Forbidden Door is right around the corner as All Elite Wrestling was in St. Louis this week for Road Rager! Every so often, AEW treats the fans to special television shows with a PPV feel. This card, like so many before, was ridiculous. The Young Bucks were in a tag team title LADDER match and it was my fourth most hyped thing on the night. With New Japan just settling their summer show, Dominion, we should see a big section of Forbidden Door begin to take shape.
The debut episode of Road Rager in 2021 was a huge show spearheaded by the debut of Malakai Black. I assumed this episode of Road Rager was to be massive, but how did it stack up? Was it a true rager, or did someone pee in the punchbowl?
Let’s find out!!!
Hair vs. Hair match: Chris Jericho vs. Ortiz
Our first match of the evening was the Hair vs. Hair match between Chris Jericho and his former friend, Ortiz. Santana and Ortiz rarely get singles matches in AEW, which is a shame because they’re both great. Ortiz hung with Jericho throughout the whole match. This match surprised me wholeheartedly. I really enjoyed this as the opener.
The match started fast with both men brawling at ringside. The tension was high because all members of the Jericho Appreciation Society were ringside, which also meant Eddie Kingston was too. Eventually, Jericho took advantage by nefarious means over his former partner. Cocky Jericho is the best Jericho. That was on full display in this one. Multiple times he stopped what he was doing to pose in the ring.
The intensity picked up towards the end, as Jericho could not put Ortiz away. Ortiz kicked out of the Codebreaker and withstood the Walls of Jericho. The Society at ringside was getting desperate at trying to distract Ortiz, which caused Kingston and the rest of his crew to attack. A brawl ensued ringside, which caused enough distraction for the wily Jericho. Kingston hit an Uraken, but there was someone else out to help Jericho. A masked individual, who looked a lot like Fuego del Sol, knocked Ortiz out with Floyd the Bat. It ended up being Sammy Guevara, who’s reunited with Jericho. I enjoyed this match a lot more than I thought I would.
3.75/5
Ortiz and Kingston yelled at Jericho post-match. Ortiz just started shaving himself and screamed “Blood and Guts” over and over.
20-on-1 Handicap match: Plaintiffs vs. Wardlow
Up next was one of the weirdest match stipulations I’ve ever seen, with Wardlow facing 20 security guards suing him for their treatment while being employed by MJF. This wasn’t even a match. It was simple, ridiculous, and my kind of segment. Wardlow ran through these guys like it was nothing. I held out hope that maybe one of the security guards would be a masked surprise, but that wasn’t what this was about. Wardlow dominated these poor souls in a fun five-minute segment. My only complaint was that it seemed a little uncoordinated. I’m not exactly sure how you make a 20-on-1 coordinated, but still!
After the “match,” Dan Lambert and Scorpio Sky were yelling from their sky box for St. Louis natives, Tyrone Woodley and Matt Hughes, to attack Wardlow. The legitimate legendary fighters looked scared of Wardlow and gave Mark Sterling to Wardlow for another Powerbomb instead. Fun stuff.
Dax Harwood vs. Will Ospreay
Up next was my most hyped part of the whole evening. Will Ospreay was making his AEW Dynamite match debut against possible Wrestler of the Year, Dax Harwood. This match exceeded all expectations. It was an amazing bout. Match of the night and I don’t think it’s close.
The crowd was on fire for this match, which added to the intensity here. It was a back-and-forth match with both guys showing how great they were. Ospreay displayed his high flying abilities, which were undone by Dax’s heavy-hitting. There were a couple of chops from Dax that could have caved Ospreay’s chest in. They were so loud.
Things got a little scary halfway through, as Dax got caught in the ring apron and almost tweaked his knee. He seemed to be fine afterward, but this allowed the United Empire leader to take advantage and throw Dax into the steel steps. They slowed down for a little, but the pace picked way back up in no time. Dax hit a million German Suplexes in a row at one point. Both guys started trading big move after big move. Eventually, Ospreay was able to hit the OsCutter and Hidden Blade for the victory.
This match was amazing. Dax Harwood has been on a tear in 2022. This match adds to that impressive catalog, which is odd because he hasn’t won many of the singles matches he’s been in. Clear match of the night from me, despite some stiff competition from the main event.
4.5/5
Match of the Night
Segments:
- Immediately following the match, United Empire comes down for a brawl, but Rocky Romero, Trent, and Cash Wheeler even the odds. We got a huge return during this segment, as Orange Cassidy pops the crowd and gets in Will Ospreay’s face. Those two look to have a match at Forbidden Door. I cannot wait for THAT.
- Up next was something I was looking forward to, but its ruining has made me irrationally angry about it! Jon Moxley and Hiroshi Tanahashi were scheduled to have their face-to-face encounter. This highly anticipated match needed very little build between the two legends, but I was excited to see Tanahashi on Dynamite. Moxley delivered an impassioned promo to kill time. Tanahashi’s limited English required this, but a Jericho Appreciation Society interruption was not required. Jericho came out to announce that Sammy and Tay were official members of the Society, who proceeded to make out and simulate sex on live television. It’s trash television and I don’t want to see it in AEW. This is going to ruin what I enjoy about the Jericho Appreciation Society. A brawl ensued, which ended with Tanahashi and company fighting off Jericho and his goons. Why wasn’t two wrestling legends having a small face-off segment enough?
All Atlantic Championship Qualifier: Ethan Page vs. Miro
Up next was the next qualifying match for the All Atlantic Championship 4-way at Forbidden Door. If what we’ve seen so far in these qualifying matches is any indication of what’s in store for the 4-way match itself, we’re in for a treat. This match, whilst not being as amazing as the first one, was still really good. Ethan Page and Miro had a good match with an easily digestible story.
The story of this match revolved around Ethan Page using his martial arts abilities to try and slow the bigger Miro down. Page constantly targeted Miro’s arm with kicks, so much so that Miro couldn’t even hit a lariat without hurting himself. This lasted a little while until the Bulgarian monster eventually overcomes. There was some inevitable Dan Lambert interference at one point, but nothing was stopping Miro. Ethan Page talked too much trash, enraged the big man, and got submitted by Miro and the Game Over.
3.25/5
Good match! Nothing special, but a simple match with a simple story. The best things in wrestling can be simple.
Toni Storm vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD
We had an Owen Hart tournament rematch up next, with Toni Storm attempting to avenge her loss from Britt Baker. This match was very well done from both the story and the work sides. I was also pleasantly surprised with the outcome as well.
The story of the match revolved around Toni being outsmarted and outnumbered by the Doctor and her entourage. Both ladies went all out from the start, which was awesome to see. I’d love to see an increase in higher-paced women’s matches where they go 100% for the whole match. Rebel and Hayter attempted to provide their quintessential distractions, but Thunder Rosa was having none of it. The AEW Women’s champ helped Toni Storm by neutralizing Jaime Hayter, which allowed for a fair fight.
However, the best part of the match revolved around the good doctor. Toni Storm delivered a hellacious hip attack on Britt in the corner. Britt looked concussed immediately. She was laboring around the ring, unable to get up, but it was all a ruse. Britt surprised us all by faking the concussion and almost stealing a pinfall from Toni Storm. I’d have been okay if she stole that pinfall, by the way—unreal acting by the DMD.
After all was said and done, Toni Storm survived the Owen Hart women’s champ and hit Storm Zero for the victory. I loved this match. Toni Storm is primed for a challenge to Thunder Rosa at Forbidden Door, which makes me very happy to see Thunder Rosa get an awesome challenge from a game opponent.
3.75/5
Segments:
- Stokely Hathaway was backstage announcing a Rampage open challenge to Jade for this Friday. There was an immediate answer by none other than Willow Nightingale. I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that she was on Dynamite. Willow is one of the best natural babyfaces in the game. And she’s awesome inside the ring as well. I hope Tony Khan makes her “All Elite” at some point.
- Hangman Adam Page came down to the ring to address everything that happened at NJPW Dominion. It sounded like he still wanted to challenge Okada, despite the Rainmaker losing the IWGP Heavyweight title. Maybe Hangman meant he still wanted to challenge for the Heavyweight title. The Hangman couldn’t get a word in edgewise when Adam Cole interrupted. He wasn’t alone, as Switchblade Jay White attacked Hangman from behind and announced that neither Hangman nor Cole will be his opponent at Forbidden Door. Cue the speculation…
AEW World Tag Team Ladder Match: Jurassic Express (c) vs. Young Bucks
AND NEWWWWWW!!!!
And finally, it was time for the main event. This week’s main event of Dynamite was the AEW World Tag Team ladder match between Jurassic Express and Young Bucks. Obviously, we all know why this match needed to be altered at the last minute, but I’m thankful AEW made it a two-on-two.
Every single match between the Bucks and Jurassic Express has been awesome. Well, guess what!? This one was awesome too.
There’s absolutely zero point in me trying to recap this one. There wasn’t a story because the match consisted of four dudes taking turns annihilating each other through tables and ladders over and over again. Huge props to Jurassic Express in this match. Both Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus took hellacious looking spots through tables. The former champs went down swinging, but ultimately the match belonged to the Bucks. This match is well worth your time for a watch if you haven’t yet. Not to mention, I cannot wait to see what the Bucks do during this Championship run. They’re clicking on all cylinders right now.
4.25/5
Unfortunately for Jungle Boy, this episode of Dynamite was not over. The young man from the Jungle seemingly tweaked his knee towards the end of the match, which required the Doctor and Christian Cage to help him out of the ring. Cage took advantage of the weakened Jungle Boy and that bastard hit the Killswitch to cement his official heel turn. That “son of a bitch” proceeded to give the young man (IN FRONT OF HIS FAMILY) the first official Conchairto in AEW. It was a brutal chair shot that made me wince. Jungle Boy looked fully knocked out. I couldn’t tell if he was truly injured, which is probably the point. A FANTASTIC way to end Dynamite.
OVERALL
And that was Dynamite for this week!!! That episode flew by. I couldn’t believe how quickly we got to the main event. When episodes fly by like that, they’re usually fantastic ones. That is indeed true for this one. Despite my one beef with the Moxley and Tanahashi face-off that never happened, everything else was great. It might be a hot take to make Ospreay and Harwood MOTN over the Bucks, but we all knew what we were getting with that one. Ospreay and Harwood was a fresh matchup that delivered way beyond my expectations.
Fantastic stuff through and through this week!
Verdict: 4.5/5