The SuperElite vs The American Dragon and a Dinosaur
AEW’s Anniversary edition of Dynamite began with a big eight-man tag team match between Kenny Omega, Adam Cole & The Young Bucks against Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage & Jurassic Express.
This match was great, and they got a lot of time with the entrances kept to social media in the pre-show, allowing the match to happen immediately at the start of the hour. If you were a fan of the six-man tag math from Rampage Grand Slam, then this match was similar but with Danielson and Omega thrown in to take it to another level.
There was a lot of back-and-forth action with some of the standout moments being Jungle Boy with another fighting underneath babyface performance, Luchasarus being treated like a major star from the Philadelphia crowd and the interactions whenever Bryan and Omega would step in the ring each other.
There was a moment in the match when The Young Bucks delivered an IndyTaker to Christian on the outside which took Cage out of the match as they played up his prior injuries. It felt like a set up to a potential tag team match with Christian having to find a partner to take on The Young Bucks.
At one point in the match The SuperElite attempt a powerbomb on Luchasarus, but it didn’t come off well, other than everything else seemed to land in the match and The Elite would get the win when all four men hit a super BTE Trigger on Jungle Boy to get the win.
Overall, a fun match and a great way to start Dynamite. They were able to continue the build between Bryan and Omega, set up something in the future involving Christian and continue to showcase Jurassic Express as a threat in the tag team division.
Cheesecake or Cheesesteak?
The CM Punk lovefest continues, and everyone is still on board as Cult of Personality hits and Punk comes out to another massive ovation. He brings up a story about how he moved to Philadelphia early in his career and the importance of the city to him.
He mentions about the money he made in Philly and how he used it to buy an iPod because he was now rich, but it wasn’t the money that made him rich, he felt spiritually rich and a big part of that was being in a wrestling culture and living out his passion.
He’s very thankful to the fans and the city he is standing in and brings up how he can either buy everyone a Philly cheesesteak (or cheesecake?) or he can wrestle tonight. The crowd want him to wrestle tonight which he agrees to, and he calls out Daniel Garcia for a match on Rampage.
The segment ends with Punk removing his Jordan shoes and handing them to a young Orange Cassidy fan in the front row which was a nice moment. It was another fun Punk promo that felt intimate even though it was in front of thousands of people and the match with Daniel Garcia on Rampage should be a good match.
TNT Title Match
Bobby Fish came through the forbidden door in an attempt to make Sammy Guevara’s TNT Title reign the shortest in history. The two had a nice match but it didn’t go to that next level.
The main story of the match was Bobby Fish looking to keep Sammy grounded. Bobby looked good in the match, and it was later announced he is now signed to a full-time contract with AEW. Fish delivered an avalanche Falcon Arrow to Sammy which resulted in a big near fall, before Sammy was able to eventually hit the GTH for the win. It was a nice first win for Sammy Guevara against a veteran opponent as he kicks of his TNT Title run.
Post-match we see American Top Team with Scorpio Sky come out and surround the ring. They charge the ring with Scorpio attacking Sammy before the rest of American Top Team get physical. Fuego Del Sol tries to come down to make the save but is taken out.
The crowd pop huge as Judas hits and Chris Jericho and Jake Hager rush down for the save. They clean the ring with Jericho and Junior Dos Santos getting physical. American Top Team retreat to the stage as Dan Lambert starts speaking.
The crowd heat was insane for Dan Lambert and reports from people who attended the show said they couldn’t even hear him cutting his promo. Lambert challenges Jericho, Hager and Sammy to a six-man match against Men of the Year & Junior Dos Santos to a in Miami. He also announces that Jorge Masvidal will be ringside.
Jericho grabs the mic and says he couldn’t hear a word Lambert said which I think was legit. He promises that he will beat the living sh*t out of American Top Team and the match is later made official.
The crowd reaction to Lambert made it a great segment. Also, I really enjoyed Paige VanZant in the segment. I thought she was a standout and brought a lot of swagger and it’ll be interesting to see if professional wrestling and AEW is something she’ll delve more into as she has spoken about a potential wrestling career in the past.
Darby Allin vs Nick Comoroto
They aired a sit down interview from earlier in the day with Jim Ross and Darby Allin. Darby tells the story again of why he paints half his face, and how it’s because fifty percent of him is dead after the car accident that killed his uncle.
The match itself was very quick. Allin hits the Coffin Drop for the win. There isn’t much to talk about match wise, it served its purpose giving Darby a strong win against the bigger opponent. Post-match, QT Marshall nails Sting with the Diamond Cutter. Sting no sells it and is immediately back on his feet where he lays out QT with a Scorpion Death Drop.
Going for Fifty
Hikaru Shida took on Serena Deeb as Shida looked for win number fifty. They made a big deal out of it, even making a trophy for Hikaru Shida that was ringside. They did something similar with Jungle Boy when he got his fiftieth win. I thought at first that it was going to be a simple win for Shida to claim the milestone, but AEW went in a different direction and for the better as they gave Serena Deeb the win.
It was a competitive match and one of the better women’s matches in AEW. Serena Deeb is a great talent and can work with almost anyone on the roster, and Hikaru Shida has been one of the standouts in the women’s division since its inception so the two gelled very well.
Serena showed more of an aggressive edge which would lead to the post-match. Deeb hit the Deebtox on Shida, but Shida kicked out, so Deeb viciously attacked the knees of Shida before locking in the Serenity Lock for the submission victory. After the match, Deeb grabbed the trophy and smashed it over the head of Shida cementing her heel turn.
I like Shida losing and now making it a challenge for her to reach win number fifty. I don’t mind the idea of Shida turning down other matches until she gets a rematch with Serena Deeb, with the story being that Shida wants her fiftieth win against the person who took it away from her.
Other Segments
Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards reveal the TBS Championship. It looks like the TNT Title and will play a similar role in the women’s division. They also had a video package featuring Thunder Rosa, Sky Blue, Jade Cargill, and Ruby Soho who have all announced they will be taking part in the eventual tournament.
Britt Baker interview backstage where she basically trashes the TBS Title and that it’s not on the level of the AEW Women’s World Title, however she’s ‘happy’ that the rest of the women now have something they can fight over as nobody is taking her title anytime soon.
Ricky Starks talks about the history of FTW Title and its connection to South Philly. He says he wanted to compete against Brian Cage in a Philly Street Fight, but Cage didn’t show up. Brian did show up though and The Machine runs down and brawls with Ricky. Hobbs and Hooks rescue Ricky and take him to safety and the Street Fight is made official for Rampage.
Dante Martin was out for a promo, and he sounded really good on the mic. He challenges anyone in the back for the match and it’s accepted by Malakai Black who comes out and spits the black mist in Dante’s face before almost taking his head off with a devastating kick.
We got a video of Arn Anderson starting a fire in a barrel outside at Cody Rhode’s house. Cody comes down and mentions how Arn turned on him, but Arn says it was Cody that turned on them. Arn mentions that Cody can have his big houses, his reality TV show, and he might as well paint another star on his face. He then slaps him the face and places Cody’s tie in the fire as he looks to unlock Cody’s ruthless side if he wants to find success again.
Darby is leaving the arena and is interrupted by Alex Marvez. He says that MJF has challenged Darby to a match next week on Dynamite. Darby accepts as a limousine pulls up in front of him. Darby is ready to fight but is hit from behind with a steel chair. The mystery chairman grabs the camera as three more masked men attack Darby, including one hitting Darby with an F10 onto a bunch of barricades. A final masked man appears that looks a lot like MJF and chokes Allin with the skateboard. It was clearly made out to be The Pinnacle with Tony Schiavone even saying it was them, but it should make for a fun segment next week as The Pinnacle try to deny it was them.
Casino Ladder Match
There was a lot of high spots in the match, but I also liked how they were able to further some of the different feuds in AEW. Matt Hardy and Orange Cassidy got to continue their story, Andrade and Pac added another chapter in their rivalry and Lance Archer and Jon Moxley picked up from where they left before.
The big moment was the reveal of The Joker and the return of Hangman Adam Page. The crowd went nuts for Adam in the match and he felt like the biggest babyface in the company, even to the point that the fans turned on Mox for Hangman to get the win.
There was a crazy spot where Adam Page hit Pac with the Deadeye from the top of a ladder to a table below. Matt Hardy turned back the clock and nailed Orange Cassidy on the table with a diving leg drop from the ladder on the outside.
The end of the match came down to Page and Mox slugging it out on the to of the ladder. Hangman gets the advantage when Mox falls to the ground and doesn’t waste time as he reaches and grabs down the poker chip for the win and earning himself a future shot at the AEW World Title.
Overall, it was a stunt show ladder match with a big ending. It was perfect for the Philly audience that wanted a lot of action. It sets up a World Title match between Page and Omega, but I could also see Page against Moxley down the line based on the finish.
Final Thoughts: A solid edition of Dynamite as they celebrate their second Anniversary. The opening match was great and the main event was a lot of fun, throw in a solid women’s match and a good TNT Title fight, then it’s hard to complain about the quality of the show for this week. The Philly crowd were lively throughout the night, and it added a lot more to the matches and different moments on the show. The return of Hangman Page is intriguing, and it’ll be interesting to see which direction they go in regarding the World Title picture.