SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
• Swerve Strickland said in a now viral clip that AEW was “taking” Fox now that WWE is off the network, seemingly confirming the reports of a pending deal with the broadcaster. (By the time you’re reading this, it’s entirely possible AEW’s new TV deal will have been announced.)
• Emails went out from Bleacher Report this week informing those customers who have purchased AEW PPVs that AEW PPVs would no longer be available on BR and giving them option to opt in to a Triller account where their library will be transferred over. If you haven’t noticed this email and you fit this category, check your email so you don’t lose access to events you’ve already purchased.
• Quick notes from Grand Slam Collision: Rush appeared to reform LFI with his brother Dralistico and the Beast Mortos after a sensational Lucha three-way match.
• Kris Statlander returned for the first time since All Out and cut maybe her best promo ever addressing the oddness of Willow being featured more despite the fact that Stat won the street fight.
• Harley Cameron appears to be okay after taking one of the most wicked table bumps I’ve seen in awhile during the “Saraya’s Rules” match in which Jamie Hayter defeated Saraya.
• Speaking of Saraya, she has signed a one year contract extension with AEW.
• MVP is All Elite, debuting at Grand Slam in a segment opposite Prince Nana. The business card MVP handed to Nana read “Hurt Syndicate” which buttresses the subsequent reporting that Bobby Lashley will be debuting sometime in October.
• Toni Storm will he challenging Mayu Iwatani for the IWGP Women’s Title this Saturday at the Stardom event. In some pre-match press, Toni discussed an alleged love affair she had with Stan Hansen and being visited by the ghost of Antonio Inoki. If you haven’t seen these clips, go find them. Toni’s continuing to do great work outside AEW.
• Get well soon, Killswitch. The big man was hospitalized with really bad case of pneumonia in both lungs. He’s on the mend, but an exact time of return is unknown right now.
INTRO
Let’s stop for a minute and appreciate where we are.
This is the fifth anniversary of AEW Dynamite. When this debuted five years ago, it was a ragtag roster and the big surprise was… Jake Hager. Fast-forward five years and Bryan Danielson, Will Ospreay, and Kazuchika Okada are all wrestling on tonight’s show and there’s a not insignificant possibility that the scion of wrestling’s most famous family could appear. What a glow up this show has seen.
Who could’ve imagined this show this company would be where it is today? What Tony Khan, his team, and this is insanely talented roster he’s compiled has accomplished in the last five years is remarkable. He’s created a viable, soon-to-be profitable second major wrestling promotion despite all the built-in advantages WWE has.
Now it’s about the next five years. Most immediately it’s about what the rest of the year is going to look like.
Tonight’s show will likely set up the card for next weekend’s WrestleDream event. Happy anniversary, Dynamite! Here’s to another five years and beyond!
Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin
Latest Developments
Jon Moxley defeated Darby Allin in a brutal match to win Darby’s AEW World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleDream.
Analysis
This match was as violent as one would expect a Jon Moxley match to be. Within a couple minutes of the bell ringing, Darby was bleeding from the mouth after Mox kicked the bottom rope into. Darby took a horrendous bump on to one the exposed wooden boards used to cover up the tennis courts at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Throughout this entire match, Marina Shafir remained a looming presence, stoically staring at the ring and occasionally intimidating Darby. In the end, Mox reversed an attempted superplex into a devastating avalanche Death Rider for the pin.
After the match, Bryan Danielson snuck into the ring and wrapped what the commentators said was a necktie around Mox’s neck. It took Marina, as well as Claudio and Pac, to pull Danielson off. Danielson then declared war on Mox.
It was good to see Bryan respond to what Mox did to him. Unfortunately, I don’t see the war going very well for him. WrestleDream is in ten days. I don’t see any scenario where Mox doesn’t beat Danielson and send him into semi-retirement. Given that he was “coincidentally” on the same flight as the Bucks and took a picture with them, I still think Shane O’Mac figures into this somehow. We’ll talk about Danielson’s plans momentarily. I assume Mox and co will be around, possibly cutting a promo.
Grade: B+
Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness
Latest Developments
Bryan Danielson defeated Nigel McGuiness by submission as a fitting coda of their legendary rivalry.
Analysis
This match opened the show. That I thought was a misstep. It denied Bryan the ability to speak on the match. This was their final meeting, 14 years and 364 days to the day of their last meeting just a few miles away at the Hammerstein Ballroom in midtown Manhattan. Bryan should’ve been given an opportunity to explain what this meant to him and why he too wanted the match. Instead, what we got was Nigel coming out first and then an odd, unnecessary tease of Bryan not showing up before “The Final Countdown” blared over the loudspeakers.
The match itself was a really good. It was a much more technically focused match. Nigel didn’t look like a guy who hadn’t wrestled in 13 years. The pace of the match probably helped that out. At one point they ended up on opposite sides of the ringpost, a callback to one of their first matches where Bryan cut Nigel hardway on the post. That thankfully didn’t happen this time, but I bet I wasn’t the only one holding my breath for a moment.
Throughout the match Nigel worked over Bryan’s forearm, including a few times when he baited Bryan into uppercuting him and doing more damage to himself. In the end, Bryan applied the LeBell Lock in modified fashion to account for the bad forearm and Nigel, after saying “thank you,” tapped out.
Nigel thanking Bryan was a fitting end of this feud. All Nigel wanted was a chance to prove that he’s as good as Bryan and he got it. Hopefully, he got the closure he needed.
As for Bryan, we’ve already discussed his run-in with Mox. On tonight’s Dynamite, though, Bryan will be fighting Kazuchika Okada in the rubber match of their series.
Look, the match is going great because these are two are the best to ever do this. That’s not the issue. The issue is timing. This match is coming out of nowhere. I think that Bryan and Tony Khan both know that neck surgery can be tricky and there are lots of unknowns in terms of what Bryan will be able to do post-op, so they’re trying to tie up all loose ends.
First Nigel, now Okada. I understand the reasoning, but it doesn’t make everything better. The other problem is the extra stipulation tacked on. The first 20 minutes will be for both titles. After that it’s only for one title. I just think it’s just unnecessary. The outcome wasn’t in doubt to begin with. Doing this match ten days before a PPV title match pretty much telegraphs the ending regardless of the match quality.
Grade: B+
Jeff Jarrett vs. “Hangman” Page
Latest Developments
“Hangman” Page defeated Jeff Jarrett in a lumberjack strap match and set up a feud with the Bang Bang Gang.
Analysis
Lumberjack matches are not my cup of tea, so I was wary coming into this one. It was actually tolerable mostly because the lumberjacks were neutral and equal-opportunity (with the exception of Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh) until Hangman provoked them.
Hangman and Jarrett didn’t have strap themselves until near the end, but they had a decent brawl. At one point Hangman attempted to preempt the lumberjacks whipping him by punching them all. That came back to bite him in the end. At one point he got a hold of a strap, brought it to the ring, and whipped Jarrett viciously.
That brought Karen Jarrett to the ring to protect her husband at which point Hangman threatened to whip her. That’s the state of his mental deterioration. He was willing to whip a woman for protecting her husband.
That’s when things turned for Hangman. He got tossed out of the ring and immediately ganged up on and whipped by all the lumberjacks including a brutal shot from Singh. He was thrown back in the ring and held in place by Jeff while Karen got her shots in.
For the first time ever I was actually on Karen’s side. Hangman used the ref getting Karen out of the ring to deliver a low blow and a Dead Eye for the win. I thought this was really smart booking. Hangman got his – particularly from Karen – but still won the match. It was the best of both worlds.
After the match, Hangman attacked the Bang Bang Gang and attempted to hang Juice Robinson over the ropes before the Gunns intervened. I should mention that Juice was dressed like the son of Big Josh (Matt Bourne’s WCW character prior to his run as the original Doink) and it was quite the sight. Hangman and Juice fight tonight and this is the gateway to a potential feud with “Switchblade” Jay White which I’m totally here for.
Grade: A
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Yuka Sakazaki vs. Mariah May
Latest Developments
Mariah May defeated Yuka Sakazaki and then attacked her after the bell. Willow made the save and Mina Shirakawa made her return.
Analysis
The match was what it was. It was nothing special, but it wasn’t meant to be. The real story came after the match when Mariah attacked Yuka. Willow came out for the save. That’s when Mina’s music hit. Mina’s return momentarily distracted Willow which allowed Mariah to clock her with the belt, which – as the commentators pointed out – was clearly not what Mina wanted.
Mariah and Mina embraced. It would appear that a Mariah & Mina vs. Willow & Yuka match is somewhere in the very near future. The bigger story at play here, though, is Mariah and Mina. In a video released on Twitter, Mina told Mariah she had to go back to Japan but didn’t tell her that she was teaming with Toni Storm. (Incidentally, Toni and Mina won that match.) That’s obviously going to come into play. Mariah’s narcissism will never allow her to be okay with Mina being friends with Toni so things will explode.
Grade: B
Roderick Strong vs. Hook
Latest Developments
Hook defeated Roderick Strong after a very physical match, got a surprising handshake from Roddy and the Kingdom, and then retired the FTW Title in an emotional moment with his dad.
Analysis
Roddy Strong helped Hook to maybe his best match thus far. At one point, Roddy launched sideways into the ringpost which looked gnarly. There were suplexes on chairs and gutbusters on the back of a chair. In the end, Hook reversed End of Heartache into the RedRum for the submission.
After the match, Roddy offered Hook a handshake as did Taven and Bennett. Hook shook all of their hands and then, to my surprise, they left the ring. I fully expected a three-on-one attack and a possible Samoa Joe return. Instead, Hook got out of the ring and approached Tony Schiavone who had a mic in hand.
Hook then announced that he was officially retiring the FTW Title, handed it to Taz, and then shared a hug with his dad in what was a genuinely touching moment. Tony might have read this column because I’ve been advocating since at least All In for Hook to give that belt back to his dad and move up to fighting for real titles. It finally happened. Now that the training wheels are gone and the crutch of FTW Rules is gone, we’ll see what Hook is really made of.
Grade: A-
Will Ospreay & Kyle Fletcher vs. The Young Bucks
Latest Developments
The Young Bucks retained the AEW Tag Team Titles over United Empire thanks to Don Callis and his damn screwdriver.
Analysis
This match was excellent. When the Bucks are motivated, they’re a very good in-ring team and they definitely seemed motivated. Near the end there were a couple near falls that had me catching my breath every time one of the Bucks kicked out. After Matthew Jackson kicked out of the tandem finisher by Ospreay and Fletcher, Callis slipped Fletcher the damn screwdriver.
Callis distracted the referee and Fletcher appeared poised to use the damn screwdriver before Ospreay intercepted him. That brief disagreement allowed Bucks to clock both Ospreay and Fletcher with the tag belt. Fletcher survived the pin attempt but could not survive the EVP Trigger.
The finish of this match infuriated me. The minute I saw that damn screwdriver in Callis’s hand I knew what was going to happen. The Bucks need to lose the titles already, so this was disappointing. That said, it does seem like there’s a story being told with Ospreay, Fletcher, and Callis.
In the meantime, Ospreay defends his International Title against Ricochet tonight. I highly recommend visiting AEW’s YouTube and watching the full eight minute sit down between Ospreay and Ricochet with Renee Paquette. It was quite good and Ricochet showed more personality in that eight minutes than he has in the last six years. It certainly seems like Ricochet is leaning heel and, based on this interview, it just might work for him.
Grade: B-
The Learning Tree vs. The Conglomeration
Latest Developments
Chris Jericho pinned Mark Briscoe to win the tornado trios match
Analysis
Why is this a thing? Why are we being tortured with uninteresting, not entertaining Jericho segments. With his win over Briscoe it seems Jericho will be angling for an ROH Title match. We’ve already done the Jericho as ROH Champ bit. There’s no reason to revisit it. Free Big Bill, who is organically over in spite what he’s been trapped in and send Jericho okay a long vacation already.
Grade: C
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