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Night 5!
"Judas" by Fozzy blares as a very flustered Chris Jericho makes his way out to the ring. He's heard enough shit from people about his 0-2 start to the tournament, and his Jericho Appreciation Society being 0-6 total. He's not going to wait for his match, he's demanding his next opponent get out here RIGHT NOW!
"Everybody Dies" hits and Jericho shits his britches. As and you shall receive as the 6'8" Lance Archer charges his way out to be Jericho's next opponent!
A Block: Chris Jericho vs. "The Murderhawk Monster" Lance Archer
Jericho has seen the blocks and knew who he has yet to face in the block, but arguably Archer was the man he was least hoping for to come down that aisle. Not only is he a big and tough bruiser but he's 0-2 and desperate for a win just like Jericho is.
Archer dominated the early going of the match like a house of fire, but Jericho had a few tricks up his sleeve. A well-placed low block with the ref down brings the big guy down to size, Jericho connects with a Codebreaker to land his first points of the tournament. At 0-3, Archer is an incredibly difficult mathematical spot, and he might be left playing spoiler the rest of the way.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Time: 9:45
Rating: 79%
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B Block: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is trying to ride some momentum from his win over the All-Atlantic Champion last time out, while Hobbs is in the same spot as Archer. He ended up meeting the same fate. Picks Lethal up for a Powerslam, Lethal slides off and sends Hobb into the ropes. Leg sweep, diving elbow, done. Both A and B blocks have to contend with big, mean dudes getting off to 0-3 starts.
Winner: Jay Lethal
Time: 11:41
Rating: 75%
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A Block: Andrade El Idolo vs. Wheeler Yuta
Two opposite trajectories in this man with one man undefeated in the tournament and the other winless. Poor Yuta gave this one his best showing of the tournament, nearly tapping out Andrade on multiple occasions but never quite finishing the job. El Idolo for the win to move 3-0 as Yuta becomes the third straight man tonight to fall to 0-3, as the line to compete for his ROH Pure Championship grows ever larger.
Winner: Andrade El Idolo
Time: 14:28
Rating: 83%
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B Block: Malakai Black vs. Scorpio Sky
Quite the reversal of fortunes for both men in this one. Black is coming off a knockout loss to CM Punk, while Sky is coming off of a win against Samoa Joe in one of the best matches of the tournament. But let this be an example of how a Round Robin tournament has its ebbs and flows. This match was all Malakai as he just throttles Sky for 9 tortuous minutes and puts him down for a German Suplex for the win.
Winner: Malakai Black
Time: 9:19
Rating: 59%
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A Block: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Swerve Strickland
Same deal - ebbs and flows. KOR arguably looked like the most dominant man in the tournament with how swiftly he put down his first two opponents, yet tonight Swerve Strickland took him to the absolute limit.
A back and forth encounter which the crowd got really into as it went deeper into the match. Swerve proved himself to be a tough bastard, muscling his way out of several KOR suplex attempts and wrangling his way to the ropes during submissions. Swerve connects with a big lariat and jumps up to the top for a Swerve Stomp for the win!
Winner: Swerve Strickland
Time: 17:15
Rating: 885
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B Block: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes vs. PAC
The cagey Rhodes has been one of the surprise performers of this tournament so far, while PAC's still finding himself scrapping for a win. Tough not to start thinking about Rhodes as an ageless wonder with the performance he churned out here. As the speedier PAC tried to quicken the pace, Dustin was able to hold his own and meet him with his strength advantage.
Fans were in for a treat as this was another one they got really into and they bought on all of the drama and near-falls. That sound Fire Pro makes when the crowd starts to get really electric during a tight match is a great noise indeed. PAC locks in a Brutalizer and Dustin refuses to yield, PAC takes a different course, goes up top and hits the Black Arrow for the win to finally get on the board. What a match!
Winner: PAC
Time: 14:11
Rating: 97%
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A Block: MJF vs. Rey Fenix
Coming off of a surprise loss last time out, MJF looked to regain his composure against the speedster Fenix. MJF had no time for Fenix's lucha shit as he was able to cut Fenix down to size every time he looked to be getting the momentum. Fenix attempts a dive to the outside that MJF sidesteps, causing him to land awkwardly on his arm. MJF slides Fenix back in and immediately cranks back on the Salt of the Earth, bending Fenix's arm in a way it shouldn't. The referee calls for the bell!
Winner: MJF
Time: 7;19
Rating: 84%
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B Block: Daniel Garcia vs. CM Punk
Jericho finally got the JAS on the board earlier in the evening, could this propel his stablemate to do the same? These two put on a clinic in there, with Garcia very smartly placing an emphasis over working on Punk's knees with an eye towards many of his signature moves, the least of which being the GTS.
This all comes in to play at the finish as Punk does hit the GTS but Garcia is too close to the ropes, sliding himself out of the ring and leaving Punk favoring the knee in the ring. As Garcia recovers, he gets into the ring and relentlessly assults the knee further. He locks in a Sharpshooter and then goes a step further and bridges it for extra torque. With his knee in agony and a long tourney still ahead, PUNK TAPS!!! What an upset!
Winner: Daniel Garcia
Time: 16:39
Rating: 95%
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A Block: "All Ego" Ethan Page vs. Darby Allin
Tonight's A Block finale features two men with some previous history, as longtime AEW fans will remember Page throwing Darby down a flight of stairs while they were still in the midst of the Daily's Place COVID-era shows. The two wasted no time slugging it out and letting the bad blood flow.
Page has been one of the standout stars of the tournament thus far, putting on two masterclasses and scoring arguably two of the biggest upsets. But tonight was not his night. Darby reverses the Spinning Dwayne into an armdrag and they he quickly puts Page into the Last Supper pinning combination for the victory.
Winner: Darby Allin
Time: 15:06
Rating: 92%
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B Block: "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs. Samoa Joe
On paper this match was a no-brainer to close out the night as the two have a storied history with one another, battling many times across multiple promotions including a more than 45-minute ROH Title match way back in the day. Although it's been quite a long time since they've faced off, I'm sure their in-ring chemistry would pick right back up again.
Instead we got a match that was solid but nowhere near what it could have been. Them's the breaks in Fire Pro. Bryan is pretty deadly in the Fire Pro realm with so many submission and pinning combinations. Such was on display here as Bryan ducked a clothesline and turned it into a quick backslide for the win just as the match was hitting its second gear.
Winner: Bryan Danielson
Time: 11:27
Rating: 80%
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