(Promotion: All Elite Wrestling – Location: Capital One Arena, Washington DC – Announce Team: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone & Excalibur – Start: 8 pm)

Preshow

Darby Allin defeated CIMA after a Coffin Drop

Televised Card

Opening credits run. Camera pans the audience. Director Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes (Jay & Silent Bob) are shown cheering in the front row.

Ross and company run down the card.

Cody Rhodes (w/ Brandi Rhodes) defeated Sammy Guevara by pinfall

A video airs of Rhodes training and Guevara doing parkour.

Guevara: “This is the biggest match of my life.”

Electricity runs through the audience as Rhodes’ music hits. He and Brandi rise from beneath the staging. (Brandi looks absolutely stunning in an all-white dress.) The live crowd is white-hot for the entrance.

JR compares Guevara to the Diaz brothers of UFC fame.

This is the first wrestling match on TNT since 2001.

Sign in audience: “Vince fears ratings!”

Aubrey Edwards is the official of the bout.

Schiavone draws comparisons of this match to the Brian Pillman-Jushin Thunder Liger bout that kicked off WCW Monday Nitro.

Rhodes and Guevara exchange moves and nearfalls. Rhodes goes for the figure four.

The announcers push the “Full Gear” ppv coming up in November.

The opponents exchange chops. They are playing it cautiously.

Rhodes hits a cutter off the second rope for two.

Schiavone points out that AEW is trending in the #1 and #3 positions on Twitter.

Guevara pulls Brandi in the line of fire, causing her to eat a dive from her husband.

Audience: “Assssshole!”

The match is picking up.

Guevara misses two sequential moonsaults but connects with a running Shooting Star Press.

Ten-minutes has passed.

Guevara is total deadweight after being kicked in the head. Ut-oh…

Rhodes hits a REVERSE superplex! Daaaaaamn!

Guevara eats elbows, before rocking Rhodes with a Spanish Fly for a 2 1/2 count.

He then hits a Shooting Star Press, but Rhodes puts up his knees and cradles him for the pinfall.

Schiavone enters the ring to interview the winner. Rhodes embraces him and appears genuinely choked up.

Guevara interrupts Schiavone before he can ask a question. He shakes hands with Rhodes.

Chris Jericho hits the ring and suckers Rhodes from behind. Guevara rolls from the ring to let him take the beating. Jericho thumps on Rhodes into the commercial break.

Rhodes is still laid out as the show returns from commercial. Jericho continues to provoke the live audience.

Great match. The weight of the moment was well communicated. It was a real banger. The post-match attack was good and opens questions about Guevara’s character. It was smart to have the highly recognizable Jericho on screen early to capture channel surfers.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman defeated Brandon Cutler by submission

Cutler was a high school friend of the Young Bucks. He wrestled previously but stepped away from the business. He is giving it another shot.

MJF insults the audience as he walks to the ring.

Crowd: “Asshole!”

This match was pretty standard stuff, with MJF winning via the “Salt of the Earth” armbar submission.

This was a great showcase of Friedman in all his douchey glory.

MJF: “Look at the camera and tell your kids you’re a bum…”

Friedman demands the referee raises his hand in victory.

Chris Van Vliet interviews Smith and Mewes in the front row. Angelico and Jack Evans are out and insult them. Private Party (Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy)

A preshot SCU video plays. The trio is outside the White House. Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels are dressed in black suits like Secret Service agents. Scorpio Sky is doing a perfect vocal impression of President Barrack Obama. This leads into his “This is the worst town…” catchphrase.

They then transition to the area where SoCal Uncensored (SCU) is being interviewed live. Sky says that he is stepping down so that Kazarian and Daniels can compete in the upcoming tournament to crown AEW tag team champions.

SCU is confronted by the Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) and a brawl breaks out. Pentagon mists Daniels. Atlas Security, along with Dean Malenko, attempts to break up the fracas.

PAC defeated Hangman Page by submission

JR reminds fans that a commercial break is coming and that the match will continue via picture-in-picture.

PAC combos the Black Arrow with the Brutalizer to secure a submission victory. The sequence was seamless and gorgeous.

PAC’s arrogance is palpable. He has the look and workrate of a champion. I like the gruffness of his promos, but would he be better served by having a manager?

A commercial airs for “Full Gear” on 11/9. What do you (the average fan) think of Saturday pay-per-views?

Britt Baker is out to do commentary for the next match.

AEW Women’s World Championship Finals

RIHO defeated Nyla Rose to become the first AEW Women’s World Champion

Ross used Baker’s pursuit of a degree in dentistry as an example of her tenacity.

The director brought up a lower-screen graphic advertising upcoming dates.

The new belt has a cool, old school vibe.

Wait, RIHO started wrestling at the age of NINE??

RIHO is solid in the role of the smaller underdog.

A few minutes in, and the match feels like it is missing a spark.

Rose dumps RIHO on a stack of chairs at ringside. She misses a cannonball senton. RIHO follows with a stomp from the apron. She lands a second stomp for a nearfall. She gets another two-count with a roll-up.

Rose hits a Death Valley Driver for two.

The director is doing a good job tracking the crowd reactions for near-falls.

RIHO gets a pinfall to become the inaugural champion.

Baker was a bit stiff on the mic throughout the match.

RIHO is to celebrate with Michael Nakazawa interviewing her. However, Rose lays him out before he can. She hit him with a sloppy double-clutch Tiger Bomb. Speaking of sloppy, there were a fair amount of messy moves during the body of the match. Was this nerves or an indication of a need for improvement on Rose’s part?

Chris Jericho/Santana/Ortiz defeated The Elite (Kenny Omega/Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson)

The Elite enter to the BTE theme.

JR: “I love ‘tv time remaining’.”

Santana and Ortiz make their way to ringside. I think they need new gear that is reflective of their position. Their look feels a little “indie.”

Jericho’s star-quality is glaring. He the big-time feel that comes with being a legendary performer.

Omega and Jericho set to square off, when Jericho takes out to Santana in order to irritate his opponent and the audience.

Ross: “Has Kenny Omega been in a slump?”

Jericho goes for the Lion Tamer on Omega.

Unexpectedly, Jon Moxley rolls into the ring and jumps “The Cleaner.” The two brawl into the audience.

The referee losses complete control of the match at this time.

With Omega out, the match is now 2-on-3.

The camera follows Moxley and Omega to the back. In a callback to his days in DDT in Japan, Omega whacks Mox with a broomstick. They brawl back into the VIP area. Moxley hits the Dirty Deeds through glass table.

Santana and Ortiz are shining after the commercial break.

Nick Jackson retaliates as a one-man wrecking crew.

Jericho is out on the floor but rolls in the ring.

Jericho hits the Judas Effect on Matt Jackson for the pinfall victory.

Cody Rhodes is out to make the save. Guevara runs out to low-blow Rhodes from behind. Dustin Rhodes makes the save. In a stunner, Jake Hager (formerly Jack Swagger) attacks Dustin.

Hager is looking like a beast. He clotheslines Cody and the Bucks and then Vaderbombs Cody.

Audience: “We the People.”

The heels are standing tall.

Jericho slaps Cody.

Hagar gut wrench powerbombs Dustin on a table in the ring.

Jericho hits Judas Effect on Cody.

The show closes with a closeup on Hagar.

Post Show Results

6-Man Tag

SCU (Christopher Daniels/Scorpio Sky/Frankie Kazarian) defeated Jurassic Experience (Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus/Marko Stunt)

Britt Baker/Allie defeated Bea Priestly/Penelope Ford

Lucha Bros. (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) & Jack Evans/Angelico defeated Private Party & Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta)

Overall

This was a strong first episode of AEW. There was some awkwardness cutting back live from commercial breaks but that will be worked out with repetition. I thought it was odd that the decision was made to transition from a pretaped SCU promo to a live promo…but it was nothing that damaged the flow of the show.

I feel like Rhodes, Jericho, Guevara, the Elite and Hager all came across as “stars.” The opening match was excellent and set the right tone for the rest of the show.

Ross, Schiavone and Excalibur sounded like they have been calling as a team forever. They knocked it out of the park.

Overnight ratings indicate that the show drew 1.4 million viewers. That is far above the 800k prediction.

What does AEW have in store for the fans next week?

To be continued…

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