All Elite Wrestling held its Fyter Fest event on Saturday, June 29, 2019, from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL. The event streamed for free on B/R Live.

The event was an important one following all the praise AEW received for the Double or Northing event last month. The card featured the AEW in-ring debut of Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose in WWE) against Joey Janela.

PRE-SHOW – The Buy-In

Best Friends def. SCU and Private Party

This was a triple threat tag team match where the winner receives a first-round bye in the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament. I enjoyed the performance of the Best Friends during Double or Nothing. I absolutely loved what I saw from SCU then, too. This was my first time seeing Private Party.

What a way to kick off the Buy-In! This match could have been a main event in any other wrestling promotion, but AEW put it on the pre-show. Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky looked like a million bucks. Both veteran teams really helped put over Private Party. To their credit, Private Party took advantage of the situation and showed they have to potential to be absolute stars. I love that Quen wrestled almost the entire match with his sunglasses on. He lost them during a double team DDT spot by SCU on the outside. The announce team put over how Kazarian knocked the glasses off. The Best Friends hug spot always makes me pop.

Best Friends hit Strong Zero on Isiah Kassidy and score the pin for the win. This was amazing. Tag team wrestling at its finest!

GRADE: 4 STARS 

There was a Dark Order spot after the match. It was kinda boring. Save it for the weekly television and keep it off the PPV events.

Allie def. Leva Bates

This was bad. I know Leva got over in NXT as Blue Pants. I don’t know much more other than that. This librarian gimmick is pretty intolerable. Allie moved very well. It was clear that she is a much better wrestler and deserved better than this nonsense.

GRADE: 1 STAR

Michael Nakazawa vs. Jebailey – Hardcore Match

This was weird. It was like watching Shane McMahon circa 2003 minus the high spots. I don’t know much about Nakazawa. He seems to have a ton of charisma and can move pretty damn well. Jebailey showed us why most of us wrestling fans have absolutely no business in the ring. That said, decent enough much for what it was and it being placed in the pre-show.

GRADE: 1.75 STARS 

FYTER FEST – MAIN CARD

CIMA def. Christopher Daniels

I loved this match. Christopher Daniels is a freak of nature. CIMA from the #StrongHearts and they showed how awesome they can be in last month’s Double or Nothing event. You can tell the company is big on CIMA. Daniels hit the Blue Thunder Bomb and Angel’s Wings yet CIMA kicked out at 2. CIMA scored the pin following an Air Raid Crash and Meteora.

GRADE: 3.75 STARS

Riho def. Yuka Sakazaki and Nyla Rose

This was a solid triple threat match. Nyla Rose needed to put in a good performance following a disappointing AEW debut at Double or Nothing. Riho and Yuka Sakazaki had some rough spots here and there.

Riho wins on the surprise roll-up with Nyla Rose in the all too familiar, Samoa Joe spot – looking surprised/angry/pissed off following a surprise roll-up loss to a much smaller opponent. At least no title was on the line this time.

GRADE: 3 STARS

Adam Page def. MJF, Jungle Boy (w/ Luchasaurus) and Jimmy Havoc

https://twitter.com/tde_wrestling/status/1145138939071799297

Kip Sabian is on commentary and will face the winner of the match in two weeks at Fight for the Fallen. All four men brawl at the bell, but Page and Jungle Boy end up the two men standing in the ring. Each had fantastic counters with Page ending the exchange following a big boot. After Double or Nothing I felt like Jungle Boy was out of place in AEW, but seeing him work this match, he fits in just fine. He held his own against Page and had some nice exchanges with Jimmy Havoc.

MJF continued to be the asshole we have all grown to love to hate. He called back to his encounter with Brett Hart at Double or Nothing by trying to put Page into a Sharp Shooter after hitting a chop block on him, but Page countered and put the Sharp Shooter on MJF.

Hangman wins after tosses MJF outside of the ring after hitting a Buckshot Lariat on Jimmy Havoc. Page then hit the Dead Eye to score the pin over Havoc.

This was a quality match, but it very much felt like the Jungle Boy and MJF show for a while there. You almost forgot about Havoc and Page at times.

GRADE: 3.75 STARS

Cody vs. Darby Allin – TIME LIMIT DRAW

I don’t know about Darby Allin much. All I know of Allin is what was shown of him on Vice’s The Wrestlers. I feel like this match is difficult to grade for me without discussing the post-match angle.

I enjoyed this match for what it was. It showcased Allin in a way we haven’t seen a wrestler showcased in quite some time. The commentators put over his no-quit attitude. He really did look like a force. Cody put him over big. The two went to a draw after the 20-minute limit had been reached. Cody was pleading with the timekeeper for 5 more minutes when out pops Shawn Spears (fka Tye Dillinger) and lays an unprotected chair shot to Cody’s head that cracked his head open in a way I haven’t seen in a long, long time.

This was a solid match that was stained by a poor post-match beatdown angle that added little to the show, little to moving a story forward and took away any steam Darby Allin might have gained following his gutsy performance.

GRADE: 4 STARS

Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson def. The Lucha Bros. & Laredo Kid

Earlier in the show, Kenny, Matt, and Nick talked about losing their gear. The trio came out dressed as Ken, Ryu, and Akuma from Street Fighter. I love Pentagon Jr., Fenix, and Laredo Kid are great. This match was awesome!

Following the events in the match prior, I was not sure how the crowd would react, but their memory is short and they really got into it. Matt’s Northern Lights Suplexes were something any wrestling fan can appreciate. Everyone looked amazing in this match. This was a nice showcase to introduce Laredo Kid to the masses.

Omega hit a V Trigger on Kid in mid-air and followed it up with a Tiger Driver 98 for a count of 2. Omega followed it up with another V Trigger on Laredo Kid and hit the One-Winged Angel for the 1, 2, 3.

Hadouken!!!

GRADE: 4.5 STARS

Jon Moxley vs. Joey Janela – NON-SANCTIONED MATCH

The commentary team made it a point to tell us that this match was unsanctioned and not a part of the official card. The announcer even said it was the end of the event and this match was unofficial/unsanctioned.

You can tell that Moxley was in his element. The crowd chanted “You sick fuck!” and he just soaked it up. There was a chair wrapped in barbwire, a board with barbwire stapled to it, bodies went through tables, bare feet on thumbtacks… it was clear that Jon Moxley was in his element. Moxley hit a Paradigm Shift on a barefoot Joey Janela into the thumbtacks. Moxley sat up, spit out a few thumbtacks and covered Janela for the pin and the win.

Seth was right. Ambrose did take his ball and go home. Now he's home.#FyterFest pic.twitter.com/b4GgL39MjZ

— 👊🏻 Las Vegas Fight Shop 👊🏻 (@LVFightShop) June 30, 2019

GRADE: 4 STARS

There was a post-match beatdown by Kenny Omega on Moxley to get revenge for the attack at Double or Nothing and to set up their upcoming match in August’s All Out pay-per-view. Omega hit a kinda weak looking Paradigm Shift on Moxley onto a trashcan and stood tall. Moxley laughs and smiles and the cameras go dark. Nice way to end the show. 

Edwin Iguina

Edwin is the founder of BRO.geek. He has a passion for gadgets, comic books, comic book TV shows, movies, and the Philadelphia Eagles.

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