It was the fallout of Revolution this week on Dynamite! That usually means that the show will be story heavy. That also usually means that I’m here for it! All Elite Wrestling’s Revolution was a ringing endorsement of the greatness of Pro Wrestling. But wow would the Revolution fallout fare?
Let’s find out!
Segment:
Dynamite opened this week with a remorseful Chris Jericho addressing his behavior towards Eddie Kingston. He was mad at himself for not shaking Eddie’s hand after their match on Sunday, so he called out the King to apologize. Eddie immediately starts talking about his own issues, respect, and tears down an asshole fan chanting “WHAT!?” at him.
Seriously people…can we stop that?
Both men shook hands in a lovely show of respect, however out came 2point0 and Daniel Garcia to break it up. In what looked like a very basic scene with Santana and Ortiz making the easy save, I was swerved big time.
After Santana and Ortiz come down for the save, it looks like the situation is over. Jericho had something else in mind. He pulls a full ‘Judas’ and attacks Santana and Ortiz with Floyd the bat. He coordinated a full beatdown with 2point0, Jake Hager, and Daniel Garcia. This was fantastic until Jake Hager almost killed Eddie Kingston on a table powerbomb.
Apparently this new faction is called the “Jericho Appreciation Society,” which is really dumb. This whole segment was really good and a great sparkplug into the future of 2point0 and Daniel Garcia.
AEW Championship: ‘Hangman’ Adam Page (c) vs. Dante Martin
There was a quick turnaround after Revolution as card additions and tweaks happened before and during the show. One of those tweaks was Hangman versus Dante Martin for the All Elite Wrestling Championship. Dante had climbed up into the second position in the ranks and earned a shot against a fighting champion.
And the match was a pretty darn good television championship match. Most of the match was controlled by the much larger champ, however Dante would eventually pick up the pace. There were some really cool counters in this one, with Hangman both catching Dante into a Death Valley Driver and a Liger Bomb. Eventually the champ overcame with a really cool sequence into the Buckshot Lariat. Great match, and I cannot wait to see Dante Martin challenge for another title down the line
3.75/5
Tony Schiavone walks down to the ring for a post-match interview. Hangman proceeds to give Dante Martin incredible props and welcomes a future rematch. Unfortunately, Dante wasn’t the only one who wants a future rematch. Adam Cole was salty about Hangman’s “Fluke” victory on Sunday and wants to prove himself in a six man tag match next week. Both of Cole and Hangman’s partners seem to be cloudy at this moment, which is intriguing. The champ has worn Young Buck’s style of gear in his past few appearances.
Jon Moxley/Bryan Danielson vs. JD Drake/Anthony Henry
Up next was the debut match of Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson as a tag team. Their victims, I mean opponents, were JD Drake and Anthony Henry. The lesser experienced team tried their best, but Danielson and Moxley were too much for the upstarts. This match had one of my favorite parts of the night, with Bryan cinching in a Romero Special and Moxley biting Anthony Henry simultaneously. The possibilities for this tag team are endless. Bryan quickly decimates JD Drake with the Running Knee and Labelle Lock for the victory. Great debut here.
3.25/5
Tony Schiavone joins the winners for a post-match interview. Us fans were then treated to an impassioned and emotional promo from William Regal thanking Tony Schiavone for their relationship. I had no idea they were so close, nor did I know he had such a close relationship with Bryan Danielson. Moxley was left a little by the wayside here, but he warned the rest of the locker room to ‘Step up, or get stepped on.”
Amazing stuff.
PAC vs. Wheeler Yuta
This previously unannounced match came about because the AEW title match did not go the 60 minute time limit. Dante Martin was not winning that match, nor would I have believed him hanging with Page for 60 minutes, but I do enjoy Tony Khan implementing a ‘stand-by’ match to make it seem like he expected the match to go longer.
This match between PAC and Wheeler Yuta went exactly how I expected. PAC would dominate, Wheeler would get some offense, and PAC would eventually brutalize him. Wheeler has a lot of skill and promise, but PAC is too good. PAC hit a hellacious avalanche brainbuster, which built into his Brutalizer submission. Good match to get PAC into winning ways. More singles matches for PAC, please.
3.25/5
Segments:
- Another ‘Cutler Cam’ backstage segment followed. The Young Bucks and reDRagon apparently haven’t stopped arguing since Revolution. Adam Cole begs them to cease their bickering and that he’s already chosen his six man tag partners. The Young Bucks tell him that they don’t want to fight Hangman again, but he wasn’t thinking about them. Cole seems to infer that his partners are reDRagon, but everything surrounding this six man continues to live in shadow.
- The camera cuts to FTR backstage now. They aren’t happy with their status in All Elite Wrestling and need to change things up. Apparently that means firing Tully Blanchard, which isn’t something I saw coming. Very intrigued as to where that goes.
- The next segment was a fun one, which isn’t something I’ve said a lot about Matt Hardy. All members, excluding TH2, were in the ring for their ‘Emergency Meeting.’ Andrade asks everyone to vote for or against kicking out Matt Hardy. To everyone’s surprise, Private Party betrays Hardy and votes against him. A brawl ensues with Sting and Darby Allin coming down to save Hardy. But there was one more person to even the odds…Jeff Hardy! The Hardy Boyz are back together in AEW, which was the worst kept secret ever. Still fun though!
- Swerve Strickland was interrupted by Tony Nese during a backstage interview. They have a match on Rampage.
- Wardlow proves that he can handle his own on the microphone! It was a little squirrelly, but the confidence is there. He’s done watching other people’s backs and is claiming his own dreams. He’s done with MJF, the Pinnacle, and is free. “It’s Wardlow’s World,” is an awesome tagline.
- QT Marshall offers to ‘watch Keith Lee’s back.’ He politely declines, but we’re clearly feeding the Factory to Keith Lee.
AEW Tag Championship match: Jurassic Express vs. The Acclaimed
Up next was our second of three title matches of the night! Jurassic Express continued their hot streak against The Acclaimed in a pretty damn good match. The Jurassic duo are prime examples of fighting champs proving themselves week in week out! Not to be outdone, The Acclaimed were pretty good here too.
Gunn Club were ringside, for some reason, even though they’ve already lost their opportunity. It was a pretty standard match for both teams, as The Acclaimed were up to their usual tricks and the champs never succumbed. My favorite part of the match happened when Caster hit Luchasaurus with the boombox, which led to a crazy near fall after a combo powerbomb. Jurassic Express finally overcame after a Doomsday Device lariat for the pinfall.
This was great! I really enjoyed this match and am loving Jurassic Express’s run with the titles. Put them on television, watch them do cool stuff, and watch their popularity skyrocket. It’s been a fantastic run.
3.75/5
Women’s #1 Contender match: Leyla Hirsch vs Thunder Rosa
A confusing match from top to bottom followed that awesome Tag match. Thunder Rosa was facing off against Leyla Hirsch in a number one contender’s match to face Dr Britt Baker DMD next week. I’m kind of confused as to why Thunder Rosa was immediately placed into this match without gaining any momentum after her loss, but whatever. Tell me a great in-ring story with intense in-ring action, and nothing else matters.
Well, they didn’t do that either.
I really like Leyla Hirsch, Thunder Rosa is amazing, but something was off with this one. It was slow, the pacing was odd, and the spots were awkward. We started good with some chain wrestling and Leyla taking over with her wrestling ability, however it never really escalated after that. The match mired in the muck for eight minutes until we got a cool story part, which was the highlight. Leyla tried using the same metal Turnbuckle she used in her match against Statlander, but Red Velvet had other plans for her former friend. Red Velvet stopped her using it and threw her back into the ring for Thunder Rosa to finish Leyla off with the Fire Thunder Driver. It’s time for the Baker/Rosa rematch.
2.5/5
After the match, Schiavone announces that the AEW Women’s title match next week will be in a Steel Cage. Britt Baker obviously hates it, but will beat Rosa regardless.
TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Scorpio Sky
AND NEW!!!!
Our main event of the evening was the TNT Championship match loaded with story, but the most important part of the whole story culminated in Scorpio Sky finally capturing singles gold.
It all started with Sammy Guevara lighting up Sky with a barrage of strikes and moves. Unfortunately for the Spanish God, his confidence and craziness got the best of him. He set up a table on the floor and missed a 630 splash through it. His ribs were already taped up from his insane fall at Revolution, which led to Tay Conti and the Doctor to almost pull him from the match. He was in a lot of pain, obviously.
But in Sammy’s crazy stubborn glory, he defies both naysayers to finish the match. Scorpio really shows off his heel character work here. He hits unrelenting knee strikes, backbreakers, and even starts taunting Tay Conti. Sammy does gain some momentum, which saw him hit the GTH in the ring. He bites off more than he can chew, goes for a shooting star press, except Sky puts his knees into Sammy’s ribs. Sky then finishes it off with the TKO!
This was great stuff! I am personally not a fan of Sammy’s character work. His character is exclusively crazy stunts and cue cards. However, I can absolutely acknowledge that his character lost because of a crazy stunt. That absolutely fits his character. Good storytelling right there!
4/5
Match of the Night!
There were also some Paige van Zant and Tay Conti teasing going on, which I don’t have any interest in seeing right now. Now that Paige is signed, let her gain some experience before sticking her in a full feud.
Verdict
And that was All Elite Wrestling Dynamite for this week! This was a promo and segment driven episode, as the first few post-PPV episodes usually are. There is a lot of cool stuff happening and some stuff I’m not to keen on seeing. I’m excited for Thunder Rosa/Britt Baker again, but not a fan of how we got here. Don’t really understand how Adam Cole gets more shots at Hangman, either, but this six man match seems cool. It seems like I must do the quintessential “let it play out.”
AEW usually delivers when we show patience.
There’s a three way tie atop my favorite parts of this evening, with Scorpio Sky winning, Jeff Hardy debuting, and William Regal’s promo all sitting atop this week. I’m very excited to see where we go from here. There’s a long way until Double or Nothing, and a lot of story to tell.
Overall: 4/5