Collision
Date: August 17, 2024
Location: Esports Arena Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

We are just over a week away from All In and there is a good chance that we are going to see something new added to the show this week. One of the featured matches will see FTR vs. the Acclaimed for a Tag Team Title shot against the Young Bucks, which could have quite the fireworks. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Britt Baker vs. Harley Cameron

Cameron works on the wristlock to start but Baker takes her down without much trouble. Back up and Cameron sends her to the apron and starts in on the leg, including a 619 to the knee for something a bit more unique. A Russian legsweep gets two on Baker, whose comeback is quickly cut off. Cameron’s enziguri staggers Baker but she comes back with a superkick and a Sling Blade, setting up a curb stomp for the fast pin at 5:25.

Rating: C+. This was a fine way to go as the match didn’t take up too much time and didn’t need to. Baker gets a win as she is eight days away from one of the biggest matches of her career and beats the friend of someone who is facing her opponent at All In next week. It was simple and to the point, which is just fine in this case.

Post match here are Mercedes Mone and Kamille for the staredown so Baker whips out the kendo stick. Kamille takes it away without much trouble and breaks it in half. Baker is laid out with a sitout Dominator and Mone poses over her.

All In is coming to Arlington next year.

We look at Dustin Rhodes winning the Ring Of Honor Six Man Tag Team Titles with the Von Erichs, but now he wants the Tag Team Titles with Sammy Guevara, because they’re all from Texas.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Sammy Guevara/Dustin Rhodes vs. Kingdom

The Kingdom is defending. Rhodes and Bennett start things off with Rhodes chopping away in the corner. A superkick cuts that off in a hurry but Guevara comes in with a high crossbody to drop the villains. The dive takes them out on the floor again and we get a double tranquilo pose back inside. Bennett takes Guevara down on the floor for some choking though and we take a break.

Back with Guevara still in trouble but Rhodes offers a distraction, allowing Guevara to grab a much needed super Spanish Fly. Rhodes gets the tag and cleans house, including the snap powerslams. Shattered Dreams hits Taven in the corner and Cross Rhodes gets two with Bennett making the save. Bennett busts Guevara’s spine and here is Beast Mortos for a distraction, allowing Rodrick Strong to come in with a Sick Kick to Rhodes.

The Von Erichs run in for the save but here is the Cage of Agony, followed by the Conglomeration, to brawl everyone to the back. Taven rolls Rhodes up for two so it’s time for Hail Mary, which Guevara breaks up with a super cutter to Taven. The Final Reckoning into a Swanton finishes Bennett for the titles at 10:37.

Rating: B-. This was more about all of the insanity going on and the big moment but it wound up being a pretty decent match. The fans seemed to like it, though seeing Rhodes get his big nostalgia title win just a few weeks ago takes away a bit of the impact. The Texas love fest hasn’t exactly had me thrilled, but I’m not the audience that it seems to be focused on anyway.

A bunch of people offer their picks for Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland. Having Nigel McGuinness cost Danielson his career could be incredible.

Chris Jericho says hi and s ready to face Tommy Billington in Cardiff, Wales next week on Dynamite. Billington didn’t have the training in the Hart Dungeon, so he’s going to be Dynamite done.

Hologram vs. Angelico

Serpentico is here with Angelico. Hologram starts working on the wrist to start and anklescissors his way out of trouble. A standoff lets Angelico dance a bit so Hologram sends him outside for a heck of a dive as we take a break. Back with Hologram diving between the ropes to avoid some charges, setting up a springboard hurricanrana to send Angelico flying. Hologram has to bail out of a 450 though, allowing Angelico to get two off la majistral. A hurricanrana gives Hologram two and they trade rollups for two each, followed by Hologram’s cradle for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: B. More fun from Hologram here, who is turning into a showcase. It also helps that he wasn’t on a team with a bigger name or coming after another high flier on the same show. It’s still working for him, but it is probably time to move him into either a feud or at least some bigger competition. Rather entertaining stuff here though, which is the entire point.

Video on the tiger driver 91 and of course Excalibur is right there to tell us about how devastating it is. I get what they’re going for with it, but maybe it would be more devastating if it, like, put someone out?

Jack Perry vs. Danny Orion

Non-title. The bell rings and Perry takes off his jacket before unloading in the corner. A rebound lariat and a running knee finishes Orion at 1:15.

Post match Perry whips out a body bag and spray paints Orion’s face white, ala Darby Allin. Orion is put in the bag…with the TNT Title. Perry pulls out a new version of the TNT Title, which is all black. Well it’s Perry so it must be interesting.

We look at the Patriarchy attacking the House Of Black and the Bang Bang Gang.

The House Of Black and the Bang Bang Gang both want the Trios Titles back.

Christopher Daniels makes a four way titles match (Patriarchy, House Of Black, Bang Bang Gang and a wild card team), say it with me, in a ladder match, for All In.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Lio Rush

Rush rolls away from him to start but eventually gets pulled into a gutwrench suplex. That’s broken up as well and Rush grabs a jumping Stunner, which seems to annoy Castagnoli more than anything else. Castagnoli uppercuts him out of the air and bends Rush’s back over his knee, setting up a chinlock as we take a break.

Back with Castagnoli missing a charge into the corner and getting sent out to the apron for a flipping kick to the head. Rush’s suicide dive is pulled out of the air but Rush is fine enough to grab a quick hurricanrana. Back up and Castagnoli LAUNCHES HIM over the barricade for a crash, followed by a running uppercut for two back inside. Rush strikes away and hits the spinning kick to the head, only to charge into Swiss Death for the pin at 8:49.

Rating: B-. Oh dang this was looking fun and could have been a lot more if they had more time. They only got about five minutes on the full screen and that isn’t enough from these two, at least based on what we got. Power vs. speed works every time and it felt like they were on the verge of doing some good stuff before they had to wrap it up so quickly.

Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander know that Tomohiro Ishii is tough and crazy, but so is Statlander. The winning team gets to pick the stipulation for Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale at All Out. Hathaway knowing pain is coming is great.

Eddie Kingston, still recovering from his knee injury, says he isn’t seeing the Bryan Danielson that he knows so well. This Danielson is going to lose, because he doesn’t have the fire. Bryan needs to figure that out, because going in to lose isn’t a good way to go out.

Mariah May vs. Londyn Dior

Storm Zero finishes in 37 seconds.

Post match Toni Storm pops up with a video called My Final Gift. She talks about how a sad clown should come to see her and promises that the River Thames will run red with May’s blood at All In. May looks shaken up but hits Dior in the head with the shoe to blow off some steam.

Max Caster does a musicless rap about how the Acclaimed is going to beat FTR.

FTR vs. Acclaimed

For the Tag Team Title shot at All In and Billy Gunn is here with the Acclaimed. Bowens takes Harwood into the corner to start and it’s an early clean break. Back up and a running shoulder sends Bowens into the corner, followed by a small package to give Harwood two. Wheeler comes in to headlock Caster, who is right back with one of his own to even things up a bit.

That’s broken up and it’s back to Bowens, who rolls Caster up for two. Everything breaks down and the Acclaimed backdrop FTR outside for some needed head shaking. Back in and Caster has to fight out of the corner before being sent back outside for a clothesline as we take a break. We come back with Harwood missing a charge into the corner, allowing Bowens to come back in and pick up the case.

The jumping Fameasser is blocked and Wheeler comes back in, only to get rolled up for two. Wheeler knocks Bowens to the floor but there’s no Harwood (wrong corner anyway) so Caster knocks him down, only to look a bit confused as well (weird segment there). Things settle back down to a suplex/high crossbody combination for two on Wheeler. A sunset flip gets two on Caster and Wheeler powerslams Bowens for a roll out to the floor. The Steiner Bulldog gets two on Caster as we take another break.

Back again with Bowens belly to back suplexing Harwood for a double knockdown. Wheeler comes back in to clean house, including a running European uppercut to Caster. The fans chant FIGHT FOREVER, which makes me remember that the video game was a thing. Wheeler’s rollup gets two on Caster and it’s back to Harwood, who gets beaten up by Bowens. Caster and Harwood drop each other again and it’s Bowens going after Harwood’s knee to take over.

The Sharpshooter goes on Bowens and then another goes on Caster, with Bowens making a save for two. Harwood puts Bowens on top as we get the five minute call. Bowens gets crotched and it’s the PowerPlex (more like a PowerDDT) for a delayed two. Harwood and Bowens slug it out from their knees but the Shatter Machine is broken up.

Instead the Acclaimed hit the Shatter Machine on Harwood for two with Wheeler…well possibly making a save. Everyone is down again and the fans are WAY into this. The double slugout from their knees and Caster is sent outside, leaving Bowens to get caught in the Shatter Machine. Caster makes the save from the apron as we have a minute left. Harwood and Caster slug it out and collide with Harwood falling on top for two as time expires at 30:00.

Rating: B. This took its time to get going and while the draw felt like a fairly obvious outcome (one way or another), that’s not a bad thing. The story they’ve been telling was setting up a three way title match and that’s what we’re likely getting, with some rather good action on the way there. Solid match here, thankfully without the Young Bucks interfering and dragging things down.

The brawl stays on after the match and Tony Schiavone announces that it’s a three way title match at All In. Well, yeah.

Overall Rating: B+. The action was rather good throughout, they set up some things for the two upcoming pay per views and had a title change. This was one of the better done editions of Collision in a good while and shows how much better it is when the show is given some extra attention. Moving some of the bigger stuff from Dynamite over to here would be a smart move and this was something of a version of that, making it a pretty good week.

Results
Britt Baker b. Harley Cameron – Curb stomp
Dustin Rhodes/Sammy Guevara b. Kingdom – Swanton to Bennett
Hologram b. Angelico – Cradle
Jack Perry b. Danny Orion – Running knee
Claudio Castagnoli b. Lio Rush – Swiss Death
Mariah May b. Londyn Dior – Storm Zero
FTR vs. The Acclaimed went to a time limit draw

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 14, 2024
Location: Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We have about a week and a half to go before All In and that means the card is mostly set up. This week has its own things going o though, with the Young Bucks defending the Tag Team Titles (which they won in April) for the first time. Other than that, Mariah May has a film of her own for us so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Hikaru Shida

Mone, with Kamille, is defending. Mone knocks her down to start and, shockingly enough, does her dance. Back up and Shida hits her own running shoulder knockdown, setting up a hurricanrana into the corner. A snap suplex gives Shida two and she sends Mone to the apron, where Kamille cuts her off with a glare. Mone uses said distraction to hit the running knees off the apron, followed by a regular version for two back inside.

The kickouts have Mone frustrated and Shida’s enziguri makes it worse. Shida comes back with a running knee but Mone grabs a Backstabber. A middle rope Meteora connects but Three Amigos are countered into the Falcon Arrow. The threat of Shida’s Katana sends Mone outside, where Shida beats up Kamille with the kendo stick. Mone takes it away though, allowing Kamille to get in a cheap shot. The Mone Maker (somehow worse than usual) retains the title at 10:41.

Rating: C+. This picked up near the end but they felt like they were in different books to start. Mone is being presented as a major star but it’s just not clicking most of the time. That was the case here and it didn’t get much better until Shida started her comeback. It’s good to give Mone some momentum, but can we please give her a new finisher to go with it? That Mone Maker is horrible and it’s managing to get worse, which I didn’t think was possible.

Post match Britt Baker’s music plays so Kamille beats up a masked fan…and of course here is Baker through the crowd. The threat of the Lockjaw is broken up by Kamille and the villains bail.

We look at Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal and Hangman Page brawling backstage after last week’s show.

Page jumps Jarrett and Lethal again to start his scheduled match.

Hangman Page vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal starts fast and sends him outside for five straight suicide dives. Page is back up with a Deadeye on the apron and sends Lethal over the barricade as we take a break. Back with page hammering away and grabbing a belly to belly suplex for two. A Death Valley Driver gets two more but Lethal grabs some rollups for two of his own. Lethal tries the Figure Four but Page goes to the eyes, setting up a heck of a discus lariat to drop Lethal. The Buckshot Lariat finishes Lethal at 9:29.

Rating: B-. This was a pretty decisive win for Page and that’s a good use for someone like Lethal. He’s long since established as a veteran and if he can give Page a boost on his way towards a bigger match, it should help things out that much more. Page is rather insane still and will probably face Swerve Strickland again, which could make for quite the unhinged match.

We look at MJF attacking Will Ospreay’s friend Michael Oku at a Rev Pro (London) event, with Ospreay making the save.

Video on Ospreay vs. MJF, with both of them claiming to be the best in the world. The Tiger Driver 91 gets quite a bit of focus as well, to the point where it almost has to be used in the match.

Pac talks about being #1 contender to the International Title but he’s not going to Wembley for his title shot. He’ll face the winner at All Out instead.

We look at Darby Allin’s recent momentum.

Allin talks about killing himself on the indies for nothing (“We’re talking $25 or $50 a night.” That’s a very interesting definition of “nothing”.) and he heard about Jungle Boy Jack Perry. He didn’t see much in him, but now Perry is being himself. Allin is ready for him at All In.

Here is Allin for a match but Perry runs him over with a knee. Perry takes him to the back and drops a metal door on Allin’s ribs before calling him names. An anvil case to the head is broken up by security. Perry challenges Allin to make it a Coffin Match at All In.

Mariah May burns her Toni Storm style gear and talks about how bad it is to be forgotten. They’ll both die, but May will write Storm’s eulogy.

Mina Shirakawa is back and says she hasn’t talked to May since she attacked Storm. She still loves both of them and isn’t sure what happens at All In.

Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong

For the #1 spot in the casino gauntlet match at All In. Cassidy starts fast and knocks Strong outside or a dive. O’Reilly holds the ropes open for him and we take a break. Back with Strong knocking both of them down for two, followed by a backbreaker for two on more Cassidy. A double Stronghold goes on but that’s rather hard to maintain and doesn’t last long. Strong puts Cassidy on top for a loud chop instead but O’Reilly is back up with a guillotine choke.

Cassidy breaks it up with the lazy elbow and everyone is down again. Cue the Kingdom but the Conglomeration runs out and cuts them off with the brawl to the back. A chair (in the ring from the Kingdom) lets Cassidy sit down so Strong misses a charge to the floor, where Strong sends Cassidy into the apron.

We take another break and come back with Cassidy firing off kicks at both of them. A double hurricanrana sets up a tornado DDT to O’Reilly and the Beach Break for two on Strong. Back up and O’Reilly and Strong go high/low on Cassidy but the referee won’t count a double cover. Cassidy is right back up with a crucifix for the pin on Strong at 15:57.

Rating: B. They went with the style of match that often works, with three people working hard throughout a pretty lengthy match. Having the match be for the #1 spot in the gauntlet adds some psychology to it as well, as they could have even had someone not wanting to win because of the risk involved. Good match here, with the logical winner not being a bad thing.

Claudio Castagnoli and Kazuchika Okada have a face to face staredown about their Continental Title next week. Okada says he’s going into the Continental Classic as the best tournament wrestler ever and he’ll win. B****. Okada leaves and Castagnoli says he wants the Rainmaker next week.

We look at Christian Cage causing a #1 contenders match for the Trios Titles to end in a draw.

Cage says we’ll have to find a new team to challenge for the titles because he is on the way to winning every title in AEW. He has Renee Paquette leave because she’s probably a worse mother than she is an interviewer.

Here is Hook, with his eye still bandaged, for a chat. He can still see out of his other eye and now he wants to fight Chris Jericho for the FTW Title. Cue the Learning Tree, but Jericho isn’t doing it tonight. Instead he’ll do it at All In, but it’s going to be Hook’s LAST shot at the title. First though, he has to face Big Bill next week. We get some promises of people being stuffed inside of Taz before Hook accepts.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Acclaimed

The Bucks are defending (for the first time in their four month reign) but the Acclaimed jump them on the stage. Bowens dives off the ramp onto the Bucks, who get inside and hit dropkicks through the ropes. Slingshot dives put the Acclaimed down again as the bell finally rings. The Acclaimed takes back over with some double hiptosses as Billy Gunn comes out to watch. That doesn’t last long though as Caster gets knocked into the corner and we take a break.

Back with Matt being scared of Gunn, who gets ejected after being falsely accused of throwing a chair. The Bucks beat on Caster in the corner, with Matt taking him outside and ripping up a fan’s sign. Caster throws said sign at him and that’s enough for the tag back to Bowens. The comeback is cut off almost immediately with an assisted standing Sliced Bread into a knee to the face for two. We hit the chinlock on Bowens and take another break.

Back again with Bowens hitting a double clothesline and handing it off to Caster to pick up the pace. A high crossbody gets two on Nick as everything breaks down. An exchange of superkicks leaves everyone own until Nick is up with a bulldog to Caster. The Swanton hits raised knees but Matt powerbombs Bowens off the apron to break up the tag. The TK Driver is broken up and the ref gets bumped, allowing Matt to kick Caster low. Matt loads up a belt shot but here is FTR to break it up. Matt spits at Harwood, who double legs him down and that’s a DQ (with almost eerie silence from the fans) at 18:08.

Rating: B-. Oh that ending could not have been much flatter if they tried. The Bucks literally did not defend the titles or about four months and then the ending is there to set up either a #1 contenders match or a three way. The crowd reactions through the match weren’t exactly great either and it’s not much of a surprise. It’s felt like the Bucks have been in their own world for a long time now and the fans didn’t seem to care here, which is not exactly a great sign.

Christopher Daniels doesn’t like this and makes FTR vs. Acclaimed on Collision for the All In title shot.

We get a video on Bryan Danielson’s AEW career (with some clips from his days on the independent circuit), set to Time Of Your Life by Green Day. It’s a cool video, despite my utter disdain for that song.

Swerve Strickland vs. Wheeler Yuta

Non-title and Bryan Danielson is in the front row. Swerve knocks him to the floor to start and yells at Danielson, who cheers Yuta on in response. Back in and Swerve hammers Yuta down again and yells at Danielson some more, meaning more cheerleading ensues. Swerve grabs something like a torture rack but kneels down on one knee and bends Yuta sideways at the same time (it’s kind of hard to describe) before switching to a more basic leglock.

That’s broken up and Yuta sends him outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Yuta armdrags him down into the hard elbows but the seatbelt only gets two. Swerve smiles off some strikes and hits a pair of House Calls, followed by a third for no cover. Instead Swerve pounds away and the referee calls it at 9:23.

Rating: C+. You could see the match playing out this way almost from the second it was announced. Thankfully it didn’t go on too long and it did make Swerve look like more of a killer, even though I have no idea why he needs to be turned into one when he was quite popular just a few weeks ago. I could still go for less of Yuta, but at least he wasn’t presented as a major threat to the champ.

Post match Swerve promises to cripple Danielson into retirement. Then he sneaks back in for a House Call and does a slow motion YES pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was one of the weirdest Dynamites I’ve seen in a long time, with a very talk heavy first hour and then stories that weren’t keeping me interested in the second half. The Bucks stuff was dreadful, the Learning Tree was its usual stuff and Swerve vs. Danielson just doesn’t feel big. Maybe it was the Bucks stuff being that uninteresting and Swerve being all evil again after months of not needing to be but this was a show where the wrestling bailed out some pretty lame….well almost everything else. I’m a lot less interested in All In than I was coming in and that’s not good.

Results
Mercedes Mone b. Hikaru Shida – Mone Maker
Hangman Page b. Jay Lethal – Buckshot Lariat
Orange Cassidy b. Roderick Strong and Kyle O’Reilly – Rollup to Strong
Young Bucks b. Acclaimed via DQ when FTR interfered
Swerve Strickland b. Wheeler Yuta via referee stoppage

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

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AND

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

Dynamite
Date: August 7, 2024
Location: LJVM Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re on the way to All In and a lot of the card is already set up. Odds are we are going to be seeing some more of that added to the show this week, as there are still things that need to be set up. We have a big match here with MJF facing Kyle Fletcher in an Eliminator Match, plus Jeff Jarrett vs. Bryan Danielson, anything goes. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Kyle Fletcher

Non-title and Don Callis is on commentary. MJF bails to the floor at the bell and grabs the mic, saying lock up with him like a real wrestler or get out. Back in and MJF kicks him down but gets backslidden for two. Fletcher gets in a slam but it’s way too early for the piledriver. An arm crank into the corner has Fletcher in more trouble and MJF starts cranking away. A shoulderbreaker sets up an armbar as this is mostly one sided so far.

Fletcher gets out and scores with a superkick, allowing him to hammer away in the corner. Another kick sends MJF outside and there’s the suicide dive. A huge moonsault to the floor takes MJF down again but he drop toeholds a charging Fletcher into the barricade. MJF misses a charge of his own though and gets plowed through for a big crash. Fletcher drops a top rope elbow for two back inside but the piledriver is countered into an Alabama Slam.

The hammerlock DDT gives MJF two and they’re both down. MJF starts slapping him in the face and yelling a lot, allowing Fletcher fight up with a big clothesline. Fletcher lawn darts him into the middle buckle but has to escape a super Tombstone. Fletcher’s piledriver gets two and Callis heads to the ring to throw in the screwdriver. That isn’t going to happen though and it’s a low blow into a kangaroo kick into the brainbuster to give MJF the pin at 17:43.

Rating: B. I’m not sure how much of a reason there was to believe that Fletcher was going to win here but he put in quite the effort on the way. MJF is on his way to a huge showdown with Will Ospreay in London and a nice win here was a good way to go. If nothing else, MJF getting to bust out the Kangaroo Kick makes him that much more of a jerk so this went well.

Post match Will Ospreay tries to storm the ring but is delayed by a blocked door, allowing MJF to hit Fletcher with the diamond ring. MJF loads up a tiger driver 91 but Ospreay gets to the ring to clear him out. Fletcher’s blood is all over Ospreay’s shirt for the big visual.

Video on Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett, with Ricky Steamboat saying he wants to see it.

Mariah May vs. Viva Van

May drops her to start and snaps off a release German suplex. Van gets beaten down in the corner and May fires off right hands…as we take a break? In this match? Back with May stomping away in the corner and adds a kiss to the cheek before May Day…gets no cover. Instead it’s Storm Zero to finish Van at 6:25. Not enough shown to rate but I have no idea why this needed a break.

Post match May unwraps a big picture of herself and Toni Storm, with the words DIE MARIAH DIE on the back. Cue Storm for the brawl and security has to break it up.

Jack Perry watches clips of Blood & Guts and talks about being willing to sacrifice anything.

Darby Allin wants Perry to show up at Wembley. That’s why he didn’t light Perry on fire.

Bryan Keith vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Chris Jericho is on commentary. Keith jumps him to start but Shibata is right back to work on the arm. They head outside with Shibata being sent into the barricade to work on his arm for a change. We take a break and come back with Shibata knocking him into the corner but getting caught in a fireman’s carry backbreaker. Shibata snaps on a cross armbreaker and Keith taps at 7:04.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere as about half of the match was spent on the break. Shibata seems primed to be the next challenger to Jericho and the FTW Title and beating up the lackey is a tried and true way to go. Either that or Hook is on his way back, but Shibata seems to be the more logical way to go.

Post match the Learning Tree runs in for the beatdown but the returning Hook makes the save.

Orange Cassidy is the lone member of the Conglomeration here due to travel issues but he’s going to wrestle anyway.

Hangman Page only wants to destroy Swerve Strickland but people keep getting in his way. He’ll get his revenge.

Swerve Strickland sits down with Jim Ross, who wants to see the World Title match at All In with Swerve defending against Bryan Danielson. Strickland doesn’t feel remorse over some of the worse things he’s done and he won’t feel bad about beating Danielson up. This his his company and he doesn’t care about Danielson’s family. Not only can Swerve beat him, but he he will.

Orange Cassidy/FTR vs. Rush/Beast Mortos/Roderick Strong

The Kingdom is here with the villains. Rush and Harwood start things off but it’s quickly off to Mortos for a drop toehold so Rush can get in a basement dropkick to the side of the head. Back up and Strong is taken into the wrong corner so Harwood can grab a snap suplex. Everything breaks down and the villains are sent to the floor, with FTR putting their hands in their trunks for team unity.

Back from a break with Wheeler being sent into the corner for a string of running splashes. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Wheeler grabs a sunset flip for two. It’s back to Harwood to clean house, including a spinebuster for two on Mortos. Strong pulls Harwood off the top and hits the Sick Kick, allowing Mortos to knock Harwood outside.

We take another break and come back again with Harwood and Rush knocking each other down and the big tag brings in Cassidy to pick up the pace. The very spinning tornado DDT plants Mortos but it’s back to Rush for a dropkick on Harwood. Everything breaks down and the Shatter Machine finishes Rush at 16:49.

Rating: B-. This was a long match and it was entertaining, but I’m almost having a hard time fathoming that FTR was substituting for Mark Briscoe and Kyle O’Reilly. That would be the third time we had seen a similar tag match in a bit over a week and while they’re fun, I could go for something a bit different. FTR being used as the substitutes isn’t a surprise as they see to be the perfect choice for such a spot, as the fans are always going to react to them. Nice stuff here, but three times being so similar is close enough.

Post match here is the Acclaimed….but Caster’s mic doesn’t work. Security comes in and hold them back from FTR on the second or third try.

We look at the Patriarchy getting beaten up on Collision.

Christian Cage and the Patriarchy announce the Bang Bang Gang vs. the House Of Black on Collision for a Trios Titles shot at All In. Maybe they need a father, so Cage will be guest referee.

Video on Hologram.

Kamille vs. Clara Carter/Jazmyne Hao

Mercedes Mone is here with Kamille. House is cleaned, with Kamille stomping away despite having Hao on her back. A torture rack bomb and a Dominator are enough to give Kamille the double pin at 1:52.

Post match Mone and Kamille brag about being so great but Britt Baker isn’t here. Tony Schiavone says Tony Khan has overridden the Elite (make a note of that for when it would be appropriate later) and Baker is not only no longer suspended, but here she is on screen. Baker promises to win the title at All In.

Video on Bryan Danielson vs. Swerve Strickland.

Claudio Castagnoli won a triple threat on Collision and gets a shot at Kazuchika Okada.

Bryan Danielson vs. Jeff Jarrett

Anything goes and Ricky Steamboat joins commentary. Jarrett jumps Danielson on the stage with a guitar shot to the back and they go inside for the opening bell. Danielson is clotheslined to the floor and then sent into the barricade as Jarrett is starting fast. They go into the crowd and then into the concourse where Danielson fights back. Jarrett suplexes him through a trashcan though and slugs away, only to get suplexed onto the same trashcan.

We take a break and come back with Jarrett using a chair to wreck Danielson’s knee. Jarrett hammers away in the corner but gets sent outside for Danielson’s suicide dive. Back up and Jarrett goes after the knee again, including some more chair shots. Danielson gets in a chair shot of his own though and the spider superplex sets up a missile dropkick.

For some reason Danielson fires off the YES Kicks but Jarrett pulls him into the Figure Four. Some chairs to the knee break it up so Jarrett switches to the Sharpshooter, which Danielson reverses into the LeBell Lock. That’s broken up as well and they slug it out, with Danielson grabbing the chair and hitting the running knee into it into Jarrett’s head for the pin at 15:33.

Rating: B-. Is there any surprise that this wound up working? Despite his less than great reputation, Jarrett has been around for going on forty years and wrestles a very effective style. This was a fun brawl with both guys getting to show off a bit before we got to the serious stuff at the end.

Post match Steamboat and Jarrett’s friends get in the ring as respect is shown. Cue Swerve Strickland to say we just saw three legends of TBS programming: Jarrett, Steamboat and Swerve. They’ve all been World Champions, unlike Danielson. Everyone else clears out and Swerve gets in the ring to say he won’t hesitate to hit the kill shot on Danielson. Swerve wants a warmup next week as well, so he’ll face….Wheeler Yuta, with Danielson sitting ringside. A staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show was in a weird place with little being added to the card but enough solid content to keep the two hours moving. At the same time, the Olympics are likely going to take away a good chunk of the audience so it wouldn’t make sense to waste a bunch of stuff when the viewers weren’t going to be there. Solid show here though, with two more Dynamites to go before it’s off to London, meaning there is time to really hammer it home.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Kyle Fletcher – Brainbuster
Mariah May b. Viva Van – Storm Zero
Katsuyori Shibata b. Bryan Keith – Cross armbreaker
Orange Cassidy/FTR b. Beast Morton/Rush/Roderick Strong – Shatter Machine to Rush
Kamille b. Clara Carter/Jazmyne Hao – Double pin
Bryan Danielson b. Jeff Jarrett – Running knee with a chair

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Dynamite
Date: July 17, 2024
Location: Simmons Bank Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the 250th episode and that means the show is going to be a stacked one. In this case, that means we have MJF challenging Will Ospreay for the International Title, along with a champion vs. champion match between Swerve Strickland and Kazuchika Okada. It’s also a week before Blood & Guts so we should get the final push. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

International Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Will Ospreay

MJF is challenging and bails to the floor to start. Back in and MJF has to duck the Bidden Blade before dodging a bunch of shots to the face. Ospreay flips over him and MJF isn’t sure what to do. His best idea seems to be bailing out to the floor, where Ospreay hits a big flip dive. Back in and MJF manages a quick Stunner for two, meaning frustration is staying on. Ospreay fights up again and knocks him to the floor for the Sasuke Special.

A sky twister press gets two on MJF and it’s time to set up a table at ringside. Instead they head back inside with Ospreay chopping away until is back with a Cheeky Nandos Kick. The fake knee injury lets MJF hit a piledriver for two and Ospreay is down. The Figure Four goes on but Ospreay gets over to the ropes. MJF whips him into the corner and the knee gives out, which has MJF rather pleased. Ospreay gets back up again and knocks him down for a needed breather, only to get his leg taken out again.

The brainbuster (which MJF shouts in advance) is countered into a Stundog Millionaire and MJF rolls outside. Back in and the Oscutter misses as MJF just kind of falls down and we take a break. We come back with Ospreay hitting a handspring kick to the head for the double knockdown but coming up favoring his shoulder. They go out into the crowd with Ospreay (leg seeming fine) striking away, and letting a kid get in a few shots (ok that was great).

They head back to ringside where MJF gets another beating. They go back inside to trade rollups for two each. Ospreay grabs a poisonrana but MJF is back with the Long Island Sunrise for two. MJF heads outside and has some water, which he throws around with a nice look on his face before breaking the count. The delay lets Ospreay get in a shot of his own and Cross Rhodes (with a wink) connects for two.

Back up and MJF pokes him in the eye, setting up a stomp to the arm. A hammerlock DDT gets two on Ospreay but MJF crotches him on top. They go to the apron and fight over a piledriver attempt until Ospreay hits a Styles Clash for two. Ospreay plants him down for two more and we take another break.

Back again with MJF hitting a Tombstone for two and they head to the apron, followed by a middle rope elbow to the back of MJF’s head for two. MJF takes him up but gets reversed into a super Styles Clash for a rather delayed near fall. Ospreay is put on the table for the top rope elbow and the huge crash sends us to another break. Back again with MJF holding the abdominal stretch until he gets caught cheating, allowing Ospreay to hiptoss his way to freedom.

One heck of a backbreaker gives MJF two and he takes Ospreay to the top where, after some pelvic thrusting, his super hurricanrana is flipped out of the air for a standoff. They trade rollups for two each before the brainbuster is countered into another Stundog Millionaire. Another poisonrana sets up a countered Stormbreaker and a Spanish Fly gives Ospreay two.

They fight to the top again where Ospreay has to fight out of a super Tombstone. The Oscutter and a running elbow to the face gets two on MJF, who can barely move. The Hidden Blade misses so Ospreay teases the Tiger Driver 91 as we have a minute left. Ospreay picks him up but can’t bring himself to go through with it. He doesn’t drop MJF but the referee gets bumped. Back up and the big shot with the ring gives MJF the pin and the title at 59:58.

Rating: A. This started hot and then kept going with some great stuff. While it dragged a bit at times and the leg injury was just dropped, they played up a great back and forth match with MJF finally cheating in the end while Ospreay wanted to do it the right way. This was Ospreay getting to show that he still has it and they had an awesome match throughout.

Post match MJF gets some oxygen before bragging about his win.

The Acclaimed want in on Blood & Guts so Mark Briscoe and Swerve Strickland agree.

It’s time for TV Time with the Learning Tree, with Big Bill introducing Chris Jericho. After the “hi guys” and a lecture about how Little Rock needs to work on its crime rates, Jericho says this is the 250th Dynamite and he’s been on almost all of them (Taz: “Shocking.”). Jericho promises to be on every show until episode #500 before talking about how many “accidents” there have been in recent weeks.

Who would be crazy enough to not want to listen to the Learning Tree? Cue Minoru Suzuki, with a paper in his hand. Next week it’s Suzuki vs. Jericho with Bill and Bryan Keith banned from ringside. I know he’s a legend, but I’m having more and more trouble caring about Suzuki every time he shows up.

The Elite aren’t going to lose their Tag Team Titles and threaten to beat up Swerve Strickland so much that the World Title is vacated. Mercedes Mone comes in to thank them for banning Britt Baker from the building. Okada requests she do her dance, which she obliges, leaving Okada rather, uh, bothered.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Nyla Rose

Mone is defending and is placed on the ropes, where it’s already time to dance. Rose’s suplex is blocked so Mone tries a tornado DDT. Rose blocks that as well (Rose: “HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND???”) and plants Mone down as we take a break. Back with Rose powering out of a suplex and hitting a splash in the corner.

The Cannonball gets two but Mone kicks her off the ropes and hits a Vader Bomb. The middle rope Meteora gives Banks two and a middle rope bulldog puts Rose down again. Mone loads up a CEO glove (ala Britt Baker) and grabs Lockjaw, with Rose just biting her hand for the break. Instead the Statement Maker (Bank Statement) makes Rose tap at 9:18.

Rating: C+. I know the ending was never in doubt whatsoever but egads it’s frustrating to see Rose be such an incredibly charismatic star only to come up short. Mone is by far the bigger star but I’m still having trouble caring about almost anything she does. It’s like she got to skip all of the stuff that she would need to do to connect with the audience and is just on top because of everything else she’s done. That makes sense, but it’s not the easiest thing to watch.

Post match Mone rips up a DMD > CEO sign…and yeah of course it’s Britt Baker.

We look back at Mariah May snapping on Toni Storm.

Jack Perry doesn’t care about Darby Allin beating up Brandon Cutler, and proceeds to beat Cutler up himself. Allin can come find him tonight. This would work better if there was any reason to care about Cutler.

Here is Toni Storm……as played by Mariah May. Schiavone: “Speak b**** come on now.” Taz and Excalibur: “WHOA TONY!” May says everyone but Storm saw it coming because Storm was giving it all away. The question shouldn’t be why, but rather why May took so long. She didn’t think it would take this long either. It was so easy though and she had so much fun stringing her along. She was ready to turn on Storm but then she figured she might as well beat her at Wembley.

Don’t worry though: she still loves Storm, who she never loved more than when she was on her knees, bleeding in front of May. The greatest performance will be at All In, because AEW is All About Mariah. She didn’t exactly tell us anything we didn’t know here, but it wasn’t supposed to be/didn’t need to be that kind of an explanation.

On Collision, the Bang Bang Gang was stripped of the Trios Titles but promise to win them back in their match for the vacant titles on Saturday. This still seems WAY more complicated than it needs to be.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Swerve Strickland

Non-title. Okada takes over to start but Swerve slips out and grabs a headscissors into the corner. Swerve gets in a bit of dancing before they head outside, where Okada plants him with a DDT. We take a break and come back with Swerve favoring his wrist, allowing Okada to knock him down again.

The top rope elbow connects but Okada spends too much time posing, allowing Swerve to roll him up for two. Okada is back up with the dropkick though and they both need a breather. Swerve is back up with a backbreaker into a powerslam but the Swerve Stomp misses. Okada is back up with a Tombstone but the Rainmaker is countered into the Swerve Stomp. Cue the Young Bucks to jump Swerve for the DQ at 11:28.

Rating: B-. This didn’t have the time to really go anywhere, especially with the break in the middle and little chance of a clean ending (which shouldn’t have happened). The did at least get some time to make it feel important, but it was always going to end with the big Blood & Guts preview. That’s the right way to go as well, as neither of these two should be taking a pin.

Post match the Acclaimed, Jack Perry and Mark Briscoe all run in for the brawl. Hangman Page runs in as security can’t break it up. Since team AEW is outnumbered, here is Darby Allin….from the ceiling ala Sting to even things up. The huge brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: A-. When half of your show is spent on an instant classic, you’re pretty much playing with the house’s money. This was a heck of a show with a pair of huge matches and nothing bad to bring it down. While some parts of it might not have been as interesting (Mone/Jericho/Suzuki), that opener was more than enough to carry it. They only needed one other good thing to make this an easy win and the May promo was more than enough. Great show here, with that opener being more than PPV quality.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Will Ospreay – Punch with Dynamite Diamond Ring
Mercedes Mone b. Nyla Rose – Statement Maker
Swerve Strickland b. Kazuchika Okada via DQ when the Young Bucks interfered

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Collision
Date: July 6, 2024
Location: Landers Center, Southaven, Mississippi
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

The big story this week is going to be focused on talking, as Maxwell Jacob Friedman is set to open the show with an explanation for what he did to Daniel Garcia on Dynamite. Other than that, we have the second semifinals of the men’s Owen Hart Tournament, as the winner of Jay White vs. Hangman Page will face Bryan Danielson next week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of MJF turning on Daniel Garcia on Dynamite.

Here is MJF to explain what he did. MJF laughs off the idea that he and Daniel Garcia would be friends because Garcia is a Make-A-Wish Kid at best. Of course he isn’t going to give Garcia a match at All In and now Garcia might never wrestle again. With that out of the way, MJF shows us a clip of himself talking about his condition with rejection and how scared he is to let anything go wrong.

Back live, MJF says he let everyone in and then he lost it all. He was sitting on his couch watching Dynamite and saw his fans turn on him for Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland and WILL OSPREAY. Garcia was just the tip of the iceberg because he is going to take everything they love.

The only way to do that is with him on top and Ospreay is a guy who only cares about ratings from Meltzer. MJF cares about ratings from Nielsen so get out here right now. Ospreay’s music plays but MJF laughs, as there is no Ospreay tonight. He is MJF (and he doesn’t like the fans chanting his name) and you can thank him later. Good enough explanation and rather in line for MJF.

The Conglomeration is ready for another fight and to get back up after a bad Forbidden Door. Orange Cassidy doesn’t care.

Conglomeration vs. Jacked Jameson/Iron Savages

Roderick Strong, with the Kingdom, joins commentary. Briscoe grabs the Savage Sauce to start and gets even zanier than usual. O’Reilly comes in and gets run over as we take an early break. Back with O’Reilly getting over for the tag to Briscoe to clean house. Cassidy comes in and starts rather quickly, including the tornado DDT for two on Bronson. Everything breaks down and Briscoe hits a big flip dive to the floor, leaving Cassidy to hit the Orange Punch for the pin on Boulder at 7:56.

Rating: C+. I like that they’re doing something different with Cassidy, as he hasn’t had much in the way of a different trajectory in a long time. This is the kind of thing that could lead somewhere for him, though we’re still at the beginning. Other than that, it’s nice to see the Savages and Jameson get beaten up, though I could go with them not being around as much. Or at all really.

Jack Perry talks about the sacrifices that he has made to become TNT Champion. Now he to give someone else a chance to make the same sacrifice.

Video on Swerve Strickland beating Will Ospreay to retain the World Title at Forbidden Door.

Hangman Page is asked why he is back, sending him into a near meltdown over how much he wants to destroy Swerve Strickland.

Toni Storm vs. Trish Adora

Non-title and Mariah May and Luther are here with Storm while the Infantry is with Adora. They fight over headlocks to start until Adora runs her over with a shoulder. Adora ties her up for some neck cranking but Storm escapes and hits the hip attack to the floor as we take a break. Back with Storm hitting a running hip attack in the corner, setting up the forearm off. Storm gets the better of things and hits Storm Zero for the pin at 8:24.

Rating: C+. This was the traditional short and to the point women’s match with the commercial break eating up even more of the time. Adora is someone who can work well with anyone but doesn’t seem likely to win much on her own anytime soon. On the other hand you have Storm, who is being kept warm before her big showdown, likely against Mariah May, at All In.

Willow Nightingale and Mariah May are ready for the Owen Hart finals.

The Patriarchy wants the Trios Titles but Christian Cage had to look up who held the titles. That’s how unimportant the Bang Bang Gang really is. Colten Gunn has some promise but that’s beside the point. He’s going to take the titles and revive them. Kip Sabian comes in to say he’s just lost his father and implies he wants some guidance. Cage says it’s a good thing Sabian’s dad isn’t here to see what kind of a loser he is and has Killswitch wreck him. Cage’s delivery here was great as usual.

TNT Title: Jack Perry vs. Marko Stunt

Stunt, the home state boy, is challenging and Perry is stunned. Perry knocks him down to start and hits some hard forearms before planting Stunt for a fairly near fall. Stunt fights up and gets two off a hurricanrana but Perry buckle bombs him. The running knee finishes Stunt at 3:21.

Rating: C-. They weren’t exactly hiding what they were going for here and while I would usually want a bit more time for this kind of a call back match….it’s Marko Stunt. The idea here was to have Perry get an easy win because the Young Bucks are treating him favorably, which is fine enough, but it’s not going to give us much of anything for a bit. I’m sure he’ll get a better challenger one day, but we could be a long way off from that.

The House Of Black is ready to hurt the Patriarchy.

Video on Bryan Danielson’s path in the men’s Owen Hart Tournament.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Beast Mortos

Castagnoli flips out of a wristlock to start and hits a quick backbreaker. Back up and Mortos sends him into the corner for a running elbow and an early two. Mortos’ running knee misses though and the crash to the floor takes out the cameraman for a great visual. Mortos is right back up and sends Castagnoli outside for the corkscrew suicide dive. Castagnoli gets in his own knockdown back inside and we take a break.

Back with Castagnoli getting the better of a slugout until Mortos headbutts his way to freedom. Castagnoli knocks him outside for the running uppercut against the barricade as the fans want the Swing. Back in and Mortos’ torture rack backbreaker gets two but Castagnoli uppercuts him out of the air. Now we get the Swing and a big clothesline finishes Mortos at 11:35.

Rating: B-. This felt like “hey, Castagnoli is still around”, and that’s not a bad thing. There is always going to be a place for a strong man to throw around a big guy and that is exactly what we got here. Castagnoli has been kind of floating without much to do as of late and it would be nice to see him have a little something. Hopefully this is a start, but I’m not sure if I would get my hopes up.

Matt Menard says Daniel Garcia lost all of the strength in the left side of his body but he’ll get better. Garcia is going to get his revenge on MJF and it’s going to be Red Death.

Someone dives into a vortex and will apparently be loading soon.

Serena Deeb is willing to run it back with Riho, but she’s grown since their first match in 2021.

Lady Frost vs. Riho

They trade escapes to start until Frost gets two off a neckbreaker. Riho drop toeholds her to set up a 619 and we take a break. Back with Riho fighting out of a double arm crank and sending her outside for a dive, which hits Frost’s feet. Back in and Frost kicks her in the head for two, with frustration setting in. Frostbite is broken up via a grab of the leg but Frost knocks her down again and hits a regular moonsault for two. Riho is right back with a dragon suplex into Run Hey (Kofi Kingston’s SOS) for the pin at 7:45.

Rating: C+. Frost seems to be one of the better designated jobbers to the stars around here and that’s not a bad role for her. She has a unique look and can do almost anything asked of her in the ring so it went well enough. At the same time you have Riho, who is likely going to go over Serena Deeb, win another match or two and then go away for a few months, so it’s hard to get that invested in whatever she does.

Shane Taylor Promotions is ready for Top Flight and Action Andretti on Rampage. They’re ready to fight tonight but nothing happens.

Samoa Joe wants to hurt Chris Jericho on Dynamite.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament Semifinals: Jay White vs. Hangman Page

The rest of the Bang Bang Gang is here with White. Actually hold on, as the Young Bucks send in an order to get rid of everyone else to make it one on one. Page knocks him to the floor for some chops to start, followed by a hard forearm back inside. There’s the fall away slam to send White to the apron again but he manages a shot of his own. They head back outside with White being sent into the barricade, followed by some rapid fire right hands back inside.

We take a break and come back with Page busted open and White starting in on the knee in the corner. White chops away and rakes at the eyes, setting up a DDT for two. They slug it out until a Downward Spiral into a German suplex plants Page. White drops him on the apron but gets powerbombed back inside for two.

The Buckshot Lariat is countered into a spinning Rock Bottom for two more but the Blade Runner is blocked. The referee gets bumped and Page chokes White with a belt. Cue Jeff Jarrett to take said belt away, allowing White to suplex Page. Another referee gets rid of Jarrett, allowing Christian Cage to come in with a spear to take out White. The Buckshot Lariat finishes White at 15:41.

Rating: B. Easily the best match on the show here and that shouldn’t be a surprise. The match having some actual stakes helped and they managed to pull off quite the feat here. It’s rather impressive that this turned into a competitive and engaging match when Page couldn’t have been a more obvious winner. That takes some effort and talent and they pulled it off here. Good stuff to wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a great example of a show that would have been much better at just an hour. They had enough stuff in there that felt like it mattered and had the quality to back it up, but then there was almost just as much that felt like “ok who else can we throw out there to fill in time”. That’s been an issue for Collision for a long time now and while the show wasn’t bad by any means, a lot of it didn’t feel overly important.

Results
Conglomeration b. Jacked Jameson/Iron Savages – Orange Punch to Boulder
Toni Storm b. Trish Adora – Storm Zero
Jack Perry b. Marko Stunt – Running knee
Claudio Castagnoli b. Beast Mortos – Lariat
Riho b. Lady Frost – Run Hey
Hangman Page b. Jay White – Buckshot Lariat

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

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Forbidden Door 2024
Date: June 30, 2024
Location: UBS Arena, Elmont, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness, Taz

It’s back to the pay per view schedule with one of the biggest shows AEW presents every year. This is built around the international guest stars, including several stars from New Japan and CMLL. The main event will see Swerve Strickland defending the World Title against Will Ospreay in a pretty big showdown. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kyle Fletcher vs. Serpentico

Bonus match (on a card that already has 14 matches). Fletcher runs him over to start and poses a bit before going after the mask. The comeback is cut off with another kick to the face, followed by a running kick to the back. The piledriver plants Serpentico but Fletcher would rather put him on the ropes. An El Generico brainbuster in the corner finishes for Fletcher at 3:12.

Rating: C-. Total squash as I guess Fletcher gets some heat back after losing the ROH TV Title in Mexico on Friday. The match was nothing to see as Serpentico gets wrecked again, but it also didn’t make me any more interested in Fletcher. He does well enough in the ring, but there is little about him that stands out in any significant way.

Zero Hour: Private Party vs. House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong

O’Reilly and Black go to the mat to start before trading shots to the ribs. Ishii comes back in to a nice reaction and gets to chop it out with King. Kidd tags himself in and Strong adds a running shot to the face. Quen tags himself in as the rapid fire tags continue, only to be sent outside. Kidd comes back in to chop away (and bark) at O’Reilly, who gets caught in the corner for an exchange of chops from Kidd and Strong.

The team argues over who gets to chop him so it’s off to Ishii for a double clothesline. The House kicks Ishii down before everything breaks down. Quen hits a Trouble In Paradise on Black, who is back with a jumping knee to the face. Kidd brainbusters Ishii but gets chopped by King. Private Party hit stereo running flip dives before Kassidy rolls King up, with tights, for two, only to get Ganso Bombed for the pin at 8:35.

Rating: B-. This was the wild match that you would have been expecting and that’s not a bad thing. There is something to be said about getting a bunch of people in the ring and letting them fly all over the place to go nuts, which is what we got here. Good choice to fire the fans up, as this kind of thing almost always tends to be. The House winning is the right choice too as they’re the bigger of the two regular AEW teams.

Zero Hour: Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano vs. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander

Stokely Hathaway is here with Watanabe and Statlander. Nakano takes Statlander down to start and hits a quick dropkick before it’s off to Nightingale. That means Statlander runs off to Watanabe, who is quickly dropkicked down for two. Watanabe and Nakano slug it out until Nakano hits a heck of a superkick. A Hathaway distraction slows things down though and Statlander gets in a belly to back suplex.

Statlander’s delayed vertical suplex gets two and Watanabe hits a hard shot to the back of the head. Nakano finally manages a quick shot and brings Nightingale back in to beat up Statlander. That lasts for all of ten seconds before the threat of the Pounce means it’s back to Watanabe. A hard spinebuster gives Nightingale two but Statlander offers a distraction, allowing Watanabe to get in a kick to the head.

Nightingale is back up with a dropkick, only for Nakano to miss a high crossbody. Nakano’s German suplex gets two on Statlander and a tiger suplex plants her again. That leaves Nightingale to hit a super Death Valley Driver for two on Watanabe, followed by a heck of a Pounce. Nakano comes back in and grabs a bridging German suplex to pin Watanabe at 10:23.

Rating: B-. Another good one here, though a middle rope Death Valley Driver not being the finish is a bit ridiculous, especially when the finish came a minute later. Either way, this was more about teasing Statlander vs. Nightingale, which does feel like a personal feud and a big rivalry. Throw in the fans loving Nightingale and things are even bigger.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

Toni Storm and Harley Cameron are here too. May sends her into the corner to start and hits some running uppercuts, setting up a rather spinning side slam for two. A Stratusphere plants Saraya again and a missile dropkick gets two more. The hip attack takes too long though and they fight up to the top. May gets sent crashing out to the floor, leaving Saraya to do some jumping jacks until she gets back in.

A double knockdown gives them a breather and they slug it out from their knees. May sends her into the corner for the running hip attack but Storm has to cut off Cameron. Saraya’s superkick into the Rampaige gets two but the Scorpion Crosslock is broken up. Instead Saraya rams her face first into the mat over and over but a suplex is countered into a bridging rollup to give May the pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. That was the only way this should have gone as May winning the whole tournament to set up a title match against Storm at All In is not the worst idea. At the same time, May gets a nice boost here and beats another former champion in Saraya. Good enough match here, though I’m not sure why it needed to be on this show.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

Fenix and Titan start things off with Fenix knocking him down and springboarding around, setting up a double flip into a standoff. The fans greatly approve as it’s off to Penta vs. Tsuji, with the latter blocking Cero Miedo. Penta isn’t having that and sends him into the corner for the running dropkick, only to be stomped face first onto the mat. Back up and they chop it out before trading shots to the face.

The Fear Factor is broken up so Penta kicks him to the floor instead. It’s off to Mistico to face Takahashi and the fans greatly approve again. An early mask tear attempt is blocked so Mistico sends him outside instead. Tsuji and Titan come in to stomp away but Mistico breaks that up and hits a dive onto Takahashi. Back in and the Bros strike away, setting up Mistico’s Swanton for two on Takahashi. Titan and Tsuji send the Bros outside for dives, followed by a running sunset bomb from Takahashi to send Mistico onto the floor.

Back in and Mistico fights off all three of them at once, allowing the tag back to Penta. Everything breaks down and Fenix’s assisted splash off of Penta’s shoulders gets two on Titan. We hit the parade of big knockdowns until Titan tornado DDT’s Fenix into a superkick for the six way knockdown. Mistico hits the big dive to the floor and the spike Fear Factor hits Takahashi, who rolls out to the floor. Back in and La Mistica finishes Titan at 12:05.

Rating: B. I’m not sure why this wasn’t on the main show, or maybe just make this the only Kickoff Show match. It had the action, but having Mistico, a CMLL star, and the Lucha Bros, best known as AAA guys, on the same show is a big deal that you do not see very often. Almost like it would be….forbidden.

The opening video looks at the major matches and how big this night really is.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

MJF is of course the big hometown boy and gets a hero’s welcome, even doing a bit of crowd surfing. Hechicero takes him to the mat to start for a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Back up and MJF shakes his hand, which allows for a kick to the ribs and a “yeah of course I did” shrug.

MJF flips (yes flips) away into a double eye poke ala Roddy Piper. They head outside with MJF setting him in a chair and hitting a running boot to the face. Back in and Hechicero snaps the arm across the top rope to take over and we hit the armbar. MJF fights up but the Heatseeker is blocked, allowing Hechicero to plant him down for two. A running knee in the corner connects for Hechicero and the fans are NOT happy.

MJF manages a quick clothesline before spinning around into a piledriver for a needed breather. Hechicero is right back up with a springboard spinning dropkick before grabbing the cross armbreaker. That’s broken up as well so MJF tries the Salt Of The Earth, which is reversed into a double arm crank with Hechicero’s legs. The ropes are reached for the break so MJF hammers away in the corner and even bites the mask. A Canadian Destroyer into the brainbuster gives MJF the pin at 9:48.

Rating: B-. The match could have been worse, but it still feels like quite the waste of MJF in a spot where he could have been doing something more important. At the same time, it made Hechicero look great all over again, as he has more than enough talent to be a star anywhere. That kind of thing will always work, though I’m not sure if it was the best idea in this spot.

We get a rather praise-heavy Young Bucks video (with Kenny Omega’s face blurred in a nice touch) which mocks the Acclaimed and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Caster’s rap mocks President Biden at the debate and Okada’s use of the word b****. Okada and Caster start things off but Okada decks Tanahashi off the apron, meaning it’s time for a historic standoff. Instead of doing anything though, it’s off to Matt, who gets taken down with a middle rope crossbody into some air guitar. Bowens comes in to take Matt into the corner, where some running elbows put him in even more trouble. Nick is brought in and it’s a double Scissor Me Timbers for a nasty crash.

Back up and Okada gets in a cheap shot to take over on Caster, with Matt putting on the headphones so Okada can dance. Caster gets caught in a camel clutch so Nick can run the ropes and then kiss his brother on the cheek. The slow beating continues in the corner as we get a few CM PUNK chants. That turns into a HE GOT FIRED chant as Caster knocks Matt off the top and hits a high crossbody.

Okada comes in and gets dropped as well, allowing the tag off to Bowens for the house cleaning. Okada gets dropped with a right hand and a spinning torture rack slam gets two on Matt. Bowens is taken down as well though and it’s a double tag to bring in Okada and Tanahashi. The dragon screw legwhip sets up the Texas Cloverleaf on Okada but the Bucks make the save.

Everything breaks down and the Rainmaker is countered into the Arrival into the Mic Drop. The High Fly Flow is broken up though and the rather delayed version hits raised knees. A superkick puts Tanahashi down again and the Bucks hit stereo slingshot dives to take the Acclaimed down on the floor. Okada hits his top rope elbow but the Rainmaker is countered into a small package for two. Back up and the Rainmaker finishes Tanahashi at 13:02.

Rating: C+. Tanahashi was trying here but those knees are just not holding him up any longer. Other than that, it was about what you would expect with the Bucks and the Acclaimed, which was only going to go so far. We still have the title match to come between the teams and that probably should have been here, but instead we get this feud extended even further.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

McGuinness is already on Danielson, as you knew he would be. Danielson goes after the arm to start before tying up Takagi’s leg. That’s broken up in the ropes so Danielson takes him down again and grabs a surfboard. As usual, that doesn’t last long and it’s Takagi dropping him down hard. A backsplash gives Takagi two as McGuinness compares Danielson to Mozart and Napoleon, both of whom were FAR more successful.

Danielson gets knocked out of the corner but manages to send Takagi outside. The suicide dive doesn’t quite work though and Takagi catches him with a hanging fisherman’s neckbreaker,. Danielson lands on his head, because Danielson, and we pause for the medics to check on him. Thankfully he gets back up and beats the count back in, where Takagi drops a knee to the back of the head. Danielson fights up and they trade shots to the face until Takagi hits a clothesline.

Another kick to the head gives Danielson a breather and he goes up top. Takagi is right there with him, so Danielson grabs a belly to back superplex for the big double knockdown. Danielson’s triangle choke is muscled up into a powerslam and they’re both down again. Back up and Takagi superplexes him into a heck of a sliding lariat for two.

Made In Japan is broken up but Danielson misses a charge into the corner. Now Made In Japan can connect for two more, with McGuinness being left speechless. Danielson can barely get up so Takagi hits a running shot to the side of the head. Another sliding lariat is loaded up but Danielson reverses into a Fujiwara armbar.

That’s switched into the LeBell Lock but Takagi slips out. A reverse fisherman’s suplex puts Takagi down and the running knee gives Danielson two. Danielson stomps away at the head and grabs a triangle choke but Takagi powers up. That doesn’t work though as Danielson pulls him into a Disarm-Her for the referee stoppage at 19:58.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it’s another awesome Danielson match. At some point he needs to win a few of these things and this was a goo example of how to make it work. Rather awesome match here and Danielson gets to move on towards what could be a rather deep run in the whole thing.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Mina Shirakawa. The bigger story though is the battle over Mariah May, as both of them want her too.

Women’s Title: Mina Shirakawa vs. Toni Storm

Storm is defending and Mariah May is in a neutral corner. As you might expect, Storm is dressed as the Statue Of Liberty. May refuses to pick before the match so they circle each other instead. Shirakawa stops to dance and gets a hip attack to the face for her efforts. That just earns her more dancing before Shirakawa drops Storm knees first onto the mat. The Figure Four around the post goes on and McGuinness thinks May needs a hug. Back in and a dropkick to the leg keeps Storm in trouble but she’s back with a fisherman’s suplex for two.

There’s the running hip attack to put Shirakawa on the floor but another one only hits the steps. Shirakawa uses the breather to hit a big dive, only to have Storm catch her with a super chokebomb back inside. Storm misses a charge though and Shirakawa grabs the Figure Four to stay on the bad leg. They sit up and slap it out until Storm manages to escape.

Back up and they slug it out with Shirakawa getting the better of things and going up top. Storm is right there for another forearm off until Shirakawa hits a super DDT for two more. Shirakawa’s Glamorous Driver is broken up and Storm snaps off a release German suplex. Another hip attack gives Storm another two but Shirakawa is right back with the Glamorous Driver for her own near fall. Storm gets in a quick rollup for two, followed by Storm Zero to retain at 11:38.

Rating: B. Storm continues to feel it in these big pay per view matches, but May was more or less just window dressing. That’s normally a good thing, but she’s the entire point of the story in the first place. The match was good, though it was hard to believe that Shirakawa was going to be the one to end Storm’s reign.

Post match Storm and May look at each other and Shirakawa wants a handshake. Respect is shown and we get the big hug and we get the three way kiss. So May’s choice of a side was to not pick a side. Got it.

We recap Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.  Sabre isn’t over Cassidy pinning him last year and Cassidy is having a rough time but is ready to fight again.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

They go technical to start with Cassidy not being able to get very far with some arm cranking. Instead Cassidy bails out to the floor for a breather before rolling back inside, with Sabre holding the ropes open. Back in and they fight over a cross arm choke until Cassidy ties him up on the mat.

That’s broken up as well so they trade rollups for two each. Sabre ties him up in a headscissors but Cassidy makes it over to the ropes rather quickly. Sabre does his own slow kicks but Cassidy takes out the knee to put him down for a change. Cassidy twists on the leg outside and again inside, setting up a top rope DDT for a rather near fall.

Sabre is right back with a kick to the arm and some finger snapping to put Cassidy down. The double arm crank goes on but Cassidy escapes and goes back to the leg. The Texas Cloverleaf is broken up so Cassidy hits the Beach Break for two instead. Back up and the Orange Punch is blocked so Sabre pulls him back into the European Clutch for two. Cassidy tries the Mouse Trap but Sabre reverses into a….well he tied up all four of Cassidy’s limbs at the same time with Cassidy having to give up at 16:20.

Rating: B. I’m still not sure I get why Cassidy was so upset coming into this one but he was holding his own out there well enough, only to get tied up by Sabre. It was a good back and forth match, with Sabre being able to do things in there that no one else can make work. Cassidy needs something new though, and I’m not sure what that is going to be coming off this loss.

Post match Sabre actually gives him the sunglasses back.

We recap the Learning Tree vs. Samoa Joe and company. Joe and company are sick of Chris Jericho and want a fight, with Jericho bringing in Jeff Cobb to replace the injured Bryan Keith.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Jericho is sure the fans don’t really want him to retire as he starts with Shibata. Before that goes anywhere though, it’s already off to Bill to face Shibata instead (third time tonight we’ve seen the “heel tags out instead of fighting” sequence). Chopping ensues with neither being able to get the better of things so it’s off to Cobb vs. Joe for the hoss showdown.

Cobb takes over by powering Joe into the corner and Jericho comes in to rake the eyes. Cobb comes back in and Joe gets the better of things for a change, allowing the tag off to Hook. Jericho chokes him on the ropes to cut him off and Cobb adds a standing moonsault. Hook manages to fight back and brings Shibata back in, with the good guys taking over on Cobb in the corner.

Jericho comes back in to take over on Shibata as everything breaks down. Shibata gets posted and Hook goes up top for an ax handle to Bill. The referee gets distracted though and Jericho hits Shibata low, setting up the Walls. That’s broken up so Cobb comes back in for the Tour of the Islands, only to have Hook t-bone him. The Codebreaker gives Jericho two on Hook but Hook comes back up with his own Judas Effect for the pin at 13:38.

Rating: C+. Hook gets a nice rub off the ending but this was the least interesting match n the card and the match didn’t make things much better. While the ending would suggest something of a downgrade for Jericho and the Learning Tree, that doesn’t seem to be the most likely outcome. Perfectly fine match, but it could have been on any AEW TV show instead.

TNT Title: Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Ladder match for the vacant title. Takeshita drops Perry to start and everyone else goes after ladders. With that not working, the fight heads outside instead with Briscoe grabbing various toys. Perry goes up a ladder but Rush makes the fast save. A ladder is thrown outside and almost hits Briscoe, leaving Rush to go up the ladder for a change. Phantasmo goes up but Martin makes the save and climbs as well.

That’s broken up but Martin dives onto Phantasm on the way down. Back up and Takeshita brainbusters Martin onto the side of the ladder, only for Briscoe to come in with the ladder around the neck. Briscoe grabs a chair and hits a step up flip dive onto a ladder onto Takeshita on the floor for the big crash. Perry goes up but Phantasmo walks across a bridged ladder to cut him off on top.

Martin gets taken down and bangs up his leg, leaving Perry to set up a table. Briscoe and Takeshita brawl on the floor until Rush dives onto the latter. That leaves Briscoe to go up a ladder for a splash but he lands on his feet, instead hitting a forearm on Perry on the table, which doesn’t break (similar to how Adam Copeland broke his leg).

Back in and Takeshita powerbombs Rush onto a ladder before pulling Phantasmo into a knee to the face. One heck of a Blue Thunder Bomb puts Phantasmo through the tables but Briscoe cuts off the climb attempt. Briscoe plants Takeshita onto the ladder and goes up, only to have Perry breaks up Briscoe’s climb. Perry beats on Briscoe with the chair and then wins the title at 16:48.

Rating: B-. That was a ladder match alright. Looked like it had about six people, some ladders, a chair and some tables too. There really isn’t much else to say about this, as it featured pretty much exactly what you would expect and had the most likely winner getting the title in the end. That’s pretty much exactly what was expected the second the match was announced and while it was ok enough, it was hardly thrilling.

We recap Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, which is winner take all for the TBS Title and the New Japan Strong Women’s Title respectfully.

TBS Title/NJPW Strong Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer

Title for title. We get the referee’s instructions and Vaquer headbutts her to start. They trade rollups for two each until Vaquer grabs a wristlock and hits a very springboardy wristdrag. Mone gets in a quick breather and hits a Meteora for two. Vaquer is right back up with a shot of her own but Mone grabs Two Amigos, with Vaquer countering the third. Vaquer starts in on the leg and ties her legs around Mone’s head for some rams into the mat to wake the crowd up.

Mone fights up again and knocks her into the corner for the running knees and a springboard DDT gets two. The Mone Maker is countered into a DDT from Vaquer and she drops a leg for two more. Another shot from Mone leaves them both down so it’s a double nip up for the forearm exchange. Vaquer grabs a crossface but Mone reverses into a Bank Statement. That’s broken up as well, with the fans mostly cheering for Vaquer now.

Some knees to the ribs put Mone down but Vaquer can’t follow up. The fans give us a F*** THE CELTICS (as in Mone’s hometown team) chant as Mone goes up, only to dive into raised boots. Vaquer dragon screws her into the corner as the fans move on to the Red Sox. Mone’s crossface is countered, as is the Mone Maker, only to Mone pull her into the crossface for the tap at 16:47.

Rating: B-. This is where the Forbidden Door concept stops working for me. The action was fine enough, but it was really hard to get interested in a match between Mone, who has only wrestled here a handful of times, and Vaquer, who has had one short match in the promotion. It didn’t feel like a feud or a rivalry, but rather two people who don’t have a history around here having a match. It was good, but I had no attachment to either of them and it kept me from getting into this one.

Post match Mone celebrates….and Britt Baker returns to a hero’s welcome.

We recap Jon Moxley defending the IWGP World Title against Tetsuya Naito. Moxley took the title from him a few months ago and it’s time for the rematch.

Jim Ross is back for the last two matches.

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jon Moxley

Moxley is defending. They slug it out to start with Moxley going after the knee to take Naito into the corner. Some corner clotheslines have Naito in more trouble and they head outside with Moxley dropping him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Naito spits in his face so Moxley slaps him down for two. A piledriver gives Moxley two more and he puts Naito on top for a rake to the back.

Naito slips between the legs though and shoves Moxley down to the floor for the big crash. They go outside with Naito grabbing a piece of the barricade to beat on Moxley, sending JR into a hilarious frenzy about that not being tranquilo. Back in and Naito has to fight out of a Figure Four, turning it into a small package for two. Moxley’s Death Rider attempt is countered into a springboard tornado DDT for two more and they’re both down.

Moxley gets up and tries a sleeper, only to be reversed into Destino for…no cover, as Naito tries it again but gets reversed into a Death Rider. They slug it out again until Moxley hits a heck of a lariat into the Death Rider for two. With nothing else working, Moxley grabs a chair, which is quickly taken away by the referee. Destino and the Death Rider are both blocked, only for Destino to to give Naito the pin and the title back at 16:41.

Rating: B-. Much like the previous match, this was a feud that has been taking place elsewhere and the match was only taking place here because it had to. Naito getting the title match is a good thing, if nothing else to get it away from AEW, which doesn’t need another title floating around. The match was good and it feels like a big deal when Moxley loses in AEW, but it wasn’t overly interesting.

We recap the AEW World Title with Swerve Strickland defending against Will Ospreay. Strickland is the reigning champion but Ospreay is the hot new star so it might be time for a changing of the guard.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is challenging and his International Title isn’t on the line. They fight over a lockup to start before both of them flip out of hurricanrana attempts. Missed kicks to the head leave us with a standoff and the fans are WAY into this. Swerve kicks away but Ospreay chops him into the corner to cut that off. They head outside with Ospreay striking away, only to get caught with the middle rope elbow to the back of the head back inside. Swerve slows things down and chops away as Prince Nana is a bit worried.

They go outside again and Swerve loads up something on the barricade, only to be hurricanranaed back down. Back in and Swerve manages a short armscissors but Ospreay slips out. Swerve hammers away but Ospreay gets up and they forearm it out. The Hidden Blade and House Call both miss, with Ospreay grabbing a Styles Clash for two. The Oscutter is countered into the Swerve Stomp as we cut to Daniel Garcia watching in a sky box.

They go up top again with Strickland grabbing something like a super Angle Slam for the big crash and a near fall. Swerve takes it to the apron, where the Oscutter misses, sending Ospreay crashing onto the apron. The Swerve Stomp is loaded up but Ospreay rolls away before it can launch, leaving Swerve to hit the Stomp onto a standing Ospreay against (not through) the announcers’ table.

A piledriver onto the barricade (geez) rocks Ospreay again and the JML Driver gets two back inside. Another Swerve Stomp takes too long and Swerve gets crotched, setting up a springboard Oscutter for a very near fall. The Hidden Blade is blocked and the Oscutter is as well, leaving Swerve to go after the arm. That’s broken up and now the Oscutter connects, setting up the Storm Breaker for two. Ospreay scores with a headbutt but the Tiger Driver 91 is countered into a cradle to give Swerve two of his own.

The Hidden Blade connects for Swerve but he misses a Swerve Stomp. The referee gets hit by another Hidden Blade, followed by another to Swerve….and Don Callis is here. Nana won’t let Callis use a screwdriver so Ospreay goes after him, only to let him go. Back in and the House Call into the Swerve Stomp gets two more with a second referee. Swerve snaps the arm and another House Call (that looked great) gets a VERY near fall. Another House Call sets up a JML Driver to retain the title at 27:04.

Rating: A-. This was pretty easily the best match on the show and I might even be underrating a bit. They beat the living daylights out of each other but took their time to get there, with Swerve getting to show just how awesome he can be. Swerve needed a big win like this and even Callis being around didn’t bring it down. Awesome stuff here and a heck of a main event.

Medics check on Ospreay and Swerve shows respect to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event pulled it up a lot and there is nothing really bad on the show, but this is absolutely not my show and it never has been. The amount of matches and the parade of guest stars isn’t something that draws me in, as it feels more like Tony Khan getting to run loose in a candy store and do a show he finds fun rather than something for everyone else. As usual, the wrestling is more than good enough to hold up, but you could pretty easily chop off almost all of the pre-show and not lose anything.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Serpentico – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
House Of Black b. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly, Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong and Private Party – Ganso Bomb to Kassidy
Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano b. Momo Watanabe/Kris Statlander – Bridging German suplex to Watanabe
Mariah May b. Saraya – Bridging German suplex
Lucha Bros/Mistico b. Los Ingobernables de Japon – La Mistica to Titan
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Hechicero – Brainbuster
Elite b. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Rainmaker to Tanahashi
Bryan Danielson b. Shingo Takagi via referee stoppage
Toni Storm b. Mina Shirakawa – Storm Zero
Zack Sabre Jr. b. Orange Cassidy – Arm and leg crank
Hook/Samoa Joe/Katsuyori Shibata b. Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb – Judas Effect to Jericho
Jack Perry won the TNT Title Ladder Match
Mercedes Mone b. Stephanie Vaquer – Bank Statement
Tetsuya Naito b. Jon Moxley – Destino
Swerve Strickland b. Will Ospreay – JML Driver

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It’s that time again as we have the show built around the idea of gust stars from a variety of other promotions. You get to wrestlers from around the world coming in to compete against the stars of AEW, which can make for some rather interesting situations. The buildup to the show is not often the strongest but you can see one heck of a night of action. That should be the case again so let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander/Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale/Tam Nakano

This, along with the other two Zero Hour matches, were not important enough to be announced on Dynamite but rather a few hours later on Twitter. I’m not sure I get the thinking, but it isn’t exactly making me interested in what we’ll be seeing here. In this case, Statlander vs. Nightingale is the big draw, as they are already set to face off in the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament.

I’ll go with Statlander and Watanabe winning here to give a bit of doubt about Nightingale being able to make it to the finals of the tournament. That should make for a good match here, but Watanabe and Nakano are people who have not been around AEW very much over the years. That doesn’t exactly make for a big time match, but that is kind of the point in having the match on the Zero Hour show.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya

It’s a little weird to have May on the show when she already has a major role in another, bigger match on the card. For now though, we could be in for a nice match as either of them going forward could be an interesting way to go. Both of them could make for an a solid choice for the next round, though there is some logic that comes into play here which should determine the winner.

At the end of the day, May being involved in the Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa match is a lot more important and there is pretty much no reason for her to go into that spot as a loser. May going over here makes a lot more sense and while there is something to the idea of Saraya going on towards a title shot in London, it isn’t the best option that they have available here.

Zero Hour: Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Mistico/Lucha Bros

The big draw here is that Mistico and the Bros have never teamed together before. That isn’t the biggest draw in the world but it is certainly a cool enough moment and better than nothing. In other words, this feels like an excuse to get Mistico onto the show and that is not a bad idea. The match itself is only so important here, but that is often the case on Zero Hour.

There is pretty much no reason for Mistico and the Bros to lose here as Mistico can do his stuff and pop the crowd. There are some talented people in Los Ingobernables but it feels like they are here for the sake of making Mistico look that much bigger. It’s not a bad idea either, so hopefully they at least have an entertaining match on the way to the main show proper.

Zero Hour: House Of Black vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Gabriel Kidd/Roderick Strong vs. Private Party

Yes there is a fourth match on this show, which was added during this week’s Collision. This feels like little more than a way to get a bunch more people onto the card, which is often not the most thrilling way to go. In this case we do have some big names who probably should have been on the show, but that doesn’t exactly make for the most exciting match possible.

I’ll take the House Of Black here, as they’re the biggest of the two regular teams (at least in AEW) and it makes the most sense to give them the win. This is going to be the insane match with everyone going nuts all over the place and trying to get in as much as they can, which isn’t going to be easy given how many people are involved. Odds are it should be fun though and that’s what you want out of a match like this one.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy

We’ll start the main card here as Sabre wants revenge on Cassidy for beating him at last year’s show in a four way match. The other idea is that Cassidy isn’t good enough to beat Sabre on his own and is going to need some kind of special trick to pull it off. I’m not sure what that is going to be, but then again that’s kinds of the point of watching the match in the first place.

As much as I want to take Sabre here, it feels like a situation where Cassidy is coming in as the huge underdog but manages to pull it off somehow anyway, as tends to be his custom. It might not be the most thrilling way to go but that has never really stopped AEW with Cassidy before. It’s always fun to see whatever Sabre can do to torment someone else so we should be in for a good one here with Cassidy winning.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hechicero

This is a bit early for a match involving someone as big as MJF but it isn’t like AEW has treated it like anything important. For the second year in a row, MJF’s Forbidden Door match feels like it was thrown on for the sake of giving him something to do and I do not get the thinking behind that move. It’s MJF’s first pay per view match since December and he’s more or less an after thought. That’s quite the odd way to go, but at least it’s an easy pick.

Save for some wacky interference, there is no reason for Hechicero to win here so we’ll take MJF in what should be an easy one. MJF will probably get in some trouble here but then wind up winning anyway, because there is pretty much no reason for Hechicero, who is probably not sticking around, to beat one of the biggest stars in the company. I’m still not sure I get the thinking here, but MJF wins.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi

The roller coaster that is the last full time year of Danielson’s career continues and that means we have another match against a hard hitter. That is kind of his trademark at this point and in this case he actually has a better chance to pull it off. It’s quite the way to go for a first round match in a #1 contenders tournament, but Danielson has a tendency to go a bit nuts anyway.

While Danielson might not have the best win/loss record, there is no reason to believe he goes down here. Takagi is another guy who isn’t likely to be around for the long term, which would likely include another match in the tournament. That leaves Danielson to win a heck of a fight, which isn’t something you get to say very often in AEW but it makes all the sense in the world here.

Learning Tree/Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe/Hook/Katsuyori Shibata

Cobb is substituting for an injured Bryan Keith as Jericho’s latest weird character gets a pay per view match. The good thing about Jericho being in the match is that he can’t talk, which would be about as bad as it could get around here. Joe vs. Cobb is the hoss fight fans would want to see while the rest…well they’re all involved as well, no matter how odd it might be.

I’ll take the Learning Tree and Cobb to win here, as it seems like we’re going to be seeing Jericho do his thing for a long time to come, no matter how much of a mess it might be. That doesn’t go well if he loses his big match as part of the team, so odds are Cobb pins Shibata to get the win, giving Jericho something else to talk about. The match itself should be ok, but egads this has been a rough sit for a good while now.

Elite vs. Acclaimed/Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tanahashi is replacing Billy Gunn for the sake of it’s Forbidden Door and therefore Tanahashi has to be on the show. Much like the Learning Tree match, the good thing here is that if the Bucks are in the match, they can’t be talking (in theory at least) and that should make things a bit less annoying. This feels like a match that should be on Dynamite but here we are instead, though at least the addition of Tanahashi makes it feel more special.

It’s hard to imagine the Bucks losing a big match until Blood And Guts at the earliest so we’ll say the Elite wins here and keeps things going. Odds are we get a rematch of this later on with Gunn in there rather than Tanahashi, but for now at least we should be in for something good enough. The Elite go over though, as they’re a bigger deal than another makeshift team.

TNT Title: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Dante Martin vs. El Phantasmo vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry

Here we have a ladder match for the vacant title as Adam Copeland decided that jumping off a cage and landing on his feet was a good idea. The ladder match part makes it all the more eye roll inducing because it’s such a cliché at this point, but it also lets someone potentially steal the title without having to get a pinfall. That opens up some doors, but I think you know where this is going.

As much as I’d love to see someone like Martin, who could actually be made by something like this, get the title, this feels like it’s Perry all day. AEW is obsessed with getting this guy over one way or another and it feels like he’ll do it here as a way to become that much bigger of a deal. The match will be the usual car crash, meaning it’s only going to be so good, but it should be exciting.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Mina Shirakawa

This is both a title match and part of a love triangle, as both of them are trying to woo Mariah May. That has made for quite the unique story but it is something that has been set up well enough that I’m curious to see where it goes. The match quality itself might be up in the air as Shirakawa doesn’t have a long track record in AEW, but that is far from the most interesting part here.

I’ll go with Storm to win of course, as the title isn’t likely changing hands here, though the question becomes what happens with May. It would not surprise me at all to see her side with Storm before eventually winning the Owen Hart Tournament and getting a shot against Storm at Wembley. For now though, all is right in the world as May signs with Storm and moves forward, though it could be quite the path there.

AEW TBS Title/NJPW Women’s Strong Title: Mercedes Mone(c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer(c)

We’re going title for title here and…I have almost no idea what to expect here as all I’ve seen from Vaquer is most of an eight minute match this week on Collision. Other than that it’s been all hype videos and promos from Mone, which isn’t the best way to go. What matters though is that we have what could be a huge match which could go either way, as the title vs. title stipulation shakes things up.

While there is a chance that Vaquer wins, I can’t imagine Mone loses anywhere near this close to her AEW debut. AEW knows that she is a star and isn’t about to have her lose a big match, or any match for that matter, here. They have also hyped up the idea that she needs to win the NJPW belt, even if that means we are going to be seeing another title running around AEW, because we haven’t had that in a bit.

IWGP World Title: Jon Moxley(c) vs. Tetsuya Naito

This is the other World Title match on the show, which is arguably a bigger match than the main event. Thankfully AEW has managed to avoid treating this as such a big deal, as that would be about as bad of a result as you could get for the AEW World Title. Moxley is already one of the biggest stars in AEW, but that brings up the question of whether or not he gets to retain the title here.

This one could go either way, but I’ll take Naito to win here, as I can’t imagine Moxley being the next big thing in AEW. Naito can get back the title that Moxley took fro him and we could be in for a rather good match on the way there. It also gives the other promotions their big win on the show, which very well could otherwise be dominated by AEW. This one could go either way of course, but I’ll take Naito to get the title back.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland(c) vs. Will Ospreay

Here we have the biggest match on the card and thankfully the best built up story. It’s an idea that has been done before, as you have Ospreay as the new ace of the company and Strickland being the “not so fast” champion. Ospreay has pretty much been able to do no wrong so far in AEW and Strickland can work well with anyone. That opens up the door for something great, but there is one thing in the way.

That thing is the Don Callis Family and unfortunately I’m expecting them to be what costs Ospreay the match here. Ospreay getting the World Title at some point seems to be an inevitability, but I would hope that Strickland gets at least one successful defense in the main event spot. Strickland has done incredibly well in this role and this could be another great one, though odds are the Family gets involved to cost Ospreay. It’s predictable, but that’s about all I can expect to happen.

Overall Thoughts

As you can probably tell from here, this is going to be a very long show. Fourteen matches and a show that could go around six hours makes for one heck of a marathon and I’m worried about things getting bogged down by sheer volume. There is a great show in there somewhere but AEW has a tendency to put in way too much on any pay per view. Hopefully they can find a way around it, but they’ve got a big challenge in front of them.

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Collision
Date: June 29, 2024
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

We’re a day away from Forbidden Door and that means it is time for the big final push towards the show. That could go in a variety of ways but with most of the show already set, this is likely going to be about pushing things that have already been set up. That could still make for a good show so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii vs. TMDK

Haste wants to check on Cassidy’s pockets to start but with nothing happening, it’s off to Ishii instead. They go head to head to no avail so we’ll try Eagles vs. Cassidy instead. Cassidy takes him down without much trouble and sends Eagles into the corner so many times that Eagles has to grab the referee. Tis but a ruse though, as Haste drops Cassidy onto the apron, allowing Eagles to hit a bit flip dive as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy kicking Haste into Eagles, allowing the tag off to Ishii to clean house. Haste’s kick to the face is shrugged off and Ishii grabs a Saito suplex for two. Ishii and Cassidy hit the alternating strikes in the corner and Cassidy’s top rope elbow gets two. Back up and a Falcon Arrow plants Cassidy but he’s back with Stundog Millionaire. Eagles plants him again but Ishii makes the save. Cassidy kicks Haste into the corner though and grabs the Beach Break for the pin at 10:46.

Rating: C+. This was about getting Cassidy in the ring with Zack Sabre Jr.’s teammates and little more, which made for kind of a weird match. Cassidy is working rather hard as of late and might be more than a bit worn down for Sabre, which tends to be exactly what he tends to do most of the time. Not bad at all here, but it feels a bit off from the matches Cassidy and Ishii have tomorrow.

We get a Hangman Page vignette as he sits and drinks in his empty house. That very well could be the wildcard from the Elite. Or he’s just a loner drunk again.

The Learning Tree is in the back and walks into the trainer’s area to complain about faulty wrist taping. Chris Jericho also advocates stealing tape.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lady Frost

Non-title and here is Mercedes Mone to watch. Vaquer puts her down to start and then spins out of a wristlock. An STF sends Frost over to the ropes and they head outside, where Frost snaps off a hurricanrana. Frost tries a handstand on the apron but gets superkicked, leaving us with a Mone/Vaquer staredown as we take a break.

Back with Frost hitting some faceplants to send Frost into the mat but Frost kicks her in the head. A twisting high crossbody gives Frost two, with Mone approving at ringside. Vaquer is back with a spinning DDT for two and some headbutts in the corner have Frost in more trouble. A package backbreaker finishes Frost at 7:58.

Rating: C+. Well at least they finally got Vaquer in the ring for once before her title match against Mone. That’s what we’ve been needing since the match was announced as Vaquer hasn’t wrestled in AEW prior to this, which doesn’t give fans much to go on. This was better than nothing, but the story is only going to be so interesting going into tomorrow.

Post match Mone comes in for the staredown but Vaquer leaves. Vaquer’s partner, Zeuxis, comes in to jump Mone, allowing Vaquer to lay Mone out.

The Lucha Bros are ready for Forbidden Door when Los Ingobernables de Japon come in to challenge Death Triangle. The Bros are going to pass because Pac is in the Owen Hart Cup, but they’ll team with Mistico instead. Los Ingobernables are cool with that. Well Takahashi isn’t, as he’s kind of panicking over the Mistico idea.

Serena Deeb vs. Kelly Madan

Deeb chops away to start and hits a neckbreaker over the middle rope. A hammerlock lariat into Deebtox finishes Madan at 1:15.

Post match Deeb says she isn’t going into wrestling purgatory and wants some competition. And cue Riho for the staredown, because it’s time to pretend she’s amazing again.

The Learning Tree critiques hand washing techniques.

Post match the Learning Tree tries to ride a Zamboni machine but get beaten up by Samoa Joe and pals. The fight heads into the arena, where Jeff Cobb runs in to even things out so the Learning Tree can stand tall.

Video on Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.

Cassidy says his world is falling apart but he’s here, unlike Sabre. Cue Sabre to say he knows what Cassidy is going to do, so Cassidy offers to pin him with his hands in his pockets. Cassidy grabs him by the shirt, with Sabre saying he’s already won.

Hechicero vs. Kevin Blackwood

Hechicero takes him down and ties up the leg before switching to an ankle lock. Some elbows to the face and a flapjack set up a Mad Scientist Bomb to rock Blackwood again. The Rings of Saturn with the legs makes Blackwood tap at 2:22.

The Patriarchy wants the Trios Titles so here is the Bang Bang Gang for the argument. Jay White mocks the team but gets why Christian Cage wants to latch onto him.

Daniel Garcia vs. The Butcher

They’re both from Buffalo. They fight over a lockup to start until Butcher powers him into the corner for some stomping. Garcia fights back but gets taken outside for a ram into the barricade. Garcia’s running boot is countered into a backdrop onto the barricade and we take a break. Back with the fans declaring this awesome as Butcher keeps Garcia in trouble. Garcia fights back and grabs a swinging neckbreaker for the breather. Back up and Garcia shrugs off a big boot before dropping Butcher with a clothesline. The piledriver finishes for Garcia at 9:00.

Rating: C+. The fans were into it, but I’m really not sure what the point is in having the fans split between two hometown stars before Garcia gets his big title match next week. Garcia isn’t likely to win, but this wasn’t the best way to get the fans behind him on the way there. Then again there have always been some rather odd choices for Garcia in AEW.

Post match dancing ensues and respect is shown.

The Don Callis Family interrupts Will Ospreay, who still says he can win the World Title on his own. That works for Callis and we pan out to show Rush standing with the Family.

Brodie Lee is getting his own custom shoe.

Jack Perry wants the TNT Title but doesn’t want to wrestle tonight. Christopher Daniels pops in to say Perry wrestles tonight or he’s out of the title match. Fans chant for CM Punk.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Hikaru Shida vs. Deonna Purrazzo

They fight over wrist control to start before switching to an exchange of forearms. Purrazzo gets knocked into the corner with an enziguri and then out to the floor, with Shida hitting a big dive. Back up and Purrazzo kicks her down and we take a break. We come back with Shida hitting some running knees for two but Purrazzo legsweeps her down. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Shida slips out again. A step up kick to the head drops Purrazzo and the Falcon Arrow connects. The Katana finishes Purrazzo at 9:09.

Rating: B-. I’m a bit surprised that Purrazzo lost here as she was on something of a roll. That being said, Shida is possibly the most successful star in the history of AEW’s women’s division so losing to her is hardly some career killer. They did well here with Shida getting another win, and while I can’t imagine her winning the whole thing, someone will get a nice boost from beating her.

Post match Purrazzo jumps Shida again but Thunder Rosa runs in for the save.

We get another rather serious video from Jeff Jarrett, talking about what it means to honor Owen Hart’s legacy. The rest of Jarrett’s friends are ready to have his back, though he wants to go to the ring on his own. They all seem ok with this and will be with him in spirit.

We get a very slow pan up Toni Storm as she talks about how she is ready to beat Mina Shirakawa. As you might expect, this is rather over the top, as only Storm can do.

Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo

Rush and Perry start things off but let’s try Takeshita instead. Rush gets two off a quick rollup before getting kicked in the face for his efforts. Phantasm comes in and all three opponents send him into the corner for some running clotheslines. We settle down to Rush’s suplex getting two on Phantasmo but he fights back up for a breather. Hold on though as Perry drops to the floor instead of tagging. Briscoe dropkicks Perry through the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Martin hurricanranaing Phantasm and Takeshita at the same time, allowing the tag back to Briscoe. Phantasmo kicks Briscoe in the head so Rush can come back in to pick up the pace. A suicide dive take Takeshita down but Phantasm and Martin hit dives of their own. Back in and Martin’s frog splash gets two with Perry making the save.

Briscoe’s running flip dive from the apron misses though and Takeshita comes back in to clean house. Martin catches him on top with a super hurricanrana, only o have Perry break up something on top. The distraction lets Takeshita hit the Blue Thunder Bomb into the running knee to finish Martin at 10:51.

Rating: B-. This was the preview for the ladder match which has nothing to do with ladders but that’s how ladder matches are built up. It’s hard to imagine anyone but Perry winning but at least there is quite the lineup of talent involved. It also helps that it was the best match of the night so far, though the lineup has only been so good this week.

Post match Perry decks Takeshita, who gets superkicked by Phantasmo, who gets Stunnered by Rush, who gets in a tug o war with Martin, who is knocked down by a ladder shot from Briscoe, who climbs the ladder and throws the title onto the pile before hitting a flip dive onto everyone.

Forbidden Door rundown.

We get the weigh-in for the World Title match between Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay, with Prince Nana as moderator. Ospreay weighs 220 and Swerve weighs 230. They go nose to nose and pose for photos before Ospreay says they are 24 hours away from ushering in a new era. Swerve talks about how he’s a businessman and offers Ospreay’s wife a contract. That’s enough for the fight to be on, with all of the seconds getting into it as well. Ospreay manages a quick Hidden Blade and poses over Swerve to end the show. This has been the best built match on the pay per view, but I’m worried that it’s going to get overshadowed.

Overall Rating: B-. The ending segment was good, but this was a show that seemed more designed as a big preview for tomorrow’s event. While that makes sense on paper, there is only so much that you can get out of having a preview of what is supposed to be a bunch of one off special matches. It also doesn’t help that this was a two hour show which came the day before an hour long show and the day before a four plus hour pay per view (with an hour and a half pre-show). Not a bad show, but not one you really needed to watch.

Results
Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii b. TMDK – Beach Break to Haste
Stephanie Vaquer b. Lady Frost – Package backbreaker
Serena Deeb b. Kelly Madan – Deebtox
Hechicero b. Kevin Blackwood – Rings of Saturn with legs
Daniel Garcia b. The Butcher – Piledriver
Hikaru Shida b. Deonna Purrazzo – Katana
Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo b. Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush – Running knee to Martin

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Dynamite
Date: June 19, 2024
Location: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are about a week and a half away from Forbidden Door and there is a good chance that we will see some more matches added this week. Other than that, we have a pay per view quality match with Rush facing MJF to open the show. That could open the door for both of them to do something else at the pay per view so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Rush

This is commercial free. Rush slugs away to start and drops down, only to have MJF strut over him. MJF loads up a chop, teases it for a long time, and then pokes him in the eye instead. The referee checks on Rush in the corner, which is enough of a distraction for Rush to headbutt him down. Back up and Rush hits him in the face and then unloads with forearms in the corner, allowing the Tranquilo pose. As you might expect, MJF charges at him and hammers away but Rush knocks him down again.

The Bull’s Horns misses though and MJF gets two off a small package. A lifting DDT (ala Saraya’s Rampaige) gives MJF two and a piledriver gets the same, allowing a quick breather. MJF’s charge is suplexed into the corner and a cross arm piledriver gives Rush two. They go outside for some hard rams into the barricade and MJF is in big trouble.

Rush throws a chair inside, and the distraction allows him to get in some whipping with an electric cable. A missed charge sends Rush into the barricade but he’s fine enough to suplex a charging MJF off the apron. Back in and the Bull’s Horns is cut off with a hard clothesline and MJF grabs a spinebuster. The Heatseeker into a brainbuster finishes for MJF at 14:19.

Rating: B. It was a hard hitting match though thankfully not as dominant as most of Rush’s matches. MJF had to get in his shots where he could and that worked out well, which is about all you can ask for in something like this. MJF should be on his way to something big at Forbidden Door, as he’s going to need something important after his comeback win here.

Post match, the Cage of Agony pops up to announce MJF vs. Hechicero at Forbidden Door. The match is apparently not official so MJF….has nothing to say.

Mark Briscoe and friends are ready for revenge and redemption….but Jack Perry walks by to annoy them. For tonight though, it’s an all-star tag match. Then Orange Cassidy gives Renee Paquette a bracelet.

Here are Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland for a face to face chat. Ospreay brags about his success and calls himself the best in the world, but Swerve says that’s him. They’ve taken different career paths but here they are, coming to Forbidden Door at the same time. Swerve asks if Don Callis is going to be helping Ospreay try (yes try) to win the World Title. Ospreay says he can do this by himself and lists off his wins. Ospreay: “Bruv, while you had a hit row, I had a hit list.”

What if that kill shot from Swerve is just a bit off? It doesn’t matter what Ospreay does to Swerve, because Swerve is going to wake up without that World Title. Swerve says Ospreay can thank him for his firs pay per view main event but what if Swerve breaks Ospreay’s leg? If Ospreay can’t wrestle, who is he? Swerve doesn’t think Ospreay is ready to sacrifice the love of his wife or his son, with the mention of the latter making Ospreay much more serious.

Prince Nana has to break it up, but Swerve asks what if he does make it personal. Send his regards to Ospreay’s wife and son, which has the two of them going face to face but it doesn’t get physical. This was a heck of a segment, with both of them bringing the intensity and Swerve selling the stakes of the match, both with and without the title.

Don Callis tells the Family that it’s all going to be fine.

Mark Briscoe/Kyle O’Reilly/Orange Cassidy/Dante Martin vs. Kyle Fletcher/Roderick Strong/Zack Sabre Jr./Konosuke Takeshita

It’s a brawl to start with Cassidy and Sabre being left in the ring. That’s broken up so Fletcher sends Briscoe outside for a suicide dive. O’Reilly grabs a kneebar on Strong in the ropes, with Sabre putting Cassidy in an octopus next to them. Briscoe nails the step up flip dive onto Fletcher, with Martin adding a springboard flip dive as we take a break.

Back with a tag match breaking out and Sabre flipping Cassidy into a sunset flip for two. Takeshita comes in and drops Cassidy but he gets over to O’Reilly rather easily. Strong drops O’Reilly, who gets back up and slugs his way to freedom. Martin comes in but gets caught with a heck of a powerbomb, with Briscoe making the save.

We take another break and come back with Briscoe coming back in to clean house. Takeshita gets put down and it’s the Froggy Bow into a frog splash into Cassidy’s falling top rope elbow for two with Sabre making the save. Red Neck Kung Fu takes Sabre down but we hit the parade of knockdowns. Martin hits a pair of dives and Briscoe adds the apron Blockbuster to Takeshita. Sabre’s European Clutch gets two on Cassidy but O’Reilly shoves him out of the way to take Strong’s running knee. The Orange Punch finishes Strong at 16:44.

Rating: B+. This is one of the places where AEW tends to shine as it was a bunch of insanity with everyone going nuts and getting in their stuff. The Cassidy vs. Sabre stuff helps build towards their Forbidden Door match while last week had already seemingly set up Briscoe vs. Fletcher. That should be enough but maybe we get another match or two out of here in some combination.

Post match Jack Perry comes in to deck Martin, leaving Cassidy and Sabre to stare each other down.

Mercedes Mone is ready for Stephanie Vaquer.

Don Callis comes in to see Rush.

Young Bucks vs. Acclaimed

Non-title, Billy Gunn isn’t here and Caster’s rap is cut off again, with Kazuchika Okada being shown turning off the microphone. It’s a brawl before the bell, with Matt being caught in a neckbreaker/backbreaker combination. Scissor Me Timbers hits Nick so it’s off to Matt, who walks into a hiptoss. The Bucks take over on Caster though and we take an early break.

Back with Bowens hitting the jumping Fameasser on Matt but his bad leg gives out again. A superkick gives Matt two and the Swanton in the ropes gets the same. Caster is knocked outside but Bowens blocks the EVP Trigger. Stereo superkicks get two with Caster making the save. The EVP Trigger connects but Caster breaks it up again. A powerbomb/Sliced Bread combination gets two on Bowens and the Bucks are stunned. Nick brings in the belt but hits Matt by mistake, setting up the Arrival into the Mic Drop for the pin at 10:17.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to see the Bucks giving a team a win, even if there is a grand total of zero chance the Acclaimed win the titles whenever they get their shot. Bowens kicking out of the powerbomb combination was good, but this felt more like the Acclaimed won when the Bucks screwed up rather than beating them. That doesn’t exactly make me want to see a rematch, but the Bucks are the stars so they’re going to be the focus no matter what anyway.

Samoa Joe and Hook talk about….calzones, before storming the Premiere Athletes’ locker room. They find a note with a challenge for a six man, with Katsuyori Shibata, holding the camera, being in as well.

Here is Mariah May to emcee the contract signing between Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa. After extensive cheek kissing, May says she loves them both but Shirakawa tells her to shut up. Shirakawa says Storm was a big deal in Stardom but she is weak as champion. The fans want Shirakawa, so she’s taking the title and May at Forbidden Door. Shirakawa signs but Storm threatens to slap her chest off if she talks to May again.

Storm signs but Shirakawa says May must choose. Cue the Outcasts to say enough of this, with Anna Jay sneaking in from behind. The beatdown is on but Storm takes her shoe off to clean house. Storm’s hip attack misses though and she goes through the table. I’m not sure I get the backstory, but I get enough of the story of Storm vs. Shirakawa and that’s more than I get for most of the Forbidden Door card.

Video on Claudio Castagnoli vs. Pac.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Kris Statlander vs. Nyla Rose

Stokely Hathaway is here with Statlander, who slugs away to no avail to start. Rose is back up with a crossbody but Statlander sends her outside as we take a break. Back with Rose powering her into the corner and hitting a running clothesline, setting up the Cannonball. The Beast Bomb is countered and Statlander kicks her in the head for two. The 450 misses for Statlander but she crotches Rose up top. Wednesday Night Fever finishes for Statlander at 7:52.

Rating: C+. This was a good enough power match, assuming you could get much out of a match that runs about eight minutes and has a break in the middle. We very well could be heading for a Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale showdown, which has been set up for a few weeks now. It also shows how much it helps when you have a monster like Rose, as beating her makes Statlander look that much more important.

Post match Stokely calls out Willow Nightingale, who pops up on screen to say she’ll see Statlander in the second round.

We look at Private Party beating up the Learning Tree last week.

Private Party is ready for their upcoming match but the Learning Tree comes in, with Chris Jericho warning them to avoid the piledriver. “That doesn’t work for me brother!” More of the usual from Jericho.

Daniel Garcia vs. Rhett Titus

Titus starts fast but gets dropkicked into the corner. Some neckbreakers set up the Red Cross for the pin at 1:00.

Post match the Cage of Agony runs in to beat down Garcia and Matt Menard (who was on commentary). MJF makes the save but gets beaten down, so Will Ospreay makes the real save. The Ospreay vs. MJF staredown gets the fans’ attention.

Post break, Brian Cage and Will Ospreay yell at each other and a match is made for Collision.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Pac vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Bryan Danielson is on commentary. Pac starts fast and knocks him to the floor, only to charge into one heck of a Swiss Death as we take a break. Back with Pac slugging away and avoiding a charge to send Castagnoli into the post. Pac snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor and an Asai moonsault drops Castagnoli again. A springboard elbow hits Castagnoli again and it’s time to slug it out.

Pac’s German suplex just wakes Castagnoli up again so Pac kicks him down, only to miss the Black Arrow. Castagnoli’s uppercut gets two so he sends Pac swinging. The Riccola Bomb is loaded up but Pac reverses into the Brutalizer, which is reversed into the Sharpshooter. With that almost broken up, Castagnoli switches into a crossface, which is escaped as well. They trade rollups for two each until Pac manages to keep him down for the pin at 11:07. Danielson is impressed.

Rating: B. It’s nice to see Pac getting a win here and beating Castagnoli is quite the mountain to conquer. Pac is still an impressive star and it’s nice to have him around for a slightly extended period of time for a change. If nothing else, we could be seeing Danielson vs. Pac later in the tournament and that could be a rather good one.

Post match Castagnoli won’t shake hands, with Danielson trying to calm him down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. As usual, you get a better AEW show when they are mainly focused on the in-ring action rather than anything else. The Young Bucks didn’t get to talk and Chris Jericho only had a quick backstage segment so things were a bit better than usual. At the same time, you had the Forbidden Door build, which was as rapid fire as usual, but there are enough good things on there to make it work. Rather strong show this week.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Rush – Brainbuster
Mark Briscoe/Kyle O’Reilly/Orange Cassidy/Dante Martin b. Kyle Fletcher/Roderick Strong/Zack Sabre Jr./Kazuchika Okada – Orange Punch to Strong
Acclaimed b. Young Bucks – Mic Drop to Matt
Kris Statlander b. Nyla Rose – Wednesday Night Fever
Daniel Garcia b. Rhett Titus – Red Cross
Pac b. Claudio Castagnoli – Rollup

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: June 12, 2024
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We have less than three weeks to go before Forbidden Door and last week saw some more of the card coming together. In addition to all of that though, Will Ospreay is the #1 contender and will be challenging Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title. On the New Japan front, Jon Moxley will be defending the IWGP Title against former champion Tetsuya Naito. We have 18 days to get to those matches though so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Here is Swerve Strickland, with Prince Nana, for an opening chat. He hypes up the Forbidden Door title match against Will Ospreay and praises Ospreay’s recent successes. Ospreay has been an assassin, but that won’t be the case at Forbidden Door. Strickland is called Killshot because if you don’t pull the trigger, he will. Ospreay is a fighting champion, unlike the Young Bucks….which brings out the Elite to interrupt.

The Bucks brag about how they have cleared out half the roster and that means they want the best of AEW to Blood & Guts at some point in the future. The Elite gets in the ring and offer Swerve a spot on the team as the fifth man. They throw in an offer of their new shoes, but they aren’t Swerve’s size so he throws them into the crowd. The fight is teased but the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn run in for the save. Christopher Daniels pops in to say get out of the ring because we have a match to get going. I’m not sure when Blood & Guts is happening but it very well might be the big blowoff to the whole Elite thing.

TNT Title Qualifying Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry

Perry is in street clothes and they brawl out to the floor to start, with Perry sending him into the steps. A piledriver onto the exposed concrete is countered into a backdrop to put Perry down and we take a break. Back with Rhodes busted open and Perry choking on the rope. Perry takes too long though and gets caught in a snap powerslam for a breather.

They slug it out until Rhodes snaps off a bulldog and hammers away as well. Cross Rhodes is broken up so we get an old Flip Flop And Fly. Now Cross Rhodes can connect for two but Perry sends him into an exposed buckle (apparently the pad was pulled off earlier). Dustin gets dropped onto the exposed concrete but beats the count. Back in and Perry gets in a low blow, only for Dustin to flip him off. The running knee finishes for Perry at 10:06.

Rating: C+. I still do not get the Perry hype and this didn’t change that stance. The match was full of things like low blows and cheap shots and it didn’t make me care about Perry any more or less. He’s still just a guy in the ring whose best attribute seems to be the friends he keeps and that’s not exactly making him feel like a star. Odds are he wins the TNT Title, though maybe sanity will prevail instead.

We look at Kyle O’Reilly and Willow Nightingale saving Orange Cassidy on Collision.

Cassidy is happy to have O’Reilly, Nightingale and Mark Briscoe behind him. Briscoe calls them a conglomeration and goes into a crazed rant about how they are going to hurt the Don Callis Family (O’Reilly’s jaw dropping in awe makes it even better). That was some amazing stuff from Briscoe, who just turned up the insanity and went nuts on his opponents.

Rush vs. Deonn Rusman

Rush knocks him to the floor, beats him up, and hits the Bull’s Horns for the pin at 1:29.

Post match Rush grabs the mic and calls Rusman a typical weak American. Cue MJF and the brawl is on, with MJF and Rush stopping to beat up security. The fight heads into the crowd and then into the back, with Christopher Daniels failing to break it up. The locker room and agents break it up.

We look at Samoa Joe and Hook attacking the Premiere Athletes on Collision.

Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is on commentary and Trent Beretta and the Kingdom are here with the villains. Strong wants to face O’Reilly to start before handing it off to Fletcher instead. Briscoe comes in and strikes away at Takeshita and it’s off to O’Reilly as the rapid fire tags continue. Everything breaks down and Fletcher hits a big dive, followed by one from Cassidy. Trent offers a distraction though and Takeshita drops Cassidy as we take a break.

Back with O’Reilly getting the tag and starting to clean house. Everything breaks down and Red Neck Kung Fu clears the ring. Cassidy’s top rope DDT gets two on Fletcher but Takeshita counters the Jay Driller into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Stundog Millionaire hits Fletcher but Strong distracts Cassidy on top. Fletcher gets dropped with a brainbuster and Briscoe adds the Froggy Bow for two. A cheap shot drops Briscoe and Fletcher hits the piledriver for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: B. They didn’t even try to have a normal tag match here and they shouldn’t have. This was all about getting in as much as they could and it was a blast once they just went full speed ahead. I’m not wild on the Ring Of Honor World Title being made to look less important, but that whole thing has been a wash for a long time now. Really fast paced, entertaining match here.

Post match the villains keep up the beatdown so Willow Nightingale tries to make the save. Kris Statlander cuts that off though and Stokely Hathaway threatens more violence.

Rey Fenix is ready for Will Ospreay.

Shingo Takagi is in the Owen Hart Cup.

Christopher Daniels says Tony Khan is putting the Elite in Eliminator Matches next week, with all seconds barred from ringside.

Hook/Samoa Joe vs. Premiere Athletes

Hook and Joe jump them during their entrance and Katsuyori Shibata is a cameraman. We start with Joe hammering away on Nese before it’s off to Hook, who gets stomped down in the corner. Hook sidesteps Daivari’s dive (Joe approves) and stereo chokes finish the Athletes at 2:30. Now can we please stop presenting the Athletes as a big deal on ROH? Of course not, but this isn’t going to make me care about them any more.

Stephanie Vaquer is ready to face one of the best in Mercedes Mone.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Zeuxis

Zeuxis (Vaquer’s regular partner) is challenging and sends her into the ropes to start. That doesn’t get her very far as Mone gets in her dancing before taking Zeuxis down for two. A spinning kick staggers Mone but she takes the legs out, only for Zeuxis to pop back up. The running dropkick puts Mone on the floor as we take an early break.

Back with Zeuxis hitting a fireman’s carry into a powerbomb for two. Mone’s middle rope sunset flip is countered into a stomp to the ribs for two more. Back up and Mone hits a middle rope Meteora for two of her own. Three Amigos are countered into a Backstabber for two on Mone but she’s right back with the Mone Maker for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of why Forbidden Door season is a problem. We barely know who Stephanie Vaquer is and now we’re supposed to be interested in Mone wrestling Vaquer’s partner. These stories tend to go at about a million miles an hour (as they don’t have time to do anything else) and if you aren’t familiar with the guest stars, it can be really hard to get into these matches. Zeuxis was good enough, but I’m having a real hard time getting into this Mone vs. Vaquer match and this didn’t help things.

Video on Mina Shirakawa and her friendship with Mariah May.

May, cuddled up to Toni Storm, promises to run next week’s contract signing, though Storm isn’t worried.

Big Bill introduces Chris Jericho for TV Time (and yes there is now a Learning Tree set). Jericho tells the local farmers how to grow better corn but thinks Private Party needs to learn. Cue Private Party, with Jericho not thinking much of their fundamentals. He learned from Stu Hart and explains how to go up top like Owen Hart. Then Private Party beats up the villains and clear the ring. Well at least this should be the lone Jericho segment this week.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door.

The Bang Bang Gang isn’t impressed by the House Of Black so the challenge is issued for Collision.

Daniel Garcia vs. Nick Comoroto

Jacoby Watts is here with Comoroto (for those of you who don’t watch ROH). With MJF watching in the back, Garcia grabs a guillotine and hits the Red Cross for the win at 1:10.

Will Ospreay is ready for tonight and Forbidden Door.

A ticked off Pac enters the Owen Hart Cup.

International Title: Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix

Ospreay is defending and Swerve Strickland is watching in the crowd. They trade missed kicks to the head to start and it’s an early standoff. A pop up hurricanrana sends Ospreay outside and a frog splash gives Fenix two. We take a break and come back with Fenix grabbing a quickly broken Black Widow.

As we’re told that Blood and Guts is on July 24 in Nashville, Ospreay flips out of a super hurricanrana to stick the landing. They trade kicks until Ospreay’s spinning Air Raid Crash gets two, sending us to another break. Back again with Ospreay getting the better of a strike off until Fenix grabs another Black Widow.

A crucifix bomb gives Fenix two and a German suplex gets the same. The Oscutter gives Ospreay two but the Hidden Blade is countered with a jumping hurricanrana. Fenix’s flip is forearmed out of the air and Ospreay (with a stare) hits his own Swerve Stomp. The Hidden Blade retains the title at 15:11.

Rating: B. I don’t think there was any doubt to this one but it was a way to give Ospreay another big win on the way to Forbidden Door. Fenix is someone who can wrestle an exciting match with anyone and of course Ospreay can do that kind of thing rather well too. It was a big spot fest and that’s what it should have been, with the pretty obvious result not being a problem.

Post match Strickland gets in the ring and won’t shake hands. Strickland accuses Ospreay of thinking this is still a game and says he isn’t strong enough to hold this on his shoulders. Ospreay takes the title and puts it on his shoulder so Swerve takes it back. Swerve says he’d kill Ospreay if they weren’t friends and leaves, with Ospreay pointing at the Forbidden Door sign (oh dear) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show where the wrestling carried it, though they did build up more than a few things for Forbidden Door. While I am having a really hard time caring about what happens there as almost nothing has my attention, they did a nice enough job of making what they have feel more important. I can go with a show that has a goal and makes a good effort to accomplish it, even if it’s not my style. Nice show this week.

Results
Jack Perry b. Dustin Rhodes – Running knee
Rush b. Deonn Rusman – Bull’s Horns
Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita b. Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly – Piledriver to Briscoe
Samoa Joe/Hook b. Premiere Athletes – Redrum to Daivari
Mercedes Mone b. Zeuxis – Mone Maker
Daniel Garcia b. Nick Comoroto – Red Cross
Will Ospreay b. Rey Fenix – Hidden Blade

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