This was a fun Battle Of The Belts show with one really standout encounter. The Street Fight was a huge amount of fun and easily the best thing on this show. I would’ve inverted the show structure to have it main event as while the cold open was fun I think the level of insanity it reached made the other two matches feel tame by comparison. Still, the crowd were somehow more lively for this than they were for Collision, and the matches delivered well. A fun, if overly predictable, time.
Tonight on AEW Battle Of The Belts, Orange Cassidy defends his AEW International Championship against Preston Vance, Anna Jay takes on Julia Hart and Big Bill and Ricky Starks face Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara for the Tag Team Titles . Let’s get at it!
AMAZING Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara vs Big Bill and Ricky Starks- AEW Tag Team Championship- Street Fight- Watch Match Here
Immediately heating up after the dull drudge of Collision, this was a wild and hot brawl that reminded me favourably of Mankind and Rock’s halftime heat match. Full of crazy high spots, entertaining bits of fun weaponry, good exploration of the space and a general sense of planning and preparation despite the chaos. If I’m being honest it felt a bit short and I wanted a few more minutes, and there was a section in the middle that got a bit into the boring end of a walk and brawl but the ending was spectacular and it appears the Don Callis Family will continue to haunt Jericho.
Results: Ricky Starks by Pinfall
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 4.25 Stars
GOOD Anna Jay vs Julia Hart- AEW Women’s Championship
This was a bit of a messy match in truth. There was good psychology here around Jay’s shoulder and it built to a good finish, but a lot of the moves lacked the required snap and it was all a bit wishy washy. It was still a good match, but never ascended beyond that level sadly. With that said, Jay has tons of potential and it was nice to see her get a long and competitive match against the champion to highlight the areas in which she can improve even further
Results: Julia Hart by Submission Via Hartless
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3 Stars
Jarrett and Lethal are still arguing. The comedic highlight of this segment was Satnam Singh, a sentence I admit I didn’t expect to say.
GREAT Orange Cassidy vs Preston Vance- AEW International Championship
An unsurprisingly very fun main event match. The result was never in doubt and I never really felt like Vance posed any threat which hampered it, but the sequences were fun and Cassidy is incredibly over with the crowd. I had a really fun time with this
Results: Orange Cassidy by Pinfall via Beach Break
David Sheldon WR Star Rating – 3.5 Stars
Overall…
This was a fun Battle Of The Belts show with one really standout encounter. The Street Fight was a huge amount of fun and easily the best thing on this show. I would’ve inverted the show structure to have it main event as while the cold open was fun I think the level of insanity it reached made the other two matches feel tame by comparison. Still, the crowd were somehow more lively for this than they were for Collision, and the matches delivered well. A fun, if overly predictable, time.
Matches: 0.5/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.5/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.5/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 3/5 Stars
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling – January 13th 2024
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