Impact Wrestling
Date: January 26, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: D’Lo Brown, Matt Striker

We’re on the way to both Rebellion and No Surrender, meaning things are going to slowly start taking shape. That is not a bad thing either, as Impact is a lot better when they have a focus. Odds are we’re coming up on Moose vs. Rich Swann for the World Title, which should be something good. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Matt Hardy and Private Party invading last week and becoming #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Rich Swann for a chat. Swann talks about everything that he did to get back here and now he has a target on his back. For now though he has something to take care of so he would like Tommy Dreamer to come out here right now. Swann talks about No Surrender being on February 13, which happens to be Dreamer’s 50^th birthday. He watched Dreamer back in the land of extreme and now wants to repay the favor by giving Dreamer a shot at the title.

Cue Sami Callihan to say this is Dreamer trying to get himself over as usual. Swann lost to Kenny Omega and embarrassed the company. Sami is the heart and soul of the company and deserves a title shot. Cue Chris Bey to say that February 13 is his birthday as well so he should get a title shot. Now it’s Moose coming out everyone is scared to challenge for his title so he’s here to interject. Swann has never beaten him and Moose knows he remembers when Moose nearly decapitated Willie Mack.

Yeah Swann remembers, but Moose said the title shot was on his time. The No Surrender match is already set so now it’s on Swann’s time. Cue Willie Mack to Stun Bey and go after Moose, with Striker not exactly being excited about the whole thing. The villains bail and the six man seems imminent for later. Sami makes the lights go out and here’s Ken Shamrock to jump Swann, Mack and Dreamer with the rest of the villains joining him in the beatdown.

Post break, Swann and company are ready for a match tonight, with Dreamer promising to “UFC Shamrock’s a**.” They go to see Scott D’Amore, who says they look terrible. The match is on but D’Amore thinks they need a fourth. Now Impact’s resident mathematician Scott Steiner isn’t available, but D’Amore has an idea. There is someone in his office and the trio looks very pleased.

Here’s what’s coming tonight and at No Surrender.

Matt Cardona/Josh Alexander vs. Ace Austin/Madman Fulton

Fallout from an interview gone bad last week. Alexander goes for Fulton’s ankle to start and gets kicked into the corner for his efforts. Austin comes in and gets planted down in a hurry before it’s off to Cardona (with the bright lime green trunks). A clothesline puts Austin on the floor and Alexander backdrops Cardona onto the two of them for a big crash. We take a break and come back with Alexander getting caught in a side slam/middle rope legdrop combination. Austin drives a knee into the back and pulls Alexander into the corner as we’re firmly in the tag formula.

A claw legsweep gives Fulton two but Alexander manages to kick him into Austin, allowing the hot tag to Cardona. That means the middle rope dropkick to rock Austin but it’s too early for the Reboot. Instead Cardona settles for two off a slingshot splash but Fulton makes the save and drags Austin to the corner. Everything breaks down and Alexander slugs away on Fulton to knock the monster to his knees. Cardona charges at Austin, who launches him into a Rough Ryder (going to need a new name) to finish Fulton at 10:18.

Rating: C. This took some time to get going and I’m still not big on a lot of what Cardona does in the ring, but he looked smooth here. Maybe he can get somewhere on his own and if that is case, great for him for proving himself right after all the years in WWE. It’s also nice to see more of Austin, who I would like to see move up the ladder around here. The same is true of Alexander, even if he is still playing second fiddle in a tag team.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Matt Hardy debuts at Genesis 2011 against Rob Van Dam. It’s only his entrance and this only lasts about a minute.

Rohit Raju is all fired up to win the X-Division Title back but he needs someone (off camera) to help him. Whoever it is seems to agree.

It’s time for the weekly visit from Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone. They care about each other, just like Khan cares about the wrestling fans. He sees Impact as his own fantasy wrestling league. Last week he was in the zone with Matt Hardy, Jerry Lynn and Matt Hardy and now Private Party might win the Impact Wrestling Tag Team Titles. They would have to beat the Good Brothers, who happen to be on Dynamite tomorrow night! Schiavone runs down the Dynamite card and Khan talks about Beach Break.

Brian Myers runs into Matt Cardona in the back and doesn’t seem impressed. Myers leaves and Cardona says that was a bad move.

Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers

Eddie, who is rather banged up from Barbed Wire Massacre, sends him over to the ropes to start and we get a clean break. The referee yells at Myers over a possible hair pull so Eddie snaps off a belly to belly to the floor. There’s a suicide dive to take Myers down as it’s all Eddie so far. Back in and Myers rolls right back to the floor, where he gets in a shot to Eddie’s bad arm.

Myers stomps away in the corner and trips Eddie down but he comes back with some clotheslines. As Striker says that whoever is in D’Amore’s office will be the next Lex Luger at the Great American Mall (I believe he means Mall of America, as again Striker isn’t as smart as he tries to sound), Eddie hits a Backpack Stunner. Myers grabs a Downward Spiral and loads up his clothesline, only to charge into a thumb to the eye. Eddie drives him down with the thumb in the eye and gets DQ’ed at 6:14.

Rating: C. I haven’t been big on Myers since he started getting pushed but this worked out well enough. Granted that might be due to Eddie Edwards being in there, but at least we didn’t have to see Myers win another match with a clothesline. Eddie going more heelish could be interesting, assuming they actually pull the full trigger this time around.

Fire and Flava want their celebration to be awesome and hope they sold enough tickets. Johnny Swinger walks by with a group of women, saying the palace is this way. Kiera Hogan says she has the worst idea.

Matt Hardy praises Private Party for their win last week but they did it because of him. They are ready to win the Tag Team Titles at No Surrender but are also going to win the battle royal to get the AEW Tag Team Title shot at Revolution. He’ll even throw in a bonus by not taking as much off the top of their checks! It’s time to go be winners.

Tenille Dashwood vs. Rosemary

Dashwood has Kaleb With A K with her while Rosemary, with far less face paint than usual, has Crazzy Steve. Rosemary runs her over to start but Kaleb gets up for a distraction, allowing Dashwood to unload with the camera bag for two. Dashwood grabs a neckbreaker over the apron to send Rosemary outside, where she punches Kaleb in the face.

That earns her a trip back inside, where Rosemary grabs the Upside Down. With that broken up, Dashwood runs her over for two more. The seated full nelson goes on but Rosemary fights up and runs her over with a clothesline. There’s a fall away slam to send Dashwood flying but the spear only hits corner. Not that it matters as As Above, So Below finishes Dashwood at 4:55.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what the problem here was but Rosemary looked rather different here, seeming a bit slower and without the same spark in her eyes. She hasn’t looked the same since returning from her knee injury, but that has been a long time now. This didn’t work so well for her, and hopefully that isn’t the new norm.

XXXL is glad to be back when Rosemary and Crazzy Steve come up. Larry lays out Steve so Rosemary barks at both of them.

We go to Swinger’s Palace, where John E. Bravo is dealing Blackjack to Fallah Bahh, who loses quite a bit. Fire and Flava come in and want them to go the party, including the Swingerellas, who can serve drinks. Fallah Bahh can’t come because he has no money, which makes Swinger (in an extreme closeup) laugh at him. The sad Bahh is left alone.

Deonna Purrazzo brags to Kimber Lee and Susan about retaining the Knockouts Title. Lee and Susan brag about beating Jazz and Jordynne Grace, who pop in to issue the challenge. Grace calls Susan Susie, who does not like the old name. The match is on for next week.

And now it’s Fire and Flava Fest, with Alisha as emcee and promising to praise her homies. The only guests here are a referee, John E. Bravo, Johnny Swinger and the Swingerellas. Alisha introduces Fire and Flava, with Kiera Hogan (the Fire) loudly bragging about their win. Tasha Steelz (that would be the Flava) talks about how they promised they would be here and it’s time to star the party. The six guests aren’t exactly making that much noise, with the referee saying this is a dumpster fire. Hogan: “YOUR OUTFIT IS A DUMPSTER FIRE!”

It’s time for the Swingerellas to hand out the food, which means some boxed sandwiches. Bravo complains about the bread so it’s time for the booze, which Alisha spits out after one sip. Hold on though as there is a Marshmallow Man at ringside, which Steelz knows is Fallah Bahh. Actually it’s Nevaeh, who decks Steelz. Havok pops up and clotheslines Hogan but can’t quite put her through the table. Catering is destroyed and Alisha declares Havok and Nevaeh the winners. Of what isn’t clear, but they win.

James Storm and Chris Sabin have a drink and agree that while they might not be the Motor City Machine Guns or Beer Money, they’re something. Now they need the Tag Team Titles. Storm likes the idea so let’s have some shots.

Fire and Flava aren’t thrilled with what happened so here’s the referee, who complains that he got nothing of what he was promised and wants a refund. That’s not happening…..and we spent two weeks to set up a FYRE FEST JOKE??? It was old a year and a half ago when AEW did it and now we had a ten minute segment to set it up in 2021????

Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake

The rest of Violent By Design is at ringside. Jake goes right at Doering to start and gets knocked out of the corner. A slam sets up a rebound elbow drop to keep Jake in trouble but Doering misses a crossbody. Jake tries a dive over the top but Doering kind of knocks him away. Back in and Jake hits a running shoulder to the ribs in the corner but walks into the crossbody. A big clothesline finishes Jake at 3:13.

Rating: D+. Doering is a huge guy but he feels like the latest giant monster who is going to cause trouble for a bit. I don’t particularly need to see the trope again, but maybe Doering can learn to do something other than sneer and make things better. It just feels like something that has been done so many times before and it isn’t thrilling here.

Post match the beatdown is on and they load up the Pillmanizing (with Striker saying the word with WAY too much enthusiasm and explaining who it is named after) but Young says hang on. They leave Jake with a Violent By Design shirt and walk away.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Moose/Chris Bey/Ken Shamrock/Sami Callihan vs. Rich Swann/Willie Mack/Tommy Dreamer/???

The mystery partner is…..Trey Miguel, who has not been around in about two months. Striker: “For me, on a personal level, this is exciting.” Bey tags himself in to take Moose’s place, because he wants to face Dreamer. That doesn’t last long so it’s off to Swann for a rolling splash/elbow combination to keep Bey down. We take a break and come back with Bey still in trouble but he manages to get Swann over for the tag off to Sami.

The package piledriver is broken up and Swann snaps off a headscissors. Mack comes in to run Sami over and hit a standing moonsault. A dropkick takes out Mack’s knee though and Shamrock comes in to take over. Sami’s shoulder to the ribs makes Mack’s eyes bug out and the villains take turns beating him up. Mack punches Bey in the jaw to escape the corner but another dropkick takes his knee out again. Sami grabs a standing leglock and Moose powerbombs Bey onto Mack for two.

Since Bey can’t keep anything going tonight, Mack nails him with a pip up right hand, allowing the hot tag off to Miguel. The pace picks up in a hurry, including an atomic drop into something like a jumping Stunner/Codebreaker on Sami. Shamrock suplexes Miguel hard though and everything breaks down. Sami powerbombs Miguel but walks into a cutter from Dreamer. Moose spears Mack but gets missile dropkicked by Miguel. A hard suplex puts Miguel down again but he snaps off a hurricanrana to pin Sami at 12:18.

Rating: C+. This was a pretty standard main event formula match and it worked out well. The main point was the return of Trey Miguel though and that was quite the success. He has an energy to him that you aren’t going to see in most people around here and I’m glad to have him back. Now just let him win something for a change, because otherwise it’s the same problem all over again.

Post match Shamrock and Callihan are left alone, so Shamrock ankle locks the referee to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. The ending helped, but this was a flat show otherwise with almost nothing important or energetic throughout the show. The lack of AEW praise for the most part helped, but man they aren’t doing themselves any favors. Tommy Dreamer gets a World Title shot? The Edgeheads Explode? Eric Young gets another low level goon? A freaking Fyre Fest joke? I need a lot more than that to make two hours work and as fun as Miguel is, he isn’t enough to fix all that.

Results

Matt Cardona/Josh Alexander b. Ace Austin/Madman Fulton – Pop up Rough Ryder to Fulton

Brian Myers b. Eddie Edwards via DQ when Edwards poked him in the eye

Rosemary b. Tenille Dashwood – As Above So Below

Joe Doering b. Cousin Jake – Running clothesline

Trey Miguel/Tommy Dreamer/Rich Swann/Willie Mack b. Moose/Sami Callihan/Ken Shamrock/Chris Bey – Hurricanrana to Callihan

 

 

 

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All Out 2020
Date: September 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

They’re back on pay per view and for once that’s a rather nice thing to see. AEW has a great history with the big shows and hopefully we continue the streak here. The main events are Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy where you can win by throwing the other one in a vat of mimosa and Jon Moxley defending the World Title against MJF. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

This was announced earlier today and Sonny Kiss and Luther are here. Joey jumps him before the bell and they fight to the floor where Janela glares at Luther. Back in and Serpentico charges into a boot to the face but he sends Joey hard into the corner. Serpentico’s running thigh slap disguised as a shot to the face gets two and Joey is sent outside for some abuse from Luther.

Back in and a snap suplex gives Serpentico two but a Swanton hits raised knees. Janela’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but he misses a moonsault. Janela is back up with a super fisherman’s buster for two. Luther grabs the foot so Janela dropkicks him through the ropes. The top rope elbow gives Joey the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. So that happened and it could have been on any given edition of Dark. Janela still does nothing for me though I do kind of like Serpentico. For what feels like a really basic gimmick, he does well enough with what he has and that’s all you can ask for from something like this.

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Silver starts with Isaiah Kassidy and they fight over wrist control. With that going nowhere, Marq Quen comes in for an atomic drop to send Silver into a clothesline. A top rope ax handle to Reynolds’ arm gets a delayed two but Silver comes in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Reynolds’ knees. There’s a backbreaker for two more and it’s time to kick at Kassidy’s chest for the same. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Kassidy fights out.

A roll over into the corner brings in Quen to clean house, including a top rope moonsault press for two. Silly String is broken up and a heck of a torture rack spinning slam gets two more on Quen. Everything breaks down and Private Party knocks them off the top. A 450 and Swanton miss and it’s a Stunner into a German suplex for two. Private Party is back up and sends Reynolds to the floor, setting up Gin and Juice to finish Silver at 10:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be as Private Party isn’t ready to do a match this long on their own and the Dark Order isn’t going to be able to walk them through it. They certainly didn’t have a disaster out there and the match could have been a lot worse, but it came and went with one spot after another. They were good spots, but they were just spots.

Jim Ross gets his full entrance and really doesn’t seem thrilled to be here.

The announcers run down the card. Thank goodness they’re thinking of those people who buy pay per views and forget what they ordered.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is Tooth vs. Nail and is taking place in Baker’s dental office. Reba checks Swole in and shouts to Baker that she is here, earning herself a clipboard to the head. Swole goes hunting for Baker but finds a bunch of blood on a chair instead. Baker, in a face mask, stalks Swole, who finds a cabinet full of chattering teeth. Baker gets behind her and eventually breaks a framed diploma over her head. The doctor isn’t sure if they can save Swole’s teeth so it’s time to extract them but Swole fights out.

They go outside and into Baker’s motorized wheelchair with Reba helping Baker to little avail. Baker gets in a crutch shot to take Swole down though and they fight back inside. Swole manages to throw a chair at her and Baker is in trouble. They go into an exam room where Baker his a superkick and loads up a syringe full of Novocaine. Swole manages to knock into Baker’s leg to send Reba into hysterics and knocking Baker out for the stoppage at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This was quite the disappointment as they could have done a lot more than what we got here. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that has less than seven minutes and a good chunk of that was spent walking around. I’m not wild on Baker losing, but at least it wasn’t via pinfall so it could have been a lot worse.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

No story here as they won an eight man tag on Wednesday and get to fight as a result. Nick and Jungle Boy start things off for some flipping before it’s quickly off to Matt, who goes outside to yell at Marko Stunt. Back in and Jungle Boy Tail Whips Nick into a Flatliner but Nick slips over for the tag to Matt. A dropkick staggers Luchasaurus but he sends the Bucks into each other and brings Boy back in.

Nick is sent over the top and hard onto the ramp but Matt is back with Locomotion. He suplexes Boy to the floor and hits some more Locomotion, plus another suplex over the barricade to drop Boy. Back in and Matt grabs a front facelock and Nick comes in for a running knee to the face. Boy sends him to the ropes though and Stunt gets in a cheap shot, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus. House is cleaned in a hurry, including the standing moonsault for two.

Everything breaks down but Boy’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb on the apron. A Canadian Destroyer hits Luchasaurus and there’s a superkick to Boy. Back in and the Swanton gets two more on Boy but he avoids the BTE Trigger. Luchasaurus breaks up the Meltzer Driver and chokeslams Nick. The Extinction Level Event hits Matt for two but the Bucks send Luchasaurus outside. The Superkick Party gets two on Boy and now the BTE Trigger is enough for the pin on Boy at 14:53.

Rating: B-. Good action here, even if there wasn’t a ton of drama over who was going to win. There was no reason to believe that the Bucks were going to lose when they have been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks. This worked well enough as a way to get the Bucks on the show, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before.

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

There are four groups of five wrestlers each and a group comes in every three minutes. One wrestler comes in as the Joker at the end and it’s a regular battle royal, with the winner getting a World Title shot in the future. Taz joins commentary for a bonus. First up we have the Spades, meaning Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, the Blade and Rey Fenix to start things off. It’s a brawl to start with Daniels having to fight out of Hager and Blade’s double teaming. Fenix armdrags Trent down but walks into a tornado DDT.

Hager suplexes Daniels and everyone keeps fighting until it’s the Diamonds, consisting of Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, and Santana and Ortiz. The last two hit Chuck from behind with the baton before he can get in the ring and stay on him outside. Hobbs pulls Blade in the way of a charge and Blade is out, followed by Hager getting rid of Daniels. Everyone gets in and it’s time for the Hearts, including Billy, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin.

Cage gets rid of Billy in a hurry so here’s Allin with the skateboard to wreck people. Allin tosses Fenix and the Best Friends get to clean a little house, setting up the Big Hug. Santana and Ortiz get rid of Chuck because they’re not stupid enough to stop for a hug in a match like this. Now it’s time for the Clubs, with Shawn Spears (who goes over to commentary instead of getting in), Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Sonny Kiss and Lance Archer.

Spears takes his time heading to the ring as Archer gets to clean house in a hurry. Kiss eliminates Hager but Cage gets rid of him as well. Tully Blanchard hands Spears the piece of metal for the glove as Hager decks Kiss on the floor. Trent gets rid of Santana but can only send Ortiz to the apron. Archer tosses Trent and then eliminates Ortiz as the Joker is….Matt Sydal. Well that’s a disappointment. He comes in and goes to the top to try the shooting star press….and slips off, crashing hard onto his back so Hobbs immediately goes to check on him.

Penta is out and Kazarian follows him and we hear a bunch of noise, which Taz blames on catering. Cage gets up to clean house and hits Starks by mistake, allowing Allin to throw Starks out. Starks is annoyed and pulls out a body bag, which Cage fills with thumbtacks. Cage puts Allin in the bag and zips it up as JR is DONE with this. A powerbomb over the top rope gets rid of the bag and Allin for the scary bump. Sydal kicks Spears to the apron but Spears pulls him out as well.

With Spears tied in the ropes, Spears adds a middle rope double stomp for the elimination. Back in and Hobbs hits a big spinebuster on Sydal but gets Pounced by Archer. Cage and Archer give us the big showdown and they strike it out until Cage hits a jumping knee. Hobbs cuts Cage off and pulls him to the apron though and Archer knocks both of them out.

That leaves us with Archer, Kingston, Sydal and Blade, with Archer not wanting to hear from Kingston. Archer dumps Butcher and throws Sydal through the air and right into a DDT onto Kingston. There’s the Blackout to Sydal but he lands on the apron. Kingston gets rid of Sydal and winds up on the apron with Archer. Jake Roberts busts out the snake bag but here is Blade to go after Archer. Kingston bites Archer’s ear but another snake distraction lets Archer throw Kingston out for the win at 21:50. JR: “Lance Hoyt wins it!”

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate and Sydal wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise. The botch didn’t make things any better but I did get to laugh as soon as he got up. Archer winning makes good sense as he needs a big win to get him back to the top level after the loss to Cody. It was fine enough for a battle royal, which means it has a pretty hard ceiling above everything.

We recap Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy. Guevara busted him open with a chair by throwing it rather hard at Hardy’s head so Hardy busted him open in a tables match. Tonight it’s Broken Rules, meaning Last Man Standing, but if Matt loses, he leaves AEW.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Broken Rules so Last Man Standing. They start near the football field, with Sammy showing up behind him in the golf cart. Since Matt is a wrestler, he runs straight ahead instead of going over a barricade or something. Sammy crashes and the fight is on, with Matt heading over to a scissor lift. They go into the air and Matt tries the Side Effect. That winds up with a huge crash instead and Matt’s head hits the concrete, meaning we get the X sign. Hokey smoke that was terrifying and Matt is DONE. As in not moving and looks completely stiff.

Sammy goes after Matt again and gets a nine but here’s the doctor to say the match is over at 3:47. Sammy staggers towards the ring so Matt gets up and jumps him again. The bell rings and the match continues as they head towards ringside. They climb the set structure and Sammy gets knocked off for a huge crash through the stage. That’s enough for a ten count at 8:07, counting the break between the breaks.

Rating: D+. I’m really not sure what to say here as I can’t imagine this was the plan for the whole thing. It feels like Matt got hurt but they had to keep going until the finish because of the Matt Leaves stipulation, though that’s just a guess. It didn’t have the time to do much, which seems to be a continuing problem with this feud. They don’t need to do this again, and hopefully Matt isn’t too banged up.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida for Shida’s AEW World Title. We hear a bunch of great things about Rosa, the NWA Women’s Champion, including comments from NWA owner Billy Corgan. Everyone knew Rosa was going to be a top star from the moment they saw her and she challenged Shida for a champion vs. champion match. Shida was certainly down.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa

Only Shida’s title is on the line. They go nose to nose to start before heading to the mat. With no one being able to get the advantage, it’s Shida hitting a running hurricanrana and it’s time to go nose to nose again. Rosa hits a hard elbow to the face and snapmares Shida down as Excalibur mentions that Rosa is also a champion in Tokyo Joshi Pro. JR: “BUT ONLY YOU KNOW THAT!” Shida gets in a shot of her own and hits a running knee to Rosa as she hangs over the apron. Rosa is back up to hit Shida in the face and bend her back around the post.

Back in and the Thunder Driver is escaped and Shida pulls her into a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Rosa slips out of that and grabs a rocking horse to drive Shida’s head into the bottom buckle over and over. Back up and Shida counters a kick to the head into the Stretch Muffler but that’s reversed into a headscissors. Shida hits a jumping knee to the head but her back is banged up from earlier. Rosa hits some running knees in the corner and they head to the ramp.

A Death Valley Driver is escaped so Rosa goes to the top, only to get shoved to the apron. That’s fine with Rosa, who hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron instead. An armbar goes on but Shida gets her foot on the rope for the fast save. Shida sends her to the ramp and hits the Meteora to drop Rosa hard on the back of her head. Back in and Shida gets one off the Falcon Arrow but can’t get the Full Metal Muffler. A rollup doesn’t work either so it’s a hard backbreaker for two on Rosa. The running knee finishes Rosa at 16:43.

Rating: B. Match of the night so far and I’m not at all surprised. You had two very talented wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a long match. They weren’t going to have Shida lose to someone not signed to the promotion so the winner wasn’t in doubt, but they had a heck of a match on the way there. Good, hard hitting match match here which lived up to my expectations.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announce that they are getting married on Dynamite, but first, Sabian needs a handsome best man. This week, we’ll find out who his best man is.

We recap the Dark Order vs. the Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona. Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title and now it’s time for friends and family to fight for revenge.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona

It’s Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana/Evil Uno/Stu Grayson for the Order and the Nightmare Sisters are at ringside too. It’s a brawl to start before the bell until Lee knocks Dustin down to officially get things going. Uno comes in and gets taken into the corner by Dustin. It’s Uno getting caught in the corner for the big beatdown, including Cardona hitting a neckbreaker for two. Uno gets Marshall to chase him on the floor and the stomping is on back inside. Lee backdrops Marshall but Dustin comes in to stop Uno from using the wrist tape.

That just lets Uno choke anyway but Marshall manages a Lethal Combination. Marshall ducks a clothesline and that’s enough to bring in Cardona for the house cleaning. The middle rope dropkick hits Cabana and there’s a faceplant. Grayson and Uno low bridge Cardona to the floor as Cabana might have a broken nose. Now it’s Lee beating on Cardona in the corner, which again draws Dustin in for a failed save.

Lee chokes in the corner and shouts WHERE’S CODY over and over. Chasing the Dragon drops Cardona, allowing commentary to talk about Batman and Robin. Cardona slips out of the suplex and grabs the neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Dustin to clean house. There’s a Canadian Destroyer to Cabana and Sky comes in for the showdown with Lee. Cue Anna Jay to go after Sky but Brandi kicks her in the face.

As JR wishes Anna had a wardrobe malfunction (seriously), Sky hits a TKO for two on Uno. Radio Silence (the Rough Ryder) hits Grayson and Cardona nails a flip dive to the floor. Cardona charges into a powerbomb from Lee so Marshall hits his own flip dive. Back in and Grayson throws Marshall into a sitout powerbomb and Cabana adds a splash for two. The hot tag brings in Dustin though and it’s time for the slugout with Lee. That means a quick discus lariat to Dustin but Lee tags in Cabana for the pin. Cabana would rather go up top to miss a moonsault though, allowing Dustin to grab a rollup for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was long and that’s not the best thing for this kind of a match. I’m really not sure why we need the Order to lose here, unless they’re setting up Dustin as Lee’s first challenge. I know Dustin is old and related to Cody, but I’m not exactly interested in seeing Dustin vs. Lee in a big showdown. This felt more like something you would see on Dynamite and while it was fine enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Post match Lee freaks out and yells at Cabana before leaving in a huff. Uno shakes Cabana’s hand.

Dustin Rhodes is very excited over the win because he’s still doing this after five decades. As a bonus, he gets the TNT Title shot against Lee on Dynamite and is rather fired up as a result.

We recap FTR vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. FTR doesn’t like a thrown together team having the Tag Team Titles and Page seems more serious about drinking than wrestling. The Young Bucks have thrown him out of the Elite and say he’s going to get what he deserves.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

Omega/Page are defending and Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Omega and Wheeler start but Page (whose graphic says “I don’t care what the graphic says anymore”) wants in instead. Page slugs away to start but nearly hits Omega. The champs hit stereo big boots and Wheeler gets caught between some chops. Omega is finally willing to high five Page and it’s a snap suplex to drop Wheeler. It’s back to Omega for a springboard ax handle to the back and the Kitaro Crusher takes Wheeler down again.

Page hits a running shooting star to the back and it’s off to Harwood. That means a missed elbow but Page misses a boot in the corner. Harwood starts working on the leg as we hear that Matt Hardy is going to be ok. We hit the abdominal stretch until Omega is sent outside. Back in and Page gets to Omega for the tag so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee hits Harwood but Wheeler blocks the Snapdragon. Wheeler is dropkicked out of the air and Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and Harwood powerbombs Omega into a German suplex from Wheeler for two more. Omega strikes both of them down though and everything breaks down again. A shot to the face takes Wheeler down for two and Omega goes up, where he gets to shove Wheeler down again. Harwood crotches him on top though the PowerPlex gets two. The Goodnight Express is broken up so Harwood brainbusters Omega instead. Omega is right back up with the poisonrana to Harwood and the Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Wheeler.

The V Trigger hits Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the One Winged Angel. Back to back dragon screw legwhips take Omega down and it’s off to the reverse Figure Four. The hold is broken up and Harwood stays on the leg with a Cannonball. Page finally comes over to try and break things up but is sent back to the corner as Omega’s leg is wrapped around the post. Omega manages to get up and hits back to back snapdragons but kicks Harwood into Page for the double knockdown.

Page gets back up for the hot tag a few seconds later though and house is cleaned. Wheeler is knocked down and Page dives onto Harwood at ringside. The big flip dive from the top takes FTR down again for a breather at ringside. Back in and Page is sent into Harwood’s knee for two and it’s the double Swan Dive for two, with Omega making the save. Page is sent to the apron again and gets caught with a reverse powerbomb/running bulldog combination for the big knockdown.

Back in and Omega breaks up a double team something, with Harwood falling off the top and landing hard on the apron. The super fall away slam hits Wheeler for two but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Omega V Triggers Page by mistake and Harwood takes out Omega’s knee. The Mindbreaker gives Harwood a cocky two so they do it again for the pin and the titles at 28:38.

Rating: B+. This was quite the match and they did the big mistake spot between Omega and Page to keep the issues going. FTR had to win here as there was no reason to keep them away from the titles at this point. The big deal is going to be the Omega/Page issues though as the Elite story continues. Heck of a match, but this started to feel long at the end.

Post match FTR leaves and Omega grabs one of the ringside tables. He throws it down though and Page collapses. Omega looks disgusted but walks away anyway. We follow Omega to the back where he finds the Young Bucks but storms off anyway. Omega says he’s done and let’s go so they head to the parking lot. Matt can’t talk him out of it as Omega says we need a good cleaning around here. Omega tells them to get in the car now or never but they stay out and Omega leaves.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy. They have split the first two matches and now it is time for Mimosa Mayhem, where you can win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a big vat of mimosa.

Chris Jericho talks about how he has been dealing with Cassidy for fourteen weeks and has finally made Cassidy into a real main event draw. They have been through a lot and now it is time to beat him for good, by making him tap out and throwing him into the vat of champagne and orange juice.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into one of the vats of mimosa (on platforms of equal height to the ring). There are also no rope breaks. During the entrances, we hear more about Hardy, with Tony making it clear that Matt was cleared to continue by the doctor and everything was safe. Cassidy charges straight into the Codebreaker for two to start and Jericho sends him hard into the corner. They go over to one of the platforms with the vat and Jericho hits him in the head with a table.

Jericho gets knocked off to the floor though and Cassidy adds the big dive. They get back on the platform and tease knocking each other in before getting back to safer ground. Cassidy tries a hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the platform and then through the table. A kick to the face rocks Jericho and a champagne bucket to the head puts him back inside.

The triangle dropkick almost puts Cassidy in but he’s back with a sunset flip for two. Cassidy grabs a Michinoku Driver for two more and a Stundog Millionaire gets the same. Jericho is back with a counter into the Walls so it’s time to crawl towards the vat. Cassidy uses a pitcher to throw some mimosa into Jericho’s eyes for the break and the Orange Punch connects.

Jericho is thrown over the top and his foot goes in the vat (doesn’t count) so Cassidy hits a running penalty kick (Excalibur: “THE RUNNING PK!” Tony: “THE RUNNING PK!” JR: “THE RUNNING PK!”) and the tornado DDT for two. Cassidy gets planted again for two more but Jericho can’t lawn dart him into the vat. Splash Mountain into the vat is blocked so Cassidy Superman Punches him into the vat for the win at 15:01.

Rating: C+. It was as good of a match as you were going to get based around the idea of throwing someone into a pool of champagne and orange juice. Cassidy already got the big rub off of pinning Jericho on Dynamite so this was more the goofy win than anything else. If this helps turn Cassidy into a main event star then so be it, but I’m not sure how much more of an impact this is going to have. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more silly rather than some big, serious match.

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF is the whiny kid who gets whatever he wants but now he has to find a way to beat Moxley to become the World Champion. This has seen a big campaign by MJF to get the title shot, which was pretty quickly dropped to set up MJF being injured by the Paradigm Shift. Then a lawyer got involved and now the Paradigm Shift is banned. Moxley wants to shut MJF up for good and MJF wants the title.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Friedman is challenging and has Wardlow in his corner plus a big red robe to complete the look. The Paradigm Shift is banned as well and if Moxley uses it, he loses the title. Friedman headlocks him down to start but Moxley is up with a right hand. Moxley sends him outside and gives chase but MJF gets back inside. They do it again and this time Moxley tries a dive, only to have to land on his feet as MJF slides back in.

Moxley sends him to the floor again and this time fakes the dive to get in a stomp. There’s a suicide dive but Moxley has to stop and glare at Wardlow. MJF is sent through the barricade and now it’s time to bend the fingers back, sending MJF into a scream for the ref. Back in and Moxley grabs a sleeper but MJF flips back onto him for two. There’s a ribs first drop onto the top rope but Moxley gets thrown over the top so he can crash down onto his arm.

Wardlow throws him back in and MJF starts in on said arm, as he should. MJF whips him by the arm into the corner for two but Moxley sends him into the post, drawing a big old gash on MJF’s head. MJF is staggered so Moxley teases the Paradigm Shift before realizing that won’t work. The Gotch Style piledriver doesn’t work either because the arm gives out, meaning it’s a swinging Boss Man Slam on the floor instead. Back in and the Gotch Styles piledriver gets two as Moxley’s arm means he can’t hook the leg.

Moxley bites him in the corner as a receipt from Dynamite but MJF gets in a top rope stomp to the arm. They slug it out with Moxley’s arm giving out so he hits a big running clothesline for two instead. Moxley yells at him so MJF spits in Moxley’s face. That almost makes Moxley use the Paradigm Shift so he puts on the brakes, only to get pulled into the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara armbar). That’s broken up as well so MJF grabs the Heatseeker for two.

Moxley is back with the Air Raid Crash for his own two and they slug it out from their knees. MJF goes to the eye and tries a backslide for two so Moxley is back with the sleeper. The referee gets pulled in so MJF kicks him low for two more. MJF is bleeding even more as he grabs Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Wardlow has had it and gets on the apron to throw in the ring, but Moxley sees MJF pick it up. As the ref is with Wardlow, it’s the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: C+. It was good enough and the blood helped but this was a long main event at the end of a show that felt very long and it hurt things a lot. The ending wasn’t exactly the most creative either, but they did find a way to keep the title on Moxley and give MJF something else to complain about. I liked it well enough, but I would have liked MJF winning the title more.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s their weakest pay per view to date and, just like Dynamite, that makes it one of the more entertaining shows I can remember in a good while. There was nothing close to really bad on here and the big matches delivered. That being said, I was done with this with about an hour to go and it just kept going.

They needed to trim some time off of some stuff here (5-10 minutes off the Tag Team Title match and the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in its entirety would be good places to start) as it took away some of the impact that the bigger matches could have had. It was by no means bad or close to it, but it was a case where less would have equaled more.

Now as for the good stuff, the Tag Team Title match and Women’s Title match were both very good to great and the main event was good enough. The Hardy vs. Guevara match was more scary than anything else and I can’t imagine how much they had to cut out of that to make things work out. Cassidy got another rub here so they seem to have a plan in mind for him. There were a lot of positives here and more of them than negatives, but there was a bit too much of the whole show and it became an issue by the end. Still though, another good AEW pay per view as they remain perfect in that regard.

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

Young Bucks b. Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Jungle Boy

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara when Guevara could not answer the ten count

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rollup to Cabana

FTR b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Mindbreaker to Page

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Orange Punch into the mimosa

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

 

 

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

Dynamite
Date: August 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Jim Ross

It’s time for another big themed show with Super Wednesday, and in this case that means more Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho. This time around it’s in the form of a debate, with a special moderator. Other than that we have the World Title on the line as Jon Moxley defends against Darby Allin. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dark Order/Colt Cabana vs. Young Bucks/FTR/Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

They restart very fast with everyone already in the ring and Matt springboarding at Lee. 9 comes in and goes up top, only to be taken down by Nick again. FTR starts working on 9’s arm and it’s off to Omega to do the same as JR accuses Tony of staring at Anna Jay near commentary. The Kitaro Crusher hits 9 for two and Uno/Stu Grayson come in for the save and knock everyone off the apron. FTR come in for the save and it’s a triple suplex to put a lot of the Order down. We settle down to Uno kicking Omega in the face for two and it’s off to 5. Omega gets over to Harwood for the tag and 5 is beaten down in a hurry.

Wheeler comes in to nail a powerslam and it’s Harwood and Page coming in to try a triple Figure Four. That’s broken up and it’s Grayson coming back in, with Omega tossing him into a German suplex from Page. The Bucks double dropkick Grayson into a snapdragon from Omega and the quadruple teaming continues with a series of strikes to the chest into a wheelbarrow faceplant/cutter combination from the Bucks. The Demolition Decapitator hits 5 but Harwood comes up favoring his knee, which already has a big brace on it.

With everyone else checking on Harwood, Omega gets caught in the ring for the group beatdown until he hurricanranas his way out and brings in Matt. Lee’s big boot gets two as Harwood is taken out. Grayson tosses Matt to Uno for a sitout powerbomb as Page and Wheeler have left with Harwood. Cabana adds a splash for two and it’s already back to Uno, as Cabana doesn’t seem thrilled with working with the Dark Order. Omega gets knocked off the apron and it’s Matt getting beaten up in the corner even more.

Grayson misses a charge into the post and 5 charges into a boot in the corner. Matt is back up with a top rope flipping cutter but Uno pulls Nick off the apron and suplexes him on the floor. Since it’s Matt Jackson, he pops up and flip dives onto the ramp, then off the ramp onto two more masked guys, then hits a double clothesline on the other side of the ring. Page comes back out and gets the hot tag to start cleaning house all over the place. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up so Page drops 5 onto the apron.

A big moonsault takes out everyone but Lee, who stares down at Page instead. Back in and the slugout is on until Page gets low bridged to the floor. Lee hits his own big dive and the Order starts the fast tagging, setting up the Chicago Skyline from Cabana with Omega making the save. Omega gets taken down and Grayson hits a 450 on Page as Uno’s Cannonball hits Omega in the corner. The Bucks come back in for the series of superkicks and a double superkick into the snapdragon looks to set up the Buckshot lariat but the Order makes the save. Lee’s discus lariat finishes Page at 17:30.

Rating: B-. That was rather long and they packed in a lot, but they had a lot of the near falls that are required of every AEW match. There were a few times where a big move was hit and there was no reason to buy into it the cover because it wasn’t going to happen. The action was good though and Lee gets a win, which was rather needed after how far he has fallen in just a few months.

Earlier today, the Best Friends arrived in mom’s van.

Jon Moxley talks about dealing with a lot of things when he was younger. In the early part of his career, a lot of people told him not to do some things, like don’t fight that guy or don’t have that death match. In some cases that was good advice, but he did it anyway. He understands why Darby Allin challenged him for the title. The last time they wrestled, Moxley nearly broke his neck and he doesn’t want it on his resume that he ended Allin’s career. But when Allin signed that contract, he became like everyone else and he has to do what he has to do. So when it’s time to stay down, just stay down.

Santana/Ortiz vs. Best Friends

Chuck and Santana start things off and exchange some grapples until Chuck slips out of a hiptoss. Ortiz comes in and gets taken into the corner for the tag to Trent. A northern lights suplex gives Trent one and it’s already back to Chuck, who is knocked down before Trent even gets through the ropes. Chuck fights back in a hurry though and sends both of them to the floor, meaning it’s the Big Hug as we take a break.

Back with Trent in trouble and being sent outside for a ram into the apron. Chuck is sent over the barricade and Trent is whipped into another barricade to make it even worse. Trent is sent inside and his back is so banged up that he can barely stand. A double suplex gives Ortiz two but Trent slips out of another one and brings in Chuck to clean house.

The Samoan driver gets two on Santana and the Falcon Arrow gets the same on Ortiz. Trent comes back in and superplexes Ortiz but Santana pulls Chuck down and sends him into the barricade again. A rolling cutter plants Trent and a sitout powerbomb into a knee to the face gets two. The Street Sweeper is broken up but Chuck makes the save and Trent grabs a rollup to pin Ortiz at 13:39.

Rating: C+. I had to look at the ending a second time as Ortiz kicked out a split second after the three went down. The tag division continues to trade wins and while the matches can be entertaining, a lot of the teams don’t seem to be getting very far. Santana and Ortiz continue to be a heck of a team and as long as it’s more Trent than Chuck, the Best Friends are a lot easier to watch.

We go to MJF campaign headquarters where posters and buttons are being made. MJF, who skips over to a desk, freaks out over a poster not being level, even though a worker named Lee does not seem interested. Right now MJF is up in the polls over Jon Moxley by 100% to -88% because we deserve better. He already has the World Title match for All Out and he’s fine with facing Allin or Moxley. This is the best thing going in wrestling right now by a long shot.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He talks about coming to AEW and having all of his personas, but now the fans want to see him be himself. Matt wants to help people around here, like Private Party, but he also wanted to help Sammy Guevara. That didn’t work for him though as Sammy didn’t want his help, so Matt is ready to fight. Cue Sammy and the brawl is on, with Sammy being thrown into the chairs. Matt grabs a table but Sammy throws a chair at his head and sends him into the post (with a ding). Sammy puts the bloody Hardy on the table and hits a dive to drive him through it. Matt is covered in blood.

Santana and Ortiz bust up the van, which has a camera inside. They throw in some spray paint of Trent’s mom’s name and cross it out to complete a good destruction.

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Cody

Arn Anderson is here with Cody and Matt. Cody hits a very delayed vertical suplex on Silver to start and it’s off to Cardona for a running forearm. Silver kicks him in the face though and hands it off to Reynolds, who is taken down with a neckbreaker for two. It’s back to Cody, who is dropped down onto the apron to put him in trouble for a change. The Order unloads on him in the corner and some shots to the ribs keep Cody in more trouble.

We take a break and come back with Cody still in trouble as Silver puts on a waistlock to stay on the ribs. Cody gets up and snaps off the powerslam, allowing the hot tag to Matt. Everything breaks down and Matt gets kneed in the face, setting up a forearm into a German suplex into a jackknife rollup for two more. Cody comes back in and suplexes Silver out to the floor for a big crash. Back in and the Rough Ryder finishes Reynolds at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This was a match that existed and Cardona didn’t exactly look like anything more than he usually did in WWE. Beating the Dark Order doesn’t mean that much, but at least they got Cody and Cardona in there. I’m not sure if they are heading for a match against each other, but how interesting would that be in the first place?

Post match Cody goes to leave but runs into Scorpio Sky, who wants a TNT Title shot. Works for me.

Best Friends aren’t happy with what happened and say to leave Trent’s mom out of this. If they wanted a rematch all they had to do was ask, so they’ll gladly beat up Santana and Ortiz again. Then they will apologize to Trent’s mom, over speakerphone.

It’s time for the Jericho vs. Cassidy debate, with Eric Bischoff as the surprise moderator. Cassidy rolls into the ring and Jake Hager brings out the orange juiced jacket. There will be five questions and we’ll start with why they hate each other. Jericho yells about Cassidy not dressing up so Cassidy pulls out a clip on tie (ok that was funny). No one respects Cassidy and he plays pocket pool on a regular basis. Cassidy’s response: no comment.

Next question: who is the bigger star? Jericho: “Easy E, with all due respect, don’t be an idiot. I’m Chris Jericho!” Jericho lists off his resume and says the only accolade Cassidy has won is being the biggest slacker in high school. If Jericho went to the same high school, he would take Cassidy’s lunch money and steal his girlfriend. Jericho is in a $10,000 suit and looking like a million bucks while Cassidy is in an old jacket that smells like salami and batteries.

Cassidy still doesn’t talk so we move on to the third question: thoughts on rising global sea levels? Jericho says keep going but Cassidy gives a long, detailed explanation of how international cities and coastal cities are in danger if we do not reverse course immediately. Jericho’s stunned look is hilarious and we move on to question #4: why is Orange Cassidy so popular?

Jericho calls him a pimple on the wrestling business and next week he is being popped. After next week, Jericho is going to get his $7000 and send Cassidy back to being Jim the Jamba Juice boy at the mall, where Jericho is going to order a blueberry juice with pumpkin seeds and not leave Cassidy a tip. Final question: why does the rematch mean so much to both of them. Jericho starts but Cassidy tells him to shut up.

It was smart to try and embarrass Cassidy because he doesn’t care. He cares about next week though because it’s the biggest match of his life. It’s the biggest match of Jericho’s life too because he’s Chris Jericho man. He’s done all those things that people can Google later, but what if Jericho loses to the guy who puts his hands in his pockets. Cassidy wants him to look into the eyes of the man who is going to embarrass him and the man who is going to beat him. Cassidy: “That’s my answer.”

Bischoff names Cassidy the winner over the global warning answer. Jericho: “Bischoff, I haven’t liked you for twenty two years!” Bischoff: “It’s been twenty four and I know exactly how you feel.” Jericho sicks Hager on Cassidy and the beatdown is on. Hager puts Cassidy’s hands in his pockets and throws him into the Judas Effect.

Now THIS was better as Cassidy has been setting things up and now they paid it off in a big way. They made me want to see the match a lot more than I did coming in so well done on doing what they set up for so long. I had a very good time with this and Jericho’s face after the global warming question was great. Cassidy’s promo was very good too as it made perfect sense and was well delivered. Nice job all around.

Britt Baker picks Big Swole’s opponent for the night.

Reba vs. Big Swole

Reba starts fast and throws Swole down as we hear about Reba having an in-ring career but being a little rusty. Reba goes up, gets a little shaky, and comes back down to the middle rope for a missed moonsault. Dirty Dancing finishes Reba at 1:39. As it should have been.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin

Allin is challenging and has a Moxley cutoff mask with an eye cut out. Moxley gets in his face and gets slapped back, causing the beating to begin. Allin’s mouth is bleeding early on and there’s a hard slam into an elbow drop for two. They head up the ramp as Taz continues his hatred of Moxley. That’s cut off as Moxley throws him off the stage and face first into the post (DING!). The referee dives over to check out Allin and we take a break.

Back with Allin caught in an STF but flipping Moxley off anyway. Allin fights up and sends Moxley outside for the suicide dive and a bunch of right hands. Back up and Allin steps on Moxley’s hand on the post, setting up the big flip dive from the top of the post to the floor. A Code Red gives Allin two back inside but Moxley is back with a release German suplex to send Allin flying.

Cue Wardlow for a distraction though and MJF lays Moxley out with a title shot to the head. Wardlow finally leaves and the Coffin Drop gets two on the bloody Moxley. Allin dropkicks him into the corner and hits the flipping Stunner. Another Coffin Drop is countered into a rear naked choke though but Allin fights up again. That earns him a Gotch style piledriver for two, because AEW loves kickouts. Moxley is very frustrated and hits the Paradigm Shift to finally retain the title at 14:29.

Rating: B-. The storytelling was here throughout and while there wasn’t a ton of drama, what we got still worked out rather well. Moxley didn’t want to beat Allin up that badly but had to do it because they are that much alike. There wasn’t much doubt about Moxley vs. MJF coming up next though and that’s perfectly fine.

Moxley checks on Allin to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Better show than last week with that Cassidy bit being the highlight. The show was heavy with tag matches and that hurt things a bit to start, but the action was good and they set some things up for the future. It was a little step up over last week’s off show though, and that’s a great sign for AEW. They weren’t as sharp last week but there was no reason to think it was anything more than an off night. Not many places can say that and it’s nice to see here.

Results

Dark Order/Colt Cabana b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page/Young Bucks/FTR – Discus lariat to Page

Best Friends b. Santana/Ortiz – Victory roll to Ortiz

Cody/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rough Ryder to Reynolds

Big Swole b. Reba – Dirty Dancing

Jon Moxley b. Darby Allin – Paradigm Shift

 

 

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