All Elite Wrestling‘s Fyter Fest was a nice departure from the normal week-in, week-out, formula of Dynamite. Jon Moxley and real-life circumstances facilitated a change to the main event of Night Two, but the match in it’s place was a succesful one. With the Wednesday Night War fully raging, let’s go over some of the fallout from Fyter Fest.
Fyter Fest: Omega and Page Win, But Private Party Succeeds
Going into this match, you knew that Private Party weren’t going to upset Omega and Page. That wasn’t the point of this match. The point was to give Private Party the biggest match of their career so far. Yes, you could say their win in the Tag Title Tournament over the Young Bucks was bigger. But this one felt like a coming-out party for the two young guns in the tag-team division.
The match was a nice opener to set the tone for the rest of the show. Matt Hardy didn’t get too involved in the match, which I thought would have been a bigger story. Either way, this match was a solid showing for Omega-Page but the start of a hopeful run for Private Party. I know on the THS Wrestling show (that airs every Sunday at 7:00pm), Private Party isn’t too popular. This could and should be the start of bigger things for the tag team.
Fyter Fest: Lance Archer Is Bigger And Better Than This
Lance Archer is an interesting experiment for AEW. He’s very clearly set for bigger and better things in the company. This match was confusing though. After carrying Sonny Kiss to the ring and dominating. You’d think Lance Archer would play with his food and destroy Joey Janela. Well no, he didn’t. Janela gave him some fight, and then some more. For someone who has such a high regard like Lance Archer, you’d think they would want him to destroy Janela. Jake Roberts had to get involved and psych Archer back into the match.
I’d much rather have seen Archer absolutely decimate Janela and Sonny. This isn’t a feud that needs to go on. Janela got his licks in and showed how much he’s made of. That could have been done without giving him tons of offense in this match. Archer needs to be built back up if he’s going to be a bigger part of AEW.
Fyter Fest: Brian Cage And Taz Blowing More Hot Air
The FTW Championship was brought back after 20 years. Sure, they had to make some news because of the delay of the AEW Title match. This wasn’t the best way to do it. The FTW Championship was a “gifted” title that Taz got in ECW due to injuries to the actual champions. Instead of coming out and saying that Brian Cage is going to beat the crap out of Moxley one last time, Taz simply gave the new (old) title to Cage.
It’s another situation like Lance Archer vs. Cody. Because of this new title being handed to Cage, I don’t see Moxley losing next week. Cage is impressive, but he’s had how many matches in AEW? It just doesn’t make much sense for him to beat Moxley at this point. But then where does that leave Cage after? Does he get kicked back down the card? We’ll have to find out at Fight For The Fallen next week.
Fyter Fest: Please Have FTR Turn On The Bucks, Finally
In an amazing 8-man tag match, the Young Bucks, FTR, and The Lucha Bros all got in some amazing work. The Butcher and the Blade took some punishment and sort of stood around. You can tell where they sit on the AEW Tag Team hierarchy. The highlight of the match was the finish with a Canadian Destroyer from Ray Fenix to the mass of men on the outside. It was a big win for the Lucha Bros, showing that they can compete with the two best tag teams in the world.
What I can’t handle, is all the fake buddy-buddy act between FTR and the Young Bucks. I understand that AEW probably wants to hold off on having that match for as long as possible, but it’s maddening seeing these two teams act like they’re best buddies. You don’t have the Young Bucks saying “F*ck the Revival” for five years and then just have them smile and hang out with each other. Hopefully the errant Superkick near the end of this match gives some sort of tension between the two superteams.
Fyter Fest: Nyla Rose Dominates Again
Nyla Rose doesn’t have an equal on the AEW Women’s roster. It’s a real problem for the division. Hikaru Shida knocked off Nyla Rose at AEW Double Or Nothing. It took a no DQ stipulation and a lot of effort on Shida’s part. So either Nyla Rose is going to win the title again or AEW is going to have to find a way for Rose to continue to dominate outside of the title picture. Well that leads to some problems. If AEW is built all around wins and losses mattering, then Nyla Rose is always going to be in the title picture at this rate.
The women’s division in AEW has improved greatly over the past six months, but they still lack that big star power. Could Tessa Blanchard come to Jacksonville? She would fix a lot of issues that their division has right now.
Fyter Fest: Colt Cabana And The Dark Order Mingle
In one of the longest feuds going in AEW, SCU’s fight against The Dark Order has gotten slightly harder now. Colt Cabana was on a four match losing streak before he joined up with Brodie Lee and the Dark Order. This match showed just how prosperous that partnership could be for Cabana. After debuting at AEW: Revolution, Cabana was sort of floundering. As someone who has a wrestling pedigree, but isn’t as big of a star, Cabana made a pop at his debut and has sort of been relegated to the sidelines as of late.
This new partnership adds a wrinkle to this storyline. During this match, you could see Lee getting frustrated with Cabana and his injury. It remains to be seen where it’s going to go, but the Dark Order swallowing up more members to make them better is a great way to rejuvenate wrestlers in AEW.
Fyter Fest: Cassidy and Jericho Go Toe-To-Toe
I wasn’t expecting this match. After a lukewarm segment and brawl between the two, Orange Cassidy had his best match in the company since Revolution against Pac. Jericho winning wasn’t a surprise, but it was surprising how much offense and heart that Cassidy showed throughout. As someone who was not a fan of OC, now I can safely say, that he’s awesome. The fake kicks are still corny and hammy, but the rest of his repertoire is great.
Hopefully this is the end of the feud for Jericho and he can move on to something else. Perhaps a feud with Cody Rhodes over the TNT Title. With Sammy Guevara out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Jericho needs something new to do.
Fight For The Fallen And Beyond
All Elite Wrestling hasn’t seen a lull in programming quality like WWE has seen through the pandemic. Fight For The Fallen is another big event framed around the AEW Championship match between Jon Moxley and Brian Cage. Hopefully that match doesn’t suffer from a layoff. AEW is on a roll so far, with all the feuds on their show feeling big-time.
They have a real fight on their hands with ratings now. NXT has given them a struggle for that top spot the past two weeks. Ratings aren’t everything in Wrestling though, and competition is the best thing for each company.
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All images are courtesy of Lee South/All Elite Wrestling.
