Project Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 8: A Unique Opportunity

 

Good Morning!

Welcome back to Project Lucha Underground Season 1. I know! I’m as surprised as you. 

So, two things. First, I’m going to start this post with a chunk of blog that I apparently wrote the day after some friends and I attended Fyter Fest here in Denver, but never actually posted to Let’s Watch Some Wrestling: 

We’ll jump back into our regularly scheduled episode recap in a little bit, but since I just attended AEW Fyter Fest last night, I wanted to write about the live experience while it’s still fresh in my mind.

This was the fifth AEW show in Colorado, but the first in Denver proper. That’s big for the company, because the other venues they’ve used -- the now-defunct 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, and most recently the Blue FCU Arena in Loveland -- have all been at least an hour drive out from the biggest city in the state. Factor in things like rush hour traffic because doors are at 4:30 Mountain Time, and the fact that most of these shows were three-four hours because of Collision or Rampage tapings, and you’ve got a limited amount of wrestling fans willing to basically have to take half a day off AND be trashed the following day at work. Hence, those shows filled about half of those hockey-sized arenas.

AEW solved both of those issues by performing at the Mission Ballroom for Fyter Fest. Located just off the highway in Denver proper, the Mission is a popular concert venue that my wife and I had never been to in our dozen-plus years in the state. 

IM FROM CHICAGO VIDEO

We attended the show with our constant AEW companion and our buddy who just recently got into wrestling, and the whole time was a blast. I don’t know whether it was the venue, AXS ticketing, or AEW who decided to offer a digital parking pass with tickets, but it meant getting underground garage parking right under the venue, which was cool. Up a flight of stairs and we were right in the line, and we even spotted Sammy Guevara and Tay Melo bringing their tiny baby into the building next to the arena. Everyone in line who noticed them was really cool about doing little waves but not shouting or freaking out, which was decent of them as wrestling fans, especially when one has seen how people can act towards these performers. Good job there, Denver wrestling enthusiasts!

Once inside, I realized the arena wasn’t quite what I thought. Seating charts implied a balcony and floor, and I assumed that meant an overhang and two floors. Instead, there was kind of a wall of stadium-style seating behind the announcers, with balcony seating extending to either side of the ring, and floor seats in front of and below those seats. The stage had a ramp that led directly up to the ring, a setup we’ve seen on several of the recent AEW shows at smaller buildings, and I don’t think there was a bad seat in the house. The balconies in particular looked great -- they had little counter-style tables running in front of those seats, and if we get another show there I’ll definitely try for those seats. 

It was a blast, in short, but I have been considering taking some time to think about whether I want to attend another wrestling show before just reflexively buying tickets because they’re in my area. I’m still enjoying what AEW is producing, though, and since that’s pretty much all I watch these days (aside from Lucha Underground, that is) I’ll probably just shut up and tell them to take my money next time they’re in Colorado.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to apologize to the tens of you that kept up with Project Lucha Underground when I was doing it semi-regularly. There’s some stuff going on right now in both the world [general] and in my world [specific] that have conspired to simply not keep me on track. I’ve felt flustered and … you know that feeling when you walk into a room and you’re not sure why you did? I’ve felt that way about a lot of rooms lately. Fuzzy, I guess. So I went ahead and put together a little schedule for myself, one that prioritizes my house cholo duties, but also sets aside time for both paid writing work, most of which you’ll find at SlashGear, and this project/blog, which you’ll find, well, here. 

I think that, going forward, posting on Thursdays or Fridays might work best for our purposes, although I don’t want to lock in a schedule because a) I may not stick to it and b) Lucha Underground happened in the past so I can kinda just watch one whenever I want. Also, we’re off to a roaring start because I haven’t yet watched Dynamite because of a work party Wednesday night, and Forbidden Door is fast approaching on Sunday!

Anyways, there we go! All caught up, sorta. The TL;DR version is that I’ve not been busy, but I’ve lacked focus, and that’s no good for anyone. Now there’s a dry erase board for my daily schedule, and a Trello board for the weekly duties. I feel more ready to be productive than ever!

That being said, let’s get back into the delightful world of Lucha Underground. Now more than ever, escapism is important for all of us, and a show that gives us little people teaming up with exóticos and masked superstars representing both good and evil might be just what the doctor ordered. Hey, why isn’t there a doctor on this show? I feel like wrestlers that are just dudes doing jobs, like Irwin R. Schyster or Issac Yankem DDS, would fit right in with the possibly-undead Mil Muertes. But I digress.

Let’s watch some wrestling!

Last Week [well, two months ago for us] On Lucha Underground

“The Top of the Ladder” featured one of the best Lucha Underground matches to date in the promotion’s first ladder match, a barn-burner between Big Ryck, Johnny Mundo, and Prince Puma. Mundo was able to collect the $100,000 briefcase and knocked out Dario Cueto for good measure, although he did return the boss’s key by laying it on his knocked out body to end the show. I’m sure that won’t come back to bite Mundo in the ass, right?

We also had a couple matches to keep the rivalries between King Cuerno and Drago, and Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and Sexy Star, going. The main event was the focus of the show, though, and it was fantastic. We’ll see what happens next as, for the first time in a long time, we head back underground. As always, I’ll recap each segment after I watch, and will provide my own ratings out of ten lucha libra masks. After I’m done with the show, I’ll check Cagematch for the general consensus, so we can all compare notes.

Lucha Underground: Season 1, Episode 8: “A Unique Opportunity”

Why are we in here again?

We opened with the usual shots from around Boyle Heights: trainyards, industrial areas, highways, and then the Lucha Underground billboard atop the temple. Inside, the ring was packed with familiar faces (and masks). Our announce team of Matt Stryker and Vampiro are as confused as I am, saying Dario Cueto invited these ten wrestlers to the ring but nobody knows why. Fortunately, here’s Dario to clear things up. He’s wearing sunglasses to cover a nasty bruise from where Johnny Mundo punched him last week. Cueto overcomes some What chants (ugh) to let us know these guys are gonna be involved in a “truly epic event tonight” that begins with this match, and will be followed up with another ten-person match later tonight. We’re not going to be fighting for money, says Cueto, but rather a unique opportunity. Vague! So, let’s get to the match!

Half the LU roster, ready to fight

Opening 10-Person Match

King Cuerno versus Super Fly versus Fénix versus Penta versus Drago versus Big Ryck versus Prince Puma versus Son of Havoc versus Mariachi Loco versus Mascarita Sagrada

Brawling began before the bell with several dudes jumping Big Ryck before getting tossed like cartoon characters. Mascarita Sagrada continued his violent assault on Ryck, pausing to do some push-ups and show off his footwork. Ryck responded to this threat by grappling with Sagrada in an extended assault, before some of the other guys got involved. Cuerno and Drago paired off for a while, while Penta and Mascarita Sagrada had some fun in the ring. Puma and Havoc were highlighted next, with Puma getting the better of Havoc and flying out of the ring to make room for Mariachi and Fénix to work on Ryck some more before everybody started throwing themselves at the big guy and getting their collective shit kicked in. Fénix and Puma paired up after a while , giving us a mini-match that would have ruled in AEW if their paths crossed -- hopefully they get a chance to have a match during the LU run. 

Drago and Cuerno met up in the ring next, and Cuerno managed to hit his finisher before the pin was broken up by Mariachi Loco. Penta then took Mariachi out with Made in Japan, although I guess it hadn’t gotten that name yet because Stryker called it a running Muscle Buster. Some more near falls followed, and eventually the main story of “everybody vs Big Ryck” came through before we got back to Prince Puma versus Fénix, part two. Puma landed a 450 on Ryck but Fénix took advantage with a tilt-a-whirl DDT, followed up by a dragon sleeper into a piledriver to pick up the pinfall victory.

For a big brawl, this was a lot of fun! I liked the pairings used when the ring cleared, dug the flow of the match, and enjoyed that they kept going back to Big Ryck as the recognized threat everyone would naturally focus on. Mascarita Sagrada got some big pops in there, too! Seven lucha libre masks outta ten for this one for me -- Cagematch gave it 7.98.

HE BIG

After the match, our announcers put over everybody and the overall performance, and Cuerno again called out Drago afterward. And then we moved on to another Cage vignette, this time featuring the big guy doing his own narration over some video of him working out in an industrial setting, flipping big tires and shaking big ropes and hitting said big tires with a big hammer. He said that he’s pushed himself to the brink of evolution, and he’s not a man -- he’s a machine, and they call him Cage.

Konnan and Prince Puma face off in a mirror

We were then thrust into the awkward position of watching Prince Puma get dressed down by Konnan in the Temple’s dingy locker room. Konnan yelled that people would kill to have him for a mentor, and that if Puma keeps letting these opportunities pass by, the opportunities AND Konnan will be gone. Puma looked a little angry, and a little sad, but since he’s apparently mute that’s as much as we got before we headed back into the Temple for the second ten-person match. 

The other half of the roster, ready to compete

Match 2, A Boyle Heights Battle Royal

Sexy Star versus Mil Muertes versus Johnny Mundo versus Pimpinela Escarlata versus Bael versus Chavo Guerrero, Jr. versus Cortez Castro versus Famous B versus Mr. Cisco versus Ricky Mandel

I’m not trying to say this is the lesser of the two matches right out of the gate, but there’s definitely more entry-level talent in this one. It’s Royal Rumble rules -- over the top rope, both feet gotta touch the floor. Chavo got the dramatic last entrance after Stryker ran down the entrants for us, continuing his rivalry with Sexy Star, who immediately went after Chavo to start things off. Vampiro got to profess his love for the mysterious lady in the vinyl catsuit that keeps showing up on the Temple stairs to observe the action, and things devolved into the kind of battle royal action one would expect. I’m not going to try to keep up with everything, but here’s the eliminations in order:

Pimpi dumped Famous B early

Ricky Mandel was tossed by the trio of Big Ryck’s guys

Mil Muertes yeeted Pimpi

Chavo heaved Star to continue their storyline/ rivalry

Mundo threw a Ryck pal, then…

Chavo countered by throwing a different Ryck pal, then…

Mil Muertes answered by chucking the last Ryck buddy in a span of seconds

Mundo got rid of Chavo next

A solid back and forth one-on-one between Johnny and Mil Muertes followed. Mil is interesting because he’s not jacked -- Mundo is actually taller and super-ripped -- but he’s so stout that it’s still believable that Mundo had some trouble doing any effective offense. In the end, Mundo had his finisher set but Mil Muertes got his knees up, leading directly into a lariat to eliminate Johnny and win the Battle Royal.

Cagematch went 6.43 for this match, while I went a little lower with a 6. It was fine, but not as many fun spots as the first match. The finishing sequence with Chavo, Mil Muertes, and Johnny Mundo was good though.

The Lucha Underground Championship

Back from a break, our announcers hyped up the mysterious announcement as Mil Muertes and Fénix jawed at each other in the middle of the ring. Dario Cueto emerged from his office with a microphone and a belt, the Lucha Underground championship. I somehow did not realize we’ve gone eight episodes and haven’t revealed a title yet! Cueto went on to explain that he’s invented a new match type that honors the ancient warriors, and he’s calling it Aztec Warfare. There’s gonna be one more match tonight, and the winner gets to enter Aztec Warfare last, giving them a significant advantage. The loser of this match will enter first, meaning they’ll have to outlast 19 other luchadores to win. 

Mil Muertes and Fénix face off

Main Event

Fénix versus Mil Muertes for the right to be last entrant in Aztec Warfare

Despite having worked a full battle royale right before this, Muertes went right after Fénix, shoving him before the bell even rang. He dominated the first several minutes of the match, with his buddy/lover/keeper Catrina helping by distracting Fénix. Hope spots were few and far between, with Mil Muertes overcoming Fénix’s valiant efforts and laying the smaller man out with a Flatliner to end the match and the show. 

No, I think we're to exit stage LEFT, actually

We got a post-credits scene! Dario Cueto was in that prison-looking area of the temple, talking to someone off screen and holding the Lucha Underground championship belt. He explained that the gold in that belt was from each of the seven Aztec tribes, making it not only priceless, but also powerful. He ended his little speech with, “I’m sorry, I can’t let you touch it [CRASH ZOOM ON HIS FACE] I know how you like to destroy pretty things.” 

Dario admires his belt in front of prison bars

I’ll be shocked if Cagematch has a rating for this -- it was a long squash match with maybe four glimmers of Fénix offense. As a showcase for Mil Muertes’ power, it was fine, and Fénix didn’t come off as a chump, per se, but I would have opened with the Battle Royal so Fénix would look like the more recently gassed of the two, and like he barely survived his last match. As it stands, 4/10 for me. Oh, Cagematch gave it a 6, which feels generous.

Closing Thoughts

This was a great show to get us back into the swing of things, although I don’t know that I would have reacted so kindly when I watched week to week. Having a pair of ten person matches was a nice way to be re-introduced to everybody, and in hindsight the winners felt right and not knowing why they were competing kept me interested to the end. I really thought Muertes was either going to straight-up murder Fénix or Fénix would rally at the end. A squash seemed like a weird choice. But now we’ve got a title match set for a few shows from here, and 18 vacant spots to fill. It should be interesting to see how those slots get chosen.

So Long For Now

Follow me on BlueSky for updates and live watch-along commentary for most episodes of AEW Dynamite (and occasionally Collision). And, if you’re looking into purchasing anything from a smart fridge to a new drill, check out the writing I do over at SlashGear -- my automotive, tech, and tool-related lists are heavily researched, and ranked after thorough aggregation of expert opinions, reviews, and my own experience as a professional auto mechanic, an unprofessional handyman and a somehow even less professional homeowner. 

Until next time…Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

Casual...Wednesday?

 It’s Wednesday and I’m feeling … casual? No, I’m being weird because it’s the day before a flight, and I’m trying to get packed and receive a bunch of deliveries for basement stuff, as well as run to the laundromat and pick up a prescription and some groceries. SO, I figured I’d write about wrestling today and we’ll pick back up again next Tuesday with a review of tonight’s Rampage, and all the wrestling I’ll be catching up on on Monday (unless I can figure out how to download this stuff to my phone, because my laptop is just a bit too big to travel comfortably with me for this trip. 

I know, it’s a lot you didn’t ask for when you clicked on a pro wrestling blog. So we’ll try that new format of just talking about the shows, starting with Raw and working back. 

Let’s talk about Monday Night Raw…

I don’t know if I just wasn’t in the mood for it but Raw really felt like a nothing show this week. They made official additions to the SummerSlam card, but for the most part they were announcements that we have known were coming for so long that I was surprised when commentary told us these were new additions! 

The show started with Titus welcoming us to Raw by way of telling us that WWE is great and honest and good and just here to put a smile on our collective faces. You know, the kind of promo you’d expect when more and more details from that New York Times story about what a vile piece of trash Vince McMahon is. So we started off feeling kinda gross!

Bianca Belair versus Becky Lynch seemed like a given since Money in the Bank (and, if we’re being honest, since Wrestlemania). They made it official for SummerSlam after a lengthy segment were Lynch compared herself to a train, after which Belair appeared and argued that SummerSlam is her story (Becky replying, “No it isn’t” was perfection) and then Carmella arrived for a championship match that Belair could lose by countout for some reason. The bad guys beat Bianca up, Bianca recovered and won, so we’re a go for SummerSlam.

Talking segments from The Usos, Street Profits, MVP and Olmos set up a match for later, and the return of Kevin Owens followed. He did his talk show with Riddle, which was pretty funny and ended with Riddle getting mad at Owens for insulting the honor of Randy Orton. That led to a run in by Rollins to set up a match for SummerSlam. Later, Rollins and Ezekiel had a decent match to verify that Seth can still get a win once in a while.

Rey Mysterio had a match with Damian Priest, but that ended with the Judgment Day murdering Rey with chairs after Priest won. Dominik offered to join the Judgment Day if they would only spare his papa, but Priest told us that wasn’t how it worked and whacked Dom with a chair as well.

After the aforementioned Zeke match (which was actually really good, the best thing about the whole show to be honest), we teased Omos versus Angelo Dawkins but a quick interference DQ led to a tag match being booked by GM Adam Pearce. That ALSO ended in a DQ as the Usos, who were scouting from ringside, attacked the Profits. 

Theory had a promo and the crowd decided to “WHAT” the hell out of it. Theory tried to play into it but it just kept going, to the point where I was just annoyed with the crowd. AJ Styles joined Theory in the ring, and the two had a pretty good match. Dolph Ziggler joined to watch from ringside, and he delivered a superkick to Theory while the referee was distracted, leading to an easy win for AJ here. AJ delivered a Styles Clash after the match because, well, he’s the face in this rivalry and Theory is annoying.

A really well made video for Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch followed, this one focused less on train puns and more on music puns. There was a women’s six way tag match that existed only to do some 24/7 title shenanigans and at this point I was just kinda checked out. The time remaining told me that the main event was just going to be Miz and Logan Paul talking and I just … I don’t like that guy. 

And that’s it! The matches between Ezekiel and Seth Rollins and AJ Styles and Theory were high points of the show, but overall it just wasn’t a good watch start to finish. 

But what about Rampage or SmackDown, you ask? Anything good on those shows?

Yeah! Rampage, as always, was a quick watch that went down easy. House of Black had a fun match against Dark Order, even though the finish was never in doubt. Sting and Darby Allin came out afterward to stare down the Kings of the Black Throne.

Jonathan Gresham successfully defended his Ring of Honor championship against Lee Moriarty, getting a submission by Octopus and bragging about his dominant championship run after the match. That summoned Claudio Castignoli to challenge Gresham at Death before Dishonor and that card is really shaping up to be something special! I’ll be out of town but hopefully I’ll get a chance to watch it on the flight home.

Athena and Kris Statlander won a squash only to be beaten up by the Baddies afterward, and the Gunn Club tried to explain turning on the Acclaimed but got beat up for their troubles. And in the main event, Private Party lost to the Lucha Bros in a fun match between teams that are kinda between rivalries right now, at least until Rush and Andrade El Idolo clear their schedules elsewhere.

On SmackDown, Liv Morgan defeated Natalya in a continuation of this long running rivalry, Drew McIntyre defeated Ridge Holland as he works his way through Sheamus’s gang of toughs, Theory lost to Madcap Moss by DQ after he bonked Moss with his Money in the Bank briefcase, and Angelo Dawkins defeated Jimmy Uso despite Jimmy’s shoulder not being down, because that’s what this feud is about now. 

WWE also announced Jeff Jarrett as the special guest referee for the Tag Championship Match at SummerSlam, and he’ll be running straight out of the building to get to his match teaming with Jay Lethal against Ric Flair and Andrade El Idolo later that same night!

There! All caught up? I’ve been a little down on WWE programming because it feels like we’re just spinning our wheels until SummerSlam, but I am genuinely looking forward to a lot of the matches on the card. AEW’s Fyter Fest continues to be fun, and there’s some good stuff to look forward to tonight as well. The Ring of Honor show this weekend will be awesome, but I’m not familiar enough with the product to justify a preview blog. If I do end up watching it, I’ll write about it too!

One last thing - when I get back next week, I will be doing a trial article for a legit wrestling website, and if they decide to accept my work I’ll be sure to tweet about it at the usual place. I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I’ve been studying style guides and other forms they sent over, and hopefully my work is good enough to get on their site. I guess we’ll see!

Enjoy your weekend! 

Casual Friday, 7/15/2022

 Hey, it’s Friday afternoon and I’m feelin’ CASUAL! After taking the pug to the vet to make sure her brain isn’t melting (not yet!) and getting the laundry done, it’s time to sit down and talk about some wrestling…

But we just spoke yesterday! And Friday has TWO significant shows on it, AEW Rampage (AKA Fyter Fest Night Two) and WWE SmackDown! But there’s a reason here, boys and girls. I’m going to be switching to a weekly Casual Friday format for the blog for a while, as I attempt to teach myself about things like SEO and blogging and also maybe submitting blogs to sites for, like, money! I know, it’s a reach! But because of that, this will be the last casual Friday of the old era, the Attitude Era if you will. We’re moving into being Ruthlessly Aggressive about doing this as a legit gig, so buckle up and let’s get to it.

Some Stuff To Talk About This Week!

Man, that first night of Fyter Fest was amazing! 

I think we have three more shows coming up over the next week or so, and there are some great looking matches on there. Jericho versus Kingston in whatever a “Barbed Wire Everywhere” match is. Darby Allin versus Brody King. The criminally underrated Private Party versus the perfectly highly rated Lucha Bros tonight on Rampage. And a lot more TBD, I’m sure.

Back to Wednesday, though. Orange Cassidy versus Wardlow was a fantastic matchup, one that I didn’t immediately understand on paper. In practice, it would easily have been the match of the night on any other card. Wardlow proved his ability to be a straight man in a comedy atmosphere, and Cassidy once again showed his speed and technical prowess. 

Moxley versus Takeshita was a brutal back and forth, perfectly paced and designed to make Moxley retain his aura of menace while also allowing Takeshita to look like a badass.

The main event was also something special. The way the Young Bucks, Swerve In Our Glory, and Hobbs and Starks were able to all mesh together and keep the frenetic pacing of that match going the entire time was something else. There were so many good spots, even my glowing review wasn’t enough to highlight every single great idea these six guys put out there. In the end, even after Swerve teased a heel turn, Strickland and Lee emerged as our new AEW Tag Team Champions. I’m very interested to see where all this is going. Remember when the Hardy Boys were all but guaranteed to win the tag belts a few weeks ago? Simpler times…

Raw certainly was a wrestling show! 

The build to SummerSlam continues as we got an appearance from the Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar. He spoke a bit to the audience, Paul Heyman, and MitB holder Theory before murdering Chad Gable and Otis. That’s why he gets the big bucks, folks!

Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor had a really good match, which I guess is expected when you say those names but it doesn’t diminish that at all. I’m hoping for a Dominik’s Soul on a Pole Match at SummerSlam between the Judgment Day guys and Edge and Rey, but I won’t hold my breath. Still, my inner fantasy booker has been hoping for a Dom heel turn since…well, since I booked that in my Journey of Wrestling game last year.

Carmella and Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch continued building what I think might be a triple threat at SummerSlam, as Mella beat Bianca via Becky distraction and countout. I guess Carmella is what passes for a WWE World Championship contender these days.

Ciampa and Miz continued to build towards their match against, I believe, Logan Paul (playing a good guy because WWE) and AJ Styles. In a tag match featuring AJ and Ezekiel versus Miz and Ciampa, Ciampa lost by way of beating AJ up too much and getting disqualified, our second non-finish of the night.

Alexa Bliss and Asuka won in a really short tag match, and Dawkins ate a pin from Olmos in a match that went from being Jimmy Uso versus Angelo Dawkins to being the Street Profits with R-Truth versus the Usos and Olmos. It was fine, although I don’t understand having Dawk eat another pin when you have Truth RIGHT THERE.

A tag match main event featured Lashley and Riddle against Seth Rollins and Theory, and ended in…Riddle getting a clean (-ish) win over Theory after a returning (?) Dolph Ziggler superkicked Theory and helped Riddle get out of a leveraged pin. It seems a little close to SummerSlam to introduce new players in the game, especially since Theory versus Bobby Lashley is one of the few matches that’s actually been announced for the PLE, but I’m curious to see where this goes. I like the theory (no pun intended) of Dolph deciding to manage Theory, because he had a great cash-in once and wants to see that legacy continue.

Last week’s Rampage had some action!

We saw Konosuke Takeshita take on Eddie Kingston in a match that would set Takeshita up well as a challenger for Jon Moxley. He looked great against Kingston, with a lot of hope spots and some tough looking strikes taken and delivered by both guys. 

Jonathan Gresham turned on his partner and future opponent Lee Moriarty in their match against Tully Blanchard’s newest proteges, the Gates of Agony. Two big dudes who were there to beat up Moriarty while Gresham walked out, the Gates guys played their part well enough and we got a Ring of Honor heel champion to face Moriarty on Dynamite (and, if Dave Meltzer is to be believed, to face Claudio Castignoli at the PPV as well!)

Mercedes Martinez and Serena Deeb won an extended squash that mostly served to show that these two CANNOT COEXIST (™) as a team. 

And, in the main event, Orange Cassidy beat Tony Nese to save Swerve Strickland’s position as an AEW wrestler. A good match, if a little long, and probably the best thing of the night.

Last Week’s SmackDown was also a wrestling show I watched!

After a solid half hour of Roman Reigns talking with Paul Heyman, and a Theory appearance that led to nothing despite Michael Cole nearly talking himself into an aneurysm about the threat of Theory (who Roman no-sold perfectly), we got into a rare double squash from the Viking Raiders, who defeated Jinder Mahal and Shanky before the New Day appeared to challenge them and also get beaten up.

Gunter decided the IC championship will no longer have open challenges, so Shinsuke Nakamura earned a shot by beating his sidekick. For being a short match, that was actually fun! And I look forward to Shinsuke and Gunther at SummerSlam.

A talky segment between Liv Morgan, Ronda Rousey, and Natalya led to a very quick Rousey submission victory over Nattie, paving the way to a SummerSlam rematch between Liv and Ronda, and hopefully the excision of Natalya from this feud.

Max Dupree and his Maximum Male Models, Mansoor and Mace, modeled their new tennis wear in what is fast becoming the best thing about SmackDown. I don’t know if these guys are gonna wrestle and I don’t care.

Lacey Evans established that she’s going full heel by scolding the fans and punching her tag team partner, Aaliyah. The Usos also won a quick squash over Los Lotharios. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Butch, who replaced Sheamus in their scheduled match because Sheamus might have the ‘rona. Drew then threatened to murder both Sheamus and Butch with a sword, and destroyed the ring.

There we go, all caught up! The MATCH OF THE WEEK was definitely the AEW Tag Team Championship triple threat on AEW Dynamite. It is, without a doubt, must -see TV. I’ve already watched it twice and I might try to squeeze in a third before the wife gets home from work!

I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. I’ll be back next week, on location in Newport, Tennessee where I’ll be visiting my dad and sisters!

Have a good weekend!

Dynamite Details from 7/13/22

 It’s Thursday, and boy have I been slacking! I did watch Raw, and Rampage, and even most of SmackDown, but the house has kept me from writing because of my basement needing paint on the walls. Now that it’s been applied, we wait for flooring delivery and that will be wave two of “stuff we foolishly volunteered to do to save some money”. Wave three is tile around the tub, and wave four is baseboards and door casings - the contractor is being pretty cool about giving us an apprentice for a day at an hourly rate to install our doors and bathroom fixtures for us.

But that’s not why you’re here, dear reader! You’re here to talk about Fyter Fest, really the best episode of televised wrestling in a couple weeks. I thought the show was great from top to bottom, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Let’s crack in!

Image from Swerve Strickland’s Twitter

Opening contest: Orange Cassidy versus Wardlow © for the TNT Championship

I don’t know if this should factor into the rating, but I literally laughed myself to tears during this match. Orange Cassidy was flanked by his Best Friends on the way to the ring, and a little video played where Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta told OC that Wardlow was bigger and stronger, but their lawyer Danhausen got them manager’s licenses and they're gonna cheat! A lot!

The first half of the match was straight up hilarious. Orange started by going for the hands-in-pockets powerup, but Wardlow pulled his hands out and then tore the pockets themselves out! He then pulled his singlet straps down and flexed, and Cassidy responded by going face to face with the monster and just…pulling those straps back up. Some great evasion by both men followed, including Wardlow cartwheeling out of a DDT attempt. Orange got something in his eye, distracting the ref while Trent undid a turnbuckle pad and Chuck grabbed a FRICKIN CHAINSAW from under the ring. Turns out that wasn’t subtle, as the referee saw both actions and the Best Friends were tossed. Orange tried to bait Wardlow into chasing him outside the ring, but Wardlow realized what was happening and discovered Danhausen hiding under the ring! A curse was threatened, but Danhausen thought better of it and Wardlow just smiled and let the weird demon go. That did distract Wardlow long enough to give Orange an opening for an Orange Punch that really rocked Wardlow, who stumbled back into the ring. Wardlow countered a second punch with a capture German suplex and tossed Cassidy around during a break.

The second half of the match was a straight up match, with Orange getting a number of surprising counters and kickouts from Wardlow’s array of power moves. Cassidy even kicked out of an F-10, the first time that’s been done in AEW per the announcers. Cassidy mounted a solid comeback with two Orange Punches and a Beach Break, but got caught going for a third punch and the powerbomb killed him dead. Wardlow picked Cassidy up and gave him a respectful fist bump after the match.

Four stars! A great combination of a comedy match and a really good wrestling match between a speedy underdog and a world class powerhouse. Wardlow really sold Cassidy’s offense, and he was great as the straight man in the comedy portions of the show as well. 

You know, my hope was to streamline match descriptions going forward, and that last match really didn’t do me any favors because there were so many good spots! I’ll keep working on that though.

A video of PAC’s first defense of the AEW All Atlantic Championship followed, as he defeated Shota Umino on Tuesday night’s episode of DARK that appeared to have been taped at RevPro? I’ll look into it. Looks like it was a good one!

Chris Jericho got some time in the ring to talk about what a bad friend Eddie Kingston is, running down the list of Eddie’s acquaintances that have been beaten on his watch: Ortiz, Danielson, Soho, Santana. Jericho was in the first Canadian barbed wire match ever (it’s true, I checked!) and he’s bringing the Painmaker to his Barbed Wire Everywhere match with Kingston next week.

Eddie got a short backstage segment to respond to Jericho. He was flanked by Ruby and Ortiz, and said Jericho is going to pay for what he did to Kingston’s friends.

Match #2: Konosuke Takeshita versus Jon Moxley ©, AEW Championship Eliminator Match

A solid, brutal tough guy brawl that brought out a harder side of Takeshita than we’ve seen so far. Konosuke had a cut open up on his forehead during the first break but when we came back he had some great hope spots after a Helluva kick, sheer drop brainbuster, and frog splash. I never realized how much of Sami Zayn’s moveset Takeshita emulates until I noted the Helluva and a later Blue Thunder Bomb by the young DDT star. 

Takeshita hit a great looking German suplex for a near fall, as Excalibur told us about Takeshita actually writing his graduate thesis on the German suplex, which is just fascinating.

Moxley persevered despite eating a lot of offense from Takeshita, and got the submission victory after hitting Death Rider and a series of trapped elbows. 

Four stars! Really good stuff, and a fine sendoff for the young Takeshita as commentary told us he’s headed back to Japan and DDT. Moxley did a lot to put him over while still looking strong in victory. I have really fallen for Konosuke since he’s been showcased on AEW programming and I hope he comes back soon!

House of Black video showed Darby Allin getting attacked by Brody King (at Joe Bob’s Jamboree this past weekend!) as they discussed venom and how it gets into your system.

Match (?) #3: Luchasaurus versus Griff Garrison

Christian Cage accompanied Luchasaurus to the ring for a match against Griff Garrison, but first had a vicious promo against both Pillman’s dad and haircut. He then told Luchasaurus that Garrison looks a lot like Jungle Boy, and that motivated Luchasaurus to absolutely demolish Garrison. He won with the Tar Pit, a variation of Jungle Boy’s Snare Trap submission, and then slammed Pillman onto a table and choke slammed Garrison on top of him TWICE to ensure the table broke. 

That was a squash, and we don’t rate squashes here! I mean, it was a good squash, if that means anything.

The Jericho Appreciation Society had a quick backstage interview with Tony Schiavone next. Tony asked them about their upcoming shark cage visit during Jericho and Kingston’s Barbed Wire Everywhere match. Angelo Parker and Matt Menard asked a lot of cage related questions but didn’t get any answers before they stormed off. Daniel Garcia then challenged Wheeler Yuta to a match for Yuta’s Ring of Honor Pure title at Death before Dishonor.

Hangman Adam Page had an interview with Schiavone after a break, and was quickly interrupted by his buddies from Dark Order. John Silver and Alex Reynolds challenged “those creepy perverts” from the House of Black to a match on Rampage.

Jim Ross was introduced to a cheering crowd as he joined commentary.

Match #4: Claudio Castignoli versus Jake Hager

Some good MEDIUM MEATY MEN MASHIN’ MEAT (™) action between these two former WWE Superstars. Claudio went for a quick victory but Hager wriggled out of both a Ricola bomb and a Giant Swing. Back and forth action, but Hager took us to a break with a nice looking Hager bomb and controlled the action in the tiny screen.

A Scorpion Death Lock by Castignoli led to Hager calling for the JAS to make a save, and their distracting presence got Hager a Uranage for two. He followed with an Angle Lock, but Claudio turned that into another Death Lock. Another JAS distraction, but this one didn’t take and Castignoli was able to connect with a pop up European uppercut and the Ricola bomb for the 1-2-3.

Three stars! Some solid back and forth and a good showcase for Claudio in his first Dynamite singles match. Hager was a good opponent for him given their familiarity, and both guys hit a lot of solid offense and looked great. Maybe one too many distractions by Menard and Parker, but maybe that will play into a later matchup. WHO’S TO SAY?

HOOK had a very short, very non-responsive interview with Lexi Nair, who asked if HOOK had a title shot in his future.

Video of Thunder Rosa’s Eliminator Match loss to Miyu Yamashita in Japan; she’ll be coming to challenge for the AEW Women’s Championship. Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm were then interviewed by Tony Schiavone, but were interrupted by Britt Baker and Jamie Hayter. Baker put herself over as the only good thing in the women’s division and gave Schiavone a sandbag, a reference to some earlier Twitter drama between Rosa, Baker, and Marina Shafir. “You try carrying her for a month”. Oof! Sick burn.

Match #5: Anna Jay versus Serena Deeb

A counter heavy match that Deeb mostly controlled. It took a while but the crowd did end up getting into this one, as Deeb busted out some creative submissions and counters. Anna Jay held her own, getting some solid offense and a nice Flatliner, but that was reversed into Deeb’s Serenity Lock and Jay had to submit. She didn’t break the hold, and Mercedes Martinez came to her rescue. 

Three stars! A solid effort by both women, Deeb did a lot to make Anna Jay look good while still putting her submission expertise on display. 

Schiavone was again backstage, this time with Jade Cargill, Stokely Hathaway, Kiera Hogan, and interim baddie Leyla Grey. Jade isn’t worried about challengers, and Stokely assured Cargill and Hogan that “Stokely Hathaway is for the baddies the same way Wu-Tang is for the children.”

After Excalibur did his trademark super fast rundown of the next week of programming, Jay Lethal and his associates went to the announcer’s table to demand JR say mean things about Samoa Joe.

Tay Conti approached Anna Jay in the trainer’s room, and told Jay she needs to make better choices for her career. That valet shouldn’t tell that wrestler what to do!

Main Event: Rickey Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs versus Swerve In Our Glory versus Young Bucks © for the AEW Tag Team Championships

This was just amazing. Controlled chaos throughout, and a pleasure to watch. A great thing about a triple threat tag match is the amount of creativity it can bring out, as well as the fact that everybody gets a chance to catch their breath and stay relatively fresh when they’re not directly involved in the action. 

We had so much going on in this match, and I just gotta tell you to go out of your way to see it if you can. From the opening sequence where Keith Lee missed a flying spin kick and Matt just sold terror and noped the hell out of the ring, everybody looked so good, and had at least a few great spots that made everything feel important and meaningful. Swerve probably ate more offense than anyone, but those extended beatings led to great crowd reactions when Swerve was able to tag Keith Lee in for the hot tag. 

Powerhouse Hobbs and Lee had some great matchups when they were in the ring together, including a fantastic sequence where they both were on the top of the turnbuckle. Hobbs was able to punch Lee off and launch himself for an insanely far frog splash. Later, Hobbs hit Lee with a sidewalk slam and followed up by slamming literally every other opponent onto Lee.

Before that, though, a ref bump led to the belt getting involved, but Starks kicked Matt before he could attack with it. Swerve got the belt and teased attacking Lee, but he was hit by Matt who then cleaned house with the belt before the ref came to. 

Somehow, Lee recovered and, after beating the Bucks with a lost shoe, a HUGE tope by Lee out of the ring led to Swerve getting a stomp and the pinfall victory!

Four stars! I didn’t love the Swerve heel tease in a match where they would go on to win the championships, but other than that minor quibble this was a fantastic match. I will give booking the benefit of the doubt and hope that Swerve in my Glory isn’t just a team put together because they are killing time until a Swerve / Lee feud. This was great tag team wrestling and I can’t say enough good things about it.

And that’s it! A fantastic show from the opening contest to the main event, Five Good Things are easy to highlight:

1- Orange Cassidy versus Wardlow was a great opener, getting the crowd hyped with two good guys who are extremely over right now. Wardlow was surprisingly competent with the comedy parts, and Cassidy more than held his own in with the wrestling components.

2- Moxley and Takeshita had a great send off match for Takeshita, and both guys looked really good in a fun brawl.

3- Claudio Castignoli and Jake Hager had another good brawl with a bunch of good highlights as we start Castignoli on his AEW journey.

4- The ThunderStorm promo with Britt Baker was short and vicious!

5- That main event, tho… It was just SO, SO GOOD. Watch it! Do it!

I’ll be back to wrap everything up tomorrow, but I’ve also got the electrician and the pug has a vet appointment so I’ll do my best to knock things out early. What do you think about changing show recaps into just one weekly deal? I hate to take recaps away if anyone is actually reading them, but they’re a little time consuming. Maybe we move to two blogs a week, more of a Casual Friday format but on like Mondays and Thursdays? Then we can lump all the weekend shows onto Monday and Dynamite and Raw onto Thursday? We’ll need new alliterative names, of course, but let me know what’s best for you, dear reader. I’m off to read an AP style guide and see if I can’t get something PUBLISHED! (ERMAHGERD)

I appreciate you stopping by, and would love it if you drop your thoughts in the comments section below. You can also follow me on Twitter @ElOsoPequeno, where I try to remember to post whenever I update the blog. 

Have a good one!