Reviews

The John Report: AEW Dynamite 02/23/22 Review

By John Canton • Published 24th February 2022
aew dynamite feb 23

This week’s AEW Dynamite continued on the road to Revolution with a Tag Team Battle Royal, Chris Jericho/Eddie Kingston exchanged words and Bryan Danielson facing Daniel Garcia.

This is AEW Dynamite episode #125 at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means. Jim Ross welcomed us to the show with Excalibur and Tony Schiavone joining him on commentary as usual.

AEW tag teams were around the ring for the battle royal. The championship team of Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy with uncle Christian Cage entered to watch the match on the stage.

Tag Team Battle Royal

The winners will be part of a triple threat match for the AEW Tag Team Titles at Revolution. If one partner is eliminated, the other partner can remain in the match.

The ten tag teams filled the ring. The Blade eliminated Alex Reynolds and then John Silver eliminated The Blade. Silver and Reynolds are teammates. The crowd was chanting “Ass Boys” at the Gunn Club. Ortiz tossed Austin Gunn over the top to the floor, then Santana flipped Colten Gunn over the top to the floor and that was it for both Gunn boys. The Butcher ran over the 2.0 guys with a double clothesline and a double clothesline on the Young Bucks too. Butcher ran over O’Reilly & Fish with clotheslines too. Butcher tried to eliminate Trent Beretta, but Trent held on and Chuck hugged his friend Trent, so then the Best Friends eliminated Butcher by tossing him over the top to the floor. Best Friends did a double team move on Fish. Tayler sent to the apron by O’Reilly, Fish with a dragon screw leg whip and Kyle kicked Taylor to eliminate him. The two Private Party guys were eliminated back to back, so they are out. Matt Hardy wasn’t happy about it. Santana dumped the 2.0 guys Lee and Parker at the same time. Young Bucks eliminated Ortiz with a double superkick. Santana with a moonsault attempt, but both Young Bucks hit a double superkick. FTR hit the Big Rig on Silver. FTR and Young Bucks had a staredown, but then Kyle and Fish attacked FTR to knock them down. Dax Harwood and Bobby Fish exchanged strikes. Nick barely hit a bulldog on Trent. The two FTR guys lifted up Kyle, but Nick saved him and then FTR tossed Nick over the top to eliminate him. Kyle and Fish did a double team suplex on Trent. They tried to dump Trent, but Trent was saved by his buddy Orange Cassidy, who put Trent on Orange’s shoulders and Trent went back in the ring. Trent with a suplex on Kyle, a clothesline on Fish and a tornado DDT. Everybody else was standing around as Trent eliminated Fish with a clothesline over the top to the floor. They went to a picture in picture break.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Cash Wheeler getting help from Tully Blanchard to eliminate John Silver, but then Silver managed to eliminate Wheeler. Six guys left: John Silver, Matt Jackson, Dax Harwood, Kyle O’Reilly, Santana and Trent Beretta. Silver did a double knee to the back move on Matt. Kyle with a sweep kick on Silver, Harwood with a DDT on Kyle, Trent took out Harwood and the Santana faced off against Trent. They had a rivalry in the past. Trent with a half n half suplex leading to Santana coming back with a discus clothesline. Santana kicked Trent over the top to the apron, Trent lifted Santana to the apron. They battled on the apron like dummies instead of just going back into the ring, which led to Matt Jackson and Kyle O’Reilly delivering kicks to knock Santana and Trent off the apron to the floor.

The four guys left paired off with Kyle going after Harwood while Silver and Matt battled in the other corner. The fans chanted “Johnny Hungee” for Silver. Harwood with a belly to back suplex on Kyle. They battled near the ropes with Kyle pulling Trent over the top to the apron. They fought on the apron a bit as they exchanged strikes and Fish kicked Harwood in the leg to eliminate Harwood. The referees on the floor saw it, but they still allowed the elimination. That’s not an AEW thing. It happens in other companies. Silver was alone against the two heels with a double suplex on Matt and Kyle along with a back body drop on Kyle. Silver with a drop toe hold to Matt, then a running kick and a spinning slam off the shoulders. Matt came back with a superkick on Silver. Matt superkicked Kyle’s arm while doing a move. Matt dumped out Silver and then Kyle eliminated Matt over the top to the floor.

Winners: ReDRagon – Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish

Analysis: *** It was a pretty good battle royal. The last few minutes were really good. I like how it was booked where the remaining guys were without their partners, so they had to try to survive on their own. I was hoping for a Santana/Ortiz win, but I don’t mind Kyle/Fish at all. You really can’t go wrong with most of these teams because AEW has a stacked tag team division.

After the match, Bobby Fish went into the ring to celebrate with Kyle. The Young Bucks went into the ring because they wondered what Kyle and Bobby were doing. The AEW World Champion “Hangman” Adam Page went out to the ring to attack Kyle and Bobby with punches. The Young Bucks let it happen. Adam Cole went down to the ring, Page blocked a superkick and Cole escaped. Silver hit a somersault dive onto Fish and O’Reilly at ringside. Silver sent Kyle into the ring, so Page hit Kyle with a Buckshot Lariat.

“Hangman” Adam Page did a promo saying it was time for story time with Adam Page, which is what Adam Cole does. Cole was out on the floor with Fish and O’Reilly. Page talked about how Cole said he has his eyes on the AEW World Championship prize and now he’s gone closer to a six-foot hole in the ground. Hangman said Cole thinks he’s going to leave Revolution as the World Champion, but the “Better Adam” is going to put him down in the grave. Hangman said that the Buckshot is going to put him in the dirt and that sound is “Boom.” Page gave him a middle finger salute.

Analysis: The promo was fine. There was nothing that special about it, but it shows how confident Page is against Cole. I expect Page to retain the title against Cole at Revolution.

Bryan Danielson was interviewed by Tony Schiavone with Bryan noting that Daniel Garcia is like a younger version of him. Bryan said he had a great mentor like William Regal while Garcia is hanging out with 2.0. Bryan wondered what it would be like if Garcia was mentored by Bryan and Jon Moxley. Bryan said after his match, he’ll reply to what Jon Moxley said last week about how they need to bleed together before they can work together.

(Commercial)

Let’s Hear from Maxwell Jacob Friedman

MJF made his entrance looking a bit sad with the fans chanting “CM Punk” at him. MJF said that he gets that you guys want to boo him, but he asked if they could give him an opportunity here. MJF said that when he met CM Punk years ago in the photograph that was shown last week, Punk said it was another Friday, but to MJF it was more than that. MJF said that there was a point in his life where the only reason he got up in the morning was because of professional wrestling. MJF said he loved professional wrestling and he loves AEW. MJF said that in 2007 he was 11 years old, he had disabilities like severe attention deficit disorder while adding that every day was hell. MJF said he liked playing football, he gave a shoutout to Jewish people and said he was a middle linebacker. MJF said that one day at school he thought he was going to make friends, but in their hands, they had rolls of quarters and they threw the quarters at him. They said: “Pick it up, Jew Boy, pick it up.” MJF said that he cried, but then later that day he got to meet CM Punk at an autograph signing. MJF said CM Punk was his hero, and CM Punk was the best in the world. MJF said that day he was going to be like his hero CM Punk. MJF said that this “5 foot nothing, ADD riddled Jew boy was going to become the best in the world.” MJF said in 2013, he had football scholarship offers, but he didn’t give a damn because he wanted to be a professional wrestler. MJF said he was watching tapes, he was practicing promos until his voice got hoarse because he wanted to be like CM Punk. The fans were booing this.

MJF brought up January 2014 saying CM Punk left MJF and CM Punk left all of us (when Punk walked out of WWE after Royal Rumble 2014). MJF said he realized that if the best in the world couldn’t do it, then maybe he should bury his dreams. MJF said that there was an Instagram account called “thewrestlingclassic” and there was this photo of CM Punk shaking hands with Bryan Danielson. MJF said he was livid, he got in his car and made a promise to himself that day that he would become the best in the world in spite of CM Punk. MJF said that he made a promise that he wouldn’t leave a kid the way Punk did. MJF said that on March 6, you can whip MJF with a chain, make him bleed buckets, but he will not quit because then he’d be like Punk. MJF said that he’s not a quitter while adding that he’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman, he’s better than you and you know it.

CM Punk walked out without his music playing as the fans cheered loudly for him. Punk stepped towards MJF in the ring, he asked if that was real and I think MJF confirmed that it was. MJF had some tears in his eyes and MJF just stared at him. MJF left. Tony said he couldn’t believe he was saying this, but he feels for him. Punk stayed in the ring.

Analysis: That was an outstanding promo from MJF. No surprise. It was a different kind of MJF promo with a serious tone to it as he explained that CM Punk was his idol and then he talked about when he lost respect for Punk. I think people can certainly question how genuine MJF was since he’s a lying, despicable heel. However, when a guy starts talking about having ADD as a kid and how much Punk leaving wrestling hurt him, it does feel more real than a typical wrestling promo. I think Punk is going to show sympathy towards MJF next week on the last Dynamite before Revolution and MJF is going to kick his ass to show that MJF was just playing mind games with Punk. Kudos to MJF for continuing to impress every time he’s out there. That dude is so talented.

(Commercial)

Daniel Garcia and 2.0 were interviewed by Tony Schiavone. The 2.0 guys were yelling a lot as if it was a promo from 1987 while Garcia said he has always been violent.

The duo of Malakai Black & Brody King made their darkened entrance. Pac was next. There was a change to Penta El Zero Miedo for his entrance and his look with Alex Abrahantes also dressing up. It’s Penta Oscuro now with a shovel that he carries down to the ring. They brawled a bit before the match with Pac/Penta in control.

Malakai Black & Brody King vs. Pac & Penta Oscuro

The bell rang leading to Pac hitting a 450 Splash off the top rope. Penta tagged in with kicks to the legs of Black, Pac tagged in and kicked Black in the head a few times. King tagged in with chops and a clothesline on Pac for two. That led to a break.

(Commercial)

King was in control of Pac leading to a spot where he chopped Pac and Penta took some crazy bump off the move. King hit a suicide dive onto both opponents, which is impressive for a bigger guy like him. Black with a double knee attack, a roundhouse kick and a German Suplex for two because Penta made the save. Black hit King with a knee because Pac moved and Pac kicked Black. Penta got the blind tag with a top rope cross body block on King and Penta sold after doing that move for some reason. I don’t know why Penta was down selling after doing a move. Pac sent King into Black, then Pac with a pump kick to the jaw and another pump kick to the jaw. King charged, Pac moved, Black tagged in and Pac hit a German Suplex on King. Double superkick by Pac and Penta. Black was legal, Penta covered the mouth to block the mist and Penta got a forward roll on Black for the pinfall win after seven minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Pac & Penta Oscuro

Analysis: **3/4 The match was pretty good for the most part, but on the short side considering there was a commercial midway through. I liked the spot with Penta covering Black’s mouth to prevent the mist spit spot that Block likes to do in matches. Most Pac and Penta matches are better than this, but it’s also because it was shorter.

Post match, King attacked with a body slam on Pac onto Penta. King punched Penta repeatedly followed by a forearm on Pac. Black grabbed Penta’s shovel from ringside and King slammed Penta in the ring. Pac bumped to the floor. Black teased driving the shovel into the chest, but then the lights went out. The lights came back on and it was Buddy Matthews (Murphy) in the ring. Black acted like he was afraid of Buddy while fans chanted “holy shit” at him. Buddy went after Pac with a knee followed by punches and kicks on Penta. Black laughed while Excalibur realized that Buddy was part of the House of Black. Buddy worked over Penta with punches. Brody King beat up some security guys outside the ring. King sent a chair into the ring. Black told Buddy to do something, then Buddy held the arms of Penta and Buddy stomped on the back of Penta to send Penta face first into the steel chair. Ouch. Buddy stared into the hard camera while standing beside Black and King. The fans cheered even though they are a heel group that just attacked faces. I think they are cheering Buddy for making his AEW debut.

Analysis: Welcome Buddy Matthews to AEW as another former WWE guy has found his way there. That’s not a surprise because he’s a talented guy. The post match angle was better than the match in this case.

A video aired about AEW Women’s Champion Britt Baker and her Revolution opponent Thunder Rosa. They have a contract signing on Rampage this Friday.

(Commercial)

Eddie Kingston and Chris Jericho Exchange Words

Eddie Kingston made his entrance for a promo while four security guards were standing in the ring. Kingston stood beside them in a mocking way. Chris Jericho entered with the fans singing along with his “Judas” theme song.

Eddie said he didn’t like the security guys being there. Jericho said that he wanted security there so they can talk with Jericho calling him a street thug and Eddie told him he didn’t know what “street thug” means. Eddie said he’s not a sports entertainer, he would rather just fight him. Eddie reminded us this is a wrestling company, not a sports entertainment company and told him to go down the block. (WWE Headquarters is close by.) Jericho did mention that they were close to Stamford (the fans booed) and Jericho said that this sports entertainment will actually be entertaining (that drew cheers) because Jericho is going to tell him a story. Jericho said when he first heard about Eddie coming to AEW, the locker room was excited and Jericho wondered: “Who the hell is Eddie Kingston?” Jericho said that he thought they were talking about Eddie Edwards and then he saw Eddie, so then he realized whey he didn’t hear about Kingston before – because he thought Eddie looked like a jobber. Loud “ooohhh” reaction from the crowd. Jericho said he saw Eddie’s match against “what’s his name” and heard his promo, so then Chris realized that this guy is special. Jericho told Eddie that he would be a huge babyface and he was right. Eddie: “What’s a babyface?” That’s funny. Jericho said it was feel good story that Eddie overcame his physical/mental issues and after all those years, he signed a contract with AEW and made it to the big time at the age of 38 years old. Jericho said he didn’t give two shits about his sob story and he didn’t give two shits about Eddie. Jericho said he realized that Eddie was jealous of Jericho with Jericho saying that Eddie made it to the big time at 38 years old while Jericho made it to the big time at 22 years old. Jericho said by the time he was 38, he already main evented pay-per-views, toured the world headlining arenas, a multiple time World Champion and made millions of dollars. Jericho told Eddie he was jealous of Jericho. Chris said that the reason he is jealous because Eddie knows he can ever be at Jericho’s level.

Eddie said he doesn’t care. Eddie said that the reason Jericho main evented in all of these places is because Eddie wasn’t there. Eddie said he’s not like Jericho or the rest of the carnies that lie. Eddie said he’ll do things his way and he’ll be himself until he dies. Eddie admitted that he didn’t want to talk to him the way Jericho tries to talk to guys in the back. Eddie suggested they have a match at the pay-per-view.

Jericho said that Eddie has a fear of success while claiming that Eddie is terrified to make it to the top because if Eddie made it, he’d fall instantly. Jericho told Eddie he knows his family history while noting that Eddie’s first hero was his uncle and he was a failure. Jericho noted that Eddie believed in his father and he was a failure, so deep down inside Eddie thinks he’s a failure as well. Jericho told Eddie his problem is he can’t win the big one and in this company, Jericho is the big one, not Punk, Danielson, Moxley or Hangman Page. Jericho said if you want to challenge Jericho at Revolution then you’ve got it. Jericho told Eddie that if he can beat him then Jericho will shake his hand and tell Eddie that he has his respect. Jericho said then he’ll help Eddie to get over his fear of success.

Eddie said it’s great that they have the match. Eddie said don’t give him the Mimosa Match version of Jericho or that got pushed off a cage by MJF. Eddie wanted the Jericho was the first World Champion in AEW and that bled buckets in Tennessee and got respect from Tenryu in Japan. Eddie wanted the Chris Jericho that turned WCW upside down and he wanted the Jericho that “your close friend Levesque hated.” (That would be Triple H.) Eddie said Chris had to give him that because if he doesn’t then Eddie will eat him alive. The fans chanted “Eddie” for that. Jericho said he’ll give him that Jericho. Chris said that Eddie doesn’t believe that he can win the big one while Jericho told him that he is nothing more than a loser and he always will be. Jericho told Eddie he can’t win the big one ever. Jericho left.

Analysis: Awesome promo exchange by two elite talkers in AEW. There have been a lot of promotions that have pushed the “you can’t win the big one” story usually leading to a guy going after a title. In this case, it was Jericho telling Eddie that Eddie can’t beat a guy at Jericho’s level, so now we have to see if Eddie can do it. The crowd was totally behind Eddie here although I wouldn’t say they hated Jericho at all. They just liked Eddie a lot more. Anyway, it should be an intense match at Revolution. I think Eddie should win, but I don’t know if he will.

They showed a stairwell promo between Andrade El Idolo, Matt Hardy, Private Party and Jose The Assistant. Matt said Andrade was going to win the TNT Title. Matt suggested a match with Matt, Andrade and Isiah Kassidy facing Darby Allin, Sting & Sammy Guevara in a Tornado Trios Match at Revolution.

Analysis: There’s another match for Revolution. I guess there’s no TNT Title match at that PPV.

Face of the Revolution Qualifying Match: Ricky Starks (w/Powerhouse Hobbs) vs. Dark Order’s Ten

Ricky’s FTW Title is not on the line. Taz joined commentary to support his Team Taz guy Starks. Ten with a shoulder tackle, Starks came back with two forearms and Ten worked over him over with corner punches. Starks went for a swinging DDT, Ten blocked it leading to a delayed vertical suplex. They went to a picture in picture break.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Ten running the ropes leading to a shoulder tackle. Tony said that Ten won 10 of his last 12 matches. Those are Youtube wins. His last match on TV was a loss. Ten tried a Full Nelson, Starks broke free and Ten hit a clothesline. Ten with a Full Nelson, Starks grabbed the mask, Ten had to fix his mask, so Starks ran the ropes and hit a Spear for the pinfall win after six minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Ricky Starks

Analysis: *3/4 It was decent for a shorter match. The crowd barely reacted to some of the spots since it was just a thrown together qualifying match with no story going into it. Starks does a lot of heel taunting and has good charisma. Ten is the opposite of that. The finish was a creative spot due to Starks grabbing the mask, Ten having to adjust and Starks capitalizing on that with the Spear. They only showed about three minutes on full screen.

Ricky Starks is the fourth man to join the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match along with Powerhouse Hobbs, Wardlow and Keith Lee.

Adam Cole and ReDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) were backstage for a promo with the Young Bucks showing up saying they were double crossed. Young Bucks said that they had another chance next week. The Bucks left. Cole told Kyle and Bobby that they need to get along with the Young Bucks saying they’re a team.

Analysis: Poor Adam Cole dealing with friend issues.

TBS Championship: Jade Cargill vs. The Bunny (w/Smart Mark Sterling)

Cargill is 27-0. Bunny drove Cargill into the corner leading to a shove to the face and Cargill knocked her down with a boot to the face. Cargill lifted Bunny using the arm leading to an armbar. Bunny stretched the neck of Cargill against the top rope, then a forearm to the back and Bunny did a Russian legsweep on Cargill into the barricade.

(Commercial)

Matt Hardy went to ringside during the break since Bunny is part of his bad stable. During the break, there was a spot with Bunny hitting a forearm and she went for a cover. The referee Aubrey Edwards counted to two, Cargill did not get her shoulder up or attempt to kick out and the referee just stopped. That was really bad. JR: “Did Cargill have a brain fart?” LOL. That was JR’s way of pointing out that Cargill blew the spot by not kicking out.

The full-screen action returned with Cargill hitting a jumping back elbow. Bunny with an eye rake, a knee lift and a Thesz Press attempt, but Cargill hit a spinebuster. Hardy threw brass knuckles into the ring, the referee looked at Hardy on the apron as Sterling gave Cargill the TBS Title and referee Edwards ejected Hardy & Sterling from ringside. Jade blocked a brass knucks attempt by hitting the hand with the TBS Title. Bunny with a couple of kicks, she tried to do more and then Cargill hit the Jaded slam for the pinfall win after seven minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Jade Cargill

Analysis: *1/2 It had some sloppy moments due to Cargill’s inexperience. The spot with Cargill not kicking out at two was during the picture in picture part, but there is a Fite TV international feed that shows action during the break with commentary and that’s why I mentioned JR’s comments. This clip is on social media. Anyway, they continue to want to push Cargill and she is getting better in some ways, but we can also tell that she’s inexperienced. Bunny is pretty good, but they don’t push her much even though she deserves it.

Jade Cargill celebrated the win with Tony Schiavone in the ring to try to interview her. Jade grabbed the microphone: “Cut the shit, Tony.” Jade said she’s 28-0 soon to be 30-0 soon to be 50-0 and wondered who is next? Jade also asked who is left? Tay Conti made her entrance. Conti said she’s not just next, she’s the one that’s going to beat her as and threw in a “bitch” at the end. Conti got in the ring, she got in Cargill’s face and Cargill kissed her on the forehead. The Bunny went into the ring, so Conti hit her with the Tay-KO on Bunny. Cargill capitalized with a pump kick on Cargill. Anna Jay ran out with a chair, so Cargill left. It’s wrestling, so people stop attacking if you leave the ring like it’s a magic forcefield or something.

Analysis: I expect Cargill to win that match. Conti got a shot at Britt Baker’s AEW Women’s Title in the past and did well, but came up short. I expect the same result this time.

Keith Lee was interviewed by Alex Marvez talking about the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match with Ricky Starks walked up to him. Starks said that him and Hobbs don’t care where he came from. Hobbs had a staredown with Lee. Starks broke that up and left.

This Friday on AEW Rampage:

* Face of the Revolution Qualifying Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Anthony Bowens. A win for Cassidy.

* Serena Deeb’s 5-Minute Rookie Challenge.

* Dr. Britt Baker DMD and Thunder Rosa contract signing for their match at Revolution.

* TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara vs. Andrade El Idolo. That is Andrade’s first TV match since December 1. Nearly three months.

Next Wednesday on AEW Dynamite in Jacksonville:

* Casino Tag Royale with the winners advancing to Revolution for a Tag Team Title match.

* “Hangman” Adam Page, John Silver & Alex Reynolds vs. Adam Cole & ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly).

AEW Revolution PPV on Sunday, March 6:

* AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Adam Cole.

* Dog Collar Match: CM Punk vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

* AEW Women’s Championship: Dr. Britt Baker (c) vs. Thunder Rosa.

* Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks vs. Wardlow vs. Orange Cassidy/Anthony Bowens vs. ???

* Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Kingston.

* AEW Tag Team Championships: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) vs. ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Casino Tag Team Battle Royale Winner.

That was a lot of fast yelling by Excalibur. I hope his voice is okay. The main event between Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia was up next.

(Commercial)

A video aired announcing Double or Nothing in Las Vegas. They will have three shows in Las Vegas starting with Dynamite on Wednesday, May 25 and Rampage on Friday, May 27 at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay. On Sunday, May 29, Double or Nothing takes place at T-Mobile Arena.

Analysis: That’s great. Maybe I should make the trip to Vegas for my first AEW shows? Easy way to spend five nights in my favorite city in America. I haven’t had any kind of vacation in several years. Anyway, Vegas has been the home to Double or Nothing in the past, so it makes sense to go back there. Plus, they rarely do shows in the western part of America other than Double or Nothing. They need to get out west soon because those fans deserve to get some shows.

Daniel Garcia entered with a 17-14 record with JR saying he was 5-1 in his last six matches. I don’t remember Garcia’s last singles win on TV. It’s been a few months. There was no reaction to him. Bryan Danielson got a reaction of course and he’s got a record of 14-1-2 in AEW.

Bryan Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia

Bryan rocked Garcia with an uppercut, he wanted Garcia to bring more and Garcia hit Bryan with some hard chops to the chest. Bryan with an ankle pick leading to a leg twist and punches to the body. Bryan with a butterfly suplex leading to an armbar. Bryan went to the ropes, did a backflip to jump over Garcia and then Garcia did a chop block to the knee. Excalibur called this a “dream match” as they went to a picture in picture break. Dream match? Yes, Danielson is the best in the world, but Garcia is barely known to a lot of people. Calling it a “dream match” is a major stretch.

(Commercial)

Garcia was in control leading to a dragon screw leg whip as he worked over Bryan’s knee a bit. They battled over a suplex on the apron with Bryan suplexing Garcia over the top to the floor. Bryan ran off the apron with a running knee to knock Garcia down on the floor. Back in the ring, Bryan went up top and connected with a shotgun dropkick. Bryan took down Garcia kneebar submission, Garcia tried to fight back and Bryan let go of the hold leading to forearms to the head. Bryan hit a Tiger Suplex leading into the Cattle Mutilation submission, but Garcia got out of it. Garcia applied an Ankle lock, Bryan got out of it and kicked him in the head. They got up to a standing position where they exchanged forearms, then Bryan delivered a palm strike to the face. Garcia came back with his own palm strike. Bryan got a takedown, he stomped on Garcia’s face followed by Bryan applying the triangle sleeper with Garcia passing out. Bryan won by submission after about ten minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Bryan Danielson

Analysis: ***1/2 The usual great match from Danielson with the younger Garcia showing he’s very talented in the ring as well. There wasn’t a point in the match where I thought Garcia was going to win and I doubt others at home thought Garcia could win here. The announcers really try to push Garcia as a big deal, but I don’t see the audience at home viewing him the same way considering his record and lack of regular appearances on AEW TV shows. I’m not trashing Garcia at all. I’m talking about the presentation of the wrestler. He needs more consistent TV time to get over or be viewed as a TV main event guy. I don’t think he’s there yet. Anyway, I liked the technical wrestling display shown here, lots of strikes and submissions leading to Bryan putting him away rather easily.

Bryan grabbed the microphone because there were a few minutes left. Bryan told Garcia that’s what he wanted to see. Bryan asked if Garcia was violent tonight, some fans chanted “yes” and some did a “no” as well. The 2.0 guys Matt Lee and Jeff Parker attacked Bryan with punches. Jon Moxley made the save. Moxley easily sent Lee over the top to the floor and Moxley clotheslined Parker over the top to the floor. Garcia went into the ring with a chair, Bryan took the chair from him and Moxley hit a Paradigm Shift on Garcia.

Bryan was alone in the ring with Moxley with the fans chanting for Moxley. Bryan mentioned what Moxley said last week about how in order for them to fight together, they need to bleed together. Bryan threw down the chair saying he doesn’t need that to make anybody bleed. Bryan: “You want a match at Revolution? You got it! But don’t be surprised if Moxley is the only person bleeding.” Bryan and Moxley had a staredown as Bryan’s music played. End show.

Analysis: There it is. Bryan vs. Moxley is official. Good luck to anybody trying to follow them at Revolution. I think that could definitely be the match of the night, but there are also some other contenders as well. I’m glad it’s official. I look forward to that match and that show.

Three Stars of the Show

  1. MJF
  2. Bryan Danielson
  3. Eddie Kingston/Chris Jericho

The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.75 out of 10

Last Week: 8.5

Final Thoughts

It was another really good episode of Dynamite. I think the match quality in the second half was below average other than the Danielson/Garcia main event, so that hurts it a bit. I did like the tag team battle royal to start the show with some smart booking towards the end of that match.

The promos really stood out this week. MJF absolutely crushed it with a different kind of promo for him because instead of being a cocky, jerk heel he came off as very sympathetic while talking about some personal things he went through in his life. Eddie Kingston also did an excellent job with Chris Jericho as they exchanged words to set up their match at Revolution. Adam Page didn’t get to talk as long, but he showed a lot of confidence in his promo against Adam Cole as well.

They have set up the Revolution PPV lineup really well. There are so many great matches. I’m happy that Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley is official now as well as Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Jericho and so many other matches they have set up.

Here’s the lineup for AEW Revolution on pay-per-view in Orlando on Sunday, March 6.

aew revolution 2022 hangman page adam cole

AEW World Championship: “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Adam Cole

Dog Collar Match: CM Punk vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson

Chris Jericho vs. Eddie Kingston

AEW Tag Team Championships: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (c) vs. ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Casino Tag Team Battle Royale Winner

AEW Women’s Championship: Dr. Britt Baker (c) vs. Thunder Rosa

Face of the Revolution Ladder Match: Keith Lee vs. Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Ricky Starks vs. Wardlow vs. Orange Cassidy/Anthony Bowens vs. ???

Tornado Trios Match: Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin & Sting vs. Andrade El Idolo, Matt Hardy & Isiah Kassidy

TBS Championship: Jade Cargill (c) vs. Tay Conti – Not official yet.

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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Raptors and Toronto Maple Leafs. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport