Tag: Allie

Super Wrestling: AEW – Full Gear 2020

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

Full Gear and all the images you see I this recap are owned by All Elite Wrestling and Shahid Khan

For months we have been waiting for this day to arrive, and now that it’s here I’m not sure how to even feel about it.  TRUMP LOST THE ELECTION!!  Oh yeah, and we’ve got an AEW PPV to watch, BUT TRUMP ISN’T GOING TO GET A SECOND TERM!!  Frankly the world being saved from the brink of everlasting doom is a big break for this show as even I probably wouldn’t have felt up to watching it if facing four more years of this chaos had become a reality, but aside from it being the big event to occur mere hours after this country realized it could breathe easy again, does AEW have a solid lineup of great matches to justify being on of the four big shows of the year, or is their last PPV of 2020 going to be the last big disappointment of what is already the worst year in recent memory?  Let’s find out!!  And as always, we start with the Buy In match!

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Serena Deeb Vs. Allysin Kay – NWA Women’s Title Match (Buy In)

The issues with AEW’s women’s division have been well documented and I’ll have PLENTY more to say when we get to the match that ACTUALLY pertains to this company, but the NWA talent coming in and trying to liven things up has been a net positive for AEW and hopefully for NWA as well.  Thunder Rosa may not have knocked it out of the park EVERY time (her PPV match with Shida wasn’t all that great), she brought life and vitality to the division that was stuck doing nothing for months.  Now we’ve got another Serena Deeb title defense after her match against Leyla Hirsch two weeks ago was such a bright spot on the show, but can Allysin Kay hold a candle to her?  Perhaps not, but Kay is still VERY impressive with a great look and a huge advantage in regards to her height.  It’s practically a Monster Match where the Baby Face has to overcome an overwhelming force and Kay plays the part quite well with a suite of big moves that she unleashes on Deeb.  You’ve got your Powerbombs, your Spine Busters, there’s even a point where she just throws Deeb into the air and she lands her neck on the top rope!

“This is REALLY not gonna end well for you.”     “I CAN SEE THAT!”

The match IS a bit on the slow side though as they do a lot of holds throughout, and Deeb doesn’t come off as good once she starts in on her counterattack but I think that has more to do with Kay’s selling than anything else.  In fact, while I have checked and she’s been wrestling for over a decade, Kay came off as a bit green to me with Deeb carrying a lot of the match for her.  Kay has the height and the power to do the big moves, but it’s up to Deeb to sell them and to keep the rest of the match on track with Kay’s shortcomings being highlighted whenever she’s the one who has to start doing the carrying.  Perhaps I’m over analyzing things as it IS one of the better matches the division has had in some time so let’s give them a bit of slack here on the Buy In.  Deeb’s entire strategy is to try and get Kay in her Serenity Lock as she’s unlikely to keep her down long enough for a three count so in between throws and bombs from Kay she keeps trying to roll her up into the submission hold.  What eventually gives her the advantage though is when Deeb lands a Dragon Screw on Kay while she’s in the ropes which messes up her knee and leaves her vulnerable for a Face Plant.  For whatever reason she tries to go for a pin despite Kay still being right next to the ropes and of course she does a rope break, but then Deeb drags her away and THEN does the Serenity Lock which Kay taps to.  I’m not sure why they did that spot between landing the Face Plant and putting on the submission, but in any case Deeb is still the NWA women’s champion… BUT FOR HOW LONG!?  As soon as the match ends, Thunder Rosa’s music hits and she comes out to menace Deeb; clearly indicating that she wants a rematch sooner rather than later.  It was a decent match, but still felt a bit clunky at points as Kay seemed a TINY bit lost from time to time and that weird spot at the end where Deeb should have gone right into the submission, but I still had a good time watching it.  And with that, we head straight for the PPV!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (11-04-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

I don’t know about you, but I’ve barely gotten ANY sleep this week and this whole “wrestling” thing feels a bit small and inconsequential given what’s going on in the US right now.  Hopefully by the time we get to the PPV on Saturday the votes will be tallied and we can all focus on fun things again, but there’s no doubt that AEW has a big uphill battle here with this Go Home show leading into Full Gear.  Do they manage to put on something memorable despite the world being laser focused on politics this week, or will it get lost in the shuffle like everything else?  Let’s find out!!

We begin the episode with Dasha interviewing Jericho (flanked by Jake Hager and Santana) who spends a good few minutes praising Jake Hager for his win at Bellator last week which hey, good for him!  It was certainly better than in his last match where he punched a dude in the groin and it got called a No Contest, but before Jericho can finish singing his praises, MJF comes in and interrupts them to tell him how much he appreciates the opportunity he’s been given.  Jericho, not too happy about being interrupted, doesn’t share this enthusiasm and in fact claims that MJF lacks something vital to be part of The Inner Circle; a Killer Instinct.  The same Killer Instinct that got Jake fifteen stiches in a fight he ended up winning and earned Santana his reputation as a ruthless fighter in the world of wrestling.  MJF?  Well until he proves otherwise, Jericho believes he’s just soft, and that’s just not going to work for them.  MJF doesn’t like any of these accusations and storms off; leaving Jericho to head to the announcers desk as he’ll be calling matches all night.  I kind of wish they’d also let Santana and Hager get sit at the desk too, but too many heels running the show and with Eric Bischoff having JUST shown up last week, people might start getting flashbacks to Souled Out and nobody wants that.

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Sammy Guevara & Ortiz Vs. MJF & Wardlow

Okay, quick question.  Perhaps I’m just hearing things, but they played the Inner Circle’s theme song here for Ortiz and Sammy’s entrance… and doesn’t it kind of sound like a knock off NWO theme?  I don’t recall ever hearing it before as they always used Jericho’s song Judas, and it just reminded me of that; especially when it starts with a deep voiced dude saying THE INNER CIRCLE which is not unlike how the NWO’s theme starts.  In any case (before I go on any OTHER weird tangents), let’s talk about the match itself.  More than any other story line for this upcoming PPV, including the Moxley match, the tag titles, and ESPECIALLY Sammy’s feud with Matt Hardy, the unrest within The Inner Circle brought about by MJF’s attempts to join them has been rather compelling so far and this match being the first flare up of this tension means it will certainly have consequences for the story on Saturday and going forward.  Now this might be a tag match, but for the most part it’s really all about Sammy and MJF with Wardlow and Ortiz being there to give the other two an opportunity to strut their stuff.  Sammy in particular looks VERY good here with an early hot tag that has him overcoming both Wardlow and MJF with relative ease.  The guy has had a ROUGH time of it the last few months with controversies, botches, and injuries overshadowing everything else, but his performance here is a strong first step for him to regain his clout as one of wrestling’s rising young stars.  MJF looks good here as well, but for most of the match he’s fighting with the upper hand and isn’t really pushing himself.  He’s has had his share of rough matches, but by design he’s never really excelled at that as he gets desperate way to quickly and resorts to cheap tricks at the slightest hint of a disadvantage, which goes towards Jericho’s assessment of him being soft.  He’s not to be discounted however even if he starts to waiver under pressure, and once it’s Sammy and MJF alone in the ring, the both of them start to work out their frustrations on each other in an excellent display of acrobatic violence.  Sammy ends up proving himself here as he actually manages to get the advantage and nearly gets a pin on MJF, and even though Wardlow breaks it up its clear that Sammy might just be the better fighter.  Ortiz gets back in the ring after dealing with Wardlow on the outside and him and Sammy get MJF on the turnbuckle.  They are setting up a tandem Superplex, but Wardlow comes in and suplexes all three of them with his mighty muscles, and the best part of this is MJF’s over the top selling as he seems to have taken the brunt of the damage while Wardlow poses for the audience.  All of this is fun and it does a good job of setting up the important dynamics between these wrestlers, but sadly things start to go off the rails at the end.  Sammy seems poised to win this if he can just get back himself and MJF back into the ring, but then Matt Hardy attacks him with a chair and not even a minute later MJF gets Ortiz into his Salt of the Earth arm bar where he taps out almost immediately.  MJF and Wardlow win the match and start heading for the back, but then MJF breaks off and sprints towards Jericho at the announce table; spearing him in his seat and having to be dragged away by Wardlow as Jericho gingerly gets up and smiles at his assailant.  Perhaps this man DOES have a Killer Instinct and Jericho will be surprised at what happens on Saturday!  The ending drags the match down considerably for me, but I liked the performances of everyone involved and MJF proves once again just how good he is at playing a character while also putting on a great wrestling match.  Presumably he’s going to win on Saturday or some other shenanigans will ensue as I doubt they’re going to drop this storyline with a clean Jericho victory, and I can only hope a long convoluted character drama already set up for all five (soon to be six!) members of the Inner Circle; like Shakespeare but with more chair shots!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (10-28-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

With just one more show before Full Gear and Dynamite has done a good job so far of building up the matches for the show.  If it wasn’t so simple you’d almost call it a stroke of brilliance that they came up with the World Title Tournament to drive the story between Adam Page and Kenny Omega, and with that as well as the Tag Title match, they’ve got the solid backbone needed to make a show feel important and the rest of the card has been built up with interesting feuds like Kingston and Moxley… as well as less interesting ones like Matt and Sammy.  In any case, does this show present a bunch of fun matches for us to enjoy while also building up to the big show that’s right around the corner!?  Let’s find out!!

Well actually before that, this will be the last thing I post before the election of 2020 is over and done with, so if ANYONE reading this the day I post it hasn’t done so yet, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS SACRED, VOTE FOR JOE BIDEN!  He won’t fix everything (no politician ever will on their own), but we need to do our part to fix the problems that this country is facing, and step one is getting the SCROTUS booted out of office; kicking and screaming if necessary.  Alright, NOW let’s find out!!

We begin the episode with Dasha in the back trying to interview Wardlow, but the big guy can’t get a word in edgewise as MJF talks for him and ASSURES Dasha that Wardlow winning the tournament would mean that MJF wins the tournament and that any title Wardlow wins will be MJF’s title by right of whatever weird contract they have.  Seems like Wardlow is consistently getting the short end of the stick here, but we ARE in the middle of a pandemic and a job is a job I suppose.  Sammy interrupts MJF and things get heated as Sammy makes it crystal clear how little he cares for the smarmy jerk, but MJF is not easily intimidated and the two agree to disagree; at least for the time being.  MJF doesn’t have time for this anyway!  He’s got a match to watch!

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Wardlow Vs. Hangman Adam Page – AEW World Title Tournament Semi-Final

Wardlow is accompanied to the ring by MJF

The big event of the last few weeks has been the tournament to determine the number one contender for the AEW World Title, and so we waste no time getting back to it.  Hangman is also not wasting any time because a half second before the bell rings, he runs towards Wardlow and lands a drop kick right as the match begins.  Wardlow then takes Adam Page apart for a bit, but he doesn’t have the size advantage here that he did against Jungle Boy which means he’s going to have to step up his game.  A spear outside of the ring to Page does the job pretty well which gives Wardlow a change to gain some heat, but there’s almost no mystery as to who’s going to win this match considering that Kenny Omega is on the other side of the bracket.  Then again, it’d be a good twist to have Wardlow win and somehow get the belt!  Heck, they just planted the seed with MJF’s interview that started the show, so why not give it a shot?  As for the match itself, it’s pretty good!  I wouldn’t say it’s significantly better than his match against Jungleboy, but that was already a solid show opener and the same is true here.  Wardlow goes for some sort of move while Page is on the top rope, but while he smugly tries to pander to the audience, Page grabs Wardlow’s arm, falls back behind the ropes, and starts cranking on it.  This is the turning point for the match as Wardlow is unable to get his momentum back and finally loses all of it with an attempted dive from the top rope that misses Page by a mile.  They start trading strikes and clotheslines to no avail so Wardlow lands a kick and transitions into a German Suplex which Page manages to flip out of and the two end up tumbling outside the ring.  After a few more spots including a Moonsault from the top rope to the ground, Page goes they start trading finishes to bring this match to a close.  Hangman goes for the Buckshot Lariat and misses which allows Wardlow to take him down with a lariat of his own.  Wardlow only gets a two count so he lands the F10, but before he can capitalize with another pin attempt, Page rolls out of the ring.  THEN things get scary as Wardlow is on the middle rope with Page on his shoulders, but Page fights out of it and they both fall back; landing hard on the mat below.  Thank goodness Wardlow wasn’t on the top rope or less there would have been a CRATER in the middle of the ring, but he’s now in no condition to fight back and so Page finally lands not one but TWO Buckshot Lariats to get the three count and advance to the finals of the tournament.  It wasn’t particularly memorable is perhaps the worst you can say about the match, but both guys did their job and it was a very good way to open the show!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (10-21-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

Another week has passed which means another week of wrestling action from everyone’s favorite cool alternative brand!  AEW has their Full Gear PPV coming up so the next few weeks will be all about building up matches and story lines for the big event, and with a tournament for the number one contender’s spot as well as four way match to challenge the AEW Tag Team Champions, will they have the momentum they need to make their PPV another success while giving us a great episode of Dynamite in the process?  Let’s find out!!

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Wardlow Vs. Jungle Boy – AEW World Title Tournament

Jungle Boy is accompanied to the ring by Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt

This is a very traditional and very basic Face/Heel match which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Jungle Boy has to put in five hundred percent to gain any momentum and Wardlow’s sheer size is enough for him to overcome whatever offense Jungle Boy brings to the match. You’ve got your hope spots, your heat segments, a few Suicide Dives, it’s not exactly the Shakespeare of matches, but it’s a good opening bout that’s got its fair share of fun spots.  For all the momentum that Jungle Boy has in the latter half of the match though (built off the back of an impressive Hurricanrana from the top rope), he just doesn’t have enough to put Wardlow away and after eating two F10s from the man finally stays down for the three count.  We’ve got a BIG show ahead of us tonight, so I don’t have a problem with this first match not overstaying its welcome, though I thought it would have been nice if Jungle Boy got to the next round.

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (09-16-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

We’re back with even more Dynamite action to bring a brief glimmer of joy to our otherwise monotonous existence!  How many Netflix shows did YOU watch this week?  Trick question!  If you can remember, you haven’t seen enough.  Anyway!  Last week got things off to a great start following the All Out PPV, and hopefully they’ll continue to build on that momentum to give us another fantastic excuse to yell at the TV in joy and terror… other than when watching the news of course.  Let’s find out!!

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Jurrassic Express Vs. FTR

Jurassic Express is accompanied to the ring by Marko Stunt while FTR is accompanied by Tully Blanchard

Before the match even begins, The Young Bucks come out and Superkick Ref Posey; just for the sake of being jerks!  He didn’t even DO anything, and The Bucks just come out here to not play by your daddy’s rules!  They head to the pack to throw a stack of bills at Tony Khan as they will SURELY be fined for this, and they pass by FTR who find this whole thing quite amusing.   I’m not sure I’m on the same page with them, but I guess this is just to keep us reminded that they’re going bad so that people aren’t confused when they REALLY do something terrible!  Now before we were so RUDELY interrupted, how is the match itself?  It’s actually pretty good!  The story of this match is ALL about Jungle Boy who continues to impress whenever he’s in the ring; so much so that I can only assume he’ll be getting a Singles push soon, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.  His initial flurry of offense against FTR was very impressive to see, but soon enough FTR manages to ground him and they generate heat for quite a while with Jungle Boy trying desperately to get to the corner.  Jungle Boy stays resourceful however as Wheeler tries to do a drop kick on Jungle Boy who’s up against the ropes, but he dodges at the last second and Wheeler’s legs get caught on the top rope; flipping him over in a VERY hilarious looking fashion!  Luchasaurus gets the hot tag and cleans house with the efficiency of an actual dinosaur, but it’s clear that this as well is part of the bigger story they are trying to tell.  Luchasaurus is always great whenever he enters the ring, but he’s pretty easily overwhelmed when the other team starts working together.  Compare this with when Jungle Boy gets the tag back in, and while he may not have the immediate offensive power that Luchasaurus has, he has the resilience to fend off both members of FTR at the same time; to the point that Wheeler and Harwood have to keep tagging in and out just to keep up with the kid!  The turning point comes when Luchasaurus goes for something on the outside… (I guess it was supposed to be a really high spear?) and misses Wheeler by a mile; crashing into the crowd and effectively out of the match.  Jungle Boy manages to fight on valiantly and has Dax in a solid pin, but Cash flips them so that Jungle Boy is the one getting pinned, and with Cash applying additional pressure on the pin they just barely manage to get the three count.  Perhaps in a one on one match Luchasaurus would be unstoppable against either one of FTR, but Jungle Boy clearly has the better skills for this particular challenge, and they only way the champs were able to win here is by cheating in a way that in all honesty the ref REALLY should have seen.  Despite it being Jungle Boy’s night to lose, he really came into his own here and it was a strong story being told.  A GREAT way to open the show

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Super Wrestling: AEW – All Out 2020

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

All Out and all the images you see I this recap are owned by All Elite Wrestling and Shahid Khan

The last few weeks of television have been disappointing as AEW is stumbling their way towards not just to this PPV but having a live audience again and doing it in a way that’s safe while also enhancing the show.  It hasn’t been an easy journey and they’ve made some mistakes, but the buildup to this show has been solid if nothing else, and with so many marquee matches to watch… well, let’s just hope that they can pull it off better than they’ve been pulling off Dynamite; and CERTAINLY better than from what I heard went down in that women’s Tag Tournament.  Is this show a culmination of all the stumbling effort they’ve been putting in the last few weeks, or has all that bad luck spilled over to the PPV itself?  Let’s find out!!

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Joey Janela Vs. Serpentico – Buy In Match

Serpentico is accompanied to the ring by Luther while Janela is accompanied by Sonny Kiss

Serpentico is one of those dudes who I’ve seen A LOT standing on the outside of the ring these last few months, but this will be the first I’m seen him in a match.  According to the announcers, he and Luther have formed a tag team on Dark which is why he’s out here sticking his tongue out like he does, and Luther if you recall was the dude who was hanging out with Brandie Rhodes when she was doing her Nightmare Collective Shtick.  Well whoever these guys are, Joey comes out the gate with gusto as he’s still upset about having lost his match against Jericho as badly as he did (complete with giant bandage on his forehead in case you forgot what happened), and in his rage he manages to shake off whatever offense Serpentico can muster… at least until he gets pushed off the top rope and takes a real nasty looking tumble.  It doesn’t look like he got injured, but it was definitely not a fun ride down!  Serpentico takes over for most of the match after that and the guy seems like a decent wrestler with some solid gymnastics to his repertoire, but the story of this match is that Joey has more stamina and strength; so whatever ten moves Serpentico dishes out can’t seem to match the impact of one of Janela’s.  Now usually the one who has to fight from underneath is the babyface in a match like this, but Serpentico is also a dirty cheater as he’s constantly distracting the ref so that Luther can take cheap shots at Janela, and with this strategy Serpentico is able to stay in the game and even get a few near falls, but it’s just not enough to secure victory.  Janela’s building up speed for a big attack on Serpentico, but Luther grabs his legs from the outside while the ref is distracted.  Sonny Kiss, who’s been holding back this entire match, decks Luther in the face and Janela finishes him off with a Diving Drop Kick.  With Luther no longer a factor, Janela knocks Serpentico down with a running clothesline before landing a top rope elbow drop to get the pin.  It was a fine match though I think Janela is one of those guys who works WAY better when he’s got a story to build off of.  Even something simple as his feud with Shawn Spears led to that AMAZING Santa Claus match, so if this is the start of something with Serpentico then I’m all for it!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (08-27-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

Okay, so I had thought I posted this thing like three days ago but I guess with all the New Mutants and Bill & Ted excitement that I forgot to finish this darn thing and so here I am trying to put this thing together right before the next episode of the show is supposed to air.  I’ve forgotten what it’s like to actually be BUSY doing this stuff which is in its own way a comforting bit of nostalgia (remember when we all got to DO things before the world came to a screeching halt?) and I’ll hopefully won’t be making this mistake again in the future; especially since we not only have another episode of Dynamite this week but a PPV on Saturday!  Let’s get started!!

There was an announcement that AEW would be selling tickets to fans and I think this is the first week where that’s the case.  The opening moments spend A LOT of time focusing on all the people in the crowd, and while it IS outside and they DO seem to be separated into clusters, it still makes me very nervous.  In any case, Chris Jericho is on commentary tonight and gets a full entrance, while the wrestlers in the opening match to the Tag Team Gauntlet are already in the ring, so I guess AEW knows whose entrance is the money maker.

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Tag Team Gauntlet Match – Number One Contender for the Tag Team Championship

Now I didn’t quite get what this was when they announced it (I thought it would just be a four way between the four teams) but thankfully the give us a quick rundown of the rules.  It starts with The Nightmare Family and The Bucks, then the winner of that match immediately has to face Best Friends and then the winner of that has to face FTR.  These kind of matches never really made sense to me as it doesn’t REALLY show who the best team is as one the freshest team will obviously stand the best chance and I think it works better in a Royal Rumble where you DON’T have to wrestle a full match to advance and there are ways to strategically recuperate if needed.  Still, it should be fun to see all these teams go at it; especially with FTR as the final boss!

First Round – Natural Nightmares Vs. Young Bucks

QT Marshall is a great wrestler but is even better at making everyone else look good and he does a great job eating a bunch of moves from The Bucks before Dustin jumps in and runs wild for like a minute before gassing out completely and taking a prolonged breather.  The Bucks though are polite competitors and give him a chance to catch his breath which proves to be a pretty big mistake because Dustin comes back very strong and he and QT take control of the match for a bit.  Now in most tag matches this would simply be getting heat for The Natural Nightmares, but because this is a gauntlet match, it means that every minute The Bucks take punishment means they’re going into the next match that much worse for wear.  QT Marshall has both Bucks in the ring and goes for a QT special which as far as I can tell is a flip in the ring followed by a back elbow, but The Bucks duck the blow and follow up with Superkicks.  At this point The Bucks are in full control of the match and after a minute or two of moves Nick gets the pin on QT after both of them land a BTE Trigger.

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (08-22-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

With another PPV just two weeks away (literally this time due to the schedule change), AEW has to kick things into overdrive to get people pumped for the big show!  No more of this back and forth where one week is good and the next week is meh!  Nope, just good matches, good stories, and lots of exciting angles so that people drop their fifty bucks to see it all play out!  Does this show manage to create the right kind of buzz to sell All Out to the fans at home, or will it take more than one good show to get things back on track?  Let’s find out!!

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Private Party Vs. FTR

Already in the ring and with no introductions, both teams are in the ring and this match is underway.  Not only that, Tully Blanchard is in FTR’s corner wearing an FTR jacket so I guess they’re teaming up with him and the conspicuously absent Shawn Spears.  I thought they were going to go with Arn, considering the meeting they had a few weeks ago, but I guess his and Cody’s heel turn isn’t happening any time soon.  FTR gives a lot to Private Party in this match, and they look pretty good!  Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy can be a bit hit or miss at times, but they seem to have brought their A game here, and FTR continue to be consummate professionals in whatever they do.  Still, there’s not much TO this match even though both teams are doing a great job in it.  We get some Superkicks from Private Party, FTR beats up Quen in the corner for a while, and Private Party tries to fight back with high flying and flashy maneuvers; my favorite probably being when Kassidy flipped over the ropes into a Stunner on Dax Harwood.  The only part that felt a bit off was some not especially great looking Leapfrogs from FTR, but other than that it’s a solid match between two teams.  At some point Quen is down and Kassidy is trying to make the save by diving onto Harwood on the outside.  At the last moment, Tully Blanchard pulls him away and Kassidy lands on the floor; leaving Quen alone in the ring and so both members of FTR bring this to a close with the Goodnight Express for the pin.  So, yeah; it was a good match, but not one that had a lot of highs and lows for me.  Nothing stood out all that much despite both teams putting in the effort.

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (08-12-2020)

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

AEWDYNAMITE

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

Did you all know that the next PPV All Out is going to be on September 5th!?  That feels WAY too soon, doesn’t it!?  Then again, who knows anymore?  What does time even MEAN when we’re all cooped up in our houses and alternating between sleeping, eating, and binge watching?  Well if we’re stuck in these rote rituals for the foreseeable future, we may as well keep recapping these AEW shows until things get better which by my estimation should be what, fifteen years?  In any case, let’s see what AEW has for us on this show which has a greatly hyped main event and some sort of tag team celebration!  Let’s get started!!

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The Young Bucks Vs. The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)

Before The Bucks can finish doing their poses and get in the ring, three Creepers come out from the back and start pounding away at them; softening them up as Grayson and Uno casually saunter to the ring!  The Dark Order has REALLY come into their own in the last few weeks and has become one of the most pervasive elements in the show.  Considering how much of a joke they were just a few months ago, it’s a testament to AEW and their foresight in seeing what The Dark Order could become if given enough time to work out the kinks.  After Nick Jackson gets unceremoniously tossed into the ring, Matt Jackson goes to take out the Creepers outside the ring, but in doing so opens himself up for a devastating Suicide Dive from Grayson.  Uno and Grayson then proceed to brutalize and tenderize poor Nick Jackson and look darn good doing it!  I may not have used these exact words in the past, but I find Evil Uno to be one of the most magnetic personalities in the company; a guy who imbues his character into all of his actions and has a great rapport with his partner Grayson.  He’s also a genuinely good worker even if he’s not exactly THE BEST wrestler at the company and does a great job selling for The Bucks once they get their comeback.  The only thing that’s kind of throwing me off a bit is that Uno has some sort of gimmick going on with the tape he has wrapped around his wrist.  He’s at his best when he’s being clever and this feels like an attempt at that, but I’m just not getting it.  In any case, The Bucks’ comeback is cut short and Matt finds himself outside the ring surrounded by three Creepers with a very intense looking Evil Uno waiting for him to jump back in the ring.  Matt’s ingenious move to escape is to dive under the ring itself and come out the side which was a fun little spot.  Another fun spot was when Evil Uno did that thing where he grabs Matt Jackson’s leg, tossed it to the ref, and then gave him a Cutter.  It seems to be his new thing, and I certainly still enjoy it!  Sadly it’s not enough to secure victory for my favorite Spooky Perverts, and the turning point back to the Bucks is when Matt lands a hellacious spear on Evil Uno which gives him enough time to give Nick the hot tag.  Nick runs wild; throwing Grayson into the crowd and Super Kicking Uno in the head.  After The Bucks land a Risky Business on Uno, Matt goes for the pin but only gets a two count.  Undeterred, the duo lands a draping Swanton Bomb onto Uno and would surely have gotten the pin if Uno hadn’t gotten his foot on the ropes.  See, this is why special moves should be in the middle of the ring!  You’re just wasting your EX meter if you do it near the edge!  Grayson comes out of NOWHERE and gives Matt Jackson a Huricanrana from the top ropes at which point the two start trading big moves and near falls.  Grayson takes Matt Jackson and throws him into the entrance tunnel; leaving the Creepers to guard it while the two of them finish off Nick Jackson.  It looks like they’re about to win, but Nick Jackson manages to wriggle out of Uno’s hold and turns it into a pin.  Grayson runs as FAST as he can and is FLYING through the air to break up the pin, but he is a second too late and Nick Jackson gets the win to the shame and consternation of The Dark Order.  This was an AMAZING opening match and was a GREAT example of what I want to see in tag team matches like this!  We’ve gotten quite a few tag matches the last few weeks and while some of them have been good, this one blows the rest out of the water as far as I’m concerned, and I cannot wait to see what Uno and Grayson do next.  Maybe they’ll even WIN a match on Dynamite!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (07-15-2020) – Fight For The Fallen

~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

AEWDYNAMITE

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

Fyter Fest may be over, but this company’s got ONE more week of near-PPV level content that they want to give us (especially on a week without a competing NXT special event) so now we’ve got Fight For The Fallen to raise money for COVID-19 relief in Florida!  With John Moxley finally returning to the ring to face Brian Cage as well as a bunch of other well booked matches on the lineup, can this be the show that turns the ratings back into AEW favor while also making money for a good cause?  Let’s find out!!

First and foremost, AEW got the message and has everyone at ringside wearing a mask.  The announce team isn’t wearing any masks and neither is MJF and Wardlow for some reason (I hope their refusal to wear masks isn’t some sort of Heel flex because now is a REALLY bad time to be pulling that nonsense), but at least they’ve done SOMETHING about it.  Also worth noting is that Taz is filling in for Tony Schiavone; not because he tested positive but because his test results haven’t come back yet so they aren’t taking any chances.  It’s like AEW is ninety percent there with doing this the best way they can, but they just can’t take that extra step of making sure EVERYONE is covering; particularly the broadcasters who are still scrunched up together at a single table.  In any case, we’re starting things off on a bang with the first match being Cody’s TNT Title defense, so let’s see how that goes.

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Cody Vs. Sonny Kiss – TNT Title Championship

Cody is accompanied to the ring by Arn Anderson

It goes without saying that Sonny Kiss, who’s barely been on TV since Dynamite started almost a year ago, is far from the strongest opponent for Cody to be facing right now, but even if the match’s outcome is incredibly obvious (despite the protestations from commentary), I’m glad that he’s getting a chance at the spotlight.  Sadly the match isn’t exactly what you’d hope it be, and it’s kind of serendipitous that Sonny and Joey are working together now because my feelings on this one are similar to the Omega/Joey match from a few months ago.  Sonny is a great talent and he has such a magnetic personality that I think he has a very strong place in this company, but I’m not really feeling it when he’s up against a guy like Cody.  Cody’s at the top of the pecking order and is a unique talent in a traditional style, so while I wouldn’t say that they SHOULDN’T have a match ever, trying to make it a competitive one and seeing Cody try to sell it as such strains credulity a bit; especially when Kiss’s offense looks kind of green.  Sure, he’s got athleticism and flexibility, but his strikes need a bit more of a punch to them for Cody not to look foolish at taking the hits.  He does a spinning kick that has less impact than if I tried to do it, and really the only place where his move set looks convincing are when he gets to show off his athleticism; your Hurricanranas, Scissor kicks, and even a solid but kinda stiff-looking 450 which gets him a two count.  Cody is Cody, so it’s about what you’d expect from the guy with more teases of him going heel with just how brutal he is towards Sonny Kiss at points, and for me, it was a bit much when Cody for no reason rips off the turnbuckle.  Even less convincing is how Sonny manages to reverse a move so that Cody flies into the exposed metal, but I’ll give him credit for somehow reversing a Cross Rhodes; that looked pretty good and was probably the highlight of the match!  Cody does eventually win the match by landing a Cross Rhodes, though the major development coming out of this is that Cody only seemed to BARELY win the match which might spell doom for either his title run or his status as the top Babyface.  He’s getting a lot meaner and more desperate in the ring which indicates an upcoming heel turn, but he also hugs Sonny at the end of the match which probably means we’re doing the long game with this.  Not the best way to open the show as Sonny didn’t look great and Cody couldn’t do much to make it work, but it’s certainly a change of pace to start the show with a title match and I can only hope that the Cody storyline is truly developing towards something instead of just keeping us in suspense for months on end before pulling the plug on it.

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