Dynamite
Date: March 10, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We’re done with Revolution and now the question becomes how they handle the bad ending. The logical solution would be to laugh it off and move on but I have a bad feeling they are going to try to turn it into a storyline. What they tried didn’t work and it seems like it would be a better idea to just accept it and move on, but that doesn’t seem like the AEW way. Let’s get to it.

Here is Revolution if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Matt Jackson vs. Rey Fenix

Nick Jackson is here with Matt. They trade the arm work to start as the fans are split early on. Matt takes him down but gets flipped away into a standoff. Fenix gets in a toss to the floor for the dive, followed by a springboard armdrag to take Matt down again. That means the big running flip dive to the floor and then it’s a chinlock with a bodyscissors to Matt back inside. That’s broken up and Matt throws him outside in a crash for a change.

Back in and the reverse chinlock with a knee in Fenix’s back doesn’t last long as he is back up with the chops. A faceplant gives Matt two and he rolls over into the Sharpshooter. That sends Fenix over to the rope for the break and he hits the steps up kick to the head in the corner. There’s the missile dropkick to take Matt down again and a rolling cutter makes it even worse.

Fenix grabs his modified spinning torture rack ‘before dropping Matt down. Back up and Matt hits a running kick to send Fenix outside, where Pac appears to give him some encouragement. Matt’s top rope elbow gets two and the Sharpshooter goes on for a bit longer this time.

Fenix grabs the rope again though and misses a running kick, knocking Nick down instead. Matt goes outside to superkick Pac away from Nick, flips out of a belly to back suplex, and hits two superkicks. That earns Matt a kick from Fenix and they’re both down again. They pull each other up and Fenix wins the slugout to set up the Black Fire Driver for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: B-. It’s always weird watching the Bucks having a singles match but it worked out rather well here. You can probably pencil in Nick vs. Pac for later as they continue building towards the Tag Team Title match, which should be a heck of a showdown. Good stuff here, with the flips looking pretty nice.

Here’s what’s coming later tonight.

Eddie Kingston and Jon Moxley are having some drinks with some fire in front of them. Eddie talks about covering his friend when he had this much anxiety and it reminded him of being in jail. Everything went black then and it happened again on Sunday. They talk about how much of a mess the bomb was and think it was from ACME. Impact Wrestling must have paid for the thing. Moxley had an exploding ring match and all he got was this shirt. Yeah it’s a cool shirt but he also got a drinking buddy back. Moxley says if Omega is going to flash a weapon, he better use it. Now please let that be the end of the explanations.

Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Gargis

Before the match, Cody gives his weight belt to a fan in a wheelchair (that’s great). Cody shrugs off Gargis and finishes with the Figure Four in 48 seconds.

Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring to interview Cody but Penta El Zero M interrupts, saying (through a translator) that he’s a thousand times better than Cody. If Cody is the Price of Pro Wrestling, then Penta is the Lord of Lucha Libre. Penta says Cody Cody should be lucky that his arm isn’t hurt so badly he can’t pick up his newborn girl. That’s enough to get Cody out into the crowd for the brawl but it’s broken up in a hurry.

Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy are at an arcade and say that they have been at this with Miro and Kip Sabian far too long (yep). But they want one more match to end it all. If they lose, Taylor will be Miro’s butler forever. We’ll make it interesting though, and put a bunch of video games around ringside.

Here’s Sting to praise Darby Allin for their win on Sunday, but Lance Archer and Jake Roberts interrupt. Archer talks about how he was going to be the face of the revolution without getting in a ladder match. If AEW doesn’t give him the time, he’ll take something much worse. The two of them leave and Sting is done in a hurry.

QT Marshall got a little too emotional on Sunday but tonight is about Lee Johnson. Their mics are cut off before the end of their promo (there have been some audio issues throughout the show).

Ethan Page vs. Lee Johnson

Page gets an inset promo and (rather quietly) talks about wanting the spotlight. Feeling out process to start with Page taking him down with ease as some other audio (sounds like a basketball game) keeps coming through and drowning out commentary. Page drops him again and we take a break.

Back with Page working on the ribs as the basketball audio is leaking through even worse than before. Johnson hits a Blue Thunder Bomb for two but gets taken down off the top as we hear Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. Johnson comes up favoring his knee so Page kicks him in the face. That’s enough to send Johnson to the floor so Page throws him back inside for the Ego’s Edge (toss Razor’s Edge) for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. The bad week for AEW production continues, even though this is a TNT problem. Page’s win was completely overshadowed here and that’s a shame because he looked fine enough. Page isn’t going to be a top star but he’s a good hand, which is always going to have a place in wrestling.

Post match the beating stays on with QT Marshall not helping Johnson. Dustin Rhodes comes in for the save and the audio is fixed.

Hangman Page has bought a new saddle, Dwight Yoakam on vinyl, donated a bunch of money to the Jacksonville Public Education fund, and bought a big lawnmower. The Dark Order gets on to get ice cream, but 10 has to wait because of the weight limit.

Tony Schiavone is ready to introduce Christian Cage but gets interrupted by Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Good Brothers. Things have been going great for Omega, who is now the King of the Deathmatch. There was that little thing on Sunday but they will neither confirm nor deny any influence on the explosion. What Callis and company will take credit for is taking away Jon Moxley’s win from Tony Khan.

Either way, it was a win win situation, because either the ring blew up and they left with the title or they left with the title anyway. Cue Eddie Kingston, with Callis saying he has seen Kingston’s talent for a long time now. That’s why he had Kingston in Impact Wrestling, but as usual he screwed it up again. Callis gives him ten seconds to get out of the ring so we get a countdown, with Callis and Omega freaking out about the clock. Omega: “I HAD FLASHBACKS TO THE TIME I HAD DETENTION IN GRADE SCHOOL!”

Omega tells Kingston to take his shot and see what happens, so Eddie decks him with a right hand. The beatdown is on so it’s Jon Moxley and then Christian Cage for the save, though Christian comes out after Omega is left alone in the ring. They go toe to toe and Omega swings, meaning Callis has to save him from the Unprettier. Christian picks up the World Title and Omega panics while leaving. I’m not sure how good of an idea it is to charge fans $50 to see something, have it screw up, and then laugh at people for thinking they would see it. AEW doesn’t have that reputation and it isn’t one they want to develop.

Britt Baker/Hikaru Shida/Nyla Rose vs. Maki Itoh/Thunder Rosa/Ryo Mizunami

Itoh does her song, even as everyone gets in a fight before the bell. She sings anyway and then hits Shida in the head with the microphone to get going. They get inside with Itoh missing a headbutt so Shida can hammer away, meaning it’s off to Ryo for more chopping. Rosa comes in to hammer on Rose but a Rebel distraction lets Rose take over.

We come back from a break with Shida suplexing Ryo into Baker in the corner for two. With everyone else on the floor, Rosa hits a big dive off the top for the huge knockdown. Back in and Itoh’s tornado DDT gets two on Rosa but Rebel’s crutch shot is broken up. Instead Rosa spikes Itoh on her head for the pin at 7:55.

Rating: C. This was a wild match though it was more silly than anything else at times. That isn’t the worst idea and the fans do seem to like Itoh’s deal so fair enough. I’m not sure where the division is going from here but at least they are bringing in someone who is going to get your attention one way or another.

Post match Rosa gets beaten down, including the Lockjaw and a crutch to the head.

Matt Hardy is upset over losing his first quarter money but he has some new signings: Butcher, Blade and Bunny. They’ll be teaming with Private Party this Monday on Dark: Elevation.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky

Sky is challenging after winning the ladder match at Revolution. They fight over a wristlock to start until Allin takes him down for some rollups. Sky has to bail into the corner and looks a little surprised by what just happened. Both of them try waistlocks to little avail and we take a break.

Back with Allin fighting out of an abdominal stretch and grabbing a Code Red for two. Sky rolls some German suplexes, including one to send Allin hard into the corner. Sky is sent outside so Allin tries a suicide dive, only to have Sky counter it into a cutter. Back in and the Coffin Drop is countered into a powerbomb but the TKO is countered into a small package to retain Allin’s title at 13:16.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match and that should not be surprising in the slightest. Both of them are great at what they do and while I’m not wild on Sky losing his title shot so quickly but there is no reason to take the title off of Allin at this point either. Good match here, and that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Post match Allin goes to help Sky up but gets pulled into a heel hook. Referees break it up but Sky is very pleased.

Here’s what’s coming next week on St. Patrick’s Slam.

Here’s the Inner Circle for their War Council. Chris Jericho talks about how many problems the team has been having lately and it is time to start changing things a little bit. Maybe that even means adding a new member. MJF doesn’t think that’s the best idea but here is Sammy Guevara to interrupt. Sammy needs Jericho to see something and we see him set up a hidden camera, which films MJF talking to the rest of the team about getting rid of Jericho. Back in the arena, MJF says get him. Santana, Ortiz and Jake Hager turn to face Jericho….and then they all turn at MJF.

Jericho says they all knew this was coming because they talk to each other every day. MJF is shoved down and Jericho fires him before threatening a beatdown. He swears he wasn’t taking over Jericho’s Inner Circle….because he was too busy building his own. The lights go out and it’s Wardlow….with FTR, Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard.

The beatdown is on, including spike piledrivers and handcuffs. MJF busts Jericho open with the Dynamite Diamond and some shots with Floyd the baseball bat leave him laying. Wardlow powerbombs Jericho off the stage and onto a crash pad to end the show. I like the end results, but another stable? They really needed one more?

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling mainly carries this one but the more important part is how many new things got started tonight. In addition to the big ending segment, you also have Cage vs. Omega, Sting vs. Archer/Roberts and Cody vs. Penta. I could go for a lot of that, but more importantly, I hope I can go for the end of the explanations of the ending of Revolution. Either way, good stuff here and I like their momentum coming out of Revolution.

Results
Rey Fenix b. Matt Jackson – Black Fire Driver
Cody Rhodes b. Seth Gargis – Figure Four
Ethan Page b. Lee Johnson – Ego’s Edge
Thunder Rosa/Hikaru Shida/Ryo Mizunami b. Britt Baker/Maki Itoh/Nyla Rose – Reverse Air Raid Crash to Itoh
Darby Allin b. Scorpio Sky – Small package

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Revolution 2021
Date: March 7, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross

There is something rather pleasing about having another AEW pay per view. The company has such a great track record with these things and it should be awesome to see what they can do again. The main event is an exploding barbed wire deathmatch because….I have no idea why but it is certainly going to get them some attention. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Britt Baker/Rebel vs. Riho/Thunder Rosa

Hold on though as Rebel has been attacked (she’s on crutches so it must be true) so we have a replacement.

Pre-Show: Britt Baker/Maki Itoh vs. Riho/Thunder Rosa

Itoh sings her own entrance song rather loudly. Riho takes Baker down by the arm to start so it’s quickly off to the rope. Some dropkicks rock Baker and there’s a headscissors to put Baker down again. Rosa comes in to armbar Itoh down and it’s switched into a crossface. With that broken up, Rosa wins an exchange of forearms and Itoh starts to cry. A stomp to Rosa’s boot just makes her shoulder Itoh down and she drops Itoh face first onto the turnbuckle.

Riho comes in and gets dropped down onto Itoh for two of her own. Back up and they slug it out until Baker pulls Riho to the floor, where Rebel is suddenly fine enough to send her into the steps. Itoh misses a falling headbutt back inside so it’s back to Baker to stomp away. A missed charge allows the tag off to Rosa so house can be cleaned. The running backsplash gets two on Baker but a Sling Blade drops Rosa.

Now Itoh’s falling headbutt gets two but Rosa is right back with a Stunner. Itoh hits a tornado DDT for two so she goes up top, only to miss the falling headbutt. Riho comes back in and charges into a half crab from Itoh, meaning a rope has to be grabbed. Another headbutt is blocked with a shot to the head and it’s quickly back to Rosa vs. Baker for the exchange of rollups. Baker runs into Rebel by mistake and walks into the Death Valley Driver with Itoh making the save. Rebel gets in a crutch shot to Rosa to give Baker the pin at 14:52.

Rating: C+. It was certainly energetic and fast paced and it was quite nice to see Baker get the win. The Rebel swap was fine as Itoh certainly has a lot of charisma, though I’m not sure how long she is going to be around here. If it is a one off appearance then great, but I’d hope it isn’t someone else in the way of Baker getting her overdue Women’s Title.

The opening video looks at the big matches.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho/MJF

The Bucks are defending and jump Jericho and MJF to start and hammer them out to the floor. Jericho and MJF send them together but stop to brag a bit, allowing the Bucks to take them down with stereo dives. The Bucks grab stereo Sharpshooters until the ropes are grabbed so Nick heads up top. This time Jericho is ready for it and hits the triangle dropkick to send him outside to take over.

Back in and a flapjack lets Jericho and MJF mock the Bucks’ pose. Nick flips over and slides between the legs to make the hot tag to Matt. The house cleaning doesn’t even get past the first room as MJF takes him down and gets in a Fargo Strut. Jericho hits a suplex as JR’s voice sounds like it is about to go out. A double suplex gets two on Matt and we hit the chinlock. Matt fights up but gets sent back into the corner, where he comes out with a double DDT.

It’s back to Nick to pick the pace way up, including the slingshot Canadian Destroyer for two on MJF. Everything breaks down with Matt hammering away at Jericho, who reverses into the Walls. That’s broken up so the Meltzer Driver is loaded up, only to have Jericho reverse into a Tombstone. Now the Walls can go on in full until Jericho stops to drag it back to the middle, allowing Matt to slip out. A missed charge in the corner crotches Jericho so MJF comes back in to counter a hurricanrana into a sitout powerbomb for two.

MJF gets rather cocky so Matt scoops him up for the Meltzer Driver, only to have Jericho hit the Codebreaker on Nick for the save. A Floyd the baseball bat sets up the Heatseeker for two on Matt and MJF is stunned. It’s back to Nick so the Bucks can hit stereo high crossbodies for two each. Jericho’s Judas Effect hits Wardlow by mistake but the Lionsault is superkicked out of the air. The BTE Trigger gets two as MJF makes the save, earning himself a trip to the floor. The Meltzer Driver finishes Jericho at 17:50.

Rating: B-. They did a nice job of making me buy into the drama off the Heatseeker so they had to be doing something right. There wasn’t much of a reason to believe new champions were coming here but they did a nice enough job of changing my mind throughout. Good opener, though it went on a little longer than it should have.

Post match we run down the card, with JR apologizing for how bad his voice sounds (fair enough as he sounds horrible).

Casino Battle Royale

It’s a tag team Royal Rumble with 15 teams announced coming in. There are ninety second intervals and both members have to be eliminated, with the winners becoming #1 contenders. At least they have the casino game to validate the gambling theme this time. The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes/QT Marshall) are in at #1 and the Dark Order (5/10) are in at #2 and the brawling is on in a hurry. Dustin snaps off the powerslam on 5 but Marshall is caught in a fall away slam/running dropkick combination. A double bulldog takes the Order down and it’s Santana/Ortiz in at #3.

House is cleaned but the Order knocks them both down. Marshall tosses 5 for the first elimination and has to hang on when 10 tries to toss him out as well. The Sydal Brothers are in at #4 and we get everyone brawling again with no one being tossed. The ring is getting a little full and the Dark Order (Evil Uno/Stu Grayson) are in at #5 to make it even more crowded. Everyone in the Dark Order teams up on Santana for a toss powerbomb and 10 adds a spinebuster. Mike Sydal was tossed in there somewhere so things are a little less full. The Gunn Club (Austin/Colton) are in at #6 and get to clean house for a bit.

The Quick Draw takes Santana down and Matt Sydal is out for the first full team elimination. Peter Avalon/Cezar Bononi are in at #7 and get in their own share of house cleaning. With no more eliminations, the Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison) are in at #8. The Gunn Club starts taking over with Peter Avalon being tossed. Bononi is in trouble but Marshall dumps both of them (despite them being part of the Nightmare Family). Dustin yells at him but Marshall eliminates himself and walks out as Bear Country (Bronson/Boulder, who I’ve never actually seen in the ring before) are in at #9.

A big boot to Grayson is enough for the Bears to toss him and Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus) is in at #10. Jungle Boy clotheslines Ortiz out and Luchasaurus does the same to Bononi to get rid of another team. There go Garrison, Santana and Evil Uno all at the Express’ hands and Butcher and the Blade are in at #11. The rest of the Dark Order is out thanks to interference from Jack Evans, leaving us with Dustin, Bear Country, the Jurassic Express and Butcher and Blade. Bunny gets involved and pulls Dustin out to get us down to six at the moment.

Private Party (Marq Quen/Isaiah Kassidy) are in at #12 to make it eight people at once and more brawling ensues. Stunt saves Pillman from being tossed it’s SCU (Christopher Daniels/Kazarian) in at #13. Luchasaurus breaks up their house cleaning but Bear Country tosses him out. Butcher dumps both Bears thanks to a Bunny distraction, only to have the two of them pull Butcher underneath the ropes to beat the heck out of him.

Rey Fenix and Pac are in at #14 to wreck a bunch of people and toss Quen and Blade. The brawling continues until the Dark Order (John Silver/Alex Reynolds are in at #15 to complete the field. Some rapid fire eliminations leave us with Fenix, Pac, Silver and Boy, leaving us with three teams over four entrants. Silver is almost tossed but manages to hang on with one hand and Fenix has to do the same. Pac and Silver slug it out with Silver kicking him up against the ropes but missing a charge into the snap German suplex.

Pac tosses Silver to the apron and Fenix walks the rope to kick him in the head for the elimination. Boy can barely get up but he manages to duck Pac’s kick to the head and low bridge him to the floor. That leaves Fenix vs. Boy in the staredown with Boy being knocked through the ropes to the floor in a hurry. Fenix hits a heck of a flip dive but Boy is right back with a clothesline back inside. There’s the poisonrana but Fenix kicks him in the head and tosses him out for the win at 26:47.

Rating: C+. I’m never sure how to rate these but they kept things moving quickly enough to keep it from being boring. That’s the key to something like this as while the ring got too full more than once, it was cleared out in a hurry near the end, which is what matters most. Fenix and Pac winning is the right call and it’s rather impressive that they are such a good team despite being thrown together. Good enough stuff here and the right team won.

Paul Wight says the big signing is here and gives us a hint: no one can out work him.

Diamond Dallas Page and Al Snow are here.

We recap Ryo Mizunami vs. Hikaru Shida for the Women’s Title. Mizunami was ready to retire until she showed up at Double Or Nothing and it revitalized her career. She won the #1 contenders tournament and is ready to go for the title.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Ryo Mizunami

Shida is defending and gets knocked into the corner early on. The chops have Shida in trouble but she sends Ryo face first into the buckle and hits her own chops. Ryo chops away even more until Shida sends her into the corner for a running knee. Another running knee gets two but Ryo counters the running knee off the chair into a powerbomb over the barricade.

Back in and Ryo hammers away until Shida gets in a kick to the face out of the corner. The missile dropkick gets two on Ryo so Shida takes her to the ramp for a sunset driver. Shida smiles a lot and takes her back inside for two off a suplex. They strike it out until Ryo nails a few clotheslines to take over. Shida hits some running knees to the face but can’t cover. They grab hands and get up for another slugout until Ryo hits a Rock Bottom.

The guillotine legdrop gets two so Shida snaps off a straitjacket suplex, with Ryo popping back up for a screaming clothesline. Another running knee sets up the Falcon Arrow for two on Ryo and a poke to the eye sets up a small package for the same. The running knee connects but Ryo reverses into a rollup for two more. Shida hits an enziguri for two more and she tries another Falcon Arrow…which looked to be countered into a DDT but seemed to be swung into a Rock Bottom to plant Rio instead. Another running knee gets two on Ryo, followed by another knee to retain the title at 15:46.

Rating: C-. I’m so sick of Shida with her 917 running knees offense mixed in with some Falcon Arrows to spice it up a bit. She has been champion for almost ten months now and it feels like she has had the same match throughout her reign. I didn’t get into this for the most part as a good bit of the work was sloppy and the abundance of knees had me begging for the thing to be over. Shida needs to drop the title almost immediately and the sooner it is to Baker, the better.

Post match Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Rebel run in to jump Shida and Ryo but Thunder Rosa makes the save, likely setting up a six woman on Dynamite.

Miro and Kip Sabian jump Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy in the back but demand the music be played anyway. Taylor is busted open thanks to going into some glass and is dragged to the ring as Miro calls him Charles over and over. Miro offers him the chance to let it stop but Taylor says ring the bell.

Miro/Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy

There is no Cassidy and Taylor is clotheslined down in a hurry. Miro rubs Taylor’s blood on his chest and Sabian is in with a missile dropkick. Chuck is sent into the corner for a boot to the face and another dropkick from Sabian makes it worse. Taylor gets in a shot to the face as Cassidy staggers to the ring. Well part of the way as he falls down on the stage on the way there.

Cassidy pops up to Orange Punch Miro and Taylor knocks Sabian down, allowing Cassidy to get the hot tag. Everything breaks down with Cassidy hitting a dive onto Sabian but getting caught in a fireman’s carry gutbuster. The Deathly Hallows is broken up and Taylor tags himself in for a Beach Break/double stomp combination. A piledriver gets two on Sabian with Miro having to make a save.

Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets for the slow motion kicks to Miro (of course), who kicks him down (as you should). Cassidy is back with the Stundog Millionaire but is driven into Penelope Ford to knock her to the floor. Miro kicks Cassidy in the head and throws Sabian back inside so Miro can make the tag. The jumping kick to the face sets up Game Over to finish Taylor at 7:54.

Rating: D+. Now can we please move them both on to ANYTHING else? Miro getting the win makes sense, but I hope this isn’t setting up some Miro vs. Cassidy showdown. The match needed to be this short after everything else has felt long and thankfully they didn’t do anything stupid here like giving Cassidy a fluke pin. They need to move on though if they want to make Miro into something important as it isn’t happening against Taylor and Cassidy.

MJF and Chris Jericho aren’t happy with their loss so on Wednesday it is the Inner Circle War Council, when changes are coming. MJF seems to suggest that Jericho may be in trouble.

We recap Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Page. Hardy wants to be Page’s manager/agent but Page tricked him into signing a contract where the winner gets the loser’s income for the first three months of the year. I’ve heard far worse ideas.

Matt Hardy vs. Hangman Page

Private Party is here with Hardy. Page ducks a right hand and hammers away in the corner as commentary talks about how Hardy has been wrestling almost as long as Page has been alive. There’s a fall away slam to Matt and they head outside with Page hitting an ax handle off part of the stage. Back in and Matt bails straight to the floor again, where he sends Page’s arm into the post.

The hand is wrapped around the post and sent into the steps with commentary wisely pointing out that it’s the Buckshot Lariat arm. Back in and Hardy bites the finger before bending the fingers back again. Page fights up and uses the right hand without thinking, which makes it even worse. The springboard clothesline puts Hardy down but the bad arm keeps Page down too. Hardy grabs a Twist of Fate on the floor and Page has to beat the count at nine.

Back in and Hardy German suplexes him off the top for two but Page is back up with a shot to the face. A clothesline puts them both on the floor as the fans are VERY into Hardy. Page is up first with a moonsault to take Hardy down again, followed by a sliding clothesline back inside. Deadeye is broken up and Hardy takes him down with a neckbreaker. Hardy catches him on top with a Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two more but the Twist of Fate is countered into the Deadeye.

That draws up Private Party for the distraction with Page having to get rid of both of them. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into the Side Effect (that looked good) and the Twist of Fate gets two (with commentary spoiling the kickout by shouting about how Matt is going to do it). Cue the Dark Order (all six members of them, which is not evening the odds as Excalibur calls it) to take care of Private Party, allowing Page to hit the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 14:57.

Rating: C+. This was a better match than I would have bet on, though the fans at ringside screaming for Hardy every two seconds were rather pesky. They went with the only result they could have chosen so at least nothing went too far here. Page with the Dark Order intrigues me, but I’d rather they keep it this way instead of him joining in full.

Post match Dark Order and Page celebrate with some beer.

Video on the Face Of The Revolution ladder match for a TNT Title shot on Wednesday and with a mystery entrant.

Max Castor vs. Lance Archer vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Penta El Cero Miedo vs. Scorpio Sky vs. ???

Ladder match and the mystery entrant is…Ethan Page. Eh works for me. It’s a brawl to start with various people being knocked outside. Archer grabs a ladder to hit Cody in the bad shoulder and hit Sky and Castor in the head. Penta kicks Archer down and hits the Sling Blade but gets caught with by Sky’s German suplex. Castor comes in to clear the ring but here is Jack Evans with the boom box, only to have Dark Order’s 10 run out to take care of him (because a six man ladder match needs another story going on).

The ladder is set up and Page kicks Cody down to get rid of him. Castor starts hitting everyone with the boom box, including a few shots to Cody’s bad shoulder. Penta uses the ladder for a ramp to flip dive onto Cody and Castor. Archer dropkicks Penta to the floor but Page is back in to tie Archer up in the ladder. Page can’t hit a tilt-a-whirl side slam on Sky so he settles for Splash Mountain to drop Sky onto the ladder onto Archer.

Said ladder is bridged between the ring and the barricade so let’s bring in another one. Cody has to springboard in with a dropkick to knock Penta off the ladder but Penta is right back up with the Canadian Destroyer to drive Cody into the bridged ladder. That’s enough for Cody to be taken to the back (or at least to the entrance of the tunnel) as Sky pulls Castor off the ladder. Castor and Sky are up at the same time but Archer and Page join them. Everyone gets knocked off with Penta being up first for some kicking.

Sky pulls Penta down for the big crash, leaving Page and Castor to slug it out on the ladders again. Castor hits a huge sunset bomb to bring him down but Sky puts Castor onto the ladder in a crash. The frog splash crushes Castor onto the ladder and everyone is down again. Archer catapults Sky onto the ladder but then has to pull him back down. A jumping knee knocks Sky off the apron and through another ladder at ringside to put him way down.

Penta is back up to clean house but here’s Cody to whip a bunch of people with the belt. Archer suplexes Cody onto the bad arm and Castor adds an elbow drop off of the ladder to keep Cody down. Archer shoves the ladder over to take out Penta and Castor, followed by a string of chokeslams. The Black Out onto the ladder knocks Castor silly but Page powerbombs Archer off of the ladder.

That brings Jake Roberts in for a clothesline to Page but Penta kicks Roberts down. Cody is back up with the Cody….uh, slap to the face this time, to bring Penta off the ladder. Penta is right back up to take Cody off of the ladder but Sky cleans house with a chair. Cody and Sky slug it out on top of the ladder, with Sky being smart enough to pull on the bad arm. Cody gets knocked down and Sky wins at 23:16.

Rating: B. This was the spot fest that it needed to be and I’m rather pleased with Sky winning. Not just because I picked him to win, but also because he is the kind of smooth wrestler who can have a good match against anyone. Now they need to actually do something with him, because it feels like the kind of spot we have been in with him more than once before.

It’s time for the big signing and….yeah it’s Christian Cage. Cool moment as he was just in the Rumble, but dang I wanted to see Edge and Christian vs. the Usos. Christian signs without saying or doing anything else.

We recap Sting/Darby Allin vs. Team Taz. Allin has been getting on Team Taz’s nerves so they beat him up multiple times. Then Sting showed up to even the odds, meaning it’s cinematic match time.

Team Taz vs. Darby Allin/Sting

We go cinematic in a warehouse, with Allin hitching a ride on the back of a truck ala Back to the Future. Sting and Allin have an army of people in face paint to accompany them and we’re actually in a ring. Allin gets thrown over the top so he bounces off of a wall and back into the ring (Tony: “LIKE SPIDER!”) to drop Cage. They’re out of the ring in a hurry with Cage powerbombing one of the masked men against the apron. Cage drags Allin away from the ring as Sting hits the Stinger Splash on Starks.

A big camera zoom takes us across the building to Allin slipping out of a powerbomb attempt. Cage throws him through some doors as another Stinger Splash hits Starks. They leave the ring too with Sting grabbing the bat to chase Starks away. Starks says Sting is nothing without the bat so Sting throws it down and beats on Starks without it. We go back to Cage picking up Allin for a suplex and walking him up a flight of stairs (because he can just do that).

Back to Starks beating up Sting and throwing a barrel at his knees. Cage hits Starks in the head by mistake though and Allin is back with a bottle to Cage’s head. A double chokeslam puts Cage through a table and there’s a Coffin Drop off of a post to take Allin down. Cue Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook to beat Allin down and a big toss sends him through a window. Sting gets kicked in the ribs as JR says so much for this being a tag match.

With Sting in trouble, Allin pops up and throw him a bat (across the building and down a floor), which Sting breaks over Cage’s back. Allin then dives off of a balcony through Cage through part of the floor, leaving Starks and Sting to go back to the ring. The Stinger Splash hits exposed buckle and Starks spears him for two. Back up and Starks misses an elbow, setting up the Scorpion Death Drop to finish Starks at 13:49.

Rating: B. Your taste is going to entirely depend on what you think of cinematic matches so this could be quite the range of ratings. I’m not wild on the idea, but I would absolutely prefer this to a regular match for Sting. Starks taking the fall is frustrating but this is kind of a special circumstance. I know Sting isn’t going to be a regular wrestler and while he didn’t look bad here, he doesn’t need to be doing this very often.

Double Or Nothing is in May.

We run down the Dynamite card.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega in an exploding barbed wire deathmatch. Moxley won’t leave Omega alone so he is picking this as a way to get rid of Moxley for good. Atsushi Onita talks about how dangerous the match is and violence is promised.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and there is barbed wire everywhere. If you touch the barbed wire ropes something explodes, and if we go thirty minutes EVERYTHING EXPLODES. Don Callis in on commentary and the referee is in something resembling a hazmat suit. Moxley takes a shot of whiskey during the Big Match Intros and we’re ready to go. They take their time going to the lockup and Moxley blocks a drive into a barbed wire board in the corner. They chop it out until Omega grabs a headlock and Moxley can’t even suplex his way out of it.

Neither is able to send the other into the barbed wire board so Moxley sends him outside through the one section with no barbed wire. A Russian legsweep with a barbed wire baseball bat takes Omega down and there’s a kendo stick shot to the back. Back in and Omega throws powder into the eyes, meaning Moxley needs to blindly swing the barbed wire bat. Moxley is sent into the barbed wire for the first explosion for two.

Some kendo stick shots have Moxley in trouble and the Kitaro Crusher through a trashcan gets two. Back up and the rather bloody Moxley is sent into the barbed wire board in the corner, setting up Omega’s middle rope moonsault for two. Schiavone: “We have exactly twenty minutes before this ring explodes.” Moxley sends him into the ropes for an explosion and then dropkicks him into them for another.

Back up and Moxley suplexes Omega through another barbed wire board in the corner but a Paradigm Shift onto a barbed wire chair is blocked. Moxley sends Omega flying with a German suplex and a side slam onto the barbed wire chair has Omega in a lot of pain. The barbed wire is wrapped around Moxley’s arm but the running lariat is countered into a dragon suplex.

The V Trigger gets two and Moxley drives him into the wire, with the explosion going off in Omega’s face. They head to the apron for a slugout until Moxley hits a Paradigm Shift through the barbed wire board for a double explosion. They’re both down for a long time until Moxley pulls the wire off of the board. They get back in and we get a noise signaling that we are ten minutes away from the big explosions.

Omega gets in a low blow and there’s a V Trigger in the corner. Make that two in a row and the One Winged Angel gets two as Moxley puts his foot on the ropes for the explosion (clever). Cue the Good Brothers to beat on Moxley and an exploding barbed wire bat to the face gets two. The One Winged Angel through the chair retains the title at 25:09.

Rating: D+. For a barbed wire street fight, it was pretty good (assuming you don’t find “yeah he used barbed wire, but now he’s going to use MORE barbed wire” to be a rather dumb idea), but for something built around THE RING MIGHT EXPLODE, this was rather disappointing. The match was built around the danger and I was laughing when some sparklers and smoke went off. Throw in how ridiculous the barbed wire stuff was and this was horrible. Make it a regular barbed wire match and it’s FAR better, but the explosions being such a joke killed it.

Post match the beatdown stays on as we’re told the ring is going to explode no matter what because THERE IS NO FAIL SAFE. As I try to figure out why that would be a feature, Omega handcuffs Moxley’s hands behind his back and the big beatdown ensues as we kill off the last of the thirty minutes.

The one minute countdown is on and the handcuffed Moxley is in the ring. Eddie Kingston comes in to try and get him out….and a bit of pyro goes of around the ring. The pyro from the corners was smaller than what would come up during Diesel’s entrance and the stuff at ringside was even weaker. This was pathetic, and Kingston actually selling it makes things even worse. I actually can’t remember the last time I saw something so disappointing and it is going to be a rather black eye for AEW for a good while.

Overall Rating: C. There were some good parts to the show but I’m rather disappointed by the whole thing. It didn’t have anything that was must see, it felt rather long and then the ending was an all time letdown. Christian signing is cool and the cinematic match was good, but this is going to be remembered for one or two things and that’s it. They went too far with the build and now it is going to cause them trouble.

The ending was a good example of one of AEW’s biggest problems: they have to do too much. The main event ended with a One Winged Angel THROUGH A CHAIR. You could put Moxley on the shelf for three months with that and it would have been fine. But no, we need to (allegedly) blow up the ring because a move you could say broke his neck isn’t enough. That’s something they do far too often and it hurts them. I’m really disappointed and I don’t like that feeling with what is usually one of the best products out there.

If you ever needed proof that AEW needs someone to say no sometimes, this is it. One of the things that a lot of people were saying was it was going to be ridiculous and they were hyping it up too much because that’s over the top. Well this is what we wound up with because AN EXPLODING RING is kind of a stupid idea. Tony Khan needed to say no and just let them have the barbed wire match and move on. They’ll be fine in a bit after this, but this was a step back for them and that is a new situation for them to be in.

Results

Young Bucks b. Chris Jericho/MJF – Meltzer Driver to Jericho

Rey Fenix/Pac won the Casino Battle Royale last eliminating Jungle Boy

Hikaru Shida b. Ryo Mizunami – Running knee

Miro/Kip Sabian b. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy – Game Over to Taylor

Hangman Page b. Matt Hardy – Buckshot Lariat

Scorpio Sky won the Face Of The Revolution ladder match

Sting/Darby Allin b. Team Taz – Scorpion Death Drop to Starks

Kenny Omega b. Jon Moxley – One Winged Angel through a chair

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TripleMania XXVIII
Date: December 12, 2020
Location: Arena Ciudad de Mexico
Commentators: Hugo Savinovich, Jose Manuel Guillen

I’m going to do something that has worked for me oh so well before and watch a show with commentary in a language I barely understand. This is the biggest show of the year for AAA and one of the biggest throughout the year in all of Mexico. That is the extent of what I know about what is coming on this show so let’s get to it.

In case it isn’t clear, I’m coming into this completely blind and only have a tiny bit of Spanish comprehension so I’m going to be completely lost on most of this.

We open with commentary being rather excited and throwing us to some of the family of company founder Antonio Pena and later boss Joaquin Roldan.

Commentary actually switches to English for a bit, giving me the slightest hint of what’s going on for a second.

Poder del Norte vs. Dinastia/Maximo/Mr. Iguana

Poder (Tito Santana (not that one)/Carta Brava Jr./Mocho Cota Jr.) seems to be some kind of paramilitary group. The other team is a weird masked man (Iguana, who crawled to the ring), a mini (Dinastia) and an exotico (Maximo), and thankfully the intros have shots of them with their names superimposed, making me feel like I’m in a bad sitcom opening (assuming a luchador sitcom would be bad that is).

Poder cleans house to start but get dropkicked out to the floor, setting up the double dive from Iguana and Dinastia. We settle down to Maximo hiptossing Cota to start and hitting a monkey flip as commentary switches to English to explain the tagging system. Cota is sent outside for a moonsault from Maximo and it’s off to Dinastia to headscissor Brava. Another armdrag puts Brava on the floor so Santana comes in to deck Dinastia.

Some flips across the ring get Dinastia out of trouble though and it’s Iguana coming in to flip everyone over and whip Santana with….something. Iguana is pulled outside for a crash though and Dinastia is knocked down, leaving Maximo all alone. A metal sheet shot drops Maximo and then Dinastia, leaving Iguana to get chopped against the ropes. Dinastia gets stomped down as well but Iguana saves Maximo from some kind of a triple team. Iguana hits the big dive and Maximo adds one of his own as everyone goes to the floor.

Back in and Poder has to kick out of a triple cover, with the camera cuts making it kind of jarring. Poder gets their own triple near falls, followed by Carta hitting an Air Raid Crash to drive Dinastia onto the apron. Maximo is put through a table, leaving Dinastia to snap off a hurricanrana to Santana. Iguana strikes away with a belt but gets triplebombed, followed by a series of running shots in the corner. A frog splash finishes Iguana at 11:00.

Rating: C. In what is likely to be a theme on this show, I’m not sure what to make of the match from a storyline perspective but it was a fun way to use eleven minutes. Poder feels like a low rent Shield knockoff and as a low rent Shield knockoff, I can think of worse options. The other trio felt pretty thrown together so if they were out there to make Poder look good, it worked out well enough.

The ring is disinfected after the match.

Iguana is still down and seems to have been injured. That’s never good, but neither is someone just picking him up to carry him out instead of using a stretcher.

Someone named El Charro Gonzalez dances to what sounds like an upbeat version of Thriller.

That would seem to be accurate as we see the original La Parka (who used Thriller as his theme music) inducted into the Hall of Fame. I believe the owners of the company talk about what he meant to AAA. Parka was a big deal for the company so this is a little more special than it may seem.

Video on La Parka, featuring a bunch of people doing his dance.

Commentary talks about La Parka.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. Jinetes del Aire vs. Los Mercenarios

That would be Pentagon/Rey Fenix (defending) vs. Myzteziz Jr./Octagon Jr. (the latter of whom has a title of his own) vs. Texano Jr./Rey Escorpion. I’ve seen Jinetes before and they were pretty good. There are no tags to start, just in case I wanted to have a chance to know what is going on. Jintes clear the ring to start and hit some dives but Los Mercenarios hit their own dives.

Back in and the camera starts cutting around so fast I can barely keep track of how Fenix is getting beaten up. It’s Escorpion getting double teamed by Jintes, including a 450 for two with the Bros making the save. Now it’s the Bros beating up Octagon, including Penta suplexing Fenix into him in the corner. Los Mercenarios make the save this time and it’s time to head outside again for the next series of dives.

Myzteziz hits a big shooting star from the top onto the pile and we settle down to Octagon kicking Fenix in the head, setting up a springboard cutter for two. Not to be outdone, Fenix moonsaults over him into a German suplex (cool) but it’s Escorpion and Myzteziz coming in to take their places. They both head to the middle rope with Escorpion snapping off a hurricanrana.

That leaves Texano and Penta to chop it out with Texano’s leg lariat getting two. The referee bothers doing something to calm things down for a change, allowing Escorpion to get in a baseball bat (wrapped in chains and barbed wire) shot to Penta’s leg. Thankfully that’s enough to get Penta taken to the back so it’s time for Texano to go after Fenix’s mask, freaking commentary out. The mask is taken off but Myzteziz springboards in with a double dropkick to Los Mercenarios.

Fenix gets the mask back on but it’s a double powerbomb to put Jintes down. The camera shot goes wide and it’s Fenix coming back in to start cleaning house, including sending Los Mercenarios out to the floor. Fenix and Octagon hit stereo flip dives to the floor, leaving Myzteziz to hit Fenix with a shooting star press. Escorpion pulls the referee out at two but here’s Penta for the save. A superkick, with the bad leg, knocks Myzteziz down, setting up the spike Fear Factor to retain the titles at 14:24.

Rating: B. Yep that’s what you were expecting from this one and that worked out rather well. This was all about flying all over the place with all three teams doing their high flying thing. Penta coming back in at the end was a nice story to tell and they let Fenix showcase himself, which is always a good thing. Awesome high flying match here, which is what you want from lucha libre.

Post match Black Taurus comes in to help Los Mercenarios with a big beatdown but El Hijo del Vikingo makes the save. A big twisting hurricanrana sends Taurus off the top and onto the pile. I’ve liked Vikingo and Taurus when I’ve seen them so cool segment.

Commentary talks for a bit.

Two guys named Daniel Khosravi and Orson Padilla (they might be fans) are in front of two masked female wrestlers, who chop the one standing behind them.

Two female interviewers, Barby Villela and Ana Carbajal, talk about Facebook and the Lucha Bros.

Copa Triplemania Femenil: Gauntlet Match

This is the first ever female version of an annual competition under Royal Rumble rules (one minute intervals, pinfall/submission/over the top eliminations). Lady Maravilla (who has a title, which I believe is half of the Mixed Tag Team Titles) is in at #1 and Lady Shani in at #2. The referee gets a special introduction because lucha libre is rather different than American. A lot of flipping ensues to start and they trade one counts (so it’s more than just over the top eliminations) until Shani knees her into the corner.

La Hiedra is in at #3 and gets hit in the face by Shani. A German suplex sends Shani flying though and the double teaming is on until Faby Apache is in at #4. Apache starts cleaning house and Maravilla kicks Hiedra by mistake. Mamba, who I believe is an exotico, is in at #5 and it’s time to gang up on Apache.

It’s not enough to get rid of her though and here’s Hades (who seems to be cat themed) in at #6. She goes after Apache as well before hurricanranaing anyone she can. With everyone brawling again, it’s Chik Tormenta in at #7 to unload on Hades and get rid of her in a hurry. It’s back to going after but not eliminating Apache until Big Mami (I think you get the idea) is in at #8. The house cleaning doesn’t go at as fast of a speed as usual but Mami does crush Shani in the corner.

A double clothesline drops Apache and Hiedra at the same time as Pimpinela Escarlata (a legend) is in at #9 to complete the field. Escarlata cleans house until a double clothesline puts him down. A double armdrag gets him right back into things and a rope walk armdrag/headscissors puts Shani and Hiedra down again. The battle of the exoticos is broken up and a few people get together to get rid of Mami.

Escarlata gets sent to the apron, where he kisses Mamba, only to get knocked out in a hurry. Mamba is out as well as the ring is clearing out in a hurry. The referee grabs Apache but Tormenta dropkicks him down by mistake. Tormenta gets kicked out and it’s time for a parade of running shots to the face. Hiedra and Maravilla double team Apache and, with help from the referee, manage to get rid of her. That leaves us with Hiedra, Maravilla and Shani with Shani sunset flipping Maravilla.

Hiedra tries….I’m not sure if it’s a double pin or double submission but it doesn’t work either way. They chop it out until Hiedra misses a charge and gets dumped out. That leaves Shani vs. Maravilla in a regular singles match with pin or submission only. Maravilla takes her down into something like an STF but Shani is up in a hurry with a rolling sunset flip for two. Something like a tornado DDT doesn’t work for Maravilla but an enziguri connects for her own near fall.

Maravilla goes up top but it’s an Iconoclasm for two more. There’s a northern lights suplex for the same (with a pretty fast count) so Shani grabs a modified Tequila Sunrise. That lasts all of three seconds before it’s a double underhook pull to keep Maravilla in trouble. Shani ties up one leg and one arm and kind of sits back to pull on both at once, which is enough for the tap and the cup at 23:18.

Rating: D. This didn’t exactly work and I can’t say I’m surprised. It was a bunch of people having some not so quick eliminations, which made for a rather long and dull match. I’m not sure how much difference it would make knowing the stories here, as a handful of the women felt like they were anything serious. Pretty bad stuff here and it was the frist serious miss on the show.

Post match Hiedra runs in to beat on Shani and some unnamed woman joins Hiedra and Maravilla to beat her down. Hades makes a failed save attempt and the evil trio stands tall until Faby Apache makes the real save. Shani does get the cup.

Two guys (Aczino/Lobo Estepario) rap about AAA but and Psycho Clown joins in.

Commentary is rather confused.

Psycho Circus vs. LA Park/Hijo de LA Park/Blue Demon Jr.

The Circus is Psycho Clown/Monster Clown/Murder Clown and Hijo has an unidentified title with him. It’s a brawl to start (duh) and the camera goes wide as Hijo takes Psycho down on the floor. Everyone brawls on the outside until Hijo throws in both Monster and a traffic barrel. There’s a trashcan shot to put Psycho down and Murder is double teamed on the way in.

A double suplex puts Monster through a trashcan but Murder pulls Hijo to the floor to break up a dive. The other Clowns hit stereo dropkicks through the ropes to take Hijo down and a powerslam/spinebuster get two each on Park and Demon. Park gets elbowed down and there’s a triple splash to make it worse. It’s Demon’s turn to take a beating with a backbreaker into a legdrop putting him down. Hijo tries to dive in but gets caught in a swinging Rock Bottom.

Park comes back but gets dropkicked down in a hurry. Demon and Hijo have a bit more success by getting rid of Monster and Murder, leaving Psycho to get double teamed. A slam sets up a top rope splash but Demon and Hijo get in a fight over who gets the pin. Park comes back in to try and break it up, only to get dropkicked outside. The Circus hits some dives but Hijo hits a running Canadian Destroyer for two on Psycho. Not that it matters as Psycho is back up with a super Spanish Fly to pin Hijo at 11:44.

Rating: B-. While this one was a bit obvious, it’s a good sign when you can figure out the story they are telling in a match despite having no idea what is going on. The match was more wild action (probably better than having some of these guys trying for a regular match) and it worked well enough, but some of these things are starting to run together. Park vs. Demon is probably coming at a major show and that should work out well enough.

We get a live performance from a band who isn’t named on screen. Commentary tells us that they are called Molotov. Noted.

Terror Purpura/Venenoide vs. Aracno/Leyenda Americana

So this is one of the cooler nerdy moments in recent memory as Marvel (yes that Marvel) has decided to have some of their characters as wrestlers in AAA (I don’t get it either), meaning this is Thanos (Brian Cage)/Venom (Black Taurus) vs. Spider-Man (Lio Rush)/Daga. The costumes look decent enough (though they do have a bit of a home made feel to them), as you can tell who they are supposed to be, though aside from Cage, you wouldn’t know who is playing them.

Spider (in a hoodie) doesn’t get very far by picking up the pace and is sent into the corner. Back up and a pair of headscissors put Venom down and America comes in for a running Downward Spiral. Thonos comes in to run the ropes with America and nails him with a clothesline. That earns him an enziguri but Venom’s cheap shot lets Thanos his another clothesline to take over.

Spider comes back in to start the double team kicking but Thanos pulls him up for a gorilla press powerslam. It’s back to Venom to go for the mask before settling for a heck of a backbreaker. Commentary gets VERY excited about all of this and Thanos’ release German suplex gets two on Spider. We hit the bearhug for a bit before Spider flips out and nails a spinning enziguri.

The hot tag brings in America to strike away and house is cleaned. A brainbuster drops Venom and there’s the springboard Stunner from Spider to Thanos. The Death Valley Driver into the Final Hour gets two but America pulls Thanos out of the air for a northern lights suplex. A Venom distraction lets Thanos get in a low blow so Spider comes in to clean house. Spider goes up but gets pulled out of the air as well, setting up the Drill Claw to give Thanos the pin at 12:32.

Rating: C+. This was one of the more bizarre things I’ve seen in a bit but it was a pretty fun one too. You had some talented people in there and they got to do their thing in a rather unique setup. I’m not sure if Marvel is going to want to do this again but it was a cool idea for a one off at least, so why not? Throw in a goofy angle and you might have something here for a short term idea.

Post match the lights flicker and Captain Marvel (a woman) appears to clear the ring.

Commentary talks about the best wrestler in the world.

Lady Shani has an interview about her win.

We recap Kenny Omega vs. Laredo Kid for the AAA Mega Title. Omega wants all of the belts in the world and Kid wants to bring it back to AAA.

AAA Mega Title: Laredo Kid vs. Kenny Omega

Omega is defending and Kid’s Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. Hijo del Vikingo and Michael Nakazawa are the respective seconds. Omega goes for the arm to start but gets taken to the mat with Kid cranking on the leg. Back up and they fight over a wristlock but Kid bounces around in the corner, setting up a hurricanrana to the floor. The dive doesn’t get to launch so Kid goes outside with him, only to get dropped head first onto the apron.

Back in and a backbreaker gets two on Kid, meaning it’s time for the double arm crank. Kid fights out and dropkicks the knee out before backdropping Omega into a crotching on top. A springboard cutter gives Kid a rather close two and Omega rolls to the apron. Kid makes the mistake of following so Omega grabs a Death Valley Driver onto the apron for a big knockdown.

Omega sends Kid over the barricade and jumps Vikingo, which hopefully sets up his next title defense (granted in AAA that could be in six months but at least he tried). Kid is back up with a kick to Omega and a pair of dives from Kid and Vikingo take out Omega and Nakazawa. Back in and Nakazawa’s interference fails as Omega’s running flip dive takes him out by mistake, allowing Laredo to hit his own big dive.

The Phoenix splash misses though and Omega blasts him with a V Trigger. There’s the Snapdragon to drop Kid again but the One Winged Angel is countered into a poisonrana to plant Omega. Kid gets two off a 450 and it’s time to start in on Omega’s knee. The knee is fine enough to knock Kid’s springboard out of the air though and Omega drops him with a Jay Driller for two. Another V Trigger misses but Lee’s top rope hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb.

There’s another V Trigger for two on Lee but he catches Omega on top for a northern lights superplex and another near fall. Lee gets creative with a 450 to the leg and a leglock makes Omega scream a lot. The long crawl gets Omega to the rope and he avoids another 450 to leave Kid down.

A buckle bomb into a doctor bomb gives Omega two but the One Winged Angel is countered into Rhea Ripley’s Prism Trap. That’s turned into another leglock on the mat until Omega rolls over to the rope for the break. Lee gets caught on top though and it’s a SUPER ONE WINGED ANGEL to retain the title at 23:39.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the heck out of each other and Omega felt like a star. At the same time, Lee was rather good as well, which has been the case with everything I’ve seen him in so far. If nothing else, after all of the multi-person and tag matches, it was great to see a singles match for a change. I understand that this isn’t how lucha works most of the time and there is nothing wrong with that, but it can be nice to have something different to shake up the card a bit. And Omega only hit a handful of V Triggers so it wasn’t even as repetitive.

Post match Omega isn’t interested in shaking hands.

Psycho Clown has an interview.

We get the rap video from earlier. At least I think it’s the same one from earlier.

We recap the main event of Pagano vs. Chessman in a hair vs. hair match, which was announced all the way back in March. They don’t seem to like each other.

Chessman vs. Pagano

Hardcore rules and Texano Jr. and Lady Shani are the respective seconds. They both miss a bunch of strikes to start until Chessman grabs a release German suplex. Pagano is right back with one of his own and they head outside with Pagano hitting a dropkick from the apron. There’s a suicide dive to put Chessman down again but he pulls up a metal sign to block another.

Chessman hits his own dive before they head back inside to run the ropes. Pagano dropkicks him into the corner and snaps off a hurricanrana to put Chessman on the floor. Of course that means a big dive and they’re both down outside. Back in and a rolling knee to the face gets two on Pagano, followed by a suplex through a surprise table in the corner. Pagano is right back with a running Blockbuster for two of his own but Chessman beats him down with some metal sheets.

A few more shots give Pagano a breather and he heads outside to lean a ladder against the barricade. The big flip dive only hits the ladder though and Shani goes over to check on him. Pagano is busted open so Chessman hits him in the head with another sheet for two. Chessman’s dive goes head first into a pile of chairs for his own nasty crash and he’s down again. Back in and Pagano hits White Noise but here are Los Mercanarios to beat own Pagano and Shani.

Cue Los Jinetes del Aire for the save and a bunch of dives, leaving Pagano to spear Chessman down. They head up top and Chessman drives Pagano down to the floor and through a table. Back in and Chessman tries a super hurricanrana through a table at ringside but Pagano reverses into a kind of spinebuster through it instead.

They go inside again with Pagano beating on him with the broken ladder. The moonsault with said ladder misses but Pagano drives him down for two more. The slugout is on and they fight to the floor with Chessman finding a guitar and blasting Hugo Savinovich, who comes up bleeding. They climb onto the set and it’s a super White Noise to drive Chessman into the rather full bed of a well placed truck for the pin at 23:46.

Rating: C. This felt like a wild brawl and nothing more, which doesn’t exactly feel like a reason for a main event. I know this is the kind of thing that is always going to headline Triplemania, but it didn’t quite click. You can only get so much out of hitting each other in the head with things and putting them through tables and they reached that limit pretty fast. It’s fine enough, but it doesn’t feel like the main event of the biggest show of the year.

Chessman is stretchered back to the ring for the haircut. He even throws the hair at Pagano to show some disgust.

The remaining commentator shouts a lot to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. As someone who has no idea what is going on with this show, I liked it well enough and that’s a nice feeling to have. There is enough good action on the show to make the whole thing work, but the stuff that is bad is pretty bad indeed. Maybe I would get a lot more out of it by knowing the backstories, but for the most part this did not feel all that huge. That could be due to the Coronavirus changes, though what we got was good enough. It doesn’t feel epic, but what does these days?

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Dynamite
Date: February 17, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

Things were pretty good last week and hopefully that means AEW has some momentum coming into this week. I’m not sure what that is going to mean this time around but we’re rapidly approaching Revolution next month. That show could use a card so maybe we can get some more this time around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy vs. Hybrid 2

Matt knocks Evans down to start and Page’s running shooting star press gets two. The BK Bomb puts Hardy in trouble and Evans snaps his throat across the top. Angelico spins over into a rollup for two and he slaps on a front facelock to drag Matt back into the corner. Matt avoids a handspring elbow and the hot tag brings in Page to clean house, including a Ron Simmons spinebuster to Angelico.

Page powerbombs Angelico and the powerbombs a diving Evans out of the air onto Angelico for a scary landing. The Buckshot Lariat is loaded up but Matt tags himself in, meaning it’s a backbreaker/neckbreaker combination for two. A Downward Spiral into a Phoenix splash gets two more but Page Buckshot Lariats both of them at once. The Twist of Fate finishes Angelico at 7:05.

Rating: C. I really cannot bring myself to care about Page and Matt teaming together, mainly because it involves Hardy’s latest character. It comes off more like Hardy’s latest idea, which has been the case so many times now that it is hard to care. Page deserves better than this, and hopefully he isn’t stuck here for more than a few weeks at most.

Post match Matt says he’s glad Page signed with him for 30% of Page’s money. Page breaks the news, saying that Matt should have read the contract. Matt sent it straight tot he lawyer, but here’s the Jacksonville Jaguars’ mascot with a copy of what Matt signed last week. The contract says they’ll be facing each other at Revolution. If Matt loses, Page gets 100% of Matt’s earnings from the first quarter of 2021. Matt: “YOU’RE NOTHING BUT A CARNY! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU BAMBOOZLED ME!”

Matt wants Page’s first quarter earnings up as well and Page shakes on it. The Jaguars’ mascot kicks Page low and it’s Isaiah Kassidy. Matt offers the Hybrid 2 $3,700 to to beat up Matt Hardy so the beatdown is on, but Negative One sends out the Dark Order for the save. Matt has to duck the Buckshot Lariat and runs off. Page gives the Dark Order a thankful look.

So let me make sure I have this straight. Since Kassidy had a copy of the contract, we can assume that Matt was faking his outrage over the different terms. So Page assumed that Matt didn’t know what was going on and felt the need to bring out the Jaguars’ mascot to further humiliate Matt? Who found out about Page’s plans with the mascot and planted Kassidy in the suit after paying/attacking the regular person playing the mascot? That’s quite the wacky plan.

Santana and Ortiz are ready for their first Tag Team Title shot (Really?) because it’s time for the Young Bucks to pay their dues. MJF says of course he wasn’t recording Sammy Guevara last week when there was already a cameraman in the room with the. Chris Jericho doesn’t want to hear it because MJF goaded Sammy into quitting the Inner Circle. The rest of it is Sammy’s fault though and now Sammy has made the dumbest decision of all. Sammy is now dead to him and Jericho never wants to hear that name again. Tonight it’s about bringing gold back to the Inner Circle so let’s go win some championships.

We recap some of the first round of the Japanese half of the #1 contenders tournament for the Women’s Title. That’s quite the effort to set up a title match.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Riho vs. Serena Deeb

Non-title and Deeb has a bad knee coming in. They go the mat to start with Deeb going after the knee in a logical move. That’s broken up and hit the test of strength, with Riho being bridged down and staying up as Deeb lands on her. A shoulder puts Riho down but she’s back up with a cartwheel into a crossbody for two. Riho’s 619 is blocked and a catapult sends her throat first into the bottom rope. We take a break and come back with Riho fighting out of a crossarm choke and snapping off a dragon suplex.

Riho goes up but gets caught coming off the top, allowing Deeb to snap off a dragon screw legwhip out of the corner. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Riho but she knocks Deeb into the ropes for the 619. Riho’s top rope double stomp to the back gets two but Deeb is right back with a Stretch Muffler. That’s reversed into a rollup for two, followed by a northern lights suplex for two more. The top rope double stomp gets another near fall and they go to a pinfall reversal sequence with Riho rolling her up for the pin at 14:46.

Rating: B. Well you knew Riho wasn’t losing in her first match back. I’m still worried that AEW is going to have her run through everyone again because they see quite a bit in her, though this was quite the match with both of them looking good. I’m not sure why AEW needs two Women’s Champions floating around but this was a heck of a match and Deeb continues to look awesome in almost everything she does.

We look at Jade Cargill and Shaquille O’Neal training for their mixed tag by playing basketball.

Luther vs. Orange Cassidy

Serpentico and Chuck Taylor are at ringside and get in a fight at the bell. Luther hits a pump kick to knock Cassidy to the apron, where Cassidy powerbombs him to the floor. Back in and Chuck Awful Waffles Serpentico (you knew JR is all over that one), leaving Cassidy to hit the Orange Punch for the pin at 1:53.

We recap Team Tazz putting Darby Allin in a body bag and dragging him around the parking lot in a car last week.

Here’s Team Tazz to call out Sting and he’s right there for them. They don’t like the bat so Sting throws it away, meaning the beatdown is on. Brian Cage powerbombs the heck out of him. I cringe every time Sting does something physical these days so hopefully it doesn’t happen too often.

Eddie Kingston wants to get rid of Rey Fenix, but he needs to get rid of Jon Moxley. Pills, drinking and women haven’t done it, so it has to be beating Moxley once and for all, old friend.

JR sends us to a segment from earlier today with “the WWE Champion Kenny Omega.” Kenny, with Don Callis, was at a school earlier today and read the Young Bucks book to a bunch of kids. Kid after looking at the book cover: “Are they in love?” Kenny: “Uh, well they’re brothers so they love each other very much.” Kenny reads a passage about how he boosted business in the Tokyo Dome and they have to leave. They’re rather pleased with the publicity this will get but a kid wants them to stay. Callis says they can’t, but they can play with Michael Nakazawa (thankfully in regular clothes). The kids beat Nakazawa up.

Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Santana and Ortiz

Santana and Ortiz (with most of the Inner Circle) are challenging and Santana armdrags Nick down to start. Matt comes in and hammers away in the corner, only to get caught in a double team backbreaker. MJF comes up on the apron to go after Matt but the referee catches him and ejects the entire team.

We take a break and come back with Matt hitting a top rope twisting Stunner on Santana. An Iconoclasm into a sitout powerbomb gets two but Ortiz is back with a super Falcon Arrow for the same on Matt. Ortiz gets Nick in a Koji Clutch but Matt makes the save with a top rope elbow. The Bucks send Ortiz outside and the Doomsday Device gets two on Santana.

The buckle bomb into an enziguri sets up the double superkick for two with Ortiz having to make another save. Santana ducks the BTE Trigger though and rolls Ortiz over for a double Stunner on Matt. The Street Sweeper gets two on Nick with Matt having to make a last second save. Santana powerbombs Matt over the barricade into the crowd but Nick grabs a small package for the pin to retain at 13:07.

Rating: B. Another rather good match here, though I didn’t quite get into the near falls as the Bucks had only taken one finisher so they weren’t about to get pinned yet. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that Santana and Ortiz had never gotten a title shot before, but they did their thing rather well here. Good match, especially for a TV match with rather little build.

Post match the Inner Circle comes back in for the beatdown as Don Callis, Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers watch backstage. Brandon Cutler comes in for the failed save, leaving Jericho and MJF to put their holds on the Bucks for the taps. The Brothers make the very slow motion saves. The Bucks’ parents are in the crowd and the dad shoves Jericho.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes reveal the gender of their baby. It’s a girl. Dang I was hoping for a toaster.

FTR vs. Matt Sydal/Mike Sydal

Cody is on commentary and announces a ladder match for the #1 contendership to the TNT Title. As we see Dory Funk Jr. in the crowd, Mike gets knocked into the corner to start but Matt comes in for some rapid fire shots. Cash takes Mike’s head off for two though and we take a break.

Back with Matt fighting back, only to have a tornado DDT countered into a powerbomb. A dragon suplex gets two on Matt with Mike having to make a save. Matt cleans house, including the top rope Meteora. Mike tries to come in off the top with…..something but he slips a bit (must be a family thing) and crashes onto Dax for two. FTR has had it with these guys and it’s the Big Rig for the pin on Mike at 8:56.

Rating; C-. I couldn’t get into this one as it was more like Matt trying to fight FTR on his own with Mike just kind of being there. FTR beating these guys up was a fine way to go, but the Sydals just aren’t all that interesting. I did get a bit of a chuckle out of Mike slipping up as well, though it was nowhere near as bad as Matt’s debut.

Post match FTR goes for the doctor’s medical bag so they can cut off Mike’s hair. The lights go out and we see a shot of Luchasaurus’ mask. They come back up and it’s Jurassic Express (with Luchasaurus…..well apparently he just got a new mask) to clean house.

Here’s what’s coming next week, in two weeks, and at Revolution.

Jon Moxley keeps hearing about Eddie Kingston’s problems. After everything they have put each other through, Moxley is the only person who still cares about him. Moxley has a lot of things to look forward to, including February 26 when he tries to break Kenta’s neck. Then it’s time for Revolution when he takes the AEW World Title back from Kenny Omega. Kenny can’t run and the time is just about here, because it’s time to pull the trigger.

Jon Moxley/Fenix/Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade

Jake Roberts and the Bunny are here too. It’s a brawl to start with everyone fighting on the floor. Moxley gets caught in the corner for some running splashes but a neckbreaker gets him out of trouble. Archer comes in for some suplexes to Blade but Butcher tries to break up the rope walk. Fenix makes a save of his own and Archer takes Blade down anyway so we can take a break.

Back with Butcher chopping Archer in the corner and Blade bites him in the forehead for a bonus. Moxley gets tired of waiting on the apron and clotheslines Blade out to the floor. Archer crossbodies Butcher and Eddie at the same time and brings Fenix in to pick the pace way up. One heck of a running dive takes out Blade the and the rolling cutter hits Butcher. The Eddie Guerrero dance sets up a frog splash for two but Kingston cuts Fenix off with an exploder suplex.

Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns until Moxley and Kingston start the slugout. Fenix kicks Kingston in the back of the head and Moxley slaps on the bulldog choke until Blade makes the save. Archer hits a running flip dive to the floor to take out Butcher and Blade, leaving Moxley and Kingston to slug it out again. Kingston hits a spinning backfist but Moxley hits a hard clothesline. The Paradigm Shift finishes Kingston at 11:58.

Rating: B. It’s another good and wild match but they’re starting to wear a bit thin with this style. I know that’s what they do and such, but it would be nice to see them mix it up a bit instead of one wild match after another. That being said, the Moxley vs. Kingston stuff continues to be great because they make you believe everything they’re saying. That’s more than enough to make up for anything else in this match and it’s not like it was bad in the first place.

Post match the Good Brothers come in for the beatdown on Moxley and here are Omega and Moxley. Omega has a contract that gives Moxley a rematch for the title. The rematch is on at Revolution but Omega names the stipulation: an EXPLODING BARBED WIRE DEATHMATCH. Well ok then. Moxley headbutts Omega but gets V Triggered to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. That ending announcement is going to get a lot of differing opinions (as it should, mainly because it’s pretty ridiculous and took away almost every bit of the interest I had in seeing the match) but this was a heck of a show with three pretty awesome matches out of six in total. They also did the rapid fire build to the pay per view, which can work out just fine. I had a pretty awesome time with this show and it did what it needed to do while offering some awesome in-ring work. In other words, it’s AEW.

Results

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy b. Hybrid 2 – Twist of Fate to Angelico

Riho b. Serena Deeb – Rollup

Orange Cassidy b. Luther – Orange Punch

Young Bucks b. Santana and Ortiz – Small package to Santana

FTR b. Mike Sydal/Matt Sydal – Big Rig to Mike

Jon Moxley/Fenix/Lance Archer b. Butcher and the Blade/Eddie Kingston – Paradigm Shift to Kingston

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: February 10, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re still starting to get on the road to Revolution and that means we might find out a few more matches on the way there. The big story from last week was the surprise debut of Kenta, who signals the new relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling. That could certainly lead in a few different directions so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Joey Janela vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending and we actually hear about a PWG match between the two of them. Feeling out process to start with Darby sending him arm first into the corner. Joey knocks him to the floor for the suicide elbow and laughs a lot. Back in and Joey grabs a bodyscissors with some bonus fishhooks to the jaw. Allin fights up and sends Janela to the apron, only to get caught with a shot to the eye. Back in and Allin nails a shotgun dropkick into the corner and then snaps the arm down onto the top rope.

Janela gets knocked outside for the suicide dive into the barricade for the big crash. They head inside again with Allin grabbing the Fujiwara armbar to send Janela over to the ropes. Allin’s springboard Coffin Drop is countered into a German suplex (that looked good) but Allin flips around to hit a Stunner for two. Janela is right back with a piledriver for two, followed by a trio to the top. Allin cranks on the arm up top and hits a super sunset bomb for another near fall. The Coffin Drop retains the title at 8:49.

Rating: C+. I’m still not big on Janela but they got into a nice groove with the trading big spots by the end. Throw in Allin’s complete lack of worry about hurting himself for the sake of a spot and it works out well enough. The lack of Team Taz hurt a bit as they kept talking about it, but at least it let Allin look better without some kind of shenanigans.

We look back at Kenta’s debut and preview the rest of the show.

Jon Moxley is used to Kenta calling him out and last week Kenta showed up to look like a dork. Kenta and Kenny Omega must have gotten together on some Bullet Club message board and decided to come after him. They’ll meet later this month but tonight it’s unsanctioned with Moxley teaming up with Lance Archer to face the two of them. Tonight, it’s just for fun.

Sammy Guevara comes in to see the Inner Circle and asks to speak to Maxwell Jacob Friedman alone. Everyone leaves but Sammy wants the cameraman to stay. Sammy knows that MJF is trying to take over the Inner Circle but MJF has no idea what’s going on. When MJF first got into the Inner Circle, he thought Sammy was just jealous.

Now though, he understands that Sammy really hates Chris Jericho. Sammy must think that he should be the front man because Sammy wants to take over the Inner Circle. That leaves Sammy so incredulous that he repeats it, which is exactly what MJF, and his phone, wanted to hear. Sammy punches him in the ribs and leaves him laying.

Cody Rhodes/Lee Johnson vs. Cezar Bononi/Peter Avalon

Arn Anderson is here with Cody and Johnson, with Arn’s son in the crowd. JR: “His face looks like it belongs on a can of beef stew.” Cody works on Avalon’s arm to start and hands it off to Johnson, who is quickly headlocked. Bononi comes in off a blind tag and gets in a hard shot to drop Johnson. A moonsault lets Lee flip over Avalon and a dropkick scores as well. That’s enough to send Avalon over to Bononi again but a jawbreaker lets Lee make his own tag.

A pumphandle flip slam drops Cody on his face and we take a break. Back with Cody catching Avalon’s springboard in a fireman’s carry gutbuster. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Lee, who drops Avalon with a neckbreaker. One heck of a corkscrew flip dive takes Bononi down and a fisherman’s buster onto the knee gets two on Avalon as Bononi makes the save. Bononi cleans house and drops Lee face first, though he’s fine enough to grab a rollup for the pin at 7:50.

Rating: C+. This was a way to showcase Lee and that worked out well enough. Having Cody interested in teaming with Lee is going to make him look even better so if they can make a new star out of him, well done. It’s not like Avalon and Bononi losing means anything either so no one is hurt here, meaning it’s a nice little success.

Post match the Nightmare Family comes out to celebrate Johnson’s first win in AEW, making him 1-29. The Nightmare Family is his family.

The Young Bucks run into the Good Brothers, who find it funny that the Bucks lost last week’s battle royal. The Bucks were going to pick the Good Brothers if they won but the Brothers are more interested in promoting Impact Wrestling’s No Surrender this weekend. As for around here though, the Brothers think the Bucks should be mad at Santana and Ortiz, so the Bucks agree to give Santana and Ortiz and title shot next week. Nick reluctantly gives a too sweet.

Matt Hardy interrupts Hangman Page and suggests a tag team. For tonight though, Matt has rented out a private bar for the two of them and the tab is on Matt all night long. That works for Page, who runs into the Dark Order. They offer him a spot drinking with them but he mentions Matt and things are cool enough.

Pac vs. Ryan Nemeth

Fenix is here with Pac. They circle each other to start and Pac knocks him down with ease. Some kicks have Nemeth in more trouble and Pac even knocks him to the floor. Back in and Nemeth does his best Dolph Ziggler impression with the jumping DDT. Pac isn’t exactly having that though and drops Nemeth again, setting up the Black Arrow. The Brutalizer makes Nemeth tap at 4:19.

Rating: C-. There’s something special about Pac giving up a bit of offense but just turning it on to win in the end because he knows there is no one that can stop him. Pac has shaken the ring rust off and looks like his old killer self again and that’s a great thing. Nemeth isn’t much in the ring and just makes me think he’s Ziggler’s lame little brother (I mean….).

We look back at last week’s zany wedding, with Miro swearing vengeance on Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor.

Cassidy and Taylor are drinking the champagne with Cassidy asking what they thought was going to happen last week. Taylor: “Obviously Orange Cassidy was going to pop out of a cake.”

MJF, now with taped ribs, comes up to Chris Jericho and says Sammy punched him in the ribs. There might have been some breaking involved! Jericho says it’s ok and they’ll deal with this after their match.

Acclaimed vs. Chris Jericho/MJF

Max Castor knocks MJF out to the floor to start, with the ribs getting banged up even more. Back in and Castor drops Jericho as well, setting up Anthony Bowens’ slingshot elbow. MJF comes back in but gets planted down on the ribs for two. Bowens is eventually taken into the corner though and it’s a double flapjack, allowing Jericho and MJF to step over him for a rather snobby moment.

Back from a break with Castor reversing MJF’s abdominal stretch into one of his own. That’s enough for the tag off to Bowens, who picks up the pace with dropkicks. Bowens grabs a torture rack and spins MJF down for a faceplant before having to knock Santana off the apron. Jericho’s Lionsault is broken up with a boom box shot for two but Jake Hager pushes Castor off the top. The Judas Effect finishes for Jericho at 9:05.

Rating: C. I haven’t been impressed by the Acclaim so far so it was nice to see them have a pretty decent match tonight. It’s even better to see that Jericho seems to be a little bit more motivated (and maybe a tad bit slimmer) as the Inner Circle continues to do something fresh. Good little match though and this worked out well enough.

Post match the Inner Circle celebrates but here’s Sammy Guevara to interrupt. Jericho asks him what’s going on, and Sammy brings up what he said on December 9: if MJF did one more thing, Sammy was out. Well now he’s done, because he quits. And there’s the face turn (or at least part of the face turn) that Sammy has been primed for over the last few months.

Post break, Sammy leaves the building.

Hangman Page and Matt Hardy are drinking at the bar but Hardy isn’t as well versed with some of the choices. Hardy makes his sales pitch as the agent and even has a contract offer. Page actually agrees but, as Matt talks to the camera, switches the papers and signs something else. He has Matt sign as well but Matt is too excited to notice and leaves with whatever Page had him sign.

Tony Schiavone brings out Sting for an interview but Team Taz interrupts, showing that they have Darby Allin in a body bag. Allin, still in the bag, is tied to the car and dragged across the parking lot. Sting gives chase as we take a break.

Earlier today, Alex Marvez tried to talk to Kenny Omega on the golf course but has to wait for the shot. Marvez asks what Omega is doing when he has such a big main event coming up. Omega says he’s already the best wrestler ever so now it’s time to prepare mentally and spiritually her eon the golf course. Don Callis praises Kenny for his alleged eagle (ignore the adjusting of the ball while Omega and Marvez talked) and lets Marvez have the ball as a souvenir. Marvez asks for a ride but gets turned down. Maybe because Callis and Omega are on foot?

Women’s Title Eliminator Tournament First Round: Thunder Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch

Rosa gets an inset interview talking about her goals of becoming champion. Hirsch takes her down a few times to start but Rosa gets in a slam and scores with a running backsplash. Back up and Hirsch pulls her down into the waistlock, followed by the running up the ropes for an armdrag. A suicide dive drops Rosa again but she’s right back in, where Hirsch pulls her down by the arm. That’s broken up as well and Rosa snaps off a neckbreaker over the middle rope.

We take a break and come back with Rosa hitting some sling shot knees in the corner. The running basement dropkick in the corner gives Rosa two but Hirsch shoves her off the top. A high crossbody gives Hirsch two but her moonsault hits raised knees. Rosa loads up a fire thunder driver, only to have Hirsch pull her down into a triangle choke. That’s countered with a powerbomb though and Rosa’s layout inverted reverse DDT finishes at 9:15.

Rating: C+. Hirsch continues to be someone they see something in and I can’t say I blame them a bit. There is always going to be a place for someone with her amateur skills and she makes things feel different. Then you have Rosa though and the star power is all over her, hence why she is likely going to make a deep run in this thing.

We run down the first round of the Japanese half of the bracket. The matches will air on YouTube this coming Monday.

Jungle Boy talks about his great match with Dax Harwood, where Boy won by submission. No the Jurassic Express didn’t want o have FTR suspended, so as soon as possible, Boy is making Harwood his b****.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenta/Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley/Lance Archer

Falls Count Anywhere and Kenta gets in a briefcase (his #1 contendership to Moxley’s US Title) shot to Moxleys’s back to start. Some kicks to Archer’s knee lets Omega hit the Kitaro Crusher but he and Kenta get in an argument. That’s enough for Archer and Moxley to fight back, though they don’t seem to trust one another either. The running clotheslines in the corner have Omega and Kenta in trouble again. Omega and Archer are knocked outside but it’s too early for the GTS to Moxley.

Instead here’s Omega with a trashcan to knock Moxley silly and then put the trashcan on the post. That means the moonsault with the trashcan onto Moxley and it’s time to cringe a bit. It’s time to bring in a ladder but Moxley fights back and hits a suicide dive on Kenta as Archer supelxes Omega into said ladder.

We take a break, coming back with Kenta and Omega fighting near the stage….and here’s Peter Avalon (out of his heart shaped bed) to interrupt and take the GTS it as well. Archer chokeslams Omega onto said bed and Moxley kicks Kenta in the face for two. Moxley knocks Kenta around the arena and then up the steps near the door Moxley uses every week.

Archer leaves Omega laying and goes after them but they have wound up in a kitchen. A DDT puts Moxley onto a metal table and the YES Lock goes on, only to have Archer make the save with a bag of potatoes. Moxley grabs one and hits Omega, getting to say that “he potatoed him”.

We look back at the rest of the match and come back with Omega and Moxley coming back to the arena. Moxley gets in a few kendo stick shots to Omega as they head inside again. Omega V Triggers Moxley out of the air and out to the floor though as the things slow back down. Cue Archer and Kenta to fight on the stage with Archer loading up a powerbomb through the announcers’ table. That’s broken up though and Kenta hits a running double stomp to put Moxley through a ringside table.

Archer sees Omega in the middle of the ring so Omega grabs the kendo stick. That shot is easily blocked so Omega goes after the knee. Archer is fine enough to hit a chokeslam though and the ladder is tossed to the floor. The rope walk moonsault gives Archer two but Omega slips out of the Blackout.

Cue the Good Brothers so Archer knocks them down and shrugs off Kenta’s spinning backfists. The Brothers get in though and Anderson hits Archer with the Gun stun. Jake Roberts gets in so Anderson uppercuts him down but Omega’s V Trigger is broken up. The Brothers low blow Archer to cut him off though and there’s the Magic Killer. The One Winged Angel is enough to finish Archer at 19:53.

Rating: B-. This is going to be a case where your individual tastes may heavily vary but there was too much going on here and it got a little too goofy at times. Stuff like Peter Avalon and the potatoes make for some good gags but they didn’t quite fit with the anger and violence that seemed to be the idea here. Not a bad match at all and it was certainly wild, though just not my thing for this one.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked the show pretty well this week, though we’re still far enough out from Revolution that it’s ok to not set up a lot of the card just yet. You can see the pieces being put together at the moment and, as usual, if this is one of their weaker shows, they’re going to be just fine. This worked out well enough and I’m curious to see where things go, which is more than a lot of companies are accomplishing these days.

Results

Darby Allin b. Joey Janela – Coffin Drop

Cody Rhodes/Lee Johnson b. Cezar Bononi/Peter Avalon – Rollup to Avalon

Pac b. Ryan Nemeth – Brutalizer

Chris Jericho/MJF b. Acclaimed – Judas Effect to Castor

Thunder Rosa b. Leyla Hirsch – layout inverted reverse DDT

Kenny Omega/Kenta b. Jon Moxley/Lance Archer – One Winged Angel to Archer

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: February 3, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another special show because AEW loves itself some special shows. This time around it’s Beach Break, because when you think February, you think of the beach. The big draws this time are a six man tag and a wedding on the beach, one of which feels like a prime location for some wacky shenanigans. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Jurassic Express, Chris Jericho/MJF, Stu Grayson/Evil Uno, Alex Silver/John Reynolds, Private Party, Acclaimed, Sammy Guevara/Jake Hager, Santana/Ortiz, Young Bucks, Top Flight

Both members have to be eliminated for a change and the winners get the Bucks at Revolution for the titles (though the Bucks can pick their opponents if they win). During the entrances, Sammy Hagar himself predicts Guevara and Hager winning, despite sounding like he has no idea what is going on. FTR isn’t here due to being suspended after last week. The Bucks dive off the stage to take everyone out before the bell. They all get inside with Isaiah Kassidy diving off the top and…..I have no idea as the camera cuts away.

Dante Martin gets put out in a hurry and Hager knocks out Alex Reynolds as we see a replay of Kassidy missing everyone. John Silver manages to eliminate Hager in a big upset and the entire Dark Order celebrates. Matt Jackson and Alex Bowens are tossed out and it’s Luchasaurus getting to clean house. Grayson makes the mistake of trying to get rid of Luchasaurus and is chokeslammed out. Silver and Uno toss Luchasaurus though, only to have Uno get tossed seconds later to get rid of our first full team.

The Silly String is broken up by Darius Martin (JR: “Did you hear that kids? THE SILLY STRING GOT BLOCKED!”) and Marq Quen is out. Silver suplexes Acclaimed down at the same time but they toss him out in a big bump. Nick takes down Jericho and Ortiz with a high crossbody and then knocks out Santana and Ortiz on his own. The Good Brothers are watching from ringside and low bridge Kassidy out to get rid of Private Party. MJF knocks out the distracted Nick and it’s time for a double pose from MJF and Jericho.

We’re down to MJF/Jericho, Guevara, Jungle Boy, Max Castor and Darius Martin. That sets up something like a six man tag with MJF sending Boy to the apron but not out. The rest of the Inner Circle helps on Boy but Martin and Castor make a save. Another attempt is enough to get rid of Boy though and it’s MJF having a staredown with Guevara. Castor breaks that up but Sammy superkicks him down.

Sammy isn’t happy with that, but he’s happy with Castor backdropping MJF out. Martin gets rid of Castor, and we’re down to Martin vs. Jericho vs. Guevara. A double DDT plants Jericho and Guevara so Martin goes after Sammy, with Jericho tossing Sammy out. Jericho sends Martin to the apron though and it’s the Judas Effect for the final elimination at 11:36.

Rating: C+. This worked out better than I would have bet on as they kept it short but also had a nice twist on having the double eliminations deal. I can get that going either way, but it worked out well here and that’s something nice to see in a match that rarely goes all that well given the nature of the thing. If nothing else, having MJF getting more TV time to set things up should be a great thing.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Video on Jade Cargill, or at least her training.

Tony Schiavone brings out Darby Allin and Sting (dig that snow at the beach) for a chat. Hold on though as before they can say anything, Team Taz interrupts from the parking lot. They aren’t happy that Allin is defending the TNT Title against Joey Janela next week. They’re going to be watching and might even get involved. Ricky Starks doesn’t think Sting is an Icon or the Man Called Sting, because Sting will get hurt playing in the jungle. Sting says that’s fine with him, because he’ll be here next week to make sure everything is fair. As for Starks saying he doesn’t see the old Sting anymore, maybe he needs to take a closer look.

Video on Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa, which has been a pretty well built match.

Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa

Rebel is here with Baker. Rosa charges to the ring to start and we’re off in a hurry, with Rosa going after the arm. Some chops in the corner are broken up and Baker takes her down into a crossface chickenwing. A running dropkick in the corner gives Rosa two but she misses a charge into the corner and bangs up the knee. Baker wraps the leg around the rope and pulls the shoulder into the post to keep Rosa in trouble. They fight out to the floor with Rosa sending her into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Rosa hitting a running corner clothesline, followed by some slingshot knees. Baker’s running dropkick gets two and they’re both down for a bit. It’s Rosa up first but her piledriver is countered into an Air Raid Crash for two. We pause for a second for Rosa to tie her top back up but manages to block the Lockjaw. A running stomp into a crucifix has Rosa in trouble but she counters Lockjaw again.

They keep rolling around until Rosa manages a suplex to escape. The Death Valley Driver gets two on Baker and it’s time to crank on the arm, only to have Rebel come in and rip off a turnbuckle pad. The distraction gets Baker out of trouble and it’s the Downward Spiral into the exposed buckle. Rosa is out and Lockjaw is academic to give Baker the win at 13:11.

Rating: B. Rather good stuff here and it’s nice to see Baker getting the big win. I’m still not sure how long it is going to take to get her into the title picture but it seems like something that should have happened months ago. Rosa looked awesome as well and the combination made for one of the better matches the women’s division has seen in the company’s history.

We look at Hangman Page dressing in Matt Hardy’s rather large dressing room but Page says they aren’t a team and have no agreement. Matt proposes a team for tonight and it seems to be on.

Hangman Page/Matt Hardy vs. Chaos Project

Page isn’t having a good week as he lost $400 playing with stocks. Matt hammers Serpentico in the corner to start and it’s off to Page for a running shooting star press for two. Matt’s shirt comes off for the middle rope elbow to Serpentico’s arm. There’s the Side Effect but Luther comes in off a blind tag for a chop in the corner.

Some running shots connect in the corner, including one where Luther hits Serpentico by mistake. Serpentico misses a Swanton though and the hot tag brings in Page to start cleaning house. Luther is sent outside and there’s a discus right hand to Serpentico. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up but Page takes Luther down, setting up the Buckshot Lariat. Hardy tags himself in and steals the pin at 3:55.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure how interesting a Hardy/Page story would be but it’s something for Page to do to bridge the gap to whatever his next big thing is. Hardy has more than a few things going on already so it isn’t like he needs this feud. Page seems to have an issue with teams though and that might be the case again.

We look at the women’s #1 contenders tournament, which will be held in Japan and America. Here are the talent pools (without brackets):

Aja Kong

Yuka Sakazaki

Veny

Emi Sakura

Ryo Mizunami

Mei Suruga

Rin Kadokura

Maki Itoh

Serena Deeb

Riho

Britt Baker

Tay Conti

Thunder Rosa

Nyla Rose

Anna Jay

Leyla Hirsch

Hopefully some of these matches are presented in highlights because fifteen matches in about a month is a lot (assuming it ends at Revolution).

Jericho and MJF have the cooler ready for the celebration with the Inner Circle but they aren’t happy with losing. Jericho leaves and MJF says it’s time for a meeting, with Wardlow closing the door.

Miro, Kip Sabian and Charles Taylor are ready for the wedding.

And now we go to the ring, with Vickie Guerrero escorting Kip Sabian. James Mitchell is the officiant, who commentary doesn’t seem to recognize because….reasons. Jerry Lynn brings out Penelope Ford who is wearing….well not much really. They do their own vows, with Sabian talking about looking at Ford’s chest when she was wearing a one piece with boots and knew she was the one. Penelope says Sabian has the biggest and we’ll just cut her off there.

Taylor hands Miro the ring and Mitchell asks if Sabian takes Ford to have and to group, kayfabing all others for as long as they both shall live. Ford is asked if she takes this dashing rapscallion (that’s a great word) for the same things and she’s in as well. They go to the “speak now” deal but Miro cuts it off because he’s been burned too many times before. Mitchell, as empowered by Tony Khan, says they’re married and Ford can kiss the ball and chain.

It’s time for a toast, with Miro saying he’s been here before and it’s all about love. But what is love? He has no present for them because his knowledge, power and viciousness is their present. Hold on though as there is a big present, which is from Charles Taylor. Miro beats up the box and….there is nothing in it. Even Schiavone doesn’t blame him so Miro goes back to the toast, but the fans sing WHAT IS LOVE in a funny bit.

It’s time for the cake but Taylor decks Sabian as Miro has been shackled to the rope. Ford is sent face first into the cake. Sabian punches Miro by mistake so he beats Taylor down…..and Orange Cassidy is in the cake. Taylor hits Sabian in the head with something and it’s a Beach Break to leave Sabian laying. They had some good tongue in cheek bits here and it worked out rather well. I’m still not sure why the announcers didn’t know who Mitchell was but that’s a minor point at best.

We go to Inside The NBA where Shaquille O’Neal agrees to team with Jade Cargill to face Red Velvet/Cody Rhodes. Shaq demonstrates the Black Tornado, which seems to be the Judas Effect. I was hoping for the Kazam Slam. Anyway the match is on the March 3 Dynamite.

Eddie Kingston vs. Lance Archer

No DQ lumberjack match with Jake Roberts on the floor, but not as a lumberjack. Archer is pulled outside for a beating from Butcher and Blade but the other lumberjacks come over to glare. Then Billy Gunn actually throws Eddie Kingston back in….which doesn’t sit well with Kingston because he wants to fight with the lumberjacks instead. Archer hits the big dive off the apron to take everyone down so we take a break.

Back with Archer going back inside for a full nelson slam and snapping off a suplex. The Bunny comes in for the save but gets loaded up for the Black Out. Kingston makes the save with the spinning backfist to send Archer outside as Roberts takes out Angelico. Back in and Eddie hits an exploder for two so Butcher loads up a table in the corner. That means a brawl between Butcher/Blade and Bear Country, with the table being broken in the corner. Archer catches Kingston on the top for the Black Out and the pin at 9:04.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here and it distracted from things a bit, but the brawling they had worked out well. Archer needed the win to boost him back up and there is a good chance that we will be seeing them fight again in one more blowoff. I certainly do appreciate them making it clear that it was No DQ as it can be rather annoying to have a match like this get too insane otherwise. Pretty good stuff here.

FTR is livid about being banned from the battle royal over attacking a dinosaur. Tully Blanchard rants about what it takes to get a title shot….and they pull over a handcuffed and gagged Marko Stunt. Can they pay someone to get rid of him? I’m sure a circus could use him as elephant food or something.

Joey Janela talks about his history with Darby Allin. Next week, the stakes have never been higher though and Janela is winning the title. This could have been far worse.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Jon Moxley/Pac/Rey Fenix

Don Callis is on commentary. Anderson shoulders Pac down to start but Pac comes back with a shot of his own. It’s off to Gallows vs. Moxley with Jon slugging away, only to get hit in the face. Moxley takes him down again and drops an elbow for two but Gallows powers him into the corner for the tag off to Anderson. That’s fine with Moxley, who drives Anderson into the corner for the tag to Pac.

A series of standing moonsaults get two on Anderson but Omega catches Pac on top so Gallows can hit a kick to the head. Pac gets slammed off the top and it’s off to Omega, who can’t hit a suplex. Instead Pac hits a snap German suplex so it’s back to Moxley to hit a release suplex on Anderson. Moxley’s slingshot dive to the floor takes out Gallows and a suicide dive (with Moxley hitting the brakes before he goes flying into something hard) drops the Good Brothers.

We take a break and come back with Moxley countering a powerbomb into a quickly broken Figure Four on Gallows. Moxley low bridges Gallows to the floor and avoids an Anderson charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag to Fenix. Omega is waiting on him so Fenix kicks everyone in the face, setting up a springboard high angle spinning headbutt. Pac comes in for a dropkick to Omega and we get stereo moonsaults to the floor with Pac and Fenix taking down the Good Brothers.

Back in and Fenix moonsaults into a rolling cutter on Omega (that was sweet) for two more. Omega crotches Fenix on top though and it’s a hanging snapdragon to drop Fenix on his head. Gallows kicks Fenix’s head off for two but Pac tags himself back in to strike away, including a sliding kick to the side of Gallows’ head for two. Another superkicks drops Pac though and it’s time for the parade of shots in the corner to crush Pac. Omega hits a Liger Bomb for two on Pac and there’s the V Trigger to rock him again.

The One Winged Angel is broken up so it’s Fenix and Moxley coming back in to beat Omega up. Pac’s great looking bridging German suplex gets two and it’s time for the Moxley vs. Omega slugout. That’s broken up by the parade of shots to the face and Omega hits a Paradigm Shift on Moxley. Pac breaks that up with a 450 so it’s back to Anderson, who gets caught with a Gun Stun from Moxley. Fenix’s double springboard moonsault press gets two but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster. The Magic Killer finishes Fenix at 15:28.

Rating: A-. Now this was the kind of match you would have expected and it makes me want to see more of Pac and Fenix. They more than held their own here and I could go for a lot more of everyone involved. These guys had a heck of a mostly non-stop action match and I wanted to see how it was going to end. Awesome main event here and one of the better matches AEW has had in a long time.

Post match Moxley comes back in to go after Omega but the beatdown is on. Cue Lance Archer to go after Omega and the Good Brothers (that’s interesting), leaving Moxley and Omega alone (JR: “We’re looking for a three count here.”). Moxley gets up but someone jumps him from behind…..and it’s Kenta to jump him from behind for the Go To Sleep (which Moxley doesn’t take well). Kenta is the current #1 contender to Moxley’s New Japan United States Title and Omega seems rather pleased to end the show. I’m not big on Kenta but this felt big and it’s FAR better suited than the Impact stuff.

Overall Rating: A-. This show was a great mixture of stuff throughout the whole night with the main event and surprise at the end. AEW is at its best when they are flying around at a hundred miles an hour and they did it rather well here. They had a heck of a show here and they even made a wedding angle with two of the Best Friends involved work. I’m not sure what more you could ask for here, save for less Chaos Project of course.

Results

Chris Jericho/MJF won a tag team battle royal last eliminating Top Flight

Britt Baker b. Thunder Rosa – Lockjaw

Matt Hardy/Hangman Page b. Chaos Project – Buckshot Lariat to Luther

Lance Archer b. Eddie Kingston – Blackout

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Pac/Rey Fenix/Jon Moxley – Magic Killer to Fenix

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.

Hard To Kill 2021
Date: January 16, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Matt Striker, D’Lo Brown

We’re back on pay per view with this one and that means it is time to step things up. This time around, the big story is AEW’s Kenny Omega coming in to team with the Good Brothers against Rich Swann/Moose/Chris Sabin (as Alex Shelley is out due to some personal circumstances). The card isn’t looking great but Impact can do some good pay per views. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers

Alexander takes him down by the leg to start and then spins out of a wristlock to put Myers down again. They head outside with Myers being driven back first into the apron but Myers shoves him hard off the top. We take a break and come back with Myers grabbing a quickly broken chinlock. Myers trips him down to cut off the comeback and the chinlock goes on again. That’s broken up as well so Myers hits a Downward Spiral for two, sending us to another break.

Back again with a discus forearm putting Myers on the floor. Alexander can’t get a German suplex but he can get the ankle lock, followed by the German suplex for two. Myers catches him with an enziguri on top, setting up the superplex with Alexander tying the legs up into a small package for two more.

A quick Michinoku Driver gives Myers two so Alexander backslides him for the same (with Striker throwing in a Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair reference because he tries way too hard). The ankle lock goes on and Myers can’t roll out, so instead he pulls the headgear around to blind Alexander. That’s enough for the running clothesline to finish Alexander at 10:54.

Rating: C-. Are they kidding? Who in the world looks at Myers and Alexander (especially including their histories and thinks that Myers, as “The Most Professional Wrestler”, is the more interesting choice? I don’t get this one, but I’m hoping they have a better idea than just pushing him because he used to be in WWE. Baffling decision here, and it came after a just ok match.

The opening video looks at how people had to survive a lot over the year but they are hard to kill. This includes a good bit of AEW footage, plus Alex Shelley announcing that he will not be able to be here tonight. Moose is taking his place, which could be a bit better.

Decay vs. Tenille Dashwood/Kaleb With A K

That would be Rosemary/Crazy Steve. The men start things off with Steve headlocking him down and then tripping the leg. Rosemary comes in to crank on the arm and then hands it back to Steve. Kaleb sends him outside but thinks twice about the dive, instead bringing Dashwood in to elbow Rosemary in the face. Some shots to the back have Rosemary in more trouble and we hit the chinlock, complete with Dashwood rubbing Rosemary’s head.

Kaleb takes too much time going up though and Dashwood gets kicked into him for the crotching. Rosemary kicks Dashwood away again and the hot tag brings in Steve to start cleaning house. A rollup out of the corner brings Dashwood in for the save so Steve glares her out to the floor. Kaleb takes over on Steve’s arm, setting up a Russian legsweep for no cover.

Instead Kaleb stops for a photo, meaning Steve can avoid the moonsault. That’s enough for Rosemary to come in and clean house as everything breaks down. Rosemary hits a spear but walks into Kaleb’s superkick. The green mist hits Dashwood and Kaleb backfists Steve down. More mist blinds Kaleb and Steve hits a tornado DDT for the pin at 8:55.

Rating: C. Kind of a weird choice for an opener as the match wasn’t really a big part of the build (I’m not even sure I remember it being mentioned on TV) and it was just ok anyway. Rosemary and Steve work well together and while it’s nice to see Kaleb take the fall, it’s another miss for Dashwood. Not terrible by any means, but not a great match with a weird placement.

We run down the card. Still makes little sense on a pay per view.

We recap (with the video starting before Striker was done talking) Eric Young and company attacking various people around here. That means it’s time for Tommy Dreamer to defend his latest wrestling home, meaning we have a six man Old School tag.

Violent By Design vs. Tommy Dreamer/Rhino/Cousin Jake

Old School (extreme) rules. That would be the name for Eric Young/Deaner/Joe Doering, because every team needs a name now. Striker: “I don’t think there is anyone who has done what Tommy Dreamer has done over the last thirty years at such a high level.” I think we can write that off as the first stupid Striker line of the night and move on. The ring is mostly cleared to start and it’s Jake vs. Deaner n the big showdown.

They’re out on the floor in a hurry as we go to a triple screen (THANK YOU!) until everyone winds up on the same side at ringside. The wild brawling continues until Dreamer brings in the cookie sheet to knock Young down. Back inside and a cutter drops Young again so it’s time for Rhino, Dreamer and Deaner to chair Doering down. That isn’t enough to keep him down as Doering gets up and bites Dreamer’s head.

Deaner throws Jake off the top onto two open chairs….and exactly thirty seconds later, Jake is back up with a suicide dive onto Doering and Young. That leaves Dreamer to crotch Deaner on top and it’s something like a Tower of Doom, with Dreamer getting kicked in the face in the process. Rhino posts Doering on the floor and it’s time for the thumbtacks. Young is backdropped onto said tacks and there’s the Gore to drop Doering. Jake’s Black Hole Slam gets two on Deaner with Young making the save with the hockey mask. The piledriver finishes Deaner at 9:51.

Rating: D+. They brawled, they did the same violent spots they always do, they tried to make Dreamer some kind of legend and Young was treated as the big evil. This was almost everything I don’t like about Impact rolled into one match and I have a bad feeling that it is going to be continuing for a good while to come. Throw in Doering being the latest monster without much of a reason to care about him other than who he associates with, we could be in for a long run with these guys.

Rich Swann fires up Chris Sabin when Moose comes in. Swann doesn’t trust Moose because Willie Mack would be here if Moose hadn’t taken him out. Moose talks about playing football with people he didn’t like but he would die for them once a game began. Tonight, Omega and the Brothers are getting beaten down all night long.

Video on the Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament.

Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament: Fire And Flava vs. Havok/Nevaeh

For the vacant titles and that would be Tasha Steelz/Kiera Hogan, because, again, every team needs a name these days. Steelz and Hogan jump them to start with little avail, meaning it’s Steelz and Nevaeh to officially get things going. Havok comes in so Steelz bails out to Hogan, who is promptly backbreakered. A sliding clothesline gives Nevaeh two and it’s back to Havok to wreck both of them.

Havok misses a legdrop so some kicks to the face put her down for two. More running kicks in the corner give Hogan two but Havok drives Steelz into the corner. Havok tosses both of them down at the same time, allowing the tag off to Nevaeh. Steelz DDTs Hogan by mistake (yep still stupid) but Nevaeh gets caught on top.

That’s fine with Havok, who powerbombs both of them out of the corner (after walking a bit to show off). Hogan is back up with a neckbreaker on Havok and a Stunner rocks her again. Havok gets taken to the floor, leaving Hogan to hit a fisherman’s neckbreaker to Nevaeh for the pin and the titles at 8:48.

Rating: C. They aren’t exactly in the mood to give the wrestlers time tonight. This was a fairly rushed match but it’s nice to have one of the established teams win rather than a makeshift pair becoming the champions. I’m not sure what kind of a future the titles have, but it was an acceptable enough start.

Madison Rayne and Gail Kim come out to present the new titles.

Decay comes up to Taya Valkyrie but she, politely says she has this tonight. The women leave and Acey Romero sneaks into the Knockouts locker room.

Here are the unscheduled Ace Austin and Madman Fulton for a chat. Austin does not like being relegated to the pre-show panel because he won the Super X Cup. That means he should be #1 contender to the X-Division Title. So come on Scott D’Amore. Get out here and make the match. Cue D’Amore who agrees Austin needs a match so here is his opponent.

Ace Austin vs. Matt Cardona

Striker: “This is a mark out moment and I’m marking out bro!” Cardona starts fast with a running faceplant to send Austin to the apron. That means Austin can do his gymnastics on the apron until Cardona trips him face first. As Striker talks about “popping the internet”, a swinging neckbreaker drops Austin onto the floor. Fulton’s distraction lets Austin get in a cheap shot but it’s a flapjack to put him down back inside. The running corner clothesline sets up the Reboot (Broski Boot) but Fulton comes in for the DQ at 2:33.

Post match Cardona clears the ring in a hurry.

We recap the X-Division Title match. TJP couldn’t get another title shot so he put on a mask as Manik and won the title. Rohit Raju and Chris Bey want to unmask him and prove everything so we’re having a triple threat title match.

X-Division Title: Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju vs. Manik

Manik is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Manik dropkicks Bey to the floor to start and runs the ropes with Raju. Bey is back in and that means a three way standoff. Raju gets knocked down again and Bey uses him as a launchpad to dropkick Manik to the floor this time. That doesn’t last long as Manik and Bey switch places, allowing Raju to counter a headscissors into a reverse sitout powerbomb for two on Manik.

Bey comes back in and Raju misses a charge to the floor, allowing Manik to tie up Bey’s legs. Raju rejoins them for a standing armbar on Manik at the same time as Brown and Striker over if that is TJP or not. The double holds are broken up and Manik sends Raju outside, leaving Bey to hit a springboard kick to the head to catch Manik in the ropes. Bey misses a dive and gets apron bombed down for the mistake. Back in and Raju gets Manik’s mask off to reveal…a painted face.

Manik goes up top for a frog splash but dives into a cutter from Bey. A double Art of Finesse lets Bey cover Manik for two and everyone is down for a second. Raju is up first and ties Bey in the Tree of Woe, meaning Manik can come in with a springboard hurricanrana. The Detonation Kick connects with Bey making the save so he and Manik fight over a Tombstone.

Manik finally plants him but walks into a jumping knee from Raju. A kick to the face gives Raju two on Manik and everyone is down again. Raju is sent to the floor, leaving Manik to hit a springboard DDT on Bey. The frog splash hits Bey and Raju slides back in for two in a callback to what set this up. Raju throws Manik off the top but gets kicked in the head by Bey.

They go up top with Bey getting tied in the Tree of Woe again. Raju pulls Manik into a Crossface (which Striker says is a variation on the Regal Stretch, because, again, Striker tries too hard) until Bey makes the save. Manik rolls to the floor so Raju unloads with shots to Bey’s head, only to have Manik roll Raju up to retain at 13:52.

Rating: B. Now this was good as they were doing all of their spots in a hurry while making the match feel like a frenzy. That’s the kind of match you would want for a pay per view X-Division Title match and the show needed it pretty badly. Manik continues to be one of the best in-ring stars on the roster, but the painted face under the mask is a pretty weak way to keep things going.

Post match, Manik taunts Raju with the win.

Eddie Edwards tells Alisha that she can’t be involved in the Barbed Wire Massacre. She can’t be at risk because Eddie doesn’t know what is happening to him. Alisha promises not to go out there.

We recap Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie. Purrazzo is the amazing champion, Valkyrie used to be the amazing champion, the title match is on.

Knockouts Title: Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie

Purrazzo is defending and has Kimber Lee and Susan with her, while Taya has Decay. Taya knocks her into the corner to start and hammers away against the ropes. Purrazzo is knocked outside where Lee gets in a cheap shot and Susan starts recording Steve. The referee gets knocked down so it’s a big group ejection to leave us one on one. Striker is confused about whether the bell rang or not, because he was probably too busy making some reference to Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1983.

Back in and Purrazzo starts on the arm, including a Russian legsweep and a roll through into a Tequila Sunrise. Now it’s off to a kneebar so Taya has to go to the rope again. A DDT on the knee gets two but Taya is back up with chops and a spear for two. Purrazzo dropkicks the knee out but Taya runs her over again without much effort.

There’s a Curb Stomp into something like an STF, which Striker….actually doesn’t screw up (even a bad announcer finds the right move once a match). Back up and Taya can’t hit a tilt-a-whirl slam as Purrazzo takes her down into the Fujiwara Armbar. That’s switches into Cosa Nostra to retain the title at 11:35.

Rating: B-. I can go for watching these two doing their thing for a good while and that is what we got here. Purrazzo being able to pull someone into whatever painful hold she has at the moment and Taya can make almost anything work. This was exactly what it was supposed to be and I had a good time with it throughout. Above all else, it felt like a match that belonged on pay per view, which hasn’t been the case with everything else on the card so far.

Acey Romero comes up to John E. Bravo, who insists that Larry D. shot him. He calls Acey crazy but Acey found some of Larry’s Ring Rust cologne in a Knockouts bag. Bravo is intrigued. Sweet goodness WHY IS THIS STILL GOING???

We recap the fall of Ethan Page, who has gone rather insane and is feuding with his own alter ego, the Karate Man. Now it’s time for Page to fight himself.

Ethan Page vs. Karate Man

We go cinematic (duh) and they fight in front of a green screen, Mortal Kombat style. Page punches and Karate Man kicks as the background keeps changing. Then Karate Man pulls out Page’s heart to end it at we’ll say 2:30. So Page was REALLY unhappy about this online and if this is what they cobbled together after what seems like a lot of work went into it, I can completely get that. This was a waste of time from what could have been an entertaining idea and Page deserved a better way to go out than a segment which is getting as much time as the Wrestle House fallout.

Don Callis comes up to Moose in the back and reminds him that he has a two year contract. Callis suggests that if Moose hurts Kenny Omega, the contract may be ruined. Moose doesn’t want to hear it and says he’s coming for the Impact World Title. And maybe Omega’s too. Callis: “S***.”

We recap Sami Callihan vs. Eddie Edwards in Barbed Wire Massacre. They have feuded on and off for years now and this is the FINAL match, with Callihan having Ken Shamrock in his back pocket. Eddie has no one, as he has ordered his wife to stay away for her own safety.

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan

There are various barbed wire instruments around the ring, including one side of a cage with barbed wire on top/wrapped around it and various barbed wire weapons hanging from a wire above the top rope. Eddie avoids being driven into a barbed wire board in the corner, which falls over as they lock up. Sami is sent into the barbed wire in the ropes so Eddie whips out a barbed wire ring to press down onto Sami’s head. The board is on the mat but Sami is smart enough to push it out to the floor before he goes face first.

Eddie’s suicide dive (with a bit of a spin) sends him back first through the barbed wire board and Sami drops the Cactus Jack elbow for a bonus. Sami messes with some more barbed wire on the floor and takes it back inside for the slugout. Eddie gets dropped ribs first onto the wire and Sami whips him with a…..Nintendo 64 controller wrapped in barbed wire? I think I can go with this. Sami goes up but Eddie comes out with a backpack Stunner for the breather.

The Blue Thunder Bomb onto a barbed wire chair gets two on Sami but Eddie’s missed charge hits the cage wall. They hit each other in the head with barbed wire for a double knockdown so it’s time for a barbed wire kendo stick vs. the barbed wire bat. It’s better because they have the other’s signature weapon and it’s Sami dropping him onto the barbed wire board. Another barbed wire board is thrown in and Sami (mostly) bridges it between two chairs.

A super piledriver through the barbed wire board only gets two and there wasn’t even any drama on the kickout. I know it’s just a spot these days but can you at least try to have some drama in there? Sami loads up the bat to the chair on the face but Eddie kicks him away and hits the Boston Knee Party into a chair. The Emerald Flosion onto the barbed wire finishes Sami at 18:53.

Rating: B-. This is one where your individual tastes are certainly going to vary and that isn’t a big surprise. There were some completely ridiculous moments here but it felt like two people who hated each other wanting to hurt each other. The piledriver kickout was pretty ridiculous and I’m not a big fan of this kind of match in the first place, but it could have been a lot worse than what we got.

Rebellion is on April 24.

We recap the main event. Impact executive Don Callis brought in AEW World Champion Kenny Omega as part of some big elaborate plan which isn’t quite as epic as they think it is. Impact World Champion Rich Swann didn’t like it so Kenny hooked up with the Good Brothers against Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns. Alex Shelley is out for the six man though and Moose, Swann’s #1 contender and the man who hurt his best friend, is taking his place.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Rich Swann/Moose/Chris Sabin

Don Callis is here too and handles Omega’s entrance (which Striker says is a moment fans will be telling their children about). Omega has a Bullet Club shirt (the Halloween edition for some reason) on, because we need to know New Japan history to understand the AEW World Champion’s reference in Impact Wrestling. Anderson drives Sabin into the corner to start and a shot to the face has Sabin in some trouble. An armdrag gets him right back out though and we have a standoff.

Moose and Gallows get in for the big man showdown with Moose knocking him around. Omega comes in, with Striker making both a hockey reference and saying that the Bullet Club reunion on Dynamite reminded us why we all love wrestling. It’s off to Anderson vs. Swann in a hurry with the latter snapping off a headscissors. Gallows and Omega are knocked to the floor and it’s a double dropkick to Anderson.

Moose adds a standing moonsault, with Striker saying that Moose now is the sport, a few seconds after talking about how amazing it was that the two World Champions are in a match together. Sabin gets taken into the corner so the villains can take over, including Omega hitting a backbreaker for two. Striker asks Brown if Omega is the best in the world and Brown seems to think so. There is NO MENTION AT ALL of the Impact Wrestling WORLD CHAMPION, who is in this same match, in case you needed an illustration of why Impact’s benefit from this Omega deal is rather limited.

Anderson grabs a chinlock on Sabin but the comeback sets up a double clothesline, allowing the tag to Omega and Swann (thankfully with Striker bringing Swann’s name in for the best wrestler in the world discussion). Everything breaks down and some assisted DDTs send the Brothers outside. Swann dives onto Omega but the frog splash is blocked back inside. Anderson adds a slam (with Sabin flipping him off), allowing Striker to talk about wrestling being a universal language.

The Kitaro Crusher gets two and a triple splash gets two on Swann. Back up and Swann manages a Pele to Omega and the hot tag brings in Moose. House is cleaned and the Omega BANG is mocked, setting up a triple boot to Omega in the corner. The discus lariat gets two on Omega (Striker: “HISTORY MADE TONIGHT!”) and now it’s Sabin in trouble in the corner for a change. Omega hits a Doctor Bomb for two on Sabin, who is right back up with a missile dropkick to Anderson.

Omega is up with the V Trigger to Swann but Moose catches him on top with a super Spanish Fly. Everyone is down again until Omega gets over for the hot tag to Gallows. The Boot of Doom gets two on Sabin with Swann making the save. Swann and Omega get the double tag for the big slugout with Omega getting the better of it. The other four fight outside until Moose pulls Omega off the top and into an electric chair.

Something close to a Doomsday Device gets two on Omega, with Callis teasing the save. Striker: “Some people think Callis has betrayed Impact Wrestling.” I actually had to sigh at how stupid that was so we’ll move on to Omega hitting the V Trigger on Swann. Some kicks put Omega down and the 450 gets two. The Magic Killer plants Swann and Moose has to make the save. Another V Trigger hits Moose and another V Trigger hits Swann, setting up the One Winged Angel for the pin at 20:26.

Rating: B. The wrestling itself was good, as expected, but it’s rather difficult to care about Impact when their World Champion is being presented as someone lucky enough to have Kenny Omega knee him in the face. Commentary here was a big love letter to AEW, which is being treated as the greatest thing ever as it reaches down to the unwashed masses of Impact. That may be true from a business standpoint, but why in the world is IMPACT acting like that is the case? It’s a good match and I think you know where this is heading, but could we act like Swann is close to Omega’s level? For five minutes maybe?

Omega and pals celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show started off rather badly but then it picked up a lot of steam just before the halfway point. The big matches worked rather well and completely saved the show, which is often how a show like this tends to go. They had a nice show, but there were some things that hurt it a bit, aside from the completely lackluster first hour or so.

First and foremost, the Omega worship was out of hand to start and is just getting worse. The main event didn’t make me want to see Swann vs. Omega. It made me think that Omega is treating Swann like a practice dummy, which is completely fitting for Omega. What it ISN’T fitting for is the commentary team, who seem to be in awe of Omega and treat their World Champion like a guy who won a contest. I know Omega is a bigger deal, but can we at least act like he might have trouble against the company’s World Champion?

Then you have Striker himself and…..I can’t believe it but he has gotten more annoying. Between acting like everything you see is the greatest thing that has ever happened, trying to turn every move into some brilliant strategy that ties back into some other move and name dropping EVERY SINGLE WRESTLER HE CAN THINK OF, Striker is one of the most irritating things I have ever seen on a wrestling show. It’s great to have someone who knows history, but there is a world of difference between sounding smart and being a distraction, which he was all night long.

Overall, the show did work well, but I’m worried about where this company is going in the future. They didn’t make some of their biggest stars look good in the main event and Striker is going to be as annoying as I could have ever imagined. There are some good things happening here, but if AEW is going to be a bigger presence, I’m going to be having flashbacks to New Japan coming in to Ring of Honor and leaving it as a near wasteland. They had a good show for the most part, but the future isn’t looking so bright.

Results

Decay b. Tenille Dashwood/Kaleb With A K – Tornado DDT to Kaleb With A K

Violent By Design b. Tommy Dreamer/Cousin Jake/Rhino – Piledriver to Deaner

Fire And Flava b. Havok/Nevaeh – Fisherman’s neckbreaker to Nevaeh

Matt Cardona b. Ace Austin via DQ when Madman Fulton interfered

Manik b. Rohit Raju and Chris Bey – Rollup to Raju

Deonna Purrazzo b. Taya Valkyrie – Cosa Nostra

Karate Man b. Ethan Page – Fatality

Eddie Edwards b. Sami Callihan – Emerald Flosion onto a barbed wire board

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Rich Swann/Chris Sabin/Moose – One Winged Angel to Swann

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We’re back with another Impact pay per view, even though the point seems to be to make another company’s World Champion look good. This time around the focal point is the invading Kenny Omega, will will team with the Good Brothers against Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Chris Sabin and Moose, after Alex Shelley was forced out of the show for unclear reasons. The rest of the card looks ok so let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Brian Myers vs. Josh Alexander

This was thrown in this week on Impact since every pay per view needs a pre-show match these days. Myers beat Alexander via DQ and bragged about it so we’re having this for the sake of shutting him up. I’m not sure what Impact sees in Myers but there are far worse places he could be than in the pre-show match. Alexander is going to need a boost soon so we could have something going here.

I’m going to take Alexander here as there is no reason for this to drag on for another match. As much as he has been featured, Myers isn’t being pushed to the moon so they aren’t likely to give him anything here. The match will likely be on about the same level as a regular TV match and that’s all it needs to be given where they are here. It probably didn’t need to be here, but Alexander can get your attention well enough.

Eric Young/Deaner/Joe Doering vs. Tommy Dreamer/Rhino/Cousin Jake

It isn’t a good sign when my first reaction to a match is “at least they’re keeping it all here” but that’s about as good as I can go with this. We have Dreamer being Dreamer, the epic Deaners split, Doering (he was big in Japan, right up there with Jesse and the Rippers) and Young as some kind of mastermind because this company loves him very much. It’s also Old School rules, because they can’t say Extreme and Dreamer can’t do much else.

I’ll go with Young and company as for some reason this seems to be one of the upcoming big things. Young is tolerable enough in some spots, though the love affair with Doering isn’t exactly doing much for me. Adding in the turned Deaner isn’t going to make things better, but if they can keep all of this stuff crammed into one match, it could be a lot worse than what we’re getting.

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan

This feud MUST continue and this time it’s Barbed Wire Massacre because when you think Edwards, you need something like this thrown in. I know this is viewed as some legendary rivalry but it feels like they are just warming it up because neither has anything to do. Edwards is able to carry almost anything to at least watchable, but as soon as I heard the barbed wire deal, I could hear Josh Matthews with his machine gun delivery taking away any impact it might have.

Give me Callihan to win, likely thanks to Ken Shamrock because we need another evil alliance to triumph. Shamrock and Callihan are somewhat intriguing, but I don’t need a Barbed Wire Massacre to make it work. The match should be good enough and odds are Alisha will get involved, but I’ve been over this feud for a good while now because it ran out of steam years ago.

Ethan Page vs. Karate Man

We continue with the “why is this a thing” section, but in this case Page has so much charisma that he can manage to face himself and make it work. I’m going to assume this is a cinematic match and Page’s way out of the promotion, but you never know with something like this. The Karate Man stuff alone is always worth a look, but I’m almost scared of what to see here.

Since they’re facing each other, I’ll go with Karate Man to win and get rid of Page once and for all, which should make your head spin at least a little bit. There is a chance that we could be in for some good jokes here and under the right circumstances, this could be one of the best things on the entire show. Page is awesome at his goofy stuff, and hopefully he gets to showcase himself well on the way out.

X-Division Title: Manik(c) vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju

This is part of one of those stories that works out well almost every time because it’s a classic. Bey and Raju are convinced that Manik is TJP (because Manik is TJP) but can’t beat him or prove it, meaning their frustration factor has increased about 17 fold. Now it’s a free for all for the title, which opens up a few interesting doors as they could go in a few different directions.

I think they’ll play it safe here and have Manik retain the title because there are more places to go with something like this. Manik is someone who can have a good match with anyone and Bey is one of the better young stars around here. Raju has been rather nice as well lately, so we could be in for something good. This might be the match with the most promise on the whole show and I can’t say I’m surprised.

Knockouts Tag Team Titles: Nevaeh/Havok vs. Kiera Hogan/Tasha Steelz

Who would have thought that a tournament for the vacant titles would come down to two of the only regular teams who happened to be feuding for weeks before the tournament started? Hogan and Steelz have done a nice job of being the most annoying heels imaginable, which made Havok and Nevaeh grabbing them by their throats that much better. This was almost a guarantee for the final, so at least they’re doing the logical thing.

I’ll take Havok and Nevaeh to win here as you need some faces to win on this show. It isn’t the most intriguing match on the show but it was the only way to go to get to the tournament finals. I’m not sure how far these titles can go as WWE hasn’t been able to make theirs work for years now. The match will be the same thing that we’ve seen several times between them now but….yay belts?

Rosemary/Crazzy Steve vs. Tenille Dashwood/Kaleb With A K

This seems to have been added near the last minute and I’m still trying to make myself care about Dashwood. The Instagram deal is fine, but it feels like something you would see at a tiny independent promotion because it’s that easy of a story. There is no doubt that the talent is there, but for some reason it isn’t clicking. You can only get so far with something like this though and I think we’ve reached her current limit.

I don’t see a reason for Kaleb With A K and Dashwood to win here, even though they need it a lot more. Rosemary seems to be building up something with Susan, so unless she interferes and costs them the match, I don’t see a reason to have Rosemary and Steve lose here. The match itself should be another TV level match, which is quite the trend for most of this show.

Knockouts Title: Deonna Purrazzo(c) vs. Taya Valkyrie

The Knockouts singles division has done well enough for itself in recent months and Purrazzo is awesome as the technical wizard champion. Valkyrie is almost the old guard in a way, despite her title reign not even feeling all that long ago. While her big reign is over, Valkyrie can go in the ring with anyone and Purrazzo is one of the best things going in the company today.

Purrazzo being one of the best things going today is more than enough to keep the title on her here. Beating Valkyrie is more along the lines of beating a challenger of the month, but she just happens to be a really successful challenger of the month. It means something to beat her though and Purrazzo can continue her reign with another rather nice win added to her list.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Rich Swann/Chris Sabin/Moose

This whole invasion (if that’s what you call Omega and Omega alone showing up from AEW) is making me think of Lando Calrissian saying “this deal is getting worse all the time”. So far, the highlight of the feud for Impact is their World Champion escaping with a pin over their Tag Team Champion. Omega and Don Callis have been treated as stars who are gracing Impact with their presence. I know it gives Impact exposure, but this is feeling more like New Japan coming to Ring of Honor every day (and that’s not a good thing).

Of course Omega and the Good Brothers win here, because why would they lose here? I know this is probably heading towards Omega taking the Impact World Title, as that is the best way to continue making Impact look like they don’t compare to AEW in any way. Yes AEW is more important and Omega is a bigger star, but sweet goodness could Impact look much worse so far?

Overall Thoughts

This show looks pretty dreadful on paper as there is nothing of note to look forward to. I’m sure some of the matches will work as Impact tends to shine when they just go to the ring and focus on the wrestling, but nothing on here really jumps out. Hopefully the show winds up working, because this feels like they have almost no reason to do this show other than they have to. It will likely be good enough, but they need to work on spicing things up.

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Impact Wrestling
Date: January 12, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Madison Rayne

It’s the go home show for Hard To Kill and that means we are going to be seeing the AEW people showing up again. There are a few other things to cover on the way there, but unfortunately that means we are likely to have more of the continuing adventures of Eric Young and Tommy Dreamer. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap, including a look at the end of last week’s AEW Dynamite.

Opening sequence.

Taya Valkyrie vs. Kimber Lee

Rosemary and Deonna Purrazzo are here too. Lee wastes no time in sending her into the corner and chopping away but Taya is back with a double leg takedown. Some chops in the corner have Lee out the floor but she is able to block the suicide dive. Back in and the full nelson with the legs has Taya in more trouble, followed by the chinlock. Lee cuts off a comeback attempt but a Swanton hits raised knees.

Taya makes the clothesline comeback and gets two off a shoulder block. A curb stomp doesn’t have much effect on Lee but the running knees in the corner work a bit better. Deonna puts Lee’s hand on the ropes for the break so Rosemary grabs her by the hair. Cue Susan to beat up Rosemary, with the distraction letting Lee roll Taya up for the pin at 9:13.

Rating: C. Lee is fine as a lackey for Purrazzo though I’m not sure where Susan is going to tie into the whole thing. That has been one of the wackiest things going in Impact for a long time now and as much as I hate to admit it, the thing is growing on me a bit. This worked out fine, though they are telegraphing the ending to the title match pretty hard.

We go to Kenny Omega’s bus where Don Callis tells the team that they need a win tonight. It is time for Karl Anderson to beat Rich Swann and everyone is cool.

Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone have a new paid announcement, with Khan praising Impact for all of its good things in 2020. They had these ads, Kenny Omega and getting to hear about AEW! We run down tomorrow’s Dynamite card but Khan isn’t sure that the Good Brothers are actual brothers.

Sami Callihan wants one more match against Eddie Edwards: Barbed Wire Massacre. Do we really have to do this again?

Hard To Kill rundown.

Chris Bey/Rohit Raju vs. Manik/Suicide

It’s a brawl to start with Suicide being sent to the floor. Manik doesn’t have time for the double teaming as Suicide comes back in with stereo backdrops putting Bey and Raju on the floor. Manik and Suicide both head underneath the ring, come back out from the same side, and hit stereo dropkicks to put the villains on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Manik and Suicide hanging in the ropes but getting knocked outside for their efforts. Things settle down to Suicide in trouble in the corner with Raju elbowing him in the mask for two. A belly to back suplex gives Bey two but Suicide reverses into a crucifix for the same.

Suicide manages to suplex him into the corner and rolls over for the hot tag to Manik (dang I miss crowd pops) to clean house. Suicide gets the Octopus on Bey while Manik stretches Raju’s abdominals. Both holds are broken up in a hurry so Raju goes for Manik’s mask. That doesn’t work out so Bey hits the Art of Finesse for the pin on Suicide at 12:42.

Rating: C+. Nice enough match here and it sets up Bey and Raju as the challengers for Manik’s title on Saturday. The story they’re doing may be a bit dated but it is the kind of thing that is always going to work, especially with the amount of talent from the people involved. They had a nice TV match here and Bey gets a boost on the way to the title match.

Taya Valkyrie yells at Rosemary over Susan, with Rosemary saying they (as in Rosemary and….whatever is in her head) will have this on Saturday. Valkyrie needs to get ready for her title match.

Cody Deaner vs. Tommy Dreamer

Eric Young, Joe Doering, Rhino and Cousin Jake are all here too. Deaner goes for the head to start and unloads in the corner until Dreamer avoids a charge. A slam drops Deaner but Doering…..I think misses a trip but Dreamer goes down anyway. Something misses again, as Dreamer just lays there on his side watching as Deaner gets up and is (very eventually) tripped by Rhino.

It earns the double ejection for Rhino/Doering but someone was REALLY off on the timing there as Dreamer was left sitting for about ten seconds waiting on something to happen. Anyway Deaner unloads in the corner and we hit the quickly broken neck crank. The Bionic Elbow is broken up and so is the Deaner DDT, but Dreamer gets knocked down anyway. Dreamer gets the boot up but Deaner slaps Jack, who jumps him for the DQ at 3:36.

Rating: D-. Between that awkward spot, the idea of putting Young and Dreamer not only in the same segment here but also in a pay per view match and the weird timing deal, this was one of the least interesting segments I’ve seen in a very long time. I know he works backstage, but if they have no one better than Dreamer for this much TV time, they’re in more trouble than I thought.

Video on the Knockouts Tag Team Title tournament.

Scott D’Amore officiates the contract signing between Havok/Neveah and Tasha Steelz/Kiera Hogan. Steelz and Hogan talk trash so Havok and Nevaeh grab them by their throats to shut them up. Well done.

Brian Myers asks Scott D’Amore about his next big match and lists off the people he has defeated. Josh Alexander comes up to say Myers won by DQ so D’Amore makes a No DQ match.

Tenille Dashwood vs. Rosemary

Kaleb With A K handles Dashwood’s entrance. Dashwood offers a handshake, which Josh transitions into a plug for Micro Brawlers. Rosemary doesn’t like the attempted cheap shot and knocks Dashwood down in a hurry. Kaleb offers a distraction and gets grabbed by the head, allowing him to use hairspray on Rosemary’s eyes. Tenille hammers away and hits the running crossbody in the corner for two.

Back up and they collide for the double knockdown, followed by Rosemary’s Sling Blade. The Upside Down has Dashwood in even more trouble but she’s right back with a butterfly suplex of all things for two. Rosemary gets in another shot so Kaleb offers a distraction. Cue Crazzy Steve to chase him off and take him down, leaving Rosemary to hit a spear for the pin at 8:12.

Rating: C-. Is anyone else just bored with Dashwood? She continues to have all of the tools in the world but for some reason nothing ever seems to click with her. This was no exception as she did all of her usual stuff but nothing ever actually came of it. Rosemary has a lot more going for her when it comes to character development, which might improve for Dashwood if she had more than being big on Instagram.

Rich Swann is ready for Karl Anderson because tonight it is one on one with everyone else banned from ringside. Then Karl can go back to the bus and say they’re going to get beaten up on Saturday.

Video on Ethan Page going a bit scooters and winding up setting up a match against Karate Man (himself) at Hard To Kill.

Moose vs. Matthew Palmer

Non-title and no time limit this time. Palmer hits four straight running dropkicks in the corner to start but Moose shrugs them off and drops him with a forearm. A big forearm to the back keeps Palmer down and Josh will not shut up about how Palmer has no chance, the Legend of Zelda, Sami Callihan, Hard To Kill and EVERYTHING else that comes to his mind. Palmer gets in a shot to the ribs and a middle rope knee to the face. A chokeslam plants Palmer and Moose elbows him out at 3:28.

Rating: D. Well that happened and makes last week’s match pretty much worthless. Moose doesn’t actually have a match at Hard To Kill but he did become #1 contender at Genesis, which was barely talked about here. I’m assuming this is it for the quick Palmer run, which was only going to be able to go on for so long.

Video on Kenny Omega being awesome. The other five people in the six man are ok too.

Karl Anderson vs. Rich Swann

Swann is defending and no one is at ringside. We’re joined in progress with Swann armdragging him into an armbar as the other four are seen watching from backstage. Anderson fights up and chokes in the corner, setting up his own armbar. The shoulder goes into the post and we take a break.

Back with Swann’s arm being draped over the top rope again, setting up another armbar. Swann fights up with a clothesline and some snap jabs, followed by a running kick to the back of the head. A missed charge lets Anderson hit a big boot for two but Swann rolls him up for the fast pin at 14:03.

Rating: C. That’s probably going to be Impact’s big win over AEW: the World Champion escaping with a rollup pin after getting beaten up for a good chunk of the match. I did like that the match ended so quickly as Swann steals the pin, though this feud does not exactly make you feel great about Impact’s history. Anderson isn’t going to lose anything by taking a fall though so this was fine enough.

We cut to the bus and see an empty sofa. That means Omega and Gallows can jump the Machine Guns in the back, with Swann and Anderson joining in. The big brawl is on to end the show.

Well almost as we get a quick preview for the pay per view to really end things.

Overall Rating: C+. You can look at this one from a few ways. The point of this show was to set up Hard To Kill and it did that rather well, meaning it did its main job. At the same time though, the wrestling wasn’t anything great for a good chunk of the show and some of the stories are just awful. Impact has a big gap between the top and bottom of the card and this showcased it even more than usual. That being said, the Hard To Kill preview worked well and that’s the point of the show.

Results

Kimber Lee b. Taya Valkyrie – Rollup

Chris Bey/Rohit Raju b. Manik/Suicide – Art of Finesse to Suicide

Cody Deaner b. Tommy Dreamer via DQ when Cousin Jake interfered

Rosemary b. Tenille Dashwood – Spear

Moose b. Matthew Palmer via referee stoppage

Rich Swann b. Karl Anderson – Rollup

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: January 13, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

Things continue to pick up around here as we have the second week of New Year’s Smash. This time around we are going to be seeing the TNT Title on the line as Brian Cage challenges Darby Allin, meaning a Sting appearance is certainly not out of the question. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Quick look at Death Triangle vs. Eddie Kingston/Butcher/Blade.

Pac vs. Eddie Kingston

Pac starts fast by sending Kingston to the floor for the dive. They head back inside with Pac hitting a pump kick, followed by a missile dropkick to put Kingston into the corner. Some knees to the head rock Kingston again but he’s back with a middle rope knee to the back of the head. Allie gets in some eye raking from the floor and Kingston adds a t-bone suplex. Back in and a neckbreaker gets one before Pac’s head is driven into the mat.

Some chops in the corner let Kingston pull on Pac’s ear but he snaps off a German suplex for a breather. Back up and Kingston hits an enziguri into a Saito suplex for two. Pac gets in his own kick to the head that makes Kingston look straight into the camera, setting up the top rope superplex for his own near fall. Another kick drops Kingston and the Black Arrow finishes for Pac at 9:39.

Rating: B-. This was about two guys beating each other up and that’s all it needed to be. They had a good brawl and I could go for watching the two of them talk or fight. I’m not sure how big of a star that Kingston is going to become on his own, but the sky really seems to be the limit for Pac. This is all building towards the big gang brawl though and that should be awesome.

Post match the big brawl is teased but Lance Archer comes in to chase off Kingston and company.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Chuck Taylor vs. Miro

Orange Cassidy and Kip Sabian (with a Trent cutout) are at ringside and if Miro wins, Chuck is his butler until the wedding in three weeks. Miro starts fast and knocks him outside but Chuck gets in a whip into the barricade for a breather. Sabian jumps Cassidy but gets superkicked by Chuck. That’s enough of a distraction for Miro to get in a leg lariat, followed by the jumping superkick. Game Over finishes Chuck at 3:26.

Rating: C-. Not much to see here but they only had a few minutes and the ending was designed to set up the angle going forward instead. Miro wrecking Chuck is the right way to go as he needs a few wins and the butler stuff could be funny. If nothing else, Miro needed the wins after a few months of doing nothing of note so this could be an upgrade.

Matt Hardy speaks for Private Party, who he insists are great. The team isn’t all that thrilled with part of their contracts but Hardy says they should have read them better. He is the only person here who cares about Private Party and the sooner they learn that, the happier they will be. So when he says jump, they say how high. NOW GET OUT OF HERE.

Here’s the Inner Circle and, after the required Judas chorus from the fans, and a break, it’s time to hear about their new year’s resolutions. Jake Hager wants championships, MJF wants to strengthen their bonds and get rid of the fat people and Ortiz wants to learn one of his grandmother’s recipes. Jericho loves all of those ideas and thinks this is the year he and MJF win the Tag Team Titles. That’s not cool with Santana, because he and Ortiz are the Inner Circle’s tag team.

Sammy Guevara sees what is going on here: Jericho is a tag team sl**! Jericho has teamed with Santana, Hager, he and Sammy were Le Sex Gods. Is he going to team with Snoop Dogg next? Jericho: “…..MAYBE!” Jericho thinks we should have Jericho/MJF vs. Santana/Ortiz vs. Sammy/Hager to determine the OFFICIAL tag team of the Inner Circle. Hager: “CHAMPIONSHIPS! YEAH!” Jericho: “Sammy and Hager. That’s funny.” Sammy: “Why is that funny?” The team poses and everything seems cool.

The Dark Order talks about how important the Brodie Lee tribute was for the team. Everything the team does will be in his name, and next week it starts with Hangman Page teaming with the Dark Order. Page, with his glass, staggers in so everyone can show their appreciation. Maybe after the match, he can let them know if he’s going to join! Page agrees and leaves, with the team celebrating his joining in advance. It turns out that Page only took about a step….and we go to a break anyway.

Video on Taz and the construction of Team Taz, setting up the title match against Darby Allin later tonight. Sting joining in to seemingly mentor Allin might even the odds a bit though.

Kenny Omega, Don Callis and the Young Bucks are fired up and have all the titles.

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs. Varsity Blonds/Danny Limelight

Callis handles Omega’s entrance. Actually hold on as he also introduces Omega’s real partners for the evening: the Good Brothers, which doesn’t sit well with the Bucks or Tony Khan in the back.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Varsity Blonds/Danny Limelight

It’s a brawl to start with Omega and the Brothers cleaning house. Everything breaks down though and Limelight kicks away at Omega, with the Blonds clotheslining the Brothers outside. The Kitaro Crusher drops Limelight though and it’s Anderson coming in for a hard whip into the corner.

Back from a break with Limelight still in trouble but managing a hurricanrana out of the corner. Omega cuts him off but Limelight gets over for the hot tag to Pillman. Air Pillman hits Anderson and it’s a Blockbuster/spinebuster combination for two. Omega grabs a neckbreaker for two and Anderson hits a big boot for two. Limelight tries to run the corner but gets caught in a spinebuster. The Magic Killer is good for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: C. I’m not sure it needed to be this long for what they were doing, but at least Omega and company didn’t get in that much trouble. Maybe the Bucks vs. Good Brothers deal can set something up in the future, which would be better than paying another tribute to the good old days in New Japan.

It’s time for the Waiting Room with Dr. Britt Baker. After a quick intro dance with Rebel, Britt convinces the fans that they have a gift underneath their chairs. Her guest tonight is Cody Rhodes, who needs to pick his best friend already. Just make one good choice, unlike the one on your neck. This brings in Cody, in a green jacket and with some Gillberg sparklers during the entrance (Britt: “All contractual obligations met. We’ve got the pyro.”).

Britt congratulates Cody on his upcoming baby, who will have an action figure before her. Cody can’t talk before Baker cuts him off with a surprise guest. That would be Jade Cargill, who says no one cares about Brandi being pregnant. She and Shaq are tired of waiting though, because Jade needs an opponent. She shoves Cody so here’s Red Velvet to hit a heck of a slap.

Jade gives her one back and the fight is on, with the fans breaking it up. Velvet is taken outside and we cut to a video of Britt and Rebel attacking Thunder Rosa a few weeks back. Rosa pops up to say Britt her has show because she likes to put her big nose in people’s business. Some Spanish ranting sets up the announcement of Baker vs. Rosa on February 3 at Beach Break. Baker yells a lot because Khan said they didn’t have to wrestle. Cody never said a word other than shouting for help to break up the brawl.

Jurassic Express vs. FTR

Marko Stunt/Jungle Boy for the Express here and Luchasaurus and Tully Blanchard are here too. Marko and Cash start things off but it’s off to Dax to drive him into the corner. A slap from Marko earns him a beating in the corner and Wheeler comes back in for the same. Marko’s moonsault out of the corner is countered and a dropkick seems to mostly miss. Boy comes in and everything breaks down with Boy monkey flipping Stunt into a hurricanrana to Harwood.

Stunt’s suicide dive hits FTR and Boy adds his own dive as we take a break. Back with Wheeler hitting a spinebuster for two on Stunt and then grabbing a Gory Stretch. Stunt wiggles his way out for two off a sunset flip before rolling away from Dax for the tag off to Boy. House is cleaned with some clotheslines into a Backstabber for two on Harwood, followed by a super hurricanrana for the same.

There’s a superkick before Boy throws Stunt onto Harwood for two more. Sliced Bread is countered with a toss and a hard lariat drops Stunt again. A low blow gets Stunt out of trouble though and now a Dudley Dog can connect for another near fall. Tully posts Marko though, earning him a glare from Boy. Wheeler sends Boy into the barricade for his efforts though and it’s the Big Rig (Goodnight Express’ new name) for the pin at 12:25.

Rating: C. It was a little much to believe that it took FTR over twelve minutes and Tully’s help to beat Stunt but at least the ending was exactly as it should have gone. The match was pretty boring stuff for the most part, but at least they didn’t do something crazy like have FTR lose here. Just get them back to something important now.

NWA Women’s Title: Tay Conti vs. Serena Deeb

Deeb is defending and Conti has Anna Jay with her. Feeling out process to start with Deeb taking her down for an early rollup. Conti goes for the leg to set up a heel hook, which is reversed into a chinlock. That’s broken up as well so Conti pump kicks her out to the floor. Back from a break with Conti hitting a full nelson spun into a Stunner for two but getting caught in a Stretch Muffler. Deeb switches to take her up top for a Gory Special using the ropes for extra leverage. Conti can’t get a Gory Bomb so Deeb reverses into a pancake (the Deebtox) to retain at 9:07.

Rating: C+. They were flying through this and that held things back a bit. Deeb continues to be great though and Conti is improving as well so this was hardly a rough watch. It wouldn’t hurt to slow things down a bit though, which would be the case in almost any match around here. I’m still not sure why this company needs two Women’s Titles, but at least this one is much more of a featured attraction than anything else.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brian Cage vs. Darby Allin

Allin is defending, Team Taz is at ringside and Taz is on commentary. Allin goes straight at Cage and knocks him outside, setting up the suicide dive. Another one is pulled out of the air into a suplex on the floor though, followed by Cage LAUNCHING Allin from the ring through a ringside table. Cage picks Allin (now bleeding) up in a suplex, walks him up the steps and throws him inside for another crash. A release German suplex sends Allin flying and Cage unloads with right hands to the busted open head.

We take a break and come back with Cage hitting an F5 for two, followed by a trio of powerbombs. Another powerbomb sends Allin over the top and onto the ramp but Allin says bring it. The apron superplex gets one and Cage is livid. Cage loads up the steps at ringside but an F5 from the apron to the floor is escaped. Instead Allin bites the fingers to knock Cage onto the steps, setting up the Coffin Drop onto Cage onto the steps (Taz: “That’s not good.”).

They get back in with Allin hitting the flipping Stunner and using his belt to tie Cage’s legs together. A Code Red gives Allin two and there’s a middle rope stomp. Hook’s distraction lets Ricky Starks crotch Allin but here’s Sting with the baseball bat shot to Starks’ throat. The super crucifix retains Allin’s title at 12:39.

Rating: B. This took time to get going but I got into the underdog comeback story near the end. They might have gone a step too far with Allin surviving everything but I don’t think it ever went too far into being ridiculous. Allin is one of the best underdogs/survivors around and while the Sting/Team Taz stuff was far from a surprise, they did it as by the numbers (which isn’t a bad thing) as possible here. Good main event with a near Brock Lesnar smashing a mortal style story.

Post match everyone stares to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event was good and there was enough solid stuff in the middle to hold things up but this wasn’t their strongest show. It felt like they were setting up things for later, which is something you have to do, but it doesn’t make for a great evening. What we got worked well though and it seems they’re building to Beach Break in three weeks.

Results

Pac b. Eddie Kingston – Black Arrow

Miro b. Chuck Taylor – Game Over

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Danny Limelight/Varsity Blonds – Magic Killer to Limelight

FTR b. Jurassic Express – Big Rig to Stunt

Serena Deeb b. Tay Conti – Deebtox

Darby Allin b. Brian Cage – Super crucifix

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

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