Dynamite
Date: October 5, 2022
Location: Entertainment And Sports Center, Washington DC
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the third anniversary of Dynamite and you know that means we are going to be seeing something special. In this case we have a big tag match main event as Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara are facing Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia. As a bonus, the show is an extra fifteen minutes long tonight so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Wheeler Yuta vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

William Regal is on commentary and doesn’t think much of MJF, even if the fans seem to like him. Wheeler sends him into the corner to start and we hit the Fargo Strut for some old school flare. A dropkick just annoys MJF so he takes Yuta down and grabs a chinlock. Back up and MJF grabs a tilt-a-whirl faceplant as we take a break.

Back with Yuta whipping him hard into the corner and grabbing a small package for two. Yuta grabs some rolling German suplex for two but his hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb onto a knee. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence for several near falls each and then do it again for a bonus.

Back up and a double clothesline puts them down, which is good for a standing ovation. MJF takes him up top for a super Tombstone but gets countered into a super hurricanrana. Yuta goes up for a splash but MJF rolls away and flips him off. That’s fine with Yuta, who hits a heck of a dive into the splash for two anyway. Yuta tries the Seatbelt but gets pulled into the Salt Of The Earth for the tap at 15:00.

Rating: B. They got time, they had a good story and it worked well as a result. MJF might not be the flashiest star in the ring but he knows how to put together a solid match. There was no way that Yuta was going to win here but the fact that he was wrestling instead of talking was a smart way to go.

Post match Yuta offers MJF the handshake and MJF considers it, only to have Lee Moriarty jump Yuta from behind. Cue Stokely Hathaway with the Dynamite Diamond, which MJF reluctantly puts on. That’s enough for William Regal, who gets up from commentary and LOADS UP THE BRASS KNUCKLES. MJF and company leave, albeit with MJF glaring at Regal. The knuckles got quite the reaction.

Video on Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson/Daniel Garcia.

The Jericho Appreciation Society isn’t happy with Garcia and punishment is promised.

Darby Allin vs. Jay Lethal

Feeling out process to start with Lethal sending Allin out to the floor. Allin is right back in for the springboard high angle armdrag into a standoff. Lethal gets smart by going after the knee but gets caught in a Scorpion Death Drop for a double knockdown. We take a break and come back with Lethal staying on the knee, including a super dragon screw legwhip.

Lethal slaps on the Figure Four as you might have expected, but Allin makes the rope, as you might have expected. The leg is fine enough for two off a Code Red so here are Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh. Lethal wants them to go back, setting off a pinfall reversal sequence until Allin grabs the Last Supper for the pin at 10:15.

Rating: B-. Another good one here as Lethal continues to be able to have a nice match with anyone. That is why he is put in these spots over and over, with Allin getting a win over a name who still matters. This was the kind of television match that is always going to work and that was the case again here.

Post match Lethal shakes Allin’s hand, much to Singh and Dutt’s annoyance.

Video on Brian Cage and the Embassy.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Brian Cage

Cage, with Prince Nana, is challenging. They fight into the corner to start with Cage hitting a running clothesline but not being able to drop him. A hurricanrana sends Wardlow into the ropes but he catches a 619. Wardlow plants him with a World’s Strongest Slam but the Powerbomb Symphony is countered as we take a break.

Back with Wardlow fighting out of the corner and hitting a Whisper in the Wind of all things. A series of suplexes rock Cage but he catches Wardlow on top with a kick to the head. The apron superplex gets two on Wardlow, who is fine enough to come back with a spinebuster. Not to be outdone, Cage hits an F5 but tries his own powerbomb. Wardlow headbutts him a few times and hits the four movement Powerbomb Symphony to retain the title at 10:03.

Rating: B-. Sometimes you need two big strong men hitting each other for a good while until one of them can’t stand up any longer. That is exactly what we got here and Wardlow felt like his old self for a change. I’m still not sure why we need the Wardlow/Samoa Joe thing when this is the kind of stuff that he can do on his own. As for Cage….well he had potential but it’s pretty clearly over for him no matter what.

Post match the Gates of Agony come in for the beatdown on Wardlow but Samoa Joe runs in for the save. Cage is back up but FTR comes in for the real save.

Britt Baker says Saraya isn’t cleared to wrestle so this is still her house.

Toni Storm/Athena/Willow Nightingale vs. Penelope Ford/Serena Deeb/Jamie Hayter

Saraya is here to cancel out Rebel and Britt Baker. Willow and Hayter start things off but it’s off to Athena vs. Ford instead. Athena hits a basement dropkick but Ford is back up with a handspring elbow back in the corner. Deeb comes in and gets dropped by a springboard spinning crossbody. It’s off to Storm to run Deeb down down and pound away with the forearms to the back. Deeb gets sent into the corner for some running charges, including Storm’s running hip attack. Deeb is right back up and takes out Storm’s leg as we take a break.

We come back with Storm fighting out of a chinlock and forearming away at Deeb. Everything breaks down and Deeb leglocks Storm as she suplexes Athena, with Hayter doing the same thing to Nightingale. Back up and Storm gets over for the tag off to Nightingale for a spinebuster on Hayter. Rebel loads up a crutch shot but Saraya makes the save. We hit the parade of secondary finishers until Ford gets a quick two on Nightingale. Ford’s handspring elbow is broken up and a doctor bomb gives Nightingale the pin on Ford at 9:29.

Rating: C+. There were two good parts here, as we had the women getting some more time, plus Nightingale actually getting a win. They didn’t get too insane here either and that made for another nice TV match. Nightingale could be on her way to something in the future if they give her a chance, and based on this maybe they are doing so.

Post match we get the big staredown, with Saraya getting in a fight with Baker. A low superkick from Saraya drops Rebel. So I guess she can wrestle again.

Rush and Jose the Assistant aren’t pleased with Private Party.

Here are the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn, because it’s National Scissoring Day. The champs talk about their success and say AEW now stands for ACCLAIMED EVERY WEDNESDAY. Bowens talks about how scissoring is something that makes you friends and partners. The fans want a real team rather than two people thrown together like Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland (dubbed Sneaky Swerve).

Billy talks about how this is a special day and he has a present from city hall: some GIANT GOLD SCISSORS! Billy: “No running with scissors please.” Bowens wants to see some scissoring before Caster talks about his dad winning a Super Bowl for the local NFL team. That Super Bowl ring is his prized possession and now he is proud of his son becoming a champion too. For now though, we are in a city that represents the divide in America. However, everyone loves the Acclaimed and scissoring goes beyond left and right and red and blow.

We load up the three way scissoring to unite America but Swerve Strickland cuts them off. Swerve wants the titles back and doesn’t like Billy Gunn, even pulling out a rock, which beats scissors. The challenge is on for Billy vs. Swerve next week….and here is Mark Sterling of all people. He wants in on the scissoring and gets beaten down in a bit of a bizarre cameo. Billy accepts Swerve’s challenge for next week and three way scissoring ensues. This was long, ridiculous, over the top, and an absolute blast.

Dark Order is ready to win the Trios Titles on Rampage.

Madison Rayne praises Skye Blue when Tay Melo and Anna Jay to come in and mock them. A sports entertainers vs. wrestlers challenge is on.

Hangman Page vs. Rush

Jose the Assistant is here with Rush. Page gets shoved around to start but Rush has to bail from the threat of a Buckshot Lariat. They head outside with Rush whipping away with a camera cord and sending Page into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Page hitting a slingshot dive onto Rush before they get back inside. Rush stands on Page’s shoulders in the corner but gets taken down for two. Page has had it with him and gets in a hard clothesline. The Buckshot Lariat finishes Rush at 9:05.

Rating: C+. Well Page wasn’t going to lose less than two weeks away from his World Title shot so Rush putting him over was the right way to go. They had a hard hitting match here until Page knocked him silly, which is how this should have gone. Page needs to get back to the serious and they started it well here, though I don’t know if they have time to do enough before Cincinnati.

Post match Private Party comes out but Jon Moxley comes through the crowd to say he has been waiting for this for three years. Moxley is ready for his match in his hometown at the arena he used to smoke and drink in. After he walks from his house to the arena, he is ready to beat Page and prove that he is the man around here. Moxley goes to leave but Page is ready to do this right now. Moxley calls him a sweet kid and says Page says stuff that gets him in trouble. He has thirteen days, so watch your d*** mouth.

Willow Nightingale wants to be TBS Champion so Jade Cargill and the Baddies come in. Nightingale can be #39, but she thinks she can be the 1 in 38-1.

Luchasaurus vs. Fuego del Sol

A chokeslam and something like a reverse AA finishes Fuego at 23 seconds.

Post match Jungle Boy comes in with a chair to knock Luchasaurus outside. He and Luchasaurus were best friends but Luchasaurus chose Christian instead. Now Jungle Boy is going to break him piece by piece. Luchasaurus can pick the time and the place so Christian picks next week in Toronto.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Pac is ready for Trent Beretta.

Bryan Danielson/Daniel Garcia vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara

Jericho and Garcia start things off to start, with Jericho armdragging him down. Garcia gets him to the mat and has a seat on Jericho’s back but a cheap shot from Guevara lets the villains take over. It’s off to Danielson to clean house and send Jericho outside for the suicide dive as we take a break.

Back with Guevara hitting a super Spanish Fly for two on Danielson and then posing with Jericho. Stereo crossbodies put Jericho and Danielson down though and it’s a double tag to Garcia and Jericho. Guevara gets dropped hard so we get the staredown into the hockey fight right hands. Garcia gets the better of things and kicks Jericho in the chest, setting up the Dragontamer.

Guevara makes the save but the Lionsault hits Garcia’s raised knees. Guevara tries to come in off the top but dives into a Crossface. Danielson grabs one on Jericho at the same time before they switch to stereo hammer and anvil elbows. Guevara comes back in and cleans house but Garcia counters the GTH into a piledriver. Jericho breaks it up so Danielson knees him from the apron.

A clothesline drops Guevara and Jericho drops Danielson onto a table. With that not being enough to break it, Jericho suplexes him through the table. Guevara’s shooting star hits raised knees though and now the Dragontamer….is broken up with a Jericho belt shot. That’s enough for Guevara to steal the pin at 14:23.

Rating: B. It was a good match with a bit of a screwy finish so it was didn’t exactly come off well. This didn’t feel like the major main event of the AEW anniversary show, at least somewhat due to it mainly being about Ring Of Honor. Garcia vs. Jericho continues to be built up, though I’m still not sure how interesting that is really going to be.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a stacked show with a bunch of very good matches, though nothing broke through to that top level. What matters here that they are setting up a major title match in Cincinnati before we can move on to the Full Gear build. The problem is that it might not be that interesting, despite being put together well enough. Solid action and storytelling, but they need a big story around here and that doesn’t seem to be anywhere in sight.

Results
Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Wheeler Yuta – Salt Of The Earth
Jay Lethal b. Darby Allin – Last Supper
Wardlow b. Brian Cage – Powerbomb Symphony
Willow Nightingale/Athena/Toni Storm b. Jamie Hayter/Penelope Ford/Serena Deeb – Doctor bomb to Ford
Hangman Page b. Rush – Buckshot lariat
Luchasaurus b. Fuego del Sol – Reverse flipping fireman’s carry slam
Sammy Guevara/Chris Jericho b. Bryan Danielson/Daniel Garcia – Belt shot to Garcia

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: August 12, 2022
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bryan Danielson, Taz

It’s still Quake By The Lake week and that means a lot of talking this time, as Bryan Danielson is back after getting beaten up by Daniel Garcia a few weeks back. Other than that, we have Orange Cassidy in action and that can oddly work. Rampage hasn’t been great in recent weeks so maybe they can pick it up tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Bryan Danielson to get things going. Tony Schiavone asks him about Daniel Garcia calling himself the Dragon Slayer. Danielson talks about how he has been wrestling for 23 years and now he needs to live to the fullest. That means he can never stop wrestling and his career is not ending next Wednesday.

Cue Garcia to interrupt and call Danielson his hero, but it sounds like his hero is ready to lose. Garcia is ready to make Danielson call him the greatest sports entertainer alive. That’s too far for Danielson, who doesn’t like what Chris Jericho is putting in Garcia’s head. Danielson talked about Garcia being a founding member of the Blackpool Combat Club because he remembers seeing Garcia wrestle for 60 minutes in front of 250 people. With a grab of Garcia’s face, Danielson asks if he wants to be a sports entertainer or a wrestler before walking out. Garcia looks a bit shaken.

We look back at CM Punk’s return and showdown with Jon Moxley on Dynamite.

AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles: Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara vs. Dante Martin/Skye Blue

Melo and Guevara, the newlyweds, are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the women brawling on the floor and Martin hammering away on Guevara inside. We settle down to Melo saving Guevara from a whip into the ropes and comes in, complete with a kiss. Said kiss takes too long though and Blue comes in with a high crossbody, setting off a beating. Melo pulls her into…some kind of a stretch on the mat but Blue is back up with a running knee into a spinning kick to the face. Guevara grabs Blue’s foot though and a pump kick drops her as we take a break.

Back with the guys coming back in to start the strike off with Martin sending Guevara outside for a dive. Melo comes back in for a distraction so Martin uses her as a launchpad into a Canadian Destroyer for two more. Back up and Melo plants Martin with a floatover DDT (Tony is WAY too impressed by that) but Skye takes out Guevara with a high crossbody. Not that it matters as the TayKO finishes for Melo at 7:18.

Rating: C+. Guevara’s dives are often worth a look and there is a bit of a history here to keep it somewhat more interesting. More importantly though, it is nice to have Martin walking after that scare a few weeks ago. The match was good enough, but you can imagine Guevara and Melo were still adjusting to their new normal.

The Lucha Bros are excited about Pac being back so the Death Triangle can be at full strength.

Parker Boudreaux vs. Sonny Kiss

Slim J is here with the debuting Boudreaux, better known as Harland in NXT. Boudreaux runs Kiss over to start and slugs away in the corner but gets caught with the handspring slap. A chokeslam drops Kiss and a belly to back slam finishes for Boudreaux at 1:01.

La Faccion Ingobernable yells at Private Party, who aren’t having it. Private Party is ready for Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland next week.

Gunn Club vs. Danhausen/Erick Redbeard

Billy Gunn is here with the Gunn Club. Redbeard shoves Colten down to start so Austin comes in, earning himself a hard shoulder down. Danhausen comes in and gets thrown into the corner as we take a break. Back with Danhausen slipping between Austin’s legs and handing it back to Redbeard for the house cleaning.

Everything breaks down and Redbeard hits a running crossbody to drop the Club on the floor. Back in and a slingshot hilo connects, setting up a spinning kick to the face for two on Austin with Colten making the save. Redbeard suplexes both Gunns but Billy low bridges him to the floor. The Fameasser gives Austin the pin at 7:00.

Rating: C. Well, the regular team beat the makeshift team by pinning someone who is usually cannon fodder, so at least they went with what makes sense. Redbeard is someone who looks good and is fine for an enforcer, but the Gunn Club should be picking up wins so they went with the right decision here.

Post match Billy yells at his kids and says he misses the Acclaimed. They need to toughen up a bit and do what he taught them. They can prove themselves next week on Dynamite, opponents unknown. Billy walks off but Stokely Hathaway pops up in the crowd with his business card, but the Club walks off.

Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland are ready for Private Party, who aren’t even in the top five. They can get a chance anyway.

Here’s Hook for a chat and he actually says something: YEP, when asked if the title is really going to be up in an open challenge on Dynamite. Cue Zack Clayton from Jersey Shore to say he’s taking the title next week.

Ari Daivari is ready for Orange Cassidy, even if Cassidy won’t join the Trustbusters. Cassidy does Mark Henry’s line so Henry cuts him off and does it properly.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Ari Daivari vs. Orange Cassidy

The Trustbusters and Best Friends are here too. Hold on as Daivari gives Cassidy one more chance to join the Trustbusters and all he has to do is lay down. Cassidy does, but then rolls over before the cover. After a hug from the Best Friends, they go back inside for some grappling, including Cassidy using his hands in the pockets to knock Daivari away. The dropkick and nip up keep Daivari down but he manages a shot of his own. A Trustbusters hug on the floor sends us to an early break.

Back with Daivari holding a sleeper until Cassidy makes the rope…and gets put right back into the sleeper. That’s smarter than most wrestlers. Cassidy gets out again and they collide for a double knockdown. Back up and Cassidy’s spinning DDT is blocked and Daivari hits a running neckbreaker.

Cassidy tries the Orange Punch but gets caught in a Rock Bottom for two. Another spinning DDT works better for Cassidy, followed by the top rope DDT for a rather near fall. Everyone gets in a fight on the floor so Cassidy hits a dive to break it up. Back in and Daivari catches him on top with an Iconoclasm for two, only to get caught with the Orange Punch for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: C. This is one of the places where Cassidy can shine. Cassidy beat someone who didn’t exactly come off as a threat to become a major star and got to do his fun offense at the time. As long as AEW can avoid going too far with Cassidy, he’s one of the more consistently popular and oftentimes entertaining guys around here. Plus he beat the still mostly worthless Daivari and that’s always a good thing.

Post match Boudreaux gets to clean house but Sonny Kiss comes in and jumps Cassidy so Boudreaux can lay him out. Kiss is a Trustbuster to end the show.

So yes, the stable is actually Daivari (not even the best known Daivari in wrestling), Boudreaux (Joe Gacy’s lackey), Slim J (who looks like he would fit in great at any independent show in 2001) and Kiss (who has never won a match on Dynamite/Rampage and until tonight, hasn’t wrestled on either since September 2020). For some reason that lineup is not only in the tournament, but just got half of the matches on this show. What a great week.

Overall Rating: C-. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it continues to seem like AEW has given up on this show. Other than Danielson/Garcia, this was a bunch of lower to midcard stuff at best and that doesn’t make for the most interesting hour. I’m not sure why I’m supposed to be interested in Daivari and company, leaving the Gunn Club and the newlyweds to carry most of the night. The show wasn’t terrible, but it really wasn’t compelling and in a lot of ways that’s worse.

Results
Tay Melo/Sammy Guevara b. Skye Blue/Dante Martin – TayKO to Blue
Parker Boudreaux b. Sonny Kiss – Belly to back slam
Gunn Club b. Erick Redbeard/Danhausen – Fameasser to Danhausen
Orange Cassidy b. Ari Daivari – Orange Punch

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

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Dynamite
Date: July 27, 2022
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Jim Ross, Taz, Excalibur

It’s another special event this week with Fight For The Fallen. There is another stacked card this week as well, as Jon Moxley is defending the Interim World Title against Rush, plus the return of Bryan Danielson. We are on the way towards All Out and it might be time to start setting things up for the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Interim AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Rush

Moxley is defending and gets jumped on the floor to start. They get inside with Rush stomping away in the corner and we’re off to the neck crank. It’s back to the floor with Moxley busted open and William Regal not being pleased on commentary. Jose the Assistant offers a distraction but Rush misses a chair shot. Moxley is right back with a suicide dive into the barricade and some hard chops to take over for the first time.

They get back inside with Moxley standing on Rush’s head in the corner but Rush plants him for a quick two. Back to the floor they go (you may be noticing a pattern emerging here) where Rush chokes him with a camera cord as we take a break. We come back with the two of them chopping it out and trading German suplexes. Moxley’s King Kong lariat drops Rush but he snaps off another German suplex to drop Moxley hard.

Back up and Moxley unloads with stomps to the head but Rush gets in a suplex into the corner. Rush takes him up top and is shoved down, only to have Andrade El Idolo come in to shove him down. The Lucha Bros chase Andrade out, leaving Rush to have the Bull’s Horns cut off with another lariat. A straitjacket piledriver gives Rush two but Moxley is back up with the Death Rider. The bulldog choke finishes for Moxley at 13:52.

Rating: B. Good, hard hitting fight here and the kind of match you would expect from them. This is where Moxley thrives and Rush is enough of a bull to make his end of the match work well. Moxley wasn’t about to lose to someone who has barely been around, but at least they had a good brawl to get there.

Post match here is the Jericho Appreciation Society to say APPRECIATE US before Chris Jericho talks about everything the team is going to do tonight. New member Anna Jay changes her name to Anna JAS and promises to choke out everyone. Jericho rants about how he beat Eddie Kingston last week despite all of the injuries he suffered.

Now he wants a shot at Moxley to avenge his loss from two and a half years ago. They’ll fight at Quake By The Lake, which has Moxley saying he hates Jericho. After saying what Jericho can do with that INTERIM nonsense, Moxley says he wants to face the Jericho he saw for years. Not the Wizard or the Painmaker, but the Lionheart. It isn’t like there is any better option to bridge the gap to All Out so Jericho makes the most sense.

The Trios Titles are officially here and the inaugural champions will be crowned at All Out.

Dante Martin accuses Sammy Guevara of going soft but he has someone in his corner tonight: Skye Blue. Uh, sure.

Video on Ricky Starks being a perfect choice for a champion.

FTW Title: Ricky Starks vs. Danhausen

Danhausen is challenging and mocks Starks’ pose instead of cursing him. Starks mocks the curse and gets kicked in the face. A northern lights suplex gives Danhausen one and he avoids a spear into the corner. The second spear connects though and Danhausen retains at 1:25.

Post match Starks is holding his neck but issues another open challenge for a second title defense.

FTW Title: Ricky Starks vs. Hook

Starks is defending and gets pounded into the corner to start. A t-bone suplex drops Starks but he’s back with a belly to back of his own. Hook flips out of a hiptoss and lands on his feet, only to get speared down. Roshambo is countered into Redrum and Starks taps at 1:33. That was pretty awesome, and Hook beating his trainer to win his dad’s title is about as cool as you can get.

Respect is shown post match.

Post break Starks is in the ring with Powerhouse Hobbs to say he turned that title from a noose into a tie. He is the only one who could do that and he exceeded all expectations, working hard every week. People keep telling him to work hard and he’ll get his chance, but his chance was last month and his chance is right now. It isn’t a string of bad luck but bad timing….and then Hobbs lays him out. Taz isn’t sure what is going on as Hobbs hits the spinebuster.

The Acclaimed raps about the Gunn Club and tell us to watch their music video to see what kind of match they’ll have on Rampage. Friday is trash day.

Sammy Guevara vs. Dante Martin

Tay Conti is here with Sammy while Skye Blue is here with Martin. Guevara hits a shoulder to start but Martin is right back up with a headlock. A backflip over Martin picks up the pace and Guevara hits a dropkick before spinning into a pose. Martin gets in his own spin but is sent outside, only to switch places with Guevara. The big flip dive is dropped so Martin can moonsault into the middle to stare at Guevara.

Hold on as Guevara and Conti walk out, only to be jumped by Martin (well at least Guevara is). Martin hits a HUGE dive off the stage to drop Guevara again and we take a break. Back with Martin’s springboard dive being kneed out of the air but not being able to hit the GTH. Instead Martin grabs a Spanish Fly for two but the Nose Dive misses. Guevara’s springboard cutter connects (with Martin’s leg looking to collapse) and the GTH gives Guevara the pin at 8:46.

Rating: B-. Much like Moxley vs. Rush, you knew what you were getting from these two and they did their high flying stuff until Sammy go the win. Martin continues to look good in just about everything he does, but at some point he has to win a match that matters. Guevara bounces back from the Blood & Guts loss and continues to be annoying, so he should be just fine going forward.

Post match Guevara goes after Martin again but Blue gets in the way. Cue Anna Jay to beat her down, only to have Ruby Soho, Eddie Kingston and Ortiz run in for the save. Martin is taken out and seems hurt.

Daniel Garcia is ready to beat Bryan Danielson and show that he is the best in the world.

Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh aren’t happy with Samoa Joe but they’re even less happy with the Best Friends. Cue the Best Friends to issue the challenge for Rampage and Dutt accepts, despite being retired.

Here is Jungle Boy for a chat in the ring, with Luchasaurus coming out with him as a bit of a surprise. Jungle Boy gets right to it by calling Christian Cage a coward. Cage is the most relevant he has ever been and then he turned on Jungle Boy over a battle royal? Shouldn’t a legend like Cage have enough money to not worry about that?

Oh yeah, Christian got divorced so his ex-wife took everything. Cage needed a bodyguard in Luchasaurus but he picked Jungle Boy’s best friend. We hear about Jungle Boy burying his father but we cut to Cage in the back, saying that Jungle Boy can pull up a grave next to his father. Cage knows all of Jungle Boy’s secrets and now he’s going to use them. Sounds ominous.

The Young Bucks want the Trios Titles but need a partner. Brandon Cutler offers his services but they run into Hangman Page. The Bucks seem to be interested in a reunion but the Dark Order comes up to with Page a happy birthday.

Tony Nese/Mark Sterling vs. Swerve Strickland

Keith Lee is barred from ringside. Nese takes Strickland into the corner to start but Swerve spins up into the anklescissors. A backbreaker lets Swerve go outside where Sterling offers a distraction. Some cheap shots from Nese put Swerve in trouble as we take a break. Back with Nese being knocked into the corner, which counts as a tag to Sterling.

Strickland keeps beating up Nese as Sterling won’t get inside, including a knockout kick to Nese. Since Nese is hanging from the bottom rope over the floor, Swerve adds the slingshot Swerve Stomp to knock him silly. Back in and the jumping kick to the head finishes Sterling at 6:42.

Rating: C-. Well ok then. Strickland was never in any kind of danger here but he didn’t need to be. Nese isn’t much of a threat to anyone but at least they protected him with the loss going on Sterling. Nothing to see here, but it should wrap up the feud between them, as it needs to do.

Post match We see Keith Lee down in the back with Josh Woods (who has been scouted by Nese and Sterling) standing over him. Nese uses the distraction to knock Strickland silly.

The House of Black wants to hurt Darby Allin while offering Miro the throne. Brody King challenges Allin to a coffin match.

Excalibur talks about Pac’s successful All-Atlantic Title defense.

Miyu Yamashita beat Thunder Rosa in a title elimination match, earning a Women’s Title match tonight.

Women’s Title: Miyu Yamashita vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending and they fight over wrist control to start. An exchange of rollups gets two each and that’s good for a standoff. Yamashita takes the leg out on the apron but Rosa knocks her down and chops hard against the barricade. A clothesline drops Rosa though and we take a break.

Back with the two of them slugging it out until Rosa hits a running kick to the chest against the ropes. Yamashita kicks her HARD in the head for two, with Rosa looking a bit rocked. A fireman’s carry is countered into a small package which is countered into a small package for two on Rosa (how she lost the first match for the callback). There’s a kick to Yamashita’s head though and a Fire Thunder Driver retains the title at 10:01.

Rating: B-. Good stuff here again, even though it was kind of an unknown going against Rosa. They set this up a few weeks ago in Japan, which is better than you get around here a lot of the time, so this could have been worse. Rosa needed a win like this, but she is still far from the top of the division and it shows badly.

Here’s what’s coming on various shows.

Daniel Garcia vs. Bryan Danielson

Chris Jericho is on commentary and this is Danielson’s first match since May. Danielson starts fast with the kicks to the chest and Garcia is rocked early. A kick to the face doesn’t do much to Danielson, who backdrops Garcia to the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Back in and Danielson takes him down for the hard elbows to the head, much to the fans’ approval. Garcia is back up with a neckbreaker and sends Danielson outside.

The floor mat is peeled back but Danielson hits a running forearm to stagger Garcia again. The kicks to the chest set up a running dropkick. There’s a missile dropkick back inside and some forearms rock Danielson again. Danielson is back up and tries the backflip out of the corner but collapses when running the ropes. That’s fine with Garcia, who sends him into the steps and hits a DDT onto the exposed concrete.

We take a break and come back with Garcia stomping on a bloody Danielson before putting him on top. Danielson reverses into a belly to back superplex, which bangs up the head even more. It takes a bit but Danielson gets up and tries Cattle Mutilation, which doesn’t quite go on. Instead, Garcia hits the hammer and anvil elbows, which just bring Danielson back to his feet.

Danielson gives us a proper hammer and elbow demonstration and a reverse fisherman’s suplex. The running knee is countered into a brainbuster for two and it’s time to slug it out. Danielson sends him outside for the running knee from the apron but hang on as someone reaches from under the apron to grab Danielson’s boot. That’s enough for the piledriver to plant Danielson and the Sharpshooter goes on. Garcia cranks back and Danielson passes out at 17:04.

Rating: B. The ending was a surprise and points for putting Garcia over, which is what has been missing for a bit. This felt more like something bigger for Danielson though, as it might be the start of something leading to his retirement. Having Danielson’s head be all messed up s a scary situation, but also something he has dealt with before. Good job on getting Garcia a rub though, which has been lacking for him so far.

The hand was that of Jake Hager, who runs in to celebrate with Garcia and Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a show where they fired off one good match after another and that made for a heck of a weekly show. Dynamite can be awesome when they let the wrestlers do their thing at a high level and that’s what we got here. It helps that they had different kind of matches, with the Moxley vs. Rush brawl, Guevara vs. Martin flying all over the place and Garcia and Danielson being more about the striking. Very good show here and it didn’t feel like they had as much stuff crammed in here, which is nice for a change.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Rush – Bulldog choke
Ricky Starks b. Danhausen – Spear
Hook b. Ricky Starks – Redrum
Sammy Guevara b. Dante Martin – GTH
Swerve Strickland b. Tony Nese/Mark Sterling – Running kick to Sterling
Thunder Rosa b. Miyu Yamashita – Fire Thunder Driver
Daniel Garcia b. Bryan Danielson via referee stoppage

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Rampage
Date: July 22, 2022
Location: Gas South Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Jim Ross

We’re finally finishing up the two week long Fyter Fest and hopefully there is a bit less shark enthusiasm this time around. We’ll be seeing some good stuff this week, including Christopher Daniels vs. Jay Lethal as we are only a day away from Ring Of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Hangman Page/John Silver vs. Butcher and the Blade

Silver charges at both of them to start before Page can even get his vest off. That means Silver gets beaten down in the corner as the numbers game gets the better of it. Butcher, who looks to have slimmed down a bit, chops away and it’s off to Blade for the stomping. A suplex gets Silver out of trouble and it’s back to Page to clean house. The fall away slam sends Blade flying and a slingshot dive takes Butcher out. A top rope clothesline gets two on Blade but Butcher pulls Page to the floor for some whips into the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Silver getting the hot tag and coming in to drop Blade with a running elbow. Butcher comes in and tries some double teaming but Silver hands it back to Page to beat both of them down. Page and Butcher trade clotheslines until Page hits a discus lariat to drop him. Everything breaks down and the lights go blue for no apparent reason. Silver gets in a shot on Butcher and it’s the Buckshot Lariat to give Page the pin at 8:07.

Rating: C+. As usual, the match was fast paced and Silver was basically a bowling ball going after Butcher and Blade to limited success. Page is in a weird place as he is one of a handful of former World Champions but is in this match, rescuing his Dark Order buddies from some bullies. Oddly enough, it only feels somewhat like he is toiling beneath his level by being in this match.

Video on Daniel Garcia vs. Wheeler Yuta, with a focus on Garcia’s car crash from a few years ago that almost killed him.

Here is Claudio Castagnoli for a chat. He’s ready for his shot at the Ring Of Honor World Title at Death Before Dishonor, because the World Title is the one thing that he has chased for his entire career. Castagnoli doesn’t believe he is the best because he has a bunch of titles. He believe it because the fans cheer for him every time, but now he wants some gold to go with it. The only way to continue this great start is to take the title from Jonathan Gresham on Saturday. Mic drop. Castagnoli doesn’t talk much but he got the point across here.

Video on Wardlow.

Lee Moriarty vs. Dante Martin

Matt Sydal is here with Moriarty. They trade arm control to start as JR says this is the kind of wrestling he loves. An exchange of flips and dives results in Moriarty being sent to the floor and we take a break. Back with Moriarty crashing off the top as Stokely Hathaway comes out to watch.

A high crossbody gives Martin two and he uses the bottom rope to springboard flip over a charging Moriarty. That’s fine with Moriarty who pulls Martin into the Border City Stretch but Martin is over to the rope. Martin is back up with a suplex for two and Hathaway is rather pleased. The Nose Dive misses so Martin grabs an O’Connor roll, only to have Moriarty roll him over and use the rope for the pin at 8:40.

Rating: C+. This was the technical exchange match on the show, along with the “here’s the latest heel turn”, because AEW likes having a lot of villains. Moriarty hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire yet, but maybe turning him will give him a little more of an opening. Granted it doesn’t look likely if he’s toiling with Martin and Sydal, but maybe he can move on.

Post match Sydal says he’s facing Moriarty next week. Uh, yay. Moriarty is happy but turns down Hathaway’s business card.

Britt Baker/Jamie Hayter vs. Skye Blue/Ashley D’Amboise

Baker takes Blue down to start and cranks on the arm a bit. Blue fights up and tries to fight back only to get kicked down while trying a Matrix. A kick to the head allows the tag off to Ashley, who gets decked by Hayter. Baker grabs a butterfly suplex so Hayter can drop Ashley again, setting up Lockjaw for the tap at 4:13.

Rating: C. Total squash here and that isn’t a surprise. Baker and Hayter continue to need something to do, but I’m sure Hayter will be breaking away from here any day now, just like I’ve been sure of it for months. I’m not sure what there is for Baker to do at the moment, but down the line, a face turn and a big run at Jade Cargill might be in the cards.

It’s time for a rap battle between Austin Gunn and Max Caster, with the rest of their associated friends/family here too. A hip hop artist named Lil Scrappy is the judge and Gunn goes first. Austin brings up Caster playing one of Bobby Lashley’s sisters and possibly not being able to please Kris Statlander when they were dating. Then we get a reference to Caster’s dad’s NFL career mixed with a Bowens gay joke, which has Scrappy laughing.

Caster gets to go and mocks Austin’s rap abilities. Austin goes again, and says Cena wants his gimmick back. Caster says he’s been a star since Billy was called the One. That sends him onto a roll of jokes about gun control, Pokemon and bad reality shows. Austin has no comeback and Caster is named the winner, triggering the brawl. The Acclaimed gets beaten down, partially due to a trashcan. Austin got in some lines, but you could see that Caster turns this into an art rather than just rhyming.

Christopher Daniels is sick of hearing Jay Lethal talk and tells Mark Henry to say the catchphrase already.

Death Before Dishonor rundown.

Jay Lethal vs. Christopher Daniels

Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh are in Lethal’s corner. Daniels chops away to start until Lethal gets in an enziguri. Back up and Daniels runs him over for a fast two as commentary finally brings up that Samoa Joe is out of action due to being attacked a few weeks ago. That hasn’t been mentioned much and it hasn’t exactly made Joe look great to just have him missing for reasons not very often mentioned. Daniels gets knocked to the floor for a dive from Lethal and we take a break.

Back with Lethal hitting a basement superkick, only to have Daniels knee him in the face. There’s an STO to drop Lethal again, followed by the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. The Lethal Combination gets two but the Figure Four attempt is blocked. Daniels is cut off by a big boot to the face and the Lethal Injection finishes for Lethal at 8:26.

Rating: C+. This was a match where the talent involved was going to guarantee that it worked out well enough, but it isn’t like there was any drama. Daniels still works very well in his fifties but this was all about setting up a match that was already set. Lethal vs. Joe should be good as well, though a Joe appearance to help boost it might have helped.

Post match Daniels gets beaten down, including a Koquina Clutch on the floor.

Overall Rating: C+. The show was ok, but they didn’t exactly have a ton of things that I would have wanted to see. This week was a rare instance where Rampage felt like a B show and that doesn’t make for the best night. Certainly not a bad night, but it didn’t’ feel important, which is a rare thing for Rampage.

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Rampage
Date: April 29, 2022
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks, Chris Jericho

We’re still in the most serious wrestling city in the country and that should play into AEW’s hands rather well. Rampage is the show that is going to focus on the in-ring action more than anything else and hopefully that makes for a good night. Throw in Danhausen calling out Hook and….I’m really not sure what that is going to mean. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifying Match: Swerve Strickland vs. Darby Allin

Sting is in Allin’s corner as they start with a wrestle off. Neither can get very far until Allin takes him down by the arm. Make that a chinlock for a bit before Allin knocks him to the floor. The suicide dive is cut off by a jumping knee as commentary talks about how well these two know each other.

We take a break and come back with Allin working on the knee but Strickland fights up. Swerve knocks him down but misses the Serve Stomp. Allin’s Coffin Drop hits raised knees so Strickland kicks him in the head for two. Strickland heads to the apron and suplexes him down onto the floor, because that’s a totally rational thing to do. Cue Ricky Starks off commentary to go to ringside but Sting cuts him off. Allin grabs the Last Supper for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: C+. Annoying distraction finish aside, this worked well while it lasted, even if you factor in the pretty insane suplex to the floor. You could have gone with either winning here, but Allin is a bigger star and a threat to win the whole thing. Strickland needs a win of his own though, as he hasn’t had much success so far around here.

Shawn Spears is excited to see Wardlow get taken out by the big guy next week. They still won’t say who it is though.

Chris Jericho names himself Sports Entertainer Of The Week for attacking Eddie Kingston.

Santana and Ortiz storm the commentary booth and jump Jericho to lay him out.

Baddies vs. Skye Blue/Trish Adora/Willow Nightingale

That would be Jade Cargill/Red Velvet/Kiera Hogan. Blue gets taken into the corner to start so Velvet can choke with the boot. Hogan comes in with a running boot the face but Blue manages a kick. Blue and Hogan both catch a kick at the same time before Hogan kicks her in the head. Adora comes in and gets hit with a step up Fameasser, allowing the tag off to Cargill for jaded and the pin on Adora at 2:40. Total squash.

Darby Allin offers Swerve Strickland another match after the ending but Strickland knows Allin didn’t have anything to do with it. Strickland wants Allin to win the tournament so now he can go find Keith Lee and deal with Team Taz.

Keith Lee vs. Colten Gunn

Gunn looks like he got kicked in the face by a horse, kicked the horse back, and then got kicked in the face again. They shove each other around a bit until Lee takes him into the corner for the Grizzly Magnum chop. We take a break and come back with Lee hitting some running shoulders but missing a charge in the corner. The Fameasser is blocked though and the Big Bang Catastrophe finishes Gunn at 7:00.

Rating: C. As is so often said about AEW matches, this needed a break? The match wasn’t even that good as Gunn was little more than a sacrificial lamb for Lee. I’m still not sure what Lee is supposed to do in AEW, because he has been stuck in minor stories and matches like this for a lot of his time there. The Gunns continue to be watchable though and there might even be some potential upward mobility for both of them.

Jeff Hardy is ready to take out Bobby Fish next week in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament.

The Undisputed Elite laughs off the idea of Jeff Hardy being a threat, with Fish calling him Jeff hardly.

Here is Danhausen, who says SEND HOOK. Cue Hook, with Danhausen thinking that we need to do this at another time. Cue Mark Sterling for a distraction so Tony Nese can jump both of them. Hook fights up and grabs a suplex, allowing Danhausen to curse Nese and Sterling. The villains leave and the fans want Hookhausen, but Hook grabs him by the neck instead, only to leave without getting violent.

The Gunn Club says that isn’t a loss but the Acclaimed comes in to offer some scissoring, complete with hand gestures. The Club wants to go talk to their dad, leaving the interviewer to turn down the same offer.

Mercedes Martinez is ready to take out Deonna Purrazzo and become the undisputed Ring Of Honor Women’s Champion.

Samoa Joe threatens to kill Trent Beretta, while Trent says he’s going to win the ROH TV Title.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Trent Beretta vs. Samoa Joe

Joe is defending and the Best Friends are here with Trent. Joe knocks him into the corner to start but gets knocked outside, setting up Trent’s Asai moonsault. We take a break and come back with Trent hitting a top rope dive to the floor to drop Joe. Back in and Trent grabs a Saito suplex for two, only to have Joe pull him into an STF. We’ll make that a Crossface but Trent gets his foot on the rope. Jericho: “He’s not dead yet!” Joe blasts Trent with a clothesline, with Jericho switching to “he might be now!” The MuscleBuster is broken up and it’s the Koquina Clutch to make Trent tap at 10:02.

Rating: C+. Joe can have a good match with anyone and the same is true of Trent, making this a fine enough main event. That being said, having a 40+ year old Joe as the midcard champion of a minor league promotion isn’t likely to bring in more eyes to the show. Joe can still draw in some attention, but isn’t there anything bigger that he could do than this?

Post match Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh come out to interrupt a Samoa Joe interview. Orange Cassidy tries some lazy kicks but gets decked by Dutt. The brawl is on with Lethal and Joe having to be held apart to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe they were taking a week off this time because of the NBA and NFL events going on, but this wasn’t exactly a great show. It didn’t feel like much of anything on this show mattered and that isn’t a great feeling to have. There is some good enough action, but it continued AEW’s trend of not feeling important without the big stars. Certainly a watchable show, but not worth the time.

Results
Darby Allin b. Swerve Strickland – Last Supper
Baddies b. Skye Blue/Trish Adora/Willow Nightingale – Jaded to Adora
Keith Lee b. Colten Gunn – Big Bang Catastrophe
Samoa Joe b. Trent Beretta – 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: April 13, 2022
Location: UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s the start of a big week around here as we are on the third of five shows. There are some important matches set up for this card and there is a good chance that we could be in for a fun one. If nothing else, they are coming in off a white hot main event last week so hopefully they can keep up the momentum. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

CM Punk vs. Penta Obscuro

Alex Abrahantes is here with Penta. Punk isn’t overly intimidated by Obscuro’s entrance and they stare each other down to start. That goes into the big chop off, with the fans getting right into this as soon as they get going. A superkick staggers Punk but he kicks Penta in the ribs to cut him off. Punk strikes away as commentary runs down tonight’s card, including Samoa Joe vs. Minoru Suzuki. The GTS is countered into an ankle lock and Punk gets sent to the floor. Some suicide dives take too long though and Punk takes his place, setting up a dive of his own.

We take a break and come back with both of them going up to the same corner. Punk pulls him down into….something that wasn’t clear as his knee seems to give out. Penta takes him into the corner but Punk comes out with a super hurricanrana, setting up the running knee in the corner. The GTS is countered so Punk tries the Anaconda Vice, sending Penta straight to the rope.

They head to the apron to slug it out but neither can hit a piledriver. Instead Punk hits the running knee in the corner back inside, only to have the GTS blocked. The arm snap is countered into a rollup but that’s countered into another rollup to give Penta two. Another superkick rocks Punk but he’s fine enough to pull Penta out of the air for the GTS and the pin at 13:33.

Rating: B. They worked hard here and the ending was good, though it felt a bit like a match you would see on a big time indy show: no real reason for them to be fighting, but it makes fans go “that sounds AWESOME”. It was good while it lasted though and Punk continues his climb up to the top of the rankings. I’m sure the path will be completely scientific and logical as well.

The Jericho Appreciation Society arrived at the airport earlier but Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz were waiting on them. They beat up 3.0 and took their shoes, as good guys tend to do.

Tag Team Titles: ReDRagon vs. Jurassic Express

Jurassic Express is defending. Jungle Boy gets struck into the corner by Fish, allowing O’Reilly to come in for a headlock. Luchasaurus tags himself in and starts kicking away, only to get caught with some dragon screw legwhips. That’s enough to put Luchasaurus in the corner but he strikes his way out of trouble, allowing the tag off to Jungle Boy.

The suicide dives are on (JR: “It’s Tope Suicida Night folks! And the kids eat free!”), setting up Luchasaurus hitting his own dive. Jungle Boy goes for a dive but Fish isn’t quite ready and has to move over in a hurry (that could have been nasty). Fish twists Jungle Boy off the apron by the arm though and we take a break.

Back with O’Reilly trying a cross armbreaker on Jungle Boy but getting stacked up for two instead. Jungle Boy gets over for the tag off to Luchasaurus to clean house, including the Tail Whip to O’Reilly. There’s the double chokeslam into the standing moonsault for two on O’Reilly. A side slam top rope elbow combination (that looked good) gets two on Fish but ReDRagon is back in for a kick off into a German suplex.

O’Reilly grabs a cross armbreaker (while also trapping the leg) but Jungle Boy makes the rope. Back up and O’Reilly grabs a guillotine on Luchasaurus as Fish jumps over them with a super Falcon Arrow to Jungle Boy. Luchasaurus throws O’Reilly onto the two of them for the break and it’s time to strike it out again. Fish gets Tail Whipped by Luchasaurus and it’s the Throwassic Express for the pin to retain the titles at 13:45.

Rating: B. This was back into the “what’s tagging” formula for the most part and I can with with that after last week’s tag team clinic main event. Jurassic Express getting to add another win to their list is a good idea, but those titles seem destined either for FTR or the Young Bucks to set up the rubber match between the bigger name teams.

Post match O’Reilly chairs the champs down but FTR comes in to scare them off. I think you know where FTR and the Express are going.

The Blackpool Combat Club, now with Wheeler Yuta, are ready to fight the undisputed Gunn Club on Friday. Moxley’s idea: break their faces.

Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm are ready to face each other in the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Hayter talks about their history together and how it was a lot like Owen’s rise to prominent. She isn’t going to let Storm slow her down and asks what Storm is going to do about it. Storm smirks and walks away.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Shawn Dean

Shawn Spears is here with MJF. Hold on though as MJF’s scarf gets caught in his jacket, but he jumps Dean from behind anyway. And yes, the scarf is completely fine in case you were wondering. MJF poses but we cut to the back where security has been taken out, with one of them missing a shirt. Back in the arena and MJF takes him to the floor, but Wardlow is behind MJF. The chase is on and security comes out to hold Wardlow back. MJF runs and, despite offering the referee a lot of money, loses by countout at 3:54.

Rating: D. This was a match in name only and that is ok. They are building up towards Wardlow vs. MJF even more and it is nice to see Dean getting some wins, even if they don’t mean anything. MJF begging at the idea of losing makes sense as he is that obsessed with being the best, so they had the logic going strong here. Not a match for the most part but they weren’t trying to make it one.

Post match Wardlow is taken to the back and Spears has to hold MJF back from fighting the referee. We cut to the back where Wardlow beats up security again and says he isn’t going to stop until MJF lets him out of his contract. Then he breaks the camera, which will somehow go on MJF’s bill.

In a video that is a bit more complicated for its message, Darby Allin challenges Andrade El Idolo to a casket match.

Malakai Black talks about how the House of Black is going to destroy Fuego del Sol.

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz

Jericho flips Santana off to start and then hits him in the face, only to get himself into a chop off. Everything breaks down and Santana gets to beat on Jericho a bit more inside. It’s off to Ortiz, who gets caught in a double flapjack from Jericho and Hager to put him down for a change. Hager drives him into the corner again and it’s Garcia getting to come in for some shots of his own. Jericho gets the arrogant cover for two and we take a break.

Back with Jericho missing the Lionsault and, after getting away from Hager, Ortiz manages the hot tag off to Kingston. House is cleaned without much trouble and Santana comes in with a top rope splash for two on Garcia. Ortiz’s middle rope legdrop gets the same and the Street Sweeper is loaded up. Instead, Santana throws Garcia at Jericho to take him out. Cue 3.0 (still missing shoes) but Ortiz hits a big flip dive to take them down. The distraction lets Jericho get in a bat shot to finish Kingston at 11:45.

Rating: C+. It’s far from a disaster, but I’m really not feeling the Society so far. They feel like a rehash of the Inner Circle but nowhere near as good. It’s more of Jericho getting beaten up and then cheating to win, which is a pretty tired style. The match was good enough, but it feels like we’ve done this before and that isn’t great to see.

Post match the big beatdown is on and no one makes the save.

A very angry MJF talks about how he has money and can do whatever he wants. Also, since he owns Wardlow, he’s going to put Wardlow into the ring against the Butcher.

Marina Shafir vs. Skye Blue

This is Shafir’s Dynamite debut and Mark Sterling/Jade Cargill are watching in the back (Sterling more than Cargill). Shafir takes her down to start as we see Red Velvet as part of the Baddie Section. Blue’s attempt at a choke is countered into a bearhug and a slam down. Shafir pounds away and hits a pumphandle suplex. A palm strike sets up a headscissors choke to make Blue tap at 2:22. Shafir really didn’t look good here and they weren’t exactly mixing well. I don’t know what was wrong, but if this was anything more than an off night, Shafir is in trouble.

Tony Nese and Mark Sterling (third segment in a row after MJF and Cargill) interrupt Hook’s interview. Hook throws a medicine ball over his shoulder, hits an interrupting Danhausen, and leaves. Danhausen continues to be unsure what is going on.

The Men of the Year are ready for Sammy Guevara at Battle of the Belts on Saturday.

Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee vs. Team Taz

The fans are way into Ricky Starks as the hometown boy. Powerhouse Hobbs shoves Strickland around to start and doesn’t seem happy at Swerve trying an armbar. JR uses this time to talk about Mid-South/UWF memories and it’s off to Starks to run the ropes into a rope walk. A top rope shot to the shoulder drops Strickland and Starks hits his pose. It’s off to Lee, who sends Starks into the corner for the big chop, with Strickland holding the arms back to make it worse.

Everything breaks down and Strickland uses Lee’s chest as a springboard for a moonsault down onto Team Taz. We take a break and come back with Lee cleaning house. Swerve takes Hobbs off the apron but springboards into a spear from Starks. A Canadian Destroyer plants Swerve for two but he is right back up to put Starks in a fireman’s carry. Swerve goes up and throws Starks into the Pounce from Lee, who is cut off by Hobbs.

Cue Taz at ringside as Starks can’t Ro Sham Bo Lee. Swerve gets shoved off the top but manages to post Hobbs. Starks’ tornado DDT is blocked so he settles for a middle rope spear. Swerve breaks up the cover with a 450 but gets crushed by a running splash in the corner. Taz trips Lee though and the Last Will And Testament finishes Lee at 11:58.

Rating: C+. You build up Starks as the big star and don’t have him get the pin in the match? Anyway, they weren’t going to be able to get Starks booed here no matter what they tried so they didn’t even bother. That’s the right call here and Lee lost to cheating rather than clean. They did things as they should have here and it was a pretty hot match.

Here’s what’s coming at various upcoming shows.

Thunder Rosa is interrupted by Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero. They have a cake to celebrate her short title reign but there is no writing on it because she isn’t worth they money. Rosa: “Do you think I’m stupid?” Vickie and Nyla: “YES!” The cake goes in Rosa’s face and she’s so blind that she hits Vickie by mistake. Rosa gets sent into some boxes, with Rose shouting that the joke is on Rosa because she loves cake! This was pretty great.

Video on Hangman Page vs. Adam Cole in a Texas Deathmatch this week on Rampage.

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Samoa Joe vs. Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki is defending and they go straight to the required strike off. This includes chops and forearms for two minutes plus until Suzuki gets knocked to the apron. The armbar over the ropes slows Joe down and we take a break with Joe looking to be more than a bit spent pretty soon into things.

Back with Suzuki fighting out of a Crossface as Joe’s chest is REALLY red. The Gotch Style piledriver is blocked and the chop it out again. Another piledriver attempt is blocked so Suzuki takes him into the corner for some choking. That’s countered into the MuscleBuster to knock Suzuki silly and Joe is champion at 11:34.

Rating: B-. This is going to be the definition of “your mileage may vary” as the chop/strike off stuff loses its charm pretty quickly (the fact that Penta and Punk did the same thing an hour and a half ago didn’t help). They kept this moving and it’s hard to believe that it went as long as it did, but Suzuki was the definition of a transitional champion. That isn’t a bad thing, but this one felt a lot more like something that sounded great on paper fifteen years ago rather than here, with both of them likely near the end of their careers.

Post match here are Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt with a present for Joe. It’s Lethal’s middle finger, but the lights go out. Cue a 7’3 monster (identified by Tony as Satnam Singh, an Indian basketball player who was drafted into the NBA) to take Joe down and crush his head in a Khali style vice grip. Lethal and Dutt seem to have a monster enforcer to end the show. I don’t know how the STUPENDOUS Khali will do but this wasn’t exactly an inspiring debut.

Overall Rating: B-. It was a weird week as they started off great and then fell pretty hard before almost limping across the finish line. The Singh debut didn’t exactly leave on a high note and the show was a bit of a rollercoaster. It doesn’t feel like there is a top story at the moment and the World Title was a complete afterthought this week. Still a perfectly good show, but far from one of their best.

Results
CM Punk b. Penta Obscuro – GTS
Jurassic Express b. ReDRagon – Throwassic Express to Fish
Shawn Dean b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman via countout
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz – Baseball bat shot to Kingston
Marina Shafir b. Skye Blue – Headscissors choke
Team Taz b. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland – Last Will And Testament to Lee
Samoa Joe b. Minoru Suzuki – MuscleBuster

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Rampage
Date: April 1, 2022
Location: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Ricky Starks, Taz, Chris Jericho

Wrestlemania weekend caused me to miss this one so now it’s time to catch up. I’m kind of curious to see how this show works without the timing issues and watching it as a stand alone event. The big draw this week is Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Keith Lee, which certainly sounds good on paper. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Top Flight

Nick shoulders Dante down to start so Dante nips up. They head to the floor and hit stereo dropkicks, setting up a staredown. Matt comes in and gets sent into the corner, setting up a slingshot hilo. A double dropkick takes the illegal Nick down and Darius pulls Matt into something like the Rings of Saturn.

That’s broken up so Nick comes back in, only to have his springboard countered into an atomic drop. Back to back dives take the Bucks down but a Cutler distraction lets Matt hit a superkick to drop Darius on the floor. A Cannonball/running kick in the corner has Darius in more trouble and we take a break.

We come back with Dante coming in off the hot tag to clean house, including a superkick to Nick. There’s a missile dropkick to Matt and Darius gets to stare at the crowd a bit. A slingshot Flatliner sets up the Broken Arrow (that jumping over your partner to land on someone’s back for two on Nick. Darius gets knocked off the top and down into the barricade though and it’s Nick vs. Darius in a slugout. Matt comes back in for the save though and it’s the BTE Trigger for the pin at 10:48.

Rating: B-. It was the entertaining spectacle style match and that is all it needed to do. You have the Bucks against Top Flight in there to do their big choreographed routine and it did exactly what it needed to do. I’m not probably not going to remember it because I’ve seen the Bucks do this a dozen times, but while it’s still in the short term memory, they were doing it pretty well here.

Video on the OTHER SIDE of Kris Statlander, meaning the paint on her face changes side.

Here are the Men of the Year to complain about Tay Conti and Sammy Guevara. Above all else, they don’t like the photo shoot with the TNT Title, but they also want to know who was behind the camera. After some jokes about Orange Cassidy, Dan Lambert makes it clear that they will never give Guevara the match. Guevara pops up on screen from the parking lot, where he and Conti destroy Lambert’s car with sledgehammers. This company REALLY likes wrecking cars.

Hook is ready for an interview when Danhausen comes in to curse him. Again, Hook just walks away, leaving Danhausen to panic.

House of Black vs. Dark Order/Fuego del Sol

Matthews shoulders Grayson down but he’s back up with a running forearm. The Order is sent outside, leaving Fuego to get lawn darted into the middle buckle. King tosses Fuego onto the Order on the floor and we take a break. Back with Fuego kicking Buddy away and making the hot tag off to Grayson to clean house.

Everything breaks down and a toss powerbomb gives Uno two. The Order is sent outside for a running flip dive from King, leaving Black vs. Fuego inside. The rest of the House gets back in but the Order makes the save. Fuego manages a poisonrana on Black, who Black Masses Fuego out of the air for the pin at 7:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be for the House, as they should have smashed people like the Order and Fuego. It wasn’t exactly a competitive match but the House has stalled a bit in recent weeks, as we are seemingly STILL waiting on their showdown with Death Triangle. I’m sure the match will be great when it happens, but has Death Triangle ever been together in the first place?

The Young Bucks brag about themselves and are ready for FTR on Dynamite.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Skye Blue vs. Jamie Hayter

Hayter powers her up against the ropes to start and then hits an elbow in the face. Blue grabs am armdrag into an armbar and Hayter looks more surprised than anything else. A suplex sends Blue into the corner though and Hayter does it again for a bonus. Blue is back up with some rollups for two each, only to walk into a backbreaker to cut her off. A spinning kick to the head drops Hayter for two but she grabs a backdrop driver. Hayter charges into a superkick but is fine enough to hit a superplex. There’s a brainbuster to drop Blue again and a ripcord lariat finishes for Hayter at 5:36.

Rating: C-. This tournament feels like it is going to take a long time to set up as we are still waiting to see all of the qualifying matches. Hayter is someone who could be a nice monster to slay in the field without being a favorite and that’s a good enough idea. They didn’t waste a lot of time here on a match that isn’t going to matter so I’ll take that as a quick match.

Penta Obscuro and Alex Abrahantes warn the House of Black to be worried about Death Triangle.

Powerhouse Hobbs and Keith Lee are ready to wreck each other, albeit while using a reading/book motif. Well, as much wrecking as Lee can do in his odd way of speaking.

Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

The fans are behind Lee as he takes his vest off and they stare each other down a bit. The big lockup doesn’t go anywhere as they shake the other off. Hobbs hits some running shoulders to no avail but Lee’s running shoulder puts Hobbs out on the floor. We take a break and come back with Lee in trouble, allowing Hobbs to hit a running clothesline for two. Back up and a beal is blocked and Hobbs knows he’s in trouble.

A hard clothesline gives Lee two but Hobbs backdrops his way out of a Spirit Bomb attempt. Lee hits a running splash in the corner and there’s the Uncle Phil Beal. Cue Ricky Starks with a chair but Lee punches it away. Swerve Strickland runs in and takes out Starks, leaving Hobbs to hit a spinebuster. There’s no count because of the distracted referee though, allowing Lee to hit the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin at 10:45.

Rating: C+. There is something fun about a hoss battle, but this hit a certain level and never got past it. They were big men hitting each other with power moves for about ten minutes and then Lee won. It was a fun showdown, but when you have people who wrestle a similar style, there is only so much that you can get out of the thing.

Starks beats down Strickland and puts him through the table at ringside. Hobbs chairs Lee in the back and another table is set up in the corner. Lee goes through said table to wrap it up.

Overall Rating: C+. Rampage continues to be a weird show as you have a bunch of matches but they rarely feel like they matter. You’re not going to get much of anything significant on this show but it is still fun to watch for about an hour a week. That was certainly the case this week, as I had a good time with the show but it didn’t exactly blow the doors off.

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Dynamite
Date: January 19, 2022
Location: Entertainment & Sports Arena, Washington DC
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

It’s a big night around here as we have the return of Jon Moxley after a nearly three month absence. Moxley has been out of action due to undergoing alcohol rehabilitation treatment and it is great to have him back. What matters most is that he is healthy and if that is the case, I’m glad he can be around here again. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Jon Moxley to a hero’s welcome to get things going. Moxley gets in the ring and, after telling a fan “Go f*** yourself, get that piece of s*** out of here” (completely uncensored on the broadcast), Moxley talks about having a dream where a demon told him he would never make it. He has more scars on his body than most people and those are the things that tell our story. Those scars are the ones that tell us the story of who we are. Nobody is perfect and no one should be afraid to stand up and bare it all.

Everything that makes you the person you are, scars and all, should make you say THIS IS ME. If you want to write him off, he’ll tell you where to shove all that s***, just like he told that demon. For everyone who has supported him, thank you. He is going on a pilgrimage and do whatever he wants to the world of professional wrestling because he is truly free. No one here can put him through worse than he has been through and these days, all he drinks is blood. Well that was amazing, and one of the most emotional speeches you’ll see in a LONG time.

MJF talks about CM Punk needing to steal a win by using the hair and trunks last week to beat Wardlow (who could have escaped with a bit more experience). As for this week, it is Wardlow’s birthday and MJF offers him a sincere apology for losing it last week. Wardlow seems to appreciate that….but MJF is docking Wardlow’s pay for putting his hands on him. MJF moves on to Shawn Spears, who is going to hand PG Punk his first loss, while teaching Wardlow a lesson. The turn is going to be incredible when we finally get there.

Adam Cole/Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander/Orange Cassidy

The women start but Baker tags out almost immediately. Then Cole tags out, meaning Statlander has to come back in. Hold on though as Cassidy does the lazy kicks, earning himself a stomp to the food. Statlander comes in to slam the posing Baker but it’s too early for the Big Bang Theory. It’s back to the men, meaning Cassidy can hit a tornado DDT to send Cole outside.

Back in and Statlander grabs a delayed vertical suplex on Baker, with Cassidy shoving it over. Cassidy hits a rather low dive on Cole before stopping for a pose, allowing Baker and Cole to superkick them down. A nice kiss sends us to a break and we come back with Cassidy taking Cole down.

The women come back in with Statlander hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb for her own two. A neckbreaker takes Statlander down though and it’s back to Cole for the superkick to Cassidy’s knee. Cole hits an enziguri but Stundog Millionaire gets Cassidy out of trouble. Baker comes in off the blind tag to break up Beach Break and Stomp Cassidy down. Statlander kicks her in the face and hits something like a Falcon Arrow for two.

Area 451 is loaded up but Cole covers Baker….which is fine with Statlander, who splashes both of them. The Beach Break hits Cole for two but he superkicks a dive out of the air. Baker takes Statlander to the ramp for a Canadian Destroyer, leaving Cole to Panama Sunrise Cassidy for two. With nothing else working, Cole loads up a table at ringside (because we need tables), only to have Cassidy accidentally knock Baker through it. Cole is livid and it’s a low blow into the Boom for the pin at 14:22.

Rating: C+. That’s it for the feud right? There is no reason for Cole and Cassidy to feud any longer and hopefully we can move on and let Cole do something more important. The match was your usual AEW match with big kickouts and went on a bit longer than necessary, but it did have the entertaining bits that you would expect.

Chris Jericho tells Eddie Kingston to GFY but Santana and Ortiz don’t like him talking about Kingston that way. Actually, when has Jericho even had their back? Maybe next week, they can prove that they don’t need Jericho. That seems to shake Jericho a bit.

Adam Cole is sick of Orange Cassidy. He has beaten Cassidy every way he can, but now Cassidy is attacking Baker? Next week, it can be No DQ, anything goes, lights out. It might not be a good idea to point out that you have beaten the guy over and over before challenging him to another match. And great, ANOTHER hardcore match.

CM Punk vs. Shawn Spears

MJF is on commentary as the GTS finishes Spears at 12 seconds. Much like last week: that’s how I like my Spears matches.

Post match Punk poses so MJF tries to sneak in, only to have Punk jump in his face. Punk grabs the scarf but MJF bails from the threat of a right hand.

Billy Gunn stops Christian Cage in the back and says his sons have earned a Tag Team Title shot against Cage’s friends, the Jurassic Express. Cage says make a statement and they’ll talk. Cue the Gunn Club to jump Christian and send him head first into the steel door. Billy as a mouthpiece for his kids is a completely acceptable idea and an upgrade over what he has been doing.

Here is Cody Rhodes, with a huge ladder in the ring. Rhodes talks about CM Punk’s pipe bomb, which was the beginning of a revolution. Some of the things Punk were saying were the blueprint for what AEW would do. After pausing for some negative chants, Cody talks about how Punk made the comeback of the decade and we are all living it. Cody starts yelling about how he carried the revolution and since “you ask me why I won’t turn heel”, it’s because they cheered him when he needed it the most.

There are industry journalists who talk about opening the forbidden door…and now let’s talk about how ReDRagon passed hiptoss class. There are wrestlers elsewhere named Gunner McGillcutty or whatever it is but then he was gone for two weeks and there is an Interim TNT Title. Fans have been taught to believe that any title without the word World in it doesn’t matter.

That’s why he wants to face Sammy Guevara in a ladder match at Beach Break for the undisputed title. I got the gist of what Cody was saying here, but this was all over the place with one idea after another thrown out there but he kept moving on before getting to the point. The ladder match (because this company loves ladder matches) is a fine way to unify the titles, but this was a rambling mess of an insider/shoot promo and it was all about Cody, again, without making much sense until the end.

Jade Cargill has issued an open challenge for the TBS Title and Anna Jay is ready to accept it. Jay talks about the hardcore match from a few weeks ago to show she’s ready.

Kings of the Black Throne vs. Varsity Blonds

Brody shoves Garrison around to start and sends him outside, meaning it’s off to Pillman. That doesn’t work though as Pillman won’t try Air Pillman. Instead he drops outside to talk to Garrison, who is driven into the steps. Back in and Black sweeps Pillman’s leg so Garrison can hit a backsplash. Garrison is taken out again and Dante’s Inferno finishes Pillman at 1:48.

Post match Black tells the House of Black to rise but Pac, still blind, pops up on screen to say he is beyond Black’s reach.

Video on Lance Archer vs. Hangman Page, with Jake Roberts returning to say Archer is ready for Page.

Roppongi Vice steals Brandon Cutler to challenge the Young Bucks to a match on Rampage. They beat the Bucks in Japan once so they can do it again. Cutler thinks the Bucks are going to kill him. Romero: “Then turn the camera off bro.”

Lance Archer vs. Frankie Kazarian

Jake Roberts and Dan Lambert are in Archer’s corner. Archer hammers him down before the bell and then stands on Kazarian’s neck. The beating continues with Archer slowly pounding away as Kazarian can’t get anything going. Kazarian gets dropped again and again and we take a break.

We come back with Archer loudly saying “F*** YOU” (seemingly to a fan) and sending Kazarian chest first into the buckle. The Blackout is broken up with Kazarian finally getting in a little something. That doesn’t work for Archer though and he chokeslams Kazarian down as this is going WAY too long. Archer finally finishes with the Blackout at 10:01.

Rating: D. This was a bad miss, as Archer didn’t look like a monster but rather a guy lumbering around and (very) slowly beating Kazarian down. I don’t know if they were told to fill in time or what, but they took what should have been a three minute match and stretched it way further than it needed to be. This doesn’t make me want to see Archer vs. Page, but rather seeing a big audible call.

Post match, Dan Lambert goes on another cowboy rant against Hangman Page, but Archer cuts him off because he’s sick of this s*** (as we have even more swearing, which isn’t as edgy as AEW seems to think it is). Archer loads up a chokeslam off the ramp but here is Hangman Page for the save. Page gets kneed down so he pulls off his cowboy boot to blast Archer in the head. The Buckshot Lariat is blocked so Page forearms him out to the floor. Page stands tall.

Dante Martin is ready for Team Taz, with Lee Moriarty and Matt Sydal having his back until his brother gets back.

Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs are going to prove Martin is all alone because he’ll need someone to watch every side.

Leyla Hirsch breaks up a Red Velvet/Kris Statlander interview to complain about their loss on Friday. Velvet says it was miscommunication and gets her arm barred as a result.

Serena Deeb vs. Skye Blue

Deeb takes her down to start and sends Blue to the apron to keep up the beating. Back in and some uppercuts to the back of the heck set up a fisherman’s neckbreaker. The Serenity Lock finishes Blue at 2:50. I can absolutely go for more of this Deeb.

Ethan Page wants a big match on Rampage and tells Tony Khan to put the franchise player in.

On Rampage: Ethan Page vs. Jon Moxley, plus Roppongi Vice vs. the Young Bucks. We get some New Japan footage of their previous matches.

Video on Hook.

Matt Hardy has signed Andrade El Idolo 51% of the Hardy Family Office but he is still in charge of the board of directors. Andrade will be the president though, and they are now the AHFO. Now, they want Darby Allin. I’ll take them combining some of their more boring acts into one.

Acclaimed vs. Darby Allin/Sting

Caster’s rap promises to make this worse than Starrcade 97 so you know it’s serious. The Acclaimed jump them before the bell as Tony says he still can’t explain Starrcade 1997. A chair is wrapped around Allin’s neck and Caster whips it into the post. Sting is back up as medics check on Allin but he’s willing to fight on his own. Sting takes the Acclaimed down to start but the Stinger Splash hits an exposed buckle, giving Bowens two.

We take a break and come back with Sting putting Caster in the Deathlock. Bowens hits a discus forearm but Sting yells and doesn’t let go. A superkick breaks it up but Allin comes back in to make the save. Allin gets taken down again so the Mic Drop can give Caster two. Sting backdrops Bowens over the top and splashes Caster through a table at ringside. Fans: “YOU STILL GOT IT!” I don’t think YOU STILL GOT IT is a term that applies to something that Sting rarely did, but fair enough. The Coffin Drop finishes Bowens at 9:20.

Rating: C+. Sting matches are all smoke and mirrors, but dang they’re fun smoke and mirrors. They aren’t doing anything too bad and the fans’ reactions alone carry the matches to another level. That being said, Sting and Allin have to be close to being #1 contenders right? They’re undefeated and just beat the #1 contenders, so shouldn’t their title shot be coming soon? That’s not a bad thing, but it should be addressed.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure what happened tonight but this might have been the biggest miss Dynamite has had to date. There were good parts to it (Gunn being moved into a manager role (at least for now), Deeb’s squash, the main event, Spears going short again and King/Black’s debut) but the rest was a bit of a mess. It felt like they didn’t have a plan tonight and it was kind of all over the place.

The biggest standout part was the Cody promo, which started and ended well but took a right turn into lala land in the middle. I still don’t know what he was trying to say with a lot of that and it was one of the bigger head scratchers in recent memory. In addition, you have Cole saying that he has done everything he can to Cassidy, including pinning him tonight, but now we’re going to do it AGAIN, and this time in a hardcore match.

That is where AEW is starting to slip a bit for me, as it feels like they are trying to be a modern day ECW. Between the constant hardcore based matches (I believe Cole vs. Cassidy makes three since December 31), the table spots (two tonight) and ALL THE SWEARING, it feels like they are trying to push the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope. When you do that kind of thing all the time, the impact goes away very fast and that is what they are doing now. Just pull it back a bit and save that stuff for when it matters, not whenever you can throw it out.

Overall, this show just did not feel like AEW quality. Dynamite has been good to excellent most of the time but they have been missing a bit in recent weeks. I don’t know if that is due to some kind of Covid deal shaking things up backstage or something else, but the shows have not been the best as of late. Maybe they need to change something backstage, because this is starting to trend in a bad direction.

Results
Adam Cole/Britt Baker b. Orange Cassidy/Kris Statlander – Boom to Cassidy
CM Punk b. Shawn Spears – GTS
Kings of the Black Throne b. Varsity Blonds – Dante’s Inferno to Pillman
Lance Archer b. Frankie Kazarian – Blackout
Serena Deeb b. Skye Blue – Serenity Lock
Sting/Darby Allin b. Acclaimed – Coffin Drop to Bowens

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Rampage
Date: October 8, 2021
Location: Licouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho

We’re still in front of one of the hottest crowds of the year and that should do a lot of good for the card. This is another stacked show as we have CM Punk vs. Daniel Garcia, the Tag Team Titles on the line and the Brian Cage challenging Ricky Starks for the FTW Title in a street fight. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We start with Mark Henry’s split screen interview. Daniel Garcia and 2.0 say that CM Punk walked away from wrestling when the focus wasn’t all on him anymore but now he’s back to get the attention. Punk isn’t worried about that and is here to face Garcia because of his skill. Oh and 2.0 are like the Nasty Boys’ little brothers.

CM Punk vs. Daniel Garcia

2.0 is here with Garcia. Punk wins a test of strength to put Garcia down, setting up a crossarm choke. Back up and Punk sends him into the corner so Garcia slows things down a bit. A heel hook sends Garcia to the ropes so Punk comes back with a few slams. As commentary talks about how great the slam can be, Garcia takes Punk down and wraps his leg around the post.

We take a break and come back with Garcia staying on the leg. Punk can’t suplex his way to freedom and it’s off to another leglock. Back up and Punk avoids a running dropkick in the corner, setting up the strike off. Punk uses the good leg for a leg lariat into a neckbreaker, setting up the running knee in the corner. Garcia is fine enough to hit an Angle Slam for two but Punk grabs the Pepsi Twist for two of his own. That’s broken up with Punk kicking him to the floor for the big dive onto Garcia and 2.0. Back in and Punk busts out a piledriver, setting up the Anaconda Vice for the tap at 14:15.

Rating: B. This is one of the reasons that Punk was brought in. The match made Garcia look better than he ever has and he got to beat Punk up for a bit. You don’t get to see that happen very often and it was probably the biggest match of his career. Punk breaks a sweat and has a rather good match while Garcia looks solid in defeat. Not bad, and what Punk is there to do (partially).

Matt Sydal doesn’t think Lio Rush has anything to offer Dante Martin. Rush doesn’t like that and offers to get Sydal a match with CM Punk next week. Works for Sydal.

Tag Team Titles: Lucha Bros vs. Acclaimed

The Acclaimed are challenging and rap about how they’re going to win the titles. The Bros get jumped from behind before the bell, earning the Acclaimed a bunch of kicks to the head to knock them silly. More kicks take things to the floor where a boom box shot has Fenix in trouble. That leaves the Acclaimed to take turns putting Penta in trouble but he DDTs his way to freedom.

That’s enough to bring Fenix in for some kicks of his own, plus a cutter to drop Caster. Penta and Caster are back up with superkicks but Fenix hits a double handspring cutter to put everyone down. Back up and Bowens hits Fenix in the face but Penta breaks up the Mic Drop. The spike Fear Factor retains the titles at 5:19.

Rating: C. They were going fast here and packed a lot into just five minutes. That’s what you expect out of the Lucha Bros and the Acclaimed did well enough to keep up with them. It wasn’t supposed to be a match with drama and they didn’t really come close to it, but it was a completely fine short form TV title defense.

Various women want the TBS Title.

Jade Cargill vs. Skye Blue

Cargill isn’t happy that Blue wants the TBS Title. Jade avoids a shot off the top to start and hits a pump kick. Jaded finishes Blue at 1:08.

Post match Cargill stays on Blue but Thunder Rosa makes the save with a chair.

We get the face to face interview between Ricky Starks and Brian Cage. Starks isn’t scared of Cage but Cage says no one is better than him. Henry hits his catchphrase.

FTW Title: Ricky Starks vs. Brian Cage

Starks is defending in a street fight. Cage starts fast and chairs Starks in the back. They head outside with Cage throwing him over the barricade, followed by some chops against the apron. There’s a whip into the barricade to keep Starks in trouble and it’s time to bring out the trashcan full of weapons. Back in and Starks grabs half of a pool cue to hit Cage in the ribs and face.

We take a break and come back with Starks hitting him in the face with a chain. A legdrop with a trashcan lid gets two on Cage but he cuts Starks off with a superkick. Starks gets dropped onto the trashcan so Taz calls out Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs. The distraction is enough for Starks to get in a belt shot and the spear for two, with Starks losing it over the near fall. Another spear hits a chair in the corner and the discus lariat blasts Starks but Hobbs makes a save. Hook breaks up the apron superplex though and the bleeding Starks hits Ro Sham Bo to retain at 10:43.

Rating: C+. This was a good fight and that’s what they were going for. I haven’t been overly interested in their feud, mainly because it has taken so long to get here, but at least the blowoff (or what should be the blowoff) was good. Both guys need to move on and in Cage’s case, he needs to move on rather far.

Team Taz celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. They focused on the wrestling this week and that’s a good thing. The hour flew by and had multiple solid matches, making this one of the higher quality editions of the show so far. The Philadelphia crow was going to cheer for anything and they had a lot to get excited about here, so well done on a rather fine show.

Results
CM Punk b. Daniel Garcia – Anaconda Vice
Lucha Bros b. Acclaimed – Spike Fear Factor to Bowens
Jade Cargill b. Skye Blue – Jaded
Ricky Starks b. Brian Cage – Ro Sham Bo

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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