2 Ups & 4 Downs From AEW: Battle Of The Belts II
ROH underwhelms; AEW crowns a new TNT Champion; Samoa Joe saves the day.
The second AEW Battle Of The Belts is in the history books.
Tony Khan should really have a think about that name, because it implies that fans will see 'Champion vs. Champion' matches on each show, and that's...not the case. Nope, these are standard 'Champ vs. Challenger' bouts like you'd see on any other broadcast. That's nitpicking though.
Few would care if the quality was consistently high, to be fair. That's another issue - both Battle Of The Belts cards to date have been akin to episodes of Rampage more than a TV special. In other words, they don't come across as must-see or all that special. The company will have to address that if they plan on doing more of these.
On the plus side, you're always guaranteed to see some solid wrestling out of this roster. ROH was also integrated for the first time, and that meant some spotlight for reigning World Champion Jonathan Gresham. Did it work? Hmm, not particularly. This was unsatisfying for Honor hardcores and company newbies alike.
What was that about staying positive? Sadly, it's pretty difficult to be all that chirpy about what All Elite are trying to do on these shows. Here's why...