IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

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

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

Orange Cassidy vs. John Silver

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

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

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

TNT Title: Cody(c) vs. Darby Allin

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

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

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

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

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

Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

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

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

Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: November 4, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s the go home show for Full Gear and that means it’s time to hammer things on in the way to the pay per view. I’m not sure what that is going to entail but AEW has done rather well with the build up towards their pay per views and hopefully that means we get something good here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The Inner Circle is in the back with Chris Jericho bragging about Jake Hager winning his MMA fight last week to remain undefeated. Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Wardlow come in with MJF saying he’s ready to say he’s ready to become the newest member of the Inner Circle. Jericho doesn’t buy it because he doesn’t think MJF has the toughness to be on the team. Where are his battle scars? MJF says he’s going to show Jericho how tough he really is.

Jericho joins commentary and, as always looks happy to see the fans singing Judas.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Wardlow vs. Sammy Guevara/Ortiz

Still a weird combination for the Inner Circle. Ortiz’s headlock doesn’t work on Wardlow so Ortiz jumps over him in the corner and hits a dropkick to the ribs. Wardlow plants him with a spinebuster though and it’s MJF stomping him down in the corner. Some biting ensues but Ortiz gets a boot up in the corner. Not that it matters as MJF sends him down into the corner for one and it’s time to start on the arm.

A jawbreaker gets Ortiz out of trouble though and it’s off to Sammy, who kicks Wardlow in the face. The jumping knee to MJF’s face connects and it’s a springboard crossbody onto both MJF and Wardlow. Sammy’s suicide flip dive into a running flip dive takes them out on the floor as Sammy can do the fired up face comeback. Back in and Sammy pops MJF up for a kick to the back (cool) but Wardlow’s distraction lets MJF get in a shot to Ortiz’s arm. Ortiz is whipped into the ropes for a Cactus Clothesline to Wardlow, leaving MJF and Sammy to have the showdown.

Sammy starts with the flips so MJF pokes him in the eye. That earns him a jumping knee to the face and it’s the GTH for two with Wardlow having to make a save. Sammy and Ortiz double team Wardlow and Jericho is VERY pleased. Everyone else heads up top so it’s a Tower of Doom to plant everyone. The F10 drops Ortiz but Sammy dives in for a save. MJF gets sent outside and Sammy hits a springboard flip dive (DANG) to take him out as well. Cue Serpentico to throw a chair at Sammy though and yeah it’s Matt Hardy under the mask. Back in and the Salt of the Earth makes Ortiz tap at 9:29.

Rating: B+. As good as he already is, this was a total star making/breakout performance for Sammy, who stole the show more than once. He was hitting one big spot after another and it was some great high flying on display. Everyone was feeling it here but this was all about Sammy, who seems primed for the face turn sooner than later. Just have him beat Matt on Saturday, as he should.

Post match MJF jumps Jericho until the Inner Circle breaks it up. Jericho is very pleased.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

We go to Kenny Omega’s house for a sitdown interview, complete with his dog. Actually never mind as it’s neither his house nor his dog (Chico). Either way, Omega is ready for the tournament final because that’s what he does. Now he could have gone in to see Tony Khan and gotten a title shot, but wins and losses matter around here. He has won every tournament he has ever been in, so why would you bet against him?

Trent vs. Miro

Hold on though as Miro interrupts the Big Match Intros to say that Trent is rude since his mom didn’t teach him any manners. You don’t mess with Trent’s mom so he hits a quick dropkick but Miro powers out of a tornado DDT attempt. The beatdown is on with Trent being tossed around and clotheslined down as Jericho gets on Excalibur for not having any merchandise. The referee yells at Miro as Chuck Taylor beats up Kip Sabian on the floor and takes him to the back.

Penelope Ford tries to go after them but Orange Cassidy cuts her off. Miro splashes Trent in the corner but Trent is back with a running clothesline. Another tornado DDT is countered into a throw and Miro sends him shoulder first into the post. We take a break and come back with Miro hitting a running kick to the chest as we hear about Miro chasing off the Dark Order during the break. Thankfully they show it again in case you stopped watching during the commercial as Miro slaps on a bearhug.

Trent fights back with some clotheslines but Miro just stares at him. Miro misses a splash in the corner though and Trent hits a hard clothesline for his own two. There’s a half nelson suplex to drop Miro again but the running knee is pulled out of the air. Miro hits the swinging release Rock Bottom for two but Trent grabs a rollup for the same. Trent low bridges him to the floor and hits the big running flip dive for a bonus. The tornado DDT finally connects and Trent’s running knee gets two. A springboard misses though and Miro kicks him in the face, setting up Game Over for the pin at 11:57.

Rating: C. The action was good, but for the life of me I don’t get why Miro hasn’t been more of a monster. He was going 50/50 with Trent here as Miro continues to look more like another guy on the roster than someone special. The match was good enough with the action and power vs. speed, but Miro’s allure is vanishing every single time he’s in the ring.

Post match Miro puts the hold on again, bringing in Sabian and Chuck for the save/attack. Chuck gets knocked down and Miro rants about his mom again, only to have Orange Cassidy hit a dive off the top to take him down.

Earlier today, Jim Ross sat down with Hangman Page (and his drink) to ask about the tournament. Page is pretty chill about the whole thing and is ready to take care of Omega, though first he’s enjoying his cocktail. As for his strategy, he knows holds and moves and knows how to reverse all of them. JR doesn’t buy it and thinks Page has had more than a few bourbons today because he’s nervous.

Page says he’s a bit nervous because everyone gets nervous. He came here as the guy destined to be the first World Champion and now he’s getting close to it again. If he loses, what else does he have except his whiskey? Now Page having issues because of not living up to the hype when AEW started and failing to win the title is an interesting way to go if that’s what they’re doing.

We get the big video on the Young Bucks vs. FTR, with various wrestlers and personalities making their picks. The Bucks insist that they’re never challenging for the titles again. This does help make things feel a little bigger, which is kind of hard to do.

Commentary talks about the match but here’s Team Taz to cut him off. Taz says he’s been at work lately and insists to get the cameraman inside. He sat outside Tony Khan’s office for three hours, trying to get two minutes of his time. Tony, or TK (second time he’s been called that tonight), was too busy talking to people who are going to be on pay per view. Taz brings up the ranking system, which has the 10-1 Brian Cage at #1 but he’s not on Full Gear. Ricky Starks has won ten of his last eleven matches and he’s not even in the top five.

Starks talks about how he has opened and closed Dynamite but he’s not even ranked. One plus one is two though, and that makes sense to them. So why don’t they have a match at Full Gear? Starks begs someone, like Taz, to make it make sense. Taz brings up Cody defending the TNT Title against Darby Allin on Saturday and thinks it’s going to be a great match. Cody walks around here with everything handed to him and Team Taz has done the work. There will be an FTW presence at Full Gear and you can believe that. Makes a lot of sense. Taz was great here and they brought up some very true points.

Private Party with Matt Hardy come out for a match but here’s Sammy Guevara to lay Hardy out with a Twist of Fate on the ramp.

Private Party vs. Young Bucks

Nick Jackson chops Marq Quen to start and hits the big running wristdrag out of the corner to start in on the arm. The limping Matt comes in and sends Kassidy into the corner, setting up the double chop from the Bucks. Quen gets double suplexed onto Kassidy and there’s the double dropkick to put Private Party on the floor. The double slingshot dives have them in trouble again but Matt grabs his ankle.

Back in and Private Party double teams Matt down, setting up a running basement dropkick. The Bucks are sent to opposite side on the floor, setting up double suicide dives. Back in and a bulldog/dropkick combination has Quen down again but the Meltzer Driver is countered into a DDT/Downward Spiral combination. We take a break and come back with Private Party making the comeback, including a slingshot cutter. A big running flip dive takes the bucks down on the floor and a springboard shooting star to the back gets two on Nick.

Matt can’t stand up on the apron so it’s Gin and Juice for two on Nick with Matt making the diving save. Quen has to bail out of the shooting star so Matt hits the spear into Nick’s running knee for two. Another Meltzer Driver is broken up and Quen gets two off a victory roll in a call back to their original match in the Tag Team Title tournament. The superkicks rock Quen though and it’s the BTE Trigger for the pin at 12:56.

Rating: B-. I know the Bucks are exciting but their matches run together as badly as anyone else in AEW. The athletics and high flying are both really good and entertaining but it feels like something I’ve seen a few dozen times now. Good match though, with Private Party looking great and the Bucks being slightly more slowed down than usual thanks to Matt’s injury.

Post match here’s FTR with the chair and they tease Pillmanizing Matt’s leg again until Hangman Page (with drink) makes the save. Kenny Omega runs in a few seconds later but won’t even look at Page. With FTR on the floor, Page picks up the chair but throws it down without even teasing a shot to Omega. Page and Omega have a fist bump as the Bucks yell at FTR. Hold on though as Omega turns his back on Page, who isn’t cool with that.

Tony Schiavone brings out Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley for the face to face showdown, though if things get physical, the match is off. Eddie literally goes nose to nose with Moxley, saying that the World Title means everything to him. The title is why he never gave his mother a grandchild or a daughter in law so he’s taking it on Saturday.

Moxley says he’d rather have four quarters than 100 pennies because he has been burned time and again. He never thought he would get burned by Kingston though because he was so happy when Kingston got signed. Eddie: “I DON’T CARE!” Moxley was happy for Kingston’s mother Ruthie, whose kitchen table he sat at to always have his back. Moxley broke his promise to keep an eye on Kingston because he believes the loudest person in the room is the weakest and Eddie has been loud. That isn’t Eddie, so what is going on?

After eighteen years, Kingston, who keeps his back to Moxley, is getting the shot he never thought he would get. What bothers Kingston is that he made a promise to his mother that he can’t keep because he’s going to lose. Kingston rants about how this is real and storms off. Moxley says Kingston is going to learn that he isn’t the man he thought he was.

This was GREAT and you could feel the intensity on every word. Also worthy of a note: during part of the silence, Jericho quickly said that Kingston couldn’t touch Moxley no matter what he said or the match is off. This was mentioned earlier in the night, but it helped as a reminder (I had forgotten about it too) and was said quickly, without going too emotional, and without distracting from what was going on. That’s how commentary is supposed to work in a situation like this and it worked.

We get a video from Pac, who is watching….himself watch Dynamite. The other Pacs leave so the real one says that the problem with isolation is that you have no one to play with. He has been alone for seven months and the casualty of this rotten world is that he has been here before. Pac has been lost and abandoned but he has gotten better, stronger and faster.

Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall are ready for Butcher and Blade next week but here’s the Bunny to say Marshall’s cards are all maxed out. Butcher and Blade jump them from behind for the big beatdown.

Nyla Rose vs. Red Velvet

Brandi Rhodes is in Velvet’s corner and Vickie Guerrero is here with Rose. Velvet goes right for her to start and hits a running kick to the face. Some stomping has Rose down in the corner and the elegant choking ensues. Rose is right back up with a heck of a clothesline but Velvet elbows her way out of a Samoan drop. A raised boot in the corner annoys Rose and she catches a top rope seated senton, setting up the Beast Bomb for the….two as Rose picks her up at two. A running knee, ala Hikaru Shida (at ringside), finishes Velvet at 2:54.

Post match Vickie Guerrero laughs at Velvet for losing even with Brandi in her corner. Maybe Brandi should be the Chief Bull S*** Officer. Anyway, Vickie goes over to Shida and promises to see her lose the title and cry on Saturday. Rose and Shida get in a brawl until wrestlers break it up.

We get the big Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page video ala the FTR vs. Bucks video from earlier. They do a nice job of showcasing the teamwork that made Page and Omega work, which turns into You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone as they lose the titles and split up for good. That was so cheesy that it worked perfectly.

Full Gear rundown.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Darby Allin uses his skateboard to attack a car labeled THE FACE OF TNT. Then he runs over someone in a Cody mask.

Cody/Gunn Club vs. Dark Order

Cody and Jon Silver start things off but it’s quickly off to Austin for a Hennig faceplant for two. Billy comes in so Silver backs away, meaning Colt Cabana can rub his bald head. Cabana knocks Billy into the corner but misses the Flying Apple. Everything breaks down and Austin cleans house, only to get taken down by 10 as we take a break.

Back with Austin still in trouble in the corner, with Cabana even knocking Cody off the apron. Austin gets a knee in though and the hot tag brings in Billy to clean house. The Fameasser gets two on 10 with Silver making the save as everything breaks down. Cody hits a big dive to the floor to take Cabana down and it’s 10 with a cutter for two on Billy. Silver’s dive is cut off by Cody and tossed into the fans, leaving Austin to hit Cross Rhodes on Cabana. The Quick Draw finishes 10 at 8:43.

Rating: C+. Austin looked good here and I’ve liked that finisher for a good while now. Other than that you have a pretty action packed match, assuming you can get by Billy suddenly being AEW’s version of a legend. The match was better than I expected and it’s nice to see someone other than Cody getting the win here.

Post match the Dark Order comes in for the brawl but Orange Cassidy takes Silver out and the Order bails. Cody grabs the mic and says Darby Allin isn’t telling the truth when he talks about TNT not wanting him to be the face of the show. Why wouldn’t they? Darby is something different and under other circumstances, Cody would love to have him be champion. Cody is the one who got Darby here because the other EVP’s weren’t sure on him. It was Cody wrestling Darby to get him signed here and now Allin wants the ace belt but he isn’t the ace. A lot of staring ends the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was one of the better shows that they have had in a good while and that is the kind of thing that they need on the way to Full Gear. I want to see the show more than I did before so that’s a nice feeling. The show should be a blast as it looks absolutely stacked, though they still have to execute on Saturday. The good thing is I believe AEW can make it work, which is a nice feeling to have. Really great show this week and it’s nice to be able to say that again.

Results

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Wardlow b. Ortiz/Sammy Guevara – Salt of the Earth to Ortiz

Miro b. Trent – Game Over

Young Bucks b. Private Party – BTE Trigger to Quen

Nyla Rose b. Red Velvet – Running knee

Cody/Gunn Club b. Dark Order – Quick Draw to 10

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Best Friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

Miro/Kip Sabian vs. Lee Johnson/Sean Maluta

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

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

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

We get the brackets for the #1 contenders tournament:

Penta El Cero M

Rey Fenix

Kenny Omega

Joey Janela

Colt Cabana

Hangman Page

Wardlow

Jungle Boy

It starts next week with the finals at Full Gear.

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

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

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

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

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

TNT Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Cody

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

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

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

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

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

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

Post match Cody looks relieved.

Jon Moxley jumps Lance Archer in the back.

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

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

Women’s Title: Big Swole vs. Hikaru Shida

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

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

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

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

Video on Scorpio Sky vs. Shawn Spears.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Lance Archer

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

Orange Cassidy vs. Cody went to a time limit draw

Hikaru Shida b. Big Swole – Running knee

Jon Moxley b. Lance Archer – Crucifix

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 30, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Taz

Things were shaken up in a pretty big way last week so things should be back to normal this time around. The roster had to deal with a Coronavirus outbreak last time around but all roads are leading towards the anniversary show in two weeks anyway. That includes World Champion Jon Moxley defending against Lance Archer and the champ is in action tonight. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Darby Allin vs. Ricky Starks

The long awaited showdown. Before his entrance, we get the latest Allin stunt video. Allin pulls him into a choke to start and they’re quickly on the apron, with Starks being suplexed down and out to the floor. There’s a dive to the floor but here’s Brian Cage to offer a distraction. Will Hobbs comes out to break it up and fight Cage to the back so Starks gets in a shot to the back to take over.

Starks pounds him down and even hits a reverse curb stomp for two. The Roshambo is countered into a Code Red for two and they’re both down again. They slap it out with Allin getting the better of things, sending Taz into hysterics. The flipping Stunner connects but Starks spears him out of the air for two more. Starks takes it up top and tries a super Roshambo but Allin knocks him off the top. The Coffin Drop gives Allin the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. These two have been built up for a showdown for a few weeks now and what we finally got was mostly worth the wait. They are both stars in the making and it’s great to see the two of them out there doing their thing. It was also nice to have a definitive winner, and hopefully that doesn’t lead straight into a rematch for no reason other than they need to have a rematch.

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

Here’s Cody for his first (wrestling) comments since losing to Brodie Lee. Cody talks about his trainer, Al Snow, saying you’ll always wrestle hurt but you should never wrestle injured. All these years later, Cody would offer this retort: what if the injury went beyond your body and was inside your soul? Cody talks about the tradition of shaking hands in the back (at least pre-pandemic) because the wrestlers need each other. The marquee has two names on it: you vs. someone else.

Now imagine if you lose your title and then you get that 323 phone call from Hollywood. Then he found himself sitting on the set of a show near Rosario Dawson and Snoop Dogg but he’s the guy who got beat in three minutes. Cody is back now but while he was gone he has heard people talking about being the future or the ace. He would love to say that he has the honor of being the ace, but that can only be the people who are holding the singles titles around here: Hikaru Shida, Jon Moxley or the man carrying the ace belt himself, Brodie Lee.

As for the dog collar match against Lee, the answer….is no, and Cody walks away. Actually hang on as he comes back to say that means NO regrets because he’s in for the dog collar match for the TNT Title next week. Cue the Dark Order for the brawl but a bunch of wrestlers come out to break it up. Brandi hits a dive onto the Dark Order because Brandi is a star and you will accept it. Anna Jay comes out to brawl with her and Nyla Rose jumps the barricade to stomp KiLynn King. Lee breaks through security and comes after Cody again to little avail. They’re finally broken up for good.

FTR and Tully Blanchard don’t think much of the Best Friends wanting a title shot but SCU is a different story. As for the Young Bucks, why should they get a title shot when they keep losing their big matches? Is it because Dave Meltzer loves them? Cue Matt Jackson to superkick Tony Schiavone and leave when FTR asks why they didn’t kick them.

SCU is ready to win the Tag Team Titles back. Shawn Spears comes in to sarcastically wish Scorpio Sky good luck, because they’re still trying with Spears for reasons I don’t want to try and fathom.

Tag Team Titles: SCU vs. FTR

FTR, with Tully Blanchard, is defending and SCU has Christopher Daniels in their corner. Hangman Page is on commentary for a bonus. Sky dropkicks Harwood for an early two but gets taken into the champs’ corner. That goes nowhere as Sky escapes and it’s a headlock takeover to put Wheeler down for a change. Back up and they trade leapfrogs until Wheeler throws himself down and blames Daniels.

That’s worthy of an ejection and FTR is knocked outside as JR talks about Schiavone being superkicked not being “part of the show.” FTR takes Sky down on the floor and we take a break. Back with Sky hitting a Russian legsweep and bringing Kazarian in to clean house. Kazarian cradles Harwood and suplexes Wheeler for two at the same time, followed by a fisherman’s suplex for two on Wheeler alone. Harwood takes Kazarian down but an elbow to the face allows the tag back to Sky.

Everything breaks down and a high crossbody/sunset flip gets a double near fall on the champs. Stereo slingshot cutters get the same but SCU collides, allowing Wheeler to dragon suplex Kazarian for two. Kazarian gets crotched on top but the powerbomb/top rope clothesline is powerslammed out of the air for a rather near fall. Sky grabs some quick rollups for two each on Wheeler, even with Tully grabbing Wheeler’s hand to try and block one. Sky tries a suplex but Tully sweeps the leg and holds it down so Wheeler can get the pin at 15:44.

Rating: B. They surprised me by not going to the time limit here and it makes FTR look like a bigger deal by beating former champs rather than having to settle for a draw. FTR feels like a dominant team and that’s a great thing to have around. SCU is very valuable as well as they can take a loss like this and not really blink an eye. Good match too, but were you expecting something else with these teams?

Excalibur announces a #1 contenders tournament with the finals at Full Gear. We know three of the eight participants so far: Jungle Boy, Rey Fenix and Kenny Omega, with the final announcement making Page rather emotional.

Isaiah Kassidy vs. Chris Jericho

Matt Hardy, Marq Quen and the rest of the Inner Circle is here too. Jericho gets in Kassidy’s face to start and Kassidy looks a little shaken. That’s playing possum though as Kassidy takes him down and hammers away but Jericho comes right back with shots of his own. They head outside with Jericho being sent over the barricade, where Luther punches Jericho back and clotheslines him back to ringside.

Kassidy hits the big dive and a Swanton gets two back inside. Jericho gets in another good shot though and we take a break. Back with Jericho’s running bulldog being countered into a crotching in the corner. Kassidy hits a springboard flipping Stunner for a near fall and a springboard non-flipping Stunner gets two more. The Lionsault misses so Kassidy hits his own Codebreaker for another two. Jericho has finally had enough of this and hits the Judas Effect for the pin at 11:03.

Rating: C. Jericho continues to try and get people over, which only works so well when he keeps doing it over and over. It was far from a bad match, though I’m not exactly interested in seeing the Inner Circle vs. the Chaos Project (Luther and Serpentico, because they needed a team name too). The match was fine with Kassidy doing his high flying but not being good enough, but it wasn’t exactly a thrilling setup to get here.

Post match the Inner Circle jumps Quen, along with getting in a brawl with Luther and Serpentico.

Kip Sabian and Miro discuss the bachelor party, which needs to be epic. Miro makes phone calls while Sabian throws axes. Now it’s off to an arcade where they play Pac-Man…with Billy Mitchell, a famous video gamer. He has an idea if Miro is interested.

The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy are asked about what happened to them last week but FTR comes in to say the three of them are comedic backyard wrestlers. They can get in the van, half milk and cookies and be midcard relief. Top guys out. Cassidy grabs a mic and calls them weenies. I’m sure there will be a shirt by Friday.

10 vs. Orange Cassidy

A good chunk of the Dark Order is here, along with the Best Friends. 10 takes Cassidy’s sunglasses and gives them to Silver, who dances in celebration….I think. Cassidy gets caught in a swinging Downward Spiral for one, followed by a delayed vertical suplex for two. Back up and Cassidy grabs a rollup for his own two, only to walk into a spinebuster.

10 kicks him out to the floor, where Dark Order mocks the Big Hug. The distraction lets Cassidy hit a dive off the top to take the team out, only to have his high crossbody pulled out of the air. Cassidy hits a tornado DDT and the Orange Punch is good for….well not even enough to put 10 down. The Beach Break ends 10 at 3:30.

Rating: C-. Not much in the way of a match but Cassidy getting a win after last week’s loss was a good idea. This was more of the serious version of Cassidy, which often helps a good bit. The goofy shtick is going to get old in a hurry if he does it all the time, so going with something else from time to time is a good idea. It wasn’t a great match or anything, but it went as it should have.

MJF and Wardlow come in to see the Inner Circle, complete with customized jackets for the team. Well not for Sammy Guevara actually, as there is nothing left in the box. MJF says this wasn’t on purpose but Sammy and Jericho (using the same words back to back) want to know why MJF is here. Jericho thanks him for the jackets but wants to know what MJF wants.

MJF says he asked Jericho a long time ago if he wanted MJF on the team. This turns into a “do you want me in/do you want in” argument until Hager and Wardlow get into a staredown. Jericho says they appreciate the jackets, which were a very MJF move. MJF says it’s a very Jericho move to notice. He and Wardlow leave in peace, prompting Sammy to dub MJF a loser. Jericho says maybe not as this is starting to get interesting.

Britt Baker vs. Red Velvet

Baker takes her down into a rollup to start as Taz brags about the dental plan that Team Taz has. It’s off to a hammerlock on the mat with Baker driving a forearm into the side of the head. Velvet is back up with a leg lariat and a Rey Mysterio sitout bulldog gets two. Baker is right back with a hammerlock lariat and there’s a kick into the ropes. Another into the bottom rope has Velvet in even more trouble but she gets in a rollup. The superkick sets up a fisherman’s neckbreaker to give Baker…the chance to trash talk instead of cover. A Stomp is enough to finish Velvet at 4:39.

Rating: C-. They kept this short as Baker was in her first real match in about four months. Velvet is someone who has been around for a good while on Dark and has gotten to showcase herself multiple times. The match wasn’t anything great but all that mattered was getting Baker back out there and showcasing some more. Well done on that count, which is what mattered.

Post match Baker puts on the Lockjaw for a bonus.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Eddie Kingston is in the ring with the Lucha Bros and referee Bryce Remsburg. Eddie talks about getting choked out last week but he never tapped or said he gave up. So why did Remsburg call the match like that? Remsburg says Eddie was unresponsive last week. They’ve known each other for years and last week they were in their professional lives so Remsburg did his job. The beatdown is teased but here’s Jon Moxley to break it up. Eddie says cut the music and here’s the Butcher from behind Moxley to start their match.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. The Butcher

Moxley is defending and chops out of the corner to start. A running knee misses though and Butcher counters a chop into a slam to take over. Butcher runs him over with a clothesline and we take a break. Back with Butcher working on the leg but Moxley pulls him into a cross armbreaker. Butcher reverses that into a half crab to stay on the leg but lets it go to hit a running powerslam.

The half crab goes on again, followed by a failed attempt at a Brock Lock. They head outside with Moxley avoiding a charge to send Butcher into the barricade. Eddie and the Bros try to fire Butcher up again and it’s time to head back inside for the slugout. Butcher hits a crossbody and a Rock Bottom for two, followed by a big leg for the same.

For some reason Butcher goes up but gets caught by Moxley, who brings him back down into a superplex. Butcher is right back with another leglock but Moxley gets away again. This time it’s a jumping piledriver for one on Butcher, who is able to block another superplex attempt. A middle rope crossbody gets two on Moxley but he pops back up with the Paradigm Shift into the bulldog choke to retain at 14:34.

Rating: C+. This got some time and they worked a classic formula, but Butcher might not be the kind of guy you want working a nearly fifteen minute main event singles match. He’s a good brawler and worked well enough here, but it felt like he was trying to figure out what to do next at times. Moxley knows how to work this style rather well though and they wound up being pretty good.

Moxley and Kingston stare each other down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Another show that might not have been great but it was certainly good enough to do its job. They didn’t focus as much on the anniversary show this week, but given Archer’s status that is pretty excusable. What we got was good enough, as usual, as AEW continues to not really have bad shows. I can certainly live with a company whose low end is one of the better shows of the week and that’s what this show usually is.

Results

Darby Allin b. Ricky Starks – Coffin Drop

FTR b. SCU – Wheeler reversed a suplex from Sky

Chris Jericho b. Isaiah Kassidy – Judas Effect

Orange Cassidy b. 10 – Beach Breaker

Britt Baker b. Red Velvet – Fisherman’s neckbreaker

Jon Moxley b. Butcher – Bulldog choke

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

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

In Memory of Road Warrior Animal.

Opening sequence.

Kip Sabian/Miro vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

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

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

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

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

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

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

Evil Uno vs. Hangman Page

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

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

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

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

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

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa vs. Diamante/Ivelisse

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s what’s coming next week.

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

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Hangman Page b. Evil Uno – Buckshot Lariat

Brodie Lee b. Orange Cassidy – Discus lariat

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

Jon Moxley b. Eddie Kingston – Bulldog choke

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

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

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

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

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

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

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

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

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

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

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

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

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

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

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

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

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

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

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

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

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

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

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

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

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

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

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

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

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

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

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

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

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

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

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

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

Buy In: Private Party vs. Dark Order

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

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

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

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

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

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

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

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

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

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

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

Casino Battle Royal

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

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

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 2, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s the go home show for All out and the show is mostly set. That being said, AEW knows how to add some matches to the card at the last minute. I’m not going to argue with how they build their pay per views in a hurry as they certainly know what they’re doing so far. Hopefully that is the case again this time around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends

The Best Friends jump them during the entrances with the fight being on outside. Chuck avoids a double suplex on the floor and Trent hits a big dive off the platform. Santana has to save Ortiz from a suplex onto the steps so the Best Friends send him over the barricade. Trent spears Ortiz down as Chuck sets up a big pile of chairs near the platform. That takes too long though and Santana is back up to send him through the whole thing.

Now the bell rings and it’s Trent hitting running double knees to Santana but a double suplex takes Trent down for two. A tornado DDT gets Trent out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Chuck to clean house. The big running flip dive lets Chuck mug for the camera and it’s Soul Food for Santana back inside. A Falcon Arrow gets two with Ortiz making the save.

Santana charges into a knee to the face in the corner and the hot tag brings in Trent. That just earns him a trip to the floor and a powerbomb onto the steps. Back in and Trent slips out of the Street Sweeper and grabs the belly to back piledriver on Ortiz. Santana puts Ortiz’s hand on the ropes just after three and then throws Chuck over the barricade. The metal baton to the back sets up the Street Sweeper to finish Trent at 6:54.

Rating: C+. Well at least they didn’t stop to hug. The match itself wasn’t all that long but there was an extra five minutes of brawling before the bell to make up for it a little bit. If you cut out a lot of the goofy stuff that the Best Friends do and have Trent be the focal point of the team, it’s a lot easier to put up with them. That and having Santana and Ortiz get the win.

MJF’s lawyer has locked himself in his locker room so Wardlow kicks the door in and drags him out. MJF gets in the lawyer’s face and says he has done everything he can to become a World Champion. It is all he has ever wanted and he isn’t having someone lose his chance for him. So either go out there, or be sent into a f****** woodchipper. Which monster do you want to face?

SCU/Private Party vs. Young Bucks/Jurassic Express

The winning team has a regular tag match at All Out. Kazarian and Jungle Boy go with the technical exchange to start before it’s off to Marq Quen to take Matt down. Isaiah Kassidy hits a springboard hurricanrana to put Matt on the floor, where a fan is holding a “HANGMAN DRINK MY BEER” sign. Matt doesn’t care for that and pours the beer out, though he might want to be more concerned about the fan next to him reading a book.

Back in and the Bucks take over on Daniels until he sends them into each other. A belly to back suplex allows the double tag to Kazarian and Boy as everything breaks down. Daniels moonsaults onto the Bucks on the floor as Boy takes Kazarian into the corner. Back in and Daniels comes in to send Boy face first into Kazarian’s raised boot as we take a break. Back with Boy hitting an Angle Slam neckbreaker to Kassidy and bringing in Luchasaurus to clean house.

Private Party dropkick him down so Luchasaurus does the Undertaker situp and kicks them in the face. The moonsault takes SCU down on the floor but Matt tags himself in. We get a double frog splash/standing moonsaults onto Private Party but SCU comes back in for their powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for two on Boy. Matt superkicks Boy by mistake and the BME hits Boy, followed by Quen’s shooting star press. Luchasaurus makes his own save and tosses Quen into a spinebuster from Boy. Matt tags himself back in and the BTE Trigger finishes at 14:13.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be and was your usual insane spot fest, which can start to run together when they do them week after week. That has been the case with most Bucks matches and it didn’t help that you knew the Bucks weren’t being left off of a pay per view. It was entertaining, but it makes the FTR vs. Private Party match from a few weeks ago stand out even more because it was different, unlike this one.

Jake Hager comes in to see Orange Cassidy because Chris Jericho wants Cassidy at ringside for his match tonight. Violence is implied.

Tully Blanchard tells FTR that they accomplished half of their goals and now it is time to go complete everything by winning the Tag Team Titles. They can be sore on Sunday and on Saturday they are fearing the revelation.

Here’s Kenny Omega for a chat, sans Hangman Page. Tony Schiavone recaps Page being thrown out of the Elite, which Omega describes as a mistake that Page has made. Omega says FTR fooled Page but Omega and Page will defend FTR again because they will be bringing their A game. Cue Tully Blanchard and FTR with the cooler with the team saying they’re looking forward to having a great tag team match.

They offer a toast and even have a chocolate milk for Omega. That’s fine with Omega, but he isn’t going to drink with a double of censoreds like them. If they want to do it right now, Omega is fine with 3-1 because he can get in a few good shots. Just do him a favor first: keep the old man away from him because he can smell him from here. Cue Hangman Page with FTR talking about how Page got inside his own head.

They didn’t do a thing because Page wanted to do this all along. Page has to be held back with Omega telling him that they’re just trying to get in his head. FTR grab the titles and then drop them in front of Page. That’s enough for FTR so Page holds out the title to Omega, who is already on the floor and staring back in. This worked well enough, and it’s nice to see them doing something with the story after a good while. Now they need to change the titles though.

Chris Jericho asks Alex Marvez when he last experienced something for the first time. Like kissing a woman for example. That’s how fans are feeling about the Mimosa Mayhem match because he is happy to have turned Orange Cassidy into a main event star. On Saturday, there is going to be a little bit of the bubbly and a lot of Le Champion.

Chris Jericho vs. Joey Janela

Jake Hager is here with Jericho and Orange Cassidy comes to the ring, carrying a backpack. Jericho, in a white Orange Cassidy shirt (get the liquids ready), jumps Janela, with his hand in pigtails, to start and then hits a running clothesline in the corner. More shots to the face put Janela down again and Jericho stands on his hair. Janela gets in a few shots for his comeback but springboards into a Codebreaker. The Walls finishes Janela at 3:14.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to show that Jericho is serious going into the match with Cassidy on Saturday. That’s a nice idea, but you can only get so far when you have a match built up around throwing someone into a big vat of orange juice. Granted there is something to be said about watching Janela being beaten up so it could have been worse.

Post match Jericho takes off a turnbuckle pad and sends Janela face first into the steel to bust him open. The blood goes on the Cassidy shirt and Cassidy finally comes in for the brawl. Hager comes in for the save but Sonny Kiss runs in for the save. Cassidy pulls out A Little Bit Of The Bubbly from the backpack and pours it out (second time tonight they’ve done the pour out a drink deal, not counting the time where FTR’s cooler was thrown down).

Video on Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy.

Back from a break with Matt near the top of the building shouting down at Sammy Guevara as they engage in a battle of signs.

Here is Team Taz for a chat. Taz promises that either Ricky Starks or Cage will win, whether Darby Allin, Jake Roberts or Lance Archer like it or not. Cue Roberts and Archer, with the former promising that no one is busting a nut around here. Jake sees a great pair of blue jeans in the ring but here are Eddie Kingston and company to talk about how none of them are winning. Jake: “You’ve been drinking. You must have been drinking.”

Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard come out to watch as well and the fight is on, with the Gunn Club and Darby Allin running in as well. Some wrestlers jump the barricade and are cleaned out in a hurry. Cue the Inner Circle and the Best Friends to get in on this as well. The brawling takes us to a break and we come back with the big brawl continuing…and now it’s a vignette on the Dark Order.

Video on the Dark Order’s success as of late, including Brodie Lee squashing Cody to win the TNT Title. They will meet Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona/Dustin Rhodes/QT Marshall at All Out.

Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa’s NWA Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Deeb takes her to the mat to start but a shot to the face just makes Rosa mad. Rosa comes back with her own shot to the face and a dropkick but Deep grabs a neckbreaker. With Rosa’s arm trapped, Deeb slams the knee into the mat and grabs a half crab. That doesn’t last long and we take a break.

Back with Rosa grabbing a waistlock and then putting on a cross arm choke. Deeb reverses into a Backstabber and they’re both down. A quick rollup gives Deeb two but Rosa hits some running knees in the corner. The running dropkick against the ropes gets two and a Death Valley Driver is good for the same. Rosa hits a running knee to the face for two and then the Thunder Driver is good for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. Well they certainly had some time. I’m not sure who in the world thought someone they are treating as a big deal needed to go about ten minutes before heading into her title match was a good idea, but at least Rosa won. Granted it was after some near falls and after Deeb kicked out of some big stuff, but at least Rosa won.

Jon Moxley is ready to hurt MJF on Saturday.

Big Swole talks about being ready to beat some revenge into Britt Baker during Saturday’s Buy In. Cue a woman with a pizza for Swole, but she isn’t quite buying it (or paying for it). Swole jumps her but here is Baker from behind to hit her with a pole. Baker shoves the pizza in Swole’s face and puts on the Lockjaw.

Here’s what’s coming up this weekend, including a Friday Dark and the All Out card.

Mark Sterling vs. Jon Moxley

Non-title and Wardlow is here with the lawyer as JR promises it is going to be bowling shoe ugly. Sterling’s name graphic says he is MJF’s inattentive lawyer, but he was attentive to his color scheme as he is covered in red white and blue and has an MJF campaign sign on his back. Moxley offers Sterling a free shot and has to show him how to make a fist. The punch misses and Moxley knocks him down with a slap. A breath sends Sterling outside, where he shows some great bumping abilities for someone who found out he was debuting a week ago.

Back in and Sterling’s next free shot misses and he goes sailing outside again. Sterling pokes him in the eye back inside (Excalibur: “Maybe Mark is a smart mark after all.”) but Moxley clotheslines him back to the floor. Sterling is covered by barricades and chairs before Moxley steals his shoe to beat him up even more. Back in again and Moxley has a seat in a chair before getting up and offering a handshake. That doesn’t work so it’s the Paradigm Shift for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: D+. What is there to say here? The point was to have Moxley beat up the lawyer and he did that for a good while. I’m really not sure if this was the right way to go for the go home angle before a pay per view title match, but at least they got through this point. The match has been well built, but it felt a little weird to go here for the big final push.

Post match Wardlow comes in to beat on Moxley and here’s MJF on his walker. The neck brace comes off and MJF beats him down. MJF loads up the diamond ring and knocks Moxley cold, including busting him open. A bite of the cut makes it even worse and MJF holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a bit of a weird show as the main stuff on the card was set up and there wasn’t a lot on here that enhanced Saturday’s matches. It was a fine enough show, but they didn’t do the best job of getting in a final push towards All Out. What we got here was good enough but it’s an AEW pay per view: they have built up more than enough of a good reputation to make me give them the benefit of the doubt.

Results

Santana and Ortiz b. Best Friends – Street Sweeper to Trent

Young Bucks/Jurassic Express b. Private Party/SCU – BTE Trigger to Quen

Chris Jericho b. Joey Janela – Walls of Jericho

Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Thunder Driver

Jon Moxley b. Mark Sterling – Paradigm Shift

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: August 27, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re on another special schedule this week and this time around it’s another stacked show. We have a tag team gauntlet match for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles for All Out, plus all of the other tag matches that this show really likes presenting. Throw in a Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara tables match (though a chairs match would make more sense) and we should be good to go. Let’s get to it.

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

There are fans back too and it already helps a lot.

Tag Team Gauntlet Match

The winners get the title shot against Kenny Omega/Hangman Page at All Out. The Young Bucks and the Natural Nightmares start things off with Nick hiptossing Marshall early on. Dustin comes in to trade armdrags with Matt and Dustin needs a little breather. The powerslams plant the Bucks and a double Russian legsweep gets two on Matt. It’s back to Dustin who teases the Goldust deep breath but just works on the arm instead.

Matt gets away from Dustin though and the Bucks get in a double dropkick to send Marshall outside. Dustin is right back with a Canadian Destroyer to Matt though and it’s back to Marshall. The QT Special is broken up and a double superkick drops Marshall. The BTE Trigger finishers Marshall at 6:23.

It’s the Best Friends in third and they shoulder Nick down to start. Trent is sent to the floor but he avoids the moonsault and hits a spear on Nick. Back in and Nick is sent hard into the corner as Jericho rants about how much he hates Being The Elite. A superkick and a German suplex on the apron allow Nick to get over for the hot tag though and house is cleaned. Something like Diamond Dust sets up the rolling northern lights suplexes but Trent grabs the tornado DDT out of the corner to put both of them down.

It’s back to Nick for more kicks until Chuck spinebusters him down, although he is favoring his knee a bit. Soul Food into the half and half suplex takes Nick down again and there’s the Big Hug. Strong Zero is reversed into a rollup for two on Trent and he’s pulled down to the floor for a Swanton from the apron. Back in and the hanging 450 gets two on Trent. The Meltzer Driver is reversed into a rollup on Matt and here’s Hangman Page to hold Nick back to give Chuck the pin at 16:31.

FTR is in last and has Tully Blanchard in their corner. Back from a break with Chuck in trouble but countering a Figure Four attempt with a quick small package. Wheeler breaks up the hot tag attempt and even pulls Trent to the floor for a suplex to break it up again. That lets Harwood grab a reverse Figure Four…and Chuck taps at 26:20. It’s so sudden that commentary acknowledges that they almost missed it.

Rating: C+. You could pretty much figure out the order of eliminations and the winners here without much effort and that’s not a bad thing. I’m also glad that they didn’t pad the match out with a bunch of teams who didn’t need to be there. Throw in the fact that they had normal tag matches instead of some big eight man insanity and it was downright not bad.

Darby Allin, in a Ricky Starks mask, walks across a really high bridge and says he isn’t afraid of Starks. Then he dives off the bridge.

Lance Archer vs. Sean Maluta

Archer has Jake Roberts with him and runs Maluta over at the bell. Another shot puts him on the floor but Archer lets him come back in for a slugout. That just annoys Archer, who throws him into the corner with a suplex. The chokeslam gets two with Archer pulling him up, much to Jake’s delight. The Blackout into the EBD Claw finishes Maluta at 2:55.

Post break Jake says there will be twenty one men in the Casino Battle Royal and Archer better win it. Archer thinks he can throw out all twenty men, which makes Jake happy because he loves to abuse people. Cue Team Taz (Jake: “IT’S THE FLINTSTONES!”) with Taz saying that one of the members is winning the battle royal. Jake says they should put on some chicken suits because they’re going to get plucked. Violence is teased but here’s Darby Allin, on the skateboard, to go after Starks. The two of them fight to the back so Archer and Cage are ready to go.

MJF manages to get down the hall way and doesn’t like someone sounding like they’re laughing.

Video on Thunder Rosa, including clips from the NWA and comments from Billy Corgan.

We get a quick signing between Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida.

It’s time for the contract signing between Jon Moxley and MJF. Jericho rants about Moxley being #1 in the PWI 500 and Tony makes it worse by saying Jericho is #3. Jericho: “WHO IS NUMBER TWO??? MARKO STUNT???” The contract involves banning the Paradigm Shift from their match and MJF signs in a hurry but Moxley hesitates. MJF talks about how contract signings end in violence ten times out of ten but they need to practice social distancing. MJF: “Kind of like your hairline Jon.”

Moxley laughs it off and says MJF will get there one day. MJF says Moxley is as sharp as a marble and that’s not surprising. He knows Moxley is crazy because even Mike Tyson said he wouldn’t want to be in a dark alley with Moxley. On September 5, they’re going to be in a ring though and MJF is a wrestling prodigy. He is going to pick Moxley apart and use every piece of the ring to take him apart like a brain surgeon.

Moxley is going to try to take him outside for the brawling because that’s all he knows. He grew up watching and idolizing people like Sandman, New Jack and Onita. MJF grew up watching Buddy Rogers, Ernie Ladd (those are two rather different influences) and Tully Blanchard and they made him a wrestling machine. When they leave the ring on September 5, he’s wearing platinum because he’s the best in the world.

If Moxley is so sure that he’s a better wrestler though, why does he need the Paradigm Shift? If Moxley isn’t so sure, maybe MJF should call Moxley’s hot little wife and tell him he’s single. Moxley is ready to fight so the lawyer threatens a lawsuit. Sure he wants to use the Paradigm Shift and drop MJF on his head to cause him permanent neck damage. But he doesn’t want to get sued because the only lawyer he knows is his old public defender and he’s in jail. None of this matters anyway because on September 5, MJF is a dead man.

Moxley signs and MJF celebrates, though Moxley says he loved what is on page 17. MJF: “THERE ARE ONLY SIXTEEN PAGES!” Moxley slipped in a deal, saying that he gets to face the lawyer next week and the Paradigm Shift is legal. If the lawyer doesn’t show up, MJF doesn’t get a title shot. Moxley: “I should be a lawyer.”

Santana and Ortiz recap their issues with the Best Friends and sure they’ll apologize. They’re just sorry that Trent’s mom wasn’t in the van when they wrecked it.

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss/Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison

Eddie laughs off the idea that he and his friends are a faction. They’re just about titles and nothing more. It’s a brawl to start with the Bros hitting big flip dives out to the floor to take down all four of them. Back in and a running dropkick into a gutwrench suplex drops Garrison as JR and Jericho talk about guitars. Kiss comes in and Matrixes away from Blade’s right hand. It’s off to Janela to forearm Blade in the corner.

Back from a break with Janela punching Fenix down but getting sent to the ramp by Butcher. That earns Butcher a Stunner over the ropes and Janela runs over for the tag off to Kiss. House is cleaned but Janela gets caught on the apron with a package piledriver. Pillman comes in and gets to chop away but walks into the spike Fear Factor for the pin at 9:02.

Rating: D+. This could have been on any given episode of Dark and that’s not the best place to be. What mattered here was getting the new team together for a win and that’s perfectly fine. Just let Kingston talk a lot and the team will be fine. I’m not sure what they’re going to do next, but they had a passable debut as a team here.

Post match Kingston says the five of them are in the Casino Battle Royal and guarantees a winner.

We recap Brodie Lee destroying Cody last week and making it even worse post match.

Here’s the Dark Order, minus Lee, carrying a casket (Jericho: ‘IS CODY IN THERE???”). Evil Uno talks about the team purchasing six lawn mowers for this kind of a celebration. This is a farewell to the man known as Cody and they open the casket, with Ten inside. He even has a Nightmare Family jacket and a fake Cody tattoo. They throw the jacket inside and put the Cody flag onto the casket. Now it’s Brodie coming out and Uno demands that all of them show respect.

The team gets in the ring for an interview with Tony, with Lee saying the Dark Order was laughed at about a year ago because of people like Tony. See, Lee was sitting in prison back then and now they’re here with the gold in his hands. Lee tells the team to shut up for chanting for him and introduces Ann Jay as the Queen Slayer. Cody is never getting the title back and the Open Challenge is over.

One of the members tries to cheer for him so Lee punches him in the face. Cue the Natural Nightmares to go after the Order but the numbers take him down. Scorpio Sky comes in to clear out everyone but Lee, only to have Anna come in from behind for a slap. That lets Lee get in a cheap shot so here’s Matt Cardona to chase everyone else off.

The Young Bucks find Hangman Page at the bar and yell at him for costing them the match. They know he doesn’t want to be part of this because he’s a drunk. He’s also out of the Elite.

Penelope Ford/Reba/Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

Baker is still in her wheelchair but has an offer for Swole: if Swole wins, she can have any match with Baker that she wants. It’s a brawl before the bell and Swole can’t fight off the numbers game. Swole catches Reba on the top though and a super hurricanrana barely works. Kip Sabian distracts the referee so Swole gives him Dirty Dancing. Ford throws Swole back in so Reba can hit a middle rope moonsault for two. Reba tries to bring in the crutch but the referee stops it. The crutch is picked up anyway but Swole ducks and Ford is knocked out to give Swole the pin at 2:48. A little messy but it did what it was supposed to.

Here’s the Dark Order again with a JOIN US folder for Taya Conti. A big hug seems to say yes. JR: “Let’s all go tot he mall.”

All Out rundown.

We look at the Inner Circle destroying Orange Cassidy last week.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Tables match. Matt wastes no time in sending it outside for a whip over the barricade. The beating stays on near the crowd but Sammy gets in a knee to the face as we take a fast break. Back again with Matt hitting a Side Effect on the apron and loading a bloody Sammy onto the table. The apron elbow misses though and the table is destroyed.

Sammy grabs a chair but Matt gives him a Twist of Fate through it instead. It’s time for a table with DELETED painted on top (Jericho: “OH NO!”) and Matt even knows how to get it untangled from the ropes. Matt puts it on top of an open chair and goes up but his balance gives out. That lets Sammy superplex Matt through the table for the win at 6:28.

Rating: D+. The lack of time destroyed this as they didn’t have a lot of time and then that was cut out because of the commercial. There isn’t much anyone can do under those circumstances, especially with a gimmick match. I’m hoping they get another change at this and with some more time because this was criminal given what they had set up.

Post match Orange Cassidy sprints across the stage (nicely done too as the camera was on Sammy so you just saw a white shirt streaking through the background) to jump Jericho and the big fight is on with Sammy trying to help Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as some of the matches felt like they belonged on Dark instead of the big show and the big segments were only ok. I don’t need to see the Dark Order as the featured team, especially against Dustin Rhodes and Matt Cardona. The contract signing worked because MJF can say anything, but Moxley beating up a lawyer isn’t exactly interesting. It’s a good enough show and they moved things along, but not one of their best efforts.

Results

FTR won a gauntlet match last eliminating Best Friends

Lance Archer b. Sean Maluta – EBD Claw

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison/Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Spike Fear Factor to Pillman

Big Swole b. Penelope Ford/Britt Baker/Reba – Crutch shot to Ford

Sammy Guevara b. Matt Hardy – Superplex through a table

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Santana/Ortiz vs. Best Friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Cody

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reba vs. Big Swole

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

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin

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

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

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

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

Moxley checks on Allin to end the show.

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

Results

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

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

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

Big Swole b. Reba – Dirty Dancing

Jon Moxley b. Darby Allin – Paradigm Shift

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

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

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

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