AEW Dynamite aired yesterday! Was there fallout from Blood and Guts? Did we get any new champs? Read on and find out!
Opening Contest: Wardlow versus Scorpio Sky ©, Street Fight for the TNT Championship
Dan Lambert, Ethan Page, and several MMA guys (my MMA-knower pal didn’t recognize them so don’t worry about it) accompanied Sky to the ring. Sky started out using his speed and striking. While Wardlow did have some offense early, it was mostly Sky on top throughout the first half of the match. After a commercial break, Wardlow came out with a HUGE moonsault and went for the powerbomb concerto before he was attacked by the ATT goon squad. Wardlow cleared the ring just in time to be bonked by Scorpio with the TNT belt, but that only got him a two count and an angry Wardlow. Lambert attempted a distraction, Wardlow shoved Sky into Lambert and 3 powerbombs later, we had a new TNT champ!
Three stars! Short, definitive, and with the end result most of us were hoping for here. Sky is a great wrestler, but after the abysmal booking of the TNT championship lately the move was definitely to just get the belt onto the lava-hot Wardlow and let him build that title back up. I would hesitate to call Wardlow an underdog in any match, but they stacked the odds against him in this one so he could look even better. Well done!
Jon Moxley cut a backstage promo down the camera lens, acknowledging Brody King as a monster but also reminding us that Mox is one too.
“Smart” Mark Sterling and Tony Nese were elsewhere backstage, asking Keith Lee to sign a petition to have Isaiah Strickland fired because he’s mean. In a very verbose fashion, as is his wont, Mister Lee declined.
Christian Cage and Luchasaurus headed to the ring next, but were quickly interrupted by Matt Hardy. Jeff Hardy was brought up A LOT in this exchange, as Matt admitted that he used people during the HFO days and he sees Cage doing the same thing to Luchasaurus. Cage said Matt uses people, going so far as to use his own brother to have one last successful tag team run. Luchasaurus then headbutted Hardy, tossed him into the steel ring steps, and put Matt through a table to end the conversation.
A recap of Blood and Guts segued into an interview between Claudio Castignoli and Jake Hager, who will have a match next week for Fyter Fest.
Match #2, Butcher and the Blade (w/ The Bunny) versus Swerve in our Glory (Strickland and Lee)
Lee and Blade started things, but Swerve tagged in quickly. A little miscommunication led to some sloppy ring rope spots, but these things happen and fortunately nobody got hurt. The bad guys took control early and maintained through the commercial break. When we got back to the action, Butcher and Swerve were on a turnbuckle and Swerve took to biting the Butcher’s hand to get him off the post. A sweet diving European Uppercut by Swerve got the opening he needed to tag Keith Lee in, who proceeded to toss the Blade at Butcher. Butcher managed to pull Swerve in front of a charging Lee, and Swerve took some double team offense from the bad guys afterward. Lee stopped a pinfall and, after a fist bump to confirm they’re still pals, the good guys hit the combination Cave-In / Powerbomb to get the victory.
During Strickland and Lee’s celebration, Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs came out to repeat the same points they’ve been making for weeks - they are better than Swerve in our Glory, they are tired of being disrespected, they are the best tag team. But if you say you’re the best tag team in this company, it ALWAYS summons someone else, in this case the Young Bucks. The tag champs are proud of the whole tag division, but while everyone is eating well they should remember who set the table in the first place. Both these teams are good, but they lost to Jurassic Express, and the Bucks beat JX right afterward to win the AEW Tag Team Championships. The Young Bucks, fighting champs, challenged Team Tazz and Swerve in our Glory to a three way match for the titles at Fyter Fest.
A spooky video of Malakai Black played afterward, in which he said he envies Jon Moxley for being able to choose violence, a choice he and Brody King were never afforded.
A really short interview in the ring came next, as Eddie Kingston met Tony Schiavone and was in high spirits. He congratulated Wardlow and then congratulated all his teammates in the Blood and Guts match - even longtime nemesis Claudio Castignoli “See, I’m growing, I’m maturing!”. We then cut to a camera backstage where Jericho and his pals smashed Ruby Soho’s hand (arm?) in a car door because she interfered with Tay Conti interfering in the Blood and Guts match. FALLOUT!
The remaining six members of Dark Order made their way to the ring in Rochester, home of Brodie Lee. Evil Uno thanked us for our support, and announced that Dark Order is here to stay. “Dark Order is forever!” That statement brought QT Marshall out to challenge -1, Brodie Lee Jr., to a match. He started towards the ring when “Hangman” Adam Page’s theme hit and QT was beat down by basically everyone. -1 grabbed a mic to say he COULD pin QT tonight, but he’ll wait til he’s nineteen. Playing the long game, as Excalibur said. A nice tribute to the hometown hero.
Jim Ross joined the commentary table for the back half of the show.
Match #3: Penta Oscuro (w/ Alex Abrahantes and Rey Fenix) versus Rush (w/ Jose the Assistant and Andrade El Idolo)
This was Rush’s debut singles match, and it was a good one. Rush was mostly focused on removing Penta’s mask, something he started going after right from the start. After a Penta tope to Rush outside the ring, Abrahantes and Jose started a brawl and were tossed from ringside as we went to commercial. Rush was still focused on that mask throughout the break, and we had a painful looking headbutt fight when we came back to full screen. A nasty chop fight in a corner followed and Penta took control. A gorgeous sequence featuring a rolling stunner, a superkick, and Fear Factor only got a two count because Andrade put Rush’s foot on the nearby rope. Andrade continued to provide a distraction, letting Rush hit a dickpunch and steal Penta’s mask, leading to an easy pinfall victory.
Four stars! Even though it wasn’t the best match these guys are capable of, it was fun and had a lot of the painful looking spots Penta Oscuro is known for. I think they are saving a big, blowout match for further down the line; the rivalry is just getting started, and from what I’ve heard of Rush he’s a very talented in-ring worker. Penta is, well, Penta, so he will hold his own as this feud gets nastier. Given the mask focus, maybe we’ll even get a mask versus hair match down the line? Or Andrade will start wearing his mask in the ring just to risk it later on. WHO’S TO SAY?
Samoa Joe will face Jay Lethal for the Ring of Honor TV Title at the RoH Death Before Dishonor pay per premium live event. Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Satnam Singh had a short video talking up the match.
Sterling and Tony Nese continued their quest for petition signatures. They found Orange Cassidy and his Best Friends modeling their new tie dyed matching jumpsuits, and demanded they sign the sheet. Cassidy said he never signs anything without his lawyer, summoning Danhausen, who will be playing the role of legal representation. Nese threatened Cassidy for not signing the petition, and both Sterling and Danhausen suggested there was money to be made in a Cassidy / Nese match on Rampage. Orange and Danhausen then traded legal terms to end the segment. I freakin loved it. Also I need to get them jumpsuits for me and the missus.
Match #4: The Gunn Club and The Acclaimed versus Ruffin It and Fuego del Sol.
A glorified squash that was there to move the Ass Boys’ and Acclaimed storyline forward. There were still some fun spots during the short match, and the Bear half of Bear Country looked noticeably more fit than he did the last time I saw these guys in action. The Gunns tagged themselves in on several occasions, including after the Acclaimed hit their finisher for the win. Squash, and we don’t rate squashes round here. The teams argued afterward, leading to Billy Gunn yelling at his kids before clotheslining Max Caster. A wounded Anthony Bowens offered up the scissors to his daddy, but was only given a FameAsser. The Gunns hugged, but Billy did look conflicted.
A video of Miro in darkness played next, as he challenged Malakai and the House of Black.
Match #5: ThunderStorm versus Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir
Nyla and Marina brought umbrellas to the ring, the best way to counter a ThunderStorm. Clever! The bad guys attacked to start, but once things settled down Rosa and Shafir had a cool sequence of reversals and counters. An umbrella shot to the back put MariNyla in control during the break. Nyla overwhelmed Storm with power stuff during the break, but Rosa was able to start a rally for the heroes. A couple shotgun dropkicks from Rosa to Nyla proved effective, but she went to the well one too many times and Rose countered Rosa with a chokeslam. Shafir followed with a pumphandle slam, but Toni was able to help out and a hip attack led to an assisted spike piledriver for the 1-2-3 for ThunderStorm.
Three stars! I thought Thunder Rosa and Marina Shafir looked far better than they did previously whenever they shared the ring during this decent tag team match. I know there were rumors of discontent between them, and I hope they were able to get together and squash that stuff because they really did well tonight. Toni and Nyla played their parts well too, leading to a fun and well balanced matchup for tonight’s women’s segment.
Backstage, Tony Schiavone interviewed (held a microphone for) Stokely Hathaway as he introduced Keira Hogan and Jade Cargill to the new interim baddie, Leila Grey. She offered a handshake again, but Jade has her doubts.
A passionate promo by Daniel Garcia followed, hyping his upcoming Pure rules match with champ Wheeler Yuta at the RoH PPPLE.
And FTR followed with a challenge to the Briscoes at the Ring of Honor show as well!
Main Event: Brody King versus Jon Moxley © for the Interim AEW Championship
A fun, easy to watch brawl between two tough guys, this was a “BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPIN’ MEAT” match with less big men. King’s power advantage led to some cool spots, as he tried to replicate his hanging choke win over Darby Allin on Mox off a turnbuckle. Mox has heart, and lungs, so he was able to survive that.
Moxley did a lot of submission work tonight, going for a figure four off a dragon screw early. After a superplex, he locked in a bulldog before the hanging spot I mentioned. A Paradigm Shift and hammering elbows combo led to another bulldog, but King was able to drop on his back to break the hold. Mox just clamped the bulldog back on to choke out the powerhouse and that was the end of the match and the show!
Three stars! A good match between two tough dudes, but not the bloodbath or violence fest that some were anticipating. I enjoyed it though, and I don’t think Mox needs to bleed every time he’s on camera. King looked great when he was in control, but also sold well and looked desperate before he broke Moxley’s submission attempts. I hope they meet again, but even if they don't, this match was nothing to be ashamed of!
And that’s it! A show that built off the last couple big event shows (Forbidden Door and Blood and Guts) but also one that built up next week’s big event show, Fyter Fest. As such, nothing felt super important but everything did feel like it was leading to something more. A fun watch and, as usual, the two hours flew by. But what were Five Good Things about the show, you ask? I got you!
1- Wardlow won the TNT Championship! A match suited to Wardlow’s strengths, and one that everyone played their role in perfectly. Sky tried some unsavory tactics, the Top Team guys jumped the incredibly large underdog, and the hero emerged victorious. Good stuff!
2- In a promo and video heavy show, the Dark Order’s segment was nice. A great way to pay homage to the late Brodie Lee in his hometown, and a segment that even featured Lee’s son in a highlight package with his greatest hits. The kid is beloved and I might be tearing up typing this, shut up. I’m glad we’re not seeing the last of the Dark Order anytime soon.
3- Penta Oscuro and Rush had a good match to build this rivalry between the Lucha Bros. and El Faccion Ingobernable. Not their best, but definitely something to grow a whole thing out of!
4- The women’s tag match was a great debut for Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa, and it let Marina Shafir and Rosa show that they can do some good work together.
5- The main event, a MEDIUM MEATY MEN MAULIN’ MEAT (™) match, was a fun watch and a good way to close the show. Mox was able to overcome the bigger guy, but neither man looked weak and they matched up well for Mox’s first interim title defense.
That wraps things up for today! I’ll be back tomorrow with Casual Friday, where we will recap some news and matches from the last week of professional wrestling. Until then, you can find me here on Twitter: Oso (of Let's Watch Some Wrestling!) (@ElOsoPequeno) / Twitter . See you tomorrow, and have a good one!
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