By Chris Vetter, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@chrisvetter73)
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Terminus 3
July 21, 2022 in Morrow, Georgia at Oasis Event Center
Replay available on FITE TV
The crowd was perhaps 250, which has to be a disappointment. The lighting and sound were good. Ian Riccaboni and Dave Prazak provided commentary, so we have the ‘A team’ on hand.
Terminus had some unique rules enforced in its first two events, including the old-school “DQ if an opponent is thrown over the top rope. ” We have a 15-minute time clock appear on the screen with the countdown. Prazak said the rules allow for a 60-second overtime.
1. Kaun defeated Cheeseburger at 6:19. Ian said there is bad blood between these two going back to Supercard of Honor earlier this year. The larger, more muscular Kaun dominated the action. Kaun nailed a Lungblower double knees to the chest for the clean pin. A more dominating win than I would expect, although I like it; I usually find it absurd how 50-50 offense Cheeseburger typically gets.
2. Invictus Khash defeated Mike Bennett at 7:15. We have seen a lot of Khash on AEW TV, usually teaming with Ariya Daivari, and he has definitely been one of the better enhancement talent they’ve used. Bennett nailed a Death Valley Driver and a spear, then a piledriver for a believable nearfall at 6:30. They traded stiff forearm shots. Khash applied a sleeper on the mat in the middle of the ring, and Bennett tapped out. Good, short match.
* A short backstage video of Baron Black saying he is determined to beat Jay Lethal.
3. Jay Lethal defeated Baron Black at 12:19. Obviously, Black has wrestled a LOT of AEW Dark matches. (I think he might have the most losses in AEW history!) Riccaboni mentioned Lethal’s upcoming ROH match against Samoa Joe and wondered if he would overlook Black. Good back-and-forth action, and the crowd was hot. Lethal applied the Figure Four leg lock at 10:00, but Baron reached the ropes. Lethal hit an enzuigiri, but Baron fired back with a decapitating clothesline for a pin, but the referee immediately waived it off when he saw Lethal’s foot on the bottom rope. Baron argued with the ref, and that momentary lapse allowed Lethal to nail the Lethal Injection/handspring-back-
* Baron got on the mic and said he respects Lethal, and wants one more match. Lethal took the mic and said, “No, thank you,” rolled out of the ring and left. Funny and heelish.
4. Jonathan Gresham defeated Konosuke Takeshita at 14:55. Takeshita is much taller. Good intense reversals to open with a standoff. Takeshita hit a plancha to the floor at 3:00. Intense test-of-strength in the ring, and this is just good, believable mat wrestling. Takeshita nailed his leaping shoulder tackle at 6:30, and they were both down. Takeshita hit a swinging faceplant for a nearfall. They traded rollups, then forearm shots, and they were both down again at 9:00, and the crowd is hot.
Gresham tried to slingshot in the ring, but Konosuke caught him with a backbreaker over his knee, then Takeshita hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. Gresham hit a Lionsault Press and a dive to the ropes. He got Konosuke back in the ring and got a rollup at 12:00. Gresham hit a German Suplex for another nearfall. Konosuke hit a clothesline for a nearfall. Gresham applied a mid-ring Octopus submission hold with about 70 seconds remaining in the time limit, and he cranked on the left arm. Konosuke reached for the ropes, but Gresham began hitting some Moxley-style elbow strikes to the head and Takeshita tapped out. Really, really good match.
5. “The Factory” of QT Marshall and Aaron Solow defeated “C4” of Cody Chhun and Guillermo Rosas at 9:01. This match has a 20-minute time limit instead of 15, like the first four matches here. C4 usually are competing in the northwest area. Chhun is tall and lean, similar looks to NXT’s Boa. The Factory worked over Rosas early. Chhun made the hot tag at 5:30 and hit a Stinger Splash. C4 hit some quick team moves on Solow. However, QT snuck in and hit a Diamond Cutter, allowing Solow to make the cover for the pin. Solid, standard tag match.
6. Queen Aminata defeated Masha Slamovich at 14:05. Masha is a much better wrestler than her short Impact Wrestling matches would indicate, and of course, Queen Aminata has appeared in several AEW Dark matches. Fans threw rose petals at Aminata’s feet as she walked to ringside. Masha tied her up on the mat early, and she applied a Divorce Court armbreaker. They traded stiff kicks to the back while the other was seated on the mat at 5:00. Aminata hit a snap suplex, and the crowd was hot.
Aminata applied a head-scissors lock on the mat. She nailed a dive through the ropes, barreling into Masha and sending them flying toward the chairs at 9:30. In the ring, Masha hit a Helluva Kick. She air-balled a spin kick but Aminata sold it, and Masha got a nearfall. Aminata nailed an Air Raid Crash and immediately applied a Crippler Crossface on the mat at 11:30. Masha hit a spin kick to the head.
Aminata hit a running butt splash to the face as Masha was lying in the corner, then a Facewash kick, for a nearfall. Masha nailed the Snow Plow driver for a believable nearfall at 13:30. Aminata hit a DDT and immediately tied her in a pretzel on the mat; she kicked at Masha’s head, and Masha tapped out. Really good women’s match.
* Queen Aminata got on the mic and seemed genuinely choked up as she thanked the fans. She wants the best competition out there. Right on cue, Sereena Deeb came out.
Final Thoughts: That Takeshita-Gresham match was really, really good. I fully thought we were going to a draw and into bonus time. They didn’t act like it was a match before fewer than 300 people, they went out and had a great back-and-forth mat-based match. My guess is the crowd in the building had no idea how close we were to a draw. I’ll give Lethal-Baron second-best, and the main event third best, with Bennett-Khash an honorable mention.
No disrespect meant to others out there, but Riccaboni and Prazak are my choice for dream indy commentary (if I had a third person in the booth, I’ll go with Veda Scott). These guys are so knowledgeable and so passionate, it really raises the quality of the show.
The show clocked in at 1 hour, 45 minutes, so definitely shorter than a typical indy event. But, it was a good, tight show.
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