Rampage
Date: July 26, 2024
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Matt Menard

It’s the Rampage after Dynamite, meaning we are in for the traditional Royal Rampage followup. That means a double ring battle royal with the winner getting a World Title shot at Grand Slam. In this case it means we have a different enough kind of show and that is often nice to see. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Royal Rampage

There are two rings with ten total entrants, last man standing gets a World Title shot at Grand Slam. Ring #1 starts with Orange Cassidy in at #1 and Brody King in at #2 while Ring #2 starts with Claudio Castagnoli in at #1 and Komander in at #2. Cassidy and Komander grab an arm each to start and walk the ropes but the wristdrags are both blocked. Tomohiro Ishii is in at #3 (Ring #1) and goes after King, with Cassidy offering a low bridge. Brian Cage is in at #3 (Ring #2) and plants Komander with a half nelson slam as Cassidy and King slug it out.

The Butcher is in at #4 (Ring #1) and teams up with Cage for a double elbow to Cassidy. Matt Menard jumps off commentary to be in at #4 (Ring #2) and that goes nowhere until Roderick Strong is in at #5 (Ring #1). Strong and Butcher beat up King and it’s Kip Sabian in at #5 (Ring #2). Sabian gets to clean house, including a gordbuster to Komander. Brandon Cutler is in at #6 (Ring #1) because when Excalibur said “TEN TOTAL ENTRANTS” he meant “TEN TOTAL ENTRANTS PER RING”, further proving that Excalibur is not very good at his job.

Cutler talks a lot and is immediately eliminated by Ishii. Nick Wayne is in at #6 (Ring #2) and Menard is eliminated to make room for him. Kyle O’Reilly is in at #7 (Ring #1) and starts striking away, as is his custom. Jeff Jarrett is in at #7 (Ring #2) as Menard is back on commentary. We take a break and come back with Butcher being eliminated and Matt Taven in at #8 (Ring #1). A DDT plants Cassidy and Komander is knocked out as well. Jay Lethal is in at #8 (Ring #2) and teams up with Jarrett to go after Wayne, who is tossed by Sabian.

Mike Bennett is in at #9 (Ring #1) and it’s a Backpack Stunner to Cassidy. The Beast Mortos is in at #9 (Ring #2) and gets to clean house until Jarrett clotheslines him down. Sabian is knocked out and it’s Darby All in at #10 (Ring #1), only to be knocked outside (not eliminated) by King. Lethal and Jarrett stop to strut as Lio Rush is in at #10 (Ring #2) to complete the field.

King and Allin fight up into the crowd despite not being eliminated. We take another break and come back with Mortos having been eliminated as King and Allin come back to ringside. Ishii and Bennett are both out, with Cassidy, Taven and O’Reilly following them out in short order. That leaves Strong, King and Allin in Ring #1 as Rush and Castagnoli fight in Ring #2.

They both wind up on the apron and Castagnoli swings Rush out. Strong is tossed out as well and Castagnoli eliminates Lethal to keep clearing the ring. King chokes Allin on the apron as he did in a previous edition but this time Allin slips out and hits a running body block to get rid of King and win Ring #1. Jarrett fights back on Cage and hammers away in the corner but here is Hangman Page to jump Jarrett and yell a lot.

That leaves Castagnoli and Cage in Ring #2 as we take another break. Back again with Castagnoli slugging at Cage, who pulls him out to the apron as well. A Neutralizer on the apron gets rid of Cage to win #Ring 2. Castagnoli goes after Allin and sends him to the floor (not out) before swinging him into the steps (geez). Back in and a nasty German suplex drops Allin again as Menard wants Allin to give up. They go to the apron with Castagnoli stomping away but Allin drapes him over the top and hits the Coffin Drop for the win at 36:44.

Rating: B. This is one of the more unique matches that AEW runs every year and it worked again here. Allin winning should make for a good World Title match when they get back to New York for Grand Slam and that is something they should have set up this far in advance. They’ve got a cool concept here and kept it moving to get all of the entrants in. Nice job and a good bit of fun.

Post match Castagnoli won’t shake hands.

Following an attack at the hands of Kris Statlander, Willow Nightingale agrees to give Statlander a match in South Carolina. No word on which show that will be.

Kris Statlander vs. Leila Grey

Statlander backdrops her down to start and hits a kick to the face, setting up Friday Night Fever for the pin at 54 seconds.

Lance Archer vs. Alejandro

Archer has jumped Alejandro in the back and carries him to the ring for the opening bell. Two chokeslams and the Blackout finish Alejandro at 1:06.

Saraya is ready to show what she can do on Dynamite.

Outrunners vs. Private Party vs. Righteous vs. Don Callis Family

Vincent headlocks Floyd to start but it’s quickly off to Magnum for the big pose. That’s broken up as well and it’s Dutch coming in to clean house. Floyd is sent hard into the corner and we take a break. Back with Quen busting out a big running flip dive but Floyd dives him a Stunner over the ropes. Fletcher comes in to hammer on Floyd in the corner and Rush adds the running slap. Fletcher’s piledriver finishes at 8:50.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to get going and they had to rush to the end. It was going to be tricky to make this work with the amount of time they had and they had a break to make it worse. The Family getting the win is a fine way to go, though winning a match like this is only going to have so much value.

Overall Rating: B. This was a unique show as most of it was spent on one match, which went well. The rest of the show was made up of a pair of squashes and a rather quick four way. I can go for a Rampage where the majority goes to a fun match as that’s about all you can ask for here. Nice stuff this week, though it’s not something you’ll see again for a good while.

Results
Darby Allin won Royal Rampage last eliminating Claudio Castagnoli
Kris Statlander b. Leila Grey – Friday Night Fever
Lance Archer b. Alejandro – Blackout
Don Callis Family b. Outrunners, Private Party and Righteous – Piledriver to Floyd

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Collision
Date: July 13, 2024
Location: Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We’re still in Canada after a pretty awesome Dynamite, meaning this show is going to have some work to do. The good thing is there is always the chance that they could pull it off, as the lineup looks strong enough. If nothing else, we should be able to move a bit closer to the All In card so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Tommy Billington

Don Callis is on commentary and the fans are behind Billington to start. Takeshita isn’t having anything of Billington’s running shoulders to start but Billington manages to knock him outside for a breather. Back in and Takeshita powers him into the corner before avoiding a running dropkick.

Billington hits a running crossbody and they go outside, with Billington sending him face first into the apron a few times. Back in and Takeshita hits a nice top rope superplex for two and we hit the chinlock. The double arm crank keeps Billington down and Takeshita sends him into the post as we take a break.

We come back with Billington hitting a top rope dive to the floor, followed by a missile dropkick back inside. There’s the snap suplex as Billington sounds impressed. Takeshita slams him off the top but Billington is right back with a Tombstone to leave them both down. The Swan Dive misses though and Takeshita hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Takeshita’s running knee finishes at 13:30.

Rating: B. Billington has done rather well in his two matches so far and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him getting a spot if he shows up more regularly. Throw in the family connection and it’s even better. His aggression makes up for some of his size issues and that could go a long way. Good, impressive stuff here.

Post match Callis offers Billington a spot in the Don Callis Family, but Billington says kiss my a**. Billington goes after Callis but gets jumped by Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher. FTR makes the save.

We look at Mariah May winning the Women’s Owen Hart Tournament and then destroying Toni Storm.

Bang Bang Gang vs. Michael Allen Richard Clark/Shaun Moore/London Lightning

Non-title. Robinson and Moore start things off, with Robinson allowing him a headlock. That goes rather badly for him as it’s the Gunns coming in for some running splashes. Lightning comes in and gets punched in the face for his efforts, setting up 3:10 To Yuma for the pin at 2:05.

Post match Austin says that since Jay White was injured at the hands of Christian Cage, Juice Robinson is officially a champion in his place. Cue Christopher Daniels to say not so fast, because an injured champion means the titles are officially vacated. Cue the Patriarchy to say they can just be the champions, but Daniels instead makes the Patriarchy vs. the Bang Bang Gang for the titles. Christian Cage passes on doing it now though. This seems to be quite the overly complicated solution, but I’ll certainly take it over an interim champion.

We look at Jake Perry beating Marko Stunt last week.

The House Of Black is ready to start building towards All In.

We get a nice look at Jeff Jarrett talking to Owen Hart’s family.

Roderick Strong vs. Dalton Castle

The winner gets a Ring Of Honor World Title shot at Death Before Dishonor and this match is taking place here because the regular Ring Of Honor show is useless. The Kingdom and the Outrunners are here too. Strong works on the arm to start and messes with Castle’s hair, which is really not that nice. Castle wrestles him down and they go to the ropes, with Strong needing a breather on the floor.

Back in and Castle sends him outside for a change, where the Outrunners give him enough of a pep….uh muscle flexing to fire him back up. Castle gets in a shot of his own to take over and a hurricanrana off the apron has Strong down. A Kingdom distraction lets Strong get in a cheap shot though and we take a break.

Back with Castle hitting a belly to back suplex and some hard strikes in the corner. Strong manages to knock him outside though, meaning the Kingdom can get in some good mocking. Strong suplexes him onto the apron and, after escaping the Bang A Rang, hits the jumping knee for the pin at 10:53.

Rating: B-. Not much to see here and there wasn’t exactly much drama about the winner in the first place. Strong is a bigger deal than Castle, who has fallen firmly into the jobber to the stars spot. At the same time, the Ring Of Honor World Title feels less and less important every day, with the #1 contender being decided here rather than, you know, in Ring Of Honor.

Ring Of Honor World Champion Mark Briscoe is at home in Delaware and training in his ring. He’s ready for blood and guts because that’s what he does, blood, guts and chicken s***. After that though, it’s going to be his title match against Roderick Strong. Works for him.

Someone who seems to be named Hologram appears to be coming next week.

Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway don’t think much of Willow Nightingale, whose favorite color is three. This will never end for Nightingale.

Nyla Rose vs. Ava Lawless

Chokeslam, superkick and Beast Bomb finish for Rose at 1:54.

We look at Bryan Danielson winning the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament by beating Hangman Page, setting up his World Title match against Swerve Strickland at All In.

Top Flight vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

In case the six man version on Rampage didn’t do enough for you, with Action Andretti and Shane Taylor at ringside. Dante rolls Moriarty up a few times to start and armdrags him into an armbar. Darius comes in but gets taken into the corner for a forearm from Ogogo. Back up and Darius sens him into the other corner so Dante can hit a running clothesline. A cheap shot from Moriarty lets Ogogo take over though and we take a break.

Back with Moriarty working on an armbar but Darius fights out, allowing the tag back to Dante. House is quickly cleaned, including a springboard high crossbody for two on Ogogo. It’s back to Darius but Ogogo knocks Dante outside to take over. Moriarty hits a clothesline for two and Taylor trips Darius down. Andretti dives onto Taylor, leaving Darius to hit something like an F5 to pin Moriarty at 11:49.

Rating: B-. This was getting good but never quite got to that next level. I can go for seeing these groups fighting each other, but it would be nice to see it have something on the line. Even if that means the next shot at the Trios Titles, it would be better than just having them keep fighting for weeks on end.

Post match Taylor comes in and the good guys are beaten down.

Deonna Purrazzo isn’t done with Thunder Rosa but is ready to burn everything down to remake it in her image. Rosa comes in and says they have a lumberjack match next week.

Nyla Rose is accepting the open challenge to face Mercedes Mone on Dynamite. She’s never driven a Mercedes but she’s going to wreck one next week. As usual, Rose is one of the most entertaining talkers around.

Skye Blue vs. Harley Cameron

Blue has a new cowgirl look while Cameron has Saraya (also in a cowboy hat) in her corner. Cameron grabs a rollup for an early two before choking away in the corner. A kick to the head and a clothesline put Blue down again but she ties Cameron in the corner for the Cheeky Nandos Kick.

Saraya offers a distraction so Cameron can ram Blue’s head onto the floor and we take a break. Back with Blue planting her for two more but Cameron slips out of a fireman’s carry. A running knee gives Cameron two but Blue hits a superkick. Blue’s TKO into something like a dragon sleeper finishes Cameron at 8:04.

Rating: C+. This was a good sign for Blue, as she has been needing something to move her up to the next level. While not losing as much would be a good start, the new hold could be another nice boost for her. Code Blue is fine enough, but it doesn’t feel like something that would be a big time finisher. Cameron has gotten better and could go somewhere, though it’s going to take more time.

We look at Chris Jericho taking out Samoa Joe on Dynamite, plus part of Jericho’s mocking response on Rampage.

Skye Blue challenges Hikaru Shida for next week.

Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Kingdom

Non-title and Roderick Strong is on commentary. The Kingdom bails to the floor to start so Cassidy takes them out with a dive. Back in and Cassidy trades armdrags with Bennett before backdropping Taven. O’Reilly comes in to strike away until Taven rakes his eyes. Everything breaks down and O’Reilly ankle locks Bennett, which is broken up by Taven.

Cassidy and Bennett fight to the floor before Bennett comes back in for the backpack Stunner/running boot combination to O’Reilly. Back up and O’Reilly hits a double clothesline as we take a break. We come back with a pop up right hand dropping Cassidy for two but he avoid a splash in the corner. Bennett gets kicked away and the tag brings in O’Reilly for the house cleaning. Some dragon screw legwhips have the Kingdom in trouble but it’s a springboard spinning kick to the face to put O’Reilly back down.

Bennett is catapulted into the corner to knock Taven down and it’s back to Cassidy. The Beach Break gets two and it’s time for Strong to come down to the ring. Cue Tomohiro Ishii to brawl with Strong but the distraction lets Trent Beretta run in and take out Cassidy. The distraction lets the Hail Mary finish O’Reilly at 13:40.

Rating: B. The ending picked up a good bit and it was nice to see the champions actually win a match for a change. If nothing else, this avoids the champions taking another loss before defending against a random team at Death Before Dishonor. Cassidy’s issues continue as well and there is a good chance that it lets to yet another match with Beretta. Just in case you hadn’t gotten the point already.

Post match Trent jumps Cassidy and then goes to yell at the Kingdom, allowing Cassidy to grab a wrench and deck Trent from behind. Ishii comes back in to pose with Cassidy and O’Reilly.

A video on MJF vs. Will Ospreay ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show was a bit more entertaining than last week’s as it didn’t feel like it had quite so much filler. That is often the worst thing about Collision so any week where the pace picks up a bit is nice to see. The main event was a hot enough match and the titles being stripped, while a bit more complicated than needed, is a big moment. Throw in a good opener and this was a pretty easy watch, which is always nice.

Results
Konosuke Takeshita b. Tommy Billington – Running knee
Bang Bang Gang b. Michael Allen Richard Clark/Shaun Moore/London Lightning – 3:10 To Yuma to Lightning
Roderick Strong b. Dalton Castle – Jumping knee
Nyla Rose b. Ava Lawless – Beast Bomb
Top Flight b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Fireman’s carry faceplant to Moriarty
Skye Blue b. Harley Cameron – Modified dragon sleeper

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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Collision
Date: June 29, 2024
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

We’re a day away from Forbidden Door and that means it is time for the big final push towards the show. That could go in a variety of ways but with most of the show already set, this is likely going to be about pushing things that have already been set up. That could still make for a good show so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii vs. TMDK

Haste wants to check on Cassidy’s pockets to start but with nothing happening, it’s off to Ishii instead. They go head to head to no avail so we’ll try Eagles vs. Cassidy instead. Cassidy takes him down without much trouble and sends Eagles into the corner so many times that Eagles has to grab the referee. Tis but a ruse though, as Haste drops Cassidy onto the apron, allowing Eagles to hit a bit flip dive as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy kicking Haste into Eagles, allowing the tag off to Ishii to clean house. Haste’s kick to the face is shrugged off and Ishii grabs a Saito suplex for two. Ishii and Cassidy hit the alternating strikes in the corner and Cassidy’s top rope elbow gets two. Back up and a Falcon Arrow plants Cassidy but he’s back with Stundog Millionaire. Eagles plants him again but Ishii makes the save. Cassidy kicks Haste into the corner though and grabs the Beach Break for the pin at 10:46.

Rating: C+. This was about getting Cassidy in the ring with Zack Sabre Jr.’s teammates and little more, which made for kind of a weird match. Cassidy is working rather hard as of late and might be more than a bit worn down for Sabre, which tends to be exactly what he tends to do most of the time. Not bad at all here, but it feels a bit off from the matches Cassidy and Ishii have tomorrow.

We get a Hangman Page vignette as he sits and drinks in his empty house. That very well could be the wildcard from the Elite. Or he’s just a loner drunk again.

The Learning Tree is in the back and walks into the trainer’s area to complain about faulty wrist taping. Chris Jericho also advocates stealing tape.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Lady Frost

Non-title and here is Mercedes Mone to watch. Vaquer puts her down to start and then spins out of a wristlock. An STF sends Frost over to the ropes and they head outside, where Frost snaps off a hurricanrana. Frost tries a handstand on the apron but gets superkicked, leaving us with a Mone/Vaquer staredown as we take a break.

Back with Frost hitting some faceplants to send Frost into the mat but Frost kicks her in the head. A twisting high crossbody gives Frost two, with Mone approving at ringside. Vaquer is back with a spinning DDT for two and some headbutts in the corner have Frost in more trouble. A package backbreaker finishes Frost at 7:58.

Rating: C+. Well at least they finally got Vaquer in the ring for once before her title match against Mone. That’s what we’ve been needing since the match was announced as Vaquer hasn’t wrestled in AEW prior to this, which doesn’t give fans much to go on. This was better than nothing, but the story is only going to be so interesting going into tomorrow.

Post match Mone comes in for the staredown but Vaquer leaves. Vaquer’s partner, Zeuxis, comes in to jump Mone, allowing Vaquer to lay Mone out.

The Lucha Bros are ready for Forbidden Door when Los Ingobernables de Japon come in to challenge Death Triangle. The Bros are going to pass because Pac is in the Owen Hart Cup, but they’ll team with Mistico instead. Los Ingobernables are cool with that. Well Takahashi isn’t, as he’s kind of panicking over the Mistico idea.

Serena Deeb vs. Kelly Madan

Deeb chops away to start and hits a neckbreaker over the middle rope. A hammerlock lariat into Deebtox finishes Madan at 1:15.

Post match Deeb says she isn’t going into wrestling purgatory and wants some competition. And cue Riho for the staredown, because it’s time to pretend she’s amazing again.

The Learning Tree critiques hand washing techniques.

Post match the Learning Tree tries to ride a Zamboni machine but get beaten up by Samoa Joe and pals. The fight heads into the arena, where Jeff Cobb runs in to even things out so the Learning Tree can stand tall.

Video on Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy.

Cassidy says his world is falling apart but he’s here, unlike Sabre. Cue Sabre to say he knows what Cassidy is going to do, so Cassidy offers to pin him with his hands in his pockets. Cassidy grabs him by the shirt, with Sabre saying he’s already won.

Hechicero vs. Kevin Blackwood

Hechicero takes him down and ties up the leg before switching to an ankle lock. Some elbows to the face and a flapjack set up a Mad Scientist Bomb to rock Blackwood again. The Rings of Saturn with the legs makes Blackwood tap at 2:22.

The Patriarchy wants the Trios Titles so here is the Bang Bang Gang for the argument. Jay White mocks the team but gets why Christian Cage wants to latch onto him.

Daniel Garcia vs. The Butcher

They’re both from Buffalo. They fight over a lockup to start until Butcher powers him into the corner for some stomping. Garcia fights back but gets taken outside for a ram into the barricade. Garcia’s running boot is countered into a backdrop onto the barricade and we take a break. Back with the fans declaring this awesome as Butcher keeps Garcia in trouble. Garcia fights back and grabs a swinging neckbreaker for the breather. Back up and Garcia shrugs off a big boot before dropping Butcher with a clothesline. The piledriver finishes for Garcia at 9:00.

Rating: C+. The fans were into it, but I’m really not sure what the point is in having the fans split between two hometown stars before Garcia gets his big title match next week. Garcia isn’t likely to win, but this wasn’t the best way to get the fans behind him on the way there. Then again there have always been some rather odd choices for Garcia in AEW.

Post match dancing ensues and respect is shown.

The Don Callis Family interrupts Will Ospreay, who still says he can win the World Title on his own. That works for Callis and we pan out to show Rush standing with the Family.

Brodie Lee is getting his own custom shoe.

Jack Perry wants the TNT Title but doesn’t want to wrestle tonight. Christopher Daniels pops in to say Perry wrestles tonight or he’s out of the title match. Fans chant for CM Punk.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Hikaru Shida vs. Deonna Purrazzo

They fight over wrist control to start before switching to an exchange of forearms. Purrazzo gets knocked into the corner with an enziguri and then out to the floor, with Shida hitting a big dive. Back up and Purrazzo kicks her down and we take a break. We come back with Shida hitting some running knees for two but Purrazzo legsweeps her down. The Fujiwara armbar goes on but Shida slips out again. A step up kick to the head drops Purrazzo and the Falcon Arrow connects. The Katana finishes Purrazzo at 9:09.

Rating: B-. I’m a bit surprised that Purrazzo lost here as she was on something of a roll. That being said, Shida is possibly the most successful star in the history of AEW’s women’s division so losing to her is hardly some career killer. They did well here with Shida getting another win, and while I can’t imagine her winning the whole thing, someone will get a nice boost from beating her.

Post match Purrazzo jumps Shida again but Thunder Rosa runs in for the save.

We get another rather serious video from Jeff Jarrett, talking about what it means to honor Owen Hart’s legacy. The rest of Jarrett’s friends are ready to have his back, though he wants to go to the ring on his own. They all seem ok with this and will be with him in spirit.

We get a very slow pan up Toni Storm as she talks about how she is ready to beat Mina Shirakawa. As you might expect, this is rather over the top, as only Storm can do.

Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush vs. Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo

Rush and Perry start things off but let’s try Takeshita instead. Rush gets two off a quick rollup before getting kicked in the face for his efforts. Phantasm comes in and all three opponents send him into the corner for some running clotheslines. We settle down to Rush’s suplex getting two on Phantasmo but he fights back up for a breather. Hold on though as Perry drops to the floor instead of tagging. Briscoe dropkicks Perry through the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Martin hurricanranaing Phantasm and Takeshita at the same time, allowing the tag back to Briscoe. Phantasmo kicks Briscoe in the head so Rush can come back in to pick up the pace. A suicide dive take Takeshita down but Phantasm and Martin hit dives of their own. Back in and Martin’s frog splash gets two with Perry making the save.

Briscoe’s running flip dive from the apron misses though and Takeshita comes back in to clean house. Martin catches him on top with a super hurricanrana, only o have Perry break up something on top. The distraction lets Takeshita hit the Blue Thunder Bomb into the running knee to finish Martin at 10:51.

Rating: B-. This was the preview for the ladder match which has nothing to do with ladders but that’s how ladder matches are built up. It’s hard to imagine anyone but Perry winning but at least there is quite the lineup of talent involved. It also helps that it was the best match of the night so far, though the lineup has only been so good this week.

Post match Perry decks Takeshita, who gets superkicked by Phantasmo, who gets Stunnered by Rush, who gets in a tug o war with Martin, who is knocked down by a ladder shot from Briscoe, who climbs the ladder and throws the title onto the pile before hitting a flip dive onto everyone.

Forbidden Door rundown.

We get the weigh-in for the World Title match between Swerve Strickland and Will Ospreay, with Prince Nana as moderator. Ospreay weighs 220 and Swerve weighs 230. They go nose to nose and pose for photos before Ospreay says they are 24 hours away from ushering in a new era. Swerve talks about how he’s a businessman and offers Ospreay’s wife a contract. That’s enough for the fight to be on, with all of the seconds getting into it as well. Ospreay manages a quick Hidden Blade and poses over Swerve to end the show. This has been the best built match on the pay per view, but I’m worried that it’s going to get overshadowed.

Overall Rating: B-. The ending segment was good, but this was a show that seemed more designed as a big preview for tomorrow’s event. While that makes sense on paper, there is only so much that you can get out of having a preview of what is supposed to be a bunch of one off special matches. It also doesn’t help that this was a two hour show which came the day before an hour long show and the day before a four plus hour pay per view (with an hour and a half pre-show). Not a bad show, but not one you really needed to watch.

Results
Orange Cassidy/Tomohiro Ishii b. TMDK – Beach Break to Haste
Stephanie Vaquer b. Lady Frost – Package backbreaker
Serena Deeb b. Kelly Madan – Deebtox
Hechicero b. Kevin Blackwood – Rings of Saturn with legs
Daniel Garcia b. The Butcher – Piledriver
Hikaru Shida b. Deonna Purrazzo – Katana
Konosuke Takeshita/Jack Perry/El Phantasmo b. Mark Briscoe/Dante Martin/Lio Rush – Running knee to Martin

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

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Rampage
Date: June 28, 2024
Location: PPL Center, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni

We are two days away from Forbidden Door and that means the card is mostly set up. While there is a chance that we could see something else for the pay per view, there is a good chance that we are going to be seeing a few minor pushes towards Sunday and little more. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Orange Cassidy vs. Outrunners

Cassidy works on Magnum’s arm to start and then mocks the double bicep pose. Floyd comes in and manages a running shoulder to drop Cassidy, meaning we get the REAL double bicep. Back up and Cassidy knocks both of them down, setting up the double dropkick. The referee almost gets hit but gets hugged instead, with the distraction causing Cassidy to get caught in a double belly to back suplex. A double slam gives the Outrunners two but Cassidy rams them into each other. Floyd is sent outside for a dive and the high crossbody hits Magnum. The Orange Punch gives Cassidy the pin on Magnum at 6:05.

Rating: C. That’s quite the odd choice to give Cassidy a win on his way into a showdown with a technical master like Zack Sabre Jr. The Outrunners are little more than a couple of comedy goofs and it isn’t a bit deal to see Cassidy beat them. Nothing much to see here and I’m not sure I get the thinking behind this one.

The Learning Tree has a new partner for the six man tag at Forbidden Door and we’ll find out who it is on Collision.

Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong vs. Infantry

The Kingdom and Trish Adora are here too. Kidd runs Bravo over with a shoulder to start and it’s Strong coming in for some hard chops in the corner. Strong gets caught in the wrong corner but cuts Dean off with a backbreaker as we take a break. Back with Dean caught in the wrong corner but a missed double clothesline allows the diving tag to Bravo. A slingshot cutter gets two on Kidd and there’s an ax kick to put him down again. Strong breaks up Boot Camp though and Kidd hits a quick piledriver to pin Bravo at 6:27. Not enough shown to rate but it was a competitive enough match.

There is going to be a Brodie Lee commemorative shoe.

TNT Title Qualifying Match: El Phantasmo vs. AR Fox

They run the ropes to start until Phantasmo snaps off a headscissors into a dropkick. A very springboardy hurricanrana takes Fox down but he avoids a dive and knocks Phantasmo outside. The big dive connects but Phantasmo is back up with a running forearm. An atomic drop into a Russian legsweep has Fox down as Nigel notices the Bret Hart homage. Phantasmo’s Lionsault gets two but Fox enziguris him into a twisting brainbuster. Fox puts him up top but takes too long, allowing Phantasmo to come back with a middle rope Canadian Destroyer. A faceplant finishes for Phantasmo at 5:24.

Rating: B-. Nice, fast paced match here, though it’s kind of hard to get behind the idea that Fox is going to win anything of value. Phantasmo is the New Japan representative in the title match, though it’s hard to imagine that he is going to win. For now though, I’ll take a pretty good match on TV with two talented stars.

Deonna Purrazzo is ready for the Owen Hart Tournament and her first round match against Hikaru Shida.

Dalton Castle vs. Shingo Takagi

They fight over a lockup to start until Takagi runs him over and we take an early break. Back with Takagi hitting a backsplash and driving in some elbows to the head. Castle is back up with a suplex and a spinning elbow to the head, followed by a reverse Sling Blade for two. Takagi grabs a Gory Bomb into a DDT, setting up Made In Japan to finish Castle at 7:49.

Rating: C+. The more I see Castle out there doing his awesome stuff, if nothing else his entrance, the more amazed I am that he is little more than a jobber to the stars. I know his back is messed up, but how do you look at someone with his unique set of talents and have nothing better for him? It’s one of the bigger shames in AEW and while I’d love to believe that it’s going to get better, it’s hard to believe that is a realistic option.

Saraya isn’t worried about Mariah May.

Skye Blue vs. Queen Aminata

They start fast with Blue missing a big boot and getting German suplexed for an early two. An exchange of rollups doesn’t go anywhere so Aminata grabs a pair of vertical suplexes. Back up and Blue hits some running knees to put Aminata outside, setting up the dive to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Aminata hitting a PK for two, followed by a heck of a running boot against the rope. Another suplex on the apron rocks Blue but the running hip attack only hits the steps. Blue suplexes her off the steps for a change of pace and a near fall back inside. Skyfall is broken up and Aminata headbutts her for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C+. What an odd choice for a main event. There is almost nothing going on with these two, at least in AEW, and yet they get the main event slot and longest match on the show. Aminata seems likely to be in line for a Women’s Title match in Ring Of Honor, but I’m not sure why she is getting this kind of a spot on a pay per view weekend.

Aminata tries to show respect post match but gets superkicked for her efforts. Red Velvet runs in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. In theory this was a preview for Forbidden Door with some other stuff thrown in, though Kidd isn’t on the pay per view card at the moment and Phantasmo is going to be one of a bunch of people in a ladder match. In other words, this was the usual somewhat random assortment of matches that tends to fill out Rampage. It’s not a bad show at all, but there were a few times where I was wondering why something was taking place.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Outrunners – Orange Punch to Magnum
Gabe Kidd/Roderick Strong b. Infantry – Piledriver to Bravo
El Phantasmo b. AR Fox – Faceplant
Shingo Takagi b. Dalton Castle – Made In Japan
Queen Aminata b. Skye Blue – Headbutt

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: June 19, 2024
Location: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We are about a week and a half away from Forbidden Door and there is a good chance that we will see some more matches added this week. Other than that, we have a pay per view quality match with Rush facing MJF to open the show. That could open the door for both of them to do something else at the pay per view so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Rush

This is commercial free. Rush slugs away to start and drops down, only to have MJF strut over him. MJF loads up a chop, teases it for a long time, and then pokes him in the eye instead. The referee checks on Rush in the corner, which is enough of a distraction for Rush to headbutt him down. Back up and Rush hits him in the face and then unloads with forearms in the corner, allowing the Tranquilo pose. As you might expect, MJF charges at him and hammers away but Rush knocks him down again.

The Bull’s Horns misses though and MJF gets two off a small package. A lifting DDT (ala Saraya’s Rampaige) gives MJF two and a piledriver gets the same, allowing a quick breather. MJF’s charge is suplexed into the corner and a cross arm piledriver gives Rush two. They go outside for some hard rams into the barricade and MJF is in big trouble.

Rush throws a chair inside, and the distraction allows him to get in some whipping with an electric cable. A missed charge sends Rush into the barricade but he’s fine enough to suplex a charging MJF off the apron. Back in and the Bull’s Horns is cut off with a hard clothesline and MJF grabs a spinebuster. The Heatseeker into a brainbuster finishes for MJF at 14:19.

Rating: B. It was a hard hitting match though thankfully not as dominant as most of Rush’s matches. MJF had to get in his shots where he could and that worked out well, which is about all you can ask for in something like this. MJF should be on his way to something big at Forbidden Door, as he’s going to need something important after his comeback win here.

Post match, the Cage of Agony pops up to announce MJF vs. Hechicero at Forbidden Door. The match is apparently not official so MJF….has nothing to say.

Mark Briscoe and friends are ready for revenge and redemption….but Jack Perry walks by to annoy them. For tonight though, it’s an all-star tag match. Then Orange Cassidy gives Renee Paquette a bracelet.

Here are Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland for a face to face chat. Ospreay brags about his success and calls himself the best in the world, but Swerve says that’s him. They’ve taken different career paths but here they are, coming to Forbidden Door at the same time. Swerve asks if Don Callis is going to be helping Ospreay try (yes try) to win the World Title. Ospreay says he can do this by himself and lists off his wins. Ospreay: “Bruv, while you had a hit row, I had a hit list.”

What if that kill shot from Swerve is just a bit off? It doesn’t matter what Ospreay does to Swerve, because Swerve is going to wake up without that World Title. Swerve says Ospreay can thank him for his firs pay per view main event but what if Swerve breaks Ospreay’s leg? If Ospreay can’t wrestle, who is he? Swerve doesn’t think Ospreay is ready to sacrifice the love of his wife or his son, with the mention of the latter making Ospreay much more serious.

Prince Nana has to break it up, but Swerve asks what if he does make it personal. Send his regards to Ospreay’s wife and son, which has the two of them going face to face but it doesn’t get physical. This was a heck of a segment, with both of them bringing the intensity and Swerve selling the stakes of the match, both with and without the title.

Don Callis tells the Family that it’s all going to be fine.

Mark Briscoe/Kyle O’Reilly/Orange Cassidy/Dante Martin vs. Kyle Fletcher/Roderick Strong/Zack Sabre Jr./Konosuke Takeshita

It’s a brawl to start with Cassidy and Sabre being left in the ring. That’s broken up so Fletcher sends Briscoe outside for a suicide dive. O’Reilly grabs a kneebar on Strong in the ropes, with Sabre putting Cassidy in an octopus next to them. Briscoe nails the step up flip dive onto Fletcher, with Martin adding a springboard flip dive as we take a break.

Back with a tag match breaking out and Sabre flipping Cassidy into a sunset flip for two. Takeshita comes in and drops Cassidy but he gets over to O’Reilly rather easily. Strong drops O’Reilly, who gets back up and slugs his way to freedom. Martin comes in but gets caught with a heck of a powerbomb, with Briscoe making the save.

We take another break and come back with Briscoe coming back in to clean house. Takeshita gets put down and it’s the Froggy Bow into a frog splash into Cassidy’s falling top rope elbow for two with Sabre making the save. Red Neck Kung Fu takes Sabre down but we hit the parade of knockdowns. Martin hits a pair of dives and Briscoe adds the apron Blockbuster to Takeshita. Sabre’s European Clutch gets two on Cassidy but O’Reilly shoves him out of the way to take Strong’s running knee. The Orange Punch finishes Strong at 16:44.

Rating: B+. This is one of the places where AEW tends to shine as it was a bunch of insanity with everyone going nuts and getting in their stuff. The Cassidy vs. Sabre stuff helps build towards their Forbidden Door match while last week had already seemingly set up Briscoe vs. Fletcher. That should be enough but maybe we get another match or two out of here in some combination.

Post match Jack Perry comes in to deck Martin, leaving Cassidy and Sabre to stare each other down.

Mercedes Mone is ready for Stephanie Vaquer.

Don Callis comes in to see Rush.

Young Bucks vs. Acclaimed

Non-title, Billy Gunn isn’t here and Caster’s rap is cut off again, with Kazuchika Okada being shown turning off the microphone. It’s a brawl before the bell, with Matt being caught in a neckbreaker/backbreaker combination. Scissor Me Timbers hits Nick so it’s off to Matt, who walks into a hiptoss. The Bucks take over on Caster though and we take an early break.

Back with Bowens hitting the jumping Fameasser on Matt but his bad leg gives out again. A superkick gives Matt two and the Swanton in the ropes gets the same. Caster is knocked outside but Bowens blocks the EVP Trigger. Stereo superkicks get two with Caster making the save. The EVP Trigger connects but Caster breaks it up again. A powerbomb/Sliced Bread combination gets two on Bowens and the Bucks are stunned. Nick brings in the belt but hits Matt by mistake, setting up the Arrival into the Mic Drop for the pin at 10:17.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to see the Bucks giving a team a win, even if there is a grand total of zero chance the Acclaimed win the titles whenever they get their shot. Bowens kicking out of the powerbomb combination was good, but this felt more like the Acclaimed won when the Bucks screwed up rather than beating them. That doesn’t exactly make me want to see a rematch, but the Bucks are the stars so they’re going to be the focus no matter what anyway.

Samoa Joe and Hook talk about….calzones, before storming the Premiere Athletes’ locker room. They find a note with a challenge for a six man, with Katsuyori Shibata, holding the camera, being in as well.

Here is Mariah May to emcee the contract signing between Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa. After extensive cheek kissing, May says she loves them both but Shirakawa tells her to shut up. Shirakawa says Storm was a big deal in Stardom but she is weak as champion. The fans want Shirakawa, so she’s taking the title and May at Forbidden Door. Shirakawa signs but Storm threatens to slap her chest off if she talks to May again.

Storm signs but Shirakawa says May must choose. Cue the Outcasts to say enough of this, with Anna Jay sneaking in from behind. The beatdown is on but Storm takes her shoe off to clean house. Storm’s hip attack misses though and she goes through the table. I’m not sure I get the backstory, but I get enough of the story of Storm vs. Shirakawa and that’s more than I get for most of the Forbidden Door card.

Video on Claudio Castagnoli vs. Pac.

Women’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Kris Statlander vs. Nyla Rose

Stokely Hathaway is here with Statlander, who slugs away to no avail to start. Rose is back up with a crossbody but Statlander sends her outside as we take a break. Back with Rose powering her into the corner and hitting a running clothesline, setting up the Cannonball. The Beast Bomb is countered and Statlander kicks her in the head for two. The 450 misses for Statlander but she crotches Rose up top. Wednesday Night Fever finishes for Statlander at 7:52.

Rating: C+. This was a good enough power match, assuming you could get much out of a match that runs about eight minutes and has a break in the middle. We very well could be heading for a Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale showdown, which has been set up for a few weeks now. It also shows how much it helps when you have a monster like Rose, as beating her makes Statlander look that much more important.

Post match Stokely calls out Willow Nightingale, who pops up on screen to say she’ll see Statlander in the second round.

We look at Private Party beating up the Learning Tree last week.

Private Party is ready for their upcoming match but the Learning Tree comes in, with Chris Jericho warning them to avoid the piledriver. “That doesn’t work for me brother!” More of the usual from Jericho.

Daniel Garcia vs. Rhett Titus

Titus starts fast but gets dropkicked into the corner. Some neckbreakers set up the Red Cross for the pin at 1:00.

Post match the Cage of Agony runs in to beat down Garcia and Matt Menard (who was on commentary). MJF makes the save but gets beaten down, so Will Ospreay makes the real save. The Ospreay vs. MJF staredown gets the fans’ attention.

Post break, Brian Cage and Will Ospreay yell at each other and a match is made for Collision.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Pac vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Bryan Danielson is on commentary. Pac starts fast and knocks him to the floor, only to charge into one heck of a Swiss Death as we take a break. Back with Pac slugging away and avoiding a charge to send Castagnoli into the post. Pac snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor and an Asai moonsault drops Castagnoli again. A springboard elbow hits Castagnoli again and it’s time to slug it out.

Pac’s German suplex just wakes Castagnoli up again so Pac kicks him down, only to miss the Black Arrow. Castagnoli’s uppercut gets two so he sends Pac swinging. The Riccola Bomb is loaded up but Pac reverses into the Brutalizer, which is reversed into the Sharpshooter. With that almost broken up, Castagnoli switches into a crossface, which is escaped as well. They trade rollups for two each until Pac manages to keep him down for the pin at 11:07. Danielson is impressed.

Rating: B. It’s nice to see Pac getting a win here and beating Castagnoli is quite the mountain to conquer. Pac is still an impressive star and it’s nice to have him around for a slightly extended period of time for a change. If nothing else, we could be seeing Danielson vs. Pac later in the tournament and that could be a rather good one.

Post match Castagnoli won’t shake hands, with Danielson trying to calm him down to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. As usual, you get a better AEW show when they are mainly focused on the in-ring action rather than anything else. The Young Bucks didn’t get to talk and Chris Jericho only had a quick backstage segment so things were a bit better than usual. At the same time, you had the Forbidden Door build, which was as rapid fire as usual, but there are enough good things on there to make it work. Rather strong show this week.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Rush – Brainbuster
Mark Briscoe/Kyle O’Reilly/Orange Cassidy/Dante Martin b. Kyle Fletcher/Roderick Strong/Zack Sabre Jr./Kazuchika Okada – Orange Punch to Strong
Acclaimed b. Young Bucks – Mic Drop to Matt
Kris Statlander b. Nyla Rose – Wednesday Night Fever
Daniel Garcia b. Rhett Titus – Red Cross
Pac b. Claudio Castagnoli – Rollup

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

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

AND

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

Dynamite
Date: June 12, 2024
Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We have less than three weeks to go before Forbidden Door and last week saw some more of the card coming together. In addition to all of that though, Will Ospreay is the #1 contender and will be challenging Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title. On the New Japan front, Jon Moxley will be defending the IWGP Title against former champion Tetsuya Naito. We have 18 days to get to those matches though so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Here is Swerve Strickland, with Prince Nana, for an opening chat. He hypes up the Forbidden Door title match against Will Ospreay and praises Ospreay’s recent successes. Ospreay has been an assassin, but that won’t be the case at Forbidden Door. Strickland is called Killshot because if you don’t pull the trigger, he will. Ospreay is a fighting champion, unlike the Young Bucks….which brings out the Elite to interrupt.

The Bucks brag about how they have cleared out half the roster and that means they want the best of AEW to Blood & Guts at some point in the future. The Elite gets in the ring and offer Swerve a spot on the team as the fifth man. They throw in an offer of their new shoes, but they aren’t Swerve’s size so he throws them into the crowd. The fight is teased but the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn run in for the save. Christopher Daniels pops in to say get out of the ring because we have a match to get going. I’m not sure when Blood & Guts is happening but it very well might be the big blowoff to the whole Elite thing.

TNT Title Qualifying Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Jack Perry

Perry is in street clothes and they brawl out to the floor to start, with Perry sending him into the steps. A piledriver onto the exposed concrete is countered into a backdrop to put Perry down and we take a break. Back with Rhodes busted open and Perry choking on the rope. Perry takes too long though and gets caught in a snap powerslam for a breather.

They slug it out until Rhodes snaps off a bulldog and hammers away as well. Cross Rhodes is broken up so we get an old Flip Flop And Fly. Now Cross Rhodes can connect for two but Perry sends him into an exposed buckle (apparently the pad was pulled off earlier). Dustin gets dropped onto the exposed concrete but beats the count. Back in and Perry gets in a low blow, only for Dustin to flip him off. The running knee finishes for Perry at 10:06.

Rating: C+. I still do not get the Perry hype and this didn’t change that stance. The match was full of things like low blows and cheap shots and it didn’t make me care about Perry any more or less. He’s still just a guy in the ring whose best attribute seems to be the friends he keeps and that’s not exactly making him feel like a star. Odds are he wins the TNT Title, though maybe sanity will prevail instead.

We look at Kyle O’Reilly and Willow Nightingale saving Orange Cassidy on Collision.

Cassidy is happy to have O’Reilly, Nightingale and Mark Briscoe behind him. Briscoe calls them a conglomeration and goes into a crazed rant about how they are going to hurt the Don Callis Family (O’Reilly’s jaw dropping in awe makes it even better). That was some amazing stuff from Briscoe, who just turned up the insanity and went nuts on his opponents.

Rush vs. Deonn Rusman

Rush knocks him to the floor, beats him up, and hits the Bull’s Horns for the pin at 1:29.

Post match Rush grabs the mic and calls Rusman a typical weak American. Cue MJF and the brawl is on, with MJF and Rush stopping to beat up security. The fight heads into the crowd and then into the back, with Christopher Daniels failing to break it up. The locker room and agents break it up.

We look at Samoa Joe and Hook attacking the Premiere Athletes on Collision.

Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is on commentary and Trent Beretta and the Kingdom are here with the villains. Strong wants to face O’Reilly to start before handing it off to Fletcher instead. Briscoe comes in and strikes away at Takeshita and it’s off to O’Reilly as the rapid fire tags continue. Everything breaks down and Fletcher hits a big dive, followed by one from Cassidy. Trent offers a distraction though and Takeshita drops Cassidy as we take a break.

Back with O’Reilly getting the tag and starting to clean house. Everything breaks down and Red Neck Kung Fu clears the ring. Cassidy’s top rope DDT gets two on Fletcher but Takeshita counters the Jay Driller into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Stundog Millionaire hits Fletcher but Strong distracts Cassidy on top. Fletcher gets dropped with a brainbuster and Briscoe adds the Froggy Bow for two. A cheap shot drops Briscoe and Fletcher hits the piledriver for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: B. They didn’t even try to have a normal tag match here and they shouldn’t have. This was all about getting in as much as they could and it was a blast once they just went full speed ahead. I’m not wild on the Ring Of Honor World Title being made to look less important, but that whole thing has been a wash for a long time now. Really fast paced, entertaining match here.

Post match the villains keep up the beatdown so Willow Nightingale tries to make the save. Kris Statlander cuts that off though and Stokely Hathaway threatens more violence.

Rey Fenix is ready for Will Ospreay.

Shingo Takagi is in the Owen Hart Cup.

Christopher Daniels says Tony Khan is putting the Elite in Eliminator Matches next week, with all seconds barred from ringside.

Hook/Samoa Joe vs. Premiere Athletes

Hook and Joe jump them during their entrance and Katsuyori Shibata is a cameraman. We start with Joe hammering away on Nese before it’s off to Hook, who gets stomped down in the corner. Hook sidesteps Daivari’s dive (Joe approves) and stereo chokes finish the Athletes at 2:30. Now can we please stop presenting the Athletes as a big deal on ROH? Of course not, but this isn’t going to make me care about them any more.

Stephanie Vaquer is ready to face one of the best in Mercedes Mone.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Zeuxis

Zeuxis (Vaquer’s regular partner) is challenging and sends her into the ropes to start. That doesn’t get her very far as Mone gets in her dancing before taking Zeuxis down for two. A spinning kick staggers Mone but she takes the legs out, only for Zeuxis to pop back up. The running dropkick puts Mone on the floor as we take an early break.

Back with Zeuxis hitting a fireman’s carry into a powerbomb for two. Mone’s middle rope sunset flip is countered into a stomp to the ribs for two more. Back up and Mone hits a middle rope Meteora for two of her own. Three Amigos are countered into a Backstabber for two on Mone but she’s right back with the Mone Maker for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C+. This is a good example of why Forbidden Door season is a problem. We barely know who Stephanie Vaquer is and now we’re supposed to be interested in Mone wrestling Vaquer’s partner. These stories tend to go at about a million miles an hour (as they don’t have time to do anything else) and if you aren’t familiar with the guest stars, it can be really hard to get into these matches. Zeuxis was good enough, but I’m having a real hard time getting into this Mone vs. Vaquer match and this didn’t help things.

Video on Mina Shirakawa and her friendship with Mariah May.

May, cuddled up to Toni Storm, promises to run next week’s contract signing, though Storm isn’t worried.

Big Bill introduces Chris Jericho for TV Time (and yes there is now a Learning Tree set). Jericho tells the local farmers how to grow better corn but thinks Private Party needs to learn. Cue Private Party, with Jericho not thinking much of their fundamentals. He learned from Stu Hart and explains how to go up top like Owen Hart. Then Private Party beats up the villains and clear the ring. Well at least this should be the lone Jericho segment this week.

Video on Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito at Forbidden Door.

The Bang Bang Gang isn’t impressed by the House Of Black so the challenge is issued for Collision.

Daniel Garcia vs. Nick Comoroto

Jacoby Watts is here with Comoroto (for those of you who don’t watch ROH). With MJF watching in the back, Garcia grabs a guillotine and hits the Red Cross for the win at 1:10.

Will Ospreay is ready for tonight and Forbidden Door.

A ticked off Pac enters the Owen Hart Cup.

International Title: Will Ospreay vs. Rey Fenix

Ospreay is defending and Swerve Strickland is watching in the crowd. They trade missed kicks to the head to start and it’s an early standoff. A pop up hurricanrana sends Ospreay outside and a frog splash gives Fenix two. We take a break and come back with Fenix grabbing a quickly broken Black Widow.

As we’re told that Blood and Guts is on July 24 in Nashville, Ospreay flips out of a super hurricanrana to stick the landing. They trade kicks until Ospreay’s spinning Air Raid Crash gets two, sending us to another break. Back again with Ospreay getting the better of a strike off until Fenix grabs another Black Widow.

A crucifix bomb gives Fenix two and a German suplex gets the same. The Oscutter gives Ospreay two but the Hidden Blade is countered with a jumping hurricanrana. Fenix’s flip is forearmed out of the air and Ospreay (with a stare) hits his own Swerve Stomp. The Hidden Blade retains the title at 15:11.

Rating: B. I don’t think there was any doubt to this one but it was a way to give Ospreay another big win on the way to Forbidden Door. Fenix is someone who can wrestle an exciting match with anyone and of course Ospreay can do that kind of thing rather well too. It was a big spot fest and that’s what it should have been, with the pretty obvious result not being a problem.

Post match Strickland gets in the ring and won’t shake hands. Strickland accuses Ospreay of thinking this is still a game and says he isn’t strong enough to hold this on his shoulders. Ospreay takes the title and puts it on his shoulder so Swerve takes it back. Swerve says he’d kill Ospreay if they weren’t friends and leaves, with Ospreay pointing at the Forbidden Door sign (oh dear) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show where the wrestling carried it, though they did build up more than a few things for Forbidden Door. While I am having a really hard time caring about what happens there as almost nothing has my attention, they did a nice enough job of making what they have feel more important. I can go with a show that has a goal and makes a good effort to accomplish it, even if it’s not my style. Nice show this week.

Results
Jack Perry b. Dustin Rhodes – Running knee
Rush b. Deonn Rusman – Bull’s Horns
Roderick Strong/Kyle Fletcher/Konosuke Takeshita b. Mark Briscoe/Orange Cassidy/Kyle O’Reilly – Piledriver to Briscoe
Samoa Joe/Hook b. Premiere Athletes – Redrum to Daivari
Mercedes Mone b. Zeuxis – Mone Maker
Daniel Garcia b. Nick Comoroto – Red Cross
Will Ospreay b. Rey Fenix – Hidden Blade

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

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

AND

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

Collision
Date: June 8, 2024
Location: Mid-American Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

We have about three weeks to go before Forbidden Door and there is a chance we’ll see some more build towards it this week. Toni Storm is set to defend her Women’s Title against Mina Shirakawa and has a warmup match against Lady Frost this week, which could see Shirakawa get involved. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. FTR

For the same of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Cash Wheeler as “Wheeler” and Wheeler Yuta as “Yuta”. Wheeler (in long tights for a change, just like Harwood) wrestles Yuta to the mat to start and it’s off to Castagnoli vs. Harwood. They go around the ropes to start until Castagnoli uppercuts him out to the floor. Back in and Harwood hits a hard chop but Castagnoli knocks him right back down.

Yuta comes in to strike away in the corner and a backsplash gets two. A hard shot to the face gets Harwood out of trouble and it’s back to Wheeler to uppercut the heck out of Yuta. FTR catapults Yuta throat first into the bottom rope for two but he’s right back over to Castagnoli for the tag anyway. Wheeler breaks up the Swing on Harwood but we get stereo Sharpshooters from Harwood and Castagnoli. An exchange of slaps break those up and everything breaks down again with the fights heading outside.

We take a break and come back with Castagnoli grabbing a superplex for two on Harwood. Yuta comes in to cut off Wheeler but Harwood is back with a spinebuster for two of his own. Everyone is down for a bit before Wheeler gets Giant Swung into the dropkick from Yuta for two more. Castagnoli uppercuts the heck out of Wheeler for two and everyone is down again.

Wheeler is back up with a Sharpshooter of his own to Castagnoli, who reverses it int the same thing. That’s broken up and Yuta dives onto Harwood. Wheeler’s piledriver gets two on Castagnoli and we have a minute left in the time limit. Castagnoli superplexes Wheeler and rolls through into the Neutralizer for two. A crossface into the Rings of Saturn have Wheeler in trouble but the time limit expires at 20:00.

Rating: A-. I was wondering why one of these teams was going to lose and I’m rather pleased with the outcome we got instead. FTR can still work a good to great match with anyone and they had me wondering who was going to win all the way until the end. This was one of the best TV matches I’ve seen in a while and I had a lot of fun with the whole thing.

Post match Harwood wants five more minutes but Brandon Cutler is here on behalf of the Young Bucks (oh geez) to say no. Castagnoli swings Cutler and FTR adds the Shatter Machine. Ok so the Bucks don’t work Collision, but Tony Khan was here last week to make a ruling. Is Khan not here this week, or is he just not paying attention or doesn’t care here? Either way, assuming this isn’t just a one off, this is now FIVE PEOPLE with authority in this company. With that out of the way, Castagnoli says a handshake is too much of a cliché, but they’ll have a rematch anytime.

Kyle O’Reilly respects Orange Cassidy but the Undisputed Kingdom interrupts. They think someone or something is missing for O’Reilly and the team is cheering for him tonight. O’Reilly doesn’t want to hear it. Strong tells O’Reilly to remember what he said when he came back, but we don’t know what that is.

Kris Statlander vs. Robyn Renegade

Statlander powers her into the corner to start and fires off some shoulders to the ribs. Renegade slips out of a powerbomb out of the corner but the second attempt works just fine. Saturday Night Fever finishes Renegade at 1:33. Statlander looked awesome here.

Post match Stokely Hathaway praises Statlander and as of earlier today, she is officially in the Owen Hart Foundation Cup.

Post break, Willow Nightingale says she’s in the tournament too and hopes to see Statlander there.

Dustin Rhodes vs. Johnny TV

Taya Valkyrie is here with Johnny. Dustin slugs away to start and goes outside to annoy Taya for a bonus. A hard chop against the barricade rocks TV but Taya’s yelling lets him come back with a running flip dive through the ropes. They both step onto Dustin for some kissing on the steps as we take a break.

Back with Dustin fighting back and getting two off the scoop powerslam. The flipping neckbreaker gives TV two but Dustin hits a Destroyer (with TV appearing to give him a lot of help), setting up Shattered Dreams. The Cross Rhodes gives Dustin two, with Taya putting the foot on the rope. That’s enough for an ejection, with TV using the distraction to hit a superkick for two. Some knees to the face set up a missed Starship Pain and Cross Rhodes gives Dustin the pin at 9:33.

Rating: C+. I know it’s impressive that he’s been around for the better part of ever, but Dustin’s matches haven’t done much for me in a good while. It’s cool to see him still be able to have a decent match this late in his career, but odds are this is going to lead to another “I don’t know if I still have it in me but I’m going to give it all I’ve got” speech. That might work a bit better if we hadn’t heard it from him since AEW started.

Post match Dustin says he’s getting old. He’s got two things to talk about tonight, starting with the fans, who have not abandoned him after almost 37 years. Dustin thanks the production crew before moving on to the second thing, which is Jack Perry. AEW missed Perry when he left and they were happy to see him come back, but then Perry attacked the boss.

Perry has been talking about sacrifice despite being born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Dustin has been sacrificing for his family for decades but Perry has been a follower for years. If you’re a follower for that long, the view never changes. Dustin is facing Perry on Dynamite and Dustin promises to destroy his little punk a**. Perry will never forget his name. This was close enough to Dustin’s normal stuff, and that means it was good enough but not exactly exciting.

Zack Sabre Jr. wants Orange Cassidy at Forbidden Door.

Premiere Athletes vs. Trip Gordon/Dante Leon

The Athletes jump them to start and an over the shoulder Tombstone finishes Leon at 48 seconds.

Scorpio Sky offers to be our hero, our voice, and our champion.

Toni Storm vs. Lady Frost

Non-title and Luther and Mariah May are here with Storm. Frost gets taken down to start and Storm dances a bit before they fight over wrist control. Storm is knocked to the floor for an apron moonsault and we take a break. Back with Storm hitting the hip attack in the corner for two but Frost’s Air Raid Crash gets the same. Frostbite misses and Storm Sky Highs her for two more. Storm Zero finishes Frost at 7:57.

Rating: C+. Storm gets a nice win over someone who can work hard in the ring and that’s about all it needed to be. What mattered here was making Storm feel strong again, which should often be the case for a champion on the way into a big title match. Frost has a unique look, but she sems destined to be there to make people look better.

Post match Storm hugs May and says she knows how rough it is for May to see Storm and Mina Shirakawa fighting. As a distraction, Storm demands that May is entered into the Owen Hart Tournament. They’ll get through this together.

Dante Martin and Lee Moriarty argue over an Owen Tournament spot, with their respective partners getting in on it too.

Samoa Joe and Hook, after arguing about lacrosse, jump the Premiere Athletes.

Daniel Garcia vs. Tate Mayfairs

Mayfairs is from Progress Wrestling and this is his AEW debut. Garcia takes him down into a wristlock to start but Mayfairs knocks Garcia into the corner for some posing. Mayfairs hammers away both on the mat and on their feet but Garcia rolls some swinging neckbreakers. The Saito suplex into the shotgun dropkick into the Red Cross finishes for Garcia at 3:19.

Rating: C+. I guess it’s time for the next Garcia push, though I’m not likely to get my hopes up for this one being the time where everything comes together for him. Garcia has been a project for AEW for a long time now but it has never quite clicked. He’s come a long way, but seeing him make it up to the next level does not seem like the most likely result.

Post match, dancing ensues.

Video on Zeuxis, who faces Mercedes Mone on Dynamite.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Orange Cassidy talks about how bad things are going for him and now he has to deal with Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door. He has to go deal with things, including Kyle O’Reilly tonight.

Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly

O’Reilly takes him to the mat to start as the Undisputed Kingdom is watching from the crowd. Cassidy makes it over to the ropes so O’Reilly sits down and tells him to bring it. Instead Cassidy tries a monkey flip but has to get to the ropes to escape an armbar. They trade rollups for two each before a neck crank sends Cassidy to the floor and us to a break. Back with Cassidy grabbing a headlock takeover but O’Reilly reverses into a sleeper.

That’s reversed into a cradle to give Cassidy two but Cassidy has to escape a standing choke. The hands go into the pockets so O’Reilly sweeps the leg without much trouble. O’Reilly starts in on the arm before switching to a dragon screw legwhip over the ropes. They head outside and the Kingdom distracts O’Reilly but he’s fine enough to dragon screw Cassidy into the barricade. It works so well that O’Reilly does it again and there’s a fourth back inside.

We take another break and come back again with Cassidy working on O’Reilly’s arm. Cassidy sends him outside for a dive, followed by the high crossbody back inside. O’Reilly kicks the leg out and snaps off a German suplex, only for Cassidy to do the same, leaving them both down. Back up and they trade lazy kicks until Cassidy’s Stundog Millionaire is countered into a cross armbreaker.

Cassidy slips out of that and hits a Michinoku Driver for two, followed by a hard kick to the face. The Orange Punch is countered into a chickenwing, with O’Reilly putting his own hand into Cassidy’s pocket in a…..I guess you can call it smart touch. Cassidy powers him up for a Beach Break and a standing Orange Punch staggers O’Reilly. The more regular version finishes for Cassidy at 19:37.

Rating: B. Another good back and forth match here with the two of them both working hard. Cassidy needed a win after having some bad luck as of late, though O’Reilly losing again isn’t the best thing to see. Maybe he joins the Undisputed Era after some more losses, but egads I could go for a long, as in permanent, break from that entire team getting together again. Rather good main event here, with the fans still loving Cassidy.

Post match Trent Beretta and Kyle Fletcher come in to jump Cassidy but O’Reilly makes the…well the failed save attempt actually as the villains take over. Kris Statlander comes in as well and shakes hands with Trent. Willow Nightingale runs in to chase Statlander off to end the show

Overall Rating: B+. The opener was outstanding and the main event was rather good, which is enough to make this a heck of a show. They focused on the wrestling here and as usual, it made for a solid AEW offering. It still amazes me how much easier AEW is to watch when they don’t focus on the top storylines, but I can easily take something like this week to week. Check out the opener, as it was rather awesome.

Results
Blackpool Combat Club vs. FTR went to a time limit draw
Kris Statlander b. Robyn Renegade – Saturday Night Fever
Dustin Rhodes b. Johnny TV – Cross Rhodes
Premiere Athletes b. Trip Gordon/Dante Leon – Over the shoulder Tombstone to Leon
Toni Storm b. Lady Frost – Storm Zero
Daniel Garcia b. Tate Mayfairs – Red Cross
Orange Cassidy b. Kyle O’Reilly – Orange Punch

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: June 5, 2024
Location: Blue Arena, Loveland, Colorado
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Excalibur

We’re coming up on Forbidden Door and now we have the World Title match set, as Will Ospreay will challenge Swerve Strickland. Other than that, it’s going to be time to see which guest stars we have for the show, some of whom might pop up for the first time this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is MJF to get things going and he references being high on weed to start. He shills his new merch and tickets for Forbidden Door before talking about the people who have shown up while he’s gone. First up we have the Rainmaker, who looks like he can’t even afford a gym membership. Then you have Swerve Strickland, who says he’s a business mogul but apparently he skipped public speaking classes at business school.

Finally we have a guy with a cockney accent saying he’s the best in the world. MJF lists off a bunch of people better than Will Ospreay, including himself. He carried this place but then when he was gone healing up, people tried to smear his name. Cue Rush to say like every other American, MJF never shuts up. Where are Rush’s celebration and big moment?

MJF: “I didn’t get any of that.” Maybe Brandon Cutler is running the audio because no one can hear him. He asks if anyone could hear him before doing his version of It Doesn’t Matter. MJF casually suggests that Rush is a nepo baby before praising Rush’s successes. Sure Rush has beaten some of the best, but MJF is the best. MJF goes into some Spanglish before the fight is on, with security and Christopher Daniels breaking it up. This was MJF showing the insane charisma that he has, though starting with Rush, even in a one off match, is a little weird.

Video on Roderick Strong before his World Title shot tonight.

Orange Cassidy vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal vs. Rey Fenix

For an International Title shot next week. The bell rings and Excalibur’s copy for the WOO Energy spot pops up on screen as Lethal clears the ring but poses instead of diving. Cassidy is back in to send Lethal to the apron but O’Reilly grabs Cassidy for an armbar. Fenix comes back to clear things out, only to pose too long so Lethal can get in a shot from behind.

The Lethal Injection is cut off by O’Reilly and Fenix kicks Lethal in the head. Everyone gets kicked down and we get a four way breather. We take a break and come back with Fenix diving in to break up a cover, leaving all of them down again. Lethal grabs a Figure Four on Cassidy and O’Reilly grabs a guillotine on Fenix. Lethal lets go to save Fenix so O’Reilly grabs Lethal for a cross armbreaker. Cassidy and Fenix break that up until Cassidy puts Fenix down with a DDT. Back up and Lethal takes everyone out before trying a Figure Four on Fenix, which is reversed into a small package for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match that is almost always going to be entertaining and it worked well here. Lethal was good as the normal wrestler who wasn’t going nuts for long stretches out there while the other three did their collective things. Fenix vs. Ospreay will be fine for a big flashy title match next week and that’s all it needed to set up.

Post match Trent Beretta and Don Callis come out, with the latter throwing a chair inside. Cassidy grabs a chain to even things up but here is Kris Statlander to get between them. Stokely Hathaway comes out to threaten Cassidy with Statlander violence…and then Statlander decks Cassidy. Since Cassidy can’t bring himself to hit Statlander, Willow Nightingale runs in to chase her off. That feels like a mixed tag in the making.

Chris Jericho goes all educational to his driver. Then he does it to the camera operator too.

Willow Nightingale is annoyed at losing her TBS Title but she’s ticked off at Kris Statlander. Orange Cassidy comes in for a fist bump. Nightingale was showing some intensity here and it worked.

Christopher Daniels comes out to announce the next TNT Title qualifying match.

Mark Briscoe vs. Brian Cage

Mark Briscoe’s ROH World Title isn’t on the line (he won it two months ago today and has yet to have a title defense). Briscoe starts fast and sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Cage is back with a ram into the barricade, setting up the apron superplex for the crash as we take a break.

Back with Briscoe applying Redneck Kung Fu as Don Callis and Konosuke Takeshita are watching from the crowd. Briscoe grabs an exploder suplex for two and Cage is sent outside. That means Briscoe can use a chair for the step up flip dive but Cage is right back with a helicopter bomb. Briscoe shrugs that off and knocks him down again, setting up the froggy bow for the pin at 10:15.

Rating: C. This was pretty much what you would expect from Briscoe vs. Cage and it wasn’t exactly great. I’m not sure why how but they’ve managed to make the Ring Of Honor World Title feel that much more worthless. That’s a heck of a trick, but I wasn’t sure if Briscoe was going to win here and Cage almost never wins.

Jack Perry says he’s going to win the TNT Title.

The Premiere Athletes interrupt Samoa Joe and Hook, with Hook’s Funions being knocked away. Joe holds Hook back from violence, saying people like them pick their spots.

Chris Jericho and company educate Matt Menard and Angelo Parker about commentary and parenting.

The Acclaimed come out for their rap but the Young Bucks (the subject) cut them off.

Swerve Strickland calls MJF a little b**** and says he’s ready for Will Ospreay. He’s proud of Team AEW, but next time, include the World Champion.

Video on Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer, which is title for title at Forbidden Door.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Team CMLL

Wheeler Yuta is back from injury for the first time since January and it’s Rugido/Magnus/Volador Jr./Esfinge. Thankfully Excalibur is there to tell us that Magnus is the one with his back to the camera. This would be more informative if he didn’t say it when all four had their backs to the camera. It’s a brawl to start and all eight head out to the floor.

We settle down to Danielson and Rugido chopping it out but it’s quickly off to the parade of strikes. Team CMLL clears the ring and hit stereo dives, setting up Magnus’ 619 for two on Danielson. Everything breaks down again and Hart plays Bret in a Hart Attack on Magnus. Yuta’s Fastball Special connects and we take an early break.

Back with Moxley striking away on Magnus, who manages to enziguri his way to freedom. Esfinge comes in to monkey flip Castagnoli and then grabs a leg tie rollup for two. Castagnoli cuts off the running knees with the Swing to Magnus and Moxley adds the dropkick. Volador is back in with a sunset flip for two and Rugido’s powerslam gets the same on Yuta. Back up and Yuta hits the Angle Slam, setting up the seat belt to pin Rugido at 11:58.

Rating: B-. This is the definition of “it’s not for me”. The action was good and the CMLL guys are talented, but this felt like little more than an exhibition as you had people coming in from a different promotion and getting a match against a top faction because it’s Forbidden Door season. I’m sure the CMLL guys will have a match at the pay per view and it will be good, but it’s likely nothing that is going to interest me very much.

Chris Jericho explains how to scoop chicken and dumplings. I have no idea who thinks this is funny but they should be severely punished.

Video on Daniel Garcia.

The Acclaimed threaten the Young Bucks.

Post break the Young Bucks talk to the Patriarchy, with Christian Cage wanting another title shot. They agree to keep up their partnership.

Mariah May vs. Saraya

Toni Storm/Luther and Harley Cameron/Zak Knight are here too. May wears an Outcasts jacket to the ring so Saraya jumps her to start fast. The big chase is on with May getting suckered into a superkick so Saraya can look at the camera. May is sent hard into the barricade and we take a break.

Back with May winning a slugout and hitting a hard headbutt. May hurricanranas her out of the corner and hits a missile dropkick for two. The running hip attack gives May two but Saraya is back up with Rampage for the same. Saraya grabs the Scorpion Crosslock for the win at 9:06.

Rating: C. This was a weird situation as Saraya hasn’t been doing much of anything lately and she beat May, who has at least been presented as a big deal, clean. The match wasn’t exactly great either, as Saraya isn’t exactly as sharp in the ring as she used to be. Maybe we’re getting ready for Saraya to be in a title match down the line, but otherwise this was way out of left field.

Post match Storm comes in to check on May but the Outcasts beat Storm and May down. Mina Shirakawa runs in for the save. May hugs both Mina and Toni.

Chris Jericho tells Private Party that they should open up their party and make it public. An argument ensues.

Bryan Danielson is happy with Wheeler Yuta for winning but isn’t happy with his own losses. He isn’t done with his last year yet though and now he wants in on the Owen Hart Cup to go on to a World Title shot at All In. Danielson getting fired up for anything is a good thing, but it’s still hard to fathom him winning anything big.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Roderick Strong

Swerve is defending and Prince Nana/the Kingdom are here too. They go technical to start until Swerve grabs a headscissors into an armdrag. It’s too early for the House Call though and Strong bails out to the floor. Back in and Swerve starts in on Strong’s knee but an Undisputed Kingdom distraction breaks up the Swerve Stomp. Strong backbreakers Swerve onto the turnbuckle but his dropkick through the ropes is blocked. Swerve posts him hard and we take a break.

Back with Swerve fighting out of a seated abdominal stretch and starting the comeback. The middle rope elbow to the back sets up a brainbuster for two and we slow down a bit. The powerbomb into a powerslam gets two on Strong but the threat of the House Call sends Strong outside. They go outside with Swerve diving onto the Kingdom, allowing Strong to send him into the steps. Back in and Strong hits a Codebreaker to cut off a comeback. The Sick Kick gives Strong two but Swerve sends him to the apron for the Stomp. Back in and the House Call retains the title at 14:10.

Rating: B. This is the kind of match where you know it’s going to be good because the wrestlers are rather talented. Strong isn’t going to be a top level challenger but he is perfect for a spot like this as he made Swerve look good. Rather nice main event here, and sometimes you just need to have that kind of a match.

Overall Rating: C+. They were having a weird balancing act here as it was a mixture of good to ok at best wrestling, the Forbidden Door stuff (which I find a chore to get through) and whatever the heck they’re trying for with those Jericho segments. Those things were TERRIBLE and not in a way that makes me want to see someone beat Jericho (whomever that is going to be as he doesn’t seem to have any serious challenges at the moment) but rather wanting to wring the neck of whomever allowed it on TV. There are good parts to this show and it is NOT bad, but egads the rough parts ranged from boring to dreadful.

Results
Rey Fenix b. Jay Lethal, Orange Cassidy and Kyle O’Reilly – Small package to Lethal
Mark Briscoe b. Brian Cage – Froggy Bow
Blackpool Combat Club b. Team CMLL – Seat Belt to Rugido
Saraya b. Mariah May – Scorpion Crosslock
Swerve Strickland b. Roderick Strong – House Call

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 29, 2024
Location: Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

We’re done with Double Or Nothing and in for the build to Forbidden Door next month. That means we are likely going to be getting a bunch of guest stars on the show and that could make for some interesting situations. Other than that, we have a Casino Gauntlet match for the #1 contendership to the World Title and that should be a blast. Let’s get to it.

Here is Double Or Nothing if you need a recap.

Here is Mercedes Mone for her big championship celebration, complete with balloons. She asks if she was worth the wait (eh…..) and brags about tearing the house down with Willow Nightingale. Mone knew Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway would screw Nightingale over but she wants Nightingale to come back better than ever. We are about a month away from Forbidden Door and….here is Skye Blue to pop up on screen and reveal that she attacked Mone a few weeks ago. Then Blue runs in to attack her and pose with the belt. This felt like Mone was all good again and….I have no idea why that would even be suggested.

Long video on Double Or Nothing.

Swerve Strickland vs. Killswitch

Non-title. Killswitch knocks him to the floor but Swerve gets in a kick to the knee to slow him down. A neckbreaker in the ring and another on the floor drop Killswitch but he sends Swerve into the steps. They go back inside for some pummeling in the corner and we take a break.

Back with Swerve not being able to get a triangle choke on but kicking Killswitch down anyway. Swerve can’t get a suplex so Killswitch chokeslams him down for two instead. Killswitch grabs a chair but gets it pulled away, allowing Swerve to hit the Stomp off the apron. Swerve gets knocked down again back inside but comes right back with a German suplex. The House Call into the Swerve Stomp gets two, because the World Champion can’t get a clean pin off his finisher. Another House Call finishes for Swerve at 11:42.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what the point was in having the World Champion (who is in the second segment rather than opening the show) hit one of his finishers for a near fall in a pretty nothing match but oh well. At least Swerve didn’t have some kind of screwy result here, as he’s not exactly treated as the top star in the company. In theory this moves him on from the Patriarchy, and at least Killswitch gets to look strong in defeat because….I still have no idea why that needed to happen.

Swerve gets his hair back from Killswitch.

We get an announcement from Tony Khan by way of Tony Schiavone: Mercedes Mone is defending against Skye Blue tonight. This was hyped up earlier as a big announcement. I think we can call that a stretch.

Jon Moxley is ready for Rocky Romero tonight and lists off a bunch of places he’ll be wrestling, mainly in Japan.

It’s time for Chris Jericho’s TV Time segment, the Learning Tree. Big Bill talks about how important it is to learn before Jericho talks about how many get called but few actually go. You should always have a cherry on top of your ice cream, and now we see the new member of the Learning Tree: Bryan Keith! Cue Keith, who thinks more people should respect Jericho, who yells at fans for swearing. Cue Hook to go after them but Samoa Joe cuts him off. I have no idea what they’re going for with the Jericho stuff but I can’t believe they’re going this badly on purpose. This was terrible.

We look at Jon Moxley beating Konosuke Takeshita at Double Or Nothing, though commentary thought it was a look at a woman named Stephanie Vaquer.

Video on Stephanie Vaquer, who is probably going to be at Forbidden Door.

Jon Moxley vs. Rocky Romero

Non-title and Moxley’s shoulder is in bad shape coming in. Romero goes right after the bad arm and kicks away at it before sending Moxley out to the apron. The arm is cranked around the ropes as Moxley is still in trouble as we take a break. Back with Moxley hitting a one armed superplex, followed by an exchange of strikes.

Moxley knocks him into the corner but gets caught in a tornado DDT. Romero gets the cross armbreaker and cranks away until Moxley manages to get to his feet. Some stomping gets Moxley out of trouble and a big clothesline into the Death Rider finishes Romero off at 10:46.

Rating: C+. The problem here is Romero has been treated as a jobber for months. Fans have learned to believe that he isn’t going to win a match. That makes it really hard to care about him facing a big star because there is zero reason to believe that he’s going to win. It’s watching a long term winner facing a long term loser but it’s getting time anyway. That’s going to leave fans feeling like their time is being wasted and that’s not good.

Samoa Joe and Hook seem to threaten the Learning Tree.

Here is Don Callis to offer a contract to Orange Cassidy. Cue Cassidy, who rips the contract up. Cassidy: “Hey Don. No.” Callis is livid, but here are Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway to reveal that their friend has joined the Don Callis Family. Cue Trent Beretta, in a suit, to jump Cassidy and bust him open. Trent and Callis hug as I try to figure out why the feud is continuing after Cassidy pinned Trent clean.

Daniel Garcia is ready to come after the International Title.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Skye Blue

Mone is defending and knocks Blue down fast. They’re quickly on the floor with Mone hitting the Meteora off the apron for two back inside. A hanging neckbreaker gives Blue two and we take an early break. Back with Mone hitting a Backstabber for two but Blue is back with the spinning full nelson faceplant for two of her own. Code Blue is loaded up but Mone reverses into the Mone Maker for the pin at 7:42.

Rating: C. So Mone’s first AEW match was hyped up with about a month’s notice, but her second gets about an hour? This felt like a quick way to close a storyline threat with the mystery attacker and points for that, but it’s also quite the quick way to wrap it up. That’s not a bad thing and I like them at least covering it, though having it as Mone’s first title defense was a bit weird.

Post match Stephanie Vaquer comes out to stare Mone down. That’s quite the rushed “dream” match but that’s kind of the nature of Forbidden Door.

Stokely Hathaway and Kris Statlander do not like Willow Nightingale. Statlander says everyone is going to need protection from her.

Video on MJF, who has signed a new long term deal with the company.

Here is the Elite to address the future of the TNT Title. They all brag about how great the week has been for the team, including Double Or Nothing and their shoe launch. The Bucks have a present for Okada, and we see a black Lamborghini in the parking lot, with RAIN MAKR plates. Okada is in tears but now we have to move on to business.

Adam Copeland has broken his leg (as Matt told him to do before the match), meaning Copeland is stripped of the TNT Title. And Jack Perry is the new champion! Cue Christopher Daniels to say not so fast, because Tony Khan has named him the Interim Executive Vice President, so he’s here to make announcements for Khan. Perry isn’t the champion because we’re going to have a bunch of qualifying matches….for the LADDER MATCH for the TNT Title at Forbidden Door. The Elite go after Daniels but Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed make the save.

So Tony Khan is back at AEW TV (or at least events, as he was at Double Or Nothing) and gave a message by way of Schiavone earlier tonight, yet for some reason he now has to have an official talker as Daniels is their version of a General Manager. This is feeling like the dark days of WWE, when you needed a chart to keep track of how many people have power. They really don’t need to continue with this and with Khan back in person at all, as he seems to be, the Bucks should more or less be out of authority in the first place.

Swerve Strickland is ready for all challengers.

Rush calls out MJF, who will be here next week. Not this week, but next week.

Casino Gauntlet

The winner gets a World Title shot at Forbidden Door and it is one fall to a finish, which could come at any time. There are 21 entrants and they come out at “random times”, with Jay White in at #1 and Pac in at #2. Pac jumps him to start and they’re quickly on the floor with White being sent into various hard objects. A big flip dive takes White out again and a missile dropkick gets two.

Mistico is in at #3 and clears the ring as I wonder why they didn’t, I don’t know, advertise having one of the biggest stars in the world on their show. A big dive takes out White and Pac and we take a break. Back with Will Ospreay in at #4 and going straight after Mistico. Ospreay and Pac yell at each other but Mistico breaks it up. Shota Umino (Jon Moxley’s former lackey) is in at #5 and gets to clean house but White knocks him down.

Claudio Castagnoli is in at #6 and uppercuts Umino for a fast two. There’s the Swing to White and we take another break. Back again with Lio Rush (geez) in at #7 and kicks Castagnoli out to the floor. Umino and Rush trade clotheslines until Castagnoli runs them both over.

Orange Cassidy, with a taped up head, is in at #8 and has to knee his way out of Castagnoli’s suplex. A running DDT plants Castagnoli but Ospreay is back up for the staredown with Cassidy. That’s broken up and Hechicero is in at #9 to clean house again. Mistico is back up with a headscissors to put Castagnoli on the floor, setting up a big hurricanrana from the top. White and Pac are back in but Ospreay breaks up the Blade Runner. Cassidy hurricanranas Ospreay for two but gets caught with the Oscutter for the pin at 22:15.

Rating: B. Match quality aside (as there is only so much you can do in this kind of a match), this was FUN. They have something with this idea and if they can fine tune it a bit, and maybe not do it as frequently, they’ve got a match type that works for this kind of thing. I wanted to see who was coming through that curtain next and that is a very cool feeling to have. Ospreay winning is certainly weird, but if he wins the World Title, at least it will streamline the top of the card on the good guys’ side a bit.

Strickland comes out to stare Ospreay down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Yowza this show felt all over the place. Between Strickland winning a match that felt like it should have set up his match with Christian, Moxley needing ten minutes to beat Romero, Mone’s attacker being revealed and then beating her in an hour, the EVP nonsense and Jericho’s talk show train wreck, I had no idea what the focal point of any of this show was supposed to be. It felt like something from the late 90s on Raw when things were just thrown out there with the slightest bit of logic or reasoning with the hopes that no one would notice.

But then there was that main event and it felt like what AEW was supposed to be about. It was a case of mixing up a bunch of cool stars who you could see getting the chance and then one of them got there. Yes it was complete chaos, but it was FUN chaos. That’s something that can do a lot of good for a show, and this one certainly needed it. The first hour and forty minutes of this were a near car crash with stuff feeling like it was being written as fast as possible, but the main event was the wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a good way. Maybe it was an off week, but they need to change some things up.

Results
Swerve Strickland b. Killswitch – House Call
Jon Moxley b. Rocky Romero – Death Rider
Mercedes Mone b. Skye Blue – Mone Maker
Will Ospreay won the Casino Gauntlet match – Oscutter to Cassidy

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Double Or Nothing 2024
Date: May 26, 2024
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone

It’s back to one of the biggest pay per views on the AEW calendar as it’s the five year anniversary show. The show has a triple main event, though Anarchy In The Arena has been presented as by far the biggest thing on the card. Other than that, Swerve Strickland defends the World Title against Christian Cage and Mercedes Mone makes her in-ring debut. Let’s get to it.

Buy-In: Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo

Rosa backs her into the corner to start and snaps off a running headscissors. A running dropkick puts Purrazzo on the floor and there’s a dropkick through the ropes. Back in and Purrazzo gets in a shot of her own to take over and starts in on the arm. The armbar goes on but Rosa fights up, with a double crossbody putting both of them down. A neckbreaker drops Purrazzo again and Rosa hits the hard running dropkick against the ropes.

Purrazzo catches her in the Tree of Woe for the running shoulder to the ribs but Rosa is right back with a cobra clutch of all things. That’s escaped so Rosa hits a discus forearm for two but the Tijuana Bomb is countered into the Fujiwara armbar. Rosa slips out and hits a Backstabber into the cobra clutch again. This time Purrazzo stacks her up and uses the ropes for the pin at 10:13.

Rating: C+. I’m surprised by the ending but at least Purrazzo might be getting a renewed push. She’s rather good at the evil heel thing and gets even better when you throw in the submission skills. Rosa losing again isn’t the best sign for her but she has the charisma to build herself right back up with a few wins.

Buy-In: Acclaimed/Billy Gunn vs. Cage Of Agony

Caster and Kaun start things off, with the latter powering him into the corner. Kaun misses a charge but scores with a clothesline for a fast two. It’s off to Gunn, who wants, and receives, Cage for a pose off. Cage shoulders him into the corner and strikes a double bicep before yelling on the ropes a lot. Gunn knocks him over and poses as well before punching Cage into the corner.

Everything breaks down and all of them brawl out to the floor, where Bowens is sent knee first into the steps. Back in and a backbreaker onto the turnbuckle drops Caster, setting up Cage’s apron superplex. Kaun chokes in the corner and Cage drives in the shoulders to the ribs. Caster gets in a shot of his own though and nails a high crossbody on Kaun. Toa is right there to cut the tag off, only to miss a middle rope splash.

A kick away is enough for the tag off to Gunn as the pace picks up. Everything breaks down and Toa runs Gunn over, leaving Cage to discus lariat Caster. Bowens dives in for the limping save but is knocked outside in a hurry. Cage grabs a chair but the Las Vegas Golden Knights mascot runs in to take it away. The distraction lets Gunn grab a small package to pin Kaun at 11:43.

Rating: C. So now the Acclaimed and Gunn are getting reheated again? After Cage and the Gates just turned on Swerve a few weeks ago? That’s quite the interesting choice, as you would think the villains getting a win could establish them as something. Anyway, not a terrible match, but absolutely not something that needed to be added to the card.

Post match we get a scissoring with the mascot. Ah so that’s why they won.

The opening video talks about whether wrestlers will claim their dreams or leave them in the desert. The graphics with the casino theme work well here.

International Title: Roderick Strong vs. Will Ospreay

Strong, with the Kingdom, is defending, Don Callis is on commentary, and Ospreay tries a Hidden Blade at the bell. That doesn’t work but Ospreay knocks him outside, where Strong gets in a quick shot. Ospreay flips out of an attempted backbreaker onto the barricade and nails Strong as they head back inside. A backbreaker puts Strong down but the Kingdom manages to interfere and hit a Doomsday Device on the floor, with Ospreay landing head first on the floor in a terrifying spot. The fans get quiet but Ospreay is ok enough to go back inside and they slug it out.

Strong flips out of a quick abdominal stretch attempt and tries a not so complete crossface. That’s broken up and Strong chops away but Ospreay knocks him out of the air and hits a running boot in the corner. The Kingdom offers another distraction and Wardlow comes in, only to get caught as well. Somehow none of this is a DQ so Ospreay goes up and hits a corkscrew moonsault onto all of the villains, who are ejected.

A top rope clothesline gives Ospreay two back inside, followed by a bridging suplex for the same. Ospreay knocks him off the top and tries a twisting moonsault but has to stick the landing, only to damage his knee in the process. Strong is right there with a Texas Cloverleaf, with Ospreay crawling over to the ropes. Strong’s faceplant gets two and a superplex gets the same as frustration is setting in. A kick to the head is loaded up but Ospreay reverses into a sitout powerbomb for the double down.

Back up and they slug it out with Ospreay escaping End Of Heartache. Ospreay’s Styles Clash is countered and the Oscutter connects, only for the bad knee to give Strong enough time to kick out. The referee checks on Strong so Callis tells Ospreay to hit the tiger driver 91 since Strong “is going to the hospital anyway”. Ospreay loads it up but can’t bring himself to do it, allowing Strong to hit an Angle Slam. The Sick Kick gets two but End Of Heartache is escaped. A running elbow sets up the Hidden Blade to give Ospreay the pin and the title at 17:57. Callis: “WE WON!”

Rating: B. There were a lot of shenanigans going on around here and while they were a bit much, how else were you going to add drama to this? Strong is a solid star but Ospreay has been presented as one of the biggest stars in the company since he debuted. They had a good back and forth match but Strong wasn’t winning here no matter what happened.

Post match here’s Adam Cole for a chat. He shouldn’t be here because he should be back there with the Undisputed Kingdom or the Young Bucks, or maybe rehabbing his ankle. Cole pulls out the Devil mask and says he’ll be back to make you give the Devil his due. Then the lights go out and we see what looks like a point of view shot inside MJF’s house, with the person pulling out a torn picture of Cole and MJF.

Cue MJF, in a 2002 HHH leather jacket/sleeveless vest look, to hug Cole and then kick him low. A brainbuster plants Cole and MJF calls him a “noodle armed Bobble Head son of a b****.” Cole is carried out and MJF says he trusted him, which is never happening again. MJF says he is the greatest wrestler in the world and hits the catchphrase. The catch is he doesn’t need a New Japan or a Vince McMahon (big gasp on that) because MJF made MJF.

We’re done with the Kangaroo Kicks and associated BS because it’s time for him to bring the hate again. MJF picks up the mask, which he says adorn cowards who want to hide. He’s done hiding and apologizing for the fact that he is the best. It’s not his fault that all of your favorites suck a big old bag of donkey d**** but this mask, and everything it symbolizes, can go straight to h***. He drops a Ric Flair elbow on the mask and says he’s all in, double or nothing. As for his contract status, he points to an AEW tattoo on his leg and says you can bet on him, because he’s not f****** (not censored) leaving.

This was VERY long but MJF looks great and feels like the biggest star in the company all over again. He has more ability on the mic than almost anyone you could imagine and the fans are buying everything he does. Just get done with the Devil stuff already and let it be over for good.

We recap the Trios Title match, which saw the Bang Bang Gang annoying Pac, who reformed Death Triangle to come after the titles.

Trios Titles: Death Triangle vs. Bang Bang Gang

The Gang is defending and Pac runs Colten over to start. Austin and Penta come in, with the Triangle wasting no time in triple teaming him down. One heck of a What’s Up but White takes Pac down with a neckbreaker to take over. The villains take Pac into the corner where he strikes away, only to get dropped throat first across the top rope. The half crab goes on but Pac kicks his way out and rolls between the Gunns for the tag off to Penta.

House is cleaned, with Fenix being launched up for a splash to Austin with White making the save. White gets kicked into a twisting Death Valley Driver for two and everything breaks down for a six way knockdown. Pac goes up for the Black Arrow but the Gunns slid in a bat, allowing Juice Robinson to run in and crotch Pac. The Blade Runner retains the titles at 12:18.

Rating: B-. The ending is nice to see as the Gang retains the titles and gets back the person who made them feel special in the first place. Robinson is a great addition and I’m curious to see where they go from here. The match was entertaining but it never hit that level I was expecting. Maybe they could have gotten there with more time, though I can take a good match any day.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Serena Deeb. Storm has beaten a bunch of people with different styles and Deeb is the wrestling genius. Deeb is also back after some serious medical issues and is ready to FINALLY win the title. Storm doesn’t seem impressed, as tends to be her custom.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Serena Deeb

Storm is defending and has Mariah May and Luther in her corner. They go with the grappling to start, with Deeb tying her up in the Paradise Lock for the running dropkick. Deeb grabs a dragon screw legwhip to start in on the knee, setting up an Octopus. With that broken up, Deeb hits another dragon screw and the knee is in event more trouble.

Deeb cranks away on the mat but Storm fights up, only to get slapped several times in a row. A neckbreaker drops Storm again as the fans start chanting for her, much to Nigel McGuinness’ happiness. They fight over a standing switch until Deeb suplexes her down for two. Back up and they slap it out again until Storm’s chokebomb gets two more. Deeb pulls her into a half crab to go back to the knee, with May teasing throwing in the towel.

Luther cuts that off and Storm sees him, which doesn’t go well. Back in and Storm Zero gets two so they head to the apron, where another Storm Zero can’t hit. A third dragon screw legwhip has Storm in trouble and Deebtox on the apron, followed by another in the ring, gets two. Storm catches her on top with a super piledriver, followed by Storm Zero to retain at 15:38.

Rating: B-. This was slower and more to the point with Deeb taking apart the knee, but much like the opener, it was hard to fathom that the title was in any serious jeopardy. Storm feels like a major star and Deeb comes off as the challenger of the month. Deeb’s style made sense, but it was hard to buy her as being a threat to win.

We recap Trent Beretta vs. Orange Cassidy. They were best friends and then Beretta turned on him, saying Cassidy was self centered. Cassidy already beat him, but then Trent ended the career of their former friend Chuck Taylor. Therefore, it’s time for revenge.

Orange Cassidy vs. Trent Beretta

Don Callis is on commentary…and there is no Cassidy. Hold on though as he comes out to his old music (the better one), including a dark shirt and dark jeans. They slug it out with Trent knocking him down off a shot to the throat. Cassidy sends him into the corner and hits a high crossbody, setting up a DDT out to the floor. They fight on the floor, with Cassidy knocking him around ringside until another shot to the throat cuts him down.

Back in and Beretta hits a German suplex, followed by another to keep Cassidy in trouble. Cassidy slowly starts getting up and puts his hands in his pockets…so Trent knocks him down in the corner in a smart move. Cassidy gets back up and rolls away, allowing him to kick Trent into the corner for some stomping. Trent rolls to the apron before Cassidy can come off the top, where he kicks Cassidy out of the air for the crash.

A piledriver onto the apron knocks Cassidy silly but he’s fine enough to hit a Beach Break on the floor. Back in and Trent wants a hug but gets Michinoku Drivered instead. The Stundog Millionaire is blocked, as is the spinning DDT. Instead Trent hits a clothesline, setting up Strong Zero for two more. Trent’s running knee is countered into a Beach Break for two but the Orange Punch is countered into a Codebreaker. Trent tries a choke but gets reversed into a rollup for the pin at 13:55.

Rating: B-. Now, that should end the feud for good right? Cassidy has beaten him twice now and this was 100% clean. There is no reason for the feud to continue but commentary was already saying it was far from over. Cassidy winning is fine if this is done, but get him something more important to do. He’s done the random matches for months now and it’s time to either move him up or find something completely fresh.

Post match Rocky Romero comes out to check on Trent, who says he isn’t doing this and walks out through the crowd.

FTW Title: Hook vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending and chops it out with Shibata to start. Hook suplexes Jericho down and it’s already time for the tables. Jericho breaks that up and sends Hook into the barricade before dropping Shibata as well. It’s time for the bag of…dice, about two and a half minutes into the match. Hook suplexes Jericho onto them and Shibata adds a slam as commentary makes craps references.

Hook suplexes both of them again but Shibata suplexes Hook to leave everyone down. It’s time for some kendo sticks, with the challengers shrugging off Jericho’s shots and beating him down with their sticks instead. Shibata knocks Hook down and whips out a table of his own. More suplexes abound and Jericho is laid on the table, with Shibata Death Valley Drivering Hook onto Jericho but not through the table. Shibata sends Jericho through the tale in the corner and adds a dropkick for two.

Hook is back up with a suplex but looks rather staggered after the table crash. Redrum goes on but Big Bill comes in for the save. Bill and Hook go crashing off the apron for a nasty landing, leaving Shibata to Figure Four Jericho. Hook comes in and adds the Redrum but here is someone in a hoodie with a trashcan for the save. And it’s Bryan Keith, who gets beaten down by Hook. Jericho Judas Effects Hook and pins Shibata (in the trashcan, meaning the shoulders weren’t on the mat so it shouldn’t have counted but that might be a bit nitpicky) to retain at 12:45.

Rating: C+. The Jericho stuff isn’t exactly thrilling and now his stable gets to grow even more. This is a match that was pretty much only there for the reveal, as Hook has to jump through another hoop to get the title back, despite being Jericho once before. The FTW Title is more or less the Hardcore Title these days and that’s not exactly something I need to see on a regular basis, especially with Jericho around so much.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita, with Don Callis wanting Moxley to join his team but getting nowhere.

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Non-title and Moxley has a bad shoulder thanks to Takeshita attacking him last night. Moxley slugs away to start but gets dropped with a flying clothesline. Takeshita starts taking off the tape before hitting a hammerlock slam. Moxley gets dropped hard onto the apron but bites at the head for a breather. The fans get on Callis as Takeshita fights back and chokes against the barricade.

Back in and Takeshita drops him to his knees with a single forearm. A brainbuster plants Moxley again and we hit the crossface chickenwing. That’s broken up so Takeshita kicks him in the face, only to get caught with a desperation cutter. Moxley can’t get a piledriver so Takeshita pulls him into a Fujiwara armbar instead. The rope is reached so Takeshita rips at the face for a change of pace. That gets a stern lecture from the referee, allowing Moxley to send Takeshita outside for a dive.

Back in and Moxley uses the good arm for a big clothesline but Takeshita is back with the kneeling piledriver. Takeshita loads up the running knee but gets cut off with a Paradigm Shift. They slug it out until Takeshita drops him with one heck of a forearm. Instead of covering, Takeshita hits a running knee for two and frustration is setting in.

Moxley is back up with a choke but can’t get the Death Rider. The arm is sent into the post and another big forearm, setting up Takeshita’s Death Rider for two. Callis says finish this so Takeshita grabs some chairs…but Moxley stomps him onto the chair. The Death Rider finishes Takeshita at 17:24.

Rating: B. This was another match that went long but didn’t exactly get to that next level. Moxley was working through the arm and Takeshita worked on it over and over, but much like earlier in the night, it was hard to believe that Takeshita was winning. Moxley losing in the first place is a rare sight and the IWGP World Champion losing would be even weirder.

We recap Malakai Black vs. Adam Copeland for the latter’s TNT Title. Black wanted the violent Copeland so he stole Copeland’s wedding ring. That earned him a bloodbath, and it’s in a barbed wire cage too.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. Malakai Black

Copeland is defending in a barbed wire cage so naturally there are a bunch of weapons included. The End and the spear both miss so Copeland sends him over the ropes for a boot against the cage. Copeland grabs some barbed wire and rips Black’s head open but the spear is cut off with a knee. Black grabs a barbed wire baseball bat so commentary argues about Take Me Out To The Ball Game.

The bat goes into Copeland’s head to bust him open too. Black takes too long to follow up though and gets batted in the ribs. Copeland rakes Black’s face against the cage and it’s time to set up a table. It takes too long to go up though and Black superkicks Copeland down to crotch him on the ropes. A sunset bomb through the table gives Black two but the End is cut off with a standing spear (not a great one either) to give Copeland two.

Another piledriver knocks Black silly and Copeland puts him onto a table…where he wraps Black in barbed wire. Copeland goes to the top of the cage and kind of elbows him (while landing on his feet) for a rather delayed two. The spear is countered with the End for two and they both slowly get up. Black whips out…some kind of big spike, which he stabs through the mat as he misses Copeland. Black kicks him through the door and they go outside, where Copeland hits another spear.

Cue the House Of Black….to stand next to Copeland. Then they turn (?) on him about two seconds later and beat him down before heading back inside. Black whips out Copeland’s wedding ring and puts it around his neck as the House wraps Copeland in barbed wire. Then the lights go red and black and Gangrel pops up through the mat. The blood is sprayed and the former Brood cleans house, with Copeland tying Black up with the barbed wire and putting on the Grindhouse for the win at 20:11.

Rating: C. Yeah I wasn’t feeling this one, with the Gangrel appearance being the only thing that really helped it. I kept having flashbacks to last year when Copeland and Finn Balor had almost the same feud (minus the wedding ring) and it was taking away from this one. Also, just way too many weapons and barbed wire, with the cage not really being necessary. I’m sure there are going to be people who loved this and I more than get it, but WAY longer than it needed to be with too much going on in too similar of a story to what Copeland did last year.

Don Callis talks about how great a night it has been for the Family. He’ll have a contract on Dynamite for…someone, presumably Orange Cassidy.

We recap Mercedes Mone challenging Willow Nightingale for the TBS Title. Mone is making her in-ring debut and is in her first match after injuring her ankle against Nightingale in Japan. Now Mone wants revenge and to show that she is a star.

TBS Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale

Nightingale, with Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway, is defending and Mone gets a big entrance, complete with a bunch of drummers and showgirls. Mone begs off from Nightingale to start and we hit the dueling chants. The threat of a clothesline sends Mone bailing out to the floor, with Mone running away in a chase. Back in and Mone grabs a springboard sitout bulldog for two but Nightingale pops back up.

They head outside again where Mone gets in a kick from the apron, only to get caught with the Babe With The Powerbomb onto the same apron. Back in and Nightingale throws her hard into the corner A super Babe With The Powerbomb is broken up and Mone ties her ankle in the corner for some cranking. The jumping Meteora gets two and Mone grabs a leglock to keep Nightingale in trouble.

With that broken up, Mone grabs a dragon screw legwhip (Nightingale landed on her) and puts on an ankle lock. That’s broken up so Mone hits a Backstabber for two. An octopus goes on but Nightingale reverses into an ankle lock of her own. Mone slips out of that as well so Nightingale Pounces the heck out of her. Back up and Nightingale unloads with clotheslines in the corner, setting up a hard spinebuster for two.

The Babe With The Powerbomb is countered so Nightingale lifts her up for another powerbomb. Nightingale puts her on top but can’t get a superplex, instead settling for a shinbreaker on the apron. A swinging Prism Trap has Mone in more trouble but she avoids the Cannonball. Mone stomps on the ankle and a middle rope Meteora gets two. Nightingale rolls outside and there’s another Meteora off the apron to knock her silly.

Statlander and Hathaway get on the apron to yell, allowing Nightingale to hit the Babe With The Powerbomb…but the arguing continues. The delayed cover gets two but Mone reverses another Babe With The Powerbomb into a weird STF. That’s broken up so Mone goes up and kicks her down. The Mone Maker (a Gory Stretch spun into a knee to the face, which doesn’t go well) gives Mone the pin and the title at 18:04.

Rating: B. Well that felt inevitable. Mone might as well have had her name put on the title the second Nightingale won the thing, which is quite the shame as Nightingale FINALLY won something important and then loses it to put Mone over. I get why Mone is the bigger star, but dang this was a bit of a punch to the gut. They were having a good match with the leg work making sense, but the result is a bit saddening.

Post match Hathaway yells at Nightingale but Statlander shoves him down. Then Statlander turns on Nightingale and leaves with Hathaway.

We recap Swerve Strickland defending the World Title against Christian Cage. Strickland is mad at the Young Bucks so they’re sending Cage and the Patriarchy to take him out. Cage is also mad at Strickland for injuring Nick Wayne last year.

AEW World Title: Swerve Strickland vs. Christian Cage

Strickland, with Prince Nana (to counter Cage’s Patriarchy), is defending and we get a video about his rise to the top. They yell at each other to start and fight over a lockup as they’re not exactly going fast to start here. Cage kicks him in the ribs but gets run over with a shoulder, allowing Swerve to step on his back. The reverse DDT puts Swerve down but he avoids top rope splash.

They head outside with Swerve being sent into the barricade and Cage gets to pose back inside. The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by the frog splash to give Cage two. Nick Wayne gets in a cheap shot but Swerve sends Cage hard into the corner for a breather. Cage tries a spear but Swerve lifts him up into a powerbomb, which he swings into a powerslam for two. Swerve grabs the turtleneck for some rolling neckbreakers, followed by a hanging neckbreaker over the ropes.

With Cage on the floor, Swerve hits a big flipping dive, kicking him in the head on the way down. The House Call is countered into a Sharpshooter, which is reversed into a small package for two. The Patriarchy tries to grab the belt but Nana takes it away, only to be ejected for being caught with the belt in hand. Cage distracts the referee so the Patriarchy can hammer away like good villains. Mother Wayne offers a distraction but Killswitch headbutts Cage by mistake.

Nick is taken out but the Swerve Stomp misses. The spear gives Cage two so Nick tries another distraction but this time Killswitch gets caught before the interference. That’s good for a group ejection as commentary talks about Englebert Humperdink. Swerve hits his rolling Downward Spiral for two, followed by the rolling suplex on the floor. The steps are loaded up but they roll to the apron instead, with Cage raking the eyes and trying a powerbomb.

That’s reversed into a Swerve Stomp onto the apron but Cage knocks him off the apron and HARD onto the steps. Cue Nick Wayne with Wayne’s World off the steps so the Killswitch can give Cage two. Cue Prince Nana with a pipe to chase Nick off so Cage loads up the announcers’ table.

The Killswitch is countered into a Swerve Stomp onto (not through) the table for a NASTY crash/noise. Back in and the JML Driver is countered into a rollup for two and Cage snaps the back of Swerve’s neck over the top rope. The spear is countered so Swerve hits a running House Call into the swerve Stomp for…no cover. Another House call Retains at 24:45.

Rating: B. This started slowly but got rolling by the end, with Swerve getting the big win. Cage never felt like a threat to win the title but he’s good enough to have a solid match and make Swerve look like a star in defeat. Like many things on this show, it went longer than it needed to and they did one or two too many interference spots, but it was probably the best match on the show so far.

We recap Anarchy In The Arena, which is the Young Bucks taking over AEW and a makeshift team fighting against them for the soul of the company.

Elite vs. Team AEW

That would be the Young Bucks/Jack Perry/Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson/Darby Allin/FTR and it’s Anarchy In The Arena, meaning anything goes and falls count anywhere in an arena wide fight. The brawl is on before the bell (which rings at 12:02am) and Allin runs in wearing a mask with thumbtacks. Allin’s music keeps playing until the Bucks say play THEIR music instead. Danielson: “TURN THAT S*** OFF!” He wants the best theme music in wrestling history so the Final Countdown is on.

The brawl starts going into the crowd with Harwood and Nick fighting into the concourse. Allin dives off part of the balcony onto a pile of people and we go to a four way screen for a few moments. We pause for the wrestlers to pose a bit but Matt says cut the music because it costs about $200,000 per play (ok point for a funny line).

The camera keeps cutting to different fights, with one at ringside, two in the crowd and one backstage. The fans want music and then swear about the Bucks when it doesn’t play. Okada, at ringside, pulls out a sign that says Rainmaker Drive before diving onto Danielson. Allin throws Perry in a bucket of cold water in the back but Perry chokes him with a pipe. Back in the ring, the Bucks hit a Shatter Machine for two on Harwood (who is busted open).

We cut back to outside where Perry is in a SCAPEGOAT bus to run over a pile of stuff, which may or may not contain Allin (see because Allin got hit by a bus a few weeks ago). Perry is out off the crash and we cut back to Matt getting hit with a spike piledriver (I believe the tenth or so piledriver variation of the show) onto the apron. The PowerPlex gets two with Okada making the save.

Okada’s top rope elbow hits Harwood and he flips off the fans, with Wheeler coming in to bite the finger. Allin comes back to the ring and gets two off a Code Red on Okada. The Bucks are back up to powerbomb Okada onto a bunch of chairs….and they call for the slot machine set to be raised up. They put him under the raised set but Danielson is back up to punch away. Danielson is thrown off the ramp and the TK Driver onto the big poker chips. FTR come up, with Wheeler getting dropped onto the chip but Harwood DDTs Matt onto the chip.

A bunch of superkicks knock people off the ramp and Nick pops up after a piledriver on the stage. A table is pulled out and of course the fans want fire. Okada elbows Harwood through one and Nick adds a Swanton to put Wheeler through another. We cut to Perry backstage….and he grabs Tony Khan. Perry takes him away and Allin comes into the ring with the flamethrower. Allin lights Perry on fire (finally managing to make him a hot heel) so here are the Bucks with fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire.

They go back to the ring (because LIGHTING PERRY ON FIRE wasn’t the end of the match) and Allin kicks Okada low. The Coffin Drop gets two with the Bucks making the save. With nothing else working, the Bucks tie up Allin’s legs and…FTR comes back in with a Shatter Machine (Tony: “End it already!”) for two. Nick whips out an exploding chair to take out Harwood, followed by a superkick to Wheeler.

Okada brings out an arm sleeve with thumbtacks and the Rainmaker hits Allin, but it’s time to bust out the Young Bucks’ new shoes. These come with tacks (Okada to Matt: “TRY THESE!”) and Allin is raised up, hanging upside down by his feet. The Bucks put the shoes on and pump them up for tacked superkicks to Allin. Danielson comes in and gets taken out as well but Nick kicks Matt by mistake.

Danielson hits a running knee and takes one of the shoes, which knocks out the Bucks. A bunch of kicks have the Bucks down and a running knee into a chair hits Matt for two as Okada makes the save. Tony: “WHEN WILL THIS THING END?” The Bucks are back up with the EVP Trigger as the fans want help for Allin (who is STILL hanging upside down). Perry hits a running knee to pin Danielson at 29:55, as he shrugs off being lit on fire and pins one of the biggest stars in the world as Perrymania continues to not be a thing.

Rating: D+. Yeah I know some people are going to love this and cool if you did but DANG this was long and came at the end of a 5+ hour show. This was a total stunt show that needed about fifteen minutes cut out. It had some rather creative and painful looking stuff, but when someone is set on fire and the match goes on for ten more minutes, you’re going too long.

The Bucks get to keep running roughshod over the company, despite Tony Khan being back for the shows, making their power worthless. I’m sure that won’t be the case because the Bucks must continue, but that’s another problem for another time. The best thing here was that Khan didn’t join the Elite (yet) but this went WAY too long and I was long past ready for the show to end.

The Elite celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show went off the air at 12:33am and that sums up the biggest problem. Sunday was the fifth straight day of Tony Khan produced wrestling that I’ve watched and it’s too much. That was the case this week and it was DEFINITELY the case with this show, which went on and on. There is such a thing as burning out fans on a show and that’s what I was feeling by the end, as it just kept going.

The wrestling wasn’t exactly great either, with Strickland vs. Cage being the best thing on the show and even then it wasn’t something I want to watch again. I’m sure there are going to be very different opinions on the main event, but after a barbed wire cage match (with vampire cameo), the FTW hardcore match and chairs in Moxley vs. Takeshita, plus other assorted violence, I really wasn’t that interested in a bunch of people walking around and no selling stuff for thirty minutes.

Overall, this show just wasn’t very interesting. It wasn’t terrible or even bad, but there were a lot of results that felt obvious coming in and nothing on the show that I’d want to watch again. The show didn’t have me interested coming in and then it didn’t exactly deliver, which isn’t a good sign as AEW has long since lived off its great pay per view reputation. Maybe next month’s show is better, but this didn’t quite click for me.

Results
Deonna Purrazzo b. Thunder Rosa – Rollup with ropes
Billy Gunn/Acclaimed b. Cage Of Agony – Small package to Toa
Will Ospreay b. Roderick Strong – Hidden Blade
Bang Bang Gang b. Death Triangle – Blade Runner to Pac
Toni Storm b. Serena Deeb – Storm Zero
Orange Cassidy b. Trent Beretta – Rollup
Chris Jericho b. Hook and Katsuyori Shibata – Trashcan shot to Shibata
Jon Moxley b. Konosuke Takeshita – Death Rider
Adam Copeland b. Malakai Black – Grindhouse
Mercedes Mone b. Willow Nightingale – Mone Maker
Elite b. Team AEW – Running knee to Danielson

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