“I’ve been around a lot of men in this world that have laid claim to how they’re the greatest. There is only one place to really prove that: right here, in AEW. Even, if you think you are the best in the world.” – Darby Allin
In the two days after this show, WWE President Nick Khan named the concept of sleep as their competition and I bought tickets to see AEW Rampage at the United Center.
The World
It continues to rule how much ground AEW can cover embedding pro wrestling love into a show, this week alone spanning Chavo Guerrero to Haku and Hiroshi Tanahashi to Juventud Guerrera. Chris Jericho wrestled Nick Gage in a death match too.
The catch is the names and history are (mostly) used to build up the home team, not remind me how much cooler wrestling used to be. Even the home team is getting crowded, not enough room on Dynamite for everyone not to mention all the free agents about to become available. Rather than any visible problem though, everything is combining to create an atmosphere I look forward to every week.
There was more on CM Punk too, and by that I mean AEW out of the blue announced another Chicago show in a few weeks at the United Center, Darby Allin did a promo right after referencing the “best in the world”, and the crowd chanted “CM Punk” as the camera rolled. So that’s just another thing going on right now.
There is roster bloat and no excuse for how non-existent the women’s roster has been, but so many acts are moving with momentum and likely about to collide with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and a Forbidden Door.
All this and they’re trying to make The Blade a thing!
The Wrestling
The wrestling meant well and went many places: 10-man elimination, disappointing tag, 6-man tag, squash match and a Nick Gage death match. The IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title was defended too because the world is one.
- Elimination Match: Hangman Page, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs. Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows – All-time great wrestling entrances by way of Cowboy Dark Order and Elite Toon Squad were followed by something better than any Survivor Series match in the last decade just based on fun content alone. Page/Omega was the constant, but Silver and Reynolds got an awesome run and Stu Grayson went full psychotic on a few dives.
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Santana & Ortiz w/ Konnan vs. FTR w/ Tully Blanchard – Not happy this wasn’t good. It felt like the first match of a few and Cash got hurt at the end, but still – not happy.
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IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title: Lance Archer [c] w/ Jake Roberts vs. Hikuleo w/ King Haku – In an environment directly following the United Center announcement and CM Punk tease, this quick match felt like the Undertaker/Test of tonight’s SummerSlam ’02 where they worked hard enough that the atmosphere carried them along. Plus Haku was there.
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Christian Cage, Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Private Party & Angelico – 5-minutes of perfectly pleasant 6-man tag team wrestling and a solid way to get Christian another dub.
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Thunder Rosa vs. Julia Hart – On the contrary, here was a way to get Thunder Rosa a dub without making much impact.
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5 Labors of Jericho – No Rules: Chris Jericho vs Nick Gage – Jericho did a 10-count punch in the corner then did a hurricanrana that sent Gage crashing through a pane of glass. What else can I say? Y2J starring in a PG-13 Death Match on TNT made for at the very least great wrestling television.
The Entertainment
Going from incredible mapped out presentation on the Elimination Match entrances to “hey do your thing MDK” on the main event was a heck of a journey.
With Nick Gage and now Juventud Guerrera as opponents, the Chris Jericho/MJF feud is swinging from bad silly to good silly and I approve. At some point though it might swing MJF babyface.
Malakai Black attacked Cody Rhodes and friends. The Young Bucks did the Indytaker with a basketball dunk. Taz danced along with a brass band. Jon Moxley told Hiroshi Tanahashi he’s a punk bitch.
Cowboys, Space Jam plugs, dinosaurs and blood… just an undeniable amount of bases are being covered on AEW Dynamite.
My Favorite Things
- Hangman Page entrance music remix
- Jon Moxley calls out Hiroshi Tanahashi
- The top-of-the-show rundowns keep getting tighter
Room for Improvement
- Where is Hikaru Shida? Is she on Dark? Where the F- did they put Hikaru Shida?
- I wish commentary didn’t bury Stu Grayson for that overshot on one of his dives
- Sort out Andrade and the Death Triangle
Happy Wrestling Land Power Rankings
With the impending debut of AEW Rampage, the metrics used for Power Rankings are being re-calculated. Results are on hold until then.
