Source: All Elite Wrestling
Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, and the returning Jim Ross (massive congrats on kicking cancer’s ass, J.R. We love you!) were the broadcast team for tonight’s event.
AEW World Tag Team Champions The Lucha Bros—Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix (with Alex Abrahantes)—and Jurassic Express—Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy—and Christian Cage vs. Triple A Tag Team Champions FTR—Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (with Tully Blanchard), Matt Hardy, and Private Party—Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy (with The Blade and Jora Johl)!
Cash Wheeler flexed and then he and Christian Cage locked up. Christian had a wrist lock on Cash until Cash reversed it. Christian flap jacked Cash and then dropped a series of punches on the crown of Cash’s cranium.
Jungle Boy and Dax Harwood tagged in for their respective teams. Jungle Boy chopped away at Dax. Jungle Boy took down Harwood with a back elbow. Christian tagged in and made Dax pay for being overconfident—with a right hand from the floor.
Jungle Boy tagged in and quickly tried for the snare trap but Dax escaped. The Lucha Bros and Jungle Boy teamed up to triple their offense on Isiah Kassidy!
Marq Quen tagged in and he used a hurracanrana to take Jungle Boy off the top turnbuckle directly into a Side Effect from Matt Hardy! Ref Aubrey Edwards had her attention diverted and Tully snuck in some cheap shots on Jungle Boy!
Matt Hardy used a sledge hammer shot between Jungle Boy’s shoulder blades. Jungle Boy used a comeback lariat and tagged out to Penta El Zero Miedo! He hit sling blades and then tagged in Rey Fenix. The Lucha Bros used their tremendous tandem offense on FTR to clean house! Rey Fenix rocketed off the top rope with a senton atomico for a near fall on Marq Quen!
Marq Quen stuck Rey Fenix and then tagged out to Dax Harwood! Dax dropped Rey Fenix with a gord buster for a near fall! Dax hoisted Rey Fenix onto the top turnbuckle but Rey Fenix chopped Dax off the ropes. Rey Fenix hit a moonsault onto FTR and then tagged out to Luchasaurus!
Luchasaurus was a difference maker and leveled the playing field, clearing the ring of the opposition! Luchasaurus grabbed a chokeslam on Dax and then Penta El Zero Miedo took a blind tag to get into the ring.
Rey Fenix and Jungle Boy both jumped over the top rope to hit splashes onto the opponents. There was a little bit of discourse between Christian Cage and Penta El Zero Miedo and in the moments that followed, FTR capitalized. FTR scored the win after nailing Christian Cage with the Big Rig!
2point0—Jeff Parker & Matt Lee—& Daniel Garcia vs. “Mad King” Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz!
“Eddie came to fight, there’s no doubt about that,” said Jim Ross.
“Big Magic” Matt Lee chopped at Eddie but Eddie suplexed Lee. Eddie ran out of the ring and charged at Daniel Garcia!
Parker kicked Ortiz in the midsection but was tripped up by Ortiz, who then continued his offense when he hit a dropkick. Santana tagged in and invited Daniel Garcia to enter the fray. Santana nailed Daniel Garcia with the three amigos! Santana and Ortiz hit some beautiful tandem offense on Garcia.
Matt Lee grabbed a blind tag and pulled Ortiz out of the ring by the ankles. Garcia caught Ortiz off guard with a dropkick on the outside of the ring. 2point0 double teamed Ortiz in their corner of the ring.
Kingston tagged in and went right after Daniel Garcia, lighting him up with machine gun chops! He tagged Santana who hit Matt Lee with a charging high boot. Santana tried for a moonsault off Ortiz’s back but Matt Lee got his knees up! Lee grabbed Santana’s tights and rolled him up for the pin!
2point0 went after Santana while Garcia grabbed the time keeper’s bell! Garcia rammed the ring bell into Santana’s skull!
Chris Jericho sprinted to the ring with his baseball bat and 2point0 and Daniel Garcia retreated!
Eddie Kingston told the production truck to cut off Jericho’s music. Kingston got into Jericho’s face, saying he didn’t need Jericho’s help. Ortiz got in between then to try to calm down Kingston.
MJF was backstage with Wardlow and Shawn Spears.
MJF said AEW put him in an unsafe working environment last week with Sting, and that would be something he would have to consider during the Bidding War of 2024. MJF told Wardlow he needed to grab some W’s, and MJF said he was going to start “ranking up” himself next week by grabbing some W’s too.
Tony Schiavone was backstage interviewing The Lucha Bros!
Christian Cage interrupted them and said “You dipshits cost us the match! Why don’t we stop delaying the inevitable and you two can fight Jurassic Express next week?!” The Lucha Bros accepted the match!
Wardlow (with Shawn Spears) vs. Colin Delaney!
Wardlow turned Delaney inside out with a massive clothesline! Wardlow powerbombed Delaney! He began conducting the powerbomb symphony early and nailed Delaney with another powerbomb! And then a third! And a fourth! Wardlow pinned Delaney!
“It is only a matter of time before Wardlow claims a championship here in AEW, but to hear MJF tell it, it’ll convert over to MJF,” said Excalibur.
The ref tried to help Colin Delaney to the back, but Spears walloped Delaney with the steel chair!
The Bucks, Adam Cole, Kyle O’ Reilly and Bobby Fish were backstage.
O’ Reilly told the Bucks to leave. The Bucks said they weren’t going anywhere until Adam Cole told them to give them a minute alone. O’Reilly then told Bobby Fish to leave. O’Reilly was alone with Adam Cole and said they were in AEW now, and O’Reilly would find out tonight if Cole really had his back.
Dan Lambert was in the ring with The Men Of The Year—Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky!
Lambert ran down Cody Rhodes, Brandi, and Arn Anderson. “Cody, you never made it until you cut a deal with Tony Khan to skip the line of much more deserving talent!”
Brandi Rhodes came out with a mic and told Dan Lambert this wasn’t open mic night! She told Dan Lambert she would whoop his ass tonight for free! Dustin Rhodes tried to stop Brandi Rhodes but Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky blindsided Dustin. Lambert walked off with a big smile on his face.
TBS Women’s Title Tournament Semi-Final Match!
Jade Cargill (with “Smart” Mark Sterling) vs. Thunder Rosa!
The winner of this match faces Ruby Soho in the finals!
Thunder Rosa connected with a low dropkick to Jade’s knees! Thunder Rosa hit a senton to take down Sterling. Rosa paid for turning her back on Cargill though, who hammered Rosa with forearms.
Jade Cargill cracked Thunder Rosa’s back with a nasty back breaker! Thunder Rosa went after Jade’s knee again with another drop kick! Thunder Rosa was looking to incapacitate Jade Cargill, working on her leg.
Jade flung Thunder Rosa into the steel barricade. Jade rang Thunder Rosa’s bell, ramming her Rosa’s head into the ring post!
Thunder Rosa grabbed the leg of Jade and hit a dragon screw on her opponent. Jade fired back with a wicked pump kick! Thunder Rosa rallied back with tremendous strategy, going after Jade’s vertical base again and again with a running drop kick.
Jade fought back with a Samoan drop, but in the process, she may have tweaked her leg even more. Jade placed Thunder Rosa in a torture rack-type maneuver. Thunder Rosa used a knee breaker and then applied the figure four on Jade Cargill! Jade reached the ropes and forced the ref to break the hold.
Mark Sterling distracted the referee when someone in a hoodie attacked Thunder Rosa. Cargill planted Thunder Rosa with her Jaded finisher and then pinned Rosa!
Thunder Rosa knew she got robbed and charged Jade Cargill. The hooded figure jumped into the ring and revealed herself to be Mercedes Martinez! Martinez and Cargill double teamed Thunder Rosa until Ruby Soho ran out to the ring and chased them off with a steel pipe!
CM Punk appeared at Daily’s Place for the first time ever!
CM Punk: “Where’s Jim Ross? You know I come out here and I immediately get to thinking how awesome it is to see you sitting back there at that booth. You’re the best ever to do it and I’m glad to see you back at work.
“I’ve never been to Daily’s Place but this has been a home to AEW and it gets me thinking about Brodie Lee. And if there’s anybody out there that says anything to try to minimize the impact that that man had, it makes me feel sorry for them because it means they never met him. I sat at home and watched a tribute show to my friend and it made me want to come here.
“So then I thought about someone who isn’t worth my time. And speaking about Internet trolls, I’m talking about MJF. He’s a Twitter troll. He doesn’t say that stuff to your face. He hides behind a keyboard. He’s so stupid he actually believes he’s as good as Roddy Piper as Portland. Roddy Piper laced up his wrestling boots but MJF laced up his running shoes last week.
“If MJF doesn’t want none, he doesn’t have to have none. And I’m looking towards bigger things, and so is MJF. You always hear MJF say if you won’t want to be champion, you don’t belong here. And it’s true. I want to be AEW Champion too.
“So MJF, you are a waste of my time, and you are a waste of Khan’s money. I never wanted to mess with MJF but he found out the hard way—that on this mic, in this ring, even on commentary, nobody can touch me. It’d be a real shame if somebody interfered with MJF’s quest for gold.”
Powerhouse Hobbs and FTW Champion Ricky Starks were backstage.
Starks had a message for Dante Martin, telling him he screwed up by eliminating him from the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale. He wondered if Martin could handle Powerhouse Hobbs for a second round.
In picture in picture, Sammy Guevara held up poster boards with a message. His resolution for the new year is to win back his TNT title by beating current champ “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.
Tony Schiavone interviewed Brian Pillman, Jr. in the ring!
Pillman, Jr.: “Last week, my partner, no—my brother—Griff Garrison walked right into the House of Black. Admittedly I don’t have a lot of memory of that night. But I can’t get the sound of that bell out of my head when Black tried to end the career of my brother.
“So I tried to help my brother and that’s when my memory goes fuzzy and black. And the next thing I know I’m lying next to the person I tried to protect.
“Malakai, now it is my turn to take a trip to the House of Black. But I won’t come barging at your door. I never got to know my father, but if I learned one thing from my father, I learned you only get one life, and you’re not gonna get mine! Next week you’re going to see a brand-new Brian Pillman, Jr.”
The arena lights turned off and Malakai Black appeared out of thin air! He stared at Pillman, Jr. The lights turned on and Black was gone!
“Freshly Squeezed” Orange Cassidy and “Best Friends”— Trent, & Chuck Taylor vs. Adam Cole #BayBay, “Infamous” Bobby Fish, & Kyle O’Reilly!
O’Reilly and Taylor started the match for their respective teams. Kyle kicked Taylor. Trent tagged in and he and Kyle slugged it out. Kyle went for the ax kick but Trent moved. They took each other down with high boot kicks.
Bobby Fish tagged in. Orange Cassidy got in the ring, ducked a kick from Fish, and rolled him up for a near fall. Cole tagged in and used a hammer throw on Orange Cassidy, but Cassidy, Trent, and Chuckie T. triple teamed Adam Cole!
Cole blindsided Orange with a superkick! Cole grabbed Trent by the ankles but Trent retaliated by throwing Fish across the ring with a half and half! Trent vaulted off the top turnbuckle with a DDT on Kyle!
“What a great trios match!” said Tony Schiavone.
Orange Cassidy tagged in with a crossbody onto Kyle and then a tope suicida to Fish! He hit a Stun Dog Millionaire on Cole! Fish and O’Reilly—ReDRagon—double teamed Orange Cassidy! Cole superkicked Orange and then ReDRagon hit the high-low on Orange!
Bobby Fish ate a thrust kick from Chuck Taylor, but then Cole rocked Taylor with a superkick on the ramp! Cole attempted the Panama Sunrise on the ramp on Chuck but Chuck countered with a backdrop! Trent speared Adam Cole on the ramp!
Trent tossed Cole back in the ring and Orange nailed Cole with a diving DDT! Cassidy blasted Cole with the Beach Break! ReDRagon broke up the pin attempt with their interference!
O’Reilly hit a combo on Orange! He charged Orange but Orange moved and Kyle kicked Cole inadvertently!
Best Friends used their tandem offense on ReDRagon! Brandon Cutler ran down to the ring with the cold spray. The Bucks sprinted to the ring too. ReDRagon finished off Chuck Taylor with their Chasing the Dragon finisher and pinned Chuck Taylor! Cole was upset that Kyle mistimed the kick. Cole left the ring with The Young Bucks while Kyle and Bobby celebrated the victory.
