The SmarK Rant for AEW World’s End 2024 – 12.28.24

The SmarK Rant for AEW World’s End 2024 – 12.28.24

Live from Orlando, FL

Your hosts are Excalibur, Tony Schiavone & Nigel McGuinness

Continental Classic Semi-Finals: Will Ospreay v. Kyle Fletcher

Fletcher has the look down but still needs a killer entrance theme to nail this thing down for good. Kyle charges him and they trade chops in the corner and trade finisher attempts early while going for the kill, and Fletcher bails to the floor. Back in the ring, they trade more chops in the corner and Will clotheslines him to the floor and then hits him with a cannonball off the apron. Kyle tries to use the stairs, but Ospreay dives off them, so Fletcher catches him and powerbombs him onto the apron, THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING. And then he tosses Will into the railing for good measure, busting him open and making friends with the crowd. Back in the ring, Fletcher boots him down and then gives him some Kawada kicks, making sure to cover his nice white boots in Will’s blood in the process. He slugs away in the corner, but Ospreay drops him on the turnbuckle, so Fletcher lawn darts him into the corner for two. Will is just gushing blood and Fletcher repeatedly kicks him in the face, but until Ospreay comes back with a lariat and then lawn darts Fletcher into the corner to get some revenge. Big boot and standing moonsault get two. Ospreay with the stunner, but Fletcher pops up with a suplex, so Ospreay puts him down with a Spanish Fly for two. Will demands a chop battle and they beat on each other, but Ospreay catches a superkick attempt and hits the Ozcutter for two. Fletcher escapes the Hidden Blade, but Ospreay hits a poison rana and Hidden Blade on the second try, and it’s a double down. Next up, they smash each other with headbutts and then Ospreay is the one who gets the sneaky superkick this time, but the Hidden Blade misses and Fletcher rolls him up in the ropes for two. But he gets into a shoving match with the ref, and another Hidden Blade gets two off that. Once more, but Fletcher uses the ref to protect himself and hits a brainbuster for two. PK and Last Ride get two. Enzuigiri in the corner and Kyle hits a running boot to set up another brainbuster, but Will reverses to a rana and they roll into a Styles Clash, which finishes at 16:23 and sends Ospreay to the finals! So everyone bitching that Ospreay never wins with the Styles Clash can kindly shut up, too. One of the all time great PPV openers. *****. I actually thought they might go all the way with Fletcher tonight, but I’m wearing my “Bruv” t-shirt so this works for me.

Continental Classic Semi-Finals: Kazuchika Okada v. Ricochet

This crowd is ready for the Okada babyface turn, but I’m kind of thinking Ricochet is so hated right now that they might put him into the finals to cash in on it. They fight for the lockup and Okada yanks on the ear in the corner, so Ric takes him down with a headscissors and puts him on the floor. Back in, Okada with the big boot to put him down again, and then sits him up and does a dramatic running slap to the head in an awesome spot. Okada bails to the apron and slugs away from out there, but Ricochet takes out the knee and hits him with a tope suicida to annoy the crowd further. Back in with a springboard clothesline that gets two. The crowd sings “Na na na na, you’re bald” to show their love, and Ric gets a crucifix for two. He beats on Okada with chops, but Okada puts him down with a flapjack and back elbow. DDT right on the bald of his head gets two. Ricochet misses a pair of handsprings, but a quebrada gets two. Shooting star press gets two. They are having what I’d call a shocking amount of trouble getting this thing into second gear tonight. 450 misses and Okada puts him down with the neckbreaker for two. Flying elbow and Okada still won’t do the Rainmaker pose yet, but he hits the dropkick, only for Ricochet to reverse the tombstone into his own for two. Ric with a shooting star press for two. The Spirit Gun misses, so Okada hits him with another dropkick for the double down. Another try for the Spirit Gun, but Okada spins him into the Rainmaker to finish him off at 12:55 and advance to the finals. Good but they just didn’t mesh very well for whatever reason. ***1/4

Afterwards, Swerve Strickland joins us to rub salt in Ricochet’s fresh wounds, and then gives out toilet paper to the front row so they can all wish Ricochet a Happy New Year.

Meanwhile, Will Ospreay doesn’t even want to get cleaned up, and asks the crowd to carry him through the tournament win, and then he’s going to Disneyworld.

AEW Women’s World title, Tijuana Street Fight: Mariah May v. Thunder Rosa

The buildup for this one was pretty nonsensical but as long as they don’t something stupid like switch the title, it’s fine. They slug it out and May chokes her down on the mat, but misses a senton and Rosa hits her with a running uppercut to the ribs. That gets two. Rosa goes to load up the ring with plunder like it’s a WWE WarGames match and they head up to the entrance, where May gets a DDT for two. Mariah spits tequila at her, but Rosa spears her through a set piece for two. They head back to ringside, where Rosa hits her with a bottle for two. Back in the ring, Rosa chokes her out with a chair, but Mariah headbutts her and follows with a running knee for two. They trade forearms as Nigel reminds us of that famous saying, “England Rules the Waves”. Oddly I’ve never heard of that one but I’ll take his word for it. Rosa with a slam for two and she rips open a pinata, revealing thumbtacks in a unique way. Mariah with Mayday onto the tacks and that gets two. So Mariah goes and steals Papa Rosa’s cane, which he of course is famous for having in all his AEW appearances so far, but that leads to nothing of note as she just charges Rosa and hits the stairs. Rosa sets up a table and dropkicks Mariah off that. Back in, that gets two. Rosa chokes her out with a chain, but May throws grave dirt into her eyes and piledrives her through a table for the pin at 13:24. Just another OK match where the challenger had no chance. The went through the motions of the usual weapons shots and Papa Rosa didn’t factor into the match whatsoever. **1/2

Dynamite Diamond Ring: MJF v. Adam Cole

May we never have to see another match between these two after this. Cole immediately hits a superkick and tries for the Panama Sunrise, but MJF runs away and sends him into the stairs and now he’s bleeding as well. Max runs him into the post and slugs away in the ring, but Cole fights back, so MJF slams him down again and bites on the cut to open him up some more before going to a chinlock. Powerbomb on the knee gets two. He goes up for his own Sunrise, but Cole superkicks him on the way down and hits a backstabber and ushigoroshi for two. Cole goes up and misses the Sunrise, hurting his ankle again, and MJF goes to work on that. MJF wraps it around the post and wastes time yelling at the front row, but Cole counters him into the post and now he’s bleeding as well. So Cole slugs away in the corner and follows with the Panama Sunrise and the Boom for two. How dare he steal the Costco Guys’ catchphrase? That’s a total Sam’s Club move. MJF clips the knee to cut him off again. And finally they yell their grievances at each other and slug it out, obviously in need of some couples therapy to work this shit out, and MJF takes him down with a figure-four. MJF makes the ropes to escape Cole’s reversal, and then heads to the floor and blames the Kingdom for a phantom attack, prompting the ref to throw them out. So this allows him to steal his diamond ring back and charge into the ring, only for Cole to superkick him and steal it for himself. But MJF kicks him in the nuts and hits the Heatseeker for the pin at 14:35. So after all that buildup, they just went with the same old MJF low blow and retains the ring finish. Another one where the match was FINE, but didn’t need double juice at all. ***. Afterwards, sore loser Cole and all his loser friends reunite and beat up MJF and I guess we’re supposed to cheer for them? Well at least this feud is presumably over now.

AEW International title: Konosuke Takeshita v. Powerhouse Hobbs

This show really needs a banger to pull it out of the downward trend. They slug it out with forearms to start and it’s BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT, which results in Takeshita going flying to the floor. Hobbs slams him onto the apron a few times while Don Callis hides behind Tony Schiavone and Tony immediately stooges him out, but Takeshita takes him off the apron with a GTS and wraps him around the post for some punishment. Back in the ring, Takeshita goes to work on the leg and wraps it around the ropes while Excalibur has to try to explain the complicated title stips for WrestleDynasty week. For everyone’s sake he just goes with “Takeshita defends against Shingo Takagi”. Takeshita suplexes him into the ring, but Hobbs comes back with a crossbody and hits him with corner clotheslines and an over the shoulder powerslam for two. Takeshita with the tombstone for two and they club each other with meaty forearms until Takeshita gets a german suplex, but Hobbs snaps off a powerslam and then smashes him with a lariat for two. Takeshita clips the knee and follows with the Blue Thunder Bomb, but that only gets one and Hobbs pops up with the spinebuster for two. Callis’s shocked reaction at ringside was great but they spent too long on it and missed Hobbs’ comeback. They fight for a superplex and Hobbs’ knee gives out as the crowd chants “Please be careful” and Takeshita hits the superplex on the second try. Whew. Flying senton and he tries the running knee, but Hobbs hits him with the spinebuster for two. Takeshita escapes to the apron and Hobbs pulls down the straps because he means business and they go back to the top again, where Hobbs gets a top rope powerslam this time. Hobbs pulls off his knee brace to get more movement, but Takeshita starts smashing him with knees and guillotines him, and into the Raging Fire suplex to finish at 15:34. Yeah this was more like it. ****1/4.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone v. Kris Statlander

They trade power moves and Kris wins that battle, so Mercedes dropkicks her and sends her to the floor and then runs her into the railing and adds a knee. She tries a dive and Statlander catches her and carries her back into the ring for a slam on the apron, and that gets two. Mone with a rana for two and a cradle gets two. Kris powerslams her and follows with a backbreaker before hitting her with a fallaway slam to send Mercedes out to the apron. They fight to the top, but Mone slips out and powerbombs Statlander on the apron, which gets two. Double knees in the corner gets two. Statlander fights back, but the backstabber gets two for Mone. Mone with a straitjacket hold, but Kris powers up and Mone takes her down again. Mone goes up and Statlander catches her with a powerbomb and makes the comeback, beating on her in the corner and hitting a german suplex for two. Stat with a Michinoku Driver for two. Mercedes with a tornado DDT for two as the crowd actually gets behind Mone, and she hits the Six Amigos on Statlander in response. Frog splash gets two as I think Stat was supposed to get the knees up but missed the cue. They fight for a backslide and Kris hits a package piledriver for two. They slug it out and tumble to the floor, tearing the ring apron off in the process, but Mercedes hits the Moneymaker on the floor and they’re both out. So Mercedes wraps Kris’s leg in the apron bars and beats on her while she’s helpless, but Kris comes back with an F5 in the ring for “two”, which was clearly a three and the ref just stopped counting. So they head to the apron again and this time Mone hits an OwenDriver 97 out there, but Statlander dives back in at 9 to save herself. Mone demands “Why won’t you die?” and puts her in the Bank Statement, but Statlander fights to the ropes and breaks it. So Mone continues talking smack and slaps her down, but she charges and Statlander clotheslines her and tries the tombstone. But this time Mone reverses to an anklelock to escape, so Statlander rolls her into a pair of rollups for two. Mone with a crucifix, however, and that finally finishes at 24:35. Really they had no choice because Mone is doing a title defense in Japan that’s already booked. But this was realistically the time when they should have beaten her. This crowd has been a struggle all night long but they won them over big here. ****1/4

Continental Classic Finals: Kazuchika Okada v. Will Ospreay

And NOW the crowd is fired up. Okada offers a clean break and then wallops Will instead, so Will fights back with chops and a rana to put Okada on the floor. Will follows with a dive and they fight on the floor, but Will misses a springboard off the railing and gets DDT’d. And then he takes Will to the apron and hits him with a draping DDT to the floor for good measure. Back in for a third DDT, and that gets two. Ospreay fights back with forearms, but Okada cuts him off with a neckbreaker, which dislodges the bloody bandage from Will’s head as this one is about to be for the sickos. So Okada goes to the cut and tries another DDT, but Will counters with a suplex and handspring kick. Ospreay with a springboard elbow and that gets two. Hidden Blade is countered into a flapjack, but Ospreay goes to the top rope and Okada dropkicks him down to the floor. Okada starts going after the knee now, but Ospreay hits him with an Ozcutter off the railing and they’re both down. They both beat the count at 9, but Ospreay flies in with a springboard legdrop and Ozcutter for two. Ospreay tries the Stormbreaker, but Okada reverses him into the neckbreaker and goes up with the flying elbow and a nasty shotgun dropkick into the corner. He follows with another dropkick to cut off an Ospreay comeback, but Will catches him with the Styles Clash for two. Okada starts slow but then starts building up momentum faster and faster. Rainmaker gets two, giving us SHOCKED TWO COUNT FACE from Okada. Okada beats him down with more forearms and dares him to take his best shot, then suckers him in and hits him with a german suplex. Rainmaker is countered into a Spanish Fly for two, however. Okada dropkick is countered but Ospreay misses the Ozcutter, and then recovers with his own Rainmaker and the Stormbreaker for two. That was an incredible near fall. Tiger Driver time, but Okada flips out of it and hits a lariat for a double down, while keeping hold of the wrist. He tries another Rainmaker but Ospreay won’t go down. Hidden Blade misses, but Will hits a Stormbreaker, and Okada rolls out and into the Rainmaker to finish and retain the title at 19:09. Those last five minutes were some of the best pro wrestling of the year. ***** Okada winning the tournament was kind of the obvious result but it’s hard to argue with it.

Afterwards, Christopher Daniels joins us, and announces that he’s no longer an EVP…but Kenny Omega is back, and he gets to award the title to Okada instead. Well there’s some star power for Max!

AEW World title: Jon Moxley v. Orange Cassidy v. Hangman Page v. Jay White

The bickersons all argue, so Moxley just leaves to laugh at them, and finally Orange takes it upon himself to dive onto Moxley and the challengers all work together and triple-team Mox. They all fight into the crowd, which leads me to wonder why Hangman and White don’t just pick a winner and lay down for the other guy while Moxley is occupied. Back in the ring, Mox hits Orange with kicks, but Orange rolls away from him and distracts him long enough to hit an Orange Punch. And then the challengers get it together and put Mox through the table with a Shield bomb to get rid of him, and the truce is over. Back in the ring, Hangman hits White with a lariat and slams Orange into the turnbuckles for two. Big boot gets two. Christian Cage is in the skybox, but Hook is in another skybox watching him, and meanwhile Page beats on the other two outside and runs them into the railings. Back in the ring, Hangman with a corner clothesline on Orange while JR rightly points out that the longer they take to finish this thing off, the more time Moxley gets to recover. Orange with a stunner on Hangman, but White hits a sleeper suplex on Orange and clotheslines Hangman to the floor. But this allows Moxley to return and take them out before hitting a cutter on Orange. White comes in with a Blade Runner on Mox, but Mox reverses to a rollup for two and they all hit big moves for a four way double down. White attacks both Moxley and Hangman, but Orange hits everyone with Ornage Punches and gets two on Moxley, before Hangman takes out the ref to save. Page with Buckshot lariats on everyone and the Deadeye on Moxley, but Wheeler Yuta interferes again and Orange rolls up Page for two. So Hangman kicks Orange in the nuts and White hits the Blade Runner on Page, and then again on Moxley, but Yuta interferes again to save. Shafir finally takes the Blade Runner, but Yuta hits the knee on White and Moxley gets the Death Rider to retain at 15:35. This didn’t do much for me, just the usual mess of big moves and tons of interference at the end. ***

Afterwards, we get the debut of Rated FTR, as Adam Copeland returns with his best friends and they brawl with the Death Riders, setting up a showdown between Moxley and Copeland and a spear from Adam. I don’t know about Copeland about the ultimate challenger for Moxley but he certainly has more of a shot at winning than the goofs in the main event tonight did, at least. Also, and I know this is an incredibly minor point, I’m actually really disappointed that they spent weeks setting up the stuff with FTR and the Outrunners and then just dropped it and we never got any kind of payoff.

This was, like, the most awesome nothing filler PPV in history. There was no title changes because they were kind of booked into a corner with all of them and couldn’t do any switches, but it made up for the lack of storyline development with Will by god Ospreay carrying another PPV on his back. Didn’t really like the main event all that much but this was still a thumbs up show, easily.