‘AEW: Dynamite – Fyter Fest Week 2’ Review (July 20th 2022)

This week’s episode of AEW: Dynamite is first of two shows of Fyter Fest week two. This week Dynamite emanated from the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia; with Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, and Taz on commentary yet again. Let’s get into the week two, night one, action!

Match #1: Brody King def. Darby Allin

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Darby blasted Brody with a shotgun dropkick and then followed up with a tope suicida. Darby’s feet got hung up on the middle rope and Brody took advantage of this, grabbing Darby and hurling him into the steel ring barricade. Darby jumped on Brody’s back but Brody flung him off and followed up with two consecutive sentons onto Darby. Brody King chopped Darby’s chest. Darby jumped off the turnbuckles but Brody countered with another chop. Brody grabbed Darby by the belt and rag dolled him across the ring. Outside the ring, Darby removed his leather belt, tied it around Brody’s ankles and pulled him to the arena floor! Darby fired himself out of the ring with a diving cannonball at Brody! Darby connected with a Coffin Splash. Darby tried for another Coffin Splash but Darby blocked him. Darby’s legs were tied up in the Tree of Woe. Brody tried for a cannonball but Darby dodged it and nailed Brody with the Code Red for a near fall! Darby hung onto Brody’s wrists and then transitioned into a rear naked choke. Brody King got to his feet and then flipped into the turnbuckles, all of his weight and size sandwiching and crushing Darby into the corner! Darby attempted a stunner but Brody countered with a sleeper. Brody released the hold and Darby felt straight to the arena floor! Darby beat the count, just barely. Brody spiked Darby with the Gonzo Bomb and pinned Darby!

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #2: BCC (Wheeler Yuta & Jon Moxley) def. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Orange Cassidy and William Regal joined the commentary booth for this match. Mox took down Trent with a go-behind. Moxley had control of the wrist. Trent got to his feet and traded chops with Moxley. Wheeler Yuta tagged in and called out Chuck Taylor, his early mentor. Chuck Taylor grabbed a tag and pushed Yuta into the corner. Wheeler Yuta shoved Chuckie T. back! Yuta planted Chuck Taylor while Daniel Garcia watched from a monitor backstage. Moxley tagged in and nearly decapitated Trent with a wild lariat! Mox almost pinned Trent after a cutter! Moxley captured Trent’s arms and then drove the heel of his boots into Trent’s head, stomping him over and over! In the middle of the skirmish, Chuck was able to spike Mox with the Awful Waffle! Trent stuffed Wheeler Yuta with a piledriver for a near fall! Yuta escaped a Strong Zero attempt and countered with a German Suplex. Trent fired back with a Scrunchy on Wheeler Yuta but Mox broke up Trent’s pin attempt! Yuta grabbed a front guillotine choke on Chuck Taylor, but Taylor countered with a suplex! Yuta countered Chuck’s Awful Waffle with the Seat Belt and pinned Chuck Taylor!

My Score: 3.5 out of 5

Match #3: Christian Cage & Luchasaurus def. Varsity Blonds (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.)

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Pillman charged at Luchasaurus and Luchasaurus answered with a headbutt! Pillman tagged out to Griff and Griff had Luchasaurus unsteady on his feet with two rolling elbows. The Blonds used a double shoulder tackle but Luchasaurus wiped them out with double clotheslines. Luchasaurus chokeslammed Brian Pillman. Christian Cage ordered Luchasaurus to do it again and this time Luchasaurus chokeslammed Griff onto Pillman. Christian Cage grabbed the tag, picked up the scraps and pinned Pillman.

My Score: 1 out of 5

Match #4: FTW Championship Match – Ricky Starks def. Cole Karter

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Starks clubbed Cole with overhand shots and then smashed him in the corner with a diving hip splash. Cole Karter fired back with a dropkick. Karter connected with a diving cross body press and then sent Starks to the floor with a clothesline. Starks came back and speared Cole for the pin!

My Score: 1.5 out of 5

Match #5: Jade Cargill & Kiera Hogan def. Athena & Willow Nightingale

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

Stokely said Leila Grey was unable to compete tonight. Willow was tripped by Kiera. Willow dodged a dropkick and followed up with a crossbody cover for a near fall. Willow picked up Athena and bodyslammed her onto Kiera for a near fall. Willow hit a flipping senton onto Jade and Keira on the outside of the ring! Athena followed Willow’s lead and jumped off the top turnbuckle onto the pile of bodies on the arena floor. Jade disrupted a pin that Willow had on Kiera! Athena and Jade traded forearms. Jade avoided a dropkick. Athena booted Jade. Athena jumped off the turnbuckles and Jade caught her, countering with a fall away slam. Athena smashed Jade with a double knee stomp meteora! Jade rolled out of the ring. Athena powerbombed Kiera on the ring apron. Stokely distracted Athena and Jade took advantage of the moment and kicked Athena in the head. Athena’s head smacked into the steel ring steps. Back in the ring, Jade planted Willow with Jaded and pinned her!

My Score: 2 out of 5

Match #6: Barb Wire Everywhere Death Match – Chris Jericho def. Eddie Kingston

The following is courtesy of allelitewrestling.com:

The Jericho Appreciation Society were locked in a shark cage and hoisted up over the ring! Ruby Soho was the keeper of the key. Jericho made his entrance with his baseball bat, “Floyd”, wrapped in barb wire. Kingston grabbed the barb wire microphone from Justin Roberts and smashed it into Jericho’s forehead, drawing first blood! Kingston chomped down on Jericho’s forehead. They brawled outside the ring and Jericho smashed the ring bell, wrapped in barb wire, into Eddie’s head! Kingston sent Jericho face first into a table wrapped in barb wire. Kingston hip tossed Jericho into the barb wire wrapped ring ropes! Kingston was grinding Jericho’s face in the barb wire. Kingston waffled Jericho with a steel chair that was wrapped in barb wire. Jericho rocked Kingston with right hand shots! Jericho used a top rope hurracanrana to send Eddie Kingston into the barb wire below! Kingston superplexed Jericho off the ring apron into a table that was wrapped in barb wire! Tay Conti ran down to the ring and began to assault Ruby Soho! Anna Jay sprinted after Tay and pulled Tay off Ruby. Anna Jay looked at Tay and then rammed Ruby’s head into the steel ring post! Tay Conti and Anna Jay smiled at each other and high-fived. They lowered the Shark Cage and the Jericho Appreciation Society jumped into the ring. The Jericho Appreciation Society began to clobber Eddie with a four-on-one assault! Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Ortiz ran down to even up the odds for Kingston. Ortiz used the mad ball and smacked Jericho in the forehead. Kingston hit the Exploder Suplex on Jericho through a table for a near fall! Eddie tried to hit Jericho with a steel chair but Jericho countered with the Code Breaker! The barb wire wrapped steel chair still caught Jericho in the eye. Jericho attempted a Lionsault but Kingston countered and followed up with a backfist for a near fall! Kingston wrapped Jericho in barb wire and applied a Stretch-plumb submission. Sammy Guevara returned, jumped into the ring and rocked Eddie with a thrust kick. Sammy shoved Kingston into Jericho and Jericho (with his arm wrapped in barb wire) decimated Kingston with the Judas Effect for the pin! After the match, Kingston kept fighting and hip tossed Jericho off the ring apron through a spider web of barb wire on the arena floor!

My Score: 3 out of 5

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

We got a few good matches this week but I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed by the entire affair. The show opened strong with two great matches back-to-back and I enjoyed Ricky Starks’ match even though it was a squash match. Then there was the weird appearance of “celebs” on the show – OK, so the show emanated from near Atlanta but that felt like a flimsy excuse IMHO. But the main event fell flat (mainly because of the massive botch getting the lock off the shark cage, FAR TOO MUCH interference and that weird ending – where Kingston looked p*ssed off for real rather than kayfabe) – so much so that I think it might be about time AEW left barbed wire matches in the past and found another extreme gimmick to rely on. To top that all off, Jericho looked like a bit of a plonker gurning at the camera in his Painmaker get-up when the match started. If I did take anything away from the main event it was that it felt like Eddie Kingston knew how ridiculous tying the thing into Shark Week was…. And it truly was. But as Kingston said, it’s “synergy” isn’t it?!  I guess more of this is to be expected given the Warner/Discovery merger? I hope not.