Dynamite
Date: June 26, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

We’re finally out of the Friday night cycle with a Saturday show. It’s also a huge show with Jungle Boy challenging Kenny Omega for the World Title in the main event. That alone should be enough, but you know that AEW is going to have a lot of other stuff to fill in the gaps. It’s rather nice to have that reassurance so let’s get to it.

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

Earlier today, Shawn Spears jumped Sammy Guevara with a chair, compliments of MJF.

Hangman Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Hobbs drives him into the corner to start but Page is right back with some right hands to the floor. Page follows him out for the slugout but Hobbs sends the arm into the barricade. Back in and a suplex drops Page and Hobbs stays on the arm. Page gets a boot up in the corner to stagger Hobbs but the bad arm goes into the post. That’s enough to cut Page’s head open as well, which fires him up enough for some boots to the face.

A springboard clothesline knocks Hobbs from the apron to the floor, setting up the slingshot dive. Back in again and Page gets two off a moonsault, only to have Hobbs run him over with a clothesline. A hammerlock slam sets up a missed falling headbutt so Page blasts him with a clothesline of his own for two.

Hobbs hits a hard crossbody but here is Ricky Starks with the FTW World Title. Brian Cage comes out and collects the title so Page tries the Buckshot Lariat, which is countered into a spinebuster for two. Hobbs gets back up but walks into the Deadeye to give Page the fast pin at 11:09.

Rating: C+. This was two hard hitting guys beating each other up until the ending. The arm work meant that the Buckshot Lariat was off the table so it was nice to see Page bust out the Deadeye instead. Page making a comeback win is a good thing to see, even as Team Taz’s problems continue.

Video on Jungle Boy vs. Kenny Omega, with Boy having a shot at pulling it off.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

The Young Bucks have been called overrated but they’re the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in company history. They list off all of the teams they have taken out and now it’s time to do the same to Penta El Zero Miedo and Eddie Kingston. They’re the EVP’s: Extremely Violent People. The Bucks are a lot of things but violent?

Here are Tully Blanchard and Konnan for a face to face discussion and this could be fascinating. Blanchard talks about Konnan interfering in Stadium Stampede and lets him go first. Konnan says that’s a mind game but Santana and Ortiz aren’t going to be intimidated. He knows that Tully and FTR are from North Carolina, where men are men and sheep are scared. Konnan talks about Santana and Ortiz being from New York City, where they are used to racial profiling and fighting against oppression.

Blanchard says he knows the three of them because he has done his research. All Konnan is going to do is make one appearance and then it’s over for him. Konnan says Tully is lucky that Walmart is still hiring greeters because Santana and Ortiz are like scarecrows: outstanding in their field. Cue Santana and Ortiz….but we see the two of them down in the back because Santana and Ortiz pull down their hoods and masks to reveal FTR. The spike piledriver lays out Konnan in a great swerve.

Dante Martin vs. Matt Sydal

Before the match, Vickie Guerrero brings out Andrade El Idolo for an announcement but Sydal’s entrance cuts that off. Andrade isn’t happy as Vickie holds him back. They go to the mat to start but a springboard takes Sydal down. A rather quick headscissors sends Sydal into the corner but he takes out Martin’s leg as we take a break. Back with Sydal in control in the corner until Martin hits a Death Valley Driver. A double springboard moonsault gets two on Sydal, followed by a flipping Stunner for the same. Sydal kicks him in the head though and the Lightning Spiral is good for the pin at 9:05.

Rating: C+. Martin got to fly around here and showcase himself, which means a bit more against someone as established as Sydal. Granted I’m not sure how much Sydal needed the win here, but at least Martin got in a bit of a showcase. Fun match here, which is what you probably expected from these two.

Christian Cage tells Jungle Boy to be ticked off tonight because some people don’t think he should be here. Boy shocked people before, so do it again.

Mark Sterling tells us about Jade Cargill’s shirts being 10% off on Shop AEW. They have already been selling well, including the XXL because wrestling fans. Cargill isn’t surprised because she’s that b****.

MJF, with the Pinnacle, talks about how people are upset about him beating up Dean Malenko last week. Who cares if he beat up a 60 year old man with a bad heart and Parkinson’s Disease? People are throwing rocks at him when they should be throwing flowers but here are Chris Jericho and Jake Hager to start the brawl.

They fight into the arena with the Pinnacle’s numbers advantage getting the better of things. Sammy Guevara comes in for the save, including a chair shot to Wardlow’s head. Sammy says that this Wednesday, he is going to prove that AEW bet on the wrong man. Guevara still feels like the breakout star in the making.

Miro does not like Brian Pillman Jr. That’s why Pillman is going to find out why he is God’s favorite wrestler on Wednesday.

Bear Bronson vs. Ethan Page

Bear Boulder and Scorpio Sky are here too. The power shoves Page around to start and a powerslam gives Bronson two. Page gets sent to the floor where Sky pushes him out of the way to take the big dive. Boulder doesn’t like it but the distraction lets Bronson get sent into the barricade. Page hammers away and we take a break.

Back with Bronson hammering away and planting Page but missing the backsplash. Page’s sunset flip earns him a drop onto his chest for two so Bronson goes up, only to be superplexed back down. Sky tries a distraction and gets punched by Reed, leaving Page to catch Bronson on top with a low blow. The Ego’s Edge (with Page walking him around first for an impressive visual) finishes Bronson at 9:47.

Rating: C. The match itself was just ok, but that Ego’s Edge was awesome with Page looking like a monster by being able to throw Bronson around. Bear Country has a unique look and you can always use a pair of big monsters like them. I’m still needing more on the Men of the Year, but at least they have a bit of a highlight moment here.

Post match, Page says he isn’t done with Darby Allin and wants to be the nail in his coffin. Therefore at Road Rager, Page wants a coffin match.

Britt Baker and Reba can think of a million things to ask for if Tony Khan owed him a favor, but Vickie Guerrero used it to set up a tag match. Baker says this is a new era and it isn’t time for old women in a wrestling ring. Don’t worry though because Vickie will get a nice prescription signed Dr. Britt Baker DMD.

Vickie Guerrero says next week is a warmup for Fyter Fest, when Rose takes the title.

Bunny vs. Kris Statlander

Blade and Orange Cassidy are here too. Bunny takes Statlander down to start but talks too much trash, allowing Statlander to pull her into a suplex. Some right hands to the face have Bunny in trouble until she dumps Statlander out to the floor. There’s a running dropkick into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Bunny hitting a running knee, setting up a big double crash out to the floor.

They head back in with Bunny blocking the Big Bang Theory, meaning Statlander has to settle for the Blue Thunder Bomb and a near fall. Statlander goes up so it’s a German superplex to bring her back down. Bunny’s low superkick gets two and she is stunned by the kickout. Blade throws in the brass knuckles but Cassidy comes in to intercept them and drops them in his pocket. The Big Bang Theory finishes Bunny at 9:14.

Rating: C. Just a match here as the stable wars continue, this time between the Hardy Family Office and the Best Friends. Statlander isn’t quite as good as she was before the injury but she is far from bad. Bunny is still only kind of there, but at she is doing fine in the limited chances she gets.

Post match here are Jack Evans and Angelico to lay out Cassidy, including a big brass knuckles shot (with commentary pointing out that Chuck Taylor is with Trent, who had neck fusion surgery).

QT Marshall doesn’t like Brock Anderson being named Wrestler of the Week after he didn’t get the same honor for beating Cody Rhodes a few weeks back. Marshall is ready for Cody in a strap match and only wants to be a champion around here.

Brian Pillman Jr. thinks Miro has a messiah complex but Miro isn’t here to save anyone. Pillman has a complex too, and it’s called being born on the wrong side of the tracks and having to fight for everything. He’s coming for the TNT Title.

Eddie Kingston and Penta El Zero Miedo are ready to fight the Young Bucks, because the Bucks are all about egos. That’s why taking the Tag Team Titles is what is going to hurt their egos more than anything. Penta promises violence.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Jungle Boy

Boy is challenging and after the Big Match Intros, Marko Stunt stays inside because of course he does. Thankfully the referee ejects everyone else, meaning Don Callis can join commentary. Feeling out process to start with Omega seeming to be a bit hesitant to go straight at Boy. Omega tries the rolling fireman’s carry but Boy slips out in a hurry and dropkicks him to the floor.

We take an early break and come back with Boy grabbing a small package for two but walking into a heck of a brainbuster for two. Boy fights up and knocks Omega to the floor for a suicide elbow, followed by a suicide dive. Another dive is broken up as Omega gets back in so Boy hits a springboard tornado DDT. That’s enough to send Omega outside and now the big flip dive takes him down again. Back in and the V Trigger misses, allowing Boy to hit a superkick.

The V Trigger into the Snapdragon sets up another V Trigger but the One Winged Angel is countered into a nasty poisonrana. Boy hits a running shot to the back of the head for two more but Omega is right back with another V Trigger. Believe it or not, that’s followed by another V Trigger for two. Another V Trigger is countered into the Snare Trap but here is the Elite. Cue the rest of Jurassic Express and Kazarian for the save as Omega makes the rope.

They slug it out until Omega hits another V Trigger but Boy bounces off the ropes with a discus rebound lariat. Omega hits another brainbuster into another V Trigger but the One Winged Angel is countered into another Snare Trap. A rake of the eyes gets Omega out of trouble and he goes up top, where a super hurricanrana attempt is countered into a face first drop onto the buckle. Another V Trigger into a tiger driver 98 gets two more on Boy. The One Winged Angel retains the title at 17:17.

Rating: B+. They picked up the pace at the end here and you could tell Omega was taking it a bit more seriously given all of the V Triggers. Boy got in a lot here too as this was one of those matches where he showed he could hang at the next level. This was a big time TV main event, even if there was no real doubt about who was going to win.

Post match Omega loads up the belt shot but here is Christian Cage for the save. Cue the Hardy Family Office to jump Christian but the Twist of Fate is countered into a Killswitch attempt because the Young Bucks run in for the double superkick. Now the Twist of Fate can lay Christian out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event and maybe the opener here were all that mattered but there was nothing bad and it actually felt like something important happened. That has really been lacking from the Friday shows but they tried a bit harder with the better time slot. Things are back to normal next week and they finish out their weirdly scheduled weeks with a return to form, as things are working on the way back to Wednesday.

Results
Hangman Page b. Powerhouse Hobbs – Deadeye
Matt Sydal b. Dante Martin – Lightning Spiral
Ethan Page b. Bear Bronson – Ego’s Edge
Kris Statlander b. Bunny – Big Bang Theory
Kenny Omega b. Jungle Boy – Snare Trap

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

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

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: June 18, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross, Taz

The Friday series continues with a special match inside an MMA cage. That may or may not be your taste, but it is certainly something different, which you have to do at some point. This time around it is Jake Hager vs. Wardlow, which is about as logical of a move as you can get. Let’s get to it.

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

Jake Hager vs. Wardlow

Chris Jericho and Shawn Spears are the seconds here and it is a full octagon, complete with cage. Justin Roberts does his best Bruce Buffer impression, which makes me scared to hear his worst. Wardlow makes sure to turn his back on Hager during the intros, just to show off a bit more. We have three five minute rounds here and you can only win by submission or knockout (no judges).

They circle each other for a bit to start until Hager starts going with the striking. Wardlow doesn’t seem to know what to do with him here as Hager hits a few shots and then walks off to let Wardlow think about it. Hager’s attempt at a double leg gets him tossed away with raw power so Hager tries it again, this time with more success.

Wardlow blocks a kick to the ribs and hits him in the face, followed by a double leg takedown. Some right hands on the mat have Hager a bit more woken up but Wardlow easily wins a slugout. A Superman punch off the cage has Hager rocked and Warlow unloads on him until the round ends.

We start the second round with Hager in big trouble so he tries the grappling. That earns him another trip to the mat with Wardlow hammering away. A cross armbreaker is broken up so Hager floats over into a cover for some right hands to the face. Now Hager’s cross armbreaker is blocked but he grabs a triangle to put Wardlow in more trouble. That’s broken up so Hager grabs an ankle lock, which is broken up with a kick to the chest.

Back up and Wardlow powerbombs him into the cage, followed by a running hurricanrana. A spear lets Wardlow hammer away but Hager pulls him into the head and arm choke. Wardlow powers up but it’s a Rock Bottom right back into the hold in the middle of the ring. Hager cranks away as Wardlow flips off Jericho and passes out at 4:00 into the second round (10:00 total).

Rating: B-. I’m really not sure what to call something like this as it was a wrestling/MMA hybrid. It helps that they had someone who knows how to do that style in the face place and didn’t bother going far too long with the thing. Keep something like this relatively short and go with more wrestling than MMA and it will work out, which is what they did here.

Post match respect is teased but Spears comes in to jump Hager. Jericho comes in but the beatdown is on, with MJF coming in to put Jericho in the Salt of the Earth. Cue Dean Malenko for the save so MJF hits him as well. Now it’s Sammy Guevara coming in for the real save to clear the cage.

Frankie Kazarian, Penta and Eddie Kingston are ready for the Elite tonight, with Kazarian quoting the Bible about letting God take care of vengeance. He doesn’t quite agree with that because it is time to take out the Elite tonight. Kingston says pray to your God to take your souls because your a**** belong to them. Penta: “Cero miedo!”.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Team Taz, minus Brian Cage, knows there are issues with the team but let’s focus on Hangman Page. He won a handicap match last week so let’s have Page vs. Powerhouse Hobbs next week.

Men Of The Year vs. Darby Allin

Allin has asked Sting to not be here. Ethan Page starts for the team and gets taken down with an early springboard armdrag. Allin takes him down again but a cheap shot puts him down. A hard toss sends Allin into the corner and it’s off to Sky as we take a break. Back with Sky hitting a backbreaker but Allin grabs a rollup for two. Page taunts Allin over having no one to tag but Allin manages a Scorpion Death Drop. It’s back to Sky as Allin tags himself and hits a Code Red for two.

The referee doesn’t like the double teaming so Allin whips out a zip tie to tie up Page’s legs. Some rollups get two on Sky and the flipping Stunner is good for the same, with Page making the save. Page finds a tool box to cut himself free and there’s a hard posting to knock Allin silly. Back in and Page takes him up top but Allin bites the hand to escape. That earns him a crotching from Sky, setting up the Ego’s Edge to finish Allin at 11:58.

Rating: C. The zip tie was clever but I can’t bring myself to get into Page and Sky. They’re the definition of just there for me and that makes for some pretty weak appearances. That being said, they needed the win here and are the kind of team who should be bragging about winning a handicap match. Allin looked stupid for taking the match, but he has never been presented as the brightest guy.

Cezar Bononi vs. Orange Cassidy

The Wingmen and the Best Friends are all at ringside. Bononi throws Cassidy into the corner to start and forces Cassidy’s hands into his pockets. Cassidy gets tossed outside so the Wingmen can spray tan him. Back in and Bononi throws him outside again, where they mess with Cassidy’s hair and put him in Ryan Nemeth’s HUNK jacket.

Bononi joins him for a change and this time Cassidy jumps onto him, only to get caught. The Best Friends finally get involved and put Cassidy’s glasses on him, setting up the huge toss dive (with the Wingmen standing there while it is being set up). Back in and the Orange Punch finishes Bononi at 5:14.

Rating: D-. Yeah I know I’m old and don’t know how to have fun but this was absolutely not for me. The idea of Peter Avalon having a stable is an even bigger stretch than QT Marshall and this was just a mess. Way too many people running around and the Wingmen standing there for ten seconds while the Best Friends set something up made it even worse. I know a lot of people love Cassidy and that’s all well and good, but this really did not work for me.

Kenny Omega and Don Callis run into Jungle Boy, with Omega saying that Boy tarnished his image last week. Omega doesn’t like being disrespected and is ready to fight right now. Boy gets ready but Michael Nakazawa gets in a cheap shot from behind. Boy fights back so the villains run to their golf cart, with Omega kicking Nakazawa off and shouting he’ll get Boy next week. Omega: “NEXT WEEK!!!” Eh points for a Dr. Claw moment.

The Hardy Family Office thinks there might have been some people working together in the Casino Battle Royal. Matt Hardy doesn’t like Christian Cage, who pops up to try and go after him. Cage gets locked in….well in a cage actually, with Hardy offering him a deal to stop this, but Cage doesn’t seem interested.

Brock Anderson/Cody Rhodes vs. Aaron Solow/QT Marshall

This is Brock (Arn’s son) debut and he does not exactly have the most impressive physique. He takes Solow down to start so Marshall comes in instead. Brock grabs Marshall by the arm so it’s right back to Solow, with Cody diving onto Marshall. Back in and Cody can’t grab an armdrag so Solow takes him into the corner. That doesn’t last long so Brock comes back in for some gutwrench suplexes, only to walk into Marshall’s spinebuster.

We take a break and come back with Brock getting out of the corner and diving over to Cody. Solow is smart enough to offer a distraction though, meaning the referee doesn’t see it. A belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination gets two on Brock but he avoids a charge and gets over to Cody for the hot tag. House is cleaned in a hurry as everything breaks down. Cody takes Marshall out to the ramp and Brock jacknife rolls Solow up for the pin at 10:01.

Rating: C-. This is a tricky one as it was Brock’s debut and it’s not quite fair to grade him like a seasoned veteran. That being said, if he wasn’t Arn’s son, he would be laughed out of most tryouts. He had no physique to speak of and was as generic of a guy in trunks as you could ask for. The match wasn’t bad due to how fast paced they kept things, but Brock needs to be a one off for the time being.

Jake Roberts says Lance Archer couldn’t be a doctor because he has no patience.

Earlier today, JR sat down with Andrade El Idolo and asked him why he’s here in AEW. Andrade says that he deserves an opportunity at the top titles around here. JR brings up Vickie Guerrero, with Andrade saying they’re perfect together because they both come from big wrestling families. But wait, because they have a surprise.

The Dark Order is happy because John Silver’s shoulder is healed. Hangman Page doesn’t want to talk about the World Title, but he would like to praise Evil Uno for his work last week.

Julia Hart vs. Penelope Ford

Haven’t seen Ford in a bit. Hart gets headlocked down to start and sent to the apron for a slingshot knee drop. We take an early break and come back with Hart hitting her clotheslines but she misses a running version in the corner. Ford tries a flipping clothesline but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. Ford’s next clothesline connects for two and she catches Hart’s kick to the ribs. A slap sets up a fireman’s carry gutbuster but Ford misses a moonsault. Hart misses a split legged moonsault though and it’s a Muta Lock to give Ford the win at 7:08.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here and that sequence in the corner was nearly brutal. Ford hasn’t been around for a bit but she is still a big enough deal to beat Hart, who has mainly been a manager. This wasn’t exactly good, but it was a fair enough way to bring Ford back onto the show.

Post match the hold stays on so the Varsity Blondes make the save. Miro runs in to go after Brian Pillman Jr. and they have to be held apart. I could go for this.

Vickie Guerrero interrupts Britt Baker and Reba to say they smell bad and like cheeseburgers. She has done them a favor and set up the two of them against Nyla Rose and herself next week. Britt certainly approves.

Video on FTR vs. Santana/Ortiz. They come from different parts of the country and both of them know how tough they are. FTR brags about having accomplished more in six months than Santana and Ortiz have in two years, so their next win will be another notch in their legacy. No date is given, but FTR not having a regular tag match on Dynamite since February needs to be fixed soon.

Mark Sterling and Jade Cargill have a deal with a hotel in Toronto so her opponents can have a place to recover. She is going to continue her winning streak because she is that b****.

Matt Jackson/Good Brothers vs. Frankie Kazarian/Eddie Kingston/Penta El Zero Miedo

Don Callis joins commentary as the Nick Jackson and Brandon Cutler are at ringside. Matt takes Kazarian down to start so it’s off to Penta to clean a bit of house. Kingston comes in to brawl to the floor with Gallows as everything breaks down. We take a break and come back with Kingston hitting a release belly to belly on Matt for a breather.

The hot tag brings in Penta to wreck things, including a kick to put Anderson on the floor and a big flip dive onto both Brothers. Everything breaks down with Matt getting hit with something from everyone, capped off by Angel’s Wings from Kazarian with Gallows making the save. The Magic Killer is broken up but Anderson kicks Penta in the face. The Backstabber out of the corner drops Anderson but Nick Jackson sprays the cold stuff into Penta’s eyes. A top rope neckbreaker gives Anderson the pin on Penta at 14:02.

Rating: C-. These Buck matches are getting rougher and rougher, as they continue to survive against everyone while getting the last laugh. It’s ok to give up something at some point, especially in a match where the team isn’t even together. The match was also all over the place and never stopped moving, which was a bit much here. It’s ok to slow things down a bit, but that was never going to be the case for these guys.

Overall Rating: C. This wasn’t one of their better shows but the energy remained high and there was enough good stuff in there to carry it. You still get the feeling that these shows are a little less important than others, but again, what are you expecting from a show ending at midnight on a Friday in the middle of June? AEW is just riding this time out and that makes sense given the situation they’re in at the moment.

With all that being said, this show really, really needs to cut down on the amount of people they include every week. There are just WAY too many people on this show, with most of them in factions. You had six groups (Inner Circle, Pinnacle, Best Friends, Wingmen, Nightmare Family, Nightmare Factory) featured in the first four matches. It’s overwhelming and having so many people out there distracts from the ones who are supposed to be featured. Just cool it down a bit and let the people with the star power shine instead of having an entourage for everyone.

Results
Jake Hager b. Wardlow – Head and arm choke
Men of the Year b. Darby Allin – Ego’s Edge
Orange Cassidy b. Cezar Bononi – Orange Punch
Brock Anderson/Cody Rhodes b. Aaron Solow/QT Marshall – Jackknife rollup to Solow
Penelope Ford b. Julia Hart – Muta Lock
Good Brothers/Matt Jackson b. Frankie Kazarian/Eddie Kingston/Penta El Zero Miedo – Top rope neckbreaker to Penta

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

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

AND

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

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rey Fenix/Pac vs. John Skyler/D3

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

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

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

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

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

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

FTR/Tully Blanchard vs. Jurassic Express

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We run down the Revolution card.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AND

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

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy vs. Hybrid 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luther vs. Orange Cassidy

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

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

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

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

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

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz

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

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

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

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

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

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

FTR vs. Matt Sydal/Mike Sydal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Riho b. Serena Deeb – Rollup

Orange Cassidy b. Luther – Orange Punch

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

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

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

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

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

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: January 13, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

Things continue to pick up around here as we have the second week of New Year’s Smash. This time around we are going to be seeing the TNT Title on the line as Brian Cage challenges Darby Allin, meaning a Sting appearance is certainly not out of the question. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Quick look at Death Triangle vs. Eddie Kingston/Butcher/Blade.

Pac vs. Eddie Kingston

Pac starts fast by sending Kingston to the floor for the dive. They head back inside with Pac hitting a pump kick, followed by a missile dropkick to put Kingston into the corner. Some knees to the head rock Kingston again but he’s back with a middle rope knee to the back of the head. Allie gets in some eye raking from the floor and Kingston adds a t-bone suplex. Back in and a neckbreaker gets one before Pac’s head is driven into the mat.

Some chops in the corner let Kingston pull on Pac’s ear but he snaps off a German suplex for a breather. Back up and Kingston hits an enziguri into a Saito suplex for two. Pac gets in his own kick to the head that makes Kingston look straight into the camera, setting up the top rope superplex for his own near fall. Another kick drops Kingston and the Black Arrow finishes for Pac at 9:39.

Rating: B-. This was about two guys beating each other up and that’s all it needed to be. They had a good brawl and I could go for watching the two of them talk or fight. I’m not sure how big of a star that Kingston is going to become on his own, but the sky really seems to be the limit for Pac. This is all building towards the big gang brawl though and that should be awesome.

Post match the big brawl is teased but Lance Archer comes in to chase off Kingston and company.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Chuck Taylor vs. Miro

Orange Cassidy and Kip Sabian (with a Trent cutout) are at ringside and if Miro wins, Chuck is his butler until the wedding in three weeks. Miro starts fast and knocks him outside but Chuck gets in a whip into the barricade for a breather. Sabian jumps Cassidy but gets superkicked by Chuck. That’s enough of a distraction for Miro to get in a leg lariat, followed by the jumping superkick. Game Over finishes Chuck at 3:26.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but they only had a few minutes and the ending was designed to set up the angle going forward instead. Miro wrecking Chuck is the right way to go as he needs a few wins and the butler stuff could be funny. If nothing else, Miro needed the wins after a few months of doing nothing of note so this could be an upgrade.

Matt Hardy speaks for Private Party, who he insists are great. The team isn’t all that thrilled with part of their contracts but Hardy says they should have read them better. He is the only person here who cares about Private Party and the sooner they learn that, the happier they will be. So when he says jump, they say how high. NOW GET OUT OF HERE.

Here’s the Inner Circle and, after the required Judas chorus from the fans, and a break, it’s time to hear about their new year’s resolutions. Jake Hager wants championships, MJF wants to strengthen their bonds and get rid of the fat people and Ortiz wants to learn one of his grandmother’s recipes. Jericho loves all of those ideas and thinks this is the year he and MJF win the Tag Team Titles. That’s not cool with Santana, because he and Ortiz are the Inner Circle’s tag team.

Sammy Guevara sees what is going on here: Jericho is a tag team sl**! Jericho has teamed with Santana, Hager, he and Sammy were Le Sex Gods. Is he going to team with Snoop Dogg next? Jericho: “…..MAYBE!” Jericho thinks we should have Jericho/MJF vs. Santana/Ortiz vs. Sammy/Hager to determine the OFFICIAL tag team of the Inner Circle. Hager: “CHAMPIONSHIPS! YEAH!” Jericho: “Sammy and Hager. That’s funny.” Sammy: “Why is that funny?” The team poses and everything seems cool.

The Dark Order talks about how important the Brodie Lee tribute was for the team. Everything the team does will be in his name, and next week it starts with Hangman Page teaming with the Dark Order. Page, with his glass, staggers in so everyone can show their appreciation. Maybe after the match, he can let them know if he’s going to join! Page agrees and leaves, with the team celebrating his joining in advance. It turns out that Page only took about a step….and we go to a break anyway.

Video on Taz and the construction of Team Taz, setting up the title match against Darby Allin later tonight. Sting joining in to seemingly mentor Allin might even the odds a bit though.

Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Young Bucks are fired up and have all the titles.

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs. Varsity Blonds/Danny Limelight

Callis handles Omega’s entrance. Actually hold on as he also introduces Omega’s real partners for the evening: the Good Brothers, which doesn’t sit well with the Bucks or Tony Khan in the back.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Varsity Blonds/Danny Limelight

It’s a brawl to start with Omega and the Brothers cleaning house. Everything breaks down though and Limelight kicks away at Omega, with the Blonds clotheslining the Brothers outside. The Kitaro Crusher drops Limelight though and it’s Anderson coming in for a hard whip into the corner.

Back from a break with Limelight still in trouble but managing a hurricanrana out of the corner. Omega cuts him off but Limelight gets over for the hot tag to Pillman. Air Pillman hits Anderson and it’s a Blockbuster/spinebuster combination for two. Omega grabs a neckbreaker for two and Anderson hits a big boot for two. Limelight tries to run the corner but gets caught in a spinebuster. The Magic Killer is good for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C. I’m not sure it needed to be this long for what they were doing, but at least Omega and company didn’t get in that much trouble. Maybe the Bucks vs. Good Brothers deal can set something up in the future, which would be better than paying another tribute to the good old days in New Japan.

It’s time for the Waiting Room with Dr. Britt Baker. After a quick intro dance with Rebel, Britt convinces the fans that they have a gift underneath their chairs. Her guest tonight is Cody Rhodes, who needs to pick his best friend already. Just make one good choice, unlike the one on your neck. This brings in Cody, in a green jacket and with some Gillberg sparklers during the entrance (Britt: “All contractual obligations met. We’ve got the pyro.”).

Britt congratulates Cody on his upcoming baby, who will have an action figure before her. Cody can’t talk before Baker cuts him off with a surprise guest. That would be Jade Cargill, who says no one cares about Brandi being pregnant. She and Shaq are tired of waiting though, because Jade needs an opponent. She shoves Cody so here’s Red Velvet to hit a heck of a slap.

Jade gives her one back and the fight is on, with the fans breaking it up. Velvet is taken outside and we cut to a video of Britt and Rebel attacking Thunder Rosa a few weeks back. Rosa pops up to say Britt her has show because she likes to put her big nose in people’s business. Some Spanish ranting sets up the announcement of Baker vs. Rosa on February 3 at Beach Break. Baker yells a lot because Khan said they didn’t have to wrestle. Cody never said a word other than shouting for help to break up the brawl.

Jurassic Express vs. FTR

Marko Stunt/Jungle Boy for the Express here and Luchasaurus and Tully Blanchard are here too. Marko and Cash start things off but it’s off to Dax to drive him into the corner. A slap from Marko earns him a beating in the corner and Wheeler comes back in for the same. Marko’s moonsault out of the corner is countered and a dropkick seems to mostly miss. Boy comes in and everything breaks down with Boy monkey flipping Stunt into a hurricanrana to Harwood.

Stunt’s suicide dive hits FTR and Boy adds his own dive as we take a break. Back with Wheeler hitting a spinebuster for two on Stunt and then grabbing a Gory Stretch. Stunt wiggles his way out for two off a sunset flip before rolling away from Dax for the tag off to Boy. House is cleaned with some clotheslines into a Backstabber for two on Harwood, followed by a super hurricanrana for the same.

There’s a superkick before Boy throws Stunt onto Harwood for two more. Sliced Bread is countered with a toss and a hard lariat drops Stunt again. A low blow gets Stunt out of trouble though and now a Dudley Dog can connect for another near fall. Tully posts Marko though, earning him a glare from Boy. Wheeler sends Boy into the barricade for his efforts though and it’s the Big Rig (Goodnight Express’ new name) for the pin at 12:25.

Rating: C. It was a little much to believe that it took FTR over twelve minutes and Tully’s help to beat Stunt but at least the ending was exactly as it should have gone. The match was pretty boring stuff for the most part, but at least they didn’t do something crazy like have FTR lose here. Just get them back to something important now.

NWA Women’s Title: Tay Conti vs. Serena Deeb

Deeb is defending and Conti has Anna Jay with her. Feeling out process to start with Deeb taking her down for an early rollup. Conti goes for the leg to set up a heel hook, which is reversed into a chinlock. That’s broken up as well so Conti pump kicks her out to the floor. Back from a break with Conti hitting a full nelson spun into a Stunner for two but getting caught in a Stretch Muffler. Deeb switches to take her up top for a Gory Special using the ropes for extra leverage. Conti can’t get a Gory Bomb so Deeb reverses into a pancake (the Deebtox) to retain at 9:07.

Rating: C+. They were flying through this and that held things back a bit. Deeb continues to be great though and Conti is improving as well so this was hardly a rough watch. It wouldn’t hurt to slow things down a bit though, which would be the case in almost any match around here. I’m still not sure why this company needs two Women’s Titles, but at least this one is much more of a featured attraction than anything else.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brian Cage vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending, Team Taz is at ringside and Taz is on commentary. Allin goes straight at Cage and knocks him outside, setting up the suicide dive. Another one is pulled out of the air into a suplex on the floor though, followed by Cage LAUNCHING Allin from the ring through a ringside table. Cage picks Allin (now bleeding) up in a suplex, walks him up the steps and throws him inside for another crash. A release German suplex sends Allin flying and Cage unloads with right hands to the busted open head.

We take a break and come back with Cage hitting an F5 for two, followed by a trio of powerbombs. Another powerbomb sends Allin over the top and onto the ramp but Allin says bring it. The apron superplex gets one and Cage is livid. Cage loads up the steps at ringside but an F5 from the apron to the floor is escaped. Instead Allin bites the fingers to knock Cage onto the steps, setting up the Coffin Drop onto Cage onto the steps (Taz: “That’s not good.”).

They get back in with Allin hitting the flipping Stunner and using his belt to tie Cage’s legs together. A Code Red gives Allin two and there’s a middle rope stomp. Hook’s distraction lets Ricky Starks crotch Allin but here’s Sting with the baseball bat shot to Starks’ throat. The super crucifix retains Allin’s title at 12:39.

Rating: B. This took time to get going but I got into the underdog comeback story near the end. They might have gone a step too far with Allin surviving everything but I don’t think it ever went too far into being ridiculous. Allin is one of the best underdogs/survivors around and while the Sting/Team Taz stuff was far from a surprise, they did it as by the numbers (which isn’t a bad thing) as possible here. Good main event with a near Brock Lesnar smashing a mortal style story.

Post match everyone stares to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was good and there was enough solid stuff in the middle to hold things up but this wasn’t their strongest show. It felt like they were setting up things for later, which is something you have to do, but it doesn’t make for a great evening. What we got worked well though and it seems they’re building to Beach Break in three weeks.

Results

Pac b. Eddie Kingston – Black Arrow

Miro b. Chuck Taylor – Game Over

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Danny Limelight/Varsity Blonds – Magic Killer to Limelight

FTR b. Jurassic Express – Big Rig to Stunt

Serena Deeb b. Tay Conti – Deebtox

Darby Allin b. Brian Cage – Super crucifix

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

Dynamite
Date: December 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

Things are getting a little wacky around here and that makes things all the more interesting. Above all else, Kenny Omega is now the World Champion and last night he appeared on Impact Wrestling to say….well I’m not completely clear but it is definitely going somewhere in the future. Other than that, we get to hear from Sting after last week’s debut. Let’s get to it.

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

Hybrid 2 vs. Young Bucks

Non-title. Before the match, the Bucks say they don’t know what is going on with Kenny Omega and they haven’t talked to him in over a week. They start fast with the Bucks sending them outside to start, meaning it’s time for a big flip dive. Back in and we settle down a bit with the Bucks hitting a double basement dropkick on Evans. Angelico comes in to send Matt outside but Nick is right back up to kick Evans off the apron.

Nick is knocked off the apron as well and it’s the assisted 450 for two on Matt. The superkicks take the Hybrid 2 down though and the hot tag brings Nick back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Nick hits the slingshot X Factor to rock Angelico. Nick powerbombs Evans onto the Acclaimed at ringside and it’s a top rope splash/standing moonsault combination for two on Angelico. Evans is back in with a 450 for two on Nick but he gets powerbombed into the enziguri in the corner.

A springboard Doomsday Device onto the ramp drops Evans again and it’s a double superkick to Angelico for two. More Bang For Your Buck is broken up and Evans hits an inverted hurricanrana on Matt. Angelico wrenches Matt’s knee with a spinning leglock with a name that only Excalibur cares about. Even with his brother’s knee getting cranked, Nick goes up top for a Swanton for the save, even with the leglock still being on. The Bucks hit a slingshot spike Tombstone to put Evans down on the floor and it’s a double superkick into the BTE Trigger to finish Angelico at 11:42.

Rating: B. Well that was a lot. There were all kinds of flips and dives here and that’s exactly why you book a match like this one. The selling wasn’t there and the psychology was non-existent, but there is no reason to look for either of those in a match like this. If you’re not looking for those and treat these things like the junk food wrestling that they are, it’s a fine way to spend some time.

Post match the Acclaimed jump the barricade to go after the Bucks but SCU runs in for the save.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman gets to beat Orange Cassidy tonight and upset a lot of not so smart marks. He’s going to bash Cassidy’s head in because he’s better and Cassidy knows it.

Darby Allin does a word association test with members of Team Taz. He sees Powerhouse Hobbs as a snake in the grass, Brian Cage as a puppet, but he’s also someone waiting for an opportunity, which Allin will give him. Then we see Sting’s face and Allin chuckles.

Here’s Cody for a chat….and hang on because here’s Sting. Arn Anderson steps up to Sting to say he wanted to get a closer look and then walks away. Tony Schiavone says something similar and goes to leave but Sting says come give him a hug. Sting thanks Tony for helping him throughout his career and asks for one more IT’S STING for old times’ sake. Tony gives him what he wants (Never say no to a 61 year old man in face paint holding a baseball bat. Remember that.) and Sting says this is awesome.

With Tony gone, Cody says welcome back and thanks Sting for the assist last week. Cody has been waiting to share a ring with him for a very long time….but Sting isn’t here for him, at least not right now. Sting says there is something really familiar about this place and points to Darby Allin in the rafters.

This ring is the jungle and he’s glad to be back on TNT. Cody again says welcome back but Sting says that the only thing for sure about him is that nothing is for sure. He is here full time and plans to be around for a good while. The way Sting chooses to play is his business and he gives Cody a rather firm pat on the back. Sting: “See you around kid.” Sting sounded more energized and invested here than he ever did in WWE, though I’m scared to see how much of that good look goes away if/when he has a match of any kind. For now though, rather nice start.

Team Taz talks about how Cody needed Sting to come save them. Well now Cody’s former star student, Taz’s son Hook, is training with them and they’re ready to beat someone up.

FTR vs. Varsity Blonds

That would be Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison. Pillman gets taken into the corner to start and the beating is on in a hurry. Back up and Pillman brings Wheeler over for the tag to Garrison. A few rooms of the house are cleaned and it’s a spinning legdrop from Garrison to give Pillman two. Pillman misses the middle rope spinning crossbody though and the chinlock goes on as we take a break.

Back with Pillman getting caught in a Demolition Decapitator and being sent outside for a shot from Tully Blanchard. Pillman manages to get in a quick shot though and Air Pillman allows the hot tag to Garrison. House is cleaned but Harwood slips out of a suplex. Pillman comes back in and is caught with a brainbuster and the Goodnight Express gives Wheeler the pin at 8:08.

Rating: C-. Perfectly watchable match with the Blonds mostly getting squashed to put FTR back on the winning side. FTR is a team who could work with anyone around here and hopefully that is the case going forward. The Blonds are fine for the young pretty boy team and you can never have enough of them.

Post match FTR gets in a staredown with the Jurassic Express on the floor.

Hangman Page is in a six man tag next week against Matt Hardy and Private Party but he doesn’t have any partners. John Silver and Alex Reynolds pop up from behind the bar (Page: “How long have you been there?” Silver: “About seven minutes.”) to offer their services. Page eventually relents, but it’s one match only. Works for the cult guys.

Dustin Rhodes vs. 10

Rhodes shoves him around to start and they’re on the floor in a hurry with Dustin sending him face first into the barricade. 10 drops him onto the apron though and they head inside again with 10 hitting a big spinebuster. Dustin is sent outside again but Aaron Solow grabs 10’s arm, earning himself a pump kick to the face. Back in and Dustin gets in a shot of his own, setting up the bulldog for the pin at 5:51.

Rating: D+. Just a match here with 10 getting in most of the offense until a bit of a surprising choice for interference gave Dustin the chance. 10 looked solid here, but other members of the Dark Order have moved pretty far ahead of him in recent weeks. Then again the team is kind of all over the place at the moment so I’m not sure how much this is going to help him.

Post match here’s the Dark Order, with Evil Uno saying Dustin has a long legacy in wrestling and has been around for a very long time. That comes with a lot of pressure, so he should join the Dark Order as Seven. Tony: “He doesn’t want to be that number.” Dustin extends his hand and then slaps Uno in the face. Uno calls the troops off before they get to Dustin and says he’ll be waiting when Dustin sees the light.

Tony Schiavone has a sitdown interview with Shaquille O’Neal and Brandi Rhodes. Brandi doesn’t like hearing all of Shaq’s accolades but Shaq talks about Jade Cargill injuring Brandi’s arm. Shaq didn’t like what Jade did to her arm and Brandi agrees, though she will get in Cargill’s face again if she does the same. Shaq understands that and says he and Cody were just messing around on Twitter.

He has all the respect in the world for the wrestlers and the Rhodes Family, so Brandi gets up and shakes his hand with a smile. She goes to leave without incident, but Shaq says that while Brandi’s arm is in a sling, she should get some pointers from Jade. That’s too far for Brandi, who says she’s sick of this s***, throws a drink in Shaq’s face, and calls him an overgrown a******. They got the point across, but dang Shaq can be hard to understand with that deep voice.

Here’s the Inner Circle for their summit. They have had a week to figure things out but if this doesn’t work, the team is done. That’s not why Jericho put the team together and it was embarrassing. Now MJF and Sammy don’t like each other, Ortiz hates all of them and Santana was so mad that he didn’t even come to work this week. MJF interrupts and says they are all friends and he wanted to join this team because they are great. Sammy snaps and says he’s tired of MJF, with Ortiz saying that MJF is growing on him like a fungus.

They try to calm Sammy down, with Sammy eventually agreeing to shake his hand. However, if ONE MORE THING happens, he’s quitting this team and taking it out on Jericho. They shake hands and Jericho says things are calm…..but Jake Hager doesn’t like Wardlow staring at him. Jericho tries to calm things down and they agree to stop staring. They’re on the same page and know that they need to dominate AEW as only they can. They have a big main event tonight with MJF promising to end Orange Cassidy. The team all puts their middle fingers in and it’s all cool. I’m sure.

FTR and Tully Blanchard say they’re great together, unlike Jurassic Express, who are a bunch of crazy people. They are the 82 Ford Bronco with Mario Andretti driving and they are ready to win the titles back.

Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade vs. Lance Archer/Lucha Bros

The brawl is on outside before the bell with everyone going at it in a hurry. The bell rings with Pentagon getting dropped hard and having to be taken to the back. Fenix gets caught in the corner as the numbers game is already in trouble. Eddie hammers away on Fenix and then sends him chest first into the corner as Jake Roberts is sitting on the stage. Blade gets to choke away with his leg but Fenix manages a shot to Kingston’s face.

The hot tag brings in Archer to slug it out with Butcher before hitting some running shoulders to both Butcher and Blade in the corner. We take a break and come back with Archer hitting a German suplex on Blade, only to grab at his knee. The hot tag brings in Fenix with the springboard and there’s the big dive to take Kingston down. Back in and the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination finishes Fenix at 9:21.

Rating: C. This was a weird one with the Penta deal being a weird way to go *assuming it wasn’t legit that is). Archer continues to be a heck of a monster and it’s easy to see why he is so dominant all the time. What we got here was fine, but it was a weird way to go with the choices they had.

Post match Archer cleans house without much effort again.

Nyla Rose, Jade Cargill and Vickie Guerrero are beating up Red Velvet. Ivelisse and Diamante come in for the save.

Abadon vs. Tesha Price

Price looks scared to death and being thrown across the ring makes it even worse. Abadon hammers away in the corner and hits the Widow’s Peak for the pin at 1:12.

Post match the beating continues until Hikaru Shida makes the save with a heck of a kendo stick shot to the head. Abadon sits up and Shida and Price bail in a hurry.

The Inner Circle is ready to destroy Orange Cassidy.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to interview Kenny Omega….who arrives in a helicopter with Don Callis. After the big entrance, Tony talks about how he has never been more disgusted than he was when Don Callis interfered last week (yeah still not that big of a deal). Callis talks about Tony Khan welcomed him into his home and then Callis screwed him over. Callis: “Welcome to the wrestling business kid.”

This might have been a bigger screwjob than Montreal because the AEW Title raises the stakes. Callis gives us a fast version of last night’s Impact promo: he has known Omega since Omega was ten and the plan has been in place for years. Now Callis, as the invisible hand, has pushed Omega to the World Title after helping put together Omega vs. Chris Jericho in the Tokyo Dome, which brought AEW to fruition. Omega talks about how they had this ultimate plan and waited a year to pull it off.

Then last week it was a fine art performance and it was downright inspirational. Everyone fell for it from commentary to Jerry Lynn. What mattered most though was Jon Moxley fell for it and no one kicks out of the One Winged Angel. You haven’t seen anything yet and Omega does goodbye and good night. The delivery was good…..but the big idea behind it is that they needed a plan to get Omega, who has the biggest reputation of anyone here in the company and helps run the whole place, to become World Champion? That’s kind of hard to buy, though Callis’ promo was good.

Dynamite Diamond Ring: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Orange Cassidy

The Inner Circle and the Best Friends are here too. MJF jumps him to start and breaks the sunglasses to really make things serious. A Stundog Millionaire gets Cassidy out of trouble though and they head to the apron, with Cassidy missing a charge into the post. MJF ties Cassidy’s fingers in the turnbuckle to make it worse and it’s a chinlock back inside. Cassidy gets sent outside again and the Inner Circle gets in the group stomping. Sammy posts Cassidy and we take a break.

Back with MJF mocking the hands in the pockets, only to have Cassidy come back with the tornado DDT. MJF hits the top rope stomp to the arm but has to duck the Orange Punch. A double underhook shoulder breaker sets up a tiger driver for two and they’re both down. Cassidy is back up to dive onto the Inner Circle but MJF gets in the Heat Seeker back inside. Jericho sends MJF the bat for the Eddie Guerrero treatment, but Cassidy doesn’t even catch it, puts his hands in his pockets, and falls down.

MJF grabs the bat and gets caught in a nice twist on the usual deal, meaning the referee throws the bat outside. The Beach Break gets two so MJF is back with the Salt of the Earth, but Cassidy rolls out. The Orange Punch, with the bad hand, gets a delayed two and another one connects, but this time Wardlow puts the foot on the rope. Everyone brawls on the floor so here’s Miro to deck Cassidy and put his hands in his pockets as MJF steals the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here and it got a bit messy at times, but dang they had me with some of the drama in the near falls. What matters most here is MJF keeping the ring and keeping the Inner Circle going for the time being, as their breakup is something you should stretch out rather than hot shot. Good match, even with all the chaos going on.

Post match Miro, in his Versace sweater, wrecks the production staff, including throwing one off the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was an up and down show and I’m not sure what to think of the whole thing. The wrestling wasn’t as good this week but after last week’s huge show, it’s understandable that they need a little breather. The main event and the opener both worked and it’s not like the there was anything completely horrible throughout the show.

The important parts here were Sting, Shaq and Omega and…..yeah I’m not sure on them. The Sting stuff was good, as Sting looked and sounded like his old self, but how long does that charm last? I can’t bring myself to care about Shaq, especially when it seems to be more about Brandi than anyone else. That leaves Omega, and while the story of why they needed a plan doesn’t really work, it’s still WAY too early to know where this whole thing is going to pass judgment on it yet. Overall it’s a good show, but they have a lot of things to address going forward.

Results

Young Bucks b. Hybrid 2 – BTE Trigger to Angelico

FTR b. Varsity Blonds – Goodnight Express to Pillman

Dustin Rhodes b. 10 – Bulldog

Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade b. Lucha Bros/Lance Archer – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Fenix

Abadon b. Tesha Price – Widow’s Peak

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Orange Cassidy – Pin after Miro interfered

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Full Gear 2020
Date: November 7, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s time to go back on pay per view and that’s quite a good thing around here. This company has been around for about a year and a half with pay per views and has almost as good of a track record as you can get. This show has a stacked card too and hopefully we get something that lives up to its potential. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In: NWA Women’s Title: Allysin Kay vs. Serena Deeb

Deeb is defending and drives Kay into the corner to start. A top wristlock takes Kay down but she’s right back up, only to get dragon screw legwhipped. Serena ties their legs together and bridges them into the air while pulling on Kay’s arms for a move that looks great and makes you try to figure out what is hurting more. That’s broken up and they slap it out with Kay taking her into the corner. Deeb rolls her up for two but walks into a hot shot for the same.

The straitjacket choke goes on but Deeb switches around into a Backstabber. Kay is right back up with a chokebomb for two and a spinebuster is good for the same. A double clothesline gives us a double knockdown though and we get a breather. Back up and Deeb hits a swinging neckbreaker for two but Kay is back up with the AK47 (spinning Big Ending) with Deeb rolling out to the floor. Back in and Deeb twists the knee down again, setting up the Serenity Lock (Tequila Sunrise) for the tap at 10:26.

Rating: C. This was a perfectly fine way to open things up as they had a completely watchable match with the leg being worked on earlier in the match to set up the ending. Deeb is a great addition to the roster and Kay would be a nice signing if they can get her. Nice choice for the opener here and they both looked completely comfortable on this kind of a stage.

The opening video looks at the bigger matches, as opening videos tend to do.

Commentary runs down the card.

Impact Wrestling’s Don Callis joins commentary for the opener.

#1 Contenders Tournament Finals: Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

Dang I thought this had a chance at headlining. Omega gets a big hype introduction of course, including listing off various tournaments he has won and talking about his experience edge. With dancing girls of course. Page on the other hand is a “Focus Yeehaw Man” and doesn’t shake hands. Feeling out process to start with Page getting dropped by a shoulder but avoiding a dropkick. The sliding clothesline misses so Page goes with some chops instead.

Omega knocks him to the floor to set up the Rise of the Terminator but Page is right back in with a big boot. A superplex gives Page two and they head to the floor with Page chopping away against the barricade. Omega gets whipped into the barricade but he’s right back up with a moonsault off the same barricade. Back in and the Regal Roll sets up a middle rope moonsault for two but Page hits a heck of a clothesline to send him outside.

The slingshot dive misses and it’s a baseball dropkick to keep Page on the floor. Omega hits the big running flip dive and they’re both down for a bit. Back in again and neither can hit the One Winged Angel so Omega goes with the V Trigger to knock him to the ramp. A powerbomb on the ramp is blocked so Page whips him into the ropes for a pop up powerbomb to drop Omega onto the ramp instead.

Another pop up powerbomb gives Page two back inside and they both need a breather. The slow motion forearm off sets up a rolling forearm to rock Omega. He’s right back with a knee to the face and a tiger driver 98 gives Omega two. The V Trigger misses though and Page hits a discus forearm. Omega hits one of his own into the Snapdragon but Page is right back with a shot to the face of his own.

The Deadeye gives Page two so it’s time for the Buckshot Lariat. That’s countered into a crucifix, which is countered into a cradle for a crazy close near fall on Omega. Back up and Omega twists the knee around the ropes and after a missed Buckshot Lariat, Omega hits a pair of V Triggers. The One Winged Angel finishes Page at 16:26.

Rating: B+. Yeah that worked and you knew it was going to. Page is someone who is going to be a big star for a long time to come as he had a heck of a match here, though there wasn’t much doubt about the winner. Omega seems ready to ascend to the next level but I’m more interested in seeing where Page and his collapse under the pressure goes from here.

AEW Games is doing something on Tuesday.

Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver

Kind of a drop off for Cassidy after the co-main event last time around. They stare each other down with Silver talking about how jacked he is and yelling at Cassidy for putting his hands in his pockets. Tony: “If you don’t want him to do it, stop him.” Cassidy takes him down and teases a headlock but gives him a thumbs up instead. The slow motion kicks to the legs set up the dropkick into the nip up but Silver slams him down.

Silver takes Cassidy’s hands out of the pockets and RIPS OUT THE POCKETS. He eats one of them too. Some big tosses send Cassidy flying across the ring as this is mostly one sided. Cassidy tries the tornado DDT but Silver muscles him up with a suplex, followed by the kicks to the chest. Cassidy gets sent out to the apron and it’s time to send Silver head first into the buckle over and over. A high crossbody sets up the tornado DDT for two and they’re both down for a bit.

Silver is back up with a one armed gorilla press drop onto the top rope but Cassidy snaps off a headscissors. The Michinoku Driver gives Cassidy two but the Beach Break is broken up. The Orange Punch misses as well so Cassidy settles for a Stundog Millionaire instead. Silver is back with a pump kick and the Spin Doctor gets two. The discus clothesline misses though and Cassidy is back with the Orange Punch. Cassidy hits the Beach Break for the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C+. This was a total showcase for Silver and he stepped up to make it work. He can go in the ring and I’ve heard nothing but good things about his stuff on BTE. Silver got something out of this and that was the idea. Cassidy was fine here too, though he doesn’t have as much momentum as he had just a few months ago. It’s still there, but he needs to do something to get back up to where he was.

We recap Cody Rhodes (yes the Rhodes is back) vs. Darby Allin for Cody’s TNT Title. Cody got squashed to lose the title but came back with a vengeance to regain it. Then Allin stepped up to get the next shot and wants to be the next face of TNT. Cody agrees….but not right now. Darby is different though and has given Cody a run for his money before.

TNT Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin

Cody is defending and has Brandi and the rest of the Nightmare Family with him. Allin comes in the banged up car that says FACE OF TNT, which he bangs up even more with the skateboard. Feeling out process to start as the fans give us a BOTH THESE GUYS chant. Cody takes him to the mat to start and they go to some standing switches off a waistlock. Allin sends him outside but comes back in with a crucifix for two but Cody runs him over without much effort.

A short armscissors goes on before Cody shifts to a regular armbar. Darby fights up but gets pulled down into a Rings of Saturn to stay on the arm. Back up and Cody takes him up top for a super hammerlock slam, only to miss the moonsault. Darby strikes away and hits a running Code Red for two. Allin goes up to but gets caught with a forearm to the back, setting up a super Cross Rhodes for two as the arm is underneath the rope.

Cody goes up again but Darby jumps on his back, only to have Cody drop back down for a big crash. Allin gets planted again as commentary is wondering why Cody isn’t going back to the banged up arm. Instead Cody grabs the weightlifting belt but Allin scoops the legs for two off a rollup. The Last Supper gives Allin two more and the Coffin Drop gets two more. Back up and Cody goes for another Cross Rhodes but Allin reverses into a pinfall reversal sequence with Allin managing to get the surprise pin and the title at 16:50.

Rating: B. They got me with that one as I didn’t think Cody was going to drop the title so soon. That being said, they have been needing to make new stars around here and that’s what they did here with a clean pin to make Allin the champion. Good match too, but the important thing was elevating someone to another level and that’s what they did here, just as they should have.

Post match Arn Anderson is STUNNED. Cody hands Allin the title and raises his hand as Anderson isn’t pleased. Cue Taz to say enough of this already. He’s sick of the emotions because Allin won the title. Taz would say act like you’ve been there before but he never has been.

Cue Brian Cage and Ricky Starks to post Anderson and jump the other two. Cage and Starks both pick up the TNT Title and get in a bit of a tug of war until Taz takes it away. Cage picks Allin up and, after dispatching Cody again, drops him on the floor for a toss through….it looks like a Full Gear sign. They take Allin over to the car and go to crush the arm but Will Hobbs makes the save with a chair. Perfectly logical progression of the story, but I’m not sure they needed to do this immediately after the title change.

The Natural Nightmares don’t think much of Allie infiltrating the team but Dustin Rhodes is ready to take care of the Butcher and Blade on Wednesday. We’re even going to make it a Bunkhouse Match so they can make it even worse. Were they doing a sound check when Cody was getting mauled???

We recap Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose. Shida has won the title and beaten up all of her challengers so we’ll have her face Rose again.

Women’s Title: Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida

Rose, with Vickie Guerrero is challenging. They slug it out to start with Shida ducking some big shots and hammering away. Rose easily blocks a suplex attempt so Shida hits a pair of running dropkicks into the ropes. The running knee gives Shida one but she knocks Rose outside without much effort. Shida loads up her chair but takes a little too long, allowing Rose to blast her with a clothesline. The referee won’t let Rose use a chair so Shida knocks her over the barricade and hammers away.

Vickie gets in a kendo stick shot to Shida’s knee though and the champ is in a lot of trouble. The knee is bent around the ring structure and Rose cuts the leg out again with a chop block. A splash onto the legs gets two and Rose grabs a half crab to stay on the knee. Rose misses a backsplash though and Shida hits a basement clothesline for her own two. Shida manages a slam for two but Rose is back with a claw onto the knee of all things. That doesn’t last long (thankfully) so Rose slams her down for two instead.

Shida gets draped across the top rope and Rose comes off the top with a knee to the knee for two more. It’s Rose heading up again but this time Shida catches her with a pump kick onto the ramp. A middle rope dropkick puts her down again and a regular missile dropkick gets two back inside. Rose blocks the running knee though and it’s a powerbomb (not the Beast Bomb) for two, but she pulls Shida up.

Instead Rose hits her own running knee for one and Shida manages a backdrop. Back up and a super Falcon Arrow gets two on Rose so they head outside, with Rose accidentally running Vickie over. They head inside again and Shida hits a regular Falcon Arrow for two more. Shida hits a pair of running knees to finish Rose at 13:57.

Rating: C. It was hard hitting but it kind of kept going from move to move without the most coherent match. There was something there with Rose getting too cocky to follow up and go with the pin, but it was kind of meandering after that. Granted it needs to be a matter of time before Britt Baker wins the title and if that’s what happens, everything is going to be fine. This was nowhere near a bad match, but it wasn’t all that good.

Post match Vickie screams at Rose and seems to end the partnership. It wasn’t exactly some epic team in the first place.

We recap the Young Bucks vs. FTR. This has been a dream match for a long time now and there is no reason to believe it won’t be great in practice. FTR have the titles but the Bucks are the best team in the world, or so they say. Matt Jackson has a bad knee/ankle coming in thanks to the champs, Tully Blanchard is banned from ringside and if the Bucks lose they can never challenge for the titles again.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are challenging. Wheeler goes straight for Matt’s bad leg but gets kicked to the leg with Matt saying he’s fine. Back in and everything breaks down for a second until we settle down to Nick vs. Harwood. Commentary explains that Tully was banned for cheating (JR: “What do pro wrestling managers do?”) as Nick kicks Harwood down into an armbar. That’s broken up and Harwood takes him into the corner to hammer away but Nick dropkicks his way to freedom. Matt comes back in for stereo hurricanranas into right hands to the head (ala the Rockers), with the champs being sent outside.

The Bucks follow him out with Harwood punching the post by mistake to put him in trouble for a change. Back in and the hand can barely do anything but Wheeler takes Matt down by the leg. The referee checks on Harwood’s hand and bandages it up as the leg work continues. Matt gets away for a bit but Nick and Wheeler are fighting on the apron. The PowerPlex is cut off by raised knees though and Matt grabs a small package for two. Matt goes old school with the Arn Anderson head fake into the DDT and the hot tag brings in Nick to clean house.

The champs get beaten down on the floor but Wheeler rolls through a high crossbody. A Hart Attack gets two on Nick but Matt makes a blind tag to spear Wheeler. The running knee to the face gives Matt two but it’s a Steiner Bulldog for two more despite Wheeler cutting Nick off. Nick is back in with a superkick and a 3D into a Twist of Fate into a Swanton gets two on Wheeler. Matt gets a crazy hot near fall off a crucifix before slugging it out with Harwood.

A right hand rocks Matt but aggrivates the hand again again. FTR goes back to NXT’s days with the Meet In The Middle for two on Matt but the Mind Breaker is countered with a kick to the head (Excalibur: “Broken up with the gamenguri!” Somewhere Bobby Heenan is shouting “HE KICKED THE MAN IN THE HEAD!”) and the Bucks grab stereo Sharpshooters. Those are broken up so Nick goes after Harwood’s hand, setting up the BTE Trigger for two with Wheeler making a very diving save.

Nick dives onto Wheeler so Matt grabs a chair, with Harwood begging him to use it. Matt doesn’t, but the delay lets Wheeler break up the Meltzer Driver. The Mind Bender connects but Matt gets a foot on the rope for the break. FTR takes off Matt’s boot and ties up the leg for the middle rope stomp. The inverted Figure Four goes on but Nick makes the save with a 450 for two more. Wheeler is back in to kick Matt down but misses a springboard 450 (seriously) of his own. Matt uses the bad leg for the superkick for the pin and the titles at 29:50.

Rating: A-. Yeah that worked, mainly because they slowed things down to start with the Bucks not doing as many flips as they could. In other words, they actually built things up and got to the big moment at the end, which is what often works best with these things. Really good stuff here, though they might have done one too many old school moves to avoid being cute. Still though, heck of a match and the kind of match where you can see the praise for the Bucks being earned.

Post match Omega comes out to celebrate as we can see someone (seemed to be Page) lurking in the shadows.

Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy

It’s a cinematic match with Sammy riding up to the Hardy Compound in a golf cart (labeled Spanish God of course). We cut to Matt on the phone saying that if he gives the signal, someone needs to show up here ASAP. Sammy arrives and is greeted by NEO1, who projects Broken Matt. Cue the real Matt in a monster truck (labeled Strait Jacket) to run over the golf cart. Matt calls that orgasmic and says it was a squash job. Sammy jumps Matt with a trashcan as the bell rings, followed by a moonsault off of the truck.

They send each other into some trees and Sammy is whipped into another trashcan. A suplex on the yard gives us a bad thud but Matt gets over to a fountain to pull out a scepter (Excalibur: “It’s the Scepter of Mestophocles! JR: “WELL OF COURSE IT IS!”). Some shots to the ribs have Sammy in trouble and they head over to the ring waiting for them. Cue Santana and Ortiz to jump Matt so he reaches underneath the ring and grabs a walkie talkie, saying come on. We cut to Private Party in a car and they’re on their way for the save.

Cue Private Party, with JR saying they’re dressed like “funky….uh…..superheroes!”. The teams brawl in the ring as Matt busts out some Roman candles and runs off. Matt starts singing A Hunting I Will Go and fires them over the ring while shouting for Sammy. Hold on though as Sammy finds a well placed torch and his own Roman candle to fire right back. We cut over to Private Party and Santana/Ortiz having a mini match before going back to Matt unloading on Sammy with more fireworks.

Sammy winds up in a mud pit so Matt can get in a mud show line for your Jim Cornette reference. Hold on though as here’s a masked man to say he’s Matt’s mentor. It’s Gangrel, so Matt unleashes Hurricane Helms (who he put there in a previous match at the Compound) for the save. Helms asks what took Matt two years so Matt says it’s long form storytelling and he had to go to AEW to actually finish this. Sammy is back up to throw Hurricane in the Lake of Reincarnation and he counters the Twist of Fate into a low superkick.

Cue ace reporter Gregory Helms to question Sammy, earning himself another trip into the water. They get back in the ring with Hurricane joining them again. Sammy goes off into the woods as Gangrel, Hurricane, Private Party Santana and Ortiz fighting in the ring. Sammy and Matt go into the Dome of Deletion and Matt shuts the door, allowing music to start and Sammy to get in a chair shot to the back. The turnbuckle is unhooked as they head into a ring, where a ladder and table are waiting.

Sammy chokes him with the rope and then lays him on the table. It’s time to climb the ladder, setting up a huge Swanton….for two. Matt is back with a Twist of Fate and sends Sammy through a table at ringside. A chair to Sammy’s head is your next call back to months ago and Matt shouts that Sammy made him into what he is. Matt hits the Conchairto on the floor as commentary gets all serious and Sammy is done at 19:38.

Rating: D. I get that some people are going to have a good time with this and I won’t argue anything about it, but dang this didn’t do it for me. It was way too long, they got too goofy (as usual) and then Matt wins. I’m not sure how in the world this was seen as the best idea but I’m really not sure I want to know what their bad ideas were. I really don’t need to see this kind of match again and I certainly don’t need to see Matt winning over someone like Sammy.

Post match Matt lets Private Party in and they put Sammy in a trash can (which was quite the fit) so Private Party can throw him into the back of a truck.

Jake Roberts sings about watching Captain Kangaroo and Lance Archer says he’s going to end everyone. You’re not supposed to throw rocks in glass houses but he’s throwing boulders.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF has been trying to get into the Inner Circle but Jericho has not been thrilled with the prospect. They had a big song and dance number and then a town hall but now it’s time for a match, where MJF gets in if he wins.

Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

If MJF wins, he’s in the Inner Circle. MJF, with Wardlow, comes out in the light up jacket and does the old Jericho pose on the stage. Jericho pounds him down to start and gets in a hard forearm, followed by a belly to back. Some shots in the corner are cut off by MJF’s clothesline and it’s time to rip at Jericho’s face. They head outside with Jericho taking over the camera, as he has been known to do. The Judas Effect hits the post though and the arm is in trouble. Excalibur: “Well MJF, despite the fact that he’s an arrogant p****, is an excellent pro wrestler.”

Back in and Jericho hits a backdrop but gets his arm snapped down onto the rope to put him in trouble again. The cocky MJF slowly hammers away in the corner but Jericho pokes him in the eye. The top rope ax handle sets up the Lionsault for no cover as Jericho takes him up top instead. A super hurricanrana plants MJF for two but he grabs the wrist and sends Jericho flying by the arm. Jericho crotches him on top, only to have MJF pull him by the arm into the corner.

They slug it out with Jericho using the left hand, as he would logically be doing here. MJF is right back with the Salt of the Earth but Jericho slips out and puts on the Walls. A crawl gets MJF over to the ropes for the break, with the referee having to tell Jericho he didn’t win. MJF pulls him throat first into the ropes and snaps the arm over the ropes again. A Codebreaker over the ropes sets up the Heatseeker for two and they’re both down.

MJF misses a Lionsault and gets caught with the Codebreaker for two more. The Judas Effect is countered into the Salt of the Earth but Jericho makes the rope this time. Wardlow slips in the Dynamite Diamond but Jericho ducks the big right hand. Jake Hager throws in Floyd the bat so MJF drops down and plays dead. The referee yells at Jericho, allowing MJF to grab a rollup with tights for the pin at 16:24.

Rating: B-. This was a good back and forth match where I wasn’t sure how they were going to end things. They did something clever by having MJF outsmart Jericho, which could go a long way if MJF is ultimately going to have MJF take Jericho’s spot as leader (assuming they go that way). Rather good match and it’s not like Jericho losing is going to hurt him (as has been the case for the last fifteen plus years at least).

Post match the monsters stare at each other so Jericho shakes MJF’s hand, welcoming both he and Wardlow to the team.

Revolution is on February 27, promising an alternate reality.

Orange Cassidy has no thoughts on his win but here are Miro, Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford to demand an apology. Cassidy says he’s sorry but that’s not good enough for Sabian, who slaps him. Cassidy and the Best Friends walk away, leaving the three of them confused.

We recap Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley. They have been friends for fifteen years and now Kingston being eaten alive by jealousy. Kingston talked about how he gave his life to this business and it’s why he never got married or had kids. Moxley talked about the promise he made to Kingston’s mom to watch his back. Tonight it’s I Quit as Kingston has his big chance.

AEW World Title: Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending and it’s I Quit. They slug it out to start and they trade the chops until Moxley picks the ankle. That doesn’t last long and it’s time to chop it out again. They head outside with Moxley hitting a suicide dive and throwing a chair at Eddie’s face for a bonus. It’s time to go beyond the barricade with Moxley suplexing him onto the concrete. Moxley goes for the choke but Kingston bites the arm to escape.

It’s back to ringside with Moxley being sent into the barricade. Kingston throws in the chairs but the now bleeding Moxley pulls out a barbed wire baseball bat. A shot to the ribs and back have Kingston in trouble and Moxley kicks the chairs over. The barbed wire is raked over Kingston’s forehead but he’s right back with some belly to back suplexes. Moxley punches away from the mat but Kingston hits him with the chair.

After taking some barbed wire off the bat and wrapping it around his hand, Kingston hammers away at the head for some extra brutality. Kingston grabs a Kimura with Moxley having to bite the leg for the break. The chairs are set up again but this time Moxley gets in a suplex onto them for another double knockdown. Kingston is still up first and pours out a bag of thumbtacks but Moxley gets in a hard clothesline for a breather. It’s Kingston up first to knock Moxley down onto the tacks and then raids the doctor’s bag….to find rubbing alcohol.

A low blow keeps Moxley down and Kingston pours the rubbing alcohol into the wounds on Moxley’s back. Screaming ensues, though it isn’t enough to make Moxley quit. Instead Moxley fights back up gets the bulldog choke, which still isn’t enough to make Kingston quit. With that not working, Moxley gets up and hits the Paradigm Shift. That’s not enough either so Moxley wraps the barbed wire around his arm and puts on the bulldog choke to retain at 19:02.

Rating: B. The opinion on this is going to be the most back and forth you’ll see for a main event you’ll see for a bit as it’s going to depend on your taste. I’m not a fan of this kind of stuff, though for what they were going for, it worked well. It was violent and brutal, but the Abyss in TNA and various other people in other promotions have taken away any impact this might have. Kingston wasn’t exactly a major threat to win and that’s ok in a spot like this. The point wasn’t the ending but rather how they got there and that worked, though this really isn’t my style.

Post match Moxley shouts that it was blood and guts. Cue Kenny Omega for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The women’s match was longer than it needed to be (while still being find enough) and the Hardy vs. Guevara match was just bad but the rest of this was a smash with nothing resembling bad throughout the night. You have some great stuff here like the opener, the Tag Team Title match and depending on your taste, the main event. AEW is right back where they usually were and All Out seems to have been just a misstep, which is going to happen to everyone. Check this one out as it’s one of the better shows of the year.

Results

Kenny Omega b. Hangman Page – One Winged Angel

Orange Cassidy b. John Silver – Beach Break

Darby Allin b. Cody Rhodes – Rollup

Hikaru Shida b. Nyla Rose – Running knee

Young Bucks b. FTR – Superkick to Harwood

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara – Conchairto

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Chris Jericho – Rollup with tights

Jon Moxley b. Eddie Kingston – Bulldog choke with barbed wire

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

It’s that time again. AEW has not been around all that long but they are already getting some traditional shows together. That is the case again with the second annual Full Gear, which hopefully ends their streak of completely watchable and even good pay per views that were completely beneath their usual shows. That’s kind of a good problem to have and hopefully everything is at their normal level this time around. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: NWA Women’s Title: Serena Deeb(c) vs. Allysin Kay

My head shakes every time I see the NWA on a big time wrestling show as it never stops amazing me. The NWA got a lot of miles out of that rather short Powerrr run but here they are again. Deeb has been a great addition to the AEW women’s division and the NWA name still has the slightest value. It’s not like this is taking up some big spot so hopefully we get a solid match as a bonus.

I’ll take Deeb to retain here as there is no reason to believe that she is going to lose. Deeb has recently signed to AEW and the NWA would be insane to cut off any kind of mainstream connection they have like AEW. It’s going to be a good match as the two of them are both rather talented in the ring and can probably put on a heck of a match if they are given the chance.

Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver

I don’t watch Being The Elite but everything I’ve heard about it says that Silver has started stealing the show as of late. He has been showing some of that on AEW as well and it is nice to see him getting a spot like this. It isn’t like anything is going to change in a significant way because he is getting this spot, and Cassidy still has a lot of status around here so it should work.

Of course Cassidy wins here because he is the star of the two, even though he has fell down a few good steps since the feud with Chris Jericho ended. This is likely to be the comedy match of the night and that’s a fine spot for them after one of the bigger matches. It has some potential and Silver is coming off like a star, so maybe we could be in for something good here.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Nyla Rose

Is it just me or does Rose get half of the title shots in this promotion? Anyway, this is the same thing that we have seen more than once now, with the great striker Shida defending against the monster. It worked well enough once so hopefully they can make it work again. Shida feels like she has cooled WAY off in recent weeks though and I had mostly forgotten about her more than once.

I know I’ve said something like this before but I can’t imagine Rose loses here. Why in the world would you have her lose all over again, especially with Vickie Guerrero as a good mouthpiece for her? Shida is hardly an exciting champion these days and Rose (or eventually Britt Baker) taking the title from her should be the ultimate goal. For now though, Rose leaves as champion.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

It’s time for another cinematic match with the Elite Deletion match. I know that Hardy is the originator of this kind of match but I can’t really bring myself to get decided about the thing again. The feud has not exactly been the strongest in company history and other than seeing some of Hardy’s calculated insanity, I’m not sure how much appeal this has.

I’ll take Guevara to win here as there is just no reason to have Hardy win. Hardy is an established star and has been foe about fifteen years now. The match should be complete shenanigans and insanity, but at the end of the day, Guevara can be a force for a long time to come. I don’t think this is going to be the match that puts him on the stage for good, but at least a win over Hardy could mean at least a little something.

TNT Title: Cody(c) vs. Darby Allin

Now we’re getting somewhere as we have a history between the two of them and a shiny title for someone to take with them. Cody is back to the blond hair to make it feel like a member of his Elite and that is working out well enough for everyone. They even hyped up the match a bit this week to give it some heat and that is a good thing. Now though we get to see if Allin can hang here on the big show, which is hard to screw.

This is a tough one actually but I can’t imagine Cody dropping the title for a second time just a few weeks after getting it back. At the same time though, I don’t want or need to see Allin taking another loss after coming up short in most of his big matches. The good thing here is the fact that they have managed to do a really solid job with making Allin feel like a star and he’ll get there one day. It just isn’t today, but it is going to make for an interesting chance.

Tag Team Titles: FTR(c) vs. Young Bucks

This is the next dream match and in this case, that might actually be an accurate description for a change. These are two very successful and popular teams, though this time we have a twist with the Bucks doing the old “if we don’t win we can’t challenge again” deal. Normally that would seal the deal in a title match like this but that does not seem to be the case with AEW (so far at least).

I’m going to take….dang….yeah I’ll go with the Bucks here, even with Matt’s knee not being entirely healed up yet. This is a match that has been hyped up for a very long now and I’m curious to see which way they can take it. FTR could feel like transitional champions, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have a great match on the way there. Just cool it with some of the Bucks’ flips they’re likely to have a better match (with a few flips of course).

Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

In a way, I kind of wish they weren’t having this match. Friedman is an amazing talker and a great character, but he is a lot better in those areas than he is in the ring. That isn’t to say he can’t have a great match as he and Jungle Boy were awesome at All Out, but I’m not entirely sold here. Part of the appeal of this has been the teasing of a fight and I don’t know if I really need to see them actually go at it.

That being said, there is no reason whatsoever for Jericho to win here, as Friedman joining the team is the obvious next step. The question though is which way do you go to get there. I’m not sure if you have someone turn on Jericho yet or wait for later, but you can almost write in the idea of the Inner Circle (or at least part of it) turning on him. I don’t think they need to do it yet, but they do need to have Friedman win here, which he will.

Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

If there wasn’t a World Title match left, this would be headlining the show. It has received a lot more hype than the World Title match and the story is a good bit more detailed. The Page interview on this week’s Dynamite made me a lot more interested in what he was doing than I was before, so hopefully they can live up to the hype while also continuing to mess with Page’s psyche.

Of course I’ll go with Omega, as I just can’t imagine them going with anything but Omega as the next World Title challenger. It is pretty clear that he is going to get the big breakout star push and I’m curious to see how well that works in front of an American audience. There is no need to have Page go over here, meaning he takes another hit and slips further away how he was originally presented (as he should be).

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Eddie Kingston

Then there’s this, which doesn’t exactly feel like a top of the card main event match. The I Quit stipulation helps out a lot though as these two having a heck of a fight is the best thing they can do. Moxley can brawl and Kingston can fight, which doesn’t leave much in the area of technical expertise. They are going to have to do something special to make one of them quit and believe they can pull it off somehow.

Moxley retains here as there is almost no way to imagine Kingston as a World Champion in a major promotion. His promos have been straight fire as of late though and AEW would be insane to not try and do something with him. Assuming Omega wins, there id no reason to have him go after anyone but Moxley needs to retain the title, which is exactly what he will do.

Overall Thoughts

All Out was not the best show in the world but AEW has long since shown that they can do some very entertaining pay per views. The card is absolutely stacked and it was feeling bigger and bigger with each match I looked at here. This has a lot of potential and if everything delivers, we could be in a full time classic. I’m looking forward to this one and that means they’re doing something right.

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: October 21, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s time to start the second year as well as beginning the process of finding a new #1 contender. That means the first round of a tournament to crowd Jon Moxley’s next challenger, with the finals on November 7 at Full Gear. I’m not sure what to expect from this but it should be a wrestling heavy show. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Wardlow vs. Jungle Boy

Boy starts kicking at the legs to start and even manages a head kick from the apron. Wardlow misses a charge and winds up on the floor, where he catches Boy’s dive. That’s broken up so Boy tries again, only to get powerbombed into the post instead. Back in and Wardlow pounds away before blasting Boy with a clothesline for two. The knee out of the corner is broken up as Boy hits his own knee to the face.

Wardlow gets knocked to the floor for a suicide dive to the back, followed by a slingshot DDT back inside. A low superkick lets Boy go up but Wardlow pops to his feet to cut that off. Wardlow loads up a super gorilla press but Boy reverses into a super hurricanrana instead. A backstabber out of the corner sets up Boy’s top rope double knees for two and the near fall leaves Boy down. Wardlow rolls out to the apron so Boy follows, only to get caught with the F10 back into the ring. One heck of an F10 gives Wardlow the pin at 8:26.

Rating: C+. Good stuff here with Boy playing a great underdog against the monster Wardlow. Boy is small enough to look like he’s in a lot of danger but is just big enough to make a comeback believable. I had a good time with this one and wanted to see Boy pull it off, even if the ending we got made the most sense.

We look at Eddie Kingston’s promo from last week, with Kingston promising to make Jon Moxley quit for the World Title.

Confirmed for Full Gear: Jon Moxley defends the World Title against Eddie Kingston in an I Quit match.

Moxley talks about his history with Kingston, who may not have said he quit. That’s because he was unconscious when he got choked out. Instead, Moxley is taking his friend back at Full Gear and ending this once and for all.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Kenny Omega vs. Sonny Kiss

Omega’s entrance now includes listing off his accomplishments (including the amount of times he has broken Meltzer’s five star scale) and dancing women in swimsuits with brooms. V Trigger and One Winged Angel finishes Kiss at 35 seconds. That’s the best way to go if Omega is being pushed as the ace again and was anyone buying Kiss as having a chance here anyway?

Orange Cassidy is asked about his match with Cody next week. Cassidy: “We’re off to Cincinnati.” After that few years old Bill Belichick reference, Cassidy says “whatever” with regards to his training. Then he plays with a monitor.

Cody and Arn Anderson arrived earlier and talked about gaining weight while he was away. He’s needing the weight for all of the giants he faces around here and needs to be a real heavyweight. Now it’s time to get ready for the title match.

Eddie Kingston talks about what his boys have been doing as of late and how successful they are going to be. Then it’s off to Moxley, and yeah what he said is true. Kingston had to go here though and look what it has gotten him. He has never quit on anything before and he won’t at Full Gear. Moxley is going to have to go to a dark place on November 7, but that’s where Kingston lives.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Fenix vs. Penta El Zero M

Eddie Kingston is on commentary. They go with the armdrags to start and Penta rolls him down into an ankle lock. That’s broken up and they go to the pinfall reversal sequence for two and then some zeroes each. They stand up and have the big chop off until Penta takes it to the apron. Fenix knocks him to the floor though and hits a big corkscrew dive for the crash. Back in and Fenix tries a rope walk but Penta avoids the kick for another crash as we take a break.

We come back with Penta chopping away and hitting a flipping DDT for two. Penta gets caught up top though and it’s a super Spanish Fly for a very near fall. Back up and Penta tosses him into the air, where Fenix flips forward, into a powerbomb for two more (good grief). Fenix comes up holding his arm but is fine enough to snap off a spin into a Canadian Destroyer for the pin at 14:12.

Rating: B. This was exactly what it was supposed to be with one crazy spot after another. I wasn’t expecting anything else and I wouldn’t have wanted it to be anything else, so well done on delivering what was expected. Good stuff here and for the life of me I don’t get why these two aren’t being featured more often. They might not be the most traditional wrestlers but dang they can have some exciting matches, just like this.

We look at the Best Friends accidentally destroying Kip Sabian and Miro’s arcade cabinet last week.

The Best Friends say that was an accident but Sabian and Miro don’t seem convinced.

The Dark Order is ready to continue their dominance by winning the Tag Team Titles and the World Title. Colt Cabana says he feels no pressure but John Silver snaps, shouting about how the entire Dark Order is under pressure. Next week, the entire Dark Order is going to beat up whoever leaves as the TNT Champion to help make Mr. Brodie Lee the next champion. Silver leaves while shouting his own BRODIE chant.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Colt Cabana vs. Hangman Page

Evil Uno is here with Cabana. Feeling out process to start and they run the ropes until Cabana says STOP, allowing him to snap off an armdrag. Page is back up with some chops and the running shooting star press gets two. We take a break and come back with Page hitting a fall away slam to set up the slugout.

Cabana gets in a rollup for two but the Flying Apple is countered into a bridging German suplex for two more. Back up and Cabana sends him outside for the splash off the apron. Page catches him on the way back in but the Buckshot Lariat is broken up. The Chicago Skyline is broken up as well but the Buckshot misses. Cabana gets the Superman Pin for two and NOW the Buckshot Lariat can connect for the pin on Cabana at 10:43.

Rating: C+. This took some time to get going but it wound up working out rather well in the end. I know Cabana is known for his comedy and such but he can work a completely straight match when he needs to and that’s what he did here for the most part. That’s a good change of pace and makes Cabana more valuable, so this worked out well.

Video on Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy.

Team Taz wants to know why Will Hobbs is taking his time in accepting their invitation. Is he some kind of a big guy now? As for Darby Allin, he’s getting a TNT Title shot at Full Gear and Taz isn’t happy. Earlier today he talked to Tony Khan, who said Ricky Starks could have had the title shot if he had beaten Allin. WELL OF COURSE HE WOULD HAVE because Starks only lost because of a cheap ending. What do Brian Cage and Ricky Starks get? Starks talks about how he has proven his worth time after time already and now someone has to pay. That is going to be Allin, some place and some time. He’s putting Allin in the grave.

It’s time for Le Dinner Debonair with Chris Jericho and Maxwell Jacob Friedman. After getting the waitress’ name wrong, MJF orders a 20 ounce porterhouse with a baked potato and he’ll take that well done. Jericho orders the same, but he’ll have it medium well. MJF changes it to medium, setting off a back and forth until Jericho wants his blue (extra bloody rare). With the waiter off to find a new eraser, Jericho talks about a town hall with the Inner Circle next week. He doesn’t like MJF’s Ratings Ruler, because it has as much of a chance of getting over as, and they say together, Orange Cassidy.

They agree that they’re never going to get rid of each other…..and we hit an old Vaudeville style musical number, complete with synchronized dancing and the curtain pulling back to reveal dancing girls. I’m not even going to try to do this justice but the lyrics involve them being each other’s shadow and beating up a Moxley. Yeah nothing topping this one for a good while. Anyway they sit back down and get their meals, which they realize is horrible because they need to send this back. They shout their own versions of the waitress’ name to wrap things up. This was glorious.

Britt Baker vs. KiLynn King

King starts with an attempt at a rollup but gets kicked in the face for her efforts. Some knees to the face have her in more trouble and Baker pulls the arm around the post. Back up and King hits a kick to the face, only to get caught in a Sling Blade. A DDT sets up a fisherman’s neckbreaker into the Stomp, meaning it’s time for the Lockjaw to finish King st 4:03.

Rating: C-. I could go for a lot less King losing but Baker needed a showcase win here. Baker getting the title should be a matter of time now and I can’t imagine AEW messing up what should be the easiest thing they have had handed to them in a very long time. King continues to impress in losses, but this was all about Baker, as it should have been.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Orange Cassidy vs. Cody for the TNT Title in a lumberjack match.

Young Bucks vs. Butcher and Blade vs. Dark Order vs. Private Party

The winners get a shot at FTR, on commentary, at Full Gear. Matt armdrags Silver into the corner to start and it’s Blade coming in to get taken down without much effort. A double dropkick has Blade in trouble and an elevated dropkick puts Butcher down as well. Isaiah Kassidy comes in to kick Nick away and it’s a double nip up but Matt comes in and it’s a Bucks vs. Party staredown. The double superkicks are blocked so Party hits their own as everything breaks down.

Quen dives onto Silver and then does it again to Reynolds, with Dax Harwood saying he could just punch him in the face instead. Butcher and Blade are sent into each other and the shooting star press gets two on Blade with Butcher making the save. We take a break and come back with Silver missing a top rope double stomp but feeding Quen into an enziguri into a Stunner into a German suplex for two with the Bucks diving in for another save.

The hot tag brings in Kassidy, because we’re doing tags again. The Silly String hits Reynolds and it’s a top rope splash/top rope legdrop combination with the Bucks diving in a second time. Butcher and Blade hit Full Death on Kassidy with the Bucks doing their thing again, meaning it’s time for Nick to clean house with kicks and strikes.

Nick dives onto Private Party on the floor and it’s a double superkick to drop Butcher. The Bucks call out to FTR and it’s a top rope backsplash/Tombstone combination for two on Butcher and Blade with Private Party making the save. The Meltzer Driver is broken up but Kassidy is cradled into a rollup to give the Bucks the pin and the title shot at 13:29.

Rating: B-. That’s about as by the book as you would have expected here and that’s not a bad thing. The Bucks were never going to lose when they had a chance against FTR on a pay per view and it’s not like any other other teams would have been worthy of the spot anyway. It’s ok to have a match where the ending is clear and that’s what they did here, albeit with a lot of the same dives and spots that the Bucks have done in almost every single match.

Post match the Bucks get in the ring but here’s a masked man with a chair to Matt. FTR jumps Nick and give him a spike piledriver, followed by Matt’s leg being Pillmanized. The masked man is Tully Blanchard, who is rather happy with FTR to end the show. I’m going to spare myself a lot of headaches by not asking about the face/heel dynamic here.

Overall Rating: B+. How can a show that had the song number be anything but great? I know it’s going to get on some people’s nerves and fair enough but those grins and the whole production were too much to not make me smile. The wrestling was rather good throughout and they made the tournament move rather fast, even though the finals should be pretty clear. Again: there’s nothing wrong with predictable if the path there is entertaining and that’s what we got here.

Results

Wardlow b. Jungle Boy – F10

Kenny Omega b. Sonny Kiss – One Winged Angel

Rey Fenix b. Penta El Zero M – Canadian Destroyer

Hangman Page b. Colt Cabana – Buckshot lariat

Britt Baker b. KiLynn King – Lockjaw

Young Bucks b. Private Party, Butcher and Blade and Dark Order – Victory roll to Kassidy

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: October 14, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s a big show this week as we have an Anniversary edition. Since it’s Dynamite, that means it’s a packed show with all of the titles being defended in one night. You don’t see that too often around here as AEW has done a good job of making its titles and their defenses feel special. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Best Friends

FTR, with Tully Blanchard, is defending and it’s Harwood working on Taylor’s arm to start. An armdrag into an armbar has Harwood in trouble and it’s off to Trent for some armbarring of his own. The champs take over on Trent in the corner as Tony talks about this show being around since October 2, 199…..and JR is all over him. A shoulder to the ribs puts Trent on the floor, followed by a seated abdominal stretch back inside.

Trent fights up and hits a clothesline but Harwood comes in to break up any tag attempt. A belly to back superplex drops Trent again but he gets his knees up to block a Vader Bomb. The hot tag brings in Chuck to start cleaning house, including a Falcon Arrow for two on Harwood. Back in and Tully sweeps the leg on a suplex attempt for two as the old trick doesn’t work this time. The champs are sent into each other and Chuck sunset flips Wilder for two more.

The Soul Food/half and half combination gets two and Trent’s running knee is good for another near fall. A pop up powerbomb plants Trent for the same and the champs are getting frustrated. Trent goes up but gets crotched on top, setting up another belly to back superplex but Trent spins around onto him for two more. A tornado DDT plants Wheeler but Harwood is right back up with a regular DDT.

The Mind Breaker is broken up and Strong Zero connects with Wheeler having to make the save. Wheeler gets knocked over the barricade and Trent follows, only to get sent into Kip Sabian’s arcade cabinet. Sabian sends Penelope Ford to the back for some reason and FTR brings the mostly out of it Trent back to the ring. Chuck breaks up the Good Night Express but the ref gets bumped and it’s a belt shot to finish Chuck at 16:31.

Rating: B. You know, when you drop the Big Hug and don’t have the Best Friends doing their weird gimmick of being nine year olds, they can have a good match. I didn’t need the arcade deal but at least it gives the Best Friends a bit more of an out. FTR continues to be able to do a lot of good things in the ring and can make anyone look good, so this worked as well as it could.

Post match the Best Friends hug but here are Miro and Sabian to jump both of them, setting up their next feud.

Miro/Kip Sabian vs. Lee Johnson/Sean Maluta

We’re joined during the middle of Miro’s entrances and the squashing is on in a hurry as Sabian is mourning his arcade cabinet. Johnson gets knocked off the apron and then sent into the barricade. Back in and Sabian hits the top rope splash to crush Maluta and Miro grabs Game Over for the tap at 1:53. Total squash, as Miro’s debut should have been in the first place.

Post match Sabian yells about how the Best Friends destroyed his most prized possession. Miro: “GAME OVER.”

We cut to the back where Lance Archer is destroying Jon Moxley.

We get the brackets for the #1 contenders tournament:

Penta El Cero M

Rey Fenix

Kenny Omega

Joey Janela

Colt Cabana

Hangman Page

Wardlow

Jungle Boy

It starts next week with the finals at Full Gear.

Here are Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Wardlow for an announcement. MJF talks about how he has accomplished more in a year than these people have in their entire lives. He not only got on top but is staying on top. Tonight he has an announcement, so can Chris Jericho please come out here to hear it in person. Instead he gets the full Inner Circle and after the Judas chorus is gone, we’re ready to move on. MJF isn’t happy that Sammy isn’t wearing his Inner Circle jacket so Jericho insists that he put it on. The jacket is way too big but MJF insists that it’s a perfect fit.

Speaking of fit, MJF praises Jericho’s abs and luscious hair, even asking to touch it. Jericho lets him but then tells MJF to cut the sh**. MJF claims that he is getting better ratings than Jericho, so he is the RATINGS RULER. The two of them have been on fire since AEW began and MJF suggests Jericho watches Animal Planet. Jericho: “I…..hate…..Animal Planet!” MJF: “Oddly specific.”

Anyway the point is when you’re watching Animal Planet, you never see two piranhas eating each other because they’re both predators. MJF and Jericho need to adapt to continue chasing their prey. After swallowing his pride about asking for a job and losing his smile, MJF says he might kind of sort of maybe plausibly perhaps join the Inner Circle. Santana says there is no maybe, because they don’t want MJF in the Inner Circle.

Jericho says hold on, but suggests that he and MJF meet one on one….for a steak dinner next week. MJF: “You want to eat steak?” Jericho: “I’ve never wanted anything more in my entire life.” MJF: “YOU WANT TO EAT STEAK??? YOU WANT TO EAT STEAK??? YOU’RE ON!” Jericho: “I’ll see you at the restaurant, MAX.” This was a funny exchange and I want to see next week.

Earlier today, Tony Schiavone and Britt Baker were at the spa, where Britt was having something done to her face but still managed to have Reba come in with the chart of rules. She thinks you should be the baddest b**** on the block….and then realizes Schiavone is missing his clothes on the table next to him (under a sheet that is). Tony winds up getting a chest wax before Baker yells at him for not being around after the Young Bucks attacked him. Tony: “I got kicked in the face!” Baker: “I got kicked in the nose!” Baker is in action next week.

TNT Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Cody

Cody, with Brandi and Arn Anderson, is defending and is back to the blond hair. So much for the better look. Cassidy ducks a clothesline to start and then puts his hands in his pockets rather than going with a test of strength. A shove knocks the sunglasses off so Cassidy kicks them to the floor and it’s the first lockup of Cassidy’s AEW career. Cassidy takes him into the corner for a gentle shove before Cody waistlocks him to the mat. The hands into the pockets let Cassidy out and he nips up.

Cody takes him down again and we take a break. Back with Cassidy flipping out of an armbar and doing the weak leg kicks. Cassidy gets knocked down but comes back with the effort based offense to knock Cody outside. Cody is nearly knocked into the Dark Order but John Silver gets caught with the belt, earning a mass ejection. Cassidy gets the title but hands it to Anderson and throws Cody back inside. Cody rolls through a high crossbody but the Cross Rhodes is countered into a rollup for two.

The suplex is countered into a Stundog Millionaire, only to have Cody pop back up with the Cody Cutter. Cassidy strikes away at the chest but gets his knee kicked out to put both of them down. Cassidy’s leg is wrapped around the post and Arn is not pleased. The Disaster Kick calms Arn down a bit but only gets two. A kneeling half crab goes on but Cody lets go in a hurry. Cody runs him over with a clothesline and stops for some pushups before loading up what looked to be a Pedigree.

Cassidy falls down to escape so Cody puts him on top for the reverse superplex and another near fall. The knee got banged up again on the landing so Cody goes to wrap it around the post again, only to get pulled into the post. The top rope DDT gives Cassidy two and a nasty looking Michinoku Driver gets the same. Cody is right back with a shot to the knee into the Figure Four.

Cassidy rolls over to the ropes for the break and it’s the Beach Break onto the apron to knock both guys down to the floor. The knee is banged up again so Cassidy takes his time getting back in for the cover. With a minute left, the Orange Punch is countered into Cross Rhodes but Cassidy reverses into the tornado DDT. The Beach Break gets two more so Cassidy grabs the Mousetrap for two as time expires at 20:00.

Rating: B-. This got better at the end but it wasn’t the most dramatic match until the ending. I like Cassidy being more serious in bigger matches and he is getting better with the major performances. I’m assuming this sets up a rematch at Full Gear, with Darby Allin, already announced as getting a pay per view title shot at the show, which should be good. This worked out well enough, though it was kind of a long wait to get to the hot finish.

Post match Cody looks relieved.

Jon Moxley jumps Lance Archer in the back.

Matt Hardy is here with his wife and children to announce that he is medically cleared. A video pops up on screen to show a bunch of photos of Matt’s career, which are lit on fire. It’s Sammy Guevara, who was the one who attacked Hardy a few weeks back because he wants to end Hardy’s career. Hardy says he knows what his first order of business is now.

The tag division is on the stage and we are going to draw four names out of a tumbler to determine the participants in a #1 contenders match next week. The four teams are Private Party, John Silver/Alex Reynolds, Butcher and Blade and the Young Bucks (with Tony being disgusted). The Bucks come in and start superkicking people before clearing out the tumbler. House is cleaned and the Bucks stare it down with Private Party. That means stereo superkicks to drop Private Party so the Bucks can stare down FTR.

Women’s Title: Big Swole vs. Hikaru Shida

Shida is defending and grabs a headlock to start but gets reversed into a standing chinlock. That’s reversed into a cradle for two on Swole and they knock each other down a few times in a row. Shida heads to the floor and this a running knee to the face, only to get knocked into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Swole not being able to hit a sunset bomb but she can hit a springboard cutter to the ramp. Another cutter gets two back inside but Dirty Dancing is blocked. Shida knees her down again and hits the Falcon Arrow for two. Dirty Dancing connects but Shida grabs the rope for the break. Shida knees her in the head again, setting up the running knee for the pin at 8:53.

Rating: C-. This took some time to get going and it never hit that next level. Shida uses those running knees quite a bit and they can get a little repetitive in a hurry. Then there’s Swole, who isn’t exactly the most polished out there. She has come a pretty long way in the last few months, but she needs a good bit more work.

Here’s what’s coming next week, plus in two weeks: Cassidy vs. Cody for the TNT Title again.

Video on Scorpio Sky vs. Shawn Spears.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer

Moxley is defending, Eddie Kingston is on commentary with the Lucha Bros, and it’s No DQ. The Paradigm Shift gives Moxley two at the bell so he tries it again, only to get driven out to the floor. They brawl around ringside with Archer getting the better of things as Kingston promises a classic when Fenix faces Penta in the tournament. Archer sends him outside again for the Cannonball from the apron and we take a break. Back with Archer not being able to hit a chokeslam from the apron through some tables at ringside.

Another chokeslam is broken up so Moxley loses a forearm off instead. Moxley gets in a running shot for the knockdown though and it’s time to throw in a bunch of chairs. A hard chair shot drops Archer again but he slips out of a Death Valley Driver through some chairs. Archer chokeslams him through the chairs for two but Moxley pulls him down into a heel hook. The rope means nothing so Archer pulls himself to the floor for the escape.

Archer grabs a trashcan to block a dive but Moxley is back with a low blow on the apron. The Paradigm Shift from the apron through the tables leaves them both laying. Back in and the Paradigm Shift gives Moxley two more and we hit the Bulldog Choke. That’s broken up so Moxley rolls him up for two, only to get DDTed for two. The Black Out connects but Moxley reverses the cover into a crucifix to retain at 12:35.

Rating: B-. It was a good brawl but I can’t really bring myself to get excited about another Moxley fight. This is what he does these days and it is what he has done for months now. How many times can you get fired up about the same formula of the same match over and over again? Kingston vs. Moxley II sounds great, but Moxley is really starting to wear thin on me.

Post match the beatdown is on but Kingston sends in the Lucha Bros with chairs for the save. Fenix hits him in the back with a chair to little effect so Jake Roberts tells Archer to get out of here. Moxley pulls himself up as Kingston talks about their history together. Kingston says Moxley has carried the company for most of a year and wants the fans to cheer for him. The group hand raise sets up the spinning backfist into the rear naked choke to lay Moxley out. Kingston holds up the title and calls it beautiful while shouting that he’s going to finish Moxley to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling was mostly good (women’s match aside) and the show as a whole was rather good. That being said, for a show built around the anniversary, there wasn’t a ton about the history of the promotion. That’s one way to go, though it wasn’t quite the blow away show they seemed to be building towards. Still though, Dynamite has been at worst the second best wrestling show of the week for its first year (and often the best period) and that’s pretty impressive given its rather limited history. Good show this week, though I was hoping for a bit stronger outing all around.

Results

FTR b. Best Friends – Belt shot to Chuck’s head

Miro/Kip Sabian b. Lee Johnson/Sean Maluta – Game Over to Maluta

Orange Cassidy vs. Cody went to a time limit draw

Hikaru Shida b. Big Swole – Running knee

Jon Moxley b. Lance Archer – Crucifix

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:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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