Hello, Gatecrashers! Last week on Dynamite we saw Riho crowned as the first AEW Women’s Champion, Sammy vs. Cody, PAC vs. Page, the shocking return of John Moxley and the formation of a heel stable called… we don’t know yet!
This show was in the SOLD OUT Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. I just checked out the card and this looks like a mediocre show. Maybe I’m wrong!
Let’s get into the Good, the Bad and the Mid of AEW Dynamite!
Good: Private Superkick Party
The show opens with the announcers hyping the event, then a video package showing how the Bucks specifically went out of their way to hire Private Party to AEW. The Bucks saw themselves in Private Party and wanted to give them a shot. Well, now that shot has brought the teams together to fight in the first round of the Tag Team Title Tournament. The Bucks are the 1 seed and PP are at number 8. Will there be an upset? Will Private Party go over the Bucks and win the Titles? CAN THE CINDERELLA DREAM OF THE WITCHITA STATE SHOCKERS COME TRUE TONIGHT THROUGH PRIVATE PARTY IN BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS?!?!?
Private Party’s presentation looks big time. They have the velvet rope, beads to throw to the crowd, bold color choices, and the ability to play to the camera. It’s really been a long downhill slide since their Dynamite debut. Maybe Tony Kahn though they had the early Diamond Dallas Page problem where he was overloaded with gimmicks. I don’t know, but I do know that Private Party looks compelling on this watch
Oh, yeah, and the Bucks also look cool.
The match is a pure banger with the Bucks playing the veterans that control the ring, isolate the opponent, make frequent tags and double team with effectiveness. Private Party relies on explosivity and resilience. Matt goes so far as to powerbomb Isiah Cassidy on the ramp so the Bucks can work over Marq Quen without interruption.
The crowd gets INTO IT, splitting between Bucks and Private Party chants. PP is over immediately. What the fuck happened with these two? Why are they jobbers in 2022?
There’s a cool spot where Private Party goes for the Silly String, but Matt catches Cassidy and goes into his choo-choo Northern Lights Suplex train. It’s super smooth.
Near the end of the match it looks like The Bucks are just a move or two away from putting away Private Party but nothing works. Private Party gets a HUGE hope spot by hitting a Gin and Juice followed by a Marq Quen 450. Matt kicks out, then the Bucks take control and go for a Muh-Muh-Muh Meltzer Driver, but that gets blocked. Marq Quen rolls up Matt and Private Party gets the big upset victory!
Private Party runs into the crowd and everybody loses their minds. It’s a great moment and yet another indictment of how Private Party has been handled in the intervening 3 years. Maybe there’s a long term payoff here… I mean, they are still super young but Tony would have to make something special happen to get them up to championship level again. Could be a VERY long term Kahn plan.
Double Good: Circle Up, Boys
Jericho, Hager, Guevara, Santan and Ortiz make their way to the ring to Judas which nobody knows the lyrics to yet. Jericho cuts an absolutely EPIC promo, putting himself and everybody in his brand new stable. There’s no way to sum up this promo without either transcribing it or just straight up watching it, and I don’t have the time to transcribe 5 minutes worth of gold.
Oh, hey, look at this, 90% of the promo is on AEW’s Youtube!
After this Youtube clip ends, Jericho drops the name Inner Circle, runs down Cody, Dusty and Dustin (who he’s fighting tonight). HE EVEN DROPS AN S-BOMB AND BY THAT I MEAN HE SAYS SHIT ON LIVE TV!
The highlight of the whole thing is when Jericho shuts down the “WE THE PEOPLE” chant directed at Hager. I mean, just watch the clip. It’s masterful.
Mid: Pure Havok
For some reason Jimmy Havok and Darby Allin are facing off in a “winner gets a title match” match. Neither one has a particularly impressive win loss record. Jimmy is 1-2, Darby is 1-1-1.
Havok cuts a pretty great video promo about how he’s overcome massive amounts of pain, but he actually likes the pain! It’s not a very original premise for a hardcore wrestler but he makes it compelling. Too bad he had a rough history that ate his career.
Darby comes to the ring sans skateboard. We get clips from the excellent time limit draw between Allin and Cody from Fighter Fest.
One of the coolest things about this match is the mat wrestling. Darby is an incredibly skilled grappler, and Havok has always tied his deathmatch wrestling with some sweet catch action. Submissions can also be ultra violence!
The match itself is fine. Fine fine fine. It’s a good exhibition for both men without ever getting into a groove. I like parts of it a lot, like when Havok commits some turnbuckle based violence or when Darby bings around the ring like a crazed pinball. It could be that there was no doubt that Darby was winning this thing. Havok was destined to be a Youtube AEW wrestler, brought out for the occasional hardcore match on TV. Everybody could tell that Allin was on the way up and needed a win WAAAAY more than Havok ever did.
Allin wins with a crucifix pin. He’s gunnin’ for Jericho!
Good: Team Dullsville vs. a Witch and a King Drag Freddy Mercury
Emi Sakura and Bea Priestley face off with the boring version of Britt Baker and the regular boring version of Riho. Riho and Sakura have a history; Sakura trained Riho. When they face off it looks really good. These two could wrestle each other in their sleep and have a decent match.
The match spills to the outside with a lot of action between Priestly and Baker. They have a history going back to… I think Fight for the Fallen. Unfortunately the feud is cut short when Priestly opts to head to Japan.
I said it before about Priestly but it goes for Baker too; at times they look REALLY GOOD and at other times they look REALLY BAD. There’s really no in-between. I haven’t kept up with Priestly so I don’t know if she’s improved, but Baker is still varying between hot and cold.
Riho is really the star of the match. I rag on her for having all the personality of Miracle Whip, but I can’t deny that her in ring action is just stellar. She’s so fast and smooth from move to move.
In the end Boring Baker wins with the… well, they call it the Mandible Claw so that’s what it is for now. Baker and Priestly go at it after the bell until Referee Aubrey chastises the heels to head to the back. Overall… it’s not bad!
Mid: Thumbs in the Middle
There’s a quick segment at ringside with the Best Friends watching a video of them hugging, and then revealing Orange Cassidy sitting at ringside. He gives a medium thumbs up to their chances of beating SCU. Well, that certainly was a segment.
Good but weird: Sean Spears, Mox Killer
Sean Spears in a match here against Moxley. I WONDER WHO WILL WIN.
PAC, dressed in his ring gear joins in on commentary. I’m convinced at this point that the man goes grocery shopping in his tights. He’ll (rightly) complain through the match that he should be facing Jericho since he’s undefeated.
Mox comes to the ring to his original theme music, which I truly love. Wild Thing is okay IMO.
There’s a lot of action on the outside of the ring. Tully legit SPRINTS into Mox and rams him into the ring steps. I did not expect that. Spears takes control at that point and basically kicks the shit out of Mox for about 5 minutes, throwing in a rolling Death Valley Driver into the ring barricade for good measure. It’s kind of shocking how long Spears is in control. You just wouldn’t see that in 2022.
Spears looks good in this match but he’s just not an AEW wrestler, if that makes any sense. He’s a little bit too staid in his offense and a bit too “try hard” in his presentation. That’s part of the reason the “10” gimmick worked for him. There was just enough there to get him over. I should point out that Accountabilibuddy Spears is best Spears and I’m curious to see what’s next for the Chairman here in July of 2022. SPEAKING OF CHAIRMAN OH YEAH WWE CHAIRMAN VINCE MCMAHON JUST RETIRED/RESIGNED UNDER INVESTIGATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT JUST TO MARK THIS IN TIME IF YOU’RE READING IT IN THE FUTURE.
Note: Spears’ belt buckle comes undone and he has to keep pulling up his pants like a big nerd.
I know I already said it but wow is it weird to see Spears just DOMINATING John Moxley for 95% of the match. Mox hits a Paradigm Shift out of nowhere and that’s the match.
Good: Ric Flair Might Not Want To Wrestle This Broom
After the match Kenny Freakin’ Omega stands on the entrance ramp, holding a barbed wire baseball bat and a barbed wire broom. Mox walks towards him. Kenny looks at the bat and then the broom, then tosses the bat to Moxley. Right when it looks like they are about to barbed wire swordfight, PAC runs up on Kenny from behind with a chair and blammos him. Mox stands over Omega but declines to take advantage of the prostrate Omega.
Is the barbed wire broom silly? Yes. Do I pop for it? You better believe it.
Good: Heel in Peril?
We get Dustin Rhodes and “Hangman” Adam Page vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara (the future Le Sex Gods) with Jake Hager for the MAAAAAIN EVENT to close out the second Dynamite. Page still has beef with Jericho and Dustin got put through a table by Jake Hager last week so he’s got big issues with The Inner Circle.
Jericho is in his Painmaker/Heavy Metal Darkman outfit of the Trillby plus studded leather jacket. Guevara starts the match against Rhodes, but Rhodes wants Jericho. The last time these two faced off was 2010 on (checks notes) Superstars what apparently is a good little match. You can watch their 2002 IC title match and this 2010 pair of hidden classics illegally if you search on Google. I’m not going to link them here! I’m a good boy!
Apologies for that long aside.
Rhodes takes it to Jericho on the outside, just absolutely kicking Jericho’s ass. Back in the ring, Rhodes and the Windham-like Page hit some pretty decent tag team moves, cutting the ring off, making tags, basically working dominant faces while Guevara is the rarely seen Heel in Peril. Fittingly, heel shenanigans turn the tide over to The Inner Circle.
The match is reversed. The heels cut off the ring and work over Hangman for a loooong time. This match is mostly two heat building segments. I’m not complaining, it’s all good tag work, which I’m a huge mark for.
Page hits a HUGE discus lariat to set up the hot tage to Rhodes. Rhodes cleans out and hits a twisting cross body (!) off the top rope to take out Jericho and Guevara. Rhodes is a miracle.
Page hits the Orihara Moonsault but then eats a big clothesline from Hager. Rhodes goes for a pin but only gets two. Rhodes eats a clothesline from Hager while the ref is distracted. JUDAS EFFECT and that’s the match. The Inner Circle take out two formidable opponents in a pretty darn good match.
Really Good: It All Breaks Down, It All Comes Together
Hager, Jericho and Guevara run a beatdown on the faces. Page and Hager fight to the back. Dustin eats feet from Jericho and Guevara. THE LIGHTS GO DOWN! THEY COME BACK UP! IT’S MALACHI BLACK I MEAN IT’S CODY! CODY HITS THE CROSSRHODES ON GUEVARA! SANTANA AND ORTIZ JUMP CODY! MJF TO THE RING WITH A CHAIR! JERICHO OFFERS UP CODY’S HEAD TO MJF! MJF ATTACKS THE INNER CIRCLE! MJF GETS A MONSTER FACE POP!!! But then he EATS A JUDAS EFFECT!
THE YOUNG BUCKS SUPERKICK PARTY OMG IT’S SO EXCITING MY CAPS LOCK IS STUCK!!! BEATDOWN ON PROUD N’ POWERFUL! Jericho attacks the ref, but then turns toward the ramp and GODDAMN DARBY ALLIN ON HIS SKATEBOARD BARRELS INTO JERICHO AAAAAH I LOVE IT SO MANY THINGS ARE HAPPENING AND THEY ARE ALL IMPORTANT! ALLIN RAINING PUNCHES ON JERICHO! SKATEBOARD ATTACK!!!
All the faces are in the ring while everybody chants AEW. The show should be over but I guess they wrapped up a little early. This gives Jericho a chance to grab the mic and call out Cody and Allin. He’ll see Cody in August and Allin next week. GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!!!
Final Thoughts:
Not bad! I was entertained throughout. It was definitely a better overall show than the first Dynamite. Obviously I loved the ending of the show. It reminded me of when WCW would end the show with a bunch of organized chaos where the NWO would be in the ring and then faces would come out one at a time but they would jump whoever they were feuding with. Then Sting would come down and face his rival, the entire NWO. It definitely had that vibe where stories were pushed forward while the pace of the action never let up. Remember at the top when I said the card looked mediocre? I was wrong! Great show.
Compare/Contrast with TNA Weekly PPV #6
Wrestling:
As you’d expect, AEW gets the W this week. I don’t know if TNA will ever get a win, to be honest. The best match this week (Low Ki vs. Amazing Red) only got eight minutes in a two hour show, while Dickso Infernal’s “Jive Talkin’” preview got at least five. TNA’s wrestling is hamstrung by WCW booking holdover logic. It’s like they are still timing the matches around commercial breaks.
Story:
The Truth had another stellar promo segment. He’s absolutely on fire and the most compelling character in TNA. Shamrock and Jarrett definitely… yelled. The Dupps were terrible as always. Lynn and Styles “made up” and neither one attacked the other after the bell. Again, to reiterate from last week, this will not last, they will keep fighting for weeks and weeks and weeks.
AEW absolutely rocked when it came to storyline advancement. From the overconfident Bucks to Mox and Omega to Preistly and Baker (this storyline dies on the vine, unfortunately) to the ascension of The Inner Circle and finally multiple stories advanced in the final 4 minutes of the show… wow. 2 hours well spent and well booked. Big improvement over the first Dynamite.
Overall, I was mostly entertained by TNA and exceedingly entertained by AEW Dynamite.
—–
No new matches to add to the best of the best this week, IMO. I give a light recommendation to the Bucks and Private Party match but it’s not a must watch.
Best Matches
TNA
4 Way X Division Championship Match – TNA Weekly PPV 2
AEW
The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers for the AAA Tag Titles – Double or Nothing 19
Cody Rhodes vs. Dustin Rhodes – Double or Nothing 19
Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho – Double or Nothing 19
The Elite vs. The Lucha Brothers and Laredo Kid – Fyter Fest 19
The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers for the AAA Tag Titles – All Out 19
Kenny Omega vs. Pac – All Out 19
I only wrote 11 pages this week! Unbelievable! See you in 2 weeks with TNA PPV #7!