The Opening
Dynamite kicked off with Kenny Omega in singles action against Alan Angels. They mentioned how it was a rematch from over a year ago which I thought was a nice touch as it gives the match another dynamic. It also works as it ties into the ongoing issues between The Elite and The Dark Order.
You could tell the match meant a lot to Angels with his facial expression and it would be his biggest singles match in AEW thus far. I thought he looked good in the ring and being in the ring with a veteran in Kenny Omega, he was allowed to have some fun moments throughout including countering the One-Winged Angel.
The match never kicked into great territory, but it didn’t have to be. It was probably the right amount of time which allowed Angels to show what he has offense wise until Kenny is able to shut him down and finish him with repeated V-Triggers.
As the match ended, an angry Kenny is looking to do more damage as he blames Angels from embarrassing him in their match last year. Kenny has a steel chair; however, Hangman Adam Page comes down to make the save as Omega escapes the ring. Page tells Omega that he will be taking the title from him in ten days.
The Middle of The Show
FTR successfully defended their AAA Tag Team Titles against Aerostar and Samuray del Sol. FTR also came out with Giorgio Moroder inspired music. It was a fun match, although at times it felt a bit off. There was a lot of high spots from Aerostar and Samuray del Sol which some moves clicked, and others didn’t, and it was cool seeing FTR work against a different Lucha team as they prepare for their match for the AEW World Tag Titles. FTR stole the win after using the ropes for leverage.
Jamie Hayter defeated Anna Jay to advance in the TBS Title Tournament. They both worked hard, although they didn’t really have the time to have a great match. But you can see the potential in Anna Jay and the more time she gets the more she will improve. I like Jamie Hayter and I am looking forward to seeing her in a match where has the right opponent and is given time.
Most of the match revolved around Hayter’s size advantage as Anna Jay played the underdog babyface trying to topple the more powerful opponent as well as manage the numbers disadvantage. Unfortunately, for her the numbers game would provide the distraction for Hayter to win. Post-match, Baker, Hayter and Rebel are beating down Anna Jay. Tay Conti runs down but it’s still not enough. The music of Thunder Rosa hits and she comes down to even it up for the faces and continue the tease of the next Rosa vs Baker match.
Cody Rhodes vs Andrade El Idolo
I thought it was a good match between two great wrestlers, however it also felt like a match for television and a set up to something further down the line which I have no problem with.
They played up how both wrestlers come from families that have been involved in the industry for decades, while also alluding to the battles between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair throughout the match including a spot where Andrade had Cody in the figure four only for Cody to counter it into a reverse figure four.
The crowd seemed split on Cody with a ‘let’s go Cody, Cody sucks’ chant at one point. There was a big moment in the match where Cody once again teased hitting Pedigree, although it could’ve been him going for the Tiger Driver 98 again. But I like it coming off his promo last week that it’s in our minds now that the moment he is to hit the Pedigree it’s the signal that he is turning and taking the ‘easy’ way out.
The ending came when Andrade’s assistant tried to get involved only for Arn Anderson to take him out. FTR came from under the ring with the referee distracted and they hit Cody in the head with the AAA Tag Titles allowing Andrade to use the Hammerlock DDT for the win.
FTR and Andrade continue the attack on Cody. We also got an Arn and Tully confrontation. Lucha Brothers run down and save Cody as the heels retreat.
Other Segments
- CM Punk had a powerful speech regarding Jon Moxley’s real life issues. He encouraged anyone that is in a tough spot in life to reach out for help. He then cut a promo about Eddie Kingston no selling the show tonight and that the two will have a face-to-face confrontation on Rampage.
- The Inner Circle chose the members from American Top Team they will be competing against. It was a very late 90’s style promo on Jericho and Inner Circle’s behalf. Dan Lambert was entertaining, and Paige VanZant sounded like a natural. Lambert was added to the match alongside Men of the Year, Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski.
- MJF had a terrific promo focused on Darby Allin. He said the difference between them is that Darby isn’t a winner and is more like the fans. He mentions Darby’s reckless style. Darby said that he is going to wrestle MJF at Full Gear, but tonight he is going to let out his angry. MJF tries to escape but Sting prevents him. Darby gets the upper hand on MJF and looks to hit the Coffin Drop but MJF weasels his way out.
- There was an intense six-man brawl between The SuperKliq against Jurassic Express and Christian Cage. It involved a lot of cool looking spots and felt more like a mini match than a regular brawl. It ended with Christian delivering a brutal conchairito to Adam Cole.
- We get a clip from last week with Tony Schiavone presenting Hikaru Shida with the 50th Nyla Rose interrupts and insults Shida for taking so long to reach 50 wins, even though she herself hasn’t reached 50 yet.
- Malakai Black had an interesting promo where he compared Cody Rhodes to Julius Caesar. It was interesting because it’s also what Jake Roberts called Cody when he made his debut. Black ends it by saying that there was more than one that betrayed Caesar alluding to someone close to Cody possibly turning on him soon.
The Main Event
Miro is the replacement for Mox in the World Title Eliminator Tournament. The main story of the match was the power and strength game of Miro against the smaller Orange Cassidy, who is also selling the rib injury that he has been dealing with in recent times.
Orange played a lot of mind games early as he tried to frustrate Miro, but Miro is quickly able to shut it down. Miro dominated for a while until Orange found momentum to get back into the match.
Orange went after the hurt neck of Miro, and it was brought up by Bryan Danielson on commentary how Miro’s neck is one of his biggest weaknesses. Cassidy git a Tornado DDT for a big near fall which reminded of Fuego del Sol using it and reinforces the idea that moves on the neck of the beast can tame him to an extent.
There was a big moment where Miro was resting on outside ring announcer’s table and Cassidy came flying off the top turnbuckle and crashing into Miro through it. Cassidy is back in the ring and Miro only just gets back inside on a nine count.
Miro eventually locked Cassidy in the Game Over and that was enough as Cassidy immediately taps out. It was a good match for the time they had and if given more time I think they could have a fantastic match, but again that wasn’t the purpose here. It was to make Miro look strong in his return match and to set him up as Bryan biggest threat so far in AEW at Full Gear.
As the show ended, Bryan Danielson comes down to the ring to go face to face with his opponent in the final. Bryan extends his hand to Miro, but Miro blows him off and leaves the ring.
Final Thoughts: there wasn’t matches that reached that great level like on previous Dynamites, but each match had a purpose and was done to further stories and make specific wrestlers look strong heading into Full Gear. The CM Punk speech was from the heart and filled with honest emotion. MJF and Darby had a strong segment, and Alan Angels got a good showing against the World Champion. Cody and Andrade showed that they at a bigger stage they could have a great match and it’ll be interesting to see where it leads and if they go ahead with a Cody and Pac vs Andrade and Malakai match. Overall, it was still a enjoyable edition of Dynamite that moved advance multiples stories on the road to Full Gear.