IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s the third AEW show in just over twenty four hours and they are 2/2 so far. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for tonight though, as Lance Archer has tested positive for the Coronavirus. Therefore the six man tag is out and Jon Moxley will be defending the World Title against Eddie Kingston instead. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory of Road Warrior Animal.

Opening sequence.

Kip Sabian/Miro vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Sabian introduces Miro as the most handsome man and The Best Man in wrestling. We get an inset promo from Janela, who says Sabian marrying Ford is a bad, bad mistake. They’re not here to talk about real life or video games though because he and Sonny are on the express to victory. Sabian takes Sonny down by the arm to start but some armdrags have Sabian down as well.

The handspring slap connects in the corner and it’s off to Janela to start in on the arm. They take turns working on said arm until Sonny’s standing moonsault gets two. Miro comes in for a save which doesn’t work but he kicks Sonny anyway. The tag brings in Miro for the first time and he slams Joey with a spinning release Rock Bottom. There’s a release gutwrench suplex and it’s already back to Sabian for a kick to the chest.

Sonny gets over for the tag off to Janela but Miro comes in as well. Miro gets low bridged to the floor and comes up limping, allowing Janela to get in a kick from the apron. He’s fine enough to send Janela over the barricade and Miro tries to throw Sabian at him, only to have Sabian knocked out of the air.

Sonny adds a dropkick to take Miro down again and it’s Janela’s superkick for two on Sabian back inside. Miro comes back in to kick Janela in the head (which the camera barely catches) but Sonny blocks a springboard from Sabian. Sonny fights back but gets launched into Sabian’s Codebreaker for two with Janela making the save. The jumping superkick drops Sonny and the camel clutch (now named Game Over because they are running with this Twitch deal) finishes at 9:36.

Rating: C-. This….did not work. It was sloppy, it didn’t showcase Miro until the end (if he was actually hurt then fair enough) and it felt more like a way to make Janela and Kiss look good than establishing Miro. It could have been a lot worse, but this should have been Miro slaughtering someone, not Kiss and Janela showing they can hang with a monster.

Post match Eddie Kingston comes out to say if you haven’t been checking social media today, he’s getting a World Title shot tonight because he was never eliminated from the battle royal. He and Moxley were cut from the same cloth but then Moxley sold his soul to the land of sports entertainers. Before their match, he wants to look into the eyes of the entertainer so get out here Mox. Cue Moxley to get in Kingston’s face but referees break it up in a hurry.

Evil Uno vs. Hangman Page

Kenny Omega is on commentary again. Apparently Omega/Page were offered a tag match against the Dark Order but turned it down. Page, who is apparently sticking with the long pants, is backed into the corner for an early clean break before Uno shoulders him down. Page nips back up and kicks Uno in the chest to set up the big smile. The bridging pumphandle suplex gets two on Uno and a springboard clothesline knocks him off the apron.

Page hits a slingshot dive to take Uno down again and we take a break. Back with the rest of the Dark Order coming down to glare at Page but the team leaves before doing anything. Page drops Uno onto the apron but misses a top rope clothesline. There’s the fall away slam though and Page hits a running shooting star press for two. Uno gets up for a Swanton and a near fall but Page is back with a clothesline. The running shooting star press hits knees but Page shrugs it off and hits the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 10:19.

Rating: C. Uno has indeed gotten better and even if that isn’t the most difficult improvement to make, it is an improvement and he deserves some credit. This wasn’t terrible by any means and while the ending wasn’t quite surprising, it’s good to see Page getting some more wins.

Earlier today, Tony Schiavone interviewed Matt Jackson, who says the Young Bucks have been acting a little weird as of late. It’s true that they shouldn’t have attacked that announcer or what’s his face the referee. The Bucks have lost a lot over the last few weeks though and some of their relationships have fallen apart.

They will do better though and Tony says FTR is the source of a lot of these problems but Matt wants to move on to the next fight. He asks if Tony has his phone….and smashes it against the wall. Matt whips out some money and throws it at Tony before walking back into the locker room. Tony: “Put this in their book. New chapter maybe.”

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy

Lee is defending and the Dark Order is at ringside. John Silver beats up Cassidy’s jacket and shirt on the floor, much to his own lack of a response. Anna Jay gets up on the apron for a distraction so Cassidy gives her his sunglasses, which Lee takes away. Cassidy starts with the slow kicks and gets a big boot for his efforts. A dropkick puts Lee on the floor though and Cassidy loads up a dive…which the rest of the Order catches.

Lee dives onto everyone and Cassidy is in trouble early. The referee gets distracted and the Order hammers away, setting up Lee’s slingshot hilo for two. Cassidy counters the swinging DDT into a swinging Boss Man Slam for two more. Back from a break with Lee hitting another suplex but getting sent outside. Cassidy hits the suicide elbow and then does it again.

The rest of the Order tries to interfere but accidentally takes each other out, leaving Cassidy to hit a top rope DDT. Some running penalty kicks have Lee annoyed so Cassidy hits the swinging DDT. The Air Raid Crash gets two on Lee in a pretty warm near fall. Silver gets inside but gets Orange Punched, allowing Lee to hit the powerbomb into the discus lariat to retain at 11:32.

Rating: C+. It was a little better than I was expecting and that’s always a nice thing to say. Cassidy getting in some offense is a good thing as it would have been a lot to have Cassidy win the feud with Jericho and then lose to Lee in a squash. It was an entertaining enough match though and that’s as good as you can ask for with Cassidy.

Post match Cody is back, now with dark hair and in dark gear, to unload on the Order. The Cody Cutter drops 5 and Cody wraps the leg around the post while throwing in an evil smile. The Figure Four makes it even worse as Cody is looking more intense than ever.

Post break Lee grabs the mic and screams about Cody being gone for five weeks while he has been here doing the work. What kind of a man lets others do his work for him or have his wife sent out thirst trap photos while calling him daddy? Lee grabs a dog collar from John Silver and says he’s going to wrap it around Cody’s awful tattoo (ha) and end him for good. Cody has a week to decide. Lee was really intense here and it worked.

Here are Matt Hardy and Private Party, with Matt saying the cheers just made his birthday. Matt talks about being attacked last week, which has him wondering who wanted to do it. Earlier that day, he talked to Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Brodie Lee, and of course he has issues with the Inner Circle. All he knows is that someone was wearing a face covering and someone hit him in the knee with something really hard.

Then Chris Jericho and Jake Hager were right there, with Jericho holding a bat. That makes Jericho the prime suspect and then they used the same bat to beat Private Party. After the match, Jericho tries to injure Isaiah Kassidy, because the more things change, the more they stay the same (which Matt gets out after three tries).

Cue Jericho, with bat, and the Inner Circle to interrupt, complete with a lot of pyro. Jericho denies attacking Matt last week because he would do it to his face. Matt is ready to fight right now even though he isn’t cleared. Marq Quen says he’s cleared to fight but Kassidy takes the mic and says he’s got this. Quen issues the challenge to Jericho for next week, promising to make him his Le Champion b****. Jericho doesn’t look impressed.

Here are FTR and Tully Blanchard in the ring for a chat. Tully talks about how great it is to have some fans here in attendance and he has some new ideas. Usually a World Title match has a one hour time limit but they have something in mind. From now on, title defenses on television are going to have twenty minute time limits so the fans can get a little brush with greatness. The champs get to pick the opponents too, so next week it’s FTR vs. SCU. If SCU can’t win in twenty minutes, FTR gets credit for the win.

They’ll need some new challengers after SCU though, but last week Best Friends were in a glorified backyard match…so here are the Best Friends to interrupt. Trent says last week was a war so let’s do this twenty minute challenge right now. A referee comes down and we’re ready to go but Dax says not so fast because the Best Friends need to become #1 contenders first. Chuck calls them a couple of “weenies” and we get the Big Hug.

Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa vs. Diamante/Ivelisse

It’s a big brawl to start with everyone fighting on the floor. Shida and Rosa hit stereo kicks to Diamante’s head and there’s a slam to put her down back inside. Shida suplexes Rosa onto Diamante for two and a running backsplash gets the same. Ivelisse comes in to hit Rosa in the throat and a quick powerbomb gets two. We take a break and come back with Shida getting two on Diamante.

Ivelisse gets the tag and starts to clean house, including a Downward Spiral and a Stunner. Rosa knees Shida by mistake and Ivelisse adds a kick to the head for two. An assisted Sliced Bread gets the same on Shida with Rosa making the save. Rosa and Ivelisse fight to the floor but Rosa comes back in to break up a Code Red. A Death Valley Driver hits Diamante and Shida’s Falcon Arrow gets two on Diamante. Shida hits the running knee to finish Diamante at 6:14.

Rating: C+. It was more of a brawl than a match and you could all but guarantee that the singles champions weren’t losing here. I like the feud between the two of them and you can probably pencil them in for another champion vs. champion match down the line. Some of the near falls were good here and I liked what we got for the most part.

Chris Jericho agrees to face Kassidy next week and dubs himself the Million Viewer Man. The only shots Kassidy is getting next week are from his right and left hands but here is MJF to interrupt. MJF doesn’t like Jericho being disrespected, which Jericho appreciates. Jericho calls him the uncrowned World Champion and MJF imitates Jericho in a funny bit.

They like each other, but they both ask why they called each other a loser. MJF talks about seeing it all over social media but Jericho says he saw it on Dynamite (nice save). MJF was calling his limo driver a loser and Jericho was calling Schiavone a loser so they agree they’re both all right. MJF and Jericho at the same time: “Thanks Dasha.”

Here’s what’s coming next week.

On October 7, Chris Jericho is celebrating thirty years in wrestling.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

Kingston is challenging. They go to the mat to start with Moxley grabbing a quickly broken headscissors. The exchange of strikes ensues until Kingston takes him down with a clothesline. They head outside with Moxley being thrown over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Kingston cranking on a chinlock before chopping Moxley down hard.

Moxley manages a quick piledriver for two with Kingston using the ropes to escape. Kingston is back with a powerbomb out of the corner for the same but misses the spinning backfist. They slowly slug it out again until Kingston suplexes him down twice for two. Kingston chops away in the corner but Moxley slaps him away. The spinning backfist is blocked again and Moxley slaps on a bulldog choke to retain at 10:53.

Rating: B-. Again this was much more like a fight than a match and that’s what it should have been. Kingston and Moxley are both brawlers at heart so it makes sense to have them do this instead of wrestle a technical masterpiece. It was a thrown together match and considering how little time they had to set it up, this worked out perfectly well.

Post match the Lucha Bros run in for the beatdown but Will Hobbs runs in for the save. A double superkick takes Hobbs down but here’s Darby Allin for…well not much of a save really as Ricky Starks jumps him from behind. The big beatdown is on, including Starks getting in a shot to Allin with the skateboard.

Overall Rating: B-. All in all, a completely fine show but it wasn’t quite as good as some of the stuff they have done in the past. What we got was good though and it was by no means a bad show. The problem is last night’s bonus Dynamite had a show stealer and this just had mostly pretty good stuff. I liked what we got though and they have some bigger stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Completely watchable show, but down a step from recent weeks.

Results

Miro/Kip Sabian b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Game Over to Kiss

Hangman Page b. Evil Uno – Buckshot Lariat

Brodie Lee b. Orange Cassidy – Discus lariat

Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa b. Diamante/Ivelisse – Running knee to Rosa

Jon Moxley b. Eddie Kingston – Bulldog choke

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

We are still dealing with the fallout from All Out and things are looking up for AEW. Last week’s show was the first time in the better part of a year that they got back to one million viewers, which is a heck of an accomplishment. Now the trick is to do it again and hopefully they can pull it off for a second time. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The Jurassic Express is here for the opening match against FTR. Hang on though as the Young Bucks come out to superkick the referee. The Bucks walk to the back and throw a stack of money at Tony Khan (I’d assume paying the fine from last week) before walking in front of FTR, who seem…I guess indifferent? I know it’s an upgrade for the Bucks to be heels, but dang they are the least intimidating looking heels that I’ve seen in years.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. FTR

FTR, with Tully Blanchard is defending. Dax Harwood takes Jungle Boy into the corner to start and it’s quickly off to Cash Wheeler for more of the same. It’s already back to Harwood who gets dropkicked down, with Wheeler receiving one of his own. Luchasaurus comes in and gets taken into the corner for the double teaming but some clotheslines get him out of trouble.

Harwood goes up but dives into a powerslam and it’s back to Boy. This doesn’t go well again as Boy is sent into the corner but comes back out with a double hurricanrana to send the champs outside. Back in and Wheeler hits Rick Steiner’s backdrop/powerslam for two and it’s time for an old school surfboard. The abdominal stretch stays on Boy’s ribs and Harwood comes back in for a gordbuster. Boy finally gets in a clothesline and drops Harwood, allowing the hot tag off to Luchasaurus. A double clothesline takes FTR down and it’s a chokeslam for two.

Some kicks to the head connect for two on Wheeler but he’s back up with another powerslam attempt. That’s countered into a small package for two and a crucifix gets the same on Harwood. Boy’s high crossbody connects but Wheeler rolls through for two more, even with a handful of trunks. Everything breaks down and Boy rolls Harwood up for two more. Luchasaurus is sent over the barricade and Boy dives onto Wheeler. Boy tries a sunset flip but Harwood sits down on it and Wheeler grabs his hand for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: B. Those were some hot near falls and I was thinking they were going to have the upset a few times. I can go for these old school stuff from FTR and it makes for such a contrast compared to so much else you see in the division. Jurassic Express is a lot better when they let Jungle Boy do all of the work and they seem to have understood that we don’t need to stop the matches for the Marko Stunt Show. You can do that every now and then but it was every single match for awhile there.

Matt Hardy has been attacked with Private Party not being sure what happened. They were planning for the match against Jake Hager and Chris Jericho tonight and then he was laid out. Cue Jericho and Hager to wonder how bad it is, with Jericho thinking they may need to amputate.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Hangman Page

Kenny Omega is on commentary, because talking is such a strong point for him. Page, who is no longer in a tag team, drives him into the corner to start and we get a clean break. Kazarian grabs a front facelock for two and drop toeholds him into a cravate. Back up and some shoulders go to Page, followed by a big slam. Some chops have Kazarian in trouble in the corner and Page clotheslines him off the apron. There’s the slingshot dive to the floor and we take a break.

Back with a double knockdown but Page is up with a fall away slam to put both guys down again. Page nips up and hits a running shooting star press for two. Another springboard clothesline misses though and Kazarian hits a slingshot DDT for two more. Kazarian hits an Unprettier for two and Page is right back up with a pumphandle Death Valley Driver for the same.

Page goes to the apron and gets pulled back in for a good looking slingshot cutter for a rather near fall. Kazarian’s springboard is countered into a Spirit Bomb for two and they head back outside. A clothesline drives Page against the barricade but they head back inside with Page nailing the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 13:52.

Rating: B. They’re starting hot tonight and this was another heck of a match with the two of them working very well together. Kazarian can have a pretty awesome match with anyone and this was no exception. I had a really good time with this and Page was pulled up to another level, which is great to see.

Post match Page has a beer.

Video on Best Friends vs. Santana and Ortiz.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Shawn Dean

Poke to the eye and Salt of the Earth finishes Dean at 6 seconds.

Post match MJF says Jon Moxley cheated at All Out and he should be the World Champion. Therefore, he is going to be known as the Undefeated Undisputed. Uncrowned World Champion of All Elite Wrestling. He even makes Justin Roberts call him such, albeit with some gusto. With that out of the way, MJF says you have to be part of a faction around here so maybe it’s time for this lone wolf to join up with someone. Even if he doesn’t though, he is still better than you and you know it.

Taz breaks down Ricky Starks’ offense, even showing the difference between the grips he uses depending on the opponent’s size.

Eddie Kingston is in the ring with the Lucha Bros with the Butcher and Blade on the floor. Kingston talks about how they are a family and that means they are going to hurt people. Butcher and Blade pulls some wrestlers over the barricade and the four of them beat all of them up. Kingston: “That was hilarious.” Kingston says that now that their house is in order, it’s time for Blade to get his house in order.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Private Party

The fans sing Judas to continue the cool tradition. Tony: “JR you have to learn the lyrics to that song and we’re going to sing it on our trip back to Atlanta.” Hager takes Quen down to start but Quen jumps over him in the corner and brings Kassidy in for a reverse Sling Blade. Jericho comes in and gets sent to the apron with a dropkick sending him outside. A double dive takes Hager and Jericho down again but Hager takes over on Quen a second time.

Jericho elbows Quen in the face and it’s already back to Hager, who gets dropkicked down. The hot tag brings in Kassidy for a standing Lionsault press. Jericho is frustrated so Hager gets in a bat shot to put Kassidy down and we take a break. Back with Hager grabbing a chinlock and pounding away with some forearms to the chest. Hager even knocks Quen off the apron but he gets back up for the Silly String (Tony: “It was a desperation Silly String!”) and eventually the hot tag.

The pace picks up in a hurry with Quen hitting a springboard crossbody for two on Jericho. Hager launches Quen into the air for a super hurricanrana on Jericho before being sent outside. Kassidy ducks the Judas Effect and hits a springboard Stunner for no cover. Instead, Kassidy goes up top but misses the Swanton, allowing the Judas Effect for the pin at 13:01.

Rating: C+. And somehow that’s the worst match of the night so far. Private Party still feel like people who are just doing things for the sake of doing things, but the good sign is that they have shown the ability to be helped to a good match by people like Jericho and FTR. That shows potential in them and there is nothing wrong with being young and in need of experience and coaching. If they can improve, they’ll be fine in the long run.

Post match, Jericho puts Kassidy in the Walls.

NWA Women’s Title: Thunder Rosa vs. Ivelisse

Rosa is defending, Diamante is in Ivelisse’s corner, and they both try armdrags to start. Ivelisse slaps her in the face so Rosa gives her one right back. A raised boot in the corner gets Ivelisse out of trouble and she snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana. The Gory Special goes on but Ivelisse slips out and sends her to the floor for a kick to the head.

Back from a break with Rosa hitting a delayed running dropkick against the ropes for two. The Crossface goes on but Ivelisse is out in a hurry, earning herself a Death Valley Driver. Ivelisse kicks her in the face for two but Rosa is back with a Tombstone (which it takes some time to secure) to retain at 9:33.

Rating: C. I like Rosa more and more every time I see her and it’s great to see her getting a shot like this. A the same time, it’s nice to see the NWA getting a little spotlight as it isn’t like they’re doing anything important at this point. The women’s division has gotten a lot better as of late with the different wrestlers and styles meshing together, which is a hard trick to accomplish.

Post match Diamante jumps Rosa so Hikaru Shida comes out of the crowd and makes the save. She also picks up the title and hands it to Rosa without any drama.

Miro is working out and Kip Sabian (in an AEW Is For Everyone, featuring someone wearing what look to be the headphones you see on a Twitch stream) and they talk about how Miro will be the best man. The bachelor party is coming.

Here are Jake Roberts and Lance Archer, with Lance destroying someone at ringside. Jake quotes some Pink Floyd and talks about how in wrestling, you can find yourself in bed with someone you wouldn’t expect. Sometimes you need information or money or a way out, but this time they need tag team partners for a six man tag. If Roberts is going to lay in bed with the devil, it might as well be with the Tasmanian Devil.

Cue Taz, who looks rather small by comparison. Team Taz is happy to do business with Archer and Roberts, though remember the deal: when Archer wins the World Title, Brian Cage gets the first shot. Archer agrees, and then he and Cage can go Godzilla. Cue Jon Moxley but Cage and Starks jump him from the crowd. Will Hobbs of all people makes the save with a chair. Moxley introduces Hobbs as his partner. Oh and they’ll need a third so Darby Allin can meet them in Jacksonville next week.

Next week: Orange Cassidy gets a TNT Title shot, plus Shida/Rosa vs. Ivelisse/Diamante.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends

This is in the parking lot in the old circle of cars. Santana and Ortiz have white face paint on, making them look like the Guerrillas of Destiny if you let some air out of them. Chuck is sent into the side of a car but Ortiz is thrown under the hood of a car for some slams down onto his back. Chuck adds a Swanton off the top onto the hood and Trent does the same. Santana is sent into a mirror to bust him open but comes back with the baton to get in a few shots.

The flying sledgehammer goes through the windshield of a car and Chuck is suplexed on top of it. Santana’s splash from the top of a truck gets two but Trent spears Ortiz through a piece of plywood. Santana is sent into the bed of a truck and there is a good bit of blood on the ground. Ortiz hits Trent with a metal dust pan Chuck suplexes Ortiz mostly through a piece of barricade but Ortiz is back with a low blow to Trent. A powerbomb onto the top of the car drops Trent again as the four of them are starting to fade.

The double powerbomb sends Trent hard through a windshield and there is some glass in his back. Chuck makes the save with a baseball bat and breaks a wooden board over Ortiz’s back. Trent pulls himself up but gets knocked down again….and Orange Cassidy pops out of a trunk with an Orange Punch (with a chain around his fist) to take out Santana. Chuck piledrives Santana on the hood of a car and Trent hits Strong Zero through plywood into the bed of a truck for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a lot better than the usual Best Friends match, mainly because they took it seriously when they needed to. There was no big hug or anything else and even though the feud was over a minivan, the payoff was a violent and bloody brawl. This was a lot of fun and I cringed a few times (though not at Orange Cassidy as I didn’t expect it and it made sense to have a nine of spades in the hole).

Post match Cassidy carries them over to Sue’s van to drive them….well about a foot before Sue flips off Santana and Ortiz (ok that was hilarious) to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Now this was a lot more like it as they started off hot and then kept it going for most of the show. Nothing was even close to bad and it was a heck of a way to spend two hours. They’ve built some stuff up for the anniversary show and did so with a heck of a show here. This was the most enjoyable episode they have had in a long time and I had a really good time with the whole thing.

Results

FTR b. Jurassic Express – Rollup to Boy with an assist from Cash Wheeler

Hangman Page b. Frankie Kazarian – Buckshot lariat

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Shawn Dean – Salt of the Earth

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Private Party – Judas Effect to Kassidy

Thunder Rosa b. Ivelisse – Tombstone

Best Friends b. Santana and Ortiz – Strong Zero into the bed of a truck to Ortiz

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

We’re done with All Out and about two months away from Full Gear, which means there is some time before we need to really get started on the build to the show. Tonight is likely to be about fallout, which could make for a rather fun night. There are a lot of ways this show could go so let’s get to it.

Here is All Out if you need a recap.

Chris Jericho talks to Maxwell Jacob Friedman about the loss to loss to Jon Moxley on Saturday. They respect each other and know that the other will be World Champion one day. After an elbow bump they go their separate ways, where they call each other a loser.

Opening sequence.

Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express

Jungle Boy and Fenix start things off with an exchange of armdrags. Penta comes in but can’t hit the Fear Factor. Instead it’s Luchasaurus coming in to throw Boy at him for a swinging Downward Spiral. The Bros are sent outside but Penta is right back in for an exchange of chops with Luchasaurus. When that doesn’t go well, it’s a shot to the knee to bring in Boy, who takes Fenix to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and Penta shoves Boy off the ropes and into a kick from Fenix to take over.

The beating is on until a double clothesline misses, allowing Boy to roll over for the tag to Luchasaurus. Fenix gets chokeslammed off the top (which looked more like a slam off the top) but Penta takes Luchasaurus down. The Gory Bomb into the legdrop combination gets two on Luchasaurus and it’s the spike Fear Factor to Boy. Fenix dives onto Luchasaurus as Penta gets two for a shocked reaction. Back in and Boy sends them into each other, setting up a rollup to give Boy the pin at 9:21.

Rating: B-. Total action match here and it’s amazing how much more interesting and entertaining Jurassic Express has been since Marko Stunt went onto the shelf. You might even think that he’s a completely unnecessary part of the team and little more than a mascot. It’s nice to see Jurassic Express win here though, even if it came at the Lucha Bros’ expense, though they have lost so many big matches that it doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Bros are about to fight but Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade break it up. Eddie talks about how they are brothers and need to get along, eventually getting them to hug.

Clips of Jon Moxley retaining the World Title over MJF at All Out.

Here’s what’s coming on the rest of the show.

While standing in the rain, Jake Roberts talks about how he and Lance Archer were confident going into All Out because that’s what they do. They’re here to trash cars instead of driving them because it’s like getting wet. Archer is ready to take the World Title.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He can’t believe all of the outpouring of love and concern over the last few days and he is very happy to stand here in front of the people. After a bunch of tests, Hardy is expected to make a full recovery because he is very lucky. He has a wife and family who are here tonight and he is sorry for putting them through that on Saturday. The only thing he is sorry about is the Broken Rules match not going as he wanted. It is time for him to get healthy though, meaning he can start winning matches and going after his first title. Matt praises Private Party and thanks the fans because they are the best.

Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico

Angelico starts with a top wristlock into a wristlock, leaning to them spinning around a lot for the break. With that not working, Angelico traps the leg and pulls on the neck, followed by something like an STF from the side instead of on Cassidy’s back. That’s broken up with a grab of the rope and Angelico misses a running boot in the corner. Cassidy hits a suicide dive into a high crossbody inside, setting up a tornado DDT. The Orange Punch finishes Angelico at 3:11.

Rating: C. That’s a good way to use Cassidy here after the big win on Saturday. If they want to make him a big deal going forward, this is something you need to do. Cassidy wasn’t doing his shtick here either and that is going to need to happen more often if he is going to have some longevity.

Post match Santana and Ortiz run in to jump Cassidy but the Best Friends run in for the save. Chuck, in a shirt featuring Trent’s mom’s van, calls them ding dongs and yells about Santana and Ortiz destroying his best friend’s mom’s van. The challenge is on for a parking lot fight and Trent says they are coming to hurt them instead of making mama proud. The levity of the mom’s van stuff and the intensity of wanting a parking lot brawl isn’t quite working here.

The Young Bucks knock down the interviewer for trying to ask them questions.

Here are Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford for an in-ring chat. Sabian throws Tony Schiavone out because all anyone wants to know is who is the best man for his wedding. Cue a rather large man in a loud shirt to say he’s here to be the best man. Sabian doesn’t think so, because the guy is a subscriber to Sabian’s Twitch channel and was told he was “the best, man”.

Next up is Brian Pillman Jr. for the same issue. Sabian sends Pillman away and says he hopes his birthday was awful. Now it’s time for the real best man: Miro, formerly known as Rusev. Miro talks about spending ten years chasing the brass ring and tells you where you can stick it. He’s shown he’s the best gamer on Twitch and now he’s all elite.

Tony Schiavone had a sitdown interview with Hangman Page earlier today. Page is banged up after All Out but Tony wants the real answer about how he’s feeling. Page talks about how there were a few hundred fans at All Out but they were pretty far away. He couldn’t hear a sound for thirty minutes because it was like everyone was waiting for he and Kenny Omega to fall apart and lose the Tag Team Titles.

It wasn’t inevitable though and it was Page’s fault that FTR became #1 contenders in the first place. It was his fault that he cost the Young Bucks the gauntlet match because they are the best tag team in the world. From head to toe, he is full of poison. Tony talks about Omega walking away from him on Saturday and Page talks about the issues the two of them have had despite their successes. Now it’s time to get back to the top for another title shot and they’ll get through this too. Page continues to be the best talker in the Elite (past or present) by about ten miles.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Anything goes. Jericho hammers away at Janela in the corner but Janela knocks him down for his own right hands. Kiss comes in for a double hot shot to Jericho and a double dropkick puts him down again. Stereo missile dropkicks connect to send Hager and Jericho to the floor and Janela hits a suicide dive on Jericho. Back in and Janela hits Jericho with a chair a few times but gets suplexed onto said chair for his troubles.

We take a break and come back with Janela throwing Jericho head first into a chair in the corner and making the hot tag to Kiss. Jericho’s trashcan shot is broken up and Hager runs Kiss over from behind. The Vader Bomb onto the trashcan onto Kiss is blocked as Janela and Jericho brawl to the stage. Jericho catapults Janela into a toss off the stage and through a table to leave Janela laying. Kiss dives onto the two of them at once and Cactus Clotheslines Hager from the ramp to the ring. Back in and Jericho sprays Kiss with a fire extinguisher to send him into Hager’s head and arm choke for the win at 9:45.

Rating: C. I didn’t really need to see this getting any kind of time or Janela getting in that much offense (or Janela in general but that’s a different story) but the result worked well enough. Jericho gets back on track and Hager gets to look like a monster again so it accomplished its goals. Now just stop having Janela as a face and things should be better.

Post match Jericho talks about how bad All Out was for the Inner Circle, but the team has a new plan: he and Hager are coming for the Tag Team Titles. I’ve heard worse ideas.

MJF is in his campaign office and freaks out over Jon Moxley cheating to retain the title at All Out. They’re all fired, including Nina, who is FINALLY smiling. After throwing her out, MJF doesn’t like Wardlow calling him sir and yells about Wardlow screwing up. Remember that MJF signs off on Wardlow’s checks instead of Tony Khan, so either get it together or be thrown out on the street. Wardlow is annoyed but agrees that they don’t have a problem. It’s time to plan to get back to the top.

Jon Moxley knows that Lance Archer is coming because this never gets any easier. Would you want to bet against him though?

Here are Tully Blanchard and FTR, with the ring surrounded by the tag division to celebrate their newly won Tag Team Titles….complete with cake. Tully seems to dub the team Fear the Revelation before talking about FTR winning the titles in an 117 degree ring. They came out with the gold to go on top of the deepest tag team division in the world. FTR grew up watching SCU and wished they were still in their prime. Then there’s Private Party. Dax: “Yeah there’s Private Party.”

Billy is one of the most successful tag team wrestlers of all time but being in a second bit Hall of Fame doesn’t get them to the top. Next week they have the Jurassic Express but a cosplay dinosaur isn’t getting a to run the tag team division. The Express comes in and FTR keeps insulting them before bailing from the threat of a double chokeslam. The division surrounds them and the Express pours the cooler of ice onto them. With the champs gone, everyone else has cake.

We look at the Casino Battle Royal.

Taz joins commentary and here is Ricky Starks dressed as Darby Allin instead. Starks, as Allin, talks about finally getting injured and not being able to go skateboarding with his friends. Now as himself, Starks calls out Allin for being reckless and no one wants to be around him. That leaves Allin hurt and alone and the next time he sees Allin, it will be even worse.

Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti

Vickie Guerrero is in Rose’s corner. Rose drives her into the corner to start and tosses Conti down without much effort. Conti comes back with some kicks to the head but Rose knocks her to the floor for a shot from Vickie. We take a break and come back with Conti pulling her into a reverse cross armbreaker but gets reversed into the Beast Bomb for the fast pin at 5:26. Not enough shown due to the commercial, though I’m not sure why you would have Conti lose like this in her first match under contract.

Post match Vickie says that they are here to make a statement but here’s Hikaru Shida with the kendo stick for the staredown.

The Bucks are being fined $5000 for knocking the interviewer down.

JR had a sitdown interview with Kenny Omega earlier today. Omega’s big takeaway is that he was a champion and now he isn’t, which is part of the game. He and Page had chemistry together so they were a great team, which changed Omega’s perception in the company. Maybe he was supposed to be the breakout star around here but maybe he can be more than a singles guy. JR asks what’s next for him but Omega isn’t sure if they are going to be able to be a team again. He spent a year on the team and now it seems to be time to go back to his singles career.

Moxley vs. Archer for the World Title is taking place on October 14 for the Anniversary Show.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes

Lee is defending and some of the Dark Order is here. Dustin jumps him to start and the brawl is on outside before they head back in for the opening bell. Lee chops away in the corner but Dustin does the same. They slug it out until Lee knees him in the ribs and catapults him throat first into the middle rope. We take a break and come back with Dustin hitting a bulldog and snaps off the powerslam but the Canadian Destroyer is broken up. A hurricanrana out of the corner sets up the Code Red for two and they’re both down.

Back up and Cross Rhodes gives Dustin two but Lee is back with a superkick. Lee powerbombs him for two but misses a running boot in the corner. Dustin hits the running flip dive off the apron so John Silver tries to interfere. That lets Dustin hit the Unnatural Kick to Lee and a snap powerslam to Silver. Dustin piledrives Lee for two and a big clothesline gets the same. Back up and Lee hits the discus lariat for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: B. Coming out of All Out, one of the things that I kept hearing praised was Dustin’s fired up promo and how well he has been doing as of late. I hadn’t really gotten it so I paid extra attention to this and yeah, it worked very well. While I don’t particularly care about Dustin avenging the Rhodes Family name, I can get into the idea of the old cowboy with one shot left at glory and putting in a fired up attempt to get the title. This worked very well and they kept my attention after getting it early on.

Post match here’s the rest of the Dark Order with the unconscious QT Marshall but Lee throws Colt Cabana out. Evil Uno tries to calm Cabana down as Lee returns the low blow to Dustin.

We get some Breaking News from Cody. He has gone to Marietta, Georgia to shoot the Go Big Show, which is a new competition series with all kinds of unique acts. Cody will be a judge on the show, which is the only connection the show has to wrestling.

Overall Rating: B-. The opening match and main event helped this one out but it was kind of a cool down show after last time. They have a lot to build towards in the future and it’s ok to burn off a show like this coming off a rare pay per view. That being said, it was far from bad and they did enough to keep me interested. It wasn’t a great show, but it was good enough and that’s all it needs to be.

Results

Jurassic Express b. Lucha Bros – Rollup to Fenix

Orange Cassidy b. Angelico – Orange Punch

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Head and arm choke to Kiss

Nyla Rose b. Tay Conti – Beast Bomb

Brodie Lee b. Dustin Rhodes – Discus lariat

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

All Out 2020
Date: September 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

They’re back on pay per view and for once that’s a rather nice thing to see. AEW has a great history with the big shows and hopefully we continue the streak here. The main events are Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy where you can win by throwing the other one in a vat of mimosa and Jon Moxley defending the World Title against MJF. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

This was announced earlier today and Sonny Kiss and Luther are here. Joey jumps him before the bell and they fight to the floor where Janela glares at Luther. Back in and Serpentico charges into a boot to the face but he sends Joey hard into the corner. Serpentico’s running thigh slap disguised as a shot to the face gets two and Joey is sent outside for some abuse from Luther.

Back in and a snap suplex gives Serpentico two but a Swanton hits raised knees. Janela’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but he misses a moonsault. Janela is back up with a super fisherman’s buster for two. Luther grabs the foot so Janela dropkicks him through the ropes. The top rope elbow gives Joey the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. So that happened and it could have been on any given edition of Dark. Janela still does nothing for me though I do kind of like Serpentico. For what feels like a really basic gimmick, he does well enough with what he has and that’s all you can ask for from something like this.

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Silver starts with Isaiah Kassidy and they fight over wrist control. With that going nowhere, Marq Quen comes in for an atomic drop to send Silver into a clothesline. A top rope ax handle to Reynolds’ arm gets a delayed two but Silver comes in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Reynolds’ knees. There’s a backbreaker for two more and it’s time to kick at Kassidy’s chest for the same. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Kassidy fights out.

A roll over into the corner brings in Quen to clean house, including a top rope moonsault press for two. Silly String is broken up and a heck of a torture rack spinning slam gets two more on Quen. Everything breaks down and Private Party knocks them off the top. A 450 and Swanton miss and it’s a Stunner into a German suplex for two. Private Party is back up and sends Reynolds to the floor, setting up Gin and Juice to finish Silver at 10:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be as Private Party isn’t ready to do a match this long on their own and the Dark Order isn’t going to be able to walk them through it. They certainly didn’t have a disaster out there and the match could have been a lot worse, but it came and went with one spot after another. They were good spots, but they were just spots.

Jim Ross gets his full entrance and really doesn’t seem thrilled to be here.

The announcers run down the card. Thank goodness they’re thinking of those people who buy pay per views and forget what they ordered.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is Tooth vs. Nail and is taking place in Baker’s dental office. Reba checks Swole in and shouts to Baker that she is here, earning herself a clipboard to the head. Swole goes hunting for Baker but finds a bunch of blood on a chair instead. Baker, in a face mask, stalks Swole, who finds a cabinet full of chattering teeth. Baker gets behind her and eventually breaks a framed diploma over her head. The doctor isn’t sure if they can save Swole’s teeth so it’s time to extract them but Swole fights out.

They go outside and into Baker’s motorized wheelchair with Reba helping Baker to little avail. Baker gets in a crutch shot to take Swole down though and they fight back inside. Swole manages to throw a chair at her and Baker is in trouble. They go into an exam room where Baker his a superkick and loads up a syringe full of Novocaine. Swole manages to knock into Baker’s leg to send Reba into hysterics and knocking Baker out for the stoppage at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This was quite the disappointment as they could have done a lot more than what we got here. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that has less than seven minutes and a good chunk of that was spent walking around. I’m not wild on Baker losing, but at least it wasn’t via pinfall so it could have been a lot worse.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

No story here as they won an eight man tag on Wednesday and get to fight as a result. Nick and Jungle Boy start things off for some flipping before it’s quickly off to Matt, who goes outside to yell at Marko Stunt. Back in and Jungle Boy Tail Whips Nick into a Flatliner but Nick slips over for the tag to Matt. A dropkick staggers Luchasaurus but he sends the Bucks into each other and brings Boy back in.

Nick is sent over the top and hard onto the ramp but Matt is back with Locomotion. He suplexes Boy to the floor and hits some more Locomotion, plus another suplex over the barricade to drop Boy. Back in and Matt grabs a front facelock and Nick comes in for a running knee to the face. Boy sends him to the ropes though and Stunt gets in a cheap shot, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus. House is cleaned in a hurry, including the standing moonsault for two.

Everything breaks down but Boy’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb on the apron. A Canadian Destroyer hits Luchasaurus and there’s a superkick to Boy. Back in and the Swanton gets two more on Boy but he avoids the BTE Trigger. Luchasaurus breaks up the Meltzer Driver and chokeslams Nick. The Extinction Level Event hits Matt for two but the Bucks send Luchasaurus outside. The Superkick Party gets two on Boy and now the BTE Trigger is enough for the pin on Boy at 14:53.

Rating: B-. Good action here, even if there wasn’t a ton of drama over who was going to win. There was no reason to believe that the Bucks were going to lose when they have been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks. This worked well enough as a way to get the Bucks on the show, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before.

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

There are four groups of five wrestlers each and a group comes in every three minutes. One wrestler comes in as the Joker at the end and it’s a regular battle royal, with the winner getting a World Title shot in the future. Taz joins commentary for a bonus. First up we have the Spades, meaning Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, the Blade and Rey Fenix to start things off. It’s a brawl to start with Daniels having to fight out of Hager and Blade’s double teaming. Fenix armdrags Trent down but walks into a tornado DDT.

Hager suplexes Daniels and everyone keeps fighting until it’s the Diamonds, consisting of Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, and Santana and Ortiz. The last two hit Chuck from behind with the baton before he can get in the ring and stay on him outside. Hobbs pulls Blade in the way of a charge and Blade is out, followed by Hager getting rid of Daniels. Everyone gets in and it’s time for the Hearts, including Billy, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin.

Cage gets rid of Billy in a hurry so here’s Allin with the skateboard to wreck people. Allin tosses Fenix and the Best Friends get to clean a little house, setting up the Big Hug. Santana and Ortiz get rid of Chuck because they’re not stupid enough to stop for a hug in a match like this. Now it’s time for the Clubs, with Shawn Spears (who goes over to commentary instead of getting in), Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Sonny Kiss and Lance Archer.

Spears takes his time heading to the ring as Archer gets to clean house in a hurry. Kiss eliminates Hager but Cage gets rid of him as well. Tully Blanchard hands Spears the piece of metal for the glove as Hager decks Kiss on the floor. Trent gets rid of Santana but can only send Ortiz to the apron. Archer tosses Trent and then eliminates Ortiz as the Joker is….Matt Sydal. Well that’s a disappointment. He comes in and goes to the top to try the shooting star press….and slips off, crashing hard onto his back so Hobbs immediately goes to check on him.

Penta is out and Kazarian follows him and we hear a bunch of noise, which Taz blames on catering. Cage gets up to clean house and hits Starks by mistake, allowing Allin to throw Starks out. Starks is annoyed and pulls out a body bag, which Cage fills with thumbtacks. Cage puts Allin in the bag and zips it up as JR is DONE with this. A powerbomb over the top rope gets rid of the bag and Allin for the scary bump. Sydal kicks Spears to the apron but Spears pulls him out as well.

With Spears tied in the ropes, Spears adds a middle rope double stomp for the elimination. Back in and Hobbs hits a big spinebuster on Sydal but gets Pounced by Archer. Cage and Archer give us the big showdown and they strike it out until Cage hits a jumping knee. Hobbs cuts Cage off and pulls him to the apron though and Archer knocks both of them out.

That leaves us with Archer, Kingston, Sydal and Blade, with Archer not wanting to hear from Kingston. Archer dumps Butcher and throws Sydal through the air and right into a DDT onto Kingston. There’s the Blackout to Sydal but he lands on the apron. Kingston gets rid of Sydal and winds up on the apron with Archer. Jake Roberts busts out the snake bag but here is Blade to go after Archer. Kingston bites Archer’s ear but another snake distraction lets Archer throw Kingston out for the win at 21:50. JR: “Lance Hoyt wins it!”

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate and Sydal wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise. The botch didn’t make things any better but I did get to laugh as soon as he got up. Archer winning makes good sense as he needs a big win to get him back to the top level after the loss to Cody. It was fine enough for a battle royal, which means it has a pretty hard ceiling above everything.

We recap Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy. Guevara busted him open with a chair by throwing it rather hard at Hardy’s head so Hardy busted him open in a tables match. Tonight it’s Broken Rules, meaning Last Man Standing, but if Matt loses, he leaves AEW.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Broken Rules so Last Man Standing. They start near the football field, with Sammy showing up behind him in the golf cart. Since Matt is a wrestler, he runs straight ahead instead of going over a barricade or something. Sammy crashes and the fight is on, with Matt heading over to a scissor lift. They go into the air and Matt tries the Side Effect. That winds up with a huge crash instead and Matt’s head hits the concrete, meaning we get the X sign. Hokey smoke that was terrifying and Matt is DONE. As in not moving and looks completely stiff.

Sammy goes after Matt again and gets a nine but here’s the doctor to say the match is over at 3:47. Sammy staggers towards the ring so Matt gets up and jumps him again. The bell rings and the match continues as they head towards ringside. They climb the set structure and Sammy gets knocked off for a huge crash through the stage. That’s enough for a ten count at 8:07, counting the break between the breaks.

Rating: D+. I’m really not sure what to say here as I can’t imagine this was the plan for the whole thing. It feels like Matt got hurt but they had to keep going until the finish because of the Matt Leaves stipulation, though that’s just a guess. It didn’t have the time to do much, which seems to be a continuing problem with this feud. They don’t need to do this again, and hopefully Matt isn’t too banged up.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida for Shida’s AEW World Title. We hear a bunch of great things about Rosa, the NWA Women’s Champion, including comments from NWA owner Billy Corgan. Everyone knew Rosa was going to be a top star from the moment they saw her and she challenged Shida for a champion vs. champion match. Shida was certainly down.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa

Only Shida’s title is on the line. They go nose to nose to start before heading to the mat. With no one being able to get the advantage, it’s Shida hitting a running hurricanrana and it’s time to go nose to nose again. Rosa hits a hard elbow to the face and snapmares Shida down as Excalibur mentions that Rosa is also a champion in Tokyo Joshi Pro. JR: “BUT ONLY YOU KNOW THAT!” Shida gets in a shot of her own and hits a running knee to Rosa as she hangs over the apron. Rosa is back up to hit Shida in the face and bend her back around the post.

Back in and the Thunder Driver is escaped and Shida pulls her into a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Rosa slips out of that and grabs a rocking horse to drive Shida’s head into the bottom buckle over and over. Back up and Shida counters a kick to the head into the Stretch Muffler but that’s reversed into a headscissors. Shida hits a jumping knee to the head but her back is banged up from earlier. Rosa hits some running knees in the corner and they head to the ramp.

A Death Valley Driver is escaped so Rosa goes to the top, only to get shoved to the apron. That’s fine with Rosa, who hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron instead. An armbar goes on but Shida gets her foot on the rope for the fast save. Shida sends her to the ramp and hits the Meteora to drop Rosa hard on the back of her head. Back in and Shida gets one off the Falcon Arrow but can’t get the Full Metal Muffler. A rollup doesn’t work either so it’s a hard backbreaker for two on Rosa. The running knee finishes Rosa at 16:43.

Rating: B. Match of the night so far and I’m not at all surprised. You had two very talented wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a long match. They weren’t going to have Shida lose to someone not signed to the promotion so the winner wasn’t in doubt, but they had a heck of a match on the way there. Good, hard hitting match match here which lived up to my expectations.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announce that they are getting married on Dynamite, but first, Sabian needs a handsome best man. This week, we’ll find out who his best man is.

We recap the Dark Order vs. the Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona. Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title and now it’s time for friends and family to fight for revenge.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona

It’s Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana/Evil Uno/Stu Grayson for the Order and the Nightmare Sisters are at ringside too. It’s a brawl to start before the bell until Lee knocks Dustin down to officially get things going. Uno comes in and gets taken into the corner by Dustin. It’s Uno getting caught in the corner for the big beatdown, including Cardona hitting a neckbreaker for two. Uno gets Marshall to chase him on the floor and the stomping is on back inside. Lee backdrops Marshall but Dustin comes in to stop Uno from using the wrist tape.

That just lets Uno choke anyway but Marshall manages a Lethal Combination. Marshall ducks a clothesline and that’s enough to bring in Cardona for the house cleaning. The middle rope dropkick hits Cabana and there’s a faceplant. Grayson and Uno low bridge Cardona to the floor as Cabana might have a broken nose. Now it’s Lee beating on Cardona in the corner, which again draws Dustin in for a failed save.

Lee chokes in the corner and shouts WHERE’S CODY over and over. Chasing the Dragon drops Cardona, allowing commentary to talk about Batman and Robin. Cardona slips out of the suplex and grabs the neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Dustin to clean house. There’s a Canadian Destroyer to Cabana and Sky comes in for the showdown with Lee. Cue Anna Jay to go after Sky but Brandi kicks her in the face.

As JR wishes Anna had a wardrobe malfunction (seriously), Sky hits a TKO for two on Uno. Radio Silence (the Rough Ryder) hits Grayson and Cardona nails a flip dive to the floor. Cardona charges into a powerbomb from Lee so Marshall hits his own flip dive. Back in and Grayson throws Marshall into a sitout powerbomb and Cabana adds a splash for two. The hot tag brings in Dustin though and it’s time for the slugout with Lee. That means a quick discus lariat to Dustin but Lee tags in Cabana for the pin. Cabana would rather go up top to miss a moonsault though, allowing Dustin to grab a rollup for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was long and that’s not the best thing for this kind of a match. I’m really not sure why we need the Order to lose here, unless they’re setting up Dustin as Lee’s first challenge. I know Dustin is old and related to Cody, but I’m not exactly interested in seeing Dustin vs. Lee in a big showdown. This felt more like something you would see on Dynamite and while it was fine enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Post match Lee freaks out and yells at Cabana before leaving in a huff. Uno shakes Cabana’s hand.

Dustin Rhodes is very excited over the win because he’s still doing this after five decades. As a bonus, he gets the TNT Title shot against Lee on Dynamite and is rather fired up as a result.

We recap FTR vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. FTR doesn’t like a thrown together team having the Tag Team Titles and Page seems more serious about drinking than wrestling. The Young Bucks have thrown him out of the Elite and say he’s going to get what he deserves.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

Omega/Page are defending and Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Omega and Wheeler start but Page (whose graphic says “I don’t care what the graphic says anymore”) wants in instead. Page slugs away to start but nearly hits Omega. The champs hit stereo big boots and Wheeler gets caught between some chops. Omega is finally willing to high five Page and it’s a snap suplex to drop Wheeler. It’s back to Omega for a springboard ax handle to the back and the Kitaro Crusher takes Wheeler down again.

Page hits a running shooting star to the back and it’s off to Harwood. That means a missed elbow but Page misses a boot in the corner. Harwood starts working on the leg as we hear that Matt Hardy is going to be ok. We hit the abdominal stretch until Omega is sent outside. Back in and Page gets to Omega for the tag so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee hits Harwood but Wheeler blocks the Snapdragon. Wheeler is dropkicked out of the air and Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and Harwood powerbombs Omega into a German suplex from Wheeler for two more. Omega strikes both of them down though and everything breaks down again. A shot to the face takes Wheeler down for two and Omega goes up, where he gets to shove Wheeler down again. Harwood crotches him on top though the PowerPlex gets two. The Goodnight Express is broken up so Harwood brainbusters Omega instead. Omega is right back up with the poisonrana to Harwood and the Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Wheeler.

The V Trigger hits Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the One Winged Angel. Back to back dragon screw legwhips take Omega down and it’s off to the reverse Figure Four. The hold is broken up and Harwood stays on the leg with a Cannonball. Page finally comes over to try and break things up but is sent back to the corner as Omega’s leg is wrapped around the post. Omega manages to get up and hits back to back snapdragons but kicks Harwood into Page for the double knockdown.

Page gets back up for the hot tag a few seconds later though and house is cleaned. Wheeler is knocked down and Page dives onto Harwood at ringside. The big flip dive from the top takes FTR down again for a breather at ringside. Back in and Page is sent into Harwood’s knee for two and it’s the double Swan Dive for two, with Omega making the save. Page is sent to the apron again and gets caught with a reverse powerbomb/running bulldog combination for the big knockdown.

Back in and Omega breaks up a double team something, with Harwood falling off the top and landing hard on the apron. The super fall away slam hits Wheeler for two but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Omega V Triggers Page by mistake and Harwood takes out Omega’s knee. The Mindbreaker gives Harwood a cocky two so they do it again for the pin and the titles at 28:38.

Rating: B+. This was quite the match and they did the big mistake spot between Omega and Page to keep the issues going. FTR had to win here as there was no reason to keep them away from the titles at this point. The big deal is going to be the Omega/Page issues though as the Elite story continues. Heck of a match, but this started to feel long at the end.

Post match FTR leaves and Omega grabs one of the ringside tables. He throws it down though and Page collapses. Omega looks disgusted but walks away anyway. We follow Omega to the back where he finds the Young Bucks but storms off anyway. Omega says he’s done and let’s go so they head to the parking lot. Matt can’t talk him out of it as Omega says we need a good cleaning around here. Omega tells them to get in the car now or never but they stay out and Omega leaves.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy. They have split the first two matches and now it is time for Mimosa Mayhem, where you can win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a big vat of mimosa.

Chris Jericho talks about how he has been dealing with Cassidy for fourteen weeks and has finally made Cassidy into a real main event draw. They have been through a lot and now it is time to beat him for good, by making him tap out and throwing him into the vat of champagne and orange juice.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into one of the vats of mimosa (on platforms of equal height to the ring). There are also no rope breaks. During the entrances, we hear more about Hardy, with Tony making it clear that Matt was cleared to continue by the doctor and everything was safe. Cassidy charges straight into the Codebreaker for two to start and Jericho sends him hard into the corner. They go over to one of the platforms with the vat and Jericho hits him in the head with a table.

Jericho gets knocked off to the floor though and Cassidy adds the big dive. They get back on the platform and tease knocking each other in before getting back to safer ground. Cassidy tries a hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the platform and then through the table. A kick to the face rocks Jericho and a champagne bucket to the head puts him back inside.

The triangle dropkick almost puts Cassidy in but he’s back with a sunset flip for two. Cassidy grabs a Michinoku Driver for two more and a Stundog Millionaire gets the same. Jericho is back with a counter into the Walls so it’s time to crawl towards the vat. Cassidy uses a pitcher to throw some mimosa into Jericho’s eyes for the break and the Orange Punch connects.

Jericho is thrown over the top and his foot goes in the vat (doesn’t count) so Cassidy hits a running penalty kick (Excalibur: “THE RUNNING PK!” Tony: “THE RUNNING PK!” JR: “THE RUNNING PK!”) and the tornado DDT for two. Cassidy gets planted again for two more but Jericho can’t lawn dart him into the vat. Splash Mountain into the vat is blocked so Cassidy Superman Punches him into the vat for the win at 15:01.

Rating: C+. It was as good of a match as you were going to get based around the idea of throwing someone into a pool of champagne and orange juice. Cassidy already got the big rub off of pinning Jericho on Dynamite so this was more the goofy win than anything else. If this helps turn Cassidy into a main event star then so be it, but I’m not sure how much more of an impact this is going to have. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more silly rather than some big, serious match.

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF is the whiny kid who gets whatever he wants but now he has to find a way to beat Moxley to become the World Champion. This has seen a big campaign by MJF to get the title shot, which was pretty quickly dropped to set up MJF being injured by the Paradigm Shift. Then a lawyer got involved and now the Paradigm Shift is banned. Moxley wants to shut MJF up for good and MJF wants the title.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Friedman is challenging and has Wardlow in his corner plus a big red robe to complete the look. The Paradigm Shift is banned as well and if Moxley uses it, he loses the title. Friedman headlocks him down to start but Moxley is up with a right hand. Moxley sends him outside and gives chase but MJF gets back inside. They do it again and this time Moxley tries a dive, only to have to land on his feet as MJF slides back in.

Moxley sends him to the floor again and this time fakes the dive to get in a stomp. There’s a suicide dive but Moxley has to stop and glare at Wardlow. MJF is sent through the barricade and now it’s time to bend the fingers back, sending MJF into a scream for the ref. Back in and Moxley grabs a sleeper but MJF flips back onto him for two. There’s a ribs first drop onto the top rope but Moxley gets thrown over the top so he can crash down onto his arm.

Wardlow throws him back in and MJF starts in on said arm, as he should. MJF whips him by the arm into the corner for two but Moxley sends him into the post, drawing a big old gash on MJF’s head. MJF is staggered so Moxley teases the Paradigm Shift before realizing that won’t work. The Gotch Style piledriver doesn’t work either because the arm gives out, meaning it’s a swinging Boss Man Slam on the floor instead. Back in and the Gotch Styles piledriver gets two as Moxley’s arm means he can’t hook the leg.

Moxley bites him in the corner as a receipt from Dynamite but MJF gets in a top rope stomp to the arm. They slug it out with Moxley’s arm giving out so he hits a big running clothesline for two instead. Moxley yells at him so MJF spits in Moxley’s face. That almost makes Moxley use the Paradigm Shift so he puts on the brakes, only to get pulled into the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara armbar). That’s broken up as well so MJF grabs the Heatseeker for two.

Moxley is back with the Air Raid Crash for his own two and they slug it out from their knees. MJF goes to the eye and tries a backslide for two so Moxley is back with the sleeper. The referee gets pulled in so MJF kicks him low for two more. MJF is bleeding even more as he grabs Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Wardlow has had it and gets on the apron to throw in the ring, but Moxley sees MJF pick it up. As the ref is with Wardlow, it’s the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: C+. It was good enough and the blood helped but this was a long main event at the end of a show that felt very long and it hurt things a lot. The ending wasn’t exactly the most creative either, but they did find a way to keep the title on Moxley and give MJF something else to complain about. I liked it well enough, but I would have liked MJF winning the title more.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s their weakest pay per view to date and, just like Dynamite, that makes it one of the more entertaining shows I can remember in a good while. There was nothing close to really bad on here and the big matches delivered. That being said, I was done with this with about an hour to go and it just kept going.

They needed to trim some time off of some stuff here (5-10 minutes off the Tag Team Title match and the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in its entirety would be good places to start) as it took away some of the impact that the bigger matches could have had. It was by no means bad or close to it, but it was a case where less would have equaled more.

Now as for the good stuff, the Tag Team Title match and Women’s Title match were both very good to great and the main event was good enough. The Hardy vs. Guevara match was more scary than anything else and I can’t imagine how much they had to cut out of that to make things work out. Cassidy got another rub here so they seem to have a plan in mind for him. There were a lot of positives here and more of them than negatives, but there was a bit too much of the whole show and it became an issue by the end. Still though, another good AEW pay per view as they remain perfect in that regard.

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

Young Bucks b. Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Jungle Boy

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara when Guevara could not answer the ten count

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rollup to Cabana

FTR b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Mindbreaker to Page

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Orange Punch into the mimosa

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

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

We haven’t done one of these in awhile. AEW does not run very many pay per view events but they will be having one this weekend. That means the expectations are high, as AEW’s pay per views have been rather successful so far. There is always a first time for everything, but AEW has given me a lot of reason to believe that they can make this work again. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Private Party vs. Dark Order

This was a change made on Friday with a new match being added and the original Buy In match being added to the main card. Private Party has been in a weird place since they debuted as they seemed to be the chosen ones but then fell WAY back and haven’t come close to their original status since. They have at least been on television more as of late so maybe things are turning around.

The thing that is going to help them turn around the most is a win here, which they will get. The Dark Order has been getting a push but I can’t imagine they actually beat a team like Private Party. This is a good choice for an opening match as Private Party can bring some energy to the show and give the fans a nice reaction when they beat the cult. It won’t be a great match or anything, but it will help the show get going in the right direction.

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky

I can always go with a ragtag bunch of people against the monster cult (you hear about it all the time). This is fallout from Brodie Lee mauling Cody to take the TNT Title and I think I like this more than a regular title defense. We’ve already seen what Lee can do on his own so it’s ok to go with something designed to follow up on that rather than going in the more traditional route.

I’ll take the Dark Order here as there is no reason to have Lee lose in his first match after winning the title. Even if he didn’t take the fall, you don’t want to slow the momentum of the main core of the Dark Order. QT Marshall can take a fall as well as anyone here and if it happens to be after Lee blasts him with a clothesline, so be it. This is the Order’s to win, as it should be.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

Here we have a match that is just kind of happening for the sake of happening, which is rarely a good sign. These four won a match on Dynamite to earn their spot in this one and that’s about it. In other words, they had to come up with something for the Bucks to do on the show and this was as good as anything else they could come up with. At least Marko Stunt is injured and can’t interfere so we have at least one positive.

Of course the Bucks win here because it’s their company and you have to give the people what they want (or something). Much like Private Party, Jurassic Express has fallen a long way (I assure you that the addition of Stunt had NOTHING to do with it though) and they are just kind of the designated victims for the Bucks. The match will have some good spots, but the Bucks win in the end, as they should.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

This is a Broken Rules match, meaning Last Man Standing. These two have had a big feud going in recent weeks (Guevara has even had signs) and then they had a tables match which was completely ripped off by having its time hacked off. I’m hoping they can do something great here, or at least really good, which might be about as good as you can expect from them here.

Given the “Hardy leaves AEW if he loses”, I think I’ll go with Guevara, mainly because that seems like a way to have Hardy get out of the company and come back as another character. Guevara also needs the win a lot more, but I’m almost scared to see what we are going to be seeing from Hardy in the near future, because he might go for epic again and that….egads it does not work a lot of the time.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida(c) vs. Thunder Rosa

This is actually the only singles match on the show with no special rules or stipulation. Rosa debuted on Dynamite and made me care about Serena Deeb well enough, though I don’t know if that was the point. They have built this up fairly well for Rosa through her promos, but at the same time, Shida has barely been around in the last few weeks. She still feels like the ace of the division though and that’s all you need in something like this.

I’ll go with Shida retaining here, as I’m not sure I can imagine Rosa just showing up and winning the title. Now that being said, if they want to put a rocket to someone in the short term, Rosa would make a ton of sense. Rosa could be a heck of a star as she has seemed like one every time and hopefully they give her a chance later on, because she could be a big star in a hurry around…anywhere really.

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page(c) vs. FTR

Man alive this could have been something more interesting at another time but it is still entertaining enough here. The main crux of the story here is the continuing deterioration of the Elite, with Page now having been tossed out, despite Omega not having any say of it. We could be seeing something great in the ring here, but the real interesting parts are going to be around the drama, which tends to be the case in most big matches.

This absolutely has to be the title change, as Omega and Page being the champs mean that the story can’t really move forward in any significant way. FTR can be a great team and upgrade anyone they face, so hopefully they are given the chance to do that here. Omega and Page need to drop the titles already and there is no reason not to do that here. It will be very good to great match, and the title change should be on the same level. FTR wins, as they have to.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is the cinematic match and that means we are going to be seeing something interesting. The match is going to be taking place in Baker’s dental office, which should be a heck of an idea. AEW seems like it should be able to have the right kind of humor to make something work in the first place. These two have been wanting to fight for a few months now and if they go with the right path, we should be fine.

I’ll with with Baker here, as there is little reason to have her lose. Baker’s greatest strength is when she gets to talk and there is little reason for her to keep talking if she gets beaten here. Swole is good enough at what she does, but Baker could be the best talker in the entire division and should not lose for a good while. It’s Baker all day here and that should be the case for a long time.

Casino Battle Royal

One day someone is going to have to explain to me why they keep going with the gambling theme, especially when they aren’t in Las Vegas. Anyway, this is the big #1 contenders battle royal with the groups of wrestlers coming in at timed intervals and then one guy coming in last as the Joker. I’m not sure what to expect here as the field has not been completely announced, but this should be hard to screw up.

Based on the field that we have at the moment, I’ll be taking Darby Allin to win, if nothing else for the sake of hearing Taz freak out about it on commentary. I don’t know if that is the kind of title shot that can be defended, but some matches against Team Taz could work out rather well. You can almost guarantee that another former WWE star will debut here, but Allin winning makes the most sense out of everyone announced so far.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

If you have been watching Dynamite and Dark, you very well could believe that this is the main event (and I’m not 100% convinced it won’t be). This is the Mimosa Mayhem match, because AEW loves it some uniquely named gimmick matches. It’s basically a casket match, but with a vat of orange juice and champagne instead of a casket. Plus you can win via pinfall or submission to really mix it up.

There is no real reason for Jericho to win here (aside from it’s Jericho vs. Cassidy on pay per view) and I can’t imagine Cassidy actually losing so I’ll go with what makes sense. Cassidy has already proven that he can pin Jericho so throwing him into the mimosas would make the most sense. Actually it would have made the most sense to have Cassidy beat him in this in the second match and then win via pinfall later in the big moment, but the way they did it works well enough.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

And then there’s this, which is going to be one of the more interesting matches on the show. I’m not sure which way this is going to go and that’s what makes it more fun. Friedman has been pretty clearly the next breakout star for a long time as he can talk as well as anyone in the world right now, but it’s almost hard to picture them taking the title off of Moxley. The Paradigm Shift is banned here, but that has taken a backseat to the lawyer stuff which just did not end. So that leaves us with the match and I’m not entirely sure.

I’ll go with Friedman winning though, as I really can’t imagine who else can take the title from Moxley at the moment. They have something with Moxley beating all of the giants in a row and then having trouble with the smaller guy so hopefully they pull the trigger. I’m not sure how good the match is going to be, but Friedman’s celebration could be outstanding and my hope for seeing it carries me through.

Overall Thoughts

I’m excited for this one and it’s nice to be able to say that about a pay per view for once. They have done something different with the shows and given how infrequently we see them, that could make for a rather nice show indeed. This is kind of the anniversary show, or at least the anniversary of the show before the show, so they are going to be going harder than usual. All out you might even say.

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: AEW

Dynamite
Date: August 12, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s time for a big night here (tends to be a trend around this place) with both Tag Team Appreciation Night and the big showdown between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy. I’m not sure if I can imagine Cassidy actually beating Jericho, but they have set it up as the most logical way to go. Throw in some good tag stuff and we could be in for a nice night. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Dark Order

The Order jumps the Bucks before the bell and it’s Nick in trouble on the floor. Nick fights up with a big flip dive off the set but Matt’s bad back is sent into various things. Back in and Uno slams Matt back first onto Nick’s knee but Matt flips over both of them and brings Nick in off the hot tag. The springboard armdrag takes Grayson down but he dropkicks Nick’s knee out and dropkicks both Bucks at once.

Matt gets knocked onto the apron and Grayson hits a slingshot knee to the ribs. Choking with the tag rope ensues and an elbow gives Grayson two. Matt gets pulled outside but manages to send Grayson head first into the post. That leaves Matt surrounded by the Order but he crawls underneath the ring to escape. That’s not enough for the hot tag though as Uno hits a jumping neckbreaker to take him right back down. A big boot cuts off another comeback bid but Matt snaps off a reverse hurricanrana to Grayson, setting up the hot tag to Nick.

Everything breaks down and Grayson is sent over the barricade, leaving Uno to get superkicked. There’s another one to Grayson, setting up Risky Business for two on Uno. The springboard Swanton to Uno gets two more thanks to a foot on the rope. Grayson is back in for the Swanton to Matt while Uno Cannonballs Nick. Another kick to the face gets another two on Matt with Nick making the save. Nick is dragged up to the entrance, leaving Matt to counter Fatality into a rollup for the pin at 12:28.

Rating: B-. Why yes, the Bucks did just get destroyed for most of the match, hit a bunch of superkicks, kick out of a bunch of stuff and then win in the end off a fluke rollup. They’re rather popular, but my goodness they can get into a formula with the best of them. That can also become a problem as there is rarely a doubt about them losing a match, but they shouldn’t be losing to the Dark Order anyway.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman makes his walk to the ring, likes his new gum, and shoves a guy for getting in his shot.

Hangman Page and Kenny Omega pick the Young Bucks as their favorite tag team ever. Page: “I was going to say us but….”. Omega goes on about how great the Bucks are and Page doesn’t seem convinced.

Here’s MJF for his weekly campaign speech. After giving us the hashtags, MJF yells at his assistant to smile and has her show us some polling. We see that MJF is up 500% to -1000% nationwide and the numbers don’t lie. It’s time to move over to someone better than MJF because we deserve better. MJF even lays down to make it easier for Moxley, who isn’t even here this week. He gives Moxley the keys to everything, and here’s Moxley’s music.

MJF sends everyone to where Moxley tends to come from, but Moxley comes in through the entrance and hits the Paradigm Shift. Moxley leaves and says that doesn’t make us even. That doesn’t come until All Out when he teaches him a violent lesson. MJF screams for Wardlow to help him but be careful.

We look back at the NASTY chair to Matt Hardy’s head which busted him open. That was horrible.

Matt says he isn’t cleared for ten days, which happens to be the date of the next Dynamite on Saturday August 22. Matt is ready for Sammy then but he’s waiting for Sammy tonight. Matt insists he’s ok and not crazy, but he then jumps a referee who looks a little bit like Sammy before realizing what he does.

TNT Title: Scorpio Sky vs. Cody

Sky is challenging and kicks a door in on his entrance for the symbolic entrance. The TNT Title is complete, and Cody now has the Natural Nightmares, the Nightmare Sisters and Arn Anderson with him, at least for the entrance. Mike Chioda makes his debut as referee and they trade headlock takeovers to start. Cody gets sent outside and the frustration sets in quickly.

Back in and Cody shows off the double bicep before sending Sky to the floor with a hiptoss. Sky ignores Cody’s offer of holding the ropes open and they head back inside, only to fall to the floor again. Some shots to Sky’s ribs on the floor set up a powerslam inside and we take a break. Back with Cody getting two off a sunset flip out of the corner but Sky drops him ribs first across the top rope.

The ribs are sent hard into the post and Sky sends him onto the ramp. The slingshot cutter over the ropes gives Sky two but Cody gets in a shot and takes him up top. That means a superplex, with Sky reversing into a small package for two. The TKO is countered into Cross Rhodes for two in the big kickout. Sky grabs a jumping Downward Spiral for the same so he loads up another slingshot cutter. This time Cody grabs the rope for the block and hits the Cross Rhodes again to retain at 11:50.

Rating: B. This was good but could have been great. Sky is one of the smoothest hands in all of AEW and it is nice to see him doing something like this in a bigger spot. That being said, he needs to actually win a match of note on his own one day. The match was good though and Sky looked like a bigger deal on this stage. Cody winning isn’t a surprise, but I was hoping for a little more from this one.

Post match Brodie Lee pops up on screen with the old TNT Title, saying that Cody can have that because Lee will take the real one next week. Tick tock, time’s up.

Private Party’s favorite team is the Hardys.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

The Express is challenging and Luchasaurus says hi to his mom. It only took sixty five million years but a dinosaur is finally getting a shot. Boy and Omega start things off but the referee has to deal with Marko Stunt interfering. Both Taz and JR sound sick of him as the referee gets rid of him in a hurry. We settle down to Boy reversing a fireman’s carry into an armbar, followed by a multiple springboard armdrag.

A dropkick gives Omega one but a shot to the face messes up Omega’s nose. Luchasaurus comes in for some shots in the corner before it’s quickly back to Boy. Page makes a blind tag and scores with a quick basement lariat for two. Everything breaks down and Page chops it out with Boy, sending JR into some annoyance as we take a break. Back with Luchasaurus cleaning house, including a chokeslam to Page to set up a standing moonsault for two.

Omega hits a V Trigger to Luchasaurus’ back, followed by a pair of Snapdragons. Omega is sent outside where Stunt gets on his nerves, meaning it’s a Snapdragon on the floor. Boy hits a big suicide dive (barely making contact) but Omega is right back in with a fisherman’s suplex for two on Luchasaurus. Page takes Luchasaurus’ place and gets chokeslammed, but Luchasaurus has to throw Stunt over the top onto Omega. Everyone gets back in and Omega sends the Express outside for the big flip dive. Boy is sent back inside for a powerbomb from Page for two and it’s the Last Call to finish Boy at 14:10.

Rating: B-. Not bad here, but it is nice to hear commentary just getting sick of everything about Stunt. It has been annoying for a long time now and the team is trying to win the Tag Team Titles here. Why are we seeing Stunt get involved with something that should be a lot more important? Anyway, good match here, but not at the level that Page and Omega have hit before.

Santana and Ortiz throw the Best Friends’ gear in the shower and cover it with bleach.

Butcher and Blade pick the Road Warriors as the best team ever because no one could clear a ring like they could.

The Young Bucks and FTR are in the ring with the Rock N Roll Express and Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard. Matt talks about how the Express developed the style that the Bucks use to this day. The Express made the style for Shawn and Marty and Matt and Jeff (the names they use) and the Bucks have nothing but respect for them. Dax talks about how he’s a huge Express mark because the Express has allowed him to make a living in this business. He has a beautiful wife and a perfect daughter and he can provide that life for them because of these legends.

Ricky talks about how much he loves AEW and how the Young Bucks are bringing tag team wrestling back to what they did years ago. Arn says he doesn’t blow smoke because it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. The Bucks have taken tag team wrestling to another level and Arn’s hat is off to them. As for FTR, they’re the best tag team in the world today. Tully takes the mic from Ricky and tells him not to start something he can’t finish. What matters the most is being the Tag Team Champions and FTR aren’t the champions.

As for Arn, Tully hasn’t been cool with him since last year when he cost Shawn Spears a match against Cody. Spears comes out and Arn sees where this is going and leaves. Ricky pops Tully in the mouth and they have to be separated as Dax has aggravated last week’s knee injury. The knee brace comes off….and FTR jumps the Express from behind. Ricky takes a spike piledriver and it’s the Bucks and Omega/Page (with drink) making the save. Nice job here as the swerve worked well.

Mike Chioda is proud to be here but Chris Jericho interrupts. Jericho talks about their time together and implies that the fix is in. Chioda says he’s calling it down the middle, so Jericho says that’s fine. When he gives the signal, ahem, call it right down the middle. If Chioda does the right thing, maybe Jericho gets him his job back here.

Sammy Guevara comes out with his signs to ask about Matt Hardy. That is all for Sammy at the moment, though he’s still no Lodi.

Hikaru Shida vs. Heather Monroe

Non-title. Monroe jumps her to start so Shida is right back with a running knee. Shida gets caught in the corner though and Monroe hits some knees to the back, setting up a cross arm choke. A flip into the corner looks to set up the Falcon Arrow but Monroe reverses into a rollup for two. That’s fine with Shida, who grabs the Brock Lock and pulls on the arm at the same time for the tap at 2:25.

Post match, Shida says bring it on at All Out.

Jake Roberts talks about having a mental advantage as Lance Archer beats up people in the locker room behind him. Archer wants Jake to tell them something and then rips Jake’s shirt open, revealing a message on his back: EVERYBODY DIES.

Here’s what’s coming on the August 22 Dynamite (with at least half of it up against Takeover), including Cody defending the TNT Title against Brodie Lee and the finals of the women’s tag team tournament.

Video on Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

If Jericho wins, Cassidy owes him $7000 and the Best Friends/the Inner Circle are banned from ringside. Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and the fight is on in a hurry. They head outside with Cassidy hitting a dive and then going up top, meaning it’s the hands in pockets (for most of the trip) dive. A top rope DDT gets two on Jericho back inside but the Superman Punch is blocked. Jericho suplexes him down and chops away, setting up the triangle dropkick to the floor.

Back from a break with Jericho hitting a very delayed vertical suplex. Cassidy is back with a nasty dragon screw legwhip though and Jericho is in some trouble. The top rope hurricanrana is loaded up but Jericho counters into the Walls. Cassidy slips out so Jericho grabs the Codebreaker for two. Frustration sets in so Jericho grabs Floyd the bat and tells Mike Chioda to do the right thing. Chioda turns around but turns back around and takes the bat away.

Cassidy gets two off a rollup and hits a Falcon Arrow for the same. At least there’s no Excalibur here for his line about the move. Cue Santana and Ortiz to brawl on the stage with the Best Friends for a distraction, allowing Jake Hager to run in and hits a powerslam on Cassidy to give Jericho two. A low blow slows Cassidy down but he avoids the Judas Effect, allowing Cassidy to….mostly botch his Oklahoma roll but he winds up on top to pin Jericho at 13:48.

Rating: C. Not exactly a great match (the ending was rather bad) but it was the only thing they could do here. They built up Cassidy as having a chance against Jericho and while I still have quite the issue with Jericho putting Cassidy over in general, it was all they could do in this situation. Not a good match for the most part, but the logical conclusion.

Overall Rating: C+. If you didn’t see the logo on the graphics, the Tag Team Appreciation Night would have probably slipped by you. It was kind of a weird show in that they had a theme but didn’t really follow up on it and the main event was built around a mostly comedy feud. Almost everything felt like it could have been more, though what we got was good enough. Not a bad show by any means, but I was hoping for more almost up and down the card.

Results

Young Bucks b. Dark Order – Rollup to Grayson

Cody b. Scorpio Sky – Cross Rhodes

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega b. Jurassic Express – Last Call to Boy

Hikaru Shida b. Heather Monroe – Over the neck leg and arm stretch

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Arm trap rollup

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: August 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Jim Ross

It’s time for another big themed show with Super Wednesday, and in this case that means more Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho. This time around it’s in the form of a debate, with a special moderator. Other than that we have the World Title on the line as Jon Moxley defends against Darby Allin. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dark Order/Colt Cabana vs. Young Bucks/FTR/Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

They restart very fast with everyone already in the ring and Matt springboarding at Lee. 9 comes in and goes up top, only to be taken down by Nick again. FTR starts working on 9’s arm and it’s off to Omega to do the same as JR accuses Tony of staring at Anna Jay near commentary. The Kitaro Crusher hits 9 for two and Uno/Stu Grayson come in for the save and knock everyone off the apron. FTR come in for the save and it’s a triple suplex to put a lot of the Order down. We settle down to Uno kicking Omega in the face for two and it’s off to 5. Omega gets over to Harwood for the tag and 5 is beaten down in a hurry.

Wheeler comes in to nail a powerslam and it’s Harwood and Page coming in to try a triple Figure Four. That’s broken up and it’s Grayson coming back in, with Omega tossing him into a German suplex from Page. The Bucks double dropkick Grayson into a snapdragon from Omega and the quadruple teaming continues with a series of strikes to the chest into a wheelbarrow faceplant/cutter combination from the Bucks. The Demolition Decapitator hits 5 but Harwood comes up favoring his knee, which already has a big brace on it.

With everyone else checking on Harwood, Omega gets caught in the ring for the group beatdown until he hurricanranas his way out and brings in Matt. Lee’s big boot gets two as Harwood is taken out. Grayson tosses Matt to Uno for a sitout powerbomb as Page and Wheeler have left with Harwood. Cabana adds a splash for two and it’s already back to Uno, as Cabana doesn’t seem thrilled with working with the Dark Order. Omega gets knocked off the apron and it’s Matt getting beaten up in the corner even more.

Grayson misses a charge into the post and 5 charges into a boot in the corner. Matt is back up with a top rope flipping cutter but Uno pulls Nick off the apron and suplexes him on the floor. Since it’s Matt Jackson, he pops up and flip dives onto the ramp, then off the ramp onto two more masked guys, then hits a double clothesline on the other side of the ring. Page comes back out and gets the hot tag to start cleaning house all over the place. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up so Page drops 5 onto the apron.

A big moonsault takes out everyone but Lee, who stares down at Page instead. Back in and the slugout is on until Page gets low bridged to the floor. Lee hits his own big dive and the Order starts the fast tagging, setting up the Chicago Skyline from Cabana with Omega making the save. Omega gets taken down and Grayson hits a 450 on Page as Uno’s Cannonball hits Omega in the corner. The Bucks come back in for the series of superkicks and a double superkick into the snapdragon looks to set up the Buckshot lariat but the Order makes the save. Lee’s discus lariat finishes Page at 17:30.

Rating: B-. That was rather long and they packed in a lot, but they had a lot of the near falls that are required of every AEW match. There were a few times where a big move was hit and there was no reason to buy into it the cover because it wasn’t going to happen. The action was good though and Lee gets a win, which was rather needed after how far he has fallen in just a few months.

Earlier today, the Best Friends arrived in mom’s van.

Jon Moxley talks about dealing with a lot of things when he was younger. In the early part of his career, a lot of people told him not to do some things, like don’t fight that guy or don’t have that death match. In some cases that was good advice, but he did it anyway. He understands why Darby Allin challenged him for the title. The last time they wrestled, Moxley nearly broke his neck and he doesn’t want it on his resume that he ended Allin’s career. But when Allin signed that contract, he became like everyone else and he has to do what he has to do. So when it’s time to stay down, just stay down.

Santana/Ortiz vs. Best Friends

Chuck and Santana start things off and exchange some grapples until Chuck slips out of a hiptoss. Ortiz comes in and gets taken into the corner for the tag to Trent. A northern lights suplex gives Trent one and it’s already back to Chuck, who is knocked down before Trent even gets through the ropes. Chuck fights back in a hurry though and sends both of them to the floor, meaning it’s the Big Hug as we take a break.

Back with Trent in trouble and being sent outside for a ram into the apron. Chuck is sent over the barricade and Trent is whipped into another barricade to make it even worse. Trent is sent inside and his back is so banged up that he can barely stand. A double suplex gives Ortiz two but Trent slips out of another one and brings in Chuck to clean house.

The Samoan driver gets two on Santana and the Falcon Arrow gets the same on Ortiz. Trent comes back in and superplexes Ortiz but Santana pulls Chuck down and sends him into the barricade again. A rolling cutter plants Trent and a sitout powerbomb into a knee to the face gets two. The Street Sweeper is broken up but Chuck makes the save and Trent grabs a rollup to pin Ortiz at 13:39.

Rating: C+. I had to look at the ending a second time as Ortiz kicked out a split second after the three went down. The tag division continues to trade wins and while the matches can be entertaining, a lot of the teams don’t seem to be getting very far. Santana and Ortiz continue to be a heck of a team and as long as it’s more Trent than Chuck, the Best Friends are a lot easier to watch.

We go to MJF campaign headquarters where posters and buttons are being made. MJF, who skips over to a desk, freaks out over a poster not being level, even though a worker named Lee does not seem interested. Right now MJF is up in the polls over Jon Moxley by 100% to -88% because we deserve better. He already has the World Title match for All Out and he’s fine with facing Allin or Moxley. This is the best thing going in wrestling right now by a long shot.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He talks about coming to AEW and having all of his personas, but now the fans want to see him be himself. Matt wants to help people around here, like Private Party, but he also wanted to help Sammy Guevara. That didn’t work for him though as Sammy didn’t want his help, so Matt is ready to fight. Cue Sammy and the brawl is on, with Sammy being thrown into the chairs. Matt grabs a table but Sammy throws a chair at his head and sends him into the post (with a ding). Sammy puts the bloody Hardy on the table and hits a dive to drive him through it. Matt is covered in blood.

Santana and Ortiz bust up the van, which has a camera inside. They throw in some spray paint of Trent’s mom’s name and cross it out to complete a good destruction.

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Cody

Arn Anderson is here with Cody and Matt. Cody hits a very delayed vertical suplex on Silver to start and it’s off to Cardona for a running forearm. Silver kicks him in the face though and hands it off to Reynolds, who is taken down with a neckbreaker for two. It’s back to Cody, who is dropped down onto the apron to put him in trouble for a change. The Order unloads on him in the corner and some shots to the ribs keep Cody in more trouble.

We take a break and come back with Cody still in trouble as Silver puts on a waistlock to stay on the ribs. Cody gets up and snaps off the powerslam, allowing the hot tag to Matt. Everything breaks down and Matt gets kneed in the face, setting up a forearm into a German suplex into a jackknife rollup for two more. Cody comes back in and suplexes Silver out to the floor for a big crash. Back in and the Rough Ryder finishes Reynolds at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This was a match that existed and Cardona didn’t exactly look like anything more than he usually did in WWE. Beating the Dark Order doesn’t mean that much, but at least they got Cody and Cardona in there. I’m not sure if they are heading for a match against each other, but how interesting would that be in the first place?

Post match Cody goes to leave but runs into Scorpio Sky, who wants a TNT Title shot. Works for me.

Best Friends aren’t happy with what happened and say to leave Trent’s mom out of this. If they wanted a rematch all they had to do was ask, so they’ll gladly beat up Santana and Ortiz again. Then they will apologize to Trent’s mom, over speakerphone.

It’s time for the Jericho vs. Cassidy debate, with Eric Bischoff as the surprise moderator. Cassidy rolls into the ring and Jake Hager brings out the orange juiced jacket. There will be five questions and we’ll start with why they hate each other. Jericho yells about Cassidy not dressing up so Cassidy pulls out a clip on tie (ok that was funny). No one respects Cassidy and he plays pocket pool on a regular basis. Cassidy’s response: no comment.

Next question: who is the bigger star? Jericho: “Easy E, with all due respect, don’t be an idiot. I’m Chris Jericho!” Jericho lists off his resume and says the only accolade Cassidy has won is being the biggest slacker in high school. If Jericho went to the same high school, he would take Cassidy’s lunch money and steal his girlfriend. Jericho is in a $10,000 suit and looking like a million bucks while Cassidy is in an old jacket that smells like salami and batteries.

Cassidy still doesn’t talk so we move on to the third question: thoughts on rising global sea levels? Jericho says keep going but Cassidy gives a long, detailed explanation of how international cities and coastal cities are in danger if we do not reverse course immediately. Jericho’s stunned look is hilarious and we move on to question #4: why is Orange Cassidy so popular?

Jericho calls him a pimple on the wrestling business and next week he is being popped. After next week, Jericho is going to get his $7000 and send Cassidy back to being Jim the Jamba Juice boy at the mall, where Jericho is going to order a blueberry juice with pumpkin seeds and not leave Cassidy a tip. Final question: why does the rematch mean so much to both of them. Jericho starts but Cassidy tells him to shut up.

It was smart to try and embarrass Cassidy because he doesn’t care. He cares about next week though because it’s the biggest match of his life. It’s the biggest match of Jericho’s life too because he’s Chris Jericho man. He’s done all those things that people can Google later, but what if Jericho loses to the guy who puts his hands in his pockets. Cassidy wants him to look into the eyes of the man who is going to embarrass him and the man who is going to beat him. Cassidy: “That’s my answer.”

Bischoff names Cassidy the winner over the global warning answer. Jericho: “Bischoff, I haven’t liked you for twenty two years!” Bischoff: “It’s been twenty four and I know exactly how you feel.” Jericho sicks Hager on Cassidy and the beatdown is on. Hager puts Cassidy’s hands in his pockets and throws him into the Judas Effect.

Now THIS was better as Cassidy has been setting things up and now they paid it off in a big way. They made me want to see the match a lot more than I did coming in so well done on doing what they set up for so long. I had a very good time with this and Jericho’s face after the global warming question was great. Cassidy’s promo was very good too as it made perfect sense and was well delivered. Nice job all around.

Britt Baker picks Big Swole’s opponent for the night.

Reba vs. Big Swole

Reba starts fast and throws Swole down as we hear about Reba having an in-ring career but being a little rusty. Reba goes up, gets a little shaky, and comes back down to the middle rope for a missed moonsault. Dirty Dancing finishes Reba at 1:39. As it should have been.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin

Allin is challenging and has a Moxley cutoff mask with an eye cut out. Moxley gets in his face and gets slapped back, causing the beating to begin. Allin’s mouth is bleeding early on and there’s a hard slam into an elbow drop for two. They head up the ramp as Taz continues his hatred of Moxley. That’s cut off as Moxley throws him off the stage and face first into the post (DING!). The referee dives over to check out Allin and we take a break.

Back with Allin caught in an STF but flipping Moxley off anyway. Allin fights up and sends Moxley outside for the suicide dive and a bunch of right hands. Back up and Allin steps on Moxley’s hand on the post, setting up the big flip dive from the top of the post to the floor. A Code Red gives Allin two back inside but Moxley is back with a release German suplex to send Allin flying.

Cue Wardlow for a distraction though and MJF lays Moxley out with a title shot to the head. Wardlow finally leaves and the Coffin Drop gets two on the bloody Moxley. Allin dropkicks him into the corner and hits the flipping Stunner. Another Coffin Drop is countered into a rear naked choke though but Allin fights up again. That earns him a Gotch style piledriver for two, because AEW loves kickouts. Moxley is very frustrated and hits the Paradigm Shift to finally retain the title at 14:29.

Rating: B-. The storytelling was here throughout and while there wasn’t a ton of drama, what we got still worked out rather well. Moxley didn’t want to beat Allin up that badly but had to do it because they are that much alike. There wasn’t much doubt about Moxley vs. MJF coming up next though and that’s perfectly fine.

Moxley checks on Allin to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Better show than last week with that Cassidy bit being the highlight. The show was heavy with tag matches and that hurt things a bit to start, but the action was good and they set some things up for the future. It was a little step up over last week’s off show though, and that’s a great sign for AEW. They weren’t as sharp last week but there was no reason to think it was anything more than an off night. Not many places can say that and it’s nice to see here.

Results

Dark Order/Colt Cabana b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page/Young Bucks/FTR – Discus lariat to Page

Best Friends b. Santana/Ortiz – Victory roll to Ortiz

Cody/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rough Ryder to Reynolds

Big Swole b. Reba – Dirty Dancing

Jon Moxley b. Darby Allin – Paradigm Shift

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: July 29, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Taz

Things are starting to get into a groove around here again and that can make for some very good television. The last few shows have been rather entertaining and the build for All Out should be starting to come together. This week we get another TNT Title match plus a Tag Team Title match and more. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Inner Circle vs. Best Friends/Orange Cassidy/Jurassic Express

They’re starting big this week. Jericho and Cassidy start things off but it’s off to Hager before anything happens. Cassidy does the slow motion kicks to the legs and then claps the ears to get out of a double leg. Jericho tags himself in and forearms Cassidy from the apron though and everything breaks down in a hurry. The Inner Circle is sent outside for a series of dives, including Marko Stunt being tossed onto the pile and then being tossed back, because MARKO STUNT WILL BE INVOLVED IN YOUR MATCH EVERY SINGLE TIME NO MATTER WHAT!

The good guys have the big five way hug and Sammy dives in, only to get quintuple stomped. We settle back down and this time it’s Trent getting beaten down, including a double suplex from Santana and Ortiz. An assisted standing moonsault gives Santana two and Hager’s hard forearm is good for the same. Sammy adds the fireman’s carry with squats before Hager grabs the chinlock. That lets JR talk about the time Hager gave him an ankle lock, which commentary finds funny.

Trent finally manages a suplex to put Hager down and the hot tag brings in Luchasaurus to clean house. Everything breaks down and the fans…well they aren’t there so ignore that. Hager and Luchasaurus slug it out until Cassidy comes in with a Superman punch to put Hager down. We hit the parade of finishers and it’s down to Sammy vs. Luchasaurus. With Sammy going up top, here’s Matt Hardy to shove him into a chokeslam. A spinning kick to the face gives Luchasaurus the pin at 12:08.

Rating: C+. They’re still running with Cassidy vs. Jericho and while that might not be everyone’s cup of tea, they had a lot more going on here and that’s a good thing. I’m curious to see where some of these feuds go and the match certainly felt big, though it never hit that next level that something like this can do.

Jon Moxley says if you leave him alone, he’ll leave you alone. That brings him to Brian Cage, who had to jump Darby Allin from behind. Then Ricky Starks had to get involved too. So let’s see what happens when the odds are even.

Taz thinks Moxley is terrified.

TNT Title: Cody vs. Warhorse

Cody is defending and has Arn Anderson in his corner. They lock up to start until Cody works on a wristlock. Warhorse gets taken into the corner for a clean yet cocky break, meaning it’s a chop to the back of Cody’s neck. An armdrag into an armbar has Cody in some trouble and a big clothesline puts him on the floor as we take a break. Back with Cody holding a half crab before switching to a Figure Four, which is reversed in about two seconds.

A limping Warhorse gets up for a corner clothesline and he goes up top, sending Cody bailing outside for some safety. Back in and Warhorse puts him down to set up a top rope elbow for two. Cody’s Alabama Slam gets two and the Figure Four retains the title at 10:33 in a pretty sudden ending.

Rating: C+. They have something with Cody trying to do too much as champion and getting worn down, though you can all but guarantee that it’s going to be an AEW regular taking the title. The match was good and Warhorse made an impression, but it’s going to take something good to top Eddie Kingston’s debut last week. Still though, good enough stuff here and that’s all it needed to be.

Post match the Dark Order comes in to beat on Cody with Arn Anderson getting inside to load up a save. Cue Matthew Cardona (Zack Ryder) for the real save and Cody is rather pleased.

Tony Schiavone talks about All Out but here’s the Inner Circle to interrupt. They aren’t happy with anything that happened tonight, with Sammy Guevara yelling about Matt Hardy costing him the match. Chris Jericho isn’t happy with Orange Cassidy either and wants him in a rematch on August 12, where Cassidy will give him $7000 for the jacket. Next week though, Jericho wants Cassidy in a debate. Oh and his jacket now smells like cat urine.

Earlier today, FTR was ready to sign their official AEW deals but wanted their official tag team representative. That would be Arn Anderson, who goes over the contract and makes sure they got their signing bonus. They also want their guarantee of Tag Team Appreciation Night on August 12. With that guaranteed, the contracts are signed and here’s Hangman Page with a bottle of whiskey to celebrate. Everyone (save Arn, who says “not anymore”) drinks and seems happy.

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. Dark Order

The Dark Order (Evil Uno/Stu Grayson) is challenging and Colt Cabana is on commentary. Page (who didn’t like the white wrist tape last week) goes after Dark Order before the bell and Omega doesn’t seem happy with having to make the save so we can get going. An early side slam/elbow combination gets an early two on Omega, who comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

It’s off to Page for a running shooting star press for two and the champs take turns chopping away at Uno. Omega gets caught in the corner for all of two seconds before rolling over to Page for the tag to clean house. Grayson kicks Page in the face for two to slow things down and a running forearm does the same. Back from a break with Kenny cleaning house as everything breaks down.

Grayson takes Page down for a Swanton from Uno and a toss sitout powerbomb gets two. Page gets knocked down in the corner and Omega is suplexed into him, setting up a 450 for two. Page is back up for another save and there’s a V Trigger to Uno’s back for two more. The Last Call retains the titles at 13:54, with Grayson seeming to miss what was supposed to be a save.

Rating: B-. Good enough match here, though the Dark Order wasn’t going to be any kind of a serious threat to the titles. The Dark Order is as midcard of a gimmick as you can get and the champs are going to be moving on to more important things. Page and Omega continue to be on different pages outside the ring but make for a great team, which is an interesting way to go.

Post match Brody Lee sends Colt Cabana and Anna Jay to the back so they don’t see what is about to happen. Lee yells at Grayson and Uno before asking Page if he finds it funny. Cue the Young Bucks from the crowd as Lee thanks Kenny for bothering to show up for a change. Lee says this isn’t all of the Dark Order and they have strength in numbers. A bunch of masked members of the Dark Order surround the ring but here’s FTR with the cooler to Lee and the save is on. I use save in the loosest sense of the word in this case.

Britt Baker knows Big Swole is obsessed with her so Swole can have a shot, if she beats an opponent of Baker’s choice.

Video on Diamante.

Diamante vs. Hikaru Shida

This was announced as a title match last night on Dark but not here. Shida is defending and forearms Diamante down to start. Diamante gets knocked outside for a running knee lift and they head back inside. They slug it out with Diamante getting knocked down by a running knee to the face. Diamante chops her down in the corner and a wheelbarrow Stunner gets two on Shida. A sloppy Code Red gets no count as Shida is rolled into the ropes so Shida hits a Falcon Arrow. The running knee finishes Diamante at 6:14.

Rating: D+. Diamante is not very good and that is the kind of thing that you can’t get around that easily. This was a rather sloppy loss and it is pretty clear that she is not ready for this spot. Shida needs some fresh opponents and this is the best they could do, while Ivelisse sits on the sidelines. Lucky us.

We go over the rules of the Deadly Draw tournament, which is under Lethal Lottery rules.

Nyla Rose draws her color for the tournament and gets purple, which has already been drawn by someone else. That would be Ariane, better known as Cameron (yes THAT Cameron), who is happy to be back.

Here is MJF for his State of the Industry address. He has all the time he wants to tell the fans what they need to hear like a child being force fed macaroni and cheese. MJF can’t believe he is here two weeks in a row because he is always being held down by someone who came from the land of the Titans. That would be Jon Moxley, who is trying to hold down talent, which isn’t what we’re supposed to do anymore, brother.

Moxley is a great wrestler, but let’s see what has happened since he took over. First of all, where is the wrestling? This is a bunch of flipping and gymnastics while Moxley is cosplaying as a certain wrestler, and that is a Stone Cold fact. Everyone wants to talk about the ratings but do you know who draws bigger ratings than Moxley?

The old guard has been running this world for centuries and look where we are. MJF’s talent exceeds Moxley’s tenure and it is time for him to take over right now. He will not stop until this brand is transformed into the pinnacle of professional wrestling. The talent is officially on and MJF is announcing his candidacy to become the new World Champion at All Out. This was masterful and one of the best things AEW has ever done, as MJF can look into a camera and make you believe in him like no one else.

Darby Allin/Jon Moxley vs. Brian Cage/Ricky Starks

Anything goes tornado tag….and there is no Allin. We cut to Taz and company on the stage, where he brags about how awesome Cage is (Taz: “He’s got triceps like pistons Moxley! LIKE PISTONS!”). Starks says he’s everything Moxley’s baby mama wishes he was and brags about how great he is….until Allin Coffin Drops off the set to start things in a hurry. Taz is back on commentary as the fight begins without a bell as far as I could hear. The brawl is on outside with Moxley hitting a suicide dive onto Cage. Moxley goes searching for some weapons and we take a break.

Back with Allin in trouble until Moxley comes back in for the save. Allin hits the flipping Stunner on Cage but Starks spears Allin down. Moxley cutters Stars but Cage hits a clothesline to drop everyone. It’s Moxley back up for a piledriver on Cage and a Coffin Drop/DDT combination hits Cage for two more. Allin crushes Cage’s arm with a trashcan and pulls out a skateboard with thumbtacks on the bottom. Moxley armbars Cage and Allin drives the skateboard into Starks’ back for the pin at we’ll say 10:00. Starks’ back is VERY torn up after that finish.

Rating: C-. This didn’t feel like much as they seem to have one of these wild brawls almost every week. Couple that with a scary looking finish (the blood was flowing down Starks’ back) and this didn’t do much for me. Moxley certainly seems to have moved on from Cage and I’m not sure where that leaves him. Cage vs. Cody for the TNT Title could be interesting, but I don’t really need to see Cody slay ANOTHER monster.

Allin vs. Moxley for the title next week is announced to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This wasn’t their best effort, though as usual their worst shows are still completely watchable. Maybe it was just an off night for them and AEW has earned the credibility that one bad show isn’t a sign of things to come. MJF’s promo was excellent and the Cardona debut worked, though the main event and freaking CAMERON debuting didn’t help things. Not a bad show or anything, but for AEW, it was a step down.

Results

Orange Cassidy/Best Friends/Jurassic Express b. Inner Circle – Spinning kick to Cassidy’s head

Cody b. Warhorse – Figure Four

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega b. Dark Order – Last Call to Uno

Hikaru Shida b. Diamante – Running knee

Jon Moxley/Darby Allin b. Ricky Starks/Brian Cage – Skateboard to Starks’ back

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: July 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We’re finally ready for a normal show after three weeks of specials and that means…well I have no idea actually. The big draw this week is the fallout from last week as Taz threw in the towel to cost Brian Cage his World Title shot against Jon Moxley, which might not have been the best career move. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Cody vs. ???

Cody, with Arn Anderson, is defending against a mystery opponent. That would be…..Eddie Kingston, who comes out and cuts a promo about Cody growing up around wrestlers and legends while Kingston grew up around violence and on the streets. Tony Khan brought Cody in and now it’s time for Kingston to beat him up in a No DQ match, if Cody accepts. Cody says ring the bell. Cody gets knocked to the floor to start and chopped a lot but Kingston fights back up and they head back inside.

The spinning backfist misses and Cody hits the Disaster Kick to put him on the floor again. There’s the suicide dive and Kingston seems to have banged up his knee. Kingston is fine enough to whip him with the weightlifting belt and peel back the ring mats. The piledriver on the floor is countered with a backdrop onto the concrete and Cody hammers away with shots to the face. Back in and Kingston manages a belly to back suplex for a breather but the knee is still banged up.

A kick to Cody’s head lets Kingston shout STAY DOWN and grabbing a Stretch Plum. That’s switched into a dragon sleeper but Cody fights up and sends him into the buckle. The knee gives out so Kingston goes with a low blow. With Cody down, Kingston busts out the bag of thumbtacks but Cody dropkicks him in the knee again. The Vertebreaker is broken up though and Kingston powerbombs him onto the tacks. Back up and Cody no sells a belly to back suplex and blasts Kingston with a clothesline. The Figure Four is blocked with some slaps to the face but Cody punches him down and gets the hold for the tap at 11:22.

Rating: B. If Kingston doesn’t get a contract out of this, I’m not sure what to tell you. Kingston had an awesome promo before the match and then looked great in the ring, but that shouldn’t have been how the match ended. I’m fine with Cody retaining, but after “Eddie Kingston gave everything to get here! He’ll never quit!”, it’s a little off to see him tap. But anyway, he better get signed after that because I have no idea what AEW is thinking if they don’t.

The announcers run down the rest of the show.

Jon Moxley talks about having Brian cage just a second away from going back to the operating room with another horrible arm injury but Taz threw in the towel. That makes Taz the manager of the year, but next time, Moxley isn’t letting go.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Griff Garrison

Before the match, MJF thinks Garrison is Jungle Boy and doesn’t like being corrected. MJF makes fun of his Ivy League MVP nickname and brags about being undefeated, so Griff brings up the loss in a tag match at Fyter Fest. The left hand takes Griff down and we’re off in a hurry. MJF chokes in the corner and hits an overhead belly to belly as we take a break.

Back with MJF holding the microphone and standing over Garrison, who he demands say he’s undefeated. Garrison eventually does, but knocks the microphone into MJF’s face. That sets up a rollup for two, but MJF explodes with left hands to the head. The Heatseeker finishes Garrison at 6:03. Not enough shown to rate, but it was more about MJF being himself than anything else.

Tony is with Rebel to get an update on Britt Baker, who has undergone nose surgery. Before Rebel can confirm her name, Baker shouts at her to get in. They join Baker who explains her nose issue and gives us Rule #4 of being a role model: never count out a role model. It’s not unlike Tiger Woods in the 2019 Masters, Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV or Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards. Tony mentions the Wizards not being very good but Rebel confirms that Jordan won in Space Jam. Baker tells them both to shut up and promises to be back at All Out.

Here are Taz and Brian Cage for a chat. Taz talks about how rough of a week the two of them had, with Cage being ready to fire him. He even has to give Moxley credit for getting the armbar on and having Cage in that much trouble. Taz threw in the towel because Cage is never going to quit no matter what. It’s not how he’s wired, but Moxley will never be able to do it again. Cue Darby Allin but Ricky Starks (who helped Cage and Taz on Dark) jumps him from behind. Cage hits a powerbomb on the ramp and tosses Allin over the top into the ring. The beatdown is on but here’s Jon Moxley with a barbed wire baseball bat to clear the ring.

A women’s tag team tournament is coming. It isn’t for a title, yet.

Chris Jericho is still mad about the jacket being ruined by the orange juice last week and promises to get rid of Jurassic Express for making fun of him for it. Believe it or not, Luchasaurus is NOT a dinosaur. The jacket still smells like orange juice though, and Jericho isn’t happy.

Butcher and Blade vs. Young Bucks

This is falls count anywhere so they start brawling in the kitchen, with Butcher powerbombing Nick onto a cart. Matt gets suplexed onto another cart and it’s time to head to the concourse. The Bucks duck a shot and knock the Butcher onto a picnic table to drive a cookie sheet into his face. Matt is sent inside of a production truck and Matt is sent into the door, which has his own face on it.

A dive out of said truck takes Butcher and Blade down, with Butcher being put onto a cocktail table. Nick picks up another sheet and dives off the bar to crush Butcher again. Blade is superkicked up an escalator and we take a break. Back with the fight having moved to ringside with a running knee to the face knocking Butcher silly. Nick misses a slingshot dive to the floor though and Blade is back with some chair shots. Matt takes Blade down and Nick flip dives off a wall to drop Butcher.

The Bucks put a table up against the barricade and Blade tries a running flip dive, which misses the Bucks and sends him face first into the edge of the table for a scary landing. Butcher splashes Matt through the table and they get inside. Nick throws a chair at Butcher’s head and a running knee in the corner gets two. The Sharpshooter and Crossface combination goes on but Blade comes in for the save.

A powerbomb/neckbreaker combination drops Matt on the ramp but he’s right back up to help send Butcher and Blade into each other. The superkicks put Butcher and Blade down, setting up the BTE Trigger to Blade. There are a pair of tables set up in front of either entrance so the Bucks climb above them, setting up a legdrop from one and a Swanton from the other for the double pin at 15:42.

Rating: B. Entertaining match, though I’m not entirely sure how much these teams have done to set up a match like this. You knew the Bucks weren’t going to lose in something like this either, as the Bucks are the team who get beaten down to a ridiculous degree every time and come back with a bunch of superkicks and flips to win anyway. It was a lot of fun though, and that’s what they were going for here.

Jake Roberts and Lance Archer don’t want to answer questions, so Lance grabs the interviewer and takes him into the locker room, where he beats up three guys, including sending one through a piece of the ceiling. They’re tired of waiting.

Diamante vs. Ivelisse

They go straight to the slugout to start with Diamante getting the better of things, but we need to pause for an inset interview with Big Swole. She isn’t happy with Britt Baker, who will have to face her one day. Back to full screen with Ivelisse hammering away in the corner but getting caught with a dropkick to the ribs.

They head outside with Ivelisse shouting a lot but getting sent into the barricade. They chop it out until Ivelisse hits a kick to the head for two. The sleeper goes on for a bit before they come back up and chop it out. Another kick to the head stops Diamante as JR makes potato references. A German suplex takes Ivelisse down for two but she’s right back with a powerbomb for the same. Diamante catches her off the ropes in a small package for the pin at 6:27.

Rating: D. Diamante’s strikes were quite lacking here and Ivelisse was about as far ahead of her as you can get. She must have some horrible backstage problems after she couldn’t get a chance in TNA and now is being used to put over Diamante, as you would think a unique looking woman who can strike that well would be getting more of a chance. She’s still no Lei’D Tapa though.

Hangman Page vs. 5

They strike it out to start with Page knocking him around without much trouble. A boot tot he face sets up another boot to the face to send 5 outside. Page whips him into the barricade and 5 gets dropped throat first across the steel. Cue the rest of the Dark Order though and we take a break. Back with 5’s middle rope moonsault hitting knees, allowing Page to pop back up with a spinning forearm to the mask. Page hits a heck of a pop up powerbomb for the pin at 8:48.

Rating: C-. Page is someone who can do almost anything in the ring, but e pluribus gads tell me we don’t have to sit through the Dark Order as challengers to the Tag Team Titles. The match was fine for a glorified squash, but what we might be seeing in the future could be downright irritating.

Post match Page isn’t scared by the Order’s numbers so Brody Lee gets in the ring to say Page has impressed him. What doesn’t impress him is the lack of Page’s friends or a tag partner when he is in danger. The Dark Order can protect him and would never leave him alone, in a bar or in the ring. Page appreciates the offer but he isn’t sure if he’s ready to join a cult right now.

Lee says he just made his bed, so enjoy his sleeping. Lee and Colt Cabana leave and the rest of the team beats Page down. Cue FTR with the cooler to hit one of the goons in the head and clear the ring. Kenny Omega comes out after everything is ok and FTR hands Page a beer. Omega gets nothing.

Next week: Omega/Page defends against the Dark Order, Shida vs. Diamante, Moxley/Allin vs. Cage/Starks in a Texas Tornado match.

Jurassic Express vs. Chris Jericho/Jake Hager

It’s Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus, with Marko Stunt, for the team and Jericho, with Santana and Ortiz, still has the orange jacket on. Jericho beats Boy down into the corner to start but it’s quickly off to Hager vs. Luchasaurus for the hoss fight. They slug it out with Hager getting the better of things until they collide. Luchasaurus kicks him in the head but the chokeslam is countered into a failed ankle lock attempt. The second attempt works better than it’s Jericho coming back in to work on the leg.

It’s quickly back to Hager for a chinlock before the leg is wrapped around the rope in the corner. The chop block takes the leg out again but a double clothesline puts both monsters down. Luchasaurus, with his ear bleeding, brings Boy back in to pick up the pace. A hurricanrana gives Boy two on Jericho and there’s a suicide dive onto Santana and Ortiz. Back in and Marko knocks Jericho into a small package for two but Jericho plants Boy face first. Marko gets knocked off the apron and we take a break.

We come back with Boy getting beaten down in the corner before Hager comes in to beat him down again. Jericho busts out Floyd the baseball bat but has it taken away, allowing Boy to get two off a small package. A clothesline drops Jericho but Hager is back in to keep him in trouble. Boy manages a double DDT though the hot tag brings in Luchasaurus. Everything breaks down and Boy forearms Hager to the floor.

Jericho turns Boy inside out with a clothesline but Stunt (of freaking course) comes in with a dropkick to put Jericho down. Luchasaurus gets two off a kick to the head and Boy hurricanranas Santana off the apron onto Ortiz. Cue Serpentico (who rarely leaves Dark) out of the crowd to hit Luchasaurus with a baseball bat though, setting up the Codebreaker to finish at 17:26.

Rating: B. Pretty standard main event tag match here, with Stunt getting involved because he has to be there no matter what happens because of reasons that aren’t entirely clear. It’s good to see the Inner Circle getting a fresh member, assuming that isn’t a certain Spanish deity under the mask. Other than that though, this was a fine enough match, with some near falls that made me believe the upset could happen. Just stop having Stunt in there as this generation’s Hornswoggle.

Post match the beatdown is on and Serpentico unmasks as the returning Sammy Guevara. Hugging ensues but the Best Friends and Orange Cassidy come out to clear the Inner Circle (as in the FIVE people with a baseball bat) away to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Pretty solid show this week as we get a lot of stuff covered in two hours. The wrestling was mostly good as well, but there were a few things that needed some improvements. They’re starting the build to All Out as well, which should be a heck of a show as they tend to knock those out of the park. You can probably see a lot of the show coming together, but they have a long way to go to get there. Good stuff this week, as Dynamite tends to be mostly awesome.

Results

Cody b. Eddie Kingston – Figure Four

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Griff Garrison – Heatseeker

Young Bucks b. Butcher and Blade – Double pin

Diamante b. Ivelisse – Small package

Hangman Page b. 5 – Pop up powerbomb

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Jurassic Express – Codebreaker to Luchasaurus

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: AEW

Dynamite
Date: July 8, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s the second night of Fyter Fest and that means we could be in for a big show. The card is certainly stacked but I’m curious to see how they handle the lack of the World Title match in the main event. Instead of Jon Moxley defending the title against Brian Cage, we will be seeing Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy in a grudge match. Let’s get to it.

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

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. Private Party

Private Party, with Matt Hardy, is challenging but first we need a note from Britt Baker, saying that Page’s pyro gave her third degree burns in another conspiracy to keep her out of the Women’s Title picture. Quen shoulders Omega down to start but a standing moonsault only hits knees. The champs start chopping away at Quen before it’s Page coming in for two off a tabletop suplex.

Quen blocks the Kitaro Crusher with a handstand though and it’s a dropkick to stagger Omega. The Silly String hits Omega so Page powerbombs Quen into the fans. A dropkick to the back sends Page after him though, leaving Omega to take an enziguri to the back of the head. Page comes back in to kick Quen in the face and Omega tosses Quen into a German suplex from Page. Quen is right back up for half of a double Spanish Fly for two on Omega as things settle back down a bit.

It’s Omega and Kassidy slugging it out until something like an Orton backbreaker gives Kassidy two. Page comes back in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Quen for two but a powerslam is broken up. Some quick strikes to the head put Page down and Kassidy dives down onto Omega. Quen has to bail out of the 450 to Page so Kassidy hits a rolling DDT to put Page onto the ramp. Back in and the great shooting star gets two on Page with Omega making the save. Omega’s V Trigger breaks up Gin N Juice though and it’s a superbomb to drop Quen. The Last Call retains the titles at 10:34.

Rating: B. Omega and Page continue to be able to do no wrong in the ring and they kept Private Party reeled in a bit more here. I’m curious to see where things are going with them, as there are more than a few teams who could take the titles. Granted it would be almost insane to imagine it being anyone other than FTR, but AEW has figured out how to make it seem possible, which is really hard to do.

Here’s what else is coming on the show.

Joey Janela vs. Lance Archer

Jake Roberts, with the big bag, is here with Archer as usual and Lance carries the unconscious Sonny Kiss to the ring. They go straight to the floor to start with Archer sending him into various hard objects. Janela gets inside and manages a dropkick through the ropes to stagger Archer, setting up the big dive off the top. Janela tries to go up top with a chair but the referee takes it away, allowing Archer to shove him off the top.

A hard whip into the corner has Jake rather pleased and it’s a big forearm to the chest to put Janela down again. Back from a break with Archer shrugging off Janela’s comeback bid but getting distracted by Kiss. A discus forearm rocks Archer so Janela kicks at the leg for little avail. The Black Out is countered with a clothesline for two so Jake gets on the apron. The distraction lets Kiss hit a 450 but Archer is right back with a Black Out off the middle rope through a table at ringside for the easy pin at 11:11.

Rating: C. This could have been worse, but it also could have been shorter. I know Janela is something of a name but he probably shouldn’t have lasted this long against a monster like Archer. They need to rebuild Archer a bit after losing to Cody and taking this long to beat Janela didn’t do all that much good. It wasn’t a bad match or anything but it isn’t quite the right solution.

Darby Allin does a Coffin Drop from a really high (as in multiple stories) platform.

Here are Taz and Brian Cage for a chat. Taz is glad Tony Schiavone is here because he has been a part of so many iconic moments. That is the case again tonight as Taz has a bag. In the back is the FTW World Title (Taz’s custom title from ECW) because Cage needs a title on his way into Fight For The Fallen. Next week, Cage is taking the World Title.

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. FTR/Young Bucks

The villains come in with FTR’s stolen truck. Nick and Pentagon start things off with the latter throwing his glove at FTR. There’s no contact so it’s off to Harwood instead, with a quickly broken hammerlock on Pentagon. A shoulder works a bit better and Harwood drops a leg before handing it off to Wheeler. Fenix comes in for some rapid fire top rope kicks to Harwood’s ribs but Wheeler makes the save.

Harwood runs Fenix over without much effort though and it’s Matt coming in for a clothesline. Fenix rolls away though and makes the tag to Butcher. A double dropkick takes Butcher down so Blade comes in to kick Nick in the face. The gutbuster into a gutwrench sitout powerbomb gives Butcher two and it’s back to Pentagon. A reverse powerbomb into a Rock Bottom from Butcher gets two more as Nick is in even more trouble. Fenix and Nick go to the middle rope with Nick jumping to the top for the super hurricanrana.

Wheeler tags himself in and Nick superkicks Fenix into a dragon suplex for two. Everything breaks down and we take a break. Back with Harwood fighting out of a chinlock and making the hot tag to Matt. House is cleaned in a hurry, including a double dropkick through the ropes. The top rope elbow gets two on Fenix and Harwood hits the DDT on Blade. Butcher comes back in to clean house but Wheeler and Nick combine to hit the Goodnight Express on Fenix.

Butcher is sent over the barricade and the good guys make a bunch of tags to set up a double superplex into a frog splash into a Swanton to crush Blade but Fenix dives in for a rather late save. We settle down to Pentagon kicking at Matt but Nick is back in with a forearm to Pentagon’s head. Nick gets caught on the ropes and Fenix hits a running Canadian Destroyer onto the big pile at ringside for your insane and not exactly safe spot of the match. Nick superkicks Harwood by mistake and it’s a spike Pentagon Driver to finish Nick at 16:43.

Rating: B+. This was the insane, wild brawl that fans were expecting and that’s a fine way to go. The Lucha Bros continue to be one of the most entertaining teams around and thank goodness they didn’t have FTR take the fall here. I know we’re building towards FTR vs. the Bucks, even if it is going to take some time to get to a show worthy of that match. Anyway, really entertaining stuff here, as you knew it would be.

Big Swole is just arriving but isn’t allowed in due to being suspended, thanks to some requests from Britt Baker. Swole: “YOU EVER HEARD OF A FAX MACHINE???”

Nyla Rose vs. KiLynn King/Kenzie Paige

King is willing to let Paige start and it’s a running clothesline to put Paige down to start. The big legdrop hits Paige and some shoulders in the ribs make it worse. Paige is sent into the corner and it’s King coming in to pound away on the back. King’s choke doesn’t do any good and it’s a spear to take Paige down again. Rose throws Paige at King and powerbombs Paige onto her for the double pin at 2:24. What is this, Rose’s third big push?

Post match Rose says actions speak louder than words and now she has a manager. She won’t be telling us who it is right now but whoever it is will make her champion.

Colt Cabana has a huge bruise on his ribs but he can wrestle tonight. Brody Lee comes in to say the Dark Order won’t let it happen again. Lee helps the very ginger Cabana up.

Dark Order/Colt Cabana vs. SCU

It’s Brody Lee and Stu Grayson for the Dark Order with the rest of the team watching from the stage. Daniels works on Grayson’s arm to start but gets taken down with some power. That’s fine with Kazarian and Sky, who come in for a double shoulder to Grayson. A Pele takes Sky down though and it’s Cabana coming in while still favoring his side. Cabana crawls through Sky’s legs but gets kneed in the face to send him into the corner.

A Dark Order distraction cuts the rest of SCU off though and Lee comes in to snap off a suplex to drop Sky. We take a break and come back with Sky hitting a neckbreaker on Cabana, allowing the double tag to bring in Kazarian and Lee. Everything breaks down and Lee is finally knocked outside, only to have Grayson hit a fireman’s carry faceplant on Sky.

Lee comes back in for the spinning Boss Man Slam on Kazarian but Daniels knocks Lee outside for the suicide dive. A release Rock Bottom drops Grayson and the Best Moonsault Ever gets two with Cabana making the save. Back in and Lee clotheslines Daniels’ head off but lets Cabana get the pin at 12:10.

Rating: C+. The will he/won’t he story continues and that’s a good way to go with Cabana. You can only do so much with someone who is so comedy based and having him possibly turn to the dark side is an interesting way to go. I’m not sure I believe that’s where they’re going long term, but it’s a good mini mystery for the people involved. As usual, SCU can take a loss like this without losing anything of note, which is a valuable asset to have.

Post match Cabana wants to celebrate but Lee glares at him.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including FTR vs. Lucha Bros and the Elite vs. Jurassic Express, plus the TNT Title open challenge and the World Title match.

Big Swole tries to get to Britt Baker and throws some trash at Rebel, who accidentally brushes Baker in the face. Baker freaks out and claims a broken nose. Tony: “She needs a doctor!” JR: “SHE IS A DOCTOR!”

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

No Best Friends here but Santana and Ortiz, with orange juice, are at ringside. Cassidy puts the hands in his pockets to start and ducks a clothesline, setting up a dropkick to the floor. The suicide dive connects but Jericho takes it back inside and grabs the Walls of Jericho in a hurry. The rope is grabbed so Jericho knocks him down again without much effort. There’s a backbreaker but Cassidy grabs three straight rollups for three straight near falls. Jericho sends him hard to the floor again though and we take a break.

Back with Jericho grabbing an abdominal stretch, plus the rope for a bonus. Cassidy fights out and they trade shots to the face, only to have Cassidy sent outside again. Back in and Cassidy fights up, puts his hands in his pockets for the slow motion kicks, and then hits a full speed superkick for two. Jericho is back up and tries a superplex but Cassidy shoves him off and hits a top rope splash for two. It’s Jericho heading outside again and Cassidy hits a big dive to the floor onto all of the Inner Circle.

Back in and a top rope DDT gets two but Cassidy takes a long time to set up the Superman Punch. Jericho counters into the Walls but Cassidy reverses into a small package for two. Santana and Ortiz get involved with the orange juice so here are the Best Friends to cut him off. A bat shot to the face sets up the Codebreaker for….two. Ok points for a good near fall there.

Jericho elbows him down but misses the Lionsault, allowing Cassidy to hit a Michinoku Driver for his own two. They slug it out from their knees and Cassidy reverses a suplex into the Stundog Millionaire. The tornado DDT plants Jericho for two, with Aubrey in the orange juice on the two count. The Superman Punch is loaded up but it’s the Judas Effect to give Jericho the pin at 18:31.

Rating: B. It was better than I was expecting and Cassidy got to showcase himself well, but I never bought Cassidy as a threat to win. That being said, this was never intended to be the main event so while it didn’t feel like a main event match, it wasn’t supposed to be. What we got was rather good and that’s a nice thing to have in a spot like this.

Overall Rating: A-. This was another great show with nothing really close to bad (Janela vs. Archer, the worst match of the night, was perfectly serviceable) and a surprisingly good main event. I’m not sure how well it is going to do against the mega match that NXT put out there, but it was an awesome night and another great effort from AEW when the lights are on their brightest.

Results

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega b. Private Party – Last Call to Kassidy

Lance Archer b. Joey Janela – Black Out through a table

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. FTR/Young Bucks – Spike Pentagon Driver to Nick

Nyla Rose b. KiLynn King/Kenzie Page – Powerbomb to Paige

Chris Jericho b. Orange Cassidy – Judas Effect

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