Revolution 2021
Date: March 7, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross

There is something rather pleasing about having another AEW pay per view. The company has such a great track record with these things and it should be awesome to see what they can do again. The main event is an exploding barbed wire deathmatch because….I have no idea why but it is certainly going to get them some attention. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Britt Baker/Rebel vs. Riho/Thunder Rosa

Hold on though as Rebel has been attacked (she’s on crutches so it must be true) so we have a replacement.

Pre-Show: Britt Baker/Maki Itoh vs. Riho/Thunder Rosa

Itoh sings her own entrance song rather loudly. Riho takes Baker down by the arm to start so it’s quickly off to the rope. Some dropkicks rock Baker and there’s a headscissors to put Baker down again. Rosa comes in to armbar Itoh down and it’s switched into a crossface. With that broken up, Rosa wins an exchange of forearms and Itoh starts to cry. A stomp to Rosa’s boot just makes her shoulder Itoh down and she drops Itoh face first onto the turnbuckle.

Riho comes in and gets dropped down onto Itoh for two of her own. Back up and they slug it out until Baker pulls Riho to the floor, where Rebel is suddenly fine enough to send her into the steps. Itoh misses a falling headbutt back inside so it’s back to Baker to stomp away. A missed charge allows the tag off to Rosa so house can be cleaned. The running backsplash gets two on Baker but a Sling Blade drops Rosa.

Now Itoh’s falling headbutt gets two but Rosa is right back with a Stunner. Itoh hits a tornado DDT for two so she goes up top, only to miss the falling headbutt. Riho comes back in and charges into a half crab from Itoh, meaning a rope has to be grabbed. Another headbutt is blocked with a shot to the head and it’s quickly back to Rosa vs. Baker for the exchange of rollups. Baker runs into Rebel by mistake and walks into the Death Valley Driver with Itoh making the save. Rebel gets in a crutch shot to Rosa to give Baker the pin at 14:52.

Rating: C+. It was certainly energetic and fast paced and it was quite nice to see Baker get the win. The Rebel swap was fine as Itoh certainly has a lot of charisma, though I’m not sure how long she is going to be around here. If it is a one off appearance then great, but I’d hope it isn’t someone else in the way of Baker getting her overdue Women’s Title.

The opening video looks at the big matches.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho/MJF

The Bucks are defending and jump Jericho and MJF to start and hammer them out to the floor. Jericho and MJF send them together but stop to brag a bit, allowing the Bucks to take them down with stereo dives. The Bucks grab stereo Sharpshooters until the ropes are grabbed so Nick heads up top. This time Jericho is ready for it and hits the triangle dropkick to send him outside to take over.

Back in and a flapjack lets Jericho and MJF mock the Bucks’ pose. Nick flips over and slides between the legs to make the hot tag to Matt. The house cleaning doesn’t even get past the first room as MJF takes him down and gets in a Fargo Strut. Jericho hits a suplex as JR’s voice sounds like it is about to go out. A double suplex gets two on Matt and we hit the chinlock. Matt fights up but gets sent back into the corner, where he comes out with a double DDT.

It’s back to Nick to pick the pace way up, including the slingshot Canadian Destroyer for two on MJF. Everything breaks down with Matt hammering away at Jericho, who reverses into the Walls. That’s broken up so the Meltzer Driver is loaded up, only to have Jericho reverse into a Tombstone. Now the Walls can go on in full until Jericho stops to drag it back to the middle, allowing Matt to slip out. A missed charge in the corner crotches Jericho so MJF comes back in to counter a hurricanrana into a sitout powerbomb for two.

MJF gets rather cocky so Matt scoops him up for the Meltzer Driver, only to have Jericho hit the Codebreaker on Nick for the save. A Floyd the baseball bat sets up the Heatseeker for two on Matt and MJF is stunned. It’s back to Nick so the Bucks can hit stereo high crossbodies for two each. Jericho’s Judas Effect hits Wardlow by mistake but the Lionsault is superkicked out of the air. The BTE Trigger gets two as MJF makes the save, earning himself a trip to the floor. The Meltzer Driver finishes Jericho at 17:50.

Rating: B-. They did a nice job of making me buy into the drama off the Heatseeker so they had to be doing something right. There wasn’t much of a reason to believe new champions were coming here but they did a nice enough job of changing my mind throughout. Good opener, though it went on a little longer than it should have.

Post match we run down the card, with JR apologizing for how bad his voice sounds (fair enough as he sounds horrible).

Casino Battle Royale

It’s a tag team Royal Rumble with 15 teams announced coming in. There are ninety second intervals and both members have to be eliminated, with the winners becoming #1 contenders. At least they have the casino game to validate the gambling theme this time. The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes/QT Marshall) are in at #1 and the Dark Order (5/10) are in at #2 and the brawling is on in a hurry. Dustin snaps off the powerslam on 5 but Marshall is caught in a fall away slam/running dropkick combination. A double bulldog takes the Order down and it’s Santana/Ortiz in at #3.

House is cleaned but the Order knocks them both down. Marshall tosses 5 for the first elimination and has to hang on when 10 tries to toss him out as well. The Sydal Brothers are in at #4 and we get everyone brawling again with no one being tossed. The ring is getting a little full and the Dark Order (Evil Uno/Stu Grayson) are in at #5 to make it even more crowded. Everyone in the Dark Order teams up on Santana for a toss powerbomb and 10 adds a spinebuster. Mike Sydal was tossed in there somewhere so things are a little less full. The Gunn Club (Austin/Colton) are in at #6 and get to clean house for a bit.

The Quick Draw takes Santana down and Matt Sydal is out for the first full team elimination. Peter Avalon/Cezar Bononi are in at #7 and get in their own share of house cleaning. With no more eliminations, the Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison) are in at #8. The Gunn Club starts taking over with Peter Avalon being tossed. Bononi is in trouble but Marshall dumps both of them (despite them being part of the Nightmare Family). Dustin yells at him but Marshall eliminates himself and walks out as Bear Country (Bronson/Boulder, who I’ve never actually seen in the ring before) are in at #9.

A big boot to Grayson is enough for the Bears to toss him and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus) is in at #10. Jungle Boy clotheslines Ortiz out and Luchasaurus does the same to Bononi to get rid of another team. There go Garrison, Santana and Evil Uno all at the Express’ hands and Butcher and the Blade are in at #11. The rest of the Dark Order is out thanks to interference from Jack Evans, leaving us with Dustin, Bear Country, the Jurassic Express and Butcher and Blade. Bunny gets involved and pulls Dustin out to get us down to six at the moment.

Private Party (Marq Quen/Isaiah Kassidy) are in at #12 to make it eight people at once and more brawling ensues. Stunt saves Pillman from being tossed it’s SCU (Christopher Daniels/Kazarian) in at #13. Luchasaurus breaks up their house cleaning but Bear Country tosses him out. Butcher dumps both Bears thanks to a Bunny distraction, only to have the two of them pull Butcher underneath the ropes to beat the heck out of him.

Rey Fenix and Pac are in at #14 to wreck a bunch of people and toss Quen and Blade. The brawling continues until the Dark Order (John Silver/Alex Reynolds are in at #15 to complete the field. Some rapid fire eliminations leave us with Fenix, Pac, Silver and Boy, leaving us with three teams over four entrants. Silver is almost tossed but manages to hang on with one hand and Fenix has to do the same. Pac and Silver slug it out with Silver kicking him up against the ropes but missing a charge into the snap German suplex.

Pac tosses Silver to the apron and Fenix walks the rope to kick him in the head for the elimination. Boy can barely get up but he manages to duck Pac’s kick to the head and low bridge him to the floor. That leaves Fenix vs. Boy in the staredown with Boy being knocked through the ropes to the floor in a hurry. Fenix hits a heck of a flip dive but Boy is right back with a clothesline back inside. There’s the poisonrana but Fenix kicks him in the head and tosses him out for the win at 26:47.

Rating: C+. I’m never sure how to rate these but they kept things moving quickly enough to keep it from being boring. That’s the key to something like this as while the ring got too full more than once, it was cleared out in a hurry near the end, which is what matters most. Fenix and Pac winning is the right call and it’s rather impressive that they are such a good team despite being thrown together. Good enough stuff here and the right team won.

Paul Wight says the big signing is here and gives us a hint: no one can out work him.

Diamond Dallas Page and Al Snow are here.

We recap Ryo Mizunami vs. Hikaru Shida for the Women’s Title. Mizunami was ready to retire until she showed up at Double Or Nothing and it revitalized her career. She won the #1 contenders tournament and is ready to go for the title.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

Shida is defending and gets knocked into the corner early on. The chops have Shida in trouble but she sends Ryo face first into the buckle and hits her own chops. Ryo chops away even more until Shida sends her into the corner for a running knee. Another running knee gets two but Ryo counters the running knee off the chair into a powerbomb over the barricade.

Back in and Ryo hammers away until Shida gets in a kick to the face out of the corner. The missile dropkick gets two on Ryo so Shida takes her to the ramp for a sunset driver. Shida smiles a lot and takes her back inside for two off a suplex. They strike it out until Ryo nails a few clotheslines to take over. Shida hits some running knees to the face but can’t cover. They grab hands and get up for another slugout until Ryo hits a Rock Bottom.

The guillotine legdrop gets two so Shida snaps off a straitjacket suplex, with Ryo popping back up for a screaming clothesline. Another running knee sets up the Falcon Arrow for two on Ryo and a poke to the eye sets up a small package for the same. The running knee connects but Ryo reverses into a rollup for two more. Shida hits an enziguri for two more and she tries another Falcon Arrow…which looked to be countered into a DDT but seemed to be swung into a Rock Bottom to plant Rio instead. Another running knee gets two on Ryo, followed by another knee to retain the title at 15:46.

Rating: C-. I’m so sick of Shida with her 917 running knees offense mixed in with some Falcon Arrows to spice it up a bit. She has been champion for almost ten months now and it feels like she has had the same match throughout her reign. I didn’t get into this for the most part as a good bit of the work was sloppy and the abundance of knees had me begging for the thing to be over. Shida needs to drop the title almost immediately and the sooner it is to Baker, the better.

Post match Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Rebel run in to jump Shida and Ryo but Thunder Rosa makes the save, likely setting up a six woman on Dynamite.

Miro and Kip Sabian jump Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in the back but demand the music be played anyway. Taylor is busted open thanks to going into some glass and is dragged to the ring as Miro calls him Charles over and over. Miro offers him the chance to let it stop but Taylor says ring the bell.

Miro/Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy

There is no Cassidy and Taylor is clotheslined down in a hurry. Miro rubs Taylor’s blood on his chest and Sabian is in with a missile dropkick. Chuck is sent into the corner for a boot to the face and another dropkick from Sabian makes it worse. Taylor gets in a shot to the face as Cassidy staggers to the ring. Well part of the way as he falls down on the stage on the way there.

Cassidy pops up to Orange Punch Miro and Taylor knocks Sabian down, allowing Cassidy to get the hot tag. Everything breaks down with Cassidy hitting a dive onto Sabian but getting caught in a fireman’s carry gutbuster. The Deathly Hallows is broken up and Taylor tags himself in for a Beach Break/double stomp combination. A piledriver gets two on Sabian with Miro having to make a save.

Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets for the slow motion kicks to Miro (of course), who kicks him down (as you should). Cassidy is back with the Stundog Millionaire but is driven into Penelope Ford to knock her to the floor. Miro kicks Cassidy in the head and throws Sabian back inside so Miro can make the tag. The jumping kick to the face sets up Game Over to finish Taylor at 7:54.

Rating: D+. Now can we please move them both on to ANYTHING else? Miro getting the win makes sense, but I hope this isn’t setting up some Miro vs. Cassidy showdown. The match needed to be this short after everything else has felt long and thankfully they didn’t do anything stupid here like giving Cassidy a fluke pin. They need to move on though if they want to make Miro into something important as it isn’t happening against Taylor and Cassidy.

MJF and Chris Jericho aren’t happy with their loss so on Wednesday it is the Inner Circle War Council, when changes are coming. MJF seems to suggest that Jericho may be in trouble.

We recap Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Page. Hardy wants to be Page’s manager/agent but Page tricked him into signing a contract where the winner gets the loser’s income for the first three months of the year. I’ve heard far worse ideas.

Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Page

Private Party is here with Hardy. Page ducks a right hand and hammers away in the corner as commentary talks about how Hardy has been wrestling almost as long as Page has been alive. There’s a fall away slam to Matt and they head outside with Page hitting an ax handle off part of the stage. Back in and Matt bails straight to the floor again, where he sends Page’s arm into the post.

The hand is wrapped around the post and sent into the steps with commentary wisely pointing out that it’s the Buckshot Lariat arm. Back in and Hardy bites the finger before bending the fingers back again. Page fights up and uses the right hand without thinking, which makes it even worse. The springboard clothesline puts Hardy down but the bad arm keeps Page down too. Hardy grabs a Twist of Fate on the floor and Page has to beat the count at nine.

Back in and Hardy German suplexes him off the top for two but Page is back up with a shot to the face. A clothesline puts them both on the floor as the fans are VERY into Hardy. Page is up first with a moonsault to take Hardy down again, followed by a sliding clothesline back inside. Deadeye is broken up and Hardy takes him down with a neckbreaker. Hardy catches him on top with a Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two more but the Twist of Fate is countered into the Deadeye.

That draws up Private Party for the distraction with Page having to get rid of both of them. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into the Side Effect (that looked good) and the Twist of Fate gets two (with commentary spoiling the kickout by shouting about how Matt is going to do it). Cue the Dark Order (all six members of them, which is not evening the odds as Excalibur calls it) to take care of Private Party, allowing Page to hit the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 14:57.

Rating: C+. This was a better match than I would have bet on, though the fans at ringside screaming for Hardy every two seconds were rather pesky. They went with the only result they could have chosen so at least nothing went too far here. Page with the Dark Order intrigues me, but I’d rather they keep it this way instead of him joining in full.

Post match Dark Order and Page celebrate with some beer.

Video on the Face Of The Revolution ladder match for a TNT Title shot on Wednesday and with a mystery entrant.

Max Castor vs. Lance Archer vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Penta El Cero Miedo vs. Scorpio Sky vs. ???

Ladder match and the mystery entrant is…Ethan Page. Eh works for me. It’s a brawl to start with various people being knocked outside. Archer grabs a ladder to hit Cody in the bad shoulder and hit Sky and Castor in the head. Penta kicks Archer down and hits the Sling Blade but gets caught with by Sky’s German suplex. Castor comes in to clear the ring but here is Jack Evans with the boom box, only to have Dark Order’s 10 run out to take care of him (because a six man ladder match needs another story going on).

The ladder is set up and Page kicks Cody down to get rid of him. Castor starts hitting everyone with the boom box, including a few shots to Cody’s bad shoulder. Penta uses the ladder for a ramp to flip dive onto Cody and Castor. Archer dropkicks Penta to the floor but Page is back in to tie Archer up in the ladder. Page can’t hit a tilt-a-whirl side slam on Sky so he settles for Splash Mountain to drop Sky onto the ladder onto Archer.

Said ladder is bridged between the ring and the barricade so let’s bring in another one. Cody has to springboard in with a dropkick to knock Penta off the ladder but Penta is right back up with the Canadian Destroyer to drive Cody into the bridged ladder. That’s enough for Cody to be taken to the back (or at least to the entrance of the tunnel) as Sky pulls Castor off the ladder. Castor and Sky are up at the same time but Archer and Page join them. Everyone gets knocked off with Penta being up first for some kicking.

Sky pulls Penta down for the big crash, leaving Page and Castor to slug it out on the ladders again. Castor hits a huge sunset bomb to bring him down but Sky puts Castor onto the ladder in a crash. The frog splash crushes Castor onto the ladder and everyone is down again. Archer catapults Sky onto the ladder but then has to pull him back down. A jumping knee knocks Sky off the apron and through another ladder at ringside to put him way down.

Penta is back up to clean house but here’s Cody to whip a bunch of people with the belt. Archer suplexes Cody onto the bad arm and Castor adds an elbow drop off of the ladder to keep Cody down. Archer shoves the ladder over to take out Penta and Castor, followed by a string of chokeslams. The Black Out onto the ladder knocks Castor silly but Page powerbombs Archer off of the ladder.

That brings Jake Roberts in for a clothesline to Page but Penta kicks Roberts down. Cody is back up with the Cody….uh, slap to the face this time, to bring Penta off the ladder. Penta is right back up to take Cody off of the ladder but Sky cleans house with a chair. Cody and Sky slug it out on top of the ladder, with Sky being smart enough to pull on the bad arm. Cody gets knocked down and Sky wins at 23:16.

Rating: B. This was the spot fest that it needed to be and I’m rather pleased with Sky winning. Not just because I picked him to win, but also because he is the kind of smooth wrestler who can have a good match against anyone. Now they need to actually do something with him, because it feels like the kind of spot we have been in with him more than once before.

It’s time for the big signing and….yeah it’s Christian Cage. Cool moment as he was just in the Rumble, but dang I wanted to see Edge and Christian vs. the Usos. Christian signs without saying or doing anything else.

We recap Sting/Darby Allin vs. Team Taz. Allin has been getting on Team Taz’s nerves so they beat him up multiple times. Then Sting showed up to even the odds, meaning it’s cinematic match time.

Team Taz vs. Darby Allin/Sting

We go cinematic in a warehouse, with Allin hitching a ride on the back of a truck ala Back to the Future. Sting and Allin have an army of people in face paint to accompany them and we’re actually in a ring. Allin gets thrown over the top so he bounces off of a wall and back into the ring (Tony: “LIKE SPIDER!”) to drop Cage. They’re out of the ring in a hurry with Cage powerbombing one of the masked men against the apron. Cage drags Allin away from the ring as Sting hits the Stinger Splash on Starks.

A big camera zoom takes us across the building to Allin slipping out of a powerbomb attempt. Cage throws him through some doors as another Stinger Splash hits Starks. They leave the ring too with Sting grabbing the bat to chase Starks away. Starks says Sting is nothing without the bat so Sting throws it down and beats on Starks without it. We go back to Cage picking up Allin for a suplex and walking him up a flight of stairs (because he can just do that).

Back to Starks beating up Sting and throwing a barrel at his knees. Cage hits Starks in the head by mistake though and Allin is back with a bottle to Cage’s head. A double chokeslam puts Cage through a table and there’s a Coffin Drop off of a post to take Allin down. Cue Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook to beat Allin down and a big toss sends him through a window. Sting gets kicked in the ribs as JR says so much for this being a tag match.

With Sting in trouble, Allin pops up and throw him a bat (across the building and down a floor), which Sting breaks over Cage’s back. Allin then dives off of a balcony through Cage through part of the floor, leaving Starks and Sting to go back to the ring. The Stinger Splash hits exposed buckle and Starks spears him for two. Back up and Starks misses an elbow, setting up the Scorpion Death Drop to finish Starks at 13:49.

Rating: B. Your taste is going to entirely depend on what you think of cinematic matches so this could be quite the range of ratings. I’m not wild on the idea, but I would absolutely prefer this to a regular match for Sting. Starks taking the fall is frustrating but this is kind of a special circumstance. I know Sting isn’t going to be a regular wrestler and while he didn’t look bad here, he doesn’t need to be doing this very often.

Double Or Nothing is in May.

We run down the Dynamite card.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch. Moxley won’t leave Omega alone so he is picking this as a way to get rid of Moxley for good. Atsushi Onita talks about how dangerous the match is and violence is promised.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and there is barbed wire everywhere. If you touch the barbed wire ropes something explodes, and if we go thirty minutes EVERYTHING EXPLODES. Don Callis in on commentary and the referee is in something resembling a hazmat suit. Moxley takes a shot of whiskey during the Big Match Intros and we’re ready to go. They take their time going to the lockup and Moxley blocks a drive into a barbed wire board in the corner. They chop it out until Omega grabs a headlock and Moxley can’t even suplex his way out of it.

Neither is able to send the other into the barbed wire board so Moxley sends him outside through the one section with no barbed wire. A Russian legsweep with a barbed wire baseball bat takes Omega down and there’s a kendo stick shot to the back. Back in and Omega throws powder into the eyes, meaning Moxley needs to blindly swing the barbed wire bat. Moxley is sent into the barbed wire for the first explosion for two.

Some kendo stick shots have Moxley in trouble and the Kitaro Crusher through a trashcan gets two. Back up and the rather bloody Moxley is sent into the barbed wire board in the corner, setting up Omega’s middle rope moonsault for two. Schiavone: “We have exactly twenty minutes before this ring explodes.” Moxley sends him into the ropes for an explosion and then dropkicks him into them for another.

Back up and Moxley suplexes Omega through another barbed wire board in the corner but a Paradigm Shift onto a barbed wire chair is blocked. Moxley sends Omega flying with a German suplex and a side slam onto the barbed wire chair has Omega in a lot of pain. The barbed wire is wrapped around Moxley’s arm but the running lariat is countered into a dragon suplex.

The V Trigger gets two and Moxley drives him into the wire, with the explosion going off in Omega’s face. They head to the apron for a slugout until Moxley hits a Paradigm Shift through the barbed wire board for a double explosion. They’re both down for a long time until Moxley pulls the wire off of the board. They get back in and we get a noise signaling that we are ten minutes away from the big explosions.

Omega gets in a low blow and there’s a V Trigger in the corner. Make that two in a row and the One Winged Angel gets two as Moxley puts his foot on the ropes for the explosion (clever). Cue the Good Brothers to beat on Moxley and an exploding barbed wire bat to the face gets two. The One Winged Angel through the chair retains the title at 25:09.

Rating: D+. For a barbed wire street fight, it was pretty good (assuming you don’t find “yeah he used barbed wire, but now he’s going to use MORE barbed wire” to be a rather dumb idea), but for something built around THE RING MIGHT EXPLODE, this was rather disappointing. The match was built around the danger and I was laughing when some sparklers and smoke went off. Throw in how ridiculous the barbed wire stuff was and this was horrible. Make it a regular barbed wire match and it’s FAR better, but the explosions being such a joke killed it.

Post match the beatdown stays on as we’re told the ring is going to explode no matter what because THERE IS NO FAIL SAFE. As I try to figure out why that would be a feature, Omega handcuffs Moxley’s hands behind his back and the big beatdown ensues as we kill off the last of the thirty minutes.

The one minute countdown is on and the handcuffed Moxley is in the ring. Eddie Kingston comes in to try and get him out….and a bit of pyro goes of around the ring. The pyro from the corners was smaller than what would come up during Diesel’s entrance and the stuff at ringside was even weaker. This was pathetic, and Kingston actually selling it makes things even worse. I actually can’t remember the last time I saw something so disappointing and it is going to be a rather black eye for AEW for a good while.

Overall Rating: C. There were some good parts to the show but I’m rather disappointed by the whole thing. It didn’t have anything that was must see, it felt rather long and then the ending was an all time letdown. Christian signing is cool and the cinematic match was good, but this is going to be remembered for one or two things and that’s it. They went too far with the build and now it is going to cause them trouble.

The ending was a good example of one of AEW’s biggest problems: they have to do too much. The main event ended with a One Winged Angel THROUGH A CHAIR. You could put Moxley on the shelf for three months with that and it would have been fine. But no, we need to (allegedly) blow up the ring because a move you could say broke his neck isn’t enough. That’s something they do far too often and it hurts them. I’m really disappointed and I don’t like that feeling with what is usually one of the best products out there.

If you ever needed proof that AEW needs someone to say no sometimes, this is it. One of the things that a lot of people were saying was it was going to be ridiculous and they were hyping it up too much because that’s over the top. Well this is what we wound up with because AN EXPLODING RING is kind of a stupid idea. Tony Khan needed to say no and just let them have the barbed wire match and move on. They’ll be fine in a bit after this, but this was a step back for them and that is a new situation for them to be in.

Results

Young Bucks b. Chris Jericho/MJF – Meltzer Driver to Jericho

Rey Fenix/Pac won the Casino Battle Royale last eliminating Jungle Boy

Hikaru Shida b. Ryo Mizunami – Running knee

Miro/Kip Sabian b. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy – Game Over to Taylor

Hangman Page b. Matt Hardy – Buckshot Lariat

Scorpio Sky won the Face Of The Revolution ladder match

Sting/Darby Allin b. Team Taz – Scorpion Death Drop to Starks

Kenny Omega b. Jon Moxley – One Winged Angel through a chair

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It has been a few months now and in AEW’s world, that means it is time for another pay per view. There is something very, very refreshing about that as I don’t need a pay per view every month and given that AEW’s worst ever pay per view was still completely watchable, we should be in for something good here. The card isn’t the strongest but they know how to execute so let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Riho/Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker/Rebel

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Baker was eliminated from the #1 contenders tournament like it was absolutely nothing, but then again the women’s division has been kind of a mess. I can’t picture a world in which Baker is not Women’s Champion before the end of the year though and I think that road might be starting sooner than expected.

That being said, I’ll go with Riho/Rosa here, as AEW is likely going to want to reheat Riho after her tournament loss. Baker needs it too, but I’m not sure I can picture them going with her over some of the other options. Baker is going to be over no matter what because she is so awesome at so many different things, though I don’t think that equals a win here. Riho and Rosa win, hopefully pinning Rebel if they have to.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Ryo Mizunami

This is the result of the weeks long international #1 contenders tournament (because reasons) and the big result is a match that was set up years ago….in another promotion….in Japan. That’s about all of the explanation we have been given, as Mizunami has barely been around the company, but what does that matter when she has done some great things elsewhere that we might not have seen or even heard of in the first place?

I’ll take Shida here, even though her title reign is LONG overdue and she needs to drop the thing already. However, I’m not sure Mizunami is the best choice as we don’t know anything about her other than she and Shida were once partners. This match should be fine, but it isn’t something I’m going to have that much interest in given what we have had to build it up so far.

Miro/Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy/Chuck Taylor

This feud has been going for a few months now and I’m still not quite sure I get the appeal. Miro has lost any momentum he had on the way into the company, Sabian has pretty much disappeared, Taylor is Taylor and Cassidy was upset that someone was forced to say they weren’t friends. How that sets up an important pay per view match is beyond me, but that’s what we have here.

For the sake of hope, I’ll go with Sabian/Miro here, as the two of them really need a win to build up some momentum. It helps that they have gotten away from the gaming thing for the most part but that doesn’t exactly leave them with much to go on. This feud has been a rather dull way to go but AEW seems to love all of them (some are a good bit more valuable than others) and here we are. Miro and Sabian win, as they certainly need it more.

Casino Tag Team Royale

What is with this company’s gambling obsession? Anyway, this is basically a tag team Royal Rumble for a future title shot and they have fifteen teams announced so far. Battle royals (and they have a lot of them around here) are hard to predict as you can get anyone into the title shot in a hurry, which makes them kind of hard to predict. That means you can go a lot of different ways so it’s kind of a guess as to who is winning.

I’ll take Rey Fenix/Pac to win, as that squash on Wednesday was more than enough to make me think they are next in line for a shot at the titles. If nothing else, watching those two beat each other up with the dives can be rather entertaining television and it isn’t like a lot of the teams have a realistic chance in the first place. Pac and Fenix win, but this could go in a lot of different directions.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks(c) vs. Chris Jericho/MJF

This started off as an interesting feud but then fell apart in a hurry. The whole thing with the Bucks’ father (and their insult to Jericho that makes them sound rather dumb once you think about it) wasn’t good but it’s all they have. You would think Jericho and MJF could talk anything into being interesting but for some reason they haven’t been able to make it work. It could be the Bucks being the least likable faces in a long time, but the match should work out better than the build.

Of course the Bucks win here, as it’s hard to imagine them losing those titles for a very long time to come. The Bucks are major stars in AEW and it makes sense to have them in the title picture. Jericho and MJF seem destined to be on a collision course somewhere down the road and I can’t imagine them winning or even needing the titles to make that story work. The Bucks retain here, as they should.

Face Of The Revolution Ladder Match

This is for a TNT Title shot because, much like kidnappings, battle royals, tournaments and gambling, this company loves ladder matches for title shots. The big question here is who fills in the final spot and I have no idea who that might be. Christian seems to be the fancy pick at the moment, but I don’t want to see someone with a history of concussions in a match this violent.

As for a winner, I’m going with some instinct and picking Scorpio Sky, though you never know with something like this. It’s hard to predict a match when you don’t even have the full field but this makes for a nice build for the drama alone. I’m not overly sure about Sky winning, but he certainly makes for an interesting option and I’ll go with that for the win here.

Hangman Page vs. Matt Hardy

This is for the loser’s income for the first three months of the year and my goodness I cannot bring myself to care about Hardy. The character is interesting enough but as soon as I hear the Hardy name attached, all of the positives are overshadowed. The match itself should work as Page is charismatic enough to get around anything, but fighting over money with Hardy sounds like the result of a bad lawsuit instead of an angle.

Again for the sake of my sanity I’ll hope for Page to win here, as there is little reason to go with Hardy. Page having some more money and Hardy being broke or needing more clients is a better story, though I’m not sure how far anything is going to take these two. Hardy doesn’t need to win here but I’m a bit scared that he might anyway, just due to his star power and name value. Still though, Page should win.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Team Taz

It’s cinematic time and that is the best thing they could do with Sting. I know he handled the powerbomb well enough (as in he was perfectly fine a week later) but he really doesn’t need to be in a full on match. The cinematic matches aren’t my favorite but if they have to have Sting wrestle (and it is hard not to), this is absolutely the right way to go about doing it.

I’m actually not sure who to pick here, as Team Taz needs the win more, but you don’t want to have either the debuting legend or the champion losing. It really could go either way but I’ll take Sting and Allin to win as they make for the better story. Sting can put someone over later and Allin is going to have a new #1 contender so he isn’t going to need to deal with taking a loss here.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega(c) vs. Jon Moxley

When Omega announced this as the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch, I completely expected him to laugh and say “nah I’m kidding, it’s a cage match”. This is as over the top as you can get and feels like they are doing it because Tony Khan looked at his tape collection and decided what he felt like doing today. I get the reason for the stipulation in the end, but there are a bunch of ways to get there without going this direction.

Omega wins here, as the entire point of the match would seem to be to blow Moxley up so he goes away while his wife has their baby. That’s all well and good and the match will probably have some good drama/violence/action, but I’d be curious to know how many people aren’t going to watch or pay or pay for the show because of how ridiculous the stipulation is. I know it isn’t a majority, but there are going to be some out there because this is pretty insane and not in the best way.

Overall Thoughts

AEW has done an excellent job in their first year and a half because this show isn’t very appealing match by match but it’s an AEW pay per view and therefore it has my interest. They have done rather well at pay per views over their lifespan and the reputation is enough to carry this thing. That’s a rare place to be and if things here even exceed expectations by a little bit, everything should be more than fine.

Oh and the big signing.  Eh play it safe and go with Kurt Angle.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: March 3, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

It’s an extra big night around here as it’s time for the Shaquille O’Neal match. That could go in a variety of directions but the quality of the match means absolutely nothing. The idea here is that the match needs to be anything resembling passable and everything will be fine. I’m not sure what else is on the card and I don’t think it really matters. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Quick recap of the mixed tag, still without a reason for the whole thing to start.

Cody Rhodes/Red Velvet vs. Shaquille O’Neal/Jade Cargill

Cargill has never wrestled before and O’Neal has only been in a battle royal. Cody and Shaq start and O’Neal just dwarfs him. A wristlock is shoved away and Cody takes him into a corner for some chops. That’s broken up and Shaq hits his own chop, which has Cody down on his knee. Another chop has Cody rocked and it’s off to the women, with Jade throwing her into the corner.

Velvet fires off some kicks, one of which seemed to miss and had to be covered with a camera cut. Cargill throws her down again and mocks the stirring the pot deal, but Velvet hits a high crossbody. That’s countered into a fall away slam for two, with Cody running over to knee Shaq off the apron. Billy Gunn’s kids and QT Marshall try to interfere but get beaten down by Shaq.

Velvet moonsaults down onto Arn Anderson, Cody and Jade, none of whom seemed to be expecting her. Back in and Cargill puts on the figure four (making sure to throw in a mocking wave) with Velvet breaking that up in a hurry. It’s table time, with everyone seemingly confused by Jade pulling one out. Velvet breaks that up and throws Cargill back inside before setting up her own table next to it. An enziguri rocks Jade again so it’s back to the men, with Shaq wanting a test of strength.

Cody’s kick to the leg doesn’t do much good as Shaq grabs a powerbomb for two. Back up and Cody hits a slam, which isn’t treated as quite the big idea. It’s back to the women to slug it out and Cargill manages a spinebuster (but doesn’t look at Arn) for two, drawing Cody in again. This time it’s a poke to Shaq’s eye and a running crossbody drives him through the tables. Cargill is stunned and walks into…..well commentary says a spear but the camera cut to the floor, making me wonder how bad it was. Jade hits a Glam Slam for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: B-. This could have been far, far worse and that’s all it needed to be. The best thing to say here is that they didn’t have any terrible botches and while there were a ton of camera cuts, they managed to hide all of the problems well enough. This was a perfectly fine celebrity match and the table spot/powerbomb both looked good. Cargill looks very green in the ring but she has the charisma and mannerisms down, which is a good sign for her future. All in all, not too bad here.

Post break, Shaq is loaded into an ambulance. Tony Schiavone goes to ask someone a question but Shaq has disappeared.

Rey Fenix/Pac vs. John Skyler/D3

Skyler gets kicked in the head a lot to start and D3 is kicked out to the floor. Pac nails the running flip dive and it’s a 450 to crush Skyler. The over the shoulder piledriver finishes Skyler at 1:08. Now THAT was a good looking squash.

Here is the Inner Circle for Chris Jericho/MJF’s press conference. We can’t hear the first question, but Jericho clarifies that it was about what the Tag Team Titles mean to the two of them. Jericho lost the World Title a year ago but then he has won seven Tag Team Titles in his career. He has teamed with Dwayne Johnson and Paul Wight, but none of them compare to MJF. Next up is Conrad Thompson (how in the world did it take him so long to get on this show) who asks if Sammy Guevara can be back in the team.

MJF and Jericho refuse to answer and throw Thompson out so we can get on to the next question. They don’t want to hear about Papa Buck either because he got blood on MJF’s custom suit. He doesn’t shop at Target (cue the TARGET chant) and if you thought what he did to Papa Buck was bad, wait until he gets skinny Matt and balding Nick on Sunday. Santana tells the Bucks to do better….and now Eric Bischoff is up to ask a question.

Bischoff asks if they know anything about Papa Buck’s condition and wants to know how smart it is to motivate the Young Bucks like that. Jericho tells him to shut up but here are the Young Bucks to interrupt. They talk about how great of a father they have and everything he taught them over the years. He did everything that MJF and Jericho’s fathers failed at, like building them a wrestling ring when he couldn’t send them to college. That’s the kind of work ethic that made the two of them and this company.

If not for them, MJF would be living at home and waiting for the Rosie O’Donnell Show to call and Jericho would be jerking the curtain at the Performance Center. Some superkicks put the Inner Circle down and Brandon Cutler comes out to help with the fight. Cue the Good Brothers with a table on the stage with Nick splashing Ortiz while Matt dives onto Santana on a table at ringside. Some of the verbal jabs were awesome (the Performance Center one made my mouth pop open) but the Bucks trying to be intimidating or serious is still really not their forte.

Video on the exploding barbed wire deathmatch, with various people talking about it, capped off by Atsushi Onita making a cameo to talk about how great it is. JR explains the idea and we see Kenny Omega hammering on the Moxley Extermination Chamber. Thankfully Excalibur does explain who Onita is after the video is over.

FTR/Tully Blanchard vs. Jurassic Express

JJ Dillon is here with FTR/Tully (all wearing old NWA title belts). A bit of shoving sets up a six way staredown before Jungle Boy comes in to dropkick FTR. Tully (in what looks like a bowler’s attire) teases coming in but thinks better of it, leaving Sax to get pulled into the Snare Trap. That’s broken up in a hurry so Boy grabs it on Cash on the floor. Cash taps but the distraction lets Dillon slip Dax the shoe (!) to knock Boy silly for two. Tully comes in and teases a dive but stops to strut instead.

We take a break and come back with Cash breaking up Boy’s hot tag attempt but a Vader Bomb hits raised boots. The hot tag brings in Luchasaurus to clean house on FTR so Tully comes in….and goes right back out. Marko gets tossed into Blanchard to knock him down but FTR kicks Luchasaurus down. Luchasaurus suplexes both of them at once and Boy hurricanranas Dax into a powerslam from Luchasaurus.

A heck of a tornado DDT takes Luchasaurus down on the floor and it’s a PowerPlex for two on Boy. Cash hits a German suplex for the same but it’s Tully with the slingshot suplex to Stunt. Luchasaurus Tail Whips Tully down and Boy loads up a dive but a masked man in a hoodie breaks it up. Whoever it is nails Luchasaurus with something and the spike piledriver is enough for Tully to get the pin at 11:24.

Rating: B-. This could have been a heck of a lot worse and Tully still knows how to play to a crowd like the old school master that he is. Seeing the slingshot suplex was great too and while they had a few too many things going on here, it was nice to have a bit of a Horsemen reunion without going too far with it. Nice enough here and seeing Stunt get beaten up is always fun.

Post match….it’s Shawn Spears under the mask. Everyone poses together and here’s Arn Anderson to give them the Horsemen sign, with Dillon and Tully returning it.

Schiavone brings out Paul Wight for his official Dynamite debut. Wight says raise your hand if you saw this coming. He’s glad to be here and is glad to come back to TNT after all this time. Wight puts over Elevation and talks about how much he’s ready to watch some amazing talent. With an arm on Schiavone’s shoulders, Wight promises that AEW is signing a Hall of Fame worthy talent this Sunday. Tune in to find out who it is.

Women’s Eliminator Tournament Final: Nyla Rose vs. Ryo Mizunami

Vickie Guerrero is here with Nyla and the winner gets Hikaru Shida, also at ringside, for the title at Revolution. Rose drives her into the ropes to start but gets forearmed in the head. Some more forearms rock Rose, who is back with a hard shoulder to take her down. A backdrop breaks up the Beast Bomb and it’s time for some pantomime, followed by a running elbow getting two on Rose.

Rose is back with a running flip dive for her own two and a powerslam is good for the same. Back from a break with Mizunami avoiding a Swanton which would have barely grazed her if she hadn’t moved an inch. A running shoulder to the ribs knocks Rose off the apron and the guillotine legdrop on the apron crushes her again. Rose dives back in at nine so Mizunami hits a quick middle rope legdrop.

Back up and Rose forearms her in the head and nails a Death Valley Driver for two. Mizunami gets draped over the top rope and a knee to the head gets two more. An exploder suplex gives Mizunami two but Rose catches her on top with a superplex. It’s Mizunami up first with a spear and the guillotine legdrop finishes Rose at 12:48.

Rating: B-. Not a bad power match with Mizunami getting the win, thereby giving us one thing that we know about her. The tournament was quite the way to set up a #1 contender for a champion who has held the title WAY too long, but I’ll take someone new over Riho or Rose again. Now just change the title already, as it is long overdue.

Post match Shida comes in for a handshake but they wind up slugging it out, with Shida getting the better of things.

Tony Schiavone brings out Sting for a chat. Sting talks about how the powerbomb from Brian Cage didn’t tickle but it shook the rust off. Now he’s ready for a street fight but here’s Ricky Starks to interrupt. Starks respects him and then slaps him, meaning it’s time for Sting to hammer away. The Stinger Splash into the Scorpion Deathlock is on but here are Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs to jump Sting.

That’s broken up but Brian Cage comes down and loads up another powerbomb, only to have Darby Allin make the save (why Cage stopped to load up the powerbomb when Allin’s music hit isn’t clear). House is cleaned (with Cage making sure to look over his shoulder for the Stinger Splash) with Sting and Allin standing tall.

Face Of The Revolution Qualifying Match: 10 vs. Max Caster

Scorpio Sky is on commentary and Caster raps his way to the ring. 10 grabs a headlock to start and hits a crossbody for two. The right hands in the corner set up a running clothesline to the floor but Caster manages to post him for a breather. We take a break and come back with 10 hammering away, including a spinebuster. The slingshot spear gives 10 two more but Caster is back with a quick brainbuster. A top rope elbow misses for Caster but here’s Jack Evans with a boom box to the head to give Caster the pin at 8:47.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t exactly thrilling stuff as it felt like a quick way to get someone into the ladder match. The Acclaimed haven’t done much for me but maybe having Caster in there can be his big breakout moment. I’m not sure who is going to win the thing but at least there are some interesting options.

Post match here’s Matt Hardy to give Evans $4,200 for taking out part of the Dark Order.

Miro says Chuck Taylor has made him do this and on Sunday, it’s GAME OVER.

We run down the Revolution card.

Matt Hardy/Marq Quen vs. John Silver/Hangman Page

Page thinks we need to go to Adampagewrestling.com, which takes you to two hours of relaxing guitar music and shots of horses. Silver headlocks Matt to start but it’s quickly off to Page, who sends Hardy running. We take a break and come back with Hardy getting two on Silver and grabbing a chinlock. That’s broken up and Page gets the hot tag, sending Hardy bailing to the floor.

This time Page gets his hands on him so Hardy uses Quen as the sacrificial lamb. Back in and Quen dropkicks Page’s knee out, allowing Matt to come in with a neckbreaker. Page isn’t having that and brings Silver back in to clean house in a hurry. A spear sets up Page’s Buckshot Lariat to finish Quen at 11:03.

Rating: C. Well that happened. It’s pretty weird for AEW to have such a lame main event as this felt like it should have been somewhere in the middle of the show. It wasn’t a bad match or anything but it’s the kind of match that really didn’t feel like it belonged in the main event slot. Matt Hardy continues to be one of those guys that makes me sigh when he is in a match. I know whey he is on TV so much but that doesn’t make it much better.

Post match Hardy jumps Page with the microphone and promises to win. Cue the Dark Order, plus all of the other teams in the battle royal. Death Triangle comes out to join the fray to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This is a show where the total absolutely does not equal the sum of its parts. The first hour or so of this was one of the most energized things I’ve seen in wrestling in a long time as it just felt important. Starting with the Shaq match was an interesting way to go and following it up with the hot squash kept my attention. I liked this show quite a bit and while the second hour wasn’t as strong, it certainly wasn’t terrible. Very good show here with some especially great energy.

Results
Jade Cargill/Shaquille O’Neal b. Cody Rhodes/Red Velvet – Glam Slam to Velvet
Rey Fenix/Pac b. D3/John Skyler – Over the shoulder piledriver to Skyler
FTR/Tully Blanchard b. Jurassic Express – Spike piledriver to Luchasaurus
Ryo Mizunami b. Nyla Rose – Guillotine legdrop
Max Caster b. 10 – Boom box to the head
Hangman Page/John Silver b. Matt Hardy/Marq Quen – Buckshot lariat to Quen

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: February 24, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

AEW had a pretty surprising headline earlier today as they announced the signing of Big Show Paul Wight, which is not something many people had on their Bingo cards. I’m not sure how much of a difference he is going to make around here but he seems a lot more like a signing for the sake of getting some attention than anything else. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Jon Moxley vs. Ryan Nemeth

Nemeth says he likes trying for the starring role and gets slapped off his feet in a hurry. Some knees to the ribs have Moxley staggered but he comes right back with a belly to back suplex. Another shot to the face sets up the Paradigm Shift to finish Nemeth at 2:45.

Post match Moxley sits in a chair and says he’ll do anything to be World Champion again. What kind of images come to mind when someone says exploding barbed wire death match (Laughter?)? Maybe it’s blood, carnage, Japanese wrestling magazines? Moxley talks about how he can’t get enough of wrestling and while it’s a trap from Kenny Omega and his boys, he just can’t resist. He talks about how far he is wiling to go to win the title back and promises to give us everything he has (which sounded like he is leaving, perhaps for paternity leave).

Video on Omega vs. Moxley.

Lance Archer and Rey Fenix respect each other but they both want to win the spot in the Revolution ladder match. Then Fenix calls him the worst partner he has ever had though and has to dodge a lot of violence.

We look back at the Inner Circle shoving Papa Buck last week.

The Young Bucks are here with their parents, who seem rather proud.

Varsity Blonds vs. Team Taz

Brian Cage/Ricky Starks for Team Taz here with Taz on commentary. Pillman and Starks run the ropes to start and it’s Pillman tripping him down to the floor. Back in and Pillman grabs a rollup for two but Air Pillman is knocked to the floor. Cage powerbombs him against the post and we take a break.

Back with Cage curling Pillman and tossing him down, allowing Starks to come back in for a running elbow in the corner. A right hand misses though and the hot tag brings in Garrison to pick up the pace. Garrison’s belly to back faceplant gets two on Starks with Cage making the save. Air Pillman breaks up a sitout powerbomb but it’s a spear to Garrison and a discus clothesline to Pillman. The drill Claw gives Cage the pin at 9:09.

Rating: C+. I liked this one a good bit as the Blonds were looking better than they have to date. The action was good and I can always go for a power vs. speed match. These guys had a pretty fun match here and they had Team Taz sweat a bit, which you might not have guessed in this spot.

Post match we get a video of a truck dragging a body bag. Sting is driving and Darby Allin is in the bag (in half Sting face paint). Back in the arena, here’s Sting, with a body bag. Tony thinks Allin might be in the bag and…..it’s actually Taz’s son Hook. Allin ziplines into the ring with the skateboard to clean house. Sting gets in as well for some pretty bad stomping and the Stinger Splash to Cage.

We get a sitdown interview with Miro, Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford. They don’t like what happened with Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy at the wedding. Miro likes Charles though and wants him to come back as the butler rather than following Cassidy. We get a note from Taylor and Cassidy, with the Y/N/Maybe (circle one), hugs and kisses. Miro tells Taylor to be a man and the match seems likely.

Brandon Cutler vs. Jake Hager

Hager suplexes him down a few times to start and hits the Hager Bomb. Back up and Cutler manages to send him outside for the big flip dive, only to get caught in something like a powerslam back inside. One heck of a running clothesline finishes Cutler at 3:12.

Rating: C-. Nearly a total squash here with Hager barely getting touched outside of that one flip dive. Cutler isn’t someone who feels like anything important so having him beaten up to make the Bucks mad isn’t the worst idea. This worked out well enough, even if the match wasn’t exactly competitive.

Post match the Inner Circle is out for the beatdown but the Young Bucks make the real save. The Bucks call out MJF and Chris Jericho, who pop up on the screen. They aren’t wasting time coming to the ring….because they have beaten and bloodied Papa Buck. MJF and Jericho mock the Bucks’ pose and run when the Bucks come in for the save.

We recap Cody Rhodes/Red Velvet vs. Shaquille O’Neal/Jade Cargill. I’m still not 100% sure why Cargill and O’Neal are a team or why they’re going after Cody but I don’t think you’re exactly supposed to. Jim Ross and Excalibur talk about the match, which could be one heck of a mess.

Isaiah Kassidy vs. Hangman Page

Matt Hardy and the Hybrid 2 are here with Kassidy. Page, who has made some new friends lately, slugs away at Kassidy to start and stomps him down in the corner, setting up the fall away slam. A hard clothesline drops Kassidy and Page kicks him out of the air to the floor. There’s the slingshot dive to drop Kassidy again and a clothesline puts him over the barricade.

Hybrid 2 gets on the apron for a distraction and Hardy’s cheating lets Kassidy get in a cheap shot. Cue the Dark Order to stooge on Matt, who is ejected. Kassidy grabs the armbar and we take a break. Back with Kassidy still working on the arm until Page gets in a shot to the face. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up so Page settles for a discus forearm and a near fall. Kassidy is back with an enziguri, only to get caught in a Death Valley Driver.

There’s a brainbuster for two more on Kassidy, who is back with a posionrana for one. A cross armbreaker has Page in trouble and Kassidy snaps the arm over the rope. Back up and Kassidy tries a springboard but Page pulls it out of the air and hits a (one armed) Deadeye for the pin at 13:26.

Rating: C+. This was quite the lengthy match, though the action was good enough to work out. I’m not sure why Kassidy is getting to hang with Page this long but maybe the ring time will do him some good. The idea of Hardy vs. Page still doesn’t interest me, but if it’s a one off match then it should be ok.

Post match Hardy’s voice comes over the speaker to talk about how Page made the wrong choice. Hardy appears with #5 and throws him off the stage.

Kenny Omega is building the Moxley Extermination Chamber, complete with pounding on metal himself. If you want something done, do it yourself.

Long video on the Women’s #1 Contender tournament.

Women’s #1 Contenders Eliminator Tournament Quarterfinals: Britt Baker vs. Nyla Rose

Baker gets tossed around to start so it’s time to go to the back for some complaining. Back in and Rose hits the Samoan drop before trying to break the leg in the corner again. That doesn’t work so Rose drops her hard with a gorilla press. They head outside with Baker kicking the arm against the barricade and we take a break. Back with Rose hitting a superplex but Baker manages a suplex of her own. Rose knocks her down again and goes to the corner but has to take Rebel out with a release Rock Bottom onto the apron.

Rose chokeslams Baker but has to knock Rebel into the corner. That sets up the Cannonball but Baker sends Rose into the exposed buckle (exposed during the break and shown when we came back) to set up Lockjaw. That’s countered though and Rose plants her for two, only to have Baker pull her into Lockjaw again. That’s broken up again so it’s Beast Bomb…for two (possibly due to the banged up arm), with Rose being stunned. Another Beast Bomb finishes Baker at 12:41.

Rating: C. This was an awkward one as they tried to do a bit too much with Rebel and it didn’t quite click. At the same time, and it’s too early to actually get annoyed at this yet, but I’m really not all that interested in Rose. We’ve been there far too many times now and hopefully we don’t have to see it again anytime soon.

Video on Jurassic Express vs. FTR/Tully Blanchard. FTR wants to fight them because they are so different, but they don’t know what they are in for with Blanchard returning to the ring.

Here’s what’s coming in the next few weeks, including at Revolution.

Lance Archer vs. Rey Fenix

For a spot in the Revolution latter match and Jake Roberts is here with Lance. Archer stalks him into the corner but Fenix snaps off a hurricanrana. Fenix manages to knock the monster to the floor for the big running flip suicide dive. Jake catches Fenix on top, so he jumps over Roberts and dives onto Archer instead. Archer throws him over the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Archer knocking him hard off the apron to the floor and looking rather pleased about the landing. Fenix gets sent hard into the barricade and then a toss suplex sends him flying inside. A kick to the ribs lets Fenix get up top for a top rope double stomp to the back of the head but Archer snaps off a release German suplex.

There’s the rope walk moonsault for two on Fenix, who is whipped hard into the corner for a running clothesline. Archer charges into a raised boot in the corner though and Fenix’s rope walk kick to the head puts the monster down. The rolling cutter connects and a Spanish Fly somehow connects for two more on Archer. A Pounce drops Fenix and there’s the chokeslam for a rather close two. Archer is frustrated so he takes Fenix up top and plants him with the Black Out for the pin at 17:32.

Rating: B. I was betting on the time limit draw at the end but it was nice to see Archer get the monster win in the end. This was about the beast chasing its next meal and finally catching him in the end, which is a fine story to tell. They both did their thing rather well and it was a heck of a main event, especially with the longer time that they were given. Fenix is a heck of a star and it’s great to see him getting a chance to shine on his own.

A bit of respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This felt like they took their foot off of the gas before the big show next week and there is nothing wrong with that. Next week is the show that matters with the big tag match and then Revolution is later in the same week. There was no need to hammer away with this week’s show and thankfully they didn’t try too hard. What we got was rather good (a few questionable choices aside) and I had a pretty easy time with the show.

Results

Jon Moxley b. Ryan Nemeth – Paradigm Shift

Team Taz b. Varsity Blonds – Drill Claw to Pillman

Jake Hager b. Brandon Cutler – Running clothesline

Hangman Page b. Isaiah Kassidy – Deadeye

Nyla Rose b. Britt Baker – Beast Bomb

Lance Archer b. Rey Fenix – Black Out

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.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-big-show-paul-wight-signs-aew/

I didn’t see this one coming.This isn’t going to be some kind of a game changer and no Wight isn’t going to be the big focal point of the company.  He’s a name and can be funny on commentary, which is all he needs to be.  This is about a headline and AEW did really well with it.

Dynamite
Date: February 17, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

Things were pretty good last week and hopefully that means AEW has some momentum coming into this week. I’m not sure what that is going to mean this time around but we’re rapidly approaching Revolution next month. That show could use a card so maybe we can get some more this time around. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy vs. Hybrid 2

Matt knocks Evans down to start and Page’s running shooting star press gets two. The BK Bomb puts Hardy in trouble and Evans snaps his throat across the top. Angelico spins over into a rollup for two and he slaps on a front facelock to drag Matt back into the corner. Matt avoids a handspring elbow and the hot tag brings in Page to clean house, including a Ron Simmons spinebuster to Angelico.

Page powerbombs Angelico and the powerbombs a diving Evans out of the air onto Angelico for a scary landing. The Buckshot Lariat is loaded up but Matt tags himself in, meaning it’s a backbreaker/neckbreaker combination for two. A Downward Spiral into a Phoenix splash gets two more but Page Buckshot Lariats both of them at once. The Twist of Fate finishes Angelico at 7:05.

Rating: C. I really cannot bring myself to care about Page and Matt teaming together, mainly because it involves Hardy’s latest character. It comes off more like Hardy’s latest idea, which has been the case so many times now that it is hard to care. Page deserves better than this, and hopefully he isn’t stuck here for more than a few weeks at most.

Post match Matt says he’s glad Page signed with him for 30% of Page’s money. Page breaks the news, saying that Matt should have read the contract. Matt sent it straight tot he lawyer, but here’s the Jacksonville Jaguars’ mascot with a copy of what Matt signed last week. The contract says they’ll be facing each other at Revolution. If Matt loses, Page gets 100% of Matt’s earnings from the first quarter of 2021. Matt: “YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A CARNY! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU BAMBOOZLED ME!”

Matt wants Page’s first quarter earnings up as well and Page shakes on it. The Jaguars’ mascot kicks Page low and it’s Isaiah Kassidy. Matt offers the Hybrid 2 $3,700 to to beat up Matt Hardy so the beatdown is on, but Negative One sends out the Dark Order for the save. Matt has to duck the Buckshot Lariat and runs off. Page gives the Dark Order a thankful look.

So let me make sure I have this straight. Since Kassidy had a copy of the contract, we can assume that Matt was faking his outrage over the different terms. So Page assumed that Matt didn’t know what was going on and felt the need to bring out the Jaguars’ mascot to further humiliate Matt? Who found out about Page’s plans with the mascot and planted Kassidy in the suit after paying/attacking the regular person playing the mascot? That’s quite the wacky plan.

Santana and Ortiz are ready for their first Tag Team Title shot (Really?) because it’s time for the Young Bucks to pay their dues. MJF says of course he wasn’t recording Sammy Guevara last week when there was already a cameraman in the room with the. Chris Jericho doesn’t want to hear it because MJF goaded Sammy into quitting the Inner Circle. The rest of it is Sammy’s fault though and now Sammy has made the dumbest decision of all. Sammy is now dead to him and Jericho never wants to hear that name again. Tonight it’s about bringing gold back to the Inner Circle so let’s go win some championships.

We recap some of the first round of the Japanese half of the #1 contenders tournament for the Women’s Title. That’s quite the effort to set up a title match.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Riho vs. Serena Deeb

Non-title and Deeb has a bad knee coming in. They go the mat to start with Deeb going after the knee in a logical move. That’s broken up and hit the test of strength, with Riho being bridged down and staying up as Deeb lands on her. A shoulder puts Riho down but she’s back up with a cartwheel into a crossbody for two. Riho’s 619 is blocked and a catapult sends her throat first into the bottom rope. We take a break and come back with Riho fighting out of a crossarm choke and snapping off a dragon suplex.

Riho goes up but gets caught coming off the top, allowing Deeb to snap off a dragon screw legwhip out of the corner. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Riho but she knocks Deeb into the ropes for the 619. Riho’s top rope double stomp to the back gets two but Deeb is right back with a Stretch Muffler. That’s reversed into a rollup for two, followed by a northern lights suplex for two more. The top rope double stomp gets another near fall and they go to a pinfall reversal sequence with Riho rolling her up for the pin at 14:46.

Rating: B. Well you knew Riho wasn’t losing in her first match back. I’m still worried that AEW is going to have her run through everyone again because they see quite a bit in her, though this was quite the match with both of them looking good. I’m not sure why AEW needs two Women’s Champions floating around but this was a heck of a match and Deeb continues to look awesome in almost everything she does.

We look at Jade Cargill and Shaquille O’Neal training for their mixed tag by playing basketball.

Luther vs. Orange Cassidy

Serpentico and Chuck Taylor are at ringside and get in a fight at the bell. Luther hits a pump kick to knock Cassidy to the apron, where Cassidy powerbombs him to the floor. Back in and Chuck Awful Waffles Serpentico (you knew JR is all over that one), leaving Cassidy to hit the Orange Punch for the pin at 1:53.

We recap Team Tazz putting Darby Allin in a body bag and dragging him around the parking lot in a car last week.

Here’s Team Tazz to call out Sting and he’s right there for them. They don’t like the bat so Sting throws it away, meaning the beatdown is on. Brian Cage powerbombs the heck out of him. I cringe every time Sting does something physical these days so hopefully it doesn’t happen too often.

Eddie Kingston wants to get rid of Rey Fenix, but he needs to get rid of Jon Moxley. Pills, drinking and women haven’t done it, so it has to be beating Moxley once and for all, old friend.

JR sends us to a segment from earlier today with “the WWE Champion Kenny Omega.” Kenny, with Don Callis, was at a school earlier today and read the Young Bucks book to a bunch of kids. Kid after looking at the book cover: “Are they in love?” Kenny: “Uh, well they’re brothers so they love each other very much.” Kenny reads a passage about how he boosted business in the Tokyo Dome and they have to leave. They’re rather pleased with the publicity this will get but a kid wants them to stay. Callis says they can’t, but they can play with Michael Nakazawa (thankfully in regular clothes). The kids beat Nakazawa up.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz

Santana and Ortiz (with most of the Inner Circle) are challenging and Santana armdrags Nick down to start. Matt comes in and hammers away in the corner, only to get caught in a double team backbreaker. MJF comes up on the apron to go after Matt but the referee catches him and ejects the entire team.

We take a break and come back with Matt hitting a top rope twisting Stunner on Santana. An Iconoclasm into a sitout powerbomb gets two but Ortiz is back with a super Falcon Arrow for the same on Matt. Ortiz gets Nick in a Koji Clutch but Matt makes the save with a top rope elbow. The Bucks send Ortiz outside and the Doomsday Device gets two on Santana.

The buckle bomb into an enziguri sets up the double superkick for two with Ortiz having to make another save. Santana ducks the BTE Trigger though and rolls Ortiz over for a double Stunner on Matt. The Street Sweeper gets two on Nick with Matt having to make a last second save. Santana powerbombs Matt over the barricade into the crowd but Nick grabs a small package for the pin to retain at 13:07.

Rating: B. Another rather good match here, though I didn’t quite get into the near falls as the Bucks had only taken one finisher so they weren’t about to get pinned yet. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that Santana and Ortiz had never gotten a title shot before, but they did their thing rather well here. Good match, especially for a TV match with rather little build.

Post match the Inner Circle comes back in for the beatdown as Don Callis, Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers watch backstage. Brandon Cutler comes in for the failed save, leaving Jericho and MJF to put their holds on the Bucks for the taps. The Brothers make the very slow motion saves. The Bucks’ parents are in the crowd and the dad shoves Jericho.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes reveal the gender of their baby. It’s a girl. Dang I was hoping for a toaster.

FTR vs. Matt Sydal/Mike Sydal

Cody is on commentary and announces a ladder match for the #1 contendership to the TNT Title. As we see Dory Funk Jr. in the crowd, Mike gets knocked into the corner to start but Matt comes in for some rapid fire shots. Cash takes Mike’s head off for two though and we take a break.

Back with Matt fighting back, only to have a tornado DDT countered into a powerbomb. A dragon suplex gets two on Matt with Mike having to make a save. Matt cleans house, including the top rope Meteora. Mike tries to come in off the top with…..something but he slips a bit (must be a family thing) and crashes onto Dax for two. FTR has had it with these guys and it’s the Big Rig for the pin on Mike at 8:56.

Rating; C-. I couldn’t get into this one as it was more like Matt trying to fight FTR on his own with Mike just kind of being there. FTR beating these guys up was a fine way to go, but the Sydals just aren’t all that interesting. I did get a bit of a chuckle out of Mike slipping up as well, though it was nowhere near as bad as Matt’s debut.

Post match FTR goes for the doctor’s medical bag so they can cut off Mike’s hair. The lights go out and we see a shot of Luchasaurus’ mask. They come back up and it’s Jurassic Express (with Luchasaurus…..well apparently he just got a new mask) to clean house.

Here’s what’s coming next week, in two weeks, and at Revolution.

Jon Moxley keeps hearing about Eddie Kingston’s problems. After everything they have put each other through, Moxley is the only person who still cares about him. Moxley has a lot of things to look forward to, including February 26 when he tries to break Kenta’s neck. Then it’s time for Revolution when he takes the AEW World Title back from Kenny Omega. Kenny can’t run and the time is just about here, because it’s time to pull the trigger.

Jon Moxley/Fenix/Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade

Jake Roberts and the Bunny are here too. It’s a brawl to start with everyone fighting on the floor. Moxley gets caught in the corner for some running splashes but a neckbreaker gets him out of trouble. Archer comes in for some suplexes to Blade but Butcher tries to break up the rope walk. Fenix makes a save of his own and Archer takes Blade down anyway so we can take a break.

Back with Butcher chopping Archer in the corner and Blade bites him in the forehead for a bonus. Moxley gets tired of waiting on the apron and clotheslines Blade out to the floor. Archer crossbodies Butcher and Eddie at the same time and brings Fenix in to pick the pace way up. One heck of a running dive takes out Blade the and the rolling cutter hits Butcher. The Eddie Guerrero dance sets up a frog splash for two but Kingston cuts Fenix off with an exploder suplex.

Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns until Moxley and Kingston start the slugout. Fenix kicks Kingston in the back of the head and Moxley slaps on the bulldog choke until Blade makes the save. Archer hits a running flip dive to the floor to take out Butcher and Blade, leaving Moxley and Kingston to slug it out again. Kingston hits a spinning backfist but Moxley hits a hard clothesline. The Paradigm Shift finishes Kingston at 11:58.

Rating: B. It’s another good and wild match but they’re starting to wear a bit thin with this style. I know that’s what they do and such, but it would be nice to see them mix it up a bit instead of one wild match after another. That being said, the Moxley vs. Kingston stuff continues to be great because they make you believe everything they’re saying. That’s more than enough to make up for anything else in this match and it’s not like it was bad in the first place.

Post match the Good Brothers come in for the beatdown on Moxley and here are Omega and Moxley. Omega has a contract that gives Moxley a rematch for the title. The rematch is on at Revolution but Omega names the stipulation: an EXPLODING BARBED WIRE DEATHMATCH. Well ok then. Moxley headbutts Omega but gets V Triggered to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. That ending announcement is going to get a lot of differing opinions (as it should, mainly because it’s pretty ridiculous and took away almost every bit of the interest I had in seeing the match) but this was a heck of a show with three pretty awesome matches out of six in total. They also did the rapid fire build to the pay per view, which can work out just fine. I had a pretty awesome time with this show and it did what it needed to do while offering some awesome in-ring work. In other words, it’s AEW.

Results

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy b. Hybrid 2 – Twist of Fate to Angelico

Riho b. Serena Deeb – Rollup

Orange Cassidy b. Luther – Orange Punch

Young Bucks b. Santana and Ortiz – Small package to Santana

FTR b. Mike Sydal/Matt Sydal – Big Rig to Mike

Jon Moxley/Fenix/Lance Archer b. Butcher and the Blade/Eddie Kingston – Paradigm Shift to Kingston

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.

Dynamite
Date: February 10, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re still starting to get on the road to Revolution and that means we might find out a few more matches on the way there. The big story from last week was the surprise debut of Kenta, who signals the new relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. That could certainly lead in a few different directions so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Joey Janela vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending and we actually hear about a PWG match between the two of them. Feeling out process to start with Darby sending him arm first into the corner. Joey knocks him to the floor for the suicide elbow and laughs a lot. Back in and Joey grabs a bodyscissors with some bonus fishhooks to the jaw. Allin fights up and sends Janela to the apron, only to get caught with a shot to the eye. Back in and Allin nails a shotgun dropkick into the corner and then snaps the arm down onto the top rope.

Janela gets knocked outside for the suicide dive into the barricade for the big crash. They head inside again with Allin grabbing the Fujiwara armbar to send Janela over to the ropes. Allin’s springboard Coffin Drop is countered into a German suplex (that looked good) but Allin flips around to hit a Stunner for two. Janela is right back with a piledriver for two, followed by a trio to the top. Allin cranks on the arm up top and hits a super sunset bomb for another near fall. The Coffin Drop retains the title at 8:49.

Rating: C+. I’m still not big on Janela but they got into a nice groove with the trading big spots by the end. Throw in Allin’s complete lack of worry about hurting himself for the sake of a spot and it works out well enough. The lack of Team Taz hurt a bit as they kept talking about it, but at least it let Allin look better without some kind of shenanigans.

We look back at Kenta’s debut and preview the rest of the show.

Jon Moxley is used to Kenta calling him out and last week Kenta showed up to look like a dork. Kenta and Kenny Omega must have gotten together on some Bullet Club message board and decided to come after him. They’ll meet later this month but tonight it’s unsanctioned with Moxley teaming up with Lance Archer to face the two of them. Tonight, it’s just for fun.

Sammy Guevara comes in to see the Inner Circle and asks to speak to Maxwell Jacob Friedman alone. Everyone leaves but Sammy wants the cameraman to stay. Sammy knows that MJF is trying to take over the Inner Circle but MJF has no idea what’s going on. When MJF first got into the Inner Circle, he thought Sammy was just jealous.

Now though, he understands that Sammy really hates Chris Jericho. Sammy must think that he should be the front man because Sammy wants to take over the Inner Circle. That leaves Sammy so incredulous that he repeats it, which is exactly what MJF, and his phone, wanted to hear. Sammy punches him in the ribs and leaves him laying.

Cody Rhodes/Lee Johnson vs. Cezar Bononi/Peter Avalon

Arn Anderson is here with Cody and Johnson, with Arn’s son in the crowd. JR: “His face looks like it belongs on a can of beef stew.” Cody works on Avalon’s arm to start and hands it off to Johnson, who is quickly headlocked. Bononi comes in off a blind tag and gets in a hard shot to drop Johnson. A moonsault lets Lee flip over Avalon and a dropkick scores as well. That’s enough to send Avalon over to Bononi again but a jawbreaker lets Lee make his own tag.

A pumphandle flip slam drops Cody on his face and we take a break. Back with Cody catching Avalon’s springboard in a fireman’s carry gutbuster. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Lee, who drops Avalon with a neckbreaker. One heck of a corkscrew flip dive takes Bononi down and a fisherman’s buster onto the knee gets two on Avalon as Bononi makes the save. Bononi cleans house and drops Lee face first, though he’s fine enough to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C+. This was a way to showcase Lee and that worked out well enough. Having Cody interested in teaming with Lee is going to make him look even better so if they can make a new star out of him, well done. It’s not like Avalon and Bononi losing means anything either so no one is hurt here, meaning it’s a nice little success.

Post match the Nightmare Family comes out to celebrate Johnson’s first win in AEW, making him 1-29. The Nightmare Family is his family.

The Young Bucks run into the Good Brothers, who find it funny that the Bucks lost last week’s battle royal. The Bucks were going to pick the Good Brothers if they won but the Brothers are more interested in promoting Impact Wrestling’s No Surrender this weekend. As for around here though, the Brothers think the Bucks should be mad at Santana and Ortiz, so the Bucks agree to give Santana and Ortiz and title shot next week. Nick reluctantly gives a too sweet.

Matt Hardy interrupts Hangman Page and suggests a tag team. For tonight though, Matt has rented out a private bar for the two of them and the tab is on Matt all night long. That works for Page, who runs into the Dark Order. They offer him a spot drinking with them but he mentions Matt and things are cool enough.

Pac vs. Ryan Nemeth

Fenix is here with Pac. They circle each other to start and Pac knocks him down with ease. Some kicks have Nemeth in more trouble and Pac even knocks him to the floor. Back in and Nemeth does his best Dolph Ziggler impression with the jumping DDT. Pac isn’t exactly having that though and drops Nemeth again, setting up the Black Arrow. The Brutalizer makes Nemeth tap at 4:19.

Rating: C-. There’s something special about Pac giving up a bit of offense but just turning it on to win in the end because he knows there is no one that can stop him. Pac has shaken the ring rust off and looks like his old killer self again and that’s a great thing. Nemeth isn’t much in the ring and just makes me think he’s Ziggler’s lame little brother (I mean….).

We look back at last week’s zany wedding, with Miro swearing vengeance on Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor.

Cassidy and Taylor are drinking the champagne with Cassidy asking what they thought was going to happen last week. Taylor: “Obviously Orange Cassidy was going to pop out of a cake.”

MJF, now with taped ribs, comes up to Chris Jericho and says Sammy punched him in the ribs. There might have been some breaking involved! Jericho says it’s ok and they’ll deal with this after their match.

Acclaimed vs. Chris Jericho/MJF

Max Castor knocks MJF out to the floor to start, with the ribs getting banged up even more. Back in and Castor drops Jericho as well, setting up Anthony Bowens’ slingshot elbow. MJF comes back in but gets planted down on the ribs for two. Bowens is eventually taken into the corner though and it’s a double flapjack, allowing Jericho and MJF to step over him for a rather snobby moment.

Back from a break with Castor reversing MJF’s abdominal stretch into one of his own. That’s enough for the tag off to Bowens, who picks up the pace with dropkicks. Bowens grabs a torture rack and spins MJF down for a faceplant before having to knock Santana off the apron. Jericho’s Lionsault is broken up with a boom box shot for two but Jake Hager pushes Castor off the top. The Judas Effect finishes for Jericho at 9:05.

Rating: C. I haven’t been impressed by the Acclaim so far so it was nice to see them have a pretty decent match tonight. It’s even better to see that Jericho seems to be a little bit more motivated (and maybe a tad bit slimmer) as the Inner Circle continues to do something fresh. Good little match though and this worked out well enough.

Post match the Inner Circle celebrates but here’s Sammy Guevara to interrupt. Jericho asks him what’s going on, and Sammy brings up what he said on December 9: if MJF did one more thing, Sammy was out. Well now he’s done, because he quits. And there’s the face turn (or at least part of the face turn) that Sammy has been primed for over the last few months.

Post break, Sammy leaves the building.

Hangman Page and Matt Hardy are drinking at the bar but Hardy isn’t as well versed with some of the choices. Hardy makes his sales pitch as the agent and even has a contract offer. Page actually agrees but, as Matt talks to the camera, switches the papers and signs something else. He has Matt sign as well but Matt is too excited to notice and leaves with whatever Page had him sign.

Tony Schiavone brings out Sting for an interview but Team Taz interrupts, showing that they have Darby Allin in a body bag. Allin, still in the bag, is tied to the car and dragged across the parking lot. Sting gives chase as we take a break.

Earlier today, Alex Marvez tried to talk to Kenny Omega on the golf course but has to wait for the shot. Marvez asks what Omega is doing when he has such a big main event coming up. Omega says he’s already the best wrestler ever so now it’s time to prepare mentally and spiritually her eon the golf course. Don Callis praises Kenny for his alleged eagle (ignore the adjusting of the ball while Omega and Marvez talked) and lets Marvez have the ball as a souvenir. Marvez asks for a ride but gets turned down. Maybe because Callis and Omega are on foot?

Women’s Title Eliminator Tournament First Round: Thunder Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch

Rosa gets an inset interview talking about her goals of becoming champion. Hirsch takes her down a few times to start but Rosa gets in a slam and scores with a running backsplash. Back up and Hirsch pulls her down into the waistlock, followed by the running up the ropes for an armdrag. A suicide dive drops Rosa again but she’s right back in, where Hirsch pulls her down by the arm. That’s broken up as well and Rosa snaps off a neckbreaker over the middle rope.

We take a break and come back with Rosa hitting some sling shot knees in the corner. The running basement dropkick in the corner gives Rosa two but Hirsch shoves her off the top. A high crossbody gives Hirsch two but her moonsault hits raised knees. Rosa loads up a fire thunder driver, only to have Hirsch pull her down into a triangle choke. That’s countered with a powerbomb though and Rosa’s layout inverted reverse DDT finishes at 9:15.

Rating: C+. Hirsch continues to be someone they see something in and I can’t say I blame them a bit. There is always going to be a place for someone with her amateur skills and she makes things feel different. Then you have Rosa though and the star power is all over her, hence why she is likely going to make a deep run in this thing.

We run down the first round of the Japanese half of the bracket. The matches will air on YouTube this coming Monday.

Jungle Boy talks about his great match with Dax Harwood, where Boy won by submission. No the Jurassic Express didn’t want o have FTR suspended, so as soon as possible, Boy is making Harwood his b****.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenta/Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley/Lance Archer

Falls Count Anywhere and Kenta gets in a briefcase (his #1 contendership to Moxley’s US Title) shot to Moxleys’s back to start. Some kicks to Archer’s knee lets Omega hit the Kitaro Crusher but he and Kenta get in an argument. That’s enough for Archer and Moxley to fight back, though they don’t seem to trust one another either. The running clotheslines in the corner have Omega and Kenta in trouble again. Omega and Archer are knocked outside but it’s too early for the GTS to Moxley.

Instead here’s Omega with a trashcan to knock Moxley silly and then put the trashcan on the post. That means the moonsault with the trashcan onto Moxley and it’s time to cringe a bit. It’s time to bring in a ladder but Moxley fights back and hits a suicide dive on Kenta as Archer supelxes Omega into said ladder.

We take a break, coming back with Kenta and Omega fighting near the stage….and here’s Peter Avalon (out of his heart shaped bed) to interrupt and take the GTS it as well. Archer chokeslams Omega onto said bed and Moxley kicks Kenta in the face for two. Moxley knocks Kenta around the arena and then up the steps near the door Moxley uses every week.

Archer leaves Omega laying and goes after them but they have wound up in a kitchen. A DDT puts Moxley onto a metal table and the YES Lock goes on, only to have Archer make the save with a bag of potatoes. Moxley grabs one and hits Omega, getting to say that “he potatoed him”.

We look back at the rest of the match and come back with Omega and Moxley coming back to the arena. Moxley gets in a few kendo stick shots to Omega as they head inside again. Omega V Triggers Moxley out of the air and out to the floor though as the things slow back down. Cue Archer and Kenta to fight on the stage with Archer loading up a powerbomb through the announcers’ table. That’s broken up though and Kenta hits a running double stomp to put Moxley through a ringside table.

Archer sees Omega in the middle of the ring so Omega grabs the kendo stick. That shot is easily blocked so Omega goes after the knee. Archer is fine enough to hit a chokeslam though and the ladder is tossed to the floor. The rope walk moonsault gives Archer two but Omega slips out of the Blackout.

Cue the Good Brothers so Archer knocks them down and shrugs off Kenta’s spinning backfists. The Brothers get in though and Anderson hits Archer with the Gun stun. Jake Roberts gets in so Anderson uppercuts him down but Omega’s V Trigger is broken up. The Brothers low blow Archer to cut him off though and there’s the Magic Killer. The One Winged Angel is enough to finish Archer at 19:53.

Rating: B-. This is going to be a case where your individual tastes may heavily vary but there was too much going on here and it got a little too goofy at times. Stuff like Peter Avalon and the potatoes make for some good gags but they didn’t quite fit with the anger and violence that seemed to be the idea here. Not a bad match at all and it was certainly wild, though just not my thing for this one.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked the show pretty well this week, though we’re still far enough out from Revolution that it’s ok to not set up a lot of the card just yet. You can see the pieces being put together at the moment and, as usual, if this is one of their weaker shows, they’re going to be just fine. This worked out well enough and I’m curious to see where things go, which is more than a lot of companies are accomplishing these days.

Results

Darby Allin b. Joey Janela – Coffin Drop

Cody Rhodes/Lee Johnson b. Cezar Bononi/Peter Avalon – Rollup to Avalon

Pac b. Ryan Nemeth – Brutalizer

Chris Jericho/MJF b. Acclaimed – Judas Effect to Castor

Thunder Rosa b. Leyla Hirsch – layout inverted reverse DDT

Kenny Omega/Kenta b. Jon Moxley/Lance Archer – One Winged Angel to Archer

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.

Dynamite
Date: February 3, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another special show because AEW loves itself some special shows. This time around it’s Beach Break, because when you think February, you think of the beach. The big draws this time are a six man tag and a wedding on the beach, one of which feels like a prime location for some wacky shenanigans. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Jurassic Express, Chris Jericho/MJF, Stu Grayson/Evil Uno, Alex Silver/John Reynolds, Private Party, Acclaimed, Sammy Guevara/Jake Hager, Santana/Ortiz, Young Bucks, Top Flight

Both members have to be eliminated for a change and the winners get the Bucks at Revolution for the titles (though the Bucks can pick their opponents if they win). During the entrances, Sammy Hagar himself predicts Guevara and Hager winning, despite sounding like he has no idea what is going on. FTR isn’t here due to being suspended after last week. The Bucks dive off the stage to take everyone out before the bell. They all get inside with Isaiah Kassidy diving off the top and…..I have no idea as the camera cuts away.

Dante Martin gets put out in a hurry and Hager knocks out Alex Reynolds as we see a replay of Kassidy missing everyone. John Silver manages to eliminate Hager in a big upset and the entire Dark Order celebrates. Matt Jackson and Alex Bowens are tossed out and it’s Luchasaurus getting to clean house. Grayson makes the mistake of trying to get rid of Luchasaurus and is chokeslammed out. Silver and Uno toss Luchasaurus though, only to have Uno get tossed seconds later to get rid of our first full team.

The Silly String is broken up by Darius Martin (JR: “Did you hear that kids? THE SILLY STRING GOT BLOCKED!”) and Marq Quen is out. Silver suplexes Acclaimed down at the same time but they toss him out in a big bump. Nick takes down Jericho and Ortiz with a high crossbody and then knocks out Santana and Ortiz on his own. The Good Brothers are watching from ringside and low bridge Kassidy out to get rid of Private Party. MJF knocks out the distracted Nick and it’s time for a double pose from MJF and Jericho.

We’re down to MJF/Jericho, Guevara, Jungle Boy, Max Castor and Darius Martin. That sets up something like a six man tag with MJF sending Boy to the apron but not out. The rest of the Inner Circle helps on Boy but Martin and Castor make a save. Another attempt is enough to get rid of Boy though and it’s MJF having a staredown with Guevara. Castor breaks that up but Sammy superkicks him down.

Sammy isn’t happy with that, but he’s happy with Castor backdropping MJF out. Martin gets rid of Castor, and we’re down to Martin vs. Jericho vs. Guevara. A double DDT plants Jericho and Guevara so Martin goes after Sammy, with Jericho tossing Sammy out. Jericho sends Martin to the apron though and it’s the Judas Effect for the final elimination at 11:36.

Rating: C+. This worked out better than I would have bet on as they kept it short but also had a nice twist on having the double eliminations deal. I can get that going either way, but it worked out well here and that’s something nice to see in a match that rarely goes all that well given the nature of the thing. If nothing else, having MJF getting more TV time to set things up should be a great thing.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Video on Jade Cargill, or at least her training.

Tony Schiavone brings out Darby Allin and Sting (dig that snow at the beach) for a chat. Hold on though as before they can say anything, Team Taz interrupts from the parking lot. They aren’t happy that Allin is defending the TNT Title against Joey Janela next week. They’re going to be watching and might even get involved. Ricky Starks doesn’t think Sting is an Icon or the Man Called Sting, because Sting will get hurt playing in the jungle. Sting says that’s fine with him, because he’ll be here next week to make sure everything is fair. As for Starks saying he doesn’t see the old Sting anymore, maybe he needs to take a closer look.

Video on Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa, which has been a pretty well built match.

Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa

Rebel is here with Baker. Rosa charges to the ring to start and we’re off in a hurry, with Rosa going after the arm. Some chops in the corner are broken up and Baker takes her down into a crossface chickenwing. A running dropkick in the corner gives Rosa two but she misses a charge into the corner and bangs up the knee. Baker wraps the leg around the rope and pulls the shoulder into the post to keep Rosa in trouble. They fight out to the floor with Rosa sending her into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Rosa hitting a running corner clothesline, followed by some slingshot knees. Baker’s running dropkick gets two and they’re both down for a bit. It’s Rosa up first but her piledriver is countered into an Air Raid Crash for two. We pause for a second for Rosa to tie her top back up but manages to block the Lockjaw. A running stomp into a crucifix has Rosa in trouble but she counters Lockjaw again.

They keep rolling around until Rosa manages a suplex to escape. The Death Valley Driver gets two on Baker and it’s time to crank on the arm, only to have Rebel come in and rip off a turnbuckle pad. The distraction gets Baker out of trouble and it’s the Downward Spiral into the exposed buckle. Rosa is out and Lockjaw is academic to give Baker the win at 13:11.

Rating: B. Rather good stuff here and it’s nice to see Baker getting the big win. I’m still not sure how long it is going to take to get her into the title picture but it seems like something that should have happened months ago. Rosa looked awesome as well and the combination made for one of the better matches the women’s division has seen in the company’s history.

We look at Hangman Page dressing in Matt Hardy’s rather large dressing room but Page says they aren’t a team and have no agreement. Matt proposes a team for tonight and it seems to be on.

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy vs. Chaos Project

Page isn’t having a good week as he lost $400 playing with stocks. Matt hammers Serpentico in the corner to start and it’s off to Page for a running shooting star press for two. Matt’s shirt comes off for the middle rope elbow to Serpentico’s arm. There’s the Side Effect but Luther comes in off a blind tag for a chop in the corner.

Some running shots connect in the corner, including one where Luther hits Serpentico by mistake. Serpentico misses a Swanton though and the hot tag brings in Page to start cleaning house. Luther is sent outside and there’s a discus right hand to Serpentico. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up but Page takes Luther down, setting up the Buckshot Lariat. Hardy tags himself in and steals the pin at 3:55.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure how interesting a Hardy/Page story would be but it’s something for Page to do to bridge the gap to whatever his next big thing is. Hardy has more than a few things going on already so it isn’t like he needs this feud. Page seems to have an issue with teams though and that might be the case again.

We look at the women’s #1 contenders tournament, which will be held in Japan and America. Here are the talent pools (without brackets):

Aja Kong

Yuka Sakazaki

Veny

Emi Sakura

Ryo Mizunami

Mei Suruga

Rin Kadokura

Maki Itoh

Serena Deeb

Riho

Britt Baker

Tay Conti

Thunder Rosa

Nyla Rose

Anna Jay

Leyla Hirsch

Hopefully some of these matches are presented in highlights because fifteen matches in about a month is a lot (assuming it ends at Revolution).

Jericho and MJF have the cooler ready for the celebration with the Inner Circle but they aren’t happy with losing. Jericho leaves and MJF says it’s time for a meeting, with Wardlow closing the door.

Miro, Kip Sabian and Charles Taylor are ready for the wedding.

And now we go to the ring, with Vickie Guerrero escorting Kip Sabian. James Mitchell is the officiant, who commentary doesn’t seem to recognize because….reasons. Jerry Lynn brings out Penelope Ford who is wearing….well not much really. They do their own vows, with Sabian talking about looking at Ford’s chest when she was wearing a one piece with boots and knew she was the one. Penelope says Sabian has the biggest and we’ll just cut her off there.

Taylor hands Miro the ring and Mitchell asks if Sabian takes Ford to have and to group, kayfabing all others for as long as they both shall live. Ford is asked if she takes this dashing rapscallion (that’s a great word) for the same things and she’s in as well. They go to the “speak now” deal but Miro cuts it off because he’s been burned too many times before. Mitchell, as empowered by Tony Khan, says they’re married and Ford can kiss the ball and chain.

It’s time for a toast, with Miro saying he’s been here before and it’s all about love. But what is love? He has no present for them because his knowledge, power and viciousness is their present. Hold on though as there is a big present, which is from Charles Taylor. Miro beats up the box and….there is nothing in it. Even Schiavone doesn’t blame him so Miro goes back to the toast, but the fans sing WHAT IS LOVE in a funny bit.

It’s time for the cake but Taylor decks Sabian as Miro has been shackled to the rope. Ford is sent face first into the cake. Sabian punches Miro by mistake so he beats Taylor down…..and Orange Cassidy is in the cake. Taylor hits Sabian in the head with something and it’s a Beach Break to leave Sabian laying. They had some good tongue in cheek bits here and it worked out rather well. I’m still not sure why the announcers didn’t know who Mitchell was but that’s a minor point at best.

We go to Inside The NBA where Shaquille O’Neal agrees to team with Jade Cargill to face Red Velvet/Cody Rhodes. Shaq demonstrates the Black Tornado, which seems to be the Judas Effect. I was hoping for the Kazam Slam. Anyway the match is on the March 3 Dynamite.

Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer

No DQ lumberjack match with Jake Roberts on the floor, but not as a lumberjack. Archer is pulled outside for a beating from Butcher and Blade but the other lumberjacks come over to glare. Then Billy Gunn actually throws Eddie Kingston back in….which doesn’t sit well with Kingston because he wants to fight with the lumberjacks instead. Archer hits the big dive off the apron to take everyone down so we take a break.

Back with Archer going back inside for a full nelson slam and snapping off a suplex. The Bunny comes in for the save but gets loaded up for the Black Out. Kingston makes the save with the spinning backfist to send Archer outside as Roberts takes out Angelico. Back in and Eddie hits an exploder for two so Butcher loads up a table in the corner. That means a brawl between Butcher/Blade and Bear Country, with the table being broken in the corner. Archer catches Kingston on the top for the Black Out and the pin at 9:04.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here and it distracted from things a bit, but the brawling they had worked out well. Archer needed the win to boost him back up and there is a good chance that we will be seeing them fight again in one more blowoff. I certainly do appreciate them making it clear that it was No DQ as it can be rather annoying to have a match like this get too insane otherwise. Pretty good stuff here.

FTR is livid about being banned from the battle royal over attacking a dinosaur. Tully Blanchard rants about what it takes to get a title shot….and they pull over a handcuffed and gagged Marko Stunt. Can they pay someone to get rid of him? I’m sure a circus could use him as elephant food or something.

Joey Janela talks about his history with Darby Allin. Next week, the stakes have never been higher though and Janela is winning the title. This could have been far worse.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Jon Moxley/Pac/Rey Fenix

Don Callis is on commentary. Anderson shoulders Pac down to start but Pac comes back with a shot of his own. It’s off to Gallows vs. Moxley with Jon slugging away, only to get hit in the face. Moxley takes him down again and drops an elbow for two but Gallows powers him into the corner for the tag off to Anderson. That’s fine with Moxley, who drives Anderson into the corner for the tag to Pac.

A series of standing moonsaults get two on Anderson but Omega catches Pac on top so Gallows can hit a kick to the head. Pac gets slammed off the top and it’s off to Omega, who can’t hit a suplex. Instead Pac hits a snap German suplex so it’s back to Moxley to hit a release suplex on Anderson. Moxley’s slingshot dive to the floor takes out Gallows and a suicide dive (with Moxley hitting the brakes before he goes flying into something hard) drops the Good Brothers.

We take a break and come back with Moxley countering a powerbomb into a quickly broken Figure Four on Gallows. Moxley low bridges Gallows to the floor and avoids an Anderson charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag to Fenix. Omega is waiting on him so Fenix kicks everyone in the face, setting up a springboard high angle spinning headbutt. Pac comes in for a dropkick to Omega and we get stereo moonsaults to the floor with Pac and Fenix taking down the Good Brothers.

Back in and Fenix moonsaults into a rolling cutter on Omega (that was sweet) for two more. Omega crotches Fenix on top though and it’s a hanging snapdragon to drop Fenix on his head. Gallows kicks Fenix’s head off for two but Pac tags himself back in to strike away, including a sliding kick to the side of Gallows’ head for two. Another superkicks drops Pac though and it’s time for the parade of shots in the corner to crush Pac. Omega hits a Liger Bomb for two on Pac and there’s the V Trigger to rock him again.

The One Winged Angel is broken up so it’s Fenix and Moxley coming back in to beat Omega up. Pac’s great looking bridging German suplex gets two and it’s time for the Moxley vs. Omega slugout. That’s broken up by the parade of shots to the face and Omega hits a Paradigm Shift on Moxley. Pac breaks that up with a 450 so it’s back to Anderson, who gets caught with a Gun Stun from Moxley. Fenix’s double springboard moonsault press gets two but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster. The Magic Killer finishes Fenix at 15:28.

Rating: A-. Now this was the kind of match you would have expected and it makes me want to see more of Pac and Fenix. They more than held their own here and I could go for a lot more of everyone involved. These guys had a heck of a mostly non-stop action match and I wanted to see how it was going to end. Awesome main event here and one of the better matches AEW has had in a long time.

Post match Moxley comes back in to go after Omega but the beatdown is on. Cue Lance Archer to go after Omega and the Good Brothers (that’s interesting), leaving Moxley and Omega alone (JR: “We’re looking for a three count here.”). Moxley gets up but someone jumps him from behind…..and it’s Kenta to jump him from behind for the Go To Sleep (which Moxley doesn’t take well). Kenta is the current #1 contender to Moxley’s New Japan United States Title and Omega seems rather pleased to end the show. I’m not big on Kenta but this felt big and it’s FAR better suited than the Impact stuff.

Overall Rating: A-. This show was a great mixture of stuff throughout the whole night with the main event and surprise at the end. AEW is at its best when they are flying around at a hundred miles an hour and they did it rather well here. They had a heck of a show here and they even made a wedding angle with two of the Best Friends involved work. I’m not sure what more you could ask for here, save for less Chaos Project of course.

Results

Chris Jericho/MJF won a tag team battle royal last eliminating Top Flight

Britt Baker b. Thunder Rosa – Lockjaw

Matt Hardy/Hangman Page b. Chaos Project – Buckshot Lariat to Luther

Lance Archer b. Eddie Kingston – Blackout

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Pac/Rey Fenix/Jon Moxley – Magic Killer to Fenix

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: January 27, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We’re a week away from Beach Break and for the first time in a long time, we are coming off of a somewhat weak show last time around. That being said, Dynamite has an incredible track record so I have all the confidence in the world of them being able to set up something better this time around. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer

Jake Roberts is here with Archer…..who asks him to stay in the back. JR says this could be bowling shoe ugly as Kingston chops away, only to be powered into the corner. A bite works a bit better on Archer and Kingston chops away to limited avail. Archer shows him how to really chop so Kingston chops him even harder. A middle rope shoulder puts Archer on a knee….where he smiles at the down Kingston. Oh this is going to hurt.

Archer is back up with a chokeslam over the top rope and down on the apron (that was good for a heck of a cringe as Kingston landed on his hip). Archer follows him outside and sends Kingston face first into the camera (that’s a new one). Back in and Archer stares into the camera (he has a theme here) but has to block the spinning backfist.

Kingston dropkicks the knee out for two but Archer is right back with a short arm clothesline (ala Jake Roberts of course). The Blackout is escaped so Archer settles for a chokeslam instead. Archer walks the rope into the moonsault….and here are Butcher and the Blade, having attacked Roberts. The distraction lets Bunny slip Kingston some brass knuckles. The spinning backfist knocks Archer cold for the pin at 8:54.

Rating: C+. Like JR said, this wasn’t supposed to be a technical masterpiece. This was designed to be all about two brawlers beating the fire out of each other and that’s what they did here, with Kingston managing to get a big win for a change. I liked this one a good bit because it’s exactly what it should have been, with the short arm clothesline making me smile.

Post match Butcher and Blade take Archer out again before holding him up for the spinning backfist.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Jon Moxley is a little confused by Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers and the Young Bucks teaming up because there are a lot of Tag Team Champions. Then there are the Lucha Bros and the Death Triangle. That’s complicated for Moxley, because he likes his beer cold, his coffee hot and his sex in the morning. He loves a good six man tag though because this is fun and that’s what they’re doing next week.

Sting talks about how Team Taz has thrown out a bunch of false accusations about himself and Darby Allin (next to him). It’s true that Allin is a hoodlum, with Allin saying that when you’re on the streets, it’s all about survival. He sends his skateboard through a window and says he’s just like Sting. That makes Sting break a window with his baseball bat and say he is a hoodlum. They’re ready for the street fight at Revolution. They walk off, with Allin leaving his TNT Title.

Chris Jericho/MJF vs. Varsity Blonds

It says MJF in the chiron so that’s enough of an official change for me. After what seems like an extended Judas from the crowd, we’re ready to go…but MJF has a mic. MJF and Griff Garrison start things off, with MJF wanting to hear how great he is. Garrison hammers him down and pulls him back from the apron, with MJF panicking a bit. MJF is so mad that he grabs a chair but the rest of the Inner Circle holds him back.

It’s off to Jericho, who is taken down and caught with Brian Pillman’s Jr.’s running legdrop to give Garrison two. A cheap shot from the apron puts Garrison down though and we take a break, with Tony screaming at us that the match could end during the break (eh he’s no JR ripping on picture in picture for whatever reason). Back with Garrison getting the hot tag to clean house, including a double spear for two on MJF (Pillman looks near tears for some reason).

The tears are wiped away enough to hit a missile dropkick on Jericho, followed by a superkick for two. Jericho misses a charge and gets sent to the floor but comes right back in with the Judas Effect to Pillman. The Lionsault (with Jericho having the biggest grin, because he likes proving people wrong from last week) finishes at 8:02.

Rating: C+. Pillman and Garrison have gotten built up some momentum over the last few months so it’s fine enough to have them hang in there with Jericho and MJF. It’s good to see the Inner Circle get a win like this to start them on the right foot, and Jericho’s grin off the Lionsault is perfectly him. If nothing else, it’s nice to see that last week was just a slip (it happens to everyone) and he didn’t break his neck.

Pac isn’t impressed with Kenny Omega and his friends walking around like they own the place. Next week, Pac and Rey Fenix are going to show Omega what it means to be brutal. He sold the heck out of this.

Earlier tonight, Shaquille O’Neal called out Cody Rhodes for a match at some point in the future.

Tony Schiavone brings out Cody Rhodes and Arn Anderson for a chat. Cody loves the idea of himself and Brandi against Shaq and Jade Cargill….but Brandi is having a baby. Therefore he is going to defer to Arn, who has chewed him out for a variety of things. For now though, Arn gets to make the decision. Anderson says he is going to contradict himself here and says that Cody has the big head.

Arn brings up the date of June 29, 1985, which doesn’t have any meaning for Cody. On that date, Arn watched Dusty Rhodes face Tully Blanchard in Los Angeles for thirty minutes and then fly across the country to see Cody be born. If Cody chooses to jump onto the Revolution card on March 7, he needs to do it with no regrets. There has been a long time between June 29, 1985 and Revolution.

Shaq dominated his sport for nineteen years and Jade Cargill seems like she dominates any room she is in. In the last two weeks, Arn has seen something and has an idea. Cue Red Velvet, with Arn saying she has the same fire as Cody. Velvet talks about Cargill running her mouth and being full of herself, but everyone knows Cody won’t lay a hand on Jade. Red Velvet will though, and she will stir Cargill’s b**** a** up. Arn: “That’s what I was talking about!”

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford are excited to be married and invite us to the Beach Break wedding. Miro will be there as the best man and he’s bringing Charles the butler with him.

Hangman Page vs. Ryan Nemeth

Page is accompanied by crippling emotional baggage and Nemeth (complete with trunks that say “Hunk”) is Dolph Ziggler’s brother. An exchange of shoulders goes badly for Nemeth and Page kicks him in the face. Nemeth gets in a few chops in the corner and Page just doesn’t look happy. A shot to the face puts Nemeth down in the corner for the stomping. Page sends him outside for the slingshot dive but gets dropkicked back down inside.

Cue Matt Hardy to watch as Nemeth grabs a handstand hammerlock. Back up and Page runs him over, setting up a spinebuster, much to Hardy’s approval. A Dolph Ziggler jumping DDT gets two on Page but he blasts Nemeth with a discus forearm. There’s a hard lariat and the Buckshot Lariat finishes Nemeth at 5:38.

Rating: C. As usual, an unknown got in a lot of offense on an established star but Nemeth might have a little something with the Hunk/movie star good looks thing (and the family connection helps as well). Page getting a win is a good thing, but hopefully he doesn’t get pulled into whatever Hardy’s latest thing is.

Post match Hardy and Tony Schiavone get in the ring, with Hardy saying Page looks lost. They were on the same team in Stadium Stampede and Page is a good person who deserves to be happy. Page has been dressing by himself in a room next to catering. He is welcome to dress in Hardy’s big dressing room, no strings attached. Tony: “I think you should take him up on that.”

Jungle Boy and Dax Harwood both want to prove they are the better man, especially with everyone else neutralized at ringside.

Dax Harwood vs. Jungle Boy

Luchasaurus is here and handcuffed to Tully Blanchard and Cash Wheeler (Marko Stunt is sent to the back because…..well because he’s Marko Stunt). Harwood grabs a headlock to start but gets knocked down for his efforts. Another headlock works a bit better as Boy is taken to the mat and then knocked down again for good measure. They run the ropes until Boy scores with a dropkick and goes for the legs. That’s broken up and Harwood goes outside, with Luchasaurus not allowing Tully to get in much coaching.

Back in and Harwood uppercuts him into the corner but Boy chops his way to freedom. A kick to the ribs cuts him off but Harwood misses a charge into the post so Boy grabs an armbar. That doesn’t last long either as Harwood punches him in the face for a breather. They head outside with Harwood sending him into the barricade and sending us to a break. Back with Boy fighting out of a chinlock and kicking Harwood in the face.

A top rope belly to back superplex brings Luchasaurus to his feet and gives Harwood two but it injures his shoulder in the process. Boy pops back up and hammers away, only to get his head clotheslined off. A hard slingshot powerbomb gives Harwood two, with Tully being rather pleased.

Boy is back up with some rolling German suplexes until Harwood elbows him hard in the face. That earns Harwood a rebound lariat but Harwood head fakes him into a DDT (ala Arn Anderson) for two. They trade rollups with trunks for two each, followed by victory rolls for the same. Boy’s crucifix gets two, as does Harwood’s counter. Boy pulls him into the Snare Trap (Regal Stretch) and Harwood taps clean at 14:54.

Rating: B+. I don’t remember the last time I got sucked into a match outside of NXT so this was a heck of a treat as they had a great wrestling match. This was Boy’s speed and athleticism against Harwood’s old school style and they meshed so well. This is the kind of thing that I wanted to see out of FTR and it’s great to see Boy hanging in there every step of the way. Awesome match here that blew away some fairly high expectations I had coming in.

Post match, Tully throws powder at Luchasaurus and gets out of the handcuffs. A slingshot suplex puts Boy down and a spike double piledriver (featuring Air Tully) knocks Luchasaurus silly. Luchasaurus is handcuffed to the ropes and FTR cuts the horns off of his mask to make it personal. They go to cut Boy’s hair but Marko Stunt, SCU and Top Flight make the save.

Earlier tonight, Team Taz was outside where Taz talked about being ready to destroy Sting and Darby Allin at Revolution. Hold on though as they find a random merchandise table and beat the workers up for having too much Sting and Darby gear. Taz promises more of this for the two of them.

Britt Baker vs. Shanna

Rebel is here with Baker and Shanna is making her return. Baker works on the wristlock to start but gets reverses into the same thing from Shanna. That’s broken up with Shanna being taken into the corner for a hard forearm. That’s broken up though as Shanna goes for the wristlock, followed by an enziguri. The running dropkick against the ropes misses though as Rebel pulls Baker away, meaning Baker can get in a shot from behind.

The Sling Blade on the floor drops Shanna again and we take a break. Back with Shanna hitting a clothesline for two, followed by Baker’s neckbreaker for two. A Stunner drops Baker again and now the running dropkick against the ropes connects. Rebel realizes trouble is afoot though and offers a distraction so Baker can grab the Lockjaw for the pin at 8:33.

Rating: C+. I know Baker has been doing the same thing for a good while, but that’s a good thing in this case. She’s rather entertaining with what she does and it continues to set up the showdown with Thunder Rosa. Baker is probably the most defined character in all of the division and she plays it to near perfection. Stick with what works instead of changing everything at once, as you can often stick with a good idea instead of trying unnecessary changes.

Post match the beatdown stays on but here’s Thunder Rosa for the save.

MJF comes in to see Sammy Guevara and insists that he didn’t send Wardlow in last week. Sammy doesn’t buy it because he knows what MJF is doing and doesn’t buy his lies. MJF asks if Sammy wants to play it this way but Sammy isn’t playing. Man alive Sammy is a breakout star waiting to happen.

Beach Break rundown.

More on what’s coming later on, with Riho making her return in the #1 contenders tournament at a date to be announced.

The Good Brothers and the Young Bucks are happy with the Bullet Club reunion and are ready to do their thing tonight. Then next week they’re going to do their favorite thing: BEAT UP JON MOXLEY! The Bucks are down with that but don’t want Don Callis involved. Kenny Omega comes in and says they need to talk but here’s Callis, who has a taped up face thanks to the Bucks. Omega has to hold them apart.

Dark Order vs. Young Bucks/Good Brothers

It’s Evil Uno/Stu Grayson/Alex Reynolds/John Silver for the Order. Uno shoulders Anderson to start and gets two off an atomic drop of all things. It’s time to start in on the wristlock and Silver comes in for a bald showdown. Silver wants Gallows and the request is granted after a bit of discussion. Somehow Silver manages to kick him down to a knee but a cheap shot from the apron lets Gallows him him in the face. Matt comes in and gets forearmed by Reynolds but the Bucks start firing off the dropkicks.

Everything breaks down and it’s a dropkick/neckbreaker/belly to back suplex combination to Reynolds. The club poses (JR: “That’s another t-shirt.”) and Anderson trips Reynolds down. JR wants an ejection but Uno trips Matt as well, allowing the hot tag to Grayson. The pace picks way up and it’s a springboard dropkick to put Gallows on the floor. A frog splash gets two on Anderson and we take a break. Back with Grayson hitting a Pele on Nick and diving over for the hot tag to Silver.

That means house can be cleaned again as Silver does the fired up comeback rather well. Silver runs over the club on the floor as well, setting up a brainbuster for two on Nick back inside. Matt comes in and hits the double northern lights suplex on Silver and Reynolds. There’s the double clothesline to take them down as well but Reynolds hits a Stunner into the German suplex on Matt.

The Fatality connects with Anderson having to make the save as everything breaks down again. Nick hits the double springboard flip dive onto most of everyone on the floor and the club hits a bunch of apron powerbombs at the same time. Grayson is left alone in the ring and it’s a quadruple low superkick with Uno making the save. The Magic Killer knocks Uno to the floor and it’s the Meltzer Driver to finish Grayson at 11:45.

Rating: B. This was an entertaining match with the Dark Order hanging in there long enough. I know it has been said but Silver is one of those guys with all of the charisma he could need to be a star. I’m fine with the club winning here as they need to show they can work together, even if a Bucks vs. Brothers match seems like at Revolution. Good main event here though, with the Dark Order working as faces (or close enough to them at least).

Post match the Bucks talk about the Beach Break battle royal with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot at Revolution. They are in the match as well and if they win, it is champions’ choice for the title shot. The Bucks and the Brothers hit the Too Sweet but here’s Rey Fenix to go after them to avenge Pentagon. This goes as well as you would expect, even though he manages to knock the Bucks to the floor. Cue Jon Moxley to help with the fight and Fenix hits a heck of a dive, even landing on the barricade in the process. Kenny Omega tries to run in with the boot but walks into the Paradigm Shift to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Now that was more like it with a few rather good to great matches carrying the show. There was nothing bad on the show and I’m curious to see where Beach Break goes, even if there isn’t a huge main event. This week’s show was about building for the future but still had some solid stuff of its own. I liked this show a good bit more than last week and hopefully they can do it again at next week’s big show.

Results

Eddie Kingston b. Lance Archer – Spinning backfist with brass knuckles

Chris Jericho/MJF b. Varsity Blonds – Lionsault to Pillman

Hangman Page b. Ryan Nemeth – Buckshot lariat

Jungle Boy b. Dax Harwood – Snare Trap

Britt Baker b. Shanna – Lockjaw

Young Bucks/Good Brothers b. Dark Order – Meltzer Driver to Grayson

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.

Dynamite
Date: January 20, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s tag team night as we have a triple threat tag match to determine the official tag team of the Inner Circle. That’s certainly one way to go, though it isn’t likely to help the issues that they are already having. Odds are the match will be entertaining though, as most of their matches are. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.Opening sequence.

Here’s the Dark Order, complete with a cake because it is Negative One’s birthday. The cake is making John Silver hungy so the fans sing Happy Birthday in a nice moment. Cue the Chaos Project, who does not like Negative One or any children at all. The brawl is on so here is the Hybrid 2 to jump the Dark Order as well. Hangman Page is here too and it’s time for an eight man tag.

Dark Order/Hangman Page vs. Chaos Project/Hybrid 2

Silver gets taken down to start and it’s a butterfly suplex to keep him in trouble. Serpentico comes in but gets knocked out of the corner, allowing the hot tag to Page. House is cleaned in a hurry as everything breaks down. Cabana hits a top rope flying apple to Serpentico and Page moonsault down onto everyone at ringside. Back in and Page picks up Silver and Reynolds at once to drop them back onto Serpentico for two.

Luther breaks up something off the top though, allowing Serpentico to DDT Reynolds for two. Page powerbombs Evans over the barricade as Luther loads up a powerbomb onto the cake. Negative One breaks that up with a kendo stick and Silver sends Luther face first into the cage. Back in the ring and a Stunner sets up a Buckshot Lariat to send Serpentico into a German suplex to give Reynolds the pin at 6:15.

Rating: C+. The wrestling wasn’t great but that wasn’t the point here. This was all about the nice moment for Negative One and there is nothing wrong with that. It was a quick match with some goons losing to the Dark Order. They had some fun and made a kid smile. What more can you ask for than that?

Post break the Order holds Serpentico for a kendo stick shot from Negative One, who informs the Dark Order that his birthday was three days ago “you idiots”. And he throws the papers at Serpentico.

Back in the ring, John Silver asks Hangman Page if he is joining the Dark Order or not. Page says he can’t….but the HE SAID YES banners fall and the parade starts on the stage anyway. Page says he can’t do it because he did the team thing before and it didn’t work. He had a lot of fun with them but he just can’t do this. More apologizing ensues and Page leaves, though he does take a bottle of booze from Stu Grayson on the way out. This could be interesting.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

MJF doesn’t like interviewer Alex Marvez, saying his breath smells like rats having an orgy in a running microwave. With that image out of the way, MJF talks about how he doesn’t want the Inner Circle to have issues. Jericho thinks they’ll win tonight, with MJF saying the titles are next.

Tony Schiavone introduces Sting, who is here to praise Darby Allin, who joins him in the ring. Before Sting can get very far, here’s Team Taz to rant against Sting for costing Cage the TNT Title last week. The challenge is issued for a street fight and Allin says be careful what you wish for.

The Young Bucks go to Kenny Omega’s house, where they find a portrait of rather jacked Omega and Don Callis with their shirts off and their jeans riding rather low. Callis pops up and says that it was a birthday gift for Omega. Nick: “It was in October.” Callis: “It’s never too late to get started!” Anyway, Omega isn’t here because he’s been a bit busy. He’s also changed his number because people have been trying to call him up, including a bunch of old friends.

Callis sends Alex Marvez to the Dungeon (Marvez: “DUNGEON???”) but the camera has to stay here. With everyone else gone, Callis talks about how the Bucks have been friends with Omega for twelve years….and pays them for their twelve year investments with Omega. Matt: “We made this much last week.” Callis throws in another check for the merchandise, sending Matt over the edge with a rant about how the Bucks were there with Omega for years in Tokyo.

Matt knows those checks aren’t any good either because they used to work for Callis’ company (Impact). The Bucks go after him and violence seems to ensue after the camera is covered. This was a clever segment, though being threatened by the physicality of the Bucks isn’t the scariest feeling.

Cody Rhodes vs. Peter Avalon

Cody starts fast with the Cross Rhodes attempt but Avalon slips away. Cue Jade Cargill for a distraction though and Avalon gets in a low blow for two. Cody manages the Dustin Rhodes drop down uppercut but gets caught on top. Avalon pulls him down with a superplex and grabs a regular suplex for two.

We take a break and come back with Avalon missing something off the top. Cody seems to have hurt his knee so Avalon sends him outside. That doesn’t last long so they head back inside with Cody nailing a quick cutter. The powerslam sets up the Figure Four and Cody teases slapping him in the face, the threat of which is enough to make Avalon tap at 9:36.

Rating: C. I’ve seen worse and while Avalon still isn’t one of my favorites, he gave Cody a bit of trouble here. Cody is one of the smoother wrestlers in the company and I can go with seeing him on television more, though the Cargill stuff needs to go far away in a hurry. I’m not sure if Shaq is still on the table, but I’m also not sure how much interest there was in it in the first place.

Arn Anderson isn’t happy with Cody after the loss.

Tully Blanchard and FTR are happy with being #1 in the new rankings but here is Jurassic Express to interrupt. Jungle Boy says last week’s match taught him that he could hang with either of them, which Dax Harwood sees as a challenge. They’re fight next week, with Luchasaurus saying he’ll guarantee no one gets involved.

Jon Moxley vs. Nick Comoroto

Comoroto is a rather big (muscular) guy with a lot of hair. Looks a bit cavemanish. Moxley stomps him into the corner but Comoroto sends him into the corner instead. A running elbow to the face sets up a backbreaker but Comoroto misses a charge into the buckle. Moxley kicks him in the chest and snaps off a German suplex. The big clothesline doesn’t do much to Comoroto so Moxley chokes him out for the win at 3:55.

Rating: C. Comoroto was really impressive here and Moxley gave him a lot. The best thing about this was they treated Comoroto like someone who might have a future and given that WWE released him back in April, they might not be so fast to come after him again. Good little match here, and it made Comoroto look awesome.

Post match Moxley says things are crazy around here and he can’t keep track of where everyone is. Kenny Omega thought he could bring his frat brothers from Nashville to watch his back but all that did was make it more interesting for Moxley. It’s just going to mean bigger brawls and more blood with more limbs to break. Omega can bring in whoever he wants because all roads lead through him. Moxley even throws in some pushups.

Eddie Kingston is ready to face Lance Archer next week so here’s Archer who is ready to fight now. Jake Roberts breaks it up and says we’ll do this next week without Butcher and Blade.

Kenny Omega isn’t interested in hearing some questions about being at the beach and is even less happy about AEW being at his house earlier. He finds Callis, who has a black eye. Omega wants to now who did this and Callis slips up by saying it was Nick and Matt. Omega isn’t thrilled and Callis throws Marvez out.

Matt Hardy/Private Party vs. Matt Sydal/Top Flight

Dante Martin and Marq Quen start things off with Dante snapping off the hiptosses. Darius comes in as well for some dropkicks and Sydal joins them for a triple leapfrog into a spinwheel kick to Quen. We settle down with Private Party beating up Sydal until Top Flight comes in for a double half crab (as in three people pulling on a combination of legs). Sydal gets taken into the corner and we take a break.

Back with Kassidy holding Sydal in a chinlock but Sydal escapes and brings in Darius to clean house. The Spanish Fly drops Kassidy so Hardy comes in and is awkwardly sent outside. Everything breaks down again and Hardy comes back in for a bunch of Side Effects into a triple cover. Quen starts dancing and kicks Sydal as JR says there is a pile up in downtown Ringville. Darius gets dumped outside but the referee stops to yell at Hardy, allowing Kassidy to get in a chair shot to Dante. The shooting star press finishes Dante at 11:57.

Rating: C+. This was the usual all over the place match, but there were more than a few moments where it felt like they were trying to stick to the plans and then got lost because there was too much going on. The heel turn for Private Party is a good idea, because otherwise, Top Flight is possibly a better version of the same team.

Post match Top Flight isn’t happy so Hardy and Private Party beat them down again.

MJF goes in to see the rest of the Inner Circle and says that Jericho says the match has to happen. Let’s just get through this and move on. Sammy Guevara doesn’t quite buy it but he’s down with the idea.

Layla Hirsch vs. Penelope Ford

Ford has Charles Taylor (now the butler), Miro and Kip Sabian with him. Hirsch takes Ford to the mat to start and Ford is in early trouble. Back up and Taylor (under orders) trips Hirsch down. The cross armbreaker has Ford in more trouble but they head outside, with Hirsch getting distracted.

That lets Ford get in a pump kick and a whip into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Hirsch having none of this and getting in a dead lift German suplex. Hirsch pounds away on Ford to put her down before going up top for a big flip dive onto the men at ringside. Back in and Ford kicks her in the face, allowing Sabian to grab Layla’s foot for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: C-. Hirsch is someone who feels different and could be something in the near future. At the same time, they kept her strong in defeat as it took Ford and three men outside to beat her. The wrestling itself wasn’t all that great, but they made Hirsch look good and that has some potential in the future.

Post match Miro grabs the mic and makes Taylor say, while looking at Orange Cassidy, that Miro is his best friend now. Cassidy looks crushed and walks away, because he seems to be rather stupid in this story.

Here’s what’s coming next week and at Beach Break.

We’re having a #1 contenders tournament for the Women’s Title. No more details yet.

Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers jump Penta with Omega driving his rather large boot into Penta’s eyes.

Santana/Ortiz vs. Sammy Guevara/Jake Hager vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Chris Jericho

Anyone can tag anyone here. Jericho drives Sammy into the corner to start but Sammy sends him into the ropes. That’s fine with Sammy, who starts flipping a lot and sends Jericho outside. The big dive is teased but instead Sammy backflips into the Le Sex Gods pose, complete with a middle finger to Jericho. Hager comes in to run Santana over but Santana kicks the legs and head. Ortiz is in as well for a double belly to back suplex before it’s back to Jericho.

A moonsault press gives Santana two and we take a break. Back with Jericho taking Sammy down but Guevara gets over for the tag off to Hager. That means house is cleaned before a quick tag back to Sammy. That means a Cody Cutter to Ortiz and a clothesline to put Jericho on the floor. Everything breaks down and Sammy plants Ortiz with a suplex. The reverse hurricanrana drops MJF and there’s a super Spanish Fly for two on Ortiz.

Jericho teases hitting Hager with Floyd so Hager kicks him in the face. Wardlow slips MJF the ring and gets punched out by Hager for his efforts. Santana and Ortiz kick Hager down but MJF makes a save and tags himself in. A powerbomb sets up the Lionsault….and Jericho doesn’t get nearly over far enough, landing on his head/face instead.

The Codebreaker gets two on Ortiz, who comes back with a double DDT to Jericho and MJF. Hager comes back in for a running Vader Bomb on MJF and a very high Swanton gives Sammy two on MJF. Ortiz makes the save so Sammy hits most of the GTH on Jericho. Wardlow gets knocked off the apron but MJF grabs a quick rollup with trunks to pin Sammy at 12:39.

Rating: B-. The action was very good and Sammy makes me think of the good side of Jeff Hardy more and more every time I see him. The Jericho botch was more sad than anything else and I hope he doesn’t bust that out again, as he very easily could have landed on his head with that one. Just stick with the Codebreaker and the Walls. The rest was good though, as you can see the Inner Circle split continuing.

We are off the air in a hurry but at least they got everything in.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a good example of the wrestling not adding up to the overall rating, as there wasn’t a great match throughout the night but there are multiple things here that I want to see continue. In other words it gives me a reason to come back and that is one of the most important things a show can do. Good show, and Beach Break could become a big event in a hurry.

Results

Dark Order/Hangman Page b. Hybrid 2/Chaos Project – Buckshot Lariat into a German suplex to Serpentico

Cody Rhodes b. Peter Avalon – Figure Four

Jon Moxley b. Nick Comoroto – Rear naked choke

Private Party/Matt Hardy b. Top Flight/Matt Sydal – Shooting star press to Dante Martin

Penelope Ford b. Layla Hirsch – Pin with Kip Sabian holding the leg

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Chris Jericho b. Jake Hager/Sammy Guevara and Santana/Ortiz – Rollup with trunks to Guevara

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