Rampage
Date: February 10, 2023
Location: County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Chris Jericho

We are still in Texas with less than a month to go before Revolution. That should make for a few interesting weeks but this week’s lineup doesn’t exactly offer much in the way of hope. The Blackpool Combat Club is here though and that is one of the better things Rampage could do. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. Butcher and the Blade/Kip Sabian

Sabian drives Yuta into the corner to start but a sunset flip gets Yuta out of trouble. Yuta is sent outside and Castagnoli comes in, with Butcher getting to come in as well for the power staredown. They yell at each other and slug it out, with both of them staggering. Moxley and then Yuta come in to take turns on Butcher as Jericho talks about the Impractical Jokers cast stealing his baseball bat.

Sabian is able to grab a flipping Stunner on Yuta for a breather and Blade gets to stomp away. That doesn’t last long and it’s Moxley coming back in to bite Sabian in the head. Moxley goes for the Kimura and elbows at the head, only to get kneed in the face. Sabian sends him outside and we take a break.

Back with Moxley fighting out of trouble and handing it off to Castagnoli for the running uppercuts in the corner. A running dropkick puts Blade down and Sabian has to save him from the Swing. That means the Swing has Sabian in trouble and the Blade gets caught in the Sharpshooter. Butcher makes the save but gets cuttered and we hit the parade of big shots to the face. Castagnoli plants Blade for two with Sabian making the save. Moxley cutters a springboarding Sabian out of the air and Castagnoli finishes with the uppercut at 13:27.

Rating: B. This was similar to last week’s Elite match, as there was no reason to believe there was an upset coming, but it was a lot of fun to watch. That’s the kind of no pressure match that could do a lot of good around here as you get star power, entertaining action and nothing that really matters. Very fun stuff here and it’s not like Sabian and company are hurt by the loss.

Darby Allin promises to not go after the TNT Title again as long as Samoa Joe is champion. He and Sting have something planned though.

We get a short sneak preview of a sitdown interview with Adam Cole. He’s interested in facing some people on the roster.

Ricky Starks wants Chris Jericho again and he’ll beat up Daniel Garcia to take his first step there.

Here are the Impractical Jokers with Chris Jericho’s bat. It’s a lot smaller than they were expecting but here is the Jericho Appreciation Society to beat them down. One is put on a table, with Hager powerbombing the other through him.

Dustin Rhodes says Swerve Strickland crossed the line by mentioning his family. Rhodes has been doing this longer than Strickland has been alive. Rhodes: “What are those three triangles on your chest? They look like Doritos, and I like Doritos!” He’s coming for Strickland’s blood and soul so here are Parker Boudreaux and Trench to beat him down. Strickland comes in to say the match is on for next week.

Ruby Soho vs. Marina Shafir

Vickie Guerrero is here with Shafir. They go to the mat to start with an exchange of arm cranking. Back up and Soho hits a running forearm as we take a break. Back with Soho hitting a kind of reverse fisherman’s suplex but missing a top rope something. No Future is countered so Soho hits some headbutts. Destination Unknown finishes Shafir at 6:40.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do anything here, especially with half of the match in the commercial. Soho continues to be the What If in the originals vs. newcomers feud and odds are we’ll get to see something develop there soon. Shafir is fine in this role and Soho beating her feels like a bit of an accomplishment. Granted Soho beating anyone at this point is a bit of a surprise.

Post match Saraya and Toni Storm come out to talk to Soho but Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter run in for the big brawl as Soho looks on.

Mark Briscoe is feeling real good about wrestling again on Dynamite next week. Mark Sterling comes in to offer his services but Briscoe “will be flying solo on this excursion.” The brawl is teased but Josh Woods comes in for the staredown, saying this isn’t Sandy Fork.

Jungle Boy vs. Ryan Nemeth

Jungle Boy knocks him outside for a suicide dive in less than ten seconds. Back in and Nemeth rolls through a high crossbody for two, setting up a DDT. Nemeth gyrates a bit so Jungle Boy hits a sliding forearm to the back of the head for the pin at 1:24. Well that was efficient.

Post match Brian Cage comes out for the staredown.

Ortiz isn’t going to let Eddie Kingston become a follower of the House Of Black.

Stokely Hathaway and Danhausen are ready for Lee Moriarty vs. Orange Cassidy.

Hangman Page is livid over losing to Jon Moxley again and says it’s not over yet. Kip Sabian comes in with Penelope Ford to mock Page, who lunges at him before walking away.

All Atlantic Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Lee Moriarty

Cassidy is defending with Danhausen and Stokely Hathaway here too. Moriarty grabs a hammerlock to start and even steals Cassidy’s glasses. As Cassidy slips out, JR sends best wishes to Jerry Lawler, with Jericho immediately talking about how much he loves Lawler. Cassidy uses the hands in the pockets to escape but gets shouldered down. That means some lazy kicks from the mat (Jericho: “Like Inoki against Ali!”) before Cassidy is sent to the apron.

Some rams into the buckle rock Moriarty but Cassidy misses a top rope clothesline. A European Clutch gives Moriarty two and he slams the arm onto the apron as we take a break. Back with Cassidy hitting the top rope clothesline, allowing Excalibur to rapid fire off the preview for next week’s shows. The Stundog Millionaire rocks Moriarty but he blocks the tornado DDT. Cassidy grabs a sleeper but Moriarty drops backwards for the break.

The Border City Stretch is blocked so Moriarty elbows away at the shoulder instead. With Cassidy on the floor, Danhausen goes for his low blow on Hathaway, who blocks it with the cast on his left arm. Cassidy hits his dive onto Moriarty and grabs the top rope DDT back inside. The Orange Punch is countered into a hard lariat but Cassidy Beach Breaks him for two. Now the Orange Punch can connect but the arm is too banged up. Moriarty gets the Border City Stretch, only to have Cassidy roll him up to retain at 11:27.

Rating: C+. Rampage as something like the Orange Cassidy Show isn’t the worst idea, as the fans love him and he holds the most worthless of the AEW titles. It really only has value to Cassidy and having him beat one midcard challenger after another is a fine way to go. That was on full display here and the formula still works.

Post match Satnam Singh comes in for the staredown but Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal run in from behind. Lethal hits Cassidy and Danhausen with the Golden Globe. The Best Friends try to come in but get beaten down as well. Jarrett loads up the guitar….but the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn run in with chairs to end the show. What an odd choice for the save.

Overall Rating: B-. Good show here, though the ending was more than a little head scratching. What matters is that Rampage is starting to find itself again. AEW has made it pretty clear that they have no long term interest in making Rampage important so just do something like this every week: a few big names, feature the people who aren’t on Dynamite that often, and just have a good time. If that’s all Rampage is going to be, I can think o worse uses for the hour.

Results
Blackpool Combat Club b. Kip Sabian/Butcher and the Blade – Uppercut to Sabian
Ruby Soho b. Marina Shafir – Destination Unknown
Jungle Boy b. Ryan Nemeth – Sliding forearm
Orange Cassidy b. Lee Moriarty – Rollup

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: February 3, 2023
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

Rampage continues to be a bit all over the place as you know most of the card/lineup in advance but it still feels like a show that could go in a bunch of different directions. That could be the case again this week as there is some star power with the Elite around to defend the Trios Titles. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Trios Titles: Elite vs. Isiah Kassidy/Matt Hardy/Ethan Page

The Elite is defending and for the sake of simplicity, Matt Hardy will be referred to as Hardy and Matt Jackson will be referred to as Matt. Nick Jackson and Kassidy trade some flips and takedowns to start before Matt comes in to take over. Kassidy gets over to Hardy for the tag, so Omega gets the overly dramatic tag (Omega is a big deal, but spare me with the Hardy stuff at this point).

Hardy sends Omega outside and goes up but Page tags himself in to take over instead. Omega snaps off a hurricanrana and it’s the Bucks coming back in for a pop up hurricanrana. Everything breaks down and Nick hits a big flip dive to the floor. Back in and Matt rolls the northern lights suplexes on Hardy but Page makes the save as we take a break.

Back with Nick in trouble and Hardy going up, only to have Page tag himself back in. The delay lets Omega come back in to take over, including You Can’t Escape to Page. Everything breaks down and Kassidy tries to play Jeff Hardy in Poetry In Motion, only to get superkicked out of the air. Omega and Hardy hit stereo clotheslines, leaving Kassidy to hit a super swinging Downward Spiral on Matt.

Kassidy and Nick slug it out but the triple superkick is broken up. A Canadian Destroyer sends Nick into the corner and the Twist of Fate gives Kassidy two on Nick. Kassidy’s cutter gets two more on Nick but Omega is back in with a heck of a V Trigger sets up the One Winged Angel. The BTE Trigger retains the titles at 15:44.

Rating: B-. Good enough action here, but the lack of drama was impossible to ignore. No one was buying half of a tag team, plus a pair of guys who can’t get along, as a threat to the Trios Titles. I know Hardy is a legend but so much of the special feeling is gone whenever he does anything. That leaves Page, who is talented but not enough to overcome these odds. Not a bad match at all, ubt it was a bunch of waiting around for the Elite to retain.

Ricky Starks is ready to run the gauntlet to get to Chris Jericho because he’ll always find a way.

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Sonjay Dutt/Satnam Singh brag about stealing the Golden Globe and using it to beat the Best Friends and Danhausen.

The Best Friends and Danhausen kind of swear revenge but Danhausen seems a bit confused.

Swerve Strickland vs. Brian Pillman Jr.

Parker Boudreaux and Trench (yeah Trench) are here with Swerve. They fight over arm control to start and then lock up until Pillman sends him into the corner. A running dropkick sends Swerve outside and Pillman takes a victory lap as we take a break. Back with the traditional exchange of forearms with Strickland getting the better of things.

A kick to the face gives Pillman two but Swerve hits his step up kick to the back of the head for two of his own. Pillman manages a neck snap across the top rope but the goons’ interference lets Swerve hit the Death Valley Driver on the apron. The Swerve Stomp finishes for Strickland at 8:18.

Rating: C-. Pillman Jr. is trying and looks so much like his dad that it’s scary, but he’s another case where it just isn’t working. The fire isn’t there and you can see it more and more every time he is in the ring. I know he is proud of his name, but being the Jr. version of his famous dad seems to be destroying his career. Granted it also would have helped if he hadn’t been thrown onto national TV before he was ready, but that’s a bigger AEW problem.

Post match the beatdown is on but Dustin Rhodes makes the save.

Malakai Black talks about poisoning Eddie Kingston. They don’t want him in the House of Black but they are glad he has gone to the dark side.

Toni Storm/Saraya vs. Renegade Twins

Storm and Robin start things off with a rather aggressive lockup until Storm hits a Thesz press. Saraya gets in some knees from the apron and the hip attack sends Robin crashing to the floor. There’s a whip into the barricade and it’s Saraya coming in for a running knee in the corner. A running knee to the face gets two on Robin and Storm grabs the chinlock. Back up and Robin is able to nail an enziguri, allowing the hot tag off to Charlotte. Everything breaks down and a quick Storm Zero gives Storm the pin at 5:08.

Rating: C. I know they’re jobbers and a lot of what they do is because of being twins, but there is something about the Renegades that makes me interested. They feel like they are giving it everything they have every time and that makes for a fun time whenever they’re out there. Saraya is starting to shake the ring rust off too, as while she wasn’t in there long, she looked smoother than she has recently. Maybe things are looking up for her.

Post match Saraya and Storm spray paint L’s on the Twins. Because they’re losers you see.

Adam Cole is ready to get back in the ring.

Video on Rush vs. Christopher Daniels.

Here’s what is coming on Dynamite.

Rush vs. Christopher Daniels

Jose the Assistant and Preston Vance are here too. They go with the grappling to start as Tony lists off Daniels’ ROH resume. Daniels knocks him to the floor and hits the required suicide dive. We take a break and come back with Rush kicking away at the ribs and Jose/Preston throwing money on Danielson’s back.

Some chops out of the corner give Danielson a break and a Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. The Koji Clutch keeps Rush in trouble but Vance puts the foot on the rope for the save. The Best Moonsault Ever hits raised knees though and Rush suplexes him into the corner. Rush hits the Bull’s Horns for the pin at 9:50.

Rating: C. As has been the case with a few Rampage matches in recent weeks, this was an “oh, ok then” match. Was anyone thinking that they needed to see this match before it was announced? They made Rush look more like a killer before the Danielson match next week, but that was about all you could get from this one. Again, not a bad match, but it had no spark or interest and that hurts things badly.

Overall Rating: C. I think it’s safe to say that Tony Khan’s attempts to make Rampage feel special are gone. Having the Elite in there for a pretty nothing title defense was nice, but you need more than fifteen minutes of important to make the show matter. It’s another week that felt like they just picked people who were backstage to be on the show and fill time, which shouldn’t be how a TV show feels. Completely watchable, but again, nothing you need to see and that hurts.

Results
Elite b. Isiah Kassidy/Matt Hardy/Ethan Page – BTE Trigger to Kassidy
Swerve Strickland b. Brian Pillman Jr. – Swerve Stomp
Saraya/Toni Storm b. Renegade Twins – Storm Zero to Charlotte
Rush b. Christopher Daniels – Bull’s Horns

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: January 27, 2023
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We’re still in Kentucky and in this case that means it’s time for Hangman Page to face Wheeler Yuta on his way to next week’s showdown with Jon Moxley. Other than that, Jamie Hayter is in a Women’s Title eliminator match and we should be in for a treat there. The show continues to be up and down, but maybe they can make it work this week. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the middle deck with the video screen on the right.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page vs. Wheeler Yuta

Yuta knocks him into the corner to start and hammers away. The Octopus has Page in early trouble before Yuta switches to the legs. They trade slaps to the face until Yuta bridges back into a leglock. Page fights up and knocks Yuta down for a change and a fall away slam sends Yuta to the apron. There’s the springboard clothesline to send him outside, setting up a slingshot dive.

Page sends him back inside where Yuta hits a very fast dive of his own. That earns Yuta a pop up powerbomb onto the apron, followed by the Liger Bomb for two back inside. We take a break and come back with Yuta hitting a middle rope dropkick. A top rope forearm drops Page again but he catches Yuta on top. The super Death Valley Driver gets two (Why debut a huge move like that if it’s a two count?) and a release German suplex drops Yuta again.

Yuta grabs his own German suplex and ties Page’s leg in the rope for some elbows to the head. Another German suplex on the apron and another on the floor (with Yuta flipping him backwards because EGADS) drops Page hard. Yuta adds a heck of a dive on the floor but a frog splash only hits knees. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into an Angle Slam, setting up a frog splash to give Yuta two. They strike it out again until Page sends him through the ropes. Yuta hangs on so Page goes to the apron, setting up the Buckshot Lariat. A Jon Moxley Death Rider finishes Yuta at 14:59.

Rating: B-. Good fight here, though that super Death Valley Driver was a good bit annoying. Other than that you have Page trying to get more and more violent for the sake of getting ready for Moxley next week. Yuta tried hard and looked good in defeat, but can we please have another champion stop losing over and over?

Action Andretti and Ricky Starks aren’t done with the Jericho Appreciation Society, who had to cheat to win.

Eddie Kingston is done fighting and understands the House of Black. He’s ready to go home.

Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh vs. Best Friends/Danhausen

Sonjay Dutt and Orange Cassidy are the seconds here. Danhausen even has a ukulele and gets in a contest with Jarrett’s guitar. Not musical of course, but just who the fans like more. Then Singh steals the ukulele and breaks it with ease, allowing Lethal to jump Taylor from behind. The Beat Friends elbow Lethal down and it’s off to Jeff, who gets elbowed in the face as well.

Danhausen comes in for a single kick before handing it back to the Best friends for a double shoulder. We get a quadruple double bicep pose from the good guys and it’s Soul Food into the half and half suplex on Lethal. The Big Hug is broken up though and Trent makes the mistake of going after Singh, earning himself a hard whip out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Trent flipping out of a German suplex so Taylor can come back in to take over.

The Koji Clutch has Lethal in trouble but Jarrett makes the save. Taylor Figure Fours Jarrett and Lethal’s Hail To The King misses. Jarrett inches over for the tag off to Singh though and Danhausen comes in for the, ahem, showdown. Danhausen slugs away and clotheslines the stomach but Singh misses a charge in the corner. All four of the good guys get in a neck snap over the top rope. Danhausen grabs the guitar but the distraction lets Jarrett use the Golden Globe to knock out Danhausen so Singh can get the pin at 10:02.

Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it was a bunch of goofy shenanigans that didn’t exactly make Singh look good. Other than shrugging off offense, he didn’t do anything that made him feel like a monster. I can definitely go with this version of Jarrett/Lethal/Singh rather than them going after the Tag Team Titles, but this match wasn’t exactly great.

Britt Baker tells Ruby Soho to grow a backbone and pick a side. If she’s smart, she knows which one to pick.

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Tony Gunn

Gunn is a former OVW Champion. Hobbs powers him around, plants him and hits a reverse Attitude Adjustment for the pin at 1:12.

Top Flight want to team up with AR Fox to go after the Trios Titles.

Dustin Rhodes is back after a rough month (losing his mother) but Mogul Affiliates interrupt. Swerve talks about Dustin’s brother having a slick mouth and Dustin’s daddy….and that’s too far. A fight seems imminent.

Video on Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura.

Mark Henry does his catchphrase.

Jade Cargill is interrupted by Red Velvet and has a 50th opponent.

Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura

Women’s Title eliminator with Britt Baker, Rebel and Sakura’s royal court. They strike away to start with Jamie Hayter as Baker has found a rather nice HAYTERADE sign in the crowd to hold up. The fight heads outside with Sakura whipping her from the apron and into the barricade over and over. Back in and Sakura strikes away in the corner before grabbing the surfboard.

We take a break and come back with Hayter grabbing some exploder suplexes. Hayter pounds her down in the corner and grabs a Haytebreaker for two. Sakura counters a sliding forearm into a crucifix for two of her own but Hayter blasts her with clotheslines. A Tower Of London drops Hayter but Sakura avoids a moonsault. Sakura’s Tiger Driver gets two and a moonsault connects for the same. The ripcord lariat is countered into a suplex from Sakura but Hayter BLASTS her with a clothesline. Hayterade finishes Sakura at 12:33.

Rating: B. Hayter continues to look like an absolute star and Sakura gave her a heck of a match. These two beat each other up and looked solid in the process. It felt like a main event and Hayter got a great boost out of it. She has turned herself face with all of the good things she does and it is kind of amazing to see. Heck of a main event.

Overall Rating: B-. The main event carries a lot of this show and the opener is good, but there is a big half an hour gap in the middle with only a Hobbs squash being noteworthy. It was another enjoyable show, but like Rampage most of the time, it felt like little more than a preview for Dynamite. If that is what Rampage wants to be then cool, but it still feels like a bit of a waste of TV time.

Results
Hangman Page b. Wheeler Yuta – Death Rider
Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal/Satnam Singh b. Best Friends/Danhausen – Golden Globe to Danhausen
Powerhouse Hobbs b. Tony Gunn – Reverse Attitude Adjustment
Jamie Hayter b. Emi Sakura – Hayterade

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: January 25, 2023
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

This is going to be an emotional one as the main event will feature the Jay Briscoe Tribute match between Mark Briscoe and Jay Lethal. If that’s not enough, we’re still on the way to Revolution and that means Bryan Danielson gets to wrestle again. This time he has to find a way around Brian Cage, which is quite the different opponent than he has had in recent weeks. Other than that, the Gunns and the Acclaimed are going to have family therapy, which could go in a few different ways. Let’s get to it.

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

I was in the arena for this show, looking almost across from the big screen (Much appreciated on the early birthday present Jacob.).

Opening sequence.

Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara vs. Action Andretti/Ricky Starks

We are joined in the middle of Jericho’s entrance (including Daniel Garcia), which came after Justin Roberts asked if we should start early. Andretti and Guevara start things off and exchange some flips without being able to make a ton of contact. Andretti’s standing moonsault misses and they stare at each other for a bit. Guevara offers a handshake and then superkicks him in the face to take over.

A headscissors sends Guevara outside though and it’s time for a breather, leaving Andretti to do Guevara’s pose. Back in and a dropkick sends Andretti outside for a change but they change places, with Andretti diving onto Garcia (who Guevara pulled in the way). Guevara is right back in for his own dive to take over again but Andretti sticks the landing on a super hurricanrana back inside. It’s off to Starks vs. Jericho with Starks countering a dropkick into a catapult.

Starks tries his rope walk but Guevara springboards in to cutter Starks down (it would be a bit more heelish to just shake the ropes but that doesn’t work as well on a highlight reel). The villains take turns slamming Starks (Jericho: “Sammy, watch this!”) before hitting their required double pose. That takes a bit too long though and Guevara dives over for the hot tag to Andretti to clean house with a pair of backbreaker/neckbreaker combinations.

Back to back dives have Jericho and Guevara in trouble and Starks adds a tornado DDT to take Guevara down. Starks counters the Codebreaker into a sitout powerbomb for two on Jericho and it’s back to Andretti. Everything breaks down and Andretti hits Guevara with a poisonrana into a torture rack neckbreaker for two more. Starks Roshambos Jericho on the floor as Guevara goes up, only to have his cutter caught in a torture rack (dang). Garcia is right up with a bat shot though and the GTH finishes Andretti at 12:46.

Rating: B-. Here is where things get tricky with something like having Andretti beat Jericho: at some point he has to lose, and now Guevara has beaten someone who only had one or two wins. This cuts off a lot of Andretti’s momentum and doesn’t do much for Guevara, but it had to happen at some point. At least Jericho didn’t get the pin to get his heat back, but odds are he’ll find another way to do that. The match itself was entertaining with Andretti doing all of his dives and Starks adding his charisma, but Andretti had to lose at some point so it might as well be here.

Here’s what’s coming tonight.

We get a rather touching Jay Briscoe tribute video. They aired this twice in the arena and it’s still incredible on a third viewing.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Buddy Matthews

Allin, with his bad leg, is defending and has Sting in his corner to counter Julia Hart. They stare at each other to start until Julia’s distraction lets Matthews send him outside for a ram into the barricade. Allin fights up and tries a suicide dive, which is pulled out of the air for some drops onto the barricade. A running powerbomb into the barricade is countered into a hurricanrana to send Allin in instead.

Back in and the flipping Stunner drops Matthews, setting up the Coffin Drop from the top to the floor. Then the lights go out and we have the rest of the House Of Black to stare down Sting. Cue Ortiz from behind with a kendo stick and everyone else brawls to the floor. Matthews hits a sitout powerbomb for two more and we take a break.

Back with Allin spiking him with a poisonrana and they go to the floor again. A crucifix bomb gives Allin two and they’re both down for a breather. Matthews hits a Buckle Bomb into a Stomp for a freakin two but Allin’s Code Red gets the same. Allin goes up but gets caught, only to reverse a superplex into a super Coffin Drop for two. With Matthews draped over the middle rope, the Coffin Drop to the back retains the title at 12:50.

Rating: C+. Shenanigans aside, this was another good effort from Allin, who has that underdog charisma that you want to see no matter what he is doing. Allin knows how to take the fans on a ride with him and you want to see him fight back and survive in the end. Good enough match as Allin racks up another defense before he gets to whomever his next big challenger might be.

Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring to talk to Allin but Samoa Joe interrupts on the screen. Joe talks about how Allin stole the TNT Title and in some kingdoms, that means cutting off hands. In Joe’s kingdom, it means a beating, which is what happens when Joe comes to get his title back. There’s your big challenger.

Video on Adam Cole’s recovery as he is in the ring training. I don’t think this aired in the arena.

Matt Hardy/Ethan Page vs. Jungle Boy/Hook

Stokely Hathaway and Isiah Kassidy are here with Hardy/Page. Before the match, Page insists on his own music being played, much to the fans’ annoyance. Jungle Boy works on Page’s arm to start but it’s quickly a four way standoff. Page shoves Hook and then bails, meaning he has to run from Hook on the floor. The t-bone suplex is broken up but Jungle Boy breaks up an Ego’s Edge. Page takes over on Jungle Boy back inside and we take a break.

Back with Jungle Boy diving through the legs and bringing in Hook for the suplexes. Everything breaks down and Jungle Boy gets two off a small package to Page. Matt comes in for the Side Effect but Page wants in before the Twist of Fate. Jungle Boy pulls him down into the Snare Trap for the tap at 7:01.

Rating: C. The Page/Hardy stuff still isn’t doing anything for me but the fans were way into Jungle Boy and Hook. As annoying as the “combine two names to make a team name” can be, the fans are digging them and Hook is moved into his first serious deal. You could only have him squash people on Rampage for so long and now he is handling this part well enough so far.

We go to family therapy with the Acclaimed/Billy Gunn and the Gunn Club. Billy, who called for this, asks when his sons became so entitled. The Gunns talk about how their dad was never there for them and they want the titles. Bowens thinks they are pieces of s*** and would have been fine enough with Billy. They just wouldn’t have been the Acclaimed because no one can be. Austin says that their issues as sons are Billy’s failures as a father. They want the titles, wrapping up a not very interesting segment.

Hangman Page says he and Jon Moxley are 1-1 and he wants to knock Moxley out next week in Dayton, Ohio and win their series. Wheeler Yuta comes in and isn’t happy with Page going after someone not medically cleared. They can fight on Rampage before Moxley is back next week. Deal, with Page threatening to knock him out next week too.

Brian Cage vs. Bryan Danielson

Prince Nana is here with Cage, who shoves Danielson around without much trouble. Danielson strikes away but gets taken into the corner for the hard chops. Cage gets rolled over and elbowed in the head but it’s too early for the LeBell Lock. Danielson sends him outside instead and hits a suicide dive, followed by a high crossbody. Back in and Cage gorilla presses him into the corner before hitting a suplex onto the apron.

We take a break and come back with Danielson headbutting him out of a bearhug but the moonsault out of the corner is pulled out of the air though and a shoulderbreaker works on Danielson’s arm. Cage sends him to the apron, setting up the apron superplex and apron German superplex (cool) for two.

They go up top where Danielson blocks a powerbomb and starts firing off kicks, setting up a superplex of his own. A triangle choke has Cage in more trouble but he rolls out, only to have Danielson grab an ankle lock. Danielson pulls him back for a German suplex (cool) before trying the running knee. That is countered into a powerbomb but Danielson rolls through and stacks him up for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: B-. Watching Danielson has become such a treat as you see him figuring out his weekly puzzle. Some of them are easy like Takeshita, but he managed to get a good match out of Cage here. That is quite an amazing talent to have and it is so much fun to watch him do this week in and week out while making it look effortless.

Post match Cage goes right after the arm and crushes it against the post with a chair. Cue MJF as Cage loads up the Pillmanizing on the arm. Konosuke Takeshita runs in for the save as Danielson gets to extend his world record of “most times selling an arm injury”.

Post break, Danielson is getting his arm checked out and has a pretty serious injury. He doesn’t care though because he is coming for MJF and the title. MJF has done a lot to Danielson and now Danielson is coming to take what matters most to MJF in the world.

Ruby Soho vs. Toni Storm

During the entrances, Storm mocks the homegrown AEW women while Soho says the only thing that matters is how hard you work. Soho knocks her to the floor to start but gets knocked down back inside. A tornado DDT is blocked and Soho strikes away so Storm pokes her in the eye. The running hip attack knocks Soho hard to the floor and Storm whips her into various things until we take a break.

Back with Soho hitting a German suplex, setting up No Future for two. Soho gets in a shot to the face and hang on as Storm’s face is messed up (allegedly). The goldbricking Storm snaps off a German suplex and hits the running hip attack in the corner. A tornado DDT gives Storm two but here is Britt Baker for a distraction. Soho grabs Destination Unknown for the pin at 8:43.

Rating: C. This was more about advancing the outsiders vs. insiders feud and as a result, it was nice to have it go short. It’s also nice to see Soho getting a win, as she is still trying to get and keep herself on the right track for once. Beating a former Women’s Champion always helps and maybe this is the start of her first better run around here.

MJF is sitting in what looks to be a closet, saying he isn’t “the first Jew to have to hide from a man with blue eyes.” He likes Konosuke Takeshita’s abilities but either stay out of his business or face the consequences. As for Bryan Danielson, he was talking about wanting this title, which is the thing that proves that he is the best. Danielson is a legend but he needs to chase the title. Danielson’s shoulder is hanging on by a thread so MJF has made a phone call. Next week: Danielson vs. Timothy Thatcher.

Video on Thatcher. This has potential.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Video on Jamie Hayter vs. Emi Sakura, who face off on Rampage.

Jay Lethal vs. Mark Briscoe

This is the Jay Briscoe tribute match on what would have been his 39th birthday. Jay is crying on his way to the ring (alone) and Mark has both Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles. We get the Big Match Intros and a rather emotional handshake. They trade takedowns to start and that’s an early standoff. An exchange of chops goes to Mark so he clotheslines Jay down and hits a running boot to the face. Lethal is right back with the Lethal Combination but Mark hits grabs his brother’s hangman’s neckbreaker for two.

We take a break and come back with Mark Iconoclasming him down for two but Jay blocks a Jay Driller. Another Lethal Combination looks to set up a Figure Four but Mark rolls him up for two. The Lethal Injection connects, only to have Mark roll outside. A ram into the barricade lets Jay put him on the table but Mark is right back up.

Lethal is knocked to the floor for the running apron Blockbuster as the fans are rather pleased. Mark puts him on the table and hits a huge Froggy Bow to drive Jay right through it. That’s good for two back inside so Mark hits him with a hard running clothesline. Another clothesline sets up the Jay Driller to give Mark the pin at 12:24.

Rating: B. I thought about not rating this one and that still might have been the right move. This was about letting two people who meant a lot to Jay Briscoe go out there and have a good match in his honor. They did their jobs well, with Mark showing that he could more than hang at this level. It would be nice to have him around if he wants to be, but taking some time away would not be a surprise either.

Post match the locker room comes out, many of them in Jay Briscoe shirts, for the big tribute. Lethal and Mark both go up the ramp and have quite the tearful embrace.

Overall Rating: B-. It wasn’t the greatest show, but they made what they had work pretty well. That’s as much as you can ask for with a bit of a weak card, as we start to head towards Revolution. They’re doing a nice job of setting the show up as you can see a lot of the card, but there is still a lot of work to be done. That being said, this is going to be remembered for the main event and honoring Jay Briscoe, which is a lot more important than building to a show in a month and a half. This was an emotional night and that is what made it special, so good for them for making it work.

Results
Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara b. Action Andretti/Ricky Starks – GTH to Andretti
Darby Allin b. Buddy Matthews – Coffin Drop
Jungle Boy/Hook b. Matt Hardy/Ethan Page – Snare Trap to Page
Bryan Danielson b. Brian Cage – Rollup
Ruby Soho b. Toni Storm – Destination Unknown
Mark Briscoe b. Jay Lethal – Jay Driller

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

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AND

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

Dynamite
Date: January 18, 2023
Location: Save Mart Center, Fresno, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re about six weeks away from Revolution and that means Bryan Danielson is still on the road to getting his Iron Man match with MJF for the World Title. Other than that, Orange Cassidy is defending the All-Atlantic Title against Jay Lethal and Ricky Starks continues his issues with the Jericho Appreciation Society. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Jay Briscoe.

All-Atlantic Title: Jay Lethal vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy is defending and there are no seconds, though here are Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt through the crowd to take fans’ seats. They start fast with Cassidy grabbing a small package and backslide for two each before Lethal knocks him outside. Cue Danhausen, who is now an usher, demanding to see Jarrett and company’s tickets. Because reasons, they hand them over, and Danhausen waves over the Best Friends (with concessions) to sit behind them.

In the melee, Cassidy hits a suicide dive but Lethal knocks him back down without much effort. Now Danhausen is at ringside as Lethal drives Cassidy into the apron. A hard posting (great bump) has Cassidy in more trouble and Lethal gets to strut. Back in and Hail To The King is loaded up but Cassidy rolls away, even as Lethal tries multiple buckles.

The Stundog Millionaire and tornado DDT hit Lethal for two but he’s right back with the Lethal Combination. The Lethal Injection connects, only for Cassidy to roll outside. Hold on though as the referee goes to yell at Jarrett and company, allowing Danhausen to steal the guitar. Lethal gives chase and runs into the Orange Punch to retain the title at 9:09.

Rating: C. This was a tricky one as the match itself was entertaining but there is only so much you can do with all of the shenanigans going on outside. I’m not sure why the Jarrett/Best Friends and company stuff was supposed to be entertaining but it felt like we were going into what Danhausen thought of Memphis. The match worked well enough, but the outside stuff was so distracting that it brought things back down.

Post match everyone else gets in and Cassidy gives Dutt the lazy kicks. Dutt has to be held back and we don’t get much physicality. Well Cassidy and Danhausen do have some popcorn if that counts.

Video on Kushida vs. Darby Allin for the TNT Title later tonight.

Top Flight vs. Young Bucks

Brandon Cutler is here too. Nick cranks on Dante’s wrist to start and with the traditional wrestling out of the way, they start trading the flips until it’s a standoff. Dante hits Nick in the face so it’s off to Matt, who gets tripped down by Darius via the blind tag. Everything breaks down and Dante gets caught on the middle rope. Darius gets sent outside and we take a break.

Back with Nick breaking up a hot tag attempt by punning Darius to the floor. A bulldog/dropkick combination hits Dante and a 450/standing moonsault combination gives Nick two. Dante manages to hurricanrana his way out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Darius to clean house. A high crossbody gets two on Matt and everything breaks down again. Dante hits a springboard Downward Spiral on Nick and springboards outside to dive onto Matt.

The powerbomb/Nose Dive combination gets two on Matt with Nick making a fast save. Nick gets to do his rapid fire comeback, with a slingshot Canadian Destroyer getting two on Dante. Matt, after adjusting his JAY armband, loads up a Doomsday Device for two on Darius with Dante making his own diving save. The BTE Trigger is loaded up but the Darius misses so the knees collide, allowing Darius to grab a rollup pin at 12:14.

Rating: B. Top Flight continues to get better and better, as they are becoming that high flying team that you almost need to have on your roster. Beating the Bucks still means something and hopefully this is a sign that Top Flight could be on their way up the ladder. It wouldn’t stun me to see them getting the Tag Team Titles this year and they seem to be on their way.

Here are the Gunns for a chat. The take credit for the Acclaimed’s success (“WE EVEN GAVE THEM OUR DAD!”) and promise there will never be any more embarrassment. Cue the Acclaimed and, after an argument over whether Caster can rap, Caster raps about how the Gunns are the worst kids since Hunter Biden and…something that is censored. Gunn talks about how the Gunns are pathetic and tells the Acclaimed to start acting like champions. Next week: family therapy. Billy leaves on his own.

Hangman Page feels great after last week’s fight with Jon Moxley. Page said he would knock Moxley out if he had to and then he did just that. As for his future, he won’t go into it, but Page does ask Renee Paquette how Moxley is doing and seems sincere. He asks her to tell him….never mind. Nice touch by not ignoring the big personal side there.

Jake Hager vs. Ricky Starks

Chris Jericho is on commentary and the rest of the Jericho Appreciation Society is at ringside. Hager, with hat, starts fast but Starks takes the hat away and they head outside. Hager posts him and Starks tries to dive through the ropes to avoid the contact, only to crash into them to make it even worse (that looked bad).

We take a break and come back with Starks dropkicking him through the ropes to the floor. A springboard crossbody hits Hager and a running clothesline takes him down again. Starks plants him with a DDT but takes a long time posing, allowing the Society to get up on the apron. That fails as well, allowing Starks to hit the spear for the pin at 6:22. Not enough shown to rate, but Starks continues his rise.

Video on Adam Cole’s return. He could be a heck of a mega face if he is given the chance.

The Jericho Appreciation Society wants to end Ricky Starks, so next week they’re facing Starks and Action Andretti. Hold on though as Daniel Garcia wants to take Sammy Guevara’s place. Guevara says cool, but only if Garcia can beat Andretti on Rampage. Guevara, who seemingly had no knowledge this was happening in advance, has new leather pants ready for Garcia.

Bryan Danielson vs. Bandido

They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go. They go to a quick standoff until Danielson headlocks him down. Back up and Bandido takes him down for a change, setting up the surfboard. That’s broken up and Danielson does the double leg stomp. They trade finger guns until Bandido ties up the legs and arms at the same time. Danielson sits up to escape but has to get out of a Texas Cloverleaf attempt as well.

Back up and Danielson knees away but gets hiptossed down, setting up…something where he ties up Danielson’s arms and legs and lifts him up. That can’t last long so Danielson rolls outside, allowing Bandido to hit the running flip dive. We take a break and come back with Danielson striking away at the ribs but getting small packaged for two. Danielson uppercuts him into the corner for the kicks to the chest.

Bandido isn’t having that and hits a springboard twisting crossbody. The delayed vertical suplex takes Danielson down again but he pulls Bandido into the LeBell Lock. Bandido gets a foot on the rope so Danielson fires off the YES Kicks. The big one is blocked and Bandido hits the X Knee. Danielson flips out of the 21 Plex though and la majistral gets two.

Back up and Bandido is sent outside for a dropkick through the ropes. There’s the running knee off the apron and they head back inside, where Bandido takes him up top. The super fall away slam sets up the 21 Plex for two and they strike it out. Danielson can’t pull him back into the LeBell Lock, allowing Bandido to pull him back up. That’s broken up and the running knee finishes Bandido at 17:53.

Rating: B+. This was the chess match that I was hoping it would be as you could see both of them trying to get into the right place to knock the other one off. What made it different though is it felt like they were going through a game plan throughout the match and had planned for everything the other had to offer. Awesome match, but that shouldn’t be a surprise with Danielson these days.

Post match MJF pops up on screen to say he doesn’t like how Danielson is treating him. So far Danielson has only dealt with Masked Max, but the further Danielson goes down this road, the more the mask comes off. Even the Dragon is no match for the Monster behind the mask.

Saraya and Toni Storm aren’t happy with Hikaru Shida screwing up in their match last week.

Next week it’s Bryan Danielson vs. Brian Cage, so MJF offers Cage a lot of money to Cage to unleash the hate. He even intentionally messes with Cage to make him angrier, which has MJF rather pleased.

Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale

Saraya is here with Storm. Nightingale shoulders her down to start and hits a spinning belly to back suplex. Back up and Storm slaps her in the face as Hikaru Shida comes out. We take a break and come back with Nightingale hitting a spinebuster, followed by a middle rope dropkick. The Cannonball misses though and Storm is back with the running hip attack. A tornado DDT plants Nightingale for two but she Pounces Storm into the corner. Now the Cannonball can connect for two….but then Saraya gets on the apron for a distraction so Storm can roll her up for the pin at 7:12.

Rating: C. What was that ending? Why would you have Saraya get on the apron after Storm had already kicked out? It makes sense that Saraya was worried, but why make Nightingale look bad in the process? Anyway, Nightingale gets knocked back a bit, which is a shame as she is starting to move up and while it was screwy she probably didn’t need to lose.

Post match Saraya and Storm beat on Nightingale until Ruby Soho runs in for the save. Shida stayed neutral in the whole thing.

Video on Jungle Boy vs. Ethan Page.

Konosuke Takeshita is honored to have fought Bryan Danielson, and now he wants MJF. There’s the next match that Takeshita gets to lose.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Kushida

Kushida, with some students from the Los Angeles New Japan Dojo is here, with Sting in Allin’s corner. Kushida misses some kicks to start and gets pulled into a quick chinlock. With that broken up, Allin sweeps the leg for two and rolls over into an exchange of armbar attempts. The grappling continues until Kushida slips out of an armdrag, setting up the basement dropkick to send Allin outside.

Back in and Kushida kicks him in the arm before cranking on said arm. That’s broken up and Allin hits a fast Code Red, setting up the big flip dive to the floor onto the Dojo students. Kushida uses the distraction to take Allin down by the arm though and we take a break. Back with Kushida kicking at the arm, which only fires Allin up again. A Scorpion Death Drop plants Kushida for a double knockdown but he’s able to send Allin outside.

Kushida goes after the arm, only to have Allin come back with a flipping Stunner onto the apron. Allin knocks Kushida into an open chair and goes up for the Coffin Drop, only to get pulled into the cross armbreaker. Back in and Kushida cranks on the arm on top, setting up an arm crank top rope superplex (egads). The Hoverboard Lock goes on and the students offer Sting a towel to throw in. Sting wipes his face with it and throws it into the crowd. Allin slips out and grabs the Last Supper to retain at 13:40.

Rating: B. Another solid match here, as Kushida is going to be able to have a good one against anyone. Allin gets a win over an established name as he continues his nice resurgence. I could go for more of Kushida around here and that might be the case, though Sting shrugging off students might have been better.

Respect is shown after the match and Kushida wants to do it again. Excalibur gives Jay Briscoe one more shout out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show had a nice mixture of stuff and it made for a rather fun night of stuff. A lot of that was due to a series of good to excellent matches, but there were also some moments of things being a bit overthought. What mattered though is you can see a lot of the Revolution card starting to take shape and this show advanced a few of those stories. Very good show here, with the wrestling carrying things.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Jay Lethal – Orange Punch
Top Flight b. Young Bucks – Rollup to Matt
Ricky Starks b. Jake Hager – Spear
Bryan Danielson b. Bandido – Running knee
Toni Storm b. Willow Nightingale – Rollup
Darby Allin b. Kushida – Last Supper

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: January 11, 2023
Location: Kia Forum, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re in for a big show this week as things head back to Los Angeles. AEW knows how to bring it on the bigger stages and that is what should happen here. This week is centered around the ladder match to end the Best Of Seven series between the Elite and Death Triangle for the Trios Titles. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jon Moxley vs. Hangman Page

They go right to the fighting with Page sending him into the corner for a running boot to the face. Page forearms him down but Moxley fights up and starts the swagger. The cross armbreaker doesn’t work for Moxley so he knocks Page off the apron instead. Back in and Moxley blasts him with a clothesline for two and we take a break.

We come back with Moxley hitting another clothesline to set up the exchange of forearms. Page hits the fall away slam and nips up to knock Moxley outside. The moonsault to the floor connects but Moxley counters the Buckshot Lariat into the Death Rider for two. Page gets out of the choke so Moxley hits a hard piledriver for two more. The Deadeye is broken up as well and now the Deadeye connects. Moxley staggers to the ropes though and hits the Stomp to leave both of them down. Back up and the slug it out with Page getting the better of things and hitting the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 14:10.

Rating: B. Good fight, though it didn’t quite hit that level they had built the match up towards. The important thing here is that Page won, as he pretty much had to given everything that had happened. He had a personal issue with Moxley but also needed to win to boost himself back up so well done with the whole thing.

Post match Moxley is checked out by the doctors and Page walks away without a second look. That might be Moxley’s long awaited vacation.

Here is Tony Schiavone to bring out….the returning Adam Cole! It’s Story Time with Adam Cole, who always wanted to be a professional wrestler, and here he is in an AEW ring in Los Angeles. He’s been going through a bunch of health issues, from a destroyed shoulder and two serious head injuries. Someone told him that they don’t care if Cole wrestles again but all he wants is Cole to be ok.

For six months, he has given the fans nothing but the fans still seem to care about him. For that he is eternally grateful and we pause for the ADAM COLE chants. Cole has some bad news though….and it’s not for him. The bad news is for everyone else because he is BACK! Remember this day because the new Adam Cole is being born, and one day he is going to be at the top of the AEW mountain. Cool moment here as it’s nice to have Cole back and seemingly as a good guy.

The Acclaimed is getting stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Oh boy.

Lee Moriarty/Big Bill vs. Hook/Jungle Boy

Stokely Hathaway is here with Bill/Moriarty. Hook and Moriarty start things off with Moriarty having to fight out of a short armscissors attempt. Jungle Boy comes in for a basement dropkick but Bill grabs him by the throat. The chokeslam onto the apron is broken up by Hook’s baseball slide though and Bill gets to dance a bit. Jungle Boy is knocked to the floor and we take a break. Back with Jungle Boy fighting out of Moriarty’s triangle choke and bringing Hook in. House is quickly cleaned and Hook manages to suplex Bill. With Bill looking stunned, Jungle Boy Snare Traps Moriarty for the tap at 7:38.

Rating: C+. The story here is Hook, who is now getting to work longer and more complicated matches as he is coming along nicely. You can only get so much out of a few suplexes and Redrum so having him live in a match with a more serious story is a great sign. Hook seems like he could have something in the future and I could go with seeing how they use him.

An actor named Paul Walter Hauser has a present for Danhausen and Orange Cassidy, which he’ll give them on Rampage. The Best Friends come in and everything is cool.

The Elite has nothing to say.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Bryan Danielson

Hold on though as before Danielson comes out, here is MJF (with his chyron saying he is looking to avoid a match with Danielson at Full Gear instead of Revolution) to say KONICHIWA. He loves Takeshita, even though he has never seen a second of his stuff. MJF mocks Takeshita’s name and tells him to win tonight, earning a yell in Japanese. Takeshita is ready to fight but the referee holds him back.

MJF says people are accusing him of being scared of lasting an hour, but ask your mama about that. He’s all about pinning shoulders to the mats and bending rats but everyone here is irrelevant. Actor Ken Jeong is here, with MJF mocking his career stalling a bit. Freddie Prinze Jr. is here too and gets the same round of insults. Cue Danielson to chase MJF off (dude can run when he is wearing a belt) and we’re ready to go.

They start fast and wrestle to an early standoff as some people are standing up and talking in the front row. Takeshita works on the arm but Danielson pulls him into a surfboard with a dragon sleeper. That’s reversed into Takeshita’s attempt at a dragon sleeper but he goes with forearms to the face instead. Danielson goes for the arm but Takeshita bails to the rope for the save. Back up and Danielson charges into a heck of a Blue Thunder Bomb for two and they chop it out as we take a break.

We come back with Danielson trying a dive off the apron into….I think the running knee but he gets spun around and lands hard on the floor. Takeshita grabs a brainbuster on the floor but a springboard Swanton hits raised knees back inside. Danielson grabs the LeBell Lock but Takeshita gets a foot on the rope.

They slug it out again until both of them go down for a breather. Takeshita’s running knee is countered into the elbows to the head but Takeshita is back with a wheelbarrow driver. A wheelbarrow suplex looks to set up the running knee but Danielson hits it instead for two. The stomps to the head set up the Regal Stretch to finishes Takeshita at 14:17.

Rating: B+. Yeah this was great and I don’t think that was any kind of a surprise. Danielson can work wonders with just about anyone and Takeshita has been a treat almost every time he is in the ring. Danielson is on the road to Revolution and an Iron Man match with MJF for the title, but MJF’s stand up set might not be over by then. The jokes before the match didn’t do much and MJF running away was the highlight of his appearance.

Juice Robinson wants to face Darby Allin on Rampage for the TNT Title.

Saraya/Toni Storm vs. Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter

Hikaru Shida and Rebel are the seconds here. Storm and Hayter fight over a lock up to start with Storm taking over and bringing Saraya in. Saraya knees her in the ribs for two but Baker offers a distraction. That doesn’t seem to matter as Saraya sends Hayter into the steps as Baker punches Storm as we take a break.

Back with Baker coming in to get clotheslined by Saraya. A knee gives Saraya two and it’s back to Storm, who hits the running hip attack in the corner. Baker takes her into the corner though and a super Air Raid Crash gets two. The quick piledriver gives Storm two on Hayter as everything breaks down. Baker gets in a kendo stick shot to Storm and Hayterade gives Hayter the pin at 11:45.

Rating: C+. The match was good enough, but after teasing Mercedes Mone and not delivering her, it felt a bit flat. A lot of that was built on fan theory, but when Baker called herself a boss, they were leaning into it quite hard. As for the match, it’s Storm losing again, which shouldn’t be a surprise anymore.

Here’s what’s coming on Rampage.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz don’t seem to be on the same page for Friday, but Kingston says he’ll prove himself.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society for a chat. We hear about how great the team is, including their PWG invasion over the weekend. On top of that, Tay Melo/Anna Jay are totally going to wreck Willow Nightingale and Ruby Soho on Rampage. Cue Ricky Starks and Action Andretti to interrupt with Starks bragging about beating Chris Jericho last week. Andretti mocks Daniel Garcia and Sammy Guevara, the latter of whom can’t even control his own wife. Guevara can’t control where his wife’s hands go, because last week they were between Andretti’s legs.

Garcia rants about how pro wrestlers like Andretti don’t get it because he isn’t a sports entertainer. Starks wants Jericho to move aside so he can talk to the idiot in the purple hat. Jake Hager was a top athlete but then he got with Jericho and became the village idiot. Starks wants to fight next week, with Excalibur saying the match has already been made. Hager talks about his hat and MMA career before promising to slap Starks’ face off his face (yes). Starks continues to feel like a star in recent weeks and that is great to see.

Trios Titles: Elite vs. Death Triangle

Death Triangle is defending in the final match of a Best Of Seven series and this is Escalara de la Muerte (TLC match). The brawl is on to start with Omega and Pac being left inside for the slugout. Matt and Penta come in for the Backstabbers and slug it out on their own but it’s too early for the Fear Factor. Death Triangle clears the ring with Penta hitting a running flip dive to take Omega down on the floor.

Back in and the first ladder is set up but Fenix springboards in with an armdrag to pull Nick down. Omega grabs some snapdragons but misses a running flip dive through a table at ringside. Matt hits a high crossbody to dive Pac through a table though and we take a break. Back with Nick being dropped legs first onto a ladder and Omega’s hand being stomped inside another ladder.

Omega is fine enough to try a One Winged Angel but Pac reverses into a poisonrana. The Bros hit dives but the Bucks are back up with superkicks. Nick 450s Penta through a table at ringside and it’s time for Matt to go up…and get shoved over by Alex Abrahantes. Brandon Cutler cold sprays Abrahantes and the ladder is bridged into the standing version. Penta and Omega fight up the ladder, with Omega hitting the One Winged Angel to knock him silly. The Black Arrow hits Omega’s raised knees and Omega pulls down the titles at 14:49.

Rating: B. This was the violent carnage you would have expected coming in. It’s also the result you probably expected, as the Elite get their titles back, making the last few months more or less a total wash. The series was fun and gave us some good matches, but I’m sick of seeing these teams against each other. Both of them need to be far, far apart from each other and that’s probably going to be best for everyone involved.

Overall Rating: A-. They felt like they were trying for the pay per view level Dynamite here and it was a success. You could tell that being in Los Angeles made things feel more important and that made the show feel much more important. Nothing was bad (save for maybe MJF’s jokes) and there was one awesome match after another. That’s a heck of a two hour show and this was a smash.

Results
Hangman Page b. Jon Moxley – Buckshot Lariat
Hook/Jungle Boy b. Lee Moriarty/Big Bill – Snare Trap to Moriarty
Bryan Danielson b. Konosuke Takeshita – Regal Stretch
Jamie Hayter/Britt Baker b. Toni Storm/Saraya – Hayterade to Storm
Elite b. Death Triangle – Omega pulled down the titles

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: January 4, 2023
Location: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

We’re in a new year and the big story is a new look for the show. That is somewhat long overdue and the question is will AEW have a good show to back it up. The likely main event is Samoa Joe defending the TNT Title against hometown boy Darby Allin in a rematch from a few weeks back. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence, with remixed themed song.

There is a new set with new graphics. They’re nothing mind blowing but they look sleek and rather nice.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Starks

Feeling out process to start with Starks slapping him in the face and pounding away in the corner. Starks does a rather length Old School but gets knocked to the apron. The triangle dropkick is broken up though and Jericho suplexes him off the apron as we take a break. Back with Starks hitting a running clothesline to leave both of them down.

Starks grabs a sitout powerbomb for two, blocks the Codebreaker and hits a superkick for two. Jericho is right back with the Walls so he goes to the rope, only to have one of the Society member knock him silly with a foreign object. The referee gets two arm drops before Starks is up again. Jericho tries a running something but gets caught in a tornado DDT. Starks drops the Society and hits the spear for the pin at 12:41.

Rating: B-. Well that’s a surprise, but what matters here is Starks overcame the odds and got a pretty big win. It seems like they are trying something with him and that is one of the best things that could happen. Starks has the talent and has been on a roll over the last few weeks. Maybe he goes somewhere with this and I can think of far worse ideas. Good match too, as Starks overcame the odds, just as he should have.

Post match the beatdown is on with the rest of the Society coming in, only to have Action Andretti make the save. Anna Jay and Tay Melo come in for the low blow though and the beatdown is on again. Starks gets powerbombed off the apron through a table.

Here is Hangman Page for an update on his medical condition. He can’t give us the good news that he is cleared, but he can pass one more brain scan before next week and fight Jon Moxley then. Cue Moxley, who says he is tired of the candlelight vigil for Page. He also seems sick of thinking that the mic isn’t on (though we can hear it at home, including him dropping an F bomb about it). Moxley: “Let’s go Seahawks. Ok let’s get this back on track.”

Page talks about being knocked out by everyone from enemies to his best friends. Moxley has been making jokes about everything though and thinks it’s because Moxley is scared. That’s why Page is here right now and he has two in the chamber for Moxley. That doesn’t work with Moxley, who says Page doesn’t belong in the ring with him, and next week, he’ll make sure Page doesn’t get back up. This was intense stuff, but Page better win next week.

Video on Samoa Joe, who is ready for Darby Allin.

Tag Team Titles: Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. Acclaimed

The Acclaimed is defending, with Max Caster talking about how Jarrett is going to blame the loss on Dixie Carter because TNA means Total Nonstop Acclaimed. Billy Gunn, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are all here too as Caster jumps over Lethal to start and kicks him a few times. The running Fameasser from behind drops Lethal and Scissor Me Timbers hits Lethal again. Jarrett breaks up the big scissoring though and it’s Scissor Me Timbers for him too.

Back up and Lethal slides outside to slap Gunn in the face, which is enough to draw him inside. That’s enough for the ejection and we take a break. Back with Lethal grabbing a chinlock on Bowens, only to miss Hail To the King. Bowens hits some suplexes and it’s back to Caster for the house cleaning, including a dive to Lethal on the floor. A high crossbody gets two on Lethal with Jarrett making the save. Caster gets shoved off the top so it’s a Figure Four to Bowens.

Singh and Dutt get caught going after Caster so they’re out as well, which is enough for Lethal to let go of Bowens’ leg. The Stroke hits Bowens instead and Lethal covers but Bowens gets his foot on the rope….which Dutt shoves off for the pin. Thankfully even AEW isn’t that insane and here is Aubrey Edwards to say not so fast, meaning the match continues. In the chaos, Bowens rolls Lethal up to retain at 12:01.

Rating: C. That was a heck of a false finish, though the fear of Jarrett and Lethal being champions is so strong that I’m not sure what to think of the whole thing. I still don’t get the reason why they’re in this spot as it isn’t like they’re a thrilling team, but at least they didn’t do anything insane here. They may have teased it, but they didn’t go all the way.

We get a sitdown interview with Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. They aren’t worried about whoever Saraya has as her partner because they are AEW originals. How does Saraya not know who her partner is yet? It doesn’t matter because Britt is the pillar and Jamie is the killer (that’s a great line).

Jungle Boy is ready for the Firm and has Hook with him.

Bryan Danielson vs. Tony Nese

Mark Sterling and Josh Woods are here with Nese and the fans go NUTS for Danielson. A distraction lets Nese take him into the corner for the Running Nese and a near fall. Danielson fires off the kicks in the corner to set up the YES Kicks but the big one is blocked. Nese hits a not so great buckle bomb but misses the Running Nese this time. The running knee knocks Nese silly and Danielson stomps him unconscious. The Regal Stretch makes the referee stop it to give Danielson the win at 3:23.

Rating: C. This was little more than a squash and a way to get Danielson in the ring in front of his (close enough) hometown crowd. Danielson seems ready to be getting ready for the World Title shot against MJF, so running through a schnook like Nese is a good way to go. They didn’t give this any kind of time and they shouldn’t have done so, making it a perfectly acceptable use of time.

Post match Danielson says he’s glad to be home and calls out MJF. Cue MJF to say he isn’t coming out there and wrestle Danielson right now. MJF doesn’t care about wrestling like this but doesn’t think much of Danielson anyway. If Lance Storm and Dean Malenko could procreate, it would still be more interesting than him.

MJF mocks Danielson’s mother having relations with a goat, but Danielson has heard MJF’s mother had enough male suitors to fill this arena. MJF: “THAT’S NOT FUNNY!” MJF says marks like these fans have anointed Danielson, but people like Disco Inferno, Eric Bischoff, “and the smartest man of them all, and my #1 fan, Jim Cornette” have put MJF over. Danielson is ready to fight but MJF backs away, saying Danielson has to become #1 contender. Fans: “SHUT THE F*** UP!” MJF: “No.”

MJF has talked to Tony Khan, who said that Danielson has to win a match every week until February 8 to get the title shot at Revolution. Danielson: “No.” He’ll just wrestle when he wants, become #1 contender the title and win when he feels like it. That sends MJF over the edge, promising to have Mark Sterling filibuster. Danielson: “Mark Sterling is a horrible lawyer.” He wants a stipulation of his own, so let’s have a one hour Iron Man match. Schiavone: “DO IT DUMBA**, DO IT!”

The match is on….but MJF says Danielson still has to win until February 8. Danielson says MJF doesn’t have what it takes and promises to run the gauntlet and win the title. This went on a good bit longer than it needed to but it got the point across. That Cornette line is going to get a lot of hype though.

Video on Kip Sabian vs. Orange Cassidy.

AR Fox vs. Swerve Strickland

Mogul Affiliates are here with Swerve. Fox is sent to the apron and drops to the floor, with Swerve flipping through the ropes (that was sweet) so an Affiliates distraction can ensue. Swerve takes him down on the floor and we take an early break. Back with Swerve grabbing a suplex for two but Fox fights out of the corner. A basement cutter sets up another cutter to plant Swerve, setting up a 450 for two. Fox gets caught on top and pulled back down though, setting up the Swerve Stomp for the pin at 9:12.

Rating: B-. These two just work well together and they have everywhere else I’ve seen them. The good thing here is Fox looked good in defeat and that is all he needed to do. At the same time, Swerve looked as smooth as he always does, showing just how far he could go in AEW. Now just drop the completely unnecessary Affiliates and we could go somewhere fast.

Saraya, with Toni Storm and Hikaru Shida, won’t announce her partner for next week. She talks about how great AEW’s women’s division has been…and then picks Storm as her partner. Shida looks stunned.

Here are the Gunns for the FTRIP funeral. We hear about how FTR won a bunch of titles, save for the AEW Tag Team Titles. Then they lost them, because the Gunns are just better. After the Gunns fake out the FTR entrance, they promise FTR will never wrestle here again.

Video on the Elite vs. Death Triangle Best Of Seven series, with the finals next week.

Jade Cargill/Red Velvet vs. Skye Blue/Kiera Hogan

Velvet and Blue wrestle to the mat to start but neither can get anywhere. Hogan is brought in to take Velvet down, much to Cargill’s annoyance. Blue comes back in and kicks away, setting up a DDT to drop Hogan again. We take a break and come back with Velvet suplexing her way out of trouble. Cargill comes in to kick away though and Hogan is right back in trouble. Velvet comes in and has to suplex her way to freedom, meaning it’s back to Cargill coming in for some kicks. Cargill plants Hogan again so Velvet walks, leaving Cargill to get rolled up for two. The pump kick finishes Hogan at 6:43.

Rating: C-. You mean Jade Cargill, who is the same wrestler as she was before she got the Baddies, might lose the Baddies, who have added nothing to Cargill whatsoever? Gee, I wonder if this is going to change the way Cargill squashes everyone in her path, just like she has done since she debuted. More of the same as we have seen from Cargill for months and just as exciting.

Here’s what is coming on various shows, including Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal vs. the Acclaimed for the Tag Team Titles, No DQ.

Jarrett and Lethal are ready.

TNT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Darby Allin

Allin, the hometown boy, is challenging and dives on Joe before the belly. A skateboard shot to the back rocks Joe and Allin gets in another shot to the back for a bonus. Allin climbs a ladder and hits the huge flip dive, only to come up holding his knee. We get the opening bell to start the match and Joe drops Allin hard onto the steps.

Back from a break with Allin going for a choke, only to have Joe drop back down onto him. Joe kicks him in the chest for two and crushes Allin in the corner. Allin tries to drive him into the corner but Joe rips the turnbuckle pad off. The Koquina Clutch goes on but Allin flips over into a cradle for two. The flipping Stunner is countered into another Koquina Clutch but Allin sends him into the exposed buckle. Back to back Coffin Drops give Allin the pin and the title at 8:50.

Rating: B. This was all action as they played this one as well as they could have. Take Allin, let him bounce off of Joe as much as possible until the ending. Sometimes the best way to go is with the hometown star getting the big win. Allin has been trying to get back to the top of the mountain and he did it here. Keep it simple and let what works work.

Post match Sting comes out for the big celebration and Allin gets to pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. There might not have been anything great on this show but there was more than enough quite good to carry it pretty far. The main event was the high point, but what mattered was making the show feel important. Most of what you saw here was either good enough on its own or set something up for the future. Solid show here, as AEW starts the new year off well.

Results
Ricky Starks b. Chris Jericho – Spear
Acclaimed b. Jeff Jarrett/Jay Lethal – Rollup to Lethal
Bryan Danielson b. Tony Nese – Regal Stretch
Swerve Strickland b. AR Fox – Swerve Stomp
Jade Cargill/Red Velvet b. Skye Blue/Kiera Hogan – Pump kick to Hogan
Darby Allin b. Samoa Joe – Coffin Drop

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: December 28, 2022
Location: 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, Colorado
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s another stacked show this week with another Death Triangle vs. Elite match, plus the TNT Title is on the line as Samoa Joe defends against Wardlow. Other than that, we are going to hear from MJF, but Bryan Danielson might have something to say about him. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bryan Danielson vs. Ethan Page

Stokely Hathaway is here with Page…and hang on as here is MJF in a sky box to watch. The distraction lets Page jump Danielson, with MJF having his own mic to mock him for a bonus. Page hits a slam but Danielson is right back with a running clothesline. The chops rock Page and the kicks in the corner make it even worse. Page knocks him back down but Danielson manages to knock him off the top.

The top rope dropkick drops Page but Danielson has to knock Hathaway’s hat off. The distraction doesn’t work for Page, who gets dropkicked to the floor. Page gets in a cheap shot on the floor though and we take a break. Back with Danielson missing the running knee off the apron, thanks to Hathaway shoving Page out of the way.

A powerslam on the floor plants Danielson again and they head back inside, where Danielson grabs a tornado DDT. The LeBell Lock goes on but Page gets a boot on the rope for the save. They head up top again where Danielson fires off the hammer and anvil elbows, only to be reversed into a super powerslam for two. The Ego’s Edge is broken up though and it’s the running knee into the stomps to Page’s head. Danielson grabs a Regal Stretch for the tap at 16:21.

Rating: B. Danielson got in a good win here and made Page look maybe as good as he ever has. Page continues to be a perfectly fine hand in the ring and someone who can do good things under the right circumstances. Working with Danielson is about as good of a set of circumstances as you can find, so this was a very solid match between two talented guys.

Video on Wardlow vs. Samoa Joe.

Wardlow is ready for Joe, who runs in and blasts Wardlow in the knee with a pipe.

Hangman Page doesn’t think much of Renee Paquette asking about his concussion status but apologizes for being rude. He still isn’t cleared, but has to be held back from going to fight Jon Moxley right now. The doctor says he’s on the right track though and he could be back in the ring in about two weeks. Page seems to approve, albeit impatiently.

Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Top Flight

Top Flight clears the ring to start but their dives don’t work so well as both of them are sent into the barricade. Back in and we officially start with Castagnoli slamming Darius, allowing Moxley to come in and kick him in the ribs. Darius manages to get over to Dante for the tag and some of the house is cleaned. The Club is in trouble and we take an early break. Back with Dante having to avoid the Swing but Darius gets caught in it instead.

That leaves Dante to jump over the swinging Darius (that was awesome) until he can make the save. Castagnoli suplexes Top Flight at the same time but a superkick cuts him off. A springboard Downward Spiral plants Castagnoli with Moxley (holding his knee) having to make the save.

Everything breaks down and Darius reverses the uppercut into a backslide for two. The Neutralizer hits Darius….for two, with Castagnoli giving us a well deserved stunned kickout face. Castagnoli hammer and anvil elbows Darius as Moxley Paradigm Shifts Dante on the floor. Darius tries to fight up but gets BLASTED with an uppercut to give Castagnoli the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B+. This is a prime example of a team getting a lot out of a loss, as Top Flight just hung with two World Champions. The Club felt like they had to work for this one and that is a great way to go. I was way into this one and the idea of Top Flight pulling off the huge upset wasn’t out of the cards. Very good stuff here and it accomplished its goal as well as possible.

Moxley applauds Dante after the match and Castagnoli looks impressed with Darius.

Kip Sabian wants one more match with Orange Cassidy but Trent says he tossed Sabian so he should get the shot. That’s apparently official for Rampage.

Hook vs. Baylum Lynx

Non-title, suplexes, crossface shots, Redrum finishes for Hook at 55 seconds.

Post match the Firm comes out to stare down Hook but Jack Perry comes out to even things up a bit. Perry takes Lee Moriarty down as Hook stares Big Bill down. Hook can’t t-bone him but Perry comes in with a 2×4 shot to Big Bill’s back to send him running. Hook seems appreciative.

We look at Chris Jericho’s recent issues, including with Ricky Starks.

Jericho is ready for Starks on January 4 and brags about burning Action Andretti last week.

Swerve Strickland brags about Mogul Affiliates but still doesn’t name the tattooed guy. Wheeler Yuta comes in to talk about violence and gets a match with Swerve on Rampage.

Elite vs. Death Triangle

Match #6 in the best of seven series with Death Triangle up 3-2. This is Falls Count Anywhere so they start the brawl in the back, with the fight going from a hall into what looks to be catering. Pac moonsaults off a pile onto a bunch of people, followed by Nick diving off what looks to be some risers for a flip dive through Penta and a table with snacks.

They go into the arena for the first time with Fenix hitting a big corkscrew dive off the set to take the Bucks down. Omega comes in with a running knee to Fenix, leaving Pac and Matt to slug it out. Matt rolls his northern lights suplexes down the ramp and we take a break. Back with Omega in trouble in the ring and having a trashcan put over his head. A triple dropkick into the trashcan gets two but Matt is back in with a running knee to Pac in the corner.

Penta superkicks Matt and hits the Sling Blade. Matt hits a destroyer but Fenix hits a frog splash. Omega is back in with the snapdragon to Pac to leave everyone down. Penta double stomps Omega on the floor for two with the Bucks making a save. Back in and Penta takes out both Bucks, setting up the flip dive to Omega and Michael Nakazawa on the floor.

The running Meltzer Driver off the apron plants Penta on the floor with Pac making the save. Back in and the BTE Trigger gets two more on Penta with Pac making another save. Matt superkicks Nick by mistake, allowing Pac to grab the Brutalizer. At the same time, Kenny One Winged Angels Fenix off a platform through a table for the pin at 17:15.

Rating: B. The match was a lot of fun and pure energy, but it was one of those matches where you knew the result from the second the Elite went down 3-1. That being said, that was a heck of a creative finish and it fit into the match they were having. Now just get this feud over with already so they can move on to ANYTHING else.

The Acclaimed raps about Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal, complete with a Global Force reference, plus a reference to losing to Ric Flair in Flair’s Last Match. Look this up as it was hilarious.

Anna Jay/Tay Melo vs. Ruby Soho/Willow Nightingale

Nightingale can’t quite get to Melo to start so it’s off to Jay. That’s fine with Ruby, who hammers away at the face to try and even the broken nose score. Nightingale comes back in to waistlock Melo but gets taken down as we take a break. Back with Nightingale fighting out of trouble and handing it back to Ruby to hammer on Melo’s face again.

No Future gets two on Melo and Anna pump kicks Nightingale. With Nightingale and Anna on the floor, Melo and Soho headbutt each other down. The referee yells at Nightingale and Jay, leaving Melo to throw a chair at Ruby. Soho holds onto it so Melo can hit a kick to the chair, followed by the Tay KO (with the knee not really getting close to connecting) for the pin at 11:56.

Rating: C. This didn’t exactly work, as the whole thing was about Soho getting her revenge. Not only did her finisher only get two, but then she took the pin after a not so great ending. I’m not sure what the thinking was here, but hopefully it isn’t setting up Jay and Melo as the first Women’s Tag Team Champions.

The Gunn Club leaves rather than deal with FTR.

Here’s what is coming on various shows.

Ricky Starks is ready to beat Chris Jericho next week.

TNT Title: Samoa Joe vs. Wardlow

Joe is defending but hold on because there is no Wardlow. As Joe mocks the Denver Broncos, here is a limping Wardlow for the opening bell. Joe hammers away until a spinebuster cuts him off. The Rock Bottom out of the corner plants Wardlow but he’s right back with a hard clothesline. A shot to the knee cuts Wardlow off again though and we take a break.

Back with Wardlow getting back in despite the doctor not exactly approving. Joe goes after the knee again but Wardlow fights up and knocks him down. The Swanton gets two on Joe, followed by a Whisper in the Wind for the same. Wardlow’s wind up clothesline gets two more but Joe gets in a kick to the ribs. Joe hammers away in the corner until a powerbomb plants him down. Wardlow loads up the Powerbomb Symphony but the knee gives out. The Koquina Clutch goes on and Wardlow is out at 11:51.

Rating: B. It was a good fight, with Wardlow trying to get through the pain but coming up short. If you ignore Wardlow losing again and him being able to do Jeff Hardy’s signature stuff on one leg, this felt like a big time brawl. The knee injury lets Wardlow have an out and probably sets up a rematch, but he better win something bigger soon, as this has been a rough few months.

Post match Wardlow eventually gets up but Joe knocks him down again. With Wardlow out, Joe finds some scissors in a toolbox, headbutts the referee, and cuts off Wardlow’s hair. Then Darby Allin comes out with a skateboard shot to Joe’s back to clear the ring and end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. There were some questionable booking moves here, but dang you are not going to find a much better collection of matches in a two hour TV show. This was one show stealer after another and the two hours flew by. Great show here to wrap up the year, as things have seemed a bit more focused in the last few weeks.

Results
Bryan Danielson b. Ethan Page – Regal Stretch
Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli b. Top Flight – Uppercut to Darius
Hook b. Baylum Lynx – Redrum
Elite b. Death Triangle – One Winged Angel through a table to Fenix
Anna Jay/Tay Melo b. Ruby Soho/Willow Nightingale – Koquina Clutch
Samoa Joe b. Wardlow – Koquina Clutch

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: December 21, 2022
Location: Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Ricky Starks

It’s the Holiday Bash and that means we are about to wrap up the year in a big way. That should make for a good week, but you never know what you are going to see around here. Last week saw Bryan Danielson seemingly line himself up as the next challenger to MJF so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of MJF cheating to retain the World Title over Ricky Starks.

Here is Ricky Starks to get things going. He makes one thing clear: he was ready for MJF last week and it took some cheating to beat him, but Starks is going to be even more ready next time. Now bring him whoever he needs to beat to get another title shot, but here is the Jericho Appreciation Society to interrupt. Jericho praises Starks and says he’ll be a World Champion one day. It just won’t be anytime soon, but maybe Starks just needs some extra guidance from Jericho.

Starks says Jericho looks like a single father on his fifth divorce. He’s going to pass on the offer, because the J in JAS might as well stand for jobbers. Starks calls the other two JAS-Holes and asks what Jericho has done for either of them. The challenge is on for January 4 but here is Jake Hager to jump Starks from behind. Action Andretti runs in for the save. Starks has jumped MILES ahead in recent weeks and it’s pretty awesome to watch.

Elite vs. Death Triangle

Match #5 with Death Triangle up 3-1 and no DQ. Death Triangle clears the ring to start and there are the big flip dives. Back in and Penta gets caught in the corner for some running shots but we pause for Michael Nakazawa to get in some shots. Then Brandon Cutler, dressed as an elf, gets cut off by Alex Abrahantes. That means a parade of superkicks, followed by Penta hitting a heck of a trashcan shot to Omega. A faceplant puts nick Jackson down and we take a break.

Back with Matt being sent into a Christmas tree in the corner (Excalibur: “Into those unforgiving artificial pine needles!”) but Nick dives onto all of Death Triangle. Pac goes after Matt’s ankle though, only to have Omega break up the Pillmanizing. Omega takes Pac out with a trashcan and it’s table time on the floor. With two of them set up, Omega pulls out a barbed wire broom, which goes over Fenix’s back. The Bucks dive through Pac and Fenix and the tables, leaving Omega to tiger driver 98 Fenix onto the barbed wire broom for a delayed two.

Abrahantes’ interference doesn’t work so Omega tries the One Winged Angel, only to have Fenix reverse into a hurricanrana for two more. The hammer to the head gives Fenix two so the Triangle goes for triple submissions (including the Brutalizer to Omega with tinsel). Matt slips out and makes the save and Omega snapdragons Fenix. That leaves Matt, with a bad ankle, to hit a Meltzer Driver to drive Fenix into a chair for the pin at 13:48.

Rating: C+. If your previous matches barely have rules, does it really matter than much when you get rid of the rules you have? This was more of what the series has been devolving into: an entertaining enough mess that is stringing the idea out even longer, to the point where I never want to see these teams fight again. I’m sure we’ll get to the big blowoff in Los Angeles and then everyone can move on, but dang they are killing my interest on the way there.

Post match Death Triangle massacres the Elite, leaving Matt busted open.

After last week’s successful title defense, MJF was livid at Bryan Danielson for interfering. Now he wants to give Danielson more than he deserves.

Action Andretti is happy with beating Chris Jericho, which draws in the Jericho Appreciation Society to yell. It’s a ruse though, allowing Jericho to throw a fireball at Andretti.

Here is Bryan Danielson for a chat about how he isn’t happy with William Regal turning on the Blackpool Combat Club. The fans might remember that he trained in San Antonio and had his first match just up the road from this building. His trainers were Rudy Boy Gonzalez and Shawn Michaels (pause for HBK chants) but William Regal taught him how to be a wrestler. When Regal was in the hospital, Danielson cried because Regal made him who he is. One thing Regal taught him was that there are consequences to his actions, which is what MJF needs to learn.

Cue….Ethan Page and Stokely Hathaway instead, to talk about how Page is always finishing in second place but Danielson (or Vegetable Man) wants to jump the line anyway. Danielson says that Hathaway’s bald head is distracting him so grow some hair. Also, did Page just call him Vegetable Man? Hathaway: “You raggedy b****.” Page says that he is going to turn Danielson into a vegetable so Danielson is ready to fight. But nah, we’ll do it next week instead. They’re certainly trying with Page and that’s a good sign. I’m not sure how well it’s going, but they have picked someone and are going for it so well done.

Jon Moxley is ready for the $300,000 Trios Casino Christmas Battle Royal on Rampage. Other than that though, he’s ready for Hangman Page, who can brawl with him all across Texas if he wants. What is there to settle though? Page got knocked out, but what did you think Moxley was trying to do with that clothesline? Comb Page’s hair? For tonight though, Moxley is going to teach Darius Martin a hard lesson.

Samoa Joe wishes Wardlow Happy Holidays because he won’t have a Happy New Year. The beating is coming on December 28.

Hook vs. Exodus Prime

Redrum finishes Prime at 1:00.

Post match we see the Firm beating up Jack Perry in the back, including a Big Bill chokeslam into a dumpster.

Jon Moxley vs. Darius Martin

Dante Martin and Claudio Castagnoli are here too. Moxley elbows him in the face to start but a dropkick sends him outside. They fight into the crowd early with Moxley putting him down but pausing to celebrate too long. Darius hits a heck of a suicide dive to drop Moxley and they head back in. Moxley is fine enough to drop him hard on the floor before starting in on the arm.

A superplex drops Darius and there are the hard elbows to the face. Darius gets in a shot of his own and a Pele out of the corner gives him a breather. There’s a springboard Downward Spiral for two on Moxley, who rolls through a high crossbody. That means a bunch of stomps to Darius’ head, setting up the hammer and anvil elbows. The bulldog choke into the Death Rider finishes for Moxley at 8:35.

Rating: C. This wasn’t the greatest from either guy but Moxley did have to work rather hard to get the win in the end. Moxley needed to do something to get back on track after having some rough times lately, as well as keeping himself ready for Hangman Page. At the same time, as sad as it is, you have to worry if one of the Martins is going to get hurt at any given time. It’s sad to see, but after everything they have been through, it’s hard to not think about.

Hikaru Shida is ready to take the Women’s Title from Jamie Hayter.

We get more from the Book Of Hobbs, who talks about watching his uncle overdose and various other horrible things as a kid.

FTR vs. The Gunns

Dax is very taped up so Austin pounds on the bad ribs to take over. Wheeler comes in instead for some atomic drops before avoiding a dropkick. The Gunns are sent outside in a heap and we take a break. Back with Wheeler fighting out of trouble and handing it back to Harwood to clean house.

Wheeler has to make a diving save to block a spike piledriver on the floor and everything breaks down. The Sharpshooter is broken up back inside but Harwood’s back gives out before the piledriver can be loaded up. Harwood tries an O’Connor roll but Austin reverses into one of his own and grabs some help for the pin at 9:01.

Rating: B-. The Gunns get a big win, but FTR continues to feel like they are on a pretty downward path. They are on a bit of a losing streak and have already lost the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles. Maybe they are on their way out of AEW, but dang it is sad to see what could have been an all time run being reduced to “we gave you all these other titles, that’s enough”.

Sonjay Dutt has a rap video about the Acclaimed.

Hip hop mogul Rick Ross is here to moderate a meeting between Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. After Ross calls Lee a “big motherf***** (uncensored)”), Swerve comes out to say we need to be doing this his way. Swerve tells Lee to keep looking behind him, so here is Parker Boudreaux (in the same shirt as Swerve) to brawl with Lee. Boudreaux gets sent outside without much effort and Lee goes to stare at Swerve…as a guy with a lot of tattoos jumps Lee. Boudreaux and the unnamed lackey put Lee on a table so Swerve can double stomp a cinder block on his chest. And yes, we have a new stable. This was really, really bad.

The Best Friends/Orange Cassidy and the Dark Order are ready for the Rampage battle royal. Both Trent and Cassidy wanting to buy Chuck’s mom a house is funny.

Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter

Hayter, with Britt Baker and Rebel, is defending. They strike away to start with Shida getting the better of things and knocking it to the floor. Shida drops her again and scares Baker away as we take a break. Back with Shida in control and snapping off a suplex but a double clothesline puts them both down. It’s Shida up first with a dropkick and they head to the apron, where Shida hits a jumping knee. A suplex to the floor drops Hayter HARD and we take another break.

Back again with Hayter missing a moonsault and getting kneed in the face. A snap German suplex drops Hayter so Baker gets on the apron with the kendo stick. Rebel offers a distraction as Shida springboard kicks baker down. The distraction lets Hayter hit a powerbomb for two, followed by the running clothesline for the same. The Hayterade is enough to retain the title at 16:16.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight and the women were both working hard to get it over. The ending was a nice change of pace as they had Shida survive a few times before ultimately being taken out. Shida looks good but Hayter looks like a killer, which is about all you can hope for here. Awesome match and hopefully the women get more chances like this, as they nailed it here.

Post match the beatdown is on but Toni Storm and then Saraya run out for the save to end the show.

It’s the Holiday Bash and that means we are about to wrap up the year in a big way. That should make for a good week, but you never know what you are going to see around here.: B-. There were a few weak parts on here (the Lee/Swerve segment in particular) but overall, this was a fast paced and pretty nice edition of Dynamite. You can see where they are going for their next big edition of TV and that should be enough to carry things over to the Revolution build in March. For this week though, good stuff, with the main event standing out.

Results
Elite b. Death Triangle – Meltzer Driver onto a chair to Fenix
Hook b. Exodus Prime – Redrum
Jon Moxley b. Darius Martin – Death Rider
The Gunns b. FTR – Assisted rollup to Harwood
Jamie Hayter b. Hikaru Shida – Hayterade

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

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AND

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Dynamite
Date: December 7, 2022
Location: H-E-B Center, Cedar Park, Texas
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Excalibur

It’s the go home show for Final Battle and the Dynamite before next week’s Winter Is Coming so it is time to start hammering home the build for both shows. Believe it or not we have a battle royal this week for a shot at MJF’s….ring, rather than the World Title. That should get a lot of people on the show so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, Jungle Boy, Orange Cassidy, Shawn Dean, Dustin Rhodes, Lee Moriarty, Ethan Page, Matt Hardy, Kip Sabian, Dalton Castle, Butcher, Blade

The winner gets to face MJF for the Dynamite Diamond whenever they decide. It’s a battle royal style brawl to start as I hope I have everyone included here. Sabian and Cassidy take turns ramming each other into the corner until the Butcher breaks it up. Cassidy is sent over the top so he tries to skin the cat, only to have Blade knock him out.

Rhodes (hometown boy) hits a Canadian Destroyer on Sabian and clotheslines him out. Butcher clotheslines Rhodes out and Cage sends Castle to the apron, but his Boys make the save. Then they make the save again but can’t do it a third time and Castle is out. Then Jungle Boy dropkicks Cage to the apron (kind of, as Cage has to try to go over twice) and dropkicks him out as we take a break.

Back with Jungle Boy knocking out Butcher but getting eliminated by W. Morrissey. Ethan Page makes Hardy raise his arm but Hardy does DELETE after, much to Page’s annoyance. Hardy Twist of Fates Dean and eliminates him under Page’s orders. We’re down to Starks, Page and Hardy and Starks sends Hardy out. Page kicks Starks in the head but gets sent out to give Starks the win at 13:05.

Rating: C. That’s an interesting choice for the winner but I do like the idea of having one person and one person only coming after MJF. Maybe Starks even combines the two matches into one, but it wouldn’t shock me to see him win the ring off a countout or something like that. The rest of the battle royal was pretty lame with the bigger names going out too soon, though at least it wasn’t Matt Hardy.

Post match MJF comes out to promise that he’ll beat Starks twice, even though the fans seem to like Starks. These fans treat Starks like a big deal and he is good, but here is the truth….after the SHUT THE F*** UP chants from the crowd that is. MJF says Starks is a rudy poo candy a** compared to him, because Starks is nothing but a dollar store Dwayne. That’s why MJF is going to start calling him the Pebble.

Next week, MJF is going to beat Starks and skip him across the water so he can land back in Billy Corgan’s NWA and wrestle on YouTube where he belongs. Starks dubs MJF Maxipad and calls him a Roddy Piper wannabe. He wants to know how much shtick MJF has to go with his cheap shoes and cheap heat. Starks talks about how MJF doesn’t have what it takes while Starks is the one who is out there every week.

MJF blows off meet and greets because no one likes him. Next week is a big deal because Starks is shutting him up for once and is ready to smack that mole off of MJF’s neck to take that title. Then MJF hits him low and loads up the ring, only to have Starks hit the spear. Starks showed some fire here and while it went on a bit too long, it was one of the best things he has done so far in AEW, with the spear being rather good.

Samoa Joe is ready for Darby Allin.

Jon Moxley is tired of all the talking and wants to beat someone up. Like the Jericho Appreciation Society, to make sure there is no sports entertainment.

TNT Title: Darby Allin vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending. Allin starts fast by dropkicking Joe to the floor but Joe walks away from the running flip dive. Joe peels back the mat on the floor and it’s a powerslam on the exposed concrete to further injure Allin as we take a break. Back with the doctor checking on Allin, who crawls inside anyway. Joe takes him back to the floor but gets sent into the steps, allowing Allin to hit a Coffin Drop to a standing Joe on the outside. Back in and Joe gets knocked down again, allowing Allin to go up for the Coffin Drop, only to land in the Koquina Clutch to retain the title at 10:24.

Rating: B. The action was very good, but my goodness I don’t need to see Allin doing so many insane stunts in a match. Going full on Jeff Hardy is not a good idea and I don’t need to see someone even smaller than Jeff doing it. With that out of the way, Allin throwing everything he had at Joe, only to come up short, was a very good story and I was digging pretty much everything they were doing here, save for the more dangerous stuff.

Post match Joe hits Allin with the skateboard and puts the Clutch on again. Wardlow runs in for the save.

Orange Cassidy offers Kip Sabian an All Atlantic Title shot but Sabian says he’s hurt. Instead, Cassidy offers to let Sabian find someone to face him. Sabian smiles and leaves. Cassidy: “Was that like a yes?”

Video on Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli.

Daniel Garcia/Jake Hager vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta

Sammy Guevara and Jon Moxley are here too. Hager puts his hat on but Yuta hands it to Castagnoli, who punts it away. Yuta gets taken into the corner for the beating and now Garcia is willing to come in for the slugout. That’s fine with Yuta, who slams him into a backsplash for one and it’s back to Hager. Yuta knocks him down as well, but Guevara shoves Yuta off the top. The running Vader bomb gives Hager two and it’s back to Garcia for a top rope superplex.

We take a break and come back with Castagnoli coming in for the hot tag to clean house. The running uppercuts knock Hager silly but Garcia breaks up the Swing. That doesn’t last long as Garcia gets knocked off, leaving Castagnoli to get swung anyway. The running clothesline gives Castagnoli two and Moxley cuts Guevara off on the floor. Hager pulls Castagnoli out of the air and ankle locks him as Garcia gets the Dragon Slayer on Yuta. Castagnoli rolls his way out though and saves Yuta, followed by an uppercut to pin Hager at 12:36.

Rating: C+. Good enough match, but it feels like I’ve seen every combination of these two groups imaginable and I don’t need to see them fight ever again. The feud needs to end on Saturday and the lack of Jericho in the last two weeks hasn’t done it much good. The action here was good given who was involved, but it’s hard to get that invested in something I’ve watched for so many months.

Post match Tony Schiavone is in the ring and shows us a clip of himself talking to William Regal before MJF turned on him. They reminisce for a bit before Regal says that if you are seeing this, something bad has happened to him. Regal talks about how the team is there to help build up Yuta. The reason Regal turned on Moxley was to teach him one final lesson: always stay one step ahead because you don’t know what is coming. Regal is Blackpool Combat Club until he dies. Back in the ring, the Club isn’t sure what to think but Moxley promises to end the Jericho Appreciation Society.

So….hang on. Regal screwed Moxley over to teach him a lesson because he loves/cares about Moxley and the team that much? So he knew what MJF was likely to do and put himself in harm’s way to show that the evil one can strike at any time, even if the evil one is the one who was teaching them the lesson? And Tony, who wasn’t happy with Regal at Full Gear, felt no need to mention any of this for two weeks? That’s quite a bit to take, even if this was 100% a way to tie together loose threads with Regal heading back to WWE.

The House of Black is here to punish people for treason. This team seriously needs to stop talking so freaking much.

Jamie Hayter is ready to find out her next #1 contender.

Kiera Hogan/Madison Rayne/Skye Blue vs. Jade Cargill/Baddies

Velvet pulls Blue down by the hair to start as Jade approves from the apron. A running knee in the corner rocks Blue but she kicks Grey’s leg out. Velvet sends Blue into the apron and we take a break. Back with Blue kicking Velvet down and bringing in Hogan, who is planted by Jade. Rayne comes in and enziguris Cargill, only to get Jaded for the pin at 8:04.

Rating: C-. Remember how I said it’s hard to get invested in something I’ve seen for months? That is the case on a much larger scale with Cargill squashing people. She has had almost no serious competition for months and it is long past the point of being interesting. Cargill has the look and every bit of presence you could want, but please find SOMETHING new to do with her, because this is way beyond stale.

Saraya is in the back when Britt Baker interrupts. She has tickets for Saraya to come to the Kia Forum, but not for a rematch. Instead, Saraya can get a partner to face Baker and Jamie Hayter. Saraya tries to get Tony Schiavone, but Baker takes him away.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Acclaimed

Acclaimed, with Billy Gunn, is defending. Caster and Harwood lock up to start and it’s Caster dropkicking him into an armdrag. The armbar doesn’t last long on Harwood so it’s off to Bowens as everything breaks down. The champs grab stereo Sharpshooters in the middle of the ring but both are broken up. With that out of the way, FTR takes them to the floor and sends Caster into the apron as we take a break.

Back with Wheeler putting Caster on top but getting knocked backwards for a high crossbody. As Jay Lethal/Jeff Jarrett and company watch from the back, Caster backdrops Harwood and brings in Bowens to clean house. A superkick gets two on Harwood, who is right back with some rolling German suplexes. Harwood rolls Bowens up with trunks for two and it’s back to Wheeler for the spike piledriver and a near fall.

Caster saves Bowens and comes in for a wheelbarrow cutter and a rather close two on Harwood. Bowens has to break up the Big Rig but gets sent outside, leaving Caster to be sent into the post. The Big Rig gives Harwood a VERY close two with Bowens making the save. Bowens hits the Arrival on Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the Mic Drop. Wheeler tries a jackknife cover but Caster rolls through into a cradle to retain at 16:48.

Rating: B+. This was a great match with FTR getting to play subtle heels throughout for a change. The Acclaimed getting to pin FTR is a big step in making them feel more legitimate as Tag Team Champions, though doing this at the pay per view and Acclaimed vs. Swerve/Lee on Dynamite would have fit much better. Awesome action here though and they had me biting on the Big Rig near fall.

Post match respectful scissoring ensues, which seems out of character for FTR. The Gunn Club pops up on screen with a Christmas card from the Briscoes (or Dem Boys as the card says)….and dog collars in the stockings. There’s your co-main event.

Overall Rating: B. The main event was more than enough to carry the show, with Joe vs. Allin being very good as well. Other than that, you had some good enough material, but Final battle continues to feel like something we have to get through rather than something worth watching. I’m sure the show will be good and the two main events will rock, but I could really go for getting away from Ring Of Honor for a long time. Solid enough show here, and certainly not boring in the slightest for a bonus positive.

Results
Ricky Starks won a battle royal last eliminating Ethan Page
Samoa Joe b. Darby Allin – Koquina Clutch
Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta b. Daniel Garcia/Jake Hager – Uppercut to Hager
Jade Cargill/Baddies b. Madison Rayne/Kiera Hogan/Skye Blue – Jaded to Rayne
Acclaimed b. FTR – Rollup to Wheeler

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.