by Battle of the Belts II ( AEW’s version of Clash of the Champions) was held tonight on TNT. Here are some hot takes and quick results from the event in case you missed it.
Sammy Guevara kicked off the show by ending the year plus long winning streak and TNT title reign of Scorpio Sky. The match was as good as expected and even featured a bit of a cat fight with Paige Van Zant and Tay Conti getting invovled. By Sammy G winning, that should set up a rubber match for the TNT Title at the next AEW PPV Double Or Nothing.
Up next The Party Peacock Dalton Castle challenged ROH Champion Jonathan Gresham. Castle may be flamboyant outside the ring, but he could absolutely go inside of it ad provided quite the challenge for the champion Jonathan Gresham who is nicknamed the “The Octopus”. So basically, we have an Octopus versus a peacock. Or a bird taking on a fish.
A quick heads up for fans, rules stipulate only 2 rope breaks and wrestlers must shake hands before the match can begin. Thus, killing any kayfabe that the competitors do not like it each other. I don’t know, I think both rules are dumb quite honestly. The handshake after the match is even dumber.
Regardless, the match itself delivered as both men brought a strong ground game and took each other to the limit at times. In the end it was Jonathan Gresham holding on to retain the championship.
The bulk of the action came after the bell however, as all Holy Hell broke loose. Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt unleashed the 7-foot 2 inch Satnam Singh on the 5 foot 2 inch champ Gresham. Matt Sydal would run down to try and help Gresham but to no avail. It is interesting because they took guys like Sydal, Dutt, Gresham and Lethal, guys under 6 foot to further establish the gigantic size of Singh.
Eventually Samoa Joe along with his led pipe would run down and save the day. You know, Joe, the guy who left NXT as Champion when he refused to defend it and then disappeared shortly after. Let’s see how far this most current push of Joe goes.
Main eventing tonight was Nyla Rose challenging the amazing Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women’s championship. Someone had to get on one Hell of a run to unseat Dr. Britt Baker for the belt, and Rosa had done just that to capture it!
Tonight, was her first defense and Rose gave her a pretty good challenge but it was clear that Rosa is a step above as she walked away with the victory, jumping in the crowd to celebrate as the show went off air. It was Rosa over Rose as credits rolled.
