Overall, this was a wild show with tons of highs and a few lows. The two initial tag matches did not fail to deliver as they were both entertaining, knock down, drag out, contests. In the opener, Blackpool Combat Club picked up the first of what would become 3 victories by the end of the night, when Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland became the new number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, but not without the help of a low blow. MJF was his usual self at times tonight, but others he was not. In his interview with Renee Paquette he dragged her husband Jon Moxley, even going as far as doing an impression of his mannerisms. By the end of the night however, Max ran down to the ring to make the save for Jon Moxley. Only to fire The Firm, before being viciously attacked by his former, “Stable on Retainer,” to end the show. Oh yeah, a vignette teasing the return of The Elite played during the show too.
Preview: AEW Dynamite is in Norfolk, Virginia tonight. FTR is in action against Swerve in Our Glory. The Blackpool Combat Club is in multiple matches against the Jericho Appreciation Society, and in the main event Jon Moxley defends the AEW World Championship against Penta El Zero M.
GREAT Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta vs. Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia:
Garcia and Jericho enter first to a raucous ovation followed by Yuta and Castagnoli. It will be interesting to see the kind of reaction Garcia gets from the crowd when he is in the ring by himself. They are clearly behind Yuta as early in the match he has some exciting spots. Later on after a lot of back and forth, Jericho tries to use Floyd the baseball bat on Castagnoli but he’s intercepted for a powerbomb followed by a Giant Swing with Daniel Garcia on his shoulders! After a flurry of Uppercuts by Claudio he lands a diving uppercut off the top turnbuckle to pick up the victory for the Blackpool Combat Club.
Result: Blackpool Combat Club by Pinfall via Diving Uppercut
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GREAT FTR vs. Swerve in Our Glory:
Interestingly this second tag match of the night is actually an AEW World Tag Team Championship number one contenders match. The Gunn Club is at ringside to watch this one, but so is their Dad as well as the Acclaimed. As expected this is an incredibly entertaining tag match. FTR works incredibly as a team as always, and I thought this was one of the better performances by Swerve in Our Glory in recent months. Late in the match, Strickland sends Cash outside and he has a dust up with the Gunn Club. With the referee distracted Swerve first hits a low blow on Harwood and then Keith Lee scores with the Big Bang Catastrophe to pick up the win. After the match the Gunn Club attacks FTR before The Acclaimed makes the save as the segment ends.
Result: Swerve in Their Glory by Pinfall via Big Bang Catastrophe
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
AMAZING Renee Paquette interviews MJF:
At the top of the ramp Paquette introduces MJF to a massive pop from the Virgina crowd. Max immediately jumps into an impression of Renee’s husband, Jon Moxley, which is pretty spot on. Renee manages to keep a straight face, but I must admit the impression was funny. He then says that he intends to win at Full Gear clean. Eventually he is interrupted by Stokely Hathaway, which does not make MJF happy. Max slaps the microphone out of Stokely’s hand and then says that he doesn’t want The Firm to lay a hand on Moxley before Full Gear. This was a fun promo as usual by MJF and his initial back and forth with Paquette was definitely the highlight.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
GREAT Bryan Danielson vs. Sammy Guevara:
William Regal once again joins commentary for this one. Guevara and Tay are heavily booed as they make their entrance. The match starts like a house of fire, and both Danielson and Guevara are able to maintain an incredible pace for a really long time. Sammy hits multiple Spanish Flies in the match that are very impressive, and even tried to give Danielson some Yes Kicks of his own. This only fired up Danielson who after a flurry, scored on his Busaiku Knee followed by Triangle Choke that put Guevara to sleep.
Result: Bryan Danielson by Submission via Triangle Choke
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GOOD Jaimie Hayter vs. Riho:
Interestingly in this one the crowd is completely split to start the match. In fact there are dueling chants for both competitors in the opening moments. It is clear, a large portion of the fans still want Jaimie Hayter to turn babyface. The match starts and there are early shenanigans as Hayter distracts the referee while Baker gets some cheap shots in on Riho. After a big babyface comeback from Riho, Jaimie Hayter connects on a Ripcord Lariat to pick up the win. Toni Storm walks to the top of the ramp and holds up her title while staring down Hayter. This was a very entertaining match as Hayter and Riho worked really well together. The crowd was shockingly more into it than I expected as well. Still there were some slow spots and that’s why it didn’t score quite as well as it could have.
Result: Jaimie Hayter by Pinfall via Ripcord Lariat
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
GOOD Jon Moxley vs. Penta El Zero M, AEW World Championship Match:
Both men receive huge pops for their entrances and the world title match starts with a staredown. After some circling and trash talk, they start to trade strikes. Both are so physical in the ring this is about as snug of a match as you could have coming off of Hangman Page’s injury last week. In what would have been the craziest spot of the night, Penta attempted a Destroyer onto the ringsteps that thankfully Moxley blocked. They head back in the ring and Penta is able to hit the Fear Factor and nearly win the title. In the end, Moxley lands a Paradigm Shift followed by a Deathrider to retain his title. After the match The Firm almost immediately hits the ring and attacks Moxley. MJF appears at the top of the ramp and contemplates for a minute before hitting the ring. He tells Stokely that The Firm is fired, but that only causes him problems. Morrissey drills him with a big boot. Ethan Page hits the Ego’s Edge on a virtually lifeless MJF. They move him outside the ring and Morrissey puts the exclamation on it with a chokeslam through the ringside table. The show ends with The Firm standing tall over a battered MJF. What a way to end the show.
Result: Jon Moxley by Pinfall via Deathrider
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
Overall: Overall, this was a wild show with tons of highs and a few lows. The two initial tag matches did not fail to deliver as they were both entertaining, knock down, drag out, contests. In the opener, Blackpool Combat Club picked up the first of what would become 3 victories by the end of the night, when Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Chris Jericho and Daniel Garcia. Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland became the new number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, but not without the help of a low blow. MJF was his usual self at times tonight, but others he was not. In his interview with Renee Paquette he dragged her husband Jon Moxley, even going as far as doing an impression of his mannerisms. By the end of the night however, Max ran down to the ring to make the save for Jon Moxley. Only to fire The Firm, before being viciously attacked by his former, “Stable on Retainer,” to end the show. Oh yeah, a vignette teasing the return of The Elite played during the show too.
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 For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
