Before this review, I and the entire Steelchair crew would like to offer our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Jon Huber ‘Brodie Lee’ who passed away on December 26, 2020, at the age of 41. An absolutely tragic loss and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

Chris Jericho and MJF w/ Jake Hager vs Top Flight

After Top Flight fought off the post-match assault attempted by the Inner Circle last week, Jericho and MJF looked to teach the young brothers a lesson.

Unfortunately for them, they underestimated Top Flight who used their impressive speed and athleticism to fight back against the dastardly tactics of the Inner Circle pair.

Sadly, Top Flight were bested by the numbers game afforded to the Inner Circle by having Hager at ringside. Dante Martin threw Jericho over the barricade but Darius Martin was pulled off the apron by Hager allowing MJF to hit the Heatseeker and put Darius away.

After the match, Hager condemned Wardlow for being away on “family business” and challenged Wardlow to a match next week on AEW Dynamite.

Really entertaining opener with the Inner Circle pair allowing Top Flight to show off their amazing high-flying style.

The Acclaimed music video

This was uhh… I mean the rapping is definitely better when they’ve pre-recorded at least. Although, that’s not saying much.

Sting explains why he’s here

Tony Schiavone spoke to Sting in the ring asking why he’s in AEW. He referenced the impact Dusty Rhodes had on his career and his influence on the face paint all the while delivering a spot-on Dusty impression.

He said he couldn’t stay at home seeing what Dusty’s son, Cody, was doing with the company and wanted to be involved. Before Sting could move on to the subject of Darby Allin, Team Taz interrupted.

As the group threatened to beat down Sting, the lights went out and when they came back up Allin was in the ring, side by side with Sting.

Taz announced that on January 6, Brian Cage would challenge Allin for the TNT Championship.

Sting and Allin stared each other down with some great camera work showing Sting in cold light while Darby’s face was warped by heat.

I’m interested to see what Sting is going to do and when he’s in the ring with Allin sparks are flying. However, they will have to be a bit more inventive going forward as the constant vague interviews are starting to grow stale.

MJF patches things up with Santana and Ortiz

MJF invited the cameraman to follow him as he interrupted Santana and Ortiz’s card game.

The pair looked to leave immediately, but MJF stopped them and gave some seemingly sincere condolences for Santana’s loss of his step-father. He went on to mention he’d lost his grandfather to cancer. He empathised with how hard it is and promised he was there for Santana.

Santana hugged MJF as he demanded MJF “always keep his head up” and Ortiz followed suit.

Obviously, we can never trust MJF’s motives but never the less, this felt very sincere and was a very nice moment considering how many people have suffered losses this year.

Jurassic Express vs The Dark Order

The entire Jurassic Express took on Dark Order members Colt Cabana, Ten and Alan ‘5’ Angels in trios action.

There was some fun to be had with a surprisingly strong opening from Marko Stunt before the Dark Order took their revenge by isolating Jungle Boy.

A hot tag to Luchasaurus was able to turn the tables and a powerbomb combination from Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus took the victory.

After the match, FTR and Tully Blanchard lambasted Jurassic Express as cosplay wrestlers with Blanchard deliberately misnaming them “Jurassic Park”. Blanchard challenged Jurassic Express to a match against FTR for January 6.

Fun match but neither team feels like they have any major legitimacy at the moment. Hopefully, a feud with FTR will allow Jurassic Express to have some much-needed screen time.

PAC w/ Penta El Zero M vs the Butcher w/ The Blade and The Bunny

Eddie Kingston joined the commentary table for this match that turned out to be the standout of the night.

PAC used his wily speed to keep Butcher at a distance early but Butcher quickly caught PAC and used his power advantage to beat PAC’s neck and keep him as grounded as possible.

Attempts at comebacks were met with distractions from the Blade that once again allowed the Butcher to toss PAC around like a ragdoll.

Butcher wanted to continue toying with PAC but Kingston demanded Butcher put him away. As Kingston walked to the ring, Lance Archer intercepted him and caused a distraction long enough to allow PAC to blindside Butcher with a kick and hit the Black Arrow for the win.

Really brutal match with PAC taking a hell of a lot of punishment and Kingston on commentary was a delight.

Kip Sabian, Penelope Ford and Miro announce the wedding date

After stating this would be the first wrestling wedding ever on TNT (…not sure on that one Kip), they were ready to set the date but the Best Friend’s music played. It turned out to be a prank by Kip and Miro who revealed that they had laid out Trent who was being taken away in an ambulance.

They finally revealed the wedding would take place at Beach Break which is scheduled for February 3.

Dustin Rhodes vs Evil Uno w/ Stu Grayson

The pair targeted each other’s hands throughout the match with Uno seeming to have the edge for a lot of the match.

However, Uno couldn’t keep the Natural down as he came back fighting and put Uno away with the running bulldog.

After the match, Uno once again requested Rhodes join the Dark Order but Rhodes refused once again. This caused Stu Grayson to jump Rhodes. Marshall tried to make the save but got stopped in his tracks by the Dark Order pair. A save from Lee Johnson gave the Nightmare Family the number advantage to scare away the Dark Order.

Nothing to write home about but a well-worked match between these two that have many years of ring experience between them. I would like to see these two wrestles again in the future.

Shawn Spears lets out his frustration

Speaking to Schiavone, Spears said he may have left New York but no matter the 3 letters you work for, you can’t change the glass ceiling. He talked himself up as better than most of the roster in the ring and on the microphone and blamed management for pushing him into a hole.

Schiavone asked if Spears thought that he himself was the issue. Spears called Schiavone a piece of shit and said he could work anywhere he wanted. He finished by saying Tony Khan and all the “vice-pricks” should know he’ll only come back if he feels like it.

This was an interesting worked-shoot promo that has to have more than a wrinkle of truth to it.

When AEW started, Spear’s opening angle with Cody was phenomenal and it’s a damn shame to have seen him so underutilised after that.

I really hope this isn’t another false promise like Blanchard’s “magic glove” and this does lead to Spears getting the spotlight he deserves.

AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida vs Alex Gracia

Before the match, Shida was attacked by Abadon leaving her shaken before her match. She took the residual aggression out on Gracia.

Abadon appeared at ringside during the match to intimidate Shida more but Shida fought her off before she could strike again.

Shida was able to finish off Gracia by doing the deal with the Falcon Arrow.

After the match, Shida went to make sure Abadon had been dispatched with her Kendo Stick in hand but like a classic slasher villain, Abadon sprang back to life and bit the neck of Shida like a zombie.

Not much of a match but I love the craziness of Abadon and can’t wait to see these two finally meet in the ring.

AEW World Tag Team Championship match: The Young Bucks vs The Acclaimed

The Young Bucks had the Acclaimed on the ropes early on but some underhanded tactics from Max Caster allowed the Acclaimed to stop the AEW World Tag Team Champions in their tracks.

The Bucks hit their set menu of impressive tag team spots before a mistimed superkick took out the referee.

This gave Caster the opportunity to hit Nick Jackson with a low blow and Anthony Bowens to hit him with their boom box. Caster had the pin for much longer than three but it took far too long for a new referee to come out for it to count.

The Bucks retained their titles after hitting a powerbomb onto Bowen through the timekeeper’s table and a BTE trigger to Caster for the win.

Despite the Bucks usual deft-deying stunts, this match failed to live up to its main event status. The Acclaimed simply aren’t on the same talent or charisma level of the Bucks and it showed throughout the match. On top of that, the outcome was a certainty which robbed all the drama from the match.

A tepid end to the Holiday Bash, a show that could have easily been missed. Little progressed story-wise and the match quality was serviceable overall. There were some highlights however like the opener, the heartfelt segment with Santana and MJF and the PAC vs Butcher match.

All pictures and videos provided by AEW

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