SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Last week we saw a new stable formally introduced, a new champion cut his first promo, a shocking challenge laid out, and a huge debut in the AEW Women’s Division. This week AEW returns home to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Fla. where AEW will honor their history, Sting continues his retirement tour, and there’s potential for another big debut. And now, to paraphrase Pink, let’s get the party started.
Samoa Joe vs. Hook
No, you’re not seeing things. This is a real feud that is likely to become official this week. In a vignette on Collision, Hook called out Samoa Joe. On the surface, this seems preposterous. If you think about it, though, it does make sense. As Hook said, he’s got the best winning percentage in AEW. He’s only lost one match in his career. If this was the UFC and a fighter who only lost one fight called out the UFC champion, nobody would blink an eye. In that way, this is very sports-like. Besides, Hook has spent his time in AEW toiling with his officially unrecognized family heirloom title. It’s time he starts swimming in the deep end. He’s obviously not going to win, but let’s see if he can hang with the big boys.
Grade: N/A
Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Big Bill & Ricky Starks
Sammy Guevara goes one-on-one with Ricky Starks on Dynamite. He and Chris Jericho will then challenge Starks & Big Bill on Battle of Belts IX. I get that keeping Jericho off TV isn’t realistic given it’s only really allegations of allegations, but I would suggest not putting the tag titles on them. I don’t think that would be good look. Let them go feud with the Don Callis Family.
Grade: B+
Toni Storm vs. Deonna Purazzo
Mariah May had her in-ring debut against Queen Aminata. Both women laid their shots in against each other, which I always appreciate. In the end, Mariah won with her Mayday finisher. Toni Storm was not there having left the arena for Broadway rather than stay in New Jersey. Mariah followed in her mentor’s footsteps by insulting the crowd which brought out Jersey native Deonna Purazzo. Purazzo announced that she was All Elite and immediately gave Mariah a message for Toni Storm. We’re clearly headed towards Deonna vs. Toni, probably at Revolution and to that I say, hell yeah!
Grade: A+
Sting & Darby Allin vs. Don Callis Family
Darby had an incredible match with Konosuke Takeshita last week. With some of the bumps he took, it’s kind of amazing he’s still upright. This week he teams with Sting to fight Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs in a tornado tag match. Sting debuted in AEW at Daily’s Place just over three years ago. It’s rather fitting that his retirement tour takes him through there one last time. Darby and Sting are currently 26-0 after defeating the Workhorsemen on Collision. I fully expect them to be 27-0 after tonight. For that reason, I believe they deserve a tag team title match. They have the best record of any team in AEW. If Starks & Bill lose the belts, let it be to Darby & Sting so that the Stinger can have one final title run.
Grade: A+
Kris Statlander/Willow Nightingale/Stokely Hathaway
Kris Statlander and Willow Nightingale have been friends and sometimes partners for several months now. Stokely Hathaway has been trying for the last few weeks to drive a wedge between the two. His latest attempt on Rampage saw him give Stat an elaborate introduction that included him describing her as “thicker than Snickers” which cracked me up. I assume Stoke eventually lands Stat as a client; it’s just a matter of what the catalyst ends up being. In the meantime, Stat and Willow take part in an eight-woman tag match to honor Mr. Brodie Lee so I’m sure Stokely will make an appearance at some point.
Grade: A
FTR & Daniel Garcia vs. House of Black
Two weeks ago FTR came to Daniel Garcia’s aid when he was being attacked by HOB. Garica returned the favor this past weekend near the conclusion of a very good match between FTR and HOB. He prevented Brody King from interfering which allowed FTR to pick up the victory albeit with a sunset flip. After the match, Garcia and FTR found themselves beaten down by all three members of HOB. Clearly there’s a trios match in the future. The Garcia rebuild has been successful thus far. Putting him with the most old-school pro wrestlers seems like a perfect fit to force him to be more serious.
Grade: A-
Undisputed Kingdom vs. Bullet Club Gold & The Acclaimed
Adam Cole explained why he conspired against a man who was supposed to be his best friend and introduced the world to the Undisputed Kingdom. The promo was fine. There was enough explanation and he laid out a clear mission statement for the group. At the end of the promo, Jay White interrupted, seeking revenge for the UK’s assault on him. He didn’t come alone, though; his BCG cohorts The Gunns were flanking him. BCG were quickly overwhelmed four-on-three. That’s when The Acclaimed, also victims of UK, hit the ring. On Collision, Anthony Bowens seemed to suggest that the Acclaimed join Bullet Club Gold which would be a terrible idea. It’s obviously not going to be six-on-four, so I’m not entirely sure how this one is going to shake out, but I do know the Undisputed Kingdom needs to prevail.
Grade: B+
Swerve Strickland vs Hangman Page
Hangman reignited the feud between him and Swerve by attacking Swerve following his win over Daniel Garcia in the main event of last week’s Dynamite. I’m going to predict it now: This feud will culminate in a Hell of War match at Revolution. For those who don’t know, a Hell of War match is Swerve’s specialty. It’s the match that he had with A.R. Fox in Lucha Underground that made him famous. The match is a two out of three falls match in which each fall has a stipulation: Fall 1 is a first blood match, fall 2 is a no-DQ match, and fall 3 a Medical Evac (ambulance) match. This feels like maybe the only way to top their insane Texas Deathmatch and get Hangman a fall over Swerve without him actually winning the match.
Grade: B+
Ruby Soho/Angelo Parker
It became clear this week that Saraya has hired the rather unstable Harley Cameron to throw herself between Ruby Soho and Angelo Parker and interrupt that burgeoning relationship. She propositioned Ang in a backstage interview. He immediately turned her down. It’ll be interesting to see how that’s addressed this week and how long this nefarious and treacherous plot will go on before Ruby puts a stop to it. I’m here for it though.
Grade: B+
RECOMMENDED NEXT: RADICAN’S TAKE: Tony Khan needs to escape the negative rabbit hole that is social media
OR CHECK THIS OUT AT PROWRESTLING.NET: Powell’s AEW Dynamite Hit List: Swerve Strickland vs. Daniel Garcia, The Undisputed Kingdom, Orange Cassidy vs. Dante Martin for the AEW International Title, Darby Allin vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.