Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Malakai Black

[5.0] "Not much of a match really. A bunch of flickering lights and a poor performance from both guys. Pillman hasn't been treated well in this company at all. He is a legacy character and is never treated as good as his dad was..."

[4.0] "Pillman's Middle-American horror over what-who Malakai Black is was perhaps the highlight of last week's "Dynamite" show. Unfortunately, in-ring he's a third-rate Juice Robinson. But I will say that this whole angle has a delightfully perverse erotic horror element to it, as if by spitting in her eye, a part of Black's soul now rests-lives-breathes within Julia Hart. 1 1/2 rounded-up to 4"

[5.0] "The match was pretty standard, should have gotten more time due to the build of the match but whatever. Would have been cool to see Pillman take Blacks finisher from the springboard."

[3.0] ""That was so horrible and sluggish, some nice things by Black, who is much behind his NXT period in terms of in-ring ability, Pillman is so meh, poor match here.""

[3.0] "Like a fart in church. Just awkward. Whether the botch was worked or not, it just made Pillman look bad and Black looked genuinely disinterested. Dull dull dull. *3/4"

[5.0] "Crowd was buzzed by the TBS finals, hurting Black vs. Pillman in the process. That felt flat sometimes. Pillman had a nice babyface work as Black took his time to destroy him. Nice finish."

[3.0] "This was a really bizarre angle/match. Brian Pillman Jr shouldn't really registers on Malakai Black's radar at all. That being said, the botch at the end was pretty entertaining and fit in with the match anyway."

[3.0] "Well this match certainly happened. I didn't hate it but it does seem the storyline is just treading water at best, and the match didn't offer much excitement."

[6.0] "This was fine, Pillman Jr has some decent babyface fire going after Malakai, but this was more another way to build Malakai up. His strikes looked good as usual, nothing bad but nothing outstanding."

[4.0] "Bad. I like Malakai but I found the match dry and dull. It dragged for most parts and at the few moments that it didn't, it wasn't particularly good. **"

[1.0] "I don't understand the purpose of this, it didn't make Malakai look good, Brian Pillman Jr is the worst and it went way too long to be a genuine squash. It's very peculiar and extremely underwhelming, before annoying me extremely by the end."

[4.0] "It was too simple, this match highlights a lot of thing: Malakai Black is not in any interesting programs since he is all elite and Brian Pillman Jr fails to impress anyone in the ring judging his lack of experience , lack of reaction from the public and his simple in ring work. The botch ending was good because some people actually ask if it was a botch so that's the only good thing in the match."

[4.0] "Basically just a showcase for Malakai and a way to beef up his win/loss record. I liked that Julia was wearing an eyepatch to sell the effects of Malakai's mist."

[4.0] "A filler match for a filler feud (probably) that ended here. This match clearly shows Brian's inexperience even though being here for 4 years. Malakai is still an intimidating character around AEW and we're still waiting for a game-changer rivalry for him. 2.25 out of 5 stars!"

[3.0] "Awful booking. Can't say Pillman Jr is being given a serious push yet he's so bad it still makes me feel like he appears way too much."

[4.0] "Too short to get anything going with the style they wrestled. Garrison's match with Black was a lot more fun because it became a rough and tumble fight early. I don't know if that ending was intentional or not but it sure was funny."

[5.0] "Presumably that was meant to be a deliberate botch at the end... still funny though! Good standard win for Black."

[4.0] "A decent match. Malakai Black is one of the best all-around wrestlers in the world today and Brian Pillman Jr. had a clear motivation to bring the fight his way. Pillman looked like he could actually overwhelm Black at times, even if the outcome was never in question. Perhaps the ending was a misfire, but I think it actually came out pretty well. An adequate 4 out of 10."

[6.0] "I can give it even a satisfactory rating, it was even good for what I expected so I am giving it a six."

[3.0] "That was so bad and slow, some great things by Black who's way behind his NXT era in terms of in ring, Pillman is so meh, bad match here."

[5.0] "This was a solid match but nothing special. The result was never in doubt, both guys got to show what they could do, and if that was a botch by Pillman at the end they both covered for it well. Pretty much just filler for the House Of Black storyline."

[6.0] "Uncessarily long and Pillman got too much offense in but the match was decent. Can we get Malakai doing better stuff than this now please."

[6.0] "Malakai Black like most people who get trapped in the Codysphere has badly cooled off since his debut and this rivalry is doing no one any favours. This was fine but nothing more."

[5.0] "This was done pretty well. Black looked great, and it wasn't a squash so it did well for Pillman, who sold well by the way."

[7.0] "Bit of a middling match. Both guys did enough to make everything fit within the purpose of the match and story, unsure on whether it was a botch at the end - if it was, they recovered well and Malakai's expression of disdain was elevated by it, and if not, they worked it well enough to have it still look good. Overall not terrible, served it's purpose but if this is the end of Black vs Varsity Blondes, fairly disappointing in that regard."

[7.0] "Pretty good for a relatively short match. Malakai has been booked very well in AEW. Excited to see Brody king in AEW in the near future"

[6.0] "I did not see anything special in the match, it was really a weak match and there were no positive points."