[5.0] "This was fine. The Elite playing heels here is okay and the match is very mediocre. Fenix being the only real highlight. The Elite are HEAVILY distracted in this match. Playing way too much to the crowd that stops caring at some point because of how boring the match is. Shockingly average for this level of talent."
[0.0] "The CM Punk references were pissing me off. I mean why? The Youngs were so fucking childish for doing it. Plus Omega referencing the bite from the All Out Brawl was stupid as well, Kenny should've been better than that. The Elite were just playing too much to the Chicago crowd and it was fucking annoying me, I wanted another good tag match from these two teams, not the elite acting like fucking children and the death triangles not even trying to stop it. It started to pick up, however it didn't last long and lost me again. The Elite were so busy with taking shots at CM Punk that they just wanted to take shots and not put on a good match. I would expect this behavior from Nick and Matt, but Kenny? Kenny, you disappoint me"
[7.0] "The Elite play the heels in this one, due to them being in Chicago, but I'm not even sure that was needed. After all, there were "Fuck CM Punk" and "Colt Cabana" chants in Chicago of all places. It was still fun seeing them heel it up in the middle of a babyface run. The biting and the GTS from Kenny, and the Buckshot botch from Matt were pretty funny. Death Triangle pick up win #2, courtesy of the hammer again, to give the Chicago people what they want. ***1/2"
[8.0] "The Elite are in heel mode instantly as the Chicago crowd boo them. But by the end of the match there are A-E-Dub and This is awesome chants. The Chicago crowd give this match an amazing atmosphere, and the heel work by the Elite is what's worth watching here. For those who still whine about their shots at Punk, get a grip. It was no different then when Punk took shots at them when he returned on the mic. Who cares. They worked the crowd and made a truly entertaining match from it all. Not as good as their Full Gear match obviously, but still worth a watch just for the crowd."
[8.0] "[4.25*] In this second match we have Kenny Omega from the beginning looking to get revenge on Rey Fenix after he used the hammer to knock Kenny out and guarantee victory in the first match, the Elite are much more aggressive for this match. The taunts and jokes from the Bucks to Punk were funny and entertaining. Omega doing a GTS on Pac was a great moment, the ending was cool and once again Death Triangle gets a stolen victory after hitting Matt Jackson with the hammer."
[7.0] "Second match of Bo7. A good match. Quite a few references to CM Punk on The Elite's side, despite the fact that they wrestle like Heels. (3*3/4)"
[8.0] "Very fun and entertaining trios match, these six never dissapoint together: the action was great with lots of amazing sequences and exchanges. The Elite were in full dickheads mode as they first mocked Cm Punk's botched buckshot lariat and then Omega even hit a g.t.s. They also tried to cheat to get the win but Death Triangle were able to screw them again and pick up the win by using the hammer. 8/10 - 4.25*/5*"
[4.0] "Man, upon rewatch this didn't hold up nearly as well. What was the point of referencing Punk if The Elite is never going to actually feud with him? It's like a guy venting in a Twitter group chat about how much he doesn't like another one of his mutuals but refuses to just block or unfollow him. Really lame display here that relies on insider knowledge. Also, again, I adamantly dislike it whenever the Young Bucks play into heel characters. They don't feel real doing it, they feel like tryhards. The Elite should be babyfaces for the rest of their careers, period. *2*"
[7.0] "There was an amazing atmosphere with the Chicago crowd as the Elite were the heavily booed team. Their over the top heel work was very enjoyable and all the CM Punk references were awesome. I especially loved Matt fumbling the Buckshot Lariat to make fun of Punk's botch, and Omega biting PAC's arm. There was an actual heat segment on PAC in the first half which was solid albeit forgettable besides the Elite's heel shenanigans. Fenix impressed once again with his athletic ability and big moves. Omega was the MVP with all of his attacks looking impactful and his bumping (Fenix's cutter, PAC's rebound german) was excellent. There were good nearfalls in the final minutes and Omega's GTS was a remarkable moment. The triple superkick on PAC after they ripped off his protective face mask was great. The Elite try to cheat but were foiled once again this time by Penta using a hammer on Matt to continue that story. ***1/2"
[6.0] "I don't know. I should've loved this match but it lacked structure and I didn't know where it was heading at times or where it was trying to go. Just felt very unstructured and hard to follow at times. I'd say so far this is the worst in their best of 7 series and not something I'd say you should go out of your way to see other than the Bucks and Omega making fun of CM Punk. The one thing that stops it from getting a 5 (on the cage match scale) is the fact that the Chicago crowd was one of the best TV show crowds ever. They were really into the match and kept it from being just a straight-up boring re-run of the match and Full Gear 2022. 3/5."
[8.0] "Very good second match of the series for these two trios. The Chicago/CM Punk trolling was a lot of fun as well. While I really liked what I saw here, I'm very sure they have a better match in them. The hammer finish was just a tad anticlimactic for me, and I think a different finish would have brought my rating up to a 9. This was, nevertheless, a great match as usual for these six, and I'm highly anticipating watching the rest of this series."
[6.0] "After a start notable for a hot Chicago crowd and the Elite heeling it up the usual daring spots were rolled out and executed well but the match seemed disjointed and the momentum faltered during the dull middle stretch. The whole thing felt like filler to eat up some time until they got to the planned finish which centred around the hammer used in the teams previous encounter. Although they tried to add an extra dimension to this playing up Pac's injury and however nice it is to see the impact of previous encounters in this kind of series format it didn't make it any more compelling overall. Not bad by any means and not every match in a series can be a classic and that's not what they even attempted to go for here and I like the difference in style of matches but it would have benefitted from a more urgent middle stretch."
[6.0] "Extra points for the Elite being so petty. I fucking love it LMAO. They knew their environment and knew it would be a split crowd AT BEST they heard the boos and immediately were in heel mode. They were legit hip thrusting to the crowd. Outside that the match itself wasn't as good as the full gear one. The young bucks were way too animated here for my liking and there was just too much stalling. The match quality wasn't that great overall outside the Fenix dive but I enjoyed it overall. Sports Entertainment at its finest."
[6.0] "Decent match that I couldn't really invest in. As I said in the first one, I'm not a fan of the Best of Series concept as you get extremely similar and repetitive matches in a short time period and only the seventh will actually matter as it is a guarantee there will tie 3-3. ***."
[1.0] "WCW level of unprofessionalism. How can people come back and appreciate the rest of the matches if those famous spots exists? Those things should've been on house shows if they wanted or in the indies, not on national TV"
[8.0] "Not quite as exhilarating as the Full Gear bout, but still a very fun match that constantly played into a very hot crowd. I'm interested in seeing how they will keep this Best of 7 interesting, if there's two trios that can manage that it's these two. [8.5/10]"
[8.0] "The Elite working as heels in Chicago as a result of Chicago hating them, and in turn trolling Punk with the botched buckshot lariat, Kenny biting Pac? s arm, and Kenny hitting the GTS was great. The Kenny/Pac stuff as usual was the best stuff about the Elite/Death Triangle matches, and the elites work on Pac messed up nose was pretty good. Thankfully the Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers didn't do any of those choreographed spots here. The elite loses via hammer again. About the same match they usually had but with the fun dynamic of the Chicago crowd.****1/4"
[9.0] "Crybabies' tears are delicious. Omega and The Bucks are known trollers and and they couldn't have missed the opportunity, especially in Chicago. The bout itself was surely great. Another great spots toe to toe as they've focused a bit more on PAC and Omega. PAC's broken nose was a simple, but effective point of storyelling. The funny thing here is surely Penta, one of the clear babyfaces of the year, giving no fuck about cheating. The mexican way, dude. The finish ruled, moreover. I'm surely hyped for Chapter 3."
[4.0] "Very good action but I found it very disturbing to openly mock a suspended wrestler when many fans don't know the details of this disagreement. I can see why it's funny but it's inappropriate given the context."
[7.0] "Not as entertaining as their Full Gear match but still really good. Omega and the Bucks leaning into the pro-Punk Chicago fans' hatred as heavily as they did with their very on-the-nose All Out backstage fight references and general Punk references was VERY entertaining. I especially cackled at The Bucks purposefully botching the Buckshot Lariat to make fun of just how immensely unathletic Punk was when he famously failed in his own attempt. The Elite were just rolling in their own filth with every dig they made, and I loved it. It was beautiful to hear even a Chicago crowd get some "F CM Punk" and "Colt Cabana" chants going. All this effort from The Elite as well as the live crowd made for a great atmosphere, where the pro-Punk fans could cheer everything Death Triangle dished out and the pro-Elite fans could cheer everything The Elite dished out. Both teams' 3-man attacks always displayed very good technique and relatively decent creativity, and the same applied to all their run-on multi-man spots. It was mostly a lot of spots and exchanges we've seen many times before, only with slight variations, but it was also mostly executed with such great technique and with such awesome crowd reactions that it still impressed quite a lot. Omega was a great work-horse as always with all his explosive signature moves, and Fenix was a tremendous stuntman as usual as well, so those 2 were the standout in-ring performers here. I appreciate that despite their mostly full-on spotfest approach here, they at least still developed the story of their on-going feud by having The Elite attempt to cheat to get the win as payback for Death Triangle doing that at Full Gear, only for Death Triangle to once again be one step ahead and again use a hammer to earn a cheap win. What's also interesting was that this time Fenix was quite against Penta using the hammer, even though Fenix himself used the hammer at Full Gear. I wonder what that's leading to, and I hope it's reasonable. Anyways, really good, mindless fun once again. ***1/2"
[9.0] "I wondered how they would make these best of 7 matches different. They certainly succeeded here with the Elite thoroughly trolling the Chicago crowd. The biting, botched Buckshot, kick-out from the GTS. Laughed pretty hard; really funny stuff!"
[7.0] "I have not watched wrestling since the CM Punk debacle, but I watched this because I love both teams. Part of me supports the Elite for trolling the Chicago crowd about the Punk stuff, but they should take the high road. The crowd wants to cheer them, and AEW wants to turn Death Triangle heel with the bell hammer cheating. Plus most of the audience neither knows nor cares about the biting accusation or the botched Buckshot Lariat. Maybe it will be a slow turn, but both teams seemed unlikeable, similar to the Sammy vs. Scorpio and Sammy vs. Cody TNT Title feuds."
[8.0] "An exceptional rematch from Full Gear where the atmosphere was completely different. Chicago was hostile enough to contradict their voices on The Elite and their actions taking a jab at Punk's debacle against them is something I hate to address as wrestling is what I enjoy in the first place, not the politics/real grudge. The action might've not touched the levels of their spectacle from the PPV, but they weren't at their weak points as well. Some huge highlights were reused here that never ceases to amaze with a mix of some modified spots as well. DT winning with another variation of a desperate hammer shot by Penta this time furthers the dimension they're at right now & I'm sold on the way this arc has been progressed. 4 out of 5 stars!"
[8.0] "Another good match between The Elite and Death Triangle. It was wild seeing a pro-Punk crowd, after seeing the pro-Elite crowd for Full Gear. The Elite did the smart, but also immature, move of imitating Punk. I like that with every match in the best of 7, the tactics are clearly going to get more dirty."
[8.0] "I laughed at so many points during this, it was so entertaining. Good god, are there better troll heels than the Elite? It was Chicago - they could've pretended the situation didn't exist, or play into it and get the crowd going nuclear, which is what they did. From "Fuck the Bucks" to "this is awesome chants." The negatives: the four boot spot - I'm over that spot, it plays out the same every time, stop doing it. Also really gonna try the crowd's patience if the match structures and moves don't alter significantly along the way. I also already miss singles matches from Kenny sadly."
[0.0] "If Punk is by some miracle coming back, then I suppose all the Punk trolling will make sense. If not, and let's be honest that it's very unlikely, this just annoyed the hell out of me. Lots of fans loved it so I can't fault them I guess, but my interest in this was less than zero, and I was even there in the crowd live."
[8.0] "match-wise not better than Full Gear but the atmosphere was insane. from CM Punk chants to fuck CM Punk. from fuck the YB chants to this is awesome! the Chicago crowd MADE this match. the Punk trolling was hilarious. makes me wonder if this is all a work. [****1/4]"
[9.0] "An epoch-making match and of course it's all thanks to the ardent fans who stood up for CM Punk and suddenly the Elite decided to make references to the whole conflict, Omega bites the opponent's hand, GTS, branded gestures and of course all this aggression increased interest in the match. And the match at the same time was wonderful, there was intrigue, a history of enmity, barbaric kicks and of course brutal ruthlessness towards each other. Now I'm thinking that CM Punk will still return to AEW. For a competent combination of time, place and context, I will give a very high assessment, because here they were able to combine everything perfectly into a complete picture!"
[9.0] "The creative shots at CM Punk and Ace Steel were hilarious without feeling childish. Leave it to Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks to have the charisma to pull that off. The Elite vs. Death Triangle is already on track to becoming a late 2022 Feud of the Year Candidate."
[9.0] "An incredibly good fight, not as good as Full Gear but pretty good anyway. Entertaining and with many spots that were really great. These two teams of three never disappoint."
[6.0] "I didn't expect to get burned out on these matches so quick but that appears to be the case already. Not a bad match in a vacuum but brought down by the context of this being something we've just seen. This series feels like it was made to boost ticket sales by guaranteeing the same fairly good match to every live audience, the same way regular theatre guarantees almost the same performance for each audience. Lots of Punk references in Chicago, which was surely designed to get a rise out of the crowd, but the number of references and the fact that the camera focussed on fans chanting "Fuck CM Punk! " makes me think that maybe Punk is coming back. If not, they're openly saying "We don't want you back" when the better move would be to be quiet about him and move on - but maybe that wasn't an option in Chicago. Hopefully as this series heats up they add a gimmick match or two because running so many of these matches in a row will only speed up the "That was pretty cool. What next? " factor otherwise."
[8.0] "Not quite as good as the Full Gear match, perhaps too much Brawl Out nods in the middle portion losing focus of the overall match. Still a great trios match and well worth a watch."
[7.0] "I enjoyed this considerably more than the PPV bout. This style of match works a lot better for me when it feels like a reckless frenzy as it did here instead of overly choreographed as it did at the PPV. I thought the hostile atmosphere from the crowd enhanced the action as well. This might be the first match involving the AEW Trios Titles that I have actually liked."
[9.0] "Their match at Full Gear was better but this was still a banger, and i love the digs that the Elite took on CM Punk and Ace Steele, absolutely hilarious"
[6.0] "A fun match, and I do not actually think that this combination of wrestlers would be capable of anything less then that, but I thought from a storytelling perspective, the elites decision to play the heels in the match did not match the story told just days prior. I think that the match really would have benefited from ignoring the reality of the elite wrestling in Chicago post ? Brawl-Out? and just continuing with the dynamics introduced in their last bout, but with all that being said, this was still a satisfactory TV match between two great teams."
[9.0] "Only 3 days removed from the PPV, these 6 men managed to have another awesome yet completely differently wrestled match with completely different dynamics to the first one. Speaks volumes of their creativity and skill in that ring. Loved the Elite as heels again and the CM Punk mocking while in Chicago (albeit with a split crowd) was a great touch and everyone crying about it hates fun. ****1/2"
[8.0] "The trolling of CM Punk while being in Chicago was both very petty and actually funny. I wish we could go back to the days of when people would always be heels in certain towns no matter what they did. I enjoyed this match plenty enough."
[9.0] "Not as good as the PPV match but with the crowd and the Punk trolling it was maybe more entertaining. Addressing Punk like this was damned if they do, damned if they don't situation and I refuse to believe there's a wrestling fan who doesn't revel in this kind of stuff no matter whose side they're on."
[8.0] "Aside from the ending, it was a great match. Considering it was only their second match back from being suspended the Elite looked very good. Very little signs of ring rust. It is a shame that as good as they are Death Triangle is having to resort to underhanded tactics to win."
[4.0] "Oh wow it's the same match now with CM Punk potshots, color me surprised. It's actually insane that their going to run this match multiple times without changing most of their high spots. I know I asked for something new in my comment for their Full Gear match, but unless these childish callbacks lead to something with Punk into an angle, these are just going to look stupid and cringey."
[7.0] "One of the most unique matches I've ever seen given the circumstances. The Chicago pro-Punk crowd gave the Elite the most heat they've ever had in AEW. Personally, I am not a huge Bucks/Kenny fan, and I think the Death Triangle have matches with better people, but you can't ask much more from these teams with a ruckus crowd. The Bucks did numerous Punk references, to the shock of nobody, some more clever than others. Better than their previous match."
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