Dynamite
Date: August 26, 2026
Location: OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Paul Wight

It’s the last Dynamite before the biggest show of the year at All In and we’re already over in the UK. There are still things that need to be set up for Sunday though, including finding the finalists for the Continental Challenge Cup. Hopefully we get the most interesting option out of the bunch so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Here is Will Ospreay to quite the reception. He’s been gone for awhile after his surgery and he wasn’t sure if he could ever get back here. There is a lot of pressure on him to be the British wrestler who wins the big one. He started in this country working through the weekend and then going to construction sites Monday through Friday. That’s why he loves seeing people who are trying to do the same thing he’s doing.

We get a quick tribute to the British wrestling legends, both still with us and those who aren’t. Then he gets to Kenny Omega, who isn’t here tonight, but until last week, Ospreay still respected him. That all changed when Omega brought up Ospreay’s son, who will not need a new hero after All In.

There is a debt that needs to be paid to the people who have stood by him from the start and it is time to bring it home. Omega is going to help Ospreay show that heroes are ordinary people who do amazing things. He’s bringing it home. Good stuff here, as Ospreay laid things out perfectly well and anyone can get the idea of wanting to stand up for your son.

Continental Challenge Cup Semifinals: Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli takes him to the math off of a test of strength but Moxley is right back up with the chops. They’re already off to the exchange of forearms, with Castagnoli getting the better of things and grabbing a quickly broken chinlock. Moxley gets out to the floor, where he grabs a Figure Four of all things.

That’s broken up and reversed into a Swing into the barricade, leaving Moxley looking rather stunned in a funny visual as we take a break. We come back with Moxley fighting out of an armbar but getting blasted with some uppercuts. The Neutralizer is blocked and Moxley sends him outside for the suicide dive, leaving Castagnoli’s arm banged up as well. They get back inside and knock each other down with Castagnoli firing off the uppercuts.

Moxley cutters him down but gets caught in a sleeper, with Castagnoli even swinging it down to the mat. That’s reversed into a failed cross armbreaker attempt so Castagnoli pulls him into the Swing. Castagnoli uppercuts him to the floor and Moxley barely beats the count, where a Paradigm Shift and Death Rider aren’t enough to put Castagnoli away. Instead Moxley grabs the bulldog choke for the win at 15:53.

Rating: B. They were beating the fire out of each other here and that’s what you would have expected from these two. The idea was that they both knew each other so well and neither could really get an advantage until Moxley survived a bit longer to win. In other words, Moxley is tough and amazing and that’s pretty normal for him.

Adam Copeland/Young Bucks vs. Don Callis Family

Copeland and Doyle start things off with Copeland grabbing a headlock, which doesn’t last very long. The Bucks come in and clean house with Matt hitting his slingshot X Factor, only to have a moonsault to the floor pulled out of the air. We take a break and come back with Nick’s super hurricanrana taking Cage down.

Copeland tags himself in (Nick was aiming for Matt) and tries a spear, which is cut off by Doyle. Copeland gets caught in the wrong corner and crushed by all three Family members, allowing Romero to give him a Sliced Bread for two. The Bucks are back in to cut Cage off but Romero hurricanranas both of them. Naturally that means he gets to pose, earning himself a spear from Copeland for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B-. The lack of Cage out there was kind of weird but the fans are going to go nuts for anything Copeland is doing so it makes perfect sense. The ending was funny with the overly cocky Romero going too far and being punished as a result. I liked this well enough, but the big stuff is likely happening after the match.

Post match here is Christian Cage to interrupt, saying that it’s time to conduct some business now that the love fest is over. He wasn’t about to be out here working with people beneath him and says that the Bucks aren’t the kinds of team having matches and pay per views named after them. Matt: “Have they ever named a company after you?” Last week Cage got superkicked by accident, but if he keeps talking, this week won’t be an accident. The brawl is on and the champions clear the ring, with Copeland not looking happy that it came to this.

Here is Willow Nightingale…..’s music, as we see Mercedes Mone attacking her in the back and injuring Nightingale’s hand.

Don Callis is back from Croatia and announces that Mark Davis is in the Casino Gauntlet Match.

Andrade El Idolo’s music plays but here is MJF instead. He says we’re here in Ireland and says it makes no difference anyway. Apparently he paid someone off to beat Andrade (“Andrew”) up and mocks everything Andrade does. This includes taking a picture with a woman, who he says would be a 4 in the US but is a 10 here. Naturally Andrade pops up from behind and jumps him to send MJF scurrying.

Chris Jericho is in the Casino Gauntlet Match too but first, he’s in a six man tag on Collision.

Continental Challenge Cup Semifinals: Nigel McGuinness vs. Kyle O’Reilly

McGuinness still has a bad leg/ankle and can’t get very far on a drop toehold attempt. O’Reilly tries one of his own and McGuinness just walks away for a nice reception. Back up and McGuinness actually sends the referee into a chinlock on O’Reilly but the ensuing rollup doesn’t get him very far. O’Reilly knocks him outside for a running knee off the apron and we take a break.

We come back with O’Reilly working on the leg but McGuinness kicks his way out. Instead McGuinness tries a failed London Dungeon attempt and has to block a cross armbreaker. O’Reilly goes for the ankle lock and stomps on the leg, followed by a chop block. A sleeper is countered so O’Reilly grabs a European Clutch for another near fall. O’Reilly wrestles him down into something like a LeBell Lock without the facelock, which is reversed into a pinfall reversal sequence. Another leglock sends McGuinness over to the rope and he gets in a heck of a clothesline for two. The London Dungeon goes on and O’Reilly taps at 11:54.

Rating: B. This was the technical exchange that you would have expected and it went very well, with the two of them getting to showcase just how good they are at this stuff. At the same time, McGuinness was the obvious choice, even with the ankle situation. I liked the match a good bit, even if it is the thirteenth match in this tournament which served the sole purpose of setting up what could have been a regular title defense for Moxley.

Post match respect is show.

Don Callis, with Kyle Fletcher, expects the Family to run the play as he calls. Fletcher agrees, but he’s not sure if Kazuchika Okada is going in that direction. Okada comes in to say it’s all about Family, with the tensions rising.

Persephone/Lena Kross/Megan Bayne vs. Brawling Birds/Maya World

Bayne and World start things off with Bayne easily powering her down. World is sent flying with an overhead belly to belly and the villains take turns stomping away in the corner. It’s off to Hayter for the sunset flip/boot to the head combination and Persephone gets double suplexed. World’s moonsault gives Hayter two and we take a break.

We come back with Hayter still in trouble, including a release German suplex to give Bayne two. Hayter fights out of trouble and it’s a double clothesline to put herself and Bayne down. World is back in to clean house, with a middle rope leg lariat getting two. Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns, with the Divine Intervention being broken up. A springboard Stunner gives World two on Persephone and the other four brawl up the aisle. Persephone knocks World down and hits a frog splash for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: C+. They tied a couple of stories up into one match here and that is always appreciated. World vs. Persephone is a fine way to go to give World a one on one title defense and it wouldn’t stun me to see it added to the All In card. The women’s tag match is already set so a little preview isn’t a bad thing at all.

Video on Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight, with Allin being broken apart twice last week.

Swerve Strickland vs. Jack Perry

Strickland offers his chin to Perry, who grabs a headlock for an early escape. Back up and Perry shoulders him down, earning a running clothesline to even things out. Perry sends him to the apron, where Strickland pulls a hurricanrana out of the air to swing Perry into the steps. That means a painful looking crash down onto the steps and we take a break.

We come back with Strickland hitting the top rope elbow to the back and yes he does dance. Something like a Gory Stretch has Perry in more trouble but he finally flips Strickland to the floor. Perry hits a pair of suicide dives, followed by a running flip dive and a moonsault to add in some variety.

Back in and Perry overshoots a moonsault but is right back with a DDT in a nice save. Strickland knocks him down again and tries the Swerve Stomp, which is pulled into the Snare Trap for quite the counter. That’s broken up as well so Perry gives him a hurricanrana for two. Perry tries another rollup but gets reversed into Big Pressure for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: B. They had a good match here, with that Stomp into the Snare Trap counter being very nice. Perry can work well with anyone but Strickland can turn it up like few others in AEW. The ending did come a bit out of nowhere but that wasn’t a bad thing, as it felt like Perry got caught by a quick finish.

One more video on Omega vs. Ospreay wraps us up. This goes on for a few minutes and does make the match feel that much bigger.

Overall Rating: B+. The show did its job to make me care more about All In and that’s the only thing that really matters. Most of the show is already set up and I do want to see what happens on Sunday. The good thing is they had the wrestling to back it up here and it wasn’t just a big commercial. It made for a rather interesting combination and I liked the show well, with the lack of a big overrun making it even better.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Claudio Castagnoli – Bulldog choke
Adam Copeland/Young Bucks b. Don Callis Family – Spear to Romero
Persephone/Lena Kross/Megan Bayne b. Maya World/Brawling Birds – Frog splash to World
Swerve Strickland b. Jack Perry – Big Pressure

 

 

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Dynamite
Date: August 12, 2026
Location: The Pearl Theater At The Palms, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Paul Wight

We’re getting closer to All In and the card has been getting a nice boost in the last few weeks. Last week was Grand Slam, with MJF returning and he wants in the Casino Gauntlet Match later this month. Other than that, we have the continuing saga of Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay, which will likely get a lot of focus here. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Here is Will Ospreay to get things going. He was so glad to be back in Arena Mexico last week because the last time he was there, he found out that his grandfather had passed away. Ospreay wanted him to be there for some great moments of his life but that wasn’t going to happen. What he has learned though is that he has to do some things to be the biggest star in AEW. He is here to set an example and that’s why he was in a street fight last week.

One person was watching at home on his sofa and that was World Champion Kenny Omega. Last week, Omega probably said “oh s*** hes going to pull the trigger” and since Omega is actually here this week, why not grace us with your presence? Instead cue Don Callis, who talks about how he and Omega won the World Title in December 2020. Then Omega decided that he could do this on his own so Callis stabbed him in the head.

The reality is Ospreay owes him everything and the reality is the road to Wembley is paved in Ospreay’s blood. Cue the Don Callis Family for the beatdown but Omega makes the save with a pipe. Omega teases hitting Ospreay with the pipe but stops to say that Ospreay never thinks. Omega warned him about Callis and Jon Moxley and look what happened.

That’s why Ospreay will lose at All In, but that’s not the man Omega wants to face there. Omega helps him up but says that he can’t do this again. From now on, it’s the two of them. Ospreay appreciates the help, though he didn’t ask for it and he won’t need it. Please don’t have Callis be involved in this. It doesn’t seem like he will be, but please just leave him out of the thing.

We recap the Continental Challenge Cup.

We run down the card.

We look at MJF returning last week and attacking Andrade El Idolo.

Nick Wayne vs. MJF vs. Mike Bailey

For the #2 spot in the Casino Gauntlet match and MJF grabs Justin Roberts by the throat, insisting that he be introduced as “the one true champion”. MJF, with his heavily taped leg, drops to the floor to start and rants on commentary a bit before going to ringside. Wayne and Bailey trade missed kicks until Wayne knocks him outside for the big running flip dive. Bailey kicks him off the apron for the triangle moonsault, allowing MJF to run the ropes and flip the fans off.

MJF pulls Bailey off the ropes for a crash onto the turnbuckle but stops to yell at Wayne. That earns him a superkick but Bailey is back up to kick Wayne in the face. Bailey knocks both of them to the floor for a springboard moonsault and we take a break. We come back with Bailey missing the Ultimate Weapon but giving Wayne a Falcon Arrow instead. That means a shooting star press can give Bailey two before he has to save MJF Wayne. Now the Ultimate Weapon can hit Wayne, but MJF runs in to give Wayne the Salt Of The Earth for the tap at 12:02.

Rating: B-. As soon as Wayne, the #1 contender to the Ring Of Honor World Title, was announced for this match, it wasn’t a question of would he take the fall but rather how he would take the fall. This comes after his loss last month in his most recent AEW match and I don’t even know why I bother getting annoyed anymore. MJF winning in this way is right on note for him, with Bailey being there to make it a three way.

Post match MJF brags about his win but here is Andrade El Idolo……’s music, because he’s not here after MJF gave him a beating last week. Andrade is scared of him, just like Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay, who will find out that he is the one true champion.

Lena Kross and Megan Bayne are at the Brawling Birds bar and knock some beers over while making threats. That place is no Friendly Tap.

Mick Foley is with the Bang Bang Gang, with Jay White welcoming him to the team. Anyway, White threatens David Finlay about tonight’s Continental Challenge Cup match. Foley can’t quite get the pose right.

Continental Challenge Cup First Round: David Finlay vs. Jay White

They go outside to start fast with the brawling until Finlay takes over inside. Finlay stomps him down in the corner but gets clotheslined to the floor for the slingshot dive. Back in and Finlay’s neckbreaker gets him out of trouble and we take a break. We come back with White fighting up to chop away in the corner.

The Blade Runner is countered into a rollup for two but White grabs a German suplex…and we pause as White seems a bit shaken up. Finlay is right in with a DDT for two so White gives him a running double underhook facebuster. The Blade Runner is countered again, this time into a brainbuster onto Finlay’s knee for two more. White slips out of a suplex though and the Blade Runner connects for the pin at 13:20.

Rating: B-. This was treated as a big grudge match though I’m still not really caring about a feud that happened in Japan years ago. Since then, the Dogs vs. the Gang hasn’t exactly lit the place on fire and this didn’t make it better. At least White is back in the ring and not injured again, which you never can really bet on with him.

Here are Hangman Page and Brodido for a chat. Brodido get to be happy about their win but here is the returning Swerve Strickland to cut Page off. Prince Nana throws Tony Schiavone out, leaving Strickland to say these three have all had issues with him but now they’re friends. Strickland goes over his issues with Brodido and it all leaves him coming back to Page. Now Page can’t even challenge for the World Title, so he’s here with these two?

Page points out that Strickland has nothing to show for everything he’s done this year but here are the Demand/Lethal Twist to interrupt. Ricochet talks about how this is trio business and mocks Strickland for dropping the Gates Of Agony. Last week, Toa Liona’s shoulders weren’t down so the titles still belong to the Demand, so Strickland needs to get out of here. Strickland goes to leave but does stop to call Ricochet a b****. Ricochet turns down Page’s challenge and that’s it. I really could have gone with more of the Strickland stuff and less of the six people interrupting.

Earlier today, Willow Nightingale was sitting down for an interview but Mercedes Mone jumped her and called her a dumb b****.

TNT Title: Kevin Knight vs. Chris Jericho

Knight is defending and jumps him to start, only to get planted with a brainbuster. A backbreaker gives Jericho two and he sends Knight outside. The dive connects and Jericho stops to sit on Paul Wight’s lap. Knight gets in a knockdown of his own though and we take a break. We come back with Knight’s Lionsault hitting raised knees but being able to backdrop Jericho onto the ramp.

Jericho shrugs off some stomps and grabs an AA of all things before going after Don Callis. A diving Knight misses for a crash to the floor and they go back inside. An exchange of rollups gets two each and they trade rollups with feet on the ropes for the same so Knight gives him a running DDT. Knight’s super hurricanrana is countered into a superbomb and then the Walls in the middle of the ring.

That sounds good for Jericho, but he keeps nodding his head at Callis, who comes into the ring, but runs away as Jericho drags Knight from the middle to near the ropes….so Callis can stab Jericho with the screwdriver. Sweet goodness that was horrible. Knight goes up for a Coast To Coast, which somehow only gets two. Jericho Codebreakers him out of the air so Knight kicks him low, setting up the Crash Landing for the pin at 12:56.

Rating: C. Geez. Between the ridiculous botch from Jericho and Callis (the latter of whom at least tried to make it work by coming inside) and the usual nonsense of AEW not knowing when to end a match (there was zero reason to keep it going after the Coast To Coast), this was just a mess. I don’t know if it’s Jericho not having it any more or trying to do too much, but this didn’t work for the most part. Knight can do some good things in there, but this was a mess.

Claudio Castagnoli is ready for anyone in the Continental Cup Classic. Jon Moxley appears to be the same, with the grappling taking place while Castagnoli was talking apparently firing him up.

Kris Statlander vs. Viva Van

Van actually snaps off a hurricanrana to start and Statlander thinks about it for a second. That just earns her a spinwheel kick, plus a faceplant off the top into a missile dropkick. Statlander is back up with a superkick and discus lariat, setting up Staturday Night Fever for the pin at 3:09.

Rating: C. This was a weird match with Statlander getting beaten up for a good chunk of the thing, with Van getting in some snazzy offense. Van continues to be someone who feels like a potential project but it hasn’t really taken off yet. I’m not sure why Statlander got beaten up that much to start but it was an odd setup.

Post match here is Mick Foley, who announces a four way for the TBS Title, with Statlander, Hikaru Shida and Persephone challenging Maya World. Statlander is ready for some revenge but here are Shida and Persephone for their scheduled match.

Hikaru Shida/Persephone vs. Maya World/Thunder Rosa

World headlocks Persephone to start, sending her outside to escape. Rosa comes in for a running headscissors to Shida, plus a running clothesline. Rosa headscissors and headlocks them both down at once but gets sent throat first into the rope as we take a break. We come back with Rosa still in trouble but reversing a double suplex into a double DDT.

World is back in with a missile dropkick into a fall away slam to send Persephone outside. Shida kicks World outside but gets high crossbodied by Rosa. Shida’s Falcon Arrow gets two more with World making the save and getting jumped by Persephone. Rosa takes Persephone out and it’s the tabletop suplex to give World the pin on Shida at 10:34.

Rating: C+. World getting the pin was the right call here as she is still getting established as a real threat around here. At the same time, having her beat one of her challengers for next week might not have been the best way to get ready for the title match. Persephone is still getting better around here and it’s good to see her getting a chance to show what she can do. On the other hand you have Rosa and I have no idea what she has going on at the moment, but it doesn’t exactly feel like much.

Darby Allin talks about how he has no regrets from the World Title reign because he gambled and lost. Then he was attacked by Kevin Knight, so now Allin wants him in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

Kyle Fletcher wants to defend the International Title at All In. He wants to defend against Konosuke Takeshita but Don Callis suggests adding Kazuchika Okada so the Family keeps the title. Fletcher leaves without saying yes. It feels like these people have been doing this “we don’t like each other but have to work together because we all hate Takeshita” forever. Wrap it up already.

Continental Challenge Cup First Round: Jon Moxley vs. Jack Perry

Moxley wrestles him down to start but Perry gets up for an actual clean break at the rope. Perry knocks him outside but the suicide dive is knocked out of the air. With his eye cut open, Perry tries to fight back but gets sent into the timekeeper’s area as we take a break. We come back with Moxley pounding on the cut and rubbing Perry’s face on the mat to make it worse.

Moxley ties up the leg and neck at the same time, with Perry having to make the rope. Perry finally manages to send him outside for a bunch of dives, including a moonsault out to the floor. Back in and Moxley hits a quick clothesline and piledriver for two, plus another two off another clothesline.

Moxley goes off with shots to the face, to the point where the referee stops him to check on Perry. That’s enough for Perry to get back up for the exchange of forearms (a Moxley signature) until Perry pulls him into the Snare Trap. Moxley rolls out of that and slaps on the bulldog choke for the win at 15:42.

Rating: B-. So Moxley beats him up to start, beats him up some more, shrugs off Perry’s offense, escapes Perry’s submission, and then chokes him out. What a great way to make Perry look like he’s in over his head as Moxley, again, gets to look like the most awesome thing ever. Hopefully he at least doesn’t win the tournament again, though it certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

Post match Moxley shakes Perry’s hand, because that saves some of Perry’s face I guess?

Overall Rating: C+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as much as I do most Dynamites, as it had a lot of stuff that felt like it was setting stuff up for the future rather than doing much here. That’s something you need at times, but between the horrible ending to Jericho vs. Knight and Moxley’s near squash of Perry (which of course took fifteen minutes), this was a long show that had a lot of tournament stuff and Don Callis. That’s not the best night and I wasn’t into this for the most part.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Mike Bailey and Nick Wayne – Salt Of The Earth to Wayne
Jay White b. David Finlay – Blade Runner
Kevin Knight b. Chris Jericho – Crash Landing
Kris Statlander b. Viva Van – Staturday Night Fever
Maya World/Thunder Rosa b. Hikaru Shida/Persephone – Tabletop suplex to Shida
Jon Moxley b. Jack Perry – Bulldog choke

 

 

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 5, 2026
Location: Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re in another country and a rather important arena for the latest Grand Slam special. While you make your own Denny’s jokes, I’ll be wondering how the Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis street fight will be going in what should be the show’s main event. They have three and a half weeks to go before All In so it’s time to really get things set. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Adam Copeland/Christian Cage/Young Bucks vs. Death Riders

Cage and Pac start things off and Yuta offers a quick knee from the apron. Everything breaks down and the Riders are cleared out to the floor rather quickly. Cage adds his big dive onto the pile at ringside and we take an early break. We come back with Matt getting caught in the wrong corner for the running clotheslines.

The Dragonslayer goes on, with Nick diving in for the save. Matt is back up to take Yuta and Garcia down with an armdrag/headscissors combination, though he realizes he’s going to the wrong corner. Eventually the tag brings in Copeland to clean house and Cage gets to choke Moxley on the middle rope.

A top rope headbutt and elbow hit Moxley, followed by Cage’s low blow. The triple superkick gets two as the Riders make the save so Copeland gives Moxley the Impaler. Marina Shafir breaks up the spear so Cage pulls her down, earning a slap. Cage kicks her low so it’s a Downward Spiral/running knee combination to put Cage down instead. The Bucks get to clear the ring a bit and Copeland spears Moxley, with the referee being distracted. Copeland runs into Matt by mistake though and Moxley grabs a rollup with tights for the pin on Copeland at 11:33.

Rating: B-. It was another wild match but they didn’t go too long and that helped a good bit here. You don’t need to have these things go on forever and they did something interesting with Copeland vs. Moxley. It’s a smart choice for an opener too and the Tag Team Title match got something out of it too.

Post match Cage/Copeland seem ok enough with the Bucks.

Video on Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay, with Jon Moxley’s efforts making Omega less than trustworthy of Ospreay.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Komander vs. Andrade El Idolo

Non-title but the winner is the #1 entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match. Ciampa is in American flag gear, which goes as well as you would expect. Komander is sent outside, leaving Andrade to win a brawl but Komander breaks up the running knees in the corner. The big moonsault takes out Ciampa and Andrade but the latter is back up to drop Komander again. We pause for the photo with the woman of the week and take a break.

We come back with all three down until Andrade and Ciampa can get up slug it out. Another pause lets Andrade take off his pants, setting up the Three Amigos to Komander. Ciampa knocks both of them down and beats up Andrade’s pants. Thankfully he stops to give Komander Project Ciampa, allowing Ciampa to go up.

Andrade is right there to catch him but Komander gives Andrade a springboard poisonrana (because that’s a thing). Ciampa plants Komander with a super Air Raid Crash for two more, leaving Ciampa stunned. Andrade gives Ciampa Dia de Los Muertos, with Komander adding Cielito Lindo. That lets Andrade grab the DM to pin Komander at 11:09.

Rating: B. Some of those spots were insane and that’s why you have a match like this one. It was cool to see them all going nuts with spot after spot, including that springboard poisonrana. I’m glad to see the champion win too, as having the champions lose falls in these things is rather frustrating.

Post match Andrade says he wants the World Title so he can bring it back to Mexico. He hits the catchphrase but MJF runs in from behind for the beatdown/recovering of the ring. MJF, with the Triple B, hits Andrade with the ring to bust him open. With Andrade being taken out, MJF says he’s the real World Champion because Will Ospreay let Kenny Omega steal the belt from him. Next week, MJF is entering the Casino Gauntlet qualifying match and moving on to All In to eventually get his title back.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale.

Lena Kross/Megan Bayne/Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale/Brawling Birds

Nightingale wants Mone to start but gets Bayne instead. That means a tag off to Windsor, who starts firing off the chops against the ropes. Bayne is back with the hard shoulders in the corner so all three non-villains boot her down. Mone comes in to kick away at Nightingale and start Three Amigos. That’s reversed into a fight over a triple suplex, which goes nowhere. Nightingale and Windsor send Kross and Bayne to the floor, with Hayter adding a dive onto the two of them plus Mone as we take a break.

We come back with the Birds double teaming Kross, who gets dropped with a middle rope dropkick. A four way clothesline leaves Nightingale and Mone to come in off a double tag. That means Nightingale can grab a spinebuster but Mone is back up with a middle rope Meteora. Everything breaks down and the Babe With The Powerbomb and Mone Maker are both blocked, with Nightingale settling for a backslide and the pin at 11:24.

Rating: B-. Take two feuds, put the wrestlers together and let them have a six person tag. It’s worked for years and it worked again here, though I’m worried that this is one of the consolation prizes for Nightingale before Mone wins, again, in London. Nightingale feels like she could be a star but that’s only going to go so far if she keeps having to drop titles to Mone.

International Title: Mike Bailey vs. Kyle Fletcher

Fletcher, with Don Callis, is defending and Bailey takes a mask off, leaving Fletcher to pull out a mask and stomp on it. They trade some quick takedowns for two each until Bailey walks the ropes for a hurricanrana. A dive to the floor is pulled out of the air though and Fletcher hits a NASTY lawn dart into the barricade. Naturally Bailey is right back up with a moonsault to the floor and it’s time for the kicks back inside.

They go up top with Fletcher nailing a super Michinoku driver as we take a break. We come back with Fletcher knocking him to the floor but Bailey is up with the perfectly time springboard moonsault. Back in and Bailey rolls him up for a quick two but Fletcher grabs a hard half and half suplex. With the ring stuff getting dill, they go up to the stage with Bailey hitting a moonsault off the steps, banging himself up in the process.

They get back inside, with Fletcher grabbing a Michinoku driver for two more. Fletcher powerbombs him onto the apron and the brainbuster…gets two. They go up top where Bailey catches him with a super poisonrana. Bailey’s Ultimate Weapon (and he lands on his feet) gets two but Fletcher lawn darts him again. The turnbuckle brainbuster retains the title at 16:41.

Rating: B. This was the match you would have expected, though I was surprised by the result. Bailey getting the win was far from out of the question, though he did have his big moment at Redemption. His important singles win is still likely coming against Kevin Knight anyway, as I guess Jet Speed was that important of a deal.

Don Callis Family vs. Mistico/Chris Jericho/Darby Allin

Allin skateboards to the ring so Knight clotheslines the fire out of him to start fast. Hechicero knees Mistico down and it’s Okada taking over on Jericho (Corazon de Lion here) as we settle down a bit. Jericho fights back on Knight and hands it off to Allin, who gets to take over on Hechicero.

Instead of following up though, the ever focused Allin dives at Knight, with Okada kneeing him out of the air to cut it off. We take a break and come back with Mistico getting a tag for a springboard high crossbody. That immediately earns him a group stomping but Mistico is right back up to clear them all out.

Allin comes in to hammer on Knight and grabs the Scorpion Deathlock, with Jericho getting the Walls as well. Those are broken up so it’s a series of dives to take the Family out again. Knight is back up to tie Allin in the Tree Of Woe, with Jericho hitting a Judas Effect to cut that off. La Mistica and the Walls go on, leaving Allin to Coffin Drop Knight for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: B. There was pretty much no way Mistico was losing in Arena Mexico but it was a big time match with a stacked lineup. Allin and Knight have their issue and Jericho gets to add his own star power. That’s a fine way to use Mistico, as he’s the ultimate attraction around here and the fans went nuts for him, exactly as you probably expected. It’s a good match, and there is a strong chance that the Family won’t be happy about the loss.

We look at Kris Statlander costing Persephone a TBS Title shot last week.

Kris Statlander vs. Persephone

Persephone’s CMLL Women’s Title isn’t on the line. They take turns avoiding strikes to start until Statlander knocks her out to the floor. The dive off the apron takes Persephone down again but she’s back up with the running flip dive to the floor. The chinlock goes on back inside and we take a break. We come back with Persephone missing a Lionsault and getting pulled into a seal belt for two.

Statlander’s 450 misses though and Persephone hits a hard spear for two of her own. Persephone goes after her belt but gets in a tug of war with Thunder Rosa (in the front row). The referee gets knocked down so here is Hikaru Shida to hit Statlander with a belt. That and Persephone’s springboard splash finish Statlander at 10:09.

Rating: C+. Good enough here as Persephone gets built up a bit after a few weeks of losses. It’s clear that AEW sees something in her and she’s already a star in CMLL so this makes sense for both of them. Statlander gets to deal with Shida going forward and that should make for a nice fight.

Video on Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis.

Trios Titles: Hangman Page/Brodido vs. The Demand

Demand is defending and jump them to start fast until Page headscissors Liona down. King comes in for a springboard double wristdrag and everything breaks down, allowing Ricochet to pose on the buckle. Bandido gets backbreakered onto the top turnbuckle and we take a break. We come back with Bandido elbowing his way out of trouble but Kaun isn’t having this stuff. Ricochet comes in and goes up but gets dropkicked out of the air, meaning Page can get the tag.

Everything breaks down and the Demand hit a trio of dives to the floor. That lets Ricochet hit his running shooting star press for two but Page fights up against the Gates. Page and Ricochet knock each other down but Bandido can’t give Ricochet the 21 Plex. They go to the corner and of course Kaun Samoan drops all three of them at once (Oh come on. That’s not fair.). Back up and Kaun is knocked down, leaving Page to Buckshot Liona into a 21 Plex for the titles at 13:37.

Rating: B. I kind of like the idea of these titles changing hands so often, with another makeshift team picking up the belts. At the same time, the Demand losing so quickly is kind of fitting for them, as Ricochet’s big mouth getting shut is always worth seeing. If nothing else, at least Bandido didn’t lose for a change.

And now for the main event, as we’re already in the overrun of a show that got an extra half hour than usual.

Will Ospreay vs. Mark Davis

Street fight. Davis brings a chair and takes over to start, with the chair being wedged in the corner. Ospreay fights back and sends him to the floor for the slingshot dive. They go to the floor and Ospreay finds…a tire? With that knocked away, Ospreay gets in a running flip dive to hit Davis and it’s time to go back inside. Davis’ chair is kicked back into his face but he’s fine enough to get in an apron bomb. Another powerbomb sends Ospreay crashing onto a fan and we take a break.

We come back with Ospreay kicking away at Davis, who knocks him down the entrance steps, because that’s a good idea with the top good guy with a bad neck three and a half weeks before the biggest match of his career. Back in and Ospreay is sent face first into the chair in the corner. Naturally it’s time for a fork to Ospreay’s head but Ospreay fights back and stabs Davis right back.

Davis’ over the shoulder piledriver through some chairs knocks Ospreay silly so he throws the chair at Davis’ head. They head to the apron, where Davis rakes some barbed wire over Ospreay’s back. Ospreay responds by grabbing him low and hitting a piledriver on the apron. That’s not enough of course so it’s a Hidden Blade for two, because that’s not enough either of course. Davis’ spinning piledriver gets two more so Ospreay muscles him into a Styles Clash. The Hidden Blade, with barbed wire around Davis’ head, finishes him off at 17:01.

Rating: B, Well, this was the match I was expecting, as Davis felt like the star here as he survived a bunch of stuff from the top hero. The match got silly with the fork, but the point here was about being ridiculous with the violence. Ospreay gets a win, but it could have been done in a better, and much more dominant, fashion.

Overall Rating: A-. It’s another rather good Dynamite, with the action working well and some stories getting advancement towards All In. That’s more than you can ask for from a regular episode of any show and the hot crowd made it even better. Granted I’m not sure why a show that already had an extra half hour needed a 23 minute overrun but that’s AEW for you.

Results
Death Riders b. Adam Copeland/Christian Cage/Young Bucks – Rollup with tights to Copeland
Andrade El Idolo b. Komander and Tommaso Ciampa – DM to Komander
Willow Nightingale/Brawling Birds b. Lena Kross/Megan Bayne/Mercedes Mone – Backslide to Mone
Kyle Fletcher b. Mike Bailey – Turnbuckle brainbuster
Mistico/Chris Jericho/Darby Allin b. Don Callis Family – Coffin Drop to Knight
Bandido/Hangman Page b. The Demand – 21 Plex to Liona
Will Ospreay b. Mark Davis – Hidden Blade with barbed wire

 

 

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

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So it’s time for Redemption and that means…I have no idea actually, as this show isn’t exactly feeling important. We are only a few weeks away from All In and AEW has made it clear that is the show that really matters. The thing is I’m sure the action will work and thank goodness it’s starting an hour earlier than Forbidden Door. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Trios Titles: Conglomeration(c) vs. Lethal Twist

This was added to the card on Collision this week and sure why not. The six man titles are a fine way to get a show going and the fans are going to get behind anything the Conglomeration does. It helps that the Lethal Twist are a regular team and it’s interesting to see an actual unit getting a chance like this. Granted they’re more regulars in ROH but it’s better than nothing.

There is no reason to believe that the titles are changing hands here so I’ll go with the Conglomeration retaining. It should be a nice seven to ten minute match to warm up the crowd and that’s what a Kickoff Show match is supposed to be. Just don’t do a bunch of them over and over and everything should be fine. But yeah for now, the champions retain the titles.

Tag Team Titles: Adam Copeland/Christian Cage(c) vs. Death Riders

The title reign has been kind of a weird one, but it still feels like we’re on the way to big ladder match with the Bucks at All In (possibly FTR as well). That leaves us with some not so thrilling title defenses, first with the Dogs and now this one. I’m sure the match will be fine, but it feels pretty thrown together without much of a story outside of the Riders attacking the champs.

At the end of the day, it’s Pac and Claudio Castagnoli challenging so I’ll say the champions retain. There isn’t much of a reason to believe that the titles are changing before All In, with the champions being set up for something bigger in just over a month. Castagnoli has been a jobber to the stars for a long time now and that is going to be the case for a good while, as he isn’t winning a title here.

International Title: Kyle Fletcher(c) vs. Bandido

It’s time to have Bandido face another singles champion on an AEW pay per view with almost no chance for him to win. As usual, the ROH World Title isn’t a factor here whatsoever, which is a great way to extend his title reign high up the ranks. I have no idea how Bandido is the only choice to take these losses and it’s not doing ROH any favors, but neither is a lot of the stuff done there.

So of course I’ll go with Fletcher to retain here, as there is no reason to believe that Bandido is going to snap his losing streak in these matches. The match will be rather awesome as both of these guys are outstanding when they’re given the chance, but that is only going to do so much good for Bandido when he keeps losing. Either let him win something or just don’t put him in these matches time after time.

Bang Bang Gang vs. Dogs

This is a double chain match and I continue to not get the appeal of the Dogs. It feels like a team I needed to watch for years in New Japan to really get as they’re just kind of there week after week. They’ve been feuding with the Bang Bang Gang for a few weeks now and that should at least lead to a good match. I’m just not sure why it needs to be in a double chain match.

The Gang is back to full strength for the first time in forever and Jay White needs the win to help establish himself a bit more so we’ll go in that direction. Hopefully the Gang is able to stay healthy this time around, as the injuries have just wrecked them. Let them get a win here, as I have no idea what the point is in boosting up the Dogs, who just don’t feel all that important.

Young Bucks vs. Will Ospreay/Jon Moxley

So here we have one of the bigger stories in AEW, as Moxley has seemingly poisoned Ospreay’s mind and turned him to the dark side, just as he is on the way to the World Title shot at All In. There is a grand total of zero reason to believe that Ospreay is going to go into the title match in his home country as a villain, so the question becomes when Ospreay turns on the Death Riders.

I don’t think it happens here though, as I’ll go with Ospreay and Moxley to win a heck of a fight, as the Bucks can do rather well in this kind of a match. For now though, they need to lose to show that Ospreay has gotten better under Moxley, though I’m not sure where that leads. The Bucks lose now though, as Ospreay has something much bigger going on for All In anyway.

National Title: Mark Davis(c) vs. Andrade El Idolo

Now we get to something that has me intrigued, as this could go in a few different ways. Davis is on fire right now and having the singles run of a lifetime. At the same time, there is something to be said about El Idolo being this good as well. I could go for seeing him win the title on the way up to the main event, though it really is a match that could go in either direction.

I’ll go with El Idolo winning here, but I really hope that Davis gets another chance sooner than later. He’s doing far too well lately to just be left by the wayside. For now though, El Idolo moving up is the right way to go. I could see some interference costing El Idolo the title, though I’ll go with El Idolo winning the title here, which is the best of the good options that they have.

Jack Perry vs. The Beast Mortos vs. Komander vs. Mike Bailey vs. Nick Wayne vs. El Clon

This is a ladder match (because of course it is) for a shot at the International Title at some point in the future. As usual, there are a few names who just aren’t going to win here and that makes things a bit easier. You can pretty easily write off Mortos, Wayne and Clon, the latter of whom I had almost forgotten even worked here. That leaves you with three potential winners and one of them stands out pretty strong.

The key here is that this show is taking place in Bailey’s hometown of Montreal. That is a pretty easy way to set him up as a winner and while it seems that the big match is Bailey vs. Knight (ok not really big but AEW is presenting it as important because they used to be partners, which apparently makes any match important). I’ll go with Bailey winning here, as it is such a natural fit.

Women’s Title: Thekla(c) vs. Willow Nightingale

This is where All In rears its head again, as Mercedes Mone is waiting on the winner at the biggest show of the year. Thekla is someone who has turned into one of the most entertaining stars on the AEW roster and it is fun to hear whatever insanity she has going through her head during any given week. On the other hand though, it’s asking a lot to have Nightingale lose again here, and that’s where this might fall apart.

With Mone set to challenge the winner, I’ll go with Nightingale winning the title here. I don’t want to see Thekla lose the belt here, but it’s hard to imagine Mone challenging Thekla for the title. We’ve seen Mone take a title from Nightingale before and I’m hoping that they don’t do it again. That means Nightingale has to win though, and I’ll say that’s what we get here.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Chris Jericho

This is No DQ and the big deal here is that it’s the Painmaker version of Jericho, which he’s used….oh at least a handful of times. Jericho has already lost to Ciampa in the first place but it’s time to see it happen again. This latest run hasn’t been the most successful for Jericho from a win/loss perspective and he is getting close to actually needing a win, which is hard to fathom.

I just don’t think that win comes here, as Ciampa losing in the big gimmick rematch would take a lot away from him. Ciampa has gotten somewhere with this run and I would hope that it doesn’t come crashing to a halt here. This should be a good fight with two people who work well together. Jericho will put up a great fight, but it needs to end up with a losing effort.

TBS Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Maya World

World got a heck of a push in the Owen Hart Cup, but she still hasn’t actually won anything. That creates a problem, as she has to actually get some kind of an accolade before it stops mattering all that much. Winning the title here would be a great moment, though it feels more like Athena and the Ring Of Honor Women’s Title are more her destiny. She does have a chance here though and that’s rather intriguing.

As much as I think it would make sense, I just can’t picture Shida actually losing the title here. She’s not the strongest champion in the world and having World win the belt here would be great, but I’m not seeing it happening. Hopefully they find something world World to do and it’s far from crazy to imagine her winning here. I’m expecting the win to be delayed again though, assuming it ever actually happens.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega(c) vs. Kevin Knight

This is where I’m wondering if they have some kind of a swerve planned here, as while this might wind up as a great title match, it’s not something that feels like a major pay per view main event. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this didn’t headline the show, as it just doesn’t really fit in that spot. It doesn’t help that Knight doesn’t feel like any kind of a threat to winning the title, which would be the case even without All In.

So yeah there is no reason to believe that the titles is changing hands here, as Omega is already set for the big title match at All In. That’s what the majority of the promos have been about and it doesn’t feel like Knight is going to even give Omega a real threat. It’s rare to see the World Title match feel like the most obvious result but that is absolutely how it comes off here.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about this show, the less interested I am in the whole thing. The thing to remember is that the show should be entertaining and the match quality won’t be a problem. AEW has long since proven that it can make any card work and I’m sure they’ll do it again here. This show still feels like Fully Loaded 1998 though and that could make for a rough night.

 

 

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

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Summerslam 2016
Date: August 21, 2016
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 15,974
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga, John Bradshaw Layfield

A year has passed since I saw this show and I can barely remember much about it. That’s very telling when you look at how stacked this show really is. There are multiple top level matches here and it really wasn’t clear what was going to close the show until the night of the event. Hopefully that means that this SIX HOUR show holds up. Let’s get to it.

So here’s a quick plug. I’m going through the pre-show and there’s a three expert panel of Booker T., Jerry Lawler and Lita. Earlier this year, I met all three of them at WrestleCon. If you’re ever at a Wrestlemania weekend, treat yourself to an amazing time and GO TO WRESTLECON. I met over 120 wrestlers in about four hours. Where else are you going to get to do something like that? Anyway, on with the show.

Pre-Show: American Alpha/Hype Bros/Usos vs. Breezango/Ascension/Vaudevillains

Who would have thought that Breezango would be the most entertaining out of all these teams? This is pretty much the still titleless Smackdown tag division at this point as they had to bring in the Headbangers and throw together Heath Slater and Rhyno to be able to have a tournament. This is also a rematch from Smackdown, which shows how little effort they were putting into the tag division at this point.

Gable and Breeze start things and the fans are WAY into Gable. Chad twists around as only he can to escape a wristlock and it’s off to Jey, who is quickly driven into the corner. English comes in and says that he’s what a man is. That earns him a right hand to the jaw and it’s off to Mojo to work on a wristlock. Ryder comes in to quite the reaction as Mauro says the Hype Bros have more chemistry than the Periodic Table.

Everything breaks down (What took them so long?) and Ascension clears the ring, only to have American Alpha come off the top (the same corner) with double clotheslines (that’s pure Steiner Brothers). English posts Ryder though and we take a break. Back with Gotch putting Ryder in a chinlock, followed by Viktor doing the same. The other heels take turns stomping on Ryder until Breeze grabs his own chinlock. Fandango adds a slingshot legdrop as this is going WAY longer than it needs to.

JBL thinks cold beer uniting the APA is more effective than furry selfie sticks uniting Breezango but maybe he’s wrong. Ascension knocks the good guys off the apron but Viktor misses a charge in the corner, allowing Ryder to get in a neckbreaker on Konnor. The hot tag (with a limited reaction) brings in Jimmy to clean house.

Jordan gets the real hot tag and does his fired up sequence (which he really is awesome at) with a belly to belly getting two on Breeze. We hit the parade of secondary finishers as the referee is imploring them to tag. Mojo powerbombs Breeze and Viktor out of the corner and the Usos add stereo superkicks to set up stereo dives. Back in and Grand Amplitude plants Gotch, only to have Jey tag himself in for a Superfly Splash and the pin at 14:31. Gable is really not cool with that. Eh just wait until your team is split up for a pretty lame story where Jordan is Kurt Angle’s son.

Rating: B-. If you cut out a few minutes from this, it’s a heck of an opener. There are too many people in the match of course but they kept it moving fast enough (for the most part) to really get something fun out of it. Jordan’s house cleaning spot is a heck of a way to fire the crowd up and it made the match more fun than it should have been. Tweak this a bit (eight/ten man tag or shorten the match a bit) and it’s even better.

Pre-Show: Dudley Boyz vs. Sami Zayn/Neville

Sami works on D-Von’s arm to start and it’s off to Neville for more of the same. Both of them get in more shots as we hear about the rivalry over the NXT Title. I do appreciate the history, especially when Graves should know about that match very well. Bubba is sent outside but D-Von breaks up a springboard dive, allowing Bubba to nail Neville from behind to take over. The fans want tables but a back elbow to Neville’s jaw cuts them off in a hurry.

Back from a break with Bubba hitting his neckbreaker out of the corner. Things slow down even more as Bubba is talking even more than he usually does in a match. Bubba: “COME ON ENGLISH BOY! O-LAY! O-LAY!” The middle rope backsplash misses though and the hot tag brings in Sami. D-Von takes the Blue Thunder Bomb for two but the reverse 3D gets the same. Neville escapes the regular version though and we get some heel miscommunication. The Helluva Kick sets up the Red Arrow to put Bubba away at 7:55.

Rating: C-. That would be it for the Dudleys in WWE as they would have one more segment tomorrow night where Anderson and Gallows sent them packing. It’s also pretty much it for Sami and Neville as a team, which is quite odd as you would think they would be a fine choice for a team. The match was nothing you wouldn’t expect on Raw.

Pre-Show: Cesaro vs. Sheamus

You know, because two matches just weren’t enough for the pre-show. This is the first match of the Best of Seven Series, which really wasn’t too well received. After Cole says Cesaro is facing Cesaro and both Cole and Saxton say this is about establishing physical dominance, we’re ready to go. Sheamus misses a very early Brogue Kick but the spinning springboard uppercut is blocked as well.

Cesaro charges into an uppercut but comes back with a dropkick for one. The ten forearms to the chest are broken up so Sheamus clotheslines him onto the apron instead. It’s off to an armbar on Cesaro’s chronically taped up shoulder but Cesaro lifts him up into that kind of reverse Angle Slam of his. They’re certainly hitting each other hard here, which is pretty much the draw of the whole feud.

Sheamus hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and it’s off to a break. Back with Cesaro fighting out of a chinlock because that rule even applies on pre-shows that will never end. The Irish Curse gives Sheamus two as Cole runs down the pay per view card, which only makes me think that there are FAR too many titles in WWE. They fight over a suplex and fall out to the floor in a heap. Back in and Cesaro starts firing off the running uppercuts in the corner, capped off by a dropkick to knock him off the ropes.

The apron superplex (which wasn’t from the apron) gets two but Sheamus counters the Neutralizer into White Noise for two. There’s the super Regal Roll for two more and frustration is really setting in. Another Brogue Kick attempt is countered by one heck of a clothesline though and Cesaro adds a high crossbody for two of his own. Cesaro tries the Sharpshooter but Sheamus gets to the ropes. Back up and a poke to the eye sets up the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin at 14:11.

Rating: B. They beat the heck out of each other and it was a fun match but it also brings up the problem: I’m not going to want to watch them fight six more times. No matter how good things are, having them happen so many times in a row over several weeks is going to get tiresome. It happens in all these series and it’s happening here too.

And now, after more wrestling than you get on an average Smackdown, here’s the actual pay per view.

The opening video looks at New York City, with the narrator telling you how AMAZING the city is. I’m not sure if New York City or Texas is worse about bragging about their home’s greatness. As usual, this switches over to a series of quick looks at the biggest matches on the card.

Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens

Well duh. That’s about as easy of a choice for an opener as you could ever find for this show. As you might expect, the crowd eats up the opening promo with a spoon and of course we hear a ton of New York City music references. Included are Frank Sinatra, Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z, plus more that probably go over my head. Cass adds in a few songs of his own as this is the only way this show could have opened. Since Graves is the best heel commentator in wrestling today though, he points out that Enzo is from New Jersey.

Jericho and Owens jump Enzo at the bell and the STUPID IDIOT chants start rolling. Enzo comes back with a crossbody and a running right hand to the jaw for two. It’s off to Cass, who drags Owens inside for a beal. That’s some scary power. Enzo gets launched into the corner to crush Jericho but the Canadians bail to the floor. That’s fine with Cass who tosses Enzo over the top onto them in a huge crash. I’ve always loved that spot as it just looks cool.

Back in and Enzo ax handles Owens but turns into a middle rope dropkick from Jericho. The Canadian violence begins with Owens kneeing Enzo from the apron and doing his dance on the apron in a rather funny visual. Owens’ comedic skills aren’t given enough credit more often than not. It’s back to Jericho for the Arrogant Cover and a chinlock with Owens telling Jericho to do it like he taught him.

Owens comes in and adds a gutbuster for two, followed by the running start for a chinlock. It takes real talent to turn a chinlock into an art form but Owens has somehow pulled it off. Enzo finally rolls away but Jericho is there to break up the diving tag attempt. Owens drops the frog splash for two and his stunned looked on the kickout is the usual awesome visual. Enzo gets pulled off the corner to make things even worse but, after blowing a kiss to Jericho, misses the Cannonball.

That means the hot tag to Cass and everything breaks down. Jericho dives into a big boot but Owens breaks up the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka. Cass gets posted on the floor and now the Cannonball against the barricade connects. Back in and Enzo scores with his top rope DDT on Jericho with Owens making the save. A pop up Codebreaker (didn’t look great as Jericho was too far away) ends Enzo at 12:09.

Rating: C+. Odd choice for an ending aside (not surprising of course but odd), this was a good way to get the crowd going. I could have gone for another hope spot from Enzo and more of Cass cleaning house but that pop up Codebreaker could have been a heck of a finisher if done right. Nice opener, though would it have killed them to put Enzo and Cass over in Brooklyn?

Smackdown bosses Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon run into Raw General Manager Mick Foley to brag about how awesome their shows are. Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart and his son come in to ask what Foley is thinking to work with Stephanie. He rants about abuse of power but realizes she’s right behind him. Stephanie yells at him about how great it is to abuse power but thankfully New Day comes up. As the Smackdown bosses and Foley much on cereal, New Day asks Jon if he’d like to do something. He gets out as fast as he can and Stephanie isn’t amused.

We recap Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks. Sasha won the Women’s Title on the first exclusive show after the Brand Split and tonight is the rematch. The other big idea here is Charlotte never loses singles matches on pay per view and Banks has to recreate the magic one more time.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Banks is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Some early WOOing sets up a slightly less early Bank Statement but Charlotte bails to the floor. Back in and Banks climbs the corner for a wristdrag before sending Charlotte face first into the middle buckle. Banks gets caught on top though and Charlotte basically drops her onto the ropes for a backbreaker which almost had to hurt horribly. The fact that Banks had a bad back coming in and Charlotte still did some rather sloppy moves like that got her in some hot water.

We hit a Gory Stretch on the champ for a bit but she comes back with a pair of running clotheslines. That just earns her another backbreaker and Charlotte stomps away at the back. The Figure Eight is broken up but Sasha misses a charge into the corner and gets caught in the Tree of Woe. Charlotte picks her up for a super Razor’s Edge but since that would, you know, kill Sasha, she reverses into a hurricanrana to put them both down.

Back up and a WOO earns Charlotte a string of slaps before Sasha avoids a charge in the corner and hits the double knees to the back for two. Charlotte kicks her in the leg to break up a charge but gets knocked outside again, setting up the double knees from the apron. Back in and the Backstabber doesn’t work but Natural Selection is countered into the Bank Statement (thankfully too as the Natural Selection clearly didn’t send Sasha’s head anywhere near the mat).

Charlotte makes the rope for the break and takes out the knee again. Natural Selection gives Charlotte two so she yells about being better than Sasha. Another Bank Statement goes on but Charlotte reverses into a rollup for the pin and the title at 13:52. Saxton: “Just like that?”

Rating: B. This was just a straight match and that’s the key to the whole thing. The women are getting to show that they can have a good match without the smoke and mirrors, which never would have been the case otherwise. If nothing else it got the kind of time that a title match deserves to develop the story of Banks having a bad back (which would keep her on the shelf for about a month). Strong match here and another of many to come for these two.

Doctors Anderson and Gallows (oh man I had forgotten how stupid this was) run into AJ Styles for a Club reunion. Finn Balor comes up and doesn’t think much of it. Somehow, this has still never gone anywhere.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is defending after winning a triple threat match. Miz comes out wearing a glittery Phantom of the Opera mask while Maryse is basically in a one piece swimsuit. In a sign of the changing times, Mauro talks about Miz’s look instead of Maryse. Miz stomps away in the corner and gets two off a running kick to the chest. Crews gets the same off a rollup, only to walk into the short DDT as it’s almost all Miz to start. We’re already in the reverse chinlock before Miz sends him into the apron to cut off a comeback. Miz takes too long coming off the top though and dives into a dropkick to put both guys down.

A crossbody into a nipup has Miz in trouble as JBL rants about Otunga calling Crews a Jackrobat (jacked acrobat). The Toss Powerbomb is countered so Crews gets two off a tilt-a-whirl powerslam. An overhead belly to belly sets up a standing moonsault, which Otunga sums up perfectly: “A man with that kind of size and that kind of muscle should not be able to do that.” Miz teases taking a walk but Maryse cuts him off, allowing Miz to post Crews. The Skull Crushing Finale retains the title at 5:36.

Rating: D+. Standard Smackdown match and something that could have been cut, or at least put in the Kickoff Show in the place of the Dudleys match. Crews felt like an easy obstacle to overcome because there was nowhere near enough build to set the match up. Put some more effort into the title already people, as it’s just not working.

We recap John Cena vs. AJ Styles. They set up the first match when Styles and Cena were in the ring together, only to have Anderson and Gallows interfere to turn Styles heel. Styles went on a great rant about how Cena was a fraud who couldn’t hang in the ring with someone like him. Cena went into a great speech about how he’s here out of love because it never gets old. AJ beat him at Money in the Bank with assistance from Anderson and Gallows, setting up a rematch between the two here.

AJ Styles vs. John Cena

This just feels big. AJ grabs a waistlock to start but is easily knocked away. The announcers go out of the way to put over how AJ has been on big shows before but nothing this big. Oh I don’t know. I remember him being at that Wrestlemania thing earlier in the year. The dueling chants begin and the AJ STYLES side is pretty clearly stronger.

Cena’s headlock is countered and AJ scores with the dropkick but the bragging earns AJ a right to the jaw. A hard whip into the corner sends AJ down for a bit with Cena doing some rare trash talking. They head to the floor and the fans start belting out JOHN CENA SUCKS, only to have AJ turn it into some gasping with a suplex onto the apron. Cena is right back with a dropkick for two and it’s time for some more right hands to the head.

AJ comes back with a forearm to the face, earning himself Cena’s finishing sequence. It’s way too early for the AA though as AJ hits a Pele, followed by the Styles Clash for a close two. The fans were actually more into the near fall than I was expecting as you would think they’d know better this early. The AA gives Cena two of his own and both guys are down again.

Styles slips out of the super AA and grabs the torture rack for the spinout powerbomb. They’re trading bombs at this point and it’s the only way they should be going here. Something like a Big Ending gives Cena two but he can’t get the STF. Instead it’s the AA neckbreaker for two on Cena (not the same as the AA JBL) but the springboard 450 only hits mat.

A faceplant puts Cena down again though and AJ can’t follow up. He manages the springboard forearm but Cena reverses into the worst STF I’ve ever seen. Thankfully AJ slips out and grabs a Crossface, which Cena powers out of as well. That’s reversed into the Calf Crusher which AJ is smart enough to twist away from the ropes. Cena reverses that into another horrible STF (AJ’s face is on the mat) so AJ is quickly up with the enziguri. A tornado DDT plants AJ and there’s the top rope Fameasser for two.

Cena heads up again and gets taken down with a super hurricanrana (Mauro: “MAMA MIA!”), followed by the Phenomenal Forearm for a VERY near fall (drawing Mauro to his feet). It’s Cena’s turn now as he takes AJ up for the super AA and….it’s two. NOW the fans know it’s on as I don’t think anyone has ever kicked out of that before. Cena is stunned and the AA is countered into another Clash. The Phenomenal Forearm puts Cena away clean at 23:10.

Rating: A. I know it’s not going to sound good but a lot of this goes to Cena. At the end of the day, the crowd completely lost it when AJ kicked out of that super AA. AJ wins here not because he got a pin but because he beat Cena clean. That’s a very, VERY short list and that’s what makes it feel so important. Think back to how big of a deal it was when Warrior pinned Hogan clean. That felt like an era changing win, and while this isn’t quite that big, it’s the same idea.

Oh yeah and it’s an outstanding match and possibly the Match of the Year. This was the heavyweight slugfest formula as they beat the heck out of each other with both guys hitting everything they could until one of them couldn’t get up. That’s a really hard match to pull off and these two did it in an incredible match. It belonged on the grand stage and gives Cena one heck of a mountain to overcome, which he somehow did in a better match at the Royal Rumble.

Post match Cena takes off his wristband and leaves it in the ring. He would do dark matches for a few weeks and then be back wrestling on TV in less than a month so this didn’t mean anything.

Some fans won a contest and got some stuff. In other words, let the fans have a breather.

Here’s Jon Stewart for your celebrity appearance. He makes fun of himself for interfering in Cena’s match last year and says the big lesson he learned was to tuck your shirt in when you’re taking an AA. As for tonight though, he’s here to be in New Day’s corner to help deal with Anderson and Gallows. In honor of the moment, he throws on a unicorn horn and does Big E.’s (out injured due to getting crotched against the post) entrance.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Anderson and Gallows

New Day is defending of course and unfortunately Anderson and Gallows are still doing their stupid doctor nonsense, complete with jars for Kofi, Xavier and Jon’s testicles. I hear Paige can help you with one of those. Anderson headlocks Kofi down to start but he’s right back up with the jumping back elbow to the jaw. Kofi flips onto his feet and gets two off the standing double stomp. You can tell the fans are still recovering from the previous match and it’s off to Woods.

That goes badly as the he gets taken into the corner for a beating from Gallows. At least it does bring the fans back a bit with the rhythmic clapping. Gallows gets taken into the corner for the Unicorn Stampede (which they’ve kind of stopped doing in recent months) and the fans are really not responding. Woods sends him outside so Kofi can hit a running dive (while posing in the air) to take him down again. Back in and Gallows kicks Kofi in the head to take over for real this time with Anderson working on the arm.

That goes nowhere as the hot tag brings in Woods to clean house. Anderson sends him to the apron for an enziguri, setting up the rope walk elbow drop. Everything breaks down and Anderson kicks Kofi in the chest, setting up the Magic Killer. Stewart gets in though and it’s time to crotch him as well. Hang on though as he has to tuck in his shirt first. Cue the returning Big E. for the save though and that’s a DQ at 9:09.

Rating: D. I don’t know if it was the previous match or what but sweet goodness the fans did NOT care for this one. It’s not a good match in the first place as Anderson and Gallows aren’t funny in the doctor roles, but the bigger problem here was the focus being on Stewart at the end. Oh and the ending sets up a rematch, which really isn’t what they need to be going with here. Bad match but Big E.’s return did wake up the crowd.

Big E. drinks the fluid in the jar holding his “testicles”. Stewart dances with New Day and the fans…well they care when Big E. dances at least.

We recap Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler. Dolph won a six way match to earn the shot and then it all went nuts. Ziggler started talking about how he was tired of being told that he always either too good or not good enough. It was time to turn up the jets and become champion for the third time. Serious Ziggler was nice but I don’t think anyone was buying him as having a real chance here. You know, because he’s Dolph Ziggler.

Smackdown World Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose

Dean is defending and Shane and Daniel are here for no apparent reason. The fans are behind Ziggler and they trade some grappling on the mat with Ziggler getting the better of it (not exactly a surprise). The threat of a neckbreaker sends Ambrose bailing to the floor so Dolph splashes him against the barricade.

Back in and Ziggler’s jumping DDT is countered with Dean throwing him outside again. Ziggler escapes a super Dirty Deeds so Dean slaps on a half crab of all things. You can tell Dean is playing the subtle heel here as the smark crowd is always going to cheer for Ziggler. Dean heads up top and gets dropkicked out of the air but he’s right back with a double chickenwing facebuster.

Ambrose tunes up the band (which is now mocking Ziggler instead of anything involving Shawn Michaels) but shakes his head and tries Dirty Deeds instead. That’s reversed into the jumping DDT and both guys are down again. A double collision gives us another lay down period until Dean is up first and hammering away.

The top rope elbow gets two so Ziggler grabs the sleeper, earning them both a tumble out to the floor. Ziggler gets in the superkick on the floor but it’s barely two back inside. The Zig Zag gets the same but Dean pops back up with the rebound lariat. Ziggler catches Dean on top and pulls him back down, right into Dirty Deeds to retain the title at 15:22.

Rating: D+. And that people, is Ziggler choking again. This would lead to him saying he’s never won the big one, which would turn into him never holding the World Title that long because holding the title is more important than winning it. The match was nothing all that good as we were just waiting on Dirty Deeds, which only happened so Dean could keep it warm for AJ next month. That was completely obvious the second AJ pinned Cena again and that’s all this title needed to do.

Package on Summerslam weekend.

Natalya/Alexa Bliss/Eva Marie vs. Becky Lynch/Naomi/Carmella

Dang I didn’t know the Glow was a year old. Actually hang on a minute as Eva Marie is suffering from exhaustion, anxiety and stress (likely brought on by reading too many Wellness Violation messages, which meant she would never wrestle again) so we have a replacement. At least we got that amazing entrance one more time.

Natalya/Alexa Bliss/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Naomi/Carmella

So yeah, you know full well that Nikki is going to be all that matters in this match because IT’S HER BIG COMEBACK THAT EVERYONE TOTALLY CARES ABOUT BECAUSE WE LOVE HER SO MUCH! She does get one heck of a pop though, which is rather scary. During her entrance, Mauro declares her return “miraculous”. Oh man this is going to be a long one.

Bliss rolls Becky up to start and gets in a hard slap for good measure. Naomi comes in to scare Alexa off so it’s Natalya instead. A forearm puts Natalya down and the splits legdrop gets two. Carmella comes in for the Staten Island Shuffle before a missed charge sends Natalya outside. Back in and a powerslam out of the corner plants Carmella before it’s off to Nikki, the heel, for a strong face pop.

We hit the chinlock but hang on as we need some Nikki pushups. Alexa chokeshoves Carmella down for the moonsault knees to the ribs as the crowd is dead all over again. The abdominal stretch keeps things slow until Carmella finally rolls over and makes the hot tag to Becky. All three heels are send into the corner for the springboard kicks from Lynch, followed by a Bexploder on Natalya.

Becky’s top rope legdrop gets two with Nikki making the save. A blind tag brings in Naomi for the dancing kicks with the fans just not reacting at all. Bliss’ springboard splash hits knees so it’s off to Nikki vs. Carmella. A bad looking Bronco Buster gets two on Nikki and everything breaks down. Nikki’s big forearm sets up the Rack Attack 2.0 (Nikki: “I’m back.”) for the pin at 11:16.

Rating: D. This was all about Nikki’s return and that’s not enough to carry a dull match. Naomi’s Glow stuff wasn’t over yet, Becky was stuck around people who weren’t up to her level and Carmella was showing that she didn’t need to be on the main roster yet. The same was true for Alexa and Natalya was her usual self. Just not a good match and it showed the lack of depth to the division.

We recap Rusev vs. Roman Reigns. Rusev and Lana were married and so Reigns interrupted for no apparent reason to insult them and shove them into a cake.

Maria Menunos interviews Rusev and Lana, who don’t like her questions about Reigns. They won’t stand for this and Lana is sure that her husband will destroy Reigns.

We recap the Universal Title match. Basically we need a new title due to the Brand Split and Universal Title was the best they could come up with. Seth Rollins was put into the match as Raw’s #1 draft pick and Finn Balor earned his way in by winning a series of matches. Not much else to it as there’s no major animosity between them but it’s better than pulling the title out of a suitcase.

Seth did get in a great promo talking about how he’s done everything Balor has done but he’s done it a little bit better. He’s not wrong, though that’s not the best thing to do when you have someone so new to the main roster. Then Balor showed up as the Demon and scared Rollins to death.

Universal Title: Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

Anything goes and the title (which isn’t that well received due to a bad case of being hideous) is vacant coming in. Unless I’m forgetting something, to date this is the only time Balor has wrestled as the Demon on the main roster. We get the Big Match Intros and the title itself receives some hearty boos. Balor dropkicks him into the corner at the bell but it’s too early for the Coup de Grace.

Instead Balor hits a suicide dive to the floor, followed by some kicks to the knee back inside. They head outside again with Seth getting in his first offense via a suplex on the floor. Balor is right back with something like a Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade. Back in again and Balor hits a basement dropkick for two as this is almost one sided so far. Finn stays on the leg as the fans are singing something.

Balor jumps over the ropes but Rollins slides between his legs and powerbombs him into the barricade, completely destroying Balor’s shoulder and putting him on the shelf for the better part of eight months. We’re less than four minutes in though and you can see the shoulder looking all messed up. Back in and Seth gets two off a backbreaker, setting up a chinlock. The chants are still going and it sounds like THAT TITLE SUCKS to the tune of John Cena Sucks.

Seth starts the trash talk and cuts off a comeback attempt. A snapmare into a kick to the back has Finn in even more trouble but Seth would rather walk around than follow up. It’s back to the chinlock for a good while until the springboard knee to the head sets up Seth’s frog splash for two. What looks like a Rainmaker is countered into a DDT to give Balor his first major offense in a long time and he follows up with some forearms.

A basement dropkick sets up the Sling Blade but Seth kicks him down without much effort. An enziguri stuns Balor but he’s right back with the Pele, earning a very nice round of applause. If nothing else the chants about the title have stopped. 1916 (reverse implant DDT) gives Finn two but the Coup de Grace is countered into a triangle choke of all things. Finn falls outside because rope breaks don’t count (anything goes remember) and things slow down a bit.

Back in and the buckle bomb sets up the low superkick for two on Balor with Seth looking stunned on the kickout. A small package driver gets the same count and reaction so Seth goes up, allowing Balor to hit a very loud enziguri to put him on the floor. Balor adds a shotgun dropkick to send him into the barricade, followed by a top rope double stomp to the back of the head for two. The Coup de Grace misses and it’s a Pedigree for two. Finn counters a second Pedigree into a double stomp, followed by the Coup de Grace for the pin and the title at 19:23.

Rating: B+. When you factor in that shoulder injury, this is quite the impressive performance. Above all else though, how good is it that Balor won the title here? If he loses his first major pay per view match and then goes away until April, he’s lucky to come back to the cruiserweight division.

This was a heck of a match with both guys beating the heck out of each other. It took some time to get built up but once they finally got there, the fans really started to accept things, which is a very positive sign. Balor is someone who is going to get a very positive reaction no matter what and giving him the title here was entirely the right call.

Balor can barely move his right arm after the match but finally holds the title up. On his WWE 24 special, he said you could feel and hear the shoulder crunching and crackling as he lifted the title and it probably did more damage to the arm.

The pre-show channel chats a bit and throws us to a KFC ad with Dolph Ziggler dressing up as Colonel Sanders to beat up Miz dressed as a chicken. It’s actually dumber than you remember it being.

Here’s Lana to introduce Rusev, albeit while wearing half of a wedding dress, the bottom of which looks like a diaper. She’s one of the most beautiful women on the roster but she looks ridiculous here.

US Title: Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

Roman is challenging and the booing is strong with this one. Rusev jumps him before the bell and they fight out to the floor with Roman being sent into the steps. The fans chant RUSEV MACHKA because they’ve given up on America over their hatred for Reigns. Roman gets in a Superman Punch as the bell hasn’t rung yet. They fight over a chair with Reigns getting the better of it and destroying Rusev. Reigns finally leaves but comes back with a spear, all while the fans chant WE WANT SLATER. No match of course, likely due to time issues.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar. This match was announced as Orton’s return match from surgery and the build focused on Orton being able to hit the RKO anytime, including a sweet moment where Orton interrupted a Lesnar promo with an RKO. The hype video even includes some OVW clips as they came up through developmental together and debuted within a few months of each other. This had a heck of a build and felt like something important but the question was whether Lesnar would have an actual match or just do his usual Lesnar stuff.

Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar

Heyman handles Lesnar’s introduction, saying he’s conquering out of the University of Suplex City. Brock seems to get into his MMA stance to start before driving Orton into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs. Orton escapes the first German suplex attempt but can’t hit the RKO.

Now the first suplex connects (with Mauro knowing that it’s the 33^rd Lesnar has hit at Summerslam because he’s awesome that way) and Brock follows with two more. Orton is almost out on his feet so Lesnar suplexes him again. It’s nothing but suplexes at this point and it’s already getting dull. They head outside for a much needed change of pace with Orton being thrown over the announcers’ table.

Orton gets thrown from the front row through the table as this is dominance. The other table is loaded up but whatever Lesnar is trying is countered into the RKO onto (not through) the table. The hanging DDT plants Lesnar back inside and another RKO gets two. Orton realizes he has no choice and tries the Punt, only to have it reversed into the F5 (bad one) for two more.

That’s enough for Lesnar so he takes off the gloves and pads and hammers on Orton. An elbow to the head actually busts Orton open VERY badly. Lesnar just keeps hammering on him while the fans chant GOLDBERG until the referee FINALLY stops it at 11:47. I’ve heard a bunch of answers about what happened but I believe this was the planned ending and a hard way opening.

Rating: D. Yeah this didn’t work when it happened and it didn’t work again this time around. Lesnar suplexing Orton for five minutes then selling a few big moves doesn’t make me think it’s an awesome main event. This was everything wrong with Lesnar’s current WWE run in one match and that made for a really dull match, save for the odd finish that seemed designed to protect Orton. You know, after he was basically squashed.

Lesnar keeps hammering on him until the always intimidating Shane McMahon comes out, earning himself an F5 (which thankfully didn’t lead anywhere). Heyman panics as they leave to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. If you cut an hour (or more) out of this, it’s bordering on the classic level. As it is, this is just a good show that runs WAY too long. At some point you have to cut something out and WWE just refuses to do that. Cut out the Dudleys match or the women’s tag and give us some breathing room here because sweet goodness this show could use it.

Now that being said, there’s some outstanding stuff on here with the Styles vs. Cena match as an instant classic, the Women’s Title being very good, a great Universal Title match and really only the Tag Team Title match being without much value. The show is certainly good and the positives outweigh the negatives but unless the show is a masterpiece, fans are going to start losing interest near the end. It’s a solid show but cut out a good forty minutes to really make it great.

Ratings Comparison

American Alpha/Hype Bros/Usos vs. Breezango/Ascension/Vaudevillains

Original: C

2017 Redo: B-

Dudley Boyz vs. Neville/Sami Zayn

Original: C

2017 Redo: C-

Sheamus vs. Cesaro

Original: B-

2017 Redo: B

Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens vs. Enzo Amore/Big Cass

Original: C+

2017 Redo: C+

Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte

Original: B

2017 Redo: B

Miz vs. Apollo Crews

Original: C

2017 Redo: D+

John Cena vs. AJ Styles

Original: A

2017 Redo: A

New Day vs. Anderson and Gallows

Original: D+

2017 Redo: D

Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose

Original: B-

2017 Redo: D+

Natalya/Alexa Bliss/Nikki Bella vs. Becky Lynch/Naomi/Carmella

Original: C

2017 Redo: D

Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

Original: B+

2017 Redo: D+

Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton

Original: C+

2017 Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original: B

2017 Redo: B-

That’s quite the drop on Ambrose vs. Ziggler and Lesnar vs. Orton. Some of them are spot on though and that’s not the biggest surprise.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/08/21/summerslam-2016-they-didnt/

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

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: July 22, 2026
Location: The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the last Dynamite before this weekend’s Redemption pay per view and we have some titles on the line tonight as well. That includes Kevin Knight defending the TNT Title, along with the Women’s Tag Team Titles being on the line. We should have a good show here and let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega are ready to team tonight. Ospreay mentions they’re undefeated as a team (stunning Omega in the process) and they agree to tag out if they need the help. Jon Moxley comes in to say there is no tension in this room and things get quiet rather quickly.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight

Knight is defending but Allin jumps him before the bell and they fight into the crowd. Naturally Allin gets a running start and runs him over with a clothesline back to ringside. Allin climbs onto the top of the post and clotheslines him into the timekeeper’s area for the huge crash. They go inside for the opening bell and are almost immediately out on the ramp.

Knight sends him crashing into the barricade and a catapult sends Allin THROUGH the steps (with the top breaking off), which is only good for two back inside. Allin fights off the top though and grabs a pair of Code Reds for two. Knight’s arm is put inside of the post and then he is knocked outside for a Coffin Drop (from the bleeding Allin) as we take a break.

We come back with both of them down until Knight is up to send Allin into the referee. Knight grabs the belt but walks into the Scorpion Death Drop. The Coffin Drop takes too long though and Allin ties him in the Tree Of Woe for a Coast To Coast. That and the UFO Splash retain the title at 11:20.

Rating: B-. This was much more of a wild brawl than a typical match and that isn’t a surprise for Allin. Outside of the spot with the steps, it could have been a lot worse with all of the violence and carnage and stung show insanity. I was hoping Knight to drop the title here to avoid another champion vs. champion match at the pay per view but oh well.

Post match here are Kyle Fletcher and Kazuchika Okada for their tag match, with Knight seemingly not liking the two of them taking his moment.

Post break the Don Callis Family is in the ring, with Mark Davis not being worried about Andrade El Idolo at Redemption. Knight says he just won on his own, but Fletcher isn’t impressed, saying he hopes Knight wins another title on Sunday. Fletcher doesn’t need help either and he’s going to make sure that the title is banned from ringside at Redemption. And heck let’s do that again right now.

Kyle Fletcher/Kazuchika Okada vs. Brodido

The Family is banned from ringside, save for Don Callis himself, who is on commentary. Bandido and Fletcher go with the grappling to start until Bandido gets a wristdrag into a dropkick. King comes in for a suplex, plus the rather loud chops in the corner. It’s back to Bandido, who gets double flapjacked as we take a break.

We come back with Bandido slipping away from a double team and bringing King back in for some house wrecking. Fletcher is Death Valley Drivered onto the apron but Okada manages to hoist King up for an Air Raid Crash onto the knee. Fletcher is back in but runs into a swinging Boss Man Slam for two but Fletcher is able to superkick a moonsaulting Bandido out of the air. A pop up faceplant, followed by a frog splash (with Eddie Dance) give Bandido two each but Okada is back in with the Rainmaker. Unforgiven it hits Fletcher by mistake though and the 21 Plex gives Bandido the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B. The match was fast paced and kept a few things going at once, which is quite the use of what they had here. If nothing else, at least Bandido got a win to build him up a bit for Sunday and that was rather needed. Okada vs. Fletcher seems to be coming sooner or later and that should be….something.

Post match Okada begs Fletcher’s forgiveness but Fletcher yells a lot. Don Callis sends the team after Brodido but Andrade El Idolo comes in before the violence can start. The villains skedaddle.

We get a video on the Painmaker version of Chris Jericho.

Here is Mick Foley for a chat and yeah the fans like him. Foley brings out Thekla and Willow Nightingale for their staredown, with Thekla also showing off her new Stardom title (She has two belts, which comes after a segment involving four different champions staring at each other. Either unify some of the things or stop having everyone bring in their titles from elsewhere because good grief enough already.).

Thekla accuses Nightingale of hiding behind her smile and offers to beat the poison out of Nightingale at Redemption. Nightingale finds it interesting that Thekla accuses someone of wearing a mask and only cares about the AEW Women’s Title. Foley compares himself to Nightingale, as they both had smiles but Nightingale has more teeth.

Thekla tells Foley to shut up and that’s too far for Nightingale She calls Thekla a “dumb b****”, which has Thekla smiling as she tells Nightingale to smile anyway after she gets beaten up. Thekla hits her in the head with the mic and takes off her belt (the traditional kind, not the star shaped one), only to get Pounced.

Video on Hikaru Shida vs. Maya World.

Jay White vs. Clark Connors

The fans are behind White and they play a bit of chase to start. White gets behind him though and almost gets the Blade Runner. Instead White fires off some chops before grabbing an armbar. White sends him onto the ramp but Connors grabs the referee, setting up a spear through the ropes.

We take a break and come back with Connors going to the eyes and hitting a running shoulder. Another such shoulder only hits an open chair though and they get back inside, where White starts on the leg. Connors is fine enough to hit something of a Pounce but walks into a swinging Rock Bottom. The cutthroat suplex drops Connors, who is back with a powerslam for two of his own. Connors’ spear is countered into a guillotine choke, with White rolling over to choke him out at 12:33.

Rating: B-. I’m rather glad to see White get back in the ring as he has a style that makes him stand out for some reason. He’s good at what he does and feels like a star, though it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t stay healthy. At the same time, if the Dogs completely disappeared from AEW, I really can’t imagine I would notice.

Post match David Finlay runs in with the shillelagh shot to White so the Bang Bang Gang chases him off.

Adam Copeland and Christian Cage are jumped by the Death Riders, who can’t believe Copeland and Cage challenged them for Redemption. On Sunday, the Riders will remind them who they are.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Sisters Of Sin vs. Megan Bayne/Lena Kross

The Sisters are challenging and this is No DQ. That’s how they can get away with jumping the champions with kendo sticks before the bell and knocking them outside. Some running shots off the apron put Kross and Bayne down again and Blue unloads with the kendo stick shots back inside. Hart’s Old School hurricanrana is blocked with raw power but Blue is up for the save. Blue (bleeding from the head) is put in the corner where Bayne throws a chair at the chair on Blue’s chest and we take a break.

We come back with Bayne being put through a table on the stage and Kross being knocked down for two. Bayne is back up and it’s a string of shots to the face to leave everyone down. After Bayne takes off her hockey sweater, the four of them all grab a belt (yep) and miss a shot each. Blue is up to try…something to Kross but Bayne grabs her off the ropes for a chokeslam through the table at ringside. Back in and Bayne reverses Hart’s Octopus into a Tombstone and the Divine Intervention retains the titles at 12:45.

Rating: B. This got fun as the champs were having to fight to win for a change. You could definitely see Bayne getting more into this and showing a lot of emotion. That’s not something you often see from here and it could add something else to her future. At the same time, the Sisters gave them a good fight in a losing effort and I’ll take that for a match like this.

The Bang Bang Gang want a double chain match with the Dogs at Redemption. Well of course they do.

Jon Moxley/Kenny Omega/Will Ospreay vs. Don Callis Family

Ospreay and Hechicero go with the grappling to start with Hechicero grabbing a headscissors on the mat. That’s broken up and we’re already up to a standoff. Omega comes in to take over on Hechicero’s arm and the go….well the non-Callis guys take turns working on the arm. Omega gives Moxley a rather weak tag and Hechicero gets away for the tag to Doyle.

That means Moxley gets sent into the corner for the stomping but he’s able to send Doyle outside. There’s the suicide dive and Ospreay is back in for a Stundog Millionaire to Cage. Doyle runs Ospreay over though and Omega is knocked down as well and we take a break. We come back with Omega hitting a spinning kick to Cage, allowing the tag to Ospreay (and leaving Moxley hanging).

A moonsault hits Cage but it’s back to Hechicero to work on the knee. That sets up a kneebar but Moxley comes in for the save, even without the tag. Everything breaks down and Hechicero is left alone for some triple teaming, including the running shots in the corner. Omega knees Moxley by mistake though and Cage gives Omega a pumphandle knee to the face.

Moxley is back up to cut off a double Doomsday powerbomb and it’s a Hidden Blade/V Trigger combination to finish Hechicero at 13:19. Sidenote: Omega raises his fists in celebration right after getting the pin. I love little things like that as wrestlers are supposed to want to win. Be happy when you do.

Rating: B. The best thing here is that it went as it should have. There was almost no way, save for a total implosion, that Moxley and company were losing here as that’s a crazy lineup. At the same time, this match didn’t go too long and that’s great to see for a change. Sometimes the right call is for a match to do something like this and it worked well here.

Post match Omega apologizes to Moxley and offers a handshake but Moxley shoves him. They go nose to nose so Ospreay breaks it up, only for Omega to shove him down as well. Moxley is thrilled with the two of them fighting but here are the Young Bucks to go after Moxley and Ospreay. RPG Vice runs in so Omega tries to give them a V Trigger, only to get taken down by a very surprising diving clothesline from Kevin Knight to end the show. I appreciate the Knight vs. Omega stuff but I have a better chance of leaving Redemption with the World Title than Knight does.

Overall Rating: B. They were in a tough place here as Redemption feels as weak of a pay per view as any they have offered in a long time. It isn’t so much that the show is looking bad, but it doesn’t feel important. That makes building the show up very difficult and they did what they could here. It wasn’t a big time show but I liked it well enough, partially because it was almost twenty minutes shorter than last week. Believe it or not, a lack of overstaying your welcome can make a big difference.

Results
Kevin Knight b. Darby Allin – UFO Splash
Brodido b. Kyle Fletcher/Kazuchika Okada – 21 Plex to Fletcher
Jay White b. Clark Connors – Guillotine choke
Lena Kross/Megan Bayne b. Sisters Of Sin – Divine Intervention to Hart
Jon Moxley/Kenny Omega/Will Ospreay b. Don Callis Family – Hidden Blade/V Trigger combination to Hechicero

 

 

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

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Summerslam 2014
Date: August 17, 2014
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 14,079
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

Time for a redo of a show with a main event billed as the Biggest Fight of the Summer. The more I think of that line, the more I like it. The main event here is Cena (subbing for the injured Bryan) defending against Brock Lesnar, who is having his first match since breaking the Streak. Interestingly enough, I don’t even remember another match from this card. Let’s get to it.

I usually don’t say anything on the pre-show, but my goodness Renee Young is stunning. I know you often hear about the Divas looking great, but she is just beautiful, especially in a nice red dress here.

Pre-Show: Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam

No real story here. Rob rolls out of a wristlock to start and we hit the ECW chants. My goodness there’s other stuff to cheer over people. Cesaro is sent to the floor and Rob slips a bit on his dive but still manages to kick Cesaro down and hit Rolling Thunder on the outside. Back in and Cesaro simplifies stuff by just pummeling Van Dam in the corner before throwing him down with the gutwrench suplex.

We take a break and come back with Cesaro holding a chinlock as the announcers give us one final hype for Cena vs. Lesnar. Rob fights up for a rolling cradle and the split legged moonsault for two, followed by a superkick to put Cesaro back on the floor. This is Van Dam 101 here, which was the biggest criticism he faced during this time. The Five Star is broken up by a big uppercut but Rob is still able to block a superplex.

That earns him another uppercut though because Cesaro is pesky like that. Van Dam shoves him down again but Cesaro hits the third straight uppercut, only to be shoved down yet again. Rob is finally able to dive…..right into an uppercut of course. This time it’s Cesaro kicking Rob in the face for two and frustration is setting in. Back up and Van Dam hits his quick step over kick, followed by the Five Star for the pin at 8:06.

Rating: C-. The uppercut sequence was nice but like I said, Van Dam was just doing high spots here and nothing else. That was the case for most of his 2014 run and that’s not really doing anything for him at this point. Cesaro was just wandering around at this point, which makes his Wrestlemania battle royal win feel like the biggest waste of a rub in recent history, which is really covering a lot of ground.

In a sign of the times, Hulk Hogan is brought out to open the show. Well to be fair it worked really well at Wrestlemania XXX so this isn’t the worst idea in the world. He thinks it’s appropriate for Hollywood Hogan to open the show here in Los Angeles and talks about how amazing Summerslam really is. This turns into a commercial for the Network, all while Hogan’s video is playing behind him. Hogan hits the catchphrase and he’s out in less than three minutes. This was fine and got the crowd fired up while also plugging something. Well done.

The opening video is in the theme of an old 1980s action movie trailer (Follow the Buzzards Productions) with the usual previews for the main events, but with everyone’s nickname instead of their actual name. I really liked this as a movie geek and it holds up quite well a year later.

It’s a shame that the curse of the standardized sets has hit Summerslam as well. It’s the second biggest show of the year. Mix that stuff up people.

Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Miz is defending and has the Hollywood star gimmick. I still really like his work in this and still find him to be one of the better done characters. Before the match, Miz talks about being real instead of CGI and brags about how jealous you all should be of the moneymaker. Tonight he’s going to make Ziggler the WWE version of the Lakers. Feeling out process to start as the announcers talk about the Ice Bucket Challenge, back when that was still a thing.

The threat of a superkick sends Miz bailing to the floor as we hear about the Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel match from Summerslam 1992 where it was agreed that neither would hit the other in the face. Back in and a quick rollup gets two for Dolph but he gets whipped chest first into the corner as Miz takes over. With his variety of stomps used up, Miz kicks Dolph hard in the face before slapping on a chinlock.

The fans tell Miz that he can’t wrestle, but you could say the same thing about Ziggler so it’s not really clear. Dolph punches him out of the air and hits a Stinger Splash before a rollup gets two more. Now the superkick connects with the moneymaker for two so we get the required attempt at bailing, only to have Dolph baseball slide him down.

Somehow that earns Ziggler a Figure Four (because Miz needed a submission hold and it’s always a good thing to pay tribute to Flair, who won SO many major matches with that hold right?) but Dolph is in the ropes. His leg is fine enough for a Fameasser but Miz pops to his feet for the Skull Crushing Finale before he starts to sell. The kickout shocks Miz again but he misses another running boot, allowing Dolph to score with the Zig Zag for the pin and the title at 7:57.

Rating: C-. These two don’t have any kind of special chemistry but they would fight each other for the better part of eternity because WWE doesn’t know how to set up anything fresh more than once every few months. Ziggler winning the title gave the fans a nice moment but there was nothing to the match.

We recap the latest part of the RIVETING Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon feud where Stephanie brought Daniel Bryan’s physical therapist to say she and Bryan had an affair, leading to Brie slapping the therapist and getting arrested, just as she had done to Stephanie a few weeks earlier. The affair stuff was so hated that they dropped it pretty much the next day.

Brie talks about doing a bunch of reflecting while she was in jail where she thought about Stephanie torturing Nikki while Brie was gone, how she insulted Bryan and how she paid the therapist to lie about an affair. She’s going to take out the beast tonight because that’s best for business. Oh dear I think I’m going to have something to say about this.

Divas Title: Paige vs. AJ Lee

Paige is challenging and they’ve been feuding for most of the summer with AJ returning and winning the title, causing Paige to start imitating her for reasons that still aren’t clear. They’re friends and enemies at the same time (yes I know there’s a word that combines the two and no I won’t use it) so Paige offers a handshake, only to have AJ rip some of her hair out. AJ stays all aggressive (Heaven help me if I say the other word about her) and sends Paige onto the announcers’ table, only to have Paige come back with a knee to the ribs.

The champ gets dropped onto the barricade but Paige realizes she can’t win the title via countout. Back in and we get Paige’s sexy crawl over AJ before she pulls her own hair extensions out. Well no one ever accused Paige of being normal. The chinlock on AJ goes nowhere and she’s able to shove Paige off the top, though she’s nice enough to blow her a kiss first.

A top rope clothesline to the floor drops Paige again. The Shining Wizard gets two but Paige kicks her in the face, only to have the Paige Turner countered into the Black Widow. Just like at the Raw after Wrestlemania though, Paige powers out again and scores with the Rampaige for the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the Divas version of Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect back at Summerslam 1993 where they basically guaranteed a classic but just had a good match instead. This was one of the last good feuds before Nikki took over the title in a few months, which we’re somehow still surviving nine months later. Lucky us.

Summerslam 2015 will be in New York/New Jersey. That would be slightly changed to Brooklyn

Jack Swagger vs. Rusev

Speaking of things still going on later, these two are still having the same match the following summer. This is also a flag match, meaning a regular match with the winner getting their flag raised. Lana (rocking the white suit here) and Zeb Colter (remember him?) are the seconds. Before the match, Lana says that Hollywood is a great example of everything wrong with America. In real life, there is no happy ending and America is full of worthless cowards.

Swagger counters with members of the US Army Color Guard to present the American flag. Rusev jumps Jack before the bell and the American flag falls, which is a big sign of disrespect. Swagger counters into a Patriot Lock as we’re still waiting on the bell. The referee breaks it up so Lana orders Rusev to his feet. Now the bell rings and Jack goes after the leg and ankle again.

Rusev bails to the floor so Swagger, showing some fire for a change, follows him out with a hard clothesline. The Vader Bomb hits knees though, which really should hurt the bad leg but why bother with logic? Jack happens to have bad ribs coming in so Rusev has his own target now. With the leg breaking down, Rusev opts for a bearhug, meaning he has to stay on his feet anyway. Jack can’t belly to belly his way to freedom but his second attempt works a bit better.

The Vader Bomb connects but hurts Jack’s ribs all over again. Rusev’s superkick is caught in the Patriot Lock but Rusev is quickly out, only to walk into a powerslam for two. The second superkick connects and the Accolade (on one leg) goes on, only to be countered into the Patriot Lock. Rusev kicks out of that as well, spinwheel kicks Jack down, and Accolades him again for the knockout victory.

Rating: C. This is a tricky one to grade, as yet again, since these guys have fought roughly a dozen times, I never once believed Rusev was in trouble. That being said, they did a good job here of using the ankle injury to try to add some drama. It’s a very difficult thing to do when there is almost zero doubt as to who is winning, but they gave it a good try.

The problem for these two is they’re still fighting on occasion and it never gets any closer for Jack. That’s something WWE is really bad about: they don’t understand that fans don’t want to see the same obvious match over and over again but that’s what we get because there’s no one other than Swagger (or Henry) to take these losses. Bring back unknown jobbers or something, because they have about the same chance of winning and would at least feel fresh for a change.

Rusev attacks Colter post match and the Russian flag comes down.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, which is Dean’s first attempt for revenge on Seth after Rollins broke up the Shield over the summer. Seth ran a lot previously but tonight it’s time for a lumberjack match so Dean can finally get his hands on him.

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose

Most of the lumberjacks were attacked by Rollins and the Shield at some point in the last year and a half. Rollins is Mr. Money in the Bank here. It’s a slugout as soon as they’re both in the ring with Dean taking over and knocking Rolling outside. That goes as badly as you would expect for Rollins so he goes back inside for something a bit safer: Ambrose ripping at his nose. This time it’s Dean being sent outside for a beating but some guys hold the attackers back.

Now it’s Rollins in control for a bit so Ambrose just punches him in the face. He goes up top for no logical reason (to be fair he’s supposed to be crazy) and gets caught in the Tree of Woe as Seth really takes over. A chinlock doesn’t go very far as Dean is sent to the apron, only to suplex Rollins over the top and out onto the lumberjacks in a big crash. The whole thing turns into a war with Dean backdropping Rollins over the barricade.

Dean dives onto the lumberjacks because he’s nuts and then down the announcers’ tables to get to Rollins in the crowd. This is more like what the match should have been and it’s about time they got to it. They fight into the balcony as Kane comes down to tell the lumberjacks to do their job. Bo Dallas stops Rollins from powerbombing Dean off the balcony so Seth runs towards the entrance but gets caught by Stardust, Big E. and the Usos.

Rollins is literally carried back to the ring but Dean is waiting on them with a huge dive off the top. Back in and Dirty Deeds is countered but Ambrose blasts him with the rebound lariat. NOW the crowd is way into things and Dean curb stomps Seth, only to have Kane come in for the save. The lumberjacks get in another fight because they all have anger management issues. Dean dispatches the Wyatts but walks into a briefcase shot to the face for the pin.

Rating: B-. This is one where your opinions may vary wildly and I’m not going to put up much of an argument either way. There were only so many ways that they mess with the idea to keep the lumberjack gimmick going (which fit the story) while also being insane. Good, insane brawl here and that’s what it needed to be.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt, which started because Bray decided it was time and didn’t like Jericho calling himself a savior. Jericho beat Wyatt clean at Battleground in a stupid decision so tonight the Family is barred from ringside. I have no idea why they thought this would make me interested in seeing it again but it’s better than another gimmick match.

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho

The fireflies are still so cool looking. Bray goes right after him to start and they’re quickly on the floor with Jericho stepping over Bray’s hat. That’s polite of him. Jericho gets shoved to the floor as the announcers start reading Tweets. I know the match isn’t the most thrilling story in the world but come on. A running knee sends Jericho’s head into the steps and Bray drives him into the post for good measure.

Back inside and we hit the chinlock, because no matter how insane or unconventional someone is, they make sure to throw on a chinlock. Like everyone has ever done, Jericho fights out with ease and gets one off an enziguri. Jericho’s dropkick stops a charging Bray but he walks into the release Rock Bottom for two. Sister Abigail is countered into the Walls but Bray gets a rope (unlike in NXT where he tapped to the Walls years ago).

Bray goes to the middle rope so Jericho can hurricanrana him back down for a delayed two. I’m never a fan of people going up just so someone can hit them with a move. It’s a stretch of the suspension of disbelief. Bray spiders up and says that he can’t die because he is already dead. Jericho breaks his code for two and Bray slides outside where he smacks Jericho in the face, setting up Sister Abigail into the barricade. Back in and another Sister Abigail is enough to give Bray the pin.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t really feeling this one as it’s a match that Bray was supposed to win and then did. He was still trying to recover from the huge blow of losing the feud to Cena and losing the first match to Jericho really didn’t do him any favors. The match was nothing to see either as Jericho was starting to run on fumes again here. This would have been so much more effective if Jericho hadn’t won the first match.

Bray serenades us post match.

We recap Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon, which was a recap I needed when I watched this show live as the whole thing was such a mess. So Stephanie was all evil to Daniel Bryan, but Bryan is on the shelf with his neck injury so the feud was transferred over to Brie, because Brie and Bryan are totally the same thing.

Stephanie threatened to fire Brie but Brie quit first, leaving Stephanie to torture Nikki by putting her in handicap matches against such devastating forces as Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes, Cameron and Eva Marie. Yes, this was really supposed to be intimidating. Brie and Stephanie sued each other over slapping each other because that’s what this feud needed. Then Brie offered to drop the charges in exchange for a match with Stephanie at Summerslam, because that’s how wrestling works.

Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella

This is Stephanie’s first match in ten years and the announcers act like it’s Bruno vs. Hogan. We immediately get to the point as Stephanie comes out in something that looks like a superhero outfit with skin tight leather that shows off every inch of her figure. Oh and of course she throws the Four Horsewomen sign to Ronda Rousey and the other three women whose names no one knows (in the front row when Rousey was just starting to make noise as a big time star) because Stephanie is cool like that.

The announcers swoon over Stephanie like it’s Trish in 2000 and then give Brie a polite response. That’s the match right there: Brie looks good while Stephanie looks amazing and it’s entirely by design. Stephanie shoves Brie against the ropes to start and blows her a kiss. Brie gets back up and can barely do a lockup properly. Some shoulders in the corner have Brie in more trouble as the announcers try to act like Brie is some big physical threat while also pointing out that Stephanie has long legs.

The big slap is blocked though and the threat of a YES Lock sends Stephanie outside, likely out of fear due to how bad Brie made the hold look on Raw a few weeks back. Brie’s suicide dive is blocked by a forearm to the face and it’s Stephanie in control again. Stephanie talks trash and busts out a Hennig neck snap, drawing a YOU STILL GOT IT (shut up. Stephanie never had it in the ring in the first place. Think before you chant) and even more praise from the announcers.

Stephanie cranks on both arms as Brie has been on offense for all of fifteen seconds so far. An evil look that would make Edge jealous looks to set up….something, but Brie comes back with a Thesz press and the YES Kicks in the corner. Well close enough to them as she can’t get the timing right because the one spot that is going to get her a cheer is too complicated for her.

The middle rope dropkick gets two on Stephanie and Brie follows up with some of the absolute worst punches I have ever seen. I mean even Lita’s horrible punches (go back and watch her matches. She’s one of the most athletic women in wrestling history but she couldn’t throw a good punch to save her life) look great compared to these. HHH comes out but Nikki is here as well because those two are so equal. The Pedigree is countered into whatever Brie calls her imitation of the YES Lock because that’s not the hold her husband uses.

HHH pulls the referee out anyway, which shocks Cole for some reason. I have no idea why Cole is switching sides so fast because he’s spent the last ten minutes praising Stephanie. Brie baseball slides HHH and does the YES chant, only to have Nikki come in….and turn on Brie because that’s the least logical and worst idea they could go with for this story. Stephanie Pedigrees Brie for the pin.

Rating: D+. Where do I even start with this one? First and foremost: Brie Bella is a horrible wrestler. She’s a beautiful woman, she’s found the right look for herself with the ripped tights and shirt tied around her waist and she can clap on the floor, but she just does not have it in the ring. Some of the stuff in here was Eva Marie level work with those punches and the inability to do a lockup properly just being unforgivable.

On top of that, this is the wrong story. After the months and months of the Authority tormenting the Bellas, they win here in the end with Brie getting squashed until a quick comeback at the end, only to have it all taken away from her again so we can get to the Bella feud that no one other than the Total Divas producers wanted to see. Nikki turning on Brie would lead to the “I wish you died in the womb” nonsense that went on forever and was then just dropped, but I spent a three months ranting about that so I’ll cut myself off for now. Brie should have won here, no matter how bad she looked in the ring.

That gets us to the final point: this match was ALL about Stephanie. Brie was just the person in the ring to bounce off of her as Stephanie got to look great (both mechanically and physically. I know she gets a lot of flack, but Stephanie can rock some tight outfits) out there and even had the crowd cheering for her. That praise was well deserved though as Stephanie was as polished here as any Diva had been since probably Mickie James but, as is always the case, Stephanie has to look great and can’t get any comeuppance. In this case though, she deserves a lot of praise because this was one heck of a performance.

Some fan won a contest and got to make a character called Mama’s Boy, complete with some training. He even got to make an entrance at NXT, to the Hurricane’s old theme song for some reason. Eh cute enough.

Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns

This is due to Reigns costing Orton a title shot and Reigns’ first big solo match. I like the blue trim on Reigns’ attire but it can be a bit distracting. Orton goes right at him to start and is quickly headbutted out to the floor. Some right hands and a clothesline put Orton outside again but he sends Reigns into the steps and takes it back inside for a chinlock. This isn’t exactly thrilling stuff so far. We hit the Garvin Stomp followed by a nice top rope superplex for two. I love a good superplex.

Back to the chinlock for a bit before Reigns counters into a rear naked choke of all things. See, why doesn’t he do stuff like that more often today? There’s more to life than clotheslines. Orton falls backwards to escape and we’re right back to the chinlock. Orton isn’t exactly giving Reigns much to work with here. The Samoan drop gives Roman a breather and he jacks Randy’s jaw to set up the apron kick. Lawler: “Reigns kicked the Kryptonite out of him!”

Orton whips him into the barricade to take over again though and drops him onto the announcers’ table to keep Roman in trouble. Back in again and Reigns punches his way back into it (shocking I know), followed by a super Samoan drop for two more. The Superman Punch knocks Orton silly but he counters the spear into one heck of a powerslam. That looked great.

The Orton DDT gets two but Reigns gets up for another Superman Punch, only to dive into the RKO for a very near fall. Randy is livid so he loads up the Punt, which is about the dumbest thing you can do against someone who uses the spear for a finisher. Well that’s how it should have ended but instead Reigns just moves away from the Punt and then the spear is good for the pin.

Rating: B-. This was supposed to be a huge turning point for Reigns’ career but it came off as just an ok match with some good moments. The first seven to eight minutes really dragged this down as the chinlocks took the crowd out of things. Now to their credit, Orton and Reigns were able to get them back later on but this needed some tweaks to really make it work. It’s Reigns’ biggest win yet but it really wasn’t anything great.

Long recap of John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar. The idea is Cena beat Lesnar two and a half years ago when Lesnar returned, but since then Lesnar has reached his full Beast Mode and is the unstoppable monster. Cena is pretty clearly a fill in for the injured Daniel Bryan, who would have made for a better story here. They really aren’t hiding the fact that Lesnar is going to win the title here but you know Cena isn’t going down without a fight.

WWE World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Cena is defending of course. They do the big staredown across the ring before the bell and we get one of my favorite Cole lines: “It’s the biggest fight of the summer.” I know that was the tagline going into this match but I love his delivery there. Before we get started, awesome sign in the crowd: “Cena wins, we logically discuss on Twitter.” Cena charges right at him but gets taken down to the mat…..and the F5 connects at thirty seconds. I actually screamed “NO WAY! NO WAY!” when I saw that for the first time.

Lesnar shouts that Cena just had his one chance and I think everyone in the building believes him. Cena looks totally out of it and we’re 90 seconds into this. The first release German suplex sends Cena flying and the fans are just stunned. German #2 has Cena’s mouth hanging open and the replay makes it look even worse. Cena wildly swings but only hits the mat.

A quick drive into the corner and some shots to the ribs just annoy Lesnar as he knees Cena to the mat and slaps on a chinlock so Cena can remember what planet he’s on. More punches from Cena are stopped by a knee as this is even more dominant than I remembered. Four more Germans (six total, counting a snap that I didn’t mention) have Cena a crippled mass in the middle of the ring. Lesnar drives even more knees into the ribs and pulls Cena up so he can throw another German.

The referee FINALLY checks on Cena, who says he’ll have two eggs and sausage. John goes flying off another German but elbows out of the next and gets in some right hands and a clothesline, followed by an AA for two. That seems like Cena’s last gasp though and he can’t follow up. Lesnar does the Undertaker sit up…..and starts laughing. He tells Cena to get out of the corner and bring it on while bouncing back and forth on his feet. Cena charges and gets taken down and pounded in the head.

Cena can’t even move on the mat but tells the referee to let it keep going. Lesnar is ticked off at Cena not quitting so he rolls four straight German suplexes, earning what sounds like applause. He still won’t quit, so there are three more rolling Germans. With Brock standing over him, Cena sweeps the leg and puts on the STF but Brock rolls over and just unloads on him with right hands. The F5 finally ends the slaughter and gives Brock the title.

Rating: A+. This was hard to watch. Not hard in the WCW or TNA hard to watch way, but in the “that’s enough, stop this before Cena dies” hard to watch way. This was a complete squash that ran 16:14. In that span of time, and this is being VERY generous at times, Cena was on offense for 1:22. That’s including the opening where they were grappling on the mat and the time where Cena was trying to break Brock’s grip.

Above all else though, this match did what it was supposed to do, which is make Brock Lesnar look like the biggest monster this side of Godzilla. This wasn’t a technical masterpiece or anything, but the fact that it got this kind of emotion out of me is doing something right. Outstanding performance and Cena selling so well made it even better.

Cena is checked on and can’t move to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Something occurred to me as I was getting ready for this show: I didn’t remember anything about it other than the main event. I can tell you the main event for all of the big four shows and every In Your House off the top of my head, but I had no idea that Orton and Reigns had a match here. Looking back, it’s easy to see why. Other than Lesnar vs. Cena, nothing on here is anything outside of the average range. Almost all of the redo ratings are in the middle of the pack and nothing else is memorable. It’s a watchable show, but totally forgettable, which isn’t something you should say about Summerslam.

Ratings Comparison

Rob Van Dam vs. Cesaro

Original: C-

Redo: C-

Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz

Original: C

Redo: C-

AJ Lee vs. Paige

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Jack Swagger vs. Rusev

Original: C+

Redo: C

Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins

Original: B

Redo: B-

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho

Original: C

Redo: C-

Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon

Original: C+

Redo: D+

Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton

Original: C

Redo: B-

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Original: A-

Redo: A+

Overall Rating

Original: A

Redo: C+

……what? I mean just…..what? That overall rating doesn’t even make bad sense. Other than Brie vs. Stephanie and maybe Orton vs. Reigns, nothing really changed drastically, but it went from great to above average? I REALLY got into that Lesnar vs. Cena match the first time around. That original rating actually made my eyes bug out when I read it to see what I had originally given the show.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2014/08/17/summerslam-2014-on-the-a-list/

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.

Summerslam 2012
Date: August 19, 2013
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 14,205
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

So Brock Lesnar is back and someone has to stop him. Naturally in this case that means HHH, who is still one of the most important people in the company. Lesnar broke HHH’s arm so HHH is back in the ring to get some revenge. That is pretty much the entire focus of the show, along with the required World Title matches. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro (and yes, Antonio Cesaro), with Aksana, is challenging and gets to say “greatest” in five languages before his match (and yes, we were supposed to be surprised when this didn’t get over). They grapple to the mat to start and Marella can actually hang with him down there, followed by a judo throw to bring Cesaro down.

Cesaro breaks out of an armbar without much trouble but Marella is already loading up the Cobra. That’s not happening either so Cesaro takes him to the mat for a chinlock with a knee in Marella’s back. Marella gets up and suplexes Cesaro down but the Cobra is ripped up. Marella fights back and pulls out another Cobra, only for Aksana to offer a distraction. The Neutralizer gives Cesaro the pin and the title at 5:09.

Rating: C. That’s all it should have been as Cesaro wasn’t going to be in any danger against a joke like Marella. The point in putting the title on Marella was to have him lose it in dominant fashion against a big threat and that’s what we got here. The match was nothing of note but that wasn’t the point, as Cesaro basically mauled him in the end.

The opening video looks at the history of Summerslam before shifting to Lesnar vs. HHH. The other matches are basically ignored, as this is all that matters.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho

Ziggler is Mr. Money In The Bank and has Vickie Guerrero with him while Jericho only has bad ribs (thanks to Ziggler on Smackdown). Ziggler bails out to the floor to start so Jericho gives chase, setting up a running elbow to the jaw back inside. With the running stuff not working, Ziggler gets smart by going after the ribs to take over. An ax handle to the ribs gets two but Jericho is back up with a backdrop to the floor (with a heck of a bump from Ziggler).

Jericho does the Hogan hand to the ear but misses the triangle…well it wasn’t going to be a dropkick even if it hit. Back in and Ziggler takes him down into some kind of a rib stretch, followed by a Stinger Splash for two. A neckbreaker lets Ziggler mock the arrogant cover for two more but another Stinger Splash misses. Jericho hits the middle rope ax handle but gets sent into the corner again, allowing Ziggler to hit the Fameasser for two.

The enziguri gives Jericho two of his own but Ziggler is right back with a rather messy looking sleeper. That’s broken up (because it’s a sleeper) so Jericho catches him on top with a super hurricanrana and they both crash down. The running DDT gives Ziggler two and the Zig Zag gets the same, leaving Vickie screaming on the floor.

Back up and Jericho hits a quick Codebreaker but Ziggler rolls out to the floor. Vickie grabs the leg so Jericho can get two off a small package, leaving her screaming again. The Liontamer makes Ziggler tap at 13:04. This is described as Jericho “winning the big one” at Summerslam and….really? He’s won matches at Summerslam before but THIS is the big one?

Rating: B-. The match was fine as you would expect, but I’m not buying this being Jericho winning “the big one” at Summerslam. Jericho is a former multiple time World Champion and has main evented Wrestlemania. Having him win an opener against someone like Ziggler doesn’t feel like a major accomplishment, but rather just something he happens to be doing here.

We look at Brock Lesnar breaking Shawn Michaels’ arm on Raw, which even Paul Heyman thinks might be too far.

Heyman announces that HHH has talked the referee into letting them go a bit further tonight. Lesnar says HHH is in a fight he can’t win, with Heyman saying the two words are “tap out”.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

So they’re both having trouble dealing with anger, including Bryan being VERY angry that the fans are cheering for him, even if it’s more mocking this time. Bryan kicks away at the ribs to start before moonsaulting over Kane, who plants him with a slam. The basement dropkick gets one and Kane throws him hard out to the floor. Bryan gets in a shot on the floor though and the missle dropkick gets two back inside.

The fans get to Bryan again but he fires off the YES Kicks anyway. The big kick to the head misses (as it almost always does) though and Kane drops him with a hard clothesline. Kane’s side slam gets two as the loose string on his boot is driving me crazy. There’s the top rope clothesline for two but Bryan escapes the chokeslam and bails outside.

Back in and Bryan hits him in the face, which goes about as well as you probably expect. Bryan goes for the arm though and now the big kick to the head connects. The top rope headbutt is countered into a chokeslam but the Tombstone is countered into a small package (ignore Kane’s shoulder being up) for the pin at 8:03.

Rating: C+. This was another fun one, as Bryan gets to work in his small package, which has been a near trademark for him over the years. The double anger management thing was a good touch and the two of them worked well together in any capacity. If nothing else, this was a lot better than the rumored deal with Charlie Sheen for Bryan, as he and Kane would wind up having a heck of a run together as a team shortly after this.

Post match Kane stalks Bryan to the back, shouting WHERE IS HE and breaking various things (including Josh Matthews).

Intercontinental Title: Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz

Mysterio, as Batman, is challenging but Miz tops him by bringing back the awesome AWESOME balloons for his own entrance. Miz gets in an early knockdown to start so Mysterio grabs a rollup for two, sending him outside. They trade spots a few times, allowing Mysterio to dropkick him through the ropes.

Back in and Miz fires off some kicks, setting up a torture rack dropped into a backbreaker for two. A kick to the head gives Miz two and we hit the cravate. Miz hits a clothesline from his knees for another near fall but Mysterio catches him up top. The top rope seated senton starts the comeback but Miz is right there with a snazzy slingshot sitout powerbomb. Mysterio is back up with a 619 so he tries to Drop The Dime, which is pulled out of the air. That’s reversed into a cradle for two but Miz is right back with the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin to retain at 9:09.

Rating: C+. This was a match that could have been on any given Raw and again that’s not exactly Summerslam worthy. I can always go for the Miz, but this was just he and Mysterio having a match which came and went without doing much of anything. Totally fine and watchable stuff, but for a Monday night in the middle of May, not at the Staples Center at Summerslam.

Eve Torres and Teddy Long think Raw GM AJ Lee is a bit nuts. They leave and CM Punk goes in to see Lee, saying that he doesn’t like being in a triple threat for his title. Punk thinks it’s because he turned down her proposal (Lee was….something at this point), though Lee won’t say anything. He says that’s rather disrespectful, but promises to defend the title tonight. Then tomorrow on Raw, she’ll be forced to show him respect. Lee continues to look off into space and not say a word as Punk leaves.

We recap Alberto Del Rio challenging Sheamus for the Smackdown World Title. Del Rio said Sheamus was beneath him and wanted the title, which is the entire point of the feud. Sheamus stole Del Rio’s car and drove it around San Antonio before leaving the car a mess. Del Rio teased getting Sheamus arrested but had fake cops beat Sheamus up instead. The match was still on for Summerslam.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus

Sheamus is defending and Ricardo Rodriguez is here with Del Rio (ok I had forgotten how good the personalized ring announcing can be). They start fast and go to the floor, with both of them being sent into a hard object. Back in and Del Rio kicks him in the head, followed by another one to the bad arm to put Sheamus in trouble. The cross armbreaker is easily countered into the Regal Roll for two but Del Rio kicks him in the arm again.

Another cross armbreaker attempt is cut off but the Brogue Kick misses as well. Del Rio knocks him outside, followed by a top rope chop to the head for two back inside. More kicks have Sheamus in trouble but he fights up with the raw power. Del Rio goes right back to the arm to knock him out of the air though and the cross armbreaker finally goes on.

That’s broken up with quite the powerbomb, followed by White Noise for two. The Brogue Kick is blocked so Sheamus hits the ten forearms to the chest. Del Rio kicks him in the head for two so Rodriguez throws in a shoe. That’s intercepted and Sheamus hits the Irish Curse for the pin, but Del Rio’s foot is on the rope…and it doesn’t matter as Sheamus knocks it off and gets the win at 11:23.

Rating: B-. This is a basic story that makes perfect sense, but that doesn’t make it interesting. I remember watching this feud as it played out and there was never a moment where I felt invested in the story. It’s just Sheamus having matches with someone who felt beneath him and that wasn’t going to work. The stuff with the car was fine, but Del Rio didn’t feel like a threat to win the title, which sums up a lot of the issues he had after around 2011 or so.

Sheamus’ “oh well” shrug and smile are great. Del Rio blames Rodriguez for the loss and walks out.

Earlier today, HHH told the referee to let he and Brock Lesnar fight tonight.

Tag Team Titles: Prime Time Players vs. Kofi Kingston/R-Truth

Kingston and R-Truth are defending. The serious R-Truth jumps Young to start and hammers away. Young drives him into the corner though and hands it off to O’Neil for some barking. A front facelock slows R-Truth down but he’s back up with a kick to the face. Kingston comes in to clean house, including the Boom Drop to O’Neil.

The chase around the ring goes badly for Kingston though as a cheap shot lets the villains take over. O’Neil suplexes Young onto Kingston for two. Commentary discusses Little Jimmy’s parentage as O’Neil puts on an abdominal stretch. That’s broken up and it’s back to R-Truth as everything breaks down. Young grabs a rollup for two but walks into Little Jimmy for the pin to retain at 7:03.

Rating: C-. If there has been a recurring theme on this show, it’s “this doesn’t feel like it belongs on Summerslam” and this match is the poster child for those issues. This would have been dull on any given edition of Raw and it wasn’t any better here. I get that you need a bit of a breather between two of the bigger matches, but as usual, the Tag Team Titles do not feel remotely important. It’s not the wrestlers’ fault as they had a decent enough match, but dang this felt out of place.

We look at WWE taking over Los Angeles.

We recap CM Punk defending the Raw World Title against John Cena and Big Show. Punk got tired of the lack of respect despite being World Champion and turned evil by attacking Cena. In addition, Show has been knocking people out to keep himself involved as well. Rather kooky General Manager AJ Lee made it a triple threat to torment Punk, who is all about getting respect.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Big Show

Punk is defending. Show drops both of them to dominate early and hits the big chops. A double suplex sends Cena and Punk flying and Show knocks Cena outside. Back up and Punk gets smart by kicking the leg out as the fans are rather pro-Punk. Cena comes back in and gets kicked down for two, only for Show to stand on Punk’s back. Show sends Cena outside again and pulls a springboarding Punk out of the air to plant him down.

Back in and Cena gets speared down for two, setting up a Vader Bomb. Punk moves out of the way so Cena gets fully crushed, leaving Punk to be chokeslammed against the ropes. The side slam plants Cena as this has been almost all Show. Cena is back up with the ProtoBomb to drop Show but Punk is right there to break up the Shuffle. Punk drops a top rope elbow for two, with the kickout sending him flying.

Another kick to the head sets up a Koji Clutch, which is broken up in short order. Cena gets Show in the STF but it’s countered as well. Punk gets the Koji Clutch on Show again but Cena adds the STF and Show taps at 12:34. Punk and Cena both celebrate but there’s no ruling. Cue AJ Lee to say restart the match, so Show chokeslams both of them for two each. The KO Punch misses though and Cena gives Show the AA, only to be thrown outside so Punk can steal the pin to retain at 14:28.

Rating: B-. Show looked dominant, but the double submission took a lot of that away in a hurry. I didn’t even remember this match taking place here and that’s because, and I hate to sound like such a corrupted mp3 (because my goodness it’s time enough to get a new metaphor) but this isn’t something that felt worthy of being on Summerslam. It’s just another triple threat that feels like what you do when you don’t have a good enough idea. AJ being all crazy and messing with Punk is fine, but find a better way to do it.

Celebrities are here!

We look at the new WWE movie, the Day. It had no wrestlers in prominent roles, got bad reviews and made $20,000 in theaters.

We look at Cesaro winning the US Title on the pre-show.

Kevin Rudolph sings the theme song. Were we really short on time here or something? Various WWE women come out to dance, with Michael Cole doing the same on commentary.

We recap HHH vs. Brock Lesnar. Basically Lesnar had a bunch of demands, like a looser schedule, Vince McMahon’s private jet and more money, but HHH said no chance. Lesnar broke HHH’s arm and a few months later, the match was set for Summerslam. This led to an almost bizarre visual of Stephanie McMahon arguing with Paul Heyman, which might have been even more entertaining. Lesnar responded by breaking Shawn Michaels’ arm as well and the match was on.

HHH vs. Brock Lesnar

The rules are slightly relaxed here and Lesnar has Paul Heyman with him. Lesnar powers him into the corner to start but the Kimura is blocked. HHH clotheslines him to the floor and hits the running knee to put Lesnar down for a breather. Another clothesline puts Lesnar on the floor and Heyman tells him to slow it down. Back in and Lesnar takes the gloves off before knocking HHH outside.

The previously broken arm is dropped onto the announcers’ table as HHH is in trouble. Back in and HHH slugs away but gets cut off with a German suplex. They go back outside and the bad arm is sent into the steps. HHH gets sent over the announcers’ table, followed by a hard clothesline back inside.

HHH fights back and tries the Pedigree but gets sent back to the floor, with the arm getting banged up again. Lesnar goes after him but HHH sends him ribs first into the announcers’ table, leaving Lesnar in trouble. Back in and HHH fires off the knees to the ribs, followed by the spinebuster. The Pedigree gets two so Lesnar hits him low for a breather. The F5 gives Lesnar two (Heyman: “WHAT DOES IT TAKE?”) so the Kimura goes on. That’s broken up and HHH hits another Pedigree, only to get caught in the Kimura for the tap at 18:43.

Rating: B. I guess you can call this the match of the night, as it’s the only match on the show that was treated as a big deal. It wasn’t exactly in doubt as HHH isn’t going to beat Lesnar at Summerslam (he would of course save that for Wrestlemania), which left this as kind of an “ok, and then what?” feeling. The stuff with the arm worked as a story, but it was a question of how Lesnar would win rather than would he win.

Post match Lesnar and Heyman leave, with HHH doing the big dramatic stand as the fans cheer for him. HHH: “I’m sorry.” Somehow this feud would continue for about eight more months, with HHH winning at Wrestlemania (of course) and Lesnar beating him at Extreme Rules to wrap it up and finally move on to something new.

Overall Rating: C+. The show isn’t bad as a whole, but there is a reason I saw this on the list and could barely remember anything about it. Outside of the main event, this is as nothing of a Summerslam as you’ll ever find, with pretty much nothing important happening here. So much of this show feels like it’s setting up something else for later and that’s not what I’m wanting out of one of the biggest events of the year. I get the idea of building off of this, but there was just nothing going on here and it’s a totally forgettable show as a result.

 

 

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Summerslam 2010
Date: August 15, 2010
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 14,178
Commentators: Matt Striker, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

This is the Nexus show, as the main event is an elimination tag between Team WWE and the Nexus. The evil group has been ransacking the company all summer and it’s time for John Cena to stand up to them for good. Why the big elimination tag is at Summerslam instead of Survivor Series isn’t clear but not a lot about this story went well. Pretty much nothing else matters on this show so let’s get to it.

The opening video is all about change, which can come in a variety of forms. The show’s three main matches all get a look, with the big elimination tag getting the major focus, as it should.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston

Ziggler, with Vickie Guerrero, is defending. Guerrero says EXCUSE ME and has something to say, but Kingston cuts her off and we’re ready to go. They start fast with Kingston getting the better of things but Guerrero pulls Ziggler out of the way of a dive, sending Kingston crashing down hard. Back in and the chinlock doesn’t last long for Ziggler and he kicks Kingston back into the corner.

A Hennig necksnap gives Ziggler two and it’s off to a reverse chinlock. Kingston can’t fight out and we get to continue this thrilling hold. Back up and Ziggler misses a splash in the corner, allowing Kingston to start firing back for a bit. Kingston’s high crossbody is rolled through for two and Ziggler gets the same off a Fameasser. Trouble In Paradise misses though and Ziggler gets his sleeper…and the Nexus runs in to lay them both out for the no contest at 7:05.

Rating: C+. The match had some moments but there is only so much you can do in what was basically a Raw match. A good chunk of those seven minutes were spent in Ziggler’s chinlock and that didn’t make for the most thrilling star. The good thing is that these two fought so many times that they could have a nice match in their sleep, but they were in a tough spot here.

Post match Nexus lays Kingston out with ease. Wade Barrett calls that a preview for what is in store for Team WWE tonight. Team WWE is looking for a seventh member but anyone they pick won’t make a difference. The locker room is such a mess that they couldn’t get together to sign a birthday card, let alone form a cohesive unit. On the other hand, Nexus is united and ready to fight.

Chris Jericho tries to get Miz (Mr. Money In The Bank and the US Champion) to join Team WWE. Edge, already on the team, enjoys a Slim Jim and says tonight is about seizing the ultimate opportunity. Miz isn’t sure if he wants Nexus on his plate, but he’ll take that Slim Jim.

Divas Title: Alicia Fox vs. Melina

Fox is defending, it’s the Raw Women’s Title at this point and this is the Ariane Special. Melina pushes her into the corner to start but Fox is right back with a rather impressive headlock takeover. That’s broken up and Melina stomps her down, followed by some double knees in the corner.

Melina grabs a flapjack but her knee is banged up, though she’s fine enough to snap off a superkick. Fox sends her into the post and things slow down again, with Fox then kicking her in the arm. Not the leg, which is hurt and was hurt before, but the arm, because of course. Commentary tries to make sense of it but Melina is back up with a rollup for two to get them out of that mess. Melina shrugs that off, hits a dropkick and grabs what would become known as a BFT for the title at 5:23.

Rating: D+. Shockingly enough, this really didn’t work, as the title was in a rather terrible place at this time. Melina was talented, but there is only so much you can do when you have her bad knee right there and Fox goes after the arm. On top of that, the match was another one that belonged on Raw, which doesn’t make it that much better.

Post match Melina is asked about her win for the sole purpose of having Laycool (with their broken title) interrupt. They mock Melina’s looks and then go to REAL TALK because there are three champions in the ring at the moment. Layla says that Melina has cellulite (which McCool doesn’t understand) so they tease some photos, with Melina trying to fight both of them off. As usual it works for awhile but the numbers get the better of her. Fox gets back Sup to go after Melina and gets taken out by Laycool as well.

We recap Big Show unmasking the bald CM Punk (who sold it like he was being dropped into a vat of boiling butter). This sent Punk and his Straightedge Society after Show, with the team crushing Show’s hand. I think you know where this is going.

Straightedge Society vs. Big Show

Serena is here with the Society (and Punk’s I BROKE BIG SHOW’S HAND is a great touch). Show has a big surprise of his own though: the hand is totally fine. Mercury charges at Show to start and is knocked down just as quickly. Gallows gets one heck of a loud chop and Punk wants a meeting before facing Show himself.

This results in Mercury and Gallows getting thrown outside and now Punk realizes he’s in trouble. Serena’s distraction works for a bit but Punk can’t stomp the hand on the steps again. Instead Show chops the steps by mistake (that’s on him for being dumb), allowing the rest of the Society to jump him at once. The group beatdown is on but Show shrugs them off without much trouble and clears out Gallows and Mercury.

Punk kicks his way out of a chokeslam and avoids a charge in the corner. The running knees in the corner stagger Show and a double DDT gets two, with the kickout sending Mercury all the way back to the floor. Punk hammers away but gets caught in a fireman’s carry. The other two try to go after Show, earning Punk a dump over the top. That’s enough for Punk, who leaves with Serena, as Show chokeslams Mercury onto Gallows for the double pin at 6:49.

Rating: C+. This was a nice way to keep the feud going, as the whole point is to see Show get his hands on Punk. We got a taste of that here and it worked out well enough, though it would be nice to see something important actually happen on this show. That is kind of the point of Summerslam yes?

Smackdown World Champion Kane is ready to end Rey Mysterio and slams a casket shut. Raw World Champion Sheamus comes up to say the casket is too big for someone like Mysterio. It’s perfect for Randy Orton though so maybe Sheamus can use it after his match. Kane: “No.” Sheamus says he’s being called the real Big Red Machine around here so Kane threatens to disembowel him. That’s enough for Sheamus to leave after a rather intense comeback from Kane.

Here is Miz for an unscheduled chat. Striker thinks it might be to cash in his Money In The Bank and Cole thinks that’s a great point. Lawler points out that there’s no champion out here and that’s shut down rather quickly. Anyway Miz asks if he should join Team WWE because a lot of people in the back think he should. The team has been begging him to join for weeks because they understand that he is the future.

Bret Hart has called him the excellence of execution, R-Truth wrote him a bad rap and he’s shown that he was the Shawn Michaels to John Morrison’s Marty Jannetty. So is he joining Team WWE? Yes. Miz loads up his catchphrase but gets annoyed at the fans wanting to do it with him. Now the catchphrase can be completed. Cole freaking out over Miz being the big savior is great.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Sheamus for the latter’s World Title. Orton is on a roll and wants his World Title back from Sheamus, who won it earlier this year thanks to some Nexus interference. He has his shot, but if Orton loses, he never gets another shot at Sheamus.

Raw World Title: Sheamus vs. Randy Orton

Orton is challenging and if anyone interferes, they’re suspended. Feeling out process to start with Sheamus posing at him, earning quite the stomping down into the corner. Orton’s running clothesline out of the corner lets him stomp away for two and another clothesline drops Sheamus again. They fight outside with Orton knocking him over the barricade but noticing the count and getting back inside in time.

The stomping gets two more and they go outside again, with Orton whipping him into various things. Sheamus reverses a hard whip into the steps though, which is finally enough for a breather. Back in and Sheamus hammers away, setting up the reverse chinlock. A suplex gets Orton out of trouble but the hanging DDT is broken up with a rather nasty backdrop. Sheamus ax handles him down for two and goes after the arm. Granted not the arm that went into the steps but it’s better than Alicia Fox.

Sheamus goes for the armbar but misses a charge into the post, allowing Orton to knock him down for two, with the bad arm making it a weak cover. Orton fights back and hits the powerslam before Sheamus misses a charge into the post. The arm is fine enough to catch Orton in the Irish Curse but the Brogue Kick misses and Sheamus crashes out to the floor.

Back in and the hanging DDT connects and the fans go nuts as Orton goes into flopping like a fish mode. The RKO is shoved away to give Sheamus two though and the Brogue Kick connects…for two more. With the frustration setting in, Sheamus goes to get a chair and shoves the referee for the DQ at 18:56.

Rating: B-. Yeah it was ok, with the result not being the greatest as Orton wins, meaning he can get another title shot. At the same time it was only a pretty good match, with the fans going nuts for Orton but not much going on until the last few minutes. Again, it feels like something setting up another match down the road and that’s not what I want from Summerslam.

Post match Sheamus takes too long loading up the chair and gets kicked low, allowing Orton to use said chair. They go outside with Orton clearing off the announcers’ table for the RKO onto (not through) the table. Orton leaves and Sheamus can barely move so the fans want Miz and get….nothing.

We recap Kane defending the Smackdown World Title against Rey Mysterio. Someone has attacked the Undertaker and Kane has sworn to find out who did it. Kane attacked various people before naming Mysterio as the attacker. Mysterio denied it but is fine with getting the title shot anyway. Then Mysterio said Kane was the attacker, which Kane angrily denied. This doesn’t sound like it is going to end well.

Smackdown World Title: Kane vs. Rey Mysterio

Kane is defending and wheels out a casket, with promises to put Mysterio in it after the match. Mysterio picks up the pace to start and misses an early 619. Instead Kane sends him rolling to the floor but Mysterio is back up with a dive off the apron. Back in and Kane’s arm gets snapped over the top rope, only for Kane to knock him off the top.

Mysterio gets sent ribs first into the post for a nasty crash and Kane drives him back first into the post a few times to make it worse. A whip into the corner gives Kane two (with an odd hook of the inside leg) and he slaps on the bearhug. Mysterio fights out and is promptly clotheslined right back down. Back up and Mysterio manages a top rope headbutt from the top (nice) but gets backbreakered for two more.

Kane gets caught going up and something like a Destino, followed by a tornado DDT give Mysterio two each. Mysterio Drops The Dime for two and kicks Kane in the head for two more, leaving they’re both down. Back up and Kane opens the casket, which is empty, allowing Mysterio to fail at the 619. Kane kicks him into the casket so Mysterio fights out and closes the casket, followed by a springboard dropkick. Now the 619 can connect but Kane boots him in the face. The chokeslam retains the title at 13:32.

Rating: C+. This got going better near the end but they were all but saying that Mysterio was just a warm body to give Kane something to do before Undertaker came back to fight Kane. Mysterio knows how to fight a monster and the match wasn’t bad, but much like a lot of other things on this show, it didn’t feel important and that’s not a good thing. At least they didn’t go too long though.

Post match Kane promises Mysterio eternal punishment and opens the casket, revealing…nothing. You can hear the fans sounding disappointed but Mysterio fights back and Kane closes the casket again (there it is). A chokeslam and Tombstone plant Mysterio so Kane opens the casket again…and NOW Undertaker is inside to give the show a big moment.

Undertaker looks very shaky (remember that he’s recovering from a major attack) and Kane looks terrified. Undertaker gets in Mysterio’s face and asks if he has ever heard of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He asks Mysterio why he did it but Mysterio swears it wasn’t him.

With a grab of the neck, Undertaker says he believes Mysterio and then does the throat slit, only to turn to face Kane. Well yeah, of course it was Kane. Undertaker grabs Kane by the throat but he’s still weak, allowing Kane to fight back and beat him down. This would result in Kane actually beating Undertaker twice in a row, including in the Cell (which was the last time the World Heavyweight Title headlined a PPV for over three years).

We look at WWE’s charity stuff, plus a Summerslam Axxess.

We recap the main event. Nexus arrived in June and has turned into an unstoppable force. John Cena has led the charge for WWE (shocking isn’t it) and joined forces with a bunch of people to fight back in the form of an elimination tag (which is odd as Bragging Rights and Survivor Series were coming up in a few months).

Anyway, Team WWE had problems, with some of the quitting along the way. Great Khali has been taken out and didn’t have a seventh member until tonight. Chris Jericho and Edge quit and rejoined the team as well and Miz joined earlier so things are even. Well as even as it can be with David Otunga and Michael Tarver on a team.

Team WWE vs. Team Nexus

WWE: John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, John Morrison, The Miz
Nexus: Wade Barrett, Skip Sheffield, Darren Young, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver

Elimination rules and dang We Are One is a catchy song. Miz comes out last but hold on as Cena says wait a minute. Cena declares that Miz is too late because he already has a seventh man. The team has agreed to this because it is someone who hates Nexus as much as them…and it’s the returning Daniel Bryan (Cole LOSES IT, almost as much as anyone on WWE.com earlier in the day lost it when they spoiled Bryan’s return by mistake). The brawl is on before the bell and Nexus is cleared out with ease as Barrett has to calm everyone else down. Bryan kicks Young down to start and the LeBell Lock gets the tap at 43 seconds.

As commentary points out, that’s the first time Nexus doesn’t have the numbers advantage and it’s off to Gabriel, who gets elbowed in the face by Jericho. R-Truth comes in for something like a Stunner for two but Gabriel kicks him down. It’s off to Tarver to hammer R-Truth into the corner but Morrison gets the tag, along with a Flying Chuck. Starship Pain gets rid of Tarver at 3:35 and it’s already 7-5.

Nexus has a meeting on the floor and it’s Sheffield (Ryback) coming in to shove Morrison down. Back up and Morrison slaps him in the face, earning himself a hard powerslam. Morrison is whipped hard into the corner and suplexed down even harder for another near fall. A kick to the back of the head from the apron cuts off Morrison’s comeback and Sheffield lariats him for the pin at 7:32. R-Truth comes in and gets lariated down as well for the pin to tie it up at 8:00.

Jericho comes in for a quick shot but is knocked into the corner with Otunga getting to come in for a slam. Jericho fights out of the corner though and hands it off to Hart, who gets quite the reaction as he beats on Slater in the corner. An atomic drop and clothesline set up the Sharpshooter but Nexus sends in a chair. Sheffield comes after Hart, who grabs the chair and blasts Sheffield, which is a DQ (I wonder if Hart was unable to take a bump, which if true is perfectly fine) at 12:08.

Hart yells a lot before leaving, with Jericho’s Codebreaker and Edge’s spear finishing Sheffield at 13:13, leaving us at four each. Gabriel is in next and gets booted by Edge but kicks Edge right back down. It’s back to Slater to stomp away before Barrett sends Edge into the buckle. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Edge is back up to knock Barrett down. Otunga is dropped as well and it’s back to Jericho to pick up the pace. The Walls make Otunga tap at 19:13 and Jericho beats up Slater on the floor.

Back in and the elbow drops Slater but Jericho runs into Cena by mistake. That’s enough for Slater to hit Sweetness (basically a Zig Zag) for the pin on Jericho at 20:05. Edge is so livid that he argues with Cena, who walks away, but Slater rolls Edge up for the pin at 20:38. That has Edge even angrier and he takes Cena out, with Jericho getting in a shot of his own. The banged up Cena is sent back inside as Cole goes on a rant about how much better it would be with Miz instead of Bryan.

Cena is too hurt to make a comeback and gets knocked down by Gabriel, allowing Barrett to come back in. A suplex gets Cena out of trouble but Slater cuts off the tag attempt. Cena and Slater clothesline each other though and it’s back to Bryan to clean house. The suicide dive hits Slater and even Cole has to admit Bryan is showing heart. Back in and Slater taps to the LeBell Lock at 29:03, leaving us with Cena/Bryan vs. Barrett/Gabriel.

Cue Miz with the Money In The Bank briefcase to Bryan though and Barrett gets the pin at 29:32, leaving Cena all alone. Cena gets back in and fires off the shoulders, followed by the ProtoBomb. Barrett makes the save and comes in to stomp away, with Gabriel getting to do some of the same. With nothing else working, Nexus takes Cena outside and peel back the floor mats. Barrett DDTs him onto the concrete and takes him back inside, where Cena avoids Gabriel’s 450 for the pin at 34:50. Barrett comes in and gets STF’d for the tap at 35:15.

Rating: C. I remember being ok with this at the time and now I remember wondering how in the world this was ever approved. The key to Nexus was that they could survive as a big group and here they are losing as a big group. Therefore, why should anyone worry about them after this? No one could ever find an answer and while the team would be around for a few months, with Barrett focusing on the World Title, this was pretty much the fatal blow.

Cena has since said that this was a bad idea (because it was his idea) but the team was finished here and pretty much everyone knew it. The match wasn’t even that great as it was just a Survivor Series match, making me wonder WHY THEY DIDN’T DO THIS AT SURVIVOR SERIES! Bryan coming back was a nice surprise (if you stayed offline during the show) but it’s not like there was anything must see in here. Really big miss here and unfortunately it finished a pretty weak show.

Overall Rating: D+. And that’s probably being generous. There is nothing on here worth seeing with most of the matches feeling like they were just previews for something else. That might be fine for like, Night Of Champions, but this is one of the biggest shows of the year. The main event, while fine for the most part, is a huge letdown as Nexus just dies right in front of our eyes. This show wasn’t awful, but it was rather dull and in this case, that’s a lot worse.

Results
Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest when Nexus interfered
Melina b. Alicia Fox – Faceplant
Big Show b. Straightedge Society – Double pin
Randy Orton b. Sheamus via DQ when Sheamus shoved the referee
Kane b. Rey Mysterio – Chokeslam
Team WWE b. Nexus last eliminating Wade Barrett

 

 

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Dynamite
Date: July 15, 2026
Location: MGM Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re done with one of the bigger Dynamites of the year and now we have less than two weeks before Redemption. Last week saw Kenny Omega regain the World Title in a heck of a fight against MJF which means the title match at the pay per view (assuming there is one) could go in a few directions. The rest of the Redemption card needs to be set up as well so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Beach Break recap.

Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta warm up for their Tag Team Title match. Jon Moxley fires them up and then tells Will Ospreay that he has earned this but it is time for some hard decisions. Ospreay has to take the shot when he has the chance, no matter the target.

Tag Team Titles: Death Riders vs. Adam Copeland/Christian Cage

Copeland and Cage are defending. Yuta goes for Copeland’s leg to start before driving him down by the arm. That just earns him a big boot so it’s off to Cage vs. Garcia. Cage backs him into the corner and it’s back to Copeland to hammer away. The Riders tie Copeland up in the ring skirt though and pound him down to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Copeland grabbing a powerslam, allowing a tag back to Cage. That means house can be cleaned quickly, with Garcia having his neck snapped over the top rope. Everything breaks down and Yuta’s German suplex gets two on Cage. The Riders do their weird spinning circle thing and then go to take off a turnbuckle pad. That’s enough for Cage to get in a low blow, followed by the spear to pin Yuta and retain at 11:57.

Rating: C+. This was perfectly acceptable match and they didn’t stay out there too long, which makes sense as there was no reason to think Garcia and Yuta were winning the titles. There is nothing wrong with getting the champs out there for a simple title defense and at least it’s against a regular team. Not bad here, with Cage just kicking Yuta low to set up the finish being pretty funny.

Post match the Dogs run in and beat the champs down so here is the Bang Bang Gang for the save. The Dogs are cleared out and Cage and Jay White have a staredown but things stay peaceful.

We look at Hikaru Shida attacking Harley Cameron after their match and Queen Aminata making the save. Aminata gets a TBS Title shot on Collision.

Video on Andrade El Idolo.

Andrade is ready to beat Jake Doyle and move on to eventually win the World Title. Oh and he has the Dynamite Diamond Ring, seemingly thanks to Will Ospreay. How you know?

The Conglomeration tease an open challenge for the Trios Titles and the Demand interrupt. Don’t worry though because they’re not going to lay a finger on the champs….but here is the Lethal Twist to jump the Conglomeration instead. Ricochet: “They’re not in the Demand!”

Andrade El Idolo vs. Jake Doyle

If Andrade wins, he gets a National Title shot against Mark Davis. Doyle knocks him outside at the bell and then hits the running shots in the corner. Andrade gets a boot up though and an enziguri sends Doyle back outside. We pause for the photo with the woman before they head inside…and go right back outside, where Doyle chokeslams him onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Doyle knocking him down again. Andrade knocks him to the floor though and hits the middle rope moonsault, only to get powerbombed back inside. Doyle’s big right hand knocks Andrade out of the air for two but Andrade spinning elbows him in the face. The DM finishes Doyle at 12:15.

Rating: B-. This was pretty much the most obvious result in the world but it went fine, as the fans are WAY into Andrade at the moment. It makes sense too as he’s on fire and dripping with charisma. Keep going with him for the moment, as it’s working for the moment, though there is always the chance that Andrade could turn it off at a moment’s notice.

Video on Kenny Omega winning the World Title back last week.

Here is Omega for his World Title celebration. Hold on though as here are the Young Bucks to present Omega with the original World Title design. Omega didn’t think he was going to get back to this spot again and thanks everyone for believing in him. We have less than fifty days before All In and you are going to see the best version of Omega. This brings in Will Ospreay, who asks the Bucks to talk to Omega on his own.

The Bucks leave in peace and Ospreay is glad to see Omega as World Champion again. Last week Omega got hit in the face with the belt “and then you kicked out at once you cheeky slag!” Ospreay has wanted to be just a fraction of the wrestler Omega is and now he wants to show everyone what they can do at All In.

Cue Kevin Knight to interrupt, saying he wants to face Omega one on one. Knight wants the title shot at Redemption but Omega says no…but he’ll give Knight a title shot anyway because he thinks Knight has something. Then Knight listened to Don Callis, which Omega understands. Omega did that before and he bought into the idea, but Knight doesn’t need to be there.

Now Omega is saying the same thing that everyone but Callis believe: Knight doesn’t need Callis because he could be champion on his own. That makes Knight the only real fraud because there is a good guy in there who doesn’t need Callis. If Knight is getting the title shot, Omega wants him to get it on his own. Knight says there isn’t goodness in him, because it’s greatness.

With that, Knight decks Omega with the microphone and ducks the Hidden Blade to escape. Darby Allin runs in to jump Knight so here is the Don Callis Family to beat Allin down. The Death Riders come in for the save. Maybe a segment that was about Omega and Ospreay, with Knight coming in for his part, shouldn’t wind up having about a dozen people involved?

Jack Perry issues an open challenge for Collision. Luchasaurus is his tech guy.

Brodido vs. Nick Comoroto/Aaron Solo

Bandido gets to show off a bit with the gorilla press to Comoroto before King drops him onto Comoroto for an early two. King knocks them both down and Bandido’s frog splash gets a double pin at 2:16. That was efficient.

Post match Bandido runs into Kyle Fletcher and gives him a wanted poster. Oh sweet goodness Bandido is going to lose another singles match on PPV and no one is going to care about the Ring Of Honor World Title in the slightest isn’t he? It’s a rhetorical question because OF COURSE HE IS.

International Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Komander

Fletcher is defending and gets taken down for an early near fall, which has Fletcher thinking twice. Komander sends him outside but gets pulled out of the air, allowing Fletcher to boot him in the face. Back in and Fletcher knocks him to the floor, setting up the big rope walk flip dive as we take a break.

We come back with Fletcher laughing at Komander striking away until a superkick puts Fletcher down. An apron superplex is escaped and Komander flips him off the top for a roll to the floor. Komander hits a big dive and a 450 gets two back inside. Cielito Lindo is broken up so Komander goes with a super Destroyer for two. A Michinoku Driver gives Fletcher two and he grabs the brainbuster to retain at 11:02.

Rating: B. Good match here, which shouldn’t be a shock. Komander getting title shot after title shot became a running joke but his matches have been enough of a blast to shake a lot of that off. At the same time you have Fletcher, who works well with anyone. Again, they didn’t go too long in a match where there was no drama and that helps so much.

Post match Fletcher goes for the mask so Konosuke Takeshita runs in for the save. Kazuchika Okada is here too though and the Rainmaker drops Takeshita. Brodido run in to take out Okada and Fletcher.

Kenny Omega is ready to face Kevin Knight but Darby Allin comes in to say Knight isn’t changing overnight. Allin is ready to take the TNT Title and leaves. Jon Moxley comes in to agree that some people cannot change.

Here are the Brawling Birds for a chat. They want the Women’s Tag Team Titles and All In is coming up so let’s consume alcohol.

Chris Jericho wants a rematch with Tommaso Ciampa at Redemption but he’ll bring the Painmaker.

Ciampa is in and issues an open challenge for Collision.

Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage

Cage jumps him to start fast and drops him onto the ramp as Taz talks about making the mistake of paying for Cage’s dinner before. Allin is sent flying with a fall away slam and we take a break. We come back with Allin hitting a running dropkick off the steps and grabbing a super Code Red for a near fall. Allin’s suicide dive connects but Cage is right back up with a gorilla press toss to send Allin head first into the post. Naturally Allin is up again with a Coffin Drop onto Cage onto the steps, followed by a regular one to pin Cage at 9:58.

Rating: C+. Have I mentioned that I’m sick of Allin doing stupid stunts in a match and then popping back up to win? It’s just been a few years of the same thing now and that’s a bit irritating. Allin vs. the Don Callis Family isn’t exactly an original story but at least he has a feud with Knight already built up and he very well may take the TNT Title next week.

Kyle Fletcher is ticked off and ready to defend against anyone. For now, he wants Bandido and the title shot is offered for Redemption.

Kevin Knight and Don Callis are ready to take out Kenny Omega. Mike Bailey comes in to say he’s ready for Knight to change back.

Maya World/Hyan/Willow Nightingale vs. Lena Kross/Megan Bayne/Mercedes Mone

Nightingale backs Mone into the ropes to start and the other four come in, with Hyan and World taking over in the corners. We settle down to Nightingale cartwheeling out of a whip into the corner but missing an enziguri. Kross is knocked down into the corner though, leaving Mone to get beaten up by Hyan and World. Mone is tossed onto Kross and Bayne and we take a break.

We come back with Mone hitting a Backstabber for two on World. Back up and World brings in Nightingale to clean house, including some elbows in the corner. A powerbomb gets two on Bayne and everyone knocks everyone else down for a big breather. Mone grabs Three Amigos to World and hits the frog splash with Hyan making the save. Bayne and Kross are back up but Nightingale breaks up the Divine Intervention. The Pounce sends Bayne flying and Hyan spears Mone, who is right back with the Mone Maker for the pin at 13:54.

Rating: B-. Well that was….long. It came at the end of a rather lengthy show but we needed every single bit of Mone’s stuff in there. After all, it had been a full what, hour or so since the last Eddie Guerrero tribute? Anyway, I’m not sure I get why Mone needed the attention here (yes it’s her hometown and Heaven forbid a heel not be the conquering hero in their hometown) when Nightingale is a week and a half away from her title shot, but I’m sure it made sense to Mone.

Overall Rating: B. They had to cover A LOT of ground here as there isn’t much time left for Redemption. While they managed to make that happen, which is rather impressive, they did it so fast that it was quite the packed show. It worked more than it didn’t, though it still had a lot of the same issues that tend to come up in AEW (inconsistencies with title shots, way too many champion vs. champion matches, so many people flying around, the obsession with Mone looking stronger than Superman). I’m beyond the point of believing those things are going to change, so all things considered, this show went pretty well.

Results
Christian Cage/Adam Copeland b. Death Riders – Spear to Yuta
Andrade El Idolo b. Jake Doyle – DM
Brodido b. Aaron Solo/Nick Comoroto – Double pin
Kyle Fletcher b. Komander – Brainbuster
Mercedes Mone/Lena Kross/Megan Bayne b. Hyan/Maya World/Willow Nightingale – Mone Maker to World

 

 

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

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