Taz will fit right in with the announcing style of Jim Ross and Excalibur. There was an emphasis placed on advancing all storylines in AEW to let fans know which superstars and which stories will be spotlighted to start the decade. The main event was somewhat disappointing because there were no real stakes in the match, so fans did not have a legitimate reason to get invested. I can’t complain much because, as usual, it was a fantastic match.
The night was started in the best way possible, with Cody defeating Darby Allin in a very captivating rematch from Fyter Fest last year which ended in a time limit draw. Arn Anderson being in Cody’s corner provides a feeling of legitimacy like Cody’s matches really matter.
The storyline surrounding Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle continues to be the story in AEW which fans are most invested in (as it should be, he’s Le Champion). He has raised the anticipation among fans for Jon Moxley’s decision by offering him a sweet car and ownership of 49% of the Inner Circle LLC. It’s almost certain that Moxley will reject the offer and keep his babyface persona for now, setting up a huge title match against Jericho at Revolution in February.
Meanwhile, Trent also received a huge opportunity in the form of a match against Moxley.
It was never in much doubt that Riho would retain her AEW Women’s World Championship in the fatal four way, setting up a showdown with Kris Statlander next week. It was a classy move on the part of the company to allow Statlander to maintain her prior commitment for New Year’s Day while still giving her the opportunity to become AEW Women’s World Champion. The AEW Women’s Division still needs some fine-tuning as far as character development.
MJF is very skilled at playing the role of an entitled brat, and in the segment from this past week he laid out his stipulations for Cody to face him at Revolution. The one that stuck out was the fact that he will have to wrestle Wardlow in Wardlow’s debut match in AEW.
Sammy Guevara desperately needed the win he picked up this week over Dustin Rhodes. He’s taken far too many losses already since joining AEW. You can’t be affiliated with Chris Jericho and be a loser at the same time – it just isn’t believable. Guevara was still a bit overstaffed by the impending clash between Dustin Rhodes and Jake Hager.