IT'S WEDNESDAY AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!!
Commentary mentions Jon Moxley taking time off for personal reasons (entering rehab). Get better soon, Jon! We love you! If you or a loved one need help, please reach out to SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Kenny Omega vs. Alan "5" Angels
Angels is able to get Omega at the start but the champ quickly takes over. Angels gets a few hope spots and openings but can't keeps Omega down long. Omega gets a little cocky and almost loses but finally finishes Angels with a series of V Triggers. Perfectly acceptable match for TV. Gave Omega a win and some heat for the match with Hangman.
**
Omega tries to attack Angels after the match. Hangman Page runs out, Angels distracts Omega for a split second and Page almost hits the Buckshot Lariat. Page sets the AEW title on the apron and tells Omega to hold on to it because he has 10 days. Perfect segment after the match. Omega and Hangman shouldn't touch till the PPV.
Orange Cassidy vs. MIRO in the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semi-Final tonight!
Malakai Black talks about being banned from ringside for tonight's match of Cody vs. Andrade. He teases that it won't matter and others besides Brutus killed Caesar. Interesting promo.
CM Punk enters! CM Punk is in a serious mood right now. He tells the fans to chant for Moxley, which they do. I love the AEW fans! He is proud of Moxley for taking time off to get healthy (and so I am!). He tells everyone to get help if they need it. He then brings up Eddie Kingston. He wants Kingston to apologize for interrupting him on Friday. Here we go! Looking forward to that.
Miro cuts a promo backstage. He questions if God is helping him get his title back by letting him enter the tournament. Miro is still amazing with every segment.
Alex Marvez with The Young Bucks and Adam Cole. They are pissed about last week. Christian Cage enters along with Luchasaurus. Bucks and Cole try to attack them. They battle to the entrance ramps. Jungle Boy rushes the stage and dives on the heels! Christian and Matt fight on the ramp but Nick catches Christian with a superkick. Luchasaurs and Jungle Boy take out the Bucks. Jungle Boy locks in the Snare Trap on Cole. Christian grabs two chairs and hits a con-chair-to on Cole. Went a little long and not crazy about the con-chair-to on Cole right before a PPV but nice to see the babyfaces get a win. Jungle Boy's return got a big pop
Ruby Soho and Kris Statlander get a promo package for their upcoming TBS Championship Tournament match. This was very good! More of these!
AAA World Tag Team Championship Match: FTR (c) vs. Samuray del Sol and Aerostar
So awesome to see del Sol and Aerostar on TV. FTR get their dope Midnight Express music! RIP Bobby Eaton! Lucha vs. Southern style. The Lucha guys looked pretty good. Aerostar was like half a step off all match though. FTR were amazing and pros. Lots of fast action but FTR out-wrestles them and grab the ropes for the roll-up win. Fun match. Love Samuray del Sol. Aerostar is fun. FTR is great!
**1/2
Video from last week and Tony Schiavone presents Hikaru Shida with her trophy for 50 wins. Nyla Rose and Vickie interrupt and warn Shida about their match coming up. Nyla is... okay. I want to like her but she is still rough.
Inner Circle enter and we have to hear the crowd sing Judas. Jericho recaps the stipulation and is about to name the members of American Top Team that will be in the match. American Top Team and Men of the Year enter. Jericho and Dan Lambert trade insults. Dan Lambert mentions he is American Top Team member #1. I see where this is going. Lambert puts over his guys and introduces them all. A little late for this. These guys have been on TV for like 2 months. Hager names Junior dos Santos as a member. He gets a nice burn on dos Santos losing. Santana names Andrei Arlovski and cuts a great promo! Paige Van Zant cuts a solid promo. She could be someone in wrestling. Jericho chooses Dan Lambert. There it is. Lambert freaks out. This was decent. Lots of good promos between the two factions.
Tony Schiavone with Leo Rush, Dante Martin, Matt Sydal and Lee Moriarty! Sydal congratulates Dante on his win on Rampage. Asks for a tag match. Leo accepts! I am all for this match! I like the two veterans taking the two younger guys under their wing.
AEW TBS Championship Tournament First Round Match: Jamie Hayter vs. Anna Jay
Solid match. Anna and Jamie kept it even for most of the match. Anna ran wild and locked in Queenslayer. Baker pulls on Anna's leg, allowing Jamie to hit a Lariat to end it. Pretty basic match, most of it was picture in picture.
*1/2
Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter and Rebel attack Anna Jay after the match. Tay Conti runs out for the save but the numbers game is too much. Thunder Rosa (who will now face Jamie Hayter in the next round of the tournament) runs out for the save. Nice build-up for the PPV and tournament after a pretty basic match
Jade Cargill and Mark Sterling cut a promo about the TBS Tournament. Jade is still solid on the mic and says "that bitch" again.
MJF enters to massive heat! MJF cuts a promo on Darby Allin who is in the crowd. He questions why the fans hate him but love Darby. It's because MJF is everyone that wishes they were and Darby is one of them. MJF promises to beat him at Full Gear. Darby gets a mic and he is going to wrestle MJF at the PPV but fight him tonight. MJF walks away but Sting and an army of masked men stop MJF. Spears and Wardlow attack the men on the ramp. Darby and MJF brawl in the crowd. Awesome spot where Darby runs the aisle and clotheslines MJF over the guardrail! Looked fantastic! Darby goes for Coffin Drop but MJF rolls out and runs off. Promos were pretty good but nothing compared to the weeks before. Brawl was neat but I wish it wasn't on the same episode as the one earlier with The Elite, Jurassic Express and Christian Cage. Just saying.
Andrade El Idolo vs. Cody Rhodes
Cody's entrance gets a bunch of boos. These two go right at it! Cody gets a mixed reaction. Very good back and forth match. Andrade works the leg of Cody while Cody works from underneath. Lots of excellent exchanges and sequences. Cody tries for the Figure Four but Andrade locks on his own. Cody reverses it but Andrade makes it to the ropes. Referee is distracted by Andrade's manager and Arn getting into it. Cody goes for a dive but FTR hits him with the AAA tag belts! They were under the ring! Andrade rolls Cody in and Hammerlock DDT ends it! Great match!
***3/4
Andrade, FTR and Tully attack Cody. Arn gets face to face with Tully as the Lucha Brothers run out and fight FTR off. Nice build up to their PPV match. I also like Andrade paying others to help him win.
Tony Schiavone in the ring with John Silver. He faces Adam Cole on Rampage. Silver makes jokes about Cole all related to stuff from Being The Elite. Not a bad promo. Crowd is behind Silver so it should be a fun match.
Video package for Red Velvet vs. The Bunny in the TBS Championship Tournament. Neither woman is a great promo but it was alright. Not looking forward to this match much.
Here comes the Dragon! Bryan Danielson enters and joins commentary for the match.
AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament Semi-Final Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Miro
Cassidy still has his ribs taped up. Miro's first match since losing the TNT Championship. Cassidy runs from Miro and puts his hands in his pockets. He sucks Miro to the outside but Miro catches his dive and belly to belly suplex Cassidy on the floor. Miro isn't playing tonight! Miro dominates Cassidy but Cassidy hits a DDT out of nowhere! The neck of Miro! His weakness! Miro rolls out the ring to dodge the Orange Punch. But Cassidy dives off the top and puts himself and Miro through the timekeeper's table. Miro just barely makes it in just in time! Cassidy is rolling! But Miro catches him with a kick and GAME OVER! Miro wins it. I wish the commercial didn't cut into the match but Miro looked like a monster, Cassidy used his weakness to take over and legit made me think he was winning before the bigger and more powerful man won. This match worked!
***
Danielson comes to the ring and stares down Miro as we close out the night. This match is going to be something special!
This was another good episode of Dynamite. Some of the angles and segments felt like go-home segments for the PPV so I am curious what they will do next week. But everything was good TV. Cody vs. Andrade was probably the best match of the night with Miro vs. Cassidy right behind it. I liked the TBS Tournament matches getting video packages to build up to them in the coming weeks. Punk and MJF had really good promos (although both have done better in past weeks) and even the Inner Circle/American Top Team segment was fun to watch. Wish commercials didn't cut into the bulk of two matches, but it happens. Still not a fan of Adam Cole taking a con-chair-to right before a PPV, let alone 2 days before he is supposed to wrestle on Rampage. Let's see what happens Friday. Until then!
If you or a loved one need help, please reach out to SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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