SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
NEWS & NOTES
• Fightful Select reported that Mina Shirakawa will be finishing up with Stardom shortly and signing full time to AEW, in a boon for that ever more talented division.
• ROH Supercard of Honor will take place from Atlantic City, N.J. on May 2.
• Another event announced was a Spring Break Thru Dynamite from Boston on April 16. This show will mark the milestone of Dynamite officially surpassing the number of episodes of WCW Monday Nitro aired on TNT.
INTRO
The road to Dynasty heats up as does the field for the Owen Hart Tournament. In addition to Will Ospreay, Hangman Adam Page officially threw his name in the hat. I expect MJF to follow suit. Given his promo on Collision and his get right match with Brody King, I expect Kyle Fletcher to announce himself for the tourney as well. Takeshita could possibly follow suit giving Don Callis two bites at the apple. AEW loading up this tournament weeks in advance is smart booking. All the biggest names making this tournament feel prestigious. Elsewhere there’s plenty of other interesting things on the card and one match that has my eyebrow raised for all the wrong reasons. More about that later. In the meantime, to quote Darkwing Duck, let’s get dangerous!
Jon Moxley vs. Swerve Strickland
Latest Developments
Jon Moxley defeated Adam Copeland to retain the AEW World Title and officially set himself as Swerve’s opponent for Dynasty
Analysis
The match between Mox and Copeland started as a standard walk and brawl and evolved into a standard street fight until Copeland retrieved Spike from under the ring. Rather than the expected tease of use, Copeland actually connected with a shot with Spike into Mox’s midsection and then across his back. What happened next was shocking to say the least. Copeland laid Spike on the mat and then suplexed Mox onto it. That looked brutal enough but then Mox stood up and Spike was stuck in his back.
Wheeler Yuta hit the ring at this point and took out Copeland with a Busiku knee. He attempted to remove Spike from Mox in one of the most gruesome visuals in AEW history as. He was unable to do so and instead occupied Copeland while the referee extricated Mox from his predicament. At this point the match devolved into a series interferences, first from the returning Claudio, Pac, and Marina Shafir in succession and then Nick Wayne and Kip Sabian. Wayne hitting Wayne’s World ultimately led to Mox hitting a Death Rider and locking on the bulldog choke for the win.
This match was better than their Revolution match, though that’s not saying much. The Spike spot was, for me, a bit of a mixed bag. Spike, much like Abyss’ nail bat Janice, is an absurd weapon that doesn’t seem to be actually usable. For that reason Copeland actually hitting Mox with it was surprising although the first two shots didn’t draw blood which initially undermined the weapon. The suplex and Spike sticking in Mox’s back was wild especially for televised wrestling. I don’t think it would’ve been as controversial if Spike had just fallen out. It wouldn’t have made it any less dangerous though. I would personally prefer if these kinds of extreme weapons were kept away from wrestling as the payoff isn’t worth it.
As for the actual finish, it was a basic Mox +the Mechanics finish with The Patriarchy added in. I could’ve done without the Patriarchy as I have no interest in revisiting Copeland vs Christian and it seemed like there was something interesting brewing with the tension between Christian Cage and Nick Wayne. On top of all of that Dax Harwood refused to help Copeland up. I’d much prefer to see where that story goes.
As for Mox and Swerve, this week should start the build in earnest. I’m curious as to how Swerve deals with the Mechanics. Obviously he can’t run the same playbook as Copeland but they’ve been such a factor in all of Mox’s defenses he’d be foolish for not addressing them.
Grade: N/A
Kenny Omega vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Ricochet
Latest Developments
Ricochet and Speedball Mike Bailey both pinned Mark Davis to make the International title match at Dynasty a triple threat.
Analysis
The four way finale of the International Title Eliminator mini-tournament was as good as expected. Speedball looked really good again. OC was OC. Ricochet was opportunistic and Mark Davis looked liked the beast he was supposed to look like. The finish saw Speedball absolutely blast Davis in the back of the head with a kick and then pull him down into a backslide. Ricochet then jumped in on the pin, holding down Davis from the opposite side while putting his feet on the rope, a superfluous move in a four way match. Because both men technically pinned Davis, both men were declared co-winners.
The finish was clever. I don’t know that I’ve one like it before but I expected and would’ve preferred a straight up win by Ricochet. That’s not to say this triple threat match won’t be incredible. I just hope Speedball doesn’t end up the fall guy in his first high-profile PPV match.
Expect some build for this tonight as Kenny Omega will be back in the building live. While I’m always excited to see Kenny, I do not however, understand why he’s having a random match against Blake Christian. It’s dumb. Kenny Omega should only be wrestling at PPVs or in extremely major matches on TV not some throwaway spotlight match. Everyone knows Kenny’s one of the greatest to ever do this. He doesn’t need to be wasting his time with Blake Christian, no offense to him.
Grade: Incomplete
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the “All Elite Conversation Club” with Joel Dehnel and Gregg Kanner, part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
Toni Storm vs. Megan Bayne
Latest Developments
Megan Bayne scored a decisive victory over Kris Statlander after a spirited hoss fight. Afterwards Timeless Toni Storm cut a hysterical promo offering Bayne a title match.
Analysis
The Bayne/Statlander match started slow but picked up quickly with both powerhouses giving each other their best shots. I could’ve done without Penelope Ford who really shouldn’t be hanging around Bayne but at least she got tossed before finish. Speaking of that finish, Baybe threw Stat into the apron and then into Toni who was sitting in on commentary. She then hit the Fate’s Descent on Stat on the floor and then tossed her in the ring and hit a second one for the win. Afterwards, Toni taped up her fist, got in the ring and brawled with Bayne until she knocked her out of the ring. She then cut a hysterical innuendo-laced promo offering Bayne a title match.
On Collison Toni cut a short promo and we finally heard from Megan Bayne in the form a pre-taped vignette.
Megan Bayne being immediately thrust into a world title problem speaks highly of how they view her. Last week I compared it to an accelerated version of Brock Lesnar’s 2002 run and I stand by that. She’s been winning dominantly and decisively. Penelope Ford has been an unnecessary appendage, but other than that it’s been mostly flawless. Toni Storm getting to be a little raunchy for the first time in several months was nice. Her deadpan delivery makes her jokes even funnier. Honestly she might be the most over woman in wrestling at this point. It would really cement Megan Bayne if ahe were to dethrone her. What would be even bolder would be Bayne pinning Toni in the tag match tonight instead of Thunder Rosa again but I don’t expect that to happen.
Grade: B+
Mercedes Moné vs. Billie Starkz
Latest Developments
Mercedes and Billie had a pretty good match that Mercedes eventually won. Later in the show Mercedes made a thinly veiled allusion to Athena.
Analysis
Mercedes Moné continued her streak of pretty good to great matches. That’s not to say Billie Starkz didn’t hold up her end of the bargain. She was more than game in this match against one of her heroes. For someone so young Billie is advancing quickly. She kept up Mercedes and the two had very competitive match. At one point Billie hit her finish, the Sugoi Driver, and Mercedes narrowly missed landing on her head. It’s a very close call kind of move so Billie always has to be careful. That said the move was protected as Mercedes got her foot on the rope rather than kick out. Billie missed a senton on the apron. Mercedes took advantage and rolled her up and then turned the rollup into the Statement Maker for the submission win.
As I said these two worked well together. Mercedes may have started slow but she’s definitely starting to earn her money now. It’s also nice to see Billie get a spotlight outside of ROH. There was a nice albeit short video package of her highlights before the match for those who haven’t seen her. Later in the night, Mercedes put Billie over as tougher than she expected and then offhandedly wondered aloud who trained. That’s an obvious reference to Billie’s mentor Athena. I think the slow roll to that dream match has been smartly paced. Admittedly I was surprised Billie already got a shot but Mercedes comment made it clear this is not a one and done situation. In the meantime Julia Hart just won a trilogy with Queen Aminata that ought to set her up to go after Mercedes.
Grade: A-
MJF…in the Hurt Syndicate?
Latest Developments
MJF cut a brief promo backstage promising to answer MVP’s overture tonight.
Analysis
Two weeks ago MVP gave MJF a Hurt Syndicate business card. Last week talked about perhaps needing back but also still stinging from being burned by his last alliance (with Adam Cole). He promised to give MVP an answer tonight.
MJF made a lot of sense jn his promo. My issue is that if he takes MVP up on his offer it feels like a weird fit for the tweener Hurt Syndicate group. Conversely, if he turns him down the expectation would be that he’s going feud with them and I can’t think of anyone who would team with him or why he would trust them over the Hurt Syndicate. Maybe there’s a happy middle ground where MJF takes on MVP as his manager but is only loosely affiliated with Bobby and Shelton. It’s not unheard of for a manager to have more than one client but for those clients to separate from each other. Given the fact that there’s an answer being teased it certainly stands to reason that MJF is likely going to accept MVP’s offer.
Grade: Incomplete
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.