Preview: AEW Dynamite is set for another Wednesday night edition, emanating live from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Good Doctor is in the building. Tony Khan may have a major announcement, but the preshow headlines are more concerned with the fact that Dr. Britt Baker DMD, returns to Dynamite for the first time since losing her coveted AEW Women’s World Championship at the hands of Thunder Rosa in San Antonio, Texas. That being said, tonight is about to look a heck of a lot more like Brittsburgh than Pittsburgh, as the hometown hero will wrestle her Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament qualifying match in the place she calls home. Elsewhere on the card, Hook will be sent for the first time on Dynamite, and we all know what happens when they, “Send Hook.” In the main event of the evening, Darby Allin and Andrade El Idolo will extend their blood feud further, in the always dangerous, Coffin Match.
AMAZING CM Punk vs. Dustin Rhodes: CM Punk enters first to a raucous ovation, and commentary takes the time to point out that this is easily the most experienced opponent that Punk has encountered since returning to the squared circle. Rhodes is given a warm welcome, and he has an intense look in his eye as he makes the walk to the ring. The match starts slowly with a stare down followed by a respectful handshake. Pittsburgh approves, and the lockup exchange is as professional as one would expect. Punk lands a series of arm-drags, but a hip-toss from Rhodes halts the momentum. We slow the pace back down as the two wiley veterans circle each other before another sequence of chain wrestling ensues. These guys know each other well, and each has the other’s tendencies scouted thus far. The crowd comes alive for the pure wrestling exchange that has started this match, and this Dynamite has that, “big night,” feel early. Dustin attempts a cross-body but Punk evades and when Rhodes spills to the outside it appears his left knee is compromised. CM Punk sends Rhodes back into the ring and goes right after the left knee of Dustin Rhodes, who writhes in pain on the mat between various attacks to the injured limb. We head to our first commercial break, and inside picture in picture it is clear that Rhodes is working on one leg. He musters the strength to land a series of right hands but he isn’t able to capitalize given the state of his knee. Punk continues to take advantage of the situation, wrapping him up in a figure 4 leg lock. Dustin is crafty though, and manages to roll Punk up for a near fall in a small package. Punk is now appearing frustrated at Rhodes’ resilience but he’s still in control. Back from commercial Rhodes boots Punk out of the ring but as he gets to the apron, CM scores on a kick to the bad knee of Dustin Rhodes. Dustin responds, sending Punk into the ringpost but he’s on one leg. The crowd is really into this match, and Dustin is finally starting to look like he’s really got a chance to win this one. He corners Punk and goes up to the top for 10 consecutive-big right hands, but as he climbs down his left knee gives out once again. Punk is loopy but he has a chance to capitalize, as he tries, Dustin is able to reverse for a Code Red and another near fall. Punk gets back to his feet with a smile on his face and tries for a GTS, Dustin reverses and lands his patented dropdown uppercut, followed by a powerslam in combination for another close pin attempt. Punk has time to recover though and goes back to the knee, locking in the figure 4 leg lock for real, this time around. Rhodes with his bad knee is in a really tough spot, but the crowd now appears to be behind Dustin and he begins to fight out with right hands. Punk fires back with right hands of his own, but the adrenaline allows Rhodes to begin to reverse the pressure on the hold, and CM has to crawl to the ropes for the break. We are nearly 20 minutes in, and this is one of the best matches I’ve seen from Punk since he’s been back. This is incredible, Rhodes lands a Cross-Rhodes on Punk, followed by a Spike Piledriver and CM Punk kicks out at the last possible millisecond! Rhodes starts to throw right hands at Punk again, but is met with a roundhouse kick. Dustin hits the ropes and then is lifted up by Punk for the GTS. Rhodes slips to the ground but Punk drops down and hooks the legs for the surprise roll up and gets the win. What a way to start Dynamite in Pittsburgh. CM Punk showed how great he can still be, and maybe even more fun, Dustin Rhodes did too. That was awesome, they ended the match the same way they started, with respect.. Punk and Rhodes embrace, and I’m not really sure how you follow this one. As Punk walks up the ramp, Hangman Adam Page’s music hits and he and CM Punk have their first staredown in person, on television. Eye to eye, nose to nose. Page-Punk may be headed our way and I am here for it.
Result: CM Punk by Pinfall via Rollup
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
Mark Sterling briefs Wardlow on security measures: Sterling meets Wardlow at the doors to the building and lets him know that he will from here on out be escorted by AEW security to his locker room as well as to the ring and out of the building. Wardlow has no problem with it, and then Sterling adds that he will be needing to wear handcuffs until he wrestles tonight, to which War-Dog obliges. Too short to rate but a fun segment.
GREAT Blackpool Combat Club vs. Brock Anderson, Dante Martin and Lee Moriarty: The latter of the trios are all in the ring and then Bryan, Yuta and Moxley make their entrances in that order. The Combat Club is all over their opponents out of the gates and they look a lot more like a well oiled machine than they did last week. The match actually starts finally, and Yuta dominates before he tags in Danielson. Dante Martin gets in for his side and is a little too quick for Bryan Danielson, so he tags in Moxley. After a few clotheslines, Martin tags in Brock Anderson who is knocked out of the ring by Moxley before Yuta re-enters the match. We head to our first commercial and Yuta is all over the other side. Brock Anderson struggles on the mat as Yuta and Moxley continue to deliver tandem offense followed by quick tags in and out. It’s starting to look like Danielson is playing the Mariano Rivera role, and won’t enter the match unless absolutely necessary. Out of commercial Brock Anderson is able to score on a spinebuster a-la his father and then tags in Moriarty. Lee is on Moxley briefly but Bryan Danielson is tagged in. Moriarty and Bryan go at it but Danielson is just too experienced, he tags in Moxley at the same time Dante Martin is tagged in by Moriarty. Moxley grabs a choke on Dante Martin and when Dante’s teammates try to break it up, Moxley is unflinching. The Blackpool Compat Club gather and go to work on all 3 opponents. After a stereo stomping, Jon Moxley connects with an elevated Paradigm Shift on Dante Martin and this one is academic from here, 1,2,3 that is it. This was a much more cohesive, sensical look as a trio, than the Blackpool Combat Club’s first effort, no doubt.
Result: Blackpool Combat Club by Pinfall via Paradigm Shift
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GOOD Adam Cole, ReDragon, and the Young Bucks backstage interview: Kyle O’Reilly calls Brandon Cutler, “Landon,” before addressing the Bucks, and how they haven’t really been getting along recently. KOR calls themselves the “Undisputed Elite” and mentions that as a team they are unstoppable. Adam Cole takes the floor and calls for a 10 man tag open challenge for next week. O’Reilly ends the segment by finally getting Brandon’s name right for the first time, ever.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.00 Stars
AMAZING Tony Khan’s major announcement: The President of New Japan Professional Wrestling is introduced, and is interrupted by Adam Cole shortly thereafter. Cole announces, on June 26th from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, AEW and NJPW present.. Forbidden Door!! Not to mention, we’re set to get a preview this Friday night, as Adam Cole will take on Ishii in an Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament qualifying match! Cole finishes the promo as the music of Switchblade Jay White plays. The Switchblade grabs the microphone from Tony Khan at the top of the ramp and begins to cut a promo. White is so cunning on the microphone, this is gold, he takes credit for selling out Madison Square Garden the last time NJPW did a show like this. Jay shouts out the Undisputed Elite and The Bullet Club and says that it is, “still, our era,” making it clear where his allegiances lie in regards to the AEW roster.
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
GREAT The Butcher vs. Wardlow: Butcher enters first and is quickly followed by MJF who is up in a suite eating popcorn with Shawn Spears. Max immediately attacks Ben Roethlisberger on the microphone before going after Wardlow, also verbally, and then throwing his bucket of popcorn into the crowd. He then announces Wardlow cannot come out with any entrance music and he must wear the handcuffs until he gets in the ring. Because Wardlow is under contract with MJF he must comply. The crowd chants Wardlow’s name a-la Goldberg as he approaches the ring. With the handcuffs and security aesthetic, this also has the movie “Gladiator” vibes, and this is one heck of a story he and MJF have been telling. The handcuffs are off and Wardlow and Butcher trade stiff forearms in the center of the ring. Butcher bites the forehead of Wardlow, but nothing can stop the War-Dog, he is totally game and he shoulder-blocks Wardlow out of the ring. Butcher throws a number of chairs around the ring and it distracts Wardlow. Outside Butcher is able to thrust Wardlow into the ring post to gain a brief advantage. Back in the ring Butcher drills Wardlow with a powerbomb but Wardlow kicks out at one. The Wardog lifts Butcher up for the first of the Powerbomb Symphony and it is delivered with clear authority. The crowd is riled up and 2 more powerbombs are delivered. The 4th is more than enough. With no music to celebrate to, Wardlow is still the winner of the match, as he is re-handcuffed to leave the building. He is one step closer to getting his hands on Maxwell Jacob Friedman though, and better yet, he absolutely decimated The Butcher.
Result: Wardlow by Pinfall via Powerbomb Symphony
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
AMAZING Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jungle Boy Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament qualifying match: O’Reilly enters first before Jungle Boy gets the crowd going with his signature entrance. Hands are waving and we easily have our most blockbuster on paper match-up of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament qualifying thus far. They start trading holds in the center of the ring, and both O’Reilly and Jungle Boy are incredibly slick as they chain wrestle to start the contest. The level of technical wrestling tonight between Punk and Rhodes and this one is off the charts. This thing is nearly impossible to follow move for move, but just trust me, Jungle Boy and KOR are absolutely sublime. We head to commercial and it is as back and forth as a match can be while still maintaining a storyline, which is that O’Reilly is trying to slow things down and Jungle Boy is trying to speed things up. They’ve traded enough sequences at this point I’d call the pace, medium, so no one really has the advantage, but as I type this O’Reilly truly grounds Jungle Boy for a significant amount of time. Out of the break Jungle Boy scores with a tope suicida and a lariat to regain some momentum. As they roll back in the ring O’Reilly catches Jungle Boy’s leg for a dragon screw, but Jungle Boy is able to latch onto a guillotine choke. KOR is able to turn the hold into an exploder suplex, but as he looks to capitalize Jungle Boy drills him with another huge lariat. Jungle Boy follows with a belly to belly into the corner and just as O’Reilly looks to be in serious trouble he grabs onto Jungle Boy’s arm for a Kimura. They go into the corner where Jungle Boy fights out of the arm lock, back in the center these two competitors trade strikes and holds before the sequence ends with O’Reilly grabbing an ankle lock. After a few frantic minutes for Jungle Boy he reverses the hold into a Snare Trap but it is too close to the ropes and O’Reilly is able to break the hold. They finally get back to their feet and trade suplexes with neither getting the better of the other. Kyle O’Reilly drops Jungle Boy with a kick and then climbs the ropes for a diving knee drop, which is enough for the shocking victory. Kyle O’Reilly, is not only in the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament he is undefeated in AEW as a singles competitor. What a match this was, in all seriousness, it is splitting hairs between this and Punk-Rhodes for match of the night, and I haven’t even seen the main event yet.
Result: Kyle O’Reilly by Pinfall via Flying Knee Drop
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
Alex Marves, MJF backstage interview: MJF is furious about Wardlow’s victory. He calls himself a snake, and says he doesn’t care what people think. He hands a wad of cash to Jake The Snake Roberts. It is Wardlow vs. Lance Archer next week. Too short to rate.
GREAT Hook vs. Anthony Henry: Hook has been sent, and there’s no doubt about it, Hook is over as all over. The crowd is electric for his entrance, they’re in stitches for his first hip toss. If Hook chews his gum differently it moves the crowd at this point. I’m not exactly sure what “It” is but Hook’s got “It.” Danhausen appears, and he tries again to curse Hook again but it is to no avail. Hook locks up Red Rum on Henry, and that is a ballgame. As the bell rings Danhausen grabs the microphone and begins to address this whole Hook being un-cureseable conundrum. Get this, Danhausen has laid down the full gauntlet. He says, “Hook, if you don’t want to be cursed by Danhausen, then you will fight Danhausen!” as he pokes Hook in his chest. The Hookster doesn’t speak, not yet at least, he just casually makes his exit to end the segment.
Result: Hook by Submission via Red Rum
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
Scorpio Sky and Kazarian backstage segment: Sky interrupts Kazarian calling out Sammy, to tell him that he appreciates all he’s done for him but that he needs to step aside so that Scorpio can go after Sammy first. After teasing saying no, Kazarian reminds Sky that he always has his back, and tells him to go get Sammy. Too short to rate.
AVERAGE Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti in ring promo: Sammy has the microphone and is in the ring with Tay as they are both booed profusely. Guevara is delivering a babyface promo to a crowd who is not having it. Then he goes on about how his girlfriend is, “hotter than yours,” as Sky makes his way to the ring accompanied by Lambert and Page. Ethan Page grabs the microphone and starts to rip Sammy to which the crowd is loving it. Dan Lambert has now been passed the stick and he is really good at what he’s doing. He lays down an offer, either Sky gets his rematch or both Sky and Ethan are going to beat Sammy up. Sammy accepts except he’s got a couple stipulations. Next week, it’s Scorpio Sky vs. Sammy Guevara for the TNT Championship in a Ladder Match! Oh yeah, and the mixed tag match involving Paige Van Zant, is on!
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 2.50 Stars
GREAT Danielle Kamela vs. Dr. Britt Baker DMD Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament qualifying match: Kamela enters first to a bunch of boos. Then, “The Doctor will see you now,” plays and the terrible towels are flying. Pat Freiermoth and Najee Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers accompany Dr. Baker to the ring and “DMD” chants are belted out by the crowd as the bell rings. This is the definition of a home game for Baker. Britt isn’t quite dominant out of the gates but the offense from Kamela hasn’t been exactly strong enough to say she’s been dominant over the Doctor either. As we head to break Kamela has a headlock on Baker but this result feels imminent. Harris and Freiermoth wave their Terrible Towels on the outside but Kamela gets a hold of one and uses it to choke Baker. In Brittsburgh? That was a bad idea. The good Doctor places some stiff forearms squarely across the jawline of Kamela before hitting the ropes and delivering a slingblade. She follows with a swinging neckbreaker and a stomp before asking for the glove. This time the glove is a Pittsburgh Steelers glove, and nearly as soon as the glove is over the hand Kamela is tapping out. Dr. Britt grabs a microphone and addresses the crowd. She talks about how the AEW Women’s division is nothing without her. Baker brings up nearly every contender in the whole division and then directs her attention towards Jade Cargill. Britt-Jade.. Now we’re talking.
Result: Dr. Britt Baker by Submission via Lock Jaw
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
AMAZING Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo Coffin Match: El Idolo is already in the ring to start the match as Darby’s music hits and he enters with skateboard in hand. The match starts quickly with the Family Office members jumping Darby Allin before El idolo begins to lay in the boots himself. Allin uses the skateboard as best he can to fend off the onslaught but the numbers game is far too much. As Darby is slammed against the guardrail, the Family Office begins to go to work on the grounded Allin, but a fan in the crowd turns out to be Sting! The Stinger evens the odds, if even for a moment, laying out both members of Private Party, as well as the Blade of the HFO. Marq Quen delivers a chair to Sting’s back but it doesn’t mean anything, the Stinger then leaves his feet from the top of the tunnel down to the arena floor laying out everyone. We head to commercial break, and Sting is officially just going to do whatever he wants, and I love it. Meanwhile, El Idolo is still in control of Darby Allin, and they are the guys in this match. Out of the break Allin and Andrade are in the ring and Darby scores with a flipping piledriver. As El Idolo spills to the outside, Darby attempts a Coffin Drop but is caught by Andrade for a German suplex. Darby is moved into the coffin and it is clear that the inside of the lid is covered in thumbtacks. Allin is able to fight his way out and the match spills to the top of the entrance ramp. There is a steel grate to the side of the ramp and Darby is thrown on top of it. Darby is now being dragged back to the coffin and he is dead weight. While he is able to resist momentarily, Andrade begins to destroy the coffin out of frustration. He takes Darby to the apron but Allin fights out and then hits a suicide dive sending El Idolo into the coffin. Jose, Andrade’s assistant, briefly tries to interfere, but to no avail, Darby throws him on the thumbtack covered lid, and then closes the coffin on Andrade. Nobody asked me, but if someone did, I’d say don’t fight Darby Allin in a Coffin Match. That is probably a bad idea. What a fun Dynamite as usual, and I gotta give credit when it’s due. They are on a roll.
Result: Darby Allin by locking Andrade El Idolo in a Coffin
Clark Taylor’s WR Star Rating – 4.00 Stars
Overall: Overall, there is a ton to unpack from this Dynamite. Let’s start with the worst, which was once again Sammy and Tay, however I must admit, it was slightly better than previous weeks. Aside from that, there’s not much more we could have asked from Punk and Rhodes, as that match was outstanding. The Undisputed Elite continued to push multiple storylines they are involved in, including Kyle O’Reilly’s qualification in the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament. Dr. Britt Baker is back and it is still Brittsburgh, Pennsylvania every time the Good Doctor comes back to town, as she won her qualifying match in a walkover. Hook managed to remain undefeated and he’s on a collision course with the entity that is Danhausen! Oh yeah, on June 26th, in my hometown of Chicago, Illinois, the Forbidden Door is no longer a moniker, as New Japan and AEW are set to host a co-promoted show featuring the best of both rosters!
Matches: 0.75/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 0.75/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 0.75/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 4/5 Stars
Photo Credit: AEW
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