I've been listening to this dude talk about the tag team belts in AEW for 15 minutes and now I'm going to REBUTT this pathetic display with some actual clarity.
Holding belts “A LONG TIME” is not a problem. What you have is a comparison issue with other promotions. AEW is not NJPW nor is it WWE. Their championships are designed from the ground up to be meaningful long term story arcs for their champions. So far, they have all had very distinct flavors and styles, and with any HOPE, they will continue to do so. “Handing the titles” to PnP so they can headline a payperview isn't a story. Why is that interesting? There is no “they need a turn” here, so far. Almost everyone in AEW writes their own storylines and does their own creative through Tony (source: every interview he's ever done about it), and if someone isn't capable of writing or creating a compelling character arc, they're NOT going to get the title in AEW. Period! It's that simple! And if you want to interrupt a story with the Bucks and Kenny right now so that whoever or whatever can just have the belts and do a ppv, please go watch a different promotion where that type of thing happens.
If long title runs are disruptive to you, I have a feeling you're not going to enjoy a company starting up and creating prestige for the champion. Adam Page is inevitably going to hold the belt someday, but until the time comes for that story to manifest itself over the one occurring right now, you're just going to have to ride along with the story that IS actually happening, which is the Super Elite taking advantage of their positions both within AEW and elsewhere to manifest greatness. Deal with it or go away lmao this is the dumbest thing in the world to be mad about. Go watch another TV show and get mad because the main character isn't switching to the side guys enough.
Hangman / John Silver
Hangman comes out looking a little healthier than he has recently! No drinking, not obviously hungover. John Silver plays it cool throughout the match, trying to let Hangman know he's not out there to fuck him up.
This is the second person from DO Hangman has fought recently, the first being Colt during the buildup to Full Gear.
John Silver stop playing around after awhile and then Hangman gets a little masochistic. Silver kicks him over and over again which Hangman invites. Eventually he lands the lariat the end the ballgame but John looked really good. Evil Uno/the rest of the DO tries to recruit Hangman after the Silver match. Says he's been a member of more of a cult than Dark Order is. They leave the offer of recruitment open.
Kenny & Marvez.
Alex Marvez and Kenny talk - Kenny says this difficulty with getting a match with Moxley is reminiscent of last year before Full Gear. Kenny says the year he's spent being taken seriously again will be worth it once he gets the belt. He pleads for Moxley to leave the trash wrestling at home. Kenny also congrats Mox on being a dad. Also says his dad would beat the shit out of Mox's dead in a bold statement.
Allin/Rhodes Vs Starks/Hobbs announced for next week. This of course giving further credence to the rumor that many, many things will stop the path of Cage-- but mostly that Team Taz just don't love him no more.
Darby continues fucking up his car in a vignette. The man has no respect for automobiles or the environmental impact of burning rubber.
Powerhouse Hobbs/Lee Johnson
Will Hobbs, now "Powerhouse" Hobbs, gives a good old fashioned beating to Lee Johnson, Mr. King of Dark. Lee has been hanging around AEW long enough to have a record bigger than most of the main eventers, but mostly sticks to Dark unless he's being fed to someone on the main roster. Hobbs wins this easily. It's just to showcase Hobbs' new look and work.
Taz Is Mad
After Will's match Taz sends Hobbs out of the arena after congratulating him. Taz says the FTW belt isn't being acknowledged for what it is, nor Team Taz getting the respect it deserves. He challenges someone from "management" to come out and make it mean something. His mic is cut. He makes Justin Roberts surrender his microphone. They then cut off THAT mic. Cody comes out from backstage and tells Taz he's done. Says he respects Taz but that he's wasting time. Just settle it in the ring next week. Taz says Cody is a step away from future endeavoring him and that Cody's full of corporate bullshit. Cody says Taz's son Hook is training with Cody and not him. Taz calls Cody pathetic and pretends to bail before choking out Cody then bailing because Gunn club and Dustin run to the thing. Hook then appears with Taz to carry out the belt.
Marvez and Eddie and Mox
Marvez and Eddie talk. Eddie no sells that he's heartbroken about Penta leaving his family. He calls Pac Bing Bong Poop. Mox shows up and stares Eddie down. Eddie says he wasn't the one that beat him up. Mox walks off without saying a word. Eddie is mad about is Feng Shui being thrown off. Eddie has no idea that wrestling is a work.
TH2 / Top Flight
I was worried last week that maybe the Bucks were the reason Top Flight looked so good, but no dudes, it's just that Top Flight is that good. Coincidentally, this is TH2's best match on Dynamite ever, I'm confident of this. It makes the Miro/Kip fight with them look even worse by comparison, though now it's clear this wasn't because of TH2. I never gelled really with TH2 pre-pandemic, but they've got a little extra step in them now I think. Or maybe it's just refreshing seeing them back. Either way, this match ruled. Very very very quick work, lots of cool acrobatics, everything you'd want from two lightweight teams. It's WCW cruiser stuff. TH2 wins but it takes all they have to put the new kids down. Interested to see where they both go from here.
Nyla & Vickie
Vickie and Nyla cut a promo after the TH2/Top Flight match, about how Brandi seems to be involved in all these other peoples' business and she needs to step off.
FTR Reappear
FTR, noted weenies, appear for the first time since losing to the Bucks and talk about how much they hated the match with the Bucks at Full Gear. They say the Bucks were only better for three seconds. Tully says it's FTR's destiny to be the next champions. Fear the revelation.
Battle Royale
Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale for next week at Winter is Coming. The ring MJF got from DDP by being a cheating degenerate son of a bitch will be up for grabs again. Sammy and Ortiz are announced as participants.
SCU / Jericho & Hager
This is the speediest Jericho match since OC 1. Honestly it's 2019 Jericho a little bit more. He's still slowish, but not mid July slowish. I was looking forward to this the least honestly, but it was good! This is apparently the first time Jericho/Daniels have ever fought in their careers. It was a good one and Daniels really did look great tonight. Kazarian always does. Good match, good to see new Inner Circle. Scorpio Sky uses the Will Hobbs special of slamming a chair to scare off Inner Circle after they jump SCU post-match.
Video Game Extravaganza
Miro/Kip Extravaganza Episode 1 is interrupted by Orange Cassidy, which turns into an outdoor brawl with Best Friends and Miro/Kip. At some point Miro screams a cameraman to death. Miro, Kip, and Orange are announced for the Diamond Battle Royale.
Contract Signing II
There was a second attempt at a contact signing. Kenny, who is ABSOLUTELY a Wrestling Observer Hall of Famer, has his grand entrance interrupted by Moxley. Mox kicks Omega's hall of fame ass into the ring, then gets Paradigm Shifted onto the belt. Mox says the guy Kenny hired to hurt him did a terrible ass job, and that he should call his friends from Philly. Mox is pissed off, but says they're even now. The only way he becomes champ is to dig down and unleash the true Kenny Omega. Mox says the two best wrestlers on the planet will fight and that he LOVES THIS SHIT. Win lose or draw, winter is coming. This ain't BTE or Dancing Girls, if you come at the king, you best not miss. Mox signs his name with a pen that works. This is good for everyone.
Marvez and IC
Marvez is with Inner Circle. MJF is very very mad about being sucker punched by Kazarian. Jericho says fun and games with Inner Circle is done, and now Jericho is proving it by beating Kazarian 1v1 next week. He says he will end Kazarians career.
Shida / Anna Jay
We get a segment about the women's championship match. Anna Jay says she's a new wrestler now. Shida says losing is learning, and that if Anna Jay needs Dark Order to win, she's learning nothing. Anna Jay says the final piece of herself to complete the new Anna Jay is the belt. Shida says she doesn't need the belt, she needs heart.
The match is a bit better than their first bout back in April. It's a little faster, Anna Jay does look a lot better, bit Shida is still carrying the match like she usually has to. Shida's leg is still hurt from her match with Nyla, and Dark Order tries to exploit this by kendo sticking it, but Shida powers through, avoids the Queenbreaker, and wins the match.
Abadon comes out to feed on Shida after her match with Anna. She licks blood over the belt. Shida has historically had a hard time with Abadon.
Hardy Party
Matt Hardy tells us that he's overcome life and death situations this year, so we can overcome our own pathetic, much less intense challenges. He is also going to be in the Battle Royale next week.
Starks and Team Tazz
Team Taz says Cody has crossed a line tonight. Taz stormed out with his kid. He says TK pays them well. Brain Cage says "This Guy" in a rare opportunity to remind he's more than just a pair of muscle tits. Starks talks some more, then Cage talks for a second time. Someone needs to tell him to slow down.
Butcher and Blade / Pac & Fenix
This is a whale of a match, Butcher and Blade get a lot of help winning but they do manage to pull off their first victory since 12/18/19. On Dynamite Proper.
The story was kind of lacking in the ring considering everything involved tbh, but it still delivered big for me. Eddie tries to kill Pac after the match, but Lance Archer runs in with Jake to stop the beatdown of Death Triangle. Lance and Eddie exchange some blows before Eddie runs. Lance is using his old theme again tonight which is VERY GOOD NEWS for everyone who liked good things instead of bad things
Pros
Cons
Grade: B+
Top Flight / Young Bucks
There's been a lot of raving about Top Flight from AEW the last couple weeks, from their lost match last week to the opening of today's show. We started off with a video package, showing them in some indie matches-- wondering if it's some of the same footage they sent to the Bucks to get picked for Dynamite initially.
I was personally shocked that they were so young-- 20/21 I think? They really have the charisma. They took the chance and ran with it.
The story was good here-- Top Flight was essentially using their youth as an advantage, kind of out running the Bucks at first, making them work their insane fast pace. Once the Bucks got them to slow down they were able to use their experience more than their speed, ultimately getting the win by playing the long game.
They got attacked by TH2 immediately after the match, spiraling them into their first feud with a team that's had not all that much to do since returning besides being fed to Miro. I hope they both get some work out of it. TH2 is a decent team that has just never really had a good opportunity to be showcased as better teams consistently edged them out for TV time. But now they have a chance to all shine together. I look forward to more from both of them.
Inner Circle in Las Vegas
So, this was basically just a hangover parody but I liked it a lot. There's not a whole lot to say about it other than it was a shortcut to making everyone have some kind of relationship to MJF within the IC, plus enabling Hardlow/Hager some more time to get that thing they got going.
This was funny, but ultimately there's not a whole lot else to talk about besides describing the jokes. I think it's worth your time.
AEW/DirectorX collab
They've been hyping this for awhile now-- I saw some people disappointed it was just a 2 minute ad spot basically. I was myself personally let down as well, as I believed it was for a full length documentary, or at least something modestly more substantive than this. It's perfectly fine, I think, but my expectations were higher (whether that's my fault or not).
Jon Moxley Buries The Lede
So, kind of a weird promo-- I mean it's Mox so it's gonna be a certain kind of way, but-- anyway, he talks about his Dad, how he always said that he can't forget they're the good guys. Gotta fight for good even if you fight dirty. Then he just casually drops that he's about to be a father as well, for real. Very excited for him and Renee-- and let's be real, it might make writing him off the show for awhile much easier. If Kenny beats him Mox can just go be a dad for awhile, right?
Cassidy/Sabian
Worst match of the night for my taste. No reason at all for OC to be involved in this Best Friends thing. In fact, Miro even basically says this on commentary. He's like, yeah, we don't really care about Orange, we're upset with the Best Friends. But sure.
The match is fine-- Kip honestly looks great throughout, one of his best ever truthfully, but there's just no real reason its happening, and the fact that the Chuck & Trent? aren't out there ringside is even weirder. Why wouldn't they be? They come out at the end anyway, and OC ALWAYS gets beat up after a match. Seriously, ALWAYS.
But it's whatever, OC gets the pin, this feud is far from over.
I should mention that throughout the match, Miro and the team talk about how they've had to push back the wedding due to "planning issues". This is fine. They've acknowledged it, we can move on with the fact that it hasn't advanced in months now. Whenever. I hope it comes into play more but at least we know it's still happening.
Moxley/Omega Seal The Deal
This is kind of a weird segment. So Omega does his now usual entrance, which I really like, comes out to the ring, then Moxley's music plays and he's nowhere to be seen. We then get a video from backstage where it looks like someone has attacked him. He's bloodied and the medical staff are about to take him away.
Omega says, eh, oh well, and signs the contract anyway (after some difficulty with the ink pen), then the segment just ends?
It seems like they forgot to do the ending here or something. I don't know-- weird way to end it. Omega looked very good in his suit though. And the ink pen not working-- a moment of intense panic would have swept over me in a heartbeat. Tony was searching his pockets for another pen as well-- very relatable wrestling content.
More Inner Circle
We got a Piff the Dragon, Elvis, and Hornswoggle cameo. What more do you people want? After this Jericho announces he and Hager will fight SCU next week for some reason.
PAC Vs. Blade
This was a good match to reacquaint us with Pac (is it SUPPOSED to be PAC?). The story surrounding it is that Pac is pissed at Eddie for fucking up all he built before he left, but the match itself is really just about us getting to know who Pac is. He's been gone longer than he was previously on the show, so there's a good chance many people who started watching post-crisis have no idea who he is.
Blade looks really good here too, I believe this is his first singles match. Butcher obviously had that match with Mox not so long ago, and here we get an evening out. Curiously, B&B's last match before getting signed to AEW was against Eddie (& Homicide)
Pac gets the win with his crazy jump finisher/submission combo, then gets blindsided by the Butcher. Eddie comes out from the booth for some trash talk, when REY FENIX shows up to save Pac. They used to be part of Death Triangle before The Crisis, plus he's been feuding some with Pentagon, and Eddie has been mistreating him. THEN, Pentagon comes out. He stands, ready to kill his brother and Pac, THEN SWINGS FOR EDDIE, HELL YES, DEATH TRIANGLE IS BACK AND PENTAGON/REY ARE BACK ON THE SAME PAGE. This was a huge win for justice. I shouted, not gonna lie.
Jade Stirs The Pot
We immediately cut backstage where it Jade is laying a beating on Brandi. This is an honest to god women's angle. For real. Jade stomps Brandi's arm while Vickie/Nyla hold everyone else back. Swole gets through eventually and stands up to Jade until she walks off. This is good. This is what everyone wants from Dynamite.
Rosa/Deeb 3(?)
For our purposes this is their third match, but I'm certain they've fought before. Possibly. Regardless, this is another massive banger. Both of these women are so good. Thunder Rosa wants her title back from Serena, who, I must say, rejects the proposal.
It's a very NWA style match, a lot of grappling, a lot of "WRASSLIN" wrestling, matt work, holds, submissions-- excellent beautiful stuff. Deeb does eventually overcome Rosa, this time seemingly securing the NWA title for AEW.
Thunder Rosa was, unfortunately for her, attacked by Britt Baker during the match, throwing her off balance and perhaps costing her the win. As soon as the bell rings, Thunder Rosa goes from heel to face in .05 seconds, wrecking britts whole entire shit. They exchange tons of blows and words, setting THEM up for more, then we cut from THERE to
Silver and 99
John Silver is here to tell us Anna is a new woman. Anna says last time she faced Shida she was an amateur, but now she's a whole new woman. Silver hollers some more and now we have a Shida/Anna match set for next week.
Dark Order AND MULTIPLE WOMENS STORYLINES ON THE SAME SHOW?
This shit is off the chain. I'm so happy.
Cody & Darby / Cage & Starks
This is a match! It's fun, not super great. Starks and Darby have been trading blows and matches since Starks' debut. In fact, this is the fourth time they've been in the ring together (though one of those was the battle royale from All Out).
Eventually it's whittled down to Darby and Cage, and Cage is every bit as strong as he looks. It's no surprise Darby was unable to get the win here when he was stranded, but it's disappointing to say the least.
At the end of the match, we have a situation similar to what we saw with Eddie/Pentagon earlier, with Hobbs once again running out with his chair. However, this time, he makes a choice that will perhaps haunt him forever. He takes out Cody with the FTW belt and officially joins Team Taz.
This could be the pin that capsizes that boat, but it could also ultimately be the end of my hopes for a superhero Hobbs.
We'll see.
Pros
Cons
Overall:
A
Brian Cage / Matt Sydal
Taz comes out and talks up Darby and Cage, says Team Taz is getting that belt back.
The match with Matt Sydal then gets underway-- Matt is stopped at almost ever opportunity he has to get any kind of comeback or inertia. Cage catches his jumps, shrugs off a lot of his offence, reverses his moves. Doesn't get a chance here. Cage drillclaws him for an easy win.
Ricky Starks talks some more after the match. We're informed again that the revolution will be televised. They still won't let Cage talk for some reason.
Honestly, since Ricky showed up, it kind of feels like Cage has been sort of forgotten about. There's no doubt that Starks is excellent on the mic, and taz is taz, but Cage really hasn't gotten the chance to be anything but a meatball. He has the FTW belt for what its worth, but that doesn't really do anything for him. It's not like anyone can challenge him for it.
Cody Promo
Cody starts to talk about taking MJF on again when he's interrupted. This is actually exactly what happened when Lance Archer showed up, or rather Jake the Snake for the first time. Tries to cut a promo on MJF when someone comes out and starts a whole other feud.
This time, Jade Cargill comes out, a trainee who has been in the wrestler crowd forever now. She gives kind of a long thing about how Cody wants to call himself the giant killer, but he's no giant. He couldn't handle a real giant. She says Shaq is going to fuck him up. SHAQ? OKAY! I'm all in. Whatever you want dude. I don't hate joy.
This promo is unusual because typically men and women don't interact in this way on Dynamite. ESPECIALLY a woman basically cutting down a man. I liked it for that reason.
Brandi then comes out and actually does a pretty striking response, only to have Jade smack her ass at the end. After THIS, Cage Taz and Starks jump Cody, only to have Darby come down in a thumbtack laden suit to body slam the goons, and then Will Hobbs come out for the fourth time with a chair to run everyone off. They kind of janked up Wills big thing I think.
Mox on Omega
Moxley says he's the Champion of the People, and fights for everyone that loves wrestling. It's his duty to defend the belt-- but he beat Omega once already. He can beat him twice. His eye is really bloodied-- I assume an injury for Full Gear.
Natural Nightmares / Butcher & Blade
In a BUNKHOUSE match (I'm unfamiliar with the larger history of these matches, but I'm of the understanding it was something Dusty would or did do in NWA.)
It's basically, for the purposes of the show, a hardcore match with farm-related props and your standard tables, ladders, chairs, trashcan stuff.
This thing really jumped to 100 quickly. They lay in with weapons right away. QT gets hit with a guitar, Blade gets knocked the fuck out with a ladder, Dustin is handcuffed to the post and beaten, Butcher takes a bulldog off the stage-- QT drops an elbow drop TWELVE FEET onto Blade at one point and thats not even the finish. This thing was bloody and wild. Honestly kind of a disappointment that B&B lose here. I mean, maybe not. NN needed to win this feud but Blade is going to be destroyed again next week so, eh.
I loved it though. Probably match of the night for my money.
Inner Circle Induction
Finally, after months, MJF is inducted into the Inner Circle, immediately causing strife with Santana and Ortiz. Sammy isn't even there. MJF and Wardlow are officially in, and MJF surprises Jericho with a 50th birthday gift, tickets to Vegas! So they're heading there next week.
Champ Bucks Speak to Marvez
The Bucks, now definitely not heels and hopefully never will be, tell Marvez sorry for superkicking him in the skull. They say next week they're going to fight this new team called Top Flight, and then, eventually, someday, an FTR rematch. But not any time soon.
Spears / Scorpio
This is part of the feud that started between this too during the Late Night Dynamite episode that aired back in September, and the first time Scorpio has wrestled on Dynamite proper since his TNT Belt attempt on 8/12
This was a pretty even match with some interesting work on the steel chairs-- until Tully was able to get Spears the bullet for his Power Glove. He actually did something interesting where he distracted Scorpio with a fake bullet long enough for Spears to get the real one loaded and knock Scorpio out with it.
This was supposed to happen I think last week, but Scorpio was around someone who was around someone who had COVID so they, thankfully, pulled it. Keep these dudes safe.
It was good to see both these relatively overlooked guys on TV.
Omega on Being The Best
Omega cleverly notes that he and Mox's unsanctioned match from 2019 doesn't count as a real match, because on the show, it doesn't. It wasn't an official AEW match because TK wouldn't allow it. Great callback imo.
Kenny says since now they're doing REAL wrestling, he's going to win. And remind everyone why he's the best.
Tay Conti / Red Velvet
Red Velvet WHO IS STILL NOT OFFICIALLY SIGNED (??????????????????) and Tay Conti put on a better than usual womens match for AEW (with obligatory commercial break destroying the pace of the whole thing).
Both of them look really good here, and the match is pretty hot until the end. Anna Jay, who is there for Tay and still, I suppose, trying to get her into Dark Order, slides her a chair to kill Red Velvet. Tay refuses it and then gets hit hard by Velvet.
I think it would have been ideal here to have Red Velvet win, but I guess it depends on the story. If it's about Tay rejecting the DO offer because she can win on her own, this is fine. Otherwise, it wastes a good chance to get an ending that was earned through storytelling.
Velvet loses after missing some moves, Conti hits her with a knee left and Conti/Jay reconcile quickly.
More Inner Circle
Sammy shows up, said MJFs stupid email told him to go to the beach and not to the show. MJF says surely he should have gotten his second email that said it was the show. Everyone tells Sammy to chill out and they're going to Vegas. Sammy is sad.
Eddie Kingston W/ Fenix / Pentagon Jr.
In a rematch from a couple weeks ago, we get a much more heavy and sad match from the Lucha Bros as Eddie denigrates Fenix further than he has before. He seems to not care he's put these brothers into a position where they're ripping each others' masks off.
It's a heavy match, as any hope of these two reconciling seems to be crushed by Eddie. Pentagon wins by destroying Fenix's skull and neck with a bunch of insane looking piledrivers, both their masks hanging on by a thread.
Eddie comes out and straightup kicks Fenix backwards out of the ring without even acknowledging him, putting over his BEST FRIEND Pentagon.
ALL THE SUDDEN PAC COMES RUSHING IN AND SAYS EDDIE HAS MADE A POWERFUL ENEMY.
TEN MILLION REFS RUSH THE STAGE AND STILL BARELY HOLD BACK MY GREASY ANGRY SON. THE STAKES HAVE NEVER BEEN HIGHER. EDDIE IS DEAD.
Pros:
Cons:
Grade: B
Deeb/Kay
This is the best women's match on the show, easily. This was the first time I ever saw Kay and her amazing wrestling boots. The match was fun, energetic, brawl-y, and started the show off just fine. Thunder Rosa showed up to remind Deeb she's not gonna be champion forever.
Hangman/Omega
I was surprised to see this opening the show, but I think it worked just fine. I just wanted more time to emotionally prepare. They spent most of the match just reversing everything the other was throwing. OWA, Buckshots, everything. There was one point where Hangman was blasting Omega into the barricades over and over, and Omega jumped up ONTO THE RAILING and then did a moonsault back onto Hangman. I've never seen that before. Omega hit like 4 V-TRIGGERS on Hangman to get him up and down with the OWA.
The match, all things considered, wasn't exactly a barn-burner but they both wanted it. I think, irl, they were probably holding some things back for a rematch in the future with higher stakes. Omega is going to right to Moxley, and this match was more of a story about his rise back to singles power than it was a story of Omega/Hangman settling their differences.
Cassidy/Silver
This match was just about what I wanted it to be. John Silver got actual heat from the audience by tearing out OC's pockets from his pants. That's how much people like OC. He then pretended to eat them lmao.
Silver, if you've never watched some of his independent matches (Watch his title match with WARHORSE), is a real powerhouse. He had Cassidy up in the air with one hand at one point tonight. He's going to be a big deal soon.
The match wasn't as funny as I hoped, but Cassidy looked good. John lost because he tried to do Brodie's lariat and missed.
Cody/Darby
They juked us with the "Probably won't use Rhodes for my wrestling career" thing from earlier this week. Our DAPPER YAPPER did Cody's usual way too fuckin' long title and nicknames deal before dropping a casual, low key "cody". Following it, with a huge pop, of "RHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHODES!". If you watch the clip you can see Cody get excited for it as its about to happen. Imagine having to fight a legal battle to use your real name.
As far as Cody and Darby's length match history goes, this is probably not the best one, I think that probably goes to 2. This was good, however, with Cody coming closer than ever to just being the heel he is in his heart. I've heard Cody described as "A heel pretending to be a face" as a character, and I think that's the most accurate way I've heard it yet. He did the pushups which always make Arn lose his shit, which I love so dearly.
Cody did a cross-rhodes off the top rope with Darby and I was pissed because, yeah, that's hit, but Darby rolled so close to the ropes on the other side that he was able to get his foot under it and get freed from the pin by being out of bounds.
After this, during a roll-up battle, he got the best of Cody just barely, and got the belt. What a moment for him, really. I'm so glad to see someone finally take that belt off of Cody, especially someone like Darby who wants it so bad.
Afterwards, Team Taz came out to kill Darby and break his arm, but they got scared off by Hobbs. Really hope we get to see more Darby/Hobbs team ups. I love Will. I love Darby. Make them be friends.
Shida/Rose
TBH I was expecting Nyla to get this belt back here, but she kind of went out like a sucker. This was one of her weakest matches ever. Despite Vickie blowing up Shida's knee with the kendo stick, Shida still got her offence in and won the match. Afterwards, Vickie slapped the shit out of Nyla. If this is part of an eventual face turn for Nyla, I'm in. Just give us something for these women, you know?
FTR/Bucks
This match was basically structured as a "Tag teams throughout history" match, with each team using finishers and special moves from teams they both loved.
There was... way too much to this match to summarize. Matt fought for his life for about 15 minutes, stranded from Nick and getting his ass kicked and his leg worked so hard. FTR finally looked like real wrestlers instead of shitty heels. If they were always this good I would like them more.
It came down, at the end. Dax hit Matt with a superkick, everyone else was dead. Dax looked at him, knowing he could get the pin, but... maybe if he just... beat them their way. He went for a big 450 flip and belly flopped, missing completely. Matt was able to come back and get the pin because of it.
The story was spectacular, the win good, the ring work was impossibly good.
This was aces. Match of the night.
The Elite Deletion: Matt/Sammy
You love these kinds of things or you despise them with your whole being. I happen to be the kind of person who loves them.
Matt had a monster truck. There was the finish of a storyline Matt started in WWE like 2 years ago. Gangrel was there. MATT KILLED SAMMY. ROMAN CANDLE FIGHT.
I truly don't know what you want from wrestling if this doesn't appeal to you. I loved this.
Jericho/MJF
As the story suggested, MJF couldn't outwrestle Jericho, but that wasn't the point. He needed to outheel him. He pulled an Eddie Guerrero move and feinted being hit with Jericho's bat, resulting in a chance for him to get a surprise roll up. MJF wins.
Jericho is putting on worse and worse matches recently, like he's just not really putting in any effort anymore, but I mean, the man is 50+. In terms of story, yeah, it worked well, but I think they need to consider pulling back some on using him in the ring unless it really needs to happen. Not just, every PPV because Jericho.
Mox/Eddie
A semi-hardcore match with lots of barbed wire, chairs, tacks, and absolute sadism with Eddie pouring rubbing alcohol on Mox's wounds. The whole time, Mox has been saying Eddie might have a lot of talk, but he can't outwrestle Mox. And he couldn't. Even with all the advantages in the world, he was still too loud, too weak. Eddie pulled barbed wire off Mox's bat and used it to cut Moxx up, but Mox wrapped it around his arm and gave him the bulldog choke. It was too much for Eddie, and he said it. "I quit". Eyes full of tears. There was nothing he could do.
Whether this is a hit to Eddie's ego or it sends him further off the deep end is anybody's guess. I don't think it's gonna make him do anything but fight harder. We'll see.
Pros
Cons
Overall:
A+
I probably liked Revolution more, but if this had a crowd like that show did, I'm almost positive it would be #1 for the year.
NWA Title - Deeb retains. I guess. I don't know Kay well besides like two episodes of POWERRR. But I think Deeb is gonna hold it for a bit.
TNT Title- Darby.
If Darby doesn't win this match I'm gonna legit shit. There had better be the worlds best story ever told in wrestling if he loses. Every single thing here is primed for a Darby win. Fourth match against Cody. Even with Team Taz, Darby wins.
Tag Team Titles - Matt's legit injured. FTR wins. I hate FTR. I assume with the Bucks and Cody out of title contention for (ever?), they're going to the second show to run the trios division there. This is my best guess. I hope the bucks win but no chance.
Women's Title- Nyla wins. They didn't do anything with Nyla as champ last time she had it, but it's not like they've really done anything with Shida either. It's a meaningless belt because the women don't get storylines even a quarter as compelling as the mens' b-tier feuds. I assume Britt takes it off Nyla at Revolution.
Eliminator final - Hangman has the upperhand for a moment, but Omega pulls out all the stops and nearly kills Hangman to win. Their friendship is over for good and Omega loses the last of his humanity.
Jericho/MJF - MJF will do some big time mega cheats to win which Jericho will like. Jericho wants him to unleash his inner douchebag all the way. MJF wins.
Elite Deletion - Matt Hardy wins again. Who the fuck knows what will happen in this match honestly, but I think Matt comes out of this on top easy. He's on his home turf.
Silver/Cassidy - Cassidy, no question. There's no reason he won't. I predict this match will be MOTN though because I think they're gonna go full Beyond.
"I Quit" - No surprise here but Mox is gonna win. He's gonna break Eddie in half. Make him see a little humility. It's going to hurt both of them. Mox is losing that title to Omega.
The show opens with Dasha talking to Jericho. Jericho is there with Hager and Santana, talking up Hager's most recent MMA fight. Hagers face is a mess, and Jericho talks about how tough he and Santana are.
On cue, MJF and Wardlow walk up. The crowd tonight is VERY audible, which is wonderful. The crowd pops for Wardlow. He's gonna be such a great dude when he gets away from MJF.
MJF apologizes for the tension last week, says he just wants to join, to be friends. Jericho says he's worried that MJF might be, well.... too soft. Immediately the crowd starts chanting SOFT SOFT SOFT SOFT. MJF tells him to just watch, and heads out.
MJF & Wardlow/Sammy & Ortiz
Jericho comes out to the now somewhat traditional singalong to Judas and joins the booth to call the show with our regular team tonight.
MJF and Wardlow come out next, and the crowd is still pretty hype for wardlow, alternating chants of WE WANT WARDLOW and SOFT SOFT SOFT SOFT.
Sammy and Ortiz come out next-- PnP isn't fighting the match together because only Sammy and Ortiz have really put up any resistance to MJF joining IC.
The match gets underway, and-- this is a little thing I love that MJF always does. He always starts in the ring and then immediately tags out as soon as the match starts. He's so rotten. I hate him. It's perfect.
Wardlow jumps in to some cheers to start with Ortiz. Curiously, Inner Circle is basically playing the part of the faces of this match. Even though Wardlow and MJF are both playing as the heels here, MJF is the only one who really gets booed. But he works with it so well. You can tell MJF has missed being antagonizing of the crowd as he gets tons of little shots in to the audience as the match goes on.
Ortiz immediately tries to take Wardlow off his feet, perhaps seeing how effective its been for Jungle Boy and Page the past couple of weeks. (We've really been spoiled with Wardlow matches recently. I love him).
However, despite Ortiz' early push, Wardlow gets a massive slam down on him and tags to MJF. MJF gets some work in, not too much, tagging wardlow back in while they work Ortiz in the corner. Sammy gets the tag in here-- and its HOT. The crowd cheers him even, and Sammy does some real work.
Sammy hits a big move on MJF but Wardlow breaks the pin.
Eventually, Sammy ends up on the outside with Ortiz tagged in. Sammy flips off serpentico, who he was disguised as for his big return before All Out, only to have it be Matt Hardy this time! That wiley serpentico. Never who he appears to be. Matt returns his ill fated chair shot that Sammy gave him, putting him out and the crowd gives us a much earned and very much missed DELETE! Ortiz, all alone, eventually succumbs to the brute force of MJF and Wardlow, with MJF getting a submission finish.
MJF then guns for Jericho at the commentators desk, knocking him clear through the backdrop. They fight for awhile before they're separated, but Jericho is actually quite pleased about this. Maybe he wasn't... quite right about how soft MJF is. Their romance/feud continues.
Tony Schiavone with Kenny
Tony's talking to Omega about his upcoming match with Page. In a weird aside I thought would lead to something, but didn't (yet?), Kenny says its not his house, and, also, not his dog who he's petting. This is dropped for now.
Omega says to Tony that maybe it was obvious to everyone that he would be facing Page at Full Gear, but it wasn't obvious to him. He says he had good money on Wardlow, simultaneously putting over the big man and burying Page in a gentle way as he so often does. He says, again, that he has won some of the most prestigious wrestling tournaments of all time, not quite name-dropping NJPW, but close, and then asks the audience who think will win.
Trent/Miro
Miro's singles debut is tonight versus Trent?. At some point prior to this Excalibur had a web chat with Miro and Trent, where Trent reminded Miro he was once his apprentice, and will treat him as such, which leads to some discussion by the commentators about the Japanese words and "Young Boy" phrasing.
Miro absolutely wrecks Trent for 99% of this match. At last it seems he is freed from the confines of mediocre tag team action and is able to just be the Eastern European force of destruction he really looks to be.
Trent just gets his shit rocked for so long. Eventually Chuck Taylor and Kip get into it, heading backstage. Penelope goes to help but OC blocks the way. Penelope smacks the sunglasses right off of OC but he just puts hers on, only to then immediately get jumped himself by the Dark Order, especially Silver who is just really coming into himself the last few weeks.
Silver did an interview a week or so ago where Tony Khan, who had been watching him on BTE, called him into his office. He said, I'm really pissed at you man. How come you're not being this guy on Dynamite? And ever since then it looks like Silver is really just on it-- additionally, Dark Order has been even better as well, with more of their members getting unique looks and more time in the sun. They are certainly not the putty patrol they used to be.
Eventually, throughout all this, Trent does get a little offence in, but it's much too little too late. Miro shrugs off his chops and his big moves and gets the Game Over cross face on, getting a second submission win for the night.
Miro laid some insults into Trents mom earlier (never a good idea to bring Sue into things), and continues after the match as Kip and Penelope help him beat up Chuck and Trent. OC gets his lazy fall on Miro, gaining the upper hand for now as their music plays.
JR with Hangman
JR is having a sitdown with hangman who's back on his bullshit, drinking his problems away. JR brings this up, then gets to asking Hangman if he's nervous about facing Omega. Hangman hesitates, then says yeah. He is a little nervous.
He says he doesn't know what'll happen if he loses. Says he thought he'd be the first AEW Champ, and that he was the only one who believed that. And that everyone else was right. But this time he's sure. He's gonna get the win. But he's also gonna keep drinking his whiskey.
Team Taz is Big Mad
Taz is pissed. So are Cage and Starks. Taz says he's been trying to talk to Tony Khan all day but can't get anywhere. He says AEW is so big on their dumb rankings, but they don't seem to mean anything. He says Cage is ranked number one, and has no match. Starks has ten wins, and isn't even ON the rankings. He says the whole thing is screwed up. Calls out Cody, and says at Full Gear, their voice will be heard.
Private Party/Young Bucks
The Young Bucks have foolishly decided to take on a match right before Full Gear, even with Matt's leg being half broken from the FTR/Tully attack a couple weeks back. Not only that, it's against the team they're inexplicably always having to work extra hard to beat.
Private Party have the Bucks their first loss way back before Full Gear 1, when they got a surprise roll up during the Bucks' attempt at a Meltzer driver. They almost did it again a few weeks ago, and they even try here for a third time for the same maneuver.
Private Party puts on a much better match than normal, as the Bucks are at like 75% at best, and Matt gets worse throughout the night. It's clear to both of them about 2/3 of the way through the match that this was a bad idea. At one point Nick is getting his brains beat out by Cassidy and Quen, and can't find Matt for a tag.
It was a lucky BTE trigger from the Bucks that wins them the match, but the cost is massive. Nick is hurt, Matt is hurt worse, and here comes FTR to just end their dreams completely. They get Matt's leg back in the chair, when WHOA who comes out to save the day but HANGMAN, followed by OMEGA.
Tension is high in the ring as the Bucks ignore Hangman, and Omega and Hangman seem to get closer to fighting by the second after initially seeming cordial as we head to a merciful commercial break.
Eddie and Mox
The two contenders for the belt Saturday come to the ring to have some words with each other instead of at like the last few weeks. This stuff is incredibly emotional. Eddie says he gave up everything in his life just for the chance at this belt and sold his soul to be in AEW.
Mox lays into Eddie, getting in his head as Eddie gets tearful. Says they were always friends, says he made a promise to Eddie's mom to watch out for him, and now he has to break that promise.
This is another one you need to watch.
Pac is Back
FINALLY!!! Pac has been obsessively watching AEW in the months since COVID separated him from reality. He hasn't been coping well. In fact, it looks as though he might be even more angry and even more greasy than before. I love this man.
We're teased with Pac's IMMINENT return, but when or where we are not told. I hope it is soon. For my sake.
The Natural Nightmares
Alex Marvez is interviewing QT/Dustin, but they barely get a word in before the Bunny is out to twist the knife in QT's heart a little more, only to have B&B come in and totally wreck the others.
Red Velvet/Nyla Rose
Velvet, whose signing seems imminent at this point, comes out and does a quick match with Nyla. While not the Shida% speedrun that she had with Velvet (7 seconds), Nyla does kill her off pretty quickly. Vickie then comes out to taunt both Brandi (Chief Bullshit Officer) and Hikaru, doing some terrible Japanese at Shida and getting her face smashed in for the effort.
Cinderella
We get another promo package from Hangman/Omega using Cinderella's "Don't Know What You Got". I weep. It is high art. I love AEW.
Darby
Once more in his style Darby cuts a quiet promo on Cody who he is to face for the fourth time at Full Gear for the TNT belt. He drives a car into a man wearing a Cody mask.
Dark Order/Cody & Gunn Club
We cut to Darby in the stands where he's been for many weeks now watching Cody.
It's time for the main event, with Ten, Colt and Silver versus Austin, Billy and Cody. It's a pretty good showcase for Ten and Silver and Austin more than anything. Dark Order is here, still sans Brodie who has been missing since the dog collar match.
This is peak Dark Order, really. I love these guys so much.
As far as the match itself, it's nothing special really. Offence is split down the middle, with Austin Gunn getting his first win on Dynamite. Afterwards, OC attacks Silver, and then Cody cuts a promo on Darby. He says he was the only one in the whole company who saw any potential in Darby. He says he's here only to tell the truth. That Darby COULD be the face of the company, be he won't be, because he'll never have that belt, because he is not the Ace.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall: B+
MJf and Wardlow and Sammy and You
The show opens with Dasha talking to Wardlow about his win in the tournament against Jungle Boy. MJF jumps in front and lets us know he's still Wardlow's boss. MJF says if he wins that title, it doesn't belong to Wardlow, it belongs to him. Because of their argument after All Out, Wardlow has no choice but to agree. Sammy comes in afterwards and MJF talks down to him a bit before Sammy says he's going to do whatever it takes to keep him out of the Inner Circle.
Hangman/Wardlow
This absolute firecracker of a match opens next, for, spoilers, what will be an absolutely balls out great night of wrestling on television.
Hangman get's right to it, wailing on Wardlow from the word go. He kicks out his legs, get some offence in, before the match heads outside the ropes. Hangman, ferocious as hell, fighting with everything he has, throws Wardlow against a ringpost. Turning his back on the massive meat man, however, was his first major mistake. This is the same thing that happened to Jungle Boy last week. Wardlow takes Hangman to the gates and THROUGH them, driving him like 6 feet back out of the ring. An absolute monster hit.
The match gets a lot more physical after this in the ring, until Wardlow hits a gigantic F-10 on him. Hangman, WISELY rolls out of the ring and outside. Wardlow gets him back in but it's enough time for Hangman to get his breath back. He hits him with clothesline after lariat, finally landing TWO buckshots, and Wardlow goes down for the pin.
Wardlow looks amazing here, and I think if he can ever get away from MJF and be his own person, he really has a chance for greatness. Hangman, however, is now the first confirmed finalist in the tournament.
Moxley on Kingston (Part 5)
Mox is at the gym, working out for the match. He takes a moment to remind us once again that Eddie's gonna have to utter those unpleasant words "I quit", and accept that it was his own ego that brought him to this place. Mox says he's going for the throat. I believe him.
Eddie enter the ring.
Eddie retorts, escalating once more this continual war of words the two have been having. He chides John for not even being at AEW tonight. He says he'll fight anyway.
Kingston/Sydal
Man, Eddie is such a great wrestler. I just want to fawn all over him. He wrestles like a WCW heavyweight in the mid 90's or an NWA in the mid 80's. He sells like crazy. He really is such a wonderful classic wrestler, and an amazing heel. He fights both with conviction and cowardice at times, switching between the two so effortlessly and so perfectly.
This is, truthfully, maybe one of the best classical matches on the show. I love the big moves and flight of the modern wrestling repertoire, but a classic match likes this makes me feel like home. It's the kind of wrestling I grew up on, even if it is a little faster and a little longer than those matches would have been. I love it so much.
Sydal is also a good wrestler, someone noted for their abilities in the modern high flying world, but who transitions here to have a very grounded match with Eddie.
Kingston is, through much travail, able to get Sydal into Mox's Bulldog Choke, where he then makes Matt pretend to be Mox and say he quits before he lets him out. Eddie nearly kills him. Wonderful match. Wonderful story. Eddie had to win. He did. And he didn't cheat. He won.
FTR & The Bucks W/ Excalibur
FTR, being weenies, act like weenies for a bit, talking about the internet like weenies, and defend their weenie behavior before the interview turns to the Bucks. Excalibur asks them about their dickbag behavior over the last few weeks, and the Bucks double down. They say, yeah, maybe they were out of line, but they don't regret it. FTR lit a fire in them and they want that fire.
Excalibur then follows up, pissing off noted weenies FTR, who leave the interview with Tully. The Bucks then say, apropos of nothing and brought up by no one, that if they don't win the match, like Cody did last year, they won't challenge for the belt again. Excalibur is like, um...really? Matt's leg is trashed! They say yep, and that's that.
Inner Circle Town Hall
With MJF on one side of the ring and IC (Minus Hager, who is off doing MMA stuff right now) on the other, some of our favorite wrestlers pose questions to MJF and Jericho about the state of their union.
Luchasaurus asks what MJF will bring to IC monetarily, then after some fawning by "Reba" over Jericho, Britt asks what IC thinks about MJF's history of bad relationships with other wrestlers. MJF smoothes both of these over, while Jericho does seem suddenly riled up by MJF's dickbaggery in the past (dickbaggery that led Jericho to maintain his championship over Cody, I might add).
Next Peter Avalon is out. On DARK last night, he and Brandon Cutler FINALLY had a conclusion to their saga. Cutler won, but Avalon managed to also finally destroy what was left of his relationship with the other Librarian, Leva Bates. He comes up, looking lonely as hell, and basically whimpers that he'd like to join IC. Jericho and the others laugh him out. I feel bad for Peter, honestly. He has nothing now. Even Hangman has a chance at the title. Peter is just... defeated.
Eric Bischoff shows up next. Good to see him here again. He has several questions, ultimately what sets everything off, is that he accuses both MJF and Jericho of being primadonnas, and says whats the guarantee that they wont kill each other over it? This infuriates both of them, leading Jericho to issue his ultimatum. That MJF gets into IC if he beats Jericho at Full Gear. MJF agrees and the match is set.
Orange Cassidy/Cody for TNT Championship (Lumberjack Match)
This is AEW's second lumberjack match (The first being 6.24.20, Luchasaurus V Wardlow. Wardlow won that one, that was originally scheduled for March but got COVIDed like everything else at that time, RIP Blood and Guts.)
The first was, to be blunt, a pretty disappointing affair. Not that the match was terrible, but it wasn't really a lumberjack match. It was just a regular big guy fight with dudes on the outside who all just fought each other.
This one was a little bit better, more of a lumberjack match. Not perfect, but better.
After the time limit draw on 10.14, we were promised this rematch for reasons. They're a little more ready for each other this time. Best Friends/Nightmare Family and some others on one side, Dark Order and TH2 on the other.
They both lead with wind ups of their finishers, the Orange Punch and Cross Rhodes. This goes nowhere. At first, it seems like DO is there mostly to mess with Cody since they hate him, but this will come back to upset us later. They grab at Cody's foot early on, allowing OC to get some offence in with the distraction. Cody finally gets some wind back after a stalling suplex, doing those in-ring gloating pushups that Arn HATES. I love that so much. Arn Anderson hates those pushups more than anything.
Cody ends up knocking OC out of the ring but the jacks catch him and push him back in (GOOD). Then Cody gets knocked out, and Best Friends catch him too, but they hit him with some cheap shots before mailing him back into the ring.
After a quick break, chaos ensues between the lumberjacks as it is so want to be. Cody, who has been wailing on OC during the commercials, drives him out of the ring and onto the hoarde of wrestlers, all of whom are devastated by this incredible power. Somehow, OC gets the upper hand and lands the Beach Blast after a high rope DDT, but then.... Silver from DO runs in and cheap shots Cassidy?? And Cody win? Why would Silver hit OC and not Cody! I don't know!! They hate Cody!
This is confusing, but I'm sure DO will explain themselves... hopefully? I just don't know. The ending is weird, but it leads to total mayhem from the lumberjacks. Darby Allen looks on in the dark as he now will face Cody at Full Gear, their fourth match. Has he improved enough to beat him? Or will Dark Order beat him down too? Unclear at this time.
Miro & Kip Assault Best Friends
After the match, Miro and Kip (And Penelope as a spot on OC) pretend to make up with Best Friends for FTR throwing them through their arcade cabinet that was set up at ringside for several weeks for reasons. Then they totally juke them! Never saw it coming. They then beat up Best Friends.
Serena Deeb/Leyla Hirsch
So in an absolute shock, to me personally, Deeb beat Thunder Rosa for the NWA Womens Belt a few nights ago. This is either because Rosa is doing some MMA stuff or because she's leaving NWA, but it's unclear at this time.
Either way, immediately after that match, Deeb flew down to Jacksonville to come do a match for AEW to defend the NWA belt here for the first time.
Leyla had a match on DARK last night against Shida which was mmmmmmm pretty good. Not great great, but for DARK, good. Shida won that, obviously.
Anyway, Serena Deeb is spectacular. Leyla here looks too good not to sign. Will be embarrassing if they don't. They probably won't.
This match is blazing fast. An actual cardio spectacular. They hit so hard and go so fast-- Hirsch gets put over for her strong legs and short height giving her a strong center of gravity, making her a very difficult opponent for the lighter, taller Deeb. They both put their assets to good use. Leyla fights low, high, trying everything she can to keep Deeb from getting any kind of momentum, and shutting her down when she can. She misses a moonsault, however, and Deeb is able to capitalize on this and get a pin. They went so hard here. You need to see this one. This is Deeb's second real burner match, the first being her go with Thunder Rosa on Dynamite on 9.2.20. Her match with Big Swole was okay-- Swole just doesn't have the... I don't know, she didn't look as good as Leyla does.
I really hope AEW keeps working with the NWA, it's working for me. The dream of their second show just being POWERRR is too much for me to consider.
Shida Challenges Nyla
Last week, Nyla (Without Vickie? Is that over?) said she wouldn't wrestle again till she fought Shida. Alex Marvez asks Shida about this. Shida says yes. So, game on. This is Shida's second (2nd) time on the mic after being champion most of 2020. So it's Nyla V Shida III (Or is it II?) at Full Gear.
Shawn Spears/BSK
Shawn hits the DVD and wins in about 6 seconds. He attacks someone dressed as a bull outside the ring, which turns out to be Scorpio. Scorpio gets a spear in, then Tully and Shawn get scootin'. Match set for Full Gear.
Pentagon/Omega
Kenny is at maximum power now. He comes out there with his crazy entrance again, wearing a tshirt. Penta is fighting because last week, beating Pentagon, Rey Fenix took a nasty fall, and as a result is not cleared to wrestle. So Pentagon Jr takes his place. Kenny reveals the AAA belt he won off of Fenix way back.
They then put on one of the greatest matches in AEW history, and their first fight since All In back in 2018 with the Jericho reveal at the end. This is another one of those matches I couldn't possibly describe move for move, or beat for beat. I simply cannot believe how long and how hard these two people went. Kenny is full cleaner though, no doubt about this. Penta gets him in an arm breaker near the end, and destroys his OWA givin' arm. Despite this, Kenny is able to hit numerous V-Triggers and get the move on. He pins Pentagon but, man. This is PPV Main Event tier. Beyond reason how good both these wrestlers are. The story here was clearly designed for Fenix, which is unfortunate, but I love Penta, and everything about this was amazing
Pros
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Grade: A