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

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

Here is Rampage if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

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

Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Video on Pac vs. Andrade.

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

Jamie Hayter vs. Red Velvet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eddie Kingston/Jon Moxley/Darby Allin vs. Wingmen

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

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

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

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

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

FTR wants one more match with Santana and Ortiz.

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

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

Gunn Club vs. The Factory

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

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

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

Brock Anderson vs. Malakai Black

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

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

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

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

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

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

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: March 31, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

I’m not sure what to expect here, as we are on the rather long road towards Double Or Nothing and it is still too early to set things up for the show. Christian might be the next title match for Kenny Omega, but I’m not sure if that is the most interesting match to headline a pay per view. Maybe they have something else in mind though. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Christian Cage vs. Frankie Kazarian

Feeling out process to start with Christian taking over on the arm as the fans tell him that he still has it. Christian gets sent hard over the top and crashes down onto the ramp for some shaking of the head. Back in and Kazarian knocks him off the top to the floor for another breather. Christian’s slide through the legs is broken up and we hit the neck crank.

After Christian fights up, Kazarian takes him back down with a flipping neckbreaker for two. Back up again and Kazarian hammers away but Christian grabs a tornado DDT out of the corner. Some shots to the face have Kazarian in trouble and Christian stands on his back for the choking on the ropes. Christian rains down right hands in the corner and scores with the reverse DDT for two.

The top rope splash only hits mat though and Kazarian hammers away again. He talks a bit too much trash though and gets small packaged for two, which is a bit too much from Christian. The springboard spinning legdrop gets two on Christian but he grabs the top rope to block a superplex attempt.

A headbutt cuts Christian off on top though and the Flux Capacitor connects for two. Christian gets caught in the ropes but manages to snap Kazarian’s neck across the top. Now the frog splash connects for two but Christian has to flip out of the crossface chickening. Kazarian goes shoulder first into the post and now the Killswitch can connect for the pin at 16:33.

Rating: C. That’s being as generous as I can as these guys looked rather old for the most part. They still moved around well enough, but there was about ninety years of age in the ring. Christian as a main eventer is not the most appealing idea in the world for more than a few reasons and this didn’t do him any favors. Not bad, but it was far from inspiring.

Sting and Darby Allin didn’t like what Matt Hardy did to Allin last week. Allin says that Matt’s money doesn’t mean anything to him.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

Jade Cargill knows she is special and there is nothing Red Velvet can do to stop her.

Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall

Unsanctioned exhibition with Arn Anderson refereeing and all kinds of Nightmare Family members at ringside. Feeling out process to start with Cody armdragging him into an armbar. Marshall gets a bit more aggressive to take him down by the wristlock but Cody nips up to his feet.

Another takedown puts Marshall on the mat but Cody won’t stomp him. Instead Cody stays on the arm and we take a break. Back with Cody hitting a slam but not being willing to put on the Figure Four. Marshall misses a crossbody and crashes out to the floor, so Cody holds the ropes open for him. Back in and Marshall decks Arn for the no contest at 7:35.

Rating: C-. Kind of slow and dull, but that was the point of the match. Marshall decking Arn was a surprise, but then two seconds pass and you realize that it’s QT Marshall and the interest goes away. At least they had a bit of a clever way out of the match, even if the angle doesn’t quite have my interest.

Post match Marshall looks distraught at what he did but Aaron Solow, Anthony Ogogo and Nick Conorado (of Marshall’s Nightmare Factory wrestling school) come in and beat down the Nightmare Family. Lee Johnson is powerbombed over the ropes and onto the ramp and Dustin Rhodes is piledriven onto the steps. Ogogo, the Olympic boxer, punches Cody down and Marshall loads up a Conchairto on the steps. Red Velvet runs in for the save and screams a lot. Did we really need another heel group?

Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky are ready to take over.

Post break Red Velvet says she had to protect her partner….and gets taken out by Jade Cagrill.

Jon Moxley can’t get the sound of Eddie Kingston’s ankle being snapped by the Good Brothers. Then you have the Young Bucks, who can’t decided if they want to fight or not. He has the barbed wire scars which make him all itchy and all of this stuff ticks him off. Tonight he has Cesar Bononi, who has a lot of talent and could make some money, but not if Moxley kills him first.

Cesar Bononi vs. Jon Moxley

Bononi runs him over to start but Moxley is right back to work on the leg. Moxley cranks the leg back but Bononi pops up with a suplex for two. We take a break (In THIS match?) and come back with Bononi hitting a running knee in the corner, only to have a knee hit the turnbuckle. Moxley snaps off a German suplex and there’s a superplex to take him down again. Bononi’s partner JD Drake offers a distraction and breaks up the Paradigm Shift, but Moxley grabs the rear naked choke for the tap at 8:00.

Rating: C-. This is where AEW could do with learning how to shorten matches. I know they can do it, but it would be nice to see it happen a bit more often. Bononi is a big guy who hasn’t done anything in AEW, so why is he going eight minutes with a former World Champion? The match wasn’t terrible, but it was longer than it needed to be.

Team Taz has another meeting where Ricky Starks talks about having a great time on Dark. They are a team, but Brian Cage doesn’t seem convinced.

MJF has brought in an interior designer to decorate the Pinnacle’s room….but the Inner Circle is in the bathroom. The big brawl is on, with Sammy Guevara slamming a door on Shawn Spears’ head. Wardlow gets Rock Bottomed through the massage table and Dax Harwood is busted open. Jericho puts MJF’s head into a toilet and then through a Pepsi refrigerator. Jericho declares this their dressing room and puts the Inner Circle’s sign back up. The Inner Circle popping up behind the door was great.

Don Callis comes up to the Young Bucks. Nick doesn’t want to hear it and leaves, so Callis talks to Matt about everything Kenny Omega sacrificed for AEW. Callis wants Matt to get fired up and finally mentions the Bucks’ dad. A slap to the face wakes Matt up but he lets Callis go, with Callis calling him pathetic.

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers vs. Lucha Bros/Laredo Kid

The Lucha Bros say they want the Tag Team Titles and Don Callis is on commentary. They starts fast with a triple superkick getting two on Omega and the big triple dive over the top to the floor. We settle down to Kid striking away on Omega but he gets in a shot of his own and hands it off to Gallows.

The rights and lefts in the corner rock Kid and the triple teaming is on. We take a break and come back with Kid getting over for the tag to Penta so house can be cleaned. A middle rope moonsault into a top rope double stomp into a Swanton crushes Anderson and some running shots in the corner make it worse.

Everything breaks down again and Anderson hits a spinebuster for two on Fenix with Kid having to make the save. The V Trigger gives Omega two on Kid but he escapes the One Winged Angel. An enziguri into a Michinoku Driver gets two on Omega but he’s back with another V Trigger. The One Winged Angel finishes Kid at 14:20.

Rating: B-. Not bad while it lasted, with more of the same dives and flips that you might have expected. Omega might not be the most interesting promo, but he can certain wrestle the fast paced style once the match actually starts. I’m still not wild on the Good Brothers, but dang the Lucha Bros know how to do this style as well as anyone going right now.

Post match here is Jon Moxley, followed by the Young Bucks, for the big staredown.

Britt Baker and Rebel laugh about Thunder Rosa not getting credit for the big win because the match was unsanctioned.

Nyla Rose/Bunny vs. Tay Conti/Hikaru Shida

Matt Hardy and Vickie Guerrero are here with Nyla and Bunny. Before the match, Matt promises Bunny won’t be left out of the title scene any longer. Oh and starting tomorrow, he gets ALL of his money again. Shida runs Bunny over to start, only to get sent outside. That means Rose can squash Shida on the floor and we take a break.

Back with Shida avoiding a charge in the corner and handing it off to Conti for a series of judo throws to Bunny. A running knee in the corner sets up a running knee in the corner, sending Bunny outside. Everything breaks down with the Dark Order getting into it with Matt and company on the floor. That leaves Bunny to take the TayKO for two with Rose making the save. Vickie offers a distraction and Bunny hits Tay with a kendo stick, setting up Down The Rabbit Hole for the pin at 7:01.

Rating: C. Kind of a mess here, but also kind of a fun mess and I’ll certainly take that. I’m really trying to wrap my head around Conti and the Bunny being the next challengers for the Women’s Title, though anything is better than Shida vs. Rose again. Bunny picking up a win should do her some good, but I’m not sure if she is going to be seen as a viable threat to many people.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Jurassic Express vs. Bear Country in a match sponsored by Kong vs. Godzilla.

Jurassic Express are ready to show Bear Country who is on top of the food chain, but Marko Stunt has a Kong tattoo.

Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy vs. Kip Sabian/Miro

This is Arcade Anarchy, meaning there are video games all around the ring. They start fast with Cassidy sending Kip into Whack A Mole. Miro slams Cassidy on the floor and sends him into the same thing, including a shot with the mallet. A barricade is moved around but Miro fights out of a double suplex through said barricade. Instead, Taylor is suplexed onto the steel instead and Miro grabs a chair from the prize table (cost of 20,000 tickets) to unload on Cassidy.

Taylor makes the save and it’s time for more prizes, in the form of a trashcan lid and kendo stick. The beatdown puts Miro in trouble and a barricade shot makes it worse. More prizes are turned on top of Miro and now let’s throw Whack A Mole in there for two, with Sabian making a save. Back in and Taylor busts out a teddy bear full of Legos, but Sabian reverses a superplex into a sitout powerbomb for two.

Cassidy makes the save and hits a DDT into Beach Break for two. The Orange Punch connects but Penelope Ford pulls the referee out. There’s a low blow for Cassidy and Ford loads up a belt….but Kris Stadtlander (oh dang I had forgotten about her) pops out of the alien claw machine. Kris beats the fire out of her and hits a Falcon Arrow off of the apron and through an air hockey table.

Miro is back up with a chair to Taylor but here is Trent’s mom Sue in the van….and Trent is back as well. Miro beats up all three Best Friends and goes after Sue but Trent makes the save. Trent spears Miro through a table and Chuck hits  the powerslam off the stage through the set for the pin at 14:30.

Rating: C+. I know this is going to sound bizarre coming from me, but I wanted MORE carnage and insanity with the games here. It’s like they kept wanting to do something with them and kept pulling back from going too far. That’s kind of a shame as they had a lot of ways to go with them, but the Stadtlander return was a very nice surprise. Now can we please, please get Miro away from this story and onto ANYTHING else?

Post match the big hug, complete with Stadtlander, ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m not sure what it was but I couldn’t get into the show this week. There was nothing overly bad here but there was nothing on here which got me overly excited. There are still too many stables and too many heels, but at least they had a fun main event and a few moments that have me interested in where things are going in the future.

Results

Christian Cage b. Frankie Kazarian – Killswitch

Cody Rhodes vs. QT Marshall went to a no contest when Marshall punched Arn Anderson

Jon Moxley b. Cesar Bononi – Rear naked choke

Kenny Omega/Good Brothers b. Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros – One Winged Angel to Kid

Nyla Rose/Bunny b. Hikaru Shida/Tay Conti – Down The Rabbit Hole to Conti

Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy b. Miro/Kip Sabian – Powerslam through the set to Sabian

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: March 24, 2021
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We are coming off of last week’s incredible Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa war and that means this show is going to have a lot to follow. I’m not sure how they are going to be able to do that but AEW does have a nice track record with this sort of thing. If nothing else, the build towards Double Or Nothing is likely starting soon so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kenny Omega vs. Matt Sydal

Non-title with Don Callis on commentary. Omega works on the arm to start and takes him down into a top wristlock. Sydal’s flip is taken down but he’s right back up with a headscissors out to the floor. Back in and Sydal starts working on the shoulder but Sydal takes him down in the corner for a running knee. Another headscissors out of the corner puts Omega down, only to have him pop back up with a heck of a clothesline.

Omega slaps him in the back but Sydal is back up with some spinning kicks to the head. Sydal snaps off a middle rope hurricanrana into a fisherman’s buster for two. Back up and Sydal sits him on the top but Omega slides through the legs to avoid a super hurricanrana (that’s a new one and a sweet counter), sending Sydal crashing to the mat. There’s the snapdragon on Sydal but he kicks Omega in the face again, setting up kind of a snap Angle Slam for two more.

Omega is right back with the V Trigger for two and the kickout offers some frustration. Sydal grabs a poisonrana and goes up, only to get crotched before the shooting star press can launch. Another V Trigger looks to set up the One Winged Angel but Sydal reverses into a victory roll for a VERY close two. Omega V Triggers him again into the One Winged Angel for the pin at 11:29.

Rating: B. I’m really not big on Sydal but these two had a rather hard hitting back and forth match. As usual, Omega is far better when he is in the ring than on the microphone so this was a good bit better than I was expecting. Omega gave him a lot here and that near fall on the victory roll was outstanding. Awesome opener here and I had a good bit of fun with it.

John Silver is ready to win the TNT Title and the Dark Order helps fire him up. Hangman Page says the team will love Silver no matter what.

Hangman Page vs. Cezar Bononi

Bononi blocks a whip into the corner but misses a big boot, allowing Page to kick him in the face instead. A slingshot dive over the top is caught though and Bononi drops him onto the apron. Back in and Page slugs away but gets sent hard into the corner. That earns Bononi a t-bone suplex into the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 2:19.

Lance Archer thinks everyone who has ever stepped in the ring has looked up to Sting. I’m sure Brisco is at the top of the list. Archer holds up Sting’s bat and says it makes people respect him now. People are going to remember his name and it is going to be showtime.

We look back at last week’s Thunder Rosa vs. Britt Baker war, with Rosa thanking everyone for believing in her.

Britt Baker (complete with a shirt showing her bleeding face last week) is here with Tony Schiavone and can’t believe that she isn’t getting more applause. She calls the people more disrespectful than Thunder Rosa because Baker is the reason she will be remembered. Then Rosa had the audacity to say that she put the women on the map? If that’s true, then why are so many people talking about Baker?

Mick Foley gave Baker a thumbs up, but she became a hardcore legend in one night instead of twenty years. Tony Khan is looking for every legend when the real legend is right here under his nose. She put AEW on the map last week and those three letters come second to DMD. Baker brought the intensity here. Now do something with it!

Christian Cage is in the back with the Varsity Blondes and Dante Martin when Frankie Kazarian comes up to say Christian hasn’t even said hello to an old friend. They’re cool, but Kazarian wants to know when Christian is going to start working. How about next week? Seems like we have a deal, though Kazarian tells him to check out his match on Monday, since Christian doesn’t do anything that night.

Pinnacle vs. Varsity Blondes/Dante Martin

That would be FTR/Shawn Spears for Pinnacle with MJF, Tully Blanchard and Wardlow at ringside. Spears and Garrison shove each other around to start before Garrison starts working on the arm. Martin gets in some cranking of his own and it’s quickly off to Pillman, who beats up both Spears and Harwood at the same time. Everything breaks down in a hurry with the Pinnacle being sent outside. Wardlow gets in the way of the big flip dives and we take a break. Back with Martin taking a brainbuster and Spears hitting the C4 for the pin at 6:43.

Rating: C. They sped through this one and about half of it was spent in the break. The good thing here was the fact that Pinnacle won, even if they gave up a good bit at the start. You don’t need to do anything more than what makes sense and Pinnacle winning until (maybe) they run into the Inner Circle is the right call. The team looks good and then they won, so that’s all that matters.

Post match Wardlow beats up Pillman a bit more. Wheeler says he doesn’t have any family at home so these men here are his family. Harwood calls out Santana and Ortiz because if you want to measure yourselves in wrestling, come face these men. MJF says the only thing Jericho is going to break is the next chair he sits in. Tony Schiavone tries to get involved but is glared down. MJF has a gift for them next week.

Taz insists his team has no problem and Brian Cage has apologized for praising Sting last week. The team is ready for anything.

QT Marshall talks about the perks of being part of the Nightmare Family. Cody Rhodes taught him the value of putting in the work but Tony Khan is the only person to put in more work than him. Sure there have been some perks, but what about having to make sure Cody’s coffee is hot? Cody is going to go back to the hotel with his wife but Marshall is going to be at work while his wife sleeps alone. The only way to fix this is to have an exhibition with Cody next week.

Now Marshall knows he can’t make Cody do this….but here’s Cody, with the headset on and his arm in a sling, to say the match can be on with Arn Anderson as the referee. Cody promises not to hurt Marshall next week. If he gets the Figure Four on, he’ll let it go or if he hits Cross Rhodes, he won’t follow through with it. Marshall might be his best friend, and they will have this match friend to friend. That’s enough for a handshake and Marshall seems ok. I think you know where this is going and there is nothing wrong with that.

Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros vs. Young Bucks/Brandon Cutler

Nick and Fenix trade wristlocks to start things off with Fenix spinning around into a cradle for two. Nick does the same thing and it’s a staredown, followed by a double tag off to Matt and Penta. A crucifix gets two on Matt but he grabs the Sharpshooter, sending Penta bailing over to the rope. Penta cranks on both arms for two and it’s another staredown. Laredo and Cutler come in with Kid hitting him in the jaw to start. A headscissors sends Cutler out to the floor but the Bucks break up the dive attempt.

Back in and Fenix takes the Bucks down with a very spinning springboard double wristdrag, followed by the springboard flip dive from Penta. Cutler adds his own springboard flip dive and there’s the moonsault from Kid. We settle down to a powerbomb/Sliced Bread combination for two on Kid and we take a break. Back with a double tag bringing in Matt and Penta as everything breaks down. A pop up splash gives Fenix two on Matt, followed by Kid’s springboard hurricanrana on Matt.

Penta adds a double stomp and Fenix’s springboard Swanton gets two with Nick and Cutler making a double save. Fenix superkicks Nick and then nails a spinning kick to the head. A heck of a clothesline drops Fenix though and everyone is down. It’s back to Kid, whose tornado DDT is countered into Matt’s rolling northern lights suplexes.

The Bucks start the double teaming on Kid and Risky Business (Do they have nothing better to do than think up names for moves all day?) gets two. Everything breaks down again and Fenix starts cleaning house, only to get caught in a non-springboard Indytaker. Nick hits a springboard corkscrew dive to the floor and Matt hits a SCARY DDT to plant Fenix hard on the apron. Kid’s Spanish Fly finishes Cutler at 11:28.

Rating: B. Yeah what else were you expecting here? They did all of their flips and dives and that’s why you put them in there. Kid pinning Cutler is the right call as you keep the big teams ready for whenever Pac is back for the Tag Team Title match. These matches don’t exactly stand out a lot of the time, but what they did here was rather entertaining and that is exactly the idea.

Post match here’s Kenny Omega to jump Kid with the microphone and then hit him with the microphone. Omega remembers the first ever Fyter Fest with Kid involved before shifting to the Bucks. He remembers being there three years ago with the Bucks, who were just like his family.

Omega didn’t take the greener pastures of New York because he went with the Bucks to AEW. Then they chose Brandon Cutler instead of Omega, and yeah Don Callis can be abrasive, but Omega is giving them one more chance to throw up the Too Sweet. The Bucks walk away and leave with Cutler, who Omega shouts at on the way out. Hold on though as the Lucha Bros get up and jump Omega for the spike Fear Factor. Cue the Good Brothers for the very late save, even as Omega is bleeding from the mouth.

Jade Cargill thinks Red Velvet has made a big mistake by getting in her face. If Velvet wants to get in the ring with her, she’s getting in the ring with the bad b****.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes are getting a reality show.

Eddie Kingston knows the Good Brothers broke something in his leg but he has had things broken before. Kingston gets fired up but Jon Moxley tells him to sit down because there is going to be war on the streets of Jacksonville. Moxley doesn’t play games but he owes the Young Bucks one from last week. They’re playing with live rounds so if they are willing to be in the game, they better be willing to get their hands dirty.

Tay Conti vs. Nyla Rose

Rematch from the #1 contenders tournament. Rose knocks her down with straight power to start but Conti grabs something like an Octopus which falls down to the mat. Some judo throws take Rose down again as Conti is far more aggressive than usual here. The running knee in the corner is countered into a spinebuster for two and Rose drapes her over the top rope. The top rope knee to the head gives Rose two and we take a break.

Back with Rose grabbing a backbreaker for two but Conti is back up with some strikes in the corner. Some running knees knock Rose silly and Conti hits her own flying knee to the side of the head for a rather close two. Rose gets in a shot of her own but can’t hit the Beast Bomb. The Samoan drop is countered again and Conti hits another running knee. Then another running knee sets up the DDTi (hammerlock DDT) finishes Rose at 9:27.

Rating: C. That’s the kind of thing that they need to do at some point as the division needs some fresh names at the top. Conti is someone with all kinds of potential and maybe she could be one of the next bit things in the division. Just maybe cut down a bit on the running knees. Rose is going to be fine based on her size and power, but you can only beat her so many times before it stops meaning very much.

Post match Vickie Guerrero breaks up the celebration so Rose can go after Conti. Hikaru Shida comes in for the save but Bunny comes out to help beat Shida and Conti down. Matt Hardy and company come up to say the #1 contenders tournament was a sham because Bunny wasn’t in it.

Video on Kip Sabian/Miro vs. Chuck Taylor/Orange Cassidy, who are going to have a match with video games around the ring….and it’s called Arcade Anarchy.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Scorpio Sky is ready to show us his new side. People need to stop pretending he isn’t a dangerous man. He’s ready to take out Mike Sydal on next week’s Dark: Elevation.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. John Silver

Allin is defending. They shove each other around to start and Silver gets the better of a test of strength. Allin reverses into a headlock but Silver is back up with a running elbow to send Allin crashing out to the floor. Back in and Silver tosses him around, including a heck of a toss into the corner. There’s a gorilla press toss into the corner and Silver hits a running knee for two.

We take a break and come back with Silver missing a charge to go over the barricade (possibly dislocating his shoulder in the process). Silver barely makes it back over the barricade so Allin hits a suicide dive….onto Alex Reynolds. The Dark Order surrounds Allin but here is Sting to stare them off. Back in and Silver kicks away at Allin but the German suplex is countered into la majistral for two.

The flipping Stunner is countered into a rear naked choke until Allin flips back into a cradle for two. Allin grabs something like a DDT for two but gets sent outside again. Back in again and Silver fires off kicks to the chest until Allin blocks a bit one. Allin strikes away in the corner but Silver reverses into some beatings of his own. A victory roll gives Silver two and he pump kicks Allin into the corner.

Allin knocks Silver off the top but Coffin Drops onto the Dark Order instead of going after Silver. Back in and Silver hits a kick to the head to catch Allin on top. A super torture rack toss powerbomb gets two, only because Silver hooks the leg into the ropes. Silver loads up the sitout powerbomb but Allin reverses into a Code Red to retain at 14:43.

Rating: B. Silver really is someone who might never be the World Champion but you can feel the energy that he puts into everything that he does. Having him out there working so hard is great to see and while there was not the most drama here, it was nice to see him getting such a showcase. Allin continues to be one of the best things going in AEW and is one of their best home grown stars in the company. Good stuff here, and that shouldn’t be surprising.

Post match Sting and Allin show respect to Silver but Matt Hardy comes in to take out Allin. The Dark Order comes in but here is the Matt Hardy Family Office. Allin hits a big dive onto Hardy to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This show had a little bit of everything, with storyline advancement, some very good matches up and down the card, and a high energy throughout the night. I liked this one quite a bit and it is great to see the company following up on last week’s incredible main event. Awesome show here and the kind of show that makes AEW so much fun to watch.

Results

Kenny Omega b. Matt Sydal – One Winged Angel

Hangman Page b. Cezar Bononi – Buckshot Lariat

Pinnacle b. Varsity Blondes/Dante Martin – C4 to Martin

Laredo Kid/Lucha Bros b. Young Bucks/Brandon Cutler – Spanish Fly to Cutler

Tay Conti b. Nyla Rose – DDTi

Darby Allin b. John Silver – Code Red

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The ring is disinfected after the match.

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

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

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

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

Commentary talks about La Parka.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Commentary talks for a bit.

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

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

Copa Triplemania Femenil: Gauntlet Match

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Commentary is rather confused.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Terror Purpura/Venenoide vs. Aracno/Leyenda Americana

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

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

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

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

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

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

Commentary talks about the best wrestler in the world.

Lady Shani has an interview about her win.

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

AAA Mega Title: Laredo Kid vs. Kenny Omega

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Post match Omega isn’t interested in shaking hands.

Psycho Clown has an interview.

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

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

Chessman vs. Pagano

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The remaining commentator shouts a lot to end the show.

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

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: December 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

Things are getting a little wacky around here and that makes things all the more interesting. Above all else, Kenny Omega is now the World Champion and last night he appeared on Impact Wrestling to say….well I’m not completely clear but it is definitely going somewhere in the future. Other than that, we get to hear from Sting after last week’s debut. Let’s get to it.

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

Hybrid 2 vs. Young Bucks

Non-title. Before the match, the Bucks say they don’t know what is going on with Kenny Omega and they haven’t talked to him in over a week. They start fast with the Bucks sending them outside to start, meaning it’s time for a big flip dive. Back in and we settle down a bit with the Bucks hitting a double basement dropkick on Evans. Angelico comes in to send Matt outside but Nick is right back up to kick Evans off the apron.

Nick is knocked off the apron as well and it’s the assisted 450 for two on Matt. The superkicks take the Hybrid 2 down though and the hot tag brings Nick back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Nick hits the slingshot X Factor to rock Angelico. Nick powerbombs Evans onto the Acclaimed at ringside and it’s a top rope splash/standing moonsault combination for two on Angelico. Evans is back in with a 450 for two on Nick but he gets powerbombed into the enziguri in the corner.

A springboard Doomsday Device onto the ramp drops Evans again and it’s a double superkick to Angelico for two. More Bang For Your Buck is broken up and Evans hits an inverted hurricanrana on Matt. Angelico wrenches Matt’s knee with a spinning leglock with a name that only Excalibur cares about. Even with his brother’s knee getting cranked, Nick goes up top for a Swanton for the save, even with the leglock still being on. The Bucks hit a slingshot spike Tombstone to put Evans down on the floor and it’s a double superkick into the BTE Trigger to finish Angelico at 11:42.

Rating: B. Well that was a lot. There were all kinds of flips and dives here and that’s exactly why you book a match like this one. The selling wasn’t there and the psychology was non-existent, but there is no reason to look for either of those in a match like this. If you’re not looking for those and treat these things like the junk food wrestling that they are, it’s a fine way to spend some time.

Post match the Acclaimed jump the barricade to go after the Bucks but SCU runs in for the save.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman gets to beat Orange Cassidy tonight and upset a lot of not so smart marks. He’s going to bash Cassidy’s head in because he’s better and Cassidy knows it.

Darby Allin does a word association test with members of Team Taz. He sees Powerhouse Hobbs as a snake in the grass, Brian Cage as a puppet, but he’s also someone waiting for an opportunity, which Allin will give him. Then we see Sting’s face and Allin chuckles.

Here’s Cody for a chat….and hang on because here’s Sting. Arn Anderson steps up to Sting to say he wanted to get a closer look and then walks away. Tony Schiavone says something similar and goes to leave but Sting says come give him a hug. Sting thanks Tony for helping him throughout his career and asks for one more IT’S STING for old times’ sake. Tony gives him what he wants (Never say no to a 61 year old man in face paint holding a baseball bat. Remember that.) and Sting says this is awesome.

With Tony gone, Cody says welcome back and thanks Sting for the assist last week. Cody has been waiting to share a ring with him for a very long time….but Sting isn’t here for him, at least not right now. Sting says there is something really familiar about this place and points to Darby Allin in the rafters.

This ring is the jungle and he’s glad to be back on TNT. Cody again says welcome back but Sting says that the only thing for sure about him is that nothing is for sure. He is here full time and plans to be around for a good while. The way Sting chooses to play is his business and he gives Cody a rather firm pat on the back. Sting: “See you around kid.” Sting sounded more energized and invested here than he ever did in WWE, though I’m scared to see how much of that good look goes away if/when he has a match of any kind. For now though, rather nice start.

Team Taz talks about how Cody needed Sting to come save them. Well now Cody’s former star student, Taz’s son Hook, is training with them and they’re ready to beat someone up.

FTR vs. Varsity Blonds

That would be Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison. Pillman gets taken into the corner to start and the beating is on in a hurry. Back up and Pillman brings Wheeler over for the tag to Garrison. A few rooms of the house are cleaned and it’s a spinning legdrop from Garrison to give Pillman two. Pillman misses the middle rope spinning crossbody though and the chinlock goes on as we take a break.

Back with Pillman getting caught in a Demolition Decapitator and being sent outside for a shot from Tully Blanchard. Pillman manages to get in a quick shot though and Air Pillman allows the hot tag to Garrison. House is cleaned but Harwood slips out of a suplex. Pillman comes back in and is caught with a brainbuster and the Goodnight Express gives Wheeler the pin at 8:08.

Rating: C-. Perfectly watchable match with the Blonds mostly getting squashed to put FTR back on the winning side. FTR is a team who could work with anyone around here and hopefully that is the case going forward. The Blonds are fine for the young pretty boy team and you can never have enough of them.

Post match FTR gets in a staredown with the Jurassic Express on the floor.

Hangman Page is in a six man tag next week against Matt Hardy and Private Party but he doesn’t have any partners. John Silver and Alex Reynolds pop up from behind the bar (Page: “How long have you been there?” Silver: “About seven minutes.”) to offer their services. Page eventually relents, but it’s one match only. Works for the cult guys.

Dustin Rhodes vs. 10

Rhodes shoves him around to start and they’re on the floor in a hurry with Dustin sending him face first into the barricade. 10 drops him onto the apron though and they head inside again with 10 hitting a big spinebuster. Dustin is sent outside again but Aaron Solow grabs 10’s arm, earning himself a pump kick to the face. Back in and Dustin gets in a shot of his own, setting up the bulldog for the pin at 5:51.

Rating: D+. Just a match here with 10 getting in most of the offense until a bit of a surprising choice for interference gave Dustin the chance. 10 looked solid here, but other members of the Dark Order have moved pretty far ahead of him in recent weeks. Then again the team is kind of all over the place at the moment so I’m not sure how much this is going to help him.

Post match here’s the Dark Order, with Evil Uno saying Dustin has a long legacy in wrestling and has been around for a very long time. That comes with a lot of pressure, so he should join the Dark Order as Seven. Tony: “He doesn’t want to be that number.” Dustin extends his hand and then slaps Uno in the face. Uno calls the troops off before they get to Dustin and says he’ll be waiting when Dustin sees the light.

Tony Schiavone has a sitdown interview with Shaquille O’Neal and Brandi Rhodes. Brandi doesn’t like hearing all of Shaq’s accolades but Shaq talks about Jade Cargill injuring Brandi’s arm. Shaq didn’t like what Jade did to her arm and Brandi agrees, though she will get in Cargill’s face again if she does the same. Shaq understands that and says he and Cody were just messing around on Twitter.

He has all the respect in the world for the wrestlers and the Rhodes Family, so Brandi gets up and shakes his hand with a smile. She goes to leave without incident, but Shaq says that while Brandi’s arm is in a sling, she should get some pointers from Jade. That’s too far for Brandi, who says she’s sick of this s***, throws a drink in Shaq’s face, and calls him an overgrown a******. They got the point across, but dang Shaq can be hard to understand with that deep voice.

Here’s the Inner Circle for their summit. They have had a week to figure things out but if this doesn’t work, the team is done. That’s not why Jericho put the team together and it was embarrassing. Now MJF and Sammy don’t like each other, Ortiz hates all of them and Santana was so mad that he didn’t even come to work this week. MJF interrupts and says they are all friends and he wanted to join this team because they are great. Sammy snaps and says he’s tired of MJF, with Ortiz saying that MJF is growing on him like a fungus.

They try to calm Sammy down, with Sammy eventually agreeing to shake his hand. However, if ONE MORE THING happens, he’s quitting this team and taking it out on Jericho. They shake hands and Jericho says things are calm…..but Jake Hager doesn’t like Wardlow staring at him. Jericho tries to calm things down and they agree to stop staring. They’re on the same page and know that they need to dominate AEW as only they can. They have a big main event tonight with MJF promising to end Orange Cassidy. The team all puts their middle fingers in and it’s all cool. I’m sure.

FTR and Tully Blanchard say they’re great together, unlike Jurassic Express, who are a bunch of crazy people. They are the 82 Ford Bronco with Mario Andretti driving and they are ready to win the titles back.

Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade vs. Lance Archer/Lucha Bros

The brawl is on outside before the bell with everyone going at it in a hurry. The bell rings with Pentagon getting dropped hard and having to be taken to the back. Fenix gets caught in the corner as the numbers game is already in trouble. Eddie hammers away on Fenix and then sends him chest first into the corner as Jake Roberts is sitting on the stage. Blade gets to choke away with his leg but Fenix manages a shot to Kingston’s face.

The hot tag brings in Archer to slug it out with Butcher before hitting some running shoulders to both Butcher and Blade in the corner. We take a break and come back with Archer hitting a German suplex on Blade, only to grab at his knee. The hot tag brings in Fenix with the springboard and there’s the big dive to take Kingston down. Back in and the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination finishes Fenix at 9:21.

Rating: C. This was a weird one with the Penta deal being a weird way to go *assuming it wasn’t legit that is). Archer continues to be a heck of a monster and it’s easy to see why he is so dominant all the time. What we got here was fine, but it was a weird way to go with the choices they had.

Post match Archer cleans house without much effort again.

Nyla Rose, Jade Cargill and Vickie Guerrero are beating up Red Velvet. Ivelisse and Diamante come in for the save.

Abadon vs. Tesha Price

Price looks scared to death and being thrown across the ring makes it even worse. Abadon hammers away in the corner and hits the Widow’s Peak for the pin at 1:12.

Post match the beating continues until Hikaru Shida makes the save with a heck of a kendo stick shot to the head. Abadon sits up and Shida and Price bail in a hurry.

The Inner Circle is ready to destroy Orange Cassidy.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring to interview Kenny Omega….who arrives in a helicopter with Don Callis. After the big entrance, Tony talks about how he has never been more disgusted than he was when Don Callis interfered last week (yeah still not that big of a deal). Callis talks about Tony Khan welcomed him into his home and then Callis screwed him over. Callis: “Welcome to the wrestling business kid.”

This might have been a bigger screwjob than Montreal because the AEW Title raises the stakes. Callis gives us a fast version of last night’s Impact promo: he has known Omega since Omega was ten and the plan has been in place for years. Now Callis, as the invisible hand, has pushed Omega to the World Title after helping put together Omega vs. Chris Jericho in the Tokyo Dome, which brought AEW to fruition. Omega talks about how they had this ultimate plan and waited a year to pull it off.

Then last week it was a fine art performance and it was downright inspirational. Everyone fell for it from commentary to Jerry Lynn. What mattered most though was Jon Moxley fell for it and no one kicks out of the One Winged Angel. You haven’t seen anything yet and Omega does goodbye and good night. The delivery was good…..but the big idea behind it is that they needed a plan to get Omega, who has the biggest reputation of anyone here in the company and helps run the whole place, to become World Champion? That’s kind of hard to buy, though Callis’ promo was good.

Dynamite Diamond Ring: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Orange Cassidy

The Inner Circle and the Best Friends are here too. MJF jumps him to start and breaks the sunglasses to really make things serious. A Stundog Millionaire gets Cassidy out of trouble though and they head to the apron, with Cassidy missing a charge into the post. MJF ties Cassidy’s fingers in the turnbuckle to make it worse and it’s a chinlock back inside. Cassidy gets sent outside again and the Inner Circle gets in the group stomping. Sammy posts Cassidy and we take a break.

Back with MJF mocking the hands in the pockets, only to have Cassidy come back with the tornado DDT. MJF hits the top rope stomp to the arm but has to duck the Orange Punch. A double underhook shoulder breaker sets up a tiger driver for two and they’re both down. Cassidy is back up to dive onto the Inner Circle but MJF gets in the Heat Seeker back inside. Jericho sends MJF the bat for the Eddie Guerrero treatment, but Cassidy doesn’t even catch it, puts his hands in his pockets, and falls down.

MJF grabs the bat and gets caught in a nice twist on the usual deal, meaning the referee throws the bat outside. The Beach Break gets two so MJF is back with the Salt of the Earth, but Cassidy rolls out. The Orange Punch, with the bad hand, gets a delayed two and another one connects, but this time Wardlow puts the foot on the rope. Everyone brawls on the floor so here’s Miro to deck Cassidy and put his hands in his pockets as MJF steals the pin at 13:23.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here and it got a bit messy at times, but dang they had me with some of the drama in the near falls. What matters most here is MJF keeping the ring and keeping the Inner Circle going for the time being, as their breakup is something you should stretch out rather than hot shot. Good match, even with all the chaos going on.

Post match Miro, in his Versace sweater, wrecks the production staff, including throwing one off the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was an up and down show and I’m not sure what to think of the whole thing. The wrestling wasn’t as good this week but after last week’s huge show, it’s understandable that they need a little breather. The main event and the opener both worked and it’s not like the there was anything completely horrible throughout the show.

The important parts here were Sting, Shaq and Omega and…..yeah I’m not sure on them. The Sting stuff was good, as Sting looked and sounded like his old self, but how long does that charm last? I can’t bring myself to care about Shaq, especially when it seems to be more about Brandi than anyone else. That leaves Omega, and while the story of why they needed a plan doesn’t really work, it’s still WAY too early to know where this whole thing is going to pass judgment on it yet. Overall it’s a good show, but they have a lot of things to address going forward.

Results

Young Bucks b. Hybrid 2 – BTE Trigger to Angelico

FTR b. Varsity Blonds – Goodnight Express to Pillman

Dustin Rhodes b. 10 – Bulldog

Eddie Kingston/Butcher and the Blade b. Lucha Bros/Lance Archer – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Fenix

Abadon b. Tesha Price – Widow’s Peak

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Orange Cassidy – Pin after Miro interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: October 13, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

It’s the night before the big anniversary show and that means we have a lot to cover in the near future. I’m not sure what we we are going to be seeing tonight, but there are fourteen matches, which is likely going to make this one of the longer shows in its history so far. You know how much I’ll love that. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary welcome.

Evil Uno vs. Blade vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Jungle Boy

One fall to a finish and there are no seconds. It’s a brawl to start with Uno and Blade being knocked outside in a hurry. Kazarian sweeps Boy’s leg out for two but Boy stacks him up for two more. Boy’s legsweep misses and it’s a standoff, allowing Uno to take Boy’s place. Kazarian clotheslines Uno down so here’s Blade, who gets taken down with a springboard wristdrag.

Kazarian’s bridging electric chair gets two on Boy but Uno is back in with a suplex for the same. A neckbreaker with the wrist tape drops Boy for two more, leaving Blade and Uno to chop it out. Everyone is back inside and Boy monkey flips Kazarian, who hits the other two with a double clothesline. Kazarian pulls Boy into the slingshot cutter before fisherman’s suplexing Blade for two.

Uno’s backbreaker gets two more on Boy but Blade powerbombs him out of the corner. Kazarian grabs the slingshot DDT on Blade but Boy is back in with stereo crossbodies to Kazarian to put everyone down. Boy gets caught on top so Kazarian and Blade fight over who gets to give him a superplex. Uno breaks that up, only to get caught in a rollup to give Boy the pin at 8:31.

Rating: C. They telegraphed the ending a bit by talking about Boy being in the #1 contenders tournament but at the same time, a four way is the kind of match which could go in a variety of ways without hurting the most important name. It was a good opener and felt more important, though that isn’t likely to be the case for everything tonight. Boy winning is a good thing though and it’s not like Uno loses anything significant by taking the fall.

Post match Uno jumps Boy and calls out the Dark Order but here are Christopher Daniels and SCU for the save, with Luchasaurus beating up various people.

Lucha Bros vs. Cezar Bononi/Lee Johnson

Penta yells at Bononi to start and gets run over by a shoulder. Fenix comes in for a handspring kick to Johnson’s face and it’s back to Penta, who takes too long yelling. Bononi gets the tag and starts cleaning house, including World’s Strongest Slamming Penta and powerbombing Fenix at the same time. Fenix is back up with a springboard wristdrag to set up a low top rope double stomp from Penta to put Bononi down. The double superkick look to set up the spike Fear Factor but Johnson makes the save. Penta is right back with a Sling Blade and Fenix kicks Bononi down. Now the spike Fear Factor can finish Johnson at 5:04.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t into this one as much as they didn’t get to the drama for the most part. It was fine enough as the Lucha Bros can do their thing, but they need someone better to work off of. Bononi and Johnson are just two guys facing them, and that’s not exactly the best use of the Lucha Bros. Then again that has been the case for months so maybe they need a new direction.

Brandon Cutler vs. Peter Avalon

They’re at it again and Avalon jumps him from behind during the entrances. A tiger bomb plants Cutler on the ramp and Avalon demands that he be declared the winner. The bell rings anyway so it’s a running dropkick to send Cutler outside again, meaning the count is on. Three straight belly to back suplexes set up a half crab but Cutler makes the rope. Back up and Avalon charges into a boot to the face, allowing Avalon to hit a kick to the head.

They head outside where Avalon yells at Leva Bates, allowing Cutler to hit a suicide dive. The springboard elbow gives Cutler two back inside but Avalon is back with the Rock Bottom for the same. Cutler grabs a reverse inverted DDT for his second two so he tries the big dice but Leva talks him out of it. Back in and Avalon hits a running clothesline before picking up a book. The referee gets decked as Cutler picks Avalon up, meaning there is no count off Cutler’s gutbuster. Cutler rips up the book so Avalon grabs the dice, meaning they hit each other at the same time for the double DQ at 7:32.

Rating: C. This worked, but it needs to be the last screwy finish. Throw some kind of a gimmick out there or something, but end it with the next one. Both guys wanting desperately to win their first match is a clever way to go and the double DQ was the most logical after the double countout. This worked out well, but you can probably guarantee a time limit draw in there somewhere.

Sonny Kiss is ready to show he’s a singles star as well.

Sonny Kiss vs. Matt Sydal

Sydal armdrags him down a few times into a front facelock but Sonny is right back with a running dropkick. Back up and Sydal hits a spinwheel kick and we hit the third eye jazz. Sydal takes him down into a stretch, with Taz and Excalibur arguing over what kind of a grip he is using. A fisherman’s buster gives Sydal two but Sonny is back with forearms into a running Downward Spiral. The running splits splash gives Sonny two but the middle rope version misses. Sydal ties the legs up and grabs a cobra clutch to make Sonny tap at 5:40.

Rating: C-. This was just a step above a squash for Sydal, who never quite felt like he was in jeopardy. Part of that is due to where Sonny is on the card, but the other problem is he is much more of a gymnast than anything else and it doesn’t exactly make him seem like a threat. Not a bad match, but not a dramatic one either.

Dark Order vs. Aaron Solow/M’Badu/Angel Fashion

It’s 3/4/10 for the Order here. Silver slams Solow down to start but Solow is back with a dropkick. M’Badu comes in and pounds away on Silver, who fails at a shoulder block. Fashion comes in to kick Reynolds’ leg out and adds a running knee to the face for two. It’s off to Vance for a running cutter, followed by a neckbreaker from Reynolds.

Fashion manages to back flip his way to freedom and makes the tag off to M’Badu to clean house. Solow comes back in but gets cut off by Vance’s slingshot spear. That means Solow is lifted into the air for a running charge from Silver, flipping Solow down for the crash and the pin at 5:47.

Rating: D+. M’Badu was the only thing of value here, as the Dark Order continues to be fine and not much else. Silver has grown on me a bit and is showing some personality though, making him the lone member of the lower half of the team to do so. Another match that could have been trimmed, but AEW LOVES the Dark Order so that wasn’t an option.

Red Velvet vs. Elayna Black

Brandi is on commentary because she’s Brandi and needs to be around a lot. Black on the other hand comes out with a mini coffin, containing an AEW face guard. Black’s waistlock is broken up in a hurry and Velvet armdrags her down. Velvet does it again and adds a dropkick for a bonus. Brandi thinks Velvet should be called Lil Cupcake but gets cut off by Black kicking out the leg. Black mocks the stirring deal but Velvet is back with some running clotheslines. A Rey Mysterio sitout bulldog sets up some running double knees to Black’s back. Just Desserts (a running kick to the side of the head) finishes Black at 3:32.

Rating: C-. Velvet is someone who could be a bit of a player if she is given the chance to grow and a win is the first step. It’s rather nice to see this show FINALLY starting to boost up some of these people who we have seen so many times already. It’s long overdue and helps a lot so if Velvet is someone they can build, good for them.

Ricky Starks vs. Fuego del Sol

Commentary makes fun of Sol, a luchador, being from Alabama. Starks unloads on him in the corner before sending Sol into various corners. There’s a big toss across the ring and Starks elbows him in the face, giving us a THIS IS MY HOUSE. Sol gets sent hard over the top and out onto the ramp, with Starks dragging him over near commentary. Starks jumps on commentary to say this is AEW Starks before taking it back to the ring. Sol’s comeback doesn’t work as it’s the spear into the Roshambo to give Starks the pin at 3:05.

Rating: C-. The match was completely one sided but you can feel the star power with Starks. He gets in there and commands attention, looks great and backs it up in the ring. What else could you ask for from someone who is 26 years old? Starks has been a complete steal and I could go for a lot more of him as he gains experience.

Scorpio Sky and Christopher Daniels are asked if Shawn Spears is in their heads so here’s Spears to ask the same. Sky is ready to fight so Tully Blanchard makes the match for next week.

Starks joins commentary.

Gunn Club vs. Ryzin/Maxx Stardom

They’re trolling us with the Gunn Club right? Ryzin stomps Austin down in the corner to start as Team Taz doesn’t like Ryzin wearing the orange and black. Austin is right back with a Hennig necksnap for two and Billy comes in for a running boot to the face. A spinning slam plants Stardom but it’s back to Ryzin for a backbreaker into a neckbreaker on Austin. Back up and a double clothesline allows the double tag to Billy and Stardom. The Fameasser misses though and Ryzin hits a superkick. Austin is right back in though and the Quick Draw finishes Stardom at 4:47.

Rating: D. This was every Gunn Club match you’ve seen so far and that isn’t likely to change. They’re probably about 9-0 at this point and have never so much as come close to going after the titles. It’s like running on a treadmill but there is nothing to see in the first place. The team just sticks around no matter what and never goes anywhere, only making them the most expendable thing that shows up on this show far too frequently.

Darby Allin vs. Nick Comoroto

Comoroto is a very hairy man in an untied straitjacket (good look to him). Allin gets shoved into the corner to start as Team Taz is now cheering for Comoroto. There’s another hard whip into the corner to put Allin down again and a slam gives Comoroto two. He whips Allin into the corner a third time for two and a backbreaker cuts Allin off for two more.

Allin flips his way to the apron and snaps the arm across the rope. There’s a dropkick to the knee and an armbar over the ropes has Comoroto in more trouble. A Fujiwara armbar sends Comoroto into the ropes so Allin goes to the middle rope to take him down by the arm. The Coffin Drop finishes Comoroto at 5:42.

Rating: C. Allin continues to impress and it makes sense to keep him around so much. The Coffin Drop looks good as a finisher too and I want to see more of him against Team Taz. At the same time, Comoroto looks like he could be a good monster around here, though that won’t be as effective if he loses seven or eight matches around here first. Nice debut showing here though, partially because he looks like a werewolf.

Post match Allin charges at Starks for the brawl.

KiLynn King wants to fight Nyla Rose again. This was an intense promo and I could go for more of King, either wrestling or talking.

Colt Cabana vs. Griff Garrison

Yes we are now at three Dark Order matches on one show. Cabana takes him down in a hurry and it’s time to fight over arm control. Garrison hits a kick to the face but misses a charge into the corner, allowing Cabana to stomp away. A spinebuster looks to set up the Billy Goat’s Curse but Garrison heads straight to the ropes. Back up and Garrison hits a rolling elbow, followed by a running splash in the corner. Cabana gets his boots up though and the Flying Apple connects. The middle rope splash gets two and Cabana is surprised. Cabana trips him down and it’s the Billy Goat’s Curse to make Garrison tap at 4:40.

Rating: D+. Another match which came and went, though Cabana is a lot more polished than most of the people on the roster. He’s been around forever and knows what works on him so it makes sense to have him out there fairly often. They have seemingly dropped the issues with Cabana and Lee, but I’m not sure how much further it could have gone anyway.

KiLynn King vs. Nyla Rose

Vickie Guerrero is here with Rose. King gets shoved down to start so she goes with the strikes to have Rose in a bit of trouble. Back up and Rose hits the fall away slam but misses a charge into the corner. Rose sends her flying with a release German suplex and the Beast Bomb finishes at 1:54. What a waste of a good promo.

Post match Vickie says she wants a better opponent. They are the Vicious Vixens and demand an answer. It’s either Hikaru Shida for the Women’s Title or Rose doesn’t wrestle.

Joey Janela vs. D3

Sonny Kiss is here with Joey. They go to the mat to start and D3 grabs a rollup for two. Janela is back up with a running shoulder but gets caught in the very spinning anklescissors. That’s broken up with a simple drop to send D3 face first into the mat, marking a rather smart counter.

A neckbreaker gives Janela two but D3 is back with his own neckbreaker. Commentary mostly ignores the match to talk about Italian ice until Janela gets their attention with a spinning Death Valley Driver on the floor. Back in and Joey hits a running clothesline before screaming a bit. Three brainbusters knock D3 silly and Janela finally pins him at 5:04.

Rating: D+. So now Janela gets aggressive to beat a jobber? That’s what we’re going with now? Janela continues to be someone who is just there and that isn’t exactly inspiring stuff. I know he’s a big deal on the indy scene, but it isn’t translating here and one match where he hits a bunch of brainbusters isn’t going to make it work.

Wardlow vs. Elijah Dean

Dean wears bright purple and pink and is from Intercourse, Pennsylvania. Wardlow shoves him down and takes the leg out to put Dean in more trouble. Dean’s shots to the chest earn him a big toss and a hard clothesline makes it even worse. Wardlow powers him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs before putting Dean on the top. Dean is dropped down onto a knee to the face for the knockout at 1:53. So we needed to add in this total Wardlow squash to build him up for a tournament he is already in because he has been built up in matches like this? And it just NEEDED to be tonight?

Eddie Kingston vs. Baron Black

Black has to go straight to the knee to escape an early grappling attempt so Kingston knocks him down. The big chops have Black in more trouble but he hits a discus clothesline in the corner. An exploder suplex drops Kingston again, only to have Eddie come back with the spinning backfist. A front chancery makes Black tap at 2:47.

Kingston shouts for Jon Moxley.

Preview for Dynamite FINALLY wraps this up.

Overall Rating: D. NOPE! This was one of the most infuriating shows I can remember in a long time and it made me long for a good old fashioned three hour Raw. After six matches, I looked at the clock and after my eyes bugged out, it dawned on me that we had another EIGHT to go. They crammed every single thing they could in here and a grand total of nothing stands out because there were fourteen matches, plus promos, with the big stories being a match set up for next week and Cutler vs. Avalon continuing.

This was so stupidly long and there is zero reason for it to be. How many matches could you just not do and have the same result? There were a few things on here which felt somewhat more important than usual but they all get forgotten because we need the Gunn Club and three Dark Order matches and Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela in singles matches and a squash from Nyla Rose, Wardlow and Eddie Kingston. This was so annoying and I don’t remember the last time a show got on my nerves so much. And of course they’ll do it again and the answer will be “just don’t watch it”, because that’s easier than making a show better.

Results

Jungle Boy b. Evil Uno, Frankie Kazarian and Blade – Rollup to Uno

Lucha Bros b. Cezar Bononi/Lee Johnson – Spike Fear Factor to Johnson

Brandon Cutler vs. Peter Avalon went to a double DQ when both used weapons

Matt Sydal b. Sonny Kiss – Cobra clutch

Dark Order b. M’Badu/Aaron Solow/Angel Fashion – Double flipping slam to Solow

Red Velvet b. Elayna Black – Just Desserts

Ricky Starks b. Fuego del Sol – Roshambo

Gunn Club. Ryzin/Maxx Stardom – Quick Draw to Stardom

Darby Allin b. Nick Comoroto – Coffin Drop

Colt Cabana b. Griff Garrison – Billy Goat’s Curse

Nyla Rose b. KiLynn King – Beast Bomb

Joey Janela b. D3 – Brainbuster

Wardlow b. Elijah Dean – Knee to the face

Eddie Kingston b. Baron Black – Front chancery

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: October 6, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks

It’s back to this show as they seem to have lightened up on the time a bit. This is probably four or five regular shows in a row to be around the ninety minute mark. That’s still too long, but it’s a lot better than the two hour one that they had a month and a half or so ago. Hopefully the wrestling makes it better. Let’s get to it.

Here are last results if you need a recap.

Announcers’ welcome.

Kenzie Page vs. Brandi Rhodes

Dustin Rhodes is here too. Page shoves her in the face to start and gets taken down with a headlock takeover. The armbar goes on for a bit, followed by the low superkick for two on Page. Back up and Page stomps her down in the corner as Starks mentions that Page has changed her gear color since last time. What an astute observation. Brandi fights out of the chinlock in a hurry and hits something like a Sling Blade. The bulldog gets two and there’s a Dustin uppercut. The Stunner sets up the Shot Of Brandi for the pin on Page at 3:37.

Rating: D+. This was your usual Brandi match: Brandi gets to shine, wins in the end, and doesn’t do much to prove more than she’s a more athletic Stephanie McMahon. It’s not like she can do anything special in the ring and she is far from the worst wrestler, but sweet goodness it’s one of those things that you just have to get used to because she’s always going to be around.

Post match here’s Anna Jay to jump Brandi but Red Velvet makes the save.

Ray Rosas/Eric Watts vs. Jurassic Express

Not THAT Watts. Boy headlocks Rosas to start and armdrags him into an armbar. It’s already off to Luchasaurus to throw him into the corner and hand it straight back to Boy. Rosas gets in a backbreaker for a breather and it’s Watts coming in with a splash in the corner. A fall away slam keeps Boy in trouble and Watts throws him into the corner again.

Boy is fine enough to roll over for the hot tag to Luchasaurus anyway, meaning it’s a chokeslam into the standing moonsault. Watts makes the save and kicks Luchasaurus down, setting up Rosas’ top rope elbow for two with Boy making the save. Watts pulls Luchasaurus to the floor, leaving Boy to get rolled up for two. A sitout chokeslam gives Watts two on Boy but it’s back to Luchasaurus for the Tail Whip. Boy dives onto Watts and slides back in for the Extinction Level Event and the pin on Rosas at 6:34.

Rating: C-. What in the world happened to Luchasaurus? Remember about six months ago when he was having the big hoss showdowns with Jake Hager and other associated giants? Well now he’s almost getting pinned by a jobber on Dark and it doesn’t even feel like a big deal. It’s a case of someone being dragged down instead of rising up and that’s a sad thing to see.

Chris Jericho talks about his history with Luther in Japan and Canada. He was a bit jealous of Luther being a bigger star in Japan but he had never had the chance on the big stage. That’s why he was hired for AEW and no, it wasn’t a favor for a friend. Now though, it is time for a match thirty years in the making. I don’t buy the “it wasn’t a favor” for a second, but it is nice to see Jericho getting to face an old friend in such a major spot.

Anthony Bowens/Lee Johnson vs. Chaos Project

Serpentico dives at Johnson’s knees to start but gets caught in a headlock for his efforts. A dropkick puts Serpentico down again, allowing Taz to talk about the best dropkick in the company. Johnson misses a charge though and gets caught with a basement dropkick. Luther comes in with a slam and suplexes Serpentico onto Johnson for two.

The chinlock doesn’t last long so Luther goes with a snap suplex instead. Serpentico comes back in but misses a charge, allowing the hot tag to Bowens. That means clotheslines a go-go and a dropkick to Luther, followed by something like a torture rack Samoan drop for two on Serpentico. Everything breaks down and Serpentico hits a standing Sliced Bread on Johnson. The spinebuster/top rope Meteora finishes Bowens at 6:36.

Rating: C-. The near falls were good but it’s a little hard to get into the idea of another evil team. They have quite a few of them around here already (if nothing else the multiple Dark Order lineups are enough) and Luther/Serpentico aren’t exactly thrilling. Not a bad match at all though, as Johnson continues to be one of the better jobbers around.

Will Hobbs vs. Ryzin

Will runs him over with a clothesline to start, but Ryzin gets in a ram to the buckle. That just annoys Hobbs, who is back with a delayed vertical suplex. Ryzin kicks him in the face but a clothesline hurts his own arm. Hobbs hits a jumping shoulder and plants him with a powerslam. The Last Will And Testament (spinebuster) finishes Ryzin at 2:28. Ryzin got in a bit too much but Hobbs looked dominant.

Eddie Kingston is sick of Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss acting like clowns. They aren’t doing that to the Lucha Bros tonight, because the Bros aren’t clowns.

John Silver vs. QT Marshall

They go to the mat in a hurry with Marshall grabbing a headscissors and then a headlock. Back up and a right hand puts Silver in the corner and a suplex gives Marshall two. Silver is back up with a running elbow to put Marshall outside and Evil Uno is rather pleased. Back in and Marshall tells him to kick at the chest, so Silver slaps on a Crossface instead. Marshall makes the rope and loads up a superplex, which has Taz thinking it’s going to be a superplex.

The top rope superplex puts them both down so Marshall heads up top for a back elbow to the jaw. An Evil Uno distraction means the Diamond Cutter attempt can be countered, followed by Silver hitting an enziguri. Silver’s Backstabber gets two but Marshall grabs a Lethal Combination. Evil Uno gets on the apron so Dustin Rhodes fights him to the back. The rest of the Dark Order comes in for the distraction, allowing Silver to grab the spinning torture rack slam for the pin at 8:26.

Rating: C. It feels like these teams have been fighting forever now and while Cody vs. Brodie Lee is actually going somewhere, the rest of it feels like it has been going in circles forever. Silver winning a match gives him a big more credibility, but does beating QT Marshall carry that much weight? The match was fine enough, though like most of the matches between the Rhodes Family and the Dark Order, it pretty much came and went.

Griff Garrison/Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Cezar Bononi/David Ali

Ali’s headlock doesn’t keep Pillman in trouble for very long to start so it’s already off to Garrison. A slingshot hilo into a slingshot legdrop has Ali in more trouble but he gets in a knee to the ribs. It’s off to Bononi for a hard shoulder and a blown kiss to Garrison, but he would rather face Pillman. Some kicks and chops just annoy Bononi but a few more to the leg stagger him a bit.

Bononi elbows him in the face and brings in Ali, meaning Pillman can grab a rollup for a fast two. With that not working, Bononi comes back in and drives Pillman hard into the corner. Pillman slips out though and the hot tag brings in Garrison to start cleaning house. A belly to back faceplant drops Ali and it’s a powerbomb/Air Pillman combination for the pin at 5:57.

Rating: C. And that’s what they should have been doing for MONTHS. Pillman and Garrison aren’t likely to go anywhere, but instead of having them lose every single time, they now have a win under their belt and aren’t seen as instant pushovers. This is something that needed to be changed for a long time now and it could do a lot of good for this show in the long run.

Big Swole vs. Skyler Moore

Moore drives her into the corner to start and it’s already time for the shoving. Swole gets knocked down and Moore gets in a few stomps in the corner for one. A snap suplex gets Swole out of trouble and it’s a headbutt into a springboard cutter. Dirty Dancing finishes Moore at 3:04.

Rating: D+. This is definitely in the “well that happened” category as Swole continues to do her thing and only works in small doses. I like Moore a good bit as she looks different enough to stand out and can do some decent stuff when she is given the chance. That being said, AEW seems to like Swole a lot so it is hardly a surprise that she is getting such a push towards the title.

Matt Sydal didn’t have the best debut at All Out and it’s all due to Michael Nakazawa spreading his baby oil around. Tonight, it’s about revenge.

Matt Sydal vs. Michael Nakazawa

Nakazawa puts the oil on the turnbuckle to start but Sydal sees it coming and kicks him down. Sydal grabs a towel, wipes off the turnbuckle and goes up but Nakazawa sprays more oil on the ropes to make him slip again. Nakazawa pulls out the underwear claw and finally manages to get it on, only to have Sydal pull him into a Cobra Clutch with the legs trapped for the submission at 1:47. I don’t remember the last time I saw an idea dumber than Nakazawa, but it must have been decades at this point.

Eddie Kingston vs. M’Badu

Kingston chops away to start but M’Badu is back with a Stinger Splash. A powerslam gives M’Badu two but Kingston nails a knee to the ribs and the spinning backfist. The Kimura makes M’Badu tap at 1:41. Of all the people you have available, you had to have M’BADU lose that fast???? I sat through Michael Nakazawa doing his stupid routine and M’Badu, a guy who could actually be something, loses in less than two minutes? Come on AEW. You’re smarter than this.

Post match Kingston grabs the mic and says leave the hard camera on because he only cares about getting this message to Jon Moxley. What you just saw was a Kimura and the next time he puts that on Jon Moxley, he’s going to shout I QUIT instead of tapping out because he’s going to be in so much pain. Moxley was supposed to take them to the promised land but instead he forgot about them. You’re in this business to be a World Champion so he’s going to hurt Moxley and have a really good time doing it. This was outstanding as Kingston is rocketing up the list of best talkers in wrestling.

Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss are ready to take out the Lucha Bros because they want back in those rankings.

Angelico vs. Shawn Dean

Jack Evans is here with Angelico. Dean’s wristlock doesn’t last long so he goes with a dropkick to make Angelico think about it a bit. Angelico kicks him in the leg for a knockdown and a leglock sends Dean to the rope. Dean starts getting fired up so it’s a kick to the back of the head to take him down again. Back up and Dean blasts him with a forearm into a German suplex. What looked to be a double arm DDT takes too long and Angelico kicks the leg out. An inverted Figure Four makes Dean tap at 4:35.

Rating: C. Angelico has always been a favorite of mine and Dean looks rather solid most of the time he’s in there. They’re doing a nice job of playing up Dean as someone who could imagine stealing a win, but again it would help so much to have him actually win something. What we got here was pretty nice though and I like both guys, so it was hardly the biggest surprise.

Lucha Bros vs. Sonny Kiss/Joey Janela

Eddie Kingston is here with the Bros, who are taken down in a hurry by double suicide dives (from Sonny and Joey if that isn’t clear). Fenix is back up and takes his brother down by mistake but they get back in without much trouble. A double kick (may have been low) gets two on Janela but it’s off to Sonny, who is flipped into a moonsault for two on Fenix. It’s off to Pentagon, who kicks Janela down to set up the wheelbarrow splash. Pentagon starts in on the armbar but gets small packaged for two to slow things down.

Joey flips over Pentagon and the hot tag brings in Joey to clean house, including a running basement dropkick to Pentagon in the corner. A 450 connects with Fenix making the save and it’s an exchange of shots to the face for a bit knockdown. Fenix is up with a rolling cutter to take down the legal Janela and it’s back to back superkicks from Pentagon. The spike Fear Factor is enough to finish Janela at 6:00.

Rating: C-. The match was what you would expect, but there was one thing of note here that made me smile and believe it or not, it was from Sonny Kiss. I’m not a big fan of a lot of the less than serious stuff that Kiss does most of the time, but it wasn’t on display here. I kept waiting for the goofy offense to start but instead I got a running dropkick and a 450 when things were getting serious. That was a very pleasant surprise and it deserves some praise.

Overall Rating: C+. Maybe it was keeping the matches shorter, but I had a better time with this show. As much as Nakazawa’s shtick needs to be thrown into a dumpster fire, Kingston’s promo was master level stuff as you believe every word that he says. It wasn’t a great show, but it flew by and that’s not something I can often say about Dark. Good enough show here, and more Kingston please, in a big way.

Results

Brandi Rhodes b. Kenzie Paige – Shot Of Brandi

Jurassic Express b. Ray Rosas/Eric Watts – Extinction Level Event to Rosas

Chaos Project b. Lee Johnson/Anthony Bowens – Spinebuster/Top rope Meteora combination to Bowens

Will Hobbs b. Ryzin – Last Will And Testament

John Silver b. QT Marshall – Spinning torture rack slam

Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison b. David Ali/Cezar Bononi – Powerbomb/Air Pillman combination to Ali

Big Swole b. Skyler Moore – Dirty Dancing

Matt Sydal b. Michael Nakazawa – Leg trap Cobra Clutch

Eddie Kingston b. M’Badu – Kimura

Angelico b. Shawn Dean – Inverted Figure Four

Lucha Bros b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Spike Fear Factor to Janela

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Veda Scott

It’s the first of two AEW shows on the same night because we’re just lucky enough to have them running a special show after the NBA Playoffs tonight. This is likely to be your usual stuff, but that goes without saying as they rarely shake things up around here. Hopefully it’s a little better than usual though. Let’s get to it.

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

The announcers welcome us.

Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis vs. Dark Order

At least it’s Stu Grayson and Evil Uno here so I don’t have to figure out which is which. Fuego grabs a quick O’Connor roll for two on Grayson so it’s off to Lewis for a dropkick. Uno comes in to run Lewis over though as commentary talks about how much money Team Taz has and how much they spend on clothes. Lewis gets in a superkick but Uno suplexes him down into a legdrop. A side slam/top rope elbow combination gets two but it’s off to Fuego anyway. That earns him a running knee to the face from Grayson, setting up Knightfall. Uno picks him up and flips him into a spinning Downward Spiral for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: D+. You know when you ignore everything about their look, gimmick and characters, this version of the Dark Order isn’t half bad. They work well together and have cool looking moves, though I’m not sure how far they should be going around here. Odds are they’ll get the Tag Team Titles one day though, as AEW really, really likes the Dark Order.

Ricky Starks vs. Christopher Daniels

See now this is something you should be featuring. Why isn’t something like this the main event? Starks knocks him down to start and mocks Daniels’ dancing, only to get armdragged into an armbar. That’s reversed into a headscissors as they hit the mat but Daniels reverses into a front facelock. Daniels takes him down into another armbar before ducking Starks’ crossbody.

The Arabian moonsault gets two on Starks but he’s back with a rake to the eyes. A knee to the back sends Daniels outside and it’s a swinging neckbreaker for two back inside. Daniels is back with a t-bone suplex and an STO into the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. They go to the pinfall reversal sequence until a double knockdown gives us a breather. Daniels’ Rock Bottom is countered and Starks hits the spear for the pin at 6:44.

Rating: C+. Yeah this worked, though I could have gone for more from them. Daniels is far from the peak of his career but he can still have a good match with almost anyone. Starks is a very talented guy but he needs to build up his resume. Beating Daniels clean like this is going to help him so nicely done here.

Puf/Calvin Stewart vs. Butcher and Blade

Eddie Kingston is here and Ricky Starks has jumped in on commentary. Puf is a large man who thought he was going to be Kip Sabian’s best man. Butcher and Blade jump them to start and Puf is sent outside so Butcher can send Stewart into the corner. Blade gets in a few cheap shots on the floor but Stewart manages a dropkick back inside. Puf comes in and runs Blade over so Butcher comes in as commentary tries to figure out how many sizes Puf is. A middle rope crossbody takes Puf down and it’s back to Stewart, who walks into Full Death for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: D+. They didn’t waste time here and Puf was fun enough while he lasted. There isn’t much you can usually do with someone his size but he can move a little bit and has some charisma so this went as well as could be expected. He’s no one I need to see again but for a one off match, it worked out fine.

Will Hobbs vs. Serpentico

Luther is here with Serpentico. A Luther distraction lets Serpentico get in a cheap shot to start and they head outside. That means Serpentico gets whipped into the barricade and it’s a delayed vertical suplex to drop Serpentico back inside. Hobbs gets slapped in the face and Serpentico hammers away in the corner, setting up a boot to send Hobbs outside. Back in and Serpentico slaps him in the face, earning himself a hard shoulder. Hobbs pulls him out of the air though and finishes with a spinebuster (even Starks is impressed) at 4:40.

Rating: C-. Hobbs is someone who could go a long way and I can see the hope AEW has in him. This was a good match for him as Serpentico is unique enough to feel like a big deal and throwing Luther out there with him makes it look even bigger. They both looked good here, but this was about Hobbs, as it should have been.

Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom vs. Lucha Bros

Eddie Kingston is here again. Fenix takes Stardom down to start and rolls over the ropes to get to the apron while still holding Stardom’s hand. Penta comes in for a double Paradise Lock into a double kick to the head. A spinebuster into a top rope missile dropkick low blow (think What’s Up but with a dropkick) makes it even worse for Stardom.

Back up and Stardom avoids a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Smiley. Everything breaks down and a double wishbone into a double kick to the face has Penta down again. There’s a dive over the top onto Fenix but Penta is back up with the Pentagon Driver on Stardom. Smiley makes a surprising save but Fenix is back in to dropkick Smiley to the floor. The elevated Fear Factor gives Penta the pin at 5:16.

Rating: C. That near fall at the end was an actual surprise and made things that much more entertaining. The Lucha Bros have fallen a long way since AEW started and hopefully they can get back to their previous greatness sooner rather than later. The match was nothing great, but they surprised me a few times.

Dark Order vs. Ryzin/Xander Gold

5 and 10 for the Order here. Gold and 5 trade wristlocks to start with Gold not being able to grab an armdrag. A running clothesline has Gold in trouble and 10 comes in to send Gold into the corner. Ryzin comes in to shove 10 but gets sent into the corner as well, allowing 5 to get in a cheap shot. There’s a cutter to Ryzin and Gold is knocked off the apron. Ryzin gets a boot up in the corner but misses a moonsault. Gold comes in to drive a shoulder into 5 in the corner, followed by a dropkick. Back to back kicks to the head rock Ryzin and it’s a top rope double stomp into a powerslam to finish Gold at 5:53.

Rating: C. This is the weaker version of the Dark Order as not only did they go toe to toe with the jobbers here and don’t look like as much of a team. They’re more a pair of wrestler with the same opponents rather than two people working together. Not a bad match again, but it’s something else that probably could have been trimmed to make the show shorter.

Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Janela and Garcia grapple a bit to start but neither can get anywhere. It’s off to Kiss for some shaking to get on Garcia’s nerves and a running hurricanrana makes it worse. Blackwood comes in and gets dropkicked, meaning it’s right back to Garcia to run him over. Garcia puts on a surfboard but Kiss slips out and kicks Garcia in the face. The hot tag brings in Janela to clean house, including sending Blackwood into Garcia. There’s a dive onto both of them and it’s a DDT to Garcia back inside. The top rope splits splash gives Sonny the pin at 7:17.

Rating: C. This was much more of a formula tag match and that worked out well. Janela and Kiss are in the same place they were in months ago and I don’t know if I can see it going much further than that. That’s not a bad place for them and I’ll certainly take it over Joey vs. Kip Sabian.

M’Badu/Cruz vs. Gunn Club

There’s one of your Bingo spaces on the Dark card. Colten, I’m assuming another of Billy’s sons, is here as well. Billy tangos with Aubrey Edwards before headlocking M’Badu to start. M’Badu charges into an elbow in the corner and gets clotheslined down. The rather hefty Cruz comes in and Austin kicks his leg out. Cruz runs him over and drops an elbow for two before handing it back to M’Badu. The Stinger Splash misses though and it’s back to Billy to clean house. M’Badu is sent outside and it’s the Fameasser to finish Cruz at 4:07.

Rating: D+. M’Badu continues to look like he could be someone so at least it was Cruz taking the pin. Billy and Austin are two guys who are just there and feel like a required piece of most Dark matches. Nothing to this one, but that’s the case with most Gunn Club matches so far.

KiLynn King vs. Serena Deeb

They fight over a lockup to start and then do the same with a wristlock. King gets taken down and Deeb grabs something like a reverse Rings of Saturn. An armbar goes on with a knee in Deeb’s back until Deeb snaps off an armdrag into an armbar. That’s broken up as well and King hits some running knees in the corner. The chinlock goes on but Deeb fights up again and grabs a swinging neckbreaker. Deeb’s neckbreaker over the middle rope gets two and she drives King face first into the mat. The Serenity Lock (Konnan’s Tequila Sunrise) makes King tap at 4:39.

Rating: C. I’ve liked King quite a bit and she looked good again here. It would be nice to see her get a slightly bigger chance but I’m not sure when something like that is going to happen. Deeb has been signed this week so the ending was never in doubt, but at least they had a pretty good match on the way there.

Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson

Carter was impressive last time. They to the mat to start and the counters are on fast until it’s an early standoff. It’s time to fight over some wristlocks as they’re moving very quickly here. A double nipup gives us another standoff as even Starks says these two are excellent. Back up and Johnson misses a dropkick but the second attempt connects so they can reset again.

Carter flips forward out of the corner and catches a charging Johnson in a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. A snap suplex sets up the chinlock on Johnson before Carter pulls him into an STF. That’s broken up so Carter puts him up top for a top rope superplex, even as he slips off the ropes a bit. Johnson grabs a small package for two and it’s a double clothesline into a double nipup. They trade kicks to the face and they’re both down again. It’s a slugout from their knees until Carter tries AJ Styles’ moonsault into a reverse DDT.

That’s broken up and Johnson grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for another near fall. Carter sends him to the apron for an enziguri but misses the middle rope moonsault. Johnson dives back in for the big running flip dive. The posing takes too much time though and Carter is back up with his own running flip dive. Back in and Carter misses the Phoenix splash, allowing Johnson to hit a Death Valley Driver for two more. Johnson goes up top but gets caught in a super Spanish Fly into a low superkick for….two. Dang they got me on that one. Carter jumps back up top and hits the frog splash for the pin at 9:44.

Rating: B. What do you want me to say here? Two young guys got some time and tore the house down with an incredibly entertaining match. If AEW wants to build up their younger guys, have them (try to) do something like this instead of having them lose for months on end. I really liked this and Carter looks like a great prospect who very well may get signed soon.

Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Eddie Kingston

Pillman starts fast with a shoulder to put Kingston on the floor. Kingston doesn’t approve and Pillman’s crossbody into some armdrags make it worse. A dive to the floor is broken up and Pillman is dropped hard onto the barricade. Back in and Kingston strikes away in the corner before whipping Pillman hard into the other corner. A shot to Kingston’s face just annoys him even more but Pillman grabs a top rope sunset flip for two. The crucifix is countered into a Samoan drop to plant Pillman and it’s off to the chinlock.

Pillman fights up again but Kingston just hits him in the back of the head like a smart brawler would. We hit the chinlock again, which just seems to fire Pillman up. The comeback is on with chops and rams into the corners and there’s a superkick to the floor. Pillman’s missile dropkick through the ropes sets up Air Pillman for two back inside. Kingston is back with a jawbreaker into a spinning Rock Bottom for two more but Pillman grabs something like a pumphandle driver for his own near fall. Kingston has had it with Pillman and knees him in the ribs, setting up the spinning backfist for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: C+. This was another good one as the veteran Kingston didn’t take Pillman seriously enough, allowing Pillman to get in a lot of offense. They were playing up the idea of an upset here and that’s what should be done in a match like this. Kingston works well as a brawler and we had a good match with a nice story as a result.

Dynamite preview wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. It was indeed better than usual and that was rather necessary. The last two matches felt like they belonged here, but above all else, the show is still too long. They could have had a heck of a show if this was about 45 minutes long instead of more than double that, but at least they had something good in here. If that becomes the norm we might be onto something, but I’ll need to see more of this and less of the usual.

Results

Dark Order b. Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis – Spinning Downward Spiral to Lewis

Ricky Starks b. Christopher Daniels – Spear

Butcher and Blade b. Puf/Calvin Stewart – Full Death to Stewart

Will Hobbs b. Serpentico – Spinebuster

Lucha Bros b. Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom – Elevated Fear Factor to Stardom

Dark Order b. Xander Gold/Ryzin – Top rope double stomp/powerslam combination to Gold

Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss b. Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia – Splits splash to Garcia

Gunn Club b. M’Badu/Cruz – Fameasser to Cruz

Serena Deeb b. KiLynn King – Serenity Lock

Ben Carter b. Lee Johnson – Frog splash

Eddie Kingston b. Brian Pillman Jr. – Spinning backfist

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 9, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re done with All Out and about two months away from Full Gear, which means there is some time before we need to really get started on the build to the show. Tonight is likely to be about fallout, which could make for a rather fun night. There are a lot of ways this show could go so let’s get to it.

Here is All Out if you need a recap.

Chris Jericho talks to Maxwell Jacob Friedman about the loss to loss to Jon Moxley on Saturday. They respect each other and know that the other will be World Champion one day. After an elbow bump they go their separate ways, where they call each other a loser.

Opening sequence.

Lucha Bros vs. Jurassic Express

Jungle Boy and Fenix start things off with an exchange of armdrags. Penta comes in but can’t hit the Fear Factor. Instead it’s Luchasaurus coming in to throw Boy at him for a swinging Downward Spiral. The Bros are sent outside but Penta is right back in for an exchange of chops with Luchasaurus. When that doesn’t go well, it’s a shot to the knee to bring in Boy, who takes Fenix to the floor for a suicide dive. Back in and Penta shoves Boy off the ropes and into a kick from Fenix to take over.

The beating is on until a double clothesline misses, allowing Boy to roll over for the tag to Luchasaurus. Fenix gets chokeslammed off the top (which looked more like a slam off the top) but Penta takes Luchasaurus down. The Gory Bomb into the legdrop combination gets two on Luchasaurus and it’s the spike Fear Factor to Boy. Fenix dives onto Luchasaurus as Penta gets two for a shocked reaction. Back in and Boy sends them into each other, setting up a rollup to give Boy the pin at 9:21.

Rating: B-. Total action match here and it’s amazing how much more interesting and entertaining Jurassic Express has been since Marko Stunt went onto the shelf. You might even think that he’s a completely unnecessary part of the team and little more than a mascot. It’s nice to see Jurassic Express win here though, even if it came at the Lucha Bros’ expense, though they have lost so many big matches that it doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Bros are about to fight but Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade break it up. Eddie talks about how they are brothers and need to get along, eventually getting them to hug.

Clips of Jon Moxley retaining the World Title over MJF at All Out.

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

While standing in the rain, Jake Roberts talks about how he and Lance Archer were confident going into All Out because that’s what they do. They’re here to trash cars instead of driving them because it’s like getting wet. Archer is ready to take the World Title.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He can’t believe all of the outpouring of love and concern over the last few days and he is very happy to stand here in front of the people. After a bunch of tests, Hardy is expected to make a full recovery because he is very lucky. He has a wife and family who are here tonight and he is sorry for putting them through that on Saturday. The only thing he is sorry about is the Broken Rules match not going as he wanted. It is time for him to get healthy though, meaning he can start winning matches and going after his first title. Matt praises Private Party and thanks the fans because they are the best.

Orange Cassidy vs. Angelico

Angelico starts with a top wristlock into a wristlock, leaning to them spinning around a lot for the break. With that not working, Angelico traps the leg and pulls on the neck, followed by something like an STF from the side instead of on Cassidy’s back. That’s broken up with a grab of the rope and Angelico misses a running boot in the corner. Cassidy hits a suicide dive into a high crossbody inside, setting up a tornado DDT. The Orange Punch finishes Angelico at 3:11.

Rating: C. That’s a good way to use Cassidy here after the big win on Saturday. If they want to make him a big deal going forward, this is something you need to do. Cassidy wasn’t doing his shtick here either and that is going to need to happen more often if he is going to have some longevity.

Post match Santana and Ortiz run in to jump Cassidy but the Best Friends run in for the save. Chuck, in a shirt featuring Trent’s mom’s van, calls them ding dongs and yells about Santana and Ortiz destroying his best friend’s mom’s van. The challenge is on for a parking lot fight and Trent says they are coming to hurt them instead of making mama proud. The levity of the mom’s van stuff and the intensity of wanting a parking lot brawl isn’t quite working here.

The Young Bucks knock down the interviewer for trying to ask them questions.

Here are Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford for an in-ring chat. Sabian throws Tony Schiavone out because all anyone wants to know is who is the best man for his wedding. Cue a rather large man in a loud shirt to say he’s here to be the best man. Sabian doesn’t think so, because the guy is a subscriber to Sabian’s Twitch channel and was told he was “the best, man”.

Next up is Brian Pillman Jr. for the same issue. Sabian sends Pillman away and says he hopes his birthday was awful. Now it’s time for the real best man: Miro, formerly known as Rusev. Miro talks about spending ten years chasing the brass ring and tells you where you can stick it. He’s shown he’s the best gamer on Twitch and now he’s all elite.

Tony Schiavone had a sitdown interview with Hangman Page earlier today. Page is banged up after All Out but Tony wants the real answer about how he’s feeling. Page talks about how there were a few hundred fans at All Out but they were pretty far away. He couldn’t hear a sound for thirty minutes because it was like everyone was waiting for he and Kenny Omega to fall apart and lose the Tag Team Titles.

It wasn’t inevitable though and it was Page’s fault that FTR became #1 contenders in the first place. It was his fault that he cost the Young Bucks the gauntlet match because they are the best tag team in the world. From head to toe, he is full of poison. Tony talks about Omega walking away from him on Saturday and Page talks about the issues the two of them have had despite their successes. Now it’s time to get back to the top for another title shot and they’ll get through this too. Page continues to be the best talker in the Elite (past or present) by about ten miles.

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Anything goes. Jericho hammers away at Janela in the corner but Janela knocks him down for his own right hands. Kiss comes in for a double hot shot to Jericho and a double dropkick puts him down again. Stereo missile dropkicks connect to send Hager and Jericho to the floor and Janela hits a suicide dive on Jericho. Back in and Janela hits Jericho with a chair a few times but gets suplexed onto said chair for his troubles.

We take a break and come back with Janela throwing Jericho head first into a chair in the corner and making the hot tag to Kiss. Jericho’s trashcan shot is broken up and Hager runs Kiss over from behind. The Vader Bomb onto the trashcan onto Kiss is blocked as Janela and Jericho brawl to the stage. Jericho catapults Janela into a toss off the stage and through a table to leave Janela laying. Kiss dives onto the two of them at once and Cactus Clotheslines Hager from the ramp to the ring. Back in and Jericho sprays Kiss with a fire extinguisher to send him into Hager’s head and arm choke for the win at 9:45.

Rating: C. I didn’t really need to see this getting any kind of time or Janela getting in that much offense (or Janela in general but that’s a different story) but the result worked well enough. Jericho gets back on track and Hager gets to look like a monster again so it accomplished its goals. Now just stop having Janela as a face and things should be better.

Post match Jericho talks about how bad All Out was for the Inner Circle, but the team has a new plan: he and Hager are coming for the Tag Team Titles. I’ve heard worse ideas.

MJF is in his campaign office and freaks out over Jon Moxley cheating to retain the title at All Out. They’re all fired, including Nina, who is FINALLY smiling. After throwing her out, MJF doesn’t like Wardlow calling him sir and yells about Wardlow screwing up. Remember that MJF signs off on Wardlow’s checks instead of Tony Khan, so either get it together or be thrown out on the street. Wardlow is annoyed but agrees that they don’t have a problem. It’s time to plan to get back to the top.

Jon Moxley knows that Lance Archer is coming because this never gets any easier. Would you want to bet against him though?

Here are Tully Blanchard and FTR, with the ring surrounded by the tag division to celebrate their newly won Tag Team Titles….complete with cake. Tully seems to dub the team Fear the Revelation before talking about FTR winning the titles in an 117 degree ring. They came out with the gold to go on top of the deepest tag team division in the world. FTR grew up watching SCU and wished they were still in their prime. Then there’s Private Party. Dax: “Yeah there’s Private Party.”

Billy is one of the most successful tag team wrestlers of all time but being in a second bit Hall of Fame doesn’t get them to the top. Next week they have the Jurassic Express but a cosplay dinosaur isn’t getting a to run the tag team division. The Express comes in and FTR keeps insulting them before bailing from the threat of a double chokeslam. The division surrounds them and the Express pours the cooler of ice onto them. With the champs gone, everyone else has cake.

We look at the Casino Battle Royal.

Taz joins commentary and here is Ricky Starks dressed as Darby Allin instead. Starks, as Allin, talks about finally getting injured and not being able to go skateboarding with his friends. Now as himself, Starks calls out Allin for being reckless and no one wants to be around him. That leaves Allin hurt and alone and the next time he sees Allin, it will be even worse.

Nyla Rose vs. Tay Conti

Vickie Guerrero is in Rose’s corner. Rose drives her into the corner to start and tosses Conti down without much effort. Conti comes back with some kicks to the head but Rose knocks her to the floor for a shot from Vickie. We take a break and come back with Conti pulling her into a reverse cross armbreaker but gets reversed into the Beast Bomb for the fast pin at 5:26. Not enough shown due to the commercial, though I’m not sure why you would have Conti lose like this in her first match under contract.

Post match Vickie says that they are here to make a statement but here’s Hikaru Shida with the kendo stick for the staredown.

The Bucks are being fined $5000 for knocking the interviewer down.

JR had a sitdown interview with Kenny Omega earlier today. Omega’s big takeaway is that he was a champion and now he isn’t, which is part of the game. He and Page had chemistry together so they were a great team, which changed Omega’s perception in the company. Maybe he was supposed to be the breakout star around here but maybe he can be more than a singles guy. JR asks what’s next for him but Omega isn’t sure if they are going to be able to be a team again. He spent a year on the team and now it seems to be time to go back to his singles career.

Moxley vs. Archer for the World Title is taking place on October 14 for the Anniversary Show.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Dustin Rhodes

Lee is defending and some of the Dark Order is here. Dustin jumps him to start and the brawl is on outside before they head back in for the opening bell. Lee chops away in the corner but Dustin does the same. They slug it out until Lee knees him in the ribs and catapults him throat first into the middle rope. We take a break and come back with Dustin hitting a bulldog and snaps off the powerslam but the Canadian Destroyer is broken up. A hurricanrana out of the corner sets up the Code Red for two and they’re both down.

Back up and Cross Rhodes gives Dustin two but Lee is back with a superkick. Lee powerbombs him for two but misses a running boot in the corner. Dustin hits the running flip dive off the apron so John Silver tries to interfere. That lets Dustin hit the Unnatural Kick to Lee and a snap powerslam to Silver. Dustin piledrives Lee for two and a big clothesline gets the same. Back up and Lee hits the discus lariat for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: B. Coming out of All Out, one of the things that I kept hearing praised was Dustin’s fired up promo and how well he has been doing as of late. I hadn’t really gotten it so I paid extra attention to this and yeah, it worked very well. While I don’t particularly care about Dustin avenging the Rhodes Family name, I can get into the idea of the old cowboy with one shot left at glory and putting in a fired up attempt to get the title. This worked very well and they kept my attention after getting it early on.

Post match here’s the rest of the Dark Order with the unconscious QT Marshall but Lee throws Colt Cabana out. Evil Uno tries to calm Cabana down as Lee returns the low blow to Dustin.

We get some Breaking News from Cody. He has gone to Marietta, Georgia to shoot the Go Big Show, which is a new competition series with all kinds of unique acts. Cody will be a judge on the show, which is the only connection the show has to wrestling.

Overall Rating: B-. The opening match and main event helped this one out but it was kind of a cool down show after last time. They have a lot to build towards in the future and it’s ok to burn off a show like this coming off a rare pay per view. That being said, it was far from bad and they did enough to keep me interested. It wasn’t a great show, but it was good enough and that’s all it needs to be.

Results

Jurassic Express b. Lucha Bros – Rollup to Fenix

Orange Cassidy b. Angelico – Orange Punch

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Head and arm choke to Kiss

Nyla Rose b. Tay Conti – Beast Bomb

Brodie Lee b. Dustin Rhodes – Discus lariat

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 4, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz

Yes it’s a double shot of this show as they continue their tradition of running a special show the night before a pay per view. In theory this means that we won’t be having a show next Tuesday, though I do wonder what that means for the Gunn Club and Kip Sabian. How can we get by without seeing them every single week? Let us get to it.

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

Faboo Andre/D3 vs. Butcher and Blade

Eddie Kingston is here with Butcher and Blade. The beatdown is on before the bell with Butcher running D3 over and taking him into the corner for the beating. D3 gets in a shot and hands it off to Andre, who walks into a side slam as the beating is on in a hurry. Blade doesn’t seem worried about Andre and slowly kicks him in the back but charges into a knee in the corner.

A hurricanrana allows the hot tag to D3 but he gets caught in a chokeslam/belly to back suplex combination. Andre makes the save and gets powerbombed/neckbreakered for his efforts. The suplex onto Blade’s knees is good for the pin on Andre at 3:34. They have those two big combinations and use the suplex onto the knee for the finisher?

Rating: D+. Again, you can only go so wrong with someone named Faboo Andre and it was nice to see Butcher and Blade destroying people like this. It isn’t a match that you need to see or course but as a brief showcase for Butcher and Blade, who seem to be on their way up, it worked out well enough. Now do something with them.

Allie vs. Red Velvet

QT Marshall is here with Velvet and Brandi Rhodes is on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Velvet grabbing a headlock and then running her over with a shoulder. A rollup gives Velvet two and Allie isn’t into the handshake. Instead Allie sends her into the corner but gets choked down with a boot. Velvet gets caught on top though and Allie hits a superkick. The running knee sets up a bulldog as Brandi wants Allie to stay on it. Down The Rabbit Hole finishes Velvet at 4:19.

Rating: D+. Another not too bad match with Allie and Brandi’s issues being front and center. What those issues are still isn’t clear, as Allie hasn’t exactly been trying to do anything bad to Marshall. I’m not sure what they’re going for long term, but it seems that the short term goal is to get Brandi on TV, which is working well enough.

Colt Cabana vs. Zack Clayton

Cabana drives him into the corner to start and we get some clean breaks but Stu Grayson of the Dark Order doesn’t seem thrilled with Cabana’s tactics. Evil Uno comes out to yell at him as well so Cabana shoulders Clayton down to take over. Clayton gets two off a rollup and Cabana is ticked off enough to start the aggression. Clayton fires off some uppercuts but the Dark Order offers a distraction. The Chicago Skyline puts Clayton down and, after an order from Uno, Cabana uses Brodie Lee’s discus lariat for the pin at 4:20.

Rating: C-. It was nice to see some storyline advancement during a match on this show because it has been lacking for nearly a year now. This is the kind of thing that can make Dark worth watching (or at least a little more worth watching) but for some reason this stuff is rather rare. That being said, if Cabana needed help beating this guy, maybe the Dark Order is a little beyond him.

Peter Avalon says the Initiative is done because it’s all about him. He isn’t an enhancement talent and it’s time to light a fire under Brandon Cutler. The two of them can go one on one and it’s time for the loser to win. Leva Bates does not seem pleased.

Lucha Bros vs. Ryzin/Angel Perez

Fenix and Ryzin start things off with Ryzin being knocked down in a hurry. Penta comes in and holds Fenix’s hand for a crazy springboard flipping armdrag but Ryzin gets a boot up in the corner. Perez comes in to elbow Fenix in the face and a running knee to the face drops him again. Penta’s distraction lets Fenix grab a spinning sunset flip out of the corner for two. Penta hits a running Canadian Destroyer on Ryzin and a spike Fear Factor (though with Fenix standing up for the spike instead of coming off the top) finishes Perez at 2:53.

Post match here are Eddie Kingston and Butcher and Blade with Eddie promising that one of them is going to win the Casino Battle Royal. Butcher isn’t happy but Kingston gets them together for a group hug.

Ivelisse vs. KiLynn King

Diamante is here with Ivelisse. They trade some strikes to start until King takes way too long trying a slam, allowing Ivelisse to slip away. A springboard tornado DDT gives Ivelisse two and a kick to the head gets the same. The full nelson with the legs keep King down and a running knee gives Ivelisse two more. Another big kick misses though and King hits a hard forearm. King kicks her in the head and sends Ivelisse flying with a German suplex for two. As Taz criticizes the covering, Diamante offers a distraction so Ivelisse can hit a Downward Spiral. Code Red finishes King at 4:48.

Rating: C-. They might have something here with King, who gets noticed every time she is on the show. I know she probably isn’t going anywhere, but it could be worth giving her a little something. Like say, a win, over another of the Dark jobbers. That could help a few other people here and there but for some reason it never happens. I really don’t get it, but that’s not what the show seems to be about.

Shawn Dean/Brandon Bullock vs. Dark Order

It’s John Silver and Alex Reynolds for the Order here. Silver takes Dean straight down for an attempted choke and then fires a knee to the face. It’s off to Reynolds, who gets caught with a quick enziguri so Bullock can come in off the tag. Silver kicks Bullock in the chest though as commentary talks about Tom and Jerry.

The Order starts hammering away on Bullock in the corner and back to back splashes give Reynolds two. Bullock flips out of a belly to back suplex though and it’s back to Dean. That earns him some quick strikes to the face from Dean and a spinning torture rack powerbomb plants Dean again. The double flipping DDT gives Silver the pin at 5:42.

Rating: D+. Kind of a long match by comparison to the rest of the show and that’s not the best thing. Dean is one of the better jobbers but there is a reason that Silver and Reynolds were put under masks and are often just identified by numbers. The match wasn’t anything of note, but the Dark Order has been getting a lot more TV time as of late so I can’t say I’m surprised to see them here.

Brandon Cutler, also with Leva Bates, says he’ll take Peter Avalon’s challenge. If Avalon wants to light that fire, be ready to be burned.

Luther vs. Darby Allin

Taz is suddenly a huge Luther fan. Luther kicks the knee out to start and sends Darby’s knee into the post. Back in and Luther stomps at the knee some more with Allin not even being able to run the ropes. Allin comes back with a Fujiwara armbar but Luther makes it over to the rope. Luther is right back to the knee and a backdrop driver gives him two. There’s a reverse suplex for two more as Taz wants Darby to headbutt a fire hydrant. The Cannonball only hits corner though and Luther rolls outside for a Coffin Drop from Allin. Back in and the Coffin Drop finishes Luther at 4:29.

Rating: C. Luther was wrestling a much more logical match here and that made it a lot easier to watch. He hasn’t been the disaster that I was expecting when he seemingly was hired because he and Jericho worked together a long time ago, but this worked out well enough. Allin survived until the end here, and that’s perfectly fine.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares

Marshall gets in a faceplant on Angels but Vance pulls Dustin off the apron. A DDT gives Angels two and the hot tag brings in Dustin to clean house. The snap powerslams plant the Order but a cheap shot from the apron lets Vance get a rollup for two. Back in and Marshall hits a Diamond Cutter on Angels, leaving Vance to take the Final Reckoning for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C. Again, believe it or not, the talented wrestlers getting a little time led to a better match. It also helps that there is an actual story here instead of just people doing moves to each other for the sake of filling in time. This wasn’t bad either, as the Nightmares continue to be a nice little pairing.

Quick All Out preview wraps it up.

Overall Rating: C-. I know I’m beating a heavily damaged horse here but the time was the key to making this one a lot more watchable. There was nothing wroth going out of your way to see here but then again there almost never is on Dark. It was more of the same, but there wasn’t a point where I was wondering how much longer I would have to sit through the thing. This was as proof positive as you could get that there is no need to make the show so long most of the time and it was easier to watch as a result. I’m sure that won’t matter next time, but it was a nice break for one week.

Results

Butcher and Blade b. Faboo Andre/D3 – Suplex onto Blade’s knees to Andre

Allie b. Red Velvet – Down The Rabbit Hole

Colt Cabana b. Zack Clayton – Discus lariat

Lucha Bros b. Ryzin/Angel Perez – Spike Fear Factor to Perez

Ivelisse b. KiLynn King – Code Red

Dark Order b. Brandon Bullock/Shawn Dean – Double flipping DDT to Bullock

Darby Allin b. Luther – Coffin Drop

Natural Nightmares b. Dark Order – Final Reckoning to Vance

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

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

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

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