The American Dragon vs The Natural
Dynamite opened with a first round matchup in the World Title Eliminator Tournament. Dustin Rhodes was amazing as the old veteran at the end of his career going out for one last epic performance, willing to put everything on the line for a chance to capture a World Title.
Bryan Danielson was also excellent once again and I enjoyed his moments of playing a subtle heel in the match, particularly towards the end of the match where Bryan allowed Dustin to be the one with the fiery babyface comeback which saw Dustin have a Hulk Up a spot as Bryan tried to light him up with vicious kicks.
They got around fifteen minutes and were able to tell a compelling story. We all knew that Bryan would ultimately get the win, but the great minds of both men in this match allowed the crowd to really get behind Dustin. Bryan would make Dustin submit when he slapped on the guillotine which continues Danielson’s variety of submission moves showing that he can beat his opponents in many ways.
Penelope Ford vs Ruby Soho
This was the first round of the TBS Title Tournament. The match was fine but never great, and kind of felt like the opening of the Eliminator Tournament on Rampage between Orange Cassidy and Powerhouse Hobbs. The right person one the match with Soho rolling up Ford for the three count.
As the match ended The Bunny ran down to try and double team Soho with Ford, however Red Velvet ran down to make the save as she and Soho would stand tall in the ring as the heels retreated up the ramp. It also adds some heat on the upcoming Bunny and Red Velvet match.
To Catch a Fish
Bobby Fish took on Anthony Greene in a short match that went just under two minutes. Fish looked dominant with Greene getting a hope spot thrown in but would soon get knocked out by a vicious kick to the head from Fish. The match served its purpose in giving Fish another win and making him look like a dangerous threat in ring.
Fish continues the attack on Greene after the match, but CM Punk runs down to make the save as Fish quickly rolls out of the ring. It’s later made official that Punk will have a match against Fish next week and will be CM Punk’s in ring Dynamite debut.
Eddie Kingston vs Lance Archer
Archer makes his way out but is jumped from behind by Eddie Kingston as the two immediately began brawling around the ringside. It felt like a New Japan match with the brawling, including Lance Archer grabbing a ‘fan’ ringside and throwing him onto Eddie.
Eddie was over big with the Orlando crowd and there was a huge Eddie chant at the start of the match. The big moment in the match came when Lance Archer attempted a moonsault onto Eddie, but he came down and landed awkwardly on his head. The injury was legit as the doctor checks on Archer. He manages to crawl back in the ring and Eddie being the professional that he is quickly rolls Archer up for the win and to end the match.
They were having a very intense match and building up to a strong finish. It might’ve even been heading towards the best match the two have had with each other, unfortunately a real-life injury impacted the ending. I feel like the match shouldn’t ended immediately but at least having a veteran in Eddie Kingston in the ring he knew exactly what to do. Kington advances to the next round of the tournament against Bryan Danielson and hopefully the injury isn’t too serious for Archer and that he has a speedy recovery.
Jungle Boy vs Brandon Cutler
It was a squash match that went about sixty seconds with Jungle Boy making Cutler submit in the Snare Trap. It was more about the post-match as Jungle Boy calls out anyone from The Elite to fight him. He gets no response, so he puts Cutler in the Snare Trap again.
Eventually Adam Cole comes out the stage to a big pop. Cole runs Jungle Boy and says they can fight right now but it’s all a distraction as The Young Bucks attack Jungle Boy from behind. They attack him up the ramp including hitting him with a BTE Trigger on the stage and Cole with The Boom. Wanting to punish Jungle Boy even more, they end up throwing him off the stage through some tables down below.
Other Segments
- Kenny Omega along with rest of The Elite were backstage. Kenny sounded great and showed a more serious side in his promo saying he knows all of Hangman’s weaknesses, and that it’s going to be coward sh** instead of cowboy sh**.
- A video package with a back and forth between FTR and Penta along with Alex. FTR talk about losing the AEW Tag Titles last year at Full Gear and a match against the Lucha Brothers is set for the upcoming Full Gear.
- Tony Schiavone had an in-ring interview with Sting. It’s cut short as MJF interrupts. MJF trashes Orlando, runs down Darby Allin before making it personal with Sting and referencing Lex Luger. Sting has enough and attacks MJF, but the numbers game is too much as Shawn Spears and Wardlow come down as the three of them lay out Sting.
- Bitt Baker backstage promo running down Tay Conti. The match will happen at Full Gear.
- Lio Rush and Dante Martin will be teaming up next week to take on the Sydal Brothers next week. Dante didn’t look to impressed.
- Dan Lambert and Men of the Year had a segment in the ring where Ethan Page talks about why they’re better than all the members in the Inner Circle. This brings Sammy Guevara out telling them to shut the hell up. It leads to Ethan Page challenging Sammy for the TNT Title next week, and if Sammy loses, he must leave the Inner Circle. If Sammy wins, he gets to pick the members of American Top Team for the ten-man tag match. Sky and Page try to attack Sammy, but Hager, Santana and Ortiz run out for the save.
- Jon Moxley had a great promo about he doesn’t care about anything except his daughter. Winning the tournament is for her and he has no problem smashing anyone that gets in his way. It gives him a heel edge, but his justification is understandable. The eventual match with him against Bryan could be incredible with both men not afraid to unleash a high level of violence.
- Dark Order were backstage and had a reunion with Adam Page. The Dark Order will take on The Elite next week on Dynamite in a Halloween themed show.
The Third Chapter of Rhodes and Black
The match was all action for around twelve minutes. The crowd were against Cody and all for Malakai Black to get the win. It was a brutal and bloody battle that both men had with Cody working on Black’s knees and trying to limit his dangerous kicks.
We saw Cody hit a Crossroads to Black from the apron to the outside through a table for a cool looking spot. Andrade eventually made his way out and did his version of the Glock to Arn, only for Pac to come out and for both men to pick up where they left off on Rampage.
During the chaos Andrade’s assistant interferes with the iPad but Arn took care of him with a spinebuster. Black would spit the mist in the face of Arn that took him to the outside of the ring. The ending would see Cody hit Black with a Cody Cutter, a Crossroads and to finish him off Cody set up what the fans for a moment thought was going to be the Pedigree, but it was instead a Tiger Driver 98 that kept Black down.
The match was a lot of fun and very chaotic, something reminiscent from the heyday of the attitude era. The fans were vocal in their disapproval of Cody scoring the win. I’m torn on the outcome. I was a big fan of Black remaining undefeated, but I am willing to see where it leads to next.
I don’t think it kills his momentum. It might halt it slightly, like how when Brian Cage pinned Adam Page earlier in the year, but if the follow up is strong which AEW has proved with their handling of Hangman then Malakai Black will be fine and continue to exceed. Malakai put out an interesting post about how the world now hates Cody, and that he has turned Cody into the beast that he set out to make him be which connects back to that first promo Black had.
Final Thoughts: good episode of Dynamite that moved everything along nicely and bookended with two great matches. The outcome of the main event will be continued to be questioned, but I think we have to give AEW a chance to see where they take Black and Cody next. The Eliminator Tournament picks up big time next week with Danielson vs Kingston and Mox vs Cassidy with both potentially being great matches.