AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS

We’re back with another episode of Dynamite, but it’s not just any episode!  It’s the Go Home show for the Revolution PPV, and they’ve been working their butts off to make it as big a show as they can!  Will AEW stick the landing on their final Dynamite before the big show?  Let’s find out!!

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Tony Khan has a big announcement!  Who did he sign THIS time!?

The two Tonys (Khan and Schiavone) are in the ring because TK has some big news for the world of wrestling which is that he bought Ring of Honor!  What does that mean, aside from it no longer being a product of the despicable Sinclair Broadcast Group?  I have no idea.  As far as I know, all the wrestlers who were under contract are no longer there, and he presumably got the rights to the archives but he didn’t say anything to that effect here.  AEW already has three hours of TV wrestling and countless more through their online shows, so will he leave ROH to be its own thing, or will it somehow be folded into the AEW brand?  There are a lot of questions that will need to be answered in the next few weeks, but for now, it’s a big celebration, and what better way to kick off this new acquisition than with a Ring of Honor rematch?  The very first main event of the very first Ring of Honor show was a three-way with Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels where neither man won as they were defeated by Low Ki, and tonight they are both here to settle that score!

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Bryan Danielson Vs. Christopher Daniels

I may not know the history of ROH, but Daniels is a fantastic wrestler, and seeing him go up against Bryan is a matchup I didn’t think I’d get to see since Daniels signaled his retirement a year ago.  Things start off nice and respectful with a handshake and some solid technical wrestling, but Daniels clearly has the crowd on his side with chants of Fallen Angel and this does not sit well with Bryan.  Since ego seems to be his prime motivator these days, he starts getting a lot more aggressive in his offense which only forces Daniels to kick things up a notch.  He hits a Leg Lariat that forces Bryan to roll out of the ring and Daniels follows it up with a Baseball Slide and a Springboard Moonsault.  Bryan tries to fight back with the Yes Kicks and a bunch of strikes, but Daniels regains control quickly with a Blue Thunder Bomb and an Iconoclasm for a two count.  Seeing the end in sight, Daniels goes for the Angel’s Wings but Bryan finally hits his stride and manages to turn it into a German Suplex, and the two start going back and forth with their big moves.  Daniels tries to hit the Best Moonsault Ever, but Bryan’s technical wizardly proves to be the deciding factor as he catches Danielson on his landing and transitions to the Triangle Sleeper.  Daniels tries to escape, but Bryan’s mighty thighs squeezing the life out of him as well as a series of elbow strikes to his head is enough to knock Daniels out which gives Bryan the win.  It was a good match and I’m glad to see Daniels again, but much like last week, this was more of a setup for the post-match angle than anything else.  Bryan feigns respect towards Daniels but then starts stomping on his head and calls out Moxley; saying that he’s gonna be the one with his head kicked in next!  Moxley’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring where he says that he’s glad that Danielson is better than ever and more violent than ever, but he is darn sure that Bryan is not gonna be kicking his head in on Sunday!  Through sheer force of will, he will go right through Bryan and slay the American Dragon!  He wants Bryan to take a shot at him right now but he will save it for Sunday and just walks away.  The ROH announcement feels a bit out of place given how close we are to the PPV, but this was a good angle to build us closer to their match on Sunday.  Who knows!  Maybe there’ll be an invasion or something and the Revolution PPV will end with a giant ROH brawl!

Continue reading “Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (03-02-2022)” →

AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TBS

We’re back with another action-packed episode of Dynamite! With the PPV only a few days away and a lot of AEW content left for me to cover, it’s going to be a bit of a struggle to get everything done in as timely a manner as possible, but what will help make it feel like less of a chore is if the wrestling is good, and AEW usually delivers when it comes to the episodes leading up to the PPV! Is this another week of great matches and stories for Dynamite, or are they trying to do too much with the little time they have left? Let’s find out!!

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Tag Team Battle Royale

The winner of this match gets a Tag Title match on Revolution

Participants: Young Bucks, Proud N Powerful, The Butcher & The Blade, Private Party, The Gunn Club, 2.0, Best Friends, The Dark Order (Silver & Reynolds), FTR, and Red Dragon

A Battle Royale can be hit or miss as it either needs to have great wrestling or covers a lot of storylines throughout. Of course, it’s better to have both, but if you can pull off at least one of those then I consider it a success, and this one manages to succeed; though not without a few issues. The problem here is the first half which feels a bit padded as eliminations just kind of come and go without much fanfare. Alex Reynolds, The Blade, and both members of Gunn Club are tossed out quite early, and while The Butcher gets some nice offense in on both young Bucks and Red Dragon, he gets easily lured over the ropes by Chuck Taylor who then gets eliminated by Fish and O’Reilly. Silver manages to eliminate Private Party, even with an assist from Matt Hardy, and 2.0 get eliminated by Santana after trying to gang up on Ortiz… who then gets eliminated by The Bucks. It’s a lot going on in just a few minutes, and none of it really seems to point towards existing feuds or setting up new ones. That’s all for the second half when it comes down to the final six which are Trent, Santana, Matt Jackson, Dax Harwood, John Silver, and Kyle O’Reilly. This is where everyone gets a shot at the spotlight and to pull off some great moves as well as work through some longstanding feuds; particularly Trent and Santana who were part of that Parking Lot fight from a year or so ago. They trade blows, hit each other with big moves, and eventually fight their way to the apron, but the feud is left unresolved as they are both eliminated by Matt Jackson and Kyle O’Reilly. This leaves John Silver as the lone Baby Face in the ring who certainly gets the adulation of the crowd, but is ultimately ineffective as he doesn’t even manage to take out Dax Harwood (Bobby Fish comes out of nowhere and knocks him off the apron) and ends up being an incidental part of the finish. The Bucks have been trying to work with Red Dragon this whole match and that continues here as Silver picks up Kyle O’Reilly for something only to eat a Superkick from Matt Jackson. Kyle is hurt and tells Matt to finish off Silver which he does by throwing him over the ropes, but right behind him is Kyle who throws him over as well! Red Dragon has won the Battle Royale which doesn’t sit well with The Bucks and then things kind of go off the rails from there. Hangman’s music hits and he attacks Red Dragon to the indifference of the Bucks, and Adam Cole runs down to fight him off only to get rebuffed by the Hangman who starts to monologue in the ring about how he’s going to beat him at the PPV. John Silver then takes out Red Dragon with a Senton and throws Kyle O’Reilly into the ring to eat a Buckshot Lariat from Adam Page, and with that, this Battle Royale can come to a close! I’ve certainly seen better from AEW and the post-match shenanigans just kinda stretched on, but it was still fun to see all these guys face off in the ring.

Continue reading “Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (02-23-2022)” →