Dynamite
Date: December 29, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’ll wrap up another year of Dynamite with this one, in the place that hosted the show for what felt like the better part of ever. Cody Rhodes it the new TNT Champion, which hopefully is not just for the Go Big Show or Rhodes To The Top. Other than that, we also have the welcome return of Jim Ross, who has announced that he is cancer free. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jim Ross gets a big entrance for his return, which is a great thing to see.

Jurassic Express/Christian Cage/Lucha Bros vs. FTR/Matt Hardy/Private Party

Wheeler takes Christian into the corner for a clean break so we hit the double bicep pose. Christian works on the arm for a bit so it’s off to Harwood to trade chops with Jungle Boy in the corner. Harwood gets caught in the wrong corner and it’s Christian coming in for a kick to the face. The jump over the top into the uppercut has Harwood rocked and Wheeler has to break up the Snare Trap.

It’s off to Kassidy but the Lucha Bros come in for the wheelbarrow splash (after a bit of mistiming). Jungle Boy adds a springboard onto Kassidy and then sends him over the top, only to have Quen take Jungle Boy down. Hardy is in with the Side Effect and it’s Jungle Boy in trouble in the corner. A catapult sends Jungle Boy into the buckle and he has to fight out of Hardy’s chinlock.

Back up and a heck of a clothesline drops Hardy and it’s back to Fenix to pick up the pace. Private Party hits a pretty sweet assisted flip DDT to plant Fenix for two but he’s able to shove FTR off the top. A heck of a double springboard moonsault takes FTR down and it’s off to Luchasaurus to clean house. Kassidy gets launched into the air and lets out a scream that would make Vickie Guerrero jealous.

The double chokeslam is broken up so Luchasaurus kicks Wheeler in the face. The chokeslam hits Harwood but Penta tags himself in, much to Luchasaurus’ annoyance. Everything breaks down, including Fenix hitting a crazy rope work corkscrew dive, but Christian tags himself in to break up the Fear Factor. FTR shoves them together though and it’s the Big Rig to finish Christian at 12:35.

Rating: B. They didn’t go too nuts here and it was a good match as a result. Sometimes you can get a little too crazy when you have this many people involved and thankfully they kept it a little more calm. The Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express should be good, assuming they don’t add in FTR as a bonus. Hopefully not as it could get messy, but that doesn’t tend to be AEW’s way in title matches.

2.0/Daniel Garcia vs. Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz

Kingston goes right after Garcia and it’s a big brawl on the floor in the first minute. Back in and we settle down to Ortiz vs. Jeff Parker, with the former taking over. Garcia comes in and teases wanting Kingston but gets Santana instead. Three Amigos have Garcia in trouble so it’s back to Ortiz, who gets caught by a kick to the face on the floor. We take a break and come back with Kingston getting the tag to rapid fire chop Garcia in the corner. Everything breaks down and Lee blocks Ortiz’s splash with raised knees, setting up a rollup with tights to give Lee the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C. This was an intense match but they were don maybe a minute after coming back. It was more of a wild match than the ten man tag as well, which didn’t exactly do it any favors. Between not being able to remember which member of 2.0 is which, there were too many things going on at once here and it brought the match down.

Post match Garcia hits Santana in the face with the ring bell. Cue the returning Chris Jericho for the late save. Kingston shoves Jericho away and says he doesn’t need the help. Ortiz has to play peacemaker.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman talks about unsafe working conditions involving that crazy dive last week, while suggesting that it wouldn’t happening a more professional company. We’ll worry about that later though, because Wardlow needs to quality for the Face of the Revolution ladder match. That way he can win the TNT Title and hand it over to MJF, as their contract says. Wardlow isn’t happy.

Christian Cage isn’t happy with the Lucha Bros so the challenge for the Tag Team Titles is set for next week. The response is some insults to Cage, plus an acceptance.

Wardlow vs. Colin Delaney

Powerbomb Symphony finishes Delaney at 1:24.

Post match, Shawn Spears chairs Delaney down.

The Young Bucks don’t seem to like Kyle O’Reilly, who wants to talk to Adam Cole in private. This includes Bobby Fish leaving so O’Reilly can ask if Cole has his back or not. Cole doesn’t seem happy.

Here are Dan Lambert and the Men of the Year to rant about Cody Rhodes. Lambert doesn’t think much of Cody but thinks even less of Brandi Rhodes. Stripper jokes abound, with Ethan Page mocking her wrestling abilities as well. Cue Brandi, who uses the same lines that she used on Jade Cargill during her debut. They don’t like each other, with Brandi being ready to beat him up (without having him pay for it) but Lambert, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, isn’t worried and makes stripper jokes. Brandi: “Well I’m a black b****!” Dustin Rhodes comes in for the save and gets laid out, with Brandi checking on him.

Video on Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page II, with a focus on the still unnamed judges.

TBS Title Tournament Semifinals: Jade Cargill vs. Thunder Rosa

Mark Sterling is here with Cargill and Rosa has Wolverine claws. Rosa goes after Cargill’s leg to start but a Sterling distraction lets Cargill take over on the floor. Some kicks to the leg get Rosa out of trouble but she dives into a backbreaker. Rosa snaps off a hurricanrana but gets posted hard. They finally get back inside, where Rosa shrugs off some knees to the face and hits a dragon screw legwhip. Cargill runs her over again though and we take a break.

Back with Rosa hammering on the knee in the corner and hitting some running clotheslines. Cargill Samoan drops her down again but bangs up the knee on the nip up. Rosa is right back to the leg with a shinbreaker into the Figure Four but Sterling offers a distraction. The hold is put on again but this time, Cargill kicks her into the corner, where a crew member hits her with a kendo stick. A fast Jaded gives Cargill the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C. It might not have been the cleanest match in the world and Jade still looks like she is quite green in the ring without knowing how to do something this long. The good thing is that Rosa was there to to walk her through the match with the story of the knee. It was far from a terrible match though and I’ll take what I can get with Cargill in this kind of a match.

Post match Rosa goes after Cargill again but it’s Mercedes Martinez as the crew member for the save and beatdown. Ruby Soho runs in with a pipe for the save.

Video on Riho vs. Britt Baker for the Women’s Title.

Here is CM Punk for a chat, but first he wants to say how glad he is to have Jim Ross back. With that taken care of, Punk talks about how he has never been here before, but it makes him think about Brodie Lee. If anyone out there has to say something about how Lee didn’t do anything, it means they didn’t meet him. Punk watched the tribute show to Lee and it made him want to come here.

Maybe there is someone who isn’t worth his time and doesn’t want to be here, like MJF. Punk talks about last week’s six man tag and now MJF says he’s done with him. That’s fine with Punk after he got to team with Sting to beat FTR and now they can move on to something else. MJF was talking about it too: they both want the World Title and MJF is a bigger waste of Khan Money than Tim Tebow….and we’ll pause off that one.

Punk never wanted to mess with MJF but on this mic and in this ring, no one can touch him. If MJF wants to climb that ladder though, Punk will see him in this ring, but it would be a shame if someone interfered with his quest for gold. I’m not sure what happened here but Punk didn’t have quite the zing here, Tebow joke aside.

Ricky Starks isn’t happy with Dante Martin tossing him from the Dynamite Diamond battle royal. Powerhouse Hobbs can take care of Martin again if that’s what Martin wants.

We look at Cody Rhodes taking the TNT Title from Sammy Guevara.

Here is Sammy with his signs and we take a break, as is usually the case.

Video on Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb.

Here is Brian Pillman Jr. to talk about Malakai Black trying to end Griff Garrison’s career. Then he remembered getting kicked in the head to leave him laying. Pillman worked hard to get here and started in Jacksonville, Florida. He didn’t know his father, but he knows he only gets one life and Black isn’t getting it. Next week, you’re seeing a brand new Brian Pillman Jr…and there go the lights. Malakai Black pops up on the ramp and then disappears again.

The Acclaimed complains about how they aren’t ranked but Sting and Darby Allin are. That’s why Anthony Bowens is taking care of Allin on Rampage.

Sting talks about how casual people are about main events these days. Allin says he’s fine with being in any match on the card and is ready for Bowens on Friday.

Video on Tay Conti/Anna Jay vs. Bunny/Penelope Ford, setting up their street fight on Rampage.

Orange Cassidy/Best Friends vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Adam Cole/Bobby Fish

Taylor and O’Reilly start things off with O’Reilly kneeing him in the ribs. Trent comes in to strike away with O’Reilly, including stereo boots to the face for a double knockdown. Cassidy comes in and rolls Fish up for two so it’s off to Cole, who gets taken down a few times. The Paisan elbow brings O’Reilly and Fish in, only to be sent outside. Cole breaks up the big hug though and the good guys are sent outside.

We take a break and come back with Cole superkicking Cassidy off the apron but everything breaks down instead. Trent tornado DDT’s O’Reilly for two but Fish comes back in to send Trent into the corner. Some running strikes connect but Trent manages a knockdown of his own. The hot tag brings in Cassidy but a DDT into a wheelbarrow suplex gives O’Reilly two. Cassidy gets taken down with a High/Low but Chuck makes the save.

They fight outside, where the Panama Sunrise on the ramp is countered with a backdrop. Taylor flip dives onto O’Reilly and Fish, leaving Cole to get speared down. Back in and Cassidy’s top rope DDT gets two on Cole, setting up back to back piledrivers. Beach Break gets two, with O’Reilly and Fish making the save. O’Reilly kicks Cole by mistake though and it’s back to Taylor for a knee to O’Reilly’s face. Soul Food into Trent’s half and half suplex sets up the big hug but here is Brandon Cutler to offer a distraction. The Young Bucks run in with double superkicks and Chasing the Dragon finishes Chuck at 14:55.

Rating: B-. They had me wondering if Cassidy was going to get a big win here so well done on making me think they were insane. Cole and company need to be established as a trio to start and that is what they made work here. Granted it is designed to be focused on a Young Bucks story, so there is a pretty firm limit to how interesting it is going to be. At least they had a good enough match here so well done.

Cole stands with the Young Bucks and Cutler, leaving O’Reilly and Fish unhappy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Pretty good show to wrap up the Dynamite year, though it didn’t have the big blow away moment or match to really make it work. What we got here was a lot of stuff designed to set things up for later and sometimes that is the show you need. Next week is one of the all time stacked Dynamites and if it lives up to its hype, we should be in for a classic. Good enough show this week and that’s all it needed to be.

Results
FTR/Private Party/Matt Hardy b. Jurassic Express/Christian Cage/Lucha Bros – Big Rig to Cage
2.0/Daniel Garcia b. Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz – Rollup with trunks to Ortiz
Wardlow b. Colin Delaney – Powerbomb Symphony
Jade Cargill b. Thunder Rosa – Jaded
Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish b. Orange Cassidy/Best Friends – Chasing the Dragon to Taylor

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

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

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: December 8, 2021
Location: UBS Arena, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re in New York again and this time around it’s the homecoming of MJF, which should be interesting. Other than that we have the Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal as the company has some traditions going for it already. I’m not sure what to expect here, but Bryan Danielson kicking John Silver’s head in should be good. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is MJF…..’s music to start, but CM Punk comes out instead. The fans aren’t pleased, so Punk asks if that’s all they’ve got. Punk: “I’ve figured out why the Islanders have yet to win a game in this building.” Punk says the fans don’t disappoint, unlike their guy, MJF. It’s getting hot in here so he takes off his hoodie, revealing the AEW pillars, including Britt Baker. After explaining that he can respect Baker without trying to get in her pants, Punk says MJF was talking about being better than Roddy Piper in Portland. He’s not even better than Roddy Piper in Hell Comes To Frogtown!

The fans chant something at him but he can’t understand them, just like how the Islanders can’t understand how to put a puck in a net. Hey they beat the Ottawa Senators, which is like Punk beating QT Marshall. Punk remembers hating Dennis Rodman as a kid, because he played for the Detroit Pistons. Then Rodman came to the Chicago Bulls, and then he was Punk’s Rodman. It’s like MJF being Long Island’s guy, just because they’re stuck with him. Punk is looking at next week’s AEW World Title match and he wants next.

MJF is going to be looking at the same thing, and it’s going to be one of them going after the title. Punk knows that it looks like two people arguing and no one knows who the bigger idiot is (unless you’re from Chicago). This is between the two of them, with MJF even bringing in Punk’s dog Larry, who is neutered and still has more balls than MJF.

Punk gets it though, because MJF is the kind of guy this town would have since the Islanders haven’t won anything since 1984. He wants MJF to fight like they do in Chicago, but if MJF is the guy in Long Island, they’re all chickens***. Punk did exactly what he should have here and he was reveling in it.

We get a narrated video of MJF arriving in a rather nice car and talking about how he is a hero to the people around here. As he walks across his high school football field, we hear about some of his accomplishments, including football, acapella singing and keg standing. This man might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but around here, he is the salt of the earth.

Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Matt Hardy, Wardlow, Jay Lethal, Matt Sydal, Powerhouse Hobbs, Lio Rush, Dante Martin, Lee Moriarty, Ricky Starks, Frankie Kazarian, Lee Johnson

I think that’s everyone. The last two standing advance to next week for a singles match for the diamond ring. MJF, in his varsity football jacket, gets a hero’s welcome and even greets fans on the way to the ring. Lethal almost tosses MJF out in a hurry but he saves himself in a hurry. Another elimination attempt is broken up by Shawn Spears (on the floor) and Wardlow tosses out Moriarty.

Sydal is out as well as the Bunny slips Hardy the brass knuckles to knock Lethal silly. Hardy poses too long though and gets dumped by Sydal, setting up the showdown with Rush. That’s broken up so we get Warlow vs. Hobbs instead. They collide a few times but Hobbs saves himself on the apron, only to have Rush kick him out. Rush has to save himself from Starks and we take a break.

Back with MJF getting a cheap shot on Martin and running to the top to pose. A brawl breaks out near the ropes and MJF tosses Johnson, Rush…and Wardlow, which might not have been the best idea. Kazarian misses a charge and eliminates himself, leaving us with Starks/Martin vs. MJF. Martin doesn’t waste time in throwing Starks out, leaving MJF and Martin as the winners at 8:45.

Rating: C-. I can go for a short battle royal, especially when it’s something to set up next week instead of having a winner here. MJF had to be one of the winners here so it was about who else was going to get into the match next week. This worked out fine enough, and they kept things moving as a bonus.

Post match Martin rips off the Team Taz armband and shakes MJF’s hand. MJF actually leaves without incident but Starks runs back in to jump Martin. After thinking about it for a bit, MJF runs back to the ring for a shove off with Starks and then double teams Martin as he should. CM Punk runs in, sending MJF running off. Starks and Punk have the showdown but Marin enziguris Starks into the GTS.

Varsity Blonds/Jurassic Express vs. Acclaimed/2.0

Julia Hart and Daniel Garcia are here too. Since that’s a lot of teams, this is Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison/Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus vs. Anthony Bowens/Max Caster/Matt Lee/Jeff Parker. Jungle Boy clears the ring to start and Garrison hits a heck of a dive over the top to the floor. Back in and the Blonds take out Bowens, setting up the right hands in the corner. Bowens shoves Pillman outside though and the crash allows the villains to stomp on Pillman in the corner.

Parker comes in for a chinlock but Pillman gets away, only to get cut off by Caster. Pillman can’t even armdrag his way out of trouble and it’s Bowens kicking him in the face. A double suplex is broken up with some knees to the head though and the hot tag brings in Luchasaurus to clean house.

Everything breaks down and Luchasaurus crushes all four villains in a pair of corners. Luchasaurus chokeslams Bowens onto Caster and it’s off to Jungle to blast Parker with a clothesline. Bowens punches Garrison down but Pillman hits a fisherman’s driver. Caster high crossbodies Pillman but Jungle DDTs Caster into the Snare Trap. Cue Eddie Kingston to take out Garcia but Jungle lets Caster go. Caster misses the Mic Drop though and it’s the Snare Trap for the tap at 8:57.

Rating: C+. It was a fun match but there were a lot of people running around at the same time. I like Jungle Boy getting a win as the Express is on their way to a Tag Team Title match but it might have been better to have two teams instead of eight people plus two more at ringside. They got the ending right though and that makes up for a good bit of the problems.

Post match Kingston steals a cameraman and goes backstage to find Ortiz. Kingston goes into a speech….that we can’t hear as he seems to not have a microphone on. 2.0 and Garcia show up to beat down Kingston and Ortiz.

Tully Blanchard talks about how FTR has defeated the Lucha Bros more than once, even in Mexico. It’s time to put this to bed and now they are finishing the Bros on Rampage by winning the Tag Team Titles.

Young Bucks vs. Chuck Taylor/Rocky Romero

Brandon Cutler, Adam Cole and Orange Cassidy are here too. Romero dropkicks Nick down to start and hits an Eddie Guerrero dance for a bonus. An armdrag into an armbar has Nick in more trouble so it’s off to Chuck. Everything breaks down and the Bucks kick Chuck off the apron. Romero comes back in and hangs in the ropes, allowing him to low bridge Nick to the floor.

A dive takes Nick out again and Matt hits a dropkick through the ropes to take Romero down as well. Back in and Romero gets sent into the corner but a quick roll allows the tag off to Chuck. House is cleaned but Chuck is kicked outside so the Bucks can tease a dive but kiss Cole on the cheek instead. There’s a flip dive to take Chuck out again and it’s time to mock Cassidy. Back in and Chuck gets draped across the ropes for the top rope flip dive and we take a break.

We come back with Nick missing a kick to the face to Cassidy, allowing Taylor to get in a few shots of his own. Romero is back up with the forever clotheslines, setting up a double hurricanrana. Everything breaks down again and Chuck hits Nick with Soul Food on the floor. That leaves Matt to roll the northern lights suplexes on Romero, who counters the third into a DDT.

Cole comes in so Cassidy cuts him off with the lazy kicks, earning himself a kick to the face from Nick. The referee gets shoved down in the melee and it’s Cutler cold spraying Matt by mistake. A piledriver into a jackknife cover gets two with Nick making the save, leaving Rocky to send the Bucks together. Romero backslides Matt for two but it’s the Meltzer Driver to give Nick the pin at 15:41.

Rating: B-. Oh yeah the Bucks are back and this was a very Bucks style match. They did their flips and dives and big saves before shrugging off things at the end and finishing with one of their big moves. It was an entertaining match, but I wasn’t exactly missing the Bucks and this didn’t change that feeling. They shouldn’t be losing to the Best Friends, but it would be nice to see them mix things up a bit from their usual formula.

Post match the beatdown is on until Wheeler Yuta runs in for the save. That’s broken up as well and Cole plants Cassidy with the Panama Sunrise. Cue the Best Friends’ music and here’s Sue with the van, containing the returning (hometown boy) Trent Beretta. The real save is made and the 918 members of the Best Friends have a big hug.

Ruby Soho’s interview is cut off by the Bunny and Penelope Ford. They mock Soho for not having fans and here are Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero for the beatdown. Tay Conti and Anna Jay make the save with chairs.

Sammy Guevara is cut off on the stage by Cody Rhodes, who is getting the TNT Title shot on Rampage on Christmas Day. Cody makes sure to say it’s from one god guy to another before teasing going down the heel ramp. Hold on though as the Men of the Year pop up in the balcony to say they should get their title shot. Maybe they should be Executive Vice Presidents and then they’ll get a chance. Dan Lambert has gotten them a chance and he’s coming back! Guevara lays the title down and says bring it.

Video on Thunder Rosa vs. Jade Cargill.

Jamie Hayter vs. Riho

Britt Baker and Rebel are here with Hayter. They start fast with Hayter slamming her down for two before sending Riho into the corner for some choking. Baker adds some choking of her own but Riho runs Hayter over and hits a top rope dive for two. Hayter heads outside, where Riho’s top rope dive bounces off of her, leaving Hayter to pick her up for a posting. The chinlock goes on back inside and we take a break.

Back with Riho slugging away and rolling Hayter down to set up a double stomp. Riho avoids a charge in the corner, setting up a dragon suplex for two. Hayter is back up with a brainbuster for two, setting up a chokebreaker for the same. The half crab stays on Riho’s back but she fights up and hits a Code Red for two of her own. Riho’s top rope double stomp gets two more on Hayter so she goes up top for a super crucifix bomb. The running knees finishes Hayter at 13:13.

Rating: B. These two beat the fire out of each other and I was wondering how it was going to go, even if the ending was fairly obvious. Above all else, it was nice to have a match that was about the two women (with some occasional interference) rather than having everyone running all over the place. Riho is on a roll head into her title shot and it should feel big, though I’m not sure how much drama there is to the thing.

Post match Baker puts Riho in the Lockjaw to leave her laying.

We run down the Rampage card, including the in-ring debut of HOOK.

Video on Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb.

Malakai Black interrupts (this is getting annoying) a Varsity Blonds interview and mists Julia Hart.

John Silver vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson tries to take him down to start but Silver runs him over. Some kicks put Danielson down against the ropes but he pulls Silver to the apron for the running knee to the head. We take a break and come back with Danielson getting kicked down but Silver can’t follow up. Silver is back up with some strikes into a kneebar of his own, with Danielson’s kicks to the head having no effect.

Danielson escapes and goes outside, where Silver is back up with a Cannonball off the apron. Back in and more kicks to the face set up a German suplex, but Danielson lands on his feet. A kick to the head rocks Silver but he’s back with another of his own, setting up a German suplex for two. The Spin Doctor is countered with a rake to Silver’s eyes and Danielson drives in elbows to the head. The Gotch style piledriver knocks Silver silly and a choke finishes for Danielson at 10:44.

Rating: C+. Silver got in more offense than the rest of the Dark Order has, but ultimately he was only going to be able to take it so far. Danielson running through the team has been a good enough way to get us to the title match, and if it means some of the Dark Order goes away for a bit, that makes things even better. This was a hard hitting fight and Silver was game as always, but there was no way this should have had any other ending.

Post match Danielson brags about taking out the Dark Order and then starts kicking Silver’s head in. Cue Hangman Page for the save and Danielson bails to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was good but this show had way, way, way too much going on at times. Between the first three matches being a battle royal, an eight man tag (with interference) and a six man tag (with interference followed by three people getting involved after the match), there was too much stuff going on for too long. AEW has long since had trouble allowing its shows to breathe and that was the case here. It felt like one thing was immediately following another and almost nothing had the chance to sink in.

Now at the same time, this was a rather good show with some solid matches and stories being advanced to get us to the next big slate of shows. Next week should be a heck of a showdown with the World Title match plus probably one of the other big matches being added to the card. AEW is doing some very good things at the moment and if they would slow down and let them have more of an impact, we could be in a really great place.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Dante Martin won the Dynamite Diamond battle royal last eliminating Ricky Starks
Jurassic Express/Varsity Blonds b. 2.0/Acclaimed – Snare Trap to Caster
Young Bucks b. Chuck Taylor/Rocky Romero – Meltzer Driver to Romero
Riho b. Jamie Hayter – Running knees
Bryan Danielson b. John Silver – Choke

AEW, 2021, CM Punk, MJF, Ricky Starks, Dante Martin, Dynamite, Jurassic Express, Varsity Blonds, 2.0, Eddie Kingston, Acclaimed, Young Bucks, Chuck Taylor, Rocky Romero, Riho, Jamie Hayter, Bryan Danielson, John Silver, Hangman Page, Tully Blanchard, FTR, Sammy Guevara

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

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

AND

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

Rampage
Date: November 19, 2021
Location: Chartway Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Taz, Ricky Starks

We’re fresh off of Full Gear and the next big thing, probably for their upcoming Clash Of Champions style special, is Hangman Page defending the World Title against Bryan Danielson. That will be more than enough to carry the shows for a bit, but we should be in for some other stuff this week. What other stuff? Well probably some AEW stuff. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Billy Gunn vs. Darby Allin

The Gunn Club and Sting are all here. Feeling out process to start with Gunn not seeming that worried here. A test of strength isn’t happening but Gunn hits a heck of a backdrop to send Allin bailing for a breather. Gunn follows him out and sends him back inside, albeit with a pause for a staredown with Sting. After a hug to Austin Gunn, Billy pulls Allin out from under the ropes for a crash to the floor.

Another Sting distraction doesn’t do much for Allin, who misses a dive and crashes into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Allin biting his way out of a superplex attempt and diving onto the rest of the Club. Allin gets back inside but is sent into the corner. Billy does the Sting shout but misses the Stinger Splash. Instead Allin hits a flipping Stunner into the Coffin Drop for two. Another Coffin Drop pins Gunn at 8:51.

Rating: C. Gunn still looks great but it’s hard not to look at him and think back to twenty five years ago when he was still pretty deep into his career. That being said, Allin beat him and got the win so it isn’t like they did anything crazy here. I’m not sure why Billy had to kick out of the first Coffin Drop, but the pin is what matters here.

Post match the Gunn Club beats down Sting and Allin to leave them laying. The Sting vs. Billy showdown doesn’t do much for me.

We recap CM Punk interrupting MJF without saying a word.

QT Marshall wants to beat up CM Punk in his hometown of Chicago. Various threats are made to Punk and Tony Schiavone isn’t impressed.

The Men of the Year say that the Inner Circle won at Full Gear, but this isn’t over. Beating a manager doesn’t mean anything and you’ll see American Top Team Again.

TBS Title Tournament Quarterfinals: Red Velvet vs. Jade Cargill

Velvet goes right at her to start and ducks a pump kick. Cargill tries a powerbomb but Velvet counters with a failed sunset flip attempt. A fall away slam sends Velvet flying and there’s a knee to the ribs to make it worse. Back up and Velvet kicks dropkicks her to the floor for a crash.

Velvet loads up a dive but pauses to get hung up in the ropes, allowing Cargill to get in a slap. A chokeslam onto the apron connects and we take a break with Velvet in trouble. Back with Cargill unloading in the corner and then stopping for some pushups. Velvet uses the distraction to kick away at the ribs, setting up some running knees to the back. Cargill is right back up with a big boot to the face to cut Velvet off in a hurry but Jade is blocked. The Final Slice is blocked as well though and a fast Jaded gives Cargill the pin at 9:44.

Rating: C-. While I wouldn’t call it exactly good, it is impressive to see just how far Cargill has come in a pretty short time. She did well enough in a nearly ten minute match here, which is amazing considering how short everything as for her a long time. Velvet has gotten a lot better to and it’s great to see that much progress. She’ll get there one day, but this was Cargill’s to win.

Thunder Rosa is ready to beat Jamie Hayter and move on to the next round. Rosa yells in Spanish a lot.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

CM Punk is ready to face QT Marshall in Chicago. You don’t come into his hometown on the day before Thanksgiving because we’ll find out who the turkey is.

We look back at the confrontation between Bryan Danielson and Hangman Page on Wednesday with Danielson going evil before their title match.

We get the face to face showdown between the Superkliq and Bobby Fish and Jurassic Express/Christian Cage. Cole rants about the Conchairto being used to try to get rid of them but Jungle Boy talks about how he has beaten Fish before. Christian thinks it’s interesting to see the Superkliq talk when they have the numbers advantage. Fish can be there, but Cage is bringing his own friend, which means a chair.

Bobby Fish/Adam Cole vs. Jurassic Express

Jungle Boy chops at Cole to start and hits the very spinny springboard armdrag. Cole kicks him in the face and brings Fish in to strike away in the corner. Back up and Jungle Boy starts spinning around a bit more, including the same spinny springboard armdrag. Luchasaurus comes in to clean more house on Fish but a cheap shot slows Jungle Boy down.

The villains start beating on Jungle Boy in the corner as we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy fighting out of a chinlock and hitting a rebound lariat. That’s broken up but Jungle Boy can’t get to the ropes. Cole misses the Boom though and it’s Luchasaurus getting the tag to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Express starts cleaning house. The Extinction Level Event gets two on Cole but Luchasaurus is sent outside.

What used to be Chasing the Dragon gets a very close/surprising near fall on Jungle Boy. The Snare Trap is blocked but a springboard is cut off by Cole’s superkick. The Panama Sunrise is countered into a powerbomb but Fish breaks up the cover. Fish hits a running splash to Jungle Boy in the corner and it’s time to kick at the legs. Jungle Boy suplexes a charging Fish into the corner and here are the Young Bucks for a distraction. Christian comes out to chase off Cole and the Bucks, leaving Jungle Boy to Snare Trap Fish for the tap at 15:07.

Rating: B. This one felt like a big time tag match and that’s how ti should have gone. Above all else, Jungle Boy’s star continues to rise and it would not surprise me to see him move into more of a solo act going forward. Fish is there to take the fall on the reunion tour, which leaves Cole and Jungle Boy strong for their eventual faceoff.

Replays and posing take us out.

Overall Rating: C+. Not one of their stronger Rampages, but it was still a fine show with a good main event. There wasn’t a major match taking place this week, though Jungle Boy getting a big win in the main event was good for him. If this is on the weaker ends of this show, it is going to be just fine going forward.

Results
Darby Allin b. Billy Gunn – Coffin Drop
Jade Cargill b. Red Velvet – Jaded
Jurassic Express b. Adam Cole/Bobby Fish – Snare Trap to Fish

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

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

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Full Gear 2021
Date: November 13, 2021
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s time for what is likely going to be one of the best AEW shows in history as the card is stacked. AEW has shown that they can put together an awesome card and then deliver on the potential. I’m looking forward to more than a few things on the show and that is a great feeling to have. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In: Thunder Rosa/Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose/Jamie Hayter

The four of them are matched up in the TBS Title tournament and Vickie Guerrero is here with Rose/Hayter. Rosa and Rose start things off with Rosa grabbing some rollups for two each. A basement dropkick has Rose staggered and it’s off to Shida for a running knee in the corner. It’s back to Rosa, who gets powered into the wrong corner though, meaning the stomping is on. Rosa manages to roll away and brings Shida back in to start striking away as Serena Deeb is watching from ringside.

Hayter runs Shida over and grabs a chinlock before sending her into the corner for a bite from Rose. A double chokeslam gets two on Shida and it’s an Irish Curse to put her down again. Shida finally manages a German suplex and that’s enough for the hot tag off to Rosa. Everything breaks down and some running kicks to the face put the villains on the floor. The stereo dives take them down again but a Deeb distraction lets Vickie get in a shot to Shida’s knee. Back in and Rosa and Hayter fight straight back to the floor, leaving Shida to hurricanrana Rose for the pin at 8:42.

Rating: C. This was all it needed to be as they started with a fun, fast paced tag match. You don’t need to do anything more than that in a spot like this and the match worked out rather well. Shida pinning Rosa is the best possible outcome and it came after a rather nice opening match to get the already warmed up fans going even hotter.

We run down the card.

Darby Allin vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MJF is introduced as “the man who can beat Darby Allin with a headlock takeover”. Allin’s intro video this time shows him driving a car with LOSER painted on the side, which blows up after a wreck. MJF takes him to the mat with the headlock takeover for some early near falls as the mind games are on. A shoulder puts Allin down, allowing MJF to bust out the cartwheel. Allin armdrags him down and they bridge up at the same time.

MJF gets driven into the corner but comes out with a right hand as JR says these are two of the four “pillows” of AEW. Allin is sent outside and then back inside, with MJF stopping to yell at the fans. That’s not a good idea as Allin is right there with a big suicide dive to take him out, only to miss the Coffin Drop onto the apron. Back in and MJF slowly hammers away, with Allin’s backbreaker not getting him very far. A superplex is loaded up but Allin bites his way to freedom.

The super flipping Stunner is blocked and MJF loads up a super Tombstone, which thankfully is countered into the flipping Stunner. That bangs up the back again though and MJF hammers away at a kneeling Allin. The right hands just make Allin rise back up though and now the comeback is on, only to have MJF pike him in the eye. Allin kicks the knee out but Code Red is countered into a heck of a powerbomb for two.

The Scorpion Deathlock has Allin in more trouble but Allin punches at the knee to escape. A chop block slows MJF down until he gets in a shot of his own. MJF hits a middle rope stomp to the arm but Salt of the Earth is blocked. Instead, Allin goes for the knee again and slaps on the Figure Four in a smart move. The rope is finally grabbed and they fight to the apron to slug it out.

Allin tries a bit of a running start but gets caught in a jumping Tombstone. The impact bangs up the knee again though and they’re both down on the floor. They both beat the count back in but MJF’s knee gives out, allowing Allin to small package him for two. They fight over some small packages for two each and roll around the ring until breaking it up. MJF tries the headlock takeover for two but Allin reverses into one of his own.

MJF’s powerbomb is countered into Code Red for a heck of a near fall and that’s a standing ovation (kind of hard to argue after that kind of a sequence). The Coffin Drop is loaded up so MJF rolls outside before it can launch. That’s fine with Allin, who hits said Coffin Drop on the floor instead.

Back in and another Coffin Drop hits raised knees to make Allin scream. Cue Wardlow and Shawn Spears but Sting runs out to cut them off. MJF rolls Allin up with tights for two so it’s time to grab the skateboard. He offers it to Allin and drops to his knees so Allin can use the skateboard, but that’s not happening. The referee gets rid of it, allowing MJF to get in the shot with the ring. Allin is out cold so it’s a headlock takeover to give MJF the pin at 22:48.

Rating: B+. This was great and that’s all you should have expected. AEW knows that they have some very talented younger stars on the roster and they know how to let them go out there and tear the house down. MJF might be the best talker in wrestling today and he can have some great matches to go with it too. Excellent stuff here and another star making performance from both. MJF’s bragging alone will be worth the whole thing.

Team Taz is in a sky box.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. FTR

The Lucha Bros are defending and it’s Alex Abrahantes/Tully Blanchard as the seconds. The Bros’ entrance features a lot of explosions and some people ducking for cover. Penta takes Wheeler down for an early rollup and that’s good for the quick standoff, sending Harwood outside for a breather. Back in and Wheeler gets taken down but Harwood saves him from a double superkick. Instead the Bros’ dives are caught, with Fenix being thrown at Penta to drive him into the barricade.

Wheeler chokes Fenix on the ropes but it’s quickly back to Harwood and Penta, with the former getting caught with an assisted Cannonball in the corner. Everything breaks down and the Bros tie FTR’s legs together before grabbing a Crossface and Octopus at the same time. The referee isn’t having any of that so it’s down to Penta hammering on Harwood in the corner. Tully offers a distraction so Wheeler can get in a cheap shot to take over though and the champs are in trouble.

Penta’s mask gets tied to the rope so the beating can continue for a bit. With that broken up, Harwood grabs a chinlock to slow things down a bit. Penta fights up and kicks Harwood in the ribs before using Wheeler to roll himself over for a jumping DDT. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Fenix for a bunch of kicks all around. A double cutter drops FTR for two on Harwood but Fenix’s rolling DDT is countered.

Fenix tries an O’Connor roll but accidentally knocks Penta off the apron. The kickout sends Fenix into the AAA title belt (as held by Wheeler) to set up a brainbuster for a very close two. Back in and Penta cleans house but stops to yell at Tully, allowing Harwood to try Three Amigos.

That’s broken up so Fenix can do the real version, setting up a heck of a frog splash for two. Penta gets sent outside again and the spike piledriver gets two on Fenix. Back up and Fenix superkicks Harwood and it’s a Fear Factor/Code Red for stereo near falls. It’s time to get creative so Wheeler (illegal) puts on a mask and grabs a rollup for two. The spike Fear Factor pins Wheeler at 18:38

Rating: B. I liked it better than their first match and that’s a good thing. The ending was all about setting up a rematch, which should be another good one. I could see it being a way for the Bros to get the AAA Tag Team Titles back to wrap it up, but they might even have a surprise to get the belts back on FTR. Either way, good, exciting match here as the first two matches have worked out well.

We recap Miro vs. Bryan Danielson for the #1 contendership. Danielson wants to win to prove he is the best and Miro wants to win the title to return to his wife.

World Title #1 Contenders Eliminator Tournament Finals: Miro vs. Bryan Danielson

Miro still isn’t interested in a handshake so Danielson kicks away at the thigh to start. Some more strikes stagger Miro until he hits a knee to the stomach to put Danielson outside for a needed breather. Back in and Miro is ready for the moonsault out of the corner so Danielson (not Daniel Bryan JR) kicks away in the corner. Miro knocks him outside for his own breather though and Danielson gets whipped into various hard objects.

Back in and we hit the chinlock, complete with another “Daniel Bryan” from JR. Miro whips him hard into the corner but stops to grab his own leg, allowing Danielson to strike away again. Some more strikes rock Miro and the Affirmative Kicks have him in trouble in the middle of the ring. Danielson grabs a kneebar but Miro powers out with a gutwrench suplex. Another hard kick gives Danielson two more and it’s a front facelock for some knees to Miro’s head.

The hard stomps have Miro down again but he cuts off the running knee. Game Over goes on but Danielson eventually slips out and grabs the LeBell Lock. Miro slips out again and tries to hammer down right hands but gets pulled into the triangle choke. Danielson adds the elbows to the head until Miro powers his way out. Back up and Miro invites Danielson to keep kicking him, though said kicks don’t do much damage. Miro takes him up top but Danielson reverses into a tornado DDT, setting up a guillotine choke for the win at 20:00.

Rating: B+. Commentary described this as a struggle and that’s exactly how it felt. This was about Miro powering his way through Danielson’s offense until Danielson finally found the weak point. It felt like two guys trying to break the other one down and that’s a great way to go. Awesome stuff here as this show is on a crazy roll to start.

Superkliq vs. Christian Cage/Jurassic Express

Falls count anywhere and the Bucks are all in purple, which is too much for Tony. JR: “Looks like a Bret Hart meet and greet.” It’s a brawl to start with the Bucks being sent outside, where Luchasaurus takes them down with a moonsault from the apron. That leaves Cole to charge into Christian’s elbow to put him down. Back in and the Bucks block Jungle Boy’s springboard double wristdrag so Luchasaurus makes a save of his own. Cole comes in as well and gets a chair thrown into his face but the Bucks break up a powerbomb onto an open chair.

Jungle Boy takes the Bucks down from the chair and has a seat, allowing Cole to knee him in the face. The BAY BAY pose takes too long though and Christian reverse DDTs Cole onto the chair. Everyone heads outside with Luchasaurus getting in a trashcan shot for two, much to JR’s annoyance. Luchasaurus kicks Cole in the face so Jungle Boy can send him face first into a chair.

A table is set up at ringside but Jungle Boy would rather load up a Conchairto on Cole. That’s broken up by the Bucks so Jungle Boy and Nick fight off towards the stage. Cole is busted open bad as Luchasaurus kicks him in the corner but Cole slips out of a Razor’s Edge. That means a parade of superkicks until Jungle Boy hurricanranas Cole off the apron through the table at ringside.

Matt springboard elbows Luchasaurus through another table at ringside and everyone is down. We cut to the stands where Brandon Cutler sprays Nick by mistake, allowing Christian to go up onto a balcony and crossbody down onto both of them for two. Back to ringside and Christian gets sent knees first into the steps, followed by Jungle Boy getting wheelbarrow suplexed into the apron. It’s time for the thumbtacks, which go into Jungle Boy’s mouth, but we need to stop for the double kiss to Cole.

With that out of the way, the double superkick gets two on Jungle Boy with Cage making the save. Since we need to check it off of a list, a ladder is put in the corner but Christian is back in. A tornado DDT (with Christian’s foot getting caught in the ladder) drops Nick as Luchasaurus gets back in. Cole gets tossed HARD onto the ladder in the corner and there’s a chokeslam to put Nick onto it as well.

The standing moonsault connects for two as Matt makes the save with a trashcan. A superkick gets one on Luchasaurus (JR: “Never count down a dinosaur Tony. EVER!”) so Matt walks up the ramp, only to have Jungle Boy charge out and grab the Snare Trap. Cole makes the save this time and everyone winds up on the ramp. Luchasaurus’ double chokeslam to the Bucks is broken up by Cole’s low blow and Cage catapults Nick onto the set.

Cage charges into a superkick from Cole so Nick dives down onto his for a bonus. Jungle Boy and Cole fight near the set until Cole hits a Panama Sunrise onto the stage for two more. A bunch of superkicks put Luchasaurus down and Cole busts out a thumbtack kneepad (Tony: “A THUMBTACK KNEEPAD???”). The Superkliq all have one and a three man BTE Trigger….gets two as Jungle Boy makes another save.

Jungle Boy suplexes Nick and Cage spears Matt, leaving Cole to be chokeslammed off the ramp and onto Cutler/Nakazawa. Luchasaurus shooting stars down onto everyone and Jungle Boy is impressed. Cage loads up the Conchairto to Matt, but Jungle Boy wants to do it instead. Matt’s head is crushed for the pin at 22:18.

Rating: B. This was the wild brawl you would have expected with some crazy spots, but it went too long and that hurt things. This needed to have about five minutes cut off as they could have dropped at least a few of the false finishes. That being said, good choice in having Jungle Boy pin one of the Bucks, as that image at the end was a great way to elevate Jungle Boy, who needs to get higher up the card. Luchasaurus looked more like a monster than usual too so this was a good way to move people up.

We recap Malakai Black/Andrade El Idolo vs. Cody Rhodes/Pac. Black and Cody have been feuding so Black got El Idolo to help him. Pac has been feuding with El Idolo so everything is combined.

Malakai Black/Andrade El Idolo vs. Cody Rhodes/Pac

Jose and Arn Anderson are at ringside. Pac and Andrade start but Cody tags himself in, earning even more booing. Hold on though as Pac tags himself in, with Andrade finally hitting Pac to get started. Black comes in to work on the arm as JR isn’t sure on the quality of the teamwork here. Pac gets over to the corner and it’s back to Black, who distracts Cody long enough for Andrade to get in a cheap shot. Cody fights back and suicide dives onto Jose, setting up the powerslam on Andrade back inside.

Pac tags himself back in and gets taken into the corner. Black’s belly to back suplex doesn’t work as Pac sticks the landing and staggers into the corner for Cody’s blind tag. The Cody Cutter hits Black but Pac makes another tag, just as Black kicks Cody’s head off. Pac sends the villains (not Cody in this case) to the floor for a big dive, leaving Arn Anderson to punch Jose out.

They fight to the back (read as Jose runs as Arn walks after him) as Andrade sends Pac outside for the running flip dive. Back in and Black kicks away, setting up Andrade’s split legged moonsault for two. Pac finally gets in a shot of his own but Cody is STILL down on the floor. Andrade uses the distraction to hit a pendulum DDT onto the apron for two back inside. Cody is back on the apron as Pac and Black kick each other down. The hot tag brings in Cody, which does not sit well with the fans.

House is cleaned in a hurry and Andrade gets crotched on top, setting up the reverse superplex. Cody grabs the Figure Four but Pac tags himself in and hits a 450 for two as Andrade grabs the rope. Everything breaks down again and Pac’s big running flip dive takes Cody out. Back in and Black knees Pac to set up a German suplex for two with Cody making the save. Black hits a heck of a running kick to the face to put Cody over the barricade, sending them both crashing into the crowd. Pac suplexes Andrade into the corner, setting up the Black Arrow for the pin at 16:55.

Rating: B-. They had a lot going on here but this Cody stuff isn’t going to work much longer. Having him get booed out of the arena every time isn’t exactly a great look and they are going to need to come up with something to fix it. The ending likely sets up something else with Cody and Pac, which doesn’t exactly leave Andrade looking good or Black with anything to do. I’m sure they’ll find something, but this feels like a flat way to end the feud.

Post match FTR runs in to jump Pac and Cody, probably setting up a big Dynamite main event.

We recap Tay Conti vs. Britt Baker for the Women’s Title. Conti thinks Baker has had everything handed to her but Baker thinks Conti keeps coming up short in the big matches.

Women’s Title: Britt Baker vs. Tay Conti

Baker, with Rebel and Jamie Hayter, is defending and is played to the ring by the guitarist from Fozzy. Some early rollups give Baker two but she can’t get Lockjaw. Baker takes her into the corner but gets caught in a cross armbreaker over the ropes. With that broken up, Baker works on the arm as well before kneeing Conti in the face. Conti fights out of the Lockjaw again with some shots to Baker’s formerly broken hand. A running knee rocks Baker and the comeback is on for Conti.

Some running boots in the corner set up a high crossbody for two on Baker. A neckbreaker out of the corner gives Conti the same but Baker is back with a running stomp for her own near fall. The Lockjaw glove is loaded up (with Rebel being VERY excited) but Conti grabs a cutter for two. They fight to the apron, where Baker hits an Air Raid Crash. Somehow that’s only good for two so it’s the Lockjaw, with Conti going straight to the rope.

They trade some rollups for two each until the TayKO gives Conti two more. A Gotch style piledriver gets another near fall on Baker but Rebel offers a distraction. Hayter gets in a cheap shot on the floor and Baker adds a stomp on the steps. Another stomp back inside sets up the Lockjaw….which is reversed into a cradle for two. Conti kicks her to the floor but can’t follow up due to exhaustion.

Eventually Conti moonsaults down onto Rebel and Hayter as Baker walks away. Instead, Conti spins Baker down into a slam on the floor, setting up the DDTay for two back inside. A bunch of kicks to the head rock Baker again but she pulls Conti into Lockjaw, which is countered into a rollup. Baker counters the countered rollup into a rollup of her own to retain at 15:30.

Rating: B-. The lack of drama hurt this a good bit, but Conti was trying hard and it is amazing how far she has come in the last year or so. Conti is going to be a big star in the near future, but it’s really hard to buy anyone not named Thunder Rosa as a threat to Baker’s title. Another good match though, with probably just a few too many false finishes for its own good.

We recap Eddie Kingston vs. CM Punk. They’re similar, but Kingston thinks Punk doesn’t respect him. Punk thinks Kingston keeps failing to live up to his potential and now it’s Kingston’s chance to prove himself in his biggest match ever.

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston

Punk marches to the ring and doesn’t even stop for his signature stuff. Kingston isn’t waiting either and hits the spinning backfist before the bell. Punk is knocked outside as the match officially starts, with Punk hitting a few shots in the corner as they go back inside. Another shot in the corner is countered with a t-bone suplex and Kingston unloads on him in the corner.

Punk gets in another shot and takes it to the apron for a big kick to Kingston’s head. Kingston’s hand gets crushed in the steps as the fans are behind both of these guys. Punk has been busted open somewhere in there but he throws Kingston back inside anyway….for John Cena’s Five Moves Of Doom, albeit with a middle finger instead of You Can’t See Me. Kingston flips him off right back so Punk hammers away again and hits Three Amigos.

Back up and Kingston catches him on top with a shot to the face, setting up a top rope superplex. They pull themselves up and slug it out, allowing Excalibur to drop an old school UFC reference. Why he wouldn’t drop an old wrestling reference is beyond me, but Excalibur can be a strange duck. Kingston knocks him down again but walks into a GTS. Punk can’t follow up though so it’s a double breather. After Kingston pulls himself up though, he misses the backfist and it’s another GTS for the pin at 11:11.

Rating: B. As much as I would have liked to see Kingston get the big win, this was about the only way they could have gone. Punk is one of the biggest stars in the company and it would be a bit much to see him losing anytime soon. Kingston got the run of his life here and he’ll be getting another shot at something down the line. Heck of a fight, with the right ending.

Post match Kingston pulls himself up but walks away from the offer of a handshake.

We recap American Top Team/Men of the Year vs. the Inner Circle. Dan Lambert has run his mouth over and over and Chris Jericho is fed up. Tonight Lambert gets in the ring and it’s time for revenge in a street fight.

Baron Von Raschke of all people is here.

American Top Team/Men of the Year vs. Inner Circle

Street fight and Dan Lambert is in a blue tracksuit. Since that’s a lot of groups, that would be Dan Lambert/Andrei Arlovski/Junior Dos Santos/Scorpio Sky/Ethan Page vs. Chris Jericho/Jake Hager/Santana/Ortiz/Sammy Guevara. Scorpio Sky starts with Sammy Guevara (because there are tags in this thing) and drives him into the corner for a rake to the eyes. Sammy comes back with a middle rope kick to the chest and a dropkick into a nipup.

Santana and Ortiz hit a double suplex and another suplex is handed off to Hager. Arlovski comes in for a slugout but Hager pulls him into a failed ankle lock attempt. Hager gets taken down and Dos Santos comes in for a double shoulder. It’s off to Jericho, who gets suplexed down as well, setting up a standing moonsault (with Dos Santos’ head crashing into Jericho’s chest) for two.

Now Lambert comes in to slap Jericho in the face as everything breaks down (as it should have from the beginning). Lambert has to run away, allowing Ethan Page to hit Jericho with a hockey stick. Sammy hits a dive of his own but Sky and Hager hits a big dive onto a bunch of people. The weapons (Minneapolis things) come in, including a Prince sign, setting off a PURPLE RAIN chant. A chair gets wrapped around Ortiz’s throat and then sent into the post, leaving Santana to get beaten double teamed inside.

That doesn’t last long as Ortiz is back in to put a trashcan over Page’s head, allowing Santana and Ortiz to beat on him with hockey sticks. Then we get a Gory Stretch/Boston crab/camel clutch combination from Santana/Ortiz to the Men of the Year (that’s a new one, or maybe two or three), with Sammy throwing a football at Sky’s open ribs. Arlovski comes back in to clean house but Hager busts out a toaster to take everyone out.

Jericho has to save Hager with a water ski but Lambert trips him down. Sammy is back in with a double springboard cutter to the Men of the Year and a Swanton to Sky for two. A table is set up at ringside but Arlovski makes the save with a bundt cake pan. Santana and Ortiz superplex Dos Santos off the top as Sammy is climbing a really high ladder. The big Swanton drives Sky through the table but Ethan Page goes to yell at Hager’s wife.

That earns him a Baron Von Raschke claw, leaving Santana to take Page over the barricade. Lambert poses in the ring but gets caught by Jericho, who chops him down in a hurry. Jericho shouts for Dos Santos, who pops up to block the Lionsault so Lambert can get two. Lambert’s Walls are broken up with kendo stick shots….and Jericho pulls out a stapler for a shot low. Another frog splash finishes Lambert at 20:01.

Rating: C+. It was wild and nutty, but it wasn’t as good as the other big brawl from earlier. The ending wasn’t exactly great either, as it was all about Jericho beating up a manager when his team had an advantage. This really needs to be it though, as this wasn’t exactly an enthralling story in the first place and then it wasn’t a great blowoff match.

Tony Schiavone brings in the newest AEW star: Jay Lethal. He is officially All Elite and wants to answer the TNT Title open challenge Wednesday on Dynamite. Cue Sammy to say it’s on.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Kenny Omega for the World Title. They used to be friends (a long time ago) but Page had all kinds of self doubt and drank his way out of his problems. Now it’s time to redeem himself and win the title, though Omega isn’t quite nervous.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page

Page is challenging and we see a video of him riding a horse through the street as clips of Page’s various failures play on screens behind him. Once he gets in the arena, Page’s chiron says “We’re Proud Of You – Graphics Team”. They stare each other down to start with Page taking him into the corner to hammer away. Don Callis grabs Page’s boot though and Omega gets in a shot from behind to take over.

Page backdrops him to the apron though and it’s a springboard clothesline to send Omega outside. Omega gets the better of things on the floor though and brings Page back inside for the running reverse bulldog for two. Callis offers a distraction so Omega can knock Page outside again, setting up the Terminator dive. Back in and Page cuts him off, including kicking Omega in the face.

This time it’s Omega being knocked outside for the suicide dive from Page, setting up the moonsault out to the floor. They get back up to their feet and head up top, where Omega hits a springboard super Liger Bomb to knock Page silly. There’s the snapdragon to set up the V Trigger but the One Winged Angle is countered into the victory roll to give Page two. The Deadeye is countered into a tiger driver 98 for two and Omega bites at the cut on Page’s head from Dynamite.

Omega goes up but gets crotched, allowing Page to bite away for a change. The super flipping fall away slam into a cover gives Page his own two and Omega is down on the floor. Page hits a big clothesline from the top but might have banged up his knee in the process. Back in and Page misses his own V Trigger but Omega pulls the referee in the way of a charge.

Callis grabs the belt but Page scares him away, setting up the Deadeye for two on Omega. Page picks up the title, only to throw it right back down so the slugout can be on instead. Omega slugs him down to one knee and then knees Page in the head. More knees set up the V Trigger but Page cuts him off and strikes away. The next V Trigger connects but Page is back up with a discus elbow.

Some Kawada kicks rock Page, who comes back (after an F bomb) with a heck of a clothesline. Cue the Young Bucks (Tony: “Dip**** alert.”) as Page drops Omega on the top of his head with a belly to back suplex. The Buckshot lariat is countered with the V Trigger but the One Winged Angel is countered into one from Page for a near fall. Now the Buckshot lariat hits Omega from behind but Page stops to look at Matt Jackson. A nod sets up the Buckshot lariat to give the pin and the title at 25:06.

Rating: B. They didn’t have another choice here and thankfully they pulled the trigger at the right time. There was no reason to keep the title on Omega any longer and hopefully this wraps up the main portion of the Elite saga. Page had to win here or I’m not sure if he ever would have otherwise. The match was rather good, though not quite great, but what matters is the ending, which was the right call.

Post match the Dark Order comes out to celebrate with Page and the big hug ends the show.

Overall Rating: A. Another classic show from AEW, which tends to be the case when they get on the big stage. There was nothing resembling a bad match all night long with even the worst match on the show being completely fine. Some of the matches probably went a big longer than they needed to, but I’m not about to complain about a show that delivered this well. Awesome night and the big title change wraps it up, so well done all around.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Darby Allin – Headlock takeover
Lucha Bros b. FTR – Spike Fear Factor to Wheeler
Bryan Danielson b. Miro – Guillotine choke
Christian Cage/Jurassic Express b. Superkliq – Conchairto to Cole
Cody Rhodes/Pac b. Malakai Black/Andrade El Idolo – Black Arrow to El Idolo
Britt Baker b. Tay Conti – Rollup
CM Punk b. Eddie Kingston – GTS
Inner Circle b. American Top Team/Men of the Year – Frog splash to Lambert
Hangman Page b. Kenny Omega – Buckshot lariat

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It’s always fun to see AEW back on pay per view as they really have figured out the formula. They know what they are doing with the whole thing and we should be in for another one this time around. The card is absolutely stacked from top to bottom and we could be in for one of the more historic moments in AEW’s history to date. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa vs. Jamie Hayter/Nyla Rose

It’s a battle of four people who are still in the TBS Title tournament and I’ve heard worse reasons to have a pre-show tag match. There isn’t much else connecting these women and they haven’t interacted much on TV, but it should do rather well as a way to get things rolling for the evening. It isn’t like Shida and Rose don’t know each other so maybe they can have a good match through familiarity.

I’ll go with Shida and Rosa to win here as there is little reason to go with having the popular wrestlers lose to open the night. This isn’t the kind of a match that needs to be anything more than a few competitive minutes while commentary plugs the tournament as much as they can. It would be nice to see the tournament move forward a bit more, but Shida and Rosa winning here will work for now.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros(c) vs. FTR

We’ll get going on the main card with a match that could go either way. I liked their first match against each other but there is a bad chance of this getting sloppy in a hurry. It is going to come down to the idea of whether FTR can keep things a bit more down to earth than usual, but that is no guarantee. That’s the way to put the match together, but it needs a winner as well.

I’m not sure on this one, but I think I’ll go with the Lucha Bros, as they can retain the titles to even the series and then win the AAA Tag Team Titles at an upcoming show in Mexico. Other than that though, we should be in for a fun match, as their first match worked out pretty well. At the same thing though, there is always the chance that it could go bad in a hurry, which makes things that much more fun.

Cody Rhodes/Pac vs. Andrade El Idolo/Malakai Black

Let’s keep going with the tag theme here and get a rather odd pair of pairings out of the way. Believe it or not, this is mainly about Rhodes, which tends to be the case far more often than it probably needs to be. Pac doesn’t like El Idolo and Black and Rhodes are still feuding for some reason, with El Idolo going after Rhodes to tie the whole thing together. Sounds like a great way to get Rhodes on pay per view no?

This could go either way but I’ll go with Rhodes and Pac winning here, as Black probably takes the fall. I’m at the point where I have no idea what to make of Rhodes these days and it is getting harder and harder to figure it out. Hopefully they can figure out what to do with him sooner than later, because throwing him out there to try and make him the most popular guy in the company isn’t exactly working.

Darby Allin vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

We’ll mix it up a bit here with a match that could (and should) be between two of the company’s stars of the future. That has even been the focus of the feud, as Friedman has talked about how these two are pillars of the company. Allin has mainly been sitting around letting Friedman say whatever he wants, but he has a history of turning it on when he gets the chance on the big stage.

I’ll go with Friedman here, as Allin is someone who is going to be over no matter what he does, while Friedman would seem to be on the road to a (rather) eventual World Title run. Allin is the kind of wrestler who will be popular with the fans based on how hard he goes whenever he is in the ring. Hopefully they can steal the show here, as tends to be the case when these two are on the big stage.

Inner Circle vs. Men Of The Year/American Top Team

To recap: we have a bunch of mixed martial artists, a tag team and a gym owner vs. five wrestlers in a street fight where the wrestlers got to pick sixty percents of who they are fighting. Got all that? This match has all kinds of details included and I’m not sure how well it is going to play out on paper. What matters is how it goes, but also how much longer they want the feud to continue.

Somehow this is a flip of the coin as I have no idea who is winning here. I’ll go with the Inner Circle to finally wrap up the feud though, which is probably how things should go. The idea is likely going to be built around Dan Lambert running away, which is probably the best thing for everyone involved. I’ll say Guevara pins one of the Men Of The Year, which is the pick that is most likely to be wrong of the show.

Women’s Title: Britt Baker(c) vs. Tay Conti

This is in a rough place and I’m not sure how well they are going to be able to get out of it. At the end of the day, it’s hard to imagine Baker losing the title to anyone before her eventual showdown with Rosa, as they almost have to get to the big rematch. That leaves almost any other challenger, including Conti, as a bit of a lame duck no matter what they do on the way to the title match.

Of course I’ll go with Baker here, as there is little reason to believe Conti has much of a chance. It might wind up being a good match, but at the same time it does not have the most drama. Conti is someone who could become a huge star down the line (and probably will), but we are still in Baker’s time and that is not going to stop anytime soon, or at least not until she runs into Rosa again.

Christian Cage/Jurassic Express vs. Superkliq

Falls Count Anywhere, because we need another wild tag team brawl. These guys have been feuding since Cage debuted and this does feel like a bit of a big blowoff to the whole thing. Then again, this is a feud that could go in a few directions, such as Cole vs. Jungle Boy or Cage, both of which would be good. Add in the absence of Marko Stunt and this is already getting more interesting.

That being said, you know full well there is practically no chance of the Superkliq losing a big time match so I’m not sure if there is any real drama here. The other three will fight hard and there will likely be a big spot, but ultimately this will involve several superkicks and end with the Boom to Jungle Boy. Why not Luchasaurus you may ask? Heck if I know, but that’s probably how it ends.

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston

This is the one that everyone is talking about with good reason. Between the amazing exchange last week and the equally awesome Kingston piece in the Players Tribune (go out of your way to read that), Kingston is white hot going into this match. That’s going to tie into everything that Punk has been talking about too, as all of the pressure is going to be on Kingston in this one.

As much as I would really, really love to see AEW go nuts and have Kingston get the biggest win of his career, I can’t validate having Punk lose at any point in the near future. Punk is someone with a lot of star power and while a loss to Kingston wouldn’t kill that, it isn’t the kind of thing that needs to happen. I would love to see Kingston win, but I don’t think it is going to happen.

Bryan Danielson vs. Miro

Now we’re getting to the important stuff, as the last two matches on the card are tied together. This is the finals of the #1 contenders tournament and I could easily see this going either way. You could go with almost any combination of these two and either World Champion (save for probably Miro vs. Kenny Omega) and have a major title match, which is a sign that they are doing something right.

I think I’ll take….Danielson here, as he opens up more doors and was the original finalist anyway. Miro losing to some kind of a choke to focus on his bad neck works, but e pluribus gads it would be amazing to see him go nuts and slaughter Danielson. It’s so nice to have both as possible options here, but ultimately I think it’s Danielson’s to win and set up the huge title showdown. He’ll need an opponent though, which leaves us with this.

AEW World Title: Kenny Omega(c) vs. Hangman Page

Here we go. This is the big one that AEW has literally been building towards for years. While some might think that is a big much and they should have gotten to the point a good while ago, it’s time to finally have this big showdown. They have set this up from several interesting angles and there is something to the idea of FINALLY having Page win. At the same time though, there might be something to having Danielson take the title off of Omega and finally slay the dragon.

But I think we’ll go with the sane idea here and have Page just win the match and take the title off of Omega. It is already the longest title reign in AEW history (nearly double the second place reign) and Omega hasn’t exactly led AEW to the promised land as champion. I don’t know if Page is going to be the one to do it, but I think he wins the title here, finally paying off a story that is a few years in the making.

Overall Thoughts

There is the potential for an incredible show here and that is kind of what you expect from AEW these days. I could go for seeing whatever they do here, as there is a good shot at some history being made in the main event. Other than that, the rest of the show looks great and maybe it can help boost their audience back up (which they kind of need these days). I’m excited for the show, and that’s always a good starting point.

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Rampage
Date: October 1, 2021
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Taz, Ricky Starks, Excalibur

It’s time for a special night as we have two big matches on the same show. First of all, we’ll be seeing Bryan Danielson facing Nick Jackson in a match that could be rather interesting. Other than that, Jack Evans is putting his hair on the line against Orange Cassidy, as per Matt Hardy’s orders. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Bryan Danielson vs. Nick Jackson

They start slowly until the threat of some strikes send Danielson outside. Nick spends too much time getting some cold spray that Danielson is right there with the suicide dive. Back in and Danielson takes him down into the surfboard/Dragon Sleeper. Not that it matters as Danielson is right back up with a flip into a rebound clothesline to take over.

A cross armbreaker sends Nick over to the ropes but Danielson is right back on the arm. Danielson suplexes him down to set up a hammerlock, complete with knees to make the arm worse. Back up and Danielson misses the running dropkick in the corner to put him on the floor. Matt Jackson gets in some cheap shots of his own and we take a break. Back with Danielson not being phased by the YES Kicks before firing off his own in the corner.

The moonsault into the running clothesline sets up the big kick to the head for two on Nick. The LeBell Lock is broken up in a hurry so they head to the apron, with Danielson kicking the post by mistake and getting suplexed hard. Nick hits a big flip dive and it’s a Scorpion Deathlock to put Danielson in trouble back inside. With that broken up, Nick hits a superkick but Danielson is back with a tiger suplex. The hard elbows to the face rock Nick again and Cattle Mutilation gives Danielson the win at 15:32.

Rating: B. This worked much better than I would have expected, as Danielson pulled Jackson in and eventually caught him in a hold. You can see a good difference between the two, as Nick is all about hitting whatever he can while Danielson feels more controlled and going with what he’s looking for each time. It made for a good match though and that is one of the reasons you have Danielson on the show.

Post match the Elite comes in for the beatdown but Jurassic Express and Christian Cage come in for the save. Danielson and Jungle Boy make Kenny Omega and Adam Cole tap.

We get a video from Ricky Starks, who is absolute in the fact that he is not scared of Brian Cage. This is reaching Blood Runs Cold levels of GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!

CM Punk talks about how the only reason he beat Will Hobbs is experience. People are starting to get that he is back and people are going to be gunning for him. That’s what he wants, because he would rather choke on greatness than starve on mediocrity. Going to sleep is always on the menu.

Jade Cargill vs. Nyla Rose vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa kicks Cargill down to start but gets planted by Rose. Cargill makes the save and we get the big power showdown with Rosa being knocked outside. That leaves Rosa to hit a missile dropkick and we take a break. Back with Rosa hitting a running dropkick to Cargill against the ropes, followed by another involving a trashcan. Rose sends Rosa outside and grabs a half crab on Cargill, with Rosa making the save this time. Rosa has to win a fight on the apron and powerbombs Rose off the apron through a table at ringside. Back in and Cargill unloads on Rosa with a chair for the pin at 9:06.

Rating: C. Just a match here and I’m not sure how much it really accomplished. Cargill was able to win a match that went a little longer than usual, but seeing Rosa lose, especially when Rose is right there, isn’t the easiest thing to see. Rosa has been waiting to break through for a long time now and it seems we’ll be waiting even longer. It’s hardly some death sentence, but it’s a bit frustrating.

Malakai Black says the black mist to Cody Rhodes came from the heart. There is more destruction coming for the Nightmare Family.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

We get the face to face interview between Jack Evans/Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy. Evans is ready to win but Cassidy doesn’t know what a hair vs. hair match is. Once he figures it out, he decides he won’t lose.

Jack Evans vs. Orange Cassidy

Matt Hardy is here with Evans and his distraction lets Evans get in a rollup for two. Cassidy is back with the lazy kicks before spinning Evans around by the hair. Hardy gets in a cheap shot though and Evans adds a spinning kick from the apron. A 450 from the apron crushes Cassidy and we take a break.

Back with Evans countering the tornado DDT into a northern lights suplex. A Michinoku Driver gets two and a standing sky twister press hits Cassidy for the same. Cassidy is right back with the tornado DDT and the top rope DDT gets two more. Cue the Hardy Family Office to even things up but the Dark Order, Chuck Taylor and Wheeler Yuta to cut them off (because Cassidy vs. Evans needed the extras). The Orange Punch finishes Evans at 9:04.

Rating: C. The wrestling wasn’t the point here, but that has never stopped AEW from having WAY too many people come out during a match. Cassidy winning was never in question here and that’s fine, as it is nice to see him in this lower level feud instead of up near the top of the card. This is where he thrives and feels more like a star, so nice job of figuring that out.

Post match Hardy and company leave, so Evans can get his hair cut. Cassidy even sweeps up the hair, which is turned into a mustache for Negative One. The big hug ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This is what I wanted from Rampage: supplementing matches stories that get their main focus on Dynamite and giving other stories more attention than they are going to get on the main show. It made for a very easy to watch hour and that’s how this show should go. Nicely done, and they seem to be figuring out the Rampage formula.

Results
Bryan Danielson b. Nick Jackson – Cattle Mutilation
Jade Cargill b. Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose – Chair shot
Orange Cassidy b. Jack Evans – Orange Punch

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Rampage
Date: September 24, 2021
Location: Arthur Ashe Tennis Stadium, New York City, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks

It’s the second half of AEW’s New York Adventures and that’s not a bad thing. This week’s Dynamite was huge and this is the biggest Rampage to date, clocking in at two hours instead of the usual one. I’m not sure what that is going to mean, but odds are it’s going to be fun. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

CM Punk vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

Hook is here with Hobbs. Punk, in trunks for a change, goes after Hobbs to start but a single shot sends him down on the ropes. Hobbs plants him down and we hit the neck crank to keep Punk in trouble. Punk’s comeback includes a knee to the ribs but Hobbs runs him over again and seems to be toying with him so far. A running crotch attack on the ropes hits Punk and we take an early break.

Back with Punk fighting out of a bearhug and striking away, including a running shot to the face to put Hobbs down. The top rope elbow gets two (and has Team Taz freaking out on commentary) but the GTS is countered. Hobbs plants him with a spinebuster for two more and then drops Punk again to cut off a comeback.

The Oakland Stampede gives Hobbs two more but Punk catches him top top. A super hurricanrana gives Punk two off the big crash. Punk’s cross armbreaker is countered into a powerbomb and it’s time to slug it out. Hook gets up for a distraction but Punk sends Hobbs into him, setting up the GTS for the pin at 13:35.

Rating: C+. Hobbs got a lot in this and that’s the reason you put him in there with someone like Punk. They had a good fight here and Punk survived, likely setting up the big match with Ricky Starks down the line. The Team Taz feud gives Punk a chance to shake off some rust and that’s the right idea, without burning through some big matches.

Thunder Rosa isn’t scared of Jade Cargill or Nyla Rose and fights on her own.

Superkliq vs. Christian Cage/Jurassic Express

Don Callis is on commentary and a lot of the Elite is here too. Christian takes Matt down to start as Callis takes shots at the “Stanford Supermax.” Matt comes in and gets taken down as well with Jungle Boy adding the running kick to the face. Cole runs away from Jungle but the Bucks take over on Jungle’s arm. Everything breaks down and the chase is on outside, with Jungle charging into a double superkick. Jungle is brought back inside for a double dropkick and we take a break.

Back with Jungle not being able to get away for the hot tag until he sends the Bucks into each other. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Luchasaurus to clean house, including the big Tail Whip. Matt head fakes Jungle to plant him with a DDT but More Bang For Your Buck is broken up. The Snare Trap has Matt in trouble until a save is made.

A running clothesline drops Matt and everything breaks down again. The brawl heads to the ramp, where Matt hits Christian low and throws him off the stage. That leaves Cole to hit a Shining Wizard on Luchasaurus, followed by the Panama Sunrise. The Bucks are back in for the BTE Trigger into the Boom (Last Shot) for the pin at 14:38.

Rating: B-. This was the all action match that it should have been and Cole getting the pin is the right way to go. As little as I need to see a subset in the Elite, Cole getting pushed is the right idea for now. He has the spark at the moment and it makes sense to go with him. It’s not like the Bucks need to win anything right now anyway.

Men of the Year vs. Chris Jericho/Jake Hager

Dan Lambert is here with the Men of the Year. Jericho and Sky start things off but it’s quickly off to Hager to pummel Page in the corner. Like a good veteran, Jericho gets in some choking in the corner, allowing Hager to get one off a belly to belly. Jericho comes back in but gets taken into the wrong corner as we go to a break.

Back with Hager in trouble for a change but he manages a running shot to the face to get a breather. The hot tag brings in Jericho to face Sky, plus a triangle dropkick to Page. The top rope ax handle drops Sky and the Lionsault is good for two. Everything breaks down and it’s an ankle lock to Page and the Walls to Sky as we take a break…and come back a second later to officially start the second hour. Both holds are broken and Jericho slingshot dives onto Page. Lambert trips Hager though and Sky grabs a small package for the pin at 11:01.

Rating: C+. Another perfectly fine match as Lambert and company get to run their mouths some more. That’s why you have someone like him around and it should work out when someone finally shuts him up. The Men of the Year aren’t the most thrilling team, but at least they’re getting to do something else.

Post match Jericho and Hager go after Lambert but a bunch of MMA guys come out to surround the ring. The big beatdown is on, including Paige VanZandt getting in some shots to Jericho’s ribs. A running knee leaves Jericho laying.

Lucha Bros/Santana/Ortiz vs. Hardy Family Office

Butcher and the Blade/Private Party for the Office here as this company continues to love itself some tag matches. The good guys start fast and send the Office outside for the huge quadruple dive (that was awesome). Back in and it’s another big brawl with the Office taking over for a change. Matt Hardy loads up some scissors but here is Orange Cassidy to cut things off.

Cassidy takes out Jack Evans and we take a break. Back with Fenix handing it off to Ortiz to clean house. Penta hits a torture rack backbreaker onto Quen and kicks Butcher in the leg for a bonus. Back in and Fenix kicks Butcher in the face but Blade kicks him in the face to even things up. Quen misses his shooting star though and Penta hits the Sling Blade. The spike Fear Factor hits Quen and the Street Sweeper is enough for the pin at 9:43.

Rating: B-. What we got was fun and there were all kinds of high spots, with that four way dive looking great. You don’t watch a match like this to have people stand out and there is nothing wrong with that. Santana and Ortiz getting the hometown win is a good thing, though the show is running very heavy on tags so far.

Matt Hardy isn’t happy with Orange Cassidy and he’s going to watch Penelope Ford beat Anna Jay to make himself feel better. As for Cassidy though, he’s issuing the challenge for a hair vs. hair match. If Cassidy has the guts, he can put his hair on the line against….Jack Evans. Matt to Evans: “YOU BETTER WIN!”

Sammy Guevara and Fuego del Sol come out for Sammy’s cue card deal but Miro jumps both of them and the beatdown is on. Fuego is tossed HARD off the stage and Game Over leaves Sammy down.

Andrade doesn’t like someone interfering in his matches like Chavo Guerrero did. Now he wants to beat Pac with no interference.

Anna Jay vs. Penelope Ford

Jay jumps her on the ramp to start fast and the low bridges Ford outside. Back in and a hook kick drops Ford and sets up a choke but here is the Bunny for a distraction. Ford drapes her over the top and kicks her out to the ramp as the beating begins. We take a break and come back with a slugout but the Bunny throws in the brass knuckles to knock Jay out for the pin at 6:48.

Rating: C-. This was a quick one and it didn’t get to showcase much. Jay continues to feel like a star but this is mainly going to be about Tay Conti at the end of the day. They’re a good team together and have done rather well so far. I could see either of them getting a nice push out of this feud, once they get to the big blowoff tag match.

Post match the beatdown is on so here is Tay Conti for the save, only to get dropped with the knuckles as well. The Hardy Family Office comes out to stand tall but here are Orange Cassidy and Kris Statlander, with the Dark Order joining them, giving us about fifteen people in one segment. The Dark Order clears the ring but Stu Grayson and Evil Uno walk away.

We get the face to face showdown between Lance Archer/Minoru Suzuki and Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston. They want to fight so Mark Henry hits the catchphrase to get us out in a hurry.

Lance Archer/Minoru Suzuki vs. Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston

Lights out, meaning anything goes. Suzuki and Archer jump them to start with Suzuki and Moxley having their chair duel on the ramp. With that broken up, Suzuki and Kingston go inside to chop it out, with Suzuki laughing a lot. Kingston sweeps the leg and grabs a table. That goes badly as Suzuki kicks Kingston through the table in the corner but Moxley is back in to forearm Archer.

That’s broken up and Archer chokeslams Moxley off the apron onto a pile of people outside. It doesn’t last long as Moxley and Suzuki slug it out inside until Archer puts a belt around Moxley’s throat for a hanging. We take a break and come back with Moxley’s hands duct taped behind his back so Archer can get in another whip with the belt. Suzuki grabs a half crab but legs it go for no apparent reason. Archer holds Moxley in place so Suzuki can hit/bite him.

Moxley avoids a charge in the corner though and Kingston, with his left arm hanging, comes in to clean house. A poke to the eye sets up some machine gun chops to stagger Archer in the corner. That’s broken up and some chairs are set back to back. Archer loads up the Blackout but here is Homicide of all people to clean house with a chair. Some spinning backfists and the Paradigm Shift from a freed Moxley put Archer down, but Kingston puts him in a trashcan instead of covering. A bunch of kendo stick shots to the trashcan knock Archer silly for the pin at 15:10.

Rating: C. I couldn’t get into this one as it felt like a long segment at times, especially with the Moxley beating going on for the better part of ever. It also doesn’t exactly make Moxley and Kingston look that great to need someone to come in and save them, but that was more for the live crowd than anything else. Pretty good brawl, but it wasn’t exactly anything that kept my interest.

The long celebration ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There were a crazy amount of people on this show and a lot of tag matches, but it felt like a special show instead of another run of the mill edition. Nothing was bad and the big Punk match felt like it mattered. As long as this is a one off two hour edition, they’re going to be fine, as this was basically Dynamite II for the week. It absolutely does not need to be this long every week, but for a one time special, it worked well enough.

Results
CM Punk b. Powerhouse Hobbs – GTS
Superkliq b. Christian Cage/Jurassic Express – Boom to Luchasaurus
Men of the Year b. Chris Jericho/Jake Hager – Small package to Hager
Santana/Ortiz/Lucha Bros b. Hardy Family Office – Street Sweeper to Marq Quen
Penelope Ford b. Anna Jay – Brass knuckles
Jon Moxley/Eddie Kingston b. Minoru Suzuki/Lance Archer – Kendo stick to Archer

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Dynamite
Date: September 1, 2021
Location: Now Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s the go home show for All Out and that means it’s time for the big push to the show. As you might have guessed, CM Punk is back in the house and the ovation should crazy all over again. It’s also the 100th edition of Dynamite and that means we might be seeing something of a look back. AEW has always done those well so let’s get to it.

Here is Rampage if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Santana/Ortiz vs. FTR

Tully Blanchard is here with FTR, who have Bobby Eaton themed trunks for a very nice moment. Harwood headlocks Santana down to start and then shoulders him down for a bonus. They chop it out and Santana gets knocked into the ropes. Everything breaks down in a hurry with FTR being sent outside, where Wheeler holds his bad arm. The big flip dives take FTR down and the springboard flip dives do it again.

Back in and Harwood tags his way out of a belly to back suplex so Wheeler can send Ortiz into the post. Now it’s time to work on Ortiz’s arm out of the old Anderson playbook, because FTR respects the classics. The turnbuckle pad is taken off somewhere in there and the arm is wrapped around the exposed buckle. Ortiz uses the good arm to blast Wheeler for a breather and the hot tag brings in Santana to start cleaning house.

Three Amigos have Harwood in trouble and the frog splash gets two. Wheeler comes back in and knocks Ortiz into Harwood’s brainbuster (how FTR won before) for two more. Santana breaks up a double suplex so Ortiz can small package Harwood for two. Harwood shoves Santana off the top and Wheeler plants Ortiz with a Gory Bomb for his own near fall.

The PowerPlex is broken up but the Big Rig plants Ortiz….and Santana comes off the top to drive Harwood into the cover for the save. That was a heck of a great save. Santana grabs a cutter on Wheeler though and it’s a middle rope Codebreaker into a double belly to back faceplant to give Santana the pin at 13:33.

Rating: B. This was what you would expect from these two teams as they tarted a bit more slowly and then wrestled a back and forth match. It wasn’t about the flips and dives and everything else and it made for a good showcase. These guys stood out because they did something differently and it stood out, as it should have.

Daniel Garcia and 2.0 don’t like Darby Allin overlooking them for the sake of CM Punk. This week on Rampage, Garcia is going to hurt Allin and take the match away from everyone.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. Punk asks if the fans are sick of him yet, because he could do this kind of thing for months. There are people who are going to get tired of this in a hurry, but he isn’t one of them so he’ll keep at it. This could all end for him on Sunday because he hasn’t wrestled in seven years and he is a little nervous. Cue Daniel Garcia and 2.0 for the beatdown (marking Punk’s first time getting physical in AEW) but Darby Allin and Sting come in for the save. Finishers abound, including the GTS.

Punk and Allin go nose to nose but Sting separates them. Hold on though as Punk has to clear out a bit more of the ring, allowing Sting to say he always wanted to share a ring with Punk. Sting respects him and it felt good to clear things out a bit like that. It’s time to get traffic out of the way for All Out and that includes Sting himself. Therefore, you won’t be seeing him at All Out because Allin and Punk are ready for Showtime without him. They have done a great job of making this feel like an epic dream match.

Video on Kenny Omega vs. Christian Cage, with various AEW names taking sides and talking about how Christian is one of the few people who can say they have beaten Omega in AEW.

We get a sitdown interview with Tony Schiavone and MJF. Tony doesn’t want to be here but MJF cuts him off and lists off most of Chris Jericho’s nicknames and ring names from over the years (including Cowboy Chris Jericho). After four decades, Jericho is on the Mount Rushmore of wrestling. When MJF’s career is said and done though, he is going to take Jericho’s place. Jericho is like Muhammad Ali, who was great once but he kept coming back for more. Then one day he had to be taken out, just like Jericho. On Sunday, Jericho’s music ends. The Ali analogy was good stuff, as is most of what MJF tends to say.

Orange Cassidy vs. Jack Evans

Matt Hardy is here with Evans and jumps Cassidy before the bell. Cassidy can go so Evans hammers away to start, including a shot to the back of the head and a kick to the chest. Cassidy makes the comeback but Evans bails to the floor before the Orange Punch. Back in and a high crossbody gives Cassidy two, followed by a Michinoku Driver for the same.

The lazy kicks abound, with Tony explaining that they aren’t supposed to hurt. We go to a standing switch (earning the boo/yay treatment) until Cassidy heads back up. Another high crossbody is broken up but Evans’ superplex attempt is blocked as well as we take a break. Back with….well Cassidy celebrating actually, as he won with a small package during the break at 6:48.

Rating: C. Totally fine way to keep Cassidy’s momentum going, though anything involving the Hardy Family Office is going to feel like a downgrade. I do like the way the ending went though, as it is enough of a twist to keep things interesting. Far too often, a show can fall into a repetitive formula so well done on mixing things up a bit for a change.

Post match here is Matt Hardy again and the beatdown is on. The Best Friends run in for the save but the rest of the Hardy Family Office runs in for the real beatdown. Cue Jurassic Express for the real save.

Eddie Kingston thinks Miro’s neck is a weak spot so he’s going after it. That strategy didn’t work when the Executioner said he was going after Tito Santana’s leg at the first Wrestlemania so I doubt it works here. Eddie is coming for the title, because that’s what makes Miro God’s favorite champion.

Miro says he only lays down for his wife after a title defense so he’s ending Kingston.

Jon Moxley has respect for Satoshi Kojima but that ends when the bell rings. He’s going back home to Cincinnati next week and he’s bringing Kojima’s scalp.

Jim Ross is in the ring and brings out Chris Jericho for a chat. Jericho says welcome to Chicago Is Jericho to (kind of) bust out one of the classics. It seems like a good time to hearken back to the past because he started his main event journey in this business here in Chicago. The man who recruited him to start that journey is the man standing in the ring with him, which earns a JR nod.

Jericho remembers signing the contract with JR, but now he wants to say that MJF is a piece of s***. He’s also diabolical and calculated, just like Jericho. They’re both button pushers and confident, so the only thing MJF has over him are three victories, and Jericho lists off the dates. Jericho doesn’t want it to be the end of his in-ring career and the fans certainly agree. He has to know he can beat MJF but if something goes wrong and he does lose, he is going to go to that commentary desk and do his best. Jericho has to know if he can win though and he’ll see what he can do on Sunday. Oh and MJF is a little p****. More good here.

Darby Allin will die to beat CM Punk in Chicago.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Brian Cage

Hook is here with Hobbs and Taz is on commentary. Cage jumps Hobbs in the aisle before the bell and whips him hard into the barricade. They head inside to officially start and a Hook distraction lets lets Hobbs get in some shots from behind. Cage gets knocked into the corner and we take a break.

Back with Hobbs firing off shoulders in the corner and Schiavone saying Britt Baker has some major free agent news. Cage makes the comeback and sends Hobbs flying with an exploder suplex. The Drill Claw is countered so Cage misses a discus lariat, allowing Hobbs to plant him with a spinebuster for two. A knee to the face staggers Hobbs though and Cage grabs an F5. Another Drill Claw is loaded up but Hook offers a distraction. Cue Ricky Starks to hit Cage with the FTW Title so Hobbs can grab Town Business for the pin at 7:23.

Rating: C+. Nice power match here and that’s what you need to see from these two. I’m not wild on the Cage vs. Hobbs feud as it has taken far too long to set things up, but at least there is even more of a reason for Cage to take off a few of Hobbs’ limbs. Good enough of a way to move things forward though, and that’s all it needed to be.

Malakai Black says he has given Lee Johnson a week to atone for his sins, but Johnson has been silent. Therefore, Black will take Johnson out and put two coins over his eyes so Johnson can pay the boatman’s toll in Hades.

Here is the Factory to call out Paul Wight, so here he is in a hurry. The swarm is on in a hurry but Wight cleans house….and the Gunn Club runs in after the ring is already empty. Marshall’s attempt to bring in a chair doesn’t work, so Billy Gunn hits Wight in the bad hip with the chair. Wight gets up so Billy chairs him in the head. Now the Factory comes back in for a cutter from Marshall. Billy Gunn being needed to boost a story is not a good sign.

Britt Baker announces that Jamie Hayter and Reba will be in the Casino Battle Royal. As for her free agent news, a top name has indeed signed with AEW. That would be….Baker herself!

Penelope Ford vs. Tay Conti

Bunny is here with Ford and Conti dives onto both of them before the bell. Conti grabs something like a dragon sleeper to hammer away with forearms to the chest and a pump kick gets two. We take a break and come back with Ford missing the handspring elbow into the corner and missing a running boot as well.

Conti scores with a high crossbody but Ford sends her throat first into the bottom rope. The Muta Lock is escaped and Conti grabs a leg crank of her own. That’s broken up so Conti hits some running boots in the corner. A fireman’s carry gutbuster plants Conti for two, with the bad leg slowing down the near fall. Bunny’s trip fails so Conti sends Ford into Bunny and grabs the rollup pin at 8:28.

Rating: C+. These two have gotten better in the ring with Conti being one of the best success stories in a long time around here. What matters here is that the two of them have gotten so much more comfortable in the ring and can have a good match like this one. The fans are into Conti as well and that’s a positive sign for her in-ring future.

Post match the double beatdown is on but Anna Jay makes the return for the save. She’s in the Casino Battle Royal too.

Thunder Rosa gets interrupted before she can talk about the battle royal so Nyla Rose and Jade Cargill beat her down. Mark Sterling breaks up the fight.

All Out rundown, including a special look at MJF vs. Chris Jericho.

Jurassic Express/Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks/Good Brothers

Marko Stunt and Brandon Cutler are here too, with Don Callis joining commentary. Gallows and Luchasaurus start with the big showdown with Gallows driving him into the corner. The suplex is reversed into one from Luchasaurus though and it’s off to Fenix vs. Nick. The pace picks up and the Lucha Bros and Bucks come in for a superkick off. Matt knocks Penta down and some pelvic thrusting takes us to a break. Back with Jungle blasting Anderson with a clothesline on the floor and bringing in Fenix to pick the pace way up.

House is cleaned, including the very springboardy armdrag to Nick. A Death Valley Driver sets up the Lucha version of What’s Up for two more. Another Bucks vs. Bros kickoff gives us a four way knockdown and it’s back to Luchasaurus to clean house. Nick is shoved off the top and onto the Good Brothers. Back in and Anderson gets chokeslammed for two but Cutler offers a distraction, setting up a Magic Killer for two on Fenix. The BTE Trigger only has the Bucks’ knees clashing together but they counter Fenix’s springboard into the Meltzer Driver for the pin at 10:11.

Rating: B-. It was fun while it lasted but this was shorter than the usual wild tag matches. The Bucks got in their big beatdown on Fenix, which makes me think that the title change on Sunday is that much more likely. That is certainly the way things should go, as there is no reason for the Bucks to hold onto the belts any longer. Good match, but not as wild and crazy as you would have expected.

Post match here are Kenny Omega and Don Callis to lead the beatdown on the Bros and the Express. A Magic Killer puts Luchasaurus through a table and Omega tells Jungle that he isn’t in contention anymore. Christian Cage runs in but the beatdown is on again. Omega tells Callis to lower the cage so everyone is locked in (minus the top). Dante Martin and Frankie Kazarian come in but get knocked down, mainly via sprays to the face. The big group beatdown is on and the BTE Trigger knocks Christian silly to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. They did a very nice job of making me want to see the pay per view and that was the point of the entire show. It was a good use of two hours and the action was working as well. If they can raise their game up for the pay per view even more, then everything should work out well in the end. Nice show here, and better than last week by a pretty wide margin.

Results
Santana/Ortiz b. FTR – Double spinning belly to back slam
Orange Cassidy b. Jack Evans – Small package
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Brian Cage – Town Business
Tay Conti b. Penelope Ford – Rollup
Young Bucks/Good Brothers b. Jurassic Express/Lucha Bros – Meltzer Driver to Fenix

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Rampage
Date: August 27, 2021
Location: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Mark Henry, Taz, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We’re on to week #3 and they might have a bit of a hard time beating out last week’s show. Rampage has become a lot of fun in a hurry though as the hour run time is a great change of pace over the full two hours of Dynamite. I’m not sure how a taped show is going to work but I doubt it matters that much. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles #1 Contenders Tournament Finals: Jurassic Express vs. Lucha Bros

The winners get the Young Bucks, who come out to watch, at All Out. Jungle and Fenix run the ropes to start until Fenix gets onto the ropes for his nutty bouncing into an armdrag. Jungle isn’t sure what to do so it’s off to Luchasaurus vs. Penta. After taking a long time to take the glove off, Penta tries a charge at Luchasaurus and gets kicked in the head. Everyone gets knocked down for a breather as NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is watching in the front row.

We take a break and come back with Luchasaurus and Penta coming back in with the former getting to clean house. A double clothesline drops the Bros and the standing moonsault gets two on Penta. Fenix is back up and kicks Luchasaurus down, setting up the frog splash (complete with Eddie dance). Jungle comes back in with a clothesline into a poisonrana on Fenix and it’s a tiger driver into the Snare Trap.

Penta breaks it up and hits a backbreaker for two on Jungle. Penta is taken outside where Marko Stunt and Luchasaurus hold him in place, only to have Fenix walk the ropes to hurricanrana Jungle onto the pile. There’s the Canadian Destroyer to drop Jungle onto the apron, followed by Fenix hitting one of his own for one on Luchasaurus. The Bros hit the series of superkick to Luchasaurus and the assisted wheelbarrow splash gets two. The assisted Fear Factor finally finishes Luchasaurus at 12:15.

Rating: B-. Another nutty tag match with one crazy spot after another, as has become the tradition around here. The Bros are LONG overdue for another title program and I’m wanting to see what they can do with the Bucks in the cage. It is high time for the Bucks to drop the titles and this should be a good place to do just that.

Post match the Young Bucks come out for the staredown but the Lucha Bros and Jurassic Express clear the ring.

We get a video on CM Punk’s debut, leading into a look at Punk vs. Darby Allin at All Out.

Miro comes to the ring, though he comes out by kicking Fuego del Sol down the ramp. T
hey get inside, with Miro demanding that Fuego show his face to the Lord. The mask is ripped off, and here is Eddie Kingston for the brawl with Miro. The brawl is on and referees break it up, though Miro seems very pleased by the challenge.

Tay Conti vs. The Bunny

Bunny jumps her before the bell and hits a sliding forearm in the corner for a slightly delayed two. Back up and Conti unloads with some chops in the corner but Bunny knocks her into the ropes. We hear about Conti’s martial arts background, allowing Henry to say “it doesn’t matter if you know karate if someone know ka-razy.” Conti is back up with a belly to back swinging faceplant into a swinging Boss Man Slam. A knee to the face connects and the Tay-KO rocks Bunny as Penelope Ford comes out. The distraction lets Blade slip Bunny the brass knuckles for the knockout pin at 4:33.

Rating: C. The action was moving out there and the ending worked well as Conti seems to need an ally. Bunny and Ford make sense as a team in the Casino Battle Royal, which is one of those ideas that is suitable for villains in such a match. Conti should be a dark horse favorite in the match and it wouldn’t stun me to see her win the whole thing.

All Out rundown, now including Miro defending the TNT Title against Eddie Kingston.

We get the weekly split screen interview between Christian Cage/Frankie Kazarian vs. Kenny Omega/Brandon Cutler. Omega can’t wait to drop Christian on his head with the One Winged Angle and send the fans home happy. Christian knows he has already hurt Omega and now he wants the big one at All Out. Tonight, make sure you get in the ring because they don’t want any of this Cutler stooge stuff.

Kenny Omega/Brandon Cutler vs. Christian Cage/Frankie Kazarian

Don Callis is here with Omega and Cutler. Kazarian throws Cutler around with ease, which shouldn’t be the biggest surprise. Omega comes in and chokes Kazarian in the corner but misses a charge. A Russian legsweep drops Omega and it’s back to Cutler so Christian can choke away on the ropes. Kazarian drops Cutler on the top rope for a kick to the face so Michael Nakazawa gets in a laptop shot tot he back. This has a grand total of no effect, allowing Omega to clothesline Kazarian down.

Back in and Cutler misses a dancing elbow, setting up the hot tag to Christian. Some chops have Cutler cringing in the corner but Omega breaks up the right hands. Christian slips out of the One Winged Angle and hammers on both of them at once. The reverse DDT lays out both villains but Omega crotches Christian against the post. Omega V Triggers Cutler by mistake and walks out, leaving Cutler to get speared and Killswitched for the pin at 8:27.

Rating: C+. This was mainly a storytelling match as there was no way two stars like Cage and Kazarian were losing to Omega and his lackey. They got the ending right too as Omega bailing on Cutler fits him perfectly and leaves Cutler to take the fall. It was a perfectly fine match and the did what they needed to do to keep up the All Out build.

Overall Rating: C+. Much more down to earth show this week and while Rampage is more or less the third hour of Dynamite, it serves a nice purpose. I would much, much rather have it be a show like this than a place to put the Gunn Club and the Factory and the Wingmen. The show wasn’t must see, but for an hour of television where two new All Out matches were set, it worked out just fine.

Results
Lucha Bros b. Jurassic Express – Spike Fear Factor to Luchasaurus
Bunny b. Tay Conti – Brass knuckles punch
Christian Cage/Frankie Kazarian b. Kenny Omega/Brandon Cutler – Killswitch to Cutler

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

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Dynamite
Date: August 25, 2021
Location: UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

Then everything changed. CM Punk made his, ahem, surprise debut last week on Rampage in what might be the greatest moment AEW has had in its history. Other than that….I mean does anything else really matter? All Out is in a week and a half and most of the card seems to be set but there are still some spots available. Let’s get to it.

Here is Rampage if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We get a quick clip from Punk’s debut on Rampage.

Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy

No seconds here for a change. We open with the DELETE vs. lazy kicks, which I think we’ve seen before. Matt breaks up the lazy superkick though and reaches into his own pockets to pull out money. Cassidy hits the dropkick into the nipup, complete with hands in his pockets. Then he picks up the money and put it into his pocket. Well some of it at least, as he would rather dive onto Matt, who catches him with the Side Effect on the floor.

Cassidy’s ribs are wrapped around the post and it’s back inside (with a bunch of money on the mat) for some belly to back suplexes. Matt stops to pick up a bunch of money and even steals the money back from Cassidy (as he should, since Cassidy is a thief). Cassidy tries to fight back but Beach Break is countered into a nasty Splash Mountain for two. The Twist of Fate is blocked though and Cassidy takes him down.

A high crossbody lands on Hardy’s face and Hardy is busted open. Cassidy goes up, hits the Jeff Hardy pose, and puts his hands in his pockets for the Swanton. Hardy blocks a Twist of Fate and a top rope elbow hits Cassidy’s back again. Then Cassidy grabs his own Twist of Fate for two as Matt’s blood is all over Cassidy. Hardy tries a guillotine choke but Cassidy reverses into a cradle with his hands in the pockets for the pin at 10:08.

Rating: C+. The match was good enough, despite it having a lot of comedy and being two guys I’m not fond of most of the time. Cassidy should be beating Hardy, who doesn’t need to be going over just about anyone at this point. Also, it was very, very refreshing to have a straight match without 437 people getting involved at the same time.

Aleister Black is ready to destroy Arn Anderson’s son, plus the rest of the Nightmare Family. That could take a whole lot of destructing.

Here is Chris Jericho to talk about tapping out to MJF last week. Jericho talks about the Labors of Jericho and how he came up short in the grand finale. It has become a mantra for him: “BEAT MJF! BEAT MJF! BEAT MJF!” Jericho has an idea for a final match between them but MJF won’t come out. His idea is one more match at All Out, where he will put his career on the line.

Cue MJF with a “MJF – 3, Jeriblow – 0” shirt, to say this is getting a little embarrassing. He knows Jericho needed a rub from the fastest rising star in the history of professional wrestling, but the cash cow’s udders are sore. Last week, MJF made him tap out faster than someone listening to a Fozzy CD, but the idea of Jericho never wrestling again is too much to pass up so the match is on. That was about the only way they could go after last week.

The Varsity Blonds say they’re a real family and they’re ready to beat the Lucha Bros.

Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Varsity Blonds vs. Lucha Bros

Julia Hart is here with the Blonds and the Elite comes out to watch. Garrison can’t get very far with Fenix so it’s off to Pillman to superkick Penta. A running hurricanrana takes Penta down but he is right back with a Sling Blade. Back from a break with Penta taking down both Blonds and handing it back to Fenix for a bunch of kicks.

The rolling cutter gets two on Pillman and everything breaks down, including Fenix hitting a very fast suicide dive onto the Blonds. Back in and Pillman hits a heck of a powerbomb for two on Fenix. Garrison adds a springboard elbow but Penta makes the save this time. The Bros send Garrison outside and it’s an assisted Fear Factor for the pin at 8:23.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted and the right team won in the end. The Lucha Bros are about as awesome of a team as you’re going to find when they are on a roll and that was the case there. What mattered here was getting the right team moving forward, and the Varsity Blonds will have their day (eventually).

Post match Jurassic Express joins the Lucha Bros in the ring. The Elite tries to come in and are knocked off the apron in a hurry.

Video on Pac vs. Andrade.

All Out rundown, now including Britt Baker defending the Women’s Title against Kris Statlander.

Jamie Hayter vs. Red Velvet

Hayter has Britt Baker and Rebel in her corner. Hayter wastes no time in throwing Velvet into the corner for the choking. Velvet manages to send her to the floor for back to back suicide dives (with Hayter going flat down for a different kind of selling). A hard posting drops Velvet and Baker gets in a few cheap shots as we take a break. Back with Velvet winning a slugout and hitting a running elbow against the ropes. Some running knees connect on the ropes but Baker offers a distraction, allowing Hayter to hit a hard lariat for the pin at 6:53.

Rating: C. Velvet got in some offense here and that should have been the case when she was getting the title shot just two weeks ago. Hayter needs to get a few wins to establish herself as someone to beat and this was a good step. Put her over someone Baker beat so that Hayter looks like she is on a higher level.

Post match the beatdown is on but Kris Statlander makes the save.

The Dark Order doesn’t seem to be on the same page over, uh, Page. Alex Reynolds doesn’t like what Evil Uno has been saying and walks out, with John Silver going with him. Uno tries to apologize but the rest of the team isn’t thrilled either.

Tony Schiavone brings out CM Punk for a chat. Punk is asked what one thing brought him back to wrestling, but Punk can’t hear over all of the people. Punk lists off some of the younger wrestlers who he wants to face, but there is one guy who has gotten his attention first. He’s going to retire the nickname Voice of the Voiceless because there are people who have a voice and there are people who listen.

Punk has been looking at someone like Darby Allin who looks like he is willing to kill himself. There are people asking if Punk can still go and if he still has it to be the best in the world. He looks at Allin and sees someone who would have been Punk’s favorite wrestler at 15 years old. Allin isn’t the biggest or the strongest but he has heart.

Can Punk still do it? Fans: “YES! YES! YES!” Punk: “That’s someone else’s thing and you just have to wait a little longer.” He’ll see Allin in Chicago and loves his wife April. Punk gets a very strong sendoff. This was a straight promo from Punk and it was a good way to set up the Darby match at All Out.

Miro talks about how he will forgive Fuego del Sol but he is going to drag Eddie Kingston under the water because he is the Redeemer. Bring him the Mad King before he burns this place to the ground.

Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley/Darby Allin vs. Wingmen

Sting and Peter Avalon are here too. Allin chokes the much bigger JD Drake to start and sends him outside. The big dive has to be canceled so Ryan Nemeth swivels his hips at Kingston. A single chop gets rid of him so Cezar Bononi comes in to shrug off Kingston’s chops. Moxley tags himself in and a double shoulder clears the ring.

We take a break and come back with Moxley suplexing Bononi and it’s Kingston coming in to strike away on Drake. Moxley has to save Kingston from a Vader Bomb with a bite to Drake’s face, allowing Allin to hit a super Code Red. Avalon gets beaten up on the floor as Nemeth tries to bring in a chair. That goes horrible, and it’s a flipping Stunner into the Coffin Drop to finish Drake at 7:40.

Rating: C. This was a total weekend show main event and that’s all it needed to be. I was worried about the Wingmen giving three much bigger names too much of a problem but they got out of there just in time. Good enough match here, even if it was just a workout for the openers.

Post match everyone else is brawling on the floor so here is Daniel Garcia to jump Allin from behind.

Tay Conti is ready for the Casino Battle Royal but the Bunny comes in to offer her a spot in the Hardy Family Office. The contract is ripped up with a NO and the fight is on.

FTR wants one more match with Santana and Ortiz.

Here is the Elite to promise to take out Christian Cage. Cue Cage, to show a video of Don Callis hyping up the ten year old Kenny Omega, which is why he fired Christian. Back in the ring, Omega says that makes him like Vince McMahon, Verne Gagne or Eddie Graham, but this isn’t Greg Gagne or Eric Watts. Christian accuses Callis of manipulating Omega, who asks Christian “You think you know me?” Callis takes off his pink suit and the group beatdown is on until Frankie Kazarian runs in for the save with a lead pipe.

Jon Moxley sent a contract to New Japan and got it sent back with one signature. Satoshi Kojima has signed the deal and Moxley is ready to send him out in a blaze of glory. Moxley wants to do some horrible things to Kojima and he’ll see him at All Out.

Gunn Club vs. The Factory

Paul Wight is on commentary. Comoroto gets sent outside to start and it’s off to Solow, who gets taken down by Austin. Marshall gets in a cheap shot though and we take a break. Back with Colton coming in to clean house as everything breaks down. Marshall stops to yell at Wight though and the distraction lets Colton grab the small package win at 5:51. Not enough shown to rate, but it was just a way to mess with Marshall.

Dan Lambert, with the Men of the Year, rants about wrestling fans being soft and how they all want their safe spaces. Those people need to believe in men like these two, and there may be hope for them yet.

Arn Anderson knows that his son Brock is in over his head and he’s probably going to lose to Malaki Black. He’ll be there with his son though.

Brock Anderson vs. Malakai Black

Brock takes him down and hammers away but Black unloads with strikes in the corner. Hold on though as Black yells at Arn, allowing Brock to get in a few shots to the leg. That earns Brock a suplex and Black Mass, making Arn cringe. The delayed pin finishes Brock at 2:29.

Post match Arn comes in to check on Brock but Black has a chair. Arn is ready to fight and blocks a kick to the head. He can’t block a low blow though and then the kick to the head drops Arn. Lee Johnson runs in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This wasn’t the must see episode as it was much more about having the people involved in the bigger stories talking rather than wrestling. That being said, this is the show that All Out has been needing as everything else has been cleared out and the pay per view could get some focus. It’s not a show you need to watch, but there was some good storyline advancement and nothing bad up and down the show.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Matt Hardy – Rollup
Lucha Bros b. Varsity Blonds – Assisted Fear Factor to Pillman
Jamie Hayter b. Red Velvet – Lariat
Eddie Kingston/Darby Allin/Jon Moxley b. Wingmen – Coffin Drop to Drake
Gunn Club b. The Factory – Small package to Marshall
Malaki Black b. Brock Anderson – Black Mass

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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