Saturday Night Dynamite! Let's do this!
Cult of Personality hits as we open! CM Punk will be joining commentary for tonight.
Lights go out! Time to enter The House of Black!
Malakai Black vs. Dante Martin
Black enters in his black hood while Martin has white gear on. I am a sucker for that visual. Lock up as the two wrestle for position. German by Black but Martin lands on his feet. Deep arm drags by Black. Martin hits a dropkick on Black but Black comes back with a vicious elbow. Martin tries for a springboard hurricanrana or something but Black catches him in a powerbomb right into a Half Crab. Martin gets to the ropes. Black starts to work the leg of Martin as he locks in a kneebar. Martin is able to kick his way out.
Martin is able to fight back and hit a reverse rana. Black rolls out to the ramp and Martin leaps to the top and springboard into Black. Insane! Martin goes for a double jump moonsault but misses. They trade blows. Black hits a meteora, roundhouse kick and German all back to back for a big near-fall. Black tries to hit a top rope suplex to the floor but Martin hits a hurricanrana from the top! But his knee is too hurt to take advantage.
Martin hits his double jump moonsault. He gets a slow cover for 2. Black rolls him into a half crab again on the hurt knee. Black let's go of it and is selling his ribs/midsection. Martin goes for another springboard, misses and hits a Black Mass! That's enough to end it. Curious about Black suddenly selling the midsection but a very good match. Martin showed a lot of heart and potential. I liked how he kept going high risk and in the end it cost him. ***1/2
Black gives Martin a nod of the head as he walks up the ramp. Way to put the kid over.
Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus backstage with Tony Schiavone. Jungle Boy mocks the Elite's terrible powerbomb to Luchasaurus during their match last week. Omega and Cole interrupt while the Bucks blindside Jungle with superkicks. Bucks and Omega powerbomb Luchasaurus through a table as Cole makes Jungle Boy watch. More fuel to Cole vs. Jungle Boy I am sure and also help redeem the powerbomb spot but not needed.
Inner Circle enter to crowd singing as is tradition at this point. Santana speaks Spanish to the Miami crowd for a massive pop. Santana gets a few words out before American Top Team interrupts. LAME! Santana was just starting to roll on the mic. Crowd boos Lambert big time. Jericho calls Lambert a "fat face dipshit" and gets a chant. Jericho insults Paige and calls her a bitch. Stay classy, Jericho. Jericho challenges American Top Team to a 10 men tag team match. Lambert wants Sammy to use his power as champion to meet their terms, which he will reveal next week. I am assuming it will be a title match for someone. Sky reminds Jericho that he has pinned him twice. Sammy promises to kick everyone's ass to end the promo. Good segment. I wish Santana got to talk in front of the crowd longer because he was doing a great job.
Andrade El Idolo enters and introduces his team: La Super Ranas. Two masked geeks in green body suits and masks.
AAA Tag Team Championship Match: The Lucha Brothers (c) vs. La Super Ranas
Fenix and one of the masked dudes start and CM Punk immediately sandbags the whole angle by saying it's clearly FTR. Way to kill the gimmick, Punk. Moving on. Some flashy lucha wrist locks to start. Dax (I ain't going to pretend if Punk ain't) rips at the mask of Fenix but he reverses it and goes for the masks of FTR as Penta joins in. They unmask them for a decent pop. I guess the crowd didn't know. We go to break with FTR laying out the Lucha Brothers with clotheslines.
We come back to FTR dropping Fenix on the ropes from a double suplex. Penta helps launch Fenix back into the ring with a double dropkick. Double taint kicks from the top by Penta. Penta drops Cash into Dax on the outside and they follow up with double dives. Lucha Bros go to finish it but Cash gets Penta's attention. Hip tosses him into the bell keepers table. It was supposed to break. Fenix kicks him off the apron but Dax rolls him up by the tights for a 2 count. Fenix lays out Dax with a rebound kick. Tully runs out to distract the referee. Fenix goes for a moonsault but it hit by one of the AAA belts. Brainbuster by Dax ends it! New champions! Kind of a mess. The reveal was spoiled by Punk. The Lucha Brothers style doesn't click super well with FTR and they did their spots with no real flow after the break. FTR cheating to steal the AAA belts is great to build to an AEW tag title match. Crowd loved this match but I wasn't too crazy about it.
**1/2
Tony Schiavone in the back with Lio Rush and Dante Martin. Rush says Dante failed because of his own doing and he should listen to him. Rush says he is Dante's new tag partner.
Back from commercials, Tony Schiavone is backstage with FTR and Andrade. MJF comes in and celebrates with them. MJF asks for his money. Andrade paid to use FTR. I like it.
Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta
Moxley rushes to the ring, clotheslines and mauls Yuta at the bell. X Plex by Moxley and a Paradigm Shift. That's all it takes! SQUASH! Moxley was all business here.
N/A
Tony Schiavone with Serena Deeb. Deeb said she is trying to drag the women's division up to her level. Shida jumps her as they brawl. More brawls backstage. Less is more, Tony.
Adam Cole and The Young Bucks vs. Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds and John Silver
Elite jump the Dark Order at the start. All 3 heels attack Silver on the ramp. Try to triple powerbomb Silver but he reverses it into a rana. Reynolds dives onto the Bucks from the top. Dark Order take over on all the heels and take them out. They isolate Nick. Big hip toss by Silver. Silver attacks everyone but runs into a superkick by Matt on the outside. Everyone brawls. Reynolds gets a double superkick and brainbuster on Cole's knee. Nick rolls Silver in and the Bucks double team him. Quick tags by The Elite as they work over Silver and we go to commercial.
We are back and the Bucks try to suplex Silver but he counters and suplexs them. Tag to Evil Uno. He runs wild and even takes off Nick's shoe and sock at one point. Mr. Socks by Uno to a huge pop! Cole breaks it up with a superkick. Silver and Reynolds take out the Bucks and isolate Cole. Quick offense on Cole and pin but the Bucks make the save. Bucks take out Uno and Silver. Cole and Reynolds trade strikes. Cole go for the Boom but Reynolds gets a roll for 2. Bucks hit a double superkick. Panama Sunrise. Bucks superkick Silver and Uno off the apron. BTE Trigger to Reynolds by all 3. And Cole with the Boom for 3. A wild match. Crowd was super into it. Little chaotic at times but it was fun to watch
***
Jungle Boy runs out and goes after Cole but the Bucks pull him off and toss him outside. Jungle Boy gets a chair and Cutler tries to cold spray him but Jungle Boy uses the chair as a shield and cracks him with it. Snare Trap on Cutler. The Elite ditches Cutler.
We get a video package of Arn and Cody. Cody's students give him shit for being late and Red Velvet slaps him. Cody works out in the ring with his students. Arn tells Cody that Malakai Black has it coming. Not sure if they are turning Cody heel or what but I am interested.
MJF comes out and insults the crowd. He insults Justin Roberts before introducing himself for his "match" with Darby Allin. He calls out Darby for their match but he's not here tonight due to last week's attack on him. MJF calls him a gutless coward. MJF pretends to be shocked that Darby was attacked. MJF wants to give Miami a match so he calls out Wardlow. Wardlow brings out Bryce and MJF makes him ring the bell and count Darby out. Bryce gets to 9 and STING'S music hits! Sting attacks Wardlow with the bat as MJF runs for it. Sting calls MJF back to the ring but he fakes it before heading to the back. Nice segment!
Tony Schiavone in the back with Anna Jay as Britt Baker instructs. Baker calls Dark Order and Anna Jay losers and the two fight as referee's break it up.
Kiera Hogan vs. Penelope Ford
Penelope pulls hair during a lockup. Kiera tries a leap frogs but Penelope ducks it and hits an armdrag. Penelope misses a corner kick and Kiera hits a neckbreaker. Penelope hits a bulldog into the corner to take back over as we go to break. Why does this match need a break?!
We come back and Kiera hits a superplex. The two get to their feet and trade strikes. Shotgun dropkick by Keira sends Penelope into the corner and a follow-up dropkick gets a 2. Penelope gets a stunner out nowhere but Kiera hits a neckbreaker for another near-fall. Rebound cutter off the ropes by Penelope. Muta Lock by Penelope gets the tap out. A few bright spots. Kiera has a lot of potential but I still don't enjoy most of Penelope's matches.
*3/4
Ruby Soho runs out and attacks Penelope after the match. Ruby chucks her on to the ramp as The Bunny comes out to help Penelope to the back.
Miro gets a promo package. He questions his God for allowing him to lose. Miro is done with his God and will either be God's favorite champion or God's enemy. This was fantastic! Miro is the best right now.
Tony Schiavone in the ring and he introduces "Hangman" Adam Page. Page has a title match with Omega at Full Gear. Page talks about failing to become the first AEW Champion and losing his friends and confidence but the fans never left him. Page talks about taking time off to be their for the birth of his son. Page talks about getting back on the horse even when he's knocked off. The fans believe in him and so does he. He will give everything at Full Gear. He promises Cowboy Shit at Full Gear! Holy shit! This was one of the best babyface promos in years! This was real! I am hyped for Full Gear now!
Commentary runs down the card for Rampage and Dynamite next week including Black vs. Rhodes III!
Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish
Lock up to start and Fish knees and starts to strikes Danielson. Danielson is able to wrestle Fish down and lock in a surfboard before driving Fish's knees to the ground. Fish backs Danielson in the ground and gives him a cheap shot to take over. Danielson tries to quicken the pace but Fish catches him with a big kick. Danielson back drops Fish to the floor and hits a dive on him. Danielson pushes Fish into the post. Goes for a knee off the apron but Fish kicks Danielson's legs out from under him as we go to break
We come back and Fish is working on Danielson's knee in the corner. Sliding lariat by Fish for 2. Fish locks in a half crab. Danielson rolls into it and counters it into an ankle lock. Danielson transitions into a leg capture German suplex! Danielson lights up Fish with uppercuts and kicks. Fish answers with some of his own but Danielson catches the kick and hits a dragon screw. A second one follows up. Danielson wraps Fish's knee around the ring post.
Back in the ring, Danielson chop blocks the knee. Fish catches a kick and hits a back drop suplex. Fish takes Danielson up top and hits a top role Falcon Arrow for 2! As Danielson kicks out, Fish locks in a knee bar! Danielson rolls and locks in a knee bar of his own as the two kick at each other. Danielson wins that battle. Locks in a heel hook and Fish taps out! Great wrestling match from two great wrestlers. Love watching these two work their style of match especially when it clicks like this here.
***1/2
Commentary reveals the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament Bracket
-10 vs. Jon Moxley
-Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs
-Dustin Rhodes vs. Bryan Danielson
-Lance Archer vs. Eddie Kingston
Lots of great matches to be had from this tournament!
Honestly a little underwhelmed by this week’s episode. I loved Black/Martin, Danielson/Fish, Page, Miro and MJF’s promos. Everything was fine to good. A little too much chaos all night with attacks and beatdowns. AEW needs to space those out so every segment backstage doesn’t end in a fight, But still a fun show and one that set the stage nicely for Full Gear and the next few weeks on TV.
For more thoughts and opinions, follow me on Twitter @AlexKalil
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