The Cowboy Shit Era
The post Full Gear Dynamite began with a video package recapping the pay per view before cutting to a backstage segment with Kenny Omega, The Bucks and Adam Cole.
Kenny congratulates Hangman before revealing that he is going to take some time off due to ongoing injuries. He tells Matt and Nick to hold down the fort which Adam Cole thought he was talking to him at first. It continues the tease of descension between Adam Cole and The Elite and potentially setting up something with Cole and Omega in the future.
We then cut to the ring which is all decked out in cowboy gear with the Dark Order in the ring. They introduce the new AEW World Champion who comes out to a big ovation. The crowd start chanting ‘you deserve it,’ but Hangman instead says, ‘he earned it.’
It was a great babyface promo from Adam Page as he talks about his love for the fans and how they’re his boss.
He is interrupted by Bryan Danielson the moment Page mentions his name as the new number one contender. Bryan congratulates Adam Page before saying he feels disappointed that Omega didn’t retain.
This begins a promo from Bryan where he shows a much more heel side to him which got the crowd to turn against him. Bryan had some cutting lines towards Adam Page, also bringing up how when he won the World Title at Wrestlemania he was back the next night to wrestle unlike Hangman.
It got heated between the two as a brawl erupted and both men had to be separated as the Dark Order held them apart.
Bryan Danielson vs Evil Uno
The opening segment leads straight into the opening mach. It was a short, but a hard-hitting match with most of the emphasis on Bryan’s new heel edge.
We got some vintage Danielson spots with the ‘I got to five’ spot to Aubrey Edwards, the Busaiko knee and at one point Bryan viciously kicking in Uno’s head as the crowd chanted ‘no.’
Uno tried to fire back but it wouldn’t last long as Danielson made him submit. It’s what the match needed to be.
Tony Schiavone interviews Bryan after the match and Bryan blames Hangman for the punishment that Evil Uno just received and said that until Page is ready that he will come out each week and hurt members of the Dark Order, including next week in Chicago as he makes a challenge against Colt Cabana.
The first thirty minutes of this show was dedicated to Bryan playing a more heel role and starting the feud against Adam Page. I found it all very captivating and thought Danielson was fantastic. Looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
The Middle of the Card
Orange Cassidy teamed with Tomohiro Ishii to take on The Butcher & The Blade. It was an enjoyable tag team match and a lot of fun seeing the comedic Cassidy work alongside the ultra-serious Tomohiro Ishii. They worked towards a showdown between Ishii and The Butcher with them coming to blows and Ishii getting the upper hand. Ishii got the pinfall victory after hitting the brainbuster on Blade.
Nyla Rose defeated Hikaru Shida to advance into the semi finals of the TBS Title Tournament. They both worked a good match with a lot of the story based around the injured knee of Shida. Nyla Rose was great as the dominant monster heel and took some impressive bumps during the match including a cannonball off the apron onto a steel chair. Shida got to whack Vicki Guerrero over the back with a kendo stick for a big pop. At one point Serena Deeb attacked Shida in the knee to continue their feud. The ending saw Nyla Rose apply the stretch muffler for the submission win.
Dante Martin & Lio Rush defeated The Acclaimed. Rush and Martin once again gelled well as a team and stood out with their speed and flashy offence. The match really picked up when they came back from commercial break with a lot of fast paced action in the closing stretch of the match. Rush and Martin got the win, but it was a good showing from The Acclaimed too. Post-match, Team Taz come out as they continue to try and recruit Dante to their stable.
Other Segments
- Adam Cole and The Young Bucks backstage promo talking about how Full Gear was a bad night for them. They run down Christian & Jurassic Express. It ends with Cole and Bobby Fish challenging Jurassic Express to a tag team match with is accepted by them later in the show.
- We had a bunch of backstage segments from the various competitors in the big eight-man tag match next week on Dynamite. It will be Cody, Pac and Lucha Brothers against Malakai, Andrade and FTR. Tully also teases a physical confrontation with Arn Anderson.
- Britt Baker continued the tease of an upcoming match with Thunder Rosa. Rosa will be taking on Jamie Hayter in the TBS Title Tournament.
- We got a recap of the feud between Jade Cargill and Red Velvet. The two are scheduled for a match on Rampage.
- Tony interviews Darby backstage. Darby says he will face MJF again someday but for now he wants to fight the biggest and baddest in AEW which according to Billy Gunn is himself. Billy vs Darby is made for Rampage.
- Eddie Kingston interview is interrupted by 2.0 and Daniel Garcia. Kingston challenges Garcia to a fight at a date to be announced.
The Best in the World
There was a great promo earlier in the show from MJF that was recorded straight after his match with Darby Allin. MJF talked about how all the people that say he is only great on the mic have been proven wrong and now must admit that he is also great in the ring.
That continued with MJF coming out to the ring with Wardlow and Shawn Spears. MJF hints at a future World Title match against Adam Page and mentions he would take a big ‘cowboy shit’ on his title reign and taking the ‘hometown horse’ to the glue factory. MJF criticizes the ranking system in AEW and says he deserves to be the contender for the AEW World Title as there is nobody in the locker room that is on his level.
Cult of Personality hits and out comes CM Punk. Punk enters the ring but doesn’t say a word. MJF extends his hand for a handshake, but Punk laughs him off and leaves the ring. I’m ready for what should be some classic war of words and a great match between these two.
Sammy Guevarra vs Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal made his debut at Full Gear and challenged Sammy for the TNT Title.
They told a story revolving around Sammy’s injured ribs he received from the street fight on Saturday and his selling of it, including a spot during the commercial where Dr. Samson had to check on Sammy and almost stopped the match only for Sammy to get back in the ring continue.
There was a big spot where Sammy dove off the top turnbuckle crashing into Lethal on the ring announcer table, and some nice storytelling where Sammy would attempt the GTH but due to his injury he couldn’t completely lift Lethal onto his shoulders.
I thought Jay Lethal looked great and brings a veteran mindset with a lot of in ring experience that will only benefit the younger competitors on the roster.
Sammy after struggling for a bit was finally able to hit his finisher and get the win as he successfully retains the TNT Title in a good match. As the show ended, the rest of the Inner Circle run down to celebrate with Sammy and show their respect to Jay Lethal.
Final Thoughts
Very enjoyable show and everything it needed to be coming off Full Gear. The show made the pay per view feel big and special with the ramifications of winning and losing felt on this edition of Dynamite. It also started the next big feuds including Bryan vs Adam Page and CM Punk vs MJF while also setting up Thanksgiving Dynamite in Chicago next week.