isn’t WWE or AEW. This is an indie promotion putting on a PPV and I think they hit it out of the park. I know personally I will be paying much closer attention to Game Changer Wrestling, and I know many more people will be too.

Several AEW Wrestlers Could be Leaving the Company Soon

As we move further into 2022, it’s looking like the bloated AEW roster could be losing some of its talent in the very near future. It is being reported that several roster members have expiring contracts and that within the next few months, the AEW roster could look a little different.

In the past week or so we have learned that AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes is technically a free agent, as his contract expired at the end of 2021. Now I don’t expect Cody to go anywhere, he’s an EVP with the company and a large reason for their success. I know on fan level you either love Cody or hate him, but you have to admit that promo from Dynamite the other night was intense, and I am really stoked for the ladder unification match against Sammy Guevara this week at Beach Break.

Another superstar with an expired deal is Peter Avalon and this is someone I fully expect to return to the indie scene and leave AEW in the rear view mirror. The leader of the Wingmen never really made much of an impact in AEW. His librarian gimmick was short lived and the Wingmen just seem like an afterthought for a group of wrestlers with no real direction. I think Avalon is talented but I won’t be sad to see him go.

Now there are a few more notable names with expiring deals that will be a little more noticeably missing to the regular Dynamite or Rampage viewer. Lio Rush has already announced he is leaving on his Instagram and is taking bookings; his contract looks to expire in May. This isn’t a surprise, as Rush never really seemed to fit in on AEW television. His financial guru gimmick just seemed way too similar to the Big Money Matt Hardy character, and while he is super talented in the ring, and the stuff with Dante Martin has potential, it just seemed like they didn’t really know what to do with him.

Brian Cage appears to be on the way out as well. Noticeably frustrated with his lack of progress in the title picture (he does have a win against current champ Hangman Page), Cage appears ready to move on. His wife has had no problem ripping AEW to shreds for not using her husband properly, and since the resolution of the Team Taz storyline, Cage just doesn’t seem to have direction, especially when compared to some of the newer talent that has been brought in. Maybe it’s time for Cage to head back to Impact and get into it with Impact Champ Moose.

As mentioned in our WRLD on GCW preview from earlier today, Joey Janella is almost done with AEW as well. A regular on Dark and Dark Elevation, Janella just hasn’t had the impact on the singles division that some thought he might at the onset of AEW, when he was an early signing. While his partnership and then feud with Sonny Kiss was some of the better stuff happening in the YouTube shows, it still wasn’t hot enough to break out onto TV. Janella should head back to GCW (he’s fighting Cardona tonight at the Hammerstein), and do a solid run toward the GCW World Championship.

These will not be the only contracts coming up in 2022. With all the new talent the company has added in the last year and only 3 hours of television each week, it’s going to make a name for yourself if you have be resigned to wrestling on Dark. There is a lot of talent on the bottom end of the roster, but for much of that talent, another promotion might be the answer to breaking out and reaching that next level.

PREVIEW – The WRLD on GCW (Jan 23, 2022)

So tonight I will be watching my first GCW show and it is going to be an absolute banger. Game Changer Wrestling really took it to the next level in 2021, and even as an observer from the periphery, it was obvious that this product has the people talking. This show especially is interesting to me because of the volume of AEW talent that is going to be featured, including the recently returned GCW World Champion and AEW mega star Jon Moxley. So it should be a great show and I am really looking forward to taking in something new to me in the wrestling world. My first real exposure to GCW was through the introduction of Nick Gage to AEW during the labors of Jericho last year. That match was absolutely insane and that was on primetime television, so I can only imagine whats going to go down tonight from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City at a completely sold out show.

Most of the card intrigues me tonight, but there are definitely some match-ups that I am super pumped for. To start with, the GCW World Championship match between Moxley and Homicide should be an all timer. Homicide was just in AEW not long ago helping out Moxley and Kingston, and Eddie Kingston considers Homicide to be one of biggest contributors to his success, so it should be interesting to see these two battle it out tonight. Kingston was supposed to wrestle at this event but was forced to withdraw with an orbital bone injury, so I wonder if he will maybe show up at a hometown show to help out one of his boys.

Matt Cardona has been one of the biggest stars of pro wrestling over the last year, and that is while not working for companies named AEW or WWE. He has been everywhere else though, including Impact, GCW, and NWA. He even won the GCW World Championship last year, winning it from Nick Cafe before Mox showed up and took it from him. Cardona finally gets his match tonight with Joey Janella (check out Chelsea Green’s instagram for the reason behind this feud lol) and it should be flames. Janella hasn’t been seen around AEW television much but he did pop up against Eddie Kingston on the January 8th Dynamite and looked to be in better shape than he has been in awhile. Janella’s contract with AEW is coming up soon (March 2022) so this could signal the start of him looking for outside work and getting back into the world of GCW on a more regular basis.

There’s also Jeff Jarrett facing off with Effy, which will no doubt be fascinating to watch, and not to mention Ruby Soho mixing it up with Alli Katch, and anything that gets me more Ruby Soho is a win in my books. But I think the other match that really has me on the edge of my seat is the GCW Tag Team Title match with The Briscoes facing off against a mystery opponent. I am eagerly awaiting The Briscoes to show up in AEW. With the Ring of Honor situation meaning they are technically free agents, I so badly want Dem Boys to to show up on a Dynamite or a Rampage in the near future. Saying that, I do believe the mystery opponents for tonight are going to be AEW’s own FTR, providing payoff for their confrontation at ROH Final Battle a few weeks ago. And I could be wrong, and it could be another GCW tag team that takes the challenge, but I fell like that would be such a waste of the mystery opponent gimmick. Give me Briscoes vs FTR right now damn it.

So here’s to a great show tonight. I am really looking forward to my first real GCW experience. And thank you to my wife for letting me have the TV at 8pm on a Sunday.

The WRLD on GCW Live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New Work, 8pm EST on Fite TV.

Full Card

PreShow Six Way Scramble – Alex Zayne vs Dante Leon vs Nick Wayne vs Jack Cartwheel vs Ninja Mack

PreShow Battle Royal – ?? vs ?? vs ?? vs ?? vs ?? vs ?? vs ?? vs ??

Grab the Brass Ring Ladder Match – PCO vs Alex Colon vs Tony Deppen vs Lio Rush vs Jimmy Loyd vs Jordan Oliver

Singles Match – Ruby Soho vs Allie Katch

Singles Match – Matt Cardona (w. Chelsea Green) vs Joey Janella

Singles Match – Effy vs Jeff Jarrett

Six Man Tag Match – ASF, Bandido Laredo Kid vs Arez, Demonic Flamita, & Gringo Loco

GCW Tag Team Title Match – The Briscoes (c) vs ?????

ROH World Title Match – Jonathon Gresham vs Blake Christian

GCW World Title Match – Jon Moxley (c) vs Homicide

REVIEW – AEW Rampage (January 22, 2022)

A live Rampage has been a rarity since the show debuted in August. Other than the second episode when CM Punk took Chicago by storm, and a few other random Fridays, Rampage is almost solely taped on Wednesdays after Dynamite. So it certainly is nice for a change to get a fresh live crowd for a great event, rather than a tired live crowd after a 2 hour Dynamite and some Dark Elevation matches.

The night on a whole was a pretty great show, While Dynamite has been a little hit and miss lately (this week was a hit for sure), Rampage has been more consistent for me, and I truly think that is a benefit of the 60 minute format. You don’t really have the time for throw away segments when your time is so limited, and Tony Khan certainly keeps that in mind. So without further ado, lets get into it.

COMMENTATORS: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho

Match – JON MOXLEY vs ETHAN PAGE (w. Scorpio Sky)

Damn is it nice to have Mox back. His promo to open Dynamite on Wednesday was pure flames (including telling some asshole fan to ‘Go fuck himself’) but I was resigned to the fact that his first post-rehab match was going to be in GCW at the Hammerstein for the GCW World Championship against Homicide (keep an eye out for my WRLD on GCW preview sometime tomorrow). But by the end of Dynamite we knew that wasn’t going to be the case, and All-Ego Ethan Page had stepped up to take the first bullet on Moxley’s return tour. Ethan Page really doesn’t get enough respect in the wider wrestling world. His in ring work is stellar, his on screen character could not be a better scumbag, and if you watch his V-log on Youtube then you know he seems like the nicest guy in the world (he’s a fellow Canadian, so duh). So a Mox v Page match was a total win for me before the show even started. 

Now this isn’t going to be the kind of website that does shot for shot, hit for hit recaps of every match but I will give my general impressions, and my impression of this match was that it was the exact match that Mox needed to have. Sunday in GCW is going to be intense, so this was the best way to shake off some of that ring rust before getting into with Homicide in New York. Now that’s not to say that it was a walk in the park for Moxley; All-Ego definitely got his shots in, but there was no way Mox wasn’t walking out with the W on this night. Moxley put Page to sleep and the Ref had no choice but to call for the bell. But when Page woke up, and realised what had happened, he made his biggest mistake of the night, getting in Moxley’s face and trying to pick another fight. For his troubles Page was treated to a Paradigm Shift before Mox hit the crowd and marched out to the sounds of Wild Thing blaring through the arena.

But the most interesting part of the match, was the brief confrontation with Bryan Danielson, who stood golf clapping as Mox stared him down before leaving the venue. I am so there for Danielson and Mox getting into some shenanigans. They were being set up to face each other in the finals of the eliminator tournament at Full Gear but Miro had to sub in when Moxley left for rehab. So now that Danielson is done with Hangman (for the time being), a date with Moxley for Revolution might be just what the doctor ordered.

Winner – Jon Moxley

Rating: 4 Stars

Segment – JURASSIC EXPRESS talk about the GUNN CLUB

This segment was fine. Jurassic Express need to get some wins under their belt before fighting their first serious contenders. The Glunn Club certainly are talented and anything that gets more Billy Gunn on my TV is fine. Austin Gunn definitely has something special (if you have watched him on Ethan Page’s V-log then you know what I’m talking about) so getting these kids some TV time will help their development. Now the question is who is around the corner waiting for Jurassic Express after they deal with the Gunn Club. My money is on FTR, unless the Briscoes show up before then.

Match – NICK JACKSON (w. Matt Jackson) vs TRENT BERETTA (w. Best Friends)

As great as this match was, it was also a little bittersweet. I was very much looking forward to a reunion of Roppongi Vice and a match with the Young Bucks made it all the better. However, as fate would have it, Rocky Romero would test positive for COVID-19 in the brief time between Dynamite and Rampage this week, so he was unable to perform. Tony Khan decided to change things to singles match, featuring Trent vs Nick Jackson (in a rare singles appearance) and the boys put on a banger. Certainly worth your time to go back and watch, Trent picked up a much needed victory here, cementing his return from injury, and showing his surgically repaired neck is up to the task of getting suplexed multiple times.

Trent has looked great since returning and with the Beretta moniker back in his name, and some apparent diffusion with Wheeler Yuta on the ramp before the match, I wonder if there are plans to get Trent into some kind of singles run in 2022. 

Winner – Trent Beretta

Rating: 4 Stars

Segment – MERCEDES MARTINEZ

In a pre-taped promo segment, Mercedes Martinez made it clear that her number one priority in AEW right now is to take out Thunder Rosa. This match should be an absolute banger when it happens, should be sooner rather than later.

Match – HOOK vs SERPENTICO

One of the hottest young stars in all of professional wrestling showed once again why he needs to be taken seriously. From the minute his theme hits, the fans go nuts for HOOK and this night was no different. Serpentico was no match for the son of Taz, in fact Hook didn’t even wait for the bell and had his opponent reeling as the ref signalled for the start of the match. Making short work of Serpentico in what was basically a squash match, Hook finished him off with a standing Redrum before marching back up the ramp.

However, QT Marshall decided it was a good idea to come out of the tunnel and criticise the young phenom for attacking Serpentico before the bell. For his troubles, QT had to eat a suplex and watch Hook step over him to exit the stage. An impressive victory for the young superstar, but I’m not really sure about the QT Marshall stuff. Maybe it’s time to test the metal of Hook against someone a little further up the card.

Winner – Hook

Rating: 3 stars

Segment – BACKSTAGE WITH MARK HENRY

The two women fighting in the main event, Anna Jay (w. John Silver) and Jade Cargill (w. Mark Sterling) were split screen interviewed by Mark Henry, as is the traditional on Rampage. Jade was confident, with her 24-0 record speaking for itself. Anna Jay made it clear that her recent street fight has changed her and that tonight TBS stands for That Bitch Slayer.

MAIN EVENT – (C) JADE CARGILL (w. Mark Sterling) vs Anna Jay (w. John Silver)

 

I have to admit, I haven’t been a big fan of Jade Cargill up to this point. It’s not a personal thing, i just have found that her in ring work has really showed her lack of experience, and her mic skills make a Smart Mark Sterling a very necessary part of her gimmick. Now I understand that she is very new, and that this will all come with time. I also understand that she has that IT factor that will help her become a very important member of the AEW roster as she continues to develop. I personally felt that it was too soon to put a title on her. Ruby Soho (who has never held a pro wrestling title in a major promotion) probably could have brought a little more legitimacy to the TBS Championship out of the gate, but I do understand the decision to go with Jade. However he match with Ruby was a dumpster fire and really showed that she needs more work in the ring.

That being said, this match was actually pretty good. The two women involved are both very new to the wrestling business, and that peaked through a couple of times. But this was by far Jade’s best match in AEW, and with the exception of the Street Fight against Penelope Ford and The Bunny, this was probably also Anna Jay’s best match. Both of these woman are the future of the women’s division in AEW, and while Jade was always going to get the win on this night, it showed me that my criticism of Jade might not stand much longer.

WInner – Jade Cargill retains the TBS Championship

Rating: 3.5 stars

Wrap-Up

Overall this was a very solid Rampage, and coming off of a great Dynamite on Wednesday, it has been a very good week for AEW. Hopefully that momentum carries into Beach Break next week. Stayed tuned for our Beach Break Preview coming this week on The Heavyweight Wrestling Review.

Show Rating: 7 out of 10