Collision
Date: December 2, 2023
Location: Erie Insurance Arena, Erie, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re back in the regular time slot this week with no major competition (at least from WWE) and that means the audience might be a bit stronger this time around. As was the case last week, the focus is going to be on the Continental Classic, which has another three matches this time around. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Brody King, Claudio Castagnoli, Andrade El Idolo (with CJ Perry), Daniel Garcia, Eddie Kingston and Bryan Danielson are ready to fight.

Opening sequence.

We recap the Continental Classic to this point.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King

They strike it out to start with Castagnoli getting fired up by getting hit hard. Neither can clothesline the other down so they eventually clothesline each other down for a double breather. They head outside for another clothesline off before King drops him with a big boot back inside. Castagnoli knocks him outside, where King drops him with a clothesline and sends him over the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Castagnoli fighting out of a chinlock and unloading with uppercuts in the corner. A running double stomp gives Castagnoli two and a rather impressive Swiss Death gets the same. The Swing sets up the Sharpshooter but King makes the rope. Back up and Castagnoli misses a charge into the post, allowing King to nail a heck of a cannonball. Castagnoli pops up at one and hits a Death Valley Driver (or Canadian Destroyer according to Schiavone) for the same. King’s piledriver gets two and a heck of a lariat finishes Castagnoli at 12:32.

Rating: B. This was your big men hitting each other really hard match and as you might have expected, it worked rather well. That’s exactly what they were going for here and I’m more than a bit surprised at the result. If nothing else, that’s probably the biggest singles win of King’s career and makes him a good bit more of a threat in the tournament. Nice job and a solid opener.

Blue League Standings
Brody King – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Jon Moxley talks about being banged up and thinking being in this tournament might not be the best idea. His head isn’t on straight and he’s all over the place, but he’s sick and tired of being sick and tired. He’s going to wrestle his way out of it though and win this tournament. No one in this tournament can put him through worse than what he goes through every day.

Abadon vs. Kiera Hogan

Hogan looks scared to start but manages a dropkick into the corner. Abadon is back with some strikes in the corner but Hogan manages a running kick to the face for two. Back up and a swinging Boss Man Slam plants Hogan, followed by a springboard cutter for two more. A lick to the face seems to fire Hogan up so she strikes away, setting up a neckbreaker for two. Abadon is right back with a kick to the head, followed by Black Dahlia for the pin at 3:43.

Rating: C. I guess it’s time to heat Abadon up again, which I’ll take at a time other than Halloween for once. Abadon is a unique enough star that a push is worth a try, though it’s hard to imagine this going very far. For now though, things are off to a good start, even if the follow up is what matters.

Post match the lights go out, Julia Hart pops up, and the lights go out again.

Samoa Joe is interrupted by Roderick Strong and the Kingdom. Strong is willing to forgive him for the near broken neck thing but Joe needs to understand that MJF is the Devil. Joe laughs them off and leaves.

Continental Classic Blue League: Andrade El Idolo vs. Daniel Garcia

Matt Menard is on commentary. Garcia grabs a fast rollup for two and teases Andrade that he was so close. Back up and Garcia sends him into the ropes, where Andrade gets to chill for a bit. A dropkick puts Garcia on the floor and a slingshot dive gives Andrade two back inside. Garcia fights back by going after the leg for one, with Menard promising to dance with Garcia if he wins the tournament. Andrade knocks him hard to the floor though and we take a break.

Back with Garcia winning a slugout and tying Andrade in the Tree of Woe to hammer on the knee. A spinning brainbuster gives Garcia two but Andrade is fine enough to send him into the corner. The third Amigo is broken up though and Garcia grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up with a trip into the corner and a superplex to Garcia, setting up Three Amigos for two. Garcia is right back with the Dragon Slayer but tries something else, allowing Andrade to roll into the hammerlock DDT to finish Garcia at 11:03.

Rating: B-. Another nice back and forth match here with Garcia seemingly fitting into his role as the whipping boy who tries really hard in every match. It makes sense for Andrade to go over here, especially with what seems to be a big showdown against Miro on the horizon. For now though, I’ll settle for a pretty decent TV match.

Blue League Standings
Brody King – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Respect is shown post match.

We look at the Dynamite Continental Classic matches.

We look at Wardlow smashing AR Fox.

Willie Mack isn’t happy with Wardlow hurting his friend and wants some revenge next week.

Kingdom vs. Iron Savages

Roderick Strong is here with the Kingdom and dedicates this match to his friend Adam Cole. The brawl is on fast until Boulder hits a crossbody to take the Kingdom down. Bronson dives onto the Kingdom as well, followed by a chokebomb for two on Taven. Boulder misses a middle rope moonsault though and it’s a Death Valley Driver into Just The Tip. The spike piledriver finishes for Bennett at 2:31.

Post match Strong jumps out of the wheelchair for a jumping knee, seemingly breaking the chair in the process.

Ethan Page is back and wants to be the King Of Canada, so he wants Kenny Omega in Collision.

Video on Mercedes Martinez vs. Willow Nightingale, which took place last year at Supercard of Honor and flared up again on Rampage.

Buddy Matthews/Malakai Black vs. Matt Sydal/Christopher Daniels

Matthews powers Sydal down to start before rolling through a high crossbody without much trouble. A tornado DDT doesn’t work for Sydal so he kicks Matthews in the head and hands it off to Daniels. Black comes in and Daniels slows down a bit, allowing Black to kick him into the corner. Daniels is sent outside and Black hits a heck of a middle rope moonsault as we take a break.

Back with Sydal coming in to strike away until Black catches him on top. Matthews and Sydal score with top rope Meteoras but Black pulls Sydal outside. Daniels dives onto Black but Black is fine enough to knee Sydal out of the air. The spinning kick to the head knocks Daniels silly for the pin at 8:39.

Rating: C+. Daniels and Sydal have been the team you put out there to make the other team look good since they got back together and they did it again here. This was far from some classic, but the House Of Black looked pretty strong in their win. They’ve been something of a focal point in recent weeks and I could go or more of them filling that role.

Post match here is FTR, with Black thinking they are here to join the House Of Black. The House has been there for FTR, which the fans seem to like. Then the House jumps FTR and the beatdown is on, with Harwood having to watch Wheeler get kicked in the head. Harwood gets kicked down as well, with FTR being reminded that they have no friends.

Earlier this week, Toni Storm is tired of her hair not being done. She’s not a fan of Skye Blue, who can be the first challenger.

Post break, Blue calls Storm pathetic so they can fight soon.

Video on Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland, with Cage accusing Copeland of grabbing his coat tails and always being better than Copeland could hope for. They fight on Dynamite.

El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kip Sabian

This (along with the previous match) is described as a standby match because the Continental Classic matches aren’t reaching their time limits. That’s actually a nice bit of continuity so I’ll take it. Sabian works on the arm to start and Vikingo actually can’t roll his way to freedom. Vikingo slips out and hits a double springboard armdrag but Sabian kicks him out to the floor. There’s Sabian’s springboard moonsault to the outside as we take a break.

Back with Vikingo missing a running knee in the corner but managing a torture rack knee to the face. The middle rope Phoenix splash gives Vikingo two but Sabian is back with a springboard hurricanrana for two of his own. Sabian is knocked outside though and there’s the corkscrew moonsault to drop him again. Now the 630 can finish for Vikingo at 8:08.

Rating: C+. Sabian was a lot more fired up here than usual and they had a pretty nice match. The problem is Viking continues to be put in and out of spots without getting to do much. That doesn’t really work long term, though at least he’s out there getting to showcase the incredibly athletic things that he can do.

Post match, Sabian turns down a handshake.

Keith Lee is asked about who “him” is but Shane Taylor interrupts. Taylor wants Lee at Final Battle and game on.

Miro tries to crush Andrade El Idolo but CJ Perry talks him out of doing it. He finally calms down and leaves.

Continental Classic Blue League: Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston

Danielson has an eye patch. Feeling out process to start, with Danielson striking away. Kingston backs away into the corner but manages one heck of a chop to drop Danielson. Back up and Danielson strikes away, with Kingston telling him to bring it. A suplex sends Kingston to the floor but he counters a dive into a suplex to leave them both down.

We take a break and come back with Kingston’s superplex being broken up, allowing Danielson to hit a missile dropkick. Danielson eventually gets the LeBell Lock but can’t get it all the way on. Instead they strike it out until Danielson misses the running knee and gets planted with a suplex. The spinning backfist gives Eddie two and some knees to the bad orbital bone make it worse.

Danielson is back with the YES Kicks but Kingston chops him very hard. Kingston shrugs them off and hits an enziguri until Danielson gets in a suplex for the double knockdown. Danielson kicks away some more at the five minute call. A suplex puts Kingston down and Danielson stomps away until Kingston needs a breather from the exhausted Bryan. Not that it matters as Bryan is back up with the running knee for the pin at 13:32.

Rating: B. This was the hard hitting strike off that you would have expected here and it’s good to see Danielson getting on the board. What isn’t so good to see is Kingston losing again, as it doesn’t bode well for his future. At the same time, it doesn’t exactly make the two titles he gave up look valuable when he has lost his first two matches clean. Good main event though, as more Danielson is a wise idea.

Blue League Standings
Brody King – 6 points (3 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B. This was the show where they were focusing on the in-ring aspect almost entirely. That made for a good night with some solid back and forth action as the Continental Classic rolls on. The most important thing here though was the show felt like it mattered, which can be an issue for some AEW offerings. It wasn’t the case here though and AEW wraps up its week rather nicely.

Results
Brody King b. Claudio Castagnoli – Lariat
Abadon b. Kiera Hogan – Black Dahlia
Andrade El Idolo b. Daniel Garcia – Hammerlock DDT
Kingdom b. Iron Savages – Spike piledriver to Bronson
Buddy Matthews/Malakai Black b. Matt Sydal/Christopher Daniels – Spinning kick to Daniels’ head
El Hijo del Vikingo b. Kip Sabian – 630
Bryan Danielson b. Eddie Kingston – Running knee

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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Collision
Date: November 25, 2023
Location: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s time for the second half of the first week of the Continental Classic and in this case we’re going to see a few more matches that look rather strong on paper. Other than that, Adam Copeland is here with something to say, which will likely be about Christian Cage. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Eddie Kingston, Brody King and Daniel Garcia are ready to fight.

Opening sequence.

We get a quick look at the Continental Classic rules:

20 minute time limits
3 points for a win
1 point for a draw

Everyone else is banned from ringside.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Daniel Garcia

Castagnoli runs him over fast to start but Garcia is back with a quickly broken guillotine choke. Garcia tries to slug away and is quickly dropped with an uppercut. With that not working, Garcia manages to send him to the apron for a knock into the barricade. This doesn’t seem to please Castagnoli, who swings him into the barricade over and over to take over.

We take a break and come back with Garcia grabbing another guillotine choke, followed by a sleeper. Castagnoli fights out of that as well as an ankle lock before running Garcia over. The Riccola Bomb is countered but Castagnoli reverses the counter in the Sharpshooter. With that broken up, Garcia makes the fired up comeback, only to get dropped with an uppercut. Now the Riccola Bomb can finish for Castagnoli at 10:26.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have much to go off of as it was mainly Castagnoli beating Garcia up and then doing it again until he could get the win. Garcia continues to be someone who seems to be a project but at some point he has to win something. That isn’t likely to be the case here though as Garcia is likely to be a tackling dummy for his entire block. Castagnoli making a big run wouldn’t be a surprise though and they have made their first step in that direction.

Blue League Standings
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Brody King – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Post match Wheeler Yuta comes in to congratulate Castagnoli.

Eddie Kingston doesn’t want to talk but has to do it to avoid being fined. He’s putting his titles on the line in the tournament because he’s done what he wanted by wrestling in Japan.

Killswitch vs. The Boys

One Boy is chokeslammed onto the apron and the other is clotheslined hard in the back of the head for the pin at 1:22.

Post match Brandon gets chokeslammed through a chair but cue Adam Copeland for the save with a chair of his own. A piece of the chair is broken off so Edge can choke him out in the crossface. The Conchairto…doesn’t leave Killswitch laying so Copeland stomps him head first into the chair. Another Conchairto leaves Killswitch laying.

Post break Copeland goes on a heck of a rant against Christian Cage, who is so insecure about Copeland being here. From now on, Copeland is hunting Cage and is even challenging him for the TNT Title on December 6 in Montreal.

Malakai Black/Buddy Matthews vs. Gravity/Komander

Somehow this is the first time Black and Matthews have teamed on their own in AEW. Matthews and Gravity get things going as Nigel gets annoyed at the other commentators talking about ANYTHING but Adam Copeland threatening Christian Cage. With Matthews not being able to do much, Black comes in to strike away. Komander’s hurricanrana takes Black down but he plants Komander as we take a break.

Back with Komander hitting a jawbreaker but not being able to dive over to Gravity. The tag goes through a few seconds later as Gravity comes in with a high crossbody to both of them. Black knees the heck out of Gravity but Komander is back in to pick up the pace. Cielito Lindo is loaded up but Matthews offers a distraction.

Everything breaks down and the House is sent to the floor, where they pull Gravity’s dive out of the air. Gravity manages to get back to the apron though, leaving Komander to walk the ropes to dive onto the House instead. Back in and a pair of top rope dives hit raised knees and a bunch of knees have the good guys down. Black sits down so Komander can crawl over to him, allowing Matthews to hit the Stomp for the pin at 11:18.

Rating: B-. I liked this well enough as Black and Matthews are kind of a unique team. It was nice to see them get out there and wreck some people, even if it took some time to get there. What matters is getting the House some momentum, and it’s not like Komander and Gravity are going to take long to get back to where they were before.

Darius Martin and Action Andretti…are cut off by an NBA commercial, but they come back to reveal the returning Dante Martin.

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Lady Frost

Hart is defending under House Rules and the chosen stipulation is….no countouts. They fight over a lockup to start with Frost taking her into the corner but having what looked to be a slap easily blocked. They take turns dodging each other until Hart drops to the floor for a trip onto the apron. Hart rams her into the apron and it’s time to grab a chair. The referee breaks that up so Hart superkicks her into the chair instead. They go onto the ramp where Hart hits a running clothesline to knock her out of the chair. Back in and Frost kicks her in the head but gets kind of choke shoved. Hartless retains the title at 5:07.

Rating: C. What a weird match this was, as Frost has barely been a thing in AEW and picked a rather bizarre stipulation. It’s not like AEW really does much without countouts anyway so this was almost just a way to explain why they were fighting on the floor. Hart never felt like she was in danger and it didn’t exactly feel like the most important match.

Don Callis, with Powerhouse Hobbs, doesn’t understand how Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega got a Tag Team Title shot. Hobbs implies he can beat Omega and Jericho on his own.

FTR vs. The Righteous

Vincent hammers on Wheeler in the corner to start but Wheeler is up with an elbow to the face. Harwood comes in and gets elbowed down as well, followed by a heck of a clothesline from Dutch. Harwood’s springboard is knocked out of the air but he manages to clothesline Dutch outside. Vincent follows his partner and we take a break.

Back with Harwood fighting out of a chinlock but Dutch cuts him down again. A powerbomb puts Harwood down, only to have Dutch miss a middle rope backsplash. Harwood slides between Vince’s legs and brings Wheeler in to pick up the pace. A series of standing switches lets Vincent tag Dutch, who is knocked outside. Vincent gets tagged back in and the Shatter Machine finishes for Harwood at 9:12.

Rating: B-. There was no Jake Roberts here with the Righteous so the experiment is either over or AEW is not that interested in making it a success. FTR got a nice win here, or at least whatever they can get out of beating the Righteous. I’m not sure what is next for FTR, but it doesn’t feel like they’re going to be near the titles anytime soon. Granted they’ve been there enough lately that they might not need to be.

Post match the House Of Black says there is no one to save FTR, meaning no Wheeler Yuta or CM Punk. Malakai Black says this isn’t a brotherhood and the lights go out, with the House disappearing.

We see the full Action Andretti/Top Flight promos, which more or less says they need Dante to complete the team.

We look at Big Bill and Ricky Starks attacking Chris Jericho, with his bad arm, after Full Gear.

Here are Ricky Starks and Big Bill for a chat. Starks talks about how he was expecting more of a fight from the challengers at Full Gear. For now though, he isn’t surprised that Chris Jericho is back, but now he has a challenger. Starks and Bill say they don’t know each other (Starks: “Bill, what’s my birthday?” Bill: “No idea.” Starks: “See?”) but Starks talks about Bill being a monster.

Bill talks about his health issues and always believing that he would be back at the top. They’re going to beat up Omega and Jericho and we hear about a variety of NBA duos. Bill lists off a bunch of Chicago Bulls but he only Jericho and Omega as the guys who hand Michael Jordan his gum. Starks doesn’t know who those players are, but he likes what Bill is saying. These guys work well together and that exchange about the birthday was funny.

The winners from the Gold League matches on Dynamite are happy and ready to keep going.

Keith Lee vs. Lee Moriarty

They miss a bunch of strikes to start until Keith knocks him down without much effort. There’s the Pounce to send Moriarty down and us to a break. Back with Moriarty striking away before grabbing an armbar. Keith powers his way out and uses the good arm for a hard clothesline. Moriarty hits a middle rope bulldog but a kick to the head is easily blocked. Keith headbutts him out of the air and the Big Bang Catastrophe finishes Moriarty at 7:21.

Rating: C. Keith continues to be someone who is just kind of floating around doing nothing important. I’m not sure why that is, but he is definitely not the same star he was before his health issues came up. For now though, at least he is on TV and winning, but it would be nice to have him do something of note.

Post break Keith Lee says he was going to praise Lee Moriarty but instead he would rather talk about his lack of opportunity. He is coming for someone, but won’t say who. They know who he means though.

Continental Classic Blue League: Brody King vs. Eddie Kingston

Kingston’s titles aren’t on the line. A headlock and some shoulders have no effect on King so they chop it out, which is more to Kingston’s liking. King knocks him into the corner for the Cannonball and Kingston needs a breather on the floor. Another chop off goes to King but he drop toeholds a charging King into the steps. King is fine enough to hit a crossbody against the barricade as this is following the NO COUNTOUTS idea from the TBS Title match earlier. Back in and King hits a running backsplash as we take a break.

We come back with King grabbing a superplex, leaving Kingston to collapse on a whip into the corner. Kingston manages a desperation clothesline and now the rapid fire chops in the corner can connect. The spinning backfist out of nowhere gives Kingston two and they chop it out, complete with a lot of cringing.

Kingston’s DDT gets two but King is back with something like a Boss Man Slam. Kingston is back up with a half and half suplex and a Saito suplex gets two. King gets a piledriver for two, which shouldn’t have counted anyway as the foot was underneath the rope. Kingston snaps off a spinning backfist but King lists him up for a sitout powerbomb and the pin at 16:43.

Rating: B. I could see this one getting some mixed reviews, as they beat each other up but it wasn’t exactly the smoothest looking match. This was about two guys beating each other up and they did it rather well. That being said, it’s more than a bit disappointing to see Kingston fight so hard to get to the Ring Of Honor World Title and then have the title reigns disrupted over this tournament. It just feels unnecessary, but here we are anyway.

Blue League Standings
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Brody King – 3 points (4 matches remaining)
Bryan Danielson – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Andrade El Idolo – 0 points (5 matches remaining)
Eddie Kingston – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Daniel Garcia – 0 points (4 matches remaining)

Overall Rating: B-. This was the House Of Black show and that stuff worked well enough, but it wasn’t exactly a thrilling edition otherwise. As was the case last week, having Rampage and Collision back to back hurts the last hour out of the three as I’m ready for a break from AEW by that point. The tournament stuff gives the show a bit more structure, but that might lose its charm in a few weeks. Not a bad show at all, but it didn’t feel important, as has been the case most of the time in recent weeks, if not months.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli b. Daniel Garcia – Riccola Bomb
Killswitch b. The Boys – Clothesline to the back of Brandon’s head
Malakai Black/Buddy Matthews b. Gravity/Komander – Stomp to Komander
Julia Hart b. Lady Frost – Hartless
FTR b. The Righteous – Shatter Machine to Vincent
Keith Lee b. Lee Moriarty – Big Bang Catastrophe
Brody King b. Eddie Kingston – Sitout powerbomb

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

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

WrestleDream 2023
Date: October 1, 2023
Location: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, Jim Ross

We’re back with the third pay per view in six weeks and this has a bit of a theme to it. The idea of this show is paying tribute to Japanese legend Antonio Inoki, who passed away a year ago to the day. As a result, there are some New Japan stars involved in the show, which does have a strong card. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long video tribute to Antonio Inoki, with wrestlers talking about what he meant to wrestling.

Tony Khan is in the ring with some other people, all with the Inoki scarves around their necks. Khan introduces the men as Rocky Romero, Katsuyori Shibata and Hiroto/Naroto Inoki, Antonio’s grandsons. We get Inoki’s signature phrase to wrap it up.

Zero Hour: Shane Taylor/Lee Moriarty/Diamante/Mercedes Martinez vs. Keith Lee/Satoshi Kojima/Athena/Billie Starkz

Fans: “WE WANT BREAD!” Excalibur: “Of course Satoshi Kojima the leader of Bread Club.” JR: “You might want to explain that.” Diamante and Starkz start but it’s quickly off to Athena for a suplex. JR wants Athena to go on a tear, apparently not realizing that she’s been on one for the better part of the last year. Taylor comes in to punch Keith in the face and manages to knock him down.

It’s off to Moriarty, who gets dropped rather quickly so Kojima can come in to run Moriarty over. A DDT gets two with Diamante making the save, earning her a beating from Starkz. Everything breaks down and Athena hits an O Face on Moriarty, with JR calling it illegal. The ring is cleared, leaving Kojima to lariat Moriarty for the pin at 5:38.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here as they had eight people with less than six minutes. Kojima is a star from New Japan and still does well despite having been around forever, while Keith is rarely in the ring anymore for whatever reasons. It wasn’t a great match or anything close to one, but it was a way to get a lot of people in the ring.

Zero Hour: Josh Barnett vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Jon Moxley is on commentary and talks about training with Barnett. They grapple to start with Barnett powering him down but Castagnoli manages to take over on the mat. Castagnoli gets in some elbows (Moxley: “ELBOW HIS D*** HEAD OFF CLAUDIO!”) but Barnett reverses into a dragon screw legwhip.

That’s broken up as well but Castagnoli can’t get the Swing. Back up and they slug it out until Barnett gets a quickly broken abdominal stretch. Castagnoli gets in the swing, setting up some kind of leglock. Barnett makes the rope and grabs a suplex before they strike it out. The Neutralizer is blocked so Castagnoli pulls him into an Octopus Hold on the mat. That and a rollup is enough to pin Barnett at 8:20.

Rating: B-. This was a different kind of match as it was more of a grappling exchange between two guys who know what they’re doing in that style. Barnett is someone who is a lot better known in mixed martial arts than in wrestling but he’s good enough to hang with someone like Castagnoli. Good stuff here and probably something different than anything else you’ll see on the show.

Post match Barnett shows respect and says Inoki would be a fan of Castagnoli. Barnett says Castagnoli owes him more time though so keep training. Sounds good to Castagnoli.

Zero Hour: Nick Wayne vs. Luchasaurus

Nigel says this is going to be like Luke Skywalker being dropped into the pin with the Rancor. Wayne fires off a dropkick to start but gets tossed with a nasty release German suplex. Luchasaurus pounds away but Wayne is back up with some kicks. A chokeslam sends Wayne to the floor….where he crawls to his mom in the front row. That earns him a face first swing into the barricade but Wayne scores with some kicks back inside. Wayne’s World is easily blocked and the forearm to the back of the head finishes for Luchasaurs at 4:51.

Rating: C. That went about as it should have, as Luchasaurus is a total monster and Wayne is someone who hasn’t proven himself to be on Luchasaurus’ level. There is something to be said about a smaller guy striking away with everything he has but not being able to overcome. The part with his mom was a nice bonus, making this go according to the logical plan.

Zero Hour: Trios Titles: TMDK vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn

TMDK (Shane Haste/Mikey Nichols/Bad Dude Tito) is challenging. Tito powers Caster down to start and hands it off to Haste. Caster punches his way out of the corner though and it’s Gunn coming in to quite the reaction. A running shoulder drops Haste and Gunn loads up Scissor Me Timbers, which connects for quite the reaction.

We settle down with Bowens getting caught in the wrong corner and Tito adding a slingshot hilo. Bowens fights out of a chinlock but gets knocked back again to keep up the beating. An attempt to get over to the corner is cut off as Gunn and Caster are knocked to the floor in a smart move. Bowens manages to duck around and get over to Gunn though and house is cleaned. Tito plants Gunn rather quickly and Caster has to make a save. A step up Cannonball hits Caster in the corner but Gunn is back in with the Fameasser. The Arrival into the Mic Drop retains the titles at 9:18.

Rating: C. That was your Rampage opener of the show and not much more. They had some time to do a bit more here than usual and that helped, but it’s another group of guest stars getting a title shot. That is only going to get you so far and they hit most of that limit here. Not a bad match by any means, but there wasn’t much in the way of drama.

And now, the show proper.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Righteous

MJF is defending on his own, but before the match, he accuses someone of stealing his devil mask and attacking Jay White. As for the Righteous, MJF promises a BODY SLAM. Dutch starts for the team and MJF asks who wants to see that body slam. Instead we get the handshake of sportsmanship before MJF pokes Dutch in the eye. MJF gets in a hip swivel and pulls Vincent in, only to get clotheslined by Dutch.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as MJF fights up….but realizes he doesn’t have a partner. Dutch powerbombs him down so Vincent can hit a Swanton for two. The Boss Man Slam gets two more and Autumn Sunshine gets the same, leaving the Righteous stunned. Vincent goes for a chair but MJF grabs him low to cut it off.

Back up and Vincent kicks him in the face but misses a second Swanton. Everything breaks down and Dutch is rammed into the corner over and over. The body slam connects and the fans are thrilled. With Dutch sent into the corner, MJF sends Vincent face first into the back of Dutch’s tights. The Kangaroo Kick sends the Righteous outside and the Heatseeker finishes Dutch (with feet on the ropes) at 9:35.

Rating: C+. Watching MJF do his goofy, almost parody of wrestling is hilarious and it’s great to see him having fun like this. At the same time, the Righteous being out of the title picture for the time being is nice to see. It still feels like the Kingdom will be the ones to win the titles, but at least we’re having a good time on the way there.

We recap Katsuyori Shibata vs. Eddie Kingston, with Kingston defending his two titles but Shibata not defending his.

Ring Of Honor World Title/New Japan Strong Openweight Title: Eddie Kingston vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Only Shibata is challenging and he goes to the mat to start. With that not working, they trade strikes until Shibata pulls him down into an ankle lock. The rope is reached so Shibata grabs a Figure Four to stay on the leg. That’s broken up as well so Shibata puts on a bow and arrow. Kingston fights up and fires off the chops in the corner but Shibata kicks him in the face. The running basement dropkick in the corner and the fans are behind Shibata.

Kingston is back with a t-bone suplex but Shibata grabs an STO, with Taz being at his best by explaining the leverage and science. The Octopus Hold on the mat has Kingston in trouble but he makes it over to the rope. Kingston knocks him away again but Shibata comes back with the running kick to the chest. They strike it out until Kingston’s spinning backfist gets one. The northern lights bomb gets the same, followed by another backfist and the powerbomb to retain the titles at 10:58.

Rating: B-. This was Kingston striking away and gritting through someone more polished and skilled. It made for a nice story to the match and served as Kingston’s latest fantasy match come to life. Kingston needs some wins to establish himself as a star and wins like this one are going to get him a long way.

Post match Shibata gets the big show of respect.

We recap Julia Hart challenging Kris Statlander for the TBS Title. Hart is on a roll but Statlander was the last person to beat her. Now the title is on the line.

TBS Title: Kris Statlander vs. Julia Hart

Hart, with Brody King, is challenging. Statlander powers her into the corner to start and hits some shoulders to the ribs. The running knee misses but she runs Hart over again without much trouble. Hart manages a hurricanrana but Statlander muscles her over with a suplex for two. They go outside, where Statlander grabs her in a fireman’s carry and carries her back up the steps. It’s right back to the floor, with Hart sending her into the barricade this time.

A backsplash gives Hart two back inside and we hit the quickly broken abdominal stretch. Now Statlander’s running knee in the corner sets up the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Statlander trips so King yells at her, allowing Hart to load up the mist. That takes too long though and Statlander grabs a fisherman’s driver for two more. Hart pulls her off the top and goes up, meaning it’s the moonsault for a rather close two. Hartless goes on but Statlander muscles her up into a Tombstone, followed by Sunday Night Fever to retain at 8:54.

Rating: B-. I was a bit surprised by the result as it stops Hart’s run cold, but Statlander has been on a roll since getting the title. Having her get another pay per view win is not a bad thing whatsoever, but she needs to start fighting some of the bigger names. The division has the depth to have some stronger challengers come after her, though Hart did rather well here in her biggest match ever.

We recap the four way tag match for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles. There are four teams and they’re fighting for a title shot, end of story.

The Gunns vs. Hook/Orange Cassidy vs. Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks

One fall to a finish for a future AEW Tag Team Title shot. Fenix and Nick strike away at each other before popping up for a staredown. Cassidy tags himself in but the Gunns pull Fenix outside for a ram into the barricade. Back in and Austin dropkicks Cassidy into the corner before trying to cover Colten. The referee isn’t having that and it’s the Bucks’ turn to clean house.

Hook comes in and gets to clear the ring as well, leaving Cassidy to hit a dive onto both Bucks. Apparently Fenix is down so Penta comes in to kick at the Bucks. We settle down to Colten punching Hook down for two but Penta is back in. Made In Japan gets two on Austin as everything breaks down again. Matt hits a superkick and Nick adds the slingshot X Factor to Austin.

Penta’s big running flip dive connects though Hook tags himself in. Redrum is blocked so Cassidy Orange Punches Austin into Redrum to put him in trouble. Nick tags himself in though and hits a 450 for two with Cassidy making a save. The Bucks double superkick Hook but Penta superkicks the Bucks. Not that it matters as the BTE Trigger finishes Penta at 12:10 to give the Bucks the title shot.

Rating: B-. The Bucks are 2/3 of the Six Man Tag Team Champions, #1 contender to the Tag Team Titles and Nick is getting an International Title shot this week. I know it’s All ELITE Wrestling but this might be taking things a bit too literally. Anyway, this was your usual insane display of people jumping and flipping all over the place, though Fenix being down isn’t a good sign. I’m not sure if they’re going to run FTR vs. the Bucks again, but it would certainly be a big deal if they did. I’m just not sure how big.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland. Page can’t break through to be a star and Swerve wants to prove what he really is. Then Page stabbed him in the hand with a pen.

Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland

The Mogul Embassy, complete with dancing Prince Nana, is here with Strickland (the home area boy). Feeling out process to start until Page knocks him into the corner for a loud chop. The fans are WAY behind Swerve here, even as Page knocks him down into the corner. Swerve is right back with a kick to the face and the middle rope elbow to the back lets him dance a bit.

Page manages a quick suplex and they’re both down again. With Swerve on the floor, Page hits a big moonsault to take him down on the floor. The dive drops Swerve again but they go back inside where he grabs a rolling Downward Spiral. The Brainbuster gives Swerve two but Page catches him on top. That’s fine with Swerve, who knocks him backwards for the Swerve Stomp (the fans approve again).

Swerve’s House Call gets two more and they head to the apron. The Deadeye on the apron is blocked so Page hits it on the steps instead. Page doesn’t cover, instead sending him inside and kicking away, only to get caught in the ropes. They slap it out until the Buckshot Lariat is countered into a rather nasty arm crank. We pause for the doctor to check on Page but Swerve hits a Swerve Stomp onto the apron.

A 450 onto the arm gives Swerve two and he grabs the armbar. Page makes the rope and scores with a left arm lariat. Swerve’s armbar is broken up and Page hammers on the bad hand. Swerve gets in a suplex but misses another Stomp. The Buckshot Lariat connects for a rather delayed two, as Prince Nana puts the foot on the rope. Page chases Nana off, allowing Swerve to hit him in the face with Nana’s crown for two. Back to back House Calls set up the JML Driver for the pin on Page at 20:06.

Rating: B+. That’s the Swerve match that the fans have been waiting to see and it worked very well throughout. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it felt like a big slugout. If Swerve becomes a breakout star around here, there is a good chance that this is what starts it off for him. Awesome match here and the best thing on the card so far.

We recap Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta. Starks wasn’t happy with losing to Bryan Danielson back to back so he’ll fight Danielson’s teammate instead.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Ricky Starks

Jon Moxley is back on commentary. They go with the grappling to start before opting to punch each other in the face instead. Starks gets the better of things and knocks Yuta up against the ropes, allowing him to stare at the crowd a bit. Yuta slips out of a fireman’s carry and rolls him up for two, only to have Starks get in another shot. Moxley thinks Starks is talented but runs his mouth too much, meaning he isn’t sure if he should fight Starks or take him on a date. Yuta is back with something like a Samoan drop and an armbar goes on.

Cue Big Bill as Starks makes the rope and spikes Yuta for two. Starks hits his own hammer and anvil elbows, which just make Yuta mad. That’s fine with Starks, who takes Yuta’s head off but gets shoved off the rope for a crash onto Bill. Yuta posts Bill to get rid of him and fires off the real hammer and anvil elbows. The Seatbelt gives Yuta two but Starks is back up with the spear. The Roshambo finishes Yuta at 9:54.

Rating: C+. The match wasn’t bad, but I’m not sure if it needed to be on the pay per view. This felt like a Rampage main event or a big match on Collision rather than needing to be on here. What matters here though is that Starks got his big win and regains some momentum so things should be getting a bit better for him going forward. Odds are it sets up Moxley vs. Starks as well and that’s not a bad thing.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and….yeah I think that’s all you need to know here.

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre’s New Japan TV Title isn’t on the line. Feeling out process to start as they both seem nervous about going too far. Danielson suplexes him down and Sabre pauses for a standoff. Sabre pulls him into the abdominal stretch but Danielson pulls him into a leglock. That’s broken up and they stay on the mat with neither being able to get control. Instead Danielson pulls him into the surfboard but Sabre slips out again.

Sabre starts going after the arm and gives it a shoulder before adding a nasty stomp. The arm gets twisted around and Sabre is starting to get cocky. Sabre stays on the arm but he takes too long going up, allowing Danielson to cut him off. The arm is snapped over Sabre’s shoulder though and the armbar goes on up top. Danielson headbutts his way out of trouble and a top rope butterfly superplex lets him…not get the LeBell Lock.

Instead Danielson goes with a half crab but Sabre is right over to the ropes. The YES Kicks rock Sabre and Danielson stomps him in the head. The running knee is countered and Sabre pulls him into the European Clutch for two. Moxley (on commentary) is on his feet as they both need a breather. Cattle Mutilation goes on but Sabre rolls out, only to get caught with the elbows to the face.

Danielson gets a leglock but Sabre reverses into one of his own. That earns him a spit in the face and they strike it out, with Danielson getting the better of things. Back up and Sabre goes for the arm while Danielson kicks at the leg. Sabre gets the better of things this time and pulls Danielson into the double arm crank. Nigel: “THINK ABOUT YOUR KIDS! THINK ABOUT YOUR WIFE! RETIRE NOW!”

Danielson makes the rope (Nigel: “You coward!”) so they trade kicks, with Danielson nailing a big one to the head. The stomp to the head misses so Sabre pulls him into the cross armbreaker. That’s reverses into a leg trap belly to back suplex into the running knee for the very near fall. Another running knee finishes Sabre at 23:13.

Rating: A-. Like I said before the match, this was going to work because of the talent involved and then they were allowed to have all the time they needed to tear the house down. You could see two masters in there trying to take the other apart and it worked about as well as expected. Awesome stuff here and as usual, it felt like a clinic from two of the best ever with this style.

Post match respect is offered but Sabre turns it down. Naturally Nigel says that wasn’t technical wrestling so Danielson is NOT the best in the world.

We recap Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi vs. the Don Callis Family. All three hate Callis so they’re fighting his team.

Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi vs. Don Callis Family

Omega and Will Ospreay start things off but it’s quickly off to Sammy Guevara, who lounges on the top rope. They start running the ropes until Sammy flips over him and scores with a dropkick. Ospreay comes back in to get suplexed by Jericho as Sammy shouts at commentary. Jericho punches Ospreay and we get the big standoff. The good guys clear the house, pay tribute to Inoki (oh yeah that’s a thing with this show) and hit stereo dives.

Back in and Omega slugs away at Takeshita, who rakes the eyes to cut him off. Takeshita hits a clothesline but Ibushi comes in for a save. Ospreay puts on an abdominal stretch, with the rest of the Family adding leverage like villains should. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Omega but he gets over for the tag back to Omega. That means an abdominal stretch to Sammy, with the rest of Omega’s partners pulling as well.

Ibushi comes in with a double back elbow and we get an Ibushi/Jericho Sex Gods pose. Omega and Jericho hit stereo moonsaults to the floor, leaving Jericho to hit the Lionsault for two on Sammy. Takeshita breaks up the Walls and drops Omega on his head with a release German suplex. Jericho has to fight Ospreay and Takeshita at the same time but Takeshita knees Ospreay by mistake.

Omega is back up with the big running flip dive to take out Takeshita and Ospreay. Back in and Sammy Spanish Flies Jericho for two, followed by the shooting star to the floor. Omega and Ospreay slug it out back inside but Takeshita is back in with a running knee to put Omega down.

Sammy Codebreakers Jericho for one so Jericho fights up, only to get beaten down again. Ibushi is back up to strike away but Ospreay saves Takeshita from the big boot. The Golden Trigger is cut off by Sammy’s high crossbody. Jericho is back up with the Judas Effect to Ospreay but Sammy superkicks Jericho in the face. Jericho tries to pull him into the Walls but Callis comes in with a baseball bat shot to give Sammy the pin at 22:17.

Rating: B+. This was the match I was expecting to be the best on the card and it came pretty close. The match started with the regular wrestling but then broke down into the wild fight that it was destined to be. The Callis Family stuff isn’t exactly thrilling but the matches have worked so well and that’s what matters most.

We recap Aussie Open challenging FTR for the Tag Team Titles. FTR beat them for the New Japan Tag Team Titles a year ago and now the Aussies want to even things up.

AEW Tag Team Titles: Aussie Open vs. FTR

FTR is defending. Harwood and Fletcher lock up to start with neither being able to get very far. Wheeler comes in and this time Fletcher bails to the floor. Harwood sends him back in, where Wheeler hits a backdrop to take over. It’s off to Davis for a chop off with Harwood, who gets slammed down. Davis hits a backsplash so it’s back to Fletcher, who gets caught with a snap suplex.

Everything breaks down and FTR is rammed into each other on the floor. Back in and Fletcher forearms away at Wheeler before Davis grabs a chinlock. Wheeler fights up and catches Fletcher on top, meaning it’s a belly to back superplex for a big crash. Fletcher is able to grab a brainbuster but Wheeler is up again, this time getting over to Harwood. Rolling German suplexes drop Fletcher as Wheeler and Davis fight on the floor.

Harwood gets two off a Liger Bomb but Davis is back in to break up the PowerPlex. A Doomsday kick to the face gets two on Wheeler but Harwood is back in for the save. Now the PowerPlex can connect, leaving Fletcher to high crossbody Harwood into the cover to break it up.

Wheeler rolls Davis (who appears to have hurt his wrist) up for two, only to walk into a Shatter Machine from the Aussies. The Coriolis gets two with Harwood making the save this time. They head outside again and it’s a spike piledriver on the floor to drop Davis. Back in and a super Shatter Machine finishes Fletcher to retain the titles at 20:23.

Rating: B. It was a good match but this might have been better if they had cut out about four minutes. The problem here came down to the fact that this went long in the semi-main event spot on a show that is going to run over four and a half hours. The Aussies winning felt like a long shot in the first place and while the match was good, it wasn’t able to completely overcome those circumstances.

We recap Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage for the latter’s TBS Title. Allin wants to prove he belongs in the main event in his hometown and the title is on the line.

TBS Title: Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage

Allin is challenging (and bleeding before the match for some reason) and this is 2/3 falls. Feeling out process to start with Cage bailing into the corner and spitting into Allin’s face. Allin is calm enough to pull him into an armbar, followed by a headlock to keep him down. Back up and Christian chops him against the ropes, meaning we get the double bicep pose. It’s too early for the Unprettier though as Allin pulls the turtleneck over Christian’s face and rolls him up for the first fall at 4:55.

We pause for a bit as Cage stops to look at Nick Wayne’s mom in the front row before taking Allin down again. Cage pounds away at the back and cranks on his neck to keep things slow. Allin gets back up for some rapid fire rollups but gets sent outside in a crash. Cage whips him into the barricade but goes after Wayne’s mom again, allowing Allin to hit a suicide dive. Back in and the Coffin Drop hits raised knees, allowing Cage to send him into the announcers’ table. Something like a powerslam off the apron hits sends Allin back first into the steps. That’s enough for a countout to tie it up at 15:18 total.

A stretcher is brought out as Cage is doing something with the ring skirt. He peels the entire mat back and exposes the wood….before hitting a frog splash onto Allin on the stretcher. That’s good for two back inside and Cage grabs a Scorpion Deathlock. Allin makes the rope (the fans approve) and it’s a Scorpion Death Drop for two, followed by the Coffin Drop for the same.

Cage loads up a superplex onto the steps on the floor but gets reversed into a sunset bomb. The spear hits the referee though, leaving Cage to hit Allin low. The title is brought in but Nick Wayne runs in to take it away. Then Wayne hits Allin with the title (his mom is NOT happy) and Cage retains at 25:13.

Rating: B+. This was a smartly worked match as Christian didn’t have to go insane but rather set things up for Allin to go nuts instead. It made for some very good drama and action, with Allin getting the first fall to save some face. I liked the match rather well, though having it as the main event (yes they had to with the ring deal) might have been a stretch.

Post match Cage hugs Wayne, who destroys Allin while yelling about family. Sting comes in for the save but Luchasaurus is here to beat him down as well. The Conchairto is loaded up….and the lights go out. A video of someone driving a car to the arena plays and the lights come up. And yeah EDGE debuts (complete with Metalingus theme), with the villains handing him the chair. He cracks Wayne with it instead and spears Luchasaurus to clear out the villains. Edge and Sting shake hands to end the show. That’s the big deal of the show and while we’ll have to see where it goes, the moment was there.

Overall Rating: B+. As tends to be the case with AEW shows, they wind up being good in the end through the hard work and effort put in from the wrestlers. That was the case again here, with a few awesome matches being more than enough to keep me interested. The show got better as it went on and thankfully they didn’t have some of the lesser matches eat up too much time.

That being said, this was they could be that much more enjoyable with some time trimmed off. There is just SO MUCH STUFF on here and some of it could easily be dropped (like the bonus Rampage described as Zero Hour) and probably Starks vs. Yuta. At some point the energy is going to go away and that isn’t good for the main event matches. That being said, the show was still quite the blast to watch and if they can keep it up, they’re not going to change anything.

Results
Satoshi Kojima/Keith Lee/Athena/Billie Starkz b. Shane Taylor/Diamante/Lee Moriarty/Mercedes Martinez – Lariat to Moriarty
Claudio Castagnoli b. Josh Barnett – Rollup
Luchasaurus b. Nick Wayne – Forearm to the back of the head
Billy Gunn/Acclaimed b. TMDK – Mic Drop to Haste
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. The Righteous – Rollup with feet on the ropes to Dutch
Eddie Kingston b. Katsuyori Shibata – Powerbomb
Kris Statlander b. Julia Hart – Sunday Night Fever
Young Bucks b. Lucha Bros, Gunns and Orange Cassidy/Hook – BTE Trigger to Penta
Swerve Strickland b. Hangman Page – JML Driver
Ricky Starkz b. Wheeler Yuta – Roshambo
Bryan Danielson b. Zack Sabre Jr. – Running knee
Don Callis Family b. Chris Jericho/Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi – Baseball bat shot to Jericho
FTR b. Aussie Open – Super Shatter Machine to Fletcher
Christian Cage b. Darby Allin 2-1

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Rampage
Date: September 22, 2023
Location: Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Ian Riccaboni

It’s a special two hour edition of the show and hopefully that means it gets a bit more attention this week. Rampage has a tendency to have one match of note and then a bunch of other things but maybe the big stage will change that. The ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles are on the line as the Elite get a shot, so we could be in for some fireworks. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Luchasaurus/Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin/Sting

Nick Wayne is here with Allin and Sting. It’s a brawl before the match and Luchasaurus is knocked outside. Sting sends Cage into the steps but Luchasaurus sends Allin into the post in a huge crash out to the floor. We settle down to Cage choking Allin inside and Luchasaurus whipping him hard into the corner. Luchasaurus cuts off a tag attempt and we take a break.

Back with Luchasaurus hitting a chokeslam on Allin to keep him in trouble. Allin manages to slip away from Christian though and it’s off to Sting. House is cleaned, including a spinebuster to Christian and a double Stinger Splash. A Scorpion Death Coffin Drop (cool) hits Luchasaurus but Christian pokes Allin in the eye. Wayne offers a distraction though and Allin gets a jackknife rollup for the pin at 7:40.

Rating: B-. This was a good way to get things going towards the TNT Title match on Collision while also not pinning the champion. The more interesting story here though was Sting, who looks phenomenal for just about anyone, let alone someone in their 60s. Hot opener here, with the Scorpion Death Coffin Drop being a great team finisher for Sting and Allin.

Kris Statlander/Orange Cassidy/Hook vs. Anna Jay/Angelo Parker/Matt Menard

Jake Hager is here with the villains. Hook and Menard start things off but the latter keeps tagging in and out with Parker. Hook beats them both up but Menard tags Jay in to escape Redrum. A running spinwheel kick hits Statlander in the corner but she’s right back with a delayed suplex. Hager jumps Cassidy though and the distraction lets Jay hit a superkick. A distracted Hook is taken out as well and it’s a belly to back suplex back inside.

We take a break and come back with Hook hitting a double clothesline and handing it off to Cassidy for a dropkick to Menard and Parker. Everything breaks down and the heroes hit a triple suplex. A jumping elbow to the back hits Cassidy and Hager gets in a cheap shot to Hook. Jay grabs the Queenslayer on Cassidy but Statlander breaks it up with a faceplant. Cassidy Orange Punches Parker for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C+. While not quite as big on star power as the opener, this was another match where they kept things simple and let the fans cheer for people they liked. Cassidy and Hook have a weird thing going on and it wouldn’t shock me to see them face off in what could be one of the stranger matches in AEW. Jay doesn’t feel like much of a threat to Statlander, but it’s not like there are many people coming after the title at the moment.

QTV shows us some footage of QT Marshall winning a match in Montreal. Marshall sends in a text, saying he wants a partner for next week. Aaron Solo and Johnny TV think it should be them and Solo is disappointed when it’s not him.

Here are Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita to explain Sammy Guevara’s actions. Callis talks about how everyone was enthralled with him going after Chris Jericho a few weeks ago. Now though, here is the newest member of the Don Callis Family: Sammy Guevara. Cue Sammy, in a flowered shirt and white pants, to say he hated Callis at first, but Guevara was only showing him that he never had a family in the first place.

Guevara is sick of the fans and Chris Jericho, so here is Jericho to go after him. Takeshita makes the save with a bunch of chair shots and Callis busts out the screwdriver. Cue Kenny Omega for the save with a pipe. With the villains gone, Omega and Jericho tease fighting but it’s ok. I can go for combining these feuds into one, just for the sake of less Callis TV time.

Post break Omega says that was about going after Callis and company rather than saving Jericho. Cue Jericho to say AEW was build on their feud but now they should team up to face Callis’ family at WrestleDream. Oh and Kota Ibushi will team with them so Callis needs to find a third.

Best Friends vs. Hardys vs. Righteous vs. The Kingdom

For a Ring Of Honor Tag Team Title shot, with the Hardys having the same chance as the Righteous despite losing to the Righteous last week. It’s a brawl to start until the Hardys and Beat Friends have a staredown. The four way hug is broken up though and a bunch of them head outside for the Flight of the Conqueror from Taven. Back in and the Best Friends hug, followed by stereo running flip dives.

We take a break and come back with Matt Side Effecting Vincent for two, setting up Jeff’s splash for the same. Everything breaks down and the Righteous clean house but the Best Friends grab some suplexes. Chuck superkicks Taven but Soul Food is broken up. Bennett hits Taylor low and the Hail Mary (spike piledriver) gets two as Beretta makes the save. Jeff tags himself in for the Swanton but Vincent tags himself in and hits his own Swanton for the pin on Taylor at 9:30.

Rating: C. Well at least it wasn’t a tournament. The Righteous haven’t done much in ROH but here they beat three apparently AEW teams to get a shot at the titles. I can go for some fresh blood, but at the end of the day, all signs point to the Kingdom taking the titles from Adam Cole and MJF anyway.

Post match the Kingdom takes out the Best Friends with some chairs.

Mike Santana is ready to wonder where his life went. Now he’s back so don’t get in between him and his family. If you don’t like it, fight him or fire him.

Trios Titles: Dark Order vs. Billy Gunn/Acclaimed

Gunn/Acclaimed are defending and points for the “Scissor Me Daddy Ashe” sign. Caster chops Reynolds to start and armdrags him into an armbar. Back up and Caster is taken into the corner for some clubberin but he easily drives Silver into the champs’ corner. It’s off to Bowens for some fired up right hands before Gunn comes in for a scissoring double elbow. Scissor Me Timbers is broken up by Reynolds though and Silver’s bridging German suplex gets two on Bowens.

The Order mocks the scissoring and we take a break. Back with Reynolds hitting a running corner clothesline for two on Caster. The beating doesn’t last long as Caster gets over to Gunn for the hot tag without much effort. Gunn drops Silver and hands it off to Bowens, who is quickly small packaged for two. Back up and Bowens hits a superkick, setting up the Arrival and Mic Drop. Silver makes the save and Uno belts Caster in the head for two. Bowens is back in so an assisted Iconoclasm can retain the titles at 10:38.

Rating: C+. As usual, the match was ok but the Dark Order feel like bigger and bigger losers every time they’re out there. Granted I’m not sure who else is supposed to challenge for these titles as the trios division is basically one or two teams plus the champions at any given time. The fans were digging the Acclaimed as usual, but it was just another match.

Julia Hart vs. Skye Blue

Brody King is here with Hart, who has won TWENTY FOUR singles matches in a row. We get the big removal of the hats until Hart offers a left handshake, only to pull Blue in for a whisper. Blue gets slapped so she forearms away and hits a knee to Hart’s face. A suplex gives Blue two but Hart sends her into the corner and hammers away. We take a break and come back with Blue kicking her in the head for two more. Hart catches her on top and hits a superplex but manages to hang onto the ropes and look upside down at her for a bit. Hartless and Skyfall are both blocked but the second Hartless attempt makes Blue tap at 8:14.

Rating: C. Hart is starting to get somewhere and it is nice to see her develop. At the same time though, she needs to move up and face some better competition. Blue is an upgrade, but there are better stars out there that could help Hart improve a lot faster. At the same time, Blue continues to just be there and has cooled off tremendously in recent weeks.

Post match Hart grabs Hartless again but Willow Nightingale makes the save (the fans are rather into the clapping with the music).

Bullet Club Gold practice their Spanish before Jay White faces Andrade El Idolo on Collision. White is ready for him, as you might expect.

Mike Santana vs. Bronson

Bronson starts fast and hammers away in the corner but Santana is back with a rolling cutter. A discus lariat into a Cannonball sets up a double underhook Codebreaker for the pin at 2:26. Santana looked pretty good, or at least as good as you can get in a match with so little time.

Post match Ortiz comes out for the staredown and trash talking ensues.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Swerve Strickland and then Page/the Young Bucks vs. the Mogul Embassy for the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ring Of Honor Six Man Tag Team Titles: Hangman Page/Young Bucks vs. Mogul Embassy

The Embassy, with Prince Nana, is defending. It’s a brawl to start with the Bucks and Gates going to the floor, leaving Page to hammer on Cage. The Bucks help take Cage down and Kaun is held on the apron for Page’s running shooting star. Back in and a 450 hits Cage but cue Swerve Strickland to cut off the triple knee. Thankfully this means Nana gets to dance as Page stares Swerve down.

The distraction lets the Gates toss Matt into a sitout powerbomb, with Page having to make the save. Page is sent hard into the corner and we take a break. Back with Matt diving off the top to take out the Gates. The hot tag brings in Page to hammer on Cage, including a big boot. Cage gets two off a powerbomb and the champs all grab fireman’s carries. An F5, Samoan drop and White Noise drop Page and the Bucks for two on Page, followed by the running shots in the corner.

The middle rope splash/powerbomb combination gets two on Page with Nick making the save. Page is back with the Deadeye for two on Cage so Strickland comes down for a closer look. The Buckshot lariat misses though and Page is distracted by Swerve, allowing Cage to hit a discus lariat. The Drill Claw is loaded up but Page reverses into a rollup for the pin (despite Cage’s shoulder being WAY off the mat) and the titles at 11:58.

Rating: B. Best match of the show here and the title change does mean something after the Embassy has dominated the division for so long. That being said, having the Bucks and Page win even more titles isn’t the most thrilling story. The Elite winning titles feels like a regular tradition no matter what and it’s hart to get interested in it again. It might help ROH if they appear on the show, but for now, it’s just another item on an already very long resume.

Overall Rating: C+. The show was good enough and not boring but my goodness please keep it at an hour. As tends to be the case on a lot of AEW shows, it felt like they had a few big stories but a lot of stuff sprinkled in to fill time between them. The main event is good and the opener was good enough along with Jericho and Omega uniting, but that’s not quite eough to fill in a two hour show.

Results
Sting/Darby Allin b. Christian Cage/Luchasaurus – Rollup to Cage
Orange Cassidy/Hook/Kris Statlander b. Matt Menard/Angelo Parker/Anna Jay – Orange Punch to Parker
Righteous b. Hardys, the Kingdom and Best Friends – Swanton to Taylor
Billy Gunn/Acclaimed b. Dark Order – Assisted Iconoclasm to Reynolds
Julia Hart b. Skye Blue – Hartless
Mike Santana b. Bronson – Double underhook Codebreaker
Hangman Page/Young Bucks b. Mogul Embassy – Rollup to Cage

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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Collision
Date: June 24, 2023
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

It’s the go home show for Forbidden Door and the big attraction this week is again CM Punk and again he is in a multi-man tag. Other than that though, we have Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Swerve Strickland in a match that should be great. Other than that, Sting and Darby Allin need a mystery partner for tomorrow night and get to announce him tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Ricky Starks, FTR and CM Punk are ready for their eight man tag tonight.

Bullet Club Gold and the Gunns are ready for their eight man tag tonight.

Opening sequence.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to find out who is Sting and Darby Allin’s partner but Chris Jericho and Minoru Suzuki cut him off. Jericho doesn’t know who Sting and Allin could find who is tougher or sexier than them, so they’re done waiting. What matters is that Schiavone knows the partner, so TELL US WHO IT IS.

Cue Sting and Darby Allin, with the latter asking where Sammy Guevara is this week. Maybe he finally thought better of it, because if he shows up at Forbidden Door, Darby will beat his a**. Just like the partner did to Jericho at the Tokyo Dome. Cue Tetsuya Naito to stare Jericho down and send him running outside. Not the biggest surprise, but a good choice.

Miro is sick of his god being a coward and bows before no man. He renounces his god and wife because he is ready to hurt people.

Swerve Strickland vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Feeling out process to start with Tanahashi taking him into the corner and firing off some air guitar. Strickland isn’t having that and guitars him right back before sending it to the floor. A kick to the ropes serves as a low blow on the way back in and Strickland gets to choke away. Tanahashi is sent over the ropes but skins the cat for a headscissors to put Swerve outside.

Strickland ties him up in the ropes though and hammers away as we take a break. Back with Tanahashi hitting something close to the Sling Blade and striking away. The running Downward Spiral gives Strickland two but a much better Sling Blade plants Strickland again. The High Fly Flow hits raised knees but the Swerve Stomp only hits the mat. Tanahashi shoves him off the top and now the High Fly Flow can finish Strickland at 10:45.

Rating: B-. This was a match that gave me some very high hopes when I first saw it advertised and it wound up being pretty good. Tanahashi is getting up there in years and is nowhere near what he once was, but he is still capable of having a perfectly good match. Strickland losing to a legend isn’t going to hurt him, but he does need to start moving up the ladder already.

Post match MJF pops up on screen to say he’s getting out of Canada as fast as possible. He holds the most important title in the world and doesn’t want to watch a bunch of indy geeks from Japan wrestle. MJF promises to do painful things to Tanahashi with his air guitar to wrap it up.

Brody King vs. Andrade El Idolo

Andrade kicks King’s leg out to start and gets up a raised boot in the corner. A headscissors out of the corner drops King again so he sends Andrade into the ropes, where we get the Tranquilo pose. King is sent outside and there’s the big moonsault from the top to take him down again. Back up and King knocks him down hard to the floor with a chop and we take a break.

We come back with King working on the taped up shoulder until Andrade makes it to the apron. The dragon screw legwhip over the rope takes King down and a high crossbody puts him down again. The running knees in the corner give Andrade two but King Death Valley Drivers him into the corner. Andrade is right back with another shot to the leg though and the Figure Four is loaded up. Cue Julia Hart with Andrade’s mask but the distraction doesn’t work. Instead, Andrade elbows King down and the Figure Eight goes on, only to have Buddy Matthews run in for the DQ at 12:56.

Rating: B-. Another solid match from Andrade, who is working extra hard since his return. While there is a very good chance that is to get a certain other company to notice him, I’ll certainly take what I can get while it’s available. Andrade finding some friends to go after the Trios Titles isn’t a bad idea and if it means King getting to maul people, I’m all for it.

Post match the House beats Andrade down. Malakai Black pops up on screen as Hart holds up the mask. The lights go out…and that’s it.

Here are Christian Cage (holding the TNT Title) and Luchasaurus (the TNT Champion) for a chat. Christian is back home in Toronto and now he knows that it breeds losers. He mocks the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors, including former Raptors star Kawhi Leonard, who left a few years ago. Now for a couple of housekeeping items: there will be no more open challenges and you will have to earn a title shot, like HE did. Christian is ready to take the title to the next level. Luchasaurus was barely mentioned and said nothing, but he does get to carry Christian around on his shoulders.

Various people talk about what it would mean to win the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. The interesting point here: Jim Neidhart trained Roderick Strong? That’s a new one on me.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Willow Nightingale vs. Nyla Rose

Non-title and Marina Shafir is here with Rose. Nightingale ducks a clothesline in the corner to start and takes her down, setting up the big chops. Rose is knocked outside, where a Shafir distraction lets her post Nightingale as we take a break. Back with Nightingale sending her into the corner and hitting a middle rope missile dropkick for two. Rose muscles her over with a suplex though and then drops her with a gordbuster for two of her own. Nightingale slips out of a powerbomb and hits the Pounce to drop Rose again. The Babe With The Powerbomb finishes Rose at 8:54.

Rating: C. Nightingale is in a weird spot at the moment as she doesn’t seem likely to win the TBS or AEW/ROH Women’s Titles, so this might be her high point for the time being. She can make a run in the tournament and still be the NJPW Strong champion, but, much like several others, she needs to win something from around here for a change. Maybe the tournament is it, but anything involving more Nightingale is a good thing.

Post match the Outcasts surround Nightingale but Skye Blue makes the save with a chair.

Scorpio Sky talks about how he struggled to get here. Then his success controlled him but no more. He is one half of the first Tag Team Champions, the first Face of the Revolution and a two time TNT Champion. Now you’ll find out who he really is.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Jeremy Prophet

Hobbs knocks him into the corner to start and doesn’t seem pleased when Prophet tries a rollup. Some clotheslines drop Prophet and the spinebuster finishes him at 1:37.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

CM Punk/FTR/Ricky Starks vs. Bullet Club Gold/The Gunns

It’s a VERY mixed reaction for Punk here, which almost had to be expected. While bails from the threat of facing Punk to start and hands it off to Robinson instead. A shoulder drops Robinson so it’s Harwood coming in for a headlock of his own. Said headlock is ground away a bit before it’s off to Starks for the hip gyrating Old School on Colten. White comes in for the save and NOW he wants Punk. That’s fine with Punk, who gives him a hip gyration of his own and then wins a chop off.

The GTS and Blade Runner are both broken up and White sends him outside. The big staredown is on and we take a break. Back with Robinson getting caught in FTR’s Doomsday Device, with White having to make a save. Something like a Demolition Decapitator gets two on Austin (the fans are NOT pleased with Punk) but it’s off to White for a dragon screw legwhip.

White starts working on the leg but brings Colten in for a chop off. Punk gets taken down again though and we take another break. Back again with White yelling that Punk doesn’t belong in this ring anymore and getting planted or his efforts. The running knee in the corner rocks White but the Gunns break up the tag attempt. Robinson’s GTS attempt is blocked and Punk kicks him in the head. The Gunns are kicked away and the diving tag brings in Starks to clean house.

Roshambo is broken up and we settle down to White rolling Starks up (with trunks) for two. Blade Runner is broken up and the Gunns are back in to beat up Harwood. Wheeler takes both of them out and hits a big dive to the floor. Not to be outdone, Punk dives at White but gets caught in a swinging Rock Bottom. Starks gets one of his own for two and the spear hits White. The Gunns are cleared out but Robinson gets in the big left, setting up Blade Runner for the pin on Starks at 23:43.

Rating: B. Another long and good match, but it didn’t feel as long this week. It’s almost strange seeing Punk’s team lose so early and while I could have gone for someone other than Starks taking a fall, it does open some doors for the future. As for Punk, what mattered here was he had a much longer stint in the ring this time and didn’t look horrible. He has a long way to go, but Sunday’s Forbidden Door match should tell us some more about what he is doing. Solid main event, and I can go or something like this once a week.

The winners celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I’m not sure it was quite as good as last week but what matters is having the solid action while also building up Forbidden Door. This show featured some guest stars and we’ll have to wait for next week to see how the norm might feel around here. I liked it again and the wrestling was good to rather good, though it’s still strange to have it be so different from Dynamite. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s certainly rather jarring in a lot of ways.

Results
Hiroshi Tanahashi b. Swerve Strickland – High Fly Flow
Andrade El Idolo b. Brody King via DQ when Buddy Matthews interfered
Willow Nightingale b. Nyla Rose – The Babe With The Powerbomb
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Jeremy Prophet – Spinebuster
Bullet Club Gold/The Gunns b. CM Punk/FTR/Ricky Starks – Blade Runner to Starks

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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The Show Must Go On
Date: February 17, 2018
Location: 800 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
Commentator: Rich Bocchini

So this is from WrestleCircus, which for some reason is a circus themed wrestling promotion because….I have no idea why really. It’s now defunct, but I had hear some good things about it during its day and always meant to check out one of their shows. I have no idea what to expect here but it sounds fun enough. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence, featuring some of the fairly big name stars who have been through here before. Granted it feels quite a bit like a lot of independent promotions, but I do appreciate a quick look.

Rich Bocchini runs down the card.

Ring announcer Louden Noxious (I’ve seen him before) welcomes us to the show and introduces the referee, who is not incredibly popular.

Gentlemen Jervis vs. Colin Delaney

Jervis is in a big yellow mask (and is also known as Jervis Cottonbelly, because that’s an awesome name) and you might remember Delaney from ECW On Sci Fi (I looked at the show where he earned a contract earlier this week so this is quite the coincidence). Jervis goes for some grappling to start and Delaney’s frustrations start early. Delaney flips up and stares at him before they trade standing switches.

Back up and Jervis grabs a hiptoss, only to get caught with a springboard armdrag into….some ballroom dancing from Delaney? They load up the lift from Dirty Dancing but Jervis backdrops him instead. They trade slaps to the face until Delaney heads outside and grabs a chair. That’s too far for Jervis, who throws in about six chairs and gets all angry (keep in mind that he’s described as rather friendly and sweet).

Referees break it up and get rid of the chairs but the main referee gets bumped. Delaney grabs a cane and does the Eddie Guerrero “toss it and drop”, only to have it turn into something like a game of hot potato. Then the referee gets back up so they throw it to him and fall down (Bocchini: “The referee is going to have to disqualify himself!”). Delaney elbows Jervis in the back of the head to take over but Jervis is right back with a cradle for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: C. It was pure comedy and nothing more, but that’s all they set it up as being. Jervis snapping was kind of funny and Delaney worked well enough as a relatively generic heel. This was a perfectly fine way to open the show and the fans seemed to like it so they know their audience. Now just learn how to do the lift and they’ll be fine.

Dirty Devils vs. The Boys

The Devils are Andy Dalton/Gregory James (with the Insidious Follower, a masked man) and the Boys are Dalton Castle’s Boys, with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot. The Devils jump them from behind but the Boys come back with a springboard dropkick. Brandon takes James into the corner so Brent can come in. A top rope clothesline hits Dalton and it’s quickly off to Dalton to try his shot.

The Boys are back with a double leapfrog into a double hiptoss but James comes in off a blind tag to take Brent down from behind. The Follower gets in some choking from the floor like a good Insidious one would, allowing James to get in some hip swiveling faceplants. James comes back in for some running shots in the corner before sending Brent face first into Dalton’s raised boots.

The camel clutch doesn’t last long so it’s James coming back in to kick him in the face. Insidious chokes again but gets caught this time, allowing Brandon to pull some Twin Magic. Brandon faceplants him for two as everything breaks down. James manages a double draping DDT to the apron (that only worked so well) and the Follower adds a top rope dive.

Dalton adds a heck of a flipping suicide dive but the Boys are back up with dives of their own as this went up about three gears in a minute and a half. Back in and Dalton is sent outside but he breaks up the cover off Sliced Bread #2. Dalton comes back in and it’s a stomp into a moonsault to give James the pin at 12:37.

Rating: B-. They took their time to start until the last few minutes when everything went nuts. The Devils aren’t exactly a great team but they’re solid enough as heels for a spot like this. The Boys were their usual energetic selves but there is something missing when Dalton Castle isn’t around. Good enough stuff here though and an upgrade over the opener.

Shane Taylor vs. Space Monkey

Monkey is replacing Trent, who isn’t here due to an injury. Since he’s a Monkey, the fans throw in bananas (because they have those) and he offers Taylor one after the bell. Taylor is annoyed but gets caught with a DDT to send him outside. The dive is pulled out of the air though and Taylor abuses him with a banana. Back in and Taylor blasts him with the chops to take over before a kick to the….well somewhere in the upper body area takes Monkey down again.

A heck of a clothesline gives Taylor two but Monkey manages a quick moonsault for a breather. Taylor isn’t having that though and blasts Monkey with a clothesline, followed by a spinebuster for two. The big right hand misses and Monkey snaps off another tornado DDT. Something like a Swanton sets up a tail whip but Taylor knocks him silly with a right hand for the pin 10:55.

Rating: C. Monkey is about as gimmicky as you can get and otherwise he’s just a mostly run of the mill high flier. Taylor is a better power guy though and those shots knocking Monkey around were great. I’m not sure how much the bananas added but at least they had something different here.

Respect is shown post match.

Scorpio Sky vs. Shane Strickland

Strickland is a former Ringmaster Champion but Sky (with Kevin Condron, and what appears to be their version of the Money In The Bank briefcase) cost him the title, meaning it’s time for revenge. Strickland isn’t interested in a rather disingenuous handshake offer but Sky takes him down anyway. It’s too early for the TKO so Strickland hits a nice dropkick. Some shots to the arm set up the House Call and Sky bails to the floor.

Strickland puts him in a chair but a Condron distraction lets Sky plant him hard on the apron to take over. Back in and a running shoulder in the corner gives Sky two and it’s time to work on the ribs. With that broken up, Strickland kicks him in the head as commentary recaps the history between the two, which does a lot to make this feel like a serious feud.

Strickland’s rolling cutter gets two and some kicks to the face knock Sky again. A dropkick is countered into a gutbuster though (that was clever) and Sky sends him outside for a dive. Condron: “SCORPIO SKY IS THE BEST!” Fans: “BULLS***!” Back in and Strickland kicks him in the arm before snapping it back hard. Strickland grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb into a keylock but Condron pulls the referee.

Condron gets decked with a right hand but the distraction lets Sky hit the TKO for two. They head to the apron where Strickland counters a piledriver into the Death Valley Driver before kicking Condron in the face. That sends Condron into a chair into Sky, where a double Swerve Stomp from the apron crushes both of them. The regular Swerve Stomp finishes Sky at 18:49.

Rating: B. This worked on two levels, as you had a pair of talented stars getting the time to have a rather good match, but the story worked well too. Sky is the one who screwed Strickland over and the annoying manager so Strickland got to take them both out. I had a good time with this one and it is by far the best thing on the show so far.

Intermission.

Commentary runs down the remaining four matches.

Before we get back to the show, Noxious thanks the venue, Twitch (for broadcasting), the internet and the fans. Finally, a recently returned soldier and his significant other get in the ring. The soldier talks about how he just got back and how great it is to be here….and then he proposes. Ok that was awesome.

Leva Bates vs. Deonna Purrazzo vs. Chelsea Green vs. Christi Jaynes

Elimination rules and this is Purrazzo’s WrestleCircus debut for a Women’s Title shot. Bates comes out to Zack Ryder’s (Green’s boyfriend) music and in his gear for a great troll moment. They go with the four way test of strength to start before pairing off into the corners. Bates does the WOO WOO WOO and Green isn’t sure what to make of her.

Jaynes enziguris Purrazzo to the floor before armdragging Green down. Green is back up with a missile dropkick to send Jaynes to the floor but Purrazzo is back in. Bates faceplants Purrazzo before she and Bates hit stereo Broski Boots. Everything breaks down and we hit the parade of finishers, with Green being knocked to the floor. The other three slug it out until it’s a triple knockdown.

Back up and Purrazzo Fujiwara armbars Jaynes out at 7:04. Purrazzo isn’t done as she rolls some German suplexes on Bates but she avoids a clothesline. Zack Ryder’s old Zack Attack (kind of a Playmaker but with the back of Purrazzo’s head slamming into Bates’ knee) finishes Purrazzo at 8:22. Green comes back in (as Laurel Van Ness, ala her time in Impact Wrestling) and hits an Unprettier for the pin (while seeming to kiss Bates) at 9:00.

Rating: C+. This started off well but then it was like they ran out of time and had to blaze through the eliminations as fast as they could. Green winning is fine enough, even with the alter ego deal, but it was only so interesting with them having to blaze through the last few minutes. If that’s the case, just make it one fall.

The following match is a Death Match and Noxious announces that Space Monkey is outside signing autographs for the kinds in case parents don’t want them seeing this much violence. That is an awesome idea and I would love to see it more often.

Masada vs. Brody King

This is a Death Match with Kevin Condron on commentary and was originally going to include Space Monkey. They fight over arm control to start as Condron talks about being a trainer, which has Bocchini realizing what is wrong with the business today. The fight heads outside and into the crowd, with Masada already busted open.

The fight goes over near the bar and then come back inside with King hitting him with chair. A big boot drops Masada in the corner but he’s back up with a clothesline and chair shot of his own. Masada scores with a powerbomb before whipping out the skewers (just as commentary talked about Masada wanting to be a serious wrestler, which thankfully Bocchini does acknowledge).

A piledriver drives onto the chair drives the skewers further into King’s head, only to have him come back with a heck of a clothesline. King hits a powerbomb for two, followed by a powerbomb onto the chair for two more. Back up and Masada breaks the chair over King’s head before tying up his leg/head (with the chair around said head) for the knockout at 12:48.

Rating: C+. They didn’t go completely insane with the hardcore/deathmatch stuff (save for the skewers) so this could have been worse. Masada is someone I’ve seen before and he doesn’t exactly do much for me, while King would go on to much bigger things in the future. For now though, it was a pretty decent brawl which was pulled down by the excessive violence.

Masada won’t show respect post match.

Matt Cross vs. El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Jordan Len-X

Colin Delaney is in on commentary. Fantasma is better known as Santos Escobar and the winner faces Masada in a #1 contenders match for the Sideshow Title. Len-X is in a Rick And Morty shirt and his theme song sounds like it says “Yummy yummy fruit salad”. Also, while his chyron says “Jordan Len-X, Noxious sounds like he calls him “Cruiser Kong”.

They go with the three way test of strength and Cross monkey flips both of them, though they stick the landing. Instead Cross sends them outside for the suicide dive but can’t get back up immediately. Back in and Hijo hits a running knee on Jordan, only to have Cross come back in with a springboard crossbody. Hijo is back up to take them both down and a jumping superkick hits Cross.

It’s time to throw in some chairs but Fantasma takes WAY too long setting them up, allowing Jordan to come back up and put Fantasma on the chairs. With that broken up as well, the Tower of Doom is broken up and Cross’ super hurricanrana sends Jordan through four set up chairs. Back in and Fantasma gets rolled up for a stomp to the ribs but the Phantom Driver gets the same on Cross. A quick rebound cutter drops Fantasma but Jordan is back in with a Razor’s Edge spun into a knee to the face to finish Cross at 12:26.

Rating: B-. There was good stuff here, but once the chairs were brought in, things started to get a bit repetitive. It felt like they were trying to get in their spots rather than win the match and that is not a road you want to take. The first three fourths were good enough though and it certainly wasn’t boring, but you could almost see the checklist of triple threat spots they were going for here.

Bocchini: “Jordan Len-X, also known as Cruiser Kong!” What is up with that?

Video on Brian Cage (Ringmaster Title, top title) vs. Tessa Blanchard (Sideshow Title, midcard title, in addition to Lady of the Ring (women’s champion), which isn’t on the line here), title vs. title.

Ringmaster Title/Sideshow Title: Brian Cage vs. Tessa Blanchard

Title for title so they’re both defending/challenging. Before the match, Cage sends Scorpio Sky and Kevin Condron, his teammates in the Process, to the back. Cage drops to his knees for a test of strength so Blanchard kicks him away. As Condron joins commentary again, Cage grabs her by the hair and hits a big boot to take over. A headscissors frustrates Cage and a hurricanrana to the floor breaks up a powerbomb.

That’s fine with Cage, who pulls her out of the air and hits an F5 onto the apron. Cage spends too much time posing though and gets kicked to the floor, allowing Blanchard to flip dive off the apron and take him down again. Condron: “Alright, so we’ve got a match.” Blanchard chairs him in the head but Cage is fine enough to throw her into a bunch of chairs. The delayed apron superplex drops Blanchard back inside, setting up the curls into the release fall away slam.

Cage throws her down again and throws in some pushups for a quick exercise demonstration. Blanchard manages a drop toehold into the ropes and a pop up tornado DDT gets two. Back up and Cage unloads on her with shots in the corner, setting up a wheelbarrow neckbreaker for two of his own. Blanchard manages to grab a Canadian Destroyer for another near fall but cage is right back with a pumphandle driver. A super Razor’s Edge is countered into a super hurricanrana and a top rope backsplash gets a VERY close two.

Blanchard can’t get a choke but she can get caught in a gorilla press powerslam. One heck of a toss across the ring drops Blanchard again but she stops a charge with a knee. A not great GTS gives Blanchard two and it’s a Codebreaker into Magnum (middle rope Codebreaker). The top rope Magnum gets two more but another attempt is countered into a powerbomb. The F5 only gets two and now it’s Cage’s turn to be stunned. Blanchard counters the Drill Claw but Cage blasts her with a discus lariat. Now the Drill Claw can make Cage a double champion at 17:47.

Rating: B. Intergender matches are really hard to make work but they kept it moving here and kept Blanchard looking strong throughout. Cage winning in the end with the straight power is the right way to go but it is easy to see why Blanchard was seen as such a prodigy. Heck of a main event here as it felt like a struggle between two top level stars.

Post match Cage (Fans: “NO ONE LIKES YOU!”/”THAT’S NOT TRUE!”) grabs the mic and says the only thing that matters about Blanchard is her chest. Then he compliments a match she had with Britt Baker and that God has a plan for her. They hug and the fans chant for Blanchard as Cage leaves. Blanchard poses with the women’s title before leaving to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The show was good and the top matches were worth seeing, but the one question I can’t figure out: what does this have to do with the circus? Other than the names of the titles, nothing about this feels like anything but an above average independent promotion. It was a fun show and I’d watch something else from the promotion, but there was nothing here that made it stand out in any meaningful way. Solid show, but this could have been called WrestleBassProShop and the details could have been the same.

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.

Rampage
Date: March 25, 2023
Location: Cable Dahmer Arena, Independence, Missouri
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s a rare Saturday Rampage this week due to the NCAA Tournament. The show is coming off a pretty strong Dynamite this week so it has its work cut out for it. You never know what you might get on Rampage, which can make the show that much more interesting a lot of the time. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Penta El Cero Miedo vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Hobbs, with the QTV crew, is defending and they strike it out to start. Miedo knocks him to the floor but the dive is cut off, allowing Hobbs to hammer away. There’s a posting to drop Miedo again before Hobbs whips him hard into the corner back inside. Hobbs slowly beats him down and plants Miedo for two as we take a break.

Back with Miedo hitting a Sling Blade and a Backstabber out of the corner gets two. Hobbs isn’t having that and runs Miedo over before starting to get serious. Town Business is broken up though and Miedo superkicks him to the floor, setting up the big flip dive. A top rope double stomp on the apron sets up another one inside for two as Hobbs barely kicks out. QT Marshall offers a distraction though and Miedo has to deal with Aaron Solo. That lets Hobbs hit a belt shot into Town Business to retain at 10:35.

Rating: C. So now Hobbs has gone from a monster to needing QT Marshall to win the title to needing distractions from Marshall/Solo and a belt shot to retain. How any promotion can manage to screw up something like this is beyond me, but at least QTV is getting some extra attention. Why not just give Marshall the title and call it a day?

Post match Hobbs goes after Alex Abrahantes but Rey Fenix makes the save with a hammer.

We recap the Young Bucks getting attacked on Dynamite and Don Callis being up to some shenanigans after Kenny Omega beat Hijo del Vikingo.

Jeff Cobb wants Omega on Dynamite.

Here is Ricky Starks for a chat. He feels like he has been talking enough lately and now he wants Juice Robinson out here for a fight. Cue Robinson to say he is being called out so it’s time for Starks to take a beating. Robinson changes his mind so Starks comes after him, only to have Robinson bail into the crowd. They’re not fighting in Missouri, so they’ll do it in two weeks in New York. This story still isn’t exactly clicking.

Jay Lethal praises Jeff Jarrett, who wants respect from the delusional AEW fans. Sonjay Dutt says they’re coming for the Tag Team Titles. Satnam Singh stands there.

Brody King vs. Jake Hager

Julia Hart is here with King. They shove/knock each other around to start with neither getting very far. An exchange of running forearms to the face doesn’t work so King chops him hard to the floor instead. King whips him into the barricade but Hager does the exact same thing (just to King instead).

We take a break and come back with King hitting a Boss Man Slam for two. King clotheslines him in the corner but misses the Cannonball. The Vader Bomb hits King’s raised knees though and King hits a clothesline for two. Cue Anna Jay to post Hart and Hager rolls King up for two. That just annoys King enough to Samoan driver Hager for the pin at 7:17.

Rating: C+. Hager still doesn’t feel like the most important member of the roster but at least he put King over here to make up for some of last week’s loss to Daniel Garcia. King is someone who could be a big monster and now he needs to be built back up to make it more of a possibility. This is a nice start, but the Jericho Appreciation Society beating him a few more times wouldn’t stun me.

Swerve Strickland is ready to finish Dustin Rhodes and Keith Lee when he wants to. For now, he has a fresh affiliate (Tec-9?) and is coming after them.

Leila Grey vs. Taya Valkyrie

Jade Cargill and Mark Sterling are here with Grey. A lot of trash is talked to start before Taya runs her over with a clothesline. Some right hands set up the Road To Valhalla to finish Grey at 1:13.

Post match Sterling yells at Taya and gets the Road To Valhalla too.

Video on the Kingdom vs. Acclaimed.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

Kingdom vs. Acclaimed

Matt Menard, with Angelo Parker, is on commentary, Maria is here with the Kingdom and Billy Gunn is here with the Acclaimed. Maria offers a fast distraction so Taven can knock Caster into the corner. Bennett comes in, decks Bowens, and goes back to Caster, who gets in a forearm of his own. It’s off to Bowens for a neckbreaker on Bennett and there’s Scissor Me Timbers. Scissoring ensues and we take a break.

Back with Taven kicking Caster in the face for two and the Kingdom gives Billy a crotch chop. Maria tries to slip in a shoe but Billy chases her off. Cue Top Flight (because this match needs a team on commentary, a team interfering and two managers) to chase her off. Bowens comes in off the tag and starts to clean house, including a running Fameasser from behind to Taven. Bennett is sent outside and it’s the Arrival into the Mic Drop for the pin on Taven at 9:50.

Rating: C+. Pretty good here as it’s nice to have a team as talented as the Kingdom around, but they were only around to help reheat the Acclaimed. It’s a shame to see the Acclaimed fall as fast as they have. They’re still talented and popular, but they have gone from the most over team in AEW to main eventing Rampage against a team who haven’t really been established around here. Oh and they get Menard and Parker next, just in case they needed even weaker competition.

Scissoring ensues after the match, with the Jericho Appreciation Society approving to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. It wasn’t a bad show but it felt like a rather typical Rampage, with little in the way of important stories. This week didn’t even have anything resembling a great match, making this feel like a rather hard punt. That’s fine for the tournament show, but it would still be nice to have this show feel a lot more important. Or for Hobbs to not be playing second fiddle to QTV, but that is looking more and more like a lost cause. Anyway, decent show this week, but absolutely nothing you need to see.

Results
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Penta El Cero Miedo – Town Business
Brody King b. Jake Hager – Samoan driver
Taya Valkyrie b. Leila Grey – Road To Valhalla
Acclaimed b. Kingdom – Mic Drop to Taven

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Rampage
Date: March 17, 2023
Location: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentators: Paul Wight, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re still in Canada for St. Patrick’s Day Slam, which will actually air very early on Saturday due to the NCAA basketball tournament. That means the audience is going to be down, which means the show might not be as stacked as usual. It would make sense, but that could make for an interesting show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Rey Fenix vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Hobbs, with QTV (Aaron Solo/QT Marshall), is defending and Fenix flips around to start. Fenix knocks him to the floor for a dive, setting up an Asai moonsault to drop Hobbs again. Back in and Hobbs runs him over for a change and takes it right back to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Hobbs takes it back inside and is rather pleased with how crumpled Fenix seems to be. The nerve hold goes on, followed by a suplex for two on Fenix as we take a break.

Back with Fenix being pulled back inside and the nerve hold going on. Fenix fights up and bounces on the ropes before having his springboard armdrag pulled into a powerslam for two. Fenix is able to snap off a German suplex for two and the rope walk kick to the head drops Hobbs again.

Hobbs is fine enough to drive him HARD into the corner, setting up a nasty spinebuster for two. Fenix gets back up and kicks him down, setting up a frog splash for two. A roll is pulled out of the air into another spinebuster though and Town Business (a reverse FU, which I don’t think was what they called Town Business before) retains the title at 14:13.

Rating: B-. Good power vs. speed match here and it’s nice for Hobbs’ first title defense to be against someone with credibility. That being said, my goodness does it feel like a waste for Hobbs to be part of a group. Hobbs is a force but now it looks like he’s part of the Factory 2.0, with QT Marshall being the star of their vignette last week. I don’t get the thinking here, as Hobbs could be fine on his own, but AEW does love its stables.

Post match, Hobbs beats up Alex Abrahantes for a bonus.

Adam Cole is ready to come back on March 29.

Stu Grayson wants Jon Moxley next week.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Ava Lawless

This is Taya’s in-ring debut and she powers Lawless into the corner for a running clothesline. The running knees in the corner set up a spear and the Road To Valhalla (better known as Jaded around here) finishes Lawless at 1:17. Total dominance.

Post match Jade Cargill, Leila Grey and Mark Sterling come out to glare at Taya.

Matt Hardy (in a Ribera Steak House jacket) train Stokely Hathaway for Hook. Hathaway’s tickle counter to a slam and having a cookie might not be the best idea.

Bollywood Boyz vs. Jericho Appreciation Society

The Boyz give Parker a modified Hart Attack (top rope elbow instead of a running clothesline) to send him to the floor to start fast. Back in and it’s off to Menard to take Gurv down as we go to a break. We come back with Harv cleaning house, including a running spinwheel kick to Parker. The Society double teams him down though and grabs the double implant DDT for the pin at 6:47.

Rating: C. I still do not get the logic behind having almost half of a match take place during a break, especially one as low level as this one. The Boyz are always worth at least a glance just due to how much fun they seem to be having out there but the Society is only so interesting. They’re a good enough team, but the idea of them feuding with the Acclaimed feels like as much of a downgrade as you can get after losing the titles.

Post match the Society mocks the scissoring.

Don Callis greeted Konosuke Takeshita at the airport with flowers and a Japanese man banging a drum.

Video on Hijo del Vikingo vs. Kenny Omega next week on Dynamite.

We look at the triple threat Trios Titles match from Dynamite.

Here’s what’s coming at various shows.

The Gunns are happy about being Tag Team Champions and run into Top Flight, who they think are the valets. They get in an argument about being the best brother team and Top Flight wants the titles. The title match is set for next week. The Gunns leave their bags though and Top Flight takes them. Thieves.

Daniel Garcia vs. Brody King

Chris Jericho is here with Garcia while King has Julia Hart. Garcia bails to the floor to start and the chase is on and lasts over a minute until Garcia dropkicks the knee. With that not working, King sends him into the corner, only to miss a splash. Garcia gets sent outside where he stops to hit on Hart, earning himself a heck of a chop. The running crossbody against the barricade crushes Garcia again but he avoids a charge and sends King into the steps.

We take a break and come back with King planting him with a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. A piledriver gets the same and there’s a Cannonball in the corner to give King two more. Garcia goes after the ankle and slaps on a sleeper, which is broken up through straight power. Another missed charge lets Garcia grab his own Walls, sending King to the rope. Jericho gets in a baseball bat shot so Garcia grabs a choke to win at 12:26.

Rating: C+. Well that’s one way to go. King has been presented as a monster for the last few weeks and the solution is just “hit him with a baseball bat”. The fans went nuts for Jericho (of course) but I’m not sure how wise it is to have Garcia pin the monster like this. If you need Jericho to do something like this, do it in a dark match and save King’s unstoppable aura.

Overall Rating: B-. As usual, Rampage is an enjoyable watch and nothing was bad but it feels like another show where they were just supplementing Dynamite. The good thing is that everything served at least something of a purpose, which puts it above most Rampages. Now just have Hobbs crush the rest of QT and feed them to his cat (I’m picturing one named Milo) and everything is a lot better.

Results
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Rey Fenix – Town Business
Taya Valkyrie b. Ava Lawless – Road To Valhalla
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Bollywood Boyz – Double implant DDT to Harv
Daniel Garcia b. Brody King – Choke

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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Dynamite
Date: August 10, 2022
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Jim Ross

It’s another themed show with Quake By The Lake, though in this case it seems to just be a name instead of anything specific. The card is pretty stacked as we have Jon Moxley defending the World Title against Chris Jericho, plus a coffin match and a tornado tag. That should be enough so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Darby Allin vs. Brody King

Coffin match. Allin pops up out of the darkness to start fast, including some thumbtacked skateboard shots. They fight around the ring with Allin getting punched out of the air and being sent over the table. King breaks the skateboard over his knee, which has Allin diving right back at him. Back in and Allin fights his way out of trouble on top and hits a super Code Red, with King being sent outside again (there is a trail of blood on the floor). This time King whips him HARD into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with King missing Allin with a middle rope splash to the floor but hitting the table clean. Allin loads up a big dive but the lights go out, meaning it’s House Of Black time. Julia Hart trips Allin down and the beating is on, allowing King to hit a running flip dive through a table in the corner.

The coffin is loaded up, but Sting is inside. House is cleaned but Sting throws Malakai Black the bat. Black thinks about it but leaves, allowing Allin to hit a big cannonball suicide dive to drop King on the floor. It’s not enough to get him into the coffin though as King drops Allin onto the steps. Allin manages to get in a few chain shots though and chokes King on the apron. King falls off the apron and falls into the coffin to give Allin the win at 13:24.

Rating: B-. That was a lot of blood from King, who was gushing by the end of the match. The good thing here is that Allin won, which is pretty overdue for him in a big match. Odds are that isn’t it for him with the House of Black as Sting and Malakai still need to have their showdown, but for now, it’s a good win for Allin.

Jon Moxley says that since we have the FTW Title, his title might as well be the FYI Title. Tonight, he is going to push the last survivor of the Hart Dungeon and the Lionheart and see what happens.

Chris Jericho promises to win the title tonight because the Lionheart, complete with the leather vest, is back. Jericho talks about how he is going to stretch Moxley tonight and tonight he is going to win the title again.

We have brackets for the Trios Titles tournament:

Death Triangle
Will Ospreay/Aussie Open

Andrade El Idolo/Dragon Lee/Rush
Young Bucks/???

House Of Black
Dark Order

Trustbusters
Best Friends

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Lucha Bros

Tornado tag with Jose and Alex Abrahantes here too. La Faccion starts fast and Fenix is suplexed hard into the corner. Penta is back up with a Sling Blade though and Fenix hits a suicide dive to send Rush into the barricade. There’s the running flip dive to drop Andrade again, leaving Penta to hit Made In Japan for two on Rush. Back in and Rush breaks up the spike Fear Factor and drops Fenix onto Penta for a double two. La Faccion hits stereo flip dives to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with the Bros hitting their own big flipping dives, setting up Fenix’s Eddie dance and frog splash. That only hits knees (spent too much time dancing) but Penta hits a rolling cutter to drop Rush, leaving all four down. Back up and Andrade ties Penta’s mask to the ropes (JR: “NOT THE DOUBLE KNOT!”), leaving Rush to piledrive Fenix. Penta rips the mask off and makes the save, leaving Andrade to throw the mask into the crowd. As the fans chant THROW IT BACK, Rush hits the Bull’s Horns and El Idolo finishes Fenix at 13:52.

Rating: C+. In a way, I can go with the idea of just throwing up your hands and not even bothering with the tags anymore. These matches exist for nothing more than a bunch of chaos, so just throw away the tagging part and get to what everyone is waiting on. They do the style well, but my goodness, enough with the Bros losing their masks.

The Young Bucks come up to Hangman Page and the Dark Order. The Bucks praise Page for everything he has done over the years and reminisce about their great times together, saying it was the best time of their careers. One more time: they can reunite the team and win the Trios Titles. Page is grateful for their time together but turns them down for the Dark Order, because they have had his back. They’ll get together later though, with the Bucks not being overly pleased but not arguing.

Anthony Henry vs. Luchasaurus

Jungle Boy is on commentary. Henry charges at him, gets beaten up, and walks into the Fossilizer (Sean O’Haire’s Widowmaker for those O’Haire fans out there) for the pin at 37 seconds.

Post match Christian Cage pops up on screen in the back….and Jungle Boy actually goes running after him because he knows where the interviews take place (as logical as it gets around here). Security keeps Jungle Boy from Christian but Luchasaurus comes in to take them out. Christian escapes and Luchasaurus headbutts agent Pat Buck.

Miro isn’t sure what to do about the House of Black but Julia Hart comes up to tell him to embrace their gift. She isn’t the woman allowed to touch his face, but he’ll accept their help.

Powerhouse Hobbs is interrupted by QT Marshall and the Factory. They’ll take care of Ricky Starks, which seems to have Hobbs’ approval.

Here are Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt. They brag about taking out Wardlow on Saturday and Lethal wants another shot. Cue Wardlow to say he’s taking them all out right now, with FTR coming out join them. The villains bail but come back in, with Wardlow and FTR clearing the ring.

The Jericho Appreciation Society is ready for Chris Jericho’s win tonight and even have a little bit of the bubbly waiting on them. Daniel Garcia calls himself the Dragon Slayer for taking out Bryan Danielson, which sends Anna Jay off to choke someone who doesn’t seem to like that. That would be Leva Bates (formerly known as Blue Pants).

Aaron Solo vs. Ricky Starks

The Factory is here too but get ejected for trying to interfere. Starks takes Solo down but the Roshambo is countered with a hurricanrana. Starks misses the spear but then hits the spear (almost from the side) for the pin at 2:02.

Post match Nick Comoroto comes in to go after Starks but he gets away from a chair shot. Then Starks runs away into the crowd when the rest of the team comes in.

Stokely Hathaway interrupts the Gunn Club and recruits the younger generation. Billy doesn’t like it, so Stokely calls him old. Danhausen comes in and a match seems to be made for Rampage.

The Trustbusters interrupt the Best Friends because Orange Cassidy won’t answer Ari Daivari’s texts or calls. Cassidy says no, so threats are made.

TNT Title: Madison Rayne vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill is defending and misses a charge into the corner to start. A middle rope dropkick sends Cargill outside. They head outside and Madison has to counter a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Back in and Jade hits a heck of a spear as we take a break. Back with Rayne grabbing a neckbreaker and hitting a not great enziguri. The Baddie distraction lets Jade kick her down and, after countering a counter, hit Jaded to retain at 7:34.

Rating: C. This could have been worse, but Rayne is going to hit a pretty solid ceiling of just ok most of the time. At the same time, Jade isn’t going to lose in a mostly cold match on Dynamite so there was only so much drama. Rayne is a veteran who can wrestle a competent match, but this seemed more about giving Jade a win over a name, whatever that is worth in Rayne’s case.

Post match Athena, previously disguised as a Baddie, comes in to take Jade out and clear the ring.

Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm, now #1 contender due to Kris Statlander getting hurt, are cool with each other but ready to fight. Storm wants to keep her momentum going.

Here’s what’s coming on a bunch of shows.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho, in his WCW/ECW/NJPW look as the Lionheart, is challenging and William Regal is on commentary. Feeling out process to start as Jericho (with ponytail) armdrags him down a few times. Jericho takes him down to crank on the neck but Moxley is back up with some chops and trash talk. A snapmare drops Moxley and Jericho rips out the earring, with Regal saying fair enough, as he would have done it too.

We take a break and come back with a rather bloody Moxley working on an armbar but Jericho breaks that up. Jericho grabs the Hartbreaker Figure Four around the post, which lasts as long as it can. Back in and Moxley grabs a crossface, which is reversed into the Walls. We take a break and come back with Moxley still in the hold but crawling over to the rope for the break. Jericho tries the triangle dropkick but gets sent outside, allowing Moxley to go up top, only to dive into the Codebreaker for a close two.

With that not working, Jericho takes a turnbuckle pad off for a distraction, allowing Sammy Guevara to throw in a baseball bat (overthrow that is). A heck of a shot gives Jericho two and a ram into the buckle sets up the Judas Effect for a very close two. With nothing else working, Jericho goes for the belt but misses a charge into the exposed buckle. Moxley grabs a choke but Jericho (now bleeding too) reverses that into a Liontamer. That’s reversed into another choke and Jericho finally taps at 22:34.

Rating: B. This was a good enough big match feel, though the blood was a bit excessive after the opening bloodbath from Brody King. Jericho is still a big enough win that this boosts Moxley, as he continues to be able to stop Jericho each time. Rather good TV main event here, though Moxley is going to need someone for All Out.

Post match the beatdown is on but the Jericho Appreciation Society, followed by the Blackpool Combat Club and more of the Society run in for the big dive. Cue the returning CM Punk for the ring clearing save and showdown with Moxley. A middle finger from Moxley and a brushing off leave Punk alone to pose to end the night. It was about time for Punk to be back, as the interim thing was getting a bit ridiculous after two plus months. It’s the only thing that would make sense for All Out too, so this is about as perfect as you can get.

Overall Rating: B-. The opener and main event were both good but the middle dragged pretty badly here. What matters is that they now have a big main event set for All Out, which had been sorely lacking over the last few weeks. They still need some better work in the midcard and All Out needs a bit of a better focus, but the last half hour of this show was the important part and they covered it well.

Results
Darby Allin b. Brody King – Allin knocked King into the coffin
La Faccion Ingobernable b. Lucha Bros – El Idolo to Fenix
Luchasaurus b. Anthony Henry – Fossilizer
Ricky Starks b. Aaron Solo – Spear
Jade Cargill b. Madison Rayne – Jaded
Jon Moxley b. Chris Jericho – Choke

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: July 6, 2022
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re back to the normal show this week and that could mean more than a few things. In this case it means that we are going to be seeing Jon Moxley defend the Interim World Title against Brody King, which should be a heck of a fight. Other than that, it is time to build towards Ring Of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor later this month. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Scorpio Sky

Wardlow is challenging in a street fight. Sky strikes away at the leg to start and gets dropped with a hard shoulder. A low blow cuts off Wardlow but he’s fine enough to toss Sky around a few times. They head outside where an American Top Team distraction lets Sky send Wardlow into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Wardlow knocking him off the top and hitting a Swanton. The Powerbomb Symphony is loaded up but Wardlow clears them out without much effort. The distraction lets Sky get in a belt shot for two and Wardlow is back with the spinebuster. A three movement Powerbomb Symphony gives Wardlow the pin and the title at 8:29.

Rating: C. Not exactly a great match and I’m not sure on the idea of having Sky lose again here, but Wardlow needed to win something already and they pulled that off here. Wardlow shrugged off whatever was thrown at him here and he won the title like a monster should. Good enough match and it did what it needed to do.

Confetti falls and Wardlow gets to celebrate.

Jon Moxley is tired of people trying to make their name off of him and tonight, Brody King is going to do it again. You don’t know what kind of a monster you have with him but Moxley knows what he is facing tonight in King.

Here are Christian Cage and Luchasaurus for a chat. Christian has been asked what is going on for a few weeks now and why Luchasaurus has sided with him. Before he can say anything, here is Matt Hardy to interrupt. Matt says he and Jungle Boy have gotten close in recent weeks and Jungle Boy didn’t deserve what Christian did to him.

Christian: “Matt, you’re starting to make your brother sound like the sober one.” Matt talks about regretting the time he spent manipulating people and maybe the last month has been karma coming to get him. Christian calls Matt out for being delusional and for riding Jeff’s coattails for one more run. The brawl is on with Luchasaurus leaving Matt laying, including a chokeslam through the ringside table. I could have gone without the Jeff references but this was fine enough.

Video on Blood & Guts from last week. The Jericho Appreciation Society promises it is not over.

Jake Hager yells at Claudio Castagnoli for never being a World Champion. Castagnoli talks about respect and promises to earn it next week.

Butcher and the Blade vs. Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee

Bunny is here with the villains. Lee headbutts Butcher down to start so we’ll try Strickland vs. Blade instead. That doesn’t go so well for Strickland to start but he knocks Blade down and hands it back to Lee for a shot of his own. Blade jawbreaks his way to freedom but gets knocked outside. Bunny offers a distraction to cut off the dive though and Butcher gets in a cheap shot to take over as we take a break.

Back with Lee getting to clean house as everything breaks down. A lariat/enziguri combination drops Butcher but Blade pulls Swerve in the way of Lee. Butcher hits Lee with a Stunner and Butcher runs him over, allowing Butcher to toss Lee into Blade’s knee. A running knee gets a VERY close two on Swerve with Lee making a (maybe late) save. Back up and Swerve In Our Glory finishes Blade at 9:38.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on the continued tease of Swerve and Lee breaking up, especially when they haven’t been around long in the first place, but at least they won the match in the end. Butcher and Blade almost feel like a relic from the past but they are still good enough as a team to make a match like this work. Just either split Swerve and Lee or let them stay together and stop with the teases if it isn’t happening.

Post match Team Taz comes out to yell at Swerve and Lee, with Ricky Starks losing his mind over what sounds like a challenge. Cue the Young Bucks to cut them off, though they don’t have to apologize for anything because they started this company. The Bucks brag about the tag division, including what we saw at Double Or Nothing, which was 4.5 stars. Granted that’s an off night for the Bucks, but they need to keep things going. The solution to that: a triple threat match next week at Fyter Fest. Fans: “FTR!” Nick: “We’re better than them and you know it.” The match seems to be on.

Malakai Black says his House’s violence is by design and Jon Moxley doesn’t know what he is in for.

Here is Eddie Kingston for a chat. He congratulates Wardlow on winning the title and everyone who won Blood & Guts last week. The only person he doesn’t like is Chris Jericho, who made him a liar last week. Kingston didn’t get to taste his blood…but Jericho cuts him off on the screen. Jericho asks if Kingston wants to get nuts and we see the Jericho Appreciation Society slamming Ruby Soho’s hand in a car (granted it wasn’t in the car and they more or less had to tell her to get it slammed in the door, making it look really bad).

Here is the Dark Order, complete with -1, to say that they aren’t going anywhere. They’re here to stay because Dark Order is forever but here is QT Marshall to interrupt. Marshall doesn’t think much of the team and -1 in particular, so threats are made. Cue Hangman Page to send Marshall into the ring and the big beatdown is on. -1 teases beating Marshall but says he’ll wait until he’s 18. This could have, and probably should have, been a post show segment.

Rush vs. Penta Obscuro

Andrade, Jose, Fenix and Alex Abrahantes are here too. They go right at it to start with Rush getting the better of things by running Obscuro over. The fight heads to the floor, where the Alex Abrahantes and Jose get in a fight of their own and we take a break. Back with Rush hitting a powerslam for two but Penta grabs a Backstabber for the same.

They slug it out until Rush knocks him into the corner and hits a top rope dropkick for two. Penta is back up with a kick to the face and the Fear Factor gets two, with Andrade putting Rush’s foot on the rope. The distraction lets Rush get in a low blow and rip off Penta’s mask (of course) for the pin at 11:04.

Rating: C+. Good brawl here, though I am completely over that rip off the mask ending. It has been done so many times with both of the Lucha Bros that it feels like something they have to do instead of something special. These two can work the hard hitting style well and they did here, though Rush is still only so interesting.

Jay Lethal and company are happy with the upcoming ROH TV Title shot at Death Before Dishonor. Lethal isn’t taking Joe lightly, but he is taking Joe’s title. Good line.

Mark Sterling is trying to get the Best Friends to sign a petition to get rid of Swerve Strickland. Orange Cassidy wants his lawyer present and that’s….Danhausen? Sterling wants Tony Nese vs. Cassidy on Rampage so they can make a lot of money. but Cassidy isn’t sure. Danhausen to Cassidy: “How about you vs. his client on Rampage? We’ll make a lot of money.” Cassidy is in. Funny stuff, especially Danhausen shouting various legal terms and no one paying attention to him.

Ruffin It/Fuego del Sol vs. Gunn Club/Acclaimed

The Club cuts off Caster’s rap and tensions are high. Fuego takes Colten down to start but it’s Bear Bronson coming in for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Caster hits the Mic Drop, but Austin tags himself in and steals the pin at 2:14. This story is oddly growing on me.

Post match the Club and Acclaimed get into it but Billy Gunn comes in the ring…and turns on the Acclaimed, leaving both of them laying. So there’s the Acclaimed’s face turn.

Miro is not happy with Malakai Black.

Thunder Rosa/Toni Storm vs. Marina Shafir/Nyla Rose

Rosa takes Shafir into the corner to start and it’s a double suplex for two. A hip attack keeps Shafir in trouble as the dominance is on to start. Rose gets in a cheap shot though and a fireman’s carry slam drops Storm as we take a break. Back with Storm fighting out of the corner and handing it back to Rosa to clean house. The running dropkick against the ropes staggers Rosa but she’s back up with a Rock Bottom. Everything breaks down and the hip attack hits Shafir, setting up a spike fire thunder driver to pin Shafir at 9:07.

Rating: C. Calling Rosa and Storm Thunderstorm is a funny way to go, though at first I thought it was AEW’s latest gimmick match. Anyway, this is a fine way to set up what should be Rosa vs. Storm for the title down the line, though the less Shafir we see on TV the better. It isn’t working with her, but she’s here pretty frequently anyway for whatever reason.

Stokely Hathaway recommends Leila Grey as the newest Baddie. Jade Cargill says he better be right.

Daniel Garcia is ready to take the Ring Of Honor Pure Title from Wheeler Yuta at Death Before Dishonor.

FTR wants the Briscoes at Death Before Dishonor, one more time.

Interim AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Brody King

King is challenging and William Regal is on commentary. They shove each other around to start and get in each others’ faces to yell a lot. King knocks him outside and sends Moxley into various things to take over. Back in and Moxley gets in a few shots to the knee to take over but gets dropped again as we take a break.

Back with King missing a Cannonball in the corner so Moxley puts him on top and rakes the back for some pain. King blasts him with a clothesline and hits a piledriver for two before grabbing the sleeper in the corner. With that broken up due to being in the ropes, Moxley grabs a Paradigm Shift. The hammer and anvil elbows keep King in trouble, setting up the bulldog choke to finish him off (ala how Moxley beat Brodie Lee) at 11:14.

Rating: B-. They had a good fight here, even though it was Moxley defending against Moxley’s Designated Victim #1. There was no reason to believe that King was going to take the title here, but in this case that worked out well. Moxley gets a win over someone who looks impressive and King doesn’t lose anything from a loss to the champ. Completely logical choices.

Overall Rating: C+. This wasn’t their strongest effort as everything seemed a bit off. Maybe it was a post-holiday hangover or something but it just didn’t quite click. They have some time before All Out and you can probably guess the top of the card from here, but focusing on it would be nice. Certainly not a bad show, but Dynamite has a pretty high bar and this was beneath their usual.

Results
Wardlow b. Scorpio Sky – Powerbomb Symphony
Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland b. Butcher and Blade – Swerve In Our Glory to Blade
Rush b. Penta Obscuro – Small package
Gunn Club/Acclaimed b. Fuego del Sol/Ruffin It – Mic Drop to Bear Bronson
Thunder Rosa/Toni Storm b. Marina Shafir/Nyla Rose – Spike fire thunder driver to Shafir
Jon Moxley b. Brody King – Bulldog choke

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