Dynamite
Date: July 13, 2022
Location: Enmarket Arena, Savannah, Georgia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re on the way to Death Before Dishonor and thankfully the build for that show hasn’t taken everything over like the Forbidden Door stuff did. It’s the first of four Fyter Fest shows and the Tag Team Titles are on the line as the Young Bucks defend against Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee and Team Taz. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy is challenging, with the Best Friends in his corner (complete with managers’ licenses). They go with the test of strength to start and Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets….which are torn off by Wardlow. Now Wardlow’s straps come down….with Cassidy putting them right back up. The Powerbomb Symphony is broken up and Cassidy snaps off a headscissors but comes up favoring his eye. The referee checks on him, allowing Chuck Taylor to whip out A CHAINSAW.

Believe it or not, that’s enough for an ejection, with Wardlow blocking a quick Orange Punch attempt. The lazy kicks annoy Wardlow and he misses a charge to the floor. Cassidy has to slip out of an apron powerbomb, leaving Wardlow to choke an interfering Danhausen. Back in and an overhead belly to belly sends Cassidy flying as we take a break.

We come back with Cassidy driving him into the corner but Wardlow hits the F10….for two, making Cassidy the first person to ever kick out of it. Another powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana and there’s the Orange Punch. The Beach Break connects for two but another Orange Punch is countered into powerbomb to retain the title at 11:44.

Rating: B-. This was a good example of a match that got a lot better once they dropped the nonsense with the Best Friends (and some with Cassidy). Once you let Cassidy do his thing, you can get a nice match, especially with him fighting from underneath. Wardlow won as he should have, but Cassidy was hardly destroyed.

Respect is shown post match.

Quick look at Pac retaining the All-Atlantic Title at a Rev Pro show in England.

Here is Chris Jericho for a chat. He’s here talking as Chris Jericho the man, not the rock star. Jericho is here to talk about Eddie Kingston, who is such a rotten friend. We hear about how Kingston’s friends are always getting hurt or injured, from Santana and Bryan Danielson to Ruby Soho. Jericho: “You need to take better care of your chicks Eddie.”

Now it’s time for a barbed wire match because Kingston is a mark for Sabu and Terry Funk but how many barbed wire matches has he been in? Jericho had a barbed wire match at 22 and knows how it tastes. Now it’s time for Kingston to face the Painmaker because it’s time for both of them to bleed in the final fight. This was the hard push to the match and while I still roll my eyes at the barbed wire stuff, Jericho sold it well.

Post break, Eddie Kingston gets very close to the camera and promises to make Jericho bleed every drop of his blood. Ruby Soho and Ortiz are behind him and don’t seem overly pleased.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Jon Moxley

Non-title, but a title eliminator match and William regal is on commentary. Moxley works on the arm to start before they trade shoulders. A headlock takeover puts Takeshita down but they’re back up for a double chop off. Moxley runs him over and we hit a rather loose STF. With that broken up they head to the apron, where a German suplex drops Moxley. He’s right back up and knocks Takeshita silly as we take a break.

Back with Moxley stomping away at a bleeding Takeshita. They get back up for a slugout, with Moxley being sent into the corner for a running big boot. A brainbuster gives Takeshita two but his frog splash hits raised knees. They slug it out again until Takeshita snaps off a hurricanrana to send him outside. There’s the big no hands flip dive as Takeshita is holding his arm. Back in and Takeshita’s frog splash connects for two, followed by a Blue Thunder Bomb for the same. The Death Rider is countered into a German suplex to give Takeshita two more but Moxley pulls him into the bulldog choke for the tap at 13:07.

Rating: B+. They beat the heck out of each other here and it was a pretty awesome match, with Moxley having to survive instead of just running over Takeshita. AEW has something with Takeshita if they want to go somewhere with him, as he can hang with anyone and the fans are into him. Find a story with him and go from there.

The House of Black doesn’t think much of Darby Allin and blame him for his problems.

Griff Garrison vs. Luchasaurus

Before the match, Christian Cage talks about how he just doesn’t like the Varsity Blonds, especially when Brian Pillman Jr.’s father was average at best. Christian would be so disappointed to see that his final legacy in wrestling is a failure like his son. As for Garrison, Christian doesn’t like a publicity picture that he put up this week because it makes him look like Jungle Boy. That’s too much for Luchasaurus, who stomps to the ring to start the beating. Luchasaurus drops him hard and a pair of chokeslams set up the Snare Trap variation (now dubbed the Tar Pit) for the tap at 1:34.

Post match Luchasaurus knocks Pillman out and puts him on the table, with Garrison being chokeslammed onto Pillman and through the table (on the second try).

The Jericho Appreciation Society aren’t happy with being in a shark cage next week and want Eddie Kingston’s friends in one of their own. Tony Schiavone is threatened with a comb until Daniel Garcia says Wheeler Yuta is doing a Garcia impression.

All Out is coming to Chicago on September 4.

The Dark Order interrupts Hangman Page, who wants to fight the House of Black. Page goes along with it, despite it not seeming to be his original idea.

Jake Hager vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Castagnoli uppercuts him fast and tries a Neutralizer and swing within the first ten seconds but Hager gets outside. Back in and Castagnoli counters the ankle lock into a 619 for two. A dropkick to the knee sets up a bulldog for two on Hager but he’s back with some body shots to the ribs to put Castagnoli down. There’s a beal to send Castagnoli flying, setting up the Vader bomb for two more.

We take a break and come back with Castagnoli hitting the springboard uppercut for a double knockdown. They fight to the floor with Castagnoli hitting a running uppercut against the barricade. Back in and it’s the giant swing into a Sharpshooter, with Hager calling out the rest of the Society. The distraction lets Hager plant Castagnoli down for two but he tries another Sharpshooter. That’s broken up by another Society distraction so Castagnoli goes with a pop up uppercut. The Riccola Bomb finishes Hager at 11:44.

Rating: B-. This was looking like a squash to start but they took their time and let Hager get in some offense of his own. That being said, Castagnoli never felt like he was in any trouble and won with his signature stuff in the end. Castagnoli continues to look like a monster around here and that should work well once he finally gets into a serious feud.

Hook won’t comment when asked about a possible title shot.

We look at Thunder Rosa getting pinned in Japan.

Thunder Rosa is ready to have a rematch here in America for the title. She and Toni Storm are ready to face anyone so here are Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter to say they’re back. This place is a natural disaster without them (Baker: “Get it?”) but luckily they know how to deal with these things. Rebel pops in with a sandbag, which Baker hands to Tony and says enjoy carrying it for a month.

Serena Deeb vs. Anna Jay

Jay is the home state girl. Deeb takes her to the mat to start and we hit the headlock, followed by a shoulder to put her down. Jay gets in a shot of her own and hits a running Blockbuster. Something like a reverse Rings of Saturn has Jay in trouble until she stacks Deeb up for two. The Queenslayer is broken up with a throat snap across the top and a fisherman’s neckbreaker gives Deeb two.

We take a break and come back with Jay firing off some running elbows and a northern lights suplex for two. The Queenslayer is broken up again and Deeb rolls her up for two more. They don’t quite get a backdrop into a rollup right so Deeb grabs a weird hold as she looks like she’s setting up a Code Red but sits down on Jay’s neck and cranks on the arms. That’s broken up and Jay misses a charge, only to come back with the Queenslayer again. With that escaped as well, the Serenity Lock makes Jay tap at 8:22.

Rating: C+. Deeb was doing a lot of the work here but they did a good job of keeping Jay looking strong. She isn’t great at what she does yet but she here a few things that she can do well and it worked here. Nice match and that’s all it needed to be, even with Jay having to tap in front of her hometown(ish) crowd.

Post match Deeb keeps the hold on until Mercedes Martinez runs in for the save.

Jade Cargill and the Baddies aren’t happy with Athena and Kris Statlander, but they also want Leila Grey to know her place.

We run down the Death Before Dishonor card.

Jay Lethal comes to the commentary desk and promises to win the Ring Of Honor TV Title.

Anna Jay is getting her knee looked at when Tay Conti comes in to mock her for not being on TV very much.

Tag Team Titles: Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland vs. Team Taz vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are defending and Matt tries a superkick on Lee, who just stares at him. Nick comes in instead and trades flippy counters with Strickland until they both go outside. Stereo dropkick attempts don’t go anywhere so they’re back inside with Nick armdragging him into an armbar. Starks comes in and walks the top rope, as does Nick.

Both of those are broken up with a double crotching, leaving Matt to try to northern lights suplex Hobbs and Lee at the same time. Everything breaks down and Lee kind of suplexes Matt and Starks at the same time (this works a bit better). Starks tags himself back in to dropkick Swerve and we take a break.

Back with Lee coming in off the hot tag and cleaning house, but Nick slips out of the powerbomb. Hobbs and Lee hit stereo crossbodies before Hobbs goes up. Lee shoves him off and hits a heck of a frog splash for two with a save being needed. Team Taz is back in with Nick being put in an electric chair, allowing Starks to walk the rope for a cutter. Swerve tags himself back in and clotheslines Matt but it’s time for the Bucks to clean house with superkicks.

The referee gets bumped and the Bucks grab the titles, only to have Swerve take one away. Swerve can’t bring himself to use it though and it’s the Bucks cleaning house with the titles. A belt shot doesn’t pin Swerve so it’s the BTE Trigger, with Starks making the save. Lee breaks up the Meltzer Driver and it’s a powerbomb/Swerve Stomp combination for two, with Team Taz making the save.

Hobbs starts spinebustering people including a bunch of people being stacked onto Lee. Starks spears Swerve for two with Nick making his own save. Matt loses a shoe so Lee knocks the Bucks outside with it. Hobbs gets dumped to the floor and Swerve uses Lee’s chest as a launchpad for a moonsault. Back in and the Swerve Stomp crushes Starks for the pin and the titles at 13:04.

Rating: A-. And I had a long post thought out about how the Bucks never lose and the near falls were all a waste of time before the titles were retained. This was all action once it got going and that is a very fun way to spend a good chunk of the night. The surprise alone gave this an upgrade as I was actually shocked by the ending. Well done here and an awesome match.

Overall Rating: A-. Nothing bad, an actual surprise on the ending, and more than a few awesome matches. This was a great show that just kept going with the good stuff. It set up some things for the next few shows and if those are anything close to this, we should be in for a great few weeks. Pretty great show here and worth a look up and down the card.

Results
Wardlow b. Orange Cassidy – Powerbomb
Jon Moxley b. Konosuke Takeshita – Bulldog choke
Luchasaurus b. Griff Garrison – Tar Pit
Claudio Castagnoli b. Jake Hager – Riccola Bomb
Serena Deeb b. Anna Jay – Serenity Lock
Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland b. Young Bucks and Team Taz – Swerve Stomp to Starks

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 6, 2022
Location: Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, New York
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re back to the normal show this week and that could mean more than a few things. In this case it means that we are going to be seeing Jon Moxley defend the Interim World Title against Brody King, which should be a heck of a fight. Other than that, it is time to build towards Ring Of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor later this month. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Wardlow vs. Scorpio Sky

Wardlow is challenging in a street fight. Sky strikes away at the leg to start and gets dropped with a hard shoulder. A low blow cuts off Wardlow but he’s fine enough to toss Sky around a few times. They head outside where an American Top Team distraction lets Sky send Wardlow into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Wardlow knocking him off the top and hitting a Swanton. The Powerbomb Symphony is loaded up but Wardlow clears them out without much effort. The distraction lets Sky get in a belt shot for two and Wardlow is back with the spinebuster. A three movement Powerbomb Symphony gives Wardlow the pin and the title at 8:29.

Rating: C. Not exactly a great match and I’m not sure on the idea of having Sky lose again here, but Wardlow needed to win something already and they pulled that off here. Wardlow shrugged off whatever was thrown at him here and he won the title like a monster should. Good enough match and it did what it needed to do.

Confetti falls and Wardlow gets to celebrate.

Jon Moxley is tired of people trying to make their name off of him and tonight, Brody King is going to do it again. You don’t know what kind of a monster you have with him but Moxley knows what he is facing tonight in King.

Here are Christian Cage and Luchasaurus for a chat. Christian has been asked what is going on for a few weeks now and why Luchasaurus has sided with him. Before he can say anything, here is Matt Hardy to interrupt. Matt says he and Jungle Boy have gotten close in recent weeks and Jungle Boy didn’t deserve what Christian did to him.

Christian: “Matt, you’re starting to make your brother sound like the sober one.” Matt talks about regretting the time he spent manipulating people and maybe the last month has been karma coming to get him. Christian calls Matt out for being delusional and for riding Jeff’s coattails for one more run. The brawl is on with Luchasaurus leaving Matt laying, including a chokeslam through the ringside table. I could have gone without the Jeff references but this was fine enough.

Video on Blood & Guts from last week. The Jericho Appreciation Society promises it is not over.

Jake Hager yells at Claudio Castagnoli for never being a World Champion. Castagnoli talks about respect and promises to earn it next week.

Butcher and the Blade vs. Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee

Bunny is here with the villains. Lee headbutts Butcher down to start so we’ll try Strickland vs. Blade instead. That doesn’t go so well for Strickland to start but he knocks Blade down and hands it back to Lee for a shot of his own. Blade jawbreaks his way to freedom but gets knocked outside. Bunny offers a distraction to cut off the dive though and Butcher gets in a cheap shot to take over as we take a break.

Back with Lee getting to clean house as everything breaks down. A lariat/enziguri combination drops Butcher but Blade pulls Swerve in the way of Lee. Butcher hits Lee with a Stunner and Butcher runs him over, allowing Butcher to toss Lee into Blade’s knee. A running knee gets a VERY close two on Swerve with Lee making a (maybe late) save. Back up and Swerve In Our Glory finishes Blade at 9:38.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on the continued tease of Swerve and Lee breaking up, especially when they haven’t been around long in the first place, but at least they won the match in the end. Butcher and Blade almost feel like a relic from the past but they are still good enough as a team to make a match like this work. Just either split Swerve and Lee or let them stay together and stop with the teases if it isn’t happening.

Post match Team Taz comes out to yell at Swerve and Lee, with Ricky Starks losing his mind over what sounds like a challenge. Cue the Young Bucks to cut them off, though they don’t have to apologize for anything because they started this company. The Bucks brag about the tag division, including what we saw at Double Or Nothing, which was 4.5 stars. Granted that’s an off night for the Bucks, but they need to keep things going. The solution to that: a triple threat match next week at Fyter Fest. Fans: “FTR!” Nick: “We’re better than them and you know it.” The match seems to be on.

Malakai Black says his House’s violence is by design and Jon Moxley doesn’t know what he is in for.

Here is Eddie Kingston for a chat. He congratulates Wardlow on winning the title and everyone who won Blood & Guts last week. The only person he doesn’t like is Chris Jericho, who made him a liar last week. Kingston didn’t get to taste his blood…but Jericho cuts him off on the screen. Jericho asks if Kingston wants to get nuts and we see the Jericho Appreciation Society slamming Ruby Soho’s hand in a car (granted it wasn’t in the car and they more or less had to tell her to get it slammed in the door, making it look really bad).

Here is the Dark Order, complete with -1, to say that they aren’t going anywhere. They’re here to stay because Dark Order is forever but here is QT Marshall to interrupt. Marshall doesn’t think much of the team and -1 in particular, so threats are made. Cue Hangman Page to send Marshall into the ring and the big beatdown is on. -1 teases beating Marshall but says he’ll wait until he’s 18. This could have, and probably should have, been a post show segment.

Rush vs. Penta Obscuro

Andrade, Jose, Fenix and Alex Abrahantes are here too. They go right at it to start with Rush getting the better of things by running Obscuro over. The fight heads to the floor, where the Alex Abrahantes and Jose get in a fight of their own and we take a break. Back with Rush hitting a powerslam for two but Penta grabs a Backstabber for the same.

They slug it out until Rush knocks him into the corner and hits a top rope dropkick for two. Penta is back up with a kick to the face and the Fear Factor gets two, with Andrade putting Rush’s foot on the rope. The distraction lets Rush get in a low blow and rip off Penta’s mask (of course) for the pin at 11:04.

Rating: C+. Good brawl here, though I am completely over that rip off the mask ending. It has been done so many times with both of the Lucha Bros that it feels like something they have to do instead of something special. These two can work the hard hitting style well and they did here, though Rush is still only so interesting.

Jay Lethal and company are happy with the upcoming ROH TV Title shot at Death Before Dishonor. Lethal isn’t taking Joe lightly, but he is taking Joe’s title. Good line.

Mark Sterling is trying to get the Best Friends to sign a petition to get rid of Swerve Strickland. Orange Cassidy wants his lawyer present and that’s….Danhausen? Sterling wants Tony Nese vs. Cassidy on Rampage so they can make a lot of money. but Cassidy isn’t sure. Danhausen to Cassidy: “How about you vs. his client on Rampage? We’ll make a lot of money.” Cassidy is in. Funny stuff, especially Danhausen shouting various legal terms and no one paying attention to him.

Ruffin It/Fuego del Sol vs. Gunn Club/Acclaimed

The Club cuts off Caster’s rap and tensions are high. Fuego takes Colten down to start but it’s Bear Bronson coming in for the house cleaning. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Caster hits the Mic Drop, but Austin tags himself in and steals the pin at 2:14. This story is oddly growing on me.

Post match the Club and Acclaimed get into it but Billy Gunn comes in the ring…and turns on the Acclaimed, leaving both of them laying. So there’s the Acclaimed’s face turn.

Miro is not happy with Malakai Black.

Thunder Rosa/Toni Storm vs. Marina Shafir/Nyla Rose

Rosa takes Shafir into the corner to start and it’s a double suplex for two. A hip attack keeps Shafir in trouble as the dominance is on to start. Rose gets in a cheap shot though and a fireman’s carry slam drops Storm as we take a break. Back with Storm fighting out of the corner and handing it back to Rosa to clean house. The running dropkick against the ropes staggers Rosa but she’s back up with a Rock Bottom. Everything breaks down and the hip attack hits Shafir, setting up a spike fire thunder driver to pin Shafir at 9:07.

Rating: C. Calling Rosa and Storm Thunderstorm is a funny way to go, though at first I thought it was AEW’s latest gimmick match. Anyway, this is a fine way to set up what should be Rosa vs. Storm for the title down the line, though the less Shafir we see on TV the better. It isn’t working with her, but she’s here pretty frequently anyway for whatever reason.

Stokely Hathaway recommends Leila Grey as the newest Baddie. Jade Cargill says he better be right.

Daniel Garcia is ready to take the Ring Of Honor Pure Title from Wheeler Yuta at Death Before Dishonor.

FTR wants the Briscoes at Death Before Dishonor, one more time.

Interim AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Brody King

King is challenging and William Regal is on commentary. They shove each other around to start and get in each others’ faces to yell a lot. King knocks him outside and sends Moxley into various things to take over. Back in and Moxley gets in a few shots to the knee to take over but gets dropped again as we take a break.

Back with King missing a Cannonball in the corner so Moxley puts him on top and rakes the back for some pain. King blasts him with a clothesline and hits a piledriver for two before grabbing the sleeper in the corner. With that broken up due to being in the ropes, Moxley grabs a Paradigm Shift. The hammer and anvil elbows keep King in trouble, setting up the bulldog choke to finish him off (ala how Moxley beat Brodie Lee) at 11:14.

Rating: B-. They had a good fight here, even though it was Moxley defending against Moxley’s Designated Victim #1. There was no reason to believe that King was going to take the title here, but in this case that worked out well. Moxley gets a win over someone who looks impressive and King doesn’t lose anything from a loss to the champ. Completely logical choices.

Overall Rating: C+. This wasn’t their strongest effort as everything seemed a bit off. Maybe it was a post-holiday hangover or something but it just didn’t quite click. They have some time before All Out and you can probably guess the top of the card from here, but focusing on it would be nice. Certainly not a bad show, but Dynamite has a pretty high bar and this was beneath their usual.

Results
Wardlow b. Scorpio Sky – Powerbomb Symphony
Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland b. Butcher and Blade – Swerve In Our Glory to Blade
Rush b. Penta Obscuro – Small package
Gunn Club/Acclaimed b. Fuego del Sol/Ruffin It – Mic Drop to Bear Bronson
Thunder Rosa/Toni Storm b. Marina Shafir/Nyla Rose – Spike fire thunder driver to Shafir
Jon Moxley b. Brody King – Bulldog choke

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

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Rampage
Date: June 17, 2022
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Chris Jericho

We are less than two weeks away from Forbidden Door and a bunch of matches were added to the card this week on Dynamite. I doubt that we get that much this time, but we do get Jade Cargill vs. Willow Nightingale. That should be a fun match and odds are we get something else on the same level. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Jon Moxley vs. Dante Martin

William Regal is on commentary and calls Jericho a Trout Slapper (I think). Moxley powers him into the corner to start as we talk about Zack Sabre Jr.’s comments about Bryan Danielson. They trade wristlocks into a headlock takeover from Moxley but Martin is back up with a dropkick out to the floor. Moxley runs him over again though and we take a break.

Back with Moxley hitting the running knee to the face and a butterfly superplex for two. Martin fights up and hits a quick ax handle, setting up a high crossbody for two of his own. The Nose Dive is countered into a rear naked choke but Martin climbs the corner for the escape. A super Sliced Bread gets two on Moxley and they strike it out (as required) until Moxley hits the running cutter. The King Kong lariat gives Moxley two and the hammer and anvil elbows rock Martin even more. Some kind of a choke with an arm trap and a bodyscissors makes Martin tap at 13:58.

Rating: B-. Martin continues to do well with the high flying stuff and they are building him up as the next one to win a big match. I’m not sure when that is going to happen, but it is going to be a heck of a moment when they actually go there. Moxley wasn’t going to lose on the way to the title match at Forbidden Door, but they had a good one on the way there.

Keith Lee isn’t happy with Swerve Strickland eliminating him from last week’s Casino Battle Royal but Swerve says it was a singles match instead of a tag match. Team Taz comes in to say Lee and Strickland still haven’t beaten them. Lee is rather silent.

The House of Black and Death Triangle are still ready to fight, this time in the All Atlantic Title tournament.

Bear Country/Leon Ruff vs. Max Caster/Gunn Club

Caster and the Club jump them to start and we have the required three way scissor party. Austin stomps Ruff down in the corner and it’s the Quick Draw into the Mic Drop for the pin at 1:13. Bear Country disappeared about halfway through this.

Hook isn’t worried about facing a New Japan top prospect but Danhausen comes in to swear their destruction. Hook says he has this.

TBS Title: Willow Nightingale vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill, with Kiera Hogan, is defending and Stokely Hathaway is on commentary. Cargill throws her down to start but Nightingale cartwheels her way out of a whip into the corner. There’s an enziguri to Cargill, who catches her in a fireman’s carry for some elbows to the face. What looked like a Pounce is countered by Cargill’s kick to the face, allowing Hogan to get in some stomps in the corner. Back with Nightingale knocking her into the corner for the almost required Cannonball. Cargill isn’t having that and faceplants her, setting up Jaded to retain at 6:04. Not enough shown to rate but it was a Cargill match.

Post match the beatdown is on but Athena pops in for a Fall From Grace to Hogan. Cargill gets in a kick to the face but Kris Statlander runs in for the save.

Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt brag about their success.

Forbidden Door rundown.

Bobby Fish and Darby Allin are ready for the main event after Fish and Kyle O’Reilly injured Sting a few weeks ago.

Bobby Fish vs. Darby Allin

Allin is so mad about Sting that he stops to pose on the ropes, allowing Fish to take him down. They head outside with Allin being driven into the apron, followed by a running charge through Allin. Fish hits the barricade though, allowing Allin to get back in and hit a dive. The running flip dive knocks Fish into the barricade as well but he’s right back on Allin’s legs to take over. A nasty dragon screw legwhip takes Allin down again and Fish takes him down again as we take a break.

Back with Allin getting in a shot of his own for a breather, setting up Code Red for two. Allin knocks him outside for a Coffin Drop to a standing Fish for the double knockdown. Fish is back up with a spear through the ropes and out to the floor again. They fight on the apron with Fish snapping off a German suplex, with Jericho begging Fish to end this. The super Falcon Arrow gives Fish two so he grabs the knee bar. Allin is fine with that, and reverses into the Last Supper for the pin at 11:45.

Rating: C+. They told a good story here with Allin being all about revenge and trying to crash into Fish as much as often while Fish kept pulling him in with the technical stuff. To cap it off, Allin wound up winning when Fish got a bit too violent and got pinned with a wrestling move. Good match, even if it might not have been the best revenge win.

Post match Fish hammers on Allin again as Kyle O’Reilly comes out with a chair. Cue the returning Sting for the save, allowing Allin to Pillmanize Fish’s ankle. Sting is pleased to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Pretty solid week here as they kept the show moving and had enough good action throughout. I liked the Sting return in the end, though ReDRagon vs. Sting/Allin doesn’t sound like a match that should be overly competitive but it will be. This was more about the AEW side of things rather than Forbidden Door and that is nice to see for a change.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Dante Martin – Bodyscissors choke
Max Caster/Gunn Club b. Bear Country/Leon Ruff – Mic Drop to Ruff
Jade Cargill b. Willow Nightingale – Jaded
Darby Allin b. Bobby Fish – Last Supper

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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Rampage
Date: June 3, 2022
Location: Toyota Arena, Ontario, California
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho

We’re done with Double Or Nothing and a pretty solid Dynamite so things are looking up. The main event tonight is for the TNT Title as Scorpio Sky defends against Dante Martin, but there is also an announcement from CM Punk about the future of the World Title. That sounds a bit ominous so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros

Adam Cole is on commentary. Penta and Matt trade hand gestures to start so Matt has to escape the Fear Factor. Matt also has to escape getting his arm broken so it’s a standoff into double tags to Fenix and Nick. An exchange of flips let us have a handshake but Matt gets in a cheap shot from behind. A Cannonball/running kick to the head combination in the corner have Fenix in more trouble, with Nick following up with the running flip dive.

Penta hits the big dive onto both Bucks though and Fenix adds one of his own. Back in and Matt Sharpshooters Fenix in the ropes so Penta adds a choke on Matt right next to them. With that broken up it’s more flips on the floor until Fenix cutters Matt. The Bucks take Fenix down though and we take a break.

Back with Matt hitting the rolling northern lights suplexes on the Bros, setting up Nick’s hanging Swanton on Fenix. Penta breaks that up and it’s a top rope double stomp/hanging DDT combination for two on Matt. The frog splash (with Eddie Dance) gives Fenix two more but a doomsday superplex is broken up.

Matt drops a top rope elbow for two on Fenix, who is right back up with a kick to the head. A middle rope splash off of Penta’s shoulders hits Nick and Penta Canadian Destroyers Matt, say it with me, for two. Nick is right back up with a poisonrana and the Meltzer Driver gets two with Penta making a save. The Bucks go back to the well by taking off Penta’s mask, setting up the BTE Trigger to finish Fenix at 14:48.

Rating: B+. That was a heck of a longer form sprint with both teams going nuts with their stuff. It’s something that we’ve seen a bunch of times before but it’s still a lot of fun. There are going to be issues with not selling and there are going to be issues with doing the mask finish, but they’re going for the video game style match here and if you accept that, you’ll likely be less annoyed by the issues that come with it.

Team Taz vs. ???/???

Team Taz jumps them before the bell and Powerhouse Hobbs hits a spinebuster for the pin at 46 seconds. About half of the match was in split screen on a Team Taz promo.

Kiera Hogan vs. Athena

The rest of the Baddies and Jade Cargill are here too. Athena starts fast and knocks her to the floor, setting up a head fake and a diving elbow to drop Hogan again. Red Velvet gets in a cheap shot though and Hogan drops a leg for two. We take a break and come back with Athena firing off some kicks but not being able to hit the Eclipse. Velvet offers a distraction from the floor but Athena knocks Hogan away. After knocking Hogan down again, the Fall From Grace (Eclipse) finishes for Athena at 8:18.

Rating: C. Athena is pretty clearly the next name in the women’s division, though odds are she is going to put over Jade Cargill. What matters is that she has some name value and the finisher is still one of the coolest looking around. That’s the kind of thing that can be sold as the way to take Cargill out and that’s more than AEW has had for most of her matches.

The House Of Black is happy to have Julia Hart aboard.

Here is CM Punk for a chat and he looks sad. The fans cheer for him before he says anything and you can see the tears in his eyes. When he got here today, every bone in his body, even the broken ones, said that he should go home and hug his wife and Larry. Once he got here, he said that he was going to give it everything he had until the wheels fell off, and now he has good news and bad news.

The last thing he ever wanted to do was leave you disappointed and he feels like he is letting us down. Every time he has been in this ring, he feels like he is receiving a gift he would never experience again. The bad news is that he is injured and needs surgery. There are some things broken, with the biggest being his heart.

The good news is that he is going to go until the wheels fall off, even if one wheel is broken. He has been better and he has been worse but he wants to wrestle for us. Tony Khan told him that he could keep going and this title isn’t going anywhere. Punk is coming back bigger, stronger and faster than ever before and prove why he is the best in the world. I’m really not sure if the title is vacated or not, but it doesn’t seem to be.

Scorpio Sky and Dante Martin are ready for the main event.

TNT Title: Scorpio Sky vs. Dante Martin

Sky is defending, the Men of the Year and Matt Sydal are here and it’s a feeling out process to start. Martin flips around a bit before taking Sky down into an armbar as we take an early break. Back with Martin hitting a huge dive to the floor as we clarify the World Title situation for good:

There will be a battle royal on Dynamite with the winner facing Jon Moxley (#1 contender) later in the night, with the winner of THAT going on to Forbidden Door to fight for the INTERIM AEW World Title because Punk DID NOT vacate the title. Anyway, Martin has to fight off the Men of the Year and Sydal cuts off Ethan Page. Martin hits a TKO for two and a Cave In for the same, only to have Sky grab a TKO to retain at 8:08.

Rating: C+. This was a fun match that was completely overshadowed by commentary explaining the World Title situation. That’s a case of bad timing (and communication) though, as the TNT Title is important, but it’s not as important as the World Title. The match itself was good, with Martin doing his flips before being reeled in by the more well rounded Sky. As commentary said, Martin’s time is coming, but Sky’s time is now.

Overall Rating: B. This is going to be one of the weirder shows in Rampage’s history as they were rolling along and then had this huge story change everything, only to then spend the rest of the show explaining what they were doing. The roll out of the concept was pretty horribly bungled and the explanation took away from the good main event. There was a lot of good/entertaining action on the show, but the whole thing ran into a big ditch that was the Punk situation. Understandable of course, but it turned the show on its head.

Results
Young Bucks b. Lucha Bros – Meltzer Driver to Fenix
Team Taz b. ???/??? – Spinebuster to ???
Athena b. Kiera Hogan – Fall From Grace
Scorpio Sky b. Dante Martin – TKO

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

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Double Or Nothing 2022
Date: May 29, 2022
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

AEW is back on pay per view and that should mean good things. The main event will feature CM Punk challenging Hangman Page for the World Title, but the question is around MJF. While he is scheduled to face Wardlow in a match a long time in the making, he has had some issues with AEW and there is a chance he won’t show up. That wouldn’t exactly be great to see so let’s get to it.

Buy In Show: Tony Nese/Mark Sterling vs. Hookhausen

Hook and Nese start things off with Hook taking him down without much trouble. Danhausen comes in and is allowed to grab a headlock before Nese runs him over. The curse is loaded up but Danhausen goes with the middle rope hurricanrana instead. Nese drops Danhausen again and it’s Sterling coming in to stomp away in the corner. Sterling misses a legdrop though and Danhausen suplexes his way to freedom, allowing the tag off to Hook. Suplexes abound and Danhausen gets to come in for the posing pin on Sterling at 5:22.

Rating: C. This is all you needed it to be and I had fun with the thing. Let Danhausen come in and pick up the scraps left by Hook, who gets to dominate over a manager and someone who is somehow in the top five. They didn’t bother trying to do anything out of the ordinary and the fans got to cheer for Danhausen’s wacky antics. It was exactly what you expected and that’s what it should have been.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

If Wardlow wins, he is free of MJF but if he loses, he is pretty much done. MJF is indeed here so hopefully things are ok, at least for tonight. Wardlow is led out of a cell in the back where rowdy fans are kept to give this a Goldberg style vibe. The handcuffs (two pairs) are taken off so MJF bails to the floor before the bell. The bell rings and we get a HE SHOWED UP chant.

Wardlow wastes no time in trying the powerbomb so MJF bails to the floor again. Back in and MJF has to bite his way out of a powerbomb attempt before a cradle gets two. Hold on though as MJF is holding his leg and even the commentators are calling him out for making it up. The delay lets MJF load up the ring but the referee catches it this time, leaving MJF to beg off into the corner.

MJF: “I’LL DOUBLE YOUR PAY!” He ups it to quadruple and Wardlow shakes his hand….but doesn’t let go. MJF knows he’s done and the powerbomb connects. That’s part one of a ten movement Powerbomb Symphony, including at least one to each side of the ring and a tease of a cover in the middle, which finishes MJF at 7:25. Of note, during the Symphony was Excalibur: “I think I’ve figured out MJF’s strategy: he’s trying to take it to a time limit draw.”

Rating: B. This is a case where the match wasn’t the point but rather the complete and total destruction of MJF and it worked very well. Wardlow was never in trouble and absolutely demolished MJF, who couldn’t even get the chance to cheat. The fans had been wanting to see this and they got what they wanted, so well done on giving them that catharsis.

Post match MJF gets stretchered out and Wardlow is officially All Elite.

We recap the Hardys vs. the Young Bucks, which is presented as a dream match. The Bucks have gone after the Hardys, who have been accused of being Hardy cosplayers. The best you can hope for here is that the Hardys make it through the match without some kind of terrible injury.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Caprice Coleman is on commentary. The Matts start things off but Matt Jackson hands it off to Nick, who gets shouldered down by Jeff. That lets Nick get taken into the corner so Matt Hardy can come back in, meaning Nick bails to the floor. Matt Jackson comes back in and gets caught in a Razor’s Edge out of the corner but Nick breaks it up with a superkick. It’s Jeff coming back in and getting beaten down, with Nick getting to pose a lot.

Jeff finally gets over for the hot tag to Matt Hardy, who sends Nick into the buckle over and over. Brandon Cutler gets knocked off the apron and the hot tag brings in Matt as everything breaks down. They all wind up on the floor, where superkicks and dives drop the Hardys. Back in and Nick pounds on Matt Hardy before a running knee sets up Risky Business for two.

Nick accidentally kicks his brother and then does it to Cutler as well, allowing Jeff to hit a running clothesline off the apron. A Side Effect on the apron drops Matt Jackson and they’re all down on the floor again. Back in and Poetry In Motion hits Matt Jackson but he breaks up the Twist of Fate/Swanton combination. Jeff has to jawbreak his way to freedom on top, even if it means crotching himself.

The Swanton misses though and the Bucks hit their own Twist of Fate into a Swanton for two. A bunch of superkicks drop the Hardys but they’re back up and demanding more kicks. The Bucks oblige for a double two so it’s time to load up the steps. That takes long enough that Matt Hardy can Razor’s Edge bomb Nick, leaving Matt Jackson to be loaded up on the steps, which have been turned on their side. The Swanton connects to Matt Jackson and it’s a Twist of Fate for two on Nick back inside. Another Twist of Fate plants Nick and the Swanton finishes for Jeff at 19:16.

Rating: B-. The Hardys winning here is certainly a choice, as that would suggest the feud is continuing because of reasons. They didn’t have a disaster or even a bad match, but I don’t think this quite lived up to a dream match level. What matters most is that the Hardys didn’t get seriously injured, which might as well be a win for them these days.

Post match, Jeff teases going through the crowd but then comes back to the ring.

The Acclaimed and the Gunn Club promise to tear Las Vegas up. The next day, Billy Gunn finds them all out cold, calls his sons disappointments, and tucks in the Acclaimed.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay

Jay is challenging and comes up through an elevator in the stage, while Cargill has a bunch of showgirls with her. An early Queenslayer attempt doesn’t work for Jay and Cargill throws her down without much effort. A snap suplex and a clothesline lets Cargill go up top but Jay superplexes her back down. Back up and a running forearm staggers Cargill and a running Blockbuster sends her outside. Cargill is sent back inside but Jay has to take out the Baddies with a double DDT. Back in and Cargill kicks her in the face but Jaded is reversed into a cradle for two.

Cue Smart Mark Sterling to throw in the crutch, which Jay grabs for a Russian legsweep and a near fall. Cue John Silver to brainbuster Sterling on the floor, leaving Cargill to hit the Eye of the Storm for two. Jaded is countered into the Queenslayer but Cargill gets up and sends her into the corner. They both go up and here is Stokely Hathaway (fifth person to come out during the match) for a distraction so a super Jaded can finish Jay at 7:23.

Rating: B-. This was a good bit better than I was expecting as Cargill’s matches continue to be structured to fit her strengths rather well. I didn’t buy Jay having a chance whatsoever, but that is the case with just about every Cargill challenger. Hathaway would be an upgrade over Sterling if that is where they are going, and he certainly has the skills to make Cargill feel that much more important. Good stuff here, even if it could have been done on Dynamite.

Post match the beatdown is loaded up but Kris Statlander comes in to go after Red Velvet. The staredown is on but Athena comes in for the debut and the big six way staredown. The Baddies bail and the fans seem rather happy to see Athena.

Forbidden Door is coming on June 26.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Death Triangle has a young boy, who I’m assuming is one of their sons, with them during the entrance. Fenix flips out of Black’s suplex to start but they both miss spinning kicks to the head, meaning it’s time for the cross legged sitdown staredown. Matthews comes in and gets superkicked by Penta so it’s off to the floor, only to have Penta waiting on him with an evil glare.

King comes in and kicks down Fenix’s springboard, setting up the six way staredown. The brawl is on with everyone getting to knock someone else down until Pac poisonranas Matthews to leave everyone down. King is back up with a Boss Man Slam to Pac and Matthews adds a slingshot hilo for two. Matthews misses a charge in the corner though and the hot tag brings in Fenix to clean house. Stereo superkicks clear the ring and there are the double dives from the Bros.

Back in and Fenix hits a step up kick to the head on King but Matthews suplexes him on the floor. That sets up the series of dives until King hits a dive, albeit with a crash onto the apron on the way down. Fenix gets triple teamed inside, including Dante’s Inferno for two, with Pac driving Black into the cover for the save. Triple brainbusters are broken up and Death Triangle gets to kick them in the face in the corner.

A springboard Canadian Destroyer plants Matthews on the floor and a top rope double stomp/hanging DDT combination drops King next to him. That leaves Black to get kicked in the face a lot but he kicks his way out of trouble. Pac kicks Black down and throws Matthews onto King on the floor. An Alex Abrahantes distraction lets Pac kick Black low….and the lights go out again (JR is NOT happy). Cue Julia Hart to mist Pac, allowing Black to kick Pac in the head for the pin at 15:19.

Rating: A-. This was pure insanity for the most part, which also includes a rather nutty ending as Hart wasn’t evil a few weeks ago but she is now. Anyway, the match was the hard hitting, fast paced match that everyone had been hoping. I’m not sure it was worth all of the delays, but House of Black FINALLY getting a big win is good to see. Now just move on from this feud for all time.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole in the Owen Hart Foundation finals, which is more about Owen than either of them.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Final: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole

Non-title. Joe powers him into the corner to start but Cole slips out and wants a test of strength. That goes to Joe as well, who sends him into the corner for the jumping enziguri. An elbow sends Cole to the floor, where he manages to post Joe’s bad shoulder to take over. Back in and Cole chokes on the ropes before wrapping the arm around said rope. The Panama Sunrise is blocked though and Joe hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner.

Joe’s powerbomb is countered into a jumping enziguri and Cole grabs a Crossface. Joe cranks on both arms but Cole is in the ropes as well. Cue Bobby Fish to snap Joe’s arm across the top but the Boom misses. Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch, which has to be let go so Joe can take out Fish. Cole kicks him down and fires off more kicks, setting up the Boom for the pin at 13:15.

Rating: B-. Another good match here, though having even more interference had me rolling my eyes. Cole winning isn’t exactly a surprise and it is good to have him win something around here. It’s a fine enough way to go, even if it doesn’t have any kind of a connection to Owen whatsoever.

Forbidden Door is still coming on June 26. Nothing has changed in the last 40 minutes.

We recap the Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, which is a rematch from Grand Slam, where Britt Baker beat Ruby Soho.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

Baker gets played to the ring by Fozzy’s guitarist while Rancid plays Soho to the ring. We’ll call that advantage Soho. Baker takes her down by the arm to start but Soho is back up with a wristlock of her own. Some kicks don’t do much to Soho, who knees Baker out to the floor. Soho’s shotgun dropkick off the apron has Baker rocked but Soho is holding her ribs. Baker is smart enough to pull the ribs into the post before stretching her out back inside.

Some elbows to the ribs give Baker two but she takes too long going up top. A superplex brings her back down as JR talks about Soho owning a farm in Indiana. They forearm it out until it’s another double knockdown. No Future is blocked but Baker misses the Stomp. Soho is back up with a Saito suplex and a top rope backsplash gets two.

Baker is back with the Stomp and the Lockjaw is loaded up but Soho powers away. No Future connects and the Sharpshooter (with Soho dropping to a knee) goes on, with Baker finally making the rope for the save. With that Owen finisher not working, Soho loads up a victory roll, only to have Baker reverse into a cradle for the pin at 14:15.

Rating: C+. So Baker gets to win, meaning it’s a power couple winning both of them. The match itself was fine, as expected, though that Sharpshooter left a lot to be desired. I could have gone with Soho winning here but it would have been a bit weird to have Cole and Soho at the trophy presentation. Baker very well may be on her way to a face turn and that could be a good thing for her, as we have kind of covered everything she can do otherwise.

Respect is shown post match.

Post match Tony Schiavone has the trophy presentation (with Adam Cole coming out to glare at Tony for hugging Britt). Martha Hart gets an entrance, accompanied by Tony Khan, and gets to give a speech about how important this whole thing is. She thanks everyone from Khan to Chris Jericho to Dark Side of the Ring and her legal team. Cole and Baker are congratulated, with Martha even making fun of her own fairly ridiculous looking hat to wrap it up. Both are presented with a special belt and it’s a rather nice moment.

Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti vs. Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant

If the Men Of The Year/VanZant win, Guevara and Kazarian can never challenge for the TNT Title again. Kazarian and Sky start things off but Guevara tags himself in and gets to face Ethan. The slugout goes to Page so it’s back to Kazarian vs. Sky, with Kazarian taking him into the corner. Guevara comes back in and Conti gets in a rake to Sky’s back from the apron. VanZant is drawn in so Sammy and Conti can hit a double suplex. Kazarian grabs a front facelock on Sky, who fights out and hits a Downward Spiral.

Conti runs in to deck VanZant and then dives onto Sammy for some spinning around. That has Kazarian yelling at them before grabbing the chickenwing but Sammy tags himself in. Tony: “What kind of dumba** strategy is that?” The double tag brings in the women, with JR saying VanZant is going to be green. VanZant grabs a suplex on Conti and a handspring elbow hits Conti in the face.

A TKO is broken up by Sammy, who stops to kiss Conti and gets caught with a tornado DDT. Conti uses the distraction to strike away at VanZant and some pump kicks to the face get two. A spinning belly to back faceplant (JR: “What the h*** was that?”) plants VanZant but we pause for more kissing. The staredown is on but Kazarian is having none of this and walks out….before coming back in with a slingshot DDT to Sky. Kazarian clears the ring but Conti yells at him, only to have Sammy accidentally knock her down. Sky TKO’s Kazarian for the pin at 12:01.

Rating: C+. This was fun with Conti and Guevara totally embracing the hate, but what matters most is that this should mean the end of the feud. It has gone on far longer than it needed to and this really needs to be the blowoff. VanZant was fine enough in her pay per view debut but she clearly has a long way to go to feel natural in the ring. Good enough, but the show is running very long and this is something that could have been moved to another show.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

Allin goes straight for the legs and gets kneed in the face to cut him off. O’Reilly starts working on the arm and cranking away as Allin’s face is busted open from that knee. Back up and Allin gets in a few shots of his own to knock O’Reilly outside, setting up a suicide dive which nearly goes horribly wrong. Thankfully Allin is back up so he tries it again, only to get pulled into a guillotine choke.

Back in and the Last Supper gives Allin two and a small package is good for the same. A brainbuster plants Allin but he is able to fight off a cross armbreaker attempt. The ankle lock goes on but Allin ties up the legs and reverses into a Scorpion (again, not a great one). O’Reilly makes the rope so Allin goes up and hits a Coffin Drop onto O’Reilly in the ropes before crashing out to the floor.

Back in and O’Reilly goes for the arm again but gets stacked up for two more. They strike it out with O’Reilly getting the better of things and wrapping Allin’s chain around his mouth. Excalibur: “The unbreakable chain!” Then it breaks immediately. Some penalty kicks set up the top rope knee to finish Allin at 10:33.

Rating: B. Hard hitting fight here and that is a heck of a big win for O’Reilly as beating Allin clean on pay per view is an impressive feat. It doesn’t say much for Allin to lose in his match for his mentor’s honor, but I can go for O’Reilly getting this kind of a push. Good stuff here, though I hope it gets any kind of memory on a show with so much else.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Serena Deeb for the Women’s Title. Both want to be the best so they’re having a title match.

Women’s Title: Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa is defending. They fight over a lockup to start and go to the mat with neither being able to get anywhere. Back up and Deeb starts going for the limbs but that isn’t going to work for Rosa. They go back to the mat with Rosa grabbing the pendulum to rock Deeb around a bit. A backslide gives Rosa two but Deeb blocks a second one, allowing Rosa to hit an uppercut.

Rosa knocks her to the floor but misses a baseball slide, allowing Deeb to snap her across the top rope. A neckbreaker over the ropes puts Rosa back on the floor until Deeb takes it back inside. Deeb ties her up in the corner and cranks away, setting up an abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs. Rosa fights out and hits a running corner clothesline, followed by knees in the corner. A northern lights suplex gets two but Deeb catches her in the corner and hits Diamond Dust for two.

Deebtox is broken up though and Rosa slams Deeb’s knee into the mat for a change. Deeb gets in a shot to knock her away but Rosa is back with the Death Valley Driver for two. A chop block cuts Rosa down and we hit the Figure Four, with the two of them slapping each other in the face at the same time. They roll out to the floor but it’s Deeb grabbing a dragon screw legwhip in the ropes back inside.

Deebtox gets two and the Serenity Lock goes on, though Deeb lets it go to hit a powerbomb. The Texas Cloverleaf goes on but Rosa makes the rope, setting up a kick to the head. Deep knocks her down again and goes up, only to get superplexed down. Rosa isn’t done and rolls her up into the Fire Thunder Driver to retain at 16:43.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight with the technical master vs. the fighter, but they were in a near death spot this late in a show with a long match. I could go with another look at this in a vacuum as Rosa was bringing it and Deeb was her usual awesome self. It’s a good example of a match where they overcame a really bad build and had a heck of a match. Just in the wrong spot.

We recap Anarchy in the Arena, which is Sports Entertainers vs. Wrestlers.

Justin Roberts: “Ladies and gentlemen…..s***’s about to hit the fan.”

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

Anything goes and the Society is all in white, making them look like a painting crew. It’s a brawl to start with Wild Thing still playing, which seems like it is going to go throughout the match. Everyone brawls around the arena and we keep cutting from fight to fight, including Moxley stabbing someone in the head with a fork. Kingston is already busted open as Jericho and Moxley get on some kind of a cart.

Minard’s face is COVERED in blood as Jericho gets in a shot to Moxley with….something. We actually go to the ring where Santana and Ortiz suplex Hager. Jericho goes over to the sound board and hits Moxley to FINALLY kill the song. Some people fight to the back as Santana and Ortiz Street Sweep Hager through two tables at ringside. Moxley hits Jericho with a boom camera as Minard and Kingston fight over mustard at the concession stand. Garcia piledrives Ortiz on the steps and I think Minard takes Kingston down with a t-shirt stand.

Parker hits Danielson with a ring bell and Jericho suplexes Moxley onto a row of chairs. Back up and Moxley chucks a cooler at Jericho’s head as Tony dubs this as better than Stadium Stampede. Garcia chokes Kingston in the concourse and drags him around the floor as Jericho gets the Walls on Moxley on the announcers’ table….which breaks. Back up and Moxley hits a suicide dive to take Jericho down as a turnbuckle is unhooked.

Some unhooked turnbuckle shots slow Jericho down as I think Kingston and Garcia brawl in a freight elevator. Moxley hits a running knee to knock Jericho out of a chair as Santana and Ortiz set up a ladder over on the other side of the arena. They hit big splashes to drive Minard and Parker through tables as Jericho fire extinguishers Moxley. Jericho and Moxley pull themselves back into the ring, where Hager and Danielson are pulling themselves up. The four of them slug it out with Moxley and Danielson hitting the hammer and anvil elbows.

Stereo holds go on….and here is Kingston with a can of gasoline. Kingston pours gas onto Jericho (which breaks up the LeBell Lock) but Danielson goes after Kingston for general hatred. Moxley is sent onto a barbed wire board at ringside and a turnbuckle shot to the head gives Jericho two on Danielson. A bunch of kicks rock Hager and Jericho, including the YES Kicks to the latter. Danielson promises to kick his f****** head in but Hager makes the save with a baseball bat to the knee. A half crab to Danielson, with Hager choking with a rope (Tony: “HANG IN THERE!”) gives Jericho the win at 22:31.

Rating: B. I have no idea what to say about this and that’s about all you can get out of it. They were all over the place with one crazy spot after another and there was nothing close to a way to keep track of the whole thing. I’m not sure why the Society won, but maybe Jericho used some wizard magic to convince AEW it was a good idea.

We go to Andrade El Idolo, who brings in his new business partner: Rush.

Scorpio Sky/Ethan Page/Dan Lambert are really happy to be done with Sammy Guevara and company. Sky wants a new challenger and here is Dante Martin to issue the challenge. Game on.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

Jurassic Express, with Christian Cage, is defending. It’s a brawl to start and the fight heads to the floor before the Express hits a top rope elbow/side slam combination for two on Starks. We settle down to Hobbs blasting Strickland with a clothesline. Lee comes in and staggers Hobbs with a shoulder, setting up Strickland’s jumping knee. It’s off to Jungle Boy for some suicide dives but Lee pulls the big flip dive out of the air.

Back in and Hobbs hits a suplex slam on Jungle Boy and Starks grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Starks tries to run the corner and walk the ropes but stops to dance, allowing Jungle Boy to crotch him (JR’s disdain at the start followed by happiness in Starks getting hurt is hilarious). Everything breaks down and Starks gets tossed out to the floor for a nasty landing, setting up Strickland’s moonsault (off of Lee’s chest) onto the pile.

Back in and Strickland hits the running kick to the head for two on Hobbs and it’s Luchasaurus coming in to clean house. Hobbs gets kicked into the corner where Lee tags himself in, giving us Luchasaurus vs. Lee. A double chokeslam puts Luchasaurus down, leaving Lee to suplex Hobbs over the top. Lee hits the big no hands flip dive to show off a bit but Luchasaurus is back up with a fireman’s carry slam for two.

Starks is back in to take Jungle Boy down for two but Christian makes the save. The spear gets two more on Jungle Boy and a slingshot Roshambo gets the same. Luchasaurus comes back in but Hobbs cleans house, allowing Starks to grab the FTW Title. Christian breaks that up and it’s the Throwassic Express for the pin at 17:18.

Rating: B. Another good match here with a surprising ending as I would not have bet on the champs retaining here. What matters is that the tag division remains hot, but there is only so much that you can get when your champs are barely in the top five teams in the company. I was hoping for a title change here as Jurassic Express have held the belts for awhile, but it’s not like this is a horrible decision.

We recap Hangman Page vs. CM Punk for the AEW World Title. Punk sees it as a title shot and Page wants to stop Punk from destroying AEW….somehow.

AEW World Title: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page

Page is defending. They start fast with Punk taking him into the corner and giving him a break, albeit with a rake of the eyes. They strike it out with Punk getting the better of things but they go to the mat to exchange some near falls. Back up and Punk starts the string of slams, setting up the high crossbody. Page rolls through though and hits a fall away slam into a nip up. With Punk on the floor, Page hits a slingshot crossbody to take him down again.

Back in and Punk slugs away, only to get elbowed in the face to knock him silly. A running clothesline out of the corner looks to set up the Buckshot but it’s way too early for that, as Punk knocks him to the floor. That’s fine with Page, who gets in a powerbomb onto the apron to drop Punk again. Back in and a top rope clothesline gives Page two and Punk is tossed outside again.

What looks to be the moonsault is broken up and Punk superplexes him back down. They take their time getting back up for the slugout, setting up Punk’s leg lariat. There’s the running knee in the corner into the bulldog into the springboard clothesline and Punk is fired up. Page slips out of the GTS and Punk grabs a neckbreaker for two more. Punk goes up but gets knocked down, setting up the moonsault to the floor. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is countered into a Sharpshooter, sending Page over to the ropes.

Both guys have to counter their own finisher until Punk is kicked to the apron. Punk kicks him in the head and hits a Buckshot Lariat but the knee gives out on the way. Both guys miss the GTS and Punk’s running knee in the corner is countered into the Last Ride. Page rolls him into the Deadeye for two more before calling for the GTS. Punk kicks him in the head and tries the GTS but Page escapes and hits one of his own.

They slug it out until Page kicks him in the face but they fall out to the floor. Page throws him over the announcers’ table and grabs the belt, which he emphasizes is HIS. Back in and the Buckshot Lariat is loaded up but gets countered into the GTS. Punk swings him around to kick the referee, meaning Page’s escape into the Buckshot Lariat gets no cover. Page looks at the belt and teases the shot but second guesses himself. Another Buckshot Lariat is countered into the GTS to give Punk the pin and the title at 25:58.

Rating: B+. There’s your controversial ending that is going to get people talking. Punk winning is the right call as you can only get so much out of Page as champion when there are so many bigger stars around him. The will he/won’t he was good and while it might lead to a heel turn down the line, it’s the right way to go here. Heck of a match too, which didn’t feel close to the length it went.

Punk celebrates for a good while to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The action was very good to great, but egads I was done with this show with about an hour left. I’ll spare you the long, drawn out version and say a lot of this could have been left for Dynamite/Rampage and move on to the praise the show deserves. There was some awesome action here and I like a lot of the choices for the winners, though the tournaments still don’t feel important (save for Martha Hart looking so happy out there, which was great). Definitely check this out, but cut it off for a bit in the middle for the sake of a sandwich or something as you’re going to need to refuel.

Results
Wardlow b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Powerbomb Symphony
Hardys b. Young Bucks – Swanton to Nick
Jade Cargill b. Anna Jay – Super Jaded
House Of Black b. Death Triangle – Spinning kick to Fenix
Adam Cole b. Samoa Joe – Boom
Britt Baker b. Ruby Soho – Rollup
Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant b. Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti – TKO to Guevara
Kyle O’Reilly b. Darby Allin – Top rope knee to the back
Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Fire Thunder Driver
Jericho Appreciation Society b. Blackpool Combat Club/Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz – Half crab to Danielson
Jurassic Express b. Team Taz and Swerve Strickland/Keith Lee – Throwassic Express to Starks
CM Punk b. Hangman Page – GTS

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It’s time for another AEW pay per view and most of the time, that has been some very good news. AEW has a heck of a track record with pay per views, though things have been a bit weaker than usual in recent months. I don’t entirely know what that is going to mean for this show, but the card is absolutely huge with a staggering thirteen matches. Maybe they can make it work though so let’s get to it.

Buy-In Show: Hookhausen vs. Mark Sterling/Tony Nese

They aren’t starting with anything serious here as Hook and Danhausen are the latest comedy guys around here. There is a short form possibility to the two of them working together but I’d like to believe that Hook could mean a lot more than he is being given so far. Danhausen is one of the most unique guys around, and now he and Hook can do their thing here.

That thing here would be winning, as Hookhausen has no reason to lose whatsoever. Hook can be the muscle for Danhausen as he does his wacky deal. That is all you need in something like this as the fans are going to go nuts over anything Hookhausen does. Keep it short, let Danhausen pin the manager, and we get to move on to the important stuff. That’s a good opener and they have the right idea with this on the Buy-In.

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho

This is a match that has some history to it and now the question becomes can Soho finally get a big win around here. Soho is someone with as unique of a look as you can find and the intangibles to back it up, but she hasn’t actually won anything just yet. Beating Baker would even their series up and that is a way they can go. At the same time though, it is hard to buy the idea of Baker losing her second big match in a row.

I’m in a total coin flip here but I’ll go with Baker winning here as Soho loses again for the sake of getting Baker back on track. This could be leading to a heck of a showdown between Baker and Jade Cargill, assuming they don’t do a rubber match with Thunder Rosa. Either way, I don’t see Soho winning here, and I’m really not sure where that leaves her going forward.

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals: Adam Cole vs. Samoa Joe

I like this one more than the previous match and we could be in for a heck of a showdown here. Cole is someone who is still waiting for his own big win around here, while Joe has the Ring Of Honor TV Title, meaning that he too is waiting for his first big win in AEW. This is at least an interesting match and that puts it above a lot of what we have been seeing in the tournament so far.

I’ll go with Cole winning again here, as AEW not only likes pushing the heck out of him, but the idea of Cole and Baker as the winners of the tournaments is likely something AEW likes. The match should be a good, pay per view level fight as Joe knows how to make the big fight feel. Cole wins here though, possibly even with some help from Jay Lethal and pals to take out Joe.

Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston

This is the Anarchy In The Arena match, which seems to be the latest insane brawl that the company loves to run. The problem this time though is the lineups aren’t exactly even, as it’s hard to imagine the Combat Club and Kingston would have trouble against the entire Appreciation Society. Then again there is a good chance that the villains can take out a member to uneven things and make it a bit more even.

That being said, there isn’t much in the way of doubt here, as this should be a one sided victory for Kingston and company. Unfortunately I don’t think that is going to happen, as I could see AEW running with the Jericho Wizard/fireball stuff. Therefore, I’ll take the Appreciation Society winning here, even if that makes so little sense and will just mean more of the not so great act.

Hardys vs. Young Bucks

Now we have the Dream Match, which might have been the case about ten years ago but now, I’m not entirely convinced. To put it mildly, the Hardys are in their mid 40s and wrestle like they’re about ten years older than that each. Jeff looks close to terrible and you know what you’re going to get from Matt. I’m far from a Bucks fan, but they can run circles around the Hardys at the moment and this is going to be a mess as a result.

I’ll take the Bucks winning here, as there is no reason whatsoever to put the Hardys over anyone ever (unless you’re Darby Allin because reasons). I’m not exactly interested in seeing this one but maybe they can pull off something decent. All I know is I don’t need to see the Hardys trying to recreate their glory days again and odds are that is exactly what we are going to be getting here.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow

This now needs an asterisk as there have been a few issues involving MJF, but we’ll assume that the match is going to take place. This is a story that has been built up for years and is a more physical version of Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil from back in the day. The good thing is that Wardlow is almost on Virgil’s level and might even be able to get something out of this if they do it right.

Of course I’ll go with Wardlow here, as he should powerbomb MJF into oblivion here. Now that being said, MJF should not get squashed and will likely get in some offense off the back of Shawn Spears and some well timed cheating, but at the end of the day, this is Wardlow’s breaking out moment and I could go with seeing him wreck MJF as the fans get more and more into each powerbomb. Assuming the match takes place that is.

Women’s Title: Thunder Rosa(c) vs. Serena Deeb

The more I watch from Rosa, the less I think she is cut out to be champion. There are some people who are more interesting as the challenger rather than the champion and that is what we might have with her. The promo from this week was good, but I really can’t bring myself to get into this match. Granted it doesn’t help that Cargill feels like a much bigger star, but this is the next showdown.

I’ll take Rosa to retain here, as she deserves a longer title reign than a few months after FINALLY getting the belt. We might be up for a rematch with Baker, but at the moment the best thing that they can do is have Rosa keep going as champion to set up a showdown with someone. Rosa is still a star and I could go for seeing more of her with the title, but they need to find a better way to present her.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express(c) vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland

One thing that is interesting here is that AEW rarely runs triple threat. The company loves itself some gimmick matches but that isn’t the case with triple threat, which is certainly a nice bonus. Anyway, this has been set up as the two challenging teams have been set up as potential threats to take the titles. Granted it helps that Jurassic Express have been kind of there as champions for a lot of their reigns, so it is kind of somewhere in the middle.

As much as I’d like to see Lee and Strickland get somewhere, I have a feeling Team Taz wins here. At some point you have to give Taz and company some (official) titles and I think they do it here. Ricky Starks has been moving up higher and higher in recent weeks and Powerhouse Hobbs is one of the better potential stars around. They should have a good match here, but it’s time for the title change with the belts going to Team Taz.

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin

This is a grudge match which was added to the show on Rampage, even if it is one of the first matches that could be moved to Dynamite for the sake of cutting down the pay per view rundown. Allin is mad at O’Reilly for injuring Sting, meaning it is time to fight. Thankfully this seems to be a regular match, which is quite the change for Allin and his obsession with hardcore stuff.

I’ll go with Allin winning here, as he is still shaking off some of his funk, especially after that pretty ridiculous loss to Jeff Hardy a few weeks ago. O’Reilly could use a win too and it wouldn’t shock me if he won here, but Allin needs it more and is someone the fans are already behind. Seeing O’Reilly get a push of his own would be nice, but it’s Allin winning here in a match that should be pretty awesome.

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle

Yes, finally. After what feels like 37 years, this match is FINALLY going to take place, even though I can’t imagine it is going to live up to the hype that has been presented around it. Both teams are actually healthy for once and since it was on the books at some point back in the day, AEW had to get it in instead of cutting their losses and just moving on like anyone sane would do.

It’s one that could go either way, but I’ll take the House Of Black to win here. Death Triangle is a team that has a tendency to not be around very often for one reason or another so the House Of Black seems to be a better option at the moment. Odds are it will be a heck of a fight and Death Triangle will look great in defeat, but the House Of Black wins here to finally give them something.

Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant vs. Frankie Kazarian/Sammy Guevara/Tay Conti

Speaking of feuds that won’t go away, we have this mess that must continue no matter how many people are waiting in line for the TNT Title. This week seemed to show Guevara and company as the good ones, even if that involved invading the American Top Team facility and stealing stuff. I don’t think AEW knows what they are doing with this feud anymore, but even worse I don’t think many people care about it either. Granted, why let that get in the way of what AEW has decided to do?

Since the feud must continue and Guevara/Kazarian get no more shots if they lose, I’ll go with Guevara and company winning to keep their hopes alive. I’m not sure why that is something we need to continue, but this feud is probably heading for one big final blowoff to the whole thing. Maybe we could even get a ladder involved! For now, though Guevara and company win, because it must continue.

TBS Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Anna Jay

AEW has a bit of a weird situation on their hands with Cargill. While they have done a great job of building her up, there is no reason to believe that she is going to lose anytime soon. That makes this feel like nothing more than a requirement as she gets to add another win over someone who was thrown into a title match. I don’t particularly care about this match and it would have been fine on Dynamite, but maybe Cargill can get in her catchphrase for the 485th time.

Of course I’ll take Cargill, as Jay gets to be the latest sacrificial lamb. They REALLY need someone who is going to give Cargill a challenge and Jay, who hasn’t wrestled a singles match since March (or a TV match since January, when Cargill beat her) isn’t it. This is a match that probably doesn’t need to be on the pay per view but we are getting it for the sake of Cargill appearing, which does make sense.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page(c) vs. CM Punk

And then there’s this, which has been hit and miss so far. This has not been anywhere close to a disaster, but I’m not sure I buy Page as someone on Punk’s level. Punk had to get to the World Title shot at some point though, which comes after the end of the great Friedman feud. Hopefully they can go beyond the hype, which hasn’t quite hit the levels they seem to have been shooting for with the build.

I’ve been going back and forth on this for weeks now but I think I have Page retaining. If you want to elevate him, beating Punk and Danielson is about as perfect of a way as you can do so. Punk is going to be fine no matter what he does, but in this case it makes more sense to have him lose and give Page the next biggest rub of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Punk win the title, but Page needs this a lot more than Punk. I think. Maybe. Perhaps.

Overall Thoughts

I’m expecting the show to be good, as almost every AEW pay per view tends to be, but my goodness there is way too much on here. There is no need for the show to have every one of these matches but for some reason that is what we’re getting. Hopefully they move something up to the Buy-In show, as having a twelve minute pay per view card is not going to leave them with much breathing room. The show has a lot of potential, but I’m worried about giving the matches the time that they need. Make something fast, or at least shuffle it up a bit, just to make it better. Either way, we should be fine, as is AEW’s custom.

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 27, 2022
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re back with another focus on the Owen Hart Foundation tournament as Dax Harwood faces Cash Wheeler. In addition to that, we won’t be see Hangman Page this week as he has come down with the Coronavirus, meaning that we don’t quite get any advancement in his feud with CM Punk. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler

CM Punk is on commentary and the guys come out together for a nice touch. They go to the mat to start as Punk talks about how he doesn’t necessarily like these guys but he does respect him. A series of headlocks takeovers are countered with a series of nip ups and we get a standoff with some applause. An armdrag into an armbar has Wheeler in control as commentary cracks some jokes about the wrestlers’ names.

Harwood pokes him in the eye though and Wheeler doesn’t seem happy. Wheeler takes it back to the mat for a quickly broken chinlock as Harwood takes him up top for a heck of a superplex. We take a break and come back with Harwood sending him flying off a suplex. They both hit crossbodies at the same time for a double knockdown before it’s off to an exchange of rollups for two each.

Harwood tries a slingshot powerbomb but gets reversed into a hurricanrana for two and they’re both needing a breather. The second slingshot powerbomb attempt works for Harwood but Wheeler is back with a piledriver. Harwood is able to catch him on top but Wheeler slips through the legs and pushes Harwood down.

The belly to back superplex is countered into a crossbody for two on Wheeler and a running crossbody sends them both to the floor. They both make it back inside at nine but Wheeler has a banged up knee. Harwood can’t bring himself to stay on the leg (Punk: “You gotta sharp that shooter!”), allowing Wheeler to try a small package, which is reversed into another one to give Harwood the pin at 14:26.

Rating: B. This was the kind of match you would expect from these two and Harwood wins with a wrestling move in the end. That’s all you could have asked for from these two and now they can go back to being the best team in the world. They teased just enough tension to make it interesting without going over the line and it was good quality stuff on top of that, just in case you didn’t think this would be pretty awesome.

Official for Double Or Nothing: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page for the World Title.

CM Punk heads to ringside and says he has never been in a locker room with as much talent as this before. Before he came back here, he wasn’t sure if he could still do this again. Now he knows that he can do this again and while he can’t guarantee a win, he can guarantee that he will give 100%. He has never been a gambling man, but you can bet that he will fight until the wheels fall off in Las Vegas.

Scorpio Sky says it is no coincidence that he is here, fighting for the TNT Title again. He didn’t ask Frankie Kazarian to step aside if he was going to win and the fans are here to see him beat up Scorpio Sky. There can only be one face of TNT and you’re looking at him.

Blackpool Combat Club vs. The Factory

Wheeler Yuta gets the hometown reaction and William Regal is on commentary. The Club has nothing to do with this waiting around and jumps them before the bell. Moxley hits the release suplex on Aaron Solow and hits a belly to belly suplex. Regal loves that Solow’s eyes are watering so Moxley can “batter the granny” out of him without him seeing it coming. Yuta comes in with a dropkick for two but doesn’t quite hit the one on Comoroto that well (Regal: “We’ll have to work on that.”).

We take a break and come back with Marshall making the mistake of mocking Danielson, allowing Yuta to snap off a German suplex. Danielson comes in to clean house, including the dive to the floor. There’s the missile dropkick to Solow but Marshall breaks up the LeBell Lock. Moxley takes Marshall down and clotheslines him to the floor, leaving Danielson to kick Solow out of the air. Yuta gets the tag but is thrown around by Comoroto. A pair of chokes doesn’t work on Comoroto so Yuta elbows away and rolls him up (with Moxley and Danielson choking out the other two) for the pin at 8:20.

Rating: C+. I think we’ve firmly established the idea here and now it’s time for these guys to move into an actual feud. The Club is a hard hitting team who feels like they could fight anyone, but they’ve been beating up lower level people for weeks now. They need to move into an actual story rather than a bunch of one offs, as their status is pretty clear. Maybe they can make one more of these things work, but find them some good opponents soon.

Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and Toni Storm are willing to just talk and avoid physicality but Storm brings in Ruby Soho, who has also qualified for the Owen Hart Foundation tournament. Soho knows the two of them have always had something to say so she wants to fight right now. Baker says no physicality because they’re off to Soho’s home in catering.

Jungle Boy says that he should have beaten Kyle O’Reilly last week but he didn’t get it done. Christian Cage says that Jungle Boy sounds like a loser, even if he isn’t one. Cage says he’s throwing out the challenge to any top five ranked team so here is Team Taz, ranked #3, to accept. Luchasaurus growls.

Lance Archer vs. Wardlow

Before the match, MJF and Shawn Spears are in the luxury box again, with MJF saying Philadelphia women use their personality as birth control. Wardlow comes out to no music and wearing handcuffs, allowing Archer to dive onto him as the handcuffs are removed. The bell rings and Wardlow sends him straight into the corner, setting up a running shoulder to the ribs. The Powerbomb Symphony is broken up, as is Archer’s chokeslam.

They clothesline each other down and it’s Archer up first to hammer away. Archer walks the ropes to set up a moonsault into the chokeslam for two, with the crowd not really reacting. The Blackout gets two but Wardlow knocks him off the top and hits a Swanton of all things for two of his own. A four movement Powerbomb Symphony finishes Archer at 5:26.

Rating: B-. The booking of Wardlow continues to be the high point around here and this was no exception. Wardlow survived a beating against someone with some success and won in the end to slay the monster. That’s all it should have been as he gets one step closer to MJF. Double Or Nothing is coming and I’m curious to see what the stakes will be for their showdown.

Here is the Jericho Appreciation Society for a face to face sitdown with Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz. There will be no physicality so get the three of them out here right now. The chairs are turned over and Jericho talks about how lucky everyone is to be living in his era. Santana flips Jericho off and says that Jericho forgot who got him here.

Trash is talked because Santana and Ortiz can’t hit them and Kingston isn’t happy with this standing around. Kingston talks about what a hit means in his world but Jericho says this place is Kingston’s last chance if he gets kicked out of another company. That’s too far for Kingston, who backs Jericho into a chair and threatens to put him in the ground. Jericho looks terrified as Eddie and company leave. They really need to announce/get to a match between these guys already because they’ve talked a lot.

Sammy Guevara is ready to beat Scorpio Sky again because Sky is so boring.

Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

Street fight with Shida hammering away to start. The middle rope missile dropkick sends Deeb outside and then rams her into the buckle from the apron. Deeb falls back to the floor but manages to chair a flying Shida out of the air to take over. Back in and a shinbreaker onto the chair makes it worse for Shida as we take a break. We come back with Shida’s knee in big trouble but managing to counter another shinbreaker onto the chair. Deeb is sent outside but comes up with some powder to blind Shida.

That’s broken up as well as Shida comes back with a kendo stick shot, allowing her to wash her eyes out with some water. The Katana is cut off with a chair to the knee though and Deeb wraps the chair around Shida’s leg. That’s broken up as well and Shida hits the super Falcon Arrow for two. Deeb is back with Deebtox onto the chair for the same, setting up some rams of the knee into the chair. The Texas Cloverleaf makes Shida tap at 11:37.

Rating: B-. It was fun enough, though I don’t think it needed the weapons to prove the same point. This feud stopped being interesting more than a few weeks ago and I didn’t exactly need the blowoff but at least the right person won. Deeb gets the win to end the feud and should be on to a run against Thunder Rosa, which should be a good match.

MJF screams at Lexi to get out of his frame and then calls someone, offering him six figures to face Wardlow. He called someone bigger, taller and stronger than Wardlow….and you can’t teach that.

The House Of Black has taken out Fuego del Sol. They tease unmasking him but Alex Abrahantes pops up in the ring to say not so fast. The House goes after him but here is Penta Obscuro, Pac and…..Alex Abrahantes, because it’s Rey Fenix in the Abrahantes costume in the ring. Death Triangle clears the ring and we seem to have a six man tag set. This is another feud that has dragged on for so long now that I can’t quite bring myself to be interested. Also, it’s hard to care that much when I keep expecting Pac or one of the other members to go away for a month and a half after the match.

Swerve Strickland and Darby Allin are ready for their Owen Hart Foundation qualifying match on Rampage. They have fought for years and don’t quite see eye to eye on whose house it is.

Undisputed Elite vs. Varsity Blonds/Brock Anderson/Dante Martin/Lee Johnson

Martin gets punched in the head to start but the Blonds come in for the save. The non-Elite takes turns kicking everyone to the floor and it’s a pair of dives from Johnson and Martin. The good guys rule the ring and we take an early break. Back with Johnson getting double superkicked, setting up a four way BTE Trigger, setting up the Boom for the pin on Johnson at 6:27.

Rating: C. They hyped up this match as something important and then it’s a six minute match with a break in the middle? Kind of a weird way to go with this one but they didn’t bother with much of anything in the way of wasting time. Just have the bigger team take a few shots and then win in the end, as should have been the case. Now maybe we can move on to the most interesting thing in the world: the Bucks having friends.

Post match, the Undisputed Elite all put on matching shirts.

The Jericho Appreciation Society has jumped Santana and Ortiz and throw a fireball at Eddie Kingston. This company has an obsession with angles involving someone being blinded.

Quick video on Trent Beretta vs. Samoa Joe for the Ring Of Honor TV Title.

TNT Title: Sammy Guevara vs. Scorpio Sky

Guevara is defending in a ladder match. They fight on the floor to start with Sky sending him into the barricade but Guevara comes back with a Release German suplex on the ramp. That lets Guevara bust out some angels in the snow, which has JR a bit taken aback. They get inside with Sammy going up (nowhere near the belt) and then diving off….and hitting only the mat, leaving him knocked silly as we take a break.

Back with Sky climbing a ladder so Guevara dives off another, only to get pulled out of the air with a cutter. With nothing else working, it’s time to bring out a barbed wire ladder (because that’s a thing). Guevara fights up and sends Sky into the ladder but Tay Conti and Dan Lambert get in, with Conti kicking him low. Cue Paige VanZant so the big brawl can be on, with Conti kicking him in the face.

The ladder is set up and they both climb, each with a woman on their back. The women are thrown off, leaving Sky to bite Guevara’s finger. Guevara shoves him down anyway and goes up, only to be knocked down onto the barbed wire ladder. Sky goes up and, after knocking the springboarding Guevara down again (because he was back up in 12 seconds), wins the title at 14:02.

Rating: C+. This show ended about 20 minutes ago now and I have no idea what to make of this match. They certainly did some stuff and Sky gets the title back, but that’s about the extent of the logic. I was more or less checked out on the match as soon as the barbed wire ladder was brought into play, as that sounds like something you put in a comedy match rather than something important. Throw in Sammy bouncing back up from landing on it and the rather scary landing before the break and this was much more a WHAT ARE THEY DOING match than anything I would have liked to see.

Overall Rating: B-. Given how ridiculously (and I don’t mean that in a good way) stacked this show was, I was fairly disappointed in what we got. The ten man tag was a squash, the street fight was pretty good and the ladder match…..hey did you see that street fight? They crammed A LOT into this show but most of it only somewhat delivered.

There was some rather good stuff in here though as Wardlow continues to be presented perfectly and Sky winning the title again got a great reaction. I liked Punk’s stuff too and the opener was very good, but the parts that they hyped up the most didn’t work all that well and it brought things down a bit.

Results
Dax Harwood b. Cash Wheeler – Small package
Blackpool Combat Club b. The Factory – Cradle to Comoroto
Wardlow b. Lance Archer – Powerbomb Symphony
Serena Deeb b. Hikaru Shida – Texas Cloverleaf
Undisputed Elite b. Brock Anderson/Dante Martin/Lee Johnson/Varsity Blonds – Boom to Johnson
Scorpio Sky b. Sammy Guevara – Sky pulled down the title

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: 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

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 6, 2022
Location: Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

It’s pretty rare to have a lot of things going on when a company hasn’t had a major show, but that is the case this week. Ring of Honor’s Supercard of Honor event was basically AEW’s Wrestlemania weekend show and included the debut of Samoa Joe. He’ll be here tonight, and that means things could get a lot more interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Adam Cole vs. Christian Cage

They stare at each other for a bit until Christian grabs a headlock to grind away a bit. Cole breaks that up and sends him into the corner to take over. Christian knocks him outside though and it’s a baseball slide out to the floor. That means some chops up against the barricade but Christian’s foot gets caught in the ropes, allowing Cole to take over again. A hard whip into the corner rocks Christian and we take a break.

Back with Christian knocking him to the floor again and diving over the top to….I think it connected but it was more grazing Cole’s hands/arms. Back in and Christian hits the pendulum kick in the corner, setting up the tornado DDT for two. Cole’s Backstabber out of the corner gets two more and the low superkick into the running knee (knee pad still up and to the face instead of the back of the head) is good for the same. The Boom is countered into a rollup for two, followed by Christian hitting a spear for two more. With nothing else working, Cole pokes him in the eye and hits the Boom for the pin at 14:50.

Rating: B-. This is where Christian can help a lot, as he has a reputation that means a win over him still means something and can make anyone look good. Cole gets a nice win and Christian has been a made man for a long time so it isn’t like he is hurt here. Good choice for an opener and the kind of win that gives Cole an actually important win.

Post match ReDDragon comes out for the beatdown but the Jurassic Express makes the save. Christian walks off to the side of the stage as the other four brawl (After rolling outside pretty fast after the pin. Hopefully nothing is wrong.). With everyone else gone, Hangman Page comes down to get in Cole’s face. Page issues the challenge for a Texas Death Match for the title next week on Rampage (not Dynamite), while telling him to get his affairs in order.

We look back at Jay Lethal challenging Jonathan Gresham for the World Title and beating him down, only for Samoa Joe to return and take out Lethal’s associate Sonjay Dutt.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Samoa Joe vs. Max Caster

Anthony Bowens is here with Caster, whose rap talks about how Samoa Joe is an overweight X-Division wrestler who was NXT Champion when Dynamite beat NXT in the ratings. Joe starts fast and hammers away in the corner, even throwing in a dance. Caster gets knocked to the floor for the suicide dive and it’s the MuscleBuster for the pin at 2:53. Total and complete destruction, as it should have been.

Post match Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt pop up on screen to say they aren’t scared of Joe. They had a change of heart last week and now it’s about doing what they want. The might not have needed one had Joe just answered his phone in the last four months. Joe clearly has a phone, but he’ll only answer calls from billionaires. It’s not too late to roll out the red carpet for Joe though, so next week Lethal promises him a present. Next week, Joe is getting a present that he’ll never forget. Dutt is quite the odd addition to this story. I know he and Lethal have history together but there was no one else to pair up with Lethal?

William Regal is happy with the Blackpool Combat Club, as Wheeler Yuta will face Jon Moxley on Friday. Regal feels sorry for Yuta, and Moxley promises violence.

Shawn Spears vs. Shawn Dean

MJF is on commentary as commentary points out that Dean has beaten him. Spears throws Dean over the top for a big crash, only to stop and point at the security posters for Wardlow. Back in and Spears hits a pumphandle driver onto the knee for two, with Spears pulling him up. We cut to the back where security has been taken out and the fans know what’s up. Now we see Wardlow beating up security and coming into the arena, where he beats up even more security. In the melee, Dean rolls Spears up for the pin at 3:48.

Rating: C-. The match was a squash with a fluke ending and that’s fine as a way to keep pushing Wardlow as a major threat to MJF. The destruction is coming and it is going to be awesome once we get there. Dean could have been anyone here but giving him a pair of wins over Dean and MJF is a nice bit of continuity.

Wardlow is very happy as security takes him out of the arena.

The Best Friends aren’t happy with Wheeler Yuta finding new friends. Chuck Taylor even bought him his tights and Yuta lives on his couch. Trent is less forgiving, calling him a scumbag before leaving.

Earlier tonight, Eddie Kingston/Santana/Ortiz beat down the Jericho Appreciation Society in the back. The Society bailed away in a car.

Here are Kingston/Santana/Ortiz in the arena for a chat. Eddie talks about how he’s coming for the Society and threatens to show up at Daniel Garcia’s door. Santana and Ortiz say they’ll be ready when Jericho stops running, say next week for example.

Here are Jade Cargill and Mark Sterling for a chat. Cargill introduces her Baddie Section, which is what she describes as a bunch of beautiful women with power. She’s ready for Marina Shafir to be her 30th victim.

MJF and Shawn Spears aren’t happy with Wardlow but MJF promises more security next week. As for Dean, he can face MJF next week, where he’ll get a Purple Heart for being injured worse than he ever could have been in the military.

Hardys vs. Butcher and the Blade

Tables match. It’s a brawl to start with Blade clotheslining Jeff down inside. Blade misses a charge through a table in the corner, which doesn’t count as it wasn’t an offensive move (as made clear by the pre-match announcement of the rules). Butcher and Matt come in, where Butcher can’t suplex Matt through a table. A double DDT drops Butcher but Blade breaks up what looked to be the Swanton through the table. That leaves Jeff to get suplexed/high crossbodied through a table for the elimination.

We take a break and come back with Matt chairing Butcher, setting up a top rope legdrop through the table for the elimination. That leaves Matt vs. Blade but Matt puts himself through a table off the apron. Butcher sticks around to help double team Matt, who is thrown over the barricade.

A double suplex brings him back over but Jeff has moved the table. What looks to be Poetry In Motion into a clothesline against the barricade doesn’t look great so Jeff makes up for it with the Twisting Stunner to Blade. Matt hits a Twist of Fate on the floor and the Hardys set up two tables underneath a ladder (you knew it was coming). The Swanton off the top drives Blade through the table to give the Hardys the win at 11:55.

Rating: C+. It was pretty good, though I’m trying to get my head around the Hardys being hyped up for their history in tables matches. The Hardys are certainly stars, but it doesn’t feel like they are a big deal at the moment. Maybe that’s FTR being on another level and the Hardys not being anywhere the title picture, but it feels like they’re still waiting to take off. They certainly can do that, though it hasn’t happened yet.

Post match here is Andrade, flanked by the AFO, but here is sting with the baseball bat to beat them down. The AFO didn’t do anything, so maybe Sting just broke up the presentation of a lovely bowling trophy.

Christian Cage is ticked off and walks away from Jurassic Express’ interview. The Express doesn’t think much of ReDDragon’s records but they can have a title shot next week anyway.

Thunder Rosa is ready for Nyla Rose at Championship Fight Night on April 16.

Jamie Hayter isn’t shaking Toni Storm’s hand because she wants to win the Owen Hart tournament.

Owen Hart Foundation Qualifying Match: Hikaru Shida vs. Julia Hart

Hart still has the eye patch and sends the Varsity Blonds to the back. Hart gets in a shot in the corner which has Shida mad as we take an early break. Back with Shida pounding away and hitting a running knee in the corner. Hart rakes the eyes to get off of Shida’s shoulders though and a splits bulldog gets two. What looked to be Twisted Bliss only has Hart’s knees hitting the mat though and Shida elbows her down. Shida hits a spinning knee though and the Falcon Arrow is good for the pin at 7:40.

Rating: D+. Yozwa this didn’t work very well, as they felt like they were on different pages at times. The moves weren’t connecting very well, they didn’t seem to be communicating and it was just awkward throughout. It’s rare to see a match go this badly in AEW but this was a pretty bad showing.

Post match Serena Deeb comes out for a kendo stick/chair showdown with Shida before bailing. This feud MUST CONTINUE you see.

Shane Strickland had a good time at the Grammys but here is Team Taz to jump him. Keith Lee makes the save and drives Powerhouse Hobbs through a wall.

AAA Tag Team Titles/Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Young Bucks

The Bucks are challenging. Harwood headlocks Matt down to start and it’s off to Dax to do the same to Nick. An armdrag into an armbar keeps Nick down but everyone comes in for the big staredown. We settle down to Dax taking Matt down with a headlock, setting up double Sharpshooters from FTR. Nick rakes the Wheeler’s eyes for the break and it’s Matt hitting a middle rope elbow on Wheeler.

The Bret Hart pose sets up the tag off to Nick and we take a break. Back with Wheeler suplexing his way out of trouble but Matt cuts off the tag attempt. Harwood Matt outside though and kicks his way over for the tag off to Harwood. House is cleaned with Harwood chopping away in the corner and getting two off a small package. Matt’s backslide (with Harwood’s shoulder not on the mat) gets two, as does Harwood’s piledriver. The PowerPlex is loaded up but Nick cuts off Wheeler with a super hurricanrana.

A dropkick/bulldog combination connects but Harwood brainbusters Nick on the floor. Wheeler Gory Bombs Matt for two but what looks like a low blow takes Wheeler down. The Big Rig gets two on Wheeler and More Bang For Your Buck connects for the same. Nick gets in a belt shot for two more on Wheeler but Harwood dives in for the save.

There’s a double superkick to Harwood and the BTE Trigger gets….a Dusty Finish, as Wheeler gets his foot on the ropes just before three, meaning the pin is called off. The Meltzer Driver is loaded up but Harwood makes the save, setting up a slingshot powerbomb to Matt. The Tombstone plants Matt and, after the double kiss, the Big Rig retains the titles at 20:00.

Rating: A. This is what you can get when you tone the Bucks down. Two superkicks, one or two flips. It was much, much better than their usual stuff and a high quality match instead of their usual junk food wrestling. The Bucks are very impressive athletes, but there are times where they want to remind you of that a bit too much. Have someone to keep them on more of a leash and you get an instant classic like this.

At the same time, FTR can do absolutely no wrong at the moment. They did this in NXT and they are doing it in AEW. These guys are just great and are becoming must see television. That isn’t something that has been the case in tag wrestling since probably Edge and Christian vs. the Hardys vs. the Dudleyz and that was 20+ years ago. Awesome stuff here and absolutely worth seeing.

Overall Rating: B+. The main event absolutely lifted this show up as, aside from maybe the opener, it wasn’t exactly great. This was the week where they moved things forward for later though and you can see a lot of what they are going for at the next Battle of the Belts. FTR is an amazing team at the moment though and that’s about all you need to remember from this show. Check out that main event for sure.

Results
Adam Cole b. Christian Cage – Boom
Samoa Joe b. Max Caster – MuscleBuster
Shawn Dean b. Shawn Spears – Rollup
Hardys b. Butcher and the Blade – Swanton Bomb through a table to Blade
Hikaru Shida b. Julia Hart – Falcon Arrow
FTR b. Young Bucks – Big Rig to Matt

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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Rampage
Date: March 18, 2022
Location: Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks

We’re on late this week due to the NCAA Tournament so I’m not sure what kind of an audience this show is going to have. The good thing is Rampage is rarely the show that features a lot of important developments, but it does offer some good action more often than not. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Butcher vs. Darby Allin

Sting is in Allin’s corner. Allin charges right at him to start but gets sent into the corner and out to the floor. Back up on the apron and Allin slaps him in the face. They change places though and Allin hits a hard suicide dive into the barricade. Back in and Allin starts working on the hand but Butcher knocks him down again as Jericho talks about how a hand injury could hurt Butcher’s music career. A hard clothesline drops Allin and they head outside, with Butcher glaring at Sting.

We take a break and come back with Butcher putting on a Texas cloverleaf but Allin makes the ropes. Butcher picks him up on the floor and swings him into the barricade/steps. Allin fights up and knocks him down for a change, setting up the Coffin Drop from the top to the floor, which is actually good for a countout win at 10:41.

Rating: C+. I can go with a curve in the end as it spiced things up a bit here. Butcher looked like a good monster and that is something that will always have a place in a wrestling company. Allin needs something a little bigger than a feud with Andrade and company though, like perhaps just a feud with Andrade for a change.

Post match the AFO comes in for the beatdown but the Hardys run in for the save. Matt issues the challenge for an eight man Texas Tornado match next week, with the answer coming later.

Dan Lambert and company brag about winning the TNT Title and beating up Tay Conti, though they’re worried that signing Paige VanZant’s contract on her gave the contract an STD.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet

The fight starts on the ramp and Velvet hits a suplex to take Hirsch down. They get inside for the opening bell with Velvet hammering away as much as she can. Hirsch knocks her into the ropes and starts choking away as we take a break. Back with Velvet firing off some kicks but a bit one is countered into a suplex. A German suplex sets up a cross armbreaker but Velvet makes it to the ropes. Hirsch goes for her turnbuckle connector but here is Kris Statlander to take it away. The distraction lets Velvet hit a spinning kick to the face for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C. Velvet is someone who needs a good opponent to rein her in and Hirsch did well enough here, even if this was much more about the Statlander/Hirsch stuff. I don’t see Velvet going very far but she is a name that has been at least somewhat established around here. Not exactly a thrilling match but they have both done worse.

QT Marshall talks about his mom being so upset over what Hook did to him that she even called him. Apparently he went to the same high school as Bruce Springsteen and offers to give Hook the QT Marshall Certificate Of Accomplishment next week.

House Of Black vs. Fuego del Sol/Bear Country

Malakai Black sweeps Bear Bronson’s leg to start so it’s off to Fuego. Black kicks him down and knees Bear Boulder in the face. Buddy Matthews comes in for a few shots before Brody King gets to come in and wreck everyone. Bounder looks to stare the House down but it’s a series of strikes to set up King’s big lariat. Fuego comes in and goes after all three, including an enziguri to Black. King misses the big lariat but Matthews runs Fuego over. Black and King take out Bear Country, leaving Matthews to hit the former Murphy’s Law to pin Fuego at 3:19.

Rating: C. It was nice to see this be the squash that it should have been as I was half expecting it to go a lot longer than it needed to. The House of Black is a dominant enough faction and they looked good here, with Matthews and King getting the change to shine over the leader. I’m sure they’ll have to have their big showdown with Death Triangle whenever they’re all together, but I’d like to see where they go from there.

Penta Obscuro wants to destroy the House of Black.

Max Caster is ready to take out Keith Lee, with Bowens saying Lee sounds like King Henry VIII. Lee tells them to be prepared for pain because they are his stepping stone.

Keith Lee vs. Max Caster

Caster’s rap makes various Texas references, including saying people will remember Lee like the Alamo. Caster goes for the knee to start but Lee grabs him by the arm for some driving shoulders. Lee knocks him down again but Powerhouse Hobbs comes to the stage as we take a break. Back with Bowens choking Lee from the floor so Caster can get in some crossface shots. Lee fights up and Pounces Caster, setting up the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: C-. Lee is little more than signature moves at this point and while they still look good, this wasn’t a match I’ll ever need to see again. Caster isn’t exactly great in the ring in the first place and Lee can’t move very well anymore. It was longer than it needed to be and not very good either, making this a pretty weak main event.

Post match Hobbs and Starks go after Lee but Shane Strickland makes the save.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe it was the show being on so late but I wasn’t feeling this one as much as usual. Granted there is a good chance that they took things more slowly tonight because they knew no one was going to be watching and if so, fair enough. The wrestling was ok at best and the best thing about it was that it was only an hour, so this wasn’t one of the better Rampages.

Results
Darby Allin b. Butcher via countout
Red Velvet b. Leyla Hirsch – Spinning kick to the head
House Of Black b. Bear Country/Fuego del Sol – Spinning Samoan drop to del Sol
Keith Lee b. Max Caster – Big Bang Catastrophe

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