AEW Fyter Fest 2020 Night 1
July 1, 2020
Daily’s Place
Jacksonville, FL

Watch: TNT/FITE.tv

Meet our Reviewer

Steve Case: Part of the new Midcard Matinee (@Midcard_Matinee, midcardmatinee.com) Podcast. Follow him @Coachcase44

MJF & Wardlow vs. Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy

Steve: If MJF couldn’t make you hate him with his face or his words, evening mentioning Jungle Boy’s deceased father, he wears the most hideous looking mumu of all time. This led to Jungle Boy taking no time in attacking MJF at the bell, allowing these two to continue to show their great chemistry. Jungle Boy would take an extended beating from both for the first half of this match. He would finally reach Luchasaurus for a great hot tag, in which Luchasaurus would show off his speed, athleticism, and precision. It really never gets old. Things would break down from here with non-stop action. Lucha and Jungle Boy hit their signature dives, Wardlow hit a hurricanrana (!), we get kip ups that lead to Jungle Boy hitting a Canadian Destroyer on MJF, Wardlow hits a huge swanton, and Lucha and Jungle Boy hit their tremendous tandem offense. The dust settled a bit and MJF would go to hit Lucha with his ring, but accidentally hit Wardlow. Jungle Boy would pull MJF out of the ring and Lucha would get the pin on Wardlow for the win. This ruled. Everyone got a chance to shine in a big way here. Yes, Wardlow took the pin. He looked GREAT here. If in six months people remember that he took this pin, something went terribly wrong. Let all four of these guys fight forever in some capacity. An incredibly hot and action packed opener that still managed to save Jungle Boy’s big pin over MJF for later. It must also be mentioned that Jericho was tremendous on commentary here. He had awesome energy and fit in about 100 Canadian rock references. Wonderful start. ****1/4

AEW Women’s World Title
Hikaru Shida (C) def. Penelope Ford

Steve: Before the bell, referee Aubrey threw out Sabian and the world rejoiced. Shida started out hot, teasing the quick knee/falcon arrow finish from last week, but Penelope was able to escape. This was easily the best match of Penelope Ford’s career. She was great in this, sticking with the always reliable Shida. The matrix backbend bridge spot was fantastic, her timing on everything was great, and she took everything Shida had. It took multiple knees and falcon arrows from Shida to finally put her away. Shida is AEW’s best female wrestler and one of their most consistent period, but this match really elevated Ford. Sabian getting involved wasn’t ideal, but it didn’t hurt anything and we got to see him take a kendo stick to the face for being so bothersome. Another GREAT match! ****

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TNT Title Match
Cody (C) def. Jake Hager

Steve: “ROCK HARD” Jake Hager comes out with his “Uncrowned Miss United States” Catalina for this one. This couple does not lack confidence. I was very worried about this match going in. I wasn’t sure how these two would mesh stylistically. I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised! Cody was the workhorse here, really pushing the pace from the opening bell. Hager kept up with him for the most part though. This was hard hitting, with some good counter work from both. The finish saw Hager with Cody in the ankle lock. Cody reached for the ropes to break when Catalina slapped him. This brought out Dustin to save Cody and get hit for his efforts. Hager would then hit a urinagi choke combination on Cody, which Cody would shift his weight on top of Hager to pin his shoulders to the mat for the three count. Post-match, Hager would take out the referee, likely to write him off TV for a bit. This was a strong way for him to go out, and Cody continues to win by the skin of his teeth. This was the best Hager has looked in years and easily the best he’s looked in AEW. ***1/2

Private Party def. Santana & Ortiz

Steve: Orange Cassidy has joined commentary to irritate Jericho before this match. Hardy comes out with Private Party, and as long as he stays outside I’m cool with it. This match started out hot out of the gate and never really let up. Santana and Ortiz slowed things down a bit around the break, but outside of that, this was pretty much all action. Every time I watch Private Party, Kassidy impresses me more and more. He is crazy athletic, maybe even more so than Quen. He used to be the sloppier of the two, but now he’s on much more than not. Santana and Ortiz’s tandem offense is always so smooth and impactful. In an unexpected outcome, Private Party hit a beautiful Gin and Juice for the win. With Hager and Santana and Ortiz losing, Sammy suspended, and Jericho apparently losing his mind, is the end of the Inner Circle near? Good, entertaining match. ***½

We then get the news that the Jon Moxley vs Brian Cage match will now be pushed back a week to what will now be Fight For The Fallen, due to Moxley’s exposure to COVID. Private Party will now face the winner of our main event next week! Tazz cuts another really good promo, noting Moxley has tested negative twice and that he’s just ducking Cage. Even says that AEW, “doesn’t run a sloppy shop.” PEW PEW. So possibly three straight weeks of TV supershows!

AEW World Tag Team Titles
Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (C) vs Best Friends

Steve: I would say that the obsession with vehicles in wrestling has to stop, but there’s a certain charm to Trent’s mom bringing the Best Friends to the ring in a minivan. Though this didn’t quite reach the level of the upper echelon Omega/Hangman matches like I thought it would, this still ended up being a very good match. The chemistry in both of these teams is off the charts great. Best Friends get so close, but then seem to let their gimmick into the matches at just the wrong time. Hangman makes every strike look like he’s hitting someone with a sledgehammer, and Omega was bumping all over the place, including taking a sick looking Awful Waffle from Chuck Taylor. In the end, to further the Hangman story, he once again wins the match on his own by hitting Trent with the Buckshot Lariat for the win. ***3/4

After the match, FTR, who came out to watch early on, went into the ring to cheers with Omega and Hangman. Hangman happily took the beer, but Kenny took the beer and dumped it out for his homies. This angered FTR, leading to the Bucks to come out and smooth things over. With the tag titles now also being defended next week, we now have more seeds planted between these three tremendous teams. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, AEW Fyter Fest 2020 Night 1 was a tremendous night of televised wrestling. I had a thought it would be, and even the one match I had worries about in Hager/Cody over-delivered for me. The opening tag and the Women’s Title match were the standouts for me, but everything on this show was worth watching. We had some build to Night 2 with Jericho and Orange Cassidy’s “pull apart” brawl, and FTR and the Bucks in the ring with Hangman and Omega to finish the show. We also got a great Tazz promo to counter the disappointing news (but for a good reason) that the Cage/Moxley match would be pushed back a week to what will now be Fight For The Fallen.

A home run show for AEW.