AEW BATTLE OF THE BELTS 4 HITS & MISSES 10/7: Questionable booking plagues show

Pac defeated Trent Beretta to retain the AEW All-Atlantic Title: NARROW MISS

Yes, the match had good wrestling. Excellent wrestling, in fact, and a ton of crowd investment. On a meta-level, I am really impressed with Pac’s stamina. However, I’m tired of good wrestling being used as an excuse for poor storytelling.

First, it was Orange Cassidy who started this feud with a cheap shot…and now Pac is the heel. Right off the bat, the babyfaces involved in this feud are more unlikable to me than Pac. On top of that, you are asking the audience to boo Pac against the Dark Order, actually have him cooperate with a heel to win the match, and now we’re supposed to respect him for going 40 minutes? I understand he cheated to win both times, but I’ve seen so many heel-teases from Pac in AEW that never really manifested into anything.

I hope Death Triangle doesn’t just suddenly become babyface again and the announcers brush off everything we saw tonight as “well, Pac was just desperate.” If they actually stick with Pac as a heel going forward, I’ll look back more fondly on this night.

Post-Match: IT HAPPENED

After the match, Orange Cassidy ran down to ambush Pac, but security broke it up. I’m not invested enough in this feud to really care one way or another. You could argue that it’s the angriest we’ve seen Cassidy since his Jericho feud, but I just can’t bring myself to care.

Jericho Appreciation Society Backstage Interview: HIT

Good stuff from Jericho and 2point0 here. I would appreciate Schiavone’s “systematic cheating” interjections more if he was more consistent in calling out heelish behavior (especially Britt Baker’s antics). It just looks orchestrated and gimmicked when he picks and chooses who to criticize.

Claudio Castagnoli Video Promo: MINOR HIT

Well, it’s good to see Claudio feels at least SOME agony about losing the ROH title. The way he came out smiling earlier in the night and didn’t even glance at Jericho on the commentary table, it seemed like he had happily moved on with life.

It doesn’t sit well with me when someone loses a title then cheers for their friend to win it. I appreciate the prosocial tendencies in real life, but here I would have preferred if Claudio spent more time reflecting on his loss and vowing to regain it than mostly putting over Danielson.

Jade Cargill defeated Willow Nightingale to retain the AEW TBS Title: MINOR HIT

This was on the higher (and longer) end of Jade Cargill matches. As for Nightingale, I don’t like it when any talent has the best match of their AEW career one night then this promptly fed to a champion the very next week. I understand that she’s not under AEW contract, but still.

Post-Match: MISS

After the match, Vickie Guerrero came out and distracted Cargill while Nyla Rose stole the TBS title belt from behind. I thought this was just a Vince McMahon thing, but I think this is the second time we’ve seen it in AEW.

Matt Hardy and Ethan Page backstage Interview: MISS

From Ethan Page randomly showing up to criticize Andrade’s leadership last week to us having to believe he’s been stalking Matt Hardy for similar reasons tonight…I’m just confused. I think Ethan Page and Stokely Hathaway are trying to discredit anyone potential allies of Private Party so that they can recruit them into the Firm, but this story is not being told well at all. If it was Stokely alone doing this, I think I’d be more tolerant of it.

Hook backstage Interview: IT HAPPENED

Hook tore up the Trustbusters’s envelope. This is his new feud now.

Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida Video Promos: MINOR HIT

Decent and effective to build up the tag match against Baker and Hayter.

FTR defeated Gates of Agony to retain the ROH tag titles: MINOR HIT

Good to see FTR in a traditional tag-team match on AEW television after a long while. Not exactly marquee competition for them, and it was difficult to get into the match this late at night, but it was a solid effort.

By the way, any bets on whether we’ll get a video package on Prince Nana to explain who he is and what he stands for? Something other than an African prince stereotype?

Post-Match Brawl: MISS

After the match, Brain Cage ran down to help Gates of Agony beat down FTR. Then Wardlow and Samoa Joe came out to save the day.

File this under the “this show didn’t need to end in a brawl” category. I didn’t even like it for what it was. You have four babyfaces against three heels for one, and Samoa Joe is portrayed as a bigger deal than Wardlow as he came out last.

Commentary: MINOR HIT

Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and Ricky Starks tonight. They were okay.

Overall Show: MISS

Weak storytelling, questionable booking, and underdeveloped characters plagued this show. A big comedown from the Rampage episode earlier. This felt more like a re-branded episode of Rampage than a quarterly special where championship rivalries are paid off.

CATCH-UP: AEW RAMPAGE HITS & MISSES 10/7: Strong main event, Eddie Kingston misses with promo, more