AEW's Like a Dragon-Themed Street Fight Was Perfectly Chaotic

16.11.2023 - 06:45 / ign.com / Goro Majima

Earlier this evening, wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) teamed up with Sega to promote upcoming game Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, in the wildest possible way. They got together some of the nerdiest wrestlers possible and put on a Like a Dragon-themed street fight complete with heat actions, improvised weapons, and cosplay. And it absolutely ruled.

The match has been promoted for over a week now as a four-on-four street fight with the team of Powerhouse Hobbs, Konosuke Takeshita, Brian Cage, and Kyle Fletcher facing off against known Like a Dragon fan Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Kota Ibushi, and Paul Wight. From the get-go, everyone involved seemed fully committed to the bit. Omega's team recorded a promo airing earlier in the night with all four men in suits that heavily evoked an iconic scene from Yakuza 4. And when the groups entered, almost everyone was in some flavor of costume. Takeshita was in full Goro Majima cosplay, Brian Cage showed up as Axel Stone from Streets of Rage, Jericho kept the suit on from earlier, and Omega had some wicked Like a Dragon-themed pants.

The Golden Dragons of Dojima are ready for battle in the LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN STREET FIGHT!

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The fight itself was a pretty classic street fight, but instead of a ring littered just with tables, chairs, chains, barbed wire, and other classic street fight props, it was also full of objects you might find in Like a Dragon's Kamurocho or Sotenbori. There were street signs advertising ramen, beer bottles, milk crates, and even a bike. A moving image of Sotenbori was projected up on the massive screen behind the ring with pedestrians walking up and down the road to complete the vibe.

I turned on AEW tonight hoping to see Kenny Omega hit a guy with a giant traffic cone, and while I didn't get precisely that, I was far from disappointed. Multiple people were smacked with milk crates or smashed with beer bottles. Hobbs took Wight outside and slammed him into the hood of a car. Omega got chucked into a ramen sign.

One major highlight of the match involved Jericho and Takeshita heading up into the stands, through the lobby, and into a VIP lounge covered in fancy black executive couches that looked like they'd come right out of Millenium Tower. They slammed each other around a bit before heading back into the lobby, where Takeshita jumped behind the snack counter, climbed on top of the vending machines, and tried to dive back onto Jericho only for Jericho to blast him with a fire extinguisher.

Absolute chaos!

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS!@IAmJericho | @KennyOmegaManX | @ibushi_kota | @PaulWight |