AEW Battle of the Belts Review - January 8, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Sammy Guevara def. Dustin Rhodes to Win the Interim AEW TNT Championship

It was announced during Friday's Rampage that Cody Rhodes couldn't compete due to a medical issue, and I believe it was later revealed to be related to COVID-19. I'm not sure if he has it or someone else in his family does, but here's wishing him and his family good health and a speedy recovery. If it isn't going to be out for long, I don't know what the point of doing an interim title is. Maybe they really wanted to stay true to the champions theme of this show? That said, they put forth a hell of an effort here and had an excellent match. I had no idea it was a rubber match (they traded wins almost exactly two years ago on Dynamite) and their chemistry is still a strong now as it was then. Dustin in particular had a phenomenal showing and proved he could still go even though we barely see the dude in action on TV anymore. Sammy needed this win, but I'm not confident he'll end up beating Cody when it matters most (even though I think he should).

FTW Champion Ricky Starks def. Matt Sydal

Much like Guevara vs. Rhodes, this match was also announced for this show on Friday's Rampage. Starks wanted to prove he could beat Sydal faster than Dante Martin, who lost to Sydal in their first two one-on-one meetings. It was as quality contest, but did it really need to be nine minutes when Sydal has been established as a stepping stone? I get it: the FTW title means nothing and it is essentially a prop, but it would have meant more for Starks to beat him quicker than he did. Dante Martin and Lee Moriarty made the save for Sydal afterward, building toward Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Martin next week on Dynamite.

AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker def. Riho

AEW hammered home the story coming into this match that Baker has never beaten Riho before. They said it so much that you knew Baker was winning, but they still got me on a nearfall or two down the stretch. Those were well done. The overall matchup was well wrestled and the crowd was hot for it. I could have done without so much interference and Riho kicking out of two Curb Stomps was a bit ridiculous, but all in all, they delivered a worthwhile main event with the correct outcome. Baker and Jamie Hayter seemingly patched things up afterward, but maybe Hayter still breaks away from Baker sooner rather than later and challenges her for the title before the inevitable Thunder Rosa rivalry is revisited.

Overall Show

When AEW announced last year they'd be doing four quarterly specials on TNT throughout TNT, I was expecting a bit better than this. Going in, they were promoting it like AEW's version of Clash of the Champions, but the build was weak with only Baker vs. Riho being advertised up until earlier this week. Cody vs. Sammy had to be changed, but at least Sammy vs. Dustin was fun. Starks vs. Sydal was pure filler and the show would have been better with a different title defended instead. It wasn't a bad show and the main event was enjoyable as well, but it's certainly not a show you need to go out of your way to see. Here's hoping their next Saturday special is more eventful than this one.

SEE MORE: Battle of the Belts Reviews