Dynamite – March 10, 2021: I Would And I Wouldn’t
Dynamite
Date: March 10, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross
We’re done with Revolution and now the question becomes how they handle the bad ending. The logical solution would be to laugh it off and move on but I have a bad feeling they are going to try to turn it into a storyline. What they tried didn’t work and it seems like it would be a better idea to just accept it and move on, but that doesn’t seem like the AEW way. Let’s get to it.
Here is Revolution if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Matt Jackson vs. Rey Fenix
Nick Jackson is here with Matt. They trade the arm work to start as the fans are split early on. Matt takes him down but gets flipped away into a standoff. Fenix gets in a toss to the floor for the dive, followed by a springboard armdrag to take Matt down again. That means the big running flip dive to the floor and then it’s a chinlock with a bodyscissors to Matt back inside. That’s broken up and Matt throws him outside in a crash for a change.
Back in and the reverse chinlock with a knee in Fenix’s back doesn’t last long as he is back up with the chops. A faceplant gives Matt two and he rolls over into the Sharpshooter. That sends Fenix over to the rope for the break and he hits the steps up kick to the head in the corner. There’s the missile dropkick to take Matt down again and a rolling cutter makes it even worse.
Fenix grabs his modified spinning torture rack ‘before dropping Matt down. Back up and Matt hits a running kick to send Fenix outside, where Pac appears to give him some encouragement. Matt’s top rope elbow gets two and the Sharpshooter goes on for a bit longer this time.
Fenix grabs the rope again though and misses a running kick, knocking Nick down instead. Matt goes outside to superkick Pac away from Nick, flips out of a belly to back suplex, and hits two superkicks. That earns Matt a kick from Fenix and they’re both down again. They pull each other up and Fenix wins the slugout to set up the Black Fire Driver for the pin at 12:04.
Rating: B-. It’s always weird watching the Bucks having a singles match but it worked out rather well here. You can probably pencil in Nick vs. Pac for later as they continue building towards the Tag Team Title match, which should be a heck of a showdown. Good stuff here, with the flips looking pretty nice.
Here’s what’s coming later tonight.
Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley are having some drinks with some fire in front of them. Eddie talks about covering his friend when he had this much anxiety and it reminded him of being in jail. Everything went black then and it happened again on Sunday. They talk about how much of a mess the bomb was and think it was from ACME. Impact Wrestling must have paid for the thing. Moxley had an exploding ring match and all he got was this shirt. Yeah it’s a cool shirt but he also got a drinking buddy back. Moxley says if Omega is going to flash a weapon, he better use it. Now please let that be the end of the explanations.
Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Gargis
Before the match, Cody gives his weight belt to a fan in a wheelchair (that’s great). Cody shrugs off Gargis and finishes with the Figure Four in 48 seconds.
Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring to interview Cody but Penta El Zero M interrupts, saying (through a translator) that he’s a thousand times better than Cody. If Cody is the Price of Pro Wrestling, then Penta is the Lord of Lucha Libre. Penta says Cody Cody should be lucky that his arm isn’t hurt so badly he can’t pick up his newborn girl. That’s enough to get Cody out into the crowd for the brawl but it’s broken up in a hurry.
Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy are at an arcade and say that they have been at this with Miro and Kip Sabian far too long (yep). But they want one more match to end it all. If they lose, Taylor will be Miro’s butler forever. We’ll make it interesting though, and put a bunch of video games around ringside.
Here’s Sting to praise Darby Allin for their win on Sunday, but Lance Archer and Jake Roberts interrupt. Archer talks about how he was going to be the face of the revolution without getting in a ladder match. If AEW doesn’t give him the time, he’ll take something much worse. The two of them leave and Sting is done in a hurry.
QT Marshall got a little too emotional on Sunday but tonight is about Lee Johnson. Their mics are cut off before the end of their promo (there have been some audio issues throughout the show).
Ethan Page vs. Lee Johnson
Page gets an inset promo and (rather quietly) talks about wanting the spotlight. Feeling out process to start with Page taking him down with ease as some other audio (sounds like a basketball game) keeps coming through and drowning out commentary. Page drops him again and we take a break.
Back with Page working on the ribs as the basketball audio is leaking through even worse than before. Johnson hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two but gets taken down off the top as we hear Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Johnson comes up favoring his knee so Page kicks him in the face. That’s enough to send Johnson to the floor so Page throws him back inside for the Ego’s Edge (toss Razor’s Edge) for the pin at 7:48.
Rating: C. The bad week for AEW production continues, even though this is a TNT problem. Page’s win was completely overshadowed here and that’s a shame because he looked fine enough. Page isn’t going to be a top star but he’s a good hand, which is always going to have a place in wrestling.
Post match the beating stays on with QT Marshall not helping Johnson. Dustin Rhodes comes in for the save and the audio is fixed.
Hangman Page has bought a new saddle, Dwight Yoakam on vinyl, donated a bunch of money to the Jacksonville Public Education fund, and bought a big lawnmower. The Dark Order gets on to get ice cream, but 10 has to wait because of the weight limit.
Tony Schiavone is ready to introduce Christian Cage but gets interrupted by Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Good Brothers. Things have been going great for Omega, who is now the King of the Deathmatch. There was that little thing on Sunday but they will neither confirm nor deny any influence on the explosion. What Callis and company will take credit for is taking away Jon Moxley’s win from Tony Khan.
Either way, it was a win win situation, because either the ring blew up and they left with the title or they left with the title anyway. Cue Eddie Kingston, with Callis saying he has seen Kingston’s talent for a long time now. That’s why he had Kingston in Impact Wrestling, but as usual he screwed it up again. Callis gives him ten seconds to get out of the ring so we get a countdown, with Callis and Omega freaking out about the clock. Omega: “I HAD FLASHBACKS TO THE TIME I HAD DETENTION IN GRADE SCHOOL!”
Omega tells Kingston to take his shot and see what happens, so Eddie decks him with a right hand. The beatdown is on so it’s Jon Moxley and then Christian Cage for the save, though Christian comes out after Omega is left alone in the ring. They go toe to toe and Omega swings, meaning Callis has to save him from the Unprettier. Christian picks up the World Title and Omega panics while leaving. I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to charge fans $50 to see something, have it screw up, and then laugh at people for thinking they would see it. AEW doesn’t have that reputation and it isn’t one they want to develop.
Britt Baker/Hikaru Shida/Nyla Rose vs. Maki Itoh/Thunder Rosa/Ryo Mizunami
Itoh does her song, even as everyone gets in a fight before the bell. She sings anyway and then hits Shida in the head with the microphone to get going. They get inside with Itoh missing a headbutt so Shida can hammer away, meaning it’s off to Ryo for more chopping. Rosa comes in to hammer on Rose but a Rebel distraction lets Rose take over.
We come back from a break with Shida suplexing Ryo into Baker in the corner for two. With everyone else on the floor, Rosa hits a big dive off the top for the huge knockdown. Back in and Itoh’s tornado DDT gets two on Rosa but Rebel’s crutch shot is broken up. Instead Rosa spikes Itoh on her head for the pin at 7:55.
Rating: C. This was a wild match though it was more silly than anything else at times. That isn’t the worst idea and the fans do seem to like Itoh’s deal so fair enough. I’m not sure where the division is going from here but at least they are bringing in someone who is going to get your attention one way or another.
Post match Rosa gets beaten down, including the Lockjaw and a crutch to the head.
Matt Hardy is upset over losing his first quarter money but he has some new signings: Butcher, Blade and Bunny. They’ll be teaming with Private Party this Monday on Dark: Elevation.
TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky
Sky is challenging after winning the ladder match at Revolution. They fight over a wristlock to start until Allin takes him down for some rollups. Sky has to bail into the corner and looks a little surprised by what just happened. Both of them try waistlocks to little avail and we take a break.
Back with Allin fighting out of an abdominal stretch and grabbing a Code Red for two. Sky rolls some German suplexes, including one to send Allin hard into the corner. Sky is sent outside so Allin tries a suicide dive, only to have Sky counter it into a cutter. Back in and the Coffin Drop is countered into a powerbomb but the TKO is countered into a small package to retain Allin’s title at 13:16.
Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and that should not be surprising in the slightest. Both of them are great at what they do and while I’m not wild on Sky losing his title shot so quickly but there is no reason to take the title off of Allin at this point either. Good match here, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Post match Allin goes to help Sky up but gets pulled into a heel hook. Referees break it up but Sky is very pleased.
Here’s what’s coming next week on St. Patrick’s Slam.
Here’s the Inner Circle for their War Council. Chris Jericho talks about how many problems the team has been having lately and it is time to start changing things a little bit. Maybe that even means adding a new member. MJF doesn’t think that’s the best idea but here is Sammy Guevara to interrupt. Sammy needs Jericho to see something and we see him set up a hidden camera, which films MJF talking to the rest of the team about getting rid of Jericho. Back in the arena, MJF says get him. Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager turn to face Jericho….and then they all turn at MJF.
Jericho says they all knew this was coming because they talk to each other every day. MJF is shoved down and Jericho fires him before threatening a beatdown. He swears he wasn’t taking over Jericho’s Inner Circle….because he was too busy building his own. The lights go out and it’s Wardlow….with FTR, Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard.
The beatdown is on, including spike piledrivers and handcuffs. MJF busts Jericho open with the Dynamite Diamond and some shots with Floyd the baseball bat leave him laying. Wardlow powerbombs Jericho off the stage and onto a crash pad to end the show. I like the end results, but another stable? They really needed one more?
Overall Rating: B. The wrestling mainly carries this one but the more important part is how many new things got started tonight. In addition to the big ending segment, you also have Cage vs. Omega, Sting vs. Archer/Roberts and Cody vs. Penta. I could go for a lot of that, but more importantly, I hope I can go for the end of the explanations of the ending of Revolution. Either way, good stuff here and I like their momentum coming out of Revolution.
Results
Rey Fenix b. Matt Jackson – Black Fire Driver
Cody Rhodes b. Seth Gargis – Figure Four
Ethan Page b. Lee Johnson – Ego’s Edge
Thunder Rosa/Hikaru Shida/Ryo Mizunami b. Britt Baker/Maki Itoh/Nyla Rose – Reverse Air Raid Crash to Itoh
Darby Allin b. Scorpio Sky – Small package
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6
AND
Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.
I would say to the stable thing that the leader and direction are the main thing in determining if it’s needed. Inner Circle and MJFs crew are ones where the leaders are insanely charismatic and can get people over just by being in the same room with them, and they also have an end game for them, at least with each other. After the angle, then I guess I’ll reevaluate the need to keep them together. Dark Order was highly considered one of the lamest things going in wrestling, but two things started happening that dragged them from the depths of irrelevance: instead of just two guys who had minions and being called childish insults by best Friends, they started running packages, showing the cult-like nature and that gave people a reason to wanna see them. And 2, and this hurts a lot but it also makes me happy, was Mr. Brodie Lee. He turned a group of jobbers into a very talented group of athletes. Death Triangle is fun cause I like watching people taking turns kicking other people in the face really hard. So I think if they have a direction, or end game, or someone that makes people care as the leader (looking at you Matt Hardy), then I like having the stables.
Well I’m here reading the results. That’s something I guess
While AEW does have a lot of stables. This does make sense from a meta standpoint (MJF is old school and so is FTR so stylistically they mesh). Additionally I’m far happier that AEW have loads of stables because it shows that wrestlers actually have friends and people who save them when beatdowns happen as opposed to WWE where people getting saved is completely inconsistent.
The stables make sense honestly it was annoying at first but then I thought of something:
The wrestling business is all about survival, and to survive in a company where there are near 100 contracted talents with only one show, you need to be involved with a group because if that groups leader starts to really come on, the entire group is now in the spotlight. Look at Dark Order as the prime example. It’s not like New Japan where there’s 15 people in a group where no one interacts with each other.
So, did MJF know the IC would stay with Jericho? Because if they all just beat down Jericho and Sami, what would FTR etc do?
I can see MJF having all of his bases covered. Also, it wouldn’t shock me to see him wanting the big super stable because he has to have the best of everything.
Yeah that makes sense I guess.
Either way, good segment and probably better than the anticipated “IC boots out Jericho” outcome. I could see a Babyface IC being very very good.
It was a good segment. I hope JR sounds better because he didn’t seem to have any urgency during the whole segment and it felt like a monotone for me atleast. The rest was executed very well.
Think this leads to the blood and guts match that was meant to go down last year?
Yeah..now would be a good time to run that match
St. Patrick’s Day is also my birthday, so St. Patrick’s Slam will be really special for me
Moxley should not have been on this show. I get the ending was stupid but can wrestling these days make anything matter or hurt? Hmm, lost a DEATH match, drinking a beer and pointing out the phony ending on the next show. Great. Moxley couldn’t have been gone for like at least a week?
AEW can’t help themselves sometimes.
MJF as a face? The guy is a great heel, this wasn’t needed. Guarantee it was because everyone expected MJF to takeover so they just had to change it. Swerve bro.
Disillusioned with AEW. Too much circlejer…well you know, going on. Feels like inmates running the asylum.
MJF is the heel in this
So the entire Inner Circle turned face? I’m confused lol.
MJF had a plan to turn them on Jericho. Sammy came back to out him, and MJF was revealed as a snake trying to takeover. But before they were about to get revenge, they were sneak attacked by FTR, Shawn Spears and Wardlow, along with Tully, essentially starting the Horsemen like stable that we knew was coming. MJFs crewattacked them brutally and Wardlow threw Jericho off the stage. Make sense? Im still trying to figure it out really
Oh I see…so everyone is still a heel. Very odd.
MJF looks like a Disney villain and I love it
Also, two things: it was 5 who was left behind in the lawn mower bit
And you called Revolution takeover at the end there
So stupid they’re trying to blame the botched ending on omega.
Yeah, just move on and try not to make things even worse
Quicker the bomb jokes end, the better off we’ll be. I’m about to watch the show (don’t judge my reading of reviews before I watch, it’s 9 PM and I need to know if it’s worth staying up) and it looks great.
KB, does your head hurt as bad as mine thinking about the possibility (and with my luck inevitability) that Miro might lose to Chuck Taylor? Trent I could see. Orange is pushing it but I could deal. But poor Miro. Hopefully Kip does the job, as another sleazy promo will keep him… Well, lower midcard comedy heel but you get my point. Miro will need to beat a herd of rhinos to get credibility back if he takes it though, especially Chuck.
Also, does this ending angle mean blood and guts is coming? Perhaps a certain ppv in May? My math sees 5 on 5, and inner circle is popular enough that either they had to get rid of MJF or Jericho would have to leave, so good call on that.
Chuck Taylor doing anything makes my head hurt.
That would certainly seem to be the likely goal yes.
Would be the perfect teams for it imo