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A BLOCK Final Day
Kota and Hangman were the biggest disappointments in the entire tourney and that continued into the final night against Gargano and Hiromu. Gargano pins Hangman with a rollup and Team Kenny Omega's Tag Partners finish with a block-low 4 points in the tourney.
Speaking of Kenny Omega, I thought saving him and Nakamura vs. Okada and Orton for the end would've been a slam dunk to be an important match, yet here they are going out second with nothing at stake. Okada got the best of his rival, pinning Kenny after a Rainmaker.
MJF and Styles failed to stay alive as they lost their final match to White and Thatcher. MJF unsuccessfully tried multiple times to lock in his armbar on Thatcher, only for Thatcher to slap on an armbar of his own for the tap and elimination
Suzuki and Cabana got the win over Jeff and Finn with Jeff tapping to Suzuki's leg lock. Again, submissions reign supreme. That gives them an impressive 12 points and sets up a potentially bizarre 3-way tie where if Jericho/Ishii win you would have three teams at 12 points all being 1-1 against each other. I'd guess the next tiebreaker after that is strength of victory or something? I dunno.
But it didn't matter, Brodie and Seth pick up the W in the main event with Brodie getting the discus lariat on Ishii to win the block outright at 14 points, match got a 100% rating.
B BLOCK Final Day
Poor Naito. B Block went into this having all of the World Champions (IWGP, AEW, WWE, Universal, NXT, NXT UK) and by the time this match got here not only was he no longer the champion in real life, he and Matt were at the bottom of the table. Opposing them, Mox and KENTA had gotten off to a great start only to slide down the table as it went on. Naito gets at least some measure of retribution, Destino on Mox for the win. Does this mean he gets an AEW title shot?
Ciampa/Owens vs. Kross/Archer is just a match for respect at this point, but it could possibly be a really fun brawl in real life. Anyway, the pace was a bit frantic at this one and KO puts Kross down with a Stunner.
Cole/Cody vs. WALTER/Keith Lee, one team guaranteed 12 points and to sit atop the block for the time being, and this was the match of the night. Numerous near falls and narrow pin breaks among everybody, the crowd was going into a frenzy by the end. Cody eventually gets Keith down with the Cross Rhodes and Team Undisputed Elite temporarily gets to be in the catbird seat.
Their elation did not last very long as Bryan and Ricochet faced off against Braun and Tanahashi. Seemed like Braun was going to put down his much smaller opponents with power moves but they were quick to force the break. Bryan moves out of the way of the High Fly Flow, slaps on the Yes Lock, tap out! Bryan and Ricochet join the 12 point club and move to the top spot.
ZSJ/Dunne vs. Escobar/McIntyre just a few shows ago seemed like it would be a meaningless match with neither team doing well in the standings, but the British duo's sudden winning streak had them controlling their own destiny heading into the final night and therefore getting the main event spot. For Escobar and McIntyre, it was all about playing spoiler. This was nowhere near the epic finale that A Block was. Escobar with a German suplex and flash pin on Dunne in about 10 minutes and holy shit, they squandered their chance to win the block!
Finals
Brodie Lee and Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan and Ricochet. It wasn't quite at the level of the A Block final but it was very close, getting like a 97% rating. Again, lots of near falls and drama. I thought Bryan was going to make Seth tap to the Yes Lock multiple times but he held out. Ricochet hit a twisting senton on Brodie and Rollins was cut off from breaking the pin, but he kicked out at 2.999 seconds. Brodie levels Bryan with a lariat and the tournament win. Apparently if you want to win a tournament, you need to run a cult!
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