Overall, Dynamite was really entertaining tonight. It was awesome to see Negative One on the show in his Fathers hometown, and it is nice to know the Dark Order is staying around for the time being. Moxley and King in the main event delivered a hard hitting title match and while the result was a little predictable it was still quite the entertaining match. Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm looked like a well oiled machine teaming together and it was cool to see them work in tag action. Billy Gunn turning on the Acclaimed was surprising after the last few weeks, and Rush picked up an upset victory over Penta Oscuro. Wardlow is the TNT Champion and he earned it in a brutal street fight. Oh yeah, Danhausen is Orange Cassidy’s lawyer.
Preview: We have an exciting edition of AEW Dynamite tonight, live from the hometown of Brodie Lee, Rochester, New York. Wardlow will challenge Scorpio Sky for the TNT Championship in a street fight. Thunder Rosa teams with Toni Storm against Marina Shafir and Nyla Rose, Penta Oscuro goes one on one with Rush and Jon Moxley defends the Interim AEW World Championship against Brody King of the House of Black.
GREAT Wardlow vs. Scorpio Sky Street Fight for TNT Championship: Wardlow enters first and then the champion Sky. Scorpio is accompanied by a bunch of members of American Top Team as well as Ethan Page and Dan Lambert. He comes out throwing leg kicks and body punches early but Wardlow absolutely staggers the champion with a huge shoulder block. Given this is a street fight the low blow that Sky hits Wardlow with is legal, but it doesn’t make it any less slimy. Wardlow responds by throwing Sky out of the ring and when he goes after him he’s confronted by the other members of American Top Team. We head to a picture in picture commercial break where Wardlow fights his way through pretty much all of ATT and then works Sky into the corner of the ring. As we return from the break, Wardlow is on the top rope with Scorpio Sky attempting a superplex. Wardlow knocks Sky off the top rope and then takes to the sky himself with a swanton bomb. Just when it appears Wardlow might powerbomb his way to a TNT Championship the American Top Team members interrupt the match and it’s all legal because it is a street fight. Scorpio Sky comes out of nowhere and drills Wardlow with the TNT Championship right between the eyes. Wardlow kicks out at 2 and then he spinbusters Scorpio into oblivion. Lambert is knocked off the top rope, and the first of the Powerbomb Symphony lands. The second and third are delivered in succession and Wardlow is the new TNT Champion! The crowd goes ballistic and Wardlow is ecstatic himself. Confetti flies as Wardlow celebrates his victory.
Result: Wardlow by Pinfall via Powerbomb Symphony
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
Jon Moxley backstage promo: Moxley cuts a taped promo about his match tonight with Brody King. It’s vintage Moxley and it’s a perfect set up for tonight’s match. Too short to rate.
Mark Sterling Petition segment: Sterling and Nese are trying to get Swerve Strickland removed from the roster via a petition. They approach Keith Lee and he declines to sign. Too short to rate.
AMAZING Christian Cage and Luchasaurus promo: Christian has a hilarious line about how he’s the Cage that everyone is talking about after Blood and Guts. Then he addresses the elephant in the room or should I say the Dinosaur in the room Luchasaurus. Matt Hardy interrupts Christian before he can even get going. He calls Christian the, “Michael Jordan of being an asshole,” and that one cracked me up. Christian responds by saying that Matt is, “starting to make his brother sound like the sober one,” and the crowd gasps in unison. Matt is trying to stop Christian from taking advantage of someone else, insinuating that he took advantage of Jungle Boy and now he’s doing the same with Luchasaurus. Christian gets right in Hardy’s face but Luchasuarus steps in and delivers a headbut to send Matt outside the ring. Luchasaurus then hoists Matt up and chokeslams him through the timekeeper’s table.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
Claudio Castagnoli and Jake Hager backstage interview: Tony Schiavone makes sure we know that they have agreed that there will be no physicality in this interview. Castagnoli lets Hager know that while Jake is undefeated in MMA Claudio is undefeated in AEW and they will face each other next week. Too short to rate.
GOOD Butcher and Blade vs. Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee: Keith Lee starts the match with the Blade who he quickly disposes of before Butcher is tagged in. Butcher gets frustrated and grabs a chair but Blade stops him from using it. Swerve is tagged in and so is Blade. There’s a bad botch as Blade is short going under Swerve Strickland as he is attempting a leapfrog. Keith Lee is brought in and he hits a huge double chop and then brings Swerve right back in. As Strickland looks to hit a dive on Blade, The Bunny gets in the way and then Swerve is tripped face first onto the apron. During a picture in picture break, Butcher and Blade tag in and out and dominate Swerve. Out of the break, Butcher has Strickland up on the top rope but Swerve bites his hand and then sends him flying. He tags in Lee and Keith is all over both Butcher and Blade. Swerve is shoved into Lee and hit with a shoulder block by his own partner and then Butcher and Blade are able to take advantage with a huge boot and lariat combination. Keith Lee barely breaks up the count and he now goes after Butcher and knocks him out of the ring. Swerve and Lee hit the Swerve in Their Glory and they get the win. Hobbs and Starks interrupt the post match music and they aren’t done with Swerve and Lee. As Starks starts to get fired up, The Young Bucks interrupt him and they aren’t ready to hear a tag team conversation that doesn’t involve them. They have a proposal, a three way Tag Team Title match involving Swerve In Their Glory, Hobbs and Starks and The Young Bucks next week at Fyter Fest.
Result: Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee by Pinfall via Swerve in Their Glory
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GREAT Eddie Kingston promo: Eddie wanted the final stamp, against Chris Jericho. He wanted to be the one to put him away at Blood and Guts. Jericho interrupts him, and he has Ruby Soho backstage having her hand broken by Tay Conti in a car door.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
Dark Order Promo: Brodie Lee Jr. accompanies the members of the Dark Order to the ring, and they take the microphone. The 6 of them, in the ring now, are here to stay and they are staying as the Dark Order. Negative 1 is then passed the microphone and he is interrupted by QT Marshall. He actually suggests a match with Negative 1 but Hangman Page is having none of it and he runs down to throw QT to the wolves. 10 delivers a gigantic Discus Lariat on Marshall and then Brodie Jr tells him he’ll wait until he’s 18 to pin QT. Unrateable segment but great to see Brodie Jr. involved in the show!
GREAT Penta Oscuro vs. Rush: Penta is accompanied by Alex Abrihantes and his brother Rey Fenix. Rush makes his way to the ring with Jose the assistant and Andrade El Idolo. The match starts with massive chops. The crowd is firmly behind Penta and they go crazy when he hits Rush with a springboard armdrag off the steps. Back in the ring Rush lands a huge forearm and then hits Penta with two corner splashes. He follows by trying to once again rip Penta’s mask off but Oscuro catches him with a slingblade and then a tope con giro. Alex Abrihantes and Jose the assistant then get physical in the entryway as we head to a commercial. Out of the break they are once again trading chops in the ring but it is punctuated with a huge powerslam from Rush. They get to their feet and trade headbutts and then Rush lands a huge leaping knee strike on Penta. He misses the follow up in the corner though and Penta lands more chops. Rush hits a missile dropkick and now he seems to be in the driver’s seat. He hits a diving senton but Penta kicks out. Penta hits a rolling cutter and then drills the Fear Factor but Andrade puts Rush’s boot on the rope. While the referee is questioning Andrade about the foot, Rush connects with a low blow and then pulls Penta’s mask off allowing him to steal the victory by rollup.
Result: Rush by Pinfall via Rollup
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
Smart Mark Sterling Petition segment: He and Nese ask Orange Cassidy to sign his petition but Cassidy refuses without his lawyer Danhausen. They organize a match for Rampage on Friday and while this segment is too short to rate it was also hilarious.
SQUASH The Acclaimed and Gunn Club vs. Ruffin it and Fuego Del Sol: As Max Caster is doing his signature entrance the microphone is snatched out of his hand by Austin Gunn. Max is not happy but Bowens is trying to talk him down. Billy Gunn actually appears to be upset with his own sons over interrupting the entrance. The match starts and while fuego del sol lands a tornado DDT it doesn’t amount to much. Max Caster hits the Mic Drop but Austin Gunn blind tags himself in and picks up the pinfall victory for the team. After the match the Gunn Club and the Acclaimed fight amongst each other and Billy hammers Max Caster with a clothesline before hitting Bowens with a Famouser.
Result: The Gunn Club and Acclaimed by Pinfall via Mic Drop
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – SQUASH
Nyla Rose and Marina Shafir vs. Thunder Storm: Toni Storm starts the match with Marina Shafir and she has the early advantage in their exchange. She works Shafir over towards Thunder Rosa and tags her in for some tandem offense. Thunder Rosa and Storm look like they have teamed together before as they tag in and out quickly and they have Marina Shafir isolated on their side of the ring. Marina is able to grab a wrist lock but that is about the only offense she has mounted at all. Toni Storm is hit with a leg kick and then Rosa is knocked off the apron by a right hand. The referee checks on Thunder Rosa and Nyla Rose uses one of the umbrellas as a weapon on Toni Storm. Thunder Rosa is tagged in after a commercial break though and she fires shots at Nyla Rose who is in the match for the first time. Toni Storm hits a giant hip attack on Marina Shafir and then they hit an assisted Tombstone piledriver to win the match.
Result: ThunderStorm by pinfall via Assisted Tombstone Pilldriver
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating –
GREAT Jon Moxley vs. Brody King AEW World Championship Match: Brody King enters alone without the other members of the House of Black. Moxley enters to a massive pop from the crowd and they chant his name before he makes it all the way to the ring. The match starts with a traditional tie up and then Moxley is backed up and dropped with a gigantic chop. Outside the ring is where King sends Mox next and he throws him into the guardrail. He runs at Moxley but Jon is able to evade and King hits the ring steps. Brody recovers quickly though and he slams Moxley up on the entrance ramp and then throws him into the time keepers area where the already broken table is. Moxley fights his way out and back in the ring he gets the larger man in a figure four leg lock. Brody King reverses things and he gets a headlock briefly but Moxley is out easily. They trade shots in the middle of the ring and then Moxley hits the ropes but he is caught with a bossman slam. King dominates the commercial break with boots to the back of Moxley’s head and then more huge strikes. When we return from break he lifts Mox up on his shoulders in a fireman’s carry but Moxley hits a bunch of elbows to stop Brody. King then misses on his signature cannonball senton and Moxley hoists him up onto the top rope and tries for a superplex which he connects on. He follows that with a dragon suplex and then he stomps on the head of Brody King. Moxley tries for a piledriver but it looks like King is too big and he hits a piledriver of his own. He nearly chokes Moxley unconscious in the corner and he hits his signature cannonball senton this time but that isn’t enough. Mox hits a paradigm shift but that isn’t enough yet. He follows with hammer and anvil elbows and then a rear naked choke which he transitions into a bulldog choke to finally put away Brody King.
Result: Jon Moxley by Submission Via Bulldog Choke
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
Overall: Overall, Dynamite was really entertaining tonight. It was awesome to see Negative One on the show in his Fathers hometown, and it is nice to know the Dark Order is staying around for the time being. Moxley and King in the main event delivered a hard hitting title match and while the result was a little predictable it was still quite the entertaining match. Thunder Rosa and Toni Storm looked like a well oiled machine teaming together and it was cool to see them work in tag action. Billy Gunn turning on the Acclaimed was surprising after the last few weeks, and Rush picked up an upset victory over Penta Oscuro. Wardlow is the TNT Champion and he earned it in a brutal street fight. Oh yeah, Danhausen is Orange Cassidy’s lawyer.
Matches: 0.50/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 0.75/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.50/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 3.25/5 Stars
Photo Credit: AEW
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