AEW Fyter Fest Night 2: Lance Archer wins IWGP United States title

This episode of AEW Dynamtie featured the start of the Labours of Jericho, as he tries to win 5 matches in a row to get to MJF at AEW All Out. The show also featured an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match between Jon Moxley and Lance Archer, and Nyla Rose vs. Britt Baker for the AEW Women’s World Championship.

AEW Dynamite opened with Chris Jericho making his entrance for his match with Shawn Spears, where Spears is allowed to use a chair, but Jericho can’t. MJF joined the commentators for the match.

Chris Jericho (The Inner Circle) vs. Shawn Spears w/ Tully Blanchard (The Pinnacle)

MJF rightly pointed out that even if Jericho beats all the challenges that he has for him, Jericho’s injured arm will likely be in bad shape, playing right into MJF’s finisher. Jericho sent Spears to ringside, grabbed a camera, and pointed it at the crowd. Jericho went for his dropkick from the ropes, but Spears threw a chair at Jericho.

Spears put Jericho’s elbow against the ring post and smashed a chair into it, and I audibly groaned at the thought of it. Jericho managed to hit a hurricarana off the top rope, but Spears kept working over Jericho’s arm with a chair. Jericho countered into the Lion Tamer, but Tully Blanchard jumped on the apron.

Sammy Guevara ran down and chased Blanchard into the backstage area. Spears, however, was able to hit Jericho with a chair to break the Lion Tamer. Spears hit a C4 for a 2 count, so he tried to do one onto a chair, but Jericho slipped out and sent Spears into a chair that was in the corner and hit the Judas Effect for the pinfall.

Result: Chris Jericho

Rating: *** (3 stars)

MJF grabbed a mic and said that Jericho couldn’t win the match without the help of Sammy Guevara, so for any of the upcoming matches, Jericho will forfeit if he anyone helps him. MJF then announced the next Labour of Jericho would be a No DQ match against Nick Gage! HOLY CRAP. That is insane.

Miro cut a promo saying that he was never going to lose the TNT Championship, and it was a truly great promo.

Doc Gallows w/ Karl Anderson (The Elite) vs. Frankie Kazarian

Kazarian took it right to Doc Gallows and knocked him back with a dropkick off the top rope, but Gallows soon it a big boot to start getting the heat on him. Gallows beat Kazarian around ringside for several minutes. Kazarian got a brief comeback, but Gallows (using Karl Anderson to his advantage to cheat) managed to hit a choke bomb for the pinfall.

Result: Doc Gallows

Rating: ** (2 stars)

After the match, the Good Brothers continued to attack Kazarian. Kenny Omega’s theme hit, and Don Callis said that this is what you get for messing with The Elite. Omega was going to continue the beatdown, but Hangman Page’s music hit and he came down to the ring.

Callis reminded Hangman that it was 4 on 1. Callis asked if he was drunk, but Hangman attacked anyway, and started taking on everyone, but Omega fled before Hangman could touch him. The Dark Order ran down to assist, and Hangman hit a Buckshot Lariat on Anderson before pointing at Omega.

Wheeler Yuta w/ Orange Cassidy vs. Darby Allin w/ Sting

Darby Allin had his ribs taped quite heavily from when he went through Hikuleo was shown in the crowd, and he is a member of the Bullet Club in NJPW. Wheeler worked over Allin’s ribs with technical wrestling. Allin hit a superplex, and Sting and Orange Cassidy came face to face at ringside to a big pop.

Sting did all of OC’s spots with him with the weak kicks, and then lightly tapped his chest, and I laughed so hard at this. Yuta almost got a pinfall on Allin, but Allin managed to escape and counter into a Coffin Drop for the pinfall. Great match.

Result: Darby Allin

Rating *** (3 stars)

Really good showing here from Yuta and Allin. Sting and OC was hilarious. After the match, The Blade came out and nailed Orange Cassidy with brass knuckles, sending him crashing to the mat and putting their match later in jeopardy.

A video aired, hyping Moxley vs. Archer in the main event, highlighting their history in NJPW, and then the commentors focused on Hikuleo again, saying he was going to be watching the main event with great interest.

Britt Baker (c) w/ Rebel (not Reba) vs. Nyla Rose w/ Vickie Guerrero – AEW Women’s World Championship

Baker ended up being the default babyface in this match, but it did kill the heat a little bit with Rose and Baker both being heels. With that said, Baker absolutely worked as the babyface with Rose getting heat on her. Rose went the flying knee from the top rope when Baker was placed on the top rope, but Rebel pulled Baker from it, and Baker was able to turn it around, attacking the arm of Rose around the ring post.

Baker hit a Russian Legsweep, but Rose was able to come back from it and hit a huge uranage and backbreaker on Baker. Baker went for a Lockjaw, but Rose fought out and hit a Death Valley Driver. Rose put Baker on the top rope again, and hit the flying knee drop for a 2 count. Rose went for a Beast Bomb, but Baker fought out and hit a Twist and Shout and two superkicks to Rose for a 2 count.

Baker tried to pull the old Eddy Guerrero trick on Nyla, but Vickie distracted the referee and stopped it from happening. Rose immediately hit the Beast Bomb on Baker, who barely kicked out. Baker rolled through another Beast Bomb into the Lockjaw and got the tap out for the win.

Result: Britt Baker

Rating: **1/2 (2.5 stars)

This match was a bit difficult with the heel vs. heel dynamic, but they managed to get the crowd by the end of the match. It wasn’t a bad match, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been with stronger booking and a clear babyface and heel.

AEW then aired press conference highlights about the upcoming match between FTR and Santana & Ortiz. This was edited down quite a bit, but it was good from what I was able to see.

Andrade El Idolo came out to be interviewed by Tony Schiavone and said he had a surprise for everyone. Andrade announced he had an executive consultant, and that it was Chavo Guerrero Jr.! My goodness!

Guerrero cut a good promo about how AEW had so many exciting wrestlers, but that none of them are as talented as Andrade El Idolo. The Death Triangle’s music hit, and Rey Fenix returned! PAC grabbed a mic and said that he never backed down from a fight, and since Andrade wanted him, the Death Triangle will take it to him.

El Idolo cut a promo on all three men, saying that they should have gold around their waists, but they don’t, so Pentagon and Fenix should join him and work for Andrade El Idolo. PAC explained that The Death Triangle were like a family, which Fenix agreed with and said that they were the real faces of Latino wrestling.

Pentagon asked why they would join them, when they aren’t on their level. Both groups came face to face, and referees kept them apart, as the crowd cheered. This was a very good segment.

A video aired of the Hardy Family Office taking out Marko Stunt earlier, and the rest of the Jurassic Express and Christian ran down for the save, setting up a match with them for next week.

QT Marshall had a promo, and he refused to apologize to Tony Schiavone for pouring a protein drink on him.

The Blade w/ The Bunny (Hardy Family Office) vs. Orange Cassidy

The Blade started this match getting the heat on the already injured Cassidy, including a huge wheelbarrow powerbomb onto the top turnbuckle by Blade. Cassidy was able to make a brief comeback, but The Bunny got on the apron to distract the ref. Kris Statlander came down and pulled The Bunny off the apron.

Cassidy went for a tope suicida but Blade pulled Statlander in the way of it. Blade tried to attack Cassidy, but Cassidy shoved him into The Bunny. Cassidy then hit the Beach Break but Blade kicked out. Bunny tried to throw the brass knuckles to Blade, but Cassidy hit an Orange Punch and scored the pinfall.

Result: Orange Cassidy

Rating: **3/4 (2.75)

This was an okay match, but the interference was getting a bit old. The crowd responded to it well though throughout the match. After the match, Cassidy grabbed the brass knuckles and hit an Orange Punch on Blade, getting revenge for the last few weeks. Cassidy then pocketed the brass knuckles.

Alex Marvez was with Chris Jericho, and he responded to MJF bringing in Nick Gage by saying that he was going to bring back the most violent, sadistic version of Chris Jericho for the match – The Painmaker is back next week!

AEW aired a video confirming that Cody Rhodes will be facing Malakai Black in two weeks as AEW Dynamite Homecoming.

Jon Moxley (c) vs. Lance Archer w/ Jake Roberts: Texas Death Match for IWGP United States Championship

Archer immediate ran down the ring and started attacking Moxley. It wasn’t long before both men were brawling into the audience. Archer grabbed a fan and used him as a weapon on Moxley, slamming him into Mox. This got a huge reaction. In the ring, Moxley went for a tope suicida, but Archer cut him off and then ripped back several mats.

Moxley countered a slam attempt and hit a DDT on the floor, but he got up before the 10 count. Archer came up covered in blood, though, and Moxley pulled out a fork and jammed it into Archer’s face, drawing more blood. Moxley setup a table at ringside as Archer struggled to get to his feet.

Moxley threw several weapons into the ring as JR talked about how Moxley really reminded him of Terry Funk. Archer started fighting back, but Moxley used the fork again. Moxley hit a chop block and a dragon screw legwhip on Archer before trying to Pillmanize the leg. Moxley did it, but wasn’t able to hit Archer with a trash can lid, as Archer punched it into his face.

Archer went for a Black Out onto two chairs, but Moxley slipped out and low blowed him. Moxley turned the chairs around, putting them back-to-back, but Archer chokeslammed him on the backs of the chairs, which looked absolutely brutal. Don’t do this, folks. That’s how you rupture disks in your back.

Moxley managed to come out of the corner with a lariat and hit a Paradigm Shift, but Archer got right up. Moxley used the fork again, and setup two tables with barbed wire boards. Moxley went for a Paradigm Shift off the apron through the tables, but Archer countered with the fork and chokeslammed Moxley to the floor, and Moxley couldn’t answer the count. We have a new champion!

Result: Lance Archer

Rating: **** (4 stars)

If you are into hardcore, violent wrestling, this is the match for you. Archer was a bloody mess, and Moxley took some brutal bumps in the match. Lance Archer is now a 2-time IWGP United States Champion, and this is the first time a NJPW title has changed hands on an AEW show. While Archer was celebrating, Hikeleo came up on the apron and went face to face with Lance Archer, building their match for next week.

Show Rating: **** (4 stars)

This was a fast paced episode of AEW Dynamite, with lots of things setup for the future and a ton of match announcements. Nick Gage and Chavo Guerrero were major surprises, and both add a lot of interest to what is going to happen in the next few weeks. I really enjoyed this episode of Dynamite. While it wasn’t perfect, (especially the heel vs. heel match with Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose), it was nice to see Lance Archer win his home town.

Unlike WWE, who usually has the hometown star lose to get heat on a heel, AEW sends the fans home happy with the hometown star winning his big match, just like they did with Ricky Starks last week as well. Excellent pro wrestling show that had a little bit of everything for everyone that would have tuned in.