Dynamite
Date: August 16, 2023
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s another special show with Fight For The Fallen, with proceeds going towards a Hawaii food bank helping with the fallout from the wildfires. There’s not a thing wrong with that and it’s great that AEW is doing something. Other than that, we are eleven days away from All In and we might get some more announcements for the show tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Wheeler Yuta

Cassidy is defending against his former student. Feeling out process to start and they slug it out with neither getting very far. They trade belly to back suplexes and then kick each other down. Cassidy is sent to the floor and gets taken down with a dive but he reverses a suplex into one of his own. Yuta piledrives him on the ram and Cassidy rolls back towards the ring. Back in and a quick Beach Break gives Cassidy two as we take a break.

We come back with Yuta working on the hand but he has to catch Cassidy on top. The top rope superplex sends Cassidy crashing back down and a top rope splash gives Yuta two more. Cassidy is back up with a Michinoku Driver into a PK but here is the rest of the Blackpool Combat Club to offer a distraction. A fake out lets Cassidy hit his own double arm Paradigm Shift, setting up the Orange Punch. Cassidy can’t cover so Yuta gets the Seatbelt for two, only to have Cassidy roll him up for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: C+. This was in fact an Orange Cassidy match, and that has been the case for a long time now. Cassidy is all banged up and injured but manages to do all of his stuff and win in the end. Yuta wasn’t feeling like much of a threat to the title in the first place, but it then went with as “we’ve seen this already” ending it could have had.

Post match the beatdown is on but the Best Friends, and then the Lucha Bros, make the save. The Club grab chairs but Eddie Kingston is back to go after Claudio Castagnoli. That’s enough for the Club to run off, leaving Kingston to issue a challenge for Wembley Stadium in a Stadium Stampede match.

We get a sitdown interview with Jim Ross talking to Kenny Omega. It turns out that Don Callis was friends with Omega’s uncle and helped him get whatever he wanted…and here is Callis for a distraction. Bullet Club Gold and Konosuke Takeshita jump Omega from behind and the big beatdown is on. That should set up another pay per view match, though hopefully JR can get some sleep before then. He looked incredibly rough here.

Omega was taken to a hospital, where Hangman Page was waiting. Page wants to finish this at All In, though here is a security guard to tell Page he can’t drink a beer here. That’s fine with Page, who downs it.

Here is Don Callis, with another painting under a blanket, to get Chris Jericho’s answer. Cue Jericho to give his answer, and while he’s the one who starts factions…..he’ll join the Don Callis family! Callis is stunned and happy so let’s go celebrate. Jericho wants to see the picture though, with Callis getting nervous. The blanket comes off, and it’s a painting of Callis holding Jericho’s decapitated head.

Callis backpedals really fast and tries to talk his way out of it but Jericho says just tell him the truth. It’s true that Callis didn’t expect Jericho to say yes….because of his massive ego. Callis goes on a rant about how Jericho has the biggest ego ever but Jericho says Callis is a nobody who wasn’t in wrestling a few years ago. Callis slaps him and here is Konosuke Takeshita to go after Jericho. Cue Will Ospreay to jump Jericho as well and the big beatdown is on, with Jericho being busted open. The painting is broken over Jericho’s head but here is Sammy Guevara with a baseball bad for the save.

Jack Perry is going to retire the FTW Title next week.

Gates Of Agony vs. Darby Allin/Nick Wayne

The Gates jump them from behind to start fast and the beatdown is on outside. We take an early break and come back with Allin getting the hot tag to roll Kaun up for two as the Mogul Embassy is watching from the ramp. Everything breaks down and Wayne takes Kaun down before diving onto Toa at ringside. Allin adds the Coffin Drop to finish Kaun at 6:26.

Rating: C. So after the Gates start winning some matches, they go right back down here to Allin and Wayne, who aren’t the most experienced team. Allin winning a match is fine enough but it’s another match that runs about six minutes and has a break in the middle. I’m sure it’s a television deal, but my goodness it gets old fast.

Post match Sting pops up on screen to say we’re coming up on the biggest show in AEW history. It seems that he has kidnapped Prince Nana and says it’s showtime as the Embassy goes to the back. Sting screams at Nana and he runs off. This was wacky Sting and that’s a great thing.

Adam Cole and MJF go to Outback Steakhouse to plan for Aussie Open. After eating, MJF knows they’re done because that was the best food he’s ever had so how can they beat an Aussie team? Later, at the arena, Cole has a DVD of Crocodile Dundee 1 and 2. MJF has a better idea: kangaroo fighting style! Cole isn’t convinced, so they put on Australian hats (and accents, ala Steve Irwin) and double clothesline a guy holding an inflatable crocodile.

Then Tony Khan summons them into his office (Thunder Rosa not included) and yells about hitting double clotheslines backstage. Leave it to the ring. The team leaves and MJF says Khan will regret that come contract time. Khan comes out and yells some more, but MJF is suddenly cool with him. Was that TK “responding” to people who say he doesn’t have a backbone after the Punk ordeals? Either way, this whole thing was hilarious. Again. They absolutely have something great with these two and I want to see a lot more.

MJF and Cole arrive in MJF’s car and head inside, leaving Roderick Strong to limp up and kick the tire, hurting himself in the process of course.

Here are MJF and Cole for a chat. They’re ready for All In but first they have to win the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles. MJF: “WITH THE KANGAROO KICK!” Cole talks about how important the World Title match will be, because it’s all about solidifying his legacy here in AEW. Not just by being in it, but by winning it. MJF doesn’t buy it and has a story of his own.

When he first got into the wrestling world, he was told to write down his dream opponents. He wrote down Cody Rhodes and Adam Cole. Then he had been working so hard to get ahead on the independent circuit, when he heard about a special show called All In. He messaged Cody Rhodes and somehow got a spot in the opening match, despite having no business being on.

It was enough to get him a contract with AEW, so without All In, there wouldn’t be an MJF. He has worked his way to the top and now he is going to be facing his best friend in the biggest show ever. Now all that matters is the World Title, because he has given everything to earn it. He’ll win because no one is on his level, so Cole says may the best man win. MJF says he will, because he’s better than Cole, even if Cole disagrees.

Cue Aussie Open to jump them from being before quickly being dispatched. Cole teases a superkick to MJF but then stands up…with MJF having seen him crouched. They hug anyway. This was a really good segment and did a lot to make the title match feel a heck of a lot more important.

Chris Jericho is getting cleaned up before saying this match with Will Ospreay (which is apparently happening) has been ready since 2021 and would have happened without the pandemic. Ospreay doesn’t know what he’s getting into because the Ocho is coming for him. So the British fans are supposed to book the incredibly athletic British wrestler in front of the biggest crowd in British wrestling history. Got it.

Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Death Match (tie-in with a video game release) and you can only win by pinfall. Hardy goes through the crowd and into the back to start, where Satnam Jarrett and Satnam Singh (I believe dressed like someone from the movie) jumps him. Ethan Page, Brother Zay and Matt Hardy make the save and pour something on Jarrett (Jeff and Karen). The two of them stagger through a dimly lit hallway as we take a break.

Back with the fight still going on in the back with Jeff Hardy diving onto the Jarretts and company. They fight into the arena (with about ten people involved) and Jeff Hardy Swantons him through a table for two with Jay Lethal making the save. The guitar is taken away from Jarrett and cracked over his head but cue Leatherface with a chainsaw. Singh can’t chokebomb Jeff Hardy but Lethal is back in with a hammer to Jeff Hardy’s head. The chokeslam lets Jarrett get the pin at 9:56.

Rating: D+. I don’t even begin to know where to go on this, but at the end of the day, I can accept that AEW was given a big check to do something with the game and this is the best they could do. Fair enough and the match was certainly memorable, even if it was for the bad reasons. That being said, Jarrett winning here is uh, a bit strange I would say.

And yes, Jarrett does get a special belt for winning.

Women’s Title #1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Britt Baker vs. The Bunny

The winner is in the Women’s Title match at All In. Baker grabs a rollup to start but it’s too early for the Lockjaw. Instead Baker misses a stomp, allowing Bunny to miss Down The Rabbit Hole. Bunny sends her into the Corner and we take a break. Back with Baker hitting a Sling Blade and getting two off a rollup. That’s enough for Baker, who hits the Stomp for the pin at 7:36.

Rating: C-. Baker is getting weaker and weaker week to week and there isn’t much of a way to hide it anymore. It didn’t help that there was almost no reason to believe Bunny had a chance in this, especially after just coming back from an injury. Not a good match here, but at least they went with the only logical option.

All In rundown.

Acclaimed vs. ???/???

Hold on though as the lights go out before the bell and come up to reveal the House Of Black. The big beatdown is on and Caster is left busted open. The House walks off with Billy Gunn’s boots. No match.

The Gunns vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks jump them during the entrance and the fight heads down to the ring for the opening bell. A double dropkick sends the Gunns to the floor for the dives but the Gunns take over on Matt. Back in and a knee lift into a lariat gives Austin two and we take a break. We come back Matt getting hit with a dropkick for two but managing to roll over both of them for the hot tag.

Nick hits the slingshot X Factor and the apron moonsault. An assisted standing Sliced Bread drops Austin but the BTE Trigger is broken up. 3:10 To Yuma connects but Nick dives in with a top rope double stomp for the save. The Gunns try an assisted rollup but the Bucks break it up and use one of their own to pin Colten at 9:25.

Rating: C+. The Bucks did their high flying and get a win to give them some momentum on the way to the FTR match. That’s all you really need for them to do here but at least the Gunns are starting to figure out their thing. They’re a midcard heel team and work well together, which is a valuable role to fill.

Post match Bullet Club Gold runs in to help with the beatdown on the Bucks but FTR make the save. FTR teases taking out the Bucks but don’t do it to end the show (worked better when Cole and MJF did it earlier tonight).

Overall Rating: B-. This was a weird show for AEW as the wrestling was decent to mostly not that good for the most part. Instead, this was FAR more about the storyline stuff and building up the matches for All In and beyond. That is something AEW needed and the parts that worked here were very, very good. There were some weak parts to go with it though, and that dragged some of the positives back down. Overall, All In got a heck of a build here and while not all of it was great, it’s what the show was needing.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Wheeler Yuta – Rollup
Darby Allin/Nick Wayne b. Gates of Agony – Coffin Drop to Kaun
Jeff Jarrett b. Jeff Hardy – Chokeslam from Satnam Singh
Britt Baker b. The Bunny – Stomp
Young Bucks b. The Gunns – Assisted rollup to Colten

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: August 9, 2023
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are less than three weeks away from All in and the show is starting to come together. The World Title match is now set and there are a few other matches that are all but official. Those matches should make for a nice foundation, but there are more matches that need to be added. Throw in All Out a week later and there is a lot of work to be done. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society, minus Chris Jericho, for a special meeting. Jericho is called to the ring and tries to calm things down. Daniel Garcia cuts him off and rants about how Jericho will never pick them. Garcia has done everything for him but he can’t do this so he’s out. Jake Hager says he’s known Jericho longer than any of them and while he liked his hat, he does NOT appreciate Jericho, so he’s out too. Tay Melo is feeling sick but it’s not because of the baby. She’ll be back in a year to be a champion without Jericho because she quits.

Anna Jay quits because Jericho is selfish and Angelo Parker talks about how he has given everything to Jericho, with nothing left to give. They’re both out, leaving Matt Menard and Sammy Guevara. Menard talks about using his first check to buy a Chris Jericho shirt. Then when his wife was 8 months pregnant and he didn’t have a job, Jericho heard his story and brought him underneath his wing. Menard gets why people he looked up to hate Jericho though and walks out. Guevara says he isn’t quitting, but once Jericho figures this out, maybe he’ll be around. Jericho has nothing to say and that’s the segment.

Post break Don Callis comes up to a distraught Jericho and says he’s sorry if he caused any of that. Jericho has an answer for Callis and they’ll announce it next week. Why not now?

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Jeff takes over on Matt Jackson’s arm to start and the Hardys drop Nick onto his brother for a crash. Matt Hardy comes in and plants Matt Jackson for two. Nick makes a save and the Bucks get to clean house, including Risky Business to Matt Hardy. We take a break and come back with Matt Hardy fighting out of trouble and bringing Jeff back in for the house cleaning.

The Whisper In The Wind gets two on Nick Jackson but the Bucks superkick Jeff down. Something close to a 3D gets two but Matt Hardy breaks up the Meltzer Driver. The Swanton hits Matt Jackson with Nick making the save. Jeff loads up another Twist of Fate but gets his leg superkicked out, setting up the BTE Trigger to finish Matt Hardy at 11:10.

Rating: C+. First and foremost, this could have been FAR worse. There was a chance that this could have been a disaster but instead it was mostly fine. That being said, they were in a bind here as the match is billed as a dream match but they can’t do anything epic or even long with it because the Hardys are broken down. That left it as kind of stuck under a hard ceiling, but they did as well as they could.

Post match respect is shown before the Bucks call out FTR. Cue FTR and the match is official. Well that was quick.

There will be a tournament to set up a four way Women’s Title match at All In, though Toni Storm has cashed in her rematch clause and is automatically in. Who isn’t in you ask? Champion Hikaru Shida, who is defending in a first round match. This is overthinking something even by AEW standards.

Adam Cole and MJF bonded again, by going to a trampoline park. They also have video games, a ball pit (!) and dodgeball. MJF likes the idea of dodgeball and assaults some children (in slow motion), while yelling various insults such as “I slept with your mom” and “you’re adopted”. Cole comes up to say MJF can’t do this but a young girl says they must be nerds for being adults in a trampoline park. Cole has to hold MJF back, but one more insult lets MJF chuck the ball at her as well. This was so ridiculously over the top that it was hilarious.

We recap the Blackpool Combat Club being all violent recently.

The Blackpool Combat Club is happy to have hurt the Best Friends and Pac.

FTW Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Perry

Perry, in Jerry Lynn style gear, is defending under FTW Rules (pretty much anything goes and falls count anywhere). Perry jumps him to start but gets rolled up for a fast two. Van Dam knocks him out to the floor and the spinning legdrop to the apron CRUSHES Perry, with commentary laughing at how hard it hit.

We take a break and come back with Perry missing Rolling Thunder and getting kicked in the face. There are a bunch of chairs in the ring (one in the corner) and a table set up at ringside as Van Dam monkey flips Perry. The dropkicked chair into the corner hits Perry and Rolling Thunder onto the chair gets a delayed two.

The split legged moonsault misses (mainly because Perry moved before Van Dam flipped) but Perry’s thrown chair hits the referee in the head. Perry catches Van Dam on top but gets sent through the table on the floor. Back in and the Five Star (not bad) hits Perry for no count. Another referee comes in for the count but Perry sends Van Dam into the chair in the corner and gets the pin at 9:22.

Rating: C+. The weapons stuff was a bit annoying but it does fit with the ECW theme. Van Dam was the only real option to make this work, but this needs to be the absolute end of the ECW stuff. It didn’t exactly look great to start with and there is pretty much no one else who is going to be interesting and able to have a decent match from ECW’s past. The match itself was perfectly decent, though they got out exactly when they should have.

The Lucha Bros promise revenge on the Blackpool Combat Club.

Here are Adam Cole and MJF for a chat. MJF has seen something about footage of him saying that everyone in the midwest is dead but that footage was HEAVILY doctored. May God strike him down dead if what he is saying isn’t true, but his favorite place in the country is the midwest! Cole and MJF cringe but MJF survives, leaving Cole to promise to take the World Title at All In. MJF: “So you want a little promo battle eh? OK!”

MJF goes on to say that Cole is so skinny and white that if he had been around in the 80s, Hogan would have snorted him. Cole says that’s NOT what he wanted, because he thinks they want the Tag Team Titles. Er, the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles in this case. Cole talks about how much he’s done in Ring Of Honor over the years and what it means to him, but he has never won the Tag Team Titles. They already have the World Title match, but on the All In Zero Hour, they should win the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles!

MJF: “Normally when someone wants to make me wrestle more than once a year, I want to stab them in the face with a soldering iron.” He’s a sucker for a cheap pop though so he’s in. The challenge is officially on. Cue Roderick Strong to say he should be winning the titles with Cole, but MJF goes on a rant about how Strong needs to go listen to some Taylor Swift and shake it off. Strong says the Kingdom was right and here they are to leave with him. MJF laughs at Strong so Cole snaps, with MJF telling Cole to go check on him. Strong just looks so, so lame in all of this. Even if it is a swerve from Cole, my goodness it’s pathetic.

Video on Collision.

Lucha Bros vs. Blackpool Combat Club

The Bros jump them from behind to start and the big flip dives connect as the bell rings. Fenix’s rolling cutter into Penta’s top rope double stomp gets two and Made In Japan gets two on Castagnoli. Fenix adds a high crossbody but the stereo superkicks only hits the others’ foot. Moxley comes in to clean house as everything breaks down in a hurry. Wheeler Yuta belts Fenix and it’s a gorilla press into Moxley’s cutter for two. We settle down to Castagnoli working on Fenix’s arm and we take a break.

Back with Fenix chopping up but getting dropped with a spike piledriver. Castagnoli picks Fenix up into an electric chair but Fenix drops back to avoid the Doomsday Device. Fenix rolls over for the tag to Penta so house can be cleaned. Fenix’s superkick gets two as everything breaks down. Moxley hits a cutter (third of the match) and everyone is down for a bit.

Castagnoli and Fenix strike it out from their knees and then their feet until Fenix hits his rebound spinning kick to the face. Penta and Moxley come in to chop it out (for a long time) until the Fear Factor hits Moxley. The spike Fear Factor is broken up but Wheeler Yuta tries to interfere, only to get cut off by Alex Abrahantes. Moxley uses the distraction to roll Penta (who got unmasked somewhere in there) up with tights for the pin at 13:02.

Rating: B-. This was the all action match that you might have expected and it felt like one of those beat on each other until someone gets a pin rather than building up a match deals. That’s the Lucha Bros’ specialty and the match did well, but sometimes it’s nice to see a traditional match for once. Oh and again with the mask being ripped off, because that’s almost required in half of the Lucha Bros matches.

Post match the beatdown is on, with Castagnoli putting on Penta’s mask for a bizarre look.

Kenny Omega will be sitting down with Jim Ross next week to talk about what he’ll be doing at All In.

Here is Swerve Strickland, with the Mogul Embassy, for a chat. They went to Seattle to prove a point last week because they are above the law. AR Fox wants Darby Allin out here right now so cue Allin, saying he wants the whole story. Allin lived with Fox and his demons, but now Fox has some new friends. Well Allin has friends of his own, so the lights go out and Sting is back. Everyone but Sting and Swerve leave, allowing Sting to bat Swerve in the ribs. Sting (who appears to have a bit of the Joker face paint) points to the All In sign. That’s an escalation.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Sting/Allin vs. Fox/Swerve (in a coffin match) is officially approved by Tony Khan for All In. So did Tony Khan just have nothing planned for All In and is letting the wrestlers book the show for him?

Women’s Title: Anna Jay vs. Hikaru Shida

Jay, with Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, is challenging but this is also a first round match in the tournament to set up the Women’s Title match at All In. Shida shoves her down to start and they fight up against the ropes. A jumping knee staggers Jay but she manages to kick Shida to the floor. Then she throws Shida back inside for two and we take an early break.

Back with Shida hammering away and knocking Jay outside. The clothesline off the chair is broken up by Parker and Jay sends her face first into the steps. Anna gets the Queenslayer back inside but Shida climbs the rope and crashes back down for the break. A Falcon Arrow gets two, followed by the Katana to retain the title at 8:44, despite Parker trying to interfere and somehow failing.

Rating: C. This whole tournament is rather high up there on the list of Things AEW Has Overthought. We’re having a tournament to set up a four way title match and the champion has to qualify but the person she beat doesn’t. I’m sure there’s some logic in there and I’d rather it not be allowed to get out. The match itself was just ok, as Jay isn’t someone you want to try to have a big showdown. Shida held it together well enough though and they got out of there pretty fast.

Overall Rating: C. This show was all over the place and rather unfocused. They added stuff to All In, but it felt like a show that just had one thing after another put on the card with nothing feeling overly important. It also doesn’t help that the first hour of this show was primarily dedicated to Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam and the Hardys. That’s a heck of a tag match on a late WWF Raw but here it doesn’t quite measure up. The show was far from bad, but it needed a second or third draft to tighten up a lot of things.

Results
Young Bucks b. Hardys – BTE Trigger to Matt
Jack Perry b. Rob Van Dam – Van Dam was sent into a chair
Blackpool Combat Club b. Lucha Bros – Rollup with tights to Penta El Cero Miedo
Hikaru Shida b. Anna Jay – Katana

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: July 12, 2023
Location: SaskTel Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re still in Canada and a week away from Blood & Guts next week. That means we should be getting a big build towards the match, but at the same time, there are also three tournaments, plus Battle Of The Belts coming up. For now though the Blind Eliminator tournament gets a little more focus so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Komander vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho sends him into the corner for the headstand to start so Komander comes back with a very bouncy hurricanrana. Komander tries to bounce around but gets forearmed in the face, setting up the backbreaker. Back up and Komander snaps off some kicks to the face, only to be hiptossed out to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Komander in trouble, including a pair of powerbombs to plant him hard. The Lionsault misses so Komander grans la majistral for two. Back up and Jericho takes his head off with a clothesline but Komander kicks him down. The rope walk shooting star press gets two and Jericho misses a dive to the floor. Komander hits the rope walk flipping dive (or trick as Tony calls it), setting up a phoenix splash for two back inside. Jericho’s Codebreaker gets two so Komander tries another springboard, only to get pulled into the Liontamer for the tap at 12:50.

Rating: B-. Komander was trying here but there were so many instances where Jericho had to stand there for Komander to set something up. That doesn’t make for the best visual as I keep waiting for Jericho to do something about it. Other than that, Jericho pulling him in and ultimately catching Komander trying once too often is a good way to go. Just stop being so ridiculous and Komander’s stock goes way up.

Post match Don Callis comes out to show us a clip of himself and Jericho, with their mentor Bad News Allen, early in their careers. Jericho remembers this and says Allen told them to stay together. They didn’t keep his promise but Callis believes that Allen is looking down and smiling at the idea of the two of them getting together again. Jericho still doesn’t say yes.

Jungle Boy will not get out of his car so here is Hook to chase him away. Hook: “Keep running Perry.”

Don Callis is ready to name the fifth member of his team for Blood & Guts.

We recap MJF’s efforts to win over Adam Cole.

MJF and Cole were at a bar last week, with MJF not being pleased over Cole not wearing their team shirt. Some attractive women come in and MJF says two for him, two for Cole. That’s not going to work for Cole, which MJF says makes four for him. MJF and the ladies leave and we cut to MJF coming back, saying the maximum ride is spent.

Cole says he’ll put the team shirt on if they do what he wants to do next. Cool with MJF…..but Cole wants to play video games. It happens to be Fight Forever, where they bond over how they were going to turn on each other. They win the titles in the game to wrap up this hilariously goofy segment.

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Semifinals: Darby Allin/Orange Cassidy vs. Sammy Guevara/Daniel Garcia

Sammy mocks the hands in the pockets to start before they trade armdrags. Cassidy puts his hands in his own pockets, leaving Sammy to spin into his pose. Allin comes in for a handshake before hitting a heck of a suicide dive onto Garcia. Back up and Garcia tags himself in for the spinning front chancery to Allin as we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy getting the hot tag and coming in to take over. Garcia’s sleeper is quickly broken up but the Dragontamer has Cassidy in trouble. Allin makes the save and it’s the Stundog Millionaire into Allin’s flipping Stunner into Cassidy’s spinning DDT. Guevara is back in with a running knee but a second misses, allowing Cassidy to hit the Beach Break.

Cassidy and Garcia trade rollups for two each until they trade shots to the face for a double knockdown. Sammy misses the shooting star press as Garcia Dragontamers Cassidy. Cue Prince Nana of all people to hand Garcia the skateboard. With Allin going after Garcia, here is Swerve Strickland for a cheap shot. The GTH hits Allin for the pin at 12:53.

Rating: B-. It would have been hard to imagine MJF/Cole not going through to the finals but this practically seals their spot. The interesting thing here is you could have gone either way for the winners, as both teams were options to move on. Strickland interfering works well as a way to save Allin’s status, but the Society moving on to the finals makes all the sense in the world too.

Video on Nick Wayne, who started training for wrestling at 9 years old. Then his father died and now he wrestles for both of them.

Roderick Strong, in a neck brace, asks Adam Cole if he is starting to really like MJF. Cole gets a text from MJF, saying he has the flu and might not be able to go.

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament Semifinals: Brian Cage/Big Bill vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Adam Cole

And MJF is fine. Cole even has his team shirt as MJF asks who wants to see him slam Bill. MJF tries and there goes his back as a result. That means we need a quick meeting on the floor before it’s off to Cole vs. Cage. We pause for Cage to do some pushups and it’s back to Bill vs. MJF, the latter of whom still can’t hit a slam. Bill gets dropped as we take a break.

We come back with MJF losing his shirt and telling Bill to hit him. Instead Bill grabs a choke but MJF manages the slam. Cage comes back in and blocks a piledriver so MJF goes to the eyes and dives over to Cole. MJF calls for the double clothesline but Bill clotheslines both of them instead. Some superkicks put Bill down for a change but Cage hits a double clothesline of his own. The fall away slam/Samoan drop combination has Cole and MJF in more trouble. Not that it matters as Cole is right back with the Boom to finish Cage out of nowhere at 10:14.

Rating: C+. Sweet goodness this team is fun. I know it isn’t a long term thing and it shouldn’t be, but I’m having a great time watching Cole and MJF be goofy together. That’s exactly what they’re going for before the big betrayal, which should be a heck of a moment (even better if the double clothesline is involved). This story has been all kinds of fun and they made a match work that way too.

Post match MJF acknowledges how over he is in Canada but then has Cole do his own catchphrase. MJF says the double clothesline is coming and we get a rare DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE chant. After explaining boundaries to MJF, Cole says he never expected this to work, but they’re doing pretty well. They’re ready to win the tournament.

Roderick Strong is in the back and doesn’t seem impressed.

Jake Hager goes to see Chris Jericho, who is considering the Don Callis offer. Hager goes over their history together and hands him his hat.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Semifinals: Ruby Soho vs. Skye Blue

Soho runs her over to start and they go to the apron, where Toni Storm’s distraction doesn’t work. Instead Blue faceplants Soho on the apron but gets sent knees first into the steps. Soho kicks at the knee back inside and wraps it around the post to keep Blue in trouble. Back up and Soho gets in some kicks of her own, allowing her to plant Soho for a fast two. The knee gives out but Blue is still able to block Destination Unknown. A half crab sends Blue over to the ropes but her leg gives out again. Soho hits a middle rope No Future for the pin at 8:36.

Rating: C. I could have seen this one going either way as Blue winning the whole thing would not have shocked me. Soho could use a win of some kind if she isn’t going to be a champion anytime soon, so sending her forward makes sense. The match itself was only so good, but an underdog fighting through an injury is almost always going to work.

Harley Cameron has a music video for a song called Rap Lessons.

Swerve Strickland vs. Nick Wayne

Wayne turned 18 the day before yesterday and takes Strickland into the corner for a tap on the jaw. Some kicks miss for Wayne and that’s an early standoff. Wayne sends him to the apron where a hurricanrana sends Strickland outside as we take a break. Back with Wayne fighting out of a chinlock and catching Strickland on in the corner.

Cue Darby Allin to cheer Wayne on as a reverse hurricanrana gives Wayne two. Wayne’s World (diving cutter) gets another two but Strickland counters a hurricanrana attempt into a powerbomb. The Last Call, plus a glare at Allin, sets up the JML driver to finish Wayne at 10:36.

Rating: B-. Wayne is incredibly young and definitely feels like someone who came up through the independents, but he does have a natural athleticism that works for him. I’m not sure how far he is going to go right off the bat, but it’s certainly a unique story. He got in a lot on Strickland here, though ultimately AEW did the right thing.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Here is Don Callis to announce the fifth member for Blood & Guts. Callis mocks Kenny Omega, who comes out but gets cut off by Jon Moxley and Konosuke Takeshita. Cue Pac, who will be the fifth man, to help with the big beatdown of Omega. Hold on though as Omega, despite being choked with a chair, says his team has a fifth member as well: Kota Ibushi. The Elite make the save and Omega promises to destroy Callis to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was another tournament heavy show but the good thing is next week will be completely focused on something else. The MJF/Cole stuff is pretty great and that makes for more than enough of an interesting story. Other than that, you had a lot of focus on the Chris Jericho/Don Callis stuff and….yeah I cannot bring myself to be interested in Callis and his unending string of “remember when’s”. It was a good show for the most part, but Blood & Guts next week will change everything.

Results
Chris Jericho b. Komander – Liontamer
Daniel Garcia/Sammy Guevara b. Orange Cassidy/Darby Allin – GTH to Allin
Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Adam Cole b. Brian Cage/Big Bill – Boom to Cage
Ruby Soho b. Skye Blue – No Future
Swerve Strickland b. Nick Wayne – JML Driver

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

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Rampage
Date: July 7, 2023
Location: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho

It’s the 100th episode of the show and we have something of a grudge match on our hands. This time around, Hangman Page/the Young Bucks are facing the Dark Order, who still aren’t happy with how Page has treated them. Other than that, we have more tournament shenanigans to get through so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks/Hangman Page vs. Dark Order

Reynolds shoulders Nick down to start so it’s off to Page. That means Reynolds needs to bail a bit and then he does it again on the floor. This time Nick kicks him in the head and it’s time for the Elite to start diving. Back in and Matt rolls the northern lights suplexes on Reynolds before adding Silver for the last one. Risky Business gets two on Reynolds and the fans describe this one sided match, which hasn’t lasted four minutes yet, as AWESOME.

Silver gets in a cheap shot from the floor though and Evil Uno comes in to strike away in the corner. Nick tries to flip over to the corner but the Order pulls Page and Matt down and we take a break. Back with Matt knocking Reynolds off the top and diving onto Uno and Silver. Page comes in to clean house, including a clothesline to send Reynolds outside for a slingshot dive.

Everything breaks down and Un is sent tot he apron for a big boot from Page. The Bucks catch Uno, allowing Page to hit the running shooting star from the apron. Back in and Matt hits a slingshot Canadian Destroyer on Reynolds, followed by a top rope elbow for two. Silver is back in for a kick to the head but Nick makes the save, setting up the Meltzer Driver on Matt for two with Uno making the save.

Page and Uno slug it out until the Bucks come back in to clean house with the superkicks. Page can’t bring himself to Buckshot Lariat Uno so the Bucks dive onto the rest of the Order. Cue Konosuke Takeshita for a distraction, allowing Claudio Castagnoli to hit a heck of an uppercut on Page. Uno gets the pin at 13:56.

Rating: B-. Pushing the Dark Order as something serious is certainly a choice, though it’s not like this was some clean win that is going to change their fortunes. The action was good as Silver and Reynolds are still a pretty decent tag team. Castagnoli or Takeshita vs. Page could make for a good showdown and that’s what matters here, especially if it gets Page away from the Dark Order again.

Post match Kenny Omega comes out to clear the ring.

QTV is still relatively clueless, including Harley Cameron thinking she’ll make a cute couple with Anthony Bowens. In a related story, Johnny TV doesn’t like Max Castor’s music.

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament: Daniel Garcia/Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy/Jeff Jarrett

The rest of Jarrett’s cronies are here too. Garcia waistlocks Matt to start but gets reversed into a headlock. Guevara comes in and gets hiptossed by Jarrett, setting up the strut. That earns Guevara a dropkick to the floor and garcia gets in his own strut. The running flip dive takes out Jay Lethal by mistake though and we take a break. Back with Matt hitting Splash Mountain for two on Garcia and punching Guevara out of the air. Jarrett’s cronies try to offer a distraction (despite Jeff’s partner being in control) so the guitar can be slid in. Matt is sent into Lethal, allowing Guevara to hit the GTH, though Garcia steals the pin at 8:45.

Rating: C+. They got the result right here, as the Society team moves forward over a team who wasn’t going to work together well. Both Garcia and Guevara need to break free of Jericho, but they do work well together without him. Matt not wanting to cheat like Jarrett and his friends made sense, though I’m almost scared of the Hardys getting together to fight Jarrett and his cronies.

Post match the beatdown is on and Brother Zay’s save attempt doesn’t work. Ethan Page makes the real save.

Video on Collision.

Hikaru Shida vs. Marina Shafir

Shafir kicks her down to start but Shida is back with a bunch of kicks. A running knee gets two on Shafir and the Falcon Arrow gets the same. The Katana finishes Shafir off at 3:30.

Rating: C. It’s nice to have Shida out there getting a win, even if it is over Shafir. I’m not sure if it is the constant having to head back to Japan or something else, but you would think Shida would be worth a stronger push. She has all the tools, with the striking being on display in this one.

Kris Statlander is a fighting champion and she’ll face anyone anywhere. She is the defeater of the undefeated (and thinks that would be a good shirt) and Kris Stat is where it’s at. Those are some pretty terrible taglines but giving Statlander camera time is a good thing.

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament First Round: Trent Baretta/Matt Sydal vs. Brian Cage/Big Bill

Cage runs Sydal over without much trouble to start and it’s off to Bill vs. Trent. Some shots to the face stagger Bill and Trent knocks him outside, where Bill chokeslams him onto the apron. A fall away slam sends Trent flying and we take a break. Back with Trent DDTing his way out of trouble, allowing the tag off to Sydal. Cage and Bill get struck down and stereo double stomps to the back keep Bill in trouble. Cage is back up with a double clothesline and all four head outside.

Sydal Meteoras Bill on the floor but Cage and Bill hit stereo slams for two back inside. Bill and Cage clothesline each other by mistake but Cage is back up with a discus lariat to Trent. Sydal ducks another discus lariat but the top rope Meteora is blocked. Trent release German superplexes Cage and adds a piledriver, setting up a top rope Meteora from Sydal for two. Back in and Bill runs the good guys over and it’s a powerbomb/clothesline combination to finish Sydal at 12:24.

Rating: B. This match was a blast with everyone going hard and fast for a long time. Cage and Bill are rather good as a pair of monsters while Sydal and Trent worked well for a first time team. What mattered here was just letting everything go nuts and have a good time, which is all you can ask for out of something like this. Fun stuff.

Overall Rating: B-. You had a pair of fun matches here and the tag tournament is starting to take some shape. It made for an easy show to watch and that is what you need from Rampage. The show almost never feels important compared to Dynamite and Collision so letting it be an easy hour of TV is as important as it gets. Nice stuff here, and I’ll take something like this week to week.

Results
Dark Order b. Hangman Page/Young Bucks – Uppercut to Page
Daniel Garcia/Sammy Guevara b. Matt Hardy/Jeff Jarrett – GTH to Hardy
Hikaru Shida b. Marina Shafir – Katana
Brian Cage/Big Bill b. Matt Sydal/Trent Beretta – Clothesline/powerbomb combination to Sydal

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

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Dynamite
Date: July 5, 2023
Location: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re into the second half of the year here and the slow build towards All In continues. Before we get to that though, Blood & Guts is in two weeks, with the BCC vs. the Elite. That could be a bit tricky for both as the Elite will need an extra hand if Eddie Kingston is still in Japan and Bryan Danielson is still hurt. Maybe we find out something for that this week so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Darby Allin tells Keith Lee to do something to make himself dominant again. Allin: “Pull your head out of your a** and take this seriously or you can just sit on the apron and cry about it.”

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament First Round: Orange Cassidy/Darby Allin vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

Lee LAUNCHES Allin to start so it’s off to Cassidy for the lazy kicks instead. The Grizzly Magnum puts Cassidy in the corner, where he puts his hands in his pockets and gets chopped down again. Strickland comes in and kicks Allin down as this is one sided so far. We take a break and come back with Lee Tower of Dooming Strickland and Allin out of the corner. Cassidy comes back in and gets caught in a bearhug as Strickland buries Allin underneath the steps.

They go outside with Cassidy trying a sleeper….but Lee walks up the steps, with Allin still underneath them (egads man). Back in and a Stundog Millionaire to Lee sets up a Canadian Destroyer from Allin. Strickland makes the save with a 450, which hits Lee by mistake (Strickland doesn’t mind). Cassidy DDT’s Strickland and hits a diving DDT to Lee on the floor, leaving Allin to grab the Last Supper to pin Strickland at 11:12.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a match with Lee looking like his old self. Cassidy and Allin as a dark horse team could go on rather well though I’m not sure I can see them getting the title shot. For now, I can go with Lee being happy with running people over and then seeing Strickland lose in the end. Heck of an opener here, at least partially due to Lee throwing people around.

Video on Nick Wayne, an 18 year old prodigy who has signed to AEW. Darby Allin knew Wayne when he was a kid and helped get him signed.

We look at Hook chasing Jungle Boy off last week.

Jungle Boy wants an FTW Title match against Hook, who runs up and jumps Jungle Boy instead. Another daring escape in a waiting car ensues.

Video on Adam Cole and MJF’s history together.

MJF and Cole worked out together. Cole doesn’t pay attention spotting MJF, who then makes fun of a large man working out nearby. Then MJF doesn’t spot Cole bench pressing, and it doesn’t go very well.

Acclaimed/Billy Gunn vs. Blade/Bollywood Boyz

After soaking in some cheers, Gunn grabs a headlock on Blade and punches him hard in the face. Harv comes in and gets caught in Scissor Me Timbers, meaning we have a three way scissoring. We take a break and come back with Bowens cleaning house and handing it off to Gunn to drop Gurv. The Mic Drop finishes for Castor at 6:42.

Rating: C. This has been your weekly “why did this match need a break” match as the Acclaimed and Gunn should have run them over a good bit faster than they did. At least they’re getting back to what made the team worked, though giving them something that matters would be nice. As in not QTV.

Post match Harley Cameron (of course) pops up on screen to say she’ll prove her talents with a video next week. Gunn tells her to suck it.

Eddie Kingston won the Strong Openweight Title in Japan earlier today.

Jon Moxley talks about how he and Kingston have known each other for a long time and they have gotten more out of wrestling than they could have hoped. Now though, Kingston needs to answer his phone.

Matt Hardy draws Jeff in the tag tournament. Jarrett that is.

Wheeler Yuta is ready to hurt Kenny Omega.

Here is Chris Jericho for a chat. Jericho thanks the fans for their cheers but he has a lot of big losses over the last few months. Maybe it is time for him to make some changes, and there is no better place to do it than right here. We hear about Jericho’s career starting around here and now it is time to be the best Jericho he can be.

Cue Don Callis to interrupt and talk about how he set up the Jericho vs. Omega match at Wrestle Kingdom. Jericho can’t hear him over the booing and they take credit for each other’s current success. Callis recaps his issues with Kenny Omega and offers Jericho a spot in his new family. Jericho says maybe and leaves. Callis gets some amazing reactions but my goodness he is as uninteresting as it gets.

Video on CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

Video on Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks in the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

Samoa Joe laid out Roderick Strong on Collision and hurt his neck.

Strong is banged up and wearing a neck brace. Adam Cole comes in to check on him but gets a text from MJF about using a double clothesline tonight.

Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament First Round: MJF/Adam Cole vs. Butcher/Matt Menard

Cole and MJF get stomped down in the corner to start. We settle down to MJF telling Menard to wait and then hitting him in the face. The abdominal stretch goes on and MJF starts a DO IT chant to get Cole to cheat. Cole won’t do it so MJF what his deal is. Then Cole cheats and MJF is WAY too happy. Menard gets out and sends MJF into the corner, allowing Butcher to take over as we take a break. Back with MJF poking Menard in the eye and bringing Cole back in to clean house. MJF calls for the double clothesline but Cole just Booms Menard for the pin at 8:43 instead.

Rating: C+. This match was all about the will they/won’t they deal and that made for an entertaining match. You could go in a bunch of different ways here and that makes for an interesting story as I want to know which path they take. If nothing else, MJF begging for the double clothesline and getting to hit it one day should be fun. Butcher and Menard were little more than two warm bodies who weren’t going to be hurt by a loss and that is a good role for them here.

Post match MJF tries to put over Cole, who isn’t overly impressed. They’ll team together one more time, but first of all, MJF wants to wish Cole a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Some backstage workers bring out a small cake and party hats. MJF sings a rather nice rendition of Happy Birthday as Cole looks on in utter confusion. Cole finally says that MJF has done more than enough but MJF wants him to make a wish. MJF teases sending Cole’s face into the cake but gets sent into it instead (Schiavone: “It never fails.”). Cole tries some cake and thanks MJF for doing all this. He even calls MJF his friend and leaves without incident. That’s interesting.

Britt Baker doesn’t like Ruby Soho saying she’s taken everything Baker cares about. Soho hasn’t taken her pride and Baker is ready to beat her.

Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara want an explanation from Chris Jericho but are told that they’re in the tag tournament together. Jericho is happy and tells them to go win without him, because he can’t be with them forever.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation First Round: Ruby Soho vs. Britt Baker

The rest of the Outcasts are here with Soho, who is sent outside to start. Back in and Baker can’t get Lockjaw but can hit a Sling Blade. What looked to be a suplex doesn’t go so well and winds up being something of a DDT to Soho. An Outcasts distraction lets Soho pull Baker to the floor and we take a break.

Back with Baker hitting a fisherman’s neckbreaker for two but not being able to add the Stomp. Instead she kicks Soho in the head but gets tripped by Toni Storm. Baker is fine enough to try the Lockjaw but a distraction lets Soho send her into a title belt. No Future connects for two so Soho puts on her own Lockjaw. With that not working, it’s something closer to the Bank Statement, sending Baker to the ropes. Baker’s Lockjaw goes on but Saraya pulls Soho to the floor. Baker beats the Outcasts up but gets rolled up for the assisted pin at 10:24.

Rating: C-. Two things about this match stick out to me. First of all: they really, really, really need to introduce a prize for the winner of the Owen tournaments. Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of matches for the sake of matches and then after about a week, any momentum gained is pretty much gone. It really shouldn’t be asking too much to put something up for grabs.

Second, there was WAY too much interference here. How many distractions or interference spots were there here? About four in a ten minute match? That’s pounding something into the ground and it really dulls things down a lot. You really shouldn’t need that many interferences and distractions to get through a ten minute match and it was just annoying by the end.

Post match Skye Blue comes out for the staredown with Soho.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Kenny Omega

Yuta jumps him to start but Omega says bring it and unloads in the corner. Omega knocks him down and stomps away but You Can’t Escape hurts Omega’s own neck. Yuta hits a missile dropkick for two and the suicide dive sends Omega into the barricade. Omega gets dropped again and we take a break with Yuta in firm control.

Back with Omega fighting out of a chinlock and getting his knees up to block a backsplash. A running clothesline drops Yuta as Excalibur lists off a bunch of upcoming matches. The V Trigger misses though and Yuta goes with a suplex for two. Yuta goes up top and gets superplexed right back down in a huge crash.

A poke to the eye slows Omega down and some rolling German suplexes give Yuta two. Omega is back with the snapdragon and then he does it again for a bonus. There’s the V Trigger but the shoulder gives out on the One Winged Angel. Yuta Seatbelts him for two but Omega runs him over again. Cue Don Callis for a distraction so Konosuke Takeshita can Blue Thunder Bomb Omega. Yuta’s splash gets two but Omega catches him on top and hits the One Winged Angel for the pin at 15:32.

Rating: B-. Another good match to close out the show as Yuta was in over his head but hung in there rather well with a top star. There’s nothing wrong with having Omega working a bit until he got the win, despite the screwiness. Good stuff here, as Yuta is starting to feel more natural when he is in there with bigger names.

Post match Claudio Castagnoli comes in for the beatdown. The Young Bucks can’t make the save so here is Hangman Page with a chair…but the Dark Order comes in to take it away to end the show. Because of course the Dark Order had to be involved.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show where the good stuff was rather good and the weaker stuff wasn’t that bad, making for a rather strong effort. The MJF/Cole parts were great and the opener was a lot of fun, which combined to be enough to carry a lot of the show. They were focusing more on the storytelling and moving things forward here, which makes sense as Blood & Guts is coming up soon. Very entertaining show here and I had a good time getting through an easy two hours.

Results
Darby Allin/Orange Cassidy b. Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee – Last Supper to Strickland
Billy Gunn/Acclaimed b. Blade/Bollywood Boyz – Mic Drop to Gurv
MJF/Adam Cole b. Butcher/Matt Menard – Boom to Menard,
Ruby Soho b. Britt Baker – Rollup
Kenny Omega b. Wheeler Yuta – One Winged Angel

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

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Forbidden Door 2023
Date: June 25, 2023
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Excalibur, Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, Taz

It’s time for the annual crossover show as we have a bunch of AEW vs. New Japan matches. The entire build to the show as well as the show itself are a total side trip away from what AEW normally does but it is one heck of a side trip, with an absolutely stacked card that has some serious potential. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Mogul Embassy vs. Best Friends/Rocky Romero/El Desperado

Kaun takes Romero into the corner to start but gets dropped with a hurricanrana. The Best Friends come in for a double elbow so it’s off to Toa, who gets high crossbodied. Everything breaks down and the villains are sent to the floor for the big series of dives. Trent caps it off with a moonsault onto Toa as the fans are rather pleased.

Back in and Toa hits a pop up Samoan drop to cut Trent off, followed by a whip over the corner to the floor. Kaun hits the slingshot hilo and Cage hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron. Trent suplexes his way out of trouble but the Embassy does the pull his partners to the floor thing.

Strickland takes over on Trent but a quick shot allows the tag to Desperado. A shot to Cage on the apron causes everything to break down and Strickland plants Desperado for two. We hit the parade of everyone hitting something until Cage accidentally discus clotheslines Swerve. Strong Zero gets two on Swerve but Cage is back in for the F5 into Swerve’s cutter. The Swerve Stomp finishes for Swerve at 12:24.

Rating: C. It’s always nice to see Swerve getting a pin, even if it is one of the less important matches of the show. What mattered here was starting the fans off with something fun and the Best Friends will always get that kind of a reaction. I’m still not sure why Swerve has to be stuck with these guys, as the Gates continue to feel worthless and Cage isn’t going anywhere, but at least he got a little something here.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Billie Starkz vs. Athena

Athena’s ROH Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Starkz fires off the kicks to start and a suplex brainbuster gets two. A headscissors into the corner gets Athena out of trouble and we slow it down as Athena prefers. Athena stays on the ribs with some more kicks but the O Face is countered into a Death Valley Bomb for two.

Starkz gets caught on top though and it’s a pop up powerbomb into a kick to the face for two, leaving Athena annoyed. Back up and they trade dropkicks until Athena misses a standing moonsault. Starkz misses a Swanton onto the apron and crashes hard, setting up a spinning gutbuster to give Athena the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C. That’s all it should have been, as Athena is on a roll and Starkz isn’t in here league yet. Athena didn’t quite run her over but it was hard to believe that there was any danger in this one. Not exactly a classic match, but Athena is on fire right now and any excuse to get her out of ROH and into AEW is a good thing.

Zero Hour: El Phantasmo vs. Stu Grayson

They shake hands to start before Grayson takes him into the corner to hammer away. Grayson pounds away and they stand there for the exchange of chops. Then Phantasmo grabs the nipples to take over, setting up a springboard spinning crossbody. Grayson is sent outside for the suicide dive into the barricade, followed by the springboard Swanton for two back inside.

Phantasmo catches him with a kick to the head on top and snaps off a super hurricanrana. The top rope splash (and a good one at that) gives Phantasmo two but Grayson kicks him back down. A 450 gives Grayson two but Phantasmo is back with a springboard tornado DDT. Something like Diamond Dallas Page’s old Pancake (with the arms held back) finishes Grayson at 7:17.

Rating: C. Of all the matches on the card, this one felt the most like “here’s a way to get more people on the card”. Grayson has been in the middle of an ordeal with the Dark Order on Ring Of Honor for weeks now and isn’t exactly a big star. Phantasmo is a bigger name, but I don’t know how many people were going to sit home if he wasn’t on the show. Fine match, but something that could have been dropped with no consequence.

Zero Hour: United Empire vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

United Empire: Jeff Cobb/TJP/Kyle Fletcher
Los Ingobernables: Bushi/Hiromu Takahashi/Shingo Takagi

Bushi gets double teamed to start and his comeback is quickly cut off by the numbers game. Cobb comes in to power Bushi around but a dropkick to the knee puts Cobb down. Takahashi comes in to clean house until Cobb pulls him into an overhead belly to belly. It’s off to Takagi, who gets kicked in the face by Fletcher so TJP can come in with a high crossbody. Everything breaks down and Takagi hits TJP with a pop up Death Valley Driver. Cobb has to make a save so Bushi dives onto Fletcher. Takagi’s Last Of The Dragon is blocked so TJP kicks him in the face, earning a discus lariat. Made In Japan finishes TJP at 7:22.

Rating: C+. Best thing on the Kickoff Show and a lot of that probably has to do with the people involved. There were some talented names in this match and I could have gone for a bit more of it. The Empire losing is a bit weird as they’re around AEW more often, but it isn’t like the result truly matters in the grand scheme of things.

The opening video gives a quick look at the major matches.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

MJF, who still believes New Japan is an indy company, is defending. Tanahashi takes him down to start so MJF bails to the floor, saying he’s already done. A COWARD chant is enough to bring him back in and a knee to the ribs cuts Tanahashi off. MJF grabs a bearhug into the abdominal stretch with a grab of the ropes keeps Tanahashi in trouble. Tanahashi fights out and knocks MJF down for the middle rope Swanton and a near fall.

MJF catches him on top for a good looking superplex and a near fall. The Heatseeker is blocked though and MJF bangs up his knees. MJF is right back up with a double underhook shoulder breaker, which only hurts the knee even more. Tanahashi is down so MJF calls him a joke (and a fan calls MJF a coward), which is enough to start the comeback.

The bad knee is taken out and the Texas Cloverleaf sends MJF bailing to the ropes. Twist and Shout into the Sling Blade sets up the High Fly Flow, which only hits the raised knees. They’re both down for a bit until MJF rolls outside and grabs the title. The referee takes it away and Tanahashi grabs a rollup for a VERY delayed two. Another referee distraction lets MJF hit Tanahashi with the diamond ring to retain at 16:20.

Rating: B-. Good opener here but the ending didn’t do it any favors. The ribs vs. the knees worked well for a story here as Tanahashi isn’t as fast as he was before so it gave him a reason to slow down. MJF gets over for his talking abilities but it is nice to see him being able to easily hang in a match like this. Nice choice for the first match on the main card here, as the fans still buy into MJF’s antics.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

The fans are NOT pleased with Punk and commentary acknowledges the not so positive reaction. They start rather slowly with Kojima’s headlock not doing anything. Kojima goes after the back to take over and stops to pop his pectoral muscles. Punk sends him outside and pops his own pecs before going outside or some chops. A leg sweep knocks Punk down on the apron but he’s right back with a knockdown of his own.

The legdrop connects and we get the required Hogan references. They strike it out in the corner until Punk whips him hard into said corner. Punk hits his own Kojima style lariats in the corner (while shouting “KOJIMA” over and over), setting up a belly to back suplex for two (with quite the evil grin during the cover). A missed splash in the corner lets Kojima fire off his rapid fire chops and then he does it again in another corner. Kojima’s top rope elbow gets two and a DDT plants Punk again.

Punk knocks him down again though and drops a top rope elbow for two of his own. The Anaconda Vice goes on until Kojima hits him in the back of the head to break it up. The GTS is broken up and Kojima fires off his double chops into the Koji Cutter to drop Punk. Kojima’s lariat is countered into a neckbreaker for two more but the GTS is blocked again. A brainbuster gives Kojima two but Punk kicks him in the head, setting up the GTS to finish Kojima at 13:33.

Rating: B. They beat each other up rather well here and Kojima gave him more of a run for his money than I was expecting. If nothing else, it was a lot of fun to see Punk laying into the heel stuff, as he can shift from one side or the other like few in wrestling today. This got physical at the end and it wound up being a rather entertaining match.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia

Cassidy is defending (Shibata’s ROH Pure Title/Sabre’s NJPW TV Title aren’t on the line) and it’s one fall to a finish. They all block kicks to start until Sabre and Shibata are both sent outside. The Dragontamer has Cassidy in trouble until Shibata makes the save. Shibata Figure Fours Cassidy until Garcia makes a save and grabs a hold of his own. That’s broken up as well and everyone but Cassidy strike it out. Cassidy comes back in and everyone is knocked down for a bit.

Back up and Cassidy and Garcia grab holds, only to have Shibata and Sabre slug it out with said holds still on. With that broken up, Cassidy hits a Stundog Millionaire but Sabre twists the arm around to hit Cassidy in his own ribs. Garcia grabs a belt to knock Shibata silly for two but Cassidy clears Garcia out. That lets Cassidy and Shibata sit down to slap each other until an Orange Punch drops Shibata.

Cassidy’s hand is too banged up to cover so it’s the Beach Break for two. The Mousetrap to Sabre is countered into a double arm trap with a save being made. Sabre pulls Cassidy back into the hold until Shibata makes a save of his own. Everything breaks down again and Garcia pildrives Sabre. Shibata hits the PK on Garcia but Cassidy steals the pin to retain at 11:32.

Rating: B. The match was almost all action and Cassidy continues to show that he can hang with just about anyone. That being said, I’m not sure how many times the story has been “Cassidy is banged up and facing overwhelming odds” but he retains anyway. The point has long since been made and it’s time for someone to beat him for the title. He isn’t really gaining much more by doing it over and over again, yet here we are (after another rather entertaining match).

IWGP World Title: Sanada vs. Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy, with Hook, is challenging and gets run over by the champ. The threat of a Snare Trap sends Sanada straight to the ropes and Jungle Boy is already looking frustrated. Jungle Boy’s attempt at a Paradise Lock is broken up and Sanada gets one of his own, setting up the running dropkick for two. Back up and Jungle Boy fights back before a double knockdown gives them both a breather.

They chop it out until Jungle Boy gets Sanada’s own Skull End, slowly sending him over to the ropes. Sanada is right back up with a TKO for two but a moonsault doesn’t work as well. Jungle Boy snaps off a poisonrana but Sanada is right back with the swinging Skull End. Sanada’s poisonrana sets up a Shining Wizard for two, followed by a moonsault to retain at 10:37. There seemed to be a bit of confusion on the ending there, as the referee checked the shoulders and the bell didn’t immediately ring.

Rating: C+. This was a step down from the rest of the show, but there was only so much that could be done with the idea of Jungle Boy getting a World Title shot. He wasn’t going to win here and it fits in with his recent struggles. Commentary referred to this as a learning experience for Jungle Boy and that’s rather accurate, as he wasn’t going to win but could still get something out of it.

Post match Jungle Boy seems banged up but is fine enough to turn on Hook (Taz is LIVID). The fans give a very loud YOU F***** UP chant as this team with three whole matches together is done.

Blackpool Combat Club/Konosuke Takeshita/Shota Umino vs. Elite/Tomohiro Ishii/Eddie Kingston

Umino takes Page into the corner for some pats on the chest, plus a forearm to annoy Page a bit. Takeshita comes in instead and takes over, only for the Bucks to come in and pick up the pace. A neckbreaker/backbreaker combination hits Yuta (One of the Bucks: “See you in h***!”) and it’s off to Kingston vs. Moxley for one heck of an audience reaction. They stare each other down and then go to the big chop off as the other eight just watch from the floor.

Realizing that doesn’t make a ton of sense, the others come in for a big slugout of their own until the Bucks hit stereo dives to the floor. Page adds the moonsault as Kingston and Moxley are still chopping away. Castagnoli comes in to drop Kingston as Moxley goes outside to pour water on his chest. Takeshita comes in and BLASTS Ishii (on the apron) with an elbow before Kingston is caught in the wrong corner for some elbows from Castagnoli.

Kingston lariats his way out of trouble but Moxley is right there to cut him off. Stereo lariats connect and Moxley’s banged up chest keeps him down even longer. Ishii comes in to run Yuta over and slips out of a Hart Attack attempt. A back suplex drops Umino and a diving tag brings in Page for the big comeback. The Bucks hold Takeshita over the floor so Page can hit a running shooting star press from the apron.

Takeshita is back up but the Bucks start firing off the superkicks. The Blue Thunder Bomb Takeshita two on Matt and a wheelbarrow suplex drops him again. Castagnoli’s swing into Yuta’s dropkick gets two with a bunch of people making the save. Nick breaks up…something from Yuta and a rather cold tag brings Ishii back in as everything breaks down. Moxley cutters Ishii but the Bucks superkick their problems away again. Yuta ducks the Buckshot lariat and Ishii takes his head off with a lariat of his own. The brainbuster finishes for Ishii at 21:22.

Rating: B+. This was the all action match of the night and that’s all it needed to be, as the score (unofficially) is evened up between the Elite and the Club. You can book Blood & Guts from here and it should be rather epic. It was also rather nice to not have the match turn into a wild brawl, as they already covered that at Double Or Nothing. Heck of a fight here, and the storytelling with Kingston/Moxley/Castagnoli worked well. Throw in Takeshita looking like a main eventer and it was even better.

Post match Kingston isn’t having anything to do with his partners and leaves, as he didn’t want to hurt Moxley.

Video on Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale. Storm is so mean that even Nightingale doesn’t like her!

AEW Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale

Storm, with the Outcasts, is defending and Nightingale’s NJPW Women’s Strong Title isn’t on the line. They run the ropes to start until Nightingale counters a hiptoss into a cradle for two. Nightingale drops her to the floor but stops to yell at the Outcasts, allowing Storm to hit a hip attack on the way back in. The seated full nelson keeps Nightingale in trouble and Storm forearms her in the back to cut off a comeback.

Back up and they head to the apron with Nightingale hitting a Death Valley Driver to plant her hard. Nightingale goes up but the Outcasts throw in the spray paint. That’s enough for a double ejection but the delay causes Nightingale to miss the moonsault. The hip attack into a DDT gives Storm two, only to have Nightingale pull her into an Indian Deathlock. With that broken up, the Pounce sends Storm outside but she’s right back with a poke to the eye. Storm Zero retains the title at 11:03.

Rating: C+. This was more of the same from the Outcasts, but at least Storm was able to cheat on her own to retain here. Nightingale losing isn’t a surprise but it’s certainly annoying, as it seems to happen far too often. Odds are we’re coming up on Storm vs. Jamie Hayter for the title at All In, but at least Nightingale didn’t get squashed.

We recap Will Ospreay challenging Kenny Omega for the IWGP US Title. Omega escaped with the title at Wrestle Kingdom but now Ospreay is back and more dangerous for the rematch.

IWGP US Title: Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay is challenging and seems to be the big favorite. Omega takes him down into an early chinlock but Ospreay reverses into an arm crank. They chop it out but it’s way too early for the One Winged Angle. The Oscutter is countered as well and Omega has to duck a kick, leaving us with a standoff. Omega takes him down and hits a moonsault but here is Don Callis with his “military grade security” for the distraction.

That’s enough for an ejection but said distraction lets Ospreay send him into the barricade and take over back inside. Some shots to the back have Omega in trouble and Ospreay stays on said back for two. Omega manages to hit a quick Kitaro Crusher but Ospreay drapes him over the top rope. That sets up a shooting star press to the back and the Oscutter on the apron keeps Omega rocked. They head outside with Ospreay ramming him hard into the announcers’ table to knock Omega even sillier.

Omega is sent through the table’s covering and is busted rather open, allowing Ospreay to lick the blood off of his own arm. Ospreay V Triggers him to the floor and grabs the Canadian flag to clean himself, ala Shawn Michaels in 1997. That’s enough for Omega to knock him hard to the floor, where Ospreay is sent hard into the steps to bust him open as well. A DDT onto the steps knocks Ospreay silly again and Omega elbows away at the cut to make the blood flow even more freely. Ospreay powerbombs his way out of a choke and they’re both down.

Back up and Omega hits a V Trigger, only for Ospreay to grab the standing Spanish Fly for two. A rather terrible Sharpshooter sends Omega to the ropes but Ospreay pulls him back in and switches to a Crossface. With the rope break getting Omega out of trouble, Ospreay kicks him in the head a few times. The Oscutter is blocked (perhaps shouting OSCUTTER in advance was a bad idea) and Omega hits some Snapdragons. A piledriver gives Omega two and there’s the V Trigger to the back.

Omega tries a super One Winged Angel but Ospreay counters the chance of death into a Cheeky Nandos kick. Ospreay hits a skytwister to the floor, followed by a Liger Bomb for two back inside. Omega knocks him down again but here is Don Callis (the fans are NOT pleased) at ringside. A knee to the face hits Ospreay as Callis hides behind security. Callis’ distraction doesn’t stop the V Trigger but he manages to slip Ospreay a screwdriver.

The One Winged Angel is broken up with the screwdriver to the head and the Hidden Blade into the Stormbreaker gives Ospreay….two. Well that was ridiculous. Ospreay’s One Winged Angel gets one so Omega loads up his own version, only to switch into a German suplex for two. Ospreay Tiger Driver 91’s him for two and it’s a Hidden Blade into Stormbreaker to finally finish Omega at 39:07.

Rating: A. What else do you want here? They sold the idea of two people leaving it all in the ring until one of them couldn’t stand any longer and it felt like a violent war. That’s exactly what this should have been and on almost all accounts, it would have been a bit better without the (awesome) false finish off back to back finishers. That was a bit much and should have been the finish, but that’s a rather nothing complaint all things considered.

Omega has to be helped out due to obvious reasons.

Sting/Darby Allin/Tetsuya Naito vs. Chris Jericho/Minoru Suzuki/Sammy Guevara

Guevara flips over Naito to start before hitting a dropkick to take over. Naito sends him outside though and that’s enough for the Tranquilo pose. Allin comes in to yell at Guevara but gets Suzuki instead. That doesn’t go well for Allin so it’s off to Jericho vs. Sting for the big staredown. Sting takes over without much trouble and hits the Stinger Splash into the Scorpion Deathlock.

Guevara makes the save with a cutter and we get a triple Le Suzuki Gods pose. Naito is back in to clean things out and we settle down to Naito’s Gloria being broken up. Everything breaks down and the villains grab triple chokes, which are quickly escaped. Allin hits a dive onto Suzuki but Jericho hits the Judas Effect to cut off Allin’s sequel dive.

Jericho brings out a table (of course) and puts Sting on it before ordering Sammy to hit the 630 off the top to drive him through it. Naito rolls Jericho up for two but Destino is countered into the Walls. Sting is back up for the save so Jericho gives Naito the Codebreaker for to instead. Naito and Sting beat on Suzuki and it’s an atomic drop into a rollup to finish Suzuki at 15:02.

Rating: C. This one didn’t do much for me and it felt like they were just kind of going through the motions in some places. I’m also guessing that Sting was supposed to get up before that 630 but just didn’t in time, which would explain (not excuse, but explain) his quick save. The match wasn’t bad, but nothing you need to see.

Post match Jericho grabs the bat but Sting clears everyone out.

We recap Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada. In summation, it’s Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada.

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

Danielson comes out to Final Countdown for a special moment. Okada goes for the arm to start but Danielson reverses into a surfboard with a double knee stomp to leave Okada a bit annoyed. An elbow to the face drops Danielson and they go to the floor, where Danielson starts working on the arms. Some shots to said arms have Okada in trouble and Danielson cranks away at both back inside. Okada fights up and lets Danielson kick him, which just wakes Okada up even more.

The forearms don’t work because of the arm but it’s fine enough to catch a charging Danielson in a flapjack. They fight to the floor again and this time Danielson is sent into the crowd. Okada is right after him with a big running clothesline, setting up a neckbreaker onto the knee for two back inside. Danielson pops back up and hits a missile dropkick before it’s time to strike it out again.

Okada shotgun dropkicks him into the corner, followed by another dropkick for two. Back up and Danielson goes for the arm again, this time getting in a Disarm-Her. With that broken up, Danielson sends him outside but misses the dive. The Rainmaker is blocked and Okada gets dropkicked up the ramp. The YES Kicks rock Okada but he’s right back with a Tombstone onto the ramp.

Danielson is mostly out of it and the Rainmaker is loaded up. Hold on though as we pause for the doctor, who says Danielson can go, despite convulsing. Danielson is cleared and immediately hits a knee to drop Okada. Danielson declares it time to kick his f****** head in and stomps away but Danielson’s arm seems to have given out.

The YES chant is loaded up but Okada cuts off the running knee with the dropkick. The Landslide sets up the Rainmaker for two but two more attempts miss. Danielson tries the LeBell Lock, only to opt for some weird double arm lock. Okada can’t reach the rope so Danielson lets go and hammers him in the face. The double arm crank goes back on and Okada taps at 27:33.

Rating: A-. This was great in a different way than the Omega vs. Ospreay bloodbath in that this felt more like a traditional classic wrestling match. You had Danielson tearing the arm apart all match while Okada worked on the neck, only to have Danielson get the better of things and tie him up for the win. I had a great time with it, but the lack of a story other than “hey let’s have a classic” slowed it down a bit.

Danielson is banged up to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The two big matches and the ten man tag are more than enough to carry this, but it doesn’t quite get to that all time level. There are some matches on here that don’t exactly feel epic, but the good stuff is so, so good that it carries the rest. Definitely check out Okada vs. Danielson and Ospreay vs. Omega, but the rest you might want to pick and choose (save for the Zero Hour stuff, which added pretty much nothing). Another awesome show here, as we now veer back into the normal AEW material.

Results
Mogul Embassy b. Best Friends/Rocky Romero/El Desperado – Swerve Stomp to Romero
Athena b. Billie Starkz – Gutbuster
El Phantasmo b. Stu Grayson – Arm trap faceplant
Los Ingobernables de Japon b. United Empire – Made In Japan to TJP
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Diamond ring to the head
CM Punk b. Satoshi Kojima – GTS
Orange Cassidy b. Daniel Garcia, Zack Sabre Jr. and Katsuyorhi Shibata – Crucifix to Garcia
Sanada b. Jungle Boy – Moonsault
Elite/Tomohiro Ishii/Eddie Kingston b. Blackpool Combat Club/Konosuke Takeshita/Shota Umino – Brainbuster to Yuta
Toni Storm b. Willow Nightingale – Storm Zero
Will Ospreay b. Kenny Omega – Stormbreaker
Sting/Tetsuya Naito/Darby Allin b. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Minoru Suzuki – Rollup to Suzuki
Bryan Danielson b. Kazuchika Okada – Double arm crank

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

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It’s time for one of the more unique shows of the year, as AEW and New Japan get together for another Forbidden Door (which does not seem to actually be forbidden in any way). This one has been built up a bit better than last year and the top of the card looks rather strong. If it is anywhere close to as good as the original show, we should be in for a nice night. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Mogul Embassy vs. Roppongi Vice/El Desperado

This is one of three matches that were added to Zero Hour this week on Collision. The Embassy has been treated as something of value on Ring Of Honor and it would be nice to see Swerve Strickland getting a bit more of a high profile win. Vice is a team who has been around in a variety of forms so having them around makes some sense. Desperado is a wild card, but that seems to be the point.

I’ll take the Embassy to win, even though the Gates of Agony notoriously never win anything of note. Maybe it’s different if they are in a six man match, but it is one of those random matches that could go either way. Hopefully Strickland gets a dominant pin over a member of Vice as it would be the most beneficial long term, even if the Gates continue to be rather dull.

Zero Hour: El Phantasmo vs. Stu Grayson

Grayson hasn’t been around AEW much lately but when he is given the chance, especially away from the Dark Order, he can put on quite the show. Phantasmo is a bigger star of course and in a better place, making this kind of a strange choice to put on the card. Hopefully they can make something work out of this, despite what is likely to be a limited amount of time.

Phantasmo wins here, as Grayson isn’t going to win here when he can barely get on AEW TV most of the time. This feels like a way to get Phantasmo in front of the audience and Grayson is the one who was selected to be out there too. The match should be fairly good if Grayson is trying to get some focus on himself and if that is the case, we should be in for something fun.

Zero Hour: United Empire vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon

So this seems to be a showcase match for New Japan stars and that should be fine. Kyle Fletcher and Jeff Cobb are regular enough in AEW so at least commentary will have something to talk about. At the same time, Los Ingobernables haven’t been around lately but the talent will be more than enough to carry things forward, as the story isn’t the point to this one.

I’ll go with the Empire to win here as they have been around more frequently, but if there is one match on here where either would win with either making that much of a difference, it would be this one. If these guys get ten minutes or so, everything should be fine, as there is more than enough talent in there to fill in pretty much whatever amount of time that they are given. But yeah, the Empire wins here.

Zero Hour: Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: Athena vs. Billie Starkz

This is one of the matches that has some importance going forward and it is probably the one that has the least interest as far as who wins. It is almost hard to fathom this going any other way, but I’m hoping that we get the Athena who has been tearing up Ring Of Honor in recent weeks. If nothing else, the tournament works if we can see more of Athena on a bigger show.

Of course Athena wins here, as she is already a champion coming in and is up against a 18 year old rookie who hasn’t done much around here so far. This should be all about Athena running over Starkz until she gets to advance. Hopefully the match is there to get Athena over, as she is more than ready to move up into the big leagues of the women’s titles, assuming they can find someone who can take the title from her. For now though, Athena wins here and does so handily.

IWGP World Title: Sanada(c) vs. Jungle Boy

This feels like a match that is there to further a bigger story. Jungle Boy may have been in the World Title match last month but in no way does he feel like a serious threat to beat Sanada here. Instead, it feels like another place where he can come up short and further what seems to be a much needed heel turn. AEW hasn’t exactly been trying to hide his long at best shot and that is the right way to go.

So yeah, naturally this is Sanada winning, though Jungle Boy should be able to get in some stuff of his own. There is nothing to suggest that Jungle Boy is going to come close to winning so it is more about letting the two of them have a nice match before getting to the only possible option. That is the right way to go in this place and having the title on the show is a big deal on its own.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament First Round: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

We’ll keep going with the obvious results here, as this is little more than a way for Punk to get back in the ring and get the first singles win of his comeback against a legend. Punk has only been back for two shows so far and while he has been in some multi-man tag matches, he has to have some singles matches at some point to really make it feel like he is back.

In case you didn’t get the idea, Punk wins here, albeit after Kojima gives him a heck of a match. Kojima is certainly a name and a very accomplished one at that, but Punk is one of the biggest stars in AEW at the moment and giving him the win is not only the right way to go, but pretty much the only logical choice. Being in the ring with Kojima will likely be a cool moment for Punk, and having him win will be a nice bonus.

Adam Cole vs. Tom Lawlor

This is another match that was added at almost the last minute but at least Lawlor attacked him on Rampage. That at least puts it ahead of the matches that had no build whatsoever other than an announcement so things are a step up. In this case, Cole is gearing up for his World Title shot against Maxwell Jacob Friedman and gets to face someone who should be in a higher profile company than he already is.

In what could be a hidden gem on the show, Cole wins here, and hopefully Lawlor does well enough to get a job, or at least one down the line, as a result. Lawlor is someone who has done well pretty much everywhere I’ve seen him go and it would be nice to see him in AEW more often. For now though, he can be a nice win for Cole, who is on his way to bigger and better things.

Le Suzuki Gods vs. Sting/Darby Allin/Tetsuya Naito

Naito was the mystery partner for Sting and Allin and definitely adds some New Japan star power to the match. This is much more about Sting vs. Jericho and Allin vs. Guevara, with Suzuki and Naito there as well. The good thing about a six man tag is that you can get some different combinations in there, which could even include the bizarre option of Sting vs. Suzuki.

Much like the IWGP World Title match, this feels like a means to an end but we could be in for some interesting things here as the good guys win. The Jericho vs. Sting showdown is bound to happen and it would not shock me to see them go one on one (or two on two) at All In in London in about two months. For now though, we should be in for one of those zany tag matches that AEW knows how to make work very well.

AEW Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Willow Nightingale

This is where what happens to Nightingale is one of the most frustrating things in AEW, as she has to actually win something at some point. While she has already advanced in the Owen Hart tournament and is the NJPW Strong Women’s Champion, she needs to win one of the two women’s titles in AEW. While that is a possibility here, I’m not sure I can imagine it actually happening.

As much as I want it to go the other way, I can’t imagine taking the title off of Storm so soon. Jamie Hayter returning to get the title from Storm (say, in London) would make the most sense and the Outcasts can interfere to give Nightingale an out. Nightingale still needs that big win and she can get it one day, but for now, it’s Storm defeating another champion to retain her own title.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Now stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but I’m not sure how much question there is here about who is leaving with the title. It’s the biggest issue with this show, but that shouldn’t stop them from having a solid match on the way. Friedman has shown that he can do very well in the ring under the right circumstances and Tanahashi is Tanahashi, so this this should work.

But yeah, Friedman wins here, likely with Cole getting involved in some way so he can take the title from Friedman down the line (or something similar). Tanahashi is one of those legends who can be put out there for one loss after another without any kind of a problem and that is what he is going to do here. At the same time, Friedman can brag about beating one of the best ever (and you know he will) so this is a rather logical idea.

International Title: Orange Cassidy(c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia

We’re at a weird point for Cassidy’s title reign, as he has held the title for eight months and a good chunk of that has been spent on “he’s so tired and banged up that he can’t possibly retain the title much longer”. Then he just does it, beating one challenger after another. In theory he is being built up for someone to look like a huge deal when they finally take the title from him, but that has to actually happen at some point.

As ready as I am for Cassidy to lose the title already, odds are he retains here, as Shibata and Sabre Jr. already have titles and Cassidy already beat Garcia last month. If nothing else, Cassidy losing the title feels a lot better in a one on one showdown, and odds are he gets to retain again here. Sabre getting to torture some people will make it worth a look, but it’s Cassidy keeping the title.

Blackpool Combat Club/Konosuke Takeshita/Shota Umino vs. Elite/Eddie Kingston/Tomohiro Ishii

This is the big showdown match as the blood feud between the two sides continues. While Takeshita isn’t part of the Club, he certainly has the same enemies and that is enough to keep him in this kind of a feud. This one is going to be about violence and carnage as we get closer to what is likely Kingston challenging Claudio Castagnoli for the Ring Of Honor World Title next month. And some guest stars to keep up the theme of the show.

After Anarchy in the Arena, this needs to go to the Elite and company, likely with Umino or Wheeler Yuta taking the fall. Or they can just go for the obvious ending with Ishii pinning Castagnoli to set up the Death Before Dishonor match. Either way, there are going to be a lot of people involved and it will probably fall into chaos about halfway through, which is about all you can expect.

IWGP United States Title: Kenny Omega(c) vs. Will Ospreay

This is a rematch from a huge Wrestle Kingdom match which went very well (though I didn’t grade it as highly as some did). There is a real chance that it headlines the show and if it is similar to what we got on Dynamite with these two, I wouldn’t be opposed. Omega is capable of looking like an absolute star and Ospreay can hang with anyone in the world. Let these two go nuts and it should be a lot of fun.

As for a winner….it’s hard to imagine Omega going up 2-0, especially with Don Callis anywhere nearby. This should go to Ospreay to even the series and then they can do their big rubber match in Japan (or England). These two are going to beat the fire out of each other and it should be an awesome showdown, but Ospreay wins here to even the score and take away one of the main things Omega has at the moment.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson

As big as some of the other matches are, come on. This is the definition of a dream match as perhaps the best in Japan is facing perhaps the best in the United States (and on neutral ground). It’s a match where the names alone make the show feel that awesome and it is almost impossible for this to not be good. Just let them do whatever they want and it should be a main event caliber match.

Then we get to the hard part, as this is pretty much a coin flip. I’ll go with Danielson winning as he is the closer to a home country star, but it really could go either way. Either way, despite Danielson being a heel coming in, there is a good chance that he is going to be cheered out of the building by the end. This is the kind of match that should headline a show and there is a very good chance that it will, with Danielson winning (I guess).

Overall Thoughts

Forbidden Door really is one of the weirdest shows that you see all year and that makes it all the more interesting. New Japan isn’t being treated as a bunch of invaders and only a few of the matches really have personal issues. Instead, this is about proving who is better and we could have some outstanding matches on the way there. It will be nice to get back to the focus being only on AEW, but for a one night event, we could be in for a classic here.

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: June 14, 2023
Location: Capitol One Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re back at the location of the first ever Dynamite and that means we should be in for a big match. In this case, we are about a week and a half away from Forbidden Door and some more matches need to be announced. The top matches have been confirmed, but that still leaves a good bit of work to do. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Adam Cole

Non-title but if Cole wins, he gets a future title shot. They go toe to toe to start and then lock up with MJF getting in the first knockdown. That means some strutting but MJF has to bail away from the threat of a superkick. Hold on though as MJF goes into the crowd to knock a fan’s hat off. Back in and MJF knocks him into the corner but gets sent into the corner to even things out.

Cole’s baseball slide is countered as MJF ties him up in the ring skirt. Cole’s hand is crushed against the steps and it’s time for the armbar back inside. The arm gets twisted down again and a pumphandle driver gives MJF two. MJF does the Shawn Michaels pose and tunes up the band but Cole beats him to the superkick. Cole drops him again but the Panama Sunrise is countered.

The Heatseeker is countered as well and Cole hits a shoulder breaker for two. The fireman’s carry backbreaker hits MJF but Cole bangs up his own knee in the process. With both of them down, they roll over to the apron, where MJF hits a Tombstone to put them both down. We take a break and come back with MJF hitting a hard clothesline but getting pulled into the Crossface. MJF reverses into a Fujiwara armbar, which is reversed into an ankle lock.

That’s escaped as well and now the Heatseeker gives MJF two. A top rope elbow sends Cole through the timekeeper’s table and they’re both down. Cole dives back in to beat the count and MJF is looking terrified. A German suplex drops MJF on the apron but MJF falls down before the Panama Sunrise. MJF gets in a quick stomp on the arm but Cole’s rollup is kicked into the referee to knock him down.

Back up and MJF grabs the title and falls down….only to have the referee fall down as well. A belt shot and the Boom give Cole two for a shocked near fall look. MJF grabs the referee to kick Cole low, meaning it’s time for the diamond ring. The referee catches the big swing though and it’s a superkick into the Panama Sunrise into the Boom for….two as the time limit expires at 29:54 (close enough).

Rating: B. That certainly was an Adam Cole match, as it had a bunch of totally ridiculous kickouts and near falls but there was enough good action to go with it. They were kind of telegraphing the time limit by the end but it does set up a rematch at some point down the road. For a free TV match, this was rather good, though cut out the nonsense with the near falls and dropping them on their heads on the apron.

Post match Cole says “five more minutes” but MJF walks out.

Video on CM Punk, who is back at Collision and says he has scores to settle and things to get off his chest.

Here is Sammy Guevara for the first time since Double Or Nothing. He talks about being excited to be a father and how he’s looking forward to holding his daughter in one arm and the World Title in the other. Cue Darby Allin to interrupt and he immediately congratulates him on the daughter. That brings him to the important question though: is Sammy always going to walk in Chris Jericho’s shadow?

Allin and Sting are equals, so why aren’t Sammy and Jericho? Cue Jericho (in what appear to be sparkly high heels), who wants to know why Sammy didn’t ask for help to win the World Title. Sammy says if Jericho had called for help, he wouldn’t have lost to Adam Cole twice. Jericho isn’t happy but suggests a tag match, so here is Sting to even things up. They compare bats and Jericho backs off.

IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Sanada issues an open challenge for Forbidden Door.

Keith Lee/Sting/Darby Allin/Orange Cassidy vs. Mogul Embassy

Dustin Rhodes is here with Sting and company. Allin and Cassidy’s dives are cut off but Allin is fine enough to come back in for running charges to Swerve in the corner. Sting adds his own but Cage (in Sting cosplay) pulls Sting outside. We take a break and come back with Swerve working on Allin’s arm.

Cassidy tries to make a save but gets sent outside, leaving Allin to get caught in a chinlock. Allin fights up and brings in Lee to clean house. A huge Tower of Doom plants Lee out of the corner for two as everything breaks down. Sting gets knocked hard into the corner but Lee makes the save. A clothesline drops Cage but he gets Sting up into a fireman’s carry. The Orange Punch into the Scorpion Death Drop finishes Cage at 8:46.

Rating: C+. There was a lot going on here but it was nice to have Sting back in the ring for another one off match. AEW has done a good job with making that feel special, though having him pin cage when the Gates of Agony are right there is a bit of a weird choice. Otherwise, fun enough match, even with the break cutting out a lot of it.

The Gunns want to face the Hardys next week.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Jake Hager

Wardlow is defending and gets jumped from behind during their entrances as we start fast. The beating doesn’t last long as Wardlow powers up and knocks him outside, with a clothesline dropping Hager as we take a break. Back with Wardlow escaping an ankle lock but here is the Jericho Appreciation Society. Arn teases pulling out his gun but Brock Anderson comes out for the save instead. With the gun tease done, Hager powerslams Wardlow for two but the Vader Bomb hits raised boots. The Swanton connects and the Powerbomb Symphony retains the title at 7:14.

Rating: C. It was another short match with Wardlow getting to wreck someone else before he gets to his next big title defense. The Anderson stuff still doesn’t feel like the most logical pairing for Wardlow, but at least he’s back to powerbombing people. Not much to this one, but Hager is fine enough for a one off challenger.

Post match Christian Cage and Luchasaurus pop up to challenge Wardlow for Collision. They’ve attacked Arn Anderson and busted him open, with Wardlow running to the back.

Hiroshi Tanahashi challenges MJF for Forbidden Door.

MJF says he’s not down for giving some random guy from a rinky dink promotion in Japan a title shot so nah.

Orange Cassidy is ready for Forbidden Door when Zack Sabre Jr. comes in. A title match is teased when Daniel Garcia comes in to ask about Katsuyori Shibata. Cassidy says Shibata will be here next week, so the tag match is on.

Women’s Title: Skye Blue vs. Toni Storm

Storm, with Ruby Soho, is defending. Blue starts fast and hits a high crossbody for an early two. With Storm outside, she and Soho spray paint in the face of Blue’s mom, setting up the double suicide dive as we take a break. Back with Blue in trouble but she cuts off the spray paint with a spray can of her own. A superkick drops Storm and Code Blue connects but Soho has the referee. There’s a superkick to Soho but Blue charges into Storm Zero for two (in a nice false finish). The Texas Cloverleaf retains the title a few moments later at 6:58.

Rating: C. They packed a lot into this and while it was only so good, Blue didn’t feel like a total pushover. The Outcasts don’t really have a big story at the moment so having Storm beat someone in a TV title defense is a smart way to go. It’s going to take some combination to take the Outcasts down, and Blue being part of it would be an acceptable idea.

Post match the beatdown is on but Willow Nightingale makes the save.

Jungle Boy accepts Sanada’s title for the IWGP Title shot at Forbidden Door. He also wants Hook, his best friend, to be in his corner. A fist bump makes it official.

Forbidden Door video.

Forbidden Door rundown.

Bullet Club Gold is ready for CM Punk and FTR.

Collision rundown, including Miro and Andrade El Idolo’s returns to the ring.

Hangman Page/Young Bucks vs. Blackpool Combat Club

Bryan Danielson is on commentary. It’s a slugout to start (with Matt Jackson hanging in a fist fight with Claudio Castagnoli) before the Elite takes over with the power of flips and dives. Nick high crossbodies Moxley but Claudio pulls a moonsault out of the air for the pop up uppercut. Back in and Moxley’s piledriver gets two and we take a break.

We come back with Nick dropkicking his way out of trouble and bringing Page in to clean house. A suicide dive connects on the floor and a high crossbody gets two on Yuta. Everything breaks down and Yuta’s German suplex gets two on Matt. It’s back to Moxley for a Doomsday Device and a near fall, followed by the choke to Matt. Nick Swantons in for the save and the Club’s Rocket Launcher only hits raised knees. The BTE Trigger hits Yuta and the Buckshot Lariat connects for the pin at 11:53.

Rating: B. At some point the Club had to show some vulnerability and that’s what we got here. The Elite taking them down isn’t a stretch and it was a former World Champion pinning the weakest member of the Club. Everything went well here and it was a fast paced match, which made for a pretty awesome main event.

Post match the beatdown stays on but Eddie Kingston runs in for the save. Kingston goes after Claudio but pulls the Bucks off of Moxley. Kingston and Moxley go face to face but here is Konosuke Takeshita to jump Kingston and the Elite. Kenny Omega runs to the ring for the brawl with Takeshita and house is cleaned. Omega loads up the dive but Will Ospreay comes in to take Omega down. A pair of Hidden Blades drops Omega to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a pretty great show, with the opener and main event both being very good, but also with the Forbidden Door build being sprinkled throughout. This year’s build has blown away last years as it has been one piece at a time rather than a bunch of stuff being thrown out there all at once. There was nothing really close to bad here and even with the middle being just ok, the two hours flew by and it made for a quality as well as useful show.

Results
Adam Cole vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman went to a time limit draw
Keith Lee/Sting/Darby Allin/Orange Cassidy b. Mogul Embassy – Scorpion Death Drop to Cage
Wardlow b. Jake Hager – Powerbomb Symphony
Toni Storm b. Skye Blue – Texas Cloverleaf
Hangman Page/Young Bucks b. Blackpool Combat Club – Buckshot Lariat to Yuta

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

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Dynamite
Date: May 10, 2023
Location: Little Caesar’s Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s a stacked night as we have quite the card, featuring Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in a cage. This has been hyped up as a pay per view on TBS and with the card they have out there, it might not be too far from the truth. We are also less than three weeks away from Double Or Nothing and the card could use some attention. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Rey Fenix

This is a Double Jeopardy match, where the winner gets a shot at the other’s title (as in Claudio’s Ring Of Honor World Title and Fenix’s Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles), though this is non-title. Feeling out process to start with neither getting very far until Claudio powers him into the corner to take over. Fenix is right back with a springboard hurricanrana to the floor, followed by some hard suicide dives.

A third dive is cut out of the air though and Fenix is dropped HARD onto the barricade. Claudio loads up a suplex and tries to walk up the steps but can’t quite do it, allowing Fenix to walk the barricade for a heck of a hurricanrana. Back in and Castagnoli loads up a middle rope gorilla press but Fenix reverses into a rather springboardy hurricanrana.

They head outside again with Fenix being tossed hard over the barricade as we take a break. We come back with Castagnoli hitting a gutwrench superplex but Fenix kicks him in the face. The rolling cutter (that always looks good) plants Castagnoli for two but something like an Angle Slam drops Fenix. The Riccola Bomb finishes Fenix off at 14:20.

Rating: B. I like the stipulation here as it opens up some doors and gives Castagnoli, the favorite, incentive to win. Odds are that sets up a big Ring Of Honor match later (probably not on Ring Of Honor TV but take what you can get) with Castagnoli picking Yuta as his partner, but it should be good either way. Now just get Fenix on TV more and everyone can be happy.

MIRO of all people returns and walks into Tony Khan’s office. That’s his first appearance since September of last year.

MJF talks about the Four Pills concept and how all four of them were great stars with unlimited potential. The difference though? MJF has actually done something.

Video on Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley, who have fought for years and are in a cage tonight.

Here is FTR for a chat. They want Mark Briscoe out here for an apology but get Sonjay Dutt and company instead. Dutt gets to the point and asks about the challenge for a Tag Team Title match at Double Or Nothing. Harwood is in, with one condition: Dutt and company have to admit that they used Mark Briscoe to get to them.

Cue Briscoe with a thermos and a bunch of cups. Briscoe understands that these people have trouble holding their emotions, but he has an announcement: FTR vs. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal at Double Or Nothing, with Briscoe as guest referee. Briscoe offers a toast but Dutt throws alcohol into FTR’s eyes, causing the blinded Dax to piledrive Briscoe. Another story where it could be solved by watching the tape back, but I’ll take what intrigue I can get for the match.

Chris Jericho is upset at Adam Cole for attacking him on commentary because this is an unsafe working environment. Jericho now has a court order saying that Cole is banned from any building he is in. Roderick Strong comes in and the falls count anywhere match is set for next week. Anywhere as in….outside? Where the court order wouldn’t count? Strong has his own legal order: the Jericho Appreciation Society is banned from the building next week. I want to see the credentials of a judge who would sign off on that under these circumstances.

Renee Paquette is trying to get an update on Miro when Thunder Rosa pops up to walk into Tony Khan’s office as well.

Video on Sammy Guevara.

Tony Khan promises a huge announcement next week, with hints of a new show. That sounds Collisiony.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Daniel Garcia

Garcia is challenging and we start with some grappling. Cassidy armdrags him into an armbar before casually escaping a drop toehold attempt. Garcia isn’t pleased and sends him outside for some drops onto the apron/barricade as we take a break. Back with Garcia hitting a curb stomp but posing instead of covering. A top rope superplex connects on Cassidy, who tries to reverse a suplex into the Stundog Millionaire, only getting part of it.

Garcia stays on him but gets caught in a quick Beach Break for two. The Orange Punch is broken up with a dropkick to the knee and Garcia is rather cocky. Cassidy’s hands in the pockets is broken up with a kick to the face and a piledriver gets two. The Dragon Slayer is countered into a small package for two and another Beach Break gets two more. Garcia is right back with the Dragon Slayer, which he switches into a triangle choke and then a crossface. That’s reversed into a rollup to give Cassidy the pin at 13:24.

Rating: B. What matters here is keeping Cassidy strong and this was one of the better matches during his title run. I could go with this version of Cassidy, but at the same time he is still around a bit too often for my taste. Other than that, these two had a heck of a back and forth match with Garcia doing his thing as well as he can, plus Cassidy hanging in there until he could escape at the end.

The Outcasts are ready to hurt Hikaru Shida next week.

Here are Christian Cage and Luchasaurus for a chat. Christian rips on Detroit and then brings up Wardlow’s father, who wasn’t famous and no one cared about him. Wardlow found Arn Anderson, whose son is wresting here in AEW. Then Arn saw Wardlow and jumped over to him for all of the success.

Christian mocks Anderson for being a legend, but maybe being the other guy in a team with Tully Blanchard or being Ric Flair’s lapdog is enough to make you a legend. Wardlow will never be a legend like Christian, and Christian is going to prove it. Fans: “EDGE IS BETTER!” This was some GREAT heel stuff from Christian, who is a heat magnet right now. Granted it was almost terrifying when I thought he was going to bring up Anderson’s recently deceased son but thankfully it didn’t go there.

Darby Allin is back home with his dad and talks about everything he has done to become a wrestler. Now he is willing to take any chance to become the World Champion.

Anna Jay vs. Julia Hart

Anything goes and Anna chairs her down from behind before the bell. They go to ringside where Hart gets in some kendo stick shots, followed by some rams into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Hart getting planted on some chairs on the floor. The chairs are brought inside but Hart superplexes her down. Hartless makes Anna tap at 9:17.

Rating: C+. It wasn’t a bad match but I was having trouble getting into this one. The feud hasn’t exactly been interesting in the first place and having them go into this big hardcore match (a good chunk of which was in the break) just felt like a quick escalation. Hart winning was a surprise too, and it was probably the biggest win of his career.

The Best Friends and Bandido don’t quite understand the House Of Black’s Open House rules. Orange Cassidy is tired though.

Trios Titles: House Of Black vs. Best Friends/Bandido

The House is defending and we have 20 counts/no DQ, with Julia Hart banned from ringside (as per the challengers’ choice). The lights are also turned down for a rather cool look. Black strikes away at Bandido in the corner to start and goes after the knee. Bandido goes to the ropes but has to crawl to the floor for the break and a needed breather.

Back in and Black gets caught in the wrong corner so the good guys can take over. We take a break and come back with Trent having to Stomp Matthews out of the corner, allowing the diving tag back to Bandido. Everything breaks down and Chuck comes in, only to get caught with Dante’s Inferno to retain the titles at 8:20.

Rating: C+. The lighting looked good and the action was good enough, but the rules might need some tweaking. The idea of having the first set of challengers being confused by what was going on isn’t a great sign, but it isn’t like the titles have anything else going on. Just get some more teams together to come after the titles, which is probably going to take some time.

Video on Jungle Boy, who has worked hard to get here, including his feud with Christian Cage.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ricky Starks wants Jay White next week.

Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley

Bryan Danielson is on commentary, Don Callis is with Omega and this is in a cage. They start fighting in the aisle before the bell though and the fans seem to approve. Cue the Blackpool Combat Club and the Young Bucks for the double interferences. The Bucks go after Danielson but security breaks everything up as Omega is finally in the cage.

Moxley gets in as well and the bell rings, with Omega knocking him down fast. Omega hits the middle rope moonsault and whips out a chair wrapped in barbed wire. Moxley is quickly hit in the head and busted open, though Omega hurts his hand with the swing. The chair is put on Moxley’s back and stomped down to rip him open even more but Moxley gets creative by sending Omega face first into the TV camera. Omega is right back with a bulldog onto the chair but gets caught up top. Moxley superplexes him onto the chair and we take a break.

Back with the top rope having been broken up so Moxley can choke away. It’s time to bring out the broken glass but Omega grabs a fireman’s carry backbreaker. The One Winged Angel is countered into a choke but Omega flips him onto said glass. Moxley grabs a choke, which is reversed into a V Trigger and the dragon suplex. Another V Trigger sends Moxley through the cage wall and out to the floor, though Omega wrenches his knee. Moxley whips out the screwdriver but Callis takes it away. The V Trigger into the One Winged Angel gets two…..as Callis turns on Omega with the screwdriver. Moxley gets the pin at 14:29.

Rating: B. Your mileage may vary here as I’m not big on the weapons being used in a CAGE match. The big spot with the knee through the cage was awesome enough though and the big angle at the end, while still centered around Don Callis, was an important deal. It felt like a major match and I’m wondering what is going to come next at Double Or Nothing, so they’re doing something right.

Post match Callis loads up the screwdriver but throws Omega down instead. The villains leave to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. The show felt big and they lived up to a lot of the hype that they made for themselves. That’s a hard trick to pull off but AEW made it work with a stacked show. The announcement next week sounds important enough and having Miro and Rosa return made this week feel like something of a turning point. Now follow up on it and things can start to cook.

Results
Claudio Castagnoli b. Rey Fenix – Riccola Bomb
Orange Cassidy b. Daniel Garcia – Rollup
Julia Hart b. Anna Jay – Hartless
House Of Black b. Bandido/Best Friends – Dante’s Inferno to Taylor
Jon Moxley b. Kenny Omega – Screwdriver to the head

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: May 3, 2023
Location: CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are less than a month away from Double Or Nothing and tonight we should get the final announcement of the main event. This week’s main event will see Jungle Boy and Darby Allin vs. MJF/Sammy Guevara. If the former win, the Double Or Nothing World Title match is a four way. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Orange Cassidy/Roderick Strong/Bandido/Adam Cole vs. Jericho Appreciation Society

That would be Jake Hager/Matt Menard/Angelo Parker/Daniel Garcia for the Society. Chris Jericho himself joins commentary as Cole hammers away on Parker to start. Cole stomps Parker down in the corner and chokes away before Bandido comes in for a snap powerslam. Everything breaks down and we get a big brawl on the floor, with the Society taking Cassidy down.

Bandido hits a big flip dive to take them down and Cole goes after Jericho. With that broken up by the Society, Bandido’s delayed vertical suplex is broken up. He suplexes Parker and Menard at the same time instead and we take a break. Back with Hager bearhugging Cassidy, who slips out and hits a Stundog Millionaire on Menard.

Everything breaks down and Strong hits an Angle Slam for two on Hager. Garcia gets Cassidy in the Dragon Slayer but it get broken up, setting up the parade of secondary finishers. Cassidy’s Beach Break gets two on Garcia, followed by the lazy tags. It’s back to Strong for a jumping knee to Parker’s face and Cole hits The Boom for the pin at 14:19.

Rating: B. This was the kind of fun opening match that you often need to have. It was a bunch of wrestlers who the fans like beating up wrestlers they don’t like and that is almost always going to work. Cole gets the win to start his revenge on the Society, which is likely setting up a violent match at Double Or Nothing. Good opener here and the fans seemed to like it a lot.

Post match Cole charges up the barricade to go after Jericho and even breaks the set down while jumping him.

Jungle Boy and Darby Allin are ready to get their main event title shot at Double Or Nothing.

Security takes Adam Cole out of the arena as Chris Jericho shouts about how dangerous Cole is. Britt Baker comes in to slap Jericho down.

The Blackpool Combat Club talks about (after starting with the volume down) how Kenny Omega thinks he is a legend. Bryan Danielson is better than him though and is the best wrestler in the world today. If not, it’s one of his teammates. The future of wrestling is better because of him though and he wants someone like Wheeler Yuta to be better. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Jon Moxley talks about how they work to make each other better and next week, he’s facing Omega in a cage.

Saraya vs. Willow Nightingale

The rests of the Outcasts are here with Saraya. Nightingale heads outside to yell at the other two, allowing Saraya to grab a choke back inside. With that broken up, Nightingale sends her into the corner and then out to the apron. This time, the rest of the Outcasts get in some cheap shots and we take a break. Back with Willow hitting a spinebuster for two, followed by a Death Valley Driver for…nothing, because the Outcasts break it up. Nightingale Pounces Soho and drops Storm, only to get the Midnight (Rampaige) for the pin at 6:39.

Rating: C. In a shock, the Outcasts use their numbers advantage to win a match over someone they have beaten before. This story has been running in place for months now and I’m almost worried about where it is going. The problem continues to be that the team isn’t that interesting and they have such a revolving door of opponents. Find something more concrete for them to fight over and it could work, but until then, stop trying to recreate the NWO without what made the NWO work.

Post match the beatdown stays on but Hikaru Shida runs in for the save….and then joins the Outcasts. Jamie Hayter and Britt Baker come in for the save….and Shida helps them beat down the Outcasts.

The House Of Black throw down the Trios Titles and want them to mean more. We hear about the Open House: any three people can come challenge for the belts, but under House Rules, it’s a 20 count on the floor, no rope breaks and DQ is enforced under Dealer’s Choice. The House Always Wins, including having black titles. Sure why not, as these titles continue to suck the life out of the tag division.

Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royal

El Hijo del Vikingo/Lucha Bros, Varsity Athletes, Dark Order, Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian, QTV/Powerhouse Hobbs, Billy Gunn/The Acclaimed

All three members have to be eliminated. It’s a brawl on the floor to start (because of course) before everyone gets inside for the start. Scissoring/CERO MIEDO leads to a standoff and Evil Uno gets rid of Daivari. Uno is kicked out just as fast and Fenix runs the ropes to kick Nese out. Vikingo eliminates Woods and the Athletes are all gone. Marshall knocks Reynolds out but the Lucha Bros toss Marshall and Solow.

Hobbs goes after the Bros and shrugs off their kicks, only to have QTV offer a distraction. Now the Bros are eliminated but Vikingo goes after Hobbs. That earns Vikingo a toss out and it’s Hobbs running Gunn over. The Acclaimed dumps Hobbs but Butcher breaks up the scissoring to get rid of Caster.

We’re down to Butcher/Blade/Sabian vs. Gunn/Bowens vs. Silver, with the villains taking over without much trouble. Silver grabs a delayed vertical suplex on Blade but he’s back up to get rid of Silver, leaving us at 3-2. Blade Stuns Gunn but Bowens tosses him as well to even it up. Bowens gets thrown over the top but Gunn makes a save. Stereo Fameassers set up the double elimination to give Gunn/Bowens the win for their trio at 9:31.

Rating: C+. It was a team battle royal, which is one of AEW’s favorite weird matches. It also shows you how far things have shifted from a regular tag teams to the trios stuff, which still doesn’t hook me as well. Maybe this is something else for the Acclaimed, but I would still like to have the two divisions more merged together. Or just get rid of the Trios Titles altogether, though that doesn’t seem likely.

Sammy Guevara isn’t happy with MJF, who interrupts him to say they’re still friends. For tonight, they’ll make sure the Double Or Nothing main event is just them. MJF has a bad back from carrying the company, which is enough for Guevara to buy his excuse.

Kenny Omega and Don Callis are ready for Jon Moxley next week. Moxley is a crazy man and Omega will be ready for him. Even if Moxley makes Omega bleed it won’t be enough, because Omega is ready to end it next week.

Wardlow vs. Logan Laroux

Non-title and the Powerbomb Symphony finishes Laroux at 1:27. Lash would have done better.

Post match Wardlow wants to finish this with Christian Cage and Luchasaurus. Cue the two of them, with Cage saying not tonight. Oh and Luchasaurus isn’t challenging, but rather Cage. Interesting enough.

Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal come to see Mark Briscoe to calm things off. Mark puts them to work on the farm, along with Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh. They wind up sitting around with Jeff playing guitar but Papa Briscoe comes in to glare. With everyone down, Papa tells him to be worried about all of them. The team has a peace offering though: a singles match for Briscoe on Rampage. This was hilarious, with the villains playing wannabe hillbillies just fine.

Ricky Starks vs. Juice Robinson

Robinson slaps him out of the corner to start so Starks hammers him in the face. They fight to the floor with Robinson whipping him into the barricade but not being able to add a piledriver. Starks gets sent hard into the steps but Starks manages a quick posting. A slam off the steps drops Robinson on the floor as we take an early break.

Back with Starks hitting a clothesline and a tornado DDT getting two on Robinson. Starks sends him into the corner for the running Cannonball, followed by a hard clothesline of his own for two. The forward DDT is countered a few times and Starks hits the spear. The Roshambo finishes Robinson at 9:16.

Rating: C+. Nice match but it’s still not exactly a great feud. Starks was red hot for a little while now but instead he is here with what feels like the New Japan refugees. Robinson and Jay White are talented stars, though they don’t have much in the way of success around here. At the same time, Starks did get the pin, but I have no reason to believe that this story is anywhere near done with Double Or Nothing less than a month away.

Post match Jay White runs in to help beat down Starks, who still needs another partner.

Video on the Firm Deletion match.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

MJF pitches an alliance with Jungle Boy, who he says he loves like a brother. Jungle Boy isn’t sold because he wants the title. Darby Allin comes in and looks suspicious.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Sammy Guevara vs. Darby Allin/Jungle Boy

If Allin and Jungle Boy win, they’re added to the Double Or Nothing World Title match. Guevara’s headlock on Jungle Boy doesn’t last long so he shoulders Jungle Boy down for some early posing. It’s quickly off to Allin vs. MJF, with the former getting two off a rollup. MJF drives Jungle Boy into the corner, where Guevara gets knocked to the floor. A double elbow drops MJF but Guevara comes back in to choke away on Allin.

More choking (with the scarf) is made worse by the referee dealing with the other two on the floor. Allin reverses into his own choke though and hits MJF with a flipping Stunner. MJF is fine enough to cut Jungle Boy off before the hot tag though and we take a break. Back with Allin fighting his way out of trouble, and diving between the villains for the hot tag to Jungle Boy. Everything breaks down and Allin dives onto MJF.

Jungle Boy’s tiger driver drops Guevara on the back of his head for two but MJF cuts Jungle Boy off again. It’s back to Allin to clean more house but a Code Red is countered into a sitout powerbomb to give MJF two. Jungle Boy comes in off the blind tag and Snare Traps MJF, with Guevara making a save. The villains tease a double dive, with only Guevara diving onto the other two.

Back in and MJF’s lifting DDT gets two on Jungle Boy, leaving quite the angry reaction. Guevara’s Swanton gives MJF two, but hold on as Guevara isn’t happy with that cover. MJF isn’t happy and slaps Guevara in the face. The argument earns MJF a superkick, allowing Jungle Boy to roll Guevara up for two, followed by the basement superkick. Allin tags himself in and hits the Coffin Drop to pin Guevara at 15:55.

Rating: B. This match had a tricky job to pull off, as the result wasn’t exactly in doubt but they had to draw in some interest anyway. To their credit, they did in fact make it work, as this was a good match with a lot of storytelling elements included. Instead of just having three people who want to get rid of MJF, you have three people who also want to beat each other. Rather strong main event here, which is even more impressive given the not exactly stunning result.

Jungle Boy and Allin have some words but seem pleased to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show started to get Double Or Nothing more together, though they are going to need to make some matches official before too long. Doing so with the main event was the important part here and that part worked, along with some other fun matches at the same time. Now just turn the potential into something worthwhile and we could be on to something for the big show later this month.

Results
Orange Cassidy/Bandido/Roderick Strong/Adam Cole b. Jericho Appreciation Society – Boom to Parker
Saraya b. Willow Nightingale – Midnight
Acclaimed won Tres de Mayo Trios Battle Royal last eliminating Butcher & the Blade/Kip Sabian
Wardlow b. Logan Laroux – Powerbomb Symphony
Ricky Starks b. Juice Robinson – Roshambo
Darby Allin/Jungle Boy b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Sammy Guevara – Coffin Drop to Guevara

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