The John Report: AEW Dynamite 06/21/23 Review

This week’s AEW Dynamite featured Bryan Danielson calling out Kazuchika Okada, Chris Jericho in a six-man tag team match, Jeff Jarrett-Mark Briscoe in a Concession Stand Brawl and more.

I will not be reviewing AEW Collision moving forward. We have found a good writer named Gino that is experienced and a big AEW fan, so I’m going to have him do it. I’m busy writing news on weekends, plus when there are PPV/PLE weekends then I’m going to really busy. It’s just easier this way. I’m busy enough with four weekly TV shows to write about.

I was going to be at the AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view in Toronto this Sunday. I bought tickets when they came out. However, a family death happened recently and we have a memorial service that day, so I’m not going to Forbidden Door. I may go to AEW shows next week in Hamilton, Ontario (plenty of tickets available) but I haven’t decided yet.

This was AEW Dynamite episode #194 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. Check out the AEW PPV listing archive only on TJRWrestling as well. Follow me on Twitter @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

It’s Wednesday night and you know what that means. Excalibur, Taz and Tony Schiavone were on commentary.

The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn)

There’s a big difference in age and experience level here. Lots of “Ass Boys” chants from the crowd to start the match. The Hardys did some classic double team moves including the classic splash by Jeff after jumping off Matt’s back. Jeff with a back elbow on Austin followed by a twisting dive onto Austin for two. Colten did a cheap shot to Jeff while the referee wasn’t looking. The Gunns took over on offense with Colten hitting a suplex and Austin tagged in with a chinlock. Jeff used the momentum to send Austin out of the ring. Jeff hit a jawbreaker on Colten, who was legal and then Colten missed a splash when Jeff moved. Matt tagged in against both Gunns with multiple clotheslines, a Side Effect and a back body drop out of the ring. Matt hit a Twist of Fate on Austin for two, but Colten put Austin’s boot on the rope for a two count. Colten with a necksnap to Matt and Austin covered with boots on the ropes for a two count. Colten saved his brother from a Twist of Fate, then Colten tagged in and Colten hit a sitout slam for two as Jeff made the save. Jeff tagged in with atomic drops along with a double DDT on both brothers. Jeff hit a double leg drop on both Gunns. Jeff hit his version of a Twist of Fate on Colten. Jeff went up top, Juice Robinson was there to distract and Jay White shoved Jeff off the top. The Gunns hit the 3:10 to Yuma (double team flatliner) on Jeff for the pinfall win after about seven minutes.

Winners by pinfall: The Gunns

Analysis: **1/2 A cheap win for The Gunns. Since The Gunns helped Jay & Juice in the past, it was time for The Gunns to return the favor. It could lead to The Gunns joining the Bullet Club Gold group. The Hardys did okay in the match, but clearly they are moving slowly and showing their age. With that said, a lot of the classic spots still work. Maybe we will see them get a title push at some point, but for this match, they were there to put over The Gunns. Jeff also can’t work the Canada shows coming up so you might as well have him lose while he’s off for the next month.

After the match, Jay White & Juice Robinson attacked Matt Hardy. Jay hit a Bladerunner neckbreaker on Matt. Juice punched Jeff with his left hand that had a roll of quarters in it. Juice wanted to do more, but Ricky Starks ran out for the save. When Starks got into the ring, he was attacked by the four heels. FTR, the AEW Tag Team Champions, ran out to try to save Starks, but it was 4 on 3 because The Hardys were out on the floor. The fans were chanting “CM Punk” and that led to CM Punk running out there. Punk joined FTR and Starks to beat up the heels. Punk wanted to give Juice the Go To Sleep, but Juice avoided it. The heels were on the floor so the faces stayed in the ring.

CM Punk said we can do this Saturday on Collision. Punk said that he’s not even supposed to be here because he’s a Collision guy. Punk called for his music to play, so it played at that point to end it. Punk looked into the camera: “4 on 1? I like those odds. 4 on 4? That’s your funeral.” Yeah, because AEW isn’t going to book Punk to lose any time soon.

Analysis: They didn’t advertise CM Punk for Dynamite this week, but it was reported by the usual sources that he was there since Dynamite is in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. Punk made his presence felt here to set up the tag team match on Collision.

A video aired about Jeff Jarrett’s rivalry with Mark Briscoe leading to their match on this week’s show. I think a lot of this stuff happened on Rampage, which I don’t watch.

Jeff Jarrett and Mark Briscoe were out on the concourse for this Concession Stand Brawl. The referee Paul Turner called for the bell.

Concession Stand Brawl: Jeff Jarrett vs. Mark Briscoe

They were fighting around the concourse area. Mark threw Jeff into a table was against a column back. They were throwing food and condiments at eachother. Karen Jarrett showed up to squirt some ketchup into Mark’s face. Mark put Jeff on a table, Mark climbed a ladder to tease a leap and somebody shoved Mark off the ladder through a table. It was Sonjay Dutt that did it, so he’s a Jeff Jarrett ally. They went to a picture-in-picture break.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Jarrett stomping on Mark in the ring while Jay Lethal and Dutt were in the ring helping Jarrett. Lethal tried to get a table from ringside, but Papa Briscoe was there and Papa gave Lethal a Chokeslam through the table. Papa went into the ring with clotheslines on Jeff and Dutt, so Karen hit Papa with a low blow. Tony Schiavone said she was the worst. Mark took care of Dutt to knock him out of the ring. Satnam Singh finally made his way out there leading to a Chokeslam on Mark. The Best Friends, Christopher Daniels and Lucha Brothers all went to the ring to help Mark. Rey Fenix hit a dive onto Singh on the floor. Penta with a superkick to Jarrett leading to Mark getting a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! for the pinfall win after about nine minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Mark Briscoe

Analysis: **1/2 That was silly yet mildly fun with a ridiculous amount of run-ins making it feel like a TNA-style match that Jarrett loved to do in the past. It might be the end of this storyline. Papa Briscoe giving Jay Lethal a Chokeslam through the table was the best part of the match. It’s hard for me to rate it highly with all the silliness, but it had some fun moments.

There were replays shown of the end of last week’s Dynamite episode.

The Black Combat Club was standing backstage with Konosuke Takeshita and Don Callis. Jon Moxley said that they are challenging The Elite to a five-on-five match at Forbidden Door. Bryan Danielson spoke up saying that he wanted to have a face to face with Kazuchika Okada but he doesn’t think he was even more. Bryan said he’ll prove that Okada is nothing but an amateur. Bryan said he’ll go to the ring to call out Okada and if he doesn’t show up, he is just what Bryan said – an amateur and a coward.

Analysis: The BCC guys in that 5 on 5 match will be Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino. I liked Bryan’s promo towards Okada and a tease of a showdown for later.

(Commercial)

A video aired showing highlights of the debut episode of AEW Collision from last Saturday night.

Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara entered for a six-man tag team match. Minoru Suzuki was next with some fans knowing his theme song and singing along with that too. The trio of Action Andretti, Darius Martin and AR Fox entered to lose the match while doing a lot of exciting moves. The announcers put over Action beating Jericho in the past even though Action barely gets TV time at this point, so the win meant nothing.

Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki vs. Action Andretti, Darius Martin & AR Fox

Sammy started with Action doing some counter moves without much happening and then Sammy tagged in Suzuki instead of his “boss” Jericho. Suzuki let Martin hit him a few times, Suzuki no sold that and decked Martin with forearms. Jericho tagged in a double shoulder tackle. Jericho posed and Suzuki posed with him, but the director missed showing it from the front side. Fox tagged in with a clothesline and a dropkick. Sammy hit Fox with a cheap knee that the referee didn’t see and Jericho hit a clothesline to take control.

(Commercial)

The match continued with Jericho tagging in against Action, who Jericho with a running forearm. Action hit a running suicide dive on Sammy on the floor. Action was back into the ring to knock Jericho followed by a shotgun dropkick. Suzuki went into the ring illegally to apply a rear naked choke to Action, then Martin hit Suzuki in the back and Suzuki smirked. Suzuki with a forearm on Martin. Martin came back to knock Suzuki out of the ring. Sammy hit a Cutter off the top onto two guys. Fox hit a missile dropkick (with a clap) and Fox hit a dive off the ropes onto two guys on the floor including his partner Martin. Back to the legal action, Action hit a springboard spinning kick. Action hit a running Shooting Star Press for two. Martin tagged in with a clothesline, Sammy in illegally with a Spanish Fly, Fox with a brainbuster on Sammy and Suzuki was back in for a rear naked choke. Suzuki with a Gotch Style Piledriver. Andretti with a pump kick, Jericho with a Codebreaker on Andretti and Martin hit a flatliner off the ropes. Martin kicked Jericho while he was by the ropes. Martin jumped off the top with nothing, Jericho caught him and Jericho applied a Liontamer submission on Martin for the submission win after 11 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Minoru Suzuki

Analysis: ***1/4 It was a solid match with an obvious result since the babyface trio rarely gets TV time and rarely gets to win on TV. The announcers try to put over Action Andretti, but the guy has done nothing since beating Jericho, so it’s not like fans watching at home see him as a star. There was far too much illegal action with guys randomly going into the ring to do moves. It’s just not that interesting to me because there’s no story or psychology to matches like that. Anyway, Jericho beating Martin was a fine way to end it.

Post match, Renee Paquette was in the ring for an interview, who mentioned Chris Jericho being in the ring with Sting for the first time last week. Jericho took the microphone saying it was a monumental moment in pro wrestling. Jericho said everybody was so excited, except for him. Jericho told Sting he’s selfish, egotistical and he claims to be a hero, but all he does is show up for the highest bidder. Jericho called Sting a whore. Jericho called his trio Le Suzuki Gods and challenged Sting & Darby Allin along with a partner at Forbidden Door. Jericho said that Sting is a coward, selfish and…here comes Sting.

Sting and Darby Allin made their way down to the ring. Sting wondered why Jericho was so uptight. Sting said that a moment’s not enough because he needs some time with Jericho. Sting said that Sting and Darby accept this lame challenge. Darby said that Jericho made a lot of enemies in a lot of places so Allin said that they had a guy for Sunday. Jericho asked who is it? Allin said that Jericho will find out on Collision. That was it as Sting & Alin left.

Analysis: It should be a fun match at Forbidden Door. Jericho was really over the top with his heel mannerisms. Sting had some good lines. I was entertained by it.

They showed Tony Schiavone backstage with RJ City along with a tumbler as they were choosing names for the Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament. They picked two names, but never said who they were. Great. We’ll see the brackets soon. Tony plugged a tag team match coming up next.

(Commercial)

The Elite was shown in a stairwell talking about the Blackpool Combat Club’s challenge. It was “Hangman” Adam Page, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) and Kenny Omega standing backstage. They said they accept the BCC challenge to a 5 on 5 match, but can’t pick Kenny since he’s facing Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door. Eddie Kingston walked in saying he hates Claudio, so he’ll team with them, but Eddie gets to pick the fifth guy.

Analysis: This was pre-taped last week because The Elite guys weren’t there. That’s because they hate CM Punk, who was at the show as we saw earlier, so The Elite guys don’t want to be around Punk. It’s really childish, but that’s AEW behind the scenes these days.

Let’s Hear from Adam Cole…and MJF

Adam Cole gave Maxwell Jacob Friedman for giving Cole one of the toughest matches of his career. Cole said that he didn’t win, but MJF didn’t win either. Cole said that if MJF wants to be known as the greatest AEW World Champion of all time then MJF has to fight whoever challenges him. Cole spoke about how MJF hasn’t beaten Adam Cole bay bay. Cole called out MJF to talk to Chicago about Cole’s rematch.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman, the AEW World Champion, made his entrance as he entered the ring. MJF insulted the fans by telling them to keep their “poor mouths” shut. They chanted “shut the f**k up” at Max. MJF said he was worried about Cole for suffering blows to the head and last week, Cole lost track of time. MJF claimed that had that time not run out, he had Cole beat, which led to “bulls**t” chants. MJF said “no” to Cole getting a rematch.

Cole said of course MJF would say no to him. Cole suggested a fight right here and Cole whips his ass right here in Chicago.

Tony Schiavone spoke up saying he had an announcement as both guys told Schiavone to shut up. Tony announced that the two names announced in the Blind Tag Team Tournament are Adam Cole and MJF. Both guys complained about it, but Tony told them they are a tag team. MJF whined about having to wrestle every week.

Hiroshi Tanahashi did a promo speaking in English about how he wanted to face MJF at Forbidden Door.

Cole called MJF a coward for not accepting the match against Tanahashi, so the fans chanted “coward” at MJF. Max said if Tanahashi wants him at Forbidden Door then you’ve got it. Cole: “Good luck, partner.” Cole left while MJF was frustrated by that.

Analysis: It was a good promo exchange as usual. Poor MJF got outsmarted by Cole because MJF ended up accepting the match against Tanahashi. The thing about that is we all kind of knew it was going to happen, so it was just a matter of making it official. Why would MJF have to approve it anyway? It’s a PPV and he’s the AEW World Champion, so you know he’s going to be on the card.

They showed The Owen Hart Foundation tournament brackets. CM Punk faces Satoshi Kojima at the Forbidden Door PPV on Sunday. In other words, NJPW found a guy for CM Punk to beat that won’t complain about it. They had eight-man and eight-woman tournament graphics.

Orange Cassidy & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia & Zack Sabre Jr.

Shibata and Sabre exchanged some holds, then all four guys were in the ring and the referee made the illegal guys back out. They went to picture-in-picture break less than one minute into it.

(Commercial)

Sabre and Shibata were each going for submission moves with nothing locked in by either guy. Garcia tagged in, so Shibata beat him up with uppercuts and Garcia came back with a punch to the face. Orange tagged in, so Garcia did dance moves and Orange did too, so the fans popped for that. Garcia grabbed a waistlock, Orange put his hands in the pockets and Orange hit a dropkick. Sabre tagged in, Orange did weak kicks and Sabre used his feet to twist Orange’s neck. Garcia tagged in with a snap suplex on Orange. Sabre was twisting Orange’s limbs followed by Sabre stomping on Orange’s knee. Another PIP break.

(Commercial)

Sabre was in control of Orange, who countered a suplex and hit a Stundog Millionaire. Shibata tagged in with a kick to Sabre’s back. Sabre and Shibata exchanged strikes, then Shibata wrenched on the left arm and Garcia tagged in to kick the left arm repeatedly. Shibata took control with a snapmare and a kick to the back. Orange into the ring illegally, then all four guys were in the ring with Orange/Shibata in control. Orange and Shibata each hit running dropkicks in the corner. Orange hit a suicide dive on Sabre. Shibata with a running dropkick followed by a double underhook suplex. Garcia came back with the Dragontamer submission, but Shibata countered it into a heel hook. Sabre made the save by twisting Shibata’s neck with his feet. Orange back with a twisting DDT. Garcia kicked Orange down. Garcia and Shibata each hit strikes that were no sold followed by Shibata hitting a pump kick. Shibata kicked Sabre too. Orange into the ring illegally with an Orange Punch, Garcia moved and Orange punched Shibata by mistake. Sabre held Orange while Garcia rolled up Shibata for the pinfall win after 17 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: Daniel Garcia &. Zack Sabre Jr.

Analysis: ***1/2 A good tag team match where the result wasn’t obvious, so that made it more interesting. They got a lot of time and it wasn’t that exciting the whole way, but I liked the action after the final break. Orange accidentally costing his team the win is a clever finish since Orange rarely loses although it was Shibata taking the pin rather than Orange himself.

After the match, a graphic was shown saying the four men in this match will be in a four-way match for the AEW International Championship held by Orange Cassidy. All four guys got to touch the International Title, but Orange took it away from Shibata.

Analysis: I think Orange will retain as usual.

Will Ospreay was interviewed by Alex Marvez. Ospreay trashed Canada and said AEW needs to give him security. Don Callis, who is Canadian, walked into the picture saying Ospreay needs private security. Callis told Ospreay he’ll give him some private security at Forbidden Door. Ospreay asked what Don wanted and Don said he wanted to see a fair fight. Don told Ospreay to get the 1, 2, 3 and left.

(Commercial)

There were promos from AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm and NJPW Strong Champion Willow Nightingale talking about their issues. That match is on for Forbidden Door only for Toni’s title.

TBS Championship: Kris Statlander vs. Taya Valkyrie

Kris knocked Taya down with a shoulder tackle. Kris worked over Taya with forearms. Kris charged and Taya hit her with an open hand strike. Taya with chops to the chest, then Kris chopped her back. Kris with a sweep into a leg drop. Taya came back with a knee strike. Kris sent Taya out of the ring. Kris with a kick to the side of the head. Kris hit a moonsault onto Taya on the floor, but really it was just Kris hitting Taya with her right arm. With Kris on the apron, Taya hit a dropkick to knock Kris off the apron to the floor.

(Commercial)

Both women were down selling as the match returned. Kris worked over Taya with strikes, then a running knee and a sitout cradle suplex for two. Taya caught Kris in her arms and a double underhook sitout slam. Kris got back up with a rollup for two followed by Kris hitting a discus lariat for two. They both ran off the ropes leading to Taya hitting a Spear. Taya hit a sliding German Suplex off the ropes. Taya went up top, but Kris brought her back down with a superplex. Kris hit a piledriver-like move called the Wednesday Night Fever apparently and Kris covered for the pinfall win after about nine minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Kris Statlander

Analysis: *** They hit hard and had a physical match. Kris winning was the logical conclusion since she won the title recently while Taya keeps losing to whoever holds that title. I’d like to see a push for Taya this year. It is still early in Statlander’s title reign, so I don’t mind seeing her continue that title run.

There was a rundown of what’s coming up on Rampage and Collision, plus Forbidden Door. It’s a ridiculous amount of content.

(Commercial)

Let’s Hear From Eddie Kingston…and also Bryan Danielson

Eddie Kingston walked out for a promo to talk about how he was teaming with The Elite. Eddie said he had to put a shirt on because he had surgery and ate a lot of ice cream. Eddie claimed that Young Bucks and Kenny Omega left (just a story) because he didn’t respect them. Eddie said that a guy that’s supposed to be his homeboy might be mad at him, but Eddie can’t stand Claudio Castagnoli at all. Jon Moxley got into the ring and said that Eddie is drawing a line at Forbidden Door. Eddie that he hated Claudio. Moxley looked like he wanted to say something, but then he didn’t say anything. Kingston announced that the fifth man is Tomohiro Ishii, who went out to the ring.

That led to a brawl around ringside with the BCC guys fighting around the ring. Claudio went brawling to the back with Kingston.

Bryan called out Okada to come out, so here’s Okada to a huge pop! The fans were going crazy as Okada went into the ring for a staredown with Bryan. Wheeler Yuta attacked Okada from behind. Yuta held Okada, so then Bryan charged and Okada moved out of the way leading to Bryan hitting Yuta with a knee. Okada tried a clothesline on Bryan, but Bryan bailed to the floor. Okada picked up Yuta and hit him with a Rainmaker clothesline. Bryan was on the floor. Okada and Bryan had a staredown as the announcers plugged the many other shows coming up in the next few days. End show.

Analysis: It was nice to see Okada there to have the staredown with Bryan. When Okada wanted to hit the Rainmaker, Bryan bailed, so poor Yuta had to take the clothesline. I think the Okada-Bryan match will be amazing. I’m looking forward to it.

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Three Stars of the Show

1. Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia & Minoru Suzuki
2. MJF/Adam Cole
3. Kazuchika Okada just because I didn’t know who to pick and I really like watching him. This is not a scientific process, my friends.

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The Scoreboard

This Week: 7.25 out of 10

Last Week: 8.25

2023 Average: 7.49

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Final Thoughts

It was good for a final Dynamite before Forbidden Door on Sunday. I kept thinking of the word “chaos” during the show because it felt like they announced about 20 different things on this show from the additions to Forbidden Door to three different tournaments (men’s/women’s Owen Hart tourney, blind tag team tourney) going on soon and so many wrestlers coming out to the ring for about one minute before it was time to move on to the next thing. It was like there was no time for any replays or to set things up better because there was just so much going on. Can we slow down a bit? It was just so much content for one two hour show.

In terms of matches, there really wasn’t anything that stood out. The three tag team matches were all about the same in terms of quality although I rated the Sabre/Garcia win over Cassidy/Shibata the highest because it was also the longest. That Mark Briscoe/Jeff Jarrett “Concession Stand Brawl” started out there and then ended in a ring with so many people getting involved. It reminded me of Jeff’s TNA matches where they would involve so many people and it was so dumb by the end. I did enjoy Papa Briscoe’s Chokeslam at least. The lone women’s match was okay.

I liked the Chris Jericho-Sting interaction for the second week in a row. The Adam Cole-MJF promo was fine with Max accepting the Forbidden Door match against Hiroshi Tanahashi. MJF shouldn’t have to accept it because it should just be made and he’s in it. To give him the power to accept or decline matches would be silly. Speaking of silly, CM Punk was there to set up another Collision tag that he gets to win with his buddies while The Elite did a pre-tape segment only because…CM Punk was there. It’s really childish.

The next AEW pay-per-view is AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door on Sunday, June 25th. Here’s what we know so far.

* IWGP US Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay

* Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada

* AEW World Championship: Maxwell Jacob Friedman (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

* IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) vs. “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry

* Blackpool Combat Club – Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta, Konosuke Takeshita and Shota Umino vs. The Elite – “Hangman” Adam Page, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii

* Le Suzuki Gods (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki) vs. Sting, Darby Allin, and TBA

* AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Daniel Garcia vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

* Men’s Owen Hart Tournament Quarterfinals: CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima

* AEW Women’s Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Willow Nightingale

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Thanks for reading. Go Toronto Blue Jays. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter: @johnreport