AEW kicked off its fourth venture across the pond last Saturday for a special holiday tour in the United Kingdom. The tour began with a special “Stocking Stuffer” return of its defunct YouTube show, “Dark,” in Cardiff, Wales — taped shortly before the “Winter is Coming” edition of Saturday Night “Collision.”
Last night, AEW made its debut in Manchester, England, for a special three-hour “Holiday Bash” double-taping of Wednesday Night “Dynamite” and “Collision.”
I abhor these three-hour-long episodes. For years, professional wrestling fans begrudged the three-hour-long runtime of Monday Night “Raw.” Now, AEW has fallen into the same trap — trying to fit another “Titanic”-sized episode into their monthly programming schedule.
The saving grace here was the “Continental Classic,” giving this week’s outing enough built-in supplemental material to supersede recent three-hour-long episodes.
For a double-taping that included a staggering nine matches, a handful of strong promos, and the return of MJF, here are the five best moments from “Holiday Bash.”
-
Kyle Fletcher vs. PAC
Kyle Fletcher entered this contest at the top of the Gold League Standings, tied with Kazuchika Okada and “Speedball” Mike Bailey at six points. A victory over PAC would have catapulted “The Protostar” to the top of the tournament’s standings, as the only competitor with nine points. The “Bastard” had other plans.
The Newcastle native was the de facto babyface in this contest, galvanized by an audience who wanted to see the “man that gravity forgot.” PAC delivered, defeating Fletcher with an emphatic Black Arrow.
Rating: ***½
-
Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong
Jon Moxley took his redemption tour across the pond last night, continuing his “C2” campaign against Roderick Strong.
Failure would have resulted in either Moxley or Strong’s mathematical elimination from the tournament, so victory was paramount. To that end, both men competed with a sense of urgency that was palpable; structured around Strong targeting Moxley’s lower-extremities. In the end, though, it was Moxley who prevailed — extending “The Death Rider’s” new lease on life.
-
MJF returns
Maxwell Jacob Friedman took a brief sabbatical in late September, after suffering three consecutive losses to “Hangman” Adam Page, Mistico and Mark Briscoe. Having lost his confidence and being unsure of his place in professional wrestling, Friedman accepted that it was time he recalibrated: promising that, once he returned, he would be more dangerous than ever.
Last night, he returned in dramatic fashion — interrupting Samoa Joe, “Hangman” Adam Page, and Swerve Strickland’s contract signing. With his Casino Gauntlet contract in hand, Friedman punched his ticket at “Worlds End,” turning the triple-threat match into a fatal-four-way for the AEW Men’s World Championship.
Friedman proceeded to deliver a classic MJF-promo, plucking all of the low-hanging fruit and even likening Strickland to P-Diddy. Still, there were moments of brilliance in MJF’s promo — accentuated by a crowd that clearly adored him.
“The rent is due, and the devil has come to collect.” Welcome back, Max.
-
Jon Moxley’s promo
One year ago, Jon Moxley was beckoning his adjutants to suffocate Bryan Danielson with a plastic bag. Now, he’s musing on the beauty of competition and professing his undying love for the sport of professional wrestling. Consider me charmed.
The redemption of Jon Moxley is a double entendre: not only has “The Death Rider” achieved a state of wrestling nirvana, but he’s genuinely becoming an endearing babyface. The best things in professional wrestling are organic. Nobody better understands that than Jon Moxley.
-
FTR [c] vs. The Bang Bang Gang
Classic Southern tag team wrasslin’ is the purest distillation of the medium. FTR are its modern-day masters, inheriting the immortal technique from the likes of Ricky Morton, Robert Gibson and Bobby Eaton.
Last night, they shared the main event spotlight with one of their greatest collaborators, Juice Robinson, and his partner Austin Gunn. The result was a rousing romp of a match that echoed the spirit of those early Saturday Night “Collision” episodes, under CM Punk’s stewardship.
Rating: ***¾
Support AFP
Share
