‘AEW: Battle of the Belts 7’ Review
We’ve got a bonus show from AEW this week, the seventh instalment of the quarterly Battle of the Belts, which followed directly from this week’s episode of Collision and even opened with the Owen Hart Tournament presentation! Let’s get into it…
Match #1: AEW International Title Match – Orange Cassidy def. Lance Archer
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Archer wasted no time going after Orange. Archer was looking for the Black Out, but Orange fought out of it. Archer cracked Orange with a running knee. Archer went for the Black Out again, but Orange countered with a sleeper. Archer pulled Orange down and then unloaded on him. Orange connected with a thrust kick. He went for a rana off the apron, but Archer caught him and smashed the champ into the guardrails. Orange rallied back with shotgun dropkicks to Archer. Lance Archer clocked Orange with a stiff shot in the ring. Archer whipped Orange into the turnbuckles. Cassidy countered the Black Out with a chop block to Archer. Cassidy delivered a basement thrust kick. Archer caught the Orange Punch and then decked Cassidy. Archer hit a sidewalk slam on the champ for a near fall! Jake Roberts grabbed Orange on the outside and was going to DDT the champ when Lance Archer stopped “the Snake!” Cassidy rocked Archer with a DDT on the arena floor! Cassidy and Archer were brawling on the apron. Orange clocked Archer, sending Archer to the arena floor. Orange jumped into the ring just before the ref counted to 10. Orange won in the nick of time by count out! After the match Lance Archer came back into the ring but Orange and the referee quickly rolled out, away from Archer’s path of destruction.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #2: AEW Women’s World Championship Match – Toni Storm def. Taya Valkyrie
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Storm stomped a mudhole in Taya in the corner. Taya fired back with an overhand chop. Taya rocked Storm with charging double knees. Toni grabbed Taya by the hair and whipped her hard onto the arena floor. Taya returned the favor with a hair whip of her own. Taya dodged the hip attack from Toni Storm. Taya hit the Blue Thunder Bomb on Storm. Taya charged in with a hip attack of her own, good for a two-count on the champ. In the end, though, after interference from Ruby Soho, Toni Storm defeated Taya with a snap piledriver Storm Zero and retained her championship!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: TNT Championship Match – Luchasaurus def. Shawn Spears
The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:
Scorpio Sky was backstage watching the match on a monitor. Luchasaurus head butted Spears. The champ tried for a suplex on the arena floor, but Spears fought out of it. Luchasaurus clocked Spears with a chop to the throat. Spears connected with four lariats. Spears kicked Luchasaurus in the jaw. Spears turned his attention to Christian Cage. He chased Christian around the ring, but Luchasaurus was there to stop Spears. Luchasaurus neutralized Spears by choke slamming him through a table. Luchasaurus choke slammed Spears in the ring for a two-count. Christian Cage set up Spears’ chair between the top and middle turnbuckles. Luchasaurus charged at Spears. Spears dodged him and Luchasaurus crashed into the chair that Christian set up. Spears was looking for the C4, but Christian Cage jumped on the apron. Spears went after Christian Cage and Luchasaurus used Spears’ momentary lapse in focus to drill Spears with a lariat and pinned him!
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Final Verdict: 2.5/5
There’s one HUGE issue with all of AEW’s Battle of the Belts shows… You know absolutely none of the titles being fought for will change hands! It’s become something of a huge flaw in this quarterly show and one that, ultimately, detracts from the in-ring action and makes everything you watch during Battle of the Belts totally irrelevant in terms of impact on the company and its storylines. Still, we get to watch EVEN more wrestling from AEW, so it’s not all bad.
