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AEW DYNAMITE TV REPORT
JUNE 8, 2022
INDEPENDENCE, MO AT CABLE DAHMER ARENA
AIRED ON TBS
REPORT BY TYLER SAGE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur
(1) CASINO BATTLE ROYAL
Darby Allin, Lance Archer, Daniel Garcia, Tony Nese and Eddie Kingston were in the first group of five wrestlers. Kingston and Garcia battled alone as the others watched, Darby went to the outside of the ring. Archer choke slammed Nese, and then battled with Darby. Eddie and Darby then battled as the crowd cheered for Eddie Kingston.
The second group of wrestlers was Ricky Starks, Jake Hager, Rey Fenix, Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee. The crowd chanted for Lee as he and Swerve teamed up. Keith Lee eliminated Tony Nese, Archer and Lee then squared off, Lee eliminated Archer.
The next set of five were John Silver, Konosuke Takeshita, The Ass Boys and Max Caster. [c]
The last set of five were Powerhouse Hobbs, reDRagon, Dante Martin and Wheeler Yuta. Caster and The Ass Boys scissored in the middle and that was broken up by Rey Fenix, who eliminated Caster. Keith Lee then eliminated both Gunns. Swerve then eliminated Keith Lee.
The Joker was Andrade El Idolo. Hobbs eliminated John Silver, Kingston and Garcia eliminated each other. Takeshita and Hobbs battled, Hobbs and Starks eliminated Takeshita. They teamed up again and eliminated Dante Martin. Rey Fenix eliminated Ricky Starks. Swerve and Darby teamed up and fought Andrade and reDRagon. Hager was eliminated earlier by Wheeler. Darby eliminated Bobby Fish, Swerve then eliminated Darby, Andrade then eliminated Swerve.
Hobbs worked over Rey and then placed him over the top, but was eliminated by Yuta and Rey saved himself. Yuta hit a drop kick on Andrade then suplexed O’Reilly. Fenix and Andrade then battled, Fenix was tossed over and eliminated. Andrade was eliminated by Yuta, while in a hold. Yuta and O’Reilly battled on the apron. O’Reilly tied up Yuta and kicked him off the apron.
WINNER: Kyle O’Reilly
(Sage’s Analysis: Battle Royals usually suck, but I though this one was pretty good, with a good (if told) story set up with Swerve and an interesting final 6. O’Reilly winning is odd, and makes the Moxley win seem assured, but we will see.)
-Jon Moxley did a promo that was reminiscent of his post first match promo’s when he was champion. That is to say serious, straight to the point and good. [c]
-The announce team said that CM Punk had successful surgery today. Then there was an announcement for the “All-Atlantic” Championship. They announced that some of the non-American wrestlers would battle in a tournament that would be settled at Forbidden Door. The first match was up next.
(2) PAC vs. BUDDY MATTHEWS
Both men stared through their wet hair, that cascaded down their All Atlantic faces. Matthews and Pac battled over wrist control, with Buddy dropping Pac to the mat in a headlock. Buddy went to the outside and Pac joined him as the break started. [c]
Pac hit a knee in the ropes, and then hit a DDT in the ropes. The two men then battled with strikes in the middle of the ring. Matthews took control with a running knee and then he went for a big kick. Pac countered and hit a pump kick, sending Matthew’s gum flying. Pac then hit a lariat that sent Matthews to the mat with a flip.
Matthews tossed Pac off the top and then hit a Liger Bomb for a near fall on Pac. After the near fall, Pac fought back and hit a poisonrana on Matthews, then a running boot and then he went to the top and hit the Black Arrow for the pinfall win.
WINNER: Pac
(Sage’s Analysis: A good, grounded match. Pac needed the win, hopefully AEW does not lose focus on him like it has in the past due to many reasons.)
-Eddie Kingston was backstage, he called out Jake Hager for costing him his chance at being World Champion. He then called out the rest of JAS. He called out Hager and challenged him to a match at Rampage. [c]
-Trent Beretta was in the ring, he said it is National Best Friends day and his friends were not there. He said He and Rocky didn’t really lose their ROH Tag Title match. He asked FTR to come out and make things right. FTR came out, Cash Wheeler talked first and said Trent was right. He said FTR want to prove they are the best tag team. Dax said that if it were up to him they would fight tonight, but Rocky is in Japan. He said that he should be mad at Cobb and O’Khan. United Empire’s music hit and Will Ospreay came out, members of United Empire then jumped FTR and Trent. Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis took out Trent and Ospreay hit his running elbow.
-Kyle O’Reilly was backstage, William Regal begged O’Reilly to think about facing Jon Moxley. He said to say goodbye to his wife, child and friends. O’Reilly said that he has been on a roll and he wants to fight for the AEW title, Cole said that he had it tonight.
(3) ADAM PAGE vs. DAVID FINLAY
A quick collar and elbow tie-up started the match, Page took down Finlay, David then hit a running drop kick on Page. Finlay and Page then battled on the mat, Page than caught Finlay and slammed him in the middle of the mat. Hangman followed that up with a big boot, and then pushed Finlay off the mat and then dove out and Finlay slammed his head on the barricade. Hangman then drank a beer from a member of the AEW galaxy. [c]
Finlay was in control as the show returned, Page caught him and tossed him behind and over head. Page did a kip up then sold injuries and chopped Finlay. Page jumped over the top rope and hit a crossbody and sold his knee upon impact. Finlay finally countered, but Page hit a power bomb and then tried for the Deadeye, Finlay hit a backbreaker for a two count.
Finlay hit a cross body, but Page rolled through and picked him up, Finlay countered that and got a two count on a quick pin. Page hit a lariat and then set up the Buckshot. He hit it and pinned Finlay.
WINNER: Adam Page
(Sage’s Analysis: A really good match that the crowd wasn’t really into. The random match didn’t make Page feel like a former World Champ. But, the after match promo did.)
-Post match Page said that he wanted to say a lot about the work title. He said that it doesn’t look like he will get a title shot anytime soon. He said that there is more than one world title in pro wrestling. He said he wants the IWGP championship and Okada. Cole then interrupted and said that he doesn’t think like a champion, he said he should get the title shot.
-A video from earlier showed Marina Shafir stepping up to Thunder Rosa’s open challenge.
-Tony Schiavone introduced Wardlow to the ring. Wardlow took the mic, nicely, and welcomed Kansas City to Wardlow’s World. He said he asked not to take place in the battle royal earlier. He said he only wanted to be champion if he was pinning CM Punk, he said he will be waiting for him. He also said that there is another title he wants, the TNT title. Scorpio Sky came out and was stopped by Dan Lambert and Ethan Page. Mark Sterling then was backstage with security crew members, he said that can face him in a court of law or wrestle 20 men in an elimination match next week, I wonder what he will choose? [c]
-The Hardy’s and The Young Bucks were arguing about Tag Team Title shots, Christian and Jurassic Express entered. Christian purposed a triple threat match for the titles in a ladder match. Jungle Boy did not seem happy about this.
(4) THUNDER ROSA vs. MARINA SHAFIR
Thunder Rosa and Marina Shafir battled over wrist control on the mat and then standing, Shafir kneed Rosa into the corner and then continued to work over Rosa with strikes. Rosa then countered on the mat and had a momentary wrist lock. Shafir and Rosa traded counters until Shafir was thrown in the corner. Rosa then hit stiff chops, and slammed Marina. Shafir hit a gut punch then a snap suplex to get in control as the break started. [c]
Thunder Rosa battled back with running strikes in the corner and then a drop kick while Shafir was on the middle rope. Rosa hit a Northern Light Suplex for a two count. Shafir hit a suplex and then stood up Rosa who then hit punches and then a Death Valley Driver on Shafir, leading to a two count. Shafir tried a fisherman suplex like move, Rosa countered and rolled through and got a quick pin for the win.
WINNER: Thunder Rosa
(Sage’s Analysis: A really good match that the crowd did not care for at all at the start and was really behind at the end, which goes to show the type of match these two put on.)
-Shafir attacked Rosa post match and Toni Storm made the save and battled and teamed up with Thunder Rosa to take her out. Toni Storm then picked up the title and handed it to Rosa, not without a little stare down between the two.
-Tony cut the shit in the back with Jade and the baddies, Hathaway said that Statlander would be taking on Red Velvet on Rampage.
-The announce team ran down Rampage, Dynamite next week and matches at Forbidden Door. [c]
(5) JON MOXLEY vs. KYLE O’REILLY
The match started with a brief test of strength, then another attempt where Kyle O’Reilly shot at Jon Moxley in an attempt to take him down. Moxley sent Kyle to the mat and tried for a lateral press, O’Reilly then got up and the two men then traded strikes until Moxley had a Hamme lock on O’Reilly. Moxley then twisted and bent the fingers of Kyle. Moxley then got wrist control once more and tried for an arm hold, O’Reilly countered that and Moxley then grabbed the wrists and stomped the head of Kyle.
O’Reilly then hit a kick combination and the men traded strikes, chops and head strikes. O’Reilly was getting beat down in teh corner, until O’Reilly hit a drop kick on Moxley’s knee. Kyle then hit a Dragon Screw and then a nasty looking move on Moxley’s knee going into the break. [c]
Moxley made a comeback by knocking Kyle off of the top rope and into a seated position, Moxley then set up and hit a superplex. The two men stood up and traded strikes and running knees, until both were on the mat. O’Reilly applied an arm breaker, Moxley tried to lock in a sleeper. O’Reilly then was in a hold and bit the rope to break, Moxley then kicked the rope and jammed that in Kyle’s mouth.
Moxley hit a move for a near fall, then applied a lock and down elbows on O’Reilly. Kyle fought back and hit a running knee, ;having both on the mat. Moxley then hit a running cutter into a pile driver attempt. O’Reilly then moved up and applied a triangle hold, O’Reilly transitioned into a double leg lock but Moxley broke the hold. Moxley then hit the pile driver for a near fall.
Stiff elbow strikes were traded, then slaps as they each lost strength. They both hit suplex and then strikes simultaneously until they both fell to one knee. Moxley then locked in the Bulldog choke, but O’Reilly got out. Moxley hit the Regal knee then the DDT for the pinfall win.
WINNER: Jon Moxley
(Sage’s Analysis: A rather incredible wrestling match, Jon Moxley really is incredible in this type of match when he wants to. This match as well as the Wheeler Yuta match from a few mouths ago are very interesting matches to me. Moxley won both and elevated his opponents to another level in defeat, that is so unique and such a valuable skill. I loved this match and this has been some good lemonade made from the lemons that were Punk’s injury.)
FINAL THOUGHTS: A show with two really good matches and one amazing match. The stuff setting up forbidden door was strong and I even liked the important parts of the battle royal. Overall, I think that was a really good show.
Tl;dr- This company is toast