Double Or Nothing 2022
Date: May 29, 2022
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

AEW is back on pay per view and that should mean good things. The main event will feature CM Punk challenging Hangman Page for the World Title, but the question is around MJF. While he is scheduled to face Wardlow in a match a long time in the making, he has had some issues with AEW and there is a chance he won’t show up. That wouldn’t exactly be great to see so let’s get to it.

Buy In Show: Tony Nese/Mark Sterling vs. Hookhausen

Hook and Nese start things off with Hook taking him down without much trouble. Danhausen comes in and is allowed to grab a headlock before Nese runs him over. The curse is loaded up but Danhausen goes with the middle rope hurricanrana instead. Nese drops Danhausen again and it’s Sterling coming in to stomp away in the corner. Sterling misses a legdrop though and Danhausen suplexes his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Hook. Suplexes abound and Danhausen gets to come in for the posing pin on Sterling at 5:22.

Rating: C. This is all you needed it to be and I had fun with the thing. Let Danhausen come in and pick up the scraps left by Hook, who gets to dominate over a manager and someone who is somehow in the top five. They didn’t bother trying to do anything out of the ordinary and the fans got to cheer for Danhausen’s wacky antics. It was exactly what you expected and that’s what it should have been.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

If Wardlow wins, he is free of MJF but if he loses, he is pretty much done. MJF is indeed here so hopefully things are ok, at least for tonight. Wardlow is led out of a cell in the back where rowdy fans are kept to give this a Goldberg style vibe. The handcuffs (two pairs) are taken off so MJF bails to the floor before the bell. The bell rings and we get a HE SHOWED UP chant.

Wardlow wastes no time in trying the powerbomb so MJF bails to the floor again. Back in and MJF has to bite his way out of a powerbomb attempt before a cradle gets two. Hold on though as MJF is holding his leg and even the commentators are calling him out for making it up. The delay lets MJF load up the ring but the referee catches it this time, leaving MJF to beg off into the corner.

MJF: “I’LL DOUBLE YOUR PAY!” He ups it to quadruple and Wardlow shakes his hand….but doesn’t let go. MJF knows he’s done and the powerbomb connects. That’s part one of a ten movement Powerbomb Symphony, including at least one to each side of the ring and a tease of a cover in the middle, which finishes MJF at 7:25. Of note, during the Symphony was Excalibur: “I think I’ve figured out MJF’s strategy: he’s trying to take it to a time limit draw.”

Rating: B. This is a case where the match wasn’t the point but rather the complete and total destruction of MJF and it worked very well. Wardlow was never in trouble and absolutely demolished MJF, who couldn’t even get the chance to cheat. The fans had been wanting to see this and they got what they wanted, so well done on giving them that catharsis.

Post match MJF gets stretchered out and Wardlow is officially All Elite.

We recap the Hardys vs. the Young Bucks, which is presented as a dream match. The Bucks have gone after the Hardys, who have been accused of being Hardy cosplayers. The best you can hope for here is that the Hardys make it through the match without some kind of terrible injury.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Caprice Coleman is on commentary. The Matts start things off but Matt Jackson hands it off to Nick, who gets shouldered down by Jeff. That lets Nick get taken into the corner so Matt Hardy can come back in, meaning Nick bails to the floor. Matt Jackson comes back in and gets caught in a Razor’s Edge out of the corner but Nick breaks it up with a superkick. It’s Jeff coming back in and getting beaten down, with Nick getting to pose a lot.

Jeff finally gets over for the hot tag to Matt Hardy, who sends Nick into the buckle over and over. Brandon Cutler gets knocked off the apron and the hot tag brings in Matt as everything breaks down. They all wind up on the floor, where superkicks and dives drop the Hardys. Back in and Nick pounds on Matt Hardy before a running knee sets up Risky Business for two.

Nick accidentally kicks his brother and then does it to Cutler as well, allowing Jeff to hit a running clothesline off the apron. A Side Effect on the apron drops Matt Jackson and they’re all down on the floor again. Back in and Poetry In Motion hits Matt Jackson but he breaks up the Twist of Fate/Swanton combination. Jeff has to jawbreak his way to freedom on top, even if it means crotching himself.

The Swanton misses though and the Bucks hit their own Twist of Fate into a Swanton for two. A bunch of superkicks drop the Hardys but they’re back up and demanding more kicks. The Bucks oblige for a double two so it’s time to load up the steps. That takes long enough that Matt Hardy can Razor’s Edge bomb Nick, leaving Matt Jackson to be loaded up on the steps, which have been turned on their side. The Swanton connects to Matt Jackson and it’s a Twist of Fate for two on Nick back inside. Another Twist of Fate plants Nick and the Swanton finishes for Jeff at 19:16.

Rating: B-. The Hardys winning here is certainly a choice, as that would suggest the feud is continuing because of reasons. They didn’t have a disaster or even a bad match, but I don’t think this quite lived up to a dream match level. What matters most is that the Hardys didn’t get seriously injured, which might as well be a win for them these days.

Post match, Jeff teases going through the crowd but then comes back to the ring.

The Acclaimed and the Gunn Club promise to tear Las Vegas up. The next day, Billy Gunn finds them all out cold, calls his sons disappointments, and tucks in the Acclaimed.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay

Jay is challenging and comes up through an elevator in the stage, while Cargill has a bunch of showgirls with her. An early Queenslayer attempt doesn’t work for Jay and Cargill throws her down without much effort. A snap suplex and a clothesline lets Cargill go up top but Jay superplexes her back down. Back up and a running forearm staggers Cargill and a running Blockbuster sends her outside. Cargill is sent back inside but Jay has to take out the Baddies with a double DDT. Back in and Cargill kicks her in the face but Jaded is reversed into a cradle for two.

Cue Smart Mark Sterling to throw in the crutch, which Jay grabs for a Russian legsweep and a near fall. Cue John Silver to brainbuster Sterling on the floor, leaving Cargill to hit the Eye of the Storm for two. Jaded is countered into the Queenslayer but Cargill gets up and sends her into the corner. They both go up and here is Stokely Hathaway (fifth person to come out during the match) for a distraction so a super Jaded can finish Jay at 7:23.

Rating: B-. This was a good bit better than I was expecting as Cargill’s matches continue to be structured to fit her strengths rather well. I didn’t buy Jay having a chance whatsoever, but that is the case with just about every Cargill challenger. Hathaway would be an upgrade over Sterling if that is where they are going, and he certainly has the skills to make Cargill feel that much more important. Good stuff here, even if it could have been done on Dynamite.

Post match the beatdown is loaded up but Kris Statlander comes in to go after Red Velvet. The staredown is on but Athena comes in for the debut and the big six way staredown. The Baddies bail and the fans seem rather happy to see Athena.

Forbidden Door is coming on June 26.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Death Triangle has a young boy, who I’m assuming is one of their sons, with them during the entrance. Fenix flips out of Black’s suplex to start but they both miss spinning kicks to the head, meaning it’s time for the cross legged sitdown staredown. Matthews comes in and gets superkicked by Penta so it’s off to the floor, only to have Penta waiting on him with an evil glare.

King comes in and kicks down Fenix’s springboard, setting up the six way staredown. The brawl is on with everyone getting to knock someone else down until Pac poisonranas Matthews to leave everyone down. King is back up with a Boss Man Slam to Pac and Matthews adds a slingshot hilo for two. Matthews misses a charge in the corner though and the hot tag brings in Fenix to clean house. Stereo superkicks clear the ring and there are the double dives from the Bros.

Back in and Fenix hits a step up kick to the head on King but Matthews suplexes him on the floor. That sets up the series of dives until King hits a dive, albeit with a crash onto the apron on the way down. Fenix gets triple teamed inside, including Dante’s Inferno for two, with Pac driving Black into the cover for the save. Triple brainbusters are broken up and Death Triangle gets to kick them in the face in the corner.

A springboard Canadian Destroyer plants Matthews on the floor and a top rope double stomp/hanging DDT combination drops King next to him. That leaves Black to get kicked in the face a lot but he kicks his way out of trouble. Pac kicks Black down and throws Matthews onto King on the floor. An Alex Abrahantes distraction lets Pac kick Black low….and the lights go out again (JR is NOT happy). Cue Julia Hart to mist Pac, allowing Black to kick Pac in the head for the pin at 15:19.

Rating: A-. This was pure insanity for the most part, which also includes a rather nutty ending as Hart wasn’t evil a few weeks ago but she is now. Anyway, the match was the hard hitting, fast paced match that everyone had been hoping. I’m not sure it was worth all of the delays, but House of Black FINALLY getting a big win is good to see. Now just move on from this feud for all time.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole in the Owen Hart Foundation finals, which is more about Owen than either of them.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Final: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole

Non-title. Joe powers him into the corner to start but Cole slips out and wants a test of strength. That goes to Joe as well, who sends him into the corner for the jumping enziguri. An elbow sends Cole to the floor, where he manages to post Joe’s bad shoulder to take over. Back in and Cole chokes on the ropes before wrapping the arm around said rope. The Panama Sunrise is blocked though and Joe hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner.

Joe’s powerbomb is countered into a jumping enziguri and Cole grabs a Crossface. Joe cranks on both arms but Cole is in the ropes as well. Cue Bobby Fish to snap Joe’s arm across the top but the Boom misses. Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch, which has to be let go so Joe can take out Fish. Cole kicks him down and fires off more kicks, setting up the Boom for the pin at 13:15.

Rating: B-. Another good match here, though having even more interference had me rolling my eyes. Cole winning isn’t exactly a surprise and it is good to have him win something around here. It’s a fine enough way to go, even if it doesn’t have any kind of a connection to Owen whatsoever.

Forbidden Door is still coming on June 26. Nothing has changed in the last 40 minutes.

We recap the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, which is a rematch from Grand Slam, where Britt Baker beat Ruby Soho.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

Baker gets played to the ring by Fozzy’s guitarist while Rancid plays Soho to the ring. We’ll call that advantage Soho. Baker takes her down by the arm to start but Soho is back up with a wristlock of her own. Some kicks don’t do much to Soho, who knees Baker out to the floor. Soho’s shotgun dropkick off the apron has Baker rocked but Soho is holding her ribs. Baker is smart enough to pull the ribs into the post before stretching her out back inside.

Some elbows to the ribs give Baker two but she takes too long going up top. A superplex brings her back down as JR talks about Soho owning a farm in Indiana. They forearm it out until it’s another double knockdown. No Future is blocked but Baker misses the Stomp. Soho is back up with a Saito suplex and a top rope backsplash gets two.

Baker is back with the Stomp and the Lockjaw is loaded up but Soho powers away. No Future connects and the Sharpshooter (with Soho dropping to a knee) goes on, with Baker finally making the rope for the save. With that Owen finisher not working, Soho loads up a victory roll, only to have Baker reverse into a cradle for the pin at 14:15.

Rating: C+. So Baker gets to win, meaning it’s a power couple winning both of them. The match itself was fine, as expected, though that Sharpshooter left a lot to be desired. I could have gone with Soho winning here but it would have been a bit weird to have Cole and Soho at the trophy presentation. Baker very well may be on her way to a face turn and that could be a good thing for her, as we have kind of covered everything she can do otherwise.

Respect is shown post match.

Post match Tony Schiavone has the trophy presentation (with Adam Cole coming out to glare at Tony for hugging Britt). Martha Hart gets an entrance, accompanied by Tony Khan, and gets to give a speech about how important this whole thing is. She thanks everyone from Khan to Chris Jericho to Dark Side of the Ring and her legal team. Cole and Baker are congratulated, with Martha even making fun of her own fairly ridiculous looking hat to wrap it up. Both are presented with a special belt and it’s a rather nice moment.

Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti vs. Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant

If the Men Of The Year/VanZant win, Guevara and Kazarian can never challenge for the TNT Title again. Kazarian and Sky start things off but Guevara tags himself in and gets to face Ethan. The slugout goes to Page so it’s back to Kazarian vs. Sky, with Kazarian taking him into the corner. Guevara comes back in and Conti gets in a rake to Sky’s back from the apron. VanZant is drawn in so Sammy and Conti can hit a double suplex. Kazarian grabs a front facelock on Sky, who fights out and hits a Downward Spiral.

Conti runs in to deck VanZant and then dives onto Sammy for some spinning around. That has Kazarian yelling at them before grabbing the chickenwing but Sammy tags himself in. Tony: “What kind of dumba** strategy is that?” The double tag brings in the women, with JR saying VanZant is going to be green. VanZant grabs a suplex on Conti and a handspring elbow hits Conti in the face.

A TKO is broken up by Sammy, who stops to kiss Conti and gets caught with a tornado DDT. Conti uses the distraction to strike away at VanZant and some pump kicks to the face get two. A spinning belly to back faceplant (JR: “What the h*** was that?”) plants VanZant but we pause for more kissing. The staredown is on but Kazarian is having none of this and walks out….before coming back in with a slingshot DDT to Sky. Kazarian clears the ring but Conti yells at him, only to have Sammy accidentally knock her down. Sky TKO’s Kazarian for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was fun with Conti and Guevara totally embracing the hate, but what matters most is that this should mean the end of the feud. It has gone on far longer than it needed to and this really needs to be the blowoff. VanZant was fine enough in her pay per view debut but she clearly has a long way to go to feel natural in the ring. Good enough, but the show is running very long and this is something that could have been moved to another show.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

Allin goes straight for the legs and gets kneed in the face to cut him off. O’Reilly starts working on the arm and cranking away as Allin’s face is busted open from that knee. Back up and Allin gets in a few shots of his own to knock O’Reilly outside, setting up a suicide dive which nearly goes horribly wrong. Thankfully Allin is back up so he tries it again, only to get pulled into a guillotine choke.

Back in and the Last Supper gives Allin two and a small package is good for the same. A brainbuster plants Allin but he is able to fight off a cross armbreaker attempt. The ankle lock goes on but Allin ties up the legs and reverses into a Scorpion (again, not a great one). O’Reilly makes the rope so Allin goes up and hits a Coffin Drop onto O’Reilly in the ropes before crashing out to the floor.

Back in and O’Reilly goes for the arm again but gets stacked up for two more. They strike it out with O’Reilly getting the better of things and wrapping Allin’s chain around his mouth. Excalibur: “The unbreakable chain!” Then it breaks immediately. Some penalty kicks set up the top rope knee to finish Allin at 10:33.

Rating: B. Hard hitting fight here and that is a heck of a big win for O’Reilly as beating Allin clean on pay per view is an impressive feat. It doesn’t say much for Allin to lose in his match for his mentor’s honor, but I can go for O’Reilly getting this kind of a push. Good stuff here, though I hope it gets any kind of memory on a show with so much else.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb for the Women’s Title. Both want to be the best so they’re having a title match.

Women’s Title: Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending. They fight over a lockup to start and go to the mat with neither being able to get anywhere. Back up and Deeb starts going for the limbs but that isn’t going to work for Rosa. They go back to the mat with Rosa grabbing the pendulum to rock Deeb around a bit. A backslide gives Rosa two but Deeb blocks a second one, allowing Rosa to hit an uppercut.

Rosa knocks her to the floor but misses a baseball slide, allowing Deeb to snap her across the top rope. A neckbreaker over the ropes puts Rosa back on the floor until Deeb takes it back inside. Deeb ties her up in the corner and cranks away, setting up an abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs. Rosa fights out and hits a running corner clothesline, followed by knees in the corner. A northern lights suplex gets two but Deeb catches her in the corner and hits Diamond Dust for two.

Deebtox is broken up though and Rosa slams Deeb’s knee into the mat for a change. Deeb gets in a shot to knock her away but Rosa is back with the Death Valley Driver for two. A chop block cuts Rosa down and we hit the Figure Four, with the two of them slapping each other in the face at the same time. They roll out to the floor but it’s Deeb grabbing a dragon screw legwhip in the ropes back inside.

Deebtox gets two and the Serenity Lock goes on, though Deeb lets it go to hit a powerbomb. The Texas Cloverleaf goes on but Rosa makes the rope, setting up a kick to the head. Deep knocks her down again and goes up, only to get superplexed down. Rosa isn’t done and rolls her up into the Fire Thunder Driver to retain at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight with the technical master vs. the fighter, but they were in a near death spot this late in a show with a long match. I could go with another look at this in a vacuum as Rosa was bringing it and Deeb was her usual awesome self. It’s a good example of a match where they overcame a really bad build and had a heck of a match. Just in the wrong spot.

We recap Anarchy in the Arena, which is Sports Entertainers vs. Wrestlers.

Justin Roberts: “Ladies and gentlemen…..s***’s about to hit the fan.”

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

Anything goes and the Society is all in white, making them look like a painting crew. It’s a brawl to start with Wild Thing still playing, which seems like it is going to go throughout the match. Everyone brawls around the arena and we keep cutting from fight to fight, including Moxley stabbing someone in the head with a fork. Kingston is already busted open as Jericho and Moxley get on some kind of a cart.

Minard’s face is COVERED in blood as Jericho gets in a shot to Moxley with….something. We actually go to the ring where Santana and Ortiz suplex Hager. Jericho goes over to the sound board and hits Moxley to FINALLY kill the song. Some people fight to the back as Santana and Ortiz Street Sweep Hager through two tables at ringside. Moxley hits Jericho with a boom camera as Minard and Kingston fight over mustard at the concession stand. Garcia piledrives Ortiz on the steps and I think Minard takes Kingston down with a t-shirt stand.

Parker hits Danielson with a ring bell and Jericho suplexes Moxley onto a row of chairs. Back up and Moxley chucks a cooler at Jericho’s head as Tony dubs this as better than Stadium Stampede. Garcia chokes Kingston in the concourse and drags him around the floor as Jericho gets the Walls on Moxley on the announcers’ table….which breaks. Back up and Moxley hits a suicide dive to take Jericho down as a turnbuckle is unhooked.

Some unhooked turnbuckle shots slow Jericho down as I think Kingston and Garcia brawl in a freight elevator. Moxley hits a running knee to knock Jericho out of a chair as Santana and Ortiz set up a ladder over on the other side of the arena. They hit big splashes to drive Minard and Parker through tables as Jericho fire extinguishers Moxley. Jericho and Moxley pull themselves back into the ring, where Hager and Danielson are pulling themselves up. The four of them slug it out with Moxley and Danielson hitting the hammer and anvil elbows.

Stereo holds go on….and here is Kingston with a can of gasoline. Kingston pours gas onto Jericho (which breaks up the LeBell Lock) but Danielson goes after Kingston for general hatred. Moxley is sent onto a barbed wire board at ringside and a turnbuckle shot to the head gives Jericho two on Danielson. A bunch of kicks rock Hager and Jericho, including the YES Kicks to the latter. Danielson promises to kick his f****** head in but Hager makes the save with a baseball bat to the knee. A half crab to Danielson, with Hager choking with a rope (Tony: “HANG IN THERE!”) gives Jericho the win at 22:31.

Rating: B. I have no idea what to say about this and that’s about all you can get out of it. They were all over the place with one crazy spot after another and there was nothing close to a way to keep track of the whole thing. I’m not sure why the Society won, but maybe Jericho used some wizard magic to convince AEW it was a good idea.

We go to Andrade El Idolo, who brings in his new business partner: Rush.

Scorpio Sky/Ethan Page/Dan Lambert are really happy to be done with Sammy Guevara and company. Sky wants a new challenger and here is Dante Martin to issue the challenge. Game on.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

Jurassic Express, with Christian Cage, is defending. It’s a brawl to start and the fight heads to the floor before the Express hits a top rope elbow/side slam combination for two on Starks. We settle down to Hobbs blasting Strickland with a clothesline. Lee comes in and staggers Hobbs with a shoulder, setting up Strickland’s jumping knee. It’s off to Jungle Boy for some suicide dives but Lee pulls the big flip dive out of the air.

Back in and Hobbs hits a suplex slam on Jungle Boy and Starks grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Starks tries to run the corner and walk the ropes but stops to dance, allowing Jungle Boy to crotch him (JR’s disdain at the start followed by happiness in Starks getting hurt is hilarious). Everything breaks down and Starks gets tossed out to the floor for a nasty landing, setting up Strickland’s moonsault (off of Lee’s chest) onto the pile.

Back in and Strickland hits the running kick to the head for two on Hobbs and it’s Luchasaurus coming in to clean house. Hobbs gets kicked into the corner where Lee tags himself in, giving us Luchasaurus vs. Lee. A double chokeslam puts Luchasaurus down, leaving Lee to suplex Hobbs over the top. Lee hits the big no hands flip dive to show off a bit but Luchasaurus is back up with a fireman’s carry slam for two.

Starks is back in to take Jungle Boy down for two but Christian makes the save. The spear gets two more on Jungle Boy and a slingshot Roshambo gets the same. Luchasaurus comes back in but Hobbs cleans house, allowing Starks to grab the FTW Title. Christian breaks that up and it’s the Throwassic Express for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: B. Another good match here with a surprising ending as I would not have bet on the champs retaining here. What matters is that the tag division remains hot, but there is only so much that you can get when your champs are barely in the top five teams in the company. I was hoping for a title change here as Jurassic Express have held the belts for awhile, but it’s not like this is a horrible decision.

We recap Hangman Page vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Title. Punk sees it as a title shot and Page wants to stop Punk from destroying AEW….somehow.

AEW World Title: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page

Page is defending. They start fast with Punk taking him into the corner and giving him a break, albeit with a rake of the eyes. They strike it out with Punk getting the better of things but they go to the mat to exchange some near falls. Back up and Punk starts the string of slams, setting up the high crossbody. Page rolls through though and hits a fall away slam into a nip up. With Punk on the floor, Page hits a slingshot crossbody to take him down again.

Back in and Punk slugs away, only to get elbowed in the face to knock him silly. A running clothesline out of the corner looks to set up the Buckshot but it’s way too early for that, as Punk knocks him to the floor. That’s fine with Page, who gets in a powerbomb onto the apron to drop Punk again. Back in and a top rope clothesline gives Page two and Punk is tossed outside again.

What looks to be the moonsault is broken up and Punk superplexes him back down. They take their time getting back up for the slugout, setting up Punk’s leg lariat. There’s the running knee in the corner into the bulldog into the springboard clothesline and Punk is fired up. Page slips out of the GTS and Punk grabs a neckbreaker for two more. Punk goes up but gets knocked down, setting up the moonsault to the floor. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is countered into a Sharpshooter, sending Page over to the ropes.

Both guys have to counter their own finisher until Punk is kicked to the apron. Punk kicks him in the head and hits a Buckshot Lariat but the knee gives out on the way. Both guys miss the GTS and Punk’s running knee in the corner is countered into the Last Ride. Page rolls him into the Deadeye for two more before calling for the GTS. Punk kicks him in the head and tries the GTS but Page escapes and hits one of his own.

They slug it out until Page kicks him in the face but they fall out to the floor. Page throws him over the announcers’ table and grabs the belt, which he emphasizes is HIS. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is loaded up but gets countered into the GTS. Punk swings him around to kick the referee, meaning Page’s escape into the Buckshot Lariat gets no cover. Page looks at the belt and teases the shot but second guesses himself. Another Buckshot Lariat is countered into the GTS to give Punk the pin and the title at 25:58.

Rating: B+. There’s your controversial ending that is going to get people talking. Punk winning is the right call as you can only get so much out of Page as champion when there are so many bigger stars around him. The will he/won’t he was good and while it might lead to a heel turn down the line, it’s the right way to go here. Heck of a match too, which didn’t feel close to the length it went.

Punk celebrates for a good while to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The action was very good to great, but egads I was done with this show with about an hour left. I’ll spare you the long, drawn out version and say a lot of this could have been left for Dynamite/Rampage and move on to the praise the show deserves. There was some awesome action here and I like a lot of the choices for the winners, though the tournaments still don’t feel important (save for Martha Hart looking so happy out there, which was great). Definitely check this out, but cut it off for a bit in the middle for the sake of a sandwich or something as you’re going to need to refuel.

Results
Wardlow b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Powerbomb Symphony
Hardys b. Young Bucks – Swanton to Nick
Jade Cargill b. Anna Jay – Super Jaded
House Of Black b. Death Triangle – Spinning kick to Fenix
Adam Cole b. Samoa Joe – Boom
Britt Baker b. Ruby Soho – Rollup
Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant b. Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti – TKO to Guevara
Kyle O’Reilly b. Darby Allin – Top rope knee to the back
Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Fire Thunder Driver
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Blackpool Combat Club/Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz – Half crab to Danielson
Jurassic Express b. Team Taz and Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee – Throwassic Express to Starks
CM Punk b. Hangman Page – GTS

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It’s time for another AEW pay per view and most of the time, that has been some very good news. AEW has a heck of a track record with pay per views, though things have been a bit weaker than usual in recent months. I don’t entirely know what that is going to mean for this show, but the card is absolutely huge with a staggering thirteen matches. Maybe they can make it work though so let’s get to it.

Buy-In Show: Hookhausen vs. Mark Sterling/Tony Nese

They aren’t starting with anything serious here as Hook and Danhausen are the latest comedy guys around here. There is a short form possibility to the two of them working together but I’d like to believe that Hook could mean a lot more than he is being given so far. Danhausen is one of the most unique guys around, and now he and Hook can do their thing here.

That thing here would be winning, as Hookhausen has no reason to lose whatsoever. Hook can be the muscle for Danhausen as he does his wacky deal. That is all you need in something like this as the fans are going to go nuts over anything Hookhausen does. Keep it short, let Danhausen pin the manager, and we get to move on to the important stuff. That’s a good opener and they have the right idea with this on the Buy-In.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

This is a match that has some history to it and now the question becomes can Soho finally get a big win around here. Soho is someone with as unique of a look as you can find and the intangibles to back it up, but she hasn’t actually won anything just yet. Beating Baker would even their series up and that is a way they can go. At the same time though, it is hard to buy the idea of Baker losing her second big match in a row.

I’m in a total coin flip here but I’ll go with Baker winning here as Soho loses again for the sake of getting Baker back on track. This could be leading to a heck of a showdown between Baker and Jade Cargill, assuming they don’t do a rubber match with Thunder Rosa. Either way, I don’t see Soho winning here, and I’m really not sure where that leaves her going forward.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe

I like this one more than the previous match and we could be in for a heck of a showdown here. Cole is someone who is still waiting for his own big win around here, while Joe has the Ring Of Honor TV Title, meaning that he too is waiting for his first big win in AEW. This is at least an interesting match and that puts it above a lot of what we have been seeing in the tournament so far.

I’ll go with Cole winning again here, as AEW not only likes pushing the heck out of him, but the idea of Cole and Baker as the winners of the tournaments is likely something AEW likes. The match should be a good, pay per view level fight as Joe knows how to make the big fight feel. Cole wins here though, possibly even with some help from Jay Lethal and pals to take out Joe.

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

This is the Anarchy In The Arena match, which seems to be the latest insane brawl that the company loves to run. The problem this time though is the lineups aren’t exactly even, as it’s hard to imagine the Combat Club and Kingston would have trouble against the entire Appreciation Society. Then again there is a good chance that the villains can take out a member to uneven things and make it a bit more even.

That being said, there isn’t much in the way of doubt here, as this should be a one sided victory for Kingston and company. Unfortunately I don’t think that is going to happen, as I could see AEW running with the Jericho Wizard/fireball stuff. Therefore, I’ll take the Appreciation Society winning here, even if that makes so little sense and will just mean more of the not so great act.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Now we have the Dream Match, which might have been the case about ten years ago but now, I’m not entirely convinced. To put it mildly, the Hardys are in their mid 40s and wrestle like they’re about ten years older than that each. Jeff looks close to terrible and you know what you’re going to get from Matt. I’m far from a Bucks fan, but they can run circles around the Hardys at the moment and this is going to be a mess as a result.

I’ll take the Bucks winning here, as there is no reason whatsoever to put the Hardys over anyone ever (unless you’re Darby Allin because reasons). I’m not exactly interested in seeing this one but maybe they can pull off something decent. All I know is I don’t need to see the Hardys trying to recreate their glory days again and odds are that is exactly what we are going to be getting here.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

This now needs an asterisk as there have been a few issues involving MJF, but we’ll assume that the match is going to take place. This is a story that has been built up for years and is a more physical version of Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil from back in the day. The good thing is that Wardlow is almost on Virgil’s level and might even be able to get something out of this if they do it right.

Of course I’ll go with Wardlow here, as he should powerbomb MJF into oblivion here. Now that being said, MJF should not get squashed and will likely get in some offense off the back of Shawn Spears and some well timed cheating, but at the end of the day, this is Wardlow’s breaking out moment and I could go with seeing him wreck MJF as the fans get more and more into each powerbomb. Assuming the match takes place that is.

Women’s Title: Thunder Rosa(c) vs. Serena Deeb

The more I watch from Rosa, the less I think she is cut out to be champion. There are some people who are more interesting as the challenger rather than the champion and that is what we might have with her. The promo from this week was good, but I really can’t bring myself to get into this match. Granted it doesn’t help that Cargill feels like a much bigger star, but this is the next showdown.

I’ll take Rosa to retain here, as she deserves a longer title reign than a few months after FINALLY getting the belt. We might be up for a rematch with Baker, but at the moment the best thing that they can do is have Rosa keep going as champion to set up a showdown with someone. Rosa is still a star and I could go for seeing more of her with the title, but they need to find a better way to present her.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express(c) vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

One thing that is interesting here is that AEW rarely runs triple threat. The company loves itself some gimmick matches but that isn’t the case with triple threat, which is certainly a nice bonus. Anyway, this has been set up as the two challenging teams have been set up as potential threats to take the titles. Granted it helps that Jurassic Express have been kind of there as champions for a lot of their reigns, so it is kind of somewhere in the middle.

As much as I’d like to see Lee and Strickland get somewhere, I have a feeling Team Taz wins here. At some point you have to give Taz and company some (official) titles and I think they do it here. Ricky Starks has been moving up higher and higher in recent weeks and Powerhouse Hobbs is one of the better potential stars around. They should have a good match here, but it’s time for the title change with the belts going to Team Taz.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

This is a grudge match which was added to the show on Rampage, even if it is one of the first matches that could be moved to Dynamite for the sake of cutting down the pay per view rundown. Allin is mad at O’Reilly for injuring Sting, meaning it is time to fight. Thankfully this seems to be a regular match, which is quite the change for Allin and his obsession with hardcore stuff.

I’ll go with Allin winning here, as he is still shaking off some of his funk, especially after that pretty ridiculous loss to Jeff Hardy a few weeks ago. O’Reilly could use a win too and it wouldn’t shock me if he won here, but Allin needs it more and is someone the fans are already behind. Seeing O’Reilly get a push of his own would be nice, but it’s Allin winning here in a match that should be pretty awesome.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Yes, finally. After what feels like 37 years, this match is FINALLY going to take place, even though I can’t imagine it is going to live up to the hype that has been presented around it. Both teams are actually healthy for once and since it was on the books at some point back in the day, AEW had to get it in instead of cutting their losses and just moving on like anyone sane would do.

It’s one that could go either way, but I’ll take the House Of Black to win here. Death Triangle is a team that has a tendency to not be around very often for one reason or another so the House Of Black seems to be a better option at the moment. Odds are it will be a heck of a fight and Death Triangle will look great in defeat, but the House Of Black wins here to finally give them something.

Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant vs. Frankie Kazarian/Sammy Guevara/Tay Conti

Speaking of feuds that won’t go away, we have this mess that must continue no matter how many people are waiting in line for the TNT Title. This week seemed to show Guevara and company as the good ones, even if that involved invading the American Top Team facility and stealing stuff. I don’t think AEW knows what they are doing with this feud anymore, but even worse I don’t think many people care about it either. Granted, why let that get in the way of what AEW has decided to do?

Since the feud must continue and Guevara/Kazarian get no more shots if they lose, I’ll go with Guevara and company winning to keep their hopes alive. I’m not sure why that is something we need to continue, but this feud is probably heading for one big final blowoff to the whole thing. Maybe we could even get a ladder involved! For now, though Guevara and company win, because it must continue.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Anna Jay

AEW has a bit of a weird situation on their hands with Cargill. While they have done a great job of building her up, there is no reason to believe that she is going to lose anytime soon. That makes this feel like nothing more than a requirement as she gets to add another win over someone who was thrown into a title match. I don’t particularly care about this match and it would have been fine on Dynamite, but maybe Cargill can get in her catchphrase for the 485th time.

Of course I’ll take Cargill, as Jay gets to be the latest sacrificial lamb. They REALLY need someone who is going to give Cargill a challenge and Jay, who hasn’t wrestled a singles match since March (or a TV match since January, when Cargill beat her) isn’t it. This is a match that probably doesn’t need to be on the pay per view but we are getting it for the sake of Cargill appearing, which does make sense.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page(c) vs. CM Punk

And then there’s this, which has been hit and miss so far. This has not been anywhere close to a disaster, but I’m not sure I buy Page as someone on Punk’s level. Punk had to get to the World Title shot at some point though, which comes after the end of the great Friedman feud. Hopefully they can go beyond the hype, which hasn’t quite hit the levels they seem to have been shooting for with the build.

I’ve been going back and forth on this for weeks now but I think I have Page retaining. If you want to elevate him, beating Punk and Danielson is about as perfect of a way as you can do so. Punk is going to be fine no matter what he does, but in this case it makes more sense to have him lose and give Page the next biggest rub of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Punk win the title, but Page needs this a lot more than Punk. I think. Maybe. Perhaps.

Overall Thoughts

I’m expecting the show to be good, as almost every AEW pay per view tends to be, but my goodness there is way too much on here. There is no need for the show to have every one of these matches but for some reason that is what we’re getting. Hopefully they move something up to the Buy-In show, as having a twelve minute pay per view card is not going to leave them with much breathing room. The show has a lot of potential, but I’m worried about giving the matches the time that they need. Make something fast, or at least shuffle it up a bit, just to make it better. Either way, we should be fine, as is AEW’s custom.

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Rampage
Date: May 13, 2022
Location: UBS Arena, Belmont Park, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho

We’re still in the weird time slot due to some kind of playoffs (basketpuck or hockball I believe) and that means a grand total of nothing on this show. Granted it means very few people are going to watch it, but it isn’t like that is AEW’s fault in this case. This week is going to have some Owen Hart Foundation tournament action so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Death Triangle vs. Butcher/Blade/Marq Quen

Penta does the CERO MIEDO to Blade to start and then kicks him in the ribs. Pac comes in to hold Blade in place for the top rope double stomp What’s Up. Jericho’s voice sounds more than a bit off as Butcher comes in to take over on Pac. That doesn’t last long as Butcher is sent outside, allowing Fenix and Quen to come in. A pop up dropkick puts Fenix down and he gets sent outside for a whip into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Fenix fighting out of a front facelock but Quen and the Butcher are right there to knock Pac and Penta off the apron. Everything breaks down and Quen hits a big flip dive onto Pac and Penta on the floor, leaving Fenix to get clotheslined down for two. A hurricanrana gets Fenix out of trouble as Kyle O’Reilly is shown watching in the crowd. Back in and Penta makes the save, getting to clean house and take over again. Pac’s German suplex gets two on Quen and it’s the spike Fear Factor. The Lucha Bros hit dives on Butcher and Blade, leaving the Black Arrow to finish Quen at 10:20.

Rating: C+. Death Triangle continues to be just kind of there and that isn’t the most exciting thing. I know we’re heading for the showdown with the House Of Black but it has taken so long to get the team back together and set up the match that any interest I had in the first place is long gone. The team is still fun to watch, but my goodness the spark is long gone.

Post match the lights go out, the House of Black pops up, the lights go out again, and the House of Black pops down.

Shawn Spears vs. Bear Boulder

Spears shows him the TEN to start so Boulder grabs him in a gorilla press. That’s broken up so Boulder settles for a powerslam instead. Spears avoids a charge in the corner though and hammers away in the corner until Boulder grabs him by the throat. Boulder gets in his own right hands in the corner but gets reversed into the C4 to give Spears the fast pin at 2:05. This is the Spears version of the villains beating someone before losing to Wardlow.

Post match Spears unloads on him with the chair.

Tony Nese and Mark Sterling (in a neck brace and with a crutch) are NOT happy with their upcoming match against Hookhausen. Sterling doesn’t even have fights! Nese says he has destroyed Danhausen and he’s a premiere athlete. He can win on his own, so Sterling should put $10,000 on them.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Riho vs. Ruby Soho

Soho works on an armbar to start but gets reversed into la majistral for two. A running kick to the chest misses for Soho and Riho slips out of an over the shoulder backbreaker. Riho hits a double stomp to the ribs to rock Soho but she pulls Riho face first into the buckle to break it up.

There’s a headbutt to put Riho in trouble, only to have her tie the legs up and crank back to put Soho in trouble as we take a break. Back with Riho hitting a northern lights suplex for two but hang on as we need to look at things that happened in the break. Soho loads up a Blade Runner, which is reversed into a crucifix bomb for two. Back up and Soho hits a belly to back suplex, setting up a Blade Runner for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C+. I can certainly go for seeing Soho get a win over one of the bigger names the division has ever seen so this was a nice result. What matters is having some new faces in the division and Soho could certainly use the boost after a pretty rocky start in AEW. I’m not sure how far she goes in this thing, but a win is not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Billy Gunn holds a meeting between the Gunn Club and the Acclaimed, who he thinks could be a great faction. They need hand gestures though, with the Club suggesting crotch chops. Billy shoots that down, but likes the scissoring deal. Now, catchphrases. Gunn Club: “Oh, you didn’t….” Billy: “NO! THAT WILL NEVER GET OVER!” The Acclaimed suggests “Yo, listen” and Billy is down with that. Now he has a match for them on Elevation!

Here are Jade Cargill and the Baddies for a chat. Cargill hits the catchphrase but Tony Schiavone has to announce that since Hikaru Shida is injured, so Red Velvet has to face Kris Statlander in the first round instead. That isn’t a bad thing for Cargill, but Statlander comes out for the staredown anyway.

Scorpio Sky is ready to defend the TNT Title against Kazarian because the champ’s word is his bond and he promised Kazarian the shot. Kazarian is ready too, and Sky having Dan Lambert and Ethan Page stay in the back makes it even better.

Here is what is coming up on various shows.

TNT Title: Scorpio Sky vs. Frankie Kazarian

Sky is defending. They fight over a lockup to start and neither get anywhere. Sky flips out of a wristlock but Kazarian runs him over with a double to give us a standoff. Kazarian takes him down and drops a leg to the arm, setting up a short armscissors. With that broken up, neither of them can grab their finisher so they collide for a double knockdown. A backslide gives Kazarian two and a fisherman’s suplex is good for the same. Sky sends him to the floor though and there’s the big flip dive to take Kazarian down again.

We take a break and come back with Kazarian hitting the slingshot Fameasser for two. A hard lariat drops Sky again but he is up with the TKO attempt. That’s reversed into a small package for two, followed by the springboard spinning legdrop to give Kazarian a rather delayed near fall. Sky heads to the apron so Kazarian slingshots him in for a heck of a cutter for two. The crossface chickenwing goes on but here is Dan Lambert for a distraction, allowing Ethan Page to come in with a belt shot….for two. Sky (who doesn’t seem to have seen the interference) is back up with the TKO to retain at 11;40.

Rating: B-. The ending wasn’t exactly great but it might set up something good for the future between the two of them. Odds are we’re getting either a rematch or a tag match out of that ending, likely at the Los Angeles show coming up in a few weeks. Sky retaining the title is a good thing, but I don’t think there was any real doubt about the result here.

Post match Kazarian tries to tell Sky what happened and Sky yells at Lambert and Page. Sky wants to know what happened, so Page grabs the mic and says yeah he did it. He did it for the team, so what team is Sky on? Then Sky hits Kazarian with the title and the beatdown is on. Lambert calls Sammy Guevara and “W****hausen” (Tay Conti) into the ring and runs as Sammy makes the save (and holds up the title) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty good show this week, though that ending wasn’t exactly my favorite. They got back to doing some things on this show, as the tournament has gotten off to a pretty fast start. Granted when you have almost six weeks to set things up, there isn’t much of a reason for it not to start well. Nice show here, with nothing close to bad throughout.

Results
Death Triangle b. Butcher/Blade/Marq Quen – Black Arrow to Quen
Shawn Spears b. Bear Boulder – C4
Ruby Soho b. Riho – Blade Runner
Scorpio Sky b. Frankie Kazarian – TKO

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: May 4, 2022
Location: Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

I’m not sure how but we’re less than a month away from Double Or Nothing. Last week’s show saw the announcement that CM Punk would be challenging Hangman Page for the World Title at the pay per view so at least they have the top match set up pretty far in advance. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Fish

Adam Cole is on commentary and Matt Hardy and Kyle O’Reilly are at ringside. Fish takes him into the corner to start and kicks away at the leg, setting up a dragon screw legwhip onto the other leg. They head outside with another dragon screw legwhip sending Hardy into the barricade and we take a break.

Back with Hardy making a comeback and dropping Fish to go up top. The Swanton is broken up though and it’s the super Falcon Arrow to put Hardy down for two. Fish grabs the kneebar but Hardy gets over for the rope. Hardy puts him down again and it’s the Swanton to give Hardy the pin at 10:15.

Rating: C. That’s about as high as I can go, as the match was technically fine, but they were both looking old and slow here. Granted that might be because they’re both old and slow, though I can always go for someone taking out a knee. Fish banging up Hardy’s knee was a good way to explain the slower pace, but it’s getting harder to watch Hardy out there.

Post match the Young Bucks come out for a staredown with the Hardys. I don’t think that’s a big surprise, but the Hardys trying to go at that pace could be rough.

We get a video from William Regal on training the Blackpool Combat Club. Regal talks about how this is about physicality and hurting people, which is what wrestling is. The video includes Regal physically training the team before saying that the Club would rather cut you on the face than stab you, because that is what you will remember. Check this out as it was nearly chilling with Regal sounding so serious about the whole thing. Also note that this is the shortened version, with the whole thing being available on Twitter.

AFO vs. Blackpool Combat Club

It’s Butcher/Blade/Angelico for the AFO here and the fight starts before the bell. Blade beats on Danielson at the bell before Angelico comes in and gets rolled up for two. Danielson starts on the arm and hands it off to Yuta for the same. The armdrag into an armbar keeps Blade down but it’s off to Butcher to take Yuta into the corner.

We take a break and come back with Yuta taking Butcher down so Moxley can come in. A cutter of all things drops Blade (that’s a new one from Moxley) and some biting allows Danielson to come back in on Angelico. Stereo chokes keep Butcher and Blade down and set up the triple stomps. Danielson chokes Angelico out for the win at 7:40.

Rating: C+. This needs to be about it for the Club in these nothing matches. They’re fun and entertaining, but they’re glorified target practice. The good thing is that we should be getting ready for a bigger match at Double Or Nothing so at least things aren’t going to be run into the ground. It’s still very fun to see them pounding the stuffing out of people, but it’s time to move up.

Jurassic Express is in on Team Taz’s challenge for the Tag Team Title match. First though, how about Jungle Boy gets an FTW World Title shot?

Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland are ready for Team Taz as well.

Wardlow vs. ???

Before the match, MJF and Shawn Spears come to the stage to insult Maryland and the opponent is….William Morrissey (better known as Big Cass, or W. Morrissey in Impact), which is the name that was all but guaranteed last week. They start slowly with the power game not getting either very far. Morrissey’s running splash in the corner doesn’t work but Wardlow’s does, only to have Morrissey come back with a big boot.

Wardlow is knocked outside for a posting as we get dueling WE WANT ENZO/NO WE DON’T chants. Back in and the slug it out until Morrissey hits a swinging Boss Man Slam. Morrissey puts him on top but gets knocked down, with Wardlow hitting something like a moonsault while landing on his feet. A one movement Powerbomb Symphony (also known as a powerbomb) finishes Morrissey at 5:29.

Rating: C. This went a bit longer than it needed to but Wardlow surviving a beating and then coming back for the win is all that matters. Wardlow continues to run through monsters, which should mean he can destroy MJF when he gets the chance. Not a bad monster clash here, with Wardlow continuing his roll.

Post match Wardlow isn’t being handcuffed and beats up security, leaving MJF with a stunned look on his face. Wardlow says he wants his release so MJF says they can have a little match. The match is on, but there are going to be some stipulations. Wardlow can hear about those stipulations in a contract signing next week in Long Island.

Toni Storm/Ruby Soho and Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter are ready for their tag match on Rampage. It’s the first time a women’s match has opened the show, which is another point for Baker. Soho is sick of hearing about Baker and they are counting down the minutes until 5:30 on Friday (special start time).

Here is Hangman Page for a chat. Page talks about his World Title defense against CM Punk at Double Or Nothing and he sees it differently than some do. It would be easy to talk about the two of them having a great match and a classic with a handshake but that isn’t what is going to happen.

Page is going to destroy Punk and yells at a fan in a Punk shirt, saying she is going to be running back to the merch stand for a refund. Punk isn’t here tonight because he is probably off filming another TV show. If Punk wants a fight, it will be the fight of his life. This was a pretty hard shift from Page and I can go for more of the serious version.

Video on Konosuke Takeshita.

Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh aren’t impressed with DDT Pro’s Konosuke Takeshita getting the red carpet treatment. Where is Lethal’s red carpet? Lethal throws out the challenge for Rampage.

Santana vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho, now billed as the Wizard, has the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society while Santana is here alone. Santana isn’t waiting and hits a flip dive onto Jericho before the bell. The fight starts on the floor with Santana sending him into the barricade but taking way too long to set up the steps. Instead Jericho grabs the camera, giving us a first person view of Santana’s double middle fingers.

Santana kicks him down and they get inside for the opening bell. Minard grabs Santana’s leg and the triangle dropkick puts Santana on the floor and we take a very early break. We come back with Santana hitting the Three Amigos, setting up a top rope splash for two. Jericho is right back with a knockdown into the Walls but Santana makes the rope. The rest of the Society tries to bring in the bat but Santana fights them down and hits a discus lariat for two. A Society distraction lets Jericho get in a low blow though and the Judas Effect finishes for Jericho at 8:58.

Rating: C+. They kept Santana strong here as there is no shame in losing to a much bigger star when said star has a five on one advantage. Santana and Ortiz continue to feel like they should be the breakout stars but it just hasn’t clicked yet. A singles match like this is a good start, but AEW needs to follow up on it. Also, ending this team feud already would be a good move because it has started to get old.

Post match the beatdown is on with Ortiz’s save being cut off almost immediately.

Samoa Joe is coming for Jay Lethal.

The Gunn Club has gifts for the Acclaimed: SCISSORS! Scissoring ensues. As long as it isn’t a running joke, they should be fine.

Here are the Varsity Blonds for a chat. Brian Pillman Jr. talks about how the team has gotten complacent, but that brings him to his father’s best friend (and college roommate), Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. John told him to attack every day, so that is what he is doing tonight. The House of Black is called out and here they come, with the House destroying the Blonds in short order.

Malakai Black comes over to Julia Hart and stares at her before she is handed a chair. Julia can’t bring herself to swing so Black rips the eye patch off….but here is the Death Triangle for the save. This went on WAY too long and we still didn’t actually have anything happen. Please just get to the Death Triangle vs. the House of Black already so we can move on to anything else.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies are ready to keep dominating.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Dante Martin vs. Rey Fenix

Julia Hart is still here as Fenix kicks Martin down to start. Martin is sent outside and we take an early break. Back with Fenix hitting a middle rope reverse Spanish Fly (kind of making it into a flipping Russian legsweep) but Martin kicks him down again. Commentary isn’t happy with how long Martin is taking to stay on Fenix, allowing Fenix to hurricanrana him to the floor. Back in and Fenix hits a pop up cutter for two, setting up another super reverse Spanish Fly. This time they both land on their feet, setting up Martin’s poisonrana. The Nosedive misses though and Fenix grabs an over the shoulder piledriver for the pin at 9:38.

Rating: B. This was more exciting than pretty much anything else on the show and they did exactly what you would have expected from them. They flew through the match with one big spot after another (meaning we didn’t need a break here) and that’s all they should have tried here. Fenix winning makes sense but Martin looked good in defeat. Very fun match and the kind of stuff you knew was coming when it was announced.

We finally have Owen Hart Foundation brackets:

Rey Fenix
Kyle O’Reilly

Samoa Joe
JOKER

Jeff Hardy
Darby Allin

Adam Cole
Dax Harwood

Darby Allin and Sting know Allin’s match with Jeff Hardy will be special.

Here is Thunder Rosa for a chat. Everyone has a story and they all have good and bad people. She is the undisputed Women’s Champion and has worked hard to get here. Now she is the boss of this division and wants the best competition in the world. She drove eight hours to see the wrestler who made her what she is today and calls out the #1 contender, Serena Deeb. Cue Deeb, who thinks they can make this the best women’s division in the entire world. Deeb says Rosa knows she is on another level and it is time for her to win the title to show the world. The title match is set for Double Or Nothing after a fairly stumbling exchange.

Here’s what’s coming up on various shows.

John Silver is ready for CM Punk next week.

Ring Of Honor Women’s Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes Martinez

Champion vs. Interim Champion for the undisputed title. Feeling out process to start with neither of them being able to get very far. Purrazzo is looking frustrated early on as we take a break. Back with the forearm exchange with Purrazzo getting the better of things until a fisherman’s buster gives Martinez two. Purrazzo can’t get the Fujiwara armbar and it’s a double clothesline to put both of them down. The armbar is blocked again and this time Martinez pulls her into a surfboard dragon sleeper for the tap and the title at 10:38.

Rating: C-. I’m really not sure what to think of this, but these two were put in about as bad of a position as they could have been. Purrazzo is an Impact wrestler and Martinez, while in AEW, is hardly a regular. They were fighting over another company’s title in an AEW main event. In short, the fans came here to see AEW, not another company’s wrestler fighting for a third company’s title.

It was also an ice cold match as there was no hype for it on AEW TV and the limited promo time they had coming in was “I’m going to be the champ/No I’m going to be the champ”. The match might not have been great on its own, but they were put in a no win situation and the crowd being so eerily silent told you everything you needed to know about how this went.

Martinez celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was not the strongest edition of Dynamite, as aside from the Fenix vs. Martin match and Page’s (short) promo, there wasn’t much to see. It felt like a show that was designed to fill in two hours with the main event in particular being a letdown. I wasn’t feeling this one, though odds are the NBA and NHL games are going to put a big hit in the audience. Maybe they took the week off as a result, but it didn’t make this much easier to get through. The good thing about AEW though: I have every reason to believe that this is a one off and not a downward trend, which is more than most companies can say.

Results
Jeff Hardy b. Bobby Fish – Swanton Bomb
Blackpool Combat Club b. AFO – Triangle choke to Angelico
Wardlow b. William Morrissey – Powerbomb
Chris Jericho b. Santana – Judas Effect
Rey Fenix b. Dante Martin – Over the shoulder piledriver
Mercedes Martinez b. Deonna Purrazzo – Dragon sleeper

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.

Dynamite
Date: April 27, 2022
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re back with another focus on the Owen Hart Foundation tournament as Dax Harwood faces Cash Wheeler. In addition to that, we won’t be see Hangman Page this week as he has come down with the Coronavirus, meaning that we don’t quite get any advancement in his feud with CM Punk. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler

CM Punk is on commentary and the guys come out together for a nice touch. They go to the mat to start as Punk talks about how he doesn’t necessarily like these guys but he does respect him. A series of headlocks takeovers are countered with a series of nip ups and we get a standoff with some applause. An armdrag into an armbar has Wheeler in control as commentary cracks some jokes about the wrestlers’ names.

Harwood pokes him in the eye though and Wheeler doesn’t seem happy. Wheeler takes it back to the mat for a quickly broken chinlock as Harwood takes him up top for a heck of a superplex. We take a break and come back with Harwood sending him flying off a suplex. They both hit crossbodies at the same time for a double knockdown before it’s off to an exchange of rollups for two each.

Harwood tries a slingshot powerbomb but gets reversed into a hurricanrana for two and they’re both needing a breather. The second slingshot powerbomb attempt works for Harwood but Wheeler is back with a piledriver. Harwood is able to catch him on top but Wheeler slips through the legs and pushes Harwood down.

The belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two on Wheeler and a running crossbody sends them both to the floor. They both make it back inside at nine but Wheeler has a banged up knee. Harwood can’t bring himself to stay on the leg (Punk: “You gotta sharp that shooter!”), allowing Wheeler to try a small package, which is reversed into another one to give Harwood the pin at 14:26.

Rating: B. This was the kind of match you would expect from these two and Harwood wins with a wrestling move in the end. That’s all you could have asked for from these two and now they can go back to being the best team in the world. They teased just enough tension to make it interesting without going over the line and it was good quality stuff on top of that, just in case you didn’t think this would be pretty awesome.

Official for Double Or Nothing: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page for the World Title.

CM Punk heads to ringside and says he has never been in a locker room with as much talent as this before. Before he came back here, he wasn’t sure if he could still do this again. Now he knows that he can do this again and while he can’t guarantee a win, he can guarantee that he will give 100%. He has never been a gambling man, but you can bet that he will fight until the wheels fall off in Las Vegas.

Scorpio Sky says it is no coincidence that he is here, fighting for the TNT Title again. He didn’t ask Frankie Kazarian to step aside if he was going to win and the fans are here to see him beat up Scorpio Sky. There can only be one face of TNT and you’re looking at him.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Factory

Wheeler Yuta gets the hometown reaction and William Regal is on commentary. The Club has nothing to do with this waiting around and jumps them before the bell. Moxley hits the release suplex on Aaron Solow and hits a belly to belly suplex. Regal loves that Solow’s eyes are watering so Moxley can “batter the granny” out of him without him seeing it coming. Yuta comes in with a dropkick for two but doesn’t quite hit the one on Comoroto that well (Regal: “We’ll have to work on that.”).

We take a break and come back with Marshall making the mistake of mocking Danielson, allowing Yuta to snap off a German suplex. Danielson comes in to clean house, including the dive to the floor. There’s the missile dropkick to Solow but Marshall breaks up the LeBell Lock. Moxley takes Marshall down and clotheslines him to the floor, leaving Danielson to kick Solow out of the air. Yuta gets the tag but is thrown around by Comoroto. A pair of chokes doesn’t work on Comoroto so Yuta elbows away and rolls him up (with Moxley and Danielson choking out the other two) for the pin at 8:20.

Rating: C+. I think we’ve firmly established the idea here and now it’s time for these guys to move into an actual feud. The Club is a hard hitting team who feels like they could fight anyone, but they’ve been beating up lower level people for weeks now. They need to move into an actual story rather than a bunch of one offs, as their status is pretty clear. Maybe they can make one more of these things work, but find them some good opponents soon.

Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm are willing to just talk and avoid physicality but Storm brings in Ruby Soho, who has also qualified for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Soho knows the two of them have always had something to say so she wants to fight right now. Baker says no physicality because they’re off to Soho’s home in catering.

Jungle Boy says that he should have beaten Kyle O’Reilly last week but he didn’t get it done. Christian Cage says that Jungle Boy sounds like a loser, even if he isn’t one. Cage says he’s throwing out the challenge to any top five ranked team so here is Team Taz, ranked #3, to accept. Luchasaurus growls.

Lance Archer vs. Wardlow

Before the match, MJF and Shawn Spears are in the luxury box again, with MJF saying Philadelphia women use their personality as birth control. Wardlow comes out to no music and wearing handcuffs, allowing Archer to dive onto him as the handcuffs are removed. The bell rings and Wardlow sends him straight into the corner, setting up a running shoulder to the ribs. The Powerbomb Symphony is broken up, as is Archer’s chokeslam.

They clothesline each other down and it’s Archer up first to hammer away. Archer walks the ropes to set up a moonsault into the chokeslam for two, with the crowd not really reacting. The Blackout gets two but Wardlow knocks him off the top and hits a Swanton of all things for two of his own. A four movement Powerbomb Symphony finishes Archer at 5:26.

Rating: B-. The booking of Wardlow continues to be the high point around here and this was no exception. Wardlow survived a beating against someone with some success and won in the end to slay the monster. That’s all it should have been as he gets one step closer to MJF. Double Or Nothing is coming and I’m curious to see what the stakes will be for their showdown.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society for a face to face sitdown with Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz. There will be no physicality so get the three of them out here right now. The chairs are turned over and Jericho talks about how lucky everyone is to be living in his era. Santana flips Jericho off and says that Jericho forgot who got him here.

Trash is talked because Santana and Ortiz can’t hit them and Kingston isn’t happy with this standing around. Kingston talks about what a hit means in his world but Jericho says this place is Kingston’s last chance if he gets kicked out of another company. That’s too far for Kingston, who backs Jericho into a chair and threatens to put him in the ground. Jericho looks terrified as Eddie and company leave. They really need to announce/get to a match between these guys already because they’ve talked a lot.

Sammy Guevara is ready to beat Scorpio Sky again because Sky is so boring.

Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

Street fight with Shida hammering away to start. The middle rope missile dropkick sends Deeb outside and then rams her into the buckle from the apron. Deeb falls back to the floor but manages to chair a flying Shida out of the air to take over. Back in and a shinbreaker onto the chair makes it worse for Shida as we take a break. We come back with Shida’s knee in big trouble but managing to counter another shinbreaker onto the chair. Deeb is sent outside but comes up with some powder to blind Shida.

That’s broken up as well as Shida comes back with a kendo stick shot, allowing her to wash her eyes out with some water. The Katana is cut off with a chair to the knee though and Deeb wraps the chair around Shida’s leg. That’s broken up as well and Shida hits the super Falcon Arrow for two. Deeb is back with Deebtox onto the chair for the same, setting up some rams of the knee into the chair. The Texas Cloverleaf makes Shida tap at 11:37.

Rating: B-. It was fun enough, though I don’t think it needed the weapons to prove the same point. This feud stopped being interesting more than a few weeks ago and I didn’t exactly need the blowoff but at least the right person won. Deeb gets the win to end the feud and should be on to a run against Thunder Rosa, which should be a good match.

MJF screams at Lexi to get out of his frame and then calls someone, offering him six figures to face Wardlow. He called someone bigger, taller and stronger than Wardlow….and you can’t teach that.

The House Of Black has taken out Fuego del Sol. They tease unmasking him but Alex Abrahantes pops up in the ring to say not so fast. The House goes after him but here is Penta Obscuro, Pac and…..Alex Abrahantes, because it’s Rey Fenix in the Abrahantes costume in the ring. Death Triangle clears the ring and we seem to have a six man tag set. This is another feud that has dragged on for so long now that I can’t quite bring myself to be interested. Also, it’s hard to care that much when I keep expecting Pac or one of the other members to go away for a month and a half after the match.

Swerve Strickland and Darby Allin are ready for their Owen Hart Foundation qualifying match on Rampage. They have fought for years and don’t quite see eye to eye on whose house it is.

Undisputed Elite vs. Varsity Blonds/Brock Anderson/Dante Martin/Lee Johnson

Martin gets punched in the head to start but the Blonds come in for the save. The non-Elite takes turns kicking everyone to the floor and it’s a pair of dives from Johnson and Martin. The good guys rule the ring and we take an early break. Back with Johnson getting double superkicked, setting up a four way BTE Trigger, setting up the Boom for the pin on Johnson at 6:27.

Rating: C. They hyped up this match as something important and then it’s a six minute match with a break in the middle? Kind of a weird way to go with this one but they didn’t bother with much of anything in the way of wasting time. Just have the bigger team take a few shots and then win in the end, as should have been the case. Now maybe we can move on to the most interesting thing in the world: the Bucks having friends.

Post match, the Undisputed Elite all put on matching shirts.

The Jericho Appreciation Society has jumped Santana and Ortiz and throw a fireball at Eddie Kingston. This company has an obsession with angles involving someone being blinded.

Quick video on Trent Beretta vs. Samoa Joe for the Ring Of Honor TV Title.

TNT Title: Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky

Guevara is defending in a ladder match. They fight on the floor to start with Sky sending him into the barricade but Guevara comes back with a Release German suplex on the ramp. That lets Guevara bust out some angels in the snow, which has JR a bit taken aback. They get inside with Sammy going up (nowhere near the belt) and then diving off….and hitting only the mat, leaving him knocked silly as we take a break.

Back with Sky climbing a ladder so Guevara dives off another, only to get pulled out of the air with a cutter. With nothing else working, it’s time to bring out a barbed wire ladder (because that’s a thing). Guevara fights up and sends Sky into the ladder but Tay Conti and Dan Lambert get in, with Conti kicking him low. Cue Paige VanZant so the big brawl can be on, with Conti kicking him in the face.

The ladder is set up and they both climb, each with a woman on their back. The women are thrown off, leaving Sky to bite Guevara’s finger. Guevara shoves him down anyway and goes up, only to be knocked down onto the barbed wire ladder. Sky goes up and, after knocking the springboarding Guevara down again (because he was back up in 12 seconds), wins the title at 14:02.

Rating: C+. This show ended about 20 minutes ago now and I have no idea what to make of this match. They certainly did some stuff and Sky gets the title back, but that’s about the extent of the logic. I was more or less checked out on the match as soon as the barbed wire ladder was brought into play, as that sounds like something you put in a comedy match rather than something important. Throw in Sammy bouncing back up from landing on it and the rather scary landing before the break and this was much more a WHAT ARE THEY DOING match than anything I would have liked to see.

Overall Rating: B-. Given how ridiculously (and I don’t mean that in a good way) stacked this show was, I was fairly disappointed in what we got. The ten man tag was a squash, the street fight was pretty good and the ladder match…..hey did you see that street fight? They crammed A LOT into this show but most of it only somewhat delivered.

There was some rather good stuff in here though as Wardlow continues to be presented perfectly and Sky winning the title again got a great reaction. I liked Punk’s stuff too and the opener was very good, but the parts that they hyped up the most didn’t work all that well and it brought things down a bit.

Results
Dax Harwood b. Cash Wheeler – Small package
Blackpool Combat Club b. The Factory – Cradle to Comoroto
Wardlow b. Lance Archer – Powerbomb Symphony
Serena Deeb b. Hikaru Shida – Texas Cloverleaf
Undisputed Elite b. Brock Anderson/Dante Martin/Lee Johnson/Varsity Blonds – Boom to Johnson
Scorpio Sky b. Sammy Guevara – Sky pulled down the title

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Dynamite
Date: November 24, 2021
Location: Wintrust Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re back in Chicago, as AEW really likes coming here. It’s also just before the start of Thanksgiving weekend, so this is going to have a bit of a special feeling. Bryan Danielson and CM Punk are both in action this week so it certainly feels like a big show. Now just make that work. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

CM Punk comes out for his match (they know how to make a Chicago crowd feel welcome) but hold on though as here is MJF to interrupt. MJF says it doesn’t feel so good to be interrupted and calls him Punky Brewster. Fans: “SHUT THE F*** UP!” MJF: “No.” Last week was almost as bad as that time when Punk took his ball and went home. MJF brings up the Pipebomb, which was a great moment. The thing is though, every MJF moment is the best moment because he isn’t a one trick pony.

MJF respects Punk for everything he does, including being straightedge, though he can’t believe that a straightedge man could look so much like a meth addict. He says Punk has always been a big fish in a small pond on the mic, but now he’s just a minnow. Now MJF is about to finish him faster than Punk’s UFC career. Punk can drop all of the pipebombs he wants, because MJF is dropping nukes.

Punk gets the mic and says he’s disappointed in MJF. He thanks MJF for introducing him last week, like a proper young man is supposed to do to his elders. Oh and he found out that his name is Maxwell, because Punk had thought it was My Jealous Fan. It seemed to get to MJF that Punk never brought him up when he was doing media. That was by design, because he didn’t want to feed MJF’s ego.

Then last week, he did the impossible by shutting up the great MJF by not saying a word. Now MJF comes out here with the lowest hanging fruit because he thinks he’s somebody. Punk: “In reality, he’s just a less famous Miz.” MJF says that’ almost what he wanted, which is how you describe Punk’s entire AEW run so far. The fans chant for the Miz as MJF talks about how Punk is nothing but nostalgia, who hasn’t done anything of note. He also mocks Punk’s breath, which is probably because Punk has been kissing so much a**.

MJF would like to do a quick impression of Punk, which sees him being a robot who is very happy to be doing just about everything. Punk has gone soft, his hair is going gray and he looks like the one who needs to go to sleep. This isn’t CM Punk, because it’s PG Punk. What happened to the renegade that MJF crew up watching? This guy in front of him might as well be teaching hustle, loyalty and respect.

The only difference is that MJF can still see him, but why did Punk come back? Was it because Punk was too busy making comic books no one read or movies no one saw? In that other company, fans wanted to believe in Punk because he was being held down. Now he has the chance to be the #1 guy, but can he still do it? MJF is born for this and every wrestling promoter’s dream. Punk always claimed that someone held him down, whether it was the You Can’t See Me Man or the King of Kings, but MJF is better than him and Punk knows it.

Punk says there is some truth in what MJF said, because he was a bit scared when he got here. He isn’t scared anymore though, because he was selling out MSG when MJF was marking out for Rosie O’Donnell. MJF has talked his way into a college his parents can’t afford. MJF is another guy who talks too much, just like Punk did, but Punk can back it up without his backup.

Punk came here and beat Darby Allin without the need of a ring while MJF brags about being one of the Four Pillars. The thing is, MJF has been talking so much that he doesn’t realize he’s been replaced by Britt Baker. MJF talks about being #2, but he isn’t going to be #1 until Tony Khan has a daughter that he can marry. Punk is ready to fight but MJF takes his jacket off and bails.

Overall Rating: A. I…oh yeah. We have a show to go after that all timer.

CM Punk vs. QT Marshall

Punk starts with the slams and Marshall is in early trouble. Cue the Factory, who are ejected almost as fast. Marshall can’t get very far in the corner so Punk whips him into said corner for an upside down crash. Back up and Marshall manages a shot to the face for two to take over for the first time. Punk comes back with a clothesline to the floor and another running clothesline, this time from the apron to send us to a break.

We come back with Marshall hitting a Spirit Bomb for two before shoving Punk in the face a few times. That’s enough to get the fans right back behind Punk and he hits Marshall in the face. The swinging neckbreaker into the short arm clothesline sets up the top rope elbow. The GTS finishes Marshall at 10:49.

Rating: C. Marshall has this amazing ability to suck the fun out of almost anything he’s doing and that was kind of the case here. He’s such a generic heel and it’s hard to find a reason to care about him. That being said, Marshall wasn’t the point here as Punk gets another win, albeit this time over someone with a bit less star power.

Christian Cage is excited that Jurassic Express are the #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles. They’ve been here before, but never with Christian behind them. He’s going to make sure that they win the titles.

Eddie Kingston is having some cake and talks about how he misses Jon Moxley. He wishes Moxley a Happy Thanksgiving but here are 2.0 and Daniel Garcia to break it up (Eddie: “Here we go.”). They read the piece in the Players Tribune and it was awesome, but Eddie isn’t hungry anymore. They bring up Eddie not being able to help Moxley and that’s a step too far. Eddie is ready to fight but they throw coffee in his face, drawing in security to break it up.

Gunn Club vs. Bear Country

Gunn Club jumps them from behind before the bell and clears the ring before we’re ready to get started. The bell rings anyway and the Bears are in early trouble. Boulder fights back and Billy is sent to the floor but Colton is right back with Colt 45 for the pin at 1:45.

Post match here is Sting so Billy sends Austin after him….but Darby Allin CHARGES out of the tunnel and hits him with a tackle that would make Monty Brown jealous. Sting and Darby clear the ring.

Bobby Fish and Adam Cole are ticked off about the Best Friends when said team shows up. A match seems to be set for later.

Team Taz is with Dante Martin and Taz wants his decision right now. He also wants to know why Lio Rush is here, with Rush saying any of Martin’s business is his business too. Rush goes to take the pen away from him, but Martin signs anyway, officially joining Team Taz. He even takes some candy!

TBS Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Jamie Hayter vs. Thunder Rosa

During the entrance, Britt Baker says she can’t wait to have Hayter as the other Women’s Champion around here. Hayter chokes up against the ropes to start and Rosa looks fairly annoyed. Some of that annoyance is let out with a loud slap but Hayter sends her outside. Rosa gets sent into the barricade and it’s some kicks to the back back inside. This time Rosa sends Hayter outside and into the barricade, setting up a snap suplex on the floor. Hayter posts her hard though and a slam makes things worse as we take a break.

Back with Rosa breaking up a superplex attempt and hitting a missile dropkick. Slingshot and running dropkicks in the corner rock Hayter but Rosa’s back is too banged up for a suplex. Hayter grabs a backbreaker for two and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Rosa’s back. That’s broken up and Rosa grabs Hayter, drawing Rebel to the apron. Britt comes in for the save but superkicks Hayter by mistake, allowing Rosa to grab the rollup for the pin at 10:43.

Rating: C+. Pretty good match, as Rosa continues what should be her path to either the title or a huge rematch against Baker. You could go either way and get a good result and it’s always nice to have some options. Hayter continues to be sharp in the ring and I could go for seeing more of her once she gets away from Baker.

Daniel Garcia and 2.0 interrupt Chris Jericho in the back so he threatens them with Eddie Kingston violence. If that (and some Spongebob Squarepants jokes) isn’t enough, some Jericho knuckle sandwiches are promised as well. The villains bail as Jericho seems to have a new target.

Tony Schiavone is having Thanksgiving dinner with Britt Baker and Rebel. Britt is sorry Thunder Rosa advanced, but we can still be thankful that she is the Women’s Champion. Tony loves them both but has some bad news. We see a video of Riho not being eliminated from the Casino Battle Royal. Therefore, Tony Khan has signed Riho to a Black Friday Deal match with Baker. If Riho wins, she gets a future title shot. Baker says Rosa can go tot he mall if she wants a Black Friday deal and Tony is NOT invited to Christmas. Baker: “No we’re not doing the DMD! YOU RUINED IT!”

Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana

Danielson isn’t waiting here and takes Cabana down into the cross armbreaker. That’s broken up so Danielson gets in a kick to the back of the tights and stares at him a bit. Cabana cranks on both arms but Daniels slips out and kicks away at the leg. Chops and kicks take Cabana down but the fans are right behind him.

Cabana is back up with the Flip Flop and Fly but the Flying Apple misses. Instead Danielson hits the running corner dropkick but Cabana breaks up the belly to back superplex. Cabana hits a moonsault for two but Danielson takes him down again. A bunch of stomps set up a LeBell Lock (with a double bicep pose) to finish Cabana at 5:04.

Rating: C+. They hit each other really hard and Cabana worked well as the hometown boy who went down swinging. Cabana has a reputation as nothing but a comedy guy but he can wrestle an above average match when he gets the chance. I could go for more of Cabana in the ring as he’s better than a good portion of the roster, but this was going to be the Danielson show, as it should have been.

Post match/break, Danielson calls the fans FICKLE for booing him. Danielson has heard that some of the Dark Order is from Atlanta and he’d love to kick their heads in next week. This is all leading up to the ultimate head kicking in…and here is Hangman Page to interrupt. Page is ready to defend the title right now, which Danielson says is coward s*** because he just had a match. Page isn’t leaving Chicago without a fight and offers Danielson the first shot. Danielson considers that an insult and the fight is on but he bails before the Buckshot Lariat can connect.

Video on Ruby Soho vs. Kris Statlander, who meet in the TBS Title Tournament next week.

Malakai Black/FTR/Andrade El Idolo vs. Cody Rhodes/Death Triangle

Dax Harwood drives Cody into the corner to start and then goes to a headlock. Cody shoulders him down and throws the weightlifting belt into the crowd. The fans want it thrown back…..and there it is, flying right back into the ring. Pac comes in as Andrade throws the belt underneath the ring, much to the fans’ delight. Pac works on Cash Wheeler’s arm as someone throws the belt back to Cody, who has to put it back on to a chorus of boos.

Pac kicks Wheeler in the face and Penta adds the top rope double stomp (ala What’s Up) for two more. It’s off to Andrade, who gets small packaged for two but all of Death Triangle comes in to kick him down. Cody comes in and gets stomped down in the wrong corner, earning quite the positive reaction. That doesn’t last long either as Cody gets over for the hot tag to Fenix in a hurry.

A double springboard cutter drops FTR and Andrade is sent outside. Fenix kicks Black in the head but gets sent into the corner as we take a break. Back with Fenix kicking Wheeler in the face, setting up the hot tag to Penta. Everything breaks down and Pac gets to kick a bunch of people in the face. Wheeler breaks that up with a backbreaker though and it’s time for the parade of secondary finishers.

Cody Final Cuts Black and throws the belt down again, only to kick Pac in the face by mistake. Andrade lays out Cody but charges into a heck of an overhead belly to belly suplex in the corner. Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard get in the ring for the legends showdown but Jose breaks that up and gets double punched. FTR gets in to chase Anderson but Fenix makes the save. Penta hits some Sling Blades on FTR and the Lucha Bros hit big dives to take them down on the floor. Back in and Black mists Pac and kicks Cody down, leaving Andrade to hit El Idolo for the pin on Pac at 16:12.

Rating: B+. This was a blast and felt like one of those insane Ring of Honor eight man tags that you would see from time to time. They started off well and had the big deal with the battle of the weightlifting belt before getting down to everything serious. It was a heck of a match and a blast throughout, though the focus continues to be on Cody’s obsession with not turning heel. It’s a borderline parody at this point and I have no idea how they’re going to manage it if he insists on not turning.

Overall Rating: A-. The opener and closer make up for anything that took place in the middle of the show, as that was a heck of a main event to go with an absolute masterpiece of a promo battle. It takes a lot to make me gasp at a promo exchange and they did it more than once here. Great show, with Punk vs. MJF being more than worth your time to see, as opposed to the main event, which was merely great.

Results
CM Punk b. QT Marshall – GTS
Gunn Club b. Bear Country – Colt 45 to Boulder
Thunder Rosa b. Jamie Hayter – Rollup
Bryan Danielson b. Colt Cabana – LeBell Lock
Andrade El Idolo/FTR/Malakai Black b. Cody Rhodes/Death Triangle – El Idolo to Pac

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 11, 2021
Location: Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s the Britt Baker Show this week and that is pretty long overdue. Baker has been the best thing about the women’s division, if not the entire company, for a long time now and deserves a big hometown night like this. Other than that, we are getting ready for both All Out and this week Rampage debut. Let’s get to it.

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

MJF, with Wardlow, talk about how Chris Jericho is trying to make his way through the Labors of Jericho, but tonight he is running into a monster. Jericho needs to defeat MJF because he never has before and he can’t handle that. Somehow though, let’s say that he makes it through Wardlow, what do you think is waiting on him? MJF brings up Wardlow losing to Cody Rhodes in the cage last year though and tells him not to mess up again. Wardlow destroys the apple MJF hands him.

Elite vs. Mike Sydal/Matt Sydal/Dante Martin

Don Callis is on commentary and during the entrances, we’re told that Kenny Omega will defend against Christian Cage at All Out. That’s going to get some people talking. Mike gets sent into the corner by Matt Jackson to start but comes back with a rollup for two. Nick comes in and rakes Martin’s eyes but a rather spinning headscissors takes Nick down. Omega comes in to take Martin down and is booed out of the building.

The Sydals come in for double enziguris to Omega, followed by the double baseball slides. Dante is launches out onto them, with Mike joining in but Matt Sydal hanging back. They head back inside with Martin hitting a high crossbody on Matt Jackson (who thankfully is fine after having his leg go underneath him on the landing). Omega comes in to shove Mike down and the Elite starts taking their turns.

The Kitaro Crusher gets two but Mike slips away and gets the hot tag to Matt Sydal. Everything breaks down and the Sydals grab a Muta Lock/Crossface combination on Matt Jackson. That’s broken up by Omega who snaps off some snapdragons. Martin comes in to clean house and then gets the hot tag to clean house again. A running springboard hurricanrana to the floor drops Omega and a moonsault gets two on Matt Jackson.

We hit the parade of shots to the face, capped off by Omega hitting a heck of a V Trigger to Martin. The One Winged Angel is countered though and Martin hits a Pele. Another V Trigger cuts that off but Martin counters a Tiger Driver 98 into a rollup. A third V Trigger and the One Winged Angel plant Martin as the Bucks superkick the Sydals. The BTE V Trigger finishes Martin at 12:18.

Rating: B. Now this was more like it, as the Elite shouldn’t have been sweating these guys and then had to turn it up to pull off the win. Martin’s comebacks against Omega at the win made for a good sequence and more than one of the counters surprised me. Good stuff here and the kind of Elite swagger I can go for on occasion. That being said, this was a breakout performance from Martin, whose high flying stuff looked great and had the fans going nuts.

Post match Callis gets in the ring for a chat but here is Christian Cage to cut them off. The Jurassic Express comes in to even things up a bit and we take a break. Back with Callis taking the mic from Christian, who does get a bit of praise. It’s true that Christian has a great finisher and Omega can’t wait to kick out of it. Christian calls Callis a piece of s*** and then uses….whatever Pittsburgh term he uses for a bad person. Callis says of course Christian isn’t getting his title shot in Pittsburgh, but Christian has heard something else.

See, Omega has a lot of titles, and according to Tony Khan, he’ll be defending the Impact Wrestling World Title on Friday, in the first match of Rampage. The music plays but Jungle Boy says hang on a second. It turns out that he has been talking to Khan as well, so next week on Dynamite, the Jurassic Express gets a shot at the Young Bucks. Omega is so annoyed that he has nothing to say after cutting the music.

We look back at Malakai Black laying out Cody Rhodes last week while talking about how he has one foot on Cody and one foot in the grave.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes have a new reality show starting September 29.

Miro is ready to destroy Fuego del Sol.

Daniel Garcia vs. Darby Allin

Garcia has 2.0 (formerly Ever-Rise) and Allin has Sting. Allin grabs a headlock to start but Garcia shoves him off and shoulders him into an armbar. Garcia takes him into the ropes as one of 2.0 offers a distraction, allowing Garcia to send Allin arm first into the buckle. We take a break and come back with Garcia pulling him off the ropes.

A double arm lock allows Garcia to kick Allin in the head until he can reach the rope with a boot. Garcia slaps him in the back, which just seems to bring Allin back to live. A rear naked choke out of nowhere has Allin in trouble but he flips backwards for two and the break. The flipping Stunner plants Garcia and the Coffin Drop is enough for the pin on Garcia at 10:39.

Rating: C+. I remember seeing a lot of Garcia over Wrestlemania weekend and being impressed. I’m glad to see him getting a chance here and that is a good thing. The same is true of 2.0, who are great at being the goofy lackeys. Allin continues to be built up for something big, and they are certainly teasing the huge showdown in Chicago.

Post match 2.0 goes after Allin but Sting takes them out. Allin gets back up and 2.0 is cleared out in a hurry.

Death Triangle doesn’t like what Andrade El Idolo has been doing to mess with them. Pac says the Lucha Bros are the best and deserve gold. As for Andrade, if he wants some of Pac, come find him.

Orange Cassidy/Chuck Taylor/Wheeler Yuta vs. Matt Hardy/Private Party

Kris Statlander and the rest of the Hardy Family Office are here too. Hardy and Cassidy have the DELETE vs. Pockets staredown to start, with Cassidy putting Hardy’s hand in his own pocket to start. That’s enough for two off a rollup but Hardy is back up with the Side Effect for two. Cassidy rolls away before Matt can launch the middle rope elbow and avoids a charge in the corner.

The falling middle rope splash gets two and it’s Marq Quen coming in to set up a missed Poetry In Motion. Cassidy slow motion kicks Quen in the knee and drops low to set up Yuta’s running charge. Taylor adds Soul Food and Yuta hits something like an Angle Slam for two. The Silly String plants Yuta though and the near fall sends us to a break. Back with everything breaking down and the women getting in an argument on the floor.

Cue Nyla Rose to run Statlander over and Jack Evans to take out Yuta. Everything breaks down and it’s a parade of secondary finishers until Yuta hits a top rope splash for two on Kassidy. Matt sends Taylor into the barricade (and nearly runs a referee over on the way). Gin and Juice hits Yuta but Cassidy makes the save and hits an Orange Punch on Kassidy. Hardy sends Quen into Kassidy and the Twist of Fate finishes Yuta at 9:53.

Rating: C. The action was certainly energized but there were WAY too many people involved in this match. You had all seven members of the Hardy Family Office, Cassidy, Taylor, Statlander, Rose and Yuta. That’s double the amount of people actually in the match and it was way too much going on to keep track of what was happening. Just keep some of them in the back or break it up a bit because a lot of the fun was lost due to the calamity.

Chavo Guerrero is offended by the Death Triangle’s comments but thinks Andrade El Idolo vs. Pac sounds good for All Out.

Santana and Ortiz want to hurt FTR even more because it isn’t over.

Nyla Rose vs. Kris Statlander

Great. Nyla Rose is here twice. Vickie Guerrero and Orange Cassidy are here too. Rose runs her over to start but Statlander gets in a shot of her own. Vickie screams at Cassidy to mess him up, allowing Rose to hit a chokeslam onto the apron for two. Statlander handstands her way to freedom but gets speared down, allowing Rose to load up a superplex. That’s countered into a powerbomb out of the corner and Area 451 finishes Rose at 2:59.

The Young Bucks are back at the basketball and say that beating the Jurassic Express will be like a layup. Cue Luchasaurus to block it and say not in his house. Nick calls it a foul but Brandon Cutler says it was all ball. When AEW gets a theme going, they run with it until the bitter end. That being said, it was a funny segment.

Video on Britt Baker vs. Red Velvet in the main event of the first Rampage. Velvet is on a roll and gets a title shot against Baker in Baker’s hometown.

Tony Schiavone brings out Britt Baker for a chat, meaning the fans get to wave the yellow towels (Pittsburgh Steelers tradition). Baker can’t really comment on Red Velvet’s rise because she is on the top of AEW. She wasn’t afraid to step up when this city needed a champion and holds up the title, because it means hope. Speaking of hope, Red Velvet might have a glimmer of it if the match wasn’t taking place in Pittsburgh. With that out of the way, Baker needs Tony to practice his DMD, which seems to go well. Cue Red Velvet for the brawl before the title match.

Ricky Starks says he is a man instead of a machine and is ready for Brian Cage.

Impact Tag Team Titles: Dark Order vs. Good Brothers

The Brothers are defending and Impact’s Scott D’Amore is on commentary. The Order jumps them to start and it’s Anderson in trouble in a hurry. Brandon Cutler offers a distraction so here is Frankie Kazarian to take care of him. We take a break and come back with Grayson getting the hot tag and cleaning house. A 450 gives Grayson two and the Fatality is loaded up. Cutler breaks that up and it’s a Gun Stun to Grayson, setting up the Magic Killer to retain at 7:39.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to get very far, but at the same time, that is a lot better than having the Good Brothers out there for a long match. I don’t know if there was any drama about the Dark Order actually winning here, but if they ever actually do, the pop is going to be other worldly.

NWA Women’s Champion Kamille is ready for Leylah Hirsch.

Here is QT Marshall and the Nightmare Factory to get the apology from Tony Schiavone. Therefore, they grab Tony’s son from the crowd and beat him up, despite Tony apologizing (and calling Marshall a son of a b****). Cue Paul Wight to wreck everyone.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Sting/Darby Allin vs. 2.0 in a Texas Tornado match.

Chris Jericho vs. Wardlow

This is the fourth Labor of Jericho and MJF is at ringside. Jericho starts fast and hits a Codebreaker for one, which just seems to annoy Wardlow. They head outside with Jericho being sent into the barricade and post as the dominance is on. Back in and Wardlow hits a pair of powerbombs to send us to a break.

We come back with Wardlow hitting another powerbomb but Jericho chops away. That just earns him the F10 but MJF says keep going instead of covering. Jericho grabs the legs and puts on the Walls but MJF rakes the eyes for the break. MJF tries to slip Wardlow the Dynamite Diamond but gets caught, meaning it’s an elimination. Jericho uses the distraction to get in a shot with Floyd, setting up the Judas Effect for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C. First off: am I crazy or was MJF announced as guest referee coming into this? Anyway, the match was mostly a squash until the wacky finish and that’s how you get Wardlow to look like a monster. Jericho had to hit him in the face with a baseball bat to win so it isn’t like he beat him clean. This was little more than a means to an end though and there was little drama as a result. In this case, that’s how the match should go.

Post match Shawn Spears runs in to jump Jericho, which draws in Sammy Guevara for the save. Wardlow and MJF run back in to beat on Jericho, including the Salt of the Earth on the bad arm, but Jake Hager makes the real save. MJF grabs the mic and says the match is on for next week, but there will be no Judas Effect or Judas music. That’s a pretty lame way to go, especially since Jericho used his other two (and more famous) finishers in the match, with commentary bragging about how awesome the Codebreaker has been over the years.

Overall Rating: B. I’m not sure where to start here as this was a PACKED show with all kinds of things going on throughout the night. The first thing I would say is that I was entertained though, as they threw in so much stuff that it was never once boring. This was the kind of energized show that WWE has not had in years and only NXT has had in a long time. That part was very fun and is the kind of thing that AEW has focused on over its existence.

That being said, there are still quite a few issues here, with the biggest being the amount of people running around. There were multiple matches here with WAY too many people involved and it dragged things down almost every time. AEW’s roster is far, far too big for one show and having everyone running around all the time keeps things from leaving as much of an impact as they should. In the same vein, it felt like nothing had a chance to breathe because they were building up Rampage, Dynamite and All Out at the same time, while also focusing on titles from three different promotions (with AAA there as well).

Overall, I liked the show a lot but there were times where I was getting frustrated by how many things were going on. That has been an issue with AEW for a long time, as they try to pack in way too much stuff. I’m half hopeful that Rampage will help, but at the same time I’m worried that they will keep Dynamite the same and add even more in on Rampage. Maybe not, but they need to find a way to pace things a bit better. Still though, heck of a fun show.

Results
Elite b. Mike Sydal/Matt Sydal/Dante Martin – One Winged Angel to Martin
Darby Allin b. Daniel Garcia – Coffin Drop
Matt Hardy/Private Party b. Wheeler Yuta/Orange Cassidy/Chuck Taylor – Twist of Fate to Yuta
Kris Statlander b. Nyla Rose – Area 451
Good Brothers b. Dark Order – Magic Killer to Grayson
Chris Jericho b. Wardlow – Judas Effect

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Dynamite
Date: December 16, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

The run of big shows continue as we are now on the way to New Year’s Smash in two weeks. The big story continues to be World Champion Kenny Omega, who is going to be headlining the Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill pay per view in January. That could mean an invasion on this week’s show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/Dark Order vs. Matt Hardy/Private Party

Page and Quen start things off with Quen grabbing a headlock. That doesn’t go very long so it’s Hardy coming in for a kick to the ribs in the corner. Private Party both comes in but the Dark Order comes in as well for a triple big boot. The ring is cleared so Silver jumps on Page’s back to celebrate. Kassidy comes in and gets slammed down so Page drops Silver down onto him for two.

Reynolds tags himself in and it’s a double flipping faceplant to put Kassidy down again. Page adds the running shooting star to give Silver two and he knocks Kassidy into the corner. That lets Silver strike a pose, and Page isn’t sure what to think. Kassidy gets in a shot of his own and it’s off to Quen to start picking up the pace. Stereo basement dropkicks get two on Silver and Hardy comes in for a sleeper. That’s countered into a brainbuster from Silver and it’s back to Page to clean house.

The Side Effect cuts Page off but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Page nails a hard clothesline and it’s off to Reynolds to start cleaning house again. A neckbreaker drops Quen and Kassidy is sent outside. Page hits a pop up sitout powerbomb and Reynolds gets two off a rollup. Hardy breaks up the cover and hits a hanging Twist of Fate to pull Silver off the apron for a thud. That leaves Reynolds to take Gin and Juice, with Hardy stealing the pin at 10:48.

Rating: C+. Pretty good action and it didn’t go all that long. I was surprised by the ending too, though I could go for Less Hardy being involved in….well almost anything with some kind of a character for that matter. Private Party winning is a nice surprise and Silver continues to look more and more like a star every time he is out there. I’m curious to see where he goes and the further he gets away from the evil Dark Order, the better he’ll be doing.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is given a plaque from the New York Times for Best Performance of 2020. Chris Jericho mentions that he was involved as well and MJF actually gives him credit. MJF sees the greatest of all time and his best friend when he looks at Jericho, who can only say thank you.

We go to Cody and Brandi Rhodes’ house where they are trimming the tree. Their doorbell rings and there is a box waiting for them. Inside is a Christmas ornament saying…..that they’re expecting a baby. Pharaoh has a collar saying “Baby Security In Training.” That’s great.

Cody Rhodes vs. Angelico

Cody is introduced as The Future Father in a nice moment. Angelico snapmares him down to start and wipes his hair back. Cody is right back with one of his own before they fight over a wristlock. Angelico kicks him away though and we have a standoff. With nothing else working, Cody takes him down so Angelico kicks his feet for protection. Back up and they shoves each other away, setting up a crisscross. Cody drops down into a dropkick for one and we take a break.

Back with Cody knocking him down again and hitting a few clotheslines. The powerslam gets two but Angelico ties him up in some kind of wacky double arm hold using his legs. Cody bites the rope for the escape because sometimes it’s all you can do. The Disaster Kick misses though and Angelico tweaks his knee, allowing Angelico to grab his Navaro Death Roll. That’s broken up as well and Cody is right back up with the Cody Cutter for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C. Not too bad here and having Cody doing his thing while having to deal with Angelico’s technical/submission stuff worked….in the little amount of time that Angelico did it. That being said, the announcement before the match is going to make a lot of people smile and it’s a lot more important in the first place. Fine enough match, though I could have gone for more from Angelico.

Post match here’s Team Taz to say they don’t get why they didn’t receive their own congratulations for taking out Darby Allin. They’re about to come to the ring to put Cody on paternity leave, but here’s Sting to cut them off. Powerhouse Hobbs has to be held back as Sting stand around with the bat and Darby Allin looks on from the rafters. Sting winks at Cody and leaves so Team Taz goes to the ring and pummels Cody. Well in theory at least, but instead they stand there as we go to a break due to wrestling logic.

Miro has been fined $75,000 for attacking various production workers last week. He says it’s all about the numbers and that is money Orange Cassidy owes him. Next week he’s breaking the internet again when he faces Sonny Kiss and then next week it’s the wedding date announcement. When asked about the people being put in the hospital at Christmas, he says BAH HUMBUG because Christmas is his birthday.

Here’s Eddie Kingston to address his enemies. First up is Pac, who has been injured and left on the shelf. Where is he anyway? Then there is Lance Archer, who rushes the ring to start the fight. Butcher, Blade and Bunny come to the ring for the save but Archer fights them off. The Lucha Bros come in for the save and Pac is back to make it even worse. Death Triangle beats up all four of them with Fenix hitting the big corkscrew dive. Archer grabs Kingston by the throat but Pac kicks Kingston in the face, which Archer doesn’t like. No violence ensues as Kingston and company bail.

Dustin Rhodes says Seven was a bad idea years ago and it was a bad idea last week. Uno said Rhodes was the least important member of the Rhodes Family and that’s just not true. Last week it was Ten and next week it’s Uno going down.

Best Friends/Top Flight/Varsity Blonds vs. Inner Circle

Orange Cassidy sits in on commentary, even though his headset isn’t plugged in and his mic isn’t down. Jericho chops Pillman into the corner to start and poses in the corner while standing on Pillman’s throat. Back up and Pillman nearly slips out of the corner but manages to hit a springboard crossbody to rock Jericho. The triangle dropkick sends Jericho to the floor and a slingshot dive takes Jericho down again.

Back in and it’s off to Garrison for a slam but Jericho drives him into the corner for the tag to Guevara. Dante comes in for a leg lariat to Guevara and Darius comes in for a crucifix (despite what looked to be a bit of confusion). Guevara punches him down with a hard shot and it’s off to Trent vs. Santana for a showdown. Ortiz and Chuck come in as well and the big brawl is on with everyone getting involved. The Inner Circle is cleared out and it’s a six way hug.

Back in and Ortiz suplexes Trent a few times, allowing Santana to come in with a top rope double stomp to the arm. Trent gets sent outside and we take a break. Back with Jericho and Guevara running Trent over and stopping for the double pose (that still works). Sammy misses the shooting star press so Trent nails the running knee. A suplex to Ortiz allows the tag off to Darius to pick up the pace.

The standing Spanish Fly hits Ortiz and Dante hits the big running dive to take out Santana and Ortiz. Pillman adds the springboard shoulder to Ortiz and Hager is low bridged to the floor. Garrison forearms Ortiz but Jericho gets in a baseball bat shot from the floor. Hager is in and hits Wardlow’s F10, allowing MJF to get the pin at 14:09.

Rating: C+. What we got was good enough, but they really could have cut this down to about eight people so there weren’t so many people standing around without much to do. They booked the match well though and the good guys got to showcase themselves rather well before going down. Garrison taking the fall doesn’t hurt him as he got to show off a bit first. Good enough here, and they didn’t get too messy for their own good.

Post match Top Flight clears the ring and we get the big staredown.

Thunder Rosa blames Britt Baker for costing her the NWA Women’s Title and doesn’t like her saying Rosa doesn’t belong here. Rebel comes up for a distraction and it’s Britt Baker jumping Rosa from behind. Baker traps the arm and Rebel pours water on Rosa to mess up the paint. With Rosa out (From what?), Baker looks at the camera to make sure it still works after looking at Rosa’s face.

SCU vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed raps their way to the ring, including saying that Daniels is an out of date format like a CD and Kazarian’s back must be hurting with the carrying. Kazarian and Daniels rhyme right back, saying the Acclaimed suck. Daniels chops away at Bowens to start but gets backdropped down for his efforts. Castor comes in and hammers away in the corner as commentary talks about Castor’s father’s NFL career. Daniels knocks Castor down for a slingshot lariat to give Kazarian two.

Kazarian grabs an armbar to keep Castor in trouble but he gets sent outside, allowing the beating to be on as we take a break. Back with Kazarian in trouble until he uses the ropes to take Castor down. Bowens gets kicked away and it’s Daniels coming in with some clotheslines to take over. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two on Bowens and a high crossbody is good for the same. Daniels rolls Bowens up but gets kicked away, allowing Castor to hit him in the face with the boom box. Bowens hits a Rock Bottom slam for the surprise pin at 8:17.

Rating: C+. If there is one thing AEW is good at, it is using its younger talents to put people over. The match worked rather well for the Acclaimed, as the tag division continues to grow by leaps and bounds with all of the additions the make seemingly every month. SCU are a made team so this doesn’t hurt them whatsoever. Good match too.

Post match the Acclaimed rap a challenge to the Young Bucks for next week.

Top Flight challenge Chris Jericho and MJF for next week. They can either accept or run away like b******.

Ivelisse/Diamante vs. Big Swole/Serena Deeb

Swole and Diamante slug away to start and Swole suplexes her down over without much effort. Diamante jumps Deeb on the apron and takes Swole into the corner as we take a break. Back with Deep fighting both of them off at the same time, including an Indian Deathlock to Ivelisse while she suplexes Diamante.

A neckbreaker over the ropes puts Ivelisse down again and a Figure Four goes on. Diamante makes the save and it’s a double slam for two on Deeb. Swole is back in with a headbutt to Diamante and it’s a Clearwater Cloverleaf (with Swole not even stepping over) to make Diamante tap at 9:21.

Rating: C-. Deeb is so far ahead of Swole and Diamante it’s not even funny. Ivelisse can do some things well enough but there’s a polish to Deeb that just isn’t there with her. Diamante and Ivelisse do work well together though and it’s nice to have a team that means a little something. That being said, at least step over to make the Cloverleaf work.

Post match it’s Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero coming in to help beat down Deep and Swole. Red Velvet makes the save with a chair. Can we just not with Rose and Guerrero?

The Best Friends are going to be at the Holiday Bash (next week) when Miro announces the wedding date.

Video on the Jurassic Express. They’ve kind of disappeared in recent weeks.

FTR and Tully Blanchard storm the broadcast booth and complain about not getting any time while a grown up Tarzan and a wannabe dinosaur are featured. This is how Harwood feeds his family and these two men are his family. Top guys out, after a heck of a fired up promo from Harwood.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela

Non-title and no DQ with Don Callis/Sonny Kiss as the seconds. During Omega’s entrance, Tony says he’s glad that Omega took Impact’s numbers from one to six. Not so much on the second week but it did work the first time. Janela throws a trashcan at Omega to start and Callis goes to commentary to take Tony’s headset. Tony tells him what to kiss as Janela whips Omega into the barricade.

Omega is right back with a Kitaro Crusher onto an open chair. There’s a baseball slide into a running flip dive to send Joey into another chair, allowing Callis to praise Kenny on his mic. Hang on as Omega gets the mic and blasts him with a cookie sheet, making sure to show off the extra sound. Back in and a moonsault with a trashcan crushes Janela for two.

Omega is annoyed at the kickout so he beats on Janela some more, setting up a springboard double stomp onto the trashcan. The One Winged Angle is countered with a reverse hurricanrana, allowing Kiss to whip out a table. The top rope legdrop sends Omega through the table but the moonsault misses back inside. Omega hits some V Triggers and the One Winged Angel finishes Janela at 7:01.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t about the action and that’s the way it should have gone here. There was no reason to believe that Janela was going to be a threat here and Omega dealt with him as such. The trash talk and Callis doing commentary were great heel touches and the kind of thing that fits them perfectly. It wasn’t a good match, but it was perfectly put together.

Post match Callis says all of the loose ends have been tied up and now there is no one left with a complaint. Cue Death Triangle with Pac saying that Fenix never got his shot against Omega in the tournament. Callis offers to teach him a lesson, because Pac has no authority. Wrestlers don’t tell the champ what to do, but Pac has talked to Tony Khan and Fenix is getting his title shot on December 30. Omega is livid to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t exactly the point tonight as this was all about setting things up for the next few big shows. There are going to be three straight big weeks coming up and that could be some very good news for AEW. I’m not sure what to expect out of those shows, but dang they are making me want to see what they have coming. Another good show this week, and it has me wanting to see more, which is the more important result.

Results

Private Party/Matt Hardy b. Hangman Page/Dark Order – Gin and Juice to Reynolds

Cody Rhodes b. Angelico – Cody Cutter

Inner Circle b. Top Flight/Varsity Blonds/Best Friends – F10 to Garrison

Acclaimed b. SCU – Rock Bottom slam to Daniels

Serena Deeb/Big Swole b. Ivelisse/Diamante – Clearwater Cloverleaf to Diamante

Kenny Omega b. Joey Janela – One Winged Angel

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: March 11, 2020
Location: West Valley City, Utah, Maverik Center
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

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

We open with a recap of the Inner Circle destroying Jon Moxley last week.

Hangman Page is with the Young Bucks but won’t say who his partner is. The Bucks don’t seem interested in teaming with him.

Ortiz vs. Cody

Santana, Brandi Rhodes and Arn Anderson are all here. Cody starts fast with a powerslam and here are Jake Roberts and Lance Archer, with commentary confirming him as Jake’s client. They head outside with Cody sending Ortiz into the steps and stopping to glare at Roberts. Back in and Cody hammers away in the corner until a Santana distraction lets Ortiz get in a cheap shot.

Ortiz starts in on the leg and snaps off a suplex for two. A running splash gets the same and it’s time to choke in the corner. Some his swiveling delays Ortiz’s two and the comeback is on with Cody hammering away. Cody throws the weightlifting belt into the crowd but another Santana distraction lets Ortiz crotch him on top. Brandi pulls her belt off and whips Santana, which doesn’t do much to stop Ortiz from hitting a top rope superplex for another near fall.

Santana goes after Anderson so Cody hits a dive for the save. Cody has to catch Santana’s dive and gordbuster him on the ramp, which almost draws Archer over the barricade. Jake cuts that off though and the two of them leave as Cody misses the Disaster Kick. Cross Rhodes is broken up as well so Cody twists the knee around the ropes. A stomp to the leg sets up the Figure Four to make Ortiz tag at 11:32 (because Cody doesn’t have enough finishers).

Post break, Nick is taken away in an ambulance.

Kris Stadtlander/Hikaru Shida vs. Bea Priestly/Nyla Rose

Nyla and Bea jump them to start and we settle down to Rose hammering Shida in the corner. Priestly comes in and chops away before handing it back to Rose for two off a suplex. Shida finally manages to get over for the hot tag to Stadtlander though and we take a fast break. Back with Priestly laid out on the ropes and Shida suplexing Stadtlander onto her, drawing a HOLY SHIDA chant.

Priestly gets in a shot to the face though and Rose comes back in to keep Shida down. Shida is draped over the top but Rose misses the top rope legdrop. An enziguri rocks Rose and Shida manages a Falcon Arrow for two with Priestly having to make a save. Shida hurricanranas Rose and superplex Priestly, only to get speared down by Rose. The Beast Bomb finishes Shida at 9:58.

Rating: C-. Just another women’s match with people doing moves to each other. It wasn’t bad by any stretch but the division continues to float from title match to title match with little in between. The talent is there for the most part, but they really need to figure out how to present what they have better than they have been doing so far. The HOLY SHIDA chant was funny though.

Post match Priestly jumps Rose and throws the title at her.

We recap SCU/Colt Cabana vs. Dark Order.

Christopher Daniels mocks the Dark Order recruitment ads, suggesting that the Exalted One doesn’t exist and it’s always been all about Evil Uno and Stu Grayson. Daniels challenges both Uno and Grayson to singles matches anywhere anytime. If he beats both of them and there is no Exalted One to save them, there will be proof that there is no Exalted One. I’m not sure on his logic, but AEW is rather good at these parodies. Whether or not their material is that easy to parody may or may not be a good sign.

The fans are way into Luchasaurus here. It’s Stunt and MJF to start, but hang on as MJF has to show off the I PINNED CODY shirt. Stunt gets shoved down and Luchasaurus comes in, with MJF backing into him and freaking out in a page straight out of Kurt Angle/Big Show back in the day. MJF gets caught between Luchasaurus and the wrong corner but it’s Butcher and Blade coming in to take out Luchasaurus’ knee to take over.

Blade hits a running corner dropkick and MJF hits a dragon screw legwhip as we take a break. Back with Luchasaurus fighting out of an Indian Deathlock and kicking Blade in the head. MJF dives on the leg for the save Blade grabs the other, only to have Luchasaurus walk over anyway for a great moment. That’s broken up so Luchasaurus dives over for the tag to Jungle Boy anyway, meaning house can be cleaned.

Stunt dives onto Blade’s back and Boy spins him around for a sloppy tornado DDT. Stunt’s dive onto Butcher and Blade is pulled out of the air so Boy dives onto all three of them. Luchasaurus moonsaults Blade so Butcher has to catch Stunt to throw him in for the save. Butcher and Luchasaurus have the big showdown and it’s a double knockdown, meaning it’s off to Stunt to stomp away on MJF in the corner.

Boy is told to get up top but Bunny offers a distraction as Stunt slowly drags MJF across the ring. The distraction lets Boy get shoved off the top and Wardlow sends Luchasaurus into the steps. MJF gets up and Fujiwara armbars Stunt for the tap at 11:57. MJF: “I’M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!”

Rating: C+. I liked a lot of the match, and by that I mean anything not involving Stunt. I get the whole “anyone can be here” jazz but my goodness it’s too much to believe anytime he’s in the ring. They have to slow everything down so he can get in his spots and it gets annoying in a hurry. MJF, Luchasaurus and Boy helped save it though and the match was pretty good as a result.

We recap last week’s main event.

Darby Allin, in a Chris Jericho mask, puts a Sammy Guevara dummy in a body bag (labeled Sammy) and drags it along behind his truck.

Tony Schiavone brings out Britt Baker, with Tony’s coffee, to complain about how boring Utah really is. She sees a lot of bad teeth too, but she can fix it because she’s a dentist. We also get some incest jokes before Baker tells everyone here to reach for their dreams: be that janitor, plumber or dental assistant. She’s here to be your role model but here’s Big Swole to interrupt. Baker says no one cares about her and people only care about her boyfriend. Swole: “I’m married BAY BAY! (to Cedric Alexander if you’re not familiar)”. Baker runs away. Britt started rough a few weeks back but these things are getting good.

Death Triangle vs. Joey Janela/Private Party

The Triangle jumps them to start but Quen armdrags him down as the pace picks up. The Silly String takes Fenix down and it’s off to Fenix vs. Janela. A kick to the face knocks Pentagon out of the corner and it’s Janela running him over for a bonus. The Triangle is sent outside for a big dive from the top and we take a break. Back with Janela hitting a suicide dive on Fenix and Gin and Juice connecting for two.

Quen gets caught in the corner for a powerbomb onto Pac’s knees, plus a top rope double stomp from Fenix for another two. Janela puts Pac on his shoulders so Quen can use Pac as a springboard to take out the Bros. The Death Valley Driver on the apron sets up a top rope elbow for two on Pac, with Janela looking stunned. The Bros are back in for the spike Fear Factor to Janela, followed by the Black Arrow for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B-. Pretty good stuff here and a solid debut for the team. Private Party has fallen a long way since their debut and I kind of get why: they’re rather flashy without much more than just athleticism. Get them some experience and they’ll be fine, but for now they need to expand their skill set a bit. Janela….would anyone miss him if he was gone?

Post match the Triangle chokes all three of them but the Best Friends and Orange Cassidy make the save.

Dustin Rhodes is going to be Hangman Page’s partner whether Page wants it or not. They’re going to do some cowboy s***.

Here are some applications to be Shawn Spears’ partner.

Next week: Best Friends vs. Lucha Bros plus the Exalted One is revealed.

We get a sitdown interview with Jim Ross talking to Jon Moxley. This had to take place elsewhere because Moxley is not cleared to be in the arena. Moxley is banged up but won’t go into details about what is wrong with him. This has been about the World Title the whole time and even if he is down 5-1, the Inner Circle can come get it. Moxley is blood and guts and he knows that scares the Inner Circle.

Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara vs. Dustin Rhodes/Hangman Page

The Inner Circle is here with Jericho. Hold on though as Jericho and Sammy need to hug before Sammy and Page start things off. Sammy picks up the pace but it’s quickly off to Dustin for a hard clothesline. Page gets knocked outside though and the Inner Circle stands back as Jericho has a beer. Jericho: “I’M A COWBOY!” The beer gets knocked out of Jericho’s hands with a right hand and everything breaks down.

Sammy drops Dustin for two and we take a break. Back with Dustin getting elbowed down but he gets his knees up to block the Lionsault. Dustin brings Page back in and dives onto Jericho and Guevara, leaving Page to dive onto the Inner Circle. The Buckshot lariat is countered into the Walls so Dustin makes a save. Sammy comes in and walks right into the Canadian Destroyer from Dustin, setting up the Buckshot lariat for the pin at 10:15.

Post match the beatdown is on with Omega running out for the failed save. Cody runs out as well and gets taken down too so Page is carried to the stage. Matt Jackson runs out for the save and flips off Page, only to get chaired down by Jericho to end the show.

Results

Cody b. Ortiz – Figure Four

Bea Priestly/Nyla Rose b. Kris Stadtlander/Hikaru Shida – Beast Bomb to Shida

Death Triangle b. Private Party/Joey Janela – Black Arrow to Janela

Dustin Rhodes/Hangman Page b. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara – Buckshot lariat to Guevara

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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