AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
Welcome back to the CM Punk show where the fans came to see one thing and thing only; and BOY do they let you know it! As soon as the audio from the arena is turned on, all you hear is CM Punk chants as loud as any you’ve heard at an AEW show and the first thing you see are signs that promise to riot if he doesn’t make an appearance. This episode is going to be remembered for one thing and one thing only which is Punk’s return to the world of wrestling after seven years! Now all that said, does being a significant chapter in wrestling history mean that what we saw today was any good, or will this be remembered along the debuts of The Shockmaster and The Gobbledy Gooker; certainly SIGNIFICANT moments, but for all the wrong reasons? Let’s find out!!
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The Return of CM Punk – Is this the happy ending the fans have been waiting for?
The show wastes no time in giving us Punk and letting him address the crowd who as I said are ELATED beyond belief that the guy is here at AEW; they simply couldn’t wait another minute for it! Punk spends about five minutes making his way down the ramp and it’s clear that he’s really enjoying himself and the adulation he’s getting from the crowd (some of whom are in fact crying over this moment), and he eventually makes his way to the center of the ring with a mic in hand and starts to talk. Personally, I’m just not invested in Punk as a wrestling personality and I’m just not fully caught up on the history that makes this as meaningful as it is for lots of other people. What I took away from the speech is that he doesn’t make everything about him and spends time praising AEW, talking about the people in the back, and even talks directly to Darby Allin to confirm that they will have a match at the All Out PPV in a few weeks. For me, that’s what mattered most. He can talk about his struggles and animosity towards the WWE as much as he wants to because it’s part of the story that these fans have been waiting to see resolved for almost a decade now; as long as it’s in the context of the AEW story. My concern (probably misplaced) is that his presence would overwhelm everything else at AEW and just make it that much more of a traditional “WRESTLING WAR” when AEW has done quite well for itself without overly indulging in sniping back and forth with the competition. They let their product speak for itself and Punk doesn’t take away from that, so I’m very happy with this segment and I’m actually quite excited to see that match between him and Darby Allin. Oh, and everyone at the stadium got free ice cream bars. I’m told that’s a reference to something he did, so if you got it I hope it made you smile!
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’ back with another week of AEW action, and not only are we one week closer to the All Out PPV, it’s the first Dynamite since the premier episode of Rampage and all the fallout that came from that! Can AEW prove they can manage three hours of television without things getting spread too thin or storylines getting too big and sprawling? Let’s find out!!
We begin with episode with Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston who have some sort of announcement to make. Of course, being wrestlers, they can’t just simply do that and are gonna go through their full entrances in the crowd before saying a word; little do they realize that that’s what THEY are expecting! Who are THEY? Why, none other than 2.0 and Daniel Garcia who bash the two of them with pipes in the middle of the crowd and run to the ring to call out Darby and Sting who oblige the request, and so we begin…
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Sting & Darby Allin Vs. 2.0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) – Texas Tornado Tag Match
2.0 is accompanied to the ring by Daniel Garcia
The former Ever Rise going from NXT castoffs to big TV stars in just a few short weeks on AEW, going so far as to beat up the former champ and one of the most over guys at the company, will no doubt a thorn in WWE’s side for months on end, especially with the latest batch of releases from the company, but regardless of that, both Matt and Jeff have proven themselves to be great additions to AEW and their association with Daniel Garcia has been one of the better things about the last two weeks of the show. As for the match itself, they keep it short and sweet with a lot of selling from the Heels and a lot of big Baby Face spots for Sting. Also, I guess the TEXAS part of this means No DQ because the bell has barely rung before they take things to the top of the stadium to duke it out there with Daniel Garcia backing up 2.0. The Baby Faces aren’t running away with this however as they do eat a bunch of offense from 2.0, particularly this one spot where 2.0 basically threw Darby up into the top part of an entrance way (google says it’s called a jamb) and then falls back down to Earth onto his back which frankly isn’t the WORST bump I’ve seen Darby Allin take. However, they eventually get the upper hand and make their way to ring while a freshly recovered Kingston drags Daniel Garcia away to presumably take a beating for his part in all this. There are a few more rough spots that the Baby Faces take like when Darby is Suplexed into his skateboard (wheels up) and when Sting eats a Powerbomb into a table, but the Baby Faces are resilient and Sting basically No Sells the table spot to the utter dismay of 2.0. Sting lands a Double Scorpion Death Drop on the two of them and THEN puts them both in a Scorpion Death Lock; both of whom tap out immediately; winning the match and once again putting 2.0 right in their place! It was definitely a fun opening match, and while I still don’t LOVE everything that Darby is willing to do in the ring, this was comparatively a less intensive match and the sheer power of THE ICON STING at the end of the match got the crowd in a great mood for the rest of the show!
AEW Rampage is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
This is TECHNICALLY this is the start of a new series, isn’t it? So I guess I shouldn’t say WELCOME BACK as we’ve technically never been here before, but honestly the name change doesn’t do much to change the fact that this is the third hour of Dynamite; an extra show to give the wrestlers more time to get in front of the crowd and to make my life slightly harder as now I have to fit TWO wrestling shows into my weekly schedule! Will AEW justify their new hour long timeslot on Friday Nights with an AMAZING first show, or is this just another Dark show with the added bonus of commercial breaks? Let’s find out!!
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Kenny Omega Vs. Christian Cage – Impact World Title Match
It’s clear they wanted to start things off as BIG as possible, so why not put the AEW Champ in a title match to kick off the show? Now it’s not for the ACTUAL AEW title as these two will be fighting for that in a few weeks on PPV, but for the Impact title as Kenny managed to collect that along the way. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really into this match when it started as there was a lot of jaw-jacking between the two before going to a headlock and then finally a shoulder tackle from Cage. I can’t say that’s the kind of EDGE OF YOUR SEAT ACTION I would want in a title match, but the wrestling eventually picks up and a storyline starts to form as it goes along. Throughout the match Kenny is going for his One Winged Angel to try and put Cage away, but he seems to be his own worst enemy as he’s genuinely afraid of Cage and his Kill Switch so every time he gets close and Cage shows signs of reversing, he panics and runs away. He still manages to stay in the lead, especially after knocking Cage off the top turnbuckle to the floor, but it’s a much more defensive Kenny Omega than we usually see. The turnbuckle spot does give Kenny some momentum and he gets the heat for a while, but then he gets a bit too cocky and puts Cage on the turnbuckle for a Superplex; only for the guy to fight back and land this Spinning Powerbomb thing from the top rope that KINDA looks like a Canadian Destroyer and looked like it could have EASILY shattered Kenny’s spine! THAT must have been a rough bump to take, but Cage is now in control and gets a few nearfalls. Flying Elbow, Reverse DDT, even a Spear after Kenny misses a V-Trigger; all great moves but none are enough to finish off Omega. At one point Cage snaps Omega’s neck on the top rope and follows up with a Frog Splash to get another two count, and this is enough for Don Callis gets on the apron to distract the ref so that Omega can get the low blow. If that wasn’t enough, The Bucks come out to give Omega a chair and tries to put him up for the One Winged Angel. Cage somehow escapes and drops Kenny Omega into the chair himself with the Kill Switch and shock of all shocks, HE GETS THE PIN! Your Impact champion is Christian Cage who cuts a promo after the match about how much he’s already in Kenny’s head and what that’s going to mean for their AEW Title match on the PPV. The ending more or less being a screw job at least solved one problem I had which is that I thought having them fight TWO title matches back to back would be pointless as it at least still leaves the question as to who would win in a FAIR fight, and while I wasn’t in love with the match I thought it was pretty good. WAY too slow at the start, but it picked up by the end and Christian actually getting a pin on Kenny is a pretty big deal! Kinda feel bad for Impact though who’s biggest belt is being treated as a glorified game piece in this battle for the REAL title, but I guess when one is on national television getting over a million views an episode and the other is… not, then you take what you can get.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with another episode of AEW, and this one is a special one because, ironically, it’s NOT a special episode! Yes, for the first time in six weeks, this does NOT have a subtitle attached to it, but considering how strong the show has been lately I wouldn’t take it as a sign that they are resting on their laurels. Do they continue their upward momentum in anticipation for the PPV and the arrival of some big name stars? Let’s find out!!
We begin the show with a promo from MJF and Wardlow about the latter’s upcoming match against Jericho which as far as I can tell is NOT a stipulation match. Sure, MJF is gonna be at ringside but pretty much EVERY match on this show has a bowling team’s worth of extra dudes just hanging around. As you’d expect MJF is his usual smarmy self, a smarminess further accentuated by him eating an apple while talking, and Wardlow is standing behind him flexing and pouting his lips. He seems pretty confident about his chances tonight, but MJF reminds him of his cage match against Cody which turns the atmosphere to ice. The Wardlow/MJF breakup has been a thread for almost as long as the Hangman’s downfall has been playing out, but chances are that they’re gonna stick it out for quite a while longer as their feud with The Inner Circle shows no sign of slowing down.
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Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks Vs. Daunte Martin & The Sydal Brothers – Trios Match
I don’t know what it is about Pittsburgh, but AEW has to go here more often because they pulled out ALL the stops; especially with this opening bout which MIGHT be one of the best matches of the year! If nothing else, it’s EASILY a PPV caliber bout and I just love what this match manages to do and what it AVOIDS doing. We have three AEW champions just showing up for a trios match against three guys who aren’t exactly the biggest stars at the company, and they’re just wrestling because it’s a fun match to do; nothing more, nothing less! It’s a non-title match obviously because they have to preserve the existing storylines at least a LITTLE bit, but The Elite are not afraid to give these three lower tier dudes a lot of room to show what they can do, and while the Sydal brothers have always been great and look great here as they get an early lead on the Bucks, the real star is Daunte Martin. The guy has a vertical leap that is truly something to admire, and he lands a Drop Kick to the face of Matt Jackson with ease; jumping so high that it almost looks like he’s floating as he turns in midair to land the kick! Both teams go back and forth with the Baby Faces getting pretty solid advantages that are undercut by the devious machinations of The Elite, and EVERYONE looks good in the process! The Bucks get to do their Cocky Heel shtick, Kenny Omega cleans house whenever he’s in the ring, and The Baby Faces work together with brilliant efficiency; not that The Elite don’t work well together as they land a Face Buster/Kotaro Crusher on Mike Sydal that leads to hot tags from both Matt and Daunte. They land a bunch of big moves, the crowd is going wild, and they go for pinfalls and submissions, but it’s never quite enough to put the champs away. Eventually it devolves into that perfect wrestling chaos where everyone is just running in and doing moves, but there’s an elegance to the timing that makes it look like a spectacle instead of a violent mess; all of which leads to Daunte and Omega in the ring alone. Omega goes for the One Winged Angel, but Daunte manages to flip his way out of it and the two trade moves for nearfalls until Omega gets a V-Trigger right to the face of young Daunte. The Bucks keep the Sydals from running in as Kenny goes once again for the One Winged Angel and FINALLY lands it! He doesn’t go for the pin though as he and The Bucks don’t appreciate being shown up like this and so the three of them land a BTE-V-Trigger (basically all three of them land knees to the face), and NOW Kenny deigns to pin the kid to win the match and bring this fantastic spectacle to a close! There’s always a danger in putting something THIS good up front as it’s a hard act for any match to follow, but you couldn’t ask for a better way to get people to tune in as this was an amazing Trios match from beginning to end that left everyone looking even better than they did before!
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with another episode of AEW Dynamite and things are definitely looking up for the company! The last episode was definitely a mixed bag of highs and lows, but the ratings the last few weeks have been consistently excellent and there’s no sign of it slowing down; especially with the talent that should be arriving in the next few weeks! Does this episode keep the momentum going as we head towards the debut of Rampage and the big PPV show to follow not long after? Let’s find out!!
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Chris Jericho Vs. Juventud Guerrera – The Third Labor of Jericho
For Jericho to win, he must land a move from the top rope
Not everyone has enjoyed the whole Labors of Jericho thing, and for me this MIGHT be the match that pushed things a little bit too far. It’s by no means the fault of the two guys in the ring as they are GREAT here (and I have to find out what Juvy does to still look so young!) but the stipulation doesn’t make a lot of sense and is not very well explained. I honestly thought that all he had to do was land one move from the top rope to win and the rules weren’t clear until we saw it play out in the match. Apparently he has to land a move from the top rope AND THEN either pin or submit him; the latter of which by the way being a pretty goofy looking spot where Jericho drops from the top rope onto Juvy and just puts him in the Walls of Jericho. Juvy eventually gets out of it and they go back and forth for a bit with Juvy getting a close nearfall after landing a Juvy Driver, but then Jericho hits the Judas Effect and Juvy is down. HOWEVER! He landed it while on the ground and can’t cover him to which Jericho looks right into the camera with a dumbfounded expression on his face before going up top and landing a Flying Judas Effect to finally get the pin and win the match. I’d honestly have much preferred a simple match between these two or perhaps a more straightforward stipulation as the top rope stuff kinda dragged things down throughout, but it was nice to see Juvy again and the Jericho storyline is still one of the most enjoyable things that AEW has going on right now!
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with even more AEW action and frankly the company has been on a real hot streak lately! With solid episodes the last few weeks, lots of news about possible signings from Bryan Danielson and CM Punk, and even outpacing WWE for live ticket sales, their return to the road has been an overwhelming success and some of the best publicity the company has had. Can they keep up that momentum all the way to the All Out PPV in September? Lets’ find out!!
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Hangman Adam Page & The Dark Order Vs. The Elite – Ten Man Elimination Tag Match
Don Callis joins the commentary team for this match
Considering this match the biggest names in the company working through the biggest storyline they have (If Hangman and The Dark Order win, they ALL get title shots), it makes sense that they start the show with it, and to the surprise of no one it ends up being a darn good match! Now I’m not about to go blow for blow here considering how long it is and how many people are involved, so just assume that everything filling the gaps of what I talk about is solid work and that the crowd was into this the entire time! On one side we have Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows, while on the other side we have Hangman Adam Page, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Alex Reynolds, and the returning John Silver who’s in his first match since his shoulder injury and his first match in front of a crowd in over a year. Needless to say that the crowd is completely behind this dude and a good chunk of the match is trying to make him look as good as possible. He and Reynolds do that awesome combination that really SHOULD have a name by now (Forearm Strike, Inzuguri, Stunner, German Suplex, Jackknife pin) but it’s not enough to put Karl Anderson away. Gallows tries to even the odds a bit and rushes the ring and Reynolds knocks him over the ropes with ease, only for Anderson to come from behind and pin him by pulling on the trunks. With blatant interference and an illegal pin within seconds of each other, it’s probably time to mention that the one drawback to this match is that none of the rules are enforced as people are running in CONSTANTLY without a peep from the ref which isn’t NECESSARILY a bad thing if it leads to great action, but I felt that for a match with such high stakes it’d have been nice if they could have either kept it a bit cleaner or just declared it No DQ. This lack of adherence to the rules goes for both sides by the way as Uno and Grayson eliminate Karl Anderson soon after with a Fatality. Stu and Uno actually get quite a lot in this match as they seem to be even more in-sync than the two tag teams on the other team as they pull out some impressive tandem moves and give The Bucks a run for their money. However, this also leads to probably the worst spot in the match which is when Stu Grayson lands a Sky Twister Press from the apron to the ground and ends up SMASHING his head on the floor because no one caught him! Now he claims to be fine, but there was NO way anyone knew that at the time and he and Doc Gallows brawl in the crowd including ANOTHER diving spot from Grayson. I don’t THINK he hit his head on that one, but he definitely rolled on the ground. Thankfully he and Gallows were eliminated due to count out which MIGHT have been the plan all along or something they had to call at the moment so that Grayson could get out of there and get checked on. Either way, that was BRUTAL. Uno and Omega are the only ones still standing at this point and they brawl it out in the ring for a bit while everyone else tries to recover outside the ring. Uno does his best but when he goes for the Senton, Omega gets the knees up and hits him with the V-Trigger as well as the One Winged Angel which is MORE than enough to eliminate him from the match. That just leaves Hangman and John Silver against The Young Bucks and Omega. Not looking good for the Baby Faces, but John is NOT deterred and hits a BIG spear on Matt Jackson for a big pop from the crowd. It doesn’t take long though before The Bucks start getting the heat on Silver with all the goofiness that entails. This match is APPARENTLY a promotional cross over with that Space Jam sequel so all the Heels are wearing basketball jerseys and there’s a hoop nearby which I’m not sure if getting the most out of this brand synergy; nor would I expect it to be in the middle of a match this important. Still, there is a spot where The Bucks do an Indie Taker on Silver underneath the Basketball hoop while Nick Jackson is trying to dunk a basketball, and while Silver does eat the Indie Taker, Nick Jackson COMPLETELY fumbled the spot and the ball goes bouncing off the rim which made it all the funnier! The Bucks may be goofballs, but they are still good wrestlers and not only did they tear Silver apart here, they also took some cheap shots at Hangman to soften him up once he’s the last one in there as John is fighting valiantly but it’s clearly just a matter of time. The Bucks finally land a BTE trigger on Silver and he stays down for the pin which leaves him alone to face Omega and The Bucks; two of whom he betrayed, one he disappointed, and ALL looking to destroy this man once and for all! What follows is a fantastic match in its own right as Hangman manages to hang with all three of them and everyone starts hitting their biggest moves; especially Hangman who gets a Pop Up Powerbomb on Kenny and even lands a DOUBLE BUCKSHOT LARIAT on both of the Bucks! Kenny eventually gets tired of all of this and tries to bash him over the head with one of his belts, but is stopped in his tracks when Ref Knox takes it away. However, since he’s the BELT COLLECTOR, he just gets another one while the ref’s back is turned and goes for Hangman, who ducks and manages to hit him with the Dead Eye… only to get a count. Hangman then goes for the Buckshot but its Omega’s turn to duck and he finally hits Hangman with a belt… only to get a two count as well. Kenny is back in control now however as he hits a few V-Triggers and a One Winged Angel which Hangman stays down for and the match is over; giving The Elite the win and preventing Hangman from going for the title. I’m mixed about the ending to be sure as Hangman losing any momentum here is probably not a good thing considering how much the crowd is behind him, but I do like the idea that The Dark Order in a sense has failed him here and we’ll get to see the fallout of that; if he turns his back on them or if he’s grown enough to not take failures like this so personally as to blow up his relationships. It’ll be an interesting few weeks to see what direction they’re going in and this was a heck of a match to see, though perhaps I wouldn’t have started with this as it’s kind of a downer and the rest of the show is gonna have to work hard to get out from underneath it.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
AEW is back on the road and to celebrate they have a rather sizable show for their first stop in Miami! Now this isn’t the first show in front of a full crowd as Daily’s Place was starting to fill up at the end there, but we’re in a whole new market with fans who have been starving for live wrestling action, and AEW plans to deliver! Is this a worthy show to kick off the start of a new era, or will it take a bit of time before things settle into place? Let’s find out!!
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Cody Rhodes Vs. QT Marshall – South Beach Strap Patch
Both competitors are tied together with a strap. To win, one must touch all four corners of the ring consecutively.
This was an INTERESTING match if nothing else. I’ve heard of this kind of strap match before, but it always seemed overly convoluted and I’m not sure WHAT they are supposed to prove. After watching it, there is some strategy to be had (do you try to stop someone in the middle of a run of posts, or do you fortify your position on the last one) but ultimately its closest to a Last Man Standing match where the goal is to keep an opponent down for an arbitrary amount of time; in one case for a ten count and in the other for as long as it takes someone to walk to the four corners of the ring. What ended up standing out more for me was the strap which is both a blessing and a curse here. There are some fun things they do like when Cody yanks on the strap so that QT bounces off the ropes, but the strap is so long and unwieldy that it made a lot of this match seem EXTRAORDINARILY dangerous. At one point it looks like Cody got caught up in the strap during a suplex and it threw his balance off which wrecked his shoulder which I don’t BELIEVE was a legit injury, but I never like to wonder if someone is actually hurt while watching a wrestling match. For the most part Cody maintains control as he cuts off QT’s moves pretty easily and uses the strap as a whip to turn his flesh pink, but there’s always something there to stop Cody from getting all four corners to end the match. The big moment is pretty early when Aaron Solow goes after Cody but he’s soon chased off by Dustin Rhodes who fights him through the crowd. The next is that VERY scary suplex that Cody sells for most of the match and hinders him in his attempts to finish this off quickly; especially after eating an Avalanche Powerbomb which somehow looked LESS scary than the suplex from earlier. His closest chance at victory is a Draping Diamond Cutter that gets him as far as three corners, but Cody starts yanking on the ropes which forces QT to start attacking him again. Cody however is fully energized by this point and runs WILD on QT with a series of big punches and big moves. He lands a Cody Cutter which is soon followed by three Cross Rhodes, and QT stays down long enough for Cody to get all four corners to win the match. If I didn’t worry that Cody and QT were going to DIE at some point in this match I would have called it a great opener, but the fact is that they didn’t and they put a lot into it to make it work, so it gets credit for that at least.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
The Pandemic is not over yet despite what many will have you believe, but as far the Wrestling business and other live events, it’s at a point where enough people are vaccinated that they can fill arenas without worrying about super spreader events; at least not to the degree of risk there was even a few months ago. Because of that, AEW will be returning to the road with next week being their first show out of Daily’s Place in Jacksonville Florida since more or less the start of the pandemic. Do they give us a fantastic sendoff to the city of Jacksonville for all it’s done to keep AEW afloat, or are they already half-way out the door and just threw something together? Let’s find out!!
Before we start the opening match, Jericho comes out to a raucous rendition of Judas as he is joining the announce team for this show; mostly to call the Sammy/MJF match in the main event, but he’s always a fun presence whenever he shows up in the booth!
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Young Bucks Vs. Eddie Kingston & Penta El Zero M – AEW Tag Title Qualifier Match
Penta is accompanied to the ring by Alex Abrahantes
AEW will rarely resemble WWE, and the few times it does it’s usually the GOOD parts like getting wrestlers from the past that people like and the occasional goofy celebrity spot. This feud between The Bucks, Kingston, and Penta though resembles some of their worst tendencies which are its incessant 50/50 booking and running matchups into the ground as these two teams have been fighting back and forth since the PPV; longer if you count the fact that Kingston and Moxley were fighting with them before that! To their credit though, the matches have been improving and The Bucks are only getting more fun in their utter contempt for good taste; case in point, the diseased rats they’ve glued to their face that they are calling facial hair with Nick in particular is sporting a very bushy Hogan-stache that seems to be drawing heat from the crowd all by itself. Aside from that, it’s a pretty straightforward match with the Heels getting the heat and the Baby Faces breaking free to run wild. Its good wrestling to be sure, but they aren’t doing anything I didn’t see the last few times they locked up; even the really cook stuff like Penta’s roll up into a DDT or when Kingston starts no selling a bunch of kicks feels like diminishing returns. The best moment was probably the nearfall where Kingston throws Nick up onto the turnbuckle, Penta follows up with a kick, Kingston then lands a German Suplex, and Penta catches him into a Backbreaker. The Bucks get a similar nearfall when they land The Lucha Bros own finisher (Fear Factor) onto Penta which Kingston breaks up at the last second, and this leads to The Good Brothers coming out to heckle Kingston and Penta as well as distract the ref while Cutler runs out for the cold spray spot. Matt Jackson has Penta in position, but Penta comes up with the BRILLIANT tactic of… ducking, and instead Matt eats a bunch of cold spray to the face! Frankie Kazarian runs out to take out Cutler which leaves Penta and Kingston to finish off matt Jackson with a Pile Driver and a back fist to get the pin and win the match; earning their chance to challenge for the Tag Team title! If I hadn’t seen The Bucks versus Kingston and Penta for the last few weeks this would have hit a lot harder as the moves work was solid and the ending had a lot of fun spots to it; especially with Kazarian living up to his name as the Elite Hunter to just spoil The Bucks endless attempts to cheat. This does set us up for yet another match between the two teams, but with the title being on the line it will hopefully bring enough gravitas to make it feel not as much like every other match we’ve seen so far from them.
AEW Dynamite is owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, Shahid Khan, and TNT
We’re back with the final episode of Friday Night Dynamite as they have one more show on Saturday before returning to their usual Wednesday night timeslot. It’s been an interesting few weeks to say the least with some great action but also one of the worst episodes they’ve had in some time. Can they finish their time in this new timeslot with a bang, or are they just not gonna be able to get their groove back until they return to their familiar night? Let’s find out!!
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Jake Hager Vs. Wardlow – Mixed Martial Arts Match
Considering that they have to set up the octagon and that I HIGHLY doubt a match like this would work as a main event, it makes sense that they’d do the MMA match right off the bat. Personally, I’m not much of a fan of this kind of fighting. Sure there are some good matches out there if you search YouTube for a bit, but I am not going to be able to judge this based on any legitimate mixed martial arts merits and only on whether I found it entertaining in some way. That said, even someone as inexperienced as me can tell this is nowhere close to a shoot match considering they don’t have judges which means it has to end with one person beating the other. Also they didn’t bother hiring an MMA ref and just have Aubrey out there. I mean I GUESS she could be trained as an MMA ref, but I’ve certainly never heard of her doing that and the lack of known MMA professionals involved in this outside of Hager just makes it seem like a big game which I’m sure will annoy the MMA fans before the match even starts. Once it DOES start… I don’t know; I guess it was alright. If nothing else, I think they managed to find a decent balance between an actual fight and WRESTLING THEATER as it doesn’t feel TOO absurd as an MMA match, but it also feels like a highlight reel. It starts off small with the two being extremely defensive and throwing out the occasional jab, but eventually Hager manages to take Wardlow down for a few shots which he doesn’t sell all that much. In fact, by the end of the round Wardlow’s power completely overtakes Hager and spends the last two minutes punching him on the ground or against the wall. Second match continues where the first left off with Wardlow maintaining an advantage, but Hager gets into the groove of things and his MMA training proves to be more than Wardlow can overcome and he eventually passes out from a Triangle Choke. Of course there’s some brawling afterwards as Shawn Spears goes after Hager and MJF comes out of nowhere to attack Dean Malenko who ALSO came out of nowhere, but then Sammy comes out to chase everyone away and to ensure that this feud will be continuing for the indefinite future. I couldn’t possibly tell you if this was a GOOD MMA match, but it was at least brisk enough that I never got bored in it. Hopefully this does whatever it needed to for AEW, though I wouldn’t be too heartbroken if they don’t do this kind of match again.
Double or Nothing and all the images you see I this recap are owned by All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, and Shahid Khan
AEW deciding to put a Friday night show right before the PPV made things a LITTLE difficult this weekend and sure enough it ended up taking me much longer than I anticipated to finally get this recap out for you all to see. Still, they were nice enough to move THIS weeks’ Dynamite to Friday as well which means I can get this thing out a LITTLE later than I anticipated and still not technically be behind on the show! Hopefully things will ease back into a more familiar formula by next week, but for now we’re going to discuss the Double or Nothing PPV that aired on Sunday and everything that resulted from it! Was it a show worthy of the Double or Nothing name, or is their first PPV back in front of a live audience a much bigger disappointment than any of us expected? Let’s find out!!
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Serena Deeb Vs. Riho – NWA Women’s Title Match (Buy In)
As usual, AEW has at least one match on YouTube that you can watch before the PPV itself, but this time they do something a bit odd. Last Friday I mentioned that they moved the hard camera 90 degrees counterclockwise so that it was no longer facing the stage. The Hard Cam is back to facing the stage. For this match AND ONLY THIS MATCH, they put the camera back where it was before. Seems a bit odd as they would have had to SPECIFICALLY move it back there before returning it to the place it was already moved to, but that’s perhaps a bit too much minutia for this kind of recap so let’s get to the match itself! For the most part it’s Deeb trying to grab Riho and overpower her while Riho is flying around the ring with Spectacular moves, and for the first half it looks to be Riho’s match to win. However, Deeb’s strength looks to be too much for her cross body dives and running drop kicks to overcome, and Deeb grounds her with a Dragon Screw that leaves her vulnerable for most of the match. It’s not until Deeb puts her on the top turnbuckle that she starts to fight back and lands a Diving Stomp from the top rope which is soon followed up by a 619 and leads to a two count. For whatever reason they called the 619 a “Tiger Feint Kick” and I’m not sure why as it hasn’t been an issue before.
The Reviewers Unite 