“Pinnacle, this isn’t over! And the reason is: the Inner Circle never forgives, and the Inner Circle never F’N forgets!” – Chris Jericho
I mean — you kind of need a better reason, guys.
RIGHT???
Andrade el Idolo is here now.
The World
Dynamite is on Friday through the end of June, and with AEW back on the road soon we’re in this weird purgatory that is bleeding on-screen too much — like a compromise between killing time but trying too hard, which to be fair has been the vibe since Revolution in March.
For a while AEW felt like a wrestling company confident enough to embrace simplicity and use their world-building to carry quieter shows. Now it feels like a more muddled series of characters and rivalries where you can have a bullrope match and big name debut but it still feels like nothing happened.
The follow-up to Double or Nothing? Not that exciting. I’m into whatever Eddie Kingston is stirring up but otherwise Kenny Omega going on and on about win-loss records is starting to scream midcard champion while Britt Baker‘s first challenger could’ve actually used the win-loss records but instead went with hamburgers.
Anthony Ogogo punched Cody Rhodes in the jaw and QT Marshall pinned him too.
The Sting and Darby Allin interviews are skippable at this point but the rise of Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky keeps working —- they have that early New Age Outlaws chemistry before it got all you know. Matt Hardy laid out Christian Cage, Red Velvet has a posse, and it’s Miro vs. Evil Uno next week. That’s all pretty cool.
The Wrestling
Nothing standout but rock solid all the same, and opening your show with Young Bucks vs. PAC/Penta is a serious flex.
The Young Bucks vs. PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo – An array of awesome maneuvers within a TV tag team match, maybe not as quality start-to-finish as Usos/Mysterios on FOX but certainly wilder stuff. The step-up destroyers and dual package piledrivers and german suplexes were all fun, but the double stomp version of the Wassup headbutt stuck with me.
Cody Rhodes & Lee Johnson w/ Arn Anderson vs. QT Marshall & Anthony Ogogo – This was more about the QT pins Cody finish than anything else, but Shotty Lee skins the cat like a champ and his dropkick to setup the hot tag was beautiful.
Christian Cage & Jungle Boy vs. Private Party w/ Matt Hardy – If you don’t think this hit the beats you haven’t been paying attention. Everybody played their role well and our protagonist, the Jungle Boy, looked fantastic.
Red Velvet w/ Big Swole and KyLinn King vs. The Bunny w/ The Blade – Quick match, but Velvet has a posse now and whether on purpose or not she made sure this match was memorable when she nearly crippled herself on a tope. That wrestling heart… it’s beating.
Bullrope Match: Dustin Rhodes vs. Nick Comoroto w/ Aaron Solow – As alluded to earlier it kind of felt more No DQ house show match than compelling TV wrestling, but Comoroto looks the part and Dustin will throw the best punches in AEW if you want him to.
The Entertainment
Crazy tope and a bullrope… AEW has a better ratio than most, but at this point Don Callis feels like the most natural character on the show and that seems bad.
Andrade got treated like a big deal but didn’t totally feel like a big deal. Not his fault. It read like the Big Show/Mark Henry Guys Who Might Do Things debut less than Ric Flair’s caged animal of a son-in-law about to kick everybody’s ass.
It feels like more fun is being had in the YouTube Universe, but that’s not making me want to consistently watch those shows — it’s just making me feel kind of eh about this one.
My Favorite Things
- The way JR says “The club…”
- Private Party’s stupid outfits
- The way Shotty Lee Johnson skins the cat
Room for Improvement
- Make those moments stand out – Comoroto kicked out of the Final Reckoning!!
- Push past purgatory
- More Taz
Top 10 Dynamite Stars
- Britt Baker (2)
- Darby Allin (3)
- Eddie Kingston (7)
- Miro (-)
- Hangman Page (-)
- Kenny Omega (6)
- Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky (NEW)
- Orange Cassidy (-)
- Jungle Boy (NEW)
- QT Marshall (NEW)
5 to Keep an Eye on
- Red Velvet
- Jade Cargill
- Evil Uno
- Thunder Rosa
- Danny Limelight
