Chair Shots With Killem Faulkner: Fyter Fest Night 3

No, the title of this article isn’t a mistake and no, you didn’t miss a review. Confusingly enough, Fyter Fest spans both Dynamite and Rampage so even though this is week 2 of the summer special, this was the third show bearing that moniker. With that slightly confusing bit of nomenclature out of the way, the second Fyter Fest version of Dynamite had a lot to live up to after last week’s banger. Granted, this week’s Barbed Wire Everywhere Deathmatch main event attempted to take things up a notch as far as sheer spectacle is concerned. Elsewhere on the card, the new champs that were crowned last week got their moment in the spotlight, AEW’s newest power pairing got its first taste of in-ring action, and there were even several segments promoting this Saturday’s Ring of Honor pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor. How well did the kickoff to week 2 of Fyter Fest live up to the hype? Let’s take a look at the main takeaways from this week’s show from Atlanta, GA.

Best Match of the Night

Although nothing on this week’s show may have topped what we saw last week from a pure wrestling perspective, there were lots of story-driven moments that elevated the overall presentation considerably. I want to give Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Kingston in the main event some credit even though I don’t want to officially recognize it as one of the top matches of the night. Obviously both men put their bodies on the line and delivered an absolutely horrific visual spectacle, which is deserving of respect and appreciation. However, as the supposed blowoff to an intensely personal feud, it left a lot to be desired. Anna Jay turned heel out of nowhere, the Jericho Appreciation Society got involved though ultimately played no real role in the finish, Ortiz and the Blackpool Combat Club intervened without Claudio Castagnoli for some reason, and Sammy Guevara returned to ensure his mentor’s victory. Of course, the shark cage gimmick has never once worked for its intended purpose, so the JAS was clearly going to get involved in some form or fashion. It was just a shame that it overshadowed the finish and presumably signals that the feud isn’t over. Kingston may still get some form of symbolic victory – perhaps he and Jon Moxley team up to take down Jericho and Guevara at All Out – but it would have been cleaner if he had just found a way to rise above the muck here to pick up the win.

I want to give credit to TBS Champion Jade Cargill and Kiera Hogan vs. Athena and Willow Nightingale – it wasn’t the smoothest match in the world, but it really ramped up as the match went on, and everyone involved had their moments to shine, especially Willow Nightingale who should be signed full-time posthaste please and thank you very much, Tony Khan. I’m not exaggerating when I say I have enjoyed every single appearance of hers that I’ve seen, which is admittedly not all of them, and here she had some real standout moments like when she bodyslammed her own partner onto Kiera Hogan or when she hit a rolling double-neckbreaker off the apron. Probably the biggest cheer of the match came when Athena and Jade came face-to-face in the center of the ring to trade forearm shots – if the Fallen Goddess isn’t the one to take the title off Jade, she should at the very least get a high profile 10-15 minute showcase match. Also, I hope her insanely cool jacket with mechanized wings turns into something absolutely gargantuan and intricate for pay-per-views. Mercy from Overwatch seems like the obvious inspiration but I could see some sort of neon mech/peacock hybrid. Or, y’know, something actually cool. My ideas pale in comparison to what someone with actual creativity would come up with. Anyway, of course Jade and Kiera picked up the win because Jade wasn’t taking her first official loss in a TV tag match, but it was a fun ride along the way even if the outcome was never in doubt.

The opening match, Brody King vs. Darby Allin, also deserves a special mention despite being fairly one-sided – there was no realistic scenario in which Darby could toe-to-toe with the monstrous King, so it was always going to be a mauling that the gutsy underdog would barely survive and try to mount a comeback. A perfect encapsulation of how the match would go occurred early on when Allin hit three elbow strikes on King that barely staggered the big man, while the House of Black representative fired back with a single elbow strike and sent Allin crashing to the mat. From there, it was an impressive display of physical dominance that played on the history of this relatively short but intense feud with callbacks to the assault at an autograph signing and the choke-out that capped off the Royal Rampage. King also hit a cannonball into the turnbuckles with Darby latched onto his back in a particularly inspired spot. Allin managed to hit a few brief comebacks including a suicide dive and a Code Red, but he ultimately fell victim to a Gonzo Bomb after barely re-entering the ring ahead of the ref’s count. It fit the characters of both men to a tee and although we’ve been trained to expect Darby to come out on top in such a scenario, it does make sense that a monster such as Brody King would be the one that he could not manage to overcome. Darby isn’t hurt in the slightest by losing here, and Brody gets another significant singles win as well as a significant development post-match in which Sting suffered the black mist from Malakai Black. Miro, who has no particular reason to defend Sting or Darby, also emerged to confront the House of Black, wearing sunglasses with two different hues to signify the lingering effects of being misted himself. Whether we see Miro and Darby team up or a trios match including Sting (I still don’t know where Buddy Matthews is in all this) it certainly seems like this story isn’t over. Although Black is clearly the corrupting influence in the faction, it is clear King is facilitating such action through his physical dominance, which puts him in a prominent position that justifies wins like this over a fan-favorite like Darby.

For my money, the best match of the night also featured the best in-ring storytelling as Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta faced off against Yuta’s former mentors, Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta. There were a lot of emotions swirling in this match, as the well-established dislike Trent had for Wheeler joining Best Friends drove him to join the Blackpool Combat Club despite Chuckie T’s clear interest in continuing to mentor the rising star. Yuta clearly seemed more interested in exacting physical retribution on Trent for driving him away, but he also seemed to want to prove that he had advanced beyond Chuck’s capacity as a mentor. Accordingly, Trent had no problem getting physical with Wheeler, but the Kentucky Gentleman held back at first until pushed to a point where he felt the need to respond with increased aggression. Moxley, of course, just wanted to fight as he always does, so he played the wild card in the match – Yuta is one of his guys now, but he’s certainly not going to fight his battles for him or really stand up for him, instead preferring to let him take his lumps and trying to cause more violence to others than gets done to himself. He did take exception to Yuta being whipped into the barricade, grabbing a chair and trying to throw it at the Best Friends to break up the assault, but it’s fair to wonder if he cared about protecting the youngest BCC member or if he just saw an excuse to introduce weaponry into the fray. Of course, Mox ultimately didn’t play that big a role in the outcome, as it was clearly going to come down to Yuta and Taylor, but he served as clear contrast to Yuta’s former associates through his actions in the match, and by holding off Trent in the closing moments, he made sure that the proper result occurred. On top of the poetic justice of Yuta beating his former mentor to win, as Orange Cassidy pointed out on commentary, he did it with a pinning maneuver that Chuck Taylor taught him. It simultaneously proved that Yuta has transcended the Best Friends’ guidance, as Lord Regal pointed out on commentary throughout the match, while also showing just how much he learned under their tutelage that continues to serve him well to this day. He’s become a bigger star and a stronger competitor since breaking away from them, but when it comes right down to it, he falls back on the skills and techniques they helped him develop. It was an immensely satisfying finish that elevated the match as a whole and gave the Ring of Honor Pure Champion another signature win that may not have been his highest-profile triumph but perhaps may have been the most personally meaningful of his career so far. This match was a clear example of how it isn’t always the flashiest moves or most impactful spots that matter – the layers of meaning in a relatively simple pinning sequence provided one of the biggest highlights of the night to the point where it outshone even the bloodier, more extreme violence of the main event.

Best Moment of the Night

I hate to say I told you so, but I did predict Luchasaurus turning on Christian Cage as soon as Jungle Boy returned. I will say that I would have liked to see more physical retribution here – Luchasaurus had Cage up on his shoulders in a spot eerily reminiscent of Batista lifting up Randy Orton in the infamous “thumbs down” moment, but the big man opted to keep the ruse going by exiting the ring by himself to confront the returning Jungle Jack. True, it probably wouldn’t have made sense for the dinosaur man to keep his mentor up on his shoulders as JB stormed to the ring with a chair in hand, but it could have been more of a sneak attack where JB appeared in the ring behind them just after his music hit, and Luchasaurus could have turned around with Christian clearly struggling to get off his shoulders but Luchasaurus firmly gripping his legs as the realization came over Christian’s face before getting slammed to the mat for JB to rain down chair shots on the man who betrayed and insulted him. That clearly didn’t happen, and Christian escaped scot-free through the crowd, but the visual of Luchasaurus turning aside to stand shoulder to shoulder with his brother in arms was enough for the moment with the physical comeuppance for the treacherous Captain Charisma promised for some unknown point later. I’m okay with the idea of delayed gratification, but it would have been nice to see the plan for revenge to be at least as successful as Christian’s plot to stab Jurassic Express in the back. It was a good moment that could have been a great moment, basically.

Speaking of great moments, Danhausen challenging Ricky Starks (and Starks’ impeccable Danhausen impression) was a great moment that promised even better moments ahead if things play out the way I expect they will. To be clear, how I expect things to play out next week is that Ricky Starks will retain the FTW Championship, possibly with the assistance of Powerhouse Hobbs, and probably a post-match beatdown from Team Taz, which will draw out Hook. The conflict between his father’s team that gave him his first break in the company and his current partner in the wildly popular Hookhausen duo will make for a dramatic moment – if I had the pencil, I’d have him drive off Starks and Hobbs to remain loyal to the man he’s begrudgingly become friends with, but I could see it going the other way and Hook choosing to join in after initially pulling his teammates back. Hook is clearly comfortable as a heel, but it feels like his opportunity to break out as a babyface is massive if he turns his back on Team Taz and makes a definitive stand as his own man. Hookhausen may have a definite expiration date – there will clearly come a point when Danhausen’s comedic antics will be more of a hindrance to Hook’s rise up the ranks than a help to his popularity with the fans – but there’s no reason to think Hook is better off reverting back to his old ways rather than continuing to evolve and advance his character. Starks and Hobbs would serve as a great first roadblock (and ultimately a major stepping stone) for Hook, considering he is likely to shoulder most of the load for his team from a wrestling standpoint considering Danhausen’s comfort in the role of babyface in peril, and with Danhausen stepping up to answer the open challenge for the FTW Championship, that path seems clearly laid out before us.

It would be just about impossible not to give best moment of the night to FTR‘s promo about their upcoming rematch against the Briscoe Brothers for the Ring of Honor tag titles. Cash Wheeler emphasized their respect for the challengers while maintaining that it would take everything Mark and Jay have and more to wrest the championships away from them, but it was Dax Harwood who brought the house down with an emotional story about the strength of his daughter overcoming a heart defect and how that inspires him to fight even harder. You would truly have to have a heart of stone not to be affected by his words, and it is impossible not to recognize why FTR have made such a successful, natural transition to babyfaces, not just based on their exemplary in-ring work but also because of promo segments like this. Death Before Dishonor looks like an absolute banger of a pay-per-view with a stacked card full of matches any Ring of Honor fan should be salivating over, and I have to imagine the tag title match is at or near the top of the list for most RoH fans to get excited over. The first match between the two teams at Supercard of Honor was a match of the year candidate, and the build to this rematch has promised even better things to come on Saturday night. The fact that this has been done without the Briscoes officially appearing on AEW television is a testament to FTR’s ability to rally the crowd behind them and their skill in convincing everyone watching that their many accomplishments and accolades actually matter to them.

Worst Matches/Moments of the Night

There was a lot of Shark Week nonsense that I personally could have done without, but there was really only one baffling moment that I would consider outright bad – who the heck was Chompy the shark mascot? They brought out some goof in a costume to stand behind the commentary table, which is basically professional wrestling shorthand for “I’m somebody in disguise who will reveal myself at a crucial moment” or, at the very least, “I’m an obvious target for someone violent to attack.” AND THEY DID NEITHER. Would it have killed them to have Sammy Guevara under the mask, biding his time until he ran down to get involved in the main event? Barring that, in the grand tradition of the San Diego Chicken, couldn’t he have taken a powerbomb through the broadcast table from Wardlow? Maybe someone will be revealed under the match on Friday’s episode of Rampage, but this felt like such a weird moment without any payoff.

Parting Shots

• As I mentioned, Death Before Dishonor looks like an amazing pay-per-view card, but I’m of two minds about Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jonathan Gresham for the Ring of Honor World Championship – on the one hand, it’s obviously a meaningful opportunity for Claudio to become a world champion for the first time in his career after being passed over for so many years by his previous employer. On the other hand, I feel like he is an AEW guy through and through – his association with the Blackpool Combat Club almost guarantees that he isn’t going to join RoH full time – and Jonathan Gresham seems like a top guy for the relaunch of the company, so it feels like keeping the title in the hands of a company guy would make more sense. Obviously, Claudio doesn’t have to remain champ for a long time if he wins, especially with a TV deal not being finalized yet, so there’s every chance he could drop the belt back to Gresham or someone else before the company fully gets off the ground. It will be a compelling match to watch for sure, but it feels like a significant loss is in the offing no matter the outcome. Then again, in Ring of Honor just as in AEW, wins and losses do, as they should, matter in professional wrestling.
• I am not going to pretend to know who Kevin Gates is, for obvious reasons, but he throws one heck of a right hand. Maybe Tony Nese is just exceptional at selling, which is probably true anyway, but we’ve seen a lot weaker celebrity punches throughout wrestling history. The championship celebration for Swerve in Our Glory may have been a fairly meh segment overall, but that was certainly a moment that got the Atlanta crowd into it. And hey, in my defense, at least I’m old enough that I remembered who Jermaine Dupri was when he accompanied Jade Cargill, Kiera Hogan, and Stokely Hathaway.
• The Gunn Club calling out the Acclaimed for a rap battle on Friday’s Rampage should be absolutely hilarious. ATL does not seem like a place for a couple of white boys to showcase their “skills” on the mic, but the crowd should be red hot for Max Caster’s clapback.

That’s it for another week – really good show even if the ending didn’t live up to the hype, lots of great character-driven work, and another step forward as we draw closer to All Out. Thanks for joining me once again, and I hope you’ll all come back next week for more Chair Shots!