Match 1: CM Punk vs. Max Caster
Opening things up on Dynamite was CM Punk taking on a very game Max Caster in a 7-minute bout.
Max had control for most of this match, until Punk mounted a comeback and got his spots in. The end came when Punk avoided the Mic Drop elbow from Caster and got off a piledriver, followed by the Anaconda Vise for the submission win.
Post-Match
Punk addressed the crowd after the match, talking about the belt gesture he made last week following his win over Dax Harwood. He said that he didn’t know who might be the AEW World Champion might be in a week’s time, but he didn’t want to end his run in All Elite Wrestling without being a World Champion.
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Pinnacle Problems
Backstage, we saw MJF declaring Wardlow to be “persona non grata”, having his lawyer Mark Sterling post up signs saying that the big man is banned from the arena tonight. Meanwhile, FTR simply wanted to focus on their match against the Gunn Club. Dax Harwood mentioned that he didn’t know what MJF’s problem with Wardlow was, so he was not getting into it.
Maxwell Jaxwell then said that Wardlow allegedly said some bad things about FTR, but it didn’t look like they bought the claim.
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Match 2: Jon Moxley vs. Jay Lethal
After recent losses that saw Lethal get shafted by his opponents cheating to win, the man himself made it clear that things would need to change for him sooner rather than later. Lethal hoped that a victory over the B.C.C.’s Jon Moxley would change his recent fortunes. Sadly, that wouldn’t be the case.
Lethal put his best foot forward against Mox, even managing to do some damage on the former AEW Champ’s knee.
The end came when Moxley reversed a figure-four attempt into a Paradigm Shift to get the victory.
Post-Match
A victorious Jon Moxley offered a respectful Code of Honor handshake to Lethal, who intially hesitated, but ultimately shook Mox’s hand.
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Marina Shafir is Coming
We saw a hype package for Marina Shafir, which showed highlights of her matches on AEW’s YouTube shows. Shafir said that she’d be a problem for the AEW Women’s Division soon.
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Match 3: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs. Gunn Club (Colten & Austen Gunn)
This match stemmed from the “Ass Boys” taunting FTR during Dax’s match with CM Punk last week, as a way to further FTR’s face turn.
While the tag action was great as usual, it was largely overshadowed by the arrival of Wardlow halfway through the match. The vengeful “War Dog” dispatched several security personnel in the concourse area – even
FTR would pick up the victory after hitting Austin Gunn with the Big Rig.
Post-Match
There was a difference of opinions between MJF and the victorious FTR duo. Dax was none too happy with Max’s business “disagreements” with Wardlow and got into his face for it. MJF would raise the arms of Dax and Cash, but it was quite clear that they didn’t seem too pleased.
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J.A.S. vs. Kingston & Proud ‘n Powerful Brawl
Chris Jericho was backstage with the group known as the Jericho Appreciation Society, as he bragged about his group being the “revolutionary force in sports entertainment” for the last three weeks. Jericho said that everyone was wanting to be a part of the J.A.S., but there was only five members for the group. “GFY”, was his response to everyone else who wanted to be a part of it.
As the rest of the J.A.S. bragged about sending Alex Reynods & John Silver, plus Eddie Kingston and Proud ‘n Powerful to their “future endeavours”, Kingston and PnP showed up and proceeded to beat the hell out of the J.A.S.!
Kingston and crew managed to score the upper hand initially, as he even knocked Jericho out with the Uraken backfist, but the J.A.S. quickly regained the momentum, and it just turned into a prolonged heel beatdown, with Jericho’s team using The Damn Numbers Game to leave Eddie, Santana, and Ortiz laying at the end of this segment.
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Match 4: Bryan Danielson vs. Wheeler YUTA
In what was the standout match of the evening, the “Young Lion” of the Best Friends, Wheeler YUTA, had a tall order ahead of him as he took on The American Dragon, Bryan Danielson, in singles action.
This match was ostensibly designed to give Wheeler a massive rub, even in defeat. The ongoing story with YUTA has been his desire to join William Regal’s Blackpool Combat Club – even at the apparent expense of his friendship with the Best Friends.
YUTA showed fearlessness in facing the challenge that Danielson brought to him.
The finish came when YUTA literally spit in the face of Bryan Danielson, just before getting his head kicked in and a LeBell Lock that the referee would stop the match on, due to YUTA being unconscious.
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The Undisputed Elite’s “Championship Celebration”
Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly – who referred to themselves as “The Undisputed Elite” – had a “Championship Celebration” with the AEW World and World Tag Team Championships they stole from “Hangman” Adam Page & Jurassic Express, respectively. Cole said that it isn’t stealing if it was something that belonged to you. He boasted about the Undisputed Elite being the “new crew” to run things around here in All Elite Wrestling, because he and reDRagon were the three best wrestlers in the world.
AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page arrived at the arena in his longhorn-bedazzled Tesla and began to fight off The Undisputed Elite by himself. Page had Cole dead to rights for the Buckshot Lariat, but O’Reilly and Fish pulled him out of harm’s way. The AEW World Tag Champions Jurassic Express and manager Christian Cage stopped the UE from escaping as they got some payback on Cole, Fish, and O’Reilly. Again, Cole managed to avoid the Buckshot Lariat, but Hangman threw him into the reDRagon duo.
With their title belts recovered, Hangman, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus stood tall in the ring, having won this battle against The Undisputed Elite.
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Who is the Greatest Tag Team of All Time?
FTR talked about how they’d make history at ROH’s Supercard of Honor by winning the ROH World Tag Team Championships on Friday (more on that match here). They stated that they loved pro wrestling too much to ever settle for second place, which is why they’ve challenged the Young Bucks to a match, so everyone will find out which team is the top tag team in all of wrestling.
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Foundations That Stand
We had remarks from the AEW Women’s World Champion, Thunder Rosa. She talked about how she was the first Mexican-born Women’s World Champion, and that she was determined to set an example by becoming the face of women’s wrestling around the world.
She challenged all comers to face her, as she promised to be the foundation that would remain standing, even as all the pillars around her fell. Rosa closed off by accepting the challenge that Nyla Rose had given her, saying that she would beat her.
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Match 5: The Bunny vs. ??? (Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Qualifier)
Bunny’s opponent for this match was AEW’s latest signing, and we didn’t have to wait for long to find out who it was. Toni Storm walked out of the stage, revealed as the Bunny’s mystery opponent.
While Bunny got some offense in, this match was ultimately a showcase for Storm to show off her stuff as the newest addition to an already-stacked lineup in AEW’s women’s division. Storm captured the victory after finishing Bunny off with a German suplex, followed by the Strong Zero finisher to punch her ticket in the Owen Hart Women’s Tournament.
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Abracadabra, Bitch
Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero provided a rebuttal to Thunder Rosa’s earlier promo, saying that Nyla is the “real” foundation of AEW’s women’s division. Nyla said that she’d grant Rosa’s death wish and “jack her up”, ending her remark by saying, “abracadabra, bitch!”
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Match 6: Andrade El Idolo vs. Darby Allin
Capping off Dynamite was this grudge match between Darby Allin and the leader of the Andrade Family Office, Andrade El Idolo. The action didn’t wait for the belt to start, as Andrade attacked Darby during his entrance and threw him all around the ringside area in a brutal assault.
Once the match actually did officially begin, with both Andrade and Darby tearing each other apart in an absolute struggle. Andrade used his strength in an attempt to dominate Darby, who countered with his high-impact, high-speed offense.
The tide turned when Andrade’s assistant Jose tried to get involved, but was beaten down by Sting. This prompted The Butcher and The Blade to attack Sting on the outside. Darby intervened, but that would prove to be his downfall, as Andrade took advantage and hit Darby with the El Idolo hammerlock DDT for the win.
Post-Match
The AFO, joined by Private Party, continued the assault on Darby and Sting post-match. It looked as though Dynamite would end with the heels standing tall, but the Hardy brothers made sure that wouldn’t happen. Matt and Jeff Hardy cleaned house, ending with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb, respectively, on Private Party’s Marq Quen to wrap things up.
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4/1/22 AEW Rampage Results
- The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) def. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) via pinfall (11:30) with the BTE Trigger in an excellent rematch between these two tag teams. While this match was airing taped, the Bucks would make an appearance at ROH’s Supercard of Honor to attack the Briscoes.
- A video package aired, showing Kris Statlander and her “dark” persona.
- The Men of the Year and Dan Lambert were in the ring, bemoaning Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti having sex on the TNT Title that was now in Lambert’s possession. Scorpio Sky said that Sammy would never get a shot at his TNT Title ever. Sammy and Tay appeared on the AEW big screen. They talked about how they wouldn’t get what they want, so they decided to do some persuasion of their own. The couple destroyed Dan Lambert’s car with sledgehammers before leaving.
- Danhausen walked in on an interview between Tony Schiavone and HOOK, trying to curse him. Once again, HOOK ignored the curse and walked off, as Danhausen was frustrated at his curses having no effect.
- The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, Buddy Matthews) def. Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) and Fuego Del Sol via pinfall (10:00) after Malakai kicked Fuego with the Black Mass kick to pick up the win. Chris Jericho named The House of Black his “Sports Entertainers of the Week”.
- The Young Bucks accepted the challenge that FTR issued for them, with their long-awaited rematch happening on Dynamite next week (with the ROH World Tag Titles and the AAA Tag Titles now at stake, following Supercard of Honor).
- Jamie Hayter def. Skye Blue via pinfall (7:00) to advance to the Owen Hart Women’s Tournament. While the result was inevitable, the match was not a complete squash, as Blue managed to keep herself in it.
- Penta Oscuro and Alex Abrahantes warned the House of Black not to forget about Death Triangle, because they were not done with Malakai Black’s group.
- Keith Lee def. Powerhouse Hobbs via pinfall (11:30) after finishing him off with the Big Bang Catastrophe. Ricky Starks attempted to run in with a steel chair, but was foiled by Swerve Strickland.
- Team Taz got some payback on Lee and Swerve after the match, putting the two of them through separate tables to end Rampage.
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There was a lot to like about this week’s crop of AEW shows, especially in the department of establishing new stars.
Wheeler YUTA might’ve come up short in his match against Bryan Danielson, but he arguably won many over with his gutsy performance in his match on Dynamite. His current storyline of wanting to be more than just a Best Friend is taking YUTA’s character to heights that were never thought to be possible, and the week that he had further cements that. After his match with the American Dragon, YUTA capped off his week by defeating Josh Woods at Supercard of Honor to become the new ROH Pure Champion, also managing to become #AllElite in the process. These recent developments will make things more interesting for YUTA — especially in his bid to join the Blackpool Combat Club.
On Rampage, rookie upstart Skye Blue looked to earn her spot in the Owen Hart Women’s Tournament against Jamie Hayter. She’d ultimately lose in that match, but did manage to hang tough against the associate of Dr. Britt Baker DMD. As with the resurgence that Wheeler YUTA as had, look for Blue to have her own surge of momentum down the line. She is a can’t-miss prospect that AEW can definitely utilize in the future.
Toni Storm’s arrival in AEW is a good thing for sure, but the looming issue of her being left as a background player appearing mostly on the YouTube shows is omnipresent. Of course, the solution to this (and in general, the Women’s Division as a whole) would be to give TV time to women’s feuds that do not revolve around the AEW Women’s World Title or the TBS Championship.
There are currently two feuds in the Women’s Division that fit that bill — Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb & Kris Statlander vs. Leyla Hirsch. However, there is certainly room for more feuds along these lines where it’s a matter just two bitter rivals wanting to beat the tar out of each other.
If there was one glaring issue I had with last week’s show, it was the Jericho Appreciation Society/Eddie Kingston & Friends segment that overstayed it’s welcome. While I get the idea was to establish the J.A.S. having the numbers advantage, I’m not so sure having the returning babyface trio of Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz being laid out in their first appearance since getting beaten down by the J.A.S. was well thought-out. AEW sometimes has a problem with having these heel beatdown angles go on longer than they should, and it was the case here once again.
That’s a wrap on a big wrestling week on This Week in AEW. ‘Til next time, keep cool, gabagools.
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Marc Quill is the editor of RingCrashers, GateCrashers’ home for all your All Elite Wrestling and indie wrestling needs. He’s also the web novelist behind Skye Emery: Bluebird, which you can read here. You can chat with him about wrestling, comics, and stuff in general on @MarcQuill on Twitter.
