Dynamite
Date: January 31, 2024
Location: UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Taz

We’re about five and a half weeks away from Revolution and that means it is time to start putting together the rest of the card. That very well may begin tonight, at least partially due to the reintroduction of the championship rankings. Those could go in a few different directions so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Some CMLL stars are in the crowd.

Jon Moxley vs. Jeff Hardy

Matt Hardy is here with Jeff and this is a first time ever match. Moxley starts fast and they go out to the floor to start, with Moxley trying to rip out Jeff’s earring. Jeff chokes away a bit but Moxley gets back inside for a suicide dive. Back in and a hard clothesline drops Jeff again and Moxley ties up the legs with a headscissors at the same time (that’s a new one).

That’s broken up and Jeff is sent into the corner before they go back to the floor. Moxley almost gets into it with the CMLL guys so Hardy goes after him, only to get dropped again. We take a break and come back with Moxley tearing at the earlobe again but Jeff knocks him off the top.

The legdrop between the legs and basement dropkick give Jeff two but Moxley is back with the elbows to the neck. They head to the apron where Hardy hits the Twist of Fate but it’s too early for the Swanton. Instead Moxley superplexes him down and grabs the cutter. Jeff’s cradle gets two, only to have him miss the Swanton. Moxley chokes him out for the win at 15:04.

Rating: B-. This went longer than it needed to but this was the best way to use Hardy. He was clearly moving more slowly than he used to but he still has more than enough star power to feel somewhat important. Let him put on a nice enough match and make Moxley look good and that’s all you really need to do.

Post match Hardy won’t show respect before leaving. With the Hardys gone, the CMLL guys run in to beat down Moxley. An assortment of midcarders make the save.

Hangman Page vs. Toa Liona

Toa is Swerve Strickland’s handpicked opponent for Page. Some right hands don’t get Page far to start so Toa knocks him down. A sunset flip is blocked but Page hits a sliding basement lariat. Back up and Toa runs him over, only to get small packaged for two more. Toa gets low bridged out to the floor but some springboard lariats only seem to make him mat.

Page is tossed over the top to the floor for a crash and Toa crushes him with a crossbody off the apron. Toa knocks Page over the top again and we take a break. Back with Page tied in the Tree of Woe for a running headbutt. Page slugs away and hits a discus forearm so Toa gets two off a superkick.

Some running clotheslines stagger Toa until another turns him inside out. The Deadeye….just makes Toa pop up and hit a discus lariat. With Page down on the floor, Toa misses his moonsault but Page hits one of his own. Back in and Toa tries a Samoan drop but gets reversed into a crucifix for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: B-. Another good match here, but it could have been trimmed down a bit. It also would have helped to have this be someone other than half of the monster team. It doesn’t make for the more interesting match, as there are other wrestlers who could be used in this spot. While Swerve has Toa in his stable, that doesn’t make him the best choice to face Page. The result was right, but it wasn’t quite on that next level.

The Young Bucks arrived earlier today in a Hummer limo and got mad at being called Nick and Matt.

Wardlow vs. Komander

The Undisputed Kingdom is here with Wardlow. Komander gets thrown down to start and a pop up powerslam makes it worse. The toss F5 sends Komander flying but he reverses a powerbomb with a hurricanrana into the steps. Back in and a dropkick into a phoenix splash crushes Wardlow for two. Thankfully Wardlow is back up with a spinning powerslam and a knee to the face out of the corner. Wardlow’s leg seems to give out on the powerbomb but it’s good for the pin at 5:33 anyway.

Rating: C. It says a lot when this might have been the best performance from the Undisputed Kingdom, but my goodness if Wardlow is seriously hurt, just pull the plug already. You would have five members with two injured, two more who can barely beat thrown together teams and one more who has more than a month to go before his big title match.

Post match the Kingdom goes after Komander but Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends come in for the staredown.

We get a sitdown interview between Sting/Darby Allin and Ricky Starks/Big Bill. Starks isn’t happy that Sting got his first AEW win over him but Allin doesn’t buy it. Allin talks about how Starks is using Sting as a stepping stone and that’s not ok. Starks says he’s not letting Sting get to his retirement but Bill says this is a bunch of nonsense. Sting isn’t overly impressed and violence is teased but Sting is ready for action next week. They didn’t say much here, but it hyped up a title match that hasn’t had much build.

Chris Jericho vs. Kyle Fletcher

Non-title and the rest of the Don Callis Family are here with Fletcher. An early Michinoku Driver gives Fletcher two but Jericho sends him to the apron for the triangle dropkick. Back in and Fletcher hammers away until Jericho makes another comeback. Don Callis trips him down though and we take a break.

We come back with Fletcher kicking him in the chest and hitting a brainbuster for two. Jericho fights up with an ax handle to the head and the Walls go on, with Fletcher going straight to the ropes. Fletcher knocks him down but walks into a Codebreaker, meaning it’s time to slug it out. A brainbuster onto the buckle gives Fletcher two, with Jericho’s cradle getting the same. The Judas Effect finishes Fletcher at 13:12.

Rating: C+. The Callis vs. Jericho feud marches on, now with a reigning champion getting beaten. I’m not sure why that needed to happen, but the same thing could be said about the feud as a whole. Jericho getting a win to set up another match is fine, but did it need to come over a reigning champion?

Post match Konosuke Takeshita comes out for a staredown with Jericho.

Deonna Purrazzo talks about she and Toni Storm have matching tattoos. It means something to Purrazzo, but what does it mean to Storm?

Here is the Bang Bang Scissor Gang for a chat. They brag about being amazing, but don’t like that Cardblade is here. It’s all about the Juiceboard now but Billy and his kids argue over who gets to do the catchphrase. And that’s that. I have no idea what this segment was supposed to do.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie

Toni Storm is on commentary and Johnny TV is here with Valkyrie. They fight over a lockup to start with Purrazzo grabbing a wristlock. With that broken up, Taya grabs a leglock and they fight to the floor, with Purrazzo having to glare at TV. Valkyrie sends her into the steps and we take a break.

Back with Purrazzo hitting some strikes as Storm says neither of them are Wendi Richter. A Blue Thunder Bomb gives Valkyrie two and they head outside. Storm is ready to fight but Purrazzo sends Valkyrie into her for a knockdown. Back in and a double arm crank makes Valkyrie tap at 8:51.

Rating: C. Purrazzo got a nice win on her way to the title match with Storm, but it still feels a bit early to have her as a serious title contender. Storm’s weird obsession with Wendi Richter continues as a nice running joke and she is still a hilarious addition to commentary. Other than that, Valkyrie is a great choice to put Purrazzo over, as she has some stature and gave Purrazzo trouble before the loss.

Storm seems impressed by Purrazzo’s win.

Darby Allin is asked about his admiration for the Young Bucks. That has him confused, but here are the Bucks to interrupt. They like him, but why is Allin letting Sting leech money off of him? The Bucks think they could be a goth trio but Allin wants the Tag Team Titles. That leaves the Bucks to think of a new plan.

Swerve Strickland vs. ???

Samoa Joe is on commentary and the mystery opponent is…Rob Van Dam, as was teased. Hold on though as Hangman Page pops up on screen to say this is also a hardcore match, so Van Dam sends a chair into Strickland’s face. Van Dam kicks him around ringside and even hits the spinning leg to the back as we take a break. Back with Swerve in control and putting a chair in the corner.

As per the rules of wrestling, Van Dam sends him into the chair instead, followed by a dropkick with the chair going into Swerve for two. The monkey flip is blocked though and Swerve knocks him down again. Van Dam fights up so here is Brian Cage, only for Hook to make the save.

Rolling Thunder is countered into a rolling Downward Spiral to plant Van Dam again. Swerve sends him hard into the steps but Van Dam is able to pelt a chair at Swerve’s head, sending him crashing through a table. The Five Star only hits chair though and the House Call with a chair gets two. Swerve sends him into the corner and finishes with the Swerve Stomp at 12:44.

Rating: C+. As usual, Van Dam is a good choice for a one off opponent like this, as he can still go in the ring and the fans are going to react to him no matter what. At the same time, I’m trying to figure out why Page had the wrestling world at his fingertips for this and picked Van Dam. It’s not a bad pick, but are the two of them friends in a way that I’m missing? Anyway, good enough match, but kind of a weird choice.

Post match Page comes out to yell at Swerve about the upcoming rankings. They’re both undefeated this year and that means they should be at the top of the rankings. They’ll fight one more time, making the rankings rather worthless. The #1 contenders match is made official to end the show. As in before the rankings come out. So, based on what was said, winning a bunch of matches gets you in line for a #1 contenders match. So why do these rankings need to exist?

Overall Rating: B-. It’s far from a bad show and you can see a lot of Revolution coming together, but that doesn’t mean the show made me want to watch. Almost nothing going on in AEW at the moment feels like it’s must see and adding rankings/CMLL stars into that isn’t likely to help. AEW is in a weird place right now and it might take them awhile to get out of it. Revolution needs a hot feud and I don’t know if I see that in the cards.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Jeff Hardy – Rear naked choke
Hangman Page b. Toa Liona – Crucifix
Wardlow b. Komander – Powerbomb
Chris Jericho b. Kyle Fletcher – Judas Effect
Deonna Purrazzo b. Taya Valkyrie – Double arm crank
Swerve Strickland b. Rob Van Dam – House Call with a chair

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

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Collision
Date: January 27, 2024
Location: Brookshire Grocery Arena, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

This is the show opposite the Royal Rumble and that means there are two distinct options. The first choice would basically be to punt and wait for next week, or to load it up with something big in the end. AEW has chosen the second, with FTR/Daniel Garcia vs. the House of Black in an elimination cage match. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shane Taylor Promotions

The brawl starts on the floor with Moxley choking Taylor and Castagnoli beating up Moriarty. They get inside with Moxley kicking away at Taylor’s leg but getting knocked into the corner for his efforts. A missed charge allows Castagnoli to come in for the hard uppercuts but Moriarty breaks up the Swing. Everything breaks down again and Taylor sends Moxley into the steps.

Back up and Taylor hits an apron legdrop onto Castagnoli as Moxley is favoring his hand. A regular legdrop gives Taylor two on Castagnoli, who suplexes Taylor with some impressive power. Moxley comes back in to clean house, including a running knee to rock Moriarty. Castagnoli Swings Moriarty, who asks for time out, until Taylor makes the save. Moxley can’t get the rear naked choke on Moriarty, who is back with a European clutch for two. A Hart Attack hits Taylor and Moxley chokes him out for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: B-. This was a match that feels like it almost would have been better off taking place before the singles matches, as Moxley already beat both of them on his own. I’m not sure why that makes a tag match more interesting, as adding Castagnoli doesn’t exactly give me hope in the Promotions. Good enough match, but they might have gone one match too far with the story.

Undisputed Kingdom suggests they help Komander win the International Title so he can hold it for five weeks before Roderick Strong wins it at Revolution. Strong shakes his hand and says “deal” but it doesn’t seem like Komander understood.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Komander

Komander is challenging. They trade rollups for two each to start and it’s already a standoff. Komander won’t let Cassidy get his hands in the pockets and they fight over an inverted Gory Special. Cassidy gets his hands in his pockets, misses a dropkick, and nips up anyway. With Komander on the floor, here is the Undisputed Kingdom as we take a break.

Back with Cassidy superkicking him into the corner to set up the stomping but Komander gets up again. A middle rope head fake sets up a middle rope Canadian Destroyer for two on Cassidy and a frog splash gets the same. Komander kicks him in the face a few times but charges into the Beach Break for two more. Back up and Komander snaps off a hurricanrana but stops to dive onto the Undisputed Kingdom. The distraction is enough for the Orange Punch to retain the title at 10:12.

Rating: C+. I’m running out of ways to say “this is the same thing that Cassidy does in all his title defenses”. The match was perfectly fine but it feels like Cassidy has beaten most of the AEW roster at this point. There is nothing left for him to do but yet we have over a month before his serious title defense. I could go for doing the title match sooner, but it looks like we’re waiting for Revolution.

Post match Strong grabs the title and throws it at Cassidy.

Daniel Garcia has been attacked and left bloodied. That’s a bad sign before the main event.

We get a rant from Toni Storm after Dynamite about Deonna Purrazzo. She’ll even show up with Mariah May….but not in Bossier City. Something about race horses being put down.

Mariah May vs. Lady Frost

May fires off the forearms to start but Frost chops her against the ropes. A running flip neckbreaker takes May down but she’s right back with a running dropkick. We take a break and come back with May cutting off a comeback attempt but getting dropped on her head with a German suplex. May is fine enough to hit a shotgun dropkick, only to be sent into the corner for a Cannonball. Frostbite (moonsault) is broken up though and May Day gives May the pin at 6:59.

Rating: C. May is in a weird place as she’s kind of waiting for Storm’s story with Purrazzo to wrap up before anything she’s doing with Storm can really take off. For now it’s just May slowly getting frustrated with Storm, even though they barely had a relationship in the first place. It’s a weirdly put together story, but at least they’re setting May up in a way.

Swerve Strickland picks Toa Liona for Hangman Page on Dynamite.

Page won’t say who he’s picking for Strickland…but hints at Rob Van Dam.

Eddie Kingston vs. Willie Mack

Non-title Proving Ground match, meaning that if Mack wins or survives the ten minute time limit, he gets a future title shot. Mack knocks him straight into the corner to start and a brainbuster gets two on Kingston. There’s the Cannonball into the standing moonsault to give Mack two more but Kingston takes him down and strikes away.

Back up and Mack kicks him in the face before trying the moonsault, only to come up favoring his knee. Kingston exploders him for two but Mack’s knee is fine enough to hit a sitout powerbomb. They strike it out until Mack hits a Stunner, only to have the Six Star frog splash hit raised knees. Kingston’s spinning backfist finishes Mack at 6:02.

Rating: C+. This was a nice win for Kingston, even though Mack has lost so often that it’s hard to get interested in his matches. Kingston is starting to feel like he belongs at this level and that’s almost hard to believe given what kind of a career he had had. For now though, Kingston letting people he deems worthy have a chance is very in character for him and this made sense.

As Kingston is leaving, Bryan Danielson comes to the ring for his match but doesn’t even look at Kingston.

Yuji Nagata vs. Bryan Danielson

Eddie Kingston is on commentary. Feeling out process to start as Eddie praises Nagata and Nigel yells about Danielson. A early armbar doesn’t work for Danielson so Nagata takes over with a test of strength. We take a break and come back with Danielson working on the leg, including a running kick to the leg in said corner. The leg is wrapped around the post and Danielson adds a missile dropkick for two.

Nagata goes after the arm and hits an exploder before pulling Danielson into the crossface. That’s broken up as well and they strike away until Nagata takes him up top. A superplex is broken up but Nagata is fine enough to hit a super exploder. Nagata grabs what is better known as a Disarm-Her but Danielson slips out and grabs a dragon screw legwhip. They kick it out until Danielson hits a big one to the head. Danielson’s running knee finishes at 15:22.

Rating: B-. Nagata is a good example of someone I never quite “got”. He was boring during his WCW run and his time after, while much better, still isn’t something that makes me want to see more. It’s certainly not a question of his talent as he’s quite good at what he does, but there’s something missing from him that keeps him from being interesting and it was on display again here.

Post match respect is shown but Kingston doesn’t buy it.

FTR doesn’t know if Daniel Garcia is ready to wrestle but Mark Briscoe comes in to say he’s there if FTR needs him. FTR appreciates that and they’ll keep him in mind. Well that was quick.

Brian Cage is upset with losing the ROH Six Man Tag Team Titles but doesn’t know why people are talking about Hook. Cue Hook, who seems interested in giving Cage an FTW Title match. Well that was quick too.

Serena Deeb vs. Robyn Renegade

This is Deeb’s first match in about fifteen months. Deeb wrestles her to the mat to start and easily takes it into the ropes. They trade full nelsons and slaps to the face until Deeb hits a running clothesline. A neckbreaker over the middle rope drops Renegade and the Deebtox sets up the Serenity Lock to make Renegade tap at 2:58. Good, dominant return for Deeb.

Post match Deeb asks the fans if they missed her and it feels good to be back. She wants the title because this is what she does and she is back.

Some CMLL stars will be here next week.

FTR/Mark Briscoe vs. House Of Black

In a cage with escape only elimination rules (which is different than last week, when it was just elimination rules). Hold on though as here is the House to jump Briscoe during the entrances and send him off the stage. The big brawl is on outside the ring, with King crossbodying Wheeler against the barricade. Cue Daniel Garcia, with his head bandaged and swinging a chair for the save but the House takes him down as well.

Harwood and Garcia are sent inside with Wheeler left on the floor, meaning it’s 3-2. King gives Harwood a chokebomb but Garcia fights up…as Wheeler DIVES OFF THE CAGE onto everyone for a huge crash. We take a break and come back with Harwood spinebustering Black but Matthews kicks Garcia down. The House cleans house but it’s too early for any of them to escape.

The good guys fight back up and could leave….until Garcia opts to beat on the House even more. Wheeler Stomps Matthews but a brainbuster leaves everyone down again. Harwood and King go up and chop it out on the ropes until Harwood superplexes him down. That lets Harwood go to leave but King spears the door at him and they fall out at the same time. We take another break and come back with Matthews’ top rope Meteora connecting to leave all four down again.

Matthews and Wheeler go up and over, with Wheeler being bounds off the cage and through a table for the elimination. Hold on though as Matthews tries to go back up, only for Garcia to ram the cage to send him through another table at ringside. We’re down to one on one with Garcia vs. Black, with a referee being nice enough to tell them “three minutes”.

Garcia’s ankle lock is broken up and they’re both down again. Garcia tries to go up but cue Julia Hart with the mist. With Garcia blinded, Black goes to leave, only to have Garcia say come finish him. Black obliges and is promptly piledriven onto a chair. Garcia goes up as Black goes for the door, which Mark Briscoe slams onto his head to give Garcia the win at 22:54.

Rating: B. Yeah this was good, with the Briscoe interference not exactly feeling like cheating after Hart got involved. The elimination only thing was a little weird but I like the elimination stuff a lot more than someone getting a fluke fall. Garcia continues to do well in his supporting role, but there is always the chance of pushing him too hard, too fast. He looked rather strong here though and it was a violent, hard hitting match with the House going down to hopefully wrap up the feud.

Celebrating ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. The main event is the best part of the show but the rest was good enough. They feel like they’re starting to set the stage for Revolution and that is a great thing to see, as they’re timing it well. This was a good show, but it’s one that isn’t likely to draw a big audience due to what it’s up against. The main event is unique enough to be worth a look and the rest is fine, though you might want to have the fast forward button ready.

Results
Jon Moxley/Claudio Castagnoli b. Shane Taylor Promotions – Rear naked choke to Taylor
Orange Cassidy b. Komander – Orange Punch
Mariah May b. Lady Frost – May Day
Eddie Kingston b. Willie Mack – Spinning backfist
Bryan Danielson b. Yuji Nagata – Running knee
Serena Deeb b. Robyn Renegade – Serenity Lock
FTR/Daniel Garcia b. House Of Black – Garcia escaped the cage

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

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Dynamite
Date: January 24, 2024
Location: Enmarket Arena, Savannah, Georgia
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

The road to Revolution continues and the big story coming out of last week is what could be a three way feud between World Champion Samoa Joe, Hangman Page and Swerve Strickland. We should be able to find the next step in that story this week, plus a good bit more. Like Adam Copeland vs. Minoru Suzuki. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Samoa Joe to get things going. Joe talks about how people have to earn title shots but just like Hook last week, they’ll take a beating. Here is Hook to interrupt, saying Joe won last week, but they’ll see each other again. Joe bets Hook will, but calls for security to get him out of here. Cue security…with Hook beating them up before leaving. Well that was fast.

Hangman Page vs. Penta El Zero Miedo

Samoa Joe is on commentary. Penta does the usual pose to start so Page backs him into the corner. That earns Page some running Sling Blades but Page sends him into the corner for a running boot to the face. They trade chops in the corner until Penta has to slip out of the Deadeye. An exchange of clotheslines and superkicks leave them both down and we take a break.

Back with Penta kicking him to the floor for a big running flip dive. They get back inside where Page hammers away in the corner, followed by Penta’s running Death Valley Driver. Page avoids having the arm snapped and comes back with a sitout powerbomb for two. Neither can hit anything big on the apron so the Buckshot Lariat is countered into Made In Japan for two. Page is sent to the apron again but he counters a Canadian Destroyer into the Deadeye. Now the Buckshot finishes Penta at 13:45.

Rating: B. It was the kind of back and forth match that you would expect in this spot as Page gets a win over someone with some credibility. They were trading big spots here and while at times it felt like they were checking moves off a list they had planned to cover, it was still more than exciting enough stuff. At the very least, this should put Page on the road to the title match, where he seems destined to go.

Orange Cassidy is down to defend the International Title against Roderick Strong at Revolution. For now though, he’s setting up a match for Rampage where the winner gets a title shot on Collision.

The Young Bucks like the show’s format and want to be called Nicholas and Matthew. Backstage morale is way up and they want a great show! Top Flight come in and get chastised for being late but respect is shown. Do you get the joke yet? I’m not sure they’re hammering it in hard enough.

Trent Beretta vs. Wardlow

The Best Friends and the Undisputed Kingdom are here too. Wardlow knocks him into the corner to start and fires off some shoulders to the ribs. Trent manages to knock him outside and hits a dive, only to be driven into the barricade. We take a break and come back with Trent slugging away. A clothesline sends Wardlow outside, where a distracted referee misses Trent getting in a chair shot. Back in and a tornado DDT sets up a piledriver for two on Wardlow so Trent goes up top. Wardlow pulls him down into a knee and the powerbomb finishes Trent off at 7:59.

Rating: C+. Between this match and the Kingdom’s first match after being revealed, I’m really not sure what the thinking is with this team. They’re struggling to beat midcarders and haven’t shown the slightest bit of dominance. If Wardlow is supposed to be the guy to go after the World Title, he’s going to need a lot more than this, as needing eight minutes to beat Trent is hardly impressive.

Post match the beatdown is on but the Best Friends make the save.

Adam Copeland is ready for Minoru Suzuki.

Here are Deonna Purrazzo and Toni Storm for a face to face interview on the stage. Storm says she’s going to speak first because she has a massage scheduled. Purrazzo was recently body shamed which is ridiculous when there is SO MUCH MORE to shame about her. Storm threatens to twist Purrazzo’s lips around but Purrazzo says she’s here to be champion.

She’ll win the title arm by arm because this delusional Storm isn’t the one she wants. She wants the Storm who worked on the dojo floors and lived in Purrazzo’s house. They even show off matching ankle tattoos, which is why Storm doesn’t have Purrazzo fooled. Shoe throwing ensues and Purrazzo pulls her into the Venus de Milo, with Mariah May making the save. That added a little personal touch to the story, though Purrazzo still doesn’t sound overly confident with her promos.

Jon Moxley says the Blackpool Combat Club has won a lot of titles but haven’t had any victory parties. He’s ready to hurt anyone who gets in the ring with him.

Taya Valkyrie and Johnny TV aren’t happy with people jumping to the front of the line. That’s why Taya wants to face Deonna Purrazzo next week.

Swerve Strickland vs. Jeff Hardy

Matt Hardy is here with Jeff. They start slowly, with Swerve knocking him into the corner so Jeff has to hold his neck. Jeff shoves him away to get a glare from Swerve, who takes him down and goes for the arm. Matt offers a distraction though and Jeff gets out, only to be sent to the apron. A superkick drops Jeff again and Swerve drops him hard on the floor. Back up and Jeff manages a Poetry In Motion of the steps to take Swerve over the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Jeff knocking him off the top and hitting the Whisper In The Wind. Jeff kicks him in the face and hits a splash for two. Swerve gets in a knock off the top and they go outside, with Jeff hitting a Twist of Fate onto the steps. Back in and the Swanton hits raised knees, allowing Swerve to backslide him for two. The rolling Downward Spiral sets up a suplex into the Swerve Stomp to finish Jeff at 13:57.

Rating: C+. Well the right guy won, though he took his sweet time getting there. I get that they’re doing the Swerve/Hangman are matching each other, and that makes all the sense in the world assuming you ignore their two pay per view matches within the last ten weeks or so. Jeff wasn’t exactly his old self here, but he did seem like he was trying.

Post break Hangman Page is interrupted by Swerve Strickland, where they’re told they get to pick the other’s opponents for next week.

Red Velvet vs. Thunder Rosa

Velvet grabs the arm to start but Rosa drop toeholds her into the corner. They go outside with Velvet chopping away and we take a break. Back with Rosa hitting a running dropkick against the ropes but Velvet rolls her up or a double stomp. Rosa hits a dropkick and a Tijuana Bomb for the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C. Nothing much to see here, which tends to be the case with a good deal of the women’s matches. There is only so much you can do when about half of a match that doesn’t last eight minutes is in a break and that was the case here. Rosa is slowly getting back to her pre-injury status, but it is going to take a long time.

Here are Sting and Darby Allin for a chat. Allin talks about being asked what it means to be in the ring with Sting. He remembered hearing about Sting’s career being over and going down to Sting’s house in Texas. They got in a ring he had down there and within five minutes, Allin said “you still got it”. Now Sting is about to hang it up, but maybe they should go out as Tag Team Champions. Sting is in.

Big Bill and Ricky Starks accept Sting and Allin’s challenge.

Trios Titles: Mogul Embassy vs. Billy Gunn/Acclaimed

Gunn and the Acclaimed, with Bullet Club Gold, are defending. Cage drives Caster into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs to start. Caster grabs the arm and hands it off to Bowens to stay on said arm, only to have Cage pull him into the corner. Bowens fights up but Prince Nana offers a distraction, allowing Kaun to knock him off the apron.

We take a break and come back with Bowens hitting a Blockbuster but Toa cuts of the tag attempt. That doesn’t last long either, as Bowens gets over to Gunn for the house cleaning tag. Everything breaks down and Kaun faceplants Gunn for two. Kaun brings in a chair but Jay White takes it away, allowing Gunn to hit a cobra clutch slam. The Gunns powerbomb an interfering Nana through the timekeeper’s table, leaving Toa to take a not very good 3D. The Fameasser into the Arrival into the Mic Drop retains the titles at 8:52.

Rating: C+. It wasn’t boring, though there was a lot packed into this, with the interference and the chair and the match itself, all in less than nine minutes. Still though, the Club being involved gives me hope that we could be in for a title unification match. If nothing else, it would mean three less belts floating around and that sounds rather nice.

Serena Deeb returns on Collision.

Adam Copeland vs. Minoru Suzuki

They slug it out to start with Suzuki getting the better of things (shocking I know), including a hard forearm to put Copeland down. Copeland is back up and sends him to the apron for the big boot. The spear is countered into a guillotine though, with Copeland having to drive him through the barricade.

Back in and they slug it out again for another double knockdown. Back up and they slug it out again until Copeland grabs an Impaler. Copeland hits a quick spear for two but gets pulled into the rear naked choke. He reaches for the corner and the pad is pulled up, with Suzuki going face first into the buckle. A really not good Killswitch gives Copeland the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C+. I’m sure there was an audience for this and it definitely did feel like a major event, but I couldn’t get into the idea of Copeland and Suzuki trading forearms and then exchanging some finishers for Copeland to win in about nine minutes. It felt like a way to say “wait, those two had a match?”, which is ok, but doesn’t exactly guarantee the quality or interest.

Post match Copeland says he’s never been hit that hard and offers respect but Suzuki walks off instead. These two had the kind of match that Christian Cage has never had and Copeland is still coming for him.

Overall Rating: C+. There was some good wrestling in here but a grand total of nothing felt important. This show felt like AEW was saying “here’s two hours of stuff, see you next week”. While that’s not good, it’s something that every promotion has done before and it just happens on occasion. They have a stacked Collision and next week’s Dynamite could very well be back to full form, so hopefully we can call this a one off slip and move on.

Results
Hangman page b. Penta El Zero Miedo – Buckshot Lariat
Wardlow b. Trent Beretta – Powerbomb
Swerve Strickland b. Jeff Hardy – Swerve Stomp
Thunder Rosa b. Red Velvet – Package spinning slam
Acclaimed/Billy Gunn b. Mogul Embassy – Mic Drop to Toa
Adam Copeland b. Minoru Suzuki – Killswitch

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

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Collision
Date: January 20, 2024
Location: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

The card is looking pretty good here as Jon Moxley is back after his recent New Japan matches. In this case he’ll be fighting Shane Taylor, which should be a heck of a showdown. Other than that, we have another Adam Copeland open challenge and that could go in a variety of directions. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Shane Taylor vs. Jon Moxley

Lee Moriarty is here with Taylor. They slug it out to start with neither being able to get very far until Taylor knocks him into the corner. A hard chop brings Moxley down but he’s back up to trade chops. Taylor hits a running splash in the corner and he backdrops his way out of a piledriver attempt. They go outside with Moxley sending him into the steps as Nigel makes a joke about how Moxley is likely about to bleed.

Moriarty gets in a cheap shot though and Taylor grabs a chinlock back inside. Taylor misses the middle rope splash, allowing Moxley to grab a running cutter. The King Kong Lariat gives Moxley two but Taylor hits his own clothesline. Back up and they trade headbutts until Taylor hits a powerbomb, only to get pulled into a triangle choke. Taylor dead lifts his way out, only to have Moxley elbow him in the face. Back up and they slug it out until Moxley pulls him into the bulldog choke for the knockout at 9:37.

Rating: B. Sometimes you just need two guys to beat the fire out of each other and that’s what we had here. Moxley can hang in fights like this one and Taylor has the raw power to make his half work too. It was an entertaining slugout and Moxley gets to come back with a bang after a few weeks away.

Post match Moxley says this is going to be his year and if you want to be his opponent or teammate, you better keep up.

We look at Hook vs. Samoa Joe from Dynamite.

Adam Copeland vs. Dante Martin

Copeland grabs a headlock to start but Martin is back up with some leapfrogs into an armbar. Back up and Copeland manages to send him outside as we take an early break. Back with Copeland holding a headlock. Martin fights up but gets sent to the apron, where he has to fight out of a sunset bomb to the floor. A hurricanrana takes Copeland down as commentary thinks Martin’s balance and equilibrium are off.

Back in and the half nelson slam is broken up but Copeland misses the spear. Martin hits the Nose Dive for two as Copeland has to grab the rope. Commentary says Martin has vertigo (egads if true as that is a nightmare) as he goes up, only to get caught on top. Martin is fine enough to hit a sunset bomb for two but another springboard is speared out of the air. Copeland’s Grindhouse finishes at 11:51.

Rating: B. If Martin wrestled that match with vertigo, my goodness it’s an amazing performance. That is one of the nastiest conditions you can have and the idea of walking in a straight line, let alone wrestling a match, would be horrible. For now though, this was another match where Copeland got to go in there and have a good one against some younger star, which makes for some interesting situations. They’re not instant classics or anything, but Copeland wrestling a random wrestler once a week is not a bad idea whatsoever.

Post match Tony Schiavone gets in the ring to talk to Copeland, who wonders what he was thinking with these open challenge. He sees a bunch of young guys going after him instead of a veteran. They want to take a bite out of him and there’s a lot to eat. Copeland: “I’m a five course dinner. I don’t know what the h*** that means.” He’s coming for the TNT Title and he’ll be champion the next time he wrestles in this city.

Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli aren’t happy with losing to Eddie Kingston in the Continental Classic and want revenge in the main event.

Private Party interrupts Top Flight and Action Andretti so a match is set up.

Queen Aminata vs. Thunder Rosa

Feeling out process to start with Aminata grabbing an armbar and shaking her hips a bit for some mind games. They run the ropes until Aminata drops down, allowing Rosa to cradle her for two. Aminata hits a backbreaker for two and then drives some knees to the ribs. Rosa is fine enough to send her outside for a dropkick through the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Aminata kicking her in the back again, with Rosa’s eyes bugging out. Rosa is fine enough to strike away in the corner, setting up some running knees. A running dropkick against the ropes sets up a northern lights suplex for two but Aminata’s Air Raid Crash gets two. Rosa wins a kick off and grabs the Tijuana Bomb for the pin at 9:19.

Rating: B-. This was the kind of physical win that Rosa needed and Aminata put in a good showing. I liked the idea of focusing on Rosa’s recently injured back as it’s a simple yet effective way to go, but the break in the middle took away some of the momentum they were building. At the same time, Aminata has now had six televised matches (counting ROH) this month alone. It’s ok to hit the brakes on her a bit.

Eddie Kingston and Ortiz are ready for Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli tonight. Kingston doesn’t have time for this.

Here is Bullet Club Gold, with Colten imitating the Rock’s catchphrase and Jay White talking about being glad to be back on Saturday. There is something missing though….and we have a cardboard cutout of Juice Robinson. If you’re not down with them, they have two words for you. Cue Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed (minus rap for some reason) to interrupt and again offer to form a super group. The people want to see these guys getting some gold, which gives us a BANG BANG SCISSOR GANG chant. Bowens gives a heck of a speech….and the Club is in!

Toni Storm admits she knows Deonna Purrazzo and threatens to beat and eat her. Storm: “Now where is my pork dinner?”

Buddy Matthews vs. Daniel Garcia

The House Of Black and FTR are here too and Matt Menard is on commentary. Matthews powers Garcia down to start and then knocks him to the floor. Back in and Garcia hits a running shoulder to put Matthews on the floor for a change. All six get up on the apron for a staredown and we take a break.

Back with Garcia escaping a powerbomb on the apron and hitting a piledriver to plant Matthews. They both barely beat the count, with Garcia hammering away back inside. Garcia wraps the knee around the post and even grabs the Hartbreaker to make it worse. The Dragonslayer goes on but Matthews grabs the head and slams it into the mat for the break. Matthews hits a knee to the face into a Jackhammer for two as the fans think this is awesome. Garcia dances at him from his knees so Matthews grabs a powerbomb, which is reversed into a jackknife rollup to give Garcia the pin at 11:19.

Rating: B. This is the kind of Garcia who could get somewhere, as he’s starting to figure some things out. It’s one of the better matches he’s had and having him there to even the odds with FTR against the House is a good idea. Keep this up and they might have something, as long as they don’t go too far with it too fast as they did before.

Post match the fight is on and the locker room comes in to help break it up. The fans were WAY into this as it was a hot fight.

Post break FTR and Daniel Garcia want a six man elimination tag….in a cage.

Roderick Strong vs. Matt Sydal

The Kingdom is here with Strong and yes we get a Generation Next reference. Strong pulls him into a quickly broken surfboard to start so they grapple against the ropes. Sydal sends him outside for a crash and we take a break. Back with Sydal in trouble but elbowing his way out of a fireman’s carry. Some running shots to the face take Strong down but he’s back up with the jumping knee to the face. End of Heartache is the end of Sydal at 8:15.

Rating: C+. They kept this going fast but there is only so much you can get out of an eight minute match with a break in the middle. Sydal continues to be the good hand who hang in there with just about anyone but isn’t likely to win match. That makes it a valuable win for Strong as he is on his way to the International Title match at Revolution.

Eddie Kingston/Ortiz vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Bryan Danielson

Kingston and Danielson start things off with the fans not being sure who they like more. They trade some poses and don’t actually make any contact until nearly two minutes in. A lockup doesn’t go anywhere so Danielson starts kicking away at the leg. That lets Danielson pose some more until Kingston snapmares him down for a kick to the back. Ortiz comes in for a double suplex so it’s off to Castagnoli for the hard uppercut.

Ortiz dropkicks them both at once but Castagnoli drops him face first onto the buckle to cut that off fast. We take a break and come back with Ortiz fighting out of a chinlock. That’s not enough for the tag though as Danielson comes in to kick at Ortiz, who says bring it. As we’re told that the ranking system is returning (erg), Ortiz escapes and brings Kingston in for the showdown with Castagnoli.

Kingston fires of the machine gun chops in the corner but Castagnoli hits a hard clothesline. Danielson adds the top rope headbutt for two, followed by Castagnoli sending Ortiz into the barricade. Back in and Kingston hits a quick DDT on Danielson, allowing the tag off to Ortiz. A t-bone suplex drops Castagnoli and Kingston hits him with a suicide dive. Danielson manages a LeBell Lock on Ortiz, who gets over to the ropes. That leaves Danielson to stomp away as Castagnoli holds Kingston. The running knee gives Danielson the pin at 16:13.

Rating: B-. This was the match that got the most time but it wasn’t quite as good as some of the other things that were on the card. What mattered here was having Danielson get a win, which should set him up for a title shot against Kingston down the line. It’s a good enough main event, which says a lot when it was one of the weaker matches on the card.

Ortiz apologizes to Kingston to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. There was more than enough good to very good action here to make this one of the better Collisions in awhile. This show felt a bit more straightforward as you had wrestlers in feuds and matches that advanced those feuds. That is what AEW has tended to shine and it’s nice to see them doing it again here. Pretty awesome show this week as Collision is starting to get back to what works.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Shane Taylor – Bulldog choke
Adam Copeland b. Dante Martin – Grindhouse
Thunder Rosa b. Queen Aminata – Tijuana Bomb
Daniel Garcia b. Buddy Matthews – Jackknife rollup
Roderick Strong b. Matt Sydal – End Of Heartache
Bryan Danielson/Claudio Castagnoli b. Eddie Kingston/Ortiz – Running knee to Ortiz

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

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Dynamite
Date: January 17, 2024
Location: North Charleston Coliseum, North Charleston, South Carolina
Commentators: Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, Taz

It’s time for a special main event with Hook challenging Samoa Joe for the World Title. That should make for an interesting learning experience for Hook but the question seems to be what happens next. We’re coming up on Revolution and the show needs a card to be set up so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

We open with a video on Hook vs. Samoa Joe.

TNT Title: Christian Cage vs. Dustin Rhodes

Cage, with Killswitch and Nick Wayne, is defending. They fight over a lockup to start and roll around the ropes with neither getting anywhere. Cage hammers away in the corner but Rhodes is right back with the rolling powerslam for two. The fight heads outside with Cage being sent into the steps and Rhodes hitting a clothesline off of those steps. Back in and Cage knocks him off the top and out to the floor, setting up a big dive.

We take a break and come back with Rhodes missing a crossbody to fall outside. Rhodes gets back in to slug it out from their knees until the bulldog gives Rhodes two. The Code Red gets two more so Cage goes outside, where he cuts off a dive. Back in and a frog splash gives Cage two so he grabs the belt, only to have it taken away.

Rhodes grabs a small package but Wayne turns it over to give Cage two more. Back up and Shattered Dreams connects and Cross Rhodes connects for a VERY near fall. Rhodes stops to go after Wayne so Cage hits a spear into the Killswitch….for two. Cage is stunned so he hits another Killswitch to retain at 15:26.

Rating: B. I wasn’t looking forward to this one coming in and they had a heck of a match with Rhodes trying everything he could but coming up short in the end. Rhodes as the guy who just does not age is rather impressive and Cage’s great run continues. Awesome match here and they were absolutely rolling by the end.

Swerve Strickland is going to be focused on the main event because he’s watching everything. Yes he wants the World Title but yes he’s also watching Hangman Page. The thing is, Page could beat everyone in AEW to the Lord himself…but he can’t beat Swerve.

Chris Jericho wants revenge on the Don Callis Family. Matt Sydal of all people comes in to say he wants a match tonight so they’re on (with Jericho making a Bourne reference).

Trent Beretta/Orange Cassidy vs. Komander/Penta El Zero Miedo

Cassidy and Penta go face to face to start with both of them taking the other to the mat for a string of misses. Trent comes in and reverses Komander’s springboard dive into a half and half suplex. We take a break and come back with Komander sending Trent to the floor, followed by the big running flip dive.

Back in and the spike Fear Factor is broken up, allowing Trent to come back inside to hammer on Komander. Penta kicks Trent in the head though and adds a Canadian Destroyer. Cassidy has to dive over the referee for the save so Komander goes up top. The Phoenix splash misses though and Trent adds the running knee. Cassidy hits Penta with the Beach Break, followed by the Orange Punch to Komander. The Crunchy finishes for Trent at 10:16.

Rating: B-. This was another fast paced match with Cassidy and Trent hanging in there with the faster team. I could go for more of Trent as he’s an underrated star, but at the same time, Cassidy seems all but destined for a big showdown with Roderick Strong. Penta and Komander were just opponents here, but their high flying stuff was as entertaining as ever.

Post match here is the Undisputed Kingdom, with Roderick Strong wanting Orange Cassidy to take off his glasses for the staredown. Strong wants an International Title shot because he is coming for the title. Fans: “SHUT THE F*** UP.” Cassidy is willing to put the title on the line right now….but let’s wait until Revolution because Strong wants Cassidy to think about it. Strong is a dumb villain.

Hangman Page (looking more like Magnum TA every week) wants the World Title back. Oh and it doesn’t matter if he can’t beat Swerve Strickland, because Swerve isn’t World Champion.

Here is Mark Briscoe, with his family in the crowd, for a chat on the anniversary of his brother’s death. Jay’s daughters were in the car with him and one was told she would never walk again. Well here she is, walking on her own (with presumably her sister and brother). That’s awesome.

Video on Jay Briscoe.

We get a sitdown interview with the Young Bucks, who want to be called by their full names because they are Executive Vice Presidents. You have heard some things about them, but what would you do to protect your family? Things were changing and they needed to stop leaning on yesterday’s self serving cancerous stars. Sting is the last of a dying breed so it’s time to get rid of him too. When asked if that’s a direct call out for Revolution, they leave for the sake of a meeting. I can’t believe it but somehow they’re more annoying than they were before.

Ring Of Honor Six Man Tag Team Titles: Bullet Club Gold vs. Mogul Embassy

The Club is challenging. Kaun strikes away at White to start so it’s off to the Gunns to take him down. Cage comes in with a superkick and it’s Kaun coming back in for an elbow as we take a break. Back with Colten cleaning house and getting two off a neckbreaker. The Embassy takes him back down though and a sitout powerbomb into an Air Raid Crash gets two.

Colten backdrops his way out of trouble and hands it back to White to strike away at Kaun. 3:10 To Yuma hits Cage but a Prince Nana distraction lets Kaun hit a fireman’s carry gutbuster. Cue Anthony Bowens for a distraction though and White hits the Blade Runner for the pin and the titles at 9:31.

Rating: C+. If there is any sanity around here, this will lad to a unification match to get rid of one set of the Six Man Titles. There has never been any need to have two sets of them around and now it’s time to get rid of one. Other than that, you had a good enough match with a title change that needed to happen due to Cage’s injury.

Post match the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn come out for the staredown.

Adam Cole hypes up Wardlow as the new wrecking ball on his way to the World Title.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Anna Jay

Toni Storm is on commentary. Purrazzo spins out of a wristlock to start and rolls Jay up for a fast one. Jay has to bail over to the ropes, where she grabs a neckbreaker over the ropes. We take a break and come back with Purrazzo getting two off a clothesline. Jay kicks her in the face for two more but the Queenslayer is countered into a quickly broken armbar. They forearm it out until Purrazzo pulls her into the Venus de Milo (double armbar) for the tap at 6:40.

Rating: C. There was barely enough to rate here with the commercial involved and that’s pretty normal for a lot of women’s matches around here. Purrazzo is off to a good start and I wouldn’t be surprised if she got the next title shot either on a big Dynamite or at Revolution. As usual, Anna loses after building up some momentum, which tends to be her case.

Post match Purrazzo says she doesn’t know what is up with Toni Storm, but Purrazzo has changed as well. Storm has never met the Virtuosa, but Storm calls her an artificially tanned hag. The shoe is thrown and Purrazzo chases her off.

Top Flight vs. Private Party

Kassidy takes Darius down to start but they nip up for the staredown. Everyone gets in for the staredown and it’s off to Dante vs. Quen. Dante takes him down by the arm but Kassidy is back in with a springboard crossbody. We take a break and come back with Darius working on Kassidy’s arm as commentary talks about almost anything else. Kassidy fights up and brings in Quen to clean house, including a 450 to Dante. Everything breaks down and Dante knees Quen in the face. Gin and Juice takes Dante down, leaving Quen to roll up Darius (while grabbing the rope) for the pin at 10:11.

Rating: B-. Take two high flying teams and let them go nuts for a bit. It’s a little strange to see Private Party come back and have a fairly high profile match like this one but at least they won. I can go for Private Party as villains, but AEW needs to actually go somewhere with them or it won’t matter.

Video on Sting and Darby Allin.

AEW World Title: Hook vs. Samoa Joe

Only Joe’s title is on the line. Hook goes right after him to start and they’re already on the floor, where Joe strikes away. Back in and Joe hits a jumping enziguri in the corner, followed by the hard kick to the chest. Hook gets in some shots of his own and knocks Joe outside, setting up the big forearm from the apron. Joe isn’t having that and release Rock Bottoms him through the announcers’ table.

That earns him a double middle finger so Joe powerbombs Hook onto the apron. Back in and Joe snaps off a powerslam for two, followed by a Death Valley Driver for the same. The MuscleBuster gets one but Hook is back up with some running clotheslines and the t-bone suplex. Redrum goes on but Joe reverses into the Koquina Clutch for the knockout win at 8:45.

Rating: B. This is a good example of a match that was pretty much exactly what you would have expected but better. Hook wasn’t going to win the title here but he brought the energy and Joe felt like he was in a fight. Granted I could have gone without the new World Champion’s finisher only getting a one count, but otherwise Joe looked like a killer as usual.

Post match Joe gives him another MuscleBuster but here is Hangman Page to chase Joe off. Swerve Strickland is watching from the crowd and stares at Page as Hook leaves to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show that focused on the wrestling and that ranged from pretty good to very good. They also took some steps towards Revolution as you can see a lot of the card from here. If you take out the Young Bucks making me want to put my head through a wall, it’s that much better of a show. Rather strong show this week and I had a good time throughout.

Results
Christian Cage b. Dustin Rhodes – Killswitch
Orange Cassidy/Trent Beretta b. Komander/Penta El Zero Miedo – Crunchy to Komander
Bullet Club Gold b. Mogul Embassy – Blade Runner to Kaun
Deonna Purrazzo b. Anna Jay – Venus de Milo
Private Party b. Top Flight – Rollup to Darius while grabbing the rope
Samoa Joe b. Hook – Koquina Clutch

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

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Dynamite
Date: January 10, 2024
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

We’re back to Jacksonville for the Homecoming show, which is likely going to focus on a lot of the greatest hits. At the same time, there is still a chance that some of the regulars are going to be over in Japan, so it is hard to say who will be around for the show. We’re also less than two months away from Revolution so it might be time to start getting ready. Let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Hangman Page vs. Claudio Castagnoli

They start fast and slug away with the fight heading to the floor. Castagnoli gets the better of things before they head back inside. A bunch of forearms to the head rock Page and Castagnoli gets the Swing, setting up the Sharpshooter. The rope is grabbed so Castagnoli slugs away again, only to get caught with a fall away slam.

A springboard clothesline sends Castagnoli to the floor and there’s a slingshot dive to hit him again. We pause for Page to have a fan’s beer, with Castagnoli gorilla pressing him over the top and onto the ramp. Back from a break with the fight on the ramp, with Page clotheslining Castagnoli into the ring. The Buckshot Lariat is countered into Swiss Death for two and they slug it out back inside.

Page knocks him to the floor hits a moonsault, followed by another off the stage to drop Castagnoli again. A Tombstone gives Page two and they both need a breather. They trade more hard shots until the Deadeye gives Page two. Castagnoli takes him to the corner and tries a super Riccola Bomb but Page reverses into a hurricanrana. That and a pair of Buckshot Lariats finish Castagnoli at 17:05.

Rating: B. For a cold match, this was a heck of a fight with both guys laying it in as well as they could. That’s all you can ask for out of a match like this and they made it work rather well. Page needs the win as he seems primed for another match with Swerve Strickland so starting against Castagnoli is a good thing. As for Castagnoli…oh he’ll be fine as always.

We take a quick look at Brodie Lee.

Dustin Rhodes/ Preston Vance/Orange Cassidy/Adam Copeland vs. Mogul Embassy/Lance Archer

Jake Roberts and Prince Nana are here with the heels. Rhodes powerslams Toa to start and hands it off to Vance, who gets driven into the corner. Cage comes in to send Vance into the buckles but it’s off to Copeland to slug away. Cassidy gets to come in and tires his usual on the Gates of Agony, with Toa Pouncing him out to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Archer beating on Cassidy in the corner. Roberts and Jose the Assistant get in a fight on the floor, with the distraction letting Cassidy fight over to Vance. House is cleaned and everything breaks down, with Copeland Impalering Cage. The villains clear the ring but Archer and Cage hit each other, leaving Copeland to spear Cage down. Vance’s discus lariat finishes Cage at 10:21.

Rating: B-. This was a bit about Brodie Lee but more about getting some people on the show, even in something of a random fashion. The match was the usual form of chaos and it was good enough for a match that got a bit of time. That being said, Copeland being in there felt a bit off, as this kind of match seems somewhat beneath him. Anyway, nice stuff here, even with Vance feeling out of place.

Bullet Club Gold wants the Trios Titles so here are the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn, who again suggest an alliance. The Club wants more time to think about it.

Here is Samoa Joe to get things going. After a THANK YOU JOE chant, it’s time to make some changes to who gets title shots. Here are the changes that we’re making: no more whining and crying here or on social media. Bring your record and your reputation and submit it to the championship committee. If you’re deemed worthy, you get the right to get beaten up. The new championship era is here and for all who want a piece of him, our champion will be waiting….and here is Swerve Strickland, flanked by the Mogul Embassy.

Swerve declares this his house and says the same thing he said to Hangman Page: this isn’t personal, but Swerve wants something Joe has. Now once he takes the title, and Joe makes it personal, Swerve can do that too. Cue Page to interrupt, saying he’s throwing his name in the title picture too. Page talks about what he did in 2023 and promises to make the title his in the new year. Swerve is about to go after him but leaves instead.

Joe and Page go face to face, with Page saying he remembers what Joe did and promises to take the title. With everyone else gone, here is Hook to confront Joe. Hook gets in his face and says one week before leaving. Even Taz sounds confused. Hook in a one off title match where he gets to showcase himself in defeat isn’t a bad idea, as it isn’t like he has anything else going on.

Toni Storm didn’t watch Mariah May’s match and is worried about Wendi Richter rather than the debuting Deonna Purrazzo. May: “She kicked me in the face.” Storm: “Darling, have a chocolate.” She wants to meet this Donna Polazzo but can’t remember the last line of her catchphrase. May tries to help her and is told she’s ruined the moment. This was absolutely hilarious.

Ricky Starks vs. Sammy Guevara

Starks works on the wristlock to start but Guevara is back with a headlock. Guevara knocks him outside for the moonsault, with Starks coming up favoring his arm. Back up and they fight on the apron, with Starks hitting a double underhook faceplant to take over as we take a break.

We come back with Guevara knocking him down but moonsaulting onto raised boots. Starks’ sitout powerbomb gets two but he has to reverse the GTS into a rollup for two more. Back up and Guevara kicks him in the face twice and grabs a quick small package for the pin at 9:22.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure if something happened in there but Starks was looking off for a good chunk of the match. The ending came a bit out of nowhere too and made things feel all the weirder. They did the right thin by having Guevara win of course, as the Tag Team Title match is looming this weekend

Post match respect is shown but it’s a ruse for Big Bill to come in and beat up Guevara. Chris Jericho runs in from behind for the save. Jericho and Bill fight into the crowd while Guevara celebrates with fans.

Willow Nightingale/Kris Statlander/Anna Jay/Thunder Rosa vs. Saraya/Ruby Soho/Skye Blue/Julia Hart

Harley Cameron is here with Saraya and company. Anna and Soho lock up to start with the former snapping off a headscissors. Nightingale comes in for the basement crossbody before it’s off to Rosa vs. Hart. The villains get to stomp away in the corner but Rosa elbows her way out of trouble. It’s back to Nightingale to take over but Cameron shoves her off the top.

We take a break and come back with Statlander getting the tag to come in and clean house. A falcon Arrow gives Statlander two and the villains get caught in a quadruple suplex, leaving commentary trying to figure out how to call it. Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns. We get a Jay vs. Hart slugout until Blue tags herself in and superkicks Jay. That’s fine with Anna, who pulls her into the Queenslayer for the tap at 8:58.

Rating: C+. This got a hair more time than women’s matches tend to get around here and that helped things out a bit. At the same time, there is only so much you can do with eight women in a match that barely gives them a minute each. At least it got them on the show though, and in this case that feels like the main goal.

Wheeler Yuta doesn’t like Eddie Kingston and challenge him for the Continental Crown on Rampage. Of note: commentary says that if Yuta wins, he’s a quadruple champion, so apparently all of the titles are defended at once.

Bryan Keith vs. Roderick Strong

The rest of the Undisputed Kingdom is here too. Keith kicks him down to start and chops away before taking it to the apron. Strong fights back and takes him back inside for the stomps in the corner. An enziguri into the Angle Slam gives Strong two but Keith kicks him in the face again. Diamond Dust plants Strong and Keith rolls him up for two, only to get kneed in the face. End o Heartache finishes for Strong at 4:21.

Rating: C+. This was a better debut than the Kingdom had as part o the team last week. At the very least, Strong didn’t take a good while to pick up the win, which should get him closer to Orange Cassidy and the International Title. Keith feels like he is on an extended tryout and that might be better. While he is talented, the roster is heavy enough already and adding someone else doesn’t seem like the best idea, at least with someone of Keith’s status.

Post match the team gets in the ring, with Adam Cole promising that the team is going to win a lot of titles.

Deonna Purrazzo wants the Women’s Title and will debut on Collision. Red Velvet comes in and seems to accept the challenge.

Jim Ross joins commentary for the main event.

Sting/Darby Allin vs. Don Callis Family

Texas Tornado tag with Ric Flair and Don Callis here too. It’s a brawl to start with Sting chasing Hobbs into the crowd and hitting him with a chair. Takeshita and Allin follow in a different area as Hobbs is sent into some trashcans. Back at ringside, Takeshita hits a scary rolling German suplex on Allin and we take a break.

We come back with Allin being tossed into a powerslam, with Sting (looking spent) having to make a save. The Family sends Allin flying, with a nasty landing head first in the ropes. Sting gets kneed down by Takeshita….s Flair comes in to chop away at Hobbs. Sting is back up for the save and they all fight to the stage, with Allin being sent into the wall.

Takeshita’s running knee misses so Allin climbs the stage and Coffin Drops onto Takeshita, who kind of guides him down instead of catching him. Hobbs and Sting fight along the platform around ringside, with Sting hitting a Death Drop off said platform and through the announcers’ table for the in at 9:59.

Rating: B-. To call this wild would be an understatement, with Sting and Allin doing some crazy bumps that are probably not exactly safe. For now though, Sting’s retirement tour continues with another win, and now all he needs is to get through Revolution in less than two months. This was a crazy main event, but at times it was scarier than it needed to be.

Post match Sting is asked who he wants to face in his final match…..and here are the Young Bucks to interrupt. The staredown seems to say the match is on to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a weird theme to this show as it felt like they were trying to get in as much stuff as they could. Granted that is probably due to what seems like some of the bigger names still missing, which is ok for a one off. The good thing is they still do have a lot more time before Revolution, so having more of a fun show designed to set things up for the future is hardly some terrible choice. They tried something different here and it worked well enough to get by for a week.

Results
Hangman Page b. Claudio Castagnoli – Buckshot lariat
Orange Cassidy/Preston Vance/Adam Copeland/Dustin Rhodes b. Mogul Embassy/Lance Archer – Discus lariat to Cage
Sammy Guevara b. Ricky Starks – Small package
Willow Nightingale/Anna Jay/Thunder Rosa/Kris Statlander b. Saraya/Ruby Soho/Julia Hart/Skye Blue – Queenslayer to Blue
Roderick Strong b. Bryan Keith – End Of Heartache
Sting/Darby Allin b. Don Callis Family – Scorpion Death Drop through a table to Hobbs

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

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Dynamite
Date: January 3, 2024
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the show after Worlds End and Samoa Joe is the new World Champion. In what might be a bigger story though, Adam Cole was revealed as the Devil, with his henchmen (Wardlow/The Kingdom/Roderick Strong) wrecking MJF to end the show. We’re about two months from Revolution and it might be time to start the slow build. Let’s get to it.

Here is Worlds End if you need a recap.

We get a video from after Worlds End where a rather serious Samoa Joe talks about how MJF might be a scumbag but he’s a mean SOB. He’s going to take everything from anyone who tries to take the title from him. This was intense Joe and that is a great thing.

We look at the Devil/Henchmen reveal.

Here are Adam Cole and the henchmen, now with a graphic saying UNDISPUTED, for a chat. Roderick Strong tells us to shut up and listen to his best friend, ADAM. Cole finds it ironic that people were appalled and SHOCKED at him being the Devil. It means people are not only stupid but they also don’t understand right and wrong. Cole turned on MJF, who has talked bad about everyone in that locker room, but people are mad at him?

MJF only cares about himself and he’s never coming back. The second MJF felt like he didn’t need Cole anymore, he would have done the same thing. Cole never needed MJF but MJF needed him, which is why Cole sacrificed everything. No one would have cared about MJF without Cole and you can chant all you want, but MJF is dead. This is the Undisputed Kingdom, and they want gold.

Roderick Strong wants the International Title and Wardlow is after the AEW World Title. Then when the time is right, Wardlow is going to forfeit the title to Cole (Wardlow doesn’t seem opposed). That brings us to Samoa Joe, and it was nice to do business with him. This includes taking out Hangman Page for him, but it would suck to see Wardlow hurt Joe when it’s time to get there. The Devil is here to stay….bay bay.

The team poses but here is Jay White of all people to interrupt. He liked what happened to MJF, but he isn’t happy with being the catalyst to start all this. Cue the Gunns so Wardlow gets Cole to the floor so the fight can be on. Wardlow gets back in though and the Undisputed Kingdom takes over. Cue the Acclaimed and Billy Gunn to chase the Kingdom off but Bullet Club Gold leaves without scissoring.

They needed to have the big speech here and that worked well, but there is something missing because Cole can’t wrestle. Granted it is a good bit less bad because MJF is out of action as well. I could have waited on someone to interrupt the team, as it took something away from the segment, but the big explanation was good enough.

We look at Eddie Kingston winning the Continental Classic.

Daniel Garcia is ready to face Swerve Strickland.

International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Dante Martin

Cassidy is defending and gets armdragged into the corner, leaving him a bit annoyed to start. A headlock takeover works a bit better for Cassidy but Dante kicks him away and flips over for a standoff. They go outside with Cassidy sending him into the barricade, then putting his hands in his pockets for a run around the ring and a dropkick. Dante manages a suplex though and we take a break.

Back with Martin hitting a nice high crossbody for two before they trade the slow motion strikes. Martin gets taken into the corner for more slow stomps, followed by the spinning DDT for two. The Orange Punch and Beach Break both miss so Martin loads up a powerbomb, only to drop Cassidy face first onto his knee (that was cool). Martin goes up so Cassidy rolls away…leaving Martin to jump REALLY FAR to splash him instead. Martin misses a dropkick though and the Orange Punch retains at 13:29.

Rating: B-. This was straight out of the same playbook that Cassidy has been using for the better part of a year now, though there was pretty much nothing with him being aggressive or coming close to cheating. The good thing is that he seems to have a much bigger challenger coming in Roderick Strong so things should be picking up. Martin looked solid here too, as he can do the flying stuff rather well.

Post match Action Andretti, Darius Martin, Hook and Danhausen come out to check on their friends. Respect is shown but here is the returning Private Party to interrupt. They want the titles and put the tag teams on notice. Is there a reason a two person tag team interrupted a singles champion and a trio so they could talk about winning Tag Team Titles?

Toni Storm is here for Mariah May’s debut but changes her mind because it’s off to Broadway.

The House Of Black is ready to hurt FTR and make their families sad.

Swerve Strickland is ready to ace Daniel Garcia tonight but wants gold in 2024. Like from Samoa Joe.

Mariah May vs. Queen Aminata

May strikes her up against the ropes to start and a running dropkick gets one. Another running dropkick to the back sends Aminata to the floor and us to a break. Back with Aminata striking away and hitting a dropkick, followed by a running forearm in the corner. May Sling Blades her way out of trouble and a Samoan Driver (May Day) finishes Aminata at 6:37.

Rating: C. Well that was lengthy and I’m not exactly sold on May as a big star. She did well in her debut but this felt more like it was almost about making Aminata a big deal than getting May her debut. May does look like a star though and she seemed polished enough in the ring. Not a bad match, but a strangely put together one.

Post match May says she wishes Toni Storm could have been here. And that this wasn’t in New Jersey. Cue Deonna Purrazzo (of the New Jersey Purrazzos) to say this is her home because she is All Elite. May calls her a b**** and gets kicked in the face for her efforts. Good debut, even with Purrazzo sounding rather nervous. Also, I’m not sure how smart it was to have May’s debut and Purrazzo as the surprise back to back, as it took away from May’s start.

Here is the Patriarchy for a chat. Shayna Wayne can’t believe that the people here boo her, so Christian Cage threatens them all with discipline. Cage talks about his title defense at Worlds End and we hear about how he left as champion (with no mention of the title changing hands)….but he specifically doesn’t mention Killswitch.

He talks about how Adam Copeland is out of title shots and brags about having no soul, which is why he beat Copeland. No one needs to come after this title but the fans chant LUCHASAURUS. Cage insists that his name is Killswitch to wrap things up. Shayna continues to be rather awful with a microphone. I’m not sure why they needed Wayne’s real mother there when there has to be someone better at talking who could play either that role or something close enough.

Ruby Soho admits that Harley Cameron was a success, with Cameron insisting she would do ANYTHING to help.

Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis joins commentary as Takeshita grabs a wheelbarrow suplex to start. Allin flips out and lands on his feet, with even Callis being impressed, only to have a heck of a backdrop put Allin down. Back up and Allin manages to send him outside for a dive, with Takeshita cutting it off with a jumping knee for a NASTY crash. Some rolling German suplexes on the ramp knock Allin even sillier and we take a break.

Back with Allin hitting the flipping Stunner out of the corner and sending Takeshita to the floor for the big running flip dive. Takeshita is sent hard into the barricade and bangs up his knee, allowing Allin to hit the top rope Coffin Drop to take him down on the floor. Back in and a Code Red gives Allin two, only to have Takeshita German suplex him down. A top rope German superplex (and Allin landed straight on the mat) sets up a running knee to give Takeshita the pin at 12:47.

Rating: B. I feel bad about watching these Allin matches as he feels like someone ready to suffer a career ending injury every time he gets in the ring. Since he doesn’t seem to care, it would be nice to have someone tell him to stop and not let him wrestle if he doesn’t listen, but that doesn’t seem likely. On the other hand you have Takeshita, who looked like a monster here. I could really go for him doing pretty much anything but being stuck with Callis and company, as he seems ready to be a breakout star (and has been so for a long time).

Post break Don Callis issues a challenge to Darby Allin and Sting next week, with promises of making the team 25-1.

Trent Beretta vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Brian Cage vs. Bryan Keith

For a Continental Crown shot against Eddie Kingston (on commentary) on Collision. Vikingo takes Trent out to start but Cage runs people over. Vikingo gets suplexed and Trent is ran over on the floor as Cage is in control on the way to the break. Back with Vikingo cleaning house until Cage catches him on top.

Trent drops Cage for two with Vikingo making the save, leaving all four of them down. Cage F5’s Keith and hits a helicopter bomb for two on Trent. This brings Danhausen out of the crowd for a curse, allowing Vikingo to dive outside onto Cage. Keith hits a running headbutt to Trent, who is right back with Strong Zero for the pin at 9:41.

Rating: B-. This was your usual wild free for all, but that’s where it’s a little weird. We just spent six weeks on these straightforward singles matches for the right to be the first champion and then it’s a four way with a bunch of midcarders fighting for a shot. On a side note, what is Trent fighting for? The new title or the Triple Crown? I would hope the latter, because having Kingston defend three separate titles is absolutely not what was being teased in the tournament.

Matt Menard is interrupted by Hangman Page, who wants to fight someone.

Daniel Garcia vs. Swerve Strickland

Matt Menard is on commentary. Feeling out process to start with Swerve taking him down without much trouble. Garcia fights back up and they head to the floor, with Swerve being sent into the barricade. That means it’s time for a dance off between Garcia and Prince Nana, but Swerve breaks it up.

We take a break and come back with Garcia dropkicking Swerve into the corner. A Saito suplex gets two on Swerve and they fight to the floor where Garcia doesn’t quite get all of a Sharpshooter the announcers’ desk. Back in and Swerve manages a suplex to put them both down, followed by a House Call for two. The Swerve Stomp gets two and, after Garcia gets a rollup for the same, Swerve finishes with the JML Driver at 11:41.

Rating: C+. That’s a weird way to end the show, as the big focal point was a dance off with a heel manager. Strickland took a good while to beat Garcia here, which isn’t the biggest stretch, but it’s a weird way to go when he’s talking about coming for the World Title. This didn’t quite feel like a big main event either, and that’s not a great sign to start the road to Revolution.

Post match respect is teased but Nana hits Garcia low. Matt Menard tries to come in but gets beaten down as well. Hangman Page comes out for the brawl with Swerve and they’re separated to end the show. So the ultra violent and bloody Texas Deathmatch was just a stop in the feud?

Overall Rating: B-. This wasn’t the show I was expecting but it also wasn’t a bad one. They covered the Adam Cole explanation well enough, but as tends to be the case in AEW, they tacked on more stuff right after and it took away from some of the impact. Other than that, you could definitely tell that a lot of people were gone for either Wrestle Kingdom or something else and it hurt the show a bit. This felt like a show that they ran when they had a week to burn, which is a weird feeling coming off a pay per view. Not bad whatsoever, but not one of their best.

Results
Orange Cassidy b. Dante Martin – Orange Punch
Mariah May b. Queen Aminata – May Day
Konosuke Takeshita b. Darby Allin – Running knee
Trent Beretta b. Bryan Keith, Brian Cage and El Hijo del Vikingo – Strong Zero to Keith
Swerve Strickland b. Daniel Garcia – JML Driver

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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Worlds End 2023
Date: December 30, 2023
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the last pay per view of the year and that means we could be in for a rather big show. The main events will see MJF defending the AEW World Title against Samoa Joe with the Devil’s reveal lurking. We also have the finals of the Continental Classic, which means the crowning of the first Triple Crown Champion. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

Stokely Hathaway, the source of the issues between these two, is at ringside and both of the women are from Long Island. An exchange of shoulders doesn’t go anywhere as Hathaway blames Tony Schiavone for the issues between these two. Nightingale takes her to the mat and grabs a headscissors but Statlander easily slips out. A legsweep and some spinning knees give Statlander two but Nightingale runs her over with a crossbody.

Back up and Statlander strikes away, setting up the pretty impressive slam. We hit the bodyscissors and then a chinlock to keep Nightingale down, followed by a belly to back suplex for two. Back up and they collide for a double knockdown, followed by Nightingale crushing her in the corner. A spinebuster gets two for Nightingale, who gets planted down to give Statlander the same. Statlander hits an electric chair faceplant but Nightingale is right back up with the Pounce.

The Cannonball into a Death Valley Driver gives Nightingale two more, followed by Statlander’s ax kick for the same. Nightingale powerbombs her onto the apron though and a missile dropkick gets two more. Saturday Night Fever is broken up so Statlander settles for a discus lariat, only to miss the 450. The Babe With The Powerbomb doesn’t work as Statlander lands on Nightingale (with Nigel pointing out that it was more of a legdrop for Statlander), so Nightingale grabs a better version for the pin at 13:21.

Rating: B-. This was a hoss fight and thankfully they went home after the not so great powerbomb slip. It’s very nice to see Nightingale get a win after being known for coming up short so often. At the same time, what in the world has happened to Statlander? She went from on ire to losing clean in a Zero Hour match, which is hardly the best way to go for her. She needs to get back on track, though I’m not sure I see that happening anytime soon.

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

Action Andretti, Darius Martin, Alex Reynolds, John Silver, Danhausen, Bryan Keith, Matt Menard, Rocky Romero, Trent Beretta, Angelo Parker, Kip Sabian, Christopher Daniels, Lance Archer, Killswitch, Dalton Castle, Johnny TV, Butcher, Blade, Serpentico, Lee Johnson

For a future TNT Title shot. Castle (with two suspiciously large Boys) and TV get in a fight at ringside while everyone else jump Archer and Killswitch to bury the under tables at ringside. Everyone else gets inside and Serpentico is quickly eliminated. Sabian knocks Castle out (less than two minutes in) before a launched Danhausen gets rid of TV and Johnson follows him out.

The Dark Order beats up and eliminates Parker before Reynolds is out as well. Butcher tosses Silver as the ring is rapidly clearing out. Keith kicks Sabian out before going after Butcher and the Blade, who put him out. Archer is back up so Menard chops away at him, earning the quick elimination. Archer’s running knee gets rid of Daniels before Andretti (following his water bottle trick) and Martin manage to take Archer down.

Killswitch is back in and starts clearing the ring until it’s down to Killswitch, Archer, Danhausen and Trent. Danhausen gets saved from the Blackout and Trent and Danhausen manage to get rid of Archer. Then Trent turns on Danhausen to throw him out (the fans DO NOT approve) but has to slip out of Killswitch’s chokeslam. A low bridge puts Killswitch on the apron and a jumping knee puts him down on said apron. Not that it matters as a headbutt knocks Trent down to give Killswitch the win at 13:47.

Rating: C. One of the worst things you can do in a battle royal is having a field where one or two people is a likely winner. That was certainly the case here, and as soon as you remembered who the TNT Champion is, the drama goes even lower. It made for a bunch of waiting around for Archer and Killswitch to get back up and then it was just a matter of time.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Wheeler Yuta vs. Hook

Hook is defending (Yuta’s Ring Of Honor Pure Rules Title isn’t on the line) in an FTW Rules match, meaning anything goes. We start fast with Hook jumping him and grabbing a throw, only for Yuta to get in a cheap shot. It’s time to grab some weapons but Yuta takes too long, allowing Yuta to grab a suplex on the ramp. One heck of a trashcan lid shot puts Hook down but Yuta makes the mistake of yelling at Taz.

That’s enough for Hook to come back with a clothesline and they get back inside. Yuta knocks him down again and a running backsplash gets two. Hook manages another suplex and they slug it out for a double knockdown. A t-bone suplex sends Yuta into a trashcan in the corner for two but Redrum is broken up. Yuta DDTs him for two and Hook bails to the floor for a breather. With Yuta grabbing a 2×4, Hook pulls out a stick (hockey or lacrosse) and nails Yuta hard. Redrum, with the broken stick, retains at 10:15.

Rating: C+. They were smart to go with the weapons stuff here as Hook probably isn’t capable of a regular match yet and the Pure Rules still aren’t interesting. Odds are they’ll do this again under Pure Rules and then have a regular match later on, but this one had to go this way to start. Hook has cooled off a lot but at least he got some momentum here.

The PPV proper opens with a look at the big matches and a talk about how this is the end of everything.

Brody King/Jay Lethal/Rush/Jay White vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia

Matt Menard is on commentary. Rush and Castagnoli trade the heavy strikes to start with Castagnoli getting the better of things. Rush sends him outside but Castagnoli is back in and they stare each other down. Briscoe and Lethal come in with Lethal not being able to get the Figure Four. A chop off goes to Briscoe so Danielson comes in with the LeBell Lock to White. That means a quick rope break as Nigel is in rare form of insulting Danielson.

A running corner dropkick hits White and a middle rope hurricanrana drops him again. King comes in and shrugs off Garcia’s right hands, setting up a swinging Boss Man Slam to plant Garcia. King takes him outside and yells at Menard, who isn’t exactly interested in coming after the monster.

Back in and Lethal stomps away on Garcia (who might have a broken nose) before White adds a seated chop. Garcia manages to fight out of the corner though and it’s Briscoe coming back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and the fight heads outside. Briscoe hits the running Blockbuster and Bang Bang Elbow from the apron, followed by a fisherman’s buster for two on White. Back in and Briscoe knocks Lethal off the top, only to have Lethal pop back up for a top rope superplex.

Everything breaks down again and Castagnoli unloads with uppercuts to King. Castagnoli muscles King up for an impressive suplex but Rush is back in for the save. Danielson cuts Rush off and dropkicks King to cut off Castagnoli’s Swing. Garcia and Lethal slug it out until Lethal grabs his namesake Combination. The Figure Four goes on but Briscoe makes the save with the froggy bow. We hit the parade of finishes until Garcia rolls Lethal up for the pin at 17:12.

Rating: B. This was the insanity that you were expecting as this wasn’t about the teams but rather getting eight people in the ring for a pay per view match following the Continental Classic. In other words, it was a great choice for an opener and Garcia’s likely face push continues, as he gets a nice win in a match where someone had to pick one up.

We recap Andrade El Idolo vs. Miro. CJ Perry, Miro’s wife, is managing El Idolo so Miro promised to not end him until after the Continental Classic. Since El Idolo is out, he’s fair game for Miro.

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

CJ Perry is here with El Idolo, who gets jumped to start as the beating is on. El Idolo gets in a shot of his own but dives into a suplex to cut that right off. Perry yells at Miro about her infected finger so Miro chokes him on the ropes in front of her. Miro throws El Idolo to the floor, where El Idolo gets in a shove over the announcers’ table.

Back in and El Idolo blocks a superplex attempt so they slug it out instead. El Idolo gets the better of things so Miro drops him with a clothesline. Miro gets knocked into the corner but it’s too early for the running knees. Instead Miro bails to the floor, leaving El Idolo to hit the middle rope moonsault.

Back in and the double moonsault gives El Idolo two so we hit the Figure Four. That’s turned into the Figure Eight…but Perry cuts it off. Miro, now much happier…or at least whatever passes for happy with him, kicks El Idolo in the face, setting up Game Over for the tap at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was a rough one as it just kept going. It’s a good example of a match that should have been cut down by at least five minutes so there wasn’t as much slow offense and standing around. The Perry turn was the right way to go as she and Miro work really well together. I’m not sure what took so long to set them up, but at least now things are as they should be.

We recap Toni Storm defending the Women’s Title against Riho. Basically Riho returned, wanted a title shot, earned one, and is getting it.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm vs. Riho

Riho is challenging. Storm takes over to start so Riho starts spinning around. A running knee into and a running bulldog out of the corner gives Riho two and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up and they head outside where Storm gets in a slam to take over. Storm slowly hammers away and gets in a slam, setting up the double bicep pose. The half grab goes on to stay on Riho’s back, followed by a toss out to the floor.

Back in and Storm declares “she’s toast now” before grabbing a Texas Cloverleaf. Luther adds some cheating but gets caught, meaning the hold is broken and Luther is out of here. Riho hits the 619 and a high crossbody, followed by another dive to the floor. Back in and Riho misses a charge in the corner, allowing Storm Zero to connect for two. Riho tries to spin over her but gets caught in a hard DDT to retain the title at 11:47.

Rating: C+. This could have been a lot worse, but they weren’t given the chance to set up much of a feud. It was more or less Riho coming back, saying she wanted the title, getting a title shot and then losing with little in between. Storm is still great at what she’s doing and has Mariah May waiting on her, so this shouldn’t have been the most stunning result.

Post match Mariah May brings out rose petals to celebrate.

Dante Martin is upset about not being a champion so Orange Cassidy comes in to say he knows where this is going. Martin issues the challenge and they’re on for Dynamite.

Swerve Strickland vs. Dustin Rhodes

Rhodes is replacing an injured Keith Lee. Swerve jumps him before the bell and beats him up on the floor, with the cinder block being loaded up. The Swerve Stomp onto the ankle onto the block leaves Rhodes laying. Medics come down to check on Rhodes…who wants to go anyway.

The bell rings, with Swerve taking him down immediately and hammering away before shouting that it could have been you (meaning Lee). Swerve dropkicks the leg out again and gets in some dancing so Rhodes gets in a shot of his own. Rhodes manages a high crossbody for two, followed by the Canadian Destroyer and snap powerslam for two.

Nana offers a distraction and gets dropped with a right hand, followed by a piledriver and Cross Rhodes for two on Swerve. Back up and Swerve hits a Downward Spiral, setting up a half crab. Rhodes makes the ropes and fires up again before flipping Swerve off. The House Call cuts Rhodes off though and a second knocks him silly. Swerve snaps the arm and hits the Swerve Stomp to win at 9:24.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t about the action, but rather the fact that this match didn’t need to happen. Swerve took Rhodes apart before the match and left him laying, but instead of letting that be it, they had to have a nine minute match anyway. Throw in Rhodes doing high risk moves so he can get his stuff in and this made Swerve look weaker than need be. He won in the end, but the match didn’t need to happen.

Don Callis Family/Big Bill/Ricky Starks vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Sting/Darby Allin

Guevara gets knocked around by Takeshita to start so it’s quickly off to Jericho. The fans don’t seem to pleased with that, even as Hobbs comes in to run him over. Takeshita gets in a few shots until Jericho makes it over to Allin for the tag. That doesn’t last long as Allin is taken over for the tag to Hobbs so the beating can be on.

A suplex from Hobbs lets Bill come in for a huge toss across the ring. Allin manages to get over for the tag to Sting and house is quickly cleaned. Everything breaks down and Bill gets in a cheap shot, followed by a Boss Man Slam. Jericho comes back in with a Codebreaker and is soundly booed out of the building.

Allin manages to knock Jericho into Hobbs for a breather and a Scorpion Death Drop takes Hobbs down. Takeshita drops Allin HARD though and then does it to both Guevara and Allin with a single German suplex. Sting is back in and grabs the Scorpion on Takeshita, with Callis making the save. The Scorpion goes on but gets broken up again, allowing Guevara to come in and go all flippy. The shooting star press finishes Starks at 15:43.

Rating: C+. The match was the usual fun wild brawl, but this was ALL about Jericho. I’m not sure what AEW needs to do about him at the moment, but they are going to have to do something about it soon. Jericho can’t come out there and be this kind of a distraction so he needs to either go away until his name is cleared or AEW is going to need to come up with some kind of a long term solution. The match was kind of a mess because of him and that can’t happen again.

We recap Julia Hart vs. Abadon for the TBS Title. They’re both weird and want to be champion.

TBS Title: Julia Hart vs. Abadon

Abadon is challenging and under house rules, biting is allowed. The fans declare THIS IS SPOOKY and Abadon grabs a quick cutter to take over fast. Hart isn’t quite sure what to do here so they grab each other by the throat until Hart can leg sweep Abadon down. Choking on the ropes has Abadon in more trouble until a running knee hits Hart in the corner.

A Codebreaker gets two but Hart manages to grab Hartless. The ropes don’t help so Abadon has to crawl out and knock Hart away. Cue Skye Blue for a cheap shot before she dives underneath the ring, leaving Abadon to go after her. The distraction lets Hart drop Abadon, setting up the moonsault (which seemed to be more Hart’s knees slamming into Abadon) to retain at 11:13.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure if it was the spooky vs. spooky stuff here, but they lost me and lost me hard during this one. They just kind of kept doing things until Blue showed up at the end and it couldn’t have been much less interesting. Maybe I just couldn’t get into it for some reason but this wasn’t working and felt a lot longer than it lasted.

We recap Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage. Copeland came back and wanted to reform the team, but Cage said no. The Waynes were brought into this, with Copeland attacking Nick and Shayna costing him the title as a result. Now it’s about violence, revenge and the title, with the latter being a good bit less important than the others.

TNT Title: Adam Copeland vs. Christian Cage

Cage, with the Waynes, is defending and this is No DQ so Copeland jumps him on the floor to start. They brawl around ringside, with Nigel McGuinness insulting Copeland. That earns him a SHUT UP NIGEL, with Nigel obliging before waiting for Copeland to be out of earshot to call him a coward. Cage’s right hands don’t do much as he has to avoid his hand being stomped onto the steps.

Cage bails into the crowd with Copeland following, setting up a big dive to take Cage down again. They go back to ringside where Copeland drops him again, earning a YOU STILL GOT IT chant. Back in and Copeland’s spear hits post, followed by a drop onto the steps for two. With Copeland bleeding around the eye, Cage grabs some kendo sticks and chokes away before punching at the cut.

Cage grabs a chair and puts it over Copeland’s back for a Boston crab in a creative, and mostly painful, looking hold. With that broken up, Copeland gets in a stick shot of his own, followed by some more to the ribs. As usual, Copeland gets the bar from the chair for the Crossface but that’s not good enough. We get the obvious ladder brought in, with Cage being catapulted face first into it in the corner.

A low blow cuts Copeland off so Cage goes up, where a superplex is countered into a sunset bomb to leave them both down. It’s time for a table, with the distraction letting Copeland grab an Impaler onto the chair. The Conchairto is loaded up but cue Nick Wayne with a low blow for the save. Cage loads up a spear through the table but naturally gets speared through it himself. Shayna Wayne breaks up the cover and Nick hits Copeland with the title. Wayne’s World to the floor (next to the table rather than through it) drops Copeland again and Cage gets two.

That leaves the Waynes to cover the table with lighter fluid and set it on fire but Copeland spears Cage back inside. The fire goes out so Copeland puts on more fluid and it’s on fire again. Nick gets sent onto (not through) the table and goes writhing onto the floor. Cage’s belt shot is cut off and Copeland hits a Killswitch for the pin and the title at 24:40.

Rating: B. Now this felt like a fight and that is a good thing to see. It also helps that these two have a history, along with Cage being one of the best things in all of wrestling today. The ending isn’t great, but I guess Copeland needed his “you still got it” moment. They could have done without some of the weapons, but the point here was they wanted to hurt each other and then tried to do it. That made or a better match and I liked what we got here.

Post match Killswitch jumps Copeland and chokeslams him through a chair….and since the contract from earlier is for a title match anywhere any time….but hold on as Cage wants it instead. Killswitch hands it over and let’s do this.

TNT Title: Christian Cage vs. Adam Copeland

Cage is challenging and wins the title with a spear in ten seconds. That was A, great and B, even better because it gets rid of the Money In The Bank thing (with Edge getting some payback after being so well known for using the briefcase before).

Copeland gets looked at after the match.

We recap the Continental Classic, which has been going on for over a month now. Kingston wants to win to prove he belongs while Moxley wants to win because he likes winning.

Continental Classic Finals: Triple Crown Title: Eddie Kingston vs. Jon Moxley

For the vacant title and Bryan Danielson is on commentary. They go technical to start with Moxley taking it to the ground for some grappling. Moxley gets the better of things until a rope gives Kingston a breather. Back up and they go to the test of strength with neither getting the better of things. They stare each other down a bit more as Danielson is in full analysis mode, talking about each of them having strengths.

Kingston manages a jumping enziguri to put him on the floor but the dive goes over Moxley for a nasty crash. Back in and Moxley hits a quick suplex, followed by a Paradigm Shift on the floor. They get back in with Kingston’s chop hitting a raised forearm, leaving Kingston in a lot of pain. A piledriver gives Moxley two so we pause for some yelling at the referee (possibly due to Kingston’s bell being rung).

Kingston is back up and drops Moxley to his knees off a single chop. They chop it out and even Danielson is thinking this is a bad move. Kingston grabs a suplex so Moxley pops up, only to grab his banged up knee. The spinning backfist drops Moxley for no cover as Danielson is livid. The machine gun chops have Moxley in trouble in a variety of corners, setting up a DDT to plant Moxley again.

Moxley is back up with a cutter so Kingston hits the spinning backfist, only to get dropped with a hard lariat. The northern lights bomb gives Kingston two but Moxley is back with the bulldog choke. That’s broken up and another northern lights bomb gives Kingston another two. One heck of a lariat drops Kingston for two, sending commentary into stories of injuries from clotheslines. They headbutt it out from their knees until another spinning backfist gives Kingston the pin and the titles at 17:05.

Rating: B+. Much like the previous match, this felt like a fight but for a very different reason. While Copeland vs. Cage felt like a fight between two people who hated each other, this felt like two people wanting to survive to claim a prize. That worked very well and I dug what we got here. Danielson in particular made a feel more like a sporting contest and it made things that much better.

Post match Eddie is presented with the title. Respect is shown and Moxley lets Kingston have the ring.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Samoa Joe vs. MJF for the World Title. While Joe is challenging, the real story is MJF being chased by the Devil, who very well could be revealed here.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Samoa Joe

MJF is defending and we get a video of people talking about how he’s THEIR scumbag, including a video from his ex-girlfriend giving a VERY censored story about a night in the back of a car. Before the match, cue Adam Cole to support MJF, whose shoulder is completely wrapped up. Joe backs him into the corner but MJF goes to the eye in a smart move.

A shot to the arm cuts MJF down fast and Joe drops a leg on said arm to make it worse. It’s too early for the Muscle Buster though and Joe gets low bridged to the floor. Back in and a low superkick staggers Joe and the Kangaroo Kick connects. MJF is knocked outside for a heck of a suicide dive, followed by a suplex to rock the shoulder again.

They go to the apron where Joe drops him hard with a MuscleBuster for two. MJF manages a shot to the back of the head and rams Joe into the buckle over and over. Joe shrugs off some right hands in the corner and MJF collapses when trying a fireman’s carry. He’s fine enough to catch Joe with a Heatseeker for two before grabbing the Salt Of The Earth.

Joe reverses into an armbar of his own but MJF makes the rope. Back up and the ref gets bumped so MJF gets all smiley. A low blow cuts Joe off on the middle rope and an F5 of all things leaves both of them down. MJF’s cover gets a very delayed two and Joe pulls him into the Koquina Clutch….for the knockout and the title at 17:47.

Rating: B. This was interesting as Joe won (more or less) clean and that makes sense. MJF isn’t John Cena, meaning at some point the odds are so strongly against him that he has to lose. That’s what took place here, as Joe had been built up as this unstoppable force and MJF was coming in very banged up. While MJF fought, he ultimately couldn’t last against someone like Joe. It told a good story, as the hero goes out on his shield and loses in the end.

Post match Joe leaves and Cole tells MJF to listen to the fans cheering for him. Cue the Henchmen to take both of them down, with Cole saying hit him instead. MJF says hit him instead of Cole. Then the lights go out and the Henchmen have let Cole go. The Henchmen are Wardlow, the Kingdom and Roderick Strong, with MJF being in tears. The big beatdown is on with Cole dropping the Devil mask on MJF to end the show.

Now this is probably the biggest story of the show as it is the big reveal after a months long story. While we’ll have to wait and see what the actual story is, in theory it’s all of MJF’s past sins coming back to haunt him. MJF may be a changed man, but he’s hurt a lot of people on his way to the top. That seems to be what came back to bite him here, as Cole and company wanted to take down the villain who had hurt them all on his way to the top. Cole in particular should feel upset, as he turned into some kind of goof and then lost to MJF at All In because he wasn’t being himself. The real explanation will help, but the potential is there.

Overall Rating: B. This show might not have been great, but the last three matches did a lot to help boost it up. I know I say it a lot about Tony Khan produced shows, but there was too much here at first. The matches that came before the big stuff needed to be trimmed down, as only one non-cash-in match was less than ten minutes long. It’s ok to have something go 5-6 minutes instead of stretching it out way longer than it needs to go and it would have helped a lot.

Now on the good side, the matches that had the biggest builds did rather well, with Copeland vs. Cage, the tournament final and the World Title match all being big hits. It continues to show what AEW can do with some nice storytelling to back up the good action. There are still some corrections to be made and overall this is on the weaker end of the AEW pay per view offerings, but this started off weak and finished very strong and that is a great thing to see.

Results
Willow Nightingale b. Kris Statlander – Babe With The Powerbomb
Killswitch won a battle royal last eliminating Trent Beretta
Hook b. Wheeler Yuta – Redrum
Blackpool Combat Club/Daniel Garcia/Mark Briscoe b. Jay White/Rush/Brody King/Jay Lethal – Rollup to Lethal
Miro b. Andrade El Idolo – Game Over
Toni Storm b. Riho – DDT
Swerve Strickland b. Dustin Rhodes – Swerve Stomp
Sting/Darby Allin/Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara b. Big Bill/Ricky Starks/Don Callis Family – Shooting stark press to Starks
Julia Hart b. Abadon – Moonsault
Adam Copeland b. Christian Cage – Killswitch
Christian Cage b. Adam Copeland – Spear
Eddie Kingston b. Jon Moxley – Spinning backfist
Samoa Joe b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman via referee stoppage

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It’s the end of the year and that means there is time for one more pay per view. Since it’s AEW, the show is stacked with twelve matches announced so far. The two big draws are the finals of the Continental Classic for the Triple Crown Title, plus MJF defending the World Title against Samoa Joe. The question in the latter is whether or not the Devil will be revealed, which would probably help quite a bit. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour: Kris Statlander vs. Willow Nightingale

This was added on Rampage and the big issue seems to be Stokely Hathaway trying to cause drama. That is where Hathaway excels and some of the things that he’s been saying have been more entertaining than the story itself. As for the actual match, both of them need a win and maybe a change of pace, which very well could come here, even if the options aren’t great.

I’ll go with Statlander winning here as she could use the win more, along with the principle that Nightingale doesn’t win anything. At the same time, having Nightingale be the evil one who sides with Hathaway might be the traditional way to go, but I can’t imagine anyone in AEW thinking evil Nightingale is a good idea. Statlander wins and then something probably happens after the match, but Nightingale going bad would be the worst possible outcome.

Zero Hour: FTW Title: Hook(c) vs. Wheeler Yuta

This is under FTW rules, meaning anything goes. I’ll take that over Pure Rules, but this hasn’t been the most eye catching feud so far. They seem to be going for a brawling vs. technical style, which could work well when Hook gets to show off all of his suplexes. That works in theory, but egads Yuta is not interesting a lot of the time and there isn’t much of a way around that. Having an opponent as young as Hook isn’t going to help that and I’m almost worried about how this is going to go.

I’ll go with Hook winning here, as it lets Yuta complain that they didn’t do things in the right style to set up a rematch. I appreciate the idea of Hook getting in the ring more often and he’s done well before, though he needs things set up very well for him. Keeping him on the pre-show is the right move at the moment, though he might be in for a bigger feud with Yuta should this continue. Hook needs to win to make that happen, so we’ll say Hook wins here.

Zero Hour: Battle Royal

So this is a tricky one, as we have a twenty man battle royal for a future TNT Title shot but we don’t know any of the participants. That doesn’t leave much in the way of a preview, but AEW sure does love itself a battle royal here and there. These things kind of have to happen if there are so many people who need to get on the show, but it is quite the cliché at this point.

We need a blind guess here, so I’ll play the safe guard here and go with Trent Beretta. You can almost guarantee that he’s going to be involved in the thing so let’s say he wants to set up his one off title shot. This is pretty easily the one with the least amount of confidence as I can’t even guess who all will be included, but hopefully they have the entertaining kind of battle royal that they know how to do.

Swerve Strickland vs. Keith Lee

We’ll go with this one before Tony Khan changes his mind and doesn’t do the match again. These two started having issues last November and then did a big angle in December, only to never actually wrestle. That leaves us with a weird match as the story has pretty much gone ice cold, but also because Strickland is in a very different place than he was when the whole thing started.

There is no reason for Strickland to lose here as he is rapidly rising up the ranks and could be on the way to the World Title picture in the near future. While Lee is incredibly athletic and fun to watch, he also has very little going on at the moment. I’m really not sure why this loose end needed to be fixed over a year after it got started, but Strickland wins here and moves on to something more important.

Women’s Title: Toni Storm(c) vs. Riho

Riho returned after another hiatus and was immediately back in the title scene, as tends to be the case when she returns most of the time. She might even be acting a bit more serious this time around, but Storm is still feeling it with this rather bizarre Timeless deal. That has made for a pretty strange story but then again, it isn’t like they had time to really set anything up.

Storm wins here, as Riho is likely going to go away again after or shortly after the match. With Mariah May likely waiting on Storm in the near future, this should be Storm retaining and doing pretty well. Riho hasn’t been interesting in a good while now so it would be pretty insane to give her the title again. Storm retains and moves on to something more natural for her, while Riho just kind of fades away until she gets another title shot down the line.

TBS Title: Julia Hart(c) vs. Abadon

This is another surprise as Abadon is getting a push that isn’t close to Halloween. That’s a different way to go for her and it’s kind of working, as AEW has presented her as the creepy monster who could be a threat. At the same time, Hart is already the supernatural kind of star so this is a bit of a weird setup. The match hasn’t had a great build, but it deserves credit for adding someone new to the mix.

While Abadon has done well enough in her chance, there is no reason to expect her to win the title here so we’ll say Hart retains. Hart has been doing well with her new stuff and it would be kind of nuts for her to lose one of her first title defenses. Abadon has done well in a short amount of time, but she hasn’t shown herself ready for the level of being a champion. It should be a weird fight, but Hart wins in the end.

Ricky Starks/Big Bill/Don Callis Family vs. Chris Jericho/Sammy Guevara/Darby Allin/Sting

Here we have the result of a pretty wild segment on Dynamite which saw about three stories coming together to set up an eight man tag. In other words, Sting needed to be on the show and he works almost exclusively in big tag matches. That has served him well so far and now we get to see what he can do again with quite the group of talented people around him.

There is little reason to have the freshly reunited Guevara and Jericho, as well as Sting, lose here so we’ll go with the good guys winning. I’m not sure who you have them pin here, but Jericho or Guevara pinning Starks or Bill would do well to set up their Tag Team Title match. This should be a lot of fun as the teams should be able to have the kind of wild match that this needs to be.

Blackpool Combat Club/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia vs. Brody King/Jay White/Jay Lethal/Rush

This is the second eight man tag as we have most of the people in the Continental Classic thrown onto the show. That could go in a variety of different ways as there are several combinations, even if we’ve seen a bunch of them in recent weeks. The good thing is they can put almost any of them together for a solid match and we’ll probably be seeing quite a bit of it here.

Hopefully this ends with either Garcia or Briscoe getting the pin as both of them had a bit of momentum after their last match in the tournament. Neither of them have anything going on at the moment but a win in a match like this could be a nice boost. This has the potential to be all over the place with quite a bit of time and it could be quite the show stealer if given the chance.

Miro vs. Andrade El Idolo

It’s the classic story: Miro is married to CJ Perry, who is managing El Idolo, but promised not to massacre El Idolo until after the Continental Classic was over. Since Miro almost never wrestles (one match per month since September), it’s hard to say where this is going to go but at least there is a story. Granted it isn’t much of one as Perry and El Idolo have barely been a thing long enough to matter, but it’s something.

Since Miro never really does anything these days, I’ll take El Idolo to win here as he has quite a bit more going on at the moment. I’m sure this will wind up involving Perry, but there is only so much that she can do given how things are set up. Miro is one of the more interesting people in AEW but he never really wrestles, so there is little reason for him to win. El Idolo did well in the tournament and a win over Miro could take him a long way.

TBS Title: Christian Cage(c) vs. Adam Copeland

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Cage is overshadowing Copeland, despite Copeland being treated as the bigger star. The good thing is that Cage has turned into a heck of a villain in AEW and he has done it by becoming one of the most unlikable people imaginable. They’re going to have a No DQ match, which should open up quite a few doors for some wild brawling involving Cage’s friends. In other words, exactly what this needs to be.

As much as I don’t want it to be the case, I’m thinking Copeland wins here. He hasn’t had the big moment in AEW yet and there is a good chance that he’ll get the title here for that moment. Cage winning would make more sense and I certainly hope he does, as he has become the best heel in AEW in a very long time. I’m expecting Copeland to win here but really hope I’m wrong.

Triple Crown Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

If not for the whole Devil thing, I would almost have this one be the main event of the show. The Continental Classic has dominated AEW TV for the last six weeks or so and this has the most potential of anything on the card. Kingston is getting to defend his Ring O Honor and Strong Openweight Title, which has me wondering how much the whole tournament was necessary to get us here. Anyway, the promo to set this up has me wanting to see these two go at it and now we’ll get to see just that.

For the life of me I have no idea why Moxley would win here as the big emotional moment would be Kingston winning another big one to give the fans something to cheer. I’ll go with that as the feel good option, while also remembering that Tony Khan really, really, really likes to snatch those moments away from the fans. Moxley absolutely does not need this win while Kingston certainly does, so hopefully sanity prevails and Kingston wins as he should.

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman(c) vs. Samoa Joe

This is one of the weaker World Title matches in recent memory, as Joe has played a huge second fiddle to the Devil and everything going on with him. They tried to remedy that on Dynamite by having Joe fake the injury and cost MJF the ROH Tag Team Titles, even though that is one of the best things that could have happened. I’m far more interested in the Devil story finally going anywhere than the result of the title match though and that’s really not good.

There is zero reason for the Devil to not be revealed or MJF to retain the title here so I’ll take Joe to win. MJF already beat him once so get to where things should be, which is Joe winning the World Title on a grand stage. The Devil (I’ll take Adam Cole for the reveal, as it might not be the most interesting but it’s the person who makes the most sense) needs to be done here and cost MJF the title though, even if I have no idea what is next for everyone after.

Overall Thoughts

The biggest though, other than how many matches there are on here, is how weird the build to this has been. Dynamite, and a good chunk of Collision, has been dominated by the Continental Classic and the Devil stuff as of late and there is only so much that can be done for the rest of the show. I have hope for how this is going to go, but it’s going to be on the wrestlers to do the heavy lifting here.

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Dynamite
Date: December 27, 2023
Location: Addition Financial Arena, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the last Dynamite of the year and the last one before Worlds End. That means we have the semifinals of the Continental Classic so we can find out who fights for the title on Saturday. On top of that, MJF and Samoa Joe are defending the Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles against the Devil’s Henchmen so let’s get to it.

Here is Collision if you need a recap.

Continental Classic Gold League Finals: Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland vs. Jay White

Moxley and Swerve waste no time in fighting to the floor, with White being smart enough to let them fight. They go into the crowd with White following and staying behind for the most part, instead getting in some cheap shots. Moxley drops Swerve and takes it back to ringside, where White takes out Moxley’s knee. White takes them both down but Swerve kicks him off the apron. The flip dive misses for Swerve but he mostly sticks the landing and hits a knee from the apron to White’s jaw.

Moxley gets back in so Swerve bites his finger and hits a clothesline. Swerve knocks them both to the floor and hits a big high crossbody as we take a break. Back with Swerve being knocked off the apron, leaving White to blast Moxley in the knee with a chair. The distraction lets Swerve hit a powerslam on White into a 450 but Moxley makes the save with a Stomp.

We take another break and come back with Moxley grabbing the bulldog choke on White but Swerve breaks it up. A Blade Runner gets two on Moxley with Swerve breaking it up. Back in and White chairs them both down before wedging the chair in the corner. Swerve obeys the laws of wrestling by sending White into the chair before reversing Moxley’s choke into a rollup for two more. The Swerve Stomp is broken up by White, who gets taken down by the King Kong Lariat. The Death Rider gives Moxley the pin at 23:11.

Rating: B. Yeah it was really good and that’s not exactly shocking. What matters here is that Swerve, the hottest star in the match at the moment, didn’t take the pin, which leaves him strong coming out. Moxley winning is more of the safe pick than anything else, as he is able to either win the title or make someone look good in defeat. Heck of an opener here and the extra time helped, even if Moxley forgot about that knee injury pretty quickly.

We recap the Blue League finals being set up on Collision.

Swerve Strickland isn’t happy with being interviewed so soon after the match but if Keith Lee is looking for him, come see him at Worlds End. Tony Schiavone happens to have a contract for the match on him, so everything seems set.

Renee Paquette brings out Mariah May for a chat. May knows people have been waiting for her debut, which will be next week. Cue Riho to chase May off but Toni Storm comes in for the brawl, with Riho getting the better of things.

Top Flight and Action Andretti issue a challenge for…well we don’t know, because Orange Cassidy comes in to say he knows what’s going on here. Cassidy and the Rocky Romero/Trent Beretta will see them on Rampage. Cassidy and Trent leave, with Romero accusing Cassidy of being a bit out there lately. Then Andretti takes a bottle of water and crushes all of it into his mouth in one gulp.

Now that Andrade El Idolo is out of the Continental Classic, Miro is ready to hurt him.

Here is the Don Callis Family for a Boxing Week celebration. Callis gets to the point, by unveiling custom paintings of each member of the family (with Callis in each, including punching a kangaroo with Kyle Fletcher). He says the Family is complete but here is the returning Sammy Guevara, who hasn’t heard from Callis in a long time.

Callis is surprised that Sammy didn’t get the gift he sent for the new baby and blames the Canadian Postal Service. We get the final picture, with the Family surrounding Sammy as he holds his baby. Sammy DOES NOT like his baby being in the picture, but Callis suggests that Sammy isn’t smart enough to be a father. Sammy says Callis didn’t call when he was injured so Callis complains about Sammy being gone so often.

Callis wants him to pick a family and suggests Sammy will be a bad father, so Callis gets shoved down. The beating is on but Chris Jericho makes the save. Jericho breaks the first three pictures with the bat but lets Sammy break the last one. They do the big handshake but Big Bill and Ricky Starks run in for the beatdown. Then the lights go out and Sting/Darby Allin make the save. So that was….four or so segments packed into one? And likely setting up an eight man tag (or so) at the pay per view?

Roderick Strong and the Kingdom have a chart to prove that MJF is the Devil.

Worlds End rundown.

Continental Classic Blue League Final: Eddie Kingston vs. Bryan Danielson

Danielson tries to hide in the ropes a bit to start but Kingston sends him outside for a suicide dive. Kingston chops him around ringside but comes back in and gets chopped in the corner. They fight to the apron where Danielson gets in a DDT, followed by the running knee off the apron to send us to a break.

Back with Danielson striking away but Kingston suplexes him down. The rapid fire chops in the corner have Danielson spitting at Kingston, who unloads with even harder chops. Danielson pulls him into the LeBell Lock to send Kingston bailing to the ropes, meaning Danielson can go up top. Kingston chops away again but gets caught on top as well. A belly to back superplex attempt is countered int a crossbody onto Danielson and we take another break.

Back again with Kingston firing off more chops but Danielson suplexes his way out of trouble. A northern lights bomb gives Kingston two but the running knee gives Danielson two of his own. Danielson stomps away so Kingston flips him off, leaving Danielson to load up another knee. That’s cut off with a spinning backfist and a half and half, followed by two more spinning backfists. The powerbomb gives Kingston the pin at 22:33.

Rating: B+. I was getting into this one as it was Kingston fighting for everything he had because he wants to win the while thing. While Danielson can use it to put another line on an already complete resume, Kingston needs it to prove himself in the first place. The fact that it was a heck of a fight that had me wondering who was going to win made it even better. Awesome stuff here.

Post match Jon Moxley comes out to say that despite his faults, Kingston has a lot of fans who love him. Moxley is ready to take him apart but Kingston cuts him off, saying he’s not some young boy. Kingston promises to take him out on Saturday and wants his music played. That helped to give the match some spice.

Christian Cage is ready for a sitdown interview with Adam Copeland when Copeland jumps him for the big brawl. The locker room (seemingly a lot of ROH people) breaks it up.

Skye Blue vs. Kris Statlander

Stokely Hathaway is on commentary. Statlander powers her into the corner to start but gets taken down by the hair. Some stomping in the corner has Statlander down but she reverses a suplex. They go to the apron where Blue hits a reverse Sling Blade as we take a break. We come back with Statlander grabbing a rolling suplex out of the corner for two. Code Blue gives Blue two of her own but Statlander hits a powerbomb for the same. Statlander takes her to the top, only to have Blue slip out. Cue Julia Hart for a cheap shot though, allowing Blue to hit a heck of a super Code Blue for the pin at 9:11.

Rating: C. Another women’s match where a good chunk of it is cut out, meaning there is only so much that can be done. It also doesn’t help that it feels like the same group of women have been in the middle of a really long feud for months without it really going anywhere. That was the case here, and it’s kind of hard to get invested in it happening every week without much really changing.

Post match the beatdown is on but Willow Nightingale makes the save. Abadon comes out for the staredown with Hart.

Ruby Soho is ready for Marina Shafir on Rampage but Saraya offers her the help of….Harley Cameron, who whips out a butcher knife and laughs a lot.

Another Worlds End rundown.

Ring Of Honor Tag Team Titles: Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe vs. Devil’s Henchmen

MJF and Joe are defending and the Henchmen come through the crowd for their entrance at 9:59. And Joe has been attacked in the back and is holding his knee. MJF says he’s doing this himself and the bell rings, with MJF throwing his jacket at the taller one to start. MJF sends him into the corner before taking the other one to the floor. It’s time to go for the mask but a third masked man comes out from under the ring with a pipe shot. The smaller masked man hits a Heatseeker for the pin (with feet on the ropes) at 1:43.

Post match more masked men come in to beat on MJF until Samoa Joe makes the save with a chair. The Devil appears on screen and text says “Pleasure doing business with you.” Then Joe chairs MJF down and says he did this to MJF. Commentary says Joe is in league with the Devil, as MJF is left laying and Joe poses with the title to end the show. This felt like Joe having a short term arrangement with the Devil rather than actually working with him full time.

Overall Rating: B. As has been the case in recent weeks, this was mainly about the tournament and the Devil stuff, though they did add a good bit of content to the pay per view card. Things are going to get interesting next week when there is no tournament to lean on, but above all else, AEW needs something fresh coming out of Worlds End. Things are still good because of the action, but the storylines are feeling rather stale in a lot of areas. That being said, the action tonight was more than enough to carry the show and they set things up for the future, so this was another good week for Dynamite.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Jay White and Swerve Strickland – Death Rider to White
Eddie Kingston b. Bryan Danielson – Powerbomb
Skye Blue b. Kris Statlander – Super Code Blue
Devil’s Henchmen b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Samoa Joe – Heatseeker to Friedman

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