Rampage
Date: January 20, 2023
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho

We’re still in California and this week’s Dynamite is going to be a bit tough to follow. There is a good chance that we are going to get some solid matches though, as tends to be the case around here. Rampage can be rather fun when it comes to focusing on some of the lower level stuff and that might be what happens again this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence. This is in fact Rampage.

Jungle Boy vs. Ethan Page

Isaiah Kassidy, Stokely Hathaway and Matt Hardy are here with Page. Chris Jericho rants about the fans singing along with Jungle Boy’s theme song as Page tries an Ego’s Edge out of the corner to start. That’s broken up and Page is sent to the floor, where he pulls Kassidy in the way of a dive. Back in and Page catches Jungle Boy on top but a dropkick puts him right back down.

Hold on though as Hathaway interferes but blames Hardy, allowing Page to whip Jungle Boy into the barricade. That works so well that Page does it again, though he does mix it up by going to a different side of the ring. Jungle Boy gets posted hard and a gorilla press drop back inside makes it worse as we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy firing off some chops but his back gives out to leave them both staggered.

Page slams him down again and mocks Hardy a bit, only to have the Twist Of Fate countered into a failed Killswitch attempt. Jungle Boy hammers away in the corner but a Hathaway distraction lets Page hit a Twist Of Fate for two. The frustrated Page sends Jungle Boy outside in front of Hardy but cue Hook to even things up a bit. Page uses the distraction to grab a rollup, along with Hardy’s hair for leverage. Hardy shoves him off though and a sunset flip gives Jungle Boy the pin at 10:11.

Rating: C+. Jungle Boy continues to pick up wins and move up the ladder a bit, though at some point he needs to actually win something that matters. Beating Page is good, but that is only going to take you so far. For now though, this was perfectly acceptable, though I could go without seeing this Page/Hathaway own Private Party/Hardy’s contract deals ever again.

Post match Hathaway and Page yell at Hardy, who says he didn’t cost him a match. Page says Hardy can make this up to him in a tag match on Dynamite. Hathaway: “Until then, Matt Hardy, YOU’RE ON TIME OUT!”

Here is Ortiz to find out what is going on with Eddie Kingston. After blaming the House Of Black for having Kingston to the point of hitting a woman with a chair, Ortiz calls Kingston out. Cue Kingston, chair in hand, so this could get violent fast. Ortiz wants to know why Kingston has not been talking to him, but now he wants to hit a woman with a chair. Kingston was raised better than that and their mentor Homicide taught them better than that. Something in there was too far for Kingston, who cuts Ortiz off with a chair shot. Another shot leaves Ortiz laying and Kingston leaves. They kept this fast and that is a good idea.

Darby Allin wants Buddy Matthews for the TNT Title on Dynamite.

Brian Cage vs. Willie Mack

They fight over wrist control to start as commentary talks about PWG. Some flips don’t get either of them anywhere so Mack hits the Samoan drop into the missed standing moonsault. Cage is back up with a running kick to the face, followed by the enziguri in the corner. There’s the German suplex into the corner and a running boot in the corner rocks Mack again. A Rock Bottom onto the apron lets Cage pose as we take a break. Back with Mack kicking him in the face and grabbing a Sky High for two. Cage is fine enough to come back with an F5 for two of his own and a powerbomb into the Drill Claw finishes Mack at 9:07.

Rating: C. It was fun, but the video game criticisms of Cage make all the more sense every time you see him in the ring. He hits one finisher after another, often on the apron to make it worse. I get the appeal of having him around, but watching his matches are only going to be so interesting. Mack basically got squashed here and that doesn’t bode well for his future, though he’ll probably get signed anyway.

Jim Ross wishes the Jacksonville Jaguars good luck tomorrow. Well ok then.

Jade Cargill/Leila Grey vs. Vanity Twins

Leila shoulders Jaida down to start and it’s off to off to Jordyn, who gets caught in the corner for the running dropkick. Jade comes in to throw Jordyn around, setting up Leila’s neckbreaker. An X Factor hits Jaida but Jade wants back in. Jaded finishes Jaida at 3:17.

Rating: D+. Yeah remember how I complain about how Jade’s matches are the same over and over every time? This was a squash with no doubt about who is winning, but how much different is that compared to most of Jade’s matches? Every time he is in the ring it isn’t about wondering if Jade is winning, but rather how long before Jaded retains the title.

Video on Action Andretti vs. the Jericho Appreciation Society. Daniel Garcia promises to take him out.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Action Andretti vs. Daniel Garcia

Sammy Guevara is on commentary and if Garcia wins, he replaces Guevara in a tag match on Dynamite. Garcia jumps him to start but gets chopped in the corner for his efforts. A hurricanrana takes Garcia down and Andretti kicks him off the apron. There’s the big running suicide dive but Garcia blasts him with a clothesline.

We take a break and come back with Andretti fighting back and hitting a neckbreaker. Andretti goes up so Garcia bails outside, only to have Andretti jump to the apron and hit a moonsault from the apron. Back in and a split legged moonsault gives Andretti two and they trade kicks to the face.

A torture rack neckbreaker gives Andretti two more but Garcia is back with a pumphandle slam for the same. Andretti catches him with an elbow in the corner though and a top rope corkscrew crossbody drops Garcia again. The running shooting star press finishes for Andretti at 10:37.

Rating: C+. Andretti is a perfectly fine plucky young good guy but it still feels like we are waiting on Jericho to beat him. There still isn’t anything that makes Andretti feel that much better than a lot of people around here, but he does work well in this role, at least for the short term. Garcia losing doesn’t change much at the moment, but maybe he gets annoyed at Guevara and something spins off from there.

Overall Rating: C+. The fact that the show is an hour is still the best thing it has going, as there isn’t enough on a show like this to make it go two hours. The wrestling is good enough and it does advance a few stories, but the show still feels like it is just a big side trip away from everything that matters on Dynamite. For now though, a perfectly fine use of an hour, even though nothing particularly stood out.

Results
Jungle Boy b. Ethan Page – Sunset flip
Brian Cage b. Willie Mack – Drill Claw
Jade Cargill/Leila Grey b. Vanity Twins – Jaded to Jaida
Action Andretti b. Daniel Garcia – Running shooting star press

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

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Dynamite
Date: January 11, 2023
Location: Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re in for a big show this week as things head back to Los Angeles. AEW knows how to bring it on the bigger stages and that is what should happen here. This week is centered around the ladder match to end the Best Of Seven series between the Elite and Death Triangle for the Trios Titles. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page

They go right to the fighting with Page sending him into the corner for a running boot to the face. Page forearms him down but Moxley fights up and starts the swagger. The cross armbreaker doesn’t work for Moxley so he knocks Page off the apron instead. Back in and Moxley blasts him with a clothesline for two and we take a break.

We come back with Moxley hitting another clothesline to set up the exchange of forearms. Page hits the fall away slam and nips up to knock Moxley outside. The moonsault to the floor connects but Moxley counters the Buckshot Lariat into the Death Rider for two. Page gets out of the choke so Moxley hits a hard piledriver for two more. The Deadeye is broken up as well and now the Deadeye connects. Moxley staggers to the ropes though and hits the Stomp to leave both of them down. Back up and the slug it out with Page getting the better of things and hitting the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 14:10.

Rating: B. Good fight, though it didn’t quite hit that level they had built the match up towards. The important thing here is that Page won, as he pretty much had to given everything that had happened. He had a personal issue with Moxley but also needed to win to boost himself back up so well done with the whole thing.

Post match Moxley is checked out by the doctors and Page walks away without a second look. That might be Moxley’s long awaited vacation.

Here is Tony Schiavone to bring out….the returning Adam Cole! It’s Story Time with Adam Cole, who always wanted to be a professional wrestler, and here he is in an AEW ring in Los Angeles. He’s been going through a bunch of health issues, from a destroyed shoulder and two serious head injuries. Someone told him that they don’t care if Cole wrestles again but all he wants is Cole to be ok.

For six months, he has given the fans nothing but the fans still seem to care about him. For that he is eternally grateful and we pause for the ADAM COLE chants. Cole has some bad news though….and it’s not for him. The bad news is for everyone else because he is BACK! Remember this day because the new Adam Cole is being born, and one day he is going to be at the top of the AEW mountain. Cool moment here as it’s nice to have Cole back and seemingly as a good guy.

The Acclaimed is getting stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Oh boy.

Lee Moriarty/Big Bill vs. Hook/Jungle Boy

Stokely Hathaway is here with Bill/Moriarty. Hook and Moriarty start things off with Moriarty having to fight out of a short armscissors attempt. Jungle Boy comes in for a basement dropkick but Bill grabs him by the throat. The chokeslam onto the apron is broken up by Hook’s baseball slide though and Bill gets to dance a bit. Jungle Boy is knocked to the floor and we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy fighting out of Moriarty’s triangle choke and bringing Hook in. House is quickly cleaned and Hook manages to suplex Bill. With Bill looking stunned, Jungle Boy Snare Traps Moriarty for the tap at 7:38.

Rating: C+. The story here is Hook, who is now getting to work longer and more complicated matches as he is coming along nicely. You can only get so much out of a few suplexes and Redrum so having him live in a match with a more serious story is a great sign. Hook seems like he could have something in the future and I could go with seeing how they use him.

An actor named Paul Walter Hauser has a present for Danhausen and Orange Cassidy, which he’ll give them on Rampage. The Best Friends come in and everything is cool.

The Elite has nothing to say.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Bryan Danielson

Hold on though as before Danielson comes out, here is MJF (with his chyron saying he is looking to avoid a match with Danielson at Full Gear instead of Revolution) to say KONICHIWA. He loves Takeshita, even though he has never seen a second of his stuff. MJF mocks Takeshita’s name and tells him to win tonight, earning a yell in Japanese. Takeshita is ready to fight but the referee holds him back.

MJF says people are accusing him of being scared of lasting an hour, but ask your mama about that. He’s all about pinning shoulders to the mats and bending rats but everyone here is irrelevant. Actor Ken Jeong is here, with MJF mocking his career stalling a bit. Freddie Prinze Jr. is here too and gets the same round of insults. Cue Danielson to chase MJF off (dude can run when he is wearing a belt) and we’re ready to go.

They start fast and wrestle to an early standoff as some people are standing up and talking in the front row. Takeshita works on the arm but Danielson pulls him into a surfboard with a dragon sleeper. That’s reversed into Takeshita’s attempt at a dragon sleeper but he goes with forearms to the face instead. Danielson goes for the arm but Takeshita bails to the rope for the save. Back up and Danielson charges into a heck of a Blue Thunder Bomb for two and they chop it out as we take a break.

We come back with Danielson trying a dive off the apron into….I think the running knee but he gets spun around and lands hard on the floor. Takeshita grabs a brainbuster on the floor but a springboard Swanton hits raised knees back inside. Danielson grabs the LeBell Lock but Takeshita gets a foot on the rope.

They slug it out again until both of them go down for a breather. Takeshita’s running knee is countered into the elbows to the head but Takeshita is back with a wheelbarrow driver. A wheelbarrow suplex looks to set up the running knee but Danielson hits it instead for two. The stomps to the head set up the Regal Stretch to finishes Takeshita at 14:17.

Rating: B+. Yeah this was great and I don’t think that was any kind of a surprise. Danielson can work wonders with just about anyone and Takeshita has been a treat almost every time he is in the ring. Danielson is on the road to Revolution and an Iron Man match with MJF for the title, but MJF’s stand up set might not be over by then. The jokes before the match didn’t do much and MJF running away was the highlight of his appearance.

Juice Robinson wants to face Darby Allin on Rampage for the TNT Title.

Saraya/Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter

Hikaru Shida and Rebel are the seconds here. Storm and Hayter fight over a lock up to start with Storm taking over and bringing Saraya in. Saraya knees her in the ribs for two but Baker offers a distraction. That doesn’t seem to matter as Saraya sends Hayter into the steps as Baker punches Storm as we take a break.

Back with Baker coming in to get clotheslined by Saraya. A knee gives Saraya two and it’s back to Storm, who hits the running hip attack in the corner. Baker takes her into the corner though and a super Air Raid Crash gets two. The quick piledriver gives Storm two on Hayter as everything breaks down. Baker gets in a kendo stick shot to Storm and Hayterade gives Hayter the pin at 11:45.

Rating: C+. The match was good enough, but after teasing Mercedes Mone and not delivering her, it felt a bit flat. A lot of that was built on fan theory, but when Baker called herself a boss, they were leaning into it quite hard. As for the match, it’s Storm losing again, which shouldn’t be a surprise anymore.

Here’s what’s coming on Rampage.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz don’t seem to be on the same page for Friday, but Kingston says he’ll prove himself.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society for a chat. We hear about how great the team is, including their PWG invasion over the weekend. On top of that, Tay Melo/Anna Jay are totally going to wreck Willow Nightingale and Ruby Soho on Rampage. Cue Ricky Starks and Action Andretti to interrupt with Starks bragging about beating Chris Jericho last week. Andretti mocks Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara, the latter of whom can’t even control his own wife. Guevara can’t control where his wife’s hands go, because last week they were between Andretti’s legs.

Garcia rants about how pro wrestlers like Andretti don’t get it because he isn’t a sports entertainer. Starks wants Jericho to move aside so he can talk to the idiot in the purple hat. Jake Hager was a top athlete but then he got with Jericho and became the village idiot. Starks wants to fight next week, with Excalibur saying the match has already been made. Hager talks about his hat and MMA career before promising to slap Starks’ face off his face (yes). Starks continues to feel like a star in recent weeks and that is great to see.

Trios Titles: Elite vs. Death Triangle

Death Triangle is defending in the final match of a Best Of Seven series and this is Escalara de la Muerte (TLC match). The brawl is on to start with Omega and Pac being left inside for the slugout. Matt and Penta come in for the Backstabbers and slug it out on their own but it’s too early for the Fear Factor. Death Triangle clears the ring with Penta hitting a running flip dive to take Omega down on the floor.

Back in and the first ladder is set up but Fenix springboards in with an armdrag to pull Nick down. Omega grabs some snapdragons but misses a running flip dive through a table at ringside. Matt hits a high crossbody to dive Pac through a table though and we take a break. Back with Nick being dropped legs first onto a ladder and Omega’s hand being stomped inside another ladder.

Omega is fine enough to try a One Winged Angel but Pac reverses into a poisonrana. The Bros hit dives but the Bucks are back up with superkicks. Nick 450s Penta through a table at ringside and it’s time for Matt to go up…and get shoved over by Alex Abrahantes. Brandon Cutler cold sprays Abrahantes and the ladder is bridged into the standing version. Penta and Omega fight up the ladder, with Omega hitting the One Winged Angel to knock him silly. The Black Arrow hits Omega’s raised knees and Omega pulls down the titles at 14:49.

Rating: B. This was the violent carnage you would have expected coming in. It’s also the result you probably expected, as the Elite get their titles back, making the last few months more or less a total wash. The series was fun and gave us some good matches, but I’m sick of seeing these teams against each other. Both of them need to be far, far apart from each other and that’s probably going to be best for everyone involved.

Overall Rating: A-. They felt like they were trying for the pay per view level Dynamite here and it was a success. You could tell that being in Los Angeles made things feel more important and that made the show feel much more important. Nothing was bad (save for maybe MJF’s jokes) and there was one awesome match after another. That’s a heck of a two hour show and this was a smash.

Results
Hangman Page b. Jon Moxley – Buckshot Lariat
Hook/Jungle Boy b. Lee Moriarty/Big Bill – Snare Trap to Moriarty
Bryan Danielson b. Konosuke Takeshita – Regal Stretch
Jamie Hayter/Britt Baker b. Toni Storm/Saraya – Hayterade to Storm
Elite b. Death Triangle – Omega pulled down the titles

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: January 4, 2023
Location: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

We’re in a new year and the big story is a new look for the show. That is somewhat long overdue and the question is will AEW have a good show to back it up. The likely main event is Samoa Joe defending the TNT Title against hometown boy Darby Allin in a rematch from a few weeks back. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence, with remixed themed song.

There is a new set with new graphics. They’re nothing mind blowing but they look sleek and rather nice.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks

Feeling out process to start with Starks slapping him in the face and pounding away in the corner. Starks does a rather length Old School but gets knocked to the apron. The triangle dropkick is broken up though and Jericho suplexes him off the apron as we take a break. Back with Starks hitting a running clothesline to leave both of them down.

Starks grabs a sitout powerbomb for two, blocks the Codebreaker and hits a superkick for two. Jericho is right back with the Walls so he goes to the rope, only to have one of the Society member knock him silly with a foreign object. The referee gets two arm drops before Starks is up again. Jericho tries a running something but gets caught in a tornado DDT. Starks drops the Society and hits the spear for the pin at 12:41.

Rating: B-. Well that’s a surprise, but what matters here is Starks overcame the odds and got a pretty big win. It seems like they are trying something with him and that is one of the best things that could happen. Starks has the talent and has been on a roll over the last few weeks. Maybe he goes somewhere with this and I can think of far worse ideas. Good match too, as Starks overcame the odds, just as he should have.

Post match the beatdown is on with the rest of the Society coming in, only to have Action Andretti make the save. Anna Jay and Tay Melo come in for the low blow though and the beatdown is on again. Starks gets powerbombed off the apron through a table.

Here is Hangman Page for an update on his medical condition. He can’t give us the good news that he is cleared, but he can pass one more brain scan before next week and fight Jon Moxley then. Cue Moxley, who says he is tired of the candlelight vigil for Page. He also seems sick of thinking that the mic isn’t on (though we can hear it at home, including him dropping an F bomb about it). Moxley: “Let’s go Seahawks. Ok let’s get this back on track.”

Page talks about being knocked out by everyone from enemies to his best friends. Moxley has been making jokes about everything though and thinks it’s because Moxley is scared. That’s why Page is here right now and he has two in the chamber for Moxley. That doesn’t work with Moxley, who says Page doesn’t belong in the ring with him, and next week, he’ll make sure Page doesn’t get back up. This was intense stuff, but Page better win next week.

Video on Samoa Joe, who is ready for Darby Allin.

Tag Team Titles: Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. Acclaimed

The Acclaimed is defending, with Max Caster talking about how Jarrett is going to blame the loss on Dixie Carter because TNA means Total Nonstop Acclaimed. Billy Gunn, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are all here too as Caster jumps over Lethal to start and kicks him a few times. The running Fameasser from behind drops Lethal and Scissor Me Timbers hits Lethal again. Jarrett breaks up the big scissoring though and it’s Scissor Me Timbers for him too.

Back up and Lethal slides outside to slap Gunn in the face, which is enough to draw him inside. That’s enough for the ejection and we take a break. Back with Lethal grabbing a chinlock on Bowens, only to miss Hail To the King. Bowens hits some suplexes and it’s back to Caster for the house cleaning, including a dive to Lethal on the floor. A high crossbody gets two on Lethal with Jarrett making the save. Caster gets shoved off the top so it’s a Figure Four to Bowens.

Singh and Dutt get caught going after Caster so they’re out as well, which is enough for Lethal to let go of Bowens’ leg. The Stroke hits Bowens instead and Lethal covers but Bowens gets his foot on the rope….which Dutt shoves off for the pin. Thankfully even AEW isn’t that insane and here is Aubrey Edwards to say not so fast, meaning the match continues. In the chaos, Bowens rolls Lethal up to retain at 12:01.

Rating: C. That was a heck of a false finish, though the fear of Jarrett and Lethal being champions is so strong that I’m not sure what to think of the whole thing. I still don’t get the reason why they’re in this spot as it isn’t like they’re a thrilling team, but at least they didn’t do anything insane here. They may have teased it, but they didn’t go all the way.

We get a sitdown interview with Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. They aren’t worried about whoever Saraya has as her partner because they are AEW originals. How does Saraya not know who her partner is yet? It doesn’t matter because Britt is the pillar and Jamie is the killer (that’s a great line).

Jungle Boy is ready for the Firm and has Hook with him.

Bryan Danielson vs. Tony Nese

Mark Sterling and Josh Woods are here with Nese and the fans go NUTS for Danielson. A distraction lets Nese take him into the corner for the Running Nese and a near fall. Danielson fires off the kicks in the corner to set up the YES Kicks but the big one is blocked. Nese hits a not so great buckle bomb but misses the Running Nese this time. The running knee knocks Nese silly and Danielson stomps him unconscious. The Regal Stretch makes the referee stop it to give Danielson the win at 3:23.

Rating: C. This was little more than a squash and a way to get Danielson in the ring in front of his (close enough) hometown crowd. Danielson seems ready to be getting ready for the World Title shot against MJF, so running through a schnook like Nese is a good way to go. They didn’t give this any kind of time and they shouldn’t have done so, making it a perfectly acceptable use of time.

Post match Danielson says he’s glad to be home and calls out MJF. Cue MJF to say he isn’t coming out there and wrestle Danielson right now. MJF doesn’t care about wrestling like this but doesn’t think much of Danielson anyway. If Lance Storm and Dean Malenko could procreate, it would still be more interesting than him.

MJF mocks Danielson’s mother having relations with a goat, but Danielson has heard MJF’s mother had enough male suitors to fill this arena. MJF: “THAT’S NOT FUNNY!” MJF says marks like these fans have anointed Danielson, but people like Disco Inferno, Eric Bischoff, “and the smartest man of them all, and my #1 fan, Jim Cornette” have put MJF over. Danielson is ready to fight but MJF backs away, saying Danielson has to become #1 contender. Fans: “SHUT THE F*** UP!” MJF: “No.”

MJF has talked to Tony Khan, who said that Danielson has to win a match every week until February 8 to get the title shot at Revolution. Danielson: “No.” He’ll just wrestle when he wants, become #1 contender the title and win when he feels like it. That sends MJF over the edge, promising to have Mark Sterling filibuster. Danielson: “Mark Sterling is a horrible lawyer.” He wants a stipulation of his own, so let’s have a one hour Iron Man match. Schiavone: “DO IT DUMBA**, DO IT!”

The match is on….but MJF says Danielson still has to win until February 8. Danielson says MJF doesn’t have what it takes and promises to run the gauntlet and win the title. This went on a good bit longer than it needed to but it got the point across. That Cornette line is going to get a lot of hype though.

Video on Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy.

AR Fox vs. Swerve Strickland

Mogul Affiliates are here with Swerve. Fox is sent to the apron and drops to the floor, with Swerve flipping through the ropes (that was sweet) so an Affiliates distraction can ensue. Swerve takes him down on the floor and we take an early break. Back with Swerve grabbing a suplex for two but Fox fights out of the corner. A basement cutter sets up another cutter to plant Swerve, setting up a 450 for two. Fox gets caught on top and pulled back down though, setting up the Swerve Stomp for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: B-. These two just work well together and they have everywhere else I’ve seen them. The good thing here is Fox looked good in defeat and that is all he needed to do. At the same time, Swerve looked as smooth as he always does, showing just how far he could go in AEW. Now just drop the completely unnecessary Affiliates and we could go somewhere fast.

Saraya, with Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida, won’t announce her partner for next week. She talks about how great AEW’s women’s division has been…and then picks Storm as her partner. Shida looks stunned.

Here are the Gunns for the FTRIP funeral. We hear about how FTR won a bunch of titles, save for the AEW Tag Team Titles. Then they lost them, because the Gunns are just better. After the Gunns fake out the FTR entrance, they promise FTR will never wrestle here again.

Video on the Elite vs. Death Triangle Best Of Seven series, with the finals next week.

Jade Cargill/Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue/Kiera Hogan

Velvet and Blue wrestle to the mat to start but neither can get anywhere. Hogan is brought in to take Velvet down, much to Cargill’s annoyance. Blue comes back in and kicks away, setting up a DDT to drop Hogan again. We take a break and come back with Velvet suplexing her way out of trouble. Cargill comes in to kick away though and Hogan is right back in trouble. Velvet comes in and has to suplex her way to freedom, meaning it’s back to Cargill coming in for some kicks. Cargill plants Hogan again so Velvet walks, leaving Cargill to get rolled up for two. The pump kick finishes Hogan at 6:43.

Rating: C-. You mean Jade Cargill, who is the same wrestler as she was before she got the Baddies, might lose the Baddies, who have added nothing to Cargill whatsoever? Gee, I wonder if this is going to change the way Cargill squashes everyone in her path, just like she has done since she debuted. More of the same as we have seen from Cargill for months and just as exciting.

Here’s what is coming on various shows, including Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. the Acclaimed for the Tag Team Titles, No DQ.

Jarrett and Lethal are ready.

TNT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin

Allin, the hometown boy, is challenging and dives on Joe before the belly. A skateboard shot to the back rocks Joe and Allin gets in another shot to the back for a bonus. Allin climbs a ladder and hits the huge flip dive, only to come up holding his knee. We get the opening bell to start the match and Joe drops Allin hard onto the steps.

Back from a break with Allin going for a choke, only to have Joe drop back down onto him. Joe kicks him in the chest for two and crushes Allin in the corner. Allin tries to drive him into the corner but Joe rips the turnbuckle pad off. The Koquina Clutch goes on but Allin flips over into a cradle for two. The flipping Stunner is countered into another Koquina Clutch but Allin sends him into the exposed buckle. Back to back Coffin Drops give Allin the pin and the title at 8:50.

Rating: B. This was all action as they played this one as well as they could have. Take Allin, let him bounce off of Joe as much as possible until the ending. Sometimes the best way to go is with the hometown star getting the big win. Allin has been trying to get back to the top of the mountain and he did it here. Keep it simple and let what works work.

Post match Sting comes out for the big celebration and Allin gets to pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. There might not have been anything great on this show but there was more than enough quite good to carry it pretty far. The main event was the high point, but what mattered was making the show feel important. Most of what you saw here was either good enough on its own or set something up for the future. Solid show here, as AEW starts the new year off well.

Results
Ricky Starks b. Chris Jericho – Spear
Acclaimed b. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal – Rollup to Lethal
Bryan Danielson b. Tony Nese – Regal Stretch
Swerve Strickland b. AR Fox – Swerve Stomp
Jade Cargill/Red Velvet b. Skye Blue/Kiera Hogan – Pump kick to Hogan
Darby Allin b. Samoa Joe – Coffin Drop

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

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Dynamite
Date: December 28, 2022
Location: 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, Colorado
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s another stacked show this week with another Death Triangle vs. Elite match, plus the TNT Title is on the line as Samoa Joe defends against Wardlow. Other than that, we are going to hear from MJF, but Bryan Danielson might have something to say about him. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bryan Danielson vs. Ethan Page

Stokely Hathaway is here with Page…and hang on as here is MJF in a sky box to watch. The distraction lets Page jump Danielson, with MJF having his own mic to mock him for a bonus. Page hits a slam but Danielson is right back with a running clothesline. The chops rock Page and the kicks in the corner make it even worse. Page knocks him back down but Danielson manages to knock him off the top.

The top rope dropkick drops Page but Danielson has to knock Hathaway’s hat off. The distraction doesn’t work for Page, who gets dropkicked to the floor. Page gets in a cheap shot on the floor though and we take a break. Back with Danielson missing the running knee off the apron, thanks to Hathaway shoving Page out of the way.

A powerslam on the floor plants Danielson again and they head back inside, where Danielson grabs a tornado DDT. The LeBell Lock goes on but Page gets a boot on the rope for the save. They head up top again where Danielson fires off the hammer and anvil elbows, only to be reversed into a super powerslam for two. The Ego’s Edge is broken up though and it’s the running knee into the stomps to Page’s head. Danielson grabs a Regal Stretch for the tap at 16:21.

Rating: B. Danielson got in a good win here and made Page look maybe as good as he ever has. Page continues to be a perfectly fine hand in the ring and someone who can do good things under the right circumstances. Working with Danielson is about as good of a set of circumstances as you can find, so this was a very solid match between two talented guys.

Video on Wardlow vs. Samoa Joe.

Wardlow is ready for Joe, who runs in and blasts Wardlow in the knee with a pipe.

Hangman Page doesn’t think much of Renee Paquette asking about his concussion status but apologizes for being rude. He still isn’t cleared, but has to be held back from going to fight Jon Moxley right now. The doctor says he’s on the right track though and he could be back in the ring in about two weeks. Page seems to approve, albeit impatiently.

Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight

Top Flight clears the ring to start but their dives don’t work so well as both of them are sent into the barricade. Back in and we officially start with Castagnoli slamming Darius, allowing Moxley to come in and kick him in the ribs. Darius manages to get over to Dante for the tag and some of the house is cleaned. The Club is in trouble and we take an early break. Back with Dante having to avoid the Swing but Darius gets caught in it instead.

That leaves Dante to jump over the swinging Darius (that was awesome) until he can make the save. Castagnoli suplexes Top Flight at the same time but a superkick cuts him off. A springboard Downward Spiral plants Castagnoli with Moxley (holding his knee) having to make the save.

Everything breaks down and Darius reverses the uppercut into a backslide for two. The Neutralizer hits Darius….for two, with Castagnoli giving us a well deserved stunned kickout face. Castagnoli hammer and anvil elbows Darius as Moxley Paradigm Shifts Dante on the floor. Darius tries to fight up but gets BLASTED with an uppercut to give Castagnoli the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B+. This is a prime example of a team getting a lot out of a loss, as Top Flight just hung with two World Champions. The Club felt like they had to work for this one and that is a great way to go. I was way into this one and the idea of Top Flight pulling off the huge upset wasn’t out of the cards. Very good stuff here and it accomplished its goal as well as possible.

Moxley applauds Dante after the match and Castagnoli looks impressed with Darius.

Kip Sabian wants one more match with Orange Cassidy but Trent says he tossed Sabian so he should get the shot. That’s apparently official for Rampage.

Hook vs. Baylum Lynx

Non-title, suplexes, crossface shots, Redrum finishes for Hook at 55 seconds.

Post match the Firm comes out to stare down Hook but Jack Perry comes out to even things up a bit. Perry takes Lee Moriarty down as Hook stares Big Bill down. Hook can’t t-bone him but Perry comes in with a 2×4 shot to Big Bill’s back to send him running. Hook seems appreciative.

We look at Chris Jericho’s recent issues, including with Ricky Starks.

Jericho is ready for Starks on January 4 and brags about burning Action Andretti last week.

Swerve Strickland brags about Mogul Affiliates but still doesn’t name the tattooed guy. Wheeler Yuta comes in to talk about violence and gets a match with Swerve on Rampage.

Elite vs. Death Triangle

Match #6 in the best of seven series with Death Triangle up 3-2. This is Falls Count Anywhere so they start the brawl in the back, with the fight going from a hall into what looks to be catering. Pac moonsaults off a pile onto a bunch of people, followed by Nick diving off what looks to be some risers for a flip dive through Penta and a table with snacks.

They go into the arena for the first time with Fenix hitting a big corkscrew dive off the set to take the Bucks down. Omega comes in with a running knee to Fenix, leaving Pac and Matt to slug it out. Matt rolls his northern lights suplexes down the ramp and we take a break. Back with Omega in trouble in the ring and having a trashcan put over his head. A triple dropkick into the trashcan gets two but Matt is back in with a running knee to Pac in the corner.

Penta superkicks Matt and hits the Sling Blade. Matt hits a destroyer but Fenix hits a frog splash. Omega is back in with the snapdragon to Pac to leave everyone down. Penta double stomps Omega on the floor for two with the Bucks making a save. Back in and Penta takes out both Bucks, setting up the flip dive to Omega and Michael Nakazawa on the floor.

The running Meltzer Driver off the apron plants Penta on the floor with Pac making the save. Back in and the BTE Trigger gets two more on Penta with Pac making another save. Matt superkicks Nick by mistake, allowing Pac to grab the Brutalizer. At the same time, Kenny One Winged Angels Fenix off a platform through a table for the pin at 17:15.

Rating: B. The match was a lot of fun and pure energy, but it was one of those matches where you knew the result from the second the Elite went down 3-1. That being said, that was a heck of a creative finish and it fit into the match they were having. Now just get this feud over with already so they can move on to ANYTHING else.

The Acclaimed raps about Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, complete with a Global Force reference, plus a reference to losing to Ric Flair in Flair’s Last Match. Look this up as it was hilarious.

Anna Jay/Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho/Willow Nightingale

Nightingale can’t quite get to Melo to start so it’s off to Jay. That’s fine with Ruby, who hammers away at the face to try and even the broken nose score. Nightingale comes back in to waistlock Melo but gets taken down as we take a break. Back with Nightingale fighting out of trouble and handing it back to Ruby to hammer on Melo’s face again.

No Future gets two on Melo and Anna pump kicks Nightingale. With Nightingale and Anna on the floor, Melo and Soho headbutt each other down. The referee yells at Nightingale and Jay, leaving Melo to throw a chair at Ruby. Soho holds onto it so Melo can hit a kick to the chair, followed by the Tay KO (with the knee not really getting close to connecting) for the pin at 11:56.

Rating: C. This didn’t exactly work, as the whole thing was about Soho getting her revenge. Not only did her finisher only get two, but then she took the pin after a not so great ending. I’m not sure what the thinking was here, but hopefully it isn’t setting up Jay and Melo as the first Women’s Tag Team Champions.

The Gunn Club leaves rather than deal with FTR.

Here’s what is coming on various shows.

Ricky Starks is ready to beat Chris Jericho next week.

TNT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Wardlow

Joe is defending but hold on because there is no Wardlow. As Joe mocks the Denver Broncos, here is a limping Wardlow for the opening bell. Joe hammers away until a spinebuster cuts him off. The Rock Bottom out of the corner plants Wardlow but he’s right back with a hard clothesline. A shot to the knee cuts Wardlow off again though and we take a break.

Back with Wardlow getting back in despite the doctor not exactly approving. Joe goes after the knee again but Wardlow fights up and knocks him down. The Swanton gets two on Joe, followed by a Whisper in the Wind for the same. Wardlow’s wind up clothesline gets two more but Joe gets in a kick to the ribs. Joe hammers away in the corner until a powerbomb plants him down. Wardlow loads up the Powerbomb Symphony but the knee gives out. The Koquina Clutch goes on and Wardlow is out at 11:51.

Rating: B. It was a good fight, with Wardlow trying to get through the pain but coming up short. If you ignore Wardlow losing again and him being able to do Jeff Hardy’s signature stuff on one leg, this felt like a big time brawl. The knee injury lets Wardlow have an out and probably sets up a rematch, but he better win something bigger soon, as this has been a rough few months.

Post match Wardlow eventually gets up but Joe knocks him down again. With Wardlow out, Joe finds some scissors in a toolbox, headbutts the referee, and cuts off Wardlow’s hair. Then Darby Allin comes out with a skateboard shot to Joe’s back to clear the ring and end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. There were some questionable booking moves here, but dang you are not going to find a much better collection of matches in a two hour TV show. This was one show stealer after another and the two hours flew by. Great show here to wrap up the year, as things have seemed a bit more focused in the last few weeks.

Results
Bryan Danielson b. Ethan Page – Regal Stretch
Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli b. Top Flight – Uppercut to Darius
Hook b. Baylum Lynx – Redrum
Elite b. Death Triangle – One Winged Angel through a table to Fenix
Anna Jay/Tay Melo b. Ruby Soho/Willow Nightingale – Koquina Clutch
Samoa Joe b. Wardlow – Koquina Clutch

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Dynamite
Date: December 14, 2022
Location: Curtis Culwell Center, Garland, Texas
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s time for Winter Is Coming and in this case that means a pair of big matches. First up, we have the battle for the World Title and the Dynamite Diamond Ring with Ricky Starks challenging MJF. Other than that, it’s the fourth match in the best of seven series between the Elite and the Death Triangle. Let’s get to it.

Here is last week’s show if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Elite vs. Death Triangle

Match #4 in a Best Of 7 series with Death Triangle up 2-1 and Don Callis on commentary. Matt and Penta start things off with neither being able to get the better of things. Instead everything breaks down and the Elite hits a bunch of dives to take over. We settle back down to Omega working on Pac’s arm as Nick Jackson seems to have hurt his ankle on a dive.

With the actual tag match going on again, Fenix takes over on Matt as Nick is taken to the back. We take a break and come back with Matt beating up the Lucha Bros on his own, only to have Fenix get over for the tag to Pac. Omega comes in as well for YOU CAN’T ESCAPE into the middle rope moonsault.

Pac fights up until Kenny takes him down again, only to have Penta package piledriver Matt on the apron. Fenix comes back in and frog splashes Omega for two but the Black Arrow misses. Cue Nick Jackson to limp back to ringside, where Penta hits in him the ankle with the hammer. Fenix grabs a heel hook for the win at 14:48.

Rating: B-. The matches continue to be fun but it is still hard to get invested into seeing them over and over. It doesn’t help that this seems to be setting up a bit Elite comeback, though it would be kind of hilarious to see this not go to seven matches. For now though, it was good enough, though I don’t care to see it again next week.

Post match Omega grabs the mic and says if Death Triangle wants to cheat, let’s just make the next match No DQ. Oh and he wasn’t authorized to cut this promo so we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

MJF talks about how Ricky Starks worked hard to get here and now everyone wants to see him win the big one. Yeah, MJF was born privileged and with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he was just better than Starks at everything.

Here is the Acclaimed for the topical rap but Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett and company jump them from behind. The guitar shot knocks Bowens silly and Jarrett says LISTEN. Remember when AEW’s tag division was such a great thing and not Lethal and Jarrett getting a title feud?

We look at Claudio Castagnoli winning the Ring Of Honor World Title at Final Battle over the weekend.

Chris Jericho and the Jericho Appreciation Society aren’t happy with their losses at Final battle. Jericho is ready to win his World Title back while Daniel Garcia….gets cut off by Jericho, who says Garcia never should have lost. From now on, Garcia needs to follow around his new mentor: Sammy Guevara. This Friday, Guevara is going to beat up Jon Moxley on Rampage.

Brian Cage vs. Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy is still banged up from Big Bill’s chokeslam coming in. Cage runs him over to start and Jungle Boy can’t quite get up. The curls into the standing fall away slam take us to a break and we come back with Cage continuing the beatdown. A release German suplex into a full nelson slam give Cage two but Jungle Boy manages a desperation Canadian Destroyer. The Snare Trap goes on but Prince Nana’s distraction means the referee doesn’t see the tap. Cage knocks Nana off the apron by mistake and it’s an O’Connor roll to give Jungle Boy the win at 8:18.

Rating: C. So you kick out of a Canadian Destroyer but get pinned by an O’Connor roll? Anyway, the good thing here is that Jungle Boy won, because he needs to get a bit more momentum going. At the very least, calling him Jack Perry, as commentary was doing for most of the match, is a nice step forward and should give him a much longer shelf life.

Post match Jungle Boy calls out Big Bill but gets Stokely Hathaway instead. Lee Moriarty runs out to go after Jungle Boy, allowing Big Bill to come in and run Jungle Boy over. The beatdown, including a chokeslam, drops Jungle Boy but Hook of all people runs in for the save. Hook gets a crazy reaction so it might be time to start pulling the trigger.

The Blackpool Combat Club brags about their recent success and Jon Moxley is ready for Sammy Guevara on Rampage. Oh and Hangman Page and the Dark Order can bring it anytime.

Video on Swerve In Our Glory having issues. They’ll meet face to face (not in a match) next week to handle things.

House Of Black vs. The Factory

Julia Hart sprays mist at the Factory to start and the beating begins quickly. The House cleans house to start, with Malakai Black and QT Marshall not getting involved. With the rest of the Factory down, the bell rings and black kicks Marshall in the head for the pin at 22 seconds. More of this, less of the talking.

Hikaru Shida and Jamie Hayter are ready to fight next week.

Britt Baker and Rebel don’t think Hikaru Shida is ready for Jamie Hayter Skye Blue interrupts and it’s Blue vs. Baker at Rampage.

Chris Jericho vs. Action Andretti

Jericho shoves him to start and hammers away in the corner as the fans chant LET’S GO JOBBER. Andretti manages a shot of his own and a bottom rope splash gets two. Jericho isn’t having that and busts out a Death Valley Driver into a Codebreaker for…..two? Back from a break with Andretti busted open but getting a boot up in the corner. Some chops rock Jericho, who pokes Andretti in the eye.

A running forearm rocks Jericho but Andretti’s split legged moonsault only hits raised knees. The Judas Effect misses and Andretti rolls him up for two. A springboard spinning kick to the head connects and Jericho is clotheslined to the floor. An Arabian press drops Jericho again but he pulls a springboard into the Walls. That takes too long as well though and Andretti small packages him for two, setting up what looked like a tornado DDT. The running shooting star press gives Andretti the completely clean pin at 9:30.

Rating: B. Well. Ok then. I wasn’t exactly seeing this coming and they actually went with this for a change. It was the kind of thing that you see happen about once every few years but it is almost never anyone on Jericho’s level. Throw in the fact that it wasn’t even a fluke rollup and this is even more surprising. Well done on throwing in a heck of a curve ball and having a rather good match at the same time. I’m still trying to process this one and that’s a nice sign.

Ricky Starks is ready for his big World Title match because he has been working so hard to get here. Tonight everything comes to a head and no one cares about anything MJF says. There are a lot of people who are want to see Starks do what he can and he is a reflection of what MJF wants to be. Starks is going with everything he can with these promos.

FTR wants the Gunn Club for jumping them at Final Battle.

Chris Jericho is livid.

Ruby Soho vs. Tay Melo

Sammy Guevara is here with Melo. It’s a brawl on the floor to start with Soho being sent into the barricade a few times. They get inside and Soho says she can go so the bell rings. Soho sends her to the floor but walks into a hammerlock DDT on the ramp. We take a break and come back with Soho planting Melo down. Back up and Melo hits a heck of a pump kick for two, followed by the Gotch Style piledriver for the same. The TayKO is broken up though and Soho knees her in the face. No Future (or Destination Unknown, as Excalibur isn’t sure) finishes Melo at 9:02.

Rating: C. This was just a match as Soho gets a little revenge for Melo injuring her a few months back. Soho is someone who seems like she should be ready to move up the ladder in a hurry but for some reason that has never taken off. Maybe she can pick it up a little bit here, but that has not exactly taken off so far. For now though, nice enough of a start.

Post match Anna Jay comes down and beats Soho down.

Hangman Page remembers being knocked out in Cincinnati. He was taken away in an ambulance and woke up, where the medics were asking him questions. Page remembers being in Cincinnati on October 18, but couldn’t remember his son’s name. So yeah, he’ll fight Jon Moxley on Rampage.

Dustin Rhodes and the Best Friends are ready for Kip Sabian, Trent Seven, the Butcher and the Blade on Rampage. Dustin referring to Danhausen as the Spooky Boy was great.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Ricky Starks

MJF is defending the title and the Dynamite Diamond. Starks gets annoyed to start and MJF runs him over, setting up the old school strut. Back up and MJF leapfrogs him, only to get shouldered out to the floor. MJF gets back in and is promptly backdropped into a sunset flip for two.

A small packages gives Starks two more as we hear about the stipulations in the remaining Death Triangle vs. Elite matches. MJF grabs a waistlock before sending him outside as we take a break. Back with Starks holding an abdominal stretch and grabbing the ropes for a bonus. The referee catches him though and kicks the arm away, allowing Starks to hiptoss his way to freedom.

The Roshambo is blocked so Starks settles for a sitout powerbomb and a near fall instead. MJF is right back with a powerbomb onto the knee for two and it’s time to slug it out. Starks nails the spear but can’t follow up as he’s down to hold his arm. The Salt of the Earth keeps Starks in trouble, with MJF tying the arm up with his legs as well. Starks uses his leg to make the rope but still can’t hit Roshambo. MJF hides behind the referee and uses the distraction to set up a low blow. The small package retains MJF’s title at 15:46.

Rating: B. The ending was a bit lame but they were trying with Starks here and that is a good thing. Starks is someone who could be a big star down the line but for now though, he isn’t ready to win the title here. They had a good match here and MJF gets his first title defense out of the way and now he gets to move on to the first real opponent.

Post match MJF goes to leave but Bryan Danielson cuts him off. The chase sends MJF into the crowd and up the steps with Danielson letting him go for some reason.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a good show for the most part, with the ending setting the stage for the main event for the next few weeks, if not months. Other than that you have the Jericho surprise and another Death Triangle vs. Elite match, the latter of which will see your mileage vary. Energetic show, and hopefully they can keep that going for weeks to come.

Results
Death Triangle b. Elite – Heel hook to Nick Jackson
Jungle Boy b. Brian cage – O’Connor Roll
House Of Black b. The Factory – Black Mass to Marshall
Action Andretti b. Chris Jericho – Running shooting star press
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Ricky Starks – Small package

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

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Full Gear 2022
Date: November 19, 2022
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another AEW pay per view and that should be a good thing a the company certainly has the reputation for putting on great ones. The main events here are MJF challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Title and Chris Jericho defending the Ring Of Honor World Title in a four way match. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Best Friends/Rocky Romero/??? vs. Factory

The Best Friends are missing a partner to start, though they had advertised a very evil mysterious partner. Chuck shoulders Solo down to start and it’s off to Trent. A knee from the apron cuts Trent off but he’s fine enough to drop Johnson. Everything breaks down and Romero hits the Forever Clotheslines on Johnson in the corner. Marshall gets punched by a variety of people and Cassidy rather slowly joins in.

Cassidy takes so long setting up the big punch that Marshall falls down. The big four way hug is broken up by the rest of the Factory, who do their own hug. Trent gets whipped over the corner and out to the floor but he’s fine enough to get his knees up on Carter’s frog splash. A suplex to Marshall allows the double tag to Cassidy and Comoroto, with the lazy kicks having their intended effect. The annoyed Comoroto gets sent outside and Cassidy sends Marshall face first into the buckle over and over. The tornado DDT is broken up though and a right hand drops Cassidy.

Trent is back in with the tornado DDT and it’s the half and half into the Soul Food. Cassidy penalty kicks Johnson and hits the tornado DDT but Carter is back with a running flip dive….onto his own partners. Back in and Marshall catches the Orange Punch in a Diamond Cutter before loading up a piledriver on the steps. Cue Danhausen with a jar of teeth and a spike to clean house, allowing Cassidy to Orange Punch Comoroto. The teeth are poured into Comoroto’s mouth and a shot to the face gives Danhausen the pin at 11:46.

Rating: C. The wrestling itself wasn’t the point here and the match was nothing overly great. What mattered here was getting a popular act in front of the fans and having them go nuts. This was a great choice to open the night and Danhausen coming in for the pin was fine. It was about having fun and they did that rather well in a smart opener.

Post match Danhausen hits Marshall with the spike, setting up the big hug.

Zero Hour: Full Gear Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Brian Cage vs. Ricky Starks

The winner gets Ethan Page, on commentary, in the finals on Dynamite and Prince Nana is here with Cage. Starks is banged up coming in and the fight is on before the bell. Cage gets the better of the brawl and they fight to the floor with Cage hammering away. Back in and Starks can’t get anything going against the power. Starks is sent face first into the middle buckle (ow) and Cage does it again for good measure. Page is rather pleased with the carnage but wants more beating on both of them.

Starks fights back with a running elbow in the corner and a running clothesline drops Cage again. Cage pulls him out of the air though and a swinging Rock Bottom backbreaker gets two (much to Page’s delight). A springboard tornado DDT gets two more on Cage but the Roshambo doesn’t work. Weapon X is countered as well and Starks hits the spear for another near fall. Cage takes his head off with a discus lariat for two but the top rope elbow misses. Starks hits a Canadian Destroyer into Roshambo for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: C+. David vs. Goliath formula here and it went just fine. Starks, especially a banged up Starks, coming from behind to win over someone like Cage will always work and you have a tournament final that could go either way. It’s a shame that they couldn’t have the final here, but it was good enough action with a better story.

Zero Hour: Jun Akiyama vs. Eddie Kingston

This is Kingston’s dream match and fallout from a Rampage tag match. Akiyama’s jumping knee is blocked and Kingston knocks him into the ropes. A headlock doesn’t get Akiyama anywhere so we’ll go with the tried and true exchange of shouting strikes. Kingston sends him into the corner but charges into a boot. A right hand knocks Akiyama outside but he’s fine enough to grab a DDT on the apron.

Back in and a curb stomp knocks Kingston silly so Akiyama goes up. Kingston is back up to knock him to the floor and the machine gun chops…do very little to Akiyama. They trade suplexes until a knee strike puts both of them down. Kingston is up first with a DDT and the spinning backfist gets two. Another backfist is blocked and a hard knee gives Akiyama two of his own. Back up and another backfist finishes Akiyama at 10:26.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure why this needed to be added to tonight’s card but at least it was rather good. Kingston beating up legends is a way to go for him, but it would be nice if he was doing something a bit more important than living out his wrestling fantasies. Akiyama is a legend and did his thing as usual so it was nice enough for a treat for the fans.

Post match Kingston grabs the mic, thanks various Japanese legends, and tells us to order the pay per view so we can see Jon Moxley beat up MJF.

Luchasaurus vs. Jungle Boy

In a cage with Christian Cage at ringside. Jungle Boy strikes away at the legs to start but his springboard gets caught. The shove into the cage doesn’t work as Jungle Boy grabs onto the wall and a missile dropkick staggers Luchasaurus again. A face first ram into the cage cuts Jungle Boy off though and we’ve got some blood. Commentary talks about how long they have known each other and Luchasaurus him into the cage over and over.

A running powerbomb into the cage leaves Jungle Boy stuck between the wall and the ring. JR wants the match stopped (we’re not even six minutes in), though not so much as Jungle Boy gets an armbar over the top. Luchasaurus plants him again and yells at the referee for only counting two. The distraction lets Christian pull the key away from the outside referee. The door is opened and Christian is ejected, only to have Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy fight to the floor.

A catapult sends Jungle Boy into the cage and it’s table time, because a bloody cage match isn’t complete without a table. The chairs are thrown inside too and it’s a big boot to drop Jungle Boy again. A dropkick puts Luchasaurus down though and Jungle Boy sends him into the cage. That just earns Jungle Boy another ram into the cage and a chokeslam through an open chair gets a rather near fall.

Back up and Jungle Boy manages Sliced Bread before busting out an Undertaker sit up. Luchasaurus headbutts him down but Jungle Boy keeps bouncing up. A piledriver drops Luchasaurus for two so Jungle Boy sets up the table. Luchasaurus grabs a chokeslam attempt before switching into a Tombstone and a reverse powerbomb (cool) for two. Jungle Boy slips out of another chokeslam and grabs a choke, which knocks Luchasaurus out enough to put him on the table. One heck of an elbow from the top of the cage puts Luchasaurus through the table and the Snare Trap finishes him off at 18:51.

Rating: B+. This was a violent, old school fight and that is how it should have gone. Jungle Boy gets his big win in the personal fight and that’s all it needed to be. These guys beat each other up and the big elbow at the end looked great. If the only complaint is them going outside for a nothing spot and the still unnecessary table, they did something quite well.

We recap the Elite vs. Death Triangle. The Elite is back after being suspended and now it’s time for Death Triangle to defend the titles that the Elite next lost.

Six Man Tag Team Titles: Elite vs. Death Triangle

The Elite is challenging and get a special entrance with the lyrics to Carry On My Wayward Son playing on the Titantron….and the song as their entrance music. Eh they’re no Sam and Dean. Don Callis is on commentary as Omega and Pac start things off. Omega kicks the knee out but Pac is back up with a spit in the face. Nick comes in and dropkicks Fenix before avoiding a rolling cutter. It’s off to Penta who charges into a pair of kicks in the corner and the Elite clears the ring, setting up a running dive from Nick (with a fan giving him a drink).

Back in and Pac goes after Omega’s knee, allowing the champs to take turns kicking him in the head. Omega manages to get over to Matt for the tag and the rolling northern lights suplexes take Penta down. Fenix makes the save and it’s the double stomp What’s Up to crush Matt. It’s back to Nick to clean house for a bit before Omega comes in and cleans house on Pac.

Nick’s big dive takes out everyone but it’s a triple Tombstone to knock the Elite silly back inside. Fenix dives off of Penta’s shoulder (with Penta on the middle rope) to crush Omega and Pac (bleeding) hits Omega’s back. The Brutalizer goes on but gets broken up, leaving the Lucha Bros to dive onto the Bucks. Pac throws Fenix the hammer but Omega is back up with a V Trigger.

A Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Fenix and triple superkicks drop Penta. The BTE Trigger hits Fenix for two with Pac making the save. Nick dives onto Pac (with hammer) and Matt moonsaults onto a bunch of people. Omega V Triggers Fenix, who gets the hammer from Pac. The One Winged Angel is broken up with the hammer shot to retain the titles at 18:51.

Rating: B+. As much as I can’t stand the Elite and how they get their heroes’ return after the whole All Out melee, they know how to put on a crazy exciting and entertaining match. I’m glad the Elite didn’t win the titles here, even if it means Fenix goes over to the dark side. Sometimes you need to change things up a bit and if the Elite are going to be presented as the heroes (which is hardly a surprise), this had to be done.

TBS Title: Nyla Rose vs. Jade Cargill

Rose is challenging (despite having the title belt) and gets the Eddie Guerrero low rider entrance. Jade on the other hand is in Thunder Cats gear and sends her into the corner to start. Rose fights up and gets sent outside but manages to send Jade face first into the steps. Some slams drop Jade again and there’s a splash for one.

Back up and Jade gets a boot up in the corner before going up, only to dive onto a raised boot. A neckbreaker gives Rose two and she drapes Jade on the top for the knee to the head and two more. The Beast Bomb is blocked and Jade elbows the heck out of her for a breather. Jade manages a Beast Bomb of her own for two but Rose grabs her own Jaded for two more. The Swanton misses for Rose and Jade kicks her in the face. Jaded retains the title at 7:55.

Rating: C-. Cargill continues to do just about the same stuff that she has done for months now as the lack of development is hurting her a lot. At the same time, this wasn’t exactly a crisp match as the two of them weren’t quite clicking. I don’t know if Rose needed to win here, but Jade needs to lose already because the title/undefeated streak are holding her back from getting much better.

We recap the Ring of Honor World Title match. Chris Jericho is defending and wants to ruin the legacy of Ring of Honor. Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson want to stand up for the promotion, with Sammy Guevara here to even things out. Guevara has made some eyes at the title though and that could give Jericho some problems.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson

Jericho is defending and it’s one fall to a finish with Ian Riccaboni on commentary. The brawl is on to start with Castagnoli sending Jericho into the barricade as the other two fight inside. Guevara is sent outside so Danielson and Castagnoli can beat up Jericho. Back in and Guevara gets beaten up as well, leaving Danielson vs. Castagnoli. The uppercuts rock Danielson but he pulls it into a cross armbreaker.

Jericho comes back in and gets taken into a double half crab, with Danielson getting to show off the biceps. Guevara gets back in for a double suplex on Danielson and Jericho grabs an AA for two, with Guevara looking conflicted over the break up. Danielson is back up and kicks away, including a big one for two on Guevara. A super hurricanrana is broken up as Guevara flips over and lands on his feet.

The Spanish Fly plants Danielson but Jericho Lionsaults onto both of them. Castagnoli comes back in this time and springboards into a Codebreaker for two with Guevara making the save. Jericho yells at Guevara and the fight is on with Guevara charging into a raised boot in the corner. Guevara grabs a Codebreaker but can’t put on the walls. Instead Jericho gets the real thing so Jericho makes the save.

Castagnoli is back in with the Sharpshooter to Jericho….who crawls over and covers Danielson in a smart idea. That’s broken up and Danielson puts the LeBell Lock on while the Sharpshooter is still on. Guevara makes a save of his own and gets a hug from Jericho….who gets caught with the GTH. The shooting star press gets two on Jericho and everyone is down. Guevara goes for the hammer and anvil elbows on Danielson, who will not have that gimmick infringement.

Castagnoli launches Guevara outside but walks into the running knee from Danielson for a close two. Danielson pulls Guevara into the LeBell Lock but Jericho is back in for the save. Castagnoli is back up to whip Jericho into the barricade over and over, followed by a Neutralizer to Danielson on the floor. Guevara shooting stars onto Castagnoli, who pop up uppercuts him for two back inside. There’s the Swing but Jericho tries a jumping Judas Effect….which crazes Castagnoli in the ribs. Thankfully Jericho hits a better one to retain at 21:42.

Rating: A-. This was all action and that made for one heck of a match. It gave you questions about who was going to win, which says a lot when Jericho losing the title at Final Battle seems to be the most logical option they have. They managed to tell some stories here while also piling on the action in quite the trick. Heck of a match and now we get to see who goes after Jericho in December.

We recap Saraya vs. Britt Baker. Saraya is in her first match in nearly five years after a spine injury and they’ve argued over whose house this is.

Saraya vs. Britt Baker

They fight over a lockup to start until Baker takes her down. That doesn’t last long as Saraya is back up with a boot to the face but Baker knocks her to the floor for the crash. Baker drags it over to the apron for some shouting from Saraya’s brother, followed by a neck crank back inside. A neckbreaker gives Baker two and a neckbreaker gives Baker two as they certainly have a theme here.

Baker sends her outside but gets dropped face first onto the apron. A crossbody off the apron drops Baker as commentary suggests Saraya is working on Baker’s formerly injured nose. Back in and the Night Cap (Paige Turner) gets two but Baker grabs an Air Raid Crash for two more.

A Stomp gives Baker another two and frustration/shock is setting in. Saraya gets a powerbomb out of the corner but Baker sends her face first into the middle buckle. A ripcord right hand sets up a fisherman’s neckbreaker on Saraya, followed by another stomp for two. Back up and a pair of what used to be known as the Rampaige finishes Baker at 13:24.

Rating: C. The main thing keeping this from being a good bit lower is the fact that Saraya has wrestled a handful of matches in six years. She was going to be rusty coming in and there was no way around it. That being said, having her pin Baker clean is pretty questionable when Baker was trying to defend what AEW had built when Saraya basically came in saying “yeah I’m better than all of you”. Well, she was here, and it was clean.

Quick recap of the TNT Title match. Powerhouse Hobbs wants the title, Samoa Joe turned on Wardlow, Wardlow will fight both of them at once.

TNT Title: Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Samoa Joe vs. Wardlow

Wardlow is defending. They all go to the floor to start with Hobbs taking over, including sending Wardlow into the steps. Back in and a delayed vertical suplex drops Wardlow but Joe is back in for the chopping. Hobbs suplexes Joe and chokes Wardlow in the corner while shouting DO SOMETHING. Wardlow fights up and busts out a Whisper In The Wind but Joe is back up with the backsplash.

Joe guillotines Hobbs until Wardlow spears him down, causing Joe to DDT Hobbs. They head back to the floor with Hobbs driving Joe hard into the barricade, followed by the spinebuster for two back inside. Wardlow slips out of Town Business and manages a quick powerbomb. Another one connects but Joe comes in to belt shot Wardlow and chokes out Hobbs for the title at 9:56.

Rating: B-. This was a nice power match and all three of them worked hard, but more than anything else it makes me hope that Joe unifies the titles at some point. There is no need to have both of them around, but that’s a point for later. For now, this was the hoss fight that took the show in a different direction and that’s a good thing. Solid stuff, but it’s a shame that Hobbs had to take another fall.

Chris Jericho, with Jake Hager, says that was competitiveness with Sammy Guevara. Orange Cassidy comes in to say Tomohiro Ishii wants Jericho for the ROH Title at Dynamite. Jericho thinks of Ishii as a young boy, so come get your shot. Jericho leaves, so Cassidy offers Hager an All-Atlantic Title shot. Oh and nice hat. Hager: “YOU’RE D*** RIGHT IT IS! I LIKE THIS HAT!”

We recap Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. Sting/Darby Allin. Lethal and Allin have been feuding and Lethal is bringing Jarrett in to help deal with Sting, because the world was waiting for Jarrett being back.

Tony Schiavone replaces JR on commentary.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett

No DQ. Jarrett brings out an army of fake Stings for….I guess old times’ sake? Allin comes charging out and fires off skateboard shots to the fake Stings. The real Sting pops up behind Jarrett to start things off and we get a TNA chant (always a good sign). Lethal gets dropped hard onto the apron and everyone fights into the crowd, with the fans chanting OVER HERE.

Allin sets up a ladder and tries a dive off the stage onto Jarrett, but Satnam Singh pulls him out of the air for a drop onto the ramp. Sting is back up with a dive of his own onto Lethal as Jarrett takes Allin back to ringside. We settle down to Lethal and Allin colliding in the ring with the legends on the apron. Allin brings in Sting, who is chokeslammed by Singh to give Jarrett two.

Allin and Lethal slug it out again until Lethal hits a Lethal Combination for two of his own. A double team is broken up but the Coffin Drop is knocked out of the air with a guitar shot. Then Allin pops up and does the Sting beating on his chest until the real Sting comes back in for a Coffin Drop/Scorpion Death Drop combination to Singh. The Lethal Injection is countered into another Death Drop and the Coffin Drop finishes Lethal at 10:55.

Rating: C+. It was an entertaining and wild brawl, but it’s similar to what we’ve seen from Sting and Allin for a long time. Allin seems like he is the same person he was for at least the last year and I don’t know when he is actually going to change. That needs to happen at some point and it wasn’t taking place here. Also, when do Sting and Allin get their Tag Team Title shot? Haven’t they earned one by now?

Quick recap of Jamie Hayter vs. Toni Storm for the Interim Women’s Title. Hayter is on a roll and wants the title, but there’s a personal issue to it as they used to be close friends. Now it’s over the title and a former friendship.

Interim Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter

Hayter is challenging and seems to be the crowd favorite. A headlock has Storm in trouble early but she fights out and takes it to the floor. Storm sends her into the barricade but gets sent into it as well. Various hair pulling ensues as they are sent into various things, with Hayter getting the better of it.

Back in and Hayter slams her face first into the mat before grabbing the chinlock to keep things slow. Hayter stops to yell at the referee, but does offer him a handshake while stepping on Storm’s head. Storm fights up and hits the running hip attack in the corner for two but can’t follow up. They slug it out again but here is Rebel for the belt shot and one heck of a near fall.

Hayter misses the ripcord lariat and gets caught with one from Storm for two. Back up and Hayter sends her outside, where a disguised Britt Baker hits a Stomp on the belt for a very near fall back inside. Hayter hits Storm Zero for two, followed by Storm hitting Storm Zero for two.

The Cloverleaf is loaded up but a Baker distraction breaks it up. The Haytebreaker gets two so Hayter hits a clothesline in the corner. Baker gets up again but is knocked right back down, ripping the turnbuckle pad off in the process. Hayter sends Storm into the buckle and nails the ripcord lariat for the pin and the title at 15:16.

Rating: B-. They went more than a little too far with all of the shenanigans but it was long past time for Hayter to win the title. Storm was trying as hard as she could but there were too many things going against her for the title reign to be a success. You can almost guarantee Baker vs. Hayter coming sooner or later, and that Interim name being dropped (the one that never should have been there in the first place) might be what sends Baker over the edge. For now though, they did it at the right time and it went well enough.

The heels celebrate together.

Swerve In Our Glory is ready to win the titles back. They might not think the same way, but they work well together and both want the belts.

Tag Team Titles: Swerve In Our Glory vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed is defending and Caster’s rap is about various topical references including Kanye West, Twitter and Donald Trump speeches. Oh and Keith Lee is large. They start fast with Swerve sending Caster into the barricade, leaving Bowens (with a bad shoulder) to strike away at Lee. That doesn’t work so well as Lee knocks him to the floor but stops to yell at Swerve.

Caster gets back up on the apron as Bowens tries some left handed shots. Swerve comes in to work on Bowens’ arm before it’s right back to Lee. A reverse hurricanrana gets Bowens out of trouble though and it’s Caster coming in to pick up the pace. Caster grabs a middle rope hurricanrana to Lee and a top rope Fameasser drops him again. Everything breaks down and Caster goes up for a high crossbody off the apron to send Lee onto the top of the announcers’ table (which was bridged to the apron).

Back in and Swerve hits the rolling Downward Spiral on Bowens and a kick to the head gets two. Swerve kicks him in the head twice more, talks some trash, and hits a fourth kick for a rather near fall. Bowens catches him on top and it’s the Arrival into the Mic Drop for two, with Lee making the save. Swerve brainbusters Caster and Lee runs Bowens over for two as commentary references a fan being ejected.

Lee picks Caster up and swings him into Bowens for a bonus. They head outside with Caster being sent over the table, allowing Swerve to pull out some pliers. Billy Gunn comes out to go after Swerve but gets cut off before making contact. Swerve tells Lee to use the pliers but that’s a no….so Swerve slaps him in the face. That’s enough for Lee to walk out and Bowens rolls Swerve up for a very close two. Caster springboards back in with a missile dropkick and they load Swerve up for what looks like a Magic Killer, only to flip him forward into a double slam for the retaining pin at 19:41.

Rating: B. This got better as it went and the split was telegraphed for the last few months. The Acclaimed had to retain here as there was no need to have them lose the titles back to Lee and Swerve. It probably could have had a few minutes cut off, but they did the right thing and Acclaimed gets a pay per view title defense so it could have been a lot worse.

We recap MJF challenging Jon Moxley for the World Title. MJF wants to do this the right way so he challenged in advance, but Moxley isn’t worried.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MJF is challenging and, after the Big Match Intros, gets hit in the face to start. As William Regal heads to the back for some reason, MJF fights back but stops for a strut. Moxley is sent outside so MJF teases a dive, only to run the ropes and then pose instead. Back in and Moxley sends him into the corner, followed by a double middle finger to the pro-MJF crowd.

A Falcon Arrow into an armbar has MJF in trouble but he stacks Moxley up for two and the break. They fight outside with MJF slugging away, only to get whipped into the steps. Back in and MJF fires off more right hands, followed by the big left for the knockdown. MJF heads outside to set up a table but comes back in to get pummeled by the champ. They fight to the apron and MJF hits a Tombstone, banging up his knee in the process.

Another piledriver is teased but Moxley reverses into one of his own, sending MJF through the table in a massive crash. Back in and Moxley gets smart by grabbing a Figure Four on MJF’s bad knee. MJF fights out by turning it over so Moxley goes right back to the leg to keep him in trouble. The fans get on Moxley as they head up top, with MJF getting crushed by the hammer and anvil elbows. A super Paradigm Shift gets two with MJF putting his finger on the rope.

Moxley comes up favoring his elbow but tells MJF to take his best f****** shot. The slugout goes to Moxley but MJF pulls the referee into a charge. MJF busts out the Dynamite Diamond, only to have Regal come back and tell him to put it down. For some reason MJF actually does, allowing Moxley to grab a choke. That’s broken up and another referee gets knocked down. Moxley grabs the bulldog choke to make MJF tap (no referee)….and Regal slides MJF the brass knuckles. The knockout shot gives MJF the pin and the title at 23:06.

Rating: B+. They had to go here and the match worked well as a result. Regal turning was fairly telegraphed and that is not a bad thing whatsoever. MJF had to win here and he could be a heck of an evil champion, as he should have been for a long time now. Moxley felt like a transitional champion when he got the belt back and keeping it warm for MJF is a good way to go. Heck of a main event with a great moment to close things out.

MJF limps up the ramp to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. With that many good to great matches in a night, this was another excellent AEW pay per view. You had multiple big moments and nothing that was too awful (though Cargill vs. Rose didn’t work so well), but the show did go on longer than it needed to. Overall though, this is what AEW does well and they did it again. There are some problems with the promotion but pay per view isn’t one of them, which was on display here. Another great major event.

Results
Best Friends/Rocky Romero/Danhausen b. The Factory – Punch to Comoroto
Ricky Starks b. Brian Cage – Roshambo
Eddie Kingston b. Jun Akiyama – Spinning backfist
Jungle Boy b. Luchasaurus – Snare Trap
Death Triangle b. Elite – Hammer shot to Omega
Jade Cargill b. Nyla Rose – Jaded
Chris Jericho b. Sammy Guevara, Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson – Judas Effect to Castagnoli
Saraya b. Britt Baker – Rampaige
Samoa Joe b. Powerhouse Hobbs and Wardlow – Koquina Clutch to Hobbs
Sting/Darby Allin b. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal – Coffin Drop to Lethal
Jamie Hayter b. Toni Storm – Ripcord lariat
Acclaimed b. Swerve In Our Glory – Double flipping slam to Strickland
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Jon Moxley – Punch with brass knuckles

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It’s time for another AEW pay per view and as has been the case for a pretty good while now, things are not exactly feeling the most interesting at the moment. The World Title match doesn’t have the most personal setup and the rest of the show is feeling a bit hit or miss. That being said, the idea of AEW having a bad pay per view seems completely insane so I have quite a bit of confidence in what they are going to do. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Jun Akiyama vs. Eddie Kingston

This is a match that was added after this week’s Rampage went off the air. In short, this is Kingston’s dream match and….I’m struggling to come up with a reason that should interest me. Akiyama is a legend, but there is no real reason for the two of them to be fighting other than Kingston just saying he wanted it to happen. For some reason this is added to the pre-show and now the night is even longer than it needed to be.

I’ll go with Akiyama winning, as AEW seems to like the idea of doing everything they can to waste Kingston. I don’t remember the last time he had something important to do and while I’m sure he would love to do the honors for Akiyama, it doesn’t make any sense. That being said, I almost can’t picture Kingston winning anything more than a squash at this point so we’ll go with Akiyama here, despite a lack of logic for doing so.

Zero Hour: Best Friends vs. The Factory

Ten man tag and also added on Rampage, but at least there is a bit of a history here. This is a good choice for the Zero Hour as you have fan favorites like Orange Cassidy and Danhausen in there against a bunch of clueless putzes like the Factory. There is almost no way to screw this up and I have every confidence that AEW will do the right thing with this one.

Of course the Best Friends win here, likely with Cassidy Orange Punching let’s say Aaron Solo for the win. The fans can pop for the Best Friends spots, the Factory can get heat on one of them in the corner and Cassidy can come in as the hero. As goofy as it is, this is the kind of fun match that they need to have and it is nearly impossible to mess up, as it is almost a science at this point. Best Friends win a fun match.

Zero Hour: Full Gear Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Ricky Starks vs. Brian Cage

This is the semifinal instead of the final due to Starks being banged up last week, meaning things had to be changed up a bit (fair enough). The good thing is that there is a bit of history here as these two used to be part of Team Taz together so it isn’t a completely fresh match. Starks is going to be banged up because it’s a rather effective way to build towards a David vs. Goliath style match, but that might not be enough.

I’ll take Starks here, as I can’t imagine Cage vs. Ethan Page in the finals. Starks is a much more natural fit and after he gets the fire beaten out of him by Cage, we can get to the important part where he wins to move on to Dynamite. That is a formula that will work well and I think it is what we are going to get here, after what should be a better than expected match.

TNT Title: Wardlow(c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

This was added this week on Dynamite but it has been building for a good while. Wardlow is the monster at the moment but is up against a submission master and a literal powerhouse so this could be quite the issue. The match comes after Wardlow has been dealing with both of them, as Joe doesn’t like the idea of Wardlow getting multiple titles. Hence why his ROH TV Title isn’t on the line.

Wardlow retaining here makes the most sense so we’ll go with that, though I could absolutely go with Hobbs winning his first title here. Other than that, there is a good chance that this sets up the Wardlow vs. Joe showdown, which has a bit more of a background. For now though, this is going to be a hoss fight and that is a good thing to have on any show. We should be in for a fun one here though and if Wardlow wins, things are that much better.

Trios Titles: Death Triangle(c) vs. The Elite

Let’s get this one over with early. The Elite is back, so far with no explanation for where the heck they have been or what the vanishing videos meant (to be fair, we haven’t actually heard from them yet) but it’s already back to the title picture. There are going to be some fans who are mad about the Elite being back and vice versa, but they are in a title match and that is what we are going to be seeing.

I’ll go with what the result should be here, which would be Death Triangle retaining. I would hope that AEW wouldn’t look at their biggest scandal in history, shrug, and move right back to what they were doing before the Elite were suspended. That being said, the Elite is the reason the titles were around in the first place so them winning the titles back wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. I’ll go with Death Triangle retaining, but with absolutely no confidence.

Luchasaurus vs. Jungle Boy

We’re in a cage here and that should be an obvious ending, but that isn’t often how things work around here. Jungle Boy’s focus continues to be on ultimately getting his hands on Christian Cage, who isn’t ready to get back in the ring just yet. Therefore, we get a big showdown with the monster instead, which could make quite a nice moment for Jungle Boy, assuming it is done right.

Jungle Boy winning here would be the right call so we’ll go with that, as it should clear him out to get Jungle Boy ready for Cage (not the cage, but Cage) down the line. The question now is how far down the line, but even still, this feud has already been stretched out quite a long time already. Cage turned on Jungle Boy four months ago so it would be nice to get to the point, but for now, Jungle Boy wins.

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. Sting/Darby Allin

There are two things that come to me as I think about this match. First: someone watched Ric Flair’s match, looked at the team that Flair BEAT, and thought “yeah I want them here two”. Second: Allin has completely stopped developing or evolving. How long has he been Sting’s partner or at the same level in AEW? It feels like years at this point, which isn’t good when the company isn’t four years old.

Of course this is Sting and Allin’s match to win, as I believe they are still undefeated as a team and aren’t about to lose their first match to Lethal and Jarrett. Bringing Jarrett in is one thing but I don’t think even AEW is insane enough to have him go out and win a match on pay per view in his debut. That being said, having him IN a match on pay per view is enough of a sign of insanity that it has me wondering about everything else. But yeah, Sting and Allin win here.

Britt Baker vs. Saraya

Here is your terrifying match of the show, as Saraya lasted what, a month or two in her last return to the ring? This has already become the top feud in the women’s division as Toni Storm sheds another tear for her completely dead in the water title reign. The interesting thing about this match though is they seem to be doing a double turn with Saraya becoming a heel to Baker’s face, and that could shake things up a bit.

As much sense as it would make for Baker to stand up for AEW and win here as a face after so much awesomeness as a heel, I’ll go with Saraya to win. It would be almost insane to bring her in and have her lose after several years away, but letting her say some of the things she has said is questionable enough. Saraya wins here, but it is going to be interesting in a confusing and terrifying way at the same time.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Nyla Rose

Even though Rose has the title itself. I have a bad feeling that I know what this is going to be and that makes me rather sad. There is little to no reason for Cargill to be having the same matches she has been doing for a year plus now, but that is what AEW seems to have her doing time after time. At some point she needs to be able to do something else and that has not come just yet. At least now Rose has been doing something different with Cargill for a bit, they have to take the next step.

As much as I would love for Rose to win here so Cargill can FINALLY move on to something else, I think they’ll have Cargill retain here and get the title back so we can get back into what she has been doing for months on end. Cargill badly needs to evolve at least a little bit because the undefeated streak is killing her growth at this point, but she keeps the title here, even if she shouldn’t.

Tag Team Titles: Acclaimed(c) vs. Swerve In Our Glory

It’s almost weird to see a trilogy match in AEW but that is where we are with this one. It isn’t a bad idea for the most part as there is a story behind it, but with so many good teams in AEW, it is a little rough seeing the same match so many times. That being said, the Acclaimed is so crazy popular that you need to have them doing something and they should be in for another good one here.

Acclaimed retains here, as there is no reason for them to lose here as they are still crazy popular. This needs to end the feud though, as Swerve In Our Glory has gotten everything they can out of the feud already. I’m not sure what is next for the Acclaimed, but as long as they keep getting this kind of a reaction, they shouldn’t be anywhere close to losing the titles anytime soon.

Interim Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Jamie Hayter

Poor Storm. She came here to get away from nonsense in WWE and now she not only gets stuck behind (at least) Saraya vs. Baker and Cargill, but she has to be the INTERIM champion, just rubbing in the idea that she isn’t the first choice. Since Tony Khan is incapable of letting the interim deal go, this is what we get here, even if Thunder Rosa is STILL gone with nothing to indicate she will be back soon.

In addition to all of her problems, I think Storm loses the title here, as Hayter is on a roll right now and it would give her a boost to the next level. Storm is dead in the water at the moment and there is no reason for her to keep the title. Give it to Hayter and drop the interim thing so we can move on and have a decent reign, because Hayter (and Storm) is good enough to get such treatment.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho(c) vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara

The Ring Of Honor obsession continues as we have the match that has gotten more focus on TV in recent months. I’m as shocked as you are that Jericho is still one of the top stars around but here we are. This is at least a Ring Of Honor style match and it should be action packed. Unfortunately it should also be the end of the story, but I don’t think that is where we are going.

Instead I’ll take Jericho to retain here, likely to set up the big savior of Ring Of Honor (possibly Castagnoli or Danielson) at Final Battle. There is also the chance that Guevara turns on Jericho to win the title, only to reunite with him for the 49^th or so time a month later, but for now I’ll say Jericho retains, setting up his big loss in a few weeks, which will totally happen. For sure. No question about it.

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

So here we are, with the other match that has gotten some serious focus, though the match still feels like it isn’t that personal. Again, that is the problem with what is more or less a Money In The Bank briefcase title shot: there is no reason for the match to happen other than the challenger saying “we’ll do it then”. That doesn’t leave things feeling personal and the build has been a bit off as a result.

As for a winner….they have to put it on MJF here right? If they don’t, I don’t know what else there is to do. That being said, there is a rather strong chance that it happens at the hands of William Regal turning on Moxley, setting up a heck of a promo down the line. If nothing else, that is the kind of storyline shakeup that they need. We can worry about things after that later, but MJF needs to walk out of here as a villainous champion and they have set the stage perfectly.

Overall Thoughts

The show does have a lot of potential because of the talent involved, but it also has a lot of matches, which tends to be an issue for AEW shows. I still don’t need this thing to be close to five hours, but that is probably where we are going. They need to stick the landing with some stuff here and there are a lot of problems that the company needs to solve in the grand scheme of things. The good news it that AEW knows how to nail pay per views and there is a strong chance they’ll do it again here.

Rampage
Date: November 11, 2022
Location: Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

Well there’s no Mike Tyson this week so we’re already on a downgrade. The Full Gear Tournament continues this week and that means we’ll be getting to see what they have planned for the next round. Other than that, Jungle Boy is here for a challenge to Luchasaurus, which he announced on Dynamite instead of just making the challenge there for whatever reason. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are Christian Cage and Luchasaurus to answer Jungle Boy’s challenge, which he wants to give in person. Cue Jungle Boy, who Christian thinks must be from Boston because he’s such a loser. Christian talks about how the two of them have beaten Jungle Boy multiple times and Jungle Boy says they have cost him everything. He is tired of the interference so at Full Gear, he’ll fight Luchasaurus inside a steel cage.

Christian says but Jungle Boy better be glad that he has his father’s good looks. That’s enough for Jungle Boy to go for the throat, so Luchasaurus beats him down and hits a chokeslam onto an open chair. The match seems to be on. Kind of a weird way to start the show but I’ll take it over rushing right to a bell for a match.

Pac pitches the idea of cheating to the Lucha Bros because they need to keep the Trios Titles by any means necessary. The Bros leave but don’t seem sold on the philosophy.

Full Gear Contenders Tournament First Round: Brian Cage vs. Dante Martin

Cage has Prince Nana with him. Martin slugs away in the corner to start which goes as well as you might have guessed. Some jumping enziguris stagger Cage but he is fine enough to pull a diving Martin out of the air. The curls don’t quite work for Cage so Martin kicks at the leg. A dropkick sends Cage outside, where he catches Martin’s dive and hits a suplex as we take a break.

Back with Cage hitting a tilt-a-whirl slam for two but the F10 is countered into a DDT to put them both down. Martin’s springboard high crossbody drops Cage again and a missed charge sends Cage to the floor. The really big springboard dive hits Cage again, setting up a frog splash for two. A 450 misses though and Cage plants him with a swinging full nelson slam for two of his own. Weapon X is enough to finish Martin at 7:18.

Rating: C+. The match had enough big spots, but you can almost feel Cage trying to get in the moves off his checklist most of the time he’s in the ring. Martin losing is becoming a repetitive theme and while it would be nice to see him get a win over someone like Cage, there was no way he was going anywhere of note in the tournament. It was a fun match though and that’s all you can ask for in a lot of situations.

Stokely Hathaway and Lee Moriarty are interrupted by Hook, seemingly setting up an FTW Title match.

Video on the House Of Black, who seem ready for a rebirth/return.

Full Gear Contenders Tournament First Round: Bandido vs. Rush

Jose the Assistant is here with Rush, who takes Bandido down with a running flip dive before the bell. Rush sends him into the barricade again and grabs a cable cord before throwing Bandido inside for the opening bell. A running corner clothesline sets up the kick to the face, allowing Rush to backflip into the Tranquilo pose. We take a break and come back with Bandido hitting a Low Down for two (and yes, the Eddie Dance). Three Amigos are broken up so Rush goes up for…kind of a flying pump kick, which seemed to have been improvised off something gone wrong (still worked so well done on the save).

Bandido fights up and starts the comeback, only to charge into a leg lariat for the double knockdown. Rush is up first with a piledriver for two so let’s go with a chair. The distraction lets Jose go for the mask but cue John Silver (having issues with Rush as of late) for the save. That’s enough for Bandido to grab a rollup for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: B-. Another good match here, though the ending was a little lame by AEW standards. Bandido going forward is the right call as he has the potential to be quite the star and Rush is already dealing with the Dark Order. They work well together and it was a match that could have gone either way, which had me interested to the end. Solid stuff.

Earlier today, Jake Hager interrupted Claudio Castagnoli and tried to bury the hatchet but Castagnoli didn’t seem interested in jumping to the other side.

Nyla Rose vs. Kayla Sparks

Rose has Vickie Guerrero and Marina Shafir with her and is defending the TBS Title, which isn’t hers. A pump kick and elbow in the corner sets up Jaded to finish Sparks (complete with Jade Cargill’s signature pin) at 38 seconds.

Post match cue Jade Cargill and the Baddies to clear out Rose with the real pump kick. Rose and company still escape with the title.

The Factory is ready for Lee Johnson to win the All-Atlantic Title. Orange Cassidy and his friends don’t seem to think so. Cassidy whips out his own microphone to steal Mark Henry’s catchphrase in a funny bit but Henry cuts him off.

Here’s what’s coming on upcoming show.

All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Johnson

Cassidy is defending. They run the ropes to start until Cassidy shoulders him down for an early one. An armdrag drops Johnson, who misses an armdrag of his own, allowing Cassidy to hit the lazy kicks. A regular dropkick takes Kole Carter off the apron and Cassidy sends him into a variety of buckles. The Best Friends cut off QT Marshall but Nick Comoroto throws Cassidy into the crowd.

We take a break and come back with Cassidy backdropping Johnson onto Comoroto on the floor. Cassidy busts out a springboard corkscrew dive but gets caught with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two back inside. Johnson throws Cassidy outside where Comoroto tries to interfere, only to get speared down by Trent. Chuck adds a big running flip dive, leaving Cassidy to miss the Orange Punch back inside. Some superkicks rock Cassidy but he’s right back with the Beach Break to retain at 7:53.

Rating: C+. It’s still nice to see AEW having figured out the exact right way to use Cassidy. This was a fun main event with low stakes for pretty much everyone involved, but Johnson and Cassidy were fighting over something and that made it feel valuable. They were working and got some other people involved to make it feel important. It’s a hard trick to pull off but it worked here.

Post match Carter goes after Cassidy and gets Orange Punched. The Big Hug….doesn’t end the show as Carter gets hugged as well. Then he gets triple bombed to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The tournament matches helped a good bit here as they felt more important than most of the things that you see on Rampage. The show still feels firmly secondary, but it’s still a very easy hour to watch with the AEW stars. Dynamite is the serious show and this is the fun one, and if you don’t expect it to be the third hour of Dynamite, it’s fun to check out almost every week.

Results
Brian Cage b. Dante Martin – Weapon X
Bandido b. Rush – Rollup
Nyla Rose b. Kayla Sparks – Jaded
Orange Cassidy b. Lee Johnson – Beach Break

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Dynamite
Date: November 9, 2022
Location: Aggaris Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

We are just over a week away from Full Gear and the card could use some help. So far the main matches are a four way for the Ring Of Honor World Title and MJF challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Title. Other than that we a few title matches and the finals of a tournament that hasn’t started yet. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Gunn Club/Swerve In Our Glory vs. FTR/Acclaimed

Billy Gunn storms the ring before the bell but gets ejected for jumping Swerve. We settle down to Wheeler hammering on Swerve in the corner as the fans are rather pleased with the goings on. The good guys take turns on Swerve, including the scissoring from the Acclaimed, as everything breaks down, with the four villains getting punches rained down in the corner.

We take a break and come back with Harwood suplexing his way out of trouble and avoiding a splash in the corner. The hot tag brings in Bowens as everything breaks down, including the Gunn Club stealing the Big Rig. All eight get up for the big showdown and it’s Lee picking Bowens up to swing into various people (points for a cool visual). A spinning forearm strike to the back of the head drops Bowens and a corkscrew dive off the top takes out the big pile.

Harwood is back up with a superplex to send Colton onto the pile. Back in and Austin does a Road Dogg shaky punch (complete with a crotch chop) but gets pulled into a Sharpshooter (that feels like a reference to Road Dogg saying he was a better sports entertainer than Bret Hart earlier this week) from Harwood. Everything breaks down and we hit the finisher parade until the Big Rig gives Bowens the pin on Austin at 12:05.

Rating: B-. Hot tag match to start and that is always a smart way to go. At the same time, you get the Tag Team Title feud for the pay per view on the show and FTR…well I’m sure they’ll face the Gunn Club at some point. For now though, it’s a good eight man tag with a fast pace and almost all action.

We hear from MJF on the Pardon My Take podcast, where he says he is banged up from the Acclaimed’s beating. His focus is on Jon Moxley at Full Gear because MJF is a generational talent. MJF is ready to face Moxley, who really impresses him because of everything he has done over the years.

After all of those years of working for $15 after driving hundreds of miles, Moxley has become the #1 star in the world but now the throne is up for the taking. MJF has had other people take the spotlight from him throughout his career, from a neck tattoo to Matt Hardy taking a fall to a year of Chris Jericho to a press conference. Now though, he is coming for the title because he is MJF. The mic gold is plentiful with this one.

Stokely Hathaway talks about how he thought he and MJF were friends but now he’ll do things however he can. He’ll also see Max in h***.

Full Gear Contenders Tournament First Round: Ethan Page vs. Eddie Kingston

Stokely Hathaway and Ortiz are the seconds. Page bails into the corner to start but comes right back with a middle rope shoulder. That’s enough to Kingston to the floor for a shoulder off the apron, meaning it’s time to stomp away on the floor. Back in and Kingston snaps off a butterfly suplex, only to be taken back to the floor for a suplex from Page.

We take a break and come back with the two of them slugging it out from their knees. The Stretch Plum goes on Page but Hathaway offers a distraction so the tap is missed. Back up and Page kicks Kingston in the head, only to get caught up top. That’s fine with Page, who hits a super Ego’s Edge for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: C+. The ending looked great as Kingston went flying, but it’s a little weird to see Page getting a push all of a sudden. He’s fine enough but out of everyone on the roster, him? Then again this is just winning the first round of a #1 contenders tournament so it might not mean anything, but it’s still coming a bit out of nowhere.

Jose the Assistant tells the Dark Order that once Rush wins the World Title, he’ll give 10 the first title shot. The others members will never get one, so John Silver calls him a Rush (Roosh) bag. The fight is on.

Here is Ari Daivari to offer his butler to Wardlow for the TNT Title.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Ari Daivari

Wardlow, with Samoa Joe, retains with a four movement Powerbomb Symphony at 1:47, with some clotheslines in between.

Post match Wardlow calls out Powerhouse eHobbs for a fight so here he comes….and Samoa Joe decks Wardlow, setting up the Koquina Clutch. Joe glares at Hobbs before leaving. Unify the titles and we’re all good.

Nyla Rose is ready to take the TBS Title back at Full Gear.

Tony Schiavone brings out Britt Baker and Saraya for a face to face chat. Saraya gets to the point: she is cleared to return to the ring and therefore this is HER HOUSE. Baker mocks her for being a “superstar” and coming to the place Baker helped make. She doesn’t remember Saraya laying a single brick but now Saraya is walking into her house. Baker: “We don’t take walk-ins so b****, make an appointment.”

Saraya talks about how long she has been in this business and how Baker has everything handed to her. Saraya worked all over the UK for free and wrestled the same day she was hit by a car. She has what it takes to be a superstar and has been in MSG, the 02 and the Tokyo Dome.

Baker doesn’t know what it’s like to be publicly humiliated and battle her drug addiction in front of the world. At Full Gear, it’s Saraya vs. Baker, so Baker tries to jump her. That just earns Baker a whatever we’re calling the Rampaige now. The fans were SILENT for Saraya’s promo, which came off as the most condescending, talking down speech I’ve heard in a long time.

The Best Friends run into the Factory in a stairwell and after some Danhausen yelling, we get Lee Johnson vs. Orange Cassidy for the All-Atlantic Title on Rampage.

Earlier today, the Best Friends ran into Jay Lethal and company, where accusations of scumbaggery were made. Trent vs. Lethal was set up for later.

Trent vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal chop blocks him during the entrance and starts in on the leg after the bell. A dragon screw legwhip drops Trent but here are Chuck Taylor and Danhausen as we take a break. Back with Trent rolling some suplexes, setting up a half and half superplex. The running knee looks to set up the Strong Zero but we pause for Danhausen to try and curse Satnam Singh. Instead he punches Sonjay Dutt low, leaving Trent to jump Singh. The distraction lets Lethal hit a Lethal Injection for the pin at 7:15.

Rating: C. This was a case where the action was fine enough, but my goodness it is nearly impossible to care about Lethal and company. They’re the most midcard team I can imagine and adding in Jeff Jarrett hasn’t made them any more interesting. The match was ok enough, but a standard distraction finish isn’t the way to get around the boring that is Lethal.

Post match Dutt brings out Jeff Jarrett, who puts over Satnam Singh as being a real monster (while taking a shot at Braun Strowman). Jarrett is told to wrap it up so he chases a stage manager off with the guitar.

Jungle Boy wants to end this with Luchasaurus and Christian Cage so the challenge is made for Rampage.

Here is Jon Moxley with William Regal for a chat. Moxley talks about the first time he met Regal and wanting to be just like him. He tried to pick a fight with Regal and the beating was very bad. Then Moxley got mad and kneed Regal’s ear off his head. That was enough for Regal to take Moxley under his wing, but then the real work began.

Moxley is getting ready for MJF, who he first fought about a year or two ago. They know that MJF has potential and want him to fulfill it, but MJF doesn’t know what it means to have any pressure on him. Then MJF started calling himself the devil, but Moxley has met the devil and looked into his eyes. MJF is not the devil and doesn’t know what is coming for him. Pretty standard stuff but Moxley can sell it well.

More Elite deletion vignettes.

Video on the Ring Of Honor four way World Title match with Chris Jericho defending against Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson.

Skye Blue vs. Jamie Hayter

Rebel, Britt Baker and Toni Storm are here too. They go straight to the floor to start with Blue getting in a shot to the face but Baker offers a distraction. Hayter grabs a backbreaker into a suplex and we take a break. Back with Blue hitting an enziguri into the Code Red for two. Not that it matters as Hayter grabs the ripcord lariat for the pin at 6:45.

Rating: C. I have no idea why this needed the extra time for a break, but Hayter continues to feel like a force. She has the look, the power game and the fans seem into her. That is a great combination and I’m not sure why she needed that much time to be Skye Blue. It’s ok to wreck more than one person a show and it would have worked here.

Post match, Storm chases Hayter off.

Video on Dante Martin vs. Brian Cage in the #1 contenders tournament.

Lance Archer beats up Ricky Starks before their tournament match.

Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara

2/3 falls, Tay Melo is here with Sammy and William Regal is on commentary. Danielson starts fast with the strikes but Sammy picks up the flips and dropkicks him to the floor. The suicide dive is cut off though and Danielson hits a missile dropkick to the floor. Danielson looks at Melo so Sammy throws a chair at him for the DQ and the first fall at 2:22.

Sammy unloads with mic shots to the head and eye as we take a break. Back with Danielson’s eye busted open and Sammy looking rather cocky. Sammy hits a great looking GTH to tie it up at 7:42. Danielson gets in a few shots but Sammy jumps the ropes (with a bit of a slip). That’s fine with Danielson, who knocked him down but misses a Swan Dive. Sammy slaps on the Crossface but Danielson makes the rope as we take a break.

Back with Melo being ejected and Danielson tying him in the Tree of Woe for the YES Kicks. Sammy gets out though and hits a hard running knee to knock Danielson to the floor. A shooting star takes Danielson down in a heap but he’s right back with the LeBell Lock back inside. That’s countered into the Walls of Jericho but Danielson slips out and knees Sammy in the head. The LeBell Lock goes on and Danielson cranks it up with….let’s call it a LeBell Rings of Saturn for the third fall and the win at 20:37.

Rating: B. These guys put in some work and it does help them get ready for the Full Gear match. Daniels winning here is a bit of a surprise but it certainly isn’t a ridiculous stretch. The four way should be good as it does feel like a match where any of them could win and this served as a nice preview, with the 2/3 falls being a nice way to give Sammy a pin.

Overall Rating: B-. Solid show throughout, but there wasn’t any big thing that was must see. The good thing is that they built up Full Gear in a way that they needed to and that helped the card a lot. The wrestling was mostly good and I’m more interested in the pay per view than I was before so I’ll take that as a nice use of two hours.

Result
Acclaimed/FTR b. Gunn Club/Swerve Glory – Big Rig to Austin
Ethan Page b. Eddie Kingston – Super Ego’s Edge
Wardlow b. Ari Daivari – Powerbomb Symphony
Jay Lethal b. Trent – Lethal Injection
Jamie Hayter b. Skye Blue – Ripcord lariat
Bryan Danielson b. Sammy Guevara 2-1

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

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Dynamite
Date: October 12, 2022
Location: Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

We’re up north this week and out of the United States (at least on land) for the first time. The main events feature a grand total of one American as we have Bryan Danielson challenging Chris Jericho for the Ring Of Honor World Title and Pac defending the All-Atlantic Title against Orange Cassidy. Let’s get to it.

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

We start hings off with the debut of the newest member of the broadcast team: Renee Paquette (Young). That’s a good addition to the team, as long as she stays out of the broadcast booth. She brings out Christian Cage, who insults Toronto and then brings in Luchasaurus.

Jungle Boy vs. Luchasaurus

Christian Cage is on commentary. Jungle Boy goes after him to start but gets powered into the corner. The uppercut off the top sends Luchasaurus to the floor and it’s already time for a table. Jungle Boy is in big trouble as the table is set up outside and we take a break. Back with Luchasaurus missing a charge and going into the post, meaning he staggers up to the apron. The running sunset bomb sends Luchasaurus through the table, which is enough for Christian to come down to the ring.

Jungle Boy works on the arm some more, including wrapping it around the ropes. That’s fine with Luchasaurus, who hits a left handed chokeslam for two. Some shots to the head get Jungle Boy out of trouble and a crucifix bomb gets two more. A Killswitch gives Jungle Boy another near fall but the Snare Trap is broken up. Jungle Boy goes to the top but a Christian distraction lets Luchasaurus get slammed off the top. The Cutthroat Driver finishes Jungle Boy at 14:04.

Rating: C+. It was a hard hitting fight and Jungle Boy losing is questionable, but there is one thing that caught my attention here. What was the point of the table spot? It was in the middle of the match, Luchasaurus barely sold it and it changed almost nothing. If that’s all you’re going to do with it, why even include it? If you need a table spot to pop the crowd, work out a better match.

The Firm and Matt hardy/Private Party get into it in the back. The Hardy vs. Ethan Page match is set for Rampage, with Private Party’s freedom on the line. If Matt wins they’re gone, but if Matt loses, Private Party and Matt are in the Firm. Why would you want Matt Hardy on your team?

Samoa Joe/Wardlow vs. The Factory

It’s a brawl to start until we settle down to Joe walking away from Solo’s dive. Wardlow slams Comoroto down and it’s a Swanton to make it worse. Joe chokes Comoroto out at 2:24.

Post match QT Marshall gets a Powerbomb Symphony but here is the Embassy to surround the ring. Brian Cage mocks FTR for not being here but here is FTR to interrupt. They would like a six man tag on Rampage and bring out Toronto’s own Shawn Spears as their partner.

The Jericho Appreciation Society is ready for Bryan Danielson for what he made them do to Daniel Garcia.

Billy Gunn vs. Swerve Strickland

The Acclaimed is here with Gunn and Castor’s rap makes a variety of Canadian references. Billy takes him down to start and teases the old lowering of the trunks, only to get kicked down to the floor. We take a break and come back with Billy making a comeback but Swerve takes him down and goes up top, where he mocks the scissoring. The Swerve Stomp gets two before Swerve grabs a rollup (with ropes) for the pin at 8:47.

Rating: C. It was a decent match with Swerve getting the win like he should have. Gunn is part of a popular act but even AEW is smart enough to not have him get a win over someone like Swerve at this point. The match was short enough due to the break, but they got the ending right (save for maybe Swerve getting two off them Stomp, which probably should have been the pin).

Post match Mark Sterling comes out to announce that he has trademarked the SCISSOR ME catchphrase so anytime they use it, he gets the money. Oh and he’ll sue if they do the gesture too.

MJF is asked about almost shaking hands with Wheeler Yuta last week but gets interrupted by Stokely Hathaway. That’s not cool with MJF, who calls it strike two. With Stokely gone, MJF says he isn’t sure if he was going to shake Yuta’s hand or not because he learned a long time ago that the nice guys finish last.

No one knows what it is like to be him because he is expected to be the bad guy. He has broken his hand several times punching his reflection but make no mistake about it: he will be World Champion because he is a generational talent, a man with the chip and the man with a plan. This was a money promo, almost as always from MJF.

Here is Jon Moxley for a chat. He has been World Champion for a big chunk of AEW’s history and that means a lot is expect of him. Some people become World Champion and crumble under the pressure, some faster than others (that sounded like a shot at Punk). That brings him to Hangman Page, so here he is for a chat. They get in each other’s face and Moxley doesn’t think Page has it anymore. It’s not the same Page that shoved him off a 20 foot ladder last year.

Page says he’s right because a lot of things has changed, including his old friends disappearing (cut to MJF in the sky box saying “serves them right”. He has been beaten down and he has been choked blue and beaten while he is unconscious. He is also a former World Champion and doesn’t care who is there next week, but Page is going to come for the title. Next week, he’s proving that he’s a man. The fact that Page punched himself to the point of bleeding made that a bit better. Heck of a promo here from Page, even if there is little chance that he’s winning next week.

Video on Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Jericho.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson

Jericho is defending and it’s Lionheart again this week, so Judas is cut off. They strike it off to start and the fans sing Judas anyway. Danielson chops away but Jericho is right back with a hurricanrana, meaning the posing can take us to a break. Back with Jericho dropkicking him to the floor and hitting a slingshot dive to drop Danielson again.

Jericho shrugs that off and comes back with the LeBell Lock. That’s broken up so Jericho tries the Walls, only to get broken up without much trouble. Danielson gets his own Walls but Jericho reverses into a small package for two. With that broken up, Danielson fires off hammer and anvil elbows but Jericho is back up with an AA of all things for two.

Back up and they miss shots to the head but the referee gets bumped. A double clothesline puts them both down and it’s Daniel Garcia coming down. Danielson hits the running knee but Garcia belts him down (to a rather strong positive reaction) to give Jericho the retain pin at 14:31.

Rating: B. The ending was rather WWE and of course it’s more As The Garcia Turns drama but Danielson vs. Jericho in a nearly fifteen minute match is going to be rather good no matter what. Danielson losing another big match is a bit much to take, but he has shown time and time again that he can bounce back like no others. Good match, which shouldn’t be any kind of a surprise.

Jericho and Garcia leave in peace.

The Vicious Vixens are happy with Nyla Rose having stolen the TNT Title. Anna Jay comes in and gets a match with Rose on Rampage.

Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida/Toni Storm

Rebel is here with the villains. Toni kicks Hayter down to start but gets taken into the wrong corner. The arm is sent into the post and we take a break. Back with Shida hitting a top rope Meteora for two on Baker as everything breaks down. Storm hits a tornado DDT and Storm Zero drops Baker. Hayter drives Storm into the cover for the save so Shida suplexes Baker and rolls her up for the pin at 8:15.

Rating: C+. This was another fast paced women’s tag match and Shida seems to be getting at least something of a renewed push. I don’t know how far that is going to take her but at least she is getting to do something. I’m not sure what that means for Storm who is still just kind of there, but at least the match was pretty good.

Butcher and the Blade are ready for Claudio Castagnoli and Jon Moxley on Rampage.

All-Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Pac

Pac is defending and kicks Cassidy down to start. Then Pac mocks the lazy kick, earning him a hard dropkick from Cassidy. That’s enough to send Pac outside, where he counters the suicide dive into a brainbuster on the floor. We take a break and come back with Cassidy diving back under the ropes after a Tombstone on the ramp during the break. Back in the Brutalizer goes on, sending Cassidy’s feet into the ropes.

Cassidy hits a running DDT and the Orange Punch gets two. Pac grabs a quick suplex though and the Brutalizer goes on again. This time Cassidy rolls over and makes the rope again so Pac goes outside to grab the title belt. Cue Danhausen to stop him though, meaning IT’S TIME FOR A CURSE! Pac drops him with a right hand and grabs the ring hammer bell. Cassidy knocks it out of his hand and hits the Orange Punch, followed by a second for the pin and the title at 11:08.

Rating: B. This was a good fight, but above all else, it was a well built moment. The All-Atlantic Title doesn’t mean much of anything and is mainly there to represent AEW outside of the United States. That doesn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, but it means a lot for Cassidy to win it. This was his big moment and in that sense, it was a heck of a success.

Overall Rating: B+. Good action, they hyped up next week’s title match, gave us a big moment in the end and had nothing bad all night. This was a rather strong Dynamite and it absolutely flew by, with Renee being a great bonus to kick things off. I’m looking forward to where a lot of this is is going and it felt like a return to the formula that made AEW work in the first place. Nice job and I’d like to see more of this.

Results
Luchasaurus b. Jungle Boy – Cutthroat Driver
Samoa Joe/Wardlow b. The Factory – Koquina Clutch to Comorato
Swerve Strickland b. Billy Gunn – Rollup while grabbing the rope
Chris Jericho b. Bryan Danielson – Belt shot from Daniel Garcia
Hikaru Shida/Toni Storm b. Britt Baker/Jamie Hatyer – Rollup to Baker
Orange Cassidy b. Pac – Orange Punch

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

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AND

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