IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

All Out 2020
Date: September 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross, Excalibur

They’re back on pay per view and for once that’s a rather nice thing to see. AEW has a great history with the big shows and hopefully we continue the streak here. The main events are Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy where you can win by throwing the other one in a vat of mimosa and Jon Moxley defending the World Title against MJF. Let’s get to it.

Buy In: Joey Janela vs. Serpentico

This was announced earlier today and Sonny Kiss and Luther are here. Joey jumps him before the bell and they fight to the floor where Janela glares at Luther. Back in and Serpentico charges into a boot to the face but he sends Joey hard into the corner. Serpentico’s running thigh slap disguised as a shot to the face gets two and Joey is sent outside for some abuse from Luther.

Back in and a snap suplex gives Serpentico two but a Swanton hits raised knees. Janela’s Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but he misses a moonsault. Janela is back up with a super fisherman’s buster for two. Luther grabs the foot so Janela dropkicks him through the ropes. The top rope elbow gives Joey the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. So that happened and it could have been on any given edition of Dark. Janela still does nothing for me though I do kind of like Serpentico. For what feels like a really basic gimmick, he does well enough with what he has and that’s all you can ask for from something like this.

Buy In: Dark Order vs. Private Party

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Silver starts with Isaiah Kassidy and they fight over wrist control. With that going nowhere, Marq Quen comes in for an atomic drop to send Silver into a clothesline. A top rope ax handle to Reynolds’ arm gets a delayed two but Silver comes in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Reynolds’ knees. There’s a backbreaker for two more and it’s time to kick at Kassidy’s chest for the same. The chinlock with a knee in the back goes on but Kassidy fights out.

A roll over into the corner brings in Quen to clean house, including a top rope moonsault press for two. Silly String is broken up and a heck of a torture rack spinning slam gets two more on Quen. Everything breaks down and Private Party knocks them off the top. A 450 and Swanton miss and it’s a Stunner into a German suplex for two. Private Party is back up and sends Reynolds to the floor, setting up Gin and Juice to finish Silver at 10:14.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be as Private Party isn’t ready to do a match this long on their own and the Dark Order isn’t going to be able to walk them through it. They certainly didn’t have a disaster out there and the match could have been a lot worse, but it came and went with one spot after another. They were good spots, but they were just spots.

Jim Ross gets his full entrance and really doesn’t seem thrilled to be here.

The announcers run down the card. Thank goodness they’re thinking of those people who buy pay per views and forget what they ordered.

Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

This is Tooth vs. Nail and is taking place in Baker’s dental office. Reba checks Swole in and shouts to Baker that she is here, earning herself a clipboard to the head. Swole goes hunting for Baker but finds a bunch of blood on a chair instead. Baker, in a face mask, stalks Swole, who finds a cabinet full of chattering teeth. Baker gets behind her and eventually breaks a framed diploma over her head. The doctor isn’t sure if they can save Swole’s teeth so it’s time to extract them but Swole fights out.

They go outside and into Baker’s motorized wheelchair with Reba helping Baker to little avail. Baker gets in a crutch shot to take Swole down though and they fight back inside. Swole manages to throw a chair at her and Baker is in trouble. They go into an exam room where Baker his a superkick and loads up a syringe full of Novocaine. Swole manages to knock into Baker’s leg to send Reba into hysterics and knocking Baker out for the stoppage at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This was quite the disappointment as they could have done a lot more than what we got here. There is only so much that you can get out of a match that has less than seven minutes and a good chunk of that was spent walking around. I’m not wild on Baker losing, but at least it wasn’t via pinfall so it could have been a lot worse.

Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express

No story here as they won an eight man tag on Wednesday and get to fight as a result. Nick and Jungle Boy start things off for some flipping before it’s quickly off to Matt, who goes outside to yell at Marko Stunt. Back in and Jungle Boy Tail Whips Nick into a Flatliner but Nick slips over for the tag to Matt. A dropkick staggers Luchasaurus but he sends the Bucks into each other and brings Boy back in.

Nick is sent over the top and hard onto the ramp but Matt is back with Locomotion. He suplexes Boy to the floor and hits some more Locomotion, plus another suplex over the barricade to drop Boy. Back in and Matt grabs a front facelock and Nick comes in for a running knee to the face. Boy sends him to the ropes though and Stunt gets in a cheap shot, allowing the hot tag to Luchasaurus. House is cleaned in a hurry, including the standing moonsault for two.

Everything breaks down but Boy’s hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb on the apron. A Canadian Destroyer hits Luchasaurus and there’s a superkick to Boy. Back in and the Swanton gets two more on Boy but he avoids the BTE Trigger. Luchasaurus breaks up the Meltzer Driver and chokeslams Nick. The Extinction Level Event hits Matt for two but the Bucks send Luchasaurus outside. The Superkick Party gets two on Boy and now the BTE Trigger is enough for the pin on Boy at 14:53.

Rating: B-. Good action here, even if there wasn’t a ton of drama over who was going to win. There was no reason to believe that the Bucks were going to lose when they have been teasing a heel turn in recent weeks. This worked well enough as a way to get the Bucks on the show, but it wasn’t anything that we haven’t seen before.

The announcers preview the Casino Battle Royal.

Casino Battle Royal

There are four groups of five wrestlers each and a group comes in every three minutes. One wrestler comes in as the Joker at the end and it’s a regular battle royal, with the winner getting a World Title shot in the future. Taz joins commentary for a bonus. First up we have the Spades, meaning Trent, Christopher Daniels, Jake Hager, the Blade and Rey Fenix to start things off. It’s a brawl to start with Daniels having to fight out of Hager and Blade’s double teaming. Fenix armdrags Trent down but walks into a tornado DDT.

Hager suplexes Daniels and everyone keeps fighting until it’s the Diamonds, consisting of Frankie Kazarian, Will Hobbs, Chuck Taylor, and Santana and Ortiz. The last two hit Chuck from behind with the baton before he can get in the ring and stay on him outside. Hobbs pulls Blade in the way of a charge and Blade is out, followed by Hager getting rid of Daniels. Everyone gets in and it’s time for the Hearts, including Billy, Penta El Zero M, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage and Darby Allin.

Cage gets rid of Billy in a hurry so here’s Allin with the skateboard to wreck people. Allin tosses Fenix and the Best Friends get to clean a little house, setting up the Big Hug. Santana and Ortiz get rid of Chuck because they’re not stupid enough to stop for a hug in a match like this. Now it’s time for the Clubs, with Shawn Spears (who goes over to commentary instead of getting in), Eddie Kingston, the Butcher, Sonny Kiss and Lance Archer.

Spears takes his time heading to the ring as Archer gets to clean house in a hurry. Kiss eliminates Hager but Cage gets rid of him as well. Tully Blanchard hands Spears the piece of metal for the glove as Hager decks Kiss on the floor. Trent gets rid of Santana but can only send Ortiz to the apron. Archer tosses Trent and then eliminates Ortiz as the Joker is….Matt Sydal. Well that’s a disappointment. He comes in and goes to the top to try the shooting star press….and slips off, crashing hard onto his back so Hobbs immediately goes to check on him.

Penta is out and Kazarian follows him and we hear a bunch of noise, which Taz blames on catering. Cage gets up to clean house and hits Starks by mistake, allowing Allin to throw Starks out. Starks is annoyed and pulls out a body bag, which Cage fills with thumbtacks. Cage puts Allin in the bag and zips it up as JR is DONE with this. A powerbomb over the top rope gets rid of the bag and Allin for the scary bump. Sydal kicks Spears to the apron but Spears pulls him out as well.

With Spears tied in the ropes, Spears adds a middle rope double stomp for the elimination. Back in and Hobbs hits a big spinebuster on Sydal but gets Pounced by Archer. Cage and Archer give us the big showdown and they strike it out until Cage hits a jumping knee. Hobbs cuts Cage off and pulls him to the apron though and Archer knocks both of them out.

That leaves us with Archer, Kingston, Sydal and Blade, with Archer not wanting to hear from Kingston. Archer dumps Butcher and throws Sydal through the air and right into a DDT onto Kingston. There’s the Blackout to Sydal but he lands on the apron. Kingston gets rid of Sydal and winds up on the apron with Archer. Jake Roberts busts out the snake bag but here is Blade to go after Archer. Kingston bites Archer’s ear but another snake distraction lets Archer throw Kingston out for the win at 21:50. JR: “Lance Hoyt wins it!”

Rating: C-. These things are always hard to rate and Sydal wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise. The botch didn’t make things any better but I did get to laugh as soon as he got up. Archer winning makes good sense as he needs a big win to get him back to the top level after the loss to Cody. It was fine enough for a battle royal, which means it has a pretty hard ceiling above everything.

We recap Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy. Guevara busted him open with a chair by throwing it rather hard at Hardy’s head so Hardy busted him open in a tables match. Tonight it’s Broken Rules, meaning Last Man Standing, but if Matt loses, he leaves AEW.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Broken Rules so Last Man Standing. They start near the football field, with Sammy showing up behind him in the golf cart. Since Matt is a wrestler, he runs straight ahead instead of going over a barricade or something. Sammy crashes and the fight is on, with Matt heading over to a scissor lift. They go into the air and Matt tries the Side Effect. That winds up with a huge crash instead and Matt’s head hits the concrete, meaning we get the X sign. Hokey smoke that was terrifying and Matt is DONE. As in not moving and looks completely stiff.

Sammy goes after Matt again and gets a nine but here’s the doctor to say the match is over at 3:47. Sammy staggers towards the ring so Matt gets up and jumps him again. The bell rings and the match continues as they head towards ringside. They climb the set structure and Sammy gets knocked off for a huge crash through the stage. That’s enough for a ten count at 8:07, counting the break between the breaks.

Rating: D+. I’m really not sure what to say here as I can’t imagine this was the plan for the whole thing. It feels like Matt got hurt but they had to keep going until the finish because of the Matt Leaves stipulation, though that’s just a guess. It didn’t have the time to do much, which seems to be a continuing problem with this feud. They don’t need to do this again, and hopefully Matt isn’t too banged up.

We recap Thunder Rosa vs. Hikaru Shida for Shida’s AEW World Title. We hear a bunch of great things about Rosa, the NWA Women’s Champion, including comments from NWA owner Billy Corgan. Everyone knew Rosa was going to be a top star from the moment they saw her and she challenged Shida for a champion vs. champion match. Shida was certainly down.

AEW Women’s Title: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa

Only Shida’s title is on the line. They go nose to nose to start before heading to the mat. With no one being able to get the advantage, it’s Shida hitting a running hurricanrana and it’s time to go nose to nose again. Rosa hits a hard elbow to the face and snapmares Shida down as Excalibur mentions that Rosa is also a champion in Tokyo Joshi Pro. JR: “BUT ONLY YOU KNOW THAT!” Shida gets in a shot of her own and hits a running knee to Rosa as she hangs over the apron. Rosa is back up to hit Shida in the face and bend her back around the post.

Back in and the Thunder Driver is escaped and Shida pulls her into a rear naked choke with a bodyscissors. Rosa slips out of that and grabs a rocking horse to drive Shida’s head into the bottom buckle over and over. Back up and Shida counters a kick to the head into the Stretch Muffler but that’s reversed into a headscissors. Shida hits a jumping knee to the head but her back is banged up from earlier. Rosa hits some running knees in the corner and they head to the ramp.

A Death Valley Driver is escaped so Rosa goes to the top, only to get shoved to the apron. That’s fine with Rosa, who hits the Death Valley Driver on the apron instead. An armbar goes on but Shida gets her foot on the rope for the fast save. Shida sends her to the ramp and hits the Meteora to drop Rosa hard on the back of her head. Back in and Shida gets one off the Falcon Arrow but can’t get the Full Metal Muffler. A rollup doesn’t work either so it’s a hard backbreaker for two on Rosa. The running knee finishes Rosa at 16:43.

Rating: B. Match of the night so far and I’m not at all surprised. You had two very talented wrestlers getting to showcase themselves in a long match. They weren’t going to have Shida lose to someone not signed to the promotion so the winner wasn’t in doubt, but they had a heck of a match on the way there. Good, hard hitting match match here which lived up to my expectations.

Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford announce that they are getting married on Dynamite, but first, Sabian needs a handsome best man. This week, we’ll find out who his best man is.

We recap the Dark Order vs. the Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona. Brodie Lee destroyed Cody to win the TNT Title and now it’s time for friends and family to fight for revenge.

Dark Order vs. Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona

It’s Brodie Lee/Colt Cabana/Evil Uno/Stu Grayson for the Order and the Nightmare Sisters are at ringside too. It’s a brawl to start before the bell until Lee knocks Dustin down to officially get things going. Uno comes in and gets taken into the corner by Dustin. It’s Uno getting caught in the corner for the big beatdown, including Cardona hitting a neckbreaker for two. Uno gets Marshall to chase him on the floor and the stomping is on back inside. Lee backdrops Marshall but Dustin comes in to stop Uno from using the wrist tape.

That just lets Uno choke anyway but Marshall manages a Lethal Combination. Marshall ducks a clothesline and that’s enough to bring in Cardona for the house cleaning. The middle rope dropkick hits Cabana and there’s a faceplant. Grayson and Uno low bridge Cardona to the floor as Cabana might have a broken nose. Now it’s Lee beating on Cardona in the corner, which again draws Dustin in for a failed save.

Lee chokes in the corner and shouts WHERE’S CODY over and over. Chasing the Dragon drops Cardona, allowing commentary to talk about Batman and Robin. Cardona slips out of the suplex and grabs the neckbreaker, allowing the hot tag to Dustin to clean house. There’s a Canadian Destroyer to Cabana and Sky comes in for the showdown with Lee. Cue Anna Jay to go after Sky but Brandi kicks her in the face.

As JR wishes Anna had a wardrobe malfunction (seriously), Sky hits a TKO for two on Uno. Radio Silence (the Rough Ryder) hits Grayson and Cardona nails a flip dive to the floor. Cardona charges into a powerbomb from Lee so Marshall hits his own flip dive. Back in and Grayson throws Marshall into a sitout powerbomb and Cabana adds a splash for two. The hot tag brings in Dustin though and it’s time for the slugout with Lee. That means a quick discus lariat to Dustin but Lee tags in Cabana for the pin. Cabana would rather go up top to miss a moonsault though, allowing Dustin to grab a rollup for the pin at 15:03.

Rating: C. This was long and that’s not the best thing for this kind of a match. I’m really not sure why we need the Order to lose here, unless they’re setting up Dustin as Lee’s first challenge. I know Dustin is old and related to Cody, but I’m not exactly interested in seeing Dustin vs. Lee in a big showdown. This felt more like something you would see on Dynamite and while it was fine enough, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Post match Lee freaks out and yells at Cabana before leaving in a huff. Uno shakes Cabana’s hand.

Dustin Rhodes is very excited over the win because he’s still doing this after five decades. As a bonus, he gets the TNT Title shot against Lee on Dynamite and is rather fired up as a result.

We recap FTR vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page. FTR doesn’t like a thrown together team having the Tag Team Titles and Page seems more serious about drinking than wrestling. The Young Bucks have thrown him out of the Elite and say he’s going to get what he deserves.

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

Omega/Page are defending and Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Omega and Wheeler start but Page (whose graphic says “I don’t care what the graphic says anymore”) wants in instead. Page slugs away to start but nearly hits Omega. The champs hit stereo big boots and Wheeler gets caught between some chops. Omega is finally willing to high five Page and it’s a snap suplex to drop Wheeler. It’s back to Omega for a springboard ax handle to the back and the Kitaro Crusher takes Wheeler down again.

Page hits a running shooting star to the back and it’s off to Harwood. That means a missed elbow but Page misses a boot in the corner. Harwood starts working on the leg as we hear that Matt Hardy is going to be ok. We hit the abdominal stretch until Omega is sent outside. Back in and Page gets to Omega for the tag so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee hits Harwood but Wheeler blocks the Snapdragon. Wheeler is dropkicked out of the air and Omega hits the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and Harwood powerbombs Omega into a German suplex from Wheeler for two more. Omega strikes both of them down though and everything breaks down again. A shot to the face takes Wheeler down for two and Omega goes up, where he gets to shove Wheeler down again. Harwood crotches him on top though the PowerPlex gets two. The Goodnight Express is broken up so Harwood brainbusters Omega instead. Omega is right back up with the poisonrana to Harwood and the Tiger Driver 98 gets two on Wheeler.

The V Trigger hits Wheeler but Harwood breaks up the One Winged Angel. Back to back dragon screw legwhips take Omega down and it’s off to the reverse Figure Four. The hold is broken up and Harwood stays on the leg with a Cannonball. Page finally comes over to try and break things up but is sent back to the corner as Omega’s leg is wrapped around the post. Omega manages to get up and hits back to back snapdragons but kicks Harwood into Page for the double knockdown.

Page gets back up for the hot tag a few seconds later though and house is cleaned. Wheeler is knocked down and Page dives onto Harwood at ringside. The big flip dive from the top takes FTR down again for a breather at ringside. Back in and Page is sent into Harwood’s knee for two and it’s the double Swan Dive for two, with Omega making the save. Page is sent to the apron again and gets caught with a reverse powerbomb/running bulldog combination for the big knockdown.

Back in and Omega breaks up a double team something, with Harwood falling off the top and landing hard on the apron. The super fall away slam hits Wheeler for two but the Buckshot Lariat misses. Omega V Triggers Page by mistake and Harwood takes out Omega’s knee. The Mindbreaker gives Harwood a cocky two so they do it again for the pin and the titles at 28:38.

Rating: B+. This was quite the match and they did the big mistake spot between Omega and Page to keep the issues going. FTR had to win here as there was no reason to keep them away from the titles at this point. The big deal is going to be the Omega/Page issues though as the Elite story continues. Heck of a match, but this started to feel long at the end.

Post match FTR leaves and Omega grabs one of the ringside tables. He throws it down though and Page collapses. Omega looks disgusted but walks away anyway. We follow Omega to the back where he finds the Young Bucks but storms off anyway. Omega says he’s done and let’s go so they head to the parking lot. Matt can’t talk him out of it as Omega says we need a good cleaning around here. Omega tells them to get in the car now or never but they stay out and Omega leaves.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy. They have split the first two matches and now it is time for Mimosa Mayhem, where you can win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into a big vat of mimosa.

Chris Jericho talks about how he has been dealing with Cassidy for fourteen weeks and has finally made Cassidy into a real main event draw. They have been through a lot and now it is time to beat him for good, by making him tap out and throwing him into the vat of champagne and orange juice.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

You win by pinfall, submission or throwing your opponent into one of the vats of mimosa (on platforms of equal height to the ring). There are also no rope breaks. During the entrances, we hear more about Hardy, with Tony making it clear that Matt was cleared to continue by the doctor and everything was safe. Cassidy charges straight into the Codebreaker for two to start and Jericho sends him hard into the corner. They go over to one of the platforms with the vat and Jericho hits him in the head with a table.

Jericho gets knocked off to the floor though and Cassidy adds the big dive. They get back on the platform and tease knocking each other in before getting back to safer ground. Cassidy tries a hurricanrana but gets powerbombed onto the platform and then through the table. A kick to the face rocks Jericho and a champagne bucket to the head puts him back inside.

The triangle dropkick almost puts Cassidy in but he’s back with a sunset flip for two. Cassidy grabs a Michinoku Driver for two more and a Stundog Millionaire gets the same. Jericho is back with a counter into the Walls so it’s time to crawl towards the vat. Cassidy uses a pitcher to throw some mimosa into Jericho’s eyes for the break and the Orange Punch connects.

Jericho is thrown over the top and his foot goes in the vat (doesn’t count) so Cassidy hits a running penalty kick (Excalibur: “THE RUNNING PK!” Tony: “THE RUNNING PK!” JR: “THE RUNNING PK!”) and the tornado DDT for two. Cassidy gets planted again for two more but Jericho can’t lawn dart him into the vat. Splash Mountain into the vat is blocked so Cassidy Superman Punches him into the vat for the win at 15:01.

Rating: C+. It was as good of a match as you were going to get based around the idea of throwing someone into a pool of champagne and orange juice. Cassidy already got the big rub off of pinning Jericho on Dynamite so this was more the goofy win than anything else. If this helps turn Cassidy into a main event star then so be it, but I’m not sure how much more of an impact this is going to have. It wasn’t bad, but it felt more silly rather than some big, serious match.

Full Gear is on November 7.

Here’s what’s coming on Dynamite.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman. MJF is the whiny kid who gets whatever he wants but now he has to find a way to beat Moxley to become the World Champion. This has seen a big campaign by MJF to get the title shot, which was pretty quickly dropped to set up MJF being injured by the Paradigm Shift. Then a lawyer got involved and now the Paradigm Shift is banned. Moxley wants to shut MJF up for good and MJF wants the title.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley s. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Friedman is challenging and has Wardlow in his corner plus a big red robe to complete the look. The Paradigm Shift is banned as well and if Moxley uses it, he loses the title. Friedman headlocks him down to start but Moxley is up with a right hand. Moxley sends him outside and gives chase but MJF gets back inside. They do it again and this time Moxley tries a dive, only to have to land on his feet as MJF slides back in.

Moxley sends him to the floor again and this time fakes the dive to get in a stomp. There’s a suicide dive but Moxley has to stop and glare at Wardlow. MJF is sent through the barricade and now it’s time to bend the fingers back, sending MJF into a scream for the ref. Back in and Moxley grabs a sleeper but MJF flips back onto him for two. There’s a ribs first drop onto the top rope but Moxley gets thrown over the top so he can crash down onto his arm.

Wardlow throws him back in and MJF starts in on said arm, as he should. MJF whips him by the arm into the corner for two but Moxley sends him into the post, drawing a big old gash on MJF’s head. MJF is staggered so Moxley teases the Paradigm Shift before realizing that won’t work. The Gotch Style piledriver doesn’t work either because the arm gives out, meaning it’s a swinging Boss Man Slam on the floor instead. Back in and the Gotch Styles piledriver gets two as Moxley’s arm means he can’t hook the leg.

Moxley bites him in the corner as a receipt from Dynamite but MJF gets in a top rope stomp to the arm. They slug it out with Moxley’s arm giving out so he hits a big running clothesline for two instead. Moxley yells at him so MJF spits in Moxley’s face. That almost makes Moxley use the Paradigm Shift so he puts on the brakes, only to get pulled into the Salt of the Earth (Fujiwara armbar). That’s broken up as well so MJF grabs the Heatseeker for two.

Moxley is back with the Air Raid Crash for his own two and they slug it out from their knees. MJF goes to the eye and tries a backslide for two so Moxley is back with the sleeper. The referee gets pulled in so MJF kicks him low for two more. MJF is bleeding even more as he grabs Cross Rhodes for another near fall. Wardlow has had it and gets on the apron to throw in the ring, but Moxley sees MJF pick it up. As the ref is with Wardlow, it’s the Paradigm Shift to give Moxley the pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: C+. It was good enough and the blood helped but this was a long main event at the end of a show that felt very long and it hurt things a lot. The ending wasn’t exactly the most creative either, but they did find a way to keep the title on Moxley and give MJF something else to complain about. I liked it well enough, but I would have liked MJF winning the title more.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s their weakest pay per view to date and, just like Dynamite, that makes it one of the more entertaining shows I can remember in a good while. There was nothing close to really bad on here and the big matches delivered. That being said, I was done with this with about an hour to go and it just kept going.

They needed to trim some time off of some stuff here (5-10 minutes off the Tag Team Title match and the Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in its entirety would be good places to start) as it took away some of the impact that the bigger matches could have had. It was by no means bad or close to it, but it was a case where less would have equaled more.

Now as for the good stuff, the Tag Team Title match and Women’s Title match were both very good to great and the main event was good enough. The Hardy vs. Guevara match was more scary than anything else and I can’t imagine how much they had to cut out of that to make things work out. Cassidy got another rub here so they seem to have a plan in mind for him. There were a lot of positives here and more of them than negatives, but there was a bit too much of the whole show and it became an issue by the end. Still though, another good AEW pay per view as they remain perfect in that regard.

Results

Big Swole b. Britt Baker via knockout

Young Bucks b. Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Jungle Boy

Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal last eliminating Eddie Kingston

Matt Hardy b. Sammy Guevara when Guevara could not answer the ten count

Hikaru Shida b. Thunder Rosa – Running knee

Natural Nightmares/Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rollup to Cabana

FTR b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page – Mindbreaker to Page

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Orange Punch into the mimosa

Jon Moxley b. Maxwell Jacob Friedman – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 2, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

It’s the go home show for All out and the show is mostly set. That being said, AEW knows how to add some matches to the card at the last minute. I’m not going to argue with how they build their pay per views in a hurry as they certainly know what they’re doing so far. Hopefully that is the case again this time around. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends

The Best Friends jump them during the entrances with the fight being on outside. Chuck avoids a double suplex on the floor and Trent hits a big dive off the platform. Santana has to save Ortiz from a suplex onto the steps so the Best Friends send him over the barricade. Trent spears Ortiz down as Chuck sets up a big pile of chairs near the platform. That takes too long though and Santana is back up to send him through the whole thing.

Now the bell rings and it’s Trent hitting running double knees to Santana but a double suplex takes Trent down for two. A tornado DDT gets Trent out of trouble and the hot tag brings in Chuck to clean house. The big running flip dive lets Chuck mug for the camera and it’s Soul Food for Santana back inside. A Falcon Arrow gets two with Ortiz making the save.

Santana charges into a knee to the face in the corner and the hot tag brings in Trent. That just earns him a trip to the floor and a powerbomb onto the steps. Back in and Trent slips out of the Street Sweeper and grabs the belly to back piledriver on Ortiz. Santana puts Ortiz’s hand on the ropes just after three and then throws Chuck over the barricade. The metal baton to the back sets up the Street Sweeper to finish Trent at 6:54.

Rating: C+. Well at least they didn’t stop to hug. The match itself wasn’t all that long but there was an extra five minutes of brawling before the bell to make up for it a little bit. If you cut out a lot of the goofy stuff that the Best Friends do and have Trent be the focal point of the team, it’s a lot easier to put up with them. That and having Santana and Ortiz get the win.

MJF’s lawyer has locked himself in his locker room so Wardlow kicks the door in and drags him out. MJF gets in the lawyer’s face and says he has done everything he can to become a World Champion. It is all he has ever wanted and he isn’t having someone lose his chance for him. So either go out there, or be sent into a f****** woodchipper. Which monster do you want to face?

SCU/Private Party vs. Young Bucks/Jurassic Express

The winning team has a regular tag match at All Out. Kazarian and Jungle Boy go with the technical exchange to start before it’s off to Marq Quen to take Matt down. Isaiah Kassidy hits a springboard hurricanrana to put Matt on the floor, where a fan is holding a “HANGMAN DRINK MY BEER” sign. Matt doesn’t care for that and pours the beer out, though he might want to be more concerned about the fan next to him reading a book.

Back in and the Bucks take over on Daniels until he sends them into each other. A belly to back suplex allows the double tag to Kazarian and Boy as everything breaks down. Daniels moonsaults onto the Bucks on the floor as Boy takes Kazarian into the corner. Back in and Daniels comes in to send Boy face first into Kazarian’s raised boot as we take a break. Back with Boy hitting an Angle Slam neckbreaker to Kassidy and bringing in Luchasaurus to clean house.

Private Party dropkick him down so Luchasaurus does the Undertaker situp and kicks them in the face. The moonsault takes SCU down on the floor but Matt tags himself in. We get a double frog splash/standing moonsaults onto Private Party but SCU comes back in for their powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for two on Boy. Matt superkicks Boy by mistake and the BME hits Boy, followed by Quen’s shooting star press. Luchasaurus makes his own save and tosses Quen into a spinebuster from Boy. Matt tags himself back in and the BTE Trigger finishes at 14:13.

Rating: C. This was a bit longer than it needed to be and was your usual insane spot fest, which can start to run together when they do them week after week. That has been the case with most Bucks matches and it didn’t help that you knew the Bucks weren’t being left off of a pay per view. It was entertaining, but it makes the FTR vs. Private Party match from a few weeks ago stand out even more because it was different, unlike this one.

Jake Hager comes in to see Orange Cassidy because Chris Jericho wants Cassidy at ringside for his match tonight. Violence is implied.

Tully Blanchard tells FTR that they accomplished half of their goals and now it is time to go complete everything by winning the Tag Team Titles. They can be sore on Sunday and on Saturday they are fearing the revelation.

Here’s Kenny Omega for a chat, sans Hangman Page. Tony Schiavone recaps Page being thrown out of the Elite, which Omega describes as a mistake that Page has made. Omega says FTR fooled Page but Omega and Page will defend FTR again because they will be bringing their A game. Cue Tully Blanchard and FTR with the cooler with the team saying they’re looking forward to having a great tag team match.

They offer a toast and even have a chocolate milk for Omega. That’s fine with Omega, but he isn’t going to drink with a double of censoreds like them. If they want to do it right now, Omega is fine with 3-1 because he can get in a few good shots. Just do him a favor first: keep the old man away from him because he can smell him from here. Cue Hangman Page with FTR talking about how Page got inside his own head.

They didn’t do a thing because Page wanted to do this all along. Page has to be held back with Omega telling him that they’re just trying to get in his head. FTR grab the titles and then drop them in front of Page. That’s enough for FTR so Page holds out the title to Omega, who is already on the floor and staring back in. This worked well enough, and it’s nice to see them doing something with the story after a good while. Now they need to change the titles though.

Chris Jericho asks Alex Marvez when he last experienced something for the first time. Like kissing a woman for example. That’s how fans are feeling about the Mimosa Mayhem match because he is happy to have turned Orange Cassidy into a main event star. On Saturday, there is going to be a little bit of the bubbly and a lot of Le Champion.

Chris Jericho vs. Joey Janela

Jake Hager is here with Jericho and Orange Cassidy comes to the ring, carrying a backpack. Jericho, in a white Orange Cassidy shirt (get the liquids ready), jumps Janela, with his hand in pigtails, to start and then hits a running clothesline in the corner. More shots to the face put Janela down again and Jericho stands on his hair. Janela gets in a few shots for his comeback but springboards into a Codebreaker. The Walls finishes Janela at 3:14.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here to show that Jericho is serious going into the match with Cassidy on Saturday. That’s a nice idea, but you can only get so far when you have a match built up around throwing someone into a big vat of orange juice. Granted there is something to be said about watching Janela being beaten up so it could have been worse.

Post match Jericho takes off a turnbuckle pad and sends Janela face first into the steel to bust him open. The blood goes on the Cassidy shirt and Cassidy finally comes in for the brawl. Hager comes in for the save but Sonny Kiss runs in for the save. Cassidy pulls out A Little Bit Of The Bubbly from the backpack and pours it out (second time tonight they’ve done the pour out a drink deal, not counting the time where FTR’s cooler was thrown down).

Video on Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Hardy.

Back from a break with Matt near the top of the building shouting down at Sammy Guevara as they engage in a battle of signs.

Here is Team Taz for a chat. Taz promises that either Ricky Starks or Cage will win, whether Darby Allin, Jake Roberts or Lance Archer like it or not. Cue Roberts and Archer, with the former promising that no one is busting a nut around here. Jake sees a great pair of blue jeans in the ring but here are Eddie Kingston and company to talk about how none of them are winning. Jake: “You’ve been drinking. You must have been drinking.”

Shawn Spears and Tully Blanchard come out to watch as well and the fight is on, with the Gunn Club and Darby Allin running in as well. Some wrestlers jump the barricade and are cleaned out in a hurry. Cue the Inner Circle and the Best Friends to get in on this as well. The brawling takes us to a break and we come back with the big brawl continuing…and now it’s a vignette on the Dark Order.

Video on the Dark Order’s success as of late, including Brodie Lee squashing Cody to win the TNT Title. They will meet Scorpio Sky/Matt Cardona/Dustin Rhodes/QT Marshall at All Out.

Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa

Rosa’s NWA Women’s Title isn’t on the line. Deeb takes her to the mat to start but a shot to the face just makes Rosa mad. Rosa comes back with her own shot to the face and a dropkick but Deep grabs a neckbreaker. With Rosa’s arm trapped, Deeb slams the knee into the mat and grabs a half crab. That doesn’t last long and we take a break.

Back with Rosa grabbing a waistlock and then putting on a cross arm choke. Deeb reverses into a Backstabber and they’re both down. A quick rollup gives Deeb two but Rosa hits some running knees in the corner. The running dropkick against the ropes gets two and a Death Valley Driver is good for the same. Rosa hits a running knee to the face for two and then the Thunder Driver is good for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C+. Well they certainly had some time. I’m not sure who in the world thought someone they are treating as a big deal needed to go about ten minutes before heading into her title match was a good idea, but at least Rosa won. Granted it was after some near falls and after Deeb kicked out of some big stuff, but at least Rosa won.

Jon Moxley is ready to hurt MJF on Saturday.

Big Swole talks about being ready to beat some revenge into Britt Baker during Saturday’s Buy In. Cue a woman with a pizza for Swole, but she isn’t quite buying it (or paying for it). Swole jumps her but here is Baker from behind to hit her with a pole. Baker shoves the pizza in Swole’s face and puts on the Lockjaw.

Here’s what’s coming up this weekend, including a Friday Dark and the All Out card.

Mark Sterling vs. Jon Moxley

Non-title and Wardlow is here with the lawyer as JR promises it is going to be bowling shoe ugly. Sterling’s name graphic says he is MJF’s inattentive lawyer, but he was attentive to his color scheme as he is covered in red white and blue and has an MJF campaign sign on his back. Moxley offers Sterling a free shot and has to show him how to make a fist. The punch misses and Moxley knocks him down with a slap. A breath sends Sterling outside, where he shows some great bumping abilities for someone who found out he was debuting a week ago.

Back in and Sterling’s next free shot misses and he goes sailing outside again. Sterling pokes him in the eye back inside (Excalibur: “Maybe Mark is a smart mark after all.”) but Moxley clotheslines him back to the floor. Sterling is covered by barricades and chairs before Moxley steals his shoe to beat him up even more. Back in again and Moxley has a seat in a chair before getting up and offering a handshake. That doesn’t work so it’s the Paradigm Shift for the pin at 5:03.

Rating: D+. What is there to say here? The point was to have Moxley beat up the lawyer and he did that for a good while. I’m really not sure if this was the right way to go for the go home angle before a pay per view title match, but at least they got through this point. The match has been well built, but it felt a little weird to go here for the big final push.

Post match Wardlow comes in to beat on Moxley and here’s MJF on his walker. The neck brace comes off and MJF beats him down. MJF loads up the diamond ring and knocks Moxley cold, including busting him open. A bite of the cut makes it even worse and MJF holds up the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a bit of a weird show as the main stuff on the card was set up and there wasn’t a lot on here that enhanced Saturday’s matches. It was a fine enough show, but they didn’t do the best job of getting in a final push towards All Out. What we got here was good enough but it’s an AEW pay per view: they have built up more than enough of a good reputation to make me give them the benefit of the doubt.

Results

Santana and Ortiz b. Best Friends – Street Sweeper to Trent

Young Bucks/Jurassic Express b. Private Party/SCU – BTE Trigger to Quen

Chris Jericho b. Joey Janela – Walls of Jericho

Thunder Rosa b. Serena Deeb – Thunder Driver

Jon Moxley b. Mark Sterling – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: August 27, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone

We’re on another special schedule this week and this time around it’s another stacked show. We have a tag team gauntlet match for the #1 contendership to the Tag Team Titles for All Out, plus all of the other tag matches that this show really likes presenting. Throw in a Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara tables match (though a chairs match would make more sense) and we should be good to go. Let’s get to it.

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

There are fans back too and it already helps a lot.

Tag Team Gauntlet Match

The winners get the title shot against Kenny Omega/Hangman Page at All Out. The Young Bucks and the Natural Nightmares start things off with Nick hiptossing Marshall early on. Dustin comes in to trade armdrags with Matt and Dustin needs a little breather. The powerslams plant the Bucks and a double Russian legsweep gets two on Matt. It’s back to Dustin who teases the Goldust deep breath but just works on the arm instead.

Matt gets away from Dustin though and the Bucks get in a double dropkick to send Marshall outside. Dustin is right back with a Canadian Destroyer to Matt though and it’s back to Marshall. The QT Special is broken up and a double superkick drops Marshall. The BTE Trigger finishers Marshall at 6:23.

It’s the Best Friends in third and they shoulder Nick down to start. Trent is sent to the floor but he avoids the moonsault and hits a spear on Nick. Back in and Nick is sent hard into the corner as Jericho rants about how much he hates Being The Elite. A superkick and a German suplex on the apron allow Nick to get over for the hot tag though and house is cleaned. Something like Diamond Dust sets up the rolling northern lights suplexes but Trent grabs the tornado DDT out of the corner to put both of them down.

It’s back to Nick for more kicks until Chuck spinebusters him down, although he is favoring his knee a bit. Soul Food into the half and half suplex takes Nick down again and there’s the Big Hug. Strong Zero is reversed into a rollup for two on Trent and he’s pulled down to the floor for a Swanton from the apron. Back in and the hanging 450 gets two on Trent. The Meltzer Driver is reversed into a rollup on Matt and here’s Hangman Page to hold Nick back to give Chuck the pin at 16:31.

FTR is in last and has Tully Blanchard in their corner. Back from a break with Chuck in trouble but countering a Figure Four attempt with a quick small package. Wheeler breaks up the hot tag attempt and even pulls Trent to the floor for a suplex to break it up again. That lets Harwood grab a reverse Figure Four…and Chuck taps at 26:20. It’s so sudden that commentary acknowledges that they almost missed it.

Rating: C+. You could pretty much figure out the order of eliminations and the winners here without much effort and that’s not a bad thing. I’m also glad that they didn’t pad the match out with a bunch of teams who didn’t need to be there. Throw in the fact that they had normal tag matches instead of some big eight man insanity and it was downright not bad.

Darby Allin, in a Ricky Starks mask, walks across a really high bridge and says he isn’t afraid of Starks. Then he dives off the bridge.

Lance Archer vs. Sean Maluta

Archer has Jake Roberts with him and runs Maluta over at the bell. Another shot puts him on the floor but Archer lets him come back in for a slugout. That just annoys Archer, who throws him into the corner with a suplex. The chokeslam gets two with Archer pulling him up, much to Jake’s delight. The Blackout into the EBD Claw finishes Maluta at 2:55.

Post break Jake says there will be twenty one men in the Casino Battle Royal and Archer better win it. Archer thinks he can throw out all twenty men, which makes Jake happy because he loves to abuse people. Cue Team Taz (Jake: “IT’S THE FLINTSTONES!”) with Taz saying that one of the members is winning the battle royal. Jake says they should put on some chicken suits because they’re going to get plucked. Violence is teased but here’s Darby Allin, on the skateboard, to go after Starks. The two of them fight to the back so Archer and Cage are ready to go.

MJF manages to get down the hall way and doesn’t like someone sounding like they’re laughing.

Video on Thunder Rosa, including clips from the NWA and comments from Billy Corgan.

We get a quick signing between Thunder Rosa and Hikaru Shida.

It’s time for the contract signing between Jon Moxley and MJF. Jericho rants about Moxley being #1 in the PWI 500 and Tony makes it worse by saying Jericho is #3. Jericho: “WHO IS NUMBER TWO??? MARKO STUNT???” The contract involves banning the Paradigm Shift from their match and MJF signs in a hurry but Moxley hesitates. MJF talks about how contract signings end in violence ten times out of ten but they need to practice social distancing. MJF: “Kind of like your hairline Jon.”

Moxley laughs it off and says MJF will get there one day. MJF says Moxley is as sharp as a marble and that’s not surprising. He knows Moxley is crazy because even Mike Tyson said he wouldn’t want to be in a dark alley with Moxley. On September 5, they’re going to be in a ring though and MJF is a wrestling prodigy. He is going to pick Moxley apart and use every piece of the ring to take him apart like a brain surgeon.

Moxley is going to try to take him outside for the brawling because that’s all he knows. He grew up watching and idolizing people like Sandman, New Jack and Onita. MJF grew up watching Buddy Rogers, Ernie Ladd (those are two rather different influences) and Tully Blanchard and they made him a wrestling machine. When they leave the ring on September 5, he’s wearing platinum because he’s the best in the world.

If Moxley is so sure that he’s a better wrestler though, why does he need the Paradigm Shift? If Moxley isn’t so sure, maybe MJF should call Moxley’s hot little wife and tell him he’s single. Moxley is ready to fight so the lawyer threatens a lawsuit. Sure he wants to use the Paradigm Shift and drop MJF on his head to cause him permanent neck damage. But he doesn’t want to get sued because the only lawyer he knows is his old public defender and he’s in jail. None of this matters anyway because on September 5, MJF is a dead man.

Moxley signs and MJF celebrates, though Moxley says he loved what is on page 17. MJF: “THERE ARE ONLY SIXTEEN PAGES!” Moxley slipped in a deal, saying that he gets to face the lawyer next week and the Paradigm Shift is legal. If the lawyer doesn’t show up, MJF doesn’t get a title shot. Moxley: “I should be a lawyer.”

Santana and Ortiz recap their issues with the Best Friends and sure they’ll apologize. They’re just sorry that Trent’s mom wasn’t in the van when they wrecked it.

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss/Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison

Eddie laughs off the idea that he and his friends are a faction. They’re just about titles and nothing more. It’s a brawl to start with the Bros hitting big flip dives out to the floor to take down all four of them. Back in and a running dropkick into a gutwrench suplex drops Garrison as JR and Jericho talk about guitars. Kiss comes in and Matrixes away from Blade’s right hand. It’s off to Janela to forearm Blade in the corner.

Back from a break with Janela punching Fenix down but getting sent to the ramp by Butcher. That earns Butcher a Stunner over the ropes and Janela runs over for the tag off to Kiss. House is cleaned but Janela gets caught on the apron with a package piledriver. Pillman comes in and gets to chop away but walks into the spike Fear Factor for the pin at 9:02.

Rating: D+. This could have been on any given episode of Dark and that’s not the best place to be. What mattered here was getting the new team together for a win and that’s perfectly fine. Just let Kingston talk a lot and the team will be fine. I’m not sure what they’re going to do next, but they had a passable debut as a team here.

Post match Kingston says the five of them are in the Casino Battle Royal and guarantees a winner.

We recap Brodie Lee destroying Cody last week and making it even worse post match.

Here’s the Dark Order, minus Lee, carrying a casket (Jericho: ‘IS CODY IN THERE???”). Evil Uno talks about the team purchasing six lawn mowers for this kind of a celebration. This is a farewell to the man known as Cody and they open the casket, with Ten inside. He even has a Nightmare Family jacket and a fake Cody tattoo. They throw the jacket inside and put the Cody flag onto the casket. Now it’s Brodie coming out and Uno demands that all of them show respect.

The team gets in the ring for an interview with Tony, with Lee saying the Dark Order was laughed at about a year ago because of people like Tony. See, Lee was sitting in prison back then and now they’re here with the gold in his hands. Lee tells the team to shut up for chanting for him and introduces Ann Jay as the Queen Slayer. Cody is never getting the title back and the Open Challenge is over.

One of the members tries to cheer for him so Lee punches him in the face. Cue the Natural Nightmares to go after the Order but the numbers take him down. Scorpio Sky comes in to clear out everyone but Lee, only to have Anna come in from behind for a slap. That lets Lee get in a cheap shot so here’s Matt Cardona to chase everyone else off.

The Young Bucks find Hangman Page at the bar and yell at him for costing them the match. They know he doesn’t want to be part of this because he’s a drunk. He’s also out of the Elite.

Penelope Ford/Reba/Britt Baker vs. Big Swole

Baker is still in her wheelchair but has an offer for Swole: if Swole wins, she can have any match with Baker that she wants. It’s a brawl before the bell and Swole can’t fight off the numbers game. Swole catches Reba on the top though and a super hurricanrana barely works. Kip Sabian distracts the referee so Swole gives him Dirty Dancing. Ford throws Swole back in so Reba can hit a middle rope moonsault for two. Reba tries to bring in the crutch but the referee stops it. The crutch is picked up anyway but Swole ducks and Ford is knocked out to give Swole the pin at 2:48. A little messy but it did what it was supposed to.

Here’s the Dark Order again with a JOIN US folder for Taya Conti. A big hug seems to say yes. JR: “Let’s all go tot he mall.”

All Out rundown.

We look at the Inner Circle destroying Orange Cassidy last week.

Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara

Tables match. Matt wastes no time in sending it outside for a whip over the barricade. The beating stays on near the crowd but Sammy gets in a knee to the face as we take a fast break. Back again with Matt hitting a Side Effect on the apron and loading a bloody Sammy onto the table. The apron elbow misses though and the table is destroyed.

Sammy grabs a chair but Matt gives him a Twist of Fate through it instead. It’s time for a table with DELETED painted on top (Jericho: “OH NO!”) and Matt even knows how to get it untangled from the ropes. Matt puts it on top of an open chair and goes up but his balance gives out. That lets Sammy superplex Matt through the table for the win at 6:28.

Rating: D+. The lack of time destroyed this as they didn’t have a lot of time and then that was cut out because of the commercial. There isn’t much anyone can do under those circumstances, especially with a gimmick match. I’m hoping they get another change at this and with some more time because this was criminal given what they had set up.

Post match Orange Cassidy sprints across the stage (nicely done too as the camera was on Sammy so you just saw a white shirt streaking through the background) to jump Jericho and the big fight is on with Sammy trying to help Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as some of the matches felt like they belonged on Dark instead of the big show and the big segments were only ok. I don’t need to see the Dark Order as the featured team, especially against Dustin Rhodes and Matt Cardona. The contract signing worked because MJF can say anything, but Moxley beating up a lawyer isn’t exactly interesting. It’s a good enough show and they moved things along, but not one of their best efforts.

Results

FTR won a gauntlet match last eliminating Best Friends

Lance Archer b. Sean Maluta – EBD Claw

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. Brian Pillman Jr./Griff Garrison/Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Spike Fear Factor to Pillman

Big Swole b. Penelope Ford/Britt Baker/Reba – Crutch shot to Ford

Sammy Guevara b. Matt Hardy – Superplex through a table

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: August 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s a special Saturday edition of the show and as luck would have it, the only time that the show could air this week was opposite the first hour of Takeover. With that coincidence out of the way, it’s a big night with the finals of the Women’s Tag Team Tournament and we get a sitdown interview with Orange Cassidy. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

FTR vs. Private Party

Tully Blanchard is here with FTR. Dash Harwood hiptossed Marq Quen to start and everything breaks down in a hurry for not quite stereo dropkicks from Private Party. We settle down to Cash Wheeler offering a distraction so Harwood can rake Quen’s eyes to take over. It’s off to Kassidy anyway and a top rope ax handle hits Harwood’s arm. Some quick double teaming takes Harwood down to give Quen two and we hit the hammerlock.

Harwood bails to the floor for a second and it’s a Wheeler distraction to set up a double clothesline to take Quen down. Choking ensues behind the referee’s back, followed by some old school eye raking across the top rope ala Arn Anderson. The chinlock goes on but Quen fights up and we go to an overhead camera shot. Wheeler comes back in for two off a powerbomb and another chinlock goes on.

Quen fights up and sends both of them to the floor, allowing the hot tag off to Kassidy. A blind tag brings Quen back in for two off a springboard crossbody plus a small package for the same. Wheeler hits a spinebuster for two more and everyone is down again. Kassidy’s slingshot dive to the floor misses thanks to a Tully save, leaving Quen to go shoulder near to the post. The Goodnight Express is good for the pin at 12:51.

Rating: B. That’s the best FTR match in AEW so far as they had a solid, back and forth effort here. Pairing them with Tully is about as perfect as you can get outside of Arn Anderson and I’m not sure why it took so long to get us here. This worked rather well and I could go for more of it down the road. Private Party looked good here too and FTR felt even more old school than usual here.

Jon Moxley likes to let his actions do the talking. MJF thinks he’s the future but Moxley would be one to disagree. Moxley wants the company to succeed for the next twenty five years and since he won’t be here that long, he needs MJF to move out of his basement. On September 5, MJF is going to take one heck of a beating and then get dumped on top of his head. MJF better be ready.

MJF, in a neckbrace and using a walker (which matches the scarf of course), says he hopes Moxley knows his actions have consequences. He hopes that he can have kids some day and wants to hear “Pa-pa, can we have a game of catch? But now he might be too injured to allow that to happen. MJF’s lawyer takes over to talk about the Paradigm Shift, also known as the double arm DDT, being so dangerous. If MJF is injured, who is next? Wardlow? Gum Guy? They have put a petition online to get the Paradigm Shift, also known as the double arm DDT, banned, and FIVE MILLION people have signed. That’s why they have a contract ready to ban it and if Moxley doesn’t sign it, they’ll sue.

Lucha Bros/Butcher and Blade vs. Natural Nightmares/Jurassic Express

It’s the Dark Special making it to Dynamite. The brawl is on before the introductions until Marshall hits a handspring forearm to Blade. Marshall has to flip out of a double belly to back suplex and the hot tag brings in Dustin to clean house. Dustin gets taken to the floor though and the beating is on. Back in and Pentagon starts working on Dustin’s leg before handing it off to Fenix for more of the same.

We take a break and come back with Luchasaurus coming in off the hot tag and cleaning house, including a bad chokeslam to Pentagon. The standing moonsault gets two as everything breaks down. The Sling Blade connects for Pentagon but he gets caught in Jungle Boy’s tornado DDT. Jungle Boy gets backdropped into a piledriver from Pentagon but Blade goes up top instead of Fenix. Pentagon shoves Blade…right into a rollup to give Boy the pin at 9:42.

Rating: C. It feels like we’ve seen some version of this match between all of the midcard tag teams around here at least once a week. They aren’t bad and there was no Marko Stunt involvement so it couldn’t be as bad. The match was short enough to not overstay its welcome but it’s nothing we haven’t seen far better before, including anything from the Lucha Bros.

Post match the losers argue a lot but here’s Eddie Kingston to ask why they’re fighting. TNT knows drama so why is there drama here? After that good line, he says that if the four of them follow him, they can have anything they want. The five of them hug and Eddie winks at the camera, because we have another stable around here.

We go to the gym with Britt Baker talking about how awesome she is but Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford are physically expressing their affections with each other. Baker calls them off because that’s a way to exchange germs and offers free dental care for a year if they’ll help get rid of Big Swole. Oh and Reba will do her makeup for a year. Ford says deal.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring and brings out Orange Cassidy for an interview. The Best Friends are here too because they’re on every single show in the history of ever. Tony talks about it being the biggest win of Cassidy’s career but here’s Chris Jericho to interrupt. Jericho congratulates Cassidy on his win because it doesn’t happen around here very often. That means Cassidy is learning, because now he knows what it takes to be a main eventer around here. Jericho wants to offer him a toast but there is one more thing. They’re even in their two matches so they need to do it again.

Jericho invented a match involving a ladder and a briefcase so they need to do something else: the Mimosa Mayhem Match. We see a video explaining the rules: there will be an eighty gallon tub of orange juice mixed with A Little Bit Of The Bubbly at ringside and you win by pinfall, submission, or throwing your opponent in. Back in the arena, Cassidy gives him a thumbs up for All Out. Jericho is pleased and still wants to toast Cassidy, but not alone. Cue the Inner Circle to surround the ring and Jericho says get them. The beating is on and Cassidy is held upside down with Jericho pouring champagne over his face.

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks vs. Dark Order

It’s Alan Angels/John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order here. Nick and Angels (I think, as the Order are all in masks) start things off and Matt comes in for the early double teaming. The Bucks shrug off a triple teaming and Omega comes in to show them how it’s properly done. The Order is sent outside until it’s Omega chopping away at Reynolds. Omega is sent outside for a stomp to a chair to his chest and Reynolds hits a suicide dive. Back in and Omega gets beaten down in the corner as we take a break.

We come back with Nick in and cleaning house, including a Backstabber out of the corner to Reynolds. It’s Reynolds getting caught in the corner, including a bulldog/dropkick combination. Omega misses a charge in the corner though and it’s the Order starting with the running corner elbows. Reynolds’ powerbomb to Omega is broken up and it’s time to unleash the snapdragons.

The Meltzer Driver is broken up though and the Order hits back to back Tombstones on the Bucks. Angels comes in with a top rope double stomp for two on Matt with Omega diving in for the save. Angels’ moonsault is superkicked out of the air and Nick hits a moonsault onto the other two. A launch into the Indytaker into the One Winged Angel finishes Angels at 11:17.

Rating: C+. This was as good as the Elite beating up three masked goons was going to be. Omega and the Bucks are fine as a mini stable inside the Elite but it’s only going to be so good given their opponents. Omega wasn’t quite as aggressive as he had been teasing, but then again how angry can you get in a match against the Dark Order?

Post match Omega grabs a chair and loads up a powerbomb to send Angels through it, with the Bucks having to break it up. There’s your aggression.

FTR and Tully Blanchard like the idea of a #1 contenders gauntlet match next week. Tully says it’s time to prove that they are the best and they’ll go through everyone to get there. Hangman Page comes in to share drinks and they seem to be cool with the idea of coming after the titles once they win the gauntlet match. Page and Omega have beaten everyone, but not FTR. Things seem to be all cool.

Darby Allin vs. Will Hobbs

Allin jumps him during the entrance and dropkicks him outside. The dive takes Hobbs out again but he says ring the bell anyway. Allin can’t whip him in so Hobbs hits a heck of a backdrop. Hobbs pulls him out of the corner for two before yelling a lot. That takes a little too long and Allin hits a headbutt to the ribs. The Coffin Drop finishes Hobbs at 2:46.

Post match Taz laughs at Darby and introduces the newest member of Team Taz. His name is Darby also, and it’s…..Ricky Starks in Darby face paint. Starks talks about how no one likes him while he only likes skateboards. He also likes shredding someone’s back with thumb tacks because life is a joke. Ha ha ha. Cue Brian cage from behind to hit Allin with the FTW Title.

We come back with Matt Hardy unloading on Sammy Guevara (who had been out with his signs about Matt) with a chair. Sammy is thrown off the stage and through the table. Matt isn’t done and grabs the same kind of chair that busted him open a few weeks back but referees won’t let him throw it.

NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa, with the title, is coming for Hikaru Shida so she can make the women’s division mean something. She wants a shot at Shida at All Out and nothing else.

Women’s Tag Team Tournament Finals: Nightmare Sisters vs. Diamante/Ivelisse

Veda Scott joins commentary for the four person booth. The Natural Nightmares are here, with Dustin keeping track of Brandi’s action figures. Ivelisse strikes away at Brandi, including kicking out her knee for a kick to the chest. Diamante comes in to kick her down as well but it’s quickly off to Allie for a forearm in the corner.

We take a break and come back with Allie putting Diamante on top but Diamante comes back with a quick suplex to get a breather. The double tag brings in Allie for the reverse DDT but Ivelisse make the save as everything breaks down. Allie is caught in a double team but QT Marshall offers a distraction. He gets knocked off the apron and Brandi is dropped onto him, leaving Allie to be snapmared into a kick to the head for the pin and the tournament at 9:34.

Rating: C-. And that’s the tournament, thank goodness. This was one of the worse things that AEW has done so far and thank goodness it didn’t go on longer. They didn’t have the personnel and it wasn’t exactly interesting as a big trailer for Brandi and Heels. The final could have been worse, but the whole thing felt like such a horrible waste of time. Either get better with the talent or don’t do this again. Keep Veda though, as she was great on commentary.

Post match Madusa comes out to present the trophy. That doesn’t involve saying anything, but the winners get some medals too.

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Cody

Cody is defending and has Arn Anderson in his corner. Brodie starts fast with a dropkick and Cody is sent outside, meaning it’s a hard whip into the barricade. Back in and the smiling Lee drops him again for two. A powerbomb sets up the discus lariat….and Lee wins the title at 3:06. Cody got in no significant offense.

Rating: D+. This was a complete squash and my eyes bugged out on the pin. That’s a good way to send in a shock and I didn’t see it coming. This was in the Brock Lesnar squashes John Cena mold, albeit the shorter form. It wasn’t a good match, but it was a big shock and that’s a positive thing here.

Post match the Dark Order comes in to celebrate as Lee says he told us so. Cody is taken out on a stretcher. He does the big thumbs up….and Lee sends the Dark Order after Arn. Anderson slugs away but gets knocked down, allowing Lee to turn the stretcher over. Dustin Rhodes runs out and gets laid out as well. Lee hits Cody in the head with a rolled up bag and poses over him. Cue Brandi to stand over Cody but Anna Jay chokes her out. Lee calls her off and poses with the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t as good here but the ending angle and title change were quite good. They moved some things forward here and All Out is starting to come together. They don’t have a lot of time left before the pay per view and hopefully now they can hammer things down and blow it out of the water again. Good show here, and things are looking bright down the road.

Results

FTR b. Private Party – Goodnight Express to Quen

Jurassic Express/Natural Nightmares b. Lucha Bros/Butcher and Blade – Rollup to Pentagon

Kenny Omega/Young Bucks b. Dark Order – One Winged Angel to Angels

Diamante/Ivelisse b. Nightmare Sisters – Kick to Allie’s head

Brodie Lee b. Cody – Discus lariat

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: August 12, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s time for a big night here (tends to be a trend around this place) with both Tag Team Appreciation Night and the big showdown between Chris Jericho and Orange Cassidy. I’m not sure if I can imagine Cassidy actually beating Jericho, but they have set it up as the most logical way to go. Throw in some good tag stuff and we could be in for a nice night. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Young Bucks vs. Dark Order

The Order jumps the Bucks before the bell and it’s Nick in trouble on the floor. Nick fights up with a big flip dive off the set but Matt’s bad back is sent into various things. Back in and Uno slams Matt back first onto Nick’s knee but Matt flips over both of them and brings Nick in off the hot tag. The springboard armdrag takes Grayson down but he dropkicks Nick’s knee out and dropkicks both Bucks at once.

Matt gets knocked onto the apron and Grayson hits a slingshot knee to the ribs. Choking with the tag rope ensues and an elbow gives Grayson two. Matt gets pulled outside but manages to send Grayson head first into the post. That leaves Matt surrounded by the Order but he crawls underneath the ring to escape. That’s not enough for the hot tag though as Uno hits a jumping neckbreaker to take him right back down. A big boot cuts off another comeback bid but Matt snaps off a reverse hurricanrana to Grayson, setting up the hot tag to Nick.

Everything breaks down and Grayson is sent over the barricade, leaving Uno to get superkicked. There’s another one to Grayson, setting up Risky Business for two on Uno. The springboard Swanton to Uno gets two more thanks to a foot on the rope. Grayson is back in for the Swanton to Matt while Uno Cannonballs Nick. Another kick to the face gets another two on Matt with Nick making the save. Nick is dragged up to the entrance, leaving Matt to counter Fatality into a rollup for the pin at 12:28.

Rating: B-. Why yes, the Bucks did just get destroyed for most of the match, hit a bunch of superkicks, kick out of a bunch of stuff and then win in the end off a fluke rollup. They’re rather popular, but my goodness they can get into a formula with the best of them. That can also become a problem as there is rarely a doubt about them losing a match, but they shouldn’t be losing to the Dark Order anyway.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman makes his walk to the ring, likes his new gum, and shoves a guy for getting in his shot.

Hangman Page and Kenny Omega pick the Young Bucks as their favorite tag team ever. Page: “I was going to say us but….”. Omega goes on about how great the Bucks are and Page doesn’t seem convinced.

Here’s MJF for his weekly campaign speech. After giving us the hashtags, MJF yells at his assistant to smile and has her show us some polling. We see that MJF is up 500% to -1000% nationwide and the numbers don’t lie. It’s time to move over to someone better than MJF because we deserve better. MJF even lays down to make it easier for Moxley, who isn’t even here this week. He gives Moxley the keys to everything, and here’s Moxley’s music.

MJF sends everyone to where Moxley tends to come from, but Moxley comes in through the entrance and hits the Paradigm Shift. Moxley leaves and says that doesn’t make us even. That doesn’t come until All Out when he teaches him a violent lesson. MJF screams for Wardlow to help him but be careful.

We look back at the NASTY chair to Matt Hardy’s head which busted him open. That was horrible.

Matt says he isn’t cleared for ten days, which happens to be the date of the next Dynamite on Saturday August 22. Matt is ready for Sammy then but he’s waiting for Sammy tonight. Matt insists he’s ok and not crazy, but he then jumps a referee who looks a little bit like Sammy before realizing what he does.

TNT Title: Scorpio Sky vs. Cody

Sky is challenging and kicks a door in on his entrance for the symbolic entrance. The TNT Title is complete, and Cody now has the Natural Nightmares, the Nightmare Sisters and Arn Anderson with him, at least for the entrance. Mike Chioda makes his debut as referee and they trade headlock takeovers to start. Cody gets sent outside and the frustration sets in quickly.

Back in and Cody shows off the double bicep before sending Sky to the floor with a hiptoss. Sky ignores Cody’s offer of holding the ropes open and they head back inside, only to fall to the floor again. Some shots to Sky’s ribs on the floor set up a powerslam inside and we take a break. Back with Cody getting two off a sunset flip out of the corner but Sky drops him ribs first across the top rope.

The ribs are sent hard into the post and Sky sends him onto the ramp. The slingshot cutter over the ropes gives Sky two but Cody gets in a shot and takes him up top. That means a superplex, with Sky reversing into a small package for two. The TKO is countered into Cross Rhodes for two in the big kickout. Sky grabs a jumping Downward Spiral for the same so he loads up another slingshot cutter. This time Cody grabs the rope for the block and hits the Cross Rhodes again to retain at 11:50.

Rating: B. This was good but could have been great. Sky is one of the smoothest hands in all of AEW and it is nice to see him doing something like this in a bigger spot. That being said, he needs to actually win a match of note on his own one day. The match was good though and Sky looked like a bigger deal on this stage. Cody winning isn’t a surprise, but I was hoping for a little more from this one.

Post match Brodie Lee pops up on screen with the old TNT Title, saying that Cody can have that because Lee will take the real one next week. Tick tock, time’s up.

Private Party’s favorite team is the Hardys.

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Hangman Page/Kenny Omega

The Express is challenging and Luchasaurus says hi to his mom. It only took sixty five million years but a dinosaur is finally getting a shot. Boy and Omega start things off but the referee has to deal with Marko Stunt interfering. Both Taz and JR sound sick of him as the referee gets rid of him in a hurry. We settle down to Boy reversing a fireman’s carry into an armbar, followed by a multiple springboard armdrag.

A dropkick gives Omega one but a shot to the face messes up Omega’s nose. Luchasaurus comes in for some shots in the corner before it’s quickly back to Boy. Page makes a blind tag and scores with a quick basement lariat for two. Everything breaks down and Page chops it out with Boy, sending JR into some annoyance as we take a break. Back with Luchasaurus cleaning house, including a chokeslam to Page to set up a standing moonsault for two.

Omega hits a V Trigger to Luchasaurus’ back, followed by a pair of Snapdragons. Omega is sent outside where Stunt gets on his nerves, meaning it’s a Snapdragon on the floor. Boy hits a big suicide dive (barely making contact) but Omega is right back in with a fisherman’s suplex for two on Luchasaurus. Page takes Luchasaurus’ place and gets chokeslammed, but Luchasaurus has to throw Stunt over the top onto Omega. Everyone gets back in and Omega sends the Express outside for the big flip dive. Boy is sent back inside for a powerbomb from Page for two and it’s the Last Call to finish Boy at 14:10.

Rating: B-. Not bad here, but it is nice to hear commentary just getting sick of everything about Stunt. It has been annoying for a long time now and the team is trying to win the Tag Team Titles here. Why are we seeing Stunt get involved with something that should be a lot more important? Anyway, good match here, but not at the level that Page and Omega have hit before.

Santana and Ortiz throw the Best Friends’ gear in the shower and cover it with bleach.

Butcher and Blade pick the Road Warriors as the best team ever because no one could clear a ring like they could.

The Young Bucks and FTR are in the ring with the Rock N Roll Express and Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard. Matt talks about how the Express developed the style that the Bucks use to this day. The Express made the style for Shawn and Marty and Matt and Jeff (the names they use) and the Bucks have nothing but respect for them. Dax talks about how he’s a huge Express mark because the Express has allowed him to make a living in this business. He has a beautiful wife and a perfect daughter and he can provide that life for them because of these legends.

Ricky talks about how much he loves AEW and how the Young Bucks are bringing tag team wrestling back to what they did years ago. Arn says he doesn’t blow smoke because it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. The Bucks have taken tag team wrestling to another level and Arn’s hat is off to them. As for FTR, they’re the best tag team in the world today. Tully takes the mic from Ricky and tells him not to start something he can’t finish. What matters the most is being the Tag Team Champions and FTR aren’t the champions.

As for Arn, Tully hasn’t been cool with him since last year when he cost Shawn Spears a match against Cody. Spears comes out and Arn sees where this is going and leaves. Ricky pops Tully in the mouth and they have to be separated as Dax has aggravated last week’s knee injury. The knee brace comes off….and FTR jumps the Express from behind. Ricky takes a spike piledriver and it’s the Bucks and Omega/Page (with drink) making the save. Nice job here as the swerve worked well.

Mike Chioda is proud to be here but Chris Jericho interrupts. Jericho talks about their time together and implies that the fix is in. Chioda says he’s calling it down the middle, so Jericho says that’s fine. When he gives the signal, ahem, call it right down the middle. If Chioda does the right thing, maybe Jericho gets him his job back here.

Sammy Guevara comes out with his signs to ask about Matt Hardy. That is all for Sammy at the moment, though he’s still no Lodi.

Hikaru Shida vs. Heather Monroe

Non-title. Monroe jumps her to start so Shida is right back with a running knee. Shida gets caught in the corner though and Monroe hits some knees to the back, setting up a cross arm choke. A flip into the corner looks to set up the Falcon Arrow but Monroe reverses into a rollup for two. That’s fine with Shida, who grabs the Brock Lock and pulls on the arm at the same time for the tap at 2:25.

Post match, Shida says bring it on at All Out.

Jake Roberts talks about having a mental advantage as Lance Archer beats up people in the locker room behind him. Archer wants Jake to tell them something and then rips Jake’s shirt open, revealing a message on his back: EVERYBODY DIES.

Here’s what’s coming on the August 22 Dynamite (with at least half of it up against Takeover), including Cody defending the TNT Title against Brodie Lee and the finals of the women’s tag team tournament.

Video on Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy.

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

If Jericho wins, Cassidy owes him $7000 and the Best Friends/the Inner Circle are banned from ringside. Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets and the fight is on in a hurry. They head outside with Cassidy hitting a dive and then going up top, meaning it’s the hands in pockets (for most of the trip) dive. A top rope DDT gets two on Jericho back inside but the Superman Punch is blocked. Jericho suplexes him down and chops away, setting up the triangle dropkick to the floor.

Back from a break with Jericho hitting a very delayed vertical suplex. Cassidy is back with a nasty dragon screw legwhip though and Jericho is in some trouble. The top rope hurricanrana is loaded up but Jericho counters into the Walls. Cassidy slips out so Jericho grabs the Codebreaker for two. Frustration sets in so Jericho grabs Floyd the bat and tells Mike Chioda to do the right thing. Chioda turns around but turns back around and takes the bat away.

Cassidy gets two off a rollup and hits a Falcon Arrow for the same. At least there’s no Excalibur here for his line about the move. Cue Santana and Ortiz to brawl on the stage with the Best Friends for a distraction, allowing Jake Hager to run in and hits a powerslam on Cassidy to give Jericho two. A low blow slows Cassidy down but he avoids the Judas Effect, allowing Cassidy to….mostly botch his Oklahoma roll but he winds up on top to pin Jericho at 13:48.

Rating: C. Not exactly a great match (the ending was rather bad) but it was the only thing they could do here. They built up Cassidy as having a chance against Jericho and while I still have quite the issue with Jericho putting Cassidy over in general, it was all they could do in this situation. Not a good match for the most part, but the logical conclusion.

Overall Rating: C+. If you didn’t see the logo on the graphics, the Tag Team Appreciation Night would have probably slipped by you. It was kind of a weird show in that they had a theme but didn’t really follow up on it and the main event was built around a mostly comedy feud. Almost everything felt like it could have been more, though what we got was good enough. Not a bad show by any means, but I was hoping for more almost up and down the card.

Results

Young Bucks b. Dark Order – Rollup to Grayson

Cody b. Scorpio Sky – Cross Rhodes

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega b. Jurassic Express – Last Call to Boy

Hikaru Shida b. Heather Monroe – Over the neck leg and arm stretch

Orange Cassidy b. Chris Jericho – Arm trap rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: August 5, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Taz, Jim Ross

It’s time for another big themed show with Super Wednesday, and in this case that means more Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho. This time around it’s in the form of a debate, with a special moderator. Other than that we have the World Title on the line as Jon Moxley defends against Darby Allin. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Dark Order/Colt Cabana vs. Young Bucks/FTR/Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

They restart very fast with everyone already in the ring and Matt springboarding at Lee. 9 comes in and goes up top, only to be taken down by Nick again. FTR starts working on 9’s arm and it’s off to Omega to do the same as JR accuses Tony of staring at Anna Jay near commentary. The Kitaro Crusher hits 9 for two and Uno/Stu Grayson come in for the save and knock everyone off the apron. FTR come in for the save and it’s a triple suplex to put a lot of the Order down. We settle down to Uno kicking Omega in the face for two and it’s off to 5. Omega gets over to Harwood for the tag and 5 is beaten down in a hurry.

Wheeler comes in to nail a powerslam and it’s Harwood and Page coming in to try a triple Figure Four. That’s broken up and it’s Grayson coming back in, with Omega tossing him into a German suplex from Page. The Bucks double dropkick Grayson into a snapdragon from Omega and the quadruple teaming continues with a series of strikes to the chest into a wheelbarrow faceplant/cutter combination from the Bucks. The Demolition Decapitator hits 5 but Harwood comes up favoring his knee, which already has a big brace on it.

With everyone else checking on Harwood, Omega gets caught in the ring for the group beatdown until he hurricanranas his way out and brings in Matt. Lee’s big boot gets two as Harwood is taken out. Grayson tosses Matt to Uno for a sitout powerbomb as Page and Wheeler have left with Harwood. Cabana adds a splash for two and it’s already back to Uno, as Cabana doesn’t seem thrilled with working with the Dark Order. Omega gets knocked off the apron and it’s Matt getting beaten up in the corner even more.

Grayson misses a charge into the post and 5 charges into a boot in the corner. Matt is back up with a top rope flipping cutter but Uno pulls Nick off the apron and suplexes him on the floor. Since it’s Matt Jackson, he pops up and flip dives onto the ramp, then off the ramp onto two more masked guys, then hits a double clothesline on the other side of the ring. Page comes back out and gets the hot tag to start cleaning house all over the place. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up so Page drops 5 onto the apron.

A big moonsault takes out everyone but Lee, who stares down at Page instead. Back in and the slugout is on until Page gets low bridged to the floor. Lee hits his own big dive and the Order starts the fast tagging, setting up the Chicago Skyline from Cabana with Omega making the save. Omega gets taken down and Grayson hits a 450 on Page as Uno’s Cannonball hits Omega in the corner. The Bucks come back in for the series of superkicks and a double superkick into the snapdragon looks to set up the Buckshot lariat but the Order makes the save. Lee’s discus lariat finishes Page at 17:30.

Rating: B-. That was rather long and they packed in a lot, but they had a lot of the near falls that are required of every AEW match. There were a few times where a big move was hit and there was no reason to buy into it the cover because it wasn’t going to happen. The action was good though and Lee gets a win, which was rather needed after how far he has fallen in just a few months.

Earlier today, the Best Friends arrived in mom’s van.

Jon Moxley talks about dealing with a lot of things when he was younger. In the early part of his career, a lot of people told him not to do some things, like don’t fight that guy or don’t have that death match. In some cases that was good advice, but he did it anyway. He understands why Darby Allin challenged him for the title. The last time they wrestled, Moxley nearly broke his neck and he doesn’t want it on his resume that he ended Allin’s career. But when Allin signed that contract, he became like everyone else and he has to do what he has to do. So when it’s time to stay down, just stay down.

Santana/Ortiz vs. Best Friends

Chuck and Santana start things off and exchange some grapples until Chuck slips out of a hiptoss. Ortiz comes in and gets taken into the corner for the tag to Trent. A northern lights suplex gives Trent one and it’s already back to Chuck, who is knocked down before Trent even gets through the ropes. Chuck fights back in a hurry though and sends both of them to the floor, meaning it’s the Big Hug as we take a break.

Back with Trent in trouble and being sent outside for a ram into the apron. Chuck is sent over the barricade and Trent is whipped into another barricade to make it even worse. Trent is sent inside and his back is so banged up that he can barely stand. A double suplex gives Ortiz two but Trent slips out of another one and brings in Chuck to clean house.

The Samoan driver gets two on Santana and the Falcon Arrow gets the same on Ortiz. Trent comes back in and superplexes Ortiz but Santana pulls Chuck down and sends him into the barricade again. A rolling cutter plants Trent and a sitout powerbomb into a knee to the face gets two. The Street Sweeper is broken up but Chuck makes the save and Trent grabs a rollup to pin Ortiz at 13:39.

Rating: C+. I had to look at the ending a second time as Ortiz kicked out a split second after the three went down. The tag division continues to trade wins and while the matches can be entertaining, a lot of the teams don’t seem to be getting very far. Santana and Ortiz continue to be a heck of a team and as long as it’s more Trent than Chuck, the Best Friends are a lot easier to watch.

We go to MJF campaign headquarters where posters and buttons are being made. MJF, who skips over to a desk, freaks out over a poster not being level, even though a worker named Lee does not seem interested. Right now MJF is up in the polls over Jon Moxley by 100% to -88% because we deserve better. He already has the World Title match for All Out and he’s fine with facing Allin or Moxley. This is the best thing going in wrestling right now by a long shot.

Here’s Matt Hardy for a chat. He talks about coming to AEW and having all of his personas, but now the fans want to see him be himself. Matt wants to help people around here, like Private Party, but he also wanted to help Sammy Guevara. That didn’t work for him though as Sammy didn’t want his help, so Matt is ready to fight. Cue Sammy and the brawl is on, with Sammy being thrown into the chairs. Matt grabs a table but Sammy throws a chair at his head and sends him into the post (with a ding). Sammy puts the bloody Hardy on the table and hits a dive to drive him through it. Matt is covered in blood.

Santana and Ortiz bust up the van, which has a camera inside. They throw in some spray paint of Trent’s mom’s name and cross it out to complete a good destruction.

Dark Order vs. Matt Cardona/Cody

Arn Anderson is here with Cody and Matt. Cody hits a very delayed vertical suplex on Silver to start and it’s off to Cardona for a running forearm. Silver kicks him in the face though and hands it off to Reynolds, who is taken down with a neckbreaker for two. It’s back to Cody, who is dropped down onto the apron to put him in trouble for a change. The Order unloads on him in the corner and some shots to the ribs keep Cody in more trouble.

We take a break and come back with Cody still in trouble as Silver puts on a waistlock to stay on the ribs. Cody gets up and snaps off the powerslam, allowing the hot tag to Matt. Everything breaks down and Matt gets kneed in the face, setting up a forearm into a German suplex into a jackknife rollup for two more. Cody comes back in and suplexes Silver out to the floor for a big crash. Back in and the Rough Ryder finishes Reynolds at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This was a match that existed and Cardona didn’t exactly look like anything more than he usually did in WWE. Beating the Dark Order doesn’t mean that much, but at least they got Cody and Cardona in there. I’m not sure if they are heading for a match against each other, but how interesting would that be in the first place?

Post match Cody goes to leave but runs into Scorpio Sky, who wants a TNT Title shot. Works for me.

Best Friends aren’t happy with what happened and say to leave Trent’s mom out of this. If they wanted a rematch all they had to do was ask, so they’ll gladly beat up Santana and Ortiz again. Then they will apologize to Trent’s mom, over speakerphone.

It’s time for the Jericho vs. Cassidy debate, with Eric Bischoff as the surprise moderator. Cassidy rolls into the ring and Jake Hager brings out the orange juiced jacket. There will be five questions and we’ll start with why they hate each other. Jericho yells about Cassidy not dressing up so Cassidy pulls out a clip on tie (ok that was funny). No one respects Cassidy and he plays pocket pool on a regular basis. Cassidy’s response: no comment.

Next question: who is the bigger star? Jericho: “Easy E, with all due respect, don’t be an idiot. I’m Chris Jericho!” Jericho lists off his resume and says the only accolade Cassidy has won is being the biggest slacker in high school. If Jericho went to the same high school, he would take Cassidy’s lunch money and steal his girlfriend. Jericho is in a $10,000 suit and looking like a million bucks while Cassidy is in an old jacket that smells like salami and batteries.

Cassidy still doesn’t talk so we move on to the third question: thoughts on rising global sea levels? Jericho says keep going but Cassidy gives a long, detailed explanation of how international cities and coastal cities are in danger if we do not reverse course immediately. Jericho’s stunned look is hilarious and we move on to question #4: why is Orange Cassidy so popular?

Jericho calls him a pimple on the wrestling business and next week he is being popped. After next week, Jericho is going to get his $7000 and send Cassidy back to being Jim the Jamba Juice boy at the mall, where Jericho is going to order a blueberry juice with pumpkin seeds and not leave Cassidy a tip. Final question: why does the rematch mean so much to both of them. Jericho starts but Cassidy tells him to shut up.

It was smart to try and embarrass Cassidy because he doesn’t care. He cares about next week though because it’s the biggest match of his life. It’s the biggest match of Jericho’s life too because he’s Chris Jericho man. He’s done all those things that people can Google later, but what if Jericho loses to the guy who puts his hands in his pockets. Cassidy wants him to look into the eyes of the man who is going to embarrass him and the man who is going to beat him. Cassidy: “That’s my answer.”

Bischoff names Cassidy the winner over the global warning answer. Jericho: “Bischoff, I haven’t liked you for twenty two years!” Bischoff: “It’s been twenty four and I know exactly how you feel.” Jericho sicks Hager on Cassidy and the beatdown is on. Hager puts Cassidy’s hands in his pockets and throws him into the Judas Effect.

Now THIS was better as Cassidy has been setting things up and now they paid it off in a big way. They made me want to see the match a lot more than I did coming in so well done on doing what they set up for so long. I had a very good time with this and Jericho’s face after the global warming question was great. Cassidy’s promo was very good too as it made perfect sense and was well delivered. Nice job all around.

Britt Baker picks Big Swole’s opponent for the night.

Reba vs. Big Swole

Reba starts fast and throws Swole down as we hear about Reba having an in-ring career but being a little rusty. Reba goes up, gets a little shaky, and comes back down to the middle rope for a missed moonsault. Dirty Dancing finishes Reba at 1:39. As it should have been.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin

Allin is challenging and has a Moxley cutoff mask with an eye cut out. Moxley gets in his face and gets slapped back, causing the beating to begin. Allin’s mouth is bleeding early on and there’s a hard slam into an elbow drop for two. They head up the ramp as Taz continues his hatred of Moxley. That’s cut off as Moxley throws him off the stage and face first into the post (DING!). The referee dives over to check out Allin and we take a break.

Back with Allin caught in an STF but flipping Moxley off anyway. Allin fights up and sends Moxley outside for the suicide dive and a bunch of right hands. Back up and Allin steps on Moxley’s hand on the post, setting up the big flip dive from the top of the post to the floor. A Code Red gives Allin two back inside but Moxley is back with a release German suplex to send Allin flying.

Cue Wardlow for a distraction though and MJF lays Moxley out with a title shot to the head. Wardlow finally leaves and the Coffin Drop gets two on the bloody Moxley. Allin dropkicks him into the corner and hits the flipping Stunner. Another Coffin Drop is countered into a rear naked choke though but Allin fights up again. That earns him a Gotch style piledriver for two, because AEW loves kickouts. Moxley is very frustrated and hits the Paradigm Shift to finally retain the title at 14:29.

Rating: B-. The storytelling was here throughout and while there wasn’t a ton of drama, what we got still worked out rather well. Moxley didn’t want to beat Allin up that badly but had to do it because they are that much alike. There wasn’t much doubt about Moxley vs. MJF coming up next though and that’s perfectly fine.

Moxley checks on Allin to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Better show than last week with that Cassidy bit being the highlight. The show was heavy with tag matches and that hurt things a bit to start, but the action was good and they set some things up for the future. It was a little step up over last week’s off show though, and that’s a great sign for AEW. They weren’t as sharp last week but there was no reason to think it was anything more than an off night. Not many places can say that and it’s nice to see here.

Results

Dark Order/Colt Cabana b. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page/Young Bucks/FTR – Discus lariat to Page

Best Friends b. Santana/Ortiz – Victory roll to Ortiz

Cody/Matt Cardona b. Dark Order – Rough Ryder to Reynolds

Big Swole b. Reba – Dirty Dancing

Jon Moxley b. Darby Allin – Paradigm Shift

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: July 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

We’re finally ready for a normal show after three weeks of specials and that means…well I have no idea actually. The big draw this week is the fallout from last week as Taz threw in the towel to cost Brian Cage his World Title shot against Jon Moxley, which might not have been the best career move. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

TNT Title: Cody vs. ???

Cody, with Arn Anderson, is defending against a mystery opponent. That would be…..Eddie Kingston, who comes out and cuts a promo about Cody growing up around wrestlers and legends while Kingston grew up around violence and on the streets. Tony Khan brought Cody in and now it’s time for Kingston to beat him up in a No DQ match, if Cody accepts. Cody says ring the bell. Cody gets knocked to the floor to start and chopped a lot but Kingston fights back up and they head back inside.

The spinning backfist misses and Cody hits the Disaster Kick to put him on the floor again. There’s the suicide dive and Kingston seems to have banged up his knee. Kingston is fine enough to whip him with the weightlifting belt and peel back the ring mats. The piledriver on the floor is countered with a backdrop onto the concrete and Cody hammers away with shots to the face. Back in and Kingston manages a belly to back suplex for a breather but the knee is still banged up.

A kick to Cody’s head lets Kingston shout STAY DOWN and grabbing a Stretch Plum. That’s switched into a dragon sleeper but Cody fights up and sends him into the buckle. The knee gives out so Kingston goes with a low blow. With Cody down, Kingston busts out the bag of thumbtacks but Cody dropkicks him in the knee again. The Vertebreaker is broken up though and Kingston powerbombs him onto the tacks. Back up and Cody no sells a belly to back suplex and blasts Kingston with a clothesline. The Figure Four is blocked with some slaps to the face but Cody punches him down and gets the hold for the tap at 11:22.

Rating: B. If Kingston doesn’t get a contract out of this, I’m not sure what to tell you. Kingston had an awesome promo before the match and then looked great in the ring, but that shouldn’t have been how the match ended. I’m fine with Cody retaining, but after “Eddie Kingston gave everything to get here! He’ll never quit!”, it’s a little off to see him tap. But anyway, he better get signed after that because I have no idea what AEW is thinking if they don’t.

The announcers run down the rest of the show.

Jon Moxley talks about having Brian cage just a second away from going back to the operating room with another horrible arm injury but Taz threw in the towel. That makes Taz the manager of the year, but next time, Moxley isn’t letting go.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Griff Garrison

Before the match, MJF thinks Garrison is Jungle Boy and doesn’t like being corrected. MJF makes fun of his Ivy League MVP nickname and brags about being undefeated, so Griff brings up the loss in a tag match at Fyter Fest. The left hand takes Griff down and we’re off in a hurry. MJF chokes in the corner and hits an overhead belly to belly as we take a break.

Back with MJF holding the microphone and standing over Garrison, who he demands say he’s undefeated. Garrison eventually does, but knocks the microphone into MJF’s face. That sets up a rollup for two, but MJF explodes with left hands to the head. The Heatseeker finishes Garrison at 6:03. Not enough shown to rate, but it was more about MJF being himself than anything else.

Tony is with Rebel to get an update on Britt Baker, who has undergone nose surgery. Before Rebel can confirm her name, Baker shouts at her to get in. They join Baker who explains her nose issue and gives us Rule #4 of being a role model: never count out a role model. It’s not unlike Tiger Woods in the 2019 Masters, Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV or Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards. Tony mentions the Wizards not being very good but Rebel confirms that Jordan won in Space Jam. Baker tells them both to shut up and promises to be back at All Out.

Here are Taz and Brian Cage for a chat. Taz talks about how rough of a week the two of them had, with Cage being ready to fire him. He even has to give Moxley credit for getting the armbar on and having Cage in that much trouble. Taz threw in the towel because Cage is never going to quit no matter what. It’s not how he’s wired, but Moxley will never be able to do it again. Cue Darby Allin but Ricky Starks (who helped Cage and Taz on Dark) jumps him from behind. Cage hits a powerbomb on the ramp and tosses Allin over the top into the ring. The beatdown is on but here’s Jon Moxley with a barbed wire baseball bat to clear the ring.

A women’s tag team tournament is coming. It isn’t for a title, yet.

Chris Jericho is still mad about the jacket being ruined by the orange juice last week and promises to get rid of Jurassic Express for making fun of him for it. Believe it or not, Luchasaurus is NOT a dinosaur. The jacket still smells like orange juice though, and Jericho isn’t happy.

Butcher and Blade vs. Young Bucks

This is falls count anywhere so they start brawling in the kitchen, with Butcher powerbombing Nick onto a cart. Matt gets suplexed onto another cart and it’s time to head to the concourse. The Bucks duck a shot and knock the Butcher onto a picnic table to drive a cookie sheet into his face. Matt is sent inside of a production truck and Matt is sent into the door, which has his own face on it.

A dive out of said truck takes Butcher and Blade down, with Butcher being put onto a cocktail table. Nick picks up another sheet and dives off the bar to crush Butcher again. Blade is superkicked up an escalator and we take a break. Back with the fight having moved to ringside with a running knee to the face knocking Butcher silly. Nick misses a slingshot dive to the floor though and Blade is back with some chair shots. Matt takes Blade down and Nick flip dives off a wall to drop Butcher.

The Bucks put a table up against the barricade and Blade tries a running flip dive, which misses the Bucks and sends him face first into the edge of the table for a scary landing. Butcher splashes Matt through the table and they get inside. Nick throws a chair at Butcher’s head and a running knee in the corner gets two. The Sharpshooter and Crossface combination goes on but Blade comes in for the save.

A powerbomb/neckbreaker combination drops Matt on the ramp but he’s right back up to help send Butcher and Blade into each other. The superkicks put Butcher and Blade down, setting up the BTE Trigger to Blade. There are a pair of tables set up in front of either entrance so the Bucks climb above them, setting up a legdrop from one and a Swanton from the other for the double pin at 15:42.

Rating: B. Entertaining match, though I’m not entirely sure how much these teams have done to set up a match like this. You knew the Bucks weren’t going to lose in something like this either, as the Bucks are the team who get beaten down to a ridiculous degree every time and come back with a bunch of superkicks and flips to win anyway. It was a lot of fun though, and that’s what they were going for here.

Jake Roberts and Lance Archer don’t want to answer questions, so Lance grabs the interviewer and takes him into the locker room, where he beats up three guys, including sending one through a piece of the ceiling. They’re tired of waiting.

Diamante vs. Ivelisse

They go straight to the slugout to start with Diamante getting the better of things, but we need to pause for an inset interview with Big Swole. She isn’t happy with Britt Baker, who will have to face her one day. Back to full screen with Ivelisse hammering away in the corner but getting caught with a dropkick to the ribs.

They head outside with Ivelisse shouting a lot but getting sent into the barricade. They chop it out until Ivelisse hits a kick to the head for two. The sleeper goes on for a bit before they come back up and chop it out. Another kick to the head stops Diamante as JR makes potato references. A German suplex takes Ivelisse down for two but she’s right back with a powerbomb for the same. Diamante catches her off the ropes in a small package for the pin at 6:27.

Rating: D. Diamante’s strikes were quite lacking here and Ivelisse was about as far ahead of her as you can get. She must have some horrible backstage problems after she couldn’t get a chance in TNA and now is being used to put over Diamante, as you would think a unique looking woman who can strike that well would be getting more of a chance. She’s still no Lei’D Tapa though.

Hangman Page vs. 5

They strike it out to start with Page knocking him around without much trouble. A boot tot he face sets up another boot to the face to send 5 outside. Page whips him into the barricade and 5 gets dropped throat first across the steel. Cue the rest of the Dark Order though and we take a break. Back with 5’s middle rope moonsault hitting knees, allowing Page to pop back up with a spinning forearm to the mask. Page hits a heck of a pop up powerbomb for the pin at 8:48.

Rating: C-. Page is someone who can do almost anything in the ring, but e pluribus gads tell me we don’t have to sit through the Dark Order as challengers to the Tag Team Titles. The match was fine for a glorified squash, but what we might be seeing in the future could be downright irritating.

Post match Page isn’t scared by the Order’s numbers so Brody Lee gets in the ring to say Page has impressed him. What doesn’t impress him is the lack of Page’s friends or a tag partner when he is in danger. The Dark Order can protect him and would never leave him alone, in a bar or in the ring. Page appreciates the offer but he isn’t sure if he’s ready to join a cult right now.

Lee says he just made his bed, so enjoy his sleeping. Lee and Colt Cabana leave and the rest of the team beats Page down. Cue FTR with the cooler to hit one of the goons in the head and clear the ring. Kenny Omega comes out after everything is ok and FTR hands Page a beer. Omega gets nothing.

Next week: Omega/Page defends against the Dark Order, Shida vs. Diamante, Moxley/Allin vs. Cage/Starks in a Texas Tornado match.

Jurassic Express vs. Chris Jericho/Jake Hager

It’s Jungle Boy/Luchasaurus, with Marko Stunt, for the team and Jericho, with Santana and Ortiz, still has the orange jacket on. Jericho beats Boy down into the corner to start but it’s quickly off to Hager vs. Luchasaurus for the hoss fight. They slug it out with Hager getting the better of things until they collide. Luchasaurus kicks him in the head but the chokeslam is countered into a failed ankle lock attempt. The second attempt works better than it’s Jericho coming back in to work on the leg.

It’s quickly back to Hager for a chinlock before the leg is wrapped around the rope in the corner. The chop block takes the leg out again but a double clothesline puts both monsters down. Luchasaurus, with his ear bleeding, brings Boy back in to pick up the pace. A hurricanrana gives Boy two on Jericho and there’s a suicide dive onto Santana and Ortiz. Back in and Marko knocks Jericho into a small package for two but Jericho plants Boy face first. Marko gets knocked off the apron and we take a break.

We come back with Boy getting beaten down in the corner before Hager comes in to beat him down again. Jericho busts out Floyd the baseball bat but has it taken away, allowing Boy to get two off a small package. A clothesline drops Jericho but Hager is back in to keep him in trouble. Boy manages a double DDT though the hot tag brings in Luchasaurus. Everything breaks down and Boy forearms Hager to the floor.

Jericho turns Boy inside out with a clothesline but Stunt (of freaking course) comes in with a dropkick to put Jericho down. Luchasaurus gets two off a kick to the head and Boy hurricanranas Santana off the apron onto Ortiz. Cue Serpentico (who rarely leaves Dark) out of the crowd to hit Luchasaurus with a baseball bat though, setting up the Codebreaker to finish at 17:26.

Rating: B. Pretty standard main event tag match here, with Stunt getting involved because he has to be there no matter what happens because of reasons that aren’t entirely clear. It’s good to see the Inner Circle getting a fresh member, assuming that isn’t a certain Spanish deity under the mask. Other than that though, this was a fine enough match, with some near falls that made me believe the upset could happen. Just stop having Stunt in there as this generation’s Hornswoggle.

Post match the beatdown is on and Serpentico unmasks as the returning Sammy Guevara. Hugging ensues but the Best Friends and Orange Cassidy come out to clear the Inner Circle (as in the FIVE people with a baseball bat) away to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Pretty solid show this week as we get a lot of stuff covered in two hours. The wrestling was mostly good as well, but there were a few things that needed some improvements. They’re starting the build to All Out as well, which should be a heck of a show as they tend to knock those out of the park. You can probably see a lot of the show coming together, but they have a long way to go to get there. Good stuff this week, as Dynamite tends to be mostly awesome.

Results

Cody b. Eddie Kingston – Figure Four

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Griff Garrison – Heatseeker

Young Bucks b. Butcher and Blade – Double pin

Diamante b. Ivelisse – Small package

Hangman Page b. 5 – Pop up powerbomb

Chris Jericho/Jake Hager b. Jurassic Express – Codebreaker to Luchasaurus

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: July 8, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

It’s the second night of Fyter Fest and that means we could be in for a big show. The card is certainly stacked but I’m curious to see how they handle the lack of the World Title match in the main event. Instead of Jon Moxley defending the title against Brian Cage, we will be seeing Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy in a grudge match. Let’s get to it.

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

Tag Team Titles: Kenny Omega/Hangman Page vs. Private Party

Private Party, with Matt Hardy, is challenging but first we need a note from Britt Baker, saying that Page’s pyro gave her third degree burns in another conspiracy to keep her out of the Women’s Title picture. Quen shoulders Omega down to start but a standing moonsault only hits knees. The champs start chopping away at Quen before it’s Page coming in for two off a tabletop suplex.

Quen blocks the Kitaro Crusher with a handstand though and it’s a dropkick to stagger Omega. The Silly String hits Omega so Page powerbombs Quen into the fans. A dropkick to the back sends Page after him though, leaving Omega to take an enziguri to the back of the head. Page comes back in to kick Quen in the face and Omega tosses Quen into a German suplex from Page. Quen is right back up for half of a double Spanish Fly for two on Omega as things settle back down a bit.

It’s Omega and Kassidy slugging it out until something like an Orton backbreaker gives Kassidy two. Page comes back in to powerbomb Kassidy onto Quen for two but a powerslam is broken up. Some quick strikes to the head put Page down and Kassidy dives down onto Omega. Quen has to bail out of the 450 to Page so Kassidy hits a rolling DDT to put Page onto the ramp. Back in and the great shooting star gets two on Page with Omega making the save. Omega’s V Trigger breaks up Gin N Juice though and it’s a superbomb to drop Quen. The Last Call retains the titles at 10:34.

Rating: B. Omega and Page continue to be able to do no wrong in the ring and they kept Private Party reeled in a bit more here. I’m curious to see where things are going with them, as there are more than a few teams who could take the titles. Granted it would be almost insane to imagine it being anyone other than FTR, but AEW has figured out how to make it seem possible, which is really hard to do.

Here’s what else is coming on the show.

Joey Janela vs. Lance Archer

Jake Roberts, with the big bag, is here with Archer as usual and Lance carries the unconscious Sonny Kiss to the ring. They go straight to the floor to start with Archer sending him into various hard objects. Janela gets inside and manages a dropkick through the ropes to stagger Archer, setting up the big dive off the top. Janela tries to go up top with a chair but the referee takes it away, allowing Archer to shove him off the top.

A hard whip into the corner has Jake rather pleased and it’s a big forearm to the chest to put Janela down again. Back from a break with Archer shrugging off Janela’s comeback bid but getting distracted by Kiss. A discus forearm rocks Archer so Janela kicks at the leg for little avail. The Black Out is countered with a clothesline for two so Jake gets on the apron. The distraction lets Kiss hit a 450 but Archer is right back with a Black Out off the middle rope through a table at ringside for the easy pin at 11:11.

Rating: C. This could have been worse, but it also could have been shorter. I know Janela is something of a name but he probably shouldn’t have lasted this long against a monster like Archer. They need to rebuild Archer a bit after losing to Cody and taking this long to beat Janela didn’t do all that much good. It wasn’t a bad match or anything but it isn’t quite the right solution.

Darby Allin does a Coffin Drop from a really high (as in multiple stories) platform.

Here are Taz and Brian Cage for a chat. Taz is glad Tony Schiavone is here because he has been a part of so many iconic moments. That is the case again tonight as Taz has a bag. In the back is the FTW World Title (Taz’s custom title from ECW) because Cage needs a title on his way into Fight For The Fallen. Next week, Cage is taking the World Title.

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros vs. FTR/Young Bucks

The villains come in with FTR’s stolen truck. Nick and Pentagon start things off with the latter throwing his glove at FTR. There’s no contact so it’s off to Harwood instead, with a quickly broken hammerlock on Pentagon. A shoulder works a bit better and Harwood drops a leg before handing it off to Wheeler. Fenix comes in for some rapid fire top rope kicks to Harwood’s ribs but Wheeler makes the save.

Harwood runs Fenix over without much effort though and it’s Matt coming in for a clothesline. Fenix rolls away though and makes the tag to Butcher. A double dropkick takes Butcher down so Blade comes in to kick Nick in the face. The gutbuster into a gutwrench sitout powerbomb gives Butcher two and it’s back to Pentagon. A reverse powerbomb into a Rock Bottom from Butcher gets two more as Nick is in even more trouble. Fenix and Nick go to the middle rope with Nick jumping to the top for the super hurricanrana.

Wheeler tags himself in and Nick superkicks Fenix into a dragon suplex for two. Everything breaks down and we take a break. Back with Harwood fighting out of a chinlock and making the hot tag to Matt. House is cleaned in a hurry, including a double dropkick through the ropes. The top rope elbow gets two on Fenix and Harwood hits the DDT on Blade. Butcher comes back in to clean house but Wheeler and Nick combine to hit the Goodnight Express on Fenix.

Butcher is sent over the barricade and the good guys make a bunch of tags to set up a double superplex into a frog splash into a Swanton to crush Blade but Fenix dives in for a rather late save. We settle down to Pentagon kicking at Matt but Nick is back in with a forearm to Pentagon’s head. Nick gets caught on the ropes and Fenix hits a running Canadian Destroyer onto the big pile at ringside for your insane and not exactly safe spot of the match. Nick superkicks Harwood by mistake and it’s a spike Pentagon Driver to finish Nick at 16:43.

Rating: B+. This was the insane, wild brawl that fans were expecting and that’s a fine way to go. The Lucha Bros continue to be one of the most entertaining teams around and thank goodness they didn’t have FTR take the fall here. I know we’re building towards FTR vs. the Bucks, even if it is going to take some time to get to a show worthy of that match. Anyway, really entertaining stuff here, as you knew it would be.

Big Swole is just arriving but isn’t allowed in due to being suspended, thanks to some requests from Britt Baker. Swole: “YOU EVER HEARD OF A FAX MACHINE???”

Nyla Rose vs. KiLynn King/Kenzie Paige

King is willing to let Paige start and it’s a running clothesline to put Paige down to start. The big legdrop hits Paige and some shoulders in the ribs make it worse. Paige is sent into the corner and it’s King coming in to pound away on the back. King’s choke doesn’t do any good and it’s a spear to take Paige down again. Rose throws Paige at King and powerbombs Paige onto her for the double pin at 2:24. What is this, Rose’s third big push?

Post match Rose says actions speak louder than words and now she has a manager. She won’t be telling us who it is right now but whoever it is will make her champion.

Colt Cabana has a huge bruise on his ribs but he can wrestle tonight. Brody Lee comes in to say the Dark Order won’t let it happen again. Lee helps the very ginger Cabana up.

Dark Order/Colt Cabana vs. SCU

It’s Brody Lee and Stu Grayson for the Dark Order with the rest of the team watching from the stage. Daniels works on Grayson’s arm to start but gets taken down with some power. That’s fine with Kazarian and Sky, who come in for a double shoulder to Grayson. A Pele takes Sky down though and it’s Cabana coming in while still favoring his side. Cabana crawls through Sky’s legs but gets kneed in the face to send him into the corner.

A Dark Order distraction cuts the rest of SCU off though and Lee comes in to snap off a suplex to drop Sky. We take a break and come back with Sky hitting a neckbreaker on Cabana, allowing the double tag to bring in Kazarian and Lee. Everything breaks down and Lee is finally knocked outside, only to have Grayson hit a fireman’s carry faceplant on Sky.

Lee comes back in for the spinning Boss Man Slam on Kazarian but Daniels knocks Lee outside for the suicide dive. A release Rock Bottom drops Grayson and the Best Moonsault Ever gets two with Cabana making the save. Back in and Lee clotheslines Daniels’ head off but lets Cabana get the pin at 12:10.

Rating: C+. The will he/won’t he story continues and that’s a good way to go with Cabana. You can only do so much with someone who is so comedy based and having him possibly turn to the dark side is an interesting way to go. I’m not sure I believe that’s where they’re going long term, but it’s a good mini mystery for the people involved. As usual, SCU can take a loss like this without losing anything of note, which is a valuable asset to have.

Post match Cabana wants to celebrate but Lee glares at him.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including FTR vs. Lucha Bros and the Elite vs. Jurassic Express, plus the TNT Title open challenge and the World Title match.

Big Swole tries to get to Britt Baker and throws some trash at Rebel, who accidentally brushes Baker in the face. Baker freaks out and claims a broken nose. Tony: “She needs a doctor!” JR: “SHE IS A DOCTOR!”

Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy

No Best Friends here but Santana and Ortiz, with orange juice, are at ringside. Cassidy puts the hands in his pockets to start and ducks a clothesline, setting up a dropkick to the floor. The suicide dive connects but Jericho takes it back inside and grabs the Walls of Jericho in a hurry. The rope is grabbed so Jericho knocks him down again without much effort. There’s a backbreaker but Cassidy grabs three straight rollups for three straight near falls. Jericho sends him hard to the floor again though and we take a break.

Back with Jericho grabbing an abdominal stretch, plus the rope for a bonus. Cassidy fights out and they trade shots to the face, only to have Cassidy sent outside again. Back in and Cassidy fights up, puts his hands in his pockets for the slow motion kicks, and then hits a full speed superkick for two. Jericho is back up and tries a superplex but Cassidy shoves him off and hits a top rope splash for two. It’s Jericho heading outside again and Cassidy hits a big dive to the floor onto all of the Inner Circle.

Back in and a top rope DDT gets two but Cassidy takes a long time to set up the Superman Punch. Jericho counters into the Walls but Cassidy reverses into a small package for two. Santana and Ortiz get involved with the orange juice so here are the Best Friends to cut him off. A bat shot to the face sets up the Codebreaker for….two. Ok points for a good near fall there.

Jericho elbows him down but misses the Lionsault, allowing Cassidy to hit a Michinoku Driver for his own two. They slug it out from their knees and Cassidy reverses a suplex into the Stundog Millionaire. The tornado DDT plants Jericho for two, with Aubrey in the orange juice on the two count. The Superman Punch is loaded up but it’s the Judas Effect to give Jericho the pin at 18:31.

Rating: B. It was better than I was expecting and Cassidy got to showcase himself well, but I never bought Cassidy as a threat to win. That being said, this was never intended to be the main event so while it didn’t feel like a main event match, it wasn’t supposed to be. What we got was rather good and that’s a nice thing to have in a spot like this.

Overall Rating: A-. This was another great show with nothing really close to bad (Janela vs. Archer, the worst match of the night, was perfectly serviceable) and a surprisingly good main event. I’m not sure how well it is going to do against the mega match that NXT put out there, but it was an awesome night and another great effort from AEW when the lights are on their brightest.

Results

Hangman Page/Kenny Omega b. Private Party – Last Call to Kassidy

Lance Archer b. Joey Janela – Black Out through a table

Butcher and Blade/Lucha Bros b. FTR/Young Bucks – Spike Pentagon Driver to Nick

Nyla Rose b. KiLynn King/Kenzie Page – Powerbomb to Paige

Chris Jericho b. Orange Cassidy – Judas Effect

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dark
Date: June 30, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur

The road to Fyter Fest continues with a stop the night before and a bunch of squash matches. The show has trended a little bit in the shorter direction as of late and that is a good thing. With the shows being a bit shorter, the matches that we get have a little more impact. That’s a good thing for this show, which is still finding its footing. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the back with Brandon Cutler and Peter Avalon laughing at each other, but Leva Bates tries to calm them down. The Young Bucks come in to say they’re teaching them something. They’ve been doing this for a decade and a half and they’ve never considered turning heel. Cutler disagrees and we get a Bucks book plug.

The announcers welcome us to the show in a hurry.

Max Caster vs. Shawn Spears

We get a quick weapons check and we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start with Caster armdragging him down and doing a little dance as a result. Spears fires off some crossface shots to the head and trips him down, setting up a spinebuster. The C4 finishes Caster at 3:19.

Rating: D+. Spears continues to be the same guy he’s almost always been, which means he isn’t all that interesting and doesn’t do anything that we haven’t seen done better elsewhere. He didn’t even need the loaded glove here, which should be the case in a match like this. Nothing to see, which tends to be the case for Spears.

Post match Blanchard gives Spears the piece of metal for the loaded glove to Caster’s head.

Lance Archer vs. Pineapple Pete

Archer, with Jake Roberts, jumps Pete before the bell and nearly knocks Jake down. Pete hammers away to start and manages to dropkick Archer off the apron. With Joey Janela (who faces Archer at Fyter Fest) laughing at Archer, Roberts demands more focus. Archer pulls Pete outside for a chokeslam onto the apron, followed by a clothesline to the back of the head inside.

After some yelling at Janela, Archer hits a suplex and glares at Pete for daring to fight back. A splash out of the corner gives Archer two but Pete slips out of the Blackout. Pete’s headbutt doesn’t do much and it’s the Blackout into the EBD Claw to finally finish Pete off at 5:58.

Rating: D-. Nope. This was the living definition of missing the point entirely and that’s not a good sign. Pete is a comedy goof and the monster just took nearly six minutes to beat him. Not six minutes of taking his time with Pete, but six minutes of Pete slipping away over and over. That should make Janela laugh at Archer, not make him scared of him. Not every jobber needs to get in their hope spots and that was the case here. Archer should have destroyed him but instead it was almost competitive at times. Try again.

Post match Archer stays on Pete until Janela makes the save with a leaf blower of all things.

Ricky Starks vs. Griff Garrison

Feeling out process to start with Starks slipping out of a suplex attempt and then blocking a hiptoss. Starks dropkicks him into the corner and gets to show off his rather good facials. Garrison gets a boot up off the ropes but charges into an elbow to the face. A middle rope dropkick puts Garrison down again and a heck of a spear finishes him off at 4:03.

Rating: C. Now that’s more like it, as Starks never felt like he was in danger and Garrison only got in a few shots here and there. It wasn’t a competitive match and they didn’t bother making this into anything more than it was supposed to be. Starks continues to look like a star and he got to showcase himself a bit here.

Scorpio Sky vs. Brady Pierce

Sky has new music. A waistlock into a rollup gives Sky two to start and he goes up, only to have Pierce slap him in the face. That ticks Sky off and he hammers away, even standing on the bottom rope to get a better angle. La majistral gives Sky two but the TKO is blocked. Pierce hits a running knee in the corner for a delayed two and some right hands keep Sky in trouble. Sky is sent to the apron but comes right back with a slingshot cutter for the pin at 3:38.

Rating: C-. Sky is always worth a look and Pierce is one of the better jobbers around here. They are smart by having Sky working as a singles guy as he could be quite the star in the future, or even the present. There is something about him that is easy to watch and hopefully we get to do that more often.

KiLynn King/Skyler Moore vs. Allie/Brandi Rhodes

Dustin Rhodes is here with Brandi and Allie, who are collectively known as the Nightmare Sisters. Brandi says not so fast because they are neither a team or related. Brandi drives King into the corner to start and snaps off an armdrag but Allie tags herself in. Some knees to the ribs keep King in trouble so Brandi tags herself in this time. The distraction lets King roll away and then drive Brandi into the corner.

It’s off to Moore, who is sent into King in a hurry. Moore is right back up to take Brandi down and take back over though and a World’s Strongest Slam gets two. As Allie tells Brandi to get her head in the game, Brandi grabs a Stunner and brings Allie back in for a bulldog. Allie lays Moore out with a Nightmare on Helm Street (and with a shoutout to QT Marshall) but tags Brandi in so she can get the win at 5:33.

Rating: D+. It wasn’t the best match, but it was a lot easier to watch because it had some storyline advancement. I know Brandi/Allie isn’t the most thrilling story in the world, but it’s a heck of a lot more interesting than watching a revolving door of wrestlers fighting each other for weeks on end.

Fuego del Sol/Low Rider vs. Butcher and Blade

Blade headlocks Fuego to start and then plants him down with ease. Butcher comes in for some double shoulders to take Fuego down, followed by a heck of a toss into the corner. Rider comes in and gets taken down as well (Taz: “Low Rider has a couple of flats!”). Blade chops the heck out of Rider in the corner and then steps on the back of his head.

A backdrop driver plants Rider again and you can hear the noise stop as Rider is checked on. He’s ok enough to roll over and make the tag to Fuego, who is taken into a Cloverleaf from Butcher. Rider kicks him in the head to no avail so Blade runs Rider over. A powerbomb into a Boston crab makes Fuego tap before the hold is even on at 4:13.

Rating: C. Now that was more like it as Butcher and Blade looked completely dominant with nothing Fuego or Rider could do even making them break a sweat. That’s the kind of thing that you need as Butcher and Blade are going into a big match without much of a record. This worked well and did everything they needed it to do.

Young Bucks vs. Peter Avalon/Brandon Cutler

Leva Bates is here with Cutler and Avalon. Matt and Cutler lock up to start with Matt working on a wristlock. Nick comes in to stay on the arm but Cutler reverses into a wristlock of his own. Avalon isn’t interested in a tag but comes in after the Bucks knock the heck out of Cutler again. That means the Bucks beat up Avalon for a change, meaning it’s right back to Cutler, who is legdropped in the back of the head.

Cutler and Avalon get in another argument so the Bucks give them a minute and then hit a double dropkick to the floor. A Bates distraction doesn’t work as Matt spears Avalon down and slaps on a front facelock. Matt catapults Avalon into a kick to the head in the corner, setting up a running knee for two. A double clothesline puts Matt and Avalon down so the double tag brings in Cutler to clean house on Nick.

Cutler hits a double suicide dive and a high crossbody gets two on Matt. The argument is on again but they manage to kick the Bucks down and it’s a tornado DDT into a top rope elbow for another near fall on Matt. Nick is right back up though and starts cleaning house as he tends to do, including a superkick to knock Cutler off the apron. The BTE Trigger (knee to both sides of the head) finishes Avalon at 9:16.

Rating: C. There was a nice sequence near the end there where the Bucks were in some trouble, but the Bucks aren’t losing to almost anyone, let alone these schmucks. The story of the team not getting along is fine, but given that they have never won a thing, why do they keep getting booked on a show where records matter? Anyway, not bad at all here, but the attempt at drama didn’t quite work.

A Fyter Fest Night One rundown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Complete misfire on the Archer match aside, this was a WAY better effort as the show was getting closer to the preferable length (one hour on the nose) and didn’t have a ridiculous amount of matches. With just a seven match card, I can actually remember a few specific matches instead of having a big mess of matches with nothing standing out. Do it like this and they have something. Otherwise, don’t waste the time.

Results

Shawn Spears b. Max Caster – C4

Lance Archer b. Pineapple Pete – EBD Claw

Ricky Starks b. Griff Garrison – Spear

Scorpio Sky b. Brady Pierce – Slingshot cutter

Allie/Brandi Rhodes b. KiLynn King/Skyler Moore – Nightmare on Helm Street to Moore

Butcher and Blade b. Fuego del Sol/Low Rider – Boston crab to del Sol

Young Bucks b. Brandon Cutler/Peter Avalon – BTE Trigger to Avalon

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

IMG Credit: AEW

Dynamite
Date: June 17, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re rapidly approaching Fyter Fest and the card is starting to come together. With so much taking place over the course of the two weeks, we should be in for some rapid fire building and that could make for some entertaining shows. Tonight includes almost a mini tournament to set up the Tag Team Title match at Fyter Fest and that could be good stuff. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tag Team Titles: Natural Nightmares vs. Kenny Omega/Hangman Page

Omega and Page are defending. Dustin starts with Omega and has to escape an early One Winged Angel attempt. Omega sends him into the corner and tried to jump over but knees Dustin in the head by mistake. It’s off to Marshall for a dropkick on Page but he gets taken into the corner. Omega comes back in with a springboard ax handle to the ribs, only to have Marshall muscle him up with a suplex.

That’s enough for the tag to Dustin and the pace picks up, only to have Omega hit the Kitaro Crusher for two. Omega brings Page back in for a basement clothesline to Marshall, setting up the middle rope moonsault to give Page two. Marshall knocks him back though and the hot tag brings in Dustin to start cleaning house again. Everything breaks down and the champs are sent outside.

Dustin hits a flip dive off the apron and Marshall adds a flip dive of his own to Omega. Back in and Omega blocks the cutter and hits the snapdragon on Marshall. Dustin hits the Canadian Destroyer on Omega but Page is there with the non-Buckshot lariat. Marshall grabs the cutter on Page to put everyone down. Cue Allie to cheer Marshall on but it’s Omega forearming Marshall and throwing him into a German suplex from Page. Dustin is sent to the floor for a dive from Page and the V Trigger gives Omega two on Marshall. The Last Call drops Marshall and the Last Call retains the titles at 12:48.

Rating: B. They did a good job of making a hot match out of a defense without much doubt as to the winners. The Nightmares are a fine midcard team but they aren’t going to take the titles when there is a chance of Omega/Page vs. Jericho/Guevara at a major show. Allie coming out to cheer didn’t change much, but they could make something out of her not being there from the start.

The announcers run down the card.

Video on Anna Jay, the Star of the show.

Anny Jay vs. Abadon

Abadon crawls to the ring (note from Britt Baker: “This girl needs to find Jesus.”) and knees away in the corner before choking on the ropes. A hurricanrana driver finishes Jay at 1:14. Well ok then. This company is going to get some evil, dark woman over and YOU WILL LIKE IT.

Post match here’s the Dark Order with Brodie Lee pointing some members to the ring and having Evil Uno hand Colt Cabana, at ringside, an envelope with a document inside. The rest of the team helps Jay out of the ring and she leaves with them as Cabana reads the papers.

Billy vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Austin Gunn and Wardlow are the seconds (and Billy towers over Wardlow). MJF bails to the floor to start so Billy hammers away as he comes back inside. A big boot misses so Billy tries again and connects this time for two. That’s enough to send MJF bailing up the ramp but Billy brings him back. A throat snap across the top rope doesn’t work for some reason and MJF busts out a Fargo Strut. Billy gets in a few more shots but MJF takes him down as we hit the break.

Back with MJF working on the leg but walking into a tilt-a-whirl slam. MJF goes right back to the leg and puts on a reverse Figure Four. Aubrey Edwards catches him grabbing the ropes and physically breaks it up so MJF yells at her to no avail. MJF kicks him in the leg and tries a Fameasser, only to get backflipped off. Billy’s Fameasser connects but also draws Wardlow to the apron. The distraction lets Wardlow slip MJF the ring and that’s enough for the pin at 9:54.

Rating: C-. The wrestling wasn’t all that great but what matters here is keeping MJF going hard. He knows how to cheat to win very well and beating Billy is a fine use of both of them. I’m not sure when the Fameasser became some big legendary finisher, but it really isn’t, especially from Billy Gunn.

Post match MJF goes after Jungle Boy at ringside and the wrestlers stream over the barricade for the big brawl.

Le Sex Gods are ready to become #1 contenders because they’re closer than best friends. They’re brothers, and blood is thicker than water. Or orange juice, and they beat Orange Cassidy to a bloody pulp.

Tony Schiavone interviews Britt Baker and mentions that Hikaru Shida will defend the Women’s Title at Fyter Fest. Baker doesn’t like being interviewed for this so she and Tony are ON A FRIENDSHIP TIMEOUT! She orders Rebel to drive but Big Swole is driving the golf cart and kidnaps Baker.

TNT Title: Cody vs. ???

Cody, with Arn Anderson, is defending against someone from outside of AEW and it’s….a promo from Cody first. He’s out here looking for a challenger and wants the best competition. Someone pops up on screen and it’s……former NWA TV Champion Ricky Starks, who says he has the same grit and work ethic as Cody. After the Big Match Intros, Cody shoulders him down to start but Starks nips up.

Starks slugs away but walks into a dropkick. A shot that looks pretty close to a low blow sends Starks outside and a suicide dive takes him down again. Starks drops him ribs first over the ropes though as Jake Hager is watching from backstage. Anderson offers a quick distraction and it’s time to strike it out. Starks takes him down but can’t hit a tornado DDT. Instead, Cody hits a boot to the face and the scoop powerslam.

Cross Rhodes is countered so Cody hits a gordbuster for two instead. Cody heads up top but Starks catches him with a top rope superplex. Back up and Starks’ running crossbody puts both of them on the floor for another breather. They head back inside for a slugout until Starks hits a spear for two. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence until Cody ducks a clothesline and grabs Cross Rhodes to retain at 8:32.

Rating: B. I’d be surprised if Starks didn’t get a job out of this as he looked great in the NWA and then did it again on a bigger stage here. Starks is someone who could be a star in the future and that’s what AEW (or anyone) can always use. Cody having matches against other free agents is nice for the same dynamic of the John Cena Open Challenges and that’s a really good idea.

Respect is shown post match.

Young Bucks vs. Superbad Squad

The Death part of the Squad’s name was removed in what is probably a good idea. The referee finds some pliers on Jimmy Havoc but leaves the in the corner, which can’t be a good idea. Matt starts for the Bucks so Havoc goes straight for his taped up ribs. The Bucks fight back in a hurry as is their custom, setting up stereo slingshot dives to the floor. After a glare from Butcher and the Blade (all in white for a change), the Bucks sucker Sabian into the corner and knock him into the corner.

Havoc comes in and gets caught in a running flip neckbreaker into a backbreaker but Butcher and Blade jump the barricade. The distraction lets Havoc get in a shot to Matt’s ribs and the villains take over. Back from a break with Matt getting beaten up in the corner as FTR comes out to watch. Sabian adds a penalty kick to the ribs (which he declares wide) but Matt counters a super hurricanrana into a super sitout powerbomb.

The hot tag brings in Nick to clean house and the Sharpshooter has Sabian in trouble. Havoc tries to bring in a mallet (must be a Fiend fan) allowing Penelope Ford to hit Nick with a wet floor sign. Havoc’s Sing the Sorrow gets two with Matt making the save so Sabian hits a springboard DDT for two of his own. Everything breaks down and Risky Business (springboard 450/standing moonsault combination) gets two on Havoc.

The Butcher and Blade offer a distraction but get stared down by FTR. Sabian’s top rope double stomp hits Matt with Nick making the save, allowing Matt (with the bad ribs, which have been worked on all match) to northern lights suplex both of them at once. The Bucks put Havoc upside down in Sabian’s arms and then superkick Sabian’s knees to make him Tombstone his partner (egads man). Double knees to the face finish Sabian at 15:22.

Rating: B-. The action is entertaining but Bucks matches can be incredibly exhausting with one diving save after another, plus one big move after another. They’re very exciting matches but there are times where I see some of the spots and wonder how in the world I’m supposed to believe this is a real competition. That was turned up higher than usual here and it was hurting things.

Post match the Butcher and Blade come in but FTR takes them out. Butcher and Blade are wiped out by stereo spike piledrivers.

Taz and Brian Cage are outside with Taz ranting about how Jon Moxley was ranting and raving about being miserable. That was Taz’s gimmick twenty years ago and now Cage doesn’t know if he wants to drop Moxley on his head or take the title.

Jon Moxley is in this business because he has demons and fighting holds them back. So Cage, beat him if you can, and survive if you can hang in the deep water.

We run down next week/Fyter Fest.

Rebel is searching for Baker, and finds her in a dumpster. Baker yells about it being five hours and ignores Rebel saying it was just one. Baker wants to know where Schiavone is and says he should be here, timeout or no timeout. Rebel sends out an Instagram because fans will want to see Baker being saved. Baker: “So I’m a damsel in distress???” She swears that Swole will pay for this, meaning fines and lawsuits. Now get her out of here! Baker might be the best thing in AEW right now and that’s some serious competition.

Le Sex Gods vs. Best Friends

The winners face Omega and Page at Fyter Fest for the titles and there’s no Orange Cassidy after last week. Matt Hardy is on commentary as Sammy sings Judas during the entrance. It’s a brawl to start with Chuck taking Jericho to the floor for some early choking. A water bottle to the eye makes it worse for Jericho as Trent spears Sammy down. Back in and Chuck stomps on Jericho in the corner but Sammy comes in for a fast dropkick.

The chinlock doesn’t last long so it’s back to Jericho for a hard clothesline. The Lionsault misses though and Jericho tweaks his knee, meaning the tag to Sammy goes through in a hurry. Trent comes in to chop away but Jericho gets in a bat shot to the ribs. Back from a break with Jericho flipping Trent over the top to crash on the mat, meaning it’s time for the pose from Le Sex Gods.

The delay allows the hot tag to Chuck, who hits a powerbomb with Jericho making a fast save. That earns Jericho a trip to the floor, followed by Soul Food into a half and half suplex. The hug is loaded up but Jericho decks Trent (thank goodness) and Sammy takes Chuck to the floor. Jericho grabs the Walls on Trent, who crawls over to the rope for the break. Back up and Trent crotches Sammy on top (Sammy: “Oh my Spanish god.”) and it’s Chuck coming over for the assisted superplex.

Jericho makes his own save and throws Chuck over the barricade. The distraction lets Sammy hit Trent with the bat, setting up the shooting star press for two. As ridiculous of a kickout as that was, commentary does cover it by saying Sammy pulled back too far. The cameraman trips Sammy though (aha) and Strong Zero finishes Sammy at 16:02.

Rating: B-. They actually surprised me with the ending and that’s a good thing. The Cassidy as a cameraman deal is a deal that has worked before and it worked well here. I would have bet on the switch but they managed to do something logical with a pretty good match at the same time. Well done, especially for a Best Friends match.

Post match the cameraman is in fact Orange Cassidy to wreck Jericho. House is cleaned and Tony announces Cassidy vs. Jericho for Fyter Fest.

Overall Rating: B+. I had a really good time with this one and they made it into a solid show overall. It definitely had a focus on tag wrestling but it also helped set up Fyter Fest rather well. The Jay loss surprised the heck out of me, as did Starks’ debut. One of those things is better than the other, but you can’t have a hit every time. Overall, rather good show and one of their better ones in a good while.

Results

Kenny Omega/Hangman Page b. Natural Nightmares – Last Call to Marshall

Abadon b. Anna Jay – Hurricanrana driver

Maxwell Jacob Friedman b. Billy – Ring punch

Cody b. Ricky Starks – Cross Rhodes

Young Bucks b. Superbad Squad – Double knees to Sabian

Best Friends b. Le Sex Gods – Strong Zero to Guevara

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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