The SmarK Rant for AEW All Out 2022 – 09.04.22

The SmarK Rant for AEW All Out 2022 – 09.04.22

Live from Chicago, IL

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Taz

Tay and Sammy are making out in the back, as they enjoy doing, but Ortiz and Ruby drive a golf cart into the area and poor Sammy gets run over yet again.

AAA Mixed tag team title: Tay Melo & Sammy Guevara v. Ruby Soho & Ortiz

The faces haul our lovebirds down to the ring and ruby sends Tay into the stairs, and Ortiz hits Sammy with a DVD into a Ruby rana for two. Ortiz appears to be cosplaying the child of Aja Kong and Taka Michinoku tonight in an odd choice. Tay takes out Ruby from behind and we get more affection from the champs, but Ruby hits Tay with a backdrop driver and it’s back to Ortiz. He hits Sammy with a reverse suplex, but Tay takes out Ruby and Sammy helps her hit a destroyer on Ortiz in a move that pretty much spits in Isaac Newton’s face. Sammy with a swanton for two off that. Anna Jay heads down to go after Ruby again, but Ruby takes her out and the challengers escape stereo GTHs and get two. Ruby goes up for a dive, but Tay suplexes her onto Ortiz and Sammy outside. Hopefully everyone survived that one. More from Anna, allowing Tay to hit a buckle bomb on Ruby and finish with the TayKO at 6:00 to retain. OK, we’ve seen it three times in two weeks, enough, let’s move on. **

FTW World title: Hook v. Angelo Parker

Hook takes him down with the hammerlock and facelocks him to start, and Parker retreats to the ropes, allowing Daddy Magic to interfere for the cheapshot. Parker with a snap suplex for two. Parker dropkicks him and talks some trash, but Hook headbutts him and stomps on Menard before making the comeback and destroying Parker with suplexes. Hook beats on Parker in the corner and escapes a suplex before hooking him with the Redrum at 4:00 to retain. I wouldn’t say it exposed him or anything, but it wasn’t a great showcase for Hook and ran a bit long. *****************************1/2 2.0 tries for the beatdown, but noted rapper and producer Action Bronson makes the save from the front row.

AEW All-Atlantic title: Pac v. Kip Sabian

Kudos to whoever on Twitter pointed out that Sabian now looks like someone hatching a plan to rob the Gotham museum while leaving clues for Batman. Kip catches him with a big boot and stomps him down in the corner, but Pac catches him with a kick and goes to the top. Kip cuts him off and tries a superplex, but Pac blocks that, so Sabian kicks Pac to the floor instead. We get a weird deal where Pac covers up his head to protect from a dive, but none is forthcoming, and then Kip sends him to the other side of the ring and hits the dive there instead. They fight on the floor and Pac gets a brainbuster out there. Back in, he chokes Kip on the ropes and dropkicks him for two. Kip throws foreaerms and gets nowhere, so he distracts Pac with some hand moves and then headbutts him instead. They trade suplexes and both guys are down, but Pac goes up first and Sabian rolls out of the way. Kip with a tornado DDT and slingshot suplex for two. Package powerbomb gets two. And then he stops to talk to the box at ringside, but Pac puts him down with a forearm and stomps him down. Black Arrow finishes at 10:23. So they spent five months building up Sabian with the box and his big return is doing a clean job in the pre-show? OK then. Match was fine, not exactly the high impact classic we were expecting or anything. **1/2

Orange Cassidy comes out to make the next challenge to Pac, but Pac thinks he’s a joke. I think that’s the guy yelling at the box in the ring, personally.

Tomohiro Ishii v. Eddie Kingston

Eddie’s growing his hair back in and it looks a bit weird. He’s turning into Bugsy McGraw or something. They trade chops to start and just keep hitting each other harder and harder andfinally Eddie digs deep and puts Ishii down with a double chop to win the battle. Ishii wants more, so he absorbs more of them and then unloads on Eddie in the corner. Eddie gets fired up again, but Ishii takes them all and then puts Eddie down again. Eddie finally tries a wrestling move with a suplex, but Ishii reverses to his own. Eddie fires back with more chops and follows with a suplex and DDT for two. Ishii pulls himself up and absorbs more chops without even flinching, and hits a backdrop suplex for two. So now they exchange slaps in a crazy sequence, but Eddie tries a lariat and goes down in pain. But he was ACTING and comes back with a suplex, only for Ishii to hit his own and then blast Eddie with a lariat to follow. And they’re both down after that. Ishii is up first, but Eddie hits a lariat and powerbombs him for two. Eddie with another lariat for two. Ishii blocks the backfist and hits an enzuigiri and lariat for two, and a sliding lariat gets two. They trade suplex attempts and Eddie hits the backfist for two, but Ishii just fights up, so Eddie hits another backfist and finishes with the northern lights bomb at 13:26. Good luck to whoever gets the PPV opening slot following THAT. ****1/2

Main card time!

Casino Ladder match:

We start with Fenix and Wheeler Yuta, and they trade chops before Fenix sweeps the legs in the corner. Fenix sets up a ladder on the railing outside and apparently wants to deliver a cutter from the top rope to the floor, but Yuta fights him off and dives onto him instead. Rush is next in at 1:50 and Yuta climbs for the chip while Rush gets undressed on the ramp, but Fenix saves anyway. Rush suplexes Yuta onto the ladder and takes out Fenix with a headbutt, then hits him with a dive outside and whips him with a cable. Andrade is next at 3:40 and Rush acts like he was setting up the ladder for his partner, but they both climb and Yuta saves. And then Andrade powerbombs him off the top of the ladder and onto a ladder bridge and Yuta is DEAD. Claudio is next at 6:10 and he runs around hitting people with forearms, and then we get a wacky spot where he traps Andrade on a ladder construction set and then dumps him to the floor. Dante Martin is next at 8:18 and he sends Claudio to the floor for a dive, but Yuta tries to climb and Dante springboards up the ladder to save instead. Claudio tries the Swiss Death on him, but he lands on the ladder and climbs again before the ladder gets tipped over to save. Penta is next at 9:45 and he hits Dante with a destroyer on the way to the ring, and then superkicks Yuta in the corner and hits Claudio with a backstabber. He fights with Andrade onto a ladder bridge outside and kills him with a destroyer on the ladder, while Fenix puts Rush through a table with a frog splash. This leaves Claudio and Yuta alone to climb for the chip, but Dante bumps over Claudio…and suddenly a bunch of guys in black masks storm the ring and take everyone out. So Stokely Hathaway unmasks and grabs the chip, along with his crew revealing themselves, but the Joker is left, as Stokely presents him with the chip for the win at 14:14. And he teases unmasking, but then leaves instead. What kind of a bullshit non-finish was THAT? Hopefully they have a “Rick Rude as the Halloween Phantom” level of payoff for this one later tonight. This would have been fine on the pre-show, but as a PPV opener it’s a slap in the face of the viewer.

AEW Trios tournament final: John Silver, Alex Reynolds & Hangman Page v. The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega

Kenny has now shed all his protective armor and is presumably at 100%. Hangman battles Nick to a stalemate to start, and Matt trades wristlocks with Reynolds and then spits in his face. Come on, Covid is still a thing! Gross. Silver comes in for the double-team and they stomp on Matt’s back, but Page calls them off for showing poor sportsmanship. So it’s over to Omega and they fight for the lockup in the corner, but Silver tags himself in and Dark Order goes to work on Omega’s arm. Back to Hangman, who again complains about working the bad arm, and then chops Omega and puts him down with a big boot instead. I guess that’s more honorable? But Nick hits him with a superkick from the apron and the Bucks double-team him on the floor and dive onto the Dark Order. Matt goes up with a flying elbow for two. Bucks double-team him and Omega adds a neckbreaker for two, but Hangman escapes You Can’t Escape and Silver comes in and runs wild. He beats up Brandon and Nakazawa for good measure, and they hit Nick with a Rockerplex to the floor. Back in the ring, Spin Doctor on Matt gets two. Matt fights back with the northern lights on both guys, and Kenny hits a flying bodypress on Silver and a pair snapdragons on Hangman and Reynolds to get rid of them. The Dark Order regroups with the double team sequence on Kenny for two. They try to finish with the triple-team, but the Bucks break it up and Kenny takes out Silver with the V-Trigger and then follows with the Terminator dive on all three. Back in, Matt tries the buckle bomb on Reynolds, but he reverses Matt into the corner and now Hangman makes the comeback, setting up the triple team powerbomb on Matt for two. Nick saves with a swanton and it’s a SUPERKICK PARTY that leaves everyone down, but Omega and Hangman want to battle and the ref won’t let them because they’re not legal. So they drag the bodies of their partners over for the tag and it’s a slugfest as they trade big bombs and Kenny gets the Tiger Driver for two. To the top, where Hangman brings him down with a blockbuster slam off the top for two. Buckshot Lariat follows, but he sets up for another one and this time Matt stops him, allowing Nick to hit own buckshot and the BTE Trigger for two. So Kenny is left for the V-Trigger, but Page collapses, and Silver cradles Kenny for two. But then the V-Trigger and One Winged Angel follow, and Silver reverses the Angel into a cradle for two! Page with another buckshot, but he misses and hits Silver, and Kenny gets the pin at 19:50 to win the Trios titles. I don’t think anyone seriously thought that anyone but the Elite would walk out with the belts, but the finish was one of the most insane I’ve ever seen. ****1/2

TBS title: Jade Cargill v. Athena

Jade is going an obvious She-Hulk cosplay tonight, although Excalibur misses it and says “She’s painted green because she’s made of money”. Don’t worry, that’s one superhero show safe from HBO Max. Athena quickly hits the O-Face for two, but the Baddies save, so Athena takes them out on the floor. Back in, Jade hits a samoan drop and boots her down for two. They slug it out and Jade tries a Pedigree, but Athena hits a crossbody for two. Athena stops for SHOCKED TWO COUNT FACE off that simple move for some reason, and then goes up for another try at the finish, but Jade catches her and they kind of fall down off that. Athena with a stunner for two in another awkward spot. Athena goes up and gets coaxed down by Kiera, and jade puts her down with the pump kick and finishes with Jaded at 4:20. This didn’t need to be on the show. *

Meanwhile, CM Punk and his dog arrive with best friend and trainer Ace Steel, who may have also trained Punk’s dog, I’m assuming. Huge if true.

Wardlow & FTR v. The Motor City Machine Guns & Jay Lethal

Dax brings out his daughter for the cheap babyface heat. Lethal goes for Wardlow’s leg to start and almost gets powerbombed, but slips away to escape. Over to Sabin, who takes Dax down with an armdrag while Excalibur thankfully explains why they keep pointing to their hands. Dax chases Dutt around the ring, but walks into a cutter from Sabin as a result. Shelley hits Dax with chops in the corner, but Dax comes back with a suplex and Cash gets a legdrop for two. Over to Wardlow, and he hits the Guns with a double suplex, but Dax comes in and gets rolled up by Shelley for two. The Guns double-team Dax and Sabin dropkicks him for two. Lethal trades chops with Dax, but it’s over to Cash after heel miscommunication and he runs wild on Shelley. Cash counters Sliced Bread with a Gory Bomb for two, but the heels take out the knee and go to work on it in the corner as we get the heat on Cash now. Lethal with the figure-four and they continue beating on him and cut off the ring, but Wardlow gets the hot tag and slams everyone. F10 on Lethal gets two. Satnam gets involved and punches Wardlow into a Lethal rollup for two, and now we get heat on Wardlow as this match drags on. Lethal drops the big elbow for two. FTR regroups and takes out Shelley with the Big Rig, but Lethal hits them with the Lethal Injection to take them out again. But then Wardlow has had enough of this match just like the audience, and takes out Lethal with the powerbombs at 16:23. This was a complete waste of everyone involved and no one cared about the match, just like we all predicted. ** The heels go for the beatdown afterwards, but Samoa Joe returns from Hollwyood to make the save, before Dax’s daughter comes out and breaks Dutt’s pencil before pinning him with one foot. Cute moment, but we didn’t need the 16 minute match to get there. Wardlow could have squashed Lethal in 2:00 and led to the same thing.

Ricky Starks v. Powerhouse Hobbs

Hobbs immediately plows into Ricky and chokes him out on the ropes, then runs him into the post and out to the floor. Back in, Hobbs puts Starks in the corner and beats on him, then puts him down with a big boot for two. Hobbs with a neck vice, but Starks fights back with a DDT for two. Starks tries to finish, but Hobbs reverses out and puts him away with the spinebuster out of nowhere at 5:00. Huh. Guess he came back from the neck injury too soon. *

AEW World tag team title: Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland v. The Acclaimed

Caster calling Keith Lee “Lizzo” is a pretty sick burn. I thought he might have gone for the Velveteen Dream reference, but maybe he’s also waiting for secondary confirmation. Bowens takes Swerve down while the crowd turns Keith’s chant into “Oh scissor me Daddy” in a cool twist. Swerve takes Bowens down and goes for the leg, but a cradle gets two for Bowens and he retreats to bring Caster in. Lee comes in and shows off his speed, but Caster takes him down with a rana and then the Acclaimed team up to send them to the floor and stop to SCISSOR. I still can’t believe they managed to get that stupid thing over. Back in, Keith gets tired of these scissoring shenanigans and beats Caster down before splashing him for two, and Swerve adds the diving uppercut for two. Lee with the chops and he hangs Max in the corner, but Max fires back with a cutter and makes the hot tag to Bowens. He runs wild and hits a suplex on Swerve for two, but then he goes up and buckles his knee on the way down. He manages to hit a fameasser on Swerve, but gets thrown out and lands on his knee again. Swerve goes after the knee and offers Daddy Ass a crotch chop, and back in for two. Over to Lee, who hits a knee crusher on Bowens and smirks about it, then splashes the knee for two. He biels Bowens out of the corner, but Bowens gets fired up and hits a blockbuster out of the corner. Hot tag Caster and he dumps Swerve and dives onto him, and a flying bodypress on Lee gets two. The Acclaimed double-teams Lee in the corner and Caster tries a slam, but Lee overpowers him and then pounces Swerve by mistake, allowing Bowens to hit Lee with a knee for two. Lee has had quite enough and headbutts Bowens, resulting in the knee giving out again. So Keith goes to the top, but the Acclaimed cut him off and hit a double superplex. However, Swerve makes the blind tag and stomps Bowens for two. Then he just destroys the knee and goes to a half-crab while the crowd boos the shit out of him, but Caster makes the save with a missile dropkick. Caster comes in and Swerve hits the enzuigiri for two, but he goes for a springboard and Bowens yanks him down, allowing Caster to hit the mic drop on the floor. Back in the ring, Lee beats them down again, but Billy Gunn stands up to him and Caster hits the death valley driver. Back to Bowens and he slams Swerve to set up the mic drop, but Keith Lee saves and the entire crowd has a heart attack. Caster takes Swerve to the apron, but Swerve hits him with a death valley driver out there, and then goes after Bowens knee again in the ring. Bowens fights off the champs by himself, but the knee gives out and Swerve hits Lee by mistake, and Bowens gets a rollup for two and another cardiac event. I can’t take much more of this match. Bowens tries to finish Lee, but he gets Swerve Bombed and pinned at 22:28 as the champs retain and leave Chicago as the biggest heels of the night. So far. I had no idea the Acclaimed had this in them, but HOLY CRAP. ****3/4 Keith Lee offers a respectful scissoring to Daddy Ass, but the crowd is having none of that and boos them out of the building regardless. I’m not the type to be like “they should have called an audible, der der” but THEY SHOULD HAVE CALLED AN AUDIBLE. If there was ever a time, this was it. I actually liked this match so much that I went back and readjusted my ratings for a couple of matches.

AEW Women’s title: Hikaru Shida v. Toni Storm v. Dr. Britt Baker DMD v. Jamie Hayter

I’m guessing there should have been a cooldown match because they’re not following that tag title match. They should have thrown a quick squash or backstage promo or something in between the title matches. Storm beats on Hayter while Britt watches from the floor. Everyone trades rollups and we get a wacky three-way submission, but Britt breaks it up and runs wild on everyone. Shida tosses her and Hayter runs wild next, hitting Shida and Storm with running elbows and a double suplex, followed by a double lariat. Everyone heads to the floor, and back in Shida trades slams with Storm. They trade kip ups and then Rebel runs in for some reason and gets taken out by them. Baker and Hayter team up on Shida and Britt curb stomps her on the ramp, resulting in the trainers carrying Shida away while the heels double-team Storm in the ring. Toni fights back but gets slugged down by Britt as this completely falls apart, but Shida returns with kendo sticks and cleans house. She suplexes Hayter from the apron into the ring for two, but Hayter and Britt get a double rollup on Shida for two. Not sure how that would work. Everyone slugs it out and Shida hits the falcon arrow on Hayter for two, but Storm saves, so Hayter hits a tombstone for two. Shida gives her double knees for two, but Britt gets another curb stomp on Shida for two. Storm tosses Britt, but Hayter tosses Storm, and then she hits Shida with a lariat for two, with Britt saving. Storm with the piledriver on Hayter and Baker tries to steal the pin, but only gets two. Storm comes back with a DDT on Hayter, however, and gets the pin and the title at 14:50. Well that was completely obvious. They tried hard, but they had no chance to follow that tag title match. *** Also the crowd REALLY wanted Hayter to win and they did themselves no favors by having the ice cold Toni Storm beat her.

Christian Cage v. Jungle Boy Jack Perry

So Luchasaurus comes out from the heel tunnel and turns on poor Jungle Boy for the second time, chokeslamming him on the ramp and then powerbombing him through the table at ringside. So we ring the bell and Christian spears him for two, then finishes with the Killswitch at 0:19. See now, THIS is what should have followed the tag title match. I don’t know what the point of Luchasaurus doing a fake babyface turn was, but the heel dynamic with Christian was much better anyway. I don’t even know what the point of having this on PPV was, though, if it was only going to be a 20 second angle instead of a match. I guess Christian is still too injured to do anything?

Meanwhile, we get a promo backstage with Best Friends and Death Triangle, but none of Death Triangle speaks English so it doesn’t go very well.

Bryan Danielson v. Chris Jericho

The dude who lipsyncs Danielson to the ring has better abs than most of the promotion. Danielson quickly gets the stomps and Jericho bails to escape. Back in, Jericho gives him a chop and Bryan brushes him off like Luke in The Last Jedi, although less holographic or Jedi mind projection or whatever that was supposed to be. Let’s face it, Rogue One was the only worthwhile contribution that Disney made to the movie series and we all know it. Jericho takes him down and gets a headscissors on the mat, but Bryan tries to reverse to a Romero special and Jericho fights out of it. Danielson pounds him down on the mat, but Jericho wraps him up in a hold on the mat, but Danielson reverses to a Guardian deathlock and that gets two. Back to the chops, but Jericho puts him down and stops to gloat before slapping him around. Bryan goes all tranquilo and comes back, but Jericho dropkicks him off the apron and follows with a dive, landing on Bryan’s knee in the process. Back in, Danielson with a missile dropkick and the kicks, but Jericho tries to reverse to the Walls and gets sent into the corner. Bryan takes him to the top and tries a rana, but Jericho catches him in the Walls to block and Danielson reverses to a cradle for two. They head to the floor and Danielson gets a dive. Back in, they head to the top and Danielson fights him off, but misses the diving headbutt. Lionsault also misses and Bryan gets the Lebell lock, but Jericho catapults him over the top to escape. Back in, they trade tombstone attempts and Jericho wins that one, and follows with the Lionsault for two. Danielson fights back with the kicks and Jericho finally pulls up his damn pants, and it’s time to KICK HIS FUCKING HEAD IN. This sets up another Lebell lock, but Jericho rolls out of it and into the Walls again. Danielson reverses that to a triangle, but Jericho makes the ropes and necks him on the bottom rope to break. They trade more chops in the corner, but Danielson walks into a codebreaker out of nowhere, and that gets two. Jericho with the Liontamer, but Danielson escapes that, so Jericho adds a german suplex and does his own hammer elbows. Danielson fights back with the bu saiku knee for two and it’s time for CATTLE MUTILATION, but Jericho rolls out of it. So Bryan pounds him with more elbows and goes back to the hold, but now Jericho makes the ropes. Danielson beats on him with the kicks on the ropes, and he reminds Aubrey that HE HAS UNTIL FIVE, REFEREE. Jericho rolls him up for two, but Danielson pounds him with more elbows, so Jericho goes low behind the ref’s back and hits the Judas Effect to finish at 23:38. Does Jericho have incriminating photos on Tony Khan or something that he never does jobs? This was a solid technical match but I wasn’t buying Jericho kicking out of all of Danielson’s big stuff after a while. ***1/2

The House of Black v. Sting, Darby Allin & Miro

Time for the PARTY MATCH before the main event. Miro wins a staring match with Black to start and stomps him down in the corner, then catches a diving Buddy and slams him. Miro decides to not tag Darby, so Darby tags himself in and rolls up Buddy for two. Darby tries a Code Red, but Black stops him with a high kick and punts him for two. Over to Brody, who wallops Darby and hurls him into the corner repeatedly and then chops him to the floor for a trip to the railing. Back in the ring, Black goes to a chinlock. I was kind of hoping that they’d do a crazy brawl because we haven’t had one tonight and the show is sorely lacking one thus far. The House cuts off the ring and Buddy puts Darby down with a high knee before hitting Sting off the apron, but Miro gets a false tag and gets escorted out again. But then Sting gets a hot tag and hits the Stinger splashes, and necks Brody on the top rope. So he lets Buddy tag out to Malakai, which is exactly what the crowd wants to see, and they slug it out. Sting takes him down for the Scorpion Deathlock and Black is bleeding from his eye, and he just stands there taking it while Brody and Buddy try to break the hold. Finally Black reverses out and the House triple-teams Sting, but he escapes and brings Darby back in with a coffin drop on Brody for two. Miro returns and charges at Buddy outside, but he uses Sting’s bat to take Miro out. Back in the ring, Darby hits Buddy with a stunner and sends him to the floor for a dive, leaving Sting alone with Black again..but Sting blows mist in his face, and Darby rolls him up for the pin at 12:15. Cool finish, not much to the match. **1/4

AEW World title: Jon Moxley v. CM Punk

Man it’s feeling like the tag title match has ruined the crowd for the rest of the show, to be honest, because they’ve never really gotten them back yet. But then the crowd does indeed go crazy for Punk and boos Moxley like crazy, so everything is fine again. They slug it out to start and Punk suddenly his the GTS for two as they tease another quickie, but Punk tosses him and follows with a dive before they fight into the crowd. Back to ringside and Punk runs him into the stairs, but now the crowd is actually split. Moxley runs Punk into the post to buy time, and surprisingly Punk is the first one bleeding off that. I thought that maybe Moxley would run him into the post and start bleeding himself. Mox pounds on the cut and licks the blood of his hand, which actually splatters blood onto the camera in a gross visual. Back in the ring, Moxley beats on him in the corner while we learn why Punk made sure to wear long white tights tonight. Punk fights back with the running knee in the corner, but Mox blocks the bulldog and takes out the knee before going to work on the foot. Punk goes for the ropes, so Moxley crossfaces him and rakes at the cut before going back to a leglock and pulling on the foot. Dragon screw sets up the figure-four, but Punk flips him off, so Moxley piledrives him for two. Mox takes him to the apron and Punk yanks him down by the arm to escape, and then runs Moxley’s shoulder into the post to take over. Punk with the head stomps to set up the Anaconda Vice, but Mox bites the cut to escape and does his own stomps. Punk fights back with a slam and goes up with the flying elbow, but he lands in Moxley’s choke, and then reverses to a cross armbreaker. Moxley switches to the bulldog choke, but the blood means he can’t get a grip, so he tries an anklelock instead. Punk makes the ropes, so Mox drops him with a german suplex, but Punk pops up with the head kick, and Moxley hits him with the lariat and they’re both down. Punk tries another GTS and Moxley escapes that, so Punk gets a neckbreaker and the GTS. Mox catches the leg, however, and hits the Death Rider for two. Mox goes right to the hammer elbows and bulldog choke, but Punk fights him up and into the GTS, but Moxley escapes. Another GTS from Punk, but Moxley hits the ropes and bounces off onto Punk as dead weight. So Punk hoists him up again, hits a second one, and regains the title at 19:55. I think Moxley still had juice as champion, but we know what’s coming for Punk so he needed the title back again. ****1/4

And then the lights go out, as we get a voicemail from Tony Khan to MJF telling him to show up at All Out. And of course, the Joker is MJF, who reveals himself to a mammoth reaction, and we have our next challenger.

Well this show certainly didn’t have the gravitas of Rivals: Stephanie McMahon v. Brie Bella over on A&E, but it was a pretty good way to spend a Sunday night. Definitely not perfect by any stretch, though, as the ladder match finish was all time bad, and the tag title match is probably going to go down as a huge missed opportunity, but we still had multiple four star matches and a big return by the end, so it’s an easy thumbs up.