This card felt thrown together, but it was done against the backdrop of an AEW I’ve been very into. It’s wild to see where people are slotted compared to last year: an unproven Hangman Page in the World Title match, PAC over Omega, that jackass Jimmy Havoc beating Darby and Janela, the Lucha Bros in the semi-main Ladder Match.
The roster has remained similar (besides that jackass Jimmy Havoc), but holding back on the desire to throw everybody on the card just because they’re employed paid off in a show that – while weak – still had a lot going on. I’m sure The Lucha Bros would prefer to semi-main in a Ladder Match, but pumping the brakes with them will make them a bigger deal when it’s time to feature them – I think.
0. Joey Janela w/ Sonny Kiss vs. Serpentico w/ Luther
Well, I do not know why this had to happen. This was a match that just kept going in spite of itself, with none of Serpentico’s flying or kicking offense actually hitting in a way that appeared to hurt. Luther?? Pass. *
0. Private Party vs. The Dark Order (Alex “3” Reynolds & John “4” Silver)
John Silver is a beast and Marq Quen’s moonsault was beautiful, but this was another one of those AEW tags where I’m glad everybody got to show their stuff and do kickouts but it might’ve been better off a little more succinct. **3/4
1. Tooth & Nail Match: Britt Baker vs. Big Swole
There was something in here, but it was mostly a bad brawl with no sense of an actual tone. I’m all for melding spooky villains with hallway fight scenes and laughing gas spots, but I just don’t think they melded all that well here. There were good bits: Baker’s a nutcase, Swole has come along as a character, and some of the ridiculousness did hit. It just moreso didn’t hit. I don’t ever want to see a syringe on a wrestling program ever again either. *3/4
2. The Young Bucks vs. Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy w/ Marko Stunt
It’s basically AEW tag style now that the last five minutes feel a little unnecessary, but this still had enough good stuff to be… good. Yes. The Young Bucks are becoming absolute shitbag heels: Matt’s Northern lights suplex on the floor on poor Jungle Boy followed by one over the guardrail was a nasty spot, and the timing on that superkick hot tag cut-off was brilliant. Jim Ross’ love affair with one Nick Jackson continued as well – he could be a singles star, I tells ya!
Jungle Boy looked as good here as he ever has outside of the blown suplex-over-the-ropes spot too, while I’m not sure if Luchasaurus’ absolute refusal to bump outside of the odd plancha or two should be commended or concerning. Some of the twists and turns at the end felt telegraphed, but there sure were a lot of them. With the stakes not so high, this was a very fun match. ***1/2
3. Winner Receives AEW World Title Match – Casino Battle Royale
This had a few highlights: Big Will Hobbs! Brian Cage tosses Billy Gunn! Sonny Kiss eliminates Jake Hager! Darby Allin’s pop! But also, it was just a few highlights. There were too many sloppy spots, it lacked cohesion, and not enough happened for 20+ minutes of wrestling. Darby Allin’s thumbtack bodybag spot was incredible but this was too many cooks. Love you, Matt Sydal. I think. *1/2
4. Broken Rules Match: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevera
Just what I like to feel when watching my wrestling: concern.
A few minutes into this, Matt and Sammy jumped off a forklift onto a table and missed. Matt looked concussed and they rang the bell and moved on but a minute later the match restarted and Matt, still apparently concussed, climbed a rigging structure and exchanged fake punches with Sammy so Sammy could take the bump he was always supposed to and lose the match.
Safety protocols aside, I don’t know why you’d have Sammy and Matt – who literally have a history of spots going dangerously unwell – do not one but two stupid stunts. Bad wrestling and bad human decisions – professional wrestlers are god damn idiots. DUD
5. AEW Women’s World Title: Hikaru Shida [c] vs. Thunder Rosa
Thunder Rosa is a premium professional wrestler and gave Hikaru Shida the title match she’s deserved, going toe-to-toe with her on physicality and delivering every signature spot with intensity. The sense of back-and-forth had this come off as the realest wrestling match of the whole show. It went too long like everything else, but it was real good. ***1/4
6. Scorpio Sky, Matt Cardona & The Natural Nightmares w/ Brandi Rhodes and Allie vs. The Dark Order (Mr. Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Stu Grayson & Evil Uno)
Luke Harper, Zack Ryder, Goldust, and ol’ Scotty Goldman having a match with their new friends is a trip, but Cardona taking heat is never that interesting and I don’t know why this had to go 15 minutes – what is this, NOAH?! The Dark Order/Colt Cabana stuff continued to be compelling though: Cabana taking blame for the loss as Lee flipped out got a “holy shit” out of me. **3/4
7. AEW World Tag Team Title: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page [c] vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard
The table-setting here was amazing: FTR and Tully’s red satin jackets, Tag Team Championships on the line, the stoic looks in the blondie Tag Champs eyes, and just the vibe of Harwood and Wheeler being in a big match once again – my WORD.
This was the dream, baby, if they could deliver: a main event tag team match pitting marks for Japan against marks for Mid-Atlantic. Early on they sold that story alongside Page and Omega’s disagreements and FTR always being pricks. Both teams pulled out enough double team greatness too to make me think that, HEY! This might be really good.
I dug Page taking a little heat then popping Dax with a lariat, I dug Omega taking a lot of heat and getting his leg wrecked…. and then the sons of bitches just kept going. They JUST. KEPT. GOING!! There were a lot of cool ideas that if tightened up might have grabbed me, but they just weren’t and they just didn’t. I love a good tag team journey, but I hate matches that go so long they lose sense of what they want to even be in the first place.
The journey was interesting, but at some point I’ve got to admit that Jurassic Express have had at a minimum three better tag matches than this. This was a script with a great premise that didn’t have a good punchline or conclusion. ***1/2
Even the post-match angles with The Elite read like they were put together by somebody who hasn’t been running Dynamite production. Eh.
8. Mimosa Mayhem Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho
A match with more of the minuses than pluses of modern day Chris Jericho, with one too many gimmicks to really hit. They peaked with their first match at Fyter Fest, some kind of millennial Flair/Sting where I was actively bummed out and wanting more when Jericho stole the victory. When I got more, the juice seemed gone – maybe due to the feud, maybe due to a Jericho hangover.
This third match felt as unnecessary as the second, an example of Jericho going all in on something when maybe everybody could dial it back just a bit. It was like the low budget version of a Vince McMahon Mania match or something, everything thrown against the wall for occasionally no good reason. Orange Cassidy wins but I’m not convinced he’s more over than he was after the PAC match. *3/4
9. AEW World Title: Jon Moxley [c] vs. MJF w/ Wardlow
This was a match where MJF looked like a proper main event star, cut a main event bladejob, and wrecked Jon Moxley’s arm with some of the most interesting arm work I’ve seen in pro wrestling in a long time. The problem is, my energy was… ah jeez that might be too easy. They delivered a fine bloody championship battle against the backdrop of a disappointing and distracting show before it. It wasn’t great, but it was good and another entry into the ascent of this Maxwell fellow. ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: There have been 10+ episodes of Dynamite better than this – of course Dusty’s kid is in charge at a company with compelling TV and disappointing blowoffs. The title matches were all good but not enough to make up for the rest and uh almost killing Matt Hardy.
Sometimes the show felt more about promoting Dynamite or selling tickets and as a longtime fan of professional wrestling I am into that but knowing that this Pay-Per-View cost fifty bucks in 2020 gets me a little fired up. 4/10
