Review: AEW Fyter Fest Night 2

After last week’s triumphant return to the road, Fyter Fest Night 2 had some big cowboy boots to fill emanating from the big D, Dallas TX. With some big matchups announced ahead of time and plenty of storyline developments promised, what stood out on this week’s Dynamite? Which matches and segments delivered, and what left us underwhelmed?

Best Match of the Night

There were several strong contenders from this week’s in-ring offerings: Orange Cassidy vs. the Blade was a fun sprint with a cathartic payoff finish, the Women’s World Championship match between Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. and Nyla Rose was a more competitive and evenly matched clash of styles than the obvious result might have indicated going in, and Shawn Spears vs. Chris Jericho in the first of the Five Labours of Jericho was a great opener not just because it allowed AEW to kick off the show with the fans heartily singing along to “Judas.” Ultimately, however, I have to give the edge to the main event, the IWGP U.S. Championship match between Jon Moxley and Lance Archer. This was a suitably brutal, bloody encounter between two masters of the ultra-violence, and the crowd seemed genuinely unsure who to get behind, the uber-popular champ or the homegrown challenger. There were plenty of fun spots along the way, with the Murderhawk Monster using a “fan” as a weapon, Moxley spiking his opponent with a DDT on the exposed concrete, and a trifecta of entirely uncensored middle fingers from Jake Roberts, the champ, and the challenger that were surely intentional digs at WWE trying (unsuccessfully) to blank out Charlotte’s one-finger salute to the fans at Money in the Bank. Ultimately, Mox ended up being his own worst enemy, eating a pair of chokeslams first onto the spine of two chairs that he had set up in that configuration and finally through two barbed wire-topped tables that kept him down for the ten count. This match genuinely felt like it could have gone either way all the way up to the finish, and the live crowd couldn’t get enough of the hardcore action.

Best Moment of the Night

Once again, plenty of great moments to choose from – Nick F’n Gage being announced for a hardcore match as the Second Labour of Jericho and the subsequent return of the Painmaker alter ego of Chris Jericho; Britt Baker trying the classic Eddie Guerrero move of tossing the title belt to the opponent and trying to pretend they just hit you with it when the ref turns around, only to have it completely blocked by Vickie Guerrero, who has obviously seen that move a time or two; Chavo Guerrero debuting as Andrade El Idolo’s “executive consultant” and busting out lines designed to get cheap pops that Mick Foley surely would have been proud of; all strong contenders for moment of the night, but let’s be real: none of those moments featured the most devastating kicks in all of pro wrestling. That honor was reserved for the showdown between Orange Cassidy and Sting, who nearly brought the house down as they traded blows that culminated with a near-nuclear double superkick as their unrestrained aggression threatened to overshadow what was a solid match between Wheeler Yuta and Darby Allin. This was clearly the high point of the entire evening, and it was truly impressive to see that the Stinger still has that kind of offense in him at (no joke) age 62.

Worst Match/Moment of the Night

Like last week, there weren’t any truly terrible matches or moments this week, so by default that dishonor has to fall to “The Elite Hunter” gimmick being essentially killed off as Frankie Kazarian fell in a heatless match to Luke Gallows. Sure, there was some outside interference from Karl Anderson, and the post-match beatdown drew AEW champ Kenny Omega out to the ring to set up another confrontation with Adam Page and the Dark Order, so it arguably served its purpose. Still, Omega’s intentionally cringeworthy proclamation “the Elite Hunter has become…the Elite Hunted” likely spells the end to a fun subplot. Maybe Kaz will be fired up to avenge his betrayal by his former friends in the Elite one last time by helping Adam Page become AEW champion at All Out, but he seems destined to fade into the background without any real direction at this point. Given the crowd’s apathy for this match, however, that might not be the wrong decision.

Stray Thoughts

• There were some great (if maybe not entirely intentional) moments of cheap heel heat for the Dallas crowd to boo. Shawn Spears giving the “horns down” gesture after the Big 12 announced it will be cracking down on opposing teams using it when playing the Texas Longhorns was an obvious one, but Nyla Rose drawing boos for being billed from Washington DC was clearly an indicator of just how many Cowboys fans were in attendance. Also, MJF had a great line on commentary: “You know what you call a hot girl in Dallas, Texas? A tourist.”
• Speaking of MJF, why did he immediately congratulate Chris Jericho for completing his first Labour after Le Champion blatantly used a chair (albeit indirectly) to defeat Shawn Spears? I know we’re clearly going to get all Five Labours of Jericho regardless, but it seems like a smart, conniving heel like MJF should have at least called him out for technically breaking the rules. Especially when that was the only rule that mattered.
• Don Callis may be a slimy heel, but he sure is a gentleman – after Adam Page told him to literally hold his beer, he set it nicely on the apron so that it wouldn’t spill while the Anxious Millennial Cowboy traded blows with Gallows and Anderson. I was sure someone was going to get that 2/3 empty cup of beer to the face at some point, but at least Page downed it at the end of the segment so keeping it out of the fray wasn’t an entirely empty gesture.
• Death Triangle having four members just doesn’t math. (Okay, Alex Abrahantes may not technically be a member, but when you say “Death Triangle” and four guys walk out…just saying.)
• The promotional image for Malakai Black vs. Cody Rhodes really leaned into that devil vs. angel motif that was established with their contrasting suits from last week – let’s just hope nobody decides to make Cody tag team with God.

That’s all for Fyter Fest Night 2 – another solid night of wrestling with some memorable moments and plenty to look forward to on next week’s Fight for the Fallen. What did you think of this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite? What were your favorite moments and matches? Be sure to follow us @FilmIronic on Twitter so you don’t miss any updates, and we’ll see you next week for another Dynamite review!