Smackdown
Date: September 5, 2008
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tazz

It’s finally the last show before Unforgiven and that means we aren’t likely to be in for the most thrilling show. Other than the World Title situation, Undertaker is still mad at Vickie Guerrero, which means we could be in for a lot of more spooky stuff which leads nowhere. Hopefully we have something better than last week, which was dreadful. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Vickie Guerrero being scared of Undertaker, who is swearing vengeance. Vickie has begged for forgiveness but Undertaker doesn’t seem agreeable.

Opening sequence.

Here is HHH to get things going. He explains the concept of the Championship Scramble, which sounds like something you order at Denny’s at 3am. Now he’s never been great at math, but he has about a 15-20% chance of keeping his title but here is Shelton Benjamin to interrupt. Benjamin talks about what it is going to take to retain the title and he is the gold standard when it comes to talent.

We see a clip of Benjamin laying HHH out last week, though HHH points out that it came after HHH beat him. HHH calls him a good cheap shot artist and invites him to come try his luck face to face. Cue MVP to interrupt, saying he’s better than HHH, Benjamin and “the Charismatic Enigma” (MVP: “Whatever that means.”). MVP and Benjamin argue but HHH asks how long they’ve been in this company.

HHH says this is the week before a pay per view so he comes to the ring to talk about defending his title at the pay per view. HHH: “That’s called a promo.” He then explains what is supposed to happen: While he’s doing his “promo” (yes he does the finger quotes), these guys interrupt him and talk a bunch of trash that they know they can’t back up.

HHH then proceeds to insult them and their families or something like that, leading to them attempting to beat him up. Then he fights back, sending them running off to the back and we don’t see them the rest of the night. That’s a very simple formula but apparently it isn’t ringing a bell to them. HHH: “I swear to you, I am going to be champion for like the next century.”

Cue The Brian Kendrick, who gets decked, and Ezekiel Jackson, who offers a distraction so Kendrick can kick HHH down. MVP and Benjamin run in for the beatdown but Jeff Hardy runs in for the save. Jackson breaks up the Swanton but HHH is back up with a chair, which just annoys Jackson a bit. The slightly less serious promos continue around here and they continue to be father funny.

Bam Neely vs. R-Truth

Chavo Guerrero is here with Neely. R-Truth armdrags him to start but gets driven into the corner so Neely can hammer away. The neck crank doesn’t last long for Neely as R-Truth fights up and hits the jumping kick to the face. The spinning forearm and the top rope missile dropkick connect, setting up the ax kick for the fast pin on Neely.

Here is Undertaker (with Peacock cutting off his entrance) to say that he won’t forgive Vickie Guerrero. Instead he plans to kill her, put her in a coffin and light it on fire so she’ll be in H*** with her husband Edge. Then the lights go out and Undertaker disappears.

MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title. Before his entrance, Benjamin pops up on screen to talk about how precious gold is, but he is even more precious. Both of them seem freaked out over Undertaker vanishing and keep looking over their shoulder as they come to the ring. They go straight to the brawling, with MVP getting the better of the slugout on the mat. Benjamin knocks him to the floor though and MVP teases leaving, only to deck Benjamin for coming to get him. Back in and Benjamin jumps over him but MVP scores with a running big boot. Benjamin shrugs that off though and grabs Paydirt for the fast pin.

Rating: C+. Benjamin winning is fine and in this case it has a bit of a build towards the title match at Unforgiven. I like the idea of mixing things up a bit here, which you don’t get very often with heel vs. heel matches. It lets things feel a bit fresher, and that is something that is often welcome after seeing the same people rotated against each other.

Maryse insults Maria’s hand made gear, saying we don’t want a wardrobe malfunction tonight. Maryse’s gear is custom made and Maria might not have the curves to fit into them.

Maria vs. Maryse

Maria charges at her to start and the brawl is on, with the two of them heading outside. Maryse hits a clothesline to take over, followed by a backbreaker for two back inside. A catapult sends Maria throat first into the ropes and Maria flips over for a reverse chinlock. Back up and Maria snaps off a running headscissors but misses a high crossbody. The DDT gives Maryse the quick pin.

Post match Michelle McCool comes out to stare Maryse down.

The Brian Kendrick vs. Jeff Hardy

Ezekiel Jackson is here with Kendrick. Hardy starts fast by hammering him down in the corner but Kendrick gets in a kick to the back of the head. Kendrick grabs something close to a dragon sleeper, followed by another kick to the head for another two. The chinlock goes on for a bit before Hardy avoids a charge into the corner. Hardy hits the slingshot dropkick and hits a sitout gordbuster to plant Kendrick again. An Alley Oop gets two and they head outside, where Jackson gets in a cheap shot by sending Hardy into the barricade. Back in and the Kendrick gives Kendrick the pin.

Rating: B-. These guys worked well together and Kendrick’s rather surprising push continues. What matters the most is that he feels like enough of a wildcard that he has to be watched on Sunday. The more options there are to leave with the title the better and this helped Kendrick get closer to that spot.

Vickie Guerrero arrives and is livid at a wheelchair waiting on her, as she did NOT order it. Now get these cars out of her way! The cars are not in her way.

Super Crazy vs. Ryan Braddock

Crazy kicks him down to start and the fans seem to approve. Back up and Braddock hits a shot to the back of the head, only to charge into a boot in the corner. Crazy hits the moonsault for the fast pin.

Post match here is Vladimir Kozlov to drop Crazy and demand better competition. Cue the Big Show to mock his own lack of action lately, but he’s feeling a little competitive too. They’re both ready to go but here is Vickie Guerrero to tell Kozlov to get out. Vickie tells Show to get out as well, or face indefinite suspension.

With no one else in the ring, Vickie talks about Undertaker, saying she has lifted his suspension and even apologized. She will no longer be a victim because she has been through so much in her life. Therefore at Unforgiven, she will get what she wants: an apology from Undertaker. Without Edge or someone to fight for her, this is really not working.

Brie Bella vs. Victoria

Victoria starts fast and grinds her down with a headlock. That’s broken up and Bella pulls on both arms before sending Victoria outside. Victoria rams her into the apron and they go back inside, where Victoria sends her right back outside. Brie crawls underneath the ring again and is out the other side rather quickly, setting up the rollup to pin Victoria again. Must be grabbing a Gatorade or something under there.

WWE is at the Republican National Convention and want you to vote.

Raw Rebound, again all about Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels.

Unforgiven rundown.

HHH is asked about his matches tonight and on Sunday, with the question being about his greatest concern. HHH: “Right now, probably global warming or maybe the economy.” Anyway, he talks about looking your next challenger in the face and here’s Jeff Hardy. HHH isn’t sure if anyone can complete a thought without being interrupted. Hardy is sorry for interrupting the “promo” and calls himself HHH’s problem at Unforgiven. HHH says Hardy already has two strikes against him and there’s the old saying: three strikes and you’re out of the game. I think the saying actually goes “HHH doesn’t know how baseball works.”

HHH vs. Great Khali

Non-title lumberjack match, with the other people in the Scramble as lumberjacks. Khali hits an early clothesline to start and sends HHH outside, where the lumberjacks get in a stomping. We take a break and come back with Khali working on a nerve hold (you knew that was coming).

The elbows in the corner have HHH in more trouble as Tazz actually explains the idea of a lumberjack match. I actually love it when commentary does stuff like that, as it’s something longtime fans know, but what about someone who is watching for the first time? Take ten seconds and clear it up for them.

Anyway, HHH gets knocked outside where the villains jump him, with Hardy going over for the save. Hardy gets taken out and the chokebomb gives Khali two back inside. HHH actually goes up and hits a middle rope shoulder but the lumberjacks pull him outside for another beating. Hardy flip dives onto them for the big save, leaving HHH to hit the spinebuster. The Pedigree is blocked again though and Khali gets the vice grip, which is actually broken up. A headbutt staggers Khali and HHH hits the Pedigree for the pin.

Rating: C+. These two had an odd chemistry together and this worked well enough. The lumberjacks at least tied into everything else and HHH gets to slay a giant to look like he’s a bigger deal on the way to the title match. That’s all you need out of something like this and it was still better than the lame battle royals on Raw.

Post match Hardy goes in to help HHH up and then gives him the Twist Of Fate (fans are NOT sure what to make of that) to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This had some good enough parts, oddly enough with most of it coming from HHH. The Undertaker/Vickie Guerrero stuff continues to be the most “get this over with” story going, but the stuff with the World Title is holding up well. Most of the action was just ok, but I laughed a lot at the opening promo and the main event worked well enough. Now just nail it at Unforgiven.

 

 

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Collision
Date: June 26, 2025
Location: ShoWare Center, Kent, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re rapidly closing in on All In and this week features another Thursday show, which is a good way to go and I would love to see it become permanent. Other than that, FTR is going to be talking to the Outrunners after what happened last week. Hopefully we get to see something on top of that so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Tony Schiavone brings in the Outrunners and FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, for a face to face chat. Hathaway thinks FTR should be getting a Tag Team Title shot but they have to be dealing with this first. He is FLABBERGASTED at the Outrunners’ actions and Cash Wheeler is the same. They have done all kinds of things for the Outrunners but the second FTR starts looking out for themselves, everyone has a problem with it.

We see a video of the four of them working together before Dax Harwood talks about the Outrunners becoming a big deal. Then they got a title shot and what happened? The Outrunners embarrassed themselves and that’s when everyone started seeing them as a comedy act. Harwood yells at the fans for cheering for the Outrunners, who turned their backs on FTR. This little shtick might make them money, but it will never make them FTR money because the Outrunners aren’t that good.

FTR goes to leave but hold on though because Truth Magnum sees all of these Outrunners shirts and knows the people believe in them. The Outrunners believed in FTR and then they got dropped in a hurry. They want a fight but Hathaway says we’ll do it next week. I like the idea of tying up the loose end of their issues and history, though I’m not sure if this was worthy of the opening spot of the show.

Dynamite recap.

Patriarchy vs. Big Bill/Bryan Keith

Keith and Wayne start things off with Wayne backing away into the corner to start. They fight over hammerlocks with Wayne’s shot to the face making Keith smile. Cage comes in and gets to face Bill, which has Cage thinking twice about things. Bill shoves him face first into the mat so Wayne gets to try his luck instead. Everything breaks down and Bill and Keith clear the ring, with Keith hitting a big dive.

We take a break and come back with Cage chopping at Keith with the reverse layout DDT getting two. Keith gets in a shot of his own and Bill comes back in to wreck various people. The spinning Boss Man Slam hits Wayne and the Patriarchy is sent into each other. Hold on though as Bill goes outside to beat up Kip Sabian and Mother Wayne offers a distraction. Keith powerbombs Wayne but Mother Wayne offers a distraction, allowing Cage to make the save. Bill misses a charge into the post and Cage spears Keith down to break up another powerbomb. Wayne kicks Keith in the head for the pin at 12:45.

Rating: C+. The more I see of Keith and Bill, the more I like them, though they’re kind of directionless at the moment. At the same time, the Patriarchy going for the Tag Team Titles could be a spot on the way towards their split. That might be a long way off, and it’s not like the Hurt Syndicate has any other major challengers at the moment (no, Jet Speed are not major challengers).

Josh Alexander is ready to win the TNT Title.

Post break, Christian Cage praises Nick Wayne but they run into MVP. He thought it was a nice debut and their first step towards coming for the Tag Team Titles. MVP tells them not to do it, but Cage says never trust a criminal, especially one like MVP who got caught. MVP isn’t impressed and says good luck, because they’ll need it. That doesn’t sound great.

Brody King/Templario vs. Rocky Romero/Hechicero

Hechicero and Templario start things off with Templario taking him down. Back up and Hechicero hits a running knee in the corner and it’s off to King vs. Romero. King takes over and brawls out to the apron with Hechicero. That doesn’t last as King comes back in for a double clothesline and a backsplash as we take a break.

Back with Templario faceplanting Hechicero and bringing King back in to clean house. King’s cannonball gets two on Hechicero but what looks like a Hart Attack is broken up. Romero and King go to the floor and Templario wheelbarrow suplexes Hechicero for two. King comes back in to chop Templario down but he misses a charge into the corner. Everything breaks down and Templario takes Hechicero down with a dive to the floor. The Ganso Bomb gives King the pin on Romero at 10:14.

Rating: B-. It was a fun match, or at least as fun as something involving Romero can be. King and Templario teamed well enough for someone who were out there together for the first time, though it just makes me miss Buddy Matthews all the more. Hechicero continues to do some amazing stuff in the ring, but sticking him with the Don Callis Family isn’t helping things.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Toni Storm. Mone is ready to win while Storm responds with a silent movie…which Mone destroys. Mone’s boots have Storm’s picture on the bottom and she’s ready to take out Mina Shirakawa next week.

Toni Storm is ready to beat up Mercedes Mone but Mina Shirakawa promises to get revenge next week. Storm wants Shirakawa to save a piece for her.

Megan Bayne vs. Vertvixen

Penelope Ford is here with Bayne, who knocks Vertvixen into the corner for some shoulders to start. Vertvixen’s shot to the face just annoys Bayne and it’s a running clothesline into Fate’s Descent for the fast pin at 1:47.

Anthony Bowens is officially in the Casino Gauntlet qualifying match next week and he’s ready for a new strategy with Billy Gunn.

TNT Title: Josh Alexander vs. Adam Cole

Alexander is challenging and has Trent Beretta with him. Alexander goes for the leg to start but gets taken down into a hammerlock. That’s reversed into a front facelock before Alexander sends him into the buckle a few times. A fireman’s carry doesn’t work for Alexander as Cole grabs a neckbreaker (or cutter according to Tony) for a breather. Back up Alexander sends him to the apron for the running crossbody to the back as we take a break.

We come back with Cole hitting some running shots to the face, followed by a Backstabber for two. The Panama Sunrise is countered into a flapjack and Alexander fireman’s carries him on the middle rope, which is broken up with some elbows to the head. Now the Panama Sunrise connects for two but Alexander drops down before the Boom can launch. Alexander is back up with the ankle lock, which Cole breaks up rather quickly. A bridging German suplex drops Cole but Alexander’s neck gives out on the bridge. Cole is back up with the Boom to retain at 12:35.

Rating: B-. Cole and the Paragon vs. the Don Callis Family is a fine enough way to go and it gives Cole a string of opponents to come after the title. This was a good way to have Cole get a title defense, even if Alexander’s stock continues to drop. In theory the Family needs someone who is there to take a fall, though they seem to have that spot covered in droves already.

AR Fox confronts Ricochet in the back when the Gates Of Agony jump Fox. Ricochet approves.

Queen Aminata vs. Skye Blue

Julia Hart is here with Blue. They run the ropes to start and Hart grabs Aminata’s foot from the apron so Blue can take over. Aminata shrugs that off and hits a headbutt, only to be sent head first into the apron. Blue hammers away on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Aminata hitting a running boot in the corner.

A fisherman’s neckbreaker is broken up and Blue’s fall away slam gets two. Aminata is back with her hips to the face deal and knees Blue out to the floor. Ford offers a distraction though and Aminata gets sent into the steps, allowing Blue to hit a top rope dive. Back in and Code Blue is blocked, setting up Off With Her Head to give Aminata the win at 8:33.

Rating: C+. And Blue’s return continues to go pretty much nowhere, which is a shame as she was starting to take off before her injury. Aminata continues to be a perfectly fine hand in the ring, but they’re going to need to change something up with her before she feels important. The in-ring talent is there, but she’s been treated like a lower level star for a long time now.

Post match Hart and Aminata have a staredown but Thekla comes in for the beatdown on Aminata. Anna Jay and Tay Melo make the save. Cue Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford for the big staredown. Putting Thekla with the lower level of the division isn’t likely going to make her feel like a star in the slightest.

Daniel Garcia and Matt Menard are cut off by Rocky Romero, who says the Don Callis Family has no issues with Garcia. Romero suggests that Garcia’s friends are just trying to get what they can out of him. Garcia doesn’t seem convinced.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Kyle Fletcher vs. Kyle O’Reilly

They go to the mat to start with Fletcher rolling away for a standoff. Fans: “THIS IS KYLE!” O’Reilly knocks him to the floor but Fletcher is back in with a knockdown as the various Kyle chants continue. A cross armbreaker has Fletcher bailing over to the ropes and sending O’Reilly to the apron for a running knee.

We take a break and come back with Fletcher slamming him down a few times while holding onto the arm. O’Reilly pulls him into a triangle choke before they kick each other down for a double breather. Back up in and O’Reilly strikes him down before grabbing a guillotine choke. That’s broken up so O’Reilly kicks him away as we’re back to the KYLE chants. O’Reilly bends the leg around the ropes and adds a top rope knee drop to really rock Fletcher.

A top rope knee to Fletcher’s knee gets two and O’Reilly grabs some weird leglock. Fletcher escapes and gets outside, where he nails a loud superkick. O’Reilly is back up with a running dropkick off the apron into Fletcher in a chair. Cue Lance Archer to boot O’Reilly in the face though and a Michinoku Driver gives Fletcher two. A running knee into the brainbuster finishes for Fletcher at 13:31.

Rating: B. While it felt like a lot of this match existed for the sake of allowing the fans to do their KYLE chants, the match was a hard hitting, back and forth fight. Fletcher wasn’t going to lose to O’Reilly, but I’ll take Fletcher having to put in the effort to get there. Solid main event here, with Archer being there to help protect O’Reilly a bit.

Post match O’Reilly gets beaten down again but the Paragon and Daniel Garcia run in for the save.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty nice show this week, with the main event being the strongest part. As tends to be the case though, this show only felt so important, with most of the stories being on the lower side of things. That’s still stuff that needs to be addressed, but having two straight hours of it can be a bit tiring. I’ll take this for a special edition of the show though, with the title match and main event both being solid.

Results
Patriarchy b. Big Bill/Bryan Keith – Kick to Keith’s head
Brody King/Templario b. Rocky Romero/Hechicero – Ganso Bomb to Romero
Megan Bayne b. Vertvixen – Fate’s Descent
Adam Cole b. Josh Alexander – The Boom
Queen Aminata b. Skye Blue – Off With Her Head
Kyle Fletcher b. Kyle O’Reilly – Brainbuster

 

 

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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Smackdown
Date: August 29, 2008
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tazz

We’re just over a week away from Unforgiven and as you might have guessed, the big story here is the Championship Scramble. That’s the kind of match that can open up a lot of possibilities and hopefully some of those are teased this week. We could also use some other things to help fill out the card so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Undertaker to get things going, with La Familia watching in the back. Undertaker says Vickie Guerrero wants to be forgiven of her sins but he isn’t the forgiving kind. He will not forget what she did to him and is coming for her soul. Once he has taken it, she will burn.

In the back, La Familia leaves Vickie alone and she’s locked in her dressing room.

R-Truth talks about growing up the hard way and how you can never change your past. The truth is about building a better future every day and now he’s here full time and that’s the truth.

R-Truth vs. Kenny Dykstra

We get a promo from Dykstra, saying he should be getting the attention rather than a convict. Truth hits him in the face and gets two off a rollup but Dykstra drops him with a shot to the face. Back up and Dykstra blocks a suplex, setting up the double arm crank with a knee between the shoulders. That’s broken up and R-Truth hits the spinning forearm into the ax kick for the pin. Truth looked pretty good here, even in a short match.

Michelle McCool is doing a photo shoot when Maryse comes in to suggest she’ll be taking the Divas Title. McCool isn’t impressed and says Maryse will never have the title due to a lack of talent. Which one is the villain again?

Maria/Michelle McCool vs. Natalya/Maryse

Natalya grabs a headlock on McCool to start but gets Russian legsweeped down for two. Maria comes in and gets planted with a slam but avoids a legdrop. Natalya is right back up to bring Maryse in, with a DDT taking Maria out for the rather out of nowhere pin.

Post match the brawl is on between McCool and Maryse, with the two of them brawling to the floor, where Natalya helps Maryse take her out.

We recap Jeff Hardy vs. MVP. The two have been feuding for a few weeks now as Hardy wants to be WWE Champion while MVP doesn’t think much of Hardy’s lifestyle. This included bringing up Hardy’s house burning down, which was too far for Hardy. MVP then beat him at Summerslam, and now it’s time for a rematch.

Hardy calls MVP an obstacle on the way to being WWE Champion.

Vickie Guerrero is still stuck in her dressing room but finally realizes she has a phone….which doesn’t work and is thrown against the wall.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP

They take their time to start until Hardy pulls him down with a headlock. MVP knocks him to the apron but Hardy is back with a right hand that has a frustrated MVP walking around ringside. Back in and another headlock has MVP frustrated a bit more as Ross suggests Hardy’s offense is surprising him here (because Ross knows how to tell a story on commentary).

Some armdrags into an armbar keeps MVP in trouble but he fights up and stops a charge with an elbow to the face. MVP tries to go after the leg but gets kicked into the post, with Hardy wrapping the arm around it a few times for a bonus. Hardy sends him outside for a running flip dive off the apron and we take a break.

Back with MVP sending him into the corner to get out of another armbar and getting a needed breather. Hardy gets sent into the barricade and we hit the seated abdominal stretch. That’s broken up fairly quickly and Hardy hits the slingshot dropkick in the corner. The Swanton hits raised knees though and a missed dropkick lets MVP bend Hardy’s back around the post.

MVP kicks him down and grabs the camel clutch, sending Hardy over to the ropes. The double arm crank goes on again so Hardy fights back up, earning himself something like a belly to belly. Hardy tries to run the corner but gets knocked down for a nasty crash and two. MVP’s belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two, followed by the Whisper In The Wind. The Swanton finishes MVP off.

Rating: B. This turned into a fight as both guys were trying so hard to put the other away. Hardy getting the win is the right way to go to even the score and there is a good chance that they’ll run it back one more time. MVP is someone who can make anyone look better and Hardy is getting closer and closer to the top of the card in a hurry.

Post match Shelton Benjamin runs in to lay out Hardy…and them MVP as well.

Josh Matthews and Candice Michelle are still at the Democratic National Convention. Eh important enough.

Jesse & Festus vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Non-title. Festus clears the ring without much trouble to start…and here is the Big Show to jump Hawkins for the DQ in about a minute.

Post match Show wrecks everyone but the off mode Festus, Show says “hi” and promises to never be overlooked again. Last week he didn’t get a qualifying match for the Championship Scramble so he made a little oversight of his own like this one.

Vickie Guerrero is still trapped in her office.

Brie Bella vs. Victoria

This is Brie’s debut. Victoria takes her down with a headlock and isn’t having anything of a leg sweep. A rollup out of the corner gives Brie two and she grabs some flying mares. Back up and Victoria powers her into the corner, setting up a standing moonsault. Brie bails to the floor and climbs underneath the ring, where Victoria pulls her back out. They get inside again and the rather energized Brie gets a small package for the upset pin. Well that was a surprise.

Raw Rebound.

Brian Kendrick, reading a book, talks about how ridiculous it is to see two members of the Championship Scramble facing each other to prepare. Kendrick doesn’t see the point, which is why he is reading the Art Of War. Ezekiel Jackson on the other hand is enjoying something from Dr. Seuss, showing that he is the real genius.

Unforgiven rundown.

Shelton Benjamin talks about the importance of gold and he is the Gold Standard. Gah that really doesn’t work, especially with the golden hair.

HHH vs. Shelton Benjamin

Non-title. Benjamin wastes no time in snapping off some armdrags into an armbar and HHH is in early trouble. HHH fights up and takes over on the arm as well, allowing him to drive in some knees. Benjamin tries to get up and gets taken down by the arm again as HHH gets to stay on the arm. The threat of a Pedigree sends Benjamin bailing out to the floor and we take a break.

Back with HHH in trouble and Benjamin dropping him with a neckbreaker. A neck crank has HHH down again and Benjamin switches into a triangle choke. That’s reversed as well but Benjamin reverses a suplex into a neckbreaker, meaning it’s back to the neck crank as Benjamin certainly has a target.

HHH gets up again and avoids a Stinger Splash, setting up a hard clothesline. Benjamin goes up and dives into a powerslam, with HHH grabbing a DDT for two. Back up and Benjamin kicks him in the head for two but walks into a spinebuster. The facebuster connects but here is the Great Khali….who stands there as HHH hits the Pedigree for the win.

Rating: B-. This was a nice technical match with the ending making more sense than I would have expected. Khali showing up normally would make someone freeze but HHH finished the match off as fast as he could. That’s a good way to go and keeps HHH looking strong going into the title match. I could have gone without the US Champion taking a pin, but at least it was to someone higher up in the food chain.

Post match Benjamin hits HHH with the US Title and Khali gives HHH the chokebomb.

The lights go out in Vickie Guerrero’s locker room. She screams and the show ends. Yes, that’s all we got after this show long story.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was in a tough spot as the big title match is already set for the pay per view and there isn’t much that needs to be done. Thankfully the good action was there to help boost it up, but the only big thing all night was the Vickie Guerrero deal, which went absolutely nowhere. I liked the wrestling a good deal, but this was a show that was there because they needed to fill in a spot on the way to Unforgiven.

 

 

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Double Or Nothing 2025
Date: May 25, 2025
Location: Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

It’s time for another full fledged pay per view and that means the show is likely going to run long. In this case we have what is mostly a two match show and that could create some issues. The big matches here are Anarchy In The Arena, plus the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament final between Hangman Page and Will Ospreay. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Megan Bayne/Penelope Ford vs. Anna Jay/Harley Cameron

Bayne powers Cameron into the corner to start and faceplants her down, followed by a hair pull from Ford in the corner. It’s off to Ford for a slap to Cameron before Jay comes in for a running spinning kick in the corner. Cameron then sends Ford’s face into the back of Jay’s tights, which is enough to bring Ford back up for a fireman’s carry gutbuster. Jay is back up with a basement dropkick and a neckbreaker over the middle rope…wakes Ford up for a clothesline.

Bayne sends Jay flying with a t-bone suplex and Ford’s running dropkick to the back gets two. Some stomping and choking in the corner but Jay gets in a kick to the face, allowing a middle rope Blockbuster to connect. Cameron comes in to clean house and Bayne splashes Ford by mistake. A double DDT gives Cameron two but Bayne is back up to double German suplex both of them.

That’s not impressive enough so Bayne tosses Ford onto the two of them at ringside. Back in and a parade of knockdowns leaves everyone on the mat, allowing Bayne to go up top. A double superplex brings her down for a crash and a two but Bayne is back up for a double clothesline. A Doomsday Device is broken up though and Bayne goes outside with Jay, leaving Cameron to hit Her Finishing Move on Ford for the pin at 12:35.

Rating: C+. This was a match which could have been on any given episode of Dynamite and that means it is a great choice for a spot like this one. Sometimes you need to have a fun tag match, which is exactly what you got here. Cameron needed a win after some recent setbacks and Bayne was a monster, which is about as well as it could have gone.

Kickoff Show: Cru/RPG Vice vs. AR Fox/Bandido/Los Titantes del Aire

The villains jump them from behind to start and it’s Bandido getting caught in the corner for some running clotheslines. That’s broken up and we settle down to Romero getting taken into the wrong corner for a running shot to the face. Komander grabs a chinlock for a bit before Bandido comes back in for the delayed vertical suplex. That’s broken up and Cru double teams Bandido down so Los Titantes come in to knock them outside.

A double suplex onto the apron puts Komander in trouble but it’s back to Bandido for a top rope corkscrew crossbody. Fox comes in and cleans house with a cutter and slingshot hilo, setting up a suicide dive to the floor. Beretta drops Fox on the floor though and Rush forearms him down for two back inside. Fox is back up with a double top rope clothesline but a spike Strong Zero plants him for two.

Andretti clotheslines Fox back down but he’s right back up for the tag off to Hologram to clean house. Komander adds a running hurricanrana as everything breaks down again. A quadruple dive takes out the villains on the floor so they’re thrown back inside for a quadruple splash off the top for two. An assisted 21 Plex finishes Andretti at 13:18.

Rating: B-. Take a bunch of people, let them go nuts and do a bunch of high spots. I could have gone for the match being a bit shorter as these things tend to go better in short stretches, but it went well enough. I’m still not sure when Hologram is going to actually do something important, but that hasn’t stopped AEW with him for months now.

And now, the show proper.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament Finals: Mercedes Mone vs. Jamie Hayter

Non-title. They stare each other down to start and lock up, with Hayter powering her into the corner. Mone slips away and fires off some forearms, only to get knocked down for a quick two. Mone’s rollups get two each, sending them into a battle over leg cranks. Hayter finally pulls her into a half crab but Mone rolls out and hits the running knees against the ropes. Another running shot sends Hayter crashing out to the floor and it’s time to crank on some limbs back inside.

A Backstabber sets up a cross arm choke until Hayter powers up and drives her into the corner. The middle rope Meteora hits Hayter but she’s right back up with some right hands in the corner. Mone pulls her crashing down onto the buckle for two more and some running knees to the back make it even worse. Hayter is fine enough to snap off a suplex and a middle rope dropkick sends her into the corner. Some running knees rock Mone but she’s right back with the Three Amigos.

A Backstabber looks to set up the Mone Maker but Hayter superkicks her into a hard clothesline. They go to the floor and Hayter hits a step up clothesline off the steps (with a quick slip) and they’re back inside. Three straight Backstabbers set up the Mone Maker, which is broken up rather quickly. Something like a middle rope seated senton gives Mone two but Hayter pulls her into a rear naked choke.

That’s broken up and Mone pulls her into the Statement Maker. Mone tries to kick herself back to the middle of the ring but Hayter gets up and hits a backbreaker for two. Back up and a Tombstone gives Hayter two more (with a heck of a sell from Mone) and she loads up Hayterade but gets small packaged to give Mone the pin at 21:18.

Rating: B-. I liked it well enough, though it felt like they were getting a bit repetitive in there. Hayter managed to make it feel like she could pull it off once or twice here, which is a lot more than I was expecting off what felt like a layup coming in. Mone vs. Toni Storm (more than likely) is a dream match around here and this gets us ready on the long road to All In.

Commentary wishes Jim Ross good health in a nice moment.

We recap FTR vs. Daniel Garcia/Nigel McGuinness. FTR went full evil by attacking Cope and Tony Schiavone didn’t like it. This sent them after Schiavone, so McGuinness stood up for his broadcast partner. Garcia didn’t like it either so it’s time for a tag match, with McGuinness admitting that he and Garcia are likely in trouble.

FTR vs. Nigel McGuinness/Daniel Garcia

Stokely Hathaway is here with FTR while Matt Menard is with McGuinness/Garcia. Wheeler and Garcia lock it up to start before shoving away out of the corner. Garcia punches him down and Wheeler backs away, meaning it’s off to Harwood vs. McGuinness. Harwood chops and strikes away in the corner and then does it again in another corner to keep things level.

Everything breaks down and FTR is cleared out to the floor for a breather. Back in and McGuinness takes both of them down in the corner but they send him outside. Some rams into the apron and announcers’ table have McGuinness in trouble and they go back inside. Harwood gets a hard whip to send McGuinness into the buckle and lays down to mock him a bit, like most good villains should.

Wheeler goes outside to mock Schiavone and we hit the chinlock back inside. McGuinness fights up and manages a rebound lariat, which is enough for the diving tag to Garcia. Some clotheslines take FTR down and a belly to back suplex gets two on Harwood. Wheeler quickly breaks up the Sharpshooter and Harwood escapes the Tower Of London. Garcia helps McGuinness hit a Tower Of London in the middle of the ring and FTR gets caught in stereo holds. Hathaway offers a distraction to break that up and the fight heads to the floor, where Wheeler gets in a cheap shot.

Back in and Garcia hits his rolling superplexes on Harwood but Wheeler breaks them up. A spinning superplex into Wheeler’s top rope splash gets two, leaving Hathaway frustrated. FTR takes McGuinness outside for a Shatter Machine, which is enough for Schiavone to get up and seemingly beg for mercy. Garcia fights back inside until a piledriver is countered to give Harwood two. A spike piledriver gives Harwood two, followed by a Sharpshooter to keep Garcia in trouble. McGuinness is held back and Garcia passes out at 22:30.

Rating: C+. WAY too long here for a match that probably could have been cut in half without missing match. It didn’t help that it was a fairly random pairing against one of the best teams going today, as the result wasn’t exactly in doubt. I wasn’t feeling this one and the length was the biggest problem, as there was no need for this to break fifteen minutes, let alone twenty two.

We recap Mark Briscoe vs. Ricochet. They don’t like each other, Ricochet uses scissors, stretcher match. Totally logical sequence of steps there.

Mark Briscoe vs. Ricochet

Stretcher match, where you have to be put on n stretcher and into an ambulance, which would usually make it an ambulance match. Ricochet jumps him to start and takes things out to the floor, where Briscoe fires off some chops. Briscoe sends him into the ambulance and so Ricochet jumps out and SPRINTS to the ring in a funny bit.

Back at ringside and Briscoe rams him with the stretcher but it’s too early for a Bang Bang Elbow. Ricochet knocks him onto the stretcher but the shooting star press from the apron only hits stretcher. Now the Bang Bang Elbow can hit Ricochet and a chair to the ribs keeps him in trouble. A table is set up but Ricochet gets whipped into the barricade and it’s time to get….some cleaning products?

Briscoe of course polishes Ricochet’s head (that’s worthy of a chuckle), followed by a bucket to the (well polished) head. A tribute to Sabu takes too long though and Ricochet gets in a shot to the head to take over. Some cleaning products to the eyes cuts Briscoe off again and it’s time to take the padding off the stretcher.

The bloody Briscoe is carried back to the ambulance but he uses a crutch to block the door. A fire extinguisher blast blinds Ricochet and they go back to the ring, where Briscoe hits a Jay Driller. Now the table is set up for the Froggy Bow but Ricochet fights back. The scissors to the head staggers Briscoe but he gets the scissors and swings away. A low blow cuts him off though and Ricochet sends him into the ambulance to win at 16:03.

Rating: B. It was a bloody, violent fight and that made for a change of pace from what we’ve seen so far. I’m still not sure why this needed to be a stretcher match but it had some funny moments and Ricochet won in the end, as he should have. That’s all this needed to accomplish, and they did it with Briscoe bleeding a gusher.

We recap the Tag Team Title match. The Hurt Syndicate are the dominant champions and the Sons Of Texas have been the Ring Of Honor champions for several months due to reasons I have yet to begin to fathom. Now Dustin Rhodes wants a third title and Sammy Guevara is here too.

Tag Team Titles: Sons Of Texas vs. Hurt Syndicate

The Syndicate, with MVP and MJF, is defending (unlike the Sons Of Texas). Rhodes and Lashley start things off with the latter driving him into the corner a few times. Rhodes fights out and gets shouldered down so it’s off to Benjamin. Some right hands stagger Benjamin, who is right back with a German suplex. A running knee lift gets Rhodes over for the tag off to Guevara to clean some house.

Benjamin sends him flying with a German suplex as well and Lashley hits a heck of a spinning spinebuster. Guevara is sent outside for a cheap shot from MJF, which the fans don’t seem to like. Back in and something like a Dominator plants Guevara, who manages a quick cutter for a needed breather. Rhodes comes back in and slugs away, including a powerslam to Lashley.

The Canadian Destroyer drops Lashley and MJF’s accidental distraction lets Rhodes hit Benjamin with Shattered Dreams. Benjamin is back up with a quickly broken ankle lock and Rhodes hits a quick Cross Rhodes for two. Rhodes goes up and gets pulled back down so MJF offers Benjamin the ring. That’s not happening so MJF backs off, leaving Lashley to spear Guevara. Rhodes breaks up the pin so MJF goes after him, with Lashley breaking up a ring spot. A spear sends Rhodes through the barricade and Benjamin cuts off a dive attempt. Benjamin superkicks Guevara for the pin at 12:39.

Rating: C. The Sons Of Texas still aren’t interesting, they’re nothing special in the ring and thank goodness MJF didn’t accidentally (or on purpose) help them win the titles. I didn’t care when they became the #1 contenders and the match wasn’t anything more interesting. Thankfully the Hurt Syndicate beat them here, as I can’t take anymore of Rhodes holding titles for months at a time.

We recap the Continental Title match, which doesn’t have much of a story other than Mike Bailey asking for and receiving the shot.

Continental Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Mike Bailey

Okada is defending. They stare at each other for a bit before locking up and going to an early standoff. A fight over wrist control lets Okada slap him on the chest and they’re quickly on the floor. Bailey hits a crane kick and goes back inside for the bouncing kicks, only to get taken down with a dragon screw legwhip.

They’re quickly back on the floor for a DDT from Okada but Bailey dives back in to beat the count. Back in and Okada does the taunting kicks, followed by a far more serious running kick to the face. A baseball slide puts Bailey on the floor but he is right back up for his “avoid the dive and hit a moonsault” sequence. Back in and a missile dropkick connects, setting up the running shooting star press for two.

Okada shoves him off the top and hits the Air Raid Crash onto the knee. The falling top rope elbow hits Bailey and Okada gets in a middle finger. Bailey kicks him down and tries the shooting star press, which hits raised knees. They forearm it out until Bailey hits a superkick and goes up, only to get dropkicked out to the floor.

The fight heads to the apron, where Bailey hits the moonsault knees. Back in and the Ultimate Weapon misses and the tornado kick is dropkicked away. Bailey kicks him down again for two and ducks the Rainmaker, followed by another kick to drop Okada. It’s back up top, but this time Okada dropkicks him out of the air. The Rainmaker retains the title at 16:04.

Rating: B-. Bailey is one of those guys where you’re either going to like him a lot of not at all and I’m more in the latter category. He did well here, but I can only get so much out of all those kicks and the stupid little bowing deal. Okada was only a bit better here, but the bigger issue was they have all but said it’s Okada vs. Kenny Omega at All In, so this didn’t have the most drama.

We recap Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa. Storm is on the way to All In but wanted a title defense before she got there. Shirakawa returned and won a #1 contenders match, which had Storm excited.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa

Storm is defending and gets taken down for some early kicks to the leg. That’s reversed and Storm dances a bit before grabbing a headscissors. Shirakawa reverses into a dancing double stomp to the knees but Storm makes the ropes to escape. The leg is kicked out again and wrapped around the post but Storm is fine enough to hit a snap suplex on the floor.

Back in and Storm gets two off a fisherman’s suplex, only for Shirakawa to hit a springboard tornado DDT. A clothesline hits Storm and she bails to the floor, where Shirakawa beats up Luther. Shirakawa isn’t done and uses Luther as a launchpad to tag Storm out again. Back in again and Shirakawa grabs a Figure Four, with Storm turning over for the escape.

They trade strikes to the face and both fall down for a double breather. Storm snaps off some suplexes but the knee won’t let her do the running hip attack. Shirakawa is smart enough to go after the knee again but Storm makes the rope to escape another leglock. A reverse implant DDT gives Shirakawa two and the Figure Four goes on again. That’s broken up with another grab of the ropes and they trade small packages for two each. Then Storm grabs a quick Storm Zero for the pin to retain at 15:54.

Rating: B-. The ending was absolutely out of nowhere, but that kind of fit as Storm was only able to do so much with her bad leg. Much like the previous match, there was only so much drama here, as Shirakawa vs. Mone doesn’t feel like quite the same level of showdown. What we got here was good, which is more impressive as they were in a pretty tight spot.

Post match, respect is shown.

We recap Anarchy In The Arena. The Death Riders and the Young Bucks are the two evil groups so a bunch of good guys (and Willow Nightingale) are fighting back. Therefore, it’s time for anything to go in a wild brawl.

Young Bucks/Death Riders vs. Opps/Swerve Strickland/Kenny Omega/Willow Nightingale

Anarchy In The Arena so anything goes. Swerve has some special gear which might be the Predator, while Omega is Captain America…and there is no Joe. The Death Riders come in from a bunch of different entrances and the Bucks get another big entrance about how great they are because this joke is still a thing. They’re the founding fathers and have their own patriotic sounding music, which plays for a bit as the brawl starts.

Joe pops up in the crowd to brawl with Castagnoli and we go to a quadruple screen for the four brawls. We settle down to a bunch of people in the ring and Omega asks for some new music, which is….I’m So Excited. The villains get pummeled in the corners and we cut to Joe beating up Castagnoli at a merchandise stand. Back in the ring and Omega says that doesn’t fit so we’ll play some Bodies by Drowning Pool, which is a better fit for this kind of thing.

Omega even leads some fans in a singalong as the fight heads into the crowd. Moxley forks Hobbs’ head and Yuta cuts off Omega’s dive from a balcony. Instead Yuta is tossed onto the pile and then Omega follows with a moonsault. Joe uses the Captain America shield trashcan lid to beat on Castagnoli at ringside before Moxley brings Hobbs into the ring. Moxley takes him down in the corner and grabs a table, with Hobbs spearing him through it (you knew that was coming).

Matt is pulled in for You Can’t Escape from Omega as Shafir and Nightingale have brawled outside. Back inside and Shibata puts Yuta in a laundry cart and rams him into a wall. A barbed wire kick has Yuta in more trouble and we cut back to Swerve and Omega beating up the Bucks. Castagnoli uppercuts Swerve out of the air though and swings him into a speaker (cutting off the music).

The women are back now and Shafir hits Nightingale with a frying pan. The Bucks are back up to send Omega through a table at ringside as Nightingale’s ear has been chained to the post. A bunch of people go back towards the entrance and Nick Swantons through Hobbs on a table. Hobbs fights up but gets kneed back down, followed by a chair to the head. Hold on though as here is Swerve on a forklift to Swerve Stomp onto the Bucks and Moxley.

Hobbs snaps off some spinebusters inside as Nightingale is finally unlocked. Joe and Moxley grab a choke each, as do Shibata and Shafir. Swerve and Matt break those up with 450s and Matt grabs a staple gun. Hobbs isn’t having any of that, including one to his head and Swerve has his own staple gun. A low blow cuts Matt off but Shafir hits Swerve low and his tongue gets stapled. Omega fires off some snapdragons, including one to Shafir (who spat on him).

The Bucks are back up with superkicks, including a double to the referee. Nightingale is back up for the Tombstone half of a Meltzer Driver to Matt for two. Joe plants Moxley out of the corner and Hook is back to go after Castagnoli. The MuscleBuster into the Koquina Clutch has Moxley in trouble but Gabe Kidd is here to break it up. Kidd piledrives Omega and Yuta puts thumbtacks into Omega’s mouth for an EVP Trigger.

Joe breaks up a bulldog choke from Moxley and they go up to the entrance, where Mark Briscoe is back to take out Kidd. The Death Riders are put in the ambulance, leaving the Bucks alone with Omega and Swerve. The Bucks are dropped in a hurry and Prince Nana brings in the special shoes, with Omega One Winged Angeling Matt through an exploding table. A Swerve Stomp with tacks on his shoes gives Swerve the pin on Nick at 35:11.

Rating: B+. This is one of the perfect examples of a match where your individual tastes are going to make all of the difference. If you like this kind of stuff, you’ll have a great time but if you don’t like this style, this was a huge waste of time. I had a good time with it, partially because while they had some barbed wire and tacks, it was far from the dominant feature. This was about people beating each other up until the ending and I had a fun time, which is all you can get in this thing.

We recap Paragon vs. the Don Callis Family. Neither had anything to do on the show so they’re having a match.

Paragon vs. Don Callis Family

Lance Archer and Don Callis are here with the Family. Cole and Takeshita trade arm cranking to start with Takeshita backing him into the corner. O’Reilly comes in to work on the arm as well before it’s off to Fletcher, who gets struck in the corner. That’s broken up and Alexander comes in to send Strong to the apron for the running crossbody to the back. Even Callis gets in a shot of his own but Strong is able to Angle Slam Takeshita. Alexander is right back to cut off the tag…for all of a few seconds as Strong dives over to bring Cole in.

House is quickly cleaned and it’s back to O’Reilly to go after Alexander’s arm. That doesn’t work so they clothesline each other for a double down. Takeshita is back in with a superbomb for two on Strong but he’s right back up with a running dropkick off the apron. Back in and we get a rapid string of strikes until O’Reilly’s guillotine is broken up. Fletcher grabs the brainbuster for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: B-. Oh man they were stuck in a rough spot here and it showed badly. There is just no way to follow that previous match and the lack of a big story other than “neither of us have anything else to do” didn’t help. They were all working hard and trying, but a six man tag after that wild thirty five minute war beforehand is not going to be easy.

Post match (because we needed a post match as it’s almost midnight with the main event to go) the Family jumps Paragon again but Brody King, Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi make the save.

We recap the main event. Hangman Page and Will Ospreay both want to be World Champion and they’re in the finals of the Owen Hart Tournament for the All In World Title shot. Ospreay wants to win because he wants to be the best, while Page wants to prove that he can still do it and that his first reign wasn’t a fluke.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament Finals: Hangman Page vs. Will Ospreay

Ospreay easily wrestles him to the mat to start so Page grabs a headlock. Back up and Page hits a running shoulder, with Ospreay nipping right back up as he is known to do. Page backs him into the corner and they trade legsweeps for two each, giving us a staredown. The Oscutter is blocked and Page backdrops him before avoiding a quick Hidden Blade attempt. That means another standoff as they definitely seem to have a lot of time here.

A running hurricanrana sets up a corkscrew moonsault to give Ospreay an early two. Page knocks him out of the corner but gets caught with a quick Phenomenal Forearm. Ospreay’s slingshot dive is pulled out of the air though and a fall away slam sends Ospreay into the barricade. Back in and Page hits a corner clothesline into a German suplex for two, with Taz being right there to explain the science behind the throw.

Page’s chinlock doesn’t last long so he kicks Ospreay, which just fires him up. A Stundog Millionaire into a rolling kick sends Page to the floor and now the dive connects. Back in and Ospreay’s spinning torture rack bomb gets two but Page breaks up a dive off the top. Page hits a big moonsault to the floor, followed by a Sharpshooter back inside. The rope gets Ospreay out of trouble and Page’s chops just wake him up.

A kick to the face rocks Page, who hits a clothesline and they’re both down. They go to the corner for a Cheeky Nandos Kick to Page but he’s back with a flipping lariat. Ospreay breaks up the Buckshot Lariat though and hits a knee to the head for two. Page is back up with a Tombstone and Angel’s Wings for two but misses a Best Moonsault Ever. Instead Ospreay is back up with a Hidden Blade and they stagger out to the apron.

Ospreay powerbombs him onto the apron and hits a Styles Clash to the floor. Naturally Page is able to dive back in and beat the count, setting up an Oscutter for two. Another Hidden Blade gets two more and a frustrated Ospreay hammers away. A big boot knocks Page to the floor so Ospreay rams him face first into the announcers’ table. They get onto the table and load up…something that they don’t get to do as the table breaks.

Page gets the better of things and, after a staredown, hits a Buckshot Lariat for two. Ospreay is right back with a Stormbreaker but misses the Hidden Blade to leave them both down. Back up and Ospreay hits a V Trigger and something close to a One Winged Angel gets two. Ospreay can’t hit another Stormbreaker and Page hits a quick clothesline, setting up the Buckshot Lariat to finish Ospreay at 37:02.

Rating: A. This match had one of the best possible things going for it, as I had no idea who was going to win here. You could have gone either way and while I had guessed Ospreay, Page is the hotter hand right now and it makes for a better story. Other than that though, this was an outstanding story with the high flying Ospreay being far more athletic and skilled but Page going with more of his brawling and heart. I wanted to see where this was going and it was excellent stuff throughout as they more than lived up to the huge hype. Check this one out if you get the chance as it’s an instant classic.

Post match Page celebrates but comes back to check on Ospreay. A handshake ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. It’s too long. I know that’s not the most positive way to start a final thought but that was the biggest issue here and I was worried about it coming in. Counting the Kickoff Show (and if there are matches taking place, it sure does count), this ran about six hours. I get the idea of “giving them their money’s worth” and all that jazz, but my goodness man, stop having every match go so long. Garcia/McGuinness vs. FTR going 22 minutes? Everything getting at least 12 minutes? Come on already. I was sick of watching this show about halfway through and then it kept going. Quality aside, that isn’t a good thing.

Now with all of that out of the way, this was a rather good show, with the main event being outstanding and Anarchy In The Arena being a lot of fun (though I can get mileage varying). They covered a lot of stuff here and nothing was bad, but I’m not sure how much some of it needed to be on the card.

For a show that felt at least partially like a preview for All In, this show was more than worth a look. Just trim a good number of the matches down by a few minutes (if not moving them to TV) and it’s that much better. It’s a two match show and those matches were both good to great, which is more than enough to carry a perfectly acceptable undercard. Now it’s off to All In, and thankfully they’re off to a positive start.

Results
Anna Jay/Harley Cameron b. Megan Bayne/Penelope Ford – Her Finishing Move to Ford
Los Titantes del Aire/Bandido/AR Fox b. Cru/RPG Vice – 21 Plex to Andretti
Mercedes Mone b. Jamie Hayter – Small package
FTR b. Daniel Garcia/Nigel McGuinness – Sharpshooter to Garcia
Ricochet b. Mark Briscoe when Ricochet put Briscoe in the ambulance
Hurt Syndicate b. Sons Of Texas – Superkick to Guevara
Kazuchika Okada b. Mike Bailey – Rainmaker
Toni Storm b. Mina Shirakawa – Storm Zero
Kenny Omega/Swerve Strickland/Opps/Willow Nightingale b. Young Bucks/Death Riders – Swerve Stomp to Nick
Don Callis Family b. Paragon – Brainbuster to O’Reilly
Hangman Page b. Will Ospreay – Buckshot Lariat

 

 

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

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Dynamite
Date: May 14, 2025
Location: NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Taz, Excalibur

It’s Beach Break and that means it is time for the World Title to be in tone line. Jon Moxley is going to be defending the title inside of a steel cage against Samoa Joe, which has the potential to be a heck of a fight. Other than that, we don’t have much time left before Double Or Nothing and it’s time to build up the card. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Will Ospreay/Hangman Page vs. Don Callis Family,

They’re so excited about the opener that the entrances go to the split screen which is usually saved for commercials. Ospreay and Takeshita trade legsweeps for two each to start and it’s quickly off to Alexander. A middle rope dive misses for Ospreay and Alexander catches him with a flapjack to take over. Page gets drawn in so Alexander can choke on the ropes. That doesn’t last long as Ospreay gets up and hands it off to Page, who moonsaults off the apron onto Alexander.

Back in and a Death Valley Driver gets two on Takeshita, followed by a pop up sitout powerbomb for the same. Ospreay comes back in for a basement lariat into a standing shooting star press for two. Alexander is right back with a knockdown to the apron, setting up the running crossbody to the back.

We take a break and come back with Alexander grabbing a northern lights suplex for two on Page. Alexander pulls him into an ankle lock, which is broken up for the tag off to Ospreay to clean house. Page is back in to run Takeshita over, followed by back to back top rope dives to take the Family down again. Back in and Ospreay’s handspring is countered into a spinning torture rack bomb.

Takeshita gets a kind of weird Blue Thunder Bomb for two and it’s Page coming back in, with Alexander giving him a German suplex. Alexander rolls some German suplexes on Ospreay but he’s right back up with the Oscutter. Another one takes Alexander down for two but Page tags himself in, only to almost hit the Buckshot Lariat on Ospreay. Page and Ospreay get in an argument and the Hidden Blade almost hits Page. With the issues out of the way, the Buckshot Lariat and the Hidden Blade hit Alexander at the same time for the pin at 18:33.

Rating: B. This was the long form tag match that AEW tends to do well, especially with Ospreay and Page’s issues being advanced on the way to Double Or Nothing. That’s a nice way to go, as Page and Ospreay could go either way when we get there and they set things up here. Good opener here, with the four of them all working hard and getting a lot of time.

Post match Takeshita jumps both of them and the fight is on again wish Ospreay fighting back. Ospreay accidentally hits Page and immediately tries to calm things down, which doesn’t exactly work. Both leave in a huff. More logical and effective stuff here.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Samoa Joe.

Top Flight and Leila Grey are sick of MJF and are ready to face the Hurt Syndicate tonight. The Sons Of Texas come in with Dustin Rhodes talking about how good Top Flight is. Oh and Sammy Guevara is there too.

Ricochet vs. Zack Gowen

Yes that Gowen and yes Ricochet has stolen his prosthetic leg. Gowen drops to the mat to start and Ricochet is already bailing to the floor. A boot through the ropes takes Ricochet down but he drops Gowen onto the barricade. We take a break and come back with Ricochet crotching himself on the ropes. He’s fine enough to counter a tornado DDT though and a springboard 450 crushes Gowen.

A shooting star press gives Ricochet two more and Vertigo connects for the same. The scissors are brought in but the referee takes it away, allowing Gowen to get in the prosthetic leg shot for two. The moonsault misses though and the Spirit Gun finishes for Ricochet at 7:22.

Rating: C. Naturally the first thing I thought of here was the episode of the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air when Ashley’s date wants to blow in her ear. Ashley gives a very confused response of “Why?” and the date realizes he has no idea why he’s asking about it other than he was told to. It’s the same thing here: why in the world is Zack Gowen wrestling in this spot in 2025? Ricochet stealing Gowen’s leg was a fine heel spot but putting him in the ring on Dynamite? Why?

Post match Ricochet gives him another Spirit Gun but Mark Briscoe makes the save.

MJF wants to be back on the top of the company and everyone knows he likes to work hard. That involves joining the Hurt Syndicate and he’ll make it happen. He’s asked about what happens if the team says no and it seems to make him think. The Hurt Syndicate comes in to say join them in the ring. MJF looks shaken, which you don’t see happen very often.

Hurt Syndicate vs. Top Flight

Non-title and MVP and Leila Grey are both here too. Top Flight starts fast but Lashley pulls Dante’s dive out of the air. Darius adds a dive of his own to break that up but Benjamin sends Darius flying with a suplex back inside. Lashley plants Darius on the apron and drops him with a neckbreaker, setting up Benjamin’s release German suplex. Dante tries a springboard to make the save but gets kneed out to the floor. The spear crushes Dante and the Hurt Lock finishes him off at 4:26.

Rating: C-. So Top Flight is leaving right? This was a total destruction that you do not see very often with actual established names. Top Flight got in pretty much nothing here and were completely decimated. And for what exactly? The sake of clearing the way for DUSTIN RHODES getting another big spot?

Post match the Sons Of Texas come out to say cut it out. The challenge is on but here is Cru to interrupt. They want the title match as well but Rhodes says not so fast. MVP calls it off and says make it a #1 contenders match instead. I have no idea why I would want to see that.

Post break and the Hurt Syndicate is still in the ring with MVP calling out MJF. There’s no MJF so Benjamin goes to the back to find him, with MJF hiding at the Gorilla Position. A rather scared looking MJF comes to the ring and it’s time for the official voting. MVP and Benjamin give him the thumbs up and that leaves Lashley. With his arm around MJF, Lashley teases the thumb going down and then puts it up, with MJF officially joining the team. Next week, the official contract signing. That’s a big surprise and I’m curious about the next step. I’d call that a good sign.

Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa vs. AZM vs. Skye Blue

Non-title Eliminator match and this is Blue’s first match in a very long time after breaking her ankle. We see a clip of AZM winning the NJPW Women’s Strong Openweight Title from Mercedes Mone (albeit in a triple threat with Mone not factoring into the decision). It’s a brawl to start with Storm and Blue fighting to the floor. Shirakawa and AZM trade rollups for two each, with Shirakawa’s dance being cut off.

The pairings trade places and Blue hits a springboard tornado DDT to drop Storm. Back up and Shirakawa and Storm have a staredown, which quickly breaks down into an exchange of forearms. AZM comes in as Shirakawa ties up Storm’s legs, only to suplex AZM at the same time. Storm makes it to the ropes to break the Figure Four and goes outside, with Shirakawa taking her out with a dive. AZM hits a dive of her own and Blue takes all three of them out with her own dive.

We take a break and come back the four of them fighting in the ring until Storm and AZM are dropped. That’s broken up as well and Storm hits a series of running hip attacks in the corner. Shirakawa kicks Blue in the head but gets suplexed by Storm. The chokebomb plants Blue but she’s fine enough to come back with Code Blue. AZM comes off the top for the save and plants Blue for two. Storm Zero gets two on AZM, only for Shirakawa to small package Storm for the pin at 12:12.

Rating: B-. Good, action packed match here, though I have no idea why Blue was brought back in her hometown and put in the middle of a four way match where pretty much anyone could have been in the spot. Shirakawa is at least someone the fans know and who has a bit of a history around here so making her the next #1 contender is a good enough way to go.

Post match the title match is set for Double Or Nothing and arguing ensues. Cue Mercedes Mone to jump AZM from behind and put her in the Bank Statement. Jamie Hayter makes the save. Let me guess: Mone gets a chance to win her title back on Dynamite or Collision against someone who has pretty much no history around here but Mone wants to do it so here we are.

Commentary pays tribute to Sabu, with Taz breaking down in tears.

MJF can’t believe he’s part of the team and MVP is pleased…but MJF calls in his lawyer Mark Sterling to check out the contract. MVP doesn’t seem pleased.

Here is Nigel McGuinness to address the FTR situation. After apologizing to Tony Schiavone (in the ring with him), he asks Daniel Garcia to come out for an apology as well. McGuinness immediately apologizes to Garcia for costing him the chance to win a match and promises it won’t happen again. Garcia says McGuinness did exactly what he should have done and he wants McGuinness to join him for a fight.

Cue Stokely Hathaway to interrupt and ask what is McGuinness’ problem. McGuinness didn’t like someone getting physical with him but Hathaway doesn’t accept. He issues the challenge to a match with FTR, but McGuinness keeps it simple: he and Garcia barely know each other and FTR are a great team so it wouldn’t be close.

Garcia doesn’t care and says he’s overcome the odds for his entire career and wants McGuinness to take the mat. Hathaway taunts McGuinness, saying he can’t beat FTR when he barely beat hepatitis. That makes McGuinness get way more serious but here is FTR from underneath the ring to jump the good guys. Matt Menard makes the save with a crowbar. That’s an interesting way to go and I kind of love McGuinness being realistic about the whole thing.

Here’s what’s coming on Collision.

The cage is lowered (and it comes down fast).

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is challenging in a cage. They go with the grappling to start and go nowhere so it’s time to slug it out. Joe sends him into the cage before it’s off to the chopping. A running knee in the corner rocks Moxley and a big elbow gets two. Moxley starts going after the leg to take over, meaning it’s time for some cranking. A Figure Four has Joe in more trouble for a bit, only for Moxley to get back up for a big boot.

We take a break and come back with the Death Riders at ringside. Moxley and Joe are busted open as they slug it out as the Opps are here too. Joe wins the slugout and hits some atomic drops into the big boot and backsplash for two. The powerbomb into the STF into the crossface has Moxley in trouble but he makes the rope. For a break. In a cage match.

Back up and Moxley’s clotheslines rock Joe, setting up a cutter for two. A cross armbreaker is blocked so Moxley goes with the bulldog choke. That’s broken up as well and Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch, meaning it’s time for everyone on the floor to brawl. Joe lets go of the Clutch though and a guy in a black hoodie slides in the briefcase so Moxley can knock Joe out to retain at 14:57.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a bad match at all, but it felt like a countdown to whatever way there was for Moxley to escape with the title again. In this case it was someone else interfering to take Joe out, possibly giving him a new opponent. Hopefully Moxley loses the thing at All In, but at this point I’m not getting my hopes up.

And it’s Gabe Kidd from New Japan. The cage is raised and everyone else gets in a big brawl on the floor. Cue the Young Bucks to offer a handshake to Moxley but cue Kenny Omega to go after the Death Riders. Kazuchika Okada takes Omega out and throws him inside as the cage is lowered again. Mike Bailey comes out and brawls to the back with Okada but the big beatdown is on.

Swerve Strickland comes in and climbs the cage to dive onto the villains. The cage is raised so the Death Riders and company leave. Strickland issues the challenge for Anarchy In The Arena at Double Or Nothing. That’s a tradition for the show and it lets Moxley keep the title until he gets to a new challenger at All In.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show where the bigger parts worked well but there was a stretch that really didn’t work so well. It did a nice job of getting things ready for Double Or Nothing so we’ll call those segments a success. I’m not sure if this really felt like a special, though the main event did feel big. It’s just time to get beyond the Death Riders stuff though, as it stopped being interesting a long, long time ago.

Results
Will Ospreay/Hangman Page b. Don Callis Family – Buckshot Lariat/Hidden Blade to Alexander
Ricochet b. Zack Gowen – Spirit Gun
Hurt Syndicate b. Top Flight – Hurt Lock to Dante
Mina Shirakawa b. AZM, Skye Blue and Toni Storm – Small package to Storm
Jon Moxley b. Samoa Joe – Briefcase to the face

 

 

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

 

Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 25,675
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha

This is somewhere in between a Performance Center Wrestlemania and the regular version, as the show is taking place in front of a limited capacity audience. That alone is worth a look and now it is time for a Wrestlemania style show. The main event for the first night is Bianca Belair challenging Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

No Kickoff Show matches (on either night) this year, which is a little weird to see.

The huge pirate ship set looks awesome, as WWE knows how to use what is available to them.

Here is Vince McMahon, with the roster behind him on the stage, to talk about how bad things have been over the last year. As we emerge from this pandemic, WWE would like to thank the fans for sticking with them and WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA! Very nice and you know it’s a big moment when the boss is out there for something like this.

Bebe Rexha, with a guitar player, singe America the Beautiful.

The opening video talks about how the WWE Universe has waited a long time to get back here, and now they are back for the spectacle and the passion. Wrestlemania is back in business (there’s a tagline for you). Tonight we will see an event that is bigger than the history of history.

That line is so bad that the voiceover from last year (with a bad Jack Sparrow impression) takes over to say this is a continuation from last year with wrestlers fighting for immortality. Now let’s drop some realness (as the kids say, because apparently kids say that), because tonight we continue a decades old spectacle.

That sets up the Wrestlemania highlight package, but first we need to thank the fans, including those in a commemorative chair or watching tonight on Peacock. The course has been corrected and this can’t be stopped. Sparrow voiceover: “Now how’s that for a cold open?” The original voiceover wants a big finish though so how about this: WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA!

Commentary welcomes us to the show….which is being delayed due to a weather delay, because of course it is. The fans bust out the ponchos and start heading for the concourses as this is quite the change of plans. With nothing else going on, commentary talks about Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley getting to start the show but since we have some time to fill, we’re going to get some special interviewers backstage.

Shane McMahon talks about how he hasn’t been bullying Braun Strowman and is ready to take him out tonight. MVP and Bobby Lashley interrupt to say that tonight will be the crowning moment of the Almighty Era. Drew McIntyre only understands violence and tonight, Lashley is going to give him that. McIntyre pops in and says Mother Nature can’t save Lashley so let’s do it back here.

MVP and Lashley are taken out and McIntyre talks about how he is trying to keep his emotions together and won’t lose it last year. Last year they were at the Performance Center and he won the WWE Title, lost it for three weeks and got it back, but now the weather is trying to hold him back again. Lashley is losing the title tonight. You can tell that McIntyre isn’t comfortable improving.

The Kickoff Show panel talks about how important the show is.

New Day is fired up about having the crowd back and you can’t feel that feeling until you feel it. They accepted AJ Styles and Omos’ challenge because they are fighting champions and don’t care how big or phenomenal their challengers are. No one can hang with them and here is Big E. to glare at interviewer Kevin Patrick, plus hype up how great the rest of the team is. It nearly turns into a sermon, as Patrick seems a bit scared.

Cole dubs the show Wrestlerainia but seems to be alone in that one.

Braun Strowman says he’s ready to get out there and destroy Shane McMahon for the sake of everyone who has ever been bullied. This isn’t going to be pretty or technical, because Shane is going to be beaten into an inch of his life. Tonight, he’s proving that bullies do not win.

The Kickoff Show panel talks about Vince McMahon’s speech.

Kevin Owens, rocking that KO Mania V shirt, takes the microphone from Kevin Patrick to talk about his history with Sami Zayn. They have known each other for almost twenty years and they started wrestling each other all over. One time they wrestled each other in front of 23 people in Owens’ hometown. They went to New York City, to Peru and around the world, but in those twenty years, no two people were talked down to by “industry experts” like they were.

Now they are here and tomorrow night they get to do it again at Wrestlemania. It has never been this big or this important but this isn’t the Sami that he has known. That’s ok though, because in the end, this is Wrestlemania and it’s Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. Tomorrow night, Owens is Stunning some sense back into Zayn and if Logan Paul wants to try something, he’ll be in the ring. To the point, eloquent, and it told the story of their match. This stuff can be done with zero scripting and if the people can handle that, I have no idea why they aren’t given the chance.

Michael Cole and Samoa Joe, in ponchos, hype up the show being on in less than five minutes. In a good note for the two of them, Byron Saxton’s microphone has died.

Bianca Belair isn’t nervous but she knows she is getting in the ring with Sasha Banks. Belair doesn’t run from competition so tonight, she is proving that she is the best. Not too bad here.

Seth Rollins can’t remember Kevin Patrick’s name (Rollins: “It’s Mike right?”) but he loves the chaos of Wrestlemania. He isn’t happy with hearing about Zazaro Swinging him a record number of times but it was probably to help Zazaro springboard to a new level. Tonight the clouds will clear and the sun will shine down on the new Mr. Wrestlemania.

Miz and John Morrison aren’t worried about Bad Bunny and Damian Priest because they’re stars. BE JEALOUS!

The Kickoff Show panel gives us one more quick hype.

Now this is kind of interesting, because the Peacock version of the show has the weather delay with the promos as its own video (which is billed as the start of the show). Vince’s speech and America the Beautiful are on the regular video of the show and there is no mention of the delay, though the video with the delay references Vince’s speech. Because WWE.

Speaking of Because WWE, the opening video is on both the weather delay video and the regular Wrestlemania video.

Since we can’t just GET ON WITH IT ALREADY (and because the fans need to get back in their seats), here are hosts Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan, with the latter not getting the most positive reaction. Titus is fired up to be in his hometown and the WWE Universe is bringing the energy that they need. After one year, one month and one day, we are back live! Hogan doesn’t think the fans heard him so Titus says it again to a stronger reaction. They hype up the opening match with the Hurt Lock vs. the Claymore and wonder what happens when the Hulkamaniacs run wild for TWO NIGHTS!

We recap Bobby Lashley defending the WWE Title against Drew McIntyre. Miz cashed in Money in the Bank against McIntyre and won the title, only to lose it to Lashley eight days later (which was about as obvious of a result as you could have, as there was no way Miz was going to Wrestlemania as champion). McIntyre is getting his rematch, with Lashley trying to have the roster take McIntyre out before the show. That didn’t work, and now it is time for the showdown.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley, with MVP, is defending. They fight over the power lockup to start until Lashley runs him over with a shoulder. The overhead belly to belly works a bit better for McIntyre, who throws in a bit of a crude gesture. Some shoving goes to McIntyre but Lashley hits him in the face to cut that off. A running clothesline takes Lashley to the floor, where he is fine enough to drive McIntyre into the barricade a few times.

Back in and a neckbreaker gives Lashley one (because McIntyre doesn’t wait for two) before he sends McIntyre into the corner. The charge takes too long though and the arm goes into the post. A Codebreaker to the arm sets up a failed cross armbreaker attempt so McIntyre goes with some clotheslines instead. There’s the overhead belly to belly and then another one has Lashley in more trouble (as we see commentary standing at ringside for some reason, likely weather related).

The Futureshock is blocked though and Lashley hits the spinning Dominator for two of his own. McIntyre gets planted with the big spinebuster for two more but he’s right back with the reverse Alabama Slam. They go up top with the superplex being broken up so McIntyre puts on a Kimura up there instead. Lashley knocks him out so McIntyre does the situp toss back down (that always looks cool).

Back up and Lashley hits another spinebuster but, after a few seconds (good), McIntyre nips up for the staredown. Another belly to belly sends Lashley down again and now the Futureshock can connect. McIntyre isn’t done though as he rolls two more Futureshocks for two so it’s time to load up the Claymore. Lashley bails outside to avoid the whole kick in the face thing, only to have McIntyre hit a big running flip dive to the floor to take out Lashley and MVP at the same time.

Back in and the Hurt Lock is blocked so Lashley sends him flying again with a suplex. The Downward Spiral looks to set up the Hurt Lock again but McIntyre rams him into the corner for the break. A third spinebuster is countered into the Kimura, which is broken up as well for another double knockdown. McIntyre wins a slugout but MVP offers a distraction, allowing Lashley to duck the Claymore. The Hurt Lock goes on and McIntyre is in trouble, with even the flip out of the corner not breaking it up. McIntyre finally passes out to retain Lashley’s title at 18:21.

Rating: B. This was the heavyweight slugfest style match as you had two big men beating on each other until one of them couldn’t keep going. It was hard hitting, it was a heck of a fight, and it was about who could stay on their feet. That’s how you open the show and it felt Wrestlemania worthy, even if the ending wasn’t the best thing. Heck of an effort here though and this one stuck with me even over the last year.

Titus O’Neil is backstage with the NWO (Hogan/Hall/Nash/Syxx) and offers them a spot on Ding Dong Hello. She’ll settle for a Too Sweet, but only Hall and Syxx take her up on it before leaving. I forgot how good Bayley was as a heel.

Tag Team Turmoil

Five teams and the winners get a Women’s Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. Lana/Naomi are in at #1 (they both like to dance) and Billie Kay/Carmella (after Kay FINALLY found a partner to pay off her amazing resume deal) are in at #2, with Kay not being exactly great at trying to match Carmella’s more suggestive entrances (but there was nothing for her to do in WWE because reasons). Carmella takes Lana into the corner to start and beats her down, only to have Lana slip away from Kay.

The hot tag brings in Naomi for the pull someone’s face into the back of her tights (because WE’RE HAVING FUN) before handing it back to Lana. This proves to be a bad idea as Lana can’t time kicking Kay down so Kay rolls Naomi up (with an assist from Carmella) for the elimination at 2:19.

The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan/Ruby Riott) are in at #3 with Morgan kicking Kay in the face (take notes Lana). Kay manages to put her down in the corner so though so Carmella can do her moonwalk into the dropkick. That doesn’t last long as Morgan fights up and hits a Codebreaker, only to hold Kay on top. Riott adds a top rope backsplash for the pin at 4:58 (total) but Carmella superkicks Morgan down after the fall.

Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose are in at #4, with Mandy infamously slipping on the ramp (edited out here, because WWE doesn’t make mistakes). An early Blockbuster drops Dana but she’s right back with a running flip neckbreaker for two. Riott grabs a sunset flip for the same and it’s Morgan coming in to pick up the pace. A Codebreaker into the Riott Kick gets two with Brooke having to make the save.

Rose gets in a kick to the ribs in the corner though Rose slips on the middle rope. Brooke slaps Rose in a rather personal area for a tag (sure why not) before a superplex drops Morgan. Not that it matters though as Morgan reverses into a small package for the pin at 9:17. After the ring announcer says the Riott Squad was eliminated and then issues a correction, Natalya and Tamina complete the field at #5.

Morgan rolls Natalya up for two but it’s off to Tamina for a sitout powerbomb. Tamina gets taken into the corner though and it’s the Codebreaker into the backsplash for two, because Tamina doesn’t get pinned you see. The superkick sends Morgan outside and there’s the Hart Attack to Riott. The Sharpshooter is loaded up but Natalya hands it off to Tamina for the Superfly Splash and the final pin at 14:06.

Rating: D. Egads man. The Women’s Tag Team Titles have been good for about three months out of the nearly three years they have been around and that is the case again here. Natalya and Tamina are about as interesting as the dogcatcher and the The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, but they need to go over the Riott Squad, Kay and Brooke/Rose, because of course they do. This match was frustrating and bad on top of that, as you have a bunch of thrown together teams (and the Riott Squad) fighting for a shot against another thrown together/oddball team. Just drop the titles already.

Get vaccinated!

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro. Rollins got swung around a bunch of times so he pointed out that Cesaro had never had a Wrestlemania Moment (whatever definition we’re using for it this year) in the form of some campaign ads of who you should approve of more. The match was set up as a result, with Cesaro wanting his big shot.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

Cesaro hits a running uppercut to start and knocks Rollins to the apron for a bonus. There’s a knee lift but Rollins snaps the arm across the top rope to take over. Back in and Cesaro’s superplex is countered into a Buckle Bomb for two as Rollins turns up the sneering. The top rope superplex into the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two but Cesaro is back up with another uppercut.

The Swing (you knew that was coming) sets up the Sharpshooter but Rollins makes the rope. Rollins drops him again and hits a corkscrew frog splash (that’s a new one) for two of his own. Cesaro is right back up with a Neutralizer for two, setting up the shocked kickout face. Another attempt is countered into a quick Pedigree to give Rollins his own near fall and they’re both down (as long as he doesn’t start countering Pedigrees, we should be ok).

Rollins shouts about how he survived the Neutralizer and the Swing, setting up a missed running kick to the face. That’s fine with Rollins, who swings his leg back and kicks Cesaro in the back of the head instead (cool). The Stomp is countered into the uppercut so now it’s the torture rack swing (with no hands, because THAT’S SOMETHING ELSE HE CAN DO). The 23 rotation Swing sets up another Neutralizer for the pin on Rollins at 11:27.

Rating: B-. They got the result right as there was no way Cesaro was coming back from losing after everything Rollins said about him. The problem is that if this was going to mean anything, it needed to come about six years earlier. I’m happy to see Cesaro get his win, but it’s really hard to buy that it is going to mean anything beyond maybe the next few weeks. Good match though, which shouldn’t be a surprise given who was in there.

We look at Jey Uso winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, plus Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler retaining the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, last night on Smackdown.

Ziggler and Roode pick AJ Styles and Omos to take the Raw Tag Team Titles from New Day.

Raw Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. AJ Styles/Omos

New Day (Xavier Woods/Kofi Kingston) is defending and this is Omos’ in-ring debut. Kofi and Omos start but Woods chants at Styles and gets him to start instead. Styles can’t get the Calf Crusher early on so they trade rollups instead. A belly to back suplex sends AJ face first onto the mat and it’s time for some Francesca from Woods. That’s enough for Woods to come in and grab a headlock, allowing him to shout about how they are cutting the ring in half. Styles fights up and tries to get over for the tag but Woods realizes that could cause a variety of damage.

Woods drags him back to the corner before sending Styles to the floor, setting up a dropkick through the ropes. Kofi keeps Styles down and a springboard splash to the back gets two. UpUpDownDown is loaded up but Styles kicks his way out and crawls over to Omos for the tag, despite Woods’ protests.

The tag brings in Omos (Kofi: “YOU GOT THIS WOODS!”) and Woods’ kicks have no effect. Kofi’s top rope chop is pulled out of the air and a backbreaker has Woods’ back bent over Omos’ knee. A side slam drops Woods again and Styles comes back in with a Phenomenal Forearm off of Omos’ shoulders to knock Woods silly as this isn’t going well for the champs. A standing Sky High sets up the pin with one foot to finish Kofi for the titles at 9:45.

Rating: C. The match might not have been the best, but the story it told worked well. What mattered here was having Omos look like an unstoppable monster and they nailed every bit of that side. What they didn’t nail was the part where Styles, who could probably beat either member of New Day with a limited amount of trouble, was treated like Jesse to Omos’ Festus. The Omos stuff worked, but the Styles half really didn’t work.

Styles sits on Omos’ shoulders for the cool visual after the match.

GET VACCINATED!

The cage is lowered.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman. Shane decided that Strowman was stupid and bullied him for the beat you over the head story of the show. Then Shane slimed him (as poured green goo over him) but their match at Fastlane was postponed to here due to Shane’s knee injury. This story was dumb and designed to put the focus on Shane, because of course it was.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

Inside a cage with pinfall, submission or escape and Jerry Lawler joins commentary. As Lawler makes every joke about Strowman being stupid that he can think of, Jaxson Ryker and Elias (Shane’s goons) jump Strowman with chairs on the floor. A chair is thrown in with Strowman so the beatdown can be on. Strowman takes the chair away but Shane kicks him in the leg and takes over again because he’s Shane McMahon.

Shane’s escape attempt doesn’t work so he punches and kicks Strowman down in the corner. Another escape attempt is broken up but this time Shane pulls a piece of sheet metal off the top and beats Strowman down with that instead. Strowman fights up again and hits him in the face, with Shane being nice enough to sell for a few seconds. The running powerslam is loaded up but the knee gives out, allowing Shane to send him face first into the cage.

A DDT drops Strowman and Coast To Coast hits Strowman in the ribs. Shane goes for the climb so here are Ryker and Elias to help him over but Strowman knocks them off the cage. That makes Shane fall back inside too but of course he’s fine enough to get up again. This time Strowman follows, only to find a well placed toolbox (at least there would be a reason to have that up there) and knock Strowman off.

That’s enough for Shane to get over the top, where Strowman grabs him by the hand and then rip the cage open (that’s a new one) to pull him back inside. Strowman pulls him to the top of the cage and throws him down for the huge crash. Instead of climbing out though, Strowman climbs down, gives a speech about how this is for everyone who has ever been called stupid. The running powerslam finishes Shane at 11:26.

Rating: D. I for one enjoyed seeing the Shane McMahon Show here, as this was giving me Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax at Wrestlemania XXXIV vibes. This should have been Shane getting in a few shots off the interference and then being crushed like an old can. Instead, it was Shane beating on Strowman and getting in all of his stuff before Strowman beat him up to win. As usual, it was about Shane first and then everyone else, because that’s the Wrestlemania tradition we need to continue.

Here are some fireworks as the cage is raised.

Commentary talks about the Hall of Fame induction but Bayley interrupts, saying she can do Cole’s job better. She throws us to the induction ceremony video, with various people talking about how great this is.

Here is this year’s class:

JBL (long overdue)

William Shatner (not here but at least he did some stuff in wrestling before)

Bella Twins (who can’t quite do their dance in those dresses)

Jushin Thunder Liger (not here but he should be in every Hall of Fame)

Titus O’Neil (Warrior Award, as the man is a saint)

British Bulldog (again, how was he not already in)

NWO (yeah they’ll do as headliners)

Wrestlemania XXXVIII is in Texas.

Bad Bunny/Damian Priest vs. Miz/John Morrison

Booker T. is on commentary. Bunny is one of the hottest rappers in the world and a lifelong WWE fan. He performed his song about Booker T. so Miz and John Morrison wanted some collaboration. That wasn’t happening, so they broke his DJ’s equipment. Bunny eliminated them from the Royal Rumble and then picked up Damian Priest as a partner, setting up the big showdown. Miz and Morrison also destroyed Bunny’s really expensive car to make it…well material rather than personal in this case.

As for tonight, an army of bunnies hop to the ring, albeit with ears (and a head) falling off, leaving the rest of them to hold their big bunny heads on, because that’s how WWE does things. Miz and Morrison show up to do their Hey Hey Hop Hop rap live, which was a catchy song. On the other hand, Bunny rides into the stadium on the top of a semi truck for a pretty cool entrance.

Priest backs Miz into the corner to start but Miz wants Bunny instead. That’s exactly what he gets, with Bunny looking more comfortable than I would have expected. Miz sticks his chin out so Bunny hits him in the face (Morrison: “Rabbits are lucky! That was luck!”) before another right hand knocks him into the corner. The frustration is on so Bunny tackles him down and hammers away. Miz gets a bit more serious but this time Bunny grabs an armdrag.

Morrison isn’t happy and tells Miz to act like they’re the best tag team of the 21^st century. A rather spinning headscissors takes Miz down again so Morrison comes in for a change. That means a headbutt to send him into the corner and a running elbow….is elbowed out of the air to put Bunny in trouble for the first time. The pace slows down a bit as Miz gets to mock Bunny and then rip at his face. Bunny fights out of a chinlock but Miz hits the big boot to cut him off again.

Another shot knocks Bunny to the floor and Morrison busts out a Spinarooni, meaning Booker gets in his catchphrase. Priest makes the mistake of looking at the crowd and gets knocked down by Miz, allowing Bunny to get dragged back into the corner. Bunny gets a boot up in the corner though and a tornado DDT out of the corner gives him a breather. That’s enough for the tag to Priest to start cleaning house, including the toss suplex to send Miz into Morrison.

The South of Heaven chokeslam gets two on Miz as everything breaks down. Stereo head claps set up stereo Broken Arrows for two on Miz and Morrison with the villains rolling outside. Of course that means the big dive from Bunny but Priest gets knocked down back inside. Morrison pulls Bunny to the floor, where Bunny hits a Canadian Destroyer to leave Miz stunned. Back in and a Doomsday crossbody finishes Miz at 15:03.

Rating: B. It was longer than it needed to be and Bunny selling the first ten minutes was certainly a choice, but this was WAY up there on the celebrity match list. Bunny clearly put in some effort and time as he looked good with the stuff he was doing out there. It was more him doing moves than wrestling a match but for a one off, this was a very successful debut. Bunny is the celebrity and is going to get the attention because he is the reason the match is taking place, but he more than delivered here and it was a very impressive showing.

We look back at Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley from earlier in the night.

Here’s what’s coming tomorrow night.

We recap Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Belair won the Royal Rumble and gets to challenge for the title, with both of them talking about how they’re the rest best around here. This was a simple story but it was set up well, with Belair being treated as the next big thing but needing to conquer the current big thing.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Belair is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. They fight over the lockup to start until Banks pulls her down, only to have Belair nip up. Belair takes Banks down instead but has to bail out of a standing moonsault. Banks sends her to the apron for a neck snap across the top and a ram into the post, setting up Banks’ big dive to the floor. That’s fine with Belair, who catches said dive and gorilla presses Banks for a walk up the steps (that’s not normal, at all).

Back in and Banks gets in a few shots of her own, setting up some rights and lefts on the mat. The double arm crank keeps Belair down so let’s hit the wide shot to show off the SNICKERS logos. Banks goes up top so Belair brings her right back down with the big crash. They head outside where Banks uses the hair to pull Belair into the post, only to miss the running knees against the barricade.

Back in and Belair grabs a VERY delayed suplex, complete with a slingshot and muscling Banks back up before taking Banks back for the double knockdown. Banks is up first and grabs the hair, which is used to pull her into a clothesline from Belair. A standing shooting star hits Banks and a release Glam Slam drops her again. Belair’s 450 only hits knees though and they’re both down again. Back up and Belair is fine enough to hit a pair of powerbombs for two, meaning they’re down again.

This time it’s Banks up first with a double springboard tornado DDT (that was cool), with the kickout leaving her stunned. The frog splash (with Cole thinking it was a Meteora) gets two on Belair and now frustration is setting in. They head outside with Banks sending her into the steps before taking it back inside for the Bank Statement. Belair looks more scared than hurt and it’s made even worse as Banks rolls into the middle. You don’t do that to Belair, who rolls forward to make the ropes for the break.

Belair drives her into the corner with straight power but can’t hit a Stratusphere. Instead Banks gets her into the Tree of Woe but misses the Alberto double stomp. Now Belair can hit her 450 for two, meaning it’s her time to scream in shock. The KOD is loaded up but Banks sticks the landing, so Belair is done playing. The big whip with the hair rocks Banks and now the KOD gives Belair the pin and the title 17:27. Ignore Cole shouting about a kickout.

Rating: B. There was a lot more laying around in this one than I thought but they did a good job with Banks’ natural skills vs. Belair’s power/athleticism. This was making me think of Asuka taking the NXT Women’s Title from Bayley back in 2016, as Bayley was great but Asuka was that much better and overwhelmed her. Very good match and the first time a women’s singles match has headlined the show to give it the historical aspect.

The big celebration is on to end the show, complete with Belair’s family in the front row for a nice touch.

Overall Rating: B-. Overall the show is good, but there are some rather part parts that hold it back. You can only get so far with stuff like the Tag Team Turmoil match and the cage match, which both dragged on and didn’t seem to be the hottest stories in the first place. Other than that, it is the same problem as last year: having the show split in half takes away the feeling of this being the biggest show of the year. I get why they’re doing it, but egads it doesn’t feel as special. The good matches here are more than enough to carry it, but this is far from a classic.

Ratings Comparison

Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: B-

Redo: B

Tag Team Turmoil

Original: D

Redo: D

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Original: C+

Redo: B-

AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

Original: C+

Redo: C

Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D

Redo: D

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Original: C

Redo: B

Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Almost everything is about the same save for Bad Bunny/Priest, which is better than I remembered.

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

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Dynamite
Date: April 2, 2025
Location: Peoria Civic Center, Peoria, Illinois
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re less than a week away from Dynasty and that means it’s time for the final push towards the show. That can be a tricky thing to pull off as you’re only going to get so much out of this show with the pay per view so soon. Hopefully the action works here, though that is rarely an issue for AEW. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley/Marina Shafir vs. Willow Nightingale/Swerve Strickland

It’s a brawl on the floor to start, with Shafir hitting a snap suplex. Moxley and Shafir pull out a table and the women fight inside as we get the opening bell. Strickland sends Moxley into the steps before the pairs trade places. A dropkick rocks Moxley and Nightingale is back in with a middle rope version to put him down again.

Strickland’s middle rope elbow to the back connects and he and Nightingale dance a bit. That earns them a beating from the villains again and Shafir chokes Nightingale on the ropes. Back in and Strickland grabs the JML Driver on Shafir and holds her up as Moxley teases the Death Rider to Nightingale. Both women are let go and they shove the men into each other before slugging it out on the apron. Shafir hits a powerbomb off the apron and through a table, which almost went rather wrong.

We take a break and come back with Shafir and Moxley taking turns raking Strickland’s back. Nightingale hits a Tower Of Doom and slugs away, including a Cannonball to Moxley. Nightingale’s spinebuster gets two on Shafir but Moxley gets the choke on Strickland. That’s broken up with a powerbomb to send Shafir onto Moxley and everyone is down. The women brawl to the floor, leaving Moxley and Strickland to slug it out. The rolling Downward Spiral hits Moxley but Strickland’s House Call hits Shafir, who shoved Moxley out of the way. Nightingale hits The Babe With The Powerbomb to finish Shafir at 13:32.

Rating: B-. Nice fight with the two feuds getting to beat each other up for a little while. It’s a little surprising to see Shafir take a fall, as she has been well protected for a good while now. At the same time, it’s nice to have Nightingale get the win, as she has done little more than brawling with Shafir in recent weeks.

Post match Moxley gives Nightingale a Death Rider for the big serious moment.

We look at Wheeler Yuta pinning Dax Harwood on Collision, resulting in Harwood shoving Cash Wheeler after the match.

Harwood pays his $10,000 fine and gives it to the referee. He apologizes to Wheeler as well and says it’s time for them to win the Trios Titles. Harwood goes to hug him but Wheeler says they’ll team together at Dynasty, but then they need to talk.

We see the brackets for the Men’s Owen Hart tournament:

Will Ospreay
Kevin Knight

Brody King
Konosuke Takeshita

Mark Briscoe
Kyle Fletcher

Hangman Page
Wild Card

We look at Kevin Knight almost beating Jay White, who is injured, with Knight replacing him in the tournament.

Here are the Women’s Owen Hart tournament brackets:

Jamie Hayter
Billie Starkz

Thunder Rosa
Kris Statlander

Julia Hart
Mercedes Mone

Harley Cameron
Athena

Toni Storm vs. Penelope Ford

Non-title. Storm knocks her to the floor to start but Ford gets in a boot to the face on the way back in. A quick suplex hits Ford but she avoids the running hip attack in the corner. Ford gets booted down again and we take a break. Back with Ford hitting a handspring elbow in the corner, followed by a Helluva Kick.

Storm fights up and slugs away, setting up a Thesz press. Now the hip attack connects and a DDT gets two on Ford. An STF sends Ford over to the ropes and she knocks Storm outside for an apron moonsault. Back in and a gutbuster gives Ford two and she counters Storm Zero into a backdrop for two. Storm is right back with Storm Zero for the pin at 8:13.

Rating: C+. Nice outing from Ford here, though there was no reason to believe that Storm was in any serious danger. That’s what happens with most of Ford’s matches, as she hasn’t won anything significant in the better part of ever. At least she can still do some nice enough things in the ring before losing to bigger names, which is what happened again here.

Post match Megan Bayne comes out but won’t get in the ring with Storm.

Willow Nightingale is getting checked by the medics. Swerve Strickland isn’t pleased with this and swears vengeance on Jon Moxley tonight.

Here are MVP and Bobby Lashley (minus Shelton Benjamin, who couldn’t make it to the show due to bad weather) for a chat. Before they can say anything though, here is MJF to interrupt. After praising MVP’s fashion choices, MJF introduces himself to Lashley (“Bob”), who he says has been around the block.

This is AEW though, meaning it is the block that MJF built. MJF knows what it takes to set records around here, and he and the Hurt Syndicate could help each other. He puts his hand on Lashley’s shoulder, saying Lashley needs him. Lashley says that out of respect for MVP, he won’t drop MJF where he stands. He doesn’t like or trust MJF and suggests that MJF get out right now, which is what MJF does. I’m curious where this is going, but they could only do so much with Benjamin out for the week.

Learning Tree vs. ???/???

The Learning Tree offer Lashley and MVP a chair in the aisle but they’ll stand instead. Keith’s running knee into the chokeslam finishes at 1:14.

Post match Bill issues the challenge for the Tag Team Title shot at Dynasty and it seems to be on.

Mercedes Mone is ready for Julia Hart at Dynasty. She’s also ready to team up with Harley Cameron….who pops up with the puppet. Mone isn’t interested and storms off, with Cameron saying they could be the Mone Wrath Train. Taz: “I want to buy a puppet.”

Will Ospreay/Kevin Knight vs. Blake Christian/Lee Johnson

Ospreay shoulders Christian down to start so Christian grabs a quickly broken headlock. Back up and Ospreay gets in a strut and a hip swivel before handing it off to Knight for a twisting splash. Everything breaks down and the villains are dropkicked to the floor for stereo running dives. Back up and Christian drops Knight before spearing Ospreay off the apron as we take a break.

We come back with Ospreay coming in off the diving tag and starting to clean house. A springboard is broken up though and Christian hits a 450 stomp (geez). Ospreay is back up with the Stundog Millionaire though and it’s Knight coming back in to take over. Knight makes Johnson poisonrana Christian outside (yep) for a dive from Ospreay and Knight’s springboard clothesline finishes Johnson at 9:15.

Rating: B-. This was the fast paced tag match you probably expected, with Knight getting to showcase himself again. Odds are he doesn’t make it out of the first round of the Owen Hart tournament but he should be able to have an impressive performance. Other than that, Christian continues to do well and his “I’m boring” stuff is kind of amusing.

Post match, Ospreay and Knight are told that their match will take place at Dynasty. Respect is shown.

Samoa Joe says he started the Opps because things are changing around here. They’ll be watching at Dynasty.

Lance Archer vs. Brody King

They fight over a lockup to start as Don Callis joins commentary. They trade shots to the face until Archer clotheslines him to the floor. King sends him into the barricade but Archer is back with a ram into the steps. We take a break and come back with Archer missing a charge into the corner and getting dropped with a German suplex. King wins a strike off and drops a backsplash for two. A swinging Boss Man Slam and chokeslam give Archer the same but King clotheslines him down in the corner. Now the Cannonball connects to give King two and a big clothesline finishes Archer at 10:28.

Rating: C+. Well, at least King didn’t lose again. That’s not exactly glowing praise but at this point, it’s about as good as he’s going to get. The match was another big hoss fight and it went well enough. Also, a few bonus points for having King face a member of the Don Callis Family before facing Konosuke Takeshita in the tournament.

Dynasty rundown.

Cope vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli jumps him in the corner to start and they go to the floor, where Cope is sent into the barricade. Back in and Cope kicks away, followed by a running forearm off the apron. Cope forearms him against the barricade and they head back inside to trade clotheslines. The Edge O Matic gets two and a spear through the ropes takes Castagnoli off the apron. Another dive is cut off with an uppercut though and we take a break.

Back with the two of them going up top, with Cope grabbing a super bulldog. Castagnoli hits a quick double stomp into the Swing for two. The Sharpshooter goes on but Castagnoli switches into a Crossface to keep Cope in trouble. Cope reverses that into the Grindhouse, sending Castagnoli over to the ropes. They go to the apron where Castagnoli grabs a powerslam and throws Cope over the barricade.

Castagnoli demands a ten count, as we suddenly have countouts around here. Cope beats the count and boots him down but the spear is countered into Swiss Death for two. Castagnoli grabs some chairs so the referee gets rid of them, allowing Cope to get in a low blow. The spear finishes Castagnoli at 17:48.

Rating: B-. Well that was…lengthy. This was the latest long Cope match where he looked pretty good and then goes over in the end. The match helps set up the title match on Sunday, where we’re likely to see FTR and Cope come close but ultimately lose to the Death Riders. It wasn’t a bad match, but it never went to a higher gear.

Swerve Strickland is still looking for Jon Moxley but runs into Hangman Page. Security immediately runs in as Page shouts about how Swerve broke into his home. Swerve: “YOU BURNED MY HOUSE DOWN!” Page: “YOU DESERVED IT!” Swerve: “I KNOW!” That has Page confused and he storms off, but here are the rest of the Death Riders to jump Swerve. The villains throw him into some glass and then carry him into the arena. A bag of glass is poured out and Castagnoli gives Swerve a Riccola bomb into the glass. Swerve, with glass in his back, sits up and glares at Moxley to end the show.

First of all, Page and Swerve have are likely going to team together one day and it’s been a long, drawn out and well done story with both of them growing a lot. On the other hand, Swerve being slammed onto glass and then popping back up to end the show is a bit insane and not in a good way.

Overall Rating: B-. This show did enough to help boost Dynasty up, though your taste in tournaments may bring this up or down. There wasn’t anything you really needed to see, but it did set up enough things for both Dynasty and beyond, which is a good use of the show. While Dynasty doesn’t seem like the biggest show, this did boost it up a bit, which should help on Sunday.

Results
Willow Nightingale/Swerve Strickland b. Jon Moxley/Marina Sharif – Babe With The Powerbomb to Shafir
Toni Storm b. Penelope Ford – Storm Zero
Learning Tree b. ???/??? – Chokeslam
Brody King b. Lance Archer – Clothesline

 

 

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Dynamite
Date: March 26, 2025
Location: Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are about a week and a half away from Dynasty and that means it is time to start getting the card officially put together. With Cope out of the way for Jon Moxley, all roads lead to Swerve Strickland, who is getting the pay per view title shot. Other than that, some of the matches are announced but there is still some work to do. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence, featuring clips from the upcoming Minecraft movie.

Kenny Omega vs. Blake Christian

Non-title and Lee Johnson is here with Christian. They go with the grappling to start as Taz is right there to explain the physics and technique, which goes very well, as always. Christian fights back and hits a dropkick to the apron, where a spear sends Omega outside. Back in and Omega decks Johnson before hitting a snapdragon suplex. The V Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel to finish Christian at 4:53.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have time to do much here but that was kind of the point. Christian got in a bit of offense but Omega shrugged it off and hits his signature stuff to win. You don’t see that kind of stuff very often but it works when it’s done in the right way, which was the case with this one.

Post match Omega says he’s glad that he got to make it quick this week. That won’t be the case with Dynasty, as he has to deal with Ricochet and Speedball Mike Bailey. Cue Bailey to interrupt to say Omega is an inspiration to him and Bailey admires him. That doesn’t mean he’s going to hold anything back at Dynasty though because he’s coming for the title.

Cue Ricochet on the screen to say he’s not here in person to slap both of them in the face. He’s dressed up for the best day of his life (looking like his wedding day) until Dynasty, when he leaves with the girl and the gold. Omega says Dynasty isn’t about making friends (Omega: “I have a cat. I don’t need anymore.”) and promises to keep the title. The catchphrase takes us out.

We look at Bandido taking Gravity’s mask back from Chris Jericho on Collision.

Jericho complains about the Learning Tree screwing up and tells them to go prove themselves. With the two of them gone, Jericho says he wants Bandido’s mask, so it can be title vs. mask at Dynasty. Not at the ROH pay per view, but at Dynasty.

Here is MJF, who says Michael Jackson is a bigger star than Prince, before talking about the business card that MVP gave him. He asks MVP to join him for an answer, and gets his wish. MJF gets straight to the point and says that he wants to be in the business of hurting people, but here is the rest of the team to cut him off.

Bobby Lashley wants the card back and threatens MJF with a beating. MVP calls him off though and MJF walks away. Cue the Learning Tree to mock the Syndicate, but MVP isn’t impressed. Big Bill wants the Tag Team Titles back because he never got a rematch for the titles. The challenge is on, but MVP tells them to go win a match first. That’s an interesting way to go with MJF, and hopefully they don’t do anything stupid with the Syndicate.

Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa are ready to team up tonight, with Rosa bringing up their bad history together. Storm brushes it off and dubs the team Thunder T***. Is that swearing? Eh better safe than sorry.

Brody King vs. Kyle Fletcher

Don Callis is here with Fletcher, who jumps King before the bell. That goes badly for him as King is back with a chop and the big forearms in the corner. Fletcher fights up and stomps him down, only to get sent outside as we take a break. Back with Fletcher in control and hammering away, allowing him to pose a bit.

King gets in a knockdown of his own and hits a backdrop to send Fletcher outside. The required dive connects and the fans are rather appreciative. Fletcher manages to post him though and a top rope elbow gets two back inside. Back up and King suplexes him into the corner for a needed breather. A Death Valley Driver on the apron knocks Fletcher silly and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out but Fletcher kicks him down and hits a Tombstone for two. King knocks him silly with a clothesline but cue Mark Davis to break up the Cannonball. Fletcher kicks him in the head and hits the brainbuster onto the turnbuckle for the pin at 17:48.

Rating: B. Yes, King loses again. It makes my head spin to see King getting what seemed to be a renewed push but he’s won two matches this year (over Max Caster and a jobber) and a single tag match. If you have him lose over and over again, it stops mattering rather quickly, which is the point they’re reaching. I get that Fletcher shouldn’t lost here, but then maybe don’t have the match.

Post match the double teaming ensues but Powerhouse Hobbs comes in through the crowd for the save. So I guess we’re not going to get any kind of “next step” that was promised for Fletcher? Or was just winning another match the “next step”?

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Mark Davis

They trade clotheslines to start and Hobbs no sells a suplex. Davis knocks him down in the corner but Hobbs is back with a powerslam. The spinebuster finishes Davis at 2:36. Exactly how it should have gone with Hobbs looking dominant.

The Patriarchy, minus Christian Cage, talks about how Nick Wayne is seeing how things are changing and will address Cage face to face. Last week, you saw what happens when things go as they’re supposed to go.

Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page argue in the back.

Earlier today, we had a sitdown interview with Cope and FTR. Dax Harwood apologizes for getting too emotional last week because FTR took four months away from going after the Tag Team Titles and it didn’t work. Cope says he didn’t ask them to step away but Cash Wheeler says he can’t be between the two of them. Wheeler says he owes a lot to both guys, including Cope giving him a place to live at some point. Harwood thinks getting the Tag Team Titles back is a good idea but Wheeler thinks they should go after the Trios Titles. Works for Harwood, and the challenge is issued for Dynasty. Makes sense.

Here is Swerve Strickland for a chat. Swerve wastes no time in calling out Jon Moxley, who comes straight through the crowd. Swerve asks what happened to Moxley, because instead of being what the World Title is all about, he’s hiding behind the Death Riders. Maybe Moxley hides the title in the briefcase because he can’t bear to look at it anymore. Everything Moxley used to describe himself is now what is looking at him face to face.

Cue Claudio Castagnoli behind Prince Nana on the floor (Nana doesn’t seem to notice). Moxley asks what Swerve thinks he is, because Moxley isn’t sure. Swerve has a chance at Dynasty, but how far is he willing to go? What is Swerve going to do when the weight of the world is on his shoulders? The reality is Swerve hasn’t suffered enough. Moxley’s sport has been taken over by billionaires and talent agencies, but Swerve gives him hope for the future.

Cue Marina Shafir with a crowbar but Willow Nightingale is right there with a pipe to cut her off (though they don’t get physical). Swerve says Moxley has bled but Swerve has bled buckets. Moxley has been in Texas death matches while Swerve has won them. He’s going to win the title at Dynasty and Moxley can keep playing himself on TV. The Death Riders leave but Shafir jumps Nightingale and has to be held back. As usual, these segments work better when people stand up to the Death Riders and that was the case here from Swerve.

Samoa Joe asks Hook why he choked out Max Caster. Hook: “He’s fun to choke out.” They run into Caster and Joe chokes him out, then hugs Hook, saying he was right. They also hug Top Flight and AR Fox as it seems Katsuyori Shibata is filming. That was hilarious.

Jay White is in the Owen Hart Tournament. If anyone thinks they’re better than him, come prove it on Collision.

Top Flight vs. Devo Knight/Alex Findley

Darius wrestles Knight to the floor to start as the Learning Tree is watching backstage. Findley comes in and gets sent outside, with Dante hitting a kick to the face and a springboard high crossbody. Darius plants Knight and Dante’s frog splash finishes at 2:56.

The Learning Tree (facing Top Flight on Collision) and Cru (in the crowd) isn’t impressed.

Will Ospreay is back next week.

Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is here with Takeshita. Briscoe shrugs off a shoulder to start and fires off some Red Neck Kung Fu to take over. Back up and Takeshita knocks him down for some choking on the ropes. A big boot drops Briscoe again and a DDT on the apron sends us to a break. Back with Briscoe slugging away, including some shots to the chest in the corner.

The running flip dive through the ropes connects and the Cactus Elbow hits off the barricade. The Froggy Bow misses though and they slug it out, with the fans being rather engaged. They trade exploders until Takeshita’s running knee gets two. The Jay Driller gets the same as Takeshita puts a foot on the ropes. Takeshita kicks him in the head though and it’s the Raging Fire for the pin at 11:40.

Rating: B-. Takeshita can do just about anything in the ring at the moment and it’s fine to see him beating a name like Briscoe. While I could go for seeing Briscoe having some more success, it makes sense for him to lose here. Takeshita very well could be in the Owen Hart Tournament (if he isn’t yet) and him making a nice run would be a good way to go.

The Death Riders are in to face Cope and FTR for the Trios Titles at Dynasty.

The Hurt Syndicate is still not on the same page about MJF. MVP is the only one who seems to like him, mainly because MJF is reprehensible. If the other two don’t want MJF in, MVP will respect it, but they’re on the same page about the Learning Tree.

Penelope Ford/Megan Bayne vs. Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa

Rosa and Bayne start things off with Rosa shouting the team’s new name. Rosa’s strikes to the chest don’t work very well so it’s off to Storm, who gets taken down by Ford. A running knee is shrugged off though and Storm suplexes her down. We take a break and come back with Bayne clotheslining Rosa, allowing Ford to throw her out of the corner for two. Rosa and Ford hit a double clothesline and it’s off to Storm to take over on Bayne.

A tornado DDT on the floor drops Bayne but Ford grabs a cutter back inside. Bayne is back in with Fate’s Descent to Rosa but Storm throws her into the corner for the hip attack. That’s shrugged off and Storm is terrified that old faithful didn’t work. Bayne pump kicks Ford by mistake though and Storm gets two off a rollup. Fate’s Descent finishes Storm at 9:33.

Rating: C+. That’s something that has been done for years and it still works to this day. The result lets you see that Bayne can beat Storm and it adds more drama to their title shot at Dynasty. It was a perfectly fine match and served a purpose without actually having Ford take the pin for a change.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the show where they gave a lot more focus towards Dynasty, as matches that were already announced were advanced and something new was added. That’s the kind of show that you need to have and it made for a good one here. While there were some moves that I wasn’t feeling, this took some positive steps on the way to Dynasty and that’s what the show needs.

Results
Kenny Omega b. Blake Christian – One Winged Angel
Kyle Fletcher b. Brody King – Brainbuster onto the turnbuckle
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Mark Davis – Spinebuster
Top Flight b. Devo Knight/Alex Findley – Frog splash to Knight
Konosuke Takeshita b. Mark Briscoe – Raging Fire
Megan Bayne/Penelope Ford b. Toni Storm/Thunder Rosa – Fate’s Descent to Storm

 

 

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

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Dynamite
Date: March 12, 2025
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re done with Revolution and Jon Moxley is still the World Champion, having defeated both Cope and Christian Cage, the latter of whom cashed in his contract for a title shot. Other than that, Kenny Omega is the new International Champion, having finally defeated Konosuke Takeshita. Let’s get to it.

Here is Revolution if you need a recap.

Here is Kenny Omega, fresh off winning the International Title. Omega can’t believe he’s back here after the health issues he was having, and now he has a singles title again. He thanks Konosuke Takeshita for the match and is looking forward to the start of the tournament to crown a new #1 contender to his title. Omega hits the catchphrase and is out in a hurry. As Omega is leaving, the Opps come out for their match and have a bit of a staredown with Omega (as Katsuyori Shibata is in the tournament), but everything is ok.

Opps vs. Vinny Pacifico/Eli Theseus/Gabriel Aeros

Joe hammers on Pacifico to start and it’s to Theseus, who gets clotheslined in the corner by Hook. Shibata comes in to strike away at Aeros in the corner, setting up the sleeper. The PK finishes at 2:16. Another squash.

Ricochet is ready to win the tournament and offers Shibata the chance to quit before their match at Collision.

Long recap of Revolution.

Swerve Strickland is ready to challenge for the World Title at Dynasty. Cope comes in to say that either he’s going to win the title before Dynasty, or if Swerve wins at Dynasty, Cope is coming for it. Works for Swerve.

Jon Moxley is annoyed at himself for not putting Cope away earlier and he admires the toughness. Next week, they’ll have a street fight for the title, which is fine with Moxley because he won’t make the same mistake twice.

Hologram/Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Brian Cage/Dralistico

Harleygram is here with the good guys while the other team has the Beast Mortos. Cage and Hobbs brawl on the floor to start before Dralistco and Hologram trade armdrags. Dralistico teases taking off the mask but hands it off to Cage instead. Hologram slips out of a press slam but Cage pulls a dive out of the air for a suplex (that was impressive). We take a break and come back with Mortos stomping away on Hologram.

Cue Harleygram to swivel a bit, which gets Mortos’ attention. Back in and Hologram takes Dralistico down, allowing Hobbs to come in and clean house. Cage gets to trade the clotheslines with Hobbs before the apron superplex connects. Dralistico hits…something from the top for two but Hobbs is back up with a spinebuster to Cage on the apron. Hologram uses Hobbs’ chest as a launch pad before Hobbs spinebusters Dralistico out of the air for the pin at 10:38.

Rating: B-. This was good enough with a nice mixture of some people you don’t often see together. Hologram is more than ready to do something else, as he has won everything he’s done and needs to have some kind of a bigger story. Hobbs getting a pin is good as well, as he still feels like someone who is ready to become one of the breakout stars in AEW very soon.

Post match Mark Davis and Lance Archer come out to yell at Cage.

The Hurt Syndicate is happy with their win and MVP wants them to have some fun in southern California. They’ll be at the gym instead.

We look at Toni Storm defeating Mariah May in the Hollywood Ending match. It was bloody and violent and I can get why it was a bit too much in some eyes, but I had fun with the whole wacky thing.

Here is Toni Storm, saying she has staples in her head and glass in her a**, this tramp is still the champ. The title makes it all worth it though and now it is time to find new challengers. Fighting with her is like going to the zoo, because she will bleed like a pig, lick you like a giraffe and eat you like a lion. No one swings like her so it’s time to get messy and sweaty. Cue Megan Bayne to jump Storm from behind and pose.

International Title #1 Contenders Tournament First Round: The Beast Mortos vs. ???

The surprise opponent is….the debuting Speedball Mike Bailey. Ever the high flier and striker, Bailey flips away to start and kicks Mortos down, with Mortos bailing out to the floor. A running shoulder takes Bailey down but he’s back with some chops. The big running flip dive drops Mortos again and we take a break.

Back with Bailey hitting a running shooting star press for two but the tornado kick misses. Bailey kicks him to the floor and hits a triangle moonsault, followed by a powerbomb out of the corner for two back inside. Mortos’ pop up Samoan drop gets two and the super gorilla press gets the same. Bailey grabs a hurricanrana for two and some moonsault knees set up a spinning kick to the face to pin Mortos at 10:55.

Rating: B-. I’m not a big Bailey fan but he’s tailor made for AEW. Between the flying and the strikes and the kind of awkward charisma, he is someone who will fit in perfectly well around here. As usual, Mortos is the perfect choice to make someone look good and that is exactly what he did here.

Christian Cage is annoyed at Renee Paquette asking about what happened at Revolution because he is NOT talking to anyone related to Jon Moxley. Cage declares himself still the undisputed next World Champion and he was just relegating his breathing before reversing the hold. Nick Wayne says Cage is lying to himself and the team and owes them an apology. Cage goes for Nick but Mother Wayne gets in the way. Cage threatens to have her back at Waffle House before yelling at Nick, telling him to keep riding his coattails or the next time they have this conversation will be the last.

MJF did not want to talk after Revolution.

Here is MJF for a chat. He’s sore from Revolution and the truth is he had that match won until Hangman Page gave him a cheap shot (commentary remembers it differently). MJF isn’t upset anymore, because he is 10x smarter than Page and all of the fans. This thing with Page isn’t over…and here is MVP to interrupt. They stare each other down and then have a big hug.

MVP met him eight years ago and was impressed because MJF once volunteered to take him on a long drive for the price of getting to pick his brain in the car. MVP is proud of him for all of MJF’s accomplishments, but he isn’t impressed with what happened to MJF on Sunday. Why isn’t MJF out here hurting people? He has lost his edge and people in the back don’t fear them.

They do fear the Hurt Syndicate so maybe MVP can help him again. MVP offers him the business card but MJF declines it, saying he’s not the young kid that he was eight years ago. MJF doesn’t want or need MVP’s help, but MVP brings up that MJF WAS the World Champion. Now MJF takes the card and seems to be thinking about something.

Here is Max Caster for another open challenge.

Max Caster vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Caster thinks Takeshita is here to invite him into the Don Callis Family. Takeshita knocks him silly, picks him up, and hits Raging Fire for the pin at 1:29.

We look back at Chris Jericho attacking and unmasking Gravity at Revolution.

Jericho holds up Gravity’s mask and says gravity has been added to his feud with Bandido. Their family was terrified at Revolution and now it is time that people stop taking advantage of Jericho. This was serious Jericho again and it’s a nice relief after the goofiness has been going on for so long.

Penelope Ford vs. Willow Nightingale

Nightingale slams her down to start and they take turns sending the other into the corner. A suplex gets two on Ford but she sends Nightingale throat first into the ropes. We take a break and come back with Nightingale making the clothesline comeback. A spinebuster gives Nightingale two and the Gory Special goes on, with Ford biting her way out. They trade kicks to the face and Ford hits a Stunner, only to get Pounced for the pin at 8:39.

Rating: C+. I want to be able to buy into Ford but it isn’t going to matter if she never wins anything important. That has been the case for a long time and this is the latest loss in a long series of them. That being said, it is nice to see Nightingale get a win, which doesn’t happen often enough either. She needs something to do, and I’m not sure what that is going to be at the moment.

Post match Ford chairs Nightingale down so here is Kris Statlander for the save. Then Megan Bayne takes both of them down.

Mercedes Mone’s throat is messed up so Renee Paquette has to do Mone’s catchphrase. Billie Starkz comes in to say she wants a TBS Title shot. Mone laughs it off but gives her the match for next week.

Here is Will Ospreay for a chat. He’s banged up but happy to have gotten out of the cage match with Kyle Fletcher alive. Ospreay is in a bit of trouble with his wife because he lied to her, saying he wouldn’t do anything stupid off the cage. Then he forgot there was a guy in a green shirt filming him and after the match there were fifteen missed calls from the wife.

They finally talked and she was livid…but she made him a nice dinner anyway. Now Ospreay wants some gold around his waist in the form of the World Title. Ospreay looks at the All In Texas banner, so he’s in the Owen Hart Tournament. He’s ready to face Cope, Swerve or Moxley, whomever is waiting for him at All In. Simple and to the point here and the story about his wife was funny.

Jay White would love to face Will Ospreay again but he gets asked about hitting Cope with the briefcase. White to Renee Paquette: “Are you asking or accusing?” White goes on a rant about the Death Riders and says he wants to be the #1 contender.

Hangman Page runs into MJF and says he doesn’t believe MJF was going to light him on fire. MJF says they’re now 1-1 and MJF is going to go on to become a two time World Champion, while Page will fall on his face as he always does. The people will get tired of Page failing to win the big one (ignoring the one he’s already won I guess) while MJF will be World Champion over and over. So he’s admitting he’ll lose a lot?

International Title #1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Hechicero vs. Orange Cassidy

Hechicero blocks the hands from going into the pockets but Cassidy walks the rope and gets his hand into his pocket. Then Hechicero just pulls him down, showing it was quite the waste of time. Cassidy slowly runs the ropes and falls to the mat before nipping up as we take a break.

Back with Hechicero choking over the ropes and then tying the leg up in the same ropes. Cassidy’s leg is fine enough to come back with a high crossbody but gets caught in a swinging hammerlock backbreaker for two. The Stundog Millionaire and the spinning DDT get Cassidy out of trouble but his knee is banged up. Cassidy’s lazy top rope elbow is almost countered into a cross armbreaker before Hechicero grabs the Rings Of Saturn. Cassidy makes the ropes and grabs the Mousetrap for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: B-. This felt like Hechicero was far in advance but got caught at the end for the sake of putting Cassidy in the four way final. Hechicero continues to be someone who can do some rather awesome things in the ring, but at the same time it doesn’t matter as much if he keeps losing in bigger matches. Either way, nice main event here, even if it only has so much in the way of stakes.

Mike Bailey comes out for the staredown with Cassidy to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They definitely took their foot off the gas a bit here and that’s not a bad thing. Revolution was such a big show that it is time to let things breathe a bit here. They did set some things up for Dynasty, which is coming up rather quickly. It wasn’t a bad show, but it did feel less important than some of what they have been doing lately. That has to be the case at some point though and this was still a good show.

Results
Opps b. Vinny Pacifico/Eli Theseus/Gabriel Aeros – PK to Aeros
Hologram/Powerhouse Hobbs b. Brian Cage/Dralistico – Spinebuster to Dralistico
Mike Bailey b. The Beast Mortos – Crescent Kick
Konosuke Takeshita b. Max Caster – Raging Fire
Willow Nightingale b. Penelope Ford – Pounce
Orange Cassidy b. Hechicero – Mousetrap

 

 

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Dynamite
Date: January 8, 2025
Location: F&M Bank Arena, Clarksville, Tennessee
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Matt Menard, Excalibur

We’re slightly back to normal this week with the first regular show in a few weeks. The big story this week is the Casino Gauntlet, which will be used to set up Jon Moxley’s new challenger for next week. Other than that, we’re still building towards Revolution, Grand Slam and possibly even All In: Texas. Let’s get to it.

Buddy Murphy vs. Will Ospreay

Fallout from Ospreay beating Brody King in the Continental Classic. Feeling out process to start with Matthews powering him into the corner and hitting some chops in the corner. That’s broken up and Ospreay knocks him to the floor for the dive. Back in and Matthews knocks him back down for a knee and a near fall, meaning frustration starts to set in. Ospreay fights up with a kick to the head into the Phenomenal Forearm before sending him outside again.

They kick it out on the apron, where the Oscutter is broken up. Ospreay gets thrown face first onto the announcers’ table for a nasty crash but Matthews charges into a superkick. Back in and a springboard missile dropkick sets up the Oscutter for two. Matthews knees him in the head again and a stomp give him two of his own. Ospreay is back with the Styles Clash into the Hidden Blade for the pin at 12:12.

Rating: B. These guys beat the heck out of each other and it was the kind of a match that made me wonder where it was going. Ospreay wasn’t likely to lose here but dang they were having a good, hard hitting fight. Nice opener here and pretty much exactly what you would have expected.

Post match Ospreay asks for some love for Buddy “Murphy” before saying Matthews and Brody King don’t need a leader. Ospreay can see some success in their future and if Matthews ever needs a good man in his corner, let him know. That’s interesting.

Video on Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty.

Here is Private Party for a celebration but the Hurt Syndicate interrupts and walks past the velvet ropes. MVP proposes a toast: to the Syndicate winning the Tag Team Titles. My goodness Private Party could not feel less important.

Bobby Lashley vs. Mark Briscoe

MVP is on commentary. Lashley powers him into the corner to start bu Briscoe fights out with the Redneck Kung Fu. Briscoe goes up but dives into a suplex to send him outside. There’s a running shoulder to drop Briscoe again, setting up an overhead suplex. We take a break and come back with Briscoe striking away as the fight heads outside. A chair shot from underneath the ring hits Lashley (and sends MVP into hysterics), setting up a pair of flip dives. The Froggy Bow only gets one, and it’s a spear into a spinebuster into the Hurt Lock for the win at 10:09.

Rating: B-. This was a good way to make Lashley look like a monster while also keeping Briscoe looking strong enough. Lashley dominated but Briscoe kept fighting throughout, which made for a nice match. What matters here though is Lashley is getting the chance to look like a monster and he very well could be on his way to doing something big.

Post match the beatdown stays on until Private Party makes the save.

Casino Gauntlet Match

Unknown entrants, intervals that vary between entrants and the first fall gets a World Title shot next week. Jay White is in at #1 and Hangman Page is in at #2. They chop it out until Page runs him over with a shoulder for an early one. White sends him to the apron, where a Buckshot Lariat attempt is countered into a blocked Blade Runner attempt. A superplex brings Page down and it’s Wheeler Yuta in at #3.

Yuta immediately gets taken down with a Blade Runner for two but Page goes after White for two again. With the ring cleared, it’s….Ricochet in at #4, though he comes out to Swerve Strickland’s music to scare the heck out of Page. Ricochet cleans house and hits a dive to the floor as we take a break. Back with a tag match breaking out until Adam Cole is in at #5. Ricochet knocks him back but gets superkicked out of the air. A Panama Sunrise connects for two and it’s Daniel Garcia in at #6.

Garcia hammers away at a bunch of people in the corner at the same time before getting in a staredown with Yuta. Powerhouse Hobbs is in at #7 to send people flying (Menard: “Come on, we gotta be smarter than this guys!” and we take another break. Back again with Hobbs hitting Ricochet with a heck of a clothesline, followed by an easy slam to White. Hobbs’ knee is dropkicked out though and it’s Roderick Strong in at #8.

The Bladerunner connects for White but Yuta hits him low to break up the cover. Lance Archer is in at #9 to clean house before he and Hobbs throw Ricochet back and forth. They trade power moves until Kyle O’Reilly is in at #10. The big brawl is on and most of the people are down as Jeff Jarrett is in at #11….but Yuta jumps him from behind. They fight off to the back and it’s Hobbs planting O’Reilly with a spinebuster for the win at 25:51.

Rating: B-. This was a rather star heavy match for the most part and having Yuta in there to get beaten up was a nice touch. Hobbs winning is certainly a surprise and I’m curious to see where it’s going. It isn’t likely to lead to a title change, but at least it’s something rather new. The match wasn’t as good as some of the previous versions, but I do like having someone new getting a one off title match after a big win.

Post match Hobbs says we’re going to shoot and promises to make Jon Moxley his b**** next week (Renee Paquette is not pleased).

Jeff Jarrett comes to the ring (he never actually got in) and doesn’t seem sure if he’s still got it…and here is MJF to interrupt. MJF introduces himself and explains why he wants the title back, but there are a bunch of people in the way. It’s a regular Dr. Seuss book of challengers but there is one person who can still go after the title. MJF lists off Jarrett’s resume, which he had to look up because it’s way too old for him. The reality is that Jarrett has signed a one year deal, which is all wrestling thinks he has left to give.

MJF thinks he can help Jarrett get the World Title and all he asks is the first title shot. The offer is made and Jarrett takes the mic. Jarrett says that people like MJF are called one hit wonders around here. The fans chant ONE HIT WONDER and Jarrett thinks that might be a nice t-shirt. Jarrett has a year left and knows that he is going to have to work, but he’ll be doing it alone. This went a good bit longer than it needed to, though I’ve heard worse ideas than Jarrett having one last run, possibly with a nice groundswell underneath him.

We look at Darby Allin being taken out (again) by the Death Riders (again).

Here is Cope for a chat. He talks about how Jon Moxley has attacked Darby Allin and how Moxley doesn’t think much of Cope himself. Cope talks about the injuries he has suffered in the ring, including winning a match with a broken (non-freakin) neck. So what can Moxley do to him that hasn’t been done before? Cue the Death Riders but FTR jump them from behind to even things up. Cue Marina Shafir with the briefcase though, allowing Pac to drop Cope. Moxley chokes Cope out and loads up the plastic bag, but Powerhouse Hobbs makes the save. The Death Riders looking strong you say?

Mariah May wants the women to fight to become the #1 contender. Harley Cameron storms in and asks for a match on Collision. They can even make it non title “hot girl graps”. Eventually the match is made, with Cameron threatening to make her feel the wrath. Hilarious again.

Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander

For the #1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet Match. Nightingale starts fast by knocking Statlander outside and giving Storm a spinebuster. Statlander is back in but Storm crossbodies them down. Nightingale catapults Storm head first into a low blow on Statlander and we take a break.

Back with Statlander and Nightingale having a slightly reluctant standoff. Storm breaks it up though and all three are down. Back up and a series of knockdowns sets up Nightingale German suplexing both of them at once. Nightingale is knocked outside though and Statlander hits Staturday Night Fever for the pin on Storm at 9:56.

Rating: C+. Storm taking a pin here wasn’t something I would have expected but what mattered the most was giving Statlander a win. At the same time, this doesn’t mean Storm won’t be in the match next week so this could just be a setback. The match wasn’t anything great, but I could go for any of these three being given a bigger push.

Post break, Toni Storm isn’t surprised she didn’t win because she’s not ready. It can’t be Toni Time all the time.

Here is Kenny Omega for his big return. After some applause, Omega talks about how he was diagnosed with diverticulitis a little over a year ago. They took two feet of his intestines out and if he hadn’t, he would be dead. Omega as immediately asking about when he would be able to get back in the ring. The doctor, who apparently called him Kenny Omega, wasn’t sure if he could ever even get back to a normal way of life.

That didn’t work for Omega, who came back to be this version of himself. Not worried about money or power but just being the best in the world. Cue Don Callis to interrupt but Omega isn’t having this and charges outside to beat Callis down. The Don Callis Family comes in to beat Omega down, including a shot to the abdomen. Will Ospreay makes the save and we get a very tense staredown to end the show. Omega and Ospreay as AEW’s version of the Mega Powers is good, but dealing with the Don Callis Family doesn’t help.

Overall Rating: B-. This wasn’t a bad show by any means and it did set up a few things going forward. The problem is that some of those things aren’t overly interesting. The Death Riders vs. Rated FTR isn’t doing much for me and anything involving the Don Callis Family has me wondering when it’s going to be over. I like Powerhouse Hobbs getting a title shot as his push is long overdue and Buddy Matthews might be on his way to a push of his own. For now, good enough show and I’m curious about where some of these things are going.

Results
Will Ospreay b. Buddy Matthews – Hidden Blade
Bobby Lashley b. Mark Briscoe – Hurt Lock
Powerhouse Hobbs won the Casino Gauntlet Match – Spinebuster to O’Reilly
Kris Statlander b. Toni Storm and Willow Nightingale – Staturday Night Fever to Storm

 

 

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