SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
AEW DYNAMITE REPORT
APRIL 10, 2024
CHARLESTON, W.VA. AT CHARLESTON ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON TBS
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Tony Schiavone
Ring Announcer: Justin Roberts
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
[HOUR ONE]
-After the Dynamite open and fireworks, they went right to the ring and Justin Roberts. He announced that the first match would be a World Title eliminator match. As Samoa Joe began to make his entrance, he was ambushed from behind by Swerve Strickland. The two battled to the side of the stage where Joe set up a table against the railing. Strickland speared him through the table. Referees came out to hold Strickland back from further attacking the champion. Joe was helped up and to the back.
(Parks’s Analysis: A hot way to open the show. Gives viewers a cliffhanger to stay tuned to see if Samoa Joe will be able to face Dustin Rhodes later – or if he tries to get revenge on Swerve.)
-The announcers threw it to a video package chronicling the Best Friends as well as the breakup that occurred last week with Trent Beretta turning on Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy.
-Renee Paquette was backstage in front of Orange Cassidy’s locker room. She said Cassidy would have a match on Rampage and would address Beretta’s actions at that time.
(1) PENTA EL ZERO MIEDO (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. ADAM COPELAND – TNT Title match
Penta got an early spear for a two-count. A double stomp off the top also got a two, both within the first minute of the match. Copeland tried to regain his bearings outside the ring. The first plug for the All In backstage footage was made by Excalibur 11 minutes into the show. It was plugged along with the other matches and segments scheduled for later on. A hard chop to the chest sent Copeland rolling to the apron. They took a break at 2:43 of the match. [c/db]
They returned at 5:43 of the match. Penta remained in command. The announcers mentioned that Penta had been dominating the offense. Copeland came back with a few flying headscissors. He couldn’t sustain the offense and Penta used his kicks to take back over. The men traded headscissors and attempted to dropkick each other at the same time, resulting in both of them hitting the mat at the 8:00 mark. Up to their knees, they traded forearms back and forth. A countdown ticker to the Young Bucks was shown in the top left corner of the screen – it was at about 19 minutes. Penta dove onto Copeland outside the ring. The referee’s count reached nine before Copeland re-entered the ring. Penta put Copeland’s head across the edge of the apron and kicked the back of it. They cut to another commercial at 11:13. [c/db]
Back at 14:13 of the bout. Penta hit a back-stabber for a near-fall. Copeland put Penta on his shoulders and dropped him face-first to the mat. Again both men were down, selling the effects of the match. A modified sharpshooter was applied by Copeland, but Penta reached the ropes. Another near-fall from Penta on a corner dropkick. Copeland reversed an arm-breaker into a cross-face. Penta put his feet on the ropes to break the hold. They fought to the apron where Copeland caught a charging Penta for a power slam onto the apron. Copeland went for a spear at ringside but Penta moved and Abrahantes found himself on the receiving end of it. With both men on the top, Penta hit an avalanche code red for two. “This is awesome” chants rang out through the arena. Penta tried a springboard but Copeland hit him in mid-air with a spear for the win.
WINNER: Copeland, at 20:41.
(Parks’s Analysis: They paced themselves early for a long match, and that it was. They never really kicked it into another gear though. Seeing Copeland stray from his usual moveset was cool. The story was Copeland fighting from underneath for much of the match, coming out victorious in the end.)
-The lights went out after the match and when they came back on, Julia Hart was in the ring. Brody King attacked Copeland from behind. Willow Nightengale ran out to attack Hart. King pulled Hart out of the way and stepped up to Nightengale. Copeland low-bridged King out of the ring. Copeland’s music played as he and Nightengale remained in the ring together, watching House of Black head up the ramp.
-Paquette was backstage with Chris Jericho, Hook, and Shibata. The camera kept zooming in and out on Jericho when he was speaking for some reason. He instructed his partners what to do in their upcoming match tonight. After Jericho walked off, Shibata used his phone to ask Hook, “what’s his deal?”
-Excalibur plugged the six-man with Jericho, Hook, and Shibata taking on Shane Taylor Promotions later on in the show.
-They showed clips of previous matches between FTR and the Young Bucks. They noted that part four of their feud will be coming up at AEW Dynasty.
-They promised the Young Bucks would present backstage footage from All In and discuss it for the first time, next. [c]
-Paquette was backstage with Mark Briscoe and Eddie Kingston. She asked them how they were feeling with a six-man tag coming up at Dynasty. They both felt beat up, but they said it was pro wrestling and it happens. Copeland, Nightengale and Stokely Hathaway walked in. Copeland, still out of breath, asked if they were still good for Dynasty. Hathaway interjected, telling Copeland to put his TNT Title on the line against Nightengale next week. Instead, Nightengale suggested she and Copeland team up against Hart and King. Copeland agreed. Hathaway tried to zing Kingston but Kingston just walked away in the middle of it.
-The Young Bucks were backstage and before the footage, Nicholas talked about their upcoming match against FTR. He said the last time they faced FTR was at All In, and thinking about that opens old wounds. Matthew said that right before that match, there was an incident. He said Jack Perry was one of those involved, and someone once said it you have a problem with Jack Perry, you’re the problem. Nicholas said the other guys is good friends with FTR, and suggested they may have been behind the whole thing. Matthew hand-waved that idea away. But he did say there should be an asterisk next to FTR’s victory because of all they had to deal with that night.
Matthew said the footage shows more of a high school scrap, but more than the incident itself, it threatened to take down AEW’s biggest show of all-time. But it didn’t. They rolled the tape of Punk confronting Perry (Punk’s back is turned). They have a conversation with refs and others in the vicinity. It’s a lengthier conversation than you might expect. No audio. Many faces were blurred. Punk shoved Perry twice, then put him in a front face-lock. Joe immediately got between them and they were separated.
Matthew said that wasn’t the worst part of the incident. Rather, it was the distraction of something so stupid that caused them to lose on such a big night. He said FTR had the balls to stick their hands out for a shake after the match. Nicholas called FTR pricks and then both got up and walked away.
(Parks’s Analysis: I actually liked the way the Bucks used the fight as an excuse for why they lost to FTR at All In, distracting them as EVPs from their in-ring duties. But they didn’t need to show the footage to get that point across. Instead, it felt like a cheap ratings ploy and sour grapes based on Punk’s MMA Hour interview. And it probably was both of those. As the saying goes, I’m not sure the juice was worth the squeeze.)
-FTR came to the ring as the announcers were discussing what they just saw. They suggested this segment wasn’t on the format sheet. Cash Wheeler asked why the Bucks were showing that footage, other than to give an excuse for their All In loss. He was heated in talking about the Bucks, calling them “petty little bitches.” Dax Harwood took the mic and said the Bucks always let them know that, without them, people wouldn’t have jobs and AEW wouldn’t exist. Harwood said that actually might be true. He said they’ve eclipsed the Bucks as the best tag team on the planet. Harwood talked about continuing to build AEW up with people like Strickland, Joe, and Nightengale. He said they are doing this for the people who buy tickets to get lost in the action. An “FTR” chant broke out. Harwood said this isn’t about Wembley or All Out (did he mean All In?), but it’s about the tag titles.
(Parks’s Analysis: Good response from FTR, especially Harwood, and good intensity that met, but didn’t exceed, the moment). [c]
-A video package aired on Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson.
-Atop the entranceway, Paquette introduced Ospreay. He said there’s a rumor that he’s afraid of the grind. He said the guy who said (Triple H) is only the position he’s in because he’s grinding on the boss’s daughter. Ospreay said you don’t throw stones at an assassin with a machine gun. He turned his attention to Danielson and said younger and better men have tried and failed to take him down. Ospreay said he can’t call himself the best in the world until after he beats Danielson at Dynasty. He said he’d show Danielson why he’s the ace of All Elite Wrestling. He closed by saying he’s on another level.
(Parks’s Analysis: There is a subset of AEW fans that will really enjoy the company shooting back at guys like Punk and Triple H. There are also those that will see it as coming from a place of insecurity and giving off a vibe of desperation, especially taking those shots in back-to-back segments and after Copeland’s rah-rah speech opened the show last week. The crowd didn’t react big to Ospreay at first, but they got more into him as the promo went along).
-A video package aired on Julia Hart, building her match against Willow Nightengale.
(2) HOOK & CHRIS JERICHO & KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. SHANE TAYLOR & LEE MORIARTY & ANTHONY OGOGO
This match, the second of the show, began more than an hour into the episode. Jericho and Moriarty started the match. After some offense from Jericho, Shibata tagged himself in. Shibata snap-mared and kicked Moriarty. Moriarty tagged out to Taylor to avoid more punishment. They plugged that Joe vs. Rhodes was still to come. Hook was taken down in the corner and they went to break. [c/db]
They were back at 5:23 of the match. Hook suplexed Taylor down to a big reaction from the crowd. Shibata ran wild on Moriarty with kicks and chops. Shibata went for a kick but Moriarty moved and he accidentally hit Jericho, knocking him off the apron. He didn’t seem in a hurry to get back into position for a tag. As Shibata tried to make a tag to Hook, Jericho pulled him off the apron. The two argued at ringside. While Shibata had Moriarty in a sleeper, Taylor charged in and socked Shibata in the face. Moriarty hit his finish for the win.
WINNERS: Taylor & Ogogo & Moriarty, at 8:15.
-After the match, Hook and Jericho continued arguing. Hook told Jericho to leave the ring so he could check on Shibata. Hook raised Shibata’s hand in the ring as Jericho backed up the ramp.
(Parks’s Analysis: I thought they’d drag out the Jericho/Hook team a little longer before teasing dissension.)
-Dustin Rhodes was backstage with Paquette. She asked him if Joe’s injury changes his strategy at all tonight. Rhodes said it doesn’t and that he’s got nothing to lose. He shouted out Charleston, West Virginia and said he gives it his all in the ring and tonight will be no different.
(3) KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. CRISTIANO ARGENTO
Argento did not get an entrance. Loud “Okada” chants by the crowd before the bell rang. Argento’s offense didn’t get him very far. Okada took him down and delivered a neck-breaker. More chops from Argento failed to move Okada. After a dropkick, a Rainmaker was delivered for three.
WINNER: Okada, at 1:20.
(Parks’s Analysis: If you had never seen Okada before this AEW run, you likely continue to be impressed with what he’s shown so far.)
-After the match, Okada grabbed a mic and spoke, in English, that he accepted Pac’s challenge for Dynasty. Pac came out and paced like a caged animal atop the ramp, pointing and shouting at Okada. He headed to the ring. The Young Bucks attacked Pac from behind as he reached ringside. “C.M. Punk” chants from the crowd. FTR ran in and attacked the Bucks. Wheeler whiffed on a clothesline, then hit it again to send Nicholas out of the ring. Okada brought a chair into the ring and nailed both members of FTR with it. The Bucks hit the EVP Trigger on FTR. Okada then hit Pac on the side of the head with the chair (he really appeared to hit more of Pac’s shoulder than his head).
(Parks’s Analysis: The Punk chants were interesting here. Will they continue, with fans knowing how much Punk’s actions got under the Bucks’ skin, both in real life and in storyline? They did kinda babyface Punk, in a strange way, by having the heel Bucks credit him for costing them the match against the face team of FTR at All In. )
-They showed the Gunn Club and Jay White taking out The Acclaimed at ROH Supercard of Honor last weekend. White and the Gunns then spoke backstage, talking about injuring Darby Allin, defending the ROH Six-Man Titles and them beating up Billy Gunn. White said he wants to do it again on Rampage. He said they’ve got two words for us: Gunns up. [c]
-On the stage in the arena, Paquette welcomed Thunder Rosa. Then, she brought out Toni Storm. It was a champagne toast scheduled by Storm. There was a small table set up with champagne. Paquette asked Storm to make a toast, but before she even said a word, she threw the champagne onto Rosa and attacked her. She took a towel and began wiping the paint off Rosa’s face. Deonna Purrazzo ran out and Storm hid behind Luther. Purrazzo tried to help Rosa up but Rosa wanted none of it, so Purrazzo just headed to the back. The announcers speculated that, with the champagne and makeup in her eyes, maybe Rosa didn’t know it was Purrazzo bending down to grab her. Mariah May then came out for a match.
(4) MARIAH MAY vs. ANNA JAY
In mid-ring, the women traded slaps across the chest. The two side-stepped each other’s offense, and Jay connected on a neck-breaker. May placed Jay on the top rope and took both hands and slapped Jay’s chest with them. “Double chop Jones” is how Taz referred to that, by the way. Excalibur announced that it’s official, Julia Hart and Brody King vs. Adam Copeland and Willow Nightengale next week on Dynamite. Jay was recovering on the outside of the ring as they went to break at 2:42. [c/db]
Back at 5:42 with May dropkicking Jay into the corner. Jay hit an impressive running spin kick on May in the corner. May connected with a dropkick off the top and a hip attack in the corner. They plugged that Jay White would face Matt Sydal on Rampage, plus Julia Hart vs. Leyla Hirsch and Cool Hand Angelo Parker vs. Zak Knight and Orange Cassidy vs. Alex Reynolds. May ended up rolling up Jay for the pin.
WINNER: May, at 8:30.
-Jay locked in the Queen Slayer on May after the match. Mina Shirakawa of Stardom ran out after the match, chasing Jay off. She got champagne after the match and fed it to May. Then she planted a kiss on May’s lips.
(Parks’s Analysis: May has a star aura about her. I’m not sure how long they plan on keeping her aligned with Storm. The appearance of the women from Stardom, with whom May has a history, could serve to drive a wedge between the two).
-Alex Marvez conducted a sit-down interview with Mercedes Mone. Mone spouted a bunch of cliches about being TBS champion in Las Vegas. She said she couldn’t wait to see Hart vs. Nightengale at Dynasty. She spoke about being in the ring with Nightengale previously. She talked about losing to Nightengale and getting injured during the match. She said she’s a woman on a mission and she can’t wait for Double or Nothing. When asked who she’d rather face, Hart or Nightengale, the lights went out and there were sounds of a struggle. When they came back on Mone was laying on the ground injured.
(Parks’s Analysis: So AEW apparently heard all the complaints WWE fans had about the zooming of the camera during the Kevin Dunn era, and how much better it’s been since he left, and they’ve decided it’s a good idea to start doing that during promos and interviews. Some of the decision-making in this episode has been jaw-dropping.)
-Next, it’s Joe vs. Rhodes. [c]
(5) SAMOA JOE vs. DUSTIN RHODES – AEW Title eliminator match
Joe sent after Rhodes right at the bell. He threw Rhodes to ringside and into the barricade. Rhodes fired back with an uppercut. Back in the ring, Rhodes took Joe down with a clothesline. Tony Schiavone mentioned the overrun so as to stay with this match as long as it goes. The match went to the outside again where Joe sent his opponent into the ring post. Rhodes was busted open at that point and they went to break at 1:51 of the match. [c/db]
Back at 4:35 with Joe in control. He targeted the wound on Rhodes’s forehead, but Rhodes fought back with a power slam. They traded right hands mid-ring with Rhodes getting the better of the exchange. Code red for a two. Joe avoided a bulldog out of the corner and chopped Rhodes down with a lariat. Rhodes brought the title into the ring but he set it down before using it. Instead, he hit Cross Rhodes in the middle of the ring. It got him a two-count. Rhodes charged at Joe in the corner but Joe caught him and dropped him with an STO. Joe grabbed a chain that he had kept in the corner. When referee Paul Turner was disposing of the chain, Joe grabbed the title that was still in the ring in the other corner and decked Rhodes with it for the win.
WINNER: Joe, at 9:31.
(Parks’s Analysis: Rhodes is really good at this style of match and getting sympathy from the crowd. I wouldn’t normally advocate putting him in a main event spot because his push doesn’t warrant that, but this was more about fans sticking around to see what else could happen between Joe and Strickland.)
-Post-match, Joe applied a sleeper to Rhodes. Strickland came out of the crowd and kicked Joe in the head. He grabbed the chain and walloped Joe in the jaw with it. As Joe tried to crawl up the ramp, the locker room emptied to keep the two apart. Prince Nana grabbed the title and put it in Swerve’s hands. Strickland raised the title as Joe angrily backed up the ramp. Graphics in the corner of the screen plugged the major Dynasty PPV matches. The camera went back and forth to Strickland and Joe’s reactions to close the show.
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