Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (09-17-2021)

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

We’re back with another episode of Rampage; or as I like to call it, the quiet before the storm! The next Dynamite is one of those shows with a subtitle to it which means it’ll be stuffed with big matches and important storylines, and the Rampage after that is going to be TWO hours long instead of the usual one! As if All Out didn’t exhaust me enough already! Well in any case, we’ve got this nice one hour show to get through between now and then, so is another action packed fun-sized wrestling show, or did they move everything worth watching to the Arthur Ashe Stadium shows? Let’s find out!!

The Lucha Bros Vs. The Butcher and The Blade

The Lucha Bros are accompanied to the ring by Alex Abrahantes while The Butcher and The Blade are accompanied by HFO

I wouldn’t say that The Butcher and The Blade are a BAD tag team, but they do need the right opponents to make them shine which is why their most memorable match was against The Young Bucks; one of the best teams out there when it comes to carrying a match. The Lucha Bros easily prove themselves to not just be great workers but great champs as well as they put on a darn good show with The Butcher and The Blade here who give them a decent run for their money; mostly through cheap tricks and overwhelming force. Actually facing them in a fair fight is pretty much a non-starter as The Blade starts things off by trying to keep up with Fenix, but just can’t get a hold of him and tags in The Butcher. His strength makes him a bit tougher to overcome, but Penta and Fenix’s teamwork cuts him down to size, so it’s time for the Heels to get dirty. Penta has a hold of The Butcher and Fenix goes up for a top rope move, but The Blade knocks him off the ropes; giving The Butcher a chance to get some offense on Penta. Fenix tags himself in to cut The Butcher’s momentum, but then he ends up on Butcher’s shoulders for an assisted Knee Strike with The Blade. So far so good for The Butcher and The Blade, but once things settle to a more civilized tag match, The Lucha Bros get the advantage again with some good strikes from Fenix, Sling Blades from Penta, and dives from both of them to The Butcher and The Blade who had rolled outside the ring. It’s not until a MASSIVE Cross Body from The Butcher that their momentum is halted and the Heels can finally get some heat. Penta eventually gets the hot tag to Fenix and both teams start trading some big moves. A Fear Factor from The Lucha Bros, some sort of Backdrop move from The Butcher and The Blade (looked kind of like FTR’s Big Rig), and eventually Penta is trying to get to the corner for a tag when The Butcher and The Blade make their most dastardly move yet! Fenix DOES get the tag, but The Butcher is there immediately to knock him out the ring while The Blade TIES PENTA’S MASK TO THE RING POST! Penta is forced to sit there and watch as The Butcher and The Blade start to overwhelm his brother and he is ultimately forced to remove his mask and land a Super Kick while covering his face! The kick lands squarely on Butcher’s jaw, and Fenix gets the pin to win the match! It’s not over yet however as Private Party run in and attack Penta and Fenix, the former still without a mask and covering his face, when Proud N Powerful run in to make the save. The masks are always a soft spot for me and a quick way to get me to boo someone, so having this work into the finish of the match was a pretty solid way to cap it off. It’s not even in the same LEAGUE as the Bucks match at the PPV, but for a title defense on the B Show it was pretty good!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (09-15-2021)

September 22, 2021September 22, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

It feels like we JUST got done with the PPV, and already we’re building up to ANOTHER big show; in this case the Arthur Ashe Stadium show on the next episode which has been a huge feather in AEW’s cap since they started selling tickets for it, and everyone originally assumed that Danielson would premiere there. Instead, it looks like we’re gonna get a match which is much more exciting, and it looks like a pretty stacked card all things considered! Does this episode bring enough energy to get us pumped for yet another AEW event, or are we still all too exhausted from All Out for this to get us all that excited? Let’s find out!!

The show begins with CM Punk coming out for his entrance and to hang out with the crowd before eventually finding his way to the broadcast booth and he joins the announce team for most of the episode. I’m not sure if he has a lot of experience in that role, but he came off pretty well! A little green perhaps, but he’s got a lot of the strengths that Jericho brings to the table by having that in-ring experience that he can articulate well during matches.

Adam Cole Vs. Frankie Kazarian

Not wasting any time in getting this guy in front of the crowd, we start off with Adam Cole’s first match since joining AEW; helped along by none other than Frankie Kazarian who once again is the most underrated guy in the whole industry! A very good choice as you couldn’t ask for a better sparring partner for what is easily the best chance he’ll ever have at a first impression with a new audience! It starts with a good back and forth with Frankie getting a slight edge, but things start to go a bit sideways when Cole tosses him over the ropes to the floor and it looks like he slipped when he landed. It looks like he broke his fall with both his elbows and possibly his face, but he managed to get through the rest of the match just fine and I haven’t heard anything about an injury so it seems that he’s okay. That was the only rough spot in the match though and everything else looked REALLY solid with a lot of cool moves from both of them. Kazarian fends off Cole with a Leg Drop through the ropes before going for a Springboard Sunset Flip, but Cole rolls out and kicks him in the face before Grounding Kazarian with a headlock on the mat. Kazarian gets to do the Baby Face spot of slowly fighting out of the headlock before getting a surprise roll up on Cole that he transitions into a submission that Cole has to kick his way out of. From there it’s just great moves back and forth, a Neckbreaker from Cole, a German Suplex into a bridge from Kazarian, there’s even this one great spot where Kazarian is trying to put him in the Cross Face Chick Wing, but they are close to the post so Cole runs up and kicks off of it to knock Kazarian on his back and roll into a two count! It’s not as flashy as a true high flying match, but it finds a great balance between athleticism, technique, and strength that makes it feel really old school but with enough sizzle to not feel outdated. My favorite spot was probably when Cole lands a Super Kick and goes for a Panama Sunrise only for Kazarian to reverse it into an Alabama Slam which looked cool and made Kazarian look like the strongest dude on the planet for one shining moment there! Kazarian follows it up with a Springboard Leg Drop for a two count and they start trading blows back and forth. Kazarian gets the better of the exchange and goes for a Suplex, but Cole reverses it into an Ushigoroshi and gets a VERY close two count. Undeterred, Cole charges at Kazarian who tosses him onto the apron; throwing blows back and forth but neither one can land a hit until Kazarian goes for another Leg Drop through the ropes but Cole is ready for it this time and dodges it which leaves Frankie flat on his butt and he’s forced to roll away from the ropes. In doing so however, he gives Cole time to get to the top turnbuckle and he finally lands the Panama Sunrise followed by a Running Knee to get the pin and win the match! Cole proved himself in this to be a darn good wrestler which I’m sure most of the AEW audience didn’t need to be convinced of, but there are those in out there who needed something like this to really understand why everyone else is so excited for him, and honestly just as much credit goes to Kazarian who is always fantastic and will hopefully one day be TRULY recognized for it!

Cole gets the mic after the match and calls out Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Jungle Boy before confirming that at the Grand Slam episode of Rampage, he and the Young Bucks will face them in a Six Man Tag match! If it’s even half as good as the match here then I’m all for it, but with so much talent I’m sure it’ll be much better than that! Maybe even four fifths as good!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (09-10-2021)

September 13, 2021September 13, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

We’re back with even more AEW action, and I may be alone here but I’m glad that I’ll get to go a couple of days without ANY more wrestling! It has been a busy week with four shows and a PPV to cover, but I powered through it and finally got caught up on the latest episode of Rampage! Is it one last hurrah of great matches and fun promos before a very brief break, or is the final straw that broke the camel’s back? Let’s find out!!

Andrade El Idolo Vs. Pac

Andrade is accompanied to the ring by Chavo Guerrero Jr

The story of this match is kind of the story of Andrade’s run in AEW as both have had trouble getting off the ground and you start to wonder if something is going on that no one is telling us. Fortunately those fears have been put to bed as the match FINALLY happened and Andrade FINALLY reminded us why we wanted him to be at AEW in the first place! Andrade gets a pretty strong lead at the start, but unlike his other matches where he barely needed to try to win, Pac is one tough cookie (or I guess biscuit since he’s British) and it doesn’t take long for Pac to reverse his fortunes with a Hurricanrana that sends Andrade out of the ring followed by a Suicide Drive that wipes him out completely. Pac then starts whipping him into the railing a few times before rolling him into the ring and despite all the damage he’s taking, Andrade is similarly unwilling to break and is practically BEGGING Pac to hit him harder while only giving him a one count on his pin attempt. Andrade manages to escape the assault and lands a kick that sends Pac onto the apron which he follows up by flipping over the ropes and landing a DDT on Pac on the way down! If that wasn’t enough, he ALSO gets back in the ring and lands a Plancha onto the still dazed Pac on the floor below… and yet all this gets him is a one count when he finally rolls Pac into the ring. This is what Andrade needed more than anything else; not a bunch of tomato cans he can smugly tear apart, but a GENUINE challenger to bring out the best in him and remind us why it was such a shame that he was so underutilized in WWE! I wouldn’t say he’s going full Lucha here as it definitely feels like a big heavy brawl, but he does show off some impressive moves here like the aforementioned Plancha, a Springboard Moonsault, and this ridiculous move on the top rope that got the crowd to pop right before the commercial break! Andrade drags Pac to the top rope but of course it’s not as easy as he had hoped as Pac starts to fight back. In the chaos however, Pac almost falls off the corner but manages to hook his leg around the top rope so that he’s kind of dangling there and is trying to pull himself up. Andrade uses this precarious position to land a Double Stomp on Pac that sends him to the floor with Pac tumbling down only a moment later! Oh, but Pac gets his revenge not long after that as Andrade gets on the top rope with Pac on his shoulders and is planning to spin him around for an Avalanche Power Bomb… only for Pac to reposition himself during the spin and lands an Avalanche Hurricanrana! Both men are exhausted and take a minute to regroup before they start slugging it out again and Andrade is knocked through the ropes onto the apron. Pac flips over the ropes and grabs Andrade for a Canadian Destroyer, but Andrade has the ropes and won’t fall backwards onto the floor. Instead he manages to flip off the apron, but Pac hits him with a Pump Kick. Pac is once again going to the top rope but Andrade knocks him off and somehow he hooks his leg in the same way as he did before and is dangling upside down. Andrade goes for the stomp again, but Pac is ready for it this time and leans backwards so that Andrade whiffs the stomp and lands on the floor. Despite all these ridiculous moves back and forth there’s only ONE spot where it looks like someone took a bad bump and that’s right after the failed Stomp where Pac gets up on the turnbuckle and lands a Moonsault on Andrade who is still on the floor below and Pac just kinda keeps going after he lands which means the back of his head hits the railing. I haven’t heard anything about him being injured, but that must NOT have been fun to take; nor was it probably not fun to keep going with the match after that which STILL had like five more big moves before we got to the finish! A 450 Splash, a Handspring Pele Kick, A Snap German Suplex, a Belly to Belly Suplex RIGHT into the corner, all great stuff from these two but eventually it has to come to an end; for their own sakes if nothing else! Andrade catches Pac in a Springboard and has him in a Fireman’s Carry, but Pac SOMEHOW rolls off his back in such a way that he flips Andrade over into a pin! Andrade kicks out, but Pac immediately transitions to the Brutalizer which threatens to end this match in a submission. Andrade’s associate (the one with the glasses) tries to charge the ring with a stun gun, but The Lucha Bros run down and drag him out. In the confusion however, Chavo runs in and bashes Pac over the head with an iPad. By the time ref turns around, Andrade has Pac in a pin and counts it; giving Andrade the win to a chorus of boos from the crowd! What’s weird about this finish though is that Andrade seems to be confused as to what actually happened, and that’s odd because he was looking RIGHT IN CHAVO’S DIRECTION WHEN HE HIT PAC! What, was he in TOO MUCH PAIN to see what was going on right in front of him? In any case, when the guy in the glasses (his name is Jose apparently) tells him about the finish, Andrade gives Chavo a quick forearm to the jaw and leaves him for dead on the ramp. Chavo gets up and tries to argue with Andrade who’s already at the top, but The Lucha Bros come from behind and Superkick him; killing him for the SECOND time in the last few minutes! Then Fenix tosses Chavo in the ring and Pac locks in the Brutalizer which Andrade does not seem to mind and the refs eventually have to come in and break it up. Andrade didn’t win clean which was a BIT of a downer and frankly the explanation to kind of walk that back felt contrived at best, but DANG was this a fantastic match! There were so many big moves from the two of them and they worked together AMAZINGLY well in what was clearly meant to be a PPV quality match that for circumstances outside of their control they had to give away for free on TV! Andrade didn’t have the best start at AEW and honestly Pac’s return hasn’t been the most exciting thing in the world, but they brought the best out of each other here and gave us more than enough reason to feature them even more on the show!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (09-08-2021)

September 12, 2021September 12, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

We’re back once again… for the fourth time in a week… with more AEW action. Needless to say that after Dynamite, Dark, and All Out last week that I’m a little burned out on wrestling and had to drag myself to the computer to get this thing done. Still! The show must go on, and AEW is not about to slow down when they have this much momentum behind them! Can they capitalize on the success of All Out with a fantastic episode of Dynamite? Let’s find out!!

Dustin Rhodes Vs. Malakai Black

I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t hold this off for one more week to do a face to face interaction prior to the match as I’d love to hear what Dustin has to say about Blacks’ gimmick to his face, but this was still a pretty fun match. Dustin gets a strong lead early on and lands a GREAT German Suplex in the corner, but eventually the fight goes outside the ring and Dustin is cut off with a Back Suplex through the time keeper’s table. Black drags Dustin back in the ring and removes the turnbuckle pad before getting the heat for a while and a knee to the guy flips Dustin over for a two count. At some point (it looks to have been the Back Suplex spot), Dustin’s knee got injured and during the heat segment he falls over from the pain which Black found HIGHLY amusing, but Dustin grits his teeth and gets back up for some back and forth action before Dustin gets his momentum and again and hits some impressive moves. There was one weird spot during this segment though where Dustin throws Black into the ropes and expects him to bounce off. He doesn’t though as Black gripped the ropes but Dustin can’t seem to figure that out and straight-up does an invisible Power Slam in front of everyone. I can’t tell if that’s a botch and that Black was SUPPOSED to take it or if that’s what you should expect to happen if someone unexpectedly cuts on the breaks, but seeing him MIME the move kind of felt like one of those EXPOSING THE BUSINESS moments and it took me out of the match for a moment. Black tries to follow up this spot with a kick to the head, but Dustin dodges and THEN gets a proper Power Slam for a two count. Things go back in Black’s favor however when Dustin gets on the middle rope to bash him over the head in the corner only for Black to slip away and land a kick to the back of Dustin’s legs that sends him crashing to the mat. Instead of finishing Dustin off though, Black goes to the effort of pulling Cody’s boot out from under the ring in an attempt to anger Dustin… and I GUESS he got what he wanted because Dustin is SUPER heated now and starts to kick his butt; even landing a Canadian Destroyer for a two count! Not sure what the point of that was other than I guess to show us that Black underestimates his opponents, but regardless it’s time for him to finish this match once and for all. He’s in the corner with the exposed turnbuckle and Dustin goes for a Bulldog but Black fights him off and then trips him into the corner when he tries to come back for him. Dustin is dazed after taking that direct hit to the turnbuckle and he eats a Spinning Heel Kick as soon as he turns around which gets Black the pin and wins him the match. There were a few spots in here that felt a LITTLE bit sloppy and didn’t exactly make sense to me, but both of these guys are good workers and provide an interesting contrast to each other. I’d have liked to see this particular match on a bigger stage with a bigger build, but what we got here was still pretty fun!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (09-03-2021)

September 5, 2021September 5, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

It’s always fun trying to find time to watch everything on a PPV weekend, but I managed to do it and am eagerly anticipating how it all shakes out on the big show! Does AEW’s last show before All Out prove to be the last burst of energy they need to finish the build and kick up the hype for the PPV, or do they stumble at the one-yard line? Let’s find out!!

Malakai Black Vs. Lee Johnson

Black has been an unstoppable and terrifying force for the last few weeks, but at some point he was gonna have to fight more than a minute or two and Lee Johnson gets the honor of being in his longest match by far. Black starts off by mocking him and not taking Johnson seriously which is honestly a pretty fair assessment as Johnson looks ABSOLUTELY terrified, but Johnson’s got a lot of speed that Black isn’t expecting and this gives him SOMETHING of an opening to get a few shots in. He even lands a fury of punches and a Dropkick that sends Black out of the ring and follows up with a Suicide Dive, so Black is not invulnerable and even eats a Frog Splash from Johnson after getting thrown back into the ring. It’s all for naught however as Black just needs to land a few kicks to stop Johnson in his tracks and even gives Johnson a chair at one point to even the odds. Johnson is barely in enough shape to hold the darn thing, let alone use it, and Black finishes him off with a Roundhouse Kick to the face; knocking him out and getting the pin. It was fine as a match, but there was something missing in it to justify the length. Johnson got some offense in and Black sold for him, but there was never anything that made you think that this guy had a chance and so adding extra minutes to the match just felt like diminishing returns. Still, Black is great to watch with a theatricality to his performance that few can replicate, and Johnson got a bit of shine here as well so not a bad way to start the show.

Dustin comes out to attack Black, but Black once again ignores their next would be competitor and leaves them to stew in their own hatred. Dustin then cuts a promo backstage where he confirms that they will have a match on the next Dynamite and that while Black may come from a place of darkness, he THRIVES in Darkness! Has done so for five decades in fact, though I’d skip over the whole Seven thing, and honestly Black Reign can probably go as well. I’m certainly excited to see it as Dustin is ALWAYS great whenever he shows up, and I’m willing to bet that he’s gonna bleed like a pig for Black to really push his Heel credibility to the moon if he’s not there already!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (09-01-2021)

September 5, 2021September 4, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

It’s the last Dynamite before the All Out PPV and AEW is frantically trying to put all the pieces in place! Sure, they’ve got the in-ring return of CM Punk that’s gonna sell the show to a whole lot of people, but have they done a good enough job of building the card outside of their gigantic acquisition, or is this Go Home show just confirming that everything rests of CM Punk’s shoulders? Let’s find out!!

FTR Vs. Proud N Powerful

FTR is accompanied to the ring by Tully Blanchard

The last time these two teams met in the ring was kind of a disaster; not just because of the injury to Cash Wheeler’s arm that cut the match short, but even before that it was kind of a nothing match. Not a BAD match but one that didn’t live up to the hype of seeing two of the best tag teams working today lock it up in the ring. Thankfully they pull off a MUCH better match here with an engaging story being told throughout it. At first it starts off a bit slow and cautious, but eventually things start to pick up with Proud N Powerful in firm control of the match; so much so that I started to wonder if we were supposed to be cheering for FTR. I mean Dax Harwood IS pretty much fighting on his own as his recently injured partner stays on the apron, but eventually Cash DOES get the blind tag starts throwing the unaware Ortiz into the posts, and the team starts to get the heat. If that wasn’t enough to reconfirm their Heel status, Cash rips a turnbuckle pad off while Dax is working over Ortiz and they seem to be trying to injure Ortiz’s arm as retribution for what happened to Cash. It’s at this point that it hardly even feels like a wrestling match as no one is going for pins and are just trying to hurt one another, but eventually Ortiz gets the hot tag to Santana who hits the Three Amigos (three rolling Suplexes) and follows with a Frog Splash for a two count which was the first near fall of the night. The story then shifts to one of both teams trying to land their tandem finishers but narrowly missing the window or getting it reversed by the other team. Santana and Ortiz set up for something in the corner but Dax knocks Santana off the top turnbuckle and Cash lands a Gory Special for a two count. FTR get the Big Rig on Ortiz but Santana jumps on them to break up the pin. Back and forth the two teams go until Santana and Ortiz get a big combo and get the pin on Cash to win the match. I liked the story in this and the match was genuinely growing on me as it went along, so good on them for bringing some closure to this storyline, and hopefully they will have SAFE matches like this in the future. After all, there are three things you can always count on in life; death, taxes, and the unending nature of this feud between The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (08-27-2021)

September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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

We’re back with another episode of Rampage Against The Machine as The Elite are up facing some stiff competition at the PPV and this week and this episode is here to prove that to them as well as the viewing audience! Is this the perfect tee up for the big title matches at the PPV, or are we gonna need the next two shows to really get the hype machine going for All Out in September? Let’s find out!!

Jurassic Express Vs. The Lucha Bros

Jurassic Express is accompanied to the ring by Marko Stunt while Lucha Bros are accompanied by Alex Abrahantes

It’d almost be redundant to say that both of these teams had a FANTASTIC match here, but DANG was this match awesome! Jungle Boy and Rey start things off with some great athleticism between the two with this one Cazadora into an Arm Drag from Jungle Boy that looked like wizardry and this great spot from Rey which was ADMITTEDLY a bit convoluted, but still very cool to see! For whatever reason he’s walking the ropes in Jurassic Express’s corner which I’d think would be the LAST place you’d want to be, and sure enough Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus try to shove him off. Of course Rey Fenix, being a wizard himself, bounces off the ropes instead of tumbles over and is right side up again to land a kick and a flipping arm drag. Showing off a bit? Sure. Still awesome anyway? ABSOLUTELY! Jungle Boy tries to go for the Snare Trap to end things quickly but Fenix rolls out of it and both guys tag in their respective partners which gives us Luchasaurus Vs. Penta for a bit, and I don’t know how to phrase this exactly but Penta’s got a STRONG presence to him that’s both very hammy and EXTREMELY menacing. His slow walk followed by taking off his glove is over the top, but ALSO belies a confidence that his opponent can’t do anything to stop him, and even when they try they regret it immediately! Luchasaurus learns this first hand when he grabs his hand mid-ZERO MIEDO, and Penta just DESTROY his left leg with a series of kicks! Luchasaurus doesn’t take it for long though and goes for the throat which prompts Fenix to come in with a top rope kick that looks like something from a Jackie Chan movie and the whole thing descends into chaos as we go to commercial! Now I can’t go over everything here move by move so we’ll speed things up a bit, but that was only like four minutes of action and the rest of the match is at that level! We get a few big moves and some swift tags back and forth (including a Frog Splash from Fenix onto Luchasaurus, but the next big spot was a Jungle Boy tag that led to a BIG Lariat followed by a Poisonrana for a two count. Fenix kicks out but Jungle Boy then finally locks in the Snare Trap right in the middle of the ring which is bad news for Fenix. Penta runs in to break up the hold, but instead of just kinda jumping on them like wrestlers usually do, Penta hauls back and gives Jungle Boy a freaking GOALIE KICK right into the skull! Now I watched it again and Penta DOES slap the leg so that terrifying CRUNCHING sound was NOT due to direct contact, but I still couldn’t tell you if he ACTUALLY kicked him or not and I wouldn’t think a swift kick to the temple is in Jungle Boy’s best interest. In any case, Fenix tags in Penta who starts tearing Jungle Boy apart, and the Bros go for Fear Factor but Jungle Boy escapes and tosses Penta out of the ring. Jungle Boy is now on the top turnbuckle with Luchasaurus holding Penta on the floor below… but in comes Fenix who rope walks his way to the corner and gives Jungle Boy a Top Rope Hurricanrana THAT SENDS HIM TO THE FLOOR! Thankfully, Luchasaurus, Penta, and even Marko Stunt were there to save him from landing right on his head, and Penta drags him to the ring and gets a two count. After all that we’re finally heading into the finish as Luchasaurus tags in but immediately eats a Hurricanrana which is enough to keep him down for quite a bit while which gives Lucha Bros time to finish off Jungle Boy with a Canadian Destroyer on the apron. Luchasaurus is all alone now and eats a bunch of Superkicks from both guys and do some sort of… I guess half a Canadian Destroyer which led to a pin where BOTH guys were on Luchasaurus. Not sure why the ref even bothered counting because there is NO way that was a legal pin! Luchasaurus kicks out, but The Lucha Bros follows up with an Assisted Pile Driver and that’s finally enough to keep him down for the three count. Lucha Bros win the match and will face The Young Bucks at the PPV! Speaking of whom, the Bucks run in to try and beat on the Lucha Bros, but Jurassic Express chase them off; showing mutual respect for their opponents who they just had a PHENOMENAL match with! I had my concerns about a spot here and there, but there’s no doubt that this was a show stopping match that made everyone look like super stars and is exactly what AEW needed to sell us on the title match at the PPV! Remember, this tournament was announced TWO WEEKS AGO which back then felt like WAY too little time to try and start building a story, but in three matches these four teams have done a fantastic job of making the PPV match feel important and like a genuine highlight to look forward to! I doubt the Lucha Bros are gonna win as they have that thing with Andrade to focus on while The Elite should probably stay as the top heel faction for a while, but whatever happens at the PPV there’s no doubt that it’s got more momentum behind it than anyone could have hoped for!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (08-20-2021) – The First Dance

August 21, 2021August 21, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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!!

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!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Dynamite (08-18-2021)

August 20, 2021August 20, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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…

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!

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Super Wrestling: AEW Rampage (08-13-2021)

August 15, 2021August 15, 2021 ~ Matt Vetrano ~ Leave a comment

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!!

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.

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