Straight Edge Hero, Kenny Omega, Pours Out #FTR’s Beer! AEW: Fyter Fest Night 1 Review

Overall

AEW’s Fyter Fest 2020 Night 1 promised viewers a pay per view level card on free television and that is exactly what we got. However, a night of what could be considered great match ups on paper left me mostly unimpressed. That is not to say that there weren’t moments of brilliance or that any of the matches were particularly bad, but rather that I felt the night failed to deliver on the hype and build up.

This would’ve been a pretty solid regular episode of Dynamite, but to label this a two week event just adds an expectation of something more than a solid episode of your weekly tv show. Three titles were on the line tonight and none of them changed hands (not that any of them have to) but it didn’t even feel like any of the challengers had a chance of beating the current champs. Throw in the fact that the only other remaining title will not be defended during this event after all (which is not AEW’s fault) and it seems like the wind has been taken out of Fyter Fest’s sails.

All that being said, let’s look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of AEW Fyter Fest 2020 Night 1 (7/1/20)

The Good

• Jericho on commentary wearing a Canada Day blazer. I love it when Le Champion gets to interact with the commentary team. Also gave us a great segment later when Orange Cassidy came to the announce table just to antagonize Jericho.
• MJF’s promo. It was great, let him go farther! I want MJF to be the face of AEW in the Wednesday Night War!
• The opening tag match was a lot of fun!
• Aubrey Edwards ejecting Kip Sabian and Kip taking Shida’s Kendo Stick with him. Great way to start the match with an even playing field. It also gave more impact to Sabian returning to ringside toward the finish of the match.
• Penelope Ford looked awesome tonight! Before this week I wasn’t sure if she deserved a title shot. After this match she looked like a million bucks.
• Fun run in from Dustin Rhodes during Cody’s match
• Taz breaking down that Jon Moxley will not be able to do a proper paradigm shift on Cage because Cage is just too buff. It was fun and silly and I loved it.
• Private Party showing the influence that Matt Hardy has had on them. Even more “team xtreme-esque” spots from these guys. Also Santana and Ortiz were the perfect opponents to show of these spots on.
• Best Friends being driven to the ring by Trent’s mom, Sue!
• Straight edge Kenny Omega pouring out #FTR’s beer. It was fun!

The Bad

• Shida at one point did not sell a stunner from Penelope Ford very well. I’m not saying she needed to sell it like crazy, but the lack of a sell made it look like a botch. She sold the next stunner much better which is why this is “bad” and not “ugly”
• Jake Hager’s shorts were so bland. They look like he forgot to bring his gear with him and someone had a backup pair of shorts they let him borrow.
• Don’t do a contested finish to a title match and not show a replay!!!!
• The cringeworthy line from JR about how Janela could be the “had boy” next week. Send that one back to the writers room. Just cause you can get JR to read anything that is in front of him does not mean that you should.
• Best Friends not taking the tag titles. I like Kenny and Hangman but these guys deserve a title run! Also Hangman Page needs to be a singles star, take the belts off of Omega and Page so that they can thrive elsewhere, the tag team division is already super crowded.

The Ugly

• Maybe I am cynical (I am) but giving away a zoom call with Chris Jericho to keep people watching during commercials felt like a cheap way to keep people from tuning into NXT. I don’t blame them from doing it, but it feels desperate. (Same with Cody’s shirt. I get it but it just feels like lashing out after they lost in the ratings last week)
• Taz is doing fantastic heel work by calling out Mox, but if we’re being honest there really shouldn’t be any wrestling going on right now especially in Florida. The virus is a big deal. It doesn’t matter if AEW is testing, Mox is doing the right thing by staying home.