MJF had a special production for his entrance, with an orchestra in masks playing his music. He wore his mask from when he was The Joker at All Out.
The first several minutes of this match were a technical showcase. Both men were trying to prove they were the superior performer, so they ended up coming to a stalemate more than once. When MJF offered a handshake, Danielson kicked his hand away.
Before either man scored a fall, Danielson began to favor his left arm, which was injured during the lead-up to this match. He was wearing tape on his shoulder, so it was like he was wearing a target.
The pace began to slow around the 20-minute mark, but both men were both going hard. With just over 34 minutes left in the match, Danielson scored the first fall. Within a minute, they were up to 2-2.
Even after 35 minutes, both men seemed to have a lot left in them. They were selling their injuries, but they didn't look as worn out as you would expect. MJF scored his third fall with around 20 minutes left to take the lead.
The American Dragon scored another fall to tie it up again with 10 minutes left on the clock. When it got down to five minutes, there wasn't a single person left in their seat.
With about a minute left, Danielson applied a single-leg crab to counter a pin. The timer ran out before MJF tapped, so the match ended with a tie. Medics attended to both men as Tony Schiavone came to the ring to announce that the match would go into overtime until a winner was declared.
The way this played out was somewhat predictable, but it was all executed so well that nobody cared. This whole contest was exactly what it needed to be for both men to get as much out of it as possible.
After barely escaping a heel hook submission, MJF used an oxygen tank as a weapon when the ref couldn't see him. The American Dragon ended up tapping out to his own Lebell Lock submission to give MJF the win.
There are going to be complaints, but this was a fantastic main event.
Winner: MJF
Notable Moments and Observations
- The orchestra didn't do much. It kind of seemed unnecessary.
- MJF threw trash at some fans and dumped a drink on a kid at ringside. The child was legitimately upset, but AEW officials smoothed things over.
- MJF calling out Dave Meltzer right into the camera was hilarious.
- Not having the clock on the screen throughout made it hard to tell how much time had passed.
- MJF's powerbomb backbreaker looked awesome.
- The elbow drop MJF hit to put Danielson through a table was a great spot.
- MJF might have been bleeding more than Moxley and Hangman in their match.
- The tombstone MJF hit from the middle turnbuckle was wild.
